bound nor braided, but hung down on either side of her face.

As the door opened she went down the steps into the lobby, but it
seemed to the hostess that she moved as though walking in her
sleep. And all the time she kept her eyelids lowered and her arms
pressed close to her side. The nearer she came, the more
astonished was the hostess at the fragile slenderness of her form.
Her face was fair, but it was delicate and transparent, as though
it had been made of brittle glass.

When she came down to the hostess she asked whether there was any
work she could do, and offered her services.

Then the hostess thought of all the wild companions whose habit it
was to sit drinking ale and wine in her tavern, and she could not
help smiling. "No, there is no place here for a little maid like
you," she said.

The maiden did not raise her eyes nor make the slightest movement,
but she asked again to be taken into service. She desired neither
board nor wages, she said, only to have a task to perform.

"No," said the hostess, "if my own daughter were as you are, I
should refuse her this. I wish you a better lot than to be servant
here."

The young maid went quietly up the steps, and the hostess stood
watching her. She looked so small and helpless that the woman took
pity on her.