of
Mizrox will linger in Edelweiss and with him you and yours may always
confer. He, also, is at your command. This man must be retaken. I swear,
by all that is above and below me, he shall be found, if I hunt the
world over to accomplish that end. He shall not escape my vengeance! And
hark you to this: On the twentieth of next month I shall demand payment
of the debt due Axphain. So deeply is my heart set on the death of this
Grenfall Lorry that I agree now, before all these friends of ours, that
if he be captured, and executed in my presence, before the twentieth of
November, Graustark shall be granted the extension of time that would
have obtained in the event of your espousal with the man he killed. You
hear this offer, all? It is bound by my sacred word of honor. His death
before the twentieth gives Graustark ten years of grace. If he is still
at large, I shall claim my own. This offer, I believe, most gracious
Yetive, will greatly encourage your people in the effort to capture the
man we seek."

The Princess heard the remarkable proposition with face deathly pale,
heart scarcely beating. Again was the duty to Graustark thrust cruelly
upon her. She could save the one only by sacrificing the other.

"We will do all in our power to--to prove ourselves grateful for your
magnanimous offer," she said. As she passed from the room, followed by
her uncle, she heard the increasing buzz of excitement on all sides, the
unrestrained expressions of amazement and relief from her own subjects,
the patronizing comments of the visitors, all conspiring to sound her
doom. Which way was she to turn in order to escape from herself?

"We must catch this man, Yetive," said Halfont, on the stairway. "There
is no alternative."

"Except our inability to do so," she murmured. In that moment she
determined that Grenfall Lorry should never be taken if she could
prevent it. He was innocent and it was Graustark's penalty to pay.

The next day, amidst pomp and splendor, the Prince of Axphain started
on his journey to the land of his forefathers, to the tombs of his
ancestors, all Edelweiss witnessing the imposing procession that made
its way through the north gates of the town. Far up on the mountain
top a man, looking from his little window, saw the black, snakelike
procession wind away across the plain to the northward, losing itself in
the distant hills.

XXI. FROM A WINDOW ABOVE

The longest month in Lorry's life was that whi