t time. Are you
going to send that note?"

Collins sealed the missive.

"It's our only chance," he said, decidedly. "Don't you see; we've got to
brazen this thing through. We're in a corner, and there's only one way
out." He went to the door and opened it. "For the Prince of Markeld," he
said, as he handed the note to the man who stood outside.

CHAPTER VII

An Appeal for Aid

One can easily guess with what delicious precipitation the Misses
Rushford, having read the note sent to them by Lord Vernon and having
recovered somewhat from the paralysis of amazement into which it had
thrown them, hurried up the stair and sought the privacy of their own
apartment. Here, evidently, was a full-fledged mystery enacting under
their very noses, no trumpery neighbourhood mystery, either, but one of
national--aye, even international--importance! It made them gasp to
think of it; they were even a little frightened. By the touch of a
finger the stage-door had been opened; they had been admitted behind the
scenes--to the inside, as they had longed to be. And the experience was
even more interesting and exciting than they had dared to hope! They
were playing a part, however humble, in the great drama of European
politics!

"But what can it mean?" Nell demanded, as she read the note for perhaps
the twentieth time. "What can it possibly mean? Why should Lord Vernon
wish to appear ill when he isn't?"

"I don't suppose he's doing it for fun," observed Susie, sagely.

"No, of course not," agreed Nell. "There isn't any fun in it that I can
see. But it seems a very remarkable course of action. Some great affair
of state must depend upon it," she added in a tone slightly awe-struck,
for her imagination was beginning to be affected. "He seems awfully
young to hold such an important place," she added.

"These English statesmen always look younger than they are," said Sue.
"From his pictures, I always imagined that Chamberlain was a
comparatively young man, and here I read somewhere the other day that
he's nearly seventy!"

"At any rate," concluded Nell, "since it was for our sake Lord Vernon
threw off the mask, so to speak, it is only fair, on our part, to keep
quiet about it. Why do you think he ran away so quickly? It was almost
rude."

"I thought it quite entirely rude," asserted Sue. "But maybe he saw
somebody coming whom he wished to avoid."

And then both gasped simultaneously:

"The owner of the dog!"

"Of course