is dress and then mixed with the gipsies just as the
Emperor's soldiers came up.

"Ho, there! You vagabonds--have you seen anything of a stranger who
has passed this way?"

"What--a Polish soldier?"

"That's our man."

"Young?"

"Yes, yes--where did he go?"

"A handsome fellow?"

"Have done there, and answer--where did he go?"

"I guess that may be the one?" Devilshoof reflected, consulting his
comrades with a deliberation which made the officer wish to run his
sword through him.

"Speak up--or----"

"Yes, yes--that's right--we have the right man! Up those rocks there,"
pointing. "That is the way he went. I shouldn't wonder if you might
catch him."

The officer didn't wait to hear any more of this elaborate
instruction, but rushed away with his men.

"Now, comrade," Devilshoof said to Thaddeus: "It is time for us to be
off, while our soldier friends are enjoying the hunt. Only you lie
around here while we explore a little; this gipsy life means a deal of
wear and tear, if a fellow would live. There is likely to be something
worth picking up about the castle, and after we have done the picking,
we'll all be off."

As the gipsies and Thaddeus went away, the huntsmen rushed on,
shouting to each other, and sounding their horns. Florestein came
along in their wake. He was about the last man on earth to go on a
hunt. He made this known without any help, by singing:

Is no succour near at hand?
For my intellect so reels,
I am doubtful if I stand
On my head or on my heels.
No gentleman, it's very clear,
Such a shock should ever know,
And when once I become a peer,
They shall not treat me so----

That seemed to suggest that something serious had happened, but no one
knew what till Thaddeus and a crowd of peasants rushed wildly in.

"The Count's child, Arline, is attacked by an infuriated animal, and
we fear she is killed,"--that is what Florestein had been bemoaning,
instead of hurrying to the rescue! The Count Arnheim ran in then,
distraught with horror. But Thaddeus had not remained idle; he had
rushed after the huntsmen. Presently he hurried back, bearing the
child in his arms. The retainer whose business it was to care for
Arline fell at the Count's feet.

"Oh, great sir, just as we were entering the forest a wild deer rushed
at us, and only for the bravery of this young gipsy,"--indicating
Thaddeus--"the child would have been torn in pieces. As it is,