"Forward, sire!" urged Meyer, making a move. "I will lead the way, and you and Mrs. Saunders will accompany me. Von Hügelweiler and Heir Saunders will bring up the rear." "The post of honour!" commented the King. "If you will," said Meyer with a shrug. "I go first because I know the countryside. I am more useful so. Saunders stays behind because he is the best shot." "A gallant fellow, our Commander-in-Chief," sneered Von Hügelweiler to Saunders, as the three others glided rapidly away down the snow-slope. The crack of a rifle punctuated the Captain's remark. Saunders waited to make sure that neither his wife nor her escort was touched, and then produced a revolver. "I am glad Meyer has gone on with them," he said. "He is a clever old fox, and he knows every cliff and cranny in the countryside." Another shot rang out, but this too failed to take effect, and in a twinkling the fugitives had disappeared into the friendly shelter of a pine wood. Saunders wore a pensive air, in marked contrast to Von Hügelweiler, who was betraying signs of strong excitement. "Of what are you thinking?" demanded the latter. "I am thinking that if we follow the others we shall most certainly be shot," replied Saunders. "That is true," agreed the Captain. "Our enemies must be quite close now. It would be madness to venture out into the open." "Precisely," said Saunders. "We are left here as a rear-guard, and it is our duty to check the pursuit, not to be killed. Here we are under cover, and here I propose to remain." "The enemy will make a detour to avoid this cliff," said Von Hügelweiler, "then will come our opportunity to move out." Saunders shook his head. "This cliff stretches half a mile at least, in either direction," he said, "and there is broken ground beyond that. No, they won't make a detour, not if they're the good ski-runners I take them for. To a clever _ski-laufer_, a jump over a cliff like this is no very desperate affair, and it's their only chance of nabbing Karl before he gets back to Weidenbruck." "Then we wait here and fire at them from behind?" demanded the Captain excitedly, taking his orders from the distinguished Englishman as a matter of course. "We pot them as they come over--like pheasants," said Saunders.