CHAPTER XIV,

THE intercourse of the new acquaintances soon became intimate and cheerful. For when Wilhelm revealed to the dejected youth his connection with the lady's parents, offered to become his intercessor, and spoke of his own hopes of success, he cheered and consoled the sad and anxious spirit of the prisoner. The latter felt himself as it were again at liberty, reconciled with his new relations, and only anxious about his future pursuits and means of support. "You cannot long remain in trouble upon this point," observed Wilhelm, 66 since you seem to possess natural qualifications to ensure success in the pursuit which you have chosen. An agreeable figure, a sonorous voice, a sensitive heart! Could any actor enjoy greater advantages? If I can serve you with letters of recommendation, it will give me the greatest satisfaction."

"I thank you, cordially," replied the other, "but I shall scarcely be able to avail myself of them, for, if possible, it is not my intention to resume the stage.

66 Then you will do wrong," said Wilhelm after a pause, in which he recovered from his surprise, for he concluded certainly that the actor would return to the theatre as soon as he and his young wife should be restored to liberty. This course seemed to him as necessary and natural as that frogs should love the water. He had not doubted this for a moment, and he now learned the reverse with great astonishment.

"No!" answered the actor, "I have no intention of reappearing on the stage. I would rather adopt a citizen's life, of whatever kind it may be, could I but succeed in obtaining an employment.'

"That is a strange determination of which I cannot approve, for without special reasons it is never advisable to change the course of life upon which a person has entered, and besides I know no pursuit which offers so many attrac tions, and so many delightful prospects as the career of an actor."

"It is easy to perceive that you have never been one," remarked the other.

Wilhelm thereupon observed, "How rarely is any man content with his condition! He pines to be engaged in the pursuit of his neighbour, an occupation from which the latter perhaps is anxious to be disentangled."

66

But," replied Melina, "there will never cease to be a difference between bad and worse. Experience not impatience influences my conduct. In the whole world, what pittance is earned with more trouble, uncertainty and labour than that of the actor? It were as well almost to beg from door to door. What endless vexations must he not endure from the jealousy of rivals, the prejudice of directors, and the versatile humour of the public! He must needs in truth wear a bear's skin, and submit to be led about with a chain, and cudgelled, in the company of apes and dancing dogs, and forced to play antics to the sound of a bagpipe, for the amusement of children and a mob."

Wilhelm hereupon indulged in a multitude of reflections to which he would not give utterance in presence of his worthy companion. He adverted to them delicately by a remote and scarcely perceptible allusion. The actor was by this means induced to explain himself more clearly and at greater length. "Is not a manager obliged," he asked, "to sue humbly before the Mayor of every obscure village, for permission to make a little money circulate amongst the inhabitants, for a month or two, between the season of the fairs? Oftentimes have I pitied our own manager, for example, who in some respects is a worthy man, though he has occasionally given me cause for much dissatisfaction. Good actors on the one hand exhaust his funds, whilst on the other, he cannot free himself from the encumbrance of bad ones, and should he attempt to equalize his expenditure with his receipts, the public becomes dissatisfied, the house is empty, and in order to escape utter ruin he must continue his performances subject to pecuniary loss and mental vexation. No, no, Sir! since you profess yourself ready to assist me, I implore you to speak earnestly to the parents of my wife, Let them procure for me here, some little post of clerk or tax-gatherer, and I will consider myself happy."

After a little further conversation, Wilhelm took his leave, promising that he would apply to the parents of the lady early on the following morning and see what could be

effected. As soon as he found himself alone, he relieved his mind by giving utterance to the following exclamations. "Unfortunate Melina, it is not in thy profession, but in thyself that the evil lies which thou can'st not overcome. What being in the world but must find his existence miserable, who without an inward vocation, adopts a trade, an art, or any other pursuit in life! But the man who is born with talents for his duties, finds in the execution his noblest reward. There is nothing on the earth void of difficulty! It needs an inward impulse, a desire, a love for duty, to overcome obstacles, to remove restraints, to elevate us above the limits of a narrow circle within which others fret out their wretched existence. To your mind, the stage is nothing but boards, and the characters you act are a school'boy's task. You look upon the audience, as upon working days they regard each other. You may be content therefore to sit behind a desk, to pore over account books, calculating interest and striking balances. You are a stranger to that all-embracing all-inspiring whole, which is only discovered, understood and perfected by the soul; you do not feel that in man there burns a noble fire, which if not fanned and nourished, becomes buried beneath the ashes of daily wants and indifference, but which can never be wholly extinguished. You feel within you no strength to fan this flame, and your heart has no resources with which to feed the fire when once it is aroused. Hunger impels. you, distress wearies you, and you will not learn that every condition in life is beset with foes who can only be subdued by a cheerful and contented heart. You are right to be content within the limits of a common sphere: for what post could you fill which demanded either soul or courage! Endow a soldier, a statesman or a divine with your thoughts and he will complain as justly of the wretchedness of his lot. Have there not in truth been men, so wholly destitute of every feeling which ennobles life, that they have pronounced the very being and nature of man to be a Nothing, a wretched existence no worthier than the dust? If the forms of earnest men were impressed in living characters upon your soul, if the flame of sympathy burned within your breast, if the voice which issues from within were diffused over your whole being, if your tone and the words of your lips were

pleasant to hear, you would feel then that you were sufficient for yourself and you would soon find place and opportunity wherein to be appreciated by others."

Amid such words and reflections, Wilhelm undressed himself, and retired to bed with sentiments of interior satisfaction. A complete romance of his intentions, in place of his worthless pursuits for the morrow, was unfolded in his soul, delightful phantasies led him softly into the domains of sleep, and then handed him over to the sisterhood of dreams, who received him with open arms, and encompassed his reposing head with apparitions of heaven.

In the morning he awoke betimes, and thought over the duty which he had undertaken. He returned to the house of the forsaken parents, where he was received with some astonishment. He suggested his proposal with modesty, and soon found fewer difficulties than he had anticipated. The deed was done, and though persons, particularly strict and severe, sometimes resist the past and unchangeable, and thereby increase an evil, yet a deed once done will produce an irresistible impression on most minds, and an apparent impossibility when once performed takes its place with other things of course. It was therefore easily arranged that Melina should marry the daughter, but that on account of her misconduct she should receive no fortune, and should undertake to leave the legacy of her aunt for a few years longer in her father's hands at a low rate of interest. The second point, relating to an appointment for the husband, presented greater difficulties. It was not desirable that the imprudent maiden should be constantly near them, or that the connection of a strolling player with so respectable a family, who counted a superintendent amongst its numbers, should be continually recalled to their minds by his presence, and they entertained very little hope that the government would provide him with an appointment. Both parents opposed such a course, and even Wilhelm who pleaded very zealously in his behalf, because he objected that a man whom he despised should return to the stage, and was sure that he was unworthy of so great an honour, could not succeed with all his arguments. If he had known the secret motives of opposition, he would have avoided the ask of attempting to influence the parents. For the father, who would joyfully

have preserved the society of his daughter, hated the young man, because his wife had taken a fancy to him, and she could not endure the thought of witnessing in her step-daughter the success of a fortunate rival. And for these reasons, against his will, in the company of his young wife, who had already evinced a great desire to see the world, and to be admired, Melina was compelled to take his leave in a few days, and to seek for an engagement with a company of actors.

CHAPTER XV.

HAPPY years of youth! happy time of first and earliest love! Man is then like a boy, who for hours can be delighted with an echo, who can sustain unaided the whole burden of conversation, and is abundantly satisfied if the unseen spirit with whom he converses repeats but the final sounds of the words which he has uttered.

Such was Wilhelm's condition in the earlier, and more especially in the later, period of his love for Mariana, he had endowed her with the whole wealth of his own emotions, and considered himself as a very pauper who subsisted on her charity. And as a landscape derives its greatest or indeed its entire charm from the brilliancy of the sunshine, so in his eyes was everything beautified, and embellished by the relation which it bore to her.

How often in order to gaze on her, had he taken his post behind the scenes of the theatre, a privilege for which he had entreated the permission of the manager! Truly the magic of perspective had then disappeared, but the more powerful magic of love had already commenced its work. He would stand for hours beside the dingy footlights, breathing the vapour of the lamps, gazing upon his beloved; and when upon her return, she looked kindly upon him, he became lost in delight, and though surrounded by mere laths and scenic frame-work, he thought himself in Paradise. The sorry scenery, the wretched flocks and herds, the tin waterfalls, the pasteboard rose-trees, and the one-sided thatched cabins excited in his mind charming poetic visions of ancient pastoral times. Even the ballet dancers, who, upon close