; it is that you
and I and all the brave men who fought to-day for you will be at the
mercy of Arlano,--at the mercy of the man whose father slew your
aunt,--at the mercy of the man who tortured to death Banaca. It is a
bloody mercy we would get. Beside your own, a thousand lives depend
upon what you do before night."

The girl drew back from him in fright. With the memory of her quiet
yesterday in the sun; the drowsy yesterdays which preceded it; with
the picture of this very man who in the past had never stood to her
for anything but a pleasant companion at tea, the present situation
seemed absurd and unreal. What was she that her insignificant actions
should be of such moment? She had but one object in mind: to place
Danbury without the power of all this strife, and she was even balked
in that. For the first time she realized fully what a serious crisis
he had precipitated. But it was too late for her to check its results.
If she went now with General Otaballo, it would leave no possible
outlet for her to avoid assuming the title of Queen; she must mount
the throne at once. To do this meant to give up the greatest thing in
her life. There was no possible escape from it. Only by renouncing
Danbury utterly, by keeping him from Carlina, could she save his life.
The only alternative was to fly, but this meant the sacrifice of too
many other lives dear to her. The loyal, aged man before her who had
thrown the remnant of his years into the cause was in itself enough to
banish such a thought from her mind.

And this was what Dick had come across the seas to accomplish. It was
a cruel jest of Fate. In his desire to secure for her all that he in
his big heart thought she deserved, he had cheated her of the very
thing her soul most craved. Yes, it was cruel, cruel. It would have
been easier if he had not told her of his love, if he at least had
left it a thing merely to be guessed at, a pleasant dream which she
could have kept always as a sort of fairy possibility.

Her cheeks lost their color as she faced the man who watched her with
fatherly solicitude. He stood waiting like some Nemesis,--waiting with
the assurance that she would act as all the royal women of her race
had always acted, bravely and loyally. From without there came a fresh
cheer from the impatient men who waited for her.

"You hear?" he asked gently.

Her lips scarcely moved.

"Yes, I hear."

For a moment she smothered her face in her hands. This mea