d the people. It
was wrong to meet them in this way, it was not in order. Her highness
had lived too long among them. She would never rid herself of the idea
that the humble had hearts and minds like the exalted.

As the figure of the head gardener diminished and shortly vanished
behind a bed of palms, her highness laughed brightly, and Gretchen, to
her own surprise, found herself laughing also, easily and without
constraint.

"Whom were you seeking?" her highness asked, rather startled by the
undeniable beauty of this peasant.

"I was seeking your serene highness. I live at number forty the
Krumerweg, and the sick woman gave me this note for you."

"Krumerweg?" Her highness reached for the note and read it, and as she
read tears gathered in her eyes. "Follow me," she said. She led Gretchen
to a marble bench and sat down. Gretchen remained on her feet
respectfully. "What is your name?"

[Illustration: She led Gretchen to a marble bench and sat down.]

"Gretchen, Highness."

"Well, Gretchen, sit down."

"In your presence, Highness?" aghast.

"Don't bother about my presence on a morning like this. Sit down."

This was a command and Gretchen obeyed with alacrity. It would not be
difficult, thought Gretchen, to love a princess like this, who was not
only lovely but sensible. The two sat mutely. They were strangely alike.
Their eyes nearly matched, their hair, even the shape of their faces.
They were similarly molded, too; only, one was slender and graceful,
after the manner of fashion, while the other was slender and graceful
directly from the hands of nature. The health of outdoors was visible in
their fine skins and clear eyes. The marked difference lay, of course,
in their hands. The princess had never toiled with her fingers except on
the piano. Gretchen had plucked geese and dug vegetables with hers.
They were rough, but toil had not robbed them of their natural grace.

"How was she?" her highness asked.

"About the same, Highness."

"Have you wondered why she should write to me?"

"Highness, it was natural that I should," was Gretchen's frank
admission.

"She took me in when nobody knew who I was, clothed and fed me, and
taught me music so that some day I should not be helpless when the
battle of life began. Ah," impulsively, "had I my way she would be
housed in the palace, not in the lonely Krumerweg. But my father does
not know that she is in Dreiberg; and we dare not tell him, for he still
b