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-