ard
confirmed his suspicions, and drawing his sword, he slew the youth in
cold blood, denying him even a moment in which to repeat a paternoster.

A rude iron cross, still standing by the road at Gudesburg, is said to
mark the place where the ill-starred and unoffending young man met his
doom. Possibly this cross was erected by Wolfram himself because he
experienced remorse, and felt that he had been unduly hasty in taking
life; but be that as it may, the story concludes by asserting that
the Herzog once more vowed that he would spend the rest of his days in
solitude and prayer, and that henceforth to the end his vow remained
unbroken.

The Treasure-seeker

This is a picturesque tale of the consequences of wealth attained by
the aid of the supernatural which hangs about the ancient village of
Endenich, near Bonn, where at the end of the seventeenth century there
dwelt a certain sheriff and his son, Konrad, who was a locksmith by
trade. They were poor and had lost everything in the recent wars, which
had also ruined Heribert, another sheriff, who with his daughter, the
beautiful Gretchen, eked out a frugal but peaceful existence in the same
neighbourhood. The two young people fell in love with each other, but
Gretchen's father, becoming suddenly and mysteriously very rich and
arrogant withal, desired a wealthy or highly placed official as his
son-in-law and not a poor lad with no expectations such as Konrad, the
locksmith. The lovers were therefore compelled to meet in secret, and it
was on one of these occasions that Heribert, surprising them together,
attacked Konrad and felled him to the ground in his rage that he should
dare to approach his daughter.

Spurred by his love and knowing that he could never hope to win Gretchen
without wealth, the unhappy youth decided to barter for gold the only
possession left to him--his soul.

Now there lived in the churchyard a Lapp wizard who made such bargains;
so in the dead of night Konrad took his way to this dreadful and
unfrequented spot and exhorted the sorcerer to come forth. At the third
cry a terrible apparition appeared and demanded to know his wishes,
to which the terrified Konrad could only reply: "Gold." Thereupon the
sorcerer led the way deep into a forest and, pointing mysteriously to
a certain spot, disappeared. At this spot Konrad found a chest full
of gold and silver coins, and returning to Bonn, he bought a house
the splendour of which surpassed that of Her