"It is the truth. It followed swiftly upon the assassination at Sarajevo----"
"Serbia first--then Russia--Germany--Belgium--France--England, too----"
"Germany and Austria--against a ring of enemies bent on exterminating us----"
And while with eager ears she listened, he told her the history of the long weeks, now growing into months, in which she had been hidden from the world--including the defeat of the Austrians by the Serbians along the Drina, and the advance of the Russians in East Prussia and Galicia.
She heard him through until the end, questioning eagerly, then aware of the dreadful significance of his news, forgetting for the moment her own animosities, her own questionable position in the greater peril of her country--and his. His country and hers at war against the world!
"Russia has won victories against Austria--in Galicia?" she urged.
"Yes--the Cossacks already are approaching Lemberg----"
"They are less than two hundred kilometers from us at the present moment."
"I hope not," he said with a slow smile. "But Schloss Szolnok is hardly equipped to resist a siege of modern ordnance."
The ingenuousness of her impetuous question seemed to amuse him.
"I?" he said. "I am here because--well, because you--because I had no other place to go."
"I see no reason why I should not. I chose the place as a temporary refuge from pursuit. Your illness marred my plans. The war continues to mar them."
"The insect _has_ curiosity, then? Schloss Szolnok has proved safe. I have no desire to take unnecessary risks."
He nodded. "Yes. And I managed to get away--here, but the other end of this pass is now strongly guarded. I could have gone through when I first came, but you were very ill. You would probably have died if I had gone on. Now it is too late. You see," he said with a shrug, "I am quite cheerful about it."
She turned and examined him with an air of timidity.
"You mean that--that to save my life you--you have sacrificed all hope of winning through to Germany?"
"With you, yes--for the present," he smiled.
She turned away and leaned upon the wall.
"I--I think that I--I have done you some injustice, Herr Hauptmann," she murmured with an effort.
"But I cannot understand. The papers which passed you through Hungary--signed by General Von Hoetzendorf----"