3. Now and then he would stop, and remain with his arms folded on his
breast as if in contemplation, for some minutes; then again resuming his
walk, he continued to repeat, "Once one is two; once one is two." His
story, as our traveler understood it, is as follows:

4. Conrad Lange, collector of the revenues of the city of Berlin, had long
been known as a man whom nothing could divert from the paths of honesty.
Scrupulously exact in an his dealings, and assiduous in the discharge of
all his duties, he had acquired the good will and esteem of all who knew
him, and the confidence of the minister of finance, whose duty it is to
inspect the accounts of all officers connected with the revenue.

5. On casting up his accounts at the close of a particular year, he found
a deficit of ten thousand ducats. Alarmed at this discovery, he went to
the minister, presented his accounts, and informed him that he did not
know how it had arisen, and that he had been robbed by some person bent on
his ruin.

6. The minister received his accounts, but thinking it a duty to secure a
person who might probably be a defaulter he caused him to be arrested, and
put his accounts into the hands of one of his secretaries for inspection,
who returned them the day after with the information that the deficiency
arose from a miscalculation; that in multiplying, Mr. Lange had said, once
one is two, instead of once one is one.

7. The poor man was immediately released from confinement, his accounts
returned, and the mistake pointed out. During his imprisonment, which
lasted two days, he had neither eaten, drunk, nor taken any repose; and
when he appeared, his countenance was as pale as death. On receiving his