"The Engineer touched his inside pocket, felt the bulge of his pocketbook containing his passport, turned down the Ring Strasse, and stopped at the Opera House. Then he began to look about him. Young, well-built, clear-headed, and imaginative, this sort of an adventure was just what he wanted. Soon his eyes fell upon a café ablaze with light. On a ground-glass globe over the door was the word 'Ivanoff.' "He passed through the front room, turned into another, and was stopped by a man at the door of the third. "'What do you want, Monsieur?' This in French. "'Some cognac and a cup of coffee.' "'Did Monsieur come in a cab?' "'No, on foot.' "'Perhaps, then, the lady came in a cab--and is waiting for you?' "'Perhaps.' "'This way, Monsieur.' "She sat in the far corner of the room, her face hidden in a file of newspapers. She must have known the attendant's step for she raised her head and fastened her eyes on the young man before he was half-way across the room. "'Sit here, sir,' she said in perfect English, drawing her dress aside so that he could pass to the chair next the wall. 'I am glad you came; I am glad you trusted me enough to come.' Her manner was as composed and her voice as low and gentle and as free from nervousness as if she had known him all her life. 'And now, before I tell you what I have to say to you, please tell me something about yourself. You are an American and have just arrived in Vienna?' "The Engineer nodded, his eyes still scanning her face, keeping his own composure as best he could, his astonishment increasing every moment. He had seen at the first glance that she was not the woman he had taken her to be. Her face, on closer inspection, showed her to be nearer forty than thirty, with certain lines about the mouth and eyes which could only have come from suffering. What she wanted of him, or why she had interested herself in his welfare, was what puzzled him. "'You have a mother, perhaps, at home, and some brothers, and you love them,' she continued. "Again the Engineer nodded. "'How many brothers have you?' "'One, Madame.' "'That is another bond of sympathy between us. I have one brother left.' All this time her eyes had been riveted on his, boring into his own as if she was trying to read his very thoughts. "'Is he in danger like me, Madame?' asked the Engineer with a smile. "'Yes, we all are; we live in danger. I have been brought up in it.' "'But why should I be?' and he handed her the card with the black edge.