fired a shot at her, as he would have fired at a wild
beast. The bullet rebounded without harming the spinner, who still spun
on.

Burchard fell into such a violent rage that it nearly killed him. He
broke the wheel into a thousand pieces, and then fell fainting on the
ground. He was carried back to the castle, unconscious.

The next day the wheel was mended, and the spinner sat down to spin.
Feeling that while she was spinning he was dying, the Count ordered that
her hands should be tied, and that they should not lose sight of her for
one instant.

But the guards fell asleep, the bonds loosed themselves, and the spinner
spun on.

Burchard had every nettle rooted up for three leagues round. Scarcely
had they been torn from the soil when they sowed themselves afresh, and
grew as you were looking at them.

They sprung up even in the well-trodden floor of the cottage, and as
fast as they were uprooted the distaff gathered to itself a supply of
nettles, crushed, prepared, and ready for spinning.

And every day Burchard grew worse, and watched his end approaching.

VI

Moved by pity for her husband, the Countess at last found out the cause
of his illness, and entreated him to allow himself to be cured. But the
Count in his pride refused more than ever to give his consent to the
marriage.

So the lady resolved to go without his knowledge to pray for mercy from
the spinner, and in the name of Renelde's dead mother she besought her
to spin no more. Renelde gave her promise, but in the evening Guilbert
arrived at the cottage. Seeing that the cloth was no farther advanced
than it was the evening before, he inquired the reason. Renelde
confessed that the Countess had prayed her not to let her husband die.

'Will he consent to our marriage?'

'No.'

'Let him die then.'

'But what will the Countess say?'

'The Countess will understand that it is not your fault; the Count alone
is guilty of his own death.'

'Let us wait a little. Perhaps his heart may be softened.'

So they waited for one month, for two, for six, for a year. The spinner
spun no more. The Count had ceased to persecute her, but he still
refused his consent to the marriage. Guilbert became impatient.

The poor girl loved him with her whole soul, and she was more unhappy
than she had been before, when Burchard was only tormenting her body.

'Let us have done with it,' said Guilbert.

'Wait a little still,' pleaded Renelde.

But the young m