I started for the ladder, but with a fierce grip the king withheld me.
“Would you be a fool and spoil everything?” he shouted in a sudden fury.
He was again composed and listening. “Wonderful!” he said. “Some of the men, seeing how easily he clears the way, are hailing him as a leader. They are not the soldiers.... The beam-bearers are advancing again, for the madman is opening a passage. They carry the beam on their shoulders.... They are gradually approaching the gate. Don’t you hear the lunatic shouting?”
“Yes, Sire.”
“A considerable body of soldiers must be massed at the gate, awaiting the bearers, but they are silent. They must be consulting what to do. They are drawing their swords.”
“Sire!” I cried; “I won’t let that happen.”
“Wait,” he peremptorily commanded. “What is that?” He was listening more breathlessly than before. “Strange!... Strange!... It——-”
“What is it?” I demanded in a rage of impatience.
“I don’t understand,” he resumed after a pause. “What can make it? There is no earthquake. Did you feel one?”
“No, Sire. But I can’t———”