"Oh, really? He does not seem to have drunk deeply of the Waters of Hercules; our valley has no charm for him. I suppose he is not thinking of repeating his visit?"
"You suppose quite wrong, then. Dr Komers is going to spend his holiday here; he only stayed at Draskócs because ––"
"Because of the noise of the waterfall," said Princess Tryphosa, deliberately. "You could not have heard me if I had called; and, besides, you were busy in fishing up the hat."
"Ah, to be sure," said Tolnay, who had forgotten the offer of his assistance as soon as it had been spoken.
"It was István who fished up the hat, was it not?" asked the Princess, turning to Gretchen with her slow smile and her steady gaze. Apparently she did not consider the subject of the hat exhausted quite yet; and it was against her habit to quit a subject until she had mastered it thoroughly.
"No," answered Gretchen, wondering a little at the tone of proprietorship with which that "István" was pronounced – "it was not Baron Tolnay who fished up my hat; although I think he is half persuaded that he has been doing wonders of bravery, and has saved not only my hat but also my life."
Princess Tryphosa appeared to be troubled: the answer was to her bewildering, as Gretchen herself was altogether bewildering. She could not find an answer which satisfied her at the moment, but she decided to think out the question during the walk home.
It was this that kept her silent while the others talked and laughed beside her.
When they had walked some distance down the valley, they saw a big shadow, with two smaller shadows behind it.
"Have you caught anything, Sir Hovart?" called down Tolnay cheerfully; and in his painfully hushed voice, Mr Howard answered now as before –
"Nothing."
Gretchen and Belita laughed, and Tolnay laughed; and five minutes later, when they had forgotten the stiff fisherman with his empty basket and his unshakable dignity, Princess Tryphosa laughed – a deep and musical laugh.
The situation was not lost upon her, but it had taken a little time to penetrate.
CHAPTER XXIV. – PUBLIC AND PRIVATE AMUSEMENTS.
"Then one sat down and sighed, Of finding Fortune I begin to doubt, And fear we may have taken the wrong way."
– Lord Lytton.
An international congress of geologists had gathered together at Pesth in the interest of science. As the interest of science demands recreation for the overworked mind, and as the Hungarian Government was willing to pay the expense, the learned men made expeditions to various places – to the Hercules Valley amongst others.
The Hercules Valley was immensely nattered at being in this way chosen, and worked enthusiastically at preparations for the reception of the learned men. The arrangements for their food and their lodging and their amusement occupied the Hercules Waters for a week. Flower-arches and ribbon-streamers transfigured the lonely
