avarian duke," he answered, "not royal, but a
Serene Somebody. I forget his name myself, but I will ask some one,
and tell you."

A friend in the Household was passing at the time and he caught his arm
and whispered him a question.

"Yes, of course," he said, turning again to me; "he is the Duke
Rittersheim, one of those small German principalities swept away long
ago, and of which only the title and the family estates remain."

I turned and took another look at His Serene Highness. Yes, Duke of
Rittersheim or not, the red-faced, dark-haired foreigner, who was
advancing half cringingly, hat in hand and full of apologies, was none
other than Saumarez, the man who had tried to torture me in the tower
of Cruft's Folly!

CHAPTER IX

THE DUKE OF RITTERSHEIM

That little _rencontre_ took my nerve away, and I shot very badly at
the next plantation, so badly--I missed two birds--that I was almost
inclined to give up and go home; but then lunch came--in a marquee--and
its luxury and the delightful wine restored me. I shot well again all
the afternoon.

Yes, it was a glorious day, and I enjoyed it immensely when I got
Saumarez--or His Serene Highness--out of my mind. He was a superb
shot, I will say that of him; he fired from the left shoulder as many
men do, but in his case I knew it was on account of his glass eye.

Walking to the last plantation with one of the Household and casually
discussing all manner of ordinary subjects, I ventured a chance remark
concerning the Duke of Rittersheim.

"His Serene Highness is a fine shot," I said, "an old sportsman, it is
easy to see."

"Yes," answered my companion, "he is supposed to be one of the finest
shots in Germany."

"And yet he has a glass eye?" I ventured.

The man I was walking with turned round and stared at me.

"Now, how in the name of goodness did you know that?" he inquired. "It
is supposed to be a secret, and the artificial eye looks so natural
under his pince-nez that very few know of its existence."

"But you are quite right," he continued; "he lost it in a shooting
accident when he was a boy."

This made the matter quite certain in my mind, and I determined to
confront His Serene Highness at the first opportunity and see what
effect it would have upon him; but I might have saved myself the
trouble of this resolution; subsequent event proved pretty conclusively
that he had recognised me from the first.

We were all arranged for the final