ended by his companion's
previous brooding silence, nodded briefly, and they stopped at Monza,
where they saw General Schoneck in the morning, and Wilfrid being by
extraordinary favour in civilian's dress during his leave of absence,
they were jointly invited to the General's table at noon, though not to
meet any other officer. General Schoneck agreed with Weisspriess that
Hungary would be a better field for Wilfrid; said he would do his utmost
to serve them in the manner they wished, and dismissed them after the
second cigar. They strolled about the city, glad for reasons of their own
to be out of Milan as long as the leave permitted. At night, when they
were passing a palace in one of the dark streets, a feather, accompanied
by a sharp sibilation from above, dropped on Wilfrid's face. Weisspriess
held the feather up, and judged by its length that it was an eagle's, and
therefore belonging to the Hungarian Hussar regiment stationed in Milan.
"The bird's aloft," he remarked. His voice aroused a noise of feet that
was instantly still. He sent a glance at the doorways, where he thought
he discerned men. Fetching a whistle in with his breath, he unsheathed
his sword, and seeing that Wilfrid had no weapon, he pushed him to a gate
of the palace-court that had just cautiously turned a hinge. Wilfrid
found his hand taken by a woman's hand inside. The gate closed behind
him. He was led up to an apartment where, by the light of a darkly-veiled
lamp, he beheld a young Hungarian officer and a lady clinging to his
neck, praying him not to go forth. Her Italian speech revealed how
matters stood in this house. The officer accosted Wilfrid: "But you are
not one of us!" He repeated it to the lady: "You see, the man is not one
of us!"

She assured him that she had seen the uniform when she dropped the
feather, and wept protesting it.

"Louis, Louis! why did you come to-night! why did I make you come! You
will be slain. I had my warning, but I was mad."

The officer hushed her with a quick squeeze of her inter-twisted fingers.

"Are you the man to take a sword and be at my back, sir?" he said; and
resumed in a manner less contemptuous toward the civil costume: "I
request it for the sole purpose of quieting this lady's fears."

Wilfrid explained who and what he was. On hearing that he was General
Pierson's nephew the officer laughed cheerfully, and lifted the veil from
the lamp, by which Wilfrid knew him to be Colonel Prince Radocky,