me best of all. They placed it
on me, and I was obliged forthwith to distribute offices. And suddenly,
I was no longer the Emperor, but Rothfuss, who laughed most terribly.
I, too, was obliged to laugh--and, laughing, I awoke.

CHAPTER II.

When I opened my eyes, Ludwig stood at my bedside and said, "You have
slept well, father, and it is well that you did. You will need all your
strength to-day; for to-day it will be--Good-morning, Germany."

I cannot describe how my son's presence helped to strengthen me. I felt
that, with his power added to mine, I was doubly prepared for all that
might happen.

There is nothing more encouraging, in troubled times, than to have a
faithful friend at one's side,--a truth which was proved to me on that
day and many a time since.

I could not help recounting my strange dream, and when I added that it
gave me incomparable joy to think that the day had at last arrived in
which one might say the hearts of all Germans throbbed in unison,
Ludwig begged me not to talk so much. He said that he could sympathize
with me, and feel what a satisfaction it must be to me, after having
fought and suffered for fifty years, at last to witness the fruition of
my hopes, even though the price paid be war and bloodshed.

He was indeed right. He responded to all my feelings; I may indeed say
that he anticipated them.

When I reached the street, the throng was such that it seemed as if all
the houses had been emptied of their inhabitants. Here and there, were
groups talking aloud, and before the printing-office of the principal
newspaper, it was almost impossible to work one's way through the
crowd.

It was there that I met an old friend, the incorruptible Moelder. In
1866 he had resigned a high position under the state, in order,
thenceforth, to devote himself to his Fatherland, and, above all, to
the cause of German unity.

"It is well that I meet you," he said; "we have war now, and have
stolen a march on the French. Here, in the capital, the majority of the
citizens are on our side, but in the country, as you well know, the
so-called popular party is to a certain extent in the majority. The
common people are not so willing to follow our advice, for they are in
the hands of the clergy and the demagogues, who, for a little while
longer, will travel together on the same road. For this reason, we have
issued the call for a mass meeting at the Turners' Hall for t