hlessness of his wife, and not madness,
drove him into exile. He intrusted that paper to me and swore me to carry
it to Vienna if Francis ever got too near the throne. It is certified by
half a dozen officials authorized to administer oaths in Canada, though
they, of course, never knew the contents of the paper to which they swore
him. He even carried it to New York and swore to it there before the
consul-general of Austria-Hungary in that city. There was a certain grim
humor in him; he said he wished to have the affidavit bear the seal of
his own country, and the consul-general assumed that it was a document of
mere commercial significance."

The Baron looked at the key; he touched the silver box; his hand rested
for a moment on the sword.

"It is a marvelous story--it is wonderful! Can it be true--can it be
true?" murmured the Ambassador.

"The documents will be the best evidence. We can settle the matter in
twenty-four hours," said Judge Claiborne.

"You will pardon me for seeming incredulous, sir," said the Baron, "but
it is all so extraordinary. And these men, these prisoners--"

"They have pursued me under the impression that I am Frederick Augustus.
Oddly enough, I, too, am Frederick Augustus," and Armitage smiled. "I was
within a few months of his age, and I had a little brush with Chauvenet
and Durand in Geneva in which they captured my cigarette case--it had
belonged to Frederick, and the Archduke gave it to me--and my troubles
began. The Emperor-king was old and ill; the disorders in Hungary were to
cloak the assassination of his successor; then the Archduke Francis,
Karl's reputed son, was to be installed upon the throne."

"Yes; there has been a conspiracy; I--"

"And there have been conspirators! Two of them are safely behind that
door; and, somewhat through my efforts, their chief, Winkelried, should
now be under arrest in Vienna. I have had reasons, besides my pledge to
Archduke Karl, for taking an active part in these affairs. A year ago I
gave Karl's repudiation of his second son to Count Ferdinand von
Stroebel, the prime minister. The statement was stolen from him for the
Winkelried conspirators by these men we now have locked up in this
house."

The Ambassador's eyes blazed with excitement as these statements fell one
by one from Armitage's lips; but Armitage went on:

"I trust that my plan for handling these men will meet with your
approval. They have chartered the _George W. Custis_, a fr