rke, his companion of months before on the
outward-bound Cunarder, who welcomed him with much warmth and
cordiality.

"And whatever became of Miss Tippity-fitchet? You don't mean to say you
did not see her again? Fancy that! It was through no fault of hers,
then. But there, in spite of your promise, you didn't so much as look
_me_ up. I am just in from a tramp to Mori; suppose we brush up a bit
and have dinner together?" He turned to the waiter. "Konrad, wir speisen
draussen; verschaffen Sie 'was Monkenkloster."

"Zu Befehl, Herr Baron."

Half an hour later, when the brushing up was done and the Monkenkloster
was uncorked, Tristrem and Yorke seated themselves in an arbor that
overhung the lake.

"It's ever so much better here than at _table d'hote_," Yorke began. "I
hate that sort of business--don't you? I have been here over two months,
but after a week or so of it I gave up promiscuous feeding. Since then,
whenever I have been able, I have dined out here. I don't care to have
every dish I eat seasoned with the twaddle of cheap-trippers. To be
sure, few of them get here. Riva is well out of the beaten track. But
one _table d'hote_ is just like another, and they are all of them
wearying to the spirit and fatiguing to digestion. Look at that water,
will you. It's almost Venice, isn't it? I can tell you, I have done some
good work in this place. But what have you been doing yourself?"

"Nothing to speak of," Tristrem answered. "I have been roaming from
pillar to post. It's the second time I have been over the Continent, and
now I am on my way home. I am tired of it; I shall be glad to be back."

"Yes you were the last person I expected to meet. If I remember rightly,
you said on the steamer that you were to be on this side but a short
time. It's always the unexpected that occurs, isn't it? By the way, I
have got my sphinx."

"What sphinx?"

"I thought I told you. I have been looking for years for a certain face.
I wanted one that I could give to a sphinx. The accessories were
nothing. I put them on canvas long ago, but the face I never could
grasp. Not one of all that I tried suited me. I had almost given it up;
but I got it--I got it at last. I'll show it to you to-morrow."

"I am afraid----You see, I leave very early."

"I'll show it to you to-night, then; you must see it. If I had had it
made to order it could not suit me better. It came about in such an odd
way. All winter I have been at work in Munich. I