We did not return to Müller's; each of us stole quietly home to await
the advent of the police, for they would rout out every American in
town in their search for the man with the gun. They would first visit
the consulate and ascertain what I knew of the affair; when they got
through with the rest of the boys Max would be in Doppelkinn. The
police were going to be very busy that night: a princess on one hand
and an anarchist on the other.
There were terrible times, too, in the palace. Long before we watched
Max's train and the vanishing green and red lights at the end of it the
grand duke was having troubles of his own. He was pacing wildly up and
down in his dressing-room. Clutched in his fist was a crumpled sheet
of paper. From time to time he smoothed it out and re-read the
contents. Each time he swore like the celebrated man in Flanders.
_You forced me and I warned you that I would do something desperate.
Do not send for me, for you will never find me till you come to your
senses. I have eloped._
_Hildegarde._