ng. There were moments when
the track held to the cliffs only by gigantic fingers of steel, while
far below were peaceful valleys and pink-and-blue houses and churches
with gilded spires. There were vistas of snow-peak and avalanche shed,
and always there were tunnels. Marie, so wise in some things, was a
child in others; she slid close to Stewart in the darkness and touched
him for comfort.

"It is so dark," she apologized, "and it frightens me, the mountain
heart. In your America, have you so great mountains?"

Stewart patted her hand, a patronizing touch that sent her blood racing.

"Much larger," he said magnificently. "I haven't seen a hill in Europe
I'd exchange for the Rockies. And when we cross the mountains there we
use railway coaches. These toy railroads are a joke. At home we'd use
'em as street-cars."

"Really! I should like to see America."

"So should I."

The conversation was taking a dangerous trend. Mention of America was
apt to put the Herr Doktor in a bad humor or to depress him, which was
even worse. Marie, her hand still on his arm and not repulsed, became
silent.

At a small way station the three Germans in the compartment left the
train. Stewart, lowering a window, bought from a boy on the platform
beer and sausages and a bag of pretzels. As the train resumed its
clanking progress they ate luncheon, drinking the beer from the bottles
and slicing the sausage with a penknife. It was a joyous trip, a
red-letter day in the girl's rather sordid if not uneventful life. The
Herr Doktor was pleased with her. He liked her hat, and when she
flushed with pleasure demanded proof that she was not rouged. Proof was
forthcoming. She rubbed her cheeks vigorously with a handkerchief and
produced in triumph its unreddened purity.

"Thou suspicious one!" she pouted. "I must take off the skin to assure
thee! When the Herr Doktor says no rouge, I use none."

"You're a good child." He stooped over and kissed one scarlet cheek and
then being very comfortable and the beer having made him drowsy, he put
his head in her lap and slept.

When he awakened they were still higher. The snow-peak towered above
and the valleys were dizzying! Semmering was getting near. They were
frequently in darkness; and between the tunnels were long lines of
granite avalanche sheds. The little passage of the car was full of
tourists looking down.

"We are very close, I am sure," an American girl was saying just outside
the doorw