ood whist-party."

It was time to think of departing. Eric left the house with a feeling
of serene satisfaction. The doctor drove him to the nearest railroad
station, where he got out and warmly shook Eric's hand, repeating the
wish that they might be able to live together.

The train, meanwhile, stopped longer than usual at the little station,
waiting the arrival of the train from the lower Rhine which was behind
time. A merry crowd of men, young and old, greeted the doctor and
seated themselves in the same car with Eric. The doctor told him that
they were wine-testers, who were going to a sale which was to take
place to-day at the wine-count's cellar. He called Eric's attention
specially to a jovial-looking man, the gauger, the finest judge of wine
in the district. The doctor laughed heartily when Eric said to him,
that he had also gone about the whole district testing wines, that is,
the spiritual wine of character.

"Strange how you make an application of everything!" laughed the
physician. "Count Wolfsgarten, Pranken, Bella, Sonnenkamp, the
huntsman, Sevenpiper, Musselina, Weidmann, Fraeulein Perini, the Major,
the priest, I, and Roland--a fine specimen-catalogue of wines. Look out
that you do not stagger as you come out of the wine-cellar."

The doctor suddenly turned round, and cried:--

"You may yet induce me to put something in print. I am verily of the
opinion, that though there must be some consumers who are not
producers, there are no graduated German heads that don't want, at some
time or other, to write a book; perhaps that helps them to study. And
when you come again, you will, perhaps, bring me to the point of
writing my history of sleep."

The train from the lower Rhine whistled, and the doctor, grasping
Eric's hand again, said with emotion,--

"We are friends! take notice, that if either one of us is to be no
longer the other's friend, he pledges himself to give a week's notice.
And now farewell."

The last word was cut off, for the locomotive whistled, and Eric set
out towards home.

He was sitting with downcast eyes when he heard some one in the car
say,--

"There's young Sonnenkamp on horseback!"

Eric looked out, and caught one more glimpse of Roland, just as he
disappeared behind a little hill.

Eric heard nothing of the lively talk, often interrupted by loud
laughter, which the wine-party kept up; he had much in the past and
future to think over, and he was glad when the party lef