in. Gunther was delighted with his healthy
appearance, and promised him a playmate who was born on the same day as
himself.

"Mamma, why haven't I a little sister?" asked the crown prince.

The color rose to the queen's cheeks.

"Little Cornelia is to be your sister," she replied, and gave orders
that they should take the prince to visit the child at the doctor's
house.

Gunther's parting instructions to Madame von Gerloff were that the
children should be shown the bird's nest in the rosebush. The prince
asked permission to take Schnipp and Schnapp with him, and the two
children were soon driving through the valley in the pretty little
carriage, a little groom managing the horses and a little outrider in
front. At noon, Madame Gunther and her daughters visited the queen.
Little by little, a common interest in their pleasures, aided by the
invigorating influences of nature, helped to bring about a uniform tone
of feeling, and thus to level distinctions which would be more closely
observed in city circles.

The days sped by pleasantly. The queen felt no craving for unwonted
pleasures; and every hour was complete in itself.

The queen, one day, told Madame Gunther that she was the first
citizen's wife with whom she had been on terms of familiar intimacy,
and that she could not help admiring her clear, good sense.

"I must tell you something of my youth," replied Madame Gunther, to
whom this condescending praise was quite a surprise.

"Pray do so," said the queen, encouragingly.

"Your Majesty, I was betrothed and happy. Wilhelm was traveling during
his vacation and we often wrote to each other. One day, I received a
letter from him which offended my pride and, indeed, deeply wounded me.
I had indulged in excessive sensibility and, in reply, he quoted the
words of Lessing which Nathan addresses to the Knight Templar:
'Mediocrity, like ours, can be found in abundance everywhere!'"

"And did that offend you?"

"Yes, Your Majesty; it offended me deeply. Gunther is without a trace
of that false modesty which is all the more vain, the more modest it
appears. He stood so high in my esteem that I felt he had, by using
this expression, committed an offense against himself and, I may
confess it, against myself, as well. I did not regard myself as
mediocre, but as a highly gifted being. But from that time, I began to
perceive that most suffering arises from the fact that those who have
understanding, culture, and some