to the general entertainment. Most Germans go into
society just as they go to the theatre, and believe they have done all
that duty requires of them when, from their seats, they have made
careful observations of the actors; and they think themselves justified
in complaining of being bored whenever the latter are in a bad mood for
acting. This unmistakable decline, which generally takes place in every
club soon after it has reached its highest prosperity, was still
further hastened, in the case of the Paradise society, by outward
circumstances. In Jansen's departure it had lost the one member whose
mere presence gave it its distinctive character. The very fact that he
had no desire to rule had led them to give him, without opposition,
that leadership for which he was qualified before all others by his
superiority, mature judgment, and simplicity of bearing. Still, there
were several among his friends who might have succeeded in upholding
the old traditions after his departure, had it not happened that the
very ones who were best fitted and most influential had themselves
personal reasons for withdrawing.

Since the recovery of his grandchild it was impossible to induce old
Schoepf to pass an evening away from home. He devoted himself entirely
to taming his little refractory savage--a task in which he was obliged
to work very carefully, for the strange creature still threatened to
run away if they tried to restrict her freedom in the slightest degree.
She would not submit for a moment to any regular course of instruction,
but thought she did quite enough if she took charge of household
matters, for which she showed great aptitude, and attended to her
toilet or took a walk with her grandfather in her spare hours. She
never asked after his friends, Jansen and Schnetz, not even after
Felix, who had disappeared so suddenly. Her face had grown rather
prettier from good living and comfortable surroundings, and her figure
fuller; and she could now gratify her taste for dress, for her
grandfather treated her like a pet doll. It was no wonder, therefore,
that Rossel only grew more confirmed in his passion, particularly as he
made it a rule to see her daily.

He came in the evening, generally bringing with him Kohle, who had been
the greatest sufferer by Jansen's departure. The two gradually became
so accustomed to the old man's parlor that they willingly gave up the
nights at the Paradise club for its sake. Usually, after they ha