r. Say, has she just got to marry Count Vos Engo?"

"My boy, what put that question into your mind?"

"She says she has to. I thought only princes and princesses had to marry
people they don't want to."

"You should not believe all that you hear."

Bobby was silent for twenty steps. Then he said: "Well, I think she'll
make an awful mistake if she lets Mr. King get away."

"My boy, we have other affairs to trouble us at present without taking
up the affairs of Miss Tullis."

"Well, he saved her life, just like they do in story books," protested
the Prince.

"Well, you run in and tell her this minute that Mr. King sends his love
to her and begs her to rest easy. See if it doesn't cheer her up a bit."

"Maybe she's worried about Uncle Jack. I never thought about that," he
faltered.

"Uncle Jack will come out on top, never fear," cried the old man.

Half an hour later, Truxton King, shaven and shorn, outfitted and
polished, received orders to ride for twenty minutes back and forth
across the Plaza. He came down from Colonel Quinnox's rooms in the
officer's row, considerably mystified, and mounted the handsome bay
that he had brought through the gates. Haddan, of the Guard, rode with
him to the Plaza, but could offer no explanation for the curious
command.

Five times the now resentful American walked his horse across the Plaza,
directly in front of the terrace and the great balconies. About him
paced guardsmen, armed and alert; on the outer edge of the parade ground
a company of soldiers were hurrying through the act of changing the
Guard; in the lower balcony excited men and women were walking back and
forth, paying not the least attention to him. Above him frowned the
grey, lofty walls of the Castle. No one was in view on the upper
balcony, beyond which he had no doubt lay the royal chambers. He had the
mean, uncomfortable feeling that people were peering at him from remote
windows.

Suddenly a small figure in bright red and gold and waving a tiny sword
appeared at the rail of the broad upper gallery. Truxton blinked his
eyes once or, twice and then doffed his hat. The Prince was smiling
eagerly.

"Hello!" he called. Truxton drew rein directly below him.

"I trust your Highness has recovered from the shock of to-day," he
responded. "I have been terribly anxious. Are you quite well?"

"Quite well, thank you." He hesitated for a moment, as if in doubt.
Then: "Say, Mr. King, how's your leg?"

Truxton loo