"At once!" I cried; "at once!"
The gentleman in the blue frock stopped and smiled.
"Is this your little girl, Colonel Bernhard?" he asked.
My father replied by a low bow.
The strange gentleman beckoned me to draw nearer.
"A golden-haired little Maedchen!" said he. "Come hither, pretty one, and
tell me your name."
I knew then that he was the King. I trembled and blushed.
"My name is Gretchen," I said.
"And you have brought a letter for your father?"
"It is not a letter," I said. "It is a card. It is from Monsieur Maurice."
"And who is Monsieur Maurice?" asked the King.
"So please your Majesty," said my father, answering the question for me,
"Monsieur Maurice is the prisoner I hold in charge."
The smile went out of the King's face.
"The prisoner!" he repeated, inquiringly. "What prisoner?"
"The state-prisoner whom I received, according to your Majesty's command,
eight months ago--Monsieur Maurice."
"Monsieur Maurice!" echoed the King.
"I know the gentleman by no other name, please your Majesty," said my
father.
The King looked grave.
"I never heard of Monsieur Maurice," he said, "I know of no state-prisoner
here."
"The prisoner was consigned to my keeping by your Majesty's Minister of
War," said my father.
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