The stranger had an excellent appetite. There was absolutely nothing at the bottom of the platter when he had finished eating.
"Pardon!" cried he at last, "perhaps I ought not to have gobbled up everything. Perchance this was set aside for someone who does not happen to be at home just now."
"Oh, don't be uneasy on that score, we have all had our suppers."
"But this is not the whole family I suppose? Have you no children?"
"Yes," replied the woman, and as she spoke she durst not lift her eyes to the stranger's face. "I have a daughter."
"Really your own child?"
The woman looked hesitatingly at the stranger, twice she attempted to speak and twice the words seemed to stick in her throat.
"Yes, my own child," she said at last.
"And have you no other 'prentice but this one, Dame Zudár?"
"No, why should I?"