hearing.

"God knows!" answered Lorry. "This is the most damnable thing I
ever heard of. Are we dreaming? Did we really see and hear
those men?" He had risen to his feet, his companion sitting
weakly before him.

"There's no question about it! It's a case of abduction, and we
have it in our power to spoil the whole job. By Gad, but this
is luck, Gren!" Anguish was quivering with excitement as he
rose to his feet. "Shall we notify old Dangloss or alarm the
steward? There's no time to be lost if we want to trap these
fellows. The chief devil is bound to escape, for we can't get
him and the others, too, and they won't peach on him. Come, we
must be lively! What are you standing there for? Damn it, the
trap must be set!"

"Wait! Why not do the whole job ourselves?"

"How-what do you mean?"

"Why should we alarm anybody? We know the plans as well as these
scoundrels themselves. Why not follow them right into the
castle, capture them red-handed, and then do the alarming? I'm
in for saving the Princess of Graustark with our own hands and
right under the noses of her vaunted guardsmen, as Michael says."
Lorry was thrilled by the spirit of adventure. His hand gripped
his friend's arm and his face was close to his ear. "It is the
grandest opportunity two human beings ever had to distinguish
themselves!"