essary, your highness," replied the steward.
"Your gracious aunt has obtained information about everything."

"Information? About what? Perhaps you have given it."

"I was questioned the other day at Fuerstenstein. Princess Sophie was
just returning from a walk and beckoned me to her to ask me a few
questions."

"The deuce she did!" muttered the prince, who saw mischief. "And what
answers did you give her?"

"'Your grace need feel no uneasiness,' I said, 'of living animals we
have only monkeys and parrots at Rodeck, and there's never been a snake
about the place; a sea serpent was coming, but it died on the way, and
the elephants broke loose before they were shipped at all, and went back
to their palm groves--so his highness told me. As to tigers, we have
two, but they are stuffed, and we've only the skin of a lion in the
large hall, so your grace can see that no harm will come from them.'"

"No, but enough will come from your tattle," said the prince, angrily.
"And the princess, what did she say to it all?"

"Her grace only smiled and then asked me about the women employed here
at Rodeck, and if all the girls in the region were not here. But I
said," and Stadinger threw his head back proudly, "'all the women at the
castle, your grace, were engaged by me. They are all industrious and
honest; I have seen to that; but his highness ran away when he caught
sight of them, and Herr Rojanow was more put out than the prince even,
so the gentlemen never paid but one visit to the kitchen.' Her grace was
very kind and gracious to me, and took leave of me very well contented,
I could see that."

"And I'd be very well contented to send you to the devil, you old fool.
To spoil it all with your long tongue," exclaimed the prince, furious
now.

The old man, who thought he had done everything for the best, looked at
his young master in perplexity.

"But I only told the truth, your highness."

"But the truth's not to be spoken at all times."

"Oh, I did not know that."

"Stadinger, you have a bad habit of answering back--perhaps you also
told the princess that Zena had been in the city for several weeks?"

"Yes, your highness, she asked me about my granddaughter, particularly."

"What's the trouble with Stadinger now?" asked Hartmut, who came out at
this moment, also attired for the day's sport, and who had caught the
last few words.

"Oh, he's been making a first class fool of himself, that's all,"
explained the exasp