eturn. And if I do, who
knows but what everything may have become strange to me?

*

(Last page written in pencil.)--It is my wish that when I am dead, I
may be wrapped in a simple, linen cloth, placed in a rough, unplaned
coffin, and buried under the apple-tree, on the road that leads to my
paternal mansion. I desire that my brother and other relatives may be
apprised of my death at once, and that they shall not disturb my grave
by the wayside.

No stone, no name, is to mark my grave.

BOOK VIII.

CHAPTER I.

Gunther received his dismissal. Sated with his experience of the world,
he withdrew from its distracting and bustling turmoil. Old and
endearing associations made it no easy matter for his family to
transfer their affections to a new home--and yet the change was brought
about without impairing their unity of feeling and affection. Those two
pure gods, love and science, followed Gunther beyond the mountains, and
his heart was free from rancor.

Their home circle now was once more perfect. As if returning from
a journey around the world, Gunther again found himself at the
starting-point--for he knew that he and his would find a free and
self-dependent life the source of the most ennobling and beautiful
influences.

Naturally enough, they missed the presence of a cultured circle, its
refining influences and the opportunity it affords for an interchange
of ideas. But he felt that they would stand the test, and would prove
that they could give up all this without greatly missing it.
Immediately after his dismissal, he received a most flattering offer of
a professorship at one of the great universities. He declined the
proffered position. It had been a long cherished idea of his, to
improve his knowledge of certain branches of science and to complete
certain scientific labors, of which he had thus far merely sketched the
outlines. It often grieved him to think that he might quit the world,
incomplete in himself and leaving much unfinished work behind him. Life
at court, with its constant changes and interruptions, renders
connected thought impossible. To mount guard every morning, in full
armor; to be ready, at a moment's call, to discuss even the most
important subject, in a light conversational manner:--such a life, if
persisted in for a number of years, will, in spite of every effort to
the contra