Empress. His countenance was overshadowed by deep gravity as he returned
the welcome of his subjects. At a quarter to four the Kaiser was in the
royal castle, and immediately the Imperial Standard was fluttering
aloft."[14]

[Footnote 14: _Vossische Zeitung_, July 31st.]

The next twenty-four hours are so full of fateful events that they seem
one big blur on the memory. Although everyone was convinced that an
appeal to the sword was inevitable, there was still a tense feeling of
dread expectation hanging like a cloud over the land. During the whole
of that long night the author was an observer from an overcrowded train
which left Nuremberg at 9 p.m. and rumbled dismally into Cologne the
next morning at ten o'clock. Every station, great and small, was crowded
with anxious, expectant crowds; the smaller stations full of spectators
and relatives bidding farewell to departing soldiers, and the greater
ones crowded with fleeing tourists.

On the platforms at Frankfort and Cologne many tons of luggage were
stacked in huge piles. It would be interesting to know what became of
them.[15] Few Germans could have slept that night; the anxiety was too
great. The whole railway line was guarded by patrols, many of whom were
in civilian attire. Here and there a "field-grey" uniform was visible.
On many stations armed guards awaited the arrival of reservists and gave
them conduct to the barracks.

[Footnote 15: The _Königsberger Hartungsche Zeitung_ contained a
paragraph on August 7th to the effect that 120,000 trunks and
portmanteaux had been collected on Berlin stations alone.]