Maezli's words.

Mrs. Maxa was standing in front of her house, surrounded by her
children, anxiously looking for the two missing ones. Nobody could
understand where Leonore and Maezli might have stayed so long. Suddenly
they caught a glimpse of two blue ribbons fluttering from Leonore's hat.
Quickly the children rushed to meet them.

"Where do you come from? Where did you stay so long? Where have you been
all this time," sounded from all sides.

"In the castle," was the answer.

The excitement only grew at this.

"How could you get there? Who opened the door? What did you do at the
castle?" The questions were poured out at such a rate that no answer
could possibly have been heard.

"I went to see the Castle-Steward before. I have been to see him quite
often," said Maezli loudly, for she was desirous of being heard.

Leonore had gone ahead with the mother's arm linked in hers, for she was
very anxious to deliver her message.

Kurt was too much interested in Maezli's expedition to the castle to be
frightened off by the first unintelligible account. He had to find out
how it had come about and what had happened, but the two did not get very
far in their dialogue.

As soon as Maezli began to talk first about Mr. Trius and then about the
Steward, Kurt always said quickly, "But this is all one and the same
person. Don't make two out of them, Maezli! All the world knows that Mr.
Trius is the Steward of Castle Wildenstein; he is one person and not
two."

Then Maezli answered, "Mr. Trius is one and the Castle-Steward is
another. They are two people and not one."

After they had repeated this about three times Bruno said, "Oh, Kurt,
leave her alone. Maezli thinks that there are two, when she calls him
first Mr. Trius and then Mr. Castle-Steward."

That was too much for Maezli, and shouting vigorously, "They are two
people, they are two people," she ran away.

Leonore had related in the meantime how Maezli had proposed to visit the
sick Castle-Steward and how she had at first been reluctant to go, till
Maezli had made her feel that she was wrong. She related everything that
had happened and all the questions he had asked her.

"Just think, Aunt Maxa," Leonore went on, "the gentleman knows our uncle
in Spain. He said that he had been there, too, and he knows that our
uncle is old and ill and is living all by himself. I wanted so much to
find out where he was, and asked him to tell me, but he thought it would
not h