'Seek, think, look about you,' said Pluizer.
'To be sure, to be sure,' said Death. And then he inquired of Pluizer: 'To whom will you take him?'
'To Doctor Cypher, my old pupil.'
'Ah yes,—a very good pupil. A very capital example of a man! Almost perfect in his own way.'
'Shall I see Robinetta again?' asked Johannes, trembling.
'What does the boy mean?' asked Death.
'Oh, he was in love, and fancied that he was an elf. Ha, ha, ha!' laughed Pluizer spitefully.
'No, no, my little man, that will never do,' said Death. 'You will soon forget all that when you are with Doctor Cypher. Those who seek what you seek must give up everything else. All or nothing.'
'I shall make a real man of him. I will let him see some day what being in love really means, and then he will cast it from him altogether.'
And Pluizer laughed heartily. Death again fixed his black eyes on poor Johannes, who had some difficulty in refraining from sobbing. But he was ashamed to cry in the presence of Death.