St. Ulrich which beckoned to her, and she had longed for the Frank
country, the Main, or the richly wooded banks of the Pegnitz. Was this
because, in Nuremberg, for the only time in her life, she had been a
member of a decorous household, or had the love which, wherever Cyriax's
cart and donkey carried her, always drew her heart back to the same
ancient city, made it so dear to her?

Probably the latter, for yesterday she had yearned ardently to reach
Nuremberg; but since she had seen Lienhard again, she rejoiced that she
was in Miltenberg and at The Blue Pike.

Never had he seemed to her so handsome, so manly. Besides, he had spoken
to her, listened to her reply, and even given her money with lavish
generosity. It was like him! No one else would have been capable of it.

She could live a long time on his three gold florins, if Cyriax
abandoned her; yet the unexpected wealth burned in her hand and
perplexed her. Did Lienhard no longer know that she would not accept
money from him? Had she robbed herself of the certainty that beautified
existence; had she failed to show him her superiority to other vagrant
girls? Yet no! What he gave her was more, far more, than even a prince
bestowed upon an ordinary mendicant. He must measure her by a special
standard. If he had only given her the gold with a kind word, not
flung it silently into her lap. This half destroyed her pleasure in the
present, and the ample supply of money clouded her already disturbed
peace of mind still more. Had it been possible, she would have returned
the gift as she did the alms at Augsburg. But how was this to be
accomplished in the over-crowded inn?

Yet, if she kept the florins, the sacrifice at the convent would lose
a large portion of its value, and the good opinion which her act at
Augsburg must have inspired might be shadowed.

For some time before leaving the room in the tavern she had turned the
coins restlessly over and over under her kerchief, and meanwhile, as
if in a dream, made but evasive answers to the questions and demands of
Cyriax and Gitta.

Then she glided nearer to the gentlemen at the table, intending to
return Lienhard's gift; but the landlord of The Pike followed her
suspiciously, and drove her back to her companions.

Thence she had been called to the sick woman and went out of doors.
She found the mother of the twins in the meadow by the Main and eagerly
devoted herself to them.

The widow's burning head and gasping b