nd half. I arrived in the best of spirits, but an icy
look from Barbara immediately threw me back into my former state of
timidity. Her father received me most cordially; but she acted as if no
one were present, continued making paper bags, and took no part whatever
in our conversation. Only when we touched upon the subject of my
inheritance, she rose in her seat and exclaimed in an almost threatening
tone, 'Father!' Thereupon the old man immediately changed the subject.
Aside from that, she said nothing during the whole evening, didn't give
me a second look, and, when I finally took my leave, her 'good-night'
sounded almost like a 'thank heaven.'

"But I came again and again, and gradually she yielded--not that I ever
did anything that pleased her. She scolded me and found fault with me
incessantly. Everything I did she considered clumsy; God had given me
two left hands; my coat fitted so badly, it made me look like a
scarecrow; my walk was a cross between that of a duck and cock. What she
disliked especially was my politeness toward the customers. As I had
nothing to do until the opening of the copying bureau, where I should
have direct dealings with the public, I considered it a good preliminary
training to take an active part in the retail business of the grocery
store. This often kept me there half the day. I weighed spices, counted
out nuts and prunes for the children, and acted as cashier. In this
latter capacity I was frequently guilty of errors, in which event
Barbara would interfere by forcibly taking away whatever money I had in
my hand, and ridiculing and mocking me before the customers. If I bowed
to a customer or recommended myself to his kind consideration, she would
say brusquely, even before he had left the store, 'The goods carry their
own recommendation,' and turn her back upon me. At other times, however,
she was all kindness; she listened to me when I told her what was going
on in the city, or when I spoke of my early years, or of the business of
the chancery, where we had first met. But at such times she let me do
all the talking and expressed her approval or--as happened more
frequently--her disapproval only by casual words.

"We never spoke of music or singing. In the first place, she believed
one should either sing or keep quiet, that there was no sense in talking
about it. But it was not possible to do any singing--the store was not
the proper place for it, and the rear room, which she occupied