Karl of Auersperg?"
said John.

"To the death. It was a false escape that I planned for you at the
chateau. You were to have been shot down, but by an unlucky chance you
escaped in the water."

"I've surmised that already."

"I'm an aviator, not so great as your friend Lannes, but no mean one
nevertheless. It was I who pursued him, when you were with him in the
_Arrow_ near Paris, and wounded him."

"I've surmised that, too."

"And when Prince Karl coveted Mademoiselle Julie Lannes--and I do not
blame him--I was of the most help to him in that matter so near to his
heart. Do you understand that it was a great honor he offered
Mademoiselle Lannes, to make her his morganatic wife? He need not have
offered her so much."

The great pulse in John's throat beat heavily and his hand pressed the
automatic, but he compressed his lips and said nothing.

"I see that my words anger you," continued Weber, "but from my point of
view I am right. I serve my overlord!"

"What message were you sending by the wireless from the tower?"

"Doubtless you have guessed it. I was sending word to the detachment now
on the road from Zillenstein to come here for Mademoiselle Lannes, her
maid and you. They're ahorse, and they should arrive in three hours and
you can't possibly escape. Before Prince Karl was compelled to leave for
the theater of war he put this most important affair in my charge. He
has not yet yielded all hope of Mademoiselle Lannes."

"It may be true that we can't escape, but what of yourself, Weber? We're
alone in the forest and I hold the whip hand. The score that I owe you
is large. You may have wrecked the life of Mademoiselle Julie and
perhaps you will destroy my own, but you said it would be three hours
before the detachment arrived, and I need only a few seconds."

"But I don't think you'll fire, Mr. Scott."

"Why, Weber?"

"Because I fire first!"

Absorbed in the talk John had unconsciously lowered the automatic, and,
as agile as a panther, Weber suddenly leaped to one side, snatched a
revolver from his own pocket and pulled the trigger. But the bullet flew
wild. A huge shadow hovered over him and a weight crashed upon his head,
smiting him down as if he had been struck by a giant shell. He sank in
the path and lay motionless, dead ere he fell.

John stared, stricken with horror. The great shadow bent down a moment
over the fallen man, then straightened itself up again, and two eyes in
which the vengefu