the steep trail from Tann toward the highway which leads to the

capital.

All night Barney rode. Three times he wandered from the way and was

forced to stop at farmhouses to inquire the proper direction; but

darkness hid his features from the sleepy eyes of those who answered

his summons, and daylight found him still forging ahead in the

direction of the capital of Lutha.

The American was sunk in unhappy meditation as his weary little

mount plodded slowly along the dusty road. For hours the man had not

been able to urge the beast out of a walk. The loss of time

consequent upon his having followed wrong roads during the night and

the exhaustion of the pony which retarded his speed to what seemed

little better than a snail's pace seemed to assure the failure of

his mission, for at best he could not reach Lustadt before noon.

There was no possibility of bringing Leopold to his capital in time

for the coronation, and but a bare possibility that Prince Ludwig

would accept the word of an entire stranger that Leopold lived, for

the acknowledgment of such a condition by the old prince could

result in nothing less than an immediate resort to arms by the two

factions. It was certain that Peter would be infinitely more anxious

to proceed with his coronation should it be rumored that Leopold

lived, and equally certain that Prince Ludwig would interpose every

obstacle, even to armed resistance, to prevent the consummation of

the ceremony.

Yet there seemed to Barney no other alternative than to place before

the king's one powerful friend the information that he had. It would

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