Her words stopped Mistitch—he feared a trap. Max saw it and mocked him. "Don't be afraid, Captain—take fifty men in with you. The garrison consists of a lady in bed, an old man, and five female servants."
Sophy heard and laughed. Even the troopers began to laugh now. Mistitch stood on the top of the causeway, irresolute, baffled, furious.
But behind his stupidity lay the cunning astuteness of Stafnitz, the ingenious bit of devilry. Mistitch's name availed where his brain could not. For the moment the Prince made little of the Crown which had become his; when he heard Zerkovitch's news, his overpowering thought was that the woman he loved might be exposed to the power and the insults of Mistitch. Sophy was playing a skilful game for him, but he did not know it.
"I hear something," said Peter Vassip again, whispering to Max von Hollbrandt.
Yes, there was the galloping of horses on the Volseni road!
Colonel Stafnitz had not miscalculated.
Now Mistitch heard the sound. His heavy face brightened. He ran down the causeway, loudly ordering his men to mount. He was no longer at a loss. He had his cue now—the cue Stafnitz had given him.