"It may be so, but I may be your guardian angel," answered the person
thus addressed, in a low voice. "I have been wishing to see you without
witnesses for some days past, and now the matter brooks of no delay."

"Come to my house, then," said Diedrich; "we can speak there without
fear of interruption."

"That's the very place it will not be wise for me to go to," said Peter;
"if I go there I shall be observed. Do you come to my house. You will
find a porch a little to the right of it. Slip in there and remain
quiet for a few minutes. Should you be followed at the time, your
pursuer will pass by and lose sight of you. Come in an hour hence. It
will be dangerous to put off the visit till to-morrow."

Diedrich followed the advice of his friend. He had known Peter
Kopplestock from his earliest days. Peter was of no very exalted rank,
but he had numerous friends who, not without reason, put confidence in
him. His chief occupation was that of a ferryman plying across the
river Meuse. He also visited the ships which appeared at the mouth of
the river when unable for want of wind to come up to the town, and took
provisions off to them, and brought messages on shore. Peter
Kopplestock took an especial interest in Diedrich; Diedrich had always
been his generous employer, and was now going to marry his niece.

The wealthy merchant Hopper had once been a humble clerk, and he then
had married the very beautiful sister of Peter the ferryman. She had
died, and her young daughter had been educated as well as any young lady
in the land. Diedrich was well aware of the relationship, and it
increased the confidence he felt in Peter, who was also of his own way
of thinking--indeed, a more thorough Protestant could not have been
found.

Diedrich found his way, at the hour appointed, to Peter Kopplestock's
cottage down by the river-side. He saw, when leaving his own house, the
usual figure following him, but he hoped, by hiding himself as Peter had
advised him to do, to escape from his pursuer. The cottage door was
ajar. He pushed it open and entered. Peter welcomed him cordially.

"I have sad news for you, my friend," said the ferryman. "You have been
denounced to the Inquisition as a heretic, and your enemies have
resolved to take your life. Among them you may reckon Caspar Gaill. He
thinks that by getting rid of you he may win the hand of my fair niece."

"How do you know that?" asked Diedrich.

"He told m