“Good-bye, little girl, and if we meet again here, or anywhere, you will remember that we do not know each other?”
Gretel nodded; she could not trust herself to speak, and in another moment she was hurrying back to the main street in quest of Mrs. Chester.
Mrs. Chester had finished her shopping, and was already in the car, chatting with Jimmy Fairfax, who stood on the curb.
“Oh, I’m afraid I have kept you waiting!” apologized Gretel, rather breathlessly. “I just went round the corner for a minute, and didn’t see you come out of the market.”
“There is no hurry,” said Mrs. Chester, good-naturedly; “I have only just finished my errands. Mr. Fairfax is telling me about the dance they are going to have at The Griswold on the Fourth. All the sailors from the station are to be there, and all the proceeds are to go for the French Ambulance Corps. I must see about getting tickets at once.”
Gretel could not help noticing that the young man was regarding her in a rather peculiar manner.—Page [144].
Mr. Fairfax and Gretel shook hands, but though pleasant enough in his manner, Gretel could not help noticing that the young man was regarding her in a rather peculiar manner. She was very silent during the short drive that followed. Try as she might to fix her attention on what Mrs. Chester was saying, her thoughts would insist on wandering back to Fritz Lippheim and his strange request. There had never been anything strange or mysterious about Fritz in the old days, when he came to play his violin at her father’s studio. He had been just a kind, simple young man, who loved children, and was devotedly attached to his old mother. She had stayed with the Lippheims for a short time after her father’s death, and would never forget their goodness to her. But now—ah, it was quite true, war had indeed changed many things. What could Fritz be doing here in New London that was of such a private nature that he must not be recognized? Fritz was a German, born in Berlin. Oh, what did it all mean? Gretel felt suddenly cold and sick with apprehension.
“I think that is one reason why we sisters have been so very close to each other all our lives,” Mrs. Chester was saying in her cheerful, placid voice, and Gretel came back to her present surroundings with the realization that she had not the slightest idea what her companion was talking about.