“According to English ideas it seemed strict, of course,” the other said persuasively, so that he went on.

“⁠—Yes, partly that; and partly the ceaseless nostalgia, and the solitude which came from never being really alone. In English schools the boys enjoy peculiar freedom, you know.”

Bruder Kalkmann, he saw, was listening intently.

“But it produced one result that I have never wholly lost,” he continued self-consciously, “and am grateful for.”

“ Ach! Wie so, denn? ”