st at this moment and would like to be quiet.
After all you know this house is mine and this bed on which I am at
present lying was once my own mother's. If for reasons of state I was
allowed to offer my house to the American Red Cross during their stay in
Luxemburg, it seems to me like fate that I should be brought here after
my accident. But please don't mention to Mrs. Clark that this is my
house. It was offered to the American Red Cross in the name of the
city."

A moment later Bianca Zoli appeared to escort their distinguished
visitor downstairs.

About to leave the room she beheld an imploring glance in the dark eyes
of the girl on the bed and going closer heard her whisper:

"Do please come back as soon as you can, I don't really need anything
except that I am lonely."

Returning fifteen minutes later, it was then after five o'clock and dusk
was gathering in the fine, old-fashioned chamber, so Bianca Zoli quietly
sat down without speaking in the chair which had just been vacated by
the elderly countess.

The girl upon the bed appeared to be asleep at the moment, but as Bianca
had no other duty to occupy her it struck her that it might be
entertaining to sit in the big, strange room watching her companion and
thinking of her story, or at least of its brief outline which was all
she knew at present.

Having witnessed the girl's accident and finding her unconscious and
therefore unable to explain her name or identity, it had appeared to
both the young American physicians and nurses that the best solution
would be to bring her as swiftly as possible to their own hospital.
After she had received the necessary attention there would be time and
opportunity to discover her family and friends.

A few hours afterwards, when the girl herself returned to consciousness,
she explained that she was the young Countess Charlotta Scherin and
lived with her father and aunt on their estate at a short distance from
the city. The greater part of her time, however, she spent at the Grand
Palace with her cousins, the Grand Duchess Marie Adelaide and her five
younger sisters.

She seemed to be in a great deal of pain and yet not particularly
unhappy over her accident, only asking that her father be informed that
she was in safe hands. And if it were possible and not too much trouble
could she remain at the American Red Cross hospital until her recovery?

Yet Bianca had only considered her companion for a few moments when she