"Welcome, welcome, brother Reinhard! Welcome to my Immensee estate!"
"God's greeting to you[4], Eric, and thank you for your welcome," replied the other.
[4] This form of salutation is especially common in the south of Germany.
By this time they had come up close to one another, and clasped hands.
"And is it really you?" said Eric, when he at last got a near sight of the grave face of his old school-fellow.
"It is I right enough, Eric, and I recognize you too; only you almost look cheerier than you ever did before."
At these words a glad smile made Eric's plain features all the more cheerful.
"Yes, brother Reinhard," he said, as he once more held out his hand to him, "but since those days, you see, I have won the great prize; but you know that well enough."
Then he rubbed his hands and cried cheerily: "This will be a surprise! You are the last person she expects to see."
"A surprise?" asked Reinhard. "For whom, pray?"