d his wits, and hurried with Peter to the
dying penitent's bedside. Irma was sleeping, and he sat by her side
until she awoke. She saw Gunther--pleasure illumined her face, and she
held out both hands towards him. He took them, and she pressed her
feverish lips upon his hands.

Walpurga, to whom the news of Irma's impending end had been brought,
took a quick resolution. She hurried to the little town to seek her
queen. The matter was not easy, for suspicion rested heavily upon her;
but her determination removed all obstacles, and the queen, profoundly
moved by Walpurga's jerky explanation and passionate appeal, and stirred
to the very depths of her soul by Irma's heroism, demanded to be led at
once to her. She was followed in a short while by the king, to whom the
whole incident had been reported.

Gunther sat for hours by Irma's bedside, listening to her heavy
breathing. The door flew open and the queen appeared.

"At last, you have come!" breathed Irma, raising herself and kneeling in
her bed. Then, with a heart-breaking voice, she exclaimed: "Forgive,
forgive!"

"Forgive me, Irma, my sister!" sobbed the queen, and took her in her
arms and kissed her. A smile spread over Irma's face; then with a cry of
pain she fell back dead.

When the king arrived he found his wife kneeling before the bed. He
quietly knelt down by her side. The queen arose, placed her hand upon
his head. "Kurt," she said, "forgive me, as I have forgiven you." Then
she spread a white kerchief over the dead, and they left the hut. They
walked hand in hand through the wood, until they reached the road, where
carriages were waiting.

During the night the "pitch-mannikin" dug a grave on the spot where Irma
had loved to lie in the sun. She was buried there early next morning.
Hansei and Peter and Dr. Gunther carried the corpse, and Walpurga with
her child formed the procession.

* * * * *

JANE AUSTEN

Sense and Sensibility

Jane Austen, daughter of the rector of Steventon, in North
Hampshire, England, was born there on December 16, 1775, and
received her education from her father, a former Fellow of St.
John's College, Oxford. Her life was spent in the country or
in country towns, chiefly at the village of Chawton, near
Winchester. She died, unmarried, at Winchester on July 18,
1817, and was buried in the cathedral. The novels of Jane
Austen may be divided into two