estate upon
the pious Franciscans, certainly need only command his treasurer to open
the strong box----"

"You are mocking me, Your Majesty," Heinz quietly interposed. "You are
doubtless well aware whence the golden curse came to me. I thrust it
aside like noxious poison, and if I am reluctant to use it to buy, as it
were, what is dearest and most sacred to me, indeed it does not spring
from parsimony, for I had resolved to offer the two remaining purses to
the devout Sisters of St. Clare and the zealous Minorite Brothers, one
of the best of whom laboured earnestly for the salvation of my soul."

"That is right, my son," fell from the Emperor's lips in a tone of warm
approval. "If the gold benefits the holy poverty of these pious Brothers
and Sisters, the devil's gift may easily be transformed into a divine
blessing. You both--" he gazed affectionately at Heinz and Eva as
he spoke--"have, as it were, deserted the cloister, and owe it
compensation. But your depriving yourself of your golden treasure,
my friend--for two hundred silver marks are no trifle to a young
knight--puts so different a face upon this matter that--that----" Here
he lowered his voice and continued with affectionate mirthfulness--"that
a friend must determine to do what he can for him. True, my gallant
Heinz, I see that your future father-in-law, the other Nuremberg
Honourables, and even your mother, are ready to pay the sum; but he who
is most indebted to you holds fast this privilege, and that man am I,
my brave champion! What you did for your Emperor and his best work, the
peace of the country, deserves a rich reward and, thanks to the saints,
I have something which will discharge my debt. The Swabian fief of
Reichenbach became vacant. It has a strong citadel, from which we
command you to maintain the peace of the country and overthrow robber
knights. This fief shall be yours. You can enjoy it with your dear wife.
It must belong to your children and children's children forever; for
that a Schorlin should be born who would be unworthy of such a fief and
faithless to his lord and Emperor seems to me impossible. Three villages
and broad forests, with fields and meadows, pertain to the estate. As
lord of Reichenbach, it will be easy for you to pay the blood money, if
your father-in-law is not too importunate a creditor."

The latter certainly would not be that, and it cost Ernst Ortlieb no
effort to bend the knee gratefully before the kindly monarch.