nor his servants associate with any one outside the
castle?"

"In a very simple manner, your ladyship. He has a very powerful
telescope in the tower of the castle, with which he can view every
portion of the surrounding region. He thus learns when there is illness
or death, whether a house needs repair; and wherever anything is needed,
the means to help are sent to me. On Christmas he has all the children
from the village up at the castle, where he has a splendid Christmas
tree with lighted tapers, and a gift for every child,--clothes, books,
and sweets,--which he distributes with his own hand. I can tell you an
incident which is characteristic of the man. One day the county arrested
a poor woman, the wife of a notorious thief. The Herr Vice-palatine will
remember the case--Rakoncza Jutka, the wife of the robber Satan Laczi?"

"Yes, I remember. She is still in prison," assented the gentleman
referred to.

"Yes. Well, she has a little son. When the mother was taken to prison,
the little lad was turned away from every door, was beaten and abused by
the other children, until at last he fled to the marshes, where he ate
the young shoots of the reeds, and slept in the mire. The nameless count
discovered with his telescope the little outcast, and wrote to me to
have him taken to Frau Schmidt, where he would be well taken care of
until his mother came back."

By this time the tears were running down the baroness's cheeks.

"Poor little lad!" she murmured brokenly. "Your story has affected me
deeply, Herr Pastor."

Then she summoned her steward, and bade him fill a large hamper with
sweets and pasties, and send it to Frau Schmidt for the poor little boy.
"And tell Frau Schmidt," she added, "to send the child to the manor. We
will see to it that he has some suitable clothes. I am delighted,
reverend sir, to learn that my tenant is a true nobleman."

"His deeds certainly proclaim him as such, your ladyship."

"How do _you_ explain the mystery of the veiled lady?"

"I cannot explain it, your ladyship; she is never mentioned in our
correspondence."

"She may be a prisoner, detained at the castle by force."

"That cannot be; for she has a hundred opportunities to escape, or to
ask for help."

Here the surveyor managed to express his belief that the reason the lady
wore a veil was because of the repulsiveness of her face.

At this, a voice that had not yet been heard said, at the lower end of
the table:

"But the la