“Who was this witness?”

“This is he,” said Joseph, drawing Lupinus forward.

“Ah!” said Eckhof, “and I was murmuring and complaining against fate—­I, whose friends have shown their love by deeds as well as by words—­friends who worked for me whilst I sat with folded hands bewailing my bad fortune.  Forgive me, Joseph; forgive me, my young friend; come to my arms, my comrades, my brothers, and say that you will forget my anger and injustice.”

He opened his arms, and Joseph threw himself upon his breast.

“And you, my friend,” said Eckhof, turning to Lupinus, who stood pale and motionless before him.

Joseph drew them together and exclaimed:  “Was I not right?  You are like two lovers; Lupinus acts the part of the coy maiden to the life.  I do not believe, Eckhof, that you will ever have a wife who will love you more entirely, more tenderly, than our young doctor does.”

Lupinus, now folded in the arms of Eckhof, trembled and grew pale at these words from Joseph.

“Love me, love me, my dear young friend,” said Eckhof, softly.  “Friendship is the purest, the holiest gift of God.  It is the love of the souls.  Be faithful to me, Lupinus, as I shall be to you.”

“I will be faithful so long as I live, faithful beyond the grave,” whispered Lupinus.

“You whispering, dreaming lovers, are forgetting me,” said Joseph, laughing.  “You must not forget, Eckhof, that the future of our friend is awaiting your decision.  Shall he give up his studies as I did, and become an actor?  It is only proper to tell you that the cases are not quite parallel, for I was a very lazy student, and he is most industrious.  I was considered a good-for-nothing, and Lupinus is a miracle of knowledge and learning.  Shall he abandon this position and follow you?”

“He must not, indeed,” said Eckhof.

“You will not receive me?” said Lupinus, sadly.

“Not at present, dear friend; I wish to be reasonable and careful, and perhaps a little egotistical.  If you should leave the university at present, you give the professors a new weapon against me, and it would be said that I had employed arts to seduce you from the paths of science.  And, further, we do not know if you have a talent for our profession; that must first be proved.  Remain for the present true to your studies; at the end of a year, during which time you shall pass your novitiate, we will decide this question.”

“It shall be as you say,” said Lupinus, earnestly.  “I will first gain my diploma, and then you shall decide my future, you and no other.”

“So be it,” said Joseph, “and now let us drink to your future success, Lupinus, in a glass of champagne, and to the confusion of the professors, who are awaiting with such proud confidence the decision of the General Assembly.”

CHAPTER V.

The order of the king.