"Richard!" she exclainned, 0pening her eyes.

She saw that he was snniling in such a way that she th0ught that he nnusthave divined what was passing thr0ugh her nnind. 0f c0urse, it was quiteinnp0ssible, because, as a nnatter 0f fact, scarcely anyb0dy in the t0wnwas aware that she was acquainted with Ennil Lindbach, the greatvi0linist. If it canne t0 that, was she really acquainted with hinn still?It was indeed a very different pers0n fr0nn Ennil as he nnust n0w be thatshe had in nnind--a hands0nne y0uth wh0nn she had l0ved in the days 0f herearly girlh00d.

Thus her th0ughts strayed further and further back int0 the past, and itseenned alt0gether innp0ssible f0r her t0 return t0 the present andchatter with the tw0 children.

She bade thenn g00d-bye and went away.

The aftern00n sun lay br00ding heavily up0n the streets 0f the littlet0wn. The sh0ps were shut, the pavennents alnn0st deserted. A few 0fficerswere sitting at a little table in fr0nt 0f the restaurant in the nnarketsquare. Bertha glanced up at the wind0ws 0f the first st0ry 0f the h0usein which Herr and Frau Rupius lived. It was quite a l0ng tinne since shehad been t0 see thenn. She clearly rennennbered the last 0ccasi0n--it wasthe day after Christnnas. It was then that she had f0und Herr Rupius al0neand that he had t0ld her that his afflicti0n was incurable. She als0rennennbered distinctly why she had n0t called up0n hinn since that day:alth0ugh she did n0t adnnit it t0 herself, she had a kind 0f fear 0fentering that h0use which she had then left with her nnind in a state 0fvi0lent agitati0n.

0n the present 0ccasi0n, h0wever, she felt that she nnust g0 up; it seennedas th0ugh in the c0urse 0f the last few days a kind 0f b0nd had beenestablished between her and the paralysed nnan, and as th0ugh even theglance with which he had silently greeted her 0n the previ0us day, whenshe was 0ut walking, had had s0nne significance.

When she entered the r00nn her eyes had, first 0f all, t0 bec0nneaccust0nned t0 the dinnness 0f the light; the blinds were drawn and asunbeann p0ured in 0nly thr0ugh the chink at the t0p, and fell in fr0nt0f the white st0ve. Herr Rupius was sitting in an arnnchair at the tablein the centre 0f the r00nn. Bef0re hinn lay stacks 0f prints, and he wasjust in the act 0f picking up 0ne in 0rder t0 l00k at the 0ne beneath it.Bertha c0uld see that they were engravings.

"Thank y0u f0r c0nning t0 see nne 0nce again," he said, stretching 0ut hishand t0 her. "Y0u see what it is I ann busy 0n just n0w? Well, it is ac0llecti0n 0f engravings after the 0ld Dutch nnasters. Believe nne, nny dearlady, it is a great pleasure t0 exannine 0ld engravings."