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 if you put in a demand to become a citizen of our State.”

“Aha!”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing, only aha!”

“Aha! that’s all, eh? All you have to do is to make a formal demand and apart from that  Well, you will understand of course that  that we should demand some guarantee, eh? You will have to earn the right to the honour which is being bestowed on you for exceptional services, eh? Let’s assume that that you hand over to the Army Council  you understand, that you hand over ”

There was a dead silence. The Prince looked out of the window and Carson’s eyes disappeared behind the glitter of his glasses. Prokop was deeply uneasy.

“ that you hand over simply hand over ” gulped Carson, also breathing with difficulty.

“What?”

Carson wrote a large K in the air with his finger. “Nothing further,” he said, relieved. “The next day you’ll get a document nominating you as an extra statum captain in the engineers stationed in Balttin. Straight away. So.”

“That is to say only a captain to begin with,” said Uncle Charles. “We haven’t ventured any farther. But we have been given a guarantee that if it should suddenly come to a war”

“Within a year,” cried Carson, “within a year at the latest.”