The Lighted Match

Benton sat with his brows knitted intently listening.

"Now," went on Blanco, "there is one thing more. They await the man for

whom they hold the empty chair."

There was a brief silence, then the Spaniard uttered a low exclamation

of satisfaction. Benton glanced up to see a young man of frank face,

blond mustache and Paris clothes drop into the vacant place with evident

apologies for his tardiness.

"Ah," breathed Blanco again, "I feared it would be someone I did not

know. He is the Teniente Lapas, of Karyl's Palace guard. The

pobrecito! I wonder what post he hopes to adorn at the Court of the

Pretender."

For a moment the Spaniard looked on with an expression of melancholy

reflection. "That boy," he said "at last, has the trust and friendship

of the King. Before him lies every prospect of advancement, yet he has

been beguiled by the Countess Astaride, and throws himself into a plot

against Karyl. It is pitiable when one is perfidious so young--and with

such small cause."

"Who is the Countess Astaride?" inquired the American.

"One of the most beautiful women in Europe, to whom these children are

playthings. For her there is only Louis Delgado. It is her firing of his

dreams which makes him aspire to a throne. It is she who has the

determination. He can see visions of power only in the colors of his

absinthe glass. She uses men to her ends. Lapas is the latest--unless--"

Blanco paused--"unless he is playing two parts, and really serves Karyl.

Come, Señor, there is nothing further to interest us here."