"Heaven help her!" murmured Barney.

"The governor will not dare harm her," said Butzow. "Your majesty
need entertain no apprehension."

"I wouldn't trust him," replied the American. "I know his kind."




IV

BARNEY FINDS A FRIEND

After the party had left the room Maenck stood looking at the
princess for several seconds. A cunning expression supplanted the
anger that had shown so plainly upon his face but a moment before.
The girl had moved to one side of the apartment and was pretending
an interest in a large tapestry that covered the wall at that point.
Maenck watched her with greedy eyes. Presently he spoke.

"Let us be friends," he said. "You shall be my guest at Blentz for
a long time. I doubt if Peter will care to release you soon, for he
has no love for your father--and it will be easier for both if we
establish pleasant relations from the beginning. What do you say?"

"I shall not be at Blentz long," she replied, not even looking in
Maenck's direction, "though while I am it shall be as a prisoner and
not as a guest. It is incredible that one could believe me willing
to pose as the guest of a traitor, even were he less impossible than