Frank breathed a sigh of relief as the Russian officer took charge of him. He knew that he had been successful. He approached the Russian Emperor and his own commander with a smile on his face.
Lord Hastings was about to speak, but the Czar forestalled him.
“So!” he exclaimed. “This is the manner in which you perform a mission for the Emperor. I send you to Moscow and I find you in Klaw. How do you account for that, sir?”
“I have come to warn you, your Majesty,” said Frank quietly.
“Warn me? Warn me of what? I had expected word from you before this.”
“We have known nothing definite before,” was Frank’s reply, “nor have we had the opportunity of warning you. The plot against your Majesty has come to a head and the coup is to be sprung to-day by Count Blowinski.”
“So?” said the Czar again. “And what kind of a plot, pray?”
“You are to be seized by Count Blowinski’s troops, your Majesty, as you address them on the palace drill grounds.”
“But what if I am surrounded by my own personal body guard, with twenty thousand of my own troops within call?” asked the Czar.
“Then your Majesty will be perfectly safe,” returned Frank quietly.