m they pleased;
and Minna, looking up from her books--Gottlieb's back was turned towards
her--blew a most unfilial kiss from the tips of her chubby fingers to
Herr Sohnstein right over her father's shoulder. All of which goes
to show that something very like open war had broken out in the Cafe
Nuernberg, and that the once united family dwelling therein was fairly
divided into rival camps.

Gottlieb's dreary case was made a little less dreary when he found that
the lebkuchen which Hans produced in his fine new bakery was distinctly
an inferior article; not much better, in fact, than Gottlieb's own. To
any intelligent baker the reason for this was obvious: Hans was making
his lebkuchen with new honey-cake. Thus made, even by the best of
recipes, it could not be anything but a failure. Gottlieb gave a long
sigh of relief as he realized this comforting fact, and at the same time
thought of his own great store of honey-pots--there were hundreds
of them now--all ready and waiting to his hand. But his feeling of
satisfaction passed quickly to one of impotent rage as he recognized his
own powerlessness, for all his wealth of honey-pots, to make lebkuchen
which would be eaten by anybody but the tough-palated children from St.
Bridget's School. He was alone, smoking, in the little room back of the
shop as this bitter thought came to him; in his rage he struck the table
beside him a blow so sounding that the family cat, peacefully slumbering
behind the stove, sprang up with a yell of terror and made but two jumps
to the open door. Coming on top of all his other trials--the revolt of
his own little Minna, the defection of Aunt Hedwig, and the almost open
enmity of Herr Sohnstein--this compulsory surrender of all his hope of
honest fame was indeed a deadly blow.

Gottlieb smoked on in sullen anger; his heart torn and tortured, and his
mind filled with a confusion of bitter evil thoughts. And presently--for
the devil is at every man's elbow, ready to take advantage of any sudden
weakness, or turn to his own purposes any too great strength--these
thoughts grew more evil and more clear: until they fairly resolved
themselves into the determination to steal from Hans the recipe for
making lebkuchen, and so to crush completely his rival and at the same
time to make certain his own fortune and fame.

Of course the devil did not plant the notion of theft in Gottlieb's mind
in this bald fashion; for the devil is a most considerate person,