the words "dear little boy" over and over again. She was led from the
room by William Spantz. Peter Brutus stood over King, whose arms were
held by two stalwart men.

"Enough!" he commanded. "We spare you, not for her sake, but for the
sake of the cause we serve. Hear me: you are to be held here a prisoner
until our plans are consummated. You will be properly fed and cared for.
You have heard Miss Platanova say that she will cook the food for you
herself, but you are not to see her. Do not seek to turn her from her
purpose. That you cannot do. She is pledged to it; it is irrevocable. We
have perhaps made a mistake in bringing you here: it would have been far
wiser to kill you in the beginning, but--"

King interrupted him. "I haven't the least doubt that you will kill me
in the end. She may not be here to protect me after--after the
assassination."

"She is prepared to die by the same bomb that slays the Prince," was all
that Brutus would say in response to this, but King observed the sly
look that went round amongst them. He knew then that they meant to kill
him in the end.

Afterward, in his little room, he writhed in the agony of helplessness.
The Prince, his court, the government--all were to be blasted to satisfy
the end of this sickening conspiracy. Loraine! She, too, was doomed! He
groaned aloud in his misery and awe.

Food and water came after that, but he ate and drank little, so
depressed had he become. He sought for every means of escape that
suggested itself to him. The walls, the floors, the doors, the stairway
to the armourer's shop--all were impassable, so carefully was he
guarded. From time to time he heard inklings of the plot which was to
culminate on the fatal 26th; he did not get the details in particular,
but he knew that the bomb was to be hurled at the Prince near the
entrance to the plaza and that Marlanx's men were to sweep over the
stricken city almost before the echo died away.

There was a telegraph instrument in the outer room. He could hear it
ticking off its messages day and night, and could hear the discussion of
reports as they came in or went out. It soon became clear to him that
the wire connected the room with Marlanx's headquarters near Balak in
Axphain, a branch instrument being stationed in the cave above the
Witch's hut. He marvelled at the completeness of the great conspiracy;
and marvelled more because it seemed to be absolutely unknown to the
omnipresent Dangloss.

O