CHAPTER V.
THE ADVENTURES OF AN UNDERSTUDY.
With Fritz von Tarlenheim and Colonel Sapt close behind me I stepped out of the buffet on to the platform. The last thing I did was to feel if my revolver were handy and my sword loose in the scabbard. A gay group of officers and high dignitaries stood waiting me, at their head a tall old man, covered with medals, and of military bearing. He wore the yellow and red ribbon of the Red Rose of Ruritania—which, by the way, decorated my unworthy breast also.
"Marshal Strakencz," whispered Sapt, and I knew that I was in the presence of the most famous veteran of the Ruritanian army.
Just behind the marshal stood a short, spare man, in flowing robes of black and crimson.
"The chancellor of the kingdom," whispered Sapt.
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