“I have come directly from the station,” he said.  “I almost feared I would not find you, and so much depended on my doing so.”

“Why didn’t you write or telegraph that you were coming?  I wrote to you at once when war was declared.  You were in Sicily, were you not?”

“No, I left there as soon as the war seemed to me inevitable, so I did not get your letter.  I have been in Germany a week.”

“And only come to me now?” said Egon reprovingly.

Rojanow paid no heed to his friend’s reproof; his eyes were fastened on his uniform with consuming jealousy.

“You are already in the service I see,” he said hastily.  “I, too, am anxious to enter the German army.”

Nothing he could have said would have surprised Egon so effectually.  In great astonishment he stepped back a pace.

“In the German army?  You, a Roumanian?” “Yes, and that is why I come to you; you can make my entrance possible.”

“I?” said the prince, his amazement increasing each moment.  “I’m only a young lieutenant myself.  If you are really in earnest you must apply to some high officer in command.”

“That I have done already, in various places, in the neighboring states, but no one will take a stranger.  A hundred questions are asked, above all one is treated with suspicion and distrust; no one seems to understand my decision.”

“To speak openly, Hartmut, neither do I,” said Egon earnestly.  “You have always shown the greatest aversion to Germany.  You are the son of a land whose court circles have always followed French manners and customs; the people have always been closely allied to France, so the distrust and suspicion are easily explained.  But why do you not go to the duke in person, and prefer your request?  You know how much he would do for the poet who wrote ‘Arivana.’  All you will have to do will be to obtain an audience, and that will be granted as soon as your name’s sent in.  An order from him would silence every objection.”

Rojanow’s eyes sank to the ground, and his dark, frowning brow grew blacker as he answered: 

“I know it, but I can ask nothing of him.  The duke would ask the same questions as the others.  I dare not refuse him an answer, and I could not tell him the truth.”

“Nor me?” asked the prince, as he stepped up to his friend and placed his hands on his shoulders.  “Why do you wish to fight under the German flag?”

Hartmut drew his hand across his brow as if to smooth out something, then he answered with a gasp: 

“Because it means deliverance or—­death.”

“You return as great a mystery as when you went away,” said Egon, shaking his head.  “You have avoided my questionings; can you not tell me your secret now?”

“Only get me into the army and I’ll tell you everything!” cried Rojanow, feverish with excitement.  “I care not under what conditions, only get me in the army.  Don’t speak to the duke or to any of the generals, only get me into some subordinate command.  Your name, your kinship to the reigning house will make your recommendation of great value.  They will not be captious when Prince Adelsberg solicits a place for a friend.”