“Don't worry,” said the other, smiling. “I am a man of tact. I promise not to mention or indicate you in any way.”
“But I was a guest there!” exclaimed Lanny. “I haven't the right to repeat what they told me. That would be shameful!”
“By your own account many persons heard what Stubendorf said. Any one of them might have told it to me. And as to Meissner—”
“It was in his own house!” cried the boy. “Nothing could be more private.”
“He'll be saying it to many persons, and he won't have any idea how it came to my ears.”
Lanny was so bewildered and embarrassed he didn't know what to answer. Such an ending for his holiday! The other, reading his face, continued apologetically: “You must understand that we journalists have to take our information where we find it. I am one of the editors of the Arbeiterzeitung, a Social-Democratic newspaper, and I have to consider the interests of the oppressed workers whom I serve.”
Again something hit Lanny's stomach, even more heavily than before. “What interest can the workers . . .?” he began; but then speech failed him.
Said the editor: “Our people take seriously their rights as citizens; but their opponents, it appears, do not share that view. The Comptroller-General of Schloss Stubendorf announces that if the workers win at the polls, the masters will not submit to the decision, but will resort to force and counter-revolution. Don't you see how very important that news will be to our readers?”
Lanny could not find words to answer.
“You came here as a guest,” continued the other, “and you found everything lovely. There was nobody to take you behind the scenes and show you how this charming Christmas puppet show is worked. You are too young to form any idea of what it means to live in the Middle Ages; but I will give you facts which you can think about on your journey. You admire the fairy-story cottage in the forest and the pretty children — but nobody mentioned that the first of them might be the child of your host, the Herr Comptroller-General.”