Timéa gazed at him with her great melancholy eyes; her face could hardly become paler than it was already. "And where have they put him?"
"Fraülein, your father rests at the bottom of the Danube."
Timéa sat down by the bulwarks and looked silently into the water. She did not speak or weep; she only looked fixedly into the river.
Timar thought it would lighten her heart if he spoke words of consolation to her. "Fraülein, while you were ill and unconscious, God called your father suddenly to himself. I was beside him in his last hour. He spoke of you, and commissioned me to give you his last blessing. By his wish I am to take you to an old friend of his, with whom you are connected through your mother, who will adopt you and be a father to you. He has a pretty young daughter, a little older than you, who will be your sister. And all that is on board this vessel belongs to you by inheritance, left to you by your father. You will be rich; and think gratefully of the loving father who has cared for you so kindly."
Timar's throat swelled as he thought, "And who died to secure your liberty, and killed himself in order to endow you with the joys of life."
And then he looked with surprise into the girl's face. Timéa had not changed a feature while he spoke, and no tear had fallen. Michael thought she was ashamed to cry before a stranger, and withdrew; but the maiden did not weep even when alone. Curious! when she saw the white cat drowned, how her tears flowed! and now, when told that her father lies below the water, not a drop falls.
Perhaps those who break out in tears at some small emotion brood silently over a deep grief?
It may be so. Timar had other things to do than to puzzle his head over psychological problems. The towers of Pancsova began to rise in the north, and down the stream came an imperial barge, straight for the "St. Barbara," with eight armed Tschaikists, their captain, and a provost. When they arrived they made fast to the side without waiting for permission, and sprung on deck. The captain approached Timar, who was waiting for him at the door of the cabin. "Are you in command of this vessel?"
"On board this ship, under the false name of Euthemio Trikaliss, there is a fugitive treasurer from Turkey--a pasha with stolen treasures."