moonlight.

"'Yes, yes!' she said joyfully, 'then I will sing!' And soon the reddish
light had disappeared, and the pale moon's silvery rays fell on the
bright figure of the girl, who had sprung up and was now standing by the
railing.

"'What shall I sing?' she asked, 'Italian or German?'

"'German! German!' cried the gentlemen.

"'Oh! please Susanna,' said I, 'the song you were singing last evening;
Anna Maria and I did not understand the words very well.'

"Anna Maria suddenly rose, but as if thinking better of it, sat down
again. Stuermer had turned half around in his chair and was looking at
Susanna.

"And now she began, leaning on the balustrade; and the same tones came
to us, soft and sweet, and the same words we had heard last evening:

"'Far through the world I have wandered away,
And the old strife goes with me wherever I stray;
Home have I come, and my heart burns with pain,
Ah, that I only could wander again!
I am held not by walls, not by bolts, not by bars--
Two great blue eyes hold me, that shine like the stars I
And were but my fiery steed by my side,
Again on his willing back fain would I ride;
He would bear me away, far away from my home--
But I've seen thee again, and can never more roam!'

"I looked at Anna Maria in alarm, but her face was turned away, and only
in her trembling white hands, which she had clasped, did I detect the
agitation wrought in her by this song. Who had thought of such a song?
And Stuermer? He had sprung up and stood close by Susanna.

"'Another song, Fraeulein,' he demanded, almost vehemently, 'a different
one. You are much too young for such melancholy!'

"'A German knows no different songs, Herr Baron,' objected Pastor Gruene.
'Old national songs are sad, usually the lament for a faithless love,
for a dead treasure. Let our nation be as it is in this. I would rather
have one little German national song than a dozen French _chansons_.'

"Stuermer did not answer, and there was a painful silence.

"'Another song?' asked Susanna at last--'a lively one?'

"'Yes!' cried Klaus, 'a lively one, a hunting-song, Susanna, or a
drinking-song! 'He had risen in embarrassment at the critical situation,
and filled his glass afresh.

"And Susanna began, in a merry strain:

"'In the early morn
A-hunting I went,
Past my darling's house
My steps I bent.

"'Up to the window
A glance I threw.
Ah! if s