e!" said Walpurga; "If I could thank you as
many times as there are threads in these clothes, it wouldn't be
enough."

A thought suddenly occurred to her, and she sent Baum to her room to
get the yarn which was hanging there. He soon returned with it and,
presenting it to the queen, in the king's presence, she said: "As often
as I've wetted each thread with my lips, do I thank you. I shall pray
for you as long as I can move my lips, and all will go well with you."

The king held out his hand to her and said: "You're a good soul, but
don't excite yourself so." She pressed his hand firmly.

Walpurga was sitting in her room, late at night, when the queen came to
her.

"I'm glad you've come," said Walpurga, softly.

"Why? Does anything ail the child?"

"No; thank God, he's quiet. See how he clenches his little fists while
he sleeps. But, on this night, at twelve, a Sunday child sees
everything. He can hear all that the angels in heaven and the beasts in
the wood are saying. One must always be with him at that time, and keep
on saying the paternoster, and then no harm will come to him."

"Yes, I'll stay with you; that can do no harm. But you must not torment
yourself so with your belief."

Walpurga looked at the queen with a strange expression.

"Ah, she knows nothing of this," she thought to herself. "She wasn't
born in our faith." The queen said: "I'm glad that I can make so many
people happy, just as I've made you happy, to-day."

"But you must be happy, too," said Walpurga. "Take my word for it--I'd
put my hand in the fire as a pledge--there's nothing wrong with Irma.
She's true, and so is the king."

The queen started convulsively. And had it come to this pass? Must she
receive consolation from such a quarter? She sat there motionless, for
some time. The clock struck twelve, and, at the same instant, bells
were heard ringing from every tower filling the air with their merry
sounds.

The child in the cradle began to mutter in its sleep. Walpurga made a
sign to the queen and went on repeating the Lord's Prayer, in a firm
voice. The queen moved her lips and silently joined in the prayer. When
it was repeated for the third time, she said aloud: "And forgive us our
trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us.'" Then she
knelt down by the child's cradle, and buried her face in the pillow.

Walpurga was filled with reverence for the mother who thus knelt
silently at her child's cradle. She went on pr