ques into raptures,
and a table upon which lay the remains of a fine supper. My mouth
watered. I counted over the good things: roast pheasant, pink ham, a
sea-food salad, asparagus, white bread and unsalted butter, an
alcohol-burner over which hung a tea-pot, and besides all this there
was a pint of La Rose which was but half-emptied. Have you ever been
in the saddle half a day? If you have, you will readily appreciate the
appetite that was warring with my curiosity.

"Eat," bade she who was called Gretchen, shortly.

"And my horse?"

"Where is it?"

"Tied to a tree by the gate."

She struck a Chinese gong. From the kitchen appeared an elderly
servitor who looked to me more fitted to handle a saber than a
carving-knife; at least, the scar on his cheek impressed me with this
idea. (I found out later that he was an old soldier, who lived alone
in the castle as caretaker.)

"Take this gentleman's horse to the stables and feed him," said
Gretchen. "You will find the animal by the gate."

With a questioning glance at me the old fellow bowed and made off.

I sat down, and the two women brought the various plates and placed
them within reach. Their beautiful hands flashed before my eyes and
now and then a sleeve brushed my shoulder.

"Thank you," I murmured. "I will eat first, and then make my
apologies."

This remark caught the fancy of Gretchen. She laughed. It was the
same laughter I had heard while standing in the great hall.

"Will you drink tea, or would you prefer to finish this Bordeaux?" she
asked pleasantly.

"The wine, if you please; otherwise the effect of the meal and the long
hours in the wind will produce sleepiness. And it would be frightfully
discourteous on my part to fall asleep in my chair. I am very hard to
awake."

The English girl poured out the wine and passed the goblet to me. I
touched my lips to the glass, and bent my head politely. Then I
resolutely proceeded to attack the pheasant and ham. I must prove to
these women that at least I was honest in regard to my hunger. I
succeeded in causing a formidable portion of the food to disappear.

And then I noticed that neither of the young women seated herself while
I ate. I understood. There was no hostility in this action; nothing
but formality. They declined to sit in the presence of an unwelcome
stranger, thus denying his equality from a social point of view. I
readily accepted this decision on their part. They d