seeks any other reward for
virtue, than virtue itself, will not lack disappointment. It is neither
you nor Ulrich, who drives me hence, but the mysterious ancient curse,
that pursues my people when they seek to rest; it is, it is... Another
time, to-morrow. This is enough for to-day."

When the doctor was alone, he pressed his hand to his brow and groaned
aloud. His whole life passed before his mind, and he found in it,
besides terrible suffering, great and noble joys, and not an hour in
which his desire for virtue was weakened. He had spent happy years here
in the peace of his simple home, and now must again set forth and wander
on and on, with nothing before his eyes save an uncertain goal, at the
end of a long, toilsome road. What had hitherto been his happiness,
increased his misery in this hour. It was hard, unspeakably hard, to
drag his wife and child through want and sorrow, and could Elizabeth,
his wife, bear it again?

He found her in the tiny garden behind the horse, kneeling before
a flower-bed to weed it. As he greeted her pleasantly, she rose and
beckoned to him.

"Let us sit down," he said, leading her to the bench before the hedge,
that separated the garden from the forest. There he meant to tell her,
that they must again shake the dust from their feet.

She had lost the power of speech on the rack in Portugal, and could only
falter a few unintelligible words, when greatly excited, but her hearing
had remained, and her husband understood how to read the expression of
her eyes. A great sorrow had drawn a deep line in the high, pure brow,
and this also was eloquent; for when she felt happy and at peace it was
scarcely perceptible, but if an anxious or sorrowful mood existed,
the furrow contracted and deepened. To-day it seemed to have entirely
disappeared. Her fair hair was drawn plainly and smoothly, over her
temples, and the slender, slightly stooping figure, resembled a young
tree, which the storm has bowed and deprived of strength and will to
raise itself.

"Beautiful!" she exclaimed in a smothered tone, with much effort, but
her bright glance clearly expressed the joy that filled her soul, as
she pointed to the green foliage around her and the blue sky over their
heads.

"Delicious-delicious!" he answered, cordially. "The June day is
reflected in your dear face. You have learned to be contented here?"

Elizabeth nodded eagerly, pressing both hands upon her heart, while
her eloquent glance tol