ourself, together with such things as you can carry in your
valises.

"I would gladly ask you to stay with me here, for a while; but
having arrived in that dress, it might excite remark among the
servants were you to appear in a different character. I regret that
my wife and family are away, at one of my country seats, and will
not be back for a week; and I suppose you will not care to linger
so long here."

"I thank you, count, but I should prefer to leave as soon as
possible. I do not think that there is really any fear of my being
recognized. If they search at all along the Vienna road, it is not
likely that they will do so as far as this; and certainly they
could obtain no news of me, for the first forty miles, and would
not be likely to push their inquiries as far, for a dismounted
field officer could not but have attracted attention, at the first
village through which he passed."

"It would be best for you not to change your clothes at the place
where you are stopping. I can have everything ready for you by
tomorrow morning, if you wish to leave at once."

"I should certainly prefer doing so."

"Very well, then. Do you go out by the west gate, at nine o'clock,
and walk for some four miles. When you find some quiet spot, change
your clothes, and walk on until within sight of the village of
Gulnach, and there wait. I will send a confidential servant with
the horse. He, on seeing you standing there, will ask who you are
waiting for. You will give my name, and then he will hand over the
horse and papers to you."

He got up and went to his table and opened a drawer.

"Here are a hundred rix dollars, Mr. Drummond, which I hand you as
Count Eulenfurst's banker. It is a matter of pure business."

"I could do with much less than that, sir," Fergus said.

"No, 'tis better to be well supplied. Besides, there are your
clothes to buy; and be sure and provide yourself with a good
fur-lined travelling cloak. You will need it, I can assure you.

"Your best course will be to travel through Saint Poelten and Ips,
cross the river at once, and go over the mountains by the road
through Freystadt to Budweis. It is by far the most level road from
here, though a good deal longer than the one through Horn. But
there is snow in the air, and I think that we shall have a heavy
downfall, and you may well find the defiles by the Horn road
blocked by snow; whereas by Freystadt you are not likely to find
any difficulty, and most of