eedy as the grave, I will content him.
And you, the fairy of our pantomime, shall have the credit."

"Done!" she cried. "Admirable! Prince Charming no longer--Prince
Sorcerer, Prince Solon! Let us go this moment. Stay," she cried,
pausing. "I beg, dear Prince, to give you back these deeds. 'Twas you
who liked the farm--I have not seen it; and it was you who wished to
benefit the peasants. And, besides," she added, with a comical change of
tone, "I should prefer the ready money."

Both laughed. "Here I am, once more a farmer," said Otto, accepting the
papers, "but overwhelmed in debt."

The Countess touched a bell, and the Governor appeared.

"Governor," she said, "I am going to elope with his Highness. The result
of our talk has been a thorough understanding, and the _coup d'etat_ is
over. Here is the order."

Colonel Gordon adjusted silver spectacles upon his nose. "Yes," he said,
"the Princess: very right. But the warrant, madam, was countersigned."

"By Heinrich!" said von Rosen. "Well, and here am I to represent him."

"Well, your Highness," resumed the soldier of fortune, "I must
congratulate you upon my loss. You have been cut out by beauty, and I am
left lamenting. The Doctor still remains to me: _probus_, _doctus_,
_lepidus_, _jucundus_: a man of books."

"Ay, there is nothing about poor Gotthold," said the Prince.

"The Governor's consolation? Would you leave him bare?" asked von Rosen.

"And, your Highness," resumed Gordon, "may I trust that in the course of
this temporary obscuration, you have found me discharge my part with
suitable respect and, I may add, tact? I adopted purposely a
cheerfulness of manner; mirth, it appeared to me, and a good glass of
wine, were the fit alleviations."

"Colonel," said Otto, holding out his hand, "your society was of itself
enough. I do not merely thank you for your pleasant spirits; I have to
thank you, besides, for some philosophy, of which I stood in need. I
trust I do not see you for the last time; and in the meanwhile, as a
memento of our strange acquaintance, let me offer you these verses on
which I was but now engaged. I am so little of a poet, and was so ill
inspired by prison bars, that they have some claim to be at least a
curiosity."

The Colonel's countenance lighted as he took the paper; the silver
spectacles were hurriedly replaced. "Ha!" he said, "Alexandrines, the
tragic metre. I shall cherish this, your Highness, like a relic; no more
suitable