had already distinguished himself so
highly; but he mounted his horse and rode off. The horse stumbled and
threw him headlong, and he was taken up for dead and carried into the
hospital. I received the news and hastened hither. Everything is going
on well now, but he is still very weak.

But he begged me, and it is just like him, to confer the pleasure upon
the rest of the wounded, so I have to play the harp for hours together.
It is an unspeakable refreshment to the patients, and the surgeons
assert that the wounds heal more rapidly, on account of the cheerful
state of mind thereby induced. And when I come back to Eric, and the
surgeon tells him how beneficial the music is to the sick, his
countenance lights up. He speaks but little; he holds my hand silently,
and only says that he has, during his life, talked too much. But,
mother, you may feel easy.

Eric wants to be allowed to write a word to you.

(In a trembling hand was written as follows:)

Thy living, loving, beloved son Eric.

(Then in Manna's hand-writing:)

Don't be alarmed at these unsteady strokes. The physician says that all
danger is over, and nothing is needed but absolute rest.

Oh, mother! How can I adequately thank the Eternal Spirit that my Eric
lives; that I am not a widow, and that a life is not made fatherless
from its very birth? Be easy; I remain strong, and I have a threefold
duty in living.

[Manna to Professor Einsiedel.]

I was called in the hospital to a prisoner from the Southern army,
severely wounded, who had heard my harp-playing. He asked about me, and
was told that I was a German. The man related to me that he had an
uncle in Germany, who had been a book-keeper in a large banking
establishment. One evening when his uncle was at the theatre, he robbed
him and fled. I told him that I had become acquainted with such a man
through you at Carlsbad, that is to say, I had seen him; I gave as good
a description of him as I could. The wounded man asserted that it was
his uncle, and begged me to write to him that he repented of what he
had done. He had always hoped that he should become wealthy some day,
so as to return and make full restitution; this could not be realized
now, as he must die poor; but he desired that his uncle should know of
his repentance.

You will impart all this to the man.

[Eric to his mother.]

In the midst of the wanderings of my fever, I kept saying to m