eedingly at the Electors and Princes, the Dukes, Counts and
Knights-all in velvet and silk, gold and silver; at the purple and
scarlet of the prelates; at the solemn black with gold chains of the town
councillors; on and beyond all the magnificent train which has come with
his Majesty from Hungary or gone forth to meet him.

Hereupon Ursula steps forth to speak the address; but sooner may a man
hear a cricket in a thunderstorm than a maid's voice amid that pealing of
bells and shouting and cries of welcome. Meseems verily as though the
fluttering handkerchiefs, the flying pennons, and the caps waved in the
air had found voice; and Ursula turns her head to this side and that as
though seeking help.

Emperor Sigismund signs with his hand, and the two heralds who head the
train uplift their trumpets with rich embroidered banners. A rattling
blast procures silence: in a moment it is as though oil were poured on a
surging sea. Men and guns are hushed; the only sounds to be heard are the
brazen tongue of the bells, the whinnying of a horse, the dull mutter of
men's voices in the far-off lanes and alleys, and the clear voice of a
young maid.

Ursula made her speech, her voice so loud at the last that it might have
seemed that the honeyed verses were words of reproof. The imperial pair
gave each other a glance expressing surprise rather than pleasure, and
vouchsafed a few words of thanks to the speaker. His Majesty spoke in
German; but in his Bohemian home and Hungarian Kingdom he had caught the
trick of a sharper accent than ours.

A chamberlain now gave the signal, and we maidens all went forth towards
our Sovereign lord and lady. Two and two--Tucher and Schilrstab--Groland
and Stromer; and the sixth couple were Ann and I--Ann as the daughter of
a member of the council--and my godfather it was, besides her sweet face,
who had done most to get her chosen.

Noble youths clad as pages in velvet and silks had received the flowers
offered by the damsels; but as Ann and I stood forth, the Emperor and
Empress looked down on us. I could see that they gazed upon us
graciously, and heard them speak together in a language I knew not; and
Porro, the King's fool--and I say the King's, inasmuch as it was not till
later that Sigismund was crowned Emperor at Rome, and by the same token
it was at that time that my Hans' brothers, Paul and Erhart, were dubbed
Knights--Porro, who rode at his lord's side on a piebald pony spotted
black and