e you here, too?" I looked around to see who it was, and
beheld my son Ernst. He carried his rifle on his shoulder, and the
rewards for his well-aimed shots were fastened under the green ribbon
of his hat. Before I could get a chance to congratulate him, he had
said to me, "Father, you should not have come; I am sorry that I meet
you here."

"Why so?"

"Why! Because this is for us young lads. We are here for the purpose of
gaining prize-goblets by our lucky shots; and the great speeches that
are being held in yonder hall are nothing more than a mere flash in the
pan. They are trying to persuade each other that they are all heroes
and willing to bear arms for their Fatherland, and their talk is, after
all, a mere sham. The good marksmen have not come here for the sake of
their Fatherland and such stuff: all they desire is simply to gain the
prize--that, and nothing more."

"Do you not know that I, too, made a speech in there yesterday?"

"No. I was informed that some one named Waldfried had been speaking;
but I could not imagine it was you. One should have nothing to do with
such inflammable thoughts when fire-arms are at hand. If we were to
govern ourselves by your speeches, our brotherly-feeling would very
soon be at an end, and there would be naught but violence and murder
among us riflemen."

I tried to explain to him that our hope lay in our able-bodied youth,
and that we would not rest content until we had a real, united
Fatherland. To which he answered:

"Ah, yes. The students, those of brother Richard's sort, live on
yesterday: the politicians live on to-morrow: we live in the present."

His features trembled, and it was with an effort that he added,
"Forgive me, father; perhaps I, too, will have as much confidence in
mankind as you have, when I am as old as you are."

What could I answer to this? While all about me was loud with joy, my
soul was filled with sorrow. My youngest son denied the gods to whom I
offered up my prayers.

And yet, when I saw him among a group of riflemen, my fatherly pride
was aroused. His proud, lithe form towered above the rest. New-comers
saluted him, and the eyes of all seemed to rest upon Ernst with serene
satisfaction.

CHAPTER V.

One day Ernst visited us and went about for a long while in
silence,--now going out to Rothfuss in the stable, and then again
joining us in the room; but here again he uttered no word. Although I
coul