CHAPTER XIII
THE MARCH ON MELINA
I
In Krovolin’s best hotel, the Three Kings of the East, Jaikie enjoyed the novel blessings of comfort and consideration. By the Countess’s edict Alison, the Roylances and he were at once conducted there, and the mandate of Juventus secured them the distinguished attentions of the management. The released prisoners were little the worse, for they had not been starved as Jaikie had been, and the only casualty was Archie, who had been overpowered in a desperate effort the previous morning to get into the Street of the White Peacock. The doping had been clumsily managed, for some hours before Jaikie’s arrival the three had been given a meal quite different from the coarse fare to which they had been hitherto treated. They were offered with it a red wine, wh
