Her father had been away for two days, and Hans had gone with him.  They had been to Heidelberg.  Bertha and Gretchen had never yet visited that city, although it was not more than twenty miles away.

“Oh, dear, I don’t know where to begin,” Hans told the girls that evening.

“Of course, I liked to watch the students better than anything else.  The town seems full of them.  They all study in the university, of course, but they are on the streets a good deal.  They seem to have a fine time of it.  Every one carries a small cane with a button on the end of it.  They wear their little caps down over their foreheads on one side.”

“What colour do they have for their caps, Hans?” asked Gretchen.

“All colours, I believe.  Some are red, some blue, some yellow, some green.  Oh, I can’t tell you how many different kinds there are.  But they were bright and pretty, and made the streets look as though it must be a festival day.”

“I have heard that the students fight a good many duels.  Is that so, Hans?”

“If you should see them, you would certainly think so.  Many of the fellows are real handsome, but their faces are scarred more often than not.

“‘The more scars I can show, the braver people will think I am.’  That is what the students seem to think.  They get up duels with each other on the smallest excuse.  When they fight, they always try to strike the face.  Father says their duelling is good practice.  It really helps to make them brave.  If I were a student, I should want to fight duels, too.”

Bertha shuddered.  Duelling was quite the fashion in German universities, but the little girl was very tender-hearted.  She could not bear to think of her brother having his face cut up by the sword of any one in the world.

“What do you think, girls?” Hans went on.  “Father had to go to the part of the town nearest the castle.  He said he should be busy for several hours, and I could do what I liked.  So I climbed up the hill to the castle, and wandered all around it.  I saw a number of English and American people there.  I suppose they had come to Heidelberg on purpose to see those buildings.

“‘Isn’t it beautiful!’ I heard them exclaim again and again.  And I saw a boy about my own age writing things about it in a note-book.  He told his mother he was going to say it was the most beautiful ruin in Germany.  He was an American boy, but he spoke our language.  I suppose he was just learning it, for he made ever so many mistakes.  I could hardly tell what he was trying to say.”

“What did his mother answer?” asked Bertha.

“She nodded her head, and then pointed out some of the finest carvings and statues.  But she and her son moved away from me before long, and then I found myself near some children of our country.  They must have been rich, for they were dressed quite grandly.  Their governess was with them.  She told them to notice how many different kinds of buildings there were, some of them richly carved, and some quite plain.  ’You will find here palaces, towers, and fortresses, all together,’ she said.  ’For, in the old days, it was not only a grand home, but it was also a strong fortress.’”