ut whom, indeed, she seldom left the house.
Neither of them said a word about their hidden guest, and yet neither
thought of anything else. So it was in the evening too when they
silently sat at their spinning wheels. It was only when Donate came in
at a late hour to announce that the fever was higher, the patient
unable to sleep, and delirious, calling constantly for his mother, and
wanting to get up and ride off homewards, that they held a council as
to whether it was any longer possible or justifiable not to call in a
chirurgeon, but trust to the skill and experience of old Valentin, who
had served half his time as apprentice to a leech before Herr Amthor
took him into his service. At last Frau Helena went up herself to
inspect the wound. There was nothing in its aspect to alarm, and the
old man assured her that the rambling, Donate had been frightened by,
merely resulted from the full-bloodedness of youth, and that in
four-and-twenty hours all danger would be perfectly over. Frau Helena
knew that her faithful servant was accustomed to weigh his words before
he spoke positively. She stood for a while by the side of the feverish
sufferer, who did not know her, but when he felt the touch of her hand
called her "mother," and then with a sudden brightness in his face
began to talk to her in a tone of affectionate confidence, telling her
she was not to suppose he had set his heart on Herr Aufdembuehel's
daughter--that she knew he would never marry unless he found some one
like her. Then he would break out into French, as if violently
remonstrating with the bold girl of the tavern, telling her not to hang
about his neck, since though she might stain his doublet with wine, she
could not ogle the ring off his finger--and all sorts of delirious
fancies. To all which the judicious matron listened attentively, for
she well knew men, and was silently touched by the evidence thus
afforded of a good and innocent nature. She felt her motherly
partiality for the young stranger grow hour by hour, till she was
almost angry that this youth should assert a claim to a place in her
heart, long entirely filled by sorrow for her lost one.

The night was again restless, and so was the day. But just as Valentin
had foretold, on the third night came a refreshing sleep, and when Frau
Helena paid her morning visit to her guest, he looked at her with clear
intelligent eyes, and even tried to move his wounded arm, which was
still helpless, but goi