racter of the cook, and threatened to call the young lady,
till the former came to her senses, and sent off a barefooted boy to the
forester's in all haste to ask for something out of the common way. A
sudden onslaught was made upon spiders and dust; and a room got ready
near Anton's, into which Lenore's little sofa, her mother's arm-chair,
and carpet, were carried, to keep up the family dignity.

Fink, little guessing the disturbance his arrival occasioned, sauntered
over the fields with Anton in a more cheerful mood than he had known for
long. He spoke of his experiences, of the refinements in money-making,
and the giant growth of the New World; and Anton heard with delight a
deep abhorrence of the iniquities in which he had been involved break
out in the midst of his jokes.

"Life is on an immense scale over there, it is true," said he, "but it
was in its whirl that I first learned to appreciate the blessings of the
fatherland."

While thus talking, they returned to the castle to change their dress.
Anton had merely time to glance in amazement at the arrangements of
Fink's bed-room before they were summoned to the baroness. Now that the
anxieties about domestic arrangements were over, and the lamps shed
their mild radiance through the room, the family felt themselves
cheerfully excited by the visit of this man of fashion. Once more, as of
yore, there was the easy tone of light surface-talk, the delicate
attention which gives to each the sense of contributing to another's
enjoyment, the old forms, perhaps the old subjects of conversation. And
Fink solved the problem ever offered by a new circle to a guest with the
readiness which the rogue had always at his command when he chose. He
gave to each and all the impression that he thoroughly enjoyed their
society. He treated the baron with respectful familiarity, the baroness
with deference, Lenore with straightforward openness. He seemed to take
pleasure in addressing her, and soon overcame her embarrassment. The
family felt that he was one of themselves; there was a freemasonry
between them. Even Anton wondered how it came about that Fink, the
newly-arrived guest, appeared the old friend of the house, and he the
stranger; and again something of the reverence arose within him which,
as a youth, he had always felt for the elegant, distinguished, and
exclusive. But this was a mere shadow passing over his better judgment.

When Fink rose to retire, the baron declared with