answer.

"Speak English?"

"No. Herr's German is excellent, however."

"Humph!" The Englishman gave a final glance into the shining
tubes of the gun, snapped the breach, and slipped it into the
case. "You'll do. Return to the office; I'll be down presently."

"Will Herr hunt this morning?"

"No; what I wish this morning is to see the city of Bleiberg."

"That is simple," said Johann. The fleeting, imperceptible smile
did not convict his eyes of false keenness.

He bowed out. When the door closed the Englishman waited until
the sound of retreating steps failed. Then he took the gun case
which he had not yet opened, and thrust it under the mattress of
the bed.

"Johann," he said, as he put on a soft hat and drew a cane from
the straps of the traveling bag, "you will certainly precede me
in our hunting expeditions. I do not like your eyes; they are
not at home in your boyish face. Humph! what a country. Every
one speaks a different tongue."

The city of Bleiberg lay on a hill and in the valleys which fell
away to the east and west. It was divided into two towns, the