in friendly spirit."

There were some murmurs of dissent as the king proceeded, and once some
bolder individual shouted up a question, at which a wave of laughter
arose. As it died away, and the crowd appeared to listen to the king's
next words, a stone suddenly came whirling up from below, narrowly missing
the king's head. A sudden hush fell over the people at this hostile act;
then a tumult of shouting broke loose, and a commotion off to one side
showed where the offender was standing.

Mercer wheeled toward me, his face white with anger.

"Who did that--did you see him? Which one was it?"

The king began to speak, as if nothing had occurred, and an instant later
several more stones whistled past us. The commotion in the crowd grew more
violent, but it was evident that a great majority of the people were
against this demonstration.

"It is better we go inside," Miela said quietly.

The king was shouting down to his guards now, but they stood apathetically
by, taking no part.

Another stone hurtled past us, striking the tower and falling at our feet.
The king abruptly ceased his shouting and left the balcony. As he passed
me and I glanced into his frightened face I felt a sudden sense of pity
for this gentle, kindly old man, so well-meaning, but so utterly
ineffective as a ruler.

I was about to pull Miela back into the room when a girl flew up to the
balcony railing. As she balanced herself upon it I saw it was Anina. She
said something to Miela, who turned swiftly to me.

"She is right, my husband. We must not leave the matter like this. They
can have no confidence in you--our women most of all--if you do not do
something now. A sign of your strength now would make them respect
you--perhaps one of those who threw the stones you could punish."

I knew she was right. Most of the crowd was with us. If we retreated now,
those against us would grow bolder--our appearance on the street might at
any time be dangerous. But if now we proved ourselves superior in
strength, the popular sentiment in our favor would be just that much
stronger. At least, that is the way it seemed to me.

I did not need to ask Mercer's opinion, for at Miela's words he
immediately said: "That's my idea. Just give me a chance at them."

He leaned over the balcony. "How are we going to get down there? It's too
far to drop."

Miela spoke to Anina, and they both flew away. In a moment they were back
with two other girls. All four clung t