good punch the Herr Baron will certainly not despise, if he is like
his blessed father."

The young girl spread the cloth in an adjoining room.

"She is pretty!" Wilhelm whispered to the old man.

"And just as pious and innocent as she is pretty!" returned he;
"and that is saying much, as she is a poor girl, and from
Copenhagen. She is of good service to us, and my wife says Eva
shall not leave us until she is well married."

Wilhelm invited the host to join them at a glass. The old man
became more animated, and now confided to him, half mysteriously,
what made Eva so honorable in the eyes of his wife, and what was,
indeed, really very nice of her. "My old woman," said he, "was in
Copenhagen, in search of a waiting-girl. Yes, there are enough to
be had, and they are fine girls; but mother has her own thoughts
and opinions: she has good eyes--that she has! Now, there came
many, and among others Eva; but, good Lord! she was very poorly
clad, and she looked feeble and weak, and what service could one
get out of her! But she had a good countenance, and the poor girl
wept and besought mother to take her, for she was not comfortable
at home, and would not remain at Copenhagen. Now, mother knows how
to make use of her words: it is unfortunate that she is not at home
to-night; how pleased she would have been to see the Herr Baron!
Yes, what I would say is, she so twisted her words about, that Eva
confessed to her why she wished to leave home. You see the girl is
petty; and the young gallant gentlemen of Copenhagen had remarked
her smooth face,--and not alone the young, but the old ones also!