he was the wiser of the
two; that he was being justified by the course things were taking, and
that his good advice, which had once been scorned, was now redounding
to his credit. But as he really loved her, he behaved with the most
labored delicacy and consideration toward the young sufferer; never
touched her hidden wound by a single word, and only grumbled now and
then at the faithless Schnetz, who, considering the slight distance
that separated them, might certainly have come over and given him a
report of the patient by word of mouth.

He knew that this thought was never out of Irene's mind for a moment,
and that all her listening and waiting turned upon it. But when the
afternoon came, and no new message made its appearance, he threw his
rifle over his shoulder, kissed the hand of his pale little niece, and
left the house to scour the woods for a while. If Schnetz should show
himself in the mean while, they were to hold him prisoner for the
evening.

Scarcely did Irene find herself alone, when she fancied she could not
breathe the air in the close little rooms any longer. She hastily
caught up her sketch-book, put on her hat, and called her maid to
accompany her for a walk. She had recently discovered a picturesque
spot, with old trees and high ferns, farther back in the woods, which
she wanted to sketch. She trusted that she should be able to find it
again.

Once outside in the streets, she took such quick steps that the girl
could hardly keep up with her. But Louisa was too well-trained to take
the liberty of asking any inquisitive questions. That her mistress was
not just as usual; that she kept her head turned away as much as
possible, and did not address a single word to her faithful attendant,
she could not, indeed, help noticing. But then these high ladies have
their moods. At first, the Fraeulein seemed to be looking around, right
and left, in search of the goal of her artistic efforts. Then, after
they had walked along the forest-road for about a quarter of an hour,
and one villa after another, lying amid park and garden shrubbery,
began to appear on the bank of the lake to the left, the most lovely
old tree-trunks and foreground effects could not win a look from her.
Several times she stood still before one of the gates, and appeared to
be speculating as to who might live in the house beyond. The day
before, Schnetz had given her, in his favorite manner, a humorous
description of "Fat Rossel's" villa