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Page 29
"He is, and he will be on duty during the night in the anteroom of the
bedchamber. In this way the emperor's disappearance will be concealed until
the next morning, and the matter will not become known until the following
day at nine o'clock, when the generals arrive. What will happen then,
whether Eugene is declared emperor or the Bourbons are again summoned to
the throne, will depend upon what occurs in France, and what effect the
emperor's disappearance has upon the minds of the people there. We need
not trouble ourselves about it for the present; it does not belong to the
business which occupies our attention."
"No, no, we have to deal only with the emperor," cried Schulmeister,
laughing, "and I can tell you that I am as anxious about the progress of
this matter as if it were the development of a drama, and that I am
extremely curious to know what more is to be done with the gagged emperor.
We have left him in the hut."
"Yes, and he will remain there until the night has closed in. Then Baron
von Moudenfels and two other conspirators, disguised as workmen, will
convey him in a basket standing ready in the hut, such as are used in the
transportation of the sick to the place in the woods where a carriage will
be waiting for the basket and its companions. They will ride all night
long, relays will be ready everywhere at the appointed spots, and, when
morning dawns, they will have reached the house of a conspirator near
Gratz, and spend the day there. At nightfall the journey will be continued
in the same way, and so, constantly traveling by night and resting by day
in the house of a conspirator, until Trieste is reached. To be prepared for
all casualties, a French passport for the transportation of an invalid to
Trieste has been obtained. Count Andreossy issued it at the request of
Colonel Mariage, and for greater security, Captain de Guesniard, in full
uniform and provided with the necessary legal documents, will accompany the
party to Trieste."
"Who are to be the other companions of the captive emperor?"
"Three more persons will accompany him. First, Baron Moudenfels, the
originator and instigator of the whole plan. Then there are two subaltern
officers in the French army, for whom Captain de Guesniard answers, but
whose names were not mentioned."
"Oh, I will discover them," cried Schulmeister, "be assured I will discover
them; and I am glad that there is some special work for me in this affair.
Go on now, go on, my Leonore."
"There is but little more to say. A ship, laden with grain, lies in the
harbor of Trieste with papers ready to set sail at once for Genoa. The
Baron von Moudenfels, with the prisoner and the two French lieutenants,
will take passage in her for Genoa, where another vessel, furnished by the
Swedish members of the league, is ready to convey the party further. Count
von Kotte has already been sent from here to Genoa by Baron von Moudenfels
to give directions to the captain of the ship, who from that port will
relieve Baron von Moudenfels from the charge of the prisoner."
"And what is the goal of his journey?"
"As I told you, some desolate island in the ocean, where no ships touch.
There the emperor will be put ashore and left to support life like a second
Robinson Crusoe, or in his despair seek death."
"Well, the plan really is not impracticable, and has been devised with
equal boldness and calculation. Only I should like to know why so much ado
is made, instead of adopting the shorter process, that is, murdering the
emperor."
"For two reasons! The conspirators consider their task too sacred to
profane it by assassination. They wish to rid Europe of the unhallowed yoke
which weighs upon it in the person of the Emperor Napoleon. They are
convinced that they are summoned to the work; that they shall thereby
render the world and mankind a service full of blessing; but they will not
anticipate fate; they will leave it to God to end a life which they merely
desire to render harmless to God and men. This is the first motive for not
killing the emperor, the second is that they believe a speedy death would
be no fit punishment for the crime which Napoleon has perpetrated on
humanity, while a perpetual, hopeless captivity, embittered by the
omnipresent, ever alert consciousness of ruined greatness, of fame buried
in dust and silence, would be a lasting penance more terrible to an
ambitious land-robber than death could ever be."
"They are right, by the eternal God, they are right!" cried Schulmeister;
"I believe that the emperor would prefer a speedy death a hundred times to
such slow torture; and to you, Leonore, to you and to me will now fall the
vast, the priceless happiness of preserving the emperor from such
martyrdom. I say the priceless happiness, but I shall take good care that
the emperor pays me for it as dearly as possible, and--so far as it can be
done--balances the immense weight of our service by its compensation. By
heaven, half a million francs really seems a trivial reward, and I don't
know whether we can be satisfied with it."
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