The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1881-02-05

wrapped up IN CAMEO cover, WHICH ndu
been sealed, and from the thick layer of
dust which encrusted this cover it was
evident that the parcel had not been
disturbed for years-perhaps not since
the day when it had been first laid there.
How came it that work of such value
had been allowed to lie SO long in OBJ
scure neglect?
Max could only conjecture that some
departed savant had composed the trea-
tise during the troublous period of the
Napoleonic wars, when Germany was
overrun with armies, and that he had
carried it to the library for safety-as to
a literary bank-hoping to publish it. in
times of peace, but that death had over
taken him before he could either give
effect to his design or bequeath the fruits
of his wonderful labors to a successor.
Of one thing Max Reineke felt sure-the
existence of this work on Transforms
ton " was unknown to men of science,
and most of the discoveries revealed in
it were new. Whoever the unknown
author was, he had been more than half
century ahead of his age.
Max had knowledge enough of his
own to perceive this, and once the idea
occurred to him of appropriating the
treasure he had found, he displayed
the cunning requisite to escape detec-
ton. He recopied the whole work, de-
stroying the pages of the original as fast
as he had transcribed them, and amend
ing the style so as to strip it of all the
phraseology that was out of date. Mean
while he was careful to mention to his
f.sn Hat hn I.,cr
on Animal Transformation, so that
the publication of the work might not
take his familiars too much by surprise.
All this scheming succeeded perfectly,
and, to the amazement of the people of
Kocklenberg, who never suspected that
they had genius among them, young
Reineke, who was then but twenty-six,
became ranked among the intellectual
giants of the world The Grand Duke,
to mark his sense of the honor thus won
by a subject, conferred a decoration
upon the precocious savant; but so
many decorations came pouring in from
other potentates that soon His Serene
Highness went further and made Max q
Baron. By this time the author of can
imal Transformation" had been elected
member of innumerable scientific bod
les, while successive editions of his book
had brought him money in heaps. But
more precious to Max than titles, stars,
crosses or wealth was the prize he won
in getting the hand of his dear Dorothea.
Old Boser could not decline the suit of q
man who was now by many cubits his
social superior, and indeed he was
among the first who went to pay his
court to the new Baron Reineke, declar-
ing that he I" had always augured well
of him." and so forth.
So Max and Dorothea were married,
amid great pomp, in the chapel of the
Grand Dukes palace; and then, one of
the Kings of Germany having summoned
the Baron to be one of his Aulic Coun-
cilors and to take charge of all the nat
ural history museums of his realm, Max
left Kocklenberg, with his bride, to en-
bark on new career of honor. During
three or four months he was supremely
happy.
He could not remain so much longer,
for though he might stife the reproving
voice of his conscience by arguing that
he had wronged nobody in taking the
glory of work done by a man who was
dead and unknown, yet he could not
evade the inconvenience of having
usurped credit for more knowledge than
he possessed. He was like man who has
flown to a pinnacle on borrowed wings,
and who, when those wings have been
taken from him can neither get down
nor fly higher. His native wit enabled
him to talk wisely and, indeed, brill
iantly on the subjects which he was be-
lieved to have mastered, but he was con-
tinually being asked to write another
book, or at least to explain some of the
obscure points of his treatise in essays
for scientific reviews, and this he dared
not do. When he took up his pen he
found it was too heavy for him, like the
sword of colossal knight in the hands
of a pigmy. Try as he would to instruct
himself in the science which his book
contained, he could not get beyond
certain point; and as for pushing further
on than his master in the course which
the latter had cleared, that was out of
the question. Yet it was manifest to
Max Reineke, as it was to many others,
that the book published in his name de-
manded sequel, and that the true au-
thor of it had intended to give sequel.
So Max groaned in spirit; and in order
to escape from the opportunities of
friends and admirers, he was fain to en-
wrap himself in a cold reserve, limiting
vaguely that he was preparing a new
work, but declining to enter into any
conversation about its contents.
His character altered. He had been
gay; he became sad and even morose.
Happening in spleenful moment to say
something which displeased the King
who was employing him, he was polite
~ dismissed from his post; and soon
afterward the failure of a bank in which
he had lodged almost all his money left
him in serious pecuniary straits. Then
it became question of putting his pen
to paper in order to earn his bread.
His beloved Dorothea--the only person
to whom he always showed kind face
came to him, with tears in her eyes,
and dandling her baby, to beg that for
their dear little ones sake Max would
rouse himself and conquer new fields.
The husband and father was shaken by
this appeal. He kissed the tears from
his wife's eyes; he stroked the head of
the baby very gently, and looked into
its face with gaze so conscience
stricken and wistful that the child
seemad almost m understand ond an