.
 
 Wr,. 
 
 8. F. McLEAM, 
 248 90. nOABWAY, LOS AMQELKS
 
 (Accursed Koccos)
 
 THE 
 
 ACCURSED ROCCOS 
 
 A Tale of Dalmatia 
 
 By D. POWELL JOHNSON 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 BROADWAY PUBLISHING CO. 
 
 1918
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1913, 
 
 BY 
 D. POWELL JOHNSON. 
 
 ENTERED AT STATIONER'S HALL, LONDON. 
 
 All rights reserved.
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 PART I 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 MY only pleasant memory of Brindisi is that 
 I found McClellan there one hot June day, 
 when, on walking into the hotel lounge 
 aiter breakfast, I saw his big wiry frame and long 
 legs stretched out upon an easy chair. 
 
 As boys we had by no means been friends, hav- 
 ing had, on an average, one battle a week after 
 school let out; but both had always fought fair 
 had never bit, scratched, kicked, butted, or struck 
 below the belt except by accident, so there was no 
 reason, after a separation of more than ten years, 
 why the old doubtful relations should not at once 
 be replaced by new and much better ones. 
 
 As violinist, Harry had been far advanced at 
 twelve years of age. Since then he had studied 
 abroad. For the four years last past it seemed that 
 he had quarreled with his last and equally irascible 
 teacher, a great, Belgian violinist, spending the 
 three warm months in travel. A couple of months 
 before our meeting the Professor had chased him 
 out of the house with a poker and Harry had bid- 
 den adieu by "heaving" a stone through the win- 
 I 
 
 2136374
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 dow. This row seemed to have been final. Now, 
 after his summer outing he was planning to go to 
 Vienna and quarrel with another great teacher 
 there. Formerly Harry had been much given to 
 jibes and scoffing, the which had led to most of 
 our battles, though I admit that the pet name 
 "carrot-top" was sometimes responsible. As a man, 
 the above characteristic had changed into a keen 
 raillery and biting sarcasm which, I was sure, would 
 not always spare his friends. However, I remem- 
 bered again that, as a boy, he had always fought 
 fair. I made up my mind that he would fight fair 
 now; for as men, we are never much deceived in 
 other men whom we knew as boys. In any case, 
 I congratulated myself that we would, thereafter, 
 be in the same city, for I had already resided a 
 year in Vienna. 
 
 There was a third member of our party. That 
 was Herr Ober-Leutnant Overmann of the Aus- 
 trian Army, of the Ingenieurs, and it had been 
 through his eloquence and urging that Harry and 
 I had decided to cross over and visit Dalmatia 
 and Montenegro, on our way to Vienna. I had 
 had a slight previous acquaintance with the Ober- 
 Leutnant in Vienna and knowing beforehand that 
 he would be in Naples I had hunted him up there. 
 We had come over to Brindisi together. Harry's 
 keenness in reading his fellows was shown at once, 
 when, upon being .introduced, he had asked the In- 
 genieur "How many wives" he had. The Ingenieur 
 had been attached, recently, to the Austrian garri- 
 son in Trebinje where he was to have special work 
 which would occupy his time for several years. 
 But he was already no stranger to Dalmatia. The 
 Ingenieur spoke English almost without accent, and 
 seldom made a mistake of any account. 
 
 2
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s ' 
 
 "But I hear you cannot get anything to eat over 
 there," objected Harry. 
 
 "Of course," answered the Ingeneur, "all is very 
 primitive in Dalmatia. Except in Ragusa there 
 are no palatial hotels, no pate de foie gras, or 
 broiled live lobsters. But if you be a good traveler 
 you do not mind such things as that any more than 
 you mind going under the pump to wash. On the 
 other hand Dalmatia has much that must interest 
 any intelligent person, because it, especially in the 
 south^ has stood still; is of yesterday, not of 
 to-day. It does not matter much, whether one be 
 set down in London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, or any 
 other city. In the latter day striving for luxury 
 and modernity they have grown to be alike, and 
 changing your city is largely a mere change of 
 hotel and scarcely worth the trouble, and what one 
 says of those large centers is equally true of the 
 popular Meccas of lesser size throughout Europe. 
 Most of them are false, hollow and ridiculous. 
 
 But you will not find Dalmatia modern. Here 
 you will find what you are looking for; local cus- 
 toms and superstitions, dress and ceremonies which 
 date even from Roman days. You will like Dal- 
 matia because it is something else than Europe 
 with its Swiss hotels, pusillanimous thieving hotel 
 and waiter class, society of ephimerides and demi- 
 mondaines with their cavaliers, and mob who pay 
 to stare and be stared at, and" 
 
 Harry interrupted, with a drawl: 
 
 "I say, Herr Ober-Leutnant, have you bought 
 stock in a Dalmatian vineyard?" 
 
 "And," continued the Ingenieur to me, without 
 taking notice of the interruption, "in Dalmatia and 
 Montenegro you will not find people who attempt 
 to dress like the Crown Prince and his dame on
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 one hundred crowns a month, but people who wear 
 a costume which their ancestors wore," 
 
 "Their clothes cleaning establishments are more 
 careful than in Europe itself then I" asserted Harry 
 obstinately. 
 
 "And for holidays, at least one suit of clothes in 
 a lifetime will suffice for them. There, instead of 
 the liason, is still the custom of marriage, and in- 
 stead of divorce, the vendetta" 
 
 "And still you are recommending a man like 
 my friend Ed Ransome to go there!" 
 
 "And above all, beautiful women and strong." 
 
 "Ah! The preamble was long, but the essential 
 statement comes at last ! I see how it is, Ed ! The 
 Ingenieur is in love with a Dalmatian woman 
 that's it !" 
 
 "Never mind him, Herr Ober-Leutnant ! Ever 
 since he was very young he has had treatment for 
 this trouble, and in vain" 
 
 "Treatment which you knew how to give, didn't 
 you, Eddie?" 
 
 "Oh, it is all right," said the Ingenieur, "and he 
 is right. Come over and I'll introduce you to her. 
 I'll even let you take her away from me if you can. 
 Could I offer more?" 
 
 "That, is decidedly a gold brick!" muttered 
 Harry, but not loud enough for the Ingenieur to 
 hear. 
 
 All this had occurred in the hotel lounge and 
 there had been much more of it. Whatever else 
 he might be the Ingenieur was a companionable fel- 
 low for a day, as Harry and I agreed over a glass 
 of whiskey and soda just before retiring. We both 
 agreed that he was not a man to be trusted, but 
 that did not concern us we did not need to trust
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 him. "We could enjoy him until he showed his 
 cloven hoof and then dismiss him." 
 
 Toward evening two days later, on a tramp 
 steamer, the Punta d'Ostro hove in sight and soon 
 thereafter we were passing between the frowning 
 batteries on this and the Punta d'Arza into the 
 Bocche of Cattaro.* 
 
 We lost the Ingenieur at Castel Nuovo, our first 
 halt after entering the outermost of the gulfs. By 
 this time we were keenly sorry to part with him, 
 but he solemnly promised to come down from 
 Trebinje and see us again if he could get leave. 
 He informed us that he would go by horseback 
 from here to Ragusa the following morning, and 
 then to Trebinje. Harry and I wondered why he 
 had not gone direct to Gravosa by which he would 
 have had a better ship and a closer connection. 
 This, of course, was none of our business, but 
 Harry had always been incorrigible. 
 
 As the Ingenieur's boat started away toward 
 shore he called out : 
 
 "Herr Ober-Leutnant ! Does the fair one live 
 at Castel Nuovo?" 
 
 "One does. I'll send you letters to the others 
 who live farther up." 
 
 "But we want to know the one who lives here." 
 
 "You'll find all that are good for you at" 
 
 But his voice was lost for his rowers were mak- 
 ing good time and our ship was turning her prow 
 up one of the most beautiful land-locked sheets of 
 water in the world. We soon partially forgot our 
 companion for the wild land and sea-scapes, now 
 broad water, now narrow inlet, islands, head-lands 
 and elevations everywhere in sight dotted by church 
 
 * Pronounced Cat'taro.
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 or monastery, or by fortress new or old, the high 
 points crowned by the crimson glow of the setting 
 sun. Finally, through a very narrow pass, Le 
 Catene, in olden times closed to the enemies' ships 
 by chains, we entered the vestibule, so to speak, 
 which serves for the Gulf of Risano to the north, 
 and the Gulf of Cattaro proper, to the south. Here 
 our eyes were greeted by the most beautiful pic- 
 ture we had ever seen. Upon the opposite shore 
 lay the dead city of Perasto. On our left, not 
 far off, the twin islets of San Giorgio and Madonna 
 della Scalpello, the first occupied by old deserted 
 batteries arranged upon the ruin of an ancient 
 Benedictine monastery, the latter by a votive church 
 the very walls of which seem washed by the waters 
 of the gulf. Then our ship cut sharply to the 
 south and we passed into the lovely Gulf of Cattaro 
 itself, walled in by lofty peaks and headlands like 
 a Norwegian fjord, dominated by the Lovgen, 
 sacred mountain of the Montenegrins all gray 
 black and wild. Along the shores, upon the drift, 
 so to speak, which seems to have fallen from the 
 peaks above, lie the old towns, one after another 
 and sometimes in continuous line, Drahava, Maro- 
 vich, Dobrota; Donji Stolivo, Perzagno, Mula, 
 sad monuments of a past magnificence, the im- 
 mense size of some of whose houses bespeak the 
 memory of the traveler for those who once footed 
 it there in silks and satin and who made their last 
 bow to us with the passing of the galley and the 
 high-sterned Venetian ships-of-sail. All of the 
 houses are of "Bocchesan" style, few dating from 
 less than a century ago and many much more, and 
 the loop holes and other arrangements for defence 
 which distinguish many are silent witnesses of the 
 less quiet and secure times back to which these old 
 
 6
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 structures can look. To-day very many of them 
 are tenanted by memories only. 
 
 Night was falling as we reached the town of 
 Cattaro and disembarked upon the Riva. A motley 
 chattering assemblage was taking an evening prom- 
 enade outside the town walls. We were destined 
 to make better acquaintance with some of them 
 than we were expecting to do, as we followed our 
 baggage through the Marine gate, through the nar- 
 row and populous streets, to the primitive little inn.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 WE had decided to begin our sight-seeing at 
 Perasto, so accordingly, after breakfast the fol- 
 lowing brilliant sunny morning, having bargained 
 by means of Harry's Italian with the first boatman 
 who offered, we were early on our way to the dead 
 city, being conveyed in a "barque" propelled by two 
 rowers who stood up, facing forward, and pushed 
 on the oars. 
 
 The Ingenieur had said that Perasto contained 
 some four hundred and fifty houses of which more 
 than three hundred were uninhabited and mostly 
 ownerless to be had for the mere taking posses- 
 sion, provided any one wished to own a ruin. A 
 little way off it looked like a beautiful marble city 
 with many varieties of architectural frontage and 
 ornamentation, the little cathedral with its hand- 
 some Byzantine bell-tower dominating all. It was 
 only after our boat floated alongside of a short 
 dilapidated stone pier which many a dainty velvet 
 clad foot had trod in days of yore that we realized 
 that Perasto was indeed of the past. Her ruins 
 greeted the eye in almost every frontage in every 
 direction and so silent was she, that our own 
 voices would startle us. 
 
 I shall not burden the reader with an account of 
 the romantic houses and spots over which Harry 
 and I spent many warm but happy hours that day. 
 Instead I shall turn to my story itself, and with as 
 little digression as possible, endeavor to make to 
 my reader the first mention of a certain curious 
 character of the dead Venetian past, in, as nearly as 
 
 8
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 I can remember, the same manner by which it was 
 made to us. 
 
 This mention occurred in the course of a con- 
 versation with the priest of San Nicolo. We had 
 at last found him at four o'clock, and with him we 
 visited his church and sacristy. The day had been 
 exceedingly hot, the sacristy was cool, and the 
 Riverenci, who spoke both Italian and German, had 
 proven to be a most interesting personality, know- 
 ing, as he did, all there was on record of the 
 Bocche from the time of Queen Teuta to the pres- 
 ent day. After reciting the many vicissitudes en- 
 dured by Perasto through conquest, piracy, feuds 
 and earthquakes, he finally told us of the last days 
 of the Venetian Republic and of the ceremonious 
 burial under the high altar of his church of the 
 standard which had been confided to Perasto by the 
 Doge. 
 
 "And with the burial of the gonfalon was in- 
 terred the life and prosperity of Perasto. For not 
 only did the city itself never again thrive, but 
 many families buried their records and treasure 
 during those troublous times. For, mind you, Na- 
 poleon would have burnt the Holy Virgin herself 
 for gold, to say nothing of her images, and the 
 later Austrians also allowed little to filter through 
 their fingers. Well, as many a family was wholly 
 wiped out in the course of the next twenty-five 
 years, many records and treasures have remained 
 buried and forgotten." 
 
 "Why did these people not apply to the Church 
 for protection?" asked Harry, after some further 
 conversation. 
 
 "The Church herself needed protection in those 
 days. However, some did apply, and that ques- 
 tion recalls a story." 
 
 9
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 In obedience to his beckon we followed him into 
 the church. He resumed. 
 
 "Please notice yonder slab in the pavement 
 there in the light." 
 
 We walked over to it. It was an ancient grave- 
 stone and the letters were only partly decipherable. 
 
 "It is much worn and injured but you can still 
 read, 'here lies Pietro Rocco, mariner and mer- 
 chant, by the Grace of God may he 
 
 rest in peace/ His body no longer rests here as his 
 daughter, many years later, removed his bones to 
 Curzola." 
 
 *This date seems to have been 1759. Am I 
 right?" asked Harry. 
 
 "I think so, Signor. That was, of course, the 
 date of his burial, since it could not have been that 
 of his birth. He was the last in the direct male 
 line, of the accursed Roccos" 
 
 "The accursed Roccos?" 
 
 "Yes, they were so called. We do not know for 
 certain why, but I have some reason to suppose that 
 Rocco's Secretarian ancestor was one of the six 
 Perasto conspirators who in 1535 murdered the 
 Abbot of San Giorgio while he was celebrating 
 mass, and at the moment of consecration. These 
 conspirators and their families were cursed, how 
 or by whom, we have no record, but they all in the 
 direct line died out through illness or lack of heirs. 
 The Rocco who lay here was the very last male 
 scion of them all. Are you tired of the tale, 
 Signori? No? You are very polite! Well, I will 
 continue : 
 
 The date here given on the gravestone was of 
 
 course many years before the fall of the Republic, 
 
 but like many another man, Rocco's descendants 
 
 lived after him. Not much is known now of the 
 
 IO
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 intimate history of the family, but we do know 
 a little. First of all, do not forget that Pietro 
 Rocco was, supposedly, a fabulously rich man. 
 He was a resident of Perzagno and had two houses 
 over there. He had no sons, and thus his name 
 ended with him ; but had three daughters, his favor- 
 ite being the second one, Albina. These daughters 
 always quarreled bitterly, it seems, with one an- 
 other and with their father. Just why, we no 
 longer know, but we believe their infelicity to have 
 been a part of the curse. The eldest and youngest 
 were devout followers of the Church, and in time 
 took up their residence in a convent somewhere on 
 the gulfs and entered the novitiate. Rocco himself, 
 no doubt, really an ex-pirate, was bitterly enraged 
 at this and gathering together a band of the haidu- 
 kans, remnants of which still existed on the gulfs, 
 he broke into the convent, removed his daughters, 
 and imprisoned them in some place or other of his 
 own selection. But for this sacrilegious act he re- 
 ceived a prompt retribution from his Maker. 
 
 One of these haidukans seems to have been an 
 expert musician and an equally expert squire of 
 dames. We have no record of how the matter 
 came about, but Rocco's favorite daughter Albina, 
 in due time after this event, was found to be with 
 child, and Rocco soon identified his daughter's 
 cavalier in the person of the haidukan in question. 
 We know from an old letter that about this time 
 Rocco lay in his bed badly wounded, and that the 
 haidukans held an impressive funeral ceremony 
 over their gay member. This event no doubt still 
 further embittered the relations between the daugh- 
 ters and between them and their father. 
 
 There was further trouble between Rocco and 
 the band of haidukans, but from now on the record 
 II
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 of the family is unknown until about the time of 
 Rocco's death, save that the offending daughter was 
 later married and widowed, and that her illegiti- 
 mate son grew to manhood, though not in his grand- 
 father's house. 
 
 The last knowledge that we have of Rocco him- 
 self, is that rendered desperate by the constant quar- 
 rels and bickerings of his daughters, he built a pe- 
 culiar house and swore that they should live in it 
 for the rest of their lives. This house still stands, 
 and if you will search between the north end of 
 Perzagno and the beginning of Stolivo you will 
 readily find it. It is known as Le Tre Sorelle. It 
 is built together, but in three separate divisions 
 which formerly had no communication with each 
 other, and Rocco intended each division for a 
 daughter." 
 
 "Curious! And did the sisters live there?" 
 "I do not know from any record, but they no 
 doubt did, as in those days the word of the master 
 of the house was the household law. Albina spent 
 her last years in Curzola, but that was long after 
 all the rest had died." 
 
 "And what became of Rocco's great fortune?" 
 "That brings us to the point of my tale. No one 
 knows what he did with it. At the time of his 
 death he was in possession of certain very rich 
 lands. An old will still to be read in the archives 
 shows that these lands were left to Albina, and 
 there was a clause that she care for her sisters dur- 
 ing their life time. But unless, as is often the 
 case, Rocco's wealth was greatly over-estimated, 
 he must have lost or disposed of the most of it 
 before his death, for the lands, though rich, scarce- 
 ly counted in the estate he was supposed to have. 
 However, the lands were there, and in due time 
 
 12
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 Albina herself passed, leaving these lands to her il- 
 legitimate son on the condition that he bear her 
 husband's name, which was Portulan. At the fall 
 of the Republic this illegitimate child, then in mid- 
 dle life, was among those who claimed the protec- 
 tion of the church, on the ground that during her 
 later life his mother had been a faithful member of 
 our Communion. This was, of course, true, and it 
 had been on this ground that her father's interment 
 had been allowed here." 
 
 "Are any of their descendants still living?" 
 "Oh, yes. The present possessor of these very 
 lands is a rich wine-grower who lives over in 
 Perzagno. He has a young daughter and a niece. 
 The niece is in the paternal line and is the heiress 
 to old Rocco's lands. If you ever meet them they 
 doubtless can tell you more of Albina Portulan 
 than I can, as they must have many a letter and 
 document to which I have no access, of course. 
 They are Oriental heretics, now." 
 
 "Ah, I see ! Then this niece's name is Portulan." 
 "Yes, since that was Albina's name by marriage." 
 "A fascinating tale, Ed! It has the advantage 
 over many other old stories, in that it is continued 
 down to the present in the persons of living wit- 
 nesses, so to speak." 
 
 "What were the sisters like in their personal ap- 
 pearance?" I asked. 
 
 "We have no record as to that," answered the 
 priest. "We only know that the family was Vene- 
 tian, of Secretarian* rank and not mixed with the 
 Slavs. I am sorry I cannot tell you more of 
 them." 
 
 * That is, the "Cittadini originarii," who ranked next 
 to the Patricians and equal with the nobility of the main- 
 land very like the Equestrian rank of ancient Rome. 
 
 13
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "But, Signer, perhaps we have remained too 
 long here. If you will come to my house I will try 
 to find something in the way of poor refreshments 
 for you, and if you like, will relate some other tales 
 of the place." * 
 
 The day was going when we again reached the 
 dilapidated pier and haled our boatmen out of a 
 neighboring wine room. It had been intensely hot 
 but the evening was cool and we prepared to spend 
 two lazy luxurious hours under bright stars. 
 
 But a few minutes after starting we were treated 
 to a beautiful surprise. One by one the numberless 
 little towns around the gulf sprang into illumina- 
 tion, and before every town one or more beach fires 
 were lighted.! On questioning the boatmen we 
 learned that this was St. John's day and that this il- 
 lumination was usual each year. Moreover, before 
 every house wherein resided any one named "John" 
 a beach fire would be lighted. We had noticed these 
 collections during the day as we had rowed past 
 several places, but I had taken them to be mere 
 wood piles, and the fact that this was St. John's 
 day had either escaped mention in our hearing or 
 had received but a passing notice. Therefore this 
 display was a complete surprise. "John" 
 "Johan," "Jovani" "Giovanni" is a very common 
 name in nearly every language, so the beach fires 
 were many and soon the shores of the gulf looked 
 like a vast rosary, each bead springing into flame 
 as it was counted. In the other houses candles and 
 lamps burned in the windows and in every little 
 
 * Since the date of this conversation the old church has 
 been "restored" and Rocco's grave-stone has disappeared. 
 
 t The adaptation to Christian purposes of the ancient 
 pagan custom of lighting fires at the summer solstice. 
 
 14
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 coffee-house was a crowd of merry-makers whose 
 jests and laughter came floating out to us as we 
 rowed along. 
 
 As we came to Dobrota the illumination and 
 beach fires seemed to be especially important and 
 we requested our rowers to cut in and pass as 
 near by as possible, with the result that we were 
 soon within almost leaping distance of the ends of 
 the short stone piers as we passed. Here in one 
 quarter near a tiny chapel on a rocky point and a 
 votive cross upon a rock in the water, was a vast 
 fire located in front of a very large old time house, 
 which itself was brilliantly lit up from ground floor 
 to garret. A large gathering of people extended 
 from this house to the beach fire and a large num- 
 ber of barques lay moored there. As we came up 
 a brilliant party left the house and came down to 
 the boats. Our rowers said it was a wedding party, 
 and that the groom's name must be "J onn -" The 
 people were gaily dressed, some in fancy local cos- 
 tumes and there was a sprinkling of military uni- 
 forms. All were laughing and chattering as they 
 began to clamber into the boats by the light of the 
 fire and of many lanterns and torches. 
 
 We were only a few yards away when the party 
 left the house and had no difficulty in identifying 
 the bridal pair in the persons of a trim little girl in 
 flowing veils and a big dark-browed man in evening 
 clothes. I had just time to notice them when I 
 almost fell out of the boat in my surprise, and at 
 almost the same instant Harry seized my arm. He 
 said something but I did not hear it. 
 
 Just behind the bridal couple was the rest of the 
 bridal party awaiting its turn to embark, and all 
 in the full light of the fire. Among these latter 
 ones stood a young girl bearing the loveliest of all 
 
 15
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 the beautiful faces it had ever been my lot to look 
 upon. She seemed to be of more serious cast than 
 the merry-makers who surrounded her for she only 
 smiled when the others bent double with laughter, 
 and spoke when the others chattered. Pride and 
 dignity were discernible in the face, which never- 
 theless could smile sweetly, and a certain sadness 
 seemed evident in eyes which at the same time were 
 bright and inviting. I wondred why the sadness 
 was there and began forthwith to be jealous of the 
 cause, and with this found myself bending so far 
 over the side of the barque that a rough word of 
 warning and Harry's pull upon my arm came none 
 too soon to avoid an involuntary and embarrassing 
 dip into the gulf. I suppose this rescue caused 
 some clatter in our boat for several of the party 
 were now observing us. We were pointed out to 
 the bridal couple, and all leveled I know not what 
 good-natured jests at us which our boatmen seemed 
 able to answer, as more screams and laughter fol- 
 lowed their sallies. 
 
 Among the others, the beautiful, sadly smiling 
 face was also turned upon us, and with a certain 
 eagerness, as I wished to believe. Harry had sat 
 down behind me and she could not have seen him 
 well. I hoped, I believed, she was looking at me; 
 and as I watched her all the rest of the party and 
 all things round about her became invisible in the 
 keen intensity of interest centered upon that one 
 beautiful face. 
 
 "Well," Harry broke in roughly, "it seems to me 
 that we are intruding!" 
 
 "The gulf belongs to all," I answered, as I sat 
 back in my place. He ordered the rowers to pro- 
 ceed, then said: 
 
 "So do the streets of a city; but even there, we 
 16
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 sometimes get it in the neck for staring. Of course 
 nothing happens to the fellow who has 'hay-seed' 
 legibly written all over him any more than to any 
 other man who is known to be not quite right." 
 
 "There is no hay on you, Harry. It all took fire 
 from that poll of yours and burnt, years ago. Be- 
 sides I do not believe we were intruding upon that 
 good-natured happy company." 
 
 "I understand these people better than you do, 
 Ed. They are partly Servian, but they are also 
 partly Italian. And you must remember that we 
 only know the Ingenieur a little. He plainly meant 
 to get rid of us by leaving the ship at Castel Nuovo. 
 We must, therefore, respect his incognito now until 
 he chooses to hunt us up again." 
 
 "The Ingenieur! What has he to do with this?" 
 
 Harry turned on me. 
 
 "He was there in the wedding party. Were you 
 not staring at him?" 
 
 "The Ingenieur there ! Great Scott ! I didn't even 
 see him !" 
 
 "Why were you staring so then with your eyes 
 hanging out on your cheeks, and a mouth open like a 
 pumpkin face? Do you know that I saved you 
 from a dip?" 
 
 But I couldn't mention the sweet face I had seen, 
 to Harry, just yet. Of course, he would have to 
 know about her because I had made up my mind I 
 would see her once more, at least. But I needed 
 a little time to collect my scattered wits before I 
 would feel prepared to endure Harry's gibes. 
 
 The Ingenieur ! What was he doing there ? Had 
 he been with the girl? I was both glad and sorry 
 I had not seen him; I was consumed with envy 
 already filled with jealousy that he should know 
 her, as must be the case. Was she one of his "fair 
 17
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 ones who lived farther up the gulf?" The thought 
 was like vitriol poured upon a fresh wound. 
 
 I had planned not to mention her until we should 
 be calmly installed at a table in the cool coffee 
 house we had visited the previous evening on the 
 Riva, but it was very difficult to keep silence. I 
 wondered if Harry had noticed her. Perhaps he 
 had and was now thinking the same things I was. 
 This also was maddening. I ventured a question. 
 
 "Did you notice that lovely girl in the bridal 
 party? With the older couple, just behind the 
 groom ?" 
 
 "I do not specially remember any one of them," 
 he answered indifferently. "There were several 
 beautiful women in that party. The bride herself 
 was no slouch. Why! Where you staring at some 
 of those ladies in that way? This is worse yet! 
 If you continue to do that sort of thing among 
 these people I can see your finish. A dark night 
 and a prone figure with a small but effective three- 
 cornered hole in its back !" 
 
 "Dramatic description was never your strong 
 point, Harry. You become trite at once. Stick to 
 gibing." 
 
 "And all because of some little skirted dago with 
 just a pair of eyes and a pair of ideas in her head !" 
 
 I did not mind this particularly. If Harry had 
 seen her he could never have characterized her thus. 
 I saw that the coast was clear as far as my friend 
 was concerned, and found some comfort in the fact. 
 
 After a jolly row with our boatmen in which 
 Harry won by a good length we proceeded to in- 
 stall ourselves at a table in the garden of the Cafe 
 Dojmi in the midst of a motley company Italians, 
 Italo-Servians, pure Servians, Montenegrins (the 
 latter in their national costumes but without their 
 18
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 arsenals of weapons, since they are obliged to give 
 up these upon entering the city gates), some Turks, 
 a couple of Greeks, an Orthodox Oriental priest in 
 his tall cylindrical hat, and a sprinkling of Austrian 
 soldiers and smart officers, the latter in their singu- 
 lar military chapeaus the real "stove-pipe hat," 
 and all doing as we were, discussing black coffee 
 and cognac with the eternal cigarette, or cold meat, 
 salami, spiced fish and bottled beer. 
 
 The previous evening after having had our din- 
 ner at the hotel we had come to the Dojmi for 
 awhile and had found a waiter who had been in 
 America and who could speak English tolerably. At 
 once he had become our devoted slave. Tonight I 
 soon spied and beckoned him over. 
 
 "Enrico, I am going to give you a commission 
 something to do for me ; but it is very, very private, 
 and you must never say anything about it to any 
 cne now or hereafter. If you succeed, you get good 
 pay." 
 
 "Alia right, Dottor. You shalla have not to com- 
 plain ofa my tongue." 
 
 I told him of the wedding party at Dobrota, ex- 
 plained that I wanted him to find out who the 
 bridal couple were and who were with them, and 
 as much elese as he could without attracting notice. 
 I thought best not to mention the young woman 
 herself, trusting that the information I sought would 
 come with the rest. 
 
 Enrico said he had a friend in Dobrota 
 who would know all about the wedding, and that 
 he would go over and see this friend early in the 
 morning before his duties began. If I would come 
 to the coffee-house next morning he would tell me 
 what he was able to learn. 
 
 19
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "All right, Enrico. But remember not to men- 
 tion me or my friend." 
 
 "I will nota forget." 
 
 Harry regarded me with astonishment during 
 these arrangements. After Enrico had gone he 
 stared at me and smoked in silence. Finally he 
 said: 
 
 "Is it so bad as all that?" 
 
 "Oh, I guess so." 
 
 He studied me awhile again. 
 
 "Well well ! I hardly know whether to laugh in 
 my sleeve or in your face. You look like you had 
 grown up, Ed; but I begin to have my doubts." 
 
 "If admiring a woman is a sign of immaturity, 
 Harry, then I fear the world is filled with" 
 
 "Oh, certainly; but well people are not like this, 
 my son ! I refuse to believe that you have fallen in 
 love with a girl of another nation whom you have 
 seen just once, for about one-half minute, with sev- 
 eral yards of water between you !" 
 
 "I said nothing about having fallen in love." 
 
 "Don't get nasty ! What do you name it, then ?" 
 
 "I don't know if I have fallen in love. But I 
 do know that I am determined to see that girl once 
 more, at least, let it cost what it may, or take what 
 time it may!" 
 
 "And if she be a married woman?" 
 
 Devil take him, this was worse than the other 
 thing I had thought of. Married ! Her air of dig- 
 nity (and I supposed the certain air of sadness 
 mentioned would have been conclusive with Harry 
 had he noticed it) lent itself somewhat to Harry's 
 last suggestion. But well, I could only wait and 
 see. 
 
 "There that's better. Just now you were look- 
 ing quite as much like a pirate as either of our 
 20
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 rowers. And yet you tell me that Cupid and you 
 are strangers !" (I wish I could reproduce Harry's 
 tones !) 
 
 "I don't believe either of us knows much about 
 love, Harry. We have lived too selfishly and" 
 
 He held up his hand and answered in his most 
 disagreeable style: 
 
 "Now, Eddie, if you really want to change the 
 subject, just say so and it goes. But don't try to 
 lead me off of it as you would a four-year-old by 
 talking around and away from it." 
 
 I was silent. His fresh cigar seemed hard to light 
 and he consumed much time over it. He seemed 
 embarrassed and I wondered, for I had never no- 
 ticed anything of the kind on his part before. It is 
 wonderful how much trouble a cigar is, sometimes. 
 In fact it was perfectly clear that Harry wanted 
 to say something to me, and either did not quite 
 dare, or did not quite like to do it again, a reve- 
 lation! Finally I said: 
 
 "Well, spit it out, old man!" 
 
 He raised his head and observed me a moment 
 as one does a strange wild animal or a peculiar and 
 incomprehensible type of depravity. Then he 
 threw back his head and laughed loud and long, 
 until everybody in the place was looking at us and 
 grinning in sympathy. 
 
 "A long acquaintance, truly! I shan't worry 
 over it. See her again, then! Of course you will 
 be disappointed and wonder what was the matter 
 with you. There will be something the matter with 
 her there is always something the matter with a 
 woman. We shall laugh over it together some 
 day." 
 
 I was in turn amused at his seriousness and his 
 speech. 
 
 21
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Harry, you can only love your fiddle a thing 
 made of wood and catgut." 
 
 "You forget there is hair in the bow, my boy. 
 The remaining difference is merely wood versus 
 flesh and is in favor of the fiddle I think." 
 
 "Well, Harry, isn't there always something the 
 matter with a man, too?" 
 
 "There is always something the matter with 
 everything," he doggedly answered, his face again 
 overcast. "We have been fore-doomed to expect, 
 and be disappointed to be not quite able to reach 
 any ideal. To have ever, molasses with a fly in it 
 a lute with a rift a flower with one bad petal 
 wine with leas. Ed, if I were to find a perfect 
 thing, I could never believe in it until it became old 
 and worn out, and I should be still hunting some 
 perfect thing to take its place." 
 
 Harry seemed blue, but I did not understand 
 him well enough, yet, to meddle with his mood 
 we had been children when we had parted. I only 
 ventured to give my opinion that sentient beings, 
 themselves imperfect, might very well get used to 
 and become satisfied with others not quite perfect; 
 that I was not expecting perfection in the woman I 
 was now admiring; I did not even wish her to be 
 perfect. For the matter of that, Love is satisfied 
 by the right thing, not by a merely perfect thing of 
 its kind. 
 
 Harry studied me curiously as I stated these 
 views. Finally he said: 
 
 "I honestly believe that if that girl were suddenly 
 to appear here, and be willing, you would marry her 
 instanter, without a moment's hesitation or in- 
 quiry !" 
 
 "I don't know, Harry. Perhaps I would." 
 
 Again he stared me up and down, the while sit- 
 22
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 ting hunched down in his chair. At last he heaved 
 a sigh and seemed to give me up. 
 
 "You're either too shallow or too deep for me! 
 Did you ever hear Caesar Thompson play ?"
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 AFTER breakfast the following morning Harry 
 started for Risano and left me to myself for the 
 day. Needless to say that the hour appointed found 
 me in the Dojmi. 
 
 Enrico joined me very soon. I made shift to 
 hide my impatience and told him to bring me a 
 whiskey and soda. What he brought was surely 
 not whiskey, but that is a detail. 
 
 "Well, Enrico, did you find out anything?" 
 
 "Oh, yes. Think gotta wat you want, sir." 
 
 He soon informed me. Young Giovanni Depolo 
 who lived at Donji Stolivo, had been married on 
 St. John's evening to Militza Popovich, who had 
 lived at Dobrota. He had not been able to get the 
 names of all who were there, but had a list of the 
 immediate wedding party, and the genuineness of 
 this list was attested by the fact that the Inge- 
 nieur's name was there, although wrongly spelled. 
 The Marko Depolo and his wife on his list were, 
 probably the parents of the groom, also the bride's 
 father was there. 
 
 "Enrico, why do so many of these names end in 
 'i-c-h'?" 
 
 "Most all Servian names enda thata way, Dottor. 
 It is ending for father's name for right sound." 
 
 "A phonetic ending?" 
 
 "Yes, Dottor. Jovo, or Jovani, is John; thata 
 fore-name. Jovano-vich is John, buta family 
 name." 
 
 "Ah ! Who is Bojida Gregovich?" 
 
 "I nota know him, Dottor." 
 24
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 Here, then, was one married couple I could not 
 yet identify. 
 
 "Who of these others do you know?" 
 
 "Nota many, Dottor. I coma back to Dalmatia 
 five year ago, but I been in Spalato anda Ragusa 
 mostly. 1 coma to Cattaro only before sixa month. 
 I know mos' in Cattaro, but I nota know many out- 
 aside. I can geta my friend coma down from Do- 
 brota?" 
 
 "We will try without him, Enrico. Tell me who 
 of these you do know." 
 
 He went over them one by one, but my patience 
 went to the winds. 
 
 "Enrico, one of the young women of this party 
 was beautiful more beautiful than I can describe. 
 I want to know which of these names is hers." 
 
 He thought a moment. 
 
 "Marko Depolo live at Donji Stolivo and thisa 
 party wen' thata way. In Perzagno, nota far f'om 
 Stolivo (you can see the begin' of Perzagno over 
 there," and he pointed across the gulf) "in Perza- 
 zagno a beautiful girl about her talk everybody. 
 Famous in these parts. But I nota remember her 
 name now." 
 
 "Well, that is something, anyway." 
 
 I felt jubilant. A well known beauty about whom 
 everyone talked and "famous in these parts." That 
 could mean no other than the girl I had seen, for 
 although Dalmatia is noted for its beautiful women, 
 I was sure there could be no two such as this one. 
 And her name would be here among those of the 
 unmarried girls. This was progression, and satis- 
 factory, too. 
 
 "I cana take thisa list and aska which name it is, 
 Dottor?" 
 
 But I did not dare risk this. She was a single 
 25
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 woman and well known, who lived in Perzagno and 
 whose name was among the others of this list. I 
 decided I would try to determine for myself which 
 of the names was hers. 
 
 It was a warm walk out to and through the mili- 
 tary park, but finally I reached the northwest ex- 
 tremity and on a narrow wooded point which jutted 
 far out into the water, I found a comfortable bench. 
 A troop of infantrymen was playing water foot- (or, 
 rather, hand-) ball, and the pigskin was bounding 
 from one sun-baked bather to another. Still an- 
 other party was practising swimming in uniforms 
 and accoutrements ; but all were too far away from 
 the lonely point to disturb me. Not far away a 
 pretty girl was loitering about, evidently expecting 
 to meet her swain, but she couldn't interest me now. 
 I took out Enrico's list and spread it upon my knee. 
 Taking a leaf from my note book I proceeded to 
 write upon it the names of the unmarried women 
 of the bridal party. 
 
 Amal'ya Sbut'ega, 
 
 Antoniet'ta Coloric'io, 
 
 Elvi'ra Su'jich, 
 
 Adelaid'e Dab'kovich, 
 
 Stanit'za Dab'kovich, 
 
 Lubit'za Toman'oyich, 
 
 Gizel'a* Tomanovich, 
 
 Milit'za Milat'ovich. 
 Eight in all, of which two pairs must be sisters. 
 
 Having written them separately, I began to try 
 to pick her out. 
 
 I felt sure that she was pure Italian, for as far 
 as I could remember, her face showed nothing of 
 
 * Here the name Gisela is spelled with a z for the sake 
 of pronunciation ; hereafter with an s. 
 
 26
 
 The Accursed R 
 
 C C S 
 
 the Servian type (also often very beautiful) which 
 I was beginning to be able to recognize. For this 
 reason I first inclined to one or other of the first 
 two names, which were, or seemed to be, Italian. 
 Then I remembered to have heard the names of one 
 or two here who were clearly Italian but whose 
 names had had the characteristic Servian terminal. 
 Could she belong to one of the pairs of sisters? I 
 remembered no other girl in the party who had even 
 remotely resembled her, but that argued nothing. 
 Sisters are often dissimilar, and once having seen 
 her I had had eyes for no other. 
 
 As both their given names and patronymics were 
 so clearly Servian I decided to exclude Stanitza and 
 Militza. That left six. Sujich could not be a mixed 
 patronymic, so I excluded Elvira. As I had cut 
 out Stanitza, so I must put by Adelaide, her sister. 
 That left practically three names, as the last two, 
 being sisters, could be regarded as one. 
 Amalia Sbutega, 
 Antonietta Coloricio, 
 Lubitza and Gisela Tomanovich. 
 Surely "she" was one of these. 
 
 I dreamed over this list for some time. I was 
 tempted to ask help of the pretty girl wandering 
 about behind me, but remembered in time that 
 Cattaro is a small place where every regular resid- 
 dent, at least, would know everybody else on the 
 gulfs. Not that I cared a rap on my own account, 
 of course, but I did not wish to make a bad start 
 by having my search become the subject of gossip 
 and laughter. 
 
 A chance memory helped me to exclude Amalia. 
 
 I remembered that on the book accompanying my 
 
 letter of credit, Sbutega was the banker named for 
 
 Cattaro. The bridal party had certainly been com- 
 
 27
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 posed of at least well-to-do people, and while there 
 might be other Sbutegas round about the gulfs 
 there was probably not another wealthy Sbutega. 
 Amalia had probably crossed the lake and stayed 
 with friends that night. Had the banker's daughter 
 been my beauty Enrico would have known her 
 name. 
 
 The riddle was now reduced to the lowest terms. 
 I now had merely to ask if the prettiest girl on the 
 gulfs had a sister. But, in very sight of her town 
 and perhaps of the very house in which she lived, 
 it was hard to have to wait for an opportunity to 
 ask, and something or other away back in my mind 
 made we wish to avoid even that. A kind premoni- 
 tion sometimes protects us, just in this way. 
 
 Antonietta Lubitza Gisela. Gisela, some say, 
 is derived from a Turkish word and is a not infre- 
 quent given name in Vienna. There is a Gisela 
 street there. It is the name of one of the Emperor's 
 daughters. It would be a supremely fitting name for 
 my new divinity, as it means "beautiful," but I 
 believed that her patronymic could not be "Tomano- 
 vich." Was my divinity, then, Antonietta? 
 
 I gazed across at Perzagno, whose long water- 
 line began just in sight and immediately disap- 
 peared around a bold projecting point far across 
 the shimmering gulf. Antonietta? Somehow the 
 name did not seem to fit her, for she was not a 
 small woman, my divinity, and I could not think of 
 her by this name. Antonietta ought to belong to a 
 little saucy feminine imp; not to a stately woman. 
 Still, girls generally receive their names while still 
 too young to go into society and mistakes are some- 
 times made. Antonietta! Of itself the name is 
 pretty, but I hoped it was not the one. 
 
 It was geting too hot, so I rose and retraced my 
 28
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 steps to the coffee house. Enrico saw me and came 
 at once. We were almost alone in the place at this 
 hour. I decided to risk another question or two. 
 "Enrico, you know that this matter I have talked 
 of is very private?" 
 
 "Dottor, bya the Virgin I will neva spik it to 
 anybody !" 
 
 "All right. Do you know anybody here by the 
 name of Coloricio?" 
 
 "No, Dottor." 
 
 "Do you know anybody named Tomanovich?" 
 
 "I nota remember thisa name, Dottor." 
 
 "Ask one of the waiters who has been here longer 
 if he knows either of these names, but don't mention 
 me and don't ask another thing. Wait a few min- 
 utes after leaving me before you ask." 
 
 Enrico was intelligent. He dusted tables and set 
 chairs to rights. He went to the gate and had a 
 wordy argument with a hack-man about to start for 
 Cettinje. He flirted with two or three maids on the 
 Riva. Indeed, he did it so well that I began to 
 think he had forgotten his errand. Finally he saun- 
 tered into the coffee house itself, lazily swinging his 
 towel. After a long time he reappeared and joined 
 me. 
 
 "I have found. Coloricio live in Stolivo, and 
 Tomanovich in Perzagno. We nota know Coloricio 
 much. Tomanovich, he richa man have wine 
 vineyards." 
 
 "Enrico, do you know these names ? Think well" 
 I showed the two : 
 
 Lubitza Tomanovich, 
 Gisela Tomanovich. 
 
 "Could either of these be the famous beauty you 
 spoke of who lives in Perzango?" 
 
 He studied them with knit brows. 
 29
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Yes, Dottor, I think Gisela the fronta name 
 but she nota Gisela Tomanovich; thata sure!" 
 
 "Would you know the name if you heard it?" 
 
 "I think so." 
 
 "Are you sure your friend got all the names of 
 the wedding party?" 
 
 "He say so, Dottor." 
 
 I longed for the Ingenieur. 
 
 "Look here, Enrico. Here is a name your friend 
 got wrong. He is named Overmann; not Luver- 
 mann. Do you know him?" 
 
 Enrico clapped his hands to his head and what he 
 said sounded much like cursing; but it was in 
 Italian. 
 
 "Cut it, Enrico ! You will attract attention. What 
 is the matter?" 
 
 "Oh, Dottor, jesta wait until I geta that friend 
 of mine ! I'll" 
 
 "Never mind, Enrico ! He did the best he could 
 and he has done well, too. Do you know the Inge- 
 nieur?" 
 
 "Sure. He often here. He goin' marry with 
 Lubitza Tomanovich thisa name here." 
 
 In another instant, clear as a bell, the riddle was 
 solved. The mention of the Ingenieur's prospective 
 marriage to the wine grower's daughter was the 
 needed link. So this lovely girl was the one of 
 which the priest at Perasto had told us! Descen- 
 dant of the "Accursed Roccos" and of the crabbed 
 old sister who had lived in the queer old house in 
 Perzagno and whose cousin, daughter of the vine- 
 yard owner, was to marry an Austrian officer! 
 She would be Gisela Portulan then not Gisela 
 Tomanovich. Possibly she was sometimes called 
 Tomanovich, since she resided in her uncle's home, 
 and this would explain Enrico's friend's mistake 
 30
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 in making up his list. True, the old priest had 
 not mentioned her beauty, but priests, I supposed, 
 were not given to commenting upon such a point. 
 I wrote the corrected name and showed it to 
 Enrico. 
 
 "Is this the name I am searching for?" 
 
 "Yes ! Yes, Dottor, thata it !" 
 
 It had been a good morning's work. I had iden- 
 tified her without confiding in anybody but Enrico, 
 and I believed he would remain faithful. And as 
 a matter of fact, he did. 
 
 It would be easy to learn all about her now, for 
 now I could ask about her as some one I knew by 
 reputation, as everybody else .did, and I needed but 
 ask the more intelligent acquaintances I might meet. 
 Already I knew what she was. Of the old Vene- 
 tian blood one of the few purer survivors of that 
 stock to be found on the gulfs, and descended 
 from the Secretariat. I would have a surprise for 
 Harry when he got back that evening. "Little 
 dago with a pair of eyes and a pair of ideas" in- 
 deed ! I would have no mercy on Harry. This 
 would make him squirm, for he loved "family" 
 and "good blood' and "mediaeval connections," and 
 talked more than most men of such things. I de- 
 termined that I would never let him forget that 
 phrase. So I made my way to luncheon in good 
 spirits, the same being duly tempered by uncertainty 
 as to the future, and with the name "Gisela" ring- 
 ing in my ears. 
 
 The history of the Krivosjie, country of the peo- 
 ple so insubordinate to the Austrian government, 
 had interested Harry greatly, and I knew that his 
 plan was, if he could get a satisfactory horse at 
 Risano, to make a visit into that karst region. Thus 
 31
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 he might be back that evening, but I scarcely ex- 
 pected him. On my side, I determined to visit 
 Perzagno after the heat of the afternoon had 
 passed. I did not expect to further my quest by 
 this, but I wished to see the long strung out old city 
 once so opulent through Venetian trade, and pos- 
 sessing so many relics of those richer days. Also 
 I wanted to see the triple house of the three sisters. 
 
 So about half past four found me being rowed 
 along the shore of the Gulf opposite the town of 
 Cattaro, almost forgetful of all else in the wild 
 beauty of the locality, which was unfolding itself 
 into a new aspect every moment. Away behind us, 
 down in the southernmost angle of the gulf lay 
 picturesque Cattaro (the old Roman Ascrivium), 
 like a jewel in a setting, the latter being a lofty 
 outlying bastion of the Lovgen, up which straggled 
 the zig-zag walls, continuations of the fortifica- 
 tions, which included in their area the high-lying 
 chapel of the Madonna della Salute, and also on 
 the very peak of the rocky bastion, the ancient cita- 
 del. With my field-glases I could make out the 
 great rock on the mountain side, off to the left, 
 iron strapped to the rocky table to guard against its 
 possible fall into the town below. Further south- 
 ward the Lovgen itself reared its height. The 
 serpentine road into Montenegro looked, at this 
 distance, like a series of zig-zag pen-scratches up 
 the side of the mountain, whose bleak gray-black 
 mass gives both the name to the country of the 
 Montenegrins, and the promise of the forbidding 
 land which the traveler will find there. 
 
 The afternoon had cooled pleasantly by the 
 
 time our barque was passing the lower end of 
 
 Perzagno. By and bye we came to the house Le 
 
 Tre Sorelle. I did not need the exclamation and 
 
 32
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 pointing finger of my boatman, for I knew it in- 
 stantly; it could only be this one, and no other. 
 An old weather-worn time-stained ruin, separated 
 from the water only by the inevitable rock-piers 
 and the road which followed the shores. Three 
 gables fronted on the gulf and ran from front to 
 back. The ground floor gateway of the middle di- 
 vision was still usable and furnished with a heavy 
 wooden door those on the sides had been walled 
 up. Over each gate was a window in which had 
 once been iron bars. In the second floor of each 
 was a fair-sized once ornate window on the gulf. 
 One was still open, one was walled up, and the third 
 was closed . partly by stones, and partly by some 
 sort of a tablet bearing an inscription no longer 
 wholly legible. Tiny windows in the third floor 
 under the gable ends were still open. These last 
 had probably furnished light to "witches' kitchens," 
 for in those old days in this warm land this homely 
 but necessary office was generally located just un- 
 der the roof. On the north side was a small wing 
 with a plain sloping roof this wing being of less 
 height than the rest of the house, and seemingly 
 a later addition, since its masonry was different. 
 In the middle of the front of the house were the re- 
 mains of a more or less ornate Venetian balcony. 
 The roofs of the gables were still intact, but that of 
 the wing was gone. Behind the house was a stairway 
 and portico of stone by which the second floor could 
 be reached directly. The whole stood in a sort of 
 areaway formed by stone walls abutting against 
 the hillside behind. 
 
 A queer monument indeed to a father's despair 
 over three vixen daughters, to remain after all these 
 years to tell the right sad tale! I wondered in 
 which division old Albina Portulan herself had 
 
 33
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 lived. Probably she had occupied all of them af- 
 ter Providence had relieved her of her other sis- 
 ters. 
 
 I was keen to explore the interior the ground 
 floor gate stood open to any comer but I did not 
 dare. I would not have met Gisela under such 
 circumstances for the world. Of course this house 
 must be situated upon old Tomanovich's property 
 and Gisela might even now be within sight or hear- 
 ing somewhere with which thought I am quite 
 sure I stood a little straighter and smoothed out 
 my clothes. 
 
 The ruin exerted an almost unholy fascination, 
 as I stood in the white roadway and dreamed over 
 it. Its fagade seemed sentient and to exhibit some- 
 thing of the passing shades of a living face. Grim, 
 gaunt and frowning, it yet seemed to invite en- 
 trance and nearer acquaintance, then and there, 
 and it was only by a real effort that I finally turned 
 away and wandered eastward along the ancient 
 town. 
 
 By the time I had made the round it was getting 
 late and I had wandered rather far from my barque, 
 so I began my return trip along the fine but nar- 
 row military road which skirts the gulf. 
 
 In coming over to Perzagno that afternoon I 
 had rather risked than desired any chance meet- 
 ing with Gisela, for it would be neither a favorable 
 time nor place. I conceived that I was bound to 
 find some formal way to her acquaintance, either 
 in the local military staff or among the influential 
 residents. But such a method would consume many 
 days before our ultimate meeting. I wished there 
 were a shorter way. 
 
 I was occupied with these thoughts when I 
 rounded a winding of the road where the gulf 
 34
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 jutted into the land, forming a little round bay, 
 the curve of which was followed by the road. On 
 the opposite end of this curve I saw two figures 
 coming along with bent heads, seemingly in ear- 
 nest conversation. The man's figure looked fa- 
 miliar and I unslung my glasses and brought them 
 to bear upon him. 
 
 It was the Ingenieur. His companion was a 
 pretty woman, just a trifle short, but still of fine 
 figure a brunette, with as nearly as I could tell, 
 rather a Servian than Italian cast of countenance. 
 She was speaking seriously and the Ingenieur was 
 listening intently to what she was saying. 
 
 What should I do? It would have been easy 
 enough to avoid them. I had only to step back be- 
 tween two houses into one of the wooded gardens? 
 which lay just behind nearly every one, and wait 
 there until they had passed. I started to do this, 
 but reconsidered. After all, perhaps the Ingenieur 
 had not meant to "shake" us except, perhaps, for 
 that evening only. It had only been day before 
 yesterday, and perhaps he had been too much occu- 
 pied to hunt us up in the meantime. Besides, why 
 should he expect us to avoid meeting him? He 
 knew we were here, and must realize, if he thought 
 of it at all, that such a chance was not among the 
 impossibilities. Added to this, he was the very 
 man to help me. He was to marry Gisela's cousin. 
 I would cheerfully satisfy his most exacting de- 
 mands regarding my credentials. I decided to let 
 him see me and allow him to address me first if 
 he were so disposed. 
 
 I drew from a pocket a local map with which I 
 could pretend to be occupied and seated myself 
 upon a stone on one of the piers at a little distance 
 from the road. 
 
 35
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 After some time they drew near. I knew they 
 had seen me for they had ceased to converse. As 
 they were nearly opposite I looked up. The Ingenieur 
 kept his eyes resolutely along the road and she hers 
 upon the ground. It was the cut direct. 
 
 If there had been any doubt in my mind it was 
 dispelled the next moment, for after they had gone 
 some way, I injudiciously turned my head and 
 looked after them. The Ingenieur still kept his 
 face to the front, but she had turned her head 
 and was observing me as I looked up. We both 
 turned away again at the same instant, and I 
 folded my map and started on. 
 
 I was angry. He might have spoken to me, I 
 thought. True, in electing not to do so, he had only 
 exercised a personal right. We had been but 
 slightly acquainted in Vienna, since then only trav- 
 eling companions without obligation on either side. 
 Having now a woman companion he had only ex- 
 ercised the Code albeit rather severely. But, 
 since he exercised the Code thus, I resolved that 
 I would be the one to apply it when next we met. 
 
 But the worst of it was the certainty that from 
 now on the Ingenieur would be a stumbling-block 
 in my path. That way to Gisela's acquaintance 
 was worse than closed. Therefore I determined 
 to write that very evening to Count Albert Weyer- 
 Reinbach and to Major Scarlatti, for letters. 
 
 Contrary to my expectations, I found upon arriv- 
 ing at the hotel that Harry had returned, having 
 been unable to make proper arrangements for his 
 excursion into the Krivosije. I hastily swallowed 
 my dinner and repaired to our regular trysting- 
 place in the Dojmi. 
 
 He was enthusiastic over his day and rambled 
 on over it in talk for nearly an hour, during which 
 36
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 I managed between fires to write the two letters. 
 The latter finally attracted his attention. 
 
 "Writing home?" 
 
 "No, to Vienna for letters of introduction." 
 
 "Well, well. Not cooled off yet? I supposed 
 you would be more reasonable by now. Have you 
 found out anything?" 
 
 "Yes, a good deal. The little dago with two eyes 
 and two ideas is simply Gisela Portulan, the de- 
 scendant of the Roccos and of the sisters of Le Tre 
 Sorelle whom the priest at Perasto told us about." 
 
 He whistled. "The Accursed Roccos !" he mut- 
 tered. I pretended not to hear this. 
 
 "Moreover, I am not alone in admiring her. It 
 seems she is well known all over the gulfs for her 
 beauty." 
 
 "So much the worse!" 
 
 "How so?" 
 
 Harry turned on me, more earnestly than was 
 his wont. The embarrassment of a former occa- 
 sion returned, but passed as he proceeded: 
 
 "Ed, when we were small boys we used to fight; 
 but I don't remember liking you any the less for 
 that. And now in the few days we have been to- 
 gether, I have come to like you as much as I am 
 ever likely to any other man than myself" (we 
 shook hands cordially and I answered, "Returned 
 with compound interest, old boy!"), "but, Ed, I tell 
 you again I know these people better than you do, 
 because I have been in Europe eight or nine times 
 as long as you have, and besides, in my situation, 
 I have more time and opportunity to learn to know 
 Europeans in general and Italians in particular than 
 you do in your busy clinical life. You know their 
 bodies better than I, and can name their muscles and 
 nerves from top-knot to great toe" ("softly softly, 
 37
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 Harry!" I murmured), "but I know their minds 
 better. Compared to Anglo-Saxons, the people of 
 the Continent are a false lot, Ed. They sometimes 
 have a plating of sincerity, but you have only to 
 scratch it to find the bad metal underneath. Honor 
 and fair play are known to them as mere tools to 
 use when it will save time or serve them best; that 
 is, as means, but never as principles. This is true 
 of all of the great class we come in contact with, 
 Ed, and the exceptions are too rare to be worth dis- 
 cussing. Sojourning Americans who come over here 
 for two or three months in the summer season and 
 find everybody they come in contact with bowing 
 and scraping in the hope of a stray centime, get 
 drunk on this cheap flattery and always forget to 
 look at the real European ; never get below the sur- 
 face of the thin veneer of obsequiousness. Those 
 of better observation are seldom in Europe long 
 enough, or in any one place long enough to analyze 
 the people they find here, and nine times out of ten 
 go home with the notion that these people are like 
 ourselves, but more courteous and self-sacrificing. 
 Nothing could be more false! Here they taunt us 
 Americans with being a money-grubbing nation ! 
 But there are a thousand things which the Euro- 
 pean will do for money, which the Anglo-Saxon 
 will not consider for any purpose; a thousand 
 metres of depravity into which he will descend, in- 
 to which the native-born American will not even 
 look! And of all their faults, the gravest one is 
 their falseness man, woman and child! And of 
 all Europeans the Italian is the falsest. Even in 
 your own Austria there is a proverb 'False as an 
 Italian.' You must have heard it often." 
 
 I grew warm, but Harry was meaning well by 
 me, at least, so I forgave him. I answered : 
 38
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Yes, I have heard the saying often enough in 
 Vienna, but there they curse and sneer at every- 
 thing that is not Viennese, although still Austrian. 
 It is one of the very things which show how pro- 
 vincial a city Vienna is. They sneer at every- 
 body; poke fun at the Bohemians, call the Poles 
 barbarians ; call the Roumanians and Italians false, 
 and curse the Magyar because he sticks to his own 
 nationalism, and refuses to become a lick-spittle of 
 the Monarchy. But there is no use arguing this, 
 Harry. We simply do not agree, and can't agree. 
 Besides, these people here are Dalmatians, and I 
 have never heard the Dalmatians called false not 
 even in Vienna." 
 
 "These people here in southern Dalmatia are 
 Servo-Italian. The Servian is a decadent nation 
 and the Italian is false, Ed!" 
 
 "I do not believe that all Italians are false or 
 that all Servians are decadent. I tell you again that 
 Dalmatians have a good name even in Vienna." 
 
 "I know what I am talking about, Ed ! What the 
 Italian is in Italy he is here. This thing means you 
 no good. You are in for trouble at one end or other 
 of the line. If you meet, win and marry this girl 
 without getting a stiletto in your back in the pro- 
 cess, you will have your troubles later. Remember, 
 Ed, the American woman has her liberty before 
 marriage, the European woman takes it afterward." 
 
 "Let us talk no more of this, Harry!" 
 
 "As you will. I mean you well and I know 
 what I am saying. You can never say you went 
 your way blindly !" 
 
 "No, I can never say that. But the matter is still 
 far off, and to-day seems farther away than ever." 
 
 With this, I proceeded to relate the result of my 
 meeting with the Ingenieur. 
 
 39
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 He whistled again. 
 
 "Well ! That was the behavior of a puppy ! He 
 could have saluted you without stopping!" 
 
 "Truly !" 
 
 "Also that puts a block under your wheel. If 
 he is to marry the cousin of this girl and has cut 
 you upon first running across you here, he certainly 
 will prevent your meeting his prospective wife's 
 cousin. Now the worst that can happen is that you 
 will waste valuable time instead of seeing this 
 interesting locality." 
 
 "We shall see!" 
 
 "Come, Ed, give it up and go with me into 
 Montenegro. Then we will go slowly northward 
 together. Ragusa is said to be one of the most 
 romantically fascinating spots in the world, and at 
 Spalato are the remains of the great palace Dio- 
 cletian built after abdicating, and in which he spent 
 his last years. We can visit Salona and its inter- 
 esting Roman and Early Christian remains, and 
 some of the islands of the coast. They say that 
 Zara contains the most beautiful women in the 
 world, and that they are pure Italian since Italians 
 seem to attract you. This girl here will be like one 
 of the oranges on that tree which grows in the 
 midst of that inaccessible grotto up yonder. You 
 can watch them growing there, but you cannot get 
 one. Let's go to Montenegro to-morrow morning." 
 
 If Harry did not convince me, he was certainly 
 a revelation. I had never known him! He actu- 
 ally had a tremble in his voice, and gripped my 
 hand and held it. I wrung his paw, and although 
 there were no words about it, there was sealed, 
 then and there, a warm and deep friendship which 
 has endured through many years and many vicis- 
 situdes, to this day. 
 
 40
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 I acquiesced so far that the Montenegro jour- 
 ney should be set for the morrow. Until my let- 
 ters should arrive that was as good a way of mark- 
 ing time as any other. Moreover, a happy thought 
 had visited me, and this was only Wednesday with 
 Sunday still four days away.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 "I REPEAT again, Ed, you are engaged in a dan- 
 gerous enterprise." 
 
 We were bowling down the great serpentine 
 from Montenegro. We had had two interesting 
 days at Cettinje, had visited Lake Scutari and some 
 other spots and were now returning to Cattaro. 
 Harry's remark did not refer directly to my love 
 affair but to an offshoot of it. 
 
 Among other democratic features of Cettinje is 
 the prison. It is a small, low building, in the center 
 of the town, located within an inclosure surrounded 
 by a common fence which any schoolboy can leap. 
 The prisoners are allowed to go into this inclosure 
 by day without distinction as to the offence for 
 which they are confined, except those convicted of 
 homicide in which case the right ankle and wrist 
 are left connected by a short heavy chain. Guards 
 there are, but they are lenient and jovial, and the 
 inmates may converse with persons outside of the 
 fence, provided the prisoner do not approach the 
 fence too closely and the conversation be not too 
 long. 
 
 Harry found this of interest, as several of the 
 prisoners spoke Italian and in like manner I found 
 one who spoke German. After a time as we were 
 about to leave I observed a contortion of counte- 
 nance on the part of the one with whom I had been 
 conversing, who, at this time (he was not a 
 chained prisoner, and was therefore less closely 
 watched by the guards) was standing a little apart 
 from the others. 
 
 42
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 I moved a step or two toward him in order to be 
 out of the guard's hearing. The latter, because I 
 was a mere foreign tourist and possibly also for 
 deeper reasons, did not seem disposed to notice 
 us. As soon as I was near enough, the prisoner 
 asked : 
 
 "What are you?" 
 
 "A man." 
 
 "Oh, I am quite sure of that," he answered with 
 a laugh. "I mean of what country are you?" 
 
 "American." 
 
 "I thought so. You are American and therefor 
 keep your given word." 
 
 "It does not follow. That is only our religion. 
 Not all practise it." 
 
 "I am sure you do. Will you do something for 
 me?" 
 
 "If it be not unlawful." 
 
 "It has nothing to do with the laws of Monte- 
 negro. I have a packet here in my belt. It is 
 small. I want it safely and secretly delivered to 
 a man in Cattaro. Will you do it ?" 
 
 "Will it get me into any trouble?" 
 
 "Not the least risk if you are only secret, be- 
 fore and afterward." 
 
 "Why do you not get a Montenegrin to do it? 
 There are many in Cattaro every day." 
 
 "Montenegrins are watched. No attention will 
 be paid to you when you visit this man's house." 
 
 "Oh, there w a risk, then. Please" . The 
 
 guard was drawing near, and I asked : 
 
 "What was your offence? Did you kill some- 
 body?" 
 
 "Oh, no, you see I have no chain. I was drunk 
 and had trouble in a coffee house." 
 
 The guard ^*-.w away again. 
 
 43
 
 The A c c u r s e d R o c c o s 
 
 "Please excuse me. I am trying to keep out of 
 mischief not to get into it." 
 
 He laughed. 
 
 "I am not really laughing, sir, but our conversa- 
 tion must not seem too earnest. Sir, if you will 
 do this, the person who receives this package will 
 pay you money much money, providing he find 
 the seals unbroken." 
 
 A thought struck me. Perhaps this was the 
 "shorter way" I was looking for. For when 
 Europeans will pay money "much money" for a 
 service, they are at their wits' end and are employ- 
 ing a last resort. If they will pay money "much 
 money," they will cheerfully substitute any other 
 thing you want in place of money. 
 
 "Who is the man in Cattaro?" 
 
 "I cannot tell you unless you agree to take the 
 packet to him." 
 
 "Is he a man of importance down there?" 
 
 "Yes, indeed. A very rich man." 
 
 I conned it over. It seemed safe enough. The 
 prisoner continued: 
 
 "You must decide quickly." 
 
 "If I give my word to take it, you must give 
 yours that I shall be safe in doing so." 
 
 "I give my word, provided the seals be not brok- 
 en, and you never mention it, now or afterwards." 
 
 "All right. I'll take it to him. How am I to 
 get the packet?" 
 
 "You see this corner of the prison fence ? There, 
 where the school children are playing? Now count 
 to the eleventh post up that side. It is hollow. It 
 is closed by a knot which you can pull out. Come 
 here after dark and you will find the packet in 
 there." 
 
 "To whom shall I deliver it?" 
 44
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "To the banker Sbutega in Cattaro, and only into 
 his own hands when no other person can see him 
 take it." 
 
 We were barely in time, for the guard was com- 
 ing again. The latter courteously informed me 
 that it was not allowed to talk too long with the 
 prisoners. I touched my hat, receiving a courte- 
 ous return salute and departed. 
 
 That night I obtained the packet. Of course I 
 would keep faith reasonably but it was not in the 
 nature of things and also not prudent to keep the 
 matter from Harry, so I had told him about it. He 
 repeated his remark. 
 
 "It is dangerous. Of course I see why you were 
 willing to undertake it. But in doing so you have 
 placed yourself at the mercy of the convenience 
 of both the prisoner and the banker. If either need 
 to do so, in the future, he will sacrifice you with- 
 out the bat of an eye. I know the honor of these 
 people. Living as you do in Vienna, you must 
 know that the whole Balkans is a hot-bed of po- 
 litical intrigue, and, I take it, this is something of 
 that sort." 
 
 "Well, I can't get out of it now." 
 
 "No, it would be even more dangerous not to do 
 it now ; but it is a pity you were not more prudent 
 in the first place." 
 
 This conversation had occurred on Saturday eve- 
 ning. I did not give Harry's croaking much seri- 
 ous consideration, for my mind was full of the fol- 
 lowing Sunday morning. This last mentioned state 
 of mind was due to a remark of the Ingenieur 
 while we were on shipboard. He had said that all 
 of the people of the gulfs who were near enough 
 and had any clothes always went to Cattaro to 
 church on Sundays, and promenaded the Marina 
 45
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 afterwards, remarking further that this was the 
 time and opportunity to see the pretty women who 
 lived here. 
 
 There are two cathedrals in Cattaro the Roman 
 Catholic and Servian Orthodox ("Greek") for here 
 in Dalmatia the East and the West meet in relig- 
 ion as well as in other ways. This fact offered no 
 special difficulty, however, for the two churches 
 were within an easy stone's throw of each other, 
 and Harry could go to one and I to the other. If 
 Gisela and her people were at the church Harry 
 visited he could come and signal me. 
 
 For a wonder Harry had agreed to this arrange- 
 ment without demur. He said he should be able 
 to recognize her if she were one-quarter the beauty 
 I described. Probably his ready acquiescence was 
 partly due to curiosity. It was an even guess which 
 they would attend, and I left the choice to Harry. 
 He chose the Catholic Cathedral, so the very glar- 
 ing hot Sunday morning found me, in irreproach- 
 able flannel coat and duck trousers, wending my 
 way to the "New" Cathedral. 
 
 I arrived too late for the Benediction, and the 
 Prayer was already being read. I entered the ves- 
 tibule and from the inner door cast a look over 
 the woman's side of the church. There were many 
 there, but none of the Tomanovich family had 
 come, so I took my stand near the entrance mean- 
 ing to be readily seen and signaled by Harry if 
 he came. 
 
 The church was new (that is, was but some fifty 
 odd years old), having replaced an older cathedral 
 which had been destroyed by fire. It was a rather 
 small but well-proportioned basilica, and had as yet 
 but little interior ornamentation. Its decoration must 
 be replaced, little by little, from decade to decade, 
 46
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 as the parishioners might be able to afford. The 
 altar-screen * was complete, however, being cov- 
 ered from floor to ceiling by finely executed ikons. 
 The light was soothing and the church was cool. 
 The tall massive priest was reading the prayer in 
 a monotone and the congregation stood, with heads 
 bent, in silence. I understood not a word of what 
 the priest was reading neither did many of his 
 people, for the vehicle of the service was the an- 
 cient basic Slavonic tongue which has long since 
 given place to the many offshoots, Russian, 
 Polish, Bohemian, Servian and others which now 
 exist; but the air of reverence was, if anything, 
 even more augmented by the resulting mystery of 
 the service, as must always be the case in a stately 
 church whose creed has the prestige of many suc- 
 cessive centuries. 
 
 The priest and the diakon appeared before the 
 altar bearing the Evangelium, and in the midst of 
 antiphonal singing by the choir, I became aware 
 of arrivals. Turning my head, I saw the Tomano- 
 vich family entering the vestibule. I saw the In- 
 genieur first, and at sight of him moved a little for- 
 ward among the men and in front of a column. A 
 verger preceded them, unlocked three pews well 
 forward and ushered them in. The Ingenieur was 
 accompanied by a large powerful-looking white- 
 haired man whom I assumed to be Tomanovich 
 
 * The division wall between the auditorium and the 
 sanctuary, it and its appurtenances being collectively called 
 "the altar." The space it comprehends is relatively much 
 smaller than the "sanctuary" of a Catholic or the "chancel" 
 of an English Established or "Episcopal" edifice, and in 
 the Oriental-"Orthodox" this sacred space occupies the 
 apse, or extreme rear of the building, with no passage 
 or aisle round about it. 
 
 47
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 himself, and by a tall handsome young man. I 
 could give them scant attention as I sidled around 
 my column as a squirrel does his tree. Some wom- 
 en also had come in but in my efforts to avoid be- 
 ing seen by the Ingenieur I forgot them for a mo- 
 ment. Now I saw that an elderly woman with a 
 Slav face and a young woman, not Gisela, were 
 being shown pews on the women's side, next to 
 the Bishop's seat. That was all. Gisela had not 
 come. 
 
 I swallowed my disappointment as best I could 
 and began to observe the two women. The girl 
 was the same one I had seen with the Ingenieur 
 on the road at Perzagno. She was, doubtless, the 
 fiancee, Lubitza. Her face was rather Oriental in 
 type, but both she and her mother kept their faces 
 forward during the reading of the Apostol and I 
 could not study them further. 
 
 The keen sense of disappointment kept nagging 
 at me and blunted the attention which the beauti- 
 ful service deserved. I wondered why Gisela had 
 not come, and various theories suggested them- 
 selves. Perhaps she was not allowed to attend 
 church; but after a moment's thought I dismissed 
 this idea. Perhaps she was ill, but I did not be- 
 lieve it I did not believe she could ever be ill. 
 Perhaps the family were divided in their creed and 
 Gisela was now in the Roman cathedral. Old Al- 
 bina had been Roman Catholic. But Harry had 
 not come for me. Would Harry have sense 
 enough to know her? There were other beautiful 
 girls in Cattaro. 
 
 This thought assailed me until I turned to leave, 
 
 but at this moment the priest went within the altar 
 
 and the choir burst into the Ejeheroine. From the 
 
 attitude of the congregation I saw that now was 
 
 48
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 no time to leave, so I kept my place. There was no 
 organ or other instrumental accompaniment, but 
 the choir was good and the stately measure and old 
 style harmonious progressions made me forget my 
 errand for the present and I have always loved 
 the odor of incense. After a time the central 
 doors of the altar opened and the priest appeared 
 bearing the Bread and Wine. The entire congre- 
 gation fell upon their knees, many upon their faces. 
 Being a stranger and a heretic, I experienced in 
 this moment the same hesitation and embarrass- 
 ment which always assail the uninformed Prote- 
 stant when he happens to attend service in a Catho- 
 lic or Greek church. I would have knelt, from 
 respect if from no other consideration, but I was 
 too late and found myself standing alone among 
 the prostrate people. So I kept my feet; but now 
 I could see every member of the congregation. 
 
 The priest and diakon made their processional 
 among the people. As they passed to the back of 
 the church my eyes followed them and caught 
 sight of two women kneeling at the rear. One was 
 old, evidently a serving-woman, and she was gaz- 
 ing earnestly at me. As I caught her eye she looked 
 down again. Kneeling by her side was Gisela. 
 Having recognized her, I could see her no more 
 for a moment by reason of having to conceal the 
 revulsion of feeling from disappointment to joy, 
 by proper behavior and correct outward aspect, as 
 became the time and place. 
 
 The priest finished his tour and again disap- 
 peared within the altar. The choir chanted a prayer 
 during which the congregation rose and I could 
 see her no longer. 
 
 I promptly forgot my arrangement to notify 
 Harry and occupied myself with wondering if 
 
 49
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 Gisela had seen me. There was no sign of it I 
 had not caught her eye, and she was giving her 
 whole attention to the service. I hoped she had 
 seen me and believed she had, for the searching 
 look from the owlish face of the serving-woman 
 had meant especial interest of some sort, whether 
 friendly or not I could not guess. I edged back- 
 wards until I reached the rear column, where 
 I could see them again. I caught the eye of the 
 serving-woman again. She was standing behind 
 Gisela. Having given me a look she turned her 
 head forward. From the corner of my eye I saw 
 her bend forward and whisper in Gisela's ear. The 
 girl grew rosy but kept her pretty head resolutely 
 forward, and during the Inner Communion I spent 
 my time gazing at her profile and listening to the 
 stately choral music. 
 
 The priest came once more out of the altar bear- 
 ing the Bread and Wine and the congregation 
 formed a procession to partake of the general Com- 
 munion, the men and women now mingling to- 
 gether. Gisela and the serving-woman moved for- 
 ward with the rest, and I could see them no longer. 
 I noticed that the Ingenieur did not go forward but 
 waited in his place a sure sign that he was not 
 of this creed. Thus I was compelled for now, to 
 make a business of keeping my column between me 
 and him. After partaking of the Bread, the 
 final prayer was read and the congregation broke 
 up into groups, the priest being the center of one 
 which included the elder Tomanovich and his fam- 
 ily. I saw Gisela among those who were passing 
 along the altar screen, kissing the Book, the Mother 
 and Child, and other favorite ikons. The serving- 
 woman was strolling slowly up the women's side. 
 I kept my eyes upon her and waited. She came 
 50
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 past the rear column on her side and turned. For 
 the moment we were alone, but not very near one 
 another. She stood still and faced me with an ex- 
 pression which would have done credit to a Spanish 
 inquisitor. Her eyes burned. I tried to smile in 
 that owlish face but could not. I held out my 
 hands, appealingly. Sjie broke into silent laughteiy. 
 gave me one more lorig~Iook, and then, smiling de- 
 risively over her shoulder, went to the sacristan's 
 table where she laid down a coin. The sacristan 
 took up two fresh candles and went forward with 
 her to light and place them in sconces at one end 
 of the altar-screen. The serving-woman, coming 
 back, met Gisela at the Bishop's chair and they 
 stopped to talk. I sidled around my column far 
 enough so they, but not the Ingenieur, could see 
 me. They seemed convulsed with laughter and 
 I caught Gisela's laughing eyes once. They con- 
 sulted they seemed to argue they laughed si- 
 lently at me. Nothing daunted, I held out my 
 hands again. They turned their backs, shaking. 
 Gisela dropped her little hand bag. I had seen her 
 drop it twice during the service. She seemed never 
 to be able to hold it. The serving-woman picked 
 up the reticule and opened it, drawing from it what 
 seemed to be a little tablet of paper or memoran- 
 dum book. Gisela put out her hand as if in protest. 
 Again they argued, and alas, giggled. Finally 
 Gisela seemed to give it up and walked away. The 
 woman scribbled something on the little tablet, 
 tore off the page, dropped this into the reticule and 
 snapped it to, putting the remainder of the tablet in- 
 to the breast of her own dress. 
 
 The various parties in the church were now break- 
 ing up, and I saw Gisela join the serving-woman 
 again and take the reticule. She leaned against
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 the Bishop's seat in a very graceful, negligent atti- 
 tude, the hand bearing the reticule resting against 
 the back of the first pew which stood against the 
 wall. She was very rosy and still bubbling over 
 with suppressed merriment. 
 
 Old Tomanovich and the young man joined the 
 Ingenieur, who was surrounded by others. They 
 now moved toward the entrance and I hastened 
 behind a column on the opposite side. The serv- 
 ing-woman went to Gisela and called her. Gisela 
 once more dropped the reticule and I saw it fall 
 behind the pew. The two women joined the rest 
 of their party and they all moved toward the en- 
 trance and passed out. 
 
 I had seen the reticule fall, but was sure it was 
 safe as the pew was solid to the floor and it could 
 not be seen. There would be plenty of oppor- 
 tunity to get it later. At first I planned to do this at 
 once and take the handbag to her, but realizing that 
 such a proceeding would mean merely thanks and 
 a courteous dismissal I decided to leave it where 
 it was for the present and obtain it later in the 
 day, in the hope of making a more certain use of 
 my possession of it. Accordingly I followed the 
 party to the door and watched them from within. 
 They were having another reunion with their ac- 
 quaintances outside, among which were a number 
 of young men and three or four officers who found 
 much to say to the male members of the family, but 
 all of whose eyes were for Gisela. She seemed ut- 
 terly oblivious of this, and joined a petite dark 
 little girl almost as pretty as herself. They were 
 joined by several young men but Gisela gave these 
 scant attention and rejoined her family, their eyes 
 persistently and regretfully following her. 
 
 Yes, she had plenty of admirers! 
 52
 
 The Accursed R o c c ens 
 
 I thought the chattering and hand-shaking would 
 never come to an end. The old Tomanovich 
 seemed as enthusiastic in social intercourse as 
 either of the girls, but finally their party gathered 
 itself together and with many pauses, false starts 
 and retracing of steps to say something more, they 
 at last definitely started for the Marine gate. I 
 followed. 
 
 After gaining the Riva the party separated. Old 
 Tomanovich, the Ingenieur and the younger man 
 proceeded in the direction of the Dojmi and the la- 
 dies made for their boat. They seemed to be going 
 directly back to Perzagno. 
 
 I hesitated to follow, but Gisela gave a backward 
 look, and her laughing eyes met mine once more. 
 I saw little use in it, but I slowly followed. There 
 were many people sauntering about, so the only no- 
 tice I attracted was by reason of being a stranger. 
 
 The ladies stepped into their barque with many 
 a saucy bit of repartee, with various friends stand- 
 ing about. A little farther down the Riva the 
 noon boat from the north was being warped to the 
 pier, and a dog fight had begun a little this 
 side. 
 
 Between these attractions, the loiterers found in- 
 ducement to move away and in a moment or two 
 I was nearly alone with the party. The serving- 
 woman gave me a stare, but Gisela did not look at 
 me again. I moved away a few steps. 
 
 A commotion caused me to turn again, when I 
 saw that Gisela with many pretty Italian gesticu- 
 lations was anxiously giving directions to the 
 serving-woman. I could not understand, but I 
 was sure it was about the reticule. I regretted I 
 had not brought it with me, but it could not be 
 53
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 helped now. The party did not wait but left the 
 woman behind. She hastily made for the Marine 
 Gate. 
 
 I followed her in I know not what expectation. 
 The day was terribly hot and by the time I had 
 reached the cathedral I was beginning to think 
 that perhaps even a beautiful girl may sometimes 
 not be worth while, for the woman's pace was 
 pitiless. I entered the church just after her. The 
 building was deserted except for ourselves, and 
 I took up a position near the chair behind which 
 I had seen the reticule fall and watched her from 
 there. She searched about for some moments. 
 Our eyes met more than once but she did not ad- 
 dress me only clasped her hands and raised her 
 head in mock despair. I caught her eye once more, 
 drew out the reticule, and took it to her. 
 
 She accepted it with her head down and prompt- 
 ly opened it. I saw a dainty handkerchief, a comb, 
 a little round box which probably contained a 
 powder puff, and some other things. She searched 
 and found alas ! dolt that I had been the little 
 note. So that was why the reticule had been for- 
 gotten! But had she expected I would open and 
 search it? What kind of men did they have here 
 in Cattaro? I was at least acquitted of that, and 
 the woman could give me the note now. 
 
 I held out my hand, but she dropped the note 
 back into the reticule, snapped it to, and was off 
 like a shot. At the church door she turned her 
 head with a quizzical look and disappeared. Then 
 came another hot chase to the Riva, this time with 
 no thought of a beautiful girl not being worth 
 while, even on such a day as this one, but with 
 plenty of wrath at old women in general and this 
 one in particular. As she flew through the long 
 54
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 arch of the Marine Gate she threw me another gay 
 look which was doubtless meant to be teasing but 
 which appeared diabolical. 
 
 I saw her open the reticule again as she flitted 
 across the Marina, which was still deserted except 
 for a couple of waiting barque-men, but without 
 pause she began a bargain with the rowers. Words 
 ran high and gesticulations were extensive and 
 numerous. As I came up she turned with a voluble 
 appeal to me, and to my relief, dropped the little 
 note. I put my foot upon it. She climbed into 
 the boat and they rowed away. She looked back 
 with another arch look and I raised my hat. It is 
 curious how differently the same look can appear 
 under different circumstances ! 
 
 After a look about, I picked up the note and re- 
 tired to the cool arch of the Marine Gate to read it. 
 It was in Italian, but was short, and while I did not 
 understand the spoken tongue, I could read it a lit- 
 tle. 
 
 "Cattedrale, domani, dopo pranso a tre ore 
 venir solo." Three o'clock Monday afternoon. 
 The Cathedral, if open, would be sure to be de- 
 serted at that heated hour. Probably Monday was 
 a Greek Church holy-day, for the Oriental Ortho- 
 dox Church is usually closed on week days. I con- 
 cluded that she would know. 
 
 If I had a subconscious thought that I would 
 have preferred to meet her some other way would 
 have preferred that the initiative should have come 
 more from myself it was easy to put the thought 
 away. There could be no cavil at the place and 
 hour. Besides, as Harry so often had said, I did 
 not know these people and their ways. Perhaps a 
 local man would have found in it nothing but a 
 
 55
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 matter of course. Besides, maybe she had reasons 
 of which I knew nothing, for the step. Anyway, I 
 would be there and I would "come alone."
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE following morning I made my visit to the 
 banker. Having stated that I wished to see Signor 
 Sbutega in person, I was conducted into his private 
 office where, seated at a flat desk, was a man with 
 snow-white beard, hair and eyebrows, rosy sun- 
 tanned face and snapping black eyes full of life and 
 fire. I could not guess his age within a dozen 
 years. For a very rich man the appointments of 
 his private office were wonderfully few and sim- 
 ple and everything looked like it had been owned 
 and used by him for at least twenty years; but all 
 was spotlessly clean and the old gentleman was 
 neatly but comfortably attired in alpaca coat, fresh 
 white shirt and collar and duck trousers. I envied 
 him all but his years. He rose, bowed and directed 
 me to sit opposite him. After a look at my card 
 he said: 
 
 "Please excuse me for not moving up the chair 
 myself, Herr Doktor. You young men are more 
 active than we gouty old fellows." 
 
 I looked at him and laughed. 
 
 "I think you could pack me on your back to the 
 Marine Gate without drawing a long breath." 
 
 He smiled pleasantly. 
 
 "No perhaps once but those feats are past 
 with me now. Also, it is very hot, Doctor Ran- 
 some." 
 
 "Do you know Cettinje, Signor Sbutega?" 
 
 "Know Cettinje? I have lived here over thirty 
 years, Doctor Ransome ! However, it has been 
 some time since I have dared to go there, Why?" 
 57
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 I silently handed him the envelope. He looked 
 from it to me with his keen black eyes. Then with 
 a courteous excuse, he left the room. After a few 
 moments he returned. 
 
 "Do you know anything of this matter, Doctor ?" 
 
 "Not a thing." Then I related the manner of 
 my receiving it. 
 
 "Have you been careful, and above all, discreet?" 
 
 "I confided to my friend that I was carrying it." 
 
 "Is he an American?" 
 
 "Yes, Signor. I thought best that he should 
 know that much but he is safe, and no one but 
 myself has seen the packet." 
 
 He re-seated himself and looked me up and 
 down from under his bushy white brows, mean- 
 while drumming lightly on the desk with his 
 fingers. 
 
 "Doctor, in this matter you have rendered cer- 
 tain persons a very great service one deserving of 
 liberality. Will you be offended if I offer you a 
 thousand crowns as a partial acknowledgment?" 
 
 "Not offended, certainly, Signor, but" 
 
 He looked at me keenly. 
 
 "Doctor Ransome, in such a matter I- shall not 
 reckon crowns and heller with you, you shall have 
 two, three, four thousand, if you like." 
 
 His face was puzzled, but kind. Indeed he 
 looked like a man who not only once had been 
 youthful, but also like one who had not forgotten 
 his youth. 
 
 "I don't want money at all, Signor. I am not 
 rich but I have enough for my wants. Nor do I 
 wish any reward as such for this small service. It 
 was no trouble. But aside from any question of 
 reward you can do me a very great kindness. If 
 you like I will tell you what it is, and after you 
 58
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 know, you can do it for me or not as you think 
 best. If you think best not to, we can simply forget 
 the entire matter." 
 
 He leaned back in his chair. 
 
 "Let me hear it, Doctor." 
 
 His fresh, kindly old face had so won me that 
 it seemed the most simple and reasonable way to 
 give him freely my entire confidence. Besides, he 
 was too keen and discerning to be deceived. Anyway 
 it could do no harm. There was nothing discredi- 
 table in my wish and I was not ashamed of it. 
 
 "Do you know Signer Tomanovich who lives in 
 Perzagno ?" 
 
 He leaned forward on the desk and seemed full 
 of interest at once. 
 
 "Very well for many years." 
 
 "Well, I would like to meet him. I am perfectly 
 willing to furnish you credentials." 
 
 "Is it a business matter?" 
 
 "I oh not exactly, Signer. It has, rather a 
 social cast." 
 
 For one instant his keen face was puzzled and 
 then the smile began. My own began and pro- 
 gressed seriatim with his, and after a moment the 
 laugh was unrestrained on both sides. 
 
 Then he grew grave, and his eyes once more 
 studied my face, this time for one or two minutes 
 as it seemed. Then he gazed out of the window. 
 There was some conflict or other going on behind 
 that old-young face, for its expression varied every 
 second. After a long time he began to speak, still 
 looking out of the window. 
 
 "I think I understand. Your interest is in the 
 maid Gisela, is it not? For the other, Lubitza, is 
 to marry an Austrian." 
 
 "You are right, Signer." 
 59
 
 T h 
 
 "Of course, Doctor Ransome, it would be easy 
 enough to do what you wish. Tomanovich is a 
 long-time acquaintance of mine and our families 
 have always been on fair terms. But I don't 
 know just quite whether it would be best. In 
 saying that, I am thinking of your welfare not 
 theirs, Doctor Ransome, and I beg of you never to 
 repeat me. At least, you should have a little warn- 
 ing first." 
 
 My heart descended to my shoes. 
 
 "Is there anything wrong with the young woman, 
 Signer?" 
 
 "Oh, noT (My heart reascended.) "No, in- 
 deed! As far as I know she is, in every particu- 
 lar, as fine a young woman as ever counted beads, 
 Doctor. But well, the fact is, that the family is 
 peculiar, and in a peculiar situation. In the first 
 place, she is not Tomanovich's daughter did you 
 know that?" 
 
 "Yes, I know. Her name is Portulan." 
 
 He looked sharply at me again. 
 
 "Have you met her yet?" 
 
 "Not yet, Signor." 
 
 He smiled broadly again. 
 
 "Ah still love from the street." 
 
 "Quite so. I have had a very brief account of 
 her." 
 
 After a moment of silence: 
 
 "Then you know that she is of the accursed 
 Roccos and a great-granddaughter of Albina Por- 
 tulan, who lived in Le Tre Sorelle and who was the 
 last of the three sisters to survive. Old Albina 
 was, in those days, supposed to be fabulously rich, 
 because she finally inherited the entire possessions 
 of her father, the last Rocco, who built that house. 
 
 But when she finally died, although still very 
 60
 
 The 'Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 wealthy, she proved to have scarcely a fraction of 
 the immense estate with which she was credited. 
 What Rocco or she did with the bulk of it no one 
 has ever known. All that could be found was the 
 small property there in Perzagno, and several large 
 vineyards on the islands of Lissa and Curzola, and 
 in the Breno valley. For several years before her 
 death she had lived in the town of Curzola, where 
 her husband and father had been interred many 
 years before. The heir, desperate over the shrink- 
 age of the fortune, even went to the length of 
 searching her husband's and father's very tomb, 
 without ever rinding a heller. Worse than all, she 
 had left a peculiar will, whereby for two genera- 
 tions the remaining property was left in trust, the 
 income only being available to the heirs, the full 
 title of the property to be finally vested in the 
 granddaughter of her son, and under a singular 
 condition." 
 
 He paused and looked at me thoughtfully. 
 
 "By the bye, Doctor, I find myself about to dis- 
 cuss a rather private matter. So far, what I have 
 told you is common property, but what I am 
 about to relate, while not precisely a secret, is only 
 known to a few. I shall not treat it as strictly con- 
 fidential, but I will ask you to discuss it as little 
 as possible here. Tomanovich is an old acquain- 
 tance and we have been variously associated in 
 business. I would not care to have him learn that 
 I have discussed his private affairs so freely. Still, 
 I have taken a liking to you. We old men have 
 only the quest of money left us as a pastime, but I 
 can remember when, like you, there were things I 
 put before money. I think it best, in your present 
 enterprise, that you be put in possession of this in- 
 formation." 
 
 61
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 The old-fashioned courtesy of the banker was 
 only equalled by the beauty of the German he 
 spoke, the which put me to shame. 
 
 "I shall speak of the matter to no one but my 
 friend, and not to him if you like." 
 
 "You may tell him of it. He is already in our 
 confidence." 
 
 He resumed: 
 
 "Doctor Ransome, the most pious individuals in 
 our world are the once gay women who, having 
 grown too old to attract lovers, turn to the Con- 
 fessional; and that, in a nutshell, is the history of 
 Albina Portulan. Her son, whom I have men- 
 tioned, and who was her heir, was born out of 
 wedlock; nor did she ever marry the father of 
 this child, but another man. Also, her history con- 
 tinued checkered after her marriage. But in her 
 last years, she was devoted to the Church. We 
 would believe that the Church privately obtained 
 the great missing part of her fortune, were it not 
 for the fact that the church fathers seem to have 
 been as bitterly wroth and disappointed, after her 
 death, as the heir himself was. 
 
 Well, she left a will, as I have said, by which 
 her real estate should descend to the great-grand- 
 claughter in the paternal line. Why the great- 
 granddaughter rather than the great-grandson, is 
 unknown to us. 
 
 This great-granddaughter of Albina is the pres- 
 ent Gisela Portulan, in whom you are interested. 
 Now the proviso in the will, under which she in- 
 herits, is this: 
 
 'Provided the said female heir, up to the time 
 of her legal age, never shall have broken a cardinal 
 rule of the church; or having broken it, shall have 
 atoned for the act by a marriage.' 
 62
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 And the banker leaned back in his chair. 
 
 "Well, did she ever break a rule?" 
 
 "Not as yet." 
 
 "Why! Isn't she of age yet?" 
 
 "No, Signor. In Austria, legal age is twenty- 
 four." 
 
 "Twenty- four ! Hum. Well, where is the prop- 
 erty to go in case she break a cardinal rule?" 
 
 "To her sister if there be one. If not, to the 
 nearest female relative, who is nearest in age. 
 Failing that, the property was to go to the Church. 
 If she break the rule she will only inherit the worth- 
 less ruin known as Le Tre Sorelle. The nearest 
 relative in age is Lubitza, her cousin, the daughter 
 of Signor Tomanovich," said the banker, signifi- 
 cantly. 
 
 I did not miss the meaning of his last sentence, 
 but time was needed for it to dawn fully. 
 
 "Are those vineyards of much value?" 
 
 "Yes. Their value has never been unimportant, 
 and during the last few years, since Dalmatian 
 wines have come into a heavy demand, their value 
 has appreciated very greatly. I suppose their value 
 all together, now, would approach a million 
 kronen." 
 
 "Who is the guardian ?" 
 
 "Tomanovich. He passes as a wealthy man, but 
 he is only rich in this property which he controls. 
 If Gisela live according to the will until she be 
 twenty-four, she will take all the family has. If 
 she fall, she will have only Le Tre Sorelle, and 
 Tomanovich's own daughter will have all." 
 
 "May Gisela marry before she come of age?" 
 
 "With her guardian's consent, yes; but he would 
 not consent, and the marriage of a person under 
 age without the guardian's consent, is illegal, and 
 63
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 can be set aside. The family has every interest in 
 preventing such an event, and they have succeeded 
 up to now. So far, this task has not been difficult 
 for the girl has had no deep interests as yet. But, 
 Doctor ah the people of Dalmatia are a good 
 people I must always say that but they are likely 
 to prove primitive where their interests are deeply 
 involved. I warn you that if you seek this girl, 
 that family will render your quest fruitless if they 
 can, and I believe they would go as far as neces- 
 sary in order to do so. Signer Tomanovich is a 
 good man I respect him highly but, well, Doc- 
 tor, his sympathies are naturally with his own 
 daughter in this matter, and well, Doctor, have 
 you understood my drift? Yes? Well, then, you 
 now have the facts and the warning. For the rest, 
 if you care to go on with the matter, I am at your 
 service as far as lies within my power. If you 
 like, you may take a day or two to think the matter 
 over, and then command me." 
 
 But I did not need to think it over. I told him 
 so, and he smiled once more, and gave his word. 
 Just how to manage he did not yet see, but he 
 would make a way and I should hear from him or 
 it in due reasonable time. He put his arm about my 
 shoulders as he saw me to the door. 
 
 Of course Tomanovich and his family would not 
 wish Gisela to marry, as long as keeping her single 
 left her property in their hands. The longer she 
 remained single up to her maturity the more clear 
 profit to them, and in the course of waiting for her 
 legal age there were various chances that she might 
 never reach it, or having reached it, have lost her 
 property then they would own all. But once mar- 
 ried, her legal status was settled at once. With that 
 event legally accomplished, they would become sen- 
 64
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 tenced to vacate on the date of her majority. Yes, 
 it was clear enough that anyone who sought 
 Gisela's hand would have to face difficulties and 
 perhaps dangers. The old banker's warning had 
 not been evoked by an imaginary cause. 
 
 It was past lunch time when I left the counting- 
 house, but not being hungry and desiring a little 
 more time for the matter before I spoke with 
 Harry, I made my way out to my former place in 
 the military park where I could think over the 
 banker's communication and gaze across the sunny 
 gulf at the town where she lived. 
 
 I felt no more than a passing interest in her es- 
 tate at any rate, I was not more sincerely interest- 
 ed in her since learning of her estate than I had 
 been before. Besides, the person who has enough 
 for his wants, be that ever so little, is already rich. 
 Tomanovich might keep the estate, or his daughter 
 might take it for all I cared. Also, a compromise 
 might be possible, and I would be perfectly willing. 
 But would Gisela look at the matter in that light? 
 Giving up somebody else's estate and giving up 
 your own are two different things. However, 
 these were idle speculations now. 
 
 With the thought that he who does not try for 
 a thing is the one who is most certain never to ob- 
 tain it, I dismissed the matter for the present, and 
 sought my room to have a freshening up before it 
 came time to keep the tryst set for three o'clock.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 I WAS first to arrive, and began to kill time by 
 examining the church. 
 
 The interior was simple, and except the elaborate 
 altar screen with its ornate ikons, offered small op- 
 portunity for loitering. I made the most of the 
 latter, and after all found them not lacking in in- 
 terest in their odd combination of minute portrait 
 painting and overlaid gold work. One in particu- 
 lar was a picture of the Mother and Child, and lay 
 on a desk beside the Holy Book. The painting and 
 gold work on this would have borne examination 
 with a strong lens. This piece of work had so en- 
 gaged my attention that a low laugh startled me, 
 and turning I saw a woman standing beside a col- 
 umn not far away. 
 
 The glare from the pavement outside the door 
 blinded me for a moment, but upon walking that 
 way I recognized my enemy-friend, the serving- 
 woman. She was smiling broadly. As I came up 
 she announced: 
 
 "Well, Signer, I am here. Are you not delight- 
 ed?" 
 
 I cast a look about but saw no one else. At this 
 she lauged out. 
 
 "It is many a long year since I have had a love 
 affair. I had about given up. But we never grow 
 too old, Signer. A/id a nice, fresh young man 
 like you, too! I was little dreaming of such luck 
 last Saturday. We'll have a good time together, 
 won't we, darling?" 
 
 66
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 I looked about again a little uneasily this time. 
 
 "I was so embarrassed yesterday !" and she hung 
 her ridiculous old head. "I didn't dare to talk 
 to you. Just think of it ! But I have been dream- 
 ing of you all night long, and this morning I could 
 hardly wait until it came time to come over. Are 
 you not flattered?" 
 
 "You da delightful old tease! Where is" 
 
 "Old tease! Why! I expected to have had a 
 warm kiss by now ! Where is that supplicating look 
 you gave me during the service only yesterday 
 morning? And where are those praying arms? 
 They are hanging by your sides like a couple of sa- 
 lami tied to dry on a beam ! Do you think you are 
 looking at the ghost of your great-grandmother?" 
 (Her voice became wheedling.) "Never mind, 
 Signer. We older girls are better than the young 
 ones. We know better! Come to my arms and 
 let us fly somewhere away from the world where 
 we can love one another forever with no one by!" 
 
 Thoroughly convinced that I had a mad woman 
 to deal with I was dodging her arms and sidling 
 this way and that. I made a rapid calculation. By 
 making a furious run as far as the entrance, I 
 reckoned I would have time to take an ordinary 
 pace as far as the first corner before she would 
 reach the door. Then I could bolt again. With 
 this idea in mind I had sidled about the columns 
 until I finally got her between me and the altar, 
 and then I started. I had made about three bounds 
 when I was arrested by a peal of laughter which 
 echoed and re-echoed strangely, seeming to come 
 from a dozen different directions. I stopped, stumb- 
 ling and sliding on my feet, and looked back at 
 her. She was doubled up, and between laughs was 
 beckoning me to return. I went back to her. As 
 
 67
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 I returned, her laugh died out and her face re- 
 sumed its owlish severity. 
 
 "Did you think me such a fool, Signer? Look 
 better! Let an old woman have her joke, and 
 be not offended." 
 
 "By all means! Even more if you like." 
 
 "I have finished joking. Now to business. What 
 do you want?" 
 
 "First, my good lady, who are you, before I 
 give you my confidence?" 
 
 "All very well, but first, who are you? It is 
 mine to ask first." 
 
 "An American physician, at present residing in 
 Vienna, here on a summer outing, one who can 
 give good references." 
 
 "A doctor. Hum! They are never rich!" 
 
 "Because their patients never pay if they can 
 help it. I am neither rich nor poor." 
 
 "Ah, well what do you want?" 
 
 "I wish to meet and know your mistress she is 
 your mistress, isn't she? the Signorina Portulan." 
 
 She looked at me steadfastly without reply. 
 
 "Will you help me?" 
 
 "I'll think it over. Are you in love with her?" 
 
 "Little doubt of that !" 
 
 "With her, or her wealth?" 
 
 "I did not know she was rich, or is to be, when 
 I first saw and loved her." 
 
 "Hum! You wish to marry her?" 
 
 "Forgive me, I'd rather talk that over with her. 
 Now, please, who are you?" 
 
 "A servant, but a little more, I believe. Her nurse 
 when she was a child. Her personal maid now 
 also her only real friend here." 
 
 "Will you help me?" 
 
 v What will you give me if I do?" 
 68
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 I am not more honest than other men, nor do 
 I have finer feelings; but there was some survival 
 of delicacy, decency, sestheticism, or whatever you 
 please, away back in my mind, which sprang up 
 in revolt against bribing my way to Gisela's ac- 
 quaintance. Moreover self-respect argued that it 
 ought not to be necessary. Gisela was a beautiful 
 woman, but she was no princess or arch-duchess's 
 daughter, and socially was my equal; not a su- 
 perior. My temper rose a little. Besides, it is 
 never well to be in a servant's power. 
 
 "Not a heller ! Not a thing in the world except 
 my thanks. I will not meet your mistress through 
 bribery!" 
 
 The old woman bent, took my hand and kissed 
 it. Then she spoke again with far less owlishness, 
 and much more respect. 
 
 "Forgive me, Signor. I see you are not like the 
 men here. I could be rich by now if I had brought 
 to my mistress all the men who have offered to 
 pay me. Nevertheless, I have never done it 
 yet. If you had offered me money, I would never 
 let you meet her if I could help it." 
 
 She studied me again a moment. 
 
 "But I must know something more. I asked you 
 if you want to marry her. Signor, young men do 
 not always think of marriage when they love a 
 girl!" 
 
 Now her eyes fairly burned into mine. They al- 
 most scorched; and they brought more light to 
 me as to what this old retainer was. 
 
 "Signora, I could never wish anything but mar- 
 riage from your mistress given that I still love her 
 after I come to know her. I must know her first 
 must at least know the tones of her voice, before 
 I ask marriage of her, but it will be either marriage 
 69
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 or honest friendship. I'll never, knowingly offend 
 her, or ever say anything in her presence that her 
 own mother could not hear !" 
 
 "Her mother will hear all you ever say to her, for 
 she is among the Saints, and They know all we say 
 and do ! Signor, does your mother live ?" 
 
 "No, she is also gone." 
 
 "Signor, swear by the memory of your mother, 
 who now hears us both, that you, never in your 
 lifetime, will ever say or do a dishonorable thing to 
 my child !" 
 
 "With all my heart! By the memory of my 
 mother, I swear it !" 
 
 Her face changed completely. The tears came, 
 and the longing yearning look that came over it 
 proved clearly enough that she did look upon her 
 mistress as "her child." I saw that she was one 
 of those faithful retainers which are sometimes 
 found in old European families and of which we, 
 in America, wot not of ; aye, that she was even 
 more than a faithful retainer; and my feelings for 
 her underwent the corresponding change. She ad- 
 dressed me again. 
 
 "Signor, there is much to tell you, but it will 
 keep until the Signorina herself can talk to you. 
 For the present you shall have your wish. I 
 would not do it even now, but the Signorina has 
 seen and liked you, and I will help her to anything 
 she wishes that is her right, and is for her good. 
 But do not trifle with her. Young men may be 
 honest and honorable, but still do great harm, more 
 harm than they know or guess, by trifling. She 
 has never cared for a man, and when she does, it 
 will be with her whole heart and for her lifetime. 
 Promise me that you will not trifle, too!" 
 
 "Girls also trifle, Signora." 
 70
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "It does not hurt a man." 
 
 "You cannot always know. A man buries such 
 things, but they often gnaw and gnaw, and spoil 
 all that is good in him. Never mind. I promise 
 to be always in earnest, whatever I do." 
 
 "And I promise for the Signorina that she will 
 never trifle with you. That promise is easy! I 
 know her. Come, then !" 
 
 This conversation had occurred near the altar- 
 screen. The woman led the way down the nave 
 to the center of the church and came to a stand- 
 still beside a column ; turned and faced me once 
 more, now with her former quizzical look but with- 
 out its owlishness. 
 
 "Did you fall in love with my mistress yesterday 
 in church?" 
 
 "Oh, no days before that when I first saw 
 her." 
 
 "When was that?" 
 
 "St. John's evening. She was on the shore at 
 Dobrota, and I was in a boat, out on the gulf." 
 
 "Jesus, Mary and J ! And you loved her 
 then? Why, how could you see what she was? 
 And did you gather seeds of the fern on that day 
 in order to be able to read our thoughts?" 
 
 "I saw her well enough to love her! What do 
 you mean by gathering the seed of the fern?" 
 
 "Never mind! It is dangerous knowledge. 
 Leave it to the wretched Morlachs. Now, really, 
 Signer, you fall in love easily! Would not some 
 other girl do you as well? Say one fifty-four 
 years old like me ? As I told you, we know how !" 
 
 "It might have been, Signora ; but you see, I saw 
 your mistress before I saw you." 
 
 She laughed again, and following her eyes, I 
 saw a portion of a skirt which had escaped the shel-
 
 The A c c u r s e d R o c c o s 
 
 ter of the column nearest us. Finding that she was 
 discovered, she came from behind the column, still 
 full of laugh, but also a little shamefacedly. Her 
 naturally high color was still higher, more so than 
 the heat outside warranted, and as she slowly came 
 up to us her eyes sought her hands. As she came up 
 to us, she gave me one quick look and started as 
 if to retreat, but the woman spoke to her in Italian 
 and she stopped, half-turned away from me. 
 
 The pretty little mouth was, after all, a rather 
 firm one. You did not see much of the upper lip 
 and the lower one was a very little full. The ear, 
 like a tiny warm-white shell peeped out from be- 
 hind intensely black hair, the last being dressed 
 widely at the sides and piled high on the back of 
 her head. It encroached by its growing roots far 
 forward upon her temples toward the eyebrows. 
 She wore no hat. 
 
 The cheek and neck were a symphony in brown- 
 ish cream and rose, and the shapely little chin was 
 trembling. The little nose had just a slight fullness 
 at the tip, but was so delicate and harmonized so 
 well with her dainty profile that this was far from 
 being a fault. But I wanted to see her eyes; and 
 besides, I must, somehow, end this moment of 
 embarrassment if I did not wish her actually to run 
 from the place. I turned to the woman. 
 
 "Does the Signorina speak German?" 
 
 "Oh, yes, she speaks it well. She is teased just 
 now, but she will talk enough later 1 on never 
 fear!" 
 
 "Not as much as you teased me yesterday and 
 to-day." 
 
 I saw from the corner of my eye that Gisela 
 joined in our laugh. 
 
 "You deserved it, Signer, for being so 'dumb'!" 
 72
 
 "She came from behind the Column." 
 (Accitrsed Roccos.)
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Yes I was 'dumb,' but that was from being too 
 anxious. If I knew women better, I would have 
 been readier to see my chance." 
 
 "The Signer does not know women, then?" 
 
 "Almost not at all." 
 
 The woman scoffed. 
 
 "Ah! The Signer does not know women and 
 lives to-day! Well, you and the Signorina belong 
 together ! I had to plan for her yesterday. I even 
 wrote the note for her. She would have looked at 
 you and gone home again; next time looked, and 
 gone home. This was too slow for me." 
 
 "It would have been too slow for me, too!" I 
 answered laughing. Then I turned to the girl. 
 
 "Signorina, I first saw you St. John's day in 
 the evening, from a boat in the gulf and I have 
 been determined to meet and know you ever since 
 that moment." 
 
 Her eyes were upon me now she looked me 
 straightly and frankly in the face. 
 
 Her eyes would have made her beautiful if she 
 had not had another claim to comeliness. Brown, 
 straight and frank in their glance, set within lids 
 straight from side to side. One feature which ren- 
 dered the eyes so specially beautiful was the fact 
 that the overhang of the upper lid just cut, with 
 its lowest line of contour, the outer middle of the 
 edge of the upper lid. This feature gave the eyes 
 a certain appeal even sadness, when in repose, an 
 effect further emphasized by the little blunt up- 
 ward points formed a little past the middle of the 
 delicate brows. The forehead was wide and the 
 face tapered to the chin in a full oval, but without 
 any of the lunkiness of the lower jaw which so 
 often spoils an otherwise beautiful Italian face. 
 Just a depression in the chin where a dimple might 
 73
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 have been, and the lights and shadows about the 
 jolly yet firm little mouth with the perceptible ten- 
 dency of the lower lip to pout 'all made a pic- 
 ture of young womanly loveliness, that, once seen, 
 is not to be forgotten. 
 
 But at my address her face brightened, the eyes 
 opened wider and the lips parted in a laugh which 
 permitted the sight of two lines of perfect teeth. 
 
 "I saw you, too," Gisela answered, "but not very 
 well. But I knew it was you when I saw you yes- 
 terday." 
 
 "Signorina, I fear I stared at you most discourte- 
 ously yesterday, but" 
 
 "Oh, she is used to that," broke in the serving- 
 woman cynically. 
 
 "Yes, they always turn and look at me when 
 I go on the streets." 
 
 This was uttered without a suspicion of egotism, 
 without a sign of a smirk or simper, only in 
 naive half-wonderment that it should be so. 
 
 "Yes, of course. Whoever sees you, Signorina, 
 must stare more or less. But no doubt the young 
 men here would have managed more neatly than 
 I fear I did. Allow me to apologize, Signorina." 
 
 "You did stare!" said Gisela, laughing, "but I 
 was not angry, Signor, otherwise I would not be 
 here. You looked at me differently from most men, 
 Signor. Women do not have to grow old to know 
 if a man's stare be offensive or not, and if the 
 look be an honest admiring one, why well, are 
 we not here to be admired?" 
 
 "Emphatically, yes!" (The laugh simply could 
 not be kept back.) 
 
 "Besides, I returned it, did I not?" 
 
 Again her face took on a higher color and she 
 half turned away. She was attired in a very simply 
 74
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 but very well made dress of rough yellow silk, 
 was well corsetted and booted, and her full, fine 
 figure was well displayed in this attitude. She 
 was neither too big nor too little, and was an un- 
 studied picture of natural grace, such as the open 
 outdoor life of Dalmatia is sure to produce in 
 those blessed by fine health. 
 
 "I wish I could trade stares with you every day !" 
 
 Her laugh rang out again like a silver bell. 
 
 "Better only Sundays then you won't grow 
 weary of the pastime." 
 
 "But, gracious, Signorina! I don't live in Cat- 
 taro !" 
 
 "Move here, then." 
 
 "Ah, Signorina. After all, you are like other 
 girls. There is no limit to what they will ask." 
 
 "Are all girls like that?" 
 
 "Every one!" 
 
 "I thought you said you knew girls almost not 
 at all !" 
 
 "I think I said I did not know women. I said 
 nothing about girls." 
 
 "And what is the difference between girls and 
 women, then?" 
 
 "Girls demand without limit; women command 
 within limits." 
 
 She danced a step. 
 
 "Caught again! After all, your ignorance of 
 women also, does not seem irreparable !" 
 
 "Alas ! You merely happened to ask the one thing 
 I happened to know." 
 
 "Very sorry. I would not have thought, from 
 your face, that your life had been so hard, that 
 you would only know that about them. You bear 
 troubles well, Signor! But you are still young 
 you can learn more." 
 
 75
 
 The Accursed Roc cos 
 
 "I could ask no better teacher than you, Signor- 
 ina. Will you undertake it?" 
 
 The woman discreetly moved away, saying she 
 would watch at the entrance. The girl again looked 
 me straight in the face with her lovely half-sad 
 eyes. I had not supposed I should make love to 
 her to-day had hardly expected the opportunity, 
 in fact. But we seldom can make our opportuni- 
 ties for love-making and it might be a good while 
 before I should see her thus, alone, again." 
 
 "Undertake to teach you of girls and women? 
 Nay, Signor, that is a lesson for men to learn by 
 themselves, without instruction, from the alphabet- 
 blocks themselves. I am only one block one let- 
 ter." 
 
 "Let me learn that letter, then, and the rest may 
 go hang." 
 
 She tried to draw away her hand, but I was hold- 
 ing it in both of mine, and two against one is su- 
 perior force. She gave it up. It was a dear little 
 warm hand. 
 
 "Signorina, let me know you. May I not come 
 and see you at your home ?" 
 
 She gave a frightened little jump. 
 
 "Come to our house!" she exclaimed. "Oh, Sig- 
 ner, you do not understand. My uncle will never 
 allow that. I am never allowed to have company. 
 Only old friends of the family." 
 
 "I can furnish good letters of introduction, Sig- 
 norina." 
 
 "That will avail nothing. You do not understand, 
 Signor." 
 
 I did understand, and was little surprised. 
 
 "Signorina, do you know I love you?" 
 
 She turned once more and looked me full in 
 the face. 
 
 76
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Ah, Signer, that is so lightly said! You cannot 
 mean it yet!" 
 
 "I love you, Signorina, and I can never love any- 
 one but you, now!" 
 
 "How long since you said that the last time? As 
 much as a week?" 
 
 "I have never said it before, nor shall I ever say 
 it again to anybody but you, Signorina." 
 
 "Ah, Signor, I did not expect this would go so 
 far at our very first meeting. You must not talk 
 to me of love yet. You must better know what 
 you are doing. You do not understand, Signor." 
 
 I did, or thought I did, and was burning to tel) 
 her so and to argue the possibility of managing her 
 uncle. But of course any mention of her prop- 
 erty at this first meeting was not to be thought of. 
 It might have caused a misunderstanding that could 
 never be remedied. For now 1 had to let it pass 
 so. 
 
 "How am I to see you, then ?" 
 
 "Our meetings will have to be stolen ones and we 
 will have to be very secret. If my uncle were to 
 find out that I met you here to-day he would put 
 me into a convent, perhaps never to come out 
 again." 
 
 She shivered. 
 
 "Signor, I have never looked at men before. Of 
 course I know that men admire me and turn and 
 look after me, but I have never cared enough be- 
 fore to risk uncle's anger." 
 
 "Have you ever been threatened with a con- 
 vent ?" 
 
 "Often!" 
 
 Yes, I told myself, I understood very well ! Nor 
 did I regard her fears as groundless. It would be 
 a perfectly possible and practical means for old 
 77 '
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 Tomanovich to use. It has been done, often 
 enough. Knowing her own situation as she did, 
 this girl had run a serious risk indeed in meeting 
 me. The thought was uplifting. 
 
 "Can you always depend upon your servant, 
 there?" 
 
 "Oh, yes. Teresa was my nurse when I was a 
 baby and has always been with me. She is a 
 Morlach, but I do not fear her faithfulness an in- 
 stant. She is more to me than a servant. She has 
 been the one person in the world to whom I could 
 go!" 
 
 "She can be our messenger, then." 
 
 "Certainly. But, Signer, never let any one in 
 Cattaro see you address her!" 
 
 "I shall remember. Signorina, I shall at least 
 try to come to your house. No, child, 1 mean as 
 a regularly introduced guest who is not supposed 
 ever to have seen you. I shall manage safely or 
 not at all. But perhaps it will turn out that you 
 are right and I cannot do so. In that case, as you 
 say, our meetings must be stolen ones. Now we 
 cannot risk many stolen meetings I cannot see 
 you every day or two that way, and, besides, the 
 day will soon come when I must go back to Vienna. 
 Well, then, Signorina, we must not unnecessarily 
 waste the time we do have together. I have loved 
 you from the first from St. John's night when I 
 saw you by the light of a beach fire. I want you to 
 be my own little wife. Between the times we shall 
 meet you must try to make up your mind if you can 
 love me and marry me. If you will be my wife 
 then all will be well. Then we can defy anybody." 
 
 Her face went red and white by turns and her 
 eyes grew wide and bright as she fairly drank in 
 what was said. She looked me long in the eyes, 
 
 78
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 and gave me her other hand. Then her face went 
 jlown and her figure seemed to droop. She sighed 
 wearily. 
 
 "Oh, Signor, you do not understand. I will tell 
 you how things are soon, but I haven't the heart 
 to do it now. Also we have been here already too 
 long. Ingenieur Overmann, who is to marry my 
 cousin, and my uncle are coming over for Teresa 
 and me, and they may have arrived. I must go 
 now." 
 
 "Gisela, do you not have something just one lit- 
 tle word to say to me when I tell you I love 
 you?" 
 
 Her head went down again. Silence. 
 
 "Not one just one little word?" 
 
 Her head remained down and her little boot ner- 
 vously dug at the pavement. 
 
 "Alas, Signor, what shall I say? Shall I say I 
 love you? I do not know yet if I do, and until I 
 do know, that would be a lie." 
 
 Then she looked me frankly in the face. 
 
 "I ought to be married by now, Signor. I am 
 twenty-one yes, actually. I know I do not look 
 it and that is an old maid in Dalmatia. Nearly all 
 of my girl friends are married. But I have never 
 loved anybody yet, nor admired any man enough 
 to make it worth while to defy my uncle. He, on 
 his side, has never urged me to marry, nor tried 
 to make a marriage for me as the fathers and 
 mothers of my friends have done. You are the 
 first man I have ever met without uncle's knowl- 
 edge." (Here she drew away as far as her impris- 
 oned hands would permit and looked at me from 
 an averted face.) "I have risked much to come 
 no common risk, Signor. You may think I am talk- 
 ing only of the risk of a scolding and being shut 
 
 79
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 up as a bad girl for a day or two but it is more 
 than that. In coming here to meet you I have run 
 a graver risk than you dream of. That is an 
 answer to your love making, Signer. I cannot 
 yet say I love you. But I am here and I 
 mean to come again; that is if you want me to." 
 
 But she suddenly wrested her hands loose before 
 I could make good the intention which the witch 
 surely read in my eye. She danced a few feet 
 away and smilingly watched me. 
 
 "Signer, when you hold your arms out that way, 
 you look like you were preparing to take a dive!" 
 
 I took a dive at her, but had not reckoned with 
 her fleetness. I nearly caught her in the front cor- 
 ner of the church but she suddenly said in a tense 
 whisper : 
 
 "Stop! There comes the priest!" 
 
 I looked around, but saw no one. Now she had 
 reached the church door, and having joined her 
 laughing duenna, was merrily waving me adieux. 
 At the door she looked out, and then backward over 
 her shoulder. Then the pretty hand waved me a 
 kiss ; and she was gone, leaving behind only the 
 echoes of silvery laughter flying about among the 
 tall columns of the empty cathedral.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 "Do you ever play the violin any more, Ed?" 
 
 The question came from Harry. We were sit- 
 ting, two evenings later, under the oleanders in the 
 garden of the Dojmi, after a long sight-seeing trip 
 around the gulfs, which had consumed the entire 
 day. 
 
 "You know very well, Harry, that, compared to 
 you, I never played at all." 
 
 "Compared to me you played less, it is true. But 
 I remember you as one of the better pupils of our 
 old master at home. Do you remember the day 
 you smashed your violin over my head?" 
 
 I laughed at the long-forgotten boyish quarrel. 
 
 "Yes! And I jolly well remember the licking 
 the old Dutchman gave me for it, too!" 
 
 "You deserved it. A violin is not an instrument 
 wherewith to break heads. Have you laid playing 
 aside since then?" 
 
 "For some years. I still tried to play a little un- 
 til I had to choose between it and medicine. And 
 then violin playing had to go." 
 
 "Pity. A doctor ought to have at least one other 
 interest besides medicine; then he would not have 
 to choose between talking disgusting shop and be- 
 ing a clam when invited out to dinner." 
 
 I did not like this. We seldom do enjoy a home 
 thrust, and I was still young enough in medicine to 
 have some esprit de corps. 
 
 "Do the long-haired Johnnies never talk shop, 
 then?" 
 
 "They are not all long-haired. Don't get huffy, 
 81
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 my son. Smooth your ruffled feathers with one 
 of these good Montenegrin cigarettes. I saw the 
 Ingenieur in town day before yesterday." 
 
 "Day before yesterday! At what time?" 
 
 "In the afternoon." 
 
 Now I remembered that Gisela had said he was 
 coming over. 
 
 "How comes it you didn't mention this before?" 
 
 "Didn't know you would care specially. Besides 
 I had forgotten the circumstance. Having your 
 experience in mind, I did not give him a chance 
 either to address or snub me." 
 
 "Where did you see him?" 
 
 "Coming out of the bank; Sbutega's." 
 
 "Just what hour, Harry?" 
 
 "Why, what ails you, boy? Sometime between 
 three and four o'clock." 
 
 I fell back in my chair, relieved. If he had 
 been in the bank at that hour he had not been spy- 
 ing. 
 
 The possibility of the Ingenieur being a factor, 
 or becoming one, in my affairs had occurred to me 
 more than once. He was to marry the cousin who 
 would inherit if Gisela did not. His interest was, 
 therefore, involved, and unfavorably, in any future 
 success on my part. I wondered, in passing, why 
 he had not made up to Gisela herself. I could 
 not estimate how far the property consideration 
 went with him, but I assumed, from my knowledge 
 of European marriages, that it was, probably, the 
 principal factor. Of course, no more than my- 
 self, would he have the uncle's countenance in a 
 suit for Gisela's hand, and I assumed that he had 
 taken the next best chance, i.e., Lubitza. Or had he 
 really preferred Lubitza? There is no account- 
 ing for taste, and maybe she had appealed to him 
 
 82
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 more than Gisela. I could not solve the riddle. 
 Still the combination troubled me, and I decided 
 to acquaint Harry with all the facts, even includ- 
 ing at least the circumstance that I had had an in- 
 terview with Signorina Portulan. It would be bet- 
 ter for Harry to know the whole thing. 
 
 He listened to my low-toned account of the con- 
 versation with the banker with all the attention I 
 could have asked. He asked me a question or two, 
 and then considered it, meanwhile drumming on 
 the table and whistling between his teeth. Finally 
 he said: 
 
 "I did not like this thing in the beginning, and 
 I like it less now. But you have gone too far to 
 retreat. I think this thing is going to end up in a 
 jolly fight of some kind, and I am with you, my 
 son. Just tell me in which alley it is to come off, 
 and I'll be there." 
 
 I had not expected to make a convert of him. 
 
 "Glad to hear that, old boy!" 
 
 "Of course it would have been better not to 
 have gone into this in the first place. But you are 
 in now, and now it is a question of winning out. 
 I'm with you, anyway I can help." 
 
 We shook hands. Hardly the action ceased 
 when we were hailed by a jovial voice. 
 
 "What ho ! What solemn pact is being sealed ?" 
 
 It was the Ingenieur. Harry and I both stood 
 up, nonplussed. Not having expected such a con- 
 tingency we had not provided for it. Harry was 
 first to recover his presence of mind, though not 
 without keeping the Ingenieur's extended hand wait- 
 ing a perceptible interval. I bowed gravely with- 
 out offering my hand, but as he extended his, there 
 was nothing to do but take it with the best grace 
 I could command. 
 
 83
 
 The A c c u r s e d R o c c o s 
 
 "I saw you yesterday, Herr McClellan, but you 
 were at a distance and I was in a hurry then. I 
 inquired this morning if you came here and they 
 told me you both were here every night. So I am 
 here." 
 
 The words were jovially spoken, as was his wont. 
 I almost believed he really had not seen me that 
 day across the gulf. 
 
 "Ed saw you last week in Perzagno," remarked 
 Harry. 
 
 I wished he had not mentioned it, but nothing 
 else being possible, upon the Ingenieur's request, I 
 related the circumstance. It only gave him a 
 chance to put me in the wrong, which he promptly 
 did. 
 
 "Well, well ! I call that shabby of you, Herr 
 Doktor! You must have seen that I did not see 
 you. You could have spoken." 
 
 The retort was obvious, of course, but I re- 
 frained. 
 
 "It did not seem to be a favorable or fitting op- 
 portunity for doing so. You were very much en- 
 gaged in conversation." I uttered the words pretty 
 stiffly I think. 
 
 "Oh, you Americans are as bad as the English 
 with your formalities and proprieties. An Aus- 
 trian friend would not have allowed me to pass 
 so. My attention was very much engaged just 
 then, it is true; but I always have time for my 
 friends, no matter how occupied, military duties 
 alone excepted. Now I understand why you fel- 
 lows were so stiff when I came up. Since I have 
 offended, although unintentionally, I offer my best 
 apologies, gentlemen." 
 
 Harry seemed convinced, besides, it would have 
 been unmodern to have been behind him in cour- 
 84
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 tesy. Furthermore, I admitted to myself at once 
 that I would have been convinced, were it not for 
 his connection with my affair, and I argued that 
 he, on his side, did not know of that yet. I ended 
 by being partly convinced, and after a few mo- 
 ments the acquaintance of all three seemed to be 
 on the old footing again. After another word or 
 two of reproach leveled at me he explained himself. 
 
 "When I left you at Castel Nuovo I meant to go 
 on to Ragusa next morning ; but after landing I re- 
 ceived news of the wedding of one of my friends 
 at Dobrota, together with the word that further 
 leave had already been obtained for me from 
 Trebinje. That is how I come to be still here. In 
 the past few days I have been kept busy by my 
 fiancee's family. She lives in Perzagno. I was 
 expecting to meet her and her father in Ragusa 
 where I thought they were, but I found that they 
 also had returned for the wedding. My fiancee was 
 with me when you saw me, Herr Doktor." 
 
 "Ah! Now I understand why you could not see 
 anybody else just then! Forgive my doubts of 
 you !" 
 
 "Just so. Now all's well." And we shook hands 
 again. 
 
 I put him down as a facile and accomplished dal- 
 lier with the truth. I had not forgotten the back- 
 ward look, full of curiosity with which his fiancee 
 had favored me, nor the quick turning of her head 
 when she saw me look up. And they were not con- 
 versing as they had passed me. But perhaps he 
 meant all right now, and with that thought I sank 
 the Perzagno incident. 
 
 "When are you to be married?" Harry asked. 
 
 "The date is not settled," he answered, brushing 
 some ashes off of his uniform. "Probably some 
 
 85
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 time next year. My fiancee is still young only 
 nineteen, and has a fine voice. She wants to study 
 singing and it is perhaps better that she try her- 
 self out at that before she marry. 
 
 "Has her voice a future?" asked Harry. 
 
 "It seems so. A famous Berlin professor was 
 down here last year and said she would succeed in 
 opera." 
 
 "You may lose her at that rate. She may wed 
 her art." 
 
 "Better wed her art first," he answered impertur- 
 bably. 
 
 "Then you are going to give her the choice?" 
 
 "Certainly. It is better so. An artist is far bet- 
 ter off single than married at any rate, until suc- 
 cess is gained. And if she have in her the making 
 of an artist her suitor ought to be unselfish enough 
 to stand aside no matter how much he may want 
 her. Art comes first." 
 
 "That is all true," said Harry. 
 
 "Yes. Besides, in this day "and age, and above 
 all, among artists it is not strictly necessary actu- 
 ally to marry if it be not convenient." 
 
 We risked no comment on this. 
 
 "What have you two been doing the past week ?" 
 
 Harry gave him some account of ourselves. 
 
 "Montenegro ! Pah ! I am astonished that you 
 wasted four whole days there ! There are no pretty 
 women in Montenegro ! Besides, they have a dis- 
 agreeable institution known as the vendetta/' 
 
 "Well, there are pretty women down here, at 
 least." 
 
 "Ho! So you have found them, have you, Sir 
 Violinist? I was expecting to help you in that. 
 Well, perhaps there are still some here you have 
 86
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 not seen yet. I know where the prettiest birds 
 twitter here." 
 
 "Come, Herr Ober-Leutnant, you are trying to 
 lead us astray." 
 
 "No fear. That was done in your grandfather's 
 time I'll wager, Sir Violinist!" 
 
 "Well, your heritage goes still further back. We'll 
 have no show while you are around!" 
 
 "Don't despair. There is no accounting for taste. 
 Speaking of that, let me advise you. When you 
 find a girl you want in Dalmatia, remember that 
 the women here like to be courted by a man; not 
 by another woman in men's clothes. Your high 
 and knightly fol-de-rols, soft speaking and prating 
 about honor will be lost on her. She will be won by 
 a man who is direct in his methods and who will 
 not wait for a yes or no who literally takes her. 
 She would rather elope than marry regularly, any 
 time. And now, gentlemen, I must be going. Be- 
 fore I go, I want you to set a date when you can 
 come over to luncheon, I bear an invitation for 
 you from my prospective father-in-law. When 
 can you come? To-morrow?" 
 
 Again Harry and I stared at one another, and 
 again it was Harry who first recovered himself. 
 After some discussion, the following day, Thurs- 
 day, was set for our coming, and we accompanied 
 the Ingenieur to his barque. We watched him out 
 of sight on the moonlit gulf, and answered his 
 jaunty salutes as long as we could see them. Harry 
 turned on me. 
 
 "I say, Ed, this doesn't chime with your tale! 
 not a little bit!" 
 
 "I have to admit it! Of all unexpected things, 
 that invitation was a bolt from the bluest blue !" 
 
 87
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Well, you may have your chance now and the 
 right way." 
 
 "We shall see. Harry, what do you make of it? 
 I am completely in a fog." 
 
 He thought it over. 
 
 "Why, after all, it seems simple enough. The 
 Ingenieur and his prospective father-in-law know 
 nothing, as yet, about your infatuation for Miss 
 Portulan, nothing about your having met her, and 
 therefore, see no more risk in inviting us to the 
 house, than would be the case with any other peo- 
 ple. And the Ingenieur wishes to pay us a cour- 
 tesy. Then, added to that, maybe they mean to keep 
 Miss Portulan out of sight during our visit. You 
 noticed that the Ingenieur never once mentioned 
 her." 
 
 "But I know perfectly well that he did see me 
 that day, Harry." 
 
 "If you are right, then this change of front 
 would be very curious," said Harry, thoughtfully, 
 "but I think he didn't see you. It was natural, 
 wasn't it, that his attention would be engaged ra- 
 ther with his fiancee than by some fellow sitting 
 by the roadside?" 
 
 "Admittedly. But how about her backward 
 look?" 
 
 "It might have been mere curiosity, and her 
 turning her head when you looked up may have 
 been a mere chance. Who shall say when a wom- 
 an's head shall be turned?" 
 
 "Who, indeed!" I answered, laughing. 
 
 "Also, perhaps the banker has spoken a good 
 word for you. The Ingenieur was in there Mon- 
 day, you remember." 
 
 "No, that isn't it. Before he speaks for me, the 
 88
 
 The Accursed R o c c o $ 
 
 banker will wait until he sees my letters, so that 
 he will have something to quote." 
 
 "Well, we can wait and see. Meanwhile, you 
 have obtained the very thing you wanted. Don't 
 look your gift-horse too closely in the mouth. You 
 can try his gaits and if you don't like him you can 
 jump off again." 
 
 Which shows how Harry had "flopped." 
 
 89
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 DURING my previous visit to Perzagno I had not 
 dared to ask where Signer Tomanovich lived, but 
 had inferred that his residence would be near Le 
 Tre Sorelle. This might have been any one of sev- 
 eral large or medium sized houses within a quarter 
 of a mile. I was therefore surprised to find that 
 he lived in an unpretentious but commodious and 
 comfortable looking villa well up on the hillside, 
 rather in Donji Stolivo (lower Stolivo) than in 
 Perzagno itself, and rather far away from the old 
 triple house. So had I haunted Perzagno, for a 
 sight of Gisela, I would have had my trouble for 
 my pains. 
 
 The Ingenieur had come over for us. As we 
 ascended the pathway to the villa we saw the elder 
 Tomanovich and a young man coming down to 
 meet us. 
 
 Notwithstanding all prejudices the old man im- 
 pressed me favorably at once. He seemed to have 
 attended the same old school of courtesy with the 
 banker. Honor us, he did, as he met us, hat in 
 hand, and made a stately bow. He also was a very 
 hale old man, older than Signor Sbutega, probably, 
 but well kept and vigorous. He was, however, dis- 
 tinctly a Slav a Servian, having little Italian 
 blood. The young man following him was his son, 
 as we were to learn. This young man was, as men 
 go, a handsome human being. For the moment, 
 I had no further opportunity for analysis. 
 
 The Ingenieur made the introductions, speaking 
 in German. 
 
 90
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Ah, Herr Doktor Ransome, delighted to have 
 you honor my poor house. And this is the violin- 
 ist who will fascinate us all some day? Herr 
 M M . Ah, that name is very difficult. You 
 are both young and I am an old man. I shall beg 
 the privilege of using your given names. What 
 is yours, Signer?" 
 
 "Henry. But my good friends call me Harry. I 
 beg you to use the same version with my other 
 good friends, Signer." 
 
 "Harry. Thank you, Signor. And yours, Herr 
 Doktor? E-du-ard? Ah, we hear that one among 
 Europeans. I hope I shall have frequent occa- 
 sion to use these names, in my own house, and 
 for years to come. But, Signori, forgive me for 
 keeping you standing in the heat. Paulo, go on in- 
 to the house and call the ladies and we will fol- 
 low." ^ 
 
 So it was not to be a bachelor party, then. He 
 could scarcely have the face to keep one of them 
 upstairs. I was relieved at once. 
 
 "Where have you studied, Signor Harry? In 
 Belgium ? By the way, we have a curious old fam- 
 ily heirloom which will be sure to interest you 
 but more of that later" (turning to me). Are you 
 also a musician? No, I remember. You are a 
 follower of Galen. A noble profession when in 
 noble hands and in you I am sure it will have a 
 pillar which will be both support and ornament. 
 You have an earnest face." 
 
 "Faces were made to conceal character, Signor." 
 
 "Ah, Doktor Eduard, you have adapted that quo- 
 tation slightly." 
 
 "Signor Tomanovich/ 1 see at once that you 
 have been a wide reader. How many languages do 
 you speak?" 
 
 91
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "In this part of Europe all busy people must be 
 more or less acquainted with a half dozen tongues. 
 In my young days we Dalmatians were still try- 
 ing to get wealth by way of the sea, though the 
 gala times for that had long passed. All I have 
 left of those days is a practiced speaking appara- 
 tus." 
 
 "What does 'gutes Mundwerk' mean, Ed ?" asked 
 Harry in English. 
 
 "It corresponds to 'gift of gab'." 
 "Justa so," said the old man, "gift-a gab." 
 "Well, it stands many in good stead." 
 "It has served me well. After you, gentlemen!" 
 We had come to the entrance of the long low 
 house, of two stories and a basement. Having as- 
 cended the short flight of steps leading to a long 
 wide veranda, we entered the house. A young 
 woman came to meet us, and I recognized Lubitza, 
 the Ingenieur's fiancee. 
 
 After all, I had to admit that she was a comely 
 girl. She would suffer only by comparison with 
 such a royal beauty as her cousin. Her figure, in 
 its way, and her carriage were fully as fine, but 
 her face was pretty more by reason of youthful- 
 ness and fine health than by its lines. Her eyes 
 were not round and level but almost Oriental in 
 type. Of their sort the eyes were fine. The chief 
 fault in her face lie in a certain heaviness of that 
 part between the cheek bones and the angle of the 
 jaw which made her forehead seem too narrow a 
 fact due no doubt to her preponderance of Servian 
 blood. But her color was brilliant as much so as 
 that of her cousin, and, too, there was a certain 
 curious fleeting resemblance between them, only 
 to be seen at one or two angles of view, although 
 her face had not the lovely regularity of her 
 92
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 cousin's. However, she was handsome, and I 
 could see how a man like the Ingenieur, whose 
 taste would be rather for an animal than an intel- 
 lectual type of womanly comeliness might prefer 
 her to Gisela. I was not sorry. She also gave us 
 a warm greeting and seemed to look at me with 
 some curiosity. 
 
 "I have seen you before, Herr Doktor Ransome. 
 You were buried in a book or something by the 
 roadside." 
 
 "Quite right, Signorina. I remember you better 
 still." 
 
 ''Doctor, it is not memory of us that we women 
 prize ; we always hope rather for a not forgetting." 
 
 "The last is more significant?" asked Harry. 
 "Well, that always lies with the woman, it seems 
 to me. She cannot control our remembering but 
 the not forgetting requires a little encouragement." 
 
 "Well, Signor McClaylan, I shall now learn, at 
 last, if I have any power. For if I have, I shall 
 see you very often." 
 
 "I say," said the Ingenieur, jovially, "that won't 
 do. This is my fiancee." 
 
 "I apologize." 
 
 "Don't," said the girl. "It is only a temporary 
 arrangement. Herr Ober-Leutnant is engaged to 
 four or five girls. I am going to be engaged to at 
 least ten men during the coming year. Gentlemen, 
 my mother." 
 
 I had just presence of mind to remember to kiss 
 the old lady's hand, for just behind her stood 
 Gisela. It was a difficult moment for us both. I 
 must look at her just enough, and not too much, as 
 this supposedly first meeting justified. 
 
 Happily, there was not much pause, and still 
 less observation, though Paulo eyed us both as 
 93
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 we shook hands. The bringing in of very welcome 
 and tempting ices gave us an occupation at once. 
 Harry had not seen Gisela up to this time, and as 
 I caught his expressive eye, I read approval there. 
 He managed to say in an undertone, "At last I 
 understand." 
 
 Much to my relief, the mother appropriated me 
 at once. She was a rather hard featured, very 
 quiet woman, and I found it difficult to talk to her, 
 the more as she spoke but little German, and my 
 French was very lame. That, however, helped to 
 cover my embarrassment, so I cheerfully did my 
 best. 
 
 "Luncheon will be ready in about an hour," she 
 informed me. Then she addressed Gisela in Ital- 
 ian, and the girl disappeared. 
 
 "I have told my niece to see if the luncheon is 
 going on all right. Have you seen something of 
 the gulfs, Herr Doktor?" 
 
 My embarrassment would not leave me. All 
 were so jolly and kind that I felt guilty of an 
 underhanded proceeding. I wished I had not met 
 Gisela until this occasion. I was finding myself 
 ashamed of my suspicions of the family and it was 
 only by constantly calling to mind the earnest 
 words of the banker and the fears of Gisela her- 
 self that I could keep these suspicions alive, or find 
 any justification for my present position. For ac- 
 cording to Austrian law Gisela was still a minor 
 by fully three years; therefore her guardian was 
 still responsible for her. Surely, as her guardian, it 
 had been his duty to keep her, an heiress, out of 
 reach of adventurers, even to the length of threat- 
 ening a "convent." I was sure any disinterested 
 person would see the matter in that light. True, I 
 had done no harm. I had proposed marriage to 
 94
 
 The Accursed R o c c o $ 
 
 her, and there is nothing dishonorable in that, to 
 ever so young a girl. But I wished it were to do 
 over again here. 
 
 But Lubitza called a halt to these meditations. 
 A tiny bouquet struck me in the face. 
 
 "Why so thoughtful, Herr Doktor? Are you 
 making a diagnosis?" 
 
 "No, Signorina, rather conning a remedy." 
 
 "I hope the trouble is not serious," she mocked. 
 
 "I'll take the first dose now," and I pinned the 
 nosegay on the lapel of my coat. 
 
 "Very good," said the old man. "The Doctor 
 knows the flowers and plants from which our heal- 
 ing as well as much of our pleasure comes." 
 
 "Our remedies do not all come from plants," in- 
 terposed the Ingenieur. "Perhaps he needs an ani- 
 mal extract." 
 
 "He doesn't look like he needed anything," said 
 Lubitza. "Herr Doktor, do you live in Vienna ?" 
 
 "Yes, Signorina for the present." 
 
 "I shall go there soon we'll dance together." 
 
 "My daughter is a very naughty girl," said the 
 mother. "Herr Doktor, if you would pray for a 
 great good, pray that you may never have daugh- 
 ters to bring up." 
 
 Lubitza sprang up, gathered her mother in her 
 arms, and willy-nilly waltzed a step with her. The 
 Ingenieur saved the table from an upset. The 
 father caught both wife and daughter in his arms 
 and kissed them. Then, still holding the mother in 
 his arms, he dramatically said: 
 
 "Gentlemen, I married this woman over thirty 
 years ago. I have always been satisfied!" 
 
 It was a pretty compliment, and the mother's 
 immobile Slav face grew rosy. At this moment 
 Gisela came in and announced luncheon. She gave 
 95
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 me a smile, but as her glance fell upon the nosegay 
 the smile faded. She turned and left the room. 
 
 "Oh-o, Miss Jealousy !" called out Lubitza. 
 
 We filed out into the next room where the table 
 was set. Gisela leaned out of a window and plucked 
 a rosebud. Then she came to me. 
 
 "Take off those weeds and put on this 1" she com- 
 manded. 
 
 "Herr Doktor, don't you dare!" screamed Lu- 
 bitza. 
 
 "If you don't, I'll never look at you again!" 
 
 "Doktor, if you do, we'll not dance together in 
 Vienna!" 
 
 "I'll take both !" 
 
 "No, no!" all screamed in unison. "That won't 
 do at all!" 
 
 All stood around ready to burst with laughter, 
 looking to see what I would do about it. 
 
 "Choose!" 
 
 "I'll take both, or neither." 
 
 "Ah, I have been sure all along that he had 
 Turkish blood." 
 
 "That must have been the attraction," said 
 Gisela. Then to Lubitza: "Well, take your Turk!" 
 And she threw the rosebud out of the window. 
 "Where is your harem?" she asked me. 
 
 "In my heart." 
 
 "Crowded quarters I fancy especially if the 
 many there quarrel!" 
 
 "Ah," said the Ingenieur, "there are four rooms 
 in it, and by the law of the Prophet he may have 
 four wives. It is well." 
 
 "Stop annoying the Doctor! Let us be seated." 
 
 The old gentleman showed me the chair on his 
 right. Harry was given the mother's right hand. 
 Lubitza took the chair on her mother's left, and 
 96
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 the Ingenieur at the father's left. Thus there were 
 two empty places in the middle of each side. 
 Gisela had left the room. 
 
 "My son begs you to excuse him, gentlemen. He 
 has an imperative engagement at Perzagno, but will 
 return as soon as possible." 
 
 So now I wondered if Gisela would sit beside 
 me. Evidently yes, as the Ingenieur moved away 
 the empty chair on his side and moved nearer to 
 Harry. But when she appeared the next moment, 
 she only glanced at the empty chair on my side, 
 then drew back the chair which the Ingenieur had 
 removed, and seated herself between him and 
 Harry. The pretty red under lip was pouting. 
 
 All laughed. Lubitza promptly pulled away the 
 empty chair between us and moved up to me. 
 
 "Come nearer, Doctor. I am more fascinating 
 than father, besides, we can converse more con- 
 fidentially." 
 
 "Beware of her, Herr Doktor!" warned the In- 
 genieur with a grin. 
 
 I saw that Gisela was really angry. It behooved 
 me to be careful. It was too soon, and my situ- 
 ation too precarious with her as yet, to have a 
 lover's quarrel. It would not do to go too far with 
 the possessor of that firm little mouth at least 
 not until I should have more hold upon her. I took 
 off the tiny boutonniere and threw it at her. Lu- 
 bitza promptly rapped my knuckles soundly with a 
 fork handle. 
 
 "Daughter!" exclaimed the mother. 
 
 "I warned you !" quoth the Ingenieur. 
 
 "Bah ! The Doctor and I will get along all right. 
 I'll Wager he'll wear my flowers in Vienna without 
 throwing them away ! He'll press them in a book." 
 
 Harry was smiling half cynically. I wished they 
 
 97
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 would turn on him awhile. But the first part of a 
 delicious little luncheon had been deftly served, 
 and we all found ourselves hungry. 
 
 "This wine is from Lissa, Herr Doktor, but has 
 been many years in the cask," the old man informed 
 me. 
 
 "It tastes like a fine Beaujolais," I remarked. 
 
 "Yes. The Lissa wines season well. Here in 
 Dalmatia we hope, some day, to supplant the 
 French wines in large part. Already we send 
 thousands of barrels to Marseilles and much of the 
 wine within a French label, for which milord pays 
 twelve or fifteen francs the bottle, was pressed out 
 right here in Dalmatia. We have no vine pests 
 here yet." 
 
 "Yes, all seems to be strong and well in Dalmatia. 
 I believe you could stand on your head like a boy, 
 Signer." 
 
 "Oh, I can. I'll do it after dinner if you like." 
 
 "He is worse than that," said the Ingenieur. "I 
 wouldn't care to stand up against him with bare 
 steel." 
 
 "Nor I with bare fists." 
 
 "Now, boys, don't waste your flattery. Turn it 
 on the ladies where it will count for something." 
 
 Gisela was very quiet. She had laughed lightly 
 when I had thrown the bouquet but had not smiled 
 afterward. I tried to catch her eye but she was 
 talking to Harry. I turned to Lubitza. 
 
 "Herr Ober-Leutnant tells me that you really 
 are going, to Vienna to study opera." 
 
 "Yes, for a year, to see what I can do. Shall we 
 see one another there?" 
 
 "Oh, I hope so, Signorina! Otherwise, I shall 
 be disappointed indeed. With whom are you go- 
 ing to study?" 
 
 98
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 Thus our conversation drifted upon a safe sub- 
 ject for she was an enthusiast in music. Harry 
 was soon attracted and joined in, the mother being 
 an interested listener. I saw that Gisela spoke but 
 little with the Ingenieur, answering him shortly, 
 when he addressed her. His debonair manner was 
 unaffected by that, however. After a little he be- 
 gan a discussion with the father about some Aus- 
 trian political situation. Now Gisela must talk 
 to me, and forgetful of dainty chicken sandwiches 
 I began. 
 
 "Are you a musician, too, Signorina?" 
 
 "No, although I love music especially singing." 
 
 "Why do you not go up to Vienna, too? You 
 could go with your cousin." 
 
 "I have no object there, Signor," she replied, 
 coldly. 
 
 "There is much in Vienna besides music, Signor- 
 ina. It is a gay city." 
 
 "I know little of balls and parties, Herr Doktor, 
 and do not believe I shall ever care for such 
 things." 
 
 "But there is so much in Vienna ! Do you not 
 think of one one single thing you might care for 
 there?" 
 
 She gave me a warning glance. Perhaps fortu- 
 nately for us both there was a diversion at this 
 point. A visitor was announced. He proved to be 
 a priest of the Servian-Orthodox church a very 
 large, fine looking man who was introduced as 
 "Padre Petrus." Signor Tomanovich brought him 
 to the table. From now on the conversation was of 
 little interest to me, and I was glad when the 
 meal was ended, and we repaired once more to the 
 drawing-room. 
 
 I did not know if Harry did it purposely, but I 
 99
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 was grateful to him for taking possession of Lu- 
 bitza, the which he did at once. The mother dis- 
 appeared and Signor Tomanovich and the priest 
 retired to a private room. After some moments the 
 Signor appeared and beckoned to the Ingenieur, 
 who excused himself. Lubitza and Harry went to 
 the piano and began to leaf over music. Gisela had 
 seated herself in an overhanging window and I 
 joined her. 
 
 "Signorina, are you angry with me?" 
 
 "Almost. You just saved yourself by throwing 
 away those weeds !" 
 
 "If I could believe you were jealous of me, I'd 
 be the happiest man in Austria, now!" 
 
 "Be happy then. But it is not only that, there is 
 more behind the matter." 
 
 "Of course I see you do not love your cousin, 
 dear." 
 
 "I have reason not to love her, Signor. There 
 has ever been strife between us. If I am ever to 
 love you, Signor, I warn you I will not bear with 
 any flirting with my cousin! You will have to 
 choose, right now, between us." 
 
 "That will not take me long. But is not Lubitza 
 to marry Herr Ober-Leutnant Overmann?" 
 
 "Oh, that is nothing. Lubitza will always please 
 herself, and above all, will always try to take away 
 from me, if she can, no matter whether she really 
 cares for the thing or not." 
 
 "She cannot do that with me, darling." 
 
 "Be careful, Herr Doktor here. In this house 
 one never knows who may be listening. You were 
 not careful at table. Don't be deceived by their 
 cordiality." 
 
 "It seems real enough. I have taken a real liking 
 to your uncle." 
 
 100
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "My uncle is not a bad man at heart, but he loves 
 his own children best; and my cousin has him un- 
 der her thumb." 
 
 "Well, I love them all for having left us alone 
 together." 
 
 "Nor do I understand that, Herr Doktor. It has, 
 never happened before. And they had seated me 
 next to you! If you knew what lies bohind the 
 scenes here, you would wonder, as I do !" 
 
 Her eyes were wide, and she glanced about, half 
 fearfully, like a child that has been placed in joke 
 upon a high piece of furniture and left there. 
 
 I determined to tell her I did know of her situ- 
 ation, suppressing the banker's name, of course. I 
 saw that Lubitza and Harry were about to sing and 
 play together, as Harry had seated himself at the 
 piano. It would be no place for talking in a mo- 
 ment. 
 
 "Let us prove the thing, Signorina. Let us go 
 somewhere alone, and see if they interrupt us." 
 
 Her little mouth became firm again. She rose, 
 and we sauntered out onto the long veranda. We 
 walked slowly to the other end, and seated ourselves 
 in wicker chairs. It was still hot, and she drew 
 down a screen with which the veranda was fitted. 
 Realizing that an interruption might come any mo- 
 ment, I decided to waste no time. 
 
 "Signorina, I love you and want you to be my 
 wife. Therefore, I think there should be no chance 
 left for any misunderstanding between us. Also, 
 perhaps I can help you. I loved you at that first 
 sight on St. John's evening my friend will tell 
 you so, for we have been good friends since boy- 
 hood and I keep only very private matters from 
 him. At that time I did not know what or who 
 you were, and yet resolved to know and win you. 
 JQI
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 But, Signorina, in trying to find out who you 
 were and a way to your acquaintance, by chance I 
 came across a person who knew all about you and 
 who fully explained the situation between you and 
 the family here. I know about your great-grand- 
 mother, Albina Portulan, and about the curious will 
 she left. I know that if you break a cardinal rule 
 of the Church before you are twenty-four years 
 old you will lose your estates, and will have left 
 only that curious old house in Perzagno. In such a 
 case your estates are to go to your cousin." 
 
 She was prettier than ever in her amazement. 
 
 "Who told you these things, Signor?" 
 
 "I am pledged not to repeat the name. I'll ask 
 him to let me tell you." 
 
 "No matter, Signor. What further did he tell 
 you?" 
 
 "Why that was all. Is there more?" 
 
 "Did he tell you there was once a larger estate ?" 
 
 "Oh, yes. He mentioned that, but said it was 
 lost with Albina Portulan's death." 
 
 "Yes. You have been well informed!" 
 
 "I did not seek this information, Signorina. It 
 only came by chance along with my search for a 
 way to come to you." I said this a little stiffly. 
 
 She glanced about, and then laid her hand on 
 mine and pressed it. Her eyes filled with tears. 
 
 "Don't misunderstand me, Signor. I little wish 
 to hurt the one friend I have in the world !" 
 
 I raised the hand to kiss it. She fearfully drew it 
 back. 
 
 "Careful, Signor! God knows who may be 
 watching us!" 
 
 There was a closed door not far from us. She 
 rose and opened it, looking about inside. Then, 
 leaving the door wide open, she resumed her seat. 
 
 102
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "This corner is my bedroom," she said. 
 
 "Tell me about Albina Portulan. I have part of 
 her history, but not all," and I repeated what the 
 priest at Perasto and the banker had told me, some- 
 what softened, of course, as to particulars. She 
 listened smilingly. 
 
 "You have heard, almost all that any of us 
 know," she said, after I had finished. "You see 
 she lived much over a century ago, and most of her 
 life has been forgotten. She was a gay woman 
 when young; my grandfather was ah ah" 
 
 "Illegitimate. Yes, I was told that, too. Like 
 wine, that only needs the ageing to make it an 
 asset. Also I was told that Albina did not marry 
 the father of your grandfather." 
 
 "Yes, it was so. The real father of my grand- 
 father was a haiduch and a violinist whom my 
 great-grandmother loved while still a girl. He lost 
 his life and left her his violin. Her father would 
 not allow them to marry." 
 
 Her face was lit by the glow of the afternoon 
 sun shining through the red cloth screen, and she 
 looked like some eastern princess, as her head lay 
 back on the chair. 
 
 "Is it known what became of this violin ?" 
 
 "Oh, yes. We have it now. It was mentioned in 
 her will and is to go to her who shall inherit Le 
 Tre Sorelle. This and one or two other things have 
 been handed down in the family." 
 '"Is it a fine instrument?" 
 
 "They say the workmanship is very fine but that 
 it has a broken heart. It has a dreadful tone and 
 is utterly worthless." 
 
 "Has no repair ever been attempted ?" 
 
 "They say it is not worth while. The tone is 
 too bad." 
 
 103
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Most singular! You say the workmanship is 
 fine?" 
 
 "Yes. I'll get it for you. It is here in my room. 
 You can see for yourself, Signor." 
 
 She was gone a moment and returned with it. 
 The case seemed heavy. 
 
 The case was within a thick velvet-lined canvas 
 bag. Removing this, revealed a rosewood box of 
 the usual shape, but magnificently carved. The 
 workman who had done that carving and decorat- 
 ing had worked for love of his art and not for 
 money. The case alone would have commanded 
 practically any price from the lover of an an- 
 tiquity. 
 
 The case was not locked. I opened it, drew out 
 the violin and examined it with great interest. To 
 even the most inexperienced eye there was no doubt 
 of the workmanship. Only one key was left and 
 the tailpiece and bridge were missing otherwise 
 it seemed in perfect order. I looked through the 
 /-hole but the label was gone. The varnish from 
 scroll to end-pin was wholly original and intact 
 save only along the E side of the finger-board, 
 where a little had been scratched away. The gen- 
 eral proportions were of enchanting grace. It de- 
 lighted my eyes more and more every instant I 
 looked at it, not only by reason of the beauty of 
 its lines, but as well on account of the lovely old 
 golden brown color and beautiful figuring in the 
 wood of the back. I viewed it from every angle 
 and could not tire of the sight. For the moment I 
 forgot everything else in the world. 
 
 The silver laugh recalled me. 
 
 "Now, Doctor Ransome, I have discovered your 
 real love at last !" 
 
 "Signorina, not my foremost one, but I admit 
 104
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 you will have to let me bow down before this 
 beautiful violin a little." 
 
 "Do you know, Signer, that just now your face 
 looked like that of some devotee in rapt prayer be- 
 fore a favorite chapel. Is it so very fine then?" 
 
 "Signorina, there is nothing more beautiful in the 
 violin world ! This is just as much a work of art 
 as a Madonna by Raphael or the finest work of a 
 Praxiteles. It is something to worship!" 
 
 She laughed joyously. 
 
 "Signer, it is yours ! It would be unpardonable 
 to keep such a lover and his sweetheart apart! 
 Keep it always." 
 
 I stared at her, only half comprehending. 
 
 "It is yours, Doctor," she said more soberly. 
 
 "What! Do you really give it to me?" 
 
 "Certainly, Doctor Ransome. The gift is of 
 small value, I assure you. It has no tone." 
 
 "But will your uncle not object?" 
 
 "Oh, no ! Rest assured of that. True, it is sup- 
 posed to be a part of the estate, but I have always 
 been allowed to claim it as my very own. It is 
 worthless, so nobody else wanted it," she con- 
 cluded bitterly. 
 
 "But aside from tone it is an heirloom and to- 
 gether with that case is a beautiful antique. Do 
 you not care for it at all?" 
 
 "Nothing like you evidently do. Take it Edu , 
 Signor. Give me the pleasure of having done 
 something to please you." 
 
 I had caught the half uttered name and forgot 
 the violin now. 
 
 "You not only please but delight me every mo- 
 ment I am with you, Gisela. Thank you, dear little 
 girl. I shall never, as long as I live, part with it to 
 any other hand but your own. I wish you would 
 
 105
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 give me yourself along with the violin. Then all 
 three could be together. Can't you love me, dear?" 
 
 "Don't, Signor. I am afraid. Besides we have 
 been here too long already. Let us go. We have 
 proved that no one will interrupt us, have we not ?" 
 Again she smiled. 
 
 "It seems so, but we can't know that it will oc- 
 cur so again. Let me talk to you one moment more. 
 If you will only say you love me, I'll go to your 
 uncle and ask for you." 
 
 Her eyes and mouth opened in genuine fright 
 and she held out her arms imploringly. 
 
 "Oh, Doctor! Whatever mad thing you do or 
 think of, don't do that!" 
 
 "Courage courage little girl, I'll do nothing 
 of the sort without your permission. Calm your- 
 self. When am I to see you again after this af- 
 ternoon ?" 
 
 She was still trembling. 
 
 "I il don't think it can be sooner than Mon- 
 day night. There is to be a military ball in Cattaro 
 that evening. I do not know yet if I am to go, but 
 Lubitza is going and the rest will go with her. If 
 I go you will see me there. Perhaps they will let 
 us alone there, also, for a little while. If I be not 
 there, come over here about ten o'clock. I will send 
 Teresa out into the road to meet you, and when you 
 arrive she will come and bring me." 
 
 I did not object to this arrangement. If they 
 could find it in their hearts not to allow Gisela to 
 go when Lubitza did, I would feel conscience-free 
 in coming to her here. 
 
 "Has Lubitza been singing, Signorina I have 
 heard nothing." 
 
 "You were too much engaged in violin-worship. 
 Yes, she only stopped a few moments ago." 
 
 106
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 I had not heard a single note ! I was spared the 
 need of a social lie, however, for when we re- 
 entered the drawing-room, we found that Paulo as 
 well as the rest were there. The priest had depart- 
 ed. We entered amidst chatter and found places. 
 The old man noticed the violin. 
 
 "I see, Doctor, that Gisela has shown you the 
 old heirloom." 
 
 Harry looked up. 
 
 "Yes, Doctor Ransome was so delighted with it 
 that I have given it to him, uncle." 
 
 "Oh, pshaw ! The thing is worthless only a 
 piece of old lumber. Give him the little jeweled 
 stiletto which was among your great-grandmother's 
 things." 
 
 "The violin is beautiful and the case ought to be 
 in some museum," I said. "It is too much of a 
 present to accept." 
 
 "Bah ! If you really like it, I am glad my niece 
 gave it to you. Take it with a thousand welcomes, 
 Herr Doktor. But you will be disappointed. It 
 has no tone and is only a curious thing. Did you 
 tell the Doctor its history, Gisela ?" 
 
 "Oh, yes." 
 
 Harry, all eagerness, had the violin out. When 
 he saw it his jaw fell, and he stared at me, green 
 with envy. 
 
 "Why ! This is a masterpiece ! No tone, did you 
 say?" " 
 
 "No, Signer Harry. Several fine players at dif- 
 ferent times have tried it, and all say it is worth- 
 less. Some think it was one one of the failures or 
 mistakes of a great maker. Others say it probably 
 cnce had tone, but now has a broken heart." 
 
 Harry turned the violin about in his hands. 
 
 "Yes," he said, sadly. "I know of another such 
 107
 
 The A c c u r s e d R o c c o s 
 
 a one a Joannes Baptiste Guadagnini, which my 
 former master in Brussels has. It has been put in 
 the hands of the best makers again and again. They 
 have never been able to find anything wrong with 
 it, and the workmanship is Guadagnini's best. But 
 like this one, it has no tone. I suppose some min- 
 ute crack or some little spot or streak of softening 
 in a vital spot, or some strain in the wood, com- 
 ing on in the settling of the parts through time, ac- 
 counts for such cases. But what royal workman- 
 ship! What a magnificent shaping! Oh it is 
 too, too bad!" 
 
 "I believe the violin never had tone," said Paulo. 
 "I believe the old masters spoiled a good many 
 violins in the making." 
 
 "It seems strange that they would go on and 
 finish up a failure," I remarked. 
 
 "Oh, no, that is not strange at all," said Harry. 
 "Much of the great worth of a master-violin de- 
 pends upon the very varnish itself: Therefore the 
 makers probably never quite knew what a piece of 
 work would be until it was entirely finished up. 
 The secret of the varnish they used was lost with 
 their other secrets. Today, if one of these old mas- 
 terpieces be re-varnished, it is ruined ; so re-varnish- 
 ing is never attempted on a fine old instrument, no 
 matter how it looks." 
 
 "Perhaps that is what is the matter with this 
 one," suggested the old man. 
 
 "Oh, no. This is the original varnish, through- 
 out. Besides, re-varnishing does not destroy the 
 tone. It only reduces the tone quality to that of a 
 common but first-class modern instrument." 
 
 "Oh, this is worse than that!" said Paulo, "it 
 makes your hair stand on end to hear it." 
 
 108
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 Harry returned the violin to its case. 
 
 "Well, Ed, you must let me string it up and try 
 it to-morrow. 
 
 It did not much matter to me whether it had 
 tone or not. It was a gift from Gisela and was in- 
 timately connected with her history. It would be 
 my companion for the rest of my life unless she 
 should want it again. Besides, in its way, it was 
 her match in beauty. 
 
 The afternoon was waning and Harry and I 
 took our leave amid many repeated invitations to 
 visit them soon again. As we started down the 
 walk, Lubitza called out: 
 
 "Are you going to the ball Monday night ?" 
 
 "Have not heard of it," called back Harry. 
 
 "Oh, you must both go. I'll see that you get 
 cards. We'll all be there," called out the Inge- 
 nieur. 
 
 Paulo accompanied us to our barque. After we 
 were seated I turned and looked him up and down. 
 He was certainly good to look at with his trim 
 athletic figure and large gray eyes. The latter he 
 took from his mother and his face, like hers, was 
 expressionless as he talked. 
 
 After we were off shore a way, Harry said: 
 
 "That fellow would make an Ai poker player. 
 He could hold four aces or a four flush with one 
 and the same expression on his face. By the way, 
 Ed, before I forget it, I want to mention a little 
 occurrence you did not see. I would have been 
 completely deceived today if it had not been for 
 this thing. As it is, it may not mean anything, but 
 I don't like it. After you and Signorina Portulan 
 left the room after luncheon, Signorina Lubitza and 
 I were trying over some songs by the way, Ed, 
 she has a voice! Did you hear her out there? Well, 
 109
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 you missed something worth while! Well, I was 
 playing her accompaniments. It so happened that 
 that cheval mirror in the drawing room was so 
 placed that I could look into it and see the outside 
 door behind me. While I was playing, I saw that 
 old priest come out on tip-toe, go to the door and 
 take a long look down the veranda in your direc- 
 tion. I think he must have been looking at you. 
 Then he tip-toed back into the room he had come 
 from." 
 
 "Did Lubitza see it?" 
 
 "I don't know. She was singing but did not break 
 off." 
 
 "Wants to know me when he sees me again per- 
 haps." 
 
 "I have that impression. He was looking at you 
 all right! And careful that I should not see him 
 do it. It shows, too, that you, or we, were being 
 discussed in that room. I wonder if Tomanovich 
 means to let you have her ?" 
 
 "Have who? Oh, Signorina Gisela. Well, it 
 looks favorable for me today." 
 
 "You were given a clear field, certainly and 
 very cordially invited to come again. If you find 
 the Signorina at the ball, and you are again given 
 a clear field, I think you can conclude that he ex- 
 pects you to ask for her, at least. .That is the Ital- 
 ian custom, Ed, exactly." 
 
 "That would mean that he has concluded to give 
 up the estate. I have my doubts!" 
 
 "Oh, I have not suggested so much. I only say 
 that he will expect you to ask. His answer is an- 
 other matter. We cannot possibly forecast that. 
 But keep your eyes peeled for that old priest. If I 
 have any sense, there was no good in that tip-toe- 
 ing!" 
 
 no
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "I'll watch for him. What do you think of Lu- 
 bitza?" 
 
 "A talented little devil!" he answered. 
 
 ill
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 HARRY rose betimes the next morning, purchased 
 missing strings, fittings, a sound-post lever, and 
 tried out the violin. I have never seen a human 
 being so torn between admiration and regret as 
 Harry was after, having polished and otherwise 
 freshened up the old instrument, he at last drew 
 bow across it. Of all the melancholy wails I had 
 ever heard, this was the weirdest and most nerve 
 racking. It did not sound like a cheap violin 
 there was an indefinable something in the tone 
 that proclaimed the aristocrat. It made me think 
 of the thin, tired, hollow, forced and interrupted 
 accents of some old noble lying upon his death- 
 bed. 
 
 Harry sat down, hunched up on a chair with his 
 elbows on his knees, and contemplated the instru- 
 ment long and sadly. Finally he drew a long 
 breath and placed the violin and bow in the case. 
 Then he mused over it again, fingering the violin 
 absently. At last he sighed once more and stood 
 up. 
 
 "It's no good for playing and never will be. Don't 
 waste money trying to have it fixed up. But no 
 piece of sculpture nor no great painting came to 
 us from a greater artist than did this violin. Al- 
 ways keep it, Ed. If you get tired of having it 
 kicking about, sell it to me. It ought to be in 
 friendly hands for the sake of what it once was." 
 
 "Oh, I'll keep it never fear! It was given to 
 me by the Signorina." 
 
 "Keep it strung up and looking decent, too. The 
 112
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 Venus de Milo is broken, but she is given a pedestal 
 and a place of honor!" 
 
 "Do you think it once had tone? Is it a Strad?" 
 "Yes, it once had tone there is one place, high 
 up on the A and E strings where it is still good, 
 though weak. That case alone was never made for 
 a toneless violin. I think it is not a Stradivarius, 
 at least not Antonius. It is no Amati. I think it 
 came from the hand of one of the other great 
 makers. Hum ! See ! The sharp edges formed 
 by the coming together of the flare of the sides, are 
 blackened. That recalls something Hum ! I 
 ca-a-n't remember well, Ed, put it away! I can't 
 look at it any longer !" 
 
 That morning I packed the instrument and case 
 in voluminous wrappings and shipped it to Vienna, 
 to my rooms. 
 
 In settling with the spediteur I noticed that my 
 funds were running low and immediately repaired 
 to the bank to make a draft. After the usual trans- 
 action was completed the cashier informed me 
 that Signer Sbutega had asked to see me when I 
 should come in. I was again ushered into his 
 office. He cordially gave me his hand. 
 
 "Well, Doctor Ransome, how does the affair 
 progress ?" 
 
 "Unexpectedly well, so far, Signer. Am I in- 
 debted to you for some smooth sailing?" 
 
 "I mentioned you to the Herr Ingenieur and 
 Signer Tomanovich. Perhaps that has helped 
 somewhat." 
 
 "My best thanks, Signor. I did not know of this 
 before, as not having received my letters yet, I 
 was not expecting your kindness." 
 
 "Oh, we have the telegraph, Signor, and I have
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 a special agent in my correspondent's bank in 
 Vienna. I had him report on you, and after that 
 report nothing further was necessary. I have quite 
 done my duty by my friend, Signer Tomanovich." 
 
 "Ah, Signer. I see that a banker's arm is long !" 
 
 "Or rather, his web has many long threads. It 
 must be so, Doctor, or he wouldn't be long in busi- 
 ness. Well, I congratulate you, Doctor. Signorina 
 Portulan is a beautiful woman, and as fine as she 
 is beautiful. I shall hope, some day not far off, to 
 be invited to your wedding." 
 
 "Oh, that is still far enough away. My suc- 
 cess consists only in having been permitted to make 
 her acquaintance." 
 
 "Courage. Things that are worth while usually 
 take more or less time. Signer, I wonder if I may 
 entreat a very great favor of you? One that will 
 lay certain persons under great obligations? Obli- 
 gations which they will cheerfully repay should 
 the opportunity offer?" 
 
 "Certainly, Signor." 
 
 "First hear what it is. Are you intending to go 
 into Montenegro again?" 
 
 "Ah! Is there a return message?" 
 
 "You have guessed it. It would be very easy. 
 You have only to go to Cettinje, and after night- 
 fall, put the return packet where you found the first 
 one. It is not necessary to exchange words with 
 any person whatever, but merely to walk past the 
 Prince's palace once during the hour between four 
 and five in the afternoon before the evening on 
 which you deliver the packet to its place." 
 
 "Shall I go tomorrow?" 
 
 "Oh, no. You can do it at your own convenience 
 next week the week after, as you please. I 
 
 114
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 only ask to know the morning of the day before 
 you start." 
 
 "May I tell my friend?" 
 
 "Oh, yes, with due cautions as to his discre- 
 tion." 
 
 "Very well, Signor." 
 
 "Of course if you were not intending to go 
 again" 
 
 "I did not mean to, but it is a very little thing. I 
 will do it cheerfully." 
 
 "A thousand thanks, Doctor ! It is not a money- 
 making affair or believe me, I would never ask 
 it of you. And for the rest, if at any time in the 
 future you ever need help in Austria send me the 
 code message I shall give you when I give you the 
 packet." 
 
 He opened a private strong room and disappeared 
 within it, presently returning with a long sealed 
 envelope. 
 
 "Be careful to allow no one to see this, Doctor. 
 You may tell your friend of your errand, but keep 
 this envelope in your own. hands until you deliver 
 it in the place you know of." 
 
 He wrote a line on a sheet of paper, placed the 
 last in an envelope and sealed it. On the outside 
 of the envelope he wrote "Codex Cattaro." 
 
 "Here is the code message, Signor. Please never 
 open the envelope unless you need me. If you 
 ever do, use just the code message and add your 
 then address only. You need not sign the message. 
 Don't get the envelopes mixed, and deliver the 
 wrong one in Cettinje. Lock the packet in a safe 
 place until you are ready to start. The morning be- 
 fore you start send me an ordinary note asking me 
 to remit to you at Ragusa. I shall understand." 
 
 He thanked me warmly and bowed me out. I
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 could go to Cettinje one morning and come back 
 the next, and it was not much of a sacrifice for 
 Signor Sbutega, who had served me so well. 
 
 That afternoon I received a message from Gisela. 
 As I left the hotel after luncheon I saw Teresa 
 walking past. She gave me one quick look and 
 passed on. She led me into an unfrequented street 
 and turned. As I came up, she said : 
 
 "The Signorina will be at the ball." Then she 
 fled away. 
 
 I was sincerely glad, and prepared to enjoy the 
 following two days in good spirits. 
 
 The morning following I received a note from 
 the Ingenieur arranging to meet us at the Dojmi 
 that evening. Harry had gone to Budua, but was 
 back in good time, and the hour mentioned found 
 us under Enrico's ministrations in our accustomed 
 place. The Ingenieur was late, but came at last. 
 
 "Well, how did the fiddle turn out?" 
 
 "Oh, just as you said. But I am delighted to 
 have it, nevertheless. Are all of you coming to the 
 ball?" 
 
 "Yes, every one. I have your cards here. They 
 have got your name wrong, Signor McClellan, but 
 that is your father's fault. You must have it 
 changed before you have your debut. You can go 
 and live in Hungary for a few weeks, declare your- 
 self a resident, and take any fine new name you 
 please. It is a trick employed by our Hebrew 
 friends when their names are too bad. An artist 
 must have an artistic name." 
 
 "Time enough to name the dish when it is set 
 before me." 
 
 "No no! In this instance name it first. There 
 is success and failure in a name in art, at least. 
 By the way, Doctor, my fiancee has taken a great 
 116
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 fancy to you. She won't talk of any other subject." 
 
 "We must stop that! I have no liking for the 
 field of honor." 
 
 "No fear! On the contrary, when wedded bliss 
 begins to pall, I may find you a great convenience. 
 Besides, she is going to Vienna, and I shall be in 
 Trebinje and I shall not know what happens." 
 
 "It is easy to see that you are sure of your 
 fiancee, Herr Ober-Leutnant !" 
 
 "Not a bit of it ! To tell the truth, I don't more 
 than half expect she will marry me. I think she 
 will go on the stage." 
 
 "Are you not in love with her?" 
 
 "Ah love ! And what is that ? A little rift of 
 sunshine peeping through the shadows. A seem- 
 ing reality today, an amusing memory tomorrow. 
 With some a sentiment, with others a pastime, and 
 with still others a passion, but of various sorts. A 
 business for boys and women, but for men a mere 
 amusement, which no more than any other amuse- 
 ment must be allowed to hinder their work, or 
 cause them to take one step aside from the pursuit 
 of their object in life. What? Is my whole hap- 
 piness in life to drag behind the whimsical and 
 uncertain skirts of a woman? Only a fool allows 
 that the sort of fool who for years rides one old 
 hack when he can buy a fresh young horse every 
 season? Nay nay! We do not pluck a rose and 
 keep it and try to find perfume in it after it is 
 withered and dry. Gentlemen, the fool of fools, 
 the double-dyed in the wool and triple extract 
 fool of the world, is the man who lets a woman 
 spoil his life !" 
 
 In the mouths of some men such a speech would 
 have meant past or present bitterness ; but in his 
 case I was sure it was simply his creed. 
 117
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "What do you think of that, Harry?" 
 
 "Oh, I don't know much about women. For 
 me they are only, sometimes, companions in art. 
 But I agree with the Ingenieur, so far, that there 
 is no use letting a woman spoil one's life." 
 
 "As a physician, I have reason to believe that we 
 spoil their lives more often than they do ours." 
 
 "Oh, you have shot wide of the mark, Doctor," 
 said the Ingenieur. "I was thinking only of the 
 psychological side." 
 
 "The one leads into the other, the psychological 
 into the physical, and vice versa, even as cause 
 and effect." 
 
 "Argue as you please and hold what beliefs you 
 like, but at least recognize one cardinal fact, for 
 which any man who really knows women can vouch, 
 and that is, that every woman wants to be spoiled, 
 as you term it. The man who is regarded by them 
 as a namby-pamby (have I got that word right, 
 Doctor?) and who goes through life more their 
 victim and dupe than any other, is the idiot who sets 
 women up as angels and worships them as some- 
 thing purer and better than himself. If he does 
 this, she will act the part for him ; but not among 
 his friends and acquaintances when he is not by ! 
 And among them, she will laugh at and deride him 
 for doing it, too. As to the fact that she wants to 
 be spoiled, only watch her with a little intelligence 
 and you are enlightened, at once. How often do 
 you notice that as soon as a woman learns that a 
 certain man is a rake, she is crazy to meet him 
 forthwith ! How often do you see a girl desert a 
 clean man for a roue! How often do you see a 
 woman, married to a so-called good man, opening 
 the side door for the butterflies to come in ! Watch 
 any gathering of men and women, and you will 
 118
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 notice that the men who are holding the attention 
 of the women are not the pillars of the church, or 
 if they are, haven't been found out yet. Plenty 
 of the more honest women, and good women, too, 
 will tell you they do not want to marry a priest. 
 Women are not better than we are; they are only 
 finer rigged and finished. The vein of adventurous 
 love, for example, runs in every one of them, and 
 the man who wishes to please them must not play 
 the role of respectful unworthy worshipper. You 
 must give her adventure, variety, something forbid- 
 den ; or at least the semblance of it, and above all, 
 be the master. In one respect, women are like men. 
 What comes sure and easy they do not prize and 
 they would, in love matters, rather walk about in 
 the shady mysterious wood, than follow a straight 
 and monotonous road in the hot sun. How often 
 do you hear a woman regret that she is not a man? 
 Why? The answer is easy !" 
 
 I felt Harry pressing my foot with his. He said : 
 
 "We are having an unusual opportunity just now, 
 Ed. Listen to what the Ober-Leutnant says and 
 profit thereby." 
 
 "None of your sarcasm, Sir Violinist ! You have 
 not been waked up yet, but we will hear the same 
 opinions from you one of these days!" , 
 
 "I am not in a sarcastic mood. On the contrary 
 I am quite interested in your views. My time has 
 been spent in practising scales, so, as you say, I 
 have not been waked up yet. Now let me under- 
 stand you. Suppose you were to meet a woman, 
 a good woman, whom you would decide to marry. 
 How would you set about to win her? If I have 
 understood you rightly, you would prefer and she 
 would prefer, not straightforward honorable court- 
 ship in which a vital question would be asked and 
 119
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 answered, and then the parents consulted; but ra- 
 ther some oblique proceeding, say an elopement; 
 or a love adventure with complications?" 
 
 Harry put this question in the crisp and hard 
 voice which one might have expected from a public 
 prosecutor. I looked at him in astonishment. 
 
 "Well, royalty has even lately set us the exam- 
 ple," declared the Ingenieur, laughing. "Well, 
 just so. Oh, of course, if she happened to be an ex- 
 ceptional creature and preferred the direct way, 
 why, then, well and good. But ten to one, she 
 wouldn't prefer it. And if I were after a woman 
 who did not yet care for me I shouldn't proceed 
 along the worshipping lines. I'd give her an adven- 
 ture and a walk in the woods!" 
 
 Harry looked down at his glass and nodded a 
 time or two. 
 
 "I'll remember," he said. 
 
 "Well, gentlemen, this is enough for one lesson. 
 Digest it well. I think we shall have a pleasant 
 time Monday evening. Some pretty maids I know 
 are coming down from Ragusa. Up there they 
 have many luxuries we do not and they think they 
 can show us things, but maybe we can open those 
 girls' eyes a little. I for one am going to try. Be 
 sure and stroll up when you see me talking to more 
 than one of them in the ball-room, but keep your 
 distance when I am with only one pretty floweret 
 in the garden. I'll bear myself likewise. I must 
 go. I came over horseback don't bother to come 
 with me. Don't get a headache or something Mon- 
 day and fail to come, Doctor. Otherwise I won't 
 have a hair left in my head that evening and that 
 will hurt my chances. I have sworn to confess no 
 longer after I am bald." 
 
 1 20
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Oh yes! I see you going to confessional! The 
 priest would have a stroke!" 
 
 "No he wouldn't ! He'd make me swear to come 
 only to his box, and no other Auf Wiedersehen !" 
 
 His swaggering figure disapeared into the 
 Marina. I half started to call the cash waiter and 
 settle, but Harry tapped my arm. 
 
 "Wait a bit, Ed. Sit down again. I have an 
 idea." 
 
 "Be careful with it tell it slow." 
 
 "It will produce some fever, I think. Did noth- 
 ing occur to you as he was discoursing about wom- 
 en?" 
 
 "Only that his screed was a most clever mixture 
 of truth and lies. What occurred to you?" 
 
 "Nothing more nor less than a perfectly transpa- 
 rent explanation of your situation here." 
 
 "My situation seems good enough, Harry. They 
 are all friendly and the Signorina is coming Mon- 
 day night." 
 
 "I have been able to see better at last. I think 
 you are living in a fool's paradise. I'll grant that 
 it seemed all right to me, too, until the last half 
 hour. I may be wrong, but my idea clings with all 
 the circumstances." 
 
 He mused a little. 
 
 "Well, devil take you, Harry out with it ! 'Par- 
 turient montes' " 
 
 "Well, it is an ugly and poisonous mouse at 
 least. Anyway, I wouldn't be a friend of yours if 
 I didn't mention this thing you can do as you 
 please with it. We were both asses to imagine for 
 a moment that old Tomanovich and his family 
 mean to tamely let the Signorina marry and lose 
 hold of her estate! I think I see the glimmerings 
 
 of another plan. If they were not Italian" 
 
 121
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Oh, curse your prejudices, Harry! I am in no 
 mood to hear more of that nonsense !" 
 
 "All right, Ed," he said coolly. "Hoe your own 
 row ! Pagare !" 
 
 The waiter came and we settled our accounts. 
 Harry donned his hat. My temper had evaporated. 
 
 "Come, old man, sit down a moment. Put your- 
 self in my place. Remember that the Signorina is 
 pure Italian, or at any rate, very nearly so, and you 
 will realize why it grinds me to hear about Italian 
 falseness. The people you mean are more Servian 
 than Italian. I don't know Servians perhaps they 
 are false. Call them so, if you like, but let Ital- 
 ians alone." 
 
 "I beg pardon, Ed! Of course I had no thought 
 of the Signorina when I spoke. I honestly believe 
 her to be a fine woman in every sense of the word 
 have never yet thought more highly of a stranger 
 than I do of her. She is always excepted, remem- 
 ber, if I happen to forget your prohibition again. 
 But I must tell you this thing in my own way, Ed." 
 
 We grasped hands and he re-seated himself. 
 
 "Ed, I admit I may be wrong, but I at least see 
 another plan than their giving up the Signorina's 
 estate." 
 
 "Harry, if anything, they are throwing me in 
 the way of the Signorina. And they are not blind !" 
 
 " 'Deed they are not blind ! None see better ! And 
 you are right they are throwing you in her way !" 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 "Well ! And meanwhile his nibs the Ingenieur 
 comes here and covertly preaches dishonorable 
 methods with women! Do you begin to see? Or 
 are your eyes like an alligator's, with a succession 
 of lids to be opened?" 
 
 "No, I don't see." 
 
 122
 
 The Ace u r s e d R o c c o s 
 
 "Your brain is not cerebrating then, for it is clear 
 enough. Now see! They do not know that you 
 know anything about the estate or the will, nor the 
 conditions under which the Signorina will inherit. 
 They see, in you, just an inexperienced young 
 man gone mad over a pretty girl. Now if she 
 marry, they lose the estate ergo, they do not 
 want her to marry. If she safely become of age, 
 they lose ergo, they want something to happen be- 
 fore that day. What can happen? The will states 
 it: If the Signorina break a rule of the church, 
 they win ; ergo they want her to break a rule. Now 
 the most natural rule to break is the rule against 
 unchastity. Conclusion : they see you are mad 
 about her, and that she, at last, is interested in a 
 man you. They throw you judiciously together, 
 and the Ingenieur is delegated to put the meanness 
 into your head. Their next step will be to keep 
 you apart again, under the pretence of having dis- 
 covered your attempt to win her, thus giving the 
 next roll to the ball." 
 
 It certainly was an ugly and poisonous mouse of 
 which Harry had delivered himself. It worked into 
 my very vitals and gnawed there. But after a min- 
 ute or two I felt relieved. 
 
 "Ah, Harry, it is ingenious as far as it goes, but 
 you forget that the will also says if she marry be- 
 fore her majority she is to inherit. What, then, can 
 they gain if I should ruin her?" 
 
 "The moment she is compromised, refuse con- 
 sent to a marriage and clap her into a convent ! 
 How would you marry, then? You are still dull, 
 my son. They'll never let you marry. Besides, Ed, 
 it is probably not necessary to their plans that the 
 overt act be actually committed. If they can sur- 
 prise you and her under any compromising circum- 
 
 123
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 stances or obtain the seeming of it, as for instance 
 an interrupted elopement, it will probably be enough 
 for their plans. So far as shutting her up is con- 
 cerned it will be enough if they can show that there 
 was seeming danger of her being led off. The 
 Signer can urge his duties as a guardian in defence. 
 But it is their plan to have her ruined or the seem- 
 ing of it and then shut her up, and supposing the 
 ruining to occur, the rest is perfectly feasible 
 even easy. Once their object is gained they will 
 throw you away like a worn out glove." 
 
 The argument was clinched. Harry had dis- 
 coursed better than he knew, especially when he 
 spoke of the convent, for I had not repeated to him 
 any of the conversation which had taken place be- 
 tween Gisela and myself. 
 
 "How do you explain Lubitza's seeming wish 
 to flirt with me and the Ingenieur's acquiescence?" 
 I asked in a low tone. 
 
 "No doubt that is all done to egg the Signorina 
 on. You saw that the girls are jealous of and 
 hate one another." 
 
 "Can they shut a girl in a convent without a legal 
 proceeding?' 
 
 "It takes a very small excuse anywhere where 
 any Church has a large influence. A girl under 
 age can be placed in a convent by her parents or 
 guardians, be quietly kept there until her major- 
 ity, and by proper management longer, especially 
 if it be to the interest of the Church to do so. It 
 is only necessary to have ready an excuse which 
 can be quoted in case of inquiry." 
 
 I remembered one instance of which I had had 
 personal knowledge in which a young woman under 
 age, heiress to an estate, had been so immured be- 
 cause of a more than usual love for canine pets. 
 
 124
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 There had been no legal proceeding. It had been 
 very quietly and expeditiously accomplished and 
 few knew what had become of her. She would be 
 inquired for and produced again at her majority; 
 but in such a case as Harry made, the release at 
 her coming age would not help Gisela, as far as 
 her estate was concerned. 
 
 Harry's words had reached their mark. Every 
 word and every circumstance of the whole affair 
 supported his idea. That I was buried in the very 
 depths of uncertainty and misery goes without say- 
 ing. I could see no way out. 
 
 "What shall I do, Harry?" 
 
 "Ah! Now we come to a very crucial point and 
 I wonder if you will make good. Your first duty 
 is to think of her welfare, isn't it?" 
 
 "Certainly, Harry at any rational sacrifice at 
 all! Well? And?" 
 
 "It is simple enough. With or without the Signor- 
 ina's permisson, go to the Signer at your very 
 earliest opportunity, and ask for her. It is the 
 custom, and he can think nothing strange of it. 
 His answer will be affirmative if he has meant well 
 by allowing you to be twice together alone, as it 
 will be, the night of the ball. If he refuse or hesi- 
 tate then our suspicions are justified. In the last 
 case, tell him openly and flatly that he need never 
 expect you to do anything wrong or dishonorable, 
 but that you expect to have the privilege of seeing 
 her at his house, and that you will exercise your 
 right to win her in an honorable manner if you 
 can. And say it so he will be convinced that you 
 mean every word you say." 
 
 "Good, Harry. I'll do it just so !" 
 
 "Then," and he held up a warning finger, "carry 
 out your words. Of course you are not going to 
 
 125
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 ruin her, nor try to, under any circumstances 
 that isn't the point at all. The danger is that if your 
 seeing her be interfered with, you will see her at 
 times and places which, however innocent, will fur- 
 nish them a handle to use. Remember that is what 
 they will be looking and planning for. As long 
 as you see her at her own house, or any other 
 place with his or his wife's knowledge and permis- 
 sion, he cannot use it. But beware of seeing her 
 outside of her house against his will. Remember! 
 I know the Italian customs !" 
 
 "But in asking the Signer for her, may I not 
 precipitate matters? I have gone far enough with 
 her to broach that idea, and she was frightened out 
 of her wits at the bare mention of it." 
 
 "Oh, I can't see that. Not even among Italians 
 is a girl shut up because a proper man proposes 
 honorable marriage for her." 
 
 "Well thanks, old man ! I'll talk with the Sig- 
 norina about it as soon as I can. If I find it not 
 best to go to the Signer, I can at least accept and 
 use the second part of your advice." 
 
 And then we went to the hotel, I to dream of see- 
 ing her at church again next morning, which dream, 
 as is often their way, played me false, for none of 
 the family was there. 
 
 126
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 ON Monday evening we arrived at the military 
 casino about half past nine. Harry looked splendid 
 in evening clothes. He had the advantage of height 
 (being about six feet) which always helps out 
 greatly that style of dress. He would be under no 
 disadvantages in appearance at his debut, I was 
 thinking. Harry had red hair, but it was the beau- 
 tiful shade of iron-rust, very full and wavy, kept 
 long enough but not too long, and his skin was un- 
 freckled and particularly clear and fine when not 
 peeling from sun-burn, as it was apt to do. It was 
 evident at once that he would be a success tonight. 
 He was observed from all sides as we entered and 
 crossed the little dancing-hall, and I could hear the 
 flutter in each group as we passed. That Harry 
 himself was utterly unconscious of this, I was cer- 
 tain. Vanity was never one of his failings. The 
 thought struck me, this evening, that it would have 
 been more fitting if the Fates had reversed our posi- 
 tions. Gisela's great-grandmother had loved a vio- 
 linist; why had Gisela not loved this violinist at 
 first sight? I hoped Lubitza would find him so 
 handsome that she would forget the family schemes 
 as regarded me, for this evening, at least. 
 
 Paulo was the first of the party we saw and as 
 he came up with outstretched hands I thought him a 
 good harness-mate for Harry. In his way he was 
 even handsomer, with his black hair, dark skin and 
 big gray eyes with their long, thick lashes. He was 
 quite as big a man as Harry. He greeted us as old 
 friends. I was to learn that there would be no want 
 127
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 of cordiality from any quarter, for this night, at 
 least. 
 
 "You are two good big fellows," I remarked. "I 
 feel like a pumpkin between two stakes." 
 
 Paulo felt my arm. 
 
 "Oh, don't worry," he answered laughing. "You 
 are not needing support as you grow !" 
 
 "He never did !" said Harry, and he proceeded to 
 relate to Paulo some of our boyish conflicts. 
 
 The place was beginning to fill up, especially as 
 quite a body of finely uniformed Austrian officers 
 filed in together. Among them Paulo pointed out 
 the Commandant of the garrison, resplendent with 
 medals and orders. I began to be uneasy at the 
 sight of them. 
 
 "Gentlemen, let us find our ladies and get them 
 on our programs before that bunch gets a chance !" 
 
 "Yes, it is just as well," said Harry. 
 
 Paulo led us into a sort of drawing-room where, 
 among others, were our ladies, already besieged. 
 
 "We seem to be none too soon!" remarked 
 Harry. 
 
 "Don't worry," answered Paulo. "The girls will 
 take care of that. Excuse me, gentlemen. I have 
 like cares with less protection." And Paulo gayly 
 made off. 
 
 Lubitza hailed us. 
 
 "Come, come, you lazy loiterers, if you want any 
 dances !" 
 
 She gave us each a hand. I saluted the Signora 
 and she informed me that the Signor would arrive 
 later. Then I pressed through a little side group 
 where I saw Gisela. She turned to me with a gra- 
 cious smile. She was gay, her color heightened, 
 and was a beautiful picture in a dress of light yellow 
 silk with a short train, the bodice generously 
 128
 
 e Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 trimmed with rose embroidery but all, otherwise, 
 simply made. She seemed never to vary her style 
 of hair-dressing that was the same tonight as I 
 had ever seen it. It seemed to me to be a sensible 
 idea for a girl to select a coiffure which became her, 
 and stick to it. 
 
 "How many may I have, Signorina?" 
 
 "Not too many," she murmured. "We must be 
 careful." 
 
 I scratched my initials in several free places. 
 
 "I have taken the dance before the intermission 
 and the two after it, so we can have a visit. Do you 
 mind?" 
 
 "All right, Doctor !" 
 
 "We can go to supper promptly and then have a 
 little time together. The dance after the intermis- 
 sion is a quadrille and the next one a polka. Do 
 you care to dance them?" 
 
 'No, we can visit, as you say." 
 
 Lubitza looked at me reproachfully as I came up. 
 
 "I am nearly full, Doctor! Why were you so 
 long? I have saved this waltz for you. Perhaps 
 we can find one or two more." 
 
 The Ingenieur joined us and completed his pro- 
 gram which was already nearly full. He took our 
 programs and inspected them. 
 
 "Come, you are both too slow. There are lots of 
 girls here that want to meet you, but there are more 
 men than women tonight, confound it ! The Ragusa 
 lot hasn't come. The boat is late." 
 
 But they came, and there were plenty to go 
 around. The girls were not all pretty, but all knew 
 how to dress, sometimes daringly as to colors, but 
 always becomingly. In some cases the company, 
 both as to men and women, was brightened by a 
 number of local peasant holiday costumes worn ?; 
 129
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 fancy dress, assisted by a number of military dress 
 uniforms and a fez here and there. The men in 
 evening clothes displayed the same fault which is 
 universal in Austria and seems to be growing else- 
 where; namely, they wore those ready-made ties 
 which make a man in evening clothes look like a 
 wax figure straight out of Madame Tussaud's es- 
 tablishment, and electrified for the occasion. 
 
 The excellent orchestra was from the barracks. 
 The ball opened with some fancy national dances in 
 costume. There were a tarantella, a czardas, a 
 fascinating reel-like Montenegrin fling, a Rouman- 
 ian fancy dance that made me think of our old 
 boyish game of "crack-the-whip" (for many na- 
 tionalities were represented at the ball), and a well- 
 performed minuet, in which I recognized, for one, 
 the banker's daughter, whom I had met this eve- 
 ning; a little dark, bright-witted girl, almost as 
 pretty as Gisela. 
 
 I did not have the first regular dance with Gisela, 
 and had inserted a fictitious initial in that number 
 of my program so I should be free to watch her. 
 It was a waltz and Harry was her partner. I saw 
 at once that she did not dance well, probably 
 through want of practice, but she would in time. 
 Not so Lubitza, who was a sylph on the floor a 
 veritable feminine Mercury in her lightness and 
 speed ; for the tempo was swift and all danced with 
 verve and enthusiasm, indifferent to the warm night 
 and to wilting collars. They danced the waltz ever 
 in the same direction no reversing and it made 
 me giddy to watch them. 
 
 But after several dances my turn with Gisela 
 came at last. I sought her out as care-free and 
 happy as I had ever been, for all seemed rosy. 
 Every one, including the late coming Signer him- 
 
 130
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 self, was so cordial and gracious that I forgot all 
 croakings and the way seemed a level road paved 
 with gold. I shall never forget the sweetness of 
 that first moment when she placed her pretty hand 
 on my arm and we began to waltz. She danced 
 rather far from me, but it was the nearest she had 
 ever been, and it was enough for now. But the 
 pace was high and I was unused to the absence of 
 reversing, and was soon giddy. She was likewise 
 not in practice and soon both had enough. We 
 gave it up with a laugh and wandered to a corner 
 where we saw Harry and Lubitza with the Inge- 
 nieur and the banker's daughter sitting out the 
 waltz. They hailed us. 
 
 "Ha! Drunk?" laughed Harry. 
 
 "Yes, and yet thirsty." 
 
 Harry gave his chair to Gisela. He whispered in 
 my ear: 
 
 "Say, Ed, how many collars did you bring? I 
 did not foresee this pace and have only two more 
 extra ones confound it !" 
 
 "Oh, I've got a box full. I can lend you some." 
 
 "Oh, yes! Now do you think a collar, right for 
 your bull neck, would fit me?" 
 
 I swung my foot and down he came. I had not 
 intended it, but the floor was like a surface of plate 
 glass, and it was easier than I expected. 
 
 All burst into a laugh. A gay crowd gathered 
 around us, clapped their hands and begged me to do 
 it again. Harry got up, laughing, and started for 
 me, but the Ingenieur seized him and whispered in 
 his ear. Harry took my arm and marched me a 
 little way off. 
 
 "See here, Ed, go and take the next dance with 
 Signorina Atenasio the Ragusa girl or get her 
 a partner ; and if I am not back yet, look to Frau-
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 lein Mauer. I've got to make a quick sprint to the 
 hotel and change my trousers. They're split; you 
 jackass!* 
 
 I managed it with the help of the Ingenieur and 
 Paulo. In about twenty minutes I saw him rapidly 
 making his way back through the dancers in my 
 direction. I was dancing with Lubitza. He was 
 pale and earnest. As he caught us he said hur- 
 riedly : 
 
 "Ed, want to see you soon as possible. Will wait 
 in drawing-room!" 
 
 "Is your friend really angry with you?" Lu- 
 bitza asked. 
 
 "Seems so. But it will be all right." 
 
 I hoped it was not true and meaning to make 
 amends, I did not keep Harry waiting longer than 
 I had to. When I entered the room he was ner- 
 vously pacing the floor. He came to me at once. 
 
 "Ed, our rooms at the hotel have been ransacked 
 every drawer and every trunk is in disorder." 
 
 "Harry !' 
 
 "And I don't like the look of it ! I had forgotten 
 my watch, but it is still in the washstand drawer 
 where I put it, although the drawer is standing 
 open and has been gone through. It wasn't rob- 
 bery! What do you make of it?" 
 
 The banker's packet came into my mind at once, 
 and I grew cold. I had not yet told Harry about it. 
 I grabbed his arm. 
 
 "Harry ! Think ! Was my grip disturbed ?" 
 
 "It was standing open. Did you have your cash 
 in that?" 
 
 But I had left him and was speeding bare-headed 
 to the hotel. The grip had a false bottom which 
 had been arranged for carrying an emergency 
 shirt. I had placed the two envelopes in there and 
 
 132
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 locked the valise. This false bottom did not take 
 up much room and opened from the inside. I 
 hoped I believed they had not found it, but I 
 could not wait to be sure. 
 
 When I arrived at the door I was gasping and 
 gulping for breath. Finally I managed to undo the 
 door, turn on the light and look about. There came 
 an immediate rap. Harry had followed me. I let 
 him in, locked the door and ran to the open valise, 
 dumped out the disturbed contents and pulled up the 
 false bottom. The envelopes lay there, undis- 
 turbed. I sat down on the floor and mopped my 
 face and neck. Harry was watching me. 
 
 "Do you keep your letter of credit there?" 
 
 "No. The place was only made for an extra 
 shirt. It wasn't there originally. I had it fitted 
 in." 
 
 He examined it attentively. 
 
 "It is well done," he remarked. "The workman 
 evidently thought it was intended for smuggling." 
 And he closed it again. 
 
 "I'll tell you about those papers later. I meant 
 to do so before. I am to take them to Cettinje." 
 
 He frowned. 
 
 "You'll get enough of this thing before much 
 longer, I'll bet! Leave them where they are. It is 
 not likely they'll come again. Change your linen 
 and let us get back." 
 
 "Do you believe this visit we have received has 
 any connection with our friends here?" 
 
 "Can't make a guess. But it won't do any harm 
 for you to see the Signorina's uncle as soon as 
 you can, and carry out the plan." 
 
 "I'll try to do so tonight, yet!" 
 
 "The sooner the better!" 
 
 I had several apologies to neglected partners to 
 133
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 make when I got back to the ballroom, and by the 
 time I had smoothed these pretty ruffled feathers as 
 much as possible the last dance before the intermis- 
 sion was due. I found Gisela waiting for me in the 
 drawing-room. The fine underlip was pouting a 
 little. 
 
 "You have been gone a long time, Doctor Ran- 
 some." 
 
 "Have we missed a dance?" and I scanned the 
 program. 
 
 "Oh, no. But the last I saw of you you were 
 dancing with Lubitza and I haven't seen either of 
 you since!" 
 
 I smiled happily. What luck that the rooms had 
 been ransacked! 
 
 "I haven't seen her since our dance, either, Signo- 
 rina. I'll tell you about what kept me I have 
 much to say to you, and it is serious. Let us go 
 and have supper now so we can have as long a 
 time together as possible." 
 
 Arrived in the supper room, we found we were 
 none too soon, for other couples of the same mind 
 were already there, and more coming. Lubitza 
 was at the table with an army officer. She caught 
 sight of us. 
 
 "I wish it were as cool here as in the park," and 
 she winked with both eyes and laughed. 
 
 "You were with her, Doctor !" 
 
 "No, Signorina, upon my word of honor, I was 
 not, not since the conclusion of our last dance." 
 
 "Let me see your program." 
 
 "I handed it to her. I was full of inward mer- 
 riment. Her face cleared. 
 
 "I wasn't with any of these others, either, dear. 
 I will tell you where I was later. I haven't seen 
 Lubitza for more than a half hour." 
 134
 
 The 'Accursed R o c c o * 
 
 "She is smitten with you!" 
 
 "Nonsense. She is only trying to tease me." 
 
 "Me. But I don't believe that is her only reason. 
 I tell .you again, Doctor flirt with anybody else 
 you please, but not with her ! I warn you I won't 
 bear even the beginning of it ! I hate her !" 
 
 "Don't worry, little sweetheart. I want you so 
 badly that I wouldn't risk any flirtation even if I 
 cared to take one on. And Lubitza does not at- 
 tract me not in any way whatever." 
 
 The clouds were all gone now and the fine little 
 face was itself once more, and the ices were good. 
 
 "Do you love me, dear?" 
 
 "I I don't know but something is the matter 
 with me !" 
 
 I couldn't have helped the laugh if somebody had 
 been choking me. She grew rosy and joined in it. 
 
 "What's that about love?" asked the Ragusa girl 
 who was sitting opposite us. 
 
 "Oh, the Doctor says it is an illness and can be 
 cured with salts and senna." 
 
 "Bah ! Wretch ! Why do you sit with him ?" and 
 she disgustedly turned to her partner again. 
 
 Gisela liked salami sandwiches with caviare. 
 
 "Why were you gone so long?" 
 
 "Harry had to go to the hotel to make a change, 
 and when he got there he found that both of our 
 rooms had been ransacked. He came back and 
 called me.' 
 
 She dropped her fork in surprise. 
 
 "Have you lost much ?" 
 
 "Nothing at all. It was not for common rob- 
 bery, Signorina, for Harry's watch was in plain 
 sight and was not taken." 
 
 She rose out of her chair. 
 135
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Let us go and tell uncle at once. Perhaps he 
 can" 
 
 "No, no above all, not that! Let me have my 
 talk with you first. Let us finish supper and go 
 out into the park. Others of the company have 
 gone there." 
 
 Neither of us wanted more. We went to the 
 Signora and obtained permission with the injunc- 
 tion not to stay too long. We rapidly reached the 
 Marine Gate and walked up the Marina. Having 
 gained the park, we sought a secluded bench by the 
 water side. Other couples were wandering about 
 but none came near us. 
 
 "Signorina, there are reasons why I felt I ought 
 to declare myself to your uncle as soon as possible 
 I know, dear, he will not give his consent now. 
 But I want your permission to go to him. He need 
 not know that I have asked you first." 
 
 "Alas, Doctor, that will end our very acquain- 
 tanceship. You will see!" 
 
 "Listen, Gisela. I love you better than my life! 
 If I do not marry you, I will never wed another! 
 Do you believe me?" 
 
 "I yes, Edu Doctor. If I did not believe you 
 were true, I would not listen to you." 
 
 "Well, Gisela, if your uncle will not consent, I 
 will always wait for you. I'll wait I'll wait, 
 Gisela, until I know that you have married some- 
 body else and then ' I'll wait until I can forget 
 you. Do you understand, sweetheart?" 
 
 "Yes, Edu D E du ard." 
 
 "Never forget what I have said, sweetheart. Now 
 listen! I would mourn indeed if our acquaintance 
 had to be interrupted; but Gisela better that 
 than something else! Unless" 
 
 "What do you mean, E-du-ard?" 
 136
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 I explained Harry's suspicions at length, and all 
 the grounds which made for them. As I proceeded 
 she sat up straight and looked me directly in the 
 face. By the moonlight I could see that the firm lit- 
 tle mouth was compressed into a line. After I had 
 finished she continued to gaze at me some moments, 
 then she drew a long breath and looked away over 
 the gulf. 
 
 "So, sweetheart, you see, for your own protection 
 in order to avoid anything that would serve them 
 as an excuse in order to make them understand 
 at once that I cannot be used as a tool against you 
 I must see your uncle and declare myself. True, 
 in that way, we may be kept more or less apart 
 thereafter. But after you have reached your ma- 
 jority they can separate us no longer, they will 
 also no longer have any interest in doing so. I 
 love you, sweetheart better than my life. If nec- 
 essary I can wait for you. If you love me, you can 
 wait for me. So in three years we can marry. Un- 
 less" 
 
 "Unless what, Eduard?" 
 
 I studied her a moment. She put her hand on 
 my arm. 
 
 "Unless what?" 
 
 "Gisela dear, you are to inherit a large estate. I 
 am nothing like as well off as you will be, but I 
 have enough for us both if we be satisfied to live 
 modestly. We can be happy and comfortable on 
 what I have. Do you think you could let the es- 
 tates go, or run the risk of it, and marry me in 
 defiance of your people? Probably you could still 
 fight for your estate in court." 
 
 She caught her breath and her eyes blazed. In 
 defiance of time and place she screamed 
 137
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "What! Give up all to that abominable selfish 
 vixen Lu " 
 
 I clapped my hand on her mouth. 
 
 'Signorina! Are you mad? Remember where 
 we are!" 
 
 She pulled my hand away from her face but held 
 it tightly in her own. 
 
 After a little her breast ceased its heaving and the 
 eyes became soft again. She released my hand and 
 began nervously fanning herself. Then she snapped 
 the fan to, and spoke kindly but firmly: 
 
 "Signer, if you were a Croesus, there would not 
 be enough for me without my patrimony. Even if 
 that were no more than a thousand crowns, I would 
 never give it to my cousin and that foul-minded 
 Austrian. If it were uncle, I would not mind but 
 not to them, not as long as I am in my right mind, 
 Signor; not as long as I have breath left in my 
 body, and can fight them. No Eduard, that would 
 not do at all you have not at all understood my 
 feelings in this matter. Your words have their 
 sweetness. They show that you love me for myself 
 and not for what you might get through me." (She 
 took both of my hands in hers.) "Believe me, the 
 meaning of your words has not been lost on me 
 I have understood." (She released my hands and 
 sat further away.) "But, Signor Eduard, I will be 
 honest with you. I cannot truthfully say I love you 
 yet, but I believe I soon shall no, no, wait! but 
 Eduard, if I loved you as much already as any 
 woman can a man, I still could not do this. Give 
 all to Lubitza! That vixen! No, Eduard, my 
 hate for her is older than my fondness or love for 
 you, and will not down so easily !" 
 
 I had expected it would be so. I had had little 
 hope of any other decision from that clean-cut firm 
 
 138
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 little mouth. And who could blame her? I had lit- 
 tle doubt that she had reason enough to hate her 
 cousin. All that was new in her speech was the 
 glimpse which it afforded of the strain of iron which 
 stiffened that fine little nature and made it some- 
 thing else than dough. 
 
 "Do you hate Paulo, too, Gisela?" 
 
 "Paulo is a sneak, Eduard ! Look out for him. 
 He is a keyhole adept. No, I don't hate him he 
 is not worth hating." 
 
 "Then, Gisela, we must try if your uncle will 
 give you to me" 
 
 "That is idle." 
 
 "And if he will not, we will wait. I will make 
 him understand, once and for all, that if they have 
 any such plot in their heads, I am not to be used, 
 and that will clear our path." 
 
 "Such a plot would not help them, anyhow, as 
 far as taking my heritage eoes. If they succeed in 
 depriving me of it, I give you my word that Lu- 
 bitza shall never enjoy it." 
 
 "How will you prevent it?" 
 
 "I have my plan." 
 
 But I couldn't remain so serious. Besides, I did 
 not know when I would again have her thus all to 
 myself. 
 
 "Gisela, give me my heritage !" 
 
 "And pray what is that?" 
 
 "A kiss!" 
 
 She promptly moved to the other end of the 
 seat, and I could see the saucy twinkle in her eyes. 
 
 "Take it ! if you can." 
 
 I sprung at her, but she was strong. In the 
 course of the scuffle something fell from the bosom 
 of her dress onto the ground. I found that if I 
 139
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 succeeded it would be at the cost of wrecking her 
 ball costume, so I gave it up for now. 
 
 "Aha, Signer! Not so easy, is it?" 
 
 "I see, Gisela, that you are obstinately opposed 
 to giving up a heritage." 
 
 She laughed and bent down to pick up the thing 
 that had fallen. It was a small stiletto with a 
 richly jeweled handle, in a jeweled sheath. She 
 drew it from the sheath and the style glittered in 
 the moonlight. She passed it to me. It was a beau- 
 tiful old piece of work. 
 
 "Do you always carry this?" 
 
 "Oh, dear, no, Eduard! I brought it tonight 
 because I meant to give it to you. You remember 
 uncle told me to when we were looking at the old 
 violin." 
 
 "Well, give it to me now." 
 
 "No, I have changed my mind." 
 
 She was very beautiful in her present high color 
 which not even the moonlight could pale. Natures 
 that can hate well, can also love well. Let her 
 once love me as well as she hated her cousin let 
 that love for me become a little older and a more 
 constant and dominant thought, and I felt sure that 
 Lubitzas, estates and all else would fall readily into 
 the background. Time was flying. The intermis- 
 sion was long over, I was sure. 
 
 "Signorina, have I your permission to ask your 
 uncle for you?" 
 
 "I do not know if I love you, Signer !" 
 
 "Ah, then, Signorina, under the circumstances 
 I have nothing more to do in Cattaro. Harry has 
 been waiting to go north for several days. We 
 shall pack up tomorrow and leave on the noon 
 steamer. I have only to say good-bye, then, Signo- 
 rina." 
 
 140
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 Her eyes shone with mirth. 
 
 "Why wait until noon, Doctor? You can still 
 pack tonight right away. I'll see that your ball 
 partners are cared for. You can leave in the morn- 
 ing at eight by the local gulf -boat and go to Castel 
 Nuovo. From there you can go to Ragusa horse- 
 back. In that way you can be in Ragusa before the 
 Ragusa girls get back, and give them a delightful 
 surprise by meeting them on the pier at Gravosa. 
 Your trunks can go later by the noon boat. They 
 say the ride from Castel Nuovo to Ragusa is very 
 wild. That will just suit your present mood." 
 
 "Farewell, Signorina !" 
 
 I was in high dudgeon and my bow was as sweep- 
 ing as that of an olden time knight in his saddle. I 
 left her sitting there and strode rapidly back to the 
 ball-room. I was just in time to settle the disquiet 
 of the banker's daughter, for our dance had begun. 
 
 "I was not sure you would come it is a pleasant 
 surprise, Signer. I fear that in only one ball you 
 and your friend have acquired a bad name for 
 keeping engagements." 
 
 But she was all right in a moment. She was a 
 bright, gay little girl and loved dancing. In spite of 
 myself I caught her mood for the moment, and en- 
 joyed myself. As I took her to her seat she pre- 
 sented her mother who had not been with her when 
 I obtained the dance. As I left, I whispered in the 
 daughter's ear: 
 
 "Tell your father that my friend's and my rooms 
 were plundered tonight, but please do not mention 
 it to anyone else. We lost nothing of any conse- 
 quence." 
 
 I nodded good-bye in the midst of her surprise. 
 Then came two dances, I do not remember with , 
 141
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 whom. I was keen to get Harry's ear a moment. 
 Finally I succeeded. 
 
 "All is off with the Signorina. We can go north 
 in a couple of days." 
 
 "What's up? Have you scrapped?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Ah ! So much the better !" 
 
 But in a moment he smiled. 
 
 "When it is on again, let me know. I won't pack 
 up yet." 
 
 "She doesn't care a rap for me, and I am not 
 going to burn my fingers any more. I'll go to Cet- 
 tinje tomorrow and we can go north Thursday." 
 
 "You won't talk with her uncle then?" 
 
 "What for? The thing is off." 
 
 He thought a moment. 
 
 "Do it anyway tonight. You may make it up, 
 and then this urgent thing will be done. In any case, 
 it won't do any harm, and we can form an idea if 
 we have been right. Tell the uncle you want her, 
 and tell him also that we go this week. That will 
 show him what your intentions are. I must be 
 off." 
 
 No, it could not do any harm and I was as curi- 
 ous as Harry to know if we had been right. After 
 spending a half hour cornering Harry, the Ingenieur 
 and Paulo, I succeeded in clearing a full hour 
 for Signor Tomanovich. I knew he was, or had 
 been, playing taroque in a room upstairs with some 
 other old fellows. I made my way there. 
 
 The several elderly men present had grown tired 
 of cards and were talking politics. As I entered 
 the Signor courteously rose and came to meet me. 
 
 "Are the ladies ready to go home?" he asked. 
 
 "Oh, dear, no ! No sign of that, that I know of. 
 Signor, can you give me a little time ?" 
 
 142
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Why, certainly, my boy! We can step out 
 onto the balcony. Come this way." 
 
 "After you, Signer !" 
 
 He passed out and I followed. It was already 
 just daybreak, and the air was delicious. We found 
 chairs. 
 
 "Signor, when I was on my way to Cattaro with 
 your prospective son-in-law, it did not occur to me 
 that I was to meet my own fate here, but that has 
 happened. I love your niece. May I marry her if 
 I can win her?" 
 
 He did not seem exactly consumed by surprise. 
 He looked at me kindly and quizzically then more 
 seriously. Then, still smiling slightly, his gaze 
 sought the open square which lay in front of the 
 Casino. "What a thing it is to be young!" he re- 
 marked to himself. A rag-a-muffin below was beg- 
 ging. He threw him a kreutzer. Then he smiled 
 musingly again. 
 
 "Doctor Eduard, I fancy I am the only man liv- 
 ing in Austria today who ever received a marriage 
 proposal for his ward at four o'clock in the morn- 
 ing. Well, good work can be done early in the 
 morning." Then he turned to me. 
 
 "Of course we have noticed that you were inter- 
 ested in Gisela, but I did not expect a visit quite so 
 soon. No matter. Does my niece second your 
 wishes?" 
 
 "I think not, Signor. That must come later," I 
 looked down. 
 
 "Ah ! First catch your hare" Well, Doctor 
 
 Eduard, you have gone about the matter in the 
 honorable old-fashioned way." 
 
 "You may always depend upon it, Signor, that I 
 shall never seek her in any other than the honor- 
 able way!"
 
 The A c c ur s e d R o c c o s 
 
 He looked up at me keenly and I met him eye to 
 eye. His face softened a little. 
 
 "No, I don't believe you would. We have several 
 people in these parts who have been in your coun- 
 try and learned your language. They have brought 
 back two idioms of yours which are now under- 
 stood almost everywhere. They are 'square' and 
 'all right/ I believe that both of these expres- 
 sions will apply to you, Herr Doktor." 
 
 "Thank you. I will say nothing as to their gen- 
 eral application, but they will answer correctly in 
 this matter." 
 
 "Schon! Have you spoken to my niece at all?" 
 
 "We had a conversation tonight." 
 
 "And you say you do not know if she love you ?" 
 
 "I am certain she does not yet," I answered 
 very bitterly. 
 
 "Ah ! Then not much can be done, Herr Doktor. 
 If she does not love you, of what use to give my 
 permission? I could never think of coercing her." 
 
 It required all my strength to repress the smile. 
 Of course he would not coerce her! 
 
 "I have asked permission to win and to wed her 
 not merely to wed." 
 
 "To win her, if you can, in the honorable way, is 
 your right by the laws of Nature. To wed her is 
 another matter, my boy. It is not so simple. Do 
 you know anything of her situation?" 
 
 "Every one here seems to know something of the 
 Signorina's status in life, Signer, but I knew noth- 
 ing of that when I first saw and loved her. I am 
 not a penniless adventurer, Signor. I am not rich 
 like the Signorina will be, but I have a competence 
 enough to keep up a modest house, and so far 
 as I am concerned there is no question of a mar- 
 
 144
 
 The yf c c u r s e d R o c c o s 
 
 riage dot. I would be only too happy to take her 
 without a kreutzer, sir." 
 
 There seemed to be plenty of sympathy and in- 
 terest in his face. He seemed to be revolving many 
 things in his mind as he watched me. "I wish 
 things were reversed," he murmured, half to him- 
 self. 
 
 "Reversed? How?" 
 
 "I was thinking of my own daughter, Herr Dok- 
 tor. I love both the girls, but of course"- 
 
 "Your daughter is already engaged, is she not?" 
 
 "Oh, I doubt very much if that marriage ever 
 take place, Herr Doktor! Besides, she is not 
 formally betrothed." 
 
 "If you allowed your own daughter to be engaged 
 why not allow your niece? Your daughter is two 
 years younger, is she not?" 
 
 "Oh, that is a different matter and you are 
 speaking of their years only. As a matter of fact, 
 my niece is much the younger." 
 
 He had me there, for it was true enough. 
 
 "Is it not your duty to allow your niece to marry 
 when she can marry happily and fairly well? Is 
 it not safest and best for her?" 
 
 The "uestion was a pretty daring one and I 
 would never have risked it if I had felt that I had 
 much to lose. But I had no more real hope and did 
 not care very much what happened. 
 
 "I am quite sure that my duty to my niece is best 
 understood by myself," he responded very stiffly. 
 
 "Pardon me, Signer, if I have seemed offensive. 
 I did not mean to be. I'll grant that you are in a 
 better position than I, to know what is best for her. 
 Well, in fine, Signor, if I have understood you 
 rightly, you do not object to my trying to win the 
 
 145
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 Signorina, but you will not agree that I may have 
 her, if I win her." 
 
 "Not until she be of legal age, Herr Doktor. I 
 can say nothing else, and I beg of you, boy, do not 
 take the refusal as personal in any sense. I would 
 make the same answer to any other person what- 
 ever. Indeed, as far as that is concerned, I hope 
 you will marry her at the proper time. According 
 to my best judgment, I could wish her nothing bet- 
 ter. I have taken a great fancy to you, boy, and 
 I like you none the less for your open and plain 
 speaking. Well, it is growing light and I see the 
 fish boats are setting out to sea. I think the ladies 
 will have had enough by now." 
 
 I found the ball room nearly empty when I re- 
 turned. Our friends were not there. I arrived in 
 time for the very last dance and had it with the 
 Ragusa girl. After this, on searching for them, I 
 found that the Tomanovich family had departed. 
 As I was leaving the Casino Harry joined me. 
 
 "Well, I danced your dance with the Signorina 
 and put a hint in her ear why you were not there. 
 Did you have it out with him?" 
 
 I repeated the conversation. 
 
 "Aha ! Utterly non-commital ! We were right ! 
 Now you will find the gates barred !" 
 
 "It does not matter," I answered. 
 
 146
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 IT was late in the afternoon when Harry and I 
 got about again. By the time we had had coffee 
 and were out of doors the usual gay evening crowd 
 had gathered on the Riva. Very few of our ac- 
 quaintances were there, but the bankers' daughter 
 was one of the exceptions. She was there with 
 some friends who had not stayed so late, and was 
 as fresh as any of them. She hailed me and pre- 
 sented me to her companions. She apologized for 
 her fault-finding speech of the previous evening and 
 managed to whisper in my ear: 
 
 "Father wants to see you before you go to 
 Ragusa. He told me to tell you quietly." 
 
 "Thank you, Signorina. I'll call and see him 
 tomorrow morning." 
 
 So I could not go to Cettinje tomorrow. Per- 
 haps it would not be necessary to go at all. 
 
 For the rest, our evening was a lonesome one. 
 Finally Harry and I seated ourselves upon a timber 
 at the edge of the pier. 
 
 "You have not yet told me about the papers in 
 your valise. Just as you please, you know." 
 
 Harry changed his seat so he would face land- 
 ward, and I murmured a recount of my interview 
 with the banker and added that I was to call and 
 see him the next morning. He said: 
 
 "This is connected with some political crooked- 
 ness as sure as you are a foot high. Wash your 
 hands of it, Ed! You can do so tomorrow morn- 
 ing." 
 
 147
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "I will see what the banker has to say. Perhaps 
 he has changed his mind and does not wish the 
 message to go." 
 
 "I sincerely hope so! If not, refuse to take it. 
 You are justified after what happened last night. 
 At least demand some knowledge of what you are 
 doing. Is it too delicate a question if I ask you 
 why you quarreled with the Signorina? She did 
 not seem very happy the rest of the evening, Ed." 
 
 "Oh, not at all," and I related this, also. 
 
 "Oh, you chump! And you took good care to 
 make it a final quarrel, too ! and you deserted your 
 dance with her without getting her a partner for 
 it was only by chance that I saw her sitting it out !" 
 
 "Yes, I did not seek her afterward." 
 
 "Oh well, your later confab with her uncle may 
 make her feel like excusing you. Besides, I am 
 not up in women, but I dare say the Ingenieur is 
 not wrong in some of his views I dare say it 
 does no harm for a woman to find that we have an 
 edge. Still, she has a good deal to forgive. You 
 left her, it seems, away out in the park. She had 
 to return alone through the park, the Riva and the 
 Marine gate. Ed, if she forgives that very soon, 
 you can conclude that she thinks a lot of you ! It 
 was an insult ! And about nothing !" 
 
 This view of the matter was new, and shamed 
 me. Harry was right! What a pitiable bad-tem- 
 pered out-and-out fool I had been. Poor, dear girl 
 she should have my best apology as soon as I 
 could get it to her. And, too, she must be reasonable 
 enough to accept it, at least after a day or two, for 
 I had a little on my side. Our conversation had not 
 been one to be treated flippantly, and she knew that 
 my time in Cattaro, at best, could not be much pro- 
 longed. 
 
 148
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Harry, do you suppose our rooms were visited 
 last night on account of" 
 
 Harry gripped my arm until I almost sung out. 
 He had been facing inward, I outward, as we sat. 
 The moon had not yet risen and the light was small 
 and fitful. 
 
 "Ed, unless I am very much mistaken, there go 
 Paulo and that Greek priest ! Yes, it is they. They 
 are walking toward the end of the pier. I'd give 
 something to hear what they are saying." 
 
 "Probably they are speaking in Servian." 
 
 We watched them. They were conversing very 
 earnestly with their heads close together. They 
 sat down upon a block of stone at the very edge of 
 the pier at the northerly corner. We waited in 
 silence for a couple of minutes. Harry looked about 
 him a little. 
 
 "Ed, I am going to have a try at it. They may 
 be talking Italian. I believe there is mischief in 
 that big curly headed pater, and I don't trust Paulo 
 or his friendship any thousand miles !" 
 
 The Signorina had said he was a sneak and called 
 him a "keyhole adept." It wouldn't be bad to give 
 him a dose of his own medicine. But I had not 
 happened to repeat this to Harry. Paulo's behavior 
 to us had been more than above reproach, but on the 
 subject of these people Harry was incorrigible. 
 
 "Well, don't get caught, Harry. When we 
 eavesdrop we put ourselves in the wrong." 
 
 "Oh, don't worry! Eavesdropping is no sin in 
 Europe, for man or woman. It is quite according 
 to the Code." 
 
 "But you can't get near enough. There is no 
 cover near enough." 
 
 But Harry was not to be turned from his pur- 
 pose. 
 
 149
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "That is a precious pair, Ed, and I am going to 
 hear what they are saying !" 
 
 A dory belonging to a neighboring wine boat was 
 riding alongside of the pier, barely visible in the 
 shadow of its parent. Harry's eye fell upon that. 
 He sighted along the pier and leaned over and 
 looked at its face. 
 
 "There is room between the bang-rail of the 
 pier and the timber next below to lie and hear what 
 they say. I'll leave my clothes with you and swim 
 down, and climb under the bang-rail a little before 
 I get there. If they hear me, I'll simply dive off 
 and swim to the corner of the park where the 
 light is. Then you can take the dory and my clothes 
 and come for me. But in the meantime you can go 
 a little nearer, there at the end of that pile of tim- 
 bers, so you can see if you need to come out for me 
 but be careful they don't see or hear you." 
 
 He climbed down into the boat and disrobed, 
 neatly packing his clothes into a pile. After hand- 
 ing them to me he let himself softly into the wa- 
 ter and swam up the pier. 
 
 I had little faith that Harry would profit by this, 
 but I took the light bundle of clothing and moved 
 up the pier. I could find cover no nearer than forty 
 feet or so. Here I deposited the bundle in the end 
 of the pile of timbers, and waited. 
 
 The pair conversed a long time. Of course I 
 did not learn the tenor of their conversation until 
 later, but for the reader's convenience I shall re- 
 construct it here, as Harry afterwards detailed it. 
 After he had got settled and begun to listen, the 
 first speaker he heard was the priest, who was 
 speaking Italian : 
 
 "and I have always thought he ought to be 
 watched. I have never quite known, before, that
 
 i The Accursed Roccos 
 
 he was Pan-Servian in his leanings. We hate the 
 Catholics, of course ; but better them and the Aus- 
 trians than that successor of Alexander who is 
 neither Roman nor Orthodox but merely the money 
 loving tool of a party of scheming assassins. Nor 
 do I believe that Sbutega really smypathizes with 
 the Court at Belgrade. I simply believe that he or 
 some correspondents of his have speculated in Ser- 
 vian rentes and their policy is to protect them ; 
 otherwise it is incomprehensible how Sbutega, an 
 Italian, can be interested in any Servian union or 
 extension of Servian influence in the Balkans. Cer- 
 tain it is, that he is not laboring for the Orthodox 
 Church! When did this American bring the en- 
 velope ?" 
 
 "I am not quite certain. Last week when he and 
 his friend returned from Montenegro. I can find 
 out." 
 
 "Don't trouble. Is this Montenegrin to be trust- 
 ed?" 
 
 "He has always been reliable as yet." 
 "When is the American going back with the an- 
 swer?" 
 
 "He is to go when he pleases." 
 "Ah ! That may be tomorrow morning." 
 "No, no carriage has been ordered, and I know 
 anyhow that he is not going tomorrow." 
 
 "Paulino, it would be better, a great deal better, 
 if you could manage to get rid of this fellow in 
 some other way. If he be stopped and searched at 
 the frontier it will make an ugly mess, I am afraid. 
 He will be sure to invoke the help of his Embassy 
 at Vienna. That is never a joke, and in the course 
 of the matter I am afraid our private plans will 
 leak out. They are both sharp looking lads and I 
 am afraid they guess too much already. Once we
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 start such a thing as this we can't stop it when we 
 please, Paulino. Can't you manage some other 
 way? Can't you say provoke him and run 
 him off?" 
 
 "Father won't have that and it would be difficult 
 to invent an excuse to quarrel with them, anyhow. 
 He is after my cousin, but" 
 
 "You cannot quarrel with him for wishing to 
 marry her, of course; but wait a little. When he 
 finds he cannot marry her he may give you your 
 excuse, and we will have the whole affair disposed 
 of together." 
 
 "I have told you what he said to father last 
 night. He spoke so pointedly that there is no doubt 
 he realized what he was saying. He will want the 
 estate with her, and he will do nothing to endanger 
 it. That is why we do not care to risk him any 
 further, the more so as he has some influential 
 friends in Vienna. Count Weyer-Reinbach is one. 
 We found that out through Advocate Michaelo- 
 vitch. Weyer-Reinbach is Catholic, of course. So 
 getting these fellows into a common quarrel would 
 probably expose us surely enough, and in the 
 worst quarter. No, he can only be disposed of by 
 getting him into something that will compel him to 
 leave Austria for good and all." 
 
 "Is he really dangerous?" 
 
 "How do you mean ?" 
 
 "I mean is he likely to acquire an influence over 
 your cousin?" 
 
 "Not a doubt of it!" 
 
 "Has he money?" 
 
 "Enough to make us trouble, I fancy, if they 
 figure out the right way." 
 
 "They will imprison him if he be denounced." 
 
 "We do not believe they will convict him. They 
 152
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 will confine him for some months and finally try 
 him. It has always been so. Then they will be- 
 lieve his story that he, an American, did not know 
 what he was carrying and let him go ; but they will 
 probably order him to leave the country, and by that 
 time he'll be glad enough to go. It is a pity those 
 fellows did not find the paper! That would have 
 made it sure." 
 
 "Who is this private secretary of Sbutega?" 
 
 "Simitch. He is a relative of ours, but Sbutega 
 doesn't know that." 
 
 "He will be useful to us in another way later 
 on." 
 
 Then they were silent for awhile. The priest 
 resumed. 
 
 "After all, I see no objection to your idea. If 
 you play your parts well, the American will not con- 
 nect his arrest and detention with his love affair or 
 with us, so there is no teason why he should use it 
 in his defence and put them on our track. And the 
 plan will effectively dispose of him. You are cer- 
 tain he is not going tomorrow?" 
 
 "Absolutely." 
 
 "Very well. I'll send the letter to the Comman- 
 dant first thing in the morning." 
 
 "Make it sure that I am to be only a witness as 
 to his identity and must be taken there absolutely 
 against my will." 
 
 "Basta! Am I a young fox, then?" 
 
 During this conversation, I was standing in the 
 shelter of the pile of timbers sincerely hoping that a 
 rat would not bother Harry and he would not catch 
 pneumonia. Finally the priest and Paulo rose and 
 sauntered down the pier. After they were out of 
 sight I gathered up Harry's clothes, went to the 
 153
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 dory and waited for him. In a few moments he ap- 
 peared, passing himself along the timbers. He 
 climbed into the dory, mopped himself off with a 
 handkerchief as well as he could and silently 
 dressed. 
 
 "Are you chilled?" 
 
 "Chilled! With my color of hair? You are jok- 
 ing, Ed. Go to the cafe and wait for me. I'll go 
 to the hotel, wash up, and be with you as soon as 
 I can." 
 
 In due time he appeared at my table and seated 
 himself opposite me. We bent forward over the 
 table. 
 
 "Well, did you hear and understand?" 
 
 "Every word after I got there." 
 
 He detailed the above conversation. I said: 
 
 "Well, Harry, you had figured it out exactly 
 right!" 
 
 "Yes, including the banker. Now you must get 
 rid of those papers and see to it that you are not 
 roped in for any more nonsense of the sort." 
 
 "I'll tell the banker the whole thing tomorrow 
 morning. He has been friendly and I think it is 
 due him to tell him that his private secretary is a 
 traitor." 
 
 "That will not be good for the private secretary 
 but as you think best. I feel no sense of duty with 
 regard to protecting him. Only, get rid of the pa- 
 pers! If you choose to run yourself into trouble 
 after all this warning it is at least due me as your 
 friend to give me time to get out of the way. If 
 you have time for bars, I have not, I assure you." 
 
 154
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 IN thinking the matter over I decided to go to 
 the banker's residence early enough to catch him 
 before he started for his counting-house; for I had 
 been unable to figure out how his private secretary 
 had obtained his information and did not care to 
 risk again his ingenuity in overhearing us. 
 
 "Signor Sbutega, I sincerely regret having dis- 
 turbed you so early, but there is a reason why I 
 must see you here rather than in your private 
 office." 
 
 "Oh, be seated, Doctor Ransome. No apology 
 is necessary, my dear Sir. I was already up." 
 
 "Signor, your private secretary is a traitor to 
 you." 
 
 His face remained impassive, except to look at 
 me inquiringly. 
 
 I detailed the ransacking of our rooms, and then 
 the conversation which Harry had overheard. Dur- 
 ing this latter recital his heavy white brows drew 
 together. For some minutes he made no comment. 
 
 "Have you a little time, Doctor?" 
 
 "Plenty, Signor." 
 
 "You may return me the large envelope. The 
 small one you must keep and use should you ever 
 need it." 
 
 "Thank you, Signor." I returned the large en- 
 velope with alacrity enough. 
 
 "Signor, I still wish you to go to Cettinje, but this 
 time not in my interest. I wish you to go carrying 
 a false packet." 
 
 "They may arrest me at the boundary." 
 
 155
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 "They doubtless will and search you. But when 
 they find this false packet they will let you pass 
 with apologies. This arrangement is in your in- 
 terest. It is better, now, that you go, and carrying 
 a packet, and that they find it. They will thus find 
 themselves on a false scent. In that way they will 
 not annoy you in the future perhaps after you get 
 to Vienna. When one has been denounced for con- 
 spiracy in Austria, the agents of the government 
 will keep after him until they find something. It 
 is better to let them find something right now, and 
 be done with it." 
 
 "Quite right, Signor." I can see reason in that." 
 
 "Further, my dear Signor, my apologies and my 
 sense of obligation to you will now never see their 
 end. All would have been simple if I had reckoned 
 with the possibility of my clerk overhearing us. As 
 it is, I do not understand how he managed it, but 
 I shall devote myself to solving that little riddle in 
 the course of the next day or two. But for the 
 present you may arrange to go with the false 
 packet. I will send the real one by another hand. 
 It will not be so safe and certain, but of course I 
 shall not risk your welfare, in the matter, now." 
 
 "Very well, Signor. Only you need not carry 
 any eternal sense of obligation with you. We must 
 all run a chance risk in life, now and then. Pray 
 do not feel so about it." 
 
 "Your kind words only make the matter worse 
 but we need not waste time over that now. I 
 have stolen enough of your time and good-nature, 
 Herr Doktor." 
 
 I liked the banker, and I wanted to oblige him. 
 Also he might be a powerful friend some time or 
 other in the future, when such a friend might come 
 156
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 handy. We never know in advance How that may 
 be. Also, I hate to be thwarted. 
 
 "If there were any way to do so safely I would 
 be perfectly willing to deliver the real message, 
 Signor." 
 
 "I don't feel like troubling you further with it, 
 Doctor. Of course it would be a great relief to 
 me, but" 
 
 "The trouble is nothing, Signor. I only ask to 
 be surely safe this time." 
 
 "That can be arranged with certainty; but" 
 
 "Very well, Signor." 
 
 "So be it, then. And remember you can call 
 upon me in the future whenever you need me. I 
 will arrange in this way. You will go with the false 
 packet only. After they find that, they will let you 
 pass. You shall know in advance what it contains. 
 After you are once in Montenegro, you run no 
 farther risk for yourself the remaining risk is 
 mine alone. The Austrian arm does not reach over 
 the Montenegrin frontier. From that point on it is 
 necessary only to keep the matter out of the knowl- 
 edge of persons who have no business with it." 
 
 "I have understood, so far." 
 
 "Very well. Now you will remember that after 
 leaving Njegusi, another heavy serpentine starts up 
 from that valley, taking its start just after round- 
 ing a small farm deep below the road." 
 
 "I remember the place. There is a round stone 
 threshing-floor just at the turn of the road before 
 starting upward." 
 
 "Exactly. As you pass this farm, a laborer there 
 will hail you. Halt your carriage and let him come 
 up. Buy a package of tobacco from him, and in 
 the course of the barter hand him the false envelope 
 when your driver is not looking. When you get to 
 157
 
 The A c c ur s e d R o c c o s 
 
 your hotel in Cettinje open the package of tobacco 
 and under the contents you will find the real packet. 
 You know the rest." 
 
 "Agreed, Signor." 
 
 "The laborer will be a Montenegrin whom you 
 may have seen in Cattaro. He is faithful to me, but 
 the persons at the other end will not accept him as 
 a go-between because years ago he served the Aus- 
 trian government in a minor capacity and in conse- 
 quence is not a member of their organization. He 
 will, however, not dare to play me false, as I have 
 a peculiar hold upon him. Now, Doctor, here is 
 the morning paper, and some magazines. I am go- 
 ing to the bank and shall return inside of a half 
 hour." 
 
 He was back in less than the time he had set. 
 The Signor was an active man for his years. 
 
 "Ah, yes, Doctor, I am still a good insurance 
 risk. Now here is the false envelope. It is just 
 like the first in appearance. Since they talked of 
 Servian rentes, I have placed Servian rentes in the 
 packet." (He pulled the papers out of the en- 
 velope and showed them to me.) "There are one 
 hundred thousand crowns in these bonds. It is 
 necessary that the amount be fairly large in order 
 to lend truth to the false message." 
 
 "I hope you will receive them back safely." 
 
 "That is my risk, Signor. If anything happens 
 to them, you are absolved." 
 
 "And if they ask to whom I am taking- the false 
 packet?" 
 
 "Answer that you are delivering the bonds to a 
 purchaser, but refuse to say to whom. They have 
 no authority to insist upon the name of the pur- 
 chaser." 
 
 "Good." 
 
 158
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 "The day before you start, call in person at the 
 bank and ask me to remit to Ragusa. I'll under- 
 stand." 
 
 "And your private secretary, Signer?" 
 
 His brows met again. 
 
 "For the present he will remain my private sec- 
 retary." 
 
 I spent the remainder of the morning on the wa- 
 ter-front in the hope that Teresa might come, but 
 she did not appear. My next move was to call at 
 the house that afternoon. I threw pride to the 
 winds and wrote a very penitent letter for Gisela, 
 taking- care to tell her that I had formally asked her 
 uncle for her the night of the ball. I begged her 
 to try and see me in some way, and to let me know 
 through Teresa where it would be, but cautioned 
 her to select a time and place which would give 
 nobody a chance to make her trouble. 
 
 As far as I was supposed to know, there was no 
 reason why I should not go to the house, so about 
 four o'clock I took a barque for Stolivo. 
 
 When I entered the gateway I saw on the ver- 
 anda a little party in which I soon recognized the 
 Signer, Lubitza and Paulo. As soon as they saw 
 me the two men rose and courteously greeted me. 
 
 "Welcome, my boy ! We have been thinking you 
 might come today. But where is Signer Harry?" 
 
 "Harry is answering some delayed letters. He 
 sent his greetings and the word that he will call 
 before we leave." 
 
 Paulo shook hands cordially. I wanted to throw 
 him over the railing of the veranda. 
 
 "And are you determined to go so soon, then?" 
 asked Lubitza. 
 
 "Well, Signorina, we cannot take up our resi- 
 159
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 dence here, pleasant as it would be, and Harry is 
 urging- me to go every day." 
 
 "Your friend is an icicle ! I like you better. You 
 have warm blood in your veins." 
 
 "So has Harry but he has a thick shell. Have 
 you quite recovered from the ball?" 
 
 After we had been seated a few moments I asked 
 for the Signorina. 
 
 "Oh, she is sulking in her room. I'll send word 
 to her that you are here." 
 
 She gave the message to a maid who was occu- 
 pied in the room adjoining. 
 
 "What did you think of the Ragusa girls?" 
 asked Paulo. 
 
 This started the ball topic once more and by the 
 time that was well on, the maid returned with the 
 message that Signorina Gisela had a violent head- 
 ache and begged to be excused. She sent her 
 greetings and hoped I would come again soon. 
 
 Our conversation continued, but I fear I made 
 poor work of it. Gisela was surely very angry when 
 she would not see me. I did not believe in the head- 
 ache. My mind was largely occupied with the 
 question of how I could get my letter into her 
 hands. I did not dare to entrust it to any one but 
 Teresa, and she was not visible. Of course it oc- 
 curred to me to walk boldly down the veranda, 
 knock on her door and give it to her, but I was 
 afraid her uncle would demand to see it after I left. 
 
 All of them seemed determined to talk to me at 
 once and my head swam. Try as I would, I could 
 not keep my eyes and thoughts off of Paulo's hand- 
 some smiling face. If I had not learned of his and 
 the priest's interview from Harry's own lips I 
 would have doubted its occurrence. He had laid a 
 plan to have me incarcerated for months, as he 
 160
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 himself believed, and he was now begging me to 
 remain the summer with them, planning deep sea 
 fishing, excursions into Turkey and the Hercego- 
 vina, and even a trip into Greece together. I made 
 up my mind that if the opportunity should ever 
 come, there would be a reckoning with Paulo. 
 
 I remained as long as I decently could, but no 
 chance offered for delivering my letter, so I finally 
 left messages for the mother, Gisela and the Inge- 
 nieur, and took leave of them. 
 
 Lubitza walked with me as far as the gateway, 
 taking my arm down the path. I could not refuse 
 my arm, but sincerely hoped my sweetheart, for 
 once, did really have a headache and was not look- 
 ing on through her window-blind. Moreover, Lu- 
 bitza was confidential and leaned upon me almost 
 affectionately. 
 
 "Doctor, must you really go so soon?" 
 
 "I really must, Signorina.' 
 
 "I wish you could stay longer!" and she pressed 
 my arm. "We could have a good time together." 
 
 "And have the Ingenieur call me out! Thank 
 you for nothing, Signorina!" 
 
 "Pshaw ! We are neither of us in love. He 
 would never trouble you." 
 
 "Why are you going to marry him, then?" 
 
 "Oh, my dear Doctor! Girls in Austria do not 
 marry for love! They marry for liberty ! I am 
 going to try my voice in Vienna and if I can be 
 an artist I'll have my liberty without having to 
 marry. An artist lives a free and natural life in 
 this country. And Austrian men marry for the 
 dot never for love." 
 
 We had reached the gate. I passed out, turned 
 and gave her my hand. She held it and looked me 
 in the eyes with her brows raised inquiringly. I 
 161
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 returned the look and after a moment slowly shook 
 my head. She dropped my hand and reddened, still 
 looking me in the face. Then she half-turned to 
 start back, still keeping upon me that half-wonder- 
 ing, half-embarrassed look. 
 
 "Ah, Doctor, Doctor, you are one of those men 
 who do not see when Luck hovers over your 
 head!" 
 
 "We often walk by our luck, Signorina, and only 
 see later on when our minds are less preoccupied." 
 
 She laughed. 
 
 'Ah ! Later on, then ! In Vienna ! Will you see 
 better then?" 
 
 "Let us hope that I shall see, at least, well, 
 then." 
 
 "Good! It is an arrangement. A riverderci, 
 Doctor !" 
 
 I raised my hat and she started back to the house. 
 
 I did not leave for Cattaro at once but walked 
 in the direction of Perzagno, still revolving in my 
 head all sorts of impossible plans to get my letter 
 into Gisela's hand. It would not have been very 
 difficult to go back after dark, climb the end of the 
 veranda and thrust the letter under her door, but 
 fortunately I was sane enough to see the folly of 
 that or any similar move. If I sent a bouquet or 
 a basket of fruit they would be sure to look over it 
 well before giving it to her, if, indeed, they gave it 
 to her at all. 
 
 The hope that Teresa might appear caused me 
 to turn back and hang about the neighborhood 
 awhile; but no one appeared, so I finally stepped 
 into my barque and started for Cattaro. Perhaps 
 Harry could suggest a way. 
 
 That evening we talked the matter over, but, 
 alas, for once, I found him as jejune as I was. 
 162
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 "I have allowed my bad temper to cut me en- 
 tirely off from her. I doubt if I see her again." 
 
 He blew a vast puff of smoke. 
 
 "Keep cool and play close to your belt. You may 
 draw a royal flush yet, Eddie." 
 
 163
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THERE seemed nothing left but to keep watch at 
 the water side in the hope of a chance meeting 
 with Teresa, and I spent, on Thursday, the long- 
 est, dreariest day of my life in this thankless occu- 
 pation. No one from there appeared not even 
 the Ingenieur. 
 
 About half past five I gave it up and going to 
 the hotel to freshen up, found that my letters from 
 Vienna had arrived at last. One of these, from 
 Major Scarlatti, was directed to no less a person 
 than the Commandant of the garrison, himself. 
 This letter would have been all I could have asked, 
 but it came, of course, too late, as I already knew 
 all the people I cared to and more. The one from 
 Count Weyer-Reinbach was to a local dignitary in 
 the Roman Catholic diocese of Cattaro. Of course 
 the letter to the Commandant might be useful in 
 case I got into trouble in the Montenegro enter- 
 prise. I now felt entirely safe on that score, but 
 decided not to take the letter to him just yet. The 
 letter to the Churchman engaged my thought for 
 a time as I was dressing. Of course I understood, 
 now, that the Greek Church priest was assisting 
 the Tomanovich family in their schemes, and that 
 he or his church would probably share the proceeds 
 in case of success. I even knew from the inter- 
 view which Harry had overheard that they feared 
 exposure in Roman Catholic quarters. But it was 
 a delicate consideration to think of setting the 
 Catholic party also into the hunt. It might be a 
 case of from the frying-pan into the fire. In any 
 164
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 case, such a move must have Gisela's acquiescence, 
 and moreover be well-considered. I could not guess 
 how far Count Weyer's help or even his sympathy 
 (or rather his wife's, for she was the Catholic 
 the Count himself had about as much religion as a 
 Viennese cab-driver) would go in such a case or 
 just what direction it might take. In fact, I could 
 see no especial use for his letter. I would present 
 it, of course ; courtesy to the Count demanded that. 
 Well, the delay in the coming of the letters had 
 made no difference, at least. 
 
 That evening Harry said: 
 
 "Ed, better give it up and clear out of here. It 
 is better so." 
 
 "Not while I have a taw left to play with, 
 Harry !" 
 
 "Very well. Then let me suggest at least this. I 
 think they intend to give us a wide berth from 
 now on. As long as you stay here you will not get 
 to see the Signorina unless it be in some way that 
 will play into their hands. You see, you have made 
 it easy to keep you apart by your quarrel with her. 
 If they know about it, they will not let that fact 
 lose anything you can bet on that. Now, I sug- 
 gest this. Make your trip to Montenegro, and then 
 let us formally depart, bag and baggage. We will 
 stop off at Ragusa, and you can quietly return and 
 probably be able to see her long enough to set 
 yourself right with her. After she believes you 
 have left she will probably be in a more forgiving 
 mood, and they on their side will probably have 
 ceased egging the quarrel on." 
 
 "The minute I return here everybody in this 
 little town will know it." 
 
 "All in good time. The family may not happen 
 to hear of it until you have had an interview. Any- 
 165
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 way, I see no other course. Give your signal to the 
 banker tomorrow morning. Go Saturday, return 
 Sunday, and we will leave Monday noon. That will 
 give enough time, besides, to catch any real chance 
 of delivering your letter. You can leave it with me 
 and if I see Teresa while you are gone I'll see that 
 she gets it." 
 
 "Thanks, old man!" And I gave him a hand 
 grip. Then I told him of my letters. 
 
 "Present them both later after your return. You 
 can explain that they came the evening before you 
 went away. Presenting them now might interfere 
 with the banker's plans. We don't know what his 
 strings are." 
 
 Which was a very real truth, as I was to find. 
 
 Early the following morning I ordered a carriage 
 for the next day with a change of horses at Njegusi 
 and then visited the bank and carried out Signor 
 Sbutega's instruction. 
 
 "I will remit," he said, and graciously bowed me 
 out. 
 
 It was about five o'clock that afternoon that my 
 good fortune returned to me. I was in my room 
 packing a portmanteau when there was a knock 
 on my door. 
 
 "Herein!" 
 
 The door opened and my heart leaped for joy, 
 for it was Teresa. She came in cautiously and 
 closed the door. 
 
 "I have been trying for over an hour to slip up 
 here without being seen. I hoped to find you out- 
 side somewhere. I did not know you were here 
 and meant to wait until you came." 
 
 I think my reception of the old woman was all 
 she could have wished perhaps more, for I was 
 166
 
 The A c cur s e d R o c c o s 
 
 so glad to see her that she got an embrace. She 
 laughed. 
 
 "Signer, you must save those for" but her 
 
 laugh died out. "Signer, I have only a moment 
 I must not be caught here. I bring you a warning 
 from the Signorina. You must not go to Montene- 
 gro again!" 
 
 A warning! My soul became warm with the 
 sweetness of it, and life was good, aye, very good, 
 once more. Teresa hurriedly continued. 
 
 "You are to be arrested at the frontier and 
 searched, Signer!" 
 
 I scarcely heard her. Of course Gisela might 
 still be angry with me probably was, but she had 
 taken the risk of a vast and long-continued unplea- 
 santness with the family if this warning should 
 come to their ears. 
 
 "Signer! Have you understood me? You are 
 to be arrested and searched at the frontier. I have 
 no time to stop and drill it into your head!" 
 
 I put my arm around her shoulders. 
 
 "I know it already, Teresa. Nothing serious will 
 happen to me. I have nothing that could interest 
 them. I have a letter for you to take back to your 
 mistress." 
 
 The amazed and discomfitted woman waited si- 
 lently while I got the letter. 
 
 "Teresa, be sure that none of the family find out 
 that I have had the warning" 
 
 "Hum. I am old in their service, Signer. I 
 love my mistress. I have no wish to be set out of 
 the house," she answered grimly. 
 
 "Very well. Now, Teresa, take this letter to 
 
 your mistress. I wrote it days ago and hoped to 
 
 deliver it the day I called, and have been watching 
 
 faithfully for a chance ever since. Take your mis- 
 
 167
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 tress my thanks for her warning. Tell her I love 
 her better than my life. Tell her I regret more 
 than I can tell, my sorry behavior Monday night. 
 Tell her I want to see her. I'll be back from Mon- 
 tenegro Sunday evening-. I'll be in Cattaro Mon- 
 day." 
 
 "Oh, are you still going?" 
 
 "Oh, yes. I am in no danger. Assure the Signo- 
 rina of that. Try and get her to see me Monday. 
 My friend and I will go north Tuesday or Wednes- 
 day. I want to apologize in person for my be- 
 havior the night of the ball." 
 
 "Signer, you have more to settle with my mis- 
 tress than that !" 
 
 I was certainly surprised. 
 
 "What do you mean, Teresa?" 
 
 She observed me narrowly and grimly. 
 
 "I must leave the telling to her if she will 
 come. I must hurry, Signor." 
 
 "Thank you for coming, Teresa. Try to get your 
 mistress to see me." 
 
 "I'll try, Signor." 
 
 She slipped out of the door and cautiously passed 
 down the hallway. I went to a window and saw her 
 go safely out and fly down the street. I wished I 
 did not have to go to Cettinje but still it was that 
 fact I had to thank for the reuniting of the broken 
 thread, so I did not curse the journey. 
 
 I set out Wednesday morning at an early hour, 
 ready for the necessary occurrence at the little cus- 
 tom-house far up on the serpentine road. 
 
 My driver informed me that a couple of car- 
 riage loads had preceded us, having started at day- 
 break. Of course this information was no surprise, 
 and, besides, as we passed Fort Trinita I could see 
 168
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 them slowly creeping up the serpentine road high 
 above us. It was past ten when we ourselves ar- 
 rived there. As we rounded a corner to ascend the 
 last stretch which led up to the custom-house, we 
 saw there a considerable party of men, strung 
 about the road between the douaine and the primi- 
 tive mountain-inn which stood opposite. As we 
 drove up we saw that a file of infantrymen blocked 
 the way. 
 
 "Wonder what is the matter!" said my driver. 
 
 We drove up and my driver turned his horses 
 before the inn and stepped down from his seat. A 
 halt for rest and refreshment is nearly always made 
 here, in any case. 
 
 We were received in silence. I got out and began 
 to stretch myself a bit. An officer came up to me, 
 and I recognized him as the Commandant himself, 
 he having been pointed out to me at the ball. 
 
 He saluted. I raised my hat. 
 
 "Herr Doktor Ransome, I believe?" 
 
 "Yes, General Richter. I saw you at the ball, but 
 was not fortunate enough to meet you personally. 
 I received a letter of introduction to you from 
 Vienna yesterday." 
 
 "Yes, I know. Major Scarlatti wrote me before- 
 hand about it. I shall hope, in the next few days 
 to be the means of your meeting any people here 
 you care to know if any remain. You and your 
 friend seem to have managed very well without let- 
 ters if I may be allowed to judge by what I saw 
 Monday evening." He smiled, but grew grave 
 again. 
 
 "But just for the present, I am sorry to have to 
 
 inconvenience you a little, Herr Doktor. Having 
 
 the Major's letter, I have come in person to manage 
 
 this affair, in order to see that you suffer no un- 
 
 169
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 necessary discourtesy. I shall not detain you a 
 moment longer than is necessary, and later, if you 
 will give me a chance to do so, I shall do my best 
 to erase the necessary discourtesy which you will 
 suffer today. I regret the matter, Herr Doktor, 
 believe me, but duty leaves me no choice. Will you 
 kindly come into the house with me?" 
 
 I followed him into the custom-house, and the 
 file of soldiers closed up behind. After traversing 
 a small hallway we entered a medium sized room 
 where I saw a desk and chairs and little else except 
 a stranger in plain clothes. The Commandant and 
 a leutnant entered with me and the door was 
 closed. The Commandant seated himself at the 
 desk. 
 
 "Bring in the identifying witness," he ordered. 
 The leutnant opened another door. 
 
 "This way, Signer," he said. 
 
 In came Paulo. He looked at me sadly and 
 raised his hands in despair. He did it well ! I even 
 thought I saw tears in his eyes. It was the first time 
 I had ever seen anything resembling emotion on his 
 face. 
 
 "Be seated, Herr Tomanovich is this Herr 
 Doktor Ransome?" 
 
 "Yes," said Paulo, in a broken voice. I gazed 
 at him with a wrought-up interest. He was superb! 
 
 "Thank you, Signer." Then the Commandant 
 turned to me. 
 
 "Herr Doktor Ransome, are you willing to give 
 up quietly the papers you are carrying with you?" 
 
 I tried to look surprised, but I fear Paulo left 
 me on the back-stretch so far as acting was con- 
 cerned. 
 
 "Papers? Certainly, General! I have only an 
 envelope which I am to deliver in Cettinje. I do 
 170
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 not understand that the matter is specially confiden- 
 tial, beyond the fact that I was requested not to 
 mention the name of the person to whom I am to 
 give it." And I handed him the envelope. 
 
 Once more I saw Paulo's expression change. 
 He actually looked a little surprised. 
 
 "Please do me the honor of examining them at 
 the same time I do, Herr Oberst." 
 
 These words were addressed to the stranger. He 
 arose and seated himself at the desk with the Com- 
 mandant. They broke the seal, spread the bonds 
 out upon the table, and looked them over. They 
 did not seem surprised or if they were they kept 
 their faces well. 
 
 "Are these all the papers you have?" asked the 
 stranger. 
 
 "Yes, Herr pberst." 
 
 "Do you object to a search?" 
 
 "Not in the least." 
 
 "Kindly lay off your clothes as far as your un- 
 derwear, and please remove your shoes." 
 
 I disrobed as directed. He gave the clothes a 
 careful going over, including the shoes. Then he 
 examined me. In this matter I appreciated the 
 great personal consideration extended to me by the 
 Commandant, in having this personal search con- 
 ducted by a Colonel of the army instead of by a 
 common soldier. The whole was an example of the 
 princely courtesy which is usual with the Austrian 
 military officer. Of course, since I had to be 
 searched it did not really matter much to me who 
 did it; but I understood the courteous intention. 
 And the Colonel himself had doubtless donned civil- 
 ian clothes that morning because he felt that such 
 a proceeding ill became his uniform. I could little 
 complain of the mode in which they performed their 
 171
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 duty. During the whole proceeding 1 Paulo was the 
 picture of commiseration. Having finished, the 
 Colonel courteously gave me permission to dress 
 again, and went to the door whence he brought in 
 my portmanteau. At his request I unlocked it, 
 and continued dressing while he turned out and 
 carefully examined its contents. He asked me if 
 the grip had any secret compartment and I an- 
 swered in the negative for this was not the one in 
 which I had hidden the original packet. 
 
 "Shall I repack your portmanteau, Herr Doktor? 
 I suppose you know better where everything goes." 
 
 I gravely repacked it. 
 
 There was a knock at the door. One officer and 
 two soldiers entered. The officer reported that 
 nothing had been found in the carriage. 
 
 "Very well lock the door." 
 
 There was a moment of silence. The Comman- 
 dant looked at the Colonel and raised his eyebrows. 
 The latter nodded his head. 
 
 "Obey your orders!" 
 
 The two soldiers instantly sprang upon Paulo and 
 pinioned him. For the third and last time I saw 
 his face wear an expression. Paying no attention 
 to his astonishment, they deftly removed his coat. 
 Having done so, they handed the coat to their offi- 
 cer, and forced Paulo back into his chair and held 
 him there. 
 
 The officer examined the pockets of the coat, 
 and then the lining. From a place in the back 
 which had been ripped and re-sewed, he drew an 
 envelope very like mine but of very thin light pa- 
 per. Amazement held me spellbound. 
 
 The Commandant ripped open this one also. 
 This time there seemed to be no lack of interest in 
 their work. He and the Colonel seemed to point 
 172
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 out various passages significantly to each other. 
 Finally the Commandant said: 
 
 "It is enough quite more than enough!" 
 
 Amazement had never left Paulo's face. If his 
 astonishment were of the same genuine stamp as 
 his commiseration of me had been, I could still far- 
 ther compliment him. Still, there seemed a differ- 
 ence his amazement seemed a little more real but 
 only a little more. He baffled me completely. 
 
 A sergeant was called in and produced hand-cuffs 
 which he placed upon Paulo's wrists. Then without 
 once having found his voice, he was led out. The 
 Commandant again turned to me: 
 
 "Herr Doktor, in this entire affair we have acted 
 in accordance with previous information. Of 
 course we knew we would find nothing compromis- 
 ing on you, but it was necessary that we have proof 
 of the fact. Our search of you was much more for 
 vour own sake than for any other reason. Now you 
 will be disturbed no more. Later you may be called 
 as a witness in regard to what you have seen here 
 today, but I do not believe so. In any case, that 
 will be the extent of any future inconvenience so far 
 as you are concerned. Here are your papers. Al- 
 though duty left the Herr Oberst and myself no 
 choice, still we offer you our fullest apologies, Herr 
 Doktor." 
 
 I acknowledged his amende honorable with the 
 best grace which my amazement would permit. 
 
 "Will Pa , Herr Tomanovich, have serious 
 trouble, General?" 
 
 "I have little doubt of it. We have found a paper 
 of grave significance, and artfully concealed, the 
 nature of which I may not explain to you. Yes, 
 he will find himself in a net. His being still young 
 may help him I cannot say for certain." 
 
 173
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "I am sorry." 
 
 "Don't waste sympathy on him, Herr Doktor," 
 he answered significantly. "Besides, our young 
 men must learn to do their patriotic duty to their 
 government and let political intriguing alone!" 
 
 He accompanied me to my carriage which had 
 already been put in readiness. 
 
 "When did Herr Paulo come up?" 
 
 "We brought him with us. He supposed he was 
 to identify you." 
 
 We were soon ascending the rest of the serpen- 
 tine which lay between the douaine and the pass. I 
 was trying to think the matter out. Paulo had 
 shown himself an actor of the first order, but the 
 more I thought of it the more was I convinced that 
 his bewilderment was real. Had the banker man- 
 aged this? It would have been easy enough for 
 some agent of his to have done it, say some time 
 when Paulo had been bathing in the gulf. Not- 
 withstanding the Commandant's words, which 
 of course I had perfectly understood, I could not 
 help but feel for Paulo a little, though not without 
 the further feeling that simple justice had come to 
 him. He had received exactly what he had planned 
 for me. 
 
 Truly the banker's arm was long, and he had 
 known how to strike back soundly upon the meddler 
 in his affairs. 
 
 And how would this affect my affair? I could 
 depend upon it that the young man's father would 
 hold me, however innocent, responsible with the 
 rest, and would not see me again, even if he rested 
 with that. And how would Gisela feel about it? I 
 would not be troubled by Lubitza again, I fancied ! 
 
 I received the package of tobacco as previously 
 arranged and finished my journey in time to walk 
 
 174
 
 The Accursed R o c c 6 s 
 
 by the Prince's palace between four and five o'clock. 
 That night I placed the envelope in the fence post, 
 and returned to Cattaro the following day without 
 incident, arriving at the hotel in time for dinner. In 
 the meantime, I had decided to see the banker and 
 intercede for Paulo. I believed he could undo what 
 he had done, if he would. 
 
 175
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 "WELL, we shall soon know which way the cat 
 will jump. You may expect something! They will 
 not let this pass without a return, Ed. You may 
 depend upon that." 
 
 "But I had nothing to do with it!" 
 
 "They will not believe that. What I look for is 
 that the Ingenieur will call you out. 
 
 This conversation occurred Sunday evening after 
 I had related the previous events to Harry. 
 
 "What will you do if it happen?" 
 
 "If the Ingenieur call me out?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "I hardly know, Harry." 
 
 "Better be thinking it over ! Are you in practice 
 with any arm?" 
 
 "Only the two fast to me." 
 
 "Yes, I know your practice with those, but they 
 won't serve you in this instance." 
 
 We finished dinner and left the hotel to take a 
 turn on the Marina. He took up the subject again. 
 
 "You won't go north?" 
 
 "Not yet," I answered doggedly. "Besides, they 
 would be sure to think I were running away if 
 you be right. The Ingenieur could find me in 
 Vienna as easily as here." 
 
 "Very well, we'll stay it out. But take a stitch 
 in time. Present your letter to the Commandant 
 and mention the fact that you may need a friend. 
 He will probably take the hint and take care of the 
 matter. Of course you are not a coward, Ed, but
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 a duelling scrape would exactly play into their 
 hands." 
 
 For once, however, Harry's cleverness proved to 
 be at fault. I received no visit nor communication 
 from either the Signor or his future son-in-law. On 
 Monday I called to see the banker, but they in- 
 formed me he had gone north and would return 
 Saturday. That afternoon I asked Harry to watch 
 the Marina for Teresa and called upon the Com- 
 mandant with my letter and gave him the hint 
 Harry had suggested. 
 
 "They will not dare !" he assured me. "They will 
 have enough to do the next few months or a year 
 without looking for more trouble !" 
 
 He furthermore answered that he saw nothing he 
 could do for Paulo the matter was out of his hands 
 now, he said. 
 
 Later in the afternoon I called at the house of the 
 Bishop and was informed that he was at his sum- 
 mer residence. I left Count Weyer's letter and de- 
 parted. 
 
 That day and the next passed without news from 
 any quarter. I urged Harry to make his trip into 
 the Krivocije, and after another day of waiting, he 
 consented, leaving Wednesday morning. He would 
 be back Friday or Saturday. 
 
 And so the long weary week rolled by, I had 
 left only the hope that Gisela might come to church 
 Sunday. I almost prayed that it would not rain. 
 
 And it did not. The day broke fine and I began 
 to watch th'e Stolivd locality as early as eight 
 o'clock. After two hours of waiting and many dis- 
 appointments I spied a barque upon which I rivetted 
 my glasses. After a time I made out two women 
 sitting in the after part, and later to my joy and 
 relief recognized the Signorina and Teresa. I went
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 to the Marine gate, passed under the arch, and 
 awaited them there. 
 
 The women were conversing gravely as they 
 came through the arch. Teresa saw me first and 
 dropped behind. Gisela gave me a little smile and 
 walked on. As Teresa passed she said : 
 
 "In the Cathedral at two o'clock, Signer." 
 ****** 
 
 I entered the church a little before two. A little 
 past the hour they came in. 
 
 "I'll watch at the entrance, Gisa mia." And 
 Teresa took her stand there. 
 
 I took Gisela's hands in mine, but she would not 
 look at me. 
 
 "Have you read my letter?" 
 
 "Yes, Herr Doktor." 
 
 "Do you forgive me, dear?" 
 
 She stood first on one little foot and then upon 
 the other. She drew her right hand away and 
 swung it like a child would do. Her eyes took a 
 flying glimpse at mine, the little mouth half smiled. 
 She stood a little nearer me, then farther away 
 then a little nearer. She half turned away, but she 
 made a mistake and turned in the wrong direction, 
 for she turned her right shoulder toward me, and as 
 I was still holding her left hand, that why of 
 course it made my left arm go around her shoul- 
 der, and well, there is no need to worry the reader 
 with these details. Besides, such a moment can 
 only be understood by people who do not need an 
 explanation. Again, I do not remember all that 
 happened the next two or three minutes. 
 
 "So then, you love me, after all, Gisela?" 
 
 "I think so, Eduard it must be that I love you 
 as nearly as I understand it, I do." 
 
 "Will you marry me?" 
 178
 
 The 'Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "If when I can, Eduard." 
 
 Then she broke away and looked at me severely. 
 
 "But, Signer, I do have a quarrel with you ! No 
 go away. It is not to be settled with a kiss ! Did 
 I not tell you I would stand no coquetting with my 
 cousin? You have had to wait a whole week on 
 account of that!" 
 
 "Why! you little savage! When have I 
 coquetted, pray tell me!" 
 
 "When you called! And before the night of 
 the ball ! As you very well know !" 
 
 The underlip was once more out. She seemed 
 to mean it. 
 
 "Dear heart, I have not coquetted with anybody. 
 Why do you accuse me of such things?" 
 
 "You flirted with Lubitza the night of the ball! 
 She has boasted of it. She says you were in the 
 garden with her and that you made love to her 
 and tried to kiss her!" 
 
 "That is utterly false! Every word of it! I did 
 not even see her outside of the ball-room!" 
 
 "And when you came over to call and went 
 away you and she walked arm in arm to the 
 gate and talked there and you and you held 
 her hand at the gate! just like a pair of lovers! 
 You thought I was sick and wouldn't see you." 
 
 "Oh, Gisela!" 
 
 "And she says you are going to be friends 
 in Vienna when she goes there. You planned it 
 at the gate. Oh, Eduard !" 
 
 Her handkerchief went to her eyes and she 
 sobbed heart-breakingly. I put my arm around her 
 shoulder, pulled the handkerchief away and turned 
 her chin upward. She was shaking with laughter. 
 The silver peal itself now rang out again and again. 
 179
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 Then she ceased to laugh, pulled away from me and 
 put on a serious expression. 
 
 "But, Eduard, she did say these things really! 
 I believed them at first. I thought you might have 
 done it after you left me sitting in the park. (Arerit 
 you ashamed of yourself? Good! That is some- 
 thing at least!) But when she said you tried to 
 kiss her, I no longer believed her." 
 
 "Of course not, dear!" 
 
 "Because she would have let you do it, if you 
 had tried I know my cousin !" 
 
 Again she laughed at my discomfiture. Then she 
 ceased her raillery altogether, and took my hands in 
 hers. 
 
 "No, dear Eduard, it is all nonsense! I did not 
 come this week because it was not possible. The 
 family has neither gone out nor received anyone, 
 and I had to stay in with the rest. Of course your 
 letter made everything right, dear Eduard. Quite 
 everything." 
 
 Here came another moment that will not interest 
 the reader. 
 
 "Let us not risk this any more, Eduard." 
 
 "Teresa is watching, dear." 
 
 "Yes, I know, but still it is better not here 
 Eduard." 
 
 "Do you love me?" 
 
 "I think so, Eduard." 
 
 "You are going to marry me?" 
 
 "Yes, when I can, Eduard if you will still have 
 me then." 
 
 "You remind me that we shall have to wait. I 
 shall wait, dearest. Never doubt that! If one of 
 us fail to wait for the other, it will not be I, 
 dearest." 
 
 "I shall wait for you, Eduard." 
 1 80
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Dearest, I have been worried to death for fear 
 that this thing which has happened to Paulo would 
 forever keep us apart. What does your uncle say 
 about it?" 
 
 "Oh, Eduard, that is a dreadful thing! My aunt 
 has not left her room since we heard of it, and my 
 uncle just walks the floor. They say he will be shut 
 up for months and months, and that he may never 
 be free again. Today my uncle, aunt and Lubitza 
 have not come from their rooms. That is why I 
 could come over. There was no one about to re- 
 fuse permission to come to church." 
 
 "Where is the Ingenieur?" 
 
 "Eduard, I do really believe he is a coward, after 
 all. Uncle says he has gone to Trebinje. I think 
 he has run away." 
 
 "Afraid he'll get mixed up with Paulo?" 
 
 "I suppose so. Eduard, do you know how it 
 happened ?" 
 
 "I saw the arrest, of course, and saw them find 
 the paper. I know nothing more only that he had 
 denounced me, and thought he was being taken up 
 there to be a witness against me." 
 
 She closed her little jaw tight. 
 
 "I hope they will shut him up for a long time! 
 But we are all puzzled. Uncle says he knows noth- 
 ing of political plotting, and that the family has al- 
 ways been for the Austrians. Have you really no 
 idea how he came by the papers?" 
 
 "No more than you have, Gisela. My word of 
 honor !" 
 
 "Uncle swears that you put them in his coat." 
 
 "I! Gisela, as soon as your uncle can think a 
 little better, he will realize that I have never had 
 an opportunity to do such a thing. Besides, I, too, 
 181
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 know nothing of your politics here, and have no 
 interest in them." 
 
 "Well, Eduard, I must believe you, but I would 
 not have blamed you if you had. I think it would 
 have been splendid. It is just right! I am not a 
 bit sorry for him. I could feel sorry for uncle if 
 I were sure he had not been part of the plot 
 against you, but I believe he was." 
 
 "I think so, too, dear." 
 
 "And yet I am sure uncle liked you," she half 
 mused. 
 
 "Maybe. But he likes some other things and peo- 
 ple better." 
 
 "Oh, yes. He worships Lubitza and is under her 
 thumb. Then comes Paulo then my aunt. A long 
 way afterward come I and then other people." 
 
 "How did you know I was to be denounced?" 
 
 "Teresa heard Paulo and Lubitza talking of it. 
 Teresa finds out most things for me. If it had 
 not been for Teresa, I would have been dough in 
 their hands." 
 
 I resolved I would never forget Teresa whatever 
 should betide. 
 
 "When we go back we are going to say we took 
 luncheon at Signer Sbutega's house. Signorina 
 Sbutega and I are good friends." 
 
 "Idiot that I was! I might have got my letter 
 to you sooner if I had known that !" 
 
 "No, Signer it was best as it was. It is true 
 Amalia and I are good friends, but never trust a 
 letter to any other hand than Teresa's. Letters are 
 always read, in Austria, Signor when you would 
 think they wouldn't be. You can trust your mail to 
 the postman only, in this country, Eduard." 
 
 Time was flying and I saw Gisela was beginning 
 to grow restive. 
 
 182
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "I must soon go away. .Where shall I send let- 
 ters to you ?" 
 
 "Only to Teresa and not to our address." 
 
 "I'll send them to her in care of the bank." 
 
 "That will do until uncle finds it out, at least. 
 Give me your address." 
 
 I wrote it down and gave it to her. She thrust 
 it into her reticule. 
 
 "And you will wait for me, Gisela?" 
 
 "I shall wait, Eduard but remember, no more 
 flirting with my cousin. You may flirt with any- 
 body else under the sun, but not with her !" 
 
 I did my best to chide the notion out of her 
 mind, striving to show her, in a way that every 
 lover has, that there was room for only her in my 
 mind and heart. 
 
 The time began to fly by again, unnoticed. We 
 forgot the chances of interruption, as well as every- 
 thing else in the world. There always comes a mo- 
 ment when lovers blunder perhaps because they 
 are true to their purpose and do not divide their 
 minds between their love and side-issues. Teresa 
 had already twice warned us that the interview was 
 too long, but we did not know when we would see 
 one another again and had begged for just a few 
 minutes more. 
 
 We were, in fact, just about to part when we 
 were startled by an amazed exclamation from 
 Teresa. She was running toward us as we looked 
 up. I had the presence of mind to pick up Gisela's 
 reticule which she had droped in her fright and 
 we ran to a corner at the side of the nave. 
 
 "The Signer! and the Ingenieur! They are 
 coming this way up the street. We can't get out 
 without being seen !" Teresa explained excitedly. 
 
 I knew already that there was no free exit except 
 183
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 the front portal. A side door there was, but I had 
 tried it when I came and had found it locked. There 
 was little time for debate. I thought hard and fast. 
 The possibilities did not require much conning. I 
 realized that we must not be caught here, for the 
 sake of Teresa herself and her future usefulness to 
 us, even if there had not been stronger reasons. 
 Gisela had sunk down on the pavement in a ghast- 
 ly fright. 
 
 "Speak quickly, Signer! What shall we do?" 
 urged Teresa. 
 
 "Teresa, calm yourself, and leave the church. 
 Meet them and stop them detain them all you can. 
 Your mistress dined at Sbutega's and has already 
 gone home. You were in the church to find Gi- 
 sela's reticule again. Here take it! Go!" 
 
 She collected her senses in a most creditable way 
 and made a prompt exit. I seized Gisela by the 
 waist and arm, and raised her up. 
 
 "There is not a moment to lose! Hurry!" 
 
 'Where are you going, Eduard?" 
 
 "Hurry, child! Hurry!" 
 
 We arrived at the right hand side door in the 
 altar screen, to the rear apartment of the cathedral, 
 and here she pulled back with all her strength. 
 
 "Come, Gisela ! Do you want them to find us ?" 
 
 I again took her about the waist. She fought 
 with all her power. 
 
 "Eduard! What would you do! I cannot" 
 
 "Come! We must hide here! Come! Come!!" 
 
 She tried to pull away fighting me almost madly. 
 I was nonplussed at her behavior, but there was no 
 time for questions and arguing. I stooped, picked 
 her up in my arms and stumbled and ran into the 
 inner apartment in the apse of the church, behind 
 the altar and ikons. 
 
 184
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 She was now limp in my arms. I lowered her to 
 her feet and supported her while I cast a hasty look 
 about the place. A door to one side stood a little 
 open, and a key stood in the lock. I hurried her 
 there and pulled the door further open. It seemed 
 to be a large closet for vestments. I pushed Gisela 
 inside of this, reversed the key to the inside, and 
 then stepped to the side door of the screen where I 
 could look into the outer church and watch the 
 front entrance. 
 
 We had barely been in time. Signer Tomanovich 
 and the Ingenieur in violent altercation with Teresa 
 came tog-ether into the church. The two former 
 came walking up each side of the nave, systemati- 
 cally searching the church. I stole to the closet, 
 went within and locked the door. 
 
 There was a considerable space between the bot- 
 tom of the door and the sill, and I lay down on the 
 floor and put my ear there. For some moments I 
 heard nothing then I saw their feet as they came 
 toward and into the apse of the church. 
 
 "They won't be here," I heard the Signer say. 
 
 "It won't hurt to look," replied the Ingenieur. 
 
 I heard them move about. One of them tried 
 the closet door. 
 
 'Folly! Of course they are not here!' 
 
 I heard them move about again not far off. Then 
 they stopped between the closet door and the Holy 
 Table and consulted. Their feet faced each other. 
 
 "They have been too sharp for us. Teresa !" 
 
 I heard her answer from without. 
 
 "Don't you dare leave the church!" 
 
 They conversed in low tones near the door, but 
 I could only catch fragments. 
 
 "I don't think it would have done any good, any- 
 how The American understands in his own in- 
 185
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 terest will do nothing we can. If they meet in 
 the church so better to let them alone until take 
 to meeting somewhere else." 
 
 "I have had my talk with , will be enough if 
 
 we can show that they are meeting secretly. He is 
 
 willing, on that much, to sanction . I did not 
 
 have time to explain this to you before because I" 
 
 "Well, we have failed this time, at any rate. I 
 suppose somewhere in the neighborhood and post- 
 ed Teresa in signal them. We have been too 
 hasty, and have managed badly." 
 
 "Perhaps she has not been able to ." 
 
 "Basta. The thing is off for this time. No use to 
 try again very more rope. We better informed 
 before ." 
 
 'Lubitza is 
 
 They were moving away. I saw their feet pause 
 a moment at the communicating door on our side. 
 Then they went out and I could follow them a very 
 little way into the congregation room. After a time 
 all was silent. I noticed now for the first time that 
 Gisela was sobbing. I whispered. 
 
 "Dearest, they have gone and all is well. In a 
 few moments we can go." 
 
 I unlocked the door and cautiously looked into 
 the outer church. The place was empty again. Fi- 
 nally I ran to the main entrance and saw all three 
 going down the street. I watched them out of 
 sight and returned to the closet. 
 
 "Come, dearest, the coast is clear." 
 
 She came out, hanging her head dejectedly. I 
 closed the closet door. She raised her head, looked 
 fearfully about, and then ran headlong out into the 
 church, stumbling and falling against a column. In 
 an instant I was by her side. 
 186
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Dearest, what is the matter? We have escaped 
 them 1" 
 
 I raised her up onto her feet. 
 
 "Do you not understand, Gisela? They are gone. 
 You are safe! You have only left to be careful 
 about going home." 
 
 She did not weep violently, but sobbingly and 
 persistently. Nor did she seem hysterical. Puzzled 
 to a stand-still I could only drop my hands and gaze 
 at her in growing uneasiness. It was only after 
 quite a few minutes that she became a little more 
 composed, and seemed able to talk to me. 
 
 "What is the matter, dearest? We are safe." 
 
 "Oh, Signer Signor ! You don't know what we 
 have done!" 
 
 "Done! Whatever do you mean, dear?" 
 
 "Oh, Eduard! Of course you didn't know, but 
 I have broken one of the most sacred rules of the 
 Church !" 
 
 I could only look my astonishment. 
 
 "You didn't know, Eduard, but that won't help 
 me. That inner room is the Sanctuary. A woman 
 is forbidden to enter there." 
 
 "What ! A woman may not go in there ?" 
 
 "It is so, Eduard." 
 
 I was speechless a moment and then I was torn 
 between the desire to laugh and honest sympathy 
 for her in her real distress. I called to mind the 
 bare room with its dreary white unadorned walls, 
 the room bare of everything, even of furniture save 
 the Holy Table which stood behind the central door 
 of the screen. Forsooth should she have endan- 
 gered her inheritance because she had entered 
 there? It was only by the greatest self-mastery 
 that I restrained a shout. 
 
 But after a moment I recalled the wording of her 
 187
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 great-grandmother's will as transmitted to me by the 
 banker; remembered that who had any interest in 
 doing so would construe this as literally as neces- 
 sary ; called to mind that the present trustee of her 
 estate was seeking an excuse not a reason; re- 
 called the fragmentary conversation which I had 
 but now overheard, and the words of the Ingenieur 
 that somebody "would sanction" something or an- 
 other merely on the ground of our having "met se- 
 cretly," and with these reminders all desire to 
 laugh died out. I thought I could guess what this 
 person would "sanction," and this excuse would 
 surely have answered his purposes better than a 
 mere secret meeting with the servant standing by, 
 and in such a public and supposedly righteous place. 
 For among Roman Catholics in Europe it would 
 have been no offence to make pure love in a church. 
 A priest of my acquaintance had once said to me 
 "better there than somewhere else." I fancied it 
 would be the same in a Greek church. But a profa- 
 nation of the sanctuary and hiding together in a 
 closet therein however unwittingly and innocently 
 that excuse, they could doubtless use. 
 
 "But, darling, no one has seen it. No one will 
 ever know." 
 
 "Oh, Eduard, when such a thing has been done, 
 the priest will always know!" and she began to 
 quiver again. 
 
 Here was pure superstition, but here was neither 
 time nor place to combat it. 
 
 "Gisela, neither the priest nor anybody else will 
 ever find it out this time, and if they do they will 
 know that I carried you in bodily, and against 
 your will, for I remember you fought against it all 
 you could. I did not know why. Take courage, 
 darling!" 
 
 1 88
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Oh, Eduard!" she moaned drearily, "the priest 
 will know! The priest will know!" And she 
 waved to and fro. 
 
 I could only look at her in despair. After a few 
 moments a change came over her. Her face grew 
 rosy, her lips redder, and her eyes hard and bright. 
 She turned upon me in a fury, speaking partly 
 amid clenched teeth, partly amid the forcible taking 
 of breath. 
 
 "Wretch! Brute! Mule! Now I am lost! 
 Now that vixen that witch that men's plaything 
 will have my patrimony! And it is your fault! 
 You you Oh ! (and stamped her foot in a very 
 paroxysm of rage). "Oh, I wish I had never seen 
 your face ! Why, oh, why was I such a fool fool 
 fool ! Go ! Go back where you came from, 
 whatever nest it was ! Go and flirt and play with 
 other women make fools, dolts, idiots of more girls 
 and never forget that there is one down here in 
 Cattaro who wishes you had never been born!" 
 
 She clutched her dress and started for the en- 
 trance. I couldn't have stopped a ewe lamb, not 
 to mention a strong, healthy, enraged young woman. 
 There were no words for my helpless astonishment. 
 A little of rage there was, too, but I could not have 
 given it voice if I had wished to. Out of sheer 
 inability to move I would have allowed her to go, 
 if she had not stopped and turned her eyes upon 
 me one moment as she was about to reach the en- 
 trance. That gave just the necessary time to get my 
 breath again. I made a half dozen bounds and 
 reached her. She held out her arms as if to ward 
 me off in fright, I supposed. I siezed her arm. 
 
 "Gisela! Listen! I won't argue with you! I'll 
 go away and never return. You shall have your 
 wish you shall never see me again. But listen! 
 189
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 Never speak of this afternoon and nothing will ever 
 be known ! The priest can't know about it ! See 
 that you yourself never let it be known, and all 
 will be well." 
 
 I dropped her arm and retreated a step. She was 
 still angry, and looked at me one moment, half 
 opened her lips as if to speak and closed them 
 again. Then she turned and flung over her shoul- 
 der: 
 
 "Go then! The farther the better!" and flew 
 out of the door and down the street, utterly obliv- 
 ious of collisions with the people she passed. 
 
 I watched her out of sight and then strove to 
 collect myself a bit. It was rough, but I could 
 balance against it my treatment of her the night 
 of the ball, for which I had had far less cause, and 
 I was a man grown; she, a young (and supersti- 
 tious) woman. I was able to forgive the two last 
 speeches, the more as I believed she would regret 
 them keenly when she came to herself. I believed 
 I had only to wait patiently a few hours in order 
 to hear from her again. 
 
 Well, she was safe now, at all events. We had 
 escaped for this time and I made an iron resolve 
 not to see her again except in company. We could 
 do our love-making by letter after this if indeed, 
 it was destined to be done at all. 
 
 What wolves a property dispute can make of a 
 family! Here was a girl made, not for balls and 
 flirting and to be a mere clothes-horse in life, but 
 one endowed with all the sweetness Nature ever 
 gives ; one meant for a happy, quiet life with some 
 man who understood her ; one meant to be the boon 
 of chubby-faced children, and later the goddess of 
 her sons and daughters. Now this sweetness was 
 190
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 turned into gall and hatred for I had at least been 
 able, I thought, even now in her excited words, to 
 read no especial love of money or avariciousness in 
 general, but only that fixed hatred of her cousin 
 which showed its ugly head whenever her name 
 was mentioned. During our conversation the night 
 of the ball she had said that her hatred of Lubitza 
 was "older" than her love for me. Yes, her hate 
 for her cousin was an old rooted tree with a long- 
 firm grip upon the soil, while her love for me was 
 but a tender plant of yesterday. Any conflict be- 
 tween these was bound to end to my discomfiture, 
 for a long time to come, of course. 
 
 I was leaning against a column near the cathedral 
 entrance occupied with these thoughts when a deep 
 taunting voice behind me broke the thread and 
 made me fairly leap into the air in surprise and 
 fright. 
 
 "Well ! You seem to have played and lost, Doc- 
 tor Ran some !" 
 
 I waited just five seconds, and when I turned I 
 think I was fairly composed. 
 
 Confronting me, with a sneering, lowering fa"ce, 
 was the massive, towering figure of Padre Petrus, 
 the priest. 
 
 IQI
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 THAT a battle was on, was evident at the 
 first glance, and I braced myself for it. His words 
 indicated that he had heard a part of our interview. 
 I determined that what he might have overheard 
 would be the extent of what he should learn. 
 
 He was an enormous man, not corpulent, but 
 massive and powerful, and stood a good head and 
 neck above me. This fact, together with his high 
 cylindrical clerical hat with its overhang at the 
 top, and his flowing hair, made him a truly impres- 
 sive object. It was small wonder that he had much 
 influence among the mostly simple and more or 
 less wholly superstitious people of his flock. He 
 had not, before, impressed me as having a bad 
 face, but it seemed villainous now. I may have 
 been prejudiced. Certain it was that if his face 
 had any possibilities in the way of kindness, he was 
 concealing the fact well, just now. 
 
 "However, Signor, as you had no stakes up, I 
 suppose you will not find it hard to be a philo- 
 sophical gambler." 
 
 I made no reply but merely waited for what 
 further he had to say. 
 
 "I have always supposed that Americans were a 
 clever people. I did not ever expect to meet with 
 one of them who would prove otherwise. On 
 thinking the matter over, and taking into account the 
 circumstances under which you have been and are, 
 do you yourself not wonder how you could have 
 assumed that an Oriental-Orthodox church would 
 192
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 be left unattended so long as you have chosen to 
 remain this afternoon ?" 
 
 I did not answer. If he would tell me what he 
 had seen and heard I would let him. 
 
 "Moreover, you are meddlesome. You are like 
 an old gossiping woman who must stir with her 
 finger a neighborhood trouble in which she has no 
 interest. Otherwise you would not have been 
 fetching and carrying like a trained dog for that 
 old spider who sits yonder in a counting-house." 
 
 "And? Riverenci?" 
 
 "Do not use that form of address to me !" he said 
 very sternly. "That is for Roman Catholic here- 
 tics." 
 
 "Very well sir." 
 
 He eyed me a moment, then he said: 
 
 "Come with me, Signer. I wish to show you 
 something." 
 
 I followed him, determined to let him do the talk- 
 ing until I had something to say. He led me through 
 the church back into the apse again. He pointed 
 to the door of the closet. 
 
 "You were there." 
 
 He then pointed to the door opposite. 
 
 "I was there." Then he folded his arms and 
 looked sneeringly down at me from his towering 
 height. 
 
 I suppose he would have succeeded in throwing 
 me into a panic if I had not so felt the necessity of 
 keeping my head. I wondered if he had actu- 
 ally seen us or only drawn an inference from the 
 last part of the interview between Gisela and me, 
 which I now understood he had overheard. How- 
 ever, his next words set all doubts at rest. 
 
 "You seem to have some personal strength for a 
 193
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 little man. Not everybody can pick up a full grown 
 woman and carry her about against her will." 
 
 I am a man of quite average size or even a little 
 more, but I was little alongside of him, so I had 
 no inclination to resent the gibe. 
 
 He had seen the whole affair! Why, then, had 
 he not come put and denounced us to the Signer 
 and the Ingenieur? Surely, there was a reason for 
 his not having done so. And why was he having 
 speech with me now? That he had some ax to 
 grind, was obvious. I determined to let him tell 
 me what it was. 
 
 "Well, Doctor, do you understand that I was a 
 witness to the whole affair?" 
 
 "Certainly." And I looked at him inquiringly. 
 
 "Doctor, I think you understand Signorina Gise- 
 la's situation. Your behavior here tells us that. Do 
 you also realize what the events of this afternoon 
 mean to her ? Especially under the circumstances ?" 
 
 "Not precisely. Of course, I can make various 
 suppositions." 
 
 "And the first one you have in mind will be the 
 correct one !" 
 
 I made no answer to this. 
 
 "Doctor, you seem disposed to let me do the 
 talking or is it merely that your guilty mind has 
 nothing to answer?" 
 
 "I do not yet understand why we should have 
 any conversation at all, sir. You have seen what 
 occurred, what more is there? I infer from what 
 you hint that you mean to use this knowledge 
 against the Signorina in her affairs. Well, a talk 
 with me will not alter that intention, I fancy. Why 
 waste time over me, then?" 
 
 His face abandoned the sneer and took on more 
 of the habitual priestly air which it wore when 
 194
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 flocks of children on the street would kiss his hand, 
 or when, in the service, his parishioners would do 
 so, as he gave the Holy Bread. 
 
 "Because I have a proposition to make to you. I 
 think you have guessed as much, have you not?" 
 "What? And I so unclever?" 
 "It did not require any cleverness." 
 "Well, I got far enough, at least, to wonder why 
 you did not appear and tell them where we were." 
 "Just so. I did not interfere because I saw a 
 way of using the occurrence to better advantage, 
 and I think you will make no difficulty about it 
 when you understand it. Now, Signer, you realize, 
 do you not, that I can have Signorina Gisela de- 
 prived of her estate if I make this occurrence pub- 
 lic?" 
 
 I did not quite believe it, for it had occurred to 
 me that the Austrian courts might not be willing to 
 construe the will so literally. Still under such a lit- 
 eral construction the terms of the will had been 
 broken, and I did not feel sure of my ground. Of 
 one thing I was sure, however, and that was they 
 could make her any amount of trouble and bitter- 
 ness on the strength of it and possibly put her un- 
 der restraint especially considering the closet epi- 
 sode ; there was no telling how they might twist and 
 turn that. In any case it could do no harm to let 
 him think he had things in his own hands. 
 
 "And will you use your power in this way?" 
 "That rests with you, Herr Doktor." 
 "Then it will not be done. Pray explain further." 
 "Have Paulo Tomanovich released and set free 
 without prejudice, and I will keep forever silent 
 about this afternoon." 
 
 Have Paulo set free and acquitted! How was I 
 to do that? What the Commandant had protested 
 195
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 he could not do? I was compelled to smile at the 
 absurdity of it. 
 
 "And pray, how am I, an unimportant foreign 
 stranger, to accomplish that?" 
 
 "The main thing is that you be willing. I hap- 
 pen to see the possibility the ready possibility 
 clearly enough." 
 
 "I assure you I would be perfectly willing if I 
 saw any way. I would have been willing in any 
 case, even if we had no bargain." 
 
 "Yes perhaps. But I believe our bargain will 
 make you a little more earnest will make you a 
 little readier to take certain steps which may not 
 be exactly agreeable to you." 
 
 "Very well, sir. What are the steps?" 
 
 "You can accomplish the task through Sbutega. 
 Do you realize that you have him in your power, 
 Herr Doktor? Do you know that with the knowl- 
 edge you have, he is bound to obey any reasonable 
 request from you? Or even an unreasonable one? 
 Sbutega can release Paulo. And you can command 
 him in the matter." 
 
 This view had never entered my head, and caused 
 me to think hard. For me to "command" the 
 banker, was, of course, not to be thought of. But 
 I could prefer a "request" and I did not doubt but 
 that he would heed it, even a more unreasonable 
 one than this. He had acknowledged his obliga- 
 tion to me, and had arranged to come to my assis- 
 tance at any time and place in Austria, in the fu- 
 ture. That assistance could be asked now, as well 
 as later. Other possibilities than that which the 
 priest had in mind dimly suggested themselves. 
 
 "I do not believe that the little I know would 
 force his hand, sir,'* I said, with conviction. 
 
 "I know that it would. I do not know just what 
 196
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 the messages contained but I have an inkling and 
 know that he would not have it known at any price 
 just now, that any messages at all have been ex- 
 changed. Rely upon it!" 
 
 "Why not force him yourself?" 
 
 "I cannot afford, in my position, to take any part 
 in it. Moreover, I have no proofs. You have. You 
 carried at least one of the messages I believe 
 you carried the reply. You know how they were 
 received and delivered. We can furinsh you one 
 supporting witness, and perhaps, two, that you 
 were requested to carry them, and that arrange- 
 ments therefore were made. Besides, he owes you 
 a return for that service 'for I feel sure that you 
 did not perform it for a money consideration. He 
 would probably set Paulo free at your request, as 
 a return service. The detention of Paulo is of no 
 value to him. Paulo knows nothing of his Pan- 
 Servian plots. You can make the proposition to 
 him in that form if you like, and reserve compul- 
 sion for a last resort." 
 
 "And if it fail?" 
 
 "It will not fail, Doctor! Believe me, I know 
 what I am saying." 
 
 There was little doubt that Signer Sbutega would 
 release Paulo as a return service, if I asked it. I, 
 also, believed the detention and conviction of Paulo 
 could be of no real service to him. As for re- 
 venge, Signer Sbutega could doubtless be brought 
 to see that Paulo had undoubtedly had lesson 
 enough by now. But more than all else, I realized 
 that this was the only way that a release of Paulo 
 could be effected for a long time to come, at best. 
 Finally, it was easy to see why the priest so ardently 
 desired his release that he had foregone the splen- 
 did opportunity which had presented itself within 
 197
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 the past hour; for Signer Tomanovich doubtless 
 held him responsible for having managed badly. 
 The priest did not wish to quarrel with the Signer, 
 and have the latter, perhaps, seek another partner 
 in a different quarter. Yes, I saw the situation, 
 and with the seeing, it came to me that Signer Sbu- 
 tega was not the only one who was in "my power" 
 today. 
 
 I straightened up and turned on the priest. He 
 no longer looked so towering to me. 
 
 "Father Petrus, you have instructed me well 
 better than you intended, I think." 
 
 His face grew black as a thundercloud. 
 
 "Ah! You think you see another use for your 
 hold upon the banker, than the release of Paulo?" 
 
 "Yes," firmly. 
 
 "Take care, young man! I have meant well by 
 you so far to-day, but you may find that the bank- 
 er's is not the only powerful arm in this diocese !" 
 
 But he no longer frightened me. I thought I 
 saw my way to the checkmate. 
 
 "Before to-day you have not meant well by me, 
 and I do not look upon your sudden conversion as 
 final. When you and Tomanovich have succeeded 
 In stealing the Signorina's estate from her, how 
 large a share is to go to your church?" 
 
 I saw him make the necessary effort to control 
 his temper. He succeeded beautifully, but his face 
 was now the color of dough, and remained so. 
 
 "And if it were to be one-third, what then, Sig- 
 ner? Will you bid under us and take one- fourth 
 if the Signor drop us and come to you? Or do you 
 mean to make the release of Paulo alone the terms 
 upon which you are to set the Church aside ? Don't 
 forget your foresight in thi game. Did you know 
 that the Signorina was once a Roman Catholic 
 198
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 communicant? That church would be glad to get 
 a hold upon the Signorina again. She is a com- 
 municant here largely by reason of superior force, 
 and we do not trust her faith. So in order to dis- 
 pose of you we have only to instruct her uncle to 
 allow her to go to that Communion again, and we 
 ourselves step out in their favor. And they have 
 the ear of the Austrian government, Doctor Ran- 
 some! In that case you will never see a kreutzer 
 of her estate!" 
 
 He was playing well, for if I had been after the 
 estate, he would have had me where I should have 
 been compelled to compromise. But as it was, 
 my way still looked clear. Also the reference to 
 Gisela's former Roman Catholicism largely ex- 
 plained why Father Petrus was willing to assist in 
 depriving her of her patrimony for the mutual 
 hatred is extreme. 
 
 "Father Petrus, you have castled without reason, 
 and my knight is still safe from the bishop. I care 
 nothing about the Signorina's estate for myself. I 
 have enough of my own. She could come to me 
 without a heller and be as welcome as if she would 
 have ten times her present estate. Look to your 
 own foresight in this game!" 
 
 He regarded me with open skepticism. He 
 smiled a little, then said: 
 
 "It is your move, Doctor." 
 
 "Very well. Now the situation is thus : You are 
 intriguing with that family against the welfare of 
 the Signorina, in order to cause her to lose the 
 estate, and have it go to the family. When that 
 happy result is attained, you or your church or your 
 monastery is to receive one-third." 
 
 "I have not said so," he interrupted. 
 
 "In the course of this intrigue you have made a 
 199
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 serious mistake. What you intended for my poor 
 self, has descended upon the son in that family. 
 That you may not have originated that especial 
 plot, will not help you, for you have managed mad- 
 ly and uncleverly. You have lost the Signer's con- 
 fidence and your influence over him. This you 
 would and must correct. And bringing about the 
 release of Paulo would even put his father under 
 obligations to you. 
 
 Finally, that mistake can, as you surmise, be un- 
 done through me. Also, Father Petrus, I can for- 
 ever prevent its undoing ! Do you understand that ? 
 Therefore I have, not Signer Sbutega, but you un- 
 der my thumb today, for I care not a rap about the 
 estate, and am, therefore, not concerned with your 
 threat of the Roman Church !" 
 
 "Why, then, Doctor, do you not ask for her with- 
 out her estate ? That would be far simpler." 
 
 "I have already done so. With your other eaves- 
 dropping this afternoon I am quite sure you heard 
 her last few words to me. She cannot be com- 
 pelled either to marry me, or to let her estate go to 
 her cousin." 
 
 "Yes. Of course quite true. I had forgotten 
 that for the moment. Well, Doctor, what do you 
 intend to do?" 
 
 "You shall know, as shall the Signorina and rest 
 of the family. I shall have Paulo released" 
 
 "Ah !" 
 
 "In three years from now !" 
 
 If he had been the color of dough before, he was 
 chalky now only, his eyes burned luridly. He half 
 clenched his fists and took a step toward me, and I 
 looked about for a weapon. But once more he con- 
 trolled himself though it cost him a far greater 
 200
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 struggle than before. I could not help but respect 
 his self-government, and envied him the quality. 
 
 Finally he was able to say: 
 
 "In other words you mean to hold him as a hos- 
 tage." 
 
 "Exactly!" 
 
 "For insuring what ?" 
 
 "That question is an insult to your own intelli- 
 gence, Father Petrus." 
 
 "No, Doctor, for there are at least two possi- 
 bilities. You may be intending to protect the Sig- 
 norina Gisela by this manoeuvre; but you may also 
 be intending to exact a heavy dot at the time of 
 your marriage." 
 
 "I have sufficiently answered questions touching 
 my self-interest. I shall hold Paulo as hostage for 
 the following items: 
 
 The Signorina is safely to attain legal age and 
 receive her estate in full. 
 
 She is to be permitted to marry at her will, and 
 in that case is to receive her full estate at her 
 majority. If either of these things are safely per- 
 formed, Paulo will be set free; otherwise not. 
 
 Besides this, if I ever learn of any further at- 
 tempt at intriguing against her, or of any coercion 
 of her that is not for her good on the part of any 
 of you or any one connected with you, then I shall 
 make you worse terms than this. And if anything 
 happen to the Signorina as, for example, a death 
 that cannot be explained, then I swear to you, Paulo 
 shall never be free, if I can prevent it !" 
 
 "Then you do not propose to fetter the Signo- 
 rina's own will?" 
 
 "I shall not try to protect her against herself, 
 but be assured, if she do anything that is not for 
 her good, I shall take care to be convinced that she 
 20 1
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 did act by her own free will, before Paulo shall be 
 set free ! And now, this concludes our interview, 
 does it not?" 
 
 He seemed to regard me with a certain respect 
 and great perplexity. He actually accompanied me 
 to the cathedral entrance. 
 
 "I hardly know what to think of you, Doctor. It 
 is in your hands to demand a share in this estate, 
 but you seem to throw that consideration utterly 
 away. Am I to take your determination literally?" 
 
 "Literally, Father Petrus !" 
 
 "We might find a way to act together, Doctor." 
 
 "Once more and finally, I seek for myself, only 
 the Signorina's hand in marriage. That, only she 
 herself can give me. Beyond that, the only thing 
 I shall exact for myself is free access to her at 
 reasonable times and places, provided she be willing 
 to see me. You have nothing to do with this. Now 
 for the last time, I warn you that it is best for 
 Paulo that the events of this afternoon be kept a 
 secret." 
 
 Then I left him to have an immediate interview 
 with the banker, Sunday though it was. He received 
 me in his drawing room. 
 
 "It will take a mint of money to carry this thing 
 out as you wish, Doctor! It would be simple 
 enough to set free, or on the other hand to convict 
 and hold him for good. But to hold him three years 
 and then guarantee his release, means buying a 
 pardon for a state criminal. It can be done but 
 it will be costly!" 
 
 "What will it cost?" 
 
 "As much at least as the Church would have 
 got!" 
 
 "I'll bear the half of it, Signer. I would offer 
 202
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 to bear all if I could. If the time ever come when 
 I can, I shall repay you the balance." 
 
 He looked at me affectionately. Then he rose 
 and clapped his strong old hand on my shoulder. 
 
 "I'll pay the bill, my boy ! It might be too much 
 for you, and I shall not notice it. It shall be done 
 exactly as you wish. Hereafter, the fate of the 
 young man is in your hands. It has done me a 
 world of good to hear how you got the best of that 
 old rascal Petrus ! That has not happened often 
 not even with me," and he laughed loud and 
 long. "It was worth the money!" 
 
 At the door he said : 
 
 "I love a man, especially a young man, who does 
 not love money! That may seem a strange 
 speech, coming from me, but the truth is, I do not 
 love money. I only love the pursuit of it the 
 strenuous conflict for it as the general loves the 
 winning of his battles as the player loves the win- 
 ning of his game. The dross itself is nothing to me ; 
 but if another man take it from me I would 
 have him do it either because he is better at the 
 game, or because he has given value in return. You 
 won the price of your wish in your dealing with 
 Petrus. How long are you going to stay? What! 
 Going so soon? Don't leave the dove too long 
 alone on her nest ! Be sure and call upon us before 
 you go. A rivederci, Doctor!" 
 
 NOTE. The reader must understand that the case of 
 Father Petrus was a very exceptional one. A property 
 intrigue of this character is not more often indulged in by 
 an Oriental-Orthodox priest than by ultra Protestant min- 
 isters, and the opportunities are about equally rare in both 
 cases. Indeed the Orthodox pastors are more than usually 
 disinterested and naively unselfish. 
 
 But Petrus was not the regular pastor of the cathedral 
 at Cattaro, who, by reason of precarious health, had in- 
 203
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 definite leave of absence. Petrus was a monk of the order 
 of St. Sava and a monk is another matter. This distinc- 
 tion has, perhaps been too seldom made in connection with 
 other churches. Besides, Petrus was further influenced in 
 his devious course by his doubt as to Gisela's orthodoxy 
 a doubt which was abundantly justified, as the reader will 
 learn later. The disfavor with which he would look upon 
 a large property passing from a supposedly orthodox fam- 
 ily into the hands of one whom he suspected of being a 
 "heretic," can be accepted as his real keynote. 
 
 204
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 I MANUFACTURED no fool's paradise for myself 
 out of the situation. I believed I had put an effec- 
 tual block upon their intriguing and so far the 
 work was good. But I had left Gisela a free choice. 
 The significance of the priest's comment to that 
 effect had not escaped me. 
 
 But I could not have done otherwise, and what 
 this might mean could only be left to the future. I 
 believed, however, that her intense hatred of her 
 cousin would protect her from any act which they 
 could use, now that she would be a free agent. In 
 any case, if she should lose her estate by a volun- 
 tary act of her own, I could not prevent it, nor 
 would I care. 
 
 As for my own interest I had still to win her. 
 That did not seem so near, now, for while I had 
 readily condoned her angry words in the Cathe- 
 dral, nevertheless I did not try to deceive myself 
 any longer as to their significance. If she had 
 really loved me, I felt she could not have uttered 
 them. Nor had she, as yet, positively, said she 
 loved me. Her answer to this question had only 
 been the best one she could give and had been 
 honest, at least. 
 
 I had, moreover, a very disagreeable task to per- 
 form. I really liked the Signer and it was no 
 pleasant duty to have to inform him that his son 
 must remain three years in confinement, as a hos- 
 tage controlling his efforts against his own ward. 
 For fear that I should meet the mother and per- 
 haps have her break down my resolve, I made up 
 205
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 my mind not to go to the house again. So I dis- 
 patched a letter to the Signor asking him to call 
 upon me. 
 
 I made this arrangement partly for the additional 
 reason that I did not wish to seem to seek Gisela. 
 I was not angry, but her words had been uncompro- 
 mising, and I would wait to see if she repented of 
 them sufficiently to seek me out. If she did not I 
 could set her uneasiness at rest by explaining the 
 situation to Teresa, at my opportunity. For the 
 rest, Harry and I began to get our scattered things 
 together in order to leave for the north as soon as 
 my commissions should be executed. My letter 
 to the Signor was posted Sunday evening. By 
 Monday afternoon Harry and I were ready to go, 
 but I had received no reply from him. 
 
 The following afternoon near five o'clock I was 
 sitting alone over a cup of coffee in the Dojmi when 
 Enrico brought me a letter. He said an answer was 
 awaited. I hurriedly opened it. It read: 
 
 "CARD SIGNOR: 
 
 It seems a lifetime since I saw you. On ac- 
 count of Paulo's misfortune it is very difficult to 
 leave the house, as the family is in seclusion; but 
 I have thought constantly of you and wished I 
 could see you. 
 
 I will not conceal the fact that the family are 
 no longer your friends, and perhaps you would 
 better not come here more; but I am the same as 
 always, Eduard, always the same. 
 
 I hope you have not forgotten the pretty little 
 arrangement we planned when we last met. I have 
 not, I assure you. I hope nothing will interrupt it, 
 for it would be my greatest misfortune now, to 
 lose all communication with you. 
 206
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 Do you know, Signer, when I was a little girl 
 they used to call me just 'Cara.' It is shortened 
 from 'Carissima.' I was never called by my proper 
 name until I was almost grown. They no longer 
 use it now. I would like to hear it from you if 
 we meet, and see it when you write to me. Please 
 answer this, so I'll know that everything is well 
 between us. 
 
 I hear you are going soon. I wish I could see 
 you first but I am afraid it will not do here at home. 
 Perhaps a way will be found. I think of you every 
 day. 
 
 Your 
 
 CARA/' 
 
 It was a queer little letter! And not a reference 
 to our last words in the Cathedral! But she did 
 not know, yet, that she need no longer fear the 
 consequences of that occurrence, and would not 
 risk a reference to it in writing. Still, I wished 
 there had been one little word one little hidden 
 phrase, which I alone would have understood, 
 which spoke of regret. 
 
 But I pulled myself up short. The letter itself 
 was a sufficient expression of regret. "Our pretty 
 little arrangement," of course, referred to our plan 
 to exchange letters through the bank. Of course 
 the principal object of the letter was the warning 
 not to come to the house. She did not know, yet 
 that I would take no risk in coming over. Now that 
 she had written, I determined to see her once 
 more, and in her own home. 
 
 "Who brought this letter, Enrico?" 
 
 "An olda woman one of the servants of Signer 
 Tomanovich, Dottor." 
 
 Teresa, of course. 
 
 207
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Where is she, Enrico?" 
 
 "She say she waita by Cattedral. She say you 
 musta not come, Dottor. I bring letter to her." 
 
 I could understand her caution in the light of 
 the knowledge she had. Well, it was warm and I 
 would send the answer by Enrico. He was as trust- 
 worthy as she. Enrico brought writing materials, 
 and I answered the letter. 
 
 "Mv OWN DEAREST CARA: 
 
 The dear little pet name is new to me, but I 
 have repeated it many times by now and already I 
 am growing to love it, because, from your letter, I 
 know that I, only, am to use it. 
 
 Of course I know the Signor hates me now, 
 but I shall be in no danger in coming over. I'll 
 explain all when I see you. 
 
 So you think of me every day? I think of you 
 every hour and minute. Cara, dearest Cara, I 
 think of nothing else these days. 
 
 Indeed, I have not forgotten our 'pretty little 
 arrangement.' We will carry it out. We are safe 
 anyway now, Cara, but the little plan is still best, 
 for various reasons. Also it will be the dearest way 
 we shall have, for a long time to come, for me to 
 tell you I love you, and for you to tell me the same 
 thing if you will. 
 
 I do not think the Signor will trouble us. I 
 have my reasons for that belief and will tell you 
 what they are when I see you. We shall likewise 
 be safe from the Ingenieur. I no longer fear him, 
 nor need you. Be tranquil. I have arranged all. 
 
 I am sorry for Paulo, but it was his own work. 
 He has himself to thank for his situation. I knew 
 nothing about it until I saw him arrested. 
 208
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 Of course it is all right between us. When has 
 it been otherwise, so far as I am concerned? 
 
 And now, dearest Cara, be afraid no longer. 
 Remember that I love you. Something has hap- 
 pened that has placed it entirely in my power to 
 smoothe our way. Once more again, you need fear 
 no longer either the Signer or the Ingenieur. We 
 can love one another if you will, dearest Cara. 
 Only that is lacking now ; the if you will. 
 
 A rivederci, dearest Cara. 
 
 Your 
 
 EDWARD." 
 
 After Enrico had gone with the reply, I read the 
 little letter over and over again. She wrote a beau- 
 tiful hand and lovely German and I kissed the pretty 
 letter (cautiously of course, for the place was pub- 
 lic) from one end of the missive to the other. And 
 it was a dear little confidence between us that little 
 name which should be used only by us. Cara ! 
 And it was appropriate. I could always use that 
 little name with no lack of its full meaning. 
 
 The world seemed bright again. I should have 
 to wait three years for her, but what did that mat- 
 ter? She had a passionate nature and the idea 
 foremost in her mind dominated her for the time 
 being, but her letter convinced me that she really 
 loved me, after all. I believed in her constancy in 
 every direction, and now that she loved me she 
 would be constant to that. For the first time since 
 I had seen her on St. John's evening I breathed 
 the fresh warm air freely and with an easy mind. 
 
 209
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 BY Wednesday noon I had had no word from the 
 Signor, and I decided to go over that afternoon. I 
 sent a note by messenger to the Signor acquainting 
 him with my intention. For various reasons I was 
 too impatient to sit still in a boat for the necessary 
 time to cross over the gulf, and hired a saddle horse 
 to go around by the road, starting about four. 
 
 I was not long on my way before I found that the 
 liveryman had played me a very common trick 
 that is, he had let me have a half-broken horse. 
 He was a fine, big, powerful jet black gelding and 
 I soon had my hands full. Fortunately the after- 
 noon was not so hot as usual, and the road was 
 fine. The chief concern of the gelding seemed, for 
 the present, to be merely to go, as fast as I would 
 let him, and I let him; only keeping him just on 
 the bit, paying no attention to the stares of the 
 lazy loiterers on the road. 
 
 At Perzagno I could find no place to stable the 
 lathered animal and have him properly cooled off, 
 and was directed to the first end of Stolivo where 
 I would find a place for him. I had been too busy 
 to observe the Signer's house as I passed, for just 
 at this place the gelding bolted at an orange peel 
 and I did not get him steadied for nearly a half 
 a mile of very crooked road. I passed Le Tre 
 Sorelle and finally came to the place to which I 
 had been directed. Sincerely regretting now, that 
 I had brought the animal, I gave him in charge of a 
 stableman who informed me that no one would 
 be there if I came late, and that I would have to 
 210
 
 The A c c u r s e d R o c c o s 
 
 saddle up for myself. He showed me where a 
 lantern and matches were to be found. 
 
 When, coming back afoot, I saw the Signer's 
 residence again, I noticed two men on the veranda 
 in whom, as I came up the path, I recognized the 
 Signor and the Ingenieur. They rose and bowed 
 gravely but neither offered his hand. 
 
 "Be seated, Herr Doktor Ransome," said the 
 Signor, "we were expecting you by water and had 
 about given you up. We were quite surprised to 
 see you go by on horseback." 
 
 "That is a spirited animal you were riding," said 
 the Ingenieur. "He is fine ! I think he must be pure 
 Hungarian. I saw him going on both sides of the 
 road at once down there. Who's is it?" 
 
 But the preliminary conversation was short and 
 halting. I had the feeling that neither of them 
 would have endured it at all if the courtesy of their 
 own house had not demanded . it. I decided to 
 shorten my errand all I could. Accordingly, with 
 an apology to the Ingenieur, I asked the Signor for 
 a private conversation. The Ingenieur rose and 
 excused himself. After he disappeared the Signor 
 himself began. 
 
 "I think I know what you have to say to me, 
 Doktor Ransome. Father Petrus was here Sunday 
 evening and stated that you and he had met in the 
 church. He has explained the state of affairs. I 
 understand that you will hold my son as a hostage. 
 Is there more to say?" 
 
 "Do you fully understand my terms, Signor?" 
 
 "Oh, I believe so. My niece is to attain her ma- 
 jority safely and then receive the whole of her 
 estate. Is not that it ?" 
 
 "Or if she elect to marry before then, she is to 
 be allowed to do so within reason. And I am to 
 
 211
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 have access to her at reasonable times and places. 
 She is to have a free will in the meantime, in any 
 direction which is usual in the case of a woman 
 of her position in life." 
 
 "Yes. That was all stated to me also. Well?" 
 
 "That is all, Signer. Now, if you please, I will 
 see your niece a moment or two and then say good- 
 bye to you all." 
 
 "Gisela will not see you, Herr Doktor." 
 
 "Have a care, Signer! I can" 
 
 "Do you, on your side, have a care, Doktor Ran- 
 some!" he thundered. "Understand now, once for 
 all, that no member of this family will ever ask 
 quarter at your hands ! You are going to keep my 
 son in confinement for three years. Very well! 
 We, as a family, accept the terms. I shall not even 
 offer you my bond, my word of honor or any 
 other thing, to get him free. I know he would not 
 have it if he could be consulted. He shall serve 
 out the time. Afterwards he will settle the debt 
 with you!" 
 
 He was purple, but spoke the latter sentences 
 low and between his teeth. 
 
 "Have you had word from Paulo himself that he 
 will settle with me?" 
 
 "Certainly not! How could that occur? But he 
 will be no son of mine if he does not have a reckon- 
 ing with you !" 
 
 "Very well! I am forewarned, and shall take 
 steps accordingly. Now, do you forbid me to see 
 your niece ? Yes, or no !" 
 
 "I have not said that I forbade it. I said she 
 would not see you. Her room is at the end of the 
 veranda. She is within. You are perfectly wel- 
 come to ask admittance. If she will see you, it is 
 nothing to me. And, Doktor, we at last under- 
 212
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 stand one another. Hereafter, when you come to 
 my house, if you elect to do so, it will be only to 
 see my niece. The rest of us will beg you to ex- 
 cuse us. I do not speak for Signer Ober-Leutnant 
 Overmann, of course. Adieu, Doktor Ransome." 
 
 He made a stately bow and passed into the door. 
 
 I called him. I did not intend to argue with him 
 further but it was necessary that he fully under- 
 stand. 
 
 "Signer, just one word more. I have under- 
 stood you, but you have clearly not fully understood 
 the situation yet. It is true, Signor, that I mean 
 to have Paulo liberated after three years, if all goes 
 well with your niece. But, Signor, I am telling you 
 the mere truth when I assure you that it would 
 be far simpler to keep your son in durance for the 
 rest of his life, than to liberate him after three 
 
 years 
 
 He bowed once more, and I returned the cour- 
 tesy. Then I walked down the veranda and rapped 
 upon Gisela's door. At first there was no an- 
 swer, and I began to think she had been spirited 
 away. However, in answer to a third and impe- 
 rious knock she opened the door and faced me. 
 
 I had expected something different from what I 
 saw in her face. It wore the same expression it had 
 when she had visited upon me her last two speeches 
 in the Cathedral. I could find no words. 
 
 "Well, Doctor Ransome, what do you wish with 
 me?" 
 
 "Sweetheart, what is" 
 
 "Don't you dare utter that word to me ! You are 
 false! falser than the very Shades themselves! 
 I will never hear a word from your lying tongue 
 again! Never let me see your false, hypocritical 
 face more ! Go ! Go to my cousin ! You were made 
 213
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 for one another and it would be a sin to keep you 
 apart ! Go !" 
 
 She closed the door firmly and sharply, and I was 
 alone on the veranda. 
 
 It must be realized that I had kept my temper 
 only with difficulty in my conversation with her un- 
 cle ; so it had already been very near the firing-point 
 when I had gone to her door. Under such circum- 
 stances my surprise at her reception gave way to a 
 settled and lasting anger. I did not understand, but 
 I did not try. If her moods were no more reliable 
 than this, I said to myself, I were well rid of her. 
 Well, and good ! She should, in fact, never see my 
 face again ! I strode down the veranda and with- 
 out a backward look went down the walk and out 
 onto the road, taking my way to Stolivo. 
 
 It was now dark, and I was hoping that the 
 devil I had to ride would be tired enough to behave 
 himself. Having arrived at the stable I lighted a 
 lantern and went in. The gelding leveled a kick at 
 me which barely missed, and I leveled one at him 
 which did not miss. After a battle I got him sad- 
 dled, got on his back and started. He bolted twice 
 and then steadied up a bit. He was splendidly gait- 
 ed, and once he was tamed would be a delight to 
 ride. There was no moon but the night was clear 
 and the stars were doing their best. I held the beast 
 a little and he took a comfortable single-foot. I 
 could see every inch of the white road way, and 
 would have found the ride a delight had my 
 thoughts been other than they were. 
 
 As we came up to Le Tre Sorelle I took a last 
 look at the ruin. It looked grim and forbidding in 
 the star-light and I was glad to turn my eyes for- 
 ward again. As we came even with the house I 
 saw a flash of light and thought I heard a call, and 
 214
 
 "As we came to the ruin, I saw a flash of light." 
 (Accursed Roccos.)
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 the horse instantly bolted and we were far down the 
 road before I got him pulled up. He danced all 
 over the road and onto the rock-piers and tried 
 once more to bolt homeward. Who had called ? It 
 had sounded like my name and had seemed to come 
 from the ruin itself ! Pshaw ! 
 
 Convinced that I had been the victim of a perfer- 
 vid imagination, I allowed the horse to go. After 
 a few more shies and bolts he settled down to his 
 work, and we flew along the fine curving road. I 
 realized his beautiful gait and was conscious of a 
 wish to become his owner; but such thoughts soon 
 passed, and my mind settled upon the Tomanovich 
 family again. 
 
 Gisela had shown herself utterly unworthy of my 
 efforts to protect her. Why should I put the banker 
 to such an immense expense on her account ? I re- 
 solved to release him from his promise. It was not 
 worth while. On my side, why should I encumber 
 myself with a heritage of hatred and perhaps a 
 vendetta for a woman who had evidently been 
 merely amusing herself with me? "Lying tongue! 
 False, hypocritical face! Made for her cousin!" 
 These words were but her means for closing the 
 chapter! Harry had indeed known what he was 
 talking about! The banker and Enrico were the 
 only Italians I had found here who were not false, 
 and with this thought my resolve to release the 
 banker from his obligation to hold Paulo became 
 iron. I would let him do what he himself pleased 
 to do with the young man. I would wash my hands 
 of it all. 
 
 I carried out the last named resolve the following 
 morning. The banker seemed surprised, but asked 
 me no questions. He bade me a most cordial good- 
 
 215
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 bye, and once more reminded me of the letter 
 which he had given me in case of need. 
 
 Harry and I took the noon boat and about half 
 past one we passed out of the Bocche into the 
 Adriatic. 
 
 There comes to us, sometimes an acme of misery 
 which has so far passed endurance as to bring about 
 a positive relief; that is, there comes a time when 
 the healthy brain will respond to sadness no longer, 
 and rebounds. It was so with me now. As the 
 ship settled upon her northerly course I watched 
 the Punta d'Ostro close in upon the Punta d'Arza 
 as my closing of the chapter ; and began to pace the 
 deck, and to inhale the sea breeze, and to turn my 
 mind forwards instead of backwards. 
 
 216
 
 PART II 
 
 (AFTER TWO YEARS)
 
 PART II 
 
 (AFTER TWO YEARS) 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 FOR a time, after returning finally to Vienna, 
 I heard at intervals from Signer Sbutega; 
 but nothing happened, and after some months 
 his letters ceased, the only occurrence of interest 
 during the interval being the ultimate re- 
 lease of Paulo, which was effected about eight 
 months after his arrest. I never troubled to 
 inquire how it came about. The banker had writ- 
 ten that Paulo had acquitted me of having placed 
 the papers in his coat, he asserting that no such act 
 on my part had been possible, and some days later 
 I received a short letter from the Signor apologiz- 
 ing for the accusation, though he had not uttered 
 the words to me. I acknowledged this and the 
 matter was closed. 
 
 From Gisela I received no line or message. I 
 never forgot her, but little by little, as the busy 
 months flew by, Time drew his charitable and kind- 
 ly veil and Gisela became a memory to be recalled 
 now and then in an idle or lonely hour. 
 
 When I had arrived in Vienna, the first thing I 
 219
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 saw in my rooms was the express package contain- 
 ing the old violin. At that time, the sight of it had 
 caused an ugly pang. What should I do with it ? I 
 had promised to keep it and never let it go to any 
 hand but her own. Of course, I could have re- 
 turned it, and of course the reason I did not, was a 
 sub-conscious unwillingness to break the very last 
 thread which connected me with the woman I had 
 loved so well. Had this reason not been sub-con- 
 scious, I would have returned it, promptly. The 
 result was that without removing the packing- in 
 which it had come, without even looking to see if 
 the instrument had arrived in safety, I stored the 
 package in an empty trunk in the attic of the house 
 where my apartments were, and it was more than 
 three long years before my eyes rested upon it 
 again. 
 
 Of Lubitza's coming we never had any news. I 
 assumed that she had gone elsewhere. 
 
 Harry, having nothing to forget, resumed his 
 regular daily round of work at once. In three days 
 he had quarreled bitterly with his professor about 
 how much the thumb of his bow-hand should be 
 bent while playing, and about straight bowing in 
 general, for, like his great Belgian master, he had 
 a sweeping lack of respect for this generally ac- 
 cepted rule, his bow swinging gracefully from side 
 to side and bearing on the strings anywhere between 
 the bridge and an inch beyond the end of the finger- 
 board. Yet he had a great tone and never scratched. 
 However, either Harry had really grown a little 
 more settled or his Viennese master was a little 
 more indulgent or diplomatic, for he remained 
 with his professor and worked faithfully and hard. 
 He progressed with a rapidity almost beyond be- 
 lief, and his professor one day informed me con- 
 
 220
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 fidentially that he meant to give Harry his debut in 
 half the time he had promised. 
 
 I did not see Harry every day but we foregath- 
 ered Sundays. By tacit consent the subjects of 
 Cattaro and its people were taboo. 
 
 I am now taking up my account at a period of 
 nearly two years after my parting with Gisela. 
 The summer at Cattaro, while not forgotten, had 
 become veiled. 
 
 Therefore nothing could have been more unwel- 
 come than any recalling of it. That, however, was 
 destined to occur. 
 
 Early in February a new star burst in brilliance 
 upon the operatic world. She had made her debut 
 as Lucia in Berlin, and was pronounced a colora- 
 tura the like of which had come into the world but 
 once or twice before. Report had it that she had 
 studied in Italy and later had worked in Vienna, 
 Dresden and Berlin. Report had it also that "the 
 Tomaso's" life was as tinted as her singing, and this 
 consideration alone was enough to advertise her 
 favorably in Vienna. Her name was connected 
 with no special persons, but many particulars of 
 her gay disposition were related, and her name was 
 a sweet morsel on the tongue of every man-about- 
 town in the city. 
 
 The demand upon our operatic management for 
 her appearance in the Royal opera grew more and 
 more insistent with every new report of her 
 triumphs in the north, and her pictures, in different 
 poses and costumes, began to filter by the hundred 
 into shop windows and drawing-rooms everywhere. 
 At last, as our operatic seaon was nearing its close 
 we heard that she was to appear here shortly for a 
 few evenings, as a starring guest of our manage- 
 
 221
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 merit ("gastieren") and that she had been regularly 
 engaged here for the following year. 
 
 Of course I had recognized Lubitza in these pic- 
 tures displayed everywhere, but her re-appearance 
 on my horizon did not trouble me at first; more- 
 over, although I had not heard a word about her 
 during her studies, her final appearance was, of 
 course, no matter for surprise. I gave her signal 
 and prompt success a passing thought, and then 
 forgot her again. She had never interested me. It 
 was not until she had actually sung in Vienna and 
 Harry had brought his unbounded enthusiasm home 
 to my rooms that I woke up and realized that we 
 would, must, meet, directly or indirectly, at 
 some time or other. 
 
 Harry was effervescent over her, and discussed 
 critically and at great length her tone-placing, 
 breadth and sweetness of tone, accurate intonation 
 in every most difficult passage, and also her fine 
 acting, to all of which I listened in moody silence. 
 
 I did not hate Lubitza, for the reader will re- 
 member that so far as I knew I had no reason to 
 do so on any personal grounds. She had been 
 pretty to me and very patient, even. Any feeling 
 I had against Lubitza was purely on Gisela's ac- 
 count. Lubitza had hated Gisela but Gisela had 
 likewise hated Lubitza. There was left, then, only 
 Lubitza's intriguing against her cousin, and I was 
 inclined to hold her own father much more for 
 that, than herself. For her feeling against Gisela, 
 personally, I could not altogether condemn her. I 
 had learned to my cost that Gisela was not without 
 fire of her own. 
 
 So it was not by reason of hatred or dislike for 
 Lubitza that I regretted her coming here, and was 
 wishing Harry would leave off, but because this 
 
 222
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 new event was stirring up dregs which I wished 
 to remain settled. 
 
 I suppose Harry discoursed for an hour or more 
 going over every detail of the opera he had heard 
 the previous evening and contrasting her work with 
 that of other favorite artists. After a long con- 
 cluding panegyric he informed me that she was to 
 sing in "Hoffman's Tales" the following Saturday 
 night, and commanded me to go. 
 
 "No ! By the Lord, no !" And I got up and be- 
 gan to pace the floor. I threw up a window and 
 drank in a little of the fresh cold air. Then I 
 closed it and sat down again. I wished, for once, 
 that Harry would go. He watched me in silent 
 reproach, as usual, when bothered, hunched up in 
 his chair. He got up as if to go then reconsid- 
 ered and reseated himself to study me some more. 
 Finally he said, in a patient sort of tone : 
 
 "Ed, this is not like you. I remember pretty well 
 what occurred summer before last, and I can't 
 think of anything Lubitza did which ought to make 
 you feel like this. That is, if you told me every- 
 thing." 
 
 "Oh, you knew all there was, Harry." 
 
 "Leave old bones buried, Ed ! The times and cir- 
 cumstances have changed. I believe she is a differ- 
 ent woman now." 
 
 "Yes ! I have heard so !" I remarked grimly. 
 "The Tomaso has not been mentioned in my hear- 
 ing as an innocent home girl !" 
 
 "Oh, come, Ed! I don't believe that slanderous 
 rot. There is talk about almost every woman on 
 the stage. Half of it is advertising dodge. Be- 
 sides, she wasn't exactly innocent when she was at 
 home." 
 
 "I don't understand these things but Count 
 223
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 Weyer once told me that a prude who tried to suc- 
 ceed on the stage was like a six-year-old trying to 
 ride a bucking horse. Some six-year-olds might 
 stick on for one buck, but not many. I do not 
 fancy Lubitza has had to overcome many obstacles. 
 She has been pushed; not held back. Besides, 
 there must be something in all this talk about her. 
 There is too much of it. Again, I happen to know 
 since you have reminded me that Lubitza had 
 just the stuff in her to make such a woman." 
 
 "Well, what business is that of ours, Ed? To 
 us she is only the artist !" 
 
 "But you are not speaking for her as merely the 
 artist you are counseling me to forget the sum- 
 mer before last, Harry. Have you talked with 
 her?" 
 
 "Not yet. I have only had a little smile from 
 her as I sat in the audience, when she was re- 
 called. But, Ed, there is a difference between a 
 prude on the stage and a woman who can be a good 
 fellow but still able to steer her ship. I believe she 
 can." 
 
 "As an operatic singer, I'll grant it. She has 
 done it." 
 
 "As a woman, also. What was the meaning of 
 your remark that she had the stuff in her to make 
 such a woman ?" 
 
 But this was the one thing I had not told Harry. 
 I had not thought it was fair play to do so. I had 
 based the remark upon the conversation which had 
 occurred at the gate the first day Gisela had re- 
 fused to see me, and the grounds for my opinion 
 were just. Nevertheless, I did not blame Harry 
 for finding my refusal unsatisfactory. 
 
 "It seems that I do not know all, then." 
 224
 
 The A c c u r s e d R o c c o s 
 
 "You know everything that occurred. I am re- 
 serving only one private conversation." 
 
 "Oh, well, then, let her be what she will in her 
 private life! I don't care a rap, and neither does 
 anybody else. The public never cares anything 
 about that sort of thing. Artists are not expected 
 to go in harness like the draft horses. Since when 
 have you become so damned moral?" 
 
 "You are wide of the mark, Harry. It is simply 
 that I don't wish to have summer before last re- 
 called by her!" 
 
 "Yes," he answered slowly. "I see your point at 
 last. Forgive me, Ed. But I was thinking that 
 that was all dead now. I have been very dull !" 
 
 "So it is; dead. But I don't care to meet Lu- 
 bitza all the same." 
 
 "I understand. But it is a great pity, Ed, that 
 you won't go and hear her. She will not be Lubitza 
 on the stage Saturday night, but the doll Olympia, 
 the courtesan Giulietta, and the stricken Antonia. 
 And she is an artist a great artist. It is due your 
 own education to hear her at least once. She will 
 sing all three roles, and they say she has never yet 
 been equaled in this opera. The orchestra will be 
 enlarged, Leutzmann is to sing Hoffmann and 
 Kuntze will read the score. Don't miss the best 
 thing this year! I'll get tickets from the artists' 
 allotment. You couldn't buy one at the box office 
 tomorrow. I'll come for you. Be ready at six." 
 
 He was already half way down the hallway. I 
 called out: 
 
 "See that the tickets are not near the stage, other- 
 wise I go into the stehplatz or out !" 
 
 "All right, Ed/'^he called^back. 
 
 And go I did, with many inward misgivings, fear- 
 ing too many reminders of the past, coupled with a 
 225
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 not unnatural interest and curiosity. And it was 
 not long after the opera began that I forgot objec- 
 tions and misgivings and all else save the beautiful 
 work upon the stage and the artists in their title 
 roles. For Harry's enthusiasm had had every 
 ground. "The Tomaso" was an artist a great ar- 
 tist, and held her audience spellbound. I forgot 
 all prejudices and scruples, forgot that she was Lu- 
 bitza, forgot that I had ever known or seen her be- 
 fore, and did not think of it again even during the 
 recalls. After the last curtain I remained with 
 Harry and the other enthusiasts giving my hearty 
 meed of applause until the lights were turned out 
 on us, and we had to go. 
 
 "Well," said Harry, "was I right? Who would 
 have thought that Lubitza had all that in her!" 
 
 "Hush, Harry. I have not heard Lubitza tonight. 
 I have heard 'the Tomaso' and I don't want to 
 forget her." 
 
 226
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 BUT after two weeks a new matter engaged the 
 attention of both Harry and myself to the present 
 exclusion of all else, even "the Tomaso," and again 
 I forgot her for the time being. 
 
 The new matter was none other than Harry's 
 debut. One evening he said: 
 
 "Ed, if that old violin of yours only had its orig- 
 inal tone !" 
 
 His own instrument, a Bergonzi, did not have 
 the power required for principal playing with full 
 orchestra, and I had prepared a surprise for him. 
 From the son of a well-known luthier in Germany, 
 a personal friend of mine, I had secretly borrowed 
 a "Strad" for the occasion and this evening I hand- 
 ed it to him. He took one look at it, then disap- 
 peared for a practice far into the night in defiance 
 of the ten o'clock law. He forgot to thank me. I 
 had expected he would overlook that mere detail. 
 
 The eventful evening finally arrived and found 
 me in an end seat of the sixth row in the parquette 
 of the Grosser Musik-Vereins Saal, awaiting his 
 first number with keen interest but no anxiety for 
 I knew Harry was well prepared and would be 
 troubled by no embarrassment. The hall was filled 
 by a smartly dressed crowd and evidently all was 
 well at the box office end. 
 
 When Harry appeared his case was half won at 
 once. His fine tall figure, no longer so lanky now, 
 his handsome face and full wavy iron-rust locks 
 produced their sensation as many an exclamation 
 from pretty lips round about me abundantly testi- 
 227
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 fied. His first number was the extremly difficult 
 concerto by Tschaikowsky and when he first drew 
 bow across that Strad his conquest was complete. 
 
 During an orchestral interlude near the end of the 
 concerto I caught his eye and smiled happily. He 
 raised his bow slightly and I took this as an 
 acknowledgement. I cannot convey in words my 
 pleasure and pride in seeing my friend and fellow- 
 countryman score such a success among these hy- 
 percritical musical people right upon their own 
 ground, and in a domain which is their own pet 
 pride. 
 
 Again twice during the Mendelssohn concerto 
 he caught my eye and raised his bow, and now I 
 understood that he was pointing with it. I hastily 
 looked over the part of the hall indicated and final- 
 ly spied Lubitza. She was bent a little forward in 
 her chair, her face of a high color, her eyes wide, 
 drinking in every note from the player and seeing 
 naught else. I remembered immediately that this 
 was the first time she had heard Harry's playing. If 
 her attitude and expression meant anything at all 
 it meant that I should never be troubled by her 
 again, and I sank back in my seat better satisfied 
 than ever. I forgot that Lubitza was an artist, and 
 ever at her best when concerned with anything per- 
 taining to her art; for in this, at least, she was 
 always absolutely unselfish. And I forgot that 
 Gisela had told me that Lubitza was prone to want 
 what she could not have. At the conclusion of the 
 Mendelssohn number I looked again and saw her 
 standing up wildly applauding, with her eyes on 
 the door into the artists' room, and all unconscious 
 of it, with her own circle of admirers in that part 
 of the audience round about her. Yes, in musical 
 art she was unselfish. She was giving unstinted 
 228
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 praise to the art of another, and she looked better 
 to me than ever before, even than in "Hoffman's 
 Tales." I gave her full credit for the one fine 
 thread which by chance had gone into her weaving. 
 
 At the conclusion of the Brahm's Concerto came 
 that pretty sight which is seen whenever any great 
 violinist is heard in Vienna. Many of the Conser- 
 vatoristen all young players and many of them 
 young girls, gathered at the very foot of the stage 
 to have a closer study of the soloist's technique dur- 
 ing the recalls. I saw Lubitza work her way 
 through these to that end of the stage where the 
 artists' door was. An official stood there to bar 
 entrance, but he stood aside for her. She ascended 
 to that wing of the stage where a large body of 
 Conservatoristen were, and these literally enfolded 
 her in a composite embrace. Clearly she had been 
 unselfish with them, too. 
 
 At this juncture some one tapped me on the 
 shoulder, and turning I found Count Weyer-Rein- 
 bach by my side. I had just time to greet him 
 warmly when Harry, obeying his third recall, came 
 now, with his violin. With his feet encircled by 
 a mass of rapt young faces he played a nocturne by 
 Ernst. His purity of style and broad, great tone 
 showed here to the greatest advantage. 
 
 During the following uproar the Count said : 
 
 "Your friend has his way clear before him now. 
 Still, remember, that the musical critics of the press 
 require a certain sweetening other than the sweet 
 sounds of a fiddle. You know" (and he nudged 
 me), "the sound of clink clink." 
 
 "Oh, Count!" I laughed, "I believe they are all 
 honest!" 
 
 "Sleep if you like, but don't let your friend sleep 
 by the way, is not that 'the Tomaso' up there? 
 229
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 I thought so. She is a true artist. I wish I knew 
 somebody who could introduce me." 
 
 Nothing had been further from my intentions 
 than any hunting up of Lubitza. I was perfectly 
 willing for this star to shine for me from afar. 
 But here was a chance at last to oblige the Count, 
 and I was in his debt for many courtesies. It was 
 the first chance I had ever had to do him a real fa- 1 
 vor. I hesitated, but the sense of obligation would 
 not down. 
 
 l Besides, why should I not? What had she ever 
 done to me except to try to flatter me the best she 
 knew how ? And to-night I had the feeling that she 
 would trouble me no more. A little of curiosity 
 there was, too. I will not attempt to deny it. 
 
 "Well, Count, it happens, fortunately, that I can 
 oblige you if not tonight, at some other time." 
 
 ''What! You know her? You are blessed! 
 Why, Doctor Ransome, I have been casting about 
 in that direction ever since she first came, without 
 any luck!" 
 
 "But, Count, what will the Graefin say? I don't 
 want to get on the wrong side of her !" 
 
 "No fear! The Graefin is a wise woman. She 
 knows she has my best, and doesn't trouble her 
 head about my worst. And she knows it wouldn't 
 do any good if she did. So she draws the line at 
 the house door, only." 
 
 "Liberal bounds, surely! Well, as soon as 
 Harry's recalls are over we will go into the artists' 
 room and see him. I think she also is planning 
 to go in. Harry will introduce you. He knows 
 her better than I do." 
 
 "She is a handsome woman. Who was she any- 
 how ? Tomaso is a stage name, is it not ?" 
 
 We were hissed into silence by people round 
 230
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 about. It was rather welcome, as I preferred to 
 let the Count find out about Lubitza for himself. 
 
 At last, after the fifth recall number, Harry 
 came out and smilingly shook his head. The lights 
 began to go out, patch by patch, and the Count and 
 I pushed our way toward the end of the stage. 
 
 "Can you get us by that fellow there?" I asked. 
 
 "What? That block-head? See me do it!" He 
 smilingly took the sentinel by the shoulders and 
 pushed him aside. The man, recognizing him, 
 laughingly bowed, and we were soon in the artists' 
 room. 
 
 An enthusiastic gathering was already there, all 
 trying to shake Harry's hand at once, and all chat- 
 tering at once, and it was some moments before he 
 saw us. We saw Lubitza go up to him. She threw 
 her arms about his neck, drew his head down and 
 kissed him on the cheek. The company applauded. 
 
 "Ah !" said the Count, "I see the proof of for- 
 mer acquaintanceship signed, sealed and delivered ! 
 What a mistake in life I have made ! I should 
 have studied the violin !" 
 
 "What, Count? Struck hard?" 
 
 "From the first !" 
 
 ''Well, let us lose no further time for fear a fire 
 break out! Come on." 
 
 We pushed through the mob. Harry saw us and 
 shouted a jovial welcome. Lubitza turned, saw me, 
 and grasped both of my hands. As Harry and the 
 Count exchanged courtesies, I found time to whis- 
 per to her: 
 
 "You have made a serious conquest," and I 
 indicated the Count with my eyes. She looked at 
 him and made a face. 
 
 "Are those your first words to me?" she asked. 
 
 "Yes, but not my first thoughts. I do not see 
 231
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 'the Tomaso' for the first time tonight. When you 
 sing I am just like everybody else in Vienna your 
 slave." 
 
 She rapped my ear with her lorgnette. 
 
 "We shall see. Who is your friend?" 
 
 "Count Weyer-Reinbach." 
 
 "Oh ! Yes, I remember, we heard" and snapped 
 her mouth shut, and reddened. She had not meant 
 to remind me of Cattaro. 
 
 I waited, smiling. 
 
 "Yes, I have heard that some Count or other 
 was trying to meet me. Married?" 
 
 "Oh, yes." 
 
 ''Faugh! I have grown sick of married men! 
 Let them go to their own nests !" 
 
 'The Count is an old and good friend of both 
 Harry and myself. You must allow us to present 
 him, Signorina." 
 
 "Very well but I'll have none of him!" 
 
 "That is not nominated in the bond," I answered 
 laughing. "Besides yours is not the only conquest 
 tonight. I saw you worshipping Harry out there." 
 
 "Certainly! Did not everybody? He deserved 
 it. When are you coming to see me? And why 
 have you waited so long?" 
 
 But I did not have to answer, for at this junc- 
 ture Harry came up with the Count and presented 
 him. I found time to wring Harry's paw and to 
 repeat some of the things I had heard said that 
 evening round about me, before Lubitza and the 
 Count turned to us. 
 
 "By the bye, Signorina, where is Herr Ober- 
 Leutnant Overmann?" asked Harry. 
 
 "In Trebinje. He is to be here Wednesday and 
 hear me in 'Barbiere.' On Thursday evening I am 
 going to have a dinner in my apartments. You are 
 232
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 all invited. There will be more gentlemen than 
 ladies. Do you mind?" 
 
 "You are enough for at least six," said the 
 Count. 
 
 "Only if they have the brains of one !" 
 
 "That is more than the average ! You have been 
 used to good company. Thank you, Fraulein, for 
 your invitation." 
 
 ''A thousand welcomes, Herr Graf. I shall ex- 
 pect you all by nine sharp. Frau Eisenauer-Baker 
 does not like to be kept waiting for her dinner." 
 
 "Ah, is she to be there?" asked the Count. "She 
 is enough for at least two." 
 
 'There will be enough to go around, then." 
 
 In an aside to me: 
 
 "He is fifty!" 
 
 "No, he has a number of years to go before that, 
 Signorina." 
 
 His sharp ears caught my words. 
 
 "Quite right, Doctor. And reckoning by deeds 
 you are older than I, Fraulein Tomaso!" 
 
 "I am not sure about that!" 
 
 The Count elevated shoulders and eyebrows. 
 
 "You see, Herr Graf, your reputation has pre- 
 ceded you. I fear my maid will think she has 
 missed me and may go on home. Auf wieder- 
 sehen." 
 
 The Count saw her to her carriage and I waited 
 while Harry had his accounting with the manager. 
 As we were driving to his house, I remarked: 
 
 "Lubitza was hanging on the tones of your violin 
 like a girl on the words of her lover!" 
 
 "And the first thing she asked me was where 
 
 you were, and if you were there tonight. Lubitza 
 
 is not in love with me, Ed! She is an artist; that 
 
 is her whole interest in me. But she was very 
 
 233
 
 The Accursed R o c c os 
 
 earnest in her inquiry for you. Why don't you 
 let the old bones rest and go in and have a circus 
 with her ? That is what she wants !" 
 
 "I'll turn that delicate matter over to the Count 
 since you are not interested," I replied. 
 
 234
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 WHEN we were admitted to the Tomaso's ante- 
 room on Thursday evening we found that all of the 
 men invited had arrived. The Ingenieur was not 
 among them, but I presumed he was somewhere 
 in the house. 
 
 Besides the Count, Harry and I, there was among 
 others, a certain Baron Ascher, one of the gayest 
 and most free men-about-town in Vienna. He had 
 divorced two wives (or maybe they had him ; I do 
 not really know), and his affairs, shall we say of the 
 heart, were notorious and gossiped about in every 
 circle. Of the other men I knew little or nothing. 
 They were Sectionschef Raeder, Herr Abgeordnete 
 Stein (member of the Lower House), an attache 
 to the Italian Embassy, and a Mr. Mueller. Of the 
 latter I had heard a little. He had recently come 
 into a large estate. The Ingenieur, if he were here, 
 would make the ninth man. 
 
 They were all gossiping in knots. The Count 
 cornered me at once and began to ask again the 
 unanswered questions begun at the concert, with 
 many others. The Baron's knot gathered Harry 
 in. It did seem a bad case on the part of the Count 
 and I was sharply put to it to avoid a pitfall. I 
 did not like this gossiping about the hostess in her 
 own house, Lubitza though it was, and as I caught 
 Harry's expressive eye I saw he was of my opinion. 
 However, we were not among the guests originally 
 invited, but "afterthoughts," and it was not for us 
 to read a lecture to them. 
 
 235
 
 The Accursed Qoccos 
 
 "Who is Frau Eisenauer-Baker ?" I asked. "You 
 seemed to know her the other evening." 
 
 "She is a very curious character here, and I am 
 surprised you do not know about her, Doctor. She 
 was once the mistress of" (and here he whispered 
 the name of one of the first titled men of the Em- 
 pire) "and she stil! wears his diamonds. She" 
 
 "Ah hh! The 'Baronin La'" 
 
 "The same," he quickly interrupted, "but don't 
 dare let that nick-name slip in her hearing! She 
 attends confessional now, but she is still young 
 enough to try to attract men, and can be good com- 
 pany on occasion. She is very rich. Fraulein Berg 
 is also coming tonight the dancer, you know. I 
 suppose the Tomaso asked her to please Ascher. 
 He has been seen with her a little lately, but I don't 
 believe there is anything in that at least not yet. 
 Ascher has" 
 
 "Do you mean the premiere at the Royal 
 Opera?" 
 
 " Yes -" 
 
 ''Forgive my interruption. What were you about 
 
 to say about Baron Ascher?" 
 
 ''Only that he has been losing heavily at the club 
 lately and I suspect that his funds for this sort of 
 thing are beginning to run low." 
 
 "So much the better if all I have heard about 
 him be true !" 
 
 "Oh, I know worse fellows than Ascher, Doc- 
 tor." 
 
 "Pardon. And Fraulein Berg? Is she pretty 
 off the stage?" 
 
 "That is a matter of taste. She is a little spit- 
 fire! One Sunday afternoon a lot of us were out 
 at Heiligen Kreuz and a certain" 
 
 We were all interrupted and brought onto our
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 feet by a gay laugh. Lubitza stood between the 
 portieres. 
 
 "Gossiping just like a lot of women ! Stop your 
 scandal mongering and come into dinner 1" 
 
 "We were talking about the best thing of the 
 year !" asserted the attache. 
 
 "What is that?" 
 
 "You." 
 
 She seized him by the ear and led him into the 
 room, and the rest gayly followed. The two other 
 women and the Ingenieur had already come in. 
 
 "Who are not acquainted?" asked Lubitza. 
 
 ''Herr Doktor, Frau Eisenauer- Baker and Frau- 
 lein Berg. Ladies, our new violinist." 
 
 The Ingenieur came up and shook hands cor- 
 dially with Harry and me. 
 
 ''Fraulein Tomaso, please have the goodness to 
 introduce me to Frau Eisenauer," begged the 
 Baron with mock gravity. 
 
 "Yes, Fraulein, the Herr Baron is a new-comer 
 and doesn't know Vienna!" explained the lady in 
 question, in high sarcasm. 
 
 "I have seen him before," remarked Fraulein 
 Berg. "He always has a front seat at the opera 
 and opera glasses ! His poor eyesight always dis- 
 tresses us!" 
 
 "He was born with the defect," remarked the 
 attache. 
 
 "Come! Take your places, or Frau Eisenauer 
 will leave nothing for us," called Lubitza. 
 
 "I shall not eat any of the men !" responded that 
 lady. 
 
 Lubitza took the head of the table with the Abge- 
 
 ordnete on her right and the Ingenieur on her left. 
 
 Frau Eisenauer was already seated at the foot. 
 
 The Sectionschef was given her right, and the 
 
 237
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 Baron her left. Mueller and the attache sat on 
 either side of me, and the dancer with the Count 
 and Harry, opposite. Fraulein Berg could not be 
 called pretty but had the finest figure I had ever 
 seen displayed at least. She had a bright face, 
 but looked more Polish than Austrian. Before 
 taking her seat she placed her foot upon the table 
 edge and proceeded to tie her shoe. Ascher and 
 the Abgeordnete rushed madly to her aid. Frau 
 Eisenauer rapped upon the table. 
 
 "None of that! I won't have it! I shall hold 
 you young people in due bounds." 
 
 All screamed in derision. Ascher said: 
 
 "Oh, I say, gnadige Frau, do you remember that 
 evening in the Sacher some fifteen years ago 
 when" (she put her fingers in her ears. He bent 
 closer to her and screamed) "when there was a 
 bet that a woman couldn't stand on her head, 
 and" 
 
 Really enraged she jumped up, pushed the 
 Baron into his chair and boxed both of his ears 
 until they were red. She was a big woman and I 
 thought to myself that I would as lief not have 
 those boxes. 
 
 ''Just my luck always !" said Ascher, as he rue- 
 fully felt his ears. 
 
 'Til have you all know that there never was a 
 word of truth in that yarn, anyway!" 
 
 "We are obliged to believe you, Gnadige," 
 
 murmured the attache, as he edged away a little. 
 
 "Pshaw! I do it every day!" asserted Fraulein 
 Berg. 
 
 "At what hour?" begged Ascher. 
 
 The servants had already presented our first 
 course, and the butler had filled our glasses. 
 
 "Come let's begin," said Lubitza. 
 238
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 The Count rose. 
 
 "A health to our hostess !" 
 
 All rose, glasses in hand. 
 
 "This won't do these glasses are too small for 
 that toast," objected the Sectionschef. 
 
 "Let us drink it in tumblers." 
 
 "Or from the bottle," suggested the attache. 
 
 "Her shoe!" called out Miiller. 
 
 ''Shoe! Shoe!" rang out all around. 
 
 "Bah ! Holds too little !" insisted the attache. 
 
 But he was drowned in the gay clamor. Lubitza 
 laughingly produced her shoe, a bright little high- 
 heeled patent leather affair. The Count took it 
 from her, pulled out an eye-glass and gravely tried 
 to see it. 
 
 "I told you it wouldn't hold a drink," said the 
 attache. 
 
 "How did you know?" asked Frau Eisenauer. 
 
 "Gentlemen a wager!" called out the Baron. 
 "We will wager how much the shoe holds and he 
 who guesses most shall lose !" 
 
 "How much?" asked the Ingenieur. 
 
 "We will make it this way. Every guess must 
 be reasonable. We will not accept one absurdly 
 small. Who wins, shall demand from our hostess 
 the greatest favor which a lady can grant in com- 
 pany" ("Hoch ! Hoch !") "a kiss on her lips." 
 ("Ah h !") ''And who loses, shall be condemned 
 to drink a large tumbler-full of the last wine or 
 liqueur used at this table. Are you agreed ?" 
 
 ''Agreed ! Agreed !" 
 
 "Do you, Gnadiges Fraulein, consent to recom- 
 pense the fortunate winner?" 
 
 "Oh, yes," she laughed. 
 
 "Very well. Vorwaerts ! Count, you have the 
 239
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 shoe. Begin ! I know you will do your best, for 
 once !" 
 
 The Count gravely re-inspected the shoe yet 
 again. At last he said: 
 
 "I'll wager that all over one hundred and forty 
 grams will run out at the lacing. I understand 
 that the shoe is to be placed upon the table when 
 filled." 
 
 "Very well! Doctor, we shall depend upon you 
 to show us in a glass how much each bet is. Franz, 
 get the Doctor a paper and pencil so he can write 
 down the bets. Next !" 
 
 The wager went around the table, each making 
 his bet and witticism. By the time the shoe came 
 to me, some time had elapsed, and forgetful for the 
 moment of the terms of the wager, I took a careful 
 look at Lubitza and called out: 
 
 "About sixty-five kilograms !" 
 
 There was a moment's wondering silence, and 
 then the laugh came; but the sorry witticism was 
 to be my undoing, as the event proved. 
 
 "Wrong!" said the Baron. "Two shoes hold 
 that pretty burden. You should have halved it, 
 Herr Doktor." 
 
 "It is clear that the Herr Doktor loves liqueurs," 
 grimly remarked the Sectionschef. 
 
 I could only be philosophical about it and say to 
 myself that I would rather drink a tumbler of 
 Benedictine any day than to have to kiss Lubitza 
 on the lips, especially after my eyes had been- so 
 thoroughly opened this evening. But of course if 
 I had not lost my head I would have tried to avoid 
 it in some other way. 
 
 After the little shoe had gone the rounds, I care- 
 fully estimated the amount it "would hold" by fill- 
 ing it with rice brought from the kitchen, and then 
 240
 
 turning this into a glass. The winner was declared 
 to be Harry. Lubitza rose, went to him, put her 
 arms round about his neck and kissed him on the 
 lips with a resounding smack. 
 
 Fraulein Berg followed it with another. 
 
 "Oh," said Frau Eisenauer, "if I were only a 
 younger woman!" 
 
 "It was the Stradivarius that has done this thing 
 for you, Signer McClellan," said the attache. "See 
 how you are beholden to a son of sunny Italy!" 
 
 "And now, gentlemen, I refuse to have my shoe 
 spoiled !" Lubitza captured her shoe after a 
 scuffle, and slipped it on. 
 
 The butler filled the glasses, and the Count gave 
 a very pretty and flattering toast, something about 
 "the sweet bird who sings all our cares away," and 
 the toast was drunk. 
 
 The fish course was brought in and for some 
 time the conversation resolved itself into groups. 
 During this time I constantly found myself watch- 
 ing Lubitza. She attracted me still less this even- 
 ing since I had come to see something of her life 
 behind the scenes and learn the sort of company 
 she received, but she dominated my attention, as 
 a new thing is ever apt to do. I found myself 
 wondering what Ingenieur Overmann thought of it 
 all. Did he still intend to marry her? I scarcely 
 believed so, and yet one can never tell. The 
 woman of the stage, good or bad, has an undenia- 
 ble fascination for us all, possibly because she is 
 always an up-to-date bundle of cleverness, and 
 knows exactly how to manage us. 
 
 After awhile Lubitza caught me observing her 
 and smiled. She whispered to the Ingenieur. He 
 rose smilingly and came to my chair. 
 
 "The orders are to change posts," he said. 
 241
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 I condoled with him and seated myself at Lu- 
 bitza's left- 
 Mueller now sat at my left, and I observed the 
 rich young idler with some interest. I had heard 
 a rumor that winnings from him had kept Ascher 
 in extra funds for a long time past. I wondered if 
 the tables had turned. Lubitza, however, early 
 claimed my attention. 
 
 "Doctor Lembach was to come tonight but it is 
 just as well that he did not. He would have made 
 thirteen !" 
 
 "Who is Doctor Lembach?" 
 
 "An advocate Fraulein Berg's latest adorer," 
 she whispered. 
 
 "Why, I thought Ascher" 
 
 "Pah!" 
 
 "Don't you like him, then?" 
 
 "Like him! Because he is here? My dear Doc- 
 tor ! These are the people who give an artist pres- 
 tige. Voila tout !" 
 
 After she had answered a sally from Harry, she 
 asked : "Do I seem the same to you ?" 
 
 "Oh, yes, Signorina, only, of course, grown great 
 now and still more beautiful." 
 
 She jovially pinched my arm and turned to the 
 Abgeordnete. The meat course was being laid and 
 I took the opportunity to talk to Mueller a moment, 
 but he did not seem much inclined for conversation, 
 and my attention wandered to Lubitza once more. 
 She was speaking with the Abgeordnete in Servian. 
 Frau Eisenauer was relating some scandal or other 
 and had the undivided expectant attention of all 
 at her end of the table. The Count and Fraulein 
 Berg had their heads together. I heard my name 
 mentioned by the Abgeordnete and involuntarily 
 turned. His and Lubitza's eyes were upon me. 
 242
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 Both laughed. The Abgeordnete said in his heavy 
 way: 
 
 "Herr Doktor, a thousand pardons for convers- 
 ing about you, but Fraulein Tomaso has but now 
 related a most unbelievable thing. I have just ac- 
 cused her of having a brand new love affair 
 namely, with you. With what sort of an answer 
 do you suppose she has insulted my intelligence?" 
 
 "I couldn't guess in a year! What was it?" 
 
 "Just listen ! She admits that she is in love with 
 you, but seriously asserts that you will have none 
 of her! Now you can understand my deep indig- 
 nation my very rage ! Am I a young boy, then, 
 to be told such a thing?" 
 
 "Your anger is justified, Herr Abgeordnete! 
 Were she a man I should offer you my services. 
 Has she had so many love affairs, then?" 
 
 "Oh, ye Olympian Jove! The first / heard of 
 was" 
 
 I never knew what the yarn was to be for a tre- 
 mendous roar of laughter at the other end of the 
 table united the company once more. 
 
 "What is it?" called out Mueller. 
 
 "Something not fit to be repeated, of course!" 
 said the Count. 
 
 "As hostess," called Lubitza, " and therefore 
 your Belfehlshaberin, I order Frau Eisenauer to 
 repeat the tale for us all !" 
 
 "Holy Saints protect us," laughed the Baron. 
 "I dare her to!" 
 
 Nothing loth she began. I had been obliged to 
 drink too much wine during the dinner, and not 
 being used to it, my head was already light and 
 the chatter seemed detached from me, but yet ab- 
 normally clear as to the mere words spoken, while 
 at the same time I was conscious of an effort to 
 243
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 understand their meaning. I could only just make 
 out that the story was about some well-known ac- 
 tress, her bath in ten magnums of champagne fur- 
 nished by as many men, the replacing of the 
 champagne in the bottles on the table, and the 
 healths drunk therefrom. The nub of the story I 
 utterly lost. Lubitza looked disgusted, but the rest 
 were full of mirth. 
 
 "My German failed me at the pinch," I re- 
 marked to her. 
 
 "Is is just as well, Herr Doktor. I love a good 
 story and even a scandal, but I detest actual coarse- 
 ness !" 
 
 I was glad to see the last dishes come in. The 
 ices were a relief to a tolerably parched tongue. 
 Lubitza selected a cigarette. 
 
 "I seldom smoke. I must not risk my throat, 
 but I am fond of one occasionally. Have you 
 fire?" 
 
 "I'll obtain it" and I half rose to seek a match. 
 
 There was again a roar of laughter at my ex- 
 pense. 
 
 "Oh yes! He'll obtain fire!" screamed Fraulein 
 Berg in delight. 
 
 "Light it on Fraulein Berg! Just put it against 
 her; anywhere!" called the Count. 
 
 Lubitza shook her finger at the Count. He blew 
 a kiss. She blew it on down the table. 
 
 "Faugh! Don't blow that down this way!" ob- 
 jected the attache. 
 
 I could only grin fatuously. Their smiling, quiz- 
 zical faces were all turned on me now. The Baron 
 said: 
 
 "The Curaqoa is here. Now comes the time for 
 the Herr Doktor to pay his lost wager. Where is 
 the tumbler?" 
 
 244
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 The butler had left the room, so all except 
 Harry, the Count and the Ingenieur tumbled out 
 of their chairs in search of a glass. 
 
 The Ingenieur came over to me. 
 
 "Can you stand it? If not, I'll propose an easier 
 substitute." 
 
 "No. I've lost and I won't squeal! I'll pay the 
 bet." 
 
 Lubitza reached for the decanter, which had 
 been two-thirds emptied, and filled it up from a 
 carafa of water. 
 
 "That will make it better, anyhow," she re- 
 marked. 
 
 By this time the others returned with an ordi- 
 nary drinking glass and placed it before me. 
 
 "Now, Herr Doktor!" 
 
 Lubitza filled it with the diluted liqueur. I stood 
 up unsteadily. 
 
 "To the h-handsomest woman in Vienna!" 
 And I drank the contents. There was a round of 
 applause, and the Baron shook my hand. The 
 company adjourned to the drawing room. Harry 
 took my arm and at my request seated me near the 
 door. 
 
 "As soon as you can slip away, Ed, get a little 
 fresh air and come back later. If you are missed 
 I'll take care of your apology." 
 
 Two of him were saying it. The carpets of 
 the drawing-room were rolled up and Frau Eise- 
 nauer seated herself at a grand piano, striking up 
 a waltz. Lubitza with Harry, and Ascher with 
 Fraulein Berg were soon dancing. The Count and 
 the Ingenieur made a grotesque third couple. The 
 others were gossiping in a corner. 
 
 I stole out into the dining-room intending not so 
 much to get air as to do as the old Romans used 
 245
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 to do. I got across the dining-room and from there 
 looked back through the drawing-room door. Harry 
 and Lubitza were high in the air dancing on noth- 
 ing, sometimes head upward, sometimes head down- 
 ward, each having two heads and four feet in inex- 
 tricable confusion, mixed up with several Aschers, 
 Fraulein Bergs and Ingenieurs, and the room itself 
 was moving like a gyroscope. The floor of the 
 dining-room softly moved up and supported my 
 back, and I was happy and comfortable. I was 
 dimly conscious of the butlers coming in and clos- 
 ing the drawing-room door. They said, "Come, 
 Herr Doktor, I'll help you." They took me out into 
 the hallway, and after that I do not know what 
 passed until I found myself lying on a couch in a 
 retired room, being served with cup after cup of 
 black coffee and now feeling more myself, but still 
 very drunk. 
 
 "Feeling better, Herr Doktor?" There was only 
 one of him now. 
 
 "Yes, thank you. I think I will do soon." 
 "Lie still, Herr Doktor. I'll return later." 
 He left the room. I do not know if he came back. 
 At last I rose, opened a window and stood in the 
 fresh cold air awhile. This window opened upon a 
 court. The whirling in my head began to abate and 
 I began to feel more settled otherwise. The room 
 I was in seemed to be a spare bed-room. It occurred 
 to me that I might leave quietly and they would not 
 miss me, or care, if they did. With this idea in 
 mind I closed the window and made my way to a 
 door. There were two in the room, and I did not 
 remember which gave into the hallway. The one I 
 happened to select led into a bright white room full 
 of feminine necessaries and trifles, made evident by 
 246
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 a low-turned gas jet. In a moment I saw that this 
 must be Lubitza's boudoir. 
 
 Thinking to get my general directions before I 
 tried for the ante-room, I crossed to a window and 
 pulled up the blind. I recognized the street corner 
 and dropped the blind again. I would need to turn 
 to the right when once in the hallway. 
 
 As I turned to go back I collided with the corner 
 of a writing desk, and as I felt for the stricken 
 place I cast an idle glance upon the desk. A letter, 
 just begun with a half dozen lines, lay there. In- 
 stantly recognizing the script my heart went into 
 my throat. I hastily turned up the gas and exam- 
 ined the letter without picking it up. It was in 
 Italian and contained only beginning references to 
 commonplace matters but the hand-writing chained 
 my eye. What did it mean? This was Gisela's 
 lovely script! Was she here then? 
 
 My head was still in a very unsatisfactory state 
 though the whirling was less. The sight of the 
 script steadied me still more but not enough to 
 reason the matter out satisfactorily. I could not 
 quite connect cause and effect, precedent and se- 
 quence. I did get far enough to give a superficial 
 survey to the rest of the room trying to establish 
 the identity of the owner, utterly without success. 
 I knew too little of Gisela's and Lubitza's personal 
 belongings. 
 
 Furthermore, a disquieting consciousness had 
 come to me in this moment. I had fondly imagined 
 that I had put Gisela forever out of my mind, and 
 had more than once congratulated myself that I 
 could meet her, now, without a pang, or a flutter. 
 This moment taught me how idle and fatuous an 
 idea that was. It had needed nothing more than this 
 chance sight of her handwriting to cause a return in 
 247
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 almost full intensity of that trying moment, when 
 on returning from Cattaro I had found the vio- 
 lin in its package in my rooms, nearly two years be- 
 fore. And here she was now, in Vienna ; she must 
 be here, of course ! It was a fresh letter, only be- 
 gun that evening ! The ink had not yet fully black- 
 ened ! She was here ! And in this company ! What 
 had happened ? Could I be still enough intoxicated 
 to be mistaken? 
 
 I considered taking the letter and comparing it, 
 later, with the one missive I had ever received from 
 Gisela, but realized that it would not do. She 
 would miss the letter, would learn from the butler 
 that I had been in the next room, and would gather 
 that I had been in here. It was not to be thought 
 of. 
 
 The perplexity had the effect of still farther 
 clearing up the fogging of my brain. My mind 
 went back to that unlucky summer ; to the ball and 
 our quarrel ; to the cathedral ; and to her last words 
 there, and finally to the very last words I had heard 
 from her mouth. 
 
 "Falser than the very Shades themselves. I 
 would not see your false, hypocritical face more ! 
 Go ! Go to my cousin ! You were made for one 
 another, and it would be a sin to keep you apart !" 
 
 I straightened up and took a firm grip on my 
 will. I turned my back on the desk, turned the gas 
 half down again, and left the boudoir. 
 
 For one little moment before closing the door, I 
 gazed back at the desk. 
 
 "That is her hand-writing! She is here! In 
 Vienna, and in this company! Now, no more 
 opera, no more night dinners for me ! Now for 
 sticking to my work; where I'll never meet her!" 
 
 I successfully sought the ante-room without meet- 
 248
 
 The A c c u r s e d R o c c o s 
 
 ing a soul. I could hear the ring of riotous laugh- 
 ter from the drawing-room. They were still go- 
 ing it in there. I looked at my watch it was a 
 quarter past four. My overcoat was soon on, and 
 in a couple of minutes I was at the house-door 
 ringing for the haus-meister to let me out, and my 
 bed saw me very soon afterwards. 
 
 249
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 IT was many months before I saw Lubitza or 
 any of her guests again although she and I ex- 
 changed messages, once or twice, through Harry. 
 The latter and I spent that summer in Germany, 
 and then I parted with him, as he was booked for a 
 concert tour in the north, and we could be together 
 no longer. I could only look forward to the Febru- 
 ary following when he had dates for two appear- 
 ances in Vienna. As for myself, I was attending 
 very faithfully to my work as I was intending to 
 make this year my last in Austria, and later com- 
 plete my preparation in the broader field at Ber- 
 lin. As the busy months flew by, the veil became 
 once more drawn over my memory of Gisela, and 
 I meant that it should remain so this time. 
 
 One night, late in December, the chief of our 
 surgical staff requested me to take personal charge 
 of a critical case out in Cottage, and I made my 
 way out there at once. For conscientious reasons 
 I took the night watch in person, arranging to sleep 
 at the house in the morning, with a view of insur- 
 ing proper attention during the night hours when 
 one having less responsibility might have risked a 
 nap or two. 
 
 Christmas eve found our patient but little im- 
 proved, so that evening found me at the bedside. 
 About half past eleven our patient was sleeping, so 
 I left her in charge of the two nurses and went into 
 a front room which had been allotted to me. 
 
 The night was bitterly cold, and the room poorly 
 heated, so I donned my overcoat and hat, pulled 
 250
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 the bliimo and covers from the bed, nested these 
 about my feet and knees and sat down to try to 
 read. 
 
 Here in this suburb all was very still and I heard 
 few sounds save the crunching of snow under the 
 feet of some belated home seeker and an occa- 
 sional voice. None of these casual sounds attract- 
 ed my notice until some time past one when I sud- 
 denly found myself sitting up straight, intently lis- 
 tening to two approaching voices. 
 
 Once again I experienced that trying sensation as 
 of a leaden lump of something or another trying 
 to come out by my throat. If that were not Gisela's 
 voice, it was strangely like it ! 
 
 I rose hastily, turned the light very low, went to 
 the window and opened it. A very narrow space 
 of lawn lay between me and the street and I was in 
 the second floor of the villa, but the distance was 
 short and a street lamp spread a circle of light over 
 the snow hardly a dozen yards away and a window 
 of our own ground floor was alight. The couple 
 came along muffled up in wraps and conversing 
 earnestly. They were two women. One was cer- 
 tainly too large to be Gisela and my eyes fastened 
 upon the other one. They stopped a little on my 
 side of the street lamp and I could hear pretty well 
 most they said. 
 
 "So he won't pay for your rooms after the first?" 
 questioned the large woman. 
 
 "Yes, he would, I think, but I will no longer take 
 the money from him." 
 
 "Don't you know anybody else you can go to ?" 
 
 "Not one." 
 
 As she answered the smaller woman raised her 
 head. It was muffled up about the sides and chin 
 251
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 but her eyes were revealed by the light from our 
 own window. 
 
 It was Gisela. Not a doubt of it ! There could 
 be no second such pair of eyes in the world. Who- 
 ever has tried to identify a person merely by the 
 eyes has found that these must be very much indi- 
 vidualized if he succeed; but I was in no doubt 
 here. 
 
 Of course I was not surprised to come across her 
 in Vienna at last, for the letter on the desk in Lu- 
 bitza's apartments had enabled me to conclude her 
 presence here. I had only wondered, at times, at 
 the fact that the encounter had been so long de- 
 layed. Nor did the seeming revelation of this con- 
 versation surprise me greatly. In Lubitza's milieu, 
 what more natural then that she should have a man 
 "friend!" In that milieu, beautiful girl that she 
 was, and in Vienna, without proper protectors and 
 without an admonitive education in matters of the 
 world, it was her natural fate, along with thou- 
 sands of other ones of like destiny in the city. But 
 what was she doing away out here in the Wahringer 
 Cottage? I had supposed that she was living with 
 Lubitza, and on various grounds had elected not to 
 be present at the dinner that night. Of course her 
 residence in the suburb explained the chance that 
 I had not met with her before. 
 
 And why was she in need of money? Had she 
 finally lost her estate then? I knew she must be, 
 now, not far from the day of her legal majority 
 but I did not remember to have heard the date men- 
 tioned and could not guess whether the day had 
 passed or not. And what did this late hour mean? 
 Probably the opera. 
 
 These thoughts flew through my mind as one, 
 and kept in the background for the moment that 
 252
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 wearying gray sadness which I knew would ensue 
 after she would go out of my sight. 
 
 There were some further words which I did not 
 catch. Then the larger woman put her arm around 
 Gisela's shoulder. 
 
 "Never mind, Gizachen ! You can come and live 
 with me until I go back to Moscow. Perhaps bet- 
 ter luck will come to you by then." 
 
 "Oh, Cecilie, you cannot afford it !" 
 
 "Nonsense. I'll sell my rings and we'll have 
 enough for two." 
 
 "I'll not allow it, Cecilie!" 
 
 "Bah! Of what use are they to me? I was go- 
 ing to, anyway. Come, Gisa, dear, let us get home." 
 
 The two walked on, up the street, affectionately, 
 arm in arm. I could not watch them far, as a high 
 snow laden hedge intervened, moreover, I was shiv- 
 ering with the cold. I closed the window. 
 
 Should I follow them and see where they lived? 
 Of what use ! 
 
 But the temptation assailed me with insistency 
 with a singular insistency which I could explain in 
 no way. It was as though some ghostly hand had 
 seized upon my very will and was dragging upon 
 it with paralyzing effect upon reason, judgment 
 and even my very wishes. In this moment I real- 
 ized that I still loved her, as deeply, truly and un- 
 changeably as I ever had, and even more; but it 
 seemed to me that it was not that alone which was 
 beating down my will just now; I was hazily con- 
 scious of a more powerful influence still than my 
 love for her; one which I could in no wise define 
 and which finally compelled me to give way. 
 
 I glanced cautiously into the sick room and saw 
 that my patient was still asleep and that the nurses 
 were at their posts. I beckoned one and informed 
 253
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 her that I was going out a few moments, and then 
 went downstairs and out of doors. 
 
 The two figures were far up the street. I saw 
 them turn off to the right. I could not go far from 
 the house but I risked a rapid run to the corner. 
 When I reached it they had disappeared probably 
 around another corner, and I did not dare pursue 
 them further. 
 
 For the rest of that night I walked the floor try- 
 ing to think out my way, ay, my very duty. Only 
 with the dawn did I settle the hard debate. I had 
 tried to banish her from my life. She had come 
 back into it again, and this fact was not to be set 
 aside by a mere act of will, and my will seemed 
 powerless to try. What was this hidden thing that 
 was driving me so irresistibly? Was it because I 
 had seen her eyes? No, for it was very significant 
 that I had listened to her voice long before I could 
 have recognized it, under ordinary circumstances. 
 
 Well, she was here, in the same city, without a 
 friend save her companion that evening, in trouble, 
 and in want. Kismet ! 
 
 254
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 As I had night duty and must use the mornings 
 for needed sleep, and besides as some part of the 
 afternoons was taken up with work at the hospital, 
 I did not have much time for outside matters. How- 
 ever as the nature of the task excluded much per- 
 sonal endeavor there proved to be enough spare 
 hours for it. For I still resolved not to have any 
 painful meeting with Gisela in person if possible, 
 and would act anonymously. 
 
 My first step was to dispatch a letter to the 
 banker, Signor Sbutega, in order to get as much as 
 possible in touch with her affairs from that end, and 
 in the course of a week I had his answer. 
 
 It was a surprise. He informed me that the Sig- 
 norina Gisela was not in Cattaro. She had left 
 there two months before, presumably not to return, 
 as they had learned that she had taken all her be- 
 longings with her in several large trunks. He was 
 sorry he could give me no further news, as owing 
 to strained relations he could not approach her uncle 
 or Paulo with any confidential inquiry, nor was 
 there any intermediate person whom he could em- 
 ploy. That part of the family which had remained 
 in Cattaro had lived continuously in great seclusion, 
 and all save two or three very close friends had been 
 compelled to cease calling there. No one in Cattaro 
 saw any of them often. He presumed I would know 
 that Lubitza had left home more than two years 
 before, as she was now a noted woman and was at 
 present in my own city. With many kind expres- 
 sions and begging me to command him in any way 
 255
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 he could be of service, he signed his letter and ap- 
 pended a very cordial personal postscript in his own 
 hand. 
 
 Two months before! Now, of course, the bank- 
 er's information was quite inaccurate in this par- 
 ticular. I knew that Gisela had come to Vienna 
 nearly eight months before unless, indeed, she had 
 made a visit before finally moving here. I wrote 
 the banker a second letter with many apologies and 
 several definite inquiries. 
 
 In his answer he insisted that Gisela had been 
 continuously in Cattaro up to two months before 
 his previous writing. He knew this positively 
 through his daughter who had always been on 
 friendly terms with Gisela and who had seen her 
 there at regular intervals up to two months before 
 the date of his former letter. The Signorina had 
 made no visit to Vienna previous to her final leav- 
 ing for there at the time of which he spoke. No, 
 she was not yet of legal age. He could not give 
 me the precise date but was certain that the day 
 had not yet passed, though it could not now be far 
 away. No, she had not left with a companion 
 not Cattaro, at least. He had taken pains to ascer- 
 tain that from the captain of the boat by which she 
 had left. Teresa was still with the family his 
 wife had seen her within the current week. Paulo 
 was in Mula and was employed in the office of a 
 newly built factory there. He had seen Paulo re- 
 cently, though not to speak with him. Begging my 
 further commands he again subscribed himself with 
 many kind expressions. 
 
 By the time this second letter came I was no 
 
 longer under the necessity of spending my nights 
 
 in Cottage. The letter was delivered at my rooms 
 
 early one Sunday morning and I found it waiting 
 
 256
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 on my desk after I had dressed and was about to 
 take breakfast. 
 
 Of course there was no longer any doubt that 
 Signor Sbutega had informed me correctly. I must 
 assume, then, that Gisela had left Cattaro only two 
 months, or ten weeks, before. Whose, then, had 
 been that letter on Lubitza's desk? I debated this 
 for a good half hour oblivious of a cooling break- 
 fast, and at last accepted the most reasonable con- 
 clusion that occurred to me. I had been very drunk 
 that evening. True, I had partially recovered by 
 the time I had seen the letter, but I still had had a 
 swimming head. I concluded that in the half light 
 of a temporarily obscured intelligence, I had either 
 been the victim of suggestion, or had seen some- 
 thing that had not existed. And thus the question 
 was shelved. 
 
 And so Gisela had not been with Lubitza and her 
 companions. But who had been paying her way? 
 I wondered if Lubitza knew she was here. 
 
 My next step was to visit the Austrian attorney 
 of the American Consulate in Vienna and ascertain 
 Gisela's precise legal status as nearly as would be 
 allowed by the facts in my possession. 
 
 He could not be positive in his answer, as to 
 prejudge the validity of a will required an inspec- 
 tion of the instrument itself and full knowledge of 
 the collateral circumstances. However, he believed 
 that in general a testator did have the right to re- 
 quire adhesion on the part of the legatee to the 
 tenets and injunctions of a Church as a condition 
 precedent to inheriting especially in the case of a 
 minor. This would be especially true as regards im- 
 moral behavior or living. The conditions surround- 
 ing a particular case might make a difference. No, 
 he said, the Court would not hold the mere en- 
 257
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 trance to the inner sanctuary of a Greek church 
 as a breaking of the terms of the will. He did not 
 conceive that such a rule of the Church came under 
 the meaning of the will it would not have been 
 looked upon as a "cardinal" rule. If we did not 
 keep the word "cardinal" in mind, the mere fact 
 that the legatee had affiliated with some other 
 church than that of the testator might be regarded 
 as disqualifying her, whether she were responsible 
 for the change or not. Besides, in questions of mere 
 doctrine regulations or procedure, the church of 
 which the testator had been a member would gov- 
 ern; not the one which had been adopted by the 
 legatee. But the rules for moral and dignified liv- 
 ing were the same in all Christian creeds and he 
 believed that any court would hold that this was 
 what was referred to by the clause in the will. 
 
 Yes, possibly if I could prove contributory and 
 purposeful neglect and establish a connection be- 
 tween this and her downfall, he believed the court 
 would uphold her on all points. But (he warned 
 me), purposeful, contributory and apposite neglect 
 would all have to be proven, beyond a reasonable 
 doubt. Such a suit was always bitter, and very un- 
 certain in its result. 
 
 Yes, he was quite sure, under this hypothetical 
 case, that if the legatee were to marry legally be- 
 fore her majority she would be reinstated in her 
 rights as a legatee. In interpreting such an instru- 
 ment the Court always lent an ear to the evident 
 intention of the testator rather than to technicalities. 
 In this case the intention was the legatee should be 
 occupying a respectable position in life at the time 
 of her majority. That was the essence of the whole 
 clause, he considered, and he believed this inter- 
 pretation would stand. 
 
 258
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 No, it would not matter whether she married the 
 person with whom she had misconducted herself 
 or some other one. In my hypothetical case the will 
 did not dictate that. Such a construction would, 
 therefore, constitute a very material addition to the 
 will and the Court would scarcely venture its ad- 
 mission. He was satisfied that a mere marriage 
 any marriage with any proper person, before her 
 majority, would operate to restore her rights. 
 
 Yes, the marriage of a minor without the con- 
 sent of parents or guardians, is voidable by such 
 parents or guardians, at their option. No, such a 
 marriage remains legal if no steps are taken by the 
 guardian to annul it, and the absence of such a step 
 up to the day of majority ratifies the marriage by 
 all parties. No, a secret marriage is for many rea- 
 sons inadvisable even scarcely possible, in this in- 
 stance. It is better to wait until one or two days 
 before the day of majority, and then have the cere- 
 money openly performed in some country where the 
 parties are already of mature age and where fewer 
 time-eating formalities are required to advance. In 
 such an event the guardians would not know of it 
 in time to take steps to annul it. 
 
 Such was his opinion. So I carried away two 
 crumbs from the interview. She could at the worst 
 fight for her heritage, and she could surely reinstate 
 herself by a marriage at the last moment. With 
 whom? Her time must be short for that, now. 
 With whom? It need only be a marriage of expe- 
 diency. Should I offer her this? I could leave 
 her directly after the ceremony without changing 
 a single item of her life. Should I? Could I do 
 it! What was my duty? At one time I had been 
 in a position to protect her, but utterly without rea- 
 son she had bade me begone, most imperatively, in 
 259
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 terms that left no room for debate. Under such cir- 
 cumstances to have continued to protect her at such 
 grave expense to the banker had seemed unjustifi- 
 able, and my conscience was still clear on that point. 
 But now I was placed again in a position to shield 
 her (if she would be shielded), and this time at 
 the expense of my own peace only, without involv- 
 ing my friends. How I wished for good old Harry 
 with his better wit and larger experience ! 
 
 I decided, at l^st, that it was necessary to have 
 an interview with her and show her her position. 
 Duty demanded that, at least. Also, this course 
 simplified another feature. In seeing her I would 
 no doubt meet her woman friend and could arrange 
 with her, privately, for the temporary support of 
 both, without Gisela ever finding it out. But I 
 would see the woman friend first, if I could. 
 
 However, there was one more step to take before 
 seeking her out. That was to ascertain, if possible, 
 who had been paying for her apartments and sup- 
 port, and the circumstances under which that had 
 occurred. Since learning that she had not been in the 
 companionship of her cousin and of that coterie I 
 sought a little more to give her the benefit of a doubt. 
 I had not liked the conversation I had overheard 
 Christmas Eve, and still did not like it from any 
 standpoint. In Vienna, men who are willing to 
 support a woman out of mere kindness and without 
 a quid pro quo are very rare birds ! Enough girls 
 must give up their honor even to retain a situation. 
 Still it was barely possible that she yet remained 
 an innocent girl. Was I not just now planning to 
 support her, without her knowledge, and meaning 
 that she should never learn of the fact? Was I the 
 only man in the world who would help a woman 
 honorably? Perhaps she had met another such; 
 260
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 another who perhaps loved her as I did. And if 
 his motives were not good, he might still have 
 helped her without having received a return. 
 
 Of course it was possible, but still I did not like 
 the situation. I had especially not liked the ready 
 question from her companion asking if she had no 
 one else to go to. The question seemed to contain 
 an assumption and they evidently were close per- 
 sonal friends. 
 
 On leaving the attorney's offices I had directed the 
 cabman to drive to the principal police station. In 
 Vienna an exact record is kept by the police of the 
 comings and goings of each and every person, great 
 or small, resident or transient. However, in this 
 instance my inquiry there was fruitless. No Gisela 
 Tomanovich and no Gisela Portulan were known 
 there. I could only conclude that she was living 
 here under a false name. This I liked still less. 
 
 My duties did not permit a haunting of the lo- 
 cality away out in Cottage where I had seen her and 
 my gorge rose at the idea of putting a watcher on 
 her track. Did Lubitza know she was in Vienna? 
 I considered it very probable, but could I get any 
 information out of Lubitza? I resolved to try. Per- 
 haps I might get light in various directions. 
 
 It had been so long since I had had even an in- 
 direct word from Lubitza that I supposed she had 
 despaired of me as not being worth her trouble ; 
 so I did not risk a note, but instead scanned the 
 operatic program for the week and found that she 
 would sing in "Manon." Accordingly I bought a 
 ticket in the fourth row from the orchestra, in the 
 hope of having a recognition from her during a 
 recall, in which case I would send in my note after 
 the close of the opera. If she did not recognize me 
 I would visit her anvhow. 
 
 261
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 But Lubitza had one great quality which doubt- 
 less had contributed no little to the immediate suc- 
 cess of her short but meteoric operatic career. This 
 was her unfailing self-control and seemingly inter- 
 minable good temper under all circumstances. It 
 did not matter what boiling might be occurring with- 
 in, Lubitza not only would not give way to temper 
 but also could look as though not even self-control 
 were being exercised. She was well-known for the 
 quality, and my own small acquaintance with her 
 had borne out the oft-quoted fact. 
 
 Now I had been Lubitza's guest at a dinner 
 had received especial consideration as a guest at 
 her hands on that occasion ; had stolen away without 
 the courtesy of an adieu had never made a return 
 call, the latter a matter for constant reproach on 
 Harry's part until we actually parted. Nor had I 
 for months past sent her any message or given any 
 sign that I was aware of her continued existence. 
 But, true to herself, during not one but two recalls, 
 I received the compliment of a personal smile that 
 was all ajiy man could have expected under the cir- 
 cumstances, and in answer to my note, an usher 
 brought to me in the garderobe a reply which made 
 me feel ashamed and small to a degree that no 
 amount of reproaches could have brought about. 
 She "would be free Saturday evening and hoped I 
 would give her as many hours as I could" was 
 among other generous sentences, and on the Satur- 
 day evening, at the hour set, I repaired thither. 
 
 Lubitza did not keep me waiting after I was 
 shown into her drawing-room. I heard her say to 
 the butler: 
 
 "At home to no one ; remember, no one, Franz !" 
 
 She came up with a smile, put her arms around 
 my neck, and kissed me on the lips. 
 262
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 "Now, then, Herr Doktor ! Are you not impressed 
 by my forgiving nature?" 
 
 "Ah, Signorina, what better proof is there? Lit- 
 tle do I deserve it, I admit. But I have not ab- 
 sented myself because I have forgotten 'the To- 
 maso.' No one forgets her, or ever will !" 
 
 She pushed two chairs nearly together and we 
 seated ourselves. 
 
 "I am not so sure about that. When I was look- 
 ing at the operatic stage from afar I dreamed of 
 being the pivot about which should revolve the lives 
 of all who should once hear me sing. During my 
 self -centered life as a vocal student this idea was 
 much fostered, for we hear only music and of 
 music, and know only musicians. We get to believ- 
 ing that we are the world ; that we are looked upon 
 by all others as the world, and that all other pur- 
 suits in life are but our various back scenes. But 
 now that I have climbed up to the very top, my eye- 
 sight has remained good enough to see the other 
 peaks, on a clear day, and I have realized that this 
 one upon which I stand is but one of many, and 
 moreover that it is not the tall mountain it once 
 looked to be. It is only one of those pretty grass 
 grown little hills which are sought by the pleasure 
 seeker on a Sunday afternoon." 
 
 "Well, Signorina, at least it is of use to more 
 people and more loved, than the forbidding Matter- 
 horns which most never even see. And, by the 
 way, your words remind me that I have never had 
 a chance to ask you about your student years. It is 
 reported that you studied awhile here in Vienna. 
 Did you?" 
 
 She proceeded to tell me of her study time; of 
 her hopes and trials, disappointments and successes, 
 and many a piquant anecdote and experience with 
 263
 
 The A c c u r s e d R o c c o s 
 
 different people of prominence in the Continental 
 musical world. Her account found, in me, a ready 
 and hungry listener, for once upon a time, ages be- 
 fore, I, too, had had dreams of the concert stage 
 of trials and successes, and of a final flight through 
 the musical world; of being a second Paganini or 
 Wieniawski, or Thompson or Ysaye, or, at least of 
 leaving the world an accepted member of that re- 
 splendent galaxy. 
 
 It appeared from her account that most of her 
 study had been done in Italy and Paris, some in 
 Berlin. She had been in Vienna only two months at 
 an early stage of her work. 
 
 "I saw you once," she remarked smiling. 
 
 "Really? Where was it?" 
 
 "It was at the corner of the Karntner and Singer 
 Streets. You were having a great row with a cab- 
 man. I wanted to go up and speak to you but you 
 were in such a fury that I did not dare," and she 
 laughed heartily. 
 
 *'I don't remember the circumstance. Did I 
 leave enough of him to bury?" 
 
 "Oh, yes. There was much much of him. You 
 called him a 'schuft'." 
 
 "Oh, I remember now. That fellow had me up 
 for using the term. By the way, Signorina, why 
 was I not informed of your presence. 
 
 "I really did not quite dare," she answered, 
 gravely. "You see it was just after also, why 
 are we so formal with one another? I am not 
 'Signorina' to you nor 'the Tomaso.' I am Lu- 
 bitza," and she passed her arm confidingly through 
 mine. 
 
 "And my name is Edward, my lady." 
 
 "Good. Of course I know I ought to call you 
 'Herr Doktor' and I shall try not to forget to give 
 264
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 you your hard-earned title when others are by ; but 
 it is difficult to call you so. It is so so unroman- 
 tic, so impossible ! between young people. It so 
 brings up the mental picture of years, pomposity, 
 long verbiage, nose-glasses, and bottles and jars 
 containing all sorts of abominations and knives, 
 and dissecting and microbes and disgusting ail- 
 ments Faugh! How can a girl have a romance 
 with a man and call him 'Doctor?" 
 
 "Alas you are right !" I answered as soon as I 
 could. "Hereafter I shall know that no love is true 
 that is protested by the mouth that utters 'Doctor' !" 
 
 "Soft-ly, that does not quite follow. But when 
 she says 'Doctor, I love you,' set her down as either 
 an artful and designing female, or an insensate 
 block of wood." 
 
 "We mere men can always learn from the fair 
 sex when we have the good sense to listen and not 
 do all of the talking." 
 
 "The best lesson you can learn from us is to be 
 good observers. We women seldom fail in that. 
 Do you remember what I once said to you?" 
 
 "Not this moment. What was it?" 
 
 She was smiling archly and prettily in my very 
 face, her eyes traveling back and forth from my 
 one eye to the other. 
 
 "I told you," and she held up a finger, "I told 
 you" now a half suppressed laugh "that 
 you didn't know when good luck was hovering 
 over your head!" 
 
 Then she jumped up and pirouetted gaily about 
 the room, looking back teasingly over her shoulder. 
 Of course, now, I should have been in hot pursuit 
 of her but I remembered my errand, and sat still, 
 though not a little tempted. 
 
 She stood a little way off, still smiling quizzically, 
 265
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 then she seated herself upon the corner of a table, 
 still smiling seeming to study me for a minute, a 
 little wonderingly, as it seemed, the while clutching 
 a bouquet I had brought. She made a fascinating 
 picture of the woman as she sat there. Lubitza had 
 a piquant face and beautiful figure, and I myself 
 wondered why she could not touch me more deep- 
 ly. She again rose, and turned about to face me 
 and her dress clung in folds about her. Her face 
 grew grave. The poise of her head was grace it- 
 self, and her decollete costume allowed full view of 
 a lovely neck. Her arms and pretty little feet had 
 always been the theme of rhapsody, in the city. Af- 
 ter gravely observing me quite a full minute, she 
 asked in a low voice: 
 
 "Do you still love her, Edward?" 
 
 The question was direct and I answered it as 
 honestly as I knew. 
 
 "I don't know, Lubitza." 
 
 Her half-Oriental eyes continued to gaze specu- 
 latively into my face. Then she came around be- 
 hind me, put her arms around my neck and her 
 face against mine. 
 
 "Edward, my cousin never loved you, dear. Do 
 you not understand that? Hers is not a nature for 
 love at least not for that love which gives un- 
 selfishly. She has inherited too much of the blood 
 of her great-grandmother, and of the accursed 
 Roccos, for she is in the direct line. It is fortunate 
 for you, dear, that she did not love you. Your life 
 together would have been one long war, for my 
 cousin is happy only when she has a quarrel on, or 
 something to weep about. Remember, we grew up 
 together from childhood and I know her, through 
 and through. Edward, my cousin never had a 
 lover until you came. Why? She is a beautiful 
 266
 
 "Then she seated herself upon the corner of a table 
 still smiling." 
 
 (Accursed Roccos.)
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 girl, and the heiress. Why ? Because all the other 
 men at home who knew the family knew her dis- 
 position. You, of course, did not. If you had won 
 her, you would have regretted it! / know! You 
 are not a man to live with that kind of a woman. 
 Be glad it did not happen! / know! Do you be- 
 lieve me, dear?" 
 
 "Where is your cousin now ? At home ?" 
 
 There was a barely perceptible hesitation before 
 she replied only a very little but enough to show 
 that the answer was not quite spontaneous. I real- 
 ized too late that my question had been unskillfully 
 worded in the highest degree, for an acute wom- 
 an like Lubitza must reason at once from it that 
 I must have some reason for the half suggestion 
 that Gisela might not be in her natural place her 
 home. But I could not recall the words. 
 
 "She was until three months ago." 
 
 "And where is she now?" 
 
 There was no longer hesitation. 
 
 "We do not know." 
 
 "Not know !" And I grasped her hands, un- 
 locked her arms from my neck, and turned half 
 round in the chair to face her. 
 
 "You do not know ! Not any of you ?" 
 
 "No, Edward at least none of the family 
 knows." 
 
 I stood up and faced her. 
 
 "How did she come to leave her uncle's house ?" 
 
 "Of course, as you must know, Edward, I was 
 not there when she left. I was here in Vienna fill- 
 ing my roles. She left only three months ago. I 
 can only tell you what my father and Paulo have 
 written to me. You are perfectly welcome to read 
 both of their letters, Edward, and you will see that 
 I am telling merely the truth. I think that truth 
 267
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 will surprise you, but not as much as it surprised 
 me. The whole thing, in a nutshell, is that Ober 
 Leutnant Carl Overmann has been trying to sit 
 upon two stools at once !" 
 
 "The Ingenieur!" 
 
 "Ay, the Ingenieur," she answered, impassively. 
 "I will speak openly to you, dear. As you know, 
 he and I have long been engaged to be married. 
 We have not specially loved one another, but he is 
 a handsome man and a good partie, and as things go 
 in life, I could have been fairly contented with him, 
 I think. On his side he reckoned that I would 
 have wealth, and later, since my operatic successes 
 he seemed, or professed to be, consumed with pride 
 at the idea of sooner or later, becoming my hus- 
 band. We have always joked about the engagement, 
 and both have always flirted; he, because he 
 wished to, and I have always returned the dose. 
 Let us be seated, Edward. Why stand here like 
 two fancy hitching posts?" 
 
 I placed a chair for her and resumed one that 
 would allow me to watch her face. She contin- 
 ued: 
 
 "Well, about four months ago, some time in 
 September, I received a letter from Paulo inform- 
 ing me that he had seen Overmann in conversation 
 with my cousin late one evening in the south end 
 of Stolivo. He wrote that the Ingenieur had not 
 been at the house, nor advised any one of his pres- 
 ence. Nor did my cousin speak of this meeting 
 later. Paulo wrote that he had said nothing to fa- 
 ther as yet, because he wanted first to know what 
 I thought about it, and what I wished done. 
 
 Well, the operatic season was just about to open 
 and I was scarcely in a position even to think about 
 the affair, to say nothing of taking any part in it, 
 268
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 so I wrote to Paulo to tell father at once and to 
 tell father to do whatever he thought best. Some 
 time later I had a letter from father about the mat- 
 ter but not containing any additional fact. 
 
 I heard nothing more for nearly two months and 
 then I received a letter from father in which he 
 wrote that my cousin had left Cattaro with all her 
 belongings. Father wrote what had happened, and 
 after Paulo's letter, I was no longer surprised. 
 
 For some time father, Paulo and one trusted 
 servant had kept watch without any success. I 
 forgot to tell you, Edward, that my father had re- 
 ceived a letter from Trebinje, supposedly written 
 just during the period when Paulo had seen the In- 
 genieur in Stolivo a letter prepared in advance, 
 of course and thus, his intention to keep his visit 
 a secret was left in no doubt. Well, I was going 
 to say, the family watched in vain until one day 
 Paulo saw my cousin slyly slip a note into Teresa's 
 hands. Teresa was my cousin's former nurse, and 
 had remained on in the family. 
 
 Paulo followed her out onto the road, took the 
 note from her by force, and brought both her and 
 the note back into the house. The note was a con- 
 sent to a request to meet Overmann that evening. 
 
 My cousin had not seen this occurrence, and 
 they locked Teresa in a room, and sent the note to 
 him by another and faithful servant, with an excuse 
 for the change of messengers, and that evening 
 they waited for my cousin to go out. Paulo and 
 my father followed her, watched her meet the In- 
 genieur and talk with him a long time, and then se- 
 cretly return to her room. As soon as she entered, 
 my father and Paulo followed her into her room 
 and faced her with the affair. 
 
 My cousin has an impudence beyond limit and 
 269
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 defied my father, denying that her goings and com- 
 ings were any of his business. Of course I do not 
 know all that passed but Gisela has a furious tem- 
 per and it is not strange that my father finally be- 
 came angered past all endurance and ordered her 
 to choose between giving up the intrigue and leaving 
 his roof. She grandly replied that she would leave 
 at once. She packed most of her things that night, 
 the rest the day following and the second day after, 
 left Cattaro. She left there between two and three 
 months ago. Now, Edward, you have the whole 
 story as far as I know about it." 
 
 "And Teresa did she not follow her mistress?" 
 
 "No, she remained at home. I suppose taking her 
 did not suit my cousin's sweet plans." 
 
 "And the Ingenieur?" 
 
 "He came to see me once, the second week in 
 October. Since then I have not seen him." 
 
 "That would be just at the time he was also 
 visiting your cousin." 
 
 "Yes, Edward. I never mentioned the subject to 
 him, but, of course, he now knows that I know all." 
 
 I mused over this information a long time. That 
 she had recited a truthful narrative seemed beyond 
 question. We cannot always know when a narra- 
 tive is false, but we generally recognize truth. Of 
 course, as far as it went, the account did not im- 
 plicate Gisela beyond a doubt, but the inference 
 left little in question. It was just what the Inge- 
 nieur might be expected to do and he had played a 
 good game. He had toyed with Lubitza for years, 
 meanwhile waiting until Gisela would be near her 
 majority when less control could be exercised by her 
 guardian, keeping himself prepared for a spring 
 either way. I congratulated myself that I had been 
 wise enough to ascertain Gisela's circumstances be- 
 270
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 fore making a fool of myself by going to her. But 
 why would Gisela no longer accept the Ingenieur's 
 support? Probably a temporary quarrel such as 
 we had had. 
 
 Lubitza had told her story curiously without 
 spleen or anger, as if she were relating the experi- 
 ence of a third person, although the new affair 
 meant much to her. Things had worked out very 
 well for the Ingenieur, and I inwardly cursed old 
 Tomanovich for his stupidity in allowing Gisela to 
 go, for now the Ingenieur held everything in his 
 hands. He could marry either girl and take the 
 estates with her, and it had become, with him, 
 merely a matter of choice of the woman herself 
 now a choice probably long considered. He prob- 
 ably had preferred Gisela. Now he could confront 
 Gisela with the choice of marrying him or being ex- 
 posed as having broken the real terms of the will. 
 If the day of her majority passed without a mar- 
 riage or if she refused him, he could give Lubitza 
 the choice of marrying him or having the proof of 
 Gisela's wrong-doing withheld. Now, for the pres- 
 ent, his position with Lubitza was safe and he could 
 desert her in order to devote himself to Gisela and 
 keep other possible suitors away, for in the latter 
 case lay the one danger to the success of his plans. 
 
 There was btrt one consideration I could not 
 explain. I asked Lubitza the question. 
 
 "Since the Ingenieur and your cousin are in love, 
 why do they not simply marry? Why do they 
 wait?" 
 
 But in an instant after asking I remembered why. 
 Of course he, no more than I, could secure the guar- 
 dian's consent. Lubitza answered: 
 
 "I suppose he is trying to choose between my 
 more beautiful cousin and my more brilliant self." 
 271
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 I did not believe that was the explanation, either. 
 
 "Perhaps he is trying to choose between your 
 more innocent cousin and" 
 
 I had thought aloud. I had not really meant to 
 say it. 
 
 "And my more worldly self," she finished. "Pos- 
 sibly." 
 
 Should I tell her that Gisela and the Ingenieur 
 had quarreled? Or, at any rate, disagreed? No! 
 I would take no part in it ! 
 
 "Lubitza, I am of the opinion that the Ingenieur 
 will come back to you. Will you marry him in 
 that case?" 
 
 "I'd have to, dear. And yes, I would marry 
 him. I am sure you know about the family es- 
 tates ?" 
 
 "Certainly. But are you not independent now? 
 Will you not soon have more than you can use with 
 still more to follow? Why do you care? Why 
 not let her have her estate? In a few years, if 
 you are careful, you will have as much." 
 
 "I will not give up either the estates or my affi- 
 anced husband, if I can help it, Edward." 
 
 Alas, here it was again. She had not said it 
 violently as poor Gisela had, but there was even 
 less room for doubt that she meant it. 
 
 Lubitza had completely won me over. Her abil- 
 ity to discuss such a state of affairs with such self- 
 control engaged my respect, as it must have done 
 that of any other person. Furthermore she had 
 gained my sympathy. 
 
 Of course Gisela had an undoubted right to fight 
 for her estate. She also had a right to fall in love. 
 So far as purely worldly equities went, she even 
 had the right to take a lover without marriage. 
 But she had not had a right to employ her unusual 
 272
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 personal and material advantages in robbing her 
 cousin of her fiance. Lubitza might be what she 
 pleased ; that she, in her private life, was no exam- 
 ple for the youth, I was very certain. Nor would 
 she ever be. She no more than a spring breeze 
 would ever be 'prisoned by marriage. But all that 
 was by the side of the question, and did not alter 
 the fact that she had received dishonorable treat- 
 ment at the hands of both the Ingenieur and her 
 cousin. 
 
 My errand with Lubitza was accomplished but I 
 stayed on. I wished I could offer her my sym- 
 pathy, but hesitated to discuss the matter for fear 
 I should let slip the fact that I knew Gisela was in 
 Vienna, or make some other slip that would do no- 
 body any good. But I did wish to say something 
 kind to her for I did not believe Lubitza was in- 
 wardly as calm about the affair as her outward mien 
 indicated. I suppose she read my thoughts in the 
 workings of my face, for she rose and said: 
 
 "Oh, dear friend, never mind. What must be, 
 will be. You are the only one with whom I have 
 ever talked this over, and I did not intend to en- 
 tertain you with my troubles tonight." 
 
 She placed a hand on either side of my head and 
 made me look up at her. 
 
 "Edward, be my friend! Not to help me in my 
 affairs, for there is no way. Nor do I want sym- 
 pathy. I only want a little sunshine that is real and 
 that does not come through the smoked glasses of 
 selfishness and self-interest. Just be my good friend 
 to whom I can look for a little that is real amidst 
 all the falseness I have about me. I always liked 
 you, dear but that is no matter. I know I am no 
 longer the woman for you to marry, so never have 
 a moment's fear of any misunderstanding on my 
 273
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 part. But we can be much to each other if you 
 will, Edward." 
 
 Now Lubitza was a very handsome woman, to 
 say the least, and I do not think I have ever yet met 
 the man who could have resisted that appeal, un- 
 der the circumstances, and as I believe, few of 
 them would have tried. And she asked so little ! 
 What I know is, that the inevitable happened and 
 a moment later Lubitza was comfortably installed 
 on my knee, amid merry laughter on the part of 
 both. Harry's twice repeated recommendation came 
 back to me "Let old bones remain buried," Lu- 
 bitza herself had not needed this advice. Should 
 I be less wise ? And why not ? I would be robbing 
 nobody and neither would she. We were both in 
 the same position ; she deserted by her fiance and I 
 forgotten by my loved one. There was no one to 
 say us yea or nay. Since she asked it, why not in- 
 deed ! 
 
 "What a head of hair you have, dear! It goes 
 through my fingers like silk threads blown about in 
 the wind. Overmann has hair like the bristles of 
 a shoe-brush and none too much of it. By the way, 
 Edward, did he ever give you his prescription for 
 the cure of love?" 
 
 "No. He has given Harry and me some elemen- 
 tary instruction on the subject, but he forgot to tell 
 us that. What is it?" 
 
 "// you have loved but lightly 
 Then change of scene and thought 
 To lands where the sun shines brightly 
 Thus comes your rest. Why not? 
 But if your heart, my lover, 
 Strikes deep, the vicious shot, 
 Then, pause not leave your cover! 
 274
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 And let your pace be hot! 
 For what? Why, fust another 
 From the same Dan Cupid's Lot!" 
 
 "Ah. As a remedy, it seems to be based upon 
 the idea that we become hardened to the onslaught 
 if we survive. I have known of other remedies 
 that seemed to have a like ground. There is also 
 a botanical prescription for this ailment." 
 
 "Oh, that will be nauseating, I am sure! But 
 what is it? 
 
 "Take ye 
 
 Of Violets, 
 
 Of Roses, 
 
 Of Lilies, each i bloom. 
 
 Of sensitive plant, i piece. 
 
 Of Daisies, quod sufficit. 
 Mix, and steep in good wine, but do not allow 
 
 the mixture to come to a boil. 
 Signa: Warm before using. Apply as needed." 
 
 "But, Edward, who wishes to be cured of love? 
 Has anyone ever called you for this illness?" 
 
 "Not just exactly. As you suggest, they do not 
 seek a cure, usually, until the ailment has pro- 
 gressed much. Lubitza." 
 
 "Well, dear?" 
 
 "Do you not love Overmann?" 
 
 "In a way, yes dear. A woman must always 
 have a certain regard for a handsome, manly and 
 able man, who is or has been, her fiance. Over- 
 mann is rising in his work. Next year he will be 
 promoted over some of his seniors. Then, dear, 
 he and I have never actually quarreled that makes 
 a difference. But he does not satisfy me and, in 
 275
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 ways, has never attracted me. Perhaps I have 
 more pride in, than love for, him. But, dear, let 
 us not talk of him more! Let us forget him, for 
 now, at least. Have we not, both, something to 
 forget? Let us help one another to do it." 
 
 Both of her arms went around my neck and her 
 face against mine. Lubitza was one of those rare 
 persons gifted by Nature with the sweet natural 
 perfume which takes up its abode with some sound 
 and healthy people whose diet is simple and who 
 are very faithful to the bath. This perfume intoxi- 
 cated me like a glass of strong wine. I raised her 
 in my arms, arose and waltzed about the room. 
 She laughed gleefully and began to whistle an air. 
 But she was no feather-weight girl and the dance 
 could not last and we fell full length upon a chaise- 
 longue, I out of breath and she laughing with de- 
 light. Her face was a glory of color and her 
 Oriental eyes were half-closed. 
 
 "Oh, Edward ! That was delicious. How strong 
 you are ! I don't believe I know another man who 
 could do that ! You cannot guess how lovely a sen- 
 sation it is to be picked up like that and carried 
 around as if one were a doll. It brings home to a 
 woman a man's strength, and that appeals to every 
 one of us. Oh, Edward ! why have we waited all 
 these months? It is so much taken out of our 
 lives !" 
 
 "Lubitza, do you" 
 
 "Don't call me by that name any more, dear! I 
 hear that from every ordinary friend therefore 
 it is not for you. Call me Cara. It is my little 
 childhood name. It will be sweet from you." 
 
 "Cara!" 
 
 I pushed her away from me and at the same in- 
 stant fell sprawling over the edge of the couch onto 
 276
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 the floor, where I half sat, supported on my hands, 
 and stared at her. 
 
 "Cara!" 
 
 She sat up and at first gazed at me in astonish- 
 ment. Then she blushed violently. Then I saw 
 her face change as it does when a person, faced by 
 a bad situation, determines to meet it bravely. 
 
 "Why yes, Edward. Do you not remember my 
 letter and your answer ? That summer in Cattaro ? 
 You answered with the name and said you had 
 partly got used to it." 
 
 And she smiled hesitatingly. 
 
 It the one word had been like a dash of ice 
 cold water. The details of the matter crept, one by 
 one, back into my mind, and I saw the full light, at 
 last; and I saw it too late! A purposeless impo- 
 tent rage began to boil deep down, and the froth 
 rose up and filled my throat, head and brain. I 
 struggled to my feet only to fall into a chair and 
 stare at her again. It must have been two or three 
 minutes before I began to recover a semblance of 
 control, and during this time she gazed at me in 
 wide-eyed and open-mouthed amazement. 
 
 At last I found my tongue, but speech was diffi- 
 cult. 
 
 "Lubitza do you mean for one instant that 
 you wrote that letter?" 
 
 "Of course I wrote it! Why not?" 
 
 Self-government only came to me by constantly 
 keeping in mind that she was a woman, but the un- 
 ruly tongue refused to act, again, for a moment. 
 In sheer inability to do anything else, I conned the 
 letter over; for I knew it word for word. 
 
 "What did you mean by the 'little arrange- 
 ment' you spoke of?" 
 
 "Our meeting in Vienna, of course! What did 
 277
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 you mean in your reply when you referred to it? 
 Ah h h ! I think I begin to see ! You thought 
 my cousin had written it, did you, Herr Doktor? 
 And you had some 'arrangement' or other with her ! 
 Evidently matters had progressed farther between 
 you and my cousin than any of us were dreaming !" 
 
 So Father Petrus had kept faith then even af- 
 ter Paulo's release! I wondered why. He must 
 have begun his account to the Signor with the begin- 
 ning of our own conversation. Or was it merely 
 that Lubitza was an exquisite liar? I remembered 
 Paulo. 
 
 "Lubitza, do you mean to tell me that you did not 
 know that I was deeply in love with Gisela?" 
 
 "How could I judge how much you loved her! 
 Of course I know you asked father for her the 
 night of the ball, but you never saw her afterwards 
 or did you ? It seems we did not quite do justice 
 to my cousin's management in these things!" 
 
 "And so, you did not know that I truly loved 
 your cousin?" I asked again, very sarcastically. 
 
 "Then ? No ! I only knew that you admired and 
 wished to marry her. She was the heiress ! We 
 were not used to the idea of anybody loving her! 
 That very afternoon when you called you had said 
 that you and your friend were to leave in a day or 
 two, as I supposed, without having seen her since 
 the ball. My father had refused to give her to 
 you. Therefore I naturally supposed you had given 
 her up, and were willing to try it on with me, and 
 I was willing. What was your 'little arrangement' 
 with my cousin? And where and how did you 
 meet her after the ball?" 
 
 Had Father Petrus never spoken then? After 
 Paulo was released and his silence was no longer 
 necessary? Had her father never told her of the 
 278
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 search in the church? I could not believe it. I 
 conned over the letter I had written her. It simply 
 could not be that she had honestly believed it was 
 for her. No, Lubitza had in the previous moment, 
 either momentarily forgotten the incident or she 
 had not known that I would know what effect the 
 letter had had. Again I remembered her brother's 
 histrionic power and her own, and with the 
 memory knew her for the exquisite liar she was. 
 
 "Lubitza, did your cousin ever see my reply to 
 your letter ?" 
 
 She laughed derisively. 
 
 "Oh, yes the following morning. That woman 
 Teresa used to take care of both our rooms, and 
 was always meddling with my things. She opened 
 a drawer, found the letter, and showed it to my 
 cousin. My cousin kept it, refusing to return it in 
 spite of an ugly quarrel and father's order to do so. 
 Otherwise I would return it to you now since it 
 was not meant for me." 
 
 "Lubitza, you knew very well that that letter was 
 never meant for you, and you left it lying about so 
 your cousin would find it !" 
 
 "And why, pray? I was not aware of the fact 
 that you were toying with both of us a 1'Ingenieur 
 Overmann. As I have said, I naturally supposed 
 you had given her up. I believe you said, this eve- 
 ning, that Overmann had given you some elemen- 
 tary instruction in love. You seem to assimilate 
 instruction well. If you will assure me that you 
 have listened to your medical lectures as carefully, 
 I shall not forget to call you when I need a phy- 
 sician's help!" 
 
 Lubitza spoke in a seemingly calm and perfectly 
 even tone of voice. I understood, now, what poor 
 high-strung Gisela had always had to contend 
 279
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 with I was getting just a taste of it myself. 
 Here was a woman who could quarrel bitterly 
 without getting into a passion, without rais- 
 ing her voice or changing her expression. 
 She could cut, watching the while for the next 
 chance to cut, and, above all, she had that 
 talent which some women possess to the highest de- 
 gree and which is more seldom found in men, of 
 juggling with circumstances and occurrences, 
 bending one a little, snipping another a bit, moving 
 them up and down and from side to side, like a 
 child putting together his lettered building blocks, 
 until he has constructed something that the origin 
 of the material had never dreamed of and in Lu- 
 bitza's case with the facility of long practice. 
 
 My astonishment at her saved some of my own 
 self-control for it gave time for my first fury to 
 subside. How she had befooled and befogged me 
 to-night ! I took out my handkerchief and scrubbed 
 my lips until they stung. She laughed, derisively. 
 
 "Is the aftertaste so bad, then, Herr Doktor? 
 Well, it will help you to remember, hereafter, that 
 our lips have met." 
 
 Futhermore, I began to see the light in another 
 direction, as I watched her calm and now quizzi- 
 cal face. This story of the Ingenieur having de- 
 serted her I had believed it, and still believed the 
 facts on the face of it. But as she had juggled the 
 facts which had occurred at Cattaro, so now I be- 
 lieved she had juggled with those of her story this 
 evening. Yes, the Ingenieur might have left her 
 for the time being, but I now believed it was by ar- 
 rangement. He was to spoil her cousin and then 
 return to Lubitza; that was it! Old Tomano- 
 vich and Paulo had not been so stupid, after all ! 
 Why were Gisela and the Ingenieur parting now? 
 280
 
 The Accursed Roc cos 
 
 Was his errand done? With this thought the boil- 
 ing began again. 
 
 "Well, Edward, have you read me yet ? It should 
 not take a practised medical man so long to arrive 
 at a diagnosis. It inspires distrust on the part of 
 his patient." 
 
 My kettle boiled over, at last. 
 
 "Signorina, never you dare use my given name 
 again ! Never, as long as you live ! If you do, 
 woman though you are, and no matter where it oc- 
 curs, I swear I shall strike you on the mouth!" 
 
 She calmly rose. 
 
 "So be it, Herr Doktor there is the door !" 
 
 I obeyed the command, but turned, at the door, 
 for one word more. 
 
 "I understand all ! I see what your plans have 
 been, and you seem to have succeeded. Beware, 
 Signorina! The success of such a piece of devil- 
 try is always a dearly bought victory ! The day will 
 surely come when you will pay!" 
 
 She heard me out, then turned and entered her 
 boudoir, without reply. I reached the ante-room, 
 gathered up my coat and left the house, vowing, at 
 any cost, at any sacrifice, if it still remained pos- 
 sible, to turn her, and above all, the Ingenieur's 
 roses into ashes.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 I HAD answers for most of the questions I had 
 meant to ask, and a few more I had not thought 
 of; but so far from congratulating, I cursed myself 
 for a stupid dolt, who but for one false move on 
 her part would have been, by now, in harness and 
 hating himself. I was sorry I had gone there at all, 
 for I would have been better off without the infor- 
 mation I had, by chance, received. Of course I did 
 not forget that she had let the story lose nothing in 
 the telling; but the cardinal fact remained that 
 Gisela had quarrelled with her uncle and left the 
 house on the Ingenieur's account. Lubitza was too 
 clever a woman to manufacture such a story as that 
 one which would be suspected at once. More- 
 over, it was borne out by the facts that had come 
 to me from an independent source. 
 
 Yes, I would have been better off without the 
 information ; but I had it, now, and therefore it was 
 to deal with. And I was in a mood to deal with it. 
 My rage at, and hatred for, Lubitza and the Inge- 
 nieur were now equal, I was sure, to anything Gisela 
 herself had ever felt. Moreover now, of course, I 
 saw Gisela's past behavior to me in a different light. 
 She had quitted me in the Cathedral in headlong 
 excitement and anger and had remained angry, and 
 the sight of the letter Lubitza had received, had 
 clinched her determination and made it final ; but 
 she had not vacillated and played with me as I had 
 supposed. She had been consistent according to 
 her information. She had only given me the treat- 
 ment she believed I had deserved, and the lack of 
 282
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 an opportunity to clear up the misunderstanding 
 was to be laid at Lubitza's door. True, Gisela 
 might have listened to me, but I remembered her 
 high strung temperament and inexperience, remem- 
 bered the fact that she really knew me but little, and 
 the further fact that she had never had aught but 
 falseness and intrigue round about her, and her re- 
 peated warning- that she would endure no flirting 
 with her cousin. Thus I found it easy to explain 
 and even to forgive the position she had taken with 
 regard to me. The blame for my fiasco was Lu- 
 bitza's and I made up my mind that she and her 
 fiance should pay. 
 
 Finally I remembered again that Gisela's present 
 situation was the result of my having precipitately 
 withdrawn my protection. This fact bit deeply into 
 my conscience and buried itself there to fester; and 
 no ever so reasonable justification gave, now, any 
 relief whatever from this sting. 
 
 The one thing I could neither understand nor for- 
 give was Gisela's going to Overmann. I remem- 
 bered well her emphatic uncomplimentary refer- 
 ences to him. The memory of these added to the 
 mystery and put it entirely beyond my depth. What 
 legerdemain could he have used ? Were his theories 
 about women, alas, correct, after all? Had she 
 really preferred "a walk in the woods?" 
 
 Well, now at least, all plans were simplified. I 
 would find Gisela and offer her a marriage of ex- 
 pediency. Thus her estate would be saved for her, 
 and until the very last days of her minority when 
 that marriage could take place, I would support 
 her and her companion. 
 
 But first I had to find her. I took the following 
 day for this purpose, made my way to the locality 
 and attacked the matter systematically. 
 283
 
 The Accursed RoccOs 
 
 When I had watched them disappear that Christ- 
 mas Eve they had turned north on Tiirkenschanz 
 street. By repeating it, I estimated the time my sharp 
 run to the corner had taken, and felt sure they had 
 riot had time to reach Sternwarte street. If they 
 had entered any house on Tiirkenschanz street I was 
 sure I would have been in time to see them. As 
 there were no westerly outlets here from Tiirken- 
 schanz street it followed that they must have turned 
 into Anton Frank street. Since this turning was a 
 backward one in the direction they had come, I 
 inferred that they must live near this corner, as 
 otherwise it was reasonable to suppose they would 
 have crossed over on Lazaristen street, and I would 
 not have seen them at all. This locality was a nest 
 of villas. Near here lived a world-renowned old 
 professor of the piano and a famous vocal teacher. 
 
 I had come out early in the morning and after 
 having accomplished this much, I walked a way 
 down the street, so they would not run pele-mele 
 upon me if they happened to appear, and seated 
 myself upon a bench under the trees whence my 
 eyes could command the street. Here I cooled my 
 heels for over an hour without result, save to at- 
 tract the undisguised staring of certain young and 
 old women in a neighbouring dressmaking estab- 
 lishment, or what appeared to be such. 
 
 Finding this irksome at last, I wandered still 
 farther, down to Gymnasium street where the large 
 buildings began again, and here I spied the shop of 
 a friseur, the which offered a suggestion. This 
 would be their nearest friseur and they had doubt- 
 less repeatedly visited his shop to have their hair 
 done for the opera. If so, he would surely remem- 
 ber that big woman. 
 
 The step proved successful. He did remember 
 284
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 her, and directed me to the villa which was next 
 door but one to the abode of the singing teacher. 
 This house was occupied by a certain Frau Blum, 
 a widow in good circumstances, but who let part of 
 her villa. I presented myself there and was ushered 
 into a little drawing-room. After a few moments 
 Frau Blum entered. 
 
 "Oh, I suppose you mean Fraulein Narishkina?" 
 "Yes, Gnadige Frau, Fraulein Cecilia Narish- 
 kina." 
 
 "Forgive me, Gnadiger Herr, but who are you?" 
 I handed her my card. She glanced at it, and 
 then gave me a very careful looking up and down. 
 Then she rose, closed all the doors and seated her- 
 self nearer to me. 
 
 "I am quite sure you have never been here be- 
 fore.". 
 
 "Never, gnadige Frau, seldom as far as the 
 street." 
 
 "You are seeking Fraulein Cecilie?" 
 "Yes, Gnadige, with the help of your kindness." 
 "I am sorry, but I fear I cannot give you her 
 present address without first consulting her. She 
 has asked me to give no one her address. She and 
 a friend of hers have gone together, and they are 
 trying to avoid meeting somebody, but I don't 
 think it could be you. You are from the General 
 Hospital?" 
 
 "Yes, Gnadige, from the Klinik Baumann." 
 So then Gisela had severed communications with 
 the Ingenieur! That was one fact to the good, at 
 least. I considered. It was urgent that I learn the 
 date of Gisela's majority, and I conceived that 
 Fraulein Narishkina would know it. Also if there 
 were plenty of time, I wanted to help Gisela secret- 
 ly and wait for a favorable opportunity before pre- 
 
 285
 
 The 'Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 senting myself before her. An interview with 
 Fraulein Cecilie was, therefore, the urgent matter 
 now. 
 
 "Gnadige Frau, I do not personally know Frau- 
 lein Narishkina, but I know of her. I have an im- 
 portant communication for her. However, since 
 she has requested you to give her address to no 
 one" 
 
 "She did. But I cannot think she could have 
 meant that for you. I would not like to keep her 
 out of anything that is for her good. She has 
 worked hard and things have gone none too well 
 for her." 
 
 "It will not be necessary for me to have her ad- 
 dress. I can meet her here, if you will kindly al- 
 low it." 
 
 "Naturally! I can send a note setting any day 
 and hour you please." 
 
 "Let us say Tuesday afternoon at four, then." 
 
 "Good ! I will attend to it." 
 
 And I returned to my apartments. 
 
 I appeared in good time at Frau Blum's villa and 
 found Fraulein Cecilie already there. She proved 
 to be one of the most remarkable women, in her 
 personal appearance, I had ever seen a Russian 
 and a student of singing as Lubitza had once been, 
 but who had her goal still to reach. Everything 
 about her was emphasized, beginning with her hair 
 and eyes, the latter being grey-blue, very large and 
 roofed over with thick but shapely brows. Frau- 
 lein Cecilie was not corpulent, she was just big, 
 her face massively handsome and her figure pleas- 
 ing. After I had talked with her awhile I found 
 her a curious mixture of diplomacy and directness, 
 as Russians are apt to be, combined with plenty of 
 
 286
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 womanly good nature. I liked her, thoroughly, 
 from the start. 
 
 After a moment Frau Blum left us alone and 
 Cecilie raised her eyebrows with a smile. I apol- 
 ogized at once and begged her not to be disap- 
 pointed because my errand, though with her, was 
 not for her personal benefit. 
 
 "I have been aware of that from the moment I 
 saw your card. You are seeking my friend. Since 
 seeing you, of course, I have been certain of that." 
 
 I could gather nothing from her expression. 
 
 "Gisela has spoken of me then." 
 
 "Oh, yes." And she sat back, raised her eye- 
 brows and shrugged her shoulders. Then she met 
 my eyes, rather uncompromisingly. "Please tell 
 me, Herr Doktor, how you learned my given name." 
 
 "Gnadiges Fraulein, I entreat your pardon a 
 thousand times!" 
 
 "Oh, no, not at all, Herr Doktor. Indeed, since 
 you know it, please use it. I am only curious." 
 
 "Not to be wondered at. I will tell you." 
 
 I recalled the time and place when I had heard 
 Gisela use the name. 
 
 "Kol-lo-sal! Fabelhaft! And you were there 
 and heard that!" 
 
 "Not all you said, but enough to know that Gi- 
 sela was in trouble, and that her friend loved her 
 well enough to sell her own rings so they might re- 
 main together." 
 
 She shook her finger at me with only the half of 
 a smile. 
 
 "It was eaves-dropping ! But since you had rec- 
 ognized her voice, it was but human. I must acquit 
 you of blame in that, at least." 
 
 "My own conscience has already acquitted me, 
 especially the last few days. I tried to ascertain her 
 
 287
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 address at the police office, but she was not known 
 there. I supposed from that, that she had assumed 
 a false name, and I made no further effort to find 
 her. Further information has, however, made me 
 feel that I must act for her welfare. Therefore I 
 am here. I wish to learn two facts, to take at once 
 one step for her benefit, and to have one promise 
 from you. As you know who I am, I suppose you 
 are willing to trust me?" 
 
 "Provided you do not ask me to trust you too 
 far, Herr Doktor ! I have not understood that you 
 are overly worthy of confidence. Now do not un- 
 derstand too much from that. I have only been led 
 to believe that you are like other men, who seem, 
 as a rule, to think it clever to use their superior 
 experience and better knowledge of the world in 
 playing double with a woman." 
 
 It cut, and I rose, went to the window and looked 
 out a bit until the stinging in my eyes should abate 
 a little. But I resolved to make no defence, then. 
 Finally I sat down again and faced her. 
 
 "For one thing, Herr Doktor, I will not give you 
 our address. Of course, from my name, you can 
 now ascertain it at the police-bureau, but I hope 
 you will be honorable enough not to do so, or if 
 you do, at least be kind and considerate enough not 
 to call, or to write to my friend." 
 
 "Fraulein Cecilie, it is absolutely necessary that 
 I know where you live so that, if necessary, I shall 
 be able to communicate with you yourself without 
 delay. But I promise the last part of your re- 
 quirement. I agree to communicate with you only, 
 and only by letter or messenger." 
 
 "Porzellan street, No. 58, door 16, Herr Doktor." 
 
 I took note of the address. It was within half 
 a mile of my own apartments. 
 
 288
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Now, Fraulein Cecilie, do you remember ever to 
 have heard Gisela mention the date of her coming 
 of age?" 
 
 "Oh, yes, she has mentioned the date several 
 times." 
 
 "When is it?" 
 
 Her face hardened. 
 
 "Of course, Fraulein Cecilie, I can ascertain it at 
 the cost of some delay by writing to Cattaro and 
 having it looked up in the birth register. This de- 
 lay may cost your friend dear. I am her friend, 
 Fraulein. I know you are her faithful and true 
 friend. If I were seeking the information for any 
 other purpose than her good, I should not come to 
 you. This is the only further fact I shall inquire 
 for, now." 
 
 "It is June seventeenth of this year." 
 
 I took a further note of the date and returned the 
 note-book to my pocket. My mind was again at 
 ease. There was plenty of time, as the date was 
 more than four clear months away yet. 
 
 "Have you sold your rings yet?" 
 
 She smiled calmly. 
 
 "Not yet. We had a little money between us and 
 we have lived carefully and modestly." 
 
 "Good. Don't sell them. On the first of each 
 month you must inform me what you both have 
 used, and I shall return you the amount in money." 
 
 She looked at me in blank surprise, then her face 
 hardened once more. She compressed her lips. 
 
 "This sounds very like something I have heard 
 before, Herr Doktor!" 
 
 "Yes?" 
 
 "Yes!" 
 
 My plan looked hopeless for the moment. 
 289
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "You are again distrusting me, Fraulein Cecilie. 
 Why?" 
 
 No reply. 
 
 "Fraulein, I know Gisela's situation from first 
 to last. She needs support until the day of her ma- 
 jority, June seventeenth. Unless she be supported 
 and cared for up to that date by someone who has 
 her real welfare at heart, she is in danger." 
 
 "And if it became known that you did so, would 
 she not be in danger?" 
 
 I inferred from this question that Fraulein Ceci- 
 lie did not know that Gisela had left Cattaro to join 
 the Ingenieur, or knowing it, had become diplo- 
 matic. Well, if she did not know it, it was no part 
 of my duty to inform her of the fact. 
 
 "How can it ever become known, Fraulein? I 
 shall never speak of it, and I mean to give you the 
 monthly sum in secret and in actual cash. In fact 
 I not only wish the matter to be a secret as regards 
 others, but also to be kept religiously from Gisela's 
 knowledge. How then can it ever become known? 
 What proof would her cousin or anyone have 
 that I have furnished the means? I pay you the 
 funds in secret, and it will be you who supports 
 her until that day." 
 
 "I can do it without help, Herr Doktor." 
 
 She replied less coldly but still obstinately. 
 
 "Yes, by selling your rings and by both of you 
 living under privation ! That is not necessary, nor 
 is it fair to either of you. I am not rich, but I am 
 abundantly able to make both of you comfortable; 
 to make Gisela comfortable because I because 
 because I am her friend ; to make you also comfor- 
 table because you are her tried friend." 
 
 "Do you still love her?" 
 
 "I I Fraulein that is of the sad past. But 
 290
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 I am her friend her friend as long as I have 
 breath in my body ! And for just as long, I am a 
 friend of her friend! Believe me!" 
 
 The tears came to her fine eyes and she took my 
 hand and pressed it warmly. 
 
 "I fear you no longer, Herr Doktor. You must 
 forgive my distrust, for Gisela has had much rea- 
 son as you must know and I have been her com- 
 panion and confidant and I love her. I, too, am 
 alone in the world, and Gisela is all I have. For- 
 give me, Herr Doktor !" 
 
 It is often asserted by women themselves that 
 they can never count upon one another as true 
 friends. Ever since this interview with Fraulein 
 Cecilia Narishkina I have believed that women in- 
 variably find their own sex as they deserve to find 
 it; just as is the case among men. 
 
 "So, then, Fraulein, is it agreed?" 
 
 "I suppose so, Herr Doktor. That is, I will ac- 
 cept enough for her. I could not think of taking 
 anything from you for myself." 
 
 I argued this question from every standpoint, but 
 here I found her iron. She thanked me sweetly and 
 sincerely, met every argument courteously and con- 
 siderately and her manner of refusal left no sting, 
 but also not much room for discussion. The most 
 I could get her promise was that if she ever needed 
 help she would come to me. For the present, she 
 insisted if Gisela were provided for, she would have 
 left all and more than she needed, and they could 
 live alike. 
 
 She promised to keep Gisela in ignorance of the 
 new income for the present at least, all the more 
 since she felt sure Gisela would not knowingly ac- 
 cept it. It was agreed that we should meet on 
 the first of every month here at Frau Blum's. Fur- 
 
 291
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 thermore, for the present, there was to be no men- 
 tion of my name to Gisela, and that should anything 
 untoward occur, or should either have any illness or 
 any unwelcome visitor, or meeting, she was to in- 
 form me at once either in person or by post. 
 
 "One more caution, Fraulein. In those former 
 days in Cattaro, they succeeded by intrigue and 
 falsehood in coming between Gisela and me. Never 
 let that occur again ! Remember that I am faithful 
 to you both, and no matter what may be said or 
 come up (we never can surely know beforehand, 
 can we? No matter how careful), never judge me 
 without hearing me !" 
 
 She answered this with a speech which I shall not 
 transcribe here, but which has always been treas- 
 ured, coming as it did from a woman, who had en- 
 gaged my respect. 
 
 I returned to my duties, relieved from suspense, 
 and it was some days before they again suffered in- 
 terruption. 
 
 292
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 THIS came from Cecilie herself. I received an 
 urgent note to meet her at Frau Blum's, villa. For 
 such a big, ordinarily self-possessed woman, I 
 found her in a curiously excited and well-nigh hys- 
 terical state. 
 
 Her first information was that new parties, two 
 men with their servant, had moved into the hoch- 
 parterre, front, in their house. 
 
 She would not have paid much attention to this 
 were it not for the fact that the wife of the haus- 
 meister had joyfully informed her that they must 
 be very rich, as having liked the apartment, they 
 had paid the tenant a high price to move out at 
 once, and let them enter immediately. 
 
 This had seemed queer, for while the house was 
 a fairly good one, it was not one of the modern 
 buildings with a lift, telephones, fine hallways and 
 other conveniences which are so keenly sought by 
 such in Vienna as can afford them. Moreover, it 
 was not the quarterly moving-time and the people 
 voluntarily dispossessed would have no easy task in 
 finding another apartment, so they must have been 
 paid out of all proportion to the value of this one. 
 Later she had noticed that one or other of these 
 men was invariably at home, and that they seemed 
 to keep watch upon her and Gisela. 
 
 She would still have suspected nothing more 
 than the usual Viennese propensity to stare, had it 
 not been for two subsequent occurrences. One day 
 she was coming down the stairs, and just before 
 reaching the bottom had stopped to tie her shoe. 
 
 293
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 Hearing her name mentioned she had stolen to 
 the bottom step and looked around the corner, 
 through a screen which closed off the rear end of 
 the main corridor, and saw the hausmeister in close 
 conversation with one of the men. She could not 
 hear very well, but heard enough to know that she 
 and her companion were their subject, and saw the 
 man give the hausbesorger what she believed to be 
 a thousand crown note. Their conversation had 
 concluded with this and she had slipped back up- 
 stairs to the mezzanine landing and had waited ten 
 minutes before coming down again. 
 
 The following day the hausmeister had come to 
 their apartment in the first floor and had entered 
 with his pass-key. She and Gisela had gone out, 
 but their maid-servant, hearing him, came out of 
 the kitchen and found the hausmeister in Gisela's 
 room examining one of her trunks. When the ser- 
 vant had asked what he was doing there he had an- 
 swered that one of the young ladies had asked him 
 to move the trunks to the storage-room. When she 
 asked him why he had not rung before coming in 
 he said he had, but had had no answer and having 
 time only then to move the trunks, he had come in 
 anyhow. The maid had, then, told him that the 
 whole thing was a mistake for she positively knew 
 that her mistress was then needing the things her 
 trunks contained. The hausmeister had then left. 
 Later he had apologized to her (Cecilie), making 
 the excuse that he had gone to their apartment by 
 mistake, having misunderstood the number. 
 
 "Is your bell out of order?" 
 
 "Not at all. I tried it at once. Anna says she 
 was in the kitchen and not asleep. She insists that 
 the man lied." 
 
 "Does Gisela know of this?" 
 294
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "No, poor dear child ! She has repeatedly been 
 in such a nervous tension lately that I did not 
 think best to tell her about it, unless I had to. I 
 am worried about her, Herr Doktor. She is less 
 and less her sweet natural self every day." 
 
 "How does she behave?" 
 
 "She seems in a state of half trance a good deal 
 of the time. Sometimes she is nervous and breaks 
 out over the most trivial thing. But most of the 
 time she has a perfectly immobile face and often 
 does not hear me when I speak to her." 
 
 I did not underrate the significance of the mat- 
 ters Cecilie had related. It had occurred to me sev- 
 eral times during the last few days that Lubitza 
 and the Ingenieur were probably not idle. They had 
 too much at stake, and Lubitza too much feeling. 
 If I had allowed matters to drag, it had been merely 
 because I felt I had a sure card for the playing of 
 which there was plenty of time ; not because I un- 
 derrated their determination. 
 
 Now, however, it was clear that they were mak- 
 ing another move of some sort, and furthermore 
 that they had enlisted the dangerous help of the 
 hausbesorger. Now the girls could never move out, 
 start on a journey, or even leave the house, without 
 these watchers being aware of it. I guessed that 
 the hausmeister's visit to the apartment had been 
 for the purpose of taking a look at the trunks so 
 that he would know them if they should be removed 
 from the house, say by dienstmen. 
 
 The Viennese hausmeister is, as a rule, very faith- 
 ful to his charge but exceptions occur. 
 
 What should I do about it ? We could go to the 
 owner of the building and expose the fellow and the 
 owner might or might not turn him off and have 
 him punished, but neither we nor the hausherr 
 
 295
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 himself could put out the new occupants of the 
 apartment. They would stay on, and the thing 
 would repeat itself, more secretly ne^ct time. 
 
 Moreover, they would be in the same house with 
 the girls, and while it would not be easy, still it 
 was possible that various sorts of deviltry might 
 be attempted or even carried out. What their plan 
 was I could not guess. To watch her, of course; 
 I was sure that was not all. 
 
 What they might do was not the worst of my 
 fears. The very fact of espionage could not long 
 be kept from Gisela and if she were in the mental 
 state which Cecilie had described, I feared the re- 
 sult when it should come to her knowledge. Above 
 all, I feared she might precipitately leave Vienna 
 and bury herself somewhere where neither Cecilie 
 nor I could find and help her. It was clear that I 
 must act. 
 
 I paced the floor and thought. The only solu- 
 tion that occurred to me was not free from objec- 
 tions but since it was the only one, it was neces- 
 sarily the best one, and having ever the last card 
 in mind, I felt that it did not matter how the ones 
 before it fell and this very careless viewpoint con- 
 stituted the capital mistake that prevented me from 
 keeping a closer observation and foreseeing the un- 
 told misery which was destined to ensue later on. 
 Cecilie was watching me nervously with her great 
 eyes. 
 
 "Cecilie, do you trust me now ?" 
 "Oh, yes, Herr Doktor !" 
 "You are willing, then, to do as I suggest?" 
 "Only tell me what to do, Herr Doktor !" 
 I explained my fears to her, and then said : 
 "I see only one thing to do. You two must move 
 296
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 to my own house. My former landlady has three 
 apartments on the first floor. She rents two of 
 them, and it happens just now, that she has three 
 unoccupied rooms, all together. It will be a little 
 more cramped than you have had, but the house is 
 modern, and above all, you will be safe there. We 
 will just turn the tables on these people; for in my 
 house / have the hochparterre front, and for any 
 good purpose the hausmeister and his wife are my 
 slaves. They will not bribe my hausmeister, nor 
 will anybody ever trouble you in that house. I shall 
 see to that ! The rooms 1 mean for you are on the 
 first floor, front. They are sunny, comfortable and 
 quiet, and the landlady is a good friend of mine 
 and one of the best women in Vienna. Moreover, 
 she also is a Dalmatian woman, herself coming from 
 not far from Cattaro, and Gisela will find, in her, 
 a fellow-countrywoman and friend. Will you 
 come ?" 
 
 "Oh, Herr Doktor, at once, if I have the decis- 
 ion ! But of course Gisa must consent." 
 
 "Certainly. Now, of course, Gisela must be in- 
 formed that you know me we can no longer con- 
 cal that. But she need not know that I am helping 
 her with money. All she needs to know is, that you 
 have known me some time and that I shall from 
 now on be the protector of both of you. I shall 
 leave it to your woman's wit to explain why you 
 have not told her sooner. Then you must tell her 
 the things you have told me to-day. She will have to 
 be told in order to understand the need of moving 
 at once. If she will consent, pack to-night, and 
 move tomorrow." 
 
 "They will know that we come to your house ?" 
 
 "Of course they will. They will follow and 
 make sure of it. Don't make the slightest attempt at 
 
 297
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 concealment. Don't tell anybody where you are go- 
 ing ; it is nobody's business but your own ; but move 
 openly in the most matter-of-fact every-day man- 
 ner. Give your landlady notice to-morrow morning, 
 and pay your rent for the full two weeks' notice 
 time in advance, with an extra hundred crown 
 note. Then it will be none of your landlady's busi- 
 ness either." 
 
 "I will do just as you say, if Gisa will consent" 
 
 "Very well. Go and consult her at once and I 
 will go home and speak for the rooms. I will meet 
 you at six o'clock sharp in the Cafe Schwarzspan- 
 ierhof. Do you know it? Very well, at six sharp. 
 Then you can give me your and Gisela's decision, 
 and your new landlady will prepare for and ex- 
 pect you some time tomorrow." 
 
 She started for the door, but turned back. 
 
 "If Gisa should be afraid to leave, could you not 
 come and be present when we go?" 
 
 "Yes, if you like, but there will be no trouble 
 about leaving in broad daylight. The fellows will 
 not trouble you. They will only follow. Let them. 
 I'll guarantee that their following will end at our 
 door or sooner!" 
 
 She flew down the steps and I went home to en- 
 gage the rooms. I found my former landlady a 
 sympathetic listener and when I left her, I was cer- 
 tain that anybody who attempted to trouble them, 
 once they were under her wing, would have a deter- 
 mined woman to deal with. 
 
 In the meantime I decided to make a bold attempt 
 to learn what the plans of these men had been. If 
 they wanted open war, they should have it. 
 
 At six I found Cecilie waiting for me. She said 
 that Gisela had turned the color of blood at the news 
 
 298
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 of our acquaintanceship but had told her to carry 
 to me her greetings and thanks. Gisela had been 
 exasperated and frightened at the news, and was 
 anxious to move at once. They had decided to fol- 
 low the plan as I had arranged it, and would leave 
 their house at three o'clock the following afternoon. 
 
 "By the way, what name does Gisela use ?" 
 
 "Her own, to be sure !" 
 
 "Tomanovich ?" 
 
 "No. Portulan." 
 
 So she had not used a false name. 
 
 "How did it happen that I could not find her in 
 the police bureau last Christmas week?" 
 
 "Oh," said Cecilie with a smile, "she did not fill 
 out and send the police slip for nearly ten weeks 
 after arriving." 
 
 "Did her landlady not get fined ?" 
 
 "Oh, yes. Gisela and I clubbed together and paid 
 it." 
 
 "Well, lock your doors to-night and do not go 
 out." 
 
 I followed her, and entered the house about ten 
 minutes after she had disappeared within. My plan 
 was simple. I meant to have a look at the men, and 
 was in no mood for strategy. I went to their door 
 and rang. A servant opened and I promptly pushed 
 by her and walked into the first lighted room. As 
 soon as I entered I found myself face to face with 
 no less a person than Baron Ascher. Of course 
 this rencontre surprised me no little but it so 
 promptly established the connection between this 
 little menage and Lubitza's party that instant rage 
 and hatred left little time for my surprise to be 
 noticed, I was sure. He rose up in astonishment. 
 
 "Ah, Herr Doktor! To what am I indebted 
 
 for" 
 
 299
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 I raised my hand and he was silent. 
 
 "You must be hard pressed for money, Baron! 
 Or is there more than one reason for this enter- 
 prise? Hereafter you will have me to deal with 
 instead of a couple of women !" 
 
 With this I left his apartment and sought the 
 one of the hausebesorger. His door stood open and 
 I walked in, closed the door behind me and locked 
 it. He was sitting at table in his kitchen disposing 
 of a tumbler of wine and a plate of some strong- 
 smelling thing or other. His wife, if he had one, 
 was absent. He was a round-headed, rather jovial- 
 faced man. I pushed his plate away and pulled 
 him, in his chair, away from the table. I looked 
 him in the eye and he grinned uncertainly. 
 
 "How much has that fellow across the hall paid 
 you to spy upon two women here in the house ? It 
 was a thousand-crown note, wasn't it?" 
 
 He gathered himself together a little. 
 
 "A thousand crown note! I haven't even seen 
 such a thing in fifteen years !" 
 
 "Look you, my fine fellow ! You were seen to re- 
 ceive it by a person who was coming down the 
 stairs, and a part of your conversation was heard. 
 It was out there in the back corridor. You will 
 gain nothing by denying it ! Now that is a high 
 price to pay for merely spying. What else were 
 you to do for this money?" 
 
 He grew red with rage and I saw him measure 
 me with his eye. I reached for his knife and fork 
 and threw them into the other end of the room. 
 
 "You keep still in your chair or I'll twist out both 
 of your arms ! What else were you to do ? Sit 
 back in your chair ! So ! What else was there ?" 
 
 "Well, there wasn't much more. They wanted a 
 key to the house-door," 
 
 300
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Ah! A key to the street door. Well, did you 
 furnish it?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "When was that?" 
 
 "About ten days ago." 
 
 "A house door key is worth three crowns, and 
 the privilege of having it six crowns a month. It 
 was still high pay. What else were you to do ?" 
 
 He started to make a spring at me, but he was 
 very slow; also he was fifty and I was twenty-six 
 and not a drinker of "heuriger." I was on him 
 before he had half risen and readily got him from 
 behind by both arms, bearing him down with my 
 weight. I twisted one of his arms across his back. 
 The chair slipped out from under him and he sunk 
 in a sort of ball on to the floor with me on top 
 of him. I pulled the arm a little higher. 
 
 "If you yell, I'll twist your arm clear out, Mr. 
 Hausbesorger ! Quiet now ! What else were you 
 to do for those fellows !" 
 
 "I can't tell you while you are hurting me so !" 
 
 I let him go and stood up. 
 
 "I will tell you all about it, gnadiger Herr, but I 
 beg your mercy. It will ruin my chance for em- 
 ployment forever if it be told." 
 
 "You will lose nothing by being straight-forward 
 and you will lose everything if you be not." 
 
 He ceased rubbing his shoulder and looked up at 
 me. 
 
 "I did not want to do it, gnadiger Herr, but they 
 had already given me the thousand crown note and 
 promised that they would give me four thousand 
 more after the thing was done, and to protect me 
 from harm. He is a baron and I had heard of him 
 before and I thought he could do it." 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 301
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Well, gnadiger Herr, the baron said he was in 
 love with the smaller lady, and wanted to take her 
 away some night after the house door was closed. 
 I was not to help but only to keep in my apartment 
 and not to hear or see anything." 
 
 "How were they going to do it?" 
 
 "I don't know, gnadiger Herr. But the big wom- 
 an often goes to the opera and they often let their 
 maid servant go in the evenings. The smaller wom- 
 an is often at home alone after ten. I suppose they 
 had a way to manage. That apartment is rather de- 
 tached and this is an old house with solid stone 
 floors, not like the flimsy buildings they are putting 
 up now." 
 
 It had been a very pretty little plan and with 
 only a little invention and address, no doubt it 
 would have succeeded. I was fairly mad to file in- 
 formation with the police against Ascher and his 
 companion, but it was not to be thought of until 
 the girls were safely out of the house and possibly 
 not then for a while. Any compromising of them 
 would be too readily seized upon, and I did not 
 care to invite this needlessly even if we did hold 
 the final winning card. 
 
 But rage finally gave way to congratulation. The 
 success of their plan would have settled the whole 
 question, without a doubt. As it was now, we 
 could laugh at them. 
 
 The moving was accomplished without incident, 
 the following afternoon, and the presence of my- 
 self and the police officer down at the corner was 
 not needed. In the evening, when our hausbe- 
 sorger admitted me, he informed me that they were 
 safely installed in their new home. 
 
 302
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 I DID not even see either of them until the follow- 
 ing Sunday for the days at the hospital were busy 
 ones at this time. That morning I received a note 
 from Cecilie inviting me to tea at five o'clock. Up 
 to this time I had taken care to avoid the inevitable 
 meeting mainly because I felt it would be difficult, 
 and besides if they wanted me I wished them to 
 send for me. But of course it had to come, and 
 Cecilie or both of them had known the best way. 
 There is nothing like a tea-tray for smoothing over 
 a difficult interview, a fact with which women seem 
 very generally to be acquainted. I hunted out Lu- 
 bitza's old letter and put it into my pocket. 
 
 Cecilie received me and wrung both of my hands. 
 
 "Well, you are yourself again, I see." 
 
 "We both seem to be, thanks to you. Gisela 
 went out at three and has not returned, but I am ex- 
 pecting her every minute. We will wait a little 
 for her." 
 
 "I am glad she is not here yet, for I have some- 
 thing important to tell you. This affair was far 
 more serious than we were thinking." 
 
 I had debated the question of informing them of 
 the abduction plan, but had decided that Cecilie, 
 at least, must know it ; for what had miscarried this 
 time might succeed on the street, or at some fa- 
 vorable opportunity. Now that Gisela was under 
 the same roof with me and removed from attack 
 while at home, I conceived that Lubitza might take 
 even a more desperate risk. So, amid plenty of sur- 
 
 303
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 prise and many exclamations, I acquainted her with 
 their intentions. 
 
 "Now, Cecilie, I think Gisela must be informed. 
 Let her continue to believe that you are supporting 
 her, but tell her all the rest. . She has a right to 
 know and it is also safer so. I shall also explain 
 the situation to your landlady so she will be care- 
 ful about visitors when you are not at home." 
 
 "Very well. I'll tell her, Herr Doktor." 
 
 "I have arranged with our hausmeister to report 
 to me anything that attracts his attention, and I 
 myself am on the ground floor. No girl will be 
 stolen from the house, at least. Gisela's only risk, 
 now, is when she is out." 
 
 "I shall try always to go with her, especially in 
 the evenings." 
 
 "Good. And always have the hausmeister order 
 your carriage. I have arranged this with him. If 
 you are downtown in the evening and must take a 
 carriage, be careful never to take one whose driver 
 solicits you. Never allow anybody, man or wom- 
 an, to cause you to enter a carriage or a building 
 or to alter your plans, under any excuse. How 
 about your housemaid? Who and what is she?" 
 
 "We brought her from the other place." 
 
 "Discharge her at once! Pay her in full for 
 your agreed notice, but let her go at once tomor- 
 row. Get your landlady to find you a maid she 
 knows. You can go a day or two without a ser- 
 vant. Then, when your new maid comes, don't give 
 her her nights out. She is entitled to every other 
 Sunday but give her no more. Then she won't 
 have so much chance to make acquaintances. Give 
 her an extra five-crown piece once a week. She 
 will be only too satisfied with that" 
 
 A merry laugh interrupted this. I looked around 
 304
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 toward the door to the next room and saw Gisela's 
 bright face, near by once jnore, after more than 
 two years. 
 
 I had prepared and steeled myself for this mo- 
 ment, but not to much purpose. I was unable to 
 speak to or greet her. The false indifference which 
 I had managed to manufacture during our long 
 separation was roughly torn aside, as I sub-con- 
 sciously had known it would be. Her own face 
 grew grave as she came up and took my hand, I 
 felt sure she had misunderstood the cause of my 
 silence, but it could not be helped just now. 
 
 She scarcely looked older, though a little care- 
 worn. After her first laugh I saw her face take on 
 that immobility of expression which Cecilie had 
 described. 
 
 "Welcome, Doctor Ransome ! We have much to 
 thank you for, and thanking you will be a pleasure." 
 
 "A thousand welcomes, Signorina! I am going 
 to make it my business to stand by you now. Believe 
 me, I would have done so sooner if I had known it 
 was needed." 
 
 "Thank you, Signor. I hope we shall not prove 
 too troublesome." 
 
 "For your sake, not my own, I can second that 
 wish." 
 
 "Come, let us have tea," interrupted Cecilie. 
 
 We seated ourselves around the little table. 
 
 "Sugar, Herr Doktor?" 
 
 "I need much sweetening, as my old acquaint- 
 ances always insist." 
 
 "We all do. I need it most when I start to but- 
 ton up my waist." 
 
 "And I when I am in a hurry and find that I 
 have tied my necktie with one end longer than the 
 other." 
 
 305
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "I, when a shoe string breaks," said Gisela. 
 
 "What happens then?" 
 
 "The same thing that happens when your neck- 
 tie ends are found to be uneven, Signor." 
 
 "Really?" 
 
 "She starts to sing/' said Cecilie. 
 
 "To sing! Hum then it is not the same!" 
 
 "Gisela sings whenever she is at a loss for 
 words; sings in her sleep, too!" 
 
 "Why, Cecilie!" 
 
 "She is just like any song bird. I love it!" Gisela 
 gave her a hug and a kiss. 
 
 "Ah, Herr Doktor, you would not believe how 
 patient Cecilie is with me!" 
 
 "I have not noticed the hardship. No doubt Gisa 
 has to be patient sometimes, too." 
 
 "By the way, Cecilie, you are a singer, too, are 
 you not? Tell me something of your work." 
 
 She told her short story. Lubitza's gay recital 
 had been that of the successful human song-bird. 
 Cecilie's portrayed the other side. Her story was 
 cheerful and matter-of-fact, looking for no sym- 
 pathy a simple tale of a brave struggle which up 
 to now had failed, but which would be kept up until 
 either success or failure would be assured. 
 
 "Have you tried in Berlin?" 
 
 "Oh, yes, a long time ago. But I am better now. 
 I have been promised a chance at a full dress re- 
 hearsal there in May, and I shall stop there for 
 that purpose on my way home." 
 
 "I hope you will be engaged, Cecilie. You are 
 going to leave us in May, then ?" 
 
 "Yes, Herr Doktor. I shall leave Vienna with 
 
 regret, but a foreigner has to be pretty nearly at 
 
 the top to start with before she has any chance 
 
 against their local jealousies here. If I be engaged 
 
 306
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 at Berlin I shall be there next season. Now, Herr 
 Doktor, I am going to ask you to excuse me for a 
 half hour. I am sorry to be so discourteous, but 
 I have an urgent letter to write which must be 
 posted this evening. As soon as that is attended to 
 I shall return. I wish to see you a moment before 
 you go, so please wait for me won't you?" 
 
 I perfectly understood the transparent excuse 
 and her motives for it. If Gisela had misunder- 
 stood my silence at her entrance and the reasons 
 for it, I felt certain that Cecilie, the onlooker, had 
 not. 
 
 But her action suited my wishes. The Ingenieur 
 stood between Gisela and me. Still, although that 
 fact might never be explained satisfactorily (and 
 I determined never to broach it to her) there still 
 remained much to clear up between us. She should 
 know how Lubitza had befooled me with her let- 
 ter ; learn that I had not played love in Cattaro but 
 had been true, as I now knew she had not played. 
 The half hour would be sufficient for that much, 
 and the rest could keep. 
 
 Cecilie left the room and Gisela and I looked at 
 each other in silence. If either could have smiled 
 I bethought me of one of Harry's aphorisms: 
 "When in doubt, smile!" but I could not, and 
 Gisela did not. My tongue, usually a very faithful 
 member, failed me again to-day. No diplomatic 
 start would come. Gisela began to grow crimson 
 and bent her head over her tea-cup. It must have 
 been three minutes or more before anything was 
 said by either. Realizing that this would never do, 
 I forced out the first words that came into my 
 head, bluntly and uncleverly. 
 
 "Signorina, I did not ask Cecilie to do so, but I 
 have an idea she has left us because she thought I 
 307
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 wished it. Well, I am glad, for I have something 
 to tell you. I saw Lubitza recently, and happened 
 to light upon the curious mistake which, as I think, 
 was what came between you and me in Cattaro." 
 
 With my beginning she grew still higher in color, 
 and drooped her head still more; but the instant I 
 uttered her cousin's name, her face paled again, 
 and she raised her head and faced me. Now again 
 her face was wearing that impassive mask which 
 accorded so ill with her natural brightness and vi- 
 vacity. This impassive expression was not like 
 Lubitza's calmness under stress, but curiously re- 
 called it, with a difference. The thought came to 
 me, in this trying moment, that this power of put- 
 ting on a mask had probably come down to both 
 cousins as a heritage from their old time Venetian 
 great-grandmother, who, unless history was very 
 untruthful, must so often have needed it. The 
 chief difference between Lubitza's and Gisela's 
 masks, seemed to be that in Gisela's case the mask 
 was involuntary. Moreover Lubitza's mask fitted 
 her temperament ; Gisela's did not, at all. 
 
 After a wait, Gisela answered, now looking into 
 her tea-cup again: 
 
 "I think that perhaps the least we talk of those 
 days, the better, Herr Doktor. You seem to be my 
 friend now, and I can not say that you have ever 
 been otherwise than a good friend. I would rather 
 just take you so, and never recall those other days." 
 
 Of course my understanding of Gisela was 
 limited I had loved, and did love her; but I had 
 known her hardly at all. Therefore it is not alto- 
 gether to be wondered at that my reasoning strayed 
 far afield when I heard this answer. I assumed, 
 simply, that she did not desire an explanation to 
 occur between us. She realized, I thought, that 
 308
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 if I 'cleared up my side of our misunderstanding, I 
 would expect a like return from her; and this she 
 could not give, could not afford to give ; and she 
 was grandly above mere falsehood. And so, I 
 believed, she preferred to begin anew; as mere 
 friends. Of course any love she may have had for 
 me in those days had, long since, been forgotten. 
 Certainly! Thus, such a position, on her part, 
 should not surprise me. 
 
 But it was not in my human nature to remain 
 silent, and in the wrong, however silent I might 
 be after the correction. 
 
 "Signorina, be assured that I shall never use my 
 new position with you as a means of intrusion, 
 unless I feel that it must be so for some good 
 reason or other. I can, and shall be, your faithful 
 friend without a further word of the past. Above 
 all I am not going to ask about a single particular 
 of your life which you feel to be none of my affair, 
 or which you choose, for any reason, to withhold 
 from me. I ask no explanation from you. I only 
 meant to speak of a matter which affects me only." 
 
 I could not say that her expression was unkind 
 still less was it repellant. Even in high anger her 
 face had not been the latter. Neither could I see 
 any signs of softening in the mask she wore. She 
 only gazed at me silently. 
 
 "Have I your permission to proceed, Signorina?" 
 
 "You have already said you were unwilling to 
 intrude unless for a good reason. I infer, then, 
 that your subject is an urgent one. Certainly, then 
 proceed, Herr Doktor." 
 
 "It is urgent, as a matter of common justice to 
 me. You will remember that you left me in seem- 
 ing great anger at our last meeting in the cathedral. 
 I thought at the time and still believe it was more 
 309
 
 The 'Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 fright than anger, and that if nothing else unfor- 
 tunate had happened in the meantime, our next 
 meeting would have been at least a kind one. Am 
 I right?" 
 
 "Quite right, Herr Doktor. And?" 
 
 "At our next next and final meeting at the door 
 of your room, you sent me away in terms that left 
 no choice but obedience." 
 
 "I remember. Well?" 
 
 "Therefore, something had happened in the 
 meantime. Now furthermore, in sending me 
 finally away, you used words which I utterly failed 
 to understand, but which I never forgot. They 
 were: 'Falser than the very Shades themselves. Go 
 to my cousin. You were made for each other and 
 it would be a sin to keep you apart.' " 
 
 "I said more than I should; more than hos- 
 pitality should have permitted. But I was highly 
 wrought up. That must be my excuse. For the 
 rest, it Signor, need we go further?" 
 
 "A little more and I have done. I know, now, 
 Signorina, both the reason for, and the significance 
 of, your words; but I did not then. At that time 
 they amazed me beyond your belief ; for while you, 
 believing as you did, were not unjustified, yet I 
 was innocent of the cause." 
 
 There was no answer to this only the mask 
 greeted me; beautiful, but a mask. 
 
 I continued. 
 
 "Of course the reason for it all was, that Teresa 
 found and showed you a letter which Lubitza had 
 received from me." 
 
 "Not quite correct, Herr Doktor. My cousin 
 brought it to me herself." 
 
 "I am not surprised. I only know, up to now, 
 what Lubitza chose to tell me. Signorina, that let- 
 310
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 ter was never meant for Lubitza. In writing it, I 
 supposed I was writing to you. I had received a 
 letter which I thought had come from you. You 
 remember how we had parted at the cathedral. I 
 was more than half expecting a letter from you 
 when you should get over your fright. Such a let- 
 ter came I thought it was from you. True, it 
 was not the kind of a letter I was expecting exact- 
 ly and it puzzled me but I believed it was from 
 you, and I was relieved and glad to have any line 
 at all from you. The letter you read was my an- 
 swer, sent back by the bearer, who I thought was 
 Teresa the letter had been given to a waiter in 
 the Dojmi. I thought it would go straight to you." 
 
 The mask at least was gone, and in its place 
 reigned first an incredulous astonishment, and fol- 
 lowing that, settled incredulity itself. 
 
 "I do not expect you to accept this explanation 
 without taking a little time to think it over, and to 
 examine the letters. It took me quite a few mo- 
 ments to realize it, and I was in a better position 
 to understand than you are just now. Lubitza told 
 me you had kept the letter she had received. Was 
 this true?" 
 
 "Oh, yes, I still have it." 
 
 "It's real owner is in possession of it then. 
 Here is the letter I received." 
 
 She took the letter with a half quizzical smile 
 and read it through, still in clear scepticism. 
 
 "The hand-writing does not even resemble 
 mine." 
 
 "I had never seen the script of either of you." 
 
 "Not a word of apology from me. Not a refer- 
 ence to anything we had in common !" 
 
 "I have already told you, Signorina, that the 
 letter puzzled me. But I took the mere fact of
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 your writing at all as apology enough, and the lack 
 of reference to anything in common as mere cau- 
 tion on your part. Now, Signorina, please recall 
 that our final parting was the next thing that oc- 
 curred between us. Now you will understand my 
 amazement and why I looked upon you as a vacil- 
 lating, whimsical and undependable woman whom 
 it were better to forget if I could. So I left Cat- 
 taro with no further attempt to see you." 
 
 "If you were writing to me, what did you mean 
 by the 'little arrangement' you mentioned?" 
 
 "Our arrangement to exchange letters through 
 the banker." 
 
 "Oh ! But in this letter my cousin also speaks of 
 an 'arrangement.' What was that?" 
 
 This was a question which had worried me in 
 advance. My careless words to Lubitza had meant 
 nothing whatever, more than a joking half-assent 
 in order to get rid of her. But I felt it would be 
 difficult to get Gisela to understand this, especially 
 as I felt a delicacy about relating Lubitza's open 
 invitation to an intrigue. And yet I had not seen 
 my way to an evasion either of the question or the 
 answer. 
 
 Gisela saw my hesitation. 
 
 "Never mind, Herr Doktor. I understand. You 
 are like other men; that is all. Do not trouble to 
 answer." And she crushed the letter and threw 
 it from her. 
 
 "Signorina, I must answer in justice to myself. 
 If I hesitated it was through no guilty conscience 
 but because I have read unbelief, constantly, in 
 your face. This makes it difficult for me, but 
 nevertheless I must have the matter out with you. 
 
 Your cousin did invite me to come and call 
 when she would come to Vienna. I could not re- 
 312
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 fuse off-hand, Signorina. I had called at your 
 house in Perzagno and could not refuse her the 
 code of courtesy. I agreed to call in Vienna; that 
 was all there was of any 'arrangement' as far as 
 I was aware. I meant, if I should keep my word 
 at all, to make a mere formal call as formal as 
 possible. I had no wish for even a word with your 
 cousin! Were my friend Harry McClellan here he 
 could tell you how I was thinking only of you 
 those days, for I kept nothing from him." 
 
 "And you went to see her not quite formally, 
 for your interview seems to have had a confidential 
 tendency. Otherwise how did the the truth of the 
 letters come out so thoroughly?" 
 
 Again she had me, this time where no answer or 
 evasion was possible. Her mind was not idle just 
 now. She was doing her own thinking, and had a 
 most perverse way of sticking to the point. There 
 remained nothing to do but to close this avenue of 
 catechism under as dignified a retreat as possible. 
 
 "Remember your last words to me, Signorina. 
 You had sent me finally away. As a fact, I never 
 saw your cousin again until last spring less than 
 a year ago, when she appeared in opera here. I 
 did not mean to call upon her then, but I met her 
 at my friend's debut, and with him was invited to 
 dinner. I was guilty of the solecism of making no 
 return call after this dinner. I never again called 
 upon your cousin until after I had seen you again, 
 here in Vienna. When I did call it was not for 
 the purpose of paying her a courtesy but in order 
 to extract what information I could about your 
 present condition and circumstances, for I had no 
 other source of information. In our interview she 
 happened incautiously to mention the name her 
 childhood name 'Cara,' and this chance mention, of 
 313
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 course, told me the whole story. We had a 
 furious quarrel and I left her; for all time." 
 
 "By that time you had forgotten poor little 
 Gisela in Perzagno and the seeing of her again 
 here had brought back some curiosity mayhap a 
 mild interest. Yes. After such a parting as we 
 had, and after two years' separation, you were no 
 longer under obligation to remember me. I under- 
 stand. I can see it all. I know my cousin, Herr 
 Doktor, and know her methods. You are to be 
 congratulated that a combination of favorable 
 chances and more or less keenness on your own 
 part has enabled you to see my cousin as she is, at 
 last. I only hope that things had not gone too far 
 between you before you found her out. I say 
 that, not for my sake, because my rights over you 
 were annulled, as you hint, at our last interview ; 
 but for your own sake." 
 
 I was silent. 
 
 "And now you come to me! Yes! The expla- 
 nation is well constructed! I feel guilty, Herr 
 Doktor. I fear I do not do you justice. This 
 explanation ought to be believed. Its ingenuity 
 deserves no less. Perhaps later on I shall be able 
 to accept it. I will try." 
 
 Remembering my fiasco the night of the ball, I 
 managed to keep my temper this time. But the 
 thought did half sadly recur that after all the 
 blood of Albina Portulan ran in the veins of not 
 one, but both, of the cousins indeed more of it in 
 Gisela than in the other one. To have passed 
 the speech with no reply at . all, was however, 
 beyond me. 
 
 . "Signorina, there are times when you and your 
 coilsin resemble one another in your dispositions." 
 
 "That is, perhaps, to be expected," she calmly 
 3H
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 answered. "But I shall pray that our differences 
 are much more marked." 
 
 "The Giver of all good things has already quite 
 sufficiently answered that prayer. You need now 
 only pray for a better understanding of your 
 friends." 
 
 After a pause: 
 
 "So you and my cousin have quarrelled?" . 
 
 "Bitterly! And finally! Need you ask, when 
 you remember that the truth about the letters 
 came out at our interview ?" 
 
 "If this explanation be true, I can perfectly 
 understand that it ended any previous friendship 
 you may have had. Certainly. Signor you must 
 forgive me if this take a little time to filter in. It 
 doubtless will. I don't believe I can quite explain 
 my state of mind, Herr Doktor. My reason tells 
 me that you have spoken the truth. My reason 
 tells me that if you have not told the whole truth, 
 you have only kept back what does not concern 
 me, and what it would do no good for me to hear. 
 It is only that there is something inside of me 
 which won't let me tell you that I believe it, 
 yet. But I do believe that you are my friend 
 now, at any rate and I am yours. Let us, then, 
 be friends ; good friends, and simply forget every- 
 thing else for a little while !" 
 
 She held out her hand and I took it. The bar- 
 gain was sealed. How could I blame her if "some- 
 thing inside wouldn't let her believe" just yet? 
 And I thought I understood. Besides, in most of 
 her life she had met with but little to inspire confi- 
 dence in others. Cecilie had been, as yet, her only 
 tried friend. 
 
 My mind flew back over that summer in Cattaro 
 315
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 and I remembered my night ride after parting with 
 her. 
 
 "Signorina, I have a question to ask. A mere 
 matter of curiosity. The evening I last saw you in 
 your home, I had come over horseback. As I was 
 returning to Cattaro that night, I saw a light and 
 thought I heard my name called from Le Tre So- 
 relle as I passed. My horse was very fractious 
 and bolted at the instant, and I did not get him 
 pulled up for a long distance. Was this a real 
 call, or did I imagine it?" 
 
 "It was real, Signer" she answered gravely. 
 "But I did not know about it until long afterward. 
 Teresa had gone there of her own accord. She 
 waited awhile for you to come back, but concluded 
 you had not seen her signal or heard her. She said 
 you had been carried away by a spirit horse and 
 le'ft in a swamp !" 
 
 "Alas!" 
 
 "She also went to Cattaro to find you the fol- 
 lowing afternoon, but you and your friend had 
 departed. But I did not know of it, Signer, and 
 when she told me, weeks afterwards, we had a big 
 cr . Cecilie is taking a long time over her let- 
 ter! I'll call her." 
 
 "And I must be going, Signorina. I have long 
 since exceeded the limits of a tea invitation, I 
 fear." 
 
 "Oh, surely we are not going to be so formal 
 with one another as that ! Cecilie and I both hope 
 you will come up often. It will be very absurd of 
 you to wait for an invitation Cecilie !" 
 
 Cecilie opened the door. 
 
 "The Doctor says he has stayed too long for a 
 tea invitation!" 
 
 316
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Oh Oh!" scoffed Cecilie. "Well, how shall 
 we invite him next time ? . To stay altogether ?" 
 
 "God forbid! Then he wouldn't come at all!" 
 
 "Better not risk it! Are we going to the opera 
 together some evening soon?" 
 
 I had found a happy theme at the last, at any 
 rate. All of us were music lovers and I soon 
 knew what operas they wished to hear. 
 
 "Only," said Gisela. 
 
 "Yes, certainly! I perfectly understand. I'll 
 look at the title role before I take any places." 
 
 As I was leaving Gisela asked: 
 
 "By the way, when is your friend to give his 
 concerts here? They were once announced but 
 have been withdrawn." 
 
 "I do not understand that any more than you 
 do. My last letter from Harry still gave the last 
 week of this month. Since then I have not 
 heard." 
 
 "I hope he is not ill or having any other misfor- 
 tune. Cecilie, you will go mad over him. He is 
 just your ideal, through and through. I am just 
 burning to see you meet !" 
 
 Cecilie laughed tolerantly. 
 
 "He won't fall in love with a giantess." 
 
 "You never can tell!" I answered. 
 
 317
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 BUT only a few days later Harry appeared at my 
 door without a word of warning in advance. After 
 the first uproarious greetings he explained that he 
 had had to postpone his dates on account of an 
 overworked hand, and had now come down to 
 make new arrangements. He would be here some 
 days and might remain until the date of his con- 
 certs if the hall proved to be free within a reason- 
 able time. 
 
 Of course Harry was greatly surprised at my 
 news for I had written him nothing of my new 
 situation, nor even the fact that Gisela was in the 
 city. We had a long talk that evening and I told 
 him everything, including my experience with Lu- 
 bitza. After I had finished he ate awhile in silence 
 for this recital was during our dinner. Finally 
 he asked: 
 
 "Are you not a little afraid they will try to use 
 the fact that the Signorina is here under the same 
 roof with you?" 
 
 "I thought of it, but they have the better thing 
 to use, and their being here cannot add much. 
 Therefore, balanced against her need of protec- 
 tion, I considered that danger negligible." 
 
 "Lubitza and the Ingenieur will not be idle!" 
 
 "Yes, I know. But, Harry, her only real dan- 
 ger, now, is that she reach her majority without a 
 marriage. I can marry her, and save her prop- 
 erty for her in that way." 
 
 "Have you spoken to her about that?"
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Not yet. There is plenty of time. Her ma- 
 jority is June seventeenth." 
 
 "If you really mean to do that, the sooner you 
 arrange it with her the better, Ed! The people on 
 the other side have always been unscrupulous and 
 in that abduction plan they showed glimmerings of 
 ingenuity. They may make you trouble here, too. 
 She is probably safe, as you say, as long as she is 
 in the house; but she cannot always be in. It is 
 not easy to foresee every possibility they may take 
 successful advantage of, or how far they might go. 
 For instance, the Signorina herself is not their only 
 possible point of attack. They may settle you 
 some dark night, and what then? Have you 
 thought of that?" 
 
 "If that happens, Harry, you will act in my 
 place !" 
 
 "That is a heavy call upon friendship, Ed!" 
 
 "I am not joking, Harry! If anything happens 
 to me, promise you will do it ! It is only a formal 
 step. You can have it annulled later." 
 
 "Very well, I promise," he answered gravely. 
 "But if you have really decided, you would better 
 begin getting her used to the idea for the sake of 
 both of you. The value of that estate is a heavy 
 stake in Europe, to say nothing of the personal 
 feeling behind the matter. If they don't stab you 
 in the* back, they may do some other devilish thing 
 to you or to her. They probably have some card 
 up their sleeve, too, and you may be sure they 
 know your hand. Do you not imagine the possibility 
 of her marrying in the last day or two of her 
 minority has not occurred to two such clever 
 intriguers as Lubitza and Overmann? Without 
 waiting for a reply he continued: 
 
 "It all depends upon whether you have made up 
 319
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 your mind to do it, or not. If not, then wait until 
 you have, because once having arranged it, you 
 must keep faith. But if you have decided, why 
 wait? It is due her to have a certainty of some- 
 thing or other and you are running various risks 
 in waiting; risks for both." 
 
 The truth of the matter was that I had not de- 
 cided or if I had, I had at least not reached the 
 sticking point. Even in case of a formal marriage 
 I wanted to know why she had left home ; why she 
 had intrigued with the Ingenieur, and how far it 
 had gone. I felt I could readily take her word of 
 honor for whatever she chose to tell me about it 
 not a doubt of that. She would be too proud to 
 lie; a nature such as hers is almost always above 
 subterfuge and impatient of it in others, as well. 
 
 However, Harry's words woke me up from this 
 dozing. No, in four months I would be no nearer 
 a decision than I was now. The fact that if any- 
 thing should happen to me she would be left help- 
 less had never presented itself. This contingency 
 seldom does occur to us, unless we be reminded 
 of it. 
 
 So the result of Harry's words was that I set- 
 tled the matter, summarily. 
 
 The occasion for suggesting the move would 
 have to be one on which I would have time and 
 opportunity to present the matter tactfully. I did 
 not wish any misunderstanding of my motives, yet 
 I must succeed ; so it was not an interview for two 
 or three minutes' time with Cecilie likely to run in 
 every moment. However, the opportunity came 
 sooner than I was expecting. 
 
 The quartette of us had gone to the opera and 
 had actually entered the box and seen the curtain 
 rise before we realized that there had taken place 
 320
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 one of those summary and incomprehensible 
 changes of program without notice which the 
 Viennese opera lover so often has to endure from 
 the management of the royal opera. Instead of 
 Siegfried, as we were expecting, the curtain had 
 risen for the first act of La Boheme. I remem- 
 bered immediately that Lubitza had sung the title 
 role of this opera every time it had been presented 
 that winter. I stepped into the cloak room of the 
 loge to a light and looking at the cast, saw that 
 Lubitza was, in fact, to sing. I came back and in- 
 formed Gisela. She rose at once to leave. After 
 a hurried consultation we decided that Harry and 
 Cecilie should remain there was no reason why 
 they should not do so. 
 
 As it was less than half past seven when we 
 reached home, Gisela courteously invited me to 
 come up for a while, and somewhat to her sur- 
 prise, I think, I accepted. 
 
 After we had made ourselves comfortable in 
 chairs, I found myself facing the most difficult 
 moment of my life. With some women it would 
 not have been such a puzzle, but Gisela was of an- 
 other clay. 
 
 How to do my errand without emotion and at 
 the same time have her not make any mistake as to 
 the formal nature of my proposal and without 
 wounding her pride 'furnished a combination that 
 gave me a headache. Furthermore, Gisela did not 
 seem to be in the right mood. She was bright and 
 talkative. She had not actually seen Lubitza, so 
 nothing had happened to depress her. Lately, in 
 general, she had seemed a little more her old self, 
 and although there had not been one moment of 
 confidence, still she had come, once more, to treat 
 me very much as she had done formerly when 
 321
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 others were by, with her usual gracious smile and 
 gay banter. She was in that mood to-night and it 
 went against the grain to bring up any unpleasant 
 subject. 
 
 However, Harry had egged me into haste. Be- 
 sides I did not expect her to see the wisdom of the 
 step at once. She would need some days to con- 
 sider it, so more time would be lost. 
 
 "I had a narrow escape," she remarked, after a 
 laugh over our hasty exit from the opera house, 
 "thanks to you." 
 
 "Yes. It is not always easy to avoid people even 
 by vigilance. And yet it is a pity you cannot hear 
 your cousin sing. Whatever else she be, she is a 
 great artist, and growing greater." 
 
 "But she is also these other things, and I could 
 never lose these in the artist, dearly as I love the 
 opera. Nor do I believe you could, either, Herr 
 Doktor, were you in my place." 
 
 "It makes a difference whose hair is pulled all 
 the difference between laughing and crying. I 
 wonder how she would have sung if you had re- 
 mained and she had seen you." 
 
 "Better than usual, I fancy." 
 
 "Yes, I believe she would have. Signorina." 
 
 "Well, Herr Doktor?" 
 
 "Has Cecilie told you of the narrow escape you 
 had in the other house ?" 
 
 "Yes, and how you forced the thing out of the 
 hausbesorger. I owe you much, Herr Doktor. If 
 I have not thanked you it is only because I have 
 not had a good opportunity. I will do so now" 
 
 "Nay, nay, you owe me nothing ! Nothing what- 
 ever! I only asked because there is a matter I 
 wish to talk over with you, and it is necessary that 
 you understand your situation before I mention it. 
 
 322
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 Forgive me for bringing up the subject, but I wish 
 to protect you, and time is flying. May I talk with 
 you unreservedly?" 
 
 "Certainly, Herr Doktor. Are you not my 
 proven good friend? You have the right. Pray 
 do so." 
 
 She gravely settled herself in the chair and 
 looked at me inquiringly. 
 
 "You come of legal age on this seventeenth of 
 June, do you not?" 
 
 "Yes, Signer, that is the date." 
 
 "I ascertained the date from Cecilie." 
 
 "I know." 
 
 "Signorina, I do not know if you yet believe my 
 explanation of the letter Lubitza received. You 
 have never told me" 
 
 "Oh, yes, Signer. It has filtered through- 
 rather the thing that wouldn't let me tell you so, 
 has given over resistance. I have had my first 
 scolding from Cecilie on that subject. She insists 
 that I do not deserve to have any friends," this 
 with a laugh "The sun no longer rises and sets 
 for Cecilie. Now, the day, for her, is reckoned by 
 you, Signor." 
 
 "Cecilie would better stick to steady old Sol. 
 Besides, methinks another sun has risen for her." 
 
 "Oh, she is charmed with your friend. Not a 
 doubt of it ! Why not ?" 
 
 "Why not, indeed! But I must return to my 
 subject, Signorina. Well, you understand your 
 danger, then?" 
 
 "I understand perfectly. They will ruin me if 
 they can, by any way that seems feasible. There 
 is no depravity too deep for my cousin and her 
 fiance. I know all that better than you do, Herr 
 Doktor." 
 
 323
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 I gazed at her in wonderment. Since she still 
 spoke of the Ingenieur in those terms, how had he 
 been able to entice her from her home? And of 
 course this was not being honest with me. She did 
 not know that I knew that she had gone to him, 
 and was going to lie to me after all. My heart 
 went down with disappointment. 
 
 I determined to give her no chance to tell me a 
 falsehood. I could not bear it. 
 
 "But, Signorina, do you realize their cleverness? 
 Do you realize that their plot to carry you off 
 would probably have succeeded? And do you 
 realize what it would have meant?" 
 
 "Yes, it might have succeeded we were two 
 weak women, often alone in our rooms. And, yes, 
 I understand that it would have ruined me." 
 
 "I must tell you one more thing. This Baron 
 Ascher who was to do it, is a more dangerous and 
 unscrupulous man than the Ingenieur. He has been 
 in many a scrape with women and girls, and has 
 had more than one near escape from serious trou- 
 ble. I happen to know that he has but little money 
 left, and in consequence he must be desperate and 
 ready for anything. You have, therefore, not two 
 but even four enemies, for Ascher can count for 
 two such as your cousin and her fiance." 
 
 "At least I have two good friends, have I not, 
 Signer ?" 
 
 "Even three, as I shall explain to you later. 
 Three friends who are not bought ones, and who 
 will do their best for you. But, Signorina, while 
 we may succeed in protecting you, yet we all be- 
 lieve that waiting is very dangerous in more ways 
 than one. We must not make the mistake of 
 underrating the ability of those people to do harm. 
 Since they have enlisted Ascher, I am afraid I 
 3 2 4
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 confess it. He knows Vienna as he knows his own 
 house, and if anybody can advise and serve them, 
 he can." 
 
 "Well, Herr Doktor, what am I to do? I am 
 sure you have some advice for me, or you would 
 never tell me these things." 
 
 "Quite right, Signorina. I have something for 
 you. But as it is something you will not like, it is 
 necessary that you realize your situation before it 
 is suggested." 
 
 "Am I to go into a convent after all at my 
 age?" 
 
 "No no! That would not help you now," I 
 answered sadly. "But there is one very simple and 
 easy way by which we can eventually put you utter- 
 ly out of their power and into a position in which 
 you will be relieved of suspense and be safe." 
 
 "And yet you hint I shall not like the means! 
 For such a result the means would not matter. 
 How is it to be done, Signor?" 
 
 "By the terms of your great-grandmother's will, 
 if you marry legally before your next birthday, 
 you will be qualified for your heritage, at once. I 
 have talked over the matter with one of the best 
 attorneys in Vienna and he has assured me that 
 the courts will hold that the clear meaning of this 
 clause in the will is merely that you be correctly 
 settled in life before your coming of age. There- 
 fore, he says, a legal marriage with any proper 
 party will qualify you for your inheritance on the 
 day you come of age. Our only care is that they 
 must not know of the marriage until it be too late 
 for them to start an action to annul it. So the 
 marriage must take place during the last two or 
 three days of your minority and somewhere else 
 than in Austria." 
 
 325
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 She laughed unreservedly. 
 
 "Ah, Signer, does a woman pick a husband, in 
 Vienna, as one would a flower? Do they grow so 
 luxuriantly here? Are the gardens pretty?" 
 
 "Much overgrown with weeds, I fear but that 
 is neither here nor there. The matter is grave 
 and our joking would better be reserved until after 
 your safety is assured. Then we may joke all we 
 like." 
 
 "Very well, Signer," still smiling, "I am seri- 
 ous. Where am I to find him?" 
 
 "Go secretly to England and live there until you 
 come of age. A few days before that date I will 
 join you and we can be married there. It is 
 simple." 
 
 Her face grew blood red. She gave me a hur- 
 ried look and then bent her eyes upon her hands, 
 which were trembling. A dozen emotions swept 
 over her face embarrassment, uncertainty and 
 question alternating. Her lips opened as if to an- 
 swer, and closed again. She gave me one final, 
 long, studying look, and then here eyes sought her 
 hands once more. 
 
 "It is your only way to be safe, Signorina. Of 
 course you care nothing for me except as a good 
 friend, but for the present that will not matter. 
 Once in England, and married, your troubles are 
 settled and in the meantime you can continue to 
 live as you have been doing, until your majority. 
 Of course I shall never disturb you. I shall re- 
 main your good friend and never presume upon the 
 new relationship in any way whatsoever. You 
 will see me then just as you see me now when I 
 am invited to call. Then after your majority is 
 attained and your estate is safely adjudged to you, 
 we can go to some other country and have the 
 326
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 marriage annulled, and you will be your own mis- 
 tress before the world." 
 
 She looked up but once during the speech and 
 then kept her head down. I saw the pretty under 
 lip grow just a little more full and did not like the 
 sign. But the fullness passed again, and she grew 
 pale and the paleness remained. Finally she said 
 with evident effort: 
 
 "As I understand you, Herr Doktor, you are not 
 offering to marry me because you love me or want 
 me; you are offering yourself as a temporary sac- 
 rifice to help me to receive my estate, after which 
 we are to part and go our separate ways. Am I 
 right?". 
 
 "That is what I am suggesting now, Signorina, 
 and there is no question or thought of a sacrifice 
 in the matter, for either of us. It will not change 
 our lives." 
 
 She thought awhile. 
 
 "Whom do you mean by my third friend, Herr 
 Doktor? I know only you and Cecilie." 
 
 "My friend, Harry McClellan, is also your 
 friend, Signorina. He has promised that if any- 
 thing happen to me, he will take my place in this 
 affair." 
 
 She looked up. 
 
 "You mean in this marriage of convenience?" 
 
 "Yes, Signorina. Harry has more honor than I, 
 or any other man I know." 
 
 "I doubt if he has more, Signer though I must 
 look upon him as a very true friend of yours, at 
 least." 
 
 Again a silence. She seemed very busy with a 
 refractory fold in her skirt. 
 
 "Is this the entire plan, Signer?" 
 
 "There is only further that I will take care to 
 327
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 settle your full estate upon you in advance, by legal 
 renunciation." 
 
 "I was not thinking of that." 
 
 Again a long silence. 
 
 "Have you no further word for me, Signer?" 
 
 Of course I understood her in part, but I could 
 not meet it. Besides, I could not gather why she 
 wanted me to tell her I loved her. She certainly 
 did not love me. I had not had one word, or seen 
 one look or sign that even remotely suggested such 
 a thing. I did love her. I told myself at this mo- 
 ment that I did, and that it would last as long as I 
 did. 
 
 But until she would account for the time which 
 had elapsed between leaving her home and that 
 Christmas Eve when I had found her again, I felt 
 she had no right to ask me if I loved her; for I had 
 not proposed marriage I had only proposed a 
 necessary ceremony. Unless she could see this for 
 herself and bravely come forward and make the 
 explanation whatever it might be, why could she 
 not be satisfied with what I had already offered? 
 It was surely proof enough of friendship, and I 
 had no reason to suspect that she wanted more. 
 
 Still, if she made such terms she must be an- 
 swered and I honestly felt she ought to be. Had 
 I had less personal feeling and been more disinter- 
 ested I would have had more policy in dealing with 
 her ; but for the moment personal feeling overrode 
 my memory that my mission to-night should have 
 been success in my undertaking. 
 
 Naturally it was a moment or two before I could 
 frame an answer. 
 
 "Signorina, of course I love you. I told you so 
 again and again in Cattaro and I am not a man to 
 change or forget. But I cannot tell you so in the 
 328
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 right spirit now. There is too much between us; 
 and as you said to me once, something inside of me 
 will not let me say it to-night." 
 
 She still looked down, her head a little lower yet, 
 and I could not see her face. 
 
 "What is between us, Signer?" 
 
 Why, oh why, in the name of heaven, why 
 would she make me say it ! I did not wish to, and 
 she must know what I meant now, and know that 
 Lubitza had told me all. I did not wish to hear a 
 lie and to-night not the truth. 
 
 "What is the use, Signorina? Why not let that 
 go for now? We do not need to take it up?" 
 
 "Tell me, Signor." 
 
 She spoke quietly but with her head still down. 
 I did hate to say it, although she must know now 
 what was coming. 
 
 "Well, Signorina, since you insist, I will say it. 
 But I did not mean to, and wish you would not 
 make it necessary very well. Signorina, I am 
 now as I was in Cattaro, and it will never be other- 
 wise with me. But I can no longer tell you of my 
 love until I am told how you came to leave your 
 home; and why; and what you did between then 
 and last Christmas Eve." 
 
 She did not raise her head, nor did she answer. 
 
 "Signorina, I have not convicted you without 
 first hearing you. I have kept in mind past mis- 
 understandings and I have gone slow. But I must 
 have your own word about it before I can talk of 
 love again. Your word will be good, but I must 
 have that much. But do as you please about giv- 
 ing me a statement. If you decide to keep silent, 
 my friendship and my efforts in your behalf will 
 be no whit abated, neither now, nor in times to 
 come." 
 
 329
 
 The 'Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 There was still no answer. I could not say that 
 she had heard me. 
 
 "Gisela, I think I could forgive anything with 
 a little time anything whatever !" 
 
 It was the last thing I could think of, to say. To 
 have charged her openly, with having left her home 
 for the Ingenieur and having at least accepted his 
 shelter would have been the next and last step, and 
 this I could not take. Besides it was not neces- 
 sary. No, I had said enough. The matter was in 
 her hands, now. 
 
 "Have you talked with my cousin about this mat- 
 ter, Signor?" 
 
 "Certainly, Gisela. There was no other way for 
 me to learn of it." 
 
 She asked no further question. Her head re- 
 mained down for some time longer ; but at last she 
 raised it, and with a sight of her face, my hopes 
 sank. She wore the mask again. 
 
 For a moment she inspected me and I could no 
 more read her thoughts than if she had been some 
 sculptured thing. The blood of Albina had risen 
 to the surface once more. 
 
 "And so, you will not talk of love, but you offer 
 me a marriage to save my estate with the under- 
 standing that we part as soon as that object is 
 gained ?" 
 
 "For now, Gisela, that is the offer. I beg you to 
 see the wisdom of it. For the rest" 
 
 "But, Signor, the will gives me the estate with- 
 out a marriage if I live rightly. I assume then, 
 since you offer me marriage to save it, that you be- 
 lieve I need this last resort?" 
 
 "I will believe your word, Gisela ! You have 
 only to tell me what happened in this time." 
 
 330
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "I cannot tell you what happened during those 
 months." 
 
 I had expected the answer. 
 
 "Very well, Gisela, let it be a closed book. But 
 even if you have lived rightly it will be safest and 
 best to adopt my plan. My friend Harry has 
 hinted that your enemies may even use against you 
 the fact of your having come to live in this house 
 where I am. Remember that those people do not 
 care if they use a lie, even knowing it to be such. 
 God knows I acted for the best as I saw it, in 
 bringing you here. Let us do this thing. Why 
 wait for danger when you can be freed in such a 
 simple and easy way ? Let me see to the matter to- 
 morrow, and you can leave Vienna the next day." 
 
 She rose, came to me and took my hand, still 
 wearing the mask. 
 
 "Signer, you have given all the proof of friend- 
 ship that any one could ask a friendship that 
 comes to but few. I appreciate it. The sincerity 
 and nobility of your offer will never be forgotten ! 
 If I feel that I cannot accept it, never forget that 
 I understood and valued it as I value you your- 
 self." 
 
 "But accept it, Gisela! You have too much to 
 lose and your enemies are too strong to play with !" 
 
 "I will think the matter over, Signer. That is 
 the most I can say now. In due time you will 
 know my answer. Now will you be offended if I 
 ask you to leave me for to-night? I have much to 
 think over. Do not be offended, Herr Doktor! I 
 do not ask you to go because I do not wish to have 
 you with me, but because I I have much to 
 think over. You have shown me my danger, 
 and I must have time have time to think." 
 
 "Don't think too much or too long about it, 
 331
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 Gisela ! Act ; and do the thinking afterwards. 
 There is nothing much to debate in the affair only 
 the question if you are willing to accept my help. 
 And if you could only know how welcome to you it 
 is how anxious I am to give it, you would not 
 worry about the detail. And better sooner than 
 later! Every day is a risk, and the step can only 
 bring you good. I shall hope for your answer some- 
 time to-morrow and hope that you will decide 
 wisely and favorably." 
 
 "I shall do my best to decide wisely, Signer. 
 Good night, dear friend." 
 
 "Good night, Gisela." 
 
 332
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 BUT I did not receive her answer the next day. 
 When I called the following afternoon she was 
 out, and in the evening Cecilie informed me that 
 Gisela was not feeling well and begged to be ex- 
 cused. Gisela would let me know when she could 
 see me. There was, thus, nothing to do but to 
 await her convenience. 
 
 Then two more days passed, and coming home 
 one afternoon between five and six I found Harry 
 awaiting me. He had a box for the opera and had 
 come to take us all. I started to dress and Harry 
 betook himself upstairs. 
 
 I was about half dressed when the door-bell rang 
 and my servant came in with the word that a nurse 
 was awaiting me in my study. She proved to be 
 one of the staff nurses of our clinic and had come 
 with the message that an emergency case of great 
 interest to the Hofrath himself had been brought 
 in. Such a message from the Professor was the 
 equivalent of a command ; and after again chang- 
 ing my clothes and having sent my servant up- 
 stairs with the explanation, I hurried to the hos- 
 pital. 
 
 The case occupied our time until near four and 
 when we were again at liberty I went to one of the 
 bedrooms reserved for the night men and slept until 
 the hour for the Professor's clinical lecture to the 
 university students, which was half past twelve. 
 After having luncheon in the physicians' hall I was 
 occupied all the rest of the afternoon with that 
 bugbear of hospital staff-men: namely, the leafing 
 333
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 over of old, ill-written tomes of the hospital clini- 
 cal record from many years back, hunting out and 
 tabulating cases parallel with the one of the pre- 
 vious night, in order to deduce the hospital statis- 
 tics thereon. 
 
 Thus it was just twenty-four hours after last 
 leaving my rooms, when, very tired and ill- 
 humored, I saw them again. 
 
 The hausmeister came out into the corridor as I 
 was about to unlock my own door. He was pale 
 and worried. 
 
 "Herr Doktor, the young lady has gone." 
 
 "What young lady ?" I snapped. 
 
 "The Fraulein Portulan." 
 
 "Gone! When?" 
 
 "Last night about half past ten. She came down 
 to my door and ordered her trunks down at once. 
 There was nothing to do but to obey. I put them 
 on a fiaker which was waiting, and she got in and 
 left." 
 
 "Last night! And you have waited until now, 
 nearly twenty-four hours afterwards, to get this 
 news to me!" 
 
 "Herr Doktor, I did my best. My wife went to 
 the hospital at once but they said you were busy 
 and to see you was out of the question. She 
 waited there until two o'clock, Herr Doktor. I 
 went over this morning but they said you had been 
 up all night and that the Hofrath had given orders 
 that none of the night-men were to be called for 
 any reason." 
 
 "Why did you not insist?" 
 
 "I did. I told them it was urgent: They asked 
 
 me why, and I did not think I could tell them, Herr 
 
 Doktor. Then they ordered me to leave. This 
 
 afternoon I kept thinking you would be in every 
 
 334
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 minute and I have watched for you here. So 
 much time had passed that I thought best to make 
 sure of you here." 
 
 "Did she go alone?" 
 
 "Yes, Herr Doktor." 
 
 "Did you take the number of the fiaker?" 
 
 "Yes, indeed, and wrote it down. Here it is; 
 number fourteen hundred eighty-nine. And the 
 destination the Fraulein gave was the West Sta- 
 tion." 
 
 Hoping to find a note of explanation I hurried 
 into my apartment. I found no note on my desk 
 and my servant assured me that none had been left, 
 but that the hausmeister and his wife had repeated- 
 ly inquired for me and that morning Harry and 
 Cecilie had both been there. 
 
 I flew upstairs not waiting for the lift and rang 
 Cecilie's bell. She answered in person but it was a 
 moment before she recognized me, her face and 
 eyes being swollen with much weeping. As I 
 started to question her Harry came out of her study 
 and dragged us both inside. 
 
 "At least nothing before the maidservant !" 
 
 He scowled at me. 
 
 "Where is she?" 
 
 "Where is she! You ask me that! I have just 
 this moment heard it, you idiot! Do you speak 
 first!" 
 
 "Well, well, Ed, we can do nothing by flying into 
 a passion. I have been trying to .comfort Cecilie 
 with the idea that something must have happened 
 which made it necessary for her to go, and that you 
 would probably know what it was, and know of 
 her going. Your own absence made me think of 
 that." 
 
 "That was a brilliant idea ! I have not been out- 
 335
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 side of the hospital since I left last night; and I 
 would be so very likely to take her away without 
 letting her friend know, now, wouldn't I ! How 
 did it happen that she didn't go with you last 
 night?" 
 
 "Let us speak in German, Ed. Cecilie has a 
 right to know every single word we are saying. 
 She said she had a headache." 
 
 "Did she leave no note, Cecilie?" 
 
 "I have found nothing." 
 
 "Let us search ; all of us !" 
 
 We went to Gisela's sleeping-room and turned 
 over everything there, even the rugs, without re- 
 sult. She had left a few things of no importance 
 in her wardrobes, together with such of her wear- 
 ing apparel as had not been laundered. She had 
 taken the two trunks which had stood in the sleep- 
 ing room, leaving behind those in the loft. 
 
 "She has waited for a chance to evade us all, and 
 that having come, she has taken what she could," 
 remarked Harry. 
 
 "I shall start the police at once!" and I started 
 to go. 
 
 Harry seized my arm. 
 
 "For what? To stop a grown free woman who 
 has left the house of her own will? They will 
 laugh at you." 
 
 His words brought me up, standing. Of her own 
 free will! Certainly it had been so. She had, as 
 Harry had said, waited for her chance and gone 
 secretly and alone. Of course that had been of her 
 own free will. What could the police have to do 
 with that? 
 
 "We can at least trace her." 
 
 "I have been to the West Station," he replied. 
 "I found the porter who handled her trunks. They 
 336
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 were marked for Munich. He remembered the 
 check number also. Here it is. If you think best 
 to follow her you will have to go there. But I 
 wouldn't do it unless you have better reason than 
 I know." 
 
 I had less reason than he knew, but that did 
 not deter me. I barely caught the night train. I 
 waited up until we left Salzburg and questioned the 
 customs inspector at the German frontier, who re- 
 membered her. 
 
 The following day was spent in an utterly fruit- 
 less quest. At the station I learned from the bag- 
 gage record that the trunks had been put off at 
 Munich, but they had been removed, probably by a 
 porter and no one could tell me whether they had 
 been taken into the city or rechecked by another 
 train. Inquiry among porters and cab drivers was 
 unavailing. No one remembered her or if he 
 did, would tell me. The previous morning had 
 been a crowded and busy one and many travellers 
 and much baggage had passed through the station. 
 
 I spent one more day in the city without result 
 and then took the night train back carrying with 
 me no crumb of comfort except a solemn promise 
 from the Chief of Police at Munich that he would 
 communicate by telegraph with me in case he re- 
 ceived any news of her. 
 
 When I arrived at Vienna again, I visited a de- 
 tective agency and employed a competent man to 
 make me a weekly report for a while on the move- 
 ments of Lubitza, the Ingenieur and Baron Ascher. 
 He was not to spy upon them in matters which did 
 not concern me, but I was to know where they all 
 were, and to know of any departures. He made 
 his first report in two days. Lubitza was in 
 Vienna at her duties in the opera. Ascher was at 
 
 337
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 home engaged in his usual pursuits, chiefly gaming 
 at the club. The Ingenieur had been in Vienna but 
 had gone south to Trieste on the previous day, so 
 was probably on the way to rejoin his post at Tre- 
 binje. 
 
 She thus must have departed alone, of her own 
 free will. I could see nothing I could do but to 
 make a few secret gulps of nothing in the privacy 
 of my own rooms, and get back into harness. 
 
 338
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE days came and went and after a month I 
 discharged the detective, as he was reporting noth- 
 ing new. Harry's two concerts came off with the 
 same brilliant success as before. Lubitza was pres- 
 ent at 'both concerts giving him the same rapt at- 
 tention she had before but did not seek him out at 
 the close of either evening. I took care to take 
 places in the balcony where I knew she would not 
 be near me. I do not think Harry ever spoke with 
 Lubitza again; if he did he never told me of it. 
 
 For awhile I called upon Cecilie every day or 
 two, but after a couple of weeks her behavior be- 
 came peculiar. She was not exactly cold and never 
 discourteous, but, for one thing, she suddenly be- 
 came disinclined to talk of Gisela. When I would 
 speak of her Cecilie would look at me oddly with 
 her great eyes and answer in monosyllables. It 
 was difficult to see her and not talk of our mutual 
 friend, so my calls became farther and farther 
 apart and after a time I saw her, to greet her, only 
 by an occasional chance in the corridor. At last 
 her leaving time came, and she bade me good-bye, 
 not without cordiality, but with the same half -won- 
 dering half -compassionate eyes. 
 
 Harry had left long since to fill other concert en- 
 gagements, and I was left to gray days and memo- 
 ries; for this time no hard work, late hours nor 
 delving over books would deliver me even for an 
 ^hour from bitterness, forebodings and a biting con- 
 science. In going over the immediate past, as I 
 did only too often, it had occurred to me more than 
 339
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 once that Gisela might have accepted my proposal 
 if I had only said in the right way, the one little 
 thing she wanted to hear. 
 
 It was about this time that we in Vienna began 
 to hear more than the usual annual rumors of trou- 
 ble in the Balkans. The vast mobilization of the 
 army which occurred when Austria technically 
 broke the treaty of Berlin and boldly annexed Bos- 
 nia and the Herzegovina did not take place until 
 the following autumn ; but at this time news began, 
 little by little, to pass from the lips of one man to 
 another, unbelieved, scoffed at, laughed at, but 
 none the less persistently. The coming mobiliza- 
 tion was considered by most to be the official an- 
 swer to the recent augmentation of Pan-Servianism 
 which was supposed to have taken place in that part 
 of the Balkans occupied by Austria, and which was 
 believed to have Russian countenance, the latter 
 enlisting in the cause many who otherwise would 
 have had small interest in the movement. Now it 
 was being said that the government would put a 
 stop to the Slavic movement in the lower provinces 
 at the cost of war if necessary; furthermore that 
 the government had unearthed a secret dispatch 
 route in the south of Dalmatia which connected 
 with Montenegro and the lower Austrian provinces, 
 and had now under arrest, a dozen or more persons 
 suspected of connection therewith. It was said 
 that what caused the government especial uneasi- 
 ness was the fact that a railway through the Novi 
 Pazar had been quietly financed by a wealthy group 
 of Pan-Servianists, its object being to give Servia 
 an outlet to the sea, and that this party wanted war, 
 among other reasons in order to free the Novi 
 Pazar from Austrian domination. 
 
 340
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 The fifteenth of June came, and with it, the con- 
 clusion of my four years' work in Vienna, for I 
 was to move to Berlin after the summer vacation. 
 I had resigned from the clinic and given notice that 
 I would vacate my apartment. I meant to spend 
 two weeks in seeing in freedom a little of the old 
 city and in parting with the friends I had had time 
 to make during the long sojourn. 
 
 It was my plan to use this summer in one last at- 
 tempt in Gisela's interest. The date of her ma- 
 jority was, now, only two days away. I had not 
 forgotten it, but I attached little importance to the 
 day itself now, because I conceived that her legal 
 status, whatever it be, was settled by now, and that 
 the decision only remained. This I supposed would 
 be given in the course of a formal legal proceeding 
 at least, and possibly of a lengthy lawsuit, in which 
 all the parties in interest would have due notice and 
 a hearing. Thus Gisela had a battle in court be- 
 fore her, and I determined that the support and 
 needed funds for this should be available if neces- 
 sary at my own expense. In short, after saying 
 goodbye to Vienna I meant to employ the attorney 
 I had consulted, go to Cattaro if necessary and pick 
 up the threads of the affair there, and devote my- 
 self to winning for her if I could, and if not, at 
 least to win her. 
 
 One drizzling night about ten days after I had 
 left the clinic I was returning home late, and as I 
 rounded the corner into my street I felt a hand on 
 my arm. The corner was in shadow and thinking 
 her a poor girl of the streets, I was passing on with- 
 out words when I heard my name pronounced. 
 
 "Signer Ransome!" 
 
 The tone was low but it stopped me short. I 
 peered at her under my umbrella in unbelief. 
 
 34i
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Gisela! Is it you?" 
 
 "Yes, Signer, alas! Did you not get my tele- 
 gram ?" 
 
 "Telegram? No!" 
 
 "I sent one asking you to meet me at the station. 
 You were not there, and I came to your house. 
 There was no light in your rooms and I could not 
 bring myself to ring for the hausmeister, so I have 
 been waiting in the hope you were out and that I 
 would see you come home." 
 
 "Poor dear child ! How long have you waited ?" 
 
 "About two hours, Signor." 
 
 I felt her skirt. It was soaked. 
 
 "You have no place to go, then?" 
 
 "No, Signor. I hoped you would arrange that." 
 
 "You must go to a hotel to-night, Gisela, and I'll 
 arrange for you the first thing in the morning. I 
 don't know if your old landlady has any rooms 
 free. Did the cab bring you to our door ?" 
 
 "No, I dismissed him at this corner. My trunks 
 had not come and I have only my satchel which is 
 in a window over there. Signor there is a reason 
 why I do not wish to go to a hotel. Let me have 
 your rooms to-night." 
 
 "Hum. Of course I could give them up to you, 
 but my servant will know you are there. I fear 
 that will not do, my child." 
 
 "It does not matter, Signor." 
 
 But it did matter. I decided to call up the land- 
 lady and if she had no room free, she could give 
 Gisela her own and take mine for the night. Gisela 
 agreed to this. 
 
 As we entered the house I explained to the haus- 
 meister that the Signorina had arrived unexpected- 
 ly. He concealed his surprise. 
 342
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "There is a telegram in your letter box, Herr 
 Doktor. It came at half past six." 
 
 I took it out and read it. 
 
 "Yes, here is your telegram, Signorina." 
 
 I asked the hausmeister to leave the lights on 
 until I came down again. As we started upstairs 
 I glanced at her. She was wearing the mask but 
 seemed to be in a high state of nervous tension. 
 
 "You are tired, Gisela, but a good night's rest 
 will put you to rights. Now don't run away from 
 me again! I'll come up in the morning at eleven 
 for I must have a talk with you as soon as possible. 
 Don't run away from me again ever again will 
 you, Gisela?" 
 
 "No, Signor, I won't run away again. It does 
 not matter now. Nothing matters any more. But 
 come to-morrow afternoon. In the morning I must 
 get my trunks" 
 
 "I'll do that for you. Give me your baggage re- 
 ceipt and keys." 
 
 She objected to this, saying there were reasons 
 why she would rather get them herself. After 
 ringing five minutes a sleepy and disheveled maid 
 came to the door. 
 
 "Call the Gnadige Frau, Rosa." 
 
 The good landlady came after some moments, 
 blinking from her first sleep. She looked at Gisela. 
 
 "Dete moje!" she screamed, and in an instant 
 they were in each other's arms. 
 
 The following afternoon I found Gisela installed 
 in her former rooms, her landlady having arranged 
 this that morning as a pleasant surprise for her 
 when she returned with her trunks. Gisela seemed 
 glad to see me more so than usual, but seemed 
 preoccupied, and wore ever the mask. I suppose I 
 should explain more clearly what this mask was. 
 
 343
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 Such an explanation must necessarily be incom- 
 plete, because there were elements therein which I 
 could not read at all ; else it had been no mask. But 
 in the main it was that impassive, lay-like counte- 
 nance which sometimes comes to people who have 
 had continuous disappointments, and who come, 
 after awhile, to take disappointments as a matter of 
 course; a face which is like a stone smoothened 
 by constant attrition against other stones. But that 
 was not all. Hers was also the face which comes 
 to those who have great fixity of purpose and from 
 whom disappointments and irrelative considerations 
 fall away as water from the stone. More of the 
 mask I could not read; and this much only uncer- 
 tainly. 
 
 And I must explain still further that this mask 
 was not all that disturbed me. As one sees the 
 moving eyes of the person deep behind the eye-holes 
 in the mask, so behind that of Gisela I was aware 
 of a certain condition of mind which I can but de- 
 scribe by the word elevation; the same elevation 
 which is seen in the earnest Christian, when, having 
 suffered some great misfortune, he thanks God for 
 having selected him (the unfortunate one) for an 
 example upon which to display His power ; the ele- 
 vation of the martyr, in short. 
 
 On my side, I had determined to forget the past, 
 and to win and marry her. I fondly told myself 
 that I was under no self-deceit. But I reasoned 
 that if a young girl fall under such special tempta- 
 tions and disadvantages as Gisela had been under, 
 the question for her later lover is not "has she 
 sinned?" but "has she been spoiled ?" Usually a 
 young girl is spoiled in such a case ; for her ideals 
 are her life, and these once destroyed, she becomes 
 forever afterward an autumn leaf at the list of 
 344
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 every wind that blows; or, if she have a will and 
 some masculinity, she becomes a deliberate dis- 
 ciple of selfish pleasure and scheming self-interest. 
 
 But I was seeing Gisela with another mind now, 
 and I could not look upon her as spoiled. Honor, 
 for example, she had in plenty. It was shown in 
 her imperious refusal to take refuge in a lie when I 
 had indirectly demanded an accounting of her time 
 between leaving home and Christmas Eve. Unsel- 
 fishness ; she had refused a mere marriage of con- 
 venience, although so suited to her every purpose. 
 She still had her ideals ; she would have no mar- 
 riage without love at least on my side. A wom- 
 an who has preserved these three things is not 
 spoiled. 
 
 I told myself that I had left but one question to 
 ask her, and that was if she thought it possible 
 that, now at least, she could love me better than 
 she had, or could, any other man, and I determined 
 to open wide that gate this very afternoon. 
 
 "Signer, you have been examining me critically 
 for long enough to read ten such poor books. I 
 am not worth it." 
 
 "Not worth it! Gisela that is the first falsehood 
 I ever have heard you utter ! If you on your side 
 had read my mind you would find little reason to 
 complain of me." 
 
 "I never have had cause to complain of you, 
 Signer! You have" 
 
 "You have had plenty of reason, dear child ! But, 
 while I do not altogether understand you yet, still 
 I know you better than I did. I know you well 
 enough now that I am going, from now on, to keep 
 you always with me, if I can. I love you, Gisela. 
 I have, since I first saw you three years ago. Marry 
 me and let me have you always by me !" 
 345
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 For a moment the mask was off and a look of 
 pain came over her face. But as I was about to 
 rise and go to her, her old expression returned, as 
 it seemed, by a positive act of will. She put up 
 both hands as if to ward me off, and I sank back 
 into my chair. She was silent some moments and 
 outwardly calm, except for the clasping and un- 
 clasping of her hands. Her head was high but she 
 would not look at me. 
 
 "Gisela, are you still angry with me?" 
 
 "I have never really been angry with you, Signor. 
 You do not understand." 
 
 "Then disappointed in me." 
 
 "Nor am I disappointed. On the contrary I have 
 honored you more and more every day since I have 
 come really to know you. I have had every reason 
 to do so. Why, Signor, except Cecilie, you are the 
 one true friend I have ever had! And you have 
 been true; true as gold! True from first to last 
 and all of the time ! I know that, now, Eduard." 
 
 "Then it is simply that you do not love me." 
 
 "You are wrong again, Eduard. It is precisely 
 because I do love you, that I will not marry you." 
 
 "I confess I cannot understand that reason. If 
 you love me, it should be very simple !" 
 
 "No. You do not understand, and I cannot help 
 you. Perhaps the day may come when you will 
 understand. But I cannot explain it to you now." 
 
 "Gisela, I will speak plainly. I know most that 
 has occurred. I shall never ask you a question 
 about your life the last three years. Let all that 
 pass and be forgotten. . Just come to me, dear, and 
 let me love you for the rest of the years we may 
 have together." 
 
 "Eduard, / can not! I I do not press it! I 
 can not tell you more but it can not be!" 
 346
 
 The 'Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Do you love me ?" 
 
 "Yes, yes, Eduard. God knows I do! I have 
 loved you from the beginning! Always always! 
 But that does not help me now, dear. Eduard, 
 I Don't talk of it more, dear !" 
 
 The mask was off now. Her face was agonized, 
 and the tears came. But she gulped and controlled 
 herself. She dried her eyes and gazed at me stead- 
 ily for a moment, then rose from her chair. 
 
 "One moment one little moment I will have!" 
 she muttered, half to herself. 
 
 She came up to me. 
 
 "Come dear, one little moment one dear, 
 sweet moment, I will have !" 
 
 Her arms went about my neck and she held me 
 so convulsively, that woman as she was, I had to 
 make an effort to take breath. The moment was 
 very sweet, but it was only a moment. Our lips 
 met but once, and then she tried to push me away. 
 I would not let her go. 
 
 "Loose me, dear !" and her head went down. I 
 kissed the pretty head again and again but did not 
 obey. Then for a moment she made no further 
 resistance. Suddenly and with unexpected strength 
 she tore herself loose at the penalty of flying combs 
 and the falling round about her shoulders of her 
 wealth of beautiful hair. 
 
 She smiled a very little as she stood off and 
 rapidly put it up again. 
 
 "I am sorry you should see me in such dishevel- 
 ment, Signor." 
 
 "Truly the glory of womanhood is her hair when 
 it is like yours!" 
 
 "There are some white threads in it." 
 
 "They must be very lonely in that black cloud! 
 I would like to take them to my heart !" 
 347
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 'They would find no blackness there. No, please 
 take your chair, dear. My word for it, I'll never 
 risk you again ! But I shall have this much to re- 
 member, at least." 
 
 "Oh Gisela, Gisela, what can I say ! Help me to 
 find you, child! I have tried to say everything I 
 could, but I am dull. You are right! I do not 
 understand. But, Gisela, dear Gisela, if loving you 
 very truly, thinking of nothing else in the world 
 but you and you alone a love that has had its trial 
 of nearly three years of separation if this de- 
 serves anything, dear, I deserve "to succeed. Let 
 understanding go to the winds ! Don't debate 
 and think about it more if you love me as you say ! 
 People who get into the habit of thinking and 
 thinking get after awhile so they can decide on 
 nothing at all ! You say you love me ; you even say 
 you have loved me from the first. That would be 
 three years, too. There is nothing between us. 
 There can be, could be, nothing between us. If I 
 be dull, I have at least outgrown the foolishness of 
 expecting too much of a mere human being like 
 myself. Let the past be forgotten. I had only 
 one question to ask you this afternoon. That 
 was if you could now love me better than you ever 
 have or could love, any other man. That question 
 is already answered. What more is there? You 
 know I love you, don't you dear? Are you in any 
 doubt about that?" 
 
 "No, Eduard. I have no doubts of you now." 
 She had gone to the window and was looking out 
 and had her back to me. 
 
 "Then what more is there, Gisela?" 
 She remained at the window a long time in 
 silence. I saw her handkerchief go to her eyes 
 once, but afterwards she had straightened up and 
 
 348
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 I saw that the hand which grasped the window-sill 
 was white with tension. 
 
 "I can not bear this longer, Eduard! Do you 
 wish me to run away again dear?" 
 
 "God forbid ! I am silent, Gisela !" 
 
 For some moments longer she remained at the 
 window and I watched her in silence. When at 
 last she turned to resume her chair, the mask was 
 on once more, and she was as she had been in the 
 beginning of our interview. Thenceforth her 
 speech was dignified and without emotion. 
 
 "If I have allowed this to go so far it was from 
 no lack of determination. I love you and know 
 well that you love me. I have known that you 
 were true ever since shortly after you brought 
 Cecilie and me here. She had told me all, includ- 
 ing your support of me, Signer. I understand 
 what you mean by suggesting a burying of the past. 
 There is no past to bury, dear. I can not tell you 
 of those months which have puzzled you but I 
 did nothing I would be ashamed to have you know. 
 But I can not discuss this with you. Any way, 
 that has nothing to do with my resolve never to 
 marry; for that is it, dear. It is not that I will 
 not marry you ; I shall never marry at all, Eduard." 
 
 She pressed her handkerchief to her lips, and 
 then folded her hands in her lap and kept her eyes 
 upon them. 
 
 "I can not tell you why I have decided never to 
 marry. It is for a reason you do not guess. You 
 will know what it is some day, but I can not tell 
 you now. And now, dear Eduard, let us dismiss 
 this subject and talk of something else. No, do 
 not go ; only, let us talk of other things, dear." 
 
 I did not feel that I did, or could give her up. 
 Her words were final enough, but the knowledge 
 349
 
 The Accursed Roccos 
 
 that she loved me was now settled, and in the face 
 of that I could not feel that I would have to give 
 her up. But it was clear that I would have to wait. 
 Well, if that were all, I could wait. 
 
 "May we talk of Cecilie, Gisela?" 
 
 "Of a surety! Is she not my other even if 
 lesser friend ?" 
 
 "You say she told you that I helped in your sup- 
 port. That was a black and summary violation of 
 a solemn sworn treaty !" 
 
 Gisela laughed a little. 
 
 "Did you think me so dull? Where should 
 Cecilie find the money for us to live as we were 
 doing after we came here? I taxed her with it, 
 and she couldn't tell me an untruth. I did not 
 know it for a time and was puzzled only after we 
 came here and lived so much better and I found 
 you and Cecilie acquainted did I guess." 
 
 "Did finding that out cause you to run away?" 
 
 "Oh, no, Signer, that was for quite another rea- 
 son. I always planned to pay you back. Alas !" 
 
 "Pshaw ! Do you know where Cecilie is now ?" 
 
 "Oh, yes. She is in Berlin. She was engaged 
 by the opera management. I was so glad it was 
 one bright spot in a very black time !" 
 
 "It is good news indeed! But have you been 
 long in correspondence with her?" 
 
 "We never broke off correspondence." 
 
 "Oh the close mouthed Cecilie! She knew 
 where you were, all of the time? Well! Now 
 I have a good deal to forgive her ! She knew how I 
 felt how could she see it and never give me one 
 little word! She practicaly cut me for weeks be- 
 fore she left. Did she know beforehand that you 
 were going to run away?" 
 
 "Oh, no, Signor I wrote her after I had gone. 
 350
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 She wrote me that she was avoiding you she 
 wrote that she couldn't bear to look at you, and 
 was afraid she would have to' tell you. She made 
 love to me for you in every letter she wrote." 
 
 "God bless, Cecilie! I'll never forget that!" 
 
 "Yes, she is a true friend of both of us. I hoped 
 your friend would like her." 
 
 "Harry is a queer fellow. As boys I never knew 
 him to make up to a girl, nor has he shown any 
 tendency that way since I ran across him again. 
 He appears to have wedded his art." 
 
 "He seemed to like my cousin when we were in 
 Cattaro." 
 
 "Yes, and afterwards here in Vienna. But it 
 was her art that attracted him. I am perfectly 
 certain that as a woman she attracted him not at 
 all. As far as I know they did not meet when he 
 gave his concerts here last March, although I saw 
 her in the front chairs both evenings." 
 
 "So muc^ the better for him. I should be sorry 
 to hear that she had the least influence over him. 
 It would not be for his good." 
 
 After a moment. 
 
 "She now stands in my place, Signer." 
 
 "How so?" . 
 
 "She has my patrimony " 
 
 "Has it I" 
 
 "Yes, Signor." 
 
 "Why, Gisela! How can that be? Of course I 
 know that the day of your majority is past but the 
 final settling will have to be by court. Did you not 
 know that? They must give you a formal hearing 
 in court before they can take your patrimony away 
 from you, Gisela! Do you understand what I 
 mean? You must have a notification a summons 
 from the court and must go into court and be 
 351
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 questioned there. Without that they cannot touch 
 a heller of your estate. Did you have such a sum- 
 mons ?" 
 
 "Oh yes, dear," she answered wearily. "I was 
 cited to appear, but I did not go. They decided it 
 on the next day after I came of age. I had had 
 notice long before." 
 
 "You did not go!" 
 
 "No, Eduard. It had in reality been settled 
 weeks before." 
 
 "Why, Gisela! I can not help but believe you 
 have been deceived and tricked somehow ! I was 
 planning to help you in this, and to carry on the 
 lawsuit for you ; because I knew you did not have 
 the money to fight them. Tell me all about it. If 
 they have deceived you in any way we can reopen 
 the case. That much is certain !" 
 
 "No, Eduard, we can not reopen it. As I tell you, 
 it was settled weeks beforehand. They claimed the 
 estate under the terms of the will, and I was so 
 situated that I did not dare make any defence. 
 Therefore I let them take it. I now have only Le 
 Tre Sorelle." 
 
 That this communication led me into the veriest 
 quagmire of mystification, need hardly be stated 
 here. Awhile before she had told me she had done 
 nothing she would be ashamed to have me know. 
 Now she told me she had lost under the terms of 
 the will and because she did not dare make a de- 
 fence. She saw my helplessness, and under- 
 stood it. 
 
 "Eduard, dear, I repeat I have lived above re- 
 proach; absolutely. I must tell you that much. 
 Still, I did not dare to make a defence. The reason 
 I did not dare is, like my reason for never marry- 
 ing, one I can not explain. But the reason was 
 352
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 real. There was no playing with my intelligence. 
 I knew what they needed to do before they could 
 take my patrimony, and I knew you could and 
 would help me fight them. I intended to ask it of 
 you, because I knew I would be welcome to the 
 help from you. But this reason came up and ab- 
 solutely tied me hand and foot. I can explain no 
 further, dear." 
 
 "And does the reason still hold?" 
 
 "A sequence of it does quite as much as ever 
 even more." 
 
 I refused to believe it, and urged her to let me 
 reopen the case. I explained the views of the 
 attorney; explained the possibility of recovering 
 the estate. I assured her that the funds for the 
 fight should be forthcoming. She only answered 
 that she understood this all, but there was no use. 
 She had lost finally because she did not dare fight 
 them, and finally begged me to say no more of the 
 matter. 
 
 "Well, one more thing at least and I have done. 
 Did the entering of the sanctuary of the Greek 
 Cathedral at Cattaro have anything to do with 
 this?" 
 
 "Oh, no, Signer. I was terribly frightened that 
 day but the reason for losing my patrimony was 
 far far graver than that." 
 
 "And you can not tell me what it was ? Remem- 
 ber, I only ask to know in order to put my man's 
 better experience at your service, Gisela." 
 
 "No, Signor. And nothing can be done. Do not 
 worry about it longer." 
 
 "Any time you will change your mind let me 
 know, dear." 
 
 "I'll not change. Nothing can be done, dear 
 friend." 
 
 353
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 I considered. 
 
 "What are you going to do? Stay in Vienna?" 
 
 "For a few days. Perhaps longer." 
 
 "Have you funds?" 
 
 "Enough for the present, Signor." 
 
 "But that is no future. Better marry me, dear. 
 I am the one to come to the one who loves 
 you and wants you. I am about to leave Vienna 
 and next year I will be in Berlin. You can see 
 Cecilie there. Marry me dear. If you forbid me 
 again I'll say no more for at least a month, but I 
 shall keep on hoping. But I ask it once more at 
 least. I love you, dear. Marry me and you shall 
 have no more cares. I'll see to that!" 
 
 "Once more, Eduard, I can not. You will know 
 why in due time." 
 
 "Once more Gisela, if you love me, there is 
 nothing between us." 
 
 "I understand. I love you, and love you no less 
 for the way you have spoken to-day. I will be 
 plain, so you will know that I understood you. 
 Believing me to have fallen, you are still willing to 
 take me. You see, I understand. But you do not 
 understand, dear, and, once more, I can not help 
 you. Once more and finally, dear, dear Eduard, I 
 can never marry never at all." 
 
 She reached for my hand and wrung it but would 
 not draw nearer to me. 
 
 "I do not and cannot take this as final. Since 
 you will not marry me now I can wait, and remem- 
 ber I shall wait. Just as long as I must. You 
 say I shall know your reason some day. Very well. 
 If I must, I shall wait until I know your reason. 
 When I then ask you I shall hope for a different 
 answer, Gisela. For the present, then, I will say 
 no more. But remember I do not give you up." 
 354
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "It is folly, dear. The day will come when you 
 will be glad I answered so. Now no more if you 
 love me, Eduard." 
 
 But I refused to be down-hearted. I was sure I 
 would not be glad and that I would ask her again 
 at some later day with more success. Of course I 
 couldn't be depressed. She loved me, and had 
 from the first. She had said so and I was certain 
 she had, or she would never have told me so. In 
 that knowledge I could wait a little while or even 
 a long while. 
 
 "I have another piece of news for you, Signer." 
 
 "Indeed, Gisela? What is it?" 
 
 "My cousin and the Ingenieur are to be married 
 on the thirtieth." 
 
 "Ah. Well, that is no surprise though when I 
 called she told me that the matter was off." 
 
 "Not for long" her face exhibited a passing 
 sneer. 
 
 "Where are they to be married?" 
 
 "Here in Vienna. My cousin wished it, it seems. 
 They are all coming up from Cattaro except my 
 aunt." 
 
 "How did you learn of it?" 
 
 "I correspond with Amalia Sbutega the daugh- 
 ter of the banker, you know. She wrote me 
 about it." 
 
 "The Ingenieur has lost no time," I muttered. 
 
 "No. He has only waited until she was sure of 
 the property." 
 
 "I wonder Lubitza would take him under the 
 circumstances." 
 
 "Oh, one man more or less does not matter to 
 my cousin." 
 
 There was no especial bitterness in the remark. 
 355
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 It was uttered as a mere statement of fact; and 
 such it was. 
 
 "Signer, I have a favor to ask of you." 
 
 "At last! I am glad to hear that. It is yours! 
 What is it?" 
 
 "I have a wish to witness the ceremony. Will 
 you take me?" 
 
 I stared. Of all unexpected incidents in my life 
 this capped the climax ! She wished to witness the 
 wedding between the Ingenieur and her cousin! 
 The wedding of the cousin she had hated all her 
 life, and the Ingenieur whom she professed so to 
 despise! Why was this? 
 
 It was the first thing she had ever said or done 
 to rouse a spark of jealousy in me; but this did 
 plenty of it. 
 
 Was she befooling me, after all? Why? She 
 did not wish to marry me nor did she desire favors 
 of any account, and still again she was not the type 
 that lies and deceives on principle. No, that was 
 not it. But was it could it be possible, that she 
 loved both of us? Each in a different way, per- 
 haps? 
 
 After all, I must always face the fact that she 
 had run away from home to join him. I might 
 believe her words that she had kept herself actually 
 clean; and I might otherwise gloss over, minimize 
 and veil this event, but it remained a fact and 
 carried its own atmosphere with it. 
 
 After all, by what law of Nature are we to love 
 but once? That is not Nature's law at all, but an 
 artificial a human made notion, rooted in the self- 
 ish jealousy of the mate. And if by Nature's law 
 we may love more than once, why not more than 
 once at the same time? And honestly and clean- 
 ly, too ? Love is not a simple affair of one strand 
 356
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 it is a complex and very tangled skein which en- 
 twines several widely different sides of our natures. 
 Must all of its threads proceed to one and the same 
 object? One and the same person? Every -one 
 who has eyes that will see and ears that will hear, 
 knows that this is not even the rule; even among 
 the best of people. We do not have to yield to it ; 
 but that heritage from Nature, the tendency to have 
 more foci than one, has never yet been rooted out. 
 
 So, as I thought, the light broke. Gisela loved 
 us both. That cleared up everything that was 
 dark; why, although she had loved me, she had 
 gone to join him when I was no longer by; why 
 she would not marry me I had her respect and 
 her best in general, and she would not come to me 
 with another love on her conscience ; why she 
 would never marry at all the Ingenieur was to 
 marry her cousin ; and not respecting him, perhaps 
 she would not have taken him, either. Why she 
 would not tell me the reason, and why she was so 
 sure that if ever I learned it, I would say she was 
 right. Yes, I "understood" at last! 
 
 "Is it so much to ask, Signor, that you must con- 
 sider it so long?" 
 
 "No, Gisela," I answered, sadly enough. "So 
 far as I am concerned, it is a very little favor in- 
 deed." 
 
 "Why, then, the debate?" 
 
 "Is it best, Gisela ? Would it not be a very great 
 intrusion? I am not expecting cards from your 
 cousin! Not after our last interview!" 
 
 "Oh, we will not go among the guests, and a 
 church is never closed to people because of a wed- 
 ding. It will be in St. Cecilia's Church." 
 
 "St. Cecilia's Church! Why, that is Roman 
 Catholic ! I thought" 
 
 357
 
 The Occurs 'ed R o c c o s 
 
 "I forgot to tell you, Signer, that all my people 
 except Paulo have changed to the Roman faith. 
 We had always been Roman up to my father's 
 time, so it is but a return to former things. As for 
 the Ingenieur, he has always been Roman as far 
 as he is anything and the selection of the church 
 was, no doubt, his. I don't know why they chose 
 that particular church." 
 
 "So their wedding will be in St. Cecilia's Church. 
 Well?" 
 
 "Yes. They will come in at the main entrance, 
 of course. We can go in at the side door in the rear. 
 I have been there and know the church. We can 
 remain in shadow in the corner at the rear entrance 
 until the ceremony begins than we can walk a little 
 forward along the columns. Thus we can see with- 
 out their seeing us." 
 
 I hesitated, but after all what harm could there 
 be in it? They would not see us, nor even know 
 that we had been there. Besides, as always in a 
 church, there would be other uninvited onlookers. 
 
 "Very, well, Gisela. I'll go and see the verger 
 and arrange for it." 
 
 "No ! No ! Eduard. He might speak of it, and 
 I wouldn't have my cousin know I went for all 
 Vienna! No, let us just quietly go at the hour 
 appointed. If we can not walk in we can give it 
 up but don't mention it to anybody will you, 
 Eduard?" 
 
 It was not to be wondered at that she did not 
 wish to risk Lubitza hearing of it. I agreed to go, 
 as she wished; and as Gisela seemed tired I very 
 shortly took my departure not in the good spirits 
 and hopeful mood with which I had come and 
 which had remained with me until our last few 
 words. 
 
 358
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE morning of the thirtieth dawned in brilliant 
 sunshine and according to arrangements I ordered 
 a fiaker to take Gisela to the church. During our 
 drive there she was very quiet and sat uncompro- 
 misingly in her own corner of the carriage and I 
 did not offer to disturb her by word or look. I 
 could not read an iota of her thoughts, nor did I 
 seek to do so, being buried in my own gloomy fore- 
 bodings as to the future. 
 
 We dismissed our fiaker shortly before reaching 
 the cathedral, and walked the remaining distance, 
 arriving about a quarter to twelve. We followed 
 the curve of the apse to a small side door behind 
 the transept and silently entered. On arriving, the 
 the right transept had prevented our seeing the 
 front of the church, but now looking down through 
 the nave we saw that the wedding party had just 
 arrived. 
 
 St. Cecilia's is an unusually gloomy cathedral. 
 The great picture windows allowed the play of a 
 kaleidoscope of colors, chiefly reds, upon the floors 
 and columns, accentuating the dark corners and 
 throwing long mysterious shadows across the nave 
 and aisles. The slender but powerful gothic col- 
 umns rose high above our heads to the mingled 
 light and gloom of the clere-story above, the vault- 
 ing of the roof of the aisles looking skeleton-ribbed 
 in the shadows. 
 
 As our eyes became accustomed to the relative 
 gloom of the church we saw that a good many 
 people were scattered in groups in the pews, com- 
 359
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 posed largely, as I saw at once, of Lubitza's artist 
 friends, among which I recognized many familiar 
 and well known faces. The side aisle was, how- 
 ever, deserted and there was no one to question our 
 entrance. 
 
 The great organ began the wedding march and 
 we moved forward until we were near the front 
 end of the screen which extended between the side 
 aisle and the choir-seats, and here behind a column, 
 we took our stand and waited for the wedding 
 party to come in. 
 
 The party entered the front portal. In advance, 
 preceded by two tiny cadets, came the Ingenieur, 
 with Paulo on his arm. He was followed by two 
 army officers, strangers to me. Having arrived at 
 the chancel (sanctuary) gate he awaited his bride. 
 
 After some moments Lubitza, on her father's 
 arm, came up the nave. She was preceded by two 
 tiny girls in white and followed by two brides- 
 maids, one of them an opera singer of international 
 fame, the other an operatic neophyte of whom 
 Lubitza was known to be the generous protectress 
 and benefactress. 
 
 Lubitza, always a handsome woman, looked her 
 best to-day. She also looked frankly happy aTfd 
 satisfied as her oblique but fine eyes glanced about 
 over the guests in the pews, all of whom turned 
 backwards with necks craned, to see the bride as 
 she marched up the nave. She was attired in a 
 simply made beautifully fitting travelling dress, and 
 it was evident that the pair was to depart from 
 Vienna that same day. 
 
 As she approached the sanctuary gate Gisela and 
 I stood a little closer to our column. Now the pair 
 advanced into the sacred area. The priest ad- 
 vanced to meet them. The organ was stilled and 
 360
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 the ceremony began with the bridal pair kneeling 
 directly in a brilliant patch of rosy light, just in 
 front of the high altar. 
 
 So far I had been interested in the event and 
 my attention had wandered from Gisela ; but as the 
 actual ceremony began I saw her sink down upon 
 the step which separated this part of the aisle from 
 that farther forward. Thinking her faint or ill I 
 went to her, but she motioned me away. I retired 
 a step or two and watched her. Her back was to- 
 ward me, but her left hand clutched the choir- 
 screen above her head as she reclined upon the steps 
 and her right hand was pressed against her bosom. 
 The latter visibly rose and fell, and now and then 
 she took a long breath which elevated her shoul- 
 ders. I could not see her face, but was aware that 
 her gaze, through the space between the first choir- 
 chair and the adjacent column, was riveted upon 
 either Lubitza or the Ingenieur I could not tell 
 which, but presumed the latter. Her whole pose 
 seemed to indicate complete abandonment to grief 
 and despair. After looking about to see if any- 
 one might be observing her, I forgot the proceed- 
 ing ceremony and gave myself up to bitter thoughts 
 and feelings among which a cutting jealousy was 
 not wanting, tempered though it was by sincere 
 compassion for her. 
 
 Again my theories recurred, with more or less 
 change. If she loved us both, she loved the Inge- 
 nieur most and best that was clear. If I had not 
 had such a rooted belief in her sincerity I would 
 have concluded that she loved him only, but in the 
 face of past events and past words between us I 
 could only believe that her love was divided. 
 
 But that she loved the Ingenieur was certain, and 
 now she was watching him pass utterly from her
 
 The r Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 into union with her hated cousin, and was giving 
 way to emotion in a manner more definite than I 
 had ever seen her do. I could not see her face, 
 but I thought I could guess what was there, and I 
 did not believe this was the mask which she had 
 worn so long. 
 
 I wondered just what her real feelings for me 
 could be. It was an idle and thankless speculation. 
 I could make nothing of it, and finally-became buried 
 in a maze of sad memories and despairing conjec- 
 tures which led me from no beginning to no end, 
 and which benumbed my intellect and even every 
 sensation save the leaden one about the throat. 
 
 Without object or reason I turned away and 
 paced slowly rearward into the apse of the cathe- 
 dral. Here before a side chapel a monk was pray- 
 ing. I watched him idly. For the first and only 
 time in my life I wondered if it could be possible 
 this his life was happier than that of us outside. 
 However, he was praying and praying earnestly 
 with, evidently, great internal emotion. What for? 
 For what boon was he so earnestly entreating the 
 Mother ? Forgetf ulness ? Who but he could tell ! 
 Perhaps his life was not more tranquil than that of 
 other men. 
 
 The day outside was hot and the church was 
 very cool. I felt chilled. I walked back into the 
 side aisle and saw that Gisela had not changed her 
 position. Glancing through the rear part of the 
 choir-screen I saw that the priest was just pro- 
 nouncing Lubitza and the Ingenieur, man and wife. 
 At the moment I observed her Lubitza was looking 
 up into the Ingenieur's face with a proud and radi- 
 ant countenance. I had not up to now believed her 
 capable of such an expression, there seemed so much 
 of the womanly woman, at last, in her face. Was 
 362
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 she still acting ? But her happiness was very real 
 that was certain, and it furnished another problem 
 for speculation in the course of which my mind 
 harked back once more to the mutual ancestress of 
 these two women, and buried itself in problems of 
 heredity. There was nothing in the history of Al- 
 bina herself, so far as I knew it, which indicated 
 that she had ever loved more than one man at the 
 same time, but these girls were her descendents, 
 showing many of her characters, a fact indicated by 
 more than one ear-mark, and since they both had 
 this character, I concluded that it had come down 
 from Albina; and I cursed her memory. 
 
 I walked to the side door of the church and out, 
 blinking in the bright sunlight and grateful for the 
 feeling of warmth after the stay in the cool church. 
 
 The priest was, now, of course, delivering his 
 homily to the bridal couple his instructions re- 
 garding right and proper living in Christian wed- 
 lock. I wondered if he knew of the facts of Lu- 
 bitza's and the Ingenieur's past lives. Of that of 
 the bride, he must know more or less, as it had 
 been notorious. I would have given something to 
 hear what he was saying to them and to see the 
 faces of all three as it was said. This, however, 
 was not possible for me, and I had to content my- 
 self with speculating what the inner feelings of a 
 Catholic clergyman must be, sometimes, as he 
 delivers this lecture to the bridal pair. Surely, 
 sometimes, he must feel a well-defined nausea. 
 
 The organ once more rolled out its mighty peal 
 and I hastened back into the church. After my 
 eyesight had once more become adjusted to the 
 relative gloom of the cathedral, I saw that the 
 bridal procession was about to start down the cen- 
 ter of the nave. 
 
 363
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 Gisela had not risen, but was now sitting, bent 
 forward, watching them. I went to her and laid 
 my hand upon her shoulder. She started violently 
 and looked up. 
 
 "Gisela, it is over. We would better go now, be- 
 fore some one recognizes us." 
 
 She rose, facing me, and took a step backward. 
 Her face was full of expression and her eyes 
 were wider and greater than ever but the tears 
 I was expecting to see were not there. This was a 
 passing surprise. 
 
 She stood like a statue but gazed at me with her 
 face reflecting many emotions. Her hands clenched 
 and unclenched. She seemed to be debating some- 
 thing some crisis or other madly. 
 
 "Come, Gisela dear, let us go. Someone will see 
 us and tell of our presence here, I am afraid." 
 
 Still she stood and gazed at me, without tears, 
 but as if all of her heart were in her eyes. She 
 half raised her arms, took a step toward me and 
 stopped again. She opened her lips as if to speak. 
 Her right hand wandered seemingly idly to her 
 bosom. Then she closed her lips and suddenly 
 seemed to draw herself together. She stood up 
 straighter and seemed actually to gain in height. 
 Her face lost its emotion and became rigid. She 
 advanced up the step which separated us, fell upon 
 her knee, took my hand and, bending her head, 
 kissed it. Then she rose and hurriedly and broken- 
 ly addressed me: 
 
 "Eduard, my love, my only love, thank you 
 for bringing me today! Thank you for your love 
 for all you have done for me ! I have read and 
 know your thoughts. You have been wrong, dear, 
 dear Eduard, as you shall soon know now. I 
 have loved you from the first, and shall love you 
 
 364
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 always, always, until I die. Goodbye, Eduard 
 dear! Goodbye, for now we separate forever! 
 When you think of me hereafter, remember, I 
 could not help giving you up, dear. Goodbye. / 
 love you, Eduard goodbye!" 
 
 She wrung my hand and turned and sped down 
 the side aisle toward the front of the church. The 
 bridal procession was now half way down the 
 nave. I saw Gisela disappear in the midst of a 
 little gathering at the church door. Struck dumb 
 by amazement and doubt, I made my way in the 
 direction she had taken, thinking to have a word 
 more with her. A good many of the wedding 
 guests were now crowding hastily out of the pews 
 into the side aisle in order to have a last look at 
 the bridal party, and by the time I reached the 
 front of the church the bridal party had nearly 
 reached the entrance. A group of spectators, in- 
 vited and uninvited, filled the space on either side 
 of the entrance and the only clear space lay di- 
 rectly in front of the advancing bridal pair. 
 
 I did not see Gisela anywhere, so assumed that 
 she had left the church. As I could not go out 
 just then, in advance of the wedding party, and 
 thinking to find Gisela at home later, I waited and 
 turned to look at Lubitza's smiling, happy face. 
 
 Suddenly, as I watched it, her face froze into a 
 look of mingled surprise and anger. At this in- 
 stant the Ingenieur turned to say something to 
 Paulo, who bent forward to listen. Following Lu- 
 bitza's look, I saw Gisela advancing hurriedly 
 through the clear space to meet her cousin. Lu- 
 bitza clutched the Ingenieur's arm and her father 
 strode forward from behind, but quicker than they, 
 Gisela's lithe figure reached her cousin. Her hand 
 went to her breast and then was raised above her 
 365
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 head. I saw a tiny glint of bright steel and saw 
 the glint, with the speed of light itself, descend and 
 disappear in Lubitza's breast. 
 
 Lubitza flung her hands above her head, but 
 uttered no cry, and her face did not seem to indicate 
 pain. She swayed an instant, and turned her face 
 upward to the crown of the portal of the cathedral. 
 There then came over her face, for just one instant, 
 the most indescribable look of horror and fear I 
 have ever witnessed. Then the light went out of 
 her eyes and face, and she fell heavily in a heap 
 upon the pavement. 
 
 At first the entire company stood as if turned to 
 stone. Following this instant was an indescribable 
 confusion, screams and cries, some of the people 
 fleeing through the entrance, others into the aisles, 
 a few crowding up to the scene of the tragedy. 
 The Ingenieur seemed to be the first one to recover 
 himself. He seized Gisela, and in a flash she struck 
 him, also, in the breast, and he reeled backward 
 into Paulo's arms. Then she turned, with her 
 weapon raised, and faced the rest, who fell away 
 from her like chaff before a gale. She stood now, 
 quite alone, and cast her glance toward that part 
 of the church where we had parted, and called out 
 in ringing tones, perfectly audible above the organ : 
 
 "I have given my cousin as a wedding present 
 the last of my inheritance which I possessed. Now 
 let it be known, once for all, why I would not 
 marry !" 
 
 She flung the stiletto upon the pavement beside 
 Lubitza, dropped her hands to her sides, bent her 
 head, and stood waiting. Now a dozen hands 
 seized her, and now the people from both inside 
 and outside the doors formed a dense gathering 
 about her and her cousin. I saw a well-known sur- 
 
 366
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 geon elbowing his way through the crowd, the way 
 being opened for him as he was recognized. With 
 some hazy half-mad idea of standing by Gisela, I 
 tried to reach her, but it was impossible. She was 
 being taken out of the church by the military men 
 and I could not even get to the door. At this in- 
 stant a thought came to me, and after making sure 
 that she was not being handled roughly, I pressed 
 to the back of the crowd again and began to make 
 my way among the fainting and hysterical women 
 and jabbering, excited men up the side aisle toward 
 the rear door. 
 
 As I reached the step by the side of the choir 
 I looked back. The surgeon had cast a handkerchief 
 over Lubitza's face and many hands had raised the 
 still figure from the pavement and were bearing it 
 toward the entrance, the organ still rolling out the 
 wedding march. 
 
 I saw the priest who had officiated rushing to- 
 ward the front, and noticed a monk flying into the 
 entrance to the stairway leading to the organ loft; 
 but the great instrument was still sounding as I 
 hurried out of the rear door. 
 
 367
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 I NEED not dwell upon my own condition of mind 
 after this terrible event. It was what might have 
 been expected under the circumstances. But men- 
 tally benumbed with horror as I was, I had realized 
 quickly that I had work to do and but little time to 
 lose. I concluded that my own arrest must follow 
 in due course, and it flashed upon me that I must 
 use every precious moment in arranging for her 
 protection and defence and also my own: for I 
 happened to know that once under arrest, a person 
 seriously accused is not permitted to consult his 
 attorney in private. 
 
 I walked away in the direction of a cab-stand, 
 breaking into a headlong run as soon as I was out 
 of sight of the gaping crowd, and inside of a half 
 hour I was again closeted with the consular attor- 
 ney, Dr. Sommer. At my previous visit he had 
 taken full notes of the case and my additional story 
 did not require much time. He now re-studied 
 these notes, shaking his head repeatedly. 
 
 "Of course we have but one line of defence, Herr 
 Doktor," he finally remarked. "Need I tell you 
 what that is?" 
 
 "Temporary insanity, of course. Will it go?" 
 
 "Impossible to guess now. There is, of course, 
 more or less ground. Her past life and troubles, 
 alone in the world without a protector, as she has 
 been, may well be looked upon as a possible antece- 
 dent cause. Then her failure to consider the inter- 
 ests of her best friend (for she has seemingly been 
 utterly careless of involving you, Herr Doktor, and 
 368
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 you may also have trouble) shows abnormal fixity 
 of idea along the line she has acted to the exclusion 
 of ideas ordinarily of moment. Also the spectacu- 
 lar character of the tragedy committed under such 
 utter carlessness of consequences, coupled with a 
 complete absence of any plan for escape, further in- 
 dicates irresponsibility. Then her previous aberrant 
 moods, her sudden disappearances, the elevated con- 
 dition of mind and fixity of countenance which you 
 describe, can also be used. But, we must have 
 more proof or color of proof than this. Our first 
 task must be to inquire thoroughly into her private 
 life of recent years, and endeavor to show that this 
 fixity of idea is not a thing of to-day or yesterday, 
 but that it has been under development for a long 
 time. Revenge for the loss of property is not al- 
 ways the manifestation of an unsound mind, and it 
 will be especially dangerous if they can show color 
 or a broken love affair with the husband of the de- 
 ceased. 
 
 In short we must ascertain fully the facts of 
 her private life, especially between the time she 
 left home and the moment of the tragedy. We will 
 use or suppress these according to circumstances; 
 but we must know them." 
 
 "Doctor Sommer, if the commission find her in- 
 sane, will she be tried?" 
 
 "No. An insane person cannot be tried, Herr 
 Doktor. She will be remanded to an insane hos- 
 pital, or a maison de sante." 
 
 I writhed in my seat. But it was, of course, bet- 
 ter than a prison. 
 
 "Would her friends be allowed to take charge of 
 her?" 
 
 "It may be possible to arrange it, but it would 
 have to be in some safe institution." 
 369
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 I breathed a little more freely. 
 
 "Then, in time, if pronounced cured, she could 
 be released !" 
 
 "Possibly in time." 
 
 I looked him squarely in the eyes. 
 
 "Doctor Sommer, is money of any use in this 
 program ?" 
 
 "It is impossible to say yet. Have I carte 
 blanche?" 
 
 "Up to two hundred and fifty thousand crowns. 
 It is all I have immediately available. If necessary, 
 I can sign obligations for more and meet them later 
 on." 
 
 "I think less will do, Doctor Ransome. More 
 would, I think, be of no avail. With such a fund to 
 draw upon I have some hope that the matter can be 
 managed. Pick up your courage, Doctor! Even if 
 we fail to avoid conviction there still remains the 
 hope of the Royal pardon. You need have no worry 
 about a death penalty, for the Emperor in his old 
 age is commuting all such sentences. Money is, of 
 course, of no use there, but will help us in getting 
 the hearing, for an application for full pardon must 
 go through several hands before it reaches the 
 Royal ear. What is her religion?" 
 
 "Roman Catholic, now." 
 
 "That will help. We may be able through that 
 fact to inspire interest for your client in some in- 
 fluential quarter." 
 
 "Do your best, Doctor Sommer !" 
 
 "Rest assured of it ! Now a little for yourself, 
 Herr Doktor. Don't talk. If any one in authority 
 question you, refer him to me." 
 
 "I am expecting arrest. She was my friend and 
 in my home. And I went with her to the church." 
 370
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Oh, they will arrest you. Is there any one to 
 stand for you? We will need you outside." 
 
 "Go to Count Weyer-Reinbach." 
 
 "Very well." 
 
 I left him with some encouragement, but my ar- 
 rest came at once. When I arrived at my apart- 
 ments I found the police already in charge of my 
 rooms ransacking everything with my servant stand- 
 ing agape over them. They allowed me time to re- 
 engage my apartments, and then I was placed in a 
 carriage and not long afterward I was installed in 
 less commodious and comfortable quarters. Two 
 days later, thanks to Count Weyer's signature, I 
 was released and allowed to return to my rooms, 
 but forbidden to go outside of the octroi boundary 
 lines of the city. 
 
 The day after my release Cecilie arrived and we 
 drove directly from the station to attorney Som- 
 mer's office. 
 
 In response to the lawyer's questions Cecilie 
 stated that she had first met Gisela on the train be- 
 tween Laibach and Graz. Cecilie had been taking a 
 rest in Meran and had come to Laibach with a new- 
 ly made acquaintance for a two days' visit. When, 
 after this, she had taken the train for Vienna, she 
 and Gisela were alone in the compartment reserved 
 for ladies traveling alone. This was when Gisela 
 first came to Vienna. 
 
 Owing to Gisela's evident inexperience in travel- 
 ing, Cecilie had offered to help her, and thus they 
 became acquainted. As Gisela had no especial place 
 to which to go to in Vienna, Cecilie had recom- 
 mended rooms she knew to be free, in a house next 
 door to the one in which she would reside and which 
 she had occupied up to leaving for her sojourn 
 in Meran. This was in Anton Frank Street.
 
 T H e Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 A few days later Gisela had moved to rooms in her 
 own house and from that time on they were to- 
 gether until Gisela had suddenly fled the city. 
 
 ''Did she have money?" 
 
 "Only a little." 
 
 "Who paid for her rooms?" 
 
 Cecilie hesitated. 
 
 "We must know all, Fraulein, in order to meet 
 every attack from the other side," said the attor- 
 ney. 
 
 "Ingenieur Overmann." 
 
 "Ah-h!" 
 
 "But they were not friends !" 
 
 "Not friends? Why, then, did he support her?" 
 
 "He was trying to get her to agree to marry him. 
 He told her that her uncle was sending him the 
 money to use for her, but told her that her uncle 
 forbade her to write to him. Later when he found 
 that she would not marry him, he told her that it 
 was he himself who was furnishing the money and 
 that he would no longer do so unless she would 
 agree to marry him. Then she ordered him to leave 
 her for good. At first she merely told me she could 
 no longer take the money, but later, after he had 
 tried again several times to see her, she told me 
 just how it was, and all that had gone before." 
 
 "Why did she leave her home to begin with?" 
 
 "I do not know, Doctor Sommer. That is one of 
 two things she never offered to tell me, and I did 
 not ask." 
 
 "What was the other?" 
 
 "Why she suddenly left Vienna after we moved 
 to Doctor Ransome's house. Her only reference to 
 this was in one of her letters in which she wrote 
 that she had to leave in order to save some one." 
 
 "Save whom?" 
 
 372
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "I do not know. She just wrote 'some one.' I 
 have always suspected that this had something to 
 do with Doctor Ransome. He was pressing her to 
 marry him, too, and I know there was some reason 
 why she could not." 
 
 "Did she love Doctor Ransome?" 
 
 "With all her heart, poor dear! Many a night 
 I have stayed with her until she fairly cried herself 
 to sleep!" 
 
 We were all silent at this. 
 
 "But you do not know why she could not marry 
 him?" 
 
 "No, Doctor Sommer. She only said she did not 
 dare. Whatever the risk was, I think she meant at 
 one time, to take it, but just two days before she 
 went away, she told me she would never marry at 
 all." 
 
 "It is a great pity we do not know what that 
 reason was," remarked the lawyer. "I fancy it was, 
 at least, the precipitating cause of the tragedy. If 
 I be permitted to question her privately, I will try 
 to get her to tell me." 
 
 He rapidly completed his notes up to this point. 
 
 "But after she left Vienna you knew where she 
 was?" 
 
 "Yes, after a few days." 
 
 "Where was she?" 
 
 "In the convent of St. Agatha." 
 
 We both started in surprise. 
 
 "St. Agatha's, here, near Vienna?" 
 
 "Yes, Doctor Sommer. When she had reached 
 Munich, she took a train back the same night. You 
 must have passed her on the way, Doctor Ransome. 
 A sister was waiting when she arrived at the sta- 
 tion, and they went together, directly to the con- 
 vent." 
 
 373
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Did you go to see her there ?" 
 
 "Twice." 
 
 "Did she remain there until she last returned to 
 Vienna?" 
 
 "I think she must have. I have a letter from her 
 which was posted from there only three weeks ago 
 yesterday." 
 
 "St. Agatha's convent!" muttered the lawyer. 
 "Her Durchlaucht the Fiirstin Carlovitz is a special 
 patroness of that institution Hum Well Frau- 
 lein, can you think of anything to add? For exam- 
 ple, did she seem to be herself at all times?" 
 
 "Oh, no, Doctor Sommer! I have known her to 
 stand for a half hour at a stretch with hands 
 clenched, staring at one spot on the floor. I have 
 seen her stand before a window in her room, in 
 the dark, with both hands raised above her head 
 as if she were making a vow. I have seen her reach 
 for a book on a shelf, and then seem to recollect 
 something, and forget to lower her arm and stand 
 that way for minutes at a time. Much of the time 
 she would slowly pace the floor with a perfectly 
 expressionless face, and she would not hear when I 
 spoke to her. Sometimes she would be so, and then 
 suddenly burst out singing; singing half wildly and 
 with breaks and catches in her voice. She would 
 sometimes sing the same way in her sleep. It al- 
 ways fairly prostrated me to hear it for I know 
 what singing is, and why singing is of this sort or 
 that, and I always know that this singing meant a 
 conflict between her despondency and her will not 
 to show it, even when it was in her sleep. For 
 three or four days before she fled away, it was more 
 so than usual. It was dreadful to hear that in the 
 dead of night !" 
 
 "The singing?" 
 
 374
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Yes, Doctor." 
 
 "Did she talk in her sleep?" 
 
 "Not that I ever noticed. We slept in adjoining 
 rooms. I only heard singing." 
 
 There was not much more, for Cecilie had told 
 all she knew. 
 
 She went to a hotel, and after making an ap- 
 pointment to call the day following, I went to my 
 rooms to try if my despondency, self -accusations 
 and remorse would allow me to have a little peace 
 in sleep. 
 
 There were other consultations of course, but 
 they were routine affairs that will not interest the 
 reader of this narrative. Nearly a week passed be- 
 fore I received any further definite news. 
 
 Then, in response to a note, I called at the attor- 
 ney's office. He informed me that he had succeeded 
 in enlisting the full sympathy and interest of the 
 Fiirstin Carlovitz, the more as Gisela had already 
 once been under the protection of St. Agatha's 
 convent. They had gone together to the convent 
 and talked with the Superior. Furthermore, he 
 told me, the regular committee of medical experts 
 attached to the Court would examine Gisela in a 
 couple of days. 
 
 I never knew all that passed at this sitting, for 
 Gisela, myself and witnesses were separately ex- 
 amined in private. A number of persons were 
 called, including two of the nuns at the convent, 
 and Gisela's former and latter landladies. The two 
 well-known alienists who had charge of this exami- 
 nation were the only ones who had had access to 
 Gisela herself. The Ingenieur testimony was 
 taken at his bedside. I was not at this time in- 
 formed what it was, but learned long afterwards. 
 I will here remark for the reader's benefit, that 
 375
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 for some reason or another, he said everything he 
 could for Gisela. 
 
 Their decision was not made public immediately. 
 I was given to understand that it would be final. 
 
 The following day I met my attorney by appoint- 
 ment. He had two curious and unexpected ques- 
 tions to ask. 
 
 "Doctor, are you prepared to renounce forever 
 all claims to Fraulein Portulan's estate?" 
 
 "Why, Doctor Sommer! What claim have / 
 upon her estate? That should be done by the Sig- 
 norina herself!" 
 
 "She has already done so. But certain persons 
 exact that you also sign a renouncement. The in- 
 strument will recite her present estate, and will not 
 include anything she may acquire later." 
 
 "Done, Doctor Sommer." 
 
 He had the contract ready. A notary was called 
 in and I signed the document. Then the notary 
 left. 
 
 "Now, Doctor Ransome, I have one thing further. 
 Are you prepared to make a gift a heavy one, 
 to St. Agatha's convent?" 
 
 "If it be within my means." 
 
 He mentioned the sum. It was a "heavy" gift, 
 truly. I thought the matter over, for this together 
 with the other drafts that had been made upon me 
 and would still be made, would leave me a poor 
 man. A thought of my friend the banker at Cat- 
 taro came to me, but I felt that his obligation had 
 not comprehended help of this kind and to this 
 extent; besides, that had been intended for me, 
 only. 
 
 I admit that it cost a struggle, and my hesitation 
 must have been marked; but there rose up before 
 me a face with beautiful, sad Dalmatian eyes, and 
 376
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 the memory that she "had always loved me, from 
 the beginning! Always, always!" and, as I now 
 knew, had always been true to me more true than 
 I had been to her! And with this memory came 
 another ; namely, that I had once been in a position 
 to protect her, and had I been as true to her as she 
 had been to me had I had less temper and more 
 patience I could have prevented her ever falling 
 into her present plight. I mechanically reached for 
 a pen. 
 
 "Will she be set free, Doctor Sommer?" 
 
 "Set free! A homicidally dangerous insane 
 woman f Not in Austria, Doctor Ransome!" 
 
 "Not free!" 
 
 "It will be this way, and there is no other way, 
 Herr Doktor. The medical committee will declare 
 her of unsound mind. Then the convent will come 
 forward, state that she wishes to take the veil, and 
 that in consideration of that they offer to assume 
 the care of her for the rest of her life." 
 
 "To take the veil!" 
 
 "You must never repeat this interview, Doctor 
 Ransome, nor ever make public any fact concern- 
 ing the matter. Of course, this woman may be 
 insane for aught I know. Your own opinion will 
 be better than mine as to that. But the proof of 
 insanity is by no means conclusive. The commit- 
 tee has decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, 
 but they are by no means satisfied. However, so 
 far, all is regular. The irregularity consists in sub- 
 stituting the convent for a maison de Sante in the 
 case of a person, who having the idee fixe, has com- 
 mitted homicide. That seldom occurs in Austria, 
 Herr Doktor. It has been difficult to manage. I 
 have had to enlist the countenance of some import- 
 
 377
 
 The 'Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 ant people. Do you not realize the significance of 
 this arrangement?" 
 
 To take the veil! That separated us forever! 
 Had I been in her place I would rather have had 
 a prison sentence but I could not reason that way 
 for her. She could still enjoy God's bright sun- 
 light and wholesome air. Her life would turn grey 
 but better that than black. 
 
 "And if she were to go to a maison de Sante in- 
 stead?" 
 
 "Ask yourself, Herr Doktor! Would she not 
 become mad forever?" 
 
 "Have you this contract ready, too?" I asked, 
 pretty hoarsely, I think. 
 
 He silently spread the document before me. I 
 looked it over, but my eyes were only faithful 
 enough to gather the general sense of it. It per- 
 mitted payment in yearly installments for ten 
 years, with an allowance for pre-payments. I signed 
 the contract and pushed it away. 
 
 I do not know what else he may have said. I 
 think he misjudged me a little, for I just realized 
 some words about my still being a young man, 
 without burdens, with plenty of time to make an- 
 other competence. He meant to be kind and he 
 really had done well. He had passed his case along 
 those lines reserved for the very rich and titled 
 classes, and which are closed to ordinary travel. 
 But he did not "understand," either. I would have 
 been satisfied to be poor with Gisela. But to be 
 poor, and have to sign herself away as well, took 
 my very last strength. 
 
 My own trial came a week later. As the princi- 
 pal in the tragedy had been declared of unsound 
 mind, it was a short affair. The jury considered 
 378
 
 The ^Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 the case for only ten minutes and I was acquitted, 
 the judge dismissing me with a kind speech. 
 
 I never asked the banker for help. The most I 
 could have expected from him would have been 
 a few thousand crowns, which would not especially 
 have altered my circumstances. I let the money go 
 and kept my pride. 
 
 379
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 CECILIE had remained in Vienna until the close 
 of my own trial. A couple of days afterward I 
 accompanied her to the train, and as she bade me 
 goodbye, she said: 
 
 "I saw her yesterday at the convent." 
 
 "How does she seem?" 
 
 "She is resigned. We did not talk of you much, 
 but she sent you one last message. It was that 
 'she loved you from the first and would love you 
 always. Her vow could never alter that,' she said." 
 
 Cecilie kissed me on both cheeks. 
 
 "Love her always Edward!" And in a pas- 
 sion of tears she hastened aboard the train. I 
 watched her waving handkerchief until it disap- 
 peared from sight. 
 
 My own plans, perforce, had altered. In my 
 changed circumstances I could no longer carry out 
 my elaborate plans for further improvement in my 
 profession. I did not feel that I could go to Berlin 
 at all, but decided to remain some months in Vienna 
 where I was known on the clinic and in conse- 
 quence had certain advantages. At the end of that 
 time I would return home and go into practice, for 
 my dreams of that private hospital had gone up 
 in smoke, along with several other fine plans. 
 
 I left Vienna for six weeks, partly to get away 
 
 from the scene of my troubles and partly to give 
 
 gaping blockheads who knew me by sight time to 
 
 get interested in some other sensation and cease 
 
 380
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 pointing me out whenever I appeared in a public 
 place. 
 
 The first day of my return to my rooms, after 
 this absence, was especially bitter, and I never 
 went up stairs again. As time passed, by burying 
 myself in my books, I was able, at times, to think 
 of other things. 
 
 There would, however, be times when I would be 
 unable to work. On these days I would take a 
 train out to the outlying village in whose neighbor- 
 hood the convent was, and find some place where 
 I could watch the distant buildings from outside 
 the extensive walls. Once I called there with the 
 wife of an acquaintance. The Sister Superior re- 
 ceived us in the visitors' room, but would not hear 
 of calling Gisela. She informed us Gisela was well, 
 and said that she was a model member of the sis- 
 terhood. She faithfully promised to inform me 
 if Gisela should have any serious illness. She fur- 
 thermore informed me that Gisela was still in the 
 novitiate but would receive the veil in about a fort- 
 night. Finally she forbade me unconditionally to 
 call, ever again. 
 
 About this time the war cloud was hanging per- 
 sistently over Austria, and the following winter 
 saw the beginning of that heavy mobilization of the 
 army. The formal annexation of Bosnia and the 
 Herzegovina had been announced. The war cloud 
 lowered still more, and now almost the entire Aus- 
 trian army became massed in the south ready to 
 spring upon the small Servian state, and the Ger- 
 man army prepared to defend Austria's northern 
 and eastern frontiers against Russia. At this time 
 only the active union of two other great powers 
 was necessary to plunge Europe into a conflict, but
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 that union never materialized. Instead, one by one, 
 the powers acknowledged the annexation to be a 
 "fait accompli," Pan-Servianism in the Balkans re- 
 ceived its check for the time, and little by little the 
 war cloud began to lift and wing heavily away. But 
 there was an aftermath in Austria. This was the 
 notorious trial at Agram. 
 
 Determined to strike a death-blow to the Pan- 
 Servian propaganda, the government had been for 
 some months apprehending all the supposed leaders 
 of the movement, together with others more re- 
 motely connected with it. There was little proof 
 against these men, and some of them were shown, 
 at the long trial, lasting months, to have been even 
 faithful servants of the Crown. All these men were 
 finally acquitted ; but for a year or more their fate 
 and that of many others with them hung in the 
 balance. This trial had not yet taken place at this 
 date of my narrative, but we were beginning to 
 read about it in those trivial niggling articles in 
 which the Continental press alludes to such things, 
 and which make one so think of a man walking 
 through a field of stumps. 
 
 The months dragged by and once more the time 
 came for me to let my rooms go, and to pack up 
 my belongings to go home, this time. Once more 
 my rooms were in disorder, all my trunks being 
 ready except the two I would use on the actual 
 journey. 
 
 I was not intending to occupy many hours with 
 good-byes this time, but there was one good-bye I 
 did wish to say, and I felt I could not leave with- 
 out it. I determined to see Gisela once more before 
 I went. We may talk all we please about any one 
 "being dead to us," but as long as they actually 
 382
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 live, and we know it, they are never dead to us. 
 That can only be when we know they are beneath 
 the ground. Gisela was not dead to me, as the Sis- 
 ter Superior had, not unkindly, told me she must 
 be. Nor would she ever be. 
 
 I knew better than to try to see her at the con- 
 vent better than to show myself there again. Nor 
 did the chance of seeing her any other place seem 
 bright. So my resolve was based merely upon the 
 intense desire, and upon no plan. However, the 
 Fates had decreed that so much, at least, was to be 
 granted me. 
 
 I had spent several idle days obsessed by this 
 idea, when one afternoon I was hailed from a pass- 
 ing carriage. It stopped and Count Weyer alighted 
 and greeted me warmly. He had been away; in 
 Paris, I had understood, and I had not seen him 
 since shortly after my trial, many months before. 
 
 He shook my hand and demanded an account of 
 myself. 
 
 "What! Going back home? I am sorry to hear 
 that, Doctor. You must call and see us before you 
 go. The Grafin has always been fond of you. 
 Exactly when are you to start?" 
 
 I explained that I was uncertain, but that it 
 would have to be soon. 
 
 "Are you still at work?" 
 
 "Oh, no. Entirely idle, Count." 
 
 "Ah! I see a pretty face in this, Doctor! A 
 man like you is idle for no other reason. Who is 
 this one ?" 
 
 "The same face, Count." 
 
 He grew grave. 
 
 "Still hit, my friend? That is bad. It will be 
 difficult to get hold of her." 
 
 "I never hope to, Count. But I wish I might see 
 
 383
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 her just once more. That is not much, for it would 
 be the end." 
 
 "May-be !" he said, drily. "I have heard of such 
 things as escaped nuns. Hum! Let me think. It 
 would be a jolly lark, and I wish I saw a way to 
 help it along. Would she go?" 
 
 "Oh, no, Count. You are quite off the mark, I 
 assure you. I am certain she would not go. I 
 could only hope to see her at most, to exchange 
 a good-bye." 
 
 "Rather unsatisfactory. I ought not to sympa- 
 thize with her ! The removal from the world of as 
 fine a sport as the Tomaso was a great shame ! And 
 such a voice, too ! But never mind. I don't know 
 much about convents, and nuns have never ap- 
 pealed to me hum but the Grafin knows more. 
 I'll talk the matter over with her. Well, Doctor, 
 those horses are fresh and the coachman is cursing 
 because I am keeping him here. Hum, since you 
 are idle, come along with me now. We will all take 
 dinner together. Come along, boy! I'll have no 
 excuses !" 
 
 He took me by the arm and dragged me to the 
 carriage. In truth it was a welcome diversion, for 
 my mood had become indigo. The Grafin was a 
 big, cheery, motherly woman who loved young peo- 
 ple better than those of her own age. The Count 
 himself was a gay man and did not care in the 
 least who knew it. The Grafin was gay also 
 but legitimately. She loved a love affair of the 
 right sort, and even had a certain sneaking sym- 
 pathy with some of the ones of the wrong sort, as 
 I had more than once suspected. It was easy to 
 see how she had the best regard of such a man as 
 the Count; she never annoyed him, but kept his 
 respect. 
 
 384
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 We had about concluded our dinner that evening 
 when the Count broached the subject of our pre- 
 vious conversation. 
 
 "Annetta, the mind of our young friend is not 
 with us, but in St. Agatha's. Do you know any- 
 thing about them there ?" 
 
 "Why not very much, I fear. But I think I 
 could break in." Then more seriously. "Do you 
 still love her, Edward?" 
 
 The Count answered for me. 
 
 "He would like to run away with her. He pro- 
 tests he only wants to say 'good-bye forever,' and 
 so on, but I was young once ! I know just what 
 that 'good-bye forever' business means !" 
 
 "Yes. He said 'good-bye forever' to me six times 
 in one short year. But she has taken the veil 
 now, Edward. You can do nothing now, boy ! The 
 Count has a maximum lack of respect for all things 
 for which he should have reverence, but I believe 
 that even he would respect the veil!" 
 
 "Oh, I have always let nuns alone. No shaved- 
 heads for me !" 
 
 "Shaved-heads!" 
 
 "Well, it comes to the same thing. Why! Did 
 you not know that, Doctor?" 
 
 Her beautiful hair removed ! 
 
 "Bah ! It can grow again !" said the Grafin. 
 
 The Count laughed, loud and long. 
 "Hear that, Doctor? What was the thought be- 
 hind that speech? She is already planning to help 
 you! Rest easy! When Annetta starts to do a 
 thing, it is done !" 
 
 "Oh, I admit I love young people and their af- 
 fairs." 
 
 "Naturally!" I remarked. "Do not the young 
 flock together?" 
 
 385
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Oh, I am no longer young. I never stoop to 
 deceive myself on that score, boy !" 
 
 "Pshaw!" 
 
 "Pshaw indeed!" said the Count. "I find her 
 young and no prude, either." 
 
 "I never thought the Grafin a prude." 
 
 "I have lived with the Graf fourteen years," she 
 said, sweetly. "Edward, do you number among 
 your acquaintances any woman who you believe 
 could do that and remain a prude?" 
 
 "If you do," said the Count, "send her here and 
 let her try !" 
 
 "No, it cannot be done here," she answered smil- 
 ing. "It will have to be in the hunting lodge in 
 Krain, or in some other of the Count's pet sardine- 
 tins for two." 
 
 He roared again. She continued, now seriously 
 once more. 
 
 "But, Edward, you must not try to run away 
 with her. It simply won't do !" 
 
 "Grafin, she would not go with me. I know her 
 well ! My only hope would be to see her once 
 more and bid her good-bye." 
 
 She bent earnest eyes upon me, and the kind 
 eyes began to blink. Then she rose from the table. 
 
 "It shall be done ! I don't see my way just this 
 moment, but I swear I shall manage it!" 
 
 "It is settled, Doctor," said the Count. "You 
 will get to say your 'good-bye forever.' " 
 
 I had less faith than the Count; but that only 
 showed that, by reason of his eighteen or nineteen 
 years of superior experience perhaps, he knew 
 women better, or, at least, knew the Grafin better. 
 
 386
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE days lengthened into a week and the week 
 into a fortnight, and if my hopes had been raised 
 by the Grafin they had settled again by now. Dur- 
 ing this time I neither saw, nor heard from, either 
 her or the Count. However, coming one day from 
 the city I dropped into the Cafe Central and met 
 the Count coming out. 
 
 "Ah, Doctor, glad to see you! I have just sent 
 you a line. The Grafin is ill and thinks you ought 
 to come and see her." 
 
 "Ill !" But the Count looked curiously cheerful. 
 He even winked. 
 
 "The note will appoint Thursday evening. Com- 
 fort her all you can." 
 
 And he walked off with his debonair swagger, 
 smiling, and breaking out into a whistle. 
 
 The Count was a queer fellow! I knew that he 
 loved, and above all was proud of, his wife, not- 
 withstanding his occasional journeys to Coventry 
 where she perforce sometimes sent him. Probably 
 she was not much ill, but not able to leave the 
 house, and wanted to explain why she had not been 
 able as yet to make any effort in my behalf. 
 
 On Thursday evening I was shown into the 
 Count's drawing-room and kept waiting awhile. 
 One low-turned gas jet was burning and the rich 
 room was full of shadows and oppressive. After 
 ten minutes or so the little son of the house, aged 
 four years, ran in and tumbled onto my knee. Lit- 
 tle Robert and I had been sworn friends for his 
 years. The little fellow was his father's son, as the 
 387
 
 The 'Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 Grafin always insisted, much to the Count's laugh- 
 ter and delight. He was what the Count had been 
 at his age, and, one day would be what the Count 
 was now. 
 
 "Were oo been?" 
 
 "Oh, around." 
 
 "Round' w'ere?" 
 
 "Oh, down town, and home, and two or three 
 other places." 
 
 "W'y don' oo tome he'e of'ner? I dot uh new 
 tite." 
 
 "Is that so? Can you fly it?" 
 
 "No I tant. Johann do dat fo' me. W'ere oo 
 doin' t'night?" 
 
 "Going to stay here for awhile." 
 
 "Wat fo?" 
 
 "I want to see your mamma. Is she better ?" 
 
 "Bettuh ?" 
 
 "Yes. Is she still sick?" 
 
 "Mamma no' sit 'tall !" 
 
 "She has been though, has she not?" 
 
 "No ! W'y oo say so funny t'ings, Dottor ? Has 
 oo 'ad a d'ink?" 
 
 "No I am sober. But I thought your mam- 
 ma was sick. Your papa told me so, I thought." 
 
 "Dat funny! Say, Dottor, you dot a dirl?" 
 
 "No. Robert, I can't find one." 
 
 "Hy-ee ! Dey plen'y 'roun' ! I dot free !" 
 
 "Three ! That's too many, Robert. You can not 
 manage them." 
 
 "Oh, yes, I tan ! Papa say I dood as he is. Dot- 
 tor! I no' b'lieve oo not dot a dirl. Oo des won' 
 tell !" 
 
 "I used to have one, Robert, but I have lost her." 
 
 "Las' huh ? Det nudder den ! Dey 'roun' !" 
 
 Here it was again; the same old recipe, now 
 388
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 from the mouth of a child. But I had not gradu- 
 ated from that school. 
 
 "Dottor, oo not jolly t'night. Wot ma'er wif 
 oo?" 
 
 "You are jolly enough for two, little man." 
 
 "W'y oo ast if mamma sit?" 
 
 "I thought she was, Robert." 
 
 "S'e no' sit. S'e dot tom'p'y." 
 
 "Oh ! Well, we will have to wait until the com- 
 pany goes. We can be company for each other." 
 
 ''S'e no' go. S'e pitty 'ady! Awfu' pity 'ady! 
 S'e ben 'ere t'ree fo' days. S'e nun." 
 
 In my blank astonishment I started half up and 
 allowed the child to fall headlong onto the floor. It 
 was a moment or two before I realized that a pair 
 of very indignant and reproachful eyes were mea- 
 suring me with great earnestness. 
 
 "W'y oo do dat, Dottor? I didn' do not'm!" 
 and his little under lip began to tremble. I gath- 
 ered him in my arms, but do not remember more 
 that the little fellow said. His governess soon came 
 'in and carried him off, and it was but a moment 
 later that the Graf and Grafin both appeared. The 
 Grafin said: 
 
 "I have just seen Robert's governess. I fear he 
 has let the cat out of the bag." 
 
 "He has! Heaven bless him!" 
 
 "Well, that anticipates my surprise. But no mat- 
 ter. She will be in presently. She will do nothing 
 wrong, Edward. Don't try to persuade her. Re- 
 member the veil!" 
 
 The Count leaned over and whispered in my ear. 
 
 "Clear out! both of you! /'// take the re- 
 sponsibility !" 
 
 "Now you have heard some deviltry, Edward! 
 
 389
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 It is always that when the Count whispers. He is 
 a bad counsellor. But I am not afraid." 
 
 Another warm handshake and more kind words 
 from both, and they excused themselves. I waited 
 standing, probably five minutes, unable either to 
 see or to swallow. There came a faint rustle at 
 the farther door. I stopped came again and 
 was once more still. Then the heavy portieres 
 parted and she entered, her hands clasped and her 
 eyes upon the floor. She stopped about ten feet 
 away from me and waited thus. I could not 
 speak. I only saw her dimly. 
 
 I am not quite sure how it came about nor how 
 long a time elapsed beforehand, but at last I found 
 myself kneeling at her feet with one of her hands 
 in mine, covering it with kisses yet I couldn't 
 see the hand. I felt the other trembling about my 
 hair and looked up and tried to see her in the dim 
 light. The two hands came to my face. She bent, 
 kissed me on the forehead and laid her cheek upon 
 it. My own arms went about her shoulders, and 
 for a moment we remained so. Then she broke 
 away and tottered into a chair crying and sobbing, 
 suppressed, but trembling from head to foot 
 
 I remained half sitting, half kneeling and buried 
 my head in my arms on a chair seat. After a mo- 
 ment I heard a step and looked up. 
 
 The Grafin had come in. Her own face was wet 
 and she was sobbing. She knelt by me and took 
 my head in her arms. 
 
 "Take her, and go ! if she will ! I'll no longer 
 stand in the way. I leave you, for good or ill ; and 
 God bless you both !" 
 
 I heard her retreating and the closing of the door 
 after her. 
 
 I dragged myself to Gisela and buried my 
 390
 
 "She stopped about ten feet away." 
 "(Accursed Roccos.)
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 head in her lap. Trembling hands again hovered 
 about my head and face, just touching me. 
 
 "Oh, Gisela ! Why ! Why ! Why !" But she an- 
 swered no word I only felt her tears and the half 
 shadowy touch of her hands, now here, now there, 
 on my head and shoulders. And thus we were for 
 a long time. 
 
 At last I could bear it no longer. I sat back and 
 seized her hands. She fell back in the chair, pale 
 and weak. At last I could see her eyes, heavy and 
 wet, but the same beautiful and still more sad Dal- 
 matian eyes that had haunted me since that St. 
 John's evening when I had first seen them. 
 
 "Gisela, they have both told me to take you and 
 go. Both the Graf and the Grafin. Will you go?" 
 
 She burst out crying, this time without restraint. 
 
 "Oh Ed-uard I can not ! I can not !" 
 
 The paroxysm passed and after she had quieted 
 a little I made another appeal. 
 
 "Gisela, you can if you will. Your vow is only 
 binding as far as the Roman Catholic Church is 
 concerned. The rest of the world does not recog- 
 nize such a vow. There are other churches into 
 which you can go as Christian ones as the Roman 
 Church." 
 
 She covered her face with her hands and trem- 
 bled. ^ 
 
 "Gisela, you were not in your right mind when 
 you took the vow. There are plenty of Roman 
 Catholics themselves who would not consider such 
 a vow binding." 
 
 No answer. Only trembling. 
 
 "We can go to-night. The Grafin has left us 
 alone and expects us to go. Let us go, then! Be 
 my own dear wife! We can be out of Austria be- 
 fore morning. We will go to far away America 
 391
 
 The r Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 and begin all anew and in peace and happiness. 
 Come, dear one! Go with me! I love you and 
 you love me. We will never part again. Come! 
 Come, dear one" 
 
 I arose, bent down and put my arms about her 
 shoulders. I would have kissed her. In sudden 
 frantic strength she held my head away and 
 screamed in fright: 
 
 "No ! Not on my lips ! If you do, I am lost ! 
 lost! Oh, Ed Edu Eduard, 1-loose me, if you 
 love me ! If you do not wish me damned forever 
 
 loose me, Edu Lo-ose me !" 
 
 She sprang from the chair and paced the room, 
 now her arms outstretched with upturned face, now 
 with them hanging by her sides, and her head 
 bowed. Her face was whiter than the linen head- 
 dress which surrounded it and her eyes widely 
 opened, were larger than ever. 
 
 I made one more appeal and she stood still to 
 listen. 
 
 "Gisela, you never could be damned for loving 
 and marrying me. That would be no sin! Nor 
 could you be damned for breaking a vow made 
 when you were not in your right mind. That also 
 is no sin ! You risk nothing in coming to me. But 
 darling, you do not think of me. What is to hap- 
 pen to me if I have to live without you? Have 
 you thought of that? For I shall always love you 
 and be true to my love. What does that mean for 
 me, Gisela?" 
 
 "Dear, dear Eduard, it is only something that 
 could never have been !" 
 
 "You could have married me !" 
 
 "No, Eduard!" 
 
 "Tell me why ! I have a right to know !" 
 
 "It is better that you never know, dear Eduard." 
 392
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "I insist, Gisela ! I have the right !" 
 
 "Then I will tell you. But you must swear by 
 your love for me that you will never act on this 
 information, and above all will never raise your 
 hand in revenge or anger against any human being 
 now living by reason of anything I shall tell you." 
 
 "Why am I to swear that?" 
 
 "Because you have had misery and trouble 
 enough on my account ! Because I shall never 
 allow myself to place you where I have been ! That 
 is why, dear. If you will solemnly swear this and 
 make me believe you will keep your oath, I will 
 tell you. Otherwise I shall remain silent." 
 
 I had no idea of what was coming and I hated 
 to give the word ; for once given to her it would 
 have to be kept. But I had to know ; not by reason 
 of mere curiosity, but in order to see a way to com- 
 bat her position now, or if not now, at some later 
 time. 
 
 "Very well, Gisela, I swear it." 
 
 "And by your love for me will you keep your 
 word, Eduard?" 
 
 "Yes, Gisela." 
 
 "Very well. But I think the knowledge will not 
 make you happier, Eduard." 
 
 "Go on, dear. There can't be many more dregs 
 for me to drink now. Let me hear it." 
 
 "I shall have to go back to Cattaro in my ex- 
 planation, Eduard. In the first place, except your 
 violinist friend and my poor helpless self, you did 
 not have one real friend in Cattaro. You thought 
 the banker was your friend and so he was for a 
 time. But later he would have sacrificed you to 
 save his schemes. I do not call that friendship." 
 
 This communication did surprise me. However, 
 she was speaking collectedly and firmly now and, 
 
 393
 
 The 'Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 too, must know the inside history of the affair 
 much better than I. I was conscious of a certain 
 pride in the fact that I had not gone to him for 
 help. 
 
 "Go on, dear." 
 
 "You carried two dispatches, one to him from 
 Montenegro, and one reply to Cettinje." 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "You did not know what was in these dispatches. 
 Later, Paulo was imprisoned. So were a number 
 of others from different parts down there. Think- 
 ing Paulo a Servian sympathizer, two others be- 
 came friendly with him. From them he learned 
 what the dispatches contained, exactly how they 
 were transferred, and between whom they went. 
 The first dispatch was from the Pan-Servian asso- 
 ciation, containing a draft for a large sum of money 
 and a statement of the different districts and names 
 of the persons among whom a certain shipload of 
 arms and ammunition was to be portioned out. The 
 return dispatch contained a list of the things on 
 this ship, told where it was lying, how it was to be 
 unloaded, together with the secret signs and words 
 by which the people on the ship would know that 
 they were delivering the cargo to the persons for 
 whom it was intended." 
 
 "Be seated, Gisela," and I drew up a chair. 
 "Well?" 
 
 "Eduard, if the contents of these dispatches had 
 ever become known the whole Pan-Servian asso- 
 ciation would have been exposed, and all the bank- 
 er's wealth would not have been enough to save 
 him. He used you as his messenger because you 
 were exactly suited to the task. You were a for- 
 eigner, honorable, and even with no interest in the 
 matter. He could trust you, as he could not an- 
 
 394
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 other soul, and no notice would have been taken 
 of you if it had not been for one person who over- 
 heard you and him in his private office." 
 
 "I know his private secretary." 
 
 She nodded and went on. 
 
 "Eduard, if it had ever become known that you 
 carried these dispatches, knowing them to be of 
 political character, as indeed you must have known, 
 you would now be among those at Agram, and 
 would share their fate, whatever that is to be, not 
 to mention one or two years of imprisonment be- 
 forehand. Remember, too, that you unwittingly 
 helped the banker to make a fool of the General 
 Commandant at Cattaro, in the arrest of Paulo. 
 
 And there was another and even more serious 
 thing that I am sure you have never heard about, 
 but you would have been mixed in it. You know 
 of Signer Sbutega's private secretary. This man 
 was a second cousin of Paulo. About two months 
 after you left Cattaro, he was found drowned." 
 
 "Found drowned!" 
 
 "Yes. By people outside, this was looked upon 
 as a mere accidental death ; but Paulo was told 
 when and how it occurred. And the reason was 
 that he had carried information of Signer Sbu- 
 tega's plans to my uncle and others. Paulo also 
 found out that you, Eduard, were the person who 
 informed Signer Sbutega of this man's treachery. 
 The only thing they could never learn was how you 
 yourself became informed of it. 
 
 If this had become known you would have been 
 implicated in a political crime as well, and the two 
 things together would have gone not lightly with 
 you, Eduard, for as you will see, my people would 
 have made the utmost use they could of it. You 
 see, do you not, that your going with a false letter 
 
 395
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 and deceiving the Commandant and later receiving 
 the real one and delivering it would have been 
 proof enough that you were not acting innocently, 
 do you not, Eduard?" 
 
 "Yes, they could have made me trouble enough, 
 all right." 
 
 Indeed, it would not have taken the tenth part 
 of all this in those troubled times to bring about 
 my long incarceration, to say the least. There was 
 far less against those other luckless men, as any 
 one who ever read the absurd evidence put forward 
 by the government knows well enough. I realized 
 that I had had a very real escape, somehow. 
 
 "Well, if Paulo had all this material why did he 
 not act?" 
 
 "He, or rather they, did, Eduard. Just wait! 
 They did not denounce you, because they had a 
 more useful purpose for the information. Their 
 first step was to do away with the banker's protec- 
 tion of you. They feared you might use this for 
 me, and they wished also to do away with it so they 
 could work upon me through you." 
 
 I began to see the light. 
 
 "They went to the banker and gave him the 
 choice of ceasing to protect you and coming over 
 to their plans, or of being denounced for his politi- 
 cal plans and for his political murder, and further 
 the false imprisonment of Paulo. It seems that the 
 Signer was not frightened for himself, but feared 
 the exposure of his plans. Anyway he agreed." 
 
 "To cease to protect you or me?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "I see. Go on, Gisela." 
 
 "It seems that the matter rested so for a long 
 time as long as I was willing to remain at home; 
 for you must know that I knew nothing of all this, 
 396
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 Eduard, until a long time later on. Well, then, 
 Eduard, I received a letter from Lubitza." 
 
 "Well, dear?" 
 
 "I hate to speak of it because you have never 
 mentioned the matter, Eduard." 
 
 "Never mind, Gisela dear. Let us have it all 
 now." 
 
 "It was about the dinner in her rooms a few days 
 after your friend's debut." 
 
 "Oh-h ! So she wrote that to you !" 
 
 "Yes, Eduard." 
 
 "Well! All that she could say truthfully was 
 that I got very drunk, and if she wrote you how it 
 really was you would see that it was at least an 
 accident." Then I related the whole story, includ- 
 ing my puzzle over the letter on the desk. 
 
 "She did not write it quite so, Eduard. She 
 added much to that. I will not can not tell you 
 all she wrote. I am sorry I have not the letter still, 
 but I destroyed all such things when I took the veil. 
 But she made me believe that you had quite for- 
 gotten me. You see, dear, I was, then, still believ- 
 ing that you had written the 'Cara' letter to her. 
 
 Then the Ingenieur came to Cattaro and made 
 love to me, trying to get me to marry him. He got 
 me out of the house to meet him by appointment 
 just once by writing that he had special news of 
 you to tell me. In this communication he pre- 
 tended he did not know that Lubitza had written 
 to me, and told me that dinner party story all over 
 again." 
 
 "My friend Harry was there and could tell you 
 just what occurred, Gisela." 
 
 "Oh, I did not believe quite all they said, but I 
 did think you had forgotten me. The Ingenieur 
 pretended that you had supplanted him in Lubitza's 
 397
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 favors and were planning with her for the estate. 
 The latter I did not believe but my cousin was a 
 pretty woman and always had attracted men, and 
 I thought you might have gone to her. You never 
 wrote me a line nor sent me a message, Ed- 
 uard." 
 
 Then she wept a little again. 
 
 "I never wrote because I thought you had been 
 playing with me, Gisela." 
 
 "Yes, but I only knew that after I had seen you 
 again. At this meeting with the Ingenieur, Paulo 
 and uncle had followed us they had forced my let- 
 ter away from Teresa they had been spying upon 
 our two or three chance meetings before and 
 when I returned to my room uncle burst in upon 
 me and accused me of trying to take the Ingenieur 
 away from my cousin, and told me I must either 
 renounce him or leave the house. Nothing I could 
 say would put this absurd idea out of uncle's head. 
 
 Overmann kept following and meeting me 
 whenever I would go out. I always told him what 
 I thought of him but he did not seem to care. Fi- 
 nally Paulo saw us talking together another time 
 and again told uncle. Then uncle ordered me to 
 leave. I packed my trunks, took the thousand 
 crowns uncle gave me because I could not do other- 
 wise, and left on the boat. Vienna was the only 
 place I could think of, and I decided to come to 
 you and ask you to help me. But I met Cecilie on 
 the train and went to her. I still meant to find 
 you, Eduard, but the Ingenieur found me out by 
 tracing us up. Cecilie is such a striking girl that 
 the guards on our train all remembered her, and me 
 with her. 
 
 Then he still tried to get me to marry him. He 
 kept telling me you had forgotten me, and was 
 398
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 visiting my cousin. He gave me money and told me 
 uncle was sending it, but would not hear from 
 me. Then when I persistently refused to marry 
 him and finally began to refuse to see him when I 
 could, he finally told me that he, and not uncle, 
 was furnishing my support, and unless I 
 would agree to marry him he would do so no 
 longer. With this I told him to go and never come 
 again. But he did not leave at once. Instead he 
 sat down and asked me if I were planning to go to 
 you. When I asked him what business of his my 
 plans were, he answered that he would show me 
 how they were his business. After saying this 
 he explained your circumstances, and after I un- 
 derstood them he dared me to go to you. He sol- 
 emnly assured me that if you ever took part in my 
 affairs again that they would denounce you at once, 
 and ruin you. Besides that he taunted me further 
 with your visiting Lubitza and insisted that you 
 had taken her away from him, and were in love 
 with her. So I never sought you out, Eduard. 
 
 After this Cecilie and I moved to Porzellan 
 street, where we were when you finally took us 
 away. I was trying to get away from him and yet 
 remain with Cecilie. Then later we moved to your 
 house. I consented to this move because I thought 
 you would be safe in receiving me if you did not 
 actually take any part in the affair. 
 
 I rejoiced in this change, for I was sure, now, 
 that you still loved me, whatever your relations 
 with my cousin might have been. Cecilie said you 
 loved me, and I supposed we might be married, for 
 while I knew you must be kept from the danger 
 of trying to help me, yet I had not realized then 
 that that danger still threatened you in case of our 
 marriage itself. I would have said 'yes' that even- 
 399
 
 The 'Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 ing if you had told me you loved me, without ask- 
 ing me to account for my previous months. But 
 I understood your suspicions of me, Eduard, and 
 also I was still believing there had been something 
 between you and my cousin, and my pride wouldn't 
 let me speak out, even if I had dared to tell you 
 how things really were. And it was only the sec- 
 ond day after that that I understood that I would 
 never dare marry you until I was of age, and this 
 occurrence made me resolve to sacrifice marriage 
 altogether in favor of making my cousin pay dearly 
 for her victory. It was not that I did not love 
 you, Eduard. But I was possessed of this idea. 
 Sleeping or waking I could never get away from it, 
 and I came to realize that if I tamely stood by and 
 allowed my cousin to win our battle of a lifetime, 
 I could never have any peace for hatred. It was 
 impossible for me to do otherwise than I did. My 
 reason and my heart regret my act; but if it were 
 to do over again, I should do it just the same, be- 
 cause I would have to, Eduard. 
 
 Well, the second day after our conversation that 
 evening when we left the opera, I was leaving the 
 house to go down town when I almost collided with 
 my uncle and the Ingenieur as I turned the corner 
 of Nussdorfer street. Uncle said he wished to 
 speak with me. I had your cautions in mind and 
 at first would not go with them; but we finally 
 agreed to go down town in the tram to the parlors 
 of the Imperial Hotel until I could hear what they 
 had to say. 
 
 When we got there, uncle explained the situa- 
 tion you were in. The Ingenieur had partly ex- 
 plained it before, but they made it all very clear this 
 time. They they gave me the choice. It was to 
 resign absolutely my estate and not marry until 
 400
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 my majority, or have them denounce you to the 
 Austrian Government. - Furthermore, they agreed 
 that if I would sign their paper they would later 
 give me one-fourth of my estate, and after June 
 seventeenth I might marry whom I pleased." 
 
 "Oh ! That explains why I was asked to re- 
 nounce all claim to your estate while I was trying 
 to set you free !" 
 
 "Did you do it?" 
 
 "Oh, yes." 
 
 "Well, Eduard, I pretended to accept this and 
 signed their paper. It was a statement admitting 
 that I had not lived according to the will. Remem- 
 ber your promise, Eduard!" 
 
 "Oh ! I'll not forget it, dear child," I answered, 
 wearily. 
 
 "But I laid my own plans. I determined to do 
 what I had often thought of to give my cousin 
 the last remaining thing of any value which would 
 be left of my patrimony, and to give it to her as 
 a wedding present. I never planned to strike the 
 Ingenieur. I only did that because he seized me and 
 the contact of his hands was so hateful that I did it 
 in self-defence. 
 
 Of course, I knew this step meant resigning you 
 forever but I simply did not allow myself to think 
 of that. I kept only in mind the thing I had to do. 
 You see, Eduard, I had only loved you three years, 
 and had never actually seen much of you. My love 
 for you was rather an ideal and not so directly con- 
 nected with you in person. But I had hated my 
 cousin for my lifetime, had been brought up with 
 her, and that hatred was actual and personal. 
 
 I decided to leave Vienna, at first because I 
 feared, being with you. that I might break silence 
 as to uncle's plan and T knew you would fight it 
 401
 
 The 'A c c urs'ed R o c c o y 
 
 and thereby get into their net. Later, after our 
 very last interview, I determined to go all the more, 
 because I feared you would break down my re- 
 solve. 
 
 I went to St. Agatha's convent because it bore 
 my mother's name. I arranged to go there with 
 the understanding that after a little time I might 
 enter the novitiate. Then I left for Munich, but 
 came back the following night and went directly to 
 the convent with a sister. When the time came to 
 come to Vienna again I asked leave to go into the 
 village. A sister went with me, but I easily eluded 
 her, bought a hat, blouse and skirt, telegraphed you 
 and came to Vienna. I did not wish to go to a 
 hotel because I feared the convent would inquire 
 for me. I told you my trunks had not come. I 
 had not brought any. I had two stored at a spedi- 
 teur's. That is why I could not let you get them 
 for me. Now you know all, Eduard." 
 
 I thought over this narrative for a long time. 
 With all this material in their hands, I wondered 
 that the Signor and the Ingenieur had allowed my 
 own trial to go so lightly. After some thought, 
 however, I realized, so far as my trial was con- 
 cerned, that all this was not only immaterial, but 
 dangerous for them and their ill-gotten interests 
 as well. 
 
 Gisela had not told her story as straightly and 
 unbrokenly as I have given it. It had been punc- 
 tuated by many a sob and moan and breaking into 
 tears. 
 
 There was plenty of murder in my own heart as 
 I listened to the tale of bullying intrigue and 
 falsehood, and the time came when I said to my- 
 self that she had served her cousin rightly; for 
 now, knowing her better, I felt that Lubitza had 
 402
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 been the moving spirit of it all. As for the Inge- 
 nieur and her uncle, my hands were tied. More 
 was the pity! 
 
 Well, I would forget it ; forget all the past, and 
 turn to the present. 
 
 "Eduard, never forget your oath! I would not 
 have you where I am. Never forget !" 
 
 "I will faithfully keep my word, dear. I am 
 leaving Vienna forever in a couple of days, and 
 I'll never see them again." 
 
 Her head bent to her knees. 
 
 "Going away forever !" 
 
 It was only whispered, and hoarsely ; but I heard 
 it. I crossed over to her, kneeled down and took 
 her hands once more. 
 
 "Gisela, once more, go with me ! We will never 
 have another chance. Now we are free to go. 
 We'll never see one another again if you don't?" 
 
 "O Eduard Eduard, don't don't don't ask me 
 again ! I can not I I can not do it ! I can not 
 ca an ca a" 
 
 She broke into a torrent of crying and wailing. I 
 held her hands and her head rested on mine. She 
 moaned and wept and kept saying, "I can not 
 can not can not." 
 
 Once more, little by little, the weeping ceased. 
 Then the sobs became farther and farther apart. 
 Finally she was still, her cheek still resting upon 
 my head. 
 
 "Gisela, listen. It is only your will that is in the 
 way of our happiness your will and pride. Is that 
 worth while, dear?" 
 
 "No, that is not all, Eduard. I have received 
 absolution for my sin. If I break my vow, that 
 will be cancelled and I will be excommunicated and 
 403
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 cursed, be denied a last sacrament, and never be 
 buried in holy ground!" 
 
 What could I answer to that? It did not appeal 
 at all to me, but it did to her. It would never dis- 
 turb me, if I were to be cursed by any number of 
 priests; but for her to go through life with such a 
 thing hanging over her head dear, high-strung, 
 nervous being that she was that was another 
 thing! Her beliefs were as settled as mine were! 
 How could she ever be happy, even for an hour? 
 
 J was brought to silence. My arguments were 
 at an end, and I saw the end of my hopes. Once 
 more came the leaden feeling in the breast and 
 throat which had descended upon me when the 
 attorney had informed me that she must take the 
 veil, this time multiplied tenfold. 
 
 It could do neither of us any good to prolong the 
 parting further. Moreover I realized that Gisela 
 could not endure much more. Her head was rest- 
 ing heavily upon mine and her elbows kept slipping 
 weakly off of trembling knees as she was trying 
 to support her body. 
 
 I took her face between my hands and gazed into 
 the lovely eyes long and with an aching heart. 
 Then I rose, bent and kissed each dear hand long 
 and hard, and moved away a pace or two. She 
 also unsteadily rose to her feet. 
 
 "Is there no hope, then, Gisela? Perhaps some 
 time in the future" 
 
 She raised her head, holding her arms out ap- 
 pealingly before her. 
 
 "My vow could only be loosed by the Holy 
 Father himself ! There is no hope no hope." 
 
 She dropped her hands and her arms hung by 
 her side. She raised her lovely eyes and looked 
 404
 
 The r Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 long into mine. Her face grew white. She whis- 
 pered: "Good good b-bye, Eduard." 
 
 "Good-bye my loved one !" 
 
 Her head bent and she turned. Slowly she paced 
 the length of the long room. At the door she slow- 
 ly turned and looked at me once more, and now 
 the beautiful eyes recalled that St. John's evening 
 when I had seen them first, by the light of the fire 
 on the beach. For one passing instant I fain would 
 dream that that night was only now passing by and 
 that I should see her again in a cathedral, and 
 that past events had been but an ugly phantasy. 
 But the instant was short. 
 
 She turned from me again and passed through 
 the door. T watched the white headdress go slowly 
 out of sight in the gloom. 
 
 The low-turned gas-jet flickered. I heard a dis- 
 tant door close, and was alone. Still I watched the 
 door by which she had left the room. Gradually 
 the heavy portieres ceased to swing. All was very 
 still. I heard the Rath-house clock give one stroke. 
 Then that was all. 
 
 40S
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 ONE very gusty and rainy evening, a few days 
 after the events of the preceding chapter, found me 
 in my rooms in the course of my last packing pre- 
 paratory to leaving Vienna the following day. I 
 had had my last two trunks brought down from 
 the store-room. One had already been packed and 
 closed, and I was standing over the other, dreading 
 to open it. 
 
 This last trunk contained the old violin, in its 
 case. 
 
 I was dreading to open it partly because of the 
 bitter regret which the actual sight of the instru- 
 ment was sure to bring, and partly because of a 
 resolve I had made concerning it. 
 
 I had promised her that it should never pass 
 from my hands into the ownership of another, ex- 
 cept herself, and yet it was impossible for me to 
 keep it. I had never seen the instrument itself 
 since I had packed it in Cattaro and shipped it to 
 Vienna, and it was still in the wrappings in which 
 it had traveled. But I would have to see it now, 
 as to carry out my resolve the whole would have 
 to be reduced to pieces small enough to be crowded 
 through the small door of the tall porcelain stove 
 in my room. 
 
 I remembered Harry's request, but good friend 
 as he was, I could not give it to him. 
 
 I might have stored it in some dim attic, but I 
 
 would always know it was there, and remember it, 
 
 and other things with it. That was what I had 
 
 done the last three years, and I had always known 
 
 406
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 it was there, and remembered. But in the past 
 the memory had been rather a comfort; for then 
 the door had not finally closed upon her as it now 
 had. Now, my reason kept telling me again and 
 again that my only salvation from some sort of a 
 mental derangement, greater or less, lay in using 
 every means in my power, not to forget her, for 
 the thought of that was folly, but to bring once 
 more between us that kind veil which had once 
 parted us, and which had served to keep out the 
 sharper arrows, leaving only a certain half-sad 
 sweetness to filter through. As long as this old 
 relic existed that could never now occur. I would 
 bury it in fire ; that great purifier and obliterator of 
 all things, and as it would burn I would hope that, 
 as far as possible, the sharpest of my memories 
 would follow it. 
 
 I stood over the dusty trunk with the key in my 
 hand. Time and again my arms went out to open 
 it, and time and again refused to obey my will. 
 The night was little suited to such a memory as it 
 would bring up; the rain was falling unsteadily, 
 and now and then a heavy gust of wind and rain 
 would beat against the windows, making them and 
 even the very doors creak and rattle. The sight 
 of the violin would recall one of the loveliest hours 
 I had had with her, when I was full of hope, an- 
 ticipating only happiness, and little dreaming of 
 what the future was to bring. 
 
 Finally I dropped the key and began to pace the 
 floor, my memories gradually getting the better of 
 me. 
 
 She, too, had given up her all for me except 
 
 one thing. Had she not been obsessed by the fixed 
 
 idea of visiting retribution upon her cousin, we 
 
 would be together now, and would have had 
 
 407
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 enough to make us happy. It never occurred to me 
 to blame her for giving me up for revenge. She 
 could not help it she was not accountable for the 
 choice. As the lawyer had more than half hinted, 
 she was not insane. But she had lived in that un- 
 certain border-land sometimes occupied by those of 
 sensitive disposition who become the victim of the 
 fixed idea a state of mind which often can be 
 corrected and even turned into useful channels 
 when loving and intelligent friends and well-wish- 
 ers do their duty. This advantage she had never 
 had on the contrary, she had been driven along 
 the predestined lines by those who surrounded her. 
 
 Most useful people in the world have been use- 
 ful because they have had a fixed idea. When this 
 takes a normal line as the direction of science, in- 
 vention, exploration, objective religion and other 
 ways that lie in the sunlight, it produces our valu- 
 able men and women. But when it follows the 
 dark paths of self-gratification, egoism, avarice, 
 revenge and subjective theology, it leads surely into 
 the dark borderland, and often farther still. While 
 the host of the fixed idea is still young, it lies 
 largely within the power of parents and guard- 
 ians to determine its continuance or suppression. 
 So, very often, the blame for the consequences of 
 an ill-directed fixed idea lies at the door of such 
 parents or guardians, and the Raven must ever sit 
 upon their heads. 
 
 So had it been with Gisela. It might not have 
 been easy for some men to have forgiven her choice 
 of revenge against the choice of her love. It would 
 even have helped some men to forget her. They 
 would have reasoned ; she chose her revenge against 
 her love for me ; ergo, she did not love me. There- 
 408
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 fore she was not worth while, and I shall forget 
 her. And they would. 
 
 But I understood her better. I knew that she 
 had loved me more than she had hated her cousin, 
 but that the latter passion, through long habit and 
 long residence in her, had absorbed and dominated 
 her attention the more. 
 
 But all the reasoning in the world could not 
 change a single past fact, and I paced the floor in 
 vain. Finally I threw myself into a chair, buried 
 my face in my arms, and for the first time gave 
 way to what is supposed to be unmanliness. It 
 proved to be the opening of the safety-valve, and 
 after a time I rose from the chair prepared to carry 
 out my intention. 
 
 I went to the trunk, opened it, and drew out the 
 package, the only thing the trunk contained, and 
 brought it to the table. A knife quickly disposed of 
 the cords and wrapping, and I saw the beautifully 
 carved case once more. 
 
 As the lock of the case had disappeared I had 
 bound it about with a long length of wide silk rib- 
 bon, in order not to injure the carved work. This 
 I cut away. Then I opened the case and lifted out 
 the ancient instrument. Three of the strings Harry 
 had put on were still in place, so it had nearly its 
 normal dressed-up appearance. I turned it over 
 again and again. Once more its lovely lines caused 
 all else for the moment to step into the background. 
 Again I worshipped the perfection of the inlaid 
 lines, the beautiful cut of the /-holes, the elegant 
 scroll, the exquisite arching of the chest and back, 
 the richness of the age-toned old gold varnish, 
 lovely figure in the wood of the back, and the ever 
 varying play of the lights and shadows about the 
 409
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 curves of the instrument as it was turned about in 
 the light. 
 
 Let him, who may be ever so good a mediocre 
 builder, try to copy the master's work, and what is 
 the result? He may measure and compare, minute 
 by minute, hour by hour, take months where the 
 master took only days, and labor with love; but 
 although the finished copy may be a good one, 
 nevertheless there remains ever something which 
 raises the handiwork of the master above the copy. 
 Perhaps you can not just point out the difference 
 but it is there, and you know the work of the 
 master ; and you are not mistaken. 
 
 Surely this exquisite work was made for better 
 things than to lose its lovely voice and its very 
 name, and one day to be burnt to ashes by some 
 man whimpering under the lash of Fate. It was 
 made to command a great orchestra ; to thrill under 
 the flying fingers of the virtuoso; to sing out over 
 the heads of a worshipping audience ; to charm the 
 ear of the enthusiast, and one day perhaps, after 
 having helped some human being to greatness, to 
 have a well earned rest under glass in some collec- 
 tion or in some city building. For that its maker 
 had fashioned it ! 
 
 But so had its previous owner been fashioned for 
 better things and by a greater Master still. It 
 should share her fate, and be forgotten. 
 
 I drew up a chair so that its back would be with- 
 in correct striking distance, and picked up the vio- 
 lin by the head and scroll. Even in this moment 
 I could not help but handle the beautiful thing with 
 a certain care. I faced the chair, measured the dis- 
 tance so that the middle of the violin back should 
 strike the top, and raised the instrument high' over 
 my head. 
 
 410
 
 "Surely this exqu'site work was made for better things 
 than . . . one day to be burnt to ashes by some 
 man whimpering under the lash of Fate." 
 
 (Accursed Roccos.)
 
 The "Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 One who has ever tried to carry out some small 
 surgical procedure upon himself knows how, with 
 all the will in the world, something will hold 
 back the hand at the crucial instant. The motor 
 area of the brain, ordinarily subject to the will, re- 
 ceives a superior stimulus from the sensory tracts, 
 and becomes disobedient. It was so at this moment. 
 With all the determination in the world, I could 
 not strike. A second special willing of the inten- 
 tion only caused my thumb to slip off of the A 
 string, and the violin sang out in its pitiful tired 
 unresonant voice, as if in a cry for help. 
 
 Once more with full determination, I held the 
 violin further back; but as I was about to bring it 
 forward for the blow, a specially heavy gust of 
 wind and rain shook the windows, and it seemed 
 as though a cold hand grasped my wrist and held 
 back the stroke. I glanced nervously behind me 
 and laughed a little. 
 
 Well, after all, there were other ways to reduce 
 a violin to kindling wood than by striking it across 
 a chair back. 
 
 At this moment I remembered a dispute which 
 had once occurred between me and Harry. I had 
 maintained that the base-bar of a violin must run 
 from end to end of the chest, while he had insisted 
 that it stopped a little short of both the head and 
 foot. I decided I would see which of us had been 
 right. 
 
 I let down the strings, and removed them and 
 the tailpiece together. Then I took up the knife, 
 inserted it under the edge of the chest at the foot, 
 and "walked" the knife along the violin sides. 
 After a moment the entire chest came loose, and 
 I lifted it off, and turned it over to examine it, 
 placing the rest of the instrument upon the table. 
 411
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 Yes, Harry had been right. Moreover, at the 
 head end of the chest I noticed an extensive black- 
 ened place. Thinking it probably decayed I tried it 
 with my thumb nail, but found it sound. With the 
 thought that it had probably once been water or 
 oil soaked, and that that would account for the 
 loss of tone, I tossed the chest upon the table, and 
 turned to the remainder of the instrument, follow- 
 ing the chest with my eyes, as I picked up the other 
 portion. 
 
 When my eyes finally turned to the remainder 
 of the violin, I suddenly dropped it and started 
 back with an exclamation of genuine fright. There 
 in the left shoulder of the violin was what I first 
 took to be some small animal a rat, or gigantic 
 spider in a nest. 
 
 Realizing in a moment, however, that no such 
 thing could have got inside of a violin, I came back 
 to the table and examined it closer, at first with 
 little light, as it, whatever it was, was buried in the 
 accumulated dust and cobwebs of very many years. 
 
 I cleared away this accumulation from the top 
 by scraping it with the knife, and then saw that it 
 was a packet a little packet done up in parchment, 
 sealed throughout with ancient wax, and securely 
 fastened by every edge to the back and sides of the 
 violin by means of an excess of the wax. In grow- 
 ing excitement and with a trembling hand which 
 threatened to do damage, I pried out the package. 
 Then I seated myself and hastily broke the seals. 
 
 The opening revealed three other packets; a 
 small case, a tiny discolored envelope, and a third 
 larger inclosure which had occupied most of the 
 space. 
 
 I opened the small case. It contained a ring of 
 412
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 ancient workmanship, bearing an immense dia- 
 mond. This, at least, had lost no lustre during its 
 long confinement. It sparkled and glittered as 
 though it were rejoiced to be free. I was no judge 
 of such things, but could see that it was a gem of 
 blue radiance, and that its value must be very great. 
 But I did not stop long over it just then. 
 
 Hastily opening the tiny envelope I found its 
 contents to be the original label of the violin. 
 
 So then, the violin was from the hand of Joseph 
 Guarnerius "del Gesu." 
 
 For a moment only I examined this. It was no 
 surprise, since it only corroborated what all who 
 had ever seen the instrument had known at a glance 
 that it was the work of a foremost master hand. 
 
 I now opened the third, last and largest packet. 
 Rolled within this was a document. It was in good 
 condition, the ink a little pale and the parchment 
 very yellow, but perfectlv legible. 
 
 It was, however, written in a curious cramped 
 minute script, and upon trying to read it I found 
 it to be in Italian and in an old dialect. I knew 
 more Italian by this time than I had in Cattaro, and 
 had the document been in classical Italian and mod- 
 ern script I could have read a good part of it at 
 once.
 
 The A c c u r s'e d R o c c o s 
 
 In this case an exact translation was beyond me, 
 but after spending hours over it, I was able to 
 gather enough of its meaning to feel sure that I 
 knew its general purport. It was a sort of will, 
 and the signature of Albina Portulan concluded it. 
 
 In it was some reference to a son born out of 
 wedlock; references to days of sin and strife, and 
 a mention of another will ; a reference to the female 
 heir of the fourth generation. The name "Le Tre 
 Sorelle" occurred in the same sentence with "heri- 
 tage" and "above ground and under ground" and 
 "by far the largest part of my possessions." Here, 
 also, was some mention of the "accursed Roccos." 
 
 Further on I deciphered, "even its servants are 
 turning away from the Church" and "no person to 
 trust." There were some words about "taking pos- 
 session" and "may the Church bless and forefend 
 her." 
 
 There was reference to a ring. I was able to 
 read in full "seek longest in that part of the house 
 where the spirit of God is most likely to abide." 
 
 Then the will recited what seemed to be a curse, 
 directed, as far as I could gather, at any one who 
 should interfere with the course of either will a 
 long and comprehensive curse, speaking of her own 
 return, and which seemed to include the sixth gen- 
 eration. 
 
 The will concluded with the date the thirtieth 
 day of June, seventeen hundred eighty-nine, and 
 the words "May the Republic endure," followed by 
 her signature. 
 
 The will had been written, to the very day, just 
 one hundred and twenty years before the death of 
 Lubitza ! 
 
 I shivered. Was it the sight of the grey shade 
 of her great-grandmother that had brought that 
 414
 
 The AccursedRoccos 
 
 terrible look to Lubitza's face during her last living 
 moment ? 
 
 But if I could not fully read the ancient docu- 
 ment, I knew its sense, and that was that a vast 
 treasure in some form or other existed in the old 
 ruin near Cattaro, in some part of it "where the 
 spirit of God is most likely to abide." I gathered 
 that his treasure belonged to my loved one, from the 
 connection with Le Tre Sorelle; for by the other 
 will, Gisela now owned the supposed worthless 
 ruin. 
 
 If that had gone to the Church when she took 
 the veil, it did not matter. It would be easy to ac- 
 quire ownership of such a worthless piece of prop- 
 erty, and my plan already began to take shape. 
 Fate had brought this treasure to my hand, and 
 made me Gisela's guardian, since she was where 
 she could not act for herself ; or was it Fate ? Had 
 old Albina selected me and taken her own way to 
 bring about the situation? Had it been her im- 
 perious will that had so driven me that Christmas 
 Eve out in Cottage ? Had it been her ghostly hand 
 that had held mine when I would have destroyed 
 the loved instrument of her loved one? I glanced 
 fearfully around the shadowy room, half expecting 
 to see her standing there; a state of mind not 
 soothed by the persistent storm which was still rag- 
 ing outside. 
 
 My clock struck three. My excitement grew 
 and grew. What this would mean for Gisela was 
 a question which, as yet, had but a shadowy answer, 
 but even so far, in her case, I had learend the 
 power of wealth, and I believed it could be exer- 
 cised again, even if the wave must reach the feet 
 of the Holy Father himself. That the treasure in 
 Le Tre Sorelle was large very large I did not 
 415
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 doubt for a moment. The will clearly spoke of 
 "by far the largest part of my possessions." It 
 must, then, be worth much more than the vineyards 
 were in her day. To-day these were worth a mil- 
 lion crowns. Sbutega had said that they had once 
 been worth less than that, but they must have been 
 rich possessions in Albina's day when that land 
 was opulent and prosperous under the beneficent 
 Venetian rule. Besides, in the banker's account the 
 then heir and the Church were pictured as having 
 been in a state of extreme anger at the vast shrink- 
 age of the fortune. This was, then, the lost prop- 
 erty, and was far greater than that which the heir- 
 in-trust had received. Yes, there must be enough 
 to buy Gisela's release from the very veil itself 
 and much more than enough ! 
 
 My excitement completely mastered me and the 
 revulsion of feeling from black despair to intense 
 joy, produced a kind of madness. A further study 
 of the document was neither possible nor reason- 
 able. Keeping out the ring, I replaced the other 
 articles in the violin whence they had been taken, 
 laid the chest back in place, replaced the violin in 
 its carved box, and re-locked the whole in the 
 trunk. 
 
 I lay myself down upon a couch without undress- 
 ing, and planned incoherently until the day broke. 
 I slept, finally, sometime between six and seven 
 o'clock, dreaming wildly of craters of diamonds 
 and gold, of nuns, stilettos, and of shades of the 
 departed. 
 
 I woke about eleven, called my wondering ser- 
 vant, and caused still further astonishment by re- 
 engaging her for an indefinite period, and ordering 
 the first trunk unpacked again. I next visited the 
 Haus-herr and re-engaged the apartment, making 
 416
 
 The Accursid R o c c o s 
 
 scant reply to his raillery about my changes of mind. 
 These steps were urgent, as I would be too much 
 engaged to be in a position to shunt from pillar to 
 post as regarded my abode. Then, after cautioning 
 my servant not to send any trunks to the store- 
 room, I left the house and sent an urgent telegram 
 to Harry to come at once; for this would be the 
 time of all times in my life when I would need him. 
 
 Then I visited a well known jeweler in the city 
 with a view of having a value set upon the ring. 
 
 Very many people in the city knew me by sight 
 and knew of my connection with the notorious 
 tragedy in St. Cecilia's church. More than one 
 inkling of the way Gisela had been railroaded away 
 from "justice" had become current in past months, 
 and one newspaper had even printed one of the 
 usual stinging articles about the miscarriage of 
 justice where the rich were concerned. In short, 
 everybody believed me to be a rich man. This is 
 a great disadvantage, usually, when the belief is 
 ill-founded, but I was glad of it now, as I could 
 show the ring to the jeweler with impunity. And 
 this impression was exceedingly favorable for my 
 future plans, which after sleep began to take a 
 more settled line. Now that hope, even certainty, 
 had come back to me, I was tranquil and happy, 
 and could think more lucidly. 
 
 The jeweler gaped and stared when he saw the 
 ring 
 
 "Where in the world did you find this, Herr 
 Doktor! It is an ancient ring!" 
 
 "It has been in our family for a century. Its 
 history is rather long. What value has it to-day?" 
 
 He donned his magnifier and examined the stone 
 with great care and interest. 
 
 "It is a flawless blue diamond of the very finest 
 417
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 quality ! It is very difficult to estimate its value 
 it is so out of the ordinary run of goods. Then, 
 its cutting is of the old style. To re-cut it in mod- 
 ern style will reduce its weight but greatly improve 
 its brilliancy. You could well afford to do it. It 
 is so large that the necessary reduction in weight 
 would scarcely alter its value. Only don't put it in 
 bad hands for the work! Then again, to any one 
 who values a genuine old piece, the ring would be 
 almost priceless as it is. It is difficult to value it. 
 To you, Herr Doktor, who can afford to own it, I 
 would say, keep it!" 
 
 "I am not thinking of selling it now, but have 
 never had a value set upon it. What is the least 
 you believe it would bring if I decide to sell it 
 later?" 
 
 "The least?" 
 
 "The very least." 
 
 "Eighty-five or ninety thousand crowns," he 
 answered gravely. "Also if you take it to London 
 you will get the hundred. There is the great mar- 
 ket, Herr Doktor Ransome." 
 
 It was half the sum I had given the convent ! 
 
 I thanked the old gentleman and he in person 
 held the door for me to pass out. 
 
 "If you decide to sell it on the Continent please 
 let me know. No one will haggle or bargain with 
 you over that ring. They will either frankly buy 
 it, or not, according to their circumstances. It 
 would be an advertisement to any house to handle 
 it. If you are offered less than eighty thousand 
 crowns, bring it back here. I will give that much 
 any moment you come." 
 
 This intelligence was the last item needed to put 
 me at ease. I did not know, yet, why the ring had 
 been inclosed with the will, but the ring was un- 
 418
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 doubtedly a safe exponent of that which lay con- 
 cealed somewhere in Le Tre Sorelle. 
 
 Our happiness was in sight, and my one regret 
 was that Gisela could not know it for a good while 
 to come. Now, care and caution only were need- 
 ed. For the present I could only wait, for I must 
 have a precise translation of the will before taking 
 another step. 
 
 419
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 HARRY arrived the morning of the next day but 
 one, and I took him and his things directly home. 
 I directed my servant to find temporary rooms out- 
 side, and to clear up her work and leave for the 
 day, after two in the afternoon, thus insuring that 
 from then on, Harry and I would be alone in the 
 apartment. 
 
 When we were by ourselves, I began my recital. 
 He listened with all the attention I could have 
 asked, but rose excitedly and interrupted me with 
 his favorite word when I came to tell of the inten- 
 tion of breaking the violin over a chair back and 
 burning the pieces. 
 
 "You jackass! Did you do it? Tell me at 
 once !" 
 
 Then I had his ear again for awhile until he 
 heard how the violin had been opened and what 
 had been found inside. From that moment I 
 realized that his real attention had stood still. He 
 commented variously on the facts but as soon as 
 he decently could he asked to see the violin. Rea- 
 lizing that it was folly to expect anything from 
 him until this wish had been satisfied I got it out, 
 laid its contents upon the table and passed the parts 
 over to him. He examined them with care. 
 
 "A very lucky outcome !" he exclaimed. "You 
 have removed the belly without cracking or even 
 chipping it. Ed, if you had smashed this violin I 
 believe I could have killed you !'' 
 
 Then he called for the label and examined that. 
 420
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "It is half torn through, but otherwise intact. 
 What glorious luck!" 
 
 Then he returned to the parts of the violin again. 
 
 "This packet was in contact with the base-bar. 
 That fully explains its curious thin dry tone. It is 
 absolutely uninjured, Ed! It only wants putting 
 together and adjusting to be as good as it ever was ! 
 You must let me take it to Haudek." 
 
 "Go right away, Harry !" I said, laughing. "Be- 
 cause until you have heard it after the repair, I 
 know you will be perfectly useless to me." 
 
 "Oh, it isn't so bad as all that! But give me 
 the label and parts. Put the other things some- 
 where else." 
 
 He placed the label in another envelope and re- 
 turned all lovingly to the carved case. Then he 
 turned to me. 
 
 "Now I can listen better. Go over the last part 
 again." 
 
 I did so. 
 
 "Let me see the ring. A hundred thousand 
 crowns! Gee! That will buy the two best Stradi- 
 varius violins in the world! And for this bauble! 
 Well, that is something sure for her, anyway." 
 
 "After seeing this ring do you doubt the rest of 
 the treasure?" 
 
 "No not if it still be there." 
 
 "If it still be there?" 
 
 "Yes. I suppose this will was written at the 
 time she concealed the treasure. Thus it was a 
 hundred and more years ago. Much can happen 
 in that time. However, it is probably still there. 
 I believe they told us that summer that this old 
 witch had not lived in Le Tre Sorelle during her 
 last years. That was a clever move, for the 
 searching for the lost estate naturally was made 
 421
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 where she last had lived. As wise an old partridge 
 as that probably did the concealing well. I have 
 little doubt but that all is still there. But you 
 must act with great caution." 
 
 "Yes, I see that. We must manage to get pos- 
 session of it and turn it into an actual bank ac- 
 count before any inkling of its existence leaks out." 
 
 "Yes, and keep silent thereafter for the rest of 
 our lives. Take no one else into your confidence 
 the Signorina Gisela least of anyone. If a nun 
 have taken the vow of poverty, she can not own 
 property. Also the Signorina may have indeed, 
 from what you have related, does have, an idealist's 
 notion of her duty. 
 
 Also, this will is a very curious one, to say the 
 least. It was made under the jurisdiction of a Re- 
 public which has long ceased to exist. There may 
 be a half hundred descendants of Albina who could 
 attack it successfully. I fancy that its only use to 
 the Signorina lies in the information it contains. 
 You say you could not read all of it?" 
 
 "No. That is the first item in which I expect 
 your help, Harry. You are at home in Italian." 
 
 "Not quite, but I dare say I can read it. I'll 
 make that a job for to-night after all gets quiet." 
 
 "Good old boy ! What do you suggest further ?" 
 
 "Your first work is to sell the ring. Since your 
 jeweler advised it, get a letter of introduction from 
 him and take it to London." 
 
 "It has occurred to me, Harry, that it would be 
 a good plan for me to become the actual and full 
 owner of Le Tre Sorelle." 
 
 "Excellent. Of course it is of no use to the Sig- 
 norina, or to her convent, or to anybody else. You 
 may be supposed to wish to own it as a memory 
 422
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 of her. No one will see anything unnatural in that, 
 and you can say so, openly." 
 
 "And I can buy it for a song. I'll obtain the 
 title through Doctor Sommer. By the way, Harry, 
 that will take some days, and so will the trip to 
 London. We may as well divide these tasks and 
 save time. You go to London and sell the ring 
 for me, while I get possession of Le Tre Sorelle. 
 Then we can go down to Cattaro together." 
 
 "All right. What is your plan when you get to 
 Cattaro?" 
 
 "So much has not matured yet. We can both 
 be thinking it over." 
 
 "Well, I'll translate the will to-night. That may 
 suggest something. And I'll start for London to- 
 morrow night. You can get a couple of letters for 
 me to-morrow." 
 
 "Very well." 
 
 Late that afternoon Harry laboriously and care- 
 fully removed the adhering wax from the inside of 
 the violin and then took it down town to Haudek. 
 When Harry returned he reported that the luthier 
 was as enthusiastic over the instrument as he was. 
 
 "I shall look upon the use of this violin for a 
 couple of years as my reward for enduring you as 
 a friend," he remarked, "that is, in case we succeed 
 in putting the treasure safely at her disposal." 
 
 "You will, eh?" 
 
 "Yes. You have shown yourself unfit to have 
 the custody of it !" he asserted angrily. 
 
 "Use it your lifetime, old boy !" 
 
 "What? Done ! Now I shall be your real friend, 
 Did jack" 
 
 "You wouldn't have been anyhow, I suppose," I 
 laughed. 
 
 'As regards that it is very lucky for you, my 
 423
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 son, that I have not found this violin in kindling 
 wood !" 
 
 That evening about ten, Harry sat down to trans- 
 late the will. It did not prove over easy sailing 
 even for him, and it was after one when he finally 
 announced that he had finished. He re-wrote his 
 draft in an orderly sequence and handed it to me. 
 It read as follows: 
 
 "I, the Signora Albina Portulan, born in the year 
 of our Lord seventeen hundred and twenty-eight, 
 second daughter and only surviving child of Pietro 
 Rocco, navigator and merchant, do recommend my 
 soul to God my Creator, to the Sacred Virgin 
 Maria, to the holy Saint of my mother's name, to 
 my holy guardian angel and to the whole Celestial 
 Court ; and I entreat their assistance in the moment 
 of my last agony, that I may save this poor soul. 
 
 Being now in age and having left to me but 
 one direct heir, namely my son Giuseppe born out 
 of wedlock, I do, by means of this instrument, 
 command that the following things be done. 
 
 This day is full of sin and strife and no con- 
 nection of mine including my son, is worthy to bear 
 the burden of the great fortune of which I shall 
 die possessed. Therefore I have divided my pos- 
 sessions into two unequal parts. Of this the small 
 part, now existing as real property, I have devised 
 by a public will, separate from the present writing. 
 I again direct that the public will just mentioned 
 shall be administered in accordance with its terms, 
 the heir being my female heir of the fourth genera- 
 tion, counting me as the first. 
 
 But now mark all ye concerned and in interest! 
 
 By this, my second and last and private wil 
 hereby embodied in my own hand, I do command 
 424
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 that the heritage of the house known as Le Tre 
 Sorelle shall include all that may therein be found, 
 either above ground or under ground, namely all 
 property of which I shall die possessed except the 
 tracts clearly described in my public will ; so thus 
 there shall attach to the inheritress of Le Tre So- 
 relle by far the largest part of my possessions. 
 
 Thus shall I insure that she shall receive the 
 most who loved some other person or thing better 
 than she loved wealth, and thus that no male de- 
 scendant of the accursed Roccos shall succeed me. 
 For every one of us has, for the sake of wealth, 
 taken either another's life or his own. 
 
 When this parchment shall be discovered, that 
 female heir who failed to inherit under my public 
 will, shall at once become the owner not only of 
 Le Tre Sorelle, but also of all that she may find 
 therein, above ground or below ground. 
 
 The times are unsettled and all, even the ser- 
 vants thereof, are turning away from the Church. 
 There is no person whom I can trust to carry out 
 my will. Therefore I inclose it in the secret place 
 where it will be found, in the hope that whoever 
 will find it will have enough of the honor and faith 
 which the Church teaches, to enable the carrying 
 out of my wishes. 
 
 With this packet I inclose a ring the sale of 
 which will enable the future heir to find the neces- 
 sary means, if needed for taking possession of her 
 heritage, or of protecting her interests in other 
 ways, until entire possession is obtained. 
 
 Let her who seeks further, seek longest in that 
 part of the house in which the spirit of God is 
 most likely to abide. Let her take possession of 
 all she finds, and may the Church bless and fore- 
 fend her! 
 
 425
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 Should this parchment fall into hands which 
 make any use of it contrary to my command; or 
 if either will be annulled or interfered with; or if 
 any compulsion, over-influence or purposeful ne- 
 glect, lead to a miscarriage of what I have com- 
 manded in either will, whereby any of my estate 
 be kept out of the hands into which I order it to 
 be given then may the uttermost Wrath of God 
 descend upon him or her who has disobeyed my 
 will and upon him or her who profit by such dis- 
 obedience. May the Wrath of God descend upon 
 them yea unto the sixth generation may they live 
 under God's curse, and die without absolution, 
 hated by Heaven and Earth alike, having a with- 
 ered death in life, a blasted life forever in death. 
 And if it be in my power, my Shadow shall return 
 to Earth and shall follow him or her, yea unto the 
 sixth generation as I have said. 
 
 I write this on the thirtieth day of June in the 
 year of our Lord, seventeen hundred and eighty- 
 nine. May the Republic endure! 
 
 ALBINA PORTULAN." 
 
 "What an irony!" remarked Harry. "The heir 
 who kept the law was to receive the least!" 
 
 "Harry, it is easy to read between the lines ! It 
 was not irony. It was just the last word of one 
 who, trying to escape from a curse, found the cup 
 of pleasure and asceticism alike bitter, and turned, 
 at last, with a tremulous groping hand toward sim- 
 ple human charity and tenderness. There are peo- 
 ple who go through life unloved by all who come 
 in contact with them, with the result that their own 
 hand is forever raised against their fellows, and 
 yet they are often people who wish to be loved, but 
 cannot be because of unfortunate personal charac- 
 426
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 teristics. I suppose Albina was such a one; and at 
 the end of her life the tenderness for purely human 
 things came uppermost." 
 
 At this instant Harry and I, both alike, looked 
 at one another with a start. We both had the 
 feeling as if a cool tender zephyr had caressed our 
 faces then an impression as though Something 
 that had been present, had left us. And yet doors 
 and windows were closed, and the night was very 
 still. 
 
 "Come, Ed, we better go to bed !" 
 
 And we soon did. 
 
 427
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 IT was one Sunday nearly a month later that 
 Harry and I found ourselves again traversing the 
 beautiful Bocche of Cattaro. I had a letter of 
 credit on the bank at Cattaro but the checks thereon 
 would now be indorsed by another hand, as we had 
 learned that Signer Sbutega, by reason of a sud- 
 den ailment, had passed a few weeks before. This 
 news had caused me a more than passing regret, 
 for he had wished to be my friend, and I realized 
 that his willingness to sacrifice me had been to 
 superior force as he saw it. Also I liked to believe 
 that perhaps he would not have deserted me had I 
 personally ever needed him. 
 
 Besides the letter of credit, I had in my trunk 
 full title deeds to Le Tre Sorelle, including three 
 metres of ground round about the house. One of 
 these deeds bore Gisela's signature, and the sight 
 of that name on the deed was, alone, worth the 
 price I had paid for the house, although that had 
 been much more than its real value. For I looked 
 upon that deed as a letter to me; the only letter 
 she could write me now. 
 
 I carried with me a third possession which was 
 worth more than the others. This was not in writ- 
 ing. It was a consciousness a piece of knowl- 
 edge an assurance, that, given success in my pres- 
 ent enterprise, I should be able to obtain the liberty 
 of Gisela. During the past month I had engaged 
 Doctor Sommer to sift this matter. On hearing 
 that I "had come into a large estate" and was, 
 therefore, now prepared to act further in Gisela's 
 428
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 case, he had put on his gravest and most thought- 
 ful air and composed himself to listen. 
 
 At first he had shaken his head. He murmured : 
 
 "Release of a nun from the veil with permission 
 to marry! Hum! Release that, yes; not very 
 infrequently, for just reasons, as for instance, the 
 state of bodily health ; but absolution from the vow 
 of chastity ! Did she take the simple, or the solemn 
 vow, I wonder! That question cuts a large figure 
 in" 
 
 Then he had addressed me directly and impres- 
 sively. 
 
 "They do it, at Rome perhaps once or twice in 
 a century 'for reasons, always grave ones, gen- 
 erally those affecting the welfare of the Church or, 
 sometimes, the State. Also, in this case, certain 
 exceptional circumstances may impress the Bureau 
 sufficiently to bring about a favorable recommen- 
 dation. The reason for the action will have to be 
 a very stately one, Dr. Ransome!" he concluded, 
 drily. 
 
 The outcome of our interview was that he had 
 undertaken to give me an "opinion" in a fortnight. 
 I never knew whom he consulted, or what his steps 
 were; but at the end of that period he had de- 
 livered himself of the following somewhat Delphic 
 sentence : 
 
 "What the Church took, she will probably give 
 up again ; on the same terms." 
 
 I understood. And that I meant to have the 
 treasure if it still existed, goes without saying. 
 
 After going through certain formalities in regard 
 to having my title deeds placed on record and tak- 
 ing possession, I engaged men and gave the ruin 
 a thorough cleaning. Other workmen were en- 
 gaged to fit up and repair doors and windows where 
 429
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 necessary and to make a few other repairs. These 
 measures were necessary before we could be as- 
 sured of safe privacy in conducting our search. 
 That the workmen had the continuous personal 
 supervision of one of us need hardly be stated. 
 During this time we avoided any close inspection of 
 the interior. Our most delicate task was the ob- 
 taining of tools with which to work later on; for 
 the open bringing of such articles of our own into 
 the house would surely have excited remark. Fore- 
 seeing this, we had brought along in a trunk the 
 smaller and more suspicious articles we would 
 need, among which were a number of stone-cutters' 
 drills and two short-handled sledge-hammers. But 
 pickaxes, spades and crowbars, two of each, had 
 to be purchased in Ragusa, put into a package 
 labeled "guns," smuggled by night into the house 
 after the workmen had left, and housed in a tem- 
 porary closet which we had caused them to build 
 for us. 
 
 But at last, after many delays, came a day when 
 every workman and loiterer had departed, and 
 Harry and I were free, in privacy, to begin our 
 real work. 
 
 Our first step was to do that which we had not 
 dared do earlier, namely, to make a careful tour of 
 inspection. 
 
 This did not result in much. There were bare 
 walls, bare stone floors, chimneys, remains of the 
 floor which had once existed between the second 
 floors and the "witches' kitchens," the most of 
 which had fallen and been removed many years 
 before; windows, doors and the roof. We could 
 find no spot where, it seemed to us, "the spirit of 
 God" would be more "likely to abide" than any 
 other. And yet this cryptic sentence in the will 
 430
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 was, in its way, definite, and precluded wild and 
 incoherent searching. 
 
 Harry looked hard at me. 
 
 "I wonder if there ever was more of this house 
 than now exists?" 
 
 We went out of doors and made another inspec- 
 tion. When a house has once been larger and a 
 part has been removed, there are always left traces 
 of the dismemberment. We could find no such 
 signs. The only change that seemed ever to have 
 been made since it had been built was, on the con- 
 trary, an addition, or what seemed to have been 
 such. This was a small one and a half story part 
 on the north side with a simple sloping roof, the 
 latter having long since disappeared, leaving the 
 shed like portion open to the sky. Besides, the 
 three sections of the house were just alike, the ac- 
 commodations of each being the same, and suffi- 
 cient for the simple manner of living pursued by 
 even the wealthy in those other days. We easily 
 decided that the house had never been larger than 
 it now was. 
 
 We returned inside and re-inspected the interior 
 with greater care. It was soon done, for there 
 was so little to examine. Then we seated our- 
 selves upon a bench and looked at one another. 
 
 "It begins to look a little fishy," remarked Harry. 
 
 "I don't believe it ! That treasure is here ! That 
 old document is too genuine on its face, and the 
 act was too exactly what might have been expected 
 from such a lonely old woman of her day and cir- 
 cumstances." 
 
 "Oh, I believe it was once here, but" 
 
 "It is still here, Harry! If it had ever been 
 found there would have been some tradition or 
 story about it." 
 
 431
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Will it ever become known if you find it?" 
 
 "Not if I can help it! But 7 know in advance 
 that it is here. Any one else who had found it 
 would have come upon it accidentally, would have 
 been unprepared, and it would have leaked out. 
 Besides, we should at least be able to find where it 
 had been." 
 
 Harry nodded. 
 
 "We only need to stop being excited, and to rea- 
 son, soberly, a little. I don't believe the meaning 
 of Albina's phrase is far to seek. She meant the 
 treasure to be found when this parchment was 
 found. Therefore there can't be much riddle to it." 
 
 "Very well. Let us reason then. First of all 
 she must have hidden the treasure herself. Now 
 she was a woman ; an old woman, presumably hav- 
 ing only the physical strength of an old woman ; 
 presumably with only that knowledge of masonry 
 and other such men's work which women usually 
 have. Therefore, in our search, we must take into 
 consideration what she would be able to do." 
 
 "That is not based upon any facts we have, 
 Harry. She does not say she hid it herself. Her 
 father built the house for the three sisters. He 
 may have hidden it and she may have had the se- 
 cret only. Probably she was the only one of the 
 three sisters who did know it, as the legend has it 
 that she was Rocco's favorite daughter." 
 
 "Or he might have prepared the place and she 
 might have hidden the treasure later on. Very 
 good, Ed." 
 
 "Yes, maybe. In those uncertain days, before 
 the modern ways of protecting wealth, it almost 
 goes without saying that every house had some 
 secret hiding place, not only for treasure, but also 
 for the people themselves, on occasion. All around 
 432
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 this gulf you see ancient houses with battlements, 
 gun loop-holes and other arrangements for defence 
 at a moment's notice. Such things go with secret 
 hiding places. Again, while she was a woman, 
 presumably with only the strength of a woman, we 
 must not forget that she had that which largely 
 replaces strength; namely, time. Give a mole time 
 and he will move as much earth as a badger. She 
 lived alone here several years after her sisters had 
 died, and she had done her work several years be- 
 fore she herself died at Curzola. She was only 
 sixty-one when she made this will. Say at fifty- 
 one or two she may have been a pretty vigorous 
 woman. Still again it makes a difference in what 
 form the treasure exists. If it consist of jewels 
 like the one she left in the violin, even a vast sum 
 may make but a relatively small package and be 
 easily hidden away. No, Harry ! We must not 
 waste time in idle searching, but follow the lead she 
 has given us. These hints are two. First she 
 speaks of what may be found above ground or 
 under ground; secondly, she directs search in that 
 part of the house where the spirit of God is most 
 likely to abide. Let us stick to these." 
 
 "Then it is below ground, for there is no other 
 place in this house where a secret vault could be. 
 There is no space unaccounted for here." 
 
 "I think it probably is below ground. But it 
 would take the whole autumn for two of us to 
 dig up this entire place. We must begin with the 
 other key. Besides it may still be above ground 
 or may be divided up. Let us stick to the religious 
 reference. That is the true key." 
 
 "Well, then, let us search in the top of the 
 house." 
 
 This did not appeal to me, but we had time, so 
 433
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 we clambered about the remains of the broken 
 floor, examining every nook and cranny of the 
 walls and roof for a sign. At the end of an hour's 
 work we both agreed that, unless the treasure made 
 a very small package indeed, there was no place for 
 it up there. 
 
 Then we took the second floor, seriatim. Doors 
 of later date had been cut through the two division 
 walls, so we readily passed back and forth through 
 the three apartments without going out onto the 
 stone portico in the rear. 
 
 ''Could the words refer to the old camines?" 
 asked Harry. 
 
 "The idea of God residing in a fire-place is a 
 heathen and not a Christian notion, Harry. Be- 
 sides, she was certainly too shrewd to use for her 
 purpose such a place which would often be dis- 
 turbed by a repair." 
 
 "Well, then, the words can refer to nothing on 
 this floor unless the thing referred to has been 
 removed. Perhaps there was once a prie-dieu and 
 a crucifix here somewhere. An earnest Catholic 
 will often have such an arrangement in the house. 
 But there is no sign of it here now." 
 
 "I believe she referred to something more per- 
 manent, Harry. She did not wish this will to be 
 found for many years. Therefore she would not 
 attach a key to something that was merely hung 
 up like a picture or stood about." 
 
 "Crucifixes are sometimes massive and built into 
 the wall sometimes one has a niche to itself. I 
 wonder if this camine was always a camine !" 
 
 "There is no other and this as well as the other 
 rooms must have had one for use in the winter 
 season. There is no reason to suppose it was ever 
 anything else." 
 
 434
 
 The r Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "I believe this is the right track, though !" I con- 
 tinued. "The words must refer to some part of 
 the house especially devoted to spiritual matters. 
 If we better knew the customs of those days it 
 would help us." 
 
 "Yes. That is the trouble," he answered. 
 
 Harry was pulling at his hair, his shoulders 
 hunched, and looking abstractedly at the floor a 
 way he had when puzzled. 
 
 But that was as far as we got that day and for 
 several days thereafter. Our "reasonings" all 
 failed us. We hit upon this spot and that one. We 
 excavated the closed window behind the old tablet 
 merely coming upon the stone of the tablet itself. 
 We examined the basement-floor with the same 
 care we had the others. 
 
 Harry suggested boring the ground systemati- 
 cally. 
 
 "With what ?" I asked. When it came to purely 
 mechanical things, Harry was no very luminous 
 light, and he admitted it. Of course we did not 
 fail to keep in mind some defensive retiring place 
 of the sort we had discussed, but to dig and bore 
 at random all over the place for this would have 
 taken us months, nor did we think it safe to dis- 
 turb the house more than we could help for there 
 was always the possibility of a visitor coming in 
 upon us, and we wished to be able to admit any such 
 person, as freely as possible. So we kept to the 
 key given in the will, for some days without result. 
 It was not until we had striven for more than a 
 week that the light broke, and then it came by acci- 
 dent. 
 
 Harry and I had retired to take luncheon at noon 
 one day, to the shade of a straggling growth _of 
 fruit and olive trees which grew on the hillside 
 435
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 behind the house. From where we were we could 
 see the areaway behind the house, but at the mo- 
 ment of this occurrence we were talking of the old 
 violin. Harry had just informed me that Herr 
 Haudek having had an indisposition, had not been 
 able to finish the repairing up to the time we had 
 come away. 
 
 "By the way, Harry, it does not seem to me that 
 old Albina showed much foresight in placing her 
 will in that violin. It might have been repaired by 
 somebody in earlier years." 
 
 "You are wrong, my son. It was well thought 
 cut. In her days, these master-violins had com- 
 paratively little value and there were more of them 
 extant. Thus there were fewer repairs. It is 
 only another example of the fact that the simplest 
 and most unexpected ways of concealment are 
 safest. You see most people's minds work more 
 or less alike in such things and any one experi- 
 enced in searching for hidden things knows, most 
 times, just about where to put his hands upon 
 them. She was a clever old bird and knew that 
 about the last place one would look for such a 
 thing would be inside of a violin. She showed con- 
 summate cleverness in putting the label out of 
 sight. If she foresaw a rise in the value of violins 
 she also rightly concluded that such would not 
 occur for a great while. She took care to have 
 the violin preserved by willing it in her public will 
 to the one who would receive Le Tre Sorelle. 
 Under such circumstances a repair was not likely. 
 For the rest, she took her chances. It was the 
 only thing she could do. She had to chance some 
 secret way or other. Also there probably were 
 urgent reasons for secrecy beside that given in the 
 
 436
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 will. Her cleverness and foresight are proved by 
 the outcome." 
 
 There was some more conversation and in the 
 course of it we noticed a very old and bent woman 
 come into the area-way from the street, in order to 
 ascend a ruinous stone stairway to gain the orchard 
 where we were. We had seen her several times 
 before and knew she belonged in a house a con- 
 siderable distance up the hill. We both glanced 
 idly at her, and I returned to my meal. 
 
 Suddenly Harry grasped my wrist with a fear- 
 ful grip and made me spill a glass of wine. 
 
 "What the h " 
 
 "Ssh! Go on eating! Pon't let on!" 
 
 The old woman disappeared behind the wall. 
 Presently her head slowly rose above the top of 
 the stairway, followed by her body, and wheezing, 
 she began slowly to ascend the path. In suppressed 
 excitement, Harry watched her disappear among 
 the trees. Then he whispered tensely: 
 
 "Ed, I've got it ! Sure !" 
 
 "Got what? A fit?" 
 
 "The key to the riddle !" 
 
 I looked at him, stupified. 
 
 "Ed, when that old woman came through the 
 area-way down there, she made a little pause before 
 that one-story part, and bobbed her head and 
 crossed herself !" 
 
 With one accord we threw the remains of the 
 lunch into the baskets and hastened there. 
 
 We had given this part of the house scant at- 
 tention hitherto, as we both thought it must have 
 been added long after Albina's time. It seemed 
 newer, was built of better stone and better put 
 together than the main house, and saving 
 the want of a roof was far less ruinous. It con- 
 437
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 tained nothing whatever but an enormous solid 
 stone bench or table at the front end the which we 
 had taken for a device for the household milling of 
 grain, or as designed for some other domestic pur- 
 pose. We stood in the doorway and gazed at this 
 bench in silence. 
 
 "Ed, we have indeed been a pair of jackasses ! 
 That is an altar. Or was once !" 
 
 Harry and I would have sold ourselves very 
 cheaply just then. When we recovered our wits 
 a little we proceeded to give this part a very minute 
 examination from the outside. Now we saw what 
 we should have seen in the first place, namely that 
 the part had been no addition. It was contempo- 
 raneous with the older part, for the dovetailing of 
 its stones into the walls of the main house was not 
 of the character that indicated a later addition. 
 It had been better built, and had lasted better ; that 
 was all. 
 
 Then we went inside and examined the altar. 
 Its every detail indicated that it had been there, 
 absolutely undisturbed, for a vast number of years, 
 although it had certainly been used for other pur- 
 poses at various times. 
 
 This part had, then, been a private chapel where 
 in times of danger, perhaps, the sisters could hear 
 a mass read without risking a journey to a church. 
 In our further examination we found nothing ad- 
 ditional save the fact that there had once been a 
 communicating door between the basement of the 
 main house and the chapel. This had been roughly 
 stoned up. We went to the altar again. . Harry 
 laid his hand upon it. 
 
 "Here is the place ! And wisely chosen ! For of 
 all places, in a Roman Catholic country, such a one 
 would be the least likely to be disturbed." 
 438
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 After considering the matter further we decided 
 that it was too late, that day, to begin opening it, 
 for it was urgent that, having once fixed upon the 
 right spot, we complete our work in one day if 
 possible, in order not to have to leave the work 
 over night. So we occupied the rest of the after- 
 noon in breaking a passage through the former 
 communicating doorway, in order not to have to 
 pass back and forth by going out of doors, thus 
 keeping our operations unobserved by chance pedes- 
 trians or loiterers. So far, we had had no visitors, 
 and we were not desiring company just then. 
 
 439
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 DAY was just breaking the morning following 
 when we again set to work. We brought food 
 enough for three days, having determined not to 
 leave the task again until it was finished. We 
 looked strange to each other in white overalls and 
 jackets but neither was in a joking mood. 
 
 For some minutes we stood over the altar study- 
 ing how best to begin. We wished to manage 
 without damaging the altar more than we could 
 help, if for no other reason, at least so we could 
 restore it as nearly as possible to its former con- 
 dition after we had finished, thus leaving no trace 
 of the operation. But the top slab was in a single 
 piece, and very heavy a good fifteen inches thick, 
 and about eight by four feet in surface area; fur- 
 thermore with very little overhang at the edges. 
 Alone, with our simple tools, of course we could 
 not lift that. Nor did the several faces offer more 
 chance. They were paneled, but this paneling was 
 done in the solid stone. The under part of the 
 altar had been chiseled from a solid block, and there 
 seemed to be no joints except that between the base 
 and table. 
 
 "Ed, you are better at this sort of thing than I 
 am. Shall we drill a series of holes in a line 
 across one end of the slab and break it ?" 
 
 "That alone would take all day. Perhaps there 
 is a way in. Albina would not have expected a 
 woman to break or move the stone." 
 
 We wasted an hour trying to find a secret en- 
 trance. Every panel of the altar rang solid, so 
 440
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 also the floor and walls all round about. Again 
 we bemoaned our lack of knowledge of the cus- 
 toms of those days. Anyone who had lived in Al- 
 bina's time or near then, would have known the 
 way in, we thought. 
 
 "Well, Harry, don't let us waste more time. We 
 must move the stone. We will drive a series of 
 drills under each of the long sides of the top slab 
 for the whole length. Having raised the stone 
 onto the drills we can turn on two of them with 
 wrenches and roll the stone as far over one end as 
 may be necessary to reach the inside. You work 
 on that side and I'll take this." 
 
 We inserted the drills, one by one, driving each 
 until it sung a high note when struck, replacing 
 each one that came loose and fell onto the floor. 
 In this way we finally had the series of drills tight- 
 ly in place on both sides. 
 
 "I don't know if we have enough drills. We 
 may have to go to Cattaro and get more." 
 
 "Not if we can help it, sonny!" said Harry. "It 
 has been a ticklish enough job to bring the tools 
 we have." 
 
 "Well come on !" 
 
 Then began the tedious work of striking one 
 heavy blow upon each drill in line, going back over 
 them again and again. After awhile Harry 
 dropped his hammer. 
 
 "Ed, anybody going by can hear this." 
 
 "Not to be helped. The only thing to do is to 
 get the pounding done with as soon as we can. If 
 anybody tries to come in we can throw our blouses 
 over the front of the altar, and carry our ham- 
 mers to the new opening in the wall before letting 
 them in. They will think we are working there." 
 
 We struck for another half-hour. Then we 
 441
 
 The 'Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 examined the stone and found it was rising on the 
 drills. Harry tried the opened seam with a long 
 straw. 
 
 "It is rabbeted," he announced. 
 
 "Oh, the devil! Well let us hope the rabbet is 
 shallow. When we get ready to roll it we can 
 cut away enough of the top of the end panel to 
 let the rabbet pass." 
 
 We worked on, and after another hour the drills 
 began to lower their note and go easier. Then we 
 continued driving until each drill struck against 
 the rabbeted edge inside. 
 
 "That rabbet shows that this has been something 
 more than an altar. Can you see under it from 
 your side, Harry?" 
 
 "Yes. The rabbet is above the edge. There is 
 a hollow place under the top. 
 
 With a file, we then dressed off the beaten tops 
 of the drills as they stood in place, smoothing the 
 outer ends of the shafts as well. Then we inserted 
 two crowbars under a corner, and sat upon them. 
 This took off enough weight so one of us could re- 
 verse the drills along the half of one side, bring- 
 ing their flat cutting ends outward. After three 
 more such steps all the drills were reversed. 
 
 "Now let us square up every drill or it won't 
 roll." 
 
 We tapped every drill until it was exactly per- 
 pendicular to the face of the altar. Then we rested 
 a few minutes and took some luncheon. Before 
 we resumed work, afterwards, Harry stepped out- 
 side and looked about. He returned and reported 
 that no one was in sight. 
 
 We examined the interstice on that end toward 
 which we had decided to shunt the stone, and found 
 that the rabbet would pass, having a clear sixteenth 
 442
 
 The ^Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 of an inch. We had only left, then, to roll the 
 stone on the drills. 
 
 We each placed a wrench upon an end drill and 
 began turning. The stone moved slowly, but with- 
 out much effort after the first start. But it had to 
 pass eight inches out of place before we could see 
 into the cavity of the altar. 
 
 At first we saw nothing but a clean opening ; but 
 after moving the tablet six more inches, we could 
 see the beginning of a very narrow, steep and con- 
 fined flight of steps leading downward, and damp, 
 dank air rose from the opening. 
 
 Working with a will, now, we soon had the 
 stone so far shunted that we believed we could 
 enter. We stopped, and, together, looked into the 
 place. Harry remarked: 
 
 "We have been lucky in having moved the stone 
 in the right direction, otherwise it would have 
 bothered us to reach those steps. As it is, I doubt 
 if we can go down there to-day. I don't like the 
 smell of that air." 
 
 I lit a match and held it as far inside as I could. 
 It burned as usual. 
 
 "The air is all right, Harry, only very damp. I 
 can see the bottom of the steps. There is water 
 down there." 
 
 Then I examined the first tiny landing of the 
 stairway immediately inside of the altar. 
 
 "And here is the entrance ! See this little pair 
 of tracks? This end panel of the side of the altar 
 travels inward! When it is pushed clear in to the 
 farther side, one can squeeze through feet fore- 
 most and close it after him. See ! This heavy 
 wooden -bar just spans the opening. It is rotten 
 now but you can see that it was just the right 
 length. There is the socket for it on the front 
 443
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 side, and there is the slit in the rear side of the 
 panel into which it should fall. It was used to 
 block the opening after the people got in. This 
 place was a refuge to be used in case the house 
 was taken." 
 
 Harry braced his back against the wall and 
 pushed against the panel with his feet. It slid in- 
 ward; a child could have done it! We looked at 
 one another and laughed sourly. Getting down on 
 the floor behind the altar, and examining the face 
 of the stone we noticed a small curved hole. Either 
 we had not noticed it before or it had not had any 
 significance for us. It was partly under the bot- 
 tom piece in the paneling of the altar. It had been 
 inconspicuous in the shadow of the wall when the 
 door was closed. This was, of course, cut for the 
 purpose of inserting a hook in order to bring the 
 door back into place from the outside. 
 
 Harry pushed the stone clear in and then poked 
 his head into the opening. 
 
 "We'll need candles, Ed. I never thought of 
 that." 
 
 "Nor I. We'll have to get them. Anyway, we 
 cannot go down into that damp place until we get 
 well cooled off. There is no use in getting sick. 
 We have plenty of time. We can go down to- 
 night, as well as this afternoon." 
 
 "Well, then, let us roll the top slab back into 
 place. We've got the door now, and we can't have 
 somebody come in on us with the top of the altar 
 hanging over the end that way." 
 
 "Good. It will take very little time to put it 
 back because we don't have to raise it." 
 
 I pushed the secret panel back into place. By 
 reversing some of our previous steps it took only 
 a little over an hour to roll the stone back and 
 444
 
 The 'Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 lower it into place. There were some marks of the 
 operation and these we obliterated sufficiently for 
 the present by using the drills to dress off one or 
 two places, and by covering these and others with 
 a little dust and moss. Then, with our blouses, we 
 swept the place into the pile produced by breaking 
 through the communicating door, and deposited 
 some of the tools there. 
 
 A little after nine o'clock we were again in the 
 chapel. Harry had made a trip to Cattaro and had 
 brought back a supply of candles and a couple of 
 stout canes, the latter, as he explained, being des- 
 tined for safeguards against rats or other living 
 creatures we might encounter. Then we donned 
 our working clothes and pairs of old shoes, rolled 
 the legs of our overalls above our knees and pre- 
 pared to go down. We lit a candle each and Harry 
 pushed the stone clear back. 
 
 "Go first, old man ! The house is yours !" quoth 
 Harry. 
 
 "You are my guest. Apres vous, M'sieur!" 
 
 "You're afraid!" 
 
 "So are you, my boy." 
 
 With a laugh he wriggled feet foremost, into the 
 place. I handed him a package of candles and 
 followed, closing the panel after me. The quarters 
 were very close, but grew a little more roomy fur- 
 ther down. 
 
 "There is a chain," said Harry. "What was that 
 for?" 
 
 It was attached to a ring-bolt at the side of one 
 of the steps. It was rusted through and through 
 and lay in a pile. We looked about and finally spied 
 another ring-bolt bearing a couple of links in the 
 altar table over our heads. 
 
 445
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 "Ah. That chain was once arranged to prevent 
 the very thing that we did; that is, lifting the 
 stone." 
 
 "Quite right, Harry! Let's get on!" 
 
 Arrived at the bottom of the steps, we found 
 the water to be only six inches deep. It lay over 
 a small landing between this and another flight of 
 two steps which led to the right and upward to a 
 very low door- way. Of this the door stood open, 
 and because of the loosening of a hinge, rested 
 against the floor. It had once been very heavy and 
 strong and was barred with iron. The wood was 
 entirely gone in places. 
 
 We crawled through the door and found our- 
 selves in a vaulted room in which we could just 
 stand upright under the arch of the vaulting. The 
 centre of the room was supported by a short heavy 
 column which spread out at the top to blend with 
 the vaulting. The masonry was very ancient. In 
 one place near the top of the vaulting was a small 
 opening, and in all the sides round about were 
 crypts in which were coffins or sarcophagi covered 
 with decayed palls. The entire floor space includ- 
 ing that occupied by the column was not over twen- 
 ty-five feet square. I stood under the opening in 
 the ceiling and smelt fresh air. 
 
 "That opening probably joins the north chim- 
 ney/' said Harry. 
 
 "This place is a tiny catacombs. It was in exist- 
 ence long before the house was built, and has been 
 utilized as a hiding-place in time of need." 
 
 "Here is our crucifix!" exclaimed Harry. 
 
 We lit several candles and placed them about. 
 Then we examined the crucifix. It was rough- 
 carved in stone, the figure itself being of bronze, 
 and finely done. It was large and stood partly in a 
 446
 
 The 'Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 somewhat commodious niche which reached up into 
 the vaulting. Its base was a massive stone. 
 
 "It will be here!" said Harry. "Now let us 
 think a little before we do another job of break- 
 ing in." 
 
 I put my arm about the crucifix and found it 
 would move, although pretty heavy. Harry took 
 hold with me and together we managed to lift it 
 off and stand it on one side. A part of the base 
 came away with it, disclosing a cavity about one 
 and one-half by two feet square. 
 
 Within this, and neatly fitting the cavity was a 
 bronze chest with two ring-bolts. We lifted this 
 out without much effort, and lowered it onto the 
 floor. It was a shallow, flat case. Below it was 
 another one of like sort, but our united strength 
 failed to budge it. 
 
 "We'd better open them down here, Ed. I'll go 
 up and bring the tools." 
 
 "Wait. Albina expected that a woman might 
 find these things. A woman would have to have 
 help to break open these chests. Up to now she 
 has left all very easy." 
 
 "Lifting the crucifix, too?" he asked. 
 
 "A woman could have overturned it." 
 
 "A woman would have to have help in dispos- 
 ing of this treasure after she had found it, Ed." 
 
 "Yes now. Albina did not foresee the present 
 great change in conditions. In those days when a 
 person suddenly grew rich, no questions were 
 asked. They were days of piracy and other secret 
 wealth getting. I think we may find keys, if we 
 search." 
 
 "Perhaps she hasen't even locked the boxes." 
 
 "Perhaps. There wouldn't be much use in lock- 
 ing them. Here ! Take hold !" 
 
 447
 
 The ^Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 I seized the door handle and Harry with me. 
 We each placed a foot upon a corner of the chest. 
 After several heavy jerks it flew open and we both 
 measured our lengths on the pavement. Neither 
 stopped to do any rubbing, but scrambled back to 
 the chest. 
 
 Packed snugly inside were twenty-four dis- 
 colored leathern bags. Opening several at random 
 we found three filled with loose jewels, all of fair 
 size and some very large. Two contained diamonds 
 only, one a collection of precious stones of vari- 
 ous sorts. There were sixty-three rubies alone. 
 Most of the bags contained jewels in settings, all 
 of old, and some evidently of very ancient, style. 
 
 "You will have to dismount these jewels and 
 melt up the settings," said Harry. "It is a great 
 pity, but there is no help for it. It will be a deli- 
 cate affair to dispose of so many ancient stones as 
 it is. Don't attempt to do it all at once or in any 
 one place. Take years for it, and do it all over 
 the world. You have time." 
 
 Then we turned our attention to the other chest. 
 Being more protected, the door was less glued by 
 the green corrosion and after turning the ring-bolts 
 aside Harry easily pulled it open. 
 
 This also contained bags, but all filled with old 
 ,gold coin of various countries, mostly sequins of 
 the Venetian Republic. This was a deep case and 
 contained two hundred and sixty-seven bags. 
 
 We piled the bags on the floor, and by our united 
 strength we lifted the heavy chest out of the cavity, 
 disclosing a third. Upon this lay a folded parch- 
 ment. 
 
 As Harry picked this up, a key fell out of it. 
 He held the parchment near a candle. 
 
 "Albina's hand again," he remarked. The writ- 
 448
 
 The 'Accursed R. o c c o s 
 
 ing was short and he soon read it. It was as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 "The third and last box contains nothing of 
 value. I do not forbid the finder to open it. The 
 key is enclosed in this parchment. When she has 
 once seen for herself what the box contains, I beg 
 her in memory of me to lock the box again, return 
 it to its place, and leave it there forever. Let the 
 key be thrown behind the first sarcophagus to the 
 right of the crucifix, the which coffin contains the 
 dust of one who was far dearer to me than all my 
 heir shall find. Then when my heir shall have re- 
 moved this treasure which she has already found, 
 I beg, that when she can, she will close this vault, 
 so that its solitude will never more be broken." 
 
 "The first coffin to the right," repeated Harry. 
 
 "The father of the illegitimate child of course. 
 Her father and husband were buried at Curzola." 
 
 "And the once owner of the old violin. And 
 so he rests there ! I wonder if he died before her 
 marriage." 
 
 "Why oh, yes. Don't you remember the story 
 of the haidukans?" 
 
 "Oh, yes ! Of course !" 
 
 We lifted out the third box and unlocked it. 
 We raised the lid with a certain reverence. 
 , The chest was shallow like the first one and con- 
 tained packets of old yellow letters, a diary, a faded 
 handkerchief, a miniature in a carved ivory frame 
 bearing the face of a man seemingly very dark, of 
 fine features, with a wealth of hair tied behind his 
 head. A bit of faded velvet which seemed once to 
 have been the collar of a man's coat; a bit of torn 
 lace; a jeweled locket containing a wisp of black 
 hair; a bit of torn music manuscript yellow and 
 449
 
 The 'A c c ur s'e'd R o c c o s 
 
 fragile with age; two little twin bottles of brilliant 
 ruby glass; and a few other such things. 
 
 We silently closed and locked the chest and re- 
 turned it to its place. Then I turned to the first 
 niche to the right of the crucifix intending to throw 
 the key behind the coffin as directed. As I turned 
 I noticed the pall, which was of black velvet, 
 heavily embroidered with almost untarnished gold. 
 The fabric was discolored and stained, but seeming- 
 ly in better condition than that of the other crypts. 
 
 "When she loved the father so well, I wonder 
 she hated their son so," mused Harry. 
 
 "I suppose he proved undutiful and untrue. Some 
 of those letters might give light on this and other 
 things now forgotten. We might look them over 
 later. She has not forbidden it." 
 
 "Just so! Keep the key for awhile. I fancy, 
 Ed, that after all, her placing the will in the violin 
 was a piece of sentiment. It had been his, and 
 perhaps she had the feeling that she was giving it 
 into his care." 
 
 "It may have been." 
 
 "Requiescat in pace! Let's get through, Ed! 
 The place is getting on my nerves !" 
 
 "Harry, I think I shall leave most of the gold 
 here for the present. The bulk of the treasure is 
 in the jewels. We can get the gold later when I 
 have less on my mind. It has been here undis- 
 turbed a hundred and twenty years. We will risk 
 it a little while longer. We would find it difficult 
 to carry it away now." 
 
 "When you come again, you must come prepared 
 to melt it and cast it into bars. Then it can be sold 
 safely. You'll have to abandon medicine and set 
 up as a wholesale jewel merchant." 
 
 "Not a bad suggestion. I'll consider it." 
 
 450
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 We replaced most of the gold in its chest after 
 first returning the latter to its former place. We 
 kept out several bags. Then the empty upper chest 
 was replaced and we returned the crucifix to posi- 
 tion. We moved the rest of the treasure upstairs, 
 flung our tools and working clothes onto the stair- 
 way under the altar and re-closed the secret door. 
 We then packed the treasure into our lunch bas- 
 kets. After this we lay ourselves upon benches 
 and slept dreamlessly until the sun was high. 
 
 451
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 ABOUT three months after our success described 
 in the last chapter, Gisela was unveiled and set 
 free. She had received the news before I did, and 
 when I drove to the convent, the Sister Superior 
 did not keep me waiting long, but left me and sent 
 her in. 
 
 As I waited with my heart full and scarcely able 
 to breathe, I heard a door open, this time, and 
 turned to meet a beautiful flying figure which 
 rushed into my arms. Neither of us could speak 
 for a while. Then when I could, I asked once 
 more the same old question and had my own an- 
 swer, at last. 
 
 "Dear heart, of course we shall be married ! Have 
 I not loved you always? But," and she smiled 
 half sadly, "you will have to wait until I have my 
 hair again, dear. I have not been tonsured for 
 nearly six weeks I did not know why, until yes- 
 terday but it is still dreadful." 
 
 "It need not be the full length, my love. We 
 will let it grow a little longer and then I want to 
 watch it myself and see to it that it does it just 
 right." 
 
 "If you watch it, Eduard, I am sure it will be 
 prettier than it ever was before. Oh how I love 
 you, Eduard ! How / love you, tesoro mio !" 
 
 As I write, it is May of the following year. For 
 more than eight months Gisela has been the daugh- 
 ter of the Count's house. She openly accuses the 
 452
 
 The ^Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 Count of making love to her every day, and the 
 Count laughs delightedly at the notion. 
 
 "Never mind, Edward. Between us, Gisela and 
 I can keep him straight while he is in the house," 
 asserts the Grafin. 
 
 Her hair is not long enough to do up yet, but she 
 says that with "help" she hopes to look present- 
 able at our wedding in September. She has not 
 explained what this "help" is and I have not in- 
 quired. 
 
 I have succeeded in converting much of the 
 treasure into cash but the selling of the whole will 
 take time. I do not know the value of it yet, for 
 it is going far beyond my expectations, as every 
 single gem in the collection has proven to be of the 
 best quality, and many of them great rarities. 
 When Gisela was informed of the probable value 
 of what she had, she held up her hands in amaze- 
 ment and unbelief. Then she pressed me to take 
 it all; she did not wish to hear more of it, she 
 said. But I only accepted the return of my entire 
 outlay in her behalf. That was a bagatelle when 
 compared to the whole. 
 
 Harry also received his treasure; not merely as a 
 loan, but as a gift from both of us. When he was 
 informed that henceforth the violin was his very 
 own, he took Gisela's hand, bent and kissed it 
 reverently, and told her that henceforth she was his 
 Goddess enshrined above all other women. When 
 he had finished this speech, I whispered in his ear: 
 
 "Little dago with two eyes and two ideas!" 
 
 "Jackass!" he whispered back. 
 
 "Which of us do you mean, Harry?" 
 
 But he deigned no reply to this. 
 
 I heard him play on the violin at a concert in 
 Brussels last winter. It sang out with a glorious 
 
 453
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 noble voice, filling the auditorium with a paean 
 which seemed to sing of work well done and of a 
 joyous release, just tinged with a certain shadowy 
 something that may have been the lingering affec- 
 tionate memory of another long-departed hand. 
 But it will forget that other hand in time; for 
 Harry loves it like he will never love a woman, and 
 such a love must beget its return. 
 
 Cecilie, too, has succeeded. She is not the great 
 artist that Lubitza was, sweeping upon the public 
 like a blazing star; but "die Narishkina" has at- 
 tained a good position in the operatic world, is 
 advancing steadily in her work, is happy in it, and 
 asks no more. 
 
 But none of us is happier than the old woman 
 Teresa; for she is with her mistress again and will 
 remain with her for the rest of her life. 
 
 I hear that the Ingenieur has been promoted again 
 and if nothing happens to him that he will, one day, 
 occupy a high place in the army. I have further 
 heard that he is to marry a certain Fraulein Bauer 
 from whose father he will receive a heavy dot. 
 However, I do not envy him. Besides, I cannot 
 help but believe that a shadowy hand is hovering 
 over his head, and that in its own good time it will 
 descend and drag him down, perhaps upon the very 
 threshold of his highest success, as it did his former 
 fiancee. 
 
 I have never seen Signor Tomanovich or his son 
 Paulo since my trial. Neither came in my sight 
 during the visit of last year at Cattaro or during 
 two subsequent ones that Harry and I made in 
 order to remove the gold, and to carry out old Al- 
 bina's last wish. 
 
 Bright, pretty Amalia Sbutega is now a very 
 rich girl richer, even, than Gisela. She wrote 
 454
 
 The Accursed R o c c o s 
 
 Gisela not long ago that she was looking for a hus- 
 band now, and Gisela suggested that I go down to 
 Cattaro and offer myself. I answered that I felt 
 bound in honor to her now, and didn't feel that it 
 would be doing right. 
 
 Le Tre Sorelle still exists, somber and grim as 
 ever. Last spring after Harry and I had removed 
 the last of the gold, we had workmen come, brick 
 up the door into the catacombs, and fill the stair- 
 way and the altar with earth and stones. Then we 
 replaced the upper tablet of the altar, to remain. 
 This was done in obedience to old Albina's last 
 request. 
 
 I never expect to revisit the house. It will stand 
 for years to come, a tomb, enshrining the dust 
 which Albina had loved so well, together with those 
 little things in the third casket under the crucifix 
 which she so reverently had deposited there. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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