he
trudged into the town, and, having pawned his watch, went to a
restaurant, and forced himself to swallow the meal that was set before
him--though there were moments when it seemed incredible that it was
actually he who plied knife and fork. He would have been glad to linger
for a time, after eating, but the restaurant was crowded, and the
waiter openly impatient for him to be gone. As he rose, he saw the man
flicking the crumbs off the cloth, and setting the table anew; some one
was waiting to take his place.

When he emerged again into the thronged and slightly dusty streets, his
previous strong impression of the unreality of things was upon him
again. Now, however, it seemed as though some submerged consciousness
were at work in him. For, though he was not aware of having reviewed
his position, or of having cast a plan of action, he knew at once what
was to be done; and, as before, his feet bore him, without bidding,
where he had to go.

He retraced his steps, and half-way down the KLOSTERGASSE, entered a
gunsmith's shop. The owner, an elderly man in a velvet cap and
gold-rimmed spectacles, looked at him over the tops of these, then said
curtly, he could not oblige him. What was more, he came out after him,
and, standing in the shop-door, watched him go down the street. At his
refusal, Maurice had hurriedly withdrawn: now, as he went, he wa's
troubled by the fact that the man's face was vaguely familiar to him.
For the length of a street-block, he endeavoured to recollect where he
had seen the face before. And suddenly he knew: it was this very shop
he had once been in to inquire after Krafft, and this was the same man
who had then been so uncivil to him. But as soon as he remembered, the
knowledge ceased to interest him.

Rendered cautious by his first experience, he went to another
neighbourhood, and having sought for some time, found a smaller shop,
in a side street. He had ready this time the fiction of a friend and a
commission. But a woman regretted wordily that her husband had just
stepped out; he would no doubt be back again immediately; if the Herr
would take a chair and wait a little?-- But the thought of waiting made
him turn on his heel. Finally, at his third attempt, a young lad gave
him what he desired, without demur; and, after he had known a quick
fear lest he should not have sufficient money for the purchase, the
matter was satisfactorily settled.

On returning to his room, he found a letter l