me of Carl du
Prel, and read on without replying to Herr Carovius or even taking
notice of the fact that he was present.

Herr Carovius tripped from one foot to the other. "Perhaps the Baron
will be so good as to take a look at his account," he said in a
beseeching tone. "I am in a tight place. My capital is gone, and my
debts in the shape of interest have been swelling like the Pegnitz in
the spring of the year. Would you like to know what I have been living
on for the last three months? I have been living on turnips, potato
peelings, and brick cheese; that has been my daily diet; and I have
submitted to it for the sake of my Baron."

"I am not a bit interested in what you have been eating," said the Baron
arrogantly, and kept on reading.

Herr Carovius continued with an imbecile sulk: "When you left me
recently because of that little quarrel we had about the Goose Man, it
never occurred to me that you were going to take the matter so
seriously. Lovers like to be teased, I thought. He'll come back, I
thought, he'll come back just as sure as laughter follows tickling.
Well, I was mistaken. I thought you were of a more gentle disposition,
and that you would be more indulgent with an old friend. Yes, we make
mistakes sometimes."

Eberhard remained silent.

Herr Carovius sighed, and sat down timidly on the narrow edge of the
sofa that stood next to the whitewashed wall. He sat there for almost an
hour in perfect silence. Eberhard appreciated neither the ridiculous nor
the fantastic element in the conduct of his guest. He read on.

And then, all of a sudden, Herr Carovius sprang to his feet, took his
wallet from his pocket, drew out a thousand-mark note, and laid it,
together with a blank receipt, across the page Eberhard was reading.
Before the Baron could recover from his amazement he had already
disappeared, closing the door behind him. The sound of his footsteps on
the street could be heard in the room; but he was gone.

What rare living creatures there are, O World, and what rare dead ones,
too! This is the thought that passed through Eberhard's mind.

IX

That two men as radically different by nature as Eberhard and Daniel
chanced to meet and be drawn together at the very period of their lives
when both had voluntarily renounced human society was due to one of
those decrees of Providence that contain in them either a law of
crystallisation or the attraction of polar force