Mother Werther smiled in a tantalizing way. She drew in a long breath as she were about to retort, and then, thinking better of it, went back to her work. “If Frieda is wise she will follow the example of some of us who have served God faithfully all unmindful of man,” said Mother Kaufmann. Her remark was too much for Mother Werther. Dropping her flax, the innkeeper’s wife put her hands upon her hips and laughed. “And hast thou always been unmindful of Gerson Brandt?” she inquired. “Mother, thou shouldst put an end to this unseemly talk,” said Gretchen Schneider. “Yea, thou hast something to fear lest it be remembered how narrowly _thou_ hast escaped love,” said Mother Werther. “Stop thine unruly tongue,” admonished Mother Schneider. “Thou forgettest that in Zanah all men and women are equal,” said Mother Werther. “Thy husband, the Herr Doktor, is enjoying but a brief authority. Thou art not greater than any other woman in the colony.” Mother Schneider gasped in anger, but before she could reply a shadow was cast upon the floor and Walda Kellar entered. Her sweet face wore an untroubled look. She smiled upon all the women gathered in the room. “Something brought me here among you,” she said. “I have but just come from my father’s sick-room, and as I walked long, thinking of the coming _Untersuchung_, I felt that I wanted once more to spin with the women of Zanah.” “Thou bringest peace with thee,” said Mother Werther. Frieda Bergen rose from her little, low-backed chair, and Walda Kellar seated herself before the girl’s wheel. Silence fell upon the room. The girl’s presence commanded reverence. In her eyes was a peculiar light, and her face was radiant. Slowly she began to turn her wheel. “It is very good to be here,” she said, presently. “If the Lord giveth me the tongue of inspiration there will be other tasks for me, and now and then, when I am not quite so strong in the faith as I ought to be, I wonder whether I shall not sometimes be an unworthy instrument of the Lord, because the little things of life, it seemeth, will always have a charm for me. While the great, leather-bound books of Zanah have much to teach me, there are days when my inclinations draw me towards the labors which belong to the women of the colony.”