'Where is Ludwig?' I panted. 'Where is he?'
A form, wrapped head and all in a cloak, struggled for a moment with its coverings, and freeing itself at last, rose to a sitting posture. It was Captain Ludwig.
'Who wants me?' he muttered sleepily.
'I!' I cried, stooping and seizing him by the shoulder. I was trembling with excitement. 'I have been robbed! Do you hear, man? I have been robbed! In the night!'
He shook me off impatiently. 'Well, what is that to me?' he grunted. And he turned to warm himself.
'Where is the Saxon who sat by me last night?' I demanded, almost beside myself with fury.
'How do I know?' he answered, shrugging his shoulders peevishly. 'Robbed? Well, you are not the first person that has been robbed. You need not make such an outcry about it. There is more than one thief about, eh, Taddeo?' And he winked cunningly at his comrade.
The man's indifference maddened me. I could scarcely keep my hands off him. Fortunately, Taddeo's answer put an end to my doubts.
'There is one less, at any rate, captain,' he said carelessly, stooping forward to stir the embers. 'The Saxon is gone.'