Evening star., 1933-04-30
INsTALLMENT XXXVI.

H. WILL start q riding school over
IS there" said Boris Mergentheim
to his sister. They had lunched
j In his cabin and he was now to
have half an hours sleep.
Friederike stared in despair ct the
faded and badly mended socks Of her
brother. Where, In heavens name,
was the money with which to start q
riding school? But one must not dis
courage him.
"Of course. But now 60 to sleep
for an hour or two. I shall be next
door In the sitting ROOM"
Friederike left the door between the
sitting room and the bed room ajar.
Then she ran into her own cabin and
slipped first into q white. then q green.
then a yellow dress, but, finally. went
back to the white. It was q very sim
pie, sleeveless tunic, with plant SER
pentine belt at the waist.
She stood for long time in front
OF the mirror examining her face with
great seriousness and attentiveness. She
had never been particularly vain. To-
day Friederike discovered her beauty
like q treasure trove which she had
almost forgotten Just at the very mo-
ment when she really needed 1t. I am
really beautiful, she thought. with in
tense happiness. She held up her
hair It was Of the tone and color
Of polished cherry wood. She noticed
that it grew in perfect lines, and that
she had small, lovely ears lying very
close to the head How terrible it
would have been, she went on thinking,
II I had had ugly ears and had to
hide them from Vladimir
She went back to her brothers sit
ting room. rang and ordered Turkish
coffee. What she was expecting was
hardly to be borne She was consumed
with fear. What did she know about
Vladimir? How could she meet this
man who. within a few minutes. would
and yet perhaps be quite outside the
intense emotion with which she was
expecting him.
please give me a light" she had
said, and then. when the match had
cleaned between them, she had recog-
nized him as the piano player In the
bar. She had stood at the rail with
him, smoking her cigarette. and, at
the last puff, she had imagined she
was going to Stephanson.
Il should like to know" said Vladi-
mir, what you were thinking about
while I was playing this morning. Why
did you cry?'
1t was her childhood that Friederike
had been thinking about, and now for
long time she talked to him about
it. She talked about her own people
and his people, and it was very strange
things and had thought about the
same things. They were a thousand
miles apart and yet, In a way, they
had. as 1t were, grown up together.
It was a sort Of miracle. It seemed
like a curious sort Of happiness that
they had already lived through together,
as If they had actually met in child
hood days. And now they were meet
ing again In a different world. Frie-
derike found herself smoking q second
cigarette.
And now I must really leave" she
said-and then
And then the strange thing had
happened. scarcely IL hours ago.
Now Vladimir vas knocking at her
door and she hesitated for several sec
onds, for she was afraid he might be
somebody different from the man she
had been expecting with such insen-
safe JOY.
And then they stood facing each
other. Silently they held each other's s
leased only when their lips met
And Friederike suddenly realized to
the full what had happened. During
the course Of the day she had several
times been amazed to think how easily
she had given up the plan with which
she had deliberately sailed on this ship
Why, then, had she done it? 1t hadn't
been the music nor her talk with Vlad-
imir. She might have hidden her
troubled heart as if she had been q
stone image before Stephanson.
1t was only the kiss. this strange
kiss which Vladimir had given her after
she had thrown away the stub Of her
second cigarette, with hand already
on the knob Of the door leading to the
stairs which might have led to Stephan
sons cabin. The kiss was as 1t were, an
animation Of all her childhood dreams.
After this kiss it was impossible for her
to 60 to Stephanson.
"Is your brother asleep?" asked Vlad-