un lasts, madame, for it goes down suddenly here in
Mauravania; and for some of us it never comes up again!" Then, throwing
himself upon the piano-seat, he ran his fingers across the keys and
broke into the stately measures of the national anthem. And, of a
sudden, while the song was yet in progress, the clock in the corridor
jingled its musical chimes and struck the first note of the hour.

He jumped to his feet and lifted both hands above his head.

"Mauravania!" he cried. "Oh, Mauravania! For thee! For thee!" Then
jumped to the mantelpiece, and, catching up a lighted candle, flashed it
twice across the window's width, and broke again into the national hymn.

"Monsieur," cried out madame, "monsieur, what is the meaning of that?
Have you lost your wits? You give a signal! For what? To whom?"

"To the guards of Mauravania's king, madame, in honour of his safe
escape from you!" he made reply; then twitched back the window curtains
until the whole expanse of glass was bared. "Look! do you see them, do
you, Madame?" he said. "His Majesty of Mauravania sends Madame
Tcharnovetski a command to leave his kingdom, since he no longer has
cause to fear a wasp whose sting has been plucked out."

Her swift glance flashed to the fireplace, then to the corner where
Clopin still sat with his jabbering parakeets, then flashed back to
Cleek, and she laughed in his face.

"I think not, monsieur," she said, with a swaggering air. "Truly, I
think not, my excellent friend."

"What a pity you only think so, madame! As for me---- Ah, welcome,
count, welcome a thousand times. The paper, my friend; you have brought
the paper? Good! good! Quick, give it to me. Madame, your
passport--yours and your people's. You leave Mauravania by the midnight
train, and you have but little time to pack your effects. Your passport,
madame, and your bedroom candle. Oh, yes, the paper is still round it,
see!" slipping off a sheet of white notepaper that was wrapped round the
full length of the candle from top to bottom, "but if you will examine
it, madame, you will find it is blank. I burned the real letter the
night before last when I put this in its place."

"You what?" she snapped; then caught the tube-shaped covering he had
stripped from the candle, uncurled it, and screamed.

"Blank, madame, quite blank, you see," said Cleek serenely. "For one so
clever in other things, you should have been more careful. A little
pinch of powder in the punch at dinne