own the hill, to seek their beds.

Sweetly did the elder bush scent the air around the walls of the ruined
church, the wind murmured through the tops of venerable trees, which
had already given shade to the Roman soldiers, guarding the fort, and
to the monks of the cloister; the crickets sang their monotonous song
as they had done for thousands of years previously, brightly beamed the
moon on the scattered stones, beneath however in a dark cellar, which
only received light from the opening above, lay Lydia senseless. The
poor child was only known to exist by Him, who both hears the death
rattle of the stricken deer in the thicket, and the sigh of the
creature hidden from the eye of man.

CHAPTER XIII.

On the morning of the day so momentous for Lydia, Miller Werner and his
boy descended from the Kreuzgrund behind Ziegelhausen along the
pattering brook to the village below. The sails of his own mills and
those of his neighbours clappered merrily as if for a wager. The brook
glittered as morning dew and May light. Even the meadows of the fertile
valley were still adorned in the midst of summer with the green of
spring.

"Thou art certain," said the miller to his redheaded offspring, "that
it was Erastus' daughter?"

"Quite certain, father."

"Thou didst read the note thyself?"

"I read, that she was to be on the Holtermann an hour before sundown."

"How didst thou manage that?"

"I am not going to run errands for the Jesuits blindly. I saw that he
wrapped something up in a kerchief, and he wanted me to believe, that
he wished the young lady to receive back her lost property without
knowing who had found it. I don't let myself be made a cat's paw of.
'Be wise as serpents,' says Grandmother."

"I don't blame thee, but only wish I could put a stop to the design of
this Priest of Baal? Erastus saved thy mother's life through his skill;
he however has a low opinion of our Church. I shall be glad to make him
think better of our habits, and prove my gratitude to him. I am also
sorry for the girl. I shall have to inform her father about this
letter."

"Had I not better go up to-day and separate them? Thou knowest I can
imitate all birds and animals, and the devil himself pretty well."

"No," said the miller, "this is no matter for boys." When the miller
had finished all his errands in the tower, he inquired for Erastus at
his house. He was told, that the Counsellor was away. He