ple--out of sight, out of mind. Ha! ha! she is a born diplomatist.
Well, I will come, only let us take the longest way; the fresh air does
me good. I am glad though, heartily glad--in three weeks it is to be
then?"

The gentlemen walked on together in silence through the snow. It was
wonderfully quiet in the streets in spite of the traffic of business.
Men and carriages seemed to sweep over the white snow. The air was
mild, with a slight touch of spring, and Frank Linden thought of his
home and of the small room next his own, which would not long remain
unoccupied.

"How do you do, my dear fellow!" said a voice beside him, and a little
man popped up in front of him, holding his hat high above his bald
head--his sharp little face beaming with friendliness. Linden bowed.
Uncle Henry carelessly touched the brim of his hat.

"How do you come to know this Wolff?" he asked, looking after the man,
who was winding his way sinuously in and out among the crowd. "He is a
fellow who would spoil my appetite if I met him before dinner."

"I am or rather was connected with him by business, through my old
uncle--he had money from him on a mortgage on Niendorf," explained
Linden.

"From that cravat-manufacturer? The old man was not very wise."

Linden did not reply. They had just turned into a quiet side-street.

"Does he still hold the mortgage?" asked Mr. Baumhagen.

"No, my friend's sister has taken it."

"Indeed! Why did you not come to _me_ about it? You could have had some
of Gertrude's money--"

Frank Linden made a gesture of refusal.

"Oh--I promised the child; she has authorized me to put a certain
capital at your disposal," explained the old gentleman.

"Thanks," replied Linden, shortly; "I will not have money matters mixed
up with my courtship."

"And the new house at Niendorf?"

"Gertrude knows that she must not expect a fairy palace. Moreover we
can live very comfortably there in the old rooms, though they are low
and small. I have a very pretty garden-hall, and as for the view from
the windows it would be hard to find another like it if you travel ever
so far."

"Oh, the child is happy enough, but how about her serene Highness?"
chimed in Mr. Baumhagen.

"I would far rather have her say, 'My child has gone to live in a
peasant's house,' than, '_We_ had to build first,'" remarked Linden,
drily.

The old gentleman laughed comfortably to himself.

"Yes, yes, that is just what she would say--and she wan