t 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