“An hour or so before we made the general advance upon the castle, your majesty, Cousin Fritz was seen—I saw him myself—dancing wildly on the balcony in front of the American’s apartment. The dwarf is the only man in the kingdom who knows all the underground secrets of this ancient castle. I have no doubt that he has led Rudolph and the rest to a place of, at least, temporary secrecy.”
“Just who are missing, Herr Eingen?” asked Wilhelm.
“Rudolph, the Princess Hilda, Baron Wollenstein, Count von Reibach, Herr Bennett, and Cousin Fritz.”
“That is all?”
“So far as I can learn, no one else has disappeared from the castle since our entrance.”
“It is strange,” mused the usurper. “So large a party, it seems to me, could not vanish in one instant without leaving some clew behind them. You say, Herr Eingen, that the cellars have been thoroughly explored?”
“Yes, your majesty. I led the exploring party myself. There is, beneath this castle, a labyrinth of passages, cellars, dungeons, and lumber rooms that taxed our patience severely, but we groped into every nook and corner, and found nothing to reward our search.”
At this moment Herr Schmidt returned, followed by a group of young women whom the events of the night had rendered hysterical. At a sign from Wilhelm, Herr Schmidt led his bevy of distraught maidens toward the usurper.
“Now understand me,” said Wilhelm sternly, “I shall imprison you in a body if you all insist upon talking at once. Furthermore, I object to tears. You have nothing to cry about if you will obey your king. Do you comprehend me? Your king, Wilhelm IX., by the grace of God monarch of Hesse-Heilfels. You there, in front, answer my questions! What is this wonderful tale that I hear has been spread abroad from your corner of the castle?”
Carl Eingen, his countenance disturbed, was anxiously glancing from face to face of the trembling women, seeking some one he could not find. In answer to Wilhelm, a maiden standing nearer to royalty than the others said, her voice tremulous with emotion: