Page:The Prisoner of Zenda.djvu/240

220 "And they would not doubt that I am the king?"

"How should they?" he asked.

"Look to this, then. To-morrow, at two in the morning exactly, fling open the front door of the château. Don't fail by an instant."

"Shall you be there, sir?"

"Ask no questions. Do what I tell you. Say the hall is close, or what you will. That is all I ask of you."

"And may I escape by the open door, sir, when I have opened it?"

"Yes, as quick as your legs will carry you. One thing more. Carry this note to madame,—oh, it's in French, you can't read it,—and charge her, for the sake of all our lives, not to fail in what it orders."

The man was trembling, but I had to trust to what he had of courage and to what he had of honesty. I dared not wait, for I feared that the king would die.

When the fellow was gone I called Sapt and Fritz