We are out of sight of the hotel, now, General," he said. He pointed
to the dark, cool recesses of a coffee-shop and held back the rug that
hung before it. "Come in here," he said, "and tell me that story."

IV

Baron Barrat was suspicious by education--his experience of life and
his own conduct had tended to render him so; and accordingly when,
three hours after he had seen Gordon apparently commit the French
officer to jail, he found them leaving a cafe in the most friendly and
amicable spirit, he wasted no time in investigation, but hurried at
once to warn the King.

"What we feared would happen, has happened," he said. "The Frenchman
has told Gordon that Zara and Kalonay sold the secret of the
expedition, and Gordon will be coming here to warn you of it. Now,
what are you going to do? We must act quickly."

"I shall refuse to believe the Frenchman, of course," said the King.
"I shall ask Zara in his presence to answer his charges, and she will
tell him he lies. That is all there will be of it. What does it
matter what he says? We sail at midnight. We can keep him quiet until
then."

"If he is troublesome I can call for help from this room, and the
servants of the hotel and the guards will rush in and find us
struggling together. We will charge him with an attempt at
assassination, and this time he surely will go to jail. By to-morrow
morning we shall be many miles at sea."

"But he can cable to Messina, by way of Gibraltar, and head us off,"
objected Barrat.

"What can he cable?" demanded the King. "Nothing the people of the
Republic do not already know. It is our friends here that must not
find us out. That is the main thing. Thank Heaven!" he exclaimed,
"Kalonay and Paul are out of the way, and those crazy boys from Paris.
We will settle it here among ourselves in five minutes."

"And the American?" asked Zara. "He knows, he will come with him.
Suppose he believes, suppose he believes that Kalonay and I have sold
you out, but suspects that you know it?"

"The American can go to the devil," said the King. "Confound him and
his insolence. I'll have him in the prison too, if he interferes. Or
Erhaupt can pick a quarrel with him here and fight it out behind the
sand-hills before the others get back from their picnic. He has done
as much for me before."

Zara stood up. She was trembling slightly, and she glanced fearfully
from Erhaupt to the King.

"You will not do that," she s