“I do not know.  Follow me.”

“They only want me to prove my identity,” said Heideck composedly, in order to calm the young lady.  “I hope that they will let me free after examining my passports.”

“Certainly they must let you go!” she cried, almost passionately.  “It would be against all the laws of nations if they were to do you any harm.  But how shall I endure the uncertainty as to your fate?”

“I shall come back here at once, as soon as it is possible for me to do so.”

“Yes, yes!  I beseech you, do not leave me a second longer than you are obliged.  I have not as yet had time to thank you.”

The Russian officer showed such manifest signs of impatience that Heideck no longer hesitated to follow him.

The way that he had to go was not long.  He was taken to a house close by, over whose gate the words “School of Arts” were sculptured in the stone.  He had only to wait a short while in the hall, when before him there opened the door of a room on the ground floor, adorned with sculptures, in which a number of officers sat at a long table.  To Heideck it was at once clear that he was to be tried before a court-martial.  A few very downcast-looking men had just been led out.  The officer who presided turned over the papers which lay before him, and then, casting a sharp look at Heideck, spoke a few words with his comrades.

“Who are you?” he asked in English, with a decided Russian accent, which was difficult to understand.

Heideck, who also spoke in English, answered shortly and clearly, and laid his passport, which he always carried in the breast-pocket of his coat as his most valuable possession in ease of emergency, before the Colonel.

As soon as he had read it, the President said in perfect German—­

“You are, then, no Englishman, but a German?  What are you doing here in India?”

“I am travelling for the firm of Heideck, in Hamburg.”

“In business?  Really?  Is it part of your business to fight against Russia?”

“No! and I have not done so.”

“You deny, then, that you took part in yesterday’s battle?”

“As a combatant, yes!  There were other reasons which led me to the battlefield.”

“You only went as a spectator?  Didn’t it occur to you that, under the circumstances, this might be very dangerous for you?”

“I have personal relations with several gentlemen in the English army, and these relations made it necessary for me to visit them during the battle.”

The Colonel turned to a young officer standing a little distance away—­

“Lieutenant Osarov, is it true that you recognised in this man, when he was brought in here last night, a person whom you saw in an English square during the progress of the battle?”

“Yes, Colonel, I did!” was the decided reply.  “I recognise him now quite clearly.  He was riding a black horse, and dashed off when we broke into the square.”