e brilliant pictures of courtly life, the
splendor and fascination of a palace, where all that could charm and
captivate abounded, and all were at the feet of one who, not a king, was
yet greater than a king, and who in the mighty power of his intellect
held kings and kaisers as his bond-slaves.

That these were not mere fancies he assured me by saying,--

"This has been witnessed by all Europe; it is not more than fifty years
ago that the world has seen all that I tell you. When I can convince you
of this, will you pledge yourself to be my follower?"

I at once gave my promise, and ratified it by a solemn row.

The next day we started on our return to Reichenau.

CHAPTER XXIV. "THE HERR ROBERT"

I will not attempt to describe the welcome that met me on my return, nor
the gratitude with which my mother overwhelmed my kind protector. The
whole school, and no inconsiderable part of the village itself, had gone
forth to meet us, and we were conducted back in a sort of triumph. Over
and over again was I obliged to recount my story, of which the mystery
still remained unexplained. Who and what was the strange recluse who
so long had inhabited the castle of the Forlorn Glen, and who now stood
before them, old and simply clad, but still bearing unmistakable marks
of having been a person of some condition?

As Mr. Robert he desired to be known by me, and as such was he received
by my mother. He declined the offer she freely made him of a room in
her own small house, and hired a little lodging in the toll-house on the
bridge, and which he said was convenient to the garden of the chateau,
where he obtained the liberty of walking. If the interest which he
manifested in me was at first a cause of anxiety to my mother, not
knowing what it portended, nor how far it might contribute to withdraw
my affection from herself, it was clear that she soon became
satisfied with whatever explanation he afforded, and that those long
conversations, frequently prolonged to a late hour of the night, which
they held together, had the effect of reconciling her to his views and
intentions.

Thus was a new individual introduced into the little circle of our
family party, and each Sunday saw him seated at our dinner-table, of
which his conversation formed the great charm. It was not alone that his
mind was stored with varied information the most rare and curious, but
his knowledge of the world itself and of mankind seemed more remarkable