The Action & Adventure Collection by L. Ron Hubbard

Author:L. Ron Hubbard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Galaxy Press
Published: 2012-10-01T00:00:00+00:00

The troopers loosed their cloaks and drew their carbines and, upon plunging mounts, turned the yard and stables inside out.

The pop-jawed innkeeper recognized, or thought he did, the Archduke Philip, and immediately came to himself, enough to rush into his cellar and come out lugging every fine whiskey and liquor he could lay his hands upon.

The Countess Zita seated herself at the largest table in the room, holding up the hem of her ermine cape so as not to dirty it on the floor.

“Refreshment for my troop,” she ordered. “Your best wine. For their horses, your best fodder. Make haste!”

The innkeeper, familiar with such procedure, sent his potboys scurrying.

Blacky Lee regaled himself with capon and buns—startling the countess by his sparingness with the drink—and seemed to have no care in the world. At a side table with the major, Stub ate with sorrow but good appetite, for worry was nothing to take the edge from Stub’s hunger.

“His Highness,” said the young major, “looks astonishingly well. Did I understand properly when I heard that you were the physician responsible for that?”

“Huh—me?”

“I have not seen His Highness for months, but the last time he was as close to a corpse as I ever want to see.”

“Well, we have an effective treatment for that sort of thing in France,” said Stub.

“Hmmm. Yes, I see what you mean. By the way, Doctor, you speak an oddly accented French.”

“Oh, yes,” said Stub. “I studied so long in America that I’ve never quite lost my American accent.”

“Ah, yes! America! Really, I should like to go there.”

“By the way,” Stub said, after a pause, having remembered how cold it was on top of the carriage, “couldn’t we have taken the railroad to the capital?”

“We could have,” said the major, “but we must be careful of His Highness. We are crossing the mountains in a roundabout way to foil assassination attempts. The railroad has been discovered mined twice in the past week.”

“Assassination?”

“Of course.”

“Then . . . then this country must be pretty bothered about something.”

“It’s Communism,” said the major. “His Highness, if you will forgive me, is not too easy on the people, in that he leaves all his affairs in the hands of others. The peasants object, you know. Taxes and lack of justice, and such things. The Sons of Freedom have grown very powerful the past year. Now if I had my way about it, I would find this Balchard and hang him by his heels at the palace gate and ride down his followers with hounds. But no. Grauch fumbles around and expects everything to die down. Why, do you know I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see a revolt within the next month or two. Of course, the nobles have adequate defenses if their troops don’t desert. I’m sure of my troops, naturally, and we’d win, but it would be nasty while it lasted. If His Highness were assassinated now, that would put us all in a bad way, for it would leave

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