Chapter VII
BARNEY TO THE RESCUE
As Barney Custer raced along the Austrian highroad toward the
frontier and Lutha, his spirits rose to a pitch of buoyancy to which
they had been strangers for the past several days. For the first
time in many hours it seemed possible to Barney to entertain
reasonable hopes of escape from the extremely dangerous predicament
into which he had gotten himself.
He was even humming a gay little tune as he drove into a tiny hamlet
through which the road wound. No sign of military appeared to fill
him with apprehension. He was very hungry and the odor of cooking
fell gratefully upon his nostrils. He drew up before the single inn, and presently, washed and brushed, was sitting before the first meal he had seen for two days. In the enjoyment of the food he almost forgot the dangers he had passed through, or that other dangers might be lying in wait for him at his elbow.
From the landlord he learned that the frontier lay but three miles
to the south of the hamlet. Three miles! Three miles to Lutha! What
if there was a price upon his head in that kingdom? It was HER home. It had been his mother's birthplace. He loved it.
Further, he must enter there and reach the ear of old Prince von der
Tann. Once more he must save the king who had shown such scant
gratitude upon another occasion.
For Leopold, Barney Custer did not give the snap of his fingers; but
what Leopold, the king, stood for in the lives and sentiments of the
Luthanians–of the Von der Tanns–was very dear to the American
because it was dear to a trim, young girl and to a rugged, leonine, old man, of both of whom Barney was inordinately fond. And possibly, too, it was dear to him because of the royal blood his mother had bequeathed him.
His meal disposed of to the last morsel, and paid for, Barney
entered the stolen car and resumed his journey toward Lutha. That he
could remain there he knew to be impossible, but in delivering his
news to Prince Ludwig he might have an opportunity to see the
Princess Emma once again--it would be worth risking his life for, of
that he was perfectly satisfied. And then he could go across into
Serbia with the new credentials that he had no doubt Prince von der
Tann would furnish him for the asking to replace those the Austrians
had confiscated.
At the frontier Barney was halted by an Austrian customs officer; but when the latter recognized the military car and the Austrian uniform of the driver he waved him through without comment. Upon the other side the American expected possible difficulty with the Luthanian customs officer, but to his surprise he found the little building deserted, and none to bar his way. At last he was in Lutha--by noon on the following day he should be at Tann.
To reach the Old Forest by the best roads it was necessary to bear a
little to the southeast, passing through Tafelberg and striking the
north and south highway between that point and Lustadt, to which he
could hold until reaching the east and west road that runs through
both Tann and Blentz on its way across the kingdom.
The temptation to stop for a few minutes in Tafelberg for a visit
with his old friend Herr Kramer was strong, but fear that he might
be recognized by others, who would not guard his secret so well as
the shopkeeper of Tafelberg would, decided him to keep on his way. So he flew through the familiar main street of the quaint old village at a speed that was little, if any less, than fifty miles an hour.
On he raced toward the south, his speed often necessarily diminished
upon the winding mountain roads, but for the most part clinging to a
reckless mileage that caused the few natives he encountered to flee
to the safety of the bordering fields, there to stand in
open-mouthed awe.
Halfway between Tafelberg and the crossroad into which he purposed
turning to the west toward Tann there is an S-curve where the bases
of two small hills meet. The road here is narrow and
treacherous–fifteen miles an hour is almost a reckless speed at
which to travel around the curves of the S. Beyond are open fields
upon either side of the road.