The archbishop stepped forward and took the prince's hand in his own.

"God wills all things," he said, sadly, "and perhaps he has willed that
your Highness should come too late!" And that strange, habitual smile
was gone--forever. No one could fathom the true significance of this
peculiar speech.

"But 'aux armes' was taken up, and spread throughout the city.

CHAPTER XXV. THE FORTUNES OF WAR

War! The whole city was in tumult. The guests were leaving the hotels,
the timid were preparing to fly, and shopkeepers were putting up their
blinds and hiding their valuables; the parks and cafes were deserted.
The railway booking office was crowded, and a babel of tongues quarreled
for precedence. The siege of Paris was but yesterday's news, and
tourists did not propose to be walled in from the outer world. Some
looked upon the scene as a comic opera; others saw the tragedy of men
snarling at one another's throats.

Two hundred gendarmes patrolled the streets; for in war time the dregs
of a city float to the surface. Above the foreign legations flags rose,
offering protection to all those who possessed the right to claim it.
Less than four thousand troops had marched from the city that day, but
these were the flower of the army, consisting of two thousand foot, six
cannon and twelve hundred horse. Europe has always depended largely
on the cavalry, which in the past has been a most formidable engine in
warfare.

With gay plumes and banners, glittering helmets and flashing cuirasses,
they had gone forth to meet Madame and drive her back across the range.
They had made a brave picture, especially the royal cuirassiers, who
numbered three hundred strong, and who were to fight not only for glory,
but for bread. Fifty of them had been left behind to guard the palaces.

In the royal bedchamber the king lay, all unconscious of the fate
impending. The brain had ceased to live; only a feeble pulse stirred
irregularly. The state physician shook his head, and, from time to time,
laid his fingers on the unfeeling wrist. To him it was a matter of a few
hours.

But to the girl, whose face lay hidden in the counterpane, close to one
of those senseless hands, to her it was a matter of a breaking heart, of
eyes which could be no longer urged to tears, the wells having dried up.
Dear God, she thought, how cruel it was! Her tried and trusted friend,
the one playmate of her childhood, was silently slipping out of her life
forever. A