"
"Are you aware, gentlemen--no, I don't mean gentlemen--that I am
attached to the American legation in Vienna, and that my person
is inviolable?"
Everybody laughed again--everybody but Maurice.
"Allow me to correct you," put in the elderly man, who evidently
was the leader in the affair. "You are not attached; you are
detached. Gentlemen, permit me, M. Carewe, detache of the
American legation in Vienna, who wishes he had stayed there."
Maurice saw a brace of revolvers on the mantel. The table stood
between.
"Well," he said, banteringly, "bring on your banquet; the hour
is late."
"That's the way; don't lose your temper, and no harm will come
to you."
"What do you wish of me?"
"Merely the pleasure of your company. Lieutenant, bring out the
treasure."
One of the soldiers entered the next room and soon returned
pushing Fitzgerald before him. The Englishman was bound and gagged.
"How will you have the pheasant served?" asked the leader.
"Like a gentleman!" cried Maurice, letting out a little of his
anger. "Take out the gag; he will not cry."
The leader nodded, and Fitzgerald's mouth was relieved.
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