is true, whom they met right in Meisestrasse was only Napoleon Fischer. He bared his teeth at the fiance and gave Diederich a nod with a look which said that he knew a thing or two. Diederich blushed deeply, and he would have stopped the man, and had a row with him in the public street. But did he dare to? "It was a bad mistake to have indulged in confidences with that shifty proletarian. Everything would have gone all right without him. Now he creeps about the place to remind me that he has me in his power. He will try to blackmail me yet." But, thank God, everything which had passed between himself and the machinist had been en tête-à-tête. Whatever Napoleon Fischer might say about him was a libel. Diederich would simply have him locked up. All the same, he hated him because he shared his secret, and made him perspire with fear when the thermometer showed twenty degrees of cold. He looked back. Why did a tile not fall on Napoleon's Fischer's head?
In Gerichtstrasse Magda realised that the whole thing was worth while, for Meta Harnisch and Inge Tietz were looking out from behind the shutters at Landgerichtsrat Harnisch's, and Magda knew for certain that their faces had betrayed great disturbance when they got a glimpse of Kienast. In Kaiser Wilhelmstrasse, unfortunately, there were very few people about that day; the only thing was the fact that Major Kunze and Dr. Heuteufel, who were going into the Harmony Club, stared from a distance with great curiosity. But at the corner of Schweinichenstrasse something occurred, which Diederich had not anticipated; right in front of them walked Frau Daimchen and Guste. At once Magda hastened her steps and talked with greater animation. Sure enough, Guste looked around and Magda had a chance to say: "My dear Frau Daimchen, allow me to introduce my fiance, Herr Kienast." The prospective bridegroom was looked over and seemed to come up to expectations, for Guste, who remained a few steps behind with Diederich, asked with a certain re-
