of the hotel, a half
hour later, that worthy was in exceeding good humor and very much
flushed in the face. He said he would be back in two days, and if they
needed him for any purpose whatever, they could reach him by a note at
the railway station.
"Funny how you run across an American in every nook and corner of the
world," mused Lorry, as they watched the stocky ex-man-o'warsman stroll
off towards his hotel.
"If we can run across the Guggenslockers as easily, we'll be in luck.
When shall we begin the hunt? Tonight?"
"We can make a few inquiries concerning them. They certainly are people
of importance here."
"I don't see the name on any of the brewery signs around town," observed
Anguish, consolingly. "There's evidently no Guggenslocker here."
They strolled through the streets near the hotel until after six
o'clock, wondering at the quaint architecture, the pretty gardens and
the pastoral atmosphere that enveloped the city. Everybody was busy,
contented, quiet and happy. There was no bustle or strife, no rush, no
beggars. At six they saw hundreds of workingmen on the streets, going to
their homes; shops were closed and there came to their ears the distant
boom of cannon, evidently fired from different points of the compass and
from the highland as well as the lowland.
"The toy army is shooting off the good-night guns," speculated Anguish.
"I suppose everybody goes to bed now.
"Or to dinner," substituted Lorry, and they returned to the Regengetx.
The dining hall was spacious and beautiful, a mixture of the oriental
and the mediaeval. It rapidly filled.
"Who the dickens can all these people be? They look well," Anguish
whispered, as if he feared their nearest neighbors might understand his
English.
"They are unquestionably of the class in which we must expect to find
the Guggenslockers."
Before the meal was over the two strangers saw that they were attracting
a great deal of attention from the other guests of the house. The women,
as well as the men, were eyeing them and commenting quite freely, it was
easy to see. These two handsome, smooth-faced young Americans were as
men from another world, so utterly unlike their companions were they in
personal appearance. They were taller, broader and more powerfully built
than the swarthy-faced men about them, and it was no wonder that the
women allowed admiration to show in their eyes. Toward the end of the
dinner several officers came in, and the Americ
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