"Before we left, the old lady--she must be eighty or more--took me aside and asked me where we were lodging.

I told her at the Widow Mary's and when she heard it she struck her crutch on the floor.

'Do you like the place ?' she asked.

I told her not at all, and said we could not possibly stop here." "Quite right!" cried Karnis.

"The monks in the court-yard will kill us as dead as rats if they hear us learning heathen hymns." "That is what I told her; but the old lady did not allow me to finish; she drew me close to her and whispered, 'only do as my granddaughter wishes and you shall be safely housed and take this for the present'-- and she put her hand into the purse at her girdle, gave the gold into my hand, and added loud enough for the others to hear: 'Fifty gold pieces out of my own pocket if Gorgo tells me that she is satisfied with your performance.'" "Fifty gold pieces!" cried Karnis clasping his hands.