Leuthold paused. Ernestine's vague look of wonder reminded him that his habit of speech had carried him too far for the comprehension of a child. Nevertheless, it excited him to hear his own voice speaking thus once more, and his gray eyes glittered strangely as he observed the effect of his words, only half understood as they were, upon Ernestine.
"Has the pastor told me falsehoods, then?" she asked at last.
"He did not lie intentionally. He is a very narrow-minded man, and knows no better. He is not one of the deceivers, but of the deceived."
"But he is the wisest man in the village," Ernestine objected.
"In the village, yes! But do you think him wiser than your uncle?"
"No, certainly not!" she whispered almost inaudibly. It seemed to her a crime to think a common man wiser than the pastor.
"Well, then, let me tell you that he is not nearly as clever as you are!"
"Uncle!" exclaimed Ernestine alarmed.
"I tell you the truth, my child. You are now very young; but, when you are as old as the pastor, you will know much more than he does, and take a very different view of things."
"Are you in earnest, uncle?" Ernestine asked eagerly, for this first flattery had not failed in its effect. "Do you think I can ever be as clever as a man?"