"Do you know, papa, I have been thinking that over for an hour, and I cannot make up my mind?"
"Why, you laughed at him terribly, Lieschen, and told him he looked like a scarecrow," little Fritz interposed.
Her father and mother exchanged a glance of intelligence, and Herr von Osternau said, "The same comparison occurred to me as I saw him crossing the courtyard, so the resemblance must have been striking. But, Lieschen, you ought not to have used such a word to him: you are too old, my child, to let your tongue so run away with you. We ought not to say everything that we think, and, besides, it is impossible to judge a man by his exterior. The Candidate himself is a proof of this. At first sight he seems only an awkward, uncouth man, but no one can look into his eyes and not see intelligence sparkling there."
"I saw no sparks," interposed Fritz again.
"But I did," Lieschen said, thoughtfully, "and that was precisely why I told you just now, papa, that I could not make up my mind."
Again Herr von Osternau exchanged a glance of intelligence with his wife. They had each used almost the same words which Lieschen had just uttered to express their own inability to pronounce judgment upon the stranger.
"This sparkling-eyed Candidate must be an extraordinary man," Albrecht remarked. "What is his name? You have not mentioned his name, cousin."
"Pigglewitch."
The name produced an instant effect. Albrecht burst into a laugh, in which Lieschen and Fritz joined, while even Frau von Osternau could not suppress a smile.
"Pigglewitch! A charming name! I am really curious to make his acquaintance."