s the witness I mentioned. At the tavern
the priest told him what he had beheld with his own eyes. Do you still
inveigh against the dangerous beast, which acts like the good Samaritan,
and finds nothing more delightful than hearing or speaking of our dear
saint?"

"And this in the Town Hall during the dance?" asked Els, clasping her
hands as if she had heard something unprecedented.

Eva, fairly radiant with joy, nodded assent; and Els heard the ring of
pleasure in her clear voice, too, as she exclaimed: "That was just what
made the ball so delightful. The dancing! Oh, yes, it is easy enough to
walk and turn in time to the music when one has such a knight for a
partner; but that was by no means the pleasantest part of it. During the
interval--it seemed but an instant, yet it really lasted a considerable
time--we first entered into conversation."

"In one of the side rooms?" asked Els, the bright colour fading from her
cheeks.

"What are you thinking of?" replied Eva in a tone of offence. "I believe
I know what is seemly as well as anybody else. True, your Countess
Cordula did not set the most praiseworthy example. She allowed the whole
throng of knights to surround her in the ante-room, and your future
brother-in-law, Siebenburg, outdid them all. We--Heinz Schorlin and
I--sat near the Emperor's table in the great hall, where everybody could
see us. There the conversation naturally passed from the old Minorite to
the holy founder of his order, and remained there. And if ever valiant
knight possessed a devout mind, it is Heinz Schorlin. Whoever goes into
battle without relying upon God and his saints,' he said, 'will find his
courage lack wings, and his armour the surest defensive 'weapon.'"

"In the ballroom!" again fell from her sister's lips in the same tone of
amazement.

"Where else?" asked Eva angrily. "I never met him except there. What do
you other girls talk about at such entertainments, if it surprises you?
Besides, St. Francis was by no means our only subject; we spoke of the
future crusade, too. And oh!--you may believe me--we would have been glad
to talk of such things for hours. He knew many things about our saint;
but the precise one which makes him especially great and lovable, and
withal so powerful that he attracted all whom he deemed worthy to follow
him, he had not understood, and I was permitted to be the first person to
bring it clearly before his mind. Ah! and his wit is as keen as his
sword,