"You infernal German!" I heard one of the men shriek. "I'll teach you to come sneaking here and take my sister out for midnight walks! Take that—you cur—and that!—whoever you are!"
Next second the startling truth was plain to me.
His Imperial Highness the German Crown-Prince was being ignominiously and soundly thrashed by an irate brother!
I saw that it was high time that I interfered. The Crown-Prince had been flung upon the ground, and the angry young man was lashing him as I dashed in among them with my revolver drawn.
"Come, cease that," I shouted. "Down with that whip. You've attacked these people on the high road, and if you strike again I'll fire."
"Hulloa!" cried one man. "Why, here's another German!"
"German or not—enough!" I commanded, and bending down, assisted the fallen Prince to rise.
"You—you shall pay for this, I swear!" declared "Willie," angrily facing the man who had struck him. Then, turning to me, he apparently recognized my voice, for he asked—"How in the name of Fate did you come here, Heltzendorff?"
"I will explain later," I replied in German. "Let us get out of this."
"But I cannot leave Violet. I—I——"