er beautiful
eyes; she sprang to the piano; she opened her lips--but Krespel
instantly made a rush at her; shoved her out of the room, and, seizing
me by the shoulders, shrieked--'Little son, little son, little son.' He
continued, in a soft and gentle singing voice, while he took me by the
hand, bending his head with much courtesy, 'No doubt, my dear young
Master Student, it would be a breach of all courtesy and politeness if
I were to proceed to express, in plain and unmistakable words, and with
all the energy at my command, my desire that the damnable, hellish
devil might clutch hold of that throat of yours, here on the spot, with
his red-hot talons; leaving that on one side for the moment, however,
you will admit, my very dear young friend, that it's getting pretty
late in the evening, and will soon be dark; and as there are no lamps
lighted, even if I were not to pitch you down stairs, you might run a
certain risk of damaging your precious members. Go away home, like a
nice young gentleman, and don't forget your good friend Krespel, if you
should never--_never_, you understand--find him at home again when you
happen to call.' With which he took me in his arms, and slowly worked
his way with me to the door in such fashion that I could not manage to
set eyes on Antonia again for a moment.

"You will admit that, situated as I was, it was impossible for me to
give him a good hiding, as, probably, I ought to have done by rights.
The Professor laughed tremendously, and declared that I had seen the
last of Krespel for good and all; and Antonia was too precious, I might
say too sacred, in my sight, that I should go playing the languishing
_amoroso_ under her window. I left her, broken-hearted; but, as is the
case with matters of the kind, the bright tints of the picture in my
fancy gradually faded, and toned down with the lapse of time; and
Antonia, ay, even Antonia's singing, which I had never heard, came to
shine upon my memory only like some beautiful, far-away vision, bathed
in rosy radiance.

"Two years afterwards, when I was settled in B----, I had occasion to
make a journey into the South of Germany. One evening I saw the
familiar towers of H---- rising into sight against the dewy, roseate
evening sky; and as I came nearer, a strange, indescribable feeling of
painful, anxious uneasiness and alarm took possession of me, and lay on
my heart like a weight of lead. I could scarcely breathe. I got out of
the carriage in