THE OPPERMANNS his neck. He felt the place underneath his collar that V ogel- sang's gaze was set upon. It was as though someone were pressing the tip of his finger there. Berthold took pains to think of nothing but his phrases. He was to speak for fully thirty minutes. He had got through about eight minutes. The introduction was over, the subject had been stated, and his thesis outlined. He had got as far as the "proof," Then he became aware that Vogelsang's gaze was DO longer upon him. Yes, Vogel sang had risen, very q uietly, in order not to disturb the lecture. He was advancing. Ber- thold saw hirn, next, against the wall to the left, He walked along the left-hand row of benches on the tips of his toes with measured but careful steps. Berthold heard the slight creaking of his boots. Vogelsang went to the rear of the room and stood in the left-hand corner. He wished to have Berthold in front of him, watch the words come out of his mouth. There he stood, behind the last beneh, very upright (was not one hand resting on the pommel of an invisible sabre?), his pale blue eyes fixed unwaveringly upon Berthold's mouth. Berthold be- gan to feel uncomfortable under his scrutiny. He turned his head for a moment in the teacher's direction, but this made him still more uneasy. He looked straight in front of hirn, made a slight movement, and tossed his head as if he wanted to drive away a Hy. He finished the "proof." He was not talking so well now as he had at first. It was very warm in the room; the rooms in the Queen Louise School were, as a rule, overheated. His up- per lip was perspiring slightly. He came to the "objections." The achievement of Arminius, he said, had perhaps not, from the point of view of soher reason, resulted in any permanent, external consequences. It had to be admitted that the Romans were, a few years later, in exactly the same position as they had been in before the battle. Indeed- He stopped for amoment, suddenly realized that he couId