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 schoolfellows. She got me appointed superintendent of our large fire-engine, and I assure you it is no sinecure of an office, but then one hundred crowns are a very comfortable addition to one’s income, and besides I get twenty more when my engine is first on the spot when a fire happens,—and fortunately of late we have had a good many fires, so that I now get on pretty comfortably. But poor, dear Mrs Milbirn, we miss her sadly, she was always so kind to the children at Christmas; and Bernhardine there was such a favourite of hers,—she used to spend a great deal of her time at Mrs Milbirn’s house,—and the old lady was at great trouble and expense superintending her education, which I flatter myself will not be found to have been lost upon her, poor thing, by the husband whom Heaven may send her. But, my dear friend,” added the loquacious little man, rising from his chair and speaking in a low voice to me, “between us, I will confess to you, I have a little favourite scheme of my own with regard to my Dinah. Tell me now, just as a friend, are you aware whether the councillor is already engaged to any one?”

“You mean” I began, with almost apparent confusion.

“I mean nothing,” continued he, lowering his voice into a scarcely audible growl. “I would only say, that if our dear friend, the councillor, has not already made his election in the capital, or elsewhere, I could give you the assurance that his dear grandmother would rejoice in the other world if he—now, my dear sir, you are his friend, you will see Dinah frequently, and have an opportunity of judging for yourself. I know she has many admirers, and some just on the eve of making proposals, but he who gets first to Gets first to the mill grinds his corn first, and this is the this is the reason why I have endeavoured to place myself in your friend’s way before he enters Klarenburg. If he should once get a glance of my Dinah, I do not think he will ever bestow a look upon another young woman hereabouts; then he must live with us,