rseback, were all the members of the expedition, those who had been
of the riding-party and those who had remained in Tangier. Gordon and
the Frenchman Renauld were far in the lead, walking by themselves and
speaking earnestly together; Father Paul was walking with Mrs. Carson
and her daughter, and Kalonay was riding with two of the volunteers,
the Count de Rouen and Prince Henri of Poitiers.

When the King and Erhaupt turned from the window the Countess Zara had
disappeared. "It is better so," said Erhaupt; "she was so badly
frightened she would have told the truth."

The King stood leaning on the back of a large arm-chair. "Well, the
moment has come, it is our last chance," he said. "Send for the Crown
Prince, Baron. I shall be discovered in the act of taking a tender
farewell of my son."

Barrat made an eager gesture of dissent.

"I would not do that," he cried. "If we are to make charges against
the jackal do not have the boy present; the boy must not hear them.
You know how Kalonay worships the child, and it would enrage him more
to be exposed before the Prince than before all the rest of the world.
He will be hard enough to handle without that. Don't try him too far."

"You are absurd, Barrat," exclaimed the King. "The boy won't
understand what is said."

"No, but the Jackal will," Barrat returned. "You don't understand him,
Louis, he is like a woman; he has sentiment and feelings, and when we
all turn on him he will act like a madman. Keep the boy out of his
sight, I tell you. It's the only thing he cares for in the world. He
has been a better father to him than you ever have been."

"That was quite natural; that was because it was his duty," said the
King, calmly. "A Kalonay has always been the protector and tutor of
the heir-apparent. If this one chooses to give his heart with his
service, that is not my concern. Why, confound them, they all think
more of the child than they do of me. That is why I need him by me
now."

Barrat shook his head. "I tell you it will make trouble," he
persisted. "Kalonay will not stand it. He and the child are more like
comrades than a tutor and his pupil. Why, Kalonay would rather sit
with the boy in the Champs-Elysees and point out the people as they go
by than drive at the side of the prettiest woman in Paris. He always
treats him as though he saw the invisible crown upon his head; he will
throw over any of us to stay in the nursery and play tin soldi