ame down to
earth and kissed you."

The princess gently shook her head, and in a moment Fritz found
himself in the hands of her guards, with his coat stripped off his
back, and his hands bound behind him. The first lash made him cry for
mercy; but the Princess had already gone, and the soldiers, whose duty
it was to inflict the whipping, were not much disposed to show mercy
to the "One-armed Count." They laid on their blows well, driving the
unlucky Fritz through the streets till the gate was reached, through
which, with a final shower of blows, he was thrust, with the warning
not to return thither, but to beg his way henceforth through the
world. Of all who watched the proceedings, none seemed so delighted
with the result as Franz. He followed, hobbling after his unhappy
brother as close as the soldiers would allow, and kept jeering and
laughing at him all the way. This was easy for him to do,
notwithstanding the fact that he had to go on crutches, because good
care was taken to make Fritz's progress through the streets as slow as
possible. In addition, therefore, to the blows, Fritz had to endure
the sight of Franz's grinning face, and to listen to such remarks as:
"Who thought he was going to win the Princess?"--"Will your Highness
remember your poor brother, the Burgomaster?"--"Who lost the sparkling
golden water?"--and so on.

With very different feelings had Hans watched the proceedings. When he
saw his brother stripped for beating, he forgot all about the wrongs
he had sustained, and only thought what he could do to help the
sufferer. He tried to bribe the soldiers to deal gently with Fritz;
but when he found it was of no avail, he hastened to the city gate so
as to meet his brother outside and comfort him when the punishment was
over. Hans found Fritz, as indeed was natural under the circumstances,
more surly and ill-tempered than ever. He appeared startled for a
moment at seeing Hans, whom he thought dead, alive and well; but he
set to work blubbering again immediately, and rubbing his back with
his one hand. Hans gave him what money he could afford, which Fritz
took without saying "Thank you," and went his way.

Next day it was Franz's turn to try and win the Princess. Franz felt
just as certain of succeeding as Fritz had been. A certain necromancer
in Franz's town had been a party in a suit which came before the
Burgomaster's court. All the evidence which was brought forward told
against him, but the necr