"There are always the Anarchists," said my companion, "and London, thanks to the British Government, is known to be a hot-bed of them. Her Highness has several times received threatening letters, and for the rest the thing is easy. Come," he said, smiling, "you are on her side now, and she sorely needs help. Meet me in Great Coram Square to-night at ten, and bring a sword. A long cloak and a hansom will hide the incongruity of the weapon in modern London. There may be use for it, and for obvious reasons they will not use firearms."
"But——" I began, and paused, for I had a natural reluctance to confess to this comparative stranger that the state of my purse precluded the purchasing of swords and the taking of hansoms.
"Ah!" he said, smiling, and as usual divining my thoughts with great perspicacity. "Is that how it is? Well, thank God, Schwannenwald can always be sure that those that rally to her banner can at any rate go properly equipped to the fight. And a brave man is none the worse when he looks on his last florin, or takes the gold which he has earned," he said, pressing a roll of notes on me.
"But I have not earned it," I objected.
"At any rate I think I can promise that before to-morrow morning you will have done so." He smiled, and with a hearty grip of the hand he waved me to the door. "To-night at ten," he said.
After a light meal I went out to make my preparations. A light rain was falling as my hansom made its way through the crowded streets to the quieter parts of Bloomsbury. About a hundred yards from my destination I dismissed my cab, and walked to the square, which, owing to the rain and the hour, was completely deserted. It was a gloomy spot, and Von Bieberstein was nowhere to be seen. As I strolled up and down I wondered which house was our destination. A light touch on the arm recalled me, and turning I saw Von Bieberstein.
"I have a carriage at the corner waiting," he said, "and an hour, if all goes well, should see the Princess on her way to safety. That is the house yonder," he said, pointing to a gloomy-looking house on the opposite side of the square, standing between two others whose boards proclaimed them to be let. The house might have been as deserted as its fellows had it not been for a faint light which gleamed through the glass at the top of the front door. The rest of the house was in darkness.
"The apartments in use are at the back of the house," said Von Bieberstein at my elbow.
"How are we to get in?" I whispered.