so late at night, accompanied only by gentlemen, the house which so hospitably sheltered us, and go to my sleeping room, though I should not fear the Sultan and his mamelukes, if with this in my hand”—­she motioned to her riding whip—­“and my dear father at my side, I stood on my own feet which, though by no means small, are well-shod and resolute.  Yet, as we are apt to measure others by our own standard, the timid, decorous girl believed me, and poor Cordula, who indeed brought only her maids and no female guardian, and therefore must dispense with being received on her return by a lady capable of commanding respect, did not appeal in vain to the charitable feelings of her beautiful housemate.  She promised faithfully to come down into the entry, when the horses approached, to receive the poor lamb, surrounded by lynxes, wild-cats, foxes, and wolves, and lead it into the safe fold—­if one can call this stately house by such a name.  Both Sir Heinz Schorlin and Jungfrau Elizabeth Ortlieb kept their word and joined each other here—­to their extreme amazement, I should suppose, as to my knowledge they never met before—­to receive me, and thus had an interview which, however loudly they may contradict it, I call a nocturnal meeting.  But my wager, fair child, is won, and tomorrow you will deliver to me the exquisite carved ivory casket, while I shall keep my bracelet.”

Here she paused, paying no heed to the merry threats, exclamations of amazement, and laughter of her companions.

But while her father, striking his broad chest, cried again and again, with rapturous delight, “A paragon of a woman!” and Seitz Siebenburg, in bitter disappointment, whispered, “The fourteen saintly helpers in time of need might learn from you how to draw from the clamps what is not worth rescue and probably despaired of escape,” she was trying to give time to recover more composure her young hostess, to whom she was sincerely attached, and who, she felt sure, could have met Heinz Schorlin, who perhaps had come hither on her own account, only by some cruel chance.  So she added in a quieter tone:  “And now, Jungfrau Ortlieb, in sober earnest I will ask your protection and guidance through the dark house, and meanwhile you shall tell me how Sir Heinz greeted you and what passed between you, either good or bad, during the time of waiting.”

Els summoned up her courage and answered loud enough to be heard by all present:  “We were speaking of you, Countess Cordula, and the knight said: 

“I ventured to remark, Countess,” said Heinz, interrupting the new ally, “that though you might understand how to show a poor knight his folly, no kinder heart than yours throbbed under any bodice in Switzerland, Swabia, or France.”  Cordula struck him lightly on the shoulder with her riding whip, saying with a laugh:  “Who permits you to peep under women’s bodices through so wide a tract of country, you scamp?  Had I been in Jungfrau Ortlieb’s place I should have punished your entry into a respectable house: