and I _saw_ all that happened, we saw it with our _own_ eyes. The old bailiff stood before the young man like a miserable sinner with his eyes fixed on the ground, and without defending himself, while his daughter threw her arms round his neck as if to protect him."--"Yes," interrupted Mrs. Krummhorn, "it reminded me of the scene when Stahl, the old cooper was arrested for stealing the hoops. Mary Stahl sprang between her father and Höppner, the policeman, saying that she wouldn't let him be taken up because of his white hair, and yet he had stolen the hoops, and I _know_ that he had, because he put three new hoops round my milk pail, and my husband said it was all the same to us whether they were stolen or not, and it didn't matter for the milk either, for he said the hoops having been stolen wouldn't make the milk turn sour, but all the same I noticed ....."--"Yes indeed, Mrs. Krummhorn," said the town-clerk's wife, stopping her friend, "you noticed how very pale the girl looked, and how she trembled when the young man turned to her and broke off his engagement."--"No," replied Mrs. Krummhorn, "I saw that she was deadly pale, but I didn't see her trembling."--"Then I did," said the town-clerk's wife, "she trembled like this," and so saying the lady began to shake in her chair as if it were a summer's day and the flies were always settling on her face; "and he stood before her like this," here she rose, "'The bond is broken,' as my son, the student, sings, and then he looked at her this way," and she stared so angrily at the little member, that the poor girl got quite red, "then Mrs. Behrens forced her way between them, and tried to make matters up, and patted him and talked so much that she must have made some impression on him, for he shook hands with them both when he went away; but still when his back was turned to them you could see in his face how glad he was to be done with the whole thing. Now wasn't it so, Mrs. Krummhorn?"--"I didn't notice that," answered the merchant's wife, "I was too much taken up watching the girl. She stood there with her arms folded across her chest looking, oh so pale. I've seen a good many pale girls, and my brother's daughter amongst the number, it comes from poverty of blood, and the doctor always says: 'Iron, iron;' but she has enough iron as her father is a blacksmith. He might have been something else if he had liked, for our late father ....."--"Poor girl!" cried the stupid little member, "and she's so pretty. The poor old man too! I can't believe that he with his venerable white hair has done anything to be ashamed of."--"My love," said the town-clerk's wife, with a look that might have been literally translated into, "you donkey," "my love, beware of showing compassion in the wrong place, and beware of making acquaintance with people who are accused of crime."--"Of course he did it," passed from mouth to mouth, from stocking to stocking, and from cup to cup.--The little