, kept free of murmurs by
the police, was filling slowly with people; people who took up positions
on benches, under the trees, and even sitting on the curb of the street.
An orderly and silent crowd it seemed, of the better class. Here and
there he saw police agents in plain clothes, impassive but watchful, on
the lookout for the first cry of treason.

An hour or two, or three--three at the most and the fate of the Palace
would lie in the hands of that crowd. He could but lead the boy to the
balcony, and await the result.

CHAPTER XXXIV. THE PIRATE'S DEN

Miss Braithwaite was asleep on the couch in her sitting-room, deeply
asleep, so that when Prince Ferdinand William Otto changed the cold
cloth on her head, she did not even move. The Countess Loschek had
brought her some medicine.

"It cured her very quickly," said the Crown Prince, shuffling the cards
with clumsy fingers. He and Nikky were playing a game in which matches
represented money. The Crown Prince had won nearly all of them and was
quite pink with excitement. "It's my deal, it? When she goes to sleep
like that, she nearly always wakens up much better. She's very sound
asleep."

Nikky played absently, and lost the game. The Crown Prince triumphantly
scooped up the rest of the matches. "We've had rather a nice day," he
observed, "even if we didn't go out. Shall we divide them again, and
start all over?"

Nikky, however, proclaimed himself hopelessly beaten and a bad loser. So
the Crown Prince put away the cards, which belonged to Miss Braithwaite,
and with which she played solitaire in the evenings. Then he lounged to
the window, his hands in his pockets. There was something on his mind
which the Chancellor's reference to Hedwig's picture had recalled.
Something he wished to say to Nikky, without looking at him.

So he clearer throat, and looked out the window, and said, very
casually:

"Hilda says that Hedwig is going to get married."

"So I hear, Highness."

"She doesn't seem to be very happy about it. She's crying, most of the
time."

It was Nikky's turn to clear his throat. "Marriage is a serious matter,"
he said. "It is not to be gone into lightly."

"Once, when I asked you about marriage, you said marriage was when two
people loved each other, and wanted to be together the rest of their
lives."

"Well," hedged Nikky, "that is the idea, rather."

"I should think," said Prince Ferdinand William Otto, slightly red,
"that you woul