"Oh, dash it all!" began his Lordship; for Alec, not to be denied, had just clasped Joan in his arms.
"In, in! Not a second to lose! Barricade the door!" gasped Felix.
"But, man alive, where is the fire?"
"In, I tell you! Sacré nom! Act first and talk afterward!"
Felix himself flung wide the door, and Alec, at this second interruption, was compelled to free the scarlet faced Joan from his eager embrace.
"Too bad!" he laughed. "You promised me a minute, Felix!"
Beaumanoir came in, diffident for once in his life, since none knew so well as he how dear to his friend was the blushing and embarrassed girl whom he now met for the first time.
"Sorry, old chap," he said; "but this other johnny will have it that somebody is thirsting for your gore."
Poluski, all trembling with excitement, slammed and locked the door and pointed to a heavy sideboard. "Drag it here!" he shrieked in a high falsetto. "The street is crammed with men belonging to the Seventh Regiment, and they have a short way with Kings they don't like. The instant they see how they have been tricked they will be after you like a pack of wolves. I have sent a messenger for help. I dared not use one of your orderlies, because that would have given the game away. While the men sit their horses out there the mutineers may believe you will soon reappear. Nevertheless, block the doorway with all the furniture. We must gain ten minutes at least, or it may be twenty."