There is an underground passage somewhere.--B."
Baldos went alone and swiftly. The note to Colonel Quinnox had been
imperative. He was to serve as an inner guard until further
orders. Someone, it was reported, had tried to enter Miss Calhoun's room
from the outside during the rainstorm of the previous night, and a
special guard was to be stationed near the door. All of this was unknown
to Baldos, but he did not ask for any explanations.
He was half way to the castle when the sharp report of a gun startled
him. A bullet whizzed close to his ear! Baldos broke into a crouching
run, but did not change his course. He knew that the shot was intended
for him, and that its mission was to prevent him from reaching the
castle. The attendants at the castle door admitted him, panting and
excited, and he was taken immediately to the enchanted boudoir of the
princess which but few men were fortunate enough to enter. There were
three women in the room.
"I am here to report, your highness," said he, bowing low before the
real princess, with a smile upon his flushed face.
"You are prompt," said the princess "What have you to report, sir?"
"That an attempt has just been made to kill a member of the castle
guard," he coolly answered.
"Impossible!"
"I am quite certain of it, your highness. The bullet almost clipped my
ear."
"Good heavens!" gasped the listeners.
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