!' and it is
forthwith condemned. But it appears to me natural that a man should
labor and write in a cause which is to him the noblest cause."

"I am astonished, Richard! You did not think formerly as you now do.
But I should not be surprised if your intercourse with the doctor is
not without its effects." This the professor said in a cutting tone.
Frank turned about and walked the room. The observation of his friend
annoyed him, and he reflected whether his views had actually undergone
any change.

"You deceive yourself. I am still the same," said he. "You cannot
mistrust me because I do not take part with you against the doctor."

Carl sat for a time thinking.

"Is my presence at the table necessary?" said he. "I do not wish to
meet the doctor again."

"That would be little in you. You must not avoid the doctor. You must
convince yourself that he does not bear any ill-will on account of that
scientific dispute. With all his rough bluntness, Klingenberg is a
noble man. Your non-appearance at table must offend him, and at the
same time betray your annoyance."

"I obey," answered Lutz. "Tomorrow I will go for a few days to the
mountains. On my return I will remain another day with you."

Frank's assurance was confirmed. The doctor met the guest as if nothing
unpleasant had happened. In the cool of the evening he went with the
young men into the garden, and spoke with such familiarity of Tacitus,
Livy, and other historians of antiquity that the professor admired his
erudition.

Frank wrote in his diary:

"May 20th.--After mature reflection, I find that the views which I
believed to be strongly founded begin to totter. What would the
professor say if he knew that not the doctor, but a country family, and
that, too, ultramontane, begin to shake the foundation of my views?
Would he not call me weak?"

He laid down the pen and sat sullenly reflecting.

"All my impressions of the ultramontane family be herewith effaced," he
wrote further. "The only fact I admit is, that even ultramontanes also
can be good people. But this fact shall in no wise destroy my former
convictions."

CHAPTER VI.

THE ULTRAMONTANE WAY OF THINKING.

On the following morning, no message was sent for the doctor. The child
had died, as Klingenberg foretold. Frank thought of the great
affliction of the Siegwart family--Angela in tears, and the father
broken down with grief. I