to get the peasants entirely under their control. They finally succeeded. They urged the father of Maria Theresa to annul all the contracts between the nobles and the peasants. The court announced that the contracts were to be sent up for examination; the peasants unsuspectingly sent them to the court. But when they afterwards asked for them, they were simply told that the contracts would not be returned; that they gave rise to continual disagreements, which must be stopped. Thus, the peasants, having lost the last vestige of independence, were thrown without mercy into the hands of the nobility.”
“That is not possible!” said the harper passionately, interrupting Andrew’s flood of bitter accusations. “That is not the way things are; it can’t be; justice could never have fallen so low in this world. Your charges are nothing more than the old jealousy of the poor against the rich.”
“Just ask your patroness about it. If you are her bosom friend, she will certainly con-
