a lady to mind,
is she not?"

"Ach! Yes indeed," said Anna. "Mrs. Otway, she loves the Fatherland.
This foolish trouble makes not the slightest difference to her."

Polly had been standing by rather impatiently. "Sometimes I'm quite
sorry I haven't taken the trouble to learn German," she said.

Her husband chucked her under the chin. "How would Frau Bauer and I
ever be able to talk our secrets together if you understood what we
said, little woman?"

And Anna joined in the laugh with which this sally was greeted.

"So long!" said Polly brightly. "I expect I'll be back before you've
gone, Mrs. Bauer."

CHAPTER XIII

"There is good news!" exclaimed Anna's host, as soon as the door was
shut behind his wife. "The British have sunk one of our little steamers,
but we have blown up one of theirs--a very big, important war-vessel,
Frau Bauer!"

Good old Anna's face beamed. It was not that she disliked
England--indeed, she was very fond of England. But she naturally felt
that in this great game of war it was only right and fair that the
Fatherland should win. It did not occur to her, and well he knew it
would not occur to her, that the man who had just spoken was at any rate
nominally an Englishman. She, quite as much as he did himself, regarded
the naturalisation certificate as a mere matter of business. It had
never made any difference to any of the Germans Anna had known in
England--in fact the only German-Englishman she knew was old Froehling,
who had never taken out his certificate at all. Froehling really did
adore England, and this had sometimes made old Anna feel very impatient.
To Froehling everything English was perfect, and he had been quite
pleased, instead of sorry, when his son had joined the British Army.

"So? That is good!" she exclaimed. "Very good! But we must not seem too
pleased, must we, Herr Hegner?"

And he shook his head. "No, to be _too_ pleased would not be grateful,"
he said, "to good old England!" And he spoke with no sarcasm, he really
meant what he said.

"It makes me sad to think of all the deaths, whether they are German or
English," went on Anna sadly. "I do not feel the same about the Russians
or the French naturally."

"Ach! How much I agree with you," he said feelingly. "The poor English!
Truly do I pity them. I am quite of your mind, Frau Bauer; though every
Russian and most Frenchmen are a good riddance, I do not rejoice to
think of any Englishman, however lazy, tires