rily. "I never met him except there. What do
you other girls talk about at such entertainments, if it surprises you?
Besides, St. Francis was by no means our only subject; we spoke of the
future crusade, too. And oh!--you may believe me--we would have been
glad to talk of such things for hours. He knew many things about our
saint; but the precise one which makes him especially great and lovable,
and withal so powerful that he attracted all whom he deemed worthy to
follow him, he had not understood, and I was permitted to be the first
person to bring it clearly before his mind. Ah! and his wit is as keen
as his sword, and his heart is as open to all that is noble and sacred
as it is loyal to his lord and Emperor. If we meet again I shall win
him for the white cross on the black mantle and the battle against the
enemies of the faith."

"But, Eva," interrupted her sister, still under the spell of
astonishment, "such conversation amid the merry music of the pipers!"

"'Wherever three Christians meet, even though they are only laymen,
there is a church,' says Tertullian," Eva answered impressively. "One
need not go to the house of God to talk about the things which ought to
be the highest and dearest to every one; and Heinz Schorlin--I know it
from his own lips--is of the same opinion, for he told me voluntarily
that he would never forget the few hours which we had enjoyed together."

"Indeed!" said her sister thoughtfully. "But whether he does not owe
this pleasure more to the dancing than to the edifying conversation----"

"Certainly not!" replied Eva, very positively. "I can prove it, too;
for later, after he had heard many things about St. Clare, the female
counterpart of Francis, he vowed to make her his patron saint. Or do
you suppose that a knight changes his saints, as he does his doublet and
coat of mail, without having any great and powerful motive? Do you think
it possible that the idle pleasure of the dance led him to so important
a decision?"

"Certainly not. Nothing led him to it except the irresistible zeal of my
devout sister," answered Els, smiling, as she continued to comb her fair
hair. "She spoke with tongues in the ballroom, as the apostles did at
Pentecost, and thus our 'little saint' performed her first miracle: the
conversion of a godless knight during the dancing."

"Call it so, if you choose," replied Eva, her red lips pouting
scornfully, as if she felt raised above such pitiful derision. "How