By this time they were passing the queer little huts that marked the
outskirts of a habitable community. These were the homes of shepherds,
hunters and others whose vocations related especially to the
mountains. Farther on there were signs of farming interests; the homes
became more numerous and more pretentious in appearance. The rock-lined
gorge broadened into a fertile valley; the road was smooth and level, a
condition which afforded relief to the travelers. Ravone had once more
dressed the wounds inflicted by the lion; but he was unable to provide
anything to subdue the fever. Baldos was undeniably ill. Beverly,
between her exclamations of joy and relief at being in sight of Ganlook,
was profuse in her expressions of concern for the hero of the Hawk and
Raven. The feverish gleam in his dark eyes and the pain that marked his
face touched her deeply. Suffering softened his lean, sun-browned
features, obliterating the mocking lines that had impressed her so
unfavorably at the outset. She was saying to herself that he was
handsome after a most unusual cast; it was an unforgetable face.
"Your highness," he said earnestly, after she had looked long and
anxiously at his half-closed eyes, "we are within an hour of Ganlook. It
will be dark before we reach the gates, I know, but you have nothing to
fear during the rest of the trip. Franz shall drive you to the sentry
post and turn over the horses to your own men. My friends and I must
leave you at the end of the mountain road. We are--"
"Ridiculous!" she cried. "I'll not permit it! You must go to a
hospital."
"If I enter the Ganlook gates it will be the same as entering the gates
of death," he protested.
"Nonsense! You have a fever or you wouldn't talk like that. I can
promise you absolute security."
"You do not understand, your highness."
"Nevertheless, you are going to a hospital," she firmly said. "You would
die out here in the wilds, so what are the odds either way? Aunt Fanny,
will you be careful? Don't you know that the least movement of
those bags hurts him?"
"Please, do not mind me, your highness. I am doing very well," he said,
smiling.
The coach brought up in front of a roadside inn. While some of the men
were watering the horses others gathered about its open window. A
conversation in a tongue utterly incomprehensible to Beverly took place
between Baldos and his followers. The latter seemed to be disturbed
about something, and there was no mistaking the solicitous air with
which they regarded their leader. The pseudo-princess was patient as
long as possible and then broke into the discussion.
"What do they want?" she demanded in English.
"They are asking for instructions," he answered.