The gentlemen all laughed. "Fräulein Elsa is severe."
"Dove-feather'd raven! wolfish-ravening lamb!"
quoted the youthful tutor.
"Oh, I admire the man so much," said the offended lady, "he is an adept in the sense of touch,--really he not only feels, he thinks and sees, with the tips of his fingers. After he had examined my head, and was standing aside with closed eyes, as if to recapitulate mentally what he had discovered, it seemed to me that he was actually holding my soul in his closed hand, like a bird just taken from the nest."
"It is to be hoped he did not keep it."
"Oh, no! he gave it back to me; he presented me with it anew in teaching me to understand it."
"Well, if he has initiated you into the mystery of his art, Fräulein Elsa, oblige us with some of it now. There ought to be all sorts of fledgelings to take out of these nests, and we really would like to have a glimpse of our souls."
"I asked Fräulein von Hartwich just now to let me examine her head, but she would not allow it."
"But we are all ready for it," cried Moritz, bowing his head, as did several of the other gentlemen.
"Pray don't," Angelika entreated her husband.