url the flag which we had always regarded
with devotion,--for the sake of which we had been persecuted,
imprisoned, or exiled. It seemed as if the holiest of holies had been
denied and dishonored.

"It is the death-bed repentance of a sinner who has not enough time
left to do good in," said Richard, who divined the thoughts that were
passing through my mind.

A large company of soldiers was on the train, and went as far as the
next garrison town.

But how could they have found it in their hearts to sing?

Haymaking had begun, the cars were filled with the fragrant odor of the
newly mown grass. The laborers in the fields would look up from their
work, and raise their scythes on high when they saw us pass.

And now, when it seemed as if my Fatherland was to be laid waste and
destroyed, I became more than ever sensible of my great affection for
it.

These woods, these fields and villages, were all to be laid waste, and
shrieks of woe would resound from the flames. I felt it as keenly, as
if beholding a beloved relative in the grasp of death.

The train was just moving away from the station when I heard a soldier
call out to me, "Grandfather!"

I recognized him: it was my grandson Martin, the son of my daughter
Johanna. He nodded to me, and when I turned to look at him, I saw the
lieutenant collaring and buffeting him for speaking without orders
while in the ranks.

We had proceeded but a short distance when I observed that Funk was on
the train. He kept at a distance from us. He had bought a large bundle
of extra newspapers, which he distributed to the people at the
different stations.

When we reached our circuit town we repaired to the Wild Man Tavern,
where, while waiting for a conveyance, we seated ourselves under the
newly planted lindens. While sitting there, engrossed by thoughts of
the country's troubles, I learned of another trouble nearer home.

I am old enough to know something of human wickedness, but I admit that
I am, even to this day, frequently surprised by the shape that human
meanness will sometimes take.

At a side table was seated Funk's special satellite--the baker Lerz,
of Hollerberg. He was accompanied by his wife, and both looked about
them with an air of serene contentment. The baker was a sensual,
self-complacent man, who had a habit of smiling and moving his lips, as
if he were smacking them at the thoughts of a feast he had just been
enjoying. He had just been involved in an uncl