made of cardboard, it was all thought
out and executed by Lembke himself. He spent six months over this
theatre. The general arranged a friendly party on purpose. The theatre
was exhibited, all the general's five daughters, including the newly
married Amalia with her factory-owner, numerous fraus and frauleins
with their men folk, attentively examined and admired the theatre, after
which they danced. Lembke was much gratified and was quickly consoled.

The years passed by and his career was secured. He always obtained good
posts and always under chiefs of his own race; and he worked his way up
at last to a very fine position for a man of his age. He had, for a long
time, been wishing to marry and looking about him carefully. Without
the knowledge of his superiors he had sent a novel to the editor of a
magazine, but it had not been accepted. On the other hand, he cut out
a complete toy railway, and again his creation was most successful.
Passengers came on to the platform with bags and portmanteaux, with dogs
and children, and got into the carriages. The guards and porters moved
away, the bell was rung, the signal was given, and the train started
off. He was a whole year busy over this clever contrivance. But he had
to get married all the same. The circle of his acquaintance was fairly
wide, chiefly in the world of his compatriots, but his duties brought
him into Russian spheres also, of course. Finally, when he was in his
thirty-ninth year, he came in for a legacy. His uncle the baker died,
and left him thirteen thousand roubles in his will. The one thing
needful was a suitable post. In spite of the rather elevated style of
his surroundings in the service, Mr. von Lembke was a very modest man.
He would have been perfectly satisfied with some independent little
government post, with the right to as much government timber as he
liked, or something snug of that sort, and he would have been content
all his life long. But now, instead of the Minna or Ernestine he had
expected, Yulia Mihailovna suddenly appeared on the scene. His career
was instantly raised to a more elevated plane. The modest and precise
man felt that he too was capable of ambition.

Yulia Mihailovna had a fortune of two hundred serfs, to reckon in the
old style, and she had besides powerful friends. On the other hand
Lembke was handsome, and she was already over forty. It is remarkable
that he fell genuinely in love with her by degrees as he became more
u