knees at their feet and beseech them to have mercy
on her betrothed husband. The sisters and Cordula comforted her with the
promise that they would commend Biberli's cause to the magistrate; but as
they went upstairs they again expressed to one another the fear that
Katterle herself would sooner or later follow the man she loved to
prison.

They found Herr Pfinzing and his wife in the sitting-room.

Katterle was not wrong in expecting kindly help from this lady, for a
more benevolent face than hers could scarcely be imagined, and, more
over, Fran Christine certainly did not lack strength to do what she
deemed right. Though not quite so broad as her short, extremely corpulent
husband, she surpassed him in height by several inches, and time had
transformed the pretty, slender, modest girl into a majestic woman. The
slight arch of the nose, the lofty brow, the light down on the upper lip,
and the deep voice even gave her a somewhat imperious aspect. Had it not
been for the kind, faithful eyes, and an extremely pleasant expression
about the mouth, one might have wondered how she could succeed in
inspiring everyone at the first glance with confidence in her helpful
kindness of heart.

Her grey pug had also been brought with her. How could an animal supply
the place of beloved human beings? Yet the pug had become necessary to
her since her son, like so many other young men who belonged to patrician
Nuremberg families, had fallen in the battle of Marchfield, and her
daughter had accompanied her husband to his home in Augsburg. The onerous
duties of her husband's office compelled him to leave her alone a great
deal, and even in her extremely active life there were lonely hours when
she needed a living creature that was faithfully devoted to her.

She was often overburdened with work, for every charitable institution
sought her as a "fosterer." True, in many cases their request was vain.
Whatever she undertook must be faultlessly executed, and the charge of
the orphan children in the city, the Beguines, and the hospital at her
summer residence occupied her sufficiently. During the winter she lived
with her husband at his official quarters in the castle, but as soon as
spring came she longed for her little manor at Schweinau, for she had
taken into the institution erected there for the widows of noble
crusaders, but in which only the last four of these ladies were now
supported, a number of Beguines. These were godly girls and