LAKE CONSTANCE 



family, who gave their name to a neighbouring 

 town. Once in the twelfth century this family 

 was near extinction, having been reduced to a 

 single member, a little orphan boy. His castle 

 was set on fire, and the child, asleep in an 

 upper chamber, seemed hopelessly imperilled. 

 But his nurse was a woman of resource. She 

 snatched him up, packed him in woollen 

 blankets and stuffed him into a huge copper 

 saucepan, clapped on the lid, and rolled sauce- 

 pan and child down the castle wall to safety 

 and a glorious future. The saucepan was for 

 centuries preserved as a precious relic. Once, 

 indeed, it did pass out of the family keeping, but 

 was redeemed at the cost of the freehold of a 

 large farm. 



A little earlier had lived I believe at Mainau 

 one Countess Anna, who had a son and three 

 fair daughters. To her came begging a peasant 

 woman, a bereaved mother, asking for roses for 

 her dead child's bier. The Countess refused : 

 " Daisies are good enough for the like of you." 

 So the poor mother cursed the fine lady ; and 

 within a year she had to deck the biers of her 

 own three daughters with the begrudged roses. 

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