"It is hard to tell, Sahib Phra," said the old hunter sadly. "Lahn tells me that the King's guards fought for him till he and the ladies and the Sahibs were safe in the palace; then at a word from one of the bonzes they threw down their spears and krises in the courtyard, and joined the King's enemies outside the walls."
"The traitors—the traitors!" groaned Phra; "and we trusted them so. But tell me, Sree: those lights, the cries, and the beating of gongs to-night, what did it all mean?"
"Fighting, Sahib. The King's friends are very few, but some of his servants are with him still, and they beat the enemy off. Spears cannot reach so far as guns. Lahn says fighting like that has gone on all day."
"Hah!" ejaculated Phra. "But tell me: you, did you do nothing?"
"Yes, Sahib Phra; that made me so long. I went up in the dark to where there are many hundreds of the enemy all about the palace."
"But did you try to find a way by which we may get in tonight?"
"No, Sahib; the enemy are many, and they watch every place."
"But the terrace?" said Phra eagerly. "We could take the boat up there."
"Two of the King's barges are there, with many men guarding the landing-place, so that the King and his friends should not escape by the river."
"But at the back there, by the elephant houses?"