Page:The Prisoner of Zenda.djvu/239

Rh "Perhaps for another reason?"

"It is possible."

"And the duke, I suppose, has the key?"

"Yes. And the drawbridge is drawn back at night, and of that too the duke holds the key, so that it cannot be run across the moat without application to him." "And where do you sleep?"

"In the entrance hall of the château, with five servants."

"Armed?"

"They have pikes, sir, but no firearms. The duke will not trust them with firearms."

Then at last I took the matter boldly in my hands. I had failed once at Jacob's ladder; I should fail again there. I must make the attack from the other side.

"I have promised you twenty thousand crowns," said I. "You shall have fifty thousand if you will do what I ask of you to-morrow night. But, first, do those servants know who your prisoner is? "

"No, sir. They believe him to be some private enemy of the duke's."