and I stick to it: that is Count Adolphus
Schwarzenberg, my escaped prisoner."

"And I repeat it, you are mistaken, your old eyes deceive you! Look once
more right sharply and closely, and you will perceive your error and
comprehend that this is not Count Adolphus Schwarzenberg, to whom I could
never have granted an audience in my cabinet. Only look closer and you
will see, old Burgsdorf, that there is nought in the window niche but a
great sheet of parchment, inscribed with manifold characters, furnished
with the seal of the empire, and signed by the Emperor Ferdinand's own
hand. I know that you do not read with ease, and therefore will tell you
what is marked on this parchment, and what it means. It means a safe
conduct, and the Emperor himself has written upon it that this parchment
must be held in honor and sacred from all attack."

"Ah!" cried the colonel--"ah! I begin to understand now."

"Well truly that is a fortunate circumstance," said the Elector, smiling.

"Yes, your highness," repeated Burgsdorf, "I begin to understand. Let me
examine the thing narrowly once again."

He covered his eyes with his hand, as if he were blinded by a ray of
light, and again stared at the window niche.

"Yes, indeed," he said slowly--"yes, I see it quite plainly and distinctly
now. Yes, that is no man, but a veritable piece of parchment, and I
recognize, too, the imperial seal and the Emperor's handwriting. Where
were my eyes that I did not see it from the first, and what a stupid fool
I was to suppose that I saw a man there! What misfortune would have ensued
if I had defaced the Emperor's handwriting or broken the seal, perhaps!"

"It would have been a wrong done to Imperial Majesty itself," smiled the
Elector, "and might have brought me under the ban of the empire, or
perhaps produced a war."

"Good heavens! a war about an ass's hide," exclaimed Burgsdorf, with an
expression of horror.

"Surely, your highness," shrieked the count, stepping forth from his place
of retirement, pale and trembling with passion, "you can not ask me any
longer to submit in silence to such gross insults."

"Gracious sir," asked Burgsdorf, "may the ass's hide speak? May a piece of
parchment, merely because hallowed by the Emperor's signature, venture to
leave its place and threaten?"

"Hush, Burgsdorf! And you, sir, step back into your recess, stay in the
place pointed out to you, and wait."

"Learn to wait!" cried Burgsdorf. "Oh, gracious