le start,
as though I had come suddenly across her thoughts.

"To the Konigstrasse," said I.

To my surprise she rose and caught my hand.

"God bless you, Fritz!" she cried. "I don't think I could have endured
it longer. But I wouldn't ask you to go. But go, my dear friend, go and
bring me news of him. Oh, Fritz, I seem to dream that dream again!"

My wife looked up at me with a brave smile and a trembling lip.

"Shall you go into the house, Fritz?" she asked.

"Not unless I see need, sweetheart," said I.

She came and kissed me. "Go, if you are wanted," she said. And she tried
to smile at the queen, as though she risked me willingly.

"I could have been such a wife, Fritz," whispered the queen. "Yes, I
could."

I had nothing to say; at the moment I might not have been able to say it
if I had. There is something in the helpless courage of women that makes
me feel soft. We can work and fight; they sit and wait. Yet they do
not flinch. Now I know that if I had to sit and think about the thing I
should turn cur.

Well, I went, leaving them there together. I put on plain clothes
instead of my uniform, and dropped my revolver into the pocket of
my coat. Thus prepared, I slipped out and made my way on foot to the
Konigstrasse.

It was now long past midday, but many folks were at their dinner and the
streets were not full. Two or three people recognized me, but I passed
by almost unnoticed. There was no sign of stir or excitement, and the
flags still floated high in the wind. Sapt had kept his secret; the men
of Strelsau thought still that their king lived and was among them. I
feared that Rudolf's coming would have been seen, and expected to find a
crowd of people near the house. But when I reached it there were no more
than ten or a dozen idle fellows lounging about. I began to stroll up
and down with as careless an air as I could assume.

Soon, however, there was a change. The workmen and business folk,
their meal finished, began to come out of their houses and from the
restaurants. The loafers before No. 19 spoke to many of them. Some said,
"Indeed?" shook their heads, smiled and passed on: they had no time to
waste in staring at the king. But many waited; lighting their cigars or
cigarettes or pipes, they stood gossiping with one another, looking at
their watches now and again, lest they should overstay their leisure.
Thus the assembly grew to the number of a couple of hundred. I ceased my
walk, for the pav