“But with a serious one. Oh, Dick, what was it? Has poor Alick got himself into trouble by——shooting that Austrian acrobat?”
“No, nonsense! Have more respect for a prince than to call him an acrobat, if he does jump about when he is angered. He was not hurt—he was not touched. Alick was too much excited to aim steadily, I suppose, so his ball went—Heaven knows where. But——”
“But Alick himself,—was he wounded?”
“Alick was wounded in the chest by a ball and in the back of the head by a sharp stone upon which his head struck in falling. Neither of the wounds is considered dangerous. I left him in good hands in the St. Aubins hotel.”
“But my grandfather—where is he? Why doesn’t he come up? Of course he returned with you?”
“No, he remained in St. Aubins to look after Alick.”
“Oh, Dick he remained there! Then he never received our telegram!” said Anna, turning pale.
“Your telegram! No! What telegram? We received none. What has happened, Anna?” demanded Richard Hammond, becoming alarmed.
“Oh, Dick, I thought you knew,” cried Anna dropping into a chair and bursting into tears.
“In the name of Heaven what has happened? You are well. But where is Drusilla? Where is little Lenny? I don’t see either of them!”