"From her majesty?" the colonel exclaimed in surprise.
"Yes. Now, colonel, before I hand you the letter I wish to impress upon you the necessity for absolute secrecy in this affair. It must be mentioned to no one, unless you have Donna Christina's permission to do so. I need scarcely say that the matter is likely to be of considerable benefit to you. Here is her majesty's order."
"This is a strange message," the colonel said, after reading it through two or three times. "It has no official seal, and is altogether unlike a document one would expect to receive from her majesty."
"That is so, colonel. Her majesty was not in a position to affix her seal, but the signature is hers, which is all that is important. Now, sir, I will tell you what has happened. Her Majesty Queen Christina and her daughter have been carried off from Madrid by a party of armed conspirators. She is at the present moment at the château of the Count de Monteroy, and is held a prisoner in his house. I have had an interview with her there, and have received this order from her. What force of cavalry have you here?"
"I have only fifty men, señor."
"That will be sufficient. You will at once call them under arms and start back with me. We must surround the château before daylight if possible, and if we ride fast we may succeed in doing so. You will there arrest the count and all his guests, who are ten in number, but who may by to-morrow morning be still stronger. You will then form an escort for the queens, and conduct them back to Madrid. I don't know what is happening there, but at any rate we will contrive to ride in after nightfall, so as to get them back to their palace unseen. After that the matter will be in her hands and that of her government."
CHAPTER XIV
A RESCUE
The colonel, who had given an exclamation of astonishment on hearing of the outrage upon the queens, was evidently a man of action. He ran to the door and shouted "Thomasso! Stephano!" in tones of thunder. Two men came running downstairs in their night attire. "Run to Captain Zeno, and order him to have his troop at my door in a quarter of an hour from the present time. Tell him that it is a matter of life and death. Don't stop to dress; throw on your cloaks and run to him at once." Then he turned to Arthur. "They may not be here in a quarter of an hour, but they won't be many minutes longer. The captain sleeps at the barracks, and he will turn his men out at once."
Another man was wakened and ordered to saddle the colonel's horse at once. "How did this monstrous thing happen, cavalero, if I may ask?"