n those days the country
where beautiful building was chiefly carried on; but he found that this
would cost a far larger sum than he was capable of raising; so, hearing
that a gifted young German architect had lately taken up his abode at
Cologne itself, Conrad sent for him and offered him a rich reward should
he accomplish the work satisfactorily. The young man was overjoyed, for
as yet he had received no commissions of great importance, and he set
to work at once. He made drawing after drawing, but, being in a state of
feverish excitement, found that his hand had lost its cunning. None
of his designs pleased him in the least; the bishop, he felt, would be
equally disappointed; and thinking that a walk in the fresh air might
clear his brain, he threw his drawing-board aside and repaired to the
banks of the Rhine. Yet even here peace did not come to him; he was
tormented by endless visions of groined arches, pediments, pilasters,
and the like, and having a stick in his hand, he made an effort to trace
some on the sand. But this new effort pleased him no better than any
of its predecessors. Fame and fortune were within his reach, yet he was
incapable of grasping them; and he groaned aloud, cursing the day he was
born.

As the young man uttered his fierce malediction he was surprised to
hear a loud "Amen" pronounced; he looked round, wondering from whom
this insolence came, and beheld an individual whose approach he had not
noticed. He, too, was engaged in drawing on the sand, and deeming that
the person, whoever he was, intended to mock his attempts at a plan for
the projected cathedral, the architect strode up to him with an angry
expression on his face. He stopped short, however, on nearing the rival
draughtsman; for he was repelled by his sinister aspect, while at the
same time he was thunderstruck by the excellence of his drawing. It was
indeed a thaumaturgic design, just such a one as the architect himself
had dreamt of, but had been unable to execute; and while he gazed at it
eagerly the stranger hailed him in an ugly, rasping voice. "A cunning
device, this of mine," he said sharply; and the architect was bound to
agree, despite the jealousy he felt. Surely, he thought, only the Evil
One could draw in this wise. Scarcely had the thought crossed his mind
ere his suspicion was confirmed, for now he marked the stranger's tail,
artfully concealed hitherto. Yet he was incapable of withholding his
gaze from the plan draw