ers?" In the Ross Markt was
the house of business of Karil Zamenoy, and there, as Nina well knew,
were kept the documents which she was so anxious to obtain. But the
demand at this moment was made simply with the object of vexing Ziska,
and urging him on to further anger.

"Unless you will give up Anton Trendellsohn, you had better not come to
the Ross Markt."

"I will never give him up."

"We will see. Perhaps he will give you up after a while. It will be a
fine thing to be jilted by a Jew."

"The Jew, at any rate, shall not be jilted by the Christian. And now,
if you please, I will ask you to go. I do not choose to be insulted in
father's house. It is his house still."

"Nina, I will give you one more chance."

"You can give me no chance that will do you or me any good. If you will
go, that is all I want of you now."

For a moment or two Ziska stood in doubt as to what he would next do
or say. Then he took up his hat and went away without another word. On
that same evening some one rang the bell at the door of the house in
the Windberg-gasse in a most humble manner--with that weak, hesitating
hand which, by the tone which it produces, seems to insinuate that no
one need hurry to answer such an appeal, and that the answer, when
made, may be made by the lowest personage in the house. In this
instance, however, Lotta Luxa did answer the bell, and not the stout
Bohemian girl who acted in the household of Madame Zamenoy as assistant
and fag to Lotta. And Lotta found Nina at the door, enveloped in her
cloak. "Lotta," she said, "will you kindly give this to my cousin
Ziska?" Then, not waiting for a word, she started away so quickly that
Lotta had not a chance of speaking to her, no power of uttering an
audible word of abuse. When Ziska opened the parcel thus brought to
him, he found it to contain all the notes which he had given to Josef
Balatka.

CHAPTER IV

When Nina returned to her father after Ziska's departure, a very few
words made everything clear between them. "I would not have him if
there was not another man in the world," Nina had said. "He thinks that
it is only Anton Trendellsohn that prevents it, but he knows nothing
about what a girl feels. He thinks that because we are poor I am to be
bought, this way or that way, by a little money. Is that a man, father,
that any girl can love?" Then the father had confessed his receipt of
the bank-notes from Ziska, and we already know to what result that