"Strassburger."
"Your name?"
"Franz Veier."
"I'll telegraph him. That's all."
"And can I not go to my friends now—at once? They are waiting, they are expecting. We have so much to say."
"No," said the inspector, and as the German burst out into groans and lamentations, he waved him from the room.
When the door closed, and 'Tilda Jane felt that the cold and scrutinising eyes of the inspector were fixed on her, she was stricken with sudden dumbness. How these people had talked! She could not in a month utter as much as they had said in a few minutes. The result of their loquacity had been a seeming paralysis of her organs of speech.
"What's your name, little girl?" said the official, with slight geniality.
Her lips parted, but no sound came from them.