e that gave me almost as much trouble
as my opponents in the House of Delegates had done. It was necessary to
engage some one to replace or assist Rothfuss. I could do nothing
without his consent; several whom I had proposed he had rejected, and
when I at last obtained Joseph's consent to engage Carl, Rothfuss was
scarcely pleased, although he interposed no objections.

Rothfuss always insisted that Carl, while a soldier, had behaved in the
same way as the girl who said, "Catch me: I'll hold still."

He had allowed himself to be caught. If Ernst had only been smart
enough to do likewise!

For the sake of his affection for Ernst, Carl submitted to this unjust
reproach. He was indeed a brave and daring soldier, and felt provoked
that during the whole war there had been nothing but marching hither
and thither, back and forth, without once meeting the foe.

Rothfuss and Martella had much to say to each other about Ernst, to
whom Martella clung with unshaken confidence.

Whenever the letter-carrier came, she was all anxious expectation, but
had enough self-control to conceal her feelings for my wife's sake.

My wife never mentioned Ernst's name, but ever since the day on which
news had come from him, her sleep had been restless.

When I returned from the session she said to me, "I am sure you have no
news that you are concealing from me?"

I could truthfully assure her that I had none, and after that she
seemed as tranquil as if she had been speaking of an indifferent
subject. And yet this grief preyed on her incessantly.

Annette received many letters; and, as she could have nothing to
do with any one without feeling a personal interest in him, she
would always have something to eat and drink ready for the country
letter-carrier. She soon knew all about the toil and trouble
inseparable from his work, and also inquired in regard to his family
circumstances, and assisted him as well as she could.

She ordered a sheep-skin coat for him, but he was obliged to decline
it, because in his walks over hill and dale the weight of it would have
been insupportable. She presented the skin to a poor old man; and,
indeed, tried to do good to every one in the village and neighborhood.
The oldest house in the neighborhood is yet standing down in the
valley. It is built of logs, and is known as _the hut_. The smoke fills
the whole house and forces its way out through the crevices.

Annette found this smoky atmosphere particularly