fail me."

Eva granted his request with a whispered "Keep them"; but he pressed his
hand to his brow and, as if torn by contending emotions, hastily added:
"Yes, it is that of the Holy Virgin. They say that Heaven has summoned
me by a miracle to serve only her and the highest, and it often seems to
me that they are right. But what will be the result of the conflicting
powers which since that flash of lightning have drawn one usually so
prompt in decision as I, now here, now there? Your blue, Eva, the hue
of these flowers, will remain mine whether I wear it in honour of the
Blessed Virgin, or--if the world does not release me--in yours. She
or you! You, too, Eva, I know, stand hesitating at the crossing of two
paths--which is the right one? We will pray Heaven to show it to you and
to me."

As he spoke he swung himself swiftly into the saddle and, obeying the
summons, dashed after his imperial master.

Eva gazed silently at the spot where he had vanished behind a group of
pine trees; but Ortel, who had gathered a few early strawberries for
her, soon roused her from her waking dream by exclaiming, as he clapped
his big hands: "I'll be hanged, Jungfrau Eva, if the knight who spoke to
you isn't the Swiss to whom the great miracle happened yesterday!"

"The miracle?" she asked eagerly, for Els had intentionally concealed
what she heard, and this evidently had something to do with the
"wonderful summons" of which Heinz had spoken without being understood.

"Yes, a great, genuine miracle," Ortel went on eagerly. "The
lightning--I heard it from the butcher boy who brings the meat, he
learned it from his master's wife herself, and now every child in the
city knows it--the lightning struck the knight's casque during the
thundershower yesterday; it ran along his armour, flashing brightly; the
horse sank dead under him without moving a limb, but he himself escaped
unhurt, and the mark of a cross can be seen in the place where the
lightning struck his helmet."

"And you think this happened to the very knight who took the flowers
yonder?" asked Eva anxiously.

"As certainly as I hope to have the sacrament before I die, Jungfrau
Eva," the youth protested. "I saw him riding with that lank Biberli,
Katterle's lover, who serves him, and such noblemen are not found by
the dozen. Besides, he is one of those nearest to the Emperor Rudolph's
person. If it isn't he, I'll submit to torment----"

"Fie upon your miserable oaths!" Eva i