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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Truxton King, by George Barr McCutcheon
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Truxton King
+       A Story of Graustark
+
+Author: George Barr McCutcheon
+
+Release Date: December 7, 2004 [EBook #14284]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRUXTON KING ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Rick Niles, Charlie Kirschner and the PG Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "'DON'T YOU KNOW ANY BETTER THAN TO COME IN HERE?'
+DEMANDED THE PRINCE"]
+
+TRUXTON KING
+A STORY _of_ GRAUSTARK
+
+BY
+GEORGE BARR McCUTCHEON
+
+Author of "Graustark"
+"Beverly of Graustark"
+etc.
+
+WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
+BY HARRISON FISHER
+
+NEW YORK
+DODD, MEAD & COMPANY
+1909
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER                           PAGE
+
+    I TRUXTON KING                   1
+   II A MEETING OF THE CABINET      23
+  III MANY PERSONS IN REVIEW        40
+   IV TRUXTON TRESPASSES            59
+    V THE COMMITTEE OF TEN          80
+   VI INGOMEDE THE BEAUTIFUL        94
+  VII AT THE WITCH'S HUT           114
+ VIII LOOKING FOR AN EYE           130
+   IX STRANGE DISAPPEARANCES       147
+    X THE IRON COUNT               161
+   XI UNDER THE GROUND             177
+  XII A NEW PRISONER ARRIVES       190
+ XIII A DIVINITY SHAPES            205
+  XIV ON THE RIVER                 219
+   XV THE GIRL IN THE RED CLOAK    231
+  XVI THE MERRY VAGABOND           245
+ XVII THE THROWING OF THE BOMB     263
+XVIII TRUXTON ON PARADE            278
+  XIX TRUXTON EXACTS A PROMISE     295
+   XX BY THE WATER-GATE            312
+  XXI THE RETURN                   329
+ XXII THE LAST STAND               345
+XXIII "YOU WILL BE MRS. KING"      357
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+"'Don't you know any better than
+   to come in here?' demanded the
+   Prince" (page 67)                     _Frontispiece_
+
+"'You are the only man to whom I
+   feel sure that I can reveal myself
+   and be quite understood'"          _Facing page_ 104
+
+"'Bobby! Don't be foolish. How
+   could I be in love with _him_?'"                 158
+
+"'His Majesty appears to have--ahem--gone
+   to sleep,' remarked
+   the Grand Duke tartly"                           366
+
+
+
+
+TRUXTON KING A STORY OF GRAUSTARK
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+TRUXTON KING
+
+
+He was a tall, rawboned, rangy young fellow with a face so tanned by
+wind and sun you had the impression that his skin would feel like
+leather if you could affect the impertinence to test it by the sense of
+touch. Not that you would like to encourage this bit of impudence after
+a look into his devil-may-care eyes; but you might easily imagine
+something much stronger than brown wrapping paper and not quite so
+passive as burnt clay. His clothes fit him loosely and yet were
+graciously devoid of the bagginess which characterises the appearance of
+extremely young men whose frames are not fully set and whose joints are
+still parading through the last stages of college development. This
+fellow, you could tell by looking at him, had been out of college from
+two to five years; you could also tell, beyond doubt or contradiction,
+that he had been in college for his full allotted time and had not
+escaped the usual number of "conditions" that dismay but do not
+discourage the happy-go-lucky undergraduate who makes two or three teams
+with comparative ease, but who has a great deal of difficulty with
+physics or whatever else he actually is supposed to acquire between the
+close of the football season and the opening of baseball practice.
+
+This tall young man in the panama hat and grey flannels was Truxton
+King, embryo globe-trotter and searcher after the treasures of Romance.
+Somewhere up near Central Park, in one of the fashionable cross
+streets, was the home of his father and his father's father before him:
+a home which Truxton had not seen in two years or more. It is worthy of
+passing notice, and that is all, that his father was a manufacturer;
+more than that, he was something of a power in the financial world. His
+mother was not strictly a social queen in the great metropolis, but she
+was what we might safely call one of the first "ladies in waiting."
+Which is quite good enough for the wife of a manufacturer; especially
+when one records that her husband was a manufacturer of steel. It is
+also a matter of no little consequence that Truxton's mother was more or
+less averse to the steel business as a heritage for her son. Be it
+understood, here and now, that she intended Truxton for the diplomatic
+service: as far removed from sordid steel as the New York post office is
+from the Court of St. James.
+
+But neither Truxton's father, who wanted him to be a manufacturing
+Croesus, or Truxton's mother, who expected him to become a social
+Solomon, appears to have taken the young man's private inclinations into
+consideration. Truxton preferred a life of adventure distinctly
+separated from steel and velvet; nor was he slow to set his esteemed
+parents straight in this respect. He had made up his mind to travel, to
+see the world, to be a part of the big round globe on which we, as
+ordinary individuals with no personality beyond the next block, are
+content to sit and encourage the single ambition to go to Europe at
+least once, so that we may not be left out of the general conversation.
+
+Young Mr. King believed in Romance. He had believed in Santa Claus and
+the fairies, and he grew up with an ever increasing bump of imagination,
+contiguous to which, strange to relate, there was a properly developed
+bump of industry and application. Hence, it is not surprising that he
+was willing to go far afield in search of the things that seemed more or
+less worth while to a young gentleman who had suffered the ill-fortune
+to be born in the nineteenth century instead of the seventeenth. Romance
+and adventure, politely amorous but vigorously attractive, came up to
+him from the seventeenth century, perhaps through the blood of some
+swash-buckling ancestor, and he was held enthralled by the possibilities
+that lay hidden in some far off or even nearby corner of this hopelessly
+unromantic world of the twentieth century.
+
+To be sure there was war, but war isn't Romance. Besides, he was too
+young to fight against Spain; and, later on, he happened to be more
+interested in football than he was in the Japs or the Russians. The only
+thing left for him to do was to set forth in quest of adventure;
+adventure was not likely to apply to him in Fifth Avenue or at the
+factory or--still, there was a certain kind of adventure analogous to
+Broadway, after all. He thought it over and, after trying it for a year
+or two, decided that Broadway and the Tenderloin did not produce the
+sort of Romance he could cherish for long as a self-respecting hero, so
+he put certain small temptations aside, chastened himself as well as he
+could, and set out for less amiable but more productive by-ways in other
+sections of the globe.
+
+We come upon him at last--luckily for us we were not actually following
+him--after two years of wonderful but rather disillusioning adventure in
+mid-Asia and all Africa. He had seen the Congo and the Euphrates, the
+Ganges and the Nile, the Yang-tse-kiang and the Yenisei; he had climbed
+mountains in Abyssinia, in Siam, in Thibet and Afghanistan; he had shot
+big game in more than one jungle, and had been shot at by small brown
+men in more than one forest, to say nothing of the little encounters he
+had had in most un-Occidental towns and cities. He had seen women in
+Morocco and Egypt and Persia and--But it is a waste of time to
+enumerate. Strange to say, he was now drifting back toward the
+civilisation which we are pleased to call our own, with a sense of
+genuine disappointment in his heart. He had found no sign of Romance.
+
+Adventure in plenty, but Romance--ah, the fairy princesses were in the
+story books, after all.
+
+Here he was, twenty-six years old, strong and full of the fire of life,
+convincing himself that there was nothing for him to do but to drift
+back to dear old New York and talk to his father about going into the
+offices; to let his mother tell him over and over again of the nice
+girls she knew who did not have to be rescued from ogres and all that
+sort of thing in order to settle down to domestic obsolescence; to tell
+his sister and all of their mutual friends the whole truth and nothing
+but the truth concerning his adventures in the wilds, and to feel that
+the friends, at least, were predestined to look upon him as a fearless
+liar, nothing more.
+
+For twenty days he had travelled by caravan across the Persian uplands,
+through Herat, and Meshed and Bokhara, striking off with his guide alone
+toward the Sea of Aral and the eastern shores of the Caspian, thence
+through the Ural foothills to the old Roman highway that led down into
+the sweet green valleys of a land he had thought of as nothing more than
+the creation of a hairbrained fictionist.
+
+Somewhere out in the shimmering east he had learned, to his honest
+amazement, that there was such a land as Graustark. At first he would
+not believe. But the English bank in Meshed assured him that he would
+come to it if he travelled long enough and far enough into the north and
+west and if he were not afraid of the hardships that most men abhor. The
+dying spirit of Romance flamed up in his heart; his blood grew quick
+again and eager. He would not go home until he had sought out this land
+of fair women and sweet tradition. And so he traversed the wild and
+dangerous Tartar roads for days and days, like the knights of
+Scheherazade in the times of old, and came at last to the gates of
+Edelweiss.
+
+Not until he sat down to a rare dinner in the historic Hotel Regengetz
+was he able to realise that he was truly in that fabled, mythical land
+of Graustark, quaint, grim little principality in the most secret pocket
+of the earth's great mantle. This was the land of his dreams, the land
+of his fancy; he had not even dared to hope that it actually existed.
+
+And now, here he was, pinching himself to prove that he was awake,
+stretching his world-worn bones under a dainty table to which real food
+was being brought by--well, he was obliged to pinch himself again. From
+the broad terrace after dinner he looked out into the streets of the
+quaint, picture-book town with its mediaeval simplicity and ruggedness
+combined; his eyes tried to keep pace with the things that his fertile
+brain was seeing beyond the glimmering lights and dancing window
+panes--for the whole scene danced before him with a persistent unreality
+that made him feel his own pulse in the fear that some sudden, insidious
+fever had seized upon him.
+
+If any one had told him, six months before, that there was such a land
+as Graustark and that if he could but keep on travelling in a certain
+direction he would come to it in time, he would have laughed that person
+to scorn, no matter how precise a geographer he might have been.
+
+Young Mr. King, notwithstanding his naturally reckless devotion to first
+impressions, was a much wiser person than when he left his New York home
+two years before. Roughing it in the wildest parts of the world had
+taught him that eagerness is the enemy of common sense. Therefore he
+curbed the thrilling impulse to fare forth in search of diversion on
+this first night; he conquered himself and went to bed early--and to
+sleep at once, if that may serve to assist you in getting an idea of
+what time and circumstances had done for his character.
+
+A certain hard-earned philosophy had convinced him long ago that
+adventure is quite content to wait over from day to day, but that when a
+man is tired and worn it isn't quite sensible to expect sleep to be put
+off regardless. With a fine sense of sacrifice, therefore, he went to
+bed, forsaking the desire to tread the dim streets of a city by night in
+advance of a more cautious survey by daylight. He had come to know that
+it is best to make sure of your ground, in a measure, at least, before
+taking too much for granted--to look before you leap, so to speak. And
+so, his mind tingling with visions of fair ladies and goodly
+opportunities, he went to sleep--and did not get up to breakfast until
+noon the next day.
+
+And now it becomes my deplorable duty to divulge the fact that Truxton
+King, after two full days and nights in the city of Edelweiss, was quite
+ready to pass on to other fields, completely disillusionised in his own
+mind, and not a little disgusted with himself for having gone to the
+trouble to visit the place. To his intense chagrin, he had found the
+quaint old city very tiresome. True, it was a wonderful old town, rich
+in tradition, picturesque in character, hoary with age, bulging with
+the secrets of an active past; but at present, according to the well
+travelled Truxton, it was a poky old place about which historians either
+had lied gloriously or had been taken in shamelessly. In either case,
+Edelweiss was not what he had come to believe it would be. He had
+travelled overland for nearly a month, out of the heart of Asia, to find
+himself, after all, in a graveyard of great expectations!
+
+He had explored Edelweiss, the capital. He had ridden about the
+ramparts; he had taken snapshots of the fortress down the river and had
+not been molested; he had gone mule-back up the mountain to the
+snowcapped monastery of St. Valentine, overtopping and overlooking the
+green valleys below; he had seen the tower in which illustrious
+prisoners were reported to have been held; he had ridden over the King's
+Road to Ganlook and had stood on American bridges at midnight--all the
+while wondering why he was there. Moreover, he had traversed the narrow,
+winding streets of the city by day and night; never, in all his travels,
+had he encountered a more peaceful, less spirit-stirring place or
+populace.
+
+Everybody was busy, and thrifty, and law abiding. He might just as well
+have gone to Prague or Nuremburg; either was as old and as quaint and as
+stupid as this lukewarm city in the hills.
+
+Where were the beautiful women he had read about and dreamed of ever
+since he left Teheran? On his soul, he had not seen half a dozen women
+in Edelweiss who were more than passably fair to look upon. True, he had
+to admit, the people he had seen were of the lower and middle
+classes--the shopkeepers and the shopgirls, the hucksters and the fruit
+vendors. What he wanted to know was this: What had become of the royalty
+and the nobility of Graustark? Where were the princes, the dukes and
+the barons, to say nothing of the feminine concomitants to these
+excellent gentlemen?
+
+What irritated him most of all was the amazing discovery that there was
+a Cook's tourist office in town and that no end of parties arrived and
+departed under his very nose, all mildly exhilarated over the fact that
+they had seen Graustark! The interpreter, with "Cook's" on his cap, was
+quite the most important, if quite the least impressive personage in
+town. It is no wonder that this experienced globe-trotter was disgusted!
+
+There was a train to Vienna three times a week. He made up his mind that
+he would not let the Saturday express go down without him. He had done
+some emphatic sputtering because he had neglected to take the one on
+Thursday.
+
+Shunning the newly discovered American club in Castle Avenue as if it
+were a pest house, he lugubriously wandered the streets alone, painfully
+conscious that the citizens, instead of staring at him with admiring
+eyes, were taking but little notice of him. Tall young Americans were
+quite common in Edelweiss in these days.
+
+One dingy little shop in the square interested him. It was directly
+opposite the Royal Cafe (with American bar attached), and the contents
+of its grimy little windows presented a peculiarly fascinating interest
+to him. Time and again, he crossed over from the Cafe garden to look
+into these windows. They were packed with weapons and firearms of such
+ancient design that he wondered what they could have been used for, even
+in the Middle Ages. Once he ventured inside the little shop. Finding no
+attendant, he put aside his suddenly formed impulse to purchase a mighty
+broadsword. From somewhere in the rear of the building came the clanging
+of steel hammers, the ringing of highly tempered metals; but, although
+he pounded vigorously with his cane, no one came forth to attend him.
+
+On several occasions he had seen a grim, sharp-featured old man in the
+doorway of the shop, but it was not until after he had missed the
+Thursday train that he made up his mind to accost him and to have the
+broadsword at any price. With this object in view, he quickly crossed
+the square and inserted his tall frame into the narrow doorway, calling
+out lustily for attention. So loudly did he shout that the multitude of
+ancient swords and guns along the walls seemed to rattle in terror at
+this sudden encroachment of the present.
+
+"What is it?" demanded a sharp, angry voice at his elbow. He wheeled and
+found himself looking into the wizened, parchment-like face of the
+little old man, whose black eyes snapped viciously. "Do you think I am
+deaf?"
+
+"I didn't know you were here," gasped Truxton, forgetting to be
+surprised by the other's English. "The place looked empty. Excuse me for
+yelling."
+
+"What do you want?"
+
+"That broad--Say, you speak English, don't you?"
+
+"Certainly," snapped the old man. "Why shouldn't I? I can't afford an
+interpreter. You'll find plenty of English used here in Edelweiss since
+the Americans and British came. They won't learn our language, so we
+must learn theirs."
+
+"You speak it quite as well as I do."
+
+"Better, young man. You are an American." The sarcasm was not lost on
+Truxton King, but he was not inclined to resent it. A twinkle had come
+into the eyes of the ancient; the deep lines about his lips seemed
+almost ready to crack into a smile.
+
+"What's the price of that old sword you have in the window?"
+
+"Do you wish to purchase it?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"Three hundred gavvos."
+
+"What's that in dollars?"
+
+"Four hundred and twenty."
+
+"Whew!"
+
+"It is genuine, sir, and three hundred years old. Old Prince Boris
+carried it. It's most rare. Ten years ago you might have had it for
+fifty gavvos. But," with a shrug of his thin shoulders, "the price of
+antiquities has gone up materially since the Americans began to come.
+They don't want a thing if it is cheap."
+
+"I'll give you a hundred dollars for it, Mr.--er--" he looked at the
+sign on the open door--"Mr. Spantz."
+
+"Good day, sir." The old man was bowing him out of the shop. King was
+amused.
+
+"Let's talk it over. What's the least you'll take in real money?"
+
+"I don't want your money. Good day."
+
+Truxton King felt his chin in perplexity. In all his travels he had
+found no other merchant whom he could not "beat down" two or three
+hundred per cent. on an article.
+
+"It's too much. I can't afford it," he said, disappointment in his eyes.
+
+"I have modern blades of my own make, sir, much cheaper and quite as
+good," ventured the excellent Mr. Spantz.
+
+"You make 'em?" in surprise.
+
+The old man straightened his bent figure with sudden pride. "I am
+armourer to the crown, sir. My blades are used by the nobility--not by
+the army, I am happy to say. Spantz repairs the swords and guns for the
+army, but he welds only for the gentlemen at court."
+
+"I see. Tradition, I suppose."
+
+"My great-grandfather wrought blades for the princes a hundred years
+ago. My son will make them after I am gone, and his son after him. I,
+sir, have made the wonderful blade with the golden hilt and scabbard
+which the little Prince carries on days of state. It was two years in
+the making. There is no other blade so fine. It is so short that you
+would laugh at it as a weapon, and yet you could bend it double. Ah,
+there was a splendid piece of work, sir. You should see the little toy
+to appreciate it. There are diamonds and rubies worth 50,000 gavvos set
+in the handle. Ah, it is--"
+
+Truxton's eyes were sparkling once more. Somehow he was amused by the
+sudden garrulousness of the old armourer. He held up his hand to check
+the flow of words.
+
+"I say, Herr Spantz, or Monsieur, perhaps, you are the first man I've
+met who has volunteered to go into rhapsodies for my benefit. I'd like
+to have a good long chat with you. What do you say to a mug of that
+excellent beer over in the Cafe garden? Business seems to be a little
+dull. Can't you--er--lock up?"
+
+Spantz looked at him keenly under his bushy brows, his little black eyes
+fairly boring holes into King's brain, so to speak.
+
+"May I ask what brings you to Edelweiss?" he asked abruptly.
+
+"I don't mind telling you, Mr. Spantz, that I'm here because I'm
+somewhat of a fool. False hopes led me astray. I thought Graustark was
+the home, the genesis of Romance, and I'm more or less like that chap
+we've read about, who was always in search of adventure. Somehow,
+Graustark hasn't come up to expectations. Up to date, this is the
+slowest burg I've ever seen. I'm leaving next Saturday for Vienna."
+
+"I see," cackled Spantz, his eyes twinkling with mirth. "You thought you
+could capture wild and beautiful princesses here just as you pleased,
+eh? Let me tell you, young man, only one American--only one foreigner,
+in fact--has accomplished that miracle. Mr. Lorry came here ten years
+ago and won the fairest flower Graustark ever produced-the beautiful
+Yetive--but he was the only one. I suppose you are surprised to find
+Graustark a solid, prosperous, God-fearing little country, whose people
+are wise and happy and loyal. You have learned, by this time, that we
+have no princesses for you to protect. It isn't as it was when Mr. Lorry
+came and found Her Serene Highness in mediaeval difficulties. There is a
+prince on the throne to-day--you've seen him?"
+
+"No. I'm not looking for princes. I've seen hundreds of 'em in all parts
+of the world."
+
+"Well, you should see Prince Robin before you scoff. He's the most
+wonderful little man in all the world."
+
+"I've heard of nothing but him, my good Mr. Spantz. He's seven years old
+and he looks like his mother and he's got a jewelled sword and all that
+sort of thing. I daresay he's a nice little chap. Got American blood in
+him, you see."
+
+"Do not let any one hear you laugh about him, sir. The people worship
+him. If you laugh too publicly, you may have your hands full of
+adventures in a very few minutes--and your body full of fine steel
+blades. We are very proud of our Prince."
+
+"I beg your pardon, Mr. Spantz. I didn't mean _lese majeste_. I'm bored,
+that's all. You wouldn't blame me for being sore if you'd come as far as
+I have and got as little for your pains. Why, hang it all, this morning
+that confounded man from Cook's had a party of twenty-two American
+school-teachers and Bible students in the Castle grounds and I had to
+stand on my toes outside the walls for two hours before I could get a
+permit to enter. American engineers are building the new railroad;
+American capital controls the telephone and electric light companies;
+there are two American moving picture shows in Regengetz Circus and an
+American rush hand laundry two blocks up. And you can get Bourbon whisky
+anywhere. It's sickening."
+
+"The Americans have done much for Edelweiss, sir. We don't resent their
+progressiveness. They have given us modern improvements without
+overthrowing ancient customs. My dear young sir, we are very old
+here--and very honest. That reminds me that I should accept your kind
+invitation to the Cafe garden. If you will bear with me for just one
+moment, sir." With this polite request, the old man retired to the rear
+of the shop and called out to some one upstairs. A woman's voice
+answered. The brief conversation which followed was in a tongue unknown
+to King.
+
+"My niece will keep shop, sir, while I am out," Spantz explained, taking
+his hat from a peg behind the door. Truxton could scarcely restrain a
+smile as he glanced over his queer little old guest. He looked eighty
+but was as sprightly as a man of forty. A fine companion for a youth of
+twenty-six in search of adventure!
+
+They paused near the door until the old man's niece appeared at the back
+of the shop. King's first glance at the girl was merely a casual one.
+His second was more or less in the nature of a stare of amazement.
+
+A young woman of the most astounding beauty, attired in the black and
+red of the Graustark middle classes, was slowly approaching from the
+shadowy recesses at the end of the shop. She gave him but a cursory
+glance, in which no interest was apparent, and glided quietly into the
+little nook behind the counter, almost at his elbow. His heart enjoyed a
+lively thump. Here was the first noticeably good-looking woman he had
+seen in Edelweiss, and, by the powers, she was a sword-maker's niece!
+
+The old man looked sharply at him for an instant, and a quick little
+smile writhed in and out among the mass of wrinkles. Instead of passing
+directly out of the shop, Spantz stopped a moment to give the girl some
+suddenly recalled instruction. Truxton King, you may be sure, did not
+precede the old man into the street. He deliberately removed his hat and
+waited most politely for age to go before youth, in the meantime blandly
+gazing upon the face of this amazing niece.
+
+Across the square, at one of the tables, he awaited his chance and a
+plausible excuse for questioning the old man without giving offence.
+Somewhere back in his impressionable brain there was growing a distinct
+hope that this beautiful young creature with the dreamy eyes was
+something more than a mere shopgirl. It had occurred to him in that one
+brief moment of contact that she had the air, the poise of a true
+aristocrat.
+
+The old man, over his huge mug of beer, was properly grateful. He was
+willing to repay King for his little attention by giving him a careful
+history of Graustark, past, present and future, from the time of Tartar
+rule to the time of the so-called "American invasion." ills glowing
+description of the little Prince might have interested Truxton in his
+Lord Fauntleroy days, but just at present he was more happily engaged in
+speculating on the true identify of the girl in the gun-shop. He
+recalled the fact that a former royal princess of Graustark had gone
+sight-seeing over the world, incognita, as a Miss Guggenslocker, and had
+been romantically snatched up by a lucky American named Lorry. What if
+this girl in the gun-shop should turn out to be a--well, he could hardly
+hope for a princess; but she might be a countess.
+
+The old mart was rambling on. "The young Prince has lived most of his
+life in Washington and London and Paris, sir. He's only seven, sir. Of
+course, you remember the dreadful accident that made him an orphan and
+put him on the throne with the three 'wise men of the East' as regents
+or governors. The train wreck near Brussels, sir? His mother, the
+glorious Princess Yetive, was killed and his father, Mr. Lorry, died the
+next day from his injuries. That, sir, was a most appalling blow to the
+people of Graustark. We loved the Princess and we admired her fine
+American husband. There never will be another pair like them, sir. And
+to think of them being destroyed as they were--in the most dreadful way,
+sir. Their coach was demolished, you remember. I--I will not go into the
+details. You know them, of course. God alone preserved the little
+Prince. He was travelling with them, on the way from London to
+Edelweiss. By some strange intervention of Providence he had gone with
+his governess and other members of the party to the luggage van in the
+fore part of the train, which had stopped on a side track below the
+station. The collision was from the rear, a broken rail throwing a
+locomotive into the Princess's coach. This providential escape of the
+young Prince preserved the unbroken line of the present royal family. If
+he had been killed, the dynasty would have come to an end, and, I am
+telling no secret, sir, when I say that a new form of government would
+have followed."
+
+"What sort of government?"
+
+"A more modern system, sir. Perhaps socialistic. I can't say. At all
+events, a new dynasty could not have been formed. The people would have
+rejected it. But Prince Robin was spared and, if I do say it, sir, he is
+the manliest little prince in all the world. You should see him ride and
+fence and shoot--and he is but seven!"
+
+"I say, Mr. Spantz, I don't believe I've told you that your niece is a
+most remarkably beau--"
+
+"As I was saying, sir," interrupted Spantz, so pointedly that Truxton
+flushed, "the little Prince is the idol of all the people. Under the
+present regency he is obliged to reside in the principality until his
+fifteenth year, after which he may be permitted to travel abroad.
+Graustark intends to preserve him to herself if it is in her power to do
+so. Woe betide the man who thinks or does ill toward little Prince
+Robin."
+
+King was suddenly conscious of a strange intentness of gaze on the old
+man's part. A peculiar, indescribable chill swept over him; he had a
+distinct, vivid impression that some subtle power was exercising itself
+upon him--a power that, for the briefest instant, held him in a grip of
+iron. What it was, he could not have told; it passed almost immediately.
+Something in the old man's eyes, perhaps--or was it something in the
+queer smile that flickered about his lips?
+
+"My dear Mr. Spantz," he hastened to say, as if a defence were
+necessary, "please don't get it into your head that I'm thinking ill of
+the Prince. I daresay he's a fine little chap and I'm sorry
+he's--er--lost his parents."
+
+Spantz laughed, a soft, mirthless gurgle that caused Truxton to wonder
+why he had made the effort at all. "I imagine His Serene Highness has
+little to fear from any American," he said quietly. "He has been taught
+to love and respect the men of his father's land. He loves America quite
+as dearly as he loves Graustark." Despite the seeming sincerity of the
+remark, Truxton was vaguely conscious that a peculiar harshness had
+crept into the other's voice. He glanced sharply at the old man's face.
+For the first time he noticed something sinister--yes, evil--in the
+leathery countenance; a stealthiness in the hard smile that seemed to
+transform it at once into a pronounced leer. Like a flash there darted
+into the American's active brain a conviction that there could be no
+common relationship between this flinty old man and the delicate,
+refined girl he had seen in the shop. Now he recalled the fact that her
+dark eyes had a look of sadness and dejection in their depths, and that
+her face was peculiarly white and unsmiling.
+
+Spantz was eyeing him narrowly. "You do not appear interested in our
+royal family," he ventured coldly.
+
+Truxton hastened to assure him that he was keenly interested. Especially
+so, now that I appreciate that the little Prince is the last of his
+race."
+
+"There are three regents, sir, in charge of the affairs of state--Count
+Halfont, the Duke of Perse and Baron Jasto Dangloss, who is minister of
+police. Count Halfont is a granduncle of the Prince, by marriage. The
+Duke of Perse is the father of the unhappy Countess Ingomede, the young
+and beautiful wife of the exiled "Iron Count" Marlanx. No doubt you've
+heard of him."
+
+"I've read something about him. Sort of a gay old bounder, wasn't he?
+Seems to me I recall the stories that were printed about him a few years
+ago. I remember that he was banished from the principality and his
+estates seized by the Crown."
+
+"Quite true, sir. He was banished in 1901 and now resides on his
+estates in Austria. Three years ago, in Buda Pesth, he was married to
+Ingomede, the daughter of the Duke. Count Marlanx has great influence at
+the Austrian court. Despite the fact that he is a despised and
+discredited man in his own country, he still is a power among people
+high in the government of more than one empire. The Duke of Perse
+realised this when he compelled his daughter to accept him as her
+husband. The fair Ingomede is less than twenty-five years of age; the
+Iron Count is fully sixty-five."
+
+"She ought to be rescued," was King's only comment, but there was no
+mistaking the gleam of interest in his steady grey eyes.
+
+"Rescued?" repeated the old man, with a broad grin. "And why? She is
+mistress of one of the finest old castles in Austria, Schloss Marlanx,
+and she is quite beautiful enough to have lovers by the score when the
+Count grows a little blinder and less jealous. She is in Edelweiss at
+present, visiting her father. The Count never comes here."
+
+"I'd like to see her if she's really beautiful. I've seen but one pretty
+woman in this whole blamed town--your niece, Herr Spantz. I've looked
+'em over pretty carefully, too. She is exceedingly attract--"
+
+"Pardon me, sir, but it is not the custom in Graustark to discuss our
+women in the public drinking places." King felt as if he had received a
+slap in the face. He turned a fiery red under his tan and mumbled some
+sort of an apology. "The Countess is a public personage, however, and we
+may speak of her," went on the old man quickly, as the American, in his
+confusion, called a waiter to replenish the tankards. The steely glitter
+that leaped into the armourer's eyes at this second reference to his
+niece disappeared as quickly as it came; somehow it left behind the
+impression that he knew how to wield the deadly blades he wrought.
+
+"I'd like to hear more about her," murmured Mr. King. "Anything to pass
+the time away, Mr. Spantz. As I said before, I journeyed far to reach
+this land of fair women and if there's one to be seen, I'm properly
+eager to jump at the chance. I've been here two days and I've seen
+nothing that could start up the faintest flutter around my heart. I'm
+sorry to say, my good friend, that the women I've seen in the streets of
+Edelweiss are not beauties. I won't say that they'd stop a clock, but
+they'd cause it to lose two or three hours a day, all right enough."
+
+"You will not find the beautiful women of Edelweiss in the streets,
+sir."
+
+"Don't they ever go out shopping?"
+
+"Hardly. The merchants, if you will but notice, carry their wares to the
+houses of the noble and the rich. Graustark ladies of quality would no
+more think of setting foot in a shop or bazaar than they would think of
+entering a third class carriage. Believe me, there are many beautiful
+women in the homes along Castle Avenue. Noblemen come hundreds of miles
+to pay court to them."
+
+"Just the same, I'm disgusted with the place. It's not what it's cracked
+up to be. Saturday will see me on my way."
+
+"To-morrow the garrison at the fortress marches in review before the
+Prince. If you should happen to be on the avenue near the Castle gate at
+twelve o'clock, you will see the beauty and chivalry of Graustark. The
+soldiers are not the only ones who are on parade." There was an
+unmistakable sneer in his tone.
+
+"You don't care much for society, I'd say," observed Truxton, with a
+smile.
+
+Spantz's eyes flamed for an instant and then subtly resumed their most
+ingratiating twinkle. "We cannot all be peacocks," he said quietly. "You
+will see the Prince, his court and all the distinguished men of the city
+and the army. You will also see that the man who rides beside the
+Prince's carriage wheel is an American, while Graustark nobles take less
+exalted places."
+
+"An American, eh?"
+
+"Yes. Have you not heard of John Tullis, the Prince's friend?"
+
+"Another seven-year-old?"
+
+"Not at all. A grown man, sir. He, your countryman, is the real power
+behind our throne. On his deathbed, the Prince's father placed his son
+in this American's charge and begged him to stand by him through thick
+and thin until the lad is able to take care of himself. As if there were
+not loyal men in Graustark who might have done as much for their
+Prince!"
+
+King looked interested. "I see. The people, no doubt, resent this
+espionage. Is that it?"
+
+Spantz gave him a withering look, as much as to say that he was a fool
+to ask such a question in a place so public. Without replying, he got to
+his feet and made ready to leave the little garden.
+
+"I must return. I have been away too long. Thank you, sir, for your
+kindness to an old man. Good day, sir, and--"
+
+"Hold on! I think I'll walk over with you and have another look at that
+broadsword. I'm--"
+
+"To-morrow, sir. It is past time to close the shop for to-day. Come
+to-morrow. Good day."
+
+He was crossing the sidewalk nimbly before King could offer a word of
+remonstrance. With a disappointed sigh, the American sank back in his
+chair, and watched his odd companion scurry across the square. Suddenly
+he became conscious of a disquieting feeling that some one was looking
+at him intently from behind. He turned in his chair and found himself
+meeting the gaze of a ferocious looking, military appearing little man
+at a table near by. To his surprise, the little man's fierce stare
+maintained its peculiarly personal intentness until he, himself, was
+compelled to withdraw his own gaze in some little confusion and
+displeasure. His waiter appeared at his elbow with the change.
+
+"Who the devil is that old man at the table there?" demanded young Mr.
+King loudly.
+
+The waiter assumed a look of extreme insolence. "That is Baron Dangloss,
+Minister of Police. Anything more, sir?"
+
+"Yes. What's he looking so hard at me for? Does he think I'm a
+pickpocket?"
+
+"You know as much as I, sir," was all that the waiter said in reply.
+King pocketed the coin he had intended for the fellow, and deliberately
+left the place. He could not put off the feeling, however, that the
+intense stare of Baron Dangloss, the watch-dog of the land, followed him
+until the corner of the wall intervened. The now incensed American
+glanced involuntarily across the square in the direction of Spantz's
+shop. He saw three mounted soldiers ride up to the curb and hail the
+armourer as he started to close his doors. As he sauntered across the
+little square his gaze suddenly shifted to a second-story window above
+the gun-shop.
+
+The interesting young woman had cautiously pushed open one of the
+shutters and was peering down upon the trio of red-coated guardsmen.
+Almost at the same instant her quick, eager gaze fell upon the tall
+American, now quite close to the horsemen. He saw her dark eyes expand
+as if with surprise. The next instant he caught his breath and almost
+stopped in his tracks.
+
+A shy, impulsive smile played about her red lips for a second, lighting
+up the delicate face with a radiance that amazed him. Then the shutter
+was closed gently, quickly. His first feeling of elation was followed
+instantly by the disquieting impression that it was a mocking smile of
+amusement and not one of inviting friendliness. He felt his ears burn as
+he abruptly turned off to the right, for, somehow, he knew that she was
+peeping at him through the blinds and that something about his tall,
+rangy figure was appealing to her sense of the ridiculous.
+
+You will see at once that Truxton King, imaginative chap that he was,
+had pounced upon this slim, attractive young woman as the only plausible
+heroine for his prospective romance, and, as such, she could not be
+guilty of forwardness or lack or dignity. Besides, first impressions are
+always good ones: she had struck him at the outset as being a girl of
+rare delicacy and refinement.
+
+In the meantime, Baron Dangloss was watching him covertly from the edge
+of the Cafe garden across the square.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+A MEETING OF THE CABINET
+
+
+At this time, the principality of Graustark was in a most prosperous
+condition. Its affairs were under the control of an able ministry,
+headed by the venerable Count Halfont. The Duke of Perse, for years a
+resident of St. Petersburg, and a financier of high standing, had
+returned to Edelweiss soon after the distressing death of the late
+Princess Yetive and her American husband, and to him was entrusted the
+treasury portfolio. He at once proceeded to endear himself to the common
+people by the advocacy of a lower rate of taxation; this meant the
+reduction of the standing army. He secured new and advantageous treaties
+with old and historic foes, putting Graustark's financial credit upon a
+high footing in the European capitals. The people smugly regarded
+themselves as safe in the hands of the miserly but honest old financier.
+If he accomplished many things by way of office to enhance his own
+particular fortune, no one looked askance, for he made no effort to
+blind or deceive his people. Of his honesty there could be no question;
+of his financial operations, it is enough to say that the people were
+satisfied to have their affairs linked with his.
+
+The financing of the great railroad project by which Edelweiss was to be
+connected with the Siberian line in the north, fell to his lot at a time
+when no one else could have saved the little government from heavy
+losses or even bankruptcy. The new line traversed the country from
+Serros, capital of Dawsbergen, through the mountains and canyons of
+Graustark, across Axphain's broad steppes and lowlands, to a point at
+which Russia stood ready to begin a connecting branch for junction with
+her great line to the Pacific. All told, it was a stupendous undertaking
+for a small government to finance; it is well known that Graustark owns
+and controls her public utility institutions. The road, now about half
+completed, was to be nearly two hundred miles in length, fully
+two-thirds of which was on Graustark territory. The preponderance of
+cost of construction fell upon that principality, Dawsbergen and Axphain
+escaping with comparatively small obligations owing to the fact that
+they had few mountains to contend with. As a matter of fact, the
+Dawsbergen and Axphain ends of the railroad were now virtually built and
+waiting for the completion of the extensive work in the Graustark
+highlands.
+
+The opening of this narrative finds the ministry preparing to float a
+new five million gavvo issue of bonds for construction and equipment
+purposes. Agents of the government were ready to depart for London and
+Paris to take up the matter with the great banking houses. St.
+Petersburg and Berlin were not to be given the opportunity to gobble up
+these extremely fine securities. This seemingly extraordinary exclusion
+of Russian and German bidders was the result of vigorous objections
+raised by an utter outsider, the American, John Tullis, long time friend
+and companion of Grenfall Lorry, consort to the late Princess.
+
+Tullis was a strange man in many particulars. He was under forty years
+of age, but even at that rather immature time of life he had come to be
+recognised as a shrewd, successful financial power in his home city, New
+York. At the very zenith of his power he suddenly and with Quixotic
+disregard for consequences gave up his own business and came to
+Graustark for residence, following a promise made to Grenfall Lorry
+when the latter lay dying in a little inn near Brussels.
+
+They had been lifelong friends. Tullis jestingly called himself the
+little Prince's "morganatic godfather." For two years he had been a
+constant resident of Graustark, living contentedly, even indolently, in
+the picturesque old Castle, his rooms just across the corridor from
+those occupied by the little Prince. To this small but important bit of
+royalty he was "Uncle Jack"; in that capacity he was the most beloved
+and at the same time the most abused gentleman in all Graustark. As many
+as ten times a week he was signally banished from the domain by the
+loving, headstrong little ruler, only to be recalled with grave dignity
+and a few tears when he went so far as to talk of packing his "duds" in
+obedience to the edict.
+
+John Tullis, strong character though he was, found this lazy, _dolce far
+niente_ life much to his liking. He was devoted to the boy; he was
+interested in the life at this tiny court. The days of public and court
+mourning for the lamented Princess and her husband wearing away after an
+established period, he found himself eagerly delving into the gaieties
+that followed. Life at the Castle and in the homes of the nobility
+provided a new and sharp contrast to the busy, sordid existence he had
+known at home. It was like a fine, wholesome, endless dream to him. He
+drifted on the joyous, smiling tide of pleasure that swept Edelweiss
+with its careless waves night and day. Clever, handsome, sincere in his
+attitude of loyalty toward these people of the topmost east, he was not
+long in becoming a popular idol.
+
+His wide-awake, resourceful brain, attuned by nature to the difficulties
+of administration, lent itself capably to the solving of many knotty
+financial puzzles; the ministry was never loth to call on him for
+advice and seldom disposed to disregard it. An outsider, he never
+offered a suggestion or plan unasked; to this single qualification he
+owed much of the popularity and esteem in which he was held by the
+classes and the masses. Socially, he was a great favourite. He enjoyed
+the freedom of the most exclusive homes in Edelweiss. He had enjoyed the
+distinction of more than one informal visit to old Princess Volga of
+Axphain, just across the border, to say nothing of shooting expeditions
+with young Prince Dantan of Dawsbergen, whose American wife, formerly
+Miss Calhoun of Washington, was a friend of long standing.
+
+John Tullis was, beyond question, the most conspicuous and the most
+admired man in Edelweiss in these serene days of mentorship to the
+adored Prince Robin.
+
+There was but one man connected with the government to whom his
+popularity and his influence proved distasteful. That man was the Duke
+of Perse. On more than one occasion the cabinet had chosen to be guided
+by the sagacity of John Tullis in preference to following the lines laid
+down by the astute minister of finance. The decision to offer the new
+bond issue in London and Paris was due to the earnest, forceful argument
+of John Tullis--outside the cabinet chamber, to be sure. This was but
+one instance in which the plan of the treasurer was overridden. He
+resented the plain though delicate influence of the former Wall Street
+man. Tullis had made it plain to the ministry that Graustark could not
+afford to place itself in debt to the Russians, into whose hands, sooner
+or later, the destinies of the railroad might be expected to fall. The
+wise men of Graustark saw his point without force of argument, and voted
+down, in the parliament, the Duke's proposition to place the loan in St.
+Petersburg and Berlin. For this particular act of trespass upon the
+Duke's official preserves he won the hatred of the worthy treasurer and
+his no inconsiderable following among the deputies.
+
+But John Tullis was not in Edelweiss for the purpose of meddling with
+state affairs. He was there because he elected to stand mentor to the
+son of his life-long friend, even though that son was a prince of the
+blood and controlled by the will of three regents chosen by his own
+subjects. He was there to watch over the doughty little chap, who one
+day would be ruler unrestrained, but who now was a boy to be loved and
+coddled and reprimanded in the general process of man-making.
+
+To say that the tiny Prince loved his big, adoring mentor would be
+putting it too gently: he idolised him. Tullis was father, mother and
+big brother to the little fellow in knickers.
+
+The American was a big, broad shouldered man, reddish haired and ruddy
+cheeked, with cool grey eyes; his sandy mustache was closely cropped and
+turned up ever so slightly at the corners of his mouth. Despite his
+colouring, his face was somewhat sombre--even stern--when in repose. It
+was his fine, enveloping smile that made friends for him wherever he
+listed, with men and with women. More frequently than otherwise it made
+more than friends of the latter.
+
+One woman in Graustark was the source of never-ending and constantly
+increasing interest to this stalwart companion to the Prince. That woman
+was, alas! the wife of another man. Moreover, she was the daughter of
+the Duke of Perse.
+
+The young and witty Countess of Marlanx came often to Edelweiss. She was
+a favourite at the Castle, notwithstanding the unhealthy record of her
+ancient and discredited husband, the Iron Count. Tullis had not seen
+the Count, but he had heard such tales of him that he could not but
+pity this glorious young creature who called him husband. There is an
+old saying about the kinship of pity. Not that John Tullis was actually
+in love with the charming Countess. He was, to be perfectly candid, very
+much interested in her and very much distressed by the fact that she was
+bound to a venerable reprobate who dared not put his foot on Graustark
+soil because once he had defiled it atrociously.
+
+But of the Countess and her visits to Edelweiss, more anon--with the
+indulgence of the reader.
+
+At present we are permitted to attend a meeting of the cabinet, which
+sits occasionally in solemn collectiveness just off the throne room
+within the tapestried walls of a dark little antechamber, known to the
+outside world as the "Room of Wrangles." It is ten o'clock of the
+morning on which the Prince is to review the troops from the fortress.
+The question under discussion relates to the loan of 5,000,000 gavvos,
+before mentioned. At the head of the long table, perched upon an
+augmentary pile of law books surmounted by a little red cushion, sits
+the Prince, almost lost in the hugh old walnut chair of his forefathers.
+Down the table sit the ten ministers of the departments of state, all of
+them loving the handsome little fellow on the necessary pile of
+statutes, but all of them more or less indifferent to his significant
+yawns and perplexed frowns.
+
+The Prince was a sturdy, curly-haired lad, with big brown eyes and a
+lamentably noticeable scratch on his nose--acquired in less stately but
+more profitable pursuits. (It seems that he had peeled his nose while
+sliding to second base in a certain American game that he was teaching
+the juvenile aristocracy how to play.) His wavy hair was brown and
+rebellious. No end of royal nursing could keep it looking sleek and
+proper. He had the merit of being a very bad little boy at times; that
+is why he was loved by every one. Although it was considered next to
+high treason to strike a prince of the royal blood, I could, if I had
+the space, recount the details of numerous fisticuffs behind the state
+stables in which, sad to relate, the Prince just as often as not came
+off with a battered dignity and a chastened opinion of certain small fry
+who could not have been more than dukes or barons at best. But he took
+his defeats manfully: he did not whimper _lese majeste_. John Tullis,
+his "Uncle Jack," had proclaimed his scorn for a boy who could not "take
+his medicine." And so Prince Robin took it gracefully because he was
+prince.
+
+To-day he was--for him--rather oppressively dignified and imperial. He
+may have blinked his weary eyes a time or two, but in the main he was
+very attentive, very circumspect and very much puzzled. Custom required
+that the ruling prince or princess should preside over the meetings of
+the cabinet. It is needless to observe that the present ruler's duty
+ended when he repeated (after Count Halfont): "My lords, we are now in
+session." The school-room, he confessed, was a "picnic" compared to the
+"Room of Wrangles": a fellow got a recess once in a while there, but
+here--well, the only recess he got was when he fell asleep. To-day he
+was determined to maintain a very dignified mien. It appears that at the
+last meeting he had created considerable havoc by upsetting the ink well
+while trying to fill his fountain pen without an injector. Moreover,
+nearly half a pint of the fluid had splashed upon the Duke of Perse's
+trousers--and they were grey, at that. Whereupon the Duke announced in
+open conclave that His Highness needed a rattling good spanking--a
+remark which distinctly hurt the young ruler's pride and made him wish
+that there had been enough ink to drown the Duke instead of merely
+wetting him.
+
+About the table sat the three regents and the other men high in the
+administration of affairs, among them General Braze of the Army, Baron
+Pultz of the Mines, Roslon of Agriculture. The Duke of Perse was
+discussing the great loan question. The Prince was watching his gaunt,
+saturnine face with more than usual interest.
+
+"Of course, it is not too late to rescind the order promulgated at our
+last sitting. There are five bankers in St. Petersburg who will finance
+the loan without delay. We need not delay the interminable length of
+time necessary to secure the attention and co-operation of bankers in
+France and England. It is all nonsense to say that Russia has sinister
+motives in the matter. It is a business proposition--not an affair of
+state. We need the money before the winter opens. The railroad is now
+within fifteen miles of Edelweiss. The bridges and tunnels are well
+along toward completion. Our funds are diminishing, simply because we
+have delayed so long in preparing for this loan. There has been too much
+bickering and too much inane politics. I still maintain that we have
+made a mistake in refusing to take up the matter with St. Petersburg or
+Berlin. Why should we prefer England? Why France?"
+
+For some unaccountable reason he struck the table violently with his
+fist and directed his glare upon the astonished Prince. The explosive
+demand caught the ruler by surprise. He gasped and his lips fell apart.
+Then it must have occurred to him that the question could be answered by
+no one save the person to whom it was so plainly addressed. He lifted
+his chin and piped up shrilly, and with a fervour that startled even
+the intense Perse:
+
+"Because Uncle Jack said we should, that's why."
+
+We have no record of what immediately followed this abrupt declaration;
+there are some things that never leak out, no matter how prying the
+chronicler may be. When one stops to consider that this was the first
+time a question had been put directly to the Prince--and one that he
+could understand, at that--we may be inclined to overlook his reply, but
+we cannot answer for certain members of the cabinet. Unconsciously, the
+boy in knickers had uttered a truth that no one else had dared to
+voice. John Tullis _was_ the joint stepping-stone and stumbling-block in
+the deliberations of the cabinet.
+
+It goes without saying that the innocent rejoinder opened the way to an
+acrid discussion of John Tullis. If that gentleman's ears burned in
+response to the sarcastic comments of the Duke of Perse and Baron Pultz,
+they probably tingled pleasantly as the result of the stout defence put
+up by Halfont, Dangloss and others. Moreover, his most devoted friend,
+the Prince, whose lips were sullenly closed after his unlucky maiden
+effort, was finding it exceedingly difficult to hold his tongue and his
+tears at the same time. The lad's lip trembled but his brown eyes
+glowered; he sat abashed and heard the no uncertain arraignment of his
+dearest friend, feeling all the while that the manly thing for him to do
+would be to go over and kick the Duke of Perse, miserably conscious that
+such an act was impossible. His little body trembled with childish rage;
+he never took his gaze from the face of the gaunt traducer. How he hated
+the Duke of Perse!
+
+The Duke's impassioned plea was of no avail. His _confreres_ saw the
+wisdom of keeping Russia's greedy hand out of the country's affairs--at
+least for the present--and reiterated their decision to seek the loans
+in England and France. The question, therefore, would not be taken to
+Parliament for reconsideration. The Duke sat down, pale in defeat; his
+heart was more bitter than ever against the shrewd American who had
+induced all these men to see through his eyes.
+
+"I suppose there is no use in kicking against the pricks," he said
+sourly as he resumed his seat. "I shall send our representatives to
+London and Paris next month. I trust, my lords, that we may have no
+trouble in placing the loans there." There was a deep significance the
+dry tone which he assumed.
+
+"I do not apprehend trouble," said Count Halfont. "Our credit is still
+good, your Grace. Russia is not the only country that is ready to trust
+us for a few millions. Have no fear, your Grace."
+
+"It is the delay that I am apprehensive of, your Excellency."
+
+At this juncture the Prince, gathering from the manner of his ministers
+that the question was settled to his liking, leaned forward and
+announced to his uncle, the premier:
+
+"I'm tired, Uncle Caspar. How much longer is it?"
+
+Count Halfont coughed. "Ahem! Just a few minutes, your Highness. Pray be
+patient--er--my little man."
+
+Prince Bobby flushed. He always knew that he was being patronised when
+any one addressed him as "my little man."
+
+"I have an engagement," he said, with a stiffening of his back.
+
+"Indeed?" said the Duke dryly.
+
+"Yes, your Grace--a very important one. Of course, I'll stay if I have
+to, but--what time is it, Uncle Caspar?"
+
+"It is half past eleven, your Highness."
+
+"Goodness, I had a date for eleven. I mean a engagement--an engagement."
+He glanced helplessly, appealingly from Count Halfont to Baron Dangloss,
+his known allies.
+
+The Duke of Perse smiled grimly. In his most polite manner he arose to
+address the now harassed Princeling, who shifted uneasily on the pile of
+law books.
+
+"May your most humble subject presume to inquire into the nature of your
+Highness's engagement?"
+
+"You may, your Grace," said the Prince.
+
+The Duke waited. A smile crept into the eyes of the others. "Well, what
+is the engagement?"
+
+"I had a date to ride with Uncle Jack at eleven."
+
+"And you imagine that 'Uncle Jack' will be annoyed if he is kept waiting
+by such a trivial matter as a cabinet meeting, unfortunately prolonged?"
+
+"I don't know just what that means," murmured the Prince. Then his face
+brightened. "But I don't think he'll be sore after I tell him how busy
+we've been."
+
+The Duke put his hand over his mouth. "I don't think he'll mind half an
+hour's wait, do you?"
+
+"He likes me to be very prompt."
+
+Count Halfont interposed, good-humouredly. "There is nothing more to
+come before us to-day, your Grace, so I fancy we may as well close the
+meeting. To my mind, it is rather a silly custom which compels us to
+keep the Prince with us--er--after the opening of the session. Of
+course, your Highness, we don't mean to say that you are not interested
+in our grave deliberations."
+
+Prince Bobby broke in eagerly: "Uncle Jack says I've just _got_ to be
+interested in 'em, whether I want to or not. He says it's the only way
+to catch onto things and become a regular prince. You see, Uncle Caspar,
+I've got a lot to learn."
+
+"Yes, your Highness, you have," solemnly admitted the premier. "But I am
+sure you _will_ learn."
+
+"Under such an able instructor as Uncle Jack you may soon know more than
+the wisest man in the realm," added the Duke of Perse.
+
+"Thank you, your Grace," said the Prince, so politely that the Duke was
+confounded; "I know Uncle Jack will be glad to hear that. He's--he's
+afraid people may think he's butting in too much."
+
+"Butting in?" gasped the premier.
+
+At this the Duke of Perse came to his feet again, an angry gleam in his
+eyes. "My lords," he began hastily, "it must certainly have occurred to
+you before this that our beloved Prince's English, which seems after all
+to be his mother tongue, is not what it should be. Butting in! Yesterday
+I overheard him advising your son, Pultz, to 'go chase' himself. And
+when your boy tried to chase himself--'pon my word, he did--what did our
+Prince say? What _did_ you say, Prince Robin?"
+
+"I--I forget," stammered Prince Bobby.
+
+"You said 'Mice!' Or was it--er--"
+
+"No, your Grace. Rats. I remember. That's what I said. That's what all
+of us boys used to say in Washington."
+
+"God deliver us! Has it come to this, that a Prince of Graustark should
+grow up with such language on his lips? I fancy, my lords, you will all
+agree that something should be done about it. It is too serious a
+matter. We are all more or less responsible to the people he is to
+govern. We cannot, in justice to them, allow him to continue under
+the--er--influences that now seem to surround him. He'll--he'll grow up
+to be a barbarian. For Heaven's sake, my lords, let us consider the
+Prince's future--let us deal promptly with the situation."
+
+"What's he saying, Uncle Caspar?" whispered the Prince fiercely.
+
+"Sh!" cautioned Count Halfont.
+
+"I won't sh! I am the Prince. And I'll say 'chase yourself' whenever I
+please. It's good English. I'll pronounce it for you in our own
+language, so's you can see how it works that way. It goes like--"
+
+"You need not illustrate, your Highness," the Premier hastened to say.
+Turning to the Duke, he said coldly: "I acknowledge the wisdom in your
+remarks, your Grace, but--you will pardon me, I am sure--would it not be
+better to discuss the conditions privately among ourselves before taking
+them up officially?"
+
+"That confounded American has every one hypnotised," exploded the Duke.
+"His influence over this boy is a menace to our country. He is making on
+oaf of him--a slangy, impudent little--"
+
+"Your Grace!" interrupted Baron Dangloss sharply.
+
+"Uncle Jack's all right," declared the Prince, vaguely realising that a
+defence should be forthcoming.
+
+"He is, eh?" rasped the exasperated Duke, mopping his brow.
+
+"He sure is," pronounced the Prince with a finality that left no room
+for doubt. They say that fierce little Baron Dangloss, in striving to
+suppress a guffaw, choked so impressively that there was a momentary
+doubt as to his ever getting over it alive.
+
+"He is a mountebank--a meddler, that's what he is. The sooner we come to
+realise it, the better," exclaimed the over-heated Duke. "He has greater
+influence over our beloved Prince than any one else in the royal
+household. He has no business here--none whatsoever. His presence and
+his meddling is an affront to the intelligence of--"
+
+But the Prince had slid down from his pile of books and planted himself
+beside him so suddenly that the bitter words died away on the old man's
+lips. Robin's face was white with rage, his little fists were clenched
+in desperate anger, his voice was half choked with the tears of
+indignation.
+
+"You awful old man!" he cried, trembling all over, his eyes blazing.
+"Don't you say anything against Uncle Jack. I'll--I'll banish you--yes,
+sir--banish you like my mother fired Count Marlanx out of the country. I
+won't let you come back here ever--never. And before you go I'll have
+Uncle Jack give you a good licking. Oh, he can do it all right. I--I
+hate you!"
+
+The Duke looked down in amazement into the flushed, writhing face of his
+little master. For a moment he was stunned by the vigorous outburst.
+Then the hard lines in his face relaxed and a softer expression came
+into his eyes--there was something like pride in them, too. The Duke, be
+it said, was an honest fighter and a loyal Graustarkian; he loved his
+Prince and, therefore, he gloried in his courage. His own smile of
+amusement, which broke in spite of his inordinate vanity, was the sign
+that brought relief to the hearts of his scandalised _confreres_.
+
+"Your Highness does well in defending a friend and counsellor," he said
+gently. "I am sorry to have forgotten myself in your presence. It shall
+not occur again. Pray forgive me."
+
+Prince Bobby was still unappeased. "I _could_ have you beheaded," he
+said stubbornly. "Couldn't I, Uncle Caspar?"
+
+Count Halfont gravely informed him that it was not customary to behead
+gentlemen except for the most heinous offences against the Crown.
+
+The Duke of Perse suddenly bent forward and placed his bony hand upon
+the unshrinking shoulder of the Prince, his eyes gleaming kindly, his
+voice strangely free from its usual harshness. "You are a splendid
+little man, Prince Robin," he said. "I glory in you. I shall not forget
+the lesson in loyalty that you have taught me."
+
+Bobby's eyes filled with tears. The genuine humility of the hard old man
+touched his tempestuous little heart.
+
+"It's--it's all right, Du--your Grace. I'm sorry I spoke that way, too."
+
+Baron Dangloss twisted his imperial vigorously. "My lords, I suggest
+that we adjourn. The Prince must have his ride and return in time for
+the review at one o'clock."
+
+As the Prince strode soberly from the Room of Wrangles, every eye was
+upon his sturdy little back and there was a kindly light in each of
+them, bar none. The Duke, following close behind with Halfont, said
+quietly:
+
+"I love him, Caspar. But I have no love for the man he loves so much
+better than he loves any of us. Tullis is a meddler--but, for Heaven's
+sake, my friend, don't let; Bobby know that I have repeated myself."
+
+Later on, the Prince in his khaki riding suit loped gaily down the broad
+mountain road toward Ganlook, beside the black mare which carried John
+Tullis. Behind them rode three picked troopers from the House Guard. He
+had told Tullis of his vainglorious defence in the antechamber.
+
+"And I told him, Uncle Jack, that you could lick him. You can, can't
+you?"
+
+The American's face was clouded for a second; then, to please the boy, a
+warm smile succeeded the frown.
+
+"Why, Bobby, you dear little beggar, he could thresh me with one hand."
+
+"What?" almost shrieked Prince Bobby, utterly dismayed.
+
+"He's a better swordsman than I, don't you see. Gentlemen over here
+fight with swords. I know nothing about duelling. He'd get at me in two
+thrusts."
+
+"I--I think you'd better take some lessons from Colonel Quinnox. It
+won't do to be caught napping."
+
+"I daresay you're right."
+
+"Say, Uncle Jack, when are you going to take me to the witch's hovel?"
+The new thought abruptly banished all else from his eager little brain.
+
+"Some day, soon," said Tullis. "You see, I'm not sure that she's
+receiving visitors these days. A witch is a very arbitrary person. Even
+princes have to send up their cards."
+
+"Let's telegraph her," in an inspired tone.
+
+"I'll arrange to go up with you very soon, Bobby. It's a hard ride
+through the pass and--and there may be a lot of goblins up there where
+the old woman keeps herself."
+
+The witch's hovel was in the mountain across the most rugged of the
+canyons, and was to be reached only after the most hazardous of rides.
+The old woman of the hills was an ancient character about whom clung a
+thousand spookish traditions, but who, in the opinion of John Tuilis,
+was nothing more than a wise fortune-teller and necromancer who knew
+every trick in the trade of hoodwinking the superstitious. He had seen
+her and he had been properly impressed. Somehow, he did not like the
+thought of taking the Prince to the cabin among the mists and crags.
+
+"They say she eats boys, now and then," he added, as if suddenly
+remembering it.
+
+"Gee! Do you suppose we could get there some day when she's eating one?"
+
+As they rode back to the Castle after an hour, coming down through
+Castle Avenue from the monastery road, they passed a tall, bronzed young
+man whom Tullis at once knew to be an American. He was seated on a big
+boulder at the roadside, enjoying the shade, and was evidently on his
+way by foot to the Castle gates to watch the _beau monde_ assembling for
+the review. At his side was the fussy, well-known figure of Cook's
+interpreter, eagerly pointing out certain important personages to bun as
+they passed. Of course, the approach of the Prince was the excuse for
+considerable agitation and fervour on the part of the man from Cook's.
+He mounted the boulder and took off his cap to wave it frantically.
+
+"It's the Prince!" he called out to Truxton King. "Stand up! Hurray!
+Long live the Prince!"
+
+Tullis had already lifted his hand in salute to his countryman, and both
+had smiled the free, easy smile of men who know each other by instinct.
+
+The man from Cook's came to grief. He slipped from his perch on the rock
+and came floundering to the ground below, considerably crushed in
+dignity, but quite intact in other respects.
+
+The spirited pony that the Prince was riding shied and reared in quick
+affright. The boy dropped his crop and clung valiantly to the reins. A
+guardsman was at the pony's head in an instant, and there was no
+possible chance for disaster.
+
+Truxton King unbent his long frame, picked up the riding crop with a
+deliberateness that astonished the man from Cook's, strode out into the
+roadway and handed it up to the boy in the saddle.
+
+"Thank you," said Prince Bobby.
+
+"Don't mention it," said Truxton King with his most engaging smile. "No
+trouble at all."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+MANY PERSONS IN REVIEW
+
+
+Truxton King witnessed the review of the garrison. That in itself was
+rather a tame exhibition for a man who had seen the finest troops in all
+the world. A thousand earnest looking soldiers, proud of the opportunity
+to march before the little Prince--and that was all, so far as the
+review was concerned.
+
+But, alluringly provident to the welfare of this narrative, the red and
+black uniformed soldiers were not the only persons on review that balmy
+day in July. Truxton King had his first glimpse of the nobility of
+Graustark. He changed his mind about going to Vienna on the Saturday
+express. A goodly number of men before him had altered their humble
+plans for the same reason, I am reliably informed.
+
+Mr. King saw the court in all its glory, scattered along the shady
+Castle Avenue--in carriages, in traps, in motors and in the saddle. His
+brain whirled and his heart leaped under the pressure of a new-found
+interest in life. The unexpected oasis loomed up before his eyes just as
+he was abandoning all hope in the unprofitable desert of Romance. He saw
+green trees and sparkling rivulets, and he sighed with a new, strange
+content. No, on second thoughts, he would not go to Vienna. He would
+stay in Edelweiss. He was a disciple of Micawber; and he was so much
+younger and fresher than that distinguished gentleman, that perhaps he
+was justified in believing that, in his case, something was bound to
+"turn up."
+
+If Truxton King had given up in disgust and fled to Vienna, this tale
+would never have come to light. Instead of being the lively narrative of
+a young gentleman's adventures in far-away Graustark, it might have
+become a tale of the smart set in New York--for, as you know, we are
+bound by tradition to follow the trail laid down by our hero, no matter
+which way he elects to fare. Somewhat dismayed by his narrow escape, he
+confided to his friend from Cook's that he could never have forgiven
+himself if he had adhered to his resolution to leave on the following
+day.
+
+"I didn't know you'd changed your mind, sir," remarked Mr. Hobbs in
+surprise.
+
+"Of course you didn't know it," said Truxton. "How could you? I've just
+changed it, this instant. I didn't know it myself two minutes ago. No,
+sir, Hobbs--or is it Dobbs? Thanks--no, sir, I'm going to stop here for
+a--well, a week or two. Where the dickens do these people keep
+themselves? I haven't seen 'em before."
+
+"Oh, they are the nobility--the swells. They don't hang around the
+streets like tourists and rubbernecks, sir," in plain disgust.
+
+"I thought you were an Englishman," observed King, with a quizzical
+smile.
+
+"I am, sir. I can't help saying rubbernecks, sir, though it's a shocking
+word. It's the only name for them, sir. That's what the little Prince
+calls them, too. You see, it's one form of amusement they provide for
+him, and I am supposed to help it along as much as possible. Mr. Tullis
+takes him out in the avenue whenever I've got a party in hand. I
+telephone up to the Castle that I've got a crowd and then I drive 'em
+out to the Park here. The Prince says he just loves to watch the
+rubbernecks go by. It's great fun, sir, for the little lad. He never
+misses a party, and you can believe it or not, he has told me so
+himself. Yes, sir, the Prince has had more than one word with me--from
+time to time." King looked at the little man's reddish face and saw
+therein the signs of exaltation indigenous to a land imperial.
+
+He hesitated for an instant and then remarked, with a mean impulse to
+spoil Hobbs's glorification: "I have dined with the President of the
+United States."
+
+Hobbs was politely unimpressed. "I've no doubt, sir," he said. "I
+daresay it was an excellent dinner."
+
+King blinked his eyes and then turned them upon the passing show. He was
+coming to understand the real difference between men.
+
+"I say, who is that just passing--the lady in the victoria?" he asked
+abruptly.
+
+"That is the Countess Marlanx."
+
+"Whew! I thought she was the queen!"
+
+Hobbs went into details concerning the beautiful Countess. During the
+hour and a half of display he pointed out to King all of the great
+personages, giving a Baedeker-like account of their doings from
+childhood up, quite satisfying that gentleman's curiosity and involving
+his cupidity at the same time.
+
+When, at last, the show was over, Truxton and the voluble little
+interpreter, whom he had employed for the occasion, strolled leisurely
+back to the heart of the town. Something had come over King, changing
+the quaint old city from a prosaic collection of shops and thoroughfares
+into a veritable playground for Cinderellas and Prince Charmings. The
+women, to his startled imagination, had been suddenly transformed from
+lackadaisical drudges into radiant personages at whose feet it would be
+a pleasure to fall, in whose defence it would be divine to serve; the
+men were the cavaliers that had called to him from the pages of
+chivalrous tales, ever since the days of his childhood. Here were
+knights and ladies such as he had dreamed of and despaired of ever
+seeing outside his dreams.
+
+Hobbs was telling him how every one struggled to provide amusement for
+the little Prince at whose court these almost mythological beings bent
+the knee. "Every few days they have a royal troupe of acrobats in the
+Castle grounds. Next week Tantora's big circus is to give a private
+performance for him. There are Marionettes and Punch and Judy shows, and
+all the doings of the Grand Grignol are beautifully imitated. The royal
+band plays every afternoon, and at night some one tells him stories of
+the valorous men who occupied the throne before him. He rides, plays
+baseball and cricket, swims, goes shooting--and, you may take it from
+me, sir, he is already enjoying fencing lessons with Colonel Quinnox,
+chief of the Castle guard. Mr. Tullis, the American, has charge of
+his--you might say, his education and entertainment. They want to make
+of him a very wonderful Prince. So they are starting at the bottom. He's
+quite a wonderful little chap. What say, sir?"
+
+"I was just going to ask if you know anything about a young woman who
+occasionally tends shop for William Spantz, the armourer."
+
+Hobbs looked interested. "She's quite a beauty, sir, I give you my
+word."
+
+"I know that, Hobbs. But who is she?"
+
+"I really can't say, sir. She's his niece, I've heard. Been here a
+little over a month. I think she's from Warsaw."
+
+"Well, I'll say good-bye here. If you've nothing on for to-morrow we'll
+visit the Castle grounds and--ahem!--take a look about the place. Come
+to the hotel early. I'm going over to the gun-shop. So long!" As he
+crossed the square, his mind full of the beautiful women he had seen,
+he was saying to himself in a wild strain of exhilaration: "I'll bet my
+head that girl isn't the nobody she's setting herself up to be. She
+looks like these I've just seen. She's got the marks of a lady. You
+can't fool me. I'm going to find out who she is and--well, maybe it
+won't be so dull here, after all. It looks better every minute."
+
+He was whistling gaily as he entered the little shop, ready to give a
+cheery greeting to old Spantz and to make him a temporising offer for
+the broadsword. But it was not Spantz who stood behind the little
+counter. Truxton flushed hotly and jerked off his hat. The girl smiled.
+
+"I beg pardon," he exclaimed. "I--I'm looking for Mr. Spantz--I--"
+
+"He is out. Will you wait? He will return in a very few minutes." Her
+voice was clear and low, her accent charming. The smile in her eyes
+somehow struck him as sad, even fleeting in its attempt at mirth. As she
+spoke, it disappeared altogether and an almost sombre expression came
+into her face.
+
+"Thanks. I'll--wait," he said, suddenly embarrassed. She turned to the
+window, resuming the wistful, preoccupied gaze down the avenue. He made
+pretence of inspecting the wares on the opposite wall, but covertly
+watched her out of the corner of his eye. Perhaps, calculated he, if she
+were attired in the gown of one of those fashionables she might rank
+with the noblest of them in beauty and delicacy. Her dark little head
+was carried with all the serene pride of a lady of quality; her features
+were clear cut, mobile, and absolutely flawless. He was sure of that:
+his sly analysis was not as casual as one might suppose under the
+circumstances. As a matter of fact, he found himself having what he
+afterward called "a very good look at her." She seemed to have forgotten
+his presence. The longer he looked at the delicate profile, the more
+fully was he convinced that she was not all that she pretended. He
+experienced a thrill of hope. If she wasn't what she pretended to be,
+then surely she must be what he wanted her to be--a lady of quality. In
+that case there was a mystery. The thought restored his temerity.
+
+"Beg pardon," he said, politely sauntering up to the little counter. He
+noted that she was taller than he had thought, and slender. She started
+and turned toward him with a quick, diffident smile, her dark eyes
+filling with an unspoken apology. "I wanted to have another look at the
+broadsword there. May I get it out of the window, or will you?"
+
+Very quickly--he noticed that she went about it clumsily despite her
+supple gracefulness--she withdrew the heavy weapon from the window and
+laid it upon the counter. He was looking at her with a peculiar smile
+upon his lips. She flushed painfully.
+
+"I am not--not what you would call an expert," she said frankly.
+
+"You mean in handling broadswords," he said in his most suave manner.
+"It's a cunning little thing, isn't it?" He picked up the ponderous
+blade. "I don't wonder you nearly dropped it on your toes."
+
+"There must have been giants in those days," she said, a slight shudder
+passing over her.
+
+"Whoppers," he agreed eagerly. "I've thought somewhat of buying the old
+thing. Not to use, of course. I'm not a giant."
+
+"You're not a pigmy," she supplemented, her eyes sweeping his long
+figure comprehensively.
+
+"What's the price?" he asked, his courage faltering under the cool,
+impersonal gaze.
+
+"I do not know. My uncle has told you?"
+
+"I--I think he did. But I've got a wretched memory when it comes to
+broadswords."
+
+She laughed. "This is such a very old broadsword, too," she said. "It
+goes back beyond the memory of man."
+
+"How does it come that you don't know the price?" he asked, watching her
+narrowly. She met his inquiring look with perfect composure.
+
+"I am quite new at the trade. I hope you will excuse my ignorance. My
+uncle will be here in a moment." She was turning away with an air that
+convinced King of one thing: she was a person who, in no sense, had ever
+been called upon to serve others.
+
+"So I've heard," he observed. The bait took effect. She looked up
+quickly; he was confident that a startled expression flitted across her
+face.
+
+"You have heard? What have you heard of me?" she demanded.
+
+"That you are new at the business," he replied coolly.
+
+"You are a stranger in a strange land, so they say."
+
+"You have been making inquiries?" she asked, disdain succeeding dismay.
+
+"Tentatively, that's all. Ever since you peeked out of the window up
+there and laughed at me. I'm curious, you see."
+
+She stared at him in silent intensity for a moment. "That's why I
+laughed at you. You were _very_ curious."
+
+"Am I so bad as all that?" he lamented.
+
+She ignored the question. "Why should you be interested in me, sir?"
+
+Mr. King was inspired to fabricate in the interest of psychical
+research. "Because I have heard that you are not the niece of old man
+Spantz." He watched intently to catch the effect of the declaration.
+
+She merely stared at him; there was not so much as the flutter of an
+eyelid. "You have heard nothing of the kind," she said coldly.
+
+"Well, I'll confess I haven't," he admitted cheerfully. "I was
+experimenting. I'm an amateur Sherlock Holmes. It pleases me to deduce
+that you are not related to the armourer. You don't look the part."
+
+Now she smiled divinely. "And why not, pray? His sister was my mother."
+
+"In order to establish a line on which to base my calculations, would
+you mind telling me who your father is?" He asked the question with his
+most appealing smile--a smile so frankly impudent that she could not
+resent it.
+
+"My mother's husband," she replied in the same spirit.
+
+"Well, that is _quite_ a clue!" he exclaimed. "'Pon my soul, I believe
+I'm on the right track. Excuse me for continuing, but is he a count or a
+duke or just a--"
+
+"My father is dead," she interrupted, without taking her now serious
+gaze from his face.
+
+"I beg your pardon," he said at once. "I'm sorry if I've hurt you."
+
+"My mother is dead. Now can you understand why I am living here with my
+uncle? Even an amateur may rise to that. Now, sir, do you expect to
+purchase the sword? If not, I shall replace it in the window."
+
+"That's what I came here for," said he, resenting her tone and the icy
+look she gave him.
+
+"I gathered that you came in the capacity of Sherlock Holmes--or
+something else." She added the last three words with unmistakable
+meaning.
+
+"You mean as a--" he hesitated, flushing.
+
+"You knew I was alone, sir."
+
+"By Jove, you're wrong there. I give you my word, I didn't. If I'd known
+it, I'd surely have come in sooner. There, forgive me. I'm particularly
+light-headed and futile to-day, and I hope--Beg pardon?"
+
+She was leaning toward him, her hands on the counter, a peculiar gleam
+in her dark eyes--which now, for the first time, struck him as rather
+more keen and penetrating than he had suspected before.
+
+"I simply want to tell you, Mr. King, that unless you really expect to
+buy this sword it is not wise in you to make it an excuse for coming
+here."
+
+"My dear young lady, I--"
+
+"My uncle has a queer conception of the proprieties. He may think that
+you come to see me." A radiant smile leaped into her face, transforming
+its strange sombreness into absolutely impish mirth.
+
+"Well, hang it all, he can't object to that, can he? Besides, I never
+buy without haggling," he expostulated, suddenly exhilarated, he knew
+not why.
+
+"Don't come in here unless you expect to buy," she said, serious in an
+instant. "It isn't the custom in Edelweiss. Young men may chat with
+shopgirls all the world over--but in Edelweiss, no--unless they come to
+pay most honourable court to them. My uncle would not understand."
+
+"I take it, however, that you would understand," he said boldly.
+
+"I have lived in Vienna, in Paris and in London. But now I am living in
+Edelweiss. I have not been a shopgirl always."
+
+"I can believe that. My deductions are justified."
+
+"Pray forgive me for offering this bit of advice. A word to the wise.
+My uncle would close the door in your face if--if he thought--"
+
+"I see. Well, I'll buy the blooming sword. Anyhow, that's what I came in
+for."
+
+"No. You came in because I smiled at you from the window upstairs. It is
+my sitting-room."
+
+"Why did you smile? Tell me?" eagerly.
+
+"It was nature asserting itself."
+
+"You mean you just couldn't help it?"
+
+"That's precisely what I mean."
+
+"Not very complimentary, I'd say."
+
+"A smile is ever a compliment, sir."
+
+"I say, do you know you interest me?" he began warmly, but she put her
+finger to her lips.
+
+"My uncle is returning. I must not talk to you any longer." She glanced
+uneasily out upon the square, and then hurriedly added, a certain
+wistfulness in her voice and eyes. "I couldn't help it to-day. I forgot
+my place. But you are the first gentleman I've spoken to since I came
+here."
+
+"I--I was afraid you might think I am not a gentleman. I've been rather
+fresh."
+
+"I happen to have known many gentlemen. Before I went into--service, of
+course." She turned away abruptly, a sudden shadow crossing her face.
+Truxton King exulted. At last he was touching the long-sought trail of
+the Golden Girl! Here was Romance! Here was mystery!
+
+Spantz was crossing the sidewalk. The American leaned forward and
+half-whispered: "Just watch me buy that broadsword. I may, in time, buy
+out the shop, piece by piece."
+
+She smiled swiftly. "Let me warn you: don't pay his price."
+
+"Thanks."
+
+When Spantz entered the door, a moment later, the girl was gazing
+listlessly from the window and Truxton King was leaning against the
+counter with his back toward her, his arms folded and a most impatient
+frown on his face.
+
+"Hello!" he said gruffly. "I've been waiting ten minutes for you."
+
+Spantz's black eyes shot from one to the other. "What do you want?" he
+demanded sharply. As he dropped his hat upon a stool near, the door, his
+glance again darted from the man to the girl and back again.
+
+"The broadsword. And, say, Mr. Spantz, you might assume a different tone
+in addressing me. I'm a customer, not a beggar."
+
+The girl left the window and walked slowly to the rear of the shop,
+passing through the narrow door, without so much as a glance at King or
+the old man. Spantz was silent until she was gone.
+
+"You want the broadsword, eh?" he asked, moderating his tone
+considerably. "It's a rare old--"
+
+"I'll give you a hundred dollars-not another cent," interrupted King,
+riot yet over his resentment. There followed a long and irritating
+argument, at the conclusion of which Mr. King became the possessor of
+the weapon at his own price. Remembering himself in time, he fell to
+admiring some old rings and bracelets in a cabinet near by, thus paving
+the way for future visits.
+
+"I'll come in again," he said indifferently.
+
+"But you are leaving to-morrow, sir."
+
+"I've changed my mind."
+
+"You are not going?"
+
+"Not for a few days."
+
+"Then you have discovered something in Edelweiss to attract you?"
+grinned the old armourer. "I thought you might."
+
+"I've had a glimpse of the swells, my good friend."
+
+"It's all the good you'll get of it," said Spantz gruffly.
+
+"I daresay you're right. Clean that sword up a bit for me, and I'll drop
+in to-morrow and get it. Here's sixty gavvos to bind the bargain. The
+rest on delivery. Good day, Mr. Spantz."
+
+"Good day, Mr. King."
+
+"How do you happen to know my name?"
+
+Spantz put his hand over his heart and delivered himself of a most
+impressive bow. "When so distinguished a visitor comes to our little
+city," he said, "we lose no time in discovering his name. It is a part
+of our trade, sir, believe me."
+
+"I'm not so sure that I do believe you," said Truxton King to himself as
+he sauntered up the street toward the Hotel. "The girl knew me, too, now
+that I come to think of it. Heigho! By Jove, I _do_ hope I can work up a
+little something to interest--Hello!"
+
+Mr. Hobbs, from Cook's, was at his elbow, his eyes glistening with
+eagerness.
+
+"I say, old Dangloss is waiting for you at the Regengetz, sir. Wot's up?
+Wot you been up to, sir?"
+
+"Up to? Up to, Hobbs?"
+
+"My word, sir, you must have been or he wouldn't be there to see you."
+
+"Who is Dangloss?"
+
+"Minister of Police--haven't I told you? He's a keen one, too, take my
+word for it. He's got Sherlock beat a mile."
+
+"So have I, Hobbs. I'm not slow at Sherlocking, let me tell you that.
+How do you know he's waiting to see me?"
+
+"I heard him ask for you. And I was there just now when one of his men
+came in and told him you were on your way up from the gunshop down
+there."
+
+"So they're watching me, eh? 'Gad, this is fine!"
+
+He lost no time in getting to the hotel. A well-remembered,
+fierce-looking little man in a white linen suit was waiting for him on
+the great piazza.
+
+Baron Jasto Dangloss was a polite man but not to the point of
+procrastination. He advanced to meet the puzzled American, smiling
+amiably and twirling his imposing mustachios with neatly gloved fingers.
+
+"I have called, Mr. King, to have a little chat with you about your
+father," he said abruptly. He enjoyed the look of surprise on the young
+man's face.
+
+"My father?" murmured Truxton, catching his breath. He was shaking hands
+with the Baron, all the while staring blankly into his twinkling,
+snapping eyes.
+
+"Won't you join me at this table? A julep will not be bad, eh?" King sat
+down opposite to him at one of the piazza tables, in the shade of the
+great trailing vines.
+
+"Fine," was his only comment.
+
+A waiter took the order and departed. The Baron produced his cigarette
+case. King carefully selected one and tapped its tip on the back of his
+hand.
+
+"Is--has anything happened to my father?" he asked quietly. "Bad news?"
+
+"On the contrary, sir, he is quite well. I had a cablegram from him
+to-day."
+
+"A cablegram?"
+
+"Yes. I cabled day before yesterday to ask if he could tell me the
+whereabouts of his son."
+
+"The deuce you say!"
+
+"He replies that you are in Teheran."
+
+"What is the meaning of this, Baron?"
+
+"It is a habit I have. I make it a practice to keep in touch with the
+movements of our guests."
+
+"I see. You want to know all about me; why I'm here, where I came from,
+and all that. Well, I'm ready for the 'sweat box.'"
+
+"Pray do not take offence. It is my rule. It would not be altered if the
+King of England came. Ah, here are the juleps. Quick service, eh?"
+
+"Remarkably so, due to your powers of persuasion, I fancy."
+
+"I really ordered them a few minutes before you arrived. You see, I was
+quite certain you'd have one. You take one about this hour every day."
+
+"By Jove, you have been watching me!" cried Truxton delightedly.
+
+"What are you doing in Edelweiss, Mr. King?" asked the Baron abruptly
+but not peremptorily.
+
+"Sight-seeing and in search of adventure," was the prompt response.
+
+"I fancied as much. You've seen quite a bit of the world since you left
+home two years ago, on the twenty-seventh of September."
+
+"By Jove!"
+
+"Been to South Africa, Asia and--South America--to say nothing of
+Europe. That must have been an exciting little episode in South
+America."
+
+"You don't mean to say--"
+
+"Oh, I know all about your participation in the revolution down there.
+You were a captain, I understand, during the three weeks of disturbance.
+Splendid! For the fun of the thing, I suppose. Well, I like it in you. I
+should have done it myself. And you got out of the country just in time,
+if I remember rightly. There was a price placed on your head by the
+distressed government. I imagine they would have shot you if they could
+have caught you--as they did the others." The old man chuckled. "You
+don't expect to return to South America, do you? The price is still
+offered, you know."
+
+King was glaring at him in sheer wonder. Here was an episode in his life
+that he fondly hoped might never come to light; he knew how it would
+disturb his mother. And this foxy old fellow away off here in Graustark
+knew all about it.
+
+"Well, you're a wonder!" in pure admiration.
+
+"An appreciated compliment, I assure you. This is all in the way of
+letting you know that we have found out something concerning your
+movements. Now, to come down to the present. You expected to leave
+to-morrow. Why are you staying over?"
+
+"Baron, I leave that to your own distinguished powers of deduction,"
+said Truxton gently. He took a long pull at the straw, watching the
+other's face as he did so. The Baron smiled.
+
+"You have found the young lady to be very attractive," observed the
+Baron. "Where have you known her before?"
+
+"I beg pardon?"
+
+"It is not unusual for a young man in search of adventure to follow the
+lady of his choice from place to place. She came but recently, I
+recall."
+
+"You think I knew her before and followed her to Edelweiss?"
+
+"I am not quite sure whether you have been in Warsaw lately. There is a
+gap in your movements that I can't account for."
+
+King became serious at once. He saw that it was best to be frank with
+this keen old man.
+
+"Baron Dangloss, I don't know just what you are driving at, but I'll
+set you straight so far as I'm concerned. I never saw that girl until
+the day before yesterday. I never spoke to her until to-day."
+
+"She smiled on you quite familiarly from her window casement
+_yesterday_," said Dangloss coolly.
+
+"She laughed at me, to be perfectly candid. But what's all this about?
+Who is she? What's the game? I don't mind confessing that I have a
+feeling she is not what she claims to be, but that's as far as I've
+got."
+
+Dangloss studied the young man's face for a moment and then came to a
+sudden decision. He leaned forward and smiled sourly.
+
+"Take my advice: do not play with fire," he said enigmatically.
+
+"You--you mean she's a dangerous person? I can't believe that, Baron."
+
+"She has dangerous friends out in the world. I don't mean to say she
+will cause you any trouble here--but there is a hereafter. Mind you, I'm
+not saying she isn't a good girl, or even an adventuress. On the
+contrary, she comes of an excellent family--in fact, there were noblemen
+among them a generation or two ago. You know her name?"
+
+"No. I say, this is getting interesting!" He was beaming.
+
+"She is Olga Platanova. Her mother was married in this city twenty-five
+years ago to Professor Platanova of Warsaw. The Professor was executed
+last year for conspiracy. He was one of the leaders of a great
+revolutionary movement in Poland. They were virtually anarchists, as you
+have come to place them in America. This girl, Olga, was his secretary.
+His death almost killed her. But that is not all. She had a sweetheart
+up to fifteen months ago. He was a prince of the royal blood. He would
+have married her in spite of the difference in their stations had it not
+been for the intervention of the Crown that she and her kind hate so
+well. The young man's powerful relatives took a hand in the affair. He
+was compelled to marry a scrawny little duchess, and Olga was warned
+that if she attempted to entice him away from his wife she would be
+punished. She did not attempt it, because she is a virtuous girl--of
+that I am sure. But she hates them all--oh, how she hates them! Her
+uncle, Spantz, offered her a home. She came here a month ago,
+broken-spirited and sick. So far, she has been exceedingly respectful to
+our laws. It is not that we fear anything from her; but that we are
+obliged to watch her for the benefit of our big brothers across the
+border. Now you know why I advised you to let the fire alone."
+
+King was silent for a moment, turning something over in his head.
+
+"Baron, are you sure that she is a Red?"
+
+"Quite. She attended their councils."
+
+"She doesn't look it, 'pon my word. I thought they were the scum of the
+earth."
+
+"The kind you have in America are. But over here--oh, well, we never can
+tell."
+
+"I don't mind saying she interests me. She's pretty--and I have an idea
+she's clever. Baron, let me understand you. Do you mean that this is a
+polite way of commanding me to have nothing to do with her?"
+
+"You put it broadly. In the first place, I am quite sure she will have
+nothing to do with you. She loved the husband of the scrawny duchess.
+_You_, my good friend, handsome as you are, cannot interest her, believe
+me."
+
+"I daresay you're right," glumly.
+
+"I am merely warning you. Young men of your age and temperament
+sometimes let their fancies lead them into desperate predicaments. I've
+no doubt you can take care of yourself, but--" he paused, as if very
+much in doubt.
+
+"I'm much obliged. And I'll keep my eyes well opened. I suppose there's
+no harm in my going to the shop to look at a lot of rings and
+knick-knacks he has for sale?"
+
+"Not in the least. Confine yourself to knick-knacks, that's all."
+
+"Isn't Spantz above suspicion?"
+
+"No one is in my little world. By the way, I am very fond of your
+father. He is a most excellent gentleman and a splendid shot."
+
+Truxton stared harder than ever. "What's that?"
+
+"I know him quite well. Hunted wild boars with him five years ago in
+Germany. And your sister! She was a beautiful young girl. They were at
+Carlsbad at the time. Was she quite well when you last heard?"
+
+"She was," was all that the wondering brother could say.
+
+"Well, come in and see me at the tower. I am there in the mornings. Come
+as a caller, not as a prisoner, that's all." The Baron cackled at his
+little jest. "_Au revoir!_ Till we meet again." They were shaking hands
+in the friendliest manner. "Oh, by the way, you were good enough to
+change your mind to-day about the personal attractiveness of our ladies.
+Permit me to observe, in return, that not a few of our most
+distinguished beauties were good enough to make inquiries as to your
+identity."
+
+He left the American standing at the head of the steps, gazing after his
+retreating figure with a look of admiration in his eyes.
+
+Truxton fared forth into the streets that night with a greater zest in
+life than he had ever known before. Some thing whispered insistently to
+his fancy that dreariness was a thing of the past; he did not have to
+whistle to keep up his spirits. They were soaring of their own accord.
+
+He did not know, however, that a person from the secret service was
+watching his every movement. Nor, on the other hand, is it at all likely
+that the secret service operative was aware that he was not the only
+shadower of the blithe young stranger.
+
+A man with a limp cigarette between his lips was never far from the side
+of the American--a man who had stopped to pass the time of day with
+William Spantz, and who, from that hour was not to let the young man out
+of his sight until another relieved him of the task.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+TRUXTON TRESPASSES
+
+
+He went to bed that night, tired and happy. To his revived spirits and
+his new attitude toward life in its present state, the city had suddenly
+turned gay and vivacious. Twice during the evening he passed Spantz's
+shop. It was dark, upstairs and down. He wondered if the unhappy Olga
+was looking at him from behind the darkened shutters. But even if she
+were not--la, la! He was having a good time! He was gay! He was seeing
+pretty women in the cafes and the gardens! Well, well, he would see her
+to-morrow--after that he would give proper heed to the Baron's warning!
+An anarchist's daughter!
+
+He slept well, too, with never a thought of the Saturday express which
+he had lain awake on other nights to lament and anathematise. Bright and
+early in the morning he was astir. Somehow he felt he had been sleeping
+too much of late.
+
+There was a sparkle in his eyes as he struck out across town after
+breakfast. He burst in upon Mr. Hobbs at Cook's.
+
+"Say, Hobbs, how about the Castle to-day--in an hour, say? Can you take
+a party of one rubbernecking this A.M.? I like you, Hobbs. You are the
+best interpreter of English I've ever seen. I can't help understanding
+you, no matter how hard I try not to. I want you to get me into the
+Castle grounds to-day and show me where the duchesses dawdle and the
+countesses cavort. I'm ashamed to say it, Hobbs, but since yesterday
+I've quite lost interest in the middle classes and the component parts
+thereof. I have suddenly acquired a thirst for champagne--in other
+words, I have a hankering for the nobility. Catch the idea? Good! Then
+you'll guide me into the land of the fairies? At ten?"
+
+"I'll take you to the Castle grounds, Mr. King, all right enough, sir,
+and I'll tell you all the things of interest, but I'll be 'anged, sir,
+if I've got the blooming nerve to introduce you to the first ladies of
+the land. That's more than I can ever 'ope to do, sir, and--"
+
+"Lord bless you, Hobbs, don't look so depressed. I don't ask you to
+present me at court. I just want to look at the lilacs and the
+gargoyles. That's as far as I expect to carry my invasion of the dream
+world."
+
+"Of course, sir, you understand there are certain parts of the Park not
+open to the public. The grotto and the playgrounds and the Basin of
+Venus--"
+
+"I'll not trespass, so don't fidget, Hobbs. I'll be here for you at
+ten."
+
+Mr. Hobbs looked after the vigorous, happy figure as it swung down the
+street, and shook his head mournfully. Turning to the solitary clerk who
+dawdled behind the cashier's desk he remarked with more feeling than was
+his wont:
+
+"He's just the kind of chap to get me into no end of trouble if I give
+'im rope enough. Take it from me, Stokes, I'll have my hands full of 'im
+up there this morning. He's charged like a soda bottle; and you never
+know wot's going to happen unless you handle a soda bottle very
+careful-like."
+
+Truxton hurried to the square and across it to the shop of the armourer,
+not forgetting, however, to look about in some anxiety for the excellent
+Dangloss, who might, for all he knew, be snooping in the neighbourhood.
+Spantz was at the rear of the shop, talking to a customer. The girl was
+behind the counter, dressed for the street.
+
+She came quickly out to him, a disturbed expression in her face. As he
+doffed his hat, the smile left his lips; he saw that she had been
+weeping.
+
+"You must not come here, Mr. King," she said hurriedly, in low tones.
+"Take your broadsword this morning and--please, for my sake, do not come
+again. I--I may not explain why I am asking you to do this, but I mean
+it for your good, more than for my own. My uncle will be out in a
+moment. He knows you are here. He is listening now to catch what I am
+saying to you. Smile, please, or he will suspect--"
+
+"See here," demanded King, smiling, but very much in earnest, "what's
+up? You've been crying. What's he been doing or saying to you? I'll give
+him a--"
+
+"No, no! Be sensible! It is nothing in which you could possibly take a
+hand. I don't know you, Mr. King, but I am in earnest when I say that it
+is not safe for you to come here, ostensibly to buy. It is too easily
+seen through--it is--"
+
+"Just a minute, please," he interrupted. "I've heard your story from
+Baron Dangloss. It has appealed to me. You are not happy. Are you in
+trouble? Do you need friends, Miss Platanova?"
+
+"It is because you would be a friend that I ask you to stay away. You
+cannot be my friend. Pray do not consider me bold for assuming so much.
+But I know--I know _men_, Mr. King. The Baron has told you all about
+me?" She smiled sadly. "Alas, he has only told you what he knows. But it
+should be sufficient. There is no place in my life for you or any one
+else. There never can be. So, you see, you may not develop your romance
+with me as the foundation. Oh, I've heard of your quest of adventure. I
+like you for it. I had an imagination myself, once on a time. I loved
+the fairy books and the love tales. But not now-not now. There is no
+romance for me. Nothing but grave reality. Do not question me! I can say
+no more. Now I must be gone. I--I have warned you. Do not come again!"
+
+"Thanks, for the warning," he said quietly. "But I expect to come in
+occasionally, just the same. You've taken the wrong tack by trying to
+frighten me off. You see, Miss Platanova, I'm actually looking for
+something dangerous--if that's what you mean."
+
+"That isn't all, believe me," she pleaded. "You can gain nothing by
+coming. You know who I am. I cannot be a friend--not even an
+acquaintance to you, Mr. King. Good-bye! Please do not come again!"
+
+She slipped into the street and was gone. King stood in the doorway,
+looking after her, a puzzled gleam in his eyes. Old Spantz was coming up
+from the rear, followed by his customer.
+
+"Queer," thought the American. "She's changed her tactics rather
+suddenly. Smiled at me in the beginning and now cries a bit because I'm
+trying to return the compliment. Well, by the Lord Harry, she shan't
+scare me off like--Hello, Mr. Spantz! Good morning! I'm here for the
+sword."
+
+The old man glared at him in unmistakable displeasure. Truxton began
+counting out his money. The customer, a swarthy fellow, passed out of
+the door, turning to glance intently at the young man. A meaning look
+and a sly nod passed between him and Spantz. The man halted at the
+corner below and, later on, followed King to Cook's office, afterward to
+the Castle gates, outside of which he waited until his quarry
+reappeared. Until King went to bed late that night this swarthy fellow
+was close at his heels, always keeping well out of sight himself.
+
+"I'll come in soon to look at those rings," said King, placing the notes
+on the counter. Spantz merely nodded, raked in the bills without
+counting them, and passed the sword over to the purchaser.
+
+"Very good, sir," he growled after a moment.
+
+"I hate to carry this awful thing through the streets," said King,
+looking at the huge weapon with despairing eye. Inwardly, he was cursing
+himself for his extravagance and cupidity.
+
+"It belongs to you, my friend. Take it or leave it."
+
+"I'll take it," said Truxton, smiling indulgently. With that he picked
+up the weapon and stalked away.
+
+A few minutes later he was on his way to the Castle grounds, accompanied
+by the short-legged Mr. Hobbs, who, from time to time, was forced to
+remove his tight-fitting cap to mop a hot, exasperated brow, so swift
+was the pace set by long-legs. The broadsword reposed calmly on a desk
+under the nose of a properly impressed young person named Stokes,
+cashier.
+
+Hobbs led him through the great Park gates and up to the lodge of Jacob
+Fraasch, the venerable high steward of the grounds. Here, to King's utter
+disgust, he was booked as a plain Cook's tourist and mechanically
+advised to pay strict attention to the rules which would be explained to
+him by the guide.
+
+"Cook's tourist, eh?" muttered King wrathfully as they ambled down the
+shady path together. He looked with disparaging eye upon the plain
+little chap beside him.
+
+"It's no disgrace," growled Hobbs, redder than ever. "You're inside the
+grounds and you've got to obey the rules, same as any tourist. Right
+this way, sir; we'll take a turn just inside the wall. Now, on your
+left, ladies and--ahem!--I should say--ahem!--sir, you may see the
+first turret ever built on the wall. It is over four hundred years old.
+On the right, we have--"
+
+"See here, Hobbs," said King, stopping short, "I'm damned if I'll let
+you lecture me as if I were a gang of hayseeds from Oklahoma."
+
+"Very good, sir. No offence. I quite forgot, sir."
+
+"Just _tell_ me--don't lecture."
+
+For three-quarters of an hour they wandered through the spacious
+grounds, never drawing closer to the Castle than permitted by the
+restrictions; always coming up to the broad driveway which marked the
+border line, never passing it. The gorgeous beauty of this historic old
+park, so full of traditions and the lore of centuries, wrought strange
+fancies and bold inclinations in the head of the audacious visitor. He
+felt the bonds of restraint; he resented the irksome chains of
+convention; he murmured against the laws that said he should not step
+across the granite road into the cool forbidden world beyond--the world
+of kings. Hobbs knew he was doomed to have rebellion on his hands before
+long; he could see it coming.
+
+"When we've seen the royal stables, we'll have seen everything of any
+consequence," he hastened to say. "Then we'll leave by the upper gates
+and--"
+
+"Hobbs, this is all very beautiful and very grand and very slow," said
+King, stopping to lean against the moss-covered wall that encircled the
+park within a park: the grounds adjoining the grotto. "Can't I hop over
+this wall and take a peep into the grotto?"
+
+"By no means," cried Hobbs, horrified. "That, sir, is the most
+proscribed spot, next to the Castle itself. You _can't_ go in there."
+
+King looked over the low wall. The prospect was alluring. The pool, the
+trickling rivulets, the mossy banks, the dense shadows: it was maddening
+to think he could not enter!
+
+"I wouldn't be in there a minute," he argued. "And I might catch a
+glimpse of a dream-lady. Now, I say, Hobbs, here's a low place. I could
+jump--"
+
+"Mr. King, if you do that I am ruined forever. I am trusted by the
+steward. He would cut off all my privileges--" Hobbs could go no
+further. He was prematurely aghast. Something told him that Mr. King
+would hop over the wall.
+
+"Just this once, Hobbs," pleaded his charge. "No one will know."
+
+"For the love of Moses, sir, I--" Hobbs began to wail. Then he groaned
+in dismal horror. King had lightly vaulted the wall and was grinning
+back at him from the sacred precincts--from the playground of
+princesses.
+
+"Go and report me, Hobbs, there's a good fellow. Tell the guards I
+wouldn't obey. That will let you out, my boy, and I'll do the rest. For
+Heaven's sake, Hobbs, don't burst! You'll explode sure if you hold in
+like that much longer. I'll be back in a minute."
+
+He strode off across the bright green turf toward the source of all this
+enchantment, leaving poor Mr. Hobbs braced against the wall, weak-kneed
+and helpless. If he heard the frantic, though subdued, whistles and the
+agonized "hi!" of the man from Cook's a minute or two later, he gave no
+heed to the warning. A glimpse behind might have shown him the error of
+his ways, reflected in the disappearance of Hobbs's head below the top
+of the wall. But he was looking ahead, drinking in the forbidden
+beauties of this fascinating little nook of nature.
+
+Never in all his wanderings had he looked upon a more inviting spot than
+this. He came to the edge of the deep blue pool, above which could be
+seen the entrance to the Grotto. Little rivulets danced down through the
+crannies in the rocks and leaped joyously into the tree-shaded pool.
+Below and to the right were the famed Basins of Venus, shimmering in the
+sunlight, flanked by trees and banks of the softest green. On their
+surface swam the great black swans he had heard so much about. Through a
+wide rift in the trees he could see the great, grey Castle, half a mile
+away, towering against the dense greens of the nearby mountain. The
+picture took his breath away. He forgot Hobbs. He forgot that he was;
+trespassing. Here, at last, was the Graustark he had seen in his dreams,
+had come to feel in his imagination.
+
+Regardless of surroundings or consequences, he sat down upon the nearest
+stone bench, and removed his hat. He was hot and tired and the air was
+cool. He would drink it in as if it were an ambrosial nectar in--and,
+moreover, he would also enjoy a cigarette. Carefully he refrained from
+throwing the burnt-out match into the pool below: even such as he could
+feel that it might be desecration. As he leaned back with a sigh of
+exquisite ease and a splendid exhalation of Turkish smoke, a small,
+imperious voice from somewhere behind broke in upon his primary
+reflections.
+
+"What are you doing in here?" demanded the voice.
+
+Truxton, conscious of guilt, whirled with as much consternation as if he
+had been accosted by a voice of thunder. He beheld a very small boy
+standing at the top of the knoll above him, not thirty feet away. His
+face was quite as dirty as any small boy's should be at that time of
+day, and his curly brown hair looked as if it had not been combed since
+the day before. His firm little legs, in half hose and presumably white
+knickers, were spread apart and his hands were in his pockets.
+
+King recognised him at once, and looked about uneasily for the
+attendants whom he knew should be near. It is safe to say that he came
+to his feet and bowed deeply, even in humility.
+
+"I am resting, your Highness," he said meekly.
+
+"Don't you know any better than to come in here?" demanded the Prince.
+Truxton turned very red.
+
+"I am sorry. I'll go at once."
+
+"Oh, I'm not going to put you out," hastily exclaimed the Prince, coming
+down the slope. "But you are old enough to know better. The guards might
+shoot you if they caught you here." He came quite close to the
+trespasser. King saw the scratch on his nose. "Oh, I know you now. You
+are the gentleman who picked up my crop yesterday. You are an American."
+A friendly smile illumined his face.
+
+"Yes, a lonely American," with an attempt at the pathetic.
+
+"Where's your home at?"
+
+"New York. Quite a distance from here."
+
+"You ever been in Central Park?"
+
+"A thousand times. It isn't as nice as this one."
+
+"It's got amilies--no, I don't mean that," supplemented the Prince,
+flushing painfully. "I mean--an-i-muls," very deliberately. "Our park
+has no elephunts or taggers. When I get big I'm going to set out a few
+in the park. They'll grow, all right."
+
+"I've shot elephants and tigers in the jungle," said Truxton. "I tell
+you they're no fun when they get after you, wild. If I were you I'd set
+'em out in cages."
+
+"P'raps I will." The Prince seemed very thoughtful.
+
+"Won't you sit down, your Highness?"
+
+The youngster looked cautiously about. "Say, do you ever go fishing?" he
+demanded eagerly.
+
+"Occasionally."
+
+"You won't give me away, will you?" with a warning frown. "Don't you
+tell Jacob Fraasch. He's the steward. I--I know a fine place to fish.
+Would you mind coming along? Look out, please! You're awful big and
+they'll see you. I don't know what they'd do to us if they ketched us.
+It would be dreadful. Would you mind sneaking, mister? Make yourself
+little. Right up this way."
+
+The Prince led the way up the bank, followed by the amused American, who
+stooped so admirably that the boy, looking back, whispered that it was
+"just fine." At the top of the knoll, the Prince turned into a little
+shrub-lined path leading down to the banks of the pool almost directly
+below the rocky face of the grotto.
+
+"Don't be afraid," he whispered to his new friend. "It ain't very deep,
+if you should slip in. But you'd scare the fish away. Gee, it's a great
+place to catch 'em. They're all red, too. D'you ever see red fish?"
+
+Truxton started. This was no place for him! The Prince had a right to
+poach on his own preserves, but a grown man to be caught in the act of
+landing the royal goldfish was not to be thought of. He hung back.
+
+"I'm afraid I won't have time, your Highness. A friend is waiting for me
+back there. He--"
+
+"It's right here," pleaded the Prince. "Please stop a moment. I--I don't
+know how to put the bait on the pin. I just want to catch a couple. They
+won't bite unless there's worms on the hook. I tried 'em. Look at 'em!
+Goodness, there's lots of 'em. Nobody can see us here. Please, mister,
+fix a worm for me."
+
+The man sat down behind a bush and laughed joyously. The eager,
+appealing look in the lad's eyes went to his heart. What was a goldfish
+or two? A fish has no feeling--not even a goldfish. There was no
+resisting the boyish eagerness.
+
+"Why, you're a real boy, after all. I thought being a prince might have
+spoiled you," he said.
+
+"Uncle Jack says I can always be a prince, but I'll soon get over being
+a boy," said Prince Bobby sagely. "You _will_ fix it, won't you?"
+
+King nodded, conscienceless now. The Prince scurried behind a big rock
+and reappeared at once with a willow branch from the end of which
+dangled a piece of thread. A bent pin occupied the chief end in view. He
+unceremoniously shoved the branch into the hands of his confederate, and
+then produced from one of his pockets a silver cigarette box, which he
+gingerly opened to reveal to the gaze a conglomerate mass of angle worms
+and grubs.
+
+"A fellow gets awful dirty digging for worms, doesn't he?" he
+pronounced.
+
+"I should say so," agreed the big boy. "Whose cigarette case is this?"
+
+"Uncle Caspar's--I mean Count Halfont's. He's got another, so he won't
+miss this one. I'm going to leave some worms in it when I put it back in
+his desk. He'll think the fairies did it. Do you believe in fairies?"
+
+"Certainly, Peter," said Truxton, engaged in impaling a stubborn worm.
+
+"My name isn't Peter," said the Prince coldly.
+
+"I was thinking of Peter Pan. Ever hear of him?"
+
+"No. Say, you mustn't talk or you'll scare 'em away. Is it fixed?" He
+took the branch and gingerly dropped the hook into the dancing pool. In
+less time than it requires to tell it he had a nibble, a bite and a
+catch. There never was a boy so excited as he when the scarlet nibbler
+flew into the shrubbery above; he gasped with glee. Truxton recovered
+the catch from the bushes and coolly detached the truculent pin.
+
+"I'll have 'em for dinner," announced the Prince.
+
+"Are you going to catch a mess?" queried the man, appalled.
+
+"Sure," said Bobby, casting again with a resolute splash.
+
+"Are you not afraid they'll get onto you if you take them to the
+Castle?" asked the other diplomatically. "Goldfish are a dead
+give-away."
+
+"Nobody will scold 'cept Uncle Jack, and he won't know about it. He's
+prob'ly gone away by this time." King noticed that his lip trembled
+suddenly.
+
+"Gone away?"
+
+"Yes. He was banished this morning right after breakfast." The
+announcement began with a tremor but ended with imperial firmness.
+
+"Great Scott!" gasped the other, genuinely shocked.
+
+"I banished him," said the Prince ruefully. "But," with a fine smile, "I
+don't think he'll go. He never does. See my sign up there?" He pointed
+to the rocks near the grotto. "I did it with Hugo's shoe blacking."
+
+A placard containing the important announcement, "NO FISHING ALOUD"
+stared down at the poachers from a tree trunk above. There was nothing
+very peremptory in its appearance, but its designer was sufficiently
+impressed by the craftiness it contained.
+
+"I put it up so's people wouldn't think anybody--not even me--would dare
+to fish here. Oh, look!" The second of his ruddy mess was flopping in
+the grass. Again Truxton thought of Mr. Hobbs, this time with anxious
+glances in all directions.
+
+"Where do they think you are, your Highness?"
+
+"Out walking with my aunt. Only she met Count Vos Engo, and while they
+were talking I made a sneak--I mean, I stole away."
+
+"Then they'll be searching for you in all parts of the--" began Truxton,
+coming to his feet. "I really must be going. Please excuse me, your--"
+
+"Oh, don't go! I'll not let 'em do anything to you," said the Prince
+staunchly. "I like Americans better than anybody else," he went on with
+deft persuasiveness. "They ain't--aren't afraid of anything. They're not
+cowards."
+
+Truxton sat down at once. He could not turn tail in the face of such an
+exalted opinion.
+
+"I'm not supposed to ever go out alone," went on the Prince
+confidentially. "You see, they're going to blow me up if they get a
+chance."
+
+"Blow you up?"
+
+"Haven't you heard about it? With dynamite bums--bombs. Yes, sir! That's
+the way they do to all princes." He was quite unconcerned. Truxton's
+look of horror diminished. No doubt it was a subterfuge employed to
+secure princely obedience, very much as the common little boy is brought
+to time by mention of the ubiquitous bogie man.
+
+"That's too bad," commiserated Truxton, baiting the pin once more.
+
+"It's old Count Marlanx. He's going to blow me up. He hated my mother
+and my father, so I guess he hates me. He's turrible, Uncle Caspar
+says."
+
+King was very thoughtful for a moment. Something vivid yet fleeting had
+shot through his brain--something that he tried to catch and analyse,
+but it was gone before he could grasp its significance. He looked with
+new interest upon this serene, lovable little chap, who was growing up,
+like all princes, in the shadow of disaster.
+
+Suddenly the fisherman's quick little ears caught a sound that caused
+him to reveal a no-uncertain agitation. He dropped his rod incontinently
+and crawled to the opening in the shrubbery, peering with alarmed eyes
+down the path along the bank.
+
+"What is it? A dynamiter?" demanded Truxton uneasily.
+
+"Worse'n that," whispered his royal Highness. "It's Aunt Loraine. Gee!"
+To King's utter dismay, the Prince scuttled for the underbrush.
+
+"Here!" he called in consternation. The Prince stopped, shamefaced on
+the instant. "I thought you were going to protect me."
+
+"I shall," affirmed Bobby, manfully resuming his ground. "She's coming
+up the path. Don't run," he exclaimed scornfully, as Truxton started for
+the rocks. "She can't hurt you. She's only a girl."
+
+"All right. I won't run," said the big culprit, who wished he had the
+power to fly.
+
+"And there's Saffo and Cors over there watching us, too. We're caught.
+I'm sorry, mister."
+
+On the opposite bank of the pool stood two rigid members of the Royal
+Guard, intently watching the fishers. King was somewhat disturbed by the
+fact that their rifles were in a position to be used at an instant's
+notice. He felt himself turning pale as he thought of what might have
+happened if he had taken to flight.
+
+A young lady in a rajah silk gown, a flimsy panama hat tilted well over
+her nose, with a red feather that stood erect as if always in a state of
+surprise, turned the bushes and came to a stop almost at King's elbow.
+He had time to note, in his confusion, that she was about shoulder-high
+alongside him, and that she was staring up into his face with amazed
+grey eyes. Afterward he was to realise that she was amazingly pretty,
+that her teeth were very white and even, that her eyes were the most
+beautiful and expressive he had ever seen, that she was slender and
+imperious, and that there were dimples in her checks so fascinating that
+he could not gather sufficient strength of purpose to withdraw his gaze
+from them. Of course, he did not see them at the outset: she was not
+smiling, so how could he?
+
+The Prince came to the rescue. "This is my Aunt Loraine, Mr.--Mr.--" he
+swallowed hard and looked helpless.
+
+"King," supplied Truxton, "Truxton King, your Highness." Then with all
+the courage he could produce, he said to the beautiful lady: "I'm as
+guilty as he. See!" He pointed ruefully to the four goldfish, which he
+had strung upon wire grass and dropped into the edge of the pool.
+
+She did not smile. Indeed, she gave him a very severe look. "How cruel!"
+she murmured. "Bobby, you deserve a sound spanking. You are a very
+naughty little boy." She spoke rapidly in French.
+
+"He put the bait on," said Bobby, also in French. Here was treachery!
+
+Truxton delivered himself of some French. "Oh, I say, your Highness, you
+said you'd pardon me if I were caught."
+
+"I can't pardon you until you are found guilty," said the Prince in
+English.
+
+"Please put those poor little things back in the pool, Mr. King," said
+the lady in perfect English.
+
+"Gladly--with the Prince's permission," said King, also in English. The
+Prince looked glum, but interposed no imperial objection. Instead he
+suddenly shoved the cigarette box under the nose of his dainty relative,
+who at that unpropitious instant stooped over to watch King's awkward
+attempt to release the fishes.
+
+"Look at the worms," said the Prince engagingly, opening the box with a
+snap.
+
+"Oh!" cried the young lady, starting back. "Throw them away! the horned
+things!"
+
+"Oh, they can't bite," scoffed the Prince. "See! I'm not afraid of 'em.
+Look at this one." He held up a wriggler and she fled to the rock. She
+happened to glance at Truxton's averted face and was conscious of a
+broad grin; whereupon she laughed in the quick staccato of
+embarrassment.
+
+It must be confessed that King's composure was sorely disturbed. In the
+first place, he had been caught in a most reprehensible act, and in the
+second place, he was not quite sure that the Prince could save him from
+ignominious expulsion under the very eyes--and perhaps direction--of
+this trim and attractive member of the royal household. He found himself
+blundering foolishly with the fishes and wondering whether she was a
+duchess or just a plain countess. Even a regal personage might jump at
+the sight of angle worms, he reflected.
+
+He glanced up, to find her studying him, plainly perplexed.
+
+"I just wondered in here," he began guiltily. "The Prince captured me
+down there by the big tree."
+
+"Did you say your name is Truxton King?" she asked somewhat sceptically.
+
+"Yes, your--yes, ma'am," he replied. "Of New York."
+
+"Your father is Mr. Emerson King? Are you the brother of Adele King?"
+
+Truxton stared. "Have you been interviewing the police?" he asked before
+he thought.
+
+"The police? What have you been doing?" she cried, her eyes narrowing.
+
+"Most everything. The police know all about me. I'm a spotted character.
+I thought perhaps they had told you about me."
+
+"I asked if you were Adele's brother."
+
+"I am."
+
+"I've heard her speak of her brother Truxton. She said you were in South
+America."
+
+He stared the harder. Could he believe his ears?
+
+She was regarding him with cool, speculative interest. "I wonder if you
+are he?"
+
+"I think I am," he said, but doubtfully. "Please pardon my amazement.
+Perhaps I'm dreaming. At any rate, I'm dazed."
+
+"We were in the convent together for two years. Now that I observe you
+closely, you _do_ resemble her. We were very good friends, she and I."
+
+"Then you'll intercede for me?" he urged, with a fervent glance in the
+direction of the wall.
+
+She smiled joyously. He realised then and there that he had never seen
+such beautiful teeth, nor any creature so radiantly beautiful, for that
+matter.
+
+"More than that," she said, "I shall assist you to escape. Come!"
+
+He followed her through the shrubbery, his heart pounding violently. The
+Prince, who trotted on ahead, had mentioned a Count. Was she married?
+Was she of the royal blood? What extraordinary fate had made her the
+friend of his sister? He looked back and saw the two guardsmen crossing
+the bridge below, their eyes still upon him.
+
+"It's very good of you," he said. She glanced back at him, a quaint
+smile in her eyes.
+
+"For Adele's sake, if you please. Trespassing is a very serious offence
+here. How did you get in?"
+
+"I hopped in, over the wall."
+
+"I'd suggest that you do not hop out again. Hopping over the walls is
+not looked upon with favour by the guards."
+
+He recalled the distressed Mr. Hobbs. "The man from Cook's tried to
+restrain me," he said in proper spirit. "He was very much upset."
+
+"I dare say. You are a Cook's tourist, I see. How very interesting!
+Bobby, Uncle Jack is waiting to take you to see the trained dogs at the
+eastern gate."
+
+The Prince gave a whoop of joy, but instantly regained his dignity.
+
+"I can't go, auntie, until I've seen him safe outside the walls," he
+said firmly. "I said I would."
+
+They came to the little gate and passed through, into a winding path
+that soon brought them to a wide, main-travelled avenue. A light broke
+in upon Truxton's mind. He had it! This was the wonderful Countess
+Marlanx! No sooner had he come to that decision than he was forced to
+abandon it. The Countess's name was Ingomede and she already had been
+pointed out to him.
+
+"I suppose I shall have to recall Uncle Jack from exile," he heard the
+Prince saying to the beautiful lady. Truxton decided that she was not
+more than twenty-two. But they married very young in these queer old
+countries--especially if they happened to be princes or princesses. He
+wanted to talk, to ask questions, to proclaim his wonder, but discreetly
+resolved that it was best to hold his tongue. He was by no means sure of
+himself.
+
+Be that as it may, he was filled with a strange rejoicing. Here was a
+woman with whom he was as sure to fall in love as he was sure that the
+sun shone. He liked the thought of it. Now he appreciated the
+distinction between the Olga Platanova type and that which represented
+the blood of kings. There _was_ a difference! Here was the true
+Patrician!
+
+The Castle suddenly loomed up before them--grey and frowning, not more
+than three hundred yards away. He was possessed of a wild desire to walk
+straight into the grim old place and proclaim himself the feudal owner,
+seizing everything as his own--particularly the young woman in the rajah
+silk. People were strolling in the shady grounds. He felt the instant
+infection of happy indolence, the call to luxury. Men in gay uniforms
+and men in cool flannels; women in the prettiest and daintiest of
+frocks--all basking in the playtime of life, unmindful of the toil that
+fell to the Sons of Martha out in the sordid world.
+
+"Do you think you can find your man from Cook's?" she asked.
+
+"Unless he has gone and jumped into the river, your--madam. In any
+event, I think I may safely find my way out. I shall not trouble you to
+go any farther. Thank you for overlooking my indiscretion. Thank you, my
+dear little Prince, for the happiest experience of my life. I shall
+never forget this hour." He looked boldly into her eyes, and not at the
+Prince. "Have you ever been in New York?" he asked abruptly.
+
+He was not at all sure whether the look she gave him was one of
+astonishment or resentment. At any rate, it was a quick glance, followed
+by the palpable suppression of words that first came to her lips, and
+the substitution of a very polite:
+
+"Yes, and I love it." He beamed. The smile that came into her eyes
+escaped him. If he could have seen it, his bewilderment; would have been
+sadly increased.
+
+"Say!" whispered the Prince, dropping back as if to impart a grave
+secret. "See that man over there by the fountain, Mr. King?"
+
+"Bobby!" cried the lady sharply. "Good-bye, Mr. King. Remember me to
+your sister when you write. She--"
+
+"That's Aunt Loraine's beau," announced the Prince.
+
+"That's Count Eric Vos Engo." Truxton's look turned to one of interest
+at once. The man designated was a slight, swarthy fellow in the uniform
+of a colonel. He did not appear to be particularly happy at the moment.
+
+The American observed the lady's dainty ears. They had turned a delicate
+pink.
+
+"May I ask who--" began Truxton timidly.
+
+"She will know if you merely call me Loraine."
+
+"So long," said the Prince.
+
+They parted company at once, the Prince and the lady in the rajah silk
+going toward the Castle, King toward the gates, somewhat dazed and by no
+means sure of his senses. He came down to earth after he had marched
+along on air for some distance, so to speak, and found himself deciding
+that she was a duchess here, but Loraine at school. What a wonderful
+place a girl's school must be! And his sister knew her--knew a lady of
+high degree!
+
+"Hobbs!" he called, catching sight of a dejected figure in front of the
+chief steward's door.
+
+"Oh, it's you, is it?" said Mr. Hobbs sullenly.
+
+"It is, Hobbs--very much me. I've been fishing with royalty and chatting
+with the nobility. Where the devil have _you_ been?"
+
+"I've been squaring it with old man Fraasch. I'm through with you, sir.
+No more for me, not if I know--"
+
+"Come along, Hobbs," said the other blithely, taking Hobbs by the arm.
+"The Prince sent his love to you."
+
+"Did he mention Cook's?" gasped Hobbs.
+
+"He certainly did," lied Truxton. "He spoke of you most kindly. He
+wondered if you could find time to come around to-morrow."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE COMMITTEE OF TEN
+
+
+It has been said before that Truxton King was the unsuspecting object of
+interest to two sets of watchers. The fact that he was under the
+surveillance of the government police, is not surprising when we
+consider the evident thoroughness of that department; but that he should
+be continually watched by persons of a more sinister cast suggests a
+mystery which can be cleared up by visiting a certain underground room,
+scarce two blocks from the Tower of Graustark. It goes without saying
+that corporeal admittance to this room was not to be obtained easily. In
+fact, one must belong to a certain band of individuals; and, in order to
+belong to that band, one must have taken a very solemn pledge of eternal
+secrecy and a primal oath to devote his life to certain purposes, good
+or evil, according to his conscience. By means of the friendly Sesame
+that has opened the way for us to the gentler secrets, we are permitted
+to enter this forbidding apartment and listen in safety to the ugly
+business of the Committee of Ten.
+
+There were two ways of reaching this windowless room, with its low
+ceilings and dank airs. If one had the secret in his possession, he
+could go down through the mysterious trap door in the workshop of
+William Spantz, armourer to the Crown; or he might come up through a
+hidden aperture in the walls of the great government sewer, which ran
+directly parallel with and far below the walls of the quaint old
+building. One could take his choice of direction in approaching this
+hole in the huge sewer: he could come up from the river, half a mile
+away, or he could come down from the hills above if he had the courage
+to drop through one of the intakes.
+
+It is of special significance that the trap door in Spantz's workshop
+was reserved for use by the armourer and his more fastidious
+comrades--of whom three were women and one an established functionary in
+the Royal Household. One should not expect ladies to traverse a sewer if
+oilier ways are open to them. The manner of reaching the workshop was
+not so simple, however, as you might suppose. The street door was out of
+the quest ion, with Dangloss on the watch, day and night. As much as can
+be said for the rear door. It was necessary, therefore, that the favored
+few should approach the shop by extraordinary paths. For instance, two
+of the women came through friendly but unknown doors in the basements of
+adjoining houses, reaching the workshop by the narrow stairs leading up
+from a cobwebby wine-cellar next door. Spantz and Olga Platanova, of
+course, were at home in the place. All of which may go to prove that
+while ten persons comprised the committee, at least as many more of the
+shopkeepers in that particular neighbourhood were in sympathy with their
+secret operations.
+
+So cleverly were all these means of approach concealed and so stealthy
+the movements of the Committee, that the existence of this underground
+room, far below the street level, was as yet unsuspected by the police.
+More than that, the existence of the Committee of Ten as an organisation
+was unknown to the department, notwithstanding the fact that it had been
+working quietly, seriously for more than a year.
+
+The Committee of Ten represented the brains and the activity of a rabid
+coterie in Edelweiss, among themselves styled the Party of Equals. In
+plain language, they were "Reds." Less than fifty persons in Graustark
+were affiliated with this particular community of anarchists. For more
+than a year they had been preparing themselves against the all-important
+hour for public declaration. Their ranks had been augmented by
+occasional recruits from other lands; their literature was circulated
+stealthily; their operations were as secret as the grave, so far as the
+outside world was concerned. And so the poison sprung up and thrived
+unhindered in the room below the street, growing in virulence and power
+under the very noses of the vaunted police of Edelweiss, slowly
+developing into a power that would some day assert itself with
+diabolical fury.
+
+There were men and women from Axphain and Dawsbergen in this seed circle
+that made Edelweiss its spreading ground. They were Reds of the most
+dangerous type--silent, voiceless, crafty men and women who built well
+without noise, and who gave out nothing to the world from which they
+expected to take so much.
+
+The nominal leader was William Spantz, he who had a son in the Prince's
+household, Julius Spantz, the Master-of-arms. Far off in the hills above
+the Danube there lived the real leader of this deadly group--the Iron
+Count Marlanx, exile from the land of his birth, hated and execrated by
+every loyal Graustarkian, hating and execrating in return with a tenfold
+greater venom. Marlanx, the man who had been driven from wealth and
+power by the sharp edict of Prince Robin's mother, the lamented Yetive,
+in the days of her most glorious reign,--this man, deep in his raging
+heart, was in complete accord with the desperate band of Reds who
+preached equality and planned disaster.
+
+Olga Platanova was the latest acquisition to this select circle. A word
+concerning her: she was the daughter of Professor Platanova, one time
+oculist and sociologist in a large German University. He had been one of
+the most brilliant men in Europe and a member of a noble family. There
+was welcome for him in the homes of the nobility; he hobnobbed, so to
+speak, with the leading men of time Empire. The Platanova home in Warsaw
+was one of the most inviting and exclusive in that great, city. The
+professor's enthusiasm finally carried him from the conservative paths
+in which he had walked; after he had passed his fiftieth year he became
+an avowed leader among the anarchists and revolutionists in Poland, his
+native state. Less than a year before the opening of this tale he was
+executed for treason and conspiracy against the Empire.
+
+His daughter, Olga, was recognised as one of the most beautiful and
+cultured young women in Warsaw. Her suitors seemed to be without number;
+nor were they confined to the student and untitled classes with whom she
+was naturally thrown by force of circumstance. More than one lordly
+adventurer in the lists of love paid homage to her grace and beauty.
+Finally there came one who conquered and was beloved. He was the son of
+a mighty duke, a prince of the blood.
+
+It was true love for both of them. The young prince pledged himself to
+marry her, despite all opposition; he was ready to give up his noble
+inheritance for the sake of love. But there were other forces greater
+than a young man's love at work. The all-powerful ruler of an Empire
+learned of this proposed mesalliance and was horrified. Two weeks
+afterward the prince was called. The will of the Crown was made known to
+him and--he obeyed. Olga Platanova was cast aside but not forgotten. He
+became the husband of an unloved, scrawny lady of diadems. When the
+situation became more than he could bear he blew out his brains.
+
+When Olga heard the news of his death she was not stricken by grief. She
+cried out her joy to a now cloudless sky, for he had justified the great
+love that had been theirs and would be theirs to the end of time.
+
+From a passive believer in the doctrines of her father and his circle
+she became at once their most impassioned exponent. Over night she
+changed from a gentle-hearted girl into a woman whose breast flamed with
+a lust for vengeance against a class from which death alone could free
+her lover. She threw herself, heart and soul, into the deliberations and
+transactions of the great red circle: her father understood and yet was
+amazed.
+
+Then he was put to death by the class she had come to hate. One more
+stone in the sepulchre of her tender, girlish ideals. When the time came
+she travelled to Graustark in response to the call of the Committee of
+Ten; she came prepared to kill the creature she would be asked to kill.
+And yet down in her heart she was sore afraid.
+
+She was there, not to kill a man grown old in wrongs to her people, but
+to destroy the life of a gentle, innocent boy of seven!
+
+There were times when her heart shrank from the unholy deed she had been
+selected to perform; she even prayed that death might come to her before
+the hour in which she was to do this execrable thing in behalf of the
+humanity she served. But there was never a thought of receding from the
+bloody task set down for her--a task so morbid, so horrid that even the
+most vicious of men gloated in the satisfaction that they had not been
+chosen in her place. Weeks before she came to Graustark Olga Platanova
+had been chosen by lot to be the one to do this diabolical murder. She
+did not flinch, but came resolute and ready. Even the men in the
+Committee of Ten looked upon the slender, dark-eyed girl with an awe
+that could not be conquered. She had not the manner of an assassin, and
+yet they knew that she would not draw back; she was as soft and as sweet
+as the Madonnas they secretly worshipped, and yet her heart was steeled
+to a purpose that appalled the fiercest of them.
+
+On a Saturday night, following the last visit of Truxton King to the
+armourer, the Committee of Ten met in the underground room to hear the
+latest word from one who could not be with them in person, but was
+always there in spirit--if they were to believe his most zealous
+utterances. The Iron Count Marlanx, professed hater of all that was rich
+and noble, was the power behind the Committee of Ten. The assassination
+of the little Prince and the overthrow of the royal family awaited his
+pleasure: he was the man who would give the word.
+
+Not until he was ready could anything be done, for Marlanx had promised
+to put the Committee of Ten in control of this pioneer community when it
+came under the dominion of anarchists.
+
+Alas, for the Committee of Ten! The wiliest fox in the history of the
+world was never so wily as the Iron Count. Some day they were to find
+out that he was using them to pull his choicest chestnuts from the fire.
+
+The Committee was seated around the long table in the stifling,
+breathless room, the armourer at the head. Those who came by way of the
+sewer had performed ablutions in the queer toilet room that once had
+been a secret vault for the storing of feudal plunder. What air there
+was came from the narrow ventilator that burrowed its ways up to the
+shop of William Spantz, or through the chimney-hole in the ceiling.
+Olga Platanova sat far down the side, a moody, inscrutable expression in
+her dark eyes. She sat silent and oppressed through all the acrid,
+bitter discussions which carried the conclave far past the midnight
+hour. In her heart she knew that these men and women were already
+thinking of her as a regicide. It was settled--it was ordained. At
+Spantz's right lounged Peter Brutus, a lawyer--formerly secretary to the
+Iron Count and now his sole representative among these people. He was a
+dark-faced, snaky-eyed young man, with a mop of coarse black hair that
+hung ominously low over his high, receding forehead. This man was the
+chosen villain among all the henchmen who came at the beck and call of
+the Iron Count.
+
+Julius Spantz, the armourer's son, a placid young man of goodly physical
+proportions, sat next to Brutus, while down the table ranged others deep
+in the consideration of the world's gravest problems. One of the women
+was Madame Drovnask, whose husband had been sent to Siberia for life;
+and the other, Anna Cromer, a rabid Red lecturer, who had been driven
+from the United States, together with her amiable husband: an assassin
+of some distinction and many aliases, at present foreman in charge of
+one of the bridge-building crews on the new railroad.
+
+Every man in the party, and there were eight, for Olga was not a member
+of the Ten, wore over the lower part of his face a false black beard of
+huge dimensions. Not that they were averse to recognition among
+themselves, but in the fear that by some hook or crook Dangloss or his
+agents might be able to look in upon them--through stone walls, as it
+were. They were not men to belittle the powers of the wonderful Baron.
+
+As it sat in secret conclave, the Committee of Ten was a
+sinister-looking group.
+
+Brutus was speaking. "The man is a spy. He has been brought here from
+America by Tullis. Sooner or later you will find that I am right."
+
+"It is best to keep close watch on him," advised one of the men. "We
+know that he is in communication with the police and we know that he
+visits the Castle, despite his declaration that he knows no one there.
+To-day's experience proves that. I submit that the strictest caution be
+observed where he is concerned."
+
+"We shall continue to watch his every movement," said William Spantz.
+"Time will tell. When we are positive that he is a detective and that he
+is dangerous, there is a way to stop his operations."
+
+His son grinned amiably as he swept his finger across his throat. The
+old man nodded.
+
+"Dangloss suspects more than one of us" ventured Brutus, his gaze
+travelling toward Olga. There was lewd admiration in that steady glance.
+"But we'll fool the old fox. The time will soon be here for the blow
+that frees Graustark from the yoke. She will be the pioneer among our
+estates, we the first of the individuals in equality; here the home seat
+of perfect rulership. There is nothing that can stop us. Have we not the
+most powerful of friends? Who is greater and shrewder than Count
+Marlanx? Who could have planned and perfected an organization so
+splendid? Will any one dispute this?"
+
+He had the floor, and having the floor means everything to a Red. For
+half an hour he spoke with impassioned fervour, descanting furiously on
+the amazing virtues of his wily master and the plans he had arranged. It
+appeared in the course of his remarks that Marlanx had friends and
+supporters in all parts of Graustark. Hundreds of men in the hills,
+including honest shepherds and the dishonest brigands who thrived on
+them, coal miners and wood stealers, hunters and outlaws were ready to
+do his bidding when the time was ripe. Moreover, Marlanx had been
+successful in his design to fill the railway construction crews with the
+riff-raff of all Europe, all of whom were under the control of leaders
+who could sway them in any movement, provided it was against law and
+order. As a matter of fact, according to Brutus, nearly a thousand
+aliens were at work on the road, all of them ready to revolt the instant
+the command was given by their advisers.
+
+Something that the Committee of Ten did not know was this: those alien
+workmen were no less than so many hired mercenaries in the employ of the
+Iron Count, brought together by that leader and his agents for the sole
+purpose of overthrowing the Crown in one sudden, unexpected attack,
+whereupon Count Marlanx would step in and assume control of the
+government. They had been collected from all parts of the world to do
+the bidding of this despised nobleman, no matter to what lengths he
+might choose to lead them. Brutus, of course, knew all this: his
+companions on the Committee were in complete ignorance of the true
+motives that brought Marlanx into their operations.
+
+With a cunning that commands admiration, the Iron Count deliberately
+sanctioned the assassination of the little Prince by the Reds, knowing
+that the condemnation of the world would fall upon them instead of upon
+him, and that his own actions following the regicide would at once stamp
+him as irrevocably opposed to anarchy and all of its practices!
+
+In the course of his remarks, Peter Brutus touched hastily upon the
+subject of the little Prince.
+
+"He's not very big," said he, with a laugh, "and it won't require a very
+big bomb to blow him to smithereens. He will--"
+
+"Stop!" cried Olga Platanova, springing to her feet and glaring at him
+with dilated eyes. "I cannot listen to you! You shall not speak of it in
+that way! Peter Brutus, you are not to speak of--of what I am to do!
+Never--never again!"
+
+They looked at her in amazement and no little concern. Madame Drovnask
+was the first to speak, her glittering eyes fastened upon the drawn,
+white face of the girl across the table.
+
+"Are you going to fail? Are you weakening?" she demanded.
+
+"No! I am not going to fail! But I will not permit any one to jest about
+the thing I am to do. It is a sacred duty with me. But, Madame
+Drovnask--all of you, listen--it is a cruel, diabolical thing, just the
+same. Were it not in behalf of our great humanity, I, myself, should
+call it the blackest piece of cruelty the world has ever known. The
+slaughter of a little boy! A dear, innocent little boy! I can see the
+horror in all of your faces! You shudder as you sit there, thinking of
+the thing I am to do. Yes, you are secretly despising me, your
+instrument of death! I--I, a girl, I am to cast the bomb that blows this
+dear little body to pieces. I! Do you know what that means? Even though
+I am sure to be blown to pieces by the same agent, the last thing I
+shall look upon is his dear, terrified little face as he watches me hurl
+the bomb. Ah!"
+
+She shuddered violently as she stood there before them, her eyes closed
+as if to shut out the horrible picture her mind was painting. There
+were other white faces and ice-cold veins about the table. The sneer on
+Anna Cromer's face deepened.
+
+"She will bungle it," came in an angry hiss from her lips.
+
+Olga's lids were lifted. Her dark eyes looked straight into those of the
+older woman.
+
+"No," she said quietly, her body relaxing, "I shall not bungle it."
+
+William Spantz had been watching her narrowly, even suspiciously. Now
+his face cleared.
+
+"She will not fail," he announced calmly. "Let there be no apprehension.
+She is the daughter of a martyr. Her blood is his. It will flow in the
+same cause. Sit down, Olga, my dear. We will not touch upon this subject
+again--until--"
+
+"I know, uncle," she said quietly, resuming her seat and her attitude of
+indifference.
+
+The discussion went back to Truxton King. "Isn't it possible that he is
+merely attracted by the beauty of our charming young friend here?"
+ventured Madame Drovnask, after many opinions had been advanced
+respecting his interest in the shop and its contents. "It is a habit
+with Americans, I am told."
+
+"Miss Platanova is most worthy of the notice of any man," agreed Brutus,
+with an amiable leer. Olga seemed to shrink within herself. It was plain
+that she was not a kindred spirit to these vicious natures.
+
+"It is part of his game," said Julius Spantz. "He knows Olga's past; he
+is waiting for a chance to catch her off her guard. He may even go so
+far as to make pretty love to you, cousin, in the hope that--no offence,
+my dear, no offence!" Her look had silenced him.
+
+"Mr. King is not a spy," she said steadily.
+
+"Well," concluded William Spantz, "we are safe if we take no chances
+with him. He must be watched all the time. If we discover that he is
+what some of us think he is, there is a way to end his usefulness."
+
+"Let him keep away from the shop downstairs," said Peter Brutus, with a
+sidelong glance at the delicate profile of the girl down the table.
+
+She smiled suddenly, to the amazement of her sinister companions.
+
+"Have no fear, Brutus. When he hears that you object, he will be very
+polite and give us a wide berth," she said. Peter flushed angrily.
+
+"He doesn't mean any good by you," he snapped. "He'll fool you
+and--poof! Away he goes, rejoicing."
+
+She still smiled. "You have a very good opinion of me, Peter Brutus."
+
+"Well," doggedly, "you know what men of his type think of shopgirls.
+They consider them legitimate prey."
+
+"And what, pray, do men of your type think of us?" she asked quietly.
+
+"Enough of this," interposed William Spantz. "Now, Brutus, what does
+Count Marlanx say to this day two weeks? Will he be ready? On that day
+the Prince and the Court are to witness the unveiling of the Yetive
+memorial statue in the Plaza. It is a full holiday in Graustark. No man
+will be employed at his usual task and--"
+
+Brutus interrupted him. "That is the very day that the Count has asked
+me to submit to the Committee. He believes it to be the day of all days.
+Nothing should go amiss. We conquer with a single blow. By noon of that
+day, the 26th of July, the Committee of Ten will be in control of the
+State; the new regime will be at hand. A new world will be begun, with
+Edelweiss as the centre, about which all the rest shall revolve. We--the
+Committee of Ten--will be its true founders. We shall be glorified
+forever--"
+
+"We've heard all this before, Brutus," said Julius Spantz unfeelingly,
+"a hundred times. It's talk, talk, talk! What we need now is action. Are
+we sure that the Count will be prepared to do all that he says he will
+on the 26th of July? Will he have his plans perfected? Are his forces
+ready for the stroke?"
+
+"Positively. They await the word. That's all I can say," growled Peter.
+"The death of the Prince is the signal for the overthrow of the present
+government and the establishment of the new order of equal humanity."
+
+"After all," mused Julius, Master-at-arms in the Castle, "it is more
+humane to slay the Prince while he is young. It saves him from a long
+life of trouble and fear and the constant dread of the very thing that
+is to happen to him now. Yes, it is best that it should come soon." Down
+in his heart, Julius loved the little Prince.
+
+For an hour longer the Committee discussed plans for the eventful day.
+Certain details were left for future deliberations; each person had his
+part to play and each one was settled in his or her determination that
+nothing should go amiss.
+
+The man they feared was Dangloss. They did not fear God!
+
+When they dispersed for the night, it was to meet again three days hence
+for the final word from Marlanx, who, it seems, was not so far away that
+communication with him was likely to be delayed. A sword hung over the
+head of Truxton King, an innocent outsider, and there was a prospect
+that it would fall in advance of the blow that was intended to startle
+the world. Olga Platanova was the only one who did not look upon the
+sprightly American as a spy in the employ of the government--a
+dangerously clever spy at that.
+
+Up in the distant hills slept the Iron Count, dreaming of the day when
+he should rule over the new Graustark--for he would rule!--a smile on
+his grizzled face in reflection of recent waking thoughts concerning the
+punishment that should fall swiftly upon the assassins of the beloved
+Prince Robin.
+
+He would make short shrift of assassins!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+INGOMEDE THE BEAUTIFUL
+
+
+A light, chilling drizzle had been falling all evening, pattering softly
+upon the roof of leaves that covered the sidewalks along Castle Avenue,
+glistening on the lamp-lit pavements and blowing ever so gently in the
+faces of those who walked in the dripping shades. Far back from the
+shimmering sidewalks, surrounded by the blackest of shadows, and
+approached by hedge-bordered paths and driveways, stood the mansions
+occupied by the nobility of this gay little kingdom. A score or more of
+ancient palaces, in which the spirit, of modern aggression had wrought
+interior changes but had left the exteriors untouched, formed this
+aristocratic line of homes. Here were houses that had been built in the
+fifteenth century,--great, square, solemn-looking structures, grown grey
+and green with age.
+
+There were lights in a thousand windows along this misty, royal
+road--lights that reflected the pleasures of the rich and yet caused no
+envy in time hearts of the loyal poor.
+
+Almost in the centre of the imposing line stood the home of the Duke of
+Perse, Minister of Finance, flanked on either side by structures as grim
+and as gay as itself, yet far less significant in their generation. Here
+dwelt the most important man in the principality, not excepting the
+devoted prime minister himself. Not that Perse was so well beloved, but
+that he held the destinies of the land in Midas-like fingers. More than
+that, he was the father of the far-famed Countess Marlanx, the most
+glorious beauty at the Austrian and Russian courts. She had gone forth
+from Graustark as its most notable bride since the wedding day of the
+Princess Yetive, late in the nineties. Ingomede, the beautiful, had
+journeyed far to the hymeneal altar; the husband who claimed her was a
+hated, dishonoured man in his own land. They were married in Buda Pesth.
+All Europe pitied her at the time; there was but one form of prophecy as
+to her future. There were those who went so far as to say that her
+father had delivered her into the hands of a latter-day Bluebeard, who
+whisked her off into the highlands many leagues from Vienna.
+
+She was seen no more in the gay courts for a year. Then, of a sudden,
+she appeared before them all, as dazzlingly beautiful as ever, but with
+a haunting, wistful look in her dark eyes that could not be mistaken.
+The old Count found an uneasy delight in exhibiting her to the world
+once more, plainly as a bit of property that all men were expected to
+look upon with envy in their hearts. She came up out of the sombre
+hills, freed from what must have been nothing less than captivity in
+that once feudal castle, to prove to his world that she thrived in spite
+of prophetic babblers. They danced from court to court, grotesquely
+mis-mated, deceiving no one as to the true relations that existed
+between them. She despised him without concealment; he took pride in
+showing that he could best resent her attitude by the most scrupulous
+devotion, so marked that its intent could not be mistaken.
+
+Then the Duke of Perse resumed his residence in Edelweiss, opening the
+old palace once more to the world. His daughter, after the death of the
+Princess, began her extended visits to the home of her girlhood. So long
+as the Princess was alive she remained away from Edelweiss, reluctant to
+meet the friend who had banished her husband long before the wedding
+day in Buda Pesth. Now she came frequently and stayed for weeks at a
+time, apparently happy during these escapes from life in the great
+capitals. Here, at least, she was free from the grim old man whose
+countess she was; here, all was sweet and warm and friendly, delicious
+contrast to the cold, bitter life she knew on the Danube.
+
+Without warning she came and without farewells she left Edelweiss on the
+occasion of these periodical visits. No word was ever spoken concerning
+her husband, except on the rare occasions when she opened her heart to
+the father who had bartered her into slavery for the sake of certain
+social franchises that the Iron Count had at his disposal. The outside
+world, which loved her, never heard of these bitter passages between
+father and child. Like Cinderella, she sometimes disappeared from joyous
+things at midnight; the next heard of her, she was in Vienna, or at
+Schloss Marlanx.
+
+If the Duke of Perse repented of his bargain in giving his daughter to
+the Iron Count, he was never known to intimate as much. He loved
+Ingomede in his own, hard way. No doubt he was sorry for her. It is a
+fact that she was sorry for him. She could read his bitter thoughts more
+clearly than he suspected.
+
+Of late she came more frequently to Edelweiss than before. She was seen
+often at the Castle; no court function was complete without the presence
+of this lovely noblewoman; no _salon_ worth while unless graced by her
+wit and her beauty.
+
+John Tullis was always to remember the moment when he looked upon this
+exquisite creature for the first time. That was months ago. After that
+he never ceased being a secret, silent worshipper at her transient
+shrine.
+
+Ten o'clock on this rainy night: A carriage has drawn up before the
+lower gates to the Perse grounds, and a tall, shadowy figure leaves it
+to hurry through the shrub lined walks to the massive doors. A watchman
+in the garden salutes him. The tall figure dips his umbrella in
+response, characteristically laconic. A footman lifts his hand to his
+forelock at the top of the steps and throws open the doors without
+question. This visitor is expected, it is plain to be seen; a
+circumstance which may or may not explain the nervousness that attends
+him as he crosses the broad hall toward the library.
+
+Tullis had long since ceased to be a welcome visitor in the home of the
+Duke of Perse. The men were openly unfriendly to each other. The Duke
+resented the cool interference of the sandy-haired American; on the
+other hand, Tullis made no effort to conceal his dislike, if not
+distrust, of the older man. He argued--with unofficial and somewhat
+personal authority,--that a man who could trade his only child for
+selfish ends might also be impelled to sacrifice his country's interests
+without cramping his conscience.
+
+The Countess was alone in the long, warm-tinted library. She stood
+before the dying embers in the huge old fireplace, her foot upon one of
+the great iron dogs. Her smiling face was turned toward the door as he
+entered.
+
+"It is good of you to come," she said, as they shook hands warmly. "Do
+you know it is almost a year since you last came to this house?"
+
+"It would be a century, Countess, if I were not welcomed in other houses
+where I am sure of a glimpse of you from time to time and a word now and
+then. Still, a year's a year. The room hasn't changed so far as I can
+see. The same old tiger-skin there, the rugs, the books, the
+pictures--the leopard's skin here and the--yes, the lamp is just where
+it used to be. 'Pon my soul, I believe you are standing just as you were
+when I last saw you here. It's uncanny. One might think you had not
+moved in all these months!"
+
+"Or that it has been a minute instead of a year," she supplemented. His
+quick, involuntary glance about him did not escape her understanding.
+"The Duke has gone to Ganlook to play Bridge with friends," she said at
+once. "He will not return till late. I have just telephoned--to make
+sure." Her smile did more than to reassure him.
+
+"Of course, you will understand how impossible it is for me to come
+here, Countess. Your father, the Duke, doesn't mince matters, and I'm
+not quite a fool." Tullis squinted at the fire.
+
+"Do you think ill of me for asking you to come to-night?"
+
+"Not at all," he said cheerfully, "so long as you are quite sure that
+your father is in Ganlook. He would be perfectly justified in kicking me
+out if he were to catch me here. And as I'm rather cumbersome and he's
+somewhat venerable, I don't like to think of the jar it would be to his
+system. But, so long as he isn't here, and I am, why shouldn't I draw up
+a chair before the fire for you, and another for myself, with the
+cigarettes and a world between us, to discuss conditions as they are,
+not as they might be if we were discovered? Shall I? Good! I defy any
+one's father to get me out of this chair until I am ready to relinquish
+it voluntarily."
+
+"I suppose you superintended the 'going-to-bed' of Prince Robin before
+you left the Castle?" she said, lying back in the comfortable chair and
+stretching her feet out to the fire. He handed her a match and watched
+her light the long, ridiculously thin cigarette.
+
+"Yes. I never miss it, Countess. The last thing he does, after saying
+his prayers, is to recall me from exile. He wouldn't be happy if he
+couldn't do that. He says amen and hops into bed. Then he grins in a far
+from imperial way and announces that he's willing to give me another
+chance, and please won't I tell him the latest news concerning
+Jack-the-giant-killer. He asked me to-night if I thought you'd mind if
+he banished your father. They've had a children's quarrel, I believe. If
+you do mind, I am to let him know: he won't banish him. He's very fond
+of you, Countess." She laughed gaily.
+
+"He is a dear boy. I adore him. I think I quite understand why you are
+giving up your life to him. At first I wasn't sure."
+
+"You thought I expected to gain something by it, is not that so? Well,
+there are a great many people who think so still--your father among
+them. They'll never understand. I don't blame them, for, I declare to
+you, I don't fully appreciate it myself. John Tullis playing nurse and
+story-teller to a seven-year-old boy, to the exclusion of everything
+else, is more than I can grasp. Somehow, I've come to feel that he's
+mine. That must be the reason. But you've heard me prate on this subject
+a hundred times. Don't let me start it again. There's something else you
+want to talk to me about, so please don't encourage me to tell all the
+wonderful things he has said and done to-day."
+
+"It is of the Prince that I want to speak, Mr. Tullis," she said,
+suddenly serious. "I don't care to hear whether he stubbed his toe
+to-day or just how much he has grown since yesterday, but I do want to
+talk very seriously with you concerning his future--I might say his
+immediate future."
+
+He looked at her narrowly.
+
+"Are you quite serious?"
+
+"Quite. I could not have asked you to come to this house for anything
+trivial. We have become very good friends, you and I. Too good, perhaps,
+for I've no doubt there are old tabbies in Edelweiss who are provoked to
+criticism--you know what I mean. Their world is full of imaginary
+affairs, else what would there be left for old age? But we are good
+friends and we understand why we are good friends, so there's the end to
+that. As I say, I could not have asked so true a friend into the house
+of his enemy for the mere sake of having my vanity pleased by his
+obedience."
+
+"I am quite sure of that," he said. "Are you in trouble, Countess? Is
+there anything I can do?"
+
+"It has to do with the Prince, not with me," she said. "And yet I am in
+trouble--or perhaps I should say, I am troubled."
+
+"The Prince is a sturdy little beggar," he began, but she lifted her
+hand in protest.
+
+"And he has sturdy, loyal friends. That is agreed. And yet--" she
+paused, a perplexed line coming between her expressive eyes.
+
+John Tullis opened his own eyes very wide. "You don't mean to say that
+he is--he is in peril of any sort?"
+
+She looked at him a long time before speaking. He could feel that she
+was turning something over in her mind before giving utterance to the
+thought.
+
+At last she leaned nearer to him, dropping the ash from her cigarette
+into the receiver as she spoke slowly, intensely. "I think he is in
+peril--in deadly peril."
+
+He stared hard. "What do you mean?" he demanded, with an involuntary
+glance over his shoulder. She interpreted that glance correctly.
+
+"The peril is not here, Mr. Tullis. I know what you are thinking. My
+father is a loyal subject. The peril I suggest never comes to
+Graustark."
+
+She said no more but leaned forward, her face whiter than its wont. He
+frowned, but it was the effect of temporary perplexity. Gradually the
+meaning of her simple, though significant remark filtered through his
+brain.
+
+"Never comes to Graustark?" he almost whispered. "You don't--you can't
+mean your--your husband?"
+
+"I mean Count Marlanx," she said steadily.
+
+"He means evil to Prince Robin? Good Heavens, Countess, I--I can't
+believe it. I know he is bitter, revengeful, and all that, but--"
+
+"He is all that and more," she said. "First, you must let me impress you
+that I am not a traitor to his cause. I could not be that, for the
+sufficient reason that I only suspect its existence. I am not in any
+sense a part of it. I do not _know_ anything. I only feel. I dare say
+you realise that I do not love Count Marlanx--that there is absolutely
+nothing in common between us except a name. We won't go into that. I--"
+
+"I am overjoyed to hear you say this, Countess," he said very seriously.
+"I have been so bold on occasion as to assert--for your private ear, of
+course--that you could not, by any freak of nature, happen to care for
+Count Marlanx, whom I know only by description. You have laughed at my
+so-called American wit, and you have been most tolerant. Now, I feel
+that I am justified. I'm immeasurably glad to hear you confess that you
+do not love your husband."
+
+"I cannot imagine any one so stupid as to think that I do love Count
+Marlanx, for that matter, that he loves me. Still, I am relieved to hear
+you say that you are glad. It simplifies the present for us, and that is
+what we are to discuss."
+
+"You are very, very beautiful, and young, and unhappy," he said
+irrelevantly, a darker glow in his cheeks. She smiled serenely, without
+a trace of diffidence or protest.
+
+"I can almost believe it, you say it so convincingly," she said. For a
+moment she relaxed luxuriantly into an attitude of physical enjoyment of
+herself, surveying her toe-tips with a thoughtfulness that comprehended
+more; and then as abruptly came back to the business of the moment. "You
+must not spoil it all by saying it too fervently," she went on with a
+smile of warning. He gave a short laugh of confusion and sank back in
+the chair.
+
+"You have never tried to make love to me," she went on. "That's what I
+like about you. I think most men are silly, not because I am so very
+young, but because my husband is so ridiculously old. Don't you think
+so? But, never mind! I see you are quite eager to answer--that's enough.
+Take another cigarette and--listen to what I am going to say." He
+declined the cigarette with a shake of his head.
+
+After a moment she went on resolutely: "As I said before, I do not know
+that my suspicions are correct. I have not even breathed them to my
+father. He would have laughed at me. My husband is a Graustarkian, even
+as I am, but there is this distinction between us: he despises
+Graustark, while I love her in every drop of my blood. I know that in
+his heart he has never ceased to brew evil for the throne that disgraced
+him. He openly expresses his hatred for the present dynasty, and has
+more than once said in public gatherings that he could cheerfully assist
+in its utter destruction. That, of course, is commonly known in
+Graustark, where he is scorned and derided. But he is not a man to serve
+his hatred with mere idle words and inaction." She stopped for a moment,
+and then cried impulsively: "I must first know that you will not
+consider me base and disloyal in saying these things to you. After all,
+he is my husband."
+
+He saw the faint curl of her lip. "Before that," he argued simply, "you
+were a daughter of Graustark. You were not born to serve a cause that
+means evil to the dear land. Graustark first made you noble; you can't
+go back on that, you know. Don't let your husband degrade you. I think
+you can see how I feel about it. Please believe that I know you can do
+no wrong."
+
+"Thank you," she said, returning the look in his earnest grey eyes with
+one in which the utmost confidence shone. "You are the only man to whom
+I feel sure that I can reveal myself and be quite understood. It isn't
+as if I had positive facts to divulge, for I have not; they are
+suspicions, fears, that's all, but they are no longer vague shapes to
+me; they mean something."
+
+"Tell me," he said quietly. He seemed to square his broad shoulders and
+to set his jaw firmly, as if to resist physical attack. She knew she had
+come with her fears to a man in whose face it was declared that he could
+laugh at substance as well as shadow.
+
+"I am seeing you here in this big room, openly, for the simple reason
+that if I am being watched this manner of meeting may be above
+suspicion. We may speak freely here, for we cannot be heard unless we
+raise our voices. Don't betray surprise or consternation. The eyes of
+the wall may be better than its ears."
+
+"You don't mean to say you are being watched here in your father's
+house?" he demanded.
+
+"I don't know. This I do know: the Count has many spies in Edelweiss. He
+is systematically apprised of everything that occurs at court, in the
+city, or in the council chamber. So you see, he is being well served,
+whether to an evil purpose or to satisfy his own innate curiosity, I do
+not know. He has reports almost daily,--voluminous things, partly in
+cipher, partly free, and he is forever sending men away on secret,
+mysterious missions. Understand, I do not know that he is actually
+planning disaster to Graustark. Day before yesterday I saw his secretary
+in the streets--a man who has been in his employ for five years or more
+and who now pretends to be a lawyer here. His name is Brutus. I spoke
+with him. He said that he had left the Count six weeks ago in Vienna,
+determined to set out for himself in his chosen profession. He knows, of
+course, that I am not and never have been in the confidences of my
+husband. I asked him if it was known in Edelweiss that he had served the
+Count as secretary. He promptly handed me one of his business cards, on
+which he refers to himself as the former trusted and confidential
+secretary of Count Marlanx. Now, I happen to know that he is still in my
+husband's service,--or was no longer ago than last week."
+
+"My dear Countess, he may be serving him legitimately as an attorney.
+There would be nothing strange in that."
+
+"But he is still serving him as confidential secretary. He is here for a
+purpose, as my husband's representative. I have not been asleep all
+these months at Schloss Marlanx. I have seen and heard enough to
+convince me that some great movement is on foot. My intelligence tells
+me that it has to do with Graustark. As he wishes the Prince no good, it
+must be for evil." "But there is nothing he can do. He has no following
+here. The Prince is adored by the people. Count Marlanx would not be
+such a fool as to--"
+
+"He is no fool," she interrupted quickly. "That's why I am afraid. If he
+is plotting against the Crown, you may depend upon it he is laying his
+plans well. John Tullis, that man is a devil--a devil incarnate." She
+turned her face away.
+
+A spasm of utter repugnance crossed her face; she shuddered so violently
+that his hand went forth to clutch the fingers that trembled on the arm
+of the chair. He held them in his firm grasp for a moment. They looked
+into each other's eyes and he saw the flicker of undisguised horror in
+hers. An instant later she was herself again. Withdrawing her hand, she
+added, with a short laugh of derision: "Still I did not expect heaven,
+so why complain."
+
+"But you are an angel," he blurted out.
+
+"I don't believe the Count will agree to that," she said, with a
+reflective twinkle in her dark eyes. "He has not found me especially
+angelic. If you imagine that I cannot scratch back, my dear friend, you
+are very much mistaken. I have had the pleasure of giving him more than
+one bad half hour. You may be sure he has never called me an angel.
+Quite the other thing, I assure you. But we are straying from the
+point."
+
+"Wait a moment, please," he commanded. "I want to say to you here and
+now: you are the gentlest, loveliest woman I have ever known. I don't
+say it idly. I mean it. If you gave him half as good as he sent, I
+rejoice in your spirit. Now, I want to ask if you expect to go back to
+live with the da--with him."
+
+"That, Mr. Tullis, is hardly a matter I can discuss with you," she said
+gently, and he was not offended.
+
+"Perhaps not, Countess, but now is the time for you to decide the issue.
+Why should you return to Castle Marlanx? Why keep up the farce--or I
+might say, tragedy--any longer? You love Graustark. You love the Prince.
+You betray them both by consorting with their harshest foe. Oh, I could
+tell you a thousand reasons why--"
+
+"We haven't time for them," she interrupted, with mock despair in her
+face. "Besides, I said we cannot discuss it. It requires no learned
+argument to move me, one way or the other. I can decide for myself."
+
+"You should divorce him," he said harshly.
+
+She laughed easily, softly. "My good friend, if I did that, I'd lose
+your friendship." He opened his lips to remonstrate, but suddenly caught
+the undercurrent of the naive remark.
+
+"By Jove," he said, his eyes glowing, "you must not risk finding me too
+obtuse."
+
+"Bravo!" she cried. "You are improving."
+
+"I could provide a splendid substitute for the friendship you speak of,"
+he said coolly.
+
+"Poof! What is that to me? I could have a hundred lovers--but, ach,
+friends are the scarcest things in the world. I prefer friendship. It
+lasts. There! I see disapproval in your face! You Americans are so
+literal." She gazed into the fireplace for a moment, her lips parted in
+a whimsical smile. He waited for her to go on; the words were on her
+tongue's end, he could tell. "A divorce at twenty-five. I believe that
+is the accepted age, isn't it? If one gets beyond that, she--but, enough
+of this!" She sprang to her feet and stood before him, the flash dying
+in her eyes even as it was born that he might see so briefly. "We
+diverge! You must go soon. It is best not to be seen leaving here at a
+very late hour--especially as my father is known to be away. I am afraid
+of Peter Brutus. He is here to watch--_everybody_."
+
+She was leaning against the great carved mantel post, a tall, slender,
+lissome creature, exquisitely gowned in rarest Irish lace, her bare neck
+and shoulders gleaming white against the dull timbers beyond, the faint
+glow from the embers creeping up to her face with the insistence of a
+maiden's flush. He gazed in rapt admiration, his heart thumping like
+fury in his great breast. She was little more than a girl, this wife of
+old Marlanx, and yet how wise, how clever, how brilliant she was!
+
+A face of unusual pallor and extremely patrician in its modelling,
+surmounted by a coiffure so black that it could be compared only to
+ebony--black and almost gleaming with the life that was in it. It came
+low on her forehead, shading the wondrous dark eyes--eyes that were a
+deep yellowish green in their division between grey and black, eyes that
+were soft and luminous and unwaveringly steadfast, impelling in their
+power to fascinate, yet even more dangerously compassionate when put to
+the test that tries woman's vanity.
+
+There were diamonds on her long, tapering fingers, and a rope of pearls
+in her hair. A single wide gold band encircled her arm above the elbow,
+an arm-band as old as the principality itself, for it had been worn by
+twenty fair ancestors before her. The noblewomen of Graustark never wore
+bracelets on their wrists; always the wide chased gold band on the upper
+arm. There was a day, not so far back in history, when they wore bands
+on their ankles.
+
+She was well named Ingomede, the Beautiful.
+
+A soft, almost imperceptible perfume, languorous in its appeal to the
+senses, exuded from this perfect creation; added to this, the subtle,
+unfailing scent of young womanhood; the warm, alive feel of her presence
+in the atmosphere; a suggestion of something sensuous, clean, pure,
+delicious. The undescribable.
+
+"Does Baron Dangloss know this man Brutus?" asked Tullis, arising to
+stand beside her. A sub-conscious, triumphant thrill shot through him as
+an instantaneous flash of his own physical superiority over this girl's
+husband came over him. He was young and strong and vital. He could feel
+the sensation of being strong; he tingled with the glory of it. He was
+thirty-five, Marlanx seventy. He wondered if Marlanx had ever been as
+strong as he.
+
+"I don't know," she said thoughtfully. "I have not spoken to him
+concerning Brutus. Perhaps he knows. The Baron is very wise. Let me tell
+you how I happen to know that Peter Brutus is still serving Count
+Marlanx and why I think his presence signifies a crisis of some sort."
+Tullis stood facing the great fireplace, his back to the hail. He
+observed that she looked toward the doors quite as often as she looked
+at him; it struck him that she was extremely cautious despite her
+apparent ease.
+
+Her voice, always low and even, second lower still. "In the first place,
+I have a faithful friend in one of the oldest retainers at Schloss
+Marlanx. His daughter is my maid. She is here with me now. The old man
+came to see Josepha one day last week. He had accompanied Count Marlanx
+to the town of Balak, which is in Axphain, a mile beyond the Graustark
+line. Peter Brutus was with my husband in Balak for two days. They were
+closeted together from morning till night in the house where Marlanx
+was stopping. At the end of two days Brutus went away, but he carried
+with him a vast sum of money provided by my husband. It was given out
+that he was on his way to Serros in Dawsbergen, where he expected to
+purchase a business block for his master. Marlanx waited another day in
+Balak, permitting Josepha's father to come on to Edelweiss with a
+message for me and to see his daughter. He--"
+
+"And Josepha's father saw Brutus in Edelweiss?"
+
+"No. But he did see him going into Balak as he left for Edelweiss that
+morning. He wore a disguise, but Jacob says he could not be mistaken.
+Moreover, he was accompanied by several men whom he recognised as
+Graustark mountaineers and hunters of rather unsavoury reputation. They
+left Brutus at the gates of Balak and went off into the hills. All this
+happened before I knew that Peter was living in Edelweiss. When I saw
+him here, I knew at once that his presence meant something sinister. I
+can put many things together that once puzzled me--the comings and
+goings of months, the secret reports and consultations, the queer
+looking men who came to the Castle, the long absences of my husband and
+my--my own virtual imprisonment--yes, imprisonment. I was not permitted
+to leave the castle for days at a time during his absences."
+
+"Surely you will not go back again"--he began hotly.
+
+"Sh!" She put a finger to her lips. A man-servant was quietly crossing
+the hall just off the library. "He is a new man. I do not like his
+appearance."
+
+"Do you think he heard us or observed anything? I can make short work of
+him if--" He paused significantly. She smiled up into his face.
+
+"He did not hear anything. We've frightened him off, if he intended to
+play the eavesdropper." The servant had disappeared through a door at
+the end of the hall.
+
+"Then there were the great sums of money that my husband sent off from
+time to time, and the strange boxes that came overland to the castle and
+later went away again as secretly as they came. Mr. Tullis, I am
+confident in my mind that those boxes contained firearms and ammunition.
+I have thought it all out. Perhaps I am wrong, but it seems to me that I
+can almost see those firearms stored away in the caves and cabins
+outside of Edelweiss, ready for instant use when the signal comes."
+
+"God! An uprising? A plot so huge as that?" he gasped, amazed. It is
+fortunate that he was not facing the door; the same servant, passing
+once more, might have seen the tell-tale consternation in his eyes. "It
+cannot be possible! Why, Dangloss and his men would have scented it long
+ago."
+
+"I have not said that I am sure of anything, remember that. I leave it
+to you to analyse. You have the foundation on which to work. I'd advise
+you to waste no time. Something tells me that the crisis is near at
+hand."
+
+"Why should Josepha's father tell these things to you?"
+
+"Because, if you will pardon my frankness, I have protected his daughter
+against Count Marlanx. He understands. And yet he would not betray a
+trust imposed upon him even by the Count. He has only told me what any
+one else might have seen with his own eyes. Wait! The new servant is in
+the hall again." She clapped her hands sharply and called out "Franz!"
+
+The new man appeared in the doorway almost on the instant. "You may
+replenish the fire, Franz." The man, a sallow, precise fellow, crossed
+deliberately and poked the half dead fire; with scrupulous care he
+selected two great chunks of wood from the hopper near by and laid them
+on the coals, the others watching his movements with curious interest.
+There was nothing about the fellow to indicate that he was other than
+what he pretended to be.
+
+"Isn't it strange that we should have fires in July?" she asked
+casually. "The mountain air and the night fogs make it absolutely
+necessary in these big old houses."
+
+"We had a jolly fire in the Prince's room when I left the Castle. Our
+monarch is subject to croup, you see."
+
+"That is all, Franz." The man bowed and left the room. "What do you
+think of him?" she asked, after a moment.
+
+"He has a very bad liver," was all Tullis deigned to offer in response.
+The Countess stared for a moment and then laughed understandingly. "I
+think he needs a change."
+
+"I have a strange feeling that he is but one of a great many men who are
+in Edelweiss for the purposes I mentioned before. Now I have a favour to
+ask of you. Will you take this matter up with Baron Dangloss as if on
+your own initiative? Do not mention me in any way. You can understand
+why I ask this of you. Let them believe that the suspicions are yours. I
+trust you to present them without involving me."
+
+"Trust me, my dear Countess. I am a very diplomatic liar. You need have
+no fear. I shall find a quick way of getting my friend Dangloss on the
+right track. It may be a wild goose chase, but it is best to be on the
+safe side. May I now tell you how greatly I appreciate your confidence
+in--"
+
+She stopped him with a glance. "No, you may not tell me. There is
+nothing more to be said."
+
+"I think I understand," he said gently.
+
+"Let us change the subject. I have uttered my word to the wise. Eh bien!
+It may not be so bad as I think. Let us hope so, at least."
+
+"I have a vague notion that you'd rejoice if we should catch your ogre
+and chop his head off," said he, coolly lighting a fresh cigarette. She
+liked his assurance. He was not like other men.
+
+Glancing up at his sandy thatch, she said, with a rueful droop at the
+corners of her mouth, a contradictory smile in her eyes: "I shall
+rejoice more if you do not lose your head afterwards."
+
+"_Double entendre_?"
+
+"Not at all."
+
+"I thought, perhaps, you referred to an unhappy plight that already
+casts its shadow before," he said boldly. "I may lose everything else,
+my dear Countess, but _not_ my head."
+
+"I believe you," she said, strangely serious. "I shall remember that."
+
+She knew this man loved her.
+
+"Sit down, now, and let us be comfy. We are quite alone," she added
+instantly, a sudden confusion coming over her. "First, will you give me
+that box of candy from the table? Thank you so much for sending it to
+me. How in the world do you manage to get this wonderful New York candy
+all the way to Graustark? It is quite fresh and perfectly delicious."
+
+"Oh, Fifth Avenue isn't so far away as you think," he equivocated. "It's
+just around the corner--of the world. What's eight or nine thousand
+miles to a district messenger boy? I ring for one and he fetches the
+candy, before you can wink your eye or say Jack Robinson. It's a
+marvellous system."
+
+He watched her white teeth set themselves daintily in the rich nougat;
+then the red lips closed tranquilly only to open again in a smile of
+rapture. For reasons best known to himself, he chose not to risk losing
+the thing he had vowed not to lose. He turned his head--and carefully
+inspected the end of his cigarette. A wholly unnecessary precaution, as
+any one might have seen that it was behaving beautifully.
+
+Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly as she studied his averted face in
+that brief instant. When he turned to her again, she was resting her
+head against the back of the chair, and her eyes were closed as if in
+exquisite enjoyment of the morsel that lay behind her smiling lips.
+
+"Are you enjoying it?" he asked.
+
+"Tremendously," she replied, opening her eyes slowly.
+
+"'Gad, I believe you are," he exclaimed. She sat up at once, and caught
+her breath, although he did not know it. His smile distinctly upset her
+tranquillity.
+
+"By the way," he added, as if dismissing the matter, "have you forgotten
+that on Tuesday we go to the Witch's hut in the hills? Bobby has
+dingdonged it into me for days."
+
+"It will be good fun," she said. Then, as a swift afterthought: "Be sure
+that the bodyguard is strong--and true."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+AT THE WITCH'S HUT
+
+
+The next morning, before setting forth to consult the minister of police
+at the Tower, he called up the Perse palace on the telephone and asked
+for the Countess, to tell her in so many words that he had been followed
+from her door to the very gates of the Castle grounds. Not by one man
+alone, for that would have excited suspicion, but by half a dozen at
+least, each one taking up the surveillance in the most casual manner as
+the watcher before him left off. Tullis was amazed by the cunning which
+masked these proceedings; there was a wily brain behind it.
+
+The Duke's secretary answered the call. Tullis was completely bowled
+over by the curt information that the Countess Marlanx had left
+Edelweiss before six that morning, to join her husband, who was shooting
+wild boars with a party in Axphain.
+
+"When does she return?" demanded the American, scarcely believing his
+ears. She had said nothing of this the night before. What could it mean?
+
+"I do not know, sir."
+
+"In a day or two?"
+
+"She took sixteen trunks, sir," was the laconic reply, as if that told
+the story in full.
+
+"Well, I'm damned!"
+
+"I beg pardon, sir!"
+
+"I beg _your_ pardon. Good morning."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In the meantime, our excellent young friend, Truxton King, was having a
+sorry time of it. It all began when he went to the Cathedral in the
+hope of seeing the charming aunt of the little Prince once more. Not
+only did he attend one service, but all of them, having been assured
+that the royal family worshipped there quite as regularly and as
+religiously as the lowliest communicant. She did not appear.
+
+More than all this, he met with fresh disappointment when he ambled down
+to the armourer's shop. The doors were locked and there was no sign of
+life about the shuttered place. The cafes were closed on this day of
+rest, so there was nothing left for him to do but to slink off to his
+room in the Regengetz, there to read or to play solitaire and to curse
+the progress of civilisation.
+
+Monday was little better than Sunday. Hobbs positively refused to escort
+him to the Castle grounds again. No amount of bribing or browbeating
+could move the confounded Englishman from his stand. He was willing to
+take him anywhere else, but never again would he risk a personally
+conducted tour into hot waters royal. Mr. King resigned himself to a
+purely business call at the shop of Mr. Spantz. He looked long, with a
+somewhat shifty eye, at the cabinet of ancient rings and necklaces, and
+then departed without having seen the interesting Miss Platanova. If the
+old man observed a tendency to roam in the young man's eye, he did not
+betray the fact--at least not so that any one could notice. Truxton
+departed, but returned immediately after luncheon, vaguely inclined to
+decide between two desirable rings. After a protracted period of
+indecision, in which Olga remained stubbornly out of sight, he announced
+that he could not make up his mind, and would return later for another
+inspection.
+
+At his room in the hotel, he found a note addressed to himself. It did
+not have much to say, but it meant a great deal. There was no signature,
+and the handwriting was that of a woman.
+
+"_Please do not come again_." That was all.
+
+He laughed with a fine tone of defiance and--went back to the shop at
+five o'clock, just to prove that nothing so timid as a note could stop
+him. This, however, was after he had taken a long walk down Castle
+Avenue, with a supplementary stroll of little incident outside the grim,
+high walls that enclosed the grounds. If any one had told him that he
+was secretly hoping to find a crevasse through which he could invade
+paradise, I make no doubt he would have resented the imputation soundly.
+On the occasion of this last visit to the shop, he did not stay long,
+but went away somewhat dazed to find himself the possessor of a ring he
+did not want and out of pocket just thirty dollars, American. Having
+come to the conclusion that knight-errantry of that kind was not only
+profligate but distinctly irritating to his sense of humour, he looked
+up Mr. Hobbs and arranged for a day's ride in the mountains.
+
+"You'll oblige me, Mr. Hobbs, by removing that band from your cap. I
+know you're an interpreter. It's an insult to my intelligence to have it
+flaunted in my face all day long. I'll admit you're what you say you
+are, so take it off before we start out to-morrow."
+
+And so, minus the beguiling insignia of office, Mr. Hobbs led his
+hypercritical patron into the mountain roads early the next morning,
+both well mounted and provided with a luncheon large enough to restore
+the amiability that was sure to flag at mid-day unless sustained by
+unaesthetic sandwiches and beer.
+
+The day was bright and clear, warm in the valley where the city lay,
+cooler to cold as one mounted the winding roads that led past the lofty
+Monastery of St. Valentine, sombre sentinel among the clouds.
+
+A part of Edelweiss is built along the side of the mountain, its narrow
+streets winding upward and past countless terraces to the very base of
+the rocky, jagged eminence at whose top, a full mile above the last
+sprinkling of houses, stands the isolated, bleak Monastery. The view
+from these upper streets, before one enters the circuitous and hidden
+Monastery road that winds afar in its climb, is never to be forgotten by
+the spectator, no matter how often he traverses the lofty thoroughfares.
+As far as the eye can reach, lies the green valley, through which winds
+the silvery river with its evergreen banks and spotless white
+houses-greens and whites that almost shame the vaunted tints of old
+Ireland as one views them from the incoming steamers. Immediately below
+one's feet lies the compact little city, with its red roofs and green
+chimney pots, its narrow streets and vivid awnings, its wide avenues and
+the ancient Castle to the north. To the south, the fortress and the
+bridges; encircling the city a thick, high wall with here and there
+enormous gates flanked by towers so grim and old that they seem ready to
+topple over from the sheer fatigue of centuries. A soft, Indian summer
+haze hangs over the lazy-lit valley; it is always so in the summer time.
+
+Outside the city walls stretch the wheat-fields and the meadows, the
+vineyards and orchards, all snug in the nest of forest-crowned hills,
+whose lower slopes are spotted with broken herds of cattle and the more
+mobile flocks of sheep. An air of tranquillity lies low over the entire
+vista; one dozes if he looks long into this peaceful bowl of plenty.
+
+From the distant passes in the mountains to the east and north come the
+dull intonations of dynamite blasts, proving the presence of that
+disturbing element of progress which is driving the railroad through the
+unbroken heart of the land.
+
+It is a good three hours' ride to the summit of Monastery Mountain. And,
+after the height has been attained, one does not care to linger long
+among the chilly, whistling crags, with their snow-crevasses and bitter
+winds; the utter loneliness, the aloofness of this frost-crowned crest
+appals, disheartens one who loves the fair, green things of life. In the
+shelter of the crags, at the base of the Monastery walls, looking out
+over the sunlit valley, one has his luncheon and his snack of spirits
+quite undisturbed, for the monks pay no heed to him. They are not
+hospitable, neither are they unfriendly. One seldom sees them.
+
+Truxton King and Mr. Hobbs were not long in disposing of their lunch. It
+was too cold for comfort in their draughty dining-room, and they were
+not invited to enter the inhospitable gates. In half an hour they were
+wending their way down the north side of the peak by gradually declining
+roads, headed for the much-talked-of home of the Witch in Ganlook Gap,
+some six miles from Edelweiss as the crow flies, but twice that distance
+over the tortuous bridle paths and post roads.
+
+It was three o'clock when they clattered down the stone road and up to
+the forbidding vale in which lurked, like an evil, guilty thing, the
+log-built home of that ancient female who made no secret of her
+practices in witchcraft. The hut stood back from the mountain road a
+hundred yards or more, at the head of a small, thicket-grown recess.
+
+A low, thatched roof protruded from the hill against which the hut was
+built. As a matter of fact, a thin chimney grew out of the earth
+itself, for all the world like a smoking tree stump. The hovel was a
+squalid, beggary thing that might have been built over night somewhere
+back in the dark ages. Its single door was so low that one was obliged
+to stoop to enter the little room where the dame had been holding forth
+for three-score years, 'twas said. This was her throne-room, her
+dining-room, her bed-chamber, her all, it would seem, unless one had
+been there before and knew that her kitchen was beyond, in the side of
+the hill. The one window, sans glass, looked narrowly out upon an odd
+opening in the foliage below, giving the occupant of the hut an
+unobstructed view of the winding road that led up from Edelweiss. The
+door faced the Monastery road down which the two men had just ridden. As
+for the door yard, it was no more than a pebbly, avalanche-swept opening
+among the trees and rocks, down which in the glacial age perhaps a
+thousand torrents had leaped, but which was now so dry and white and
+lifeless that one could only think of bones bleached and polished by a
+sun that had sickened of the work a thousand years ago.
+
+This brief, inadequate description of the Witch's hut is given in
+advance of the actual descent of the personally conducted gentleman for
+the somewhat ambiguous reason that he was to find it not at all as
+described.
+
+The two horsemen rode into the glen and came plump upon a small
+detachment of the royal guard, mounted and rather resolute in their lack
+of amiability.
+
+"Wot's this?" gasped Mr. Hobbs, drawing rein at the edge of the pebbly
+dooryard.
+
+"Soldiers, I'd say," remarked Mr. King, scowling quite glumly from
+beneath the rim of his panama. "Hello!" His eyes brightened and his hat
+came off with a switch. "There's the Prince!"
+
+"My word," ejaculated Mr. Hobbs, and forthwith began to ransack his
+pockets for the band which said he was from Cook's.
+
+Farther up the glen, in fact at the very door of the Witch's hut, were
+gathered a small but rather distinguished portion of the royal
+household. It was not difficult to recognise the little Prince. He was
+standing beside John Tullis; and it is not with a desire to speak ill of
+his valour that we add: he was clutching the slackest part of that
+gentleman's riding breeks with an earnestness that betrayed extreme
+trepidation. Facing them, on the stone door-step, was the Witch herself,
+a figure to try the courage of a time-tried hero, let alone the
+susceptibilities of a small boy in knickers. Behind Tullis and the
+Prince were several ladies and gentlemen, all in riding garments and all
+more or less ill at ease.
+
+Truxton King's heart swelled suddenly; all the world grew bright again
+for him. Next to the tall figure of Colonel Quinnox, of the Royal Guard,
+was the slim, entrancing lady of his most recent dreams--the Prince's
+aunt! The lady of the grotto! The lady of the goldfish conspiracy!
+
+The Countess Marlanx, tall and exquisite, was a little apart from the
+others, with Baron Dangloss and young Count Vos Engo--whom Truxton was
+ready to hate because he was a recognised suitor for the hand of the
+slim, young person in grey. He thought he had liked her beyond increase
+in the rajah silk, but now he confessed to himself that he was mistaken.
+He liked her better in a grey riding habit. It struck him sharply, as he
+sat there in the saddle, that she would be absolutely and adorably
+faultless in point lace or calico, in silk or gingham, low-neck or high.
+He was for riding boldly up to this little group, but a very
+objectionable lieutenant barred the way, supported in no small measure
+by the defection of Mr. Hobbs, who announced in a hoarse, agitated
+whisper that he's "be 'anged if he'd let any man make a fool of him
+twice over."
+
+The way was made easy by the intervention of the alert young woman in
+grey. She caught sight of the restricted adventurers--or one of them, to
+be quite accurate--and, after speeding a swift smile of astonishment,
+turned quickly to Prince Bobby.
+
+A moment later, the tall stranger with the sun-browned face was the
+centre of interest to the small group at the door. He bowed amiably to
+the smiling young person in grey and received a quick nod in response.
+As he was adventuring what he considered to be a proper salute for the
+Prince, he observed that a few words passed between the lad's aunt and
+John Tullis, who was now surveying him with some interest.
+
+The Prince broke the ice.
+
+"Hello!" he cried shrilly, his little face aglow.
+
+"Hello!" responded the gentleman, readily.
+
+John Tullis found himself being dragged away from the Witch's door
+toward the newcomer at the bottom of the glen. Mr. Hobbs listened with
+deepening awe to the friendly conversation which resulted in Truxton
+King going forward to join the party in front of the hut. He came along
+in the rear, after having tethered the tired horses, not quite sure that
+he was awake. The Prince had called him Mr. Cook, had asked him how his
+Sons were, all of which was highly gratifying when one pauses to
+consider that he had got his cap band on upside down in his excitement.
+He always was to wonder how the little monarch succeeded in reading the
+title without standing on his head to do so.
+
+Truxton was duly presented to the ladies and gentlemen of the party by
+John Tullis, who gracefully announced that he knew King's parents in New
+York. Baron Dangloss was quite an old friend, if one were to judge by
+the manner in which he greeted the young man. The lady in grey smiled so
+sweetly and nodded so blithely, that Tullis, instead of presenting King
+to her as he had done to the Countess Marlanx and others, merely said:
+
+"And you know one another, of course." Whereupon she flushed very
+prettily and felt constrained to avoid Truxton's look of inquiry. He did
+not lose his wits, but vowed acquiescence and assumed that he knew.
+
+As a result of the combined supplications of the entire party, the old
+woman grudgingly consented to take them into her hovel, where, in
+exchange for small pieces of silver, she would undertake certain
+manifestations in necromancy.
+
+Truxton King, scarcely able to believe his good fortune, crowded into
+the loathsome, squalid room with his aristocratic companions, managing,
+with considerable skill, to keep close beside his charming friend. They
+stood back while the others crowded up to the table where the hag
+occupied herself with the crystal ball.
+
+Never had Truxton looked upon a creature who so thoroughly vindicated
+the life-long reliance he had put in the description of witches given by
+the fairy-tale tellers of his earliest youth. She had the traditional
+hook-nose and peaked chin, the glittering eyes, the thousand wrinkles
+and the toothless gums. He looked about for the raven and the cat, but
+if she had them, they were not in evidence. At a rough guess, he
+calculated her age at one hundred years. A youth of extreme laziness,
+who Baron Dangloss said was the old woman's grandson, appeared to be her
+man-of-all-work. He fetched the old woman's crystal, placed stools for
+the visitors, lighted the candles on the table, occupying no less than a
+quarter of an hour in performing these simple acts, so awkward that at
+least two of his observers giggled openly and whispered their opinions.
+
+"Gruesome lady, isn't she?" whispered King.
+
+"I shall dream of her for months," whispered the lady in grey,
+shuddering.
+
+"Are you willing to have her read your future in that ball?"
+
+"Do you really think she can tell?"
+
+"I once had a fortune-teller say that I would be married before I was
+twenty-three," he informed her. She appeared interested.
+
+"And were you?"
+
+"No. But she did her part, you know--the fortune-teller, I mean."
+
+"She warned you. I see. So it really wasn't her fault." She was watching
+the preparations at the table with eager eyes, her lips parted and her
+breath coming quick through excitement.
+
+"Would you mind telling me how I am to address you?" whispered King.
+They were leaning against the mud-plastered wall near the little window,
+side by side. The whimsical smile that every one loved to see was on his
+lips, in his eyes. "You see, I'm a stranger in a strange land. That
+accounts for my ignorance."
+
+"You must not speak while she is gazing into the crystal," she warned,
+after a quick, searching glance at his face. He could have sworn that he
+saw a gleam of concern in her eyes, followed instantly by a twinkle that
+meant mischief.
+
+"Please consider my plight," he implored. "I can't call you Aunt
+Loraine, you know."
+
+She laughed silently and turned her head to devote her entire attention
+to the scene at the table. Truxton King was in a sudden state of
+trepidation. Had he offended her? There was a hot rush of blood to his
+ears. He missed the sly, wondering glance that she gave him out of the
+corner of her eye a moment later.
+
+Although it was broad daylight, the low, stuffy room would have been
+pitch dark had it not been for the flickering candles on the table
+beside the bent, grey head of the mumbling fortune-teller, whose bony
+fingers twitched over and about the crystal globe like wiggling
+serpents' tails. The window gave little or no light and the door was
+closed, the grinning grandson leaning against it limply. The picture was
+a weird, uncanny one, despite the gay, lightsome appearance of the
+visitors. The old woman, in high, shrill tones, had commanded silence.
+The men obeyed with a grim scepticism, while the women seemed really
+awed by their surroundings.
+
+The Witch began by reading the fortune of John Tullis, who had been
+pushed forward by the wide-eyed Prince. In a cackling monotone she
+rambled through a supposititious history of his past, for the chief part
+so unintelligible that even he could not gainsay the statements. Later,
+she bent her piercing eyes upon the Prince and refused to read his
+future, shrilly asserting that she had not the courage to tell what
+might befall the little ruler, all the while muttering something about
+the two little princes who had died in a tower ages and ages ago. Seeing
+that the boy was frightened, Tullis withdrew him to the background. The
+Countess Marlanx, who had returned that morning to Edelweiss as
+mysteriously as she had left, came next. She was smiling derisively.
+
+"You have just returned from a visit to some one whom you hate," began
+the Witch. "He is your husband. You will marry again. There is a
+fair-haired man in love with you. You are in love with him. I can see
+trouble--"
+
+But the Countess deliberately turned away from the table, her cheeks
+flaming with the consciousness that a smile had swept the circle behind
+her graceful back.
+
+"Ridiculous," she said, and avoided John Tullis's gaze. "I don't care to
+hear any more. Come, Baron You are next."
+
+Truxton King, subdued and troubled in his mind, found himself studying
+his surroundings and the people who went so far to make them
+interesting. He glanced from time to time at the delicate, eager profile
+of the girl beside him; at the soft, warm cheek and the caressing brown
+hair; at the little ear and the white slim neck of her--and realised
+just what had happened to him. He had fallen in love; that was the plain
+upshot of it. It had come to pass, just as he had hoped it would in his
+dearest dreams. He was face to face with the girl of royal blood that
+the story books had created for him long, long ago, and he was doing
+just what he had always intended to do: falling heels over head and
+hopelessly in love with her. Never had he seen hair grow so exquisitely
+about the temples and neck as this one's hair--but, just to confound his
+budding singleness of interest, his gaze at that instant wandered off
+and fell upon something that caused him to stare hard at a certain spot
+far removed from the coiffure of a fair and dainty lady.
+
+His eye had fallen upon a crack in the door that led to the kitchen,
+although he had no means of knowing that it was a kitchen. To his
+amazement, a gleaming eye was looking out upon the room from beyond
+this narrow crack. He looked long and found that he was not mistaken.
+There was an eye, glued close to the opposite side of the rickety door,
+and its gaze was directed to the Countess Marlanx.
+
+The spirit of adventure, recklessness, bravado--whatever you may choose
+to call it--flared high in the soul of this self-despised outsider. He
+could feel a strange thrill of exaltation shooting through his veins; he
+knew as well as he knew anything that he was destined to create
+commotion in that stately crowd, even against his better judgment. The
+desire to spring forward and throw open the door, thus exposing a
+probable con-federate, was stronger than he had the power to resist.
+Even as he sought vainly to hold himself in check, he became conscious
+that the staring eye was meeting his own in a glare of realisation.
+
+Without pausing to consider the result of his action, he sprang across
+the room, shouting as he did so that there was a man behind the door.
+Grasping the latch, he threw the door wide open, the others in the room
+looking at him as if he were suddenly crazed.
+
+He had expected to confront the owner of that basilisk eye. There was
+not a sign of a human being in sight. Beyond was a black little room, at
+the back of which stood an old cooking stove with a fire going and a
+kettle singing. He leaped through, prepared to grasp the mysterious
+watcher, but, to his utter amazement, the kitchen was absolutely empty,
+save for inanimate things. His surprise was so genuine that it was not
+to be mistaken by the men who leaped to his side. He had time to note
+that two of them carried pistols in their hands, and that Tullis and
+Quinnox had placed themselves between the Prince and possible danger.
+
+There was instant commotion, with cries and exclamations from all. Quick
+as the others were, the old woman was at his side before them, snarling
+with rage. Her talon-like fingers sunk into his arm, and her gaze went
+darting about the room in a most convincing way. Some minutes passed
+before the old woman could be quieted. Then King explained his action.
+He swore solemnly, if sheepishly, that he could not have been mistaken,
+and yet the owner of that eye had vanished as if swallowed up by the
+mountain.
+
+Baron Dangloss was convinced that the young man had seen the eye.
+Without compunction he began a search of the room, the old woman looking
+on with a grin of glee.
+
+"Search! Search!" she croaked. "It was the Spirit Eye! It is looking at
+you now, my fine baron! It finds you, yet cannot be found. No, no! Oh,
+you fools! Get out! Get out! All of you! Prince or no Prince, I fear you
+not, nor all your armies. This is my home! My castle! Go! Go!"
+
+"There was a man here, old woman," said the Baron coolly. "Where is he?
+What is your game? I am not to be fooled by these damnable tricks of
+yours. Where is the man?"
+
+She laughed aloud, a horrid sound. The Prince clutched Tullis by the leg
+in terror.
+
+"Brace up, Bobby," whispered his big friend, leaning down to comfort
+him. "Be a man!"
+
+"It--it's mighty hard," chattered Bobby, but he squared his little
+shoulders.
+
+The ladies of the party had edged forward, peering into the kitchen,
+alarm having passed, although the exclamation "boo!" would have played
+havoc with their courage.
+
+"I swear there was some one looking through that crack," protested King,
+wiping his brow in confusion. "Miss--er--I should say--_you_ could have
+seen it from where you stood," he pleaded, turning to the lady in grey.
+
+"Dear me, I wish I had," she cried. "I've always wanted to see some one
+snooping."
+
+"There is no window, no trap door, no skylight," remarked the Baron,
+puzzled. "Nothing but the stovepipe, six inches in diameter. A man
+couldn't crawl out through that, I'm sure. Mr. King, we've come upon a
+real mystery. The eye without a visible body."
+
+"I'm sure I saw it," reiterated Truxton. The Prince's aunt was actually
+laughing at him. But so was the Witch, for that matter. He didn't mind
+the Witch.
+
+Suddenly the old woman stepped into the middle of the room and began to
+wave her hands in a mysterious manner over an empty pot that stood on
+the floor in front of the stove. The others drew back, watching her with
+the greatest curiosity.
+
+A droning song oozed from the thin lips; the gesticulations grew in
+weirdness and fervor. Then, before their startled eyes, a thin film of
+smoke began to rise from the empty pot. It grew in volume until the room
+was quite dense with it. Even more quickly than it began, it
+disappeared, drawn apparently by some supernatural agency into the draft
+of the stove and out through the rickety chimney pipe. Even Dangloss
+blinked his eyes, and not because they were filled with smoke.
+
+A deafening crash, as of many guns, came to their ears from the outside.
+With one accord the entire party rushed to the outer door, a wild laugh
+from the hag pursuing them.
+
+"There!" she screamed. "There goes all there was of him! And so shall
+we all go some day. Fire and smoke!"
+
+Not one there but thought on the instant of the Arabian nights and the
+genii who went up in smoke--those never-to-be-forgotten tales of wonder.
+
+Just outside the door stood Lieutenant Saffo of the guard, his hand to
+his cap. He was scarcely distinguishable, so dark had the day become.
+
+"Good Lord!" shouted Tullis. "What's the matter? What has happened?"
+
+"The storm, sir," said Saffo. "It is coming down the valley like the
+wind." A great crash of thunder burst overhead and lightning darted
+through the black, swirling skies.
+
+"Very sudden, sir," added Mr. Hobbs from behind. "Like a puff of wind,
+sir."
+
+The Witch stood in the door behind them, smiling as amiably as it was
+possible for her to smile.
+
+"Come in," she said. "There's room for all of you. The spirits have
+gone. Ha, ha! My merry man! Even the eye is gone. Come in, your
+Highness. Accept the best I can offer--shelter from the hurricane. I've
+seen many, but this looks to be the worst. So it came sudden, eh? Ha,
+ha!"
+
+The roar of wind and rain in the trees above seemed like a howl of
+confirmation. Into the hovel crowded the dismayed pleasure-seekers,
+followed by the soldiers, who had made the horses fast at the first sign
+of the storm.
+
+Down came the rain in torrents, whisked and driven, whirled and shot by
+the howling winds, split by the lightning and urged to greater glee by
+the deafening applause of the thunder. Apple carts in the skies!
+
+Out in the dooryard the merry grandson of the Witch was dancing as if
+possessed by revelling devils.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+LOOKING FOR AN EYE
+
+
+"Washing the dead men's bones," was the remark King made a few minutes
+later. The storm was at its height; the sheets of rain that swept down
+the pebbly glen elicited the gruesome sentence. He stood directly behind
+the quaking Loraine, quite close to the open door; there is no doubt
+that the observation was intended for her ears, maliciously or
+otherwise.
+
+She gave him an awed glance, but no verbal response. It was readily to
+be seen that she was terrified by the violence of the mountain tornado.
+As if to shame him for the frivolous remark, she suddenly changed her
+position, putting herself behind him.
+
+"I like that," he remonstrated, emboldened by the elements. "You leave
+me in front to be struck by the first bolt of lightning that comes
+along. And I a stranger, too."
+
+"Isn't it awful?" she murmured, her fingers in her ears, her eyes
+tightly closed. "Do you think we'll be struck?"
+
+"Certainly not," he assured her. "This is a charmed spot. It's a frolic
+of her particular devils. She waves her hand: all the goblins and
+thunder-workers in this neck of the woods hustle up to see what's the
+matter. Then there's an awful rumpus. In a minute or two she'll wave her
+hand and--presto! It will stop raining. But," with a distressed look out
+into the thick of it, "it would be a beastly joke if lightning should
+happen to strike that nag of mine. I'd not only have to walk to town,
+but I'd have to pay three prices for the brute."
+
+"I think she's perfectly--ooh!--perfectly wonderful. Goodness, that was
+a crash! Where do you think it struck?"
+
+"If you'll stand over here a little closer I'll point out the tree. See?
+Right down the ravine there? See the big limb swaying? That's the place.
+The old lady is carrying her joke too far. That's pretty close home.
+Stand right there, please. I won't let it rain in on you."
+
+"You are very good, Mr. King. I--I've always thought I loved a storm.
+Ooh! But this is too terrible! Aren't you really afraid you'll be
+struck? Thanks, ever so much." He had squared himself between her and
+the door, turning his back upon the storm: but not through cowardice, as
+one might suppose.
+
+"Don't mention it. I won't mind it so much, don't you know, if I get
+struck in the back. How long ago did you say it was that you went to
+school with my sister?"
+
+All this time the Witch was haranguing her huddled audience, cursing the
+soldiers, laughing gleefully in the faces of her stately, scornful
+guests, greatly to the irritation of Baron Dangloss, toward whom she
+showed an especial attention.
+
+Tullis was holding the Prince in his arms. Colonel Quinnox stood before
+them, keeping the babbling, leering beldame from thrusting her face
+close to that of the terrified boy. Young Vos Engo glowered at Truxton
+King from the opposite side of the room. Mr. Hobbs had safely ensconced
+himself in the rear of the six guardsmen, who stood near the door, ready
+to dash forth if by any chance the terrified horses should succeed in
+breaking away.
+
+The Countess Marlanx, pale and rigid, her wondrous eyes glowing with
+excitement, stood behind John Tullis, straight and strong, like a storm
+spirit glorying in the havoc that raged about her. Time and again she
+leaned forward to utter words of encouragement in the ear of the little
+Prince, never without receiving a look of gratitude and surprise from
+his tall protector.
+
+And all this time the goose-herd grandson of the Witch was dancing his
+wild, uncanny solo in the thick of the brew, an exalted grin on his
+face, strange cries of delight breaking from his lips: a horrid
+spectacle that fascinated the observers.
+
+With incredible swiftness the storm passed. Almost at its height, there
+came a cessation of the roaring tempest; the downpour was checked, the
+thunder died away and the lightning trickled off into faint flashes. The
+sky cleared as if by magic. The exhibition, if you please, was over!
+
+Even the most stoical, unimpressionable men in the party looked at each
+other in bewilderment and--awe, there was no doubt of it. The glare that
+Dangloss bent upon the hag proved that he had been rudely shaken from
+his habitual complacency.
+
+"It is the most amazing thing I've ever seen," he said, over and over
+again.
+
+The Countess Marlanx was trembling violently. Tullis, observing this,
+tried to laugh away her nervousness.
+
+"Mere coincidence, that's all," he said. "Surely you are not
+superstitious. You can't believe she brought about this storm?"
+
+"It isn't that," she said in a low voice. "I feel as if a grave personal
+danger had just passed me by. Not danger for the rest of you, but for me
+alone. That is the sensation I have: the feeling of one who has stepped
+back from the brink of an abyss just in time to avoid being pushed over.
+I can't make you understand. See! I am trembling. I have seen no more
+than the rest of you, yet am more terrified, more upset than Robin,
+poor child. Perhaps I am foolish. I _know_ that something dreadful
+has--I might say, touched me. Something that no one else could have seen
+or felt."
+
+"Nerves, my dear Countess. Shadows! I used to see them and feel them
+when I was a lad no bigger than Bobby if left alone in the dark. It is a
+grown-up fear of goblins. You'll be over it as soon as we are outside."
+
+Ten minutes later the cavalcade started down the rain-swept road toward
+the city, dry blankets having been placed across the saddles occupied by
+the ladies and the Prince. The Witch stood in her doorway, laughing
+gleefully, inviting them to come often.
+
+"Come again, your Highness," she croaked sarcastically.
+
+"The next time I come, it will be with a torch to burn you alive!"
+shouted back Dangloss. To Tullis he added: "'Gad, sir, they did well to
+burn witches in your town of Salem. You cleared the country of them, the
+pests."
+
+Darkness was approaching fast among the sombre hills; the great pass was
+enveloped in the mists and the gloaming of early night. In a compact
+body the guardsmen rode close about Prince Robin and his friend.
+Ingomede had urged this upon Tullis, still oppressed by the feeling of
+disaster that had come over her in the hovel.
+
+"It means something, my friend, it means something," she insisted. "I
+feel it--I am sure of it." Riding quite close beside him, she added in
+lower tones: "I was with my husband no longer ago than yesterday. Do you
+know that I believe it is Count Marlanx that I feel everywhere about me
+now? _He_--his presence--is in the air! Oh, I wish I could make you feel
+as I do."
+
+"You haven't told me why you ran away on Sunday," he said, abruptly,
+dismissing her argument with small ceremony.
+
+"He sent for me. I--I had to go." There was a new, strange expression in
+her eyes that puzzled him for a long time. Suddenly the solution came:
+she was completely captive to the will of this hated husband. The
+realisation brought a distinct, sickening shock with it.
+
+Down through the lowering shades rode the Prince's party, swiftly, even
+gaily by virtue of relaxation from the strain of a weird half hour. No
+one revealed the slightest sign of apprehension arising from the
+mysterious demonstration in which nature had taken a hand.
+
+Truxton King was holding forth, with cynical good humour, for the
+benefit, if not the edification of Baron Dangloss, with whom he
+rode--Mr. Hobbs galloping behind not unlike the faithful Sancho of
+another Quixote's day.
+
+"It's all tommy-rot, Baron," said Truxton. "We've got a dozen stage
+wizards in New York who can do all she did and then some. That smoke
+from the kettle is a corking good trick--but that's all it is, take my
+word for it. The storm? Why, you know as well as I do, Baron, that she
+can't bring rain like that. If she could, they'd have her over in the
+United States right now, saving the crops, with or without water. That
+was chance. Hobbs told me this morning it looked like rain. By the way,
+I must apologise to him. I said he was a crazy kill-joy. The thing that
+puzzles me is what became of the owner of that eye. I'll stake my life
+on it, I saw an eye. 'Gad, it looked right into mine. Queerest feeling
+it gave me."
+
+"Ah, that's it, my young friend. What became of the eye? Poof! And it is
+gone. We searched immediately. No sign. It is most extraordinary."
+
+"I'll admit it's rather gruesome, but--I say, do you know I've a mind to
+look into that matter if you don't object, Baron. It's a game of some
+sort. She's a wily old dame, but I think if we go about it right we can
+catch her napping and expose the whole game. I'm going back there in a
+day or two and try to get at the bottom of it. That confounded eye
+worries me. She's laughing up her sleeve at us, too, you know."
+
+"I should advise you to keep away from her, my friend. Granted she has
+tricked us: why not? It is her trade. She does no harm--except that
+she's most offensively impudent. And I rather imagine she'll resent your
+investigation, if you attempt it. I can't say that I'd blame her." The
+Baron laughed.
+
+"Baron, it struck me a bit shivery at the time, but I want to say to you
+now that the eye that I saw at the crack was not that of an idle peeper,
+nor was it a mere fakir's substitute. It was as malevolent as the devil
+and it glared--do you understand? Glared! It didn't _peep!_"
+
+Truxton King, for reasons best known to himself, soon relapsed into a
+thoughtful, contemplative silence. Between us, he was sorely vexed and
+disappointed. When the gallant start was made from the glen of "dead
+men's bones," he found that he was to be cast utterly aside, quite
+completely ignored by the fair Loraine. She rode off with young Count
+Vos Engo without so much as a friendly wave of the hand to him. He said
+it over to himself several times: "not even a friendly wave of her
+hand." It was as if she had forgotten his existence, or--merciful
+Powers! What was worse--as if she took this way of showing him his
+place. Of course, that being her attitude, he glumly found his
+place--which turned out rather ironically to be under the eye of a
+police officer--and made up his mind that he would stay there.
+
+Vos Engo, being an officer in the Royal Guard, rode ahead by order of
+Colonel Quinnox. Truxton, therefore, had her back in view--at rather a
+vexing distance, too--for mile after mile of the ride to the city. Not
+so far ahead, however, that he could not observe every movement of her
+light, graceful figure as she swept down the King's Highway. She was a
+perfect horsewoman, firm, jaunty, free. Somehow he knew, without seeing,
+that a stray brown wisp of hair caressed her face with insistent
+adoration: he could see her hand go up from time to time to brush it
+back--just as if it were not a happy place for a wisp of hair.
+Perhaps--he shivered with the thought of it--perhaps it even caressed
+her lips. Ah, who would not be a wisp of brown hair!
+
+He galloped along beside the Baron, a prey to gloomy considerations.
+What was the use? He had no chance to win her. That was for story-books
+and plays. She belonged to another world--far above his. And even beyond
+that, she was not likely to be attracted by such a rude, ungainly,
+sunburned lout as he, with such chaps about as Vos Engo, or that
+what's-his-name fellow, or a dozen others whom he had seen. Confound it
+all, she was meant for a prince, or an archduke. What chance had he?
+
+But she was the loveliest creature he had ever seen. Yes; she was the
+golden girl of his dreams. Within his grasp, so to speak, and yet he
+could not hope to seize her, after all. Was she meant for that popinjay
+youth with the petulant eye and the sullen jaw? Was he to be the lucky
+man, this Vos Engo?
+
+The Baron's dry, insinuating voice broke in upon the young man's
+thoughts. "I think it's pretty well understood that she's going to
+marry him." The little old minister had been reading King's thoughts; he
+had the satisfaction of seeing his victim start guiltily. It was on the
+tip of Truxton's tongue to blurt out: "How the devil did you know what I
+was thinking about?" But he managed to control himself, asking instead,
+with bland interest:
+
+"Indeed? Is it a good match, Baron?"
+
+The Baron smiled. "I think so. He has been a trifle wild, but I believe
+he has settled down. Splendid family. He is desperately in love, as you
+may have noted."
+
+"I hadn't thought much about it. Is she in love with him?"
+
+"She sees a great deal of him," was the diplomatic answer.
+
+Truxton considered well for a minute or two, and then bluntly asked:
+
+"Would you mind telling me just who she is, Baron? What is her name?"
+
+Dangloss was truly startled. He gave the young man a quick, penetrating
+glance; then a set, hard expression came into his eyes.
+
+"Do you mean, sir, that you don't know her?" he asked, almost harshly.
+
+"I don't know her name."
+
+"And you had the effrontery to--My excellent friend, you amaze me. I
+can't believe it of you. Why, sir, how dare you say this to me? I know
+that Americans are bold, but, by gad, sir, I've always looked upon them
+as gentlemen. You--"
+
+"Hold on, Baron Dangloss," interrupted Truxton, very red in the face.
+"Don't say it, please. You'd better hear my side of the story first. She
+went to school with my sister. She knows me, but, confound it, sir, she
+refuses to tell me who she is. Do you think that is fair? Now, I'll
+tell you how it came about." He related the story of the goldfish and
+the pinhook. The Baron smiled comfortably to himself, a sphinx-like
+expression coming into his beady eyes as he stared steadily on ahead;
+her trim grey back seemed to encourage his admiring smile.
+
+"Well, my boy, if she elects to keep you in the dark concerning her
+name, it is not for me to betray her," he said at the end of the
+recital. "Ladies in her position, I dare say, enjoy these little
+mysteries. If she wants you to know, she'll tell you. Perhaps it would
+be well for you to be properly, officially presented to her hi--to the
+young lady. Your countryman, Mr. Tullis, will be glad to do so, I fancy.
+But let me suggest: don't permit your ingenuousness to get the better of
+you again. She's having sport with you on account of it. We all know her
+propensities."
+
+It was dusk when they entered the northern gates. Above the Castle, King
+said good-bye to Tullis and the Countess, gravely saluted the sleepy
+Prince, and followed Mr. Hobbs off to the heart of the city. He was hot
+with resentment. Either she had forgotten to say good-bye to him or had
+wilfully decided to ignore him altogether; at any rate, she entered the
+gates to the Castle grounds without so much as an indifferent glance in
+his direction.
+
+Truxton knew in advance that he was to have a sleepless, unhappy night.
+
+In his room at the hotel he found the second anonymous letter,
+unquestionably from the same source, but this time printed in crude,
+stilted letters. It had been stuck under the door, together with some
+letters that had been forwarded from Teheran.
+
+"_Leave the city at once. You are in great danger. Save yourself_!"
+
+This time he did not laugh. That it was from Olga Platanova he made no
+doubt. But why she should interest herself so persistently in his
+welfare was quite beyond him, knowing as he did that in no sense had he
+appealed to her susceptibility. And what, after all, could she mean by
+"great danger"? "Save yourself!" He sat for a long time considering the
+situation. At last he struck the window sill a resounding thwack with
+his fist and announced his decision to the silent, disinterested wall
+opposite.
+
+"I'll take her advice. I'll get out. Not because I'm afraid to stay, but
+because there's no use. She's got no eyes for me. I'm a plain
+impossibility so far as she's concerned. It's Vos Engo--damn little rat!
+Old Dangloss came within an ace of speaking of her as 'her Highness.'
+That's enough for me. That means she's a princess. It's all very nice in
+novels, but in real life men don't go about picking up any princess they
+happen to like. No, sir! I might just as well get out while I can. She
+treated me as if I were a yellow dog to-day--after I'd been damned
+agreeable to her, too, standing between her and the lightning. I might
+have been struck. I wonder if she would have been grateful. No; she
+wouldn't. She'd have smiled her sweetest, and said: "wasn't it lucky?"
+
+He picked up the note once more. "If I were a storybook hero, I'd stick
+this thing in my pocket and set out by myself to unravel the mystery
+behind it. But I've chucked the hero job for good and all. I'm going to
+hand this over to Dangloss. It's the sensible thing to do, even if it
+isn't what a would-be hero in search of a princess aught to do. What's
+more, I'll hunt the Baron up this very hour. Hope it doesn't get Olga
+into trouble."
+
+He indulged in another long spell of thoughtfulness. "No, by George,
+I'll not turn tail at the first sign of danger. I'll stay here and
+assist Dangloss in unravelling this matter. And I'll go up to that
+Witch's hole before I'm a day older to have it out with her. I'll find
+out where the smoke came from and I'll know where that eye went to." He
+sighed without knowing it. "By Jove, I'd like to do something to show
+her I'm not the blooming duffer she thinks I am."
+
+He could not find Baron Dangloss that night, nor early the next day.
+Hobbs, after being stigmatised as the only British coward in the world,
+changed his mind and made ready to accompany King to the hovel in
+Ganlook Gap.
+
+By noon the streets in the vicinity of the Plaza were filled with
+strange, rough-looking men, undeniably labourers.
+
+"Who are they?" demanded King, as they rode past a particularly sullen,
+forbidding crowd at the corner below the city hail.
+
+"There's a strike on among the men who are building the railroad," said
+Hobbs. "Ugly looking crowd, eh?"
+
+"A strike? 'Gad, it's positively homelike."
+
+"I heard a bit ago that the matter has been adjusted. They go back to
+work to-morrow, slight increase in pay and a big decrease in work. They
+were to have had their answer to-day. Mr. Tullis, I hear, was
+instrumental in having the business settled without a row."
+
+"They'd better look out for these fellows," said King, very soberly. "I
+don't like the appearance of 'em. They look like cut-throats."
+
+"Take my word for it, sir, they are. They're the riff-raff of all
+Europe. You should have seen them of a Sunday, sir, before the order
+went out closing the drinking places on that day. My word, they took the
+town. There was no living here for the decent people. Women couldn't go
+out of their houses."
+
+"I hope Baron Dangloss knows how to handle them?" in some anxiety. "By
+the way, remind me to look up the Baron just as soon as we get back to
+town this evening."
+
+"If we ever get back!" muttered the unhappy Mr. Hobbs. Prophetic
+lamentation!
+
+In due time they rode into the sombre solitudes of Ganlook Gap and up to
+the Witch's glen. Here Mr. Hobbs balked. He refused to adventure farther
+than the mouth of the stony ravine. Truxton approached the hovel alone,
+without the slightest trepidation. The goose-herd grandson was driving a
+flock of geese across the green bowl below the cabin. The American
+called out to him and a moment later the youth, considerably excited,
+drove his geese up to the door. He could understand no English, nor
+could Truxton make out what he was saying in the native tongue. While
+they were vainly haranguing each other the old woman appeared at the
+edge of the thicket above the hut. Uttering shrill exclamations, she
+hurried down to confront King with blazing eyes. He fell back,
+momentarily dismayed. Her horrid grin of derision brought a flush to his
+cheek; he faced her quite coolly.
+
+"I'll lay you a hundred gavvos that the kettle and smoke experiment is a
+fake of the worst sort," he announced, after a somewhat lengthy appeal
+to be allowed to enter the hut as a simple seeker after knowledge.
+
+"Have it your own way! Have it your own way!" she cackled.
+
+"Tell you what I'll do; if I can't expose that trick in ten minutes,
+I'll make you a present of a hundred gavvos."
+
+She took him up like a flash, a fact which startled and disconcerted him
+not a little. Her very eagerness augured ill for his proposition. Still,
+he was in for it; he was determined to get inside the hut and solve the
+mystery, if it were possible. Exposure of the Witch would at least
+attract the interest if not the approval of a certain young lady in
+purple and fine linen. That was surely worth while.
+
+With a low, mocking bow, the shrivelled hag stood aside and motioned for
+him to precede her into the hovel. He looked back at Mr. Hobbs. That
+gentleman's eyes seemed to be starting from his head.
+
+"A hundred gavvos is a fortune not easily to be won," said the old dame.
+"How can I be sure that you will pay me if you lose?"
+
+"It is in my pocket, madam. If I don't pay, you may instruct your
+excellent grandson to crack me over the head. He looks as though he'd do
+it for a good deal less money, I'll say that for him."
+
+"He is honest--as honest as his grandmother," cried the old woman. She
+bestowed a toothless grin upon him. "Now what is it you want to do?"
+
+They were standing in the centre of the wretched living-room. The
+goose-boy was in the door, looking on with strangely alert, questioning
+eyes, ever and anon peering over his shoulder toward the spot where
+Hobbs stood with the horses. He seldom took his gaze from the face of
+the old woman, a rat-like smile touching the corners of his fuzz-lined
+lips.
+
+"I want to go through that kitchen, just to satisfy myself of one or two
+things." King was looking hard at the crack in the kitchen door.
+Suddenly he started as if shot.
+
+The staring, burning eye was again looking straight at him from the
+jagged crack in the door!
+
+"I'll get you this time," he shouted, crossing the room in two eager
+leaps. The door responded instantly to his violent clutch, swung open
+with a bang, and disclosed the interior of the queer little kitchen.
+
+The owner of that mocking, phantom eye was gone!
+
+Like a frantic dog, Truxton dashed about the little kitchen, looking in
+every corner, every crack for signs of the thing he chased. At last he
+paused, baffled, mystified. The old woman was standing in the middle of
+the outer room, grinning at him with what was meant for complacency, but
+which struck him at once as genuine malevolence.
+
+"Ha, ha!" she croaked. "You fool! You fool! Search! Smell him out! All
+the good it will do you! Ha, ha!"
+
+"By gad, I _will_ get at the bottom of this!" shouted Truxton, stubborn
+rage possessing him. "There's some one here, and I know it. I'm not such
+a fool as to believe--Say! What's that? The ceiling! By the eternal,
+that scraping noise explains it! There's where the secret trap-door
+is--in the ceiling! Within arm's reach, at that! Watch me, old woman!
+I'll have your spry friend out of his nest in the shake of a lamb's
+tail."
+
+The hag was standing in the kitchen door now, still grinning evilly. She
+watched the eager young man pound upon the low ceiling with a
+three-legged stool that he had seized from the floor.
+
+"I don't see how he got up there so quickly, though. He must be like
+greased lightning."
+
+He was pounding vigorously on the roughly boarded ceiling when the
+sharp voice of the old woman, raised in command, caused him to lower the
+stool and turn upon her with gleaming, triumphant eyes. The look he saw
+in her face was sufficient to check his enterprise for the moment. He
+dropped the stool and started toward her, his arms extended to catch her
+swaying form. The look of the dying was in her eyes; she seemed to be
+crumpling before him.
+
+He reached her in time, his strong arms grasping the frail, bent figure
+as it sank to the floor. As he lifted her bodily from her feet, intent
+upon carrying her to the open air, her bony fingers sank into his arm
+with the grip of death, and--could he believe his ears!--a low, mocking
+laugh came from her lips.
+
+Down where the pebbly house-yard merged into the mossy banks, Mr. Hobbs
+sat tight, still staring with gloomy eyes at the dark little hut up the
+glen. His sturdy knees were pressing the skirts of the saddle with a
+firmness that left no room for doubt as to the tension his nerves were
+under. Now and then he murmured "My word!" but in what connection it is
+doubtful if even he could tell. A quarter of an hour had passed since
+King disappeared through the doorway: Mr. Hobbs was getting nervous.
+
+The shiftless, lanky goose-herd came forth in time, and lazily drove his
+scattered flock off into the lower glen.
+
+The horses were becoming impatient. To his extreme discomfort, not to
+say apprehension, they were constantly pricking their ears forward and
+snorting in the direction of the hovel; a very puzzling circumstance,
+thought Mr. Hobbs. At this point he began to say "dammit," and with some
+sense of appreciation, too.
+
+Presently his eye caught sight of a thin stream of smoke, rather black
+than blue, arising from the little chimney at the rear of the cabin.
+His eyes flew very wide open; his heart experienced a sudden throbless
+moment; his mind leaped backward to the unexplained smoke mystery of the
+day before. It was on the end of his tongue to cry out to his unseen
+patron, to urge him to leave the Witch to her deviltry and come along
+home, when the old woman herself appeared in the doorway--alone.
+
+She sat down upon the doorstep, pulling away at a long pipe, her hooded
+face almost invisible from the distance which he resolutely held. He
+felt that she was eyeing him with grim interest. For a few minutes he
+waited, a sickening doubt growing up in his soul. A single glance showed
+him that the chimney was no longer emitting smoke. It seemed to him that
+the old woman was losing all semblance of life. She was no more than a
+black, inanimate heap of rags piled against the door-jamb.
+
+Hobbs let out a shout. The horses plunged viciously. Slowly the bundle
+of rags took shape. The old woman arose and hobbled toward him, leaning
+upon a great cane.
+
+"Whe--where's Mr. King?" called out Hobbs.
+
+She stopped above him and he could see her face. Mr. Hobbs was chilled
+to the bone. Her arm was raised, a bony finger pointing to the treetops
+above her hovel.
+
+"He's gone. Didn't you see him? He went off among the treetops. You
+won't see him again." She waited a moment, and then went on, in most
+ingratiating tones: "Would you care to come into my house? I can show
+you the road he took. You--"
+
+But Mr. Hobbs, his hair on end, had dropped the rein of King's horse and
+was putting boot to his own beast, whirling frantically into the path
+that led away from the hated, damned spot! Down the road he crashed,
+pursued by witches whose persistence put to shame the efforts of those
+famed ladies of Tam O'Shanter in the long ago; if he had looked over his
+shoulder, he might have discovered that he was followed by a riderless
+horse, nothing more.
+
+But a riderless horse is a gruesome thing--sometimes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+STRANGE DISAPPEARANCES
+
+
+The further adventures of Mr. Hobbs on this memorable afternoon are
+quickly chronicled, notwithstanding the fact that he lived an age while
+they were transpiring, and experienced sensations that would still be
+fresh in his memory if he lived to be a hundred.
+
+He was scarcely well out of sight of the cabin when his conscience began
+to smite him: after all, his patron might be in dire need of his
+services, and here he was, fleeing from an old woman and a whiff of
+smoke! Hobbs was not a physical coward, but it took more than a mile of
+hard-ridden conscience to bring his horse to a standstill. Then, with
+his heart in his mouth, he slowly began to retrace his steps, walking
+where he had galloped a moment before. A turn in the road brought him in
+view of something that caused him to draw rein sharply. A hundred yards
+ahead, five or six men were struggling with a riderless bay horse.
+
+"My Gawd!" ejaculated Hobbs. "It's _his_ horse! I might have known!"
+
+He looked eagerly for his patron. There was no sign of him, so Hobbs
+rode slowly forward, intent upon asking the woodmen--for such they
+appeared to be--to accompany him to the glen, now but a short distance
+ahead.
+
+As he drew nearer, it struck him forcibly that the men were not what he
+had thought them to be. They were an evil-looking lot, more like the
+strikers he had seen in the town earlier in the day. Even as he was
+turning the new thought over in his mind, one of them stepped out of
+the little knot, and, without a word of warning, lifted his arm and
+fired point blank at the little Englishman. A pistol ball whizzed close
+by his head. His horse leaped to the side of the road in terror, almost
+unseating him.
+
+But Hobbs had fighting blood in his veins. What is more to the point, he
+had a Mauser revolver in his pocket. He jerked it out, and, despite a
+second shot from the picket, prepared to ride down upon the party. An
+instant later half a dozen revolvers were blazing away at him. Hobbs
+turned at once and rode in the opposite direction, whirling to fire
+twice at the unfriendly group. Soon he was out of range and at leisure.
+He saw the futility of any attempt to pass them. The only thing left for
+him to do was to ride as quickly as possible to the city and give the
+alarm: at the same time, to acquaint the police with the deliberate
+assault of the desperadoes.
+
+His mind was so full of the disaster to Truxton King--he did not doubt
+for an instant that he had been destroyed by the sorceress--that he gave
+little thought to his own encounter with the rascals in the roadway. He
+had come to like the impetuous young man with the open purse and the
+open heart. Despite his waywardness in matters conventional to the last
+degree he could not but admire him for the smile he had and the courage
+that never failed him, even when the smile met the frown of rebuke.
+
+Riding swiftly through the narrow, sunless defile he was nearing the
+point where the road connected with the open Highway; from there on the
+way was easy and devoid of peril. Suddenly his horse swerved and leaped
+furiously out of stride, stumbling, but recovering himself almost
+instantaneously. In the same second he heard the sharp crack of a
+firearm, far down the unbroken ravine to his left. A second shot came,
+this time from the right and quite close at hand. His horse was
+staggering, swaying--then down he crashed, Hobbs swinging clear barely
+in time to escape being pinioned to the ground. A stream of blood was
+pouring from the side of the poor beast. Aghast at this unheard of
+wantonness, the little interpreter knew not which way to turn, but stood
+there dazed until a third shot brought him to his senses. The bullet
+kicked up the dust near his feet. He scrambled for the heavy underbrush
+at the roadside and darted off into the forest, his revolver in his
+hand, his heart palpitating like mad. Time and again as he fled through
+the dark thickets, he heard the hoarse shouts of men in the distance. It
+dawned upon him at last that there had been an uprising of some kind in
+the city--that there was rioting and murder going on--that these men
+were not ordinary bandits, but desperate strikers in quest of
+satisfaction for grievances ignored.
+
+Night came and he dropped to the soft, dank earth, utterly exhausted and
+absolutely lost for the time being in the pathless hills.
+
+At ten o'clock the next morning Colonel Quinnox and a company of
+soldiers, riding from the city gates toward the north in response to a
+call for help from honest herders who reported attacks and robberies of
+an alarming nature, came upon the stiff, foot-sore, thorn-scratched Mr.
+Hobbs, not far from the walls of the town. The Colonel was not long in
+grasping the substance of Hobbs's revelations. He rode off at once for
+the Witch's hovel, sending Hobbs with a small, instructed escort to the
+Castle, where Baron Dangloss was in consultation with Mr. Tullis and
+certain ministers.
+
+The city was peaceful enough, much to the surprise of Hobbs. No
+disturbance had been reported, said the guardsmen who rode beside him.
+Up in the hills there had been some depredations, but that was all.
+
+"All?" groaned Mr. Hobbs. "All? Hang it all, man, wot do you call all?
+You haven't heard 'alf all of it yet. I tell you, there's been the devil
+to pay. Wait till the Colonel comes back from Ganlook Gap. He'll have
+news for you; take it from me, he will. That poor chap 'as gone up in
+smoke, as sure as my name's Hobbs."
+
+They met Baron Dangloss near the barracks, across the park from the
+Castle. He was in close, earnest conversation with John Tullis and Count
+Halfont, both of whom seemed to be labouring under intense excitement.
+Over by the arsenal the little Prince, attended by his Aunt Loraine and
+Count Vos Engo--with two mechanical guardsmen in the background--was
+deep in conversation with Julius Spantz, the master-of-arms. If he had
+been near enough to hear, he might have learned that Prince Robin's
+air-gun was very much out of order and needed attention at once.
+
+The arrival of Hobbs, a pitiful but heroic object, at once arrested the
+attention of every one. His story was heard by a most distinguished
+audience; in fact, Hobbs was near to exploding with his own suddenly
+acquired importance. Not only were there dark, serious looks from the
+men in the party, and distressed exclamations from the most beautiful
+young lady in the world (he had always said that of her), but he had the
+extreme unction of bringing tears to the eyes of a prince, and of
+hearing manfully suppressed sobs from the throat of the same august
+personage.
+
+The looks that went round at the conclusion of his disjointed and
+oft-interrupted story, expressed something more than consternation.
+
+"There is nothing supernatural about King's disappearance," said Tullis
+sharply. "That's all nonsense. He had money about him and it perhaps
+turns out that there really was a man at the crack in the door--a clever
+brigand who to-day has got the better of our vain-glorious friend. The
+shooting in the hills is more disturbing than this, to my mind.
+Gentlemen, you shouldn't lose any time in running these fellows down. It
+will mean trouble if it gets under way. They're an ugly lot."
+
+"This mystery coming on top of the other is all the more difficult to
+understand. I mean the disappearance of the Countess Marlanx," said
+Baron Dangloss, pulling at his imperial in plain perplexity. "But we
+must not stop here talking. Will you come with me, Mr. Tullis, to the
+Tower? I shall send out my best man to work on the case of the lady. It
+is a most amazing thing. I still have hope that she will appear in
+person to explain the affair."
+
+"I think not," said Tullis gloomily. "This looks like abduction-foul
+play, or whatever you choose to call it. She has never left her father's
+house in just this manner before. I believe, Baron, that Marlanx has
+taken her away by force. She told me yesterday that she would never go
+back to him if she could help it. I have already given you my suspicions
+regarding his designs upon the--ahem!" Catching the eager gaze of the
+Prince, he changed the word "throne" to "treasury." The Baron nodded
+thoughtfully. "The Countess attended the fete at Baron Pultz's last
+night, leaving at twelve o'clock. I said good-night to her at the
+fountain and watched her until she passed through the gate between the
+Baron's grounds and those of her father adjoining. She would not permit
+me to accompany her to the doors. Her maid had preceded her and was
+waiting just beyond the gate--at least, so she says to-day. It is less
+than two hundred feet from the gate to Perse's doorsteps. Well, she
+never crossed that space. Her maid waited for an hour near the fernery
+and then came to the Baron's. The Countess has not been seen since she
+passed through the gate in the wall. I say that she has been carried
+away."
+
+"The maid will be at my office at eleven with the Duke of Perse and the
+house servants. I have detailed a man to look up this fellow Brutus you
+speak of, and to ascertain his whereabouts last night. Come, we will go
+to the Tower. The Duke is greatly distressed. He suspects foul play, I
+am confident, but he will not admit that Marlanx is responsible."
+
+"But what about Mr. King?" piped up a small voice.
+
+"Colonel Quinnox has gone to look for him, Bobby," began Tullis,
+frowning slightly. He was interested in but one human being at that
+moment.
+
+"I want the old Witch beheaded," said the Prince. "Why don't you go,
+Uncle Jack? He's an American. He'd help you, I bet, if you were in
+danger."
+
+Tullis flushed. Then he patted Prince Robin's shoulder and said, with no
+little emotion in his voice:
+
+"Perhaps I deserve the rebuke, Bobby, but you must not forget that there
+is a lady in distress. Which would you have me do--desert the lady whom
+we all love or the man whom we scarcely know?"
+
+"The lady," said Bobby promptly. "Hasn't she got a husband to look after
+her? Mr. King has no friends, no relations, nothing. Aunt Loraine likes
+him and so do I."
+
+"He's a fine chap," asserted Hobbs, and afterward marvelled at his own
+temerity.
+
+Loraine, her merry eyes now dark with anxiety, her cheeks white with
+resolution, turned upon John Tullis. "You might leave the rescue of the
+Countess to the proper authorities--the police," she said calmly. "I
+think it is your duty as an American to head the search for Mr. King. If
+Count Marlanx has spirited his wife away, pray, who has a better right?"
+
+"But we are not sure that he--"
+
+"We are sure that Mr. King is either dead or in dire need of help," she
+interrupted hotly. He looked at her in surprise, swayed by two impulses.
+
+"Colonel Quinnox is quite competent to conduct the search," he said
+shortly.
+
+"But Colonel Quinnox has gone forth on another mission. He may be unable
+to give any of his time to the search for Mr. King. It is outrageous,
+John Tullis, to refuse help--"
+
+"I don't refuse help," he exclaimed. "They may take the whole army out
+to look for him, so far as I am concerned. But, I'll tell you this--I
+consider it my duty as a man to devote what strength I have to the
+service of a _woman_ in trouble. That ends it! Come, Baron; we will go
+to the Tower."
+
+The amazed young woman looked at him with wide, comprehending eyes. Her
+lip trembled under the rebuke. Count Halfont intervened, hastily
+proposing that a second party be sent out at once with instructions to
+raze the Witch's hut if necessary.
+
+"I shall be happy to lead the expedition," said young Count Vos Engo,
+bowing deeply to the young lady herself.
+
+"You shall, Vos Engo," said Halfont. "Prepare at once. Take ten men. I
+shall report to General Braze for you."
+
+Tullis turned suddenly to the resentful girl. "Loraine," he said gently,
+as the others drew away, "don't be hard with me. You don't understand."
+
+"Yes, I do," she said stubbornly. "You are in love with her."
+
+"Yes; that's quite true."
+
+"A married woman!"
+
+"I can't help it. I must do all I can for her."
+
+She looked into his honest eyes for a moment.
+
+"Forgive me," she murmured, hanging her head. "What is Mr. King to us,
+after all?"
+
+"He is simply paying for his foolhardiness. Americans do that the world
+over."
+
+"Be careful that you do not pay for something worse than foolhardiness."
+
+"I think you may trust me."
+
+She smiled brightly up into his face. "Have your way, then. Remember
+that I am her friend, too." Then she hurried off after the Prince and
+Vos Engo, who was already giving instructions to an attentive orderly.
+
+"Poor Mr. King!" she said to the Prince, as they stood by watching the
+preparations. "I am afraid, Bobby, he can't come to your circus this
+week. I sent the invitation this morning, early. He may never receive
+it. Isn't it dreadful, Count Vos Engo?"
+
+Count Vos Engo was politely concerned, but it should not be expected
+that, in his present state of mind regarding her, he could be seriously
+grieved by anything that might have happened to the rash American.
+
+The guard about the Prince was doubled: orders requiring the strictest
+care of his person were issued by Count Halfont. By this time, it may be
+suspected, the suspicions of John Tullis had been communicated to men
+high in the government; no small amount of credence was attached to
+them. Baron Dangloss began to see things in a different light; things
+that had puzzled him before now seemed clear. His office was the busiest
+place in Edelweiss.
+
+"It is not unreasonable to suspect that Marlanx, or some of his agents,
+having concluded that the Countess knew too much of their operations,
+and might not be a safe repository, decided to remove her before it was
+too late. Understand, gentlemen, I don't believe the Countess is in
+sympathy with her husband's schemes--"
+
+The Duke of Perse interrupted the doughty baron. "You assume a great
+deal, Baron, in saying that he has schemes inimical to the best
+interests of this country."
+
+"I fancy that your Grace will admit that your venerable son-in-law--who,
+if I mistake not, is some ten years your senior--has no great love for
+the reigning power in Graustark. We will pass that, however," said the
+Baron, pointedly. "We should be wise enough to guard against any move he
+may make; it is imperative that we should not be caught napping."
+
+"I don't believe he has taken my daughter away by force. Why should he
+do so? She goes to him voluntarily at the end of each visit. There is no
+coercion." He met John Tullis's stony gaze without flinching. "I insist
+that she has been stolen by these brigands in the hills, to be held for
+ransom."
+
+The stories of the maid, the footmen, the groundmen were all to the
+effect that the Countess had not returned to her father's home after
+leaving the fete next door. There were no signs of a struggle in the
+garden, nor had there been the slightest noise to attract the attention
+of the waiting maid. It was not impossible, after all, that she had
+slipped away of her own accord, possessed of a sudden whim or impulse.
+
+The new man-servant, suspected by the Countess herself, passed through
+the examination creditably. Tullis, of course, had not yet told Dangloss
+of the Countess's own suspicions concerning this man. They were a part
+of their joint secret. The American felt sure, however, that this man
+knew more of the night's work than he had told. He conveyed this belief
+to Dangloss, and a close watch was set upon the fellow. More than once
+during the long afternoon John Tullis found himself wishing that he had
+that dare-devil, thoroughbred young countryman of his, Truxton King,
+beside him; something told him that the young man would prove a treasure
+in resourcefulness and activity.
+
+Late in the afternoon, a telegram was brought to Tullis which upset all
+of their calculations and caused the minister of police to swear softly
+in pure disgust. It was from the Countess Marlanx herself, sent from
+Porvrak, a station far down the railway, in the direction of Vienna. It
+was self-explanatory: "I am going to Schloss Marlanx, there to end my
+days. There is no hope for me. I go voluntarily. Will you not understand
+why I am leaving Edelweiss? You must know." It was signed "Ingomede."
+
+Tullis was dumbfounded. He caught the penetrating glance of Dangloss and
+flushed under the sudden knowledge that this shrewd old man also
+understood why she was leaving Edelweiss. Because of _him!_ Because she
+loved him and would not be near him. His heart swelled exultantly in the
+next moment; a brave resolve was born within him.
+
+"We don't need a key to that, my boy," said the Baron indulgently. "But
+I will say that she has damned little consideration for you when she
+steals away in the dead of night, without a word. In a ball dress, too.
+Unfeeling, I'd say. Well, we can devote our attention to Mr. King, who
+_is_ lost."
+
+"See here, Baron," said Tullis after a moment, "I want you to give me a
+couple of good men for a few days. I'm going to Schloss Marlanx. I'll
+get her away from that place if I have to kill Marlanx and swing for
+it."
+
+At seven o'clock that night, accompanied by two clever secret service
+men, Tullis boarded the train for the West. A man who stood in the
+tobacconist's shop on the station platform smiled quietly to himself as
+the train pulled out. Then he walked briskly away. It was Peter Brutus,
+the lawyer.
+
+A most alluring trap had been set for John Tullis!
+
+The party that had gone to Ganlook Gap in charge of Count Vos Engo
+returned at nightfall, no wiser than when it left the barracks at noon.
+Riding bravely, but somewhat dejectedly beside the handsome young
+officer in command was a girl in grey. It was her presence with the
+troop that had created comment at the gates earlier in the day. No one
+could understand why she was riding forth upon what looked to be a
+dangerous mission. Least of all, Count Vos Engo, who had striven vainly
+to dissuade her from the purpose to accompany the soldiers.
+
+Now she was coming home with them, silent, subdued, dispirited--even
+more so than she allowed the Count to see.
+
+"I was hateful to him yesterday," she said penitently, as they rode into
+the city. Vos Engo had been thinking of something else: the remark
+disturbed him.
+
+"He was very presumptuous-yesterday," he said crossly.
+
+She transfixed him with a look meant to be reproachful.
+
+"That's why I managed the ticket for Bobby's circus," she said, looking
+ahead with a genuinely mournful droop of her lip. "I was sorry for him.
+Oh, dear, oh, dear What will his poor mother say--and his sister?"
+
+"We've done all we can, Loraine. Except to cable," he added sourly.
+
+"Yes, I suppose so. Poor fellow!"
+
+Colonel Quinnox and his men had been scouring the hills for bandits.
+They arrived at the Witch's cabin a few minutes after Vos Engo and his
+company. Disregarding the curses of the old woman, a thorough search of
+the place was made. The forest, the ravine, the mountainside for a mile
+or more in all directions were gone over by the searchers. There was
+absolutely no sign of the missing man, nor was there the least
+indication that there had been foul play.
+
+The old woman's story, reflected by the grandson, was convincing so far
+as it went. She said that the young man remained behind in the kitchen
+to puzzle himself over the smoke mystery, while she went out to her
+doorstep. The man with the horses became frightened when she went down
+to explain the situation to him. He fled. A few minutes later the
+gentleman emerged, to find his horse gone, himself deserted. Cursing, he
+struck off down the glen in pursuit of his friend, and that was the last
+she saw of him. Not long afterward she heard shooting in the Gap and
+sent her grandson to see if anything could have happened to her late
+visitor, who, it seems, owed her one hundred gavvos as a forfeit of some
+sort.
+
+The further prosecution of the search was left to Colonel Quinnox and
+his men. Loraine, shuddering, but resolute, had witnessed the ransacking
+of the hut, had urged the arrest of the hag, and had come away
+disheartened but satisfied that the woman had told them the truth.
+Quinnox's theory was accepted by all. He believed that King had fallen
+into the hands of brigands and that a heavy ransom would be demanded
+for his release.
+
+In a warm-tinted room at the Castle, later on in the evening, the
+Prince, in pajamas, was discoursing bravely on the idiosyncrasies of
+Fate. His only auditor was the mournful Loraine, who sat beside the
+royal bed in which he wriggled vaguely. The attendants were far down the
+room.
+
+"Never mind, Aunt Loraine, you can't help it. I'm just as sorry as you
+are. Say, are you in love with him?"
+
+"In love with whom?"
+
+"Mr. King."
+
+"Of course not, silly. What an absurd question. I do not know him at
+all."
+
+"That's all right, Aunt Loraine. I believe in love at first sight. He is
+a--"
+
+"Bobby! Don't be foolish. How could I be in love with _him_?"
+
+"Well, you can't help it sometimes. Even princes fall in love without
+knowing it."
+
+"I suppose so," dreamily.
+
+"It's mighty hard to make up your mind which one you love best, though.
+Dr. Barrett's daughter in New York is awful nice, but I think she's--"
+
+"She is twenty years older than you, Bobby, if you mean to say you are
+in love with her."
+
+"Well, but I'll grow up, auntie. Anyhow, Paula Vedrowski is not so old
+as I. She is--"
+
+"For heaven's sake, Bobby, do go to sleep!"
+
+"Don't you care to hear about _my_ love affairs?"
+
+"You are perfectly ridiculous!"
+
+"All right for you, auntie. I shan't listen when you want to tell me
+about yours. Gee, Uncle Jack listens, you bet. I wish he was here this
+minute. Say, is he ever going to get married?" There was no answer. He
+peered over the top of the pillow. There were tears in his Aunt
+Loraine's eyes. "Oh, say, auntie, darling, don't cry! I'll--I'll go to
+sleep, honest!"
+
+She was not in love with Truxton King, but she was a fine,
+tender-hearted girl, who suffered because of the thing that had happened
+to him and because she loved his sister.
+
+Over in the Hotel Regengetz, on a little table in the centre of the
+room, lay a thick envelope with the royal arms emblazoned in the upper
+corner. It contained an invitation to the private circus that had been
+arranged for the little Prince, and it bore the name of Truxton King.
+
+Across the foot of the bed hung his evening clothes, laid out by a
+faithful and well-tipped house valet, snug and ready for instant use.
+
+But where was Truxton King?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE IRON COUNT
+
+
+When King, in the kindness of his heart, grasped the old woman to keep
+her from falling to the floor, he played directly into the hands of very
+material agencies under her control. There was nothing ghostly or even
+spiritual in the incidents that followed close upon the simulated
+fainting spell of the fortune-teller. It has been said before that her
+bony fingers closed upon his arms in a far from feeble manner. He had no
+time for surprise at this sudden recovery; there was only time to see a
+fiendish grin flash into her face. The next instant something struck him
+in the face; then with a fierce jerk this same object tightened about
+his neck. His attempt to yell out was checked before a sound could issue
+from his lips.
+
+It all came to him in a flash. A noose had been dropped over his head;
+as he was pulled backward, his startled, bulging eyes swept the ceiling.
+The mystery was explained, but in a manner that left him small room for
+satisfaction. Above him a square opening had appeared in the ceiling;
+two ugly, bearded faces were leaning over the edge and strong hands were
+grasping a thick rope. In a frenzy of fear and desperation he cast the
+old woman from him and tore violently at the rope.
+
+They were drawing hard from above; his toes were barely touching the
+floor; he was strangling. Frantically he grasped the rope, lifting
+himself from the floor in the effort to loosen the noose with his free
+hand. A hoarse laugh broke upon his dinning ears, the leering faces drew
+nearer; and then, as everything went black, a heavy, yet merciful blow
+fell upon his head. As consciousness left him, he felt himself rushing
+dizzily upward, grasped by powerful hands and whisked through the
+opening into air so hot and stiffling that his last thought was of the
+fires of Hell.
+
+Not many minutes passed before consciousness, which had been but
+partially lost, returned to him. The ringing sensation remained in his
+head, but he was no longer choking. The noose had been removed from his
+neck; the rope itself was now serving as a bond for his hands and feet,
+a fact that impressed itself upon him when he tried to rise. For some
+time he lay perfectly still, urging his senses into play: wondering
+where he was and what had happened to him.
+
+It was pitch dark and the air was hot and close. Not a sound came to his
+throbbing cars. With characteristic irrepressibility he began to swear
+softly, but articulately. Proof that his profanity was mild--one might
+say genteel--came in an instant. A gruff voice, startlingly near at
+hand, interrupted him.
+
+"Spit it out, young feller! Swear like a man, not like a damn canary
+bird."
+
+Truxton tried hard to pierce the darkness, a strange thrill passing
+through his veins. The hidden speaker was unquestionably an American.
+
+"What the devil does all this mean?" demanded the captive. "Where am I?"
+
+"It means business, and you're here, that's where you are," was the
+sarcastic answer.
+
+"Are you an American?"
+
+"No. I'm a Chinaman."
+
+"Oh, come off! Answer square."
+
+"Well, I was born in Newport." As an afterthought: "Kentucky."
+
+"You're in a damned nice business, I'll say that for you," growled
+Truxton. "Who is responsible for this outrage?"
+
+He heard the man yawn prodigiously. "Depends on what you call an
+outrage."
+
+"This is the damnedest high-handed outrage I've ever--"
+
+"Better save your breath, young feller. You won't have it very long, so
+save what you can of it."
+
+Truxton was silent for a moment, analysing this unique remark. "You mean
+I am to stop breathing altogether?"
+
+"Something like that."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+"You don't know? Well, who does?"
+
+"You'll find out when the boss gets good and ready."
+
+"You are a fine American!"
+
+"Look here, young feller, I've been polite to you, so don't get gay.
+I'll come over there and kick your jaw in."
+
+"Come ahead. Anything to break the monotony."
+
+"Didn't you get enough of the hangman's knot and the sandbag? Want more,
+eh? Well, if I wasn't so darned comfortable I'd come over there and give
+it to you. Now don't rile me!"
+
+"I deserve to be kicked for being such a blithering fool as to get into
+this mess. Come on and kick me."
+
+"You wanted to get a poke at the old man's eye, did ye? By thunder,
+that's like an American. Never satisfied to let things alone. See what
+it got you into?"
+
+"The old man's eye? What old man?"
+
+"That's for you to find out, if you can. You've made a hell of a poor
+start at it."
+
+"You're a good-natured scoundrel"
+
+"Thanks for them kind words."
+
+"Well, what are you going to do with me? I don't like the air in here.
+It's awful. How long do I stay here?"
+
+"Say, you're a gritty little man. I like your nerve. Too bad we ain't on
+the same side. I'll tell you this: you won't be here long. How would the
+old girl down there put it? You're going on a long voyage. That's it.
+But first we'll get out of this rat hole, just as soon as them other
+guys come back from the cave. You'll get fresh air purty soon. Now,
+don't talk any more. I'm through gossipin'!"
+
+"How do you, an American, happen to be mixed up in a deal like this?"
+
+"It's healthier work than makin' barrels at--I was goin' to say Sing
+Sing, but I hear they've changed the name. I prefer outdoor work."
+
+"Fugitive, eh?"
+
+"You might call it that. I'm wanted in seven States. The demand for me
+is great."
+
+Truxton saw that he could get nothing out of the satirical rascal, so
+fell to speculating for himself. That he was still in the loft above the
+hovel was more or less clear to him. His mind, now active, ran back to
+the final scene in the kitchen. The trap-door in the ceiling, evidently
+a sliding arrangement, explained the mysterious disappearance of the
+owner of the eye; he had been whisked up through the aperture by
+confederates and the trap-door closed before it could be discovered. The
+smoking kettle no longer puzzled him, now that he knew of the secret
+room above the kitchen; a skilfully concealed blow-pipe could have
+produced the phenomenon. The space in which he was now lying, half
+suffocated, was doubtless a part of the cleverly designed excavation at
+the back of the hovel, the lower half being the kitchen, the upper an
+actual gateway to the open air somewhere in the mountainside.
+
+That he had fallen into the hands of a band of conspirators was also
+quite clear to him. Whether they were brigands or more important
+operators against the Crown, he was, of course, in no position to
+decide. Time would tell.
+
+It was enough that they expected to kill him, sooner or later. This, in
+itself, was sufficient to convince him that he was not to be held for
+ransom, but to be disposed of for reasons best known to his captors.
+
+Like a shot the warning of Olga Platanova flashed into his brain. Here,
+then, was the proof that she actually knew of the peril he was in. But
+why should he be an object of concern to these men, whoever they were?
+His guard had mentioned "the old man." Good heavens, could he mean
+Spantz? The cold perspiration was standing on King's brow. Spantz! He
+recalled the wickedness in the armourer's face. But why should Spantz
+wish him evil? Again intuition, encouraged by memory, supplied him with
+a possible, even plausible explanation.
+
+The Anarchists! The Reds! Olga was an avowed Anarchist; she was almost a
+prisoner in the house of her uncle. Truxton's guard sat up suddenly and
+felt for his weapon when the captive let out a bitter oath of
+understanding and rage.
+
+"By gad, they think I am a detective!" he added, light coming to him
+with a rush.
+
+"What's that?" snapped the other. Truxton could almost feel the other's
+body grow tense despite the space between them. "Are you a detective?
+Are you? By God, if you are, I'll finish you up right here. You--"
+
+"No! They're on the wrong scent. By Jove, the laugh's on old man
+Spantz."
+
+"Oho! So you _do_ know what's up, then? Spantz, eh? Well, what you've
+guessed at or found out won't make much difference, my fine young
+fellow. They've got you, and you'll be worse off than Danny Deever in
+the mornin'! Hello! Here they come. Now we'll get out of this infernal
+bake-oven. Say, do you know, you've been cuddlin' up against a j'int of
+warm stove pipe for nearly an hour? Sh!"
+
+The glimmer of a light came bobbing up from somewhere behind Truxton; he
+could see the flickering shadows on the wall. Two men crept into the
+room a moment later. One of them carried a lantern; the other turned
+King's body over with his foot.
+
+"You damned brute," grated the captive.
+
+"Call him what you like, young feller," said his first acquaintance. "He
+can't understand a word you say. Well, do we pull out?" This to the man
+with the lantern.
+
+The roof was so low that they were compelled to stoop in moving about.
+Truxton saw that the three ruffians were great, brutal-faced fellows,
+with bared arms that denoted toil as well as spoils.
+
+"Immediate!" said the lantern bearer. "Come; we drag him to the cave."
+
+"Drag? Nix; we c'n carry him, pard. I'm not for draggin' him down that
+passage. Grab hold there,--you! Hey, get his feet, damn you!" The third
+man was reluctant to understand, but at last grasped the prisoner by the
+feet, swearing in a language of his own. The Yankee desperado took his
+shoulders, and together, with earnest grunts, they followed the man
+with the lantern, Truxton knew not whither except that it was away from
+the wretched sweat-hole.
+
+He could see that they were crowding through a low, narrow passage, the
+earthen sides of which reeked with moisture. Twice they paused to rest,
+resuming the journey after a season of cursing, finally depositing him
+with scant courtesy upon the rocky floor of what proved to be a rather
+commodious cave. The breath was almost jarred from his body. He had the
+satisfaction of driving his two heels viciously against the person of
+the man who had held them the last ten minutes, receiving a savage kick
+in return.
+
+Daylight streamed into this convenient "hole in the wall;" lying upon
+his side, Truxton faced the opening that looked out upon the world. He
+saw nothing but blue sky. Near the opening, looking down as if into the
+valley below, stood the tall, gaunt figure of a man, thin-shouldered and
+stooped. His back was to the captive, but King observed that the three
+men, with two companions, who sat at the back of the cave, never removed
+their gaze from the striking figure outlined against the sky.
+
+Many minutes passed before the watcher turned slowly to take in the
+altered conditions behind him. King saw that he was old; grey-haired and
+cadaverous, with sharp, hawk-like features. This, then, was the "old
+man," and he was not William Spantz. Unlike Spantz in every particular
+was this man who eyed him so darkly, so coldly. Here was a highborn man,
+a man whose very manners bespoke for him years at court, a life spent in
+the upper world, not among the common people. Truxton found himself
+returning the stare with an interest that brought results.
+
+"Your name is King, I believe," came from the thin lips of the old man.
+The tones were as metallic as the click of steel.
+
+"Yes. May I inquire--"
+
+"No, you may not inquire. Put a gag in his mouth. I don't care to hear
+anything from him. Gag him and cut the rope from his feet. He may walk
+from now on."
+
+Three men sprang to do his bidding.
+
+King felt in that instant that he was looking for the first time upon
+the features of the Iron Count, Marlanx the dishonoured. He lay there
+helpless, speechless for many minutes, glancing at this cruel tyrant.
+Into his soul sank the conviction that no mercy would come from this
+man, this hater of all men; justice would play no part in the final,
+sickening tragedy. It was enough that Marlanx suspected him of being in
+the way; to be suspected was to be condemned. The whole, hellish
+conspiracy flashed through his brain. He closed his eyes with the horror
+of it all.
+
+Here was Marlanx on Graustark soil, conniving with cutthroats,
+commanding them without opposition. What could it mean except a
+swift-growing menace to the Crown--to the little Prince.
+
+Marlanx was speaking. Truxton looked up, as at an executioner. The lean,
+cruel face of that beautiful girl's husband was not far from his own;
+the fiery eyes were burning into his. The Iron Count sat upon a boulder
+near his feet.
+
+"So you are the Quixote who would tilt at invisible windmills, eh? I
+remember you quite well. We have met before. Perhaps you remember
+meeting my eye in Dame Babba's cabin--twice, I think. You remember, I
+see. Ha, ha! You were very slow not to have caught such an old man. You
+were near to it the first time, but--you missed it, eh? I thought you
+might have seen my heels as I disappeared. I dare say you are wondering
+what I intend to do with you, now that I have you. Well, I am not the
+man to mince words. Mr. King, you are quite young, but the good die
+young. I am very old, you observe. I will not say that you are to die
+to-night or to-morrow or any day, for I do not know. I am going to send
+you to a court. Not an ordinary court, Mr. King, but one of extreme
+perspicacity. I fancy you will die before long. We can spare you. I do
+not approve of meddlers. It seems to be quite settled that you are a
+police agent. Be that as it may, I imagine our little court of last
+resort will take no chances, one way or the other. A man or two, more or
+less, will not be counted a year from now."
+
+The steady, cruel eyes fascinated King. He knew that he was in desperate
+straits, that he had one chance in a million to escape, and yet he found
+himself held by the spell of those eyes, drinking in certain metallic
+monotones as if hypnotised.
+
+"I am glad you called again at my temporary abode, Mr. King. Americans
+are always welcome: the sooner they come, the sooner it's over. It may
+interest you to know that I am very partial to Americans. Were I a
+cannibal, I could eat them with relish. If I had my way, all Americans
+should be in heaven. The earth surely is not good enough nor big enough
+for them, and hell is already overcrowded. Yes," reflectively pressing
+his nose with a bony forefinger, "I love the Americans dearly. I should
+enjoy a similar visit from Mr. John Tullis. Although, I may say, he
+seems to be choosing another way of testing my hospitality. I expect him
+to visit me in my humble castle before many days. I should like to have
+him remain there until his dying day." There was a deep significance in
+his smile. King shuddered. His gaze followed the gaunt, spidery old man
+as he returned to the opening for another long survey of the valley
+below. Night was falling; the sky was growing darker, and the wind was
+rising. Marlanx's sharp features were not so distinguishable when he
+returned to the boulder. The men in the cave had not spoken except in
+whispers. They appeared to be living in abject fear of this grim old
+nobleman.
+
+"Night is coming. I must say farewell, my bold young friend. My way lies
+to the north. This is merely a land of promise to me. You go southward,
+to the city of Edelweiss. But not through the gates; oh, no! There are
+other ways, as you will find. If you should, by any chance, escape the
+jurisdiction of the court I am sending you to, I sincerely trust you may
+honour me with another visit here. I come often to the hovel in the
+glen. It is the only friendly house I know of in all Graustark. Some day
+I may be able to recompense its beauteous mistress. My good friends,
+Dangloss, and Halfont, and Braze--and Tullis, whom I know only by
+reputation--are, as yet, unaware of my glorious return to Graustark,
+else they would honour me with their distinguished presence. Some day I
+may invite them to dine with me. I shall enjoy seeing them eat of the
+humble pie I can put before them. Good-bye, my brave Sir Galahad; I may
+never see you again."
+
+With a courtly bow he turned from the tense-muscled captive and directed
+his final instructions to the men. "Take him at once to the city, but be
+on your guard. A single false move now means utter ruin for all of us.
+Our affairs go so well at present that we cannot afford to offend Dame
+Fortune. She smiles on us, my men. Take this fool to the house on the
+Monastery road. There you will turn him over to the others. It is for
+them to drag the truth from his lips. I'd suggest, dear Mr. King, that
+you tell them all you know before they begin the dragging process. It is
+a very unpleasant way they have." With a curt nod to the men, he strode
+out through the mouth of the cave and was gone. Dusk had settled down
+upon mountain and valley; a thin fog swam high in the air above. One of
+the men cut the rope that bound Truxton's feet.
+
+"Get up," said the Newport man. "We've got to be movin'. How'd you like
+the old man? Smart bug, ain't he? Say, he'll throw the hooks into them
+guys down in Edelweiss so hard one of these days that they won't come
+out till they rot out."
+
+Still gagged and somewhat dizzy, King was hurried off into the narrow
+mountain path, closely surrounded by the five men.
+
+"They tell me your friend, the Cook guy, got plugged down in the Gap
+when he tried to duck this afternoon," volunteered the Yankee
+unconcernedly.
+
+Hobbs shot? King's eyes suddenly filled with tears, a great wave of pity
+and shame rushing to his heart. Poor Hobbs! He had led him into this; to
+gratify a vain-glorious whim, he had done the little Englishman to
+death.
+
+The silent, cautious march down the valley, through the Gap and along
+the ridge carried them far into the night. King knew that they were
+skirting the main roads, keeping to the almost hidden trails of the
+mountaineers. They carried no light, nor did they speak to each other,
+except in hoarse whispers. In single file they made their way, the
+prisoner between them, weary, footsore and now desperate in the full
+realisation of his position. Being gagged, he could make no appeal to
+the one man who might befriend him--his villainous countryman. It
+occurred to him--grim thought--that the astute Marlanx had considered
+that very probability, and had made it impossible for him to resort to
+the cupidity of the hireling.
+
+At last, when he could scarcely drag his feet after him, they came to a
+halt. A consultation followed, but he could not understand a word. This
+much he knew: they were in the hills directly above the northern gates.
+Two of the men went forward, moving with extreme caution. In half an
+hour they returned and the march was resumed.
+
+Their next halt came sooner than he expected. The vague, black shadow of
+a lightless house loomed up before them. In a twinkling he was hustled
+across the road and into a door. Then down a flight of stairs, through
+pitchy darkness, guided by two of the men, a whispered word of advice
+now and then from the Yankee saving him from perilous stumbles. He was
+jerked up sharply with a command to stand still. A light flashed
+suddenly in his face, blinding him for the moment. Voices in eager,
+quick conversation came to his ears long before his eyes could take in
+the situation.
+
+Soon he saw that they were in a broad, bare cellar; three men in heavy
+black beards were in earnest conversation with several of his captors;
+all were gesticulating fiercely.
+
+His Newport companion enlightened him, between puffs of the pipe he was
+struggling with. "Here's where we say good-bye, young fellow. We turn
+you over to these gents, whoever they are. I'm sort of out of it when
+they get to jabberin' among themselves. I can understand 'em when they
+talk slow, but, say, did you ever hear a flock of Union Square sparrows
+chirp faster than them fellers is talkin' now? Nix. You go into the
+village gay with these Schwabs by the sewer line, I guess." Truxton
+pricked up his ears. "The old man has had a hole chopped in the sewer
+here, they tell me, and it's a snap to get into the city. Not very clean
+or neat, but it gets you there. Well, so long! They're ready, I see.
+They don't monkey long when they've got a thing to do. I'd advise you
+not to be too stubborn when they get you to headquarters; it may go
+easier with you. I'm not so damned bad, young feller. It's just the
+business I'm in--and the company."
+
+King felt a thrill of real regard for the rascal. He nodded his thanks
+and tried to smile. The fellow grinned and slapped him on the shoulder,
+unobserved by the others. In another moment his guardianship was
+transferred; he was being hurried across the cellar toward an open
+doorway. Down a few stone steps he was led by the bearded crew, and then
+pushed through a hole in what appeared to be a heavy brick wall. He
+realised at once where he was. The gurgle of running water, the odor of
+foul airs came up to him. It was the great sewer that ran from the hills
+through the heart of the city, flushed continuously by a diverted
+mountain stream that swept down from above.
+
+He was wading in cold water over a slippery bottom, tightly held by two
+men, the third going ahead with the lantern. Always ahead loomed the
+black, opaque circle which never came nearer, never grew smaller. It was
+the ever receding wall of darkness.
+
+He did not know how long they traversed the chill sewer in this fashion.
+In time, however, the water got deeper; rats began to scurry along the
+sides of the circle or to swim frantically on in front of the
+disturbers. The smells were sickening, overpowering. Only excitement,
+curiosity, youth--whatever you may care to term it-kept him up and
+going. The everlasting glory of youth never ends until old age has
+provided the surfeit of knowledge; the strife to see ahead, to find out
+what is to be, to know,--that is youth. Youth dies when curiosity ends.
+The emotion is even stronger than the dread of what may lie beyond in
+the pallid sea of uncertainty.
+
+His bones were chilled and creaking with fatigue. He was remorselessly
+hungry. There was water, but he could not drink it.
+
+At last the strange journey ended. They came to a niche in the slimy
+wall. Up into this the men climbed, dragging him after them. The man
+above was cautiously tapping on what appeared to be solid masonry. To
+King's surprise a section of the wall suddenly opened before them. He
+was seized from above by strong hands and literally jerked through the
+hole, his companions following. Up narrow steps, through a sour-smelling
+passage and--then, into a long, dimly lighted room, in the centre of
+which stood a long table.
+
+He was not permitted to linger here for long, but passed on into a small
+room adjoining. Some one, speaking in English, told him to sit down. The
+gag was removed from his stiff, inflamed mouth.
+
+"Fetch him some water," said a voice that he was sure he recognised--a
+high, querulous voice.
+
+"Hello, Spantz," articulated Truxton, turning to the black-bearded, bent
+figure.
+
+There was an instance of silence. Then Spantz spoke, with a soft laugh:
+"You will not know so much to-morrow, Herr King. Give him the water,
+man. He has much to say to us, and he cannot talk with a dry throat."
+
+"Nor an empty stomach," added King. He drank long of the pitcher that
+was held to his lips.
+
+"This is not the Regengetz," growled a surly voice.
+
+"You mean, I don't eat?"
+
+"Not at midnight, my friend."
+
+"It seems to be an all-night joint."
+
+"Enough," cried Spantz. "Bring him out here. The others have come."
+
+King was pushed out into the larger room, where he was confronted by a
+crowd of bewhiskered men and snaky-eyed women with most intellectual
+nose-glasses. It required but a glance to convince him that the whiskers
+were false.
+
+For nearly an hour he was probed with questions concerning his business
+in Edelweiss. Threats followed close upon his unsatisfactory answers,
+though they were absolutely truthful. There was no attempt made to
+disguise the fact that they were conspiring against the government; in
+fact, they were rather more open than secretive. When he thought of it
+afterward, a chill crept over him. They would not have spoken so openly
+before him if they entertained the slightest fear that he would ever be
+in a position to expose them.
+
+"We'll find a way to make you talk to-morrow, my friend. Starving is not
+pleasant."
+
+"You would not starve me!" he cried.
+
+"No. You will have the pleasure of starving yourself," said a thin-eyed
+fellow whom he afterward knew as Peter Brutus.
+
+He was thrown back into the little room. To his surprise and
+gratification, the bonds on his wrists were removed. Afterward he was to
+know that there was method in this action of his gaolers: his own utter
+impotency was to be made more galling to him by the maddening knowledge
+that he possessed hands and feet and lungs--and could not use them!
+
+He found a match in his box and struck it. There was no article of
+furniture. The floor was bare, the walls green with age. He had a
+feeling that there would be rats; perhaps lizards. A search revealed the
+fact that his purse, his watch and his pocket-knife were missing.
+Another precious match showed him that there were no windows. A chimney
+hole in the ceiling was, perhaps, the only means by which fresh air
+could reach this dreary place.
+
+"Well, I guess I'm here to stay," he said to himself. He sat down with
+his back to the wall, despair in his soul. A pitiful, weak smile came to
+him in the darkness, as he thought of the result of his endeavour to
+"show off" for the benefit of the heartless girl in rajah silk. "What an
+ass I am," he groaned. "Now she will never know."
+
+Sleep was claiming his senses. He made a pillow of his coat, commended
+himself to the charity of rats and other horrors, and stretched his
+weary bones upon the relentless floor.
+
+"No one will ever know," he murmured, his last waking thought being of a
+dear one at home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+UNDER THE GROUND
+
+
+Day and night were the same to the occupant of the little room. They
+passed with equal slowness and impartial darkness. Five days that he
+could account for crawled by before anything unusual happened to break
+the strain of his solitary, inexplicable confinement. He could tell when
+it was morning by the visit of a bewhiskered chambermaid with a deep
+bass voice, who carried a lighted candle and kicked him into
+wakefulness. The second day after his incarceration began, he was given
+food and drink. It was high time, for he was almost famished.
+Thereafter, twice a day, he was led into the larger room and given a
+surprisingly hearty meal. Moreover, he was allowed to bathe his face and
+hands and indulge in half an hour's futile stretching of limbs. After
+the second day few questions were asked by the men who had originally
+set themselves up as inquisitors. At first they had treated him with a
+harshness that promised something worse, but an incident occurred on the
+evening of the second day that changed the whole course of their
+intentions.
+
+Peter Brutus had just voiced the pleasure of the majority by urging the
+necessity for physical torture to wring the government's secrets from
+the prisoner. King, half famished, half crazed by thirst, had been
+listening to the fierce argument through the thin door that separated
+the rooms. He heard the sudden, eager movement toward the door of his
+cell, and squared himself against the opposite wall, ready to fight to
+the death. Then there came a voice that he recognised.
+
+A woman was addressing the rabid conspirators in tones of deadly
+earnestness. His heart gave a bound. It was the first time since his
+incarceration that he had heard the voice of Olga Platanova, she who had
+warned him, she who still must be his friend. Once more he threw himself
+to the floor and glued his ear to the crack; her voice had not the
+strident qualities of the other women in this lovely company.
+
+"You are not to do this thing," she was saying. King knew that she stood
+between her companions and the door. "You are not to touch him! Do you
+hear me, Peter Brutus? All of you?"
+
+There followed the silence of stupefaction, broken at last by a voice
+which he recognised as that of old man Spantz.
+
+"Olga! Stand aside!"
+
+"No! You shall not torture him. I have said he is no spy. I still say
+it. He knows nothing of the police and their plans. He has not been
+spying upon us. I am sure of it."
+
+"How can you be sure of it?" cried a woman's voice, harsh and strident.
+
+"He has played with you," sneered another.
+
+"I will not discuss the point. I know he is not what you say he is. You
+have no right to torture him. You have no right to hold him prisoner."
+
+"God, girl, we cannot turn him loose now. He must never go free again.
+He must die." This was from Spantz.
+
+"We cannot release him, I grant you," she said, and Truxton's heart
+sank. "Not now, but afterward, yes. When it is all over he can do no
+harm. But, hear me now, all of you. If he is harmed in any way, if he is
+maltreated, or if you pursue this design to starve him, I shall not
+perform my part of the work on the 26th. This is final."
+
+For a full minute, it seemed to King, no one spoke.
+
+"You cannot withdraw," exclaimed Peter Brutus. "You are pledged. You are
+sworn. It is ordained."
+
+"Try me, and see if I will not do as I say. He is to be treated kindly
+so long as we hold him here and he is to be released when the committee
+is in power. Then he may tell all that he knows, for it will be of no
+avail. He cannot escape, that you know. If he were a spy I would offer
+no objection to your methods. He is an American gentleman, a traveller.
+I, Olga Platanova, say this to you. It is not a plea, not a petition; it
+is an ultimatum. Spare him, or the glorious cause must suffer by my
+defection."
+
+"Sh! Not so loud, girl! He can hear every word you say!"
+
+"Why should it matter, madam? He is where he can do no harm to our
+cause. Let him hear. Let him understand what it is that we are doing.
+Are we ashamed of our duty to the world? If so, then we are criminals,
+not deliverers. I am not ashamed of what God wills me to do. It is
+horrible, but it is the edict of God. I will obey. But God does not
+command us to torture an innocent man who happens to fall into our
+hands. No! Let him hear. Let him know that I, Olga Platanova, am to hurl
+the thing that is to destroy the life of Prince Robin. I am not afraid
+to have him know to-day what the world will know next week. Let him hear
+and revile me now, as the world will do after it is over and I am gone.
+The glory will be mine when all the people of this great globe are
+joined to our glorious realm. Then the world will say that Olga
+Platanova was not a beast, but a deliverer, a creator! Let him hear!"
+
+The listener's blood was running cold. The life of Prince Robin! An
+assassination! "The thing that will destroy!" A bomb! God!
+
+For half an hour they argued with her, seeking to turn her from the
+stand she had taken; protesting to the last stage, cursing her for a
+sentimental fool. Then they came to terms with her. Truxton King owed
+his life to this strange girl who knew him not at all, but who believed
+in him. He suffered intensely in the discovery that she was, in the end,
+to lend herself to the commission of the most heartless and diabolical
+of crimes--the destruction of that innocent, well-worshipped boy of
+Graustark.
+
+"You must be in love with this simple-minded American, who comes--"
+Peter Brutus started to say at one stage of the discussion, when the
+frail girl was battling almost physically with her tormentors.
+
+"Stop! Peter Brutus, you shall not say that! You know where my love
+lies! Don't say that to me again, you beast!" she had cried, and Brutus
+was silenced.
+
+Truxton was brought into the room a few minutes later. He was white with
+emotion as he faced the Committee of Ten. Before a word could be
+addressed to him he blurted out:
+
+"You damned cowards! Weak as I am, I would have fought for you, Miss
+Platanova, if I could have got through that door. Thank you for what you
+have done to convince these dogs! I would to God I could save you from
+this thing you are pledged to do. It is frightful! I cannot think it of
+you! Give it up! All of you, give this thing up! I will promise
+secrecy--I will never betray what I have heard. Only don't do this awful
+thing! Think of that dear little boy--"
+
+Olga Platanova cried out and covered her eyes with her hands, murmuring
+the words "dear little boy" over and over again. She was led from the
+room by William Spantz. Peter Brutus stood over King, whose arms were
+held by two stalwart men.
+
+"Enough!" he commanded. "We spare you, not for her sake, but for the
+sake of the cause we serve. Hear me: you are to be held here a prisoner
+until our plans are consummated. You will be properly fed and cared for.
+You have heard Miss Platanova say that she will cook the food for you
+herself, but you are not to see her. Do not seek to turn her from her
+purpose. That you cannot do. She is pledged to it; it is irrevocable. We
+have perhaps made a mistake in bringing you here: it would have been far
+wiser to kill you in the beginning, but--"
+
+King interrupted him. "I haven't the least doubt that you will kill me
+in the end. She may not be here to protect me after--after the
+assassination."
+
+"She is prepared to die by the same bomb that slays the Prince," was all
+that Brutus would say in response to this, but King observed the sly
+look that went round amongst them. He knew then that they meant to kill
+him in the end.
+
+Afterward, in his little room, he writhed in the agony of helplessness.
+The Prince, his court, the government--all were to be blasted to satisfy
+the end of this sickening conspiracy. Loraine! She, too, was doomed! He
+groaned aloud in his misery and awe.
+
+Food and water came after that, but he ate and drank little, so
+depressed had he become. He sought for every means of escape that
+suggested itself to him. The walls, the floors, the doors, the stairway
+to the armourer's shop--all were impassable, so carefully was he
+guarded. From time to time he heard inklings of the plot which was to
+culminate on the fatal 26th; he did not get the details in particular,
+but he knew that the bomb was to be hurled at the Prince near the
+entrance to the plaza and that Marlanx's men were to sweep over the
+stricken city almost before the echo died away.
+
+There was a telegraph instrument in the outer room. He could hear it
+ticking off its messages day and night, and could hear the discussion of
+reports as they came in or went out. It soon became clear to him that
+the wire connected the room with Marlanx's headquarters near Balak in
+Axphain, a branch instrument being stationed in the cave above the
+Witch's hut. He marvelled at the completeness of the great conspiracy;
+and marvelled more because it seemed to be absolutely unknown to the
+omnipresent Dangloss.
+
+On his third night he heard the Committee discussing the failure of one
+of Marlanx's most cunning schemes. The news had come in over the wire
+and it created no small amount of chagrin among the Red conspirators.
+That one detail in their mighty plot should go contrary to expectations
+seemed to disturb them immeasurably. King was just beginning to realise
+the stupendous possibilities of the plot; he listened for every detail
+with a mind so fascinated by horror that it seemed hardly able to grasp
+the seriousness of his own position.
+
+It seemed that Marlanx deemed it necessary--even imperative--to the
+welfare of the movement, that John Tullis should be disposed of
+summarily before the crucial chapter in their operations. Truxton heard
+the Committee discussing the fiasco that attended his first attempt to
+draw the brainy, influential American out of the arena. It was clear
+that Marlanx suspected Tullis of a deep admiration for his wife, the
+Countess Ingomede; he was prepared to play upon that admiration for the
+success of his efforts. The Countess disappeared on a recent night,
+leaving the court in extreme doubt as to her fate. Later a decoy
+telegram was sent by a Marlanx agent, informing Tullis that she had gone
+to Schloss Marlanx, never to return, but so shrewdly worded that he
+would believe that it had been sent by coercion, and that she was
+actually a prisoner in the hands of her own husband. Tullis was expected
+to follow her to the Castle, bent on rescue. As a matter of fact, the
+Countess was a prisoner in the hills near Balak, spirited away from her
+own garden by audacious agents of the Iron Count. Tullis was swift to
+fall into the trap, but, to the confusion of the arch-plotter, he was
+just as swift to avoid the consequences.
+
+He left Edelweiss with two secret service men, bound for Schloss
+Marlanx. All unknown to him, a selected company of cutthroats were in
+waiting for him on the hills near the castle. To the amazement of the
+conspirators, he suddenly retraced his tracks and came back to Edelweiss
+inside of twenty-four hours, a telegram stopping him at Gushna, a
+hundred miles down the line. The message was from Dangloss and it was in
+cipher. A trainman in the service of Marlanx could only say, in
+explanation, that the American had smiled as he deciphered the dispatch
+and at once left the carriage with his men to await the up-train at six
+o'clock.
+
+Peter Brutus repeated a message he had just received from Marlanx at
+Balak. It was to the effect that he had reason to believe that his wife
+had managed, through an unknown traitor, to send word to the Tower that
+she was not at Schloss Marlanx, nor in any immediate danger. He felt
+himself supported in this belief by the obvious fact that no further
+efforts had been made by Tullis or the police since that day. The
+authorities apparently were inactive and Tullis was serenely secure at
+the Royal Castle. The guard about the Prince, however, had been largely
+increased.
+
+Tullis was known to be re-organising the Royal Guard, supported by the
+ministry to a man, it was said; not even the Duke of Perse opposed him.
+
+"The Count is more afraid of this man Tullis than of all the rest,"
+averred Peter Brutus. "He has reasons to hate and fear the Americans.
+That is why he desires the death of our prisoner. He has said, time and
+again, over the wire that King will in some way escape and play the
+deuce with our plans. It does not seem possible, however. We have him
+absolutely secure, and Olga--well, you know how she feels about it."
+
+"I don't see why he should be so disturbed by Tullis," growled one of
+the men. "He has no real authority at court and he is but one man
+against an unseen army that will not strike until everything is ready.
+There can be no--"
+
+"That is what I have said to my master, Julius, but he will not be
+convinced. He says that he has had experience with one American, Lorry,
+and he knows the breed. Tullis has more power at court than the people
+think. He is shrewd and strong and not to be caught napping. As a matter
+of fact, the Count says, Tullis has already scented danger in the air
+and has induced the ministry to prepare for an uprising. Of course, he
+cannot know of the dynamiting that is to open the way to success, but it
+is true that if anybody can upset our plans, it is this meddling
+American. He is a self-appointed guardian of the Prince and he is not to
+be sneered at. The regents are puppets, nothing more."
+
+Julius Spantz agreed with Brutus. "I know that the guard is being
+strengthened and that certain precautions are being taken to prevent
+the abduction of the Prince. It is common rumour among the soldiers that
+Count Marlanx will some day seek to overthrow the government and take
+the throne. The air is full of talk concerning this far-distant
+possibility. Thank God, it is to be sooner than they think. If Tullis
+and General Braze were given a month or two longer, I doubt if we could
+succeed. The blow must catch them unprepared."
+
+"This is the 22d, Saturday is the 26th. They can do nothing in four
+days," said one of the women.
+
+"Count Marlanx will be ready on the 26th. He has said so. A new strike
+will be declared on the railroad on the 25th and the strikers will be in
+the city with their grievances. Saturday's celebration will bring men
+from the mountains and the mines to town. A single blow, and we have
+won." So spoke Brutus.
+
+"Then why all this fear of Tullis?" demanded Anna Cromer.
+
+"It is not like the Iron Count," added Madame Drovnask with a sneer.
+
+Olga Platanova had not spoken. She was not there to talk. She was only
+to act on the 26th of July. She was the means to an end.
+
+"Well, fear or no fear, the Count lies awake trying to think of a way to
+entice him from the city before the 26th. It may be silly, madam, but
+Count Marlanx is a wiser man than any of us here. He is not afraid of
+Dangloss or Braze or Quinnox, but he is afraid of what he calls
+'American luck!' He is even superstitious about it."
+
+"We must not--we cannot fail," grated William Spantz, and the cry was
+reiterated by half a dozen voices.
+
+"The world demands success of us!" cried Anna Cromer. "We die for
+success, we die for failure! It is all one!"
+
+The next morning, after a sleepless night, Truxton King made his first
+determined attempt to escape. All night long he had lain there thinking
+of the horrid thing that was to happen on the black 26th. He counted the
+days, the hours, the minutes. Morning brought the 23d. Only three days
+more! Oh, if he could but get one word to John Tullis, the man Marlanx
+feared; if he could only break away from these fiends long enough to
+utter one cry of warning to the world, even with his dying gasp!
+
+Marlanx feared the Americans! He even feared him, a helpless captive!
+The thrill of exultation that ran through his veins was but the genesis
+of an impulse that mastered him later on.
+
+He knew that two armed men stood guard in the outer room day and night.
+The door to the stairway leading into the armourer's shop was of iron
+and heavily barred; the door opening into the sewer was even more
+securely bolted; besides, there was a great stone door at the foot of
+the passage. The keys to these two doors were never out of the
+possession of William Spantz; one of his guards held the key to the
+stairway door. His only chance lay in his ability to suddenly overpower
+two men and make off by way of the armourer's shop.
+
+When his little door was opened on the morning of the 23d, Truxton
+King's long, powerful figure shot through as if sped by a catapult. The
+man with the candle and the knife went down like a beef, floored by a
+blow on the jaw.
+
+The American, his eyes blazing with hope and desperation, kept
+onward--to find himself face to face with Olga Platanova!
+
+She was staring at him with frightened eyes, her lips apart, her hands
+to her breast. The tableau was brief. He could not strike her down. With
+a curse he was turning to the man on the floor, eager to snatch the keys
+from his belt. A scream from her drawn lips held him; he whirled and
+looked into the now haggard face of the girl he had considered
+beautiful. The penalty for her crime was already written there. She was
+to die in three days!
+
+"He has not the key!" she cried. "Nor have I. You have no chance to
+escape. Go back! Go back! They are coming!"
+
+A key rattled in the door. When it swung open, two men stood in the
+aperture, both with drawn pistols. The girl leaped between them and the
+helpless, defeated American.
+
+"Remember!" she cried. "You are not to kill him!"
+
+Peter Brutus had risen from the floor, half dazed but furious. He made a
+vicious leap at King, his knife ready for the lunge.
+
+"I'm glad it's you," roared King, leaping aside. His fist shot out and
+again Brutus went down. The men in the doorway actually laughed.
+
+"A good blow, even if it avails you nothing," said one of them drily.
+"He is not an especial favorite with us. Return to your room at once.
+Miss Platanova, call your uncle. It is now necessary to bind the
+fellow's hands. They are too dangerous to be allowed to roam at large in
+this fashion."
+
+All day long Truxton paced his little prison, bitterly lamenting his
+ill-timed effort. Now he would be even more carefully guarded. His hands
+were bound behind his back; he was powerless. If he had only waited!
+Luck had been against him. How was he to know that the guard with the
+keys had gone upstairs when Olga brought his breakfast down? It was
+fate.
+
+The 23d dragged itself into the past and the 24th was following in the
+gloomy wake of its predecessors. Two days more! He began to feel the
+approach of madness! His own death was not far away. It would follow
+that of the Prince and of Olga Platanova, his friend. But he was not
+thinking of his own death; he was thinking of the Prince's life!
+
+The atmosphere of suppressed excitement that characterised the hushed
+gatherings in the outer room did not fail to leave its impression upon
+him; he knew there was murder in the hearts of these fanatics; he could
+feel the strain that held their hitherto vehement lips to tense
+whisperings and mutterings. He could distinguish the difference between
+the footsteps of to-day and those of yesterday; the tread was growing
+lighter, unconsciously more stealthy with each passing hour.
+
+Forty-eight hours! That was all!
+
+Truxton found himself crying bitterly from time to time; not because he
+was in terror but because he knew of the thing that hourly drew nearer
+despite the fact that he knew!
+
+Olga Platanova's voice was heard no more before the Committee of Ten.
+Something told him that she was being groomed and primed in an upstairs
+room! Primed like a gun of war! He wondered if she could be praying for
+courage to do the thing that had been set down for her to do. Food now
+came irregularly to him. She was no longer preparing it.
+
+She was making herself ready!
+
+Early that night, as he lay with his ear to the crack of the door, he
+heard them discussing his own death. It was to come as soon as Olga had
+gone to her reward! She was not there to defend him. Spantz had said
+that she was praying in her room, committing her soul to God! Truxton
+King suddenly pricked up his ears, attracted by a sentence that fell
+from the lips of one of the men.
+
+"Tullis is on his way to the hills of Dawsbergen by this time. He will
+be out of the way on the 26th safe enough."
+
+"Count Marlanx was not to be satisfied until he had found the means to
+draw him away from Edelweiss," said another. "This time it will work
+like a charm. Late this afternoon Tullis was making ready to lead a
+troop of cavalry into the hills to effect a rescue. Sancta Maria! That
+was a clever stroke! Not only does he go himself, but with him goes a
+captain with one hundred soldiers from the fort. Ha, ha! Marlanx is a
+fox! A very exceptional fox!"
+
+Tullis off to the hills? With soldiers, to effect a rescue! Truxton sat
+up, his brain whirling.
+
+"A wise fox!" agreed Peter Brutus, thickly. His lips were terribly
+swollen from King's final blow. "Tullis goes off chasing a
+jack-o'-lantern in the hills; Marlanx sits by and laughs at the joke
+he's played. It is good! Almost too good to be true. I wonder what our
+fine prisoner will say to it when the new prisoner comes to keep him
+company over the 26th."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+A NEW PRISONER ARRIVES
+
+
+It was far past midnight when King was roused from the doze into which
+he had fallen, exhausted and disconsolate, an hour earlier. Sounds of
+unusual commotion reached him from the outer room. Instantly he was wide
+awake, breathing heavily in the sudden overpowering fear that he had
+slept for many hours and that the time had come for the conspirators to
+go forth. Was it the 26th?
+
+Loud, quick commands came to his ears; the moving of eager footsteps;
+the drawing of bolts.
+
+"They are here at last," he heard some one say. "God, this suspense has
+been horrible. But they are here."
+
+"Stand ready, then, with the guns!" cried Peter Brutus. "It may be a
+trick, after all. Don't open that door down there, Spantz, until you
+know who is on the outside."
+
+Then followed a long interval of dead silence.
+
+"It's all right," came at last in the relieved, eager voice of Peter
+Brutus. "Clear the way, comrades. Give them room! By our Holy Father,
+this is a brave triumph. Ah!"
+
+Heavy footsteps clogged into the room, accompanied by stertorous
+breathing and no small amount of grunting from masculine throats. Doors
+were closed, bolts shot, and then many voices let loose their flow of
+eager exclamations. Not one, but three or four languages were spoken by
+the excited, intense occupants of the outer room; King could, make
+nothing of what they said. Finally the sharp, incisive voice of William
+Spantz broke through the babble, commanding silence.
+
+"Still unconscious," he said, when some measure of order was secured.
+
+"Yes," grunted one of the men, evidently a newcomer. "Since we left the
+house above the ramparts. No need for gags or bonds, but we used them,
+just the same. Now that we are here, what is to be done?"
+
+"We will have our instructions to-morrow. The Count is to inform us
+before nightfall where she is to be removed to. Next week she is to go
+to Schloss Marlanx." Brutus inserted a cruel, heartless laugh, and then
+added: "There she is to remain until he is quite ready to take her to
+new apartments--in town. Trust the master to dispose of her properly. He
+knows how to handle women by this time."
+
+A woman, thought Truxton. The Countess! They had brought her here from
+Balak, after all. What a remorseless brute Marlanx must be to maltreat
+his beautiful wife as--Truxton did not complete the angry reflection.
+Words from the other side of the door checked the train of thought.
+
+"To my mind, she is more beautiful than his own wife," observed Anna
+Cromer. "She will be a fine morsel for the Count, who has even cast
+longing eyes on so homely a mortal as I."
+
+"All women are alike to him," said Spantz sententiously. "I hope she is
+not to be left here for long. I don't like women about at a time like
+this. No offence, Madame Drovnask."
+
+"She'll go to-morrow night, I'm sure," said Peter. "I told the Count we
+could not keep her here over the--over the 26th. You see, there is a
+bare possibility that none of us may ever come back after the bomb is
+hurled. See? We don't want a woman to die of starvation down here, in
+that event. I don't care what happens to the man in there. But the Count
+does not want this one to starve. Oh, no; not he."
+
+"We must put her in the room with the American for the present. You are
+sure he will take her away before Saturday? A woman's cries are most
+distressing." It was Spantz who spoke.
+
+"I'll stop her crying," volunteered Anna Cromer harshly.
+
+"I fancy you could, my dear," agreed Spantz. They all laughed.
+
+"She's regaining her senses," exclaimed one of the men. "Stand back,
+every one. Give her air."
+
+"Air?" cried Anna Cromer. "It's at a premium down here, Raoul."
+
+Presently the door to King's room was thrown open. He had got to his
+feet and was standing in the centre of the room, his eyes blinking in
+the glare of light.
+
+"Holloh!" cried Peter Brutus, "you up, eh? We've got a fair lady for
+you, my friend. Get back there, you dog! Keep in your corner."
+
+Truxton faced the ugly crowd beyond the door for a moment and then fell
+back to the corner to watch the proceedings with wondering, pitying
+eyes.
+
+"You are a fine bunch of human beings," he blurted out, savage with
+despair and rage. No one gave heed to the compliment.
+
+A man with a lighted candle entered first, holding the light above his
+head. He was followed by two others, who supported the drooping,
+tottering figure of a woman.
+
+"Let her sit there against the wall, Drago. Julius, fetch in more
+candles. She must not be left in the dark. _He_ says she is not to be
+frightened to death. Women are afraid of the dark--and strange dogs.
+Let there be light," scoffed Peter Brutus, spitting toward King.
+
+"I'll get you for that some day," grated the American, white with anger.
+Peter hesitated, then spat again and laughed loudly.
+
+"Enough!" commanded William Spantz. "We are not children." Turning to
+King he went on, a touch of kindness in his voice: "Cheer her if you
+can. She is one of your class. Do not let the lights go out."
+
+Raising his hands, he fairly drove the others from the doorway. An
+instant later, King and his miserable, half-conscious companion were
+alone, locked in together, the fitful light from the candle on the floor
+playing hide and seek in shadows he had not seen before during his age
+of imprisonment.
+
+For a long time he stood in his corner, watching the figure huddled
+against the opposite wall. Her face was not plainly visible, her head
+having dropped forward until the chin nestled in the lace jabot at her
+throat. A mass of tangled hair fell across her eyes; her arms hung
+limply at her sides; small, modish riding hoots showed beneath the hem
+of her skin, forlorn in their irresoluteness. Her garments were sadly
+bedraggled; a pathetic breast rose and fell in choking sobs and gasps.
+
+Suddenly he started forward, his eyes wide and staring. He had seen that
+grey riding habit before! He had seen the hair!
+
+Two eager steps he took and then halted, half way. She had heard him and
+was raising her eyes, bewildered and wavering between dreamland and
+reality.
+
+"Great Jehovah!" he gasped, unbelieving. "You? My God, is it you?"
+
+He dropped to his knees before her, peering into her startled eyes. A
+look of abject terror crossed the tired, tear-stained face. She shrank
+away from him, shivering, whimpering like a cowed child.
+
+"What is it? Where am I?" she moaned. "Oh, let me go! What have I done,
+that you should bring me here? Let me go, Mr. King! You are not so
+wicked as--"
+
+"I? I bring you here?" he interrupted, aghast. Then he understood. Utter
+dismay filled his eyes. "You think that I have done this thing to you?
+God above us! Look! I, too, am a prisoner here. I've been here for days,
+weeks, years. They are going to kill me after to-morrow. And you think
+that I have done this to you!"
+
+"I don't know what--Oh, Mr. King, what does it all mean? Forgive me! I
+see now. You are bound--you are suffering--you are years older. I see
+now. But why is it? What have you done? What have I done?"
+
+She was growing hysterical with terror.
+
+"Don't shrink from me," he urged. "Try to calm yourself. Try to look
+upon me as a friend--as a possible saviour. Lie quiet, do, for a little
+while. Think it all out for yourself."
+
+He knelt there before her while she sobbed out the last agony of alarm.
+There were no tears in her eyes; racking sobs shook her slender body;
+every nerve was aquiver, he could see. Patiently he waited, never taking
+his firm, encouraging gaze from her face. She grew calmer, more
+rational. Then, with the utmost gentleness, he persuaded her to rise and
+walk about the little room with him.
+
+"It will give you strength and courage," he urged. "Poor little girl!
+Poor little girl!"
+
+She looked up into his face, a new light coming into her eyes.
+
+"Don't talk now," he said softly. "Take your time. Hold to my arm,
+please. There! In a little while you'll be able to tell me all about
+it--and then we'll set about to find a way to escape these devils. We'll
+laugh at 'em, after all."
+
+For five or ten minutes he led her back and forth across the room, very
+tenderly. At first she was faint and uncertain; then, as her strength
+and wits came back to her, courage took the place of despair. She smiled
+wanly and asked him to sit down with her.
+
+"A way to escape, you said," she murmured, as he dropped to her side.
+"Where are we? What is it all about?"
+
+"Not so loud," he cautioned. "I'll be perfectly candid with you. You'll
+have to be very, very brave. But wait. Perhaps it will be easier for you
+to tell me what has happened to you, so far as you know. I can throw
+light on the whole situation, I think. Tell me, please, in your own way
+and time. We're in a sorry mess, and it looks black, but, this much I
+can tell you: you are to be set free in a few days, unharmed. You may
+rest easy. That much is assured."
+
+"And you?" she whispered, clutching his arm tightly, the swift thrill of
+relief dying almost as it was born. "What of you?"
+
+"Oh, I'll get out all right," he affirmed with a confidence he did not
+feel. "I'm going to get you out of this or die in the attempt. Sh! Don't
+oppose me," he went on whimsically. "I've always wanted to be a hero,
+and here's my chance. Now tell me what happened to you."
+
+Her piquant, ever-sprightly face had lost the arrogance that had
+troubled all his dreams of conquest. She was pale and shivering and so
+sorely distressed that he had it in his heart to clasp her in his arms
+as one might do in trying to soothe a frightened child. Her face grew
+cloudy with the effort to concentrate her thoughts; a piteous frown
+settled upon her brow.
+
+"I'm not sure that I can recall everything. It is all so terrible--so
+unaccountable. It's like a dream that you try to remember and cannot.
+Finding you here in this place is really the strangest part of it. I
+cannot believe that I am awake."
+
+She looked long and anxiously into his face, her eyebrows drawn together
+in an earnest squint of uncertainty. "Oh, Mr. King, I have had such a
+dreadful--dreadful time. Am I awake?"
+
+"That's what I've been asking of myself," he murmured. "I guess we're
+both awake all right. Nightmares don't last forever."
+
+Her story came haltingly; he was obliged to supply many of the details
+by conjecture, she was so hazy and vague in her memory.
+
+At the beginning of the narrative, however, Truxton was raised to
+unusual heights; he felt such a thrill of exaltation that for the moment
+he forgot his and her immediate peril. In a perfectly matter-of-fact
+manner she was informing him that her search for him had not been
+abandoned until Baron Dangloss received a telegram from Paris, stating
+that King was in a hospital there, recovering from a wound in the head.
+
+"You can imagine what I thought when I saw you here a little while,
+ago," she said, again looking hard at his face as if to make sure. "We
+had looked everywhere for you. You see, I was ashamed. That man from
+Cook's told us that you were hurt by--by the way I treated you the day
+before you disappeared, and--well, he said you talked very foolishly
+about it."
+
+He drew a long breath. Somehow he was happier than he had been before.
+"Hobbs is a dreadful ass," he managed to say.
+
+It seems that the ministry was curiously disturbed by the events
+attending the disappearance of the Countess Ingomede. The deception
+practised upon John Tullis, frustrated only by the receipt of a genuine
+message from the Countess, was enough to convince the authorities that
+something serious was afoot. It may have meant no more than the
+assassination of Tullis at the hands of a jealous husband; or it may
+have been a part of the vast conspiracy which Dangloss now believed to
+be in progress of development.
+
+"Development!" Truxton King had exclaimed at this point in her
+narrative. "Good God, if Dangloss only knew what I know!"
+
+There had been a second brief message from the Countess. She admitted
+that she was with her husband at the Axphain capital. This message came
+to Tullis and was to the effect that she and the Count were leaving
+almost immediately for a stay at Biarritz in France. "Mr. King," said
+the narrator, "the Countess lied. They did not go to Biarritz. I am
+convinced now that she is in the plot with that vile old man. She may
+even expect to reign in Graustark some day if his plans are carried out.
+I saw Count Marlanx yesterday. He was in Graustark. I knew him by the
+portrait that hangs in the Duke of Perse's house--the portrait that
+Ingomede always frowns at when I mention it to her. So, they did not go
+to France."
+
+She was becoming excited. Her eyes flashed; she spoke rapidly. On the
+morning of the 23d she had gone for her gallop in the famous Ganlook
+road, attended by two faithful grooms from the Royal stables.
+
+"I was in for a longer ride than usual," she said, with sudden
+constraint. She looked away from her eager listener. "I was nervous and
+had not slept the night before. A girl never does, I suppose."
+
+He looked askance. "Yes?" he queried.
+
+She was blushing, he was sure of it. "I mean a girl is always nervous
+and distrait after--after she has promised, don't you see."
+
+"No, I don't see."
+
+"I had promised Count Vos Engo the night before that I--Oh, but it
+really has nothing to do with the story. I--"
+
+Truxton was actually glaring at her. "You mean that you had promised to
+marry Count Vos Engo!" he stammered.
+
+"We will not discuss--"
+
+"But did you promise to be his wife? Is he the man you love?" he
+insisted. She stared at him in surprise and no little resentment.
+
+"I beg of you, Mr. King--" she began, but he interrupted her.
+
+"Forgive me. I'm a fool. Don't mind me." He sank back against the wall,
+the picture of dejection. "It doesn't matter, anyway. I've got to die in
+a day or two, so what's the odds?"
+
+"How very strangely you talk. Are you sure--I mean, do you think it is
+fever? One suffers so--"
+
+He sighed deeply. "Well, that's over! Whew! It was a dream, by Jove!"
+
+"I don't understand."
+
+"Please go on."
+
+She waited a moment and then, looking down, said very gently: "I'm so
+sorry for you." He laughed, for he thought she pitied him because he had
+awakened from the dream.
+
+Then she resumed her story, not to be interrupted again. He seemed to
+have lost all interest.
+
+She had gone six or eight miles down the Ganlook road when she came up
+with five troopers of the Royal Guard. It was a lonely spot at the
+junction of the King's Highway and the road to the mines. One of the
+troopers came forward and respectfully requested her to turn off into
+the mine road until a detachment passed, in charge of a gang of
+desperadoes taken at the Inn of the Hawk and Raven the night before.
+Unsuspecting, she rode off into the forest lane for several hundred
+yards.
+
+It was a trap. The men were not troopers, but brigands gotten up in the
+uniform of the guard. Once away from the main highway, they made
+prisoners of her and the two grooms. Then followed a long ride through
+roads new to her. At noon they came to a halt while the rascals changed
+their clothing, appearing in their true garb, that of the mountaineer.
+Half dead with dread, she heard them discussing their plans; they spoke
+quite freely in the presence of the well-beaten grooms, who were led to
+expect death before many hours. It was the design of the bandits to make
+their way to the almost impregnable fastnesses in the hills of
+Dawsbergen, the wild principality to the south. There they could hold
+her against all hope of rescue, until an immense sum of money was paid
+over in ransom by her dispairing friends.
+
+When night came they were high in the mountains back of the Monastery,
+many hours ahead of any pursuit. They became stupidly careless, and the
+two grooms made a dash for freedom. One of them was killed, but the
+other escaped. She was afterward to recall that no effort was made to
+recapture him; they deliberately allowed him to escape, their cunning
+purpose becoming only too apparent later on.
+
+Instead of hurrying on to Dawsbergen, they dropped swiftly down into the
+valley above the city. No secret was made of the ruse they had employed
+to mislead the prospective pursuers. The rescue party, they swore
+joyously, would naturally be led by John Tullis; he would go with all
+haste to the Dawsbergen hills. The word of the trusty groom would be
+taken as positive proof that the captive was in that country. She
+shuddered as she listened to their exultant chuckles. It had been a most
+cunningly conceived plan and it promised to result profitably for them
+in the end.
+
+Some time during the slow, torturing ride through the forest she
+swooned. When she came to her senses she was in a dimly lighted room,
+surrounded by men. The gag had been removed from her mouth. She would
+have shrieked out in her terror, had not her gaze rested upon the figure
+of a man who sat opposite, his elbows on the back of the chair which he
+straddled, his chin on his arms. He was staring at her steadily, his
+black eyes catching her gaze and holding it as a snake holds the bird it
+has charmed.
+
+She recognised the hard, hawk-like face. There could be no mistake. She
+was looking into the face that made the portrait of the Iron Count so
+abhorrent to her: the leathery head of a cadaver with eyes that lived. A
+portrait of Voltaire, the likeness of a satyr, a suggestion of
+Satan--all rushed up from memory's storehouse to hold her attention rapt
+in contemplation of this sinister figure.
+
+He smiled. It was like the crumpling of soft leather. Then, with a word
+to one of the men, he abruptly left the room. After that she broke down
+and cried herself into the sleep of exhaustion.
+
+All the next day she sat limp and helpless in the chair they had brought
+to her. She could neither eat nor drink. Late in the afternoon Marlanx
+came again. She knew not from whence he came: he stood before her
+suddenly, as if produced by the magic of some fabled genie, smiling
+blandly, his hands clasped behind his back, his attitude one of
+lecherous calculation.
+
+Truxton King ground his teeth with rage and despair while she was
+breathlessly repeating the suave compliments that oozed from the lips of
+the tormentor.
+
+"He laughed when I demanded that he should restore me to my friends. He
+chided me when I pleaded and begged for mercy. My questions were never
+answered. He only said that no harm was to come to me; I was merely
+touching purgatory that I might better appreciate paradise when I came
+to it. Oh, it was horrible! I thought I would go mad. Finally I called
+him a beast; I don't know what else I said. He merely smiled. Presently
+he called one of the men into the room. He said something about a sewer
+and a hole in the ground. Then the man went out and I heard the clicking
+of a telegraph instrument. I heard certain instructions. I was to be
+taken to a certain place in the city at nightfall and kept there until
+to-morrow night, when I am again to be removed by way of the river. That
+is all I know. Where am I, Mr. King? Oh, this dreadful place! Why are we
+here--you and I?"
+
+King's heart throbbed fiercely one more. He was looking straight into
+the piteous, wondering eyes; his gaze fell to the parted, tremulous
+lips. A vast hunger possessed his soul. In that moment he could have
+laid down his life for her, with a smile of rejoicing.
+
+Then he told her why she was there, why he was there--and of the 26th.
+The dreadful 26th!
+
+Her eyes grew wide with horror and understanding; her bosom rose and
+fell rapidly with the sobs of suppressed terror. At last he had finished
+his stupefying tale; they sat side by side staring into each other's
+eyes, helpless, stricken.
+
+"God in heaven!" she repeated over and over again, in a piteous whisper.
+
+The candle flickered with feeble interest in the shadows that began to
+grow in the farthest corner. The girl drew closer to the side of the
+strong yet powerless man. Their gaze went to the sputtering candle. It
+was going out and they would be in utter darkness. And yet neither
+thought of the supply of fresh candles in the corner.
+
+King brought himself out of the strange lethargy with a jerk. It was
+high time, for the light was going.
+
+"Quick!" he cried. "The candle! Light a fresh one. My hands are bound."
+
+She crept to the candles and joined the wicks. A new light grew as the
+old one died. Then she stood erect, looking down upon him.
+
+"You are bound. I forgot."
+
+She started forward, dropping to her knees beside him, an eager gleam in
+her eyes. "If I can untie the rope--will that help? Can you do anything?
+You are strong. There must be a way. There must be one little chance for
+you--for us. Let me try."
+
+"By Jove," he whispered admiringly, his spirits leaping to meet hers.
+"You've got pluck. You put new life in me. I--I was almost a--a
+quitter."
+
+"You have been here so long," she explained quickly. "And tied all these
+days." She was tugging at the knot.
+
+"Only since I gave that pleasant punch to Peter Brutus."
+
+"That shows what you can do," she whispered warmly. "Oh, I wonder! I
+wonder if we have a chance! Anyway, your arms will be free. I shall feel
+safer if your arms are free."
+
+He sat with his back to her while she struggled with the stubborn knots.
+A delicious thrill of pleasure swept over him. She had said she would
+feel safer if his arms were free! She was struggling, with many a tense
+straining of delicate fingers, to undo the bonds which held him
+helpless. The touch of her eager fingers, the closeness of her body, the
+warmth of her breathing--he was beginning to hope that the effort might
+be prolonged interminably.
+
+At last, after many despairing tugs, the knot relaxed. "There!" she
+cried, sinking back exhausted. "Oh, how it must have hurt you! Your
+wrists are raw!"
+
+He suppressed the tactless impulse to say that he preferred a rope on
+the wrists to one about his neck, realising that the jest could only
+shock and not amuse her under the present conditions.
+
+His arms were stiff and sore and hung like lead at his sides. She
+watched him, with narrowed eyes, while he stood off and tried to work
+blood and strength back into his muscles.
+
+"Do you think you can--can do anything now, Mr. King?" she asked, after
+a long interval.
+
+He would not tell her how helpless he was, even with his hands free. So
+he smiled bravely and sought to reassure her with the most imposing
+boasts he could utter. She began to breathe easier; the light in her
+eyes grew brighter, more hopeful.
+
+"We must escape," she said, as if it were all settled.
+
+"It cannot be to-night," he gently informed her, a sickness attacking
+her heart. "Don't you think you'd better try to get some sleep?"
+
+He prevailed upon her to lie down, with his coat for a pillow. In two
+minutes she was asleep.
+
+For an hour or more he sat there, looking sorrowfully at the tired,
+sweet face, the utmost despair in his soul. At last he stretched himself
+out on the floor, near the door, and as he went to sleep he prayed that
+Providence might open a way for him to prove that she was not depending
+on him in vain.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+A DIVINITY SHAPES
+
+
+It was pitch dark when he awoke.
+
+"By heaven, it was a dream, after all," he murmured. "Well, thank God
+for that. She isn't in this damnable hole. And," with a quickening of
+the blood, "she hasn't said she was going to marry Vos Engo."
+
+The sound of light breathing came to his ears. He sat up. His hands were
+free. It had not been a dream. She _was_ lying over there asleep. The
+candle had burnt itself out, that was all. He crept softly across the
+floor; in the darkness he found her, and touched the garments she
+wore--and drew back enthralled. A strange joy filled him; she was his
+for the time being. They were equals in this direful, unlovely place;
+royal prejudice stood for nothing here. The mad desire to pick her up in
+his arms and hold her close came over him--only to perish as quickly as
+it flamed. What was he thinking of?
+
+She stirred restlessly as he crept back to the door. The sharp, quick
+intake of her breath told him that she was awake. He stopped and utter
+silence fell upon the room.
+
+A little moan escaped her lips: "Who is it? Why is it so dark? What--"
+
+"It is I," he whispered eagerly. "King. Don't be afraid. The candle
+burnt out while we were asleep. I did not intend to sleep. I'm sorry. We
+can't have a light now until some one comes in the morning. Don't be
+afraid."
+
+"I am afraid. Where are you?"
+
+"Here!" He hastened to her side. As he came up she touched his face
+with her hand timorously. He caught the wayward fingers in his own and
+held them, drawing quite close to her. "It's all right," he said.
+
+"Will they come soon?"
+
+"I hope not--I mean, yes; it must be morning."
+
+"I loathe the dark," she sighed. Presently her head dropped over against
+his shoulder and she was asleep again.
+
+"I don't give a damn if they never come," thought Truxton King,
+intoxicated with bliss.
+
+Afraid to move for fear of disturbing her, he sat there for an hour or
+more his back twisted and uncomfortable, but never so resolute. He would
+not have moved for all the world.
+
+All this time his brain was working like mad in the new-found desire to
+perform miracles for the sake of this lovely, unattainable creature. Was
+there no way to foil these triumphant conspirators? He was forgetting
+the Prince, the horrors of the 26th; he was thinking only of saving this
+girl from the fate that Marlanx had in store for her. Vos Engo may have
+had the promise, but what could it profit him if Marlanx had the girl?
+
+"I've got about as much chance as a snowball," he reflected, courage and
+decision growing stronger each moment. "I might just as well die one way
+as another. If I could only catch 'em napping for a minute, I might turn
+the trick. God, that would be--" he was lost in ecstatic contemplation
+of the glory that such an event would bring.
+
+Footsteps in the outer room recalled him to the bitter reality of their
+position. He awoke her and whispered words of encouragement into her
+bewildered ears. Then he put on his coat and threw himself on the floor,
+first wrapping the rope about his wrists to deceive the guard.
+
+A key turned in the padlock and the bolt was raised. Old man Spantz
+stood in the doorway, peering in at them. In surly tones Truxton replied
+to his sharp query, saying that the candle had gone out while he slept.
+
+"It is noon," said the old man irascibly. Then he came in and lighted a
+candle.
+
+"Noon of the 25th," said Truxton bitterly. "In twenty-four hours it will
+be all over, eh, Spantz?"
+
+"At noon to-morrow," said Spantz grimly.
+
+There were half a dozen men in the outer room, conversing in low,
+excited tones; the fervent gesticulations which usually marked their
+discussions were missing, proving the constraint that had descended upon
+them. One of them--it was Julius Spantz--brought in the food for the
+prisoners, setting it on the floor between them.
+
+"It is usually the duty of our friend Julius to feed me," observed
+Truxton to his fellow-prisoner. "I dare say he won't mind if you relieve
+him of the task."
+
+"She can feed you if she likes," growled Julius.
+
+"Julius?" queried the girl from the Castle, peering at the man. "Not
+Julius Spantz, of the armoury?"
+
+"The same," said Truxton. Julius laughed awkwardly and withdrew. "Son of
+our distinguished host here. Permit me to present Herr William--"
+
+"Enough," snarled William Spantz, with a threatening movement toward
+King. His manner changed completely, however, when he turned to address
+the young lady. "I beg to inform you, madam, that your stay in this
+unwholesome place is to be brief. Pray endure it for the remainder of
+this day. To-night you will be removed to more pleasant quarters, that
+a friend has prepared for you. I may say to you, however, that it will
+he necessary to place a gag in your mouth before you depart. This is to
+be a critical night in our affairs." He lifted an inspired gaze
+heavenward. "Let me assure you, madam, that the two gentlemen who are to
+conduct you to the Count's--to your new quarters, are considerate,
+kindly men; you need feel no further alarm. I am requested to tell you
+this, so that you may rest easy for the balance of the day. As for you,
+my friend," turning to Truxton and smiling ironically, "I deeply deplore
+the fact that you are to remain. You may be lonesome in the dead hours,
+for, as you may imagine, we, your dearest friends, will be off about a
+certain business that is known to you, if I mistake not in believing
+that you have listened at the door these many nights. When we next
+gather in the room beyond, a new dispensation will have begun. You may
+be interested then to hear what we have to say--out there."
+
+Truxton was silent for a moment, a sudden, swift thought flooding his
+brain. Controlling the quiver of anticipation in his voice, he took
+occasion to say:
+
+"I only hope you'll not forget to come back. I should be lonesome,
+Spantz."
+
+"Oh, we'll not forget you."
+
+"I suppose not. By the way, would you mind telling me what has become of
+your niece?"
+
+Spantz glared at him. "She does not meet with us now. My niece is
+consecrating her every thought to the task that lies before her. You
+will not see her again."
+
+"It's an infernal shame, that's what it is," exclaimed King, "to put it
+all upon that poor girl! God, I'd give ten years of my life to lead her
+out of this devil's mess. She's too good for--for that. It's--"
+
+"She will be out of it, as you say, to-morrow, my excellent Samaritan.
+She knows." There could be no mistake as to the meaning of the prophetic
+words.
+
+With a profound bow to the lady and a leer for King, he departed,
+bolting the door behind him. Instantly King was at her side.
+
+"An idea has come to me," he whispered eagerly. "I think I see a way. By
+George, if it should only happen as I hope it may!"
+
+"Tell me!" she insisted.
+
+"Not now. I must think it all out carefully. It won't do to get your
+hopes up and then fail."
+
+Whatever the thought was that had come to him, it certainly had put new
+life and hope into him. She nibbled at the unwholesome food, never
+removing her eyes from his tall, restless figure as he paced the floor,
+his brows knit in thought. Finally he sat down beside her, calmly
+helping himself to a huge slice of bread and a boiled carrot.
+
+"I've never liked carrots before. I love 'em now. I'm taking them for my
+complexion."
+
+"Don't jest, Mr. King. What is it you intend to do? Please tell me. I
+must know. You heard what he said about taking me to the Count's. He
+meant Marlanx. I will die first."
+
+"No. I will die first. By the way, I may as well tell you that I wasn't
+thinking altogether of how we are to escape. There was something else on
+my mind." He stopped and looked at her puzzled face. "Why should I save
+you from Marlanx just to have you hurry off and get married to Vos Engo?
+It's a mean thought, I know," hastily, "and unworthy of a typical hero,
+but, just the same, I hate to think of you marrying some one--else."
+
+"Some one else?" she questioned, a pucker on her forehead.
+
+"Oh, I know I wouldn't have a ghost of a chance, even if there wasn't a
+Vos Engo. It isn't that," he explained. "I recognise the--er--difference
+in our stations and--"
+
+"Are you crazy, Mr. King?"
+
+"Not now. I was a bit touched, I think, but I'm over it now. I dare say
+it was caused by excessive reading of improbable romances. Life rather
+takes it out of a fellow, don't you know. It's all simple enough in
+books, but in--"
+
+"What has all this got to do with your plan to escape?"
+
+"Nothing at all. It merely has to do with my ambition to become a true
+hero. You see, I'm an amateur hero. Of course, this is good practice for
+me; in time, I may become an expert and have no difficulty in winning a
+duchess or even a princess. Don't misunderstand me. I intend to do all I
+can toward rescuing you to-night. The point I'm trying to get at is
+this: don't you think it's pretty rough on a hero to save the girl for
+some other fellow to snap up and marry?"
+
+"I think I begin to see," she said, a touch of pink coming into her
+cheeks.
+
+"That's encouraging," he said, staring gloomily at the food he had put
+aside. "You are quite sure you promised Vos Engo that you'd marry him?"
+
+"No. I did not promise him that I'd marry him," she said, leaning back
+and surveying him between narrowed lids.
+
+"I beg your pardon. You said you had promised--"
+
+"You did not allow me time to finish. I meant to say that I had promised
+to let him know in a day or two. That is all, Mr. King." There was a
+suspicious tremor in her voice and her gaze wavered beneath his
+unbelieving stare.
+
+"What's that?" he demanded. "You--you don't mean to say that--Oh, Lord!
+I wonder! I wonder if I have a chance--just a ghost of a chance?" He
+leaned very close, incredulous, fascinated. "What is it that you are
+going to let him know? Yes or no?"
+
+"That was the question I was considering when the brigands caught me,"
+she answered, meeting his gaze fairly. "I haven't thought of it since."
+
+"Of course, he is in your own class," said Truxton glumly.
+
+She hesitated an instant, her face growing very serious. "Mr. King, has
+no one told you my name--who I am?" she asked.
+
+"You are the Prince's aunt, that's all I know."
+
+"No more his aunt in reality than Jack Tullis is his uncle. I thought
+you understood."
+
+"Who are you, then?"
+
+"I am Jack Tullis's sister, a New Yorker bred and born, and I live not
+more than two blocks from your--"
+
+"For the love of--" he began blankly; then words failed him, which was
+just as well. He gulped twice, joy or unbelief choking him. The smile
+that crept into her face dazzled him; he stared at her in speechless
+amazement. "Then--then, you are not a duchess or a--" he began again.
+
+"Not at all. A very plain New Yorker," she said, laughing aloud in
+sudden hysteria. For some reason she drew quickly away from him. "You
+are not disappointed, are you? Does it spoil your romance to--"
+
+"Spoil it? Disappointed? No! By George, I--I can't believe that any such
+luck--no, no, I don't mean it just that way! Let me think it out. Let
+me get it through my head." He leaned back against the wall and devoured
+her with eager, disturbing eyes. "You are Tullis's sister? You live
+near--Oh, I say, this is glorious!" He arose and took a turn about the
+room. In some nervousness and uncertainty she also came to her feet,
+watching him wonderingly. He hurried back to her, a new light in his
+eyes. She was very desirable, this slender, uncertain person in the
+crumpled grey.
+
+"Miss Tullis," he said, a thrill in his voice, "you are a princess, just
+the same. I never was so happy in my life as I am this minute. It isn't
+so black as it was. I thought I couldn't win you because you--"
+
+"Win me?" she gasped, her lips parted in wonder.
+
+"Precisely. Now I'm looking at it differently. I don't mind telling you
+that I'm in love with you--desperately in love. It's been so with me
+ever since that day in the Park. I loved you as a duchess or a princess,
+and without hope. Now, I--I--well, I'm going to hope. Perhaps Vos Engo
+has the better of me just now, but I'm in the lists with him--with all
+of them. If I get you out of this place--and myself as well--I want you
+to understand that from this very minute I am trying to win you if it
+lies in the power of any American to win a girl who has suitors among
+the nobility. Will--will you give me a chance--just a ghost of a chance?
+I'll try to do the rest."
+
+"Are--are you really in earnest?" she murmured, composure flying to the
+winds.
+
+"Yes; terribly so," he said gently. "I mean every word of it. I do love
+you."
+
+"I--I cannot talk about it now, Mr. King," she fluttered, moving away
+from him in a sudden panic. Presently he went over to her. She was
+standing near the candle, staring down at the flame with a strangely
+preoccupied expression in her eyes.
+
+"Forgive me," he said. "I was hasty, inconsiderate. I--"
+
+"You quite took my breath away," she panted, looking up at him with a
+queer little smile.
+
+"I know," he murmured.
+
+Her troubled gaze resumed its sober contemplation of the flame.
+
+"How was I to tell--" she began, but checked herself. "Please, Mr. King,
+you won't say anything more to me about--about it,--just now, will you?
+Shall we talk of our plans for to-night? Tell me about them."
+
+He lowered his eyes, suddenly disheartened. "I only ask you to believe
+that I am desperately in earnest."
+
+"I cannot comprehend how--I mean, it is so very wonderful. You don't
+think me unappreciative, or mean, do you?"
+
+"Of course not. You are startled, that's all. I'm a blundering fool.
+Still, you must agree that I was frightfully bowled over when I found
+that you were not what I thought. I couldn't hold back, that's all. By
+Jove, isn't it wonderful? Here I've been looking all over the world for
+you, only to find that you've been living around the corner from me all
+these years! It's positively staggering! Why," with a sudden burst of
+his unquenchable buoyancy, "we might have been married two years ago and
+saved all this trouble. Just think of it!"
+
+She smiled. "I do like you," she said warmly, giving him her hand. He
+kissed it gallantly and stepped back--resolutely.
+
+"That's something," he said with his humblest, most conquering smile.
+
+"You won't leave me to my fate because you think I'm going to
+marry--some one else?"
+
+He grew very sober. "Miss Tullis, you and I have one chance in a
+thousand. You may as well know the truth."
+
+"Oh, I can't bear the thought of that dreadful old man," she cried,
+abject distress in her eyes.
+
+He gritted his teeth and turned away. She went back to the corner, dully
+rearranging the coat he had given her for comfort. She handled it with a
+tenderness that would have astonished the garment had it been capable of
+understanding. For a long time she watched him in silence as he paced to
+and fro like a caged lion. Twice she heard him mutter: "An American
+girl--good Lord," and she found herself smiling to herself--the strange,
+vagrant smile that comes of wonder and self-gratification.
+
+Late in the afternoon--long hours in which they had spoken to each other
+with curious infrequency, each a prey to sombre thoughts--their door was
+unlocked and Anna Cromer appeared before them, accompanied by two of the
+men. Crisply she commanded the girl to come forth; she wanted to talk
+with her.
+
+She was in the outer room for the better part of an hour, listening to
+Anna Cromer and Madame Drovnask, who dinned the praises of the great
+Count Marlanx into her ears until she was ready to scream. They bathed
+the girl's face and brushed her hair and freshened her garments. It
+occurred to her that she was being prepared for a visit of the
+redoubtable Marlanx himself, and put the question plainly.
+
+"No," said Anna Cromer. "He's not coming here. You are going to him. He
+will not be Count Marlanx after to-morrow, but Citizen Marlanx--one of
+the people, one of us. Ah, he is a big man to do this."
+
+Little did they know Marlanx!
+
+"Julius and Peter will come for you to-night," said Madame Drovnask,
+with an evil, suggestive smile. "We will not be here to say farewell,
+but, my dear, you will be one of us before--well, before many days have
+passed."
+
+Truxton was beginning to tremble with the fear that she would not be
+returned to their room, when the door was opened and she came in--most
+gladly, he could see. The two women bade him a cool, unmistakable
+_Good-bye_, and left him in charge of the men who had just come down
+from the shop above.
+
+For half an hour Peter Brutus taunted him. It was all he could do to
+keep his hands wrapped in the rope behind his back; he was thankful when
+they returned him to his cell. The time was not ripe for the dash he was
+now determined to make.
+
+"Get a little nap, if you can," he said to Loraine, when the door was
+locked behind him. "It won't be long before something happens. I've got
+a plan. You'll have your part to play. God grant that it may work out
+well for us. You--you might pray if--if--"
+
+"Yes, I _can_ pray," she said simply. "I'll do my part, Mr. King."
+
+He waited a moment. "We've been neighbours in New York for years," he
+said. "Would you mind calling me Truxton,--and for Adele's sake, too?"
+
+"It isn't hard to do, Truxton."
+
+"Good!" he exclaimed.
+
+She rebelled at the mere thought of sleep, but, unfastening her collar
+and removing the jabot, she made herself a comfortable cushion of his
+coat and sat back in her corner, strangely confident that this strong,
+eager American would deliver her from the Philistines--this fighting
+American with the ten days' growth of beard on his erstwhile merry face.
+
+Sometime in the tense, suffocating hours of the night they heard the
+sounds of many footsteps shuffling about the outer room; there were
+hoarse, guttural, subdued good-byes and well-wishes, the creaking of
+heavy doors and the dropping of bolts. Eventually King, who had been
+listening alertly, realised that but two of the men remained in the
+room--Peter Brutus and Julius Spantz.
+
+An hour crept by, and another, seemingly interminable King was fairly
+groaning under the suspense. The time was slowly, too slowly approaching
+when he was to attempt the most desperate act in all this sanguinary
+tragedy--the last act for him, no doubt, but the one in which he was to
+see himself glorified.
+
+There remained the chance--the slim chance that only Providence
+considers. He had prayed for strength and cunning; she had prayed for
+divine intervention. But, after all, Luck was to be the referee.
+
+He had told her of his plan; she knew the part she was to play. And if
+all went well--ah, then! He took a strange lesson in the language of
+Graustark: one sentence, that was all. She had whispered the translation
+to him and he had grimly repeated it, over and over again. "She has
+fainted, damn her!" It was to be their "Open Sesame"--if all went well!
+
+Suddenly he started to his feet, his jaws set, his eyes gleaming. The
+telegraph instrument was clicking in the outer room!
+
+He had wrapped his handkerchief about his big right hand, producing a
+sort of cushion to deaden the sound of a blow with the fist and to
+protect his knuckles; for all his strength was to go into that one
+mighty blow. If both men came into the room, his chance was smaller;
+but, in either event, the first blow was to be a mighty one.
+
+Taking his position near the girl, who was crouching in real dismay, he
+leaned against the wall, his hands behind him, every muscle strained and
+taut.
+
+The door opened and Julius Spantz, bewhiskered and awkward, entered. He
+wore a raincoat and storm hat, and carried a rope in one of his hands.
+He stopped just inside the door to survey the picture.
+
+"Time you were asleep," he said stupidly, addressing King.
+
+"I'd put you to sleep, Julius, if Miss Tullis could have managed to
+untie these infernal bonds," said Truxton, with pleasant daring.
+
+"I don't tie lovers' knots," grinned Julius, pleased with his own wit.
+"Come, madam, I must ask you to stand up. Will you put your own
+handkerchief in your mouth, or must I use force--ah, that's good! I'm
+sorry, but I must wrap this cloth about--"
+
+He did not complete the sentence, for he had come within range. The
+whole weight of Truxton King's body was behind the terrific blow that
+landed on the man's jaw. Loraine suppressed the scream that rose to her
+white lips. Julius Spantz's knees crumpled; he lunged against the wall
+and was sliding down when King caught him in his arms. The man was
+stunned beyond all power of immediate action. It was the work of an
+instant to snatch the revolver from his coat pocket.
+
+"Guard the door!" whispered King to the girl, pressing the revolver into
+her hand. "And shoot if you have to!"
+
+A handkerchief was stuffed into the unconscious man's mouth; the long
+coat and boots were jerked from his limp body before his hands and feet
+were bound with the rope he carried; the bushy whiskers and wig were
+removed from his head and transferred in a flash to that of the
+American. Then the boots, coat and hat found a new wearer.
+
+Peter Brutus was standing in the stairway, leading to the sewer,
+listening eagerly for sounds from either side.
+
+"Hurry up, Julius," he called imperatively. "They are below with the
+boat. They have given the signal."
+
+The new Julius uttered a single sentence; that was all. If Peter heard
+the noise attending the disposal of his comrade, he was justified in
+believing that the girl had offered some resistance. When a tall,
+grunting man emerged from the inner room, bearing the limp figure of a
+girl in a frayed raincoat, he did not wait to ask questions, but rushed
+over and locked the cell-door. Then he led the way down the narrow
+stairway, lighting the passage with a candle. His only reply to King's
+guttural remark in the Graustark language was:
+
+"Don't speak, you fool! Not a word until we reach the river."
+
+Down the steps they went to the opening in the wall of the sewer. There,
+before the bolts were drawn by Brutus, a series of raps were exchanged
+by men outside and the one who held the keys within.
+
+A moment later, the girl was being lowered through the hole into rough,
+eager arms. Brutus and his companion dropped through, the secret block
+of masonry was closed, and off through the shallow waters of the sewer
+glided the party riverward in the noiseless boat that had come up to
+ferry them.
+
+There were three men in the boat, not counting Truxton King.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+ON THE RIVER
+
+
+No word was spoken during this cautious, extraordinary voyage
+underground. The boat drifted slowly through the narrow channel,
+unlighted and practically unguided. Two of the men sat at the rowlocks,
+but the oars rested idly in the boat. With their hands they kept the
+craft from scraping against the walls.
+
+The pseudo-Julius supported his charge in the stern of the boat; Peter
+Brutus sat in the bow, a revolver in his hand, his gaze bent upon the
+opaqueness ahead. A whispered word of encouragement now and then passed
+from the lips of the hopeful American into the ear of the almost
+pulseless girl, who lay up against his knee.
+
+"We'll do it--sure!" he whispered once, ever so softly.
+
+"Yes," she scarcely, breathed, but he heard and was thrilled. The rope
+had dropped from her arms; she had taken the handkerchief from her mouth
+at his whispered command.
+
+At last the boat crept out into the rainy, starless night. He drew the
+skirts of his own mackintosh over her shoulders and head. A subdued
+command came from the man in the bow; the oars slipped into the deep,
+black waters of the river; without a splash or a perceptible sound the
+little craft scudded toward midstream. The night was so inky black that
+one could not see his hand before his face.
+
+At least two of the occupants opened up their throats and lungs and
+gulped in the wet, fresh air. Never had anything been so glorious to
+Truxton King as these first tremendous inhalations of pure, free air.
+She felt his muscles expand; his whole body grew stronger and more
+vital. Her heart was pounding violently against his leg; he could feel
+its throbs, he could hear the quick, eager panting of her breath.
+
+It was now that he began to wonder, to calculate against the plans of
+their silent escort. Whither were they bound? When would his chance come
+to strike the final, surprising blow? Only the greatest effort at
+self-control kept him from ruining everything by premature action; his
+exultation was getting the better of him. Coolness and patience were
+greater assets now than strength and daring.
+
+The boat turned in mid-stream and shot swiftly up the river, past the
+black fortress with its scattered sentry lights, where slept a garrison
+in sweet ignorance of the tragedy that was to come upon them when the
+sun was high. The lights of the city itself soon peeped down into the
+rain-swept waters; music from the distant cafes came faintly to the ears
+of the midnight voyagers. A safe haven at their very elbows, and yet
+unattainable.
+
+The occasional creak of an oar, a whispered oath of dismay, the heavy
+breathing of toilers, the soft blowing of the mist-that was all; no
+other sound on the broad, still river. It was, indeed, a night fit for
+the undertaking at hand.
+
+Truxton began to chafe under the strain. His uneasiness was increased by
+the certain conviction that before long they would be beyond the city,
+the walls of which were gradually slipping past He could not even so
+much as guess at their destination. There was also the likelihood of
+encountering reinforcements, sent out to meet the boatmen, or for
+protection at the time of landing. A hundred doubts and misgivings
+assailed him. To suddenly open fire on the rascals went against the
+grain. A dashing, running fight on shore was more to his liking. An
+ill-timed move would foil them even as success was in their grasp.
+
+He considered their chances if he were to overturn the frail boat and
+strike out for shore in the darkness. This project he gave up at once:
+he did not know the waters nor the banks between which they glided. They
+were past the walls now and rowing less stealthily. Before long they
+would be in a position to speak aloud; it would be awkward for him. The
+situation was rapidly growing more and more desperate; the time was near
+at hand when the final effort would have to be exerted. He slipped the
+revolver from his pocket; somehow he was unable to keep his teeth from
+chattering; but it was through excitement, not fear.
+
+Suddenly the boat turned to the right and shot toward the unseen bank.
+They were perhaps half a mile above the city wall. Truxton's mind was
+working like a trip-hammer. He was recalling a certain nomad settlement
+north of the city, the quarters of fishermen, poachers and
+horse-traders: a squalid, unclean community that lay under the walls
+between the northern gates and the river. These people, he was not slow
+to surmise, were undoubtedly hand in glove with Marlanx, if not so
+surely connected with the misguided Committee of Ten. This being the eve
+of the great uprising, it was not unlikely that a secret host lay here
+awake and ready for the foul observance of the coming holiday; here, at
+least, chafed an eager, vicious, law-hating community of mendicants and
+outcasts.
+
+He had little time to speculate on the attitude of the denizens of this
+unwholesome place. The prow of the boat grated on the pebbly bank, and
+Peter Brutus leaped over the edge into the shallow water.
+
+"Come on, Julius--hand her over to me!" he cried, making his way to the
+stern.
+
+As he leaned over the side to seize the girl in his arms, Truxton King
+brought the butt of the heavy revolver down upon his skull. Brutus
+dropped across the gunwale with a groan, dead to all that was to happen
+in the next half hour or more.
+
+King was anxious to avoid the hullaballoo that shooting was sure to
+create on shore. Action had been forced upon him rather precipitously,
+but he was ready. Leaning forward, he had the two amazed oarsmen covered
+with the weapon.
+
+"Hands up! Quick!" he cried. Two pairs of hands went up, together with
+strange oaths. Truxton's eyes had grown used to the darkness; he could
+see the men quite plainly. "What are you doing?" he demanded of Loraine,
+who, behind him, was fumbling in the garments of the unconscious Brutus.
+
+"Getting his revolver," she replied, with a quaver in her voice.
+
+"Good!" he said exultantly. "Let's think a minute," he went on. "We
+don't dare turn these fellows loose, even if we disarm them. They'll
+have a crowd after us in two minutes." Still, keeping the men covered,
+he cudgelled his brain for the means of disposing of them. "I have it.
+We must disarm them, tie them up and set 'em adrift. Do you mind getting
+out into the water? It's ankle deep, that's all. I'll keep them covered
+while you take their guns."
+
+"Nice way to treat a friend," growled one of the men.
+
+"A friend? By George, it's my Newport acquaintance. Well, this is a
+pleasure! I suppose you know that I'll shoot if you resist. Better take
+it quietly."
+
+"Oh, you'll shoot, all right," said the other. "I told them damn fools
+that a Yankee'd get the better of 'em, even if they ran a steam roller
+over him two or three times. Say, you're a pippin! I'd like to take off
+my hat to you."
+
+"Don't bother. I acknowledge the tribute."
+
+Loraine Tullis was in the water by this time. With nervous haste she
+obeyed King's instructions; the big revolvers were passed back to him.
+
+"I've changed my mind," said Truxton' suddenly. "We'll keep the boat.
+Get in, Miss Tullis. There! Now, push off, Newport."
+
+"What the devil--" began Newport, but King silenced him. The boat slowly
+drifted out into the current.
+
+"Now, row!" he commanded. With his free hand he reached back and dragged
+the limp Brutus into the boat. "'Gad, I believe he's dead," he muttered.
+
+For five minutes the surly oarsmen pulled away, headed in the direction
+from which they came.
+
+"Can you swim?" demanded King.
+
+"Not a stroke," gasped Newport. "Good Lord, pal, you're not going to
+dump us overboard. It's ten feet deep along here."
+
+"Pull on your left, hard. That's right. I'm going to land you on the
+opposite shore-and then bid you a cheerful good-night."
+
+Two minutes later they ran up under the western bank of the stream,
+which at this point was fully three hundred yards wide. The nearest
+bridge was a mile and a half away and habitations were scarce, as he
+well knew. Under cover of the deadly revolver, the two men dropped into
+the water, which was above their waists; the limp form of Peter Brutus
+was pulled out and transferred to the shoulders of his companions.
+
+"Good-night," called out Truxton King cheerily. He had grasped the
+oars; the little boat leaped off into the night, leaving the cursing
+desperadoes waist-deep in the chilly waters.
+
+"See you later," sang out Newport, with sudden humour.
+
+"We'll go south," said Truxton King to the girl who sat in the stern,
+clutching the sides of the boat with tense fingers. "I don't know just
+where we'll land, but it won't be up in Devil's Patch, you may rest
+assured of that. Pardon me if I do not indulge in small talk and
+bonmots; I'm going to be otherwise employed for some time, Miss Tullis.
+Do you know the river very well?"
+
+"Not at all," she replied. "I only know that the barge docks are below
+here somewhere. I'm sure we can get into the city if we can find the
+docks. Let me take the oars, too, Mr. King. I can row."
+
+"No. Please sit where you are and keep your eyes ahead. Can you see
+where we're going?"
+
+"I can see the lights. We're in mid-stream, I think. It's so very dark
+and the wind is coming up in a gale. It's--it's going to storm. Don't
+you think we'd better try for a landing along the walls? They say the
+river is very treacherous." She was trembling like a leaf.
+
+"I'll row over to the east side, but I don't like to get too close to
+the walls. Some one may have heard the shouts of our friends back
+there."
+
+Not another word passed between them for ten or twelve minutes. She
+peered anxiously ahead, looking for signs of the barge dock, which lay
+somewhere along this section of the city wall. In time, of course, the
+marooned desperadoes might be expected to find a way to pursue them, or,
+at least, to alarm watchful confederates on the city side of the river.
+It was a tense, anxious quarter of an hour for the liberated pair. So
+near to absolute safety, and yet so utterly in the dark as to what the
+next moment, might develop--weal or woe.
+
+At least the sound of rapidly working rowlocks came to the girl's ears.
+They were slipping along in the dense blackness beneath the walls,
+making as little noise as possible and constantly on the lookout for the
+long, low dock.
+
+"They're after us," grated Truxton, in desperation. "They've got word to
+friends one way or another. By Jove! I'm nearly fagged, too. I can't
+pull much farther. Hello! What's this?"
+
+The side of the boat caromed off' a solid object in the water, almost
+spilling them into the wind-blown river.
+
+"The docks!" she whispered. "We struck a small scow, I think. Can you
+find your way in among the coal barges?"
+
+He paddled along slowly, feeling his way, scraping alongside the big
+barges which delivered coal from the distant mines to the docks along
+the river front. At last he found an opening and pushed through. A
+moment later they were riding under the stern of a broad, cargoless
+barge, plumb up against the water-lapped piles of the dock.
+
+Standing in the bow of the boat he managed to pull himself up over the
+slippery edge. It was the work of a second to draw her up after him.
+With an oar which he had thought to remove beforehand, he gave the boat
+a mighty shove, sending it out into the stream once more.
+
+Then, hand in hand, they edged slowly, carefully along the gravel-strewn
+dock, between vast piles of lumber and steep walls of coal. It was only
+necessary to find the railway company's runways leading into the yards
+above; in time of peace there was little likelihood that the entrances
+to the dock would be closed, even at night.
+
+Loud curses came up from the river, proclaiming the fact that the
+pursuers had found the empty boat. Afterwards they were to learn that
+"Newport's" shouts had brought a boatload of men from the opposite bank,
+headed by the innkeeper, in whose place Loraine was to have encountered
+Marlanx later on, if plans had not miscarried. She was to have remained
+in this outside inn until after the sacking of the city on the following
+day. The girl translated one remark that came up to them from the
+boatload of pursuers:
+
+"The old man is waiting back there. He'll kill the lot of us if we don't
+bring the girl."
+
+By this time King had located the open space which undoubtedly afforded
+room for the transfer of cargoes from the dock to the company's yards
+inside the walls. Without hesitation he drew her after him up this wide,
+sinister roadway. They stumbled on over the rails of the "dummy track,"
+collided with collier trucks, slipped on the soggy chutes, but all the
+while forged ahead toward the gates that so surely lay above them.
+
+The pursuers were trying for a landing, noisily, even boisterously. It
+struck Truxton as queer that these men were not afraid of alarming the
+watchmen on the docks or the man at the gate above. Suddenly it came to
+him that there would be no one there to oppose the landing of the
+miscreants. No doubt hundreds of men already had stolen through these
+gates during the night, secreting themselves in the fastnesses of the
+city, ready for the morrow's fray. It is no small wonder that he
+shuddered at the thought of it.
+
+There was no one on the wharf--at least, no one in sight. They rushed up
+the narrow railway chutes and through one of the numerous gateways that
+opened out upon the barge docks. No one opposed them; no one was
+standing guard. From behind came the sound of rushing footsteps.
+Lightning flashed in the sky and the rumble of thunder broke over the
+desolate night.
+
+"They'll see us by the lightning," gasped Truxton, almost ready to drop
+from faintness and exhaustion. He was astounded, even alarmed, to find
+that his strength had been so gravely depleted by confinement and lack
+of nourishment.
+
+They were inside the city walls. Ahead of them, in that labyrinth of
+filthy streets lay the way to the distant square. His arm was now about
+her waist, for she was half-fainting; he could hear her gasping and
+moaning softly, inarticulate cries of despair. Switch-lights blinked in
+the distance. Off to the right of them windows showed lights; the clang
+of a locomotive bell came to them as from a great distance.
+
+Their progress was abruptly halted by the appearance of a man ahead,
+standing like a statue in the middle of the network of tracks. They
+stumbled toward him, not knowing whether he was friend or foe. One look
+into their faces, aided by the flare of a yardman's lantern, and the
+fellow turned tail and fled, shouting as he did so.
+
+Following a vivid flash of lightning, two shots were fired by the men
+who were now plunging up through the gates, a hundred yards or more
+away. The same flash of lightning showed to King the narrow, muddy
+street that stretched ahead of them, lined with low, ugly houses of a
+nondescript character. Instead of doing the obvious thing, he turned
+sharply to the left, between the lines of freight cars. Their progress
+was slow; both were ready to drop; the way was dark and unknown to
+them.
+
+At last they came to the end of their rope: they were literally up
+against the great city wall! They had reached the limits of the railway
+yards and were blocked on all sides by they knew not how many rows of
+cars. Somewhere off to the right there were streets and houses and
+people, but they did not have the strength to try to reach them.
+
+A car door stood open in front of them. He waited for a second flash of
+lightning to reveal to him the nature of its interior. It was quite
+empty. Without hesitation he clambered in and pulled her up after him.
+They fell over, completely fagged.
+
+A few minutes later the storm broke. He managed to close the door
+against the driving torrents.
+
+She was sobbing plaintively, poor, wet, bedraggled sweetheart--he called
+her that, although she did not hear him.
+
+"We've fooled them," he managed to whisper, close to her ear. "They
+won't look here. You're safe, Loraine. 'Gad, I'd like to see any one get
+you away from me now."
+
+She pressed his arm, that was all. He found himself wondering what
+answer she would give to Vos Engo when he took her to him to-morrow.
+To-morrow! This was the 26th! Would there be a to-morrow for any of
+them--for Vos Engo, for Tullis, for the Prince? For _her_?
+
+"There will be time to warn them in the morning," he thought, dulled by
+fatigue. "We can't go on now."
+
+"Truxton," he heard her saying, tremulously, "do you think we can do
+anything for them--the Prince and those who are with him? How can we lie
+here when there is so much to be done?"
+
+"When the storm abates--when we are rested--we will try to get away
+from here. Those devils know that I will give the alarm. They will have
+hundreds of men watching to head us off. It means everything to them.
+You see, I know their plans. But, Loraine, dear little girl, brave as
+you are and willing as I am, we can't go on until we've pulled ourselves
+together. We're safe here for awhile. Later on, we'll try to steal up to
+the city. They will be watching every approach to the Castle and to the
+Tower, hoping to stop me in time. We must out-fox them again. It will be
+harder, too, little girl. But, if I don't do any more, I pledge you that
+I'll save you from Marlanx."
+
+"Oh, I know you will. You must, Truxton."
+
+"I'd--I'd like to be sure that I am also saving you from Vos Engo. I
+hate to think of you throwing yourself away on one of these blithering,
+fortune-hunting noblemen." She pressed his arm again. "By Jove, it's
+great fun being a hero, after all--and it isn't so difficult, if the
+girl helps you as you helped me. It's too bad I couldn't do it all by
+myself. I have always counted on rescuing you from an Ogre's castle or
+something of that sort. It's rather commonplace as it is, don't you
+think?"
+
+"I don't--know what--you're talking about," she murmured. Then she was
+fast asleep.
+
+The storm raged; savage bursts of wind rocked the little freight car;
+the rain hissed viciously against their frail hotel; thunder roared and
+lightning rent sky and earth. The weary night-farers slept with
+pandemonium dinning in their ears.
+
+He sat with his back against the side of the car, a, pistol in one hand,
+the other lying tenderly upon the drenched hair of the girl whose head
+rested upon his leg. She had slipped down from his shoulder; he did not
+have the desire or the energy to prevent it. At his side lay the
+discarded whiskers. Manfully as he had fought against the impelling
+desire to sleep, he could not beat it off. His last waking thought was
+of the effort he must make to reach Dangloss with the warning.
+
+Then the storm abated; the soft drip of rain from the eaves of the car
+beat a monotonous tattoo in the pools below; the raw winds from the
+mountains blew stealthily in the wake of the tornado, picking up the
+waste that had been left behind only to cast it aside with a moan of
+derision.
+
+Something stirred in the far end of the car. A still, small noise as of
+something alive that moved with the utmost wariness. A heavy, breathing
+body crept stealthily across the intervening space; so quietly that a
+mouse could have made but little less noise.
+
+Then it stopped; there was not a sound inside the car except the deep,
+regular breathing of Truxton King. The girl's respiration was so faint
+that one might have thought she did not breathe at all. Again the sly,
+cautious movement of a heavy body; the creaking of a joint or two, the
+sound of a creature rising from a crouching position to the upright;
+then the gentle rubbing of cloth, the fumbling of fingers in a stubborn
+pocket.
+
+An instant later the bluish flame of a sulphur match struggled for life,
+growing stronger and brighter in the hand of a man who stood above the
+sleepers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE GIRL IN THE RED CLOAK
+
+
+Inside of an hour after the return of the frightened, quivering groom
+who had escaped from the brigands in the hills, Jack Tullis was granted
+permission by the war department to take a hundred picked men with him
+in the effort to overtake and capture the abductors of his sister. The
+dazed groom's story hardly had been told to the horrified brother before
+he was engaged in telephoning to General Braze and Baron Dangloss. A
+hurried consultation followed. Other affairs that had been troubling the
+authorities for days were forgotten in the face of this distressing
+catastrophe; there was no time to be lost if the desperadoes were to be
+headed before they succeeded in reaching the Dawsbergen passes with
+their lovely captive. Once there, it would be like hunting a needle in a
+haystack; they could elude pursuit for days among the wild crags of
+upper Dawsbergen, where none but outlaws lived, and fierce beasts
+thrived.
+
+Unluckily for the dearest hopes of the rescuing party, the miserable
+groom did not reach the city until almost noon of the day following the
+abduction. He had lost his way and had wandered all night in the
+forests. When Miss Tullis failed to return at nightfall, her brother,
+having in mind the mysterious disappearance of Truxton King and the
+flight of Countess Ingomede, was preparing to set forth in search of
+her. A telephone message from Ganlook, fifteen miles north of the city,
+came at seven o'clock, just as he was leaving the Castle. The speaker
+purported to be the Countess Prandeville, a very estimable chatelaine
+who ruled socially over the grim old village of Ganlook. She informed
+Tullis that his sister was with her for the night, having arrived in the
+afternoon with a "frightful headache." She would look after the dear
+child, of whom she was very fond, and would send her down in the
+morning, when she would surely be herself again. Greatly relieved,
+Tullis gave up his plan to ride off in quest of her; he knew the amiable
+Countess, and felt that his sister was in good hands.
+
+It was not until the return of the groom that he recalled the fact that
+the voice on the telephone was not quite like that of the Countess. He
+had been cleverly hoodwinked. Baron Dangloss, obtaining connection with
+the Prandeville household in Ganlook, at once discovered that Loraine
+had not been in the chateau in many days.
+
+The fierce, cock-robin baron was sadly upset. Three prominent persons
+had been stolen from beneath his nose, so to speak. He was beside
+himself with rage and dismay. This last outrage was the climax. The old
+man adored the sister of Jack Tullis; he was heartbroken and crushed by
+the news of the catastrophe. For a while he worked as if in a daze; only
+the fierce spurring of Jack Tullis and Vos Engo, who believed himself to
+be an accepted suitor, awoke him from an unusual state of lethargy. It
+is even said that the baron shed tears without blowing his nose to
+discredit the emotion.
+
+The city was soon to know of the fresh outrage at the hands of the
+bandits in the hills. Great excitement prevailed; there were many
+sincere lamentations, for the beautiful American girl was a great
+favourite--especially with those excellent persons who conducted bazaars
+in the main avenues. Loraine, being an American, did not hesitate to
+visit the shops in person: something that the native ladies never
+thought of doing. Hundreds of honest citizens volunteered to join in a
+search of the hills, but the distinction was denied them.
+
+The war department issued official notice to all merchants that their
+places of business must be decorated properly against the holiday that
+would occur on the morrow. Shops were to be closed for two hours at
+midday, during the ceremonies attending the unveiling of the Yetive
+monument in the Plaza. The merchants might well give their time to
+decorating their shops; the soldiers could do all the searching and all
+the fighting that was necessary. Strict orders, backed by method, were
+issued to the effect that no one was to pass through the gates during
+the day, except by special permission from General Braze.
+
+Count Vos Engo was eager to accompany the expedition to Dawsbergen in
+search of his wayward lady-love. Tullis, who liked the gay young
+nobleman despite the reputation he had managed to live down, was willing
+that he should be the one to lead the troops, but Colonel Quinnox flatly
+refused to consider it.
+
+"To-morrow's celebration in the city will demand the attendance of every
+noble officer in the guard," he said. "I cannot allow you to go, Count
+Vos Engo. Your place is here, beside the Prince. Line officers may take
+charge of this expedition to the hills; they will be amply able to
+manage the chase. I am sorry that it happens so. The Royal Guard, to a
+man, must ride with the Prince to-morrow."
+
+Captain Haas, of the dragoons, was put in charge of the relief party,
+much to the disgust of Vos Engo; and at two o'clock in the afternoon
+they were ready to ride away. The party was armed and equipped for a
+bitter chase. Word had been sent to Serros, the capital of Dawsbergen,
+asking the assistance of Prince Dantan in the effort to overtake the
+abductors. A detachment, it was announced in reply, was to start from
+Serros during the afternoon, bound for the eastern passes.
+
+Baron Dangloss rode to the southern gate with the white-faced, suffering
+Tullis. "We will undoubtedly receive a communication from the rascals
+this afternoon or to-morrow," he said gloomily. "They will not be slow
+to make a formal demand for ransom, knowing that you and your sister are
+possessed of unlimited wealth. When this communication arrives it may
+give us a clue to their whereabouts; certainly as to their methods. If
+it should be necessary, Tullis, to apprise you of the nature of this
+demand, I, myself, will ride post haste to St. Michael's Pass, which you
+are bound to reach to-morrow after your circuit of the upper gaps. It is
+possible, you see, that an open attack on these fellows may result in
+her--er--well, to be frank--her murder. Damn them, they'd do it, you
+know. My place to-morrow is here in the city. There may be disturbances.
+Nothing serious, of course, but I am uneasy. There are many strangers in
+the city and more are coming for the holiday. The presence of the Prince
+at the unveiling of the statue of his mother--God bless her soul!--is a
+tremendous magnet. I would that you could be here to-morrow, John
+Tullis; at Prince Robin's side, so to speak."
+
+"Poor little chap! He was terribly cut up when I told him I was going.
+He wanted to come. Had his little sword out, and all that. Said the
+celebration could be postponed or go hang, either one. Look after him
+closely to-morrow, Dangloss. I'd shoot myself if anything were to happen
+to him. Marlanx is in the air; I feel him, I give you my word, I do!
+I've been depressed for days. As sure as there's a sun up yonder, that
+old scoundrel is planning something desperate. Don't forget that we've
+already learned a few things regarding his designs." He waited a moment
+before uttering his gravest fear. "Don't give him a chance to strike at
+the Prince."
+
+"He wouldn't dare to do that!"
+
+"He'd dare anything, from what I've heard of him."
+
+"You hate him because--"
+
+"Go on! Yes, I hate him because he has made _her_ unhappy. Hello, who's
+this?"
+
+A man who had ridden up to the gates, his horse covered with foam, was
+demanding admission. The warders halted him unceremoniously as Dangloss
+rode forward. They found that he was one of the foremen in the employ of
+the railway construction company. He brought the disquieting news that
+another strike had been declared, that the men were ugly and determined
+to tear up the track already laid unless their demands were considered,
+and, furthermore, that there had been severe fighting between the two
+factions engaged on the work. He urgently implored Dangloss to send
+troops out to hold the rioters in check. Many of the men were demanding
+their pay so that they might give up their jobs and return to their own
+lands.
+
+"What is your name?" demanded the harassed minister of police.
+
+"Polson," replied the foreman. He lied, for he was no other than John
+Cromer, the unsavoury husband of Anna Cromer, of the Committee of Ten.
+
+"Come with me," said Dangloss. "We will go to General Braze. Good-bye
+and good luck, Tullis."
+
+The little baron rode back into the city, accompanied by the shifty-eyed
+Cromer, while John Tullis sped off to the south, riding swiftly by the
+side of the stern-faced Captain Haas, an eager company of dragoons
+behind, a mountain guide in front.
+
+At that very moment, Loraine Tullis was comparing notes with Truxton
+King in the room beneath the armourer's shop; Count Marlanx was hiding
+in the trader's inn outside the northern gates; the abductors themselves
+were scattered about the city, laughing triumphantly over the success of
+the ruse that had drawn the well-feared American away on a wild-goose
+chase to the distant passes of Dawsbergen. More than that: at five
+o'clock in the afternoon a second detachment of soldiers left the city
+for the scene of the riots in the construction camps, twenty miles away.
+
+Surely the well-laid plans of the Iron Count were being skilfully
+carried out!
+
+All afternoon and evening men straggled in from the hills and
+surrounding country, apparently loth to miss the early excitement
+attending the ceremonies on the following day. Sullen strikers from the
+camps came down, cursing the company but drinking noisy toasts to the
+railroad and its future. The city by night swarmed with revelling
+thousands; the bands were playing, the crowds were singing, and mobs
+were drinking and carousing in the lower end. The cold, drizzling rain
+that began to blow across the city at ten o'clock did little toward
+checking the hilarity of the revellers. Honest citizens went to bed
+early, leaving the streets to the strangers from the hills and the
+river-lands. Not one dreamed of the ugly tragedy that was drawing to a
+climax as he slept the sleep of the just, the secure, the
+conscience-free.
+
+At three o'clock in the morning word flew from brothel to brothel, from
+lodging house to lodging house, in all parts of the slumbering city; a
+thousand men crept out into the streets after the storm, all animated
+by one impulse, all obeying a single fierce injunction.
+
+They were to find and kill a tall American! They were to keep him or his
+companion from getting in touch with the police authorities, or with the
+Royal Castle, no matter what the cost!
+
+The streets were soon alive with these alert, skulking minions. Every
+approach to the points of danger was guarded by desperate, heavily armed
+scoundrels who would not have hesitated an instant if it came to their
+hands to kill Truxton King, the man with all their dearest secrets in
+his grasp. In dark doorways lounged these apparently couchless
+strangers; in areaways and alleys, on doorsteps they found shelter; in
+the main streets and the side streets they roamed. All the time they had
+an eager, evil eye out for a tall American and a slender girl!
+
+Dangloss's lynx-eyed constabulary kept close watch over these restless,
+homeless strangers, constantly ordering them to disperse, or to "move
+on," or to "find a bed, not a doorstep." The commands were always
+obeyed; churlishly, perhaps, in many instances, but never with physical
+resistance.
+
+At five o'clock, a stealthy whisper went the rounds, reaching the ear of
+every vagabond and cutthroat engaged in the untiring vigil. Like smoke
+they faded away. The silent watch was over.
+
+The word had sped to every corner of the town that it was no longer
+necessary to maintain the watch for Truxton King. He was no longer in a
+position to give them trouble or uneasiness!
+
+The twenty-sixth dawned bright and cool after the savage storm from the
+north. Brisk breezes floated down from the mountain peaks; an
+unreluctant sun smiled his cheeriest from his seat behind the hills,
+warmly awaiting the hour when he could peep above them for a look into
+the gala nest of humanity on the western slope. Everywhere there was
+activity, life, gladness and good humour.
+
+Gaudy decorations which had been torn away by the storm were cheerfully
+replaced; workmen refurbished the public stands and the Royal box in the
+Plaza; bands paraded the avenues or gave concerts in Regengetz Circus;
+troops of mounted soldiers and constabulary patroled the streets. There
+was nothing to indicate to the municipality that the vilest conspiracy
+of the age--of any age--was gripping its tentacles about the city of
+Edelweiss, the smiling, happy city of mountain and valley. No one could
+have suspected guile in the laughter and badinage that masked the manner
+of the men who were there to spread disaster in the bunting-clad
+thoroughfares.
+
+"I don't like the looks of things," said Baron Dangloss, time and again.
+His men were never so alert as to-day and never so deceived.
+
+"There can't be trouble of any sort," mused Colonel Quinnox. "These
+fellows are ugly, 'tis true, but they are not prepared for a
+demonstration. They are unarmed. What could they do against the troops,
+even though they are considerably depleted?"
+
+"Colonel, we'll yet see the day when Graustark regrets the economy that
+has cut our little army to almost nothing. What have we now, all told?
+Three hundred men in the Royal Guard. Less than six hundred in the
+fortress. I have a hundred policemen. There you are. To-day there are
+nearly two hundred soldiers off in the mountains on nasty business of
+one sort or another. 'Gad, if these ruffians from the railroad possessed
+no more than pistols they could give us a merry fight. There must be a
+thousand of them. I don't like it. We'll have trouble before the day's
+over."
+
+"General Braze says his regulars can put down any sort of an uprising in
+the city," protested Quinnox. "In case of war, you know we have the
+twenty thousand reserves, half of whom were regulars until two years
+ago."
+
+"Perfectly true. Quinnox, it's your duty to take care of the Prince.
+You've done so in your family for fifteen generations. See to it that
+Prince Robin is well looked after to-day, that's all."
+
+"Trust me for that, Baron," said Quinnox with his truest smile. Even
+Marlanx knew that he would have to kill a Quinnox before a Graustark
+ruler could be reached.
+
+By eleven o'clock the streets in the neighbourhood of the Plaza were
+packed with people. All along Castle Avenue, up which the Prince was to
+drive in the coach of State, hung the proud, adoring burghers and their
+families: like geese to flock, like sheep to scatter. At twelve the
+Castle gates were to be thrown open for the brilliant cavalcade that was
+to pass between these cheering rows of people. In less than a quarter of
+an hour afterward, the Prince and his court, the noble ladies and
+gentlemen of Graustark, with the distinguished visitors from other
+lands, would pass into the great square through Regengetz Circus.
+
+At the corner below the crowded Castle Cafe, in the north side of the
+square, which was now patroled by brilliant dragoons, two men met and
+exchanged the compliments of the day. One of them had just come up on
+horseback. He dismounted, leaving the animal in charge of an urchin who
+saw a gavvo in sight. This man was young and rather dashing in
+appearance. The other was older and plainly a citizen of some
+consequence.
+
+"Well?" said the latter impatiently, after they had passed the time of
+day for the benefit of the nearest on-lookers. The younger man, slapping
+his riding boot with his crop, led the way to the steps of a house
+across the sidewalk. Both had shot a swift, wary glance at one of the
+upper windows.
+
+"Everything is ready. There will be no hitch," said the horseman in low
+tones.
+
+"You have seen Spantz?"
+
+"Sh! No names. Yes. The girl is ready."
+
+"And the fortress?"
+
+"Fifty men are in the houses opposite and others will go there--later
+on."
+
+"We must keep the reserves out of the fortress. It would mean
+destruction if they got to the gun-rooms and the ammunition houses."
+
+"Is he here?" with a motion toward the upper window.
+
+"Yes. He came disguised as an old market woman, just after daybreak."
+
+"Well, here's his horse," said the other, "but he'll have to change his
+dress. It isn't a side saddle." The young villain laughed silently.
+
+"Go up now to the square, Peter. Your place is there."
+
+If one had taken the time to observe, he might have seen that the young
+man wore his hat well forward, and that his face was unnaturally white.
+We, who suspect him of being Peter Brutus, have reason to believe that
+there was an ugly cut on the top of his head and that it gave him
+exceeding pain.
+
+Shortly after half past eleven o'clock certain groups of men usurped
+the positions in front of certain buildings on the south side of the
+square. A score here, a half score there, others below them. They
+favoured the shops operated by the friends of the Committee of Ten; they
+were the men who were to take possession of the rifles that lay hidden
+behind counters and walls. Here, there, everywhere, all about the city,
+other instructed men were waiting for the signal that was to tell them
+to hustle deadly firearms from the beds of green-laden market wagons. It
+was all arranged with deadly precision. There could be no blunder. The
+Iron Count and his deputies had seen to that.
+
+Men were stationed in the proper places to cut all telephone and
+telegraph wires leading out of the city. Others were designated to hold
+the gates against fugitives who might seek to reach the troops in the
+hills.
+
+Marlanx's instructions were plain, unmistakable. Only soldiers and
+policemen were to be shot; members of the royal household were already
+doomed, including the ministry and the nobles who rode with the royal
+carriage.
+
+The Committee of Ten had said that there would not be another ministry,
+never another Graustark nobility; only the Party of Equals. The Iron
+Count had smiled to himself and let them believe all that they preached
+in secret conclave. But he knew that there would be another ministry, a
+new nobility and a new ruler, and that there would be _no Committee of
+Ten!_
+
+Two thousand crafty mercenaries, skilled rioters and fighters from all
+parts of the world stood ready in the glad streets of Edelweiss to leap
+as one man to the standard of the Iron Count the instant he appeared in
+the square after the throwing of the bomb. A well-organised, carefully
+instructed army of no mean dimensions, in the uniform of the lout and
+vagabond, would rise like a flash of light before the dazzled,
+panic-stricken populace, and Marlanx would be master. Without the call
+of drum or bugle his sinister soldiers of fortune would leap into
+positions assigned them; in orderly, determined company front, led by
+chosen officers, they would sweep the square, the Circus and the
+avenues, up-town to the Castle, down-town to the fortress and the
+railway station, everywhere establishing the pennant of the man who had
+been banished.
+
+The present dynasty was to end at one o'clock! So said Marlanx! How
+could Dangloss or Braze or Quinnox say him nay? They would be dead or in
+irons before the first shock of disaster had ceased to thrill. The
+others? Pah! They were as chaff to the Iron Count.
+
+The calm that precedes the storm fell upon the waiting throng; an
+ominous silence spread from one end of the avenue to the other. For a
+second only it lasted. The hush of death could not have been quieter nor
+more impressive. Even as people looked at each other in wonder, the
+tumult came to its own again. Afterward a whole populace was to recall
+this strange, depressing second of utter stillness; to the end of time
+that sudden pall was spoken of with bated breath and in awe.
+
+Then, from the distant Castle came the sound of shouts, crawling up the
+long line of spectators for the full length of the avenue to the eager
+throng in Regengetz Circus, swelling and growing louder as the news came
+that the Prince had ridden forth from the gates. Necks were craned, rapt
+eyes peered down the tree-topped boulevard, glad voices cried out
+tidings to those in the background. The Prince was coming!
+
+Bonny, adorable Prince Robin!
+
+Down the broad avenue came the Royal Military Band, heading the
+brilliant procession. Banners were flying; gold and silver standards
+gleamed in the van of the noble cavalcade; brilliantly uniformed
+cuirassiers and dragoons on gaily caparisoned horses formed a gilded
+phalanx that filled the distant end of the street, slowly creeping down
+upon the waiting thousands, drawing nearer and nearer to the spot of
+doom.
+
+A stately, noble, inspiring procession it was that swept toward the
+Plaza. The love of the people for their little Prince welled up and
+overflowed in great waves of acclamation. Pomp and display, gold and
+fine raiment were but the creation of man; Prince Robin was, to them,
+the choicest creation of God. He was their Prince!
+
+On came the splendid phalanx of guardsmen, followed by rigid infantrymen
+in measured tread; the clattering of horses' hoofs, the beat of drums,
+the clanking of scabbards and the jangling of royal banners, rising even
+above the hum of eager voices. The great coach of gold, with its half
+score of horses, rolled sombrely beneath nature's canopy of green,
+surrounded on all sides by proud members of the Royal Guard. Word came
+down the line that the Prince sat alone in the rear seat of the great
+coach, facing the Prime Minister and Countess Halfont. Two carriages
+from the royal stables preceded the Prince's coach. In the first was the
+Duke of Perse and three fellow-members of the Cabinet; the second
+contained Baron Dangloss and General Braze. After the Prince came a
+score or more of rich equipages filled with the beauty, the nobility,
+the splendour of this rich little court.
+
+The curtains in a house at the corner of the square parted gently. A
+hawk-faced old man peered out upon the joyous crowd. His black eyes
+swept the scene. A grim smile crept into his face. He dropped the
+curtains and walked away from the window, tossing a cigarette into a
+grate on the opposite side of the room. Then he looked at his watch.
+
+All of the bands in the square had ceased playing when the Castle gates
+were opened for the royal procession: only the distant, rythmic beat of
+a lively march came up from the avenue to the ears of this baleful old
+man in the second-story front room of the home of apothecary Boltz.
+
+At the extreme outer side of Regengetz Circus a small group of men and
+women stood, white-faced and immovable, steadfastly holding a position
+in the front rank of spectators. Shrinking back among this determined
+coterie was the slender, shuddering figure of Olga Platanova,
+haggard-faced, but with the light of desperation in her eyes.
+
+As the procession drew nearer, the companions of this wretched girl
+slunk away from her side, losing themselves in the crowd, leaving her to
+do her work while they sought distant spots of safety. Olga Platanova,
+her arms folded beneath the long red cloak she wore, remained where they
+had placed her and--waited!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE MERRY VAGABOND
+
+
+The man who stood in the middle of the freight-car, looking down in
+wonder at the fugitives, was a tall vagabond of the most picturesque
+type. No ragamuffin was ever so tattered and torn as this rakish
+individual. His clothes barely hung together on his lank frame; he was
+barefoot and hatless; a great mop of black hair topped his shrewd,
+rugged face; coal-black eyes snapped and twinkled beneath shaggy brows
+and a delighted, knowing grin spread slowly over his rather boyish
+countenance. He was not a creature to strike terror to the heart of any
+one; on the contrary, his mischievous, sprightly face produced an
+impression of genuine good humour and absolute indifference to the harsh
+things of life.
+
+Long, thin lips curled into a smile of delicious regard; his sides shook
+with the quiet chuckle of understanding. He did not lose his smile, even
+when the match burned his finger tips and fell to the floor of the car.
+Instead, the grin was broader when he struck the second match and
+resumed his amused scrutiny of his fellow-lodgers. This time he
+practised thrift: he lighted a cigarette with the match before tossing
+it aside. Then he softly slid the car door back in its groove and looked
+out into the moist, impenetrable night. A deep sigh left his smiling
+lips; a retrospective langour took possession of his long frame; he
+sighed again, and still he smiled.
+
+Leaning against the side of the door this genial gypsy smoked in
+blissful silence until the stub grew so short that it burned his already
+singed fingers. He was thinking of other days and nights, and of many
+maids in far-off lands, and of countless journeys in which he, too, had
+had fair and gentle company--short journeys, yes, but not to be
+forgotten. Ah, to be knight of the road and everlasting squire to the
+Goddess of Love! He always had been that--ever since he could remember;
+he had loved a hundred briefly; none over long. It was the only way.
+
+Once more he turned to look upon the sleeping pair. This time he lighted
+the stub of a tallow candle. The tender, winning smile in his dark eyes
+grew to positive radiance. Ah, how he envied this great, sleeping
+wayfarer! How beautiful his mistress! How fortunate the lover! And how
+they slept--how tired they were! Whence had they come? From what distant
+land had they travelled together to reach this holiday-garnished city in
+the hills? Vagabonds, tramps! They were of his world, a part of his
+family; he knew and had loved a hundred of her sisters, he was one of a
+hundred-thousand brothers to this man.
+
+Why should he stay here to spoil their waking hour? The thought came to
+him suddenly. No; he would surrender his apartment to them. He was free
+and foot-loose; he could go elsewhere. He _would_ go elsewhere.
+
+Softly he tip-toed to his own corner of the car, looking over his
+shoulder with anxious eyes to see that his movements did not disturb
+them. He gathered up his belongings: an ancient violin case, a stout
+walking stick, a goodly sized pack done up in gaudy cloth, a well-worn
+pair of sandals with long, frayed lacings. As gently he stole back to
+the door. Here he sat down, with his feet hanging outside the car. Then,
+with many a sly, wary glance at his good comrades, he put on his
+sandals and laced them up the leg. He tossed a kiss to the sleeping
+girl, his dark gypsy face aglow with admiration and mischief, and was
+about to blow out the light of his candle. Then he changed his mind. He
+arose and stood over them again, looking long and solemnly at the face
+of the sleeping girl. Ah, yes, she was the most beautiful he had ever
+seen--the very fairest. He had known her sisters, but-no, they were not
+like this one. With a sly grimace of envy he shook his fist at the tall
+man whose leg served as a pillow for the tired head.
+
+The girl looked wan and tired--and hungry. Poor thing! Never had he seen
+one so sweet and lovely as she; never had he seen such a shockingly
+muddy mackintosh, however, as the one she wore, never were hands so
+dirty as the slender ones which lay limp before her. With a determined
+shake of his head and a new flash of the eye he calmly seated himself
+and began to open his ragged pack. Once he paused, a startled look in
+his face. He caught sight of the revolver at Truxton's side for the
+first time. The instant of alarm passed and a braver smile than ever
+came. Ah, here was a knight who would fight for his lady love! Good
+fellow! Bravo!
+
+At last his small store of food lay exposed. Without hesitation he
+divided the pieces of smoked venison, giving one part to himself, two to
+the sleepers; then the miller's bread and the cheese, and the bag of
+dates he had bought the day before. He tied up his own slender portion
+and would have whistled for the joy of it all had he not bethought
+himself in time.
+
+From one of his pockets he drew out tobacco and cigarette papers. With
+his back planted up against the wall of the car, his legs crossed and
+his feet wiggling time to the inward tune he sang, he calmly rolled half
+a dozen cigarettes and placed them, one by one, beside the feast. One
+match from his thin supply he placed alongside the cigarettes. Then he
+looked very doubtful. No; one might blow out. He must not be niggardly.
+So he kept two for himself and gave three to the guest at his banquet.
+
+Again he blew a kiss to the prettiest girl he had ever seen. Snuffing
+his candle, he dropped to the ground and closed the door against all
+spying, uncivil eyes.
+
+The first grey of dawn was growing in the sombre east. He looked out
+over the tops of cars and sniffed the air. The rain was over. He knew. A
+tinge of red that none but the gypsy could have distinguished betrayed
+the approach of a sunny day. Jauntily he swung off down the path between
+the lines of cars, his fickle mind wavering between the joys of the
+coming day and the memory of the loveliest Romany he had ever
+encountered.
+
+Daybreak found him at the wharf gates. It was gloomy here and silent;
+the city above looked asleep and unfruitful. His heart was gay; he
+longed for company. Whimsical, careless hearted, he always obeyed the
+impulse that struck him first. As he stood there, surveying the wet,
+deserted wharf, it came to him suddenly that if he went back and played
+one soft love-song before the door of the car, they might invite him to
+join them in the breakfast that the genie had brought.
+
+His long legs were swift. In five minutes he was half way down the line
+of cars, at the extreme end of which stood the happy lodging place of
+his heart's desire. Then he paused, a dubious frown between his eyes.
+No! he said, slapping his own cheek soundly; it would not be fair! He
+would not disturb them, not he! How could he have thought of such a
+thing. _Le bon Dieu!_ Never! He would breakfast alone!
+
+Coming to an empty flat car, direct from the quarries, he resolutely
+seated himself upon its edge, and, with amiable resignation, set about
+devouring his early meal, all the while casting longing, almost
+appealing glances toward the next car but one. Busy little switch
+engines began chugging about the yards; the railroad, at least, was
+exhibiting some signs of life. Here and there the crews were "snaking"
+out sections and bumping them off to other parts of the gridiron; a car
+here, a car there--all aflounder, but quite simple to this merry
+wanderer. He knew all about switching, he did. It did not cause him the
+least uneasiness when a sudden jar told him that an engine had been
+attached to the distant end of the string in which he breakfasted. Nor
+was he disturbed when the cars began to move. What cared he? He would
+ride in his dining-car to the objective switch, wherever that was, and
+no doubt would find himself nearer the main freight depot, with little
+or no walking to do on his journey to the square.
+
+But the "string" was not bound for another track in the yards; it was on
+its way to the main line, thence off through the winding valley into
+strange and distant lands.
+
+Sir Vagabond, blissfully swinging his heels and munching his venison,
+smiled amiably upon the yard men as he passed them by. So genial was the
+smile, so frank the salutation, that not one scowled back at him or
+hurled the chunk of coal that bespeaks a surly temper. Down through the
+maze of sidetracks whisked the little train, out upon the main line with
+a thin shriek of greeting, past the freight houses--it was then that Sir
+Vagabond sat up very straight, a look of mild interest in his eyes.
+Interest gave way to perplexity, perplexity to concern. What's this?
+Leaving the city? He wasted no time. This would never do! Clutching his
+belongings to his side, he vaulted from one hand, nimbly and with the
+gracefulness of wide experience, landing safely on his feet at the
+roadside.
+
+There he stood with the wry, dazed look of a man who suddenly finds
+himself guilty of arrant stupidity, watching the cars whiz past on their
+way to the open country. Just ahead was the breach in the wall through
+which all trains entered or left the city. Into that breach shot the
+train, going faster and faster as it saw the straight, clear track
+beyond. He waited until the tail end whisked itself out of sight in the
+cut below the city walls, and then trudged slowly, dejectedly in the
+opposite direction, his heart in his boots. He was thinking of the
+luckless pair in the empty "box."
+
+Suddenly he stopped, his chin up, his hands to his sides. A hearty peal
+of laughter soared from his lips. He was regarding the funny side of the
+situation. The joke was on them! It was rich! The more he thought of
+their astonishment on awaking, the more he laughed. He leaned against a
+car.
+
+His immense levity attracted attention. Four or five men approached him
+from the shadows of the freight houses, ugly, unsmiling fellows. They
+demanded of him the cause of his unseemly mirth. With tears in his merry
+black eyes he related the plight of the pretty slumberers, dwelling more
+or less sentimentally on the tender beauty of the maiden fair. They
+plied him with questions. He described the couple--even glowingly. Then
+the sinister fellows smiled; more than that, they clapped each other on
+the back and swore splendidly. He was amazed and his own good humour
+gave way to fierce resentment. What right had these ruffians to laugh at
+the misfortunes of that unhappy maid?
+
+A switchman came up, and one of the men, a lank American whom we should
+recognise by the sound of his voice (having heard it before), asked
+whither the train was bound and when it would first stop in its flight.
+
+"At the Poo quarries, seventeen kilometers down the line. They cut out a
+few empties there. She goes on to the division point after that."
+
+"Any trains up from that direction this morning?" demanded "Newport."
+
+"Not till this afternoon. Most of the crews are in the city for the--"
+But the switchman had no listeners beyond that statement.
+
+And so it was that the news spread over town at five o'clock that
+Truxton King was where he could do no harm. It was well known that the
+train would make forty miles an hour down the steep grade into the lower
+valley.
+
+Up into the city strolled Sir Vagabond, his fiddle in his hand, his
+heart again as light as a feather. Some day--ah, some day! he would see
+her again on the road. It was always the way. Then he would tell her how
+unhappy he had been--for a minute. She was so pretty, so very pretty! He
+sighed profoundly. We see no more of him.
+
+When Truxton King first awoke to the fact that they were no longer lying
+motionless in the dreary yards, he leaped to his feet with a startled
+shout of alarm. Loraine sat up, blinking her eyes in half-conscious
+wonder. It was broad daylight, of course; the train was rattling through
+the long cut just below the city walls. With frantic energy he pulled
+open the door. For a minute he stared at the scudding walls of stone so
+close at hand, uncomprehendingly. Then the truth burst upon him with
+the force of a mighty blow. He staggered back, his jaw dropping, his
+eyes glaring.
+
+"What the dev--Great God, Loraine! We're going! We're moving!" he cried
+hoarsely.
+
+"I know it," she gasped, her body rocking violently with the swaying of
+the wild, top-heavy little car.
+
+"Great Scott! How we're pounding it! Fifty miles an hour. Where are we?"
+he cried, aghast. He could scarcely keep his feet, so terrific was the
+speed and so sickening the motion.
+
+She got to her feet and lurched to his side. "Don't fall out!" she
+almost shrieked. He drew back with her. Together they swayed like reeds
+in a windstorm, staring dizzily at the wall before them.
+
+Suddenly the train shot out into the open, farm-spattered valley.
+Truxton fell back dumbfounded.
+
+"The country!" he exclaimed. "We've been carried away. I--I can't
+believe my senses. Could we have slept--what a fool, what an idiot! God
+in heaven! The Prince! He is lost!" He was beside himself with anguish
+and despair, raging like a madman, cursing himself for a fool, a dog, a
+murderer!
+
+Little less distressed than her companion, Loraine Tullis still had the
+good sense to keep him from leaping from the car. He had shouted to her
+that he must get back to the city; she could go on to the next town and
+find a hiding place. He would come to her as soon as he had given the
+alarm.
+
+"You would be killed," she cried, clutching his arm fiercely. "You never
+can jump, Truxton. See how we are running. If you jump, I shall follow.
+I won't go on alone. I am as much to blame as you."
+
+The big, strong fellow broke down and cried, utterly disheartened.
+
+"Don't cry, Truxton, please don't cry!" she pleaded. "Something will
+happen. We must stop sometime. Then we can get another train back, or
+telegraph, or hire a wagon. It must be very early. The sun is scarcely
+up. Do be brave! Don't give up!"
+
+He squared his shoulders. "You put me to shame!" he cried abjectly.
+"I'm--I'm unnerved, that's all. It was too much of a blow. After we'd
+got away from those scoundrels so neatly, too. Oh, it's maddening! I'll
+be all right in a minute. You plucky, plucky darling!"
+
+The train whirled through a small hamlet without even slackening its
+speed. Truxton endeavoured to shout a warning to two men who stood by
+the gates; but they merely laughed, not comprehending. Then he undertook
+to arrest the attention of the engineer. He leaned from the door and
+shouted. The effort was futile, almost disastrous. A lurch came near to
+hurling him to the rocky road bed. Now and then they passed farmers on
+the high road far above, bound for the city. They called out to them,
+but the cries were in vain. With every minute they were running farther
+and farther away from the city of Edelweiss; every mile was adding to
+the certainty of the doom which hung over the little Prince and his
+people.
+
+A second small station flew by. "Ronn: seven kilometers to Edelweiss."
+He looked at her in despair.
+
+"We're going faster and faster," he grated. "This is the fastest train
+in the world, Loraine, bar none."
+
+Just then his gaze alighted on the pathetic breakfast and the wandering
+cigarettes. He stared as if hypnotised. Was he going mad? An instant
+later he was on his hands and knees, examining the mysterious feast. She
+joined him at once; no two faces ever before were so puzzled and
+perplexed.
+
+"By heaven!" he exclaimed, drawing her away from the spot in quick
+alarm, comprehension flooding his brain. "I see it all! We've been
+deliberately shanghaied! We've been bottled up here, drugged, perhaps,
+and shipped out of town by fast freight--no destination. Don't touch
+that stuff! It's probably full of poison. Great Scott! What a clever
+gang they are! And what a blithering idiot they have in me to deal with.
+Oh, how easy!"
+
+Whereupon he proceeded to kick the unoffending breakfast, cigarettes and
+all, out of the car door. To their dying day they were to believe that
+the food had been put there by agents of the great conspirator. It
+readily may be surmised that neither of them was given to sensible
+deductions during their astounding flight. If they had thought twice,
+they might have seen the folly of their quick conclusions. Marlanx's men
+would not have sent Loraine off in a manner like this. But the
+distracted pair were not in an analytical frame of mind just then; that
+is why the gentle munificence of Sir Vagabond came to a barren waste.
+
+Mile after mile flew by. The unwilling travellers, depressed beyond
+description, had given up all hope of leaving the car until it reached
+the point intended by the wily plotters. To their amazement, however,
+the speed began to slacken perceptibly after they had left the city ten
+or twelve miles behind. Truxton was leaning against the side of the
+door, gloomily surveying the bright, green landscape. For some time
+Loraine had been steadying herself by clinging to his arm. They had cast
+off the unsightly rain coats and other clumsy articles. Once, through
+sheer inability to control his impulses, he had placed his arm about her
+slim waist, but she had gently freed herself. Her look of reproach was
+sufficient to check all future impulses of a like nature.
+
+"Hello!" said he, coming out of his bitter dream.
+
+"We're slowing up." He looked out and ahead. "No station is in sight.
+There's a bridge down the road a bit--yes, there's our same old river.
+By George!" His face was a study.
+
+"What is it?" she cried, struck by his sudden energy of speech.
+
+"They're running slow for the bridge. Afraid of the floods. D'ye see? If
+they creep up to it as they do in the United States when they're
+cautious, we'll politely drop off and--'Pon my soul, she's coming down
+to a snail's pace. We can swing off, Loraine. Now's our chance!"
+
+The train was barely creeping up to the bridge. He clasped her in the
+strong crook of his left arm, slid down to a sitting position, and
+boldly pushed himself clear of the car, landing on his feet. Staggering
+forward with the impetus he had received, he would have fallen except
+for a mighty effort. A sharp groan escaped his lips as he lowered her to
+the ground. She looked anxiously into his face and saw nothing there but
+relief.
+
+The cars rumbled across the bridge, picked up speed beyond, and
+thundered off in the distance with never so much as a thought of the two
+who stood beside the track and laughed hysterically.
+
+"Come along," said the man briefly. "We must try to reach that station
+back there. There I can telegraph in. Oh!" His first attempt to walk
+brought out a groan of pain.
+
+He had turned his ankle in the leap to the ground. She was deeply
+concerned, but he sought to laugh it off. Gritting his teeth
+determinedly, he led the way back along the track.
+
+"Lean on me," she cried despairingly.
+
+"Nonsense," he said with grim stubbornness. "I don't mind the pain. We
+can't stop for a sprained ankle. It's an old one I got playing football.
+We may have to go a little slow, but we'll not stop, my dear--not till
+we get word to Dangloss!"
+
+She found a long, heavy stick for him; thereafter he hobbled with
+greater speed and less pain. At a wagon-road crossing they paused to
+rest, having covered two miles. The strain was telling on him;
+perspiration stood out in great drops upon his brow; he was beginning to
+despair. Her little cry of joy caused him to look up from the swollen
+ankle which he was regarding with dubious concern. An oxcart was
+approaching from the west.
+
+"A ride!" she cried joyously. She had been ready to drop with fatigue;
+her knees were shaking. His first exclamation of joy died away in a
+groan of dismay. He laughed bitterly.
+
+"That thing couldn't get us anywhere in a week," he said.
+
+"But it will help," she cried brightly, an optimist by force of
+necessity.
+
+They stopped the cart and bargained for a ride to Ronn. The man was a
+farmer, slow and suspicious. He haggled.
+
+"The country's full of evil men and women these days," he demurred.
+"Besides I have a heavy enough load as it is for my poor beasts."
+
+Miss Tullis conducted the negotiations, making the best of her year's
+acquaintance with the language of the country.
+
+"Don't tell him why we are in such a hurry," cautioned King. "He may be
+a Marlanx sympathiser."
+
+"You have nothing in your cart but melons," she said to the farmer,
+peeping under the corner of the canvas covering.
+
+"I am not going through Ronn, but by the high road to Edelweiss," he
+protested. "A good ten kilometers."
+
+"But carry us until we come up with some one who can give us horses."
+
+"Horses!" he croaked. "Every horse in the valley is in Edelweiss by this
+time. This is the great day there. The statue of--"
+
+"Yes, yes, I know. We are bound for Edelweiss. Can you get us there in
+two hours?"
+
+"With these beasts, poor things? Never!"
+
+"It will be worth your while. A hundred gavvos if you carry us to a
+place where we can secure quicker transportation."
+
+In time she won him over. He agreed to carry them along the way, at his
+best speed, until they came up with better beasts or reached the city
+gates. It was the best he could do. The country was practically deserted
+on this day. At best there were but few horses in the valley; mostly
+oxen. They climbed up to the seat and the tortuous journey began. The
+farmer trotted beside the wheel nearly all of the way, descanting warmly
+in painful English on the present condition of things in the hills.
+
+"The rascals have made way with the beautiful Miss Tullis. She is the
+American lady stopping at the Castle. You should see her, sir. Excepting
+our dear Princess Yetive--God rest her soul--she is the most beautiful
+creature Graustark has ever seen. I have seen her often. Not quite so
+grand as the Countess Ingomede, but fairer, believe me. She is beloved
+by everyone. Many a kind and generous word has she spoken to me. My
+onion beds are well known to her. She has come to my farm time and
+again, sir, with the noble personages, while riding, and she has in
+secret bought my little slips of onions. She has said to me that she
+adores them, but that she can only eat them in secret. Ah, sir, it is a
+sad day for Graustark that evil has happened to her. Her brother, they
+say, is off in the Dawsbergen hills searching for her. He is a grand
+man."
+
+His passengers were duly interested. She nudged the lugubrious Truxton
+when the man spoke of the onions. "What a fibber! I hate onions."
+
+"She is to be married to the Count Vos Engo; a fine lad, sir. Now she is
+gone, I don't know what he will do. Suicide, mayhap. Many is the time I
+have cautioned her not to ride in the hills without a strong guard.
+These bandits are getting very bold."
+
+"Do you know the great Count Marlanx?" demanded King, possessed of a
+sudden thought. The man faced him at the mention of the name, a
+suspicious gleam in his eyes.
+
+"Count Marlanx!" he snorted. Without another word, he drew the beasts to
+a standstill. There was no mistaking the angry scowl. "Are you friends
+of that snake? If you are, get out of my cart."
+
+"He's all right," cried Truxton. "Tell him who we are, Loraine, and why
+we _must_ get to the city."
+
+Five minutes later, the farmer, overcome by the stupendous news, was
+lashing his oxen with might and main; the astonished beasts tore down
+the road to Ronn so bravely that there seemed some prospect of getting a
+telegram through in time. All the way the excited countryman groaned and
+swore and sputtered his prayers. At Ronn they learned that the operator
+had been unable to call Edelweiss since seven o'clock. The wires were
+down or had been cut. Truxton left a message to be sent to Dangloss in
+case he could get the wire, and off they started again for the city
+gates, having lost considerable time by the diverted mile or two.
+
+Not man, woman or child did they encounter as the miles crept by. The
+country was barren of humanity. Ahead of them was the ascent to be
+conquered by oxen so old and feeble that the prospect was more than
+dubious.
+
+"If it should be that my team gives out, I will run on myself to give
+the alarm," cried the worthy, perspiring charioteer. "It shall not be!
+God preserve us!"
+
+Three times the oxen broke down, panting and stubborn; as many times he
+thwacked them and kicked them and cursed them into action again. They
+stumbled pitifully, but they _did_ manage to go forward.
+
+In time the city gates came in sight--far up the straight, narrow road.
+"Pray God we may not be too late," groaned the farmer. "Damn the swine
+who took their horses to town before the sun was up. Curse them for
+fools and imbeciles. Fools never get into heaven. Thank the good Lord
+for that."
+
+It seemed to the quivering Americans that the gates were mocking them by
+drawing farther away instead of coming nearer.
+
+"Are we going backward?" groaned Truxton, his hands gripping the side of
+the bounding seat.
+
+Near the gates, which were still open, it occurred to him in a single
+flash of dismay that he and Loraine would be recognised and intercepted
+by Marlanx watchers. Between the fierce jolts of the great cart he
+managed to convey his fears to her.
+
+It was she who had the solution. They might succeed in passing the gates
+if they hid themselves in the bed of the cart, underneath the thick
+canvas covering. The farmer lifted the cloth and they crawled down among
+the melons. In this fashion they not only covered the remainder of the
+distance, half stifled by the heat and half murdered by the
+uncomfortable position, but passed through the gates and were taken
+clattering down the streets toward the centre of town.
+
+"To the Tower!" cried the anxious Truxton.
+
+"Impossible!" shouted the farmer. "The streets are roped off and the
+crowds are too great."
+
+"Then let us out as near to the Tower as possible, cried the other.
+
+"Here we are," cried the driver, a few minutes later, pulling up his
+half dead oxen and leaping to the ground. He threw off the covering and
+they lost no time in tumbling from their bed of melons to the
+cobble-stone pavement of a narrow alley into which he had turned for
+safety. "Through this passage!" he gasped, hoarse with excitement. "The
+Tower is below. Follow me! My oxen will stand. I am going with you!" His
+rugged face was aglow.
+
+Off through the alley they hurried, King disdaining the pain his ankle
+was giving him. They came to the crowded square a few minutes later. The
+clock in the Cathedral pointed to twelve o'clock and after! The
+catastrophe had not yet taken place; the people were laughing and
+singing and shouting. They were in time. Everywhere they heard glad
+voices crying out that the Prince was coming! It was the Royal band that
+they heard through dinning ears!
+
+"Great God!" cried Truxton, stopping suddenly and pointing with
+trembling hand to a spot across the street and a little below where
+they had pushed through the resentful, staring throng on the sidewalk.
+"There she is! At the corner! Stop her!"
+
+He had caught sight of Olga Platanova.
+
+The first row of dragoons was already passing in front of her. Less than
+two hundred feet away rolled the royal coach of gold! All this flashed
+before the eyes of the distracted pair, who were now dashing frantically
+into the open street, disregarding the shouts of the police and the
+howls of the crowd.
+
+"An anarchist!" shouted King hoarsely. He looked like one himself. "The
+bomb! The bomb! Stop the Prince!"
+
+Colonel Quinnox recognised this bearded, uncouth figure, and the flying,
+terrified girl at his heels. King was dragging her along by the hand.
+There was an instant of confusion on the part of the vanguard, a drawing
+of sabres, a movement toward the coach in which the Prince rode.
+
+Quinnox alone prevented the dragoons from cutting down the pallid madman
+who stumbled blindly toward the coaches beyond. He whirled his steed
+after an astonished glance in all directions, shouting eager commands
+all the while. When he reached the side of the gasping American, that
+person had stopped and was pointing toward the trembling Olga, who had
+seen and recognised him.
+
+"Stop the coach!" cried King. Loraine was running frantically through
+the ranks of horsemen, screaming her words of alarm.
+
+The Duke of Perse leaped from his carriage and ran forward, shouting to
+the soldiers to seize the disturbers. Panic seized the crowd. There was
+a mad rush for the corner above. Olga Platanova stood alone, her eyes
+wide and glassy, staring as if petrified at the face of Truxton King.
+
+He saw the object in her wavering hand. With a yell he dashed for safety
+down the seething avenue. The Duke of Perse struck at him as he passed,
+ignoring the frantic cry of warning that he uttered. A plain,
+white-faced farmer in a smock of blue was crossing the street with
+mighty bounds, his eyes glued upon the arm of the frail, terrified
+anarchist. If he could only arrest that palsied, uncertain arm!
+
+But she hurled the bomb, her hands going to her eyes as she fell upon
+her knees.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE THROWING OF THE BOMB
+
+
+The scene that followed beggars all powers of description.
+
+A score of men and horses lay writhing in the street; others crept away
+screaming with pain; human flesh and that of animals lay in the path of
+the frenzied, panic-stricken holiday crowd; blood mingled with the soft
+mud of Regengetz Circus, slimy, slippery, ugly!
+
+Rent bodies of men in once gaudy uniforms, now flattened and bruised in
+warm, oozy death, were piled in a mass where but a moment before the
+wondering vanguard of troopers had clustered. For many rods in all
+directions stunned creatures were struggling to their feet after the
+stupendous shock that had felled them. The clattering of frightened
+horses, the shouts and screams of men and women, the gruesome rush of
+ten thousand people in stampede--all in twenty seconds after the engine
+of death left the hand of Olga Platanova.
+
+Olga Platanova! There was nothing left of her! She had failed to do the
+deed expected of her, but she would not hear the execrations of those
+who had depended upon her to kill the Prince. We draw a veil across the
+picture of Olga Platanova after the bomb left her hand; no one may look
+upon the quivering, shattered thing that once was a living, beautiful
+woman. The glimpse she had of Truxton King's haggard face unnerved her.
+She faltered, her strength of will collapsed; she hurled the bomb in a
+panic of indecision. Massacre but not conquest!
+
+Down in an alley below the Tower, a trembling, worn team of oxen stood
+for a day and night, awaiting the return of a master who was never to
+come back to them. God rest his simple soul!
+
+Truxton King picked himself up from the street, dazed, bewildered but
+unhurt. Everywhere about him mad people were rushing and screeching.
+Scarcely knowing what he did, he fled with the crowd. From behind him
+came the banging of guns, followed by new shouts of terror. He knew what
+it meant! The revolutionists had begun the assault on the paralysed
+minions of the government.
+
+Scores of Royal Guardsmen swept past him, rushing to the support of the
+coach of gold. The sharp, shrill scream of a single name rose above the
+tumult. Some one had seen the Iron Count!
+
+"Marlanx!"
+
+He looked back toward the gory entrance to the Circus. There was
+Marlanx, mounted and swinging a sabre on high. Ahead was the mass of
+carriages, filled with the white-faced, palsied prey from the Court of
+Graustark. Somewhere in that huddled, glittering crowd were two beings
+he willingly would give his own life to save.
+
+Foot soldiers, policemen and mounted guardsmen began firing into the
+crowd at the square, without sense or discretion, falling back,
+nevertheless, before the well-timed, deliberate advance of the
+mercenaries. From somewhere near the spot where Olga Platanova fell came
+a harsh, penetrating command:
+
+"Cut them off! Cut them off from the Castle!"
+
+It was his cue. He dashed into the street and ran toward the carriages,
+shouting with all his strength:
+
+"Turn back! It is Marlanx! To the Castle!"
+
+Then it was that he saw the Prince. The boy was standing on a seat on
+the royal coach of state, holding out his eager little hands to some
+one in the thick of the crowd that surged about him. He was calling some
+one's name, but no one could have heard him.
+
+Truxton's straining eyes caught sight of the figure in grey that
+struggled forward in response to the cries and the extended hands. He
+pushed his way savagely through the crowd; he came up with her as she
+reached the side of the coach, and with a shout of encouragement grasped
+her in his arms.
+
+"Aunt Loraine! Aunt Loraine!" He now heard the name the boy cried with
+all his little heart.
+
+Two officers struck at the uncouth, desperate American as he lifted the
+girl from the ground and deliberately tossed her into the coach.
+
+"Turn back!" he shouted. A horseman rode him down. He looked up as the
+plunging animal's hoofs clattered about his head. Vos Engo, with drawn
+sword, was crowding up to the carriage door, shouting words of rejoicing
+at sight of the girl he loved.
+
+Somehow he managed to crawl from under the hoofs and wheels, not without
+thumps and bruises, and made his way to the sidewalk. The coach had
+swung around and the horses were being lashed into a gallop for the
+Castle gates.
+
+He caught a glimpse of her, holding the Prince in her arms, her white,
+agonised face turned toward the mob. Distinctly he heard her cry:
+
+"Save him! Save Truxton King!"
+
+From the sidewalks swarmed well-armed hordes of desperadoes, firing
+wildly into the ranks of devoted guardsmen grouped in the avenue to
+cover the flight of their royal charge. Truxton fled from the danger
+zone as fast as his legs would carry him. Bullets were striking all
+about him. Later on he was to remember his swollen, bitterly painful
+ankle; but there was no thought of it now. He had played football with
+this same ankle in worse condition than it was now--and he had played
+for the fun of it, too.
+
+He realised that his life was worth absolutely nothing if he fell into
+the hands of the enemy. His only chance lay in falling in with some
+sane, loyal citizen who could be prevailed upon to hide him until the
+worst was over. There seemed no possibility of getting inside the Castle
+grounds. He had done his duty and--he laughed bitterly as he thought of
+it--he had been ridden down by the men he came to save.
+
+Some one was shouting his name behind in the scurrying crowd. He turned
+for a single glance backward. Little Mr. Hobbs, pale as a ghost, his cap
+gone, his clothing torn, was panting at his elbow.
+
+"God save us!" gasped Hobbs. "Are you alive or am I seeing all the
+bloody ghosts in the world?"
+
+"I'm alive all right," cried King. "Where can we go? Be quick, Hobbs!
+Think! Don't sputter like that. I want to be personally conducted, and
+damned quick at that."
+
+"Before God, sir, I 'aven't the idea where to go," groaned Hobbs. "It's
+dreadful! Did you see what the woman did back there--"
+
+"Don't stop to tell me about it, Hobbs. Keep on running. Go ahead of me.
+I'm used to following the man from Cook's."
+
+"Right you are, sir. I say, by Jove, I'm glad to see you--I am. You came
+right up out of the ground as if--"
+
+"Is there no way to get off this beastly avenue?" panted King. "They're
+shooting back there like a pack of wild men. I hate to think of what's
+going on."
+
+"Dangloss will 'ave them all in the jug inside of ten minutes, take my
+word--"
+
+"They'll have Dangloss hanging from a telephone; pole, Hobbs! Don't
+talk! Run!"
+
+Soldiers came riding up from behind, turning to fire from their saddles
+into the throng of cutthroats, led by the grim old man with the bloody
+sabre. In the centre of the troop there was a flying carriage. The Duke
+of Perse was lying back in the seat, his face like that of a dead man.
+Far ahead rattled the royal coach and the wildly flying carriages of
+state.
+
+"The Prince is safe!" shouted King joyously. "They'll make it! Thank
+God!"
+
+Colonel Quinnox turned in his saddle and searched out the owner of that
+stirring voice.
+
+"Come!" he called, drawing rein as soon as he caught sight of him.
+
+Even as King rushed out into the roadway a horseman galloped up from the
+direction of the Castle. He pulled his horse to his haunches almost as
+he was riding over the dodging American.
+
+"Here!" shouted the newcomer, scowling down upon the young man. "Swing
+up here! Quick, you fool!"
+
+It was Vos Engo, his face black with fury. Quinnox had seized the hand
+of Mr. Hobbs on seeing help for King and was pulling him up before him.
+There was nothing for Truxton to do but to accept the timely help of his
+rival. An instant later he was up behind him and they were off after the
+last of the dragoons.
+
+"If you don't mind, Count, I'll try my luck," grated the American.
+Holding on with one arm, he turned and fired repeatedly in the direction
+of the howling crowd of rascals.
+
+"Ride to the barracks gates, Vos Engo!" commanded Colonel Quinnox. "Be
+prepared to admit none but the Royal Reserves, who are under standing
+orders to report there in time of need."
+
+"God grant that they may be able to come," responded the Count. Over his
+shoulder he hissed to his companion. "It was not idle heroics, my
+friend, nor philanthropy on my part. I was commanded to come and fetch
+you. She would never have spoken to me again if I had refused."
+
+"She? Ah, yes; I see. Good! She did not forget me!" cried Truxton, his
+heart bounding.
+
+"My own happiness depends on my luck in getting you to safety," rasped
+the Count. "My life's happiness. Understand, damn you, it is not for you
+that I risk my life."
+
+"I understand," murmured Truxton, a wry smile on his pale lips. "You
+mean, she is going to pay you in some way for picking me up, eh? Well,
+I'll put an end to that. I'll drop off again. Then you can ride on and
+tell her--I wouldn't be a party to the game. Do you catch my meaning?"
+
+"You would, eh?" said the Count angrily. "I'd like to see you drop off
+while we're going at this--"
+
+"I've got my pistol in the middle of your back," grated Truxton. "Slow
+up a bit or I'll scatter your vertebrae all over your system. Pull up!"
+
+"As you like," cried Vos Engo. "I've done my part. Colonel Quinnox will
+bear witness." He began pulling his horse down. "Now, you are quite free
+to drop off."
+
+Without a word the American swung his leg over and slid to the ground.
+"Thanks for the lift you've given me," he called up to the astonished
+officer.
+
+"Don't thank me," sang out his would-be saviour as he put spur to his
+horse.
+
+It is a lamentable thing to say, but Truxton King's extraordinary
+sacrifice was not altogether the outgrowth of heroism. We have not been
+called upon at any time to question his courage; we have, on the other
+hand, seen times when he displayed the most arrant foolhardiness. I defy
+any one to prove, however, that he ever neglected an opportunity to
+better himself by strategy at the expense of fortitude. Therefore, it is
+not surprising that even at such a time as this we may be called upon to
+record an example of his spectacular cunning.
+
+Be sure of it, he did not decide to slide from Vos Engo's horse until he
+saw a way clear to better his position, and at the same time to lessen
+the glory of his unpleasant rescuer.
+
+Less than a hundred yards behind loped a riderless horse; the dragoon
+who had sat the saddle was lying far back in the avenue, a bullet in his
+head. Hobbling to the middle of the road, the American threw up his
+hands and shouted briskly to the bewildered animal. Throwing his ears
+forward in considerable doubt, the horse came to a standstill close at
+hand. Five seconds later King was in the saddle and tearing along in the
+wake of the retreating guard, his hair blowing from his forehead, his
+blood leaping with the joy of achievement.
+
+Mr. Hobbs afterward informed him that Count Vos Engo's oaths were worth
+going miles to avoid.
+
+"We need such men as King!" cried Colonel Quinnox as he waited inside
+the gates for the wild rider. A moment later King dashed through and the
+massive bolts were shot.
+
+As he pulled up in front of the steward's lodge to await the orders of
+the Colonel, the exultant American completed the soliloquy that began
+with the mad impulse to ride into port under his own sails.
+
+"I'll have to tell her that he did a fine thing in coming back for me,
+much as he hated to do it. What's more, I shan't say a word about his
+beastly temper. We'll let it pass. He deserves a whole lot for the part
+he played. I'll not forget it. Too bad he had to spoil it all by talking
+as he did. But, hang me, if he shall exact anything from her because he
+did a thing he didn't want to do. I took a darned sight bigger chance
+than he did, after all. Good Lord, what a mess I would have been in if
+the nag hadn't stopped! Whew! Well, old boy, you did stop, God bless
+you. Colonel," he spoke, as Quinnox came up, "do you think I can buy
+this horse? He's got more sense than I have."
+
+Small bodies of foot soldiers and policemen fighting valiantly against
+great odds were admitted to the grounds during the next half hour.
+Scores had been killed by the fierce, irregular attack of the
+revolutionists; others had become separated from their comrades and were
+even now being hunted down and destroyed by the infuriated followers of
+Marlanx. A hundred or more of the reserves reached the upper gates
+before it occurred to the enemy to blockade the streets in that
+neighbourhood. General Braze, with a few of his men, bloody and
+heartsick, was the last of the little army to reach safety in the Castle
+grounds, coming up by way of the lower gates from the fortress, which
+they had tried to reach after the first outbreak, but had found
+themselves forestalled.
+
+The fortress, with all guns, stores and ammunition, was in the hands of
+the Iron Count and his cohorts.
+
+Baron Dangloss had been taken prisoner with a whole platoon of fighting
+constables. This was the last appalling bit of news to reach the
+horrified, disorganised forces in the Castle grounds.
+
+Citizens had fled to their homes, unmolested. The streets were empty,
+save for the armed minions of the Iron Count. They rushed hither and
+thither in violent detachments, seeking out the men in uniform, yelling
+and shooting like unmanageable savages.
+
+Before two o'clock the city itself was in the hands of the hated enemy
+of the Crown. He and his aliens, malefactors and all, were in complete
+control of the fortress, the gates and approaches, the Tower and the
+bloody streets. A thousand of them,--eager, yelling ruffians,--marched
+to within firing distance of the Castle walls and held every approach
+against reinforcements. Except for the failure to destroy the Prince and
+his counsellors, the daring, unspeakable plans of Count Marlanx had been
+attended by the most horrifying results. He was master. There was no
+question as to that. The few hundred souls in the Castle grounds were
+like rats in a trap.
+
+A wise as well as a cruel man was Marlanx. He lost no time in issuing a
+manifesto to the stunned, demoralised citizens of Edelweiss. Scores of
+criers went through the streets during the long, wretched afternoon,
+announcing to the populace that Count Marlanx had established himself as
+dictator and military governor of the principality--pending the
+abdication of the Prince and the beginning of a new and substantial
+regime. All citizens were commanded to recognise the authority of the
+dictator; none except those who disobeyed or resented this authority
+would be molested. Traffic would be resumed on the following Monday.
+Tradespeople and artisans were commanded to resume their occupations
+under penalty of extreme punishment in case of refusal. These and many
+other edicts were issued from Marlanx's temporary headquarters in the
+Plaza--almost at the foot of the still veiled monument of the beloved
+Princess Yetive.
+
+Toward evening, after many consultations and countless reports, Marlanx
+removed his headquarters to the Tower. He had fondly hoped to be in the
+Castle long before this. His rage and disappointment over the stupid
+miscarriage of plans left no room for conjecture as to the actual state
+of his feelings. For hours he had raved like a madman. Every soldier who
+fell into his hands was shot down like a dog.
+
+The cells and dungeons in the great old tower were now occupied by
+bruised, defeated officers of the law. Baron Jasto Dangloss, crushed in
+spirit and broken of body, paced the blackest and narrowest cell of them
+all. The gall and wormwood that filled his soul was not to be measured
+by words. He blamed himself for the catastrophe; it was he who had
+permitted this appalling thing to grow and burst with such sickening
+results. In his mind there was no doubt that Marlanx had completely
+overthrown the dynasty and was in full possession of the government. He
+did not know that the Prince and his court had succeeded in reaching the
+Castle, whose walls and gates were well-nigh impregnable to assault,
+even by a great army. If he had known this he might have rejoiced!
+
+Late in the evening he received a visit from Marlanx, the new master.
+
+The Iron Count, lighted by a ghostly lantern in the hands of a man who,
+ten hours before, had been a prisoner within these very walls, came up
+to the narrow grating that served as a door and gazed complacently upon
+the once great minister of police.
+
+"Well," said Dangloss, his eyes snapping, "what is it, damn you?"
+
+Marlanx stroked his chin and smiled. "I believe this is my old confrere,
+Baron Dangloss," he remarked. "Dear me, I took you, sir, to be quite
+impeccable. Here you are, behind the bars. Will wonders never cease?"
+
+Dangloss merely glared at him.
+
+The Iron Count went on suavely: "You heard me, Baron. Still, I do not
+require an answer. How do you like your new quarters? It may please you
+to know that I am occupying your office, and also that noble suite
+overlooking the Plaza. I find myself most agreeably situated. By the
+way, Baron, I seem to recall something to mind as I look at you. You
+were the kindly disposed gentleman who escorted me to the city gates a
+few years ago and there turned me over to a detachment of soldiers, who,
+in turn, conveyed me to the border. If I recall the occasion rightly,
+you virtually kicked me out of the city. Am I right?"
+
+"You are!" was all that the bitter Dangloss said, without taking his
+fierce gaze from the sallow face beyond the bars.
+
+"I am happy to find that my memory is so good," said Marlanx.
+
+"I expect to be able to repeat the operation," said Dangloss.
+
+"How interesting! You forget that history never repeats itself."
+
+"See here, Marlanx, what is your game? Speak up; I'm not afraid of you.
+Do you intend to take me out and shoot me at sunrise?"
+
+"Oh, dear me, no! That would be a silly proceeding. You own vast estates
+in Graustark, if I mistake not, just as I did eight or nine years ago.
+Well, I have come into my own again. The Crown relieved me of my
+estates, my citizenship, my honour. I have waited long to regain them.
+Understand me, Dangloss; I am in control now; my word is law. I do not
+intend to kill you. It is my intention to escort you to the border and
+kick you out of Graustark. See for yourself how it feels. Everything you
+possess is to be taken away from you. You will be a wanderer on the face
+of the earth--a pauper. All you have is here. Therein lies the
+distinction: I had large possessions in other lands. I had friends and a
+following, as you see. You will have none of these, Baron."
+
+"A splendid triumph, you beast!"
+
+"Of course, you'd much prefer being shot."
+
+"Not at all. Banish me, if you please; strip me of all I possess. But
+I'll come back another day, Count Marlanx."
+
+"Ah, yes; that reminds me. I had quite forgotten to say that the first
+ten years of your exile are to be spent in the dungeons at Schloss
+Marlanx. How careless of me to have neglected to state that in the
+beginning. In ten years you will be seventy-five, Baron. An excellent
+time of life for one to begin his wanderings over the world which will
+not care to remember him."
+
+"Do you expect me to get down on my knees and plead for mercy, you
+scoundrel?"
+
+"I know you too well for that, my dear Baron."
+
+"Get out of my sight!"
+
+"Pray do not forget that I am governor of the Tower at present. I go and
+come as I choose."
+
+"God will punish you for what you have done. There's solace in that."
+
+"As you like, Baron. If it makes it easier for you to feel that God will
+take a hand in my humble affairs, all well and good. I grant you that
+delectable privilege."
+
+Baron Dangloss turned his back upon his smiling enemy, his body
+quivering with passion.
+
+"By the way, Baron, would you care to hear all the latest news from the
+seat of war? It may interest you to know that the Castle is besieged in
+most proper fashion. No one--"
+
+"The Castle besieged? Then, by the Eternal, you did not take the
+Prince!"
+
+"Not at all! He is in the Castle for a few hours of imaginary safety.
+To-night my men will be admitted to the grounds by friends who have
+served two masters for a twelve-month or longer."
+
+"Traitors in the Castle?" cried Dangloss in horror. He was now facing
+the Count.
+
+"Hardly that, my dear sir. Agents, I should call them. Isn't it
+splendid?"
+
+"You are a--"
+
+"Don't say it, Baron. Save your breath. I know what you would call me,
+and can save you the trouble of shouting it, as you seem inclined to
+do."
+
+"Thank God, your assassins not only failed to dynamite the boy, but your
+dogs failed to capture him. By heaven, God _is_ with Prince Robin, after
+all!"
+
+"How exalted you seem, Baron! It is a treat to look at you. Oh, another
+thing: the Platanova girl was not _my_ assassin."
+
+"That's a lie!"
+
+"You shall not chide me in that fashion, Baron. You are very rude. No;
+the girl was operating for what I have since discovered to be the
+Committee of Ten, leading the Party of Equals in Graustark. To-morrow
+morning I shall have the Committee of Ten seized and shot in the public
+square. We cannot harbour dynamiters and assassins of that type. There
+are two-score or more of anarchist sympathisers here. We will cheerfully
+shoot all of them--an act that you should have performed many days ago,
+my astute friend. It might have saved trouble. They are a dangerous
+element in any town. Those whom I do not kill I shall transport to the
+United States in exchange for the Americans who have managed to lose
+themselves over here. A fair exchange, you see. Moreover, I hear that
+the United States Government welcomes the Reds if they are white instead
+of yellow. Clever, but involved, eh? Well, good night, Baron. Sleep
+well. I expect to see you again after the rush of business attending the
+adjustment of my own particular affairs. In a day or two I shall move
+into the Castle. You may be relieved to know that I do not expect to
+find the time to kick you out of Graustark under a week or ten days."
+
+"My men: what of them? The brave fellows who were taken with me? You
+will not deprive--"
+
+"In time they will be given the choice of serving me as policemen or
+serving the world as examples of folly. Rest easy concerning them. Ah,
+yes, again I have stupidly forgotten something. Your excellent friend,
+Tullis, will not re-enter Edelweiss alive. That is quite assured, sir.
+So you see, he will, after all, be better off than you. I don't blame
+him for loving my wife. It was my desire to amicably trade my wife off
+to him for his charming sister, but the deal hangs fire. What a scowl! I
+dare say you contemplate saying something bitter, so I'll retire. A
+little later on I shall be chatting with the Prince at the Castle. I'll
+give him your gentlest felicitations."
+
+But Marlanx was doomed to another disappointment before the night was
+over. The Castle gates were not opened to his forces. Colonel Quinnox
+apprehended the traitors in time to prevent the calamity. Ten hostlers
+in the Royal stables were taken redhanded in the attempt to overpower
+the small guard at the western gates. Their object was made plain by the
+subsequent futile movement of a large force of men at that particular
+point.
+
+Prince Robin was safe for the night.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+TRUXTON ON PARADE
+
+
+Count Marlanx was a soldier. He knew how to take defeat and to bide his
+time; he knew how to behave in the hour of victory and in the moment of
+rout. The miscarriage of a detail here and there in this vast,
+comprehensive plan of action did not in the least sense discourage him.
+It was no light blow to his calculations, of course, when the designs of
+an organisation separate and distinct from his own failed in their
+purpose. It was part of his plan to hold the misguided Reds responsible
+for the lamentable death of Prince Robin. The people were to be given
+swift, uncontrovertible proof that he had no hand in the unforeseen
+transactions of the anarchists, who, he would make it appear, had by
+curious coincidence elected to kill the Prince almost at the very hour
+when he planned to seize the city as a conqueror.
+
+His own connection with the operations of the mysterious Committee of
+Ten was never to be known to the world. He would see to that.
+
+At nine o'clock on Sunday morning a small group of people gathered in
+the square: a meeting was soon in progress. A goods-box stood over
+against the very spot on which Olga Platanova died. An old man began
+haranguing the constantly growing crowd, made up largely of those whose
+curiosity surpassed discreetness. In the group might have been seen
+every member of the Committee of Ten, besides a full representation of
+those who up to now had secretly affiliated with the Party of Equals. A
+red flag waved above the little, excited group of fanatics, close to
+the goods-box rostrum. One member of the Committee was absent from this,
+their first public espousal of the cause. Later on we are to discover
+who this man was. Two women in bright red waists were crying
+encouragement to the old man on the box, whose opening sentences were no
+less than an unchanted requiem for the dead martyr, Olga Platanova.
+
+In the midst of his harangue, the hand of William Spantz was arrested in
+one of its most emphatic gestures. A look of wonder and uncertainty came
+into his face as he gazed, transfixed, over the heads of his hearers in
+the direction of the Tower.
+
+Peter Brutus was approaching, at the head of a group of aliens, all
+armed and marching in ominously good order. Something in the face of
+Peter Brutus sent a chill of apprehension into the very soul of the old
+armourer.
+
+And well it may have done so.
+
+"One moment!" called out Peter Brutus, lifting his hand imperatively.
+The speaker ceased his mouthings. "Count Marlanx desires the immediate
+presence of the following citizens at his office in the Tower. I shall
+call off the names." He began with William Spantz. The name of each of
+his associates in the Committee of Ten followed. After them came a score
+of names, all of them known to be supporters of the anarchist cause.
+
+"What is the business, Peter?" demanded William Spantz.
+
+"Does it mean we are to begin so soon the establishing of the new
+order--" began Anna Cromer, her face aglow. Peter smiled wanly.
+
+"Do not ask me," he said, emphasising the pronoun. "I am only commanded
+to bring the faithful few before him."
+
+"But why the armed escort?" growled Julius Spantz, who had spent an
+unhappy twenty-four hours in bondage.
+
+"To separate the wheat from the chaff," said Peter. "Move on, good
+people, all you whose names were not called." The order was to the few
+timid strangers who were there because they had nowhere else to go. They
+scattered like chaff.
+
+Ten minutes later every member of the Committee of Ten, except Peter
+Brutus, was behind lock and bar, together with their shivering
+associates, all of them dumbly muttering to themselves the awful
+sentence that Marlanx had passed upon them.
+
+"You are to die at sunset. Graustark still knows how to punish
+assassins. She will make an example of you to-day that all creatures of
+your kind, the world over, will not be likely to forget in a century to
+come. There is no room in Graustark for anarchy. I shall wipe it out
+to-day."
+
+"Sir, your promise!" gasped William Spantz. "We are your friends--the
+true Party of--"
+
+"Enough! Do not speak again! Captain Brutus, you will send criers abroad
+to notify the citizens that I, Count Marlanx, have ordered the execution
+of the ringleaders in the plot to dynamite the Prince. At sunset, in the
+square. Away with the carrion!"
+
+Then it was, and not till then, that the Committee of Ten found him out!
+Then it was that they came to know Peter Brutus! What were their
+thoughts, we dare not tell: their shrieks and curses were spent against
+inpenetrable floors and walls. Baron Dangloss heard, and, in time,
+understood. Even he shrank back and shuddered.
+
+It has been said that Marlanx was a soldier. There is one duty that the
+soldier in command never neglects: the duty to those who fell while
+fighting bravely for or against him. Sunday afternoon a force of men was
+set to work burying the dead and clearing the pavements. Those of his
+own nondescript army who gave up their lives on the 26th were buried in
+the public cemeteries. The soldiers of the Crown, as well as the
+military police, were laid to rest in the national cemetery, with
+honours befitting their rank. Each grave was carefully marked and a
+record preserved. In this way Marlanx hoped to obtain his first footing
+in the confidence and esteem of the citizens. The unrecognisable corpse
+of Olga Platanova was buried in quicklime outside the city walls. There
+was something distinctly gruesome in the fact that half a dozen deep
+graves were dug alongside hers, hours before death came to the wretches
+who were to occupy them.
+
+At three o'clock the Iron Count coolly sent messengers to the homes of
+the leading merchants and bankers of the city. They, with the priests,
+the doctors, the municipal officers and the manufacturers were commanded
+to appear before him at five o'clock for the purpose of discussing the
+welfare of the city and its people. Hating, yet fearing him, they came;
+not one but felt in his heart that the old man was undisputed ruler of
+their destinies. Hours of horror and despair, a night and a day of
+bitter reflection, had brought the trembling populace to the point of
+seeing clearly the whole miserable situation. The reserves were
+powerless; the Royal Guard was besieged and greatly outnumbered; the
+fortress was lost. There was nothing for them to do but temporise. Time
+alone could open the way to salvation.
+
+Marlanx stated his position clearly. He left no room for doubt in their
+minds. The strings were in his hands: he had but to pull them. The
+desire of his life was about to be attained. Without hesitation he
+informed the leading men of the city that he was to be the Prince of
+Graustark.
+
+"I have the city," he said calmly. "The farms and villages will fall in
+line. I do not worry over them. In a very short time I shall have the
+Castle. The question for you to decide for yourselves is this: will you
+be content to remain here as thrifty, peaceable citizens, protecting
+your fortunes and being protected by a man and not by a child. If not,
+please say so. The alternative is in the hands of the Crown. I am the
+Crown. The Crown may at any time confiscate property and banish
+malcontents and disturbers. A word to the wise, gentlemen. Inside of a
+week we will have a new government. You will not suffer under its
+administration. I should be indeed a fool to destroy the credit or
+injure the integrity of my own dominion. But, let me say this,
+gentlemen," he went on after a pause, in which his suavity gave way to
+harshness; "you may as well understand at the outset that I expect to
+rule here. I will rule Graustark or destroy her."
+
+The more courageous in his audience began to protest against the
+high-handed manner in which he proposed to treat them. Not a few
+declared that they would never recognise him as a prince of the realm.
+He waited, as a spider waits, until he thought they had gone far enough.
+Then he held up his hand and commanded silence.
+
+"Those of you who do not expect or desire to live under my rule--which,
+I promise you, shall be a wise one,--may leave the city for other lands
+just as soon as my deputies have completed the formal transfer of all
+your belongings to the Crown treasury--all, I say, even to the minutest
+trifle. Permit me to add, in that connection, gentlemen: the transfer
+will not be a prolonged affair."
+
+They glared back at him and subsided into bitter silence.
+
+"I am well aware that you love little Prince Robin. Ha! You may not
+cheer here, gentlemen, under penalty of my displeasure. It is quite
+right that you should, as loyal subjects, love your Prince, whoever he
+may be. I shall certainly expect it. Now, respecting young master Robin:
+I have no great desire to kill him."
+
+He waited to see the effect of this brutal announcement. His hearers
+stiffened and--yes, they held their breath.
+
+"He has one alternative--he and his lords. I trust that you, as sensible
+gentlemen, will find the means to convey to him your advice that he
+seize the opportunity I shall offer him to escape with his life. No one
+really wants to see the little chap die. Let me interrupt myself to call
+to your attention the fact that I am punishing the anarchists at sunset.
+This to convince you that assassination will not be tolerated in
+Graustark. To resume: the boy may return to America, where he belongs.
+He is more of an American than one of us. I will give him free and safe
+escort to the United States. Certain of his friends may accompany him;
+others whom I shall designate will be required to remain here until I
+have disposed of their cases as I see fit. These conditions I shall set
+forth in my manifesto to the present occupant of the Castle. If he
+chooses to accept my kindly terms, all well and good. If not, gentlemen,
+I shall starve him out or blow the Castle down about his smart little
+ears. You shudder! Well, I can't blame you. I shudder myself sometimes
+when I think of it. There will be a great deal of royal blood, you know.
+Ah, that reminds me: It may interest you to hear that I expect to
+establish a new nobility in Graustark. The present house of lords is
+objectionable to me. I trust I may now be addressing at least a few of
+the future noble lords of Graustark. Good day, gentlemen. That is all
+for the present. Kindly inform me if any of my soldiers or followers
+overstep the bounds of prudence. Rapine and ribaldry will not be
+tolerated."
+
+The dignitaries and great men of the city went away, dazed and
+depressed, looking at each other from bloodshot eyes. Not one friend had
+Marlanx in that group, and he knew it well. He did not expect them to
+submit at once or even remotely. They might have smiled, whereas they
+frowned, if they could have seen him pacing the floor of his office, the
+moment the doors closed behind their backs, clenching his hands and
+cursing furiously.
+
+At the Castle the deepest gloom prevailed. It was like a nightmare to
+the beleaguered household, a dream from which there seemed to be no
+awakening. Colonel Quinnox's first act after posting his forces in
+position to repel attacks from the now well-recognised enemy, was to
+make sure of the safety of his royal master. Inside the walls of the
+Castle grounds he, as commander of the Royal Guard, ruled supreme.
+General Braze tore off his own epaulets and presented himself to Quinnox
+as a soldier of the file; lords and dukes, pages and ministers, followed
+the example of the head of the War Department. No one stood on the
+dignity of his position; no one does, as a rule, with the executioner
+staring him in the face. Every man took up arms for the defence of the
+Castle, its Prince and its lovely women.
+
+Prince Robin, quite recovered from his fright, donned the uniform of a
+Colonel of the Royal Dragoons, buckled on his jewelled sword, and, with
+boyish zeal, demanded Colonel Quinnox's reasons for not going forth to
+slay the rioters.
+
+"What is the army for, Colonel Quinnox?" he asked with impatient wonder.
+
+It was late in the afternoon and the Prince was seated in the chair of
+state, presiding over the hurriedly called Council meeting. Notably
+absent were Baron Dangloss and the Duke of Perse. Chief officers of the
+Guard and the commissioned men of the army were present--that is, all of
+them who had not gone down under the treacherous fire.
+
+"Your Highness," said the Colonel bitterly, "the real army is outside
+the walls, not inside. We are a pitiful handful-less than three hundred
+men, all told, counting the wounded. Count Marlanx heads an army of
+several thousand. He--"
+
+"He wants to get in here so's he can kill me? Is that so, Colonel
+Quinnox?" The Prince was very pale, but quite calm.
+
+"Oh, I wouldn't put it just that way, your--"
+
+"Oh, I know. You can't fool me. I've always known that he wants to kill
+me. But how can he? That's the question; how can he when I've got the
+Royal Guard to keep him from doing it? He can't whip the Royal Guard.
+Nobody can. He ought to know that. He must be awful stupid."
+
+His perfect, unwavering faith in the Guard was the same that had grown
+up with every prince of Graustark and would not be gainsaid. A score of
+hearts swelled with righteous pride and as many scabbards rattled as
+heels clicked and hands went up in salute.
+
+"Your Highness," said Quinnox, with a glance at his fellow-officers,
+"you may rely upon it, Count Marlanx will never reach you until he has
+slain every man in the Royal Guard."
+
+"And in the army--our poor little army," added General Braze.
+
+"Thank you," said the Prince. "You needn't have told me. I knew it." He
+leaned back in the big chair, almost slipping from the record books on
+which he sat, a brave scowl on his face. "Gee, I wish he'd attack us
+right now," he said, with ingenuous bravado.
+
+The council of war was not a lengthy one. The storm that had arisen out
+of a perfectly clear sky was briefly discussed in all its phases. No man
+there but realised the seriousness of the situation. Count Halfont, who
+seemed ten years older than when we last saw him, addressed the Cabinet.
+
+"John Tullis is still outside the city walls. If he does not fall into a
+trap through ignorance of the city's plight, I firmly believe he will be
+able to organise an army of relief among the peasants and villagers.
+They are loyal. The mountaineers and shepherds, wild fellows all, and
+the ones who have fallen into the spider's net. Count Marlanx has an
+army of aliens; they are not even revolutionists. John Tullis, if given
+the opportunity, can sweep the city clear of them. My only fear is that
+he may be tricked into ambush before we can reach him. No doubt Marlanx,
+in devising a way to get him out of the city, also thought of the means
+to keep him out."
+
+"We must get word to Tullis," cried several in a breath. A dozen men
+volunteered to risk their lives in the attempt to find the American in
+the hills. Two men were chosen--by lot. They were to venture forth that
+very night.
+
+"My lords," said the Prince, as the Council was on the point of
+dissolving, "is it all right for me to ask a question now?"
+
+"Certainly, Robin," said the Prime Minister.
+
+"Well, I'd like to know where Mr. King is."
+
+"He's safe, your Highness," said Quinnox.
+
+"Aunt Loraine is worried, that's all. She's sick, you see--awful sick.
+Do you think Mr. King would be good enough to walk by her window, so's
+she can see for herself? She's in the royal bedchamber."
+
+"The royal bedchamber?" gasped the high chamberlain.
+
+"I gave up my bed right off, but she won't stay in it. She sits in the
+window most of the time. It's all right about the bed. I spoke to nurse
+about it. Besides, I don't want to go to bed while there's any fighting
+going on. So, you see, it's all right. Say, Uncle Caspar, may I take a
+crack at old Marlanx with my new rifle if I get a chance? I've been
+practising on the target range, and Uncle Jack says I'm a reg'lar
+Buffalo Bill."
+
+Count Halfont unceremoniously hugged his wriggling grand-nephew. A cheer
+went up from the others.
+
+"Long live Prince Robin!" shouted Count Vos Engo.
+
+Prince Robin looked abashed. "I don't think I could hit him," he said
+with becoming modesty. They laughed aloud. "But, say, don't forget about
+Mr. King. Tell him I want him to parade most of the time in front of my
+windows."
+
+"He has a weak ankle," began Colonel Quinnox lamely.
+
+"Very difficult for him to walk," said Vos Engo, biting his lips.
+
+The Prince looked from face to face, suspicion in his eyes. It dawned on
+him that they were evading the point. A stubborn line appeared between
+his brows.
+
+"Then I command you, Colonel Quinnox, to give him the best horse in the
+stables. I want him to ride."
+
+"It shall be as you command, your Highness."
+
+A few minutes later, his grand-uncle, the Prime Minister, was carrying
+him down the corridor; Prince Robin was perched upon the old man's
+shoulder, and was a thoughtful mood.
+
+"Say, Uncle Caspar, Mr. King's all right, isn't he?"
+
+"He is a very brave and noble gentleman, Bobby. We owe to his valour the
+life of the best boy in all the world."
+
+"Yes, and Aunt Loraine owes him a lot, too. She says so. She's been
+crying, Uncle Caspar. Say, has she just got to marry Count Vos Engo?"
+
+"My boy, what put that question into your mind?"
+
+"She says she has to. I thought only princes and princesses had to marry
+people they don't want to."
+
+"You should not believe all that you hear."
+
+Bobby was silent for twenty steps. Then he said: "Well, I think she'll
+make an awful mistake if she lets Mr. King get away."
+
+"My boy, we have other affairs to trouble us at present without taking
+up the affairs of Miss Tullis."
+
+"Well, he saved her life, just like they do in story books," protested
+the Prince.
+
+"Well, you run in and tell her this minute that Mr. King sends his love
+to her and begs her to rest easy. See if it doesn't cheer her up a bit."
+
+"Maybe she's worried about Uncle Jack. I never thought about that," he
+faltered.
+
+"Uncle Jack will come out on top, never fear," cried the old man.
+
+Half an hour later, Truxton King, shaven and shorn, outfitted and
+polished, received orders to ride for twenty minutes back and forth
+across the Plaza. He came down from Colonel Quinnox's rooms in the
+officer's row, considerably mystified, and mounted the handsome bay
+that he had brought through the gates. Haddan, of the Guard, rode with
+him to the Plaza, but could offer no explanation for the curious
+command.
+
+Five times the now resentful American walked his horse across the Plaza,
+directly in front of the terrace and the great balconies. About him
+paced guardsmen, armed and alert; on the outer edge of the parade ground
+a company of soldiers were hurrying through the act of changing the
+Guard; in the lower balcony excited men and women were walking back and
+forth, paying not the least attention to him. Above him frowned the
+grey, lofty walls of the Castle. No one was in view on the upper
+balcony, beyond which he had no doubt lay the royal chambers. He had the
+mean, uncomfortable feeling that people were peering at him from remote
+windows.
+
+Suddenly a small figure in bright red and gold and waving a tiny sword
+appeared at the rail of the broad upper gallery. Truxton blinked his
+eyes once or, twice and then doffed his hat. The Prince was smiling
+eagerly.
+
+"Hello!" he called. Truxton drew rein directly below him.
+
+"I trust your Highness has recovered from the shock of to-day," he
+responded. "I have been terribly anxious. Are you quite well?"
+
+"Quite well, thank you." He hesitated for a moment, as if in doubt.
+Then: "Say, Mr. King, how's your leg?"
+
+Truxton looked around in sudden embarrassment. A number of distressed,
+white-faced ladies had paused in the lower gallery and were staring at
+him in mingled curiosity and alarm. He instantly wondered if Colonel
+Quinnox's riding clothes were as good a fit as he had been led to
+believe through Hobbs and others.
+
+"It's--it's fine, thank you," he called up, trying to subdue his voice
+as much as possible.
+
+Bobby looked a trifle uncertain. His glance wavered and a queer little
+wrinkle appeared between his eyes. He lowered his voice when he next
+spoke.
+
+"Say, would you mind shouting that a little louder," he called down,
+leaning well over the rail.
+
+Truxton flushed. He was pretty sure that the Prince was not deaf. There
+was no way out of it, however, so he repeated his communication.
+
+"It's all right, your Highness."
+
+Bobby gave a quick glance over his shoulder at one of the broad windows.
+Truxton distinctly saw the blinds close with a convulsive jerk.
+
+"Thanks! Much obliged! Good-bye!" sang out the Prince, gleefully. He
+waved his hand and then hopped off the chair on which he was standing.
+Truxton heard his little heels clatter across the stone balcony. For a
+moment he was nonplused.
+
+"Well, I'm--By Jove! I understand!" He rode off toward the barracks, his
+head swimming with joy, his heart jumping like mad. At the edge of the
+parade ground he turned in his saddle and audaciously lifted his hat to
+the girl who, to his certain knowledge, was standing behind the
+tell-tale blind.
+
+"Cheer up, Hobbs!" he sang out in his new-found exuberance as he rode up
+to the dismal Englishman, who moped in the shade of the stable walls.
+"Don't be down-hearted. Look at me! Never say die, that's my motto."
+
+"That's all very well, sir," said Hobbs, removing the unlighted pipe
+from his lips, "but you 'aven't got a dog and a parrot locked up in your
+rooms with no one to feed them. It makes me sick, 'pon my soul, sir, to
+think of them dying of thirst and all that, and me here safe and sound,
+so to speak."
+
+That night Haddan and a fellow-subaltern attempted to leave the Castle
+grounds by way of the private gate in the western wall, only to be
+driven back by careful watchers on the outside. A second attempt was
+made at two o'clock. This time they went through the crypt into the
+secret underground passage. As they crawled forth into the blackest of
+nights, clear of the walls, they were met by a perfect fusillade of
+rifle shots. Haddan's companion was shot through the leg and arm and it
+was with extreme difficulty that the pair succeeded in regaining the
+passage and closing the door. No other attempt was made that night.
+Sunday night a quick sortie was made, it being the hope of the besieged
+that two selected men might elude Marlanx's watch-dogs during the melee
+that followed. Curiously enough, the only men killed were the two who
+had been chosen to run the gauntlet in the gallant, but ill-timed
+attempt to reach John Tullis.
+
+On Monday morning the first direct word from Count Marlanx came to the
+Castle. Under a flag of truce, two of his men were admitted to the
+grounds. They presented the infamous ultimatum of the Iron Count. In
+brief, it announced the establishment of a dictatorship pending the
+formal assumption of the crown by the conqueror. With scant courtesy the
+Iron Count begged to inform Prince Robin that his rule was at an end.
+Surrender would result in his safe conduct to America, the home of his
+father; defiance would just so surely end in death for him and all of
+his friends. The Prince was given twenty-four hours in which to
+surrender his person to the new governor of the city. With the
+expiration of the time limit mentioned, the Castle would be shelled from
+the fortress, greatly as the dictator might regret the destruction of
+the historic and well-beloved structure. No one would be spared if it
+became necessary to bombard; the rejection of his offer of mercy would
+be taken as a sign that the defenders were ready to die for a lost
+cause. He would cheerfully see to it that they died as quickly as
+possible, in order that the course of government might not be obstructed
+any longer than necessary.
+
+The defenders of the Castle tore his message in two and sent it back to
+him without disfiguring it by a single word in reply. The scornful
+laughter which greeted the reading of the document by Count Halfont did
+not lose any of its force in the report that the truce-bearers carried,
+with considerable uneasiness, to the Iron Count later on.
+
+No one in the Castle was deceived by Marlanx's promise to provide safe
+conduct for the Prince. They knew that the boy was doomed if he fell
+into the hands of this iniquitous old schemer. More than that, there was
+not a heart among them so faint that it was not confident of eventual
+victory over the usurper. They could hold out for weeks against
+starvation. Hope is an able provider.
+
+A single, distant volley at sunset had puzzled the men on guard at the
+Castle. They had no means of knowing that the Committee of Ten and its
+wretched friends had been shot down like dogs in the Public Square.
+Peter Brutus was in charge of the squad of executioners.
+
+Soon after the return of Marlanx's messengers to the Tower, a number of
+carriages were observed approaching in Castle Avenue. They were halted a
+couple of hundred yards from the gates and once more a flag of truce was
+presented. There was a single line from Marlanx:
+
+     "I am sending indisputable witnesses to bear testimony to the
+     thoroughness of my conquest.
+
+                                  "MARLANX."
+
+Investigation convinced the captain of the Guard that the motley caravan
+in the avenue was made up of loyal, representative citizens from the
+important villages of the realm. They were admitted to the grounds
+without question.
+
+The Countess Prandeville of Ganlook, terribly agitated, was one of the
+first to enter the haven of safety, such as it was. After her came the
+mayors and the magistrates of a dozen villages. Count Marlanx's reason
+for delivering these people over to their friends in the Castle was at
+once manifest.
+
+By the words of their mouths his almost complete mastery of the
+situation was conveyed to the Prince's defenders. In every instance the
+representative from a village sorrowfully admitted that Marlanx's men
+were in control. Ganlook, an ancient stronghold, had been taken without
+a struggle by a handful of men. The Countess's husband was even now
+confined in his own castle under guard.
+
+The news was staggering. Count Halfont had based his strongest hopes on
+the assistance that would naturally come from the villages. Moreover,
+the strangely commissioned emissaries cast additional gloom over the
+situation by the report that mountaineers, herdsmen and woodchoppers in
+the north were flocking to the assistance of the Iron Count, followed by
+hordes of outlaws from the Axphain hills. They were swarming into the
+city. These men had always been thorns in the sides of the Crown's
+peace-makers.
+
+"It is worse than I thought," said Count Halfont, after listening to
+the words of the excited magistrates. "Are there no loyal men outside
+these walls?"
+
+"Thousands, sir, but they are not organised. They have no leader, and
+but little with which to fight against such a force."
+
+"It is hard to realise that a force of three or four thousand
+desperadoes has the power to defy an entire kingdom. A city of 75,000
+people in the hands of hirelings! The shame of it!"
+
+Truxton King was leaning against a column not far from the little group,
+nervously pulling away at the pipe Quinnox had given him. As if impelled
+by a common thought, a half dozen pairs of eyes were turned in his
+direction. Their owners looked as quickly away, again moved by a common
+thought.
+
+The Minister of Mines gave utterance to a single sentence that might
+well have been called the epitome of that shrewd, concentrated thought:
+
+"There must be some one who can get to John Tullis before it is too
+late."
+
+They looked at one another and then once more at the American who had
+come among them, avowedly in quest of adventure.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+TRUXTON EXACTS A PROMISE
+
+
+Truxton King had been in a resentful frame of mind for nearly
+forty-eight hours. In the first place, he had not had so much as a
+single glimpse of the girl he now worshipped with all his heart. In the
+second place, he had learned, with unpleasant promptness, that Count Vos
+Engo was the officer in command of the House Guard, a position as
+gravely responsible as it was honourable. The cordon about the Castle
+was so tightly drawn in these perilous hours that even members of the
+household were subjected to examination on leaving or entering.
+
+Truxton naturally did not expect to invade the Castle in search of the
+crumb of comfort he so ardently desired; he did not, however, dream that
+Vos Engo would deny him the privilege of staring at a certain window
+from a rather prim retreat in a far corner of the Plaza.
+
+He had, of course, proffered his services to Colonel Quinnox. The
+Colonel, who admired the Americans, gravely informed him that there was
+no regular duty to which he could be assigned, but that he would expect
+him to hold himself ready for any emergency. In case of an assault, he
+was to report to Count Vos Engo.
+
+"We will need our bravest men at the Castle," he had said. Truxton
+glowed under the compliment. "In the meantime, Mr. King, regain your
+strength in the park. You show the effect of imprisonment. Your
+adventures have been most interesting, but I fancy they invite rest for
+the present."
+
+It was natural that this new American should become an object of
+tremendous interest to every one in and about the Castle. The story of
+his mishaps and his prowess was on every lip; his timely appearance in
+Regengetz Circus was regarded in the light of divine intervention,
+although no one questioned the perfectly human pluck that brought it
+about. Noble ladies smiled upon him in the park, to which they now
+repaired with timorous hearts; counts and barons slapped him on the back
+and doughty guardsmen actually saluted him with admiration in their
+eyes.
+
+But he was not satisfied. Loraine had not come forward with a word of
+greeting or relief; in fact, she had not appeared outside the Castle
+doors. Strangely enough, with the entire park at his disposal, he chose
+to frequent those avenues nearest the great balconies. More than once he
+visited the grotto where he had first seen her; but it was not the same.
+The occasional crack of a rifle on the walls no longer fired him with
+the interest he had felt in the beginning. Forty-eight hours had passed
+and she still held aloof. What could it mean? Was she ill? Had she
+collapsed after the frightful strain?
+
+Worse than anything else: was she devoting all of her time to Count Vos
+Engo?
+
+Toward dusk on Monday, long after the arrival of the refugees, he sat in
+gloomy contemplation of his own unhappiness, darkly glowering upon the
+unfriendly portals from a distant stone bench.
+
+A brisk guardsman separated himself from the knot of men at the Castle
+doors and crossed the Plaza toward him.
+
+"Aha," thought Truxton warmly, "at last she is sending a message to me.
+Perhaps she's--no, she couldn't be sending for me to come to her."
+
+Judge his dismay and anger when the soldier, a bit shamefaced himself,
+briefly announced that Count Vos Engo had issued an order against
+loitering in close proximity to the Castle. Mr. King was inside the
+limit described in the order. Would he kindly retire to a more distant
+spot, etc.
+
+Truxton's cheek burned. He saw in an instant that the order was meant
+for him and for no one else--he being the only outsider likely to come
+under the head of "loiterer." A sharp glance revealed the fact that not
+only were the officers watching the little scene, but others in the
+balcony were looking on.
+
+Resisting the impulse to argue the point, he hastily lifted his hat to
+the spectators and turned into the avenue without a word.
+
+"I am sorry, sir," mentioned the guardsman earnestly.
+
+Truxton turned to him with a frank smile, meant for the group at the
+steps. "Please tell Count Vos Engo that I am the last person in the
+world to disregard discipline at a time like this."
+
+His glance again swept the balcony, suddenly becoming fixed on a couple
+near the third column. Count Vos Engo and Loraine Tullis were standing
+there together, unmistakably watching his humiliating departure. To say
+that Truxton swore softly as he hurried off through the trees would be
+unnecessarily charitable.
+
+The next morning he encountered Vos Engo near the grotto. Two
+unsuccessful attempts to leave the Castle grounds had been made during
+the night. Truxton had aired his opinion to Mr. Hobbs after breakfast.
+
+"I'll bet my head I could get away with it," he had said, doubly
+scornful because of a sleepless night. "They go about it like a lot of
+chumps. No wonder they are chased back."
+
+Catching sight of Vos Engo, he hastened across the avenue and caught up
+to him. The Count was apparently deep in thought.
+
+"Good morning," said Truxton from behind. The other whirled quickly. He
+did not smile as he eyed the tall American. "I haven't had a chance to
+thank you for coming back for me last Saturday. Allow me to say that it
+was a very brave thing to do. If I appeared ungrateful at the time, I'm
+sure you understood my motives."
+
+"The whole matter is of no consequence, Mr. King," said the other
+quietly.
+
+"Nevertheless, I consider it my duty to thank you. I want to get it out
+of my system. Having purged myself of all that, I now want to tell you
+of a discovery that I made last evening."
+
+"I am not at all interested."
+
+"You will be when I have told you, however, because it concerns you."
+
+"I do not like your words, Mr. King, nor the way in which you glare at
+me."
+
+"I'm making it easier to tell you the agreeable news, Count Vos Engo;
+that's all. You'll be delighted to hear that I thought of you nearly all
+night and still feel that I have not been able to do you full justice."
+
+"Indeed?" with a distinct uplifting of the eyebrows.
+
+"Take your hand off your sword, please. Some other time, perhaps, but
+not in these days when we need men, not cripples. I'll tell you what I
+have discovered and then we'll drop the matter until some other time. We
+can afford a physical delay, but it would be heartless to keep you in
+mental suspense. Frankly, Count, I have made the gratifying discovery
+that you are a damned cur."
+
+Count Vos Engo went very white. He drew his dapper figure up to its full
+height, swelled his Robin Redbreast coat to the bursting point, and
+allowed his right hand to fly to his sword. Then, as suddenly, he folded
+his arms and glared at Truxton.
+
+"As you say, there is another and a better time. We need dogs as well as
+men in these days."
+
+"I hope you won't forget that I thanked you for coming back last
+Saturday."
+
+The Count turned and walked rapidly away.
+
+Truxton leaned against the low wall alongside the Allee. "I don't know
+that I've helped matters any," he said to himself ruefully. "He'll not
+let me get within half a mile of the Castle after this. If she doesn't
+come out for a stroll in the park, I fancy I'll never see her--Heigho! I
+wish something would happen! Why doesn't Marlanx begin bombarding? It's
+getting devilish monotonous here."
+
+He strolled off to the stables, picking up Mr. Hobbs on the way.
+
+"Hobbs," he said, "we've got to find John Tullis, that's all there is to
+it." He was scowling fiercely at a most inoffensive lawn-mower in the
+grass at the left.
+
+"I daresay, sir," said Mr. Hobbs with sprightly decisiveness. "He's very
+much needed."
+
+"I'm going to need him before long as my second."
+
+"Your second, sir? Are you going to fight a duel?"
+
+"I suppose so," lugubriously. "It's too much to expect him to meet me
+with bare fists. Oh, Hobbs, I wish we could arrange it for bare knucks!"
+He delivered a mighty swing at an invisible adversary. Hobbs's hat fell
+off with the backward jerk of surprise.
+
+"Oh, my word!" he exclaimed admiringly, "wot a punch you've got!"
+
+Later on, much of his good humour was restored and his vanity pleased by
+a polite request from Count Halfont to attend an important council in
+the "Room of Wrangles" that evening at nine.
+
+Very boldly he advanced upon the Castle a few minutes before the
+appointed hour. He went alone, that he might show a certain contempt for
+Count Vos Engo. Notwithstanding the fact that he started early enough
+for the Chamber, he was distressingly late for the meeting.
+
+He came upon Loraine Tullis at the edge of the Terrace. She was walking
+slowly in the soft shadows beyond the row of lights on the lower
+gallery. King would have passed her without recognition, so dim was the
+light in this enchanted spot, had not his ear caught the sound of a
+whispered exclamation. At the same time the girl stopped abruptly in the
+darkest shadow. He knew her at a glance, this slim girl in spotless
+white.
+
+"Loraine!" he whispered, reaching her side in two bounds. She put out
+her hands and he clasped them. A quick, hysterical little laugh came
+from her lips. Plainly, she was confused. "I've been dying for a glimpse
+of you. Do you think you've treated me--"
+
+"Don't, Truxton," she pleaded, suddenly serious. She sent a swift glance
+toward the balconies. "You must not come here. I saw--well, you know. I
+was so ashamed. I was so sorry."
+
+He still held her hands. His heart was throbbing furiously.
+
+"Yes, they ordered me to move on, as if I were a common loafer," he
+said, with a soft chuckle. "I'm used to it, however. They ran me out of
+Meshed for taking snapshots; they banished me from Damascus, and they
+all but kicked me out of Jerusalem--I won't say why. But where have you
+kept yourself? Why have you avoided me? After getting the Prince to
+parade me in front of your windows, too. It's dirt mean, Loraine."
+
+"I have been ill, Truxton--truly, I have," she said quickly, uneasily.
+
+"See here, what's wrong? You are in trouble. I can tell by your manner.
+Tell me--trust me."
+
+"I am worried so dreadfully about John," she faltered.
+
+"That isn't all," he declared. "There's something else. What promise did
+you make to Vos Engo last Saturday after--well, if you choose to recall
+it--after I brought you back to him--what did you promise him?"
+
+"Don't be cruel, Truxton," she pleaded. "I cannot forget all you have
+done for me."
+
+"You told Vos Engo to ride back and pick me up," he persisted. "He told
+me in so many words. Now, I want a plain answer, Loraine. Did you
+promise to reward him if he--well, if he saved me from the mob?"
+
+She was breathlessly silent for a moment. "No," she said, in a low
+voice.
+
+"What was it, then? I must know, Loraine." He was bending over her,
+imperiously.
+
+"I am very--oh, so very unhappy, Truxton," she murmured. He was on the
+point of clasping her in his arms and kissing her. But he thought better
+of it.
+
+"I came near spoiling everything just now," he whispered hoarsely.
+
+"What?"
+
+"I almost kissed you, Loraine,--I swear it was hard to keep from it.
+That would have spoiled everything."
+
+"Yes, it would," she agreed quickly.
+
+"I'm not going to kiss you until you have told me you love Vos Engo."
+
+"I--I don't understand," she cried, drawing back and looking up into his
+face with bewildered eyes.
+
+"Because then I'll be sure that you love me."
+
+"Be sensible, Truxton."
+
+"I'll know that you promised to love him if he'd save me. It's as clear
+as day to me. You _did_ tell him you'd marry him if he got me to a place
+of safety."
+
+"No. I _refused_ to marry him if he did not save you. Oh, Truxton, I am
+so miserable. What is to become of all of us? What is to become of John,
+and Bobby--and you?"
+
+"I--I think I'll kiss you now, Loraine," he whispered almost
+tremulously. "God, how I love you, little darling!"
+
+"Don't!" she whispered, resolutely pushing him away after a sweet second
+of indecision. "I cannot--I cannot, Truxton dear. Don't ask me to--to do
+that. Not now, please--not now!"
+
+He stiffened; his hands dropped to his sides, but there was joy in his
+voice.
+
+"I can wait," he said gently. "It's only a matter of a few days; and
+I--I won't make it any harder for you just now. I think I understand.
+You've--you've sort of pledged yourself to that--to him, and you don't
+think it fair to--well, to any of us. I'm including you, you see. I know
+you don't love him, and I know that you're going to love me, even if you
+don't at this very instant. I'm not a very stupid person, after all. I
+can see through things. I saw through it all when he came back for me.
+That's why I jumped from his horse and took my chances elsewhere. He did
+a plucky thing, Loraine, but I--I couldn't let it go as he intended it
+to be. Confound him, I would have died a thousand times over rather than
+have you sacrifice yourself in that way. It was splendid of you,
+darling, but--but very foolish. You've got yourself into a dreadful mess
+over it. I've got to rescue you all over again. This time, thank the
+Lord, from a Castle."
+
+She could not help smiling. His joyousness would not be denied.
+
+"How splendid you are!" she said, her voice thrilling with a tone that
+could not be mistaken.
+
+He put his hands upon her shoulders and looked down into the beautiful,
+upturned face, a genuinely serious note creeping into his voice when he
+spoke again.
+
+"Don't misconstrue my light-heartedness, dearest. It's a habit with me,
+not a fault. I see the serious side to your affair--as you view it. You
+have promised to marry Vos Engo. You'll have to break that promise. He
+didn't save me. Colonel Quinnox would have accomplished it, in any
+event. He can't hold you to such a silly pledge. You--you haven't by any
+chance told him that you love him?" He asked this in sudden anxiety.
+
+"Really, Truxton, I cannot discuss--"
+
+"No, I'm quite sure you haven't," he announced contentedly. "You
+couldn't have done that, I know. Now, I want you to make me a promise
+that you'll keep."
+
+"Oh, Truxton--don't ask me to say that I'll be your--" She stopped,
+painfully embarrassed.
+
+"That will come later," he said consolingly. "I want you to promise, on
+your sacred word of honour, that you'll kiss no man until you've kissed
+me."
+
+"Oh!" she murmured, utterly speechless.
+
+"Promise!"
+
+"I--I cannot promise that," she said in tones almost inaudible. "I am
+not sure that I'll ever--ever kiss anybody. How silly you are!"
+
+"I'll make exception in the case of your brother--and, yes, the Prince."
+
+"I'll not make such a promise," she cried.
+
+"Then, I'll be hanged if I'll save you from the ridiculous mess you've
+gotten yourself into," he announced with finality. "Moreover, you're not
+yet safe from old Marlanx. Think it over, my--"
+
+"Oh, he cannot seize the Castle--it is impossible!" she cried in sudden
+terror.
+
+"I'm not so sure about that," he said laconically.
+
+"What is it you really want me to say?" she asked, looking up with
+sudden shyness in her starry eyes.
+
+"That you love me--and me only, Loraine," he whispered.
+
+"I will not say it," she cried, breaking away from him. "But," as she
+ran to the steps, a delicious tremor in her voice--"I _will_ consider
+the other thing you ask."
+
+"Darling--don't go," he cried, in eager, subdued tones, but she already
+was half way across the balcony. In a moment she was gone. "Poor,
+harassed little sweetheart!" he murmured, with infinite tenderness. For
+a long time he stood there, looking at the window through which she had
+disappeared, his heart full of song.
+
+Then, all at once, he remembered the meeting. "Great Scott!" in dismay.
+"I'm late for the pow-wow." A twisted smile stole over his face. "I
+wonder how they've managed to get along without me." Then he presented
+himself, somewhat out of breath, to the attendants at the south doors,
+where he had been directed to report. A moment later he was in the
+Castle of Graustark, following a stiff-backed soldier through mediaeval
+halls of marble, past the historic staircase, down to the door of the
+council chamber. He was filled with the most delicious sensation of awe
+and reverence. Only in his dearest dreams had he fancied himself in
+these cherished halls. And now he was there--actually treading the same
+mosaic floors that had known the footsteps of countless princes and
+princesses, his nostrils tingling with the rare incense of five
+centuries, his blood leaping to the call of a thousand romances. The all
+but mythical halls of Graustark--the sombre, vaulted, time-defying
+corridors of his fancy. Somewhere in this vast pile of stone was the
+girl he loved. Each shadowy nook, each velvety recess, seemed to glow
+with the wizardry of love-lamps that had been lighted with the building
+of the Castle. How many hearts had learned the wistful lesson in these
+aged halls? How many loves had been sheltered here?
+
+He walked on air. He pinched himself--and even then was not certain that
+he was awake. It was too good to be true.
+
+He was ushered into a large, sedately furnished room. A score of men
+were there before him--sitting or standing in attitudes of attention,
+listening to the words of General Braze. King's entrance was the signal
+for an immediate transfer of interest. The General bowed most politely
+and at once turned to Count Halfont with the remark that he had quite
+finished his suggestions. The Prime Minister came forward to greet the
+momentarily shy American. King had time to note that the only man who
+denied him a smile of welcome was Count Vos Engo. He promptly included
+his rival in his own sweeping, self-conscious smile.
+
+"The Council has been extolling you, Mr. King," said the Prime Minister,
+leading him to a seat near his own. Truxton sat down, bewildered. "We
+may some day grow large enough to adequately appreciate the invaluable,
+service you have performed in behalf of Graustark."
+
+Truxton blushed. He could think of nothing to say, except: "I'm sorry to
+have been so late. I was detained."
+
+Involuntarily he glanced at Vos Engo. That gentleman started, a curious
+light leaping into his eyes.
+
+"Mr. King, we have asked you here for the purpose of hearing the full
+story of your experiences during the past two weeks, if you will be so
+good as to relate them. We have had them piecemeal. I need not tell you
+that Graustark is in the deepest peril. If there is a single suggestion
+that you can make that will help her to-night, I assure you that it will
+be given the most grateful consideration. Graustark has come to know and
+respect the resourcefulness and courage of the American gentleman. We
+have seen him at his best."
+
+"I have really done no more than to--er--save my own neck," said Truxton
+simply. "Any one might be excused for doing the same. Graustark owes a
+great deal more to Miss Tullis than it does to me, believe me, my lords.
+She had the courage, I the strength."
+
+"Be assured of our attitude toward Miss Tullis," said Halfont in reply.
+"Graustark loves her. It can do no more than that. It is from Miss
+Tullis that we have learned the extent of your valorous achievements.
+Ah, my dear young friend, she has given you a fair name. She tells us of
+a miracle and we are convinced."
+
+Truxton stammered his remonstrances, but glowed with joy and pride.
+
+"Here is the situation in a nutshell," went on the Prime Minister. "We
+are doomed unless succor reaches us from the outside. We have discussed
+a hundred projects. While we are inactive, Count Marlanx is gaining
+more power and a greater hold over the people of the city. We have no
+means of communication with Prince Dantan of Dawsbergen, who is our
+friend. We seem unable to get warning to John Tullis, who, if given
+time, might succeed in collecting a sufficient force of loyal countrymen
+to harass and eventually overthrow the Dictator. Unless he is reached
+before long, John Tullis and his combined force of soldiers will be
+ambushed and destroyed. I am loth to speak of another alternative that
+has been discussed at length by the ministers and their friends. The
+Duke of Perse, from a bed of pain and anguish, has counselled us to take
+steps in the direction I am about to speak of. You see, we are taking
+you into our confidence, Mr. King.
+
+"We can appeal to Russia in this hour of stress. Moreover, we may expect
+that help will be forthcoming. But we will have to make an unpleasant
+sacrifice. Russia is eager to take over our new issue of railway bonds.
+Hitherto, we have voted against disposing of the bonds in that country,
+the reason being obvious. St. Petersburg wants a new connecting line
+with her possessions in Afghanistan. Our line will provide a most direct
+route--a cut-off, I believe they call it. Last year the Grand Duke
+Paulus volunteered to provide the money for the construction of the line
+from Edelweiss north to Balak on condition that Russia be given the
+right to use the line in connection with her own roads to the Orient.
+You may see the advantage in this to Russia. Mr. King, if I send word to
+the Grand Duke Paulus, agreeing to his terms, which still remain open to
+us, signing away a most valuable right in what we had hoped would be our
+own individual property, we have every reason to believe that he will
+send armed forces to our relief, on the pretext that Russia is defending
+properties of her own. That is one way in which we may oust Count
+Marlanx. The other lies in the ability of John Tullis to give battle to
+him with our own people carrying the guns. I am confident that Count
+Marlanx will not bombard the Castle except as a last resort. He will
+attempt to starve us into submission first; but he will not destroy
+property if he can help it. I have been as brief as possible. Lieutenant
+Haddan has told us quite lately of a remark you made which he happened
+to overhear. If I quote him correctly, you said to the Englishman Hobbs
+that you could get away with it, meaning, as I take it, that you could
+succeed in reaching John Tullis. The remark interested me, coming as it
+did from one so resourceful. May I not implore you to tell us how you
+would go about it?"
+
+Truxton had turned a brick red. Shame and mortification surged within
+him. He was cruelly conscious of an undercurrent of irony in the
+Premier's courteous request. For an instant he was sorely crushed. A low
+laugh from the opposite side of the room sent a shaft to his soul. He
+looked up. Vos Engo was still smiling. In an instant the American's
+blood boiled; his manner changed like a flash; blind, unreasoning
+bravado succeeded embarrassment.
+
+He faced Count Halfont coolly, almost impudently.
+
+"I think I was unfortunate enough to add that your men were going about
+it--well, like amateurs," he said, with a frank smile. "I meant no
+offense." Then he arose suddenly, adjusted his necktie with the utmost
+_sang froid_, and announced:
+
+"I did say I could get to John Tullis. If you like, I'll start
+to-night."
+
+His words created a profound impression, they came so abruptly. The men
+stared at him, then at each other. It was as if he had read their
+thoughts and had jumped at once to the conclusion that they were baiting
+him. Every one began talking at once. Soon some one began to shake his
+hand. Then there were cheers and a dozen handshakings. Truxton grimly
+realised that he had done just what they had expected him to do. He
+tried to look unconcerned.
+
+"You will require a guide," said Colonel Quinnox, who had been studying
+the _degage_ American in the most earnest manner.
+
+"Send for Mr. Hobbs, please," said Truxton.
+
+A messenger was sent post haste to the barracks. The news already was
+spreading throughout the Castle. The chamber door was wide open and men
+were coming and going. Eager women were peering through the doorway for
+a glimpse of the American.
+
+"There should be three of us," said King, addressing the men about him.
+"One of us is sure to get away."
+
+"There is not a man here--or in the service--who will not gladly
+accompany you, Mr. King," cried General Braze quickly.
+
+"Count Vos Engo is the man I would choose, if I may be permitted the
+honour of naming my companion," said Truxton, grinning inwardly with a
+malicious joy.
+
+Vos Engo turned a yellowish green. His eyes bulged.
+
+"I--I am in command of the person of his Royal Highness," he stammered,
+suddenly going very red.
+
+"I had forgotten your present occupation," said Truxton quietly. "Pray
+pardon the embarrassment I may have caused you. After all, I think Hobbs
+will do. He knows the country like a book. Besides, his business in the
+city must be very dull just now. He'll be glad to have the chance to
+personally conduct me for a few days. As an American tourist, I must
+insist, gentlemen, on being personally conducted by a man from Cook's."
+
+They did not know whether to laugh or to treat it as a serious
+announcement.
+
+Mr. Hobbs came. That is to say, he was produced. It is doubtful if Mr.
+Hobbs ever fully recovered from the malady commonly known as stage
+fright. He had never been called Mr. Hobbs by a Prime Minister before,
+nor had he ever been asked in person by a Minister of War if he had a
+family at home. Moreover, no assemblage of noblemen had ever
+condescended to unite in three cheers for him. Afterward Truxton King
+was obliged to tell him that he had unwaveringly volunteered to
+accompany him on the perilous trip to the hills. Be sure of it, Mr.
+Hobbs was not in a mental condition for many hours to even remotely
+comprehend what had taken place. He only knew that he had been invited,
+as an English _gentleman_, to participate in a council of war.
+
+But Mr. Hobbs was not the kind to falter, once he had given his word;
+however hazy he may have been at the moment, he knew that he had
+volunteered to do something. Nor did it seem to surprise him when he
+finally found out what it was.
+
+"We'll be off at midnight, Hobbs," said Truxton, feeling in his pocket
+for the missing watch.
+
+"As you say, Mr. King, just as you say," said Hobbs with fine
+indifference.
+
+As Truxton was leaving the Castle ten minutes later, Hobbs having gone
+before to see to the packing of food-bags and the filling of flasks, a
+brisk, eager-faced young attendant hurried up to him.
+
+"I bear a message from his Royal Highness," said the attendant,
+detaining him.
+
+"He should be sound asleep at this time," said Truxton, surprised.
+
+"His Royal Highness insists on staying awake as long as possible, sir.
+It is far past his bedtime, but these are troublesome times, he says.
+Every man should do his part. Prince Robin has asked for you, sir."
+
+"How's that?"
+
+"He desires you to appear before him at once, sir."
+
+"In--in the audience chamber?"
+
+"In his bedchamber, sir. He is very sleepy, but says that you are to
+come to him before starting away on your mission of danger."
+
+"Plucky little beggar!" cried Truxton, his heart swelling with love for
+the royal youngster.
+
+"Sir!" exclaimed the attendant, his eyes wide with amazement and
+reproof.
+
+"I'll see him," said the other promptly, as if he were granting the
+audience.
+
+He followed the perplexed attendant up the grand staircase, across
+thickly carpeted halls in which posed statuesque soldiers of the Royal
+Guard, to the door of the Prince's bedchamber. Here he was confronted by
+Count Vos Engo.
+
+"Enter," said Vos Engo, with very poor grace, standing aside. The
+sentinels grounded their arms and Truxton King passed into the royal
+chamber, alone.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+BY THE WATER-GATE
+
+
+It was a vast, lofty apartment, regal in its subdued lights. An
+enormous, golden bed with gorgeous hangings stood far down the room. So
+huge was this royal couch that Truxton at first overlooked the figure
+sitting bolt upright in the middle of it. The tiny occupant called out
+in a very sleepy voice:
+
+"Here I am, Mr. King. Gee, I hate a bed as big as this. They just make
+me sleep in it."
+
+An old woman advanced from the head of the couch and motioned Truxton to
+approach.
+
+"I am deeply honoured, your Highness," said the visitor, bowing very
+low. Through the windows he could see motionless soldiers standing guard
+in the balcony.
+
+"Come over here, Mr. King. Nurse won't let me get up. Excuse my nighty,
+will you, please? I'm to have pajamas next winter."
+
+Truxton advanced to the side of the bed. His eyes had swept the room in
+search of the one person he wanted most to see of all in the world. An
+old male servitor was drawing the curtains at the lower end of the room.
+There was no one else there, except the nurse. They seemed as much a
+part of the furnishings of this room as if they had been fixtures from
+the beginning.
+
+"I am sure you will like them," said Truxton, wondering whether she were
+divinely secreted in one of the great, heavily draped window recesses.
+She had been in this room but recently. A subtle, delicate, enchanting
+perfume that he had noticed earlier in the evening--ah, he would never
+forget it.
+
+The Prince's legs were now hanging over the edge of the bed. His eyes
+were dancing with excitement; sleep was momentarily routed.
+
+"Say, Mr. King, I wish I was going with you to find Uncle Jack. You will
+find him, won't you? I'm going to say it in my prayers to-night and
+every night. They won't hardly let me leave this room. It's rotten luck.
+I want to fight, too."
+
+"We are all fighting for you, Prince Robin."
+
+"I want you to find Uncle Jack, Mr. King," went on Bobby eagerly. "And
+tell him I didn't mean it when I banished him the other day. I really
+and truly didn't." He was having difficulty in keeping back the tears.
+
+"I shall deliver the message, your Highness," said Truxton, his heart
+going out to the unhappy youngster. "Rest assured of that, please. Go to
+sleep and dream that I have found him and am bringing him back to you.
+The dream will come true."
+
+"Are you sure?" brightening perceptibly.
+
+"Positively."
+
+"Americans always do what they say they will," said the boy, his eyes
+snapping. "Here's something for you to take with you, Mr. King. It's my
+lucky stone. It always gives good luck. Of course, you must promise to
+bring it back to me. It's an omen."
+
+He unclasped his small fingers; in the damp palm lay one of those
+peculiarly milky, half-transparent pebbles, common the world over and of
+value only to small, impressionable boys. Truxton accepted it with
+profound gravity.
+
+"I found it last 4th of July, when we were celebrating out there in the
+park. I'm always going to have a 4th of July here. Don't you lose it,
+Mr. King, and you'll have good luck. Baron Dangloss says it's the
+luckiest kind of a stone. And when you come back, Mr. King, I'm going to
+knight you. I'd do it now, only Aunt Loraine says you'd be worrying
+about your title all the time and might be 'stracted from your mission.
+I'm going to make a baron of you. That's higher than a count in
+Graustark. Vos Engo is only a count."
+
+Truxton started. He looked narrowly into the frank, engaging eyes of the
+boy in the nighty.
+
+"I shall be overwhelmed," he said. Then his hand went to his mouth in
+the vain effort to cover the smile that played there.
+
+"My mother used to say that American girls liked titles," said the
+Prince with ingenuous candor.
+
+"Yes?" He hoped that she was eavesdropping.
+
+"Nurse said that I was not to keep you long, Mr. King," said the Prince
+ruefully. "I suppose you are very busy getting ready. I just wanted to
+give you my lucky stone and tell you about being a baron. I won't have
+any luck till you come back. Tell Mr. Hobbs I'm thinking of making him a
+count. You're awful brave, Mr. King."
+
+"Thank you, Prince Robin. May I--" he glanced uneasily at the distant
+nurse--"may I ask how your Aunt Loraine is feeling?"
+
+"She acted very funny when I sent for you. I'm worried about her."
+
+"What did she do, your Highness?"
+
+"She rushed off to her room. I think, Mr. King, she was getting ready to
+cry or something. You see, she's in trouble."
+
+"In trouble?"
+
+"Yes. I can't tell you about it."
+
+"She's worried about her brother, of course--and you."
+
+"I just wish I could tell you--no, I won't. It wouldn't be fair," Bobby
+said, checking himself resolutely. "She's awful proud of you. I'm sure
+she likes you, Mr. King."
+
+"I'm very, very glad to hear that."
+
+Bobby had great difficulty in keeping his most secret impressions to
+himself. In fact, he floundered painfully in an attack on diplomacy.
+
+"You should have seen her when Uncle Caspar came in to say you were
+going off to find her brother. She cried. Yes, sir, she did. She kissed
+me and--but you don't like to hear silly things about girls, do you?
+Great big men never do."
+
+"I've heard enough to make me want to do something very silly myself,"
+said Truxton, radiant. "I--I don't suppose I could--er--see your Aunt
+Loraine for a few minutes?"
+
+"I think not. She said she just--now, you mustn't mind her, Mr.
+King--she just couldn't bear it, that's all. She told me to say she'd
+pray for you and--Oh, Mr. King, I do hope she won't marry that other
+man!"
+
+Truxton bent his knee. "Your Highness, as it seems I am not to see her,
+and as you seem to be the very best friend I have, I should very much
+like to ask a great favour of you. Will you take this old ring of mine
+and wish it on her finger just as soon as I have left your presence?"
+
+"How did you know she was coming in again?" in wide-eyed wonder. "Excuse
+me. I shouldn't ask questions. What shall I wish?" It was the old ring
+that had come from Spantz's shop. The Prince promptly hid it beneath the
+pillow.
+
+"I'll leave that to you, my best of friends."
+
+"I bet it'll be a good wish, all right. I know what to wish."
+
+"I believe you do. Would you mind giving her something else from me?" He
+hesitated before venturing the second request. Then, overswept by a
+warm, sweet impulse, he stepped forward, took the boy's face between his
+eager hands, and pressed a kiss upon his forehead. "Give her that for
+me, will you, Prince Robin Goodfellow."
+
+Bobby beamed. "But I never kiss her _there!_"
+
+"I shall be ten thousand times obliged, your Highness, if you will
+deliver it in the usual place."
+
+"I'll do it!" almost shouted the Prince. Then he clapped his hand over
+his mouth and looked, pop-eyed with apprehension, toward the nurse.
+
+"Then, good-bye and God bless you," said Truxton. "I must be off. Your
+Uncle Jack is waiting for me, up there in the hills."
+
+Bobby's eyes filled with tears. "Oh, Mr. King, please give him my love
+and make him hurry back. I--I need him awful!"
+
+Truxton found Mr. Hobbs in a state bordering on collapse.
+
+"I say, Mr. King, it's all right to say we'll go, but how the deuce are
+we to do it? My word, there's no more chance of getting out of the--"
+
+"Listen, Hobbs: we're going to swim out," said Truxton. He was engaged
+in stuffing food into a knapsack. Colonel Quinnox and Haddan had been
+listening to Hobbs's lamentations for half an hour, in King's room.
+
+"Swim? Oh, I say! By hokey, he's gone clean daffy!" Hobbs was eyeing him
+with alarm. The others looked hard at the speaker, scenting a joke.
+
+"Not yet, Hobbs. Later on, perhaps. I had occasion to make a short tour
+of investigation this afternoon. Doubtless, gentlemen, you know where
+the water-gate is, back of the Castle. Well, I've looked it over--and
+under, I might say. Hobbs, you and I will sneak under those slippery old
+gates like a couple of eels. I forgot to ask if you can swim."
+
+"To be sure I can. _Under_ the gates? My word!"
+
+"Simple as rolling off a log," said Truxton carelessly. "The Cascades
+and Basin of Venus run out through the gate. There is a space of at
+least a foot below the bottom of the gate, which hasn't been opened in
+fifty years, I'm told. A good swimmer can wriggle through, d'ye see?
+That lets him out into the little canal that connects with the river.
+Then--"
+
+"I see!" cried Quinnox. "It can be done! No one will be watching at that
+point."
+
+The sky was overcast, the night as black as ebony. The four men left the
+officers' quarters at one o'clock, making their way to the historic old
+gate in the glen below the Castle. Arriving at the wall, Truxton briefly
+whispered his plans.
+
+"You remember, Colonel Quinnox, that the stream is four or five feet
+deep here at the gate. The current has washed a deeper channel under the
+iron-bound timbers. The gates are perhaps two feet thick. For something
+like seven or eight feet from the bottom they are so constructed that
+the water runs through an open network of great iron bars. Now, Hobbs
+and I will go under the gates in the old-clothes you have given us. When
+we are on the opposite side we'll stick close by the gate, and you may
+pass our dry clothes out between the bars above the surface of the
+water. Our guns, the map and the food, as well. It's very simple. Then
+we'll drop down the canal a short distance and change our clothes in the
+underbrush. Hobbs knows where we can procure horses and he knows a
+trusty guide on the other side of the city. So long, Colonel. I'll see
+you later."
+
+"God be with you," said Quinnox fervently. The four men shook hands and
+King slipped into the water without a moment's hesitation.
+
+"Right after me, Hobbs," he said, and then his head went under.
+
+A minute later he and Hobbs were on the outside of the gate, gasping for
+breath. Standing in water to their necks, Quinnox and Haddan passed the
+equipment through the barred openings. There were whispered good-byes
+and then two invisible heads bobbed off in the night, wading in the
+swift-flowing canal, up to their chins. Swimming would have been
+dangerous, on account of the noise.
+
+Holding their belongings high above their heads, with their hearts in
+their mouths, King and the Englishman felt their way carefully along the
+bed of the stream. Not a sound was to be heard, except the barking of
+dogs in the distance. The stillness of death hung over the land. So
+still, that the almost imperceptible sounds they made in breathing and
+moving seemed like great volumes of noise in their tense ears.
+
+A hundred yards from the gate they crawled ashore and made their way up
+over the steep bank into the thick, wild underbrush. Not a word had been
+spoken up to this time.
+
+"Quietly now, Hobbs. Let us get out of these duds. 'Gad, they're like
+ice. From now on, Hobbs, you lead the way. I'll do my customary act of
+following."
+
+Hobbs was shivering from the cold. "I say, Mr. King, you're a wonder,
+that's wot you are. Think of going under those bally gates!"
+
+"That's right, Hobbs, think of it, but don't talk."
+
+They stealthily stripped themselves of the wet garments, and, after no
+end of trouble, succeeded in getting into the dry substitutes. Then they
+lowered the wet bundles into the water and quietly stole off through the
+brush, Hobbs in the lead, intent upon striking the King's Highway, a
+mile or two above town. It was slow, arduous going, because of the
+extreme caution required. A wide detour was made by the canny
+Hobbs--wider, in fact, than the impatient American thought wholly
+necessary. In time, however, they came to the Highway.
+
+"Well, we've got a start, Hobbs. We'll win out, just as I said we would.
+Easy as falling off a log."
+
+"I'm not so blooming sure of that," said Hobbs. He was recalling a
+recent flight along this very road. "We're a long way from being out of
+the woods."
+
+"Don't be a kill-joy, Hobbs. Look at the bright side of things."
+
+"I'll do that in the morning, when the sun's up," said Hobbs, with a
+sigh. "Come along, sir. We take this path here for the upper road. It's
+a good two hours' walk up the mountain to Rabot's, where we get the
+horses."
+
+All the way up the black, narrow mountain path Hobbs kept the lead. King
+followed, his thoughts divided between the blackness ahead and the
+single, steady light in a certain window now far behind. He had seen the
+lighted window in the upper balcony as he passed the Castle on the way
+to the gate. Somehow he knew she was there saying good-bye and Godspeed
+to him.
+
+At four o'clock, as the sun reached up with his long, red fingers from
+behind the Monastery mountain, Truxton King and Hobbs rode away from
+Rabot's cottage high in the hills, refreshed and sound of heart. Rabot's
+son rode with them, a sturdy, loyal lad, who had leaped joyously at the
+chance to serve his Prince. Undisturbed, they rode straight for the
+passes below St. Valentine's. Behind and below them lay the sleeping,
+restless, unhappy city of Edelweiss, with closed gates and unfriendly,
+sullen walls. There reigned the darkest fiend that Graustark, in all her
+history, had ever come to know.
+
+Truxton King had slipped through his fingers with almost ridiculous
+ease. So simple had it been, that the two messengers, gloating in the
+prospect ahead, now spoke of the experience as if it were the most
+trivial thing in their lives. They mentioned it casually; that was all.
+
+Now, let us turn to John Tullis and his quest in the hills. It goes
+without saying that he found no trace of his sister or her abductors.
+For five days he scoured the lonely, mysterious mountains, dragging the
+tired but loyal hundred about at his heels, distracted by fear and
+anguish over the possible fate of the adored one. On the fifth day, a
+large force of Dawsbergen soldiers, led by Prince Dantan himself, found
+the fagged, disspirited American and his half-starved men encamped in a
+rocky defile in the heart of the wilderness.
+
+That same night a Graustark mountaineer passed the sentinels and brought
+news of the disturbance in Edelweiss. He could give no details. He only
+knew that there had been serious rioting in the streets and that the
+gates were closed against all comers. He could not tell whether the
+rioters--most of whom he took to be strikers, had been subdued or
+whether mob-law prevailed. He had been asked to cast his lot with the
+strikers, but had refused. For this he was driven away from his home,
+which was burned. His wife and child were now at the Monastery, where
+many persons had taken refuge.
+
+In a flash it occurred to John Tullis that Marlanx was at the bottom of
+this deviltry. The abduction of Loraine was a part of his plan! Prince
+Dantan advised a speedy return to the city. His men were at the command
+of the American. Moreover, the Prince himself decided to accompany the
+troops.
+
+Before sunrise, the command, now five or six hundred strong, was picking
+its way down the dangerous mountain roads toward the main highway.
+Fifteen miles below Edelweiss they came upon the company of soldiers
+sent out to preserve order in the railroad camps.
+
+The officer in charge exhibited a document, given under the hand and
+seal of Baron Dangloss, directing him to remain in command of the camps
+until the strikers, who were unruly, could be induced to resume work
+once more. This order, of course, was a forgery, designed to mislead the
+little force until Marlanx saw fit to expose his hand to the world. It
+had come by messenger on the very day of the rioting. The messenger
+brought the casual word that the government was arresting and punishing
+the lawless, and that complete order would hardly be established for
+several days at the outside. He went so far as to admit that an attempt
+on the life of the Prince had failed. Other reports had come to the
+camps, and all had been to the effect that the rioting was over. The
+strikers, it seemed, were coming to terms with their employers and would
+soon take up the work of construction once more. All this sufficed to
+keep the real situation from reaching the notice of the young captain;
+he was obeying orders and awaiting the return of the workmen.
+
+The relief that swept into the souls of the newly arrived company was
+short-lived. They had gone into camp, tired, sore and hungry, and were
+preparing to take a long needed rest before taking up the last stage of
+their march toward the city. John Tullis was now in feverish haste to
+reach the city, where at least he might find a communication from the
+miscreants, demanding ransom. He had made up his mind to pay whatever
+they asked. Down in his heart, however, there was a restless fear that
+she had not fallen into the hands of ordinary bandits. He could not
+banish the sickening dread that she was in the power of Marlanx, to whom
+she alone could pay the ransom exacted.
+
+Hardly had the men thrown themselves from their horses when the sound of
+shooting in the distance struck their ears. Instantly the entire force
+was alert. A dozen shots were fired in rapid succession; then single
+reports far apart. The steady beat of horses' feet was now plain to the
+attentive company. There was a quick, incisive call to arms; a squad
+stood ready for action. The clatter of hoofs drew nearer; a small group
+of horsemen came thundering down the defile. Three minutes after the
+firing was first heard, sentries threw their rifles to their shoulders
+and blocked the approach of the riders.
+
+A wild, glad shout went up from the foremost horseman. He had pulled his
+beast to its haunches almost at the muzzles of the guns.
+
+"Tullis!" he shouted, waving his hat.
+
+John Tullis ran toward the excited group in the road. He saw three men,
+one of whom was shouting his name with all the power in his lungs.
+
+"Thank God, we've found you!" cried the horseman, swinging to the ground
+despite the proximity of strange rifles. "Put up your guns! We're
+friends!"
+
+"King!" exclaimed Tullis, suddenly recognising him. A moment later they
+were clasping hands.
+
+"This is luck! We find you almost as soon as we set out to do so. Glory
+be! You've got a fair-sized army, too. We'll need 'em--and more."
+
+"What has happened, King? Where have you been? We looked for you after
+your disap--"
+
+"That's ancient history," interrupted the other. "How soon can you get
+these troops on the march? There's not a moment to be lost."
+
+"Good God, man, tell me what it is--what has happened? The Prince? What
+of him?" cried Tullis, grasping King's arm in the clutch of a vise.
+
+"He sends his love and rescinds the order of exile," said King, smiling.
+Then seriously: "Marlanx has taken the city. It was all a game, this
+getting rid of you. He's superstitious about Americans. There was
+bomb-throwing in the square and a massacre afterward. The Prince and all
+the others are besieged in the Castle. I'll tell you all about it. Hobbs
+and I are the only men who have got away from the Castle alive. We left
+last night. Our object was to warn you in time to prevent an ambush.
+You've got to save the throne for Prince Robin. I'll explain as we go
+along. I may as well inform you right now that there's a big force of
+men waiting for you in the ravine this side of the Monastery. We saw
+them. Thank God, we got to you in time. You can now take 'em by surprise
+and--whiff! They'll run like dogs. Back here a couple of miles we came
+upon a small gang of real robbers. We had a bit of shooting and--I
+regret to say--no one was bagged. I'd advise you to have this force
+pushed along as rapidly as possible. I have a message from your sister,
+sir."
+
+"Loraine? Where is she, King?"
+
+"Don't tremble like that, old man. She's safe enough--in the Castle.
+Oh, it was a fine game Marlanx had in his mind."
+
+While the troopers were making ready for the march, Truxton King and
+Hobbs related their story to eager, horrified groups of officers. It may
+be well to say that neither said more of his own exploits than was
+absolutely necessary to connect the series of incidents. Prince Dantan
+marvelled anew at this fresh demonstration of Yankee courage and
+ingenuity. King graphically narrated the tale from beginning to end. The
+full force of the amazing tragedy was brought home to the pale,
+half-dazed listeners. There were groans and curses and bitter cries of
+vengeance. John Tullis was crushed; despair was written in his face,
+anguish in his eyes.
+
+What was to become of the Prince?
+
+"First of all, Tullis, we must destroy these scoundrels who are lying in
+wait for you in the ravine," said Prince Dantan. "After that you can be
+in a position to breathe easily while collecting the army of fighters
+that Mr. King suggests. Surely, you will be able to raise a large and
+determined force. My men are at Prince Robin's disposal. Captain Haas
+may command them as his own. I deplore the fact that I may not call upon
+the entire Dawsbergen army. Marlanx evidently knows our laws. Our army
+cannot go to the aid of a neighbor. We have done so twice in half a
+century and our people have been obliged to pay enormous indemnity. But
+there are men here. I am here. We will not turn back, Mr. Tullis. My
+people will not hold me at fault for taking a hand in this. I shall send
+messengers to the Princess; she, of course, must know."
+
+The battalion, augmented by the misguided company from the deserted
+railroad camps, moved swiftly into the defile, led by young Rabot.
+Truxton King rode beside the brother of the girl he loved, uttering
+words of cheer and encouragement.
+
+"King, you _do_ put new courage into me. You are surcharged with hope
+and confidence. By heaven, I believe we can drive out that damned beast
+and his dogs. We _will_ do it!"
+
+"There's a chap named Brutus. I ask special permission to kill him.
+That's the only request I have to make."
+
+"I very strongly oppose the appeal to Grand Duke Paulus. We must act
+decisively before that alternative is forced upon the unhappy Halfont.
+It was Perse's scheme, months ago. Perse! Confound him, I believe he has
+worked all along to aid--"
+
+"Hold on, Tullis," interrupted King soberly. "I wouldn't say that if I
+were you. The Duke was wounded by the dynamiters and I understand he
+lies on his bed and curses Marlanx from morning till night. He prays
+constantly that his daughter may be freed from the old scoundrel."
+
+"The Countess Ingomede--has anything been heard from her?" asked Tullis.
+He had been thinking of her for days--and nights.
+
+"Well, nothing definite," said King evasively. He was reminded at this
+moment of his own love affair. Seized by the boldest impulse that had
+ever come to him, he suddenly blurted out: "Tullis, I love your sister.
+I have loved her from the beginning. All that has happened in the last
+week has strengthened my adoration. I think she cares for me,
+but,--but--"
+
+"My dear Mr. King, I'm sorry--" began Tullis, genuinely surprised.
+
+"But it seems that she's promised to marry Vos Engo. I'll tell you how
+it happened." Then he related the episode of the rout in Castle Avenue.
+"It's all wrong for her to marry that chap. If she hasn't been bullied
+into it before we get back to her, I'd like to know if you won't put a
+stop to his damned impudence. What right has such a fellow as Vos Engo
+to a good American girl like Loraine? None whatever. Besides, I'm going
+to fight him when we're through fighting Marlanx. I want you as my
+second. Can't say whether it will be swords, pistols or knuckles. I hope
+you'll oblige me. As a matter of fact, I had two primary objects in
+looking you up out here in the hills. First, to ask you for Loraine;
+second, to engage you as my second."
+
+Tullis was silent for a while. Then he said, quite seriously: "King, I
+have looked with some favour upon Vos Engo. I thought she liked him. He
+isn't a bad fellow, believe me. I want Loraine to be happy. As for this
+promise to him, I'll talk that over with her--if God permits me to see
+her again I shall allow her to choose, King. You or Vos Engo--the one
+she loves, that's all. As for seconding you, I am at your service."
+
+King beamed. "That means, I take it, that you want me to win at least
+one of the contests. Well," with his whimsical, irresistible smile, "it
+won't be necessary to try for the other if Vos Engo shoots me in this
+one."
+
+"You will never know the extent of my gratitude, King. You have saved
+her from a hellish fate. I shall be disappointed in her if she does not
+choose you. I owe you a debt of gratitude almost as great for saving
+that dear little boy of--ours. I shall not forget what you have
+done--never!"
+
+Early in the afternoon the force under Captain Haas was divided into
+three companies, for strategic purposes. The plan to surprise and defeat
+the skulkers in the ravine had been carefully thought out. Two strong
+companies struck off into the hills; the third and weakest of the trio
+kept the road, apparently marching straight into the trap. Signals had
+been arranged. At a given sign the three parties were to swoop down upon
+the position held by the enemy.
+
+Several hours passed. The troop in the highroad prepared to camp just
+below the treacherous pass in which the ambush was known to be laid.
+Scouts had located the confident rascals in the ravines above the
+highway. With the news that their prey was approaching, they were being
+rapidly rushed into position at the head of the pass.
+
+Shortly before sunset the troop in the road began to advance, riding
+resolutely into the ravine. Even as the gloating, excited desperadoes
+prepared to open fire from their hidden position at the head of the
+pass, their pickets came running in with the word that two large forces
+were drawing in on them from the north and east.
+
+The trappers were trapped. They realised that they had been
+out-generalled, and they understood their deficiencies. Not a man among
+them knew the finer points of warfare. They were thugs and roustabouts
+and ill-omened fellows who could stab in the back; they were craven in
+the face of an open peril.
+
+There were few shots fired. The men in ambuscade tried to escape to the
+fastnesses of the hills. Some of them stood ground and fought, only to
+be mown down by the enemy; others were surrounded and made captive; but
+few actually succeeded in evading the troopers. All were ready to sue
+for mercy and to proclaim their willingness to divert allegiance from
+dictator to Crown. Herded like so many cattle, guarded like wolves, they
+were driven city-ward, few if any of them exhibiting the slightest
+symptom of regret or discomfiture. In fact, they seemed more than
+philosophic: they were most jovial. These were soldiers of fortune, in
+the plainest sense. It mattered little with whom they were allied or
+against whom they fought, so long as the pay was adequate and prompt.
+
+Indeed, the leaders of the party--officers by grace of lucky
+tosses--benignly proffered the services of themselves and men in the
+movement to displace Count Marlanx!
+
+"He cannot hold out," said the evil-faced captain in cool derision. "He
+cannot keep his promises to us. So why should we cut our own throats?
+All we ask is transportation to Austria after the job's over. That's
+where most of us came from, your Excellencies. Count on us, if you need
+us. Down with Marlanx!"
+
+"Long live Prince--" Three-fourths of them stopped there because they
+did not even know the name of the little ruler.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE RETURN
+
+
+From the highlands below the Monastery, Captain Haas and his men were
+able to study the situation in the city. The impracticability of an
+assault on any one of the stubborn, well-guarded gates was at once
+recognised. A force of seven hundred men, no matter how well trained or
+determined, could not be expected to surmount walls that had often
+withstood the attack of as many thousands. The wisdom of delaying until
+a few thousand loyal, though poorly armed countrymen could be brought
+into play against the city appealed at once to Prince Dantan and John
+Tullis.
+
+Withdrawing to an unexposed cut in the hills, safe from the shells that
+might be thrown up from the fortress, they established their camps,
+strongly entrenched and practically invulnerable against any attack from
+below. Squads of men were sent without delay into the hills and valleys
+to call the panic-stricken, wavering farmers into the fold. John Tullis
+headed the company that struck off into the well-populated Ganlook
+district.
+
+Marlanx, as if realising the nature of the movement in the hills, began
+a furious assault on the gates leading to the Castle. The watchers in
+the hills could see as well as hear the conflict that raged almost at
+their feet, so to speak. They cheered like mad when the motley army of
+the usurper was frustrated in the attempt to take the main gates. From
+the walls about the park, Quinnox's men, few as they were, sent such
+deadly volleys into the streets below that the hordes fell back and
+found shelter behind the homes of the rich. With half an eye, one could
+see that the rascals were looting the palaces, secure from any
+opposition on the part of the government forces; through the glasses,
+scattered crowds of men could be seen carrying articles from the houses;
+more than one of the mansions went up in flames as the day grew old and
+the lust of the pillagers increased.
+
+The next morning, Captain Haas announced to his followers that Marlanx
+had begun to shell the Castle. Big guns in the fortress were hurling
+great shells over the city, dropping them in the park. On the other
+hand, Colonel Quinnox during the night had swung three Gatling guns to
+the top of the wall; they were stationed at intervals along the wall,
+commanding every point from which an assault might be expected. It was a
+well-known fact that there was no heavy ordnance at the Castle. All day
+long, Marlanx's men, stationed in the upper stories of houses close to
+the walls, kept up a constant rifle fire, their bullets being directed
+against the distant windows of the Castle. That this desultory fusillade
+met with scant response at the hands of Quinnox, was quite apparent to
+the uneasy, champing watchers near the Monastery.
+
+"Marlanx will not begin the actual bombardment until he knows that
+Tullis is drawing together a formidable force," prophesied Prince
+Dantan.
+
+"But when he does begin the real shelling," mourned Truxton King,
+chafing like a lion under the deadly inaction. "I can't bear the thought
+of what it means to those inside the Castle. He can blow it to pieces
+over their heads. Then, from the house tops, he can pick them off like
+blackbirds. It's awful! Is there nothing that we can do, Prince? Damn it
+all, I know we can force a gate. And if we once get in where those
+cowardly dogs are lording it, you'll see 'em take the walls like
+steeple-chasers."
+
+"My dear Mr. King," said Prince Dantan calmly, "you don't know Colonel
+Quinnox and the House Guard. The Quinnoxs have guarded Graustark's
+rulers for I don't know how many generations. History does not go back
+so far, I fear. You may depend on it, there will be no living guardsmen
+inside those walls when Marlanx lays his hands on the Prince."
+
+That night recruits from the farms and villages began to straggle into
+the camp. They were armed with rifles, ordinary shotguns and antique
+"blunderbusses;" swords, staves and aged lances. All were willing to die
+in the service of the little Prince; all they needed was a determined,
+capable leader to rally them from the state of utter panic. They
+reported that the Crown foragers might expect cheerful and plenteous
+tribute from the farmers and stock growers. Only the mountaineers were
+hostile.
+
+The army now grew with astonishing rapidity. The recruits were not
+fighting men in a military sense, but their hearts were true and they
+hungered for the chance to stamp out the evil that lay at their feet. By
+the close of the second day nearly three thousand men were encamped
+above the city. Late that night John Tullis rode into camp at the head
+of a great company from the Ganlook province. He had retaken the town of
+Ganlook, seized the fortress, and recruited the entire fighting strength
+of the neighbourhood. More than that, he had unlimbered and conveyed to
+the provisional camp two of the big guns that stood above the gates at
+the fortress. There had been a dozen skirmishes between the regulars and
+roving bands of desperadoes. A savage fight took place at Ganlook and
+another in the gap below the witch's hut. In both of these sanguinary
+affrays the government forces had come off victorious, splendid omens
+that did not fail to put confidence into the hearts of the men.
+
+Marlanx trained two of his big guns on the camp in the hills. From the
+fortress he threw many futile shells toward their place of shelter. They
+did no damage; instead of death, they brought only laughter to the
+scornful camp. Under cover of night, the two Ganlook cannons were
+planted in a position commanding the southeastern city gate. It was the
+plan of the new besiegers to bombard this gate, tearing it to pieces
+with shot. When their force was strong enough offensively, an assault
+would be flung against this opening. Drill and discipline were
+necessary, however, before the attempt could be made. In the present
+chaotic, untrained condition of their forces, an assault would prove not
+only ineffectual, but disastrous. Day after day the recruits were put
+through hard drill under the direction of the regular officers. Every
+day saw the force increased. This made hard work for the drill-masters.
+The willingness of the recruits, however, lessened the task
+considerably.
+
+The knowledge that Marlanx had no big guns except those stationed in the
+fortress was most consoling to Tullis and his friends. He could not
+destroy the Castle gates with shells, except by purest chance. He could
+drop shells into the Castle, but to hit a gate twenty feet wide? Never!
+Field ordnance was unknown to this country of mountains.
+
+The Iron Count's inability to destroy the Castle gates made it feasible
+for the men in the hills to devote considerable more time to drill and
+preparation than they might have sacrificed if the conditions were the
+reverse. They were confident that Quinnox could hold the Castle for
+many days. With all this in mind, Captain Haas and Prince Dantan beat
+down the objections of the impatient Americans; the work of preparation
+against ignominous failure went on as rapidly as possible. Haas would
+not attack until he was ready, or it became absolutely certain that the
+men at the Castle were in dire need.
+
+Signalling between the Castle and the hills had been going on for days.
+The absence of the "wigwag" system made it impossible to convey
+intelligible messages.
+
+Truxton King was growing haggard from worry and loss of sleep. He could
+not understand the abominable, criminal procrastination. He was of a
+race that did things with a dash and on the spur of the moment. His soul
+sickened day by day. John Tullis, equally unhappy, but more
+philosophical, often found him seated upon a rock at the top of the
+ravine, an unlighted pipe in his fingers, his eyes intent upon the hazy
+Castle.
+
+"Cheer up, King. Our time will come," he was wont to say.
+
+"I've just got to do something, Tullis. This standing around is killing
+me." Again he would respond: "Don't forget that I love some one down
+there, old man. Maybe she's worrying about me, as well as about you."
+Once he gave poor Mr. Hobbs a frightful tongue-lashing and was afterward
+most contrite and apologetic. Poor Hobbs had been guilty of asking if he
+had a headache.
+
+Truxton was assigned to several scouting expeditions, simply to provide
+him with action and diverting excitement. One of these expeditions
+determined the impossibility of entering the city through the railroad
+yards because of the trestle-work and the barricade of freight cars at
+the gap in the wall.
+
+They had been in camp for a week. The stategists had practically decided
+that the assault could be made within a day or two. All was in
+readiness--or as near as it could be--and all was enthusiasm and
+excitement.
+
+"If Haas puts it off another day I'm going to start a round robin,
+whatever that is," said Truxton. As he said it to a Dawsbergen officer
+who could not understand English, it is doubtful if that gentleman's
+polite nod of acquiescence meant unqualified approval of the project.
+
+At first they had built no fires at night. Now the force was so
+formidable that this precaution was unnecessary. The air was chill and
+there were tents for but a few of the troopers. The fires in the ravine
+always were surrounded by great circles of men, eagerly discussing the
+coming battle. At the upper end of the ravine were the tents of the
+officers, Prince Dantan and John Tullis. The latter shared his with King
+and Mr. Hobbs. Up here, the circle about the kindly pile of burning logs
+was small, select and less demonstrative. Here they smoked in silence
+most of the time, each man's thoughts delivered to himself.
+
+Above, on the jutting rock, sat the disconsolate, lovesick Truxton. It
+was the night before the proposed assault on the gates. The guns were in
+position and the cannonading was to begin at daybreak. He was full of
+the bitterness of doubt and misgiving. Was she in love with Vos Engo?
+Was the Count's suit progressing favourably under the fire of the enemy?
+Was his undoubted bravery having its effect upon the wavering
+susceptibilities of the distressed Loraine?
+
+Here was he, Truxton King, idle and useless for more than a week, beyond
+range of the guns of the foe, while down there was Vos Engo in the thick
+of it, at the side of the girl he loved in those long hours of peril,
+able to comfort her, to cheer her, to fight for her. It was maddening.
+He was sick with uncertainty, consumed by jealousy. His pipe was not out
+now: he was smoking furiously.
+
+The sound of a voice in sharp command attracted his attention. One of
+the sentries in the road below the elbow of the ridge had stopped some
+one who was approaching the camp. There was a bright moon, and Truxton
+could see other pickets hurrying to join the first. A few moments later
+the trespassers were escorted through the lines and taken directly to
+headquarters. A man and two women, King observed. Somewhat interested,
+he sauntered down from his lonely boulder and joined the group of
+officers.
+
+John Tullis was staring hard at the group approaching from the roadway.
+They were still outside the circle of light, but it was plain to all
+that the newcomers were peasants. The women wore the short red skirts
+and the pointed bonnets of the lower classes. Gaudy shawls covered their
+shoulders. One was tall and slender, with a bearing that was not
+peasant-like. It was she who held Tullis's intense, unbelieving gaze
+until they were well inside the fire-light. She walked ahead of her
+companions. Suddenly he sprang forward with a cry of amazement.
+
+It was the Countess Ingomede.
+
+Her arrival created a sensation. In a moment she was in the centre of an
+amazed circle of men. Tullis, after his first low, eager greeting at the
+edge of the fire circle, drew her near to the warmth-giving flames.
+Prince Dantan and Captain Haas threw rugs and blankets in a great heap
+for her to sit upon. Every one was talking at once. The Countess was
+smiling through her tears.
+
+"Make room for my maid and her father. They are colder and more
+fatigued than I," she said, lifting her tired, glorious eyes to John
+Tullis, who stood beside her. "We have come from Balak. They suffered
+much, that I might enjoy the slender comforts I was so ready to share
+with them."
+
+"Thank God, you are here," he said in low, intense tones. She could not
+mistake the fervour in his voice nor the glow in his eyes. Her wondrous,
+yellowish orbs looked steadily into his, and he was satisfied. They paid
+tribute to the emotion that moved him to the depths of his being. Love
+leaped up to him from those sweet, tired eyes; leaped with the unerring
+force of an electric current that finds its lodestone in spite of mortal
+will.
+
+"I knew you were here, John. I am not going back to Count Marlanx. It is
+ended."
+
+"I knew it would come, Ingomede. You will let me tell you how glad I
+am--some day?"
+
+"Some day, when I am truly, wholly free from him, John. I know what you
+will say, and I think you know what I shall say in reply." Both
+understood and were exalted. No other word passed between them touching
+upon the thing that was uppermost in their minds.
+
+Food was provided for the wayfarers, and Tullis's tent was made ready
+for the Countess and her maid.
+
+"Truxton," said he, "we will have to find other quarters for the night.
+I've let my apartment--furnished."
+
+"She's gloriously beautiful, John," was all that Truxton said, puffing
+moodily at his pipe. He was thinking of one more beautiful, however. "I
+suppose you'd think it a favour if I'd pot Marlanx for you to-morrow."
+
+"It doesn't matter whether he's potted or not, my friend. She will not
+go back to him. He will have to find another prisoner for his
+household."
+
+Truxton's thoughts went with a shudder to the underground room and the
+fair prisoner who had shared it with him. The dread of what might have
+been the fate of Loraine Tullis--or what might still be in store for
+her--brought cold chills over him. He abruptly turned away and sat down
+at the outer edge of the group.
+
+The Countess's story was soon told. Sitting before the great fire,
+surrounded by eager listeners, she related her experiences. Prince
+Dantan was her most attentive listener.
+
+She had been seized on the night of the ball as she started across her
+father's garden. Before sunrise she was well on her way to Balak, in
+charge of three of the Count's most faithful henchmen. As for the
+messages that were sent to Edelweiss, she knew nothing of them, except
+the last, which she had managed to get through with the assistance of
+Josepha's father. She was kept a close prisoner in a house just outside
+of Balak, and came to learn all of the infamous projects of her husband.
+At the end of ten days her maid was sent to her from Edelweiss. She
+brought the news of the calamity that had befallen the city. It was then
+that she determined to break away from her captors and try to reach the
+Monastery of St. Valentine, where protection would be afforded her for
+the time being. After several days of ardent persuasion, she and Josepha
+prevailed upon the latter's father to assist them in their flight. Not
+only was he persuaded, but in the end he journeyed with them through the
+wildest country north of Ganlook. They were four days in covering the
+distance, partly on foot, partly by horse. Near the city they heard of
+the presence of troops near the Monastery. Farmers' wives told them of
+the newly formed army and of its leaders. She determined to make her
+way to the camp of those who would destroy her husband, eager to give
+them any assistance that her own knowledge of Marlanx's plans might
+provide.
+
+Many details are omitted in this brief recital of her story. Perhaps it
+is well to leave something to the imagination.
+
+One bit of information she gave created no end of consternation among
+the would-be deliverers of the city. It had the effect of making them
+all the more resolute; the absolute necessity for immediately regaining
+control in the city was forced upon them. She told them that Count
+Marlanx had lately received word that the Grand Duke Paulus was likely
+to intervene before many days, acting on his own initiative, in the
+belief that he could force the government of Graustark to grant the
+railway privileges so much desired by his country. Marlanx realised that
+he would have to forestall the wily Grand Duke. If he were in absolute
+control of the Graustark government when the Russian appeared, he and he
+alone would be in a position to deal with the situation. Unless the
+Castle fell into his hands beforehand, insuring the fall of the royal
+house and the ministry, the Grand Duke's natural inclination would be to
+first befriend the hapless Prince and then to demand recompense in
+whatsoever form he saw fit.
+
+"The Grand Duke may send a large force of men across the border at any
+time," said the Countess in conclusion. "Count Marlanx is sure to make a
+decisive assault as soon as he hears that the movement has begun. He had
+hopes of starving them out, thus saving the Castle from destruction, but
+as that seems unlikely, his shells will soon begin to rain in earnest
+upon the dear old pile."
+
+Truxton King was listening with wide open ears. As she finished this
+dreary prediction he silently arose to his feet and, without a word to
+any one, stalked off in the darkness. Tullis looked after him and shook
+his head sadly.
+
+"I'll be happy on that fellow's account when daybreak comes and we are
+really at it," he said to Prince Dantan, who knew something of King's
+affliction.
+
+But Truxton King was not there at daybreak. When he strode out of the
+camp that night, he left it behind forever.
+
+The unfortunate lack of means to communicate with the occupants of the
+Castle had been the source of great distress to Captain Haas. If the
+defenders could be informed as to the exact hour of the assault from the
+outside, they could do much toward its speedy success by making a fierce
+sortie from behind their own walls. A quick dash from the Castle grounds
+would serve to draw Marlanx's attention in that direction, diminishing
+the force that he would send to check the onslaught at the gates. But
+there was no means of getting word to Colonel Quinnox. His two or three
+hundred men would be practically useless at the most critical period of
+the demonstration.
+
+Truxton King had all this in mind as he swung off down the mountain
+road, having stolen past the sentries with comparative ease. He was
+smiling to himself. If all went well with him, Colonel Quinnox would be
+able to rise to the occasion. If he failed in the daring mission he had
+elected to perform, the only resulting harm would be to himself; the
+plans of the besiegers would not suffer.
+
+He knew his ground well by this time. He had studied it thoroughly from
+the forlorn boulder at the top of the ravine. By skirting the upper
+walls, on the mountain side, he might, in a reasonably short space of
+time, reach the low woodlands north of the Castle walls. The danger
+from Marlanx's scouts outside the city was not great; they had been
+scattered and beaten by Haas's recruiting parties. He stood in more
+danger from the men he would help, they who were the watchful defenders
+of the Castle.
+
+It must have been two o'clock when he crossed the King's Highway, a mile
+or more above the northern gates, and struck down into the same thick
+undergrowth that had protected him and Hobbs on a memorable night not
+long before.
+
+At three o'clock, a dripping figure threw up his hands obligingly and
+laughed with exultation when confronted by a startled guardsman _inside_
+the Castle walls and not more than fifty yards from the water gates!
+
+He had timed his entrance by the sound of the guardsman's footstep on
+the stone protecting wall that lined the little stream. When he came to
+the surface inside the water gate, the sentry was at the extreme end of
+his beat. He shouted a friendly cry as he advanced toward the man,
+calling out his own name.
+
+Ten minutes later he was standing in the presence of the haggard,
+nerve-racked Quinnox, pouring into his astonished ears the news of the
+coming attack. While he was discarding his wet clothing for others,
+preparations for the sortie were getting under way. The Colonel lost no
+time in routing out the sleeping guardsmen and reserves, and in sending
+commands to those already on duty at the gates. The quick rattle of
+arms, the rush of feet, the low cries of relief, the rousing of horses,
+soon usurped the place of dreary, deadly calm.
+
+When the sun peeped over the lofty hills, he saw inside the gates a
+restless, waiting company of dragoons, ready for the command to ride
+forth. Worn, haggard fellows, who had slept but little and who had eaten
+scarcely anything for three days; men who would have starved to death.
+Now they were forgetting their hunger and fatigue in the wild, exultant
+joy of the prospect ahead.
+
+Meantime, King had crossed the grounds with Colonel Quinnox, on the way
+to the Castle. He was amazed, almost stupefied by the devastation that
+already had been wrought. Trees were down; great, gaping holes in the
+ground marked the spots where shells had fallen; the plaza was an almost
+impassable heap of masonry and soil, torn and rent by huge projectiles.
+But it was his first clear view of the Castle itself that appalled the
+American.
+
+A dozen or more balls had crashed into the facade. Yawning fissures,
+gigantic holes, marked the path of the ugly messengers from Marlanx.
+Nearly all of the windows had been wrecked by riflemen who shot from the
+roofs of palaces in and about the avenue. Two of the smaller minarets
+were in ruins; a huge pillar in the lower balcony was gone; the terrace
+had been ploughed up by a single ricochetting shell.
+
+"Great God!" gasped King. "It is frightful!"
+
+"They began bombarding yesterday afternoon. We were asked to surrender
+at three o'clock. Our reply brought the shells, Mr. King. It was
+terrible."
+
+"And the loss of life, Colonel?" demanded the other breathlessly.
+
+"After the first two or three shells we found places of shelter for the
+Prince and his friends. They are in the stone tower beyond the Castle,
+overlooking what still remains of the ancient moat. Ah, there are no
+faltering hearts here, Mr. King. The most glorious courage instead.
+Count Vos Engo guards the Prince and the ladies of the household. Alas!
+it was hunger that we feared the most. To-day we should have resorted to
+horse's flesh. There was no other way. We knew that relief would come
+some day. John Tullis was there. We had faith in him and in you. And now
+it is to-day! This shall be our day, thank God! Nothing can stand before
+us!"
+
+"Tullis is very anxious about his sister," ventured Truxton. Quinnox
+looked straight ahead, but smiled.
+
+"She is the pluckiest of them all."
+
+"Is she well?"
+
+"Perhaps a trifle thin, sir, that is all. I dare say that is due to
+scarcity of nourishment, although the Prince and his closest associates
+were the last to feel deprivation."
+
+"How does the Prince take all this, Colonel?"
+
+"As any Prince of Graustark would, sir. There is no other way. It is in
+the blood."
+
+"Poor little chap!"
+
+"He will rejoice to know that you have found his lucky stone so
+effective. The Prince has never wavered in his loyalty to that pebble,
+sir."
+
+Together they entered the Castle. Inside there were horrid signs of
+destruction, particularly off the balconies.
+
+"No one occupies the upper part of the Castle now, sir."
+
+Attendants sped to the tower, shouting the battle tidings. No
+compunction was felt in arousing the sleeping household. As a matter of
+fact, there was no protest from the eager ladies and gentlemen who
+hurried forth to hear the news.
+
+The Prince came tumbling down the narrow iron stairs from his room
+above, shouting joyously to Truxton King. No man was ever so welcome. He
+was besieged with questions, handshakings and praises. Even the Duke of
+Perse, hobbling on crutches, had a kindly greeting for him. Tears
+streamed down the old man's cheeks when King told him of his daughter's
+safe arrival in the friendly camp.
+
+Truxton picked the Prince up in his arms and held him close to his
+breast, patting his back all the while, his heart so full that he could
+not speak.
+
+"I knowed you'd come back," Bobby kept crying in his ear. "Aunt Loraine
+said you wouldn't, but I said you would. I knowed it--I knowed it! And
+now you're going to be a baron, sure enough. Isn't he, Uncle Caspar?"
+
+But Truxton was not listening to the eager prattle. He remembered
+afterward that Bobby's hands and face were hot with fever. Just now he
+was staring at the narrow staircase. Vos Engo and Loraine were
+descending slowly. The former was white and evidently very weak. He
+leaned on the girl for support.
+
+Count Halfont offered the explanation. "Vos Engo was shot last week,
+through the shoulder. He is too brave to give up, as you may see. It
+happened on the terrace. There was an unexpected fusilade from the
+housetops. Eric placed himself between the marksmen and Miss Tullis. A
+bullet that might have killed her instantly, struck him in the shoulder.
+They were fleeing to the balcony. He fell and she dragged him to a place
+of safety. The wound is not so serious as it might have been, but he
+should be in bed. He, like most of us, has not removed his clothing in
+five days and nights."
+
+King never forgot the look in Loraine's eyes as she came down the steps.
+Joy and anguish seemed to combine themselves in that long, intense look.
+He saw her hand go to her heart. Her lips were parted. He knew she was
+breathing quickly, tremulously.
+
+The Prince was whispering in his ear: "Keep the lucky stone, Mr. King.
+Please keep it. It will surely help you. I gave her your kiss. She was
+happy--awful happy for awhile. 'Nen the Count he saved her from the
+bullet. But you just keep the lucky stone." King put him down and walked
+directly across to meet her at the foot of the steps.
+
+She gave him her hands. The look in her tired eyes went straight to his
+heart. Vos Engo drew back, his face set in a frown of displeasure.
+
+"My brother?" she asked, without taking her gaze from his eyes.
+
+"He is well. He will see you to-day."
+
+"And you, Truxton?" was her next question, low and quavering.
+
+"Unharmed and unchanged, Loraine," he said softly. "Tell me, did Vos
+Engo stand between you and the fire from the--"
+
+"Yes, Truxton," she said, dropping her eyes as if in deep pain.
+
+"And you have not--broken your promise to him?"
+
+"No. Nor have I broken my promise to you."
+
+"He is a brave man. I can't help saying it," said the American, deep
+lines suddenly appearing in his face. Swiftly he turned to Vos Engo,
+extending his hand. "My hand, sir, to a brave man!"
+
+Vos Engo stared at him for a moment and then turned away, ignoring the
+friendly hand. A hot flush mounted to Loraine's brow.
+
+"This is a brave man, too, Eric," she said very quietly.
+
+Vos Engo's response was a short, bitter laugh.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+THE LAST STAND
+
+
+Soon after five o'clock, a man in the topmost window of the tower called
+down that the forces in the hills were moving in a compact body toward
+the ridges below the southern gates.
+
+"Give them half an hour to locate themselves," advised Truxton King.
+"They will move rapidly and strike as soon as the shells have levelled
+the gates. The proper time for your sortie, Colonel, would be some time
+in advance of their final movement. You will in that way draw at least a
+portion of Marlanx's men away from the heart of the city. They will come
+to the assistance of the gang bivouacked beyond the Duke of Perse's
+palace."
+
+One hundred picked men were to be left inside the Castle gates with Vos
+Engo, prepared to meet any flank movement that might be attempted. Three
+hundred mounted men were selected to make the dash down Castle Avenue,
+straight into the camp of the sharpshooters. It was the purpose of the
+house guard to wage a fierce and noisy conflict off the Avenue and then
+retire to the Castle as abruptly as they left it, to be ready for
+Marlanx, should he decide to make a final desperate effort to seize
+their stronghold.
+
+King, fired by a rebellious zeal, elected to ride with the attacking
+party. His heart was cold with the fear that he was to lose Loraine,
+after all. The fairy princess of his dreams seemed farther away from him
+than ever. "I'll do what I can for the Prince," he said to himself.
+"He's a perfect little brick. Damn Vos Engo! I'll make him repent that
+insult. Every one noticed it, too. She tried to smooth it over, but--oh,
+well, what's the use!"
+
+The dash of the three hundred through the gates and down the avenue was
+the most spectacular experience in Truxton's life. He was up with
+Quinnox and General Braze, galloping well in front of the yelling troop.
+These mounted carbineers, riding as Bedouins, swept like thunder down
+the street, whirled into the broad, open arena beyond the Duke's palace,
+and were upon the surprised ruffians before they were fully awake to the
+situation.
+
+They came tumbling out of barns and sheds, clutching their rifles in
+nerveless hands, aghast in the face of absolute destruction. It was all
+over with the first dash of the dragoons. The enemy, craven at the
+outset, threw down their guns and tried to escape through the alleys and
+side streets at the end of the common. Firing all the time, the
+attacking force rode them down as if they were so many dogs. The few who
+stood their ground and fought valiantly were overpowered and made
+captive by Quinnox. Less than a hundred men were found in the camp.
+Instead of retreating immediately to the Castle, Quinnox, acting on the
+suggestion of the exhilarated King, kept up a fierce, deceptive fire for
+the benefit of the distant Marlanx.
+
+After ten or fifteen minutes of this desultory carnage, it was reported
+that a large force of men were entering the avenue from Regengetz
+Circus. Quinnox sent his chargers toward this great horde of
+foot-soldiers, but they did not falter as he had expected. On they
+swept, two or three thousand of them. At their head rode five or six
+officers. The foremost was Count Marlanx.
+
+The cannons were booming now in the foothills. Marlanx, if he heard
+them and realised what the bombardment meant, did not swerve from the
+purpose at present in his mind.
+
+Quinnox saw now that the Iron Count was determined to storm the gates,
+and gave the command to retreat. Waving their rifles and shouting
+defiance over their shoulders, the dragoons drew up, wheeled and
+galloped toward the gates.
+
+Truxton King afterward recalled to mind certain huge piles of fresh
+earth in a corner of the common. He did not know what they meant at the
+time of observation, but he was wiser inside of three minutes after the
+whirlwind brigade dashed through the gates.
+
+Scarcely were the massive portals closed and the great steel bars
+dropped into place by the men who attended them, when a low, dull
+explosion shook the earth as if by volcanic force. Then came the
+crashing of timbers, the cracking of masonry, the whirring of a thousand
+missiles through the air. Before the very eyes of the stunned,
+bewildered defenders, dismounting near the parade ground, the huge gates
+and pillars fell to the ground.
+
+The gates have been dynamited!
+
+Then it was that Truxton King remembered. Marlanx's sappers had been
+quietly at work for days, drilling from the common to the gates. It was
+a strange coincidence that Marlanx should have chosen this day for his
+culminating assault on the Castle. The skirmish at daybreak had hurried
+his arrangements, no doubt, but none the less were his plans complete.
+The explosives had been laid during the night; the fuses reached to the
+mouth of the tunnel, across the common. As he swept up the avenue at the
+head of his command, hawk-faced and with glittering eyes, he snarled the
+command that put fire to the fuses. He was still a quarter of a mile
+away when the gates crumbled. With short, shrill cries, scarcely human
+in their viciousness, he urged his men forward. He and Brutus were the
+first to ride up to the great hole that yawned where the gates had
+stood. Beyond they could see the distracted soldiers of the Prince
+forming in line to resist attack.
+
+A moment later his vanguard streamed through the aperture and faced the
+deadly fire from the driveway.
+
+Like a stone wall the men under Quinnox stood their ground; a solid,
+defiant line that fired with telling accuracy into the struggling horde.
+On the walls two Gatling guns began to cackle their laugh of death. And
+still the mercenaries poured through the gap, forming in haphazard lines
+under the direction of the maddened Iron Count.
+
+At last they began to advance across the grassy meadow. When one man
+fell under the fire of the Guardsmen, another rushed into his place.
+Three times the indomitable Graustarkians drove them back, and as often
+did Marlanx drag them up again, exalted by the example he set.
+
+"'Gad, he _is_ a soldier," cried Truxton, who had wasted a half dozen
+shots in the effort to bring him down. "Hello! There's my friend Brutus.
+He's no coward, either. Here's a try for you, Brutus."
+
+He dropped to his knee and took deliberate aim at the frenzied henchman.
+The discovery that there were three bullets in Brutus's breast when he
+was picked up long afterward did not affect the young man's contention
+that his was the one that had found the heart.
+
+The fall of Brutus urged the Iron Count to greater fury. His horse had
+been shot from under him. He was on his feet, a gaunt demon, his back to
+the enemy, calling to his men to follow him as he moved toward the
+stubborn row of green and red. Bullets hissed about his ears, but he
+gave no heed to them. More than one man in the opposing force watched
+him as if fascinated. He seemed to be absolutely bullet-proof. There
+were times when he stumbled and almost fell over the bodies of his own
+men lying in the path.
+
+By this time his entire force was inside the grounds. Colonel Quinnox
+was quick to see the spreading movement on the extreme right and left.
+Marlanx's captains were trained warriors. They were bent on flanking the
+enemy. The commander of the Guard gave the command to fall back slowly
+toward the Castle.
+
+Firing at every step, they crossed the parade ground and then made a
+quick dash for the shelter of the long balconies. They held this
+position for nearly an hour, resisting each succeeding charge of the now
+devilish foe. Time and again the foremost of the attacking party reached
+the terrace, only to wither under the deadly fire from behind the
+balustrades. Marlanx, down in the parade ground, was fairly pushing his
+men into the jaws of death. There was no question as to the courage of
+the men he commanded. These were not the ruffians from all over the
+world. They were the reckless, devil-may-care mountaineers and robbers
+from the hills of Graustark itself.
+
+Truxton King's chance to pay his debt to Vos Engo came after one of the
+fiercest, most determined charges. The young Count, who had transferred
+his charges from the old tower to the strong north wing of the Castle,
+had been fighting desperately in the front rank for some time. His
+weakness seemed to have disappeared entirely. As the foe fell back in
+the face of the desperate resistance, Vos Engo sprang down the steps
+and rushed after them, calling others to join him in the attempt to
+complete the rout. Near the edge of the terrace he stopped. His leg gave
+way under him and he fell to the ground. Truxton saw him fall.
+
+He leaped over the low balustrade, dropping his hot rifle, and dashed
+across the terrace to his rival's assistance. A hundred men shot at him.
+Vos Engo was trying to get to his feet, his hand upon his thigh; he was
+groaning with pain.
+
+"It's my turn," shouted the American. "I'll square it up if I can. Then
+we're even!"
+
+He seized the wounded man in his strong arms, threw him over his
+shoulder and staggered toward the steps.
+
+"Release me, damn you!" shrieked Vos Engo, striking his rescuer in the
+face with his fist.
+
+"I'm saving you for another day," said King as he dropped behind the
+balustrade, with his burden safe. A wild cheer went up from the lips of
+the defenders, scornful howls from the enemy.
+
+"I pray God it may be deferred until I am capable of defending myself,"
+groaned Vos Engo, glaring at the other with implacable hatred in his
+eyes.
+
+"You might pray for my preservation, too, while you're at it," said
+Truxton, as he crept away to regain his rifle.
+
+There were other witnesses to Truxton's rash act. In a lofty window of
+the north wing crouched a white-faced girl and a grim old man. The
+latter held a rifle in his tense though feeble hands. They had been
+there for ten minutes or longer, watching the battle from their eerie
+place of security. Now and then the old man would sight his rifle and
+fire. A groan of anger and dismay escaped his lips after each attempt to
+send his bullet to the spot intended. The girl who crouched beside him
+was there to designate a certain figure in the ever-changing mass of
+humanity on the bloody parade ground. Her clear eyes sought for and
+found Marlanx; her unwavering finger pointed him out to the old
+marksman.
+
+She saw Vos Engo fall. Then a tall, well-known figure sprang into view,
+dashing toward her wounded lover. Her heart stopped beating. The blood
+rushed to her eyes. Everything before her turned red--a horrid, blurring
+red. With her hands to her temples, she leaned far over the window ledge
+and screamed--screamed words that would have filled Truxton King with an
+endless joy could he have heard them above the rattle of the rifles.
+
+"A brave act!" exclaimed the old man at her side. "Who is he?"
+
+But she did not hear him. She had fallen back and was gasping
+supplication, her eyes set upon the old man's face with a stare that
+meant nothing.
+
+The corner of the building had shut out the picture; it was impossible
+for her to know that the man and his burden had reached the balcony in
+safety. Even now, they might be lying on the terrace, riddled by
+bullets. The concentrated aim of the enemy had not escaped her horrified
+gaze. The cheering did not reach her ears.
+
+The old man roused her from the stupor of dread. He called her name
+several times in high, strident tones. Dully she responded. Standing
+bolt upright in the window she sought out the figure of Marlanx, and
+pointed rigidly.
+
+"Ah," groaned the old man, "they will not be driven back this time! They
+will not be denied. It is the last charge! God, how they come! Our men
+will be annihilated in--Where is he? Now! Ah, I see! Yes, that is he!
+He is near enough now. I cannot miss him!"
+
+Marlanx was leading his men up to the terrace. A howling avalanche of
+humanity, half obscured by smoke, streamed up the slope.
+
+At the top of the terrace, the Iron Count suddenly stopped. His long
+body stiffened and then crumpled like a reed. A score of heavy feet
+trampled on the fallen leader, but he did not feel the impact.
+
+A bullet from the north wing had crashed into his brain.
+
+"At last!" shrieked the old man at the window. "Come, Miss Tullis; my
+work is done."
+
+"He is dead, your Grace?" in low, awed tones.
+
+"Yes, my dear," said the Duke of Perse, a smile of relief on his face.
+"Come, let me escort you to the Prince. You have been most courageous.
+Graustark shall not forget it. Nor shall I ever cease thanking you for
+the service you have rendered to me. I have succeeded in freeing my
+unhappy daughter from the vile beast to whom I sold her youth and beauty
+and purity. Come! You must not look upon that carnage!"
+
+Together they left the little room. As they stepped into the narrow hall
+beyond they realised that the defenders had been driven inside the walls
+of the Castle. The crash of firearms filled the halls far below; a
+deafening, steady roar came up to them.
+
+"It is all over," said the Duke of Perse, hobbling across the hall and
+throwing open the door to a room opposite.
+
+A group of terrified women were huddled in the far corner of the
+spacious room. In front of them was the little Prince, a look of terror
+in his eyes, but with the tiny sword clutched in his hand--a pathetic
+figure of courage and dread combined. The Duke of Perse held open the
+door for Loraine Tullis, but she did not enter. When he turned to call,
+she was half way down the top flight of stairs, racing through the
+powder smoke toward the landing below.
+
+At every step she was screaming in the very agony of gladness:
+
+"Stand firm! Hold them! Help is coming! Help is coming!"
+
+A last look through the window at the end of the hail had revealed to
+her the most glorious of visions.
+
+Red and green troops were pouring through the dismantled gateway, their
+horses surging over the ugly ground-rifts and debris as if possessed of
+the fabled wings.
+
+She had seen the rear line in the storming forces hesitate and then turn
+to meet the whirlwind charge of the cavalrymen. Her brother was out
+there and all was well. She was crying the joyous news from the head of
+the grand stairway when Truxton King caught sight of her.
+
+Smoke writhed about her slim, inspiriting figure. Her face shone through
+the drab fog like an undimmed star of purest light. He bounded up the
+steps toward her, drawn as by magnet against which there was no such
+thing as resistance.
+
+He was powder-stained and grimy; there was blood on his face and shirt
+front.
+
+"You are shot," she cried, clutching the post at the bend in the stairs.
+"Truxton! Truxton!"
+
+"Not even scratched," he shouted, as he reached her side. "It's not
+my--" He stopped short, even as he held out his arms to clasp her to his
+breast. "It's some one else's blood," he finished resolutely. She swayed
+toward him and he caught her in his arms.
+
+"I love you--oh, I love you, Truxton!" she cried over and over again. He
+was faint with joy. His kisses spoke the adoration he would have cried
+out to her if emotion had not clogged his throat.
+
+"Eric?" she whispered at last, drawing back in his arms and looking up
+into his eyes with a great pity in her own. "Is he--is he dead,
+Truxton?"
+
+"No," he said gently. "Badly hurt, but--"
+
+"He will not die? Thank God, Truxton. He is a brave--oh, a very brave
+man." Then she remembered her mission into this whirlpool of danger.
+"Go! Don't lose a moment, darling! Tell Colonel Quinnox that Jack has
+come! The dragoons are--"
+
+He did not hear the end of her cry. A quick, fierce kiss and he was
+gone, bounding down the stairs with great shouts of encouragement.
+
+Leaderless, between the deadly fires, the mercenaries gave up the fight
+after a brief stand at the terrace. Six hundred horsemen ploughed
+through them, driving them to the very walls of the Castle. Here they
+broke and scattered, throwing down their arms and shouting for mercy. It
+was all over inside of twenty minutes.
+
+The Prince reigned again.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Nightfall brought complete restoration of order, peace and security in
+the city of Edelweiss. Hundreds of lives had been lost in the terrific
+conflict of the early morning hours; hundreds of men lay on beds of
+suffering, crushed and bleeding from the wounds they had courted and
+received.
+
+"I knowed we'd whip them," shouted the Prince, wriggling gleefully in
+John Tullis's straining embrace half an hour after the latter had ridden
+through the gate. Tears streamed down the big man's face. One arm held
+the boy, the other encircled the sister he had all but lost. In the
+Monastery of St. Valentine there was another woman, waiting for him to
+come to her with the news of a glorious victory. Perhaps she was hoping
+and praying for the other news that he would bring her, who knows? If he
+came to her with kisses, she would know without being told in so many
+words.
+
+Truxton did not again see Loraine until late in the afternoon. He had
+offered his services to Colonel Quinnox and had worked manfully in the
+effort to provide comfort for the wounded of both sides. General Braze
+was at work with his men in the open city, clearing away the ugly signs
+of battle. The fortress and Tower were full of the prisoners of war.
+Baron Dangloss, pale, emaciated, sick but resolute, was free once more
+and, with indomitable zeal, had thrown himself and his liberated men at
+once into the work of rehabilitation.
+
+It was on the occasion of the Baron's first visit to the Prince, late in
+the day, that Truxton saw the girl he worshipped.
+
+Prince Robin had sent for him to appear in the devastated state chamber.
+Publicly, in the presence of the Court and Ministry, the little ruler
+proclaimed him a baron and presented to him a great seal ring from among
+the ancient crown jewels.
+
+"Say, Mr. King," said Bobby, after he had called the American quite
+close to him by means of a stealthy crooking of his finger, "would you
+mind giving me my lucky stone? I don't think you'll need it any longer.
+I will, I'm sure. You see a prince has such a lot of things to trouble
+him. Wars and murders and everything."
+
+"Thank you, Prince Robin," said King, placing the stone in the little
+hand. "I couldn't have got on without it. May it always serve you as
+well."
+
+"Noblesse oblige, Baron," said Prince Robin gravely.
+
+"Hello!" in an excited whisper. "Here's Baron Dangloss. He's been in his
+own gaol!"
+
+Truxton withdrew. Near the door he met Loraine. She had just entered the
+room. There was a bright look of relief in her eyes.
+
+"Count Vos Engo has asked for you, Truxton," she said in a low voice. A
+delicate flush crept into her cheeks; a sudden shyness leaped into her
+eyes, and she looked away.
+
+"Loraine, have you told him?"
+
+"Yes. I am so sorry for him. He is one of the bravest men I have ever
+known, Truxton dear. And, as it is with all men of his race, love knew
+no reason, no compromise. But I have made him see that I--that I cannot
+be his wife. He knows that I love you."
+
+"Somehow, darling, I'm sorry for him."
+
+"He will not pretend friendship for you, dear," she went on painfully.
+"He only wants to thank you and to apologise, as you did, not so long
+ago. And he wants to ask you to release him from a certain obligation."
+
+"You mean our--our fight?"
+
+"Yes. He is to lose his right arm, Truxton. You understand how it is
+with him now."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+"YOU WILL BE MRS. KING"
+
+
+Late that night it was reported at the Castle that a large force of men
+were encamped on the opposite side of the river. A hundred camp-fires
+were gleaming against the distant uplands.
+
+"The Grand Duke Paulus!" exclaimed Count Halfont. "Thank God, he did not
+come a day earlier. We owe him nothing to-day--but yesterday! Ah, he
+could have demanded much of us. Send his messengers to me, Colonel
+Quinnox, as soon as they arrive in the morning. I will arise early.
+There is much to do in Graustark. Let there be no sluggards."
+
+A mellow, smiling moon crept up over the hills, flooding the laud with a
+serene radiance. Once more the windows in the Castle gleamed brightly;
+low-voiced people strolled through the shattered balconies; others
+wandered about the vast halls, possessed by uncertain emotions, torn by
+the conflicting hands of joy and gloom. In a score of rooms wounded men
+were lying; in others there were dead heroes. At the barracks, standing
+dully against the distant shadows, there were many cots of suffering.
+And yet there was rejoicing, even among those who writhed in pain or
+bowed their heads in grief. Victory's wings were fanning the gloom away;
+conquest was painting an ever-widening streak of brightness across the
+dark, drear canvas of despair.
+
+In one of the wrecked approaches to the terrace, surrounded by fragments
+of stone and confronted by ugly destruction, sat a young man and a
+slender girl. There were no lights near them; the shadows were black
+and forbidding. This particular end of the terrace had suffered most in
+the fierce rain of cannon-balls. So great was the devastation here that
+one attained the position held by the couple only by means of no little
+daring and at the risk of unkind falls. From where they sat they could
+see the long vista of lighted windows and yet could not themselves be
+seen.
+
+His arm was about her; her head nestled securely against his shoulder
+and her slim hands were willing prisoners in one of his.
+
+She was saying "Truxton, dear, I did _not_ love Eric Vos Engo. I just
+thought it was love. I never really knew what love is until you came
+into my life. Then I knew the difference. That's what made it so hard. I
+had let him believe that I might care for him some day. And I _did_ like
+him. So I--"
+
+"You are sure--terribly sure--that I am the only man you ever really
+loved?" he interrupted.
+
+She snuggled closer. "Haven't I just told you that I didn't know what it
+was until--well, until now?"
+
+"You will never, never know how happy I am, Loraine!" he breathed into
+her ear.
+
+"I hope I shall always bring happiness to you, Truxton," she murmured,
+faint with the joy of loving.
+
+"You will make me very unhappy if you don't marry me to-morrow."
+
+"I couldn't think of it!"
+
+"I don't ask you to think. If you do, you may change your mind
+completely. Just marry me without thinking, dearest."
+
+"I will marry you, Truxton, when we get to New York," she said, but not
+very firmly. He saw his advantage.
+
+"But, my dear, I'm tired of travelling."
+
+It was rather enigmatic. "What has that to do with it?" she asked.
+
+"Well, it's this way: if we get married in New York we'll have to
+consider an extended and wholly obligatory wedding journey. If we get
+married here, we can save all that bother by bridal-tripping to New
+York, instead of away from it. And, what's more, we'll escape the
+rice-throwing and the old shoes and the hand-painted trunk labels.
+Greater still: we will avoid a long and lonely trip across the ocean on
+separate steamers. That's something, you know."
+
+"We _could_ go on the same steamer."
+
+"Quite so, my dear. But don't you think it would be nicer if we went as
+one instead of two?"
+
+"I suppose it would be cheaper."
+
+"They say a fellow saves money by getting married."
+
+"I hate a man who is always trying to save money."
+
+"Well, if you put it that way, I'll promise never to save a cent. I'm a
+horrible spendthrift."
+
+"Oh, you'll have to save, Truxton!"
+
+"How silly we are!" he cried in utter joyousness. He held her close for
+a long time, his face buried in her hair. "Listen, darling: won't you
+say you'll be my wife before I leave Graustark? I want you so much. I
+can't go away without you."
+
+She hesitated. "When are you going, Truxton? You--you haven't told me."
+
+It was what he wanted. "I am going next Monday," he said promptly. As a
+matter of fact, he had forgotten the day of the week they were now
+living in.
+
+"Monday? Oh, dear!"
+
+"Will you?"
+
+"I--I must cable home first," she faltered.
+
+"That's a mere detail, darling. Cable afterward. It will beat us home
+by three weeks. They'll know we're coming."
+
+"I must ask John, really I must, Truxton," she protested faintly.
+
+"Hurray!" he shouted--in a whisper. "He is so desperately in love, he
+won't think of refusing anything we ask. Shall we set it for Saturday?"
+
+They set it for Saturday without consulting John Tullis, and then fell
+to discussing him. "He is very much in love with her," she said
+wistfully.
+
+"And she loves him, Loraine. They will be very happy. She's wonderful."
+
+"Well, so is John. He's the most wonderful man in all this world."
+
+"I am sure of it," he agreed magnanimously. "I saw him talking with her
+and the Duke of Perse as I came out awhile ago. They were going to the
+Duke's rooms up there. The Duke will offer no objections. I think he'll
+permit his daughter to select his next son-in-law."
+
+"How could he have given her to that terrible, terrible old man?" she
+cried, with a shudder.
+
+"She won't be in mourning for him long, I fancy. Nobody will talk of
+appearances, either. She could marry Jack to-morrow and no one would
+criticise her."
+
+"Oh, that would be disgusting, Truxton!"
+
+"But, my dear, he isn't to have a funeral, so why not? They buried his
+body in quicklime this afternoon. No mourners, no friends, no tears!
+Hang it all, she's foolish if she puts on anything but red."
+
+"They can't be married for--oh, ever so long," she said very primly.
+
+"No, indeed," he said with alacrity. But he did not believe what he
+said. If he knew anything about John Tullis, it would not be "ever so
+long" before Prince Robin's friend turned Benedict and husband to the
+most noted beauty in all Graustark.
+
+"I shall be sorry to leave Graustark," she said dreamily, after a long
+period of silent retrospection. "I've had the happiest year of my life
+here."
+
+"I've had the busiest month of my life here. I'll never again say that
+the world is a dull place. And I'll never advise any man to go out of
+his own home city in search of the most adorable woman in the world.
+She's always there, bless her heart, if he'll only look around a bit for
+her."
+
+"But you wouldn't have found me if you hadn't come to Graustark."
+
+"I shudder when I think of what might have happened to you, my Princess
+Sweetheart, if I hadn't come to Edelweiss. No; I would not have found
+you." Feeling her tremble in his arms, he went on with whimsical good
+humour: "You would have been eaten up by the ogre long before this. Or,
+perhaps, you would have succeeded in becoming a countess."
+
+"As it is, I shall be a baroness."
+
+"In Graustark, but not in New York. That reminds me. You'll be more than
+a baroness--more than a princess. You will be a queen. Don't you catch
+the point? You will be Mrs. King."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Grand Duke Paulus was distinctly annoyed. He had travelled many
+miles, endured quite a number of hardships, and all to no purpose. When
+dawn came, his emissaries returned from the city with the lamentable
+information that the government had righted itself, that Marlanx's
+sensational revolution was at an end, and that the regents would be
+highly honoured if his Excellency could overlook the distressingly
+chaotic conditions at court and condescend to pay the Castle a visit.
+The regents, the Prince and the citizens of Graustark desired the
+opportunity to express their gratitude for the manner in which he had
+voluntarily (and unexpectedly) come to their assistance in time of
+trouble. The fact that he had come too late to render the invaluable aid
+he so nobly intended did not in the least minimise the volume of
+gratefulness they felt.
+
+The Grand Duke admitted that he was at sea, diplomatically. He was a
+fifth wheel, so to speak, now that the revolution was over. Not so much
+as the tip of his finger had he been able to get into the coveted pie.
+There was nothing for him to do but to turn round with his five thousand
+Cossacks and march disconsolately across the steppes to an Imperial
+railroad, where he could embark for home. However, he would visit the
+Castle in a very informal way, extend his congratulations, offer his
+services--which he knew would be declined with thanks--and profess his
+unbounded joy in the discovery that Graustark happily was so able to
+take care of herself. Incidentally, he would mention the bond issue;
+also, he would find the opportunity to suggest to the ministry that his
+government still was willing to make large grants and stupendous
+promises if any sort of an arrangement could be made by which the system
+might be operated in conjunction with branch lines of the Imperial
+roads.
+
+And so it was that at noon he rode in pomp and splendour through the
+city gates, attended by his staff and a rather overpowering body-guard.
+His excuse for the early call was delicately worded. He said in his
+reply to the message from the Count that it would give him great
+pleasure to remain for some time at the Castle, were it not for the fact
+that he had left his own province in a serious state of unrest; it was
+imperative that he should return in advance of the ever-possible and
+always popular uprising. Therefore he would pay his respects to his
+serene Highness, renew his protestations of friendship, extend his
+felicitations, and beg leave to depart for his own land without delay.
+
+As he rode from Regengetz Circus into Castle Avenue, a small knot of
+American tourists crowded to the curb and bent eager, attentive ears to
+the words of a stubby little person whom we should recognise by his
+accent; but, for fear that there may be some who have forgotten him in
+the rush of events, we will point to his cap and read aloud: "Cook's
+Interpreter."
+
+Mr. Hobbs was saying: "The gentleman on the gray horse, ladies and
+gentlemen, is his _Highness_, the Grand Duke Paulus. He has come to pay
+his respects to his Serene Highness. Now, if you will kindly step this
+way, I will show you the spot where the bomb was thrown. 'Aving been an
+eye-witness to the shocking occurrence, I respectfully submit that I,"
+etc. With a pride and dignity that surpassed all moderate sense of
+appreciation, he delivered newly made history unto his charges, modestly
+winding up his discourse with the casual remark that the Prince had but
+recently appointed him twelfth assistant steward at the Castle, and that
+he expected to assume the duties of this honorary position just as soon
+as Cook & Sons could find a capable man to send up in his place.
+
+The American tourists, it may be well to observe, arrived by the first
+train that entered the city from the outside world.
+
+The audience was at two o'clock. Prince Robin was in a state of
+tremendous excitement. Never before had he been called upon to receive a
+grand duke. He quite forgot yesterday's battle in the face of this most
+imposing calamity. More than that, he was in no frame of mind to enjoy
+the excitement attending the rehabilitation of the Castle; oppressed by
+the approaching shadow of the great man, he lost all interest in what
+was going on in the Castle, about the grounds and among his courtiers.
+
+"What'll I do, Uncle Jack, if he asks any questions?" he mourned. They
+were dressing him in the robes of state.
+
+"Answer 'em," said his best friend.
+
+"But supposin' I can't? Then what?"
+
+"He won't ask questions, Bobby. People never do when a potentate is on
+his throne. It's shockingly bad form."
+
+"I hope he won't stay long," prayed Bobby, a grave pucker between his
+brows. He was a very tired little boy. His eyes were heavy with sleep
+and his lips were not very firm.
+
+"Count Halfont will look after him, Bobby; so don't worry. Just sit up
+there on the throne and look wise. The regents will do the rest. Watch
+your Uncle Caspar. When he gives the signal, you arise. That ends the
+audience. You walk out--"
+
+"I know all about that, Uncle Jack. But I bet I do something wrong. This
+thing of receiving grand dukes is no joke. 'Specially when we're so
+terribly upset. Really, I ought to be looking after the men who are
+wounded, attending to the funerals of--"
+
+"Now, Bobby, don't flunk like that! Be a man!"
+
+Bobby promptly squared his little shoulders and set his jaw. "Oh, I'm
+not scared!" He was thoughtful for a moment. "But, I'll tell you, it's
+awful lonesome up in that big chair, so far away from all your friends.
+I wish Uncle Caspar would let me sit down with the crowd."
+
+The Grand Duke, with all the arrogance of a real personage, was late. It
+was not for him to consider the conditions that distressed the Court of
+Graustark. Not at all. He was a grand duke and he would take his own
+time in paying his respects. What cared he that every one in the Castle
+was tired and unstrung and sad and--sleepy? Any one but a grand duke
+would have waited a day or two before requiring a royal audience. When
+he finally presented himself at the Castle doors, a sleepy group of
+attendants actually yawned in his presence.
+
+A somnolent atmosphere, still touched by the smell of gunpowder, greeted
+him as he strode majestically down the halls. Somehow each person who
+bowed to him seemed to do it with the melancholy precision of one who
+has been up for six nights in succession and doesn't care who knows it.
+
+No one had slept during the night just passed. Excitement and the
+suffering of others had denied slumber to one and all--even to those who
+had not slept for many days and nights. Now the reaction was upon them.
+Relaxation had succeeded tenseness.
+
+When the Grand Duke entered the great, sombre throne room, he was
+confronted by a punctiliously polite assemblage, but every eyelid was as
+heavy as lead and as prone to sink.
+
+The Prince sat far back in the great chair of his ancestors, his sturdy
+legs sticking straight out in front of him, utterly lost in the depths
+of gold and royal velvet. Two-score or more of his courtiers and as many
+noble ladies of the realm stood soberly in the places assigned them by
+the laws of precedence. The Grand Duke advanced between the respectful
+lines and knelt at the foot of the throne.
+
+"Arise, your Highness," piped Bobby, with a quick glance at Count
+Halfont. It was a very faint, faraway voice that uttered the gracious
+command. "Graustark welcomes the Grand Duke Paulus. It is my pleasure
+to--to--to--" a helpless look came into his eyes. He looked everywhere
+for support. The Grand Duke saw that he had forgotten the rehearsed
+speech, and smiled benignly as he stepped forward and kissed the hand
+that had been extended somewhat uncertainly.
+
+"My most respectful homage to your Majesty. The felicitations of my
+emperor and the warmest protestations of friendship from his people."
+
+With this as a prologue, he engaged himself in the ever-pleasurable task
+of delivering a long, congratulatory address. If there was one thing
+above another that the Grand Duke enjoyed, it was the making of a
+speech. He prided himself on his prowess as an orator and as an
+after-dinner speaker; but, more than either of these, he gloried in his
+ability to soar extemporaneously.
+
+For ten minutes he addressed himself to the throne, benignly,
+comfortably. Then he condescended to devote a share of his precious
+store to the courtiers behind him. If he caught more than one of them
+yawning when he turned in their direction, he did not permit it to
+disturb him in the least. His eyes may have narrowed a bit, but that was
+all.
+
+After five minutes of high-sounding platitudes, he again turned to the
+Prince. It was then that he received his first shock.
+
+Prince Robin was sound asleep. His head was slipping side-wise along the
+satiny back of the big chair, and his chin was very low in the laces at
+his neck. The Grand Duke coughed emphatically, cleared his throat, and
+grew very red in the face.
+
+The Court of Graustark was distinctly dismayed. Here was shocking state
+of affairs. The prince going to sleep while a grand duke talked!
+
+"His Majesty appears to have--ahem--gone to sleep," remarked the Grand
+Duke tartly, interrupting himself to address the Prime Minister.
+
+"He is very tired, your Excellency," said Count Halfont, very much
+distressed. "Pray consider what he has been through during the--"
+
+"Ah, my dear Count, do not apologise for him. I quite understand. Ahem!
+Ahem!" Still he was very red in the face. Some one had laughed softly
+behind his back.
+
+"I will awaken him, your Excellency," said the Prime Minister, edging
+toward the throne.
+
+"Not at all, sir!" protested the visitor. "Permit him to have his sleep
+out, sir. I will not have him disturbed. Who am I that I should defeat
+the claims of nature? It is my pleasure to wait until his Majesty's nap
+is over. Then he may dismiss us, but not until we have cried: 'Long live
+the Prince!'"
+
+For awhile they stood in awkward silence, this notable gathering of men
+and women. Then the Prime Minister, in hushed tones, suggested that it
+would be eminently proper, under the circumstances, for all present to
+be seated. He was under the impression that His Serene Highness would
+sleep long and soundly.
+
+Stiff-backed and uncomfortable, the Court sat and waited. No one
+pretended to conceal the blissful yawns that would not be denied. A
+drowsy, ineffably languid feeling took possession of the entire
+assemblage. Here and there a noble head nodded slightly; eyelids fell in
+the silent war against the god of slumber, only to revive again with
+painful energy and ever-weakening courage.
+
+The Prime Minister sat at the foot of the throne and nodded in spite of
+himself. The Minister of the Treasury was breathing so heavily that his
+neighbor nudged him just in time to prevent something even more
+humiliating. John Tullis, far back near the wall, had his head on his
+hand, bravely fighting off the persistent demon. Prince Dantan of
+Dawsbergen was sound asleep.
+
+The Grand Duke was wide awake. He saw it all and was equal to the
+occasion. After all, he was a kindly old gentleman, and, once his moment
+of mortification was over, he was not above charity.
+
+Bobby's poor little head had slipped over to a most uncomfortable
+position against the arm of the chair. Putting his finger to his lips,
+the Grand Duke tip-toed carefully up to the throne. With very gentle
+hands he lifted Bobby's head, and, infinitely tender, stuffed a throne
+cushion behind the curly head. Still with his finger to his lips, a
+splendid smile in his eyes, he tip-toed back to his chair.
+
+As he passed Count Halfont, who had risen, he whispered:
+
+"Dear little man! I do not forget, my lord, that I was once a boy. God
+bless him!"
+
+Then he sat down, conscious of a fine feeling of goodness, folded his
+arms across his expansive chest, and allowed his beaming eyes to rest
+upon the sleeping boy far back in the chair of state. Incidentally, he
+decided to delay a few days before taking up the bond question with the
+ministry. The Grand Duke was not an ordinary diplomat.
+
+In one of the curtained windows, far removed from the throne, sat
+Truxton King and Loraine Tullis.
+
+All about them people were watching the delicate little scene, smiling
+drowsily at the Grand Duke's tender comedy. No one was looking at the
+two in the curtained recess. Her hand was in his, her head sank slowly
+toward his inviting shoulder; her heavy lids drooped lower and lower,
+refusing to obey the slender will that argued against complete
+surrender. At last her soft, regular breathing told him that she was
+asleep. Awaiting his opportunity, he tenderly kissed the soft, brown
+hair, murmured a gentle word of love, and settled his own head against
+the thick cushions.
+
+Everywhere they dozed and nodded. The Grand Duke smiled and blinked his
+little eyes. He was very wide awake.
+
+That is how he happened to see the Prince move restlessly and half open
+his sleep-bound eyes. The Grand Duke leaned forward with his hand to his
+ear, and listened. He had seen the boy's lips move. From dreamland came
+Bobby's belated:
+
+"Good-ni--ight."
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Truxton King, by George Barr McCutcheon
+
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