“At ten o’clock that night another postponement was made till the fifteenth, this time at the request of General Mendez, for what reason I am unable to say. About eleven the Emperor held a conference with Lopez concerning some details of the plan, and, made wakeful by excitement, did not retire until one. At half-past two he had me wakened. I went at once to his room and found him suffering with an attack of dysentery—a disease which had been making havoc in both camps owing to bad food and the effects of the rainy season. I stayed with him nearly an hour till the pain was relieved, then returned to my own room and lay down with my clothes on. The convent was then wrapped in deep stillness; not a sound was to be heard. Just before five I was suddenly aroused by two men bursting into my room, one of whom I recognized as Lieutenant Jablonski. ‘Where is Prince Salm?’ they shouted, ‘he must be awakened!’ and with these words they rushed out again. I sprang up at once. Something unusual must have occurred to bring them to headquarters at that hour. Without stopping to think about it, however, I roused my servant, who was sleeping in the same room, ordered him to saddle my horse as quickly as possible, and hastened in quest of Salm, whom I found already up and dressed. I asked him what was the matter. ‘We are surprised,’ was his answer. ‘Make haste and tell Fürstenwärther to have the hussars mount without delay.’ “I had just delivered this message when the Emperor’s Mexican chamberlain, Severo, came and informed me that His Majesty wished to speak with me. Returning to his room, I found him already dressed. ‘I do not think it is anything serious,’ he declared with the utmost calmness, ‘but the enemy have forced their way into the courtyard. Get your pistol and follow me to the square.’ “Grill, the steward, afterward told me during our imprisonment that the Emperor did not lose his presence of mind for a moment. While he was dressing he had his sword placed by the door unsheathed, to be at hand in case of need. In obedience to His Majesty’s command I went to my room to buckle on my revolver and there my servant met me with the news that he had been stopped by a strange officer who had taken the saddle blankets from him. Having myself given the order for the hussars to mount, it was necessary for me to have my horse at once if I was to accompany the Emperor, so I told my servant to follow me and point out the officer who had prevented his obeying my orders. We met him in one of the passageways, wrapped in one of the blankets and carrying the other on his shoulder. As the Emperor had only spoken of the enemy as having entered the courtyard, I naturally supposed, meeting this man inside the convent, that he and the ten soldiers with him were our men and asked if he did not recognize me as the Emperor’s physician. He tried to evade me, pointing to a staircase leading to the roof of the convent, and saying, ‘Your blankets are up there.’