"That will never be, I swear to you, dear lady," cried Fritz all aglow
and stretching out his hands to ward off imaginary chains.
Niebeldingk smiled and thought: "So much the better for him." Then he
lit a fresh cigarette.

The conversation turned to learned things. Fritz, paraphrasing
Tacitus, vented his hatred of the Latin civilisations. Alice agreed
with him and quoted Mme. de Stael. Niebeldingk arose, quietly meeting
the reproachful glance of his beloved.

Fritz jumped up simultaneously, but Niebeldingk laughingly pushed him
back into his seat.

"You just stay," he said, "our dear friend is only too eager to
slaughter a few more peoples."




Chapter V.


When he dropped in at Alice's a few days later he found her sitting,
hot-cheeked and absorbed, over Strauss's _Life of Jesus_.

"Just fancy," she said, holding up her forehead for his kiss, "that
young poodle of yours is making me take notice. He gives me
intellectual nuts to crack. It's strange how this young generation--"

"I beg of you, Alice," he interrupted her, "you are only a very few