"Oh, if it ever comes to that I shall be in a splendid position to

explain it all to him," said Beverly. "Don't you see, I'll have to do a

lot of explaining myself?"

"Baron Dangloss!" announced the guard of the upper hall, throwing open

the door for the doughty little chief of police.

"Your highness sent for me?" asked he, advancing after the formal

salutation. The princess exhibited genuine amazement.

"I did, Baron Dangloss, but you must have come with the wings of an

eagle. It is really not more than three minutes since I gave the order

to Colonel Quinnox." The baron smiled mysteriously, but volunteered no

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solution. The truth is, he was entering the castle doors as the

messenger left them, but he was much too fond of effect to spoil a good

situation by explanations. It was a long two miles to his office in the

Tower. "Something has just happened that impels me to ask a few

questions concerning Baldos, the new guard."

"May I first ask what has happened?" Dangloss was at a loss for the

meaning of the general smile that went around.

"It is quite personal and of no consequence. What do you know of him? My

curiosity is aroused. Now, be quiet, Beverly; you are as eager to know

as the rest of us."

"Well, your highness, I may as well confess that the man is a puzzle to

me. He comes here a vagabond, but he certainly does not act like one. He

admits that he is being hunted, but takes no one into his confidence.

For that, he cannot be blamed."

"Have you any reason to suspect who he is?" asked Lorry.

"My instructions were to refrain from questioning him," complained

Dangloss, with a pathetic look at the original plotters. "Still, I have

made investigations along other lines."

"And who is he?" cried Beverly, eagerly.

"I don't know," was the disappointing answer. "We are confronted by a

queer set of circumstances. Doubtless you all know that young Prince

Dantan is flying from the wrath of his half-brother, our lamented friend

Gabriel. He is supposed to be in our hills with a half-starved body of

followers. It seems impossible that he could have reached our northern

boundaries without our outposts catching a glimpse of him at some

time. The trouble is that his face is unknown to most of us, I among the

others. I have been going on the presumption that Baldos is in reality

Prince Dantan. But last night the belief received a severe shock."

"Yes?" came from several eager lips.

"My men who are watching the Dawsbergen frontier came in last night and

reported that Dantan had been seen by mountaineers no later than Sunday,

three days ago. These mountaineers were in sympathy with him, and

refused to tell whither he went. We only know that he was in the

southern part of Graustark three days ago. Our new guard speaks many

languages, but he has never been heard to use that of Dawsbergen. That

fact in itself is not surprising, for, of all things, he would avoid his

mother tongue. Dantan is part English by birth and wholly so by

cultivation. In that he evidently finds a mate in this Baldos."




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