wn paint from the door--it hides the
beautiful oak carving. But lye won't stir it. And then how many stoves
shall we want?"

An important conversation now began. "We must leave the whole lower
floor unoccupied," Anton said, "closing up the windows with thick
boards; but we shall have to put up a strong door in the hall, because
one is constantly passing through it. These walls, too, can not remain
as they are, and we have no one to trust to but the Rosmin mason."

"Since that is the case," said Karl, "I propose that we paint the walls
ourselves. I am a dab-hand at marbling."

"You are?" replied Anton, looking at him with some anxiety. "No; I think
we had better make all the rooms one color. What do you think of brown?"

"Hum--not bad," said Karl.

"I know it is a favorite color of Fraeulein Lenore's. It must not be too
dark, though, but a bright mixture of yellow, gray, red, and green,
with, perhaps, a little black in it."

"Aha!" said Karl, disconcerted; "a peculiar sort of brown, I suppose."

"Of course," continued Anton, eagerly drawing his chair nearer; "we will
mix it ourselves."

"That's my way," said Karl; "but I tell you beforehand, these chalk
colors are the very deuce! You paint a blue, the next day you have
white; you have the most beautiful orange in your brush, and when it has
dried on the wall it is a dirty yellow."

"Between ourselves," replied Anton, "we shall not succeed very
perfectly, but I think we shall manage to make things look tolerably
comfortable."

The following day the hammering and painting began. The joiner and his
men set up a workshop on the lower floor; above, the great brush of the
painter kept unwearyingly passing and repassing over the walls, and
white figures, with great aprons, carried buckets now up, now down. As
for Karl, he seemed to have a dozen hands. Whenever he could get away
from the farm, he painted woodwork and walls with all sorts of brushes.
He ran round with a foot-measure, drove in nails and hooks for curtains,
and the very next moment there he was again in the field or the stable,
but every where whistling his soldier's songs and urging on the
laborers. As the arrangements of the house progressed, his love of
beautifying became more and more developed. He bought a quantity of
oil-paint, which he found excellent, and displayed a decided talent for
the art. He now ventured to give to several objects, which seemed to him
qualified to receive it, the appearanc