"Thanks, Gretchen," murmured I from above. I was playing the listener;
but, then, she was only a barmaid.
"And it is so long," went on the contralto, "since I have seen a man--a
strong one, I wish to see if my power is gone."
"Aha!" thought I; "so you have already laid plans for my capitulation,
Gretchen?"
"But," said the bass voice once more, "supposing some of the military
should straggle along? There might be one who has seen you before.
Alas! I despair! You will not hide yourself; you will stay here till
they find you."
I fell to wondering what in the world Gretchen had done.
"I have not been to the village since I was a little girl. Dressed as
I am, who would recognize me? No one at the castle, for there is no
one there but the steward. Would you send me away?"
"God forbid! But this American? You say you can read faces; how about
the other one?"
Silence.
"Yes; how about him?"
Said Gretchen: "We are not infallible. And perhaps I was then much to
blame."
"No; we are not infallible; that is the reason why you should take no
chance," was the final argument of the innkeeper.
"Hush!" said Gretchen.
"Confound the pipe!" I muttered. It had fallen over the window sill.
Five minutes passed; I heard no sound. Glancing from the side of the
window I saw that Gretchen and the innkeeper were gone.
Yes, there wasn't any doubt about it; Gretchen was a conspirator. The
police were hunting for her, and she was threatened with discovery. It
was beyond my imagination what she could have done. Moreover, she was
rather courting danger; the military post was only five miles down the
river. The one thing which bothered me was the "him" who had suddenly
intruded upon the scene, invisible, but there, like Banquo's ghost.
Perhaps her beauty had lured some fellow to follow her fortunes and his
over-zeal, or lack of it, had brought ruin to some plot.
"Gretchen," said I, as I jumped into bed, "whoever he was, he must have
been a duffer."
Her Serene Highness the Princess Hildegarde was in Jericho, and Hillars
along with her, where I had consigned them.
Next morning Gretchen waited upon me at breakfast. She was quiet and
answered my questions in monosyllables. Presently she laid something
at the side of my plate. It was my pipe. I looked at her, but the
leads of my eyes could not plumb the depths in hers.