great Minister and in fact set many constructions on the empty
words.

Selpdorf received him with an air of gravity, almost of restraint,
entirely unlike the debonnair interest he had shown in him on the
occasion of their last interview.

'I have sent for you, Captain Rallywood,' he said after a moment's
consideration, 'to entrust to you a very delicate mission.'

He ceased and waited for some response. He was standing opposite to
Rallywood on a white fur rug. The upstanding corners of his moustache,
his upright carriage, and the ineffaceable mark left upon him by his
short term of military service--for conscription obtains in Maasau--had
their effect upon Rallywood. He picked out the soldier from the
chancellor and saluted in silence.

Selpdorf smiled. Yet he wished the man had spoken! so much may be
deduced from a tone of voice. Did he guess how much Selpdorf knew of his
relations with Valerie? But there was nothing to be gathered from that
rigid front.

'Before I give you any information, I must ask you first to say whether
you will serve his Highness or not?'

'I have taken the oath, your excellency.'

'Yes,' the Chancellor said dubiously, 'and an oath goes a long way but
sometimes not all the way. Has not some writer said that it is the man
that makes the oath believed, not the oath the man?'

'I have taken the soldier's oath,' repeated Rallywood.

But he had no protestation of fidelity to offer. It rested with Selpdorf
to choose the right man for his mission.

If personal inclination had had any part in the Chancellor's plan of
life, it is certain he would have liked Rallywood. As it was, in
trusting he distrusted him. Rallywood could be relied on to follow a
straight path, he knew, but if it swerved from honour--what then?

'Also I must remind you that a soldier should see no farther than the
point of his sword, and hear no more than his orders. In short, under
many circumstances he has no use for an independent judgment. He must
leave that to those whom he is pledged to obey and with whom rests the
ultimate responsibility. A soldier's single duty is blind obedience.'

Rallywood bowed and continued to await his orders in silence.

'That is well. I am about to send you to Kofn Ford, where you will meet
the midnight mail from the Frontier. At the foot of the mountain
incline, about half-way between the stations, the train will be stopped
and a person placed in your custody. You will take this person