With all our might and soul we prayed for him again and again; howbeit,
as must ever befall, other cares came crowding in, to swallow up that
one. As soon as the tidings of the old noble's death were rumored
abroad, those who had known him in life came pouring in, and messengers
from the town-council, notaries with sealing-wax and seals, priests for
the burying, neighbors, and other good folk, and among them many friars
and nuns. Lastly came Doctor Holzschuher of the council, my grand-
uncle's notary, and one of our own father's most trusted friends, in all
points a man of such worth and honesty that no words befit him so well as
the Cardinal's saying: that he reminded him of an oak of the German
forests.

When, now, this man, who in his youth had been one of the goodliest in
all Nuremberg, and who was still of noble aspect with his long silver-
grey hair lying on his shoulders--when he now greeted us maids well-nigh
gloomily, and with no friendly beck or nod, we knew forthwith that he
must have great and well-founded fears for our concerns. Yea, and so it
was. Presently, when he had held grave discourse with the High Treasurer
and the other chief men of the council, he called to him Cousin Maud and
me, and told us that old Im Hoff's latest dealing was such, to all
seeming, as to take from us all hope that our inheritance from him should
help us to pay the ransom for Herdegen. And on the morrow his will would
be opened and read and we should learn thereby in what way that old man
had cared for those who were nearest and dearest to him.

Hereupon we had no choice but to bury many a fair hope in the grave; and
notwithstanding this, we might owe no grudge to the departed; for albeit
he had cared first and chiefly for the salvation of his own sinful soul,
he nevertheless had taken thought to provide for my brothers and likewise