Besides, what is it to me?"
He sought by indirect questions to learn more from them, but they would
not continue, seeming to be afraid that they had already said too much.
Then he turned casually from the subject, lest he rouse suspicion, and
spoke of his horses. But all the while he was searching his mind, as one
looks for a treasure, to discover how he could follow Julie and Suzanne
to their new abode.
He gathered from Walther that the hunting lodge was higher in the
mountains in the depths of a great forest, about six leagues from
Zillenstein where there was much big game. In times of peace the prince
frequently went there, and a good automobile road led to the lodge,
although in winter the snow was often so deep that the place was
inaccessible.
Late that afternoon the hoofs of horses beat steadily on the road
leading from the valley up to Zillenstein. John from a coign of vantage
saw approaching a young man in a gray German uniform, followed by four
hussars, also in German gray. Anyone who came to Zillenstein was of
interest, and as John looked the leading figure became familiar. Doubt
soon changed to certainty. He knew the swing of the broad shoulders and
the high pose of the head. It was the young prince, von Arnheim.
"And so they all gather," said John to himself.
He was swept by the little shiver that one often feels when influenced
suddenly by a powerful emotion.
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