“You treat me like a well-trained pointer, your highness!” he growled.  “You whistle for me, and I drop the prey which you would not have me keep.”

“You do yourself too much honor, old Burgsdorf,” said the Elector, smiling.  “A well-trained pointer does not follow a false scent, and that was what you were doing just now.  Did you expect to find a fugitive in your master’s cabinet?  You thought that this was Count John Adolphus Schwarzenberg, whom I was compelled to arraign as a criminal, and who, in his consciousness of guilt, took refuge from trial in flight.  Look closely at what is in the window niche and acknowledge that you were mistaken, and that it is not Count Adolphus Schwarzenberg.”

Colonel Burgsdorf, perfectly bewildered, gazed with wide-open eyes first on the Elector and then on the count, who returned his stare with a scornful smile.

“Most gracious sir,” he then cried, “my head is not clear enough to discern your meaning, and I stick to it:  that is Count Adolphus Schwarzenberg, my escaped prisoner.”

“And I repeat it, you are mistaken, your old eyes deceive you!  Look once more right sharply and closely, and you will perceive your error and comprehend that this is not Count Adolphus Schwarzenberg, to whom I could never have granted an audience in my cabinet.  Only look closer and you will see, old Burgsdorf, that there is nought in the window niche but a great sheet of parchment, inscribed with manifold characters, furnished with the seal of the empire, and signed by the Emperor Ferdinand’s own hand.  I know that you do not read with ease, and therefore will tell you what is marked on this parchment, and what it means.  It means a safe conduct, and the Emperor himself has written upon it that this parchment must be held in honor and sacred from all attack.”

“Ah!” cried the colonel—­“ah!  I begin to understand now.”

“Well truly that is a fortunate circumstance,” said the Elector, smiling.

“Yes, your highness,” repeated Burgsdorf, “I begin to understand.  Let me examine the thing narrowly once again.”

He covered his eyes with his hand, as if he were blinded by a ray of light, and again stared at the window niche.

“Yes, indeed,” he said slowly—­“yes, I see it quite plainly and distinctly now.  Yes, that is no man, but a veritable piece of parchment, and I recognize, too, the imperial seal and the Emperor’s handwriting.  Where were my eyes that I did not see it from the first, and what a stupid fool I was to suppose that I saw a man there!  What misfortune would have ensued if I had defaced the Emperor’s handwriting or broken the seal, perhaps!”

“It would have been a wrong done to Imperial Majesty itself,” smiled the Elector, “and might have brought me under the ban of the empire, or perhaps produced a war.”

“Good heavens! a war about an ass’s hide,” exclaimed Burgsdorf, with an expression of horror.