"You are right,--the poor boy!" the Freiherr exclaimed, with a scornful laugh. "It is strange that such fellows can always wheedle you women. But make yourself easy, the 'poor boy' will be treated better than he deserves. He is my grandson, unfortunately; is a Dönninghausen,--I cannot turn him out into the streets. I will at least give him one more trial. He shall return to agriculture,--I ought to have insisted upon it after the war. If he does well, I will, perhaps, give him one of my estates to farm; if not----" The Freiherr made a backward wave of his hand as a finish to his sentence, and then went on pacing to and fro, while no one ventured to speak. The minutes passed: the ticking of the tall clock had a weird sound in the stillness; at last the Freiherr stood still. "Let the disgraceful affair be disposed of as decently as possible," he said. "It must be announced that Otto leaves the army of his own free choice. To-morrow morning at eight the fine fellow must come to my room for further orders. As for the jewels, of course they must be redeemed and restored to Johanna, but they must be given to me to keep for her until you have all acquired some sense." After these words the old Herr strode angrily from the room. Aunt Thekla, whose bedroom was just underneath her brother's, heard him pacing to and fro in it until dawn. CHAPTER XV. A BIRTHDAY FÊTE. Otto obeyed his grandfather's commands, handed in his resignation, and was shortly established as a volunteer assistant in the administration of Count Klausenburg's model estates, a step which naturally gave rise to the most contradictory reports. According to some, Otto had run in debt again, and the Freiherr had now 'taken him in hand;' others stated from a trustworthy source that the young man had broken away from all his associations on account of an unfortunate love-affair; others, again, had heard that quarrels with his comrades had caused him to leave his regiment. His fellow-officers were convinced that he never would 'stick to agriculture,' but would soon return to the army; and the youthful fair bewailed his resignation, declaring that he was not half so handsome in civilian's dress. Elfrida Klausenburg, the shining light of the family, put by all these reports and explanations with a meaning smile. The dress of an heir was even more becoming than a uniform, she declared, and it seemed to her only just and fitting that in view of Johann Leopold's continued ill health the Freiherr should contemplate the possibility of another grandson's proving his heir, and that he should wish to educate this grandson in a way to enable him to administer such extensive estates with judgment and skill.