"But it is said that the emperor has suspended the office of that committee."
"I am glad of it," replied the girl, "for good and evil are alike exposed to suspicion; and I would like to walk the streets without fear of being taken for what I am not."
"Where are you going, child?"
"I am going," replied she, with a fresh burst of tears, "to sell the clothes I carry in this bundle."
"What clothes, child?"
"The last decent covering that my poor mother owns," sobbed the girl.
"You are, then, very poor?" asked the emperor, softly.
"Very poor. We are often hungry, and have no food but our own bitter tears. These are the last clothes we have, but they must go for bread, and then perhaps we shall perish of cold."
"Poor girl! have you no father?"
"My father died in defence of Austria and the empress, and as a reward of his devotion to his sovereign, his wife and child have been left to die of want."