“Don’t make such a row,” cried the young man with black locks who sat near Barbarossa; “see the little Madonna, she is trembling with fright.”
“Count Maximilian,” replied Barbarossa, “you must take the little Madonna under your special protection.”
Maximilian held out his hand. “Come to me, little one,” he said; “now go on with the song.”
The child trustfully held fast to her new friend and sang:
“Now bitter cold, and chilling blast,
O’er ice-bound earth is creeping,
But the dear Father holds us fast
Within his tender keeping.”
“I have been wonderfully protected from cold this day,” said the merry Barbarossa, and another noisy laugh rang out.