and," he glanced at Frau von Eschenhagen, of whose arrival he had not
heard, "and my lady should come, too."

"But what is it, what has happened?" cried the forester, seriously
alarmed now.

The old man hesitated; he seemed not to know how to break his bad news
gently. At last he spoke.

"His excellency Baron von Wallmoden is at Rodeck--and the baroness,
too."

"My brother?" Regine cried apprehensively.

"Yes, my lady. His excellency was thrown from his carriage and now he is
unconscious at Rodeck, and the physician whom we summoned in haste, says
his condition is very serious."

"God help us! Moritz, we must go at once," exclaimed Regine.

Schoenau had already rung and he ordered horses and carriage to be got
ready at once. "And now, Stadinger, tell us how it happened."

"The Herr Baron was on his way from Ostwalden to Fuerstenstein," began
Stadinger. "The way lay through the Rodeck lands, not far from the
Castle. Our forester, who was in the woods close by with some of the
men, fired a couple of shots at a deer which started out of the thicket
and ran across the road just in front of His Excellency's carriage. The
horses shied and started off, and the coachman lost control of them.
The forester, who reached the road at that moment, heard the Frau
Baroness say to her husband: 'Sit still, Herbert! for God's sake, don't
move!' But the baron must have lost his head, for he stood up and made
one spring. Of course he did not know where he was going, and fell with
great force against a fallen tree. Just a few yards farther on, at a
bend in the road, the coachman succeeded in pulling up the horses. The
baroness, who was not hurt at all, only shaken a little, hastened at
once to her husband, but the poor gentleman was badly hurt, and was
unconscious. The forester and his men brought him to Rodeck. Herr
Rojanow did everything that was necessary, and then sent me in hot haste
for you!"

In the presence of this new disaster, all dissensions ceased, and Toni
was summoned and orders were hastily given, and as soon as the carriage
was ready the head forester and Frau Regine hurried off. Willibald and
Stadinger followed them at once, but as they descended the stairs, the
former held back for a moment and asked in a whisper:

"What did the physician say? Did you hear anything?"

The old man shook his head sadly and answered in a subdued tone:

"I stood by when Herr Rojanow questioned him in the hall. There is no
hope.