"But what need is there of all these precautions?" asked Gretchen. "How do you know they are suspicious characters?"
"Fräulein Frank, you have not the sagacity of a professional detective," the assessor answered, patronizingly. "I know how to read faces, and I tell you these two physiognomies bear the unmistakable stamp of conspirators. They are Poles; they cannot deceive me even though they speak the purest German. I shall question them sharply until your father appears, and then we two will consult together concerning what had best be done. I know that I risk my life by remaining alone with such desperate men when they know that I see into their designs, but duty requires it, and I do not flinch."
"I will go with you," said Gretchen, courageously.
"I thank you," replied the assessor, solemnly, as if Gretchen had promised to accompany him to the scaffold. "The moment for action has come."
He returned to the reception-room, followed by the young girl, who was naturally very courageous, and awaited the development of the affair with quite as much curiosity as anxiety. The two strangers evidently had no suspicion of the storm about to burst over their defenceless heads; on the contrary, they seemed entirely unsuspicious of danger, and very much at their ease. The younger man, who was of a remarkably fine figure and a head taller than his companion, walked to and fro with folded arms; while the elder, who had a slender form and agreeable features, accepted the proffered seat, and sat in the superintendent's large easy-chair, an apparently perfectly harmless individual.
The assessor put on his most authoritative air. A conviction of the importance of the occasion, and a consciousness of acting in the presence of his future bride, had an inspiring effect upon him. He appeared like a personification of the day of judgment as he confronted the two "individuals."
"I have not yet introduced myself to you," he began, politely, and yet with a very consequential air, "I am Government Assessor Hubert, of L----."
The two strangers could not have been novices in conspiracy, for they did not even turn pale at this announcement of official dignity. The elder gentleman rose, bowed very politely, and then sat down again. The younger merely nodded, and said indifferently,--
"Happy to meet you."
"May I ask your names?" continued Hubert.