ther side of the
doctor's wife. The walk lasted a long time, till the doctor's carriage
was heard in the distance by his wife, who knew the sound of its wheels
before the others could distinguish anything.

The doctor joined them with a fresh fund of cheerfulness, saying,--

"I was sent for to receive a confession, and now I have lost an
excellent reminder."

He went on to tell them that a man had lived in the next village, the
sight of whom had always given him a stab in the heart, for the man had
sworn a false oath about a hundred florins which he owed him. But as
time went on, he had become quite grateful to this person for serving
him as a reviver of his faith, because every time he met him he felt a
fresh belief in the meanness of mankind, which one easily forgets. Now,
before his death, the man had confessed to him and given back the
money. So here he was, a hundred florins richer, but he had lost his
faith. How could he laugh now at the world, if he had no longer the
meanness of men to laugh at?

"What will you do now with the hundred florins?" asked Lina.

"What would you do with them?"

"I don't know."

"What would _you_ do, captain?" said the physician, turning suddenly to
Eric; "what would you do, if you had a million to give away?"

"I?" asked Eric, somewhat taken aback. He did not understand the reason
of the sudden question.

"Yes, you."

"I never thought about it, but first I would found valuable
scholarships at all the German universities. The man of wealth ought to
be able to reflect how he is cultivating the mind of the man of
genius."

"Good," answered the doctor, "every one thinks first of his own circle.
Here's my little friend Lina; if she had a million to give away, she
would spend it all on blue muslin, and dress all the female world in
it. Wouldn't you, Musselina?"

Lina was silent, and her mother said, "Give some smart answer; can't
you think of one?" Lina apparently could not think of one, but there
was a pleasant, merry tone in the intercourse between the doctor and
the child.

After their friends left them, the doctor said to Eric,--

"You can become familiar with a new method of instruction here. The
Justice's lady tries with all her might to make her daughter a pert,
worldly chatterbox, but fortunately the child has a simple, genuine
nature which can't be spoiled, and when you talk with her alone she is
full of bubbling life, and rightly deserves the name of Musselina."