"It will be, for our arrangements are well made, and we are all anxious to do our utmost to regain the greatest of blessings, over liberty. Farewell, Colonel Mariage, in a week we shall see each other again."
"In a week or never," sighed Colonel Mariage, pressing the baron's proffered hand in his own.
CHAPTER V.
COMMISSIONER KRAUS.
After taking leave of Colonel Mariage, old Baron von Moudenfels passed through the antechamber, where he found the valet, with slow and weary steps. Panting and resting on every stair, he descended the staircase, coughing, and moved slowly past the houses to the nearest carriage, into which he climbed with difficulty and sank with a groan upon the cushions.
"Where shall I drive, your lordship?" asked the hackman, lifting his whip to rouse the weary nags from their half slumber.
"Where? I don't know myself, my friend," replied the old man, sighing. "I only want to ride about a little while to rest my poor old limbs and get some fresh air. So take me through the busiest streets in Vienna, that I may see them. I am a stranger who has seen little of your capital, because his weary limbs will not carry him far. So drive very slowly, at a walk, that I may see and admire everything—so slowly that if I liked anything especially, and wanted to get out, I could do so without stopping the vehicle."
"Then your lordship does not want to drive by the trip, but by the hour?"