Already he has caused a proclamation to be
issued stating that you have been killed by bandits after escaping
from Blentz, and ordering a period of national mourning. In three
weeks he is to be crowned king of Lutha."
"When do they intend terminating my existence?" queried Barney.
There was a smile upon his lips, for even now he could scarce
believe that in the twentieth century there could be any such
medieval plotting against a king's life, and yet, on second thought,
had he not ample proof of the lengths to which Peter of Blentz was
willing to go to obtain the crown of Lutha!
"I do not know, your majesty," replied Rudolph, "when they will do
it; but soon, doubtless, since the sooner it is done the sooner they
can collect their pay."
Further conversation was interrupted by the sound of footsteps
without, and an instant later Yellow Franz entered the squalid
apartment and the dim circle of light which flickered feebly from
the smoky lantern that hung suspended from the rafters.
He stopped just within the doorway and stood eyeing the American
with an ugly grin upon his vicious face. Then his eyes fell upon the
trembling Rudolph.
"Get out of here, you!" he growled. "I've got private business with
this king. And see that you don't come nosing round either, or I'll
slit that soft throat for you."
Rudolph slipped past the burly ruffian, barely dodging a brutal blow
aimed at him by the giant, and escaped into the darkness without.
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