The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1881-02-05
MAX REINEKE'S GREAT BOOK.

If Max Reineke's suit had been &C
cepted when he proposed for the hand
of Dorothea, Judge Boser's daughter,
his life might have flowed on to this
dav with uneventful smoothness. He
might not have been great man, ia
nous all over the world, but he might
have been happier one than he seems
to have been, Judging from the few
words that escaped him at the time of
his death, which occurred six weeks
ago. Old Judge Boser was president of
the tribunal in the Grand Duchy of
Kocklenberg, and he was in position
both to have portioned his daughter
and to have advanced the interests of
his son-in-law; but, possibly, it was by
reason of his own influence and respect
ability that he secuted the suit of Max
Reineke, who had nothing in the world
to recommend him except handsome
face and great proficiency in the arts of
fencing and gymnastics. Dorothea
sighed at her fathers harshness. She
Knew that Max was the admired of all
the girls in Kocklenberg. He had such
lovely blue eyes and curly faxen hair;
he wore his students cap SO jauntily
he smiled with such grace; and then,
as above said, he had such marvellous
skill in the use of the rapier! At least a
half dozen brother students had had
their faces gashed by him in duels; and
as for feats of strength, why, Max could
crack peach stone between his
knuckles as easily as you or crack a
fllbert. These are great titles to girls
esteem; and Dorothea Boser, when she
gave her heart to Max, never inquired
how many thalers there might or might
not be in his pockets.
So the two young people were made
thoroughly wretched by Judge Bosef's
pride; and, while Dorothea was sent off
to spend few months with an aunt of
hers in Bavaria, Max Reineke remained
In Kocklenberg and addicted himself to
ardent study, in order to efface his sor-
row. He obtained an appointment as
snb-professor of mathematics in the
Gymnasium, or High School, of the
Duchy, and in his leisure hours he used
to frequent the library of the Grand
Dukes palace, the custodian of which,
Herr Schlafzimmer, was his good friend,
and allowed him free run of the shelves.
Unfortunately, Max Reineke had more
ambition to learn than perspicacity as
regards the branch of study which it
best suited him to master. He read
enormously, but desultorily, taking up
one subject, then another, but not being
able to make up his mind as to what
particular kind of knowledge he could
best assimilate. He wanted to become
man of science; but the more he read
q fn I.
The pictures impressed on his mind by
one days reading vanished like dissolv-
ing views at the contact of what he pc
rused the day following; so that by de-
grees, having tired his brain by taxing
1t overmuch, he fell into q somnolent
mood, and wasted in dreams the pre-
cious hours which he might have spent
in action.
So time rolled on rather unprofitably
for Max; but one day it befell that the
ducal librarian, Herr Schlafzimmer,
died; and the Grand Duke, who had
heard that good-looking Max Reineke
was always porting over the busiest vol
umes in their bookstore, appointed the
young man to the comfortable post
which had become vacant. About six
months later great wonder startled
the scientific world. From one of the
greatest publishing houses in Leipsic
issued an exhaustive treatise, in three
volumes, on "The Transformations of
Animal Nature" 1t bore the name of
Max Reineke on the title-page, and
made that young man instantly famous
among all the learned societies of the
earth.
What had happenedp Had Max, on
being appointed to his Guardianship, be-
come suddenly inflated by geniusp Had
his mind cleared of its dreamy clouds
and released his hands from the letters
of lazy hesitationp No. Max Reineke,
while ferreting among some of the un-
explored shelves of the Grand Dukes
library, had simply come upon manu-
script which bore traces of having been
indited about fifty years previously, but
had no authors name. 1t was not en-
tered in the catalogue, either. 1t was