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ISTUDY
Corbin’s Concepts of
Fitness and Wellness
A Comprehensive Lifestyle Approach
THIRTEENTH EDITION
Gregory J. Welk
Iowa State University
Charles B. Corbin
Arizona State University
William R. Corbin
Arizona State University
Karen A. Welk
Mary Greeley Medical Center, Ames, Iowa
ISTUDY
CORBIN’S CONCEPTS OF FITNESS AND WELLNESS
Published by McGraw Hill LLC, 1325 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019. Copyright © 2023 by
McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may
be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the
prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC, including, but not limited to, in any network or other electronic
storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning.
Some ancillaries, including electronic and print components, may not be available to customers outside the
United States.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 LWI/LWI 27 26 25 24 23 22
ISBN 978-1-265-18771-2
MHID 1-265-18771-1
All credits appearing on page or at the end of the book are considered to be an extension of the copyright page.
The Internet addresses listed in the text were accurate at the time of publication. The inclusion of a website does
not indicate an endorsement by the authors or McGraw Hill LLC, and McGraw Hill LLC does not guarantee the
accuracy of the information presented at these sites.
mheducation.com/highered
ISTUDY
Brief Contents
Section I Section V
Foundations of Physical Activity 47 20 The Use and Abuse of Other Drugs 379
ISTUDY
Contents
Preface xvi 3 Self-Management Skills for Health
Behavior Change 29
Understanding Behavior Change 30
Section I
Importance of Self-Management Skills 32
Lifestyles for Health, Wellness, Making Lifestyle Changes 34
and Fitness 1 Using Self-Management Skills 37
Suggested Resources and Readings 42
1 Health, Wellness, Fitness, and Healthy
Lab 3A: Stages of Change and Self-Management
Lifestyles: An Introduction 1 Skills 43
The HELP Philosophy 2
National Health Goals 3
Section II
Health and Wellness 6
Physical Fitness 9 Foundations of Physical Activity 47
Using Self-Management Skills 12
4 Preparing for Physical Activity 47
Suggested Resources and Readings 14
Safety Considerations for Physical Activity 48
Lab 1A: Wellness Self-Perceptions 15 General Considerations for Physical Activity 49
iv
ISTUDY
Contents v
Lab 7A: Setting Goals for Moderate Physical Muscle Fitness Activities and Equipment 165
Activity and Self-Monitoring (Logging) Program 111 Principles of Muscle Fitness Training 167
Lab 7B: Estimating Sedentary Behavior 113 Risks with Muscle Supplements 169
Guidelines for Safe and Effective PRE 170
8 Cardiorespiratory Endurance 115 Using Self-Management Skills 171
Elements of Cardiorespiratory Endurance 116 Suggested Resources and Readings 172
Cardiovascular Adaptations to Physical Activity 117 Lab Resource Materials: Muscles of the Body
Cardiorespiratory Endurance and Health Benefits 120 (anterior view) 173
The FIT Formula for Cardiorespiratory Endurance 121 Lab Resource Materials: Muscles of the Body
Threshold and Target Zones for Intensity of Activity to (posterior view) 174
Build Cardiorespiratory Endurance 123 Lab Resource Materials: Muscle Fitness Tests 175
Guidelines for Heart Rate and Exercise Monitoring 126 Lab 10A: Evaluating Muscle Strength: 1RM and
Using Self-Management Skills 127 Grip Strength 187
ISTUDY
vi Contents
Lab 10B: Evaluating Muscular Endurance and Performance Trends and Ergogenic Aids 232
Power 189 Using Self-Management Skills 233
Lab 10C: Planning and Logging Muscle Fitness Suggested Resources and Readings 234
Exercises: Free Weights or Resistance Lab Resource Materials: Skill-Related Physical
Machines 191 Fitness 235
Lab 10D: Planning and Logging Muscle Fitness Lab 12A: Evaluating Skill-Related Physical
Exercises: Calisthenics, Core Exercises, or Fitness 239
Plyometrics 193
Lab 12B: Identifying Symptoms of Overtraining 241
11 Flexibility and Stretching Activities 195
Factors Influencing Flexibility 196
Section IV
Flexibility, Injuries, and Rehabilitation 198
Flexibility: How Much Is Enough? 200 Establishing Healthy Eating
Stretching Methods 201 Habits 243
Popular Flexibility Activities 205
13 Body Composition and Health 243
Guidelines for Improving Flexibility 206
Understanding Obesity 244
Using Self-Management Skills 207
Body Composition Indicators and Standards 245
Suggested Resources and Readings 208
Methods Used to Assess Body Composition 246
Lab Resource Materials: Flexibility Tests 215
Health Risks Associated with Obesity 248
Lab 11A: Evaluating Flexibility 217
The Causes of Obesity 250
Lab 11B: Planning and Logging Stretching Treatment and Prevention of Overweight and
Exercises 219 Obesity 252
Body Image and Eating Disorders 254
12 Advanced Fitness Training 221
Using Self-Management Skills 255
High-Level Performance and Training
Characteristics 222 Suggested Resources and Readings 256
Training for Cardiorespiratory Endurance 224 Lab Resource Materials: Evaluating Body Fat 257
Training for Strength, Muscular Endurance, and Lab 13A: Evaluating Body Composition: Skinfold
Power 226 Measures 267
Training for Speed and Power 228 Lab 13B: Evaluating Body Composition: Height,
Training for Functional Fitness and Flexibility 229 Weight, and Circumference Measures 271
Training for High-Level Performance: Skill-Related Lab 13C: Determining Your Daily Energy
Fitness and Skill 230 Expenditure 273
High-Level Performance Training 231
14 Nutrition and Principles of Healthy
Eating 277
Guidelines and Recommendations for Healthy
Eating 278
Dietary Recommendations for Carbohydrates 280
Dietary Recommendations for Fat 282
Dietary Recommendations for Proteins 283
Dietary Recommendations for Vitamins 285
Dietary Recommendations for Minerals 287
Dietary Recommendations for Water and Other
Fluids 288
Understanding Contemporary Nutrition Terms, Issues,
US Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Desiree N. Palacios and Trends 288
ISTUDY
Contents vii
Section V
Managing Stress 315
16 Stress and Health 315
Sources of Stress 316
Stress in Contemporary Society 317
Reactions to Stress 318
Stress Effects on Health and Wellness 320
Individual Differences in the Stress Response 321
Using Self-Management Skills 324
Suggested Resources and Readings 326
ISTUDY
viii Contents
HIV/AIDS 394
Section VI Common Sexually Transmitted Infections 398
Avoiding Destructive Behaviors 351 Factors That Contribute to Sexual Risks 401
Prevention and Early Intervention of STIs 403
18 The Use and Abuse of Tobacco and Other Using Self-Management Skills 403
Nicotine Products 351 Suggested Resources and Readings 404
Tobacco: Components and Implications of Use 352
Lab 21A: Sexually Transmitted Infection Risk
Smoked Tobacco: Health and Economic Costs 352
Questionnaire 405
Other Nicotine Products: Health and Economic Costs 355
Marketing and Use of Tobacco and Other Nicotine 22 Cancer, Diabetes, and Other Health
Products 356 Threats 407
Using Self-Management Skills 359 Cancer 408
Suggested Resources and Readings 360 Cancer Prevention 415
Lab 18A: Use and Abuse of Tobacco and Other Diabetes 416
Nicotine Products 361 Alzheimer Disease and Dementia 418
Mental Health 419
19 The Use and Abuse of Alcohol 363 Injury Prevention 419
Alcohol and Alcoholic Beverages 364
Infectious Diseases and Other Health Threats 420
Alcohol Consumption and Alcohol Abuse 365
Using Self-Management Skills 421
Health and Behavioral Consequences of Alcohol Use 366
Suggested Resources and Readings 422
Risk Factors for Alcohol-Related Problems 369
Lab 22A: Determining Your Cancer Risk 423
Alcohol Use in Young Adults 370
Effective Approaches for Alcohol Prevention and Lab 22B: Breast and Testicular Self-Exams 425
Treatment 372
23 Body Mechanics and Care of the
Using Self-Management Skills 373
Back 427
Suggested Resources and Readings 374
Anatomy and Function of the Spine 428
Lab 19A: Blood Alcohol Level 375 Anatomy and Function of the Core Musculature 428
Lab 19B: Perceptions about Alcohol Use 377 Causes and Consequences of Back and Neck
Pain 430
20 The Use and Abuse of Other Drugs 379 Prevention and Rehabilitation of Back and Neck
Classification of Illicit and Prescription Drugs 380 Problems 433
Prevalence and Consequences of Illicit Drug Abuse 382 Good Posture Is Important for Back and Neck
Drug-Specific Prevalence and Consequences 385 Health 434
Causes of Illicit Drug Abuse 388 Good Body Mechanics Are Important for Back and
Neck Health 438
Using Self-Management Skills 389
Exercise Guidelines for Back and Neck Health 438
Suggested Resources and Readings 390
Using Self-Management Skills 442
Lab 20A: Risk for Problem Drug Use 391
Suggested Resources and Readings 442
ISTUDY
Contents ix
gpointstudio/Shutterstock
ISTUDY
Features
Corbin’s Concepts of Fitness and Wellness includes magazine-like features that help students integrate and apply information
they may see in the news or read about on the Internet. These features have follow-up activities available in McGraw Hill
Connect® and can be assigned online.
• A Closer Look provides information about new and sometimes controversial topics related to health, wellness, and fitness
and encourages critical thinking.
• T echnology Update describes emerging health and fitness technology, innovations, and research.
• In the News highlights late-breaking health, wellness, and fitness events, trends, and information.
• HELP personalizes fitness and health issues through brief narratives that relate to the defining elements of the HELP
Philosophy (H: Health, E: Everyone, L: Lifetime, P: Personal).
ISTUDY
Features xi
In the News
1. Healthiest Places to Live 5 14. Boom in Plant-Based Foods 284
2. International Health 15. Strategies for Avoiding Emotional Eating 303
Rankings 21 16. The News Is Stressful! 320
3. Myths and Medical Conspiracy Theories 30 17. The Misinformation Superhighway 342
4. Sunscreens Are Not All Equally Effective 55 18. Tobacco-Use Controversies 359
5. Lifestyle Medicine 80 19. Has COVID-19 Increased or Decreased
6. Move Your Way! 93 Drinking? 366
7. Sedentary Behavior and Mental Health 101 20. The Opioid Crisis: Who Is at Fault? 387
8. Heritability and Fitness Adaptations 118 21. Condom Use Resistance and STIs 403
9. Youth Sports Matter 143 22. Cancer Screening Guidelines 412
10. Warnings about Muscle-Building Supplements 171 23. Digital Eye Strain and Zoom Fatigue 441
11. Yoga as a Complementary Health Approach 206 24. Operation Quack Hack: Targeting False COVID-19
12. Youth Sports: When Is It Too Much? 231 Information 465
13. Quarantine 15 244 25. Healthy Lifestyles During the Pandemic 486
ISTUDY
Lab Activities
All end-of-chapter Lab Activities are available in McGraw Hill Connect® and can be assigned,
completed, submitted, and graded online. Lab Resource Materials (extra materials for use in
completing Lab Activities) are available for all fitness self-assessments.
ACTIVITY
Lab 10A Evaluating Muscle Strength: 1RM and Grip Strength Seated Press (Arm Press)
This test can be performed using a seated press (see
Leg Press
To perform this test, use a leg press machine. Typically,
image) or using a bench press machine. When using the the beginning position is with the knees bent at right
Lab 10A
Lab 10A
seated press, position the seat height so that arm handles angles with the feet placed on the press machine pedals or
Name Section Date are directly in front of the chest. Position backrest so that a foot platform. Extend the legs and return to beginning
hands are at comfortable position. Do not
Purpose: To evaluate your muscle strength using 1RM and to determine the best amount of resistance to use for various distance away from the lock the knees
strength exercises. chest. Push handles when the legs
forward to full extension are straightened.
Procedures: 1RM is the maximum amount of resistance you can lift for a specific exercise. Testing yourself to determine and return to starting Typically, handles
how much you can lift only one time using traditional methods can be fatiguing and even dangerous. The procedure you position in a slow and are provided.
will perform here allows you to estimate 1RM based on the number of times you can lift a weight that is less than 1RM. controlled manner. Grasp the
Evaluating Muscle Strength: 1RM and Grip Strength
Results
Arm press: Wt. selected Reps Estimated 1RM
(or bench press) (Chart 1, Lab Resource Materials, page 175)
187 188
Lab 4B The Warm-Up 63 Lab 10A Evaluating Muscle Strength: 1RM and Grip
Strength 187
Lab 4C Physical Activity Attitude Questionnaire 65
Lab 10B Evaluating Muscular Endurance and Power 189
Lab 5A Assessing Heart Disease Risk Factors 83
Lab 10C Planning and Logging Muscle Fitness Exercises:
Lab 6A Self-Assessment of Physical Activity 95
Free Weights or Resistance Machines 191
Lab 6B Estimating Your Fitness 97
Lab 10D Planning and Logging Muscle Fitness Exercises:
Lab 7A Setting Goals for Moderate Physical Activity and Self- Calisthenics, Core Exercises, or Plyometrics 193
Monitoring (Logging) Program 111
Lab 11A Evaluating Flexibility 217
Lab 7B Estimating Sedentary Behavior 113
Lab 11B Planning and Logging Stretching Exercises 219
Lab 8A Counting Target Heart Rate and Ratings of Perceived
Lab 12A Evaluating Skill-Related Physical Fitness 239
Exertion 133
Lab 12B Identifying Symptoms of Overtraining 241
Lab 8B Evaluating Cardiorespiratory Endurance 135
Lab 9A The Physical Activity Adherence Questionnaire 149
xii
ISTUDY
Lab Activities xiii
Lab 13A Evaluating Body Composition: Skinfold Lab 20A Risk for Problem Drug Use 391
Measures 267 Lab 21A Sexually Transmitted Infection Risk
Lab 13B Evaluating Body Composition: Height, Weight, and Questionnaire 405
Circumference Measures 271 Lab 22A Determining Your Cancer Risk 423
Lab 13C Determining Your Daily Energy Expenditure 273 Lab 22B Breast and Testicular Self-Exams 425
Lab 14A Nutrition Analysis 295 Lab 23A The Back/Neck Questionnaire and Healthy Back
Lab 14B Selecting Nutritious Foods 299 Tests 457
Lab 15A Selecting Strategies for Managing Eating 311 Lab 23B Evaluating Posture 459
Lab 15B Evaluating Fast Food Options 313 Lab 23C Planning and Logging Core and Back Exercises 461
Lab 16A Evaluating Your Stress Level 327 Lab 24A Practicing Consumer Skills: Evaluating
Lab 16B Evaluating Your Hardiness and Locus of Control 329 Products 475
Lab 17A Time Management 345 Lab 24B Evaluating a Health, Wellness, or Fitness Club 477
Lab 17B Relaxation Exercises 347 Lab 25A Assessing Factors That Influence Health, Wellness,
Lab 17C Evaluating Levels of Social Support 349 and Fitness 490
Lab 18A Use and Abuse of Tobacco and Other Nicotine Lab 25B Planning for Improved Health, Wellness, and
Products 361 Fitness 492
Lab 19A Blood Alcohol Level 375 Lab 25C Planning Your Personal Physical Activity
Program 494
Lab 19B Perceptions about Alcohol Use 377
ISTUDY
Building on 50 Years
of Success!
The thirteenth edition ushers in a new era with a new title—
Corbin’s Concepts of Fitness and Wellness—that honors the
vision and legacy of Dr. Charles (Chuck) Corbin in develop-
ing the Concepts approach over 50 years ago. Our established
tradition of innovation in the fitness and wellness field con-
tinues with completely updated content, features, and online
materials that are designed to support education on healthy
lifestyles.
xiv
ISTUDY
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
"You have killed two of my men, Englishman," went on the ex-priest.
"I think not," returned Saunders calmly. "The second man was only
wounded in the thigh."
"I should be justified in taking your life for this," continued Father
Bernhardt.
"Perfectly," agreed Saunders with composure, "but you will find the
proceeding difficult and rather dangerous."
"That's the spirit I admire!" cried the outlaw. "There's a dash of the devil
about that—and the devil, you know, is a particular friend of mine."
"Come," he said, "will you make a truce with us? We could probably
kill you and your friend there, but we should lose a man or two in the
killing. Make truce, and we give you a free return to Weidenbruck, or
wherever you choose to go. Your friend Karl has got away safely now,—
thanks to your infernal coolness,—so you can make peace with honour."
Von Hügelweiler was no coward, but something made him give ground
before the strange individual who confronted him. A man of medium height
and compact build, there was a suggestion of great muscularity about the
outlaw's person. But it was the face rather than the body which compelled
attention. The clean-carved, aquiline features, the black, bushy eyebrows,
the piercing eyes, and the strange, restless light that played in them, made
up a personality that set the turbulent rebel as a man apart from his fellows.
"Now, then," he said, thrusting his face into Von Hügelweiler's, "shoot
me, and earn the eternal gratitude of your sovereign."
Again the Captain gave ground, though his timidity shamed and irritated
him.
"I come to shake Saunders by the hand," said the outlaw, turning and
stretching out a sudden hand to the Englishman. "He is a man, a stubborn
fellow, with a brain of ice and nerves of tested steel. I would sooner have
him on my side than a pack of artillery and the whole brigade of Guards."
"You flatter me," said Saunders, taking the proffered hand. "I am a man
of peace."
"How lovely are the feet of them that bring us good tidings of peace,"
said the outlaw with a scornful laugh. "Behold Satan also can quote the
Scriptures! When I sold my soul three years ago to the Father of Lies I
drove a fine bargain. I took a Queen to wife—such a Queen, such a wife!
And my good friends Ahriman, the Prince of Darkness, and Archmedai, the
Demon of Lust, have given me strength and health and cunning beyond my
fellows, so that no man can bind me or prevail against me. They never leave
me long, these good fiends. It was one of them who warned me not to lead
the pursuit of Karl over this bit of cliff."
"Your nerves are out of gear, Bernhardt," he said. "Did you ever try
bromide?"
"I've tried asceticism and I've tried debauchery," was the leering answer,
"and they both vouchsafe visions of the evil one. When I was a priest I lived
as a priest: I scourged myself and fasted; but the Prince of Power of the Air
was never far from me. And now that I am of the world, worldly, a sinner of
strange sins, a blasphemer, and a wine-bibber, Diabolus and his satellites
are in even more constant attendance on me. Perhaps I am mad, or perhaps
they are there for such as me to see."
"I'd chance the former alternative and see a brain specialist," suggested
Saunders. "It might save a deal of wasted blood and treasure to Grimland."
"There is no healing for a damned soul," said Bernhardt fiercely. "I saw
strange things before I drank the libidinous cup of Tobit. I see them now.
Saint or sinner, my eyes have been opened to the unclean hosts of
Beelzebub."
A puzzled look crept into Father Bernhardt's eyes. Then he shook his
head firmly.
"I won't talk to you any more," he cried angrily. "I hate talking to you. I
hate your cursed English common sense. If I saw much of you I'd lose all
the savour of life. I'd be a decent, law-abiding citizen, and miss all the
thrills and torments of a man fire-doomed."
"A good conscience is not a bad thing," said Saunders, "and a man at
peace with himself is king of a fine country. You're a youngish man,
Bernhardt, and the world's before you. Give up listening to devils, and the
devils will give up talking to you. Go on listening to them and the fine
balances of sanity will be overthrown for ever."
"Silence!" cried the ex-priest, thrusting his fingers in his ears. "Would
you rob me even of my remaining joys? For such as me there is no peace. I
have my mission, and by the devil's aid I must perform it!"
"I will make a point of doing so," said Saunders, preparing to depart,
"and I will lay a shade of odds on the Jew."
CHAPTER ELEVEN
While the Englishman was ski-running and saving the King's life, the
American had spent an uneventful morning seeing the sights of the capital.
Acting on his friend's advice he had visited the Reichs Museum, wherein
were housed some extremely old Masters, some indifferent modern
sculpture, and a wholly admirable collection of engravings by Albrecht
Dürer. But Trafford's mind had wandered from pre-Raphaelite anatomy and
marble modernities to a pair of dark eyes, a finely chiselled little nose, and
a diminutive mouth, that were utterly unlike anything depicted by Botticelli,
Fra Angelo, or the great Bavarian engraver.
Art had never held an important place in his mind, and on this fine
January morning it competed feebly with a certain restless longing that had
stolen over his ill-balanced nervous system, to the domination of his
thoughts and the destruction of his critical faculties. He desired to be out in
the open air, and he desired to see, and touch, and speak with a certain
young woman who had passed herself off as his sister at his hotel, but who
had disappeared into thin air long before he had tasted his petit déjeuner of
coffee and rolls. It was not, he told himself, that he was in love. Love,—as
he conceived it,—was something akin to worship, a regard pure as the
snows, passionless almost in its humility and reverence. For one woman he
had felt that marvellous adoration; he would never feel it again for any
woman in the world. But beauty appeals even to those who have suffered at
beauty's hands, and the Princess Gloria was a maiden of such bewildering
moods, so compounded of laughter and fierceness, of such human pathos
and relentless purpose, that she was bound to have a disturbing effect on so
responsive and sensitive a soul as his. He acknowledged the obsession, for
it was patent and paramount. But he told himself that in his regard there
were no deeps, certainly no worship; merely a desire to cultivate an
attractive young woman whose habitual behaviour was as heedless of the
conventions as his own.
But this desire took him out of the long galleries of the Reichs Museum
into the slums of Weidenbruck, into the purlieus of the Goose-market and
the Grassmarket, and into the network of narrow alleys round about the
Schugasse. But the face and figure that were in his mind's eye refused to
grace his bodily sight, and so,—having lost himself half a dozen times and
gained a magnificent appetite,—he took a sleigh and drove back to the
Hôtel Concordia.
In the middle of his meal Saunders arrived, and told him at full length of
his morning's adventures. And, as Saunders had expected, Trafford's
disappointment at having missed the exhilarating rencontre with Father
Bernhardt was palpable and forcibly expressed.
"He got home safely with my wife and General Meyer three-quarters of
an hour before I did," replied Saunders, ignoring the sarcasm. "They held
up a train on the big stone viaduct, and I and Von Hügelweiler tapped one at
a small station called Henduck. It is a pity you were not with us, Nervy."
"D—— the Dürers!" said Trafford angrily, as his friend left the dining-
room. "And hang Saunders for a selfish brute!" he added to himself. "He
lures me out to this infernal country, and then sends me to picture galleries
and museums while he shoots people ski-jumping over his head." And with
the air of an aggrieved man Trafford kindled an enormous cigar and
sauntered forth into the hall.
"A letter, mein Herr," said the official: "a messenger left it a moment
ago."
Trafford took it, and as he read his eyes opened in astonishment, and his
mouth in satisfaction.
"Dear Herr Trafford," it ran. "This is to thank you for what you did for
me last night. You fight as well as you skate—and that is saying much. If
you will meet me at the Collection of Instruments of Torture in the
Strafeburg at three o'clock this afternoon, I shall try to be as fascinating as
you could wish me—and take back any unkind word I may have spoken."
G.V.S."
"I beg your pardon," began the Commander-in-Chief, "but I was not
quite sure that it was you, as I could not see your face while you were
reading your letter."
"My fault entirely," said Trafford genially. "Were you looking for me?"
"I was. I came to say that the command which his Majesty graciously
issued to you to dine with him to-night is also extended to your sister."
Meyer smiled at the other's mystification. "I was informed at the bureau
that your sister was staying at the hotel with you," he said blandly.
Instantly the fraud of the previous evening returned to Trafford's
memory.
"She spent last night at the hotel," he said, "but she left early this
morning."
"Would you think me very inquisitive," he went on, "if I asked at what
hotel she will be staying in Vienna?"
"She is not going to a hotel," replied Trafford. "She is going to stay with
my aunt,—my dear Aunt Martha,—whose address I cannot for a moment
recall. I shall doubtless hear from her in a day or so, when I will
communicate her whereabouts to you—if you particularly desire it."
"This was used for those who made bad money," went on the long-
limbed maiden, in her droning monotone, indicating a gigantic press which
was capable of converting the human frame into the semblance of a
pancake. "The coiner lay down here, and the weights were put on his chest
——"
"Stop! for heaven's sake," ejaculated Trafford, white with emotion. "If I
could get hold of one of those mediæval torturers I'd give him a good
Yankee kick to help him realise what pain meant."
"I'm sure your kick would be a most enthusiastic one," said a voice at
his elbow. A lady in handsome furs and a blue veil—a common protection,
in Grimland, against snow-glare—was addressing him. Despite this
concealment, however, Trafford did not need to look twice before
recognising the Princess Gloria.
"You can leave us, Martha," commanded the Princess to the angular
attendant. "I am quite capable of describing these horrors to this gentleman.
I am sufficiently familiar with the Strafeburg, and shall quite possibly
become more so." Then, as the obedient Martha withdrew her many inches
from the room:
"I want to thank you for last night's work," she said to Trafford; "and if I
may, to ask——"
"You are splendid!" she cried, clapping her hands with girlish
excitement. "Do you know," she went on presently, "that the authorities,
acting under Herr Saunders' advice, are going to adopt strenuous measures
against us?"
"Not exactly. But they have decided to leave off trying to murder us,
and are going to try and take us openly. The ex-Queen,—whose nerves are
not very good,—has already crossed the frontier into Austria. Father
Bernhardt has found several new hiding-places, and a brace of new
revolvers."
"Admirable!" laughed the American. "But tell me, pray, how I can serve
you."
"You will be dining at the Palace to-night. Find out all you can and
report to me."
Trafford was silent. He was about to dine with the King, and he had
certain scruples about the sacredness of hospitality. Quick as a flash the
Princess read his silence, and bit her lip.
"Now then," she said, as if to change the subject, "let me play the part of
showman. Here we have the famous 'Iron Maiden.'"
Trafford beheld a weird sarcophagus set upright against the wall, and
rudely shaped like a human form. On the head were painted the lineaments
of a woman's face, and the mediæval craftsman had contrived to portray a
countenance of abominable cruelty, not devoid of a certain sullen, archaic
beauty. A vertical joint ran from the crown of the head to the base, and the
thing opened in the middle with twin doors. The Princess inserted a heavy
key,—which was hanging from a convenient nail,—and displayed the
interior.
"Now you see the charm of the thing," she went on, as the inside of the
iron doors revealed a number of ferocious spikes. "The poor wretch was put
inside, and the doors were slowly shut on him. See, there is a spike for each
eye, one for each breast, and several for the legs. The embrace of the Iron
Maiden was not a thing to be lightly undertaken."
"It was made by one Otto the Hunchback," pursued the Princess, "and it
was so admired in its day, that the reigning monarch of Bavaria had a
duplicate made, and it stands in the castle of Nuremberg to this day."
"When was this thing last used?" inquired Trafford in hoarse tones.
"It is said that the late Archbishop of Weidenbruck was killed in this
way, three years ago," replied the Princess calmly.
"If that's true," said Trafford, "I shan't make much bones about siding
with you against Karl XXII. And it won't worry my conscience reporting to
you anything I may accidentally overhear at the dinner to-night."
"We can't fight in kid gloves," said the Princess with a sigh.
Trafford and the Princess looked at each other in blank and silent
amazement.
"This means business," said the latter, pale but composed. "The Guides
and the King's Dragoons are not being paraded for nothing. Royalty is
going to be arrested with the pomp and circumstance due to the occasion."
"It's no use," sighed the Princess wearily. "I must face my fate. Perhaps
the good burghers will effect a rescue."
"That is just what you must not do!" he cried. For a moment he stood
irresolute, running his hand through his stiff, up-standing hair.
"Otto the Hunchback little knew that his chef d'œuvre would be put to
such a benevolent purpose as a refuge," he said, as he loosened and
withdrew the spikes one by one from their rusty environment. "Given ten
minutes' respite, and I'll guarantee a hiding-place no one in his senses will
dream of searching."
Trafford deposited the last spike in the pocket of his overcoat, and
motioned to his companion to enter. When she had done so, he closed the
doors, locked them, and put the key into his pocket with the spikes.
Trafford contemplated the exterior of the Iron Maiden, and was pleased
to note air-holes in the Maiden's ears. It had not been the intention of the
mediæval tormentor that his victims should die of suffocation.
A few moments later there was the tread of martial steps along the
passage, and the door was thrown open. Trafford buried himself in the
contemplation of a water-funnel that had served to inconvenience human
stomachs with an intolerable amount of fluid.
"This is most interesting," he said. "I need hardly ask you to be precise
in your information, as your remarks will be taken down verbatim."
"Her name?"
"Her age?"
"I am bad at guessing ladies' ages; but I should say between twenty and
thirty."
"Dark or fair?"
"Dark."
Meyer stiffened himself indignantly, and the eye-glass dropped from his
eye.
"Perhaps I have exaggerated," said Trafford calmly, "put down six foot
one-and-a-half."
"Martha!" cried Trafford delightedly. "Yes, I believe that was her name.
In return for half a krone she told me more in five minutes about
instruments of torture than my wildest imagination had conceived possible."
Meyer glanced round the room carefully. He looked under the several
tables whereon the exhibits were displayed; he put his head up the great
stone fireplace; his glance swept past the Iron Maiden, but it rested on it for
a fraction of a second only.
"She is not here," he announced decisively, "this gentleman has been
speaking the truth."
"You behold in me," he said, "a disappointed man. For the second time
in two days I have blundered. It is a coincidence, a strange coincidence.
Also it is regrettable, for I am rapidly dissipating a hard-earned reputation
for astuteness. Once again, au revoir, my dear Herr Trafford! We shall meet
at dinner to-night, and I hope often. Gentlemen of the Guides, vorwarts!"
CHAPTER TWELVE
General Meyer, resplendent in a pale blue and silver uniform and sundry
brilliant orders, received him and presented him to his wife, a handsome
lady of South-American origin and an ultra-Republican love of finery.
Saunders was there, also with his wife, the latter beautiful and stately as a
statue, in an empire gown of creamy green with red roses at her breast.
There was an old gentleman with a billowy white moustache, and a young
officer of the Guides. There were the diplomatic representatives of France
and England, and a bevy of court ladies with the expensive paraphernalia of
plumes, egrets, and voluminous trains. The company was a decorative one,
and the setting sumptuous, only needing the sun of the royal presence to
gild the refined gold of the exhilarating scene.
"Nervy, my boy," the former began, "the King, Meyer, and myself have
been having a little private conversation about you."
"Most. The conclusion we arrived at was that you had been making an
idiotic ass of yourself."
"By everybody, I mean the police, who study most things, and
particularly the visitors' list at the 'Concordia.' The hall-porter of that
excellent hotel is one of Meyer's most trusted agents, and there is not the
slightest doubt that it was the Princess Gloria who enjoyed the privilege of
claiming you as a brother."
"My dear humourist," said Trafford, smiling and twirling his moustache.
"I have no further use for—half-sisters."
"I stepped across the room to warn you of the King's entrance," went on
the General suavely. "His Majesty is on the point of entering the chamber."
A door was flung open by liveried and powdered menials. The company
drew itself into two lines, and between them, smiling, portly, debonnair,
walked the big, half-pathetic, half-humorous figure of the King. He bowed
to right and left, murmuring conventional terms of greeting to all and
sundry.
Trafford bowed, and took the King's hand, which was extended to him.
"I say hurrah for winter sport, your Majesty, and a curse on fogs,
meteorological and political!"
"The General fought with distinction in the trenches at Offen in '84, and
he took part also with great distinction in the hill fighting round about
Kurdeburg in '86. In '87——" Fortunately for Trafford the flow of the
worthy lady's recital was checked. A menial, pompous, in plush and yellow
braid, put his powdered head between him and his persecutrix, whispering
in his ear: "His Majesty will take wine with you, sir."
Trafford looked up to the end of the table where the King sat. King
Karl, with raised glass and a resumption of his genial smile, was
endeavouring to catch his eye.
Trafford raised his glass and flushed. It is not given to every man to be
toasted by a reigning sovereign, and Trafford felt a sense of pride that
surged up in his bosom with no little strength. Then the incongruity of his
position struck him. There was he, eating the King's food, and drinking the
King's wine, and at the same time pledged to help and abet his most
relentless enemy. Nay, more, he had sworn to abuse his hospitality that
evening by gleaning any facts which might help the rebellious Princess to
continue free to work out her ambitious and subversive propaganda. And
now he was signalled out for especial honour, and he blushed, not because
the eyes of the ladies regarded him with frank admiration, not because
Meyer looked sideways at him with sneering inscrutability, but because his
host, the King, regarded him with a glance that was all welcome and good
fellowship. And in the emotion and excitement of the moment Trafford
recalled Saunders' favourable opinion of King Karl, rather than the Princess
Gloria's sinister suggestion of the torture-chamber. But just as, with mixed
feelings and mantled cheek, he threw back his head to empty his glass, a
noise from outside attracted his attention. It was a low, humming noise at
first, with sharp notes rising from its depths. But it grew louder, and
something in its swelling vibrations checked the glass untasted in his hand.
Men and women looked at each other, and the conversation ceased
automatically. Louder the noise grew—louder, till it was like the roaring of
a great wind or the snarling of innumerable wild beasts. And yet, besides its
note of wrath and menace, it held a sub-tone of deep, insistent purpose. Fair
cheeks began to blanch, and an air of pained expectancy hung heavy on the
throng. For there was no longer any possibility of mistaking its import. It
was the hoarse murmur of a mob, wherein the mad fury of beast and
element were blended with human hatred, and dominated by human
intelligence.
Meyer sipped his wine composedly, but his face was a sickly green.
General von Bilderbaum flushed peony, and Trafford felt big pulses beating
in different parts of his body. The situation was intolerable in its frozen
anxiety. With an oath the King rose to his feet, threw back the great purple
curtains that masked the windows, and flung open the tall casements. A
redoubled roar of voices flowed in with a stream of icy air. The ladies
shuddered in their décolleté gowns, but Trafford,—heedless alike of frost
and etiquette,—was on the balcony in an instant by the King's side, looking
down on the great street. The other men followed suit immediately, and the
sight that met their gaze was a stirring one. The broad Königstrasse, which
ran past the palace, was packed with a dense and swaying throng.
In the midst of a bevy of dark-coated police walked a tall figure,
handcuffed, bareheaded, his clothes torn as if he had been taken with
violence, yet retaining withal an air of fierce scorn and tameless pride. On
each side of the police tramped companies of infantry with fixed bayonets.
At the head and at the rear of the little procession rode formidable
detachments of the King's Dragoons. And surging behind, menacing,
furious, determined,—yet held in check by the cold logic of steel and bullet,
—pressed and swayed and shouted a great mass of turbulent humanity.
"At any rate, he is being arrested," said the King. "Under your system
he was always on the point of being arrested. Once inside the Strafeburg,
Father Bernhardt will not derive much assistance from his noisy friends out
here."
"Why don't they fire on the mob?" spluttered out General von
Bilderbaum, stifling a fine military oath in his billowy moustache.
"I'd fire on the brutes if I were in command," murmured the old General
with suppressed fierceness, as the crowd pressed close at the heels of the
last file of Dragoons.
Hardly had he spoken when a harsh order rang out above the growling
of the mob, the rear rank swung their horses round, and with a click of
carbines a volley rang out into the icy air. A bullet struck the stonework of
the palace, not far from the King's head, for the soldiers had fired purposely
in the air. Karl never even winced. His features wore a look of pained
distress that no personal danger could accentuate. General Meyer quietly
took cover behind a friendly pilaster, but Trafford,—wildly excited by the
novel scene,—watched eagerly the quick panic of the mob. Helter-skelter
they ran, tumbling over each other in a frenzied effort to avoid the stern
reprisal they had so ruthlessly invited.
"A whiff of grape shot!" said Saunders. "A little firmness, a little
sternness even, and a deal of trouble is saved. Another volley in the air, half
a dozen executions, and a few sharp sentences of imprisonment, and a
desperate situation will give way to normal tranquillity."
"I don't," said Meyer; and as he spoke the crowd came back again,
surging and rebellious, shouting with rage and shame and furious
determination.
"See! a woman is leading them on!" cried the young officer of the
Guides.
"So I perceive," said Meyer, turning to Trafford, who stood next him. "It
is the young lady whose arrest I strove to bring about this afternoon in the
Strafeburg. It would perhaps have been better for her if my purpose had
been fulfilled."
Trafford drew in his breath and grasped the hand-rail of the iron balcony
with a vise-like grip.
"I think so," said Meyer smoothly. "A rescue is certainly being
attempted."
"Why?"
"The wounded will be looked after," said Mrs. Saunders calmly, "and by
more capable hands than yours. Your departure now without a formal leave-
taking of his Majesty would produce the worst impression. As my husband's
friend, your conduct would reflect on him. I must ask you to be prudent."
"Thank you."
"It would never do," went on Trafford ironically, "for your husband to
fall out of favour with the humane King Karl. He might wake to find
himself in the dungeons of the Strafeburg;" and with a polite bow he
returned through the dining-room to the balcony.
"Well," he asked of Saunders, "does peace reign at Weidenbruck?"
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
ON THE WARPATH
He sat down again in his arm-chair, and buried his face in his hands, and
because his eyes were blinded by the action, the vision of Gloria's youthful
beauty and smiling lips grew clearer, more tangible, more seductive. His
mind harked back to the dismal moment when he was leaving the Rundsee,
a defeated, discredited candidate for the blue ribbon of the skating world.
The Princess had appeared to him at a moment when her bright presence
had seemed especially dazzling by contrast with the black thoughts that
filled his brain. She had appealed to him for assistance, had promised, or at
least hinted at, the great reward that would bear him rose-crowned to the
stars. That was worth much—everything perhaps—even a soldier's honour.
But would his honour inevitably be sacrificed by placing his sword at the
Princess's disposal? He had reasons for being dissatisfied with his present
service, he argued. Karl—well, he could not bring himself to dislike Karl,
but he was certainly a man of whom much ill was spoken. His Commander-
in-Chief, Meyer, he knew for a scheming and unscrupulous politician rather
than an honest soldier. And so, little by little, desire suborned conscience,
till he persuaded himself,—as self-centred men habitually do,—that the
path of pleasure was the path of duty.
* * * * *
When the party at the Neptunburg broke up abruptly, as it did soon after
the glare of incendiarism had flushed the sky to a threatening crimson,
Trafford paid a hasty leave-taking of his Majesty, and hastened down the
great staircase to the entrance hall. Here stood Saunders in close
consultation with General Meyer.
"Nervy," said the former, "if I were you I should stay here. There is no
necessity to go, and if you come up to my room we can watch things
comfortably from my window."
"Thanks," said Trafford curtly, "I am not fond of watching things from
the window."
"You really must not leave us," said the Commander-in-Chief, with
exaggerated politeness.
"We really cannot allow you to depart," persisted Meyer, walking to the
hall-door and ostentatiously shooting a massive bolt.
A gleam lighted in Trafford's eye, but his response was politeness itself.
"Herr Trafford," said the latter, "when I said you must not go, I meant to
couch a command in terms of courtesy. The streets of Weidenbruck are in a
dangerous state to-night, and as the person responsible for the public safety
I really cannot sanction your departure from the Neptunburg."
"Then I shall disregard it," said Trafford, producing his gun and
flourishing it about in reckless fashion, "for I am quite capable of protecting
myself, dear General, I assure you."