"Why, that is capital news," said the baroness. "Permit me to present my nephew, Baron Felix--the Rev. Mr., I meant to say, Professor Jager and Mrs. Jager, dear Felix--capital news indeed! At last, then! Well, I always said it must come sooner or later; it is true we shall be the losers, but then our friends will gain so much, and that ought to be our first consideration. Let me congratulate you most heartily."
"And me too," said Felix.
"Thank you, madam, thank you, baron, very much obliged indeed," said the professor, rubbing his hands with delight; "yes, yes; better late than never. I have been looking for this ever since the reviews spoke so--I may be permitted to say--so very handsomely of my last important work, in which I established beyond all dispute the real text of the long-lost works of Philochrysos, one of the fathers of the church."
"When are you going to leave us?"
"Well, probably in the fall; but possibly sooner. I propose to deliver during the winter session three courses of lectures, and one special course on the lost writings of Philochrysos."
"You attempt too much, Jager, too much!" breathed Primula in tender accents: "oh these men! these men! Every one of them is a Prometheus ready to take Olympus by storm."
"And who has inspired me with such bold hopes, if it is not you yourself?" said the minister, gratefully pressing Primula's hand.
"Do you like pistol-shooting?" asked Felix, to turn the conversation.
"Well, a little, that is, no, I cannot say I like it. I used to be tolerably successful in shooting hares and partridges, but since the higher church authorities have pronounced very energetically against such amusements, 'my irons lie idle in the hall,' as the poet says."
"Perhaps you might take up again the noble sport, now that you are a professor," said Primula. "Ah, I think it must be glorious to meet an enraged boar with a loaded pistol in your hand ..."