r nurse. And yet I have not
tried to dissuade him from taking this manly step. You remember that my
chief objection to him was that he wasn't quite manly enough. And now,
after all, his love is to be put to the test of fire, and we shall see
whether he will bring it home uninjured from the smoke and horror of
battle! How shall I bear the separation! I shall paint a few poor
pictures and get a few gray hairs, and then when he comes back he will
realize clearly what a mistake he has made. But, as God wills! I'll
bear it quietly. The times are so great, who has the right to think of
his or her poor person? All is enthusiasm; Elfinger is going too (his
little nun seems to have driven him to desperation), and, what will
rejoice you, Schnetz has joined his old regiment again, and looks upon
life like a new man. It touched me to hear our good Kohle, who paid me
a visit this morning, curse his poor health, which shut him out from
all the hardships of war. He has designed a splendid tableau: Germania
on the summit of the Lurlei rock, from which she has cast down the
enchantress in order to excite all her sons to battle against the enemy
by her song of triumph. Rossel, who, of course, would be perfectly
useless away from his rocking-chair, has at least subscribed a thousand
gulden for the benefit of the wounded. Every one according to his
strength. I shall make lint of my paint rags, and sacrifice my heart's
blood for the cause in another way. Farewell! Rejoice in your
unclouded, paradisaical, peaceful life in the beautiful South; and
write to me soon, dearest, beautifullest, happiest, only sister mine!
Rosenbusch wishes to be remembered. A fortnight more--and then in this
whole house, where so many dear ones have lived and labored, there will
beat but one lonely heart--that of your Angelica."

CHAPTER V.

When that old earth-shaker Vesuvius grows tired of his peaceful
slumbers and, breaking out into sudden fury, lights up the night far
and wide with his flaming torch, till all around is bathed in purple--

"In Capri the Marina
And Naples Day and Mergellina,"

--not only is the hut of the poorest vintager reddened by the terrible
glow, but, in the yard behind, the water bubbles in the well, and a man
skilled in reading the signs can estimate the strength of the eruption
from the boiling and steaming of this narrow, wall