d silently. He extended his hand towards the sleeping man,
and then withdrew it undecidedly. Our friend Carl possessed a few
indistinct ideas concerning the law of _meum and teum_. By dint of great
exertion, his father had implanted in his mind the great necessity of
observing the eighth commandment, and upon the present occasion the
lesson of his younger days interfered in a great degree with the
accomplishment of his present designs; for as he gazed upon the objects
of his envy, he muttered to himself:

"_The Eighth Commandment:_ Thou shalt not steal!"

His brain was not only troubled with the eighth, but the words of the
tenth commandment came to his memory, "Thou shalt not covet thy
neighbor's wife, nor his servant, nor his maid, nor his ox, nor his
ass."

As he thus spoke, and thought first of the commandments and then of
Magde, he continued to advance and retreat, wavering in his decision,
and he might have remained in this state until Mr. Fabian awoke, had not
a bright idea forced itself upon his mind.

"O," exclaimed he, "the commandments say nothing about _game_!" and as
even the veriest simpleton has it in his power to convince himself of
the purity of an action, however wrong, Carl soon satisfied himself with
the excuse which he had so ingeniously invented. He entirely forgot the
closing line of the commandment, "nor anything that is his," which,
however, would not bear consideration on that occasion. He therefore
seized the two hares that were nearest him, and by the assistance of a
long stick he gained possession of the partridges also.

In the meantime, Mr. Fabian's assistant, who had not yet left the
forest, having been attracted by Carl's movements, had been an
eye-witness to his proceedings. But instead of warning the lad of his
crime, the spectator seemed rather to rejoice at his patron's
misfortune. He might safely do this, for after the crime had been
committed, he could easily disclose the name of the thief, and thus
avert suspicion from himself. He thought that Mr. H---- would not injure
a person of Carl's character, and that at all events he would be likely
to receive a proper reward for any zeal he should exert to promote the
interest of his employer. Carl had discovered that his actions had been
observed; but as the spectator, by sundry winks and nods, seemed rather
to encourage than to prevent him, Carl proceeded without fear.

And now, having won the victory, he hastened to Magde.

But