Explore "A Crown of Straw" by Allen Upward on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
AS the door of the cabinet closed, leaving Maximilian by himself, with the ensigns of his monarchy strewed upon the table and the floor, the clock of the Castle began to strike ten.
Before the notes had finished, a solitary horseman came riding swiftly down the road which formed the main approach to the Castle. He had come through the guarded gateway on the crest of the hill without a check, all the sentinels having presented arms as he went silently past them at full speed. He pulled up his reeking horse at the steps leading up into the Castle, and dismounted alone.