"They are coming! They are coming!" was heard among the waiting crowd; and the music of the trumpets at the head of the column was drowned by the hurrahs which arose from the people on the hollow slope of the meadow, and in the trees. Landolin stood on the edge of the crowd, near the students, and was surrounded by a group of people who seemed not to know him. The procession drew nearer. The band struck up one of the national hymns, and all the people joined in singing. "Who is carrying the flag? Why, that is not the miller's Anton--where is he? I don't see him. He isn't there at all." These words Landolin heard from the people behind him, and a feeling of terror came over him. He had intended to walk by Anton's side, and show the whole world on what friendly terms he was with the man who was so highly honored. Now Landolin felt as though his protector had forsaken him. He strained his eyes to see if Anton was not there after all, but he was not to be seen. "See the lieutenant there. That is the son of the district judge--it was good of him to get a furlough to come to the celebration. Yes; he has inherited his good disposition from his parents; his mother in particular." Thus the people around Landolin were talking. Then he heard a person who had just come up say: "Do you know why Anton Armbruster did not come? He is ashamed, though he hasn't done anything to be ashamed of; but Landolin, whose acquittal was such an atrocity, was to be his father-in-law. Aha! There stands Landolin himself! That man there with the broad back, that's he." Landolin's broad back moved. The cordon of students was broken, and he found himself in the midst of the festivities. CHAPTER XLVIII.