arrested, and see whether Kohlhaas would answer it.  In accordance with this plan the man, who had been thrown into prison, was taken to the Government Office the next morning.  The Governor of the Palace gave him back the letter and, promising him freedom and the remission of the punishment which he had incurred, commanded him to deliver the letter to the horse-dealer as though nothing had happened.  As was to be expected, the fellow lent himself to this low trick without hesitation.  In apparently mysterious fashion he gained admission to Kohlhaas’ room under the pretext of having crabs to sell, with which, in reality, the government clerk had supplied him in the market.  Kohlhaas, who read the letter while the children were playing with the crabs, would certainly have seized the imposter by the collar and handed him over to the soldiers standing before his door, had the circumstances been other than they were.  But since, in the existing state of men’s minds, even this step was likewise capable of an equivocal interpretation, and as he was fully convinced that nothing in the world could rescue him from the affair in which he was entangled, be gazed sadly into the familiar face of the fellow, asked him where he lived, and bade him return in a few hours’ time, when he would inform him of his decision in regard to his master.  He told Sternbald, who happened to enter the door, to buy some crabs from the man in the room, and when this business was concluded and both men had gone away without recognizing each other, Kohlhaas sat down and wrote a letter to Nagelschmidt to the following effect:  “First, that he accepted his proposition concerning the leadership of his band in Altenburg, and that accordingly, in order to free him from the present arrest in which he was held with his five children, Nagelschmidt should send him a wagon with two horses to Neustadt near Dresden.  Also that, to facilitate progress, he would need another team of two horses on the road to Wittenberg, which way, though roundabout, was the only one he could take to come to him, for reasons which it would require too much time to explain.  He thought that he would be able to win over by bribery the soldiers who were guarding him, but in case force were necessary he would like to know that he could count on the presence of a couple of stout-hearted, capable, and well-armed men in the suburb of Neustadt.  To defray the expenses connected with all these preparations, he was sending Nagelschmidt by his follower a roll of twenty gold crowns concerning the expenditure of which he would settle with him after the affair was concluded.  For the rest, Nagelschmidt’s presence being unnecessary, he would ask him not to come in person to Dresden to assist at his rescue—­nay, rather, he gave him the definite order to remain behind in Altenburg in provisional command of the band which could not be left without a leader.”

When the man returned toward evening, he delivered this letter to him, rewarded him liberally, and impressed upon him that he must take good care of it.