Once within the city he rode straight to the palace, flung himself from his jaded mount, and entered the left wing of the building--the wing in which the private apartments of the chancellor were located.
Here he inquired for the Princess Emma, learning with evident relief that she was there. A moment later, white with dust, his face streamed with sweat, he was ushered into her presence.
"Your highness," he blurted, "the king's commands have been disregarded--the American is to be shot tomorrow. Ihave just escaped from Blentz. Peter is furious. He realizes that whether the Austrians win or lose, his standing with the king is gone forever.
"In a fit of rage he has ordered that Mr. Custer be sacri-ficed to his desire for revenge, in the hope that it will in-sure for him the favor of the Austrians. Something must be done at once if he is to be saved."For a moment the girl swayed as though about to fall.
The young officer stepped quickly to support her, but be-fore he reached her side she had regained complete mastery of herself. From the street without there rose the blare of trumpets and the cheering of the populace.
Through senses numb with the cold of anguish the mean-ing of the tumult slowly filtered to her brain--the king had come. He was returning from the battlefield, covered with honors and flushed with glory--the man who was to be her husband; but there was no rejoicing in the heart of the Princess Emma.
Instead, there was a dull ache and impotent rebellion at the injustice of the thing--that Leopold should be reap-ing these great rewards, while he who had made it possible for him to be a king at all was to die on the morrow be-cause of what he had done to place the Rubinroth upon his throne.
"Perhaps Lieutenant Butzow might find a way," suggested the officer. "He or your father; they are both fond of Mr. Custer."
"Yes," said the girl dully, "see Lieutenant Butzow--he would do the most."The officer bowed and hastened from the apartment in search of Butzow. The girl approached the window and stood there for a long time, looking out at the surging multi-tude that pressed around the palace gates, filling Margaretha Street with a solid mass of happy faces.
They cheered the king, the chancellor, the army; but most often they cheered the king. From a despised monarch Leo-pold had risen in a single bound to the position of a national idol.
Repeatedly he was called to the balcony over the grand entrance that the people might feast their eyes on him. The princess wondered how long it was before she herself would be forced to offer her congratulations and, perchance, suffer his caresses. She shivered and cringed at the thought, and then there came a knock upon the door, and in answer to her permission it opened, and the king stood upon the threshold alone.
At a glance the man took in the pain and sorrow mir-rored upon the girl's face. He stepped quickly across the room toward her.
"What is it?" he asked. "What is the matter?"For a moment he had forgotten the part that he had been playing--forgot that the Princess Emma was ignorant of his identity. He had come to her to share with her the happiness of the hour--the glory of the victorious arms of Lutha. For a time he had almost forgotten that he was not the king, and now he was forgetting that he was not Barney Custer to the girl who stood before him with misery and hopelessness writ so large upon her countenance.
For a brief instant the girl did not reply. She was weigh-ing the problematical value of an attempt to enlist the king in the cause of the American. Leopold had shown a spark of magnanimity when he had written a pardon for Mr. Custer;might he not rise again above his petty jealousy and save the American's life? It was a forlorn hope to the woman who knew the true Leopold so well; but it was a hope.
"What is the matter?" the king repeated.
"I have just received word that Prince Peter has ignored your commands, sire," replied the girl, "and that Mr. Custer is to be shot tomorrow."Barney's eyes went wide with incredulity. Here was a pretty pass, indeed! The princess came close to him and seized his arm.