But then Herdegen had made proof, in some jousting among the young

Mamelukes, of how well skilled he was with the sword, and thereby he had

won such favor that they were fain to deliver sundry letters which

he wrote to us, into the care of the Venice consul. Whereas he had no

answer he had set it down to our lack of diligence at home, till at last

he was put on the right track by Akusch, and it was plainly shown that

those letters had never reached us, and that by Ursula’s malice. To

follow up these matters Akusch had afterwards betaken himself again to

Alexandria; notwithstanding by this time his father had fallen on evil

days. And behold, on the very evening after their return, as they were

passing along by the side of the Venice Fondaco, whither they had gone

to see the leech who attended the Consul--having heard that he was a

German by birth--they were aware of a loud outcry hard by, and presently

beheld a wounded man, whom they forthwith knew for Kunz.

At first they believed that their eyes deceived them; and that it should

have been these two, of all men, who found their master’s brother lying

in his blood, I must ever deem a miracle. To be sure, any man from the

West who was fain to seek another in the land of Egypt, must first make

enquiry here at the Fondaco.

A few hours later Kunz was in bed and well tended in the house of

Akusch’s mother, and it was on their return to Cairo, to speak with my

eldest brother of these matters, that Eppelein was witness to Ursula’s

vile betrayal and the vast demand of the Sultan. Then my brother, by the

help of some who showed him favor, had that letter conveyed to Akusch of

which Eppelein had been robbed hard by Pillenreuth. More than this the

good fellow had not to tell.

As I, on my ride home through the wood, turned over in my mind who might

be the wise and trusty friend to whom we could confide our case and

our fears, if Kubbeling should leave us in the lurch, verily I found

no reply. If indeed Cousin Gotz--that wise and steadfast wayfaring man,

rich with a thousand experiences of outlandish life--if he were willing

to make common cause with his Little Red-riding-hood, and the companion

of his youth! But a terrible oath kept him far away, and where in the

wide world might he be found?

Ann likewise had much to cause her heaviness, and I thanked the Saints

that I was alone with Eppelein when he told me that his dear lord was

sorely changed, albeit having seen him only from afar, he could scarce

tell me wherein that change lay.

Thus we rode homewards in silence, through the evening dusk, and as we

came in sight of the lights of the town all my doubting and wandering

fears vanished on a sudden in wonderment as to who should be the first

person we might meet within the gate, inasmuch as Cousin Maud had ever

set us the unwise example of considering such a meeting as a sign, or

token, or Augury.

Now, as soon as we had left the gate behind us, lo, a lantern was

lifted, and we saw, by the light twinkling dimly through the horn,

instead of old Hans Heimvogel’s red, sottish face, a sweet and lovely

maiden’s; by reason that he had fallen into horrors, imagining that mice

were rushing over him, so that his fair granddaughter Maria was doing

duty for him. And I greeted her right graciously, inasmuch as Cousin

Maud held it to be a good sign when a smiling maid should be the first

to meet her as she came into the city gates.

As for Ann, she scarce marked that it was Maria; and when, after we were

come home, I spoke of this token of good promise, she asked me how, in

these evil days, I could find heart to think of such matters; and she

sighed and cried: “Oh, Margery, indeed I am heavy at heart! For three

long years have I taken patience and with a right good will. But the

end, meseems, is further than ever, and he who should have helped us is

disabled or ever he has stirred a finger, and even my lord Cardinal’s

home-coming is put off, albeit all men know that Herdegen is as a man

in a den of lions--and I, my spirit sinks within me. And even my wise

grandmother can give me no better counsel than to ‘wait patiently’ and

yet again ‘Wait’...”

Whereupon Susan, who had taken off from us our wet hoods, broke in with:

“Aye, Mistress Ann, and that has ever from the days of Adam and Eve,

been the best of all counsel. For life all through is but waiting for

the end; and even when we have taken the last Sacrament and our eyes are

dim in death then most of all must we take Patience, waiting for that we

shall find beyond the grave. Here below! By my soul, I myself grew grey

waiting in vain for one who long years ago gave me this ring. Others had

better luck; yet if the priest had wed us, would that have made an end

of Patience? I trow not! It might have been for weal or it might have

been for woe. A wife may go to mass every day in the month. But is that

an end of Patience? Will the storks bring her a babe or no? Will it be

a boy or a maid? And if the little one should come, after the wife has

told her beads till her fingers are sore, what will the waiting babe

turn out? Such an one as Junker Herdegen grows up to be the delight of

every eye and heart, and if that make less need of Patience meseems we

know full well! And Mistress Waldstromer, out in the forest, a lady,

she, of stern stuff, she could tell a tale; and I say, Mistress Ann, if

old Dame Pernhart’s answer sinks into your heart, God’s blessing rest on

it!--I am waiting, as you are waiting. We each and all are waiting for

one; if by the merciful help of the Saints he ever comes home, yet never

dream, Mistress Ann, that Patience will be out of court.”

And with such comfort as this the old woman hung our garments to dry

while we bowed our heads and went up-stairs.

Up in the guest-chamber we heard loud voices, and as we went in a

strange sight met our eyes. Uncle Christian and Doctor Holzschuher were

sitting face to face with Cousin Maud, and she was laughing so heartily

that she could not control herself, but flung up her arms and then

dropped them on her knees, for all the world as she had taught us

children to play at a game of “Fly away, little birds.”

When she marked my presence she forgot to greet me, and cried to me well

nigh breathless:

“A drink of wine, Margery, and a morsel of bread. I am ready to split--I

shall die of laughing!”

Then, when I heard my good Godfather Christian’s hearty laughing, and

saw that Master Holzschuher had but just ceased, I was fain to laugh

likewise, and even Ann, albeit she had but now been so sad, joined in.

This lasted a long while till we learned the cause of such unwonted

mirth; and this was of such a kind as to afford great comfort and new

assurance, and we were bound to crave our good friends’ pardon for

having deemed them lacking in diligence. Master Holzschuher had indeed

made the best use of the time to move every well-to-do man in Nuremberg

who had known our departed father, and the Abbots of the rich convents,

and many more, to give of their substance as they were able, to redeem

Herdegen from the power of the heathen; and the other twain had worked

wonders likewise, in Augsburg.

But that which had moved Cousin Maud to mirth was that my Uncle

Christian had related how that he and Master Pernhart, finding old

Tetzel, Ursula’s father, at Augsburg, had agreed together to make him

pay a share towards Herdegen’s ransom; and my godfather’s face beamed

again now, with contentment in every feature, as he told us by what

means he had won the churlish old man over to the good cause.

Whereas the three good gentlemen had considered that all of Jost

Tetzel’s great possessions must presently fall to his daughter, and that

it would be a deed pleasing to God to bring some chastisement on that

traitorous quean, they had laid a plot against her father; and it was

for that alone that Uncle Christian, who could ill endure the ride in

the winter-season, had set forth, with Master Pernhart, for Augsburg.

And there he had achieved a rare masterpiece of skill, painting Dame

Ursula’s reprobate malice in such strong colors to her father that

Master Pernhart was in fear lest he should bring upon himself another

fit. And he had furthermore sworn to lay the whole matter before the

Emperor, with whom, as all men knew, he enjoyed much privilege, inasmuch

as he had been as it were his host when his Majesty held his court

at Nuremberg. Ursula, to be sure, was no subject now of his gracious

Majesty’s; yet would he, Christian Pfinzing, know no rest till the

Emperor had compelled her father, Jost Tetzel, to cut off from her who

had married an Italian, the possessions she counted on from a German

city.

Thereupon Pernhart had spoken in calm but weighty words, threatening

that his brother, the Cardinal, would visit the heaviest wrath of the

Pope on the old man and his daughter, unless he were ready and willing

to make amends and atonement for his child’s accursed sin, whereby a

Christian man had fallen into the hands of the godless heathen. And when

at last they had conquered the churlish old man’s hardness of heart and

stiff-necked malice, they drove him to a strange bargain. Old Tetzel

was steadfast in his intention to give up as little as he might of his

daughter’s inheritance, while his tormentors raised their demands, and

claimed a hundred gulden and a hundred gulden more, up to many hundreds,

which Tetzel was forced to yield; till at last he gave his bond, signed

and sealed, to renounce all his daughter’s estate, and to add thereto

two thousand gulden of his own moneys, and to hold the sum in readiness

to ransom Herdegen.

Thus, at one stroke, all our fears touching the moneys were at an end;

and when the notary showed us the parchment roll on which each one

had set down the sum he would give, we were struck dumb; and when we

reckoned it all together, the sum was far greater than that which had

cost us so many sleepless nights.

By this time we scarce could read for tears, and our souls were so moved

to thankfulness as we marked the large sums set forth against the names

of the noble families and of the convent treasurers, that we had never

felt so great a love for our good city and the dear, staunch friends who

dwelt therein. Nay, and many simple folk had promised to pay somewhat

of their modest store; and although my soul overflowed with thankful joy

over the great sums to be given by our kith and kin, I rejoiced no less

over the five pounds of farthings promised by a cordwainer, whom we had

holpen some years ago when he had been sick and in debt.

And then was there hearty embracing and kissing, and the men, as was

befitting after a deed so well done, craved to drink. Cousin Maud

hastened with all zeal to do honor to friends and guests so dear; but

as she reached the door she stood still as in doubt, and signed to me

so that I perceived that somewhat had gone wrong. And so indeed it had,

inasmuch as our silver vessels, down to the very least cup, had gone

to the silversmith in pledge, and Uncle Tucher, the Councillor, who had

bought my palfrey, had also been fain to have all our old wine, whereof

many goodly rows of casks, and jars sealed with pitch, lay in our

cellars. A few hams still hung in the chimney by good luck; and there

were chickens and eggs in plenty; but of all else little enough, even of

butter. When Cousin Maud set forth all this with a right lamentable face

I could not refrain my mirth, and I promised her that if she could send

up a few dainty dishes from the kitchen, I would make shift to please

our beloved guests. That as for the wine, I would take that upon myself,

and no Emperor need be ashamed of our Venice glasses. And herewith I

sent her down stairs; but I then frankly confessed to our friends how

matters stood; and when they had heard me, now laughing heartily,

and now in amazement and shaking their heads, I enquired of Doctor

Holzschuher, as a man of law, how I might deal with the wine, inasmuch

as it had already found a purchaser? Hereupon arose much jocose argument

and discussion, and at last the learned notary and doctor of laws

declared that he held it to be his duty, as adviser to the Council and

administrator of the Schopper estates, to taste and prove with all due

caution whether the price promised by Tucher, and not yet paid down,

were not all too little for the liquor, inasmuch as his clients, being

but women-folk, had no skill in the good gifts of Bacchus, and could not

know their value. To abstain from such testing he held would be a breach

of duty, and whereas he did not trust his own skill alone, he must call

upon Master Christian Pfinzing as a man of ripe experience, and Master

Councillor Pernhart, who, as brother to a great prelate, had doubtless

drunk much good liquor, in due form to proceed with him to the

Schoppers’ cellar, and there to mark those vessels or jars out of which

the wine should be drawn for the testing. Moreover, to satisfy all the

requirements of the case, a serving-man should be sent to call upon

Master Tucher, as the purchaser, to be present in his own person at the

ceremony. Inasmuch as it yet lacked two hours of midnight, he would,

without doubt, be found in the gentlemen’s tavern; and it might be

enjoined on the messenger to add, that if Master Tucher were fain to

bring with him one skilled in such matters to bear him witness on his

part, such an one would be made right welcome at the Schopperhof.

Thus within a quarter of an hour the three worthy gentlemen, and Ann

and I, were seated with the winejars before us, they having chosen for

themselves of the best our cellar could afford; and when the meats which

Cousin Maud sent up were set on the table, albeit there were but earthen

plates and crocks, and no silver glittered on the snow-white cloth, yet

God’s good gifts lacked not their savor.

And presently Uncle Tucher came in, and with him, as his skilled

witness, old Master Loffelholz; and when they likewise had sat down

with us, and when we had bidden the Magister to join us, there was such

hearty and joyful emptying of glasses and friendly discourse that Master

Tucher declared that the happy spirit of our father, the singer, still

dwelt within our walls. Howbeit, Ann had to do her duty as watcher over

my uncle more often that evening than for a long time past.

In the course of that right joyful supper many weighty matters were

discussed, and the gentlemen, meseemed, were greatly more troubled

than Cousin Maud or I that we should so hastily have parted with sundry

matters which should not be lacking in a house of good family, but

which, as we had learned by experience, were in no wise needful in life.

And many a jesting word was spoken concerning our poor platters and

dishes, and tin spoons, and empty stables. The bargain over the wine

was declared to be null and void, and my cousin took heart to assure the

gentlemen, in right seemly speech, that now again she was happy, when

she knew that what she had set before such worshipful and welcome guests

was indeed our own, and not another’s.

By the time of their departing it was nearer to cockcrow than to

midnight; and when, on the morrow, I went into the chamber in the

morning, to look forth into the street, the sun was shining brightly in

a blue sky. I minded me with silent thanksgiving of all the good cheer

yestereve had brought us, and of the wisdom and faithfulness of our good

friends. Many a wise and a witty word uttered over their wine came back

to me then; and I was wondering to myself what new plot had been brewing

between my godfather and Uncle Tucher, whereas I had marked them laying

their heads together, when behold, the stable-lad from the Tuchers’

coming down the street, leading my own dear bayhorse; and as I saw him

closer I beheld that his mane and flowing tail were plaited up with fine

red ribbons. He stood still in front of our door and, when I flew down

to greet the faithful beast, the lad gave me a letter wherein nought was

written save these Latin words in large letters: “AMICITIA FIDEI” which

is to say: “Friendship to Fidelity.”

Thus the pinch and sacrifice were on a sudden ended; and albeit a

snow-storm ere long came down on us, yet the sunshine in my bosom

was still as bright as though Spring had dawned there in the December

season, and all care and fear were banished.

CHAPTER XV.

It was noon. Master Peter could not come to table for a bad headache,

and Cousin Maud scarce opened her lips. The sudden turn of matters

had upset her balance, and so dazed her brain that she would answer at

cross-purposes, and had ordered so many pats of butter from the farm

wench as though she had cakes to bake for a whole convent full of

sisters. Likewise a strange unrest kept her moving to and fro, and this

was beginning to come upon me likewise, by reason that Ann came not,

albeit in the morning she had promised to be here again at noon.

I was about to make ready to seek her, when I was stopped, first by a

message from the forest bidding me, albeit I had scarce left the

lodge, to return thither no later than on the morrow; and next by an

unlooked-for guest, who had for long indeed been lost to sight. This

was Lorenz Abenberger, the apothecary’s son, erewhile a companion of

Herdegen in his youth, and he who, after he had beguiled the other pueri

to dig for treasure, had been turned out of the school. Since those

days, when likewise he had cast nativities for us maidens, and many a

time amused us with his magic arts, we had no knowledge of him but that,

after his parents’ death, he had ceased to ply the apothecary’s trade,

and had given himself up to the study of Alchemy. If folks spoke truth

he had already discovered the philosopher’s stone, or was nigh to

doing so: but notwithstanding that many learned men, and among them the

Magister had assured me, that such a thing was by no means beyond the

skill of man, Lorenz Abenberger for certain had not attained his end,

inasmuch as that, when he appeared in my presence, his aspect was rather

that of a beggar than of a potent wise-head at whose behest lead and

copper are transmuted into gold.

He had heard of the great sum needed for Herdegen’s ransom, and he now

came to assure me of the warm friendship he had ever cherished for his

old school-mate, and that he had it in his power to create the means of

releasing him from bondage. Then, marking that I gazed pitifully on his

thread-bare, meagre, and by no means clean raiment, whence there came a

sour, drug-like smell, he broke into a foul laugh and said that, to be

sure, it would seem strange that so beggarly a figure should make bold

to promise so great a treasure; howbeit, he stood to his word. So sure

as night follows day, he could reach the goal for which he had consumed

all his father’s and mother’s estate, nay all he had in the world, if he

might but once have three pounds of pure gold to do whatsoever he would

withal. If I would yield to his entreaties and be moved to grant what he

needed, he was ready to pledge his body and soul to death and damnation,

and sign the bond with his heart’s blood, if by the end of the

thirteenth day he had not found the red Lion, and through its aid ‘Aurum

potabile’ and the panacea against every evil of body or soul. This would

likewise give him the power of turning every mineral, even the most

worthless, into pure gold, as easily as I might turn my spinning-wheel

or say a Paternoster.

All this he poured forth with rolling eyes and panting breath, and that

he spoke every word in sacred earnest none could doubt; and indeed the

fervent, eager longing which appealed to my compassion and charity from

every fibre of his being, might have moved me to bestow on him that

which he craved, if I had possessed such wealth; but, as it was, I was

forced to say him nay; and whereas at this minute Susan came in with the

tidings that a man had come from the Pernharts’, bidding me go forthwith

to Ann, I threw over me my cloak and gave him to understand how matters

stood with me, bidding him farewell with all gentleness yet of set

purpose.

The blood mounted into his pale cheeks; he came close up to me, and set

his teeth, and said wrathfully that I must and I should save him, and

with him my own brother, if I did but clearly understand the sense and

purpose of his entreaty. And he began with a flood of speech to tell me

how near he was to his end, with a number of outlandish, magical words

such as “the great Magisterium,” “the Red Lion,” “the Red Tincture,”

and the like, till meseemed my brain reeled with the sinful gibberish;

notwithstanding, to this day I believe that in all truth he was nigh

attaining his purpose; and he might have done so at last were it not

that, a short space after this, he was choked by the vapor from an

alembic which burst.

But whence might I at that day procure the means to succor him?

Again and again I strove to check his fiery zeal, but in vain, till

I told him plainly that I had not at my command three pounds of brass

farthings, much less three pounds of gold, and that he must apply

elsewhere and no longer keep me tarrying.

And I gave him my hand to bid him farewell; howbeit he seized it with

both of his, and wrung and shook my arm till it ached; and being beside

him self with rage, he admonished me with threatening words and gestures

not to ruin his life’s work, and him, and those dear to me, by my base

avarice. When I had got over my first fear I snatched myself free from

the miserable little man, and turned my back upon him; but he leaped

in front of me, spread forth his arms to bar the doorway, and shrieked,

foaming with fury:

“Away, away, down to the depths! Away with us all! Woe unto thee, mean,

blind fool that thou art! Woe unto us all! Take away that hand! Verily

even if my mouth were gagged, yet shouldst thou hear what is coming

upon thee and all thy race! I could have hindered it, and I would have

hindered it; but now it shall be fulfilled. Oh, it was not for nothing

that we were young together! I read thy horoscope and that arrogant

brawler thy brother’s long ago, and when I interpret it to thee, if the

blood does not curdle in thy veins....”

Hereupon the blood of the Schoppers surged up; I laid hands on the

mad wight, whose strength was scarce greater than mine, but he hit and

stamped about like one bereft, crying: “Your planets stand over the

houses of Death, Captivity, and Despair. The fulfilment thereof began on

Saint Lazarus’ day, and on this day it falls first on thee; and thus the

doom shall run its course till it hath an end on Saint John’s eve, by

reason that ye will then have nought left to lose!”

Here Abenberger’s raving came to a sudden end. His outcry had brought

up Cousin Maud, and when she opened the door behind him and saw a man

standing in my way, she clutched him from behind, throwing her arms

about him, and dragged him out of the chamber. Meanwhile she shrieked

aloud “Fire!” and “Murder!” and again “Fire!” and all the men and

wenches ran up in hot haste and had the gold-maker down the stairs fast

enough.

Howbeit, I felt truly grieved for him; yet, as I gazed down on him from

the window, I saw that he had taken his stand without in the street,

and was shaking his fist up at me till a constable saw it and sent him

homewards.

Then I must first comfort Cousin Maud for this untoward scene, and

suffer her to rub my wrists with wine and spirit of balm, forasmuch as

they tingled like fire and were scratched by the hapless wight’s nails.

She was beside herself with rage, and the evil prediction of the master

of the black arts and of star-gazing filled her with unbounded

terrors. Thus it was my part, though; the younger, to give her courage,

notwithstanding the awful curse haunted me likewise, and rang in my ears

even when at last I made my way through the dark streets, followed by

the serving-man, to do Ann’s bidding. My heart was heavier than it

had been for many a day; for my fears were mingled with pity for that

hapless soul, so skilled in much learning. I had learned to feel other

woes and joys besides my own, and I could full well picture in my mind

the despair which at this hour, must wring the soul of that poor fellow.

I was glad to think that the serving-man might believe that I put my

kerchief to my eyes only to wipe away the whirling snow. At the same

time, methought that for certain some new and terrible sorrow hung over

us nay, never so clearly as then, after Abenberger’s violent attack, had

I perceived how much alone and without protection I stood in the world.

And wherefor had Ann not come to me? For what reason or matter had she

sent for me at so late an hour?

Then, when I looked up at the Pernharts’ house; saw that the windows of

the first floor which had been made ready as guest chambers some days

ago, for my lord Cardinal, were lighted up, so he must have come home

and now be lodging there again.

But Ann knew full well how truly I honored the reverend and illustrious

uncle, and for sure if he had brought her good tidings she would

forthwith have sent me word, or have come to me herself.

What then was now the matter? In what form had the misfortune come upon

us which Abenberger had read in the stars?

I lifted the knocker with a faint heart, and could scarce breathe when I

had to knock three times or ever the door was opened.

How swiftly my Ann was wont to fly to me when she heard my tap! Was she

then afraid to meet me with the message of woe which my lord Cardinal

had perchance received from Cairo through his chaplains there? We had

the ransom ready to be sure; yet Ursula would be almost forced, after

her treacherous deed, to pursue Herdegen to his death; what could she

look for if he ever came home again? Come what might then, and were

it the worst, I must set out, and that forthwith, even if I found no

fellowship but Cousin Maud and Eppelein. And to this purpose I had come,

when at last the door was opened.

Below stairs nought was stirring. I hastily flung my wet mantle to

Mario, the deaf-mute, who had let me in, and ran up stairs. Hardly had

I reached the second floor when Ann met me, well and of good cheer;

and when I began, in the outer chamber, to beseech her to be no less

steadfast than I was in departing for the East, she nodded consent, and

pointed the way into the inner chamber, where we might be more at our

ease. I was amazed to see her in such good heart, and all the more so

when she told me that my lord Cardinal had come home that morning.

There was above stairs, she hastily told me, a noble Italian Knight,

who had desired to see our pictures; so we went into the guest chamber,

which was all lighted up as when company was bidden. Nay, it was of such

festal aspect as well nigh dazzled me, and I discerned at once that my

portrait, which only a few days ago had been hanged on the wall by the

side of Ann’s for my lord Cardinal, was now placed on two chairs and

leaning against the high backs.

All this and more I perceived in a few hasty glances, and when I

enquired where might this stranger from Italy be, I was told that he had

gone with Master Pernhart into the chamber which had been fitted for his

Eminence with the magnificent stuffs from Rome and Florence which he had

brought as a gift for his old mother. The finest of these were certain

hangings of fine tissue and of many colors, which hung over the wide

opening between the great guest chamber and that next to it. And the

Italian must likewise have seen these, inasmuch as that they hung down,

whereas they were wont to be drawn to the sides. Behind them, all was

dark; thus the Master and his wife, with their strange guest, must have

withdrawn into the chamber at the back of the house, where the Cardinal

had loved to work, and wherein there were sundry works of art to be

seen, and choice Greek manuscripts which he had brought with him to show

to the learned doctors in his native town; as being rare and precious.

None was here save the old grandam, and her countenance beamed with joy

as she held out her hands to me from her arm-chair, in glad and hearty

greeting. She was dressed in her bravest array, and there was in her

aspect likewise somewhat solemn and festal.

Albeit I was truly minded at all times to rejoice with those who were

rejoicing, all this bravery, at this time, was sorely against the grain

of my troubled heart and its forebodings of ill. I could not feel at

ease, and meseemed that all this magnificence and good cheer mocked my

hapless and oppressed spirit.

In truth, I could scarce bring myself to return the old dame’s greeting

with due gladness; and her keen eyes at once discerned how matters were

with me. She held me by the hand, and asked me in a hearty voice whence

came the clouds that darkened my brow. When her bright, high-spirited

Margery, whom she had never known to be in a gloomy mood, looked like

this, for sure some great evil had befallen.

Whereupon what came over me I know not. Whether it were that the

blackness and the terror in my bosom were too great a contrast with the

gladness and splendor about me, or what it was that so tightly gripped

my heart, I cannot tell to this day; but I know full well that all which

had oppressed me since Abenberger denounced me came rushing down on

my soul as it were, and that I burst into tears and cried out “Yes,

grandmother dear, I have gone through a dreadful, terrible hour! I have

had to withstand the attack of a madman, and hear a horrible curse from

his lips. But it is not that alone, no, verily and indeed! I can, for

that matter, make any man to know his place, were he twice the man that

little Abenberger is; and as to curses, I learnt from a child to mind

my dear father’s saying: ‘Curse me if you will! What matters it if I may

earn God’s blessing!’”

“And you have earned it, honestly earned it,” quoth she, drawing me down

to kiss my forehead. Hereupon I ceased weeping and bid my heart take

fresh courage, and went on, still much moved: “It is nought but a

woman’s shameless craft that troubles me so sorely. Ursula’s hate hangs

over my brothers like a black storm-cloud; and on my way hither meseemed

I saw full plainly that the ransom is not the end of the matter. Nay, if

we had twice so much, yet Herdegen will never come home alive if we fail

to cross Ursula’s scheming; has she not cause to fear the worst, if ever

he comes home in safety? But where is the envoy who would dare so much?

Kunz lies wounded in a strange land, Young Kubbeling would doubtless be

ready to cross the seas, notwithstanding his fever, but good-will

would not serve him, so little is he skilled in such matters. Our other

friends are over old, or forced to stay in Nuremberg. Thus do matters

stand. What then is left to us--to Ann and me, Grandmother? I ask

you--what, save to act on our first and only wise intent? And that which

it is our part to do, which we may not put off one day longer than

we need, is to take ship, under the grace of the Blessed Virgin, and

ourselves to carry fresh courage to those who are nearest and dearest to

us. Of a truth I am but an orphaned maid; my lover and my guardian are

both dead; and yet do I not fear to depart for a land beyond seas; true

and faithful love is the guiding-star which shall lead us, and we have

seen in Ann how true is the Apostle’s saying that love conquereth all

things. Any creature who stands straight on a pair of strong legs, and

who is sound in soul and body, and who looks up to Heaven and trusts in

God’s grace with joyful assurance, even if it be but a weak maiden, may

rescue a fellow-creature in need; and I, thank God, am sound and

whole. Nay, and I will even pledge my word that I will tear asunder the

subtlest web which Ursula may spin, in especial if I have Ann’s keen wit

to aid me. So I will go forth, and away, through frost and snow, to find

my brethren; and if his pains keep Kubbeling at home in spite of his

catskins, and if Master Ulsenius should forbid Eppelein to ride so far,

yet will we find some other to be our faithful squire.”

And with this I drew a deep breath; and when I turned to seek Ann, with

a lighter heart, to the end that she should signify her consent, on a

sudden me seemed as though the floor of the chamber rose up beneath my

feet, and I was nigh falling, by reason that the fine hangings which hid

the Cardinal’s chamber from my eyes were drawn asunder, and a tall man,

tanned brown by the sun, came forth, and said in a deep voice: “Wilt

thou trust these hands, Margery? They are ready and willing to serve

thee faithfully.”

Hereupon a cry of joy broke from me: “Gotz,” and again “Gotz!”

And albeit meseemed as though the walls, and tables, and chairs were

whirling round me, and as though the ceiling, nay and the blue sky

above it had yawned above me, yet I fell not, but hastened to meet this

new-comer, and grasped his kind, strong hand.

Yet was not this all; or ever I was rightly aware how it befell, he had

clasped me in his arms, and I was leaning on his breast, and his warm

bearded lips were for the first time set on mine.

Master Pernhart and his wife had come out of the further chamber with

my cousin, and Ann, and the grandam, and the elder children gazed at

us; yet neither he nor I paid heed to them and, as each looked into the

other’s eyes, and I saw that his face was the same as of old, albeit of

a darker brown, and more well-favored and manly; then my heart sang out

in joyful triumph, and I made no resistance when he held me closer to

him and whispered in my ear: “But Margery, how may a cousin, who is not

an old man, go forth as squire to a fair young maid, and so further on

through a lifetime, and not rouse other folks to great and righteous

wrath?”

At this the blood mounted to my face; and albeit I by no means doubted

of my reply, he spared my bashfulness and went on with deep feeling:

“But if he did so as your wedded husband, what aunt or gossip then might

dare to blame him and his honored wife, Dame Margery Waldstromer?”

Whereat I smiled right gladly up at my new lover, and answered him in a

whisper: “Not one, Gotz, not one.”

Thus I plighted my troth to him that very evening; and as for the costly

jewels which he had bought on the Rialto at Venice to bring to his dear

Red-riding-hood, and now gave me as his first love-tokens, what were

they to me as compared with the joyful news wherewith he could rejoice

our hearts? So presently we sat with the Pernharts after that Cousin

Maud and Uncle Christian Pfinzing, my dear godfather, had been bidden to

join us. Gotz sat with his arm round me, and my hand rested in his.

For how long a space had lands and seas lain betwixt us, how swift and

sudden had his wooing been and my consent! And yet, meseemed as though

I had but now fulfilled the purpose of Providence for me from the

beginning; and there was singing and blossoming in my breast and heart,

as though they were an enchanted garden wherein fountains were leaping,

and roses and tulips and golden apples and grapes were blooming and

ripening among pine-trees and ivy-wreaths.

Nevertheless I lost no word of his speech, and could have listened to

him till morning should dawn again. And while we thus sat, or paced

the room arm-in-arm, I heard many matters, and yet not enough of Gotz’s

adventurous fate, and of the happy turn my brothers’ concerns had taken

with his good help. And what we now learned from his clear and plain

report, answering our much questioning, was that, after separating from

his home, he had taken service as a soldier of the Venice Republic, and

had done great deeds under the name of Silvestri, which is to say “of

the Woods.” Of all the fine things he had done before Salonica and

elsewhere, fighting against Sultan Mourad and the Osmanli, yea, and in

many fights against other infidels, thereby winning the favor of his

general, the great Pietro Loredano--of all this he would tell us at

great length another day. Not long since he had been placed as chief,

at the head of the armed force on board the fleet sent forth by the

Republic to Alexandria to treat with the Sultan as concerning the King

of Cyprus, who was held a prisoner. With him likewise, on the greatest

of the galleys, were there sundry great gentlemen of the most famous

families of Venice, and chief of them all, Marino Cavallo, Procurator of

Saint Mark; inasmuch as that the Council desired to ransom the King of

Cyprus with Venice gold, and to that end had sent Angelo Michieli with

the embassy, he being the Senior of one of the most powerful and wealthy

merchants’ houses in the East.

With all of these Gotz, as a hero in war, was on right friendly terms,

and when they landed at Alexandria, Anselmo Giustiniani, the Consul, had

given them all fine quarters in the Fondaco.

Here, then, my new lover had met Ursula; howbeit, he made not himself

known to her, by reason that already he had heard an evil report of her

husband’s dealings as Consul, and of her deeds and demeanors. Yet was

there one man dwelling in the Fondaco to whom he confessed his true

name, and that was Hartmann Knorr, a son of Nuremberg and of good

family, who, after gaining his doctor’s degree at Padua, had taken the

post of leech to the Consul, provided and paid by the Republic. In this,

his fellow countryman’s chamber, the two, who had been schoolmates, had

much privy discourse, and inasmuch as that Master Knorr knew of old that

Gotz was near of kin to the Schoppers, he forthwith made known to him

that he had been bidden to the house of Akusch’s parents to tend and

heal Kunz, and had learnt from him many strange tidings; accusing Ursula

of the guilt of having concealed and kept back the letters written

by Herdegen and Sir Franz to their kindred at home, of having set her

husband’s hired knaves on himself, to murder him, and lastly, of having

maliciously increased the sum for his brother’s ransom. Hereupon the

worthy leech was minded to sail to Venice in the next homeward-bound

galleon, to do what he might for his countrymen in sore straits;

howbeit, Gotz might now perchance work out their release from grief

and slavery in some other wise. And whereas Master Knorr could give him

tidings of other criminal deeds committed by Giustiniani, my new lover

had forthwith written a petition of accusation to the Council at Venice,

and forthwith Marino Cavallo, in his rights as procurator of Saint Mark,

had commanded the Consul and his wife to depart for Venice and present

themselves before the Collegium of the Pregadi, which hath the direction

of the Consuls beyond seas.

Likewise Gotz had taken in hand the cause of Herdegen and Sir Franz and

forasmuch as he was held in great respect, Master Angelo Michieli was

not hardly won to do what he might for them, taking Gotz and Kunz for

surety. The Venice embassy went forth to Cairo, and whereas Master

Michieli, who was skilled in such matters, beat down the ransom demanded

for King Janus to the sum of two hundred thousand ducats, and paid it

down for the royal captive, he likewise moved the Sultans to be content

with fifteen thousand ducats each for Herdegen and Sir Franz, and my

brother and his fellow in misfortune were set free.

All through this tale my heart beat higher; I secretly hoped that

peradventure my brothers had come home with Gotz, and were hiding

themselves away, only for some reason privy to themselves. Howbeit, I

presently heard that they had set forth with their faces to Jerusalem;

to the end that they might, at their homecoming, tell the Emperor with

the greater assurance, that they had taken upon themselves the penance

of going at last to the Holy Places whither they had been bidden to go.

When Gotz had ended these great and comforting tidings, and I enquired

of him what then had at last brought him homewards, he freely confessed

that my brothers’ discourse had recalled to him so plainly his fathers’

house, his parents, and all that was dear and that he had left, that he

could no longer endure to stay away beyond seas. Then he looked me in

the eyes and whispered: “The images of my sick mother and my grey-headed

father drew me most strongly; yet was a third; a dear, sweet, childish

face; the very same as now looks into mine so gladly and lovingly. Yes,

it is the very face I had hoped to find it; and when, erewhile, I saw

your likeness in the red hood, and heard your speech as you poured forth

your inmost soul to grandmother Pernhart, I knew my own mind.”

How dear the newcomer was, in truth, to all in the Pernhart household I

might mark that evening. The old grandam’s eyes rested on him as though

he were a dear son, and Master Pernhart would come close to him now

and again, and stroke his arm. Twice only did he hastily turn away

and privily wipe his eyes. Nevertheless he saw our love-making with no

jealousy; nay, when Gotz could scarce tear himself away from my picture,

Master Pernhart whispered to him that if ever a maid should stand in his

Gertrude’s place it should be Margery, and the grandam had cried Amen.

It was already midnight when horses’ hoofs were heard in the street, and

when they stopped Gotz rose, and then presently all the others vanished

from the chamber. Yet were we not long suffered to enjoy each other’s

fellowship, inasmuch as he himself had ordered his horse, to the end

that he might ride forth spite of the lateness of the hour to the

forest. His servingman, himself the son of a forester, had been there

already to desire Grubner, the headman, to bid my uncle to his dwelling

early on the morrow, and the good son purposed there to gladden himself

by meeting his father, after that he had greeted the house unseen in the

darkness.

But how hard it was to part after so brief a meeting from this

newly-found and best-beloved lover, and to see the weary traveller fare

forth once more into the dark night. And how few words in secret had

we as yet spoken, how little had we discussed what might befall on the

morrow, and how he should demean himself to his mother!

To my humble entreaty that he would set aside the unnatural and sinful

oath which forbade him to enter his parents’ house he had turned a deaf

ear. Yet how lovingly had he given me to understand his stern refusal,

which I justly deserved, inasmuch as I knew full well the meaning of an

oath; and yet I besought him with all my heart to send away his horse,

and bid me not farewell when welcome had scarce been spoken. On the

morrow it would be a joy to me to ride forth with him, and my uncle

could never chafe at a few short hours’ delay.

All this poured from my lips smoothly and warmly enough, and he calmly

heard me to the end; but then he solemnly declared to me that, sweet as

he might deem it to have me by his side to keep him company, it might

not be; and he set forth clearly and fully how he had ordered the matter

yestereve, and I looked up at him as to a general who foresees and

governs all that may befall, to the wisest ends. So steadfast and

clear a purpose I had never met; howbeit, Mother Eve’s part in me was

ill-content. It was too much for me to suffer that he should depart,

and, like the fool that I was, the desire possessed me to bend to my

will this man of all men, whose stiff-necked will was ever as firm as

iron.

I began once more to beseech him, and this time he broke in, declaring

that, say what I would, he must depart, and therewith he pulled the hood

of his cloak over his head so that his well-favored, honest brown face,

with its pointed beard, framed as it were in the green cloth, looked

down on me, the very image of manly beauty and mild gravity.

My heart beat higher than ever for joy and pride at calling the heart of

such a man mine own, and therewith my desire waxed stronger to exert my

power. And I knew right well how to get the upper-hand of my lovers. My

Hans had never said me nay when I had entreated him with certain wiles.

And whereas I had in no wise forgotten my tricks, I took Gotz by the

hem of his hood and drew his dear head down to my face. Then I rubbed

my nose against his as hares do when they sniff at each other, put up

my lips for a kiss, stood on tip-toe, offered him my lips from afar, and

whispered to him right sweetly and beseechingly:

“And, in spite of all, now you are to be my good, dear heart’s treasure,

and will do Margery’s bidding when she entreats you so fondly and will

give you a sweet kiss for your pains.”

But I had reckoned vainly. The reward for which my Hans modestly served

me, this bold warrior cared not to win. His bearded lips, to be sure,

were ready enough to meet mine, nor was he content with one kiss only;

but, as soon as he had enjoyed the last, he took both my hands tight in

his own, and said solemnly but sweetly:

“Do you not love me, Margery?” And when I had hastily declared that I

did, he went on in the same tone, and still holding my bands: “Then

you must know, once for all, that I could refuse you nought, neither in

great matters nor small, unless it were needful. Yet, when once I have

said,” and he spoke loud, “nothing can move me in the very least. You

have known me from a child, and of your own free will you have given

yourself over to this iron brain. Now, kiss me once more, and bear me no

malice! Till to-morrow. Out in the forest, please God, we will belong to

each other for many a long day!”

Therewith he clasped me firmly and truly in his arms, and I willingly

and hotly returned his kiss, and or ever I could find a word to reply he

had quitted the chamber. I hastened to the window, and as he waved his

hand and rode off down the street facing the snow-storm, I pressed my

hand to my breast, and rarely has a human being so overflowed with pure

gladness at being twice worsted in the fray, albeit I had forced it on

myself.

How I returned home I know not; but I know that I had rarely knelt at my

prayers with such fervent thanksgiving, and that meseemed as though my

mother in Heaven and my dead Hans likewise must rejoice at this which

had befallen me.

As I lay in bed, or ever I slept, all that was fairest in my past life

came back to me as clearly as if it were living truth, and first and

chiefest I saw myself as little Red-riding-hood, under the forest-trees

with Gotz, who did me a thousand services and preferred me above all

others till, for Gertrude’s sake, he departed beyond seas, and set my

childish soul in a turmoil.

Then came the joy and the pain I had had by reason of the loves of

Herdegen and Ann, and then my Hans crossed my path, and how glad I was

to remember him and the bliss he had brought me! But or ever I had come

to the bitterest hour of my young days, sleep overcame me, and the manly

form of Gotz, steeled by much peril and strife for his life, came to me

in my dreams; and he did not, as Hans would have done, give me his

hand; Oh no! He snatched me up in his arms and carried me, as Saint

Christopher bears the Holy Child, and strode forward with a firm step

over plains and abysses, whithersoever he desired; and I suffered him to

go as he would, and made no resistance, and felt scarce a fear, albeit

meseemed the strong grip of his iron arm hurt me. And thus we went on

and on, through ancient mountain-forests, while the boughs lashed my

face and I could look into the nests of the eagles and wood-pigeons, of

the starlings and squirrels. It was a wondrous ramble; now and then I

gasped for breath, yet on we went till, on the topmost bough of an oak,

behold, there was Lorenz Abenberger, and the evil words he spoke made me

wake up.

After this I could sleep no more, and in thought I followed Gotz through

the snow-storm. And in spirit I saw Waldtrud, the fair daughter of

Grubner, the chief forester, bidding him welcome, and giving him hot

spiced wine after his cold ride, and sipping the cup with her rosy lips.

Hereupon a pang pierced my heart, and methought indeed how well favored

a maid was the forester’s daughter, and not more than a year older than

I, and by every right deemed the fairest in all the forest. And the

evil fiend jealousy, which of yore had had so little hold over me that

I could bear to see my Hans pay the friendliest court to the fairest

maidens, now whispered wild suspicions in mine ear that Gotz, with

his bold warrior’s ways, might be like enough to sue for some light

love-tokens from the fair and mirthful Waldtrud.

Howbeit, I presently called to mind the honest eyes of my new heart’s

beloved, and that brought me peace; and how I was struck with horror to

think that I had known the sting of that serpent whom men call jealousy.

Must it ever creep in where true love hath found a nest? And if indeed

it were so, then--and a hot glow thrilled through me--then the love

which had bound me to Hans Haller had been a poor manner of thing, and

not the real true passion.

No, no! Albeit it had worn another aspect than this brand new flame,

which I now felt burning and blazing up from the early-lighted and long

smouldering fire, nevertheless it had been of the best, and faithful and

true. Albeit as the betrothed of Hans Haller I had been spared the

pangs of jealousy, I owed it only to the great and steadfast trust I had

gladly placed in him. And Gotz, who had endured so much anguish and toil

to be faithful to his other sweetheart, was not less worthy of my faith,

and it must be my task to fight against the evil spirit with all the

strength that was in me.

Then again I fell asleep; and when, as day was breaking, I woke once

more and remembered all that had befallen me yestereve, I had to clutch

my shoulders and temples or ever I was certain that indeed my eyes were

open on another day. And what a day! My heart overflowed as I saw, look

which way I might, no perils, none, nothing, verily nothing that was

not well-ordered and brought to a good end, nothing that was not a

certainty, and such a blessed certainty!

I rose as fresh and thankful as the lark, my Cousin Maud was standing,

as yet not dressed and with screws of paper in her hair, in front of the

pictures of my parents, casting a light on their faces from her little

lamp; and it was plain that she was telling them, albeit without speech,

that her life’s labor and care had come to a happy issue, and I was

irresistibly moved to fly to her brave and faithful heart; and although,

while we held each other in an embrace, we found no words, we each knew

full well what the other meant.

After this, in all haste we made ready to set forth, and the Magister

came down to us in the hall, inasmuch as my cousin had called him. He

made his appearance in the motley morning gabardine which gave him so

strange an aspect, and to my greeting of “God be with ‘ee!” he gaily

replied that he deemed it wasted pains to ask after my health.

Then, when he had been told all, at first he could not refrain himself

and good wishes flowed from his lips as honey from the honey-comb;

and he was indeed a right merry sight as, in the joy of his heart, he

clapped his arms together across his breast, as a woodhewer may, to warm

his hands in winter. On a sudden, however, he looked mighty solemn, and

when Cousin Maud, bethinking her of Ann, spoke kindly to him, saying

that matters were so in this world, that one who stood in the sun must

need cast a shadow on other folks, the Magister bowed his head sadly and

cried: “A wise saying, worthy Mistress Maud; and he who casts the shade

commonly does so against his will, ‘sine ira et studio’. And from that

saying we may learn--suffer me the syllogism--that, inasmuch as all

things which bring woe to one bring joy to another, and vice-versa,

there must ever be some sad faces so long as there is no lack of happy

ones. As to mine own poor countenance, I may number it indeed with those

in shadow--notwithstanding”--here his flow of words stopped on a sudden.

Howbeit, or ever we could stay him, he went on in a loud and well-nigh

triumphant voice. “Notwithstanding I am no wise woeful--no, not in the

least degree. I have found the clue, and who indeed could fail to see

it: Your shadow can fall so black on me only by reason that you stand in

the fullest sunshine! As for me, it is no hard matter for me to endure

the blackness of night; and may you, Mistress Margery, for ever and ever

stand in the glory of light, henceforth till your life’s end.”

As he spoke he upraised his eyes and hands to heaven as in prayer, and

without bidding us “Vale,” or “Valete,” as was his wont, he gathered his

gaudy robe and fled up-stairs again.

The storm was yet as heavy as it had been yestereve; howbeit, though

Bayard sank into the snow so deep that I swept it with the hem of my

kirtle, yet the ride to the forest-lodge meseemed was as short as though

I had flown. Cousin Maud would ride slowly in the sleigh, so I suffered

her to creep along, and presently outstripped her.

Gotz and I had yestereve agreed that I should first see Aunt Jacoba, and

then meet him at Grubner’s lodge to report of what mind she might seem

to be. Ann had no choice but to stay at home, inasmuch as she must be in

attendance at the Cardinal’s homecoming.

No one in all the dear old forest home was aware of my coming save the

gate warden. My uncle had ridden forth at an early hour, and was not yet

returned, but my aunt I found below stairs, strange to say, against her

wont, dressed and in discourse with the chaplain. Peradventure then

her husband had already made known to her what had taken him forth to

Grubner’s dwelling, and if so he had lifted a heavy task from me, for

indeed my whole soul yearned to this dearly-beloved aunt, yet meseemed

it was no light matter to prepare her, who was so feeble and yet so

self-willed, for the joy and the strife of soul which awaited her. The

board was spread for them as it were, and yet she and Gotz, by their

baleful oath, had barred themselves from tasting of that bread and that

cup.

I crossed the threshold in trembling, and as soon as she beheld me she

cried out, with burning cheeks, which glowed not so, for sure, from the

blaze in the chimney: “Margery, Margery! And so happy as she looks! You

have seen your uncle, child, and can tell me wherefor he is gone forth?”

I told her truly that I had not; and then bid her rejoice with me,

inasmuch as that all the price of Herdegen’s ransom had been paid and,

best of all, that we had good tidings of our brothers’ well-being.

Then she was fain to know when and through whom, and made enquiry in

such wise as though she had some strong suspicion; and I answered her

as calmly as I might, that a pilgrim from the East had come to us

yestereve, a right loyal and worthy gentleman, whom, indeed, I hoped to

bring to her knowledge.

But I might say no more by reason that her eyes on a sudden flashed up

brightly, and she vehemently broke in:

“Chaplain, Chaplain! Now what do you say? When the old man rode forth so

early this morning, and bid me farewell in so strange a wise, then--hear

me, Margery--he likewise spoke to me of a messenger from the East

who rode into the city yestereve--just as you say. But it was not of

Herdegen that he brought tidings, but of him--of him--of Gotz that he

had sure knowledge. And when the old man told me so much as that, for

certain somewhat lay behind it.--And now, Margery--when I see you--when

I consider....” Here, as I cast a meaning glance at the Chaplain, on a

sudden she shrieked with such a yell as pierced my bones and marrow; and

or ever I saw her, her weak, lean hand had clutched my wrist, and she

cried in a hoarse voice:

“Then you, you have hid somewhat from me! The look wherewith you

warned the Chaplain, oh! I marked it well.--And you hesitate--and

now--you--Margery--Margery! By Christ’s wounds I ask you, Margery. What

is it?--What of Gotz? Has he... out with it--out with the truth.... Has

he written?--No.--You shake your head.... Merciful Virgin! He--he--Gotz

is on his way Home wards.” And she clapped her hands over her face. I

fell on my knees by her side, dragged first her left hand and then her

right hand away from her eyes, covered them with kisses, and whispered

to her: “Yes, yes, Aunt, Mother, sweet, dear little mother! Only

wait--You shall hear all. Gotz is weary of wandering; he had not

forgotten his father and mother, nor me, his little Red-riding-hood--I

know it, I am sure of it. Patience! only a little patience and he will

be here--in Germany, in Franconia, in Nuremberg, in the forest, in the

house, in this hall, here, here where I am kneeling, at your feet, in

your arms!”

Then the deeply-moved dame, who had listened to me breathless, flung

her hands high in the air as if she were seeking somewhat, and it was as

though her eyes turned inside out; and I was seized with sudden terror,

inasmuch as I deemed that she had drunk death out of the overfull cup of

joy that my hand had put to her lips. Howbeit, it was but a brief swoon

which had come upon her, and as soon as she had come to herself again

and I had told her the whole truth, little by little and with due

caution, even that Gotz and I had found each other and both fervently

and earnestly longed for her motherly blessing, she gave it me in rich

abundance.

Now was it my part to make known to her that her returned son held fast

to his oath; and I had already begun to tell her this when she waved her

hands, and eagerly broke in: “And do you think I ever looked that he,

who is a Waldstromer and a Behaim both in one, should ever break a vow?

And of a truth he hath given me time enough to consider of it!--But

to-day, this very day, early in the morning I found the right way out of

the matter, albeit it is as like a trick of woman’s craft as one egg is

like another.--You know that reckless oath. It requires me never, never

to bid Gotz home again; but yet,”--and now her eyes began to sparkle

brightly with gladness--“what my oath does not forbid is that I should

go forth to meet Gotz, and find him wheresoever he may be.”

Hereupon the Chaplain clapped his hands and cried:

“And thus once more the love of a woman’s heart hath digged a pit for

Satan’s craft.”

And I ran forth to bid them harness the sleigh, whereas I knew full well

that no counsel would avail.

And now, as of yore when she had fared into the town for love of Ann,

she was wrapped in a mountain of warm garments, so we clothed her to-day

in a heap of such raiment, and Young Kubbeling would suffer no man but

himself to drive the horses. Thus we went at a slow pace to Grubner’s

lodge, and all the way we rode we met not a soul save Cousin Maud, and

she only nodded to me, by reason that she could not guess that a living

human creature was breathing beneath the furs and coverlets at my side.

Young Kubbeling on the box, and the ravens and tomtits and redbreasts in

the woods had not many words from us. While I was thinking with fear

and expectation of the outcome of this meeting of the mother and son,

I scarce spoke more than a kind word of good cheer now and again to my

aunt, to which Kubbeling would ever add in a low voice: “All will come

right!” or “God bless thee, most noble lady!” And each time we thus

spoke I was aware of a small movement about my knees, and would then

press my lips to the outermost cover of the beloved bundle by my side.

At about two hundred paces from the Forester’s but the path turned off

from the highway, so that we might be seen from the windows thereof; and

scarce had the sleigh turned into this cross-road, when the door of the

lodge was opened and my uncle and Gotz came forth.

The son had his arm laid on his father’s shoulder and they gazed at us.

And indeed it was a noble and joyful sight as they stood there, the old

man and the young one, both of powerful and stalwart build, both grown

strong in wind and weather, and true and trustworthy men. The slim young

pine had indeed somewhat overtopped the gnarled oak, but the crown of

the older tree was the broader. Such as the young man was now the

old man must have been, and what the son should one day be might be

seen--and I rejoiced to think it--in his father’s figure and face.

Howbeit, as a husband Gotz gave no promise of treading in his father’s

footsteps, and when I thought of this, and of the lesson I had yestereve

received, my cheeks grew redder than they had already turned in the

sharp December air, or under the gaze of my new lover.

Howbeit I had no time for much thought; the sleigh was already at the

door, and or ever I was aware the old man had me in his arms and kissed

my lips and brow, and called me his dear and well-beloved daughter. Then

the younger man pressed forward to assert his claims, and when he bent

over me I threw my arms round his neck, and he lifted me up, for all

that I was none of the lightest in my winter furs and thick raiment,

out of the sleigh like a child, and again his lips were on mine. But we

might not suffer them to meet for more than a brief kiss. Uncle Conrad

had discovered my aunt’s face among all her wrappings, and gave loud

utterance to his well-founded horror, while my aunt cried out to her

long-lost son by name again and again, with all the love of a longing

and long-robbed mother’s heart.

I gladly set my lover free, and at the next minute he was on his knees

in the snow and his trembling hands removed wrap after wrap from the

beloved head, Kubbeling helping him from the driving-seat with his great

hands, purpled by the cold.

And again in a few minutes the mother was covering her only son’s head

with tender kisses, so violently and so long that her strength failed

her and she fell back on the pillows, overdone.

Hereupon Gotz bowed over her, and as he had erewhile lifted his

sweetheart out of the sleigh, so now he lifted his mother; and while he

held her thus in his arms and bore her into the house, not heeding the

kerchiefs which dropped off by degrees and lay in a long line covering

the ground behind her, as coals do which are carried in a broken

scuttle, she cried in a trembling voice: “Oh you bad, only boy, you my

darling and heart-breaker, you noble, wicked, perverse fellow! Gotz my

son, my own and my All!”

And when she had found a place in the warm room, in the head forester’s

wife’s arm-chair by the fire, I removed her needless raiment and Gotz

sank down at her feet, and she took his head in her hands, and cried:

“I did not wait for you to come, but flew to meet you, my lad, by reason

that, as you know--I took a sinful oath never to bid you to come home.

But oath and vow are nought; they are null and void! I have learned from

the depths of my heart that Heaven had nought to do with them--that it

was pure pride and folly; and I bid you home with my whole heart and

soul, and beseech your forgiveness for all the sorrow we have brought

upon each other, and I will have and keep you henceforth, and nought

else here on earth! Ah, and Gertrude, poor maid! She would have been

heartily, entirely welcome to me as at this day, were it not that there

is another maiden who is dearest to my heart of all the damsels on

earth!”

Then was there heartfelt embracing and kissing on both parts, and, as I

saw her weep, I made an unspoken vow that if the eyes of this mother and

her son should ever shed tears again I would be the last to cause them,

and that I would ever be ready and at hand to dry them carefully away.

I mind me likewise that I then beheld fair Waldtrud, the forester’s

daughter, inasmuch as she full heartily wished me joy; yet I remember

even better that I felt no pang of jealousy, and indeed scarce looked

at the wench, by reason that there were many other matters of which the

sight gave me far greater joy.

It was a delightful and never-to-be-forgotten hour, albeit over-short;

by my uncle’s desire we ere long made ready to go homewards. Now when

Gotz was carrying his mother from the hot chamber to the sleigh, and

I was left looking about me for certain kerchiefs of my aunt’s, I

perceived, squatted behind the great green-tiled stove, Young Kubbeling

in a heap, and with his face hidden in his hands. He moved not till I

spoke to him; then he dried his wet eyes with his fur hood, and when I

laid my hand on his shoulder he drew a deep breath, and said:

“It has been a moving morning, Mistress Margery. But it will all come

right. It has come upon me as a sharp blow to be sure; and I have no

longer any business here in the forest, all the more so by reason that

I have children and grandchildren at home who have looked over-long for

the old man’s home-coming. I will set forth to-morrow early. To tell the

truth to none but you, I cannot endure to be away from the old place a

longer space than it takes to go to Alexandria and back. My old heart

is grown over-soft and weary for an absence of two journeys. And

yet another matter for your ear alone: You will be the wife of a

noblehearted man, but mind you, he has long been free to wander

whithersoever he would. Take it to heart that you make his home dear

and happy, else it will be with you as it is with my old woman, who hath

never mastered that matter, and who lives alone for more days in the

year than ever we dreamed the morning we were wed.”

Hereupon we went forth together; and I took his counsel to heart, and

Gotz never left me for any long space of time, save when he must.

As for Kubbeling, he kept his word and departed from us on the morrow

morning; yet we often saw him again after that time, and the finest

falcon in our mews is that he sent us as a wedding gift; and after our

marriage Ann received a fine colored parrot as a gift from old Uhlwurm,

and the old man had made it speak for her in such wise that it could say

right plainly: “Uhlwurm is Ann’s humble servant.”

We now spent two days at the forest lodge in bliss, as though paradise

had come down on earth; and albeit it is a perilous thing to rejoice in

the love of a man who has wandered far beyond seas, yet has it this good

side: that many matters which to another seem far away and out of reach,

he deems near at hand, and half the world is his as it were. And how

well could Gotz make me to feel as though I shared his possession!

On the morning of the third day after his coming, my lord Cardinal rode

forth to the forest with Ann; and, inasmuch as the duties of his office

now led, him to sojourn in Wurzberg and Bamberg, he could promise us

that he would bless our union or ever he departed to Italy. Albeit

methought it would be a happy chance if we might stand at the altar at

the same time with Herdegen and Ann, Gotz’s impatience, which had waxed

no lesser even during his journeyings, was set against our waiting for

my brother’s coming. Likewise he desired that we might live together a

space as man and wife, before he should go to Venice to get his release

from the service of the Republic.

At the same time he deemed it not prudent to take me with him on that

journey, howbeit, after that we were wed, when he was about to depart, I

made so bold as to beseech him; and he plainly showed me that I had

not made him wroth or troubled him whereas he willingly granted me to

journey with him, and without reproof. Thus I fared with him to the

great and mighty city of Saint Mark, which I had ever longed to behold

with my bodily eyes. I never went beyond seas, yet we journeyed as

far as Rome, and there, under the protection and guidance of my lord

Cardinal, I spent many never-to-be-forgotten days by the side of my

Gotz.

But one thing at a time; some day, if my many years may suffer, I will

write more concerning these matters.

How well my aunt and the Cardinal were minded towards each other would

be hard to describe, albeit now and again they fell to friendly strife;

the reverend prelate found it hard to depart from the lodge and from

that strange woman, whose clear and busy brain in her sickly body came,

in after times, to be accounted as one of the great marvels of her

native town. Howbeit, it was his duty to pass Christmas-eve with his

venerable mother. He plighted Gotz and me as he had promised us, and to

his life’s end he was ever a kind and honored friend and patron to us

and to our children.

Ann was ever his favorite, and ere he quitted Nuremberg, he bestowed

on her a dowry such as few indeed of our richest nobles could give with

their daughters.

Christmas-eve, which we spent at the lodge with our parents and the

Chaplain and my dear godfather, uncle Christian Pfinzing, was a right

glorious festival, bringing gladness to our souls; yet was it to end

with the first peril that befell our love’s young joy. After the others

had gone to their chambers, and Gotz had indeed given me a last parting

kiss, he stayed me a moment and besought me to be ready early in the

morning to ride with him to the hut of Martin the bee keeper, whose wife

had been his nurse. On many a Christmas morning had he greeted the good

woman with some little posy, and now he had not found one hour to spare

her since his home-coming. Now I would fain have granted this simple

request but that I had privily, with the Chaplain’s help, made the

school children to learn a Christmas carol wherewith to wake the parents

and Gotz from their slumbers. Thus, when he bid me hold myself in

readiness at an early hour, I besought him to make it later. This,

however, by no means pleased him; he answered that the good dame was

wont of old to look for him full early on Christmas morning, and he had

already too long deferred his greeting. Yet the surprise I had plotted

was uppermost in my mind, and I craved of him right duteously that he

would grant me my will. Whereupon his eyebrows, which met above his

nose, were darkly knit, and he gave me to wit, shortly and well-nigh

harshly, that he would abide by his own.

At this the blood rose to my head, and a wrathful answer was indeed on

my tongue when I minded me of the evening when we had come together, and

I asked of him calmly whether he verily deemed that I was so foolish or

evil-minded as to hinder him in a pious and kindly office if I had not

some worthy reason. And herein I had hit on the right way; he recovered

himself, his brow cleared, and saying only “Women, women!” he shook his

head and clasped me to him; and as I fervently returned his kiss, and

opened my chamber door, he called after me: “We will see in the morning,

but as early as may be.”

When I presently was in my bed I minded me of the carol the little ones

were to sing; and then I remembered my own school-days, and how the

Carthusian Sisters had explained to us those words of Scripture: “And

the times shall be fulfilled.” They were written, to be sure, of a

special matter, of the birth of our Saviour and Redeemer; yet I applied

them to myself and Gotz, and wondered in my heart whether indeed

anything that had ever befallen me in life, whether for joy or for

sorrow, had been in vain, and how matters might have stood with me now

if, as a young unbroken thing, or ever I had gone through the school of

life, I had been plighted to this man, whom the Almighty had from the

first fated to be my husband. If the wilful blood of the Schoppers,

unquelled as it had then been, had come into strife with Gotz’s iron

will, there would have been more than enough of hard hitting on both

sides, and how easily might all our happiness have been wrecked thereby.

It was past midnight when at last I slept; and in the dim morning

twilight the Christmas chorus rang through the house in the words the

Shepherds heard in Angels’ voices: “Glory to God in the highest, and on

earth peace.” It woke Gotz, and when we presently got into the sleigh,

he whispered to me: “How piously glad was your hymn, my sweetheart! And

you were right yestereve, and peace shall indeed reign on earth, and

above all betwixt you and me, everywhere and at all times till the E N

D.”

..........................

A POSTSCRIPTUM BY KUNZ SCHOPPER

The children entreat me to write more of Margery’s unfinished tale.

Howbeit I am nigh upon eighty years of age, and how may I hope to win

favor in the exercise of an act to which I am unskilled save in matters

of business? Yet, whereas I could never endure to say nay to any

reasonable prayer of those who are dearest to my heart, I will fulfil

their desire, only setting down that which is needful, and in the

plainest words.

They at whose bidding I sit here, all knew my dear sister well. Margery,

the widow of the late departed Forest-ranger, the Knight Sir Gotz

Waldstromer, Councillor to his Imperial Majesty and Captain of the

men-at-arms in our good city; and each profited during a longer or

shorter space by her loving-kindness, and her wise and faithful counsel.

Many of them can likewise remember the late Anna Spiesz, sometime wife

of Herdegen Schopper; and as to the said Herdegen Schopper, my dear

brother, Margery’s book of memorabilia right truly shows forth the

manner of his life and mind in the bloom of his youth, and verily it

is a sorrowful task for me to set forth the decay and end of so noble a

man.

As to myself, the last remaining link of the Schopper chain whereof

Margery hath many times made mention, I am still with you, my dear

ones; and I remain but little changed, inasmuch as that my life has ever

flowed calmly and silently onward.

How it came to pass that Margery should so suddenly have brought her

memories to an end most of you know already; howbeit I will set it down

for the younger ones.

Till she reached the age of sixty and seven years, she never rode in a

litter, but ever made her journeyings on horseback. For many years past

she and her husband abode in the forest during the summer months only,

and dwelt in their town-house the winter through. Now on a day, when in

her written tale she had got as far as the time when she and Gotz, her

dear husband, were wed, she besought him to ride forth with her to the

forest, inasmuch as that she yearned once more to see the spot in the

winter season which had seen the happiest days of her life in that

long-past December. Thus they fared forth on horseback, although it was

nigh on Christmas-tide, and when they waved their hands to me as they

passed me by in sheer high spirits and mirthfulness, meseemed that in

all Nuremberg, nay in Franconia or in the whole German Empire a man

might scarce find an old white-haired pair of lovers to match these for

light-heartedness and goodly mien. Some few happy and glad days were at

that time vouchsafed to them in the old well-known forest; but on the

ride home Margery’s palfrey stumbled close without the city gates on the

frozen ground. Her arm-bone was badly broken and her right hand remained

so stiff, notwithstanding Master Hartmann Knorr’s best skill, that she

could no more use the pen save with great pain, albeit she often after

this rode on horseback. Thus the little book lay aside for a long space;

and while she was yet diligently striving to write with her left hand

death snatched from her Ann Schopper, the widow of our late dear brother

Herdegen Schopper and her heart’s best friend, and this fell upon her

soul as so cruel a grief that she never after could endure to take up

the pen.

Then, when she lost her dearly-beloved husband, a few months after their

golden wedding day, all was at an end for her; the brave old woman gave

up all care for life, and died no more than three months after him. And

indeed often have I seen how that, when one of a pair, who have dwelt

together so many years in true union of hearts, departs this life, this

earth is too lonely for the other, so that one might deem that their

hearts had grown to be as it were one flesh, and the one that is left

hath bled to death inwardly from the Reaper’s stroke.

Then I read through this book of memories once more, and meseemed that

Margery had written of herself as less worthy than of a truth she was in

her life’s spring-tide.

Most of you can yet remember how that my lord the Mayor spoke of the

bride with the golden chaplet crowning her thick silver hair, as

the pride of our city, the best friend and even at times the wisest

counsellor of our worshipful Council, the comforter and refuge of the

poor; and you know full well that Master Johannes Lochner, the priest,

spoke over her open grave, saying that, as in her youth she had been

fairest, so in old age she was the noblest and most helpful of all the

dames of the parish of Saint Sebald; and you yourselves have many a time

been her almoners, or have gazed in silence to admire her portrait.

And at Venice I have heard from the lips of the very master who limned

her, and who was one of the greatest painters of the famous guild to

which he belonged, that such as she had he imagined the stately queen

of some ancient German King defeated by the Romans, or Eve herself, if

indeed one might conceive of our cold German fatherland as Paradise.

Yea, the most charming and glowing woman he had ever set eyes on was

your mother and grandmother.

And whensoever she went to a dance all the young masters of noble birth,

and the counts and knights, yea even at the Emperor’s court, were of one

mind in saying that Margery Schopper was the fairest and likewise the

most happy-tempered maid and most richly endowed with gifts of the mind,

in all Nuremberg. None but Ann could stand beside her, and her beauty

was Italian and heavenly rather than German and earthly.

Margery’s manuscript ends where she had reached a happy haven; howbeit

there were others of whom she makes mention who were not so happy as to

cast anchor betimes, and if I am to set forth my own tale I must go back

to Alexandria in the land of Egypt.

The dagger hired by Ursula to kill Herdegen struck me; howbeit, by the

time when my cousin Gotz brought my dear brother to see me, himself

a free man, I was already healed of my wound and ready to depart. The

worthy mother of Akusch had tended me with a devotion which would have

done honor to a Christian woman, and it was under her roof that first I

saw Herdegen and my cousin once more. And how greatly was I surprised to

see Gotz, taller than of old, appear before me in the magnificent array

and harness of a chief captain in the army of the all-powerful Republic

of Venice! Instead of an exiled adventurer I found him a stalwart

gentleman, in every respect illustrious and honored, whose commanding

eye showed that he was wont to be obeyed, albeit his voice and mien

revealed a compassionate and friendly soul. Yea, and meseemed that at

his coming a fresher, purer air blew about me; and as soon as he had

made Herdegen’s cause his own and stood surety for him, the chief of the

great trading house of Michieli paid the ransom, which to me, knowing

the value of money, must have seemed never to be compassed, unless my

grand-uncle had been fain to help us. Howbeit, my cousin would not do

the like service for the Knight of Welemisl, in whose mien and manners

he put less trust, wherefore I became his surety, out of sheer pity and

at Herdegen’s prayer.

Here you will ask of me wherefore I do not first speak of my meeting

again with my dear long-suffering brother. And indeed my heart beat high

with joy and thanksgiving, when we held each other clasped; but alack

what changes had come over him in these years of slavery! When he came

into my chamber, his head bowed and his hands behind his back, after

that we had greeted I turned from him and made as though I had some

matter to order, to the end that he might not see me dry my tears;

inasmuch as that he who stood before me was my Herdegen indeed, and yet

was not.

For eighteen long months had he plied the oars on board of a Saracen

galley, while Sir Franz, who was overweak for such toil, served as

keeper of slaves on the benches, himself with chains on his feet. And

it was this long, hard toil which had made my brother diligently to hide

his hands behind his back, as though he were ashamed of them; whereas

those strong hands of his with their costly rings he had ever been wont

to deem a grace, and now of a truth they were grown coarse and as red as

a brick, and were like to those of a hewer in the woods. And whereas men

are apt often to pay less heed to another’s face than to the shape and

state of his hands, I ever mind me of Herdegen’s as I saw them on that

day, and a star and a crescent were branded in blue on the back of his

right, so that all men must see it.

Likewise his deep breast had lost some of its great strength, and he

held himself less stately than of old. Meseemed as though the knight had

laid some part of his sickness upon him, inasmuch that many a time he

coughed much. Likewise the long golden hair, which had flowed in rich

abundance down over his shoulders, had been shorn away after the manner

of the unbelievers, and this gave to his well-favored face a narrow and

right strange appearance. Only the shape of his countenance and his eyes

were what they had ever been; nay, meseemed that his eyes had a brighter

and moister light in them than of yore.

One thing alone was a comfort to me, and that was that my heart beat

with more pitiful and faithful love for him than ever. And when evening

fell, as we brethren sat together with Gotz and Master Knorr and Akusch,

drinking our wine, which only Akusch would not touch, this comforting

assurance waxed strong within me, by reason that Herdegen’s voice was as

sweet as of old, both in speech and in song; and when he set forth all

the adventures and sufferings he had gone through in these last past

years I was fain to listen, and even so was Gotz; and first he drew

tears from our eyes and presently made us laugh right mirthfully. And

what had he not gone through?

I betook me to bed that night in hope and contentment; howbeit, on the

morrow Master Knorr told me privily that whereas my brother’s lungs had

never been of the strongest, if now, in the cold December season, he

should fare north of the Alps after such long sojourning under a warmer

sky, it could not fail to do him a serious mischief, as it likewise

would to Sir Franz. Thus it must be my part to delay our homecoming; and

albeit the leech’s tidings made me heavy at heart I was fain to yield,

inasmuch as that Herdegen might not appear in the presence of his

sweetheart in his present guise.

To this end we made him to believe that he might not come home in safety

unless he had performed the penance laid upon him by the Emperor;

and albeit felt it a hard matter to refrain the craving of his heart,

nevertheless he gave way to our pressing admonitions.

Now, while Gotz fared back to Venice, the galleon which carried Don

Jaime, Prince of Catalonia, as far Joppa, brought us likewise to the

Promised Land to the holy city of Jerusalem. From thence we made our

pilgrimage to many other Holy Places, under the protection of the great

fellowship of that royal Prince who ever showed us much favor.

At last we journeyed homewards, passing by Naples and Genoa; at

Damietta, in the land of Egypt, Sir Franz departed from our company to

make his way to Venice. It was with care and grief that I saw him

set forth on his way alone, and Herdegen was like-minded; in their

misfortune he had learned to mark much that was good in him, and during

our long journeying had seen that not only was he sick in body, but

likewise that a shroud hung over his soul and brain. Also, if Ursula

were yet free to work her will, the very worst might haply befall him

in Venice, by reason that the Giustinianis were of a certainty

evil-disposed towards him, and the power and dignity of that family were

by no means lessened, although, as at that time Antonio Giustiniani had

dishonored his name in Albania, and had been punished by the Forty with

imprisonment and sundry penalties. Yet his cousin Orsato was one of

the greatest and richest of the signori at Venice, and Ursula’s husband

would have found in him a strong upholder, as in truth we heard at

Naples, where tidings reached us that the Pregadi, who had passed

judgment upon him, had amerced him in a penalty of no more than two

thousand ducats, which Orsato paid for him by reason that he would not

suffer that his kinsman should he in prison.

At Genoa we found many letters full of good tidings of our kindred

at home, all overflowing with love and the hope of speedily seeing us

there. Hereupon Herdegen could not refrain himself for impatience and,

if I had suffered it, he would have ridden onward by day and by night

with no pause nor rest, taking fresh horses as he might need them; for

my part what I chiefly cared for was to bring him home as fresh and

sound as I might, and so preserve Ann from grief of heart. Herdegen had

given me her letters to read, and how true and deep a love, how lofty

and pure a soul spoke in those lines! Howbeit, when I heard her, as it

were, cry out by those letters, how that she longed for the moment when

she might again stroke his flowing locks and press his dear faithful

hand to her lips as his dutiful maid, my heart beat with fresh fears. He

held him more upright, to be sure, and his countenance was less pale

and hollow than it had been; but nevermore might he be a strong man. His

light eyes were deep in their sockets, his hair was rarer on his head,

and there were threads of silver among the gold. Ah, and those luckless

hands! It was by reason of his hands--albeit you will doubtless smile

at the confession--that I moved him to refrain his longing, even when

we were so near our journey’s end as Augsburg, and to grant me another

day’s delay, inasmuch as that I cared most that he should at first hide

them in gloves from the womankind at home. And in all the great town was

there not a pair to be and that would fit him, and it would take a whole

day to make him a pair to his measure. Thus were we fain to tarry, and

whereas we had in Augsburg, among other good friends, a faithful ally in

trading matters at the Venice Fondaco, Master Sigismund Gossenprot, we

lodged in his dwelling, which was one of the finest that fine city; and,

as good-hap ruled it, he had, on the very eve of that day, come home

from Venice.

He and his worthy wife had known Herdegen of old, and I was cut to the

heart to see how the sight of him grieved them both. Nay, and the fair

young daughter of the house ne’er cast an eye on the stranger guest,

whose presence had been wont to stir every maiden’s heart to beat

faster. Howbeit, here again I found comfort when I marked at supper that

the sweet damsel no longer heeded my simple person, whereas she had

at first gazed at me with favor, but hearkened with glowing cheeks to

Herdegen’s discourse. At first, to be sure, this was anything rather

than gay, inasmuch as Master Gossenprot was full of tidings from Venice,

and of Sir Franz’s latter end, which, indeed, was enough to sadden the

most mirthful.

When the Bohemian had come to Venice he had lodged at a tavern, by name

“The Mirror,” and there mine host had deemed that he was but a gloomy

and silent guest. And it fell that one day the city was full of a

dreadful uproar, whereas it was rumored that in the afternoon, at the

hour when Dame Ursula Giustiniani was wont to fare forth in her gondola,

a strange man clad in black had leaped into it from his own and, before

the serving-men could lay hands on him, he had stabbed her many times to

the heart with his dagger. Then, as they were about to seize him, he

had turned the murderous weapon still wet with his victim’s blood, on

himself, and thus escaped the avenging hand of justice.

As soon as the host of The Mirror heard this tale, he minded him of that

strange, dark man and, when that way-farer came not home to his inn, he

made report thereof to the judges. Then, on making search in his wallet,

it was discovered that he had entered there under a false name, and that

it was Sir Franz von Welemisl who had taken such terrible vengeance on

Ursula for her sins against himself and Herdegen.

From Augsburg we now made good speed, and when, one fine June morning,

our proud old citadel greeted our eyes from afar, and I saw that

Herdegen’s eyes were wet as he gazed upon it, mine eyes likewise filled

with tears, and as we rode we clasped hands fervently, but in silence.

I sent forward a messenger from our last halting-place to give tidings

of our coming; and when, hard by Schweinau, behold a cloud of dust, our

eyes met and told more than many and eloquent words.

Great and pure and thankful joy filled and bore up my soul; but

presently the cloud of dust was hid by a turn in the road behind the

trees, and even so, quoth my fearful heart, the shroud of the future hid

what next might befall us.

The cruel blows of fate which had fallen on Herdegen had not been all in

vain, and the growing weakness of his frame warned him not to spend his

strength and eagerness on new and ever new things. Yet what troubled me

was that he was not aware of the changes that had come upon him within

and without. From all his speech with me I perceived that, even now,

he might not conceive that life could be other than as he desired:

notwithstanding it gave me secret joy to look upon this dear fellow, for

whom life should have had no summer heats nor winter frosts, but only

blossoming spring-tide and happy autumn days.

But now we had got round the wood, and we might see what the cloud of

dust had concealed. Foremost there came a train of waggons loaded

with merchandise and faring southwards, and the first waggon had met a

piled-up load of charcoal coming forth from the forest at a place in

the road where they were pent between a deep ditch on one hand and thick

brushwood and undergrowth on the other; thus neither could turn aside,

and their wheels were so fast locked that they barred the road as it

had been a wall. Thus the second waggon likewise had come to hurt by the

sudden stopping of the first, and it was but hardly saved from turning

over into the ditch. There was a scene of wild turmoil. The waggons

stopped the way, and neither could the rest of the train, nor their

armed outriders, nor our own folks come past, by reason that the ditch

was full deep and the underwood thick. We likewise were compelled to

draw rein and look on while the six fine waggon horses which had but

just come from the stable, their brown coats shining like mirrors,

were unharnessed, and likewise the draughtoxen were taken out of the

charcoal-waggon; which was done with much noise and cursing, and the

brass plates that decked the leathern harness of the big horses jingling

so loud and clear that we might not hear the cries of our kinsfolks.

Nay, it was the plume in Gotz’s hat, towering above the throng, which

showed us that they were come.

Now, while Herdegen was vainly urging and spurring his unwilling horse

to leap down into the ditch and get round this fortress of waggons, two

of the others--and I instantly saw that they were Ann and her father,

on horseback--had made their way close to the charcoal waggon; howbeit,

they could get no further by reason that it had lurched half over and

strewed the way with black charcoal-sacks.

My heart beat as though it would crack, and lo, as I looked round to

point them out to Herdegen, he had put forth his last strength to make

his horse take the leap, and could scarce hold himself in the saddle;

his anguish of mind, and the foolish struggle with the wilful horse, had

exhausted the strength of his sickly frame. His face was pale and his

breath came hard as he sat there, on the edge of the ditch, and held his

great hand to his breast as though he were in pain. Hereupon I likewise

felt a deep pang of unspeakable torment, albeit I knew from experience

that for such ills there was no remedy but perfect rest. I looked

away from him and beheld, a little nearer now, Ann high on her saddle,

diligently waving her kerchief, and at her side her father, lifting his

councillor’s hat.

In a few moments we were united once more. But no....

As I wrote the foregoing words with a trembling hand I vowed that I

would set down nought but the truth and the whole truth. And inasmuch as

I have not shrunk from making mention of certain matters which many will

deem of small honor to Herdegen, who was, by the favor of Heaven, so far

more highly graced in all ways than I, who have never been other than

middling gifted, it would ill-become me to shrink from relating matters

whereof I myself have lived to repent.

There, by the ditch, was my dear only brother, weary and pale, a man

marked for an early grave; and in front of me, within a few paces, the

woman to whom my heart’s only and fervent love had been given even as a

child. She sat like a King’s daughter on a noble white horse with rich

trappings. A magnificent garment of fine cloth, richly broidered with

Flanders velvet, flowed about her slender body. The color thereof

was white and sapphire-blue, and so likewise were the velvet cap and

finely-rounded ostrich feather, which was fastened into it with a brooch

of sparkling precious stones. I had always deemed her fairest in sheeny

white, and she knew it, while Herdegen had taken blue for his color; and

behold she wore both, for love per chance of both brothers. Never had

I seen her fairer than at this minute and she had likewise waxed of

a buxom comeliness, and how sweet were her red cheeks, and swan-white

skin, and ebony-black hair, which flowed out from beneath her little hat

in long plaits twined with white and sapphire-blue velvet ribbon.

Never did a maid seem more desirable to a man. And her father on his

great brown horse--he was no more a craftsman! In his councillor’s

robes bordered with fur, with the golden chain round his neck, his

well-favored, grave, and manly countenance, and the long, flowing hair

down to his shoulders, meseemed he might have been the head of some

ancient and noble family. None in Nuremberg might compare with these two

for manly dignity and womanly beauty, and was that sickly, bent horseman

by the ditch worthy of them? “No, no,” cried a voice in my heart. “Yes,

Yes!” cried another; and in the midst of this struggle I could but say

to myself: “He has an old and good right to her, and as soon as he has

found breath he will claim it.”

But she? What will she do; how will she demean her; is she aware of his

presence? Will she shrink from him as Dame Gossenprot did at Augsburg,

and the inn-keeper’s smart wife at Ingolstadt, who of old was so

over-eager to be at his service? Would Ann, who had rejected many a

lordly suitor, be as sweet as of yore to that breathless creature? And

if she were to follow the example which he long since set her, if she

now cut the bond which he of old had snatched asunder, or if--Merciful

Virgin!--if his sickness should increase, and he himself should shrink

from fettering her blooming young life to his own--then, oh, then it

might be my turn, then....

And on a sudden there was a cry from the depths of my heart, but heard

by none: “Look on this side. Look on me, my one and only beloved! Turn

from him who once turned from thee, and hearken to Kunz who loves thee

with a more faithful and fervent love than that man, who to this day

knows not what thy true worth is, whose heart is as fickle as mine is

honest and true. Here I stand, a strong and stalwart man, the friend of

every good man, willing and able to carry you in my strong hands through

a life crowned with wealth and happiness!”

And while the voice of the Evil One whispered this and much more, my

gaze, meseemed, was spellbound to her countenance, and the light of her

eyes from afar shone deep into mine. And on a sudden I flung up my arms

and, without knowing what I did, stretched them forth, as though beside

myself, towards that hotly-loved maiden. Whether she saw this or no I

may never learn. And the grace of the Blessed Virgin or of my guardian

Saint, preserved me from evil and disgrace, for whereas all that was in

me yearned for that beloved one, a clear voice called to me by name, and

when I turned, behold it was Margery, who had leaped her light palfrey

into the ditch and now had sprung up the grassy bank. It was a breakneck

piece of horsemanship, to which she had been driven by longing and

sisterly love; and behind her came a man, my cousin Gotz, whose

newly-married wife’s daring leap was indeed after his own heart. One

more plunge, and their horses were on the highroad, and I had lifted

Margery out of her saddle and we held each other clasped, stammering out

foolish disconnected words, while we first laughed and then wept.

This went on for some while till I was startled by an outcry, and

behold, Eppelein, in his impatience to greet his dear master, had been

fain to do as Margery and Gotz had done, but with less good fortune,

inasmuch as that he had fallen under his horse, which had rolled over

with him. His lamentable outcry told me that he needed help, and once

more in my life I fulfilled my strange fate, which has ever been to cast

to the winds that for which my soul most longed, for another to take it

up. While Margery turned to greet Herdegen I hastened down the bank

to rescue the faithful fellow who had endured so much in my brother’s

service, ere the worst should befall him.

And this, with no small pains, I was able to do; and when I was aware

that he had suffered no mortal hurt, I clambered up on to the road

again, and then once more my heart began to beat sadly. Ann and Herdegen

had met again, and once for all. How was she able to refrain herself as

she beheld the changed countenance of her lover, and to be mistress of

her horror and dismay?

Now, when I had climbed the bank with some pains, in my heavy

riding-boots, I saw that the waggon-men had harnessed the six brown

horses to their cart once more, and behind them, on the skirt of the

wood, were the pair that I sought; and as I went nearer to them Ann had

drawn the glove, for which we had tarried so long in Augsburg, from off

her lover’s battered right hand, and was gazing at it lovingly, with no

sign of horror, but with tears in her eyes; and she cried as she kissed

it again and again: “Oh, that poor, dear, beloved hand, how cruelly it

has suffered, how hard it must have tolled! And that? That is where the

blue brand-mark was set? But it is almost gone. And it is in my color,

blue, our favorite sapphire-blue!” And she pointed joyously to her

goodly array, and she confessed that it was for him alone, that he might

see from afar how well she loved and honored him, that she had arrayed

herself in the color of fidelity in which he had ever best loved to see

her. And he clasped her to him, and when she kissed his thin, streaked

hair, and spoke of those dear flowing curls, to which love and care

would restore their beauty, I swore a solemn vow before God that I would

never look on the union of Herdegen and Ann but with thanksgiving and

without envy, and ever do all that in me lay for those two and for their

welfare.

Of the glad meeting with our other kith and kin I will say nought. As to

Cousin Maud, she had remained at home to welcome her darling at the gate

of the Schopperhof, which she had decked forth bravely. Yea, her warm

heart beat more fondly for him than for us. She could not wholly conceal

her dismay at seeing him so changed. She would stroke him from time to

time with a cherishing hand, yet she went about him as though there were

somewhat in him of which she was afeard.

Howbeit, in the evening it was with her as it had been with me in the

land of Egypt, and she found him again for whom her heart yearned so

faithfully. Now, that which had seemed lacking came to light once more,

and from that hour she no longer grieved for what he had lost and which

a true mother peradventure might never have missed; indeed as his bodily

health failed, and she shared the care of tending him with Ann, none

could have conceived that he was not verily and indeed her own son.

The evil monster which had crept into my brother’s breast grew, thank

Heaven, but slowly; and when the young pair had been wed, with a right

splendid feast, and my brother had taken Ann home to the Schoppers’

house as his dear wife, a glad hope rose up in me that Master Knorr had

taken an over-gloomy view of the matter, and that Herdegen might blossom

again into new strength and his old hearty health. Howbeit it was but

his heart’s gladness which lent him so brave and glad an aspect; the

sickness must have its course, and it was as it were a serpent, gnawing

silently at my joy in life, and its bite was all the more cruel by

reason that I might tell no man what it was that hurt me save the old

Waldstromers. But they likewise grew young again after their son’s

homecoming, and notwithstanding her feeble frame, Aunt Jacoba saw

Margery’s eldest son grow to be six years of age. And she sent him

his packet of sweetmeats the first day he went to school; but when the

little lad went to thank his grandmother, the old dame was gone to her

rest; and her husband lived after her no more than a few months.

One grief only had darkened the latter days of this venerable pair, in

truth it was a heavy one; it was the death of my dear brother Herdegen,

which befell at the end of the fifth year after he was happily married.

At the end of the fourth year his sickness came upon him with more

violence, yet he went forth and back, and ever hoped to be healed, even

when he took to his bed four weeks before the end.

On the very last day, on a certain fine evening in May, it was that he

said to Ann: “Hearken, my treasure, I am surely better! On the day

after tomorrow we will go forth into the sweet Spring, to hear Dame

Nightingale who is singing already, and to see Margery. Oh, out in the

forest breezes blow to heal the sick!”

Yet they went not; two hours later he had departed this life. By ill

fortune at that very time I was at Venice on a matter of business,

and when the tidings came to me that my only beloved brother was dead,

meseemed as though half my being were torn away, aye, and the nobler and

better half; that part which was not content to grieve and care for

none but earthly estate and for all that cometh up and passeth away here

below, but which hath a position in the bliss of another world, where we

ask not only of what use and to what end this or that may be, as I have

ever done in my narrow soul.

When Herdegen’s eyes closed in death, my wings were broken as it were;

with him I lost the highest aim and end of all my labors. For five hard

years had I toiled and struggled, often turning night into day, and not

for myself, but for him and his, ever upheld and sped forward by the

sight of his high soul and great happiness. Our grand-uncle Im Hoff

had left me his house and the conduct of his trade, as you have learned

already from Margery’s little book; and during my long journeyings many

matters had not been done to my contentment, and the sick old man had

taken out overmuch moneys from the business. A goodly sum came to us

from our parents’ estate, and my brother and sister and Cousin Maud were

fain to entrust me with theirs; but how much I had to do in return!

Moreover a great care came upon me from without, by reason that Sir

Franz’s kin and heirs refused to repay the moneys for the ransom which

Master Michieli of Venice had laid down, and for which Herdegen and I

had been sureties. Albeit in this matter we had applied to the law, we

might not suffer Michieli to come to loss by reason of his generosity,

so I took upon me the whole debt, and that was a hard matter in those

times and in my case; and the fifteen thousand ducats which were repaid

me by judgment of law, thirty years afterwards, made me small amends,

inasmuch as by that time I had long been wont to reckon with much

greater sums.

I made good my friend’s payment of Herdegen’s ransom to the last

farthing; yet what pressed me most hardly, so long as my brother lived,

was his housekeeping; few indeed in Nuremberg could have spent more.

My eldest brother was the only one of us three who might keep any

remembrance of our father, whose trade with Venice and Flanders had

yielded great profits, and he could yet mind him how full the house had

ever been of guests, and the stables of horses. Now, therefor, he was

fain to live on the same wise, and this he deemed was right and seemly,

inasmuch as he took the moneys which I gave him as half the clear

profits of the Im Hoff trade, which were his by right. And I was fain to

suffer him to enjoy that belief, albeit at that time concerns looked but

badly. It was I, not he, whose part it was to care for those concerns;

and I rejoiced with all my heart when he and his lovely young wife

rode forth in such bravery, when he sat as host at the head of a table

well-furnished with guests, and won all hearts by his lofty and fiery

spirit, which conquered even the least well-disposed. Yet was it not

easy to supply that which was needed, or to refrain from speech or

reproof when, for instance, my brother must need have from the land of

Egypt for Ann such another noble horse as the Emirs there are wont to

ride. Or could I require him to pay when, after that Heaven had blessed

him with a first born child, Herdegen, radiant with pride and joy,

showed me a cradle all of ivory overlaid with costly carved work which

he had commanded to be wrought for his darling by the most skilled

master known far and wide, for a sum which at that time would have

purchased a small house? Albeit it was nigh upon quarter day, I would

have taken this and much more upon me rather than have quenched his

heart’s great gladness; and when I saw thee, Margery the younger, who

art now thyself a grandmother, sleeping like a king’s daughter in that

precious cradle, and perceived with how great joy it filled thy parents

to have their jewel in so costly a bed, I rejoiced over my own patience.

It did my heart good, though I spoke not, to hear the Schoppers’ house

praised as the friendliest in all Nuremberg; yet at other times meseemed

I saw shame and poverty standing at the door; and whereas, indeed, those

years of magnificence, which for sure were the hardest in all my life,

came to no evil issue, I owe this, next to Heaven’s grace, to the trust

which many folks in Nuremberg placed in my honesty and judgment, far

beyond my desert. And when once, not long before my brother’s over-early

death, I found myself to the very brow in water, as it were, it was that

faithfulest of all faithful friends, Uncle Christian Pfinzing, who

read the care in my eyes and face during the very last great banquet at

Herdegen’s table, and led me into the oriel bay, and offered me all

his substance; and this is a goodly sum indeed and saved my trade from

shipwreck.

Next to him it is Cousin Maud that we three links the Schopper chain

ought ever to hold dearest in memory; and it was by a strange chance

that he and she died, not only on the same day, but, as it were, of the

same death. Death came upon him at the Schoppers’ table with the cup in

his hand, after that Ann, his “watchman” had warned him to be temperate;

and this was three years after her husband’s death. And Cousin Maud, as

she came forth from the kitchen, whither she had gone to heat her famous

spiced wine for Uncle Christian, who was already gone, fell dead into

Margery’s arms when she heard the tidings of his sudden end.

Among the sundry matters which long dwelt in the minds both of

Margery and Ann, and were handed down to their grandchildren, were the

Magister’s Latin verses in their praise. It is but a few years since

Master Peter Piehringer departed this life at a great age, and when

Gotz’s boys went through their schooling so fast and so well they owed

it to his care and learning. But chiefly he devoted himself to Ann’s

daughters, Margery and Agnes, and indeed it is ever so that our heart

goeth forth with a love like to that for our own sons or daughters to

the offspring of the woman we have loved, even when she has never been

our own.

Eppelein Gockel, my brother’s faithful serving-man, was wed to Aunt

Jacoba’s tiring-woman. After his master’s death I made him to be host in

the tavern of “The Blue Sky,” and whereas his wife was an active soul,

and his tales of the strange adventures he had known among the Godless

heathen brought much custom to his little tavern parlor, he throve to be

a man of great girth and presence.

By the seventh year after our home-coming my hardest cares for the

concerns of my trade were overpast, albeit I must even yet keep my

eyes open and give brain and body no rest. Half my life I spent in

journeying, and whereas I perceived that it was only by opening up other

branches of trade that I might fulfil the many claims which ever beset

me, I set myself to consider the matter; and inasmuch as that I had

seen in the house of Akusch how gladly the women of Egypt would buy

hazel-nuts from our country, I began to deal in this humble merchandise

in large measure; and at this day I send more than ten thousand sequins’

worth of such wares, every year, by ship to the Levant. Likewise I made

the furs of North Germany and the toys of Nuremberg a part of my trade,

which in my uncle’s life-time had been only in spices and woven goods.

And so, little by little, my profits grew to a goodly sum, and by God’s

favor our house enjoyed higher respect than it ever had had of old.

And it is a matter of rejoicing to me that at this time there is again

an Im Hoff at its head with me, so that the old name shall be handed

down; Ann’s oldest daughter, Margery Schopper, having married one

Berthold Im Hoff, who is now my worthy partner.

The sons of the elder Margery, the young Waldstromers, had much in them

of the hasty Schopper temper, and a voice for song; and all three have

done well, each in his way. Herdegen is now the Hereditary Ranger, and

held in no less honor than Kunz Waldstromer, my beloved godson, who is a

man of law in the service of our good town. Franz, who dedicated himself

to the Church at an early age, under the protection of my lord Cardinal

Bernhardi, has already been named to be the next in office after our

present aged and weakly Bishop.

The son of Agnes, Herdegen’s younger daughter, is Martin Behaim, a

high-spirited youth in whom his grandfather’s fiery and restless temper

lives again, albeit somewhat quelled.

And if you now enquire of me how it is that I, albeit my heart beats

warmly enough for our good town and its welfare and honor, have only

taken a passing part in the duties of its worshipful Council, this is

my answer: Inasmuch as to provide for the increase of riches for the

Schopper family took all the strength I had, I lacked time to serve the

commonwealth as my heart would have desired; and by the time when my

dear nephew Berthold Im Hoff came to share the conduct of the trade

with me I was right willing to withdraw behind my young partner, Ann’s

son-in-law, and to take his place in the business, while he and Kunz

Waldstromer were chosen to high dignity on the Council. Nevertheless it

is well-known that I have given up to the town a larger measure of time

and labor and moneys than many a town-mayor and captain of watch. Of

this I make mention to the end that those who come after me shall not

charge me with evil self-seeking.

Likewise some may ask me wherefor I, the last male offspring of the old

Schopper race, have gone through life unwed. Yet of a certainty they

may spare me the answer to whom I have honestly confessed all my heart’s

pangs at the meeting of Herdegen with Ann.

After the death of her best-beloved lord the young widow was overcome

with brooding melancholy from which nothing could rouse her. At that

time you, my Margery and Agnes, her daughters, clung to me as to your

own father; and when, at the end of three years, your mother was healed

of that melancholy, it had come about that you had learned to call me

father while I had sported with you and loved you in “your” mother’s

stead, and taught you to fold your little hands in prayer and led you

out for air walking by your side. Your mother had heeded it not; but

then, when she bloomed forth in new and wondrous beauty, and I beheld

that Hans Koler and the Knight Sir Henning von Beust, who had likewise

remained unwed, were again her suitors, the old love woke up in my

heart; and one fair May evening, out in the forest, the question rose to

my lips whether she could not grant me the right to call you indeed my

children before all the world, and her....

But to what end touch the wound which to this day is scarce healed?

In this world and the next she would never be any man’s but his to whom

her heart’s great and only love had been given. But from that evening

forth I, the rejected suitor, must suffer that you children should no

longer call me father, but Uncle Kunz; and when afterwards it came to

be dear little uncle you may believe that I was thankful. She no

less rejected the suit of Koler and of von Beust; but the last-named

gentleman made up for his dismissal by marrying a noble damsel of

Brandenburg. At a later time when he came to Nuremberg he was made

welcome by Margery, and then, meeting with Ann once more, he showed

himself to be still so youthful and duteous in his service to her,

in despite of her grey hairs, that for certain it was well for his

happiness at home that he should have come without his wife.

Not long after Ann’s rejection I confessed to Margery what had befallen,

and when she heard it, she cast her arms about my neck and cried: “Why,

ne’er content, must you crave a new home and family? Are not two

warm hearths yours to sit at, and the love and care of two faithful

house-wives; and are you not the father and counsellor, not alone of

your nephews and nieces, but of their parents likewise?” All this she

said in an overflow of sisterly love; and if it comforted me, as I here

make record of it, by reason that I sorely needed such good words, if I

here recall how sad life often seemed to me.

Nay, nay! It was sweet, heavenly sweet, and worthy of all thanksgiving

that I, who of the three Schopper links was so far the most humbly

gifted, was suffered by Fate to be of some use to the other two, and

even to their children and grandchildren, and to help in adding to their

well-being. In this--insomuch I may say with pride--in this I have had

all good-speed; thus my life’s labor has not been in vain, and I may

call my lot a happy one. And thus I likewise have proved the truth of

old Adam Heyden’s saying, that he who does most for other folks at the

same time does the best for himself.

THE END.

ETEXT EDITOR’S BOOKMARKS:

A small joy makes us to forget our heavy griefs

All I did was right in her eyes

All things were alike to me

As every word came straight from her heart

Be cautious how they are compassionate

Be happy while it is yet time

Beware lest Satan find thee idle!

Brought imagination to bear on my pastimes

Comparing their own fair lot with the evil lot of others

Especial gift to listen keenly and question discreetly

Ever creep in where true love hath found a nest--(jealousy)

Faith and knowledge are things apart

Flee from hate as the soul’s worst foe

For the sake of those eyes you forgot all else

Forty or fifty, when most women only begin to be wicked

Fruits and pies and sweetmeats for the little ones at home

Germans are ever proud of a man who is able to drink deep

Happiness should be found in making others happy

Have never been fain to set my heart on one only maid

Her eyes were like open windows

Hopeful soul clings to delay as the harbinger of deliverance

Last Day we shall be called to account for every word we utter

Laugh at him with friendly mockery, such as hurts no man

Love which is able and ready to endure all things

Maid who gives hope to a suitor though she has no mind to hear

Marred their best joy in life by over-hasty ire

May they avoid the rocks on which I have bruised my feet

Men folks thought more about me than I deemed convenient

Misfortunes never come singly

No man gains profit by any experience other than his own

No false comfort, no cloaking of the truth

On with a new love when he had left the third bridge behind him

One Head, instead of three, ruled the Church

One who stood in the sun must need cast a shadow on other folks

One of those women who will not bear to be withstood

Shadow which must ever fall where there is light

The god Amor is the best schoolmaster

The not over-strong thread of my good patience

They who will, can

Though thou lose all thou deemest thy happiness

Vagabond knaves had already been put to the torture

We each and all are waiting

Were we not one and all born fools

When men-children deem maids to be weak and unfit for true sport

Woman who might win the love of a highly-gifted soul (Pays for it)

Wonder we leave for the most part to children and fools