soldiers' nail-studded boots clattered discordantly. Vogt and the other
two men opened their eyes in wonder; but the woman went on further,
threw wide open two high folding-doors, and ushered them into a
spacious room. "I will bring sheets," she said, and did not herself
enter.

The stretcher-bearers put down their burden and gave a deep breath,
gazing round them in surprise. The room was square. The bright daylight
streamed in through two windows that reached to the ceiling. The floor
was beautifully inlaid with wood of different colours, and carved oak
panelling covered the walls. Against a side wall stood a broad, low
bed, over which a faded quilted silk coverlet was spread, and there was
a carved wooden canopy fixed to the wall above, from which curtains had
formerly hung. The design of the wood-work was surmounted by a royal
crown.

The old woman soon returned with a pair of fine snow-white linen
sheets.

"He's to go in there?" asked the soldier, pointing to this bed of
state. She assented with a nod of the head, and made haste to prepare
the bed, which she had ready in a few moments.

The loud, clear sound of the bell was heard once more. "That's the
other one," said the soldier; and the woman left the room with her
quiet, shuffling steps.

The two stretcher-bearers now began to undress Klitzing with their
practised hands, and the clerk was soon lying beneath the silken
coverlet, the royal crown over his head. Then one of the men asked:
"What shall we do now?" and the other answered: "Well, we'd better go
back to the ambulance waggon, anyhow. The doctor will have arrived by
this time. You can stop here," he said to Vogt, and they left the two
friends alone.

Vogt had been standing still in the middle of the room, his head
feeling quite clear again; but suddenly once more all became dark
before his eyes, and he had to sit down on one of the huge armchairs
that stood against the wall. Was this not all a bad dream? There on the
white pillow lay Klitzing, still unconscious, looking more dead than
alive. Vogt went and knelt down beside him, and pressed his hot face
against the cool silk of the coverlet. Would his faithful friend never
wake again, not even for a moment, so that he might thank him? But
Klitzing's eyelids remained closed, and there was no movement of the
body, only the rapid, stertorous breathing.

The shrill sound of the bell broke the silence for the third time, and
immediately after the senio