He wore no insignia of office.
Indeed, as Maurice gazed from one man to the next he saw that there were no officers; and it came to him that these were not soldiers of the king.

He was in a trap.

He thought quickly.

Fitzgerald was in trouble, perhaps on his account.

Where was he?
"I do not see my friend who sprained his ankle," he said coolly.
This declaration was greeted with laughter.
"Evidently I have entered the wrong room," he continued imperturbably.
He stepped toward the door, but a burly individual placed his back to it.
"Am I a prisoner, or the victim of a practical joke ?" "Either way," said the man with the frosty mustache.
"Why ?" "You have recently formed a dangerous acquaintance, and we desire to aid you in breaking it." "Are you aware, gentlemen--no, I don't mean gentlemen--that I am attached to the American legation in Vienna, and that my person is inviolable ?" Everybody laughed again--everybody but Maurice.
"Allow me to correct you," put in the elderly man, who evidently was the leader in the affair.