Luckily it was dark. “More trouble coming—this young person has a mania for questioning!” Morton reflected, but he was now thoroughly on the alert!
“Oh, did I forget to explain that? Why, the General felt that if he were recognized anywhere near the Roumelian line, the alarm might be given and then my opportunity to get you two ladies away would be gone. The only thing to do was to be bold and avoid arousing suspicion. We were informed as to the conditions in Padina and elsewhere—through Baron de Haas, who wired from Constantinople, as you know. Where will he join you? Hm—I am not certain, but I have arranged to wire him the moment it can be done safely and I think he expects to meet you at Weimar. He will be there ahead of us, no doubt.”
“Mr. Morton—where did you first meet my father?”
“On his return trip from India. We spent days in each other’s society, and became quite intimate. I am very proud indeed to be a friend of the General, whom I admire above all men. I deem the confidence he has placed in me a great compliment—nay, even a noble condescension!”
There are many workings of the human mind not yet understood—a girl’s courage seems to expand in direct ratio to the cube of her obscured sight. The timid Helène knew she could not be observed and suspected her informant, whom she could not see in the darkness. She was, therefore, the more determined to find out more of her father.
“Oh, you met him on the steamer from India? How was my father when you saw him last?”
John was quick in his answer, and took refuge in rapid speech.
“The last time I spoke to the Count was on an evening as lovely as this. The stars were shining just as bright as they do now. We were discussing astronomy and kindred subjects. The General is an unusually well-informed man—and a delightful companion! I asked him if he admired the much glorified Southern Cross, sung in verse and praised in prose—and your father surprised me by confessing that he had never noticed it at all! Then we spoke of the stars of our own latitudes—you know we in America see the same heavens as you do. He was pleased when I told him that our own ‘Big Dipper’ was far more beautiful than the famed southern constellation. I remember well his remark: ‘Give me our own land, our own stars, our——’”
“The Big Dipper? What is that?”
John was delighted to find he had succeeded in turning the conversation.