"I will be very careful. At all events help must be procured. Something must be done for the poor coachman, who has given no sign of life yet; and you too, Herr Finanzrath, need assistance."
"Yes, yes; but you must not leave me. Let us both shout for help. We shall perhaps be heard. There must be labourers' cottages near the quarry. Help! help!" he thereupon shouted with all the force of his powerful lungs. And in fact scarcely had the sound died away when a distant "Halloo!" was heard.
"Thank Heaven, they have heard us!" Werner said, and then shouted again, "Help! help!"
The answering shout came nearer, and in a few moments a dark figure approached. "What is the matter here?" a rough voice asked. "A carriage upset, as I live! What the devil were you doing in the quarry at this hour?"
"We lost the road, and are greatly in need of assistance," replied Werner.
"Lost the road? Were you going to Grünhagen?"
"No; to Castle Hohenwald."
"To the castle? Then you belong to Hohenwald?"
"I am the Finanzrath von Hohenwald; but this is not the time for talking. I beg you, my friend, to help me to reach some place of security."
A burst of discordant laughter was the only reply vouchsafed to this request. After indulging in his ill-timed merriment, the new-comer inquired, "Have you ever heard of Carter Jock?"