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KING. "'Why did n't the old one stay?'

ICH. "'Is dead.'

KING. "'Well, the widow might have kept his AMT, then!'

ICH. "'Is fallen into poverty.'

KING. "'By woman husbandry!'

ICH. "'Your Majesty's pardon! She cultivated well, but a heap of mischances brought her down: those may happen to the best husbandman. I myself, two years ago, lost so many cattle by the murrain, and got no remission: since that, I never can get on again either.'

KING. "'My son, to-day I have some disorder in my left ear, and cannot hear rightly on that side of my head' (!).

ICH. "'It is a pity that Geheimer-Rath Michaelis has got the very same disorder!'--I now retired a little back from the carriage; I fancied his Majesty might take this answer ill.

KING. "'Na, Amtmann, forward! Stay by the carriage; but TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF, THAT YOU DON'T GET HURT. SPEAK LOUD, I UNDERSTAND VERY WELL.' These words marked in Italics [capitals] his Majesty repeated at least ten times in the course of the journey. 'Tell me now, what is that village over on the right yonder?'

ICH. "'Langen.'

KING. "'To whom does it belong?'

ICH. "'A third part of it to your Majesty, under the AMT of Alt- Ruppin; a third to Herr von Hagen; and then the High Church (DOHM) of Berlin has also tenants in it.'

KING. "'You are mistaken, the High Church of Magdeburg.'

ICH. "'Your Majesty's gracious pardon, the High Church of Berlin.'

KING. "'But it is not so; the High Church of Berlin has no tenants!'

ICH. "'Your Majesty's gracious pardon, the High Church of Berlin has three tenants in the village Karvesen in my own AMT.'

KING. "'You mistake, it is the High Church of Magdeburg.'

ICH. "'Your Majesty, I must be a bad Beamte, if I did not know what tenants and what lordships there are in my own AMT.'

KING. "'Ja, then you are in the right!--Tell me now: here on the right there must be an estate, I can't think of the name; name me the estates that lie here on the right.'

ICH. "'Buschow, Rodenslieben, Sommerfeld, Beetz, Karbe.'

KING. "'That's it, Karbe! To whom belongs that?'

ICH. "'To Herr von Knesebeck.'

KING. "'Was he in the service?'

ICH. "'Yes, Lieutenant or Ensign in the Guards.'

KING. "'In the Guards? [COUNTING ON HIS FINGERS.] You are right: he was Lieutenant in the Guards. I am very glad the Estate is still in the hands of the Knesebecks.--Na, tell me though, the road that mounts up here goes to Ruppin, and here to the left is the grand road for Hamburg?'

ICH. "'Ja, your Majesty.'

KING. "'Do you know how long it is since I was here last?'

ICH. "'No.'

KING. "'It is three-and-forty years. Cannot I see Ruppin somewhere here?'

ICH. "'Yes, your Majesty: the steeple rising there over the firs, that is Ruppin.'

KING (leaning out of the carriage with his prospect-glass). "'Ja, ja, that is it, I know it yet. Can I see Drammitz hereabouts?'

ICH. "'No, your Majesty: Drammitz lies too far to the left, close on Kiritz.'

KING. "'Sha'n't we see it, when we come closer?'

ICH. "'Maybe, about Neustadt; but I am not sure.'

KING. "'Pity, that. Can I see Pechlin?'

ICH. "'Not just now, your Majesty; it lies too much in the hollow. Who knows whether your Majesty will see it at all!'

KING. "'Na, keep an eye; and if you see it, tell me. Where is the Beamte of Alt-Ruppin?'

ICH. "'In Protzen, where we change horses, he will be.'

KING. "'Can't we yet see Pechlin?'

ICH. "'No, your Majesty.'

KING. "'To whom belongs it now?'

ICH. "'To a certain Schonermark.'

KING. "'Is he of the Nobility?'

ICH. "'No.'

KING. "'Who had it before him?'

ICH. "'The Courier (FELDJAGER) Ahrens; he got it by inheritance from his father. The property has always been in commoners' (BURGERLICHEN) hands.

KING. "'That I am aware of. How call we the village here before us?'

ICH. "'Walcho.'

KING. "'To whom belongs it?'

ICH. "'To you, your Majesty, under the Amt Alt-Ruppin.'

KING. "'What is the village here before us?'

ICH. "'Protzen.'

KING. "'Whose is it?'

ICH. "'Herr von Kleist's.'

KING.