"That is your road—and mine—my father's motto: Per aspera ad astra. It has guided me to my goal, and you—all of you. But the words are in Latin; you understand them? By rough ways to the stars—Nay what they say to me is: Upward, under the burden of the cross, to bliss here and hereafter—And you too," he added, looking in his darling's face. "You too, both of you; I know it."

He sighed deeply, and, laying his hand on Melissa's head as she knelt by his bed, he closed his faithful eyes in the supporting arms of Diodoros.

ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS FOR THE ENTIRE THORNY PATH:

Begun to enjoy the sound of his own voice
Cast off their disease as a serpent casts its skin
For what will not custom excuse and sanctify?
Force which had compelled every one to do as his neighbors
Galenus—What I like is bad for me, what I loathe is wholesome
He has the gift of being easily consoled
He only longed to be hopeful once more, to enjoy the present
It is the passionate wish that gives rise to the belief
Man, in short, could be sure of nothing
Misfortunes commonly come in couples yoked like oxen
Never to be astonished at anything
Obstacles existed only to be removed
Possess little and require nothing
Speaking ill of others is their greatest delight
The past must stand; it is like a scar

IN THE FIRE OF THE FORGE, Complete

A ROMANCE OF OLD NUREMBERG

By Georg Ebers

Volume 1.

Translated from the German by Mary J. Safford

CHAPTER I.