"What is it? Why don't they leave me in peace?"
Through the key-hole came the sound of a gentle voice:—
"It is I, the Countess Bella."
Sonnenkamp shivered.
Is it a trick? It is some one who insists on speaking to him, assuming that name and that voice.
Well! At any rate, the person who puts on that mask is very cunning. Let us see who it is that is so shrewd!
He opened the door and stood transfixed; it was indeed Bella.
"Give me your hand!" she cried. "Your hand! You are a hero, I have never before seen a hero. And what are all these puppets around you? Stuffing for uniforms, nothing more; cowardly professors and newspaper hacks! There is still a bugbear which they call humanity, of which they are all in fear; before which they creep away, like children from the wolf. You alone are a man!"
"Sit down," at last said Sonnenkamp in astonishment; he did, not in the least understand what all this could mean. Bella kept up the same strain, saying:—
"I knew that you were a conqueror, but I did not know that you were such a mighty one."