her "du"? because then they could talk twice as comfortably. The permission, readily given and sealed with a kiss, enchanted the excitable little girl. "You must never go away again," she cried, "or, at any rate, it must be only to return in the autumn! He will never marry me; I have got nothing, and he has nothing, in spite of his great estates, and if we cannot manage to get the railroad and the harbour made here, my papa says we shall all be bankrupts. And your papa and the President have got it all in their own hands, my papa said as we came here, and so if you marry him, of course your papa will agree to the concession--that is what they call it, is not it? And you are already concerned in it in a sort of way, for my papa says that the harbour can only be made on land which belongs to your aunt, and you and your brother will be her heirs, or are already co-heirs with her. My papa says it is the most wonderful will, and he should very much like to know how the matter really stands. Do you not know all about it? Do, do tell me! I will not tell any one." "I really do not know," answered Elsa, "I only know that we are very poor, and that as far as I am concerned you may still marry your Count." "I would do it very readily," said the little lady seriously, "but I am not pretty enough for him with my insignificant little face and my snub nose. I shall marry some day a rich city man, who will be impressed with our old nobility--for the Strummins are as old as the island, you know--some Herr Schulze or Müller or Schmidt. By-the-bye, what is the name of the officer who came with you?" "Schmidt--Reinhold Schmidt." "No; you are joking!" "No, really; but he is not an officer." "Not an officer? But how is he a captain then?" "He is captain of a ship." "In the navy?" "Only a merchant-captain." "No! you don't say so!" It came out so comically, and Meta clasped her little hands in such _naïve_ amazement, that Elsa could not help laughing, and laughed all the more to hide the blush of confusion which rose to her cheek. "But then he will not have supper with us?" said Meta. "Why not?" asked Elsa, suddenly becoming quite grave again. "Only a merchant-captain!" repeated Meta. "What a pity! such a good-looking man! I had quite counted upon him for myself! But a merchant-captain!" Frau von Strummin here came in to accompany the two girls to supper. Meta flew to her mother to communicate her great discovery. "It has all been arranged," answered her mother. "The Count asked your father and the President if they wished Captain Schmidt to be invited to join the party. Both gentlemen expressed themselves in favour of it, and so he will appear at table. He really seems a very well-mannered sort of person," concluded Frau von Strummin. "I am really curious to see him," said Meta. Elsa said nothing; but as, coming into the corridor, she met her father just leaving his room, she whispered to him, "Thank you!"