Ivan the Terrible; or, Dark Deeds of Night — page 55: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

IVAN THE ~ Leonora felt faint, and was prevailed upon to leave the | apartment and stroll about the lovely palace orchards and private gardens, whieh she could very well do without exciting observation from the sleepy guards; or any of the | royal household, who, at that dread and lonely hour, were fast locked in unconscious and innocent slumber, Leonora had been led into the garden by one in attendance, yet those that remained beside the august prisoners main- tained a death-like silence which had up to the present remained unbroken by a single word. | . The king and Lord Tippler, it must be confessed, were de- cidedly uncomfortable, and extremely nervous in their un- pleasant position, for, fast bound as they were, chair-back to chair-back, one could not move without incommoding the other. . The king, pale, thoughtful, and very serious, spoke not a word for fear of meeting with instant death. Not so with Tippler, however. The cords abont his arms and body were so uncomfortably annoying and painful to his fat and corpulent body that he frequently eroaned and swore reat roundly, but in a subdued and timorous tone of voice. | _ He grew red and pale and purple in the face, each by turns, and his fat jaws swelled ont like small balloons, while his eyes rolled in vexation and helpless anger, The ing, on the other hand, bore his indfgnity with a good grace, for he had a conviction that, despite all their threats, the designs of his enemies would be frustrated, Tippler, however, had sad and melancholy forebodings, and wriggled and writhed most ludicrously upon his chair, turning his eyes first in one direction and then another as if he expected that some good genii would condescend to appear and rid him of his cold-blooded tormentors. ~ When Leonora had left the room and descended to the private gardens, a youth, named Andrew, one of Ivan’s fol- lowers, approached the king, and, looking him sternly in the face, said to him, ~ : ““T ask—nay, I demand, sir, that you will answer truthfully and distinctly the question J am about to put to you, on pain of instant chastisément,” ~ “Moré questions? Heiglio!” groaned Tippler, in humilia- tion and affliction of spirit. “Instant chastisement also? Ueh! Oh! my ‘poor wife, and large family of nine smal]——_”’ - “Silence !” growled one of his guards, and the fat lord suddenly collapsed into a state of abject misery and help- lessness. ; | The king answered not, but looked vacantly around him. _ ‘The question was repeated éven more distinctly and calmly than before, but the king still deigned to make no reply. Tippler, whose fears were now wrought up to the highest pitch, nudged the king\repeatedly, whispering, “Oh, for mercy’s sake, answer him! Say anything you please, only calm the yillains, See how his eyes roll! Oh, Yor ! I fear we’re both settled and done for!” “ Answer?” said the king, as if suddenly aroused from a deep reverie. ‘ Answer? oh, of course, say anything you think fit, my lord.” "Tid you, or did you not, then, intend to marry the maiden you decoyed into your palace?” asked Andrew, coolly. ;. eee gasped the king, with sudden warmth. “ What the.devil do you mean, sir? Do you think that a king of England would go far disgrace himself as to marry a pretty penniless unknown girl, you arch villanous trajtor, eh? Oh! Ugh! Ibeg pardon—that is, I did not mean to say——” “ Silence !” growled an attendant, as he placed a sword to his throat, a complimentary attention which my Lord Tippler fully and instantly. appreciated, for it stopped his loquacity in a moment, which ended in a sudden “ Ugh!” and ex- pression of horror. ““Did you, or did you not?” again asked the youthful Andrew, in solemn tones. ‘ Answer me that.” *“T did not—would not !” was the king’s answer. “Then allow me to say that you are a scoundrel of the first water |!” Andrew replied “Scoundrel, eh ?” suddenly broke in the excited and pas- TERRIBLE. 51 sionate lord. villain ?” “Silence !” was again frowled in his ears, bit this time the point of a poniard tickled him in a very sore place, and he groaned aloud, The king’s answer aroused the anger of Andrew, who, just touching his shoulder, said calmly, but in a determined tone. $ “You are not a gentleman, mark ye, but I will try to forget that fact for the present, and lower myself to your own level.” . ‘ ‘© How very humble!” Tippler groaned, with sarcasm and bitterness, ; “And as you have thus insulted a young maid,” Master Andrew resumed, “I now challenge you to single combat !’° “Mortal combat! Ugh! Ob, lor! more bloodshed! Oh, the blood-thirsty villains !” groaned Tippler, **Mortal combat !” sighed the king, in horror. “ Yes, here too, and upon this very spot, mark you that!” “Oh, the monster!” groaned ‘lippler, in horror, now thoroughly alarmed at the suddenly developed and revengeful feelings of his calm and deliberate custodian. ‘Duel, ch? Oh, no, it cannot, it must not be !” ‘‘ Cannot, must not be, trembling knave?..What mean ye? Why not?” retorted Master Andrew, with determined looks. “Why not? for a very good reason,’ the king replied, “ What next, I wonder? You come uninvited into our palace, turn everything topsy-turvy, seize our royal person,.bind us like a common criminal, and now you politely beg us to allow you to murder us in the genteelest manner possible.” “No, certainly not ; the precious life of his most gracious majesty must not be jeopardized in such a foolish manner !” grunted Tippler in disgust. “But I say it shall be,” Master Andrew replied; ‘and it shall be thus :—I will fight you with swords or pistols, as shall seem most fitting and pleasing to you. If you choose swords I will instantly release you, so that you may meet me here on equal terms, and foot to foot decide it. If, however, as I wish to accommodate you inany and every possible way, you do not choose swords as the weapons, why, then, I shall prefer pistols.” ‘“Oh, the demon! how very cunning and damuably obliging he is all at once,” Tipplér sighed; in despair, ** And in case pistols should suit you,” Master Andrew con- tinued, ‘I will procure a pair on the instant. One of them shall be loaded, and the other not; both shall be placed on the table in yonder dark room; you or I shall have the first pick, a8 the case may be decided by lots.’’- “ First choice, eh? . Ugh !”’ groaned Tippler, in horror, most respectfully decline.” ‘So that whoever happens to get the loaded one may have the pleasure of blowing out the other one’s brains on the instant, and so end the dispute.” . ‘Blow out his brains! Oh, horrible!” Tippler. said, with trembling limbs, ' “Oh, dear, no. Ithank you all the same for your extreme “Do you know to whom you thus speak, ey ‘politeness, but I couldn't think of such a thing ; you might get the right one, and I the wrong one, and that wouldn’t suit at all.” . “ Certainly not,” said Tippler, “ we could not think of such a barbarous proposal ; but, since it seems that you are deter- mined to have a fight somehow. or other, I have hit upon 4 capital plan, which [ know will suit both of yon.” “No, no,” said the king, “hang all your plans, I don’t want to fight and that’s flat, so damn all your capital plans !” “What is your excellent plan, then, sir?” Andrew said, coolly. . “Well, I was just thinking,” Tippler replied, “‘ that if both of you. were to bottle up your wrath until morning and then quietly meet on Hampstead Heath, or some such place, with pistols or swords, as the case might be, you, you know, with your particular friend, and his majesty with me, or: ¢ “With a regiment of soldiers lying in ambush, you mean, perhaps, eh? “I fully understand your capital plan, my dear sir,’ said Andrew, with a sneer, r ElOOO|KKS.GOMM Com