And then I remembered the brilliant stagecraft of August the Physical
Strong--he of the three hundred and fifty-two--and how he always managed
to focus everybody's eyes on himself. And I stood stockstill on the
broad, red-carpeted terrace when I walked out of the waiting room and
held up my baby in the face of the multitude. You could hear the
"_Hochs_" and Hurrahs all over town, they said. Hats flew in the air,
handkerchiefs waved, flags were thrust out of the windows of the houses.

"What are you doing, Imperial Highness?" whispered _Fraeulein von_
Schoenberg, my lady-in-waiting.

"Never mind, I will carry the baby to the carriage," I answered curtly.

"But the King and Prince George will be angry,--everything will be
reported to them."

"I sincerely hope it will," I said.

And before I entered that petty _souriciere_ of a royal coach, I danced
the baby above my head time and again, giving everybody a chance to see
him. And as I stood there in the midst of this tumult of applause, this
waving sea of good-will, this thunder of jubilation, I felt proud and
happy as I never did before. And when the thought struck me how mad
George would feel about it all, I had to laugh outright.

I was still grinning to myself when I heard Frederick Augustus's
troubled voice: "Get in, what are you standing around here for?"--These
manifestations of popularity spelt "all-highest" displeasure to him,
poor noodle. He anticipated the scene at the palace, George fuming and
charging "play to the gallery," the Queen in tears, the King threatening
to banish us from Dresden.

"Be it so," I said to myself, "we might as well be hanged for a sheep as
a lamb." And I refused to enter the carriage until I had waved and
smiled profound thanks to everybody in the square and in the windows and
on the balconies of the surrounding houses.

I saw the Master of Horse address the coachman and immediately divined
his purpose. So I pulled at the rope and commanded the coachman to drive
slowly. I said it in my most imperious manner, and the Master of Horse
dared not give the counter order with which Prince George had charged
him. Poor man, his failure to subordinate my will to his, or George's,
cost him his job.

And so we made our royal entry into Dresden amid popular rejoicings. I
glued my face to the carriage window and smiled and smiled and showed
the baby to everyone who asked for the boon.

Baby took it all in a most dignified fashion. He neithe