ingdom. A city of 75,000
people in the hands of hirelings! The shame of it!"

Truxton King was leaning against a column not far from the little group,
nervously pulling away at the pipe Quinnox had given him. As if impelled
by a common thought, a half dozen pairs of eyes were turned in his
direction. Their owners looked as quickly away, again moved by a common
thought.

The Minister of Mines gave utterance to a single sentence that might
well have been called the epitome of that shrewd, concentrated thought:

"There must be some one who can get to John Tullis before it is too
late."

They looked at one another and then once more at the American who had
come among them, avowedly in quest of adventure.

CHAPTER XIX

TRUXTON EXACTS A PROMISE

Truxton King had been in a resentful frame of mind for nearly
forty-eight hours. In the first place, he had not had so much as a
single glimpse of the girl he now worshipped with all his heart. In the
second place, he had learned, with unpleasant promptness, that Count Vos
Engo was the officer in command of the House Guard, a position as
gravely responsible as it was honourable. The cordon about the Castle
was so tightly drawn in these perilous hours that even members of the
household were subjected to examination on leaving or entering.

Truxton naturally did not expect to invade the Castle in search of the
crumb of comfort he so ardently desired; he did not, however, dream that
Vos Engo would deny him the privilege of staring at a certain window
from a rather prim retreat in a far corner of the Plaza.

He had, of course, proffered his services to Colonel Quinnox. The
Colonel, who admired the Americans, gravely informed him that there was
no regular duty to which he could be assigned, but that he would expect
him to hold himself ready for any emergency. In case of an assault, he
was to report to Count Vos Engo.

"We will need our bravest men at the Castle," he had said. Truxton
glowed under the compliment. "In the meantime, Mr. King, regain your
strength in the park. You show the effect of imprisonment. Your
adventures have been most interesting, but I fancy they invite rest for
the present."

It was natural that this new American should become an object of
tremendous interest to every one in and about the Castle. The story of
his mishaps and his prowess was on every lip; his timely appearance in
Regengetz Circus was regarded in the light of divine intervention,