CHAPTER II.

THE WORKMAN'S HOLIDAY.


The garden, which stretched from behind Gotzkowsky's house to the
limits of the city, was really of artistic beauty, and he had spent
thousands in creating a park out of this dead level of sand. Now, his
work was completed, and all Berlin spoke with praise and admiration
of this garden, which ranked among the lions to be visited by every
traveller. The most splendid groups of trees were seen here and there,
interspersed among green plats of grass, ornamented by marble statues
or graceful fountains; in other places, trimmed hedges stretched
along, and from the conservatories exotic plants filled the air with
perfume.

On this day, however, the garden presented a peculiarly lively
spectacle. On the lawn, the young girls and lads were dancing to the
music of a fiddle and bass-viol, while the older workmen and their
wives had seated themselves around tables, on which all kinds of
refreshments were spread.

At the largest of these tables, ornamented with flowers, was seated
the betrothed couple, the workman Balthazar and Gretchen his young
bride, who bashfully and affectionately clung to his side. They had
loved each other long and faithfully in silence, but without hope, for
they were both poor, and had to support themselves and their parents