"Stop!" cried several voices.
The man, with a glance to right and left of him for a way of escape, stood still; but in an instant a knife gleamed in his hand, and in that moment Ellerey recognized him.
"Anton!"
The man turned toward him and lowered the knife at once. "The Princess,
Anton, where is she?"
"Yonder; alive," Anton answered. "Give me a moment and some drink. I have a message."
"For me?"
"For all, Captain, who love her."
CHAPTER XXII
IN VASILICI'S STRONGHOLD
Although Anton had declared to Ellerey that there was no certainty that the Princess had failed, he did not believe in his own optimism. True, death seemed certain in the tower, but it had been kept at bay until now almost miraculously, it seemed to him, and a faith in Captain Ellerey had grown up in him. The Princess's resolution to deliver herself to the brigands appeared little short of madness to Anton; he even considered whether he would not be acting in her best interests by disclosing the plan to Ellerey; and he felt a traitor even when he carried out her commands.