Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Before and after the trial
Istria is a triangular peninsula that was incorporated into the Austro-Hungarian Empire by the Treaty of 1815, and the isthmus forms the basis of much of the triangle.The peninsula stretches from the Gulf of Trieste to the Gulf of Quarnero, and is dotted with harbors along its coast.One of them was the port of Pula at the southern tip, which the government was eager to turn into a first-class naval base.
Istria, especially its western coast, language, culture and living habits still retain the influence of Italy, especially Venice.Of course, the Slavs here are against the Italians.But one thing is certain, between these two forces, the position of the Germans is difficult to maintain.
Several large cities on the coast and inland animate the vast area bordering the northern Adriatic Sea.These cities are: Capodistria and Pirano, most of whose salt miners toil in the great salt pans at the mouth of the Lisano and Gona-Renca rivers; The administrative and religious capital of Terry; Rovigno is rich in olives; Pula's historical sites are quite Roman-style, becoming a tourist attraction and the future largest military port on the Adriatic Sea.
But none of these cities is qualified to be called the capital of Istria.Bizino, who is located almost in the center of the triangle, only enjoys this title. After the criminals are secretly arrested, they will be escorted there.
A prison van was parked in front of Earl Zatmar's house.The four were taken up immediately, and two Austrian gendarmes sat beside them—to ensure the safety of the passengers in the car as they traveled through the Isteri countryside.On the way, any words involving themselves or seeking alliances are prohibited until they appear in court for trial.
Under the command of a gendarme lieutenant, twelve horse-riding gendarmes escorted the prisoner in front of, behind and near the door of the prison car. Ten minutes later, they were about to leave the city.As for Paulic, he has been sent directly to Trieste Prison, where he has been secretly imprisoned.
Where were these prisoners taken?Now that the prison in Trieste is overcrowded, which castle will the Austrian government send them to?This was the most concerned issue of Earl Sandov and his friends, but after repeated attempts, all were in vain.
The night was gloomy.The lights on the car can only illuminate the front of the car to the place where the first row of military police is escorted.A group of people galloped.Sandov Batorizatmar, remained silent in the corner, motionless.Saccani was even more reluctant to break the silence, neither protesting his arrest nor asking how it all happened.
After leaving the city, the prison van made a sharp turn and drove towards the coast.Count Sandov, from the "clack" of the horse's hooves and the "crack" of the sand, could hear the sound of the surf crashing against the rocky shore in the distance.In an instant, a few lights flickered in the darkness, and then went out suddenly.This is the small town of Miriya, and the prison van drove past without stopping for a moment.Afterwards, Count Sandorf could conclude that they were heading towards the country along the road.
At eleven o'clock at night, the carriage stopped to change horses.There was only one farmhouse there, and the horses were already waiting and ready to be replaced at any moment.This is not a station at all, just to avoid going to Capodistria to find it again.
The escorts are on their way again.The prison wagon traveled along a road sandwiched between the vineyard walls.The twigs of the vines intertwine with the branches of the mulberry.Always traveling on the plains, the speed is very fast.The night was very dense, and large cumulus clouds were strongly driven, covering the surrounding area.Easterly, the June night was very hot, and the glass on the door was lowered from time to time to let the car breathe.Even so, even if the scenery outside the car is in front of you, it is still difficult to distinguish.No matter how much Count Sandov, Zatmar, and Bathory paid attention to the subtle changes on the road, such as the direction of the wind, and the time elapsed after leaving, they could not recognize the direction of the prison car.Undoubtedly, the interrogation of this case will be conducted in top secret at an unknown place.
At about two o'clock in the morning, we changed horses for the second time.Like the first time, it stopped for less than five minutes.
Sandov believed that he had glimpsed a few houses in the dark, crowded at the end of a road, which should be the edge of a suburb.
This is the town of Bire, the capital of a county, twenty miles south of Miria.
After the horses were set, the lieutenant of the gendarmerie only exchanged a few words with the coachman, and the prison car started running again.
Around 3:30, the sky is getting brighter.After another hour, according to the position of the rising sun, the prisoner may have figured out the direction of the prison car, at least north and south.However, at this moment, the gendarme put down the mat that blocked the door, and the inside of the car was suddenly pitch black.
Sandov and his two friends simply abandoned this kind of detailed observation.Indeed, doing so is useless.It's best to hold back and wait.
An hour or two later—it is difficult to estimate the time elapsed—the prison van stopped for the last time in the town of Vicinada, and the horses were quickly changed.
From this point on, the only thing that can be noticed is that the road has become very rough.The coachman yelled, crackled, and whipped the horses; the hooves of the horses beat against the hard, rocky ground of the mountains, on which the gray woods lay in layers, blocking the view.Two or three times the prisoner seemed to hear the shepherd's flute.A young shepherd plays strange tunes while grazing black goats.However, apart from showing that the passage is a mountainous area, what else can it explain?Don't expect to see anything anyway.
At about nine o'clock in the morning, the speed of the car suddenly changed.We can be sure that after the prison car passed the highest point of the mountain road, it rushed down at high speed.The speed is so fast, several times, I broke the wheel to maintain balance, so dangerous.
Indeed, the road winds through the rugged Magères, reaches its highest point, and then descends obliquely to the city of Pizzino.Although the city is located on the coast at a high altitude, compared with the surrounding highlands, it seems to be hidden in the valley.Even in a place far away from the city, you can see rows of houses, beautiful scenery, and a clock tower towering above it.
Bissino is the capital of the county, with a population of about 25,000, located almost in the middle of the triangular peninsula.The Morakots, the Slavs of various tribes, and even the Chikahns all flocked to the city, especially on market days, when cars came and went, and business was booming.
Piscino, the ancient capital of Istria, still retains its feudal features.This is especially evident in its old castle.The old castle rules several modern military establishments and is the seat of the Austrian government.
At around ten o'clock in the morning on June 9th, the prison van stopped in the courtyard of the castle after a fifteen-hour journey.Count Sandov, his two companions and Saccani got out of the car.After a while, they were locked in vaulted cells.The prison cell can be reached by climbing more than fifty steps.
This is captivity in strict secrecy.
Although Sandov, Zatmar and Batory had no connection, no exchange of ideas, there was one single concern.How were the secrets of the uprising revealed?Did the police stumble upon it while following the plot?However, no evidence has leaked out.There are no communication links between Trieste and the major cities of Hungary and Transylvania.Could there be a traitor?But who is the traitor?The secret was never revealed to anyone; not a single piece of paper fell into the hands of spies; all documents were destroyed.Even if someone searched all the most secret corners of Akdauto's house, they couldn't find a suspicious note!But it happened.The police could find nothing but Count Zatmar's undestroyed cipher grid, which might still be useful.Unfortunately, this piece of cardboard was about to become their incriminating evidence, since there was no way to explain its purpose, except for encrypted communications.
In short,--the prisoners were still in the dark--everything was based on the copy of the encrypted letter by Sakani, colluding with the Doron Tower, translating it into plain text, and handing it over to the Governor of Trieste.This alone is enough to constitute the crime of plotting rebellion and endangering national security.Therefore, they do not need to go through a special trial, but are executed by a military court according to law.
There are indeed traitors, and they are still around the corner.Say nothing, be arrested, tried, even tortured, pardoned later, and fly away to avoid all suspicion.This is the trick Sarkani plays, no matter what, he can play it with ease.
Moreover, Count Sandov, despite being duped by the impostor—as would have been the case with another—was determined to do his best to keep Saccani out of the affair.He thought it was not difficult to prove that Sarkani had never been involved in the conspiracy, but was just an ordinary accountant who had just been introduced to the Zatmar family and was only in charge of some of the earl's private affairs and had nothing to do with the rebellion.If necessary, the Count would like to have the banker, Silas Dronta, vouch for the innocence of his young employee.Although the crime has not yet been convicted, if this step is reached, the earl believes that neither the principal criminal nor the accomplice will be involved in Sakani.
In short, the Austrian government probably knew nothing about the Hungarian and Transylvanian rebels outside of Trieste.There is no indication yet that they have been implicated.The Earl and the others were not worried about this.As for themselves, they have decided to deny it, unless there is physical evidence of conspiracy against them.If so, he will die.Someday someone else will revive the failed independence movement and bring in a new leader.They, to speak of confession, are confessing their hopes, pointing out what they are striving for and will eventually achieve.You don't even need to defend yourself. Since you lost this round, you will die.
Count Sandov and his two friends believed that the operation of the police station was limited to a very small area, and this judgment was not without reason.In Buda, Pest, Clossanburg, in all those cities where riots arose at the first signal from Trieste, the police searched in vain.Therefore, the government wanted to secretly arrest the three leaders of the uprising in Trieste.The reason why they were imprisoned in Piscino Castle, and the reason why they did not want it to be publicized before the case was concluded, was to use this arrangement in vain to learn who wrote the coded letter sent to Trieste, and to Where did it come from.
Hope was dashed.If the agreed signal has not been sent, it will cease to exist.The independence movement died down, at least temporarily.So the government had no choice but to limit the trial to Sandov and his accomplices on charges of high treason.
However, the investigation took some time.In this way, around June 20, the preliminary trial of the defendant began.There was no communication between the defendants and they were only able to meet in front of a judge.
The government assigned the task of trying the leaders of the uprising to a court-martial.It is well known how brief the preliminary hearing of cases by such a special court is, and how swiftly trials and judgments are carried out.
The situation is as follows.
On June 25, the court-martial met in a hall on the ground floor of the Piscino castle, and on the same day the accused appeared for trial.
The trial was short and uneventful, without any surprises.
Court starts at 9:00 am.Since the imprisonment, Sandov, Zatmar and Bathory on the one hand, and Sakani on the other, this is the first time the two have met.In the dock, Count Sandorf shook hands with the two friends, as if to prove a new proof that they would be of one heart and one mind.A gesture from Zatmar and Bathory, Count Sandorf understood, and they relied on what he had to say in court.Neither the count nor their two friends were willing to accept the defense of lawyers.So far, Count Sandov's actions have been aboveboard.What you want to say in front of the judge must also be loud.
The doors of the courtroom were open, and in that sense it was a public trial.However, there were few people present because the case was not rumored.At most, more than 20 people came, and they were all from the castle.
First identify the accused.Count Sandov next asked the presiding judge to state where he and his friends were being tried, but this request was refused.
Sarkani's identity has also been verified, and he has not published any lawsuits that would draw a line between himself and his accomplices.
At this point the judge showed the defendant a copy of the coded letter that the informer had provided to the police station and read out its contents.
When the judge asked the defendant to admit whether he had received the original document, the defendant asked for evidence.To this end, they showed the coded checkered cardboard found in Zatmar's house.
Count Sandov and his two companions could not deny that the cardboard was theirs.They didn't even bother trying to deny it.In fact, before this physical evidence, there is nothing to say.Since the cipher grid is used to read the cipher letter, it is an indisputable fact that the defendant received the original of the cipher letter.
Only then did they understand how the secret of the uprising had been leaked, and on what grounds the charges were based.
As a result, the question and answer between the two sides suddenly became clear.
Count Sandorf no longer denied it, and declared on behalf of the two friends that an autonomy campaign had been launched to free Hungary from Austria and then re-establish the Magyar kingdom.Had it not been for their arrests, the movement would have erupted recently and Hungary would have regained its independence.Count Sandov, as the leader of the uprising, wanted to take all the blame on himself.But his friends all protested, willing to live and die with him, share fate, and take the glory of being accomplice.
The trial could no longer continue, and when the presiding judge asked about the defendants' external contacts, they refused to answer.Not a single name was revealed, not a single person would be betrayed.
"You have the heads of three of us," replied Count Sandov simply, "and that is enough."
Only three heads, because Count Sandorf was trying to excuse Saccani, the young accountant, who had come to work at the Zatmar house on the recommendation of the banker Silas Dronta.
Sarkani had no choice but to confirm the Count's statement that he knew nothing of the conspiracy.He had just been surprised to learn that a conspiracy to endanger national security was planned in this peaceful residence of Akdoto.The reason he didn't protest when he was arrested was because he had no idea what was going on.
Earl Sandov and Sakani reached this situation without much effort, and perhaps the military court has reached its own conclusion on this.According to the judge's opinion, the charges against Saccani were immediately discharged.
At about two o'clock in the afternoon, the interrogation ended and the trial was held in court.
Count Matthias Sandov, Count Latisla Zatmar, Professor Étienne Bathory, were sentenced to death for high treason.
The shooting will take place in the castle courtyard and will take place in forty-eight hours.
Sakani was spared any criminal punishment; but he must return to his cell to wait for the execution before he can be released.
The verdict also announced that the property of the three criminals would be confiscated.
The court ordered Sandov, Zatmar and Bathory to be taken back to their cells.
Sarkani was taken back to a cell on the third floor of the main tower.The room is located exactly at one end of the long axis of the oval corridor.And Count Sandolph and his two friends, during the last period of their lives, were to be kept in a larger cell on the same floor, which was situated just at the other end of the long axis from Sa Carney's cell is far away.This time, the quarantine is lifted, and they will be reunited until their death.
Sandov and his companion, reunited before the judge, have to refrain from mutual affection.When there were only the three of them left in the prison, their excitement could no longer be suppressed. The three of them opened their arms and embraced tightly.The rare reunion in prison is not only a kind of comfort for them, but also a great joy.
"My friends," said Sandov, "I have cost you your life! But I do not ask your forgiveness! This is about the independence of Hungary! Our cause is just! It is our duty to defend it! It is injustice to die for it." Honor!"
"Matthias," Bathory replied, "on the contrary, we would like to thank you for leading us into this patriotic cause for which you have devoted your life..."
"Together we die!" Count Zatmar said calmly.
After that, there was a moment of silence, and the three of them looked around the dark cell, where they would spend the last moments of their lives.At four or five feet high, there was a window opening in the thick wall of the main tower, through which a gleam of light came in.There were three iron beds in the room, some chairs, a table, and some thin boards fixed to the wall, on which were placed some utensils.
Zatmar and Bathory were lost in thought, while Count Sandorf paced back and forth in the cell.
Zatmar is alone, homeless, jobless, and careless.Only his old servant Boric wept.
Bathory was different.His death will not hit him alone.He had a wife and son, and the news of his death would make them devastated!If they continue to survive, what a miserable life they face!A woman with no property, dragging a child who is just eight years old!Moreover, even if Bathory still has some property, once the death sentence is pronounced and the property is confiscated, it will not be a waste of money!
As for Count Sandorf, memories of the past flashed through his mind.His late beloved wife suddenly appeared; his two-year-old daughter was thrown to the care of the old housekeeper; his friends were also affected!He asked himself whether he had no regrets and whether he had strayed away from his responsibilities to the motherland, because the punishment was beyond him and affected too many innocent people.
"No!...No!...I just did my duty!" the count kept affirming. "The motherland comes first, above all else!"
At five o'clock in the afternoon, a guard entered the cell, put the prisoner's dinner on the table, and went out without a word.Sandov had wanted to find out where they were, and in what castle they were imprisoned.It seems that the chief judge of the military court thinks it is not appropriate to answer this question, but it is certain that under the strict order from above, the guards dare not say anything more.
When the dinner was delivered, the prisoners barely moved.They use the rest of the day to talk about various things, hoping that one day the aborted movement will be revived.Then, on several occasions, their conversation turned to the accident.
"Now we know," Zatmar said, "why we were arrested and how the police got the whole story by seizing coded letters..."
"Yes, that's all right, Latisla," replied the Count, "and this coded letter, which was one of the last we received, fell into whose hands first? And who made the copy?" ?”
"And despite the carbon copy," Bathory added, "how can it be deciphered without the cipher grid?"
"So someone must have stolen the cipher square from us, if only for a moment..." said Sandov.
"Stolen! . . . Who did it?" Zatmar asked. "It was in my desk drawer the day we were arrested, and that's where the police found it!"
It really cannot be explained. The coded letter was blocked while it was tied around the neck of the carrier pigeon. Someone copied it before the recipient received it, so that the address of the recipient was discovered. All of this may and should be admitted to be possible.But it would be inconceivable to be able to decipher the cipher letter without using the cipher checkered cardboard.
"However," continued Sanddorf, "this coded letter has been deciphered, and we can be sure that this can only be done by using the coded squares! It was this coded letter that revealed the traces of the operation to the police. Based on this letter, all crimes were convicted!"
"It doesn't matter, I'll fight anyway!" Bathory replied.
"On the contrary, it is of the utmost importance," cried the Count. "It is quite possible that we have been betrayed! There is a traitor, unknown..."
Sandov fell silent, and the name of Saccani came to mind, but he rejected the idea again, and put it far away, not even wanting to mention it to his companions.
Count Sandov and his two friends continued to talk of the unexplained events until late at night.
The next day, the arrival of the guards woke them up from their deep sleep. This was the morning of their first day of execution.The execution will be carried out in twenty-four hours.
Bathory asked the guards if he would be allowed to see his family again.
The guard replied that he had not received any instructions on this.Since the case was tried in secret until the day of the verdict, and since the name of the prison castle has not yet been announced, it is impossible for the government to agree to give the prisoners this last consolation.
"At least, we can still write letters, can the recipients receive them?" Sandov asked.
"I will get paper, pen, and ink for your use," replied the warden, "and I can only promise to deliver your letters to the governor."
"Thank you, my friend," said the count, "you have done your best! I am grateful for your kindness..."
"Thanks will suffice, gentlemen." The guard was visibly agitated.
The honest man quickly brought writing supplies.Prisoners spend part of the day planning their funerals.Earl Sandov turned his loving father's love into thousands of instructions and sent it to his little daughter who was about to become an orphan; Bathory's final farewell proved the love of a husband to his wife and the love of a father to his son; Zatmar expressed his sincere affection for his last friend, the old servant.
However, on this day, even though they devoted themselves to writing letters home, their moods were hard to calm down.How many times have you listened, hoping that the footsteps of your loved ones will sound far away, passing through the corridor of the main tower;This is a consolation.But in fact, this ruthless order deprived them of the possibility of saying goodbye to their loved ones, and also avoided the heartbreaking parting of life and death, which was even better.
The door did not open.Undoubtedly, Mrs. Bathory and her son, Langdike, who raised the youngest daughter for the earl, did not know where the prisoners were detained after being arrested, and they did not even know that Paulic was imprisoned in Trieste Prison. .To be sure, they knew nothing of the crimes against which the leaders of the uprising had been convicted.Therefore, it is impossible for the prisoners to see them again before their execution.
So the first few hours of the day passed.Sometimes Sandov and the two friends chatted together; sometimes, there were long silences in which they lost themselves in their respective meditations.At that time, the whole life emerges in the mind, and the memory is with extraordinary intensity and clarity.It is not simply a retrospect to the past, all the memories evoked also build the perspective.Aren't they just heralding the eternity to come?Doesn't it herald an incredible, immeasurable and infinite tomorrow?
However, while Bathory and Zatmar were completely immersed in memories, the Earl was always troubled by a stubborn thought.He is convinced that they were betrayed in this mysterious incident.If a person with his temperament does not give the traitor the punishment he deserves, no matter who the traitor is, he will die first without even knowing his name, he will not rest in peace.Who intercepted the coded letter, allowing the police to discover the uprising and arrest its leaders?Who provided the tools to decipher the coded letter?And who handed it over, or sold it to the police?Faced with these unanswerable questions, the earl was excited and excited.
Therefore, when his friends were writing quietly or staying motionless, he was like a trapped animal, impatient and restless, walking up and down the walls of the cell.
However, just when he was completely desperate, a strange phenomenon that can be completely explained by acoustic laws will reveal to him the secret that he thought could never be cracked.
On this level of the main tower, the doors of the individual cells opened onto corridors.Several times, the count stopped when he passed the corner between the partition wall and the corridor wall.In this corner, at the seam of the door, he was sure to hear an elusive, distant murmur.At first, he didn't pay attention; suddenly, a name came out - his own name - which made him listen more carefully.
Apparently, an acoustic phenomenon similar to that one perceives in domed corridors or oval-roofed houses takes place here.The sound originates from the focal point on one side of the ellipse, propagates through the arched surface, and can be heard at the focal point on the other side of the ellipse, but cannot be heard at any other point in the middle.This is the kind of acoustic phenomenon that exists in the crypt of the Pantheon in Paris, the vaulted hall of St. Pierre's Church in Rome, and the Whispering Gallery of St. Paul's in London.In these places, even if you speak in a low voice at a certain focus of the arched building, you can clearly hear it on the other side.
There is no doubt that there were two or three people talking in the corridor or in the cell at one of the ends of the diameter of the ellipse, and the door of Sandov's cell was just near the other focus of this oval corridor.
The count made a gesture, and the two companions moved closer to him.The three of them pricked up their ears and listened together.
The speech was clearly intelligible, but as soon as the speaker moved slightly away from the focus, that is to say, the point that determines this strange acoustic phenomenon, the sentence broke down.
These were the few words they heard, much to their astonishment:
"Tomorrow, after the execution, you will be free..."
"At that time, Earl Sandov's property was divided into two..."
"Without me, you might not be able to decipher this coded letter..."
"And if it wasn't for me, you would never have gotten the letter from the pigeon's neck..."
"Anyway, no one will suspect that the police station can only rely on us..."
"It's not certain, those prisoners are now suspecting..."
"Family and friends, not even one can reach them..."
"See you tomorrow, Sakani..."
"See you tomorrow, Duolong Tower..."
The conversation stopped abruptly, and the sound of closing the door came over.
"Sarkani!... Silas Doronta..." the count exclaimed, "It turned out to be the two of them!"
His face was pale, looking at the two comrades in arms.He was convulsed, and his heart stopped beating for a moment.The pupils are horribly dilated, the neck is stiff, and the head seems to be retracted into the shoulders.All this showed that this man of resolute character had reached the point of fury.
"It's them!...Shameless!...Traitors!" he repeated, roaring.
Finally, standing up, he looked around and strode across the cell.
"Run!...Run!..." he cried, "Run away!"
This person who is going to die bravely in a few hours, and who has never thought of prolonging his life, has only one thought at this moment: to survive, Duolongta and Sakani, to punish these two traitors!
"Yes! This revenge must be avenged!" Bathory and Zatmar said in unison.
"Revenge? No!...Justice!"
Count Sandorf poured all his energy into these words.
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