leaving the dinner table. He brought startling news. Not an hour
before, while on his way from the nearest village, he had come upon
a big party of men, quartered on the premises of a gardener down the
valley. It required but little effort on his part to discover that
they were officers from the capital, and that they were looking for
the place where Courant's body was found. The good Father also
learned that detectives from Brussels were in the party, and that
one of the men was a prince. The eager listeners in Castle
Craneycrow soon drew from the priest enough to convince them that
Ugo was at the head of the expedition, and that it was a matter of
but a few hours until he and his men would be knocking at the gates.

"The prince did not address me," said Father Bivot, "but listened
intently, as I now recall, to everything I said in response to the
Luxemburg officer's questions. That person asked me if Lord Robert
Saxondale owned a place in the valley, and I said that his lordship
dwelt in Castle Craneycrow. The men were very curious, and a tall
Italian whispered questions to the officer, who put them to me
roughly. There was no harm in telling them that his lordship was
here with a party of friends--"

"Good Lord!" gasped Dickey, despairingly.

"It is all over," said Quentin, his face rigid.

"What will they do?" demanded Dorothy, panic-stricken.

"I do not understand your agitation, good friends," said the priest,
in mild surprise. "Have I done wrong in telling them you are here?
Who are they? Are they enemies?"