"The miracle?" she asked eagerly, for Els had intentionally concealed
what she heard, and this evidently had something to do with the
"wonderful summons" of which Heinz had spoken without being understood.

"Yes, a great, genuine miracle," Ortel went on eagerly. "The lightning--
I heard it from the butcher boy who brings the meat, he learned it from
his master's wife herself, and now every child in the city knows it--the
lightning struck the knight's casque during the thundershower yesterday;
it ran along his armour, flashing brightly; the horse sank dead under him
without moving a limb, but he himself escaped unhurt, and the mark of a
cross can be seen in the place where the lightning struck his helmet."

"And you think this happened to the very knight who took the flowers
yonder?" asked Eva anxiously.

"As certainly as I hope to have the sacrament before I die, Jungfrau
Eva," the youth protested. "I saw him riding with that lank Biberli,
Katterle's lover, who serves him, and such noblemen are not found by the
dozen. Besides, he is one of those nearest to the Emperor Rudolph's
person. If it isn't he, I'll submit to torment----"

"Fie upon your miserable oaths!" Eva interrupted reprovingly. "Do you
know also that the tall, stately gentleman with the long grey hair----"

"That was the Emperor Rudolph!" cried Ortel, sure he was right. "Whoever
has once seen him does not forget him. Everything on earth belongs to
him; but when the knight took our flowers so freely just now as if they
were his own, I thought But there--there--there! See for yourself,
Jungfrau! A heavy, unclipped yellow zecchin!"