the three friends turned their horses’ heads away from the lake, and pressed swiftly along the road.
“it is necessary,” said professor baffin, “that we should make good speed, for prince sagramor saw us come to this side of the lake, and if he shall suspect our design no doubt he will at once pursue us, in behalf of that abominable girl, his daughter.”
the journey was made in silence during most of the time, for the hard riding rendered conversation exceedingly difficult, but whenever the party reached the crest of a hill which commanded a view of the road in the rear, the professor looked anxiously behind him to ascertain if anybody was giving chase. when within a mile or two of lonazep, he did at last perceive what appeared to be a group of horsemen at some distance behind him, and although he felt by no means certain that the prince was among them, he nervously urged95 his companions forward, spurring, meantime, his own horse furiously, in the hope that he might reach the castle of baron bors ere he should be overtaken.
as the party came within sight of the castle, they could hear the hoofs of the horses of the pursuers, and soon their ears were assailed by cries, demanding that they should stop. it was, indeed, prince sagramor and his knights, who were following fast. the professor galloped more furiously than ever when he ascertained the truth, and sir bleoberis and ysolt kept pace with him.
just as they reached the drawbridge, however, they were overtaken; and, as it was raised, they were compelled to stop and meet the prince face to face. the professor hurriedly called to the warder to lower the bridge, so that ysolt could take refuge in the castle. then he turned, and determined to make the best of the situation. the prince was disposed to be conciliatory.
“we came,” he said, “to escort you back again. we have a guard of honor here fitting for any bridegroom.”
“you are uncommonly kind,” replied the professor, “but the parade is rather unnecessary. i am not going back just at present.”
“i promised bragwaine that you would return with us,” said the prince, sternly.
“well, you ought not to make rash promises,” replied the professor, with firmness.
96 “you will go, of course?”
“of course i will not go.”
“bragwaine is waiting for you.”
“that,” said the professor, “is a matter of perfect indifference to me.”
“i will not be trifled with, sir,” said the prince, angrily.
“nor will i,” exclaimed the professor. “let us understand one another. i do not wish to marry any one. i did not ask your daughter to marry me, and i have never consented to the union. i tell you now that i positively and absolutely refuse to be forced to marry her or any other woman. i will do as i please about it; not as you please.”
“seize him,” shrieked the prince to his attendants.
“stand off,” said the professor, presenting his revolver. “i’ll kill the man who approaches me. i shall put up with this foolishness no longer.”
one of the knights rode toward him. the professor fired, and the cavalier’s horse rolled in the dust. the prince and his people were stupefied with astonishment.
at this juncture, baron bors, sir dinadan, sir agravaine, sir bleoberis, and miss baffin emerged from the castle. miss baffin flew to her father, and flung her arms about him. the professor kissed her tenderly, and as he did so, his eye caught sight of the wire of the telephone which he had arranged for ysolt and sir bleoberis. a97 happy thought struck him. advancing, he said to the prince:
“it is useless for us to quarrel over this matter. baron bors has here an oracle. let us consult that.”
then the professor whispered something to miss baffin, who withdrew unobserved and went into the castle.
the prince was at first indisposed to condescend to accept the offer, but his curiosity finally overcame his pride.
“step this way,” said the professor. “ask your questions through this,” handing him the mouthpiece, “and put this to your ear for the answer.”
“what shall i say?” inquired the prince.
“ask if it is right that i should marry your daughter.”
the prince put the question, and the answer came.
“what does the oracle say?” asked the professor.
“it says you shall not,” replied the prince, looking a good deal scared.
“are you satisfied?” said the professor.
the prince did not answer, but he looked as if he suspected a trick of some kind, and would like to impale professor baffin with his lance, if he dared.
he was about to turn away in disgust, when sir98 agravaine, who stood beside him, in a few half-whispered words explained to him the method by which the professor had imposed upon him.
in a raging fury, the prince rode up to the professor, and would have assailed him; but baron bors advanced and said:
“this gentleman is unarmed, and unused to our methods of combat. he is my guest, and he has saved my daughter. i will fight his battles.”
the prince threw his glove at the baron’s feet. baron bors called for his armor and his horse, and when he was ready he took his place opposite to his antagonist, and waited the signal for the contest.
“this,” said the professor, “is probably the most asinine proceeding upon record. because i won’t marry sagramor’s daughter, sagramor is going to fight with a man who never saw his daughter.”
at the first shock both knights were unhorsed.
the combat was not a long one. at the first shock both knights were unhorsed; but, drawing their swords, they rushed together and hacked at each other until the sparks flew in showers from their armor.
the baron fought well, but presently the prince’s sword struck his shoulder with a blow which carried the blade down through the steel plate, and caused the blood to spurt forth. the baron fell to the earth; and prince sagramor,99 remembering the small number of his attendants, and the probability that he might be assailed by the baron’s people, mounted his horse and slowly trotted away without deigning to look at professor baffin. they carried the baron tenderly into the castle, and put him to bed. the wound was a terrible one, and the professor perceived that the chances of his recovery, under the rude medical treatment that could be obtained, were not very favorable. after doing what he could to help the sufferer, he withdrew from the room, and left the baron with lady bors and the medical practitioner who was ordinarily employed by the family.
miss baffin, with sir dinadan, awaited her father in the hall. this was the first opportunity he had had to greet her. after some preliminary conversation, and after the professor had expressed to sir dinadan his regret that the baron should have been injured, the professor said:
“and now, tilly, my love, how have you been employing yourself during my absence?”
miss baffin blushed.
“have you kept the journal regularly?” asked the professor.
“not so very regularly,” replied miss baffin.
“i have a number of interesting and extraordinary things for you to record,” said the professor. “has nothing of a remarkable character happened here during my absence?”
100 “oh, yes,” said miss baffin.
“i have learned to smoke,” said sir dinadan.
“indeed,” said the professor with a slight pang. “and how many cigars have you smoked?”
“only one,” replied the knight. “it made me ill for two days. i think, perhaps, i shall give up smoking.”
“i would advise you to. it is a bad habit,” said the professor, “and expensive. and then, you know, cigars are so dreadfully scarce, too.”
“the lady tilly was very kind to me while i was ill. i believe i was delirious once or twice; and i was so touched by her sweet patience that i again proposed to her.”
“while you were delirious?” asked the professor.
“oh, no; when i had recovered.”
“what did you say to that, tilly?” asked professor baffin.
“i referred him to you,” replied miss baffin.
“but what will the baron say?” asked the professor.
“he and my mother have given their consent,” said sir dinadan. “they declared that i could not have pleased them better than by making such a choice.”
“well, i don’t know,” said the professor, reflectively. “i like you first-rate, and if i felt certain we were going to stay here—”
101 “i will go with you if you leave the island,” said sir dinadan, eagerly.
“and then you know, din,” continued the professor familiarly, “tilly is highly educated, while you—well, you know you must learn to read, and write, and cipher, the very first thing.”
“i have been giving him lessons while you were away,” said miss baffin.
“how does he get along?”
“quite well. he can do short division with a little help, and he has learned as far as the eighth line in the multiplication table.”
“eight eights are sixty-four, eight nines are seventy-two, eight tens are eighty,” said sir dinadan, triumphantly.
“well,” said the professor, “if tilly loves you, and you love tilly, i shall make no objection.”
“oh, thank you,” exclaimed both of the lovers.
“but, i tell you what, din, you are getting a good bargain. there is no finer girl, or a smarter one either, on the globe. you people here cannot half appreciate her.”
for more than a week, baron bors failed to show any signs of improvement, and the professor thought he perceived clearly that his case was fast getting beyond hope. he deemed it prudent, however, to keep his opinion from the members of the baron’s family. but the baron himself soon reached the same conclusion, and one day lady102 bors came out of his room to summon sir dinadan, ysolt, sir bleoberis, who was now formally betrothed to ysolt, and the professor, to the baron’s bedside.
the baron said to them, in a feeble voice, that he felt his end approaching, and that he desired to give some instructions, and to say farewell to his family. then he addressed himself first to sir dinadan, and next to ysolt. when he had finished speaking to them he said to lady bors,—
“and now, ettard, a final word to you. i am going away, and you will need another friend, protector, companion, husband. have you ever thought of any one whom you should like, other than me?”
“never, never, never,” said lady bors, sobbing.
“let me advise you, then. who would be more likely to fill my place in your heart acceptably than our good and wise and wonderful friend sir baffin?”
“good gracious!” exclaimed the professor with a start.
“your son is to marry his daughter; and she will be happy to be here with him in the castle. promise me that you will try to love him.”
“yes, i will try,” said lady bors, wiping her eyes and seeming, upon the whole, rather more cheerful.
“that,” said the baron, “does not altogether103 satisfy me. i place upon you my command that you shall marry him. will you consent to obey?”
“i will consent to anything, so that your last hour may be happier,” said lady bors with an air of resignation. she was supported during the trial, perhaps, by the reflection that in dealing with lumbago professor baffin had no superior in the kingdom.
father anselm was announced. “withdraw, now,” said the baron to all of his family but lady bors. “i must speak with the hermit.”
professor baffin encountered the hermit at the door. the holy man stopped long enough to say that a huge ship had come near to the shore upon which the professor had landed, and that it was anchored there. from its mast, father anselm said, fluttered a banner of red and white stripes with a starry field of blue.
the professor’s heart beat fast. for a moment he could hardly control his emotion. he resolved to go at once to the shore and to take his daughter with him. withdrawing her from her companions the two strolled slowly out from the castle into the park. then, hastening their steps, they passed towards the shore. in a few moments they reached it, and there, sure enough, they saw a barque at anchor, while from her mast-head floated the american flag.
a boat belonging to the barque had come to104 the shore to obtain water from the stream. professor baffin entered into conversation with the officer who commanded the boat. the vessel proved to be the mary l. simpson, of martha’s vineyard, bound from the azores to new york. when the professor had explained to the officer that he and his daughter were americans, the mate invited them to come aboard so that he could introduce them to the captain.
“shall we go, my child?” asked the professor.
“if we can return in a very few moments, we might go,” said miss baffin.
they entered the boat, and when they reached the vessel, they were warmly greeted by captain magruder.
while they were talking with him in his cabin the air suddenly darkened, and the captain rushed out upon deck. almost before he reached it a terrific gale struck the barque, and she began to drag her anchors. fortunately the wind blew off shore, and the captain, weighing anchor, let the barque drive right out to sea. the professor was about to remark to miss baffin that he feared there was small chance of his ever seeing the island again, when a lurch of the vessel threw him over. his head struck the sharp corner of the captain’s chest, and he became unconscious.
when professor baffin regained his senses, he found that he was lying in a berth in a ship’s cabin. some one was sitting beside him,—
105 “is that you, tilly?” he asked, in a faint voice.
“yes, pa; i am glad you are conscious again. can i give you anything?”
“have i been long unconscious, tilly?”
“you have been very ill for several days; delirious sometimes.”
“is the captain going back to the island?”
“going back to the what, pa?”
“to the island. it must have seemed dreadfully heartless for us to leave the castle while the baron was dying.”
“while the baron was dying! what do you mean?”
“why, baron bors could not have lived much longer. i am afraid sir dinadan will think hard of us.”
“i haven’t the least idea what you are talking about. poor pa! your mind is beginning to wander again. turn over, and try to go to sleep.”
professor baffin was silent for a moment. then he said,—
“tilly, do you mean to say you never heard of baron bors?”
“never.”
“and that you were never engaged to sir dinadan?”
“pa, how absurd! who are these people?”
“were you not upon the island with me, at the castle?”
106 “how could we have gone upon an island, pa, when we were taken from the raft by the ship?”
“tilly, my child, when i get perfectly well i shall have to tell you of the most extraordinary series of circumstances that has come under my observation during the whole course of my existence!”
then professor baffin closed his eyes and fell into a doze, and miss baffin went up to tell the surgeon of the ship undine, from philadelphia to glasgow, that her father seemed to be getting better.
