[NOTE: There is a short list of bookmarks, or pointers, at the end of the
file for those who may wish to sample the author's ideas before making an
entire meal of them. D.W.]





A WORD, ONLY A WORD

By Georg Ebers

Translated from the German by Mary J. Safford



Volume 1.


CHAPTER I.

"A word, only a word!" cried a fresh, boyish voice, then two hands were
loudly clapped and a gay laugh echoed through the forest. Hitherto
silence had reigned under the boughs of the pines and tops of the
beeches, but now a wood-pigeon joined in the lad's laugh, and a jay,
startled by the clapping of hands, spread its brown wings, delicately
flecked with blue, and soared from one pine to another.

Spring had entered the Black Forest a few weeks before. May was just
over, yet the weather was as sultry as in midsummer and clouds were