she asked. "I suppose he is in
Germany now? You must feel rather anxious about him."

He hesitated oddly, and looked round him before he spoke. Then,
vanquished, maybe, by the obvious sincerity and kindness of the speaker,
he answered, in German, and almost in a whisper. "He is, I fear, by now
on his way to the frontier. But may I ask a favour of the gracious lady?
Do not speak of my son to the people of Witanbury."

"Then _he_ was never naturalised?" Mrs. Otway also spoke in a low
voice--a voice full of pity and concern.

"No, no," said Mr. Hegner hastily. "There was no necessity for him to
be. His work was mostly, you see, over there."

"Still he was educated here, surely?"

"That is so, gracious lady. He talks English better even than I do. He
and I did consider the question of his taking out a certificate. Then we
decided that, as he would be so much in Germany, it was better he should
remain German. But his wife is an English girl."

"How sorry you must be now that he did not naturalise!" she exclaimed.

An odd look came over Manfred Hegner's face. "Yes, it is very
regretful--the more so that it would do me harm if it were known in the
town that I had a son in the German Army. But he will not fight against
the English," he added hastily. "No one will do that but the German
sailors--is not that so, madam?"

"I really don't know."

"If at any time the gracious lady should hear anything of the sort, I
should be grateful--nay, far more than grateful if she will let me know
it!" He had lapsed back into German, and Mrs. Otway smiled very kindly
at him.

"Yes, I will certainly let you know anything I hear. I know how very
anxious you must be about this sad state of things."

Mrs. Otway had left the shop, and she was already some way back across
the Market Place, when there came the rather raucous sound of an urgent
voice in her ear. Startled, she turned round. The owner of the Witanbury
Stores stood by her side.

"Pardon, pardon!" he said breathlessly. "But would you, gracious lady,
ask your servant" (he used the German word "Stuetze") "if she could make
it convenient to join our gathering this evening at nine o'clock? Frau
Anna Bauer is so very highly respected among the Germans here that we
should like her to be present."

"Certainly I will arrange for Anna to come," answered Mrs. Otway. "But
you may not be aware, Mr. Hegner, that my cook has become to all intents
and purposes quite English--without, of