which had a little inn, humble but neat and clean.
Here he procured a razor and shaved the stubble from his face. He no
longer had a fear of meeting anyone whom he might know, save possibly
Weber, and Weber was a friend.

John's frank face and cheerful manner again made friends for him. The
stout innkeeper and his stout wife favored him with the food, and
hearing that he had come from Metz they wanted to know all the gossip,
which he told them as far as he knew. He had noted the broad track of
the great limousine in the road before he entered the inn, and thinking
it must have stopped there for a little while, he spoke casually of
those who passed.

"Aye," said the innkeeper, "many go by, many of whom will never come
back. They go mostly toward Metz, but a great prince traveling in the
other direction came today, before noon, and we served him refreshment."

"Perhaps it was the Prince of Auersperg," said John. "He was in Metz
when I was there, and I saw him leave."

"They did not tell me his name, but that must have been the man."

"He was in a great, dark red automobile."

"Then it was surely he. One could not mistake that automobile. I take it
that only kings and princes travel in its like."

"He carried with him two Frenchwomen, dangerous spies, intended for
imprisonment in Germany."

"So I heard, and we saw the face of one of them, very young and with the
most marvelous golden hair. I never saw a fairer face. But, as all the
world knows, the most beautiful women are often the most wicked. I
suppose there wasn't a woman among the Philistines who could compare
with Delilah in either face or figure."

"I suppose not," said John, scarcely able to restrain a smile. "Did the
women come into the inn?"

"Oh, no. My wife took food to them in the automobile. She saw them much
better than I did. She says that the younger one--and she was but a
girl--spoke softly and did not look wicked at all. But then, my wife is
fat and sentimental."

The stout hausfrau smiled.

"It is Hans who has the heart full of sentiment," she said. "When he saw
that the French spy was a girl of such beauty and such youth he
believed that she should not be punished, and he a good German! Ah, all
men are alike!"

Hans filled his pipe and wisely made no reply. But John smiled also.

"Is it wicked in a man to have an eye for beauty?" he said. "I know that
my host's heart has thrilled many a time when he caught a glimpse of the
lady who i