l was night and utter darkness. His
adjutant stepped to his couch, grasped his hand, kissed it, and wept
over it. He felt the kisses and the tears, but was unable to give a
sign of consciousness, either by a pressure of the hand or by a word;
within him, all was life, like a subterranean stream.

I did not long have the pleasure of listening to the reminiscences of
the convalescent Colonel. I longed to return home. When the next train
started for Germany, it was in charge of Professor Rolunt, who had
nursed the Colonel like a brother; they yielded to my entreaties, and,
in a well-heated car, I journeyed homewards.

Wolfgang accompanied me to the State capital, and then, in company with
Christiane, returned with a load of medicines and delicacies to the
theatre of war.

I felt as if I could not get thoroughly well again except at home, and
so it proved. When I inhaled the air of our forest-covered mountains,
it gave me new life.

The Privy Councillor's wife insisted on my resting at her house for a
few days, and by the careful nursing of our physician as well as his
confident manner, which of itself was a remedy, I soon gained fresh
vigor. It did me good to hear Lady Von Rontheim entwine the memories of
our fallen sons. She informed me, briefly and clearly, of what had
happened during my illness; for now, when I could again read and
understand the papers, I noticed many lapses in my knowledge of events.

While I was living in the little town, Ludwig came. I did not
comprehend how I could have omitted to inquire about him; and now he
brought with him a refreshing breeze from another hemisphere. As he had
previously informed me by letter, he had journeyed to England and then
to America, to prevent shipments of arms for the French. He had not had
much success, although he offered, through the newspapers, a large
reward for any information regarding such shipments.

I felt pained when he said, "We Germans have no friends abroad, because
we have not hitherto presented to the world an imposing front. During
the last half-century, the German nation was like a man who has the
consciousness of honest intentions, and who counts on the recognition
of them by others. But neither an individual nor a people obtains
recognition gratuitously. They must wrest it from the world; and the
best and the easiest way is not to wait for it, but to put your
shoulder to the wheel. Now the nations speak in another key; but they
would all hav