n to unroll her work, sighing a little as she did so at the thought
of the uncertainty of her own fate, and the impossibility of doing
anything but wait patiently. "Bless me!" said Braesig to himself as he
lay hidden in the tree. "This little round-head has come now, and I've
lost all feeling in my body. It's a horribly slow affair!" But the
situation was soon to become more interesting, for shortly after Mina
had taken her seat a handsome young man came round the corner of the
arbor with a fishing rod over his shoulder and a fish basket on his
back. "I'm so glad to find you here, Mina," he exclaimed, "of course
you've all finished dinner." "You need hardly ask, Rudolph. It has just
struck two." "Ah well," he said, "I suppose that my aunt is very angry
with me again."

"You may be certain of that, and she was displeased with you already,
you know, even without your being late for dinner. I'm afraid, however,
that your own stomach will punish you more severely than my mother's
anger could do, you've neglected it so much today." "All the better for
you tonight. I really couldn't come sooner, the fish were biting so
splendidly. I went to the black pool today, though Braesig always advised
me not to go there, and now I know why. It's his larder. When he can't
catch anything else--where he's sure of a bite in the black pool. It's
cram full of tench. Just look, did you ever see such beauties?" and he
opened the lid of his basket as he spoke, and showed his spoil, adding:
"I've done old Braesig this time at any rate!" "The young rascal!"
groaned Braesig as he poked his nose through the cherry-leaves, making it
appear like a huge pickled capsicum such as Mrs. Nuessler was in the
habit of preserving in cherry-leaves for winter use. "The young rascal
to go and catch my tench! Bless me! what monsters the rogue has caught!"
"Give them to me, Rudolph," said Mina. "I will take them into the house,
and will bring you something to eat out here." "Oh no, never mind" "But
you musn't starve," she said. "Very well then--anything will do. A bit
of bread and butter will be quite enough, Mina." The girl went away, and
Rudolph seated himself in the arbor. "The devil take it!" muttered
Braesig, stretching his legs softly, and twisting and turning in the vain
endeavor to find a part of his body which was not aching from his
cramped position. "The wretch is sitting there now! I never saw such
goings on!"

Rudolph sat buried in thought, a very un