e German for the Sign or we should not have been sent
here," answered Marco. "Come on."

They made their way to the village, which huddled itself together
evidently with the object of keeping itself warm when through the
winter months the snows strove to bury it and the winds roared down
from the huge mountain crags and tried to tear it from among its rocks.
The doors and windows were few and small, and glimpses of the inside of
the houses showed earthen floors and dark rooms. It was plain that it
was counted a more comfortable thing to live without light than to let
in the cold.

It was easy enough to reconnoiter. The few people they saw were
evidently not surprised that strangers who discovered their unexpected
existence should be curious and want to look at them and their houses.

The boys wandered about as if they were casual explorers, who having
reached the place by chance were interested in all they saw. They went
into the little Gasthaus and got some black bread and sausage and some
milk. The mountaineer owner was a brawny fellow who understood some
German. He told them that few strangers knew of the village but that
bold hunters and climbers came for sport. In the forests on the
mountain sides were bears and, in the high places, chamois. Now and
again, some great gentlemen came with parties of the daring kind--very
great gentlemen indeed, he said, shaking his head with pride. There
was one who had castles in other mountains, but he liked best to come
here. Marco began to wonder if several strange things might not be
true if great gentlemen sometimes climbed to the mysterious place. But
he had not been sent to give the Sign to a great gentleman. He had
been sent to give it to an old woman with eyes like an eagle which was
young.

He had a sketch in his sleeve, with that of her face, of her
steep-roofed, black-beamed, balconied house. If they walked about a
little, they would be sure to come upon it in this tiny place. Then he
could go in and ask her for a drink of water.

They roamed about for an hour after they left the Gasthaus. They went
into the little church and looked at the graveyard and wondered if it
was not buried out of all sight in the winter. After they had done
this, they sauntered out and walked through the huddled clusters of
houses, examining each one as they drew near it and passed.

"I see it!" The Rat exclaimed at last. "It is that very old-looking
one standing a littl