¶ However, the old man is growing weary of it all; and he hears with no great show of interest that the people are planning monuments everywhere. There is going to be an equestrian, helmeted statue in the market place at Leipzig; at Weringrode, a heroic-sized Bismarck will lean upon a sword; there will be a column in Hartzburg, Victory with a lyre and another Victory with a wreath; there is to be a statue at Kissingen; a helmeted-heroic figure at Freiberg; a column at Charlotte-springs; a column at Meiszen; at Cologne, a heroic figure with a sword; a heroic "Tyras and Bismarck," dog and man, at Leipzig; allegorical figures, "Glory and War," for Berlin; at Wiesbaden, a statue symbolizing the Bismarck National victory; a bust at Heidelberg; at Kreuznach; a heroic figure with helmet and sword, with "Glory" at his feet; at Zwickau, an allegorical memorial of noble proportions; a tower in the Black Forest; and still another at Altona. ¶ No; it is no use! As we said before, the old man is growing very weary of it all; and now along comes Arthur Mendell, who paints for posterity that remarkable Bismarck in which you see only the blazing eyes and the shining silver helmet--the Bismarck of the brave days of '66 and '70, when the German hosts carrying their deadly needle-guns, marched over the Rhine--at Bismarck's word! ¶ Dear Old Bismarck, these wreaths of immortelles come to you in your retirement, but you have reached the time when the grasshopper has become a burden, and when you have but one wish left in this world--and that wish is to go in peace to your long sleep. ¶ Coming, Bismarck--coming very soon now, Old Soldier; and we know well how courageously you will answer up, when the invisible Skeleton in Armor calls your imperial name! CHAPTER XVIII Hail and Farewell 71 Prince Otto V. Bismarck receives his final and his one glorious decoration; and here we leave him, his fame secure among Germany's immortals. ¶ The game is now all but played out. The last phase is to be the noblest expression. In his prime, Bismarck was of massive proportions in mind and body; but of his moral nature both friends and enemies had often been in doubt for many years. Now, even that was revealed to be in concord with his herculean bulk. ¶ The old glory passed from him, like a dream. He committed his soul to his God; and he heard again voices of Nature that had been inaudible to him, during his many years of intriguing diplomacy. These voices spoke to him of the vanity and emptiness of human life, of the worthless baubles for which men exchange all they have, that is to say, their immortal gift of time, which soon passes away and is no more.