he had signed and sealed the missive, and slept the sleep of
the strong and the just, undisturbed by the possession of a fortune or
by any more doubts as to the future.

Before receiving this letter he had thought seriously of going away. Now
that a move was almost thrust upon him, he found that he did not want to
make it. A professor he would live and die. What could be more
contemptible, he reflected, than to give up the march of thought and the
struggle for knowledge, in order to sit at ease, devising means of
getting rid of so much cash? And he straightened his great limbs along
the narrow camp-bed and was asleep in five minutes.

CHAPTER II.

When Claudius awoke at daybreak he had a strong impression that he had
been dreaming. His first action was to open his iron box and read the
will over again. That being done, he reflected that his determination to
keep his fortune a secret was a wise one, and that for the present he
would abide by it. So he went out and got a notary to attest his
signature to the letter, and posted it to Messrs. Screw and Scratch, and
returned to his books. But the weather was intensely hot, and the sun
beat down fiercely on the roof over his head, so that after two or three
hours he gave it up and sallied forth to seek coolness abroad. His steps
turned naturally upwards towards the overhanging castle where he was
sure of a breeze and plenty of shade; and as he passed the famous old
"Wirthshaus zum faulen Pelz" on the ascent, he turned in and took a
drink of the cool clear ale and a pretzel, an operation termed in
Germany the "Fruehschoppen," or "early glass," and as universal a
practice as the early tea in the tropics before the sun is up, or the
"vermouth" of the Italian before the evening meal. Having offered this
customary libation to the summer deities, the Doctor leisurely climbed
the hill and entered the precincts of the Schloss. Sure enough, there
was a breeze here among the ruins, and shade in abundance wherein to
lie and read all through the summer day, with an occasional shift of
position as the sun rose and sank in the blazing sky.

Claudius stretched himself out near the great ruined tower under a bit
of wall, and, pulling out a book, began to read. But the book did not
interest him, and before long he let it drop and fell to thinking. The
light wind stirred the broad green foliage over him, and the sun struck
fiercely down beyond the border of shade; but then, again,