pena, the book-hawker.

"That is strange indeed," said the count. "From the same Gottlieb Spena
I also, my friend, have learned the same glorious truths. You have, I
doubt not, always heard me spoken of as a bad, cruel man. So I was, but
I have been changed. God has found me out, and in His love and mercy
has showed me the way by which I may escape the punishment most justly
due to my misdeeds; and not only that, but due also to me had I never
committed one-tenth part of the crimes of which I have been guilty."

It was strange to hear the once proud count thus speaking to the humble
woodcutter, as to a brother or a friend.

For many weeks the old man was sheltered safely within the walls of the
castle. Not only had the count, but all his house, abandoned the faith
of Rome, many of them having truly accepted the offers of salvation. At
length, so widely had spread the doctrines of the Reformation, that the
authorities at Hornberg no longer ventured to persecute those who
professed it, and Moretz did not, therefore, require the count's
protection. Meta and Karl had remained at the cottage, notwithstanding
the threats of Herr Herder. Every day, however, they had been expecting
to receive another order to quit their home.

One morning, as they were seated at breakfast, before Karl went out to
his work, a knock was heard at the door. Karl ran to it, wondering who
it could be at that early hour. A shriek of joy escaped Meta's lips as,
the door opening, she saw her grandfather, and the next instant she and
Karl were pressed in his arms.

Great changes had of late taken place in Germany, and the authorities
who had imprisoned Moretz no longer ventured to proceed as they had
before done. The peasants, oppressed for centuries by the owners of the
soil, and treated like slaves, had long been groaning for the blessings
of civil liberty. On several occasions they had revolted against their
lords, but their rebellions had always been put down with bloodshed and
fearful cruelties. Once more the same desire to emancipate themselves
had sprung up in all parts of the country. This desire did not arise in
consequence of the progress of the Reformation. It had existed before,
and Luther and the other reformers who had been aware of it had used
every means to induce the people to bear their burdens, and to wait
till, in God's good time, a better heart should be put into their
rulers, and they should be induced to grant th