class
compartment on the railroad trip over and back, they went in a
third-class car. Praeger declared that it was good enough for him, and he
didn't wish to spoil his troupe! His wife now held the purse-strings, as
Roesie was too engrossed with her art and Hugh too absorbed in his love
to notice such mere sublunary matters. The girl had promised nothing
positive for the future. She kept him on the brittle edge of nervous
expectation. The opposition of the dancer had been successfully met by
threats of dismissal; Hugh continued to lose flesh and gain in vocal and
pedal agility.

He danced for the first time at Koenigswart, not far from the chateau of
the Metternichs. It was August. So great was the applause that the
younger dancer was discharged. He left with muttered threats of
vengeance. The next day Krayne turned over all his business affairs to
the able hand of Frau Praeger; he lived only for Roesie and his art....

September was at hand. The weather was so warm and clear, that the king
of England deferred his departure for a few days. One afternoon, just
before the leaves began to brown on the hills, there was a concert at
the garden of the Hotel Bellevue. The royal party attended. The yodling
was much praised, especially that of a good-looking young woman and her
escort, a very tall man of cadaverous aspect, his shanks like the wooden
stilts of the shepherds on the Bordeaux Landes. His face,
preternaturally emaciated and fatigued, opened to emit an amazing yodel.
When the _Schuhplattltanz_ was reached he surprised the audience by an
extraordinary exhibition. He threw his long legs about like billiard
cues, while his arms flapped as do windmills in a hard gale. He was
pointed out as a celebrity--once a monster Englishman, who had taken the
_Kur_; who was in love, but so poor that he could not marry. The girl
with him was certain to make a success in grand opera some day. Yes,
Marienbad was proud of Krayne. He was one of her show sons, a witness to
her curative powers. Proud also of the Bavarian Praeger Sextette. Herr
Praeger was reputed a rich man....

The night of that concert Marienbad saw the last of the Bavarian
sextette, which at midnight, joined by its old dancer with the tenor
voice, left in a third-class carriage for Vienna. Hugh Krayne, not
possessing enough to pay his passage, had not been invited; nor was he
informed of the sudden departure until a day later....

* * * *