At dinner, several of the officers expressed their surprise at finding such luxurious quarters and such excellent wines in so secluded a spot, and loudest in his praise was the Uhlan captain of horse, who had been ordered with his squadron to the support of the Saxon regiment in the work of ridding the surrounding country of the bands of franctireurs by which it was infested. "There are no such quarters in all France!" the captain cried, with enthusiasm; "such rooms, such a kitchen, and such a cellar! Indeed, gentlemen, the Baron de Nouart deserves a toast for his hospitality. He is not handsome, that there is no denying; but here's to his health!" The Saxon officers joined, laughing, in the Prussian captain's toast, and even the colonel did not refuse it, although he drank it with no genuine cordiality. He turned to Count Styrum, beside whom he was sitting at the large round table in the dining-hall. "Are you as much pleased with our host, Count, as are our Prussian comrades?" he asked, in a tone too low to be heard by the others; "although I must confess that our reception here has exceeded my expectations, I am most unpleasantly impressed by our host; he reminds me of some one whom I have seen, I cannot remember whom." "That's odd," Count Styrum replied; "my own experience is the same. I only saw the man for a moment, and at a distance, and yet it seems to me that I have seen him somewhere formerly, though where I cannot for the life of me remember." "Are you sure?" the colonel asked. "No, colonel; such fancies are very little to be relied upon. It struck me, however, that the Baron beat a hasty retreat as soon as he espied me, although I may have been mistaken there, too." "It is a singular coincidence, however, and I begin to think that Monsieur may have some reason for requesting that we will in future communicate with him through his factotum Gervais." The conversation was interrupted by Captain von Hohenwald, who came to report that the men had been peacefully distributed among the inhabitants both of Assais and of the neighbouring villages. Arno had scarcely taken the place at table indicated to him by the colonel, with whom he was a favourite officer, when the young Uhlan lieutenant, who had brought the news of the approach of the regiment to Assais in the morning, entered the dining-hall, and was presented by his superior officer, Von Saeben, to Count Schlichting as Lieutenant von Poseneck. Arno's attention was at once arrested upon hearing the familiar name. He had never yet encountered Kurt von Poseneck,--Von Saeben's squadron had joined Count Schlichting's regiment only two days previously, Kurt reported that he had made a reconnoissance in all directions and had found no traces of the enemy. This information convinced the colonel that, for the present at least, there was no risk in enjoying to the full the repose and hospitality offered at Assais.