"With a pair of opera-glasses?"
"Yes." Grumbach was perfectly serious.
"Oh, pshaw! You were following her highness with them. I want to know why."
"She is beautiful."
"You made a promise to me not long ago."
"I did?" non-committally.
"Yes. Soon I shall be shaking the dust of Dreiberg, and I want to know beforehand what this Chinese puzzle is. What did you do that compelled your flight from Ehrenstein?"
Grumbach's pipe hung pendulent in his hand. He swung it to and fro absently.
"I am waiting. Remember, you are an American citizen, for all that you were born here. If anything should happen to you, I must know the whole story in order to help you. You know that you may trust me."
"It isn't that, Captain. I have grown to like you in these few days."