o so in your presence. I
speak, however, to the representatives of a nation whose liberty and
whose very existence is threatened, and I offer them--in a
word--salvation. That is my excuse for my presence here to-day."

"What your offer really amounts to is no doubt the Russian yoke
instead of the Turkish," Ughtred remarked, bitterly. "My forefathers
have tasted more than once of Muscovite generosity."

Gourdolis shook his head gravely.

"Your Majesty," he said, "you wrong my country, and my master. Our
demands are very simple, and I lay the terms of them here upon the
table. The only conditions upon which I regret to say that my master
is immovable is the immediate abdication of your Majesty."

The King sat with unchanged face.

"In favour of whom?" he asked.

"Nicholas, Duke of Reist!"

"Is the Duke of Reist cognizant of this, and willing to accept the
throne?" the King asked.

"He is, your Majesty," Baron Doxis answered.

Marie rose to her feet.

"It is false," she declared. "My brother is a patriot, and he has
taken the oath of allegiance to the King. I pledge my word for his
that he will keep that oath."

A murmur of blank amazement was followed by a dead silence. Gourdolis
was speechless. The King looked around him, sternly.

"Have I by chance stumbled upon a conspiracy?" he asked. "What do you
say, Taverner, and you, Valgrosse? Did you come here prepared to
listen to such a proposition as this?"

"Indeed, your Majesty," Taverner answered, hastily, "I did not."

"Nor I!" Valgrosse echoed.

"What about you, Doxis?" the King asked.

The old Baron, who, for many years had been chairman of the House of
Laws, rose slowly to his feet.

"Your Majesty," he said, "I will admit that I alone of those present
here had some knowledge of this proposal. I hope that your Majesty
will not look upon my presence here as disloyal or unseemly. Only in
my heart is deep engraven the love of my country and her people, and
the one dread of my life has been the coming of the Turk. Your
Majesty, no one has been a more sincere admirer than myself of the
wise and careful manner in which you have ruled this country. Young
though you are, you have more than fulfilled our most sanguine
expectations. Only I fear that unaided we may as well hope to stem the
tide of the mighty Danube as repel this Turkish invasion."

"You have spoken like a true man, Doxis," the King said. "Yet I must
remind you that your presence here is aki