emotion, and finally added, he had faith
in me as a man of stout heart; I had so nobly borne so much suffering,
that he had courage to tell me that the Colonel had been wounded by a
shot through the breast. He was still living, but quite unconscious,
when the bearer of the news left, and perhaps we had already a dead one
to mourn.

I could not utter a word; what was there to say?

The Prince continued to speak of his grief at the shedding of so much
blood, and expressed his dissatisfaction that his countrymen should
have placed themselves in alliance with foreigners.

I had no time nor mind for such discussions. I asked if the news had
been sent to my daughter. He appeared disturbed by my question, and
somewhat unwillingly answered, "I considered that a father's right and
duty."

He added, that this evening a sanitary commission would depart, with
whom I and the Colonel's wife could go to the front.

I know not what suggested the thought, but suddenly it occurred to me:
The Prince would never make a minister of you; you were only a clever
story-teller, who drove away the recollections of his own sufferings by
the recital of your life-history. And of that was I thinking all the
while I was talking to the Prince of other things.

The demeanor of the Prince towards me seemed cold and distant. He
called after me without extending his hand, "Adieu, Herr Waldfried!"

Formerly, I had been called "dear Waldfried;" yes, at times, "dear
friend."

I mention this here, although it first struck me like a waking dream,
during the journey. I was glad to be independent, and to be relieved
from rendering homage to princes, and troubling myself as to whether I
was addressed in one way or another. Although in my inmost heart I
believe in a constitutional monarchy, I tell you, keep yourself free,
and be dependent on no stranger's favor, or else you will be the most
degraded of slaves.

But now I must tell of my sad journey; and I think of the saying of the
Colonel's: Human nature in its elevated moods can endure much.

I came to Bertha's house. My heart beat wildly at the thought of the
news I should bring to her. But as I ascended the steps, Professor
Rolunt, the Colonel's friend, approached me, and said, "After the first
dreadful shock, you were your daughter's first thought. She has asked
for you."

"And so she knows of it?"

"Yes! I have told her, and we are off in an hour."

"We!"

"Yes! I go with her; and keep up