Main, or the richly wooded banks of the Pegnitz. Was this because, in
Nuremberg, for the only time in her life, she had been a member of a
decorous household, or had the love which, wherever Cyriax's cart and
donkey carried her, always drew her heart back to the same ancient city,
made it so dear to her?

Probably the latter, for yesterday she had yearned ardently to reach
Nuremberg; but since she had seen Lienhard again, she rejoiced that she
was in Miltenberg and at The Blue Pike.

Never had he seemed to her so handsome, so manly. Besides, he had spoken
to her, listened to her reply, and even given her money with lavish
generosity. It was like him! No one else would have been capable of it.

She could live a long time on his three gold florins, if Cyriax abandoned
her; yet the unexpected wealth burned in her hand and perplexed her. Did
Lienhard no longer know that she would not accept money from him? Had
she robbed herself of the certainty that beautified existence; had she
failed to show him her superiority to other vagrant girls? Yet no! What
he gave her was more, far more, than even a prince bestowed upon an
ordinary mendicant. He must measure her by a special standard. If he
had only given her the gold with a kind word, not flung it silently into
her lap. This half destroyed her pleasure in the present, and the ample
supply of money clouded her already disturbed peace of mind still more.
Had it been possible, she would have returned the gift as she did the
alms at Augsburg. But how was this to be accomplished in the over-
crowded inn?

Yet, if she kept the florins, the sacrifice at the convent would lose a
large portion of its value, and the good opinion which her act at