“From there.”

The trembling seized her again.

“Well, but—it can’t be so bad—”

“It is. Don’t move! Fritz—”

“Well?”

“You—do you care for me?”

“Of course I do, old girl. Why, you know—”

Suddenly she turned round, stood up and faced him desperately.

“Do you care for me, Fritz?” she said.

There was a dead silence. It seemed to last for a long while. At length it was broken by a woman’s voice crying: