these will account to you for the paleness of my cheek, and my vacant
look. Well, I have this day completed the test by which the accuracy
of my work is proved, and now I hold I shall be great."

He spoke so loud that his voice echoed through the peristyle; it
disturbed one not the least interested in the conversation, Frederick
Asprecht. He lent an attentive ear to all that fell from the speaker's
lips, and then he learned that not only had he been robbed of an
affection which he had striven to win, but that the same man who
had married Marguerite was about to take from him the possibility of
obtaining a prize he sought for. In the vanity of his pretensions
he could not believe it possible that Dumiger really was not at
the moment speaking extravagantly; it was not until he listened
attentively, and heard him give a detailed account of the nature
of his mechanism, that he saw (for he was not wanting in scientific
knowledge) that Dumiger's confidence was far from misplaced.
Frederick, when he had heard sufficient, left the place with a heavy
heart, and with melancholy step retired to his chambers of luxury.

He entered the Grand Master's palace, and through the vast marble
hall, where the banners hung against the walls, and devices and
armorial bearings testified to the antiquity and gallantry of his
race. The lofty roof, supported by vast ashen beams, echoed to each
step as it rang on the pavement. Sculpture and painting decorated
the several galleries; but he passed by all unnoticed, for he had
one object in view which absorbed all others, and rendered him now
indifferent to the luxuries and grandeur by which he was surrounded.
To his surprise when he entered a colonnade full of the choicest
flowers, which united the extreme wings of the vast building, he found
his father walking there with an anxious, timid step, his manner was