with which Heinz treated his
lady, and the youth was soon obliged to leave the hall with his liege
lord, Duke Rudolph of Austria, who was to set out for Carinthia early the
following morning, and withdrew with his wife without sharing the
banquet. The latter accompanied her husband to the castle, but she was to
remain in Nuremberg during the session of the Reichstag with the lonely
widowed Emperor, who was especially fond of the young Bohemian princess.
Before and during the dance with Heinz the latter had requested him to
use the noble Arabian steed, a gift from the Sultan Kalaun to the
Emperor, who had bestowed it upon her, and also expressed the hope of
meeting the knight frequently.

In the conversation which Heinz began with Eva he was at first obliged to
defend himself, for she had admitted that she had heard the Burgravine's
warning to beware of him.

At the same time she had found opportunity to tell him that her heart
yearned for something different from worldly love, and that she felt safe
from every one because St. Clare was constantly watching over her.

He replied that he had been reared in piety, that he knew the close
relations existing between her patron saint and the holy Francis of
Assisi, and that he, too, had experienced many things from this man of
God. Eva, with warm interest, asked when and where, and he willingly told
her.

On the way from Augsburg to Nuremberg, while riding in advance of the
imperial court, he had met an old barefooted man who, exhausted by the
heat of the day, had sunk down by the side of the road as if lifeless,
with his head resting against the trunk of a tree. Moved with compassion,
he dismounted, to try to do something for the greybeard. A few sips of
wine had restored him to consciousness, but his weary, wounded feet would
carry him no farther. Yet it would have grieved the old man sorely to be
forced to interrupt his journey, for the Chapter General in Portiuncula,
in Italy, had sent him with an important message to the brothers of his
order in Germany, and especially in Nuremberg.

The old Minorite monk was especially dignified in aspect, and when he
chanced to mention that he had known St. Francis well and was one of
those who had nursed him during his last illness, a dispute had arisen
between Heinz Schorlin, the armor bearer, and his servant Walther
Biberli, for each desired to give up his saddle to the old man and pursue
his journey on foot for his sake and the