On and on, turning and twisting, ran the poor exhausted little man. In some of the longer paths he would catch a fleeting glimpse over his shoulder of his pursuer, then a sudden plunge to the right or left separated them again.
At last at the end of a more than usually straight run he found himself in the open. To retrace his steps was impossible, already Mozara was but twenty feet from him, the barrel of a revolver shining blue in his hand.
Some hundred yards away the Palace rose, a dark mass against the star-powdered sky, and Edward knew that in the shadow of one of those buttresses lay the little staircase—and safety.
Breathing a hurried prayer for help, he darted across the moon-swept lawns, running unevenly, now upright, now bent nearly double. A shot whined past his ear and he drew in his breath sharply, then another, then—a stinging pain took him in the left shoulder and Edward Povey knew that he had been hit.
Almost at once the acute pain passed and his shoulder grew cold and numb and sticky. He faltered in his stride and all but fell, but the sight of the doorway gave him courage and again he stumbled on.
It took him only two or three minutes to reach it, but to the stricken man it seemed as though he were running for hours. A fog appeared to have risen before his eyes, a reddish fog in which danced and trembled little points of flame—and through the mist he saw the face of Pia, who had been placed to guard the foot of the staircase—felt strong arms supporting him—then with a little sigh drooped into oblivion.
*****
Edward came to his senses to find himself in a dimly lit chamber, with the face of the Princess Galva, white and drawn, bending over him, and her cool hand on his forehead.
Beyond her, in the gloom of the room, were other faces. Anna was there, and the duke, and a strange man whom they addressed as doctor, and who now came forward and took Edward's wrist. The latter could catch here and there a word of what he was saying; the voice seemed to come from a great distance.
"——unfortunate that it should be this room—locate the bullet—no, again in the morning perhaps—not to be moved—one of the sisters will watch—you can send for me if——"