m of
figure, with a strikingly handsome face. His eyes were almond-shaped,
not large but very dark, with much charm of expression. The
finely-marked eyebrows served by their raven blackness to emphasize the
whiteness of the forehead, which was crowned by an abundant mass of
curling black hair. His fresh complexion had still the bloom of early
youth, and would hardly have betrayed his age, if it had not been
shaded by a dark brown silky beard, which had never known a razor. It
was an entirely uncommon type, recalling in profile, Antinous, and the
full face reminding one of the St. Sebastian of Guido Roni in the
museum of the Capitol; a face of the noblest manhood, without a single
coarse feature. His manner, although quiet, gave the impression of keen
enthusiasm, or, more rightly speaking, of unworldly inspiration. All
who saw him were powerfully attracted, but half-unconsciously felt a
slight doubt whether even so fine a specimen of manhood was quite fitly
organized and equipped for the strife of existence. At the university
he had been given the nickname of Wilhelmina, on account of a certain
gentleness and delicacy of manner, and because he neither drank nor
smoked. Such jokes, not ill-natured, were directed against his outward
appearance, but had a shade of meaning as regards his character.

As Wilhelm walked into the courtyard of the Schloss hotel he stopped a
moment to regain his breath. Before him was the stately new house,
whose white-painted walls and many windows had looked down on the
high-road; to the left stood the round tower inclosed within a ruined
wall, shading an airy lattice-work building, in which on a raised
wooden floor stood a table and some benches. Several people, evidently
guests at the hotel, sat there drinking wine and beer, and eying the
newcomer curiously. The burly landlord, in village dress, emerged from
the open door of the cellar in the tower, and wished him "good-day." He
had a thick beard and a sunburned face, with good-natured blue eyes.
With a searching glance at the young man's cap and knapsack, he waited
for Wilhelm to speak.

"Can I have a room looking on to the valley?" asked the latter.

"Not at this moment," the landlord answered, clearing his throat
loudly; "there is hardly a room free here, and that only in the top
story. But to-morrow, or the day after, many people are leaving, and
then I can give you what you want."

Wilhelm's face clouded with disappointment, but only