"

"And the princess?"

"A pretty morsel, a tidbit for the king that is to be."

"The king that--eh, Johann, are you getting drunk so soon?" Stuler
exclaimed. "I know of no king--"

Johann reached over and caught the innkeeper's wrist. The grasp was no
gentle one. "Listen, that was a slip of the tongue. Repeat it, and that
for your life! Do you understand, my friend?"

"Gott in--"

"Do you understand?" fiercely.

"Yes, yes!" Stuler wiped his face with his apron.

"Good, if you understand. It was naught but a slip of the tongue,"
nonchalantly. "In a little week, my friend, your till will have no
vulgar silver in it; gold, yellow gold."

"And the duchess?" with hesitance. The budget of news to-night was not
of the usual kind.

Johann did not answer, save by a shrug.

The perturbation of the old man was so manifestly beyond control that he
could not trust his legs. He dropped on the stool, giving his grizzled
head a negative shake. "I would that you had made no slip of the tongue,
Johann," he murmured. "Gott, what is going on? The princess was not to
wed, to be sure, but the duchess passed--a king besides--"

"Silence!" enjoined Johann. "Stuler, I am about to venture on a daring
enterprise, which, if successful, will mean plenty of gold. Come with
me into your private office, where we shall not be interrupted nor
overheard." He vaulted the bar. Stuler looked undecided. "Come!"
commanded Johann. With another shake of his head Stuler took down the
tallow dip, unlocked the door, and bade Johann pass in. He caught up
another bottle and glass and followed. Without a word he filled the
glass and set it down before Johann, who raised it and drank, his beady
eyes flashing over the rim of the glass and compelling the innkeeper to
withdraw his gaze.

"Well?" said Stuler, uneasily.

"I need you." Johann finished his glass with moderate slowness. "Your
storehouse on the lake is empty?"

"Yes, but--"

"I shall want it, two nights from this, in case Madame the duchess does
not conquer the Englishman. I shall want two fellows who will ask no
questions, but who will follow my instructions to the letter. It is an
abduction."

"A nasty business," was Stuler's comment. "You have women to thank for
your present occupation, Johann."

"Stuler, you are a fool. It is not a woman; it is a crown."

"Eh?" Stuler's eyes bulged.

"A crown. The duchess may remain a duchess. Who is master in Bleiberg
to-day? At whose word the