Page:The Prisoner of Zenda.djvu/242

222 A pause followed. Old Sapt broke it by saying sadly, yet with unmeant drollery that set Fritz and me laughing:

"Why didn't old Rudolf the Third marry your—great-grandmother, was it?"

"Come," said I, "it is the king we are thinking about."

"It is true," said Fritz.

"Moreover," I went on, "I have been an impostor for the profit of another, but I will not be one for my own; and if the king is not alive and on his throne before the day of betrothal comes I will tell the truth, come what may."

"You shall go, lad," said Sapt.

Here is the plan I had made: A strong party, under Sapt's command, was to steal up to the door of the château. If discovered prematurely they were to kill anyone who found them—with their swords, for I wanted no noise of firing. If all went well they would be at the door when Johann opened it. They were to rush in and secure the servants if their mere presence and the use of the king's name were not enough. At the same moment—and on this