t her son. "May I tell you something more?"

[Mother and son continue to discuss the qualifications of good wives for
some time, until the son begins to show signs of impatience to be off.]

"Yes, yes," said the mother, "I talk too much, and you need not remember
it all. It's only to remind you, if it should come before you. The gist
of what I say is this: the chief thing is not what a woman has or
inherits, but what she uses. And now, you know that I have always let
you go your own way quietly; so then, open your heart to me, and tell me
what it was that made you come back from the wedding at Endringen like a
man bewitched, and why it is that you have never since then been the
same lad that you were before. Tell me, and perhaps I can help you."

"Oh, mother, you cannot do that--but I will tell you. I saw some one
there who would have been the right one, but she was the wrong one."

"For heaven's sake! You did not fall in love with a married woman?"

"No, but still she was the wrong one. Why should I make many words about
it? She was a servant-girl."

The son drew a deep breath, and for some time both he and his mother
were silent. At last the mother laid her hand on his shoulder, and said:

"Oh, you are good! And I thank God that He has made you so. You did well
to put that out of your mind. Your father would never have consented to
it, and you know what a father's blessing means."

"No, mother, I will not make myself out better than I am. I myself was
annoyed that she was only a servant; I knew it would not do, and
therefore I went away. But it is even harder than I expected to get her
out of my mind--but now it's over, it must be over. I have promised
myself not to make any inquiries about her, not to ask anybody where she
is, or who she is, and, God willing, I shall bring you home a worthy
farmer's daughter."

"Surely you acted fairly by the girl, and did not put any foolish
notions into her head?"

"Mother, there's my hand--I have nothing to reproach myself for."

"I believe you," said the mother, and she pressed his hand repeatedly.
"And now, good luck, and my blessing go with you!"

The son mounted his horse, and his mother looked after him. But suddenly
she called out again:

"Stop--I must tell you something else. I have forgotten the most
important of all."

The son turned his horse around, and when he got back to his mother, he
said, smiling:

"But mother--this is the last, eh?"

"Yes, and t