ed decanter; a second
later, the missile caught me in the chest and hurled me back against
the wall. As I fell I dropped my weapon, and they were upon me. I
thought it was all over; but as they surged round, in the madness of
drink and anger, I, looking through their ranks, saw the door open and
a crowd of men rush in. Who was at their head? Thank God! it was the
colonel, and his voice rose high above the tumult:

"Order, gentlemen, order!" Then to his men he added:

"Each mark your man, and two of you bring Mr. Martin here."

I was saved. To explain how, I must tell you what had been happening
at the Golden House, and how the night attack had fared.

CHAPTER X.

TWO SURPRISES.

It is a sad necessity that compels us to pry into the weaknesses of
our fellow-creatures, and seek to turn them to our own profit. I am
not philosopher enough to say whether this course of conduct derives
any justification from its universality, but in the region of
practice, I have never hesitated to place myself on a moral level with
those with whom I had to deal. I may occasionally even have left the
other party to make this needful adjustment, and I have never known
him fail to do so. I felt, therefore, very little scruple in making
use of the one weak spot discoverable in the defenses of our
redoubtable opponent, his Excellency the President of Aureataland. No
doubt the reader's eye has before now detected the joint in that great
man's armor at which we directed our missile. As a lover, I grudged
the employment of the signorina in this service; as a politician, I
was proud of the device; as a human being, I recognized, what we are
very ready to recognize, that it did not become me to refuse to work
with such instruments as appeared to be put into my hands.

But whatever may be the verdict of moralists on our device, events
proved its wisdom. The President had no cause to suspect a trap;
therefore, like a sensible man, he chose to spend the evening with the
signorina rather than with his gallant officers. With equally good
taste, he elected to spend it _tete-a-tete_ with her, when she gave
him the opportunity. In our subsequent conversations, the signorina
was not communicative as to how the early hours of the evening passed.
She preferred to begin her narrative from the point when their
solitude was interrupted. As I rely on her account and that of the
colonel for this part of my story, I am compelled to make my start
from