"I hadn't your address." "Max had it." "I looked through all his papers and found nothing." "Herr Stapfer, my lawyer, had it." "I applied to him, and he gave me an address in Texas that you had sent him a year ago." "It is true. I believe I never wrote to him after I settled here until last June." "Yes, it was in June that I heard from him again that you were here, and ill. I begged him not to tell you of Max's death. I did not know how ill you were, and I feared for you. Then I decided to come myself to find you--and care for you if you needed care." "Your aunt?" "She is dead. I have no one now--but you." Silence fell on them. The little figure with the dark robes of her mourning clinging about her, rose and stood before him, her linked fingers twisting nervously together. "You will let me stay? You told me once--you swore it, do you remember?--that your life was mine; that I had but to tell you of my need. You remember?" "Yes, I remember." His eyes were on the ground and never met her steady gaze, but she seemed satisfied with what she saw. Her hands stopped their nervous play. She looked curiously about the room. "This is a hunting-lodge, I suppose. But you must not think I care. I shall get on very well. And may I go to my room now?" Von Rittenheim was startled into activity by the simple request. "I think you must wait until some preparation is made. I will go and fetch a woman who will look after you. You will not be afraid if I leave you alone for a few minutes?" "Entirely alone?" "Yes. There is no one here. But see, I leave you my pistol, and you can lock the door on the inside, and when I come back I will call in German. No one else near here knows a word of German." "Shall I be safe?" "Perfectly--even without those precautions. I will hurry." He stood an instant outside the door listening to the noise of the key in the lock. Then he turned in the direction of the Yarebroughs', and ran feverishly along the path. His knock upon the door was answered by a sleepy "Who's that?" and the click of a gun's hammer. Von Rittenheim explained his identity, and Bud responded by opening the door an ungenerous crack. The Baron told his necessity,--how his sister-in-law had arrived unexpectedly, and would Mrs. Yarebrough be so good, so _very_ good, as to go back with him and see if she could make her comfortable, and spend the rest of the night there? Bud shut the door, and Friedrich heard the sound of discussion. Kindness of heart and curiosity to see the strange lady triumphed over the claims of sleep, and Bud opened the door again to call through the crevice,-- "She'll go, Mr. Baron." It was almost midnight when they reached the cabin, Friedrich and the whole Yarebrough family; for Sydney Melissa could not be left behind, and Bud had a curiosity of his own. Von Rittenheim spoke in German and the door was unlocked. He made a hasty explanation to Hilda concerning the number of his escort.