He offered no interruption and no comments, but when Rudolf Rassendyll came into the story he looked up for an instant with a quick jerk of his head and a sudden light in his eyes.

The end of Rischenheim's narrative found him tolerant and smiling again.
"Ah, well, the snare was cleverly set," he said.

"I don't wonder you fell into it." "And now you?
What happened to you ?" asked Rischenheim eagerly.
"I?
Why, having your message which was not your message, I obeyed your directions which were not your directions." "You went to the lodge ?" "Certainly." "And you found Sapt there ?--Anybody else ?" "Why, not Sapt at all." "Not Sapt?
But surely they laid a trap for you ?" "Very possibly, but the jaws didn't bite." Rupert crossed his legs and lit a cigarette.
"But what did you find ?" "I?
I found the king's forester, and the king's boar-hound, and--well, I found the king himself, too." "The king at the lodge ?" "You weren't so wrong as you thought, were you ?" "But surely Sapt, or Bernenstein, or some one was with him ?" "As I tell you, his forester and his boar-hound.

No other man or beast, on my honor." "Then you gave him the letter ?" cried Rischenheim, trembling with excitement.
"Alas, no, my dear cousin.

I threw the box at him, but I don't think he had time to open it.