Danilo Vanilis, sitting at the end of the table, rose and held a paper out toward him.
"All that is needed is the signature of His Majesty the King. Sign, sire!"
Peter gazed at the other for a moment, growing wonderment on his face. Then he glanced quickly around the crowded board.
"Alexander abdicated five minutes ago. King Peter now rules in Ironia," announced Vanilis with a low bow.
Peter was a man of quick comprehension and decision. He grasped the pen.
"That king is fortunate," he declared, "whose first duty is to fight a cause so dear to the hearts of the people over whom he has been called to rule! To-night, sirs, we leave for the front!"
CHAPTER XXV
THE ASSASSINATION
Events moved fast in Ironia. At five o'clock Peter was publicly declared King, the announcement being received with manifestations of the wildest joy in Serajoz. At five-thirty an official statement of Ironia's intentions was communicated to the Ambassadors of Austria, Germany and Turkey, and their passports were handed to them. At six o'clock the first regiment marched out of the capital for the front, through streets lined with deliriously happy multitudes.
The work of mobilisation was begun in feverish haste. King Peter spent three hours directing the efforts of the general staff and in conference with the leading bankers. As he worked, however, the new monarch never for a moment lost sight of the grim spectre that had haunted him for two days. Varden had brought him word of the abduction of Olga just as he was preparing for his trip to the frontier. Since then he had heard no news of her.