efore my
old inn. I was horrified at the bare idea of entering that wretched
cock-loft. I ordered my things to be brought down; received my
miserable bundle with contempt, threw down some gold pieces, and
ordered the coachman to drive to the most fashionable hotel. The house
faced the north, and I had not the sun to fear. I dismissed the driver
with gold; caused the best front rooms to be assigned me, and shut
myself up in them as quickly as I could!

What thinkest thou I now began? Oh, my dear Chamisso, to confess it
even to thee makes me blush. I drew the unlucky purse from my bosom,
and with a kind of rage which, like a rushing conflagration, grew in
me with self-increasing growth, I extracted gold, and gold, and gold,
and ever more gold, and strewed it on the floor, and strode amongst
it, and made it ring again, and, feeding my poor heart on the splendor
and the sound, flung continually more metal to metal, till in my
weariness I sank down on the rich heap, and, rioting thereon, rolled
and reveled upon it. So passed the day, the evening. I opened not my
door; the night found me lying on my gold, and then sleep overcame me.

I dreamed of thee. I seemed to stand behind the glass-door of thy
little room, and to see thee sitting then at thy work-table, between
a skeleton and a bundle of dried plants. Before thee lay open Haller,
Humboldt, and Linnaeus; on thy sofa a volume of Goethe and "The Magic
Ring." I regarded thee long, and everything in thy room, and then thee
again. Thou didst not move, thou drewest no breath--thou wert dead!

I awoke. It appeared still to be very early. My watch stood. I was
sore all over; thirsty and hungry too; I had taken nothing since the
morning before. I pushed from me with loathing and indignation the
gold on which I had before sated my foolish heart. In my vexation
I knew not what I should do with it. It must not lie there. I tried
whether the purse would swallow it again--but no! None of my windows
opened upon the sea. I found myself compelled laboriously to drag it
to a great cupboard which stood in a cabinet, and there to pile it. I
left only some handfuls of it lying. When I had finished the work, I
threw myself exhausted into an easy chair, and waited for the stirring
of the people in the house. As soon as possible I ordered food to be
brought, and the landlord to come to me.

I fixed in consultation with this man the future arrangements of
my house. He recommended for the serv