Page 34 - A Hero of Liége

"Who are you?"

"What is your father? How many horses does he keep? Bless me, how this
reminds me of my innocent childhood! 'More light,' as Goethe said. But I

can see well enough to know that you are a youngster. Sad, sad!"

Peering at the stranger, Kenneth saw a man of about thirty-five, with hair

en brosse, Germanic moustache, and a German military uniform.

"I should pass in a crowd, one would think," the man went on, smiling
under Kenneth's scrutiny. "But Fate is unkind."

"You are a spy?" said Kenneth.

"And you, my friend?"

"No. They say so, but I'm not."

"They say so, and they will have their way. Ah, well! They say also, that it

is a sweet and comely thing to die for one's country. I always thought I
should die in my boots."

"Can they prove it against you?"

"A scrap of paper! They can't read it, but what matters that? A note in
cipher is evidence enough. But I shall not die unavenged: they are crying in
the streets that war is declared, and I fancy that Emperor William has bitten

a little more than he can chew. What brings you to this deplorable
extremity?"

"I don't know: a private enemy, I think."

"Well, the rain falls on the just and the unjust. I'm sorry for you. Haven't
you any friend, though, who can get this door unlocked?"