When she withdrew her hand, something cold and
hard remained in her palm. Wonders of all the world! It was a piece of
gold. Her eyes went up quickly, but the giver smiled reassuringly and
put a finger against his lips.
"But, Herr," she remonstrated.
"Keep it; I give it to you. Do not question providence, and I am her
handmaiden just now. Go along with you."
So Gretchen in a mild state of stupefaction turned away. Clat-clat! sang
the little wooden shoes. A plaintive gonk rose as she prodded a laggard
from the dank gutter. A piece of gold! Clat-clat! Clat-clat! Surely this
had been a day of marvels; two crowns from the grand duke and a piece of
gold from this old man in peasant clothes. Instinctively she knew that
he was not a peasant. But what could he be? Comparison would have made
him a king. She was too tired and hungry to make further deductions.
She was regarded with kindly eyes till the dark jaws of the Krumerweg
swallowed up both her and her geese.
"Poor little goose-girl!" he thought. "If she but knew, she could make a
bonfire of a thousand hearts. A fine day!" He eyed again the battered
sign. It was then that he discerned another, leaning from the ledge of
the first story of the house adjoining the tavern. It was the tarnished
shield of the United States.
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