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 SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 Henirg W. Sage 
 
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Cornell University Library 
 PT 2625.E97504 1904 
 
 Old Heidelberg 
 
 3 1924 026 263 933 
 
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£Dlti J^etbelberg 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924026263933 
 
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 Ojpyrighted, 1903, by Dodge & Metcalf 
 
 Copyrighted, 1904, by A. Wessels Compant 
 New York 
 
 
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CHAPTER I 
 
 The official Gazette^ paper which ap- 
 pears in Karlburg every Siatuyda^, brought 
 out, on the 18th of April, thevjblfewing^x 
 notice : ^^^^J' J 
 
 "After a most thorough and detailed 
 examination, His Highness the Prince Heredi- 
 tary graduated from the Gymnasium. There 
 were present, at his examination. His Serene 
 Highness the reigning Prince, His Excellency 
 the Secretary of State von Brandenburg, 
 His Excellency Chief Councillor of State 
 Baer, Councillor of Schools Dr. Finke, 
 Directing Professor Schneidewind, and all 
 the Professors of the Franz George Gym- 
 nasium. In Greek, Latin, German, English 
 and French, the Prince ranked No. 1 ; in 
 mathematics and the natural sciences. No. 
 2a; in religion, history and geography,* 
 Nos. 1 and 2. The whole certificate is 
 No. 1, equal to 'Summa cum Jaude.' On 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 May 1st, His Highness the Prince will enter 
 the University of Heidelberg for one year. 
 His Serene Highness appointed C. Juttner, 
 Ph.D., as tutor and corapanion for His 
 Highness. Dr. Juttner has been the tutor 
 of His Highness for the past eight years, 
 and has been rewarded with the title of 
 Councillor of State in appreciation of the 
 examination so splendidly passed." 
 
 On the 30th of April, the day before 
 leaving for Heidelberg, the new Councillor 
 of State was commanded to appear before 
 His Serene Highness, the reigning Prince. 
 The Prince, a man old before his time, and 
 with a gloomy face, was sitting before his 
 large writing desk, and opposite to him 
 sat the young Prince. 
 
 "Doctor, you know my views; I wish 
 the scientific education of my nephew to be 
 continued in the same serious manner as 
 heretofore. After finishing his year at 
 Heidelberg, the Prince will join the Hus- 
 sars of the Royal Guard, at Potsdam, but 
 until then, I want you to understand that 
 this year at the University must be spent 
 in serious scientific studies, and not in 
 seeking for pleasure. The Prince will find 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 opportunities enough in Potsdam in con- 
 nection with his comrades and equals, to 
 become acquainted with a life of freedom. 
 But until then, I wish his studies and 
 mode of life to continue in the same 
 regular course as heretofore. Have you 
 understood me?" 
 
 The little Doctor bowed so low that his 
 Order, the Cross of Saxony, hung at right 
 angles to his breast. Then, with another 
 bow, he was dismissed. 
 
 He went through the long, dark corridors 
 to the right wing of the castle, where his 
 two rooms adjoined those of the young 
 Prince. A mouldy air, such as is found only 
 in these old castles, filled the gloomy halls, 
 and the April sun, shining sometimes 
 through the flying rain clouds, found 
 scarcely any room to creep in through the 
 low bow windows. Servants were gliding 
 like shadows through the dark halls, and 
 only when their dim figures passed the 
 windows did their liveries glitter for a 
 second in red and gold. 
 
 On the other side of the castle the cor- 
 ridors were still darker, the walls thicker, 
 the windows like loopholes, and the air 
 
 3 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 so thick that the Doctor could hardly 
 breathe. He was a friend of good Munich 
 beer, but this very beer had rewarded him 
 badly for his friendship, for it had made 
 him, especially in the last few months, so 
 stout that he suffered with asthma. 
 
 " Heidelberg will do you good," said his 
 friend Dr. Schneider, "there at least you 
 can run about and climb mountains." 
 
 "Yes, I think Heidelberg will do me 
 good," he kept sighing for weeks. 
 
 He was thirty-five, but he looked ten 
 years older. 
 
 "It was my misfortune," he often said, 
 "that I came to Court. I was such a 
 merry, joyous fellow, and what has be- 
 come of me ! My ideals are destroyed, 
 liberty has gone, and now my health is 
 broken. They have suffocated me at the 
 castle." 
 
 His friends laughed at him, and said : 
 
 "Now, look at this doctor; he leads a 
 life like a prince, and while other school- 
 teachers are starving, he dines on the best, 
 buys stocks and bonds, and wins decora- 
 tions!" 
 
 But he said sorrowfully : 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 "No, no, .it is the truth they have suffo- 
 cated me up there." 
 
 But now, at last, those terrible eight 
 years were over. He sat down in his dress- 
 coat and Orders, and drank his "Cusinier 
 jaune." 
 
 Two big trunks were standing packed 
 before him, waiting only for his dress-suit; 
 then the servant could take them away. 
 
 Those two dear trunks ! Symbols of 
 liberty ! 
 
 And Heidelberg! To-morrow! 
 
 No more of those tedious dinners, no 
 more Secretaries of State and Court Cham- 
 berlains, no more lackeys and coachmen, 
 nothing more of this great, terrible castle, 
 where it is an impossibility to breathe 
 properly ! 
 
 But there is Karl Heinrich, who is 
 go with him. /^ 
 
 Karl Heinrich, the hereditary Prince! 
 
 "I could never have stood it if it h 
 not been for that boy." 
 
 Before him, on his desk, stood five or sixl 
 photographs in beautiful frames, all dedi 
 cated to him : " To his respected teacher. — 
 Karl Heinrich." "To his very dear friend, 
 
 5 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 C. Juttner, Ph.D.— Karl Heinrich." "To 
 his faithful mentor. — Karl Heinrich." 
 
 The first picture showed a healthy look- 
 ing boy in a riding suit, about twelve years 
 old, with a pretty, open face, and large 
 eyes like a girl's ; the others were of later 
 years. The face had become thinner and 
 more sedate looking, the curls were gone, 
 the hair was cut short, in military fashion. 
 
 He took these pictures in his hand, one 
 after another, and, at the same moment, 
 the past eight years passed before his eyes. 
 Those years, with the same tedious daily 
 repetition : dinners, bows, little work and 
 very little pleasure, the envy of his col- 
 leagues, many new dress-suits, many new 
 white waist-coats, a high decoration, a 
 great title, always sitting in carriages, 
 always yawning, and, as a result of it all, 
 fatty degeneration of the heart — the same 
 disease from which the Strasbourg geese 
 suffer ! 
 
 "Go for a walk after dinner for two 
 hours," that's what his friend preached to 
 him every day; and now, looking at his 
 watch, it was time to begin this tedious, 
 dreaded task. 
 
 6 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 But the poor Doctor did not find strength 
 for this great hardship. "First, it may 
 rain at any moment," so he thought, "and, 
 again, it is absolutely of no use to tire 
 myself out on the last day. This will all 
 be changed when I am in Heidelberg; then 
 I will run all day long. I shall, perhaps, 
 get my health back, if I am careful, and if 
 I do not eat and drink too much, and do 
 a lot of mountain climbing with Karl 
 Heinrich." 
 
 A nice fire was burning in the open fire- 
 place and he felt very comfortable in his 
 soft, easy chair, so he shut his tired eyes. 
 
 When the Prince, about half an hour 
 later, entered the Doctor's room, he found 
 him snoring heavily. He smiled and cov- 
 ered his knees, then he left him quietly. 
 
 And the Doctor was dreaming that he 
 had again become as thin and straight as 
 he was fifteen years ago, when he walked 
 into Heidelberg to begin his own studies. 
 
 The express train stops in Karlburg only 
 when the Prince or some high Court ofiicial 
 wants to travel by it. 
 
 Coming into the open station, the lackeys 
 opened the door of the Prince's waiting- 
 
 7 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 room, and the reigning Prince, in General's 
 uniform, leaning heavily on the arm of his 
 nephew, stepped upon the platform. Twice 
 he embraced him, and then the young 
 Prince entered a reserved compartment. 
 
 The doors of the other compartments, 
 out of whose windows gazed the curious 
 faces of the travellers, were shut. After a 
 nod from the Court Chamberlain, the sta- 
 tion-master gave a signal and the train 
 began to move slowly. 
 
 Karl Heinrich was standing at the win- 
 dow, and, once more, bowed respectfully 
 to his uncle, and, just as the train drew 
 out of the station, his eye rested for a mo- 
 ment upon a group of officers and equer- 
 ries, and then upon some workmen, who 
 were giving him a military salute. A few 
 seconds, and they were all out of sight. 
 He sighed deeply. 
 
 But he still remained at the window, 
 while the Doctor was looking for his trav- 
 elling cap. Karlburg disappeared, for a 
 short distance the train ran through the 
 Langhagen forest, then past Rotenberg and 
 Hude and now — the Prince knew the spot 
 well — the train passed the frontier. 
 
 8 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 Once more he sighed deeply. Then he 
 turned round to his companion, who was 
 lo oking through a travelling bag. He smiled 
 and said: "Are you looking already for 
 the wine, Doctor?" 
 
 "No, I have the bottle, but I cannot 
 find the corkscrew. I am dying of thirst." 
 
 For some time they talked about this 
 and that, but as usual, the Doctor turned 
 the conversation to his own person. He 
 took out of his pocket a yellow book, en- 
 titled : "Nature's Own Cure for Stoutness 
 and Fatty Degeneration of the Heart," 
 and showed the Prince some passages 
 marked in blue. 
 
 "I am going to live, from now on, ac- 
 cording to this method. No more butter, 
 no fat, no oil, no rice, no turnips, nor 
 anything else that is forbidden. Please 
 read this. It is going to be done in Heidel- 
 berg, and that without fail." 
 
 Karl Heinrich, who was as straight as 
 a young tree, had studied all the other 
 books about the Doctor's illness, so to 
 please him, he began to read this one, 
 with all its long and tedious recipes: "In 
 the morning, a cup of coffee or tea with 
 
 9 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 a little milk, and 75 grammes of bread. 
 At noon, 100 grammes of soup, 200 
 grammes of boiled beef, 25 grammes of 
 bread. In the evening, two soft-boiled 
 eggs," and so on. 
 
 But, finally, it began to tire him. 
 
 "This must stop, Doctor, at least for 
 to-day, when we are on our way to Heidel- 
 berg." He touched him on the shoulder. 
 "Why, we two are alone and there is no 
 one to annoy us ! I can scarcely believe 
 that it is really so. I am going to throw 
 the book out of the window, if you don't 
 put it away." 
 
 The Doctor smiled sadly: 
 
 "You are right, Karl Heinrich," he said. 
 
 But, curiously enough, the pleasure and 
 joy of this day, to which he had been look- 
 ing forward for weeks and months, would 
 not come now. 
 
 "It is too late, now," so he thought, 
 "it ought to have been a year earlier. 
 Karl Heinrich will have to bury me in 
 Heidelberg." And, while the Prince was 
 standing at the window, there rolled over 
 the Doctor's fat cheeks, two tears, which 
 he wiped away with the back of his hand^ 
 
 lO 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 "How quickly everything is passing," 
 said the Prince, "it is marvellous. Just 
 look here, Doctor; how it all flies past us. 
 There is a stork ! Here in this meadow, 
 quick, look, come here!" 
 
 The Doctor looked out to please him, 
 but he saw no stork. To him the bird 
 was without any interest whatever. 
 
 "I could stand all day at the window, 
 when . everything is flying past. There are 
 villages and hills, which I have never seen 
 before. There, do you see that mill ! Isn't 
 it grand !" 
 
 Karl Heinrich was as excited as a child 
 who makes his first railway journey. Only 
 once in his life had he taken a trip, when he 
 went with his uncle to Dresden to pay a 
 visit to the King, but that was years ago. 
 Railways were seldom used in Karlburg, 
 for in this little princedom good horses 
 are quicker and more convenient. 
 
 And at all the stations, strange faces — 
 Englishmen, officers, all pushing and hust- 
 ling each other — ^with nothing of that quiet- 
 ness and rest as at home in the castle of 
 Karlburg. 
 
 In Eisenach and Bebra, Herr Lutz, the 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 Prince's valet, came, with liat in hand, to 
 the door of the compartment, to inquire 
 after His Highness' wishes. He did this in 
 such way as to attract the attention of all 
 the other travellers, who stared hard at the 
 Prince. 
 
 Karl Heinrich said, with greater violence 
 than was his custom : 
 
 "Stop that, I won't have it. Stay in 
 your compartment. I wish to travel with- 
 out creating excitement." 
 
 He wondered at his own audacity in 
 speaking like that to Herr Lutz, for it 
 really was audacity, as Herr Lutz had been, 
 until now, second valet to His Serene High- 
 ness, much respected by all Court officials, 
 feared by the lower servants and made 
 much of by all who came with petitions to 
 the Prince. Much had been made of his 
 appointment as valet to the young Prince, 
 for it seemed like a position of confidence 
 and trust, in which he should not alone be 
 his servant, but where he should also watch 
 over his mode of life. 
 
 Herr Lutz colored when he was thus ad- 
 dressed, and, for a moment, seemed to lose 
 self-possession; but he controlled himself, 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 bowed, and returned to his place in the 
 train. 
 
 But, two hours later, when they arrived 
 in Frankfort, hungry and thirsty, and Lutz 
 did not appear, the Prince grew impatient. 
 What was he to do now? 
 
 "Quite a simple affair," said the Doctor, 
 "we will go ourselves." 
 
 "We ourselves?" 
 
 "Yes, we will go to the waiting-room, 
 we have twenty minutes." 
 
 "But " 
 
 "What then? It is quite natural that we 
 should go." 
 
 "Very well, then." 
 
 There was a large crowd at the bui 
 and for some moments, the two becatn^e; 
 separated. -^ 
 
 Somebody pushed from behind, so 
 Karl Heinrich came right in front 
 buffet; the next moment, somebody 
 to him : 
 
 "With what can I serve you, sir?' 
 
 He felt quite upset, and the young 
 an, a nice girl with coal-black eyes, b 
 impatient : 
 
 "Please take something, there are 
 13 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 waiting. Do you want sausages or a cold 
 cutlet?" 
 
 Quite helpless, he looked for the Doctor, 
 then he took two fat sausages just wrapped 
 up in paper. 
 
 "Forty pfennig." 
 
 He felt in one pocket, then in another, 
 still in another — in none could he find any 
 money. 
 
 "Forty pfennig, sir." 
 
 "Yes, yes" — he was still looking for 
 some money. 
 
 People behind him crowded and pushed, 
 calling for beer. He felt quite beside him- 
 self. Never before had the Prince been 
 in such a situation — in his left hand he 
 held the sausages, and with his right he 
 searched for money. He felt that he was 
 becoming red with shame and embarrass- 
 ment. 
 
 The young woman felt pity for the hand- 
 some young fellow, and said : 
 
 "Take the sausages now and bring me 
 the money afterwards." 
 
 At last, the Doctor had been able to 
 make his way through the crowd, and he 
 paid. They then pushed their way back 
 
 14 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 and sat down at an uncovered table, where 
 they quickly swallowed the hot sausages. 
 
 "Where are the gentlemen going to?" 
 asked the porter, a big bell in his hand. 
 
 "To Heidelberg." 
 
 "Well, then, you have another quarter 
 of an hour." 
 
 "Here, take a glass of beer!" called the 
 Doctor after him, taking three glasses from 
 the tray of a waiter. The porter came 
 back, thanked them, and said: "I drink to 
 your health. Is the young gentleman a 
 student in Heidelberg?" 
 
 " You have guessed it," said the Doctor, 
 who was now in fine humor. 
 
 "Then I wish you a happy journey." 
 
 "Thanks." 
 
 The Prince sat there as in a dream. He 
 took one of the Doctor's cigars and blew 
 the smoke in the air. Two gentlemen came 
 to their table and, without asking or bow- 
 ing, sat down next to them. Nothing was 
 done with ceremony, everybody came and 
 went as he pleased, nobody troubled him- 
 self about any one else. At the next table 
 sat about a dozen young girls with a Sis- 
 ter from a convent, all accompanying a 
 
 15 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 friend to the station. The whole twelve 
 seemed to have concentrated their attention 
 on him — Karl Heinrich — but not with awe, 
 like the young ladies of Karlburg, for they 
 looked roguishly at him, smiled, and seemed 
 to enjoy his embarrassment. 
 
 "What life here," said the Doctor, "isn't 
 it great?" 
 
 And the Prince just nodded. 
 
 Besides the dozen young girls, there was 
 no one who took any notice of him. No- 
 body troubled about him. A big, tall 
 man pushed against his chair without 
 apologizing. 
 
 "Waiter," called the Doctor, "bring beer 
 for two and be quick about it." 
 
 Karl Heinrich looked timidly at his com- 
 panion. It was wonderful how the Doctor 
 found his way in this pandemonium. He 
 hardly recognized him. It was as if he had 
 been frozen in Karlburg and was now thaw- 
 ing out. According to the medical books, 
 he was not allowed to drink beer, and now, 
 he drank two, three glasses, in ten minutes. 
 
 The Doctor arose : 
 
 "It is time. Frankfort is a fine town, 
 we shall come over next week and enjoy 
 
 i6 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 ourselves. It is not so far from Heidel- 
 berg." 
 
 While they were sitting in the traia, the 
 young ladies came out of the waiting-room 
 and promenaded up and down. When the 
 train started, they all looked at him, and 
 one of them took out her handkerchief and 
 called out: "Good-bye." 
 
 " They are fine girls, these Rhenish girls," 
 laughed the Doctor. "They have more 
 life in them than our young ladies." 
 
 Frankfort disappeared, and Karl Hein- 
 rich again stood at the window, his hot 
 forehead pressed against the cold glass. 
 
 Girls — ^women — that was something new 
 in his life. Educated in a very strict and 
 cloister-like manner, without friends of his 
 own age, and apart from everything that 
 was not in the closest touch with Court 
 life, he was also kept distant from every- 
 thing called "woman." The reigning Prince 
 was a widower, without children, and for 
 years there had hardly been any festivals 
 at Court; in fact, the Court at Karlburg 
 was nothing but a bachelor household kept 
 in great style. 
 
 Twilight fell over the country, and when 
 
 2 17 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 the train passed Darmstadt, the villages of 
 the Bergstrasse lay in the dark of the night. 
 
 Here and there lights passed, and, some- 
 where in the West, not an hour's distance, 
 flowed the Rhine. The Rhine ! South Ger- 
 many ! Over there, on the right, the moun- 
 tains of the Odenwald, up to the present 
 known only in geography, and now close 
 by — ^near enough to touch them ! 
 
 The train rapidly passed through the 
 night. Farther and farther it carried Karl 
 Heinrich away from the cold North; the 
 joyless youth, the dark castle, and the 
 winter lay behind him. 
 
 i8 
 
' Heidelberg ! " " Heidelberg ! ' 
 
 The guard went along the train, opening 
 iU the doors. 
 
 ' Five minutes' stop ! ' 
 
 "One year's stop," said the Doctor. He 
 had slept since leaving Darmstadt, and 
 was now in fine humor. "I feel like a new 
 man, after such a sleep." 
 
 Herr Lutz, eternally with hat in hand, 
 helped His Highness to alight from the 
 compartment. Then he got out the bags 
 and umbrellas and gave them to the Court 
 courier, who had been for three days in 
 Heidelberg to find quarters for His High- 
 ness, to lease carriages and to do all that 
 couriers, especially those who travel in 
 advance, have to attend to. 
 
 They all went — the courier as guide in 
 front, followed by Herr Lutz — ^through the 
 long station to where the carriages were 
 waiting. 
 
 The courier stopped at a nice landau 
 19 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 and opened the door, but, just as the 
 Prince was stepping in, the Doctor held 
 him back. 
 
 "Let us walk, it is such a beautiful 
 evening." 
 
 The courier looked surprised at Herr 
 Lutz; he, just as surprised, at the Prince; 
 and Karl Heinrich, equally astonished, at 
 the Doctor. 
 
 "Walk?" 
 
 "Yes, and why not?" 
 
 "If you think so " 
 
 "Where is the residence?" the Doctor 
 asked of the courier. 
 
 "Market Square, No. 18." 
 
 "Very well." 
 
 And the two actually walked through 
 the town, leaving Herr Lutz, the courier 
 and the carriage, behind in the dark. 
 
 Karl Heinrich had never walked much, 
 at least, not in the streets of a town. When 
 he went through Karlburg or other small 
 towns of Saxony-Karlburg, he generally 
 went in a carriage, rarely on horseback, 
 but never walking. It seemed to be an 
 impossibility that the Prince or the heredi- 
 tary Prince or other foreign Princes, should 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 ever touch the Karlburg pavement with 
 their boots. 
 
 And why so ? Not even the Lord Cham- 
 berlain could have given an answer to 
 this, but it seems that old custom had 
 made it a law. 
 
 Just as in the station at Frankfort, 
 strange persons passed the Prince; he had 
 to go out of his way, like everybody else, 
 and the cabs coming from the station 
 through the narrow streets, passed him so 
 closely that once he took hold of the Doc- 
 tor's arm, actually frightened. 
 
 "Why, they drive over one here!" 
 
 "You have to look out," the Doctor 
 said, dryly. 
 
 The streets grew broader, and walking 
 became easier. It was nearly ten o'clgck, 
 but the air was so warm, on this 
 May evening, that many people 
 before their houses. Girls, without 
 promenaded, arm in arm, up and do\ 
 smiling and sometimes k 
 students, in great numb^ 
 girls, nodded to them fa 
 lively crowd, full of southern 
 
 Music was heard from a si 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 crowd of men and boys appeared, and with 
 a large band and many torchlights, a 
 procession of students passed the Prince. 
 
 They marched two by two, on each side 
 a torch-bearer, all looking very jolly, and 
 laughing at all the girls they passed. 
 
 "What is the matter?" asked the Doctor 
 of a looker-on. 
 
 "These are the Korps students, who are 
 celebrating to-day their opening ' Kneipe.' " 
 
 First came the Vandalians, in their red 
 caps, with a golden ribbon representing the 
 Baden colors; then the Saxo-Prussians, in 
 white caps; after these, the green West- 
 phalians, the yellow Suevians, the blue 
 Rhenish and, at last, the dark blue Saxons, 
 wearing little violet bouquets in their caps. 
 The three presidents of each Korps were in 
 full student's uniform : cerevis, velvet coats, 
 white leather trousers, high black riding 
 boots, and swords in their hands. 
 
 More than one looked sharply at the 
 Prince, who stood right in front and looked 
 with wide-open eyes at the procession. 
 This elegant looking young man was cer- 
 tainly a new student — perhaps he could 
 be won for their Korps. 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 The narrow street had been so crowded 
 with noise and music, men and smoke, that 
 it seemed now, after they had all gone, 
 very quiet and lonely. 
 
 "Well," said the Doctor, with a triumph- 
 ant smile, as if he alone had arranged this 
 all, "well, wasn't that fine?" 
 
 "Grand!" 
 
 "Such things as these happen every day 
 in Heidelberg. They are always jolly." 
 
 They went on, and, in a few minutes, 
 just as the clock in the church tower struck 
 ten, they found themselves at No. 18 Mar- 
 ket Place. 
 
 When they saw the house, they both 
 hesitated for a moment, for, in spite of its 
 broad and well-lighted vestibule, it did not 
 look as the Prince — and perhaps the Doc- 
 tor, also — had anticipated. On the left of 
 the entrance was a barber shop, already 
 closed; on the right a large grocery busi- 
 ness, where barrels of dill pickles, lentils 
 and dried apples, blocked half the en- 
 trance. 
 
 The young clerks, and a fat servant girl, 
 were curiously watching Herr Lutz, who 
 had already arrived, and who, with a very 
 
 23 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 cross face, was excitedly talking to the 
 frightened Court courier. 
 
 "It was the best apartment in the whole 
 town of Heidelberg," said the courier just 
 then, "the most expensive one in the town. 
 There are eight rooms, Herr Lutz." 
 
 But Herr Lutz impatiently kicked an 
 empty petroleum barrel with his patent- 
 leather shoe, and said: " You should have 
 telegraphed this. Then we would not have 
 left Karlburg, we would have waited a little, 
 until proper quarters could have been se- 
 cured." 
 
 The Prince and the Doctor now came 
 out of the shadow of the street into the 
 light of the entrance : 
 
 "Is this the right place, Lutz?" 
 
 "I am sorry to say it is. Your High- 
 ness." 
 
 The poor courier became white as a 
 sheet. 
 
 " Have you looked at the rooms, Lutz?" 
 
 "I have Your Highness. It is a very 
 old house, impossible for Your Highness to 
 live in." 
 
 The Prince hesitated. This first day's 
 journey, with all its new impressions and 
 
 24 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 new ideas, had already considerably shaken 
 his views. He saw everything in a new 
 light, but still, he was not yet able to 
 correctly judge all the things surrounding 
 him. 
 
 Should he enter this house at all, or not? 
 There was such a look of helplessness on 
 his handsome and youthful face, that Herr 
 Lutz believed he could win back all the 
 prestige which he thought he had lost in 
 the morning. 
 
 "Would Your Highness prefer to go to 
 the Prinz Carl Hotel? It is only a hun- 
 dred yards from here and the trunks can 
 be brought over at once." 
 
 Here the Doctor spoke up : 
 
 "Why not have a look at the apartment 
 first?" 
 
 The Prince nodded assent, and they 
 entered the house. 
 
 Herr Lutz had lost again. Until to-day 
 this Doctor had been to him the most in- 
 different of men. He was only a school- 
 master, such a one as Princes want, a 
 man whose position at Court counted for 
 nothing, and whose influence, compared 
 with that of a valet to the reigning Prince, 
 
 25 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 is as nothing. And now, this, to him! 
 The fat fellow took it into his head to 
 treat him, Lutz, like a lackey! Why, he 
 acted as if he had been the Prince himself! 
 
 He ground his teeth: "I shall repay 
 you for this !" 
 
 The stone flooring in the vestibule had 
 been freshly cleaned and was covered with 
 white sand ; in every corner of the stairs 
 stood brightly burning lamps, both large 
 and small; the strong bannister was so 
 heavily covered with evergreens that it 
 could not serve the purpose for which it 
 was intended. Upstairs, they heard voices, 
 the rustle of women's garments, a loud : 
 "He is coming!" — ^then a closing of doors, 
 and then, solemn silence. 
 
 When the Prince, followed by his small 
 suite and also by the clerks and the fat 
 servant, arrived on the first landing, they 
 found three old women and a young girl, 
 all bowing deeply to him and waiting to 
 receive him. He recovered his self-possession 
 at once, now, for he knew such receptions 
 only too well. Again he was the Prince 
 before whom everybody bows. 
 
 The girl, with a bouquet of lilacs in her 
 26 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 hand advanced a step and again made a 
 deep reverence. Then looking, with her 
 large brown eyes, straight into his, she 
 said, in a clear voice, without fear : 
 
 "Welcome to our Neckar valley. 
 To the place to us so dear. 
 To the dreams and joys of students 
 And the life of freedom here. 
 And as token of this welcome 
 Lilacs now I bring to you, 
 And I ask that later memories 
 Shall be faithful, fond and true." 
 
 "Please take it," and she offered the 
 bouquet to him. 
 
 Karl Heinrich had been standing there 
 like a statue, with his eyes and those of 
 the girl fixed upon each other. One of the 
 old women addressed him now, and said : 
 
 "Will Your Highness do me the great 
 honor to look at the rooms? I am Frau 
 Dorffel." 
 
 He nodded. He wanted to say something 
 to her and to the girl also, but no words 
 passed his lips. 
 
 Politely, with the large bouquet in his 
 hand, he followed the old lady, who first 
 
 27 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 triumpliantly showed him the sitting-rooms. 
 "It is here," she said, "that Count von 
 Bredow Hved last year." Then his bedroom ; 
 then, further on, two nice Httle rooms, "for 
 the Doctor," and then a rather poorly 
 furnished back room "for the servant." 
 Herr Lutz, who followed two steps behind 
 the Prince, turned as pale as a sheet. "Ser- 
 vant!" Why, that word sounded horrible. 
 
 Karl Heinrich also seemed to feel the 
 injustice of the term. 
 
 "You mean the room for my valet?" 
 
 "Yes, for him." 
 
 The good woman had not yet finished : 
 with lamp in hand, she showed him every 
 room, "for one should become familiar 
 with a new apartment," she said, and the 
 Prince followed her obediently, still carry- 
 ing the bouquet, and smiling only once. 
 At last, they returned to the large sitting- 
 room. 
 
 A small table was covered with plates, 
 beer bottles, wine caraifes, bread and butter 
 and cold meat. In the center stood a large 
 cake, surrounded with ivy leaves, with 
 three roses looking out of the hollow in it 
 center. 
 
 28 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 "Now, if Your Highness would care to 
 eat " 
 
 "Yes, thank you." 
 
 There was no further talk of going to 
 the hotel. 
 
 "Now, you all get out of here!" called 
 Frau Dorffel, for besides the Doctor, Lutz, 
 the courier and the four women, there were 
 the two clerks and the fat servant girl, 
 who had accompanied them and who were 
 now looking curiously at the arrangement 
 of the table. 
 
 "Does Your Highness wish for anything 
 else?" 
 
 "No, thank you." 
 
 "Well, everything is there; fresh water, 
 towels, candles, matches — Katie, see if there 
 are any matches in the bedroom." 
 
 The young girl went in and looked : 
 "Yes, there are two boxes." 
 
 "Good-night, then, Your Highnegf.:, I 
 hope you will sleep well after your long 
 journey, and that you will have pleasant 
 dreams." ^- 
 
 "Thank you." f^ / \ 
 
 He took her fat hand and felt a kj^dilly 
 pressure on his own. The yqung^-^irl/also 
 
 29 ■ ■'•;' 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 came up to Mm and wished Mm a good 
 night's rest. 
 
 Midnight. All was quiet, everyone was 
 asleep, even Herr Lutz, who had for about 
 an hour walked up and down in his little 
 hole of a room, like a tiger in his cage. 
 There was no wardrobe in this room, only 
 a few hooks concealed by a cotton curtain. 
 No mirror, no special washing table, and 
 such a common iron bed, covered with 
 figured calico. 
 
 "I am not going to sleep in that bed. 
 I'd rather keep awake all night." 
 
 As an only ornament, there was a picture 
 of Saint Sebastian hanging over the bed. 
 The Saint, though bound to a tree and 
 pierced with many arrows, looked almost 
 smilingly into the world. Herr Lutz found 
 no pleasure in looking at this patient Saint. 
 He was a man cast in a different mould. 
 " Just wait until to-morrow," he thought, 
 "just wait! I shall write to the Lord 
 Chamberlain — ^no, I shall even write to his 
 Serene Highness." 
 
 A sandwich and a bottle of beer had 
 been placed in his room. He would have 
 preferred to throw them out of the window, 
 
 3° 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 but now he felt hungry and, sitting on the 
 colored bed, he ate and drank his poor 
 supper. 
 
 Cheese ! 
 
 The tears nearly came into his eyes 
 with rage. 
 
 What would the lackeys in Karlburg 
 have said, if they had seen him here, like 
 this ! He, Herr Lutz, who, every evening 
 must have a good glass of claret and whose 
 stomach had, for years, been so bad that 
 the chef was in a continual worry how to 
 satisfy him ! 
 
 If, in this hour, Herr Lutz had had his 
 way, he would have blown Heidleberg into 
 the air. He would have bound the courier 
 before one cannon, the Doctor before an- 
 other, and the woman too ! 
 
 Herr Lutz did not think so cruelly about 
 the Prince, but he hoped that Karl Hein- 
 rich would himself feel the consequences of 
 his haste and stupidity. "I bet he won't 
 stay here!" 
 
 But, at last, all-comforting sleep brought 
 peaceful dreams to the worn out Lutz. 
 
 The Doctor lay heavily snoring. Indeed, 
 under any circumstances, be it in carriage, 
 
 31 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 chair, railway or bed, he slept well — only 
 too well for his thickening blood. 
 
 Karl Heinrich was the only one still 
 awake. He tried to sleep, but could not; 
 this day had brought too many new things. 
 
 He twisted and turned in his bed, which 
 was as dainty as a lady's and, at last, he 
 struck a light and got up. 
 
 It was a remarkable room, with furniture 
 of olden times, chairs with high backs and 
 thin legs, a sofa and, over that, a golden 
 clock under a glass cover. 
 
 On the window-sills were long red 
 cushions, with embroidered covers, and the 
 windows themselves were Dutch sash win- 
 dows, composed of many little panes, and 
 the Prince only discovered their working 
 after a time. 
 
 There was a curious, but not disagreeable 
 smell in the room, partly of fresh linen 
 and partly of apples. With light in hand, 
 he looked at the pictures : Paul and Vir- 
 ginia, The Disturbed Wedding, Bismarck, 
 The Spanish Dancer — Lola Montez, then 
 again Paul and Virginia, a student's fight, 
 and, all over the room, any number of 
 students' photographs, all in the same 
 
 32 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 cheap frames. Most of them had a dedi- 
 cation : "To Frau Dorffel," — most Ukely 
 pictures of those who had once Hved there. 
 Some of these pictures were only silhouettes, 
 but the colors of the cap and of the sash 
 were never omitted. Many of the pictures 
 were old— 1848-9, 1853, 1854-5. Forgotten 
 people, perhaps long since dead. They had 
 all slept in the old oak bed, had all looked 
 out of that window. An eternal coming 
 and going, always new faces, new youth — 
 always new youth. And now he was the 
 new one ! Karl Heinrich ! The heir of all 
 the others ! Attentively he looked at one 
 photograph after another — many of the 
 names he knew — Karl Hohenlohe, Fursten- 
 berg, Prinz Weimar, Bredow 
 
 Then he opened the window and looked 
 out on the market place, where, here and 
 there, burned a gaslight. The night was 
 as warm as in July and he breathed the 
 soft air deeply. 
 
 From time to time, the music struck 
 up in the Prince Karl Hotel, where the 
 student festival was being held, and clearly, 
 through the quiet night, could be heard 
 the strong voices of the students : 
 3 33 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 " alte Burschenherrlichkeit." 
 
 The stars shone brightly above the 
 houses and only occasionally could he hear 
 any footsteps on the streets. 
 
 He was so tired that his eyes nearly 
 closed, but, smiling, smiling as only one 
 can who feels perfectly happy, he remained 
 leaning at the window, until the first cocks 
 crowed and until the eastern sky above 
 the Neckar valley grew light. 
 
 34 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 "Come m." 
 
 "May I bring your breakfast?" 
 
 It was the young girl of last night who 
 entered the room. 
 
 Karl Heinrich was still in his shirt- 
 sleeves — he thought it was Herr Lutz who 
 had knocked. For a moment, he was so 
 surprised that he forgot to answer her 
 amiable "Good morning." 
 
 "Did Your Highness sleep well?" 
 
 "Yes, thank you." 
 
 "The bed is quite soft," she said, touch- 
 ing the embroidered pillows, "but princes 
 are accustomed to that." 
 
 While she laid the table, he looked every- 
 where for his coat, but could not find it; 
 it was either in the next room, or Herr 
 Lutz had taken it out. 
 
 "Shall I pour the coffee?" 
 
 "Yes, thank you." 
 
 "One piece of sugar or two?" 
 
 "One, please." 
 
 35 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 He was still looking for his coat. The 
 whole situation was so new to him that 
 he did not dare look at Katie. 
 
 "What are you looking for?" 
 
 "Nothing." 
 
 "Won't you taste the coffee?" 
 
 She cut up the bread and put butter 
 on it: "Here you are," she said. 
 
 "Thank you." 
 
 Her innocent actions made him quieter, 
 so that, in spite of his shirt-sleeves, he 
 sat down and began to eat. The girl leaned 
 on an armchair and watched him. 
 
 "Does it taste all right?" 
 
 "Yes, thank you." 
 
 He was so short in his answers that, 
 for a moment, she herself felt embarrassed, 
 but only for a moment. "He is a prince," 
 she thought to herself, "and they are al- 
 ways a little bit tiresome." Otherwise, she 
 was immensely pleased with him. What a 
 fine waistcoat he had on, and the beautiful 
 silk tie, and his face, — why, with his fair 
 hair, he looked almost like an Englishman. 
 
 The door opened and Herr Lutz entered, 
 or, rather, he did not enter, but stood 
 there, totally dumbfounded. 
 
 36 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 The Prince in shirt-sleeves, taking his 
 breakfast, and that impudent person look- 
 ing on ! 
 
 "Your Highness!" 
 
 "What is the matter?" 
 
 "The breakfast " 
 
 "Well, what is it?" 
 
 "The breakfast. I see Your Highness 
 has it already?" 
 
 "Yes, the young lady brought it." 
 
 Karl Heinrich said this in a slightly em- 
 barrassed tone, for, naturally, it would 
 hurt Herr Lutz to have strangers assume 
 his rights and duties ; but Herr Lutz made 
 such an offended, stupid, wicked and ar 
 rogant face, that the Prince became 
 cross. 
 
 "Leave the room! Wait outside 
 I call you!" 
 
 Herr Lutz stood there as if strui 
 lightning. He had not heard arigh 
 could not be possible ! 
 
 But, at any rate, whether he had 
 rightly or not, the pointing of His Jf 
 ness' hand was extremely clear. It poi 
 right to the corridor and there was nothing 
 to do but leave the room. if 
 
 37 / _ 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 There he had to stand in the draughty 
 corridor, over the floors of which the fat 
 servant girl continually poured water. The 
 only safe place was his horrible back room, 
 but there he found Frau Dorffel, who was 
 washing the floor. "Stay outside, I am 
 cleaning here now." 
 
 So up and down he walked, in his thin 
 patent-leather shoes, on the wet floor be- 
 fore the Prince's door, and waited. Either 
 in the railway or last night, in that misera- 
 ble bed, he must have caught a cold. He 
 sneezed three times, six times, twenty times, 
 again and again, and every time, the fat 
 scrub woman wished him "Your health, 
 sir!" 
 
 "Wait until I call you," so the Prince 
 had told him, but he did not think of do- 
 ing so. 
 
 And the girl didn't come out of the room, 
 either. 
 
 Herr Lutz placed his ear at the door 
 and tried to listen, but could hear their 
 conversation but indistinctly. 
 
 "This is scandalous," he thought, "it 
 begins fine, and the first day, too!" 
 
 So he waited a quarter of an hour, a 
 38 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 half hour, three quarters of an hour. At 
 last he grew nearly desperate. The fat ser- 
 vant had gone, everything was quiet, only 
 the wreathed sign of "Welcome" laughed 
 in his face. 
 
 Karl Heinrich, still in his shirt-sleeves, 
 was sitting in his armchair, smoking one 
 cigarette after the other, and listening 
 laughingly to Miss Katie's chatter. 
 
 What a lot she had told him in this one 
 hour ; that she was eighteen years old, that 
 she came from Krems on the Donau, very 
 far away, how many student Korps there 
 were in Heidelberg and where they had 
 their drinking places, the name of the rector, 
 that the great poet Victor von Scheffel was 
 then in Heidelberg, that next week there 
 was to be a torchlight procession, that she 
 had two of her best friends who became en- 
 gaged on the same day, that wine was very 
 dear this year, but good, and so on. Then 
 she began to question him like a judge : 
 
 "Have you ever been in Heidelberg be- 
 fore?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 "Or in Tubingen?" 
 
 "Nor there, either." 
 39 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 "Have you any brothers?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 "Or sisters?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 "Or parents?" 
 
 "They are dead." 
 
 "Oh! how terrible!" 
 
 She looked at him with as much pity as 
 if he had just come from the cemetery, but 
 then it came to her mind that she fared no 
 better. 
 
 "My parents are also dead." 
 
 "Oh!" 
 
 And in spite of the bright sunshine and 
 their former good humor, they looked at 
 each other with the conventional expression 
 of sorrow. 
 
 "For Prau Dorffel is only my aunt, 
 or great-aunt. I am only here to help 
 her." 
 
 She had cleared the table more than half 
 an hour before, but still held the tray in 
 her hands, and, sitting on the arm of the 
 easy chair, she looked very downhearted. 
 Karl Heinrich silently looked at her. She 
 really seemed quite foreign, so different from 
 the blond girls in Karlburg. The face was 
 
 40 
 
. OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 brown, the curly hair very dark and the 
 eyes jet black. There was something very 
 graceful in her figure, and her whole appear- 
 ance was almost gypsy-like. 
 
 She shook herself, as if to put off these 
 sentimental feelings. 
 
 "I don't like to go back to Austria. I 
 always should like to stay in Heidelberg, 
 it is so beautiful here." Before he could 
 reply, she continued, with a quick change of 
 thought : 
 
 "Did you like that poem which I recited 
 to you yesterday?" 
 
 "Yes," he said, gallantly, "I found it 
 beautiful." 
 
 "No, it was not beautiful." 
 
 "No?" 
 
 "I did not want to learn it by heart, 
 at first, but aunt, Frau Dorffel, insisted 
 upon it. Now, if you had looked differently 
 when you came up-stairs, I would have 
 given you the flowers, but would not have 
 recited the poem." 
 
 "Look differently? How should I have 
 looked differently?" 
 
 "Well — so ," she colored up, "I don't 
 
 know." 
 
 41 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG. 
 
 Laughingly he got up and came over to 
 her. 
 
 "Miss Katie, how did you want me to 
 look?" 
 
 He put his arm round her shoulder and 
 bent close to her. For a few seconds they 
 looked at each other, then he kissed her. 
 
 His first kiss. 
 
 The girl couldn't defend herself, for, in 
 her hands, she held the tray with coffee- 
 pot, butter-dish and cups; but, as he wanted 
 to follow up the first with a second kiss, 
 she stepped backwards. 
 
 "No, no!" 
 
 "Katie " 
 
 "I won't have it! I won't have it!" 
 She stamped her foot and for a moment 
 she looked very angry. 
 
 Then there came an awkward little pause; 
 she took the tray on her left arm, brushed 
 back her black locks with her right hand, 
 and said : 
 
 "I want you to know, now and for 
 always, that I have been engaged to be 
 married for nearly a year." 
 
 Karl Heinrich was very much embar- 
 rassed, he felt very stupid. He was going 
 
 42 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 to say something, but could only stammer 
 a few words. His first modest love affair 
 was a total failure. Under those cir- 
 cumstances, he imagined, perhaps, that he 
 had committed an unpardonable crime, a 
 shameful act, against this trustful, open- 
 hearted girl; at any rate, his face showed 
 such repentance that she was angry with 
 herself, now, for having talked in such a 
 harsh manner to this handsome young 
 Prince. How charming he looked, with his 
 frightened red face. Why, he was really a 
 darling ! 
 
 To comfort him, she said : 
 
 "Well, one can call it an engagement. 
 But Franzl must wait a long time yet for 
 the wedding. He wants it badly enough, 
 but I will not have it. Do you think I 
 talk with a strong Austrian accent?" 
 
 "Austrian accent?" he didn't under- 
 stand what she wanted ; this jumping from 
 one subject to another entirely confused 
 him. 
 
 " I have lost my Austrian accent because 
 I don't like it, and because Franzl talks 
 like that. He is a Viennese." 
 
 "Indeed!" 
 
 43 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 "Did you think that he lived here in 
 Heidelberg?" 
 
 Karl Heinrich had really not thought 
 about this at all, because it had all 
 been too quick for him, but, to reply, he 
 said : 
 
 "Yes, I thought so." 
 
 Katie laughed, as if he had made an ex- 
 cellent joke, she had to set the tray down 
 on the table, for her violent laughter endan- 
 gered the cups. "Franzl has never been 
 out of Vienna in his life, except to Hun- 
 garia. He is such an awfully slow fellow. 
 Do you know what he does? He deals in 
 horses." 
 
 "In what?" 
 
 "He buys horses for cabs, in which pur- 
 suit he is clever. Some time ago, he 
 brought two snow-white horses from Hun- 
 garia, which he sold afterwards to Count 
 Nicky Esterhazy." 
 
 "But " 
 
 "Look here, this is Franzl." She turned 
 round and took out of her dress a small 
 photograph, which had lain on a veiy warm 
 place over her heart. 
 
 He looked at the picture and Katie's 
 44 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 head bent over his arm so that she might 
 also have a view of it. 
 
 "Isn't he handsome?" 
 
 "Very!" 
 
 "The moustache is the best, isn't it?" 
 
 "Yes, indeed!" 
 
 Franzl had had the photograph taken 
 in full dress, a rose in his buttonhole, a 
 top hat with a flat brim, a little on one 
 side of his head, a long, thin Virginia cigar 
 in his mouth, and in his extremely large, 
 gloved hand, a whip mounted with a silver 
 horse's head. 
 
 Doesn't he look smart?" 
 
 "Hm!" 
 
 "And still, I won't have him." 
 
 He looked very much surprised at her 
 "First, he might easily be my fathi 
 for on Peter and Paul's day he will 
 thirty-two, and, secondly, I am not g 
 to Vienna, — I don't like it." 
 
 "But " 
 
 "It's this way. Great-aunt Dorffe' 
 brother was Franzl's father and my moth^ 
 was cousin to Franzl's father. They alwayi 
 said, even when I was quite small, that 
 should marry him. Last St. Johann's, h 
 
 45 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 wrote to ask me if I would, and they all 
 said I should. Then I said 'Yes,' but I 
 also said : 'Not directly, for I want to wait 
 a little while.'" 
 
 She took the picture and looked at it 
 pensively. 
 
 "He is really a good fellow. Look at 
 his eyes?" 
 
 Karl Heinrich grew first hot and then 
 cold, with all her talking. She was stand- 
 ing so close to him that her dark locks 
 touched his shoulder, and, speaking quickly 
 and excitedly, her young breast rose and 
 fell under her close-fitting waist. 
 
 "Well, everybody has to marry. Isn't 
 that so ? And I can't stay forever in Heid- 
 elberg, can I?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 She put her hand to her eyes to wipe 
 something away, then she laid Franzl's 
 photograph among the dishes, sighed deeply 
 and took up the tray again. 
 
 "I must go, now." 
 
 She wanted to pass him, but he held her 
 just a moment and — ^he could not help it — 
 gave her a second kiss. In the first mo- 
 ment, it was a rather frightened kiss, beg- 
 
 46 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 ging for forgiveness, but when the red, 
 warm mouth did not draw back, he pressed 
 his lips more firmly, more closely and more 
 warmly to hers. 
 
 "Katie!" 
 
 Both were breathing hard. For a mo- 
 ment, he released his hold and drew back 
 his head to look into her face. Then he 
 kissed her again and again, until a shiver 
 ran over her and she silently released her- 
 self from his embrace. 
 
 "No more " 
 
 "Sweet Katie!" 
 
 "And what is your name?" 
 
 "I? I am called Karl Heinrich." 
 
 "Two names?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Karl — Heinrich — that sounds so 
 strange." Then suddenly she passionately 
 threw her arms round his neck : 
 
 "Karl Heinrich!" 
 
 Herr Lutz jumped away from the door 
 when it suddenly opened, but without look- 
 ing at him, the girl, with red cheeks, passed 
 across the corridor. He looked at his gold 
 watch: "An hour and a half!" 
 
 About ten minutes later, when he finished 
 47 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 dressing his master, he had great fun watch- 
 ing how His Highness tried hard to appear 
 unconcerned. 
 
 "How is the weather, Lutz?" 
 
 "Fine, Your Highness." 
 
 "Isn't to-day Wednesday?" 
 
 "Yes, Your Highness." 
 
 All unnecessary questions, only put by 
 those who, for some reason, feel guilty. 
 And if anyone could see through His High- 
 ness, it was Herr Lutz. He knew these 
 high people well, who never have the cour- 
 age to own up to their stupid actions and 
 who like to hide everything even from their 
 own valets. Small, weak characters, with- 
 out any energy. 
 
 Hereditary princes are not like reigning 
 princes, their outside position is in many 
 cases almost void. It happens a thousand 
 times that hereditary princes never occupy 
 the throne. To count upon them as a 
 certainty is about equal to playing in a 
 lottery. 
 
 "No," Herr Lutz said to himself, "I 
 don't care for Heidelberg. I shall return to 
 Karlburg, for one who, like me, has His 
 Serene Highness' confidence, need not be a 
 
 48 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 lackey. His Serene Higliness is fifty-six 
 years old, and may reach eighty. By that 
 time, I can save enough to laugh at all 
 hereditary princes." 
 
 And, while brushing his new master, he 
 thought : 
 
 "Wait until I return to Karlburg and 
 tell my stories. They will open their eyes 
 then." 
 
 The Prince seemed to have gotten over 
 his embarrassment very quickly: "Hurry 
 up, Lutz, and go out and see if the Doctor 
 is ready." 
 
 With a very wry face. Heir Lutz came 
 back: 
 
 "The Doctor was stiU in bed, but is get- 
 ting dressed now." 
 
 " How the dickens is this possible ! Why, 
 it is twelve o'clock!" 
 
 Laughingly the Prince went across the 
 corridor, nodded to Katie, who was stand- 
 ing in the kitchen door smiling at him, and 
 hammered with his fist on the Doctor's 
 door. 
 
 "Doctor, Doctor, why, it's noon!" 
 
 "All right, I shall be ready in five min- 
 utes." 
 
 4 49 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 The Prince waited before the Doctor's 
 door, still looking at Katie, who, curiously 
 enough, suddenly seemed to find various 
 things in the corridor to attend to. At 
 last the Doctor appeared, dressed very 
 hurriedly. 
 
 "One moment, Lutz! Where is Lutz! 
 Lutz, come here and help me. First, pull 
 this tie down in the back — ^that's it. One 
 moment. Brush my coat, Lutz, and then 
 go and get me some coffee." 
 
 "We will go for a ride," said Karl Hein- 
 rich, who, putting on his gloves, was still 
 flirting with Katie. 
 
 "We will walk, not ride." 
 
 "Very well, then." 
 
 And Lutz pulled down his tie, brushed 
 his clothes and fetched the coffee. He did 
 all this with the gentle quietness of his 
 standing, but, inwardly, he was boiling. 
 Why, this was beating everything, the im- 
 pudence of this schoolmaster ! To treat him 
 as a servant, as a lackey for everyone ! 
 "Brush my things off, go and fetch coffee !" 
 Why couldn't the noble sir brush his coat 
 himself! Herr Lutz was now trembling with 
 excitement. 
 
 SP 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 The duties and rights of a princely valet 
 are just as strongly fixed as those of a high 
 State oiKcial. He has only to look after 
 the personal wants of his master, and has 
 nothing to do with coarser work — absolutely 
 nothing. The difference between a valet and 
 an ordinary lackey is not to be mentioned 
 in the same breath. The one is an artist, 
 the other an artisan. Herr Lutz fetching 
 coffee for a schoolmaster ! It was some- 
 thing laughable, or, rather, it wasn't any 
 laughing matter at all. And Karl Hein- 
 rich suffered this ! Instead of saying : 
 "Doctor, I wish to draw your attention to 
 the fact that Herr Lutz receives his orders 
 from me personally," His Highness only 
 stood there quietly and watched Lutz as he 
 brushed. It only remained for the school- 
 master to say to him: "Clean my boots." 
 If he had only said it! Something awful 
 would have happened. 
 
 The Doctor took his new top hat and, 
 though it was warm, for variety's sake he 
 put on his elegant new Spring overcoat, 
 and looked altogether like a very well 
 groomed gentleman. But, seen by the side 
 of Karl Heinrich, he cut a sad figure, not- 
 
 51 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 withstanding. The one, tall, straight and 
 youthfiil-looking, the other, small and very 
 fat. A casual observer would have won- 
 dered what could ever have brought them 
 together. 
 
 They had to feel their way down the 
 stairs, on account of the darkness, and, 
 in the vestibule, they passed between rows 
 of cases ; but when they stood before the 
 door, there was glorious sunlight. 
 
 "Then we really won't take a carriage. 
 Doctor?" 
 
 " Oh, no ! On such a beautiftxl day as 
 this, we will walk to the castle." 
 
 Even to-day, Karl Heinrich could not feel 
 at home while walking. It seemed to him 
 so singular to be walking in broad daylight 
 through the streets, and to have neither 
 carriage nor servant following. He felt like 
 those over-nervous people who fear the 
 traffic of the streets and lose all security 
 while crossing a square. It was fortunate 
 for him that he had the Doctor for a com- 
 panion. 
 
 "What beautiftil weather ! " said the Doc- 
 tor, "why, it's really hot. To-day I feel 
 like a human being." He looked all the 
 
 52 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 girls who passed him, in the face, and 
 quietly he thought : "Who knows what this 
 Heidelberg may do for me yet. Perhaps in 
 my old days I may make a new resolution. 
 My God, if I could only love again, a real, 
 true love " 
 
 They made slow progress, for Karl Hein- 
 rich stood before every shop and, like a 
 curious child, looked into every window. 
 There were lots of things he had never seen 
 before, and which the Doctor had to explain 
 to him. Suddenly it overcame him like a 
 child : 
 
 "Let's go inside and buy something." 
 
 "Buy what?" asked the Doctor, sur- 
 prised. 
 
 "That doesn't matter. I just want to 
 buy something." 
 
 And so they bought : two silk ties, gl 
 penholders and pens, ink, writing pi 
 visiting cards, an elegant writing 
 which Karl Heinrich presented to the Do^ 
 tor, and, at last, for six 
 bracelet with little coins 
 
 "For whom is this?'' 
 
 "For Miss Katie." 
 
 "What Katie?" 
 
 S3 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 "The one who recited the poem yester- 
 day." 
 
 "Is her name Katie?" 
 
 "Yes, she is called Katie." 
 
 And now, for the first time, it entered 
 the Doctor's head that he had slept the 
 whole forenoon. He merely coughed and 
 looked at the Prince sideways; that was a 
 good beginning. 
 
 "Well, he is right," he thought to him- 
 self, " youth is youth. If only I were twenty 
 again!" 
 
 Everything on the mountain was in full 
 bloom, and, as they climbed up, the slowly 
 receding city presented a magnificent pic- 
 ture. The bright sun shone on all the 
 slated roofs, over there was the Oden For- 
 est, in light May green, and, now, they see 
 a long silver ribbon, which shone brightly 
 on the other side of the city. 
 
 The Neckar ! 
 
 They both said it in one breath: "The 
 Neckar!" 
 
 Then they stood still for a while, look- 
 ing up and down the river. 
 
 The Neckar ! Coming from Suevia, the 
 home of Schiller and Uhland, the Suevia of 
 
 54 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 the Hohenstaufen emperors. It flows past 
 the old fortress of Tubingen, to Reutlingen, 
 to Stuttgart, through Heilbronn, passes 
 the castle of old Berlichingen, and on 
 through a country whose very soil breathes 
 history and poetry. 
 
 And, at last, the Neckar reaches Heidel- 
 berg, spreading out in the distant, level 
 plain of the Rhine. The river does not end 
 in Mannheim, as the geographies teach — 
 no ! it ends in Heidelberg. It ends as no 
 other German river does : in a fairy tale 
 of beauty. 
 
 Quickly they climbed up farther, and, 
 through the old portal of red sandstone, 
 they entered the castle garden. 
 
 A few guides stood at the entrance, but 
 inside, amongst the old ivy-covered trees, 
 everything was quiet. During the noon 
 hour the strangers were at their hotels, 
 the students, at the same hour, were in the 
 town drinking their " Fruhschoppen" and 
 the Heidelbergers themselves have no time 
 to stand around. 
 
 A squirrel was climbing through the 
 ivy, otherwise everything was quiet. And 
 silently they went farther, over the bridge 
 
 55 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 in the castleyard, and on the gallery, 
 and, coming back, they passed the ruined 
 tower. 
 
 Sometimes the Doctor spoke a few words, 
 but the Prince answered in monosyllables, 
 or only nodded. 
 
 After some time, in which the Doctor 
 made the firm resolution to come up every 
 day, to cure his asthma, Karl Heinrich 
 said : 
 
 "We will take a bottle of wine. Do you 
 care to?" 
 
 "Yes," the Doctor answered. 
 
 "Will you have a cigar?" 
 
 "Yes, thank you." 
 
 So they sat under the green roof of the 
 old trees and drank and smoked. They 
 spoke a little about the castle and the 
 beautiftd day, and then both again relapsed 
 into silence. 
 
 The sun, just shining through the leaves, 
 the great silence, the wine and cigar, the 
 long walk — all this made the Doctor very 
 sleepy. He tried to resist the influence, but, 
 with a great effort, he only succeeded twice ; 
 the third time his eyelids could resist no 
 longer, and opened no more. 
 
 56 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 Karl Heinrich, receiving no answer to a 
 question, noticed after a while that his 
 companion had dozed off once more. 
 
 He smiled. He wasn't angry with him — 
 no, quite the reverse. He leaned forward 
 in his chair, his elbow on the table and his 
 head on his hand. Had he ever been so 
 happy in his life before? No, never. A 
 thousand impressions had entered into his 
 life, both yesterday and to-day, but no 
 dissonance had come, everything sounded 
 harmonious in one happy accord. Katie, 
 liberty, Heidelberg, the Neckar, the castle. 
 Spring, the golden future — a stream of joy 
 and pleasure ! 
 
 Katie! He took the silver bracelet and 
 let it glitter in the sunshine. Will she be 
 pleased with it? Shall he buy her a better 
 one? He put it round his wrist and did 
 not take it off again. It seemed to him as 
 if Katie had already worn it, as if it was 
 almost a part of her, something to grasp 
 which brought her closer to him. 
 
 Suddenly, in this quiet noon hour, a 
 tremendous noise was heard; twelve stu- 
 dents, with dark-blue caps, came through 
 the garden, called for the waiter, ordered 
 
 57 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 beer and, with the addition of three large 
 dogs, they made such a racket that even 
 the Doctor moved and seemed about to 
 awake. 
 
 " Kellermann ! " 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 "Kellermann, hurry up the beer!" 
 
 "All right, sir." 
 
 "Kellermann!" 
 
 "Well, sir?" 
 
 "Tell the waiter to bring the bill of 
 fare!" 
 
 "All right, sir." 
 
 "Kellermann!" 
 
 "Well, sir?" 
 
 "Tell him to bring cigars!" 
 
 "All right, sir." 
 
 Without hurrying partictdarly, Kel- 
 lerman passed Karl Heinrich, went into the 
 inn, and appeared, after a little while, as 
 an assistant to the waiter carrying beer 
 glasses. 
 
 "Kellermann!" 
 
 "Well, sir?" 
 
 "That dog is running over the flower- 
 beds; go and catch him!" 
 
 "All right, sir." 
 
 S8 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 But Kellermann did not catch the dog, 
 he only whistled. In a very husky voice, he 
 called a few times: "Here, come here!" 
 and when this failed, he simply stopped. 
 
 "Kellermann!" 
 
 "Well, sir?" 
 
 "Go and get three postal cards!" 
 
 "All right, sir." 
 
 He passed Karl Heinrich for the second 
 time, and the latter now watched him more 
 closely. He wore a kind of uniform and a 
 porter's cap of dark-blue color, his exter- 
 ior appearance showed him to be a servant, 
 but never — at least, not to Karl Heinrich's 
 well-trained perceptions — could any one re- 
 semble a servant less than did this man. 
 He seemed to run at a little trot, but with- 
 out getting on more quickly than other 
 people who walk quickly, his nose was blue 
 and his moustache, in contrast with other/ 
 smooth-shaven servants, was droof 
 The eyes looked sad, — ^they seemed 
 look straight ahead and to see nothing 
 right or left. Nor did he look a^ 
 Heinrich as he trotted twice quite 
 past him. 
 
 "What a remarkable perse 
 59 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 the Prince, but, naturally, his attention 
 was drawn more toward the students. 
 
 They sat so far away that he could hear 
 nothing but their laughter and when they 
 called for Kellermann ; still, he could watch 
 them. They all wore caps and sashes in the 
 Saxon colors, which was all that showed 
 them to be students. There was nothing 
 in their dress to remind one of the old 
 traditional student figures as they appeared 
 at that time — end of the seventies — either in 
 books or on the stage. No old-fashioned 
 velvet coats, no high boots and no tobacco 
 pipes — ^no, they were smart-looking boys, 
 who seemed to enjoy themselves immensely. 
 
 In spite of the early hour, they drank 
 great quantities of beer. It was amusing 
 and interesting to watch them. 
 
 Something stirred in the Prince a long- 
 ing, an unfamiliar feeling of loneliness. He 
 looked at the fat Doctor, who, while asleep, 
 seemed suddenly to have grown quite old. 
 The Doctor was certainly a good fellow, 
 with whom Karl Heinrich had been on the 
 very best of terms for a number of years. 
 Why, this Doctor had been the first and 
 only one who, in the sticky atmosphere of 
 
 60 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 the Karlburg castle, had brought fresh, 
 new life, and some joy, into the Prince's 
 cold youth, but 
 
 In that hour, Karl Heinrich understood ! 
 Understood that those at home in Karlburg 
 had cheated him out of his whole youth ! 
 Servants to play with him, servants with 
 whom to ride, servants year after year, from 
 morning till night, always those who were 
 paid for their services ! 
 
 Until yesterday he had been blind ! He 
 had known nothing of life, absolutely noth- 
 ing! He had been a prisoner in a golden 
 cage, with no more freedom than an ani- 
 mal waiting to be slaughtered. 
 
 A tall, handsome-looking student passed 
 him. 
 
 " Come along, Kellerman, we will make a 
 Rhine wine cup." 
 
 "Very well, sir." 
 
 The Prince looked after him with tired, 
 heavy eyes. It would always remain so, 
 as long as he lived ! 
 
 Suddenly, the waiter came running along 
 and touched the astonished Prince on the 
 shoulder. 
 
 " Just look there, sir ! Look at the gen- 
 6i 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 tleman who is coming in alone ; that's Herr 
 Ton Schefifel." 
 
 "Where?" 
 
 "There, sir, there!" 
 
 "Doctor!" Karl Heinrich shook the 
 sleeper. "Wake up, wake up!" 
 
 "What! What!" 
 
 "Schefifel is coming. Do wake up!" 
 
 "Yes, yes." 
 
 This was Shefifel, he who had written 
 Ekkehard and the Rodenstein songs ! 
 
 In the meantime, the waiter had run over 
 to the students to tell them, creating a 
 sensation at the long table. Herr von 
 SchefFel came very rarely to his beloved 
 Heidelberg and some of the younger stu- 
 dents had never seen him. 
 
 There he came ! 
 
 One of the students called to the others 
 and then all of them stood up and sang : 
 
 "Wohlauf, die Luft geht frisch und rein 
 Wer lange sitzt muss rosten ! 
 Den allersonnigsten Sonnenschein 
 Lasst uns der Himmel kosten — " 
 
 This merry song of woods and fields 
 was sung to its author with so much ani- 
 
 62 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 mation, such animation as is only possible 
 to youth on a perfect spring day, in honor 
 of the darling of Heidelberg. 
 
 He smiled, and, as the twelve blue caps 
 of the Korps students saluted him, he took 
 off his own hat, and passed on. 
 
 Karl Heinrich followed the example of 
 the others. He took off his hat and bowed 
 deeply. The poet also smiled at him and 
 returned his salute. 
 
 Slowly he went on, until, at last, he dis- 
 appeared among the trees of the park. For 
 some time the words of the song followed 
 him, until they ended joyfully : 
 
 "Hallaho; die Pforten brech' ich ein 
 Und nehme, was ich finde. 
 Du heiliger Yeit von Staffelstein, 
 Yerzeih' mir Durst und Siinde." 
 
 " Cantus ex est ! Hurrah for the poet ! " 
 The glasses clattered on the table. 
 
 * 48- * * * 
 
 It was five o'clock in the afternoon when 
 the head-waiter in the Hotel Prinz Carl 
 served the dessert to His Highness and the 
 Doctor. 
 
 Both were tired and very quiet. The 
 63 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 curious glances of the hotel guests, the 
 servile waiters, the long, monotonous din- 
 ner — all this, after the earlier hours of the 
 day, seemed so tedious that they brought a 
 return of the old Karlburg "ennui." The 
 first intoxication of liberty had passed for 
 both. 
 
 A waiter came in, with a visiting card, 
 and, giving it to the Doctor, said : 
 
 "The gentleman is outside, and asks if 
 it is possible to see you for a moment." 
 
 "See me?" The Doctor was surprised 
 and looked at the card : Conrad von Gra- 
 benitz, student at law. "Who is it? I 
 don't know him. What does the gentle- 
 man want?" 
 
 "He asks if he may speak to vou for a 
 moment." 
 
 "Well!" 
 
 "You might ask him what he wants, 
 Doctor," Karl Heinrich said, quietly. 
 
 "Very well, tell the gentleman that I 
 am coming." 
 
 The Doctor got up, a little out of sorts. 
 Unlike other people, he was always in a bad 
 humor after dinner, because he knew well 
 enough that, as usual, he had eaten too 
 
 64 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 much. He found the gentleman in the smok- 
 ing-room, a smart-looking young man, 
 whose face was scarred in a number of 
 places. 
 
 "My name is Doctor Juttner." 
 
 "Von Grabenitz." 
 
 "Please take a seat." 
 
 "I took the liberty of presenting myself 
 at your rooms, but was told I would find 
 you here." 
 
 "Well!" 
 
 "I want to ask the favor of an intro- 
 duction to His Highness." 
 
 "The hereditary Prince?" 
 
 "If you will be kind enough." 
 
 "And why, may I ask, why?" 
 
 "I would like to ask His Highness if 
 he would honor my Korps to-night with 
 his presence. We celebrate the opening of 
 the term with a great 'Kneipe.'" 
 
 Aha ! The Doctor smiled. He ought to 
 have thought of that before. There is 
 nothing more important, in the beginning 
 of the University year, than the pledging 
 of new members for the different student 
 Korps. And to catch a Prince ! Why, 
 that would be a pretty job ! What would 
 5 6s 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 they say in Karlburg, if Karl Heinricli, 
 the hereditary Prince, should become a 
 member of a student's organization. Well, 
 the Prussian Princes and even the Crown 
 Prince in Bonn do so, but Berlin is by no 
 means Karlburg. There was no doubt 
 that the reigning Prince would not like it, 
 and he, the Doctor, would, of necessity, 
 bear all the blame. He was not sent to 
 Heidelberg to enjoy himself, but to give 
 the proper guidance to an inexperienced 
 young Prince. He saw the faces of the 
 Karlburg courtiers when such news should 
 arrive there, the apoplectic features of the 
 Lord Chamberlain, the expression of Herr 
 von Baltz, all looking with horror, disgust 
 and fear at His Serene Highness. 
 
 But Karl Heinrich ! 
 
 How the boy would thaw out at last ! 
 He would become human, like others ! 
 What did the Doctor care, any way, for the 
 disgrace. In a year, Karl Heinrich' s edu- 
 cation would be finished and then — ^well, 
 he would have to turn to something else. 
 And how fine it would be to play a trick 
 on those old Karlburg fogies ! Of course, 
 he would never receive the first Cross of 
 
 66 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 Saxony, he would never become a Secret 
 Councillor of State, would never again be 
 invited to Court — ^but, what did that matter 
 to him ! 
 
 Karl Heinz, once his little Karl Heinz — 
 the boy who hardly dared to breathe at 
 home ! His dearest Karl Heinz ! For him ! I 
 
 He got up : 
 
 "Will you follow me, please?" 
 
 And, firm and serene, as if it were a 
 mere nothing, the Doctor stepped over the 
 threshold of the dining-room, his Mibicon, 
 forever shutting off from him the possibility 
 of beautiful Orders and high titles. 
 
 67 
 
Katie worked only in the afternoon in 
 Ruder's hostlery. In the morning, she 
 helped her great-aunt at home, and, after 
 dinner, they both went over the Neckar 
 Bridge to Ruder's restaurant. Ruder was a 
 brother-in-law of Frau Dorffel and was, 
 therefore, somewhat distantly related to 
 Katie. 
 
 There were certainly better restaurants 
 in Heidelberg than the one belonging to 
 Joseph Ruder, but there was something 
 restful in the old place. If you wanted to 
 go into the garden, you first had to find 
 your way through the poorly built house, 
 and the ceiling was so low that the tall 
 Prussian noblemen, who were members of 
 the Saxo-Borrussia, had to be careful not 
 to bump their heads. 
 
 But, when the garden was reached, every- 
 thing was beautiful. You sat under the 
 old lime trees, right on the bank of the 
 Neckar. Opposite you was Heidelberg, 
 
 68 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 with the castle. You drank Joseph Ruder's 
 good, unadulterated wine and you enjoyed 
 life. 
 
 You were also pleased with the sweetest 
 little waitress, who served you the wine. 
 It often happens that restaurants change 
 their character, from time to time, and 
 Ruder's was no exception. It had originally 
 been an ordinary sailor's place. Then old 
 ladies of good families, with their young 
 daughters, discovered the garden to be a 
 quiet retreat, where, far from the maddm^ 
 ing crowd, they could take their afternoon 
 coffee, until, one day, the students found 
 out the place and made an end of this 
 idyll. 
 
 They came in the afternoon and stayed 
 until late at night. Every day, they made 
 the same old racket and forced their big 
 Danes to jump into the Neckar. 'Mi&j 
 drank more in a month than Joseph (lialfi 
 formerly sold in years; and in three w^ 
 they had smoked the poor old ladies dtit 
 of the place, so that they never came bac^i;.^ 
 
 Frau Ruder and Frau Dorffel, as welL^s' 
 Frau Ruder's two sisters — all elderly ladie^V 
 said, very often, that it had been quieter 
 
 69 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 and more comfortable formerly, even if 
 they had not made the money they were 
 making now. But all four were convinced 
 of one thing, and that was, that this change 
 had brought one disadvantage, the change 
 in Katie's conduct. 
 
 When she was seventeen, she had always 
 served the old ladies very quietly and nicely 
 with their coffee; she had even then been 
 a pretty headstrong girl, but it was not so 
 difficult to bring her to her senses. But 
 from the day the students came, nothing 
 could be done with the girl. The old women 
 often talked to her and told her not to be 
 such a madcap and to have more respect for 
 herself. She would patiently do some knit- 
 ting in the kitchen, and let them talk, talk, • 
 talk. A few times, she had tried to con- 
 tradict them and to tell them that she did 
 nothing wrong, and that, when serving the 
 young men with wine, she could not act like 
 a stupid country girl; but the four women 
 had so much to say that, finally, she never 
 said a word in answer. She would sit 
 quietly and patiently, like one who is shut 
 in by a storm and who waits for the sun 
 to come out, 
 
 70 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 But, when the students came and called : 
 "Katie! Come here, Katie!" she became 
 totally changed. The knitting would be 
 thrown on the table and, in the next mo- 
 ment, she would run so quickly through 
 the house that her short skirts, flying 
 about her, would reveal her neat little 
 ankles. 
 
 "Beer, Katie!" 
 
 "I am coming. How many? Five, six, 
 seven, how many are you? Eight! Sit 
 down there, near the river, and I will set 
 the table." 
 
 And the greater the crowd in the gar- 
 den, the faster she ran. In both hands she 
 carried the large steins, and when, from 
 everywhere, they shouted : 
 
 "Katie, bill of fare!" 
 
 "Beer, Katie!" 
 
 "Come here, Katie!" 
 
 She would laugh and show her white 
 teeth between her red lips : 
 
 "I am coming! Don't make such a 
 iuss!" 
 
 She hurried here and there, and every- 
 where could be seen her white apron and 
 her bare, brown arms, graceful as those of 
 
 71 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 a small child. She never lost her head, 
 never forgot anything, not even a spoon 
 or a fork. She was always to be relied on. 
 
 In her leather bag, which hung from her 
 waist and which, during the night, she 
 put under her pillow, she carried a lot of 
 money, out of which she took handjtfuls of 
 small coins. She could make change very 
 quickly and it took but a moment for the 
 right sum to be put safely away in the 
 pocketbook. 
 
 " Katie, do you never make a mistake in 
 counting?" one of the students asked her. 
 
 " Certainly, but that does not matter. 
 You are honest fellows, you return it." 
 
 "Prosit, Katie, to your health ! Come 
 and have a mouthful!" 
 
 "Thank you." She passed the back of 
 her hand across her rosy lips and took a 
 good drink out of the student's glass. 
 
 Sometimes, one of the students would 
 try to put his arm round her waist, but 
 she always eluded them. 
 
 The four women in the kitchen saw all 
 these little scenes with a mixture of sorrow 
 and disapprobation, mingling the envy of 
 old age with its moral severity. Was it 
 
 72 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 necessary for them to look at sucli scenes 
 day after day? They might engage another 
 waitress, but that was easier said than 
 done. There are waitresses who are, first, 
 not so industrious; second, not so respect- 
 able; third, not so quick; fourth, not so 
 honest ; and fifth — ^well, this fifth ! — not so 
 pretty. But, was Katie really so pretty? 
 Very often the four asked themselves this, 
 and shook their gray heads. "No, she was 
 not!" Her complexion was too brown — 
 much too brown, her arms too thin, the 
 whole figure without proper form. All four 
 had been prettier in their youth. 
 
 But the students found Katie charming ; 
 so charming, indeed, that on Katie's birth- 
 day, they sent mountains of flowers, and, 
 without doubt, they came more on account 
 of her than because of Ruder' s wines or 
 Frau Ruder's roast veal. 
 
 Several times the four old women thought 
 it really was their duty to write to the dis- 
 tant Austrian cousin Franzl and tell him 
 how well his fiancee was enjoying herself, 
 but, then, most likely this cousin Franzl 
 would come to Heidelberg and take Katie 
 away with him to Vienna. 
 
 73 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 And, finally, the four quieted their con- 
 sciences with the thought that, if Katie 
 was related to them, she was so only very 
 distantly. It was sad to see her conduct 
 herself so heedlessly, but what could they 
 do? Nothing. Business was remarkably 
 good, and this was really the principal 
 thing. 
 
 On the third day of May, at four in 
 the afternoon, a Korps concert was held in 
 Ruder's garden. The Korps' servants, whose 
 senior was Herr Kellermann, had arrived by 
 three, to arrange the various tables. In the 
 center was the table of the "Vandalia," as 
 the presiding Korps ; on the right, near the 
 Neckar, the "Saxonians"; next to them 
 " Rhenania" ; next to them "Saxo-Borussia" ; 
 then, next to the bowling alley, the " Suev- 
 ians"; and opposite, the " Westphalians." 
 
 Katie was helping, while Herr Ruder 
 went round, looking approvingly at every- 
 thing, and giving himself the air of being 
 the soul of the whole affair. He drank 
 small glasses of gin with the Korps' ser- 
 vants and presented them with funny look- 
 ing cigars, of a brand which he smoked 
 from six in the morning until twelve at 
 
 74 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 night. If it had been possible to make 
 a pole of the cigars which Herr Ruder 
 smoked during a year, this pole would have 
 been nearly a mile long and, standing up- 
 right, it would have been taller than the 
 highest mountains of the Oden Forest. 
 
 The musicians appeared at half past 
 three and received their barrel of beer; 
 then the four women, the six Korps ser- 
 vants, the five musicians, and Katie, hung 
 Japanese lanterns all round the garden. 
 Herr Ruder once more looked the place 
 over. Katie put on a new apron, and, 
 when everything was ready for the recep- 
 tion the music struck up, and, punctually 
 at four, "Vandalia" — with eight "fellows" 
 and twelve "foxes" — entered the garden. 
 
 "Hallo, Katie!" 
 
 " How do you do ? " 
 
 She was surrounded by twenty red-caps, 
 who all shook hands with her and talked 
 to her at the same time. She was stand- 
 ing in the midst if them, like a little queen, 
 while Herr Ruder and the four aunts kept 
 respectfully in the background and the 
 musicians played "Was kommt dort von 
 der Hoh?" 
 
 75 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 She looked with great compassion at a 
 short young fellow, whose cheeks were 
 covered with black bandages : 
 
 "Poor boy, have they given you a deep 
 cut? But you are not a bit clever." 
 
 She took his big head in her hands, 
 much to his delight, and looked at the 
 bandages : 
 
 "How stupid you are!" 
 
 But " Vandalia" had Katie with them for 
 only a little while, for again the music 
 struck up, and " Saxo-Borussia" appeared, 
 taking it as their right, also, to shake 
 Katie's hands. "Suevia" followed, and 
 then "Rhenania," and "Westphalia." The 
 musicians scarcely had time to drink, be- 
 cause they had to salute each new Korps 
 entering the garden; large and small dogs 
 ran about barking, the whole garden was 
 full of red, blue, green and yellow caps, 
 and everywhere was the laughing face of 
 the young girl, who was still shaking 
 hands, who had to speak to everyone, 
 knew everyone, and called each by name. 
 
 It was a rare sight to see this young 
 girl honored by the attention of a hundred 
 young students and talking with them as 
 
 76 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 if they were old friends. A sunny innocence 
 smiled out of her bright eyes, and she 
 took their homage as something entirely 
 natural. 
 
 Suddenly, in all this confusion, a power- 
 ful voice called out abruptly : 
 
 "Come her, Katie!" 
 
 It was the tall Wedell of the Saxo-Borus- 
 sia who spoke. And when, surprised at 
 this harsh call, she did not go, but, instead, 
 looked obstinate and angry, he, with his 
 long legs, climbed over two chairs, right 
 up to her : 
 
 " Katie, Saxo-Borussia bestows this upon 
 you, this sash, her colors. Carry it h 
 ably, Katie, don't disgrace yourself o 
 of us, Saxo-Borussia or Heidelberg!" 
 
 He took the four-colored silk rib 
 his Korps and put it round the shi 
 and waist of the abashed girl. V 
 
 And while the other Korps, surpl 
 and a little annoyed at this Strang 
 formance were looking on, the Saxo 
 sians triumphantly rattled their stei 
 the table, calling: "Bravo!" 
 
 "To your health, Katie!" 
 
 "Prosit, Katie!" 
 
 77 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 At this critical moment, when "Saxo- 
 Borussia" had again done something unus- 
 ual and extraordinary, the only one to 
 keep his head was Grimm of "Vandalia," 
 
 "Katie!" 
 
 "What is it?" 
 
 "'Yandalia,' also, bestows her colors 
 upon you." He then took off the red-gold- 
 red sash that he wore over his waistcoat 
 and tied it round the girl's shoulders. 
 
 "Yandalia" was beside itself with de- 
 light. 
 
 "Bravo!" 
 
 "Katie, Vandaliae!" 
 
 " Katie, to your health ! A whole glass ! " 
 
 "A whole glass!" 
 
 The turmoil and shouting were so great 
 that no one could hear the words of the 
 "Suevian" in charge, who quickly followed 
 the example of the others and put his 
 yellow ribbon round Katie's shoulders. 
 
 It was now "Suevia's" turn to join in 
 the shouting of "Katie!" and the uproar 
 became deafening as each excited fellow 
 raised his voice in the tumult. 
 
 " Rhenania" followed, then "Westphalia" 
 — willingly or not — and now the girl, her 
 
 78 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 cheeks glowing with pleasure, stood among 
 the laughing students, five silk ribbons 
 over her young bosom, her small bouquet 
 of violets quite covered with them. Red, 
 blue, gold, green, white, yellow, black — aU 
 the colors of the rainbow in soft silk, glit- 
 tered on her white waist. She looked some- 
 what confusedly, but laughingly around 
 her, and then down at her new ribbons, 
 rising and falling on her breast. 
 
 Then — ^without thinking, as usual — she 
 took a glass of beer and, lifting it high : 
 
 ' ' You are all dears ! Prosit to all of you ! ' ' 
 
 And, with a deep draught, she emptied 
 the glass. 
 
 Suddenly, she felt herself lifted up. It 
 was Fink, of " Vandalia," who was standing 
 near her and who had clasped her around 
 the knees and lifted her up like a feather : 
 
 "Long live Katie!" 
 
 " Katie ! ! Hurrah for Katie ! ! " 
 
 She still held the empty beer glass in 
 her hand, she wanted to say something, 
 perhaps scold them, but she saw below 
 her a hundred colored caps, a hundred 
 laughing faces, a hundred glasses lifted up 
 
 to her; then she laughed — ^laughed 
 
 79 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 The band struck up ! 
 
 Everybody grew silent at once. 
 
 During this confusion, the last of the 
 Korps, "Saxonia," appeared at the garden 
 entrance. "Saxonia" was late and would 
 have to pay a fine. The members of "Sax- 
 onia" solemnly and slowly raised their 
 caps, and, as solemnly and slowly, the 
 other five Korps returned the salute. 
 
 For a moment, Katie was forgotten. 
 
 The curious and even envious eyes of 
 all were turned towards a striking young 
 fellow, who was gracefully lifting his dark 
 blue cap, as he marched in beside Herr 
 Bilz, the first in charge of "Saxonia." 
 
 "That is he!" 
 
 "There, the first one!" 
 
 "Which one? The one next to Bilz?" 
 
 "Yes, that is he." 
 
 So this was the hereditary Prince ! The 
 hereditary Prince of Karlburg ! The finest 
 "fox" that "Saxonia" had ever caught! 
 A real hereditary Prince ! 
 
 "Saxonia" had certainly had tremendous 
 luck in making this catch, an unheard of 
 luck, a catch without parallel. 
 
 As a rule they were not envious, cer- 
 80 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 tainly not, "suum cuique;" but His High- 
 ness would have looked just as well with a 
 Saxo-Prussian cap, or in the red cap of 
 "Vandalia," or in the "Rhenania" colors. 
 
 He bowed to right and left, thinking 
 that all the salutes, which were meant for 
 his Korps, were intended for him personally. 
 He certainly was embarrassed and not able, 
 as yet, to view the whole state of aflfairs 
 with the eyes of an ordinary mortal. 
 
 There 
 
 By God, that was pretty cheeky of 
 Katie! 
 
 All craned their necks to see her. She 
 had taken both the Prince's hands in hers. 
 But, of course, she knew him, he lived with 
 Frau Dorfifel. 
 
 And the Prince grew quite red in the 
 face, while his new friends, surprised, as 
 were all the others, stood in a circle round 
 him and the girl. 
 
 "Excuse me,, Katie," said Herr Bilz, and 
 tried weakly to pull her back; but she 
 never noticed him. 
 
 "Oh, this is beautiful!" she said, with 
 sparkling eyes, "it is so good of you to 
 come here, and with you all." She looked 
 6 8i 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 round the circle from Herr Bilz to little 
 Count Munster, then at Conrad Grabenitz 
 and all the others. "So he belongs to you, 
 now ! That is beautiftil ! " 
 
 Karl Heinrich had a feeling that all his 
 new Korps brothers, who were still half 
 strangers to him, were watching him with 
 great surprise; that the Doctor, who was 
 standing behind him, was dumbfounded; 
 that all — that he — that she — but her two 
 little warm hands held him fast, and, 
 through them her boundless youth and joy 
 flowed out to him and he forgot every- 
 thing. 
 
 He did not hear the music which was 
 playing in his honor, "Heil dir im Sieger- 
 kranz;" he did not see the faces around 
 him — he only saw two dark eyes, which, 
 happy as those of a child, and passionate 
 as those of a woman, looked searchingly 
 into his. 
 
 Then he sat down at the table, which 
 was really no table at all, but a rough 
 pine board. Before him was a large glass 
 of beer, and he thought, like Katie: "It 
 is beautiful!" 
 
 He talked with the others, he drank, he 
 82 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 sang a song out of a students' singing'- 
 book, which the others knew by heart, he 
 laughed, he answered whenever spoken to — 
 but he did all this as if in a dream. 
 
 One after another of his Korps brothers 
 came to him to drink to good fellowship 
 and to call him "Du," — it was all so strange. 
 The music was wretched, and, at first, it 
 seemed to him absolutely inharmonious, but 
 after a little while, the songs sounded soft 
 and sweet, like dear melodies coming from 
 afar, which he had heard somewhere before, 
 but had long forgotten. Occasionally, he 
 looked at the Doctor, who sat farther down 
 at the table and who drank great quan- 
 tities of beer and seemed to enjoy himself 
 immensely. And now and then, Katie 
 passed him or he saw her going in and 
 out among the tables, but he always found: 
 her eyes. \ 
 
 It was growing dark, the castle on the* 
 mountain disappeared in the shadows of 
 the night. The lights in the houses /6f 
 Heidelberg, on the other side of theNeckar,' "^ 
 began to appear one by one, and Herr^"' 
 Ruder and the Korps servants lighted the \ 
 Japanese lanterns which hung above the ; 
 
 83 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 tables, swinging in the trees and along the 
 river wall, so that their colors, the colors 
 of the caps, and the green of the bushes, 
 made up a beautiful sparkling symphony 
 of color. 
 
 Karl Bilz, with his long, drooping mous- 
 tache, sat next to Karl Heinrich. He was 
 the best fighter of " Saxonia," but he looked 
 among the less refined of his Korps brethren, 
 like a disguised girl. Finally he said, in 
 his quiet voice, to the Prince ! 
 
 "Let us go for a little walk, if you care 
 to." 
 
 "Yes, certainly." 
 
 "One grows so tired sitting still such 
 a long time." 
 
 They went through the long rows of 
 tables and the low, badly-lighted hall, out 
 to the main road. Boys and girls were 
 standing outside the hedge, listening to the 
 music. A little distance from the house, 
 it was very quiet. Now and then, a pair 
 of lovers passed them in the dark. The 
 moon had not yet risen, the road lay in 
 the shadow of the summer night, and, as 
 they walked further away, the music grew 
 very soft and low. They were playing 
 
 84 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 "Three Students Went Across the Rhine." 
 To the right of them, in the meadows, 
 crickets chirped and a few frogs croaked. 
 
 "Do you like it in Heidelberg?" 
 
 It was only a conventional question, to 
 break the silence, but, in his suppressed 
 happiness, it came as a positive relief to 
 the Prince. 
 
 "Du?" 
 
 The Prince took the other's hands in 
 his, with a grip like a vise, as one who is 
 about to open his heart for the first time 
 in his life. 
 
 The student was moved. He certainly 
 did not understand all that was meant 
 by this pressure of his hands — ^the great 
 longing of a human being, who, at last, 
 delivered, pours forth the passion of his 
 whole life — but he was pleased and touched. 
 
 The Prince wanted him for a friend ! 
 
 And then they returned to their places 
 among the others and to their pine table. 
 
 If possible, they were even merrier than 
 before. There were friendly young faces 
 all around the Prince, looking at him, 
 laughing and happy. Everybody drank 
 to him :' 
 
 85 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 "Karl Heinrich, to your health!" 
 
 "Karl Heinrich, Prosit, Prosit!" 
 
 And he nodded, laughed, and clicked 
 glasses with them. 
 
 "Karl Heinrich, will you come with us 
 to-morrow to the fencing hall?" 
 
 "Yes, indeed!" 
 
 "Roux will give you lessons." 
 
 "Who is that?" 
 
 "The fencing master." 
 
 "Very well." 
 
 "Will you attend the lectures?" 
 
 "Yes, institutions and law." 
 
 "Go on, that's nonsense." 
 
 And they all explained to him, with 
 unanimous lightness, that nobody in Heidel- 
 berg goes to college, at least, not in May, 
 and certainly not at all during the first 
 term. 
 
 He smiled and seemed to listen atten- 
 tively to all these explanations, in which 
 all took part, but he felt the grip of an 
 iron force which would destroy everything, 
 a cold voice saying : "I want you to under- 
 stand that this year at the University must 
 be spent in serious scientific studies and not 
 in seeking for pleasure." 
 
 86 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 Timidly he looked at the Doctor, who 
 was sent here to see the Prince's will car- 
 ried out, but this Doctor stood in front 
 of an enormous bowl, in each hand he held 
 a wine bottle, from which he was pouring 
 wine. 
 
 "No lemon is needed," Karl Heinrich 
 heard him say, excitedly ; and, as somebody 
 nearby seemed to contradict him, he struck 
 the table with one of the bottles, and trem- 
 bling with excitement, he cried : 
 
 "'I haY.e made a thousand wine cups in 
 Karlburg ! Hang it all, I certainly ought 
 to know if lemon is wanted or not!" 
 
 This very same evening Herr Lutz was 
 sitting in his room, waiting for His High- 
 ness to come home. 
 
 "Most likely I shall not return before 
 eleven," His Highness had told him, "if you 
 like, you can go out and take a glass of 
 beer." 
 
 Herr Lutz had done so, only he had 
 taken several pints of claret, as beer did not 
 agree with him. The wine was good, so 
 Herr Lutz's spirits had risen and he was 
 more reconciled than he had been for days. 
 
 " It isn't wise to go too far," he thought, 
 87 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 "better to stay for a year in this confounded 
 University town, than to quarrel with His 
 Highness. It may be dangerous, and one 
 can never be sure." 
 
 At half past ten, like all good citizens, 
 he returned home; then he lighted all the 
 lamps, put everything in order in His High- 
 ness' bedroom and looked out of the win- 
 dow. He was yawning a little, but was not 
 yet tired. 
 
 However, His Highness might come home 
 now. 
 
 Eleven o'clock ! 
 
 The calling of valet to kings and princes 
 is a singular and a serious business. Lutz 
 knew many of his colleagues, who had been 
 presented to him while traveling at foreign 
 Courts : Rosanoff, Kroll, Bietingsfeld, men 
 in whose hands the fate of Europe had 
 sometimes rested. What a man was Rosan- 
 off! He looked like a Russian Councillor of 
 State and wore the Order of the Medshidge. 
 Or Bamhuth, first valet to His Royal 
 Highness the Duke of Coburg ! He was a 
 "bon homme," amiable, good to his subordi- 
 nates and most unrestrained in his behavior 
 when in the presence of the really great, 
 
 88 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 or Legrand, who was thought to be worth 
 half a million, or SchafFer, whose luck with 
 women — even with those in the highest 
 circles — had become proverbial. 
 
 Midnight 
 
 In Karlburg, he went to bed at eleven 
 o'clock, in a warm, comfortable room. Be- 
 fore turning out the light, he drank a glass 
 of old claret, and then lay down, tired 
 but contented, under a soft, silk cover. A 
 well-regulated life keeps a man healthy ; 
 early to bed is a golden rule. But, in 
 this God-forsaken place, everything was 
 different. 
 
 One o'clock 
 
 Herr Lutz got up. He had been dozing 
 for a while in an easy chair, at the window. 
 Now his right arm, which had been sup- 
 porting his head on the hard windowsill, 
 was hurting him. What the — — does this 
 mean! One o'clock and not home yet! 
 "Coming "home at eleven" should mean 
 "Being home at eleven!" A cool wind 
 came through the open window into the 
 roomj so that Herr Lutz coughed. He 
 certainly had caught cold while dozing. 
 
 He walked restlessly up and down the 
 89 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 room, exhausted and full of rage — until the 
 clock struck two. 
 
 Suddenly he grew frightened — something 
 must have happened ! The Prince had been 
 killed ! 
 
 It was a ridiculous idea, which he soon 
 forced out of his mind, but still his rest- 
 lessness increased until he could remain 
 alone no longer. He took one of the old- 
 fashioned candlesticks and went down 
 through the corridor. "I shall call Frau 
 Dorfifel," he thought, " she must get up and 
 keep me company." At first, he knocked 
 timidly, then, gradually gaining courage, he 
 finally pounded with his fist, but no one 
 answered. He pushed the door, which 
 opened readily, and looked into the close- 
 smelling room. Nobody there ! The bed 
 empty ! And the bed of the young girl 
 also empty! And this at half past two 
 in the morning! 
 
 Something, which turned out to be only 
 the cat, moved in the comer, but this slight 
 noise terrified Herr Lutz to such an extent 
 that he grew deathly pale. He closed the 
 door quickly and stood outside in the broad 
 corridor, with its dim comers and fantastic 
 
 90 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 shadows. There was no one in the house! 
 He was all alone ! 
 
 When the clock struck four, Herr Lutz 
 was a sick man. He sat there, pale as 
 death, a blank expression on his face, his 
 thin lips trembling, his brain empty. He 
 could think of nothing that he had not 
 already thought of during this night, — ^he 
 only knew that a man in his position had 
 never beett so shamefully treated before. 
 
 He watched the first grey shadows of the 
 coming dawn on the black roof of the 
 church; then slowly other buildings came 
 into view, as the light grew stronger, and 
 finally the sun shone forth in all his glory. 
 Outside, the sparrows chirped. It was 
 morning ! 
 
 "Lutz! Hallo, Lutz!" 
 
 He got up; somebody had shake 
 shoulder. He had slept, and was rub 
 his eyes, but he had not yet come 
 senses. 
 
 "That's right, Lutz," sai^the 
 "I am glad to see that you/fiavfe^ 
 is a little bit late, or, ratiaer, a 
 And, turning to the men who 
 room, he said: "This is Lutz, 
 
 91 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 valet, wliom I am glad to introduce to 
 yon." 
 
 Lutz, during his long life at Court, had 
 lost the faculty of being surprised at any- 
 thing, but, for a few moments, with his 
 overtired, leaden eyes, he could not make 
 out things. On the chairs, the sofa, the 
 table, the piano, even on the windowsill, 
 men were sitting everywhere, fellows with 
 student's caps and silk ribbons. Someone 
 was playing on the piano a song from 
 ' ' Madame Angot' ' — ^it was the Doctor. Lutz 
 later discovered three big dogs, that ran 
 round him, snuffing at him, and, in the 
 midst of this lot of scoundrels, stood the 
 young girl, saying: "How many cups of 
 coffee? Seventeen? Just count." 
 
 Karl Heinrich counted: "That's right, 
 seventeen. Please, Lutz, go along and help 
 in the kitchen and hurry things up a bit." 
 
 And Lutz went. 
 
 His strength was broken, his powers of 
 resistance gone. " That's right, Lutz, I am 
 glad to see that you have slept." This 
 sentence of the Prince continually sounded 
 in his ears. It seemed to intimate that 
 he had had his usual good night's rest, 
 
 92 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 while, in reality, he had not slept ten 
 minutes. 
 
 " Come on, just help a bit, give me those 
 blue cups. Yes, those!" 
 
 He did it. 
 
 They wanted brandy, — he fetched brandy. 
 
 They wanted cigars, — ^he brought cigars. 
 
 He even called the big Danes into the 
 kitchen and satisfied their wants. One of 
 them growled angrily at him, but Herr 
 Lutz thought humbly: "Kill me, if you 
 want to, it does not matter!" 
 
 At six o'clock, Herr Lutz was again 
 alone. Prince, Doctor, students and dogs 
 had stampeded down the stairs, and the 
 forsaken rooms, after this one hour, looked 
 like a battlefield. Everywhere ashes, cigar 
 ends, brandy bottles, cups, glasses, in great 
 disorder. A chair was broken, and the air 
 was so full of tobacco smoke that it made 
 Lutz sick. 
 
 "We are going to the castle," Karl Hein- 
 rich had said to him. "I shall be home at 
 noon and shall then try to get a few hours 
 rest." 
 
 This Prince was becoming a "roul" — 
 Herr Lutz was the valet of a "rou€." 
 
 93 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 Would this go on now, day after day? 
 And Herr Lutz shook his fist in a help- 
 less fury at the sunny city : 
 "Heidelberg!" 
 
 ^4 
 
Oi;^ the afternoon that Karl Heinrich was (/-::'' 
 brotjjght home in a carriage, his head coy^l^ 
 ered with wounds, a deep gash in his cheel 
 — cut up only as a student can be after his^ 
 very first fight, during his first term — o^ 
 that afternoon, the Doctor shook off Jms 
 lethargy and awoke to a realization of the 
 seriousness of the situation. 
 
 What if they should hear of this in Karl- 
 burg! 
 
 And if they made further inquiries and 
 found out something ! That Karl Heinrich 
 never attended the lectures ! That at Whit- 
 suntide, he had taken a trip to Milan and 
 had run up quite a number of debts ! But, 
 worst of all, that love affair with the wait- 
 ress, which the very sparrows in Heidelberg 
 twittered from the house tops ! 
 
 But this fight was the crowning feature 
 of it all ! 
 
 They hadn't told him anything about it, 
 it had happened behind his back. It was a 
 terrible scandal ! 
 
 95 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 Like a madman, he entered Karl Hein- 
 rich's room : 
 
 "Your Highness!" 
 
 "Doctor!" 
 
 "I am sick of all this!" 
 
 "Of what?" 
 
 " Of everything. I shall resign. I am 
 going to write to Karlburg to-day. It is 
 all my fault, I know, but I am not going to 
 stand by and see it go on." 
 
 "But, Doctor " 
 
 "I wish we had never come here! How 
 could a man like me, thirty-five years of 
 age, settled in life, forget duty and order ! 
 I had come here for a rest and to live tem- 
 perately, and, instead of doing so, I have 
 knocked about at all hours and have ruined 
 myself. Look at me ! A wreck, a complete 
 ruin !" 
 
 He really did not look well, and Karl 
 Heinrich felt great pity for him. 
 
 "You are right, my dear Doctor, this 
 can't go on. You must take care of your- 
 self. You must walk a great deal and sleep 
 less. Doctor, you must live by the clock." 
 
 But the Doctor couldn't bear to have 
 anyone assent to his own self-accusations : 
 
 96 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 "I am not speaking of myself. Your 
 Highness, but rather of you. Your present 
 mode of life cannot go on. I shall resign, 
 that's settled. A sick man like myself, who 
 hasn't another five years to live, not even 
 three, two, one, cannot direct your educa- 
 tion any longer, and certainly not here in 
 Heidelberg." 
 
 Suddenly his excitement went to the 
 other extreme: "Oh, Karl Heinz, I wish 
 we had never come here!" 
 
 That afternoon and the following night 
 he nursed the Prince, and, after he had 
 drunk a few bottles of wine he was again 
 in the best of humor. 
 
 "That's the worst of it," he said, "that 
 nothing but alcohol can keep one in good 
 humor." But he spoke very cheerfully. 
 
 Several times again he attempted to 
 arouse Karl Heinrich's conscience, but he 
 fared like the sorcerer's apprentice who 
 conjured up ghosts and then couldn't get 
 rid of them. 
 
 It was remarkable how the Prince had 
 
 changed during the past few months, even in 
 
 his appearance. His way of carrying himself 
 
 had grown firmer and more vigorous, his 
 
 7 97 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 face looked more energetic and the scars 
 on his cheek gave him a martial air. With 
 the positive exception of the tall Wedell of 
 the Saxo-Prussians, there was no gayer 
 student in all Heidelberg, but even in Karl 
 Heinrich's big and small absurdities, his 
 drinking bouts and his fights, there was 
 something of the "Grand Seigneur." He 
 always seemed, even when very drunk, 
 to tower head and shoulders above the 
 others, and to look down upon all crazy 
 actions. 
 
 In his method of education, the Doctor 
 went from bad to worse. He was no longer 
 the guardian, but now Karl Heinrich began 
 to master him. Punctually at nine o'clock 
 the Doctor had to get up ; at the stroke of 
 twelve he had to retire. For two hours 
 daily he was forced to take a walk, but 
 this energetic mode of life ought to have 
 been prescribed and followed many months, 
 perhaps even years, before. "Force me to 
 do it, Karl Heinrich," he would say, "com- 
 pel me!" but much oftener he became cross 
 when he was forced. "The dickens, let me 
 live these last few years as I want to ! 
 No, I am not going for a walk, I am tired, 
 
 98 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 I don't want to. Katie, give me a pint of 
 claret!" 
 
 But the Prince stood to his guns: "No 
 nonsense, Doctor ; come along ! We will go 
 together to the Koenigstuhl, allons !" 
 
 Sooner than anyone had thought, the 
 poor Doctor was relieved of these and other 
 hardships. For, one day, Karl Heinrich had 
 Professor von Michaelis examine the Doctor, 
 and he was sent to a private hospital. 
 
 There he was installed in a very pretty 
 sickroom, with a fine balcony, famished 
 with a smart smoking-table, a most com- 
 fortable lounge and everything that could 
 add to his comfort. Here he spent day 
 after day, looTiing out at the sunshine, and 
 was continually visited by Karl Heinz and 
 his Korps brothers. Here he drank, smoked, 
 played cards and found his life as easy and 
 agreeable as possible. 
 
 "I shall get well again, I feel itf^ h 
 often said. The professor, smiling in 
 superior way, had given him a few instrii 
 tions: "No beer, no potatoes," and, as th 
 Doctor did not care much for either; 
 preferred a good glass of wine, he 
 the professor's advice closely 
 
 99 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 He might have drunk beer or eaten 
 potatoes for all that, but sick people to 
 wh®m nothing is forbidden, lose hope. 
 
 For weeks Karl Heinrich was uneasy. 
 The first grey shadow had come over the 
 sunny gladness of Heidelberg. He did not 
 know that his days in the gay town were 
 just as much numbered as those of the 
 Doctor, although in a different sense. And, 
 while the Doctor lived through this time in 
 such good humor and tranquility of mind 
 that even the Professor was astonished, the 
 Prince was sad and absorbed. For whole 
 days he would sit with the Doctor on the 
 balcony, as if it was his sacred duty to 
 keep him company continually, until, one 
 day, the Doctor lost patience. 
 
 "Why do you sit here all day long and 
 act as if I were dangerously ill? Confound 
 you, but things have not yet gone as far as 
 that. Go and run about, enjoy yourself, 
 but don't sit here and make long faces, as 
 if I were already dying!" 
 
 The Prince was so surprised he could not 
 answer, but the Doctor gave him no time : 
 
 "My dear Karl Heinz, you are wasting 
 the best that any man can have, and that 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 is, the time of youth. You seem to think 
 that you will stay here forever in Heidelberg 
 with your friend, and with pretty little 
 Katie. But it won't be long before the year 
 is over. Every hour not properly employed 
 is lost, and it never comes back again — it 
 is 'temps perdu.' It makes no difference 
 whether you are a Prince or only an ordi- 
 nary human being. Please pour me a 
 glass of wine, — the bottle is over there in the 
 comer. I, also, was young once, and I kept 
 thinking : * There is still time, oh ! yes, there 
 is still time,' but it is too late at last. Go 
 and enjoy yourself, do not come at all to- 
 morrow. Come the day after to-morrow 
 and then only for one hour. Please give 
 me that box of cigars. Thanks. It is so 
 beautiful to lie out here. Look at that nice 
 little girl over there, on the balcony; what 
 a little darling she is, and how she looks at 
 us ! Confound it, if I were only young 
 once more!" 
 
 During the following week, "Saxonia" 
 made a trip through the Black Forest. 
 Every day the Doctor received postal cards, 
 on which he was told how many glasses of 
 beer they had drunk to his special health, 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 in Gernsbach, Baden, Freiberg, on the 
 Feldberg and CYcry village where beer was 
 to be had. If, by such drink ofiferings, 
 health could actually have been restored, 
 the poor Doctor, in this short time, ought 
 to have grown quite well again. 
 
 With a sun-burned facie and in excellent 
 spirits, Karl Heinrich returned to Heidel- 
 berg. He went first to see Katie, who, with 
 all her passionate love, received him joy- 
 fully. Then he went to the hospital. The 
 joy of seeing the Prince again brought 
 the color once more to the Doctor's thin 
 cheeks — ^he welcomed him with a radiant 
 face : 
 
 " That's right, Karl Heinz ! Run around 
 in the world with the others ! Don't stay 
 in one room and look solemn. Ring the 
 bell, we will drink a bottle of Steinwein. 
 How is Katie? Isn't she very happy to- 
 day? Was she at the station? No? And 
 why not? What a darling she is ! Now, 
 come along and tell me of your travels. 
 Have you been in Strassburg? My boy, 
 you look splendid, as brown as an Indian. 
 I am all right, I really feel fine. This rest 
 here does me good. Have you been in Wild- 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 bad? What a charming place it is. Isn't 
 the whole Black Forest beautiful ! Pour 
 the wine, Karl Heinz — to your health!" 
 
 Perhaps the Doctor was really better and 
 the Professor and his assistants had made 
 a mistake. At any rate, he was never in 
 better spirits than during these days of his 
 illness, and so Karl Heinrich found his joy- 
 ousness coming back to him. 
 
 On one of the last days of July he gave 
 a great festival at Ruder's, to his Korps. 
 Everything was done in first-class style and, 
 late in the evening, the castle was illumi- 
 nated so that the whole of Heidelberg, in- 
 cluding all strangers and foreigners, assem- 
 bled at the river to have a look at this 
 magnificent sight. The Doctor could only 
 admire the wonderful picture from his lonely 
 balcony, while Karl Heinrich, the hero of 
 the day, had voluntarily left the crowd. He 
 sat beside Katie in Ruder's old boat, which 
 Herr Kellermann was rowing against the 
 tide. Nobody in Heidelberg was better 
 fitted to accompany a pair lovers on such 
 a nocturnal boat trip than Herr Keller- 
 mann. He never heard or saw anything, he 
 continually fussed with the obstinate oars, 
 
 103 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 whicli made him angry and required all 
 his attention. He had the habit of talking 
 quietly to himself, a continuous murmur, 
 which was strangely composed of delight, 
 dissatisfaction, reminiscences and instan- 
 taneous fancies, sense and nonsense: "Stu- 
 pid nonsense — oars — oh! yes! — ^water — ^late 
 — good — to-morrow morning — send for it — 
 get it — d d — all shoes — " and so on. 
 
 When the old castle, in its nightly soli- 
 tude, began to be illuminated, when red 
 lights radiated from window to window of 
 the old ruin, and Karl Heinrich thrilled by 
 this wonderful sight, stood up in the shak- 
 ing boat, Herr Kellermann never even no- 
 ticed it. What had he to do with castles 
 and fireworks ! In the last thirty years, he 
 had seen this dozens of times, — he had 
 something else to do besides looking at such 
 nonsense. 
 
 Slowly the flames died out until only a 
 few windows of the castle were still lighted 
 up. Finally, these also grew dark, and the 
 faint reflection on the Neckar disappeared. 
 
 The boat drifted along in the quiet of the 
 night, Karl Heinrich and Katie sat side by 
 side, and only the mutterings of Herr Keller- 
 
 104 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 mann and the quiet dipping of the oars 
 broke the stillness. 
 
 Some time passed, and finally Katie grew 
 restless : 
 
 "We must go home." 
 
 And, in fact, it was past midnight. 
 
 " Kellermann, we must turn back, let the 
 boat drift." 
 
 "Hm!" 
 
 "Will you smoke a cigar, Kellermann?" 
 
 "Hm!" 
 
 For a few seconds, the match lighted up 
 the old, wrinkled face. 
 
 The Prince had known the old man now 
 for several months, but in these few mo- 
 ments, it seemed to him as if he had seen 
 those weary features for the first time. 
 
 "How old are you, Kellerman?" 
 
 For a few moments, Kellermann did not 
 answer, for this question was so new and 
 singular that it confused him. 
 
 "Sixty-five." 
 
 Sixty-five ! And every night on the go — 
 the whole day busy, always a bit slow but 
 always willing, a poor devil who had to 
 listen to twenty masters and who could not 
 suit one of them. Not a jolly sort of a 
 
 105 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 fellow, such as suits the students' life; not 
 a clown, continually to be laughed at — 
 only a tired human being, who, term after 
 term, had to serve new masters. 
 
 "Have you a family, Kellermann?" 
 
 The old man looked surprised, almost 
 distrustful. Never had he been asked that — 
 at least, never in such a tone — by one of the 
 students. His wife was sometimes seen, as 
 she did the students' laundry. 
 
 But Karl Heinrich kept on questioning, 
 while Katie, almost invisible to Herr Keller- 
 mann, and resting her head on her darling's 
 shoulder, helped him : 
 
 "Do answer, Kellermann, speak up." 
 
 And both, in their tender and happy 
 mood, doubly susceptible to the sufferings 
 of others, asked questions alternately, with 
 so much eagerness and sympathy, that, at 
 last, the sad story of Kellermann's life was 
 brought out. 
 
 For the first time in his life, the Prince 
 understood the struggle for existence of a 
 fellow being. 
 
 "Kellermann!" 
 
 "Yes, sir!" 
 
 "Kellermann, when I have left here, if 
 io6 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 you should have bad luck, would you write 
 me?" 
 
 The old man did not answer, but Katie 
 put her arms round Karl Heinrich's neck 
 and whispered something in his ear, — per- 
 haps she thanked him. 
 
 "You understand a lot about wine, Kel- 
 lermann" — Karl Heinrich smiled — "when I 
 am the reigning Prince, later on, come to 
 me. You shall be my head cellarman. 
 That fits your name, too, doesn't it?" 
 
 A callous hand reached out of the dark- 
 ness, taking Katie's hand by mistake, so 
 that she screamed with fear, but which then 
 groped farther and found that of the Prince, 
 which it pressed hard. 
 
 Then the boat drifted again in deep 
 silence. 
 
 Herr Kellermann's cigar glowed through 
 the darkness and Karl Heinrich and Katie 
 sat quietly, close to each other, rtiuch 
 moved, and happier than ever before. ^He 
 no longer kissed her, they only held each 
 other closely, and Katie hummed, as in a 
 dream, an old Bohemian song which, as a 
 child, she had learned on the distant Donau.^ 
 
 During the evening three telegrams had 
 107 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 arrived for His Highness, and as they all 
 came from Karlburg, they set Herr Ltitz to 
 thinking and caused him, at last, to go 
 himself to Ruder's hostelry. He knew as 
 little about this place as about all the other 
 "Kneipen" which His Highness frequented, 
 and he was, therefore, not surprised when 
 Ruder told him that His Highness was not 
 there at present, but that, most likely, he 
 would soon return. Between twelve at noon 
 and three the next morning His Highness 
 could not be found, but Herr Lutz had 
 grown accustomed to that. One of the first 
 principles of Court life is that meals, rides, 
 travels and everything else be so fixed by 
 rule, to the minute and second, that, at any 
 given time, others knew just what each 
 member of the royal family was doing, — ^but 
 His Highness was an exception, his mode of 
 life was directly opposed to these rules. 
 Not that Herr Lutz became angry about it, 
 — oh ! no ! He had stopped that long ago. 
 The only thing that lay on his mind was 
 that he — Lutz — ^felt that he himself had 
 slowly changed. He didn't take so much 
 pains with his linen, nor was his exterior 
 appearance as formerly, and the glistening 
 
 io8 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 white of his ties had dimmed. Nobody- 
 asked for him, nobody troubled about him. 
 His activity was gone — so why trouble? 
 
 Lutz had even slowly lost that fine sense 
 of dignity which his position and education 
 had given him. It often happened that, 
 nearly dead from "ennui," he sat for hours 
 with the old women in the kitchen and 
 drank coffee. He was degenerating, he was 
 really only a servant now, he had lost his 
 own self-respect. Once, in order to pass the 
 time, he began a flirtation with a servant 
 girl in the neighborhood, but she showed so 
 plainly that she wanted to become Lutz's 
 wife that he dropped this liaison. 
 
 About half past ten Herr Lutz, with his 
 three telegrams, arrived at Ruder's. Mid- 
 night passed, and still His Highness did not 
 appear. 
 
 Then, quite suddenly, Herr Lutz saw his 
 master. His Highness stood in the midst of 
 all the confusion among the students. In 
 his right hand he had a beer glass, in his 
 left a rapier, his blue cap was perched on 
 the back of his head and he seemed to be 
 making a speech. Directly afterwards, there 
 was a great uproar, they struck the tables 
 
 109 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 with their glasses so that it sounded like 
 thunder, and Karl Heinrich stood laughing 
 in their midst, looking with sparkling eyes 
 to right and left. 
 
 Gravely and solemnly, Herr Lutz went 
 through the rows of students and stopped 
 behind the Prince. 
 
 "Your Highness " 
 
 "Silentium! we shall now sing: Von all 
 den Madchen so blitz und so blank " 
 
 The music struck up and Herr Lutz 
 bowed for the second time : 
 
 "Your Highness " 
 
 But the Prince did not see him, nobody 
 saw him. Waiters carrying glasses of beer 
 ran about between the tables, passing 
 students unintentionally pushed Herr Lutz 
 roughly from one side to the other, then 
 they all began singing : 
 
 "Von all den Madchen so blitz und so 
 blank 
 Gefaellt mir am besten die Lore " 
 
 Angry and half desperate, Herr Lutz 
 bowed behind Karl Heinrich for the third 
 time : 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 "Your Higliness " 
 
 "Sie ist mein Gedanke bei Tag und bei 
 Nacht 
 Und wohnet im Winkel am Thore " 
 
 Herr Lutz, in his black suit, his face 
 white with rage, stood among that jolly, 
 half-drunken set, looking like a figure of 
 Retribution, a bearer of bad news, who 
 pauses a moment before delivering his mes- 
 sage of ill-omen. 
 
 Karl Bilz, who sat next the Prince, at 
 last saw him. 
 
 "There is someone there behind you, 
 Karl Heinz." 
 
 "Where?— Lutz!" 
 
 "Your Highness " 
 
 "What's the matter?" 
 
 "Urgent telegrams from Karlburg have 
 arrived for Your Highness." 
 
 The Prince grew pale. 
 
 And, while the second verse of the " Lore" 
 song sounded through the garden, he opened 
 the telegrams and read : 
 
 "I beg to announce to Your Highness 
 that His Serene Highness is seriously ill and 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG . 
 
 wishes Your Highness, in the course of the 
 next few days, to come to Karlburg for a 
 short stay." 
 
 This message, as well as the two others, 
 was signed by the Lord Chamberlain. The 
 second gave a short account of the illness, 
 while the third begged His Highness not to 
 look upon the illness as being of a danger- 
 ous nature as yet. 
 
 He turned : 
 
 "It's all right, Lutz. Go now! I shall 
 be home in an hour. Pack the trunks; we 
 shall leave here to-morrow evening." 
 
 Very few had been aware of this interrup- 
 tion, and no one seemed to notice that a 
 quarter of an hour afterwards, Karl Hein- 
 rich's chair was vacant. 
 
 As the Prince was leaving the garden, he 
 looked back just once. 
 
 What if that illness should linger and 
 keep him chained to Karlburg for weeks, or, 
 perhaps, months? 
 
 Suppose — and it was possible — suppose 
 he could never return to Heidelberg! 
 
 But he tried to brace up, and was angry 
 with himself for his weakness. He had al- 
 ways been inclined to exaggerate his feel- 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 ings, — a weak, womanly habit, attributable 
 only to people who have never had any 
 serious struggles in life, — and, angry with 
 himself, he even forgot to say Good-night to 
 Katie. 
 
 113 
 
/J) 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 When Karl Heinrich went next day tls 
 the hospital to say good-bye to the Doctor,^ 
 he found him lying on his bed on the bal- 
 cony. There was usually a fine view of the 
 castle and the Konigstuhl from this point, 
 but to-day everything was obscured by a 
 fine rain. Still, this was refreshing after 
 the close heat of the last few days. 
 
 The Doctor was lying, weak and tired, 
 on his pillows, but he smiled cheerfully at 
 the Prince, and at his first words, he sat 
 up: 
 
 ' ' Going away ! To Karlburg ! ' ' 
 
 He took the telegrams and after reading 
 them through twice in feverish haste, he lay 
 back heavily and gazed, without saying 
 a word, past Harl Heinrich out at the fast 
 falling rain. 
 
 " There is nothing to be done but go, my 
 dear Doctor?" 
 
 "No, that's the only thing for you to 
 do." 
 
 114 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 "I am going to-night." 
 
 "Hm!" 
 
 "I think that I shall be back in a week 
 or a fortnight." 
 
 "Possibly." 
 
 "And during that time, my dear Doctor, 
 you shall want for nothing. I have spoken 
 to my Korps brothers and eveiy morning 
 and every afternoon, one of them will visit 
 you. If you wish, I will also leave Lutz 
 here to wait on you." 
 
 The Doctor smiled feebly. 
 
 "No, thank you very much." 
 
 And Karl Heinrich also smiled. Herr 
 Lutz and the Doctor had never had much 
 in common, and here in the hospital they 
 would certainly understand each other ^ 
 even less. ' 
 
 But his smile soon faded. During the 
 last few days a marked change had ccpmp 
 over the Doctor. The full face had grown 
 haggard, on the blue cover of the bed lay 
 his clasped hands, thin and white. More 
 and more the thought took hold of him, 
 that the end would soon come. ^ 
 
 Suddenly their eyes met. He wanted tdi 
 look aside, but could not. Perhaps the\ 
 
 115 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 Doctor also tried to avoid his look, but lie 
 had even less strength. So they gazed 
 straight into each other's eyes, until Karl 
 Heinrich was deeply moved. He bit his lip 
 and tried to stare indifferently into space. 
 Then, as if from a great distance, he heard 
 the Doctor speak : 
 
 "What does it matter, Karl Heinz, sooner 
 or later ! It would be hard to find a more 
 beautiful spot in which to say good-bye 
 to the world. It doesn't require a poet to 
 appreciate it, going to sleep here quietly, 
 peaceftiUy .... Let me rather talk of 
 yourself, Karl Heinz. You think of coming 
 back in a week or in a fortnight. It may 
 be so, but it may also be that you never 
 return. Keep young, Karl Heinrich, that is 
 the best I can wish for you. Remain as you 
 are, and if they try to change you — and 
 they will try — then fight against it. Let 
 your heart keep its warm, tender, human 
 interest. Perhaps a time will come when 
 you will think of these Heidelberg days and 
 of me with different feelings than you have 
 to-day, perhaps with despair or even rage; 
 a time when you will say to yourself: 'I 
 ought not to have gone down to the level 
 
 ii6 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 of the others, and should have maintained 
 my dignity a little more.' They will all tell 
 you that you really did forget yourself and 
 that this short space of time is out of 
 accord with the rest of your life. But do 
 not believe them." 
 
 With the rain still falling in torrents, 
 the Prince went up to the castle and kept 
 climbing higher and higher, aimlessly, until 
 he reached the Konigstuhl. The roads were 
 muddy, and the rain, falling through the 
 fir trees to the moss below, kept u^ a con- 
 tinual drizzle. He could not see a hundred 
 yards ahead and the view of the Rhine val- 
 ley was entirely veiled ; but out of the forest 
 came such a fresh, sweet breath of nature, 
 that Karl Heinrich soon forgot his troubles. 
 
 Half an hour later, he was sitting in the 
 new glass summer-house that Herr Ruder 
 had built at great cost, and was drinking a 
 glass of good wine. Katie was beside him. 
 There was no one else in the garden, for 
 this was the Korps fighting day and others 
 did not come at that hour and certainly 
 not in such weather. It rained so hard now 
 that the drops made great bubbles as they 
 fell on the surface of the Neckar, and the 
 
 "7 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 houses on the opposite shore could hafdly 
 be seen. But Karl Heinrich's melancholy, 
 with which he had started the day, and in 
 which he had visited the poor Doctor, was 
 gone. In a few weeks, perhaps even sooner, 
 he would be back, and the good old Doctor 
 would be quite well again, and all these 
 forebodings of evil was nonsense. 
 
 "Go and get me a postal card, Katie!" 
 
 "What for?" 
 
 "Let us write to the Doctor." 
 
 She opened her umbrella, lifted her skirts 
 daintily and tripped cautiously through 
 the inundated garden to the house. When 
 she returned with the card, he wrote : 
 
 "Dear Doctor: It's all stupid nonsense! 
 I shall be back in a fortnight to find you 
 well and healthy, and take you out of the 
 hospital. Katie and I drink to your health. 
 
 K. H." 
 
 "Send the Doctor a greeting, Katie." 
 She read attentively what he had written, 
 took his gold pencil, whose point she first 
 put between her lips, and wrote : 
 
 "Karl Heinrich and I send you our very- 
 best wishes. Katie." 
 
 ii8 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 "What would you say, Katie," he asked, 
 "if I never came back?" 
 
 Very much surprised, she looked at 
 him. 
 
 "Never?" 
 
 "Never." 
 
 " But that is not possible ! " 
 
 The blood left her cheeks, she grew 
 deathly pale. 
 
 "But, you are surely coming back?" 
 
 He laughed. He was so sure of it now 
 that he could make light of it. If it should 
 happen, though it was- unlikely, that, for 
 some cause or another, they wanted to keep 
 him in Karlburg, he would simply insist on 
 his return to Heidelberg. He was no longer 
 a boy, with whom they could do as they 
 pleased, and there was no power on earth 
 that could deprive him of his liberty, which 
 he had at last won for himself. 
 
 " Just suppose, Katie, that I should not 
 come back, never, never; what would you 
 do then?" 
 
 Her lips trembled; she wanted to say 
 something, but found no words. Then she 
 arose, went over to him and put her arms 
 round his neck. 
 
 119 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 "You are coming back, Karl Heinz. I 
 feel it deep down in my heart!" 
 
 Hour after hour passed, and, v/ith the 
 rain still falling, the two sat together, with 
 Ruder's good wine before them. The aunts 
 in the kitchen, and Herr Ruder himself, 
 now and then looked through the opening 
 in the glass door, but did not disturb the 
 couple. A few guests came in during the 
 course of the afternoon, but they were kept 
 in the front room. When there was only 
 half an hour left in which to catch the 
 Frankfort express, Herr Ruder hitched his 
 horse to an old runabout and took the 
 reins himself, to drive his most illustrious 
 guest to the station. 
 
 No hereditary Prince had ever before 
 been driven to a station in such an un- 
 ceremonious way; a little waitress waving 
 her handkerchief after him, a galloping 
 horse, a dilapidated carriage arriving at 
 the station spattered with mud, no luggage, 
 no servant, only a Herr Ruder who was half 
 drunk and whose name was taken by a 
 policeman on account of such fast driving. 
 
 With increasing excitement, Herr Lutz 
 had waited in the house until twenty min- 
 
 120 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 utes before train time, and how well he had 
 grown accustomed to the irregular habits 
 of His Highness was proved by his con- 
 clusion that his master would go direct to 
 the station at the last moment. 
 
 Wet through, without an overcoat, Karl 
 Heinrich jumped into his reserved compart- 
 ment. Herr Lutz had only just time to 
 draw His Highness' attention to overcoat, 
 rugs and bags and to hasten to his own 
 car, when the train moved out of the sta- 
 tion. 
 
 For a long time the Prince stood at the 
 window, and, even after Heidelberg had 
 disappeared, he still gazed out at the fog. 
 Finally, he took a deep breath, like some- 
 one awakening from a dream. He took off 
 his silk Korps ribbon, which he wore over 
 his waistcoat, and put it in his pocket. 
 The dark-blue cap he put in a hat-box, 
 substituting for it a traveling hat. 
 
 The three red roses that Katie had given 
 him he kept in his hand. Sitting far back 
 on the soft red cushions, he tried to think 
 of Katie, but the picture of the Doctor 
 came constantly before his eyes. The poor 
 fellow was lying in the hospital and he, 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 Karl Heinrich, was on his way to Karl- 
 burg. Alone! Three months before they 
 had taken the same trip to Heidelberg, 
 together ! Together ! — Katie, the Doctor, 
 the Korps brothers, always together, always 
 jolly, always with others — and now he was 
 
 alone ! 
 
 ***** 
 
 The Lord Chamberlain, the equerries, 
 two adjutants — it was a solemn reception, 
 due to His Highness the hereditary Prince. 
 
 The lackeys stood in a double row, with 
 their hats in their hands, and right and 
 left, behind these lines, stood a curious 
 public which, excited over the serious bul- 
 letins concerning the illness of His Serene 
 Highness, had come to the station in great 
 numbers. 
 
 So the hereditary Prince was coming! 
 
 They had summoned him by telegraph! 
 
 In a few days. His Highness, the heredi- 
 tary Prince, might be the reigning Prince ! 
 
 They did not shout "Hoch," that would 
 not have suited the sad occasion, but all 
 hats were lifted and all the women bowed 
 to the future master. 
 
 Outside the station there was also a 
 
 122 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 large crowd; in fact, along the entire way 
 to the castle stood an uninterrupted line 
 of people, all saluting silently. 
 
 Karl Heinrich sat beside the Lord Cham- 
 berlain. In the Prince's room in the station, 
 he had talked with the gentlemen of the 
 Court and with the Doctors, and they had 
 assured him that the greatest danger, which 
 had threatened the preceding night, seemed 
 to be over, and that a recovery of His 
 Highness was quite possible. 
 
 He did not speak a word. He held his 
 hat in his hand and bowed right and left. 
 
 "How gloomy he looks!" said the men. 
 
 "How sad he looks!" said the women. 
 
 And he kept on bowing. 
 
 Thousands of people saluted him, a whole 
 town ! yC^ 
 
 It was only a short distance, and th^ y 
 fast horses brought him to the castle in a\ \ 
 very few minutes. l-^ 
 
 But it seemed as if, in that short ^^a.Q!^r~~~~^, 
 of time, a hidden hand had gripped ^s / 
 heart and had crowded many things out of 
 his life forever. < 
 
 The guard at the castle bridge presented 
 arms, but there was no music. 
 
 123 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 He bowed. 
 
 The carriage stopped, and slowly, with- 
 out haste, he got out. He did not notice 
 the lackeys on both sides of the stairs, 
 straight on he went, without looking for 
 the Lord Chamberlain and the adjutants, 
 who followed two or three steps behind, 
 up the broad marble stairs. 
 
 He was back in Karlburg — ^now he was 
 "the Prince" again. 
 
 The days passed, then became weeks, 
 and out of the weeks grew months. 
 
 The Doctors were the real masters in the 
 castle of Karlburg, they lived there and 
 hardly left the rooms of the old Prince. 
 
 The lackeys moved even more quietly 
 than usual, every loud sound in the castle 
 or its surroundings was forbidden, and 
 there was the silence of the grave in the 
 house and garden. 
 
 But the fear and sorrow, either deeply 
 felt or only assumed, which had been on 
 all faces during the first few weeks, slowly 
 disappeared. The servants yawned behind 
 the doors and the terrible weariness spread 
 from the sickroom, through the castle and 
 farther even, into the town of Karlburg. 
 
 124 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 No concerts, no diversion, no festivities, 
 every Sunday in the churches the very same 
 prayer for the sick Prince — a dreary same- 
 ness. 
 
 It was impossible for Karl Heinrich to 
 leave Karlburg. At first, he was restless 
 and nervous, and demanded of the Doctors 
 truthful reports of the illness. But later, 
 he grew accustomed to their shrugging of 
 shoulders, and, at last, gave up the hope, 
 for the present, of returning to Heidelberg. 
 
 The load of government afifairs, of which 
 he had made harder work than was neces- 
 sary, but which, at the same time, would 
 have been difficult under any circumstanceSj 
 claimed much of his time, while the dying 
 Prince naturally expected that his nephew 
 and heir should spend many hours in his 
 company. With his weak, hoarse voice, 
 often only a whisper, he talked of the past 
 and of the future, and in these dark hours 
 there came between uncle and nephew, who 
 had for twenty years lived together almost 
 as strangers, their first understanding. They 
 belonged together, the dying Prince and the 
 future Prince, and through the feverish 
 touch of the trembling hand, there passed 
 
 125 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 into the younger man an influence which 
 slowly changed his whole line of thought 
 and feeling. 
 
 "The Princes of this world live alone 
 on their thrones, a gulf never to be bridged 
 over separates them from all others, even 
 from those who, by reason of birth and 
 rank, stand as servants nearest their 
 thrones. And they ought to remain alone, 
 they must remain alone, — this is their most 
 difficult task, but herein lies also their great 
 strength. To stand in solitary majesty, that 
 is the great secret of their power!" 
 
 At first, Karl Heinrich tried, half uncon- 
 sciously, to close his mind to these words, 
 but the daily repetition of them, in that 
 quiet sickroom, took possession of him and 
 broke down all his weak efforts to combat 
 them. He fought against them, but he 
 was too weak, too weak, just as in every 
 thing else he did. 
 
 And everybody bowed to him. The dy- 
 ing Prince was no longer master in the cas- 
 tle, — no, it was he, Karl Heinrich, to whom 
 they did homage. Formerly, as a young 
 Prince not in special favor with His Serene 
 Highness, and with the possibility of suc- 
 
 126 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 cession to the throne very vague and dis- 
 tant, the homage of the people at Court 
 had been cold and formal. Now, he was no 
 longer a child, but a man; no longer an 
 applicant for the honors of an uncertain 
 future, but the new master, who, in a single 
 night, might assume his rights as reigning 
 Prince. It was a magic circle, which closed 
 round him, the humble homage of thou- 
 sands who suffered no contradiction, and all 
 that in this mouldy, hothouse air, which 
 killed thought ! 
 
 Months passed. Autumn came, and Win- 
 ter and Spring — a year had gone. But only 
 one year ! Why, it seemed like many. There 
 were times when an overwhelming impatience 
 seized him. Was this never going to end ! 
 This bitter, cruel waiting! But even this 
 impatience grew weak and powerless, and 
 passed away. 
 
 He was not well; his healthy color was 
 gone; but, when the old professor and the 
 other Doctors told him to take more ex- 
 ercise in the fresh air, he shrugged his 
 shoulders indifferently. 
 
 "There is nothing the matter with me, 
 I am not sick!" 
 
 127 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 In his writing desk lay the blue cap and 
 the colored sash from Heidelberg, next to 
 them three dried and faded roses — all that 
 he kept to remind him of that time. Heidel- 
 berg ! When he thought of it, it seemed as 
 if iron chains were bound round his chest 
 and were suffocating him. 
 
 Gone ! Lost ! Lost forever ! 
 
 Sometimes he tried to talk with Lutz 
 about Heidelberg. He did not care at all 
 for the fellow, but he kept him as his valet. 
 Perhaps for no other reason than that 
 Lutz was the only living remembrance of 
 that time. And Herr Lutz tried hard to 
 meet his master half way, to picture his 
 own miserable days in Heidelberg in a rosy 
 light and to revive little jokes of that time. 
 But his talk never sounded honest and 
 true. The beautiful picture of those three 
 months was distorted by his forced jokes 
 into something unlovely and unreal. 
 
 Otherwise, Herr Lutz was now the hap- 
 piest man at Court. His patient endur- 
 ance of that terrible time had borne golden 
 fruit, he was the coming man, before whom, 
 even now, all the lackeys humbled them- 
 selves. The reigning Prince's valet still 
 
 128 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 went through the house with a very proud 
 face, but his days were numbered: "Lutz" 
 was the name of the new star. While, to 
 Karl Heinrich, the recollection of Heidelberg 
 grew more and more dim, like a nursery 
 story that has lost its charm, the picture 
 of the students' town grew more beautiful 
 to Herr Lutz. To be sure, he had kicked 
 over the traces sometimes, had lived poorly 
 and had gone through many disagreeable 
 experiences, but, on the other hand, a great 
 many nice things had happened. He told 
 the chef all sorts of wonderftil stories, of 
 merry love affairs, of entire nights spent 
 in drinking, and more "what a gentleman 
 does not talk about." Heidelberg had 
 made his fortune and Herr Lutz was not 
 ungrateful. 
 
 Since the end of the winter, the Doctor 
 had been sleeping his last sleep in Heidel- 
 berg. The notice of his death, which the 
 director of the hospital communicated in a 
 humble form to His Highness, did not come 
 to Karl Heinrich unexpectedly, but still it 
 seemed to him something incomprehensible. 
 
 But in all his pain the Prince had that 
 bitter feeling of regret that if the Doctor 
 9 129 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 had died a year before, he would have felt 
 and have suffered much, much more. If 
 life could ever have brought them together 
 again, they would never have understood 
 each other as before. He felt as if someone 
 had died whom he had loved very much, 
 long ago, but who was now so distant to 
 him that even if he had come to life again, 
 he could never have brought him back to 
 be to him what he had once been. 
 
 Commanded to do so by His Highness 
 the hereditary Prince the Lord Chamber- 
 lain had sent to the Korps "Saxonia" a 
 beautiful wreath to be put on the grave of 
 the Doctor. Later, a monument was erected 
 over the grave, with the inscription: "To 
 his friend and teacher, in grateful remem- 
 brance. — Karl Heinrich, Prince von Karl- 
 burg." 
 
 And Katie ! 
 
 Yes, Katie ! 
 
 Where was Katie now? He had no pic- 
 ture of her, for a small photograph which 
 she had given him once could not be found 
 in his trunks. But her image was engraved 
 in his heart. Katie ! 
 
 Lost like all the others .... 
 130 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 On the Prince's writing desk stood, in a 
 gold frame, the picture of the young Saxon 
 Princess, his cousin, whose engagement to 
 Karl Heinrich had been one of the last 
 wishes of the dying Prince. She was a 
 handsome girl, with vivacious eyes and a 
 tall magnificent figure. 
 
 Karl Heinrich did not say "No," and the 
 beautiful Princess was not dissatisfied. She 
 was a year older than the future reigning 
 Prince, as children they had played to- 
 gether; they had no cause to dislike each 
 other, and both for reasons of State and 
 because it was the wish of both families, 
 the marriage would, in every way, be a 
 suitable one. '^ '§. 
 
 On account of the Prince's recent death, 
 however, the wedding could not yet take 
 place. 
 
 Katie! .... Katie! .... 
 
 131 
 
1^.^^ 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 In the old mausoleum at Marienburg, 
 the late Prince had been laid to his last 
 rest, and Karl Heinrich was now the master 
 at the castle of Karlburg. 
 
 But a feeling of gloom, which long ill- 
 ness and death had brought to the country, 
 the town and the castle, did not pass away. 
 Month after month went by and still there 
 lay over Court and castle a great quiet 
 and sadness. 
 
 "His Highness is still mourning," said 
 the people; but they hardly believed them- 
 selves in this weak excuse. 
 
 How much they had expected of this 
 young, almost too young Prince ! Happi- 
 ness and new ideas, changing, at last, the 
 sleepy Court and castle into a place of 
 pleasure and enjoyment. Visits of foreign 
 princes, balls, hunting, a ball of the citi- 
 zens in the new town hall, an interest in 
 the opera house, and, at any rate, a pleas- 
 ant face and sympathy for the wishes of 
 the town and of the land. 
 
 132 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 What a handsome young prince Karl 
 Heinrich had been, so natural and so kind ! 
 When a child, in the presence of strangers, 
 he had always shown great reserve and 
 diffidence, but, then he was only a child ! 
 
 When His Serene Highness now rode 
 through Karlburg, his adjutant beside him, 
 he replied indifferently and coldly to all 
 salutes. He received the deputies of the 
 various towns in regal style, but only made 
 short answers to their speeches. During 
 the past ten years, the late Prince had been 
 proud, haughty and imperious, but the 
 young Prince seemed to be even more so. 
 
 The equerries and the people at Court 
 comforted each other by saying : "This will 
 all change when he is married, "and this de- 
 lusion found an echo in the citizens : "When 
 he is only married." 
 
 The wedding was fixed for the 30th of 
 May; the solemn entrance of the princely 
 couple into Karlburg would take place on 
 the 4th of June. On the 5th of June a 
 great torchlight procession of the citizens, 
 on the 6th a great Court festival in the 
 castle, receptions, audiences and festivities 
 of all sorts during the following three days. 
 
 ^33 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 In the Lord Chamberlain's office they 
 worked day and night, a feverish zeal pos- 
 sessed castle and town, a great desire to 
 prepare everything in good order. The only 
 one who was, as usual, cold and indifferent 
 was he in whose honor all this was being 
 done. 
 
 About twelve days before the wedding, 
 something happened which, although it had 
 no after consequences, kept everyone, for a 
 few days, in a state of great excitement. 
 A fanny looking old man, in a dress-coat 
 of antiquated style, was brought to the 
 equerry on duty, who introduced him to 
 His Excellency the Lord Chamberlain. The 
 old fellow had tried, in a very unceremon- 
 ious way, to gain an entrance to the castle, 
 pretending all the time that he wished to 
 speak with His Serene Highness. 
 
 "The man's name is Kellermann," ex- 
 plained the equerry to His Excellency, 
 "and he comes from Heidelberg. He wants 
 to ask a favor of His Highness, the ful- 
 fillment of which His Highness had prom- 
 ised him faithfully in Heidelberg." 
 
 His Excellency the Lord Chamberlain, 
 overworked and nervous, commanded them 
 
 134 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 to send the fellow away, to tell him to 
 send in his petition in the usual way; but 
 a presentiment told the equerry that His 
 Highness might want to see the old man. 
 During dinner, he took occasion to mention 
 the matter to His Highness. 
 
 "You say Kellermann?" 
 
 "Yes, Your Highness, the man's name is 
 Kellermann." 
 
 "From Heidelberg?" 
 
 "Yes, Your Highness, from Heidelberg." 
 
 "Very well. Send the man to my room 
 when dinner is over." 
 
 With the same calm, cold expression as 
 usual, the Prince finished his dinner, with- 
 out undue haste, but a flood of recollections 
 almost overwhelmed him. Kellermann ! 
 Heidelberg ! One of them ! To see one of 
 them at last ! Even if only Kellermann ! 
 Poor Kellermann ! 
 
 Coldly and indifferently he left his equer- 
 ries, went across to his library and opened 
 his writing desk. There was his cap, the 
 tri-colored sash, the three faded roses. . . 
 
 The lackeys in the ante-room looked at 
 each other and shook their heads. Again 
 they looked at each other and again they 
 
 135 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 shook their heads. For two hours that 
 strange looking fellow had been closeted 
 with His Highness and was still with him. 
 
 If they could only have looked inside 
 and seen the old man, in his shabby coat, 
 sitting in His Highness' armchair, while the 
 Prince had put his hand on Kellermann's 
 shoulder, and was bending over him, smil- 
 ing with quivering lips ! 
 
 " This Kellermann ! He shall become my 
 head cellarman ! He hasn't forgotten what 
 I promised him long ago, coming even 
 from Heidelberg and in a dress-suit and 
 top-hat. Let me look at you, Kellermann. 
 Oh, how funny!" 
 
 He laughed, the first time in years. 
 
 "All right, Kellermann, you shall stay; 
 you shall be my head cellarman, that's un- 
 derstood. But I expect you are hungry and 
 thirsty now. When did you arrive?" He 
 pressed the button: "Bring wine and food 
 for this gentleman. Yes, here. No for- 
 malities!" 
 
 Twice he went up and down the room, 
 then stopped before the old man: 
 
 "Look at me, Kellermann. Do you still 
 know me? Did you recognize me?" 
 
 136 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 "Certainly." 
 
 "Really? Did you?" His face grew 
 sober again. For a moment he put both 
 his hands to his temples and stared straight 
 in front of him. "It's two years ago! 
 People change so in that time, many things 
 may happen in two years!" 
 
 After a while he looked up wearily, for 
 Kellermann had timidly asked him a ques- 
 tion. 
 
 "Bring your wife! Why, certainly. But 
 she can't do my laundry now, as she used 
 to in Heidelberg. Or did you think she 
 could?" He smiled again, and so did Herr 
 Kellermann. 
 
 "And, now, Kellermann, tell me all; 
 that is, the principal things. Tell me of 
 Heidelberg and of everybody." 
 
 But this narration did not come very 
 smoothly. He did not say a word of his 
 own accord, but waited to be questioned; 
 every question had to be put very simply, 
 and only after answering that could he put 
 his mind on a new subject. He was like 
 an old chronicle, out of which facts are 
 gleaned only after laborious searching, but 
 he had this advantage over those old 
 
 137 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 books; he was more certain, and answered 
 at once. 
 
 Herr Bilz was still with "Saxonia;" 
 also little Hammerschmidt, who had failed 
 to pass the Easter examination. Herr von 
 Bansin was now the best fighter in Heidel- 
 berg, remaining term after term for love of 
 it ; but all the others had left, most of them 
 having been gone some time. 
 
 "Ernst von Heidenreich?" 
 
 "Gone to Berlin." 
 
 "Franzius?" 
 
 "Gone to Berlin." 
 
 "And fat Kurt Engelbrecht?" 
 
 Herr Kellermann looked serious and said, 
 in a subdued voice : 
 
 "Gone to the other side, to America." 
 
 Only three were left in Heidelberg ! The 
 last three of that merry crew who had 
 never thought of the fature, who had lived 
 as if they were to remain together forever ! 
 And now they were scattered in all direc- 
 tions ! 
 
 The servant brought wine and food, 
 which Herr Kellermann seemed to enjoy, 
 and, after a long interval, he again an- 
 swered the Prince's questions : where the 
 
 138 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 Doctor was buried, and if Kellermann had 
 seen the grave ; who lived now in Frau Dorf- 
 fel's rooms; did they still go to the castle 
 for their morning glass; did they go every 
 Monday to Neckarsteinach, as they did 
 then ; was Herr Roux still the fencing master 
 and what of the fights ; did the Korps fight 
 in Heidelberg or in the villages, and then : 
 
 "How is Miss Katie?" 
 
 "Katie?" 
 
 "Yes, Miss Katie, in Ruder 's restaurant?" 
 His voice broke and he blushed furiously. 
 But Herr Kellermann did not notice any- 
 thing, and answered, indifferently: 
 
 "Yes, she is still there." 
 
 "At Ruder's?" 
 
 "Yes, at Ruder's." 
 
 "And — and — how is she?" 
 
 "She is quite well." 
 
 "She is still there? Just as she used 
 be? Those who visit Ruder's still findi 
 there?" 
 
 "Certainly." 
 
 Karl Heinrich walked over to the. 
 window and looked out. Through t 
 path between the rows of lime t 
 yond the park, where he sav^c;fi£l' 
 
 139 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 stretched away into the blue distance. Far 
 below on the castle walls, before the broad 
 moat, blossomed the lilacs, and over the 
 water flew the swallows, often passing close 
 to the window. 
 
 For two lonely years he had lived here, 
 far from the merry world, at the sickbed 
 of a pessimistic old man, who would not 
 die and who held him fast in his slowly 
 numbing hands. As for himself, he had 
 been too weak and too cowardly to tear 
 himself away forcibly. 
 
 Two long years ! Two years, in which 
 he might have been happy ! They seemed 
 to him like decades. And beyond these 
 decades lay his short youth, of which he 
 had scarcely thought and had now nearly 
 forgotten ! Forgotten ! Only weaklings 
 forget like that ! 
 
 Heidelberg, the Korps, Katie — they were 
 indistinct memories, vague as a dream, 
 and now, this man had come and had 
 spoken of all this again, had told him that 
 everything was the same, the same as be- 
 fore — ^that there in Heidelberg, a day's jour- 
 ney, some hundred miles distant, the same 
 people still lived ! That they enjoyed their 
 
 140 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 lives, drank, laughed, loved — and all this 
 without him, just as if a Prince Karl Hein- 
 rich had never existed, or, at least, had 
 never been necessary to them ! 
 
 Out of the background of the room 
 sounded Herr Kellermann's voice, speaking 
 for the first time without being questioned. 
 Heavily and slowly, as if he was announc- 
 ing some deep philosophy, about which he 
 had been thinking during the last silent 
 minutes, he said : 
 
 "Heidelberg is not the same place that 
 it used to be. They all say so, even Herr 
 Bilz." 
 
 "Not the same place?" 
 
 "Not as it was once, while you were 
 there." 
 
 Karl Heinrich's eyes shone : 
 
 "Do they say so? Do they all say so? 
 Do they still talk of me in Heidelberg, 
 Kellermann?" 
 
 "Oh, yes." 
 
 "Did nobody ever ask"— he took the old 
 man by both shoulders and pulled him up 
 — "if I would ever come back? Or why I 
 didn't come back?" 
 
 "Yes, yes, very often," 
 141 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 "And the little one— the little girl at 
 Ruder's?" 
 
 "Katie?" Herr Kellermann was a little 
 puzzled. Slowly he searched his memory. 
 "Katie?" Suddenly a thought seemed to 
 strike him, a chain of recollections opened 
 in his brain, and, half talking to himself, 
 he nodded his head : 
 
 "Katie! That's right! Yes, yes! She 
 has cried very much!" 
 
 ***** 
 
 "Please take care of the old man, my 
 dear Excellency. The man stood near me 
 during my life in Heidelberg, I should like 
 to know that he is well cared for." 
 
 The Lord Chamberlain was happy. 
 Those were the first kind words His High- 
 ness had ever spoken to him. And how 
 curiously the Prince had spoken ! So moved. 
 None of that usual cold reserve, which froze 
 everything around the Prince. But, what 
 had happened! "My dear Excellency!" 
 
 His Excellency himself accompanied the 
 old man to his rooms, the servants flew, 
 kitchen and cellar gave their best; Herr 
 Kellermann might well be satisfied ! 
 
 But what had happened ! 
 142 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 At a late hour that night, the Prince 
 was still up. Youth — his lost, forgotten 
 youth — had knocked once more at the door, 
 and Karl Heinrich's tired, hardened heart 
 was touched. 
 
 In a few days he would go to bring his 
 bride to the castle of Karlburg, and on 
 that day would begin for him the long 
 years of a settled life. From that day on 
 everything was clear, prescribed, calculated ; 
 every step and every action planned before- 
 hand; the whole future life a straight road, 
 in which there is no chance turning until 
 the end is reached. The life of a citizen 
 can be full of changes, full of ups and downs, 
 but that of a Prince is calculated and ad- 
 justed, certain and monotonous for all time. 
 
 Only one friend, who might sit there 
 now and say : 
 
 "It can't be helped, Karl Heinrich, you 
 must bear it." 
 
 Some one to comfort and cheer him ! 
 
 "My God! My God!" 
 
 He was beside himself. 
 
 Deathly silence! 
 
 Outside in the park the night wind 
 rustled through the trees, but the castle 
 
 143 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 slept. Karlburg slept — the town, the coun- 
 try, everything was sleeping here. 
 
 Midnight ! There they sat in Ruder's 
 garden in Heidelberg; they sang, drank, 
 laughed, and, looking at the clock, said : 
 "It's only midnight." 
 
 And then Katie, in her white apron,' 
 came through the garden, yawning and 
 rubbing her eyes with her little fists; they 
 all laughed, and Karl Heinrich held up his 
 glass to her: 
 
 "Drink, Katie; wake up!" 
 
 "Prosit, Karl Heinz! Live long and 
 well!" 
 
 Who said that ! He got up, and from 
 the window he looked into the dimly 
 lighted room. Who had spoken those 
 words ! There, outside of the room, some- 
 where ! 
 
 "It was the Doctor's voice! "Prosit, 
 Karl Heinz, live long and well!" 
 
 The Prince trembled all over. He crossed 
 the room, turned on the light and emptied 
 a large wineglass at one draught. 
 
 "Live long and well!" Yes, he lived, 
 and the Doctor, who had said this a thou- 
 sand times, mouldered in the grave. 
 
 144 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 "Live long and well!" Yes, Karl Heinz 
 still lived, a beautiful life ! 
 
 He filled the glass again and lifted it 
 up. He stared at the dark comer, raising 
 the glass : 
 
 "Doctor!" 
 
 And, when the dead silence continued : 
 "To you!" 
 
 * * * * 4^ 
 
 Herr Lutz sat outside in the waiting- 
 room fighting with sleep, for hours. Not 
 since the time at Heidelberg had he been 
 kept awake so late. At various times he 
 listened at the door to see if His Highness 
 while sitting at his writing-desk, had not 
 been overcome by sleep, but, again and 
 again, he heard the muffled steps of the 
 Prince, as he walked up and down. What 
 had happened ! 
 
 But Herr Lutz could no longer think. 
 He was so weary that his body seemed 
 still awake, but hisbrain was entirely numb. 
 What a good thing- that the wedding was 
 soon to come off. Then he would go to 
 bed punctually and live as he should. 
 
 At last — ^it was about three o'clock — he 
 heard the welcome call of the bell. 
 
 10 145 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 "All right!" 
 
 Herr Lutz arose and in the next moment 
 he was in His Highness' room. 
 
 The morning was breaking, and, in the 
 pale light, the Prince stood at the window, 
 indistinct in the grey shadows of the dawn. 
 
 "Are you still awake, Lutz?" 
 
 "Most certainly, Your Highness." 
 
 "You mustn't go to sleep, Lutz. Wake 
 up the servants, I want my trunks packed. 
 Let someone inform His Excellency the Lord 
 Chamberlain. I am going on a journey." 
 
 "Going on ?" 
 
 "You shall accompany me, you alone, 
 Lutz. We are going to Heidelberg." 
 
 " H— Heidelberg ? " 
 
 "Only for a day or two. We shall be 
 back Saturday evening. There is not a 
 minute to be lost. Hurry up ! " 
 
 Herr Lutz went, his head bent low, like 
 one who has been given a severe blow and 
 who is therefore unable to think. 
 
 Karl Heinrich still stood at the window, 
 and, with a beaming face, looked out at 
 the bright morning. 
 
 "Once more!" 
 
 " Just once more ! " 
 146 
 
^-t^"'' 
 
 CHAPTER YIII 
 
 S' 
 
 Once more Karl Heinricli was on his way 
 to Heidelberg. 
 
 It was in May, just as it was two years 
 ago. He passed the same villages, mills, 
 fields and towns as then, the train climbed 
 the heights of the Main and there, there,, 
 in the distance, lay South Germany. 
 
 The sun was high in the heaven, it was 
 hot, almost sufifocating. The Prince pulled 
 the curtains down and shut his eyes; he 
 was tired. He had not slept for thirty 
 hours and now a reaction was replacing 
 the passionate excitement of the night 
 before. 
 
 What object did he have in making this 
 journey? None. What did he want in 
 Heidelberg, anyway? They wouldn't know 
 what to think in Karlburg now, and every- 
 one, from Secretary of State down to the 
 last stable boy, would call this journey 
 the act of a madman, a stupid, rash deed, 
 of which only a young student could be 
 capable. 
 
 147 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 Nervously he put his head between his 
 hands : it would be best, perhaps, to return 
 and not finish this Quixotic journey. 
 
 But, then, they would be even more sur- 
 prised, and would shake their wise heads. 
 Everyone in the world can allow himself 
 such extravagances occasionally — everyone 
 except the one hundreds of thousands look 
 up to, and whose slightest action is criti- 
 cised. 
 
 It was terribly hot ; he raised the blinds 
 again and leaned far out of the window, 
 so that the cloud of dust raised by the 
 train whirled about his head. 
 
 "Nothing matters!" Let those spies 
 at home laugh or make fun of him, let 
 them, — ^to-day he, Karl Heinrich, was a free 
 man! 
 
 On, On ! How the train rushed along ! 
 Farther and farther ! No one could catch 
 him now! The yelping pack remained far 
 behind and he was free ! He shut his eyes 
 and let the wind blow full in his face. That 
 was good, it felt like a fight ! 
 
 Wasn't it the same sensation he had 
 felt so long ago when the tall "Vandalia" 
 student had struck him through his guard 
 
 148 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 in the face, again and again ! Grand ! 
 Ready for fight ! 
 
 To fight ! What is there finer on God's 
 earth ! Nothing more horrible than this 
 slow dozing and sleeping, to be made much 
 of, but still to be under guardianship and, 
 worse than all else, to slowly moulder away. 
 
 His muscles were tense almost to burst- 
 ing. On ! On ! To-night in Heidelberg ! 
 They had not yet subdued him in Karlburg, 
 he still had the courage to make this wild, 
 lawless journey ! And he should be happy, 
 happy for only two days, but two such 
 happy days! 
 
 "Wer reitet mit zwanzig Knappen ein 
 Zu Heidelberg im Hirschen?" 
 
 Half to himself he sang the song, then 
 louder and louder, and, at last, witl 
 fall voice : 
 
 " HoUaheh ! den Hahn ins Fass ! schenk^ 
 ein!" 
 
 Before him lay the sunnyrs 
 Main. How is it the songituns? 
 
 . . I see the country rou 
 lie at my feet 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 It is so beautiful here, so beautiful ! 
 
 And he was still so young — he, Karl 
 Heinz ! Only twenty-two years old. The 
 whole world ought to have been open to 
 him, but at home they had taken his light 
 and air, they had walled him in. 
 
 Arrived in Frankfort, he thought for a 
 moment of leaving the train. The station 
 restaurant was right in front of him, and 
 everyone was crowding to get in. Why 
 didn't he go along with the others? He 
 did it two years ago, when he went there 
 with the Doctor, enjoying the new-found 
 liberty. Nobody knew him excepting, per- 
 haps, the guards and Lutz — so why 
 shouldn't he? 
 
 "Twenty minutes* stop!" the guards 
 called out, and all the travelers went into 
 the various parts of the station. Only a 
 few elderly ladies remained in their com- 
 partments. 
 
 Karl Heinrich got up and started to 
 leave, but went back again and closed the 
 door. He had become more dependent on 
 others than ever, more so even than two 
 years ago. It was so easy to go there like 
 the others, to move about quietly, to call 
 
 15° 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 the waiter, to order sometliing and to pay — 
 but, still, he could not. He could not. 
 He tried once more, but a cold perspira- 
 tion broke out on his forehead. The train 
 had left Frankfort long since, but the 
 Prince still sat back on his cushions, star- 
 ing at the opposite wall, his arms hang- 
 ing down weakly. 
 
 "I am like a marionette, able to dance 
 only when the wires are pulled. Stupid 
 as a child, and as cowardly ! " 
 
 A grim smile passed across his face. He 
 was running away to be free, if only for two 
 days ! He who could hardly walk a step 
 alone! He who knocked himself at every 
 turn, looked at everything in the wrong 
 light and who wouldn't be able to speak 
 one natural word in Heidelberg! 
 
 Village after village passed by. Wein- 
 heim — here he had danced for half a night 
 with a beautiful blond, whose lovely hair 
 hung down her back in two long braids. 
 
 Jugenheim. He smiled weakly. Here had 
 occurred that mad affair with the young 
 ladies from the convent at Darmstadt, 
 
 And that was only two years ago ! No 
 longer? 
 
 151 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 Anotlier ten minutes, eight, five, three- 
 then the first houses — and now: The 
 Neckar. 
 
 His heart was nearly bursting. 
 
 "Heidelberg!" 
 
 " Five minutes' stop ! " 
 
 Once the Doctor, with his dry humor, 
 had said: "A year's stop;" a faint smile 
 passed over Karl Heinrich's face, and, lean- 
 ing against the door, waiting for the guard, 
 he murmured to himself: "Two days' stop 
 — two days — two " 
 
 He passed through the crowd, Lutz be- 
 side him, and entered a carriage. He knew 
 every house they passed, and even saw 
 them all, but his thoughts were far away, 
 were nowhere. "A year's stop" — ^that was 
 all he could think of Also that, for the 
 Doctor, that "one year's stop" had become 
 an eternal residence. But this thought was 
 not a sentimental one, but came to him 
 like a mathematical deduction, entering his 
 head because his brain refused, just then, 
 to think of something reasonable. He might 
 just as well have thought: "Three times 
 nine are twenty-seven." It seemed as if 
 his head and his thinking powers were 
 
 152 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 exposed to an enormous pressure, reducing 
 his brain to the size of a hazelnut. 
 
 The carriage drove across the market- 
 place : there was Frau Dorffel's house, with 
 the six front windows behind which he 
 had lived. 
 
 He nodded stupidly to himself: "Yes, 
 yes!" 
 
 Arriving at the Hotel Prinz Carl, Herr 
 Lutz whispered a few words into the head 
 porter's ear, and, in a few seconds the 
 whole house was in a state of excitement. 
 
 Everybody bowed deeply when the Prince, 
 with his cold, indifferent face, went up the 
 stairs. Herr Lutz, looking anxiously at 
 his master, gave him his arm for support, 
 and the Prince leaned heavily on it, until 
 they reached his rooms, where he sat down 
 in an armchair. 
 
 With closed eyes, the Prince sat there 
 for some time. 
 
 "Your Highness " 
 
 "What is it?" He opened his eyes and 
 looked about like one just aroused from a 
 long, heavy dream. 
 
 "Your Highness should take some rest, 
 Your Highness is overtired." 
 
 153 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 And as the Prince stared at him, ap- 
 parently without seeing or understanding 
 him, he added : 
 
 "Your Highness is in Heidelberg." 
 
 "Yes, yes." 
 
 A faint, tired smile passed across Karl 
 Heinrich's face, a smile which Herr Lutz did 
 not notice, or, at least, did not understand. 
 
 "In Heidelberg. Quite right. Yes, I 
 
 will go to sleep now." 
 
 ***** 
 
 Dressed to perfection, the tri-colored 
 sash across the low-cut dress waistcoat, 
 in every way "comme il faut," the Korps 
 "Saxonia," consisting of five "old gentle- 
 men," ten "Burschen," and eight "foxes," 
 assembled in His Highness' reception room, 
 to be received by him in audience. 
 
 It was ten o'clock in the morning. 
 
 They stood about in groups, whispering 
 to each other. Herr Bilz went from one to 
 another and, in his melancholy voice, gave 
 the last instructions, especially to the two 
 younger men. But Herr Bilz was excited 
 himself He had been in Heidelberg for 
 twenty-four terms and had made the ac- 
 quaintance of many men, but never had he 
 
 154 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 spoken to a real reigning Prince. He 
 thought of the speech with which he would 
 welcome His Highness, but now found it 
 stupid and absurd. Nothing was more 
 difficult than this short speech. It might 
 be too solemn or too cordial, too pathetic 
 or too cool, by the least wrong word he 
 might spoil every-thing. 
 
 Again he went over to the "foxes:" 
 "You keep back until I give you a sign. 
 Only speak when the Prince addresses you. 
 For God's sake, Winz, look at yourself! 
 What sort of a dress-coat have you got 
 on?" 
 
 "I have borrowed it," Winz said, fright- 
 ened. 
 
 "Oh, oh!" Herr Bilz's voice sounded 
 even more melancholy, but he did not pur- 
 sue the fatal subject. "Stay behind the 
 others, let nobody see you!" 
 
 A feeling of awe seemed to have come 
 over the whole Korps. A reigning Prince 
 who, in a certain sense, belonged to "Sax- 
 onia," and who invited "Saxonia" to his 
 rooms ! There was no other Korps in 
 Heidelberg that could boast of such an 
 honor. 
 
 ^55 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 Someone in a dress-coat and silk breeches 
 pushed open the doors and then stepped 
 solemnly aside. For a few seconds, they 
 gazed into the next room; then steps were 
 heard, coming across the soft carpet, and 
 in the open doorway stood the Prince. 
 
 He was dressed in a black morning 
 coat. His face was pale, except that on 
 his left cheek glowed two red scars. His 
 right hand was raised, as if to give it to 
 the first one he recognized. 
 
 But in the room before him, all were 
 bowing deeply. Herr Bilz stepped to the 
 front : 
 
 "Your Highness " 
 
 His look encountered that of his former 
 friend, who stared at him as if to say: 
 "Aren't you coming? Won't you give me 
 your hand? Karl Bilz! . . . 
 
 And Herr Bilz lost his nerve : 
 
 "Your Highness give — ^have — do us the 
 honor — ^we are all grateful — and honor, which 
 everyone of us — knows how to appreciate — 
 and therefore — we beg to welcome Your 
 Highness to Heidelberg in all sincerity, 
 most heartily and respectfully." 
 
 The Prince took a step forward and 
 156 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 nodded curtly. His face was cold and stem 
 again. 
 
 "Will you be kind enough, Herr Bilz, to 
 introduce to me your Korps brothers." 
 
 Herr Bilz obeyed. He got the names 
 all mixed, but that didn't matter. 
 
 And the Prince spoke to each one of 
 them. 
 
 "How many terms have you been here?" 
 "How do you like Heidelberg?" "You 
 study law?" "Where do your parents 
 live ? " " Will you stay here for some time ? ' ' 
 — and so on. 
 
 After the introductions were over, he 
 addressed Herr Bilz : 
 
 "Will you and the other gentlemen be 
 my guests for dinner? I am leaving to- 
 night, so please come at three o'clock." 
 
 He nodded curtly, bowed to the res|^ of 
 them and returned to his room. 
 
 The gentleman in dress-coat an 
 breeches closed the doors — the aui 
 was over. 
 
 Ten carriages, in which the students 
 arrived and in which they now drove 
 stood most solemnly before the hotel, 
 glowed on the young faces, and all Heii 
 
 157 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 berg, students and citizens, gazed after them. 
 The Prince had received them in a solemn 
 audience, they really were to be envied ! 
 
 Karl Heinrich stood in the middle of his 
 room, leaning heavily on the back of a 
 chair. The ridiculous dream of two days 
 was over. . . . 
 
 At noon, the Prince drove, in a closed 
 carriage, to the cemetery. He had fought 
 with himself as to whether he ought to 
 fulfill this last duty which bound him to 
 Heidelberg or not, but at last his better 
 self conquered, and he went. 
 
 The grave-digger, who did not know 
 him, took him to the Doctor's last resting 
 place and said, excusing himself: "It is 
 not in order as yet, but there is always a 
 lot to do in the beginning of Spring, and we 
 shall start here next week." 
 
 "It's all right." 
 
 The man wanted to tell him more, but 
 he sent him away. 
 
 A little white plant had overgrown the 
 whole grave, several faded wreaths, with 
 dirty silk ribbons, lay at one side, the iron 
 fence stood bare and unfinished, and the 
 only thing of dignity about the grave was 
 
 158 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 the marble cross, with the inscription : 
 "To his friend and teacher, in grateful 
 remembrance. — Karl Heinrich, Prince von 
 Karlburg." 
 
 For a long time, Karl Heinrich looked 
 down upon this forgotten grave, which 
 had certainly not been visited by anyone 
 since the poor Doctor's burial. He bent 
 down and broke off one of the silver-grey 
 leaves, to keep it, but soon after, he took 
 it thoughtlessly between his lips, and finally 
 dropped it. 
 
 It was remarkable how quietly and in- 
 differently he remained at the grave of one 
 who was once his friend ! Suddenly, he 
 had the ridiculous feeling that the departed, 
 while alive, had really often neglected his 
 duty, and — look at it in whatever way you 
 please — had, as a tutor, permitted himself 
 extraordinary liberties. 
 
 The terrible awakening of to-day, the 
 hopelessness, the icy coldness of the past 
 two years — all this rushed upon his memory. 
 
 What, this man down there, he had been 
 his only friend ! What a shame ! A drunk- 
 ard, a chatter-box, a man without any 
 ^eripus thoughts whatever! 
 
 159 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 And yet, the Doctor had meant well, 
 he really had. 
 
 They had spent many happy hours to- 
 gether — ^long ago, in Karlburg, when the 
 Doctor, contrary to orders, gave him cigar- 
 ettes, which they smoked in a room far 
 up in the tower. He smiled. And then 
 here, in Heidelberg ! He turned to look 
 for the castle, which stood forth in rehef 
 against the forest green. 
 
 What a crazy fellow the Doctor was 
 then ! How comically he used to play on 
 a concertina, so that all the Englishmen 
 stopped to listen, their staid British faces 
 breaking into smiles. 
 
 "Prosit, Karl Heinz, live happy and 
 well!" The Doctor's eternal toast. 
 
 The Prince bowed his head over the 
 neglected grave : "Poor Doctor!" 
 
 He took the faded wreaths and put 
 them outside the railing. With both hands 
 he pulled out the weeds which grew a foot 
 high between grave and fence, and threw 
 them out, also. He worked for more than 
 half an hour to clear the narrow paths 
 round the grave inside the enclosure. 
 
 When he had finished, he sighed deeply. 
 i6o 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 How much nicer and brighter it looked 
 now ! He took off his soiled gloves and was 
 going to throw them out with the wreaths 
 and weeds, but, instead of doing so, he 
 folded them and put them in his pocket. 
 
 When, half an hour later, he left the 
 cemetery, he felt better. And if this journey 
 of yesterday and to-day to Heidelberg had 
 been to no purpose, his time had not been 
 entirely lost. The hour at the Doctor's 
 grave alone was worth it all. 
 
 * » * * 4f 
 
 The conversation at the dinner table 
 was not a lively one, but it was not the 
 fault of the host. Karl Heinrich sat in the 
 center, next to Karl Bilz, who was slowly 
 overcoming his embarrassment and who 
 had nothing else to do but to tell of the 
 past two years. Twice the Prince raised 
 his glass to him: "To your health, my 
 dear Bilz ! " After the third course, the 
 Senior arose and, at the end of a short 
 speech, called upon the Korps "to drink to 
 the health of him, who, being a member 
 of "Saxonia," furnishes the brightest spot 
 in the history of the Korps, now and for all 
 time. His Highness proves, by his presence 
 II i6i 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 among us, that he remembers with pleasure 
 the happy time which I and all those who 
 took part in it, will never forget." 
 
 A jubilant "Hoch" rang through the 
 room, the waiters rushed round the tables 
 with champagne, the glasses clicked, and, 
 bowing on all sides, touching his glass 
 lightly with those of his neighbors, the 
 Prince stood in the midst of them all. 
 
 They all grew livelier, and when, shortly 
 before dinner was over, the Prince raised 
 his glass, and, after a few friendly words, 
 saluted the Korps with "Saxonia, vivat, 
 floreat, crescat, in aetemum!" — ^the spell 
 was broken. He was surrounded and cheered 
 by everybody. 
 
 But this was at the height of the excite- 
 ment, which could not continue long. Every- 
 one grew quiet again. His Highness was 
 certainly very affable, very kind and very 
 nice, but even the most foolish "fox" felt 
 that there was a line drawn somewhere. 
 This soon showed itself The conversation 
 touched on the departure of the Prince. 
 He looked at his watch and said that he 
 would have to leave in about an hour's 
 time. But they all expressed a great deal 
 
 162 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 of regret and begged him to stay that 
 evening. Such a beautiful evening, too. 
 They would go to the castle or to Neckar- 
 gemund or take a trip on the Neckar, with 
 music and Japanese lanterns ! 
 
 The Prince smiled, but a little coldly 
 and constrainedly. The well-meant but 
 rather exaggerated urging became so gen- 
 eral that, at last, he consented to stay. 
 But from that time on, he sat there, quiet 
 and mute, like one who has gone too far. 
 And everybody seemed to recognize the fact. 
 A general sentiment of restraint seemed to 
 overspread the table, conversation became 
 quieter, stopped, started again with diffi- 
 culty, and finally stopped altogether. The 
 heated faces looked stupid and the wine 
 in the glasses remained untouched. 
 
 They took coffee at the castle, and up 
 there, in the fresh air, the Prince became 
 quite unconstrained again. It was a day 
 of continually changing sentiments. A band 
 was playing, all around sat the families of 
 the Heidelberg professors and citizens, the 
 ladies giving all their attention and looks to 
 the young Prince. He knew most of them 
 by sight; he had danced with the young 
 
 163 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 lady over there in Jugenheim, she blushed 
 furiously when he looked at her. Here, 
 there, everywhere — ^well known faces. 
 
 The President of the University passed 
 with his ladies, the Korps saluted, so did 
 Karl Heinrich, and the President, who did 
 not know him, returned the salute indif- 
 ferently. 
 
 Just as it used to be ! 
 
 Towards evening, the Prince strolled with 
 his Korps along the hills and meadows of 
 the Neckar. A deep peace had come over 
 him. Herr Bilz walked beside him, talking 
 of past events ; he heard the voices of the 
 others close behind him, but the words and 
 sounds seemed to come from a distance. 
 He felt like a tired wanderer who has but 
 a day to rest. To-morrow he must go 
 away, never to return to the students, to 
 Heidelberg. He felt this without regret. 
 They had all been very friendly and atten- 
 tive, but, on the whole, he was a stranger 
 to them. Instead of the old "Du" and 
 " Karl Heinrich," it was now the stiff " Your 
 Highness." He would not regret this day, 
 for it had once more renewed his youth— 
 not, however, in the golden sunshine of 
 
 164 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 the morning, but in the dull light of 
 evening. 
 
 Once or twice he glanced at Karl Bilz. 
 Years ago they had done the same foolish 
 things, had drunk and fought together, 
 said "du" to each other, and to-day, this 
 same Karl Bilz walked beside him like a 
 guide, relating matters of interest to His 
 Highness out of the chronicles of Heidel- 
 berg. 
 
 No ! He ought to have gone ! And 
 to-day ! Viewing it in the proper light, he 
 felt that this day had slowly killed all the 
 recollections of his youth and that they 
 would never be revived. 
 
 Not one word from the warm heart of 
 a friend, not one who would say: "You 
 have been our good friend and we all loved ,i^ 
 you. To-day you are raised far above us^ \ 
 but we shall always think of you, we willi \ 
 never forget you ! We have been young V^ 
 together!" j~~~--^ 
 
 But, nothing, nothing ! ! / 
 
 "Over there is Neckargemund," said-v 
 Herr Bilz. '"l-r^"'^ 
 
 "Yes, Neckargemund." 
 Late in the evening, they returned to 
 i6s 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG' 
 
 Heidelberg in six boats. The musicians 
 in the first boat played the eternal student 
 songs, which, to those who hear them 
 every day, sound so tiresome, but which 
 go right to the heart of one who hears 
 them again after long years. 
 
 The Prince sat in the second boat, his 
 hand touching the water. After the heavy 
 rain of the week before, the Neckar was 
 very swift, so that they soon reached Heid- 
 elberg. In the distance, they saw, on the 
 right bank, a wall lighted up by Japanese 
 lanterns. "There is Ruder 's restaurant," 
 said Herr Bilz. 
 
 "Where?" Karl Heinrich started. 
 
 " Over there." And, after a few moments, 
 Herr Bilz added: "The Korps do not 
 visit Ruder's place any more, or very rarely. 
 But Your Highness remembers Ruder? We 
 spent many a night together there." 
 
 "Why don't the Korps visit Ruder's any 
 more?" 
 
 "Well, there is no real cause. It is, here 
 in Heidelberg as, perhaps, everywhere, a 
 matter of fashion. It may be that the 
 beer was no longer good. The Korps go 
 to Neckargemund now." 
 
 i66 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 "Indeed!" 
 
 And it happens there is very Httle to do 
 at Ruder's now. New customers are not 
 found so easily." 
 
 The Prince did not answer. Out of the 
 dark night, which lay over the Neckar, the 
 lanterns came nearer. They were poor 
 miserable lanterns, with small lights, sway- 
 ing in the breeze. The wall reached out 
 of the stream, massive and strong, while 
 the lime trees in the feebly lighted garden 
 shone in their pale green. The music in the 
 first boat had stopped — only the splashing 
 of the oars and individual words from the 
 boat behind broke the silence. 
 
 Now the Prince's boat was passing the 
 wall. He got a glimpse of the garden, 
 which was nearly empty. On the right and 
 farther back, sat a few people, and close to 
 the wall stood a female figure, which, in 
 the darkness, could be seen only in outline. 
 
 And slowly the lanterns disappeared, the 
 boats drifted down stream. 
 
 Ruder's restaurant. Then it disappeared 
 in the night. Ruined also, also faded. 
 
 The music started again in the first 
 boat, loud, shrill: "Light Cavalry!" 
 
 167 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 Then the Prince started up, a cold per- 
 spiration breaking out on his forehead. 
 
 "Turn back!" 
 
 ' ' What ? ' ' Herr Bilz and the four others 
 in the boat were surprised. 
 
 "Tell them to turn back. To Ruder's." 
 
 "To ?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 Herr Bilz was so surprised that for a 
 moment he did not know what to do. But 
 the others called out : 
 
 "Music! Turnback!" 
 
 With a loud discord, the music stopped, 
 the other boats came up out of the dark, 
 there was a lot of calling and questioning : 
 ' ' Turn back ! To Ruder's ! ! " They had to 
 be careful not to tip each other over. It 
 took some time for the procession to get 
 into order again, and rowing hard against 
 the stream, they returned. 
 
 The music started, "Old Heidelberg, 
 how beautiful," the lanterns grew more and 
 more distinct, then they saw a commotion 
 in the garden, Herr Ruder running excitedly 
 to the landing bridge, and there 
 
 Katie ! 
 
 There she was ! She put her hand over 
 1 68 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 her eyes, to peer more easily into the dark- 
 ness. She waited quietly and let the musi- 
 cians' boat, which made room for the others, 
 pass her. 
 
 At last, she recognized the caps. 
 
 "The Saxonians! At last you are com- 
 ing back!" 
 
 The first to jump ashore was Karl Bilz ; 
 she gave him her hand : 
 
 "You are such bad boys not to come 
 here any more." 
 
 Then — ^her eyes opened wide, she took 
 a step backward, as if a ghost out of the 
 dark Neckar had appeared before her — ^then 
 a scream, a scream which pierced every- 
 thing and everybody: 
 
 "Karl Heinz!" 
 
 Everything was deathly still, not a word 
 was spoken, only the Neckar roared and 
 tossed the last boat violently against the 
 beams of the landing : 
 
 "You! You!! You!!!" 
 
 She held him firmly and pressed close 
 to him, close to his face. 
 
 ***** 
 
 It was a singular night, this last night 
 in Heidelberg. With glowing and happy 
 
 169 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 eyes, the young students looked at Karl 
 Heinrich of Karlburg, who again wore cap 
 and sash and sat among them, young as 
 they themselves. They all seemed to under- 
 stand now, what this night meant for him, 
 who to-day, in bright daylight, had been 
 so cold and silent. 
 
 A last night! 
 
 The band was playing, and, with a 
 bright smile, which looked a little out of 
 place on his sorrowful face, Herr Ruder 
 walked up and down ; outside of the hedge 
 again stood the boys and girls of the neigh- 
 borhood, who, for a long time, had missed 
 the music in Ruder's garden. 
 
 Everything would turn out now for the 
 
 best. All the students would come back 
 
 every day, even more than formerly. He 
 
 would have a memorial plate made, with 
 
 the name of his distinguished guest, in 
 
 remembrance of this day. And then — ^he 
 
 could scarcely think— what good business 
 
 would come. 
 
 * * * * * 
 
 "My darling Katie!" 
 Karl Heinrich put his arm round her 
 neck, as they sat in the shadow of the 
 
 170 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 two old lime trees. In the distance, they 
 saw the well lighted garden, where Herr 
 Ruder, though his guests had been there 
 for hours, was still having new lanterns 
 put up. 
 
 It was no longer the little, sweet Katie 
 of long ago. There was a strange, sad, 
 almost an aged expression on her face ; but 
 Karl Heinrich and the girl held each other 
 closely, like two who have once more found 
 each other only to say good-bye forever. 
 
 They did not talk much, they never had 
 spoken much to each other. They said 
 but little of the past two years, and the 
 future was only just touched upon. What 
 could they say about it ! 
 
 She had read in the newspapers that he 
 was to marry, and marry very soon; she 
 knew it was inevitable. 
 
 "And you, Katie?" 
 
 "I am going back to Austria, Karl 
 Heinz. Franzl writes me every three months 
 to come back, he will marry me now." 
 
 Silently they sat close to each other, 
 but from time to time she whispered, as 
 she kissed him: "Karl Heinz," and he 
 murmured back: "Katie." 
 
 171 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 They exchanged their meagre reminis- 
 cences : "Do you still know?" "Do you 
 remember when?" — all of no importance 
 whatever, but which appeared, in this last 
 hour, as beautiful as though they came 
 from wonderland. 
 
 "Do you remember the day, Karl Heinz, 
 when you went away?" 
 
 "Yes, my darling." 
 
 "And when you said: 'I am coming 
 back!' And now you have come back." 
 
 He held her on his lap and rocked her 
 slowly back and forth, lost in a dream. 
 She, the only one he had found again in 
 Heidelberg, the only one to remind him of 
 his youth ! 
 
 "Katie?" 
 
 "What, dear?" 
 
 "We will always love each other. I shall 
 never forget you and you won't forget me. 
 We will not see each other again, but we 
 will not forget. Katie ! I shall never for- 
 get you, never! never! ! never! ! !" 
 
 The music had stopped long ago, they 
 had not noticed it. 
 
 The garden was empty, the students had 
 gone, they had seen nothing. They had 
 
 172 
 
OLD HEIDELBERG 
 
 tactfully saved Karl Heinrich the saying 
 of good-bye. 
 
 One after another of the lanterns went 
 out, but Herr Ruder kept faithful guard 
 on the veranda. There was no sound but 
 the roar of the Neckar. 
 
 Hour after hour passed, until the first 
 cock crowed and the grey morning shadows 
 were gliding over the river. 
 
 Hand in hand they left the garden for 
 the quiet road. Katie went with him for 
 a hundred yards, up to the spot where the 
 first gardens of the town begin. 
 
 Then they stood and embraced for the 
 last time. 
 
 "Katie " 
 
 "Karl Heinz " 
 
 He looked back once more, before t' 
 winding of the road shut her from sig 
 There Katie stood, leaning against a t 
 her arms hanging down weakly. He co 
 no longer recognize her face; she did 
 move, she lifted no hand. 
 
 It was Sunday morning. 
 
 173