Adrift in Pacific and Other Great Adventures – 17 Titles in One Volume (Illustrated Edition). Jules Verne
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village of Werst, in the neighbourhood of the Castle of the Carpathians!
The young count had become silent. His look, wandering from one to the other, only too clearly indicated the deep trouble of his mind, which he was seeking in vain to calm.
Master Koltz and his friends understood that some mysterious tie must exist between the Count de Télek and the Baron de Gortz; but, inquisitive as they were, they maintained a seemly reserve, and did not seek to take an advantage. Later on they would see what they could do.
A few minutes afterwards everyone had left the “King Mathias,” much perplexed at this extraordinary chain of adventures, which foreboded no good to the village.
And now that the young count knew to whom the Castle of the Carpathians belonged, would he keep his promise? If he went to Karlsburg, would he report the matter to the authorities and demand their intervention? That was what the biro, the schoolmaster, Doctor Patak, and others were asking. If he did not do so, Master Koltz had resolved to do so. The police being informed of what had occurred, they would visit the castle, they would see if it were haunted by spirits or inhabited by criminals, for the village could remain no longer under such a state of affairs.
This would, it is true, be quite useless in the opinion of most of the inhabitants. To attack the spirits! The swords of the gendarmes would be broken like glass, and their guns would miss fire each time.
Franz de Télek, left alone in the large room of the “King Mathias,” abandoned himself to the recollections which the name of Baron de Gortz had so unhappily evoked.
After remaining in an armchair for an hour, as if he were quite exhausted, he rose, left the saloon, and went out to the end of the terrace and looked away in the distance.
On the Plesa ridge, bounded by the Orgall plateau, rose the Castle of the Carpathians.
There had lived that strange personage, the frequenter of San Carlo, the man who had inspired such insurmountable terror in the unfortunate La Stilla. But at present the castle was deserted, and Baron de Gortz had not returned to it since he had fled from Naples. None knew what had become of him, and it was possible he had put an end to his existence after the death of the great artiste.
Franz wandered in this way across the field of supposition, knowing not where to stop. On the other hand, the adventure of the forester Nic Deck to a certain extent troubled him, and he would have liked to have unraveled the mystery, if it were only to reassure the people of Werst.
Added to this, the young count had no doubt that it was a band of thieves who had taken refuge in the castle, and he had resolved to keep his promise, and put a stop to the manœuvres of these sham ghosts by giving information to the police at Karlsburg.
But before taking steps in the matter, Franz resolved to have the most circumstantial details of the affair. For this object the best thing to do was to apply to the young forester in person; and about three o’clock in the afternoon, before returning to the inn, he presented himself at the biro’s house.
Master Koltz showed that he was much honoured to receive a gentleman like the Count de Télek, this descendant of a noble Roumanian race, to whom the village of Werst would be indebted for the recovery of its peace and prosperity, for then travellers would return to visit the country, and pay the customary tolls, without having to fear the malevolent spirits of the Castle of the Carpathians, etc., etc.
Franz de Télek thanked Master Koltz for his compliments, and asked to be allowed to see Nic Deck if there were no objection.
“None at all, count,” replied the biro. “The gallant Nic is going on as well as possible, and will soon return to his work.”
And turning to his daughter, who had just entered the room, he said,—
“Is that not true, Miriota?”
“May Heaven grant it so, my father!” replied Miriota in an agitated voice.
Franz was charmed by the girl’s graceful greeting. And seeing she was still anxious regarding the state of her betrothed, he hastened to ask her for some explanation on the subject.
“From what I have heard,” he said, “Nic Deck has not been seriously hurt.”
“No, count,” said Miriota, “and Heaven be praised for it.”
“You have a physician at Werst?”
“Hum!” said Master Koltz in a tone that was not very flattering to the old quarantine man.
“We have Doctor Patak,” replied Miriota.
“He who accompanied Nic Deck to the Castle of the Carpathians?”
“Yes.”
“I should like to see your betrothed for his own sake, and obtain the most precise details of this adventure.”
“He will be glad to give you them, even though it may fatigue him a little.”
“Oh! I will not abuse the opportunity. and I will do nothing that can injure Nic Deck.”
“I know that.”
“When is your marriage to take place?”
“In a fortnight,” said the biro.
“Then I shall have the pleasure of being present, if Master Koltz will give me an invitation—”
“Such an honour, count—”
“In a fortnight, then, it is understood; and I am sure that Nic Deck will be well again as soon as he can take a walk with his good-looking betrothed.”
“God protect him!” replied the girl as she blushed.
And her charming face betrayed such apparent anxiety that Franz asked her the reason.
“Yes, may God protect him!” replied Miriota; “for in endeavouring to enter the castle in spite of the prohibition, Nic has defied the spirits. And who knows if they may not set themselves to injure him all his life—”
“Oh! as for that,” replied Franz, “we will have it all put straight, I promise you.”
“Nothing will happen to my poor Nic?”
“Nothing; and, thanks to the police, you will be able to visit the castle in a few days, and be quite as safe as in the street at Werst.”
The young count, thinking it inopportune to discuss the question of the supernatural, asked Miriota to show him the way to the forester’s room.
This the girl hastened to do, and then she left him alone with her betrothed.
Nic Deck had been informed of the arrival of the two travellers at the “King Mathias” inn. Seated in an old armchair as large as a sentry-box, he rose to receive his visitor. As he now suffered but little from the paralysis with which he had been momentarily struck, he was sufficiently well to reply to the count’s questions.
“Nic Deck,” said Franz, after a friendly shake of the hand, “I would first ask you if you really believe in the presence of evil spirits at the Castle of the Carpathians?”
“I am compelled to believe it,” replied Nic Deck.
“And it was they who kept you from getting over the castle wall?”
“I have no doubt of it.”
“And why, if you please?”
“Because if they were not spirits, what happened to me would be inexplicable.”
“Will you have the goodness to tell me, without omitting anything, what really did happen?”
“Willingly.”
Nic Deck told his story item by item. He could only confirm the facts which Franz had heard in his conversation with the guests at the “King Mathias”—facts on which,