h the scar upon her
husband's face and in his soul, and had leaned forward to eavesdrop
upon his cruel triumph. Behind him, the two demi-gods talked
together; snatches of their conversation tempted him to listen; but
Herr Haase was engrossed with another matter. When the Prussian
colonel, one living agony of crucified pride, stood for the blow, and
the whip whistled through the air to thud on the flesh of his
upturned face would she be watching then?

He was still thinking of it when the car drew up at the hotel door.

"Upstairs at once," directed the Baron, as he stepped hastily to the
sidewalk. "You too, my good Haase; we shall want you."

In the Baron's upper room, where that morning he had suffered the
torture of the boot, Herr Haase was given a seat at the little
writing-table. The Baron himself cleared it for him, wiping its piles
of papers to the floor with a single sweep of his hand.

"Get ready to write the telegrams which we shall dictate," he
commanded. "But first will you be able to get them through in code?"

"Code is forbidden, your Excellency," replied Herr Haase, in his
parade voice. "But we have also a phrase-code, a short phrase for
every word of the message which passes. It makes the telegram very
long."

"Also gut!" approved the Baron. "Now, Von Wetten, first we will wire
the Staff. You know how to talk to them; so dictate a clear message
to Haase here."

Von Wetten was standing by the door, hat and cane in hand. His face,
with its vacant comeliness, wore a formality that was almost austere.

"Zu Befehl, Excellenz," he replied. "But has your Excellency
considered that, after all, there may be other means? I beg your
Excellency's pardon, but it occurs to me that we have not tried
alternative offers. For instance, we are not limited as to money."

The Baron made a little gesture of impatience, indulgent and
paternal. He leaned a hand on the table and looked over Herr Haase's
head to the tall young officer.

"We are not limited as to colonels, either," he answered. "We must
think ourselves lucky, I suppose, that he went no higher than a
colonel. There was a moment when I thought he was going very much
higher to the very top, Von Wetten. For, make no mistake, that young
man knows his value."

Von Wetten frowned undecidedly. "The top," he repeated. "There is
only one top. You can't mean?"

The Baron took the word from his mouth. "Yes," he said, "the Emperor.
I thought for a while he was go