ioneer's hammer--albeit each blow
struck him to the heart, and made its wounds smart still more keenly.
At times, when a well-known voice fell on his ear, he would raise
his head a little, and look at the bidders, and examine their cold,
unsympathizing faces. How many were there among them whom he had
once called his friends, and to whom he had done good! And now, like
vultures, they flocked to the carcass of his past; they bought his
treasures, while their eyes glistened with malicious joy. They were
delighted to be able to boast that they possessed a souvenir of the
rich Gotzkowsky.

When Gotzkowsky saw this, he felt ashamed that he had once smiled
lovingly on these men, had confided in them, and believed in their
assurances of friendship. He rose to leave, feeling himself refreshed
and strengthened, for his depression and grief had left him. Never had
he walked the streets more proudly than on the day when he returned
from the auction to his dark, lowly dwelling. Never had he looked upon
mankind with greater pity or more bitter scorn. And yet it pained him
to reenter this dismal, quiet house, and to force himself back
into the _ennui_ and indolence of his inactive life. It was such
a sensitive, burning pain, so, in the fulness of his strength and
manhood to be condemned to do nothing more than drag on a weary
existence--to sleep, to eat, and to dream of the past! And yet he
would repeat to himself, he was strong and active to work and create;
and nevertheless, he was condemned to idleness, to live by the favor
and toil of others, even if these others were his children.

But they worked for him with so much pleasure and so much love!
Bertram had accepted the situation of book-keeper in a large factory,
and his salary was sufficient to support the three. To be sure, they
had to manage carefully, and provide scantily enough. But Elise was
active and notable; though as the spoilt child of wealth, she had,
indeed, been able to learn nothing of those minor offices of life
which are called by women "housekeeping." Still the instinct of her
sex had enabled her soon to acquire this knowledge, and in a short
time she became mistress of it. It was, indeed, a pleasant sight to
see Elise, with the same quiet cheerfulness, acting at one moment the
part of cook in the kitchen, at another setting her little chamber to
rights with busy hands, and making amends in cleanliness and neatness
for what was wanting in elegance and beauty.