ore Lydia in a determined manner; he had scarcely however made an
attempt to draw his dagger, when he was knocked down on the stone
pavement at the foot of the staircase. The cowardly Magistrate had
wisely given the order, to watch the artist closely. A cunning blow
from one of the officers felled Felix backwards down the steps, and
when he again recovered his senses, he found himself near the well,
with Bachmann and Barbara bathing a severe wound at the back of his
head. "Where is Lydia?" asked the artist in a weak voice. Barbara wept
and Bachmann answered for her: "Do not ask, no one ever returns from
the place where she now is." Scarcely had Felix comprehended these
words, than his entire consciousness and full strength returned. He
ordered a damp cloth to be bound around his head, and went at once
across the new court to lay his complaint before the Kurfuerst. But the
Page came back with the answer, he should apply to the Amtmann. He
again prayed for admittance, not to complain of the injury done to
himself, but to demand the restoration of his affianced bride; the
officials refused however to announce him a second time, and on his
endeavoring to force his way in, the sentries levelled their halberds
at his breast. Dazed he returned back to the Burghof. He could do
nothing however but storm ragingly in the ante-chamber in the presence
of the Courtiers and the servants. He only met with disturbed faces,
and heard half-uttered warnings, to be careful not to sympathize over
much in a charge of witchcraft. In those moments, in which he found
himself opposed to much cowardice and contemptible selfishness, he
discovered in Frau Belier a faithful, brave, and prudent friend, who
felt more than a lukewarm sympathy for Klytia. Having met with but deaf
ears in the court, the young man hastened to the gable-house on the
market-place. The Frenchwoman had ejaculated a series of "_mon Dieu_,
_mon Dieu_," on hearing Felix's account of what had taken place. When
however in his rage the Italian declared that nothing was left for him
to do but to stab the villainous Amtmann in the open street, she
plucked the dagger out of his belt and locked it up in her cup-board,
assuring him that such a deed would be the most certain means of
destroying Klytia. He listened unwillingly to the advice of the
Chatterbox, who thus opposed all his plans. The screaming of the
insupportable parrot, which the louder the talking became swung all the
more con