rs and
then to be lit, till I confessed that Erastus had also danced on the
Holtermann and sprung over the he-goat Devil. Then they went on with
the torture of blows till I pretended to die. Old women are tough. We
have little blood and require little, therefore it lasted longer. My
grandmother was tortured for thirteen days." The old woman's speech
became more and more indistinct. It seemed as if she were talking to
herself, her narration became so jerky, at one time unintelligible, at
another scarcely audible. She kept murmuring about her experiences, how
often she had sought after the Devil and never found him, sometimes
chuckling and grinning to herself. Then she said as if in excuse, that
people only required the magic wares, which were prepared at the right
time and at the right place. She would not cheat her customers. If they
paid a good price it was her duty to give them the veritable article,
otherwise anybody would be selling their trash. Her talk became more
and more confused and jumbled. Paul could not tell whether she had
become insane, or was in possession of her senses. He shuddered. Then
her murmurs changed into a rattle, her broken body was shaken with
severe quiverings, one more shiver and then it was over. The herb
picker of the Kreuzgrund was this time in reality a corpse.

For many hours Paul sat on the block alone, his limbs began to swell
up. A violent pain in his head and an unendurable thirst tortured him,
but he laid his head on the beam sticky with the sweat and blood of his
numerous predecessors of both sexes, and repined not. Towards evening
he was startled from his fainting condition by the creaking of the
door. As he looked up, Pigavetta stood before him.

"Magister," said the Italian, "I hope you have thought over the foolish
way you acted this morning. Let this disagreeable day replace the
_exercitia_ which I should have had to impose on you for a few weeks,
and let us calmly discuss how to get you out of this dangerous
situation."

Paul remained silent, and did not raise his head from the block.

"You are to be tried to-morrow before the Commission," continued
Pigavetta. "I will spare you the necessity of appearing as Erastus'
prosecutor, as you seem to be in a secretive mood. You must however
testify, with as far as I am concerned the necessary mental
reservation, if that quiets your conscience, that Erastus has often
spoken to you in private as if he were tainted with Unitarianis