or crack was honourably won in fair field; on what
occasion; and from whom; every member of the White Rose Club keeping
his particular scroll, and, on days of festival and holiday, wearing it
haughtily in his helm. Strangers entering Cologne were astonished at
the hideous appearance of the striplings, and thought they never
had observed so ugly a race; but they were forced to admit the fine
influence of beauty on commerce, seeing that the consumption of beer
increased almost hourly. All Bavaria could not equal Cologne for
quantity made away with.

The chief members of the White Rose Club were Berthold Schmidt, the rich
goldsmith's son; Dietrich Schill, son of the imperial saddler; Heinrich
Abt, Franz Endermann, and Ernst Geller, sons of chief burghers, each of
whom carried a yard-long scroll in his cap, and was too disfigured
in person for men to require an inspection of the document. They were
dangerous youths to meet, for the oaths, ceremonies, and recantations
they demanded from every wayfarer, under the rank of baron, were what
few might satisfactorily perform, if lovers of woman other than the
fair Margarita, or loyal husbands; and what none save trained heads and
stomachs could withstand, however naturally manful. The captain of the
Club was he who could drink most beer without intermediate sighing,
and whose face reckoned the proudest number of slices and mixture of
colours. The captaincy was most in dispute between Dietrich Schill and
Berthold Schmidt, who, in the heat and constancy of contention, were
gradually losing likeness to man. 'Good coin,' they gloried to reflect,
'needs no stamp.'

One youth in Cologne held out against the standing tyranny, and chose to
do beauty homage in his own fashion, and at his leisure. It was Farina,
and oaths were registered against him over empty beer-barrels. An axiom
of the White Rose Club laid it down that everybody must be enamoured of
Margarita, and the conscience of the Club made them trebly suspicious
of those who were not members. They had the consolation of knowing that
Farina was poor, but then he was affirmed a student of Black Arts, and
from such a one the worst might reasonably be feared. He might bewitch
Margarita!

Dietrich Schill was deputed by the Club to sound the White Rose herself
on the subject of Farina, and one afternoon in the vintage season,
when she sat under the hot vine-poles among maiden friends, eating ripe
grapes, up sauntered Dietrich, smirk