In the Fire of the Forge | Page 5

pavement of the yard, and in a few minutes
the heavy ironbound oak doors opened and a woman's hand beckoned
to the late guest, who glided swiftly along in the narrow line of shadow
cast by the house and vanished through the entrance.
The moon looked after him doubtfully. In former days the
narrow-shouldered fellow had been seen near the Ortlieb house often
enough, and his movements had awakened Luna's curiosity; for he had
been engaged in amorous adventure even when work was still going on
at the recently completed convent of St. Clare--an institution endowed

by the Ebner brothers, to which Herr Ernst Ortlieb added a considerable
sum. At that time--about three years before--the bold fellow had gone
there to keep tryst evening after evening, and the pretty girl who met
him was Katterle, the waiting maid of the beautiful Els, as Nuremberg
folk called the Ortlieb sisters, Els and Eva. Many vows of ardent,
changeless love for her had risen to the moon, and the outward aspect
of the man who made them afforded a certain degree of assurance that
he would fulfil his pledges, for he then wore the long dark robe of
reputable people, and on the front of his cap, from which a net shaped
like a bag hung down his back, was a large S, and on the left shoulder
of his long coat a T, the initials of the words Steadfast and True. They
bore witness that the person who had them embroidered on his clothing
deemed these virtues the highest and noblest. It might have been
believed that the lean fellow, who scarcely looked his five-and-thirty
years, possessed these lofty traits of character; for, though three full
years had passed since his last meeting with Katterle at the building site,
he had gone to his sweetheart with his wonted steadfastness and truth
immediately after the Emperor Rudolph's entry.
He had given her reason to rely upon him; but the moon's gaze reaches
far, and had discovered the quality of Walther Biberli's "steadfastness
and truth."
In one respect it proved the best and noblest; for among thousands of
servitors the moon had not seen one who clung to his lord with more
loyal devotion. Towards pretty young women, on the contrary, he
displayed his principal virtues in a very singular way; for the pallid
nocturnal wanderer above had met him in various lands and cities, and
wherever he tarried long another maid was added to the list of those to
whom Biberli vowed steadfastness and truth.
True, whenever Sir Long Coat's travels led him back to any one to
whom he had sworn eternal love, he went first to her, if she, too,
retained the old affection. But Katterle had cause to care for him most,
for he was more warmly devoted to her than to any of the others, and in
his own fashion his intentions were honest. He seriously intended, as
soon as his master left the imperial court--which he hoped would not

happen too soon--and returned to his ancestral castle in his native
Switzerland, to establish a home of his own for his old age, and no one
save Katterle should light the hearth fire. Her outward circumstances
pleased him, as well as her disposition and person. She was free-born,
like himself--the son of a forest keeper--and, again like him, belonged
to a Swiss family; her heritage (she was an orphan), which consisted of
a house and arable land in her home, Sarnen, where she still sent her
savings, satisfied his requirements. But above all she believed in him
and admired his versatile mind and his experience. Moreover, she gave
him absolute obedience, and loved him so loyally that she had
remained unwedded, though a number of excellent men had sought her
in marriage.
Katterle had met him for the first time more than three years before
when, after the battle of Marchfield, he remained several weeks in
Nuremberg. They had sat side by side at a tournament, and, recognising
each other as Swiss-born by the sharp sound of the letters "ch" and the
pronunciation of other words, were mutually attracted.
Katterle had a kind heart; yet at that time she almost yielded to the
temptation to pray Heaven not to hasten the cure of a brave man's
wounds too quickly, for she knew that Biberli was a squire in the
service of the young Swiss knight Heinz Schorlin, whose name was on
every lip because, in spite of his youth, he had distinguished himself at
the battle of Marchfield by his rare bravery, and that the young hero
would remain in Nuremberg only until his severe injuries were
completely healed. His departure would bring to her separation from
his servant, and sometimes when homesickness tortured her she
thought she would be