“It is a very remarkable likeness,” said the round-faced man. “And it will be of good service to the Fatherland.” He eyed me for a moment impressively before continuing. “You are to go to Russia,” he told me. “Prince Z—— has been invited to visit his family in St. Petersburg, and he has accepted the invitation. But unfortunately Prince Z—— has discovered that he cannot go. You will, therefore become the Prince—for the time being. You will visit your family, note everything that is said to you and report to your tutor, Herr ——, who will accompany you and give you further instructions. “This is an important mission,” he added solemnly, “but I have no doubt that you will comport yourself satisfactorily. You have been taught everything that is necessary; and you have already shown yourself a young man of spirit and some discretion. We rely upon both of these qualities.” He bowed in dismissal of us, but as we turned to go he spoke again. [Illustration: This photograph, taken outside the Cuartel at Juarez, Mexico, shows von der Goltz (at the right), then a Major in the Mexican Army, and Lieut. Leiva, a Mexican officer later reported killed in battle.] “Remember,” he was saying. “From this day you are no longer a cadet. You are a prince. Act accordingly.” That was all. We were out of the door and halfway to our hotel before I realized to the full the great adventure I had embarked upon. Embarked? Shanghaied would be the better term. I had had no choice in the matter, whatsoever. I had not even uttered a word during the interview. At any rate, that night I left for Petrograd—still St. Petersburg at that time—accompanied by my tutor and two newly engaged valets, who did not know the real Prince. Of what was ahead I had no idea, but as my tutor had no doubts of the success of our mission, I wasted little time in speculating upon the future. What the real prince’s motive was in agreeing to the masquerade, and where he spent his time while I was in Russia, I have never been able to discover. From what followed, I surmise that he was strongly pro-German in his sympathies but distrusted his ability to carry through the task in hand. In St. Petersburg I discovered that my “relatives”—whom I had known to be very exalted personages—were inclined to be more than hospitable to this young kinsman whom they had not seen in a long time. I found myself petted and spoiled to a delightful degree; indeed I had a truly princely time. The only drawback was that, as the constant admonitions of my tutor reminded me, I could spend my princely wealth only in such ways as my—shall I say, predecessor?—would have done. He, alas, was apparently a graver youth than I. So two weeks passed, while I was beginning to wish that the masquerade would continue indefinitely, when one day my tutor sent for me. “So,” he said, “We have had play enough, not so? Now we shall have work.”