ts. Mankind knows that the probable
is planted within his own being. Do not seek to find additional reasons
for a fact which has already sprung up from unknown forces. It was
sympathy which impelled you, the natural feeling for a fellow-creature.
And that is right and natural."

Wilhelm looked at Schrotter gratefully as he affectionately grasped his
hand.

CHAPTER IV.

IT WAS NOT TO BE.

The sun streamed down on Berlin from a cloudless sky, and all the life
of the town gathered in a confused, restless throng in Unter den
Linden; but the bustle on this hot summer day, June 16, 1871, had quite
a different character from that of eleven months before. And if any one
could have listened to it all with closed eyes, he might have
distinguished a joyful excitement in the air, in the laughing of
children and girls, in the lively gossip of the men; and from all these
sounds of joy and chatter he might have detected the signs that
overstrained nerves were now relaxed after long hours of weary
suspense. What hundreds of thousands had wished and hoped for on that
Friday in July had now come to its glorious fulfillment, and Berlin, as
the proud capital of a newly-established empire, was giving a welcome
home to the army. They had at last found the answer to Arndt's
ill-natured question about the German Fatherland, and had set the great
Charles' imperial crown on the head of their bold Hohenzollern king.

On one of the raised platforms near the Brandenburger Thor were Wilhelm
and Dr. Schrotter. The former had renounced the privilege which
belonged to him, as officer in the Reserves, and moreover, as an
example, had not claimed his position among those who were wounded in
the war, still however wearing his uniform. Had he consulted his own
inclinations, he would not have come to see this triumphant entrance,
as he took very little pleasure in the noisy enthusiasm of crowds. A
great deal of actual vulgarity is always exhibited on these occasions,
mingled with some real nobility of feeling. Counter-jumpers and
work-girls secure comfortable positions from which to see the
processions, groups of calculating shopkeepers with advertisements of
pictures and medals of hateful ugliness speculate on the generosity of
the crowd, and others push with all the force of their bodily weight to
obtain and keep the front places for themselves. Frau Ellrich had sent
Wilhelm two tickets, hoping that he would make use of them. Dr.
Schrotter