He gripped mine hard.
"That's old Fritz!" he said; and he caught hold of Bernenstein's
hand, which the lieutenant yielded with some reluctance. "Now for
the plan," said he. "Bernenstein and I set out at once for the
lodge--yes, publicly, as publicly as we can. I shall ride right
through the people there, showing myself to as many as will look
at me, and letting it be known to everybody where I'm going. We
shall get there quite early to-morrow, before it's light. There
we shall find what you know. We shall find Sapt, too, and he'll
put the finishing touches to our plan for us. Hullo, what's
that?"
There was a sudden fresh shouting from the large crowd that still
lingered outside the palace. I ran to the window, and saw a
commotion in the midst of them. I flung the sash up. Then I heard
a well-known, loud, strident voice: "Make way, you rascals, make
way."
I turned round again, full of excitement.
"It's Sapt himself!" I said. "He's riding like mad through the
crowd, and your servant's just behind him."
"My God, what's happened? Why have they left the lodge?" cried
Bernenstein.
The queen looked up in startled alarm, and, rising to her feet,
came and passed her arm through Rudolf's.
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