showed his spoil, adding:  “I’ve done old Braesig this time at any rate!” “The young rascal!” groaned Braesig as he poked his nose through the cherry-leaves, making it appear like a huge pickled capsicum such as Mrs. Nuessler was in the habit of preserving in cherry-leaves for winter use.  “The young rascal to go and catch my tench!  Bless me! what monsters the rogue has caught!” “Give them to me, Rudolph,” said Mina.  “I will take them into the house, and will bring you something to eat out here.”  “Oh no, never mind” “But you musn’t starve,” she said.  “Very well then—­anything will do.  A bit of bread and butter will be quite enough, Mina.”  The girl went away, and Rudolph seated himself in the arbor.  “The devil take it!” muttered Braesig, stretching his legs softly, and twisting and turning in the vain endeavor to find a part of his body which was not aching from his cramped position.  “The wretch is sitting there now!  I never saw such goings on!”

Rudolph sat buried in thought, a very unusual circumstance with him.  He was easy-going by nature, and never troubled himself beforehand about vexations that might come to him.  He was not in the habit of brooding over his worries, but on the contrary always tried to forget them.  He was tall and strongly made, and his mischievous brown eyes had sometimes a look of imperious audacity which was in perfect keeping with the scar on his sunburnt cheek that bore witness that he had not devoted his whole time and energy to the study of dogmatic theology.  “Yes,” he said to himself as he sat there waiting for his cousin, “I must get myself out of this difficulty!  I could bear it as long as it was far off, for there was always plenty of time to come to a decision, but two things must be settled today beyond recall.  My father is coming this afternoon.  I only hope that my mother won’t take it into her head to come too, or I should never have courage to do it.  I’m as well suited to be a clergyman as a donkey is to play the guitar, or as Godfrey is to be colonel of a cavalry regiment.  If Braesig were only here, he’d stand by me I know.  And then Mina—­I wish it were all settled with her.”  At this moment Mina appeared carrying a plate of bread and butter—­Rudolph sprang up, exclaiming:  “What a dear good little girl you are, Mina!” and he threw his arm round her waist as he spoke.  Mina freed herself from him, saying:  “Don’t do that.  Ah, how could you have been so wicked?  My mother is very angry with you.”  “You mean about the sermon,” he answered; “well, yes, it was a stupid trick.”  “No,” said Mina quickly, “it was a wicked trick.  You made game of holy things.”  “Not a bit of it,” he replied.  “These trial sermons are not holy things, even when they are preached by our pious cousin Godfrey.”  “But, Rudolph, it was in church!” “Ah, Mina, I confess that it was a silly joke.  I didn’t think sufficiently of what I was doing.  I only thought of the sheepish look of amazement Godfrey’s