“Quite certain, my lord. The capting’s in a orful way about it, been rowin’ the sergeants shameful, and one on ’em tell me. The capting, ’e put Mr O’Malachy under arrest for shootin’ at the young lady, and tell ’im to come back ’ere. Contrairywise, ’e rides to the post-office, as bold as brass, and sends off a Government telegram to Mr Francis Xavier O’Reilly, at Tatarjé, orderin’ ’im to leave the country within twenty-four hours. Then ’e rides out at the Feodoratz gate, sayin’ as ’e’s a-actin’ aide-de-camp to ’is Majesty, and no one see ’im since. ’Is ’orse ’ave come back to ’is stable, but they say as Mr O’Malachy must ’ave ’ad a change of clothes ’id away ready somewheres, and ’ave got away like that, though why ’e should want to is beyond me.” But Louis’s motive was not beyond Cyril’s comprehension, for it was evident to him that, expecting that Nadia would involve him in her disclosures, he had seized the earliest opportunity for flight--a contingency against which he had carefully provided beforehand--and that he had, moreover, succeeded in warning his father to escape from Tatarjé at least an hour before Cyril had telegraphed thither to arrest him. The loquacious Wright found himself dismissed somewhat hastily, with instructions to have the carriage ready at six in the morning; and Cyril turned from the unpleasant contemplation of the oversight of which he had been guilty to drafting the announcement which was to appear on the morrow in a special ‘Gazette,’ in order to tranquillise the minds of the people. It was evident, he wrote, that a certain amount of misconception existed as to the incident of the day. The supposed attempt to murder the King was not, as had been imagined, the outcome of a plot, but it was hoped that in consequence of it the ramifications of a very extensive conspiracy would be laid bare. As for the young woman who had been arrested, she could not be held responsible for the intended crime, and having been found harmless, she had been restored to her friends. The last sentence pleased Cyril extremely, both on account of its plausibility and its adherence to the truth, although he reminded himself as he read it over that he must keep the ‘Gazette’ out of Caerleon’s way. His next duty was to write a full account of what had happened to M. Drakovics, who had remained on the frontier in order that he might meet the Premier of Mœsia, and to tell him all that he had succeeded in extracting from Nadia on the subject of the plot. This was not much, for she knew very little, and declined to tell even the whole of that, but there was one point which seemed to Cyril to be of considerable importance. Who was the X. of whom Nadia had heard Madame O’Malachy speaking to her husband, saying that he had been induced by bribes to join in the conspiracy, and to bring with him all the men in his employment? After much cogitation, Cyril could only decide that he must be one of the