“I think so. After all, what happened yesterday may have been only a trick, as this man says, though I don’t think the King would have hesitated to profit by it if I had signed the false treaty. At any rate, so long as there is a chance of our coming off victorious, we ought not to let it slip. This treaty is of immense importance, for it brings Ethiopia within our sphere of influence, and when once it is concluded, we can snap our fingers at Scythia and Neustria. You see as well as I do that if we withdraw now and negotiations are resumed later, Scythia will have had time to slip in and conclude her treaty. I grant that we have a very slender chance of success, but if it depends on me I will not lose it. Still, I don’t wish to take you into danger against your better judgment, gentlemen. Your lives are at stake as much as mine, and if you think it advisable not to go to the Palace, I will dispense with your attendance on this occasion.”
“We will go wherever you go, Sir Dugald,” said Dick.
“Wherever you go,” echoed the rest.
“But I can’t take all of you,” said Sir Dugald. “Two of you must stay here and look after the ladies. I don’t like dividing our force, but it would be poor strategy to let them be seized as hostages while we were away. You see what I mean, Elma? I will leave you North and the doctor as a garrison, and you and the servants must put yourselves under their orders and help to defend the place if it is attacked.”
“No, Dugald,” returned Lady Haigh, resolutely, regardless of the fact that she was indulging in open mutiny, “unless Major North goes with you, you shall not go to the Palace at all. Dr Headlam and we can defend ourselves quite well behind stone walls; but it would be madness for you to trust yourself outside without a man with you that knew anything about fighting. Only take Major North, and I am content.”
For peace’ sake, Sir Dugald accepted this view of the case, and a little later the party set out with the ambassador, who had brought with him several horses from the King’s stables for them to ride—huge fat animals, most of them a peculiar pinkish-white in colour, with highly arched necks and flowing manes and tails decorated with ribbons and sham jewellery. They were provided with high native saddles and elaborate saddle-cloths, and the ambassador explained that they were intended as gifts to Sir Dugald and to his staff. Asked what had become of the animals belonging to the Mission, he confessed ingenuously that the King had had them removed in order to frustrate Sir Dugald’s design of leaving the city, but that they would be returned as soon as ever the treaty was signed, so that the Envoy and his young men might depart in peace.
Arrived at the Palace, the members of the Mission were conducted to the usual hall of audience. It was not without some unpleasant sensations that they heard the gates of the courtyard close behind them, and Dick involuntarily loosened his sword in the scabbard, and noticed that Stratford and Fitz were feeling whether their revolvers were safe. Sir Dugald alone showed no signs of disturbance, even when on reaching the hall he was requested to enter the King’s presence-chamber by himself, the rest remaining in the outer room. Before he could answer, his staff pressed around him, regardless of etiquette.
“Don’t go, sir,” said Dick. “It’s a trap.”
“They mean mischief, Sir Dugald,” said Stratford. “The King has never asked to see you alone before.”
“Let us put a pistol to this fellow’s head, sir, and keep him as a hostage until we are safely back at the Mission,” suggested Fitz, looking daggers at the smiling official, who was bowing and spreading out his hands in token of the welcome which awaited Sir Dugald in the King’s presence.