"If you please, your grace, the clock has struck five; the coffee is ready, and the cab is at the door."
"Then come in and dress me quickly," answered the duke, rising, as the prompt servant entered and handed a dressing-gown.
The toilet of the duke was quickly made.
When he passed into the next room, he found the breakfast table laid and the colonel waiting for him.
"Good-morning, Duke. I hope you slept well. The day promises to be delightful. We have no time to lose, however, if we are to be on the ground at sunrise. Shall we have our coffee?" serenely inquired the second.
"Certainly—Tompkins, touch the bell," replied the duke.
The obedient valet rang, and a waiter entered with the breakfast-tray, which he set upon the table and proceeded to arrange.
"Take this case of pistols down very carefully, and place it in the cab, and put in a railway rug also," quietly directed the colonel, after the waiter had completed the arrangement of the breakfast table.
"What possible use can we make of a railway rug on such a mild morning as this?" gloomily inquired the duke.
The colonel looked calmly at the questioner, and quietly replied: