ut of the window into the
night.

"And now?" she asked.

Something in the tone of her voice made him straighten and glance at
her. He had seen the same look in other women's eyes.

"And now, I dream no more, Countess Strahni," he said abruptly.

Marishka's gaze fell before his.

"I am sorry," she said.

There was another silence in which Captain Goritz took out another
cigarette.

"I do not think that I quite--understand you, Countess Strahni----"

"Naturally," she broke in. "You have known me--let us see--a little less
than twelve hours."

Her smile disarmed him.

"You are far from transparent, Countess," he said quizzically.

"And if I were?"

"It would probably be because you wished me to see something beyond,"
with a laugh.

"To one who deals in mystery and intrigue, sincerity must always be
bewildering."

"H--m! I was once stabbed in the back by a woman who was too sincere."

The smile left Marishka's face. "How terrible!"

"It was. I nearly died. It was my mistake, you see."

Marishka was silent for a long moment. And then,

"I'm afraid, Captain Goritz, that the world has left you bitter."

"To the secret agent the world is neither sweet nor bitter. He has no
sense of taste or of feeling. He is merely a pair of ears--a pair of
eyes which nothing must escape----"

"Deaf to music--blind to beauty," sighed Marishka. "From the bottom of
my heart I pity you."

Captain Goritz gazed at her for a long moment, in silence, then his eyes
narrowed slightly and his voice was lowered.

"It is rather curious, Countess Strahni, that you should hold in such
low esteem a profession practiced by one of your most favored friends."

"Mine?" she questioned, startled.

"Herr Renwick," he replied dryly, "is a secret agent of the Serbian
government."

A gasp escaped her, and she struggled for her composure at the mention
of Hugh Renwick's name.

"That is impossible."

"I beg your pardon," he said politely, "I happen to know it to be the
truth."

She laughed uneasily.

"Until two weeks ago Herr Renwick was an attache of the British
Embassy," she asserted.

"Of course. But he has been also in the pay of the Serbian
government--Austria's enemy."

"You are misinformed," she gasped.

"I beg your pardon. England and Serbia are on excellent terms. You will
not deny that Herr Renwick has been to Belgrade in the last two weeks?"

"You--you----" she paused in consternation, aware again of this man's
om