"If it weren't for you, Fraulein, I wouldn't keep him another day,"
she declared.

Meanwhile the cat, which, in the girl's presence, had shrunk still
further into its hiding-place, began to make advances. It crept a step
forward, retreated again, stretched out its nose to sniff at the milk,
and, all of a sudden, emerged and drank greedily.

Krafft touched its head, and the animal paused in its hungry gulping
to rub its back against the caressing hand. When the last drop of milk
was finished, it withdrew to its corner, but less suspiciously.

Krafft rose to his feet and stretched himself, and when Avery
returned, he smiled at her.

"Now then, is it all right?"

She did not reply, but went to the piano, to search for something
among the scattered music. Krafft clasped his hands behind his head,
and leaning against the table, watched her with an ironical curl of
the lip.

"O LENE! LENE! O MAGDALENE!" he sang under his breath; and, for the
second time, Maurice received the impression that a by-play was being
carried on between these two.

"Look at this," said Krafft after a pause. "Here, ladies and
gentlemen, is one of those rare persons who have a jot of talent in
them, and off she goes--I don't mean at this moment, but tomorrow, the
day after, every day--to waste it in teaching children finger-exercises.