Then he looked down and saw walking near them a heavy, middle-aged, bearded man to whom all the German officers paid great deference.

The man's manner was haughty and overbearing, and John understood at once that in the monarchical sense he was a personage.
"Do you know the big fellow there ?" he said to Weber.

"Have you heard anyone speak of him ?" "I saw him this morning, and one of the guards told us who he is.

That is Prince Karl of Auersperg.

The house of Auersperg is one of the oldest in Germany, much older than the Emperor's family, the Hohenzollerns.