he were playing with a child, he wrested the weapon from the conductor's
hand, snapped the blade in two pieces and threw them off into the
bushes.

"Skip!" was his only word. It was a command that no one in Rapp-Thorberg
ever had heard before.

"You shall pay for this!" screamed the conductor, tugging at his collar.
"Scoundrel! Dog! Beast! What do you mean! Murderer! Robber! Assassin!"

"You know what I mean, you little shrimp!" roared Chase. "Skip! Don't
hang around here a second longer or I'll--" and he took a threatening
step toward his adversary. The latter was discreet, if not actually a
coward. He turned tail and ran twenty paces or more in heartbreaking
time; then, realising that he was not pursued, stopped and shook his
fist at his assailant.

"Come, Genevra," he gasped, but she remained as if rooted to the spot.
He waited an instant, and then walked rapidly away in the direction of
the palace, his back as straight as a ramrod, but his legs a trifle
unsteady. The trio watched him for a full minute, speech-bound now that
the deed was done and the consequences were to be considered. Baggs
grasped Chase by the shoulder, shook him and exclaimed, when it was too
late:

"You blooming ass, do you know what you've done?"

"The da--miserable cur was annoying the Princess," muttered Chase,
straightening his cuffs, vaguely realising that he had interfered too
hastily.