rning his first thought had been of her. She had
seemed more desirable than ever. But his relatives at home, and the
counsel Biberli had urged upon him during their nocturnal wandering, had
constantly interposed between him and the maiden whom he so ardently
loved. Besides, it seemed certain that the passion which filled his heart
must end unhappily. Else what was the meaning of this unexampled good
luck at the gaming table? The torture of this thought had kept him awake
a long time. Then he had sunk into a deep, dreamless sleep. In the
morning Biberli, full of delight, roused him, and displayed three large
bags filled with florins and zecchins, the gains of the night before.

The servant had begged to be permitted to count the golden blessing,
which in itself would suffice to buy the right to use the bridge from the
city of Luzerne twice over, and the best thing about which was that it
would restore the peace of mind of his lady mother at Schorlin Castle.

Now, in the name of all the saints, let him continue his life of liberty,
and leave the somnambulist to walk over the roofs, and suffer Altrosen,
who had worn her colour so patiently, to wed the countess.

But how long the servitor's already narrow face became when Heinz, with a
grave resolution new to Biberli, answered positively that no ducats would
stray from these bags to Schorlin Castle. If, last night, anxiety had
burdened his mind like the corpse of a murdered man, these gains weighed
upon his soul like the loathsome body of a dead cat. Never in his whole
life had he felt so poor as with this devil's money. The witch-bait which
Biberli had given him with the two and the five had drawn it out of the
pockets of his fellow gamblers. He would be neither a cut-purse nor a
dealer in the black arts. The wages of hell should depart as quickly as
they came. While speaking, he seized the second largest bag and gave it
to the servant, exclaiming: "Now keep your promise to Katterle like an
honest man. The poor thing will have a hard time at her employer's. I
make but one condition: you are to remain in my service. I can't do
without you."

While the armour-bearer, in the agile Biberli's place, was handing him
the garments to be worn in the house, Heinz again remembered how the
faithful fellow had thrown himself on his knees and kissed his master's
hands and arms in the excess of his joyful surprise, and yet he had felt
as if a dark cloud was shadowing the brightness of