As he spoke the Princess Emma had crossed the room toward him. Now
she stood at his side, her hand in his. Tense silence reigned in the
apartment. The old chancellor stood with bowed head, buried in
thought. All eyes were upon him except those of the doctor, who had
turned his attention from the dead king to the wounded assassin.
Butzow stood looking at Barney Custer in open relief and admiration.
He had been trying to vindicate his friend in his own mind ever
since he had discovered, as he believed, that Barney had tricked
Leopold after the latter had saved his life at Blentz and ridden to
Lustadt in the king's guise. Now that he knew the whole truth he
realized how stupid he had been not to guess that the man who had
led the victorious Luthanian army before Lustadt could not have been
the cowardly Leopold.

Presently the chancellor broke the silence.

"You say that Leopold of Lutha lived futilely. You are right; but
when you say that he has died futilely, you are, I believe, wrong.
Living, he gave us a poor weakling. Dying, he leaves the throne to a
brave man, in whose veins flows the blood of the Rubinroths,
hereditary rulers of Lutha.

"You are the only rightful successor to the throne of Lutha," he
argued, "other than Peter of Blentz. Your mother's marriage to a
foreigner did not bar the succession of her offspring. Aside from
the fact that Peter of Blentz is out of the question, is the more
important fact that your line is closer to the throne than his. He
knew it, and this knowledge was the real basis of his hatred of
you."

As the old chancellor ceased speaking he drew his sword and raised
it on high above his head.

"The king is dead," he said. "Long live the king!"

XVI

KING OF LUTHA

Barney Custer, of Beatrice, had no desire to be king of Lutha. He
lost no time in saying so. All that he wanted of Lutha was the girl
he had found there, as his father before him had found the girl of
his choice. Von der Tann pleaded with him.

"Twice have I fought under you, sire," he urged. "Twice, and only
twice since the old king died, have I felt that the future of Lutha
was safe in the hands of her ruler, and both these times it was you
who sat upon the throne. Do not desert us now. Let me live to see
Lutha once more happy, with a true Rubinroth upon the throne and my
daughter at his side."

Butzow added his pleas to those of the old chancellor. The American
hesitated.

"Let us leave it to t