at it from a safe
distance," said Mauer, soberly.

"Yet I don't know but what I would be a soldier if I were a man,"
replied the girl, excitedly. "It is, of course, a great sin to commit
murder; but to fight for the fatherland, that must be a noble
employment for a man. It seems to me, father, that a true man would
stand in the fight and know no fear; who would throw himself into
danger bravely, face it unflinchingly, and turn it aside by his
prowess; under whose protection the weak seek for shelter; who has,
with all his bravery, a gentle, tender heart, and a well-balanced
mind--a man father, who, like the oak, sways not when weaker trees
tremble in the storm."

"How is it possible that you know anything about soldiers?" asked
Mauer, astonished at her enthusiasm.

"I met some of them at Wollmershain," she replied quickly.

"And were they such men as you describe?"

She hesitated a moment.

"No, not all of them. A man is not always what he ought to be."

"Wollmershain and Frau von Trautenau: between the two, your thoughts
seem continually to wander, Carmen; everything you say springs from
that subject, or leads back to it. You seem to have received very deep
impressions; deeper, I am afraid, than is good for you."

She did not answer. Her gaze lingered on the scene before her,
watching the troops as they began to file off from the forest.
Suddenly a large body of cavalry wheeled around from a screened corner
in the woods, and the spectacle became more and more lively.

Carmen's face glowed with pleasure, and her eyes moved restlessly
hither and thither, as if to take in the whole picture.

"I could sit here all day and watch them," she said. "It cannot be
late, father, is it? Sister Agatha told me, when I came away this
morning, that I must be back at eleven o'clock for something important."

"Eleven o'clock!" replied Mauer, looking at his watch. "Why, my child,
it is almost twelve."

Carmen sprang up quickly. "Then I must go at once. What a pity! I
want to stay so much. Adieu, dear father; I will be with you again
this afternoon." She embraced and kissed the old man, and hurried away.

Meanwhile an unusual commotion prevailed in the Sisters' house.
Whenever two met together there was whispering going on; the hands in
the work-room rested oftener, and the heads were put together for a
softly-spoken word; the eyes wandered about with inquiring glances, or
watched the dial of the large clock