lls, so that at
a distance the hut must have resembled a white heap rather than a human
dwelling. Fortunately for our comfort, however, the last occupant of the
hut had accumulated a good supply of fuel, and this being so it was not
long before the innkeeper and Gabriel had a large fire blazing on the
hearth. Provisions were next obtained from some mysterious hiding-place,
and then might have been seen, had there been any stranger there to
witness it, the curious spectacle of the King and Queen of Pannonia,
their children, and their faithful adherents, sitting before the
cheerful blaze munching black bread with its accompaniment of goat's
milk cheese. After that I must have become drowsy, for I remember
resting my head upon my mother's arm, watching the sparks hop from the
logs, and listening to the moaning of the wind outside.

I can recollect nothing else, however, until I was awakened by a loud
knocking at the door. "Who can it be?" was the question that each one
asked of him or her self. Had the soldiers discovered our whereabouts?
Were we destined to be captured after all? My father, who had his place
on the further side of the hearth, had risen, and was watching the
innkeeper, who had approached the door, while my mother placed her arm
round me as if she were prepared to protect me to the last gasp. Once
more the knocking sounded, and the innkeeper turned to my father for
instructions.

"Open it," said the latter with a nod. "If they want us they must have
us, so we may as well make a virtue of necessity."

The other obeyed, and a moment later a blast of cold air entered,
bringing with it a quantity of snow that melted as soon as it touched
the floor. Outside, within the range of firelight, stood three men, each
of whom, it was to be observed, carried upon his back a pack of curious
shape. That they were not soldiers was happily apparent. The luck which
had stood by us so far was once more triumphant. The innkeeper must have
recognised the new arrivals, for, uttering a cry of surprise, he threw
his cloak round his shoulders and went out to them, closing the door
behind him. He was absent some ten minutes. When he returned he
approached my father and informed him, with a candour quite in keeping
with his character, that the men were three of the band of smugglers of
whom he had spoken to us that afternoon. The hut was their property, and
it was they who kept it stocked and provisioned.

"But the point is what t