In the distance twinkled the lights of the village of Blentz.
From the courtyard and the palace came faintly the sound of voices,
and the movement of men. A horse whinnied from the stables.
Barney turned his eyes upward. He could see the head and shoulders
of Joseph leaning from the window of the chamber directly above
them.
"Hoist away, Joseph!" whispered the American, and to the girl: "Be
brave. Shut your eyes and trust to Joseph and--and--"
"And my king," finished the girl for him.
His arm was about her shoulders, supporting her upon the narrow
sill. His cheek so close to hers that once he felt the soft velvet
of it brush his own. Involuntarily his arm tightened about the
supple body.
"My princess!" he murmured, and as he turned his face toward hers
their lips almost touched.
Joseph was pulling upon the rope from above. They could feel it
tighten beneath the girl's arms. Impulsively Barney Custer drew the
sweet lips closer to his own. There was no resistance.
"I love you," he whispered. The words were smothered as their lips
met.
Joseph, above, wondered at the great weight of the Princess Emma von
der Tann.
"I love you, Leopold, forever," whispered the girl, and then as
Joseph's Herculean tugging seemed likely to drag them both from the
narrow sill, Barney lifted the girl upward with one hand while he
clung to the window frame with the other.
Pages:
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71