s money; they would not believe him when he declared that he had
no more money, but finally, when they felt in his pockets themselves,
they got very angry and denounced him as a base sorcerer who had wished
all his winnings and his own money at home. Peter defended himself as
well as he could, but appearances were against him. Ezekiel declared
that he would tell this terrible tale to every body in the Black
Forest, and the landlord promised Ezekiel that he would go to town
early in the morning and enter a complaint against Peter Munk as a
sorcerer, and he would live to see Peter burned, he added. Thereupon
they fell upon Peter, tore off his jacket, and pitched him out of
doors.

Not a star was to be seen in the sky as Peter stole sadly back towards
his home; yet in spite of the darkness he could perceive a form that
walked near him, and finally heard it say: "It's all up with you, Peter
Munk! All your magnificence is at an end; and I could have told you how
it would turn out when you would not listen to me but ran over to the
Little Glass-Man. Now you can see what comes of despising my advice.
But try me once; I have pity on your hard fate. Not one who has come to
me has regretted it; and if you are not afraid of the road, you can
speak to me any time to-morrow in the Tannenbuehl."

Peter knew well who it was that spoke to him, and he shuddered. He made
no reply, but walked on to his house.

The story-teller was interrupted just here by a commotion before the
inn. A wagon was heard to drive up; several voices called for a light;
there was a loud rapping on the yard gate, and the barking of several
dogs. The room occupied by the wagoner and the journeymen looked out on
the street. The four men sprang up and rushed in there in order to see
what had happened. As nearly as they could make out by the gleam of a
lantern, a large traveling carriage stood before the inn, and a tall
man was assisting two veiled ladies to alight from it, while a coachman
in livery was taking out the horses and a servant was unstrapping the
trunk. "God be merciful to them!" sighed the wagoner. "If they leave
this inn with a whole skin I shall cease to feel uneasy about my cart."

"Keep still!" whispered the student. "I have a suspicion that it is not
for us, but for these ladies that the ambush has been laid. Probably
the people below had information of the journey these ladies were to
take. If we could only contrive to warn them of their d