. The familiarity of these acts, and the thought
that he was about them for the last time, betrayed him into a fit of
laughter which sounded unpleasantly in his own ears. He conceived a
reluctance to leave the cabinet, and turned instead to the window. The
sight of the lamps and the darkness recalled him to himself.

"Come, come, I must be a man," he thought, "and tear myself away."

At the corner of Box Court three men fell upon Prince Florizel, and he
was unceremoniously thrust into a carriage, which at once drove rapidly
away. There was already an occupant.

"Will your Highness pardon my zeal?" said a well-known voice.

The Prince threw himself upon the Colonel's neck in a passion of relief.

"How can I ever thank you?" he cried. "And how was this effected?"

Although he had been willing to march upon his doom, he was overjoyed to
yield to friendly violence, and return once more to life and hope.

"You can thank me effectually enough," replied the Colonel, "by avoiding
all such dangers in the future. And as for your second question, all has
been managed by the simplest means. I arranged this afternoon with a
celebrated detective. Secrecy has been promised and paid for. Your own
servants have been principally engaged in the affair. The house in Box
Court has been surrounded since nightfall, and this, which is one of
your own carriages, has been awaiting you for nearly an hour."

"And the miserable creature who was to have slain me--what of him?"
inquired the Prince.

"He was pinioned as he left the club," replied the Colonel, "and now
awaits your sentence at the Palace, where he will soon be joined by his
accomplices."

"Geraldine," said the Prince, "you have saved me against my explicit
orders, and you have done well. I owe you not only my life, but a
lesson; and I should be unworthy of my rank if I did not show myself
grateful to my teacher. Let it be yours to choose the manner."

There was a pause, during which the carriage continued to speed through
the streets, and the two men were each buried in his own reflections.
The silence was broken by Colonel Geraldine.

"Your Highness," said he, "has by this time a considerable body of
prisoners. There is at least one criminal among the number to whom
justice should be dealt. Our oath forbids us all recourse to law; and
discretion would forbid it equally if the oath were loosened. May I
inquire your Highness's intention?"

"It is decided," answered Florizel