With a sharp cry, Gretel started up. They must not think dreadful things about her. They must learn the truth. It was only a wicked newspaper story, of course, but how had people learned of her meeting with Fritz? Some one she knew must have seen them talking together, but she could not remember meeting any one that afternoon until she rejoined Mrs. Chester, and then there was Jimmy Fairfax. Could Jimmy have seen her talking with Fritz? Fritz certainly did look like a German, but if Jimmy had seen them together, why had he not questioned her about it? Oh, she could not die there in that dreadful place, and let people go on thinking she had run away. They would always believe it; not Percy and Barbara, perhaps, or even the Barlows, her oldest friends, but other people--Miss Minton, and the girls at school, and Mrs. Cranston and Stephen. It was Stephen who had vouched for her loyalty the day they went to visit the submarine base. She must get away somehow, and let them know she had not done that dreadful thing. She sprang to her feet, and beat against the door, with a wild, desperate hope of making some one hear. But the only sound she heard was Mr. Becker’s heavy tread coming down the hall. Outside her door the footsteps paused. “Stop that noise this instant,” the stern voice commanded. “Let me out,” shrieked Gretel, almost beside herself with terror and despair. “Let me out. I must--I must----” Suddenly her strength failed her, and with a choking cry, she sank back in a little heap on the dusty floor. Mrs. Becker was sitting in the rocking-chair, crying softly, when her husband returned to the sitting-room. He did not speak at once, but stood looking down at her, his face very dark and stern. Mrs. Becker herself was the first to break silence. “What are we to do, Rudolph?” she questioned timidly. “The child eats nothing; she cannot go on like this. She will die, and then what will happen to us?” “Confound the girl!” burst forth the man furiously--both he and his wife spoke in German--“Confound the whole business! I could kill that niece of yours, with her idiotic talk about the girl’s love for Germany. Now listen to me, and don’t let me hear any snivelling, either. Pay attention to every word I say, and mind you do exactly as I tell you.” “Yes, Rudolph,” murmured Mrs. Becker, obediently. “I am going away, going away on important business. I want to get off as soon as possible, so go and pack my valise.” “But, Rudolph, you will not leave me here alone with her? Oh, surely you will not do that! Let me go with you; I will carry the valise. I will not be any trouble.”