the mountains to assure his friends that he is safe and to bear a certain message of cheer to them, sent forth by the princess. It was all so foolish and crazy, your highness, that we could but jibe and laugh at the poor creature.”
“It is you who have been foolish, sir. Send the old man to me.”
“He has gone, your highness,” in frightened tones.
“So much the better,” said the princess, dismissing him with a wave of the hand. Gartz went away in a daze, and for days he took every opportunity to look for other signs of mental disorder in the conduct of his mistress, at the same time indulging in speculation as to his own soundness of mind.
Ganlook’s population lined the chief thoroughfare, awaiting the departure of the princess, although the hour was early. Beverly peered forth curiously as the coach moved off. The quaint, half-oriental costumes of the townspeople, the odd little children, the bright colors, the perfect love and reverence that shone in the faces of the multitude impressed her deeply. She was never to forget that picturesque morning. Baron Dangloss rode beside the coach until it passed through the southern gates and into the countryside. A company of cavalrymen acted as escort. The bright red trousers and top-boots, with the deep-blue jackets, reminded Beverly more than ever of the operatic figures she had seen so often at home. There was a fierce, dark cast to the faces of these soldiers, however, that removed any suggestion of play. The girl was in ecstasies. Everything about her appealed to the romantic side of her nature; everything seemed so unreal and so like the storybook. The princess smiled lovingly upon the throngs that lined the street; there was no man among them who would not have laid down his life for the gracious ruler.
“Oh, I love your soldiers,” cried Beverly warmly.
“Poor fellows, who knows how soon they may be called upon to face death in the Dawsbergen hills?” said Yetive, a shadow crossing her face.
Dangloss was to remain in Ganlook for several days, on guard against manifestations by the Axphainians. A corps of spies and scouts was working with him, and couriers were ready to ride at a moment’s notice to the castle in Edelweiss. Before they parted, Beverly extracted a renewal of his promise to take good care of Baldos. She sent a message to the injured man, deploring the fact that she was compelled to leave Ganlook without seeing him as she had promised. It was her intention to have him come to Edelweiss as soon as he was in a condition to be removed. Captain Dangloss smiled mysteriously, but he had no comment to make. He had received his orders and was obeying them to the letter.
“I wonder if Grenfall has heard of my harum-scarum trip to St. Petersburg,” reflected Yetive, making herself comfortable in the coach after the gates and the multitudes were far behind.
“I’ll go you a box of chocolate creams that we meet him before we get to Edelweiss,” ventured Beverly.
“Agreed,” said the princess.
“Don’t say ‘agreed,’ dear. ‘Done’ is the word,” corrected the American girl airily.
Beverly won. Grenfall Lorry and a small company of horsemen rode up in furious haste long before the sun was in mid-sky. An attempt to depict the scene between him and his venturesome wife would be a hopeless task. The way in which his face cleared itself of distress and worry was a joy in itself. To use his own words, he breathed freely for the first time in hours. “The American” took the place of the officer who rode beside the coach, and the trio kept up an eager, interesting conversation during the next two hours.
It was a warm, sleepy day, but all signs of drowsiness disappeared with the advent of Lorry. He had reached Edelweiss late the night before, after a three days’ ride from the conference with Dawsbergen. At first he encountered trouble in trying to discover what had become of the princess. Those at the castle were aware of the fact that she had reached Ganlook safely and sought to put him off with subterfuges. He stormed to such a degree, however, that their object failed. The result was that he was off for Ganlook with the earliest light of day.
Regarding the conference with Prince Gabriel’s representatives, he had but little to say. The escaped murderer naturally refused to surrender and was to all appearances quite firmly established in power once more. Lorry’s only hope was that the reversal of feeling in Dawsbergen might work ruin for the prince. He was carrying affairs with a high hand, dealing vengeful blows to the friends of his half-brother and encouraging a lawlessness that sooner or later must prove his undoing. His representatives at the conference were an arrogant, law-defying set of men who laughed scornfully at every proposal made by the Graustarkians.
“We told them that if he were not surrendered to our authorities inside of sixty days we would declare war and go down and take him,” concluded “The American.”
“Two months,” cried Yetive. “I don’t understand.”
“There was method in that ultimatum. Axphain, of course, will set up a howl, but we can forestall any action the Princess Volga may undertake. Naturally, one might suspect that we should declare war at once, inasmuch as he must be taken sooner or later. But here is the point: before two months have elapsed the better element of Dawsbergen will be so disgusted with the new dose of Gabriel that it will do anything to avert a war on his account. We have led them to believe that Axphain will lend moral, if not physical, support to our cause. Give them two months in which to get over this tremendous hysteria, and they’ll find their senses. Gabriel isn’t worth it, you see, and down in their hearts they know it. They really loved young Dantan, who seems to be a devil of a good fellow. I’ll wager my head that in six weeks they’ll be wishing he were back on the throne again. And just to think of it, Yetive, dear, you were off there in the very heart of Axphain, risking everything,” he cried, wiping the moisture from his brow.
“It is just eleven days since I left Edelweiss, and I have had a lovely journey,” she said, with one of her rare smiles. He shook his head gravely, and she resolved in her heart never to give him another such cause for alarm.
“And in the meantime, Mr. Grenfall Lorry, you are blaming me and hating me and all that for being the real cause of your wife’s escapade,” said Beverly Calhoun plaintively. “I’m awfully sorry. But, you must remember one thing, sir; I did not put her up to this ridiculous trip. She did it of her own free will and accord. Besides, I am the one who met the lion and almost got devoured, not Yetive, if you please.”
“I’ll punish you by turning you over to old Count Marlanx, the commander of the army in Graustark,” said Lorry, laughingly. “He’s a terrible ogre, worse than any lion.”
“Heaven pity you, Beverly, if you fall into his clutches,” cried Yetive. “He has had five wives and survives to look for a sixth. You see how terrible it would be.”
“I’m not afraid of him,” boasted Beverly, but there came a time when she thought of those words with a shudder.
“By the way, Yetive, I have had word from Harry Anguish. He and the countess will leave Paris this week, if the baby’s willing, and will be in Edelweiss soon. You don’t know how it relieves me to know that Harry will be with us at this time.”
Yetive’s eyes answered his enthusiasm. Both had a warm and grateful memory of the loyal service which the young American had rendered his friend when they had first come to Graustark in quest of the princess; and both had a great regard for his wife, the Countess Dagmar, who, as Yetive’s lady in waiting, had been through all the perils of those exciting days with them.
As they drew near the gates of Edelweiss, a large body of horsemen rode forth to meet them. The afternoon was well on the way to night, and the air of the valley was cool and refreshing, despite the rays of the
