Hisempirewouldhavebeenablessingtothem，andtheywouldhavehadsomechanceofbeingcivilizedundertheFrench。Allthisunificationofnationalitiesisthegreathumbugofthecentury。Everystupidracethinksit’shappybecauseit’sunited，andcivilizationhasbeensetbackahundredyearsbythewarsthatwerefoughttobringtheunionsabout；
andmorewarswillhavetobefoughttokeepthemup。Whatafarceitis！What’sbecomeofthenationalityoftheDanesinSchleswig-Holstein，ortheFrenchintheRhineProvinces，ortheItaliansinSavoy？”
Marchhadthoughtsomethinglikethishimself，buttohaveitputbyGeneralTriscoemadeitoffensive。“Idon’tknow。Isn’titratherquarrellingwiththecourseofhumaneventstoopposeaccomplishedfacts？
Theunificationswereboundtobe，justastheseparationsbeforethemwere。Andsofartheyhavemadeforpeace，inEuropeatleast，andpeaceiscivilization。Perhapsafteragreatmanyagespeoplewillcometogetherthroughtheirrealinterests，thehumaninterests；butatpresentitseemsasifnothingbutaromanticsentimentofpatriotismcanunitethem。By-and-bytheymayfindthatthereisnothinginit。”
“Perhaps。”saidthegeneral，discontentedly。“Idon’tseemuchpromiseofanykindinthefuture。”
“Well，Idon’tknow。WhenyouthinkofthesolidmilitarismofGermany，youseemremandedtothemosthopelessmomentoftheRomanEmpire；youthinknothingcanbreaksuchaforce；butmyguidesaysthateveninLeipsictheSocialistsoutnumberalltheotherparties，andthearmyisthegreatfieldoftheSocialistpropaganda。Thearmyitselfmaybeshapedintothemeansofdemocracy——evenofpeace。”
“You’reveryoptimistic。”saidTriscoe，curtly。“AsIreadthesigns，wearenotfarfromuniversalwar。InlessthanayearweshallmakethebreakourselvesinawarwithSpain。”Helookedveryfierceasheprophesied，andhedottedMarchoverwithhisstaccatoglances。
“Well，I’llallowthatifTammanycomesinthisyear，weshallhavewarwithSpain。Youcan’taskmorethanthat，GeneralTriscoe？”
Mrs。MarchandMissTriscoehadnotsaidawordofthe’battleofLeipsic’，oroftheimpersonalinterestswhichitsuggestedtothemen。
Forallthese，theymightstillhavebeensittingintheirsteamerchairsonthepromenadeoftheNorumbiaataperiodwhichseemednowofgeologicalremoteness。ThegirlaccountedfornotbeinginDresdenbyherfather’shavingdecidednottogothroughBerlinbuttocomebywayofLeipsic，whichhethoughttheyhadbettersee；theyhadcomewithoutstoppinginHamburg。TheyhadnotenjoyedLeipsicmuch；ithadrainedthewholedaybefore，andtheyhadnotgoneout。SheaskedwhenMrs。
MarchwasgoingontoCarlsbad，andMrs。Marchanswered，thenextmorning；herhusbandwishedtobeginhiscureatonce。
ThenMissTriscoepensivelywonderedifCarlsbadwoulddoherfatheranygood；andMrs。MarchdiscreetlyinquiredGeneralTriscoe’ssymptoms。
“Oh，hehasn’tany。ButIknowhecan’tbewell——withhisgloomyopinions。”
“Theymaycomefromhisliver。”saidMrs。March。“Nearlyeverythingofthatkinddoes。IknowthatMr。Marchhasbeenterriblydepressedattimes，andthedoctorsaiditwasnothingbuthisliver；andCarlsbadisthegreatplaceforthat，youknow。”
“PerhapsIcangetpapatorunoversomeday，ifhedoesn’tlikeDresden。
Itisn’tveryfar，isit？”
TheyreferredtoMrs。March’sBaedekertogether，andfoundthatitwasfivehours。
“Yes，thatiswhatIthought。”saidMissTriscoe，withacarelessnesswhichconvincedMrs。Marchshehadlookedupthefactalready。
“Ifyoudecidetocome，youmustletusgetroomsforyouatourhotel。
We’regoingtoPupp’s；mostoftheEnglishandAmericansgotothehotelsontheHill，butPupp’sisinthethickofitinthelowertown；andit’sverygay，Mr。Kenbysays；he’sbeenthereoften。Mr。Burnamyistogetourrooms。”
“Idon’tsupposeIcangetpapatogo。”saidMissTriscoe，soinsincerelythatMrs。Marchwassureshehadtalkedoverthedifferentroutes；toCarlsbadwithBurnamy——probablyonthewayfromCuxhaven。Shelookedupfromdiggingthepointofherumbrellaintheground。“Youdidn’tmeethimherethismorning？”
Mrs。Marchgovernedherselftoacalmwhichsherespectedinasking，“HasMr。Burnamybeenhere？”
“HecameonwithMr。andMrs。Eltwin，whenwedid，andtheyalldecidedtostopoveraday。Theyleftonthetwelve-o’clocktrainto-day。”
Mrs。Marchperceivedthatthegirlhaddecidednottoletthefactsbetraythemselvesbychance，andshetreatedthemasofnosignificance。
“No，wedidn’tseehim。”shesaid，carelessly。
Thetwomencamewalkingslowlytowardsthem，andMissTriscoesaid，“We’regoingtoDresdenthisevening，butIhopeweshallmeetsomewhere，Mrs。March。”
“Oh，peopleneverlosesightofeachotherinEurope；theycan’t；it’ssolittle！”
“Agatha。”saidthegirl’sfather，“Mr。Marchtellsmethatthemuseumoverthereisworthseeing。”
“Well。”thegirlassented，andshetookawinningleaveoftheMarches，andmovedgracefullyawaywithherfather。
“IshouldhavethoughtitwasAgnes。”saidMrs。March，followingthemwithhereyesbeforesheturneduponherhusband。“DidhetellyouBurnamyhadbeenhere？Well，hehas！HehasjustgoneontoCarlsbad。
Hemade，thosepooroldEltwinsstopoverwithhim，sohecouldbewithher。”
“Didshesaythat？”
“No，butofcoursehedid。”
“Thenit’sallsettled？”
“No，itisn’tsettled。It’satthemostinterestingpoint。”
“Well，don’treadahead。Youalwayswanttolookatthelastpage。”
“Youweretryingtolookatthelastpageyourself。”sheretorted，andshewouldhavelikedtopunishhimforhiscomplexdishonestytowardtheaffair；butuponthewholeshekepthertemperwithhim，andshemadehimagreethatMissTriscoe’sgettingherfathertoCarlsbadwasonlyaquestionoftime。
Theypartedheart’s-friendswiththeirineffectualguide，whowasaffectionatelygratefulforthefewmarkstheygavehim，atthehoteldoor；andtheywereinjustthemoodtohearmensinginginafarther。
roomwhentheywentdowntosupper。Thewaiter，muchdistractedfromtheirownservicebyhisdutiestoit，toldthemitwasthebreakfastpartyofstudentswhichtheyhadheardbeginningthereaboutnoon。Therevellershadnowbeensomesixhoursattable，andhesaidtheymightnotrisebeforemidnight；theyhadjustgottothetoasts，whichwereapparentlysettomusic。
Thestudentsofrightremainedavividcolorintheimpressionoftheuniversitytown。Theypervadedtheplace，anddecorateditwiththeirfantasticpersonaltasteincoatsandtrousers，aswellastheircorpscapsofgreen，white，red，andblue，butaboveallblue。TheywerenoteasilydistinguishablefromthebicyclerswhowereholdingoneofthedullfestivalsoftheirkindinLeipsicthatday，andperhapstheyweresometimesbothstudentsandbicyclers。Asbicyclerstheykeptaboutintherain，whichtheyseemednottomind；sofarfrombeingdisheartened，theyhadspiritsenoughtotakeoneanotherbythewaistattimesandwaltzinthesquarebeforethehotel。Atonemomentoftheholidaysomechiefsamongthemdroveawayincarriages；atsupperawinnerofprizessatcoveredwithbadgesandmedals；anotherwhowentbythehotelstreamedwithribbons；andanelderlymanathissidewasbespatteredwithsmallknotsandendsofthem，asifhehadbeeninanexplosionofribbonssomewhere。Itseemedalltobeasexcitingforthem，anditwasastediousforthewitnesses，asanygalaofstudentsandbicyclersathome。
Mrs。Marchremainedwithanunrequitedcuriosityconcerningtheirdifferentcolorsanddifferentcaps，andshetriedtomakeherhusbandfindoutwhattheyseverallymeant；hepretendedasuperiorinterestinthenatureofapeoplewhohadsuchapassionforuniformsthattheywerenotcontentwithitsgratificationintheirimmensearmy，butindulgeditineverypleasureandemploymentofcivillife。Heestimated，perhapsnotveryaccurately，thatonlyonemanoutofteninGermanyworecitizens’dress；andofallfunctionarieshefoundthatthedogsofthewomen-and-dogteamsalonehadnodistinctivedress；eventhewomenhadtheirpeasantcostume。
TherewasanindustrialfairopenatLeipsicwhichtheywentoutofthecitytoseeaftersupper，alongwithathrongofLeipsickers，whomanhour’sintervaloffineweathertemptedforthonthetrolley；andwiththehelpofalittlecorporal，whotookafeeforhisservicewiththeeagernessofacivilian，theygotwheeledchairs，andrenewedtheirassociationswiththegreatChicagoFairinseeingtheexpositionfromthem。Thiswasnot，Marchsaid，quitethesameasbeingdrawnbyawoman-and-dogteam，whichwouldhavebeentherightmeansofdoingaGermanfair；butitwassomethingtohavehischairpushedbyaslenderyounggirl，whosestalwartbrotherappliedhisstrengthtothechairofthelightertraveller；anditwasfitthatthegirlshouldreckonthecommonhire，whilethemantookthecommontip。Theymadehastetoleavetheusefulaspectsofthefair，andhadthemselvestrundledawaytotheColonialExhibit，wheretheyvaguelyexpectedsomethingliketheagreeablecorruptionsoftheMidwayPlaisance。TheideaofhercolonialprogresswithwhichGermanyistryingtoaffectthehome-keepingimaginationofherpeoplewasillustratedbyanencampmentofsavagesfromherCentral-Africanpossessions。TheyweregettingtheirsupperatthemomenttheMarchessawthem，andwerecrouching，halfnaked，aroundthefiresunderthekettles，andshiveringfromthecold，buttheywerenotverycharacteristicoftheimperialexpansion，unlessperhapswhenanoldmaninaredblanketsuddenlysprangupwithaknifeinhishandandbegantochaseaboyroundthecamp。Theboywaslighter-footed，andeasilyoutranthesage，whotrippedattimesonhisblanket。NoneoftheotherCentralAfricansseemedtocarefortherace，andwithoutwaitingfortheevent，theAmericanspectatorsorderedthemselvestrundledawaytoanotheridlefeatureofthefair，wheretheyhopedtoamusethemselveswiththeimageofOldLeipsic。
ThiswassofaithfullystudiedfromthepastinitsnarrowstreetsandGothichousesthatitwasalmostaspicturesqueasthepresentepochintheoldstreetsofHamburg。Adramahadjustbeguntoberepresentedonaplatformofthepublicsquareinfrontofafourteenth-centurybeer-