owever ruinous they would in all
likelihood have been for many other young men, he escaped with
incredible ease and success. But whenever the conversation turned upon
him and his good fortune, the old gentlemen of his acquaintance were
especially fond of relating a story about a watch, which had happened
in the days of his early youth. For it chanced once that Siegfried,
while still under his guardian's care, had quite unexpectedly found
himself so straitened for money on a journey that he was absolutely
obliged to sell his gold watch, which was set with brilliants, merely
in order to get on his way. He had made up his mind that he would have
to throw away his valuable watch for an old song; but as there happened
to be in the hotel where he had put up at a young prince who was just
in want of such an ornament, the Baron actually received for it more
than it was really worth. More than a year passed and Siegfried had
become his own master, when he read in the newspapers in another place
that a watch was to be made the subject of a lottery. He took a ticket,
which cost a mere trifle, and won--the same gold watch set with
brilliants which he had sold. Not long afterwards he exchanged this
watch for a valuable ring. He held office for a short time under the
Prince of G----, and when he retired from his post the Prince presented
to him as a mark of his good-will the very identical gold watch set
with brilliants as before, together with a costly chain.

From this story they passed to Siegfried's obstinacy in never on any
account touching a card; why, with his strongly pronounced good-luck he
had all the more inducement to play; and they were unanimous in coming
to the conclusion that the Baron, notwithstanding all his other
conspicuous good qualities, was a miserly fellow, far too careful and
far too stingy to expose himself to the smallest possible loss. That
the Baron's conduct was in every particular the direct contrary of that
of an avaricious man had no weight with them; and as is so often the
case, when the majority have set their hearts upon tagging a
questioning 'but' on to the good name of a talented man, and are
determined to find this 'but' at any cost, even though it should be in
their own imagination, so in the present case the sneering allusion to
Siegfried's aversion to play afforded them infinite satisfaction.

Siegfried was not long in learning what was being said about him; and
since, generous and liberal a