By this time they were passing the queer little huts that marked the

outskirts of a habitable community. These were the homes of shepherds,

hunters and others whose vocations related especially to the

mountains. Farther on there were signs of farming interests; the homes

became more numerous and more pretentious in appearance. The rock-lined

gorge broadened into a fertile valley; the road was smooth and level, a

condition which afforded relief to the travelers. Ravone had once more

dressed the wounds inflicted by the lion; but he was unable to provide

anything to subdue the fever. Baldos was undeniably ill. Beverly,

between her exclamations of joy and relief at being in sight of Ganlook,

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was profuse in her expressions of concern for the hero of the Hawk and

Raven. The feverish gleam in his dark eyes and the pain that marked his

face touched her deeply. Suffering softened his lean, sun-browned

features, obliterating the mocking lines that had impressed her so

unfavorably at the outset. She was saying to herself that he was

handsome after a most unusual cast; it was an unforgetable face.

"Your highness," he said earnestly, after she had looked long and

anxiously at his half-closed eyes, "we are within an hour of Ganlook. It

will be dark before we reach the gates, I know, but you have nothing to

fear during the rest of the trip. Franz shall drive you to the sentry

post and turn over the horses to your own men. My friends and I must

leave you at the end of the mountain road. We are--"

"Ridiculous!" she cried. "I'll not permit it! You must go to a

hospital."

"If I enter the Ganlook gates it will be the same as entering the gates

of death," he protested.

"Nonsense! You have a fever or you wouldn't talk like that. I can

promise you absolute security."

"You do not understand, your highness."

"Nevertheless, you are going to a hospital," she firmly said. "You would

die out here in the wilds, so what are the odds either way? Aunt Fanny,

will you be careful? Don't you know that the least movement of

those bags hurts him?"

"Please, do not mind me, your highness. I am doing very well," he said,

smiling.

The coach brought up in front of a roadside inn. While some of the men

were watering the horses others gathered about its open window. A

conversation in a tongue utterly incomprehensible to Beverly took place

between Baldos and his followers. The latter seemed to be disturbed

about something, and there was no mistaking the solicitous air with

which they regarded their leader. The pseudo-princess was patient as

long as possible and then broke into the discussion.

"What do they want?" she demanded in English.

"They are asking for instructions," he answered.




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