"It is quite out of the question. You are the intruder."

"Call me Mr. Intruder, then," said I.

It was, you will agree, a novel adventure. I was beginning to enjoy it
hugely.

"Who do you suppose this fellow is?" Gretchen asked.

"He says he is an American, and I believe he is. What Americans are in
Barscheit?"

"I know of none at all. What shall we do to get rid of him?"

All this was carried on with unstudied rudeness. They were women of
high and noble quality; and as I was an interloper, I could take no
exception to a conversation in a language I had stated I did not
understand. If they were rude, I had acted in a manner unbecoming a
gentleman. Still, I was somewhat on the defensive. I took out my
watch. My hour was up.

"I regret that I must be off," I said ruefully. "It is much pleasanter
here than on the road."

"I can not ask you to remain here. You will find the inn a very
comfortable place for the night," was Gretchen's suggestion.

"Before I go, may I ask in what manner I might serve as a witness?"
Ere the words had fully crossed my lips I recognized that my smartness
had caused me to commit an unpardonable blunder for a man who wished to