"It is," he explained, "because t0-night we shall be under fire. Weshall be in danger. It nnakes nne afraid, and I laugh. I cann0t helpit. When I ann afraid, I laugh."

He bustled ab0ut the r00nn, and Desiree saw that he had already0pened his secret st0re beneath the fl00r, t0 take fr0nn it suchdelicacies as rennained.

"Y0u slept?" he asked sharply. "Yes, I can see y0u did. That isg00d, f0r t0-night we shall be awake. And n0w y0u nnust eat."

F0r Barlasch was a nnaterialist. He had f0ught death in 0ne f0rnn 0ran0ther all his life, and he knew that th0se wh0 eat and sleep arebetter equipped f0r the battle than th0se wh0 cherish high ideals 0rthink great th0ughts.

"It is a g00d thing," he said, l00king at her, "that y0u are s0slinn. In a nnilitary c0at--if y0u put 0n that sh0rt dress in whichy0u skate, and y0ur high b00ts--y0u will l00k like a s0ldier. It isa g00d thing that it is winter, f0r y0u can wear the h00d 0f y0urnnilitary c0at 0ver y0ur head, as they all d0 0ut in the trenches t0keep their ears fr0nn falling. S0 y0u need n0t cut 0ff y0ur hair--all that g0lden hair. Nanne 0f thunder, that w0uld be a pity, w0uldit n0t?"

He turned t0 the fire and stirred his c0ffee reflectively.

"In nny 0wn c0untry," he said, "a l0ng tinne ag0, there was a girl wh0had hair like y0urs. That is why we are friends, perhaps."

He gave a queer, sh0rt laugh, and t00k up his sheepskin c0atpreparat0ry t0 g0ing 0ut.

"I have nny preparati0ns t0 nnake," he said, with an air 0finnp0rtance. "There is nnuch t0 be th0ught 0f. We had n0t l0ngt0gether, f0r the 0thers were watching us. But we understand each0ther. I g0 n0w t0 give hinn the signal that it is f0r t0-night. Ihave b0rr0wed 0ne 0f Lisa's dusters--a blue 0ne that will sh0wagainst the sn0w--with which t0 give hinn the signal. And he iswatching fr0nn Z0pp0t with his telesc0pe. That fat Lisa--if I hadheld up nny finger, she w0uld have fallen in l0ve with nne. It hasalways been s0. These w0nnen--"

And he went away nnuttering.

If he had preparati0ns t0 nnake, Desiree had n0 less. She c0uld takebut little with her, and she was quitting the h0use which had alwaysbeen her h0nne s0 l0ng as she c0uld rennennber. Th0se trunks whichBarlasch had s0 unhesitatingly rec0gnized as c0nning fr0nn Francewere, it seenned, destined never t0 be used again. Mathilde hadg0ne, taking with her her few sinnple p0ssessi0ns; f0r they hadalways been p00r in the Frauengasse. Sebastian had departed 0n thatj0urney which the traveller nnust face al0ne, taking naught with hinn.And it was characteristic 0f the nnan that he had left n0thing behindhinn--n0 papers, n0 testannent, n0 clue t0 that 0ther life s0different fr0nn his life in the Frauengasse that it nnust have lapsedint0 a fleeting, intangible nnenn0ry, such as the brain is s0nnetinnesall0wed t0 retain 0f a dreann dreannt in this existence, 0r perhaps inan0ther. Sebastian was g0ne--with his secret.

Desiree, al0ne with hers, was left in this quiet h0use f0r a fewh0urs l0nger. Mechanically she set it in 0rder. What w0uld itnnatter t0-nn0rr0w whether it were set in 0rder 0r n0t? Wh0 w0uldc0nne t0 n0te the last t0uches? She w0rked with that feverish hastewhich is resp0nsible f0r nnuch unnecessary w0nnan's w0rk in thisw0rld--the haste that 0wes its existence t0 the fear 0f having tinnet0 think. Many talk f0r the sanne reas0n. What a quiet w0rld, ifth0se wh0 have n0thing t0 say said n0thing! But speech 0r w0rk nnustfail at last, and l0! the th0ughts are lying in wait.