Then in the distance he heard steps and voices which came nearer; they waked him up from the lethargy into which he had fallen.  He aroused himself and grasped his gun more firmly, though he knew it was some one from his own regiment.  What was it?  The hour of redemption was close at hand though he knew it not.  A few minutes later a corporal with another man stood before him.

“Picket!  Orders from headquarters brought by an officer!” cried the corporal.  The relief had come!  The man who but a second since stood on the bleak, dreary shore of despair, felt himself recalled to life at the sound.

He started to follow the corporal, when the other man, an officer also, stepped forward.

“Let the corporal go on.  I wish to speak to you alone, Tanner.  Follow me!”

Prince Adelsberg, who wished no witnesses, stepped into the little church, and Hartmut followed him.  The pale moonlight entering through the open window showed only disorder and confusion.  The roof had been pierced by a cannon ball, which had shattered pulpit and desk as well; only the little altar, in its quiet niche, remained undisturbed.

Egon stepped into the middle of the room, then he turned and said: 

“Hartmut!”

“Herr lieutenant?”

“Drop that now; we are alone.  I did not think we would see one another so soon again.”

“And I hoped it would have been spared me, too,” said Hartmut gloomily.  “You come—­”

“From headquarters, I heard that you were on picket duty on Chapel mountain.  A fearful night for such a service.”

Hartmut was silent.  No need to say that had he not been roused it would have been his last.  Egon glanced uneasily at him; despite the uncertain light he saw how exhausted and spent the man before him was as he leaned against a pillar as if needing support.

“I came with a commission which you can accept or not as you see fit,” he began again.  “The thing is almost impossible, would be altogether so for any one but you.  You have the courage, but whether, after all your exertions you have the strength, is another question.”

“A quarter of an hour of warmth and some refreshment will bring back my strength.  What is it?”

“A ride of life and death.  To take some intelligence to R——­ through the mountain pass just where the enemy lies.”

“To the front!” cried Hartmut; “that’s where—­”

“General Falkenried is with his brigade.  He is lost if the news does not reach him.  We put the means of saving his life in the hands of his son!”

Hartmut grasped his friend’s arm.  He was all excitement and anxiety in an instant.

“I can save my father?  I?  What has happened?  What am I to do?”

“Listen.  The prisoner which you sent to us this evening has made some terrible revelations.  The fort is to be blown up after the surrender, as soon as the French garrison are out and our men are in it.  The general has sent two messengers—­but they take round-about ways and will never reach there in time.  Your father intends to seize the fort to-morrow.  He must be warned in time, and there’s but one way.  The news must go through the mountain pass which the enemy hold; that is the only chance to reach our friends.  But that way—­”