rch a
little after noon, were kindly greeted by an American lady who saw
that we were strangers. "The Emperor lives on this street," she said;
"and if we hasten, we may see him when he comes to the window to
review his Guards." Soon we were before the palace on Unter den
Linden, a substantial-looking building facing the north, with an
eastern exposure. The Imperial standard was floating over the palace,
denoting the presence of his Majesty. The room on the ground floor,
northeast corner, of the palace is the one used by Emperor William I.
as his study; and one back of this was his bedroom, containing the
simple iron cot which was the companion of his soldier days, and which
remained the couch of his choice to the end of life. At "the historic
window" we often saw him. Every day at noon, and sometimes long
before, the crowd began to gather in the street opposite this window,
for a sight of his Majesty when he came for a moment to review his
Guards at a quarter to one. It was touching to see the devotion of the
people, standing patiently in all weathers; mothers and fathers
holding up their children that they might catch a sight of the
idolized Kaiser. Rarely did he disappoint them. As the military music
of the guard drew near, and the tramp of the soldiers fell on the
pavement before the palace, the aged man would appear at the window in
full uniform of dark blue with scarlet trimmings and silver
epaulettes, returning the salutations of the guard, and bowing and
waving his white-gloved hand to the people, then retiring within the
shadow of the lace curtains. Sometimes the cheering broke forth anew
as he was lost to sight, and the welkin was made to ring with the
Kaiser-song, or some hymn of Fatherland, until he indulgently appeared
again, bowing his bald head, his kindly face lighted up with a smile.
In full-front view he did not look like a man in his ninetieth year.
Many a man of sixty-five or seventy looks older. When he turned, the
side view revealed that his form was not erect; but only when he
walked with a slow movement could one realize that this soldier of
perfect drill--this courtly gentleman--was one who had seen almost a
century of life. His earliest memories were of privation and hardship.
In his young boyhood the First Napoleon held Berlin in his grasp, and
the family of the King, Frederick William III., fled to Koenigsberg.
The beautiful and noble Queen Louise and her two little boys,
afterwards Frederick