e him, he began his history;
but after a few incoherent words he jumped to the conclusion, which
was that "having ceased to believe in God Almighty, he had lost every
vestige of morality, and had gone so far as to commit a theft." "Could
you imagine such a thing?" said he.

"Listen to me, Keller," returned the prince. "If I were in your place, I
should not acknowledge that unless it were absolutely necessary for some
reason. But perhaps you are making yourself out to be worse than you
are, purposely?"

"I should tell it to no one but yourself, prince, and I only name it now
as a help to my soul's evolution. When I die, that secret will die with
me! But, excellency, if you knew, if you only had the least idea, how
difficult it is to get money nowadays! Where to find it is the question.
Ask for a loan, the answer is always the same: 'Give us gold, jewels, or
diamonds, and it will be quite easy.' Exactly what one has not got! Can
you picture that to yourself? I got angry at last, and said, 'I
suppose you would accept emeralds?' 'Certainly, we accept emeralds with
pleasure. Yes!' 'Well, that's all right,' said I. 'Go to the devil, you
den of thieves!' And with that I seized my hat, and walked out."

"Had you any emeralds?" asked the prince.

"What? I have emeralds? Oh, prince! with what simplicity, with what
almost pastoral simplicity, you look upon life!"

Could not something be made of this man under good influences? asked the
prince of himself, for he began to feel a kind of pity for his visitor.
He thought little of the value of his own personal influence, not from
a sense of humility, but from his peculiar way of looking at things
in general. Imperceptibly the conversation grew more animated and more
interesting, so that neither of the two felt anxious to bring it to a
close. Keller confessed, with apparent sincerity, to having been guilty
of many acts of such a nature that it astonished the prince that he
could mention them, even to him. At every fresh avowal he professed the
deepest repentance, and described himself as being "bathed in tears";
but this did not prevent him from putting on a boastful air at times,
and some of his stories were so absurdly comical that both he and the
prince laughed like madmen.

"One point in your favour is that you seem to have a child-like mind,
and extreme truthfulness," said the prince at last. "Do you know that
that atones for much?"

"I am assuredly noble-minded, and chiva