rders in this house to-day? To-day
everything must be done as _I_ say; and _I_ say that we will pass the
time of the drive here in my room, and that thou shalt answer several
silly questions which have come into my head. And forget not that we are
to 'thou' each other to-day. And now, congratulate me nicely. Come, let
us hear it!"

The count almost imperceptibly bent his knee and his head, but spoke not
one word. There are gratulations which are expressed in this manner.

"Very good! Then I am a queen for to-day, and thou art my sole subject.
Sit thou here at my feet on this taboret."

The man obeyed. Marie seated herself on the ottoman, and drew her feet
underneath the wide skirt of her robe.

"Put that book away!" she commanded, when Ludwig stooped to lift from
the floor the volume she had cast there. "I know every one of the four
volumes by heart! Why dost not thou give me one of the books thou
readest so often?"

"Because they are medical works."

"And why dost thou read such books?"

"In order that, should any one in the castle become ill, I may be able
to cure him or her without a doctor."

"And must the person die who is ill and cannot be cured?"

"That is generally the end of a fatal illness."

"Does it hurt to die?"

"That I am unable to tell, as I have never tried it."

"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the maid. "Thou canst not put me off that way!
Thou knowest many things thou hast not yet tried. Thou hast read about
them; thou knowest! What is death like? Is it more unpleasant than a
disagreeable dream? Is the pain all over when one has died, or is there
more to come afterward? If death is painful, why must we die? If it is
pleasant, why must we live?"

Children ask such strange questions!

"Life is a gift from God that must be preserved as long as possible,"
returned Ludwig, evading the main question. "Through us the world
exists--"

"What is the world?" interrupted Marie.

"The entire human race and their habitations--the earth."

"Then every person owns a plot of earth? Where is the plot which belongs
to us? Answer me that!"

"By the way, that reminds me!" exclaimed Ludwig, relieved to find an
opportunity to change the subject. "I have not yet told thee that I
intend to buy a lovely plot of ground on the shore of the lake, which is
to be made into a pretty flower-garden for thy use alone. Will not that
be pleasant?"

"Thou art very kind; the garden will be lovely. That plot of ground,
then,