her thoughtful hint decided me. I bent my back to the
task, and in a few seconds they were on the platform on which they, at
Teuta's suggestion, lay flat, one at each side of my seat, so as to keep
the best balance possible.

I took off the clamps, lifted the bags of ballast to the top of the wall,
so that there should be no sound of falling, and started the engine. The
machine moved forward a few inches, so that it tilted towards the outside
of the wall. I threw my weight on the front part of the platform, and we
commenced our downward fall at a sharp angle. A second enlarged the
angle, and without further ado we slid away into the darkness. Then,
ascending as we went, when the engine began to work at its strength, we
turned, and presently made straight for Ilsin.

The journey was short--not many minutes. It almost seemed as if no time
whatever had elapsed till we saw below us the gleam of lights, and by
them saw a great body of men gathered in military array. We slackened
and descended. The crowd kept deathly silence, but when we were amongst
them we needed no telling that it was not due to lack of heart or absence
of joy. The pressure of their hands as they surrounded us, and the
devotion with which they kissed the hands and feet of both the Voivode
and his daughter, were evidence enough for me, even had I not had my own
share of their grateful rejoicing.

In the midst of it all the low, stern voice of Rooke, who had burst a way
to the front beside the Vladika, said:

"Now is the time to attack the Tower. Forward, brothers, but in silence.
Let there not be a sound till you are near the gate; then play your
little comedy of the escaping marauders. And 'twill be no comedy for
them in the Tower. The yacht is all ready for the morning, Mr. Sent
Leger, in case I do not come out of the scrimmage if the bluejackets
arrive. In such case you will have to handle her yourself. God keep
you, my Lady; and you, too, Voivode! Forward!"

In a ghostly silence the grim little army moved forwards. Rooke and the
men with him disappeared into the darkness in the direction of the
harbour of Ilsin.

FROM THE SCRIPT OF THE VOIVODE, PETER VISSARION,

_July_ 7, 1907.

I had little idea, when I started on my homeward journey, that it would
have such a strange termination. Even I, who ever since my boyhood have
lived in a whirl of adventure, intrigue, or