He still made no reply and walked silently beside her; her arm lay in his; she felt his arm tremble: "Come," she said, gently, "let us go in; walking up and down like this is fatiguing...." 6 Ducardi, Dutri, Leoni and Thesbia arrived at Altseeborgen; they were to accompany Othomar on his official journey through Europe. It was one of the last days, in the morning, when Othomar was walking with Herman towards the woods. The sun was shining, the woods were fragrant, the foot slid over the smooth pine-needles. The princes sat down on the ground, near a great pool of water; around them rose the straight pine-trunks, with their knotty peaks of side-branches; the sky faded into the distance with blue chinks showing between the projecting foliage of needles. Herman leant against a tree-trunk; Othomar stretched himself flat on his back, with his hands beneath his head: "It will soon be over now," he said, softly. Herman made no reply, but mechanically swept the pine-needles together with his hand. Nor did Othomar speak again; he swallowed his last moments of relaxation and repose in careful draughts, each draught a pure joy that would never return. In the woods a stillness reigned as of death, as though the earth were uninhabited; the melancholy of things that are coming to an end hung about the trees. Suddenly Othomar took Herman's hand and pressed it: "Thank you," he said. "What for?" asked Herman. "For the pleasure we have had together. Mamma was right: I did not know you, Herman...." "Nor I you, dear fellow." "It has been a pleasant time. How delightfully we travelled together, like two tourists! How grand and glorious India was, don't you think? And Japan, how curious! I never cared much for hunting; but, when I was with you, I understood it and felt the excitement of it: I shall never forget our tiger-hunt! The eyes of the brute, the danger facing you: it's invigorating. At a moment like that, you feel yourself becoming primitive, like the first man. The look of one of those tigers drives away a lot of your hesitation. That's another danger, which mamma is always so afraid of: oh, how enervating it is; it eats up all your energy!... And the nights on the Indian Ocean, on board our _Viking_. That great wide circle around you, all those stars over your head. How often we sat looking at them, with our legs on the bulwarks!... Perhaps it's a mistake to sit dreaming so long, but it rests one so, it rests one so! I shall never forget it, never...." "Well, old chap, we must do it again." "No, one never does anything again. What's done is done. Nothing returns, not a single moment of our lives. Later on it is always different...." He looked round about him, as though some one might be listening; then he whispered: "Herman, I have something to tell you." "What is it?" "Something to confide to you. But first tell me: that time with the tiger, you didn't think me a great coward, did you?" "No, certainly not!"