ad him this time. "Found!" he repeated. "Oh, this is not
credible!"

"It is true. And to-morrow at noon the woman you profess to love will
become the wife of the man she abhors. Why? Because you, you refuse
to save her!"

"I? How in God's name can I save her?" the perspiration beginning to
stand out on his brow.

"How? I will tell you how. Prince Ernst marries Gretchen for her
dowry alone. If the woman I believe to be her sister can be proved so,
the Prince will withdraw his claims to Gretchen's hand. Do you
understand? He will not marry for half the revenues of Hohenphalia.
It is all or nothing. Now, will you produce those proofs? Will you
help me?" The minute hand of the clock was moving around with deadly
precision.

"Are you lying to me?" he asked, breathing hard.

"You fool! can't you see that it means everything to Gretchen if you
have those proofs? She will be free, free! Will you get those proofs,
or shall your god-child live to curse you?"

This was the most powerful weapon I had yet used.

"Live to curse me?" he said, not speaking to me, but to the thought.
He sat down again and covered his face with his hands. The minute
which passed seemed very long. He flung away his hands from his eyes
with a movement which expressed despair and resignation. "Yes, I will
get them. It is years and years ago," he mused absently; "so long ago
that I had thought it gone and forgotten. But it was not to be. I
will get the proofs," turning to me as he left the chair. "Wait here."
He unbolted the door and passed forth. . . . It was a full confession
of the deception, written by the mother herself, and witnessed by her
physician, the innkeeper and his wife. Not even the King could contest
its genuineness.

"Where is this Dr. Salzberg?"

The innkeeper leaned against the side of the fireplace, staring into
the flames.

"He is dead," briefly.

"Who was he?"

"Her late Highness's court-physician. Oh, have no fear, Herr; this
new-found Princess of yours will come into her own," with a bitter
smile.

"And why have you kept silent all these years?" I asked.

"Why?" He raised his arms, then let them fall dejectedly. "I loved
the Princess Hildegarde. I was jealous that any should share her
greatness. I have kept silent because I carried her in my arms till
she could walk. Because her father cursed her, and refused to believe
her his own. Because she grew around my heart as a vine grows a