"and perhaps he may get into our meshes on some other occasion. Your
excellency is an adroit hunter."

"And you are an excellent pointer for me. You scent such things on
the spot," Count Thugut exclaimed, and broke out into a loud burst
of laughter.

Count Saurau laughed also, and took good care not to betray how
cruelly the joke had wounded his aristocratic pride. The Austrian
aristocracy was accustomed to such insults at the hands of the
powerful and proud prime minister, and everybody knew that Thugut,
the son of a poor ship-builder, in the midst of his greatness, liked
to recall his modest descent, and to humble the nobility through the
agency of the ship-builder's son.

"Your excellency will permit me to render myself at once worthy of
the praise you have kindly bestowed upon me," said the police
minister, after a short pause. "I believe we have discovered another
conspiracy here. True, it is only an embryo as yet, but it may grow
into something if we give it the necessary time."

"What is it, Saurau?" said Thugut, joyfully--"tell me at once what
it is! A conspiracy--a good, sound conspiracy?"

"Yes, a most malignant and important conspiracy! A conspiracy
against your excellency's life!"

"Bah!--is that all?" said Thugut carelessly, and with evident
disappointment. "I was in hopes that by this time you would hand
over to me some high-born aristocrats who had held secret