de.

"Let us wait," Marco said, trembling a little. "He will not want any
one to see him. Let us wait."

His black pits of eyes looked immense, and he stood at his tallest, but
he was trembling slightly from head to foot. The Rat had begun to
shake, as if from an ague. His face was scarcely human in its fierce
unboyish emotion.

"Marco! Marco!" his whisper was a cry. "That was what he went
for--BECAUSE HE KNEW!"

"Yes," answered Marco, "that was what he went for." And his voice was
unsteady, as his body was.

Presently the sobs inside the room choked themselves back suddenly.
Lazarus had remembered. They had guessed he had been leaning against
the wall during his outburst. Now it was evident that he stood
upright, probably shocked at the forgetfulness of his frenzy.

So Marco turned the handle of the door and went into the room. He shut
the door behind him, and they all three stood together.

When the Samavian gives way to his emotions, he is emotional indeed.
Lazarus looked as if a storm had swept over him. He had choked back
his sobs, but tears still swept down his cheeks.

"Sir," he said hoarsely, "your pardon! It was as if a convulsion
seized me. I forgot everything--even my duty. Pardon, pardon!" And
there on the worn carpet of the dingy back sitting-room in the
Marylebone Road, he actually went on one knee and kissed the boy's hand
with adoration.

"You mustn't ask pardon," said Marco. "You have waited so long, good
friend. You have given your life as my father has. You have known all
the suffering a boy has not lived long enough to understand. Your big
heart--your faithful heart--" his voice broke and he stood and looked
at him with an appeal which seemed to ask him to remember his boyhood
and understand the rest.

"Don't kneel," he said next. "You mustn't kneel." And Lazarus,
kissing his hand again, rose to his feet.

"Now--we shall HEAR!" said Marco. "Now the waiting will soon be over."

"Yes, sir. Now, we shall receive commands!" Lazarus answered.

The Rat held out the newspapers.

"May we read them yet?" he asked.

"Until further orders, sir," said Lazarus hurriedly and
apologetically--"until further orders, it is still better that I should
read them first."

XXX

THE GAME IS AT AN END

So long as the history of Europe is written and read, the unparalleled
story of the Rising of the Secret Party in Samavia will stand out as
one of its most startling and romanti