aled in the Nameless Castle?"

"Yes; but I did n't do it."

"Well, I want you to do it now for me."

"Which do you want, the maid or the casket?"

"Both, if possible; the maid in any case. But you must be sure that she
is alone when you approach her. Then say merely the name 'Sophie Botta,'
and she will listen quietly to what you have to say. Then show her this
ring,--here, put it on your left thumb"--he drew the steel ring from his
own thumb and slipped it on to Satan Laczi's,--"and say, 'The person who
wears this ring sent me to fetch you away from here. You are to come
with me at once.'"

"And where am I to take her?"

"You will have a carriage with four swift horses at the park gate
nearest the cemetery, and must drive with the maid to Raab.--Don't stop
on any account until you get there. In Raab you will inquire for the
house of Dr. Tromfszky, who is our army physician. He will have been
advised of your coming, and will take charge of the maid. Then you will
return to me here, and report what you have done. Here is a passport; if
you are stopped at our lines show it to the guard. And here is a purse;
don't spare the contents. And do not speak to a living soul about your
mission."

"Your orders shall be obeyed," responded Satan Laczi, as he turned to
leave the tent.

Vavel did not go back to the officers' tent. He went out into the night,
and stood with folded arms, gazing with unseeing eyes into the darkness.

PART VIII

KATHARINA OR THEMIRE?

CHAPTER I

It was a delightful May evening. Marie was practising diligently her
piano lesson, in order to surprise Ludwig with her progress when he
should return from the war. That he would return Marie was quite
certain.

Katharina had gone into the park for a solitary promenade. She had
complained all day of a headache--a headache that began to trouble her
after she had read the letter she had received that morning from the
Marquis de Fervlans. She held the letter in her hand now, and read it
again for the hundredth time.

Yes, she had accomplished her mission successfully; the fugitive maid
and the important documents were in her possession; and yet her
trembling hand refused to grasp the promised reward. A fortune awaited
her for the comedy she had played with such success--a comedy in which
she had acted the part of the charitable lady of the manor.

And what if there had been something of reality in the farce? Suppose
her heart had learned