dence is placed in you, I see, and worthily, I am sure. How
is it that you are trusted so implicitly?"

"I inherit the confidence. The captain of the guard is born to his
position. My ancestors held the place before me, and not one betrayed
the trust. The first-born in the last ten generations has been the
captain of the guard in the royal palace, possessing all its secrets. I
shall be the first to betray the trust--and for a man who is nothing to
me."

"I suppose you consider me selfish and vile for placing you in this
position," said Lorry, somewhat contritely.

"No; I have begun the task and I will complete it, come what may,"
answered the captain, firmly. "You are the only being in the world for
whom I would sacrifice my honor voluntarily,--save one."

"I have wondered why you were never tempted to turn traitor to the
Princess and claim the fortune that is represented in the reward."

"Not for five million gavvos, sir!"

"By George, you are a faithful lot! Dangloss, Allode and Ogbot and
yourself, four honest men to whom she trusts her life, her honor. You
belong to a rare species, and I am proud to know you."

The stealthy couple found the cave and spent an hour or more within its
walls, sallying forth after the tardy darkness had crept down over the
mountain and into the peaceful valley. Then began the tortuous descent.
Quinnox in the lead, they walked, crawled and ran down the narrow path,
bruised, scratched and aching by the time they reached the topmost of
the summer houses along the face of the mountain. After this walking was
easier, but stealthiness made their progress slow. Frequently, as they
neared the base, they were obliged to dodge behind houses or to drop
into the ditches by the roadside in, order to avoid patroling police
guards or Axphain sleuth-hounds. Lorry marveled at the vigil the
soldiers were keeping, and was somewhat surprised to learn from the
young captain that prevailing opinion located him in or near the city.
For this reason, while other men were scouring Vienna, Paris and even
London, hordes of vengeful men searched day and night for a clew in the
city of Edelweiss.

The fugitive began to realize how determined was the effort to capture
him and how small the chance of acquittal if he were taken. To his
fevered imagination the enmity of the whole world was shaping itself
against him. The air was charged with hatred, the ground with vengeance,
the trees and rocks with denouncing s