later on.â
Then I burst out laughing, and even old Sapt grimly smiled.
âI fancy,â said he, âthat when Josef tells them the King is gone theyâll think it is because we smelt a rat. For you may swear Black Michael doesnât expect to see him in Strelsau today.â
I put the Kingâs helmet on my head. Old Sapt handed me the Kingâs sword, looking at me long and carefully.
âThank God, he shaved his beard!â he exclaimed.
âWhy did he?â I asked.
âBecause Princess Flavia said he grazed her cheek when he was graciously pleased to give her a cousinly kiss. Come though, we must ride.â
âIs all safe here?â
âNothingâs safe anywhere,â said Sapt, âbut we can make it no safer.â
Fritz now rejoined us in the uniform of a captain in the same regiment as that to which my dress belonged. In four minutes Sapt had arrayed himself in his uniform. Josef called that the horses were ready. We jumped on their backs and started at a rapid trot. The game had begun. What would the issue of it be?
The cool morning air cleared my head, and I was able to take in all Sapt said to me. He was wonderful. Fritz hardly spoke, riding like a man asleep, but Sapt, without another word for the King, began at once to instruct me most minutely in the history of my past life, of my family, of my tastes, pursuits, weaknesses, friends, companions, and servants. He told me the etiquette of the Ruritanian Court, promising to be constantly at my elbow to point out everybody whom I ought to know, and give me hints with what degree of favour to greet them.
âBy the way,â he said, âyouâre a Catholic, I suppose?â
âNot I,â I answered.
âLord, heâs a heretic!â groaned Sapt, and forthwith he fell to a rudimentary lesson in the practices and observances of the Romish faith.
âLuckily,â said he, âyou wonât be expected to know much, for the Kingâs notoriously lax and careless about such matters. But you must be as civil as butter to the Cardinal. We hope to win him over, because he and Michael have a standing quarrel about their precedence.â
We were by now at the station. Fritz had recovered nerve enough to explain to the astonished station master that the King had changed his plans. The train steamed up. We got into a first-class carriage, and Sapt, leaning back on the cushions, went on with his lesson. I looked at my watchâthe Kingâs watch it was, of course. It was just eight.
âI wonder if theyâve gone to look for us,â I said.
âI hope they wonât find the King,â said Fritz nervously, and this time it was Sapt who shrugged his shoulders.
The train travelled well, and at half-past nine, looking out of the window, I saw the towers and spires of a great city.
âYour capital, my liege,â grinned old Sapt, with a wave of his hand, and, leaning forward, he laid his finger on my pulse. âA little too quick,â said he, in his grumbling tone.
âIâm not made of stone!â I exclaimed.
âYouâll do,â said he, with a nod. âWe must say Fritz here has caught the ague. Drain your flask, Fritz, for heavenâs sake, boy!â
Fritz did as he was bid.
âWeâre an hour early,â said Sapt. âWeâll send word forward for your Majestyâs arrival, for thereâll be no one here to meet us yet. And meanwhileââ
âMeanwhile,â said I, âthe Kingâll be hanged if he doesnât have some breakfast.â
Old Sapt chuckled, and held out his hand.
âYouâre an Elphberg, every inch of you,â said he. Then he paused, and looking at us, said quietly, âGod send we may be alive tonight!â
âAmen!â said Fritz von Tarlenheim.
The train stopped. Fritz and Sapt leapt out, uncovered, and held the door for me. I choked down a lump that rose in my throat,
Lex Williford, Michael Martone