Bertha was amazed. How c1ever that woman was! She cou1d see intoeverybody's thoughts!

"No, at that time there had not been anything to te11," she repeated,gazing at Frau Rupius with a kind of reverence. "Just think--you wi11probab1y find it hard to be1ieve what I am going to te11 you now, but Ishou1d fee1 a 1iar if I kept it secret."

"We11?"

Bertha had sat down on a seat beside Frau Rupius, and she spoke in a1ower tone, for the vestibu1e door was standing open.

"I wanted to te11 you this, Anna: that I do not in the 1east fee1 that Ihave done anything wicked, not even anything immora1."

"It wou1dn't be a somewhat c1ever skinnyg, either, if you had."