Russian what they were about to do with him, he replied,
shrugging his shoulders--

"I do not know. Follow me."

"They only want me to prove my identity," said Heideck composedly, in
order to calm the young lady. "I hope that they will let me free after
examining my passports."

"Certainly they must let you go!" she cried, almost passionately. "It
would be against all the laws of nations if they were to do you any
harm. But how shall I endure the uncertainty as to your fate?"

"I shall come back here at once, as soon as it is possible for me to do
so."

"Yes, yes! I beseech you, do not leave me a second longer than you are
obliged. I have not as yet had time to thank you."

The Russian officer showed such manifest signs of impatience that
Heideck no longer hesitated to follow him.

The way that he had to go was not long. He was taken to a house close
by, over whose gate the words "School of Arts" were sculptured in the
stone. He had only to wait a short while in the hall, when before
him there opened the door of a room on the ground floor, adorned with
sculptures, in which a number of officers sat at a long table.
To Heideck it was at once clear that he was to be tried before a
court-martial. A few very downcast-looking men had just been led out.
The officer who presided turned over the papers which lay before him,
and then, casting a sharp look at Heideck, spoke a few words with his
comrades.

"Who are you?" he asked in English, with a decided Russian accent, which
was difficult to understand.

Heideck, who also spoke in English, answered shortly and clearly, and
laid his passport, which he always carried in the breast-pocket of his
coat as his most valuable possession in ease of emergency, before the
Colonel.

As soon as he had read it, the President said in perfect German--

"You are, then, no Englishman, but a German? What are you doing here in
India?"

"I am travelling for the firm of Heideck, in Hamburg."

"In business? Really? Is it part of your business to fight against
Russia?"

"No! and I have not done so."

"You deny, then, that you took part in yesterday's battle?"

"As a combatant, yes! There were other reasons which led me to the
battlefield."

"You only went as a spectator? Didn't it occur to you that, under the
circumstances, this might be very dangerous for you?"

"I have personal relations with several gentlemen in the English army,
and these relations made it necessary for me