on the fat of the land, I can tell
you; the prince himself can't beat their table."

This astonishing statement was conveyed by the astrologer to Father
Adolf on a Sunday morning when he was returning from mass. He was deeply
moved, and said:

"This must be looked into."

He said there must be witchcraft at the bottom of it, and told the
villagers to resume relations with Marget and Ursula in a private and
unostentatious way, and keep both eyes open. They were told to keep
their own counsel, and not rouse the suspicions of the household. The
villagers were at first a bit reluctant to enter such a dreadful place,
but the priest said they would be under his protection while there, and
no harm could come to them, particularly if they carried a trifle of
holy water along and kept their beads and crosses handy. This satisfied
them and made them willing to go; envy and malice made the baser sort
even eager to go.

And so poor Marget began to have company again, and was as pleased as
a cat. She was like 'most anybody else--just human, and happy in her
prosperities and not averse from showing them off a little; and she was
humanly grateful to have the warm shoulder turned to her and be smiled
upon by her friends and the village again; for of all the hard things to
bear, to be cut by your neighbors and left in contemptuous solitude is
maybe the hardest.

The bars were down, and we could all go there now, and we did--our
parents and all--day after day. The cat began to strain herself.
She provided the top of everything for those companies, and in
abundance--among them many a dish and many a wine which they had not
tasted before and which they had not even heard of except at second-hand
from the prince's servants. And the tableware was much above ordinary,
too.

Marget was troubled at times, and pursued Ursula with questions to an
uncomfortable degree; but Ursula stood her ground and stuck to it that
it was Providence, and said no word about the cat. Marget knew that
nothing was impossible to Providence, but she could not help having
doubts that this effort was from there, though she was afraid to say so,
lest disaster come of it. Witchcraft occurred to her, but she put the
thought aside, for this was before Gottfried joined the household, and
she knew Ursula was pious and a bitter hater of witches. By the time
Gottfried arrived Providence was established, unshakably intrenched,
and getting all the gratitude. The cat made