doing so. I hastened from the hall.
'Save your Ubar!' I called to two confused, startled guards outside, still loyally at their posts, sweeping my arm toward the hall. They could not resist this plea and vanished within, into the smoke and tumult. I swung shut the door after them and tied shut the handles with the silken belt of my robes. Almost instantly the door was being forced from the other side, and I saw a sword flash through the crack, hacking at the silk. The corridor was long and seemingly empty, on both sides of the door, save for such things as closed doors, presumably locked, slave rings, niches here and there, vases, and decorative plantings. In a moment the crowd, soldiers in advance, would come plunging through the door.
I looked wildly up and down the corridor. It stretched far in either direction. I could see no one. At its turnings I supposed there might be guards.
The door to the great hall burst open, its sides flung back, cracking into the walls. I heard shouting, the grunting of men, the rushing of feet. Then there was suddenly silence.
'Where is he?' asked a man, startled.
'He must be here,' said someone.
'The hall is empty,' said another.
'It cannot be,' said a man. 'He was only Ihn before us.'
'He is gone,' said another.
'The corridor doors,' cried Belnar. 'He has slipped through one of them! Hurry! Find him!'
I heard men running down the corridor, in both directions. One passed within a few feet of me. The reports were soon being passed back. 'The doors are locked!' I heard. 'They are locked!' Then from the other direction I heard, 'They are locked! None are forced!'
'Perhaps he had a key,' said someone.
'He would not have had time to use it,' said a fellow, fearfully.
'The keys to these doors are kept in the quarters of the captain of the guards,' said another fellow, hesitantly.
'See that a key check is conducted, immediately,' said Belnar. 'We shall see what key is missing. He will then have fled through that door.'
'We were out of the hall in an instant,' said a man, uneasily.
'I do not think he could have had time to reach one of those doors,' said a fellow.
'Surely,' said another, uneasily, he who had spoken fearfully earlier, 'if he had been able to reach one of the doors, he would not have had the time to pause and let himself in.'
'The door could have been open, left open,' said another fellow. 'It would only be necessary that he had managed to have a key earlier.'
'It could then have been locked from the inside,' said a fellow.
'That is it,' said another.
'I do not think he would have had time to reach one of the doors,' said a fellow, one who had spoken earlier.
'What are you suggesting?' asked another, impatiently.
'I do not know,' said the fellow, uneasily.
'Fools!' cried Belnar. 'Take reports from the guards at the ends of the corridor. They probably have him in custody already!'
I heard running footsteps, fading down the corridor in both directions.
'Here comes the officer of the guard,' said a man. 'Borto is with him.'
'Ubar!' I heard.
'What keys are missing, from this corridor, quick!' said Belnar.
'None, Ubar!' said the man. 'No keys are missing, not from anywhere!'
This announcement was greeted with silence.
'Ubar,' called a man. 'We have the report from the west guards. No one has left the corridor in the vicinity of their post.'
'Very well,' said Belnar. 'The matter is done. He will now be in the custody of the east guards.'
'The eastern post,' said a man. 'We were just behind him. How could he have reached it so quickly?'
'There is no other explanation,' said Belnar. 'He is there.'
'Here comes Elron,' said a fellow. 'He will have the report from the east guards.'
'He is in their custody,' said Belnar.
'Ubar,' said a voice.
'Speak,' said Belnar. 'Was the fellow taken easily, or with difficulty?'
'Ubar?' asked the man.
'You come from the east guards, do you not?' demanded Belnar.
'Yes, Ubar!' said the man.
'Render to us then the report of the east guards, man!' said Belnar. 'They have taken him, have they not?'
'They have not seen him,' Ubar,' said the man.
'What!' cried Belnar.
'He did not pass their post,' said the man.
'Impossible!' said Belnar.
'It is true, Ubar,' said the man.
'He must have passed them,' said a man.
'No,' said the man.
'He must have,' insisted the man.
'That is highly unlikely,' said the man. 'The corridor is narrow. There are five guards there.'
'He would not have had time to reach that area anyway,' said another man. 'We were almost upon him.'
There was then another silence.
'He must be here, somewhere,' said a fellow.
'He is not in the corridor,' said a man. 'We have examined it. You can see that it is empty.'
'Where can he be?' asked a man.
'Where is he?' asked another fellow.
'I do not like it,' said a man.
'He is gone,' said a man. 'He is just gone.'
'He has disappeared,' whispered a man.
'Ubar,' said a voice, the voice of Flaminius. 'The alarm bars still sound. I submit that attention be given to more serious matters than the apprehension of an elusive brigand.'
'I want him found!' screamed Belnar.
'He was wearing robes of white and gold, merchants' robes,' said a man to another.
'They were sewn with silver,' said another man.
'They were of a Turian cut,' said another.
'Ubar,' said Flaminius.
'Search the palace!' screamed Belnar. 'Find him!'
'Yes, Ubar!' cried men, running from the place.
'Ubar,' protested Flaminius.
'Contact the appropriate officers, civic and military!' screamed Belnar. 'Issue orders! Are you a fool? Have them see to the safety of the streets, the security of the gates, the search for escaped prisoners!'
'Surely you will take command personally,' said Flaminius.
'I have other matters to attend to,' said Belnar.
'I will take command then, with your permission,' said Flaminius. 'Have no fear. I will restore order shortly.'
'You will do precisely what I have commanded,' said Belnar, 'and only that.'
'Ubar?' asked Flaminius.
'You will organize matters expeditiously,' snarled Belnar. 'You will then surrender the supervision of these
