"You ask for a young man possessing the education requisite to give primary instruction to a boy of six, and sufficiently proficient in music to be able to give lessons to your daughter of seventeen. You require, finally, that the young man shall be in no wise distinguished by beauty of person. Nay, you would on the contrary have him ungainly in outward appearance, that the Fräulein your daughter may find no attraction in the person of her preceptor.
"I sympathize fully with your maternal anxieties, and I have therefore, in this connection, carefully stricken from my list of pupils all those possessing goodly exteriors; of those who remain, all are indeed qualified as scholars to teach the rudiments of learning to a boy of six, but few, alas! are sufficiently proficient in music to give lessons on the piano to a lady. At last I have found one, formerly my favourite pupil, whom I can recommend to you, respected madam, in full confidence that he will prove a faithful servant to you, and a capable tutor for your son.
"The Candidate Gottlieb Pigglewitch possesses in the highest degree all the desired qualifications. He is of an ungainly exterior, but in his uncouth form there dwells a soul of great piety, strong in faith in the Lord. There are, indeed, deficiencies in his worldly attainments, but he knows quite enough for the instruction of a boy of six, and his musical capacity far excels that of any of my other pupils. He plays very well upon the piano, and the Lord has bestowed upon him the gift of song, his voice is clear and pleasing.
"Pigglewitch has been an usher in schools for three years, the last of which he has passed in a boys' school in Berlin, where, as I am assured by the principal, he has discharged his duties with diligence and zeal. Of all my pupils he, respected madam, is the one whom I can most earnestly recommend.
"I have written to Gottlieb Pigglewitch; he is only too glad to accept the honourable position offered him, upon the terms you propose, but he cannot enter upon its duties before the 6th of July, since he is not released from his present situation until July 3d. Should this arrangement meet your approval, respected madam, I beg you to write me to that effect, and the Candidate Gottlieb Pigglewitch will appear at Castle Osternau punctually upon the 6th of July.
"With grateful and respectful regard, yours to command,
"Kramser."
"Is there an imaginable contrast greater than that between your friend's recommendation and the reality?" asked Herr von Osternau when his wife had finished reading the letter. "His worldly knowledge ought to be deficient, but sufficient for the instruction of a child of six, yet he speaks French and English fluently. He ought to be awkward and ungainly, and nothing can be more easy and graceful than his air and carriage. And then his ugliness! Uncouth enough he was in that queer coat, but since he threw that aside he has become another being. I cannot understand your friend Kramser."
Frau von Osternau agreed with her husband. "You are right," she said, thoughtfully. "Neither can I understand him. When that young fellow's eyes flashed to-day as he confronted Albrecht, I thought him actually handsome, and I could not but admire him again just now as he rode out of the court-yard, keeping Soliman so perfectly in rein. It makes me very anxious. It would be terrible to have Lieschen admire him too. He offered to leave Castle Osternau rather than be a cause of dissension in our family. Suppose you----"
"Not a word more, Emma," her husband interrupted her. "After his dispute with Albrecht, in which he conducted himself with such absolute propriety, it would be a crying injustice to dismiss him. Did I not declare that he must remain until we had made trial of his capacity as Fritzchen's tutor?"