ld are these men?
Where are their homes?

Roland gazed thoughtfully after them.

Is there any help for such things? or is there none?

"What are you thinking about?" asked the Inspector.

"I am wondering why these tired men should have so far to go."

"It is good for them. It is what keeps them well. The worst feature of
their lot is being pent up in a confined space."

Roland was silent; but countless questionings arose within him. He
could not cope with them; and no one else, however well disposed, could
solve them for him. He did not regain perfect composure except after an
interview with Weidmann.

Weidmann possessed a firm and unvarying equipoise of character, before
which the stormy agitation of other souls subsided. He had dignity
without severity. He was not so vivacious and stimulating as Eric; but
he preserved a steady and quiet moderation in all things. He took note
of a blunder, a disaster, whether in public or private affairs, with
manly calmness; never allowing himself to be bewildered or disheartened
thereby.

Eric had caused his pupil to see things through a polished and
many-sided prism, which seemed to remove objects from their true
position, and make them appear higher or lower than they really were.
Weidmann, on the other hand, revealed them in their simple, natural
aspect. He introduced method into Roland's thought, life, and work;
for, thus far, the latter had been too unstable, even in spiritual
things. He gave Roland a course of lessons in agricultural chemistry,
which, at the same time, served Prince Valerian as a review of the
teaching he had already received.

Eric, too, came in for a share of this instruction, and became Roland's
fellow-pupil.

Very seldom did Weidmann pass from positive facts to spiritual
interpretations; but he was all the more impressive when he did. He led
Roland to a comprehension of human life, to patience, and wisdom. He
showed him, that, despite the stress laid on the equality of mankind,
men differed as widely in their power of grasping thoughts, as
different substances in their ability to conduct heat. Earth warms
quicker than water; but it cools more rapidly also. Thus, by analogies
from Nature, did Weidmann endeavor to teach his pupil justice, and
humanity, and was not unfrequently surprised to discover in Roland a
kind of previous preparation, which enabled him to receive new ideas
readily, and to develop them; for ideas having an analogy to each oth