Moreover, he must be in Bleiberg within twenty
hours.
He was positive that Madame the duchess intended to steal a
march, to declare war only when she was within gunshot of
Bleiberg. It lay with him to provent this move. His cup of wrath
was full. From now on he was resolved to wage war against Madame
on his own account. She had laughed in his face. He pushed on,
examining trees, hollows and ditches. Sometimes he put his hand
to his ear and listened. There was no sound in the great lonely
forest, save for the low murmur of the wind through the
sprawling boughs. Shadows danced on the forest floor. Once he
turned and shook his clenched fist toward the spot which marked
the location of the Red Chateau. He thanked Providence that he
was never to see it again. What an adventure to tell at the
clubs when he once more regained his Vienna! Would he regain it?
Why did Madame keep Fitzgerald to her strings? He concluded not
to bother himself with problems abstract; the main object was to
cross the Thalians by a path of his own choosing. When he had
covered what he thought to be a quarter of a mile, he mounted a
lookout.
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