egarded
as a possible rival, Charlie became a mighty hunter; and you may be sure
that he returned of an evening with sprigs of fir in his cap for the
bucks he had slain, Franziska was not the last to come forward and shake
hands with him and congratulate him, as is the custom in these primitive
parts. And then she was quite made one of the family when we sat down to
dinner in the long, low-roofed room; and nearly every evening, indeed,
Tita would have her to dine with us and play cards with us.

You may suppose, if these two young folk had any regard for each other,
those evenings in the inn must have been a pleasant time for them. There
were never two partners at whist who were so courteous to each other,
so charitable to each other's blunders. Indeed, neither would ever admit
that the other blundered. Charlie used to make some frightful mistakes
occasionally that would have driven any other player mad; but you should
have seen the manner in which Franziska would explain that he had no
alternative but to take her king with his ace, that he could not know
this, and was right in chancing that. We played three-penny points, and
Charlie paid for himself and his partner, in spite of her entreaties.
Two of us found the game of whist a profitable thing.

One day a registered letter came for Charlie. He seized it, carried it
to a window, and then called Tita to him. Why need he have any secret
about it? It was nothing but a ring--a plain hoop with a row of rubies.

"Do you think she would take this thing?" he said, in a low voice.

"How can I tell?"

The young man blushed and stammered, and said:

"I don't want you to ask her to take the ring, but to get to know
whether she would accept any present from me. And I would ask her myself
plainly, only you have been frightening me so much about being in a
hurry. And what am I to do? Three days hence we start."

Tita looked down with a smile and said, rather timidly:

"I think if I were you I would speak to her myself--but very gently."

We were going off that morning to a little lake some dozen miles off to
try for a jack or two. Franziska was coming with us. She was, indeed,
already outside, superintending the placing in the trap of our rods
and bags. When Charlie went out she said that everything was ready; and
presently our peasant driver cracked his whip, and away we went.

Charlie was a little grave, and could only reply to Tita's fun with an
effort. Franziska was mo