breathlessly; "he must not find you here. No one
must see you. Oh, Feodor, listen to me. He is not alone; Bertram
and his servants are with him. Oh, my God, they will kill you! Save
yourself; leave me, Feodor, and conceal yourself!" And drawing him
with irresistible strength to the door, she whispered, "In there, in
my bedroom conceal yourself."

"Never," said he firmly and decidedly. "Never will I hide myself, or
sneak away like a coward!"

"You must do it," entreated she; and as she saw that he hesitated and
drew back unwillingly, she continued: "Not for your sake--for the sake
of my honor, Feodor. Remember it is night, and I am alone with you."

"Yes, you are right," said Feodor sadly. "Hide me; no spot must
tarnish your honor."

With convulsive haste, Elise drew him to the door of her chamber.
Gotzkowsky's voice was heard just outside the window.

"Quick! hasten, they are coming!" said she, pulling the door open, and
pushing him hurriedly on.

"He is saved," cried her heart joyfully, as she closed the door after
him, and, sinking down, half fainting in a chair, her lips murmured,
"Have mercy, gracious God; have mercy on him and me!"

At this moment her father, accompanied by Bertram and the factory
workman, Balthazar, entered the room through the door of the balcony.

* * * * *

CHAPTER XVI.

THE FUGITIVE.

Gotzkowsky at length returned to his home. Sad and sorrowful was his
soul, and his brow, at other times so smooth and clear, was now dark
and clouded. He mourned for his country, for the fruitless battles,
the blood shed in vain, and, in the bitter grief of his heart, he
asked himself what crime he had committed, that to him should be
assigned the painful duty of deciding to which of the enemies they
should surrender. And yet the decision was imperative, and Berlin had
to be surrendered to the Russians.

In gloomy sadness, hardly casting a passing glance at his daughter,
whose anxiety and death-like paleness he did not even perceive,
Gotzkowsky entered the hall, Bertram carefully bolting the doors
behind him, and then in an undertone gave Balthazar and the servants
directions for the protection of the house.

"What a dreadful night!" said Gotzkowsky, sinking down on a sofa
exhausted; "my heart aches as much as my limbs."

For a moment he closed his eyes, and lay silent and motionless. Elise
was still leaning trembling and breathless on the chair near the d