ch seemed
stiffened in the very act of uttering a shriek, he slowly left the
hut, and then suddenly, as if he could no longer look at any thing so
frightful, he turned and fled from the spot as if pursued by furies.
Farther, always farther, until his strength and his breath were
exhausted; then he sank down.

"It was cowardly to fly," he murmured; "but I felt that I should
murder them, if they came out of the hut before my eyes. A voice within
whispered, 'Fly, or you will be a murderer!' I obeyed it almost against
my will. It was cowardly--an unpardonable error, but I will return to
the hut."

He sprang forward like a tiger, ready to fall upon his prey. His hand
involuntarily sought his side for his sword.

"Ah, I have no weapon," he said, gnashing his teeth, "I must murder them
with my hands."

He advanced with uplifted head, defiant as a conqueror, or as one who
has overcome death and has nothing to fear. The hut was again before
him, but it no longer smiled at him; it filled him with horror and fury.
Now he has reached it, and with one blow he bursts open the door; but it
is empty. The prince had not remarked that the ivy-wreath was no longer
displayed, and that the hut was therefore vacant.

"They are gone," he murmured. "This time they have escaped punishment,
but it surely awaits them."

CHAPTER IX. BROTHER AND SISTER.

A month had passed since Amelia dispatched her emissary to the queen's
fireman, and she had as yet received no definite intelligence. General
Riedt had called but once; he told her he had succeeded in interesting
the Savoyard in Trenck's fate, and he had promised to remind the empress
of the unfortunate prisoner. But a condition must be attached to this
promise: no one must approach him again on this subject; it must be
kept an inviolable secret. Only when Trenck was free would the fireman
receive the other half of the stipulated sum; if he failed in his
attempt, he would return the money he now held.

This was all that the princess had heard from Vienna; her heart was
sorrowful--almost hopeless. Trenck still sat in his wretched prison at
Magdeburg, and she scarcely dared hope for his release.

It was a dark, tempestuous November day. The princess stood at the
window, gazing at the whirling snow-flakes, and listening to the howling
of the pitiless storm. They sounded to her like the raging shrieks of
mocking, contending spirits, and filled her heart with malignant joy.

"Many s