be rich is to be independent, free, and gloriously happy. Go, my
brother, go! and may you soon return crowned with success."

"I have still a few weighty questions to ask. In the first place,
where shall I go?"

"To seek the black ram--it makes no difference where."

"Ah! it makes no difference! You do not seem to remember that the
vacation is over, that the professors of the University of Halle
have threatened to dismiss me if my attendance is so irregular. I
must, therefore, return to Halle to-day, or--"

"Return to Halle to-day!" cried Fredersdorf, with horror. "That is
impossible! You cannot return to Halle, unless you have already
found what we need."

"And that not being the case, I shall not return to Halle; I shall
be dismissed, and will cease to be a student. Do you consent, then,
that I shall become an actor, and take the great Eckhof for my only
professor?"

"Yes, I consent, provided the command of the alchemist is complied
with."

"And how if the alchemist, notwithstanding the blood of the black
ram, is unhappily not able to bring up the devil?"

At this question, a feverish crimson spot took possession of the wan
cheek of Fredersdorf, which was instantly chased away by a more