joy; especially happy was one of the villagers who had
been among Ludwig's volunteers in 1848, and was quite proud of his
having been able to lie himself out of that scrape.

CHAPTER IV.

Before I proceed further, I must tell you of Martella.

It were of course better if I could let her speak for herself; for her
voice, though firm, has an indescribably mellow and touching tone, and
seems to hold the listener as if spell-bound. She had thick,
unmanageable brown hair, and brown eyes in which there was hardly any
white to be seen. She was not slender, but rather short, although there
were moments when she would suddenly seem as if quite tall. Her manner
was not gentle, but rather domineering, as if she would say, "Get out
of the way there! I am coming!" In disposition she was wayward and
passionate, vain and conceited. It was only in our house that she
became pliant and yielding, and acquired mild and modest ways. I do not
mean _modest_ in the current acceptation of the word; she had genuine
respect for those who were higher and better than she. My wife effected
a miraculous change in her without ever attempting to instruct, but
simply by commanding her. She was the betrothed of my son Ernst, who,
as I have already mentioned, was with us at Frankfort in the year 1848.

It is difficult, and to us of an older generation perhaps impossible,
to discover what impression the events of 1848 must have made on a
child's mind.

For my part, I have learned through this son, that failure on the part
of the parents induces in their offspring a feeling which can best be
described as pity mingled with a want of respect. Like William Tell, we
had long carried the arrow of revolution in our bosoms, but when _we_
sent it forth it missed the mark.

In the autumn of 1848 my wife came to visit me at Frankfort and brought
Ernst with her.

Old Arndt was particularly fond of the lad, and often took him on his
knee and called him his "little pine-tree." When the Regent, on the day
after his triumphal entry, appeared in public, he met Ernst and kissed
him.

During the summer Ernst attended a preparatory school in the
neighboring town. But he seemed to have no real love for study, while
the teachers were over-indulgent with the handsome lad, who was always
ready with his bold glances and saucy remarks.

When I asked him what he intended to become, he would always answer me,
"Chief forester of the st