e, a
foolish thing, but I earn my bread by it."

He paused, but the silence continued unbroken. The battery of eyes
behind the masks was turned squarely on him.

Old Adelbert fidgeted. "Before that, in years gone by, I was in the
army," he said, feeling that more was expected of him, and being at a
loss. "I fought hard, and once, when I suffered the loss you perceive,
the King himself came to my bed, and decorated me. Until lately, I have
been loyal. Now, I am--here." His face worked.

"What is the information that brings you here?"

Suddenly old Adelbert wept, terrible tears that forced their way from
his faded eyes, and ran down his cheeks. "I cannot, Excellencies!" he
cried. "I find I cannot."

He collapsed into the chair, and throwing his arms across the table
bowed his head on them. His shoulders heaved under his old uniform. The
Committee stirred, and the concierge caught him brutally by the wrist.

"Up with you!" he said, from clenched teeth. "What stupidity is this?
Would you play with death?"

But old Adelbert was beyond fear. He shook his head. "I cannot," he
muttered, his face hidden.

Then the concierge stood erect and folded his arms across his chest.
"He is terrified, that is all," he said. "If the Committee wishes, I can
tell them of this matter. Later, he can be interrogated."

The leader nodded.

"By chance," said the concierge, "this--this brave veteran"--he glanced
contemptuously at the huddled figure in the chair, "has come across an old
passage, the one which rumor has said lay under the city wall, and for
which we have at different times instituted search."

He paused, to give his words weight. That they were of supreme interest
could be told by the craning forward of the Committee.

"The entrance is concealed at the base of the old Gate of the Moon. Our
friend here followed it, and reports it in good condition. For a mile or
thereabouts it follows the line of the destroyed wall. Then it turns and
goes to the Palace itself."

"Into the Palace?"

"By a flight of stairs, inside the wall, to a door in the roof. This
door, which was locked, he opened, having carried keys with him. The
door he describes as in the tower. As it was night, he could not see
clearly, but the roof at that point is flat."

"Stand up, Adelbert," said the leader sharply. "This that our comrade
tells is true?"

"It is true, Excellency."

"Shown a diagram of the Palace, could you locate this door?"

Old Ade