ot strong in mathematics, used to "crib" from his brother. In all other
respects Little L was ahead of his older brother, and in fact one of the
best in his class. And right here appeared the difference between the
brothers; Big L kept his knowledge to himself, and never prompted;
Little L, _he_ prompted, he fairly shouted--yes, to be sure he did--"

A tender smile passed over the face of the old man.

"If any one on the front form was called upon and did not know the
answer--Little L hissed right across all the forms what he ought to
say: when it came the turn of the back benches little L spoke the answer
half-aloud to himself.

"There was there an old professor from whom we took Latin. During nearly
every lesson he would stop short in the middle of the class; 'L No.
II,' he would say, 'you are prompting again! And that, too, in a most
shameless fashion. Have a care, L No. II, next time I will make an
example of you. I say it to you now for the last time!"

The old colonel laughed to himself. "But it always remained the next to
last time, and the example was never made. For though Little L was no
model boy, more often quite the contrary, he was loved by both teachers
and officers as well--but how indeed could it have been otherwise? He
was always in high spirits, as if receiving a new present every day,
yet nothing ever got sent to him, for the father of the two was in
desperately poor circumstances, a major in some infantry regiment or
other, and the boys received hardly a groschen (2.4 cents) for pocket
money. And always as if just peeled out of the egg, so fresh,--without
and within--eh, eh, altogether--"

Here the colonel paused, as if searching for an expression that would
contain the whole of his love for this former little comrade.

"As if Nature had been for once in a proudly good-humor," he said, "and
had stood that little follow upright on his feet and cried: 'There you
have him!'

"Now this was to be observed," he continued, "that just so much as the
brothers differed, one from the other, the more they seemed to cling
to each other. In Big L, indeed, one did not notice it so much; he was
always sullen and displayed no feeling; but Little L could never conceal
anything. And because Little L felt conscious of this, how much better
he himself was treated by the other cadets, it made him sorry for his
brother. When we took our walks around the courtyard, then one could see
how Little L would look at his b