"No! Though you had the power to defend me against all the world, you would be powerless against this woman, and you know it."
"Don't be afraid of her! She was in rags, you say? I'll pay her off, and she'll hold her tongue and go her way. Even if it will cost me my whole fortune, I'll buy her off and give you peace. Don't be afraid of her! She will certainly come again to see what she can get. Here is the key of my strong-box. Give her money. Manage so that mother knows nothing about it. As soon as you have satisfied her, I'll have all the foreign itinerant beggars, quacks, and fortune-tellers drummed out of the town within twenty-four hours, and then she also will vanish."
Valentine's soothing words had very little effect upon pretty Michal. All night long she was plagued by horrible dreams, and frequently sprang out of bed as if Death himself was after her.
Next day, while Valentine was at the townhall, Michal listened anxiously whenever a door creaked or a dog barked, and often peeped into the street through the closed window; but no one disturbed her all that day. The terrific form did not appear.
The third day passed, and the fourth, and yet the dreaded specter did not appear. Michal began to believe that the terrible beggar-woman had after all only been a phantom, the mere creature of her own imagination.
And so Friday arrived, when the beggars of the town visit every house in turn, and every door must be opened to them.
Pretty Michal used personally to distribute the Friday's alms, a piece of bread and a penny, at the kitchen door.
At last the shape swathed in the red cloth, the shape so long expected in fear and trembling, came to the half-open door, and began the usual beggar's whine, "Praised be the—"
Michal did not let her finish the blasphemous salutation, but seized her by the hand and drew her rapidly into a side chamber. Here the beggar-woman took the cloth from her head, and laughed in Michal's face.
"Well! Here I am again! Eh? Have you thought about me much? Have you often mentioned me to your husband? Have you ever said: 'I wonder where poor Barbara is? If only we could see her once more?' Do you still recognize me? I haven't grown much younger since then, have I?"