amusing plan of
action. _I_ wanted to put an end at once to the matter, and had
gone to Vienna for the purpose of so doing. I entered the Austrian
army as Count Leon Barthelmy, in order to be near my chosen
emissary. But my scheme was without result. I had planned that a
notorious robber of that region should steal the girl and the
documents from the Nameless Castle,--as the abode of the fugitives
is called,--but my robber proved unequal to the task. Consequently
I was forced to accept Themire's more tedious but successful plan.
The difficulty was for Themire to become acquainted with our
fugitive without arousing his suspicions. An opportunity offered.
One night, when we knew to a certainty that the hermit in the
Nameless Castle would be in his observatory because of an eclipse
of the moon, Themire put her plan into operation. The hermit, who
is only a man, after all, found a lovely woman more attractive than
all the planets in the universe; he was captured in the net laid
for him! When the moon entered the shadow, four masked robbers
(Jocrisse was their leader!) climbed into the Baroness
Landsknechtsschild's windows. The hermit in his observatory beheld
this incursion, and, being a knight as well as a recluse, what else
could he do but rush to the rescue of his fair neighbor? His
telescope had told him she was fair. Jocrisse played his part
admirably. At the approach of the deliverer the "robbers" took to
their heels, and the brave knight unbound the fettered and charming
lady he had delivered from the ruffians. As Themire had prepared
herself for the meeting, you may guess the result: the hermit was
captured!"

Oh, how every drop of blood in Vavel's veins boiled and seethed! His
face was crimsoned with shame and rage. He read further:

"Themire was perfectly certain that the mysterious hermit of the
Nameless Castle had fallen in love with her; and _I_ am not so sure
but Themire has ended by falling in love with the knight! Women's
hearts are so impressionable.

"I managed to have my regiment sent to her neighborhood, and took
up my quarters in her house. I sought by every means to lure the
hermit from his den; but he is a cunning fox, is this protector of
fair ladies! I could not get a sight of him. I decided at last to
waylay him (when he w