“Left—Right—Left—Right—Left—Right! Roger, you remind me of my drilling days on a certain flat and dusty ground at Coblentz! The Rhine!—the Rhine! Ah, the beautiful Rhine! So dirty—so dull—with its toy castles, and its big, ugly factory chimneys, and its atrociously bad wine! Roger, I beseech you to have mercy upon me, and leave off that marching up and down,—it gets on my nerves!”
“I thought nothing ever got on your nerves,” answered Sir Roger, stopping abruptly—“You seem to take serious matters coolly enough!”
“Serious matters demand coolness,” replied Von Glauben. “We should only let steam out over trifles. Have you seen his Majesty this morning?”
“Yes. I am to see him again at noon.”
“When do you go off duty?”
“Not for a month, at least.”
“Much may happen in that month,” said the Professor sententiously; “Your hair may grow white with the strangeness of your experiences!”
Sir Roger met his eyes, and they both laughed.
“Though it is no laughing matter,” resumed Von Glauben. “Upon my soul as a German,—if I have any soul of that nationality,—I think it may be a serious business!”
“You have come round to my opinion then,” said De Launay. “I told you from the first that it was serious!”