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374 right and left of the long white cloths behind which William the Great could be divined, were sheltered by awnings and in numerable flags. On the left-hand side, as Diederich noticed, the officers and gentlemen were permitted to look after themselves and their ladies without the interference of strangers, thanks to the sense of discipline which was in their very blood. All the rigours of police supervision were transferred to the right-hand side where the civilians scrambled for the seats. Then Guste expressed dissatisfaction with hers. It seemed to her that only the official marquee, facing the statue, was fit to receive her. She was an official lady; Wulckow had admitted it. Diederich had to go there with her, or appear a coward, but, of course, his daring assault was repulsed as emphatically as he had anticipated. For form's sake, and so that Guste should not lose faith in him, he protested against the tone of the police officer, and was almost arrested. His order of the Crown, fourth class, his black-white-and-red sash, and his speech, which he produced, just saved him, but they could never pass as a satisfactory substitute for a uniform, either in his own eyes or those of the world. This one real distinction was lacking, and Diederich was once more compelled to notice that without a uniform one went through life with a bad conscience, notwithstanding one's other first-class qualifications.

In a state of disorganisation the Hesslings beat a retreat, which attracted general attention, Guste looking blue and swollen in her feathers, lace and diamonds. Diederich was fuming and shoved forward as much as possible his paunch with its sash, as if he were spreading the national colours over his defeat. Thus they passed between the Veterans' Association with wreaths of oak around their tall hats, who were placed in the lower half of the military stand, under the command of Kuhnchen, as a Landwehr lieutenant, and the maids of honour in white, with black-white-and-red sashes, under the orders of Pastor Zillich, in his official robes. But when