Page:The Prisoner of Zenda.djvu/99

 CHAPTER VII. HIS MAJESTY SLEEPS IN STRELSAU. my arm round Sapt's waist and supported him out of the cellar, drawing the battered door close after me. For ten minutes or more we sat silent in the dining room. Then old Sapt rubbed his knuckles into his eyes, gave one great gasp, and was himself again. As the clock on the mantel-piece struck one he stamped his foot on the floor, saying:

"They've got the king!"

"Yes," said I, "'all's well!' as Black Michael's dispatch said. What a moment it must have been for him when the royal salutes were fired at Strelsau this morning! I wonder when he got the message?"

"It must have been sent in the morning," said Sapt. "They must have sent it before news of your arrival at Strelsau reached Zenda—I suppose it came from Zenda." 83