"Yes, it's Scott, and I'm in disguise, but I'm not a spy," he said.
"The penalty anyhow is death."
"But you'll not betray me!"
"You saved my life at the great peril of your own."
John was silent. He felt that the time had come for Kratzek to repay, but he would not say so. Now his own look was straight and high, and it was Kratzek's that wavered.
"You pledge your word that you are not seeking to pry into our military secrets?" asked the Austrian at length.
"No such purpose is in my mind at all, and I leave here within twenty-four hours as ignorant of them as I was when I came."
"Then, sir, I do not know you. I never saw you before, and I believe you are the peasant you seem to be."
Kratzek gave him one look of intense curiosity, then sprang upon his horse, and rode away, never looking back.
"There goes a true man," thought John, as he returned to the stable.