s and friendliness done him.
Sonnenkamp had no suspicion of the satisfaction Eric took in his
humiliation, or of his motives for it; he regarded this humble
submission as a triumph of his authority, while to Eric himself it was
a confession of weakness in having been tempted by the magic of Bella's
charms to forget the strict watchfulness which was his duty.

Sonnenkamp soon perceived that the amount of the robbery was
insignificant. He said, with a certain malicious pleasure:--

"The knaves stole my jewelled dagger; it has a poisoned point, which is
death to whomsoever it scratches."

Eric had hardly power left to tell that the dagger was already in
possession of the officers of justice, so great a horror thrilled him.
Why should this man keep a poisoned dagger?

Pranken and the Major soon appeared, and Pranken was honest enough to
take the whole responsibility upon himself. He could not refrain from
saying, however, that Eric had previously left the villa to go to a
musical festival, and had won a surprising reputation there. Sonnenkamp
said, with a smile:--

"You kept Roland at home instead of letting him go to the Baths, in
order to keep him free from excitement; have you preserved him from
it?"

Eric was prevented from answering by the arrival of the priest, to whom
Sonnenkamp, who had never made any gift to the church, announced his
intention of presenting to it the gold and silver vessels which had
been taken from the sideboard. As if involuntarily, he added:--

"I don't want them any more in my house. You, reverend sir, will give
them a fresh consecration."

Eric expressed in a whisper to the Major, who stood by him, his
pleasure at this arrangement, and his belief that it would exert a
salutary influence on Roland, whose peace of mind had been in a great
measure destroyed by the robbery. Sonnenkamp heard his words, though
spoken in so low a tone, and said:--

"My highly honored Herr Captain, let me tell you honestly that I have
nothing to do with sentimentalities, and that I desire Roland should
early acquire a knowledge of these so-called well-disposed lower
classes, and learn that they are nothing but a mass of conspiracy
against the holders of property, awaiting the first favorable
opportunity to break out, or rather to break in."

Sonnenkamp was in the highest degree animated and cheerful. His only
cause of regret was, that there should have been so much talk made
about the affair in the neighb