ep down all grief, so that I may do no harm to the other child;
and--and--here's my hand, sir--my answer is 'yes'."

It seemed as if a load had been lifted from the hearts of all present.
Hansei felt a stinging sensation in his eyes, and as if choking. To
allay this, he indulged in a fresh glass of wine and a large slice of
cake. What a strange day! If the company would only go, so that one
could get a bite of something warm. The morning seemed as if it would
never end. The two physicians had much to say to Walpurga, who promised
to keep herself as cheerful as possible. She told them that when she
had once undertaken a thing she would carry it out; that God would help
to preserve her child and that she would do all she could for the
king's child. "You can depend upon it, when I've made up my mind to do
a thing, I do it," she repeated again and again. Now that she had
decided, she seemed to have acquired wondrous self-control. Spying her
mother, who was carrying the child, she called her to her, and told her
of everything. The child slumbered peacefully, and was placed in the
cradle that stood in the bedroom. The grandmother seemed to look upon
the whole affair as if it were an unalterable decree of fate. For years
it had been her wont to allow Walpurga to decide in all things, and in
this case, moreover, the king's pleasure was to be regarded.

"Your child won't be motherless; I understand her better than you do.
We've got a cow, and we'll see that the child is well cared for."

The innkeeper hurried out and put the cow in the stable. That closed
the purchase and gave him a pretty profit. He was provoked at himself
to think that he had not asked ten thalers more. He managed to get two
thalers additional, as a gratuity for the boy, but half of this sum
found its way into his own pocket.

Hansei, who had in the mean while refreshed himself, thought it would
be well to show that he was a man. He inquired as to the pay, and was
just about to name the large sum he had been thinking of, when the
innkeeper returned, and made it clear to him that the less he bargained
the more he would get. He offered to give him five hundred florins for
the christening gifts alone, and told him that, if he left it to the
king, he would get all the more.

Walpurga now asked what she would have to take with her. Doctor Sixtus
told her that her best suit would be all that was necessary.

Many of the villagers had gathered before the window.