Suddenly he interrupted his order, and gazed earnestly at the door through which his soldiers were pressing in.

“Had not this cannoneer, as he fled thither, a white cloak around him, and did he not wear a broad-brimmed hat?” asked he.

As the soldiers answered affirmatively, the officer stepped toward the door, and drew from under the feet of his men the cloak and hat of the cannoneer.  A wild yell of joy broke from the soldiers.

“Do you still persist in denying that this man is concealed here?” asked the officer, raising the cloak.

Gotzkowsky did not answer, but gazed on the ground absorbed in deep thought.

As the soldiers thronged into the room, the young Russian colonel had withdrawn himself to a remote part of the room, and taken the most lively interest in the scene acted before him.  A word from him would have brought the whole affair to an end, for, as an involuntary listener, he had heard all that had transpired concerning the cannoneer.  Consequently he knew exactly the hiding-place in which the latter had been concealed.  But it had never come into his mind to play the informer and traitor.  He was only intensely interested in the issue of the scene, and firmly determined, if the danger should grow more urgent, to hasten with his weapon to Gotzkowsky’s assistance, and to defend him against the fury of the Austrians.

Gotzkowsky still stood silent.  He was trying to devise some plan by which he might save the brave defender of Berlin, whose presence, after such positive proof, he could no longer deny.

As suddenly as lightning an idea seemed to penetrate his mind, his countenance cleared, and he turned with a singular expression in his eye to Colonel von Brenda.

“Well!” asked the officer, “do you still deny it?

“No, I cannot deny it any longer,” said he, in a determined tone.  “You are right, sir; the cannoneer who shattered your ranks is here in my house!”

The soldiers broke out again in a triumphant roar.  But Elise looked at her father with anxious terror, and sought, trembling, to read in his countenance the meaning of these words.  “Can he possibly be capable of betraying this man whom he has sworn to protect?” thought Feodor, and yielding to his curiosity he approached the group in the middle of the hall.  Suddenly he felt Gotzkowsky’s hand laid on his shoulder, and met his dark eye, full of hatred.

“Well,” said Gotzkowsky, with a loud, defiant voice, “you are looking for the artilleryman, Fritz.  Here he is!”

A scream and a burst of laughter were heard.  It was Elise who uttered the scream, and the colonel who greeted this unexpected turn with a merry laugh.  But Gotzkowsky did not allow himself to be confused by one or the other.

He laid his arm on Feodor’s neck, and forced his countenance to assume a friendly expression.  “Dear friend,” said he, “you see it is vain any longer to deny it.  Our stratagem has unfortunately failed.”