instantly that Alresca was unconscious.

"Please put him down, mademoiselle."

These were the first words that I ever spoke to Rosetta Rosa, and, out
of sheer acute nervousness, I uttered them roughly, in a tone of
surly command. I was astonished at myself. I was astonished at my own
voice. She glanced up at me and hesitated. No doubt she was
unaccustomed to such curt orders.

"Please put him down at once," I repeated, trying to assume a bland,
calm, professional, authoritative manner, and not in the least
succeeding. "It is highly dangerous to lift an unconscious person from
a recumbent position."

Why I should have talked like an article in a medical dictionary
instead of like a human being I cannot imagine.

"This is a doctor--Mr. Carl Foster," Sir Cyril explained smoothly, and
she laid Alresca's head gently on the bare planks of the floor.

"Will everyone kindly stand aside, and I will examine him."

No one moved. The King continued his kingly examination of the prone
form. Not a fold of Ortrud's magnificent black robe was disturbed.
Then Sir Cyril translated my request into French and into German, and
these legendary figures of the Middle Ages withdrew a little, fixing
themselves with difficulty into the common multitude that pressed on
them from without. I made them retreat still further. Rosetta Rosa
moved gravely to one side.