chamber in silence, and with bowed head, her arms folded, and never so
much as lifting an eye to look at me.

It was in May; the day was fine and pleasant, but I began to shiver,
and I felt as if the Spring had bloomed and gone, and I had suddenly
forgotten how to laugh and be glad. Presently a cat stole in, leapt on
to the bench where I sat, and arched her back to rub up against me; but I
drew away, albeit I commonly laved to play with animals; for it glared at
me strangely with its green eyes, and I had a sudden fear that it would
turn into a werewolf and do me a hurt.

At length the door opened, and a woman in nun's weeds came in with my
cousin; she was the taller by a head. I had never seen so tall a woman,
but the nun was very thin, too, and her shoulders scarce broader than my
own. Ere long, indeed, she stooped a good deal, and as time went on I
saw her ever with her back bent and her head bowed. They said she had
some hurt of the back-bone, and that she had taken this bent shape from
writing, which she always did at night.

At first I dared not look up in her face, for my cousin had told me that
with her I must be very diligent, that idleness never escaped her keen
eyes; and Gotz Waldstromer knew the meaning of the Latin motto with which
she began all her writings: "Beware lest Satan find thee idle!" These
words flashed through my mind at this moment; I felt her eye fixed upon
me, and I started as she laid her cold, thin fingers on my brow and
firmly, but not ungently, made me lift my drooping head. I raised my
eyes, and how glad I was when in her pale, thin face I saw nothing but
true, sweet good will.

She asked me in a low, clear voice, though hardly above a whisper, how