e the tramp of men, and three gendarmes mounted
the steps and halted at Fiddles's door.

"Bang! bang! went the hilt of a short-sword on the panel. 'Open, in the
name of the law.'

"'What for?' I demanded. Getting drunk was not a crime in Rosengarten,
especially when the offender had been tucked away in bed.

"'For smashing the face of a citizen--a worthy cobbler--the night
before, at the hour of eight,--just as he was closing his shutters. The
cobbler lay insensible until he had been found by the patrol. He had,
however, recognized Fuedels-Shimmer as the--'

"'But, gentleman, Herr Fiddles was dead drunk at eight o'clock; he
hasn't stirred out of the room since. Here is the key,' and I unlocked
the door and we all stepped in, Gretchen and the landlady close behind.
They had told the officers the same story downstairs, but they would not
believe it.

"At the intrusion, Fiddles rose to a sitting posture and stared
wonderingly. He was sober enough now, but his heavy sleep still showed
about his eyes.

"The production of the key, my positive statement, backed by the women,
and Fiddles's wondering gaze, brought the gendarmes to a halt for a
moment, but his previous arrest was against him, and so the boy was
finally ordered to put on his clothes and accompany them to the lock-up.

"I got into the rest of my duds, and began waving the American flag and
ordering out gunboats. I insisted that the cobbler had lied before in
accusing Fiddles of shooting the rabbit, as was well known, and he would
lie again. Fiddles was my friend, my servant--a youth of incorruptible
character. It is true he had been intoxicated the night before, and that
I had in consequence put him to bed, but that was entirely due to the
effects of some very rare wine which he had drunk at a luncheon given
in his honor and mine by our very dear friend the Baroness Morghenslitz,
who had entertained us at her princely home. This, with the heat of the
day, had been, etc., etc.

"The mention of the distinguished woman's name caused another halt.
Further consultation ensued, resulting in the decision that we all
adjourn to the office of the Mayor. If, after hearing our alibi--one
beyond dispute, and submitting our evidence (Exhibit A, the key, which
they must admit exactly fitted the lock of Fiddles's bedroom door),
his Honor could still be made to believe the perjured testimony of the
cobbler--Fiddles's enemy, as had been abundantly proved in the previous
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