In the Name of the People

by Arthur W. Marchmont

Next I felt a hand on my forehead, my face was lifted an inch or two, and a thick wide scarf, in which a gag was fastened, was wound twice round my head and fastened at the back, and then my hands were tied behind me.

It was extremely uncomfortable, of course, and I had great difficulty in breathing, but that was all. A very small discount from the success which I had scored.

After that I was left to my own meditations, and I guessed that I was not one whit less excited or ill at ease than my captors. My one qualm was whether the scarf would be taken off before I was left in the cabin which was in readiness for me on the Rampallo. If it was, then the confounded moustache would assuredly go with it and that farcical incident might prove to be the curtain raiser to a very serious drama and possibly a tragedy.

But the men’s unwillingness to let me see their faces was a fact of auspicious promise, and I judged that their reluctance would not lessen until they were practically certain their desperate venture had succeeded. So long as failure was a possible contingency, it would be practicable for them to make a bolt of it in a body, with much less risk of recognition than if “His Majesty” had seen that his abductors were officers whom he knew well by sight and probably by name.

Nor could they be absolutely certain of success until the Rampallo was many knots on her way to Oporto. They would naturally calculate that the abduction would be discovered almost at once; and were no doubt afraid that the authorities would be roused to prompt and energetic action, with the result that the yacht might be stopped before she could get out of the river.

I persuaded myself, therefore, that the risk of my impersonation being detected was over for some hours at least, and as this was the most comforting thought for me, there was no good purpose to be gained by anticipating trouble.

The launch was a vile sea boat. She kicked about and tossed and pitched like the ill-behaved cockle-shell she was, and, as I was powerless to help myself, I rolled about the floor like a bale of goods or a very intoxicated monarch; and the man in charge understood neither how to manage her properly nor how to make matters easier for his “king.”

I was heartily glad, therefore, when we bumped alongside the Rampallo and I was hoisted aboard. They handled me with all the clumsiness of nervous amateurs, and I think that was the moment of my greatest peril, for the launch danced and bobbed about so much that they nearly dropped me into the river.

But they did not unfasten the scarf, and I was taken below into a cabin, laid on the berth, my hands still tied and the gag in position, and locked in.

Had they peeped in a few minutes later they would have been considerably surprised. They were as great bunglers in tying my hands as they were in managing the launch, and I had not the least difficulty in wriggling my arms free. A vigorous tug tore off the head-gear, wig, and all, and as there were a couple of serviceable bolts on the door I shot them home softly, and indulged in the luxury of unimpeded breathing. It had not occurred to them apparently, that “His Majesty” might be quite as anxious to keep them out of the cabin as they were to keep him in; otherwise they would have removed the door fastenings.