s. Hankler, he devoted three days to
going the rounds of the village. All gave him their best wishes,--for
all thought well of him and envied the parents of so fine and good a
lad. Here and there he received a little present,--a handkerchief, a
pair of suspenders, a purse, and even some money: the last he hesitated
to accept,--for, as his parents were well off, it seemed humiliating.
But he reflected that clergymen must accept presents, and rejoiced over
the six-creutzer pieces with childish glee. Having finished his parting
calls, he avoided being seen before the houses he had visited; for
there is something disagreeable in meeting casually with persons of
whom you have just taken a final and long farewell: a deep feeling
seems to be rudely wiped away and a debt to remain uncancelled. Ivo
thus became almost a prisoner for some days, restricted to the society
of his pigeons and the little localities which had become endeared to
him in his father's curtilage.

On the eve of his departure he went to the house where Emmerence lived,
to say "Good-bye." She brought him something wrapped up in paper, and
said, "There, take it: it is one of my ducklings!" Although Ivo did not
object, she pressed him, saying, "Oh, you must take it! Do you remember
how I drove them in from the hollow? They were little weeny things
then, and you used to help me get food for them. Take it: you can eat
it for lunch to-morrow."

Holding the roast duck in one hand, he gave the other to Emmerence and
to her parents. With a heavy heart, he returned home. Here all was in a
bustle. They were to start at one o'clock in the night, so as to be in
Ehingen betimes. On the bench by the stove sat an orphan-boy from
Ahldorf, who was also to enter the convent, with a blue bundle of goods
and chattels beside him. Ivo forgot his own sorrows in his pity for the
orphan, whom nobody accompanied, and who was forced to rely upon the
kindness of strangers. Seeing no other comfort at hand, he held the
roast duck under his nose, and said, "That's what we're going to have
for lunch tomorrow. You like a good drum-stick or a bit of the breast,
don't you?" He looked almost happy; and, to assure the stranger of his
share, he told him to put the duck into his bundle; but his mother
interfered to prevent this, as it would stain the clothes.

They all went to bed early. The orphan, whose name was Bart, slept in
Nat's bed, who stayed up to feed the horse and wake the others. When