"Hah!" he uttered, with a sigh of relief. "Here is the way out of this kingly fox-burrow." And his hand glided down the edge of the door till it came in contact with a huge lock, about which for a few moments his fingers played, while a chill ran through him, filling him with despair, for the truth had come upon him like a flash: there was no key in the lock; the door was fast; and just in this hour of triumph they were as much prisoners as if they were in a cell. "Well, Leoni," whispered Francis, "why are you stopping? This place makes me feel as if I could not breathe." "I am not stopping, sir," said the doctor bitterly; "I have been stopped." CHAPTER THIRTY TWO. CHECK!--QUERY, MATE? Feeling that the crisis had come, no sooner did Denis hear the first strokes of the second chiming of the clock, which came so opportunely upon the King's discovery, than the lad dashed off along the passage leading towards the staircase that he would have to descend to gain the inner court and the stabling. But he had not proceeded many yards before he stopped short, startled by the thought that if he continued by this corridor he would come right upon some gentleman of the household, whose nightly duty it was to be on guard at the angle of the gallery which led towards the King's apartments. "Oh," he muttered beneath his breath, "I had forgotten. Carrbroke told me he would be there to-night." There was nothing for it but to retrace his steps, pass right round two-thirds of one of the lesser courts, and get back to the corridor again beyond the range of apartments sacred to the King. Then reaching the end of the gallery, he began to hurry once more to make up for lost time, when feeling that, much as he desired to act, such hurried procedure would attract the attention of the first officer who was on guard, the lad checked his headlong steps, thrust his hands into his trunk hose, and began to walk carelessly along, catching up and humming the air which came softly from where the musicians were still playing. It was well he did, for as he turned the next corner he came upon a couple of the King's guards upon the landing at the head of a staircase. His face was familiar to the men as one of the King's guests, and it being right away from the royal apartments, they gave way for him to pass, and making a tremendous effort over himself, he descended very slowly and carelessly, the hardest part of all being to stop once or twice as if listening to the music, and then go on humming the air. He breathed more freely as he passed out into the courtyard and crossed it, fully expecting to encounter a guard at the archway which gave upon the next court. As he expected, there were a couple of armed men here ready to challenge him; but before they could speak he stopped short to ask whether he would find men in attendance at the stables, adding carelessly in very fair English: "I want to see how our horses are getting on."