efore Mr. Bernard Custer of
Beatrice, Nebraska, U.S.A., and lifted that gentleman's hand to his
lips, and as the people of Lutha saw the act they went mad with joy.

Slowly Prince Ludwig rose and addressed the bishop. "Leopold, the
rightful heir to the throne of Lutha, is here. Let the coronation
proceed."

The quiet of the sepulcher fell upon the assemblage as the holy man
raised the crown above the head of the king. Barney saw from the
corner of his eye the sea of faces upturned toward him. He saw the
relief and happiness upon the stern countenance of the old prince.

He hated to dash all their new found joy by the announcement that he
was not the king. He could not do that, for the moment he did Peter
would step forward and demand that his own coronation continue. How
was he to save the throne for Leopold?

Among the faces beneath him he suddenly descried that of a beautiful
young girl whose eyes, filled with the tears of a great happiness
and a greater love, were upturned to his. To reveal his true
identity would lose him this girl forever. None save Peter knew that
he was not the king. All save Peter would hail him gladly as Leopold
of Lutha. How easily he might win a throne and the woman he loved by
a moment of seeming passive compliance.

The temptation was great, and then he recalled the boy, lying dead
for his king in the desolate mountains, and the pathetic light in
the eyes of the sorrowful man at Tafelberg, and the great trust and
confidence in the heart of the woman who had shown that she loved
him.

Slowly Barney Custer raised his palm toward the bishop in a gesture
of restraint.

"There are those who doubt that I am king," he said. "In these
circumstances there should be no coronation in Lutha until all
doubts are allayed and all may unite in accepting without question
the royal right of the true Leopold to the crown of his father. Let
the coronation wait, then, until another day, and all will be well."

"It must take place before noon of the fifth day of November, or not
until a year later," said Prince Ludwig. "In the meantime the Prince
Regent must continue to rule. For the sake of Lutha the coronation
must take place today, your majesty."

"What is the date?" asked Barney.

"The third, sire."

"Let the coronation wait until the fifth."

"But your majesty," interposed Von der Tann, "all may be lost in two
days."

"It is the king's command," said Barney quietly.

"But Peter of Blent