Chapter V. The Grand Duke's Letter

After a number of more or less strenuous missions, I felt thoroughly
run down. During the Boer War I had been shot through the left lung
and now I began to experience trouble. A series of hemorrhages
brought about by unchecked cold and exposure, led me to consult
Professor Bayer, the noted specialist in Berlin. He advised me to get
away from everything for a month at least, recommending the pine
ozone.

There is no lack of pine forests in Germany or Norway; and I had
plenty of acquaintances in both countries. To any one of them I would
have been welcome, but this would have entailed social obligations and
I wanted to be absolutely alone. There were but two of my friends at
whose places I could do exactly as I wished, where man and beast knew
me. One, whose place was in the Pushta, Hungary, was probably away on
a hunting trip and Hungary was too remote. The other, a schoolmate of
mine, lived near Furstenwalde, about fifty-eight kilometers from
Berlin. Furstenwalde, I decided, was an ideal spot, near Berlin, yet
isolated enough and in the heart of one of the largest of the
well-cared-for Prussian domain forests. So Ehrenkrug, the seat of the
_Koenigliche Ober Forsterei_ and the family seat of the Freiherren von
Ehrenkrug, was the place I selected.

I had enjoyed three weeks of rest and quietness, doing some desultory
fishing and shooting but spending most of my time in a hammock slung
under some of the giant Fichten, when my sylvan idyl was disturbed by
the red-faced, stub-nosed post boy of the Forsterei.