ery. And he was especially troubled in regard to the young married
couple, who wished to make the pilgrimage. He would be one of the
sights of their journey which they could talk of on their return home.
And, besides, how many might be seduced into impiety by laughing over
it, and they certainly would laugh at Otto von Pranken's being among
the pilgrims! Therefore, for your own sake, and that of others, you
must be disguised somewhat.

So with heroic resolution--and it was certainly heroic, for who would
be willing to deprive himself of an ornament so highly prized and not
to be replaced at pleasure?--Pranken entered the fragrant shop, sat
down in an arm-chair, and looked at his beard and moustache reflected
in a great mirror hanging opposite. His eyes almost overflowed. A great
white apron, a true sacrificial mantle for the sacrificial lamb, was
thrown over him, and an exceedingly polite young man, who had no
suspicion of the priestly office assigned to him, asked,--

"Does the gracious gentleman wish to be shaved, or to be curled?"

"Curled," answered Pranken, quick as lightning, for it came to him like
an inspiration, that he would mingle with the pilgrims curled and
elegantly dressed; this would be a fuller and deeper confession, and it
would bring more honor to the sanctuaries, if it were seen that a man
of rank, evidently a military officer, offered to them his veneration.

Finally, with hair nicely dressed, Pranken went out of the shop, and in
all the large windows of all the stores he passed, he looked not
without satisfaction at his rescued treasure,--his beard and moustache.

He smiled victoriously upon the world.

Pranken knew of an inn, in the town, which was the resort of the elite
of the nobility, and he went there hoping to find some companion of
equal rank, and with the firm determination to induce him to go on the
pilgrimage with him. He found no one whom he knew, and he could not
remain in the public parlor, for he saw there, on entering, a famous
actress, who was fulfilling here a star engagement, and whom he had
formerly known; he pretended not to recognize her and withdrew to his
own room.

The morning came; the bells rang for the pilgrims to take their
departure. Pranken formed a weighty resolve. Nothing hasty! he
said to himself. Make no show! Give the world no opportunity for
misconstruction! One has a duty to perform to the world and to the
past! One must be putting off the old man, by de