look, Biber, the Duke of Pomerania's quarters in
the Green Shield are still lighted. I'll wager that they are yet at
the gaming table. A plague upon it! I would be there, too, if my purse
allowed. I feel as if yonder dead man and his coffin were burdening my
soul. If it was really good fortune in love that snatched the zecchins
from my purse yesterday:

"Then," cried Biberli eagerly, "to-night is the very time, ere Countess
Cordula teaches you to forget what troubles you, to win them back. The
gold for the first stake is at your disposal."

"From the Duke of Pomerania, you think?" asked Heinz; then, in a quick,
resolute tone, added: "No! Often as the duke has offered me his purse,
I never borrow from my peers when the prospect of repayment looks so
uncertain."

"Gently, my lord," returned Biberli, slapping his belt importantly.
"Here is what you need for the stake as your own property. No miracles
have been wrought for us, only I forgot But look! There are the black
clouds rolling northward over the castle. That was a frightful storm!
But a spendthrift doesn't keep house long-and the thunder has not yet
followed that last flash of lightning. There is plenty of uproar without
it. It's hard work to hear one's self speak amid all the ringing,
trumpeting, yelling, and shrieking. It seems as if they expected to put
out the fire with noise. The fathers of the city can attend to that.
It doesn't appear to disturb the duke and his guests at their dice;
and here, my lord, are fifty florins which, I think, will do for the
beginning."

Biberli handed the knight a little bag containing this sum, and when
Heinz asked in perplexity where he obtained it, the ex-schoolmaster
answered gaily: "They came just in the nick of time. I received them
from Suss, the jockey, while you were out riding this afternoon."

"For the black?" Heinz enquired.

"Certainly, my lord. It's a pity about the splendid stallion. But, as
you know, he has the staggers, and when I struck him on the coronet he
stood as if rooted to the earth, and the equerry, who was there, said
that the disease was proved. So the Jew silently submitted, let the
horse be led away, and paid back what we gave him. Fifty heavy florins!
More than enough for a beginning. If I may advise you, count on the two
and the five when fixed numbers are to be thrown or hit. Why? Because
you must turn your ill luck in love to advantage: and those from whom
it comes are the two beautiful Ortl