Not another word was spoken; Kurt hurried on, revolver in hand, the captain close upon his heels. When the two officers had reached the blue room they could plainly hear the blows of the franctireurs upon the doors of the rooms on the ground-floor; in another instant the two men had entered the room, closed the door behind them, and hurried through the other apartments towards the side-wing. "Saved," whispered Kurt; "no one is quartered in this wing, we shall encounter no enemy here." He was right; neither the Baron de Nouart nor Gervais had dreamed that the German officers could escape through this unknown wing and no precautions had been taken to prevent their doing so. The wing was deserted and silent; the din of the struggle in the court-yard sounded indistinct and muffled. Kurt, followed by his captain, rushed down the winding staircase to the passage on the ground-floor. By this the captain would have gained the park; but Kurt again detained him. "That door can be seen from the court-yard," he said, "and if we are perceived we shall have the whole rabble about our ears. We must find a way into the park through the window of some one of these rooms." He tried the first door they came to; it opened and admitted the two officers to a lighter apartment. Here an unexpected sight met their eyes. In an arm-chair before a table, upon which stood his beloved brandy-flask, sat the Baron de Nouart. He had had recourse to his favourite stimulant to steady his nerves while he sat in terrified expectation of the attack. A revolver lay upon the table ready, if he should be forced to take any part in the fray. When the door was suddenly opened and he saw before him the two Prussian officers, Kurt with a revolver, the captain with a drawn sabre, the Baron sprang to his feet and glared at the intruders with lack-lustre eyes. He was half intoxicated, he could hardly stand upright, but he still had sense enough to clutch at his revolver to defend himself. But his hand never touched the weapon; before he could grasp it the captain stretched him on the floor with a tremendous blow, delivered with all his force, of his drawn sabre. He fell without a sound. "Is he dead?" the captain asked. "We cannot wait to see," Kurt replied; "at all events he cannot betray us!" And he hurried to the window. The lawn between the wing and the forest lay quiet in the moon light; not a man was to be seen. He listened,--only the distant noise in the court-yard fell upon his ear. He opened the window and lightly sprang out; the captain followed him, confiding himself blindly to Kurt's guidance. They ran with lightning speed across the lawn, and then in the shadow of the forest to the gardener's house. All here was quiet,--every one had hurried to the court-yard; the stable-door was open; there stood the two noble horses, their saddles and bridles hanging upon the wall.