He took his own revolver from the mantelpiece and put it in his pocket, laying Rupert's neatly where his had been.

Then he turned to me and said: "Come, let us go to the queen and tell her that the letter is beyond reach of hurt." Moved by some impulse, I walked to the window and put my head out.

I was seen from below, and a great shout greeted me.

The crowd before the doors grew every moment; the people flocking from all quarters would soon multiply it a hundred fold; for such news as had been carried from the attic by twenty wondering tongues spreads like a forest-fire.

It would be through Strelsau in a few minutes, through the kingdom in an hour, through Europe in but little longer.