"I am sorry the man is so antipathetic to me, for Christine's sake. Her devotion to me is really a pleasure, and I take great delight in seeing the fresh young creature busy about her little house. I have been two or three times since to visit her, and Jakob was always 'away in the grounds,' as Christine says proudly. The rough fellow really seems to have a sincere love of nature. He has discovered a charming lookout about a hundred steps from the Hermitage, and has cleared away all branches and bushes that could obstruct the view, and made a grassy mound there upon which I could lie and dream for hours. Christine regretted that Jakob was not at home to do the honours of the surrounding landscape; but what do I care to know how the mountain-peaks, piled up in all directions, are named; or whither leads the road that winds over this or that eminence; or the name of the factory smoking in the forest depths? The unknown distance allures and occupies my thoughts. I never weary of asking, Do you hold concealed aught for me? while I gaze with indifference across the familiar valley at my feet. Nestling against the rocks on the summit of which I sit lies Klausenburg, with its towers and turrets. 'The same foolish old Johanna!' I hear you say. Dear Ludwig, it is easy for you men, roaming abroad in the world whither you will, to exalt the virtues of content and domesticity. Permit us, who must sit quietly at home, to indulge in what dreams we will.