o the last cent, whatever you do; and always remember that whenever you
feel in need of information or advice, you have wise old Lyga to fall
back upon, and he is a host in himself."

Thus reassured, Dick Cavendish summoned a servant and forthwith
dispatched him to the adjacent barracks in which the officers and men of
the bodyguard were lodged, with a message requesting Captain Acor's
immediate attendance. And when, about a quarter of an hour later, Acor
put in an appearance, Dick briefly recounted to him the morning's
happenings, and wound up by directing him to tell off a sufficient
number of men and with them proceed to search for and arrest Sachar, to
take possession of and occupy not only Sachar's residence, but every
other building belonging to the man, and to seize and lodge in a place
of security all Sachar's horses, slaves, and other property capable of
being moved. Acor readily undertook to do this, assuring Dick that he
believed he could enumerate every item of property belonging to Sachar,
and that he would permit nothing to escape him. But he expressed some
doubt as to his ability to arrest Sachar, who, he doubted not, had
already found a secure hiding place. Dick was greatly gratified to
observe that Acor seemed ready to take orders from him without evincing
the slightest symptom of envy or jealousy at the fact of Dick being put
over him, for he had rather feared something of the kind from all the
officers of the bodyguard.

Late in the evening, Acor returned to the palace and reported that he
had seized every particle of Sachar's property, but had been unable to
discover the slightest clue to the whereabouts of the man himself, all
his inquiries being met with the assurance that none of his relatives
had seen anything of him since his departure from his house, that
morning, to attend the meeting of the Council of Nobles. Acor added
that, while he had not the slightest doubt that this statement was in
the main true, he had just as little doubt that certain of the persons
whom he questioned had lied, and among them he strongly suspected
Sachar's major-domo, and the Lord Nimri, Sachar's brother-in-law. The
former of these, however, as Acor pointed out, could render no further
assistance to his master, since he and his fellow servants were now
under the strict surveillance of the officer who had been put in
possession of Sachar's principal dwelling; while, as for Nimri, he too
was under surveillance,