think that I did. For I knew her and she knew
me. She was old Mother Holf, one of whose sons, Johann, had betrayed to
us the secret of the dungeon at Zenda, while the other had died by Mr.
Rassendyll's hand by the side of the great pipe that masked the king's
window. Her presence might mean nothing, yet it seemed at once to
connect the house with the secret of the past and the crisis of the
present.

She recovered herself in a moment, and curtseyed to me.

"Ah, Mother Holf," said I, "how long is it since you set up shop in
Strelsau?"

"About six months, my lord," she answered, with a composed air and arms
akimbo.

"I have not come across you before," said I, looking keenly at her.

"Such a poor little shop as mine would not be likely to secure your
lordship's patronage," she answered, in a humility that seemed only half
genuine.

I looked up at the windows. They were all closed and had their wooden
lattices shut. The house was devoid of any signs of life.

"You've a good house here, mother, though it wants a splash of paint,"
said I. "Do you live all alone in it with your daughter?" For Max was
dead and Johann abroad, and the old woman had, as far as I knew, no
other children.

"Sometimes; sometimes not," said she. "I let lodgings to single men when
I can."

"Full now?"

"Not a soul, worse luck, my lord." Then I shot an arrow at a venture.

"The man who came in just now, then, was he only a customer?"

"I wish a customer had come in, but there has been nobody," she replied
in surprised tones.

I looked full in her eyes; she met mine with a blinking
imperturbability. There is no face so inscrutable as a clever old
woman's when she is on her guard. And her fat body barred the entrance;
I could not so much as see inside, while the window, choked full with
pigs' trotters and such-like dainties, helped me very little. If the fox
were there, he had got to earth and I could not dig him out.

At this moment I saw James approaching hurriedly. He was looking up
the street, no doubt seeking my carriage and chafing at its delay. An
instant later he saw me.

"My lord," he said, "your train will be ready in five minutes; if it
doesn't start then, the line must be closed for another half-hour."

I perceived a faint smile on the old woman's face. I was sure then that
I was on the track of Bauer, and probably of more than Bauer. But my
first duty was to obey orders and get to Zenda. Besides, I could not
force my w