and he asked smilingly--

"You have been in the service?"

"Yes, your Majesty--as lieutenant in the Royal Hanoverian Garde du
Corps."

"There were then commoners as officers in that regiment."

"May it please your Majesty, my name is Baron von Grubenhagen, but the
'Baron' was in the way of the merchant."

The open and manly bearing of the Baron, combined with the deference due
to his sovereign, appeared to please the Emperor. He gazed long into the
clear-cut, energetic face, with its bold and intelligent eyes.

"You have seen much of the world?"

"Your Majesty, I was in America, and for many years in England, before
entering business."

"A good merchant often sees more than a diplomatist, for his view is
unbiassed, and freer. I love your Hamburg; it is a loyal city, full of
intelligence and enterprise."

"The Alster people would reckon themselves happy to hear your Majesty
say so."

"Do not the Hamburgers suffer great losses from the war?"

"Many people in Hamburg think as I do, your Majesty."

"And what is your opinion?"

"That, under the glorious reign of your Majesty, all Germans on the
Continent will be united to one whole grand nation, to which
all Germanic races of the north will be attracted by the law of
gravitation--Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians."

"You have the courage of your opinions."

"Your Majesty, we live in an age, the characteristic of which is the
formation of great empires."

The monarch interrupted him with a friendly movement of his hand.

"Let us go in to breakfast, gentlemen. Baron von Grubenhagen, you are my
guest. I shall be interested to hear more of your bold ideas."

Immediately after his return to the hunting-box, the Imperial
Chancellor, who had arrived from Berlin by a night train, had been
announced to the Emperor. With the monarch's suite he also was present
at the breakfast-table, probably not a little surprised to find a
strange guest in the company of the Emperor, who was evidently very
kindly disposed to him.

After breakfast, when the company were seated around the table in the
smoke-room, and when, upon a sign from the Emperor, the aide-de-camp du
jour had ordered the servants to withdraw, the Emperor William turned
with a grave face to Baron von Grubenhagen.

"And now let us hear, openly and without reserve, how, according to your
observation, the German nation regards the possibility of a war."

The Baron raised his fine, characteristic head. Lookin