“Mr. Heil, was he the forest-master who lived in the same forest-house where we live?” asked Franz.

“Yes, the same log-building.  Has your father ever told you of these forest-masters who once inhabited it?”

“Yes, he told us that once a member of the consistory came from Hanover to learn of the customs of the people of the Odenwald that he might write an article for publication.  Some one had told him that one curious custom was that the fathers whipped their children every morning, and this punishment was to last all day.  No matter how badly the children acted the rest of the day, they had received their punishment and there would be no more that day.  The sons of Forest-master Urich were so amused at hearing this that every morning while the stranger staid in the neighborhood they yelled as if being cruelly beaten, and the visitor published the article in which was mentioned the barbarous custom of the people of the Odenwald.  Forest-master Urich would often say in jest to his boys, ’Come now, and get your cudgeling, which is to serve you for the day.’”

“Yes, Franz, that has ever since been one of the sayings in our neighborhood,” laughed Mr. Heil, and Mr. Urich heartily enjoyed hearing the tradition.

“Friends, relatives!” he commented, “I thought I had not one on my father’s side of the house, and now I have found not only a helping friend, but one bound to me by the ties of blood.  You are rejoicing over a few paltry marks for your children’s home, while I rejoice that through the unlooked-for incident we have met.  I had passed by that tall shrubbery hours before the pocketbook was found, and I had entirely forgotten that I had been there when my pocketbook was missing.  Had it not been for the sharp scent of little Pixy, I am quite sure I would have been compelled to return to England without it.”

“Yes, Pixy did help us all,” said Mrs. Steiner, “and I have done the poor little dog much injustice.  He is a prince in disguise, and has done two beautiful deeds at one and the same time by earning five hundred marks for the poor children’s home, and introducing us to a relative of whom we are proud.”

“Who is this relative?” was asked in the well-known voice of Uncle Braun, and the welcome visitor stepped into the circle of friends.

“Dear Uncle Braun,” cried Fritz, “we are so glad to tell you that Pixy found a new uncle from England, and five hundred marks for the poor children’s home.  Now, wasn’t it good that I brought him to Frankfort?”

“It certainly was.  And is this the new relation?  Perhaps he is mine also,” and he held out his hand to Mr. Urich, which was grasped cordially.

As Mr. Heil and Mr. Braun were cousins on their mother’s side and descended from the Forest-master Urich, their relation to the Englishman was equal and they sat and conversed with hearty appreciation of each other’s society, at the same time listening to the sweet music which floated out from the pavilion.