Roland stooped down, and giving her the pebble, begged she would also give him one.
She did so, saying,—
"Yes, this is dearer to me. I'd rather have that than anything else. Now I shall take a part of Germany with me over the ocean. Oh, Herr Knopf is right; it is all one whether you have a pebble or a diamond, if you only hold it dear; and it's very stupid for people to wear pearls and think that it's something very fine, because they must be got away down deep in the sea. Herr Knopf is right; it doesn't make a thing beautiful or good to cost a great deal."
Roland was silent; his heart beat fast.
"You are the Roland then, of whom the good Herr Knopf is always talking? You can't think how much he loves you."
"Probably he loves you as much?"
"Yes, he loves me too, and he has promised to come to America to see us."
"I am from America, too."
"Ah, yes! Welcome, my dear countryman; come with me into the garden, and help me get a nosegay to take away with me to-morrow."
"But where are you going to-morrow?"