That there was a woman in the case I felt assured, but her name had not been mentioned, and I had no suspicion of whom it could be. I realized, however, that something important must be in progress, otherwise His Highness, devoted to sport as he was, would never have given up the best afternoon to consult with that stranger in grey tweeds. The forester and beaters had come with us, as the Crown-Prince had, at his own request, been left alone with his mysterious visitor. After a couple of short beats we arrived at the spot on the forest road to Quedlinburg, a most romantic and picturesque gorge, where His Highness had arranged to meet us, and there we sat down and waited. Both Von Oertzen and Dr. Zeising, being unduly stout, had been puffed in coming up the steep mountain side, and as we sat we gossiped, though impatient to set forth again. A full half-hour had passed, yet the head forester, who was keeping a look-out along the road, did not signal His Highness's approach. "I wonder what can have detained him?" remarked the Inspector-General of Cavalry. I explained that a strange young man had come to the forester's house. "Well," laughed a smart young lieutenant of Uhlans, "I could have understood the delay if it had been a lady!" An hour went past. The light would soon fade, and we, knowing "Willie's" utter disregard for his appointments, at last decided to continue the shoot, leaving one of the foresters to tell His Highness the direction we had taken. The Crown-Prince did not, however, join us, and darkness had fallen ere we returned to the forester's house. Of His Highness there was no sign, a fact which much surprised us. In the room wherein I had left him his gun and green Tyrolese hat were lying upon a chair, and the fact that all the cars were still ranged outside showed that he had not driven back to the castle. The Crown-Prince had disappeared! Knof, His Highness's chauffeur, who had been walking with us, was sent back post-haste to the schloss to ascertain whether he had been seen there, for His Highness's movements were often most erratic. We knew that if the whim took him he would perhaps go off in an opposite direction, or trudge back to the castle with utter disregard of our natural anxiety. Lights were lit, and we enjoyed cigars awaiting Knof's return. In an hour he was back with the news that nothing had been heard of His Highness. Soon after we had left that morning, however, a young man in a grey suit had called and seen the major-domo, who had directed him where His Highness might be found. Upon Eckardt--the commissary of police responsible for His Highness's safety--the onus rested. Yet, had he not been sent out with the party, as His Highness had expressed to me a wish to be left alone with the stranger, whose name I alone knew.