then, I believe, that you were elected to lead the patriotic
party."

The Prince bowed sadly.

"My leadership, I fear," he declared, "has brought little good to
my unhappy country."

"It is a terrible crisis through which your nation is passing,"
Bellamy reminded him sympathetically. "At the same time, we must
not despair. Austria holds out her clenched hands, but as yet she
has not dared to strike."

The face of the Prince was dark with passion.

"As yet, no!" he answered. "But how long--how long, I wonder--before
the blow falls? We in Servia have been blamed for arming
ourselves, but I tell you that to-day the Austrian troops are being
secretly concentrated on the frontier. Their arsenals are working
night and day. Her soldiers are manoeuvering almost within sight
of Belgrade. We have hoped against hope, yet in our hearts we know
that our fate was sealed when the Czar of Russia left Vienna last
week."

"Nothing is certain," Bellamy declared restlessly. "England has
been ill-governed for a great many years, but we are not yet a
negligible Power."

Louise leaned a little towards him.

"David," she whispered, "the compact!"

He answered her unspoken question.

"It is arranged," he said,--"finished. To-morrow morning at nine
o'clock I receive it."

"You are sure?" she begged. "Why need there be any delay?"

"It is locked up in a powerful safe," he explained, "and the clerk
who has the combination will not be on duty again till nine.
Laverick is there simply waiting for the hour. You were right,
Louise, as usual. I should have trusted him from the first."

The Prince had been listening to their conversation with undisguised
interest.

"There is a rumor," he said, "that some secret information concerning
the compact of Vienna has found its way to this country."

Bellamy smiled.

"Hence, I presume, your mission, Prince."

"We three have no secrets from one another," the Prince declared.
"Our interests in this matter are absolutely identical. What you
suggest, Mr. Bellamy, is the truth. There is a rumor that the
Chancellor, in the first few moments of his illness, gave valuable
information to some one who is likely to have communicated it to the
Government here. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. That, I
know, is one of your own mottoes. So I am here to know if there is
anything to be learned."

Bellamy nodded.

"Your arrival is not inopportune, Prince. When did you come?"

"