"As God is my witness! And you--you--are you the Princess?" gasped the man, drawing back.
"I am. Where is Dannox?" She was sitting bolt upright in the bed, the pistol in her trembling fingers.
"He is one of the conspirators. One of the cooks and two other guards are in the plot. Can you trust me enough to leave your bed and hide in another part of the room? The scoundrels have mistaken the door, but they may be here at any moment. You must be quick! I will protect you--I swear it! Come, your Highness! Hide!"
Something in the fierce, anxious whisper gave her confidence. The miracle had been wrought! He had composed this woman under the most trying circumstances that could have teen imagined. She slipped from the bed and threw a long, loose silken gown about her.
"Who are you?" she asked, touching his arm.
"I am a foreigner--an American--Grenfall Lorry! Hurry!" he implored.
She did not move for a moment, but he distinctly heard her catch her breath.
"Am I dreaming?" she murmured, faintly. Her fingers now clutched his arm tightly.
"I should say not! I don't like to order you around, your Highness, but--"
"Come---- come to the light!" she interrupted, excitedly. "Over here!"
Noiselessly she drew him across the room until the light fell across his face. It was not a bright light, but what she saw satisfied her. He could not see her face, for she stood outside the strip of dusky yellow.
"Two men lie beneath your window, and two are coming to this room. Where shall I go? Come, be quick, madam! Do you want to be carted off to Ganlook? Then don't stand there like a--like a--pardon me, I won't say it."
"I trust you fully. Shall I alarm the guard?" she whispered, recovering her self-possession.
"By no means. I want to catch those devils myself. Afterwards we can alarm the guards!"
"An ideal American!" she surprised him by saying. "Follow me!"
She led him to the doorway. "Stand here, and I will call the Countess. At this side, where it is dark."
She opened the door gently and stood in the light for a second. He saw before him a graceful figure in trailing white, and then he saw her face. She was Miss Guggenslocker!
"My God!" he hoarsely gasped, staggering toward her. "You! You! The Princess?"
"Yes, I am the Princess," she whispered, smiling as she glided away from his side. His eyes went round in his head, his legs seemed to be anywhere but beneath him, he felt as though he were rushing toward the ceiling. For the moment he was actually unconscious. Then his senses rushed back, recalling his mission and his danger.