Sonnenkamp villa, which bears the name of
Eden. That great glass dome on which the evening sun is shining is the
palm-house. Herr Sonnenkamp is an enthusiastic gardener; his
conservatories and hot-houses excel those of princes."

Eric, standing upright in the carriage, looked back upon the landscape,
and the house where was to be, probably, the turning-point of his life.
As he sat down Pranken offered him a cigar. Eric declined, for he had
given up smoking.

"He who does not smoke will not do for Herr Sonnenkamp;" and he
emphasized the word Herr. "Next to his plants, he prides himself upon
his great variety of genuine cigars; and he was specially grateful to
me, when I once said to him that he possessed a seraglio of cigars. I
don't know how he who refuses a cigar can get along with him."

"I can smoke, but I am no slave to the habit," replied Eric, taking the
cigar.

"You seem to me not only a Doctor of Philosophy," said Pranken, "but
also a real philosopher."

The two travellers drove on in silence. Eric looked down, his mind
occupied with many and various thoughts.

O wonderful world! Invincible potencies hover in the air; a human soul
is journeying there and does not imagine that another is pressing
towards him, and that they both have one destiny. This is the greatness
of the human spirit, that there is a preparation for taking up into
itself, as if they had one life, some person whose name is not even
known, whose countenance has not been seen, and of whose existence
there has been no anticipation. He who has not lived for himself alone,
he who has dreamed, thought, labored, striven for the common good, he
is ready, each hour, to enter into the universal life, and utters the
creative word. Be soul of my soul, and speaks the word of salvation,
"Thou art thy brother's keeper."

CHAPTER V.

THE OLD NOBLEMAN AND HIS BEAUTIFUL WIFE.

"To Wolfsgarten," was the direction upon the guide-board at the edge of
the well-kept forest where they were now driving, on the grounds and
territory of the nobleman. Every stranger who asks the way, and makes
inquiry concerning the large, plain mansion with steep gables beyond,
receives the reply that two happy people live there, who have every
blessing except that of children.

There are those who give satisfaction to the soul. Where two sit and
talk about them, each feels gratified in being able to perceive and
exhibit