cloaks
were laid away.

For the two years that followed I was often with Francezka, and never
out of her reach, and worked for her diligently; yet I speak of some
things that I did not actually see, but heard.

Francezka proceeded to Vienna, where she was received with distinction
by the Emperor Charles and his empress. They became much interested in
her story, and gave her every facility possible. The young Princess
Maria Theresa, who was destined to reign with the energy of a king and
the sweetness of a queen, was then in her eighteenth year. She became
deeply interested in Francezka, and showed her many kind attentions.
Armed with letters from the emperor, Francezka proceeded to examine
the Austrian prisons, from which the prisoners were being released on
their exchange at the prospect of peace, and all of the records were
laid before her. But she found not the smallest trace of her husband.

This consumed the entire autumn, winter and spring. At the beginning
of summer, this source of hope being exhausted, Francezka reluctantly
turned toward Brabant. But on passing through the Taunus country she
made a discovery at the very center of the region that had been combed
over a dozen times for Gaston Cheverny by the French, the Austrians
and Francezka herself. This was the indubitable proof that Gaston
Cheverny had been alive and at that place three months after his
disappearance, and in the very midst of the hunt for him!

Francezka unearthed this fact by the acuteness of her understanding,
which reckoned nothing too small or too great for her to attempt in
this undertaking. On her way to Brabant, after nearly a year of
fruitless effort, she stopped over night in a village not far from the
Rhine and on the way to Frankfort. She did not fail to ask of the
authorities if any person answering to Gaston Cheverny's description
had been seen at any time in the place, and to cause a large reward to
be posted; but no one could tell her anything.

At the inn she noticed a pointer that somewhat resembled Bold. The dog
took a fancy to Francezka, which she returned, being touched by the
dog's resemblance to her old friend. The innkeeper's little daughter,
not ten years old, seeing this, said in Francezka's hearing, that the
dog was as fond of "the great lady" as it had been of "the French
prisoner with his head bound up." Francezka, calling to the child,
questioned her closely, and received the startling information from
the l