t--the beautiful
vision of Jenny von Westphalen.

Meanwhile his family, and especially his father, had become anxious at
the reports which reached them. Karl was sent for, and his stay at Bonn
was ended.

Now that he was once more in the presence of the girl who charmed him
so, he recovered all his old-time spirits. He wooed her ardently, and
though she was more coy, now that she saw his passion, she did not
discourage him, but merely prolonged the ecstasy of this wonderful
love-making. As he pressed her more and more, and no one guessed the
story, there came a time when she was urged to let herself become
engaged to him.

Here was seen the difference in their ages--a difference that had an
effect upon their future. It means much that a girl should be four
years older than the man who seeks her hand. She is four years wiser;
and a girl of twenty is, in fact, a match for a youth of twenty-five.
Brought up as she had been, in an aristocratic home, with the blood of
two noble families in her veins, and being wont to hear the easy and
somewhat cynical talk of worldly people, she knew better than poor Karl
the un-wisdom of what she was about to do.

She was noble, the daughter of one high official and the sister of
another. Those whom she knew were persons of rank and station. On the
other hand, young Marx, though he had accepted Christianity, was the
son of a provincial Jewish lawyer, with no fortune, and with a bad
record at the university. When she thought of all these things, she may
well have hesitated; but the earnest pleading and intense ardor of Karl
Marx broke down all barriers between them, and they became engaged,
without informing Jenny's father of their compact. Then they parted for
a while, and Karl returned to his home, filled with romantic thoughts.

He was also full of ambition and of desire for achievement. He had won
the loveliest girl in Treves, and now he must go forth into the world
and conquer it for her sake. He begged his father to send him to
Berlin, and showed how much more advantageous was that new and splendid
university, where Hegel's fame was still in the ascendent.

In answer to his father's questions, the younger Marx replied:

"I have something to tell you that will explain all; but first you must
give me your word that you will tell no one."

"I trust you wholly," said the father. "I will not reveal what you may
say to me."

"Well," returned the son, "I am engaged to marry Jenny