"Is my reckoning settled?" asked Thomas, spitting as far as he could.
"Yes, thank God! See what a mother can do."
"I don't owe you much thanks for that, what did you bring me into the world for? But the best of it all is it's a slap in the face for the great snarling country justice. Now, mother, I'm as thirsty as three bailiff's clerks. Waiting has almost used me up. Have you anything more about you?"
"Of course I have; just look."
She showed him the gold piece, which he most dexterously removed from her hand and into his pocket.
"What else have you got?" said he, when he noticed the little gold heart that she had taken from her pocket at the same time.
"The beautiful princess gave me that and this silk kerchief for Walpurga's child."
"Hansei's child will have enough with the kerchief," said Thomas, appropriating the gold heart, while he good-naturedly allowed his mother to retain the black cord which had been attached to it.
"There, mother; that'll do very well, and now let's take a drink for having waited so long. While I was waiting out here, I saw a splendid rifle at the gunsmith's. You can take it apart and put it in your pocket, and we'll see if the greencoats catch me again."
The first thing young Thomas did was to take the chamois beard and the black cock plume out of his pocket and stick them in his hat again. Then he put on his hat in a defiant manner, and his whole bearing seemed to say: I'd like to see who'd dare touch them.