e.

"Ah! ah! it seems that he is a Spaniard. Do you speak Spanish,
Grammont?"

"Faith, my lord, but indifferently."

"And I not at all," said the prince, laughing. "Gentlemen," he said,
turning to those who were near him "can any one of you speak Spanish and
serve me as interpreter?"

"I can, my lord," said Raoul.

"Ah, you speak Spanish?"

"Enough, I think, to fulfill your highness's wishes on this occasion."

Meanwhile the prisoner had remained impassive and as if he had no
understanding of what was taking place.

"My lord asks of what country you are," said the young man, in the
purest Castilian.

"Ich bin ein Deutscher," replied the prisoner.

"What in the devil does he say?" asked the prince. "What new gibberish
is that?"

"He says he is German, my lord," replied Raoul; "but I doubt it, for his
accent is bad and his pronunciation defective."

"Then you speak German, also?" asked the prince.

"Yes, my lord."

"Well enough to question him in that language?"

"Yes, my lord."

"Question him, then."

Raoul began the examination, but the result justified his opinion. The
prisoner did not understand, or seemed not to understand, what Raoul
said to him; and Raoul could hardly understand his replies, containing
a mixture of Flemish and Alsatian. However, amidst all the prisoner's
efforts to elude a systematic examination, Raoul had recognized his
natural accent.

"Non siete Spagnuolo," he said; "non siete Tedesco; siete Italiano."

The prisoner started and bit his lips.

"Ah, that," said the prince, "I understand that language thoroughly; and
since he is Italian I will myself continue the examination. Thank you,
viscount," continued the prince, laughing, "and I appoint you from this
moment my interpreter."

But the prisoner was not less unwilling to respond in Italian than in
the other languages; his aim was to elude the examination. Therefore, he
knew nothing either of the enemy's numbers, or of those in command, or
of the purpose of the army.

"Very good," said the prince, understanding the reason of that
ignorance; "the man was caught in the act of assassination and robbery;
he might have purchased his life by speaking; he doesn't wish to speak.
Take him out and shoot him."

The prisoner turned pale. The two soldiers who had brought him in took
him, each by one arm, and led him toward the door, whilst the prince,
turning to Marshal de Grammont, seemed to have already forgotten the
order h