?"
inquired the innkeeper.

"No; I'm expecting one any hour." He had scarcely uttered the words,
when the letter-carrier entered and said, "So here you are, Hansei;
I've been at your house twice to-day. I've got a letter with money in
it, for you."

"Let's have it," said Hansei, breaking the five seals with a trembling
hand.

"A nice way of treating money," said the innkeeper, picking up a
hundred florin note from the floor. "That'll suit me very well. I've
use for one, and will give you the change for it."

"All right," said Hansei, leaving the money in the innkeeper's hands.
He then read his letter:

"_Dear Hansei_: This time, I write to you all alone. Here are a hundred
florins that the queen has given me for a special present, because you
haven't come to see me; but I must tell you all about it so that you
can understand it. You've no idea what a good soul the queen is;
whenever you pray, pray for her. We often sit together for hours, and
she can take down everything on paper beautifully--the trees and all
sorts of things, and we talk to each other as if we had gone to school
together. But she's Lutheran and is very good and pious, and has such
kind thoughts about all things that an ugly word couldn't pass her
lips. If she weren't Lutheran, she might become a saint, but she'll get
to heaven anyhow. That's my belief, and you can believe it, too; but
you needn't tell any one.

"Well, the queen wanted to give me a treat. She would like to make the
whole world happy; that's the way the saints must have been in the
olden times. Well, as I said before, the queen wanted to give me a
treat, because her husband came home well and hearty, and they're so
fond of each other, and she wanted you and the child and mother to come
and see me for one or two days, for she notices everything; she looks
right into your heart, and I'm often homesick for you all. And when the
queen talked about having you come, I said to her: 'That would be very
nice, but it would cost a pretty penny,' and so I let her make me a
present of the money, and we can make better use of it. You haven't the
right sort of clothes, you know, and the people here might make fun of
you. But with all that, I wouldn't have got the money, for that's
nothing to her. She never thinks of such things. She's never counted
money in all her life, and I really believe that she don't know how to
reckon. The court paymaster attends to all that. Here there's an extra
serva