t her for a while, Herdegen would suddenly strike the lute
and sing the old merry round:

"Come, sweetheart, come to me.
Ah how I pine for thee!
Ah, how I pine for thee
Come, sweetheart, come to me.
Sweet rosy lips to kiss,
Come then and bring me bliss,
Come then and bring me bliss,
Sweet rosy lips to kiss!"

And we would all join in, even Cousin Maud; nay and she would look
another way or quit the chamber, stealing away behind Kunz and holding
up a warning finger, when she perceived how his Ann's "sweet, rosy lips"
tempted Herdegen's to kiss them. But there were other many songs, and
ofttimes, when we were in a more than common merry mood, we strange
young things would sing the saddest tales and tunes we knew, such as
that called "Two Waters," and yet were we only the more gay.

Herdegen could not be excused from his duty of paying his respects from
time to time to the many friends of our honorable family, yet would he
ever keep away from dances and feastings, and when he was compelled
to attend I was ever at his side, and it was a joy to me to see how
courteous, and withal how cold, was his demeanor to all other ladies.

The master's fiftieth birthday was honored in due course at the Tetzels'
house, and to please my granduncle, Herdegen could not refuse to do
his part in song and in the dance, and likewise to lead out Ursula,
the daughter of the house, in the dances. Nor did he lose his gay but
careless mien, although she would not quit his side and chose him to
dance with her in "The Sulkers," a dance wherein the man and maid first
turn their backs on each other and then make it up and kiss. But when
it came to this, maiden shame sent the blood into my cheeks; for at the
sound of the music, in the face of all the company she fell into his
arms, as it were by mishap; and it served her right when he would not
kiss her lips, which she was ready enough to offer, but only touched her
brow with his.

Forasmuch as she had danced with him the Dance of Honor or first dance,
it was his part to beg her hand for the last dance--the "grandfather's
dance;"--[Still a well-known country dance in Germany.]--but she would
fain punish him for the vexation he had caused her and turned her back
upon him. He, however, would have none of this; he grasped her hand
ere she was aware of him, and dragged her after him. It was vain to
struggle, and s