ng of sentinels reechoed upon the
porticos, and a squad of hearty German soldiers made merry in the
servants' hall with the released domestics.

Stout Ober-forster Hermann listened, with mouth agape, to Sergeant
Breyman's loud denunciation of the wounded prisoner as the two
men exchanged confidences, in the dining hall, where antlers and
wolves' heads, grinning bears' skulls, and eagles' wings told the
tale of many a wild jagd.

In the library, where Braun lay under guard, the two Americans
were as powerless as Sergeant Breyman to break down Fritz Braun's
dogged reserve. The only growl which escaped his bearded lips was
a muttered curse. "Damn you both! In five minutes I would have
silenced that lying jade's tongue forever."

It was four days after the surprise of Adler's Horst when the strangers
left the estate to the care of rugged old Forster Hermann. Far and
near, the simple country folk came to gaze upon the "Amerikanische"
desperado, as the cortege of three carriages and two wagons drew
slowly away from the schloss.

The soldiery had now all departed, save a corporal and three men,
and peace reigned over the woods given up again to the elk and
roebuck.

Atwater and McNerney were astonished at Fritz Braun's stolid
indifference. The whole drama was now laid bare up to the fatal
moment when the entrapped Clayton was left helpless under Braun's
strangling fingers.

The news of the capture, cabled over to New York City, had sent Jack
Witherspoon whirling away to Detroit to give to Alice Worthington
the news of the successful capture, and a proximate vengeance for
Clayton's murder.

Braun's defiant mood still continued. The only request he had made
of the two friends was that he might have the necessary clothing
for his homeward voyage.

With keen eyes, McNerney and Atwater searched all the articles
reserved for the use of the sullen wretch, whose inflamed wound
now rendered him almost helpless.

The whole crime seemed to be now cleared up from the frank confessions
of Leah Einstein and the unknown Magyar beauty.

"It has been a great campaign," said McNerney, as he saw Braun,
guarded by four soldiers, start slowly toward the village under the
convoy of Sergeant Breyman. "He spent but little of the plunder!
Here we have recovered nearly two hundred and fifty-five thousand
dollars in bills and good cheques! He evidently feared to attract
attention by any undue luxury."

They had removed every s