I at once posted two guards, one on the road to provide against any surprise and the other at the park entrance to prevent egress, in case any fugitive should attempt to pass.  Then, with the rest of my men, I rode through the large gilded iron gates at a trot.  In the avenue which led to the house two men were standing motionless.  One of them, dressed in black and clean-shaven, appeared to be some old servant of the family, the other must have been one of the gardeners.  Their pale faces and red eyes showed that they had had little sleep that night.

“Well, my friend,” said I to one of them, “is there anybody left at your place?”

“Sir,” he answered, “I couldn’t tell you; for I have not set foot in the house since they left it.  What I do know is that they feasted all night and got horribly drunk.  They have drunk the whole cellar dry, and I shouldn’t be surprised if some of them are still under the table.”

But when I asked him to come in with me, to act as guide for our visit, he refused with a look of horror.  He trembled all over at the thought of seeing perchance one of the guests who had been forced upon him.  As there was no time to be lost, I told my men to dismount at once, and gave orders to one corporal to search the right wing of the building, to another to reconnoitre the left wing.  I myself undertook to see about the central block with the rest of my troop.  We had to make haste, so I instructed my subordinates to go quickly through the different rooms and not to inspect them in detail.

The entrance door was wide open.  Taking my revolver in my hand, I entered the hall, which was in indescribable disorder.  Orderlies had evidently slept and had their meals there, for the stone floor was littered with straw, and empty bottles, sardine-boxes, and pieces of bread were lying about.  But when I opened the door of the dining-room I could not help pausing for a moment to look at the strange sight before me.  The grey light of that September morning came in through four large windows and shone dimly upon the long table.  The officers of the Guard had certainly made their arrangements well.  They had levied contribution upon all the silver plate that could be found, which was hardly necessary, for, as they had arrived too late to have a proper meal prepared, they had to be content with what they had brought with them.  The contrast between the rich plate, some of it broken, the empty silver dishes, and the empty tins of preserved meat was strange indeed.  But they had solaced themselves in the cellar.  Innumerable bottles, both empty and full, were piled upon the furniture.  Costly glasses of all shapes and sizes, some empty, others still half full, were standing about in every direction.  The white tablecloth was soiled with large purple stains.  The floor was littered with bits of smashed glass.  By the table, the chairs that had been pushed back or overturned showed the number of drinkers to have been about ten.  An acrid smell of tobacco and wine hung about this scene of an overnight orgy.