ing what after all, as he
well knew, the law of nature would not force her to forego for a long
time to come. She left him no room for doubt, that she was going by all
means within her power to avoid being cheated out of happiness by his
attitude. A large, extensive organization was no compensation for the
absence of a single innocent little being, which was perhaps denied
them on account of his interest in the other. Not to lose a single
trump, she pointed to the fiery young boarder as an example of a real
lover. She took Hoeflinger by the nose and made him follow all the
successive steps in the development of her heart's cause. She did not
even fail to show him that a good willing boy was suffering for a
wife's faithfulness toward her absent husband, who unsuspectingly and
self-complacently was busy with alien things. She poured such a storm
of good arguments and sound object-lessons upon the absorbed mind of
her partner, that she really succeeded in arresting his attention.

Hoeflinger finally stopped and looked at her in astonishment. He had
never noticed that his wife had grown from a little girl into a mature
woman. It was the first time that he heard her talk like that, and her
speech rang so true that one could not help agreeing with her in
general. This was what that man of reality enjoyed most in all her
argumentation. His eyes grew clearer and clearer before her. What her
dances and her tricks had not accomplished, was achieved by this
violent thunderstorm. When he had got over his first amazement, he
began to rejoice in every fibre of his being; and his face showed a
youthful and animated glow which pleased her so much that she allowed
the storm to pass by and to be followed by a partial rainbow. Finally
her magnetism so overpowered him, that in spite of the jealousy which
gnawed and stung, as she had desired it should, he began to laugh. His.
eyes were so kindly and so enterprising, that she joined in his
laughter, and morning and night were turned into another wedding-day.
Victor had been watching behind a tree to see whether Hoeflinger would
abuse his wife for the incident of the necktie. He witnessed a scene
which filled him with burning misery from head to foot. He saw Spiele
wrestling with her husband, laughing and brushing her hair from her
forehead and apparently running away from him. He firmly believed that
she really feared him and suffered his amorous mood only because
she could not help herself.