te no more, he read for a long time; then he sat there
motionless, his head resting upon his left hand, which covered his
eyes, until Roland returned from church, and laid down his prayer-book.
As Eric grasped now the hand which had deposited the book, the inquiry
darted through his soul. Wilt thou be able to give the youth a like
firm trust as a compensation, if thou shouldest----

His thoughts were interrupted, for Roland said,--

"You have procured a Bible, then?" With childish pleasure he informed
him that, by means of the gardener, it had been reported all over the
house. Eric felt obliged to declare to the boy that he held this book
in high esteem, and thought there was no other to be compared with it,
but that he had none of the customary ecclesiastical reverence for it.

"Do you know this?" Eric asked, pointing to the passage about the rich
young man.

Roland read it, and when Eric asked him what he thought of it, Roland
only stared, for he had evidently not perceived the difficulty of the
problem there enunciated. Eric avoided enlightening him now in regard
to the meaning of the parable; he would wait. A seed-grain lies at
first motionless in the earth, until it is stirred into activity by its
own vital forces. Eric knew that at this moment such a seed-grain had
fallen into the child's soul. He would bide quietly the time when it
should germinate and spring up.

He complied with Roland's desire that he would go with him to meet the
major, who came every Sunday to dinner. They walked for a while in the
road under the nut-trees, and then up the hill through the vineyards.
They saw, near a large open space where stakes only were standing, the
Major, with whom we have already become acquainted at Wolfsgarten; he
was to-day in full uniform, with all his badges.

Whilst the established nobility of the region were very reserved in
their visits to the Sonnenkamp mansion, the Major was the banner of
distinction to this household, Frau Ceres being especially delighted
that a man with so many badges should devote himself to her in so
friendly a way. Evil tongues, indeed, reported that the Major, in
consideration of this attention to the ladies, and this Sunday display
of his badges, received no trifling addition to his not very large
pension, but this was pure scandal, for the Major, or rather Fraeulein
Milch, strenuously refused to accept presents from any one in the
region, nor would they allow themselves to be i