case he had been taken in. In the
meanwhile he gave orders that Master Laurenzano should at times preach
in the castle, "so that one might taste the food on which the Dames
were fed, for this was not the affair of a cap full of flesh, but of
the eternal welfare of the soul."

Paul's conversion to Calvinism was something new to Master Felix, and
the _role_ of preacher appeared to him all the more grievous, as he had
gathered from Pigavettas' remarks, that the new faith had only been
assumed, to spy on the heretics. The education in the Jesuits' college
had ever been in Felix's eyes a fate attended with all good to himself,
but with much tribulation to Paul. Thus together with his love for his
younger brother, there existed a feeling of pity and commiseration,
which rendered him kind and yielding towards the excitable young
Priest, who often aroused his mental indignation, but also called for
much sympathy. Whether Paul had taken oaths binding to the order, Felix
knew as little, as what to make out of his part of calvinistic
preacher. "Poveretto," he sighed, "I have never understood this
reserved brother of mine, nevertheless Erastus' way of speaking, showed
me plainly, that something still exists to be comforted, perhaps cured.
Poor Paolo, yonder planetary Deities must have formed a complex
conjunction at thy birth."

Thus saying Felix threw his cloak over his shoulders and pulled the
brim of his Raphael cap well down so as to protect his eyes from the
sun. He moreover began to hum his favorite song, but the Nina, Ninetta,
Nina, involuntarily stuck in his throat as he entered the gloomy
gateway of the watch-tower. "One goes in and out of here like the
prophet Jonas," muttered he with a feeling of discomfort. "Do not the
pointed spikes of the drawn up portcullis project over the round, dark
moat as do the teeth of an open-mouthed shark? Sincerely do I hope that
these jaws will never snap behind me." Only after leaving the fortress
behind him did his heart feel lighter. The towers of the town arose out
of the morning-mist, as Felix gazed over at the beauteous plain beyond.
In the marketplace, opposite the chief church, he exchanged a few
friendly words with the host of the Hirsch, paid his bill, and after
finishing his breakfast, walked down the street towards the Neckar to
the covered wooden bridge which led to the other side of the river. At
the other end Felix had to give his name and the object of his stay in
Heidelb