e's condition given cause for anxiety. But he was familiar with
these convulsions which, it is true, weakened the invalid, but produced
no other results; so he permitted Eva to help him put the last touches
to his dress, on which he lavished great care. Spick and span as if he
were just out of a bandbox, the elderly man, before leaving the house,
went once more to the sick-room, and Eva stood near as, after many
questions and requests, he whispered something to Els which she did not
hear. With excited curiosity she asked what he had said so secretly,
but he only answered hurriedly, "The name of the Man in the Moon's dog,"
kissed her cheek, and ran downstairs.

At the foot he again turned to Eva and told her to send for him if her
mother should grow worse, for these entertainments at the Vorchtels
usually lasted a long time.

"Will the Eysvogels be there too?" asked the girl.

"Who knows," replied her father. "I shall be glad if Wolff comes."

The tone in which he uttered the name of his future son-in-law
distinctly showed how little he desired to meet any other member of
the family, and Eva said sympathisingly, "Then I hope you will have an
opportunity to remember me to Wolff."

"Shall I say nothing to Ursel?" asked the father, pressing a good-night
kiss upon the young girl's forehead.

"She would not care for it," was the reply. "It cannot be easy to forget
a man like Wolff."

"I wish he had stuck to Ursel, and let Els alone," her father answered
angrily. "It would have been better for both."

"Why, father," interrupted Eva reproachfully, "do not our lovers seem
really created for each other?"

"If the Eysvogels were only of the same opinion," exclaimed Ernst
Ortlieb, shrugging his shoulders with a faint sigh. "Whoever marries,
child, weds not only a man or a woman; all their kindred, unhappily,
must be taken into the bargain. However, Els did not lack earnest
warning. When your time comes, girl, your father will be more careful."

Smiling tenderly, he passed his hand over the little cap which covered
her thick, fair hair, and went out.

Eva returned to her room and sat down at the spinning-wheel in the bow
window, where Katterle had just drawn the curtains closely and lighted
the hanging lamp. But the distaff remained untouched, and her thoughts
wandered swiftly to the evening before and the ball at the Town Hall.
Heinz Schorlin's image rose more and more distinctly before her mind,
and this pleased her,