mused Lorry, pulling his nose reflectively. "What an outlandish
place for a girl like her to live in," he continued. "And that
sweet-faced old lady and noble Uncle Caspar! Ye gods! one would
think barbarians existed there and not such people as the
Guggenslockers, refined, cultivated smart, rich. I'm more
interested than ever in the place."

"So am I! I'm willing and ready to make the trip, old man, if
you are still of a mind. It's a lark, and, besides, she may not
be the only pretty and gracious girl there. We've had bard work
to find it on the map, let's not stop till we see Edelweiss on
the earth itself."

They made hasty preparations for the journey. Anguish, romantic
and full of adventure, advised the purchase of a pair of pistols
and a knife apiece, maintaining that, as they were going into an
unknown and mountainous region, they should be prepared for
brigands and other elements of danger. Lorry pooh-poohed the
suggestion of brigands, but indulged his mood by buying some
ugly-looking revolvers and inviting the prospect of something
really thrilling in the way of an adventure. With their traps
they were soon whirling through France, bound for a certain great
city, on the road to Edelweiss, one filled with excitement,
eagerness and boyish zeal, the other harrassed by the sombre fear
that a grave disappointment was in store for him. Through the
glamour and the picturesqueness of the adventure there always
crept the unconquerable feeling that he was on a fool's errand,
that he was committing a deed so weak and brainless that it was
sure to make him a veritable laughing-stock when it became known.
After all, who was Miss Guggenslocker--brewer, baker, gardener or