"Thenceforward there was an end of the dreams which up to that
moment had made life pleasant. In sober reason I had no more cause
to deplore Ellen's marriage than to feel aggrieved because Grant had
succeeded Johnson as President. Nevertheless, you can scarcely
conceive how much this affair--I mean the marriage--grieved me. My
absolute nothingness suddenly stared me in the face. I saw myself as
I was--a mere schoolmaster, with no motive for pride in the past, or
pleasure in the present, or hope in the future."

Warren's pipe had gone out while he was telling his story. He
cleaned it out methodically, drew from his pocket a cake of
Cavendish tobacco, and, after cutting off with a penknife the
necessary quantity, refilled his pipe and lit it. The way in which
he performed all these little operations betrayed long habit. He had
ceased to speak while he was relighting his pipe, and kept on
whistling between his teeth. Hermann looked on--silently. After a
few minutes, and when the pipe was in good order, Warren resumed his
story.

"For a few weeks I was terribly miserable; not so much because I had
lost Ellen--a man cannot lose what he has never hoped to possess--as
from the ruin of all my illusions. During those days I plucked and
ate by the dozen of the fruits of the tree of self-knowledge, and I
found them very bitter. I ended by leaving Elmira, to seek my
fortunes elsewhere. I knew my trade well. Long practice had taught
me how to make the best of my learning, and I never had any
difficulty in finding employment. I taught successively in upwards
of a dozen States of the Union. I can scarcely recollect the names
of all the places where I have lived--Sacramento, Chicago, St.