There came the natural impulse to make a dash for the outside world,

fighting his way through if necessary. Looking back over the ground, he

wondered how he could have been deceived at all by the unconventional

American. In the clear light of retrospection he now saw how impossible

it was for her to have been the princess. Every act, every word, every

look should have told him the truth. Every flaw in her masquerading now

presented itself to him and he was compelled to laugh at his own

simplicity. Caution, after all, was the largest component part of his

makeup; the craftiness of the hunted was deeply rooted in his being. He

saw a very serious side to the adventure. Stretching himself upon the

cot in the corner of the room he gave himself over to plotting,

planning, thinking.

In the midst of his thoughts a sudden light burst in upon him. His eyes

gleamed with a new fire, his heart leaped with new animation, his blood

ran warm again. Leaping to his feet he ran to the window to re-read the

note from old Franz. Then he settled back and laughed with a fervor that

cleared the brain of a thousand vague misgivings.

"She is Miss Calhoun, an American going to be a guest at the

castle,"--not the princess, but Miss Calhoun. Once more the

memory of the clear gray eyes leaped into life; again he saw her asleep

in the coach on the road from Ganlook; again he recalled the fervent

throbs his guilty heart had felt as he looked upon this fair creature,

at one time the supposed treasure of another man. Now she was Miss

Calhoun, and her gray eyes, her entrancing smile, her wondrous vivacity

were not for one man alone. It was marvelous what a change this sudden

realization wrought in the view ahead of him. The whole situation seemed

to be transformed into something more desirable than ever before. His

face cleared, his spirits leaped higher and higher with the buoyancy of

fresh relief, his confidence in himself crept back into existence. And

all because the fair deceiver, the slim girl with the brave gray eyes

who had drawn him into a net, was not a princess!

Something told him that she had not drawn him into his present position

with any desire to injure or with the slightest sense of malice. To her

it had been a merry jest, a pleasant comedy. Underneath all he saw the

goodness of her motive in taking him from the old life, and putting him

into his present position of trust. He had helped her, and she was ready

to help him to the limit of her power. His position in Edelweiss was

clearly enough defined. The more he thought of it, the more justifiable

it seemed as viewed from her point of observation. How long she hoped to

keep him in the dark he could not tell. The outcome would be

entertaining; her efforts to deceive. If she kept them up, would be

amusing. Altogether, he was ready, with the leisure and joy of youth, to

await developments and to enjoy the comedy from a point of view which

she could not at once suspect.




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