Pfannenstiel prophesied it just now in the streets, under my window.
Now don't distress yourself, dearest friend and colleague. That was
only a clumsy trick of the scoundrel to get me to write an article
about him in the _Vossian Gazette_. I have already gratified his
wish."

"You are mistaken," said Krause, mournfully. "I sent Pfannenstiel
into the streets, to quiet the people, and to admonish them to behave
peaceably and soberly, even if the Russians should come."

"Oh! you believe in all these dreams of Pfannenstiel?"

"I believe in the truth, and in what I know!" exclaimed Krause
emphatically. "Pfannenstiel has for a long time been my agent, and
for a considerable stipend, paid every month, informs me of all that
happens, is talked and thought of in the town. He is a very useful
man, peculiarly suited to this service."

"The approach of the Russians is then town-talk, and nothing more?"
asked Kretschmer, who was still anxious to throw doubt on the bad
news.

"No, it is a fact," said Krause seriously. "Pfannenstiel is, as you
know, not only a prophet, but also a quack doctor, and his herbs and
decoctions are certainly often of astonishing efficacy. He always
gathers the plants for his mixtures himself, and roams about in search
of them in the neighborhood of Berlin for days together. Last evening
he was outside the town, on one of these tramps, intending to pass
the night sleeping under a tree. He was awoke by the sound of
troops marching, and as he looked carefully around, he could plainly