eart to the man who had shielded her so bravely. He listened in
astonishment to her sad words, but instead of showing any pity, his face
and eyes fairly beamed with happiness and joy at her sad admission. He
asked abruptly, almost roughly:

"You long to get away from here? You will leave the stage?"

Despite her troubles, Marietta laughed out at this question.

"No, indeed, I have no such thought. What would I turn to then? My dear
grandfather has scraped and saved for years in order that I might
receive a musical education, and it would be but a poor return for me to
go back to him now, a burden for his few remaining years. He shall never
know that his 'singing bird' longs for her woodland nest, or that she
has hardships and insults to encounter here. I have more courage than
that. I mean to fight it out, no matter how heavy the odds. So do not
let them hear anything about my murmurings at Fuerstenstein. How soon are
you going there?"

A shadow fell across the young heir's happy face, and his eyes sank to
the floor.

"I am going at two this afternoon," he answered in a strange, depressed
tone.

"O, then grant me one favor. Tell Toni everything--everything--you hear?
She has cause to blame us both. I shall write to her to-day, at once,
and tell her about this unfortunate affair, and you will explain just
how it happened, too, will you not?"

Willibald raised his eyes slowly from the ground and looked at the
speaker.

"You are right, Fraeulein, Toni must hear all, the whole truth. I had
decided on that before I came here--but it will be a trying hour for
me."

"Oh, no indeed, it will not," Marietta said hastily. "Toni is good and
full of confidence; she will know that what we tell her is the exact
truth, and that we were both quite guiltless in the matter."

"But I am not guiltless, at least toward Toni," said Willibald very
earnestly. "Do not look so frightened, you would hear all later, so it
is, perhaps, as well to hear it from my lips. I am going to Fuerstenstein
to ask Toni"--he hesitated and sighed deeply--"to give me back my
freedom."

"Heaven help us! and why?" cried the young maiden, seriously alarmed at
this declaration.

"Why? Because, feeling as I do, knowing that Toni has no place in my
heart, it would be wrong to lead her to the altar. Because I know now
what is the one thing needful to make a happy marriage, because," he
stopped and looked at Marietta so steadily and so expressively that sh