I was now on my feet again, and Barraclough dropped me into a chair.
"They got in by the windows of the music-room," I said.

"Yes," he assented. "Ellison and Jackson ran up from the saloon on the
alarm, apparently just in time to meet the rush. Ellison's bad--bullet
in the groin."

"I must see to him," I said, struggling up. A hand pressed me gently on
the shoulder, and even so I winced with pain.

"You must not go yet," said the Princess. "There is yourself to
consider. You are not fit."

I looked past her towards the windows, some of which had been unbarred
in the conflict.

"I fear I can't afford to be an invalid," I said. "There is so much to
do. I will lie up presently, Miss Morland. If Sir John will be good
enough to get me my bag, which is in the ante-chamber, I think I can
make up on what I have."

Barraclough departed silently, and I was alone with the Princess.

"I did not come," I said. "I betrayed my trust."

She came a little nearer to my seat. "You would have come if there had
been danger," she said earnestly. "Yet why do we argue thus when death
is everywhere? Three honest men have perished, and we are nearer home
by so much."

"Home!" said I, wondering.

"Yes, I mean home," she said in a quick, low voice. "Don't think that I
am a mere foolish woman. I have always seen the end, and sometimes it
appears to me that we are wasting time in fighting. I know what
threatens, what must fall, and I thank God I am prepared for it. See,
did I not show you before?" and here she laid her hand upon her bosom,
which was heaving.

I shook my head. "You are wrong," said I feebly. "There is nothing
certain yet. Think, I beg you, how many chances God scatters in this
world, and how to turn a corner, to pause a moment, may change the face
of destiny. A breath, a wind, the escape of a jet of steam, a valve
astray, a jagged rock in the ocean, the murmur of a voice, a
handshake--anything the least in this world may cause the greatest
revolution in this world. No, you must not give up hope."

"I will not," she said. "I will hope on; but I am ready for the worst."

"And the Prince?" I asked.

"I think he has changed much of late," she said slowly. "He is altered.
Yet I do think he, too, is ready. The prison closes upon us."

She had endured so bravely. That delicate nature had breasted so nobly
these savage perils and mischances that it was no wonder her fortitude
had now given way. But that occasion was t