after all, characteristic of people to abandon the most helpless, those whom assistance does not relieve for any length of time and who are and always will be in need of aid.  Nevertheless she had not suffered any actual want; the family of the Baron had cared for her, sent her meals daily, and even provided medical treatment for her, when her pitiable condition had developed into complete emaciation.  In her house now lived the son of the former swineherd, who had so admired Frederick’s watch on that unfortunate night.

“All gone, all dead!” sighed John.

In the evening, when it had grown dark and the moon was shining, he was seen limping about the cemetery in the snow; he did not pray over any one grave, nor did he go very close to any, but he seemed to gaze fixedly at some of them from a distance.  Thus he was found by Forester Brandes, the son of the murdered forester, whom the Baron had sent to bring John to the castle.  Upon entering the living-room he looked about him timidly, as though dazed by the light, and then at the Baron who was sitting in his armchair; he had aged greatly but still had his old bright eyes, and the little red cap was still on his head, as it had been twenty-eight years ago; beside him was the Baroness, his wife, also grown old, very old.

“Now, John,” said the Baron, “do tell me all about your adventures.  But,” as he surveyed him through his glasses, “you wasted away terribly there in Turkey, didn’t you?” John began telling how Mergel had called him away from the hearth at night and said he must go away with him.

“But why did the foolish fellow ever run away?—­I suppose you know that he was innocent?”

John looked down.

“I don’t know exactly; I think it was on account of some forest affairs.  Simon had all kinds of dealings, you know; they never told me anything about it, but I do not believe everything was as it should have been.”

“But what did Frederick tell you?”

“Nothing but that we must run away, that they were at our heels.  So we ran to Heerse; it was still dark then and we hid behind the big cross in the churchyard until it grew somewhat lighter, because we were afraid of the stone-quarries at Bellerfeld; and after we had been sitting a while we suddenly heard snorting and stamping over us and saw long streaks of fire in the air directly over the church-tower of Heerse.  We jumped up and ran straight ahead in the name of God as fast as we could, and, when dawn arose, we were actually on the right road to P.”  John seemed to shudder at the remembrance even now, and the Baron thought of his departed Kapp and his adventures on the slope of Heerse.

“Remarkable!” he mused; “you were so near each other!  But go ahead.”