greeted my advance. Then he, too, desisted as suddenly as I had done,
and we both fell back a few paces, and stared at each other blankly. The
new-comer was the first to recover himself.

"This is some accursed mistake," said he, in German.

"Evidently," said I.

"But they told me that you and an Italian young lady were the only
strangers in the house."

"Well, sir," I said, "I can't help it if we are. The house is not of
a kind likely to attract strangers; and I assure you that, if I could
consult my own wishes, the number of guests would soon be reduced by
one."

He appeared to be a very choleric old person. "Sir," said he, "you seem
disposed to carry things off with a high hand; but I suspect that you
know more than you choose to reveal. Be so good as to tell me the name
of the lady who is staying here."

"I think you are forgetting yourself," I answered with dignity. "I must
decline to gratify your curiosity."

He stuck his arms akimbo, and planted himself directly in front of me,
frowning ominously. "Let us waste no more words," he said. "If I
have made a mistake, I shall be ready to offer you a full apology. If
not--But that is nothing to the purpose. I am Lieutenant-General Graf
von Rosenau, at your service, and I have reason to believe that my
son, Graf Albrecht von Rosenau, a lieutenant in his Imperial and Royal