e. There is an old French proverb according to which "he who
seeks to prove too much, proves nothing," and thus it happened that
this open telegram which reached the czar at Chalons, and which was
published in the German newspapers, even before Nicholas had made
it known to the members of his entourage, merely served to convince
people that the kaiser had really been in Paris when he was supposed
to be buried amidst the gloomy forests of Hubertusstock.

Hubertusstock is not, as most people seem to imagine, a castle, but
merely a huge, overgrown two-storied chalet, surrounded by a number
of smaller wooden dwelling-houses for the use of the imperial suite.
Formerly, it required a drive of at least three hours from the station
on the main line in order to reach the jagdschloss. But since the
accession of the emperor he has caused a private railroad to be
constructed from the trunk line to a small station within a few
hundred yards of the chalet.

Seldom is the kaiser found in the schloss after daybreak. The entire
morning is spent by him in the woods, which are so vast that one can
wander about them for days without meeting a soul. Luncheon is usually
partaken of at some point in the forest, and frequently during this
repast a concert takes place, the performers consisting of a quartette
of foresters, their instruments being mere hunting horns, and their
melodies those of old hunting-songs. Within the limits of the imperial
preserves is the celebrated Schorfhaide, which each year, towards the
month of November, becomes the meeting place of thousands of stags.
They come from all parts of Germany and Austria, this being rendered
possible by the proximity to one another of the great estates of the
territorial nobility, so that it would be feasible to march almost
from the Adriatic to the Baltic without leaving forest glades. This
annual assemblage of stags on the Schorfhaide has been taking place
every autumn for untold centuries. In fact, mention thereof has been
found in documents more than a thousand years old. The meetings afford
an extraordinary sight, and are the scenes of numerous single combats
to death between "Royals," the other stags and the deer standing
round, as if to form a huge amphitheatre, and gravely watching the
duel without making any attempt to interfere.

All sorts of theories have been put forward with regard to this annual
concourse of stags on the Schorfhaide. Foresters, however, insist that
it is