"What has happened, child?"
"They have arrested him as a spy from Jugendheit, and he is innocent.
Save him, Highness!"
"How can I save him?"
"He is not a spy."
"That must be proved, Gretchen. I can not go to the Stein-schloss and
order them to liberate him." She lifted Gretchen to her feet.
"I have been there, and they will not let me see him. I love him so!"
"I can arrange that for you. I will go with you myself to the prison."
"Thanks, Highness, thanks!" Gretchen was hysterical.
The Stein-schloss had been the feudal keep; now it served as the city
prison. Its grim gray stones were battle-scarred and time-worn; a place
of deep dungeons, huge bolts and bars, and narrow slits in the stone for
windows. The prison was both civil and military, but was patrolled and
sentineled by soldiers. The king and his uncle had been given adjoining
cells on the ground floor. These cells were dry, and light entered from
the modern windows in the wall of the corridor. The princess and her
protegee were admitted without objection. The sergeant in charge of that
floor even permitted them to go into the corridor unattended.
Voices.
"Hush!" whispered her highness, pressing Gretchen's arm.
"_Ach!_ Wail, dear nephew, beat your hands upon the bars, curse, waste
your breath on stone.
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