quiet reigned around, and, with the exception of the guard, all in the

Palace slept. Towards this hour of the night, a singular incident

occurred. The Captain-Adjutant-Major of the Guard of the Assembly came to

the Major and said, "The Colonel has sent for me," and he added according

to military etiquette, "Will you permit me to go?" The Commandant was

astonished. "Go," he said with some sharpness, "but the Colonel is wrong

to disturb an officer on duty." One of the soldiers on guard, without

understanding the meaning of the words, heard the Commandant pacing up

and down, and muttering several times, "What the deuce can he want?"

Half an hour afterwards the Adjutant-Major returned. "Well," asked the

Commandant, "what did the Colonel want with you?" "Nothing," answered the

Adjutant, "he wished to give me the orders for to-morrow's duties." The

night became further advanced. Towards four o'clock the Adjutant-Major

came again to the Major. "Major," he said, "the Colonel has asked for

me." "Again!" exclaimed the Commandant. "This is becoming strange;

nevertheless, go."

The Adjutant-Major had amongst other duties that of giving out the

instructions to the sentries, and consequently had the power of

rescinding them.

As soon as the Adjutant-Major had gone out, the Major, becoming uneasy,

thought that it was his duty to communicate with the Military Commandant

of the Palace. He went upstairs to the apartment of the Commandant--

Lieutenant Colonel Niols. Colonel Niols had gone to bed and the attendants

had retired to their rooms in the attics. The Major, new to the Palace,

groped about the corridors, and, knowing little about the various rooms,

The History of a Crime