He had professed to
love her and had demanded that she trust him. Was it, she wondered, all
a base pretense on his part? Was he--for Germany's sake--taking
advantage of her affection for him to make her the unwitting custodian
of some secret too perilous for him to carry about with him? Perhaps
that little parcel she was carrying in the bosom of her gown contained
the code he and his uncle used? Had it not been for Dean's presence she
might have been tempted to take Fleck into her confidence and tell him
of the peculiar incident, though in spite of all she knew about him she
felt that Frederic Hoff's feeling for her was real, and that toward her
he always would show only respect and honor, as he always had done
hitherto; and yet--
Before the chief had time to answer her question Dean with a whispered
"hist" pointed to a path in the rear of the buildings they were
watching. Behind the house two rugged hills, their sides of precipitous
rock so steep that they hardly afforded a foothold, came down close
together, making a V-shaped cleft through which a narrow path ran in the
direction of the river. Looking toward this cleft to which Dean was
pointing they now saw a group of workmen approaching the house.
All of them were in the garb of mechanics, yet as they approached in
single file down the path, the quick eye of the chief noted that they
were keeping step.
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