But Sapt had
thrown no stone, and the fish in the moat were few and not rising
then. The light was behind Sapt, and threw his figure into bold
relief. The royal apartments looked out the other way; there were
no lights in the windows this side the bridge, although beyond it
the guards' lodgings and the servants' offices still showed a
light here and there. Sapt waited till the eddies ceased. Then he
heard the faintest sound, as of a large body let very gently into
the water; a moment later, from the moat right below him, a man's
head emerged.
"Sapt!" said a voice, low but distinct.
The old colonel started, and, resting both hands on the sill,
bent further out, till he seemed in danger of overbalancing.
"Quick--to the ledge on the other side. You know," said the
voice, and the head turned; with quick, quiet strokes the man
crossed the moat till he was hidden in the triangle of deep shade
formed by the meeting of the drawbridge and the old castle wall.
Sapt watched him go, almost stupefied by the sudden wonder of
hearing that voice come to him out of the stillness of the night.
For the king was abed; and who spoke in that voice save the king
and one other?
Then, with a curse at himself for his delay, he turned and walked
quickly across the room.
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