to be Loulou's
dearest friend, and no feeling of jealousy prevented him from repeating
to Wilhelm that the pretty girl had often inquired about him, always
regretting his absence from the Ellrichs' dances.

The beautiful time of the year drew near. Outside the gates of the
city, where open places were free to her, the spring triumphed in the
budding trees of the Thiergarten. Arrangement of plans for the summer
was the chief occupation with most people. The Ellrichs talked of
Switzerland, and Wilhelm thought timidly of the charms of the Black
Forest. He longed to be back at Hornberg, and he spoke often of being
there together in the near future. He did not mention marriage,
however, and his formal offer had not yet been made. Loulou thought
this very odd, and one day she spoke to her mother about it. Frau
Ellrich, however, caressed her pretty child, and kissing her on the
forehead said:

"It is nothing but modesty. I think it is very nice of him to leave you
in freedom for the whole season."

"I am not free, however."

"I mean before the world, dear child. You are both so young that it
would not matter if you did not take the cares of marriage upon you for
another year."

And to Loulou that was evident.

CHAPTER III.

HEROES.

All over Germany the corn stood high in the fields, ripe for the
sickle. Then suddenly the threatening shadow of war rose in the west
like a black thundercloud in the blue summer sky, filling the harvest
gatherers with anxious forebodings. For fourteen days the people waited
in painful suspense, not knowing whether to take up the sword or the
scythe. Then the cry of destiny came crashing through the country,
terrifying and relieving at the same time: "The French have declared
War!"

That was on July 15, 1870, on a Friday. Late in the afternoon the
dismal news was spread in Berlin that the French ambassador at Ems had
insulted the king, who had retired to the capital, and that a combat
with the arrogant neighbors on the Rhine was inevitable. Before night
the street Unter den Linden, from the Brandenburger Thor to the
Schlossbrucke, was packed with men overflowing with intense excitement.
Without any preconceived arrangement, all the inhabitants decorated
their windows with banners and lights, and the streets assumed the
festal appearance of rejoicings over a victory. The crowd looked upon
this spectacle not as an undecided beginning, but a glorious
conclusion. There was no fea