"Even against the fever of love?"
"What mean you?"
"Well, I heard, it hung on the sight of the Sun, as certain pupils hang on the lips of their teacher."
The clerical gentleman angrily threw the flowers among the vines beneath, as if they had turned into nettles. "Do not make such jokes, thou knowest I do not like to be turned into ridicule."
An unpleasant pause succeeded this excited speech, and to give the conversation another turn, Felix asked whether what Werner the Baptist had told him concerning the former use of the Haarlass had any foundation. "Foolery," replied Paolo. "Every child knows that the hair of the novices is cut off at the altar of the convent-church, and not at the boundaries of the convent property. Haarlass means 'hari lot' that is 'the property of the Lord of the Manor;' anything else is a poor joke."
Not to be put down Felix related what else the Baptist had told him. "A way will be found to get at this bold heretic," was the only answer of the Magister.
"When shall we meet again?" he then asked coldly as they reached the road.
"Must you go back already?"
"I have still much to do; if you find time, go of an evening to the Hirsch Inn. At the round table in the back room one meets the clergy of the neighbourhood. I am accustomed to go there also, so as to make the acquaintance of the worthy clerics of this land. We can there talk further over matters." Saying this he stretched out his small thin hand. His brother looked him earnestly in the face. But the Magister avoided the loving glance and directed his steps back towards Neuburg. "Can his heart really be dried up," thought Felix, "or is he only inwardly miserable?"