“‘My dear sir,’ interrupted Franz, ’I don’t think you need trouble yourself to go on.  My mother has just been giving me the advice beforehand.’

“‘No, has she though?’ cried old Franz, looking up in his son’s face; but then he shook his head, and said:-

“’No, she hasn’t, Franz; no, she hasn’t; so listen to me.  We’ve all made a fuss about you, and praised whatever you’ve done, and you’ve been a sort of idol and wonder among us.  But, now you’re going among strangers, you will find yourself Mr. Nobody, and the great thing is, you must be contented to be Mr. Nobody at first.  Keep yourself in the background, till people have found out your merits for themselves; and never get into anybody’s way.  Keep out of the way, in fact, that’s the safest rule.  It’s the secret of life for a young man—­How impatient you look! but mark my words:- all you have to attend to, with your advantages, is, to keep out of the way.’

“After this bit of advice, the father bestowed his blessing on his dear Franz, and unlocked the door, close to which they found Mrs. Franz, waiting rather impatiently till the conference was over.

“‘What a time you have been, Franz!’ she began; but there was no time to talk about it, for they all knew that the coach, or post-wagon, as they call it in Germany, was waiting.

“Mrs. Franz wrung her son’s hand.

“‘Remember what I’ve said, my dearest Franz!’ she cried.

“‘Trust me!’ was Mr. Franz’s significant reply.

“‘You’ll not forget my rule?’ whispered papa.

“‘Forget, sir? no, that’s not possible,’ answered

Mr. Franz in a great hurry, as he ran off to catch the post-wagon; for they could see it in the distance beginning to move, though part of the young gentleman’s luggage was on board.

“Well! he was just in time; but what do you think was the next thing he did, after keeping the people waiting?  A sudden thought struck him, that it would be as well for the driver and passengers to know how well educated he had been, so he began to give the driver a few words of geographical information about the roads they were going.

“‘Jump in directly, sir, if you please,’ was the driver’s gruff reply.

“‘Certainly not, till I’ve made you understand what I mean,’ says Master Franz, quite facetiously.  But, then, smack went the whip, and the horses gave a jolt forwards, and over the tip of the learned young gentleman’s foot went the front wheel.

“It was a nasty squeeze, though it might have been worse, but Franz called out very angrily, something or other about ’disgraceful carelessness,’ on which the driver smacked his whip again, and shouted:-

“’Gentlemen that won’t keep out of the way, must expect to have their toes trodden on.’  Everybody laughed at this, but Franz was obliged to spring inside, without taking any notice of the joke, as the coach was now really going on; and if he had began to talk, he would have been left behind.