Jochen was perfectly horrified. What should he do? He had promised to keep silence, but what could silence avail if Herr Gotthold came straight into the house, and the old gentleman too, for whom he had such a wholesome respect. If the latter fixed his clear old eyes upon him, he must certainly tell everything, and--"Stine, Stine," shouted Jochen, as if the only inn in Wiessow were in flames from top to bottom.
"Jochen, have you gone perfectly crazy? Don't you think at all of--"
Stine, who had come running out of the house at her husband's loud outcry, suddenly slopped short and stared at her brother-in-law with open mouth.
"You see," said Jochen with great satisfaction.
"Where is he?" asked Stine.
Clas Prebrow felt that his diplomatic reserve would not answer with the clever Stine, and at this stage of his mission he must drop the mask. So he rubbed his large, hard, blackened hands contentedly, and showed his white teeth, but suddenly grew grave again, and said, while his glance wandered over the row of windows in the upper story, "Wouldn't it be better for us to go in?"
They went in and entered the little sitting-room directly behind the large coffee-room, which Stine only left for a moment to get from the cupboard a bottle of rum and two glasses, that the brothers might drink to each other's health, and Clas's tongue should not get dry in case he had a great deal to tell.
Clas probably would have had a very long story, but remembering that the gentlemen were awaiting his return, he cut it short.
They had come upon the right clew the very first evening, but lost it again the following day because the lady left the carriage she had taken at Ralow, in Gulnitz, and went on on foot, to conceal her route. She succeeded so well in this, that they spent a whole day and night in searching, and only recovered the lost trail late yesterday evening in Trentow. To be sure, it would now scarcely have been doubtful what direction she had taken; but they had left the carriage at noon at Herr von Schoritz of Schoritz, who was a friend of Gotthold's, in order to proceed on their journey on foot to mislead Herr Brandow, in case he was behind them, and therefore they had been obliged to rest a few hours in Trentow, and to-day they were coming from Trentow, and he ran on before, less to inquire whether the lady was here than to beg his sister-in-law to prepare her, that she might not be too much frightened.
"Oh! goodness gracious," said Stine, "poor, poor child! we were obliged to promise solemnly that we would not betray her."