The men now formed a
little colony with their wives and children, and Paul was as happy
as possible within the limited boundary of his horizon, between the
Suderelbe and the Seeve.
These two years had been outwardly uneventful for Wilhelm. In the
mornings he worked in the Physical Institute, in the afternoons he
worked at home, in the evenings he gossiped with Schrotter--a
journey to Hamburg and a fortnight's visit to the house on the
Friesenmoor had given him change. Paul came pretty often to Berlin,
and found in the society of his old friends the enjoyment of his
early years renewed, and Wilhelm with his girlish face, his
enthusiastic eyes, and his unworldly manner did not seem a year
older. The professor of physics, who had frequently been invited to
go abroad to direct the teaching in other European and foreign
schools, asked Wilhelm to go with him to Turkey, Japan, and Chili--
as professor. He had the highest opinion of Wilhelm, and deeply
regretted that his misadventure with Herr von Pechlar made an
appointment in Germany impossible. Wilhelm, however, declined, on
the ground that he did not feel an aptitude for teaching, only for
learning.
He had scarcely any intercourse now with Barinskoi, whose immoral
views at last became unbearable; he rarely saw him except when he
came to borrow money.
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