k, he was still absent; an other anxious half-hour
passed--at last he came. She heard his footsteps still far off, heard the
garden-gate creak, and flew to meet him.

"So late! you bad man," she cried merrily, but with a slight reproach in
the tone of her voice.

"I could not do otherwise, dear wife," replied Baptist, who was visibly a
little excited "You should only have been there! They paid me great honor,
and when I was coming away at ten o'clock, they all cried out for me to
stay, that my opinion had great weight with them, and so, really I could
not leave. But you should have gone to bed, Margaret."

"No; I was not at all tired," answered the wife. "But, now, make haste in;
you are heated, and the cool night air may do you harm."

Lovingly she drew him into the house, and listened patiently to all that
he had to tell about the matters that had been talked over in the town,
and how he had settled and determined nearly every question, because of
his consequence and station.

"There's only one thing vexes me," he said lastly, "I was obliged to
promise to go again. Two evenings in the week are fixed on for the
meetings, and as every body was in favor, I could not well say no.
However, it is but two evenings; the whole history won't last longer."

If Frau Margaret was alarmed at the beginning of the evening, she was now
doubly fearful Her quiet in-door happiness seemed to be all at once
threatened by some great danger. She trembled to think that her husband
could find pleasure away from home--away from his children, and she had the
sense to foresee the consequences. But she remained silent, for she was
too bewildered to find words to express her apprehensions, and then, she
knew that when her husband had once made a promise, nothing would lead him
to break it. This made her sorrow the greater, and for the first time
since her marriage, her pillow was wet with tears. She, however, concealed
her sadness from her husband; she hoped that the good old habits would
rule again, and make him dislike passing his evenings away from home.

Although Frau Margaret was prudent and sensible, she deceived herself in
this matter. Truly enough, Baptist at first went out for the evening
unwillingly, and not without a struggle, but gradually this resistance
disappeared, and at last he longed for the hour which led him among his
companions. He was a man of clear judgment, knew how to deliver his words
neatly, and his comfortable circ