Cain. Once he fancied he saw a figure in the prison yard. It was dark at the time, but perhaps …? A shudder ran through Diederich and he hurried away.
Beyond the city gate lay the country road to the hill on which stood Schweinichen Castle, where once upon a time little Diederich had shared with Frau Hessling the delightful thrill of the Castle ghost. That childishness was now far behind him. Now he preferred every time to turn sharply, on the other side of the gate, into the road leading to Gausenfeld. He had not intended to do so, and he hesitated, for he would not like any one to have caught him on this road. But he could not resist. The big paper factory drew him like a forbidden paradise. He simply had to go a few steps nearer to it, go round it, peep over the walls. … One evening Diederich was disturbed in this occupation by voices which were quite close in the dark. He had barely time to cower down in the ditch. While the people, probably employes of the factory who had stayed late, were passing his hiding place, Diederich closed his eyes, partly out of fear and partly because it seemed to him their covetous gleam might have betrayed him.
His heart was still beating when he returned to the city gate, and he looked round for a glass of beer. Right in the corner of the gateway stood the "Green Angel," one of the lowest inns, crooked with age, dirty and badly lighted. Just at that moment a woman's figure disappeared into the arched entrance. Seized with a desire for adventure Diederich hastened after her. As she passed the red light of a stable lantern she tried to hide her face, which was already veiled, with her muff. But Diederich had recognized her. "Good evening, Fräulein Zillich!"—"Good evening, Dr. Hessling." There they both stood with their mouths open. Käthchen Zillich was the first to speak, and she murmured something about children who lived in the house, and whom she was to take to her father's Sunday-school. Diederich began to talk, but she continued to chatter, faster and faster. No, as a matter of fact.
