"Stand aside from her," he said, sternly. "Why should we pity her,
what pity has she shown for us--for me? She has robbed me of my
inheritance. But let her go, she is a woman; we cannot punish her.
Her sins rest on her own head. But you--you," he cried, turning
fiercely on Kalonay, his voice rising to a high and melancholy key,
"you whom I have heaped with honors, whom I have leaned upon as on the
arm of a brother, that you should have sold me for silver, that you
should have turned Judas!"

The crowd of volunteers, bewildered by the rapid succession of events,
and confused and rendered desperate by the failure of their expedition,
caught up the word, and pressing forward with a rush, surrounded
Kalonay in an angry circle, crying "Judas!" "Traitor!" and "Coward!"

Kalonay turned from side to side. On some he smiled bitterly in
silence, and at others he broke out into swift and fierce
denunciations; but the men around him crowded closer and would not
permit him to be heard. He had turned upon them, again challenging
them to listen, when there was an opening in the circle and the men
stepped back, and Miss Carson pushed her way among them and halted at
Kalonay's side. She did not look at him, but at the men about him.
She was the only calm figure in the group, and her calmness at such a
crisis, and her youth, and the fineness and fearlessness of her beauty,
surprised them into a sudden quiet. There was instantly a cry for
order, and the men stood curious and puzzled, watching to see what she
would do.

"Gentlemen," she said, in a clear, grave voice. "Gentlemen," she
repeated, sharply, as a few murmurs still greeted her, "if you are
gentlemen, let this lady speak. She has not finished." She crossed
quickly and took the Countess Zara by the hand. "Go on, madame," she
urged, gently. "Do not be afraid. You say they made you do it. Who
made you do it? You have told us a part of the truth. Now tell us the
whole truth." For a moment the girl seemed much the older of the two,
and as Zara glanced up at her fearfully, she smiled to reassure her,
and stroked the woman's hand with her own. "Who made you do it?" she
repeated. "Not the Prince Kalonay, surely. You cannot hope to make us
believe that. We trust him absolutely. Who was it, then?"

The King sprang forward with an oath; his apathy and mock dignity had
fallen from him like a mask. His face was mottled, and his vicious
little eyes flashed with fe