“Why, Ernest, how is it that you have come in so quietly? Surely there is some one outside?” “Yes, Karl Fink is there; but I told him to let me pass.” The boy stared strangely at his cousin, and added naïvely, “What are you doing with those pins?” Maximilian was rather amused by the lad’s coolness. “Look here, and I will show you,” he said. “You see these pins with red heads; they are to mark all the large towns and villages. The small blue pins show where there are railways running already, and these yellow ones I am using to mark out the routes where I think there ought to be new railways made.” “But why?” “Because I have found out that there are a lot of men in my kingdom who have no work to do, and I want to give them a chance of earning their bread, and at the same time benefiting the country at large by giving the farmers better means of sending their produce to the markets. You see, Ernest, a king ought not to spend all his time in enjoying himself, as I have been doing till lately; he ought to study the wants of his people, and care for them.” The boy regarded him with a puzzled air. “But is this really true?” he asked doubtfully. “Are these things really for what you say? I thought perhaps they were only things to play with.” Maximilian laughed. “I see you have a very poor opinion of my character for business,” he returned jestingly. “But, unfortunately, I have found it does not do to be always playing; and you will find that out, too, if you ever come to the throne.” He stopped, and fidgeted for a moment under the boy’s steady, disconcerting stare. His nerves seemed to be affected by some influence in the atmosphere, and he shivered slightly. “Why do you look at me like that, Ernest?” he demanded petulantly. The lad’s expression became gravely sorrowful. “Because I want to see what it is like to be mad!” CHAPTER XXI THE BLOW FALLS “I WANT to see what it is like to be mad.” The words struck on Maximilian’s ear like the grinding crash of a collision upon the ear of the sailor sleeping peacefully in his berth, far out upon the waste of waters. He sprang to his feet, and confronted the young Prince with terrible eyes. “What are you saying? Who taught you that?” Ernest recoiled, terror-stricken. “My mother told me of it,” he blurted out helplessly, backing towards the door to secure a refuge from the King’s wrath. Maximilian struck furiously upon a gong. Karl rushed in, evidently in a state of alarm. “Take this boy away,” said the King, fiercely, “and send me Bernal here at once, and Johann Mark.” Karl darted off, accompanied by Ernest, who, in his hurry to escape from his cousin’s presence, forgot to call his dog after him; and Maximilian paced the room with frantic strides till the attendant returned. Auguste was with him. “Herr Mark has left the Castle,” explained the agitated Karl. “He took a horse from the stable an hour ago, saying that it was on your Majesty’s service, and rode away at a gallop.”