shot through the leg and arm and it
was with extreme difficulty that the pair succeeded in regaining the
passage and closing the door. No other attempt was made that night.
Sunday night a quick sortie was made, it being the hope of the besieged
that two selected men might elude Marlanx's watch-dogs during the melee
that followed. Curiously enough, the only men killed were the two who
had been chosen to run the gauntlet in the gallant, but ill-timed
attempt to reach John Tullis.

On Monday morning the first direct word from Count Marlanx came to the
Castle. Under a flag of truce, two of his men were admitted to the
grounds. They presented the infamous ultimatum of the Iron Count. In
brief, it announced the establishment of a dictatorship pending the
formal assumption of the crown by the conqueror. With scant courtesy the
Iron Count begged to inform Prince Robin that his rule was at an end.
Surrender would result in his safe conduct to America, the home of his
father; defiance would just so surely end in death for him and all of
his friends. The Prince was given twenty-four hours in which to
surrender his person to the new governor of the city. With the
expiration of the time limit mentioned, the Castle would be shelled from
the fortress, greatly as the dictator might regret the destruction of
the historic and well-beloved structure. No one would be spared if it
became necessary to bombard; the rejection of his offer of mercy would
be taken as a sign that the defenders were ready to die for a lost
cause. He would cheerfully see to it that they died as quickly as
possible, in order that the course of government might not be obstructed
any longer than necessary.

The defenders of the Castle tore his message in two and sent it back to
him without disfiguring it by a single word in reply. The scornful
laughter which greeted the reading of the document by Count Halfont did
not lose any of its force in the report that the truce-bearers carried,
with considerable uneasiness, to the Iron Count later on.

No one in the Castle was deceived by Marlanx's promise to provide safe
conduct for the Prince. They knew that the boy was doomed if he fell
into the hands of this iniquitous old schemer. More than that, there was
not a heart among them so faint that it was not confident of eventual
victory over the usurper. They could hold out for weeks against
starvation. Hope is an able provider.

A single, distant volley at sunset had puzz