he torches. But after a time they were hidden; then we saw one moving
ahead. The holder of it proved to be a workman of the gang, and between
us and him the strangest parley ensued. He repeated the word morgen, and
we insisted on zimmer and bett.

'He takes us for twin Caspar Hausers,' sighed Temple.

'Nein,' said the man, and, perhaps enlightened by hearing a foreign
tongue, beckoned for us to step at his heels.

His lodging was a woodman's hut. He offered us bread to eat, milk to
drink, and straw to lie on: we desired nothing more, and were happy,
though the bread was black, the milk sour, the straw mouldy.

Our breakfast was like a continuation of supper, but two little girls
of our host, whose heads were cased in tight-fitting dirty linen caps,
munched the black bread and drank the sour milk so thankfully, while
fixing solemn eyes of wonder upon us, that to assure them we were the
same sort of creature as themselves we pretended to relish the stuff.
Rather to our amazement we did relish it. 'Mutter!' I said to them. They
pointed to the room overhead. Temple laid his cheek on his hand. One of
the little girls laid hers on the table. I said 'Doctor?' They nodded
and answered 'Princess,' which seemed perfectly good English, and sent
our conjectures as to the state of their mother's health astray. I shut
a silver English coin in one of their fat little hands.

We now, with the name Sarkeld, craved of their father a direction to
that place. At the door of his but he waved his hand carelessly South
for Sarkeld, and vigorously West where the tower stood, then swept both
hands up to the tower, bellowed a fire of cannon, waved his hat, and
stamped and cheered. Temple, glancing the way of the tower, performed
on a trumpet of his joined fists to show we understood that prodigious
attractions were presented by the tower; we said ja and ja, and
nevertheless turned into the Sarkeld path.

Some minutes later the sound of hoofs led us to imagine he had
despatched a messenger after us. A little lady on a pony, attended by
a tawny-faced great square-shouldered groom on a tall horse, rode past,
drew up on one side, and awaited our coming. She was dressed in a grey
riding-habit and a warm winter-jacket of gleaming grey fur, a soft white
boa loose round her neck, crossed at her waist, white gauntlets, and a
pretty black felt hat with flowing rim and plume. There she passed as
under review. It was a curious scene: the iron-faced gre