hough she resolutely
refused to subject herself to any further ordeals of what academicians
call a "private view." No; she was ready for the ring and the sawdust,
and the drolleries of the men with chalk on their faces, but she would
not accept high life on any terms. By degrees, and by arguments of his
own ingenious devising, however, he did succeed, and at last she arose
with a bound, and cried out, "Eccomi!"

"Remember," said I to Vaterchen, as we left the room, "I am doing
that which few would have the courage to dare. It will depend upon the
dignity of your conduct, the grace of your manners, the well-bred ease
of your address, to make me feel proud of my intrepidity, or, sad
and painful possibility, retire covered with ineffable shame and
discomfiture. Do you comprehend me?"

"Perfectly," said he, standing erect, and giving even in his attitude a
sort of bail bond for future dignity. "Lead on!"

This was more familiar than he had been yet; but I ascribed it to the
tension of nerves strung to a high purpose, and rendering him thus
inaccessible to other thoughts than of the enterprise before him.

As I neared the door of Mrs. Keats's apartment, I hesitated as to how
I should enter. Ought I to precede my friends, and present them as they
followed? Or would it seem more easy and more assured if I were to give
my arm to Tintefleck, leaving Vaterchen to bring up the rear? After much
deliberation, this appeared to be the better course, seeming to take
for granted that, although some peculiarities of costume might ask
for explanation later on, I was about to present a very eligible and
charming addition to the company.

I am scarcely able to say whether I was or was not reassured by the mode
in which she accepted the offer of my arm. At first, the proposition
appeared unintelligible, and she looked at me with one of those
wide-eyed stares, as though to say, "What new gymnastic is this? What
_tour de force_, of which I never heard before?" and then, with a sort
of jerk, she threw my arm up in the air and made a pirouette under it,
of some half-dozen whirls.

Half reprovingly I shook my head, and offered her my hand. This she
understood at once. She recognized such a mode of approach as legitimate
and proper, and with an artistic shake of her drapery with the other
hand, and a confident smile, she signified she was ready to go "on."

I was once on a time thrown over a horse's head into a slate quarry; a
very conside