an aversion to him on the
spot, although his intention to include him in the pre-arranged flight
was manifest. But he was the victim of circumstances and for the present
he had to yield. Besides, the prospect held out was for him to continue
beside the dazzling beauty, whose influence seemed more wide than her
deceased ancestress.

Like many bookworms, he had entertained a humiliating opinion of the
sex that makes the world move round; he was beginning to doubt, and he
would retract it before long.

Kaiserina related the events briefly, while one of the farmers brought
two magnificent saddle-horses round to the long, high side of the house,
facing the northwest. Clemenceau mechanically mounted the bay, and the
gentleman assisted the lady upon the black. Both animals were impatient
to be gone, and when given the head, started off madly. This exciting
pace roused the student from his lethargy, and when the steeds had
settled down to a less frenzied gait, he asked what was his guide's
intention.

"It is plain. You must be put across the border into France."

"France!" it seemed to him, since the revelation of his birth in that
country, that the name had a charm unknown heretofore. Yes, he ought to
make a pilgrimage into that sunny land where his father had been a gem
in its artistic crown.

"It is your native country and you will be safer there than in Italy or
Austria. Our next stage will be the little railway station to which you
may see that long double silver serpent, the metal tracks, stretching
across the plain."

CHAPTER IX.

REPARATION.

Fortunately for the fugitives, the poorly paid railway officials in
these parts are the obsequious servants of those who liberally bribe.
The station-master, though a very grand personage, indeed, in his
uniform and metal-bound cap, became pliant as an East Indian waiter and
accepted without question the explanation of the lady. It was she who
was spokesman throughout. She said that she and her companion were
play-actors and that their baggage was detained by a cruel manager of a
Munich musical beer-hall; this was a wise admission as the man might
have seen her at the Harmonista, or, at least, her photograph in the
doorway. But they were compelled to reach Lucerne without delay or lose
a profitable engagement, by the proceeds of which they could redeem
their paraphernalia. While listening, the man dealt out the tickets,
pocketed the gratuity which was handsomely