The San Francisco call., 1901-12-08


her for this. Tell her that every drop of
blood in my body belongs to her. She
offers me freedom. but makes me Rer
slave for life. Yes, 1 shall be ready.
If I do not see you again, good friends,
remember that I love you because you
love her and because she leves you enough
to entrust a most dangerous secret to
your keeping, the commission of act
that may mean the downfall of your ma
tiOn. He shook hands with them fer
vently.
1T cannot be that, sir. 1t may cost the
lives of three of her subjects. but no man
save yourself can involve the PrincessF
the crown. They may XIII US. but tiny
cannot force US TO betray her. trust you
will be as loyal to the good girl who
wears a crown, not upon her heart" said
. DangiOss, earnestly.
81 have said my life is. hers. gentle
men," said Lorry. simply. "God, If I could
but throw myself at her feet! must see
her before so. will not go without tell
ing her what is in my hearth he added,
.passionately.
You must obey the commands implicit
ly, on your word of honor, or the trans
action ends now" said Quinnox. firmly.
This escape means, then, that am
not to see her again. he said, his voice
choking with emotion.
Her instructions are that you are to
go tonight, at once" said Dangloss. and
the black-eyed soldier nodded connrma-
ton.
The prisoner paced the floor Of his cell.
his mind a tumble of conflicting emotions
His clenched hands, twitching lips and
half-closed eyes betrayed the battle that
was inhicting him with its carnage. Sud
denly he daTted to the door, crying:
Then refuse to obeyi Tell her that
If she permits me to leave this hole
shall be at her feet before another night
has passed. Say to her that I refuse 10
go from Graustark until I have seen her
and talked with her. You, Quinnox, go
to her now and tell her this, and say ts-
her also that there is something she mussN
hear from my own lips. Then I will Ieavey
Graustark, and not till then, even though
death be the alternative" The two men
stared at him in amazement and con-
sternation.
You will not escape?'' gasped Ouinnox.
I will not be dragged away without
seeing her., he answered resolutely.
throwing himself on the bed
Damned young ASST growled Dan
gloss. The soldiers teeth grated. A mo-
ment later the slab door closed SOFTLY, a
key rattle. and his visitors were gone
messengers bearing to him the most posi-
tive proof of devotion that man could
exact. What had she offered to do for
his sake? She had planned his escape.
had. sanctioned the commission Of an un-
her land-she, Of all women, a Princess
But she also had sought to Danish him
from the shrine at which his very soul
worshiped, a fate more cruel and un-
endurable than the one she would have
saved him from.
He looked at his hands and saw the
black stains from the charred letter. last
evidence of the crime against the state
A tender light came to his eyes a great
lump struggled to his throat and he
kissed the sOOty spots, murmuring her
name again and again. How lonely he
was, How cold and cheerless his cage!
For the first time he began to appreciate
the real seriousness Of his position. Up
to this time he had regarded it Optimis-
tically, confident of vindicatiOn and
acquittal. His only objection to imprisOu-
ment grew out Of annoyance and the
mere depriva ton Of liberty. 1t had not
entered his head that he was actually
facing death at close range OF course,
it had been plain to him that the charges
were serious. and that he was awkwardly
situated, but the true enOrmity of his
peril did not dawn upon him until free
dom was offered in such a remarkable
manner. He grew cold and shUddered in
stinctively as he realized that his position
was so critical that the Princess had
deemed it necessary to resort to strategic
measures in order to save him from i'm
pending doom. Starting to his feet ne
paced the floor, nervousness turning to
dread, dread to terror. He pounded on
the door and cried aloud. Oh, if he could
but bring back those kindly messengers!
Exhausted, torn by conflicting emotions.
he at last dropped to the bed and buried
his face in his arms, nearly mad with the
sudden solitude Of despair. He recalled
her dear letter-the tender, helping hand
that had been stretched out to lift him
from the depths into which he was sink
ing She had written-he could sec the
words plainly-that his danger was great;
she could not endure life until she knew
him to be safely outside the bounds OF
Graustark. His life was dear to her, and
she would preserve 1t by dishonoring her
trust. Then she had unfolded her sAan
of escape, disjointedly, guiltily, hopeless
ly In one place near the end she wrote:
'You have done much more for me than
you know, so I pray that God may be
good enough to let me repay you so far
as 1t lies within my power to do so.' In
another place she said: you may trust
my accomplices, for they love me, too"
An admission unconsciously made, that
word ''too."
But she was offering him freedom only
to send him away without granting one
moment of joy in her presence. After all,
with death staring him in the face, the
practically convicted murderer Of a prince,
he knew he could not have gone without
haps, but the message he had sent to her
was from his heart, and something told
him that it would give her pleasure.
key turned suddenly In the lock, and
his heart bounded with the hope that it
might be some one with her surrender in
response to his ultimatum. He sat up
right and rubbed his swollen eyes, The
door swung open. and tall prison guard
peered in upon him. a sharp-eyed' low
brOwed fellow in rain coat and helmet
His lanterns single unkind eye was
turned toward the bed.
prisoner, irrftably
Instead Of answering, the guard pro-
ceeded to unlock the second or grated
door stepping inside the cell moment
later. Smothering an exclamation, Lofty
jerl1ed out his watch and then sprans 70
o'clock and he remembered now that she
nod soid q sr,ord would come to him at