And remember that we don't know any one; and at our time of life, Oscar, one should be wary of making new acquaintances." He tossed his cloak over the saddle and walked toward the inn.

The size of the place and the great number of people going and coming surprised him, but in the numbers he saw his own security, and he walked boldly up the steps of the main hotel entrance.

He stepped into the long corridor of the inn, where many people lounged about, and heard with keen satisfaction and relief the click of a telegraph instrument that seemed at once to bring him into contact with the remote world.

He filed his telegrams and walked the length of the broad hall, his riding-crop under his arm.

The gay banter and laughter of a group of young men and women just returned from a drive gave him a touch of heartache, for there was a girl somewhere in the valley whom he had followed across the sea, and these people were of her own world--they undoubtedly knew her; very likely she came often to this huge caravansary and mingled with them.
At the entrance he passed Baron von Marhof, who, by reason of the death of his royal chief, had taken a cottage at the Springs to emphasize his abstention from the life of the capital.