n which were the names of the
councilmen elect. At the head of the list appeared in large characters
the name of Mr. Hans Shund.

"The curtain falls, the farce is ended," said Greifmann. "What you have
here heard and seen has been repeated at every table where 'wild men'
chanced to make their appearance. Everywhere the same arguments, the
same grounds of conviction."

Seraphin had become quite grave, and cast his eyes to the ground in
silence.

"By Jove, the rogue is going to try his hand on us!" said Carl, nudging
the thoughtful young man. "The bald-headed fellow has spied us, and is
getting ready to bag a couple of what he takes to be 'wild men.' Come,
let us be off."

They left the beer cellar and took the direction of the city.

"Now let us descend a little lower, to what I might call the amphibia
of society," said Greifmann. "We are going to visit a place where
masons, sawyers, cobblers, laborers, and other small fry are in the
habit of slaking their thirst. You will there find going on the same
sort of electioneering, or, as you call it, the same sort of terrorism,
only in a rougher style. There beer-jugs occasionally go flying about,
and bloody heads and rough-and-tumble, fights may be witnessed."

"I have no stomach for fisticuffs and whizzing beer-mugs," said
Gerlach.

"Never mind, come along. I have undertaken to initiate you into the
mysteries of elections, and you are to get a correct idea of the life
action of a cultivated state."

They entered an obscure alley where a fetid, sultry atmosphere assailed
them. Greifmann stopped before a lofty house, and pointed to a
transparency on which a brimming beer-tankard was represented. A wild
tumult was audible through the windows, through which the cry of
"Shund!" rose at times like the swell of a great wave from the midst of
corrupted waters. As they were passing the doorway a dense fog of
tobacco smoke mingled with divers filthy odors assailed their nostrils.
Seraphin, who was accustomed to inhaling the pure atmosphere of the
country, showed an inclination to retreat, and had already half-way
faced about when his companion seized and held him. "Courage, my
friend! wade into the slough boldly," cried he into the struggling
youth's ear. "Hereafter, when you will be riding through woodland and
meadows, the recollection of this subterranean den will enable you to
appreciate the pure atmosphere of the country twice as well. Look at
those sodden faces and swo