“Old Anton does not take orders,” he said. “Good night, Duke Stefan.”
Duke Stefan’s face darkened at the impudence of the gypsy. But he restrained his anger. From his pocket he drew several gold pieces.
“I did not mean to order you, Anton,” he said. “I seek your aid. I pay well. Here is gold.”
The gypsy turned back. Claw-like hands reached for the gold pieces and tucked them away under the rags.
“Anton will help one who is so generous,” he said, seeming to laugh at the duke. “What knowledge do you seek, Duke Stefan?”
“These young imps know where the silver spider of Varania is,” Duke Stefan said. “They have hidden it but will not tell where. I could easily learn the truth with the aid of these — ” he waved his hand toward the instruments of torture — “but I am merciful. Your power is great, and it is painless. Question them.”
“Old Anton obeys,” the gypsy cackled. He turned to the three boys. From somewhere beneath his rags he brought out a brass cup and a pouch. Into the cup he put several pinches of powdery material that looked like seeds. Then, surprisingly, he produced a modern cigarette lighter and lit the powder. Thick blue smoke rose in the air.
“Breathe, small ones,” Anton crooned, waving the cup back and forth in front of the three boys’ faces. “Breathe deeply. Anton commands you to breathe the smoke of truth.”
They tried to turn their faces aside and hold their breath, but they couldn’t. The smoke got into their nostrils. They breathed it in spite of themselves. It was pungent but not disagreeable and they found themselves relaxing, their minds becoming pleasantly drowsy.
“Now look at me,” Old Anton said. “Look at me, little ones, look into my eyes.”
Though they wanted to resist, their heads turned. They looked into Anton’s bright blue eyes and they seemed to be deep, distant pools of water into which they were falling.
“Now speak!” Anton said, his tone commanding. “The silver spider! Where is it?”
“I don’t know,” Rudy answered in spite of an effort to remain silent. Beside him Bob and Jupiter echoed the words. “I don’t know… I don’t know… ”
“Ah!” Anton murmured. “Breathe again — breathe deeply.”
Once more he passed the smoking cup in front of the three boys’ faces. Bob felt himself drifting as if upon a very comfortable cloud high in the air.
The gypsy touched Rudy’s forehead lightly with his fingers. He leaned very close and stared unblinkingly into Rudy’s eyes. Rudy could not have looked away if his life depended on it.
“Now,” Old Anton whispered, “do not speak. But think. Think of the silver spider. Think where it is… Ah!”
After a long moment he took his fingers from Rudy’s forehead and repeated the same movements and words with Jupiter. Once more he said “Ah!” and came to Bob. As he touched Bob’s forehead, his fingers seemed to tingle with electricity, and his eyes were all Bob could see, blue and piercing as if reading his very thoughts. Bob found himself thinking of the silver spider. Again he seemed to see it sitting in the palm of his hand. Then it vanished. He didn’t have any idea where it went. He couldn’t remember — there was a cloud on his thoughts…
The ancient gypsy seemed puzzled. He lingered with Bob, murmuring urgently again and again, “Think! Think!” At last he sighed and turned away. Bob blinked. He felt as if released from a spell.
Old Anton bobbed his head to Duke Stefan.
“The first one,” he said, “has not seen the silver spider and does not know where it is. The fat one saw the spider, but did not handle it. He doesn’t know where it is. The small one had the spider in his hand and then — ”
“Yes?” Duke Stefan exclaimed eagerly. “Go on!”
“A cloud comes over his thoughts. The silver spider disappears into the cloud. I have never met before such a case. He knew once where the spider went, but a blankness came into his mind and he has forgotten. Until he remembers, I can do no more.”
“A thousand curses!” spat Duke Stefan. His fingers tapped the chair arm again.
“Tell me, gypsy,” he began, then changed his tone. “Old Anton, I appreciate your efforts. It is not your fault that they cannot tell me where the silver spider is. But perhaps you can make a guess? You have many powers — we all know that. What of the spider? And — ” he added with restrained eagerness — “what of my ambition to take the throne of Varania, so that a weak and foolish boy shall not sit upon it?”
Old Anton gave a sly smile.
“As to the silver spider, though silver, it is only a spider,” he said. “As to your ambition, I hear a bell ringing victory. And now good night. Old men like me need their sleep.”
Chuckling deep in his throat, he withdrew. Duke Stefan waved his hand.
“Escort him to his home,” he said to the guards. Then he turned to Duke Rojas.
“You heard! The silver spider is only a spider, meaning we can ignore it, it is not important. And Anton says I shall be victorious. We know that in such matters Anton is never wrong. We wait no longer. In the morning the proclamation goes forth. Prince Djaro is under arrest and I am assuming the Regency until further notice. Denounce the United States for trying to interfere in our affairs, and proclaim the arrest of these two as spies and thieves. Offer a reward for the third. Round up all members of Rudolph’s family, and all these so-called Minstrels you can find. Charge them with treason.
“By tomorrow Varania will be firmly in my grasp. After that we will decide whether to hold a public trial of these rascally boys, or merely expel them from the country. Guards! Take them back to their cell and let them meditate there.”
He leaned toward Bob.
“Meanwhile, little mouse, try to remember what you did with the silver spider. Even though Anton says it is not vital, I would like to wear it around my neck when I am crowned Prince of Varania. Restore it to me and things will go easier for you.
“Now, take them away!”
12
Into the Storm Sewers
TWO GUARDS escorted Jupiter, Bob and Rudy back to their cell in the dark underground dungeon. Rudy was in the rear and as they clattered down the flight of stone steps, the guard behind him leaned close and whispered in his ear.
“There are friendly rats in the sewers,” he said.
Rudy nodded. A moment later they were ushered into the tiny stone cell with the damp stone walls and the single flickering candle. The iron door clanged shut. The two guards took up their positions outside and the boys were left alone.
They were silent for several moments, and in the silence Bob and Jupiter could hear a faint gurgling sound, as of water. Rudy explained.
“The storm sewers of Denzo pass beneath the castle,” he said. “It must be raining hard outside. The rain is pouring into the drains. The storm sewers of Denzo are hundreds of years old and are not pipes, as you usually think of sewers. They are stone tunnels, sometimes taller than a man, flat on the bottom and rounded on the top. In dry weather it is possible to walk through them for miles and in wet weather one can use a small boat.
“Few people venture into them, but Elena and I and a few others know them well. If we could get into the sewers, and the water was not too deep, we could travel beneath them to safety. We could emerge into the streets near the American Embassy, and you could run there for refuge.”
Jupiter pondered this information. Then he shook his head.
“We’re locked in a cell,” he said. “It doesn’t look as if we’re going anywhere.”
“If we could get out of the cell for even a minute,” Rudy said wistfully, “there is a manhole at the far end of the passage outside that leads into the sewers.” He paused.
“There is someone there waiting to help us. One of the guards gave me a message. ‘There are friendly rats in the sewers,’ he said. He means some Minstrels are handy if we can get to them.”