ion, who is acquainted, as all Berlin will
be directly, with our wonderful story. They only know half as yet;
they only know that a deserter went off in my clothes, and all are in
admiration of your cleverness and valour.

'I confess that for two hours after your departure I lay in bed in no
small trepidation, thinking whether His Majesty might have a fancy to
send me to Spandau, for the freak of which we had both been guilty. But
in that case I had taken my precautions: I had written a statement of
the case to my chief, the Austrian Minister, with the full and true
story how you had been set to spy upon me, how you turned out to be
my very near relative, how you had been kidnapped yourself into the
service, and how we both had determined to effect your escape. The laugh
would have been so much against the King, that he never would have dared
to lay a finger upon me. What would Monsieur de Voltaire have said
to such an act of tyranny? But it was a lucky day, and everything has
turned out to my wish. As I lay in my bed two and a half hours after
your departure, in comes your ex-Captain Potzdorff. "Redmont!" says he,
in his imperious High-Dutch way, "are you there?" No answer. "The rogue
is gone out," said he; and straightway makes for my red box where I keep
my love-letters, my glass eye which I used to wear, my favourite lucky
dice with which I threw the thirteen mains at Prague; my two sets of
Paris teeth, and my other private matters that you know of.

'He first tried a bunch of keys, but none of them would fit the little
English lock. Then my gentleman takes out of his pocket a chisel and
hammer, and falls to work like a professional burglar, actually bursting
open my little box!

'Now was my time to act. I advance towards him armed with an immense
water-jug. I come noiselessly up to him just as he had broken the box,
and with all my might I deal him such a blow over the head as smashes
the water-jug to atoms, and sends my captain with a snort lifeless to
the ground. I thought I had killed him.

'Then I ring all the bells in the house; and shout and swear and
scream, "Thieves!--thieves!--landlord!--murder!--fire!" until the whole
household come tumbling up the stairs. "Where is my servant?" roar I.
"Who dares to rob me in open day? Look at the villain whom I find in
the act of breaking my chest open! Send for the police, send for his
Excellency the Austrian Minister! all Europe shall know of this insult!"

'"Dea