"Madam, you know the city of Frankfort." "I was there last year," said the queen, "and had the kindest possible reception." "May the remembrance of it help my words! General Falkenstein when he came to our city began by laying upon it a tax of seven million florins; that levy was paid, together with one, about equally heavy, in kind. That made fourteen millions already, for a small town of seventy-two thousand inhabitants, half of whom were foreigners, and consequently did not contribute to the payment." "And did Frankfort pay it?" asked the queen. "Frankfort paid it, madam, for that was still possible. But General Manteuffel arrived and put on a tax, in his turn, of twenty-five million florins. Such a tax, if imposed upon eighteen million subjects, madam, would yield more milliards of coin than the whole world contains. Well, and at this very hour cannon are planted in the streets and on the positions that command the town. If the sum is not paid at ten o'clock to-day--and it will not be paid, madam, it is impossible--the city will be bombarded and given over to pillage, a neutral unwalled city, which has no gates, which has not defended itself and cannot defend itself." "And how comes it, my child," asked the queen, "that you, a woman, have taken upon yourself to ask justice for this city? It has a Council." "It has one no longer, madam; the Council has been dissolved, and two of the councillors arrested." "And the burgomasters?" "They do not dare to take any step for fear of being shot. God is my witness, madam, that I did not put myself forward to come and plead for that unhappy city. It was my dying husband who said to me 'Go!' and I came." "But what can be done?" said the queen. "Your Majesty needs no adviser but your heart. But, I repeat, if by ten o'clock to-day, no counter-order comes from the king, Frankfort is lost." "If only the king were here," said the queen. "Thanks to the telegraph, Your Majesty knows that there are no distances now. A telegram from Your Majesty can receive an answer in half-an-hour, and in another half-hour that answer can be sent to Frankfort." "You are right," said Queen Augusta as she went towards a little bureau loaded with papers. She wrote: "To His Majesty the King of Prussia. "BERLIN, _July 23rd_, 1866. "Sire, I approach you to entreat humbly and earnestly that the indemnity of twenty-five million florins arbitrarily imposed upon the city of Frankfort, which has already paid fourteen millions in money and in kind, may be withdrawn. "Your very humble servant and affectionate wife, "AUGUSTA. "P.S. Please reply immediately." She handed the paper to Emma who read and returned it. Herr von Waals was summoned and came instantly. "Take this telegram to the telegraph office and wait for the answer. And you, my child," continued the queen, "let us think about you. You must be worn out, you must be starving."