r they drank it only
unfermented."

"I am very far," interposed Sonnenkamp, "from laying any claim to
classical lore, but it is very easily seen, that without the cutting of
the vines there can be no maturing and full concentration of the sap in
the clusters; and without the cask there can be no mellow and perfectly
ripe wine."

"Without the cask? Why the cask?" asked the Russian. "Does the wood of
the cask serve to clarify the wine?"

"I think not," answered Sonnenkamp, "but the wooden cask allows the air
to penetrate, allows the wine to become ripe in the vaults, allows it
to work itself pure,--in a word, to come to perfection. In vessels of
clay the wine is suffocated, or, at best, experiences no change."

With great address, Bella added,--"That delights me; now I see that a
progressive culture contributes to higher enjoyment even of the
products of nature."

Sonnenkamp was highly pleased; he was here able to add something
interesting, and he appeared in a very favorable light. Then the
conversation was carried on between different individuals.

There was general cheerfulness and hilarity, and every painful
impression seemed to have passed away: their faces glowed, and their
eyes shone brightly, as the company arose from the table.

CHAPTER VIII.

HELP YOURSELF.

The gentlemen sat by themselves in the garden, taking coffee after the
ladies had withdrawn.

The Prince, who wanted to show manifest friendliness towards
Sonnenkamp, spoke of his intention to travel in America, and Clodwig
encouraged it, regretting that he had not done so in his youth.

"I think that he who has not been in America does not know what man is
when he gives himself the reins: life there awakens entirely new
energies in the soul, and in the midst of the struggle for worldly
possessions, each one becomes a sort of Robinson Crusoe, who must
develop in himself new resources. I should say that America has some
points of comparison with Greece: in Greece the body was exhibited
naked, and in America the soul. This is by no means the most attractive
sight, but a renewal of humanity may yet be the result."

The Musician, who was about to make a professional journey to America,
remarked,--

"I don't see how they live in a land whose soil grows no wine, and in
whose air sings no lark."

"Allow me one question, Herr Count," Eric now said. "It is striking
that they have bee