ealt the palm of her left a light blow.

She fancied that she had discovered the cause of Wolff's depression, for
she again saw distinctly before her his sister Isabella's husband, Sir
Seitz Siebenburg, as he swung Countess Cordula around so recklessly that
her skirt, adorned with glittering jewels, fluttered far out from her
figure. In the room adjacent to the hall he had flung himself upon his
knees before the countess, and Eva fancied she again beheld his big,
red face, with its long, thick, yellow mustache, whose ends projected on
both sides in a fashion worn by few men of his rank. The expression of
the watery blue eyes, with which he stared Cordula in the face, were
those of a drunkard.

To-day he had followed her to the Kadolzburg, and probably meant to
spend the night there. So Wolff had ample reason to be anxious about his
sister and her peace of mind. That must be it!

Perhaps he would yet come that evening, to give Els at least a greeting
from the street. How late was it?

She hastily tried to draw the curtains aside from the window, but this
was not accomplished as quickly as she expected--they had been care
fully fastened with pins. Eva noticed it, and suddenly remembered her
father's whispered words to Els.

They were undoubtedly about the window. According to the calendar,
the moon would be full that day, and she knew very well that it had a
strange influence upon her. True, within the past year it appeared
to have lost its power; but formerly, especially when she had devoted
herself very earnestly to religious exercises, she had often, without
knowing how or why, left her bed and wandered about, not only in her
chamber but through the house. Once she had climbed to the dovecot in
the courtyard, and another time had mounted to the garret where, she did
not know in what way, she had been awakened. When she looked around,
the moon was shining into the spacious room, and showed her that she
was perched on one of the highest beams in the network of rafters which,
joined with the utmost skill, supported the roof. Below her yawned
a deep gulf, and as she looked down into it she was seized with such
terror that she uttered a loud shriek for help, and did not recover her
calmness until the old housekeeper, Martsche, who had started from her
bed in alarm, brought her father to her.

She had been taken down with the utmost care. No one was permitted to
help except white-haired Nickel, the old head packer, who