pursued the youth eagerly.

Jette started back in affright.

"Nay, that I cannot," she cried. "A priestess of Herthe is doomed an she
marry. If I wed thee we must meet in secret and at night."

"But I will take thee to Walhalla, and Freya shall appease Herthe with
her offerings."

Jette shook her head.

"Nay," said she; "it is impossible. The vengeance of Herthe is
swift--and awful. I will show thee a spring where we may meet."

She led him to a place where the stream branched off in five separate
rivulets, and bade him meet her there on the following night at a
certain hour. The lovers then parted, each full of impatience for the
return of the hour of meeting.

Next evening, when the dusk had fallen on the sacred grove of Herthe,
Jette made her way to the rendezvous. The appointed time had not yet
arrived, but scarcely had she reached the spot ere she fancied she heard
a step among the undergrowth, and turned with a glad smile, prepared to
greet her lover. Imagine her dismay when instead of the youth a grisly
wolf confronted her! Her shriek of terror was uttered in vain. A moment
later the monster had sprung at her throat.

Her lover, hastening with eager steps toward the place of meeting, heard
the agonized shriek and, recognizing the voice of Jette, broke into a
run. He was too late! The monster wolf stood over the lifeless body of
his beloved, and though in his despairing fury the youth slew the huge
brute, the retribution of Herthe was complete.

Henceforth the scene of the tragedy was called the 'Wolf's Spring,' and
the legend is enshrined there to this day.

The Jester of Heidelberg

Considering the wide fame of Rhenish vintages, it is perhaps not
surprising that wine should enter as largely into the Rhine legends as
the 'barley bree' is supposed to enter into Scottish anecdote. In truth
there runs through these traditions a stream of Rhenish which plays
almost as important a part in them as the Rhine itself. We are told that
the Emperor Wenzel sold his crown for a quantity of wine; in the tale
connected with Thann, in Alsace, mortar is mixed with wine instead
of water, because of the scarcity of the latter commodity during the
building of a steeple; while in the legends of "The Devil's Vineyard,"
and "The Cooper of Auerbach" the vintage of Rhineland provides the main
interest of the plot. The following quaint little story, attaching to
the castle of Heidelberg, is a 'Rhenish' tale in every sense of