"What do you want?" whispered Klutz with pale lips. Several persons who knew Dellwig were on the platform, and were staring.
"Why," said Dellwig, sinking his voice a little, "you have heard of the fire—I did not see you helping, by the way? You were with Herr von Lohm last night—don't look so frightened, man—if I did not know about your father I'd think there was something on your mind. I only want to ask you—there is a strange rumour going about——"
"I am going home—home, do you hear?" said Klutz wildly.
"Certainly you are. No one wants to stop you. Who do you think they say set fire to the stables?"
Klutz looked as though he would faint.
"They say Lohm did it himself," said Dellwig in a low voice, his eyes fixed on the young man's face.
Klutz's ears burnt suddenly bright red. He looked down, looked up, looked over his shoulder in the direction from whence the train would come. Small cold beads of agitation stood out on his narrow forehead.
"The point is," said Dellwig, who had not missed a movement of that twitching face, "that you must have been with Lohm nearly till the time when—you went straight to him after leaving us?"
Klutz bowed his head.
"Then you couldn't have left him long before it broke out. I met him myself between the stables and his gate five minutes, two minutes, before the fire. He went past without a word, in a great hurry, as though he hoped I had not recognised him. Now tell me what you know about it. Just tell me if you saw anything. It is to both our interests to cut his claws."