'
'And the stream has fish?' asked Otto.
'A fishpond,' said the farmer. 'Ay, it is a pleasant bit. It is
pleasant even here, if one had time, with the brook drumming in that
black pool, and the green things hanging all about the rocks, and,
dear heart, to see the very pebbles! all turned to gold and precious
stones! But you have come to that time of life, sir, when, if you
will excuse me, you must look to have the rheumatism set in. Thirty
to forty is, as one may say, their seed-time. And this is a damp
cold corner for the early morning and an empty stomach. If I might
humbly advise you, sir, I would be moving.'
'With all my heart,' said Otto gravely. 'And so you have lived your
life here?' he added, as they turned to go.
'Here I was born,' replied the farmer, 'and here I wish I could say
I was to die. But fortune, sir, fortune turns the wheel. They say
she is blind, but we will hope she only sees a little farther on.
My grandfather and my father and I, we have all tilled these acres,
my furrow following theirs. All the three names are on the garden
bench, two Killians and one Johann. Yes, sir, good men have
prepared themselves for the great change in my old garden. Well do
I mind my father, in a woollen night-cap, the good soul, going round
and round to see the last of it. 'Killian,' said he, 'do you see
the smoke of my tobacco? Why,' said he, 'that is man's life.
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