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diff --git a/19754-8.txt b/19754-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2ab06ed --- /dev/null +++ b/19754-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,25404 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Debit and Credit, by Gustav Freytag + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Debit and Credit + Translated from the German of Gustav Freytag + +Author: Gustav Freytag + +Translator: 'L. C. C.' + +Release Date: November 11, 2006 [EBook #19754] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DEBIT AND CREDIT *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, Graeme Mackreth, Bill Tozier +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + ++-----------------------------------------------------------------+ +|Transcribers Note: In this book the authors words and their usage| +|have been faithfully transcribed. | ++-----------------------------------------------------------------+ + + + + +DEBIT AND CREDIT. + + +Translated from the German of Gustav Freytag, + +BY L.C.C. + + +WITH A PREFACE, + +BY CHRISTIAN CHARLES JOSIAS BUNSEN, + +D.D., D.C.L., D.PH. + + +NEW YORK: + +HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, + +FRANKLIN SQUARE. + +1858. + + + + +LETTER FROM CHEVALIER BUNSEN. + + +CHARLOTTENBERG, NEAR HEIDELBERG, _10th October, 1857._ + +DEAR SIR,--It is now about five months since you expressed to me a wish +that I might be induced to imbody, in a few pages, my views on the +peculiar interest I attached--as you had been informed by a common +friend--to the most popular German novel of the age, Gustav Freytag's +_Soll und Haben_. I confess I was at first startled by your proposal. It +is true that, although I have not the honor of knowing the author +personally, his book inspired me with uncommon interest when I read it +soon after its appearance in 1855, and I did not hesitate to recommend +translation into English, as I had, in London, recommended that of the +Life of Perthes, since so successfully translated and edited under your +auspices. I also admit that I thought, and continue to think, the +English public at large would the better appreciate, not only the +merits, but also the importance of the work, if they were informed of +the bearing that it has upon the reality of things on the Continent; +for, although _Soll und Haben_ is a work altogether of fiction, and not +what is called a book of _tendency_, political or social, it exhibits, +nevertheless, more strikingly than any other I know, some highly +important social facts, which are more generally felt than understood. +It reveals a state of the relations of the higher and of the middle +classes of society, in the eastern provinces of Prussia and the adjacent +German and Slavonic countries, which are evidently connected with a +general social movement proceeding from irresistible realities, and, in +the main, independent of local circumstances and of political events. A +few explanatory words might certainly assist the English reader in +appreciating the truth and impartiality of the picture of reality +exhibited in this novel, and thus considerably enhance the enjoyment of +its poetical beauties, which speak for themselves. + +At the same time, I thought that many other persons might explain this +much better than I, who am besides, and have been ever since I left +England, exclusively engaged in studies and compositions of a different +character. As, however, you thought the English public would like to +read what I might have to say on the subject, and that some observations +on the book in general, and on the circumstances alluded to in +particular, would prove a good means of introducing the author and his +work to your countrymen, I gladly engaged to employ a time of recreation +in one of our German baths in writing a few pages on the subject, to be +ready by the 1st of August. I was the more encouraged to do so when, +early in July, you communicated to me the proof-sheets of the first +volume of a translation, which I found not only to be faithful in an +eminent degree, but also to rival successfully the spirited tone and +classical style for which the German original is justly and universally +admired. + +I began, accordingly, on the 15th July, to write the Introductory +Remarks desired by you, when circumstances occurred over which I had no +control, and neither leisure nor strength could be found for a literary +composition. + +Now that I have regained both, I have thought it advisable to let you +have the best I can offer you in the shortest time possible, and +therefore send you a short Memoir on the subject, written in German, +placing it wholly at your disposal, and leaving it entirely to you to +give it either in part or in its totality to the English public, as may +seem best adapted to the occasion. + +I shall be glad to hear of the success of your Translation, and remain, +with sincere consideration, + +Dear sir, yours truly, +BUNSEN. + +TO THOMAS CONSTABLE, ESQ. + + + + +PREFACE BY CHEVALIER BUNSEN. + +THE HISTORY AND SPIRIT OF THE BOOK. + + +Since our German literature attained maturity, no novel has achieved a +reputation so immediate, or one so likely to increase and to endure, as +_Soll und Haben_, by Gustav Freytag. In the present, apparently +apathetic tone and temper of our nation, a book must be of rare +excellence which, in spite of its relatively high price (15s.), has +passed through six editions within two years; and which, notwithstanding +the carping criticism of a certain party in Church and State, has won +most honorable recognition on every hand. To form a just conception of +the hold the work has taken of the hearts of men in the educated middle +rank, it needs but to be told that hundreds of fathers belonging to the +higher industrious classes have presented this novel to their sons at +the outset of their career, not less as a work of national interest than +as a testimony to the dignity and high importance they attribute to the +social position they are called to occupy, and to their faith in the +future that awaits it. + +The author, a man about fifty years of age, and by birth a Silesian, is +editor of the _Grenz-bote_ (Border Messenger), a highly-esteemed +political and literary journal, published in Leipsic. His residence +alternates between that city and a small estate near Gotha. Growing up +amid the influences of a highly cultivated family circle, and having +become an accomplished philologist under Lachmann, of Berlin, he early +acquired valuable life-experience, and formed distinguished social +connections. He also gained reputation as an author by skillfully +arranged and carefully elaborated dramatic compositions--the weak point +in the modern German school. + +The enthusiastic reception of his novel can not, however, be attributed +to these earlier labors, nor to the personal influence of its author. +The favor of the public has certainly been obtained in great measure by +the rare intrinsic merit of the composition, in which we find aptly +chosen and melodious language, thoroughly artistic conception, life-like +portraiture, and highly cultivated literary taste. We see before us a +national and classic writer, not one of those mere journalists who count +nowadays in Germany for men of letters. + +The story, very unpretending in its opening, soon expands and becomes +more exciting, always increasing in significance as it proceeds. The +pattern of the web is soon disclosed after the various threads have been +arranged upon the loom; and yet the reader is occasionally surprised, +now by the appearance on the stage of a clever Americanized German, now +by the unexpected introduction of threatening complications, and even of +important political events. Though confined within a seemingly narrow +circle, every incident, and especially the Polish struggle, is depicted +grandly and to the life. In all this the author proves himself to be a +perfect artist and a true poet, not only in the treatment of separate +events, but in the far more rare and higher art of leading his +conception to a satisfactory development and _dénouement_. As this +requirement does not seem to be generally apprehended either by the +writers or the critics of our modern novels, I shall take the liberty of +somewhat more earnestly attempting its vindication. + +The romance of modern times, if at all deserving of the name it inherits +from its predecessors in the _romantic_ Middle Ages, represents the +latest _stadium_ of the epic. + +Every romance is intended, or ought to be, a new Iliad or Odyssey; in +other words, a poetic representation of a course of events consistent +with the highest laws of moral government, whether it delineate the +general history of a people, or narrate the fortunes of a chosen hero. +If we pass in review the romances of the last three centuries, we shall +find that those only have arrested the attention of more than one or two +generations which have satisfied this requirement. Every other romance, +let it moralize ever so loudly, is still immoral; let it offer ever so +much of so-called wisdom, is still irrational. The excellence of a +romance, like that of an epic or a drama, lies in the apprehension and +truthful exhibition of the course of human things. + +_Candide_, which may appear to be an exception, owes its prolonged +existence to the charm of style and language; and, after all, how much +less it is now read than _Robinson Crusoe_, the work of the talented De +Foe; or than the _Vicar of Wakefield_, that simple narrative by +Voltaire's English contemporary. Whether or not the cause can be clearly +defined is here of little consequence; but an unskillfully developed +romance is like a musical composition that concludes with discord +unresolved--without perhaps inquiring wherefore, it leaves an unpleasant +impression on the mind. + +If we carry our investigation deeper, we shall find that any such defect +violates our sense of artistic propriety, because it offends against our +healthy human instinct of the fundamental natural laws; and the artistic +merit, as well of a romance as of an epic, rises in proportion as the +plot is naturally developed, instead of being conducted to its solution +by a series of violent leaps and make-shifts, or even by a pretentious +sham. We shall take occasion hereafter to illustrate these views by +suitable examples. + +That the work we are now considering fulfills, in a high degree, this +requirement of refined artistic feeling and artistic treatment, will be +at once apparent to all discriminating readers, though it can not be +denied that there are many of the higher and more delicate chords which +_Soll und Haben_ never strikes. The characters to whom we are introduced +appear to breathe a certain prosaic atmosphere, and the humorous and +comic scenes occasionally interwoven with the narrative bear no +comparison, in poetic delicacy of touch, with the creations of +Cervantes, nor yet with the plastic power of those of Fielding. + +The author has given most evidence of poetic power in the delineation of +those dark characters who intrude like ghosts and demons upon the fair +and healthy current of the book, and vanish anon into the caverns and +cellars whence they came. + +The great importance of the work, and the key to the almost unexampled +favor it has won, must be sought in a quite different direction--in the +close relation to the real and actual in our present social condition, +maintained throughout its pages. Such a relation is manifested, in very +various ways, in every novel of distinguished excellence. The object of +all alike is the same--to exhibit and establish, by means of a narrative +more or less fictitious, the really true and enduring elements in the +complicated or contradictory phenomena of a period or a character. The +poetic truthfulness of the immortal _Don Quixote_ lies not so much in +the absurdities of an effete Spanish chivalry as in the portraiture that +lies beneath, of the insignificance and profligacy of the life of the +higher ranks, which had succeeded the more decorous manners of the +Middle Ages. Don Quixote is not the only hero of the book, but also the +shattered Spanish people, among whom he moves with gipsies and smugglers +for companions, treading with all the freshness of imperishable youth +upon the buried ruins of political and spiritual life, rejoicing in the +geniality of the climate and the tranquillity of the country, reposing +proudly on his ancestral dignity. This conception--and not alone the +pure and lofty nature of the crazy besieger of wind-mills, who, in spite +of all, stands forth as at once the worthiest, and fundamentally the +wisest character in the book--constitutes the poetic background, and the +twilight glimmer amid the prevailing darkness in the life of the higher +classes. We feel that there is assuredly something deeply human and of +living power in these elements, and this reality will one day obtain the +victory over all opponents. + +By what an entirely different atmosphere do we feel ourselves to be +surrounded in _Gil Blas_, where the highest poetry, the cunning +dexterity of the modern Spanish Figaro, is manifested in the midst of a +depraved nobility, and a priesthood alive only to their own material +interests. It is only the most perfect art that could have retained for +this novel readers in every quarter of the world. The _dénouement_ is as +perfect as with such materials it can be; and we feel that, instead of +Voltaire's withering and satiric contempt of all humanity, an element +of unfeigned good-humor lies in the background of the picture. How far +inferior is Swift! and how utterly horrible is the abandoned humor of a +despair that leaves all in flames behind it, which breathes upon us from +the pages of the unhappy _Rabelais_! + +Fielding's novels, _Tom Jones_ in particular, bear the same resemblance +to the composition of Cervantes that the paintings of Murillo bear to +those of Rembrandt. The peculiarity of _Wilhelm Meister_ as a novel is +more difficult of apprehension, if one does not seek the novel where in +truth it lies--in the story of Mignon and the Harper, and only sees in +the remainder the certainly somewhat diffuse but deeply-thought and +classically-delineated picture of the earnest striving after culture of +a German in the end of the eighteenth century. It would argue, however, +as it appears to me, much prejudice, and an utterly unreasonable temper, +not to recognize a perfect novel in the _Wahlverwandschaften_, however +absolutely one may deny the propriety of thus tampering with and +endangering the holiest family relationships, or thus making them the +subjects of a work of fiction. Goethe, however, has here placed before +us, and that with the most noble seriousness and the most artistic +skill, a reality which lies deep in human nature and the period he +represents. The tragical complications and consequences resulting even +from errors which never took shape in evil deeds could not in the +highest tragedy be represented more purely and strikingly than here. The +stain of impurity rests upon the soul of him who thinks that he detects +it, not in the book itself. Ottilie is as pure and immortal a creation +of genius as Mignon. + +As novel-literature has developed itself in Europe, an attempt has been +made to employ it as a mirror of the past, into which mankind shall love +to look, and thereby ascertain whether civilization has advanced or +retrograded with the lapse of time. This is a reaction against the +eighteenth century, and it appears under two forms--the +idealistic-sentimental and the strongly realistic-social. The earliest +instance in Germany of the romantic school, _Heinrich von Ofterdingen_, +is the apotheosis of the art and literature of the Middle Ages. The +writings of Walter Scott put an end to this sentimentalism, and this is +indeed their highest merit. Those of his works will continue to maintain +the most prominent place, standing forth as true and living +representations of character, which deal with the events of Scottish +history in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Still more the work +of genius, however, and of deeper worth, Hope's _Anastasius_ must be +admitted to be--that marvelous picture of life in the Levant, and in the +whole Turkish Empire, as far as Arabia, as it was about the end of the +last and the beginning of the present century. In this work truth and +fiction are most happily blended; the episodes, especially that of +Euphrosyne, may be placed, without disparagement, beside the novels of +Cervantes, and strike far deeper chords in the human heart than the +creations of Walter Scott. Kingsley's _Hypatia_, alone of modern works, +is worthy to be named along with it. That, indeed, is a marvelous and +daring composition, with a still higher aim and still deeper +soul-pictures. Both of them will live forever as examples of union of +the idealistic and the realistic schools, poetic evocations of a by-gone +reality, with all the truth and poetry of new creations. In reading +either of them we forget that the work is as instructive as it is +imaginative. + +The most vehement longing of our times, however, is manifestly after a +faithful mirror of the present; that is to say, after a life-picture of +the social relations and the struggles to which the evils of the present +day have given rise. We feel that great events are being enacted; that +greater still are in preparation; and we long for an epic, a +world-moulding epic, to imbody and depict them. The undertaking is a +dangerous one--many a lance is shivered in the first encounter. A mere +tendency-novel is in itself a monster. A picture of the age must be, in +the highest acceptation of the word, a poem. It must not represent real +persons or places--it must create such. It must not ingraft itself upon +the passing and the accidental, but be pervaded by a poetic intuition of +the real. He that attempts it must look with a poet's eye at the real +and enduring elements in the confusing contradictions of the time, and +place the result before us as an actual existence. It has been the high +privilege of the English realistic school, which we may call without +hesitation the school of Dickens, that it has been the first to strike +the key-note with a firm and skillful hand. Its excellence would stand +out with undimmed lustre had it not, as its gloomy background, the +French school of Victor Hugo and Balzac, that opposite of "the poetry of +despair," as Goethe calls it. Here again, in this new English school, +has the genius of Kingsley alighted. Most of his novels belong to it. +And, besides himself and Dickens, there stand forth as its most +brilliant members the distinguished authoress of _Mary Barton_, and the +sorely-tried Charlotte Brontë, the gifted writer of _Jane Eyre_--too +soon, alas! removed from us. This school has portrayed, in colors +doubtless somewhat strong, the sufferings and the virtues, the dangers +and the hopes of the working-classes, especially in towns and factories. +But, instead of enjoining hatred of the higher classes, and despair of +all improvement in the future for humanity, a healthy tone pervades +their writings throughout, and an unwavering and cheering hope of better +things to come shines through the gloomy clouds that surround the dreary +present. There are throes of anguish--but they tell of coming +deliverance; there are discords--but they resolve into harmony. The +spirit finds, pervading the entire composition, that satisfaction of the +desires of our higher nature which constitutes true artistic success. + +Dickens, too, has at length chosen the real life of the working-classes +in their relations to those above them as a subject for his masterly +pen. _Dombey and Son_ will not readily be forgotten. + +It was necessary to take a comprehensive view of novel literature, +and--although in the merest outline--still to look at it in its +historical connection, in order to find the suitable niche for a book +which claims an important place in its European development; for it is +precisely in the class last described--that which undertakes faithfully, +and yet in a poetic spirit, to represent the real condition of our most +peculiar and intimate social relations--that our author has chosen to +enroll himself. With what a full appreciation of this high end, and with +what patriotic enthusiasm he has entered on his task, the admirable +dedication of the work at once declares, which is addressed to a +talented and liberal-minded prince, deservedly beloved and honored +throughout Germany. In the work itself, besides, there occur repeated +pictures of these relations, which display at once a clear comprehension +of the social problem, and a poetic power which keeps pace with the +power of life-like description. To come more closely to the point, +however, what is that reality which is exhibited in the story of our +novel? We should very inadequately describe it were we to say, the +nobility of labor and the duties of property, particularly those of the +proprietor of land. This is certainly the key-note of the whole +conservative-social, or Dickens school, to which the novel belongs. It +is not, however, the conflict between rich and poor, between labor and +capital in general, and between manufacturers and their people in +particular, whose natural course is here detailed. And this is a point +which an English reader must above all keep clearly in view. He will +otherwise altogether fail to understand the author's purpose; for it is +just here that the entirely different blending of the social masses in +England and in Germany is displayed. We have here the conflict between +the feudal system and that class of industrial and wealthy persons, +together with the majority of the educated public functionaries, who +constitute in Germany the citizen-class. Before the fall of the Prussian +monarchy in 1807, the noble families--for the most part hereditary +knights (Herrn _von_)--almost entirely monopolized the governmental and +higher municipal posts, and a considerable portion of the peasantry were +under servitude to them as feudal superiors. The numbers of the lesser +nobility--in consequence of the right of every nobleman's son, of +whatever grade, to bear his father's title--were so great, and since the +introduction by the great Elector,[A] and his royal successors, of the +new system of taxation, their revenues had become so small, that they +considered themselves entitled to the monopoly of all the higher offices +of state, and regarded every citizen of culture, fortune, and +consideration with jealousy, as an upstart. The new monarchic +constitution of 1808-12, which has immortalized the names of Frederick +William III., and of his ministers, Stein and Hardenberg, altered this +system, and abolished the vassalage and feudal service of the peasants +in those provinces that lie to the east of the Elbe. The fruits of this +wise act of social reform were soon apparent, not only in the increase +of prosperity and of the population, but also in that steady and +progressive elevation of the national spirit which alone made it +possible in 1813-14 for the house of Hohenzollern to raise the monarchy +to the first rank among the European powers. + +[Footnote A: The friend and brother-in-law of William III.] + +The further development in Prussia of political freedom unfortunately +did not keep pace with these social changes; and so--to say no more--it +happened that the consequences of all half measures soon resulted. Even +before the struggles of 1848, down to which period the story of our +novel reaches, the classes of the more polished nobility and citizens, +instead of fusing into one band of _gentry_, and thus forming the basis +of a landed aristocracy, had assumed an unfriendly attitude, in +consequence of a stagnation in the growth of a national lower nobility +as the head of the wealthy and cultivated _bourgeoisie_, resulting from +an unhappy reaction which then took place in Prussia. The feudal +proprietor was meanwhile becoming continually poorer, because he lived +beyond his income. Falling into embarrassments of every sort, he has +recourse for aid to the provincial banks. His habits of life, however, +often prevent him from employing these loans on the improvement of his +property, and he seldom makes farming the steady occupation and business +of his life. But he allows himself readily to become involved in the +establishment of factories--whether for the manufacture of brandy or for +the production of beet-root sugar--which promise a larger and speedier +return, besides the enhancement of the value of the land. But, in order +to succeed in such undertakings, he wants the requisite capital and +experience. He manifests even less prudence in the conduct of these +speculations than in the cultivation of his ancestral acres, and the +inevitable result ensues that an ever-increasing debt at length +necessitates the sale of his estate. Such estates are ever more and more +frequently becoming the property of the merchant or manufacturer from +the town, or perhaps of the neighboring proprietor of the same inferior +rank, who has lately settled in the country, and become entitled to the +exercise of equal rights with the hereditary owner. There is no +essential difference in social culture between the two classes, but +there is a mighty difference between the habits of their lives. The +mercantile class of citizens is in Germany more refined than in any +other country, and has more political ambition than the corresponding +class in England has yet exhibited. The families of public functionaries +constitute the other half of the cultivated citizen class; and as the +former have the superiority in point of wealth, so these bear the palm +in respect of intellectual culture and administrative talent. Almost all +authors, since the days of Luther, have belonged to this class. In +school and college learning, in information, and in the conduct of +public affairs, the citizen is thus, for the most part, as far superior +to the nobleman as in fashionable manners the latter is to him. The +whole nation, however, enjoys alike the advantage of military education, +and every man may become an officer who passes the necessary +examination. Thus, in the manufacturing towns, the citizens occupy the +highest place, and the nobility in the garrison towns and those of royal +residence. This fact, however, must not be lost sight of--that Berlin, +the most populous city of Germany, has also gradually become the chief +and the richest commercial one, while the great fortress of Magdeburg +has also been becoming the seat of a wealthy and cultivated mercantile +community. + +Instead of desiring landed property, and perhaps a patent of nobility +for his children, and an alliance with some noble country family, the +rich citizen rather sticks to his business, and prefers a young man in +his own rank, or perhaps a clergyman, or professor, or some municipal +officer as a suitor to his daughter, to the elegant officer or man of +noble blood; for the richest and most refined citizen, though the wife +or daughter of a noble official, is not entitled to appear at court with +her husband or her father. It is not, therefore, as in England or +Scotland, the aim of a man who has plied his industrious calling with +success to assume the rank and habits of a nobleman or country squire. +The rich man remains in town among his equals. It is only when we +understand this difference in the condition of the social relations in +Germany and in England that the scope and intention of our novel can be +apprehended. + +It would be a mistake to suppose that our remarks are only applicable to +the eastern provinces of Prussia. If, perhaps, they are less harshly +manifested in the western division of our kingdom, and indeed in Western +Germany, it is in consequence of noble families being fewer in number, +and the conditions of property being more favorable to the citizen +class. The defective principle is the same, as also the national feeling +in regard to it. It is easily understood, indeed, how this should have +become much stronger since 1850, seeing that the greater and lesser +nobility have blindly united in endeavoring to bring about a +reaction--demanding all possible and impossible privileges and +exemptions, or compensations, and are separating themselves more and +more widely from the body of the nation. + +In Silesia and Posen, however, the theatres on which our story is +enacted, other and peculiar elements, though lying, perhaps, beneath the +surface, affect the social relations of the various classes. In both +provinces, but especially in Posen, the great majority of noblemen are +the proprietors of land, and the enactment under Hardenberg and Stein in +1808-10, in regard to peasant rights, had been very imperfectly carried +out in districts where vassalage, as in all countries of Slavonic +origin, was nearly universal. Many estates are of large extent, and +some, indeed, are strictly entailed. These circumstances naturally give +to a country life in Silesia or Posen quite a different character than +that in the Rhine provinces. In Posen, besides, two foreign +elements--found in Silesia also in a far lesser degree--exercise a +mighty influence on the social relations of the people. One is the +Jewish, the other the Polish element. In Posen, the Jews constitute in +the country the class of innkeepers and farmers; of course, they carry +on some trade in addition. The large banking establishments are partly, +the smaller ones almost exclusively, in their hands. They become, by +these means, occasionally the possessors of land; but they regard such +property almost always as a mere subject for speculation, and it is but +rarely that the quondam innkeeper or peddler settles down as a tiller of +the soil. In Silesia, their chief seat is in Breslau, where the general +trade of the country, as well as the purchase and the sale of land, is +for the most part transacted. It is a pretty general feeling in Germany +that Freytag has not dealt altogether impartially with this class, by +failing to introduce in contrast to the abandoned men whom he selects +for exhibition a single honest, upright Jew, a character not wanting +among that remarkable people. The inextinguishable higher element of our +nature, and the fruits of German culture, are manifested, it is true, in +the Jewish hero of the tale, ignorant alike of the world and its ways, +buried among his cherished books, and doomed to early death; but this is +done more as a poetic comfort to humanity than in honor of Judaism, from +which plainly in his inmost soul he had departed, that he might turn to +the Christianized spirit and to the poetry of the Gentiles. + +The Polish element, however, is of still far greater importance. +Forming, as they once did, with the exception of a few German +settlements, the entire population of the province, the Poles have +become, in the course of the last century, and especially since the +removal of restrictions on the sale of land, less numerous year by year. +In Posen proper they constitute, numerically, perhaps the half of the +population; but in point of prosperity and mental culture their +influence is scarcely as one fourth upon the whole. On the other hand, +in some districts, as, for instance, in Gnesen, the Polish influence +predominates in the towns, and reigns undisputed in the country. The +middle class is exclusively German or Jewish; where these elements are +lacking, there is none. The Polish vassal, emancipated by the enactment +of 1810, is gradually ripening into an independent yeoman, and knows +full well that he owes his freedom, not to his former Polish masters, +but to Prussian legislation and administration. The exhibition of these +social relations, as they were manifested by the contending parties in +1848, is, in all respects, one of the most admirable portions of our +novel. The events are all vividly depicted, and, in all essential +points, historically true. One feature here appears, little known in +foreign lands, but deserving careful observation, not only on its own +account, but as a key to the meaning and intention of the attractive +narrative before us. + +The two national elements may be thus generally characterized: The +Prusso-German element is Protestant; the Polish element is Catholic. +Possessing equal rights, the former is continually pressing onward with +irresistible force, as in Ireland, in virtue of the principles of +industry and frugality by which it is animated. This is true alike of +landlord and tenant, of merchant and official. + +The passionate and ill-regulated Polish element stands forth in +opposition--the intellectual and peculiarly courteous and accomplished +nobility, as well as the priesthood--but in vain. Seeing that the law +secures perfect equality of rights, and is impartially administered; +that, besides, the conduct of the German settlers is correct and +inoffensive, the Poles can adduce no well-grounded causes of complaint +either against their neighbors or the government. It is their innate +want of order that throws business, money, and, at length, the land +itself, into the hands of Jews and Protestants. This fact is also here +worthy of notice, that the Jewish usurer is disappearing or withdrawing +wherever the Protestant element is taking firmer ground. The Jew remains +in the country, but becomes a citizen, and sometimes even a +peasant-proprietor. This phenomenon is manifesting itself also in other +places where there is a concurrence of the German and Slavonic elements. +In Prussia, however, there is this peculiarity in addition, of which +Freytag has made the most effective use--I mean the education of the +Prussian people, not alone in the national schools, but also in the +science of national defense, which this people of seventeen millions has +in common with Sparta and with Rome. + +It is well known that every Prussian not physically disqualified, of +whatever rank he be, must become a soldier. The volunteer serves in the +line for one year, and without pay; other persons serve for two or +three years. Thereafter, all beyond the age of twenty-five are yearly +called out as militia, and drilled for several weeks after harvest. This +enactment has been in force since 1813, and it is a well-known fact, +brought prominently forward in the work before us, that, notwithstanding +the immense sacrifice it requires, it is enthusiastically cherished by +the nation as a school of manly discipline, and as exercising a most +beneficial influence on all classes of society. This institution it is +which gives that high standard of order, duty, and military honor, and +that mutual confidence between officers and men, which at the first +glance distinguishes the Prussian, not only from the Russian, but the +Austrian soldier. This high feeling of confidence in the national +defenses is indeed peculiar to Prussia beyond the other German nations, +and may be at once recognized in the manly and dignified bearing, even +of the lowest classes, alike in town and country. + +This spirit is depicted to the life in the striking episode of the +troubles in the year 1848. Even in the wildest months of that year, when +the German minority were left entirely to their own resources, this +spirit of order and mutual confidence continued undisturbed. Our +patriotic author has never needed to draw upon his imagination for +facts, though he has depicted with consummate skill the actual reality. +We feel that it has been to him a labor of love to console himself and +his fellow-countrymen under so many disappointments and shattered hopes, +to cherish and to strengthen that sense of independence, without which +no people can stand erect among the nations. + +The Prusso-German population feel it to be a mission in the cause of +civilization to press forward in occupation of the Sarmatian +territory--a sacred duty, which, however, can only be fulfilled by +honest means, by privations and self-sacrificing exertions of every +kind. In such a spirit must the work be carried forward; this is the +suggestive thought with which our author's narrative concludes. It is +not without a meaning, we believe, that the zealous German hero of the +book is furnished with the money necessary for carrying out his schemes +by a fellow-countryman and friend, who had returned to his fatherland +with a fortune acquired beyond the Atlantic. Our talented author has +certainly not lost sight of the fact that Germany, as a whole, has as +little recovered from the devastation of the Thirty Years' War as the +eastern districts of Prussia have recovered from the effects of the war +with France in the present century. Let the faults and failings of our +national German character be what they may (and we should like to know +what nation has endured and survived similar spoliation and partition), +the greatest sin of Germany during the last two hundred years, +especially in the less-favored north, has always been its poverty--the +condition of all classes, with few exceptions. National poverty, +however, becomes indeed a political sin when a people, by its +cultivation, has become constitutionally fit for freedom. + +In the background of the whole picture of the disordered and sickly +condition of our social circumstances here so vividly presented, the +author has plainly discerned Dante's noble proverb-- + +"Di libertà indipendenza è primo grado." + +The existence of independent citizen-families qualified and ready for +every public service, though beyond the need of such employment--this is +the fundamental condition of a healthy development of political freedom, +alike impregnable by revolution and reaction; this is the only sure +ground and basis on which a constitutional form of government can be +reared and administered with advantage to every class, repressing alike +successfully absolutism and democracy. + +And now we have reached the point where we are enabled to gather up, and +to express to the reader, without desiring to forestall his own +judgment, or to load him with axioms and formulas beyond his +comprehension, the beautiful fundamental idea of the book, clearly and +simply. + +We would express it thus: The future of all European states depends +mainly on three propositions, and the politics of every statesman of our +period are determined by the way in which he views them. + +These propositions are, + +1st. The fusion of the educated classes, and the total abolition of +bureaucracy, and all social barriers between the ancient nobility and +the educated classes in the nation, especially the industrial and +mercantile population. + +2d. The just and Christian bearing of this united body toward the +working-classes, especially in towns. + +3d. The recognition of the mighty fact that the educated middle classes +of all nations, but especially of those of Germany, are perfectly aware +that even the present, but still more the near future, is their own, if +they advance along the legal path to a perfect constitutional monarchy, +resisting all temptations to the right hand or to the left, not with +imbittered feelings, but in the cheerful temper of a moral +self-confidence. + + * * * * * + +It is faith in truths such as these that has inspired our author in the +composition of the work which is here offered to the English reading +public. It is his highest praise, however, that he has imbodied this +faith in a true work of art, which speaks for itself. He has thereby +enkindled or strengthened a like faith in many thousand hearts, and that +with a noble and conciliatory intention which the dedication well +expresses. + +The admirable delineation of character, the richness of invention, the +artistic arrangement, the lively descriptions of nature, will be ever +more fully acknowledged by the sympathizing reader as he advances in the +perusal of the attractive volumes. + + + + +TO HIS HIGHNESS ERNEST II., + +DUKE OF SAXE-COBURG-GOTHA. + + +I visited Kallenberg one lovely evening in the month of May. The high +ground near the castle was steeped in perfume from the blossoms of the +spring, and the leaves of the pink acacia cast their checkered shadows +on the dewy grass. Beneath me, in the shady valley, deer bounded +fearless from their covert in the wood, following greedily with their +eyes the bright figure of that lady who greets with kind and hospitable +welcome all who enter the precincts of the castle--men, and all living +things. The repose of evening lay on hill and dale; no sound was heard +save the occasional roll of thunder from afar above the bright and +cheerful landscape. On this very evening, leaning against the wall of +the ancient castle, your highness gazed with troubled aspect into the +gloomy distance. What my noble prince then said about the conflicts of +the last few years, the relaxed and utterly despondent temper of the +nation, and the duty of authors, at such a time especially, to show the +people, for their encouragement and elevation, as in a mirror, what they +are capable of doing--those were golden words, revealing a great grasp +of intellect and a warm heart, and their echo will not soon die away in +the heart of him who heard them. It was on that evening the desire awoke +within me to grace with your highness's name the work whose plan had +been already in my mind. + +Nearly two years have passed since then. A terrible war is raging, and +Germans look with gloomy apprehension to the future of their fatherland. +At such a time, when the strongest political feelings agitate the life +of every individual, that spirit of cheerful tranquillity, so needful to +an author for the artistic moulding of his creations, readily forsakes +his writing-table. It is long, alas! since the German author has enjoyed +it. He has far too little interest in home and foreign life; he wants +that composure and proud satisfaction which the writers of other +countries feel in dwelling on the past and present of their nation, +while he has enough and to spare of humiliation on account of his +country, of wishes unfulfilled and passionate indignation. At such a +time, in drawing an imaginative picture, not love alone, but hatred too, +flows freely and readily from the pen--practical tendencies are apt to +usurp the place of poetic fancy; and, instead of a genial tone and +temper, the reader is apt to find an unpleasing mixture of blunt reality +and artificial sentiment. + +Surrounded by such dangers, it becomes twofold the duty of an author +carefully to avoid distortion in the outline of his pictures, and to +keep his own soul free from unjust prepossession. To give the highest +expression to the beautiful in its noblest form is not the privilege of +every time; but, in all times alike, it is the duty of the writer of +fiction to be true to his art and to his country. To seek for this +truth, and where found to exhibit it, I hold to be the duty of my own +life. + +And now let me dedicate, with deepest reverence, my unimportant work to +you, my honored lord. I shall rejoice if this novel leaves on the mind +of your highness the impression that its conception is in faithful +keeping with the laws of life and of art, without ever being a slavish +copy of the accidental occurrences of the day. + +GUSTAV FREYTAG. + +LEIPSIC, _April_, 1855. + + + + +DEBIT AND CREDIT. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +Ostrau is a small town near the Oder, celebrated even as far as Poland +for its gymnasium and its gingerbread. In this patriarchal spot had +dwelt for many years the accountant-royal, Wohlfart, an enthusiastically +loyal subject, and a hearty lover of his fellow-men--with one or two +exceptions. He married late in life, and his wife and he lived in a +small house, the garden of which he himself kept in order. For a long +time the happy pair were childless; but at length came a day when the +good woman, having smartened up her white bed-curtains with a broad +fringe and heavy tassels, disappeared behind them amid the approbation +of all her female friends. It was under the shade of those white +bed-curtains that the hero of our tale was born. + +Anton was a good child, who, according to his mother, displayed +remarkable peculiarities from the very day of his birth. For instance, +he had a great objection to going to bed at the proper hour; he would +pore time untold over his picture-alphabet, and hold lengthy +conversations with the red cock depicted upon its last page, imploring +him to exert himself in the cause of his young family, and not allow the +maid-servant to carry them off and roast them. Lastly, he would often +run away from his playfellows, and sit lost in thought in a corner of +the room. His greatest delight, however, was to perch himself on a chair +opposite his father, cross his legs in the same way, and smoke a mimic +pipe in emulation. Moreover, he was so seldom naughty, that all such of +the female population of Ostrau as took a gloomy view of things in +general held it doubtful that he could live to grow up, till one day +Anton publicly thrashed the councilor's son, which in some degree +modified the opinions concerning him. In short, he was just the boy that +the only child of warm-hearted parents might be expected to prove. At +school he was an example of industry; and when the drawing-master began +to declare that he must be a painter, and the classical teacher to +devote him to Philology, the boy might have been in some danger of being +diverted from the serious pursuit of any one specific calling but for an +accident which determined his choice. + +Every Christmas evening the mail brought to the house of the paternal +Wohlfart a box containing a loaf of the finest sugar and a quantity of +the best coffee. This sugar the good man himself broke into squares: the +coffee was roasted by his wife's own hands; and the complacency with +which they sipped their first cup was pleasant to behold. These were +seasons when, to the childish soul of Anton, the whole house seemed +pervaded with poetry, and his father was never weary of telling him the +history of this periodical present. Many years ago, he had chanced to +find, in a dusty bundle of law-papers, a document of great importance to +a well-known mercantile house in the capital. This document he had at +once forwarded, and, in consequence of it, the firm had been enabled to +gain a long-pending lawsuit, which had previously threatened to go +against them; upon which the young head of the concern had written his +acknowledgments, and Wohlfart had refused to be thanked, having, he +said, only done his duty. From that time forth the box we have described +made its appearance every Christmas evening, accompanied by a few +cordial lines, to which Wohlfart responded in a masterpiece of +caligraphy, expressing his surprise at the unexpected arrival, and +wishing a happy new year to the firm. The old gentleman persisted, even +to his wife, in treating this Christmas box as a mere accident, a +trifle, a whim of some clerk in the house of T. O. Schröter, and yearly +protested against the expectation of its arrival, by which the good +woman's household purchases were more or less influenced. But its +arrival was, in reality, of the utmost importance in his eyes; and that, +not for the sake of the actual coffee and sugar themselves, but of the +poetry of this connecting link between him and the life of a perfect +stranger. He carefully tied up all the letters of the firm, together +with three love-letters from his wife. He became a connoisseur in +colonial produce, an oracle in coffee, whose decision was much deferred +to by the Ostrau shopkeepers. He began to interest himself in the +affairs of the great firm, and never failed to note the ups and downs +reported in a certain corner of the newspapers, wholly mysterious to the +uninitiated. Nay, he even indulged in fancy speculations and an ideal +partnership, chafed when sugars fell, and chuckled at the rise of +coffee. + +A strange, invisible, filmy thread it was, this which connected +Wohlfart's quiet household with the activity of the great mercantile +world, and yet it was by this that little Anton's whole life was swayed; +for when the old gentleman sat in his garden of an evening in his satin +cap, and pipe in his mouth, he would dilate upon the advantages of +trade, and ask his son whether he should like to be a merchant; +whereupon a kind of kaleidoscope-picture suddenly shaped itself in the +little fellow's mind, made up of sugar-loaves, raisins, and almonds, +golden oranges, his father's smile, and the mysterious delight which the +arrival of the box always occasioned him, and he replied at once, "Yes, +father, _that_ I should!" + +Let no one say that our life is poor in poetical influences; still does +the enchantress sway us mortals as of old. Rather let each take heed +what dreams he nurses in his heart's innermost fold, for when they are +full grown they may prove tyrants, ay, and cruel ones too. + +In this way the Wohlfart family lived on for many a year; and whenever +the good woman privately entreated her husband to form some decision as +to the boy's way of life, he would reply, "It is formed already; he is +to be a merchant." But in his own heart he was a little doubtful as to +how this dream of his could ever be realized. + +Meanwhile a dark day drew on, when the shutters of the house remained +late unclosed, the servant-girl with red eyes, ran up and down the +steps, the doctor came and shook his head, the old gentleman stood in +prayer near his wife's bed, and the boy knelt sobbing by, while his +dying mother's hand still tried to stroke his curls. Three days later +came the funeral, and father and son sat together alone. Both wept, but +the boy's red cheeks returned. Not so the old man's health and strength. +Not that he complained; he still sat and smoked his pipe as before, and +still concerned himself about the price of sugars, but there was no +heart in the smoking or the concern; and he would often look anxiously +at his young companion, who wondered what his father could have on his +mind. One evening, when he had for the hundredth time asked him whether +he would really like to be a merchant, and received the unvarying +answer, he rose from his seat with an air of decision, and told the +servant-girl to order a conveyance to take him the next morning to the +capital, but he said nothing about the object of his expedition. + +Late on the following day he returned in a very different mood--happier, +indeed, than he had ever been since his wife's death. He enchanted his +son by his account of the incredible charms of the extensive business, +and the kindness of the great merchant toward himself. He had been +invited to dinner, he had eaten peewits' eggs, and drunk Greek wine, +compared to which the very best wine in Ostrau was mere vinegar; and, +above all, he had received the promise of having his son taken into +their office, and a few hints as to the future course of his education. +The very next day saw Anton seated at a ledger, disposing arbitrarily of +hundreds of thousands, converting them into every existing currency, and +putting them out at every possible rate of interest. + +Thus another year passed away. Anton was just eighteen, when again the +windows remained darkened, and the red-eyed servant-girl ran up and +down, and the doctor shook his head. This time it was the old gentleman +by whose bed Anton sat, holding both his hands. But there was no keeping +him back; and after repeatedly blessing his son, he died, and Anton was +left alone in the silent dwelling, at the entrance of a new life. + +Old Wohlfart had not been an accountant for nothing; he left his house +in the highest order; his affairs were balanced to a farthing, and he +had written a letter of introduction to the merchant only a few days +before his death. A month later, on a fine summer morning, Anton stood +upon the threshold of his home, placed the key in a friendly hand, made +over his luggage to the carrier, and, with his father's letter in his +pocket, took his way to the great city. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +The new-mown grass was already fading in the sun when Anton shook the +hand of the neighbor who had accompanied him as far as the nearest +station to the capital, and then walked off merrily along the high road. +The day was bright, the mower was heard whetting his scythe in the +meadows close by, and the indefatigable lark sang high overhead. On all +sides rose church-towers, central points of villages buried in woods, +near many of which might be seen a stately baronial residence. + +Anton hurried on as if his feet were winged; the future lay before him +sunny as the plain, a life of radiant dreams and evergreen hopes; his +heart beat high, his eyes beamed, he felt intoxicated by the beauty and +the fragrance around him. Whenever he saw a mower, he called out to him +that it was a lovely day, and got many a friendly greeting in return. +The very birds seemed as though they congratulated him, and cheered him +onward. + +He now took a footpath that led through a meadow, crossed a bridge, and +found himself in a plantation with neatly-graveled paths. As he went on, +it more and more assumed the character of a garden; a sudden turn, and +he stood on a grass-plot, and saw a gentleman's seat, with two side +towers and a balcony, rise before him. Vines and climbing roses ran up +the towers, and beneath the balcony was a vestibule well filled with +flowers. In short, to our Anton, brought up as he had been in a small +town, it all appeared beauteous and stately in the extreme. He sat down +behind a bushy lilac, and gave himself up to the contemplation of the +scene. How happy the inhabitants must be! how noble! how refined! A +certain respect for every thing of acknowledged distinction and +importance was innate in the son of the accountant; and when, in the +midst of the beauty around him, his thoughts reverted to himself, he +felt utterly insignificant, a species of social pigmy scarcely visible +to the naked eye. + +For some time he sat and looked in perfect stillness; at last the +picture shifted. A lovely lady came out on the balcony clad in light +summer attire, with white lace sleeves, and stood there like a statue. +When a gay paroquet flew out of the room and lighted on her hand, +Anton's admiration went on increasing; but when a young girl followed +the bird, and wound her arms around the lovely lady's neck, and the +paroquet kept wheeling about them, and perching now on the shoulder of +one, and then on that of the other, his feeling of veneration became +such that he blushed deeply, and drew back further into the lilac-tree's +shadow. + +Then, with his imagination filled by what he had seen, he went with +elastic step along the broad walk, hoping to find a way of exit. + +Soon he heard a horse's feet behind him, and saw the younger of the two +ladies come riding after him, mounted upon a black pony, and using her +parasol as a whip. Now the ladies of Ostrau were not in the habit of +riding. He had, indeed, once upon a time, beheld a professional +equestrian with very red cheeks and flowing garments, and had +unspeakably admired her, but now the same feeling was far more intense. +He stood still and bowed reverentially. The young girl acknowledged his +homage by a gracious nod, pulled up her horse, and asked whether he +wished to speak to her father. + +"I crave your pardon," replied Anton, with the deepest respect; +"probably I am in a path not open to strangers. I came across the +meadow, and saw no gate and no hedge." + +"The gate is on the bridge; it is open by day," said the young lady, +with great benignity, for reverence was not the sentiment her fourteen +years often inspired, and she was the more pleased therewith. "But, +since you are in the garden," continued she, "will you not look around? +We shall be very glad if it give you pleasure." + +"I have already taken that liberty," replied Anton, with another bow. "I +have been on the lawn before the castle: it is magnificent." + +"Yes," said the young lady, reining in her pony; "the gardener laid it +out under mamma's own direction." + +"Then the lady who stood with you on the balcony was your mother?" +timidly inquired Anton. + +"What! you have been watching us, then? Do you know that that was +wrong?" + +"Forgive me," was the humble reply; "I retreated at once, but it was +such a lovely sight--the two ladies, the roses in full blossom, the +framework of vine leaves--I shall never forget it." + +"He is charming!" thought the young girl. "Since you have already seen +the garden," said she, condescendingly, "you must go to the point from +which we have the best view. I am on my way thither now, if you like to +follow." + +Anton followed, lost in delight. The lady bade her horse walk slowly, +and played the cicerone. At last she dismounted and led the pony, +whereupon Anton ventured to stroke his neck--an attention which the +little fellow took in good part, and returned by sniffing his coat +pockets. "He trusts you," said the young lady; "he is a sagacious +beast." She then tied the bridle round his neck, told him to go home, +and turning to Anton, added, "We are going into the flower-garden, where +he must not come; and so, you see, he trots back to his stable." + +"This pony is a perfect wonder," cried Anton. + +"He is very fond of me; he does all I tell him," was the reply. + +Anton thought that the most natural thing in the world. + +"I think you are of a good family," said the little lady, decidedly, +looking at Anton with a discriminating air. + +"No," replied he, sadly. "My father died last month, my dear mother a +year ago; I am alone, and on my way to the capital." His lips quivered +as he spoke. + +The lady looked at him with the utmost sympathy, and in some +embarrassment. "Oh, poor, poor lad!" cried she. "But come quickly; I +have something to show you. These are the beds of early strawberries; +there are still a few. Do, pray, take them. No guest must leave my +father's house without partaking of the best each season brings. Pray, +pray eat them." + +Anton looked at her with tearful eyes. + +"I am going to share with you," said she, taking two strawberries. Upon +that, the youth obediently followed her example. + +"And now I will take you across the garden," said she, leading him to a +little lake where old swans and young were swimming about. + +"They are coming hither," cried Anton, in delight. + +"They know that I have something for them," said his companion, +loosening the while the chain of a small boat. "Now, sir, jump in, and I +will row you across, for yonder lies your way." + +"I can not think of troubling you." + +"No opposition!" said she, imperatively, and they set off. + +Anton was entranced. Behind, the rich green trees; beneath, the clear +water rippling round the prow; opposite him, the slender figure of his +companion, and the swans, her snowy subjects, following in her train--it +was a dream such as is only granted to youth. + +The boat grounded; Anton leaped out, and involuntarily offered his hand, +which the little lady touched with the tips of her fingers as she wished +him good-by. He sprang up the hill and looked down. Through an opening +in the wood he saw the castle with its flag floating, and its vines and +roses shining in the sun. + +"How noble! how magnificent!" said he, aloud. + +"If you were to count out to that baron a hundred thousand dollars, he +would not sell you the property he inherited from his father," said a +sharp voice behind him. He angrily turned; the dream was gone; he stood +on the dusty highway, and saw a meanly-dressed youth, with a great +bundle under his arm, looking at him with cool familiarity. + +"Is it you, Veitel Itzig?" cried Anton, without showing much pleasure at +the meeting. Indeed, young Itzig was by no means a pleasant apparition, +pale, haggard, red-haired, and shabbily clothed as he was. He came from +Ostrau, and had been a schoolfellow of Anton's, who had once fought a +battle on his behalf, and had stood between the young Jew and the +general ill-will of the other boys. But of late they had seldom met, +just often enough to give Itzig an opportunity of keeping up in some +measure their old schooldays' familiarity. + +"They say that you are going to the great city to learn business," added +Veitel; "to be taught how to twist up paper bags and sell treacle to old +women. I am going there too, but _I_ mean to make my fortune." + +To this Anton replied, dryly enough, "Go, then, and make it, and do not +let me detain you." + +"There's no need to hurry," said the other, carelessly; "I will walk on +with you, if you are not ashamed of my dress." This appeal to our hero's +humanity was successful, and, casting a last look at the castle, he went +on his way, his unwelcome companion a foot or so behind him. At length +he turned, and inquired who the proprietor was. + +Itzig displayed wonderful familiarity with the subject. The baron, said +he, had only two children, large flocks, and a clear estate. His son was +at a military school. Finally, observing Anton's interest, he remarked, +"If you wish for his property, I will buy it for you." + +"Thanks," was the cold reply. "You have just told me he was not disposed +to sell." + +"When a man is not disposed to sell, he must be forced to do so." + +"You are the very person to force him, I suppose," replied Anton, +thoroughly out of patience. + +"Whether I am or not, does not signify; there is a receipt for making +any man sell." + +"What! can they be bewitched, or given some magic potion?" asked Anton, +contemptuously. + +"A hundred thousand dollars is a potion that can work wonders; but a +poor man must get hold of a secret to accomplish his ends. Now, I am on +my way to town to get at the knowledge of this secret. It is all +contained in certain papers, and I will search for those papers till I +find them." + +Anton looked askance at his companion as at a lunatic, and at length +replied, "Poor Veitel, you never will find them." + +However, Itzig went on to say confidentially, "Never repeat what I tell +you. Those papers have been in our town; and a certain person, who is +become a very great man now, got them from an old dying beggar-man, who +gave them to him one night that he watched by his bedside." + +"And do you know this man?" inquired Anton, in a tone of curiosity. + +"Never mind whether I know him or not," answered the other, slyly. "I +shall find out the receipt I spoke of. And if ever you wish to have this +baron's property, horses, flocks, and his pretty daughter to boot, I'll +buy them for you, for the sake of our old friendship, and the thrashing +you once gave some of our schoolfellows on my account." + +"Take care," said Anton, "that you don't turn out a thorough rascal; you +seem to me to be in the fair way." + +So saying, he crossed over to the other side of the road in high +dudgeon; but Itzig took his caution with the utmost equanimity, and ever +and anon, as they passed different country-seats, gave him an account of +the names and rentals of their proprietors, so that Anton was perfectly +stupefied with the extent of his statistical information. At length both +walked on in silence. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +The Baron of Rothsattel was one of the few men whom not only the world +pronounced happy, but who believed himself to be so. The descendant of +an ancient and honorable house, he had married, out of sheer love, a +beautiful young lady without any fortune. Like a sensible man, he had +retired with her into the country, lived for his family, and within his +means. He was a thoroughly noble-hearted man, still handsome and +dignified in appearance, an affectionate husband, a hospitable host; in +short, the very model of a landed proprietor. His means were not, +indeed, very large, but he might have sold his property over and over +again for a far higher sum than the sagacious Itzig had surmised, had he +felt any inclination to do so. Two healthy, intelligent children +completed his domestic happiness; the boy was about to enter the +military career, which had been that of all his ancestors; the girl was +to remain yet a while under her mother's wing. Like all men of old +descent, our baron was a good deal given to speculate upon the past and +the future of his family. We have said that his means were not large, +and though he had always intended to lay by, the time for beginning to +do so had never yet come. Either some improvement to house or grounds +was wanted, or a trip to the baths--rendered necessary by his wife's +delicate health--consumed the overplus income. Reflections of this +nature were occupying him just now, as he came galloping up the great +chestnut avenue. The cloud on his brow was, however, but a little one, +and it soon vanished in sunshine when he saw the flutter of feminine +garments, and found that his wife and daughter were coming to meet him. +He leaped off his horse, kissed his favorite child on the brow, and +cheerfully remarked to his wife, "We have capital weather for the +harvest; the bailiff vows we never have had such a crop." + +"You are a fortunate man, Oscar," said the baroness, tenderly. + +"Yes, ever since I brought you here, seventeen years ago," replied he, +with a politeness that came from the heart. + +"There are indeed seventeen years since then," cried his wife, "and they +have flown by like a summer day. We have been very happy, Oscar," said +she, bending over his arm, and looking gratefully in his face. + +"Been happy!" cried the baron; "why, so we still are, and I see not why +we should not continue so." + +"Hush!" implored she. "I often feel that so much sunshine can not last +forever. I desire, as it were, to fast and do penance, thus to +propitiate the envy of fortune." + +"Come, come," was the good-humored reply; "fortune has given us a few +rubs already: we have had our clouds, only this little hand has always +conjured them away. Why, have you not had plague enough with the +servants, the pranks of the children, and sometimes with your tyrant +too, that you should be wishing for more?" + +"You dear tyrant!" cried the wife, "I owe all my happiness to you; and, +after seventeen years, I am as proud as ever of my husband and my home. +When you brought me here, a poor maid of honor, with nothing but my +trinket-box, and that a gift, I first learned the blessedness of being +mistress in my own house, and obeying no other will than that of a +beloved husband." + +"And yet you gave up much for me," returned the baron; "I have had many +a fear lest our country life should seem petty and dull to you, a +favorite at court." + +"There I obeyed, here I rule," said the baroness, laughing. "There I had +nothing besides my fine dresses that I could call my own; here, every +thing around is mine. You belong to me (she wound her arms around the +baron), and so do the children, the castle, and our silver +candlesticks." + +"The new ones are only plated," suggested the baron. + +"Never mind; no one finds it out," cried she, merrily. "When I look at +our own dinner-service, and see your and my arms on the plates, two +spoonfuls give me ten times more satisfaction than all the courses of +the court dinner ever did." + +"You are a bright example of contentment," said the baron; "and for your +and the children's sake, I wish this property were ten times larger, so +that I might keep a page and a couple of maids of honor for my lady +wife." + +"For heaven's sake, no maids of honor; and as for a page, I need none +with such an attentive knight as yourself." + +And so the pair walked on to the house, Lenore having taken possession +of the horse's bridle, affectionately exhorting him to raise as little +dust as possible. + +"I see a carriage," said the baron, as they drew near the door; "have +any visitors come?" + +"It is only Ehrenthal, who wished to see you," replied his wife, "and +meanwhile expended all his pretty speeches upon us. Lenore was so +arrogant that it was high time I should carry her off--the droll man was +quite put out of countenance by the saucy girl." + +The baron smiled. "I like him the best of his class," said he. "His +manners are at least not repulsive, and I have always found him +obliging. How do you do, Mr. Ehrenthal; what brings you here?" + +Mr. Ehrenthal was a portly man in the prime of life, with a face too +yellow, fat, and cunning to be considered exactly handsome. He wore +gaiters, and a large diamond breast-pin, and advanced with a series of +low bows toward the baron. + +"Your servant, good sir," said he, with a deferential smile; "although +no business matters lead me here, I must sometimes crave permission to +look round your farm, it is such a treat and refreshment to me; all your +live-stock is so sleek and well-fed, and the barns and stables in such +perfect order. The very sparrows look better off here than elsewhere. To +a man of business, who is often obliged to see things going to wrack +and ruin, it is a delight, indeed, to contemplate an estate like yours." + +"You are so complimentary, Mr. Ehrenthal, that I can but believe you +have some weighty business on hand. Do you want to make a bargain with +me?" asked the count, good-naturedly. + +With a virtuous shake of the head in refutation of the charge, Mr. +Ehrenthal went on: "Not a word of business, baron, not a word. _Our_ +business, when we have any, admits of no compliments--good money and +good stock, that is our plan; and so, please God, it will be. I merely +came, in passing by"--here he waved his hand--"in passing by, to inquire +about one of the horses the baron has to sell; I promised a friend to +make inquiries. But I can settle the matter with the bailiff." + +"No, no; come along with me, Ehrenthal--I am going to take my horse to +the stable." + +With many bows to the ladies, Ehrenthal followed, and, arrived at the +stable-door, respectfully insisted that the baron should enter it first. +After the customary questions and answers, the baron took him to the +cow-house, and he then fervently requested to see the calves, and then +the sheep. Being an experienced man, his praise, although somewhat +exaggerated, was in the main judicious, and the baron heard it with +pleasure. + +After the inspection of the sheep, there was a pause, Ehrenthal being +quite overcome by the thickness and fineness of their fleece. He nodded +and winked in ecstasy. "What wool!" said he; "what it will be next +spring! Do you know, baron, you are a most fortunate man? Have you good +accounts of the young gentleman, your son?" + +"Thank you, he wrote to us yesterday, and sent us his testimonials." + +"He will be like his father, a nobleman of the first order, and a rich +man too; the baron knows how to provide for his children." + +"I am not laying by," was the careless reply. + +"Laying by, indeed!" said the tradesman, with the utmost contempt for +any thing so plebeian; "and why should you? When old Ehrenthal is dead +and gone, you will be able to leave the young gentleman this +property--with--between ourselves--a very large sum indeed, besides a +dowry to your daughter of--of--what shall I say? of fifty thousand +dollars, at least." + +"You are mistaken," said the baron, gravely; "I am not so rich." + +"Not so rich!" cried Ehrenthal, ready to resent the speech, if it had +not been made by the baron himself. "Why, you may then be so any moment +you like; any one, with a property like yours, can double his capital in +ten years, without the slightest risk. Why not take joint-stock +promissory notes upon your estate?" + +Ehrenthal alluded to a great joint-stock company of landed proprietors +which lent money on a first mortgage on estates. This money took the +form of promissory notes, made payable to the holder. The company itself +paid interest to those who accepted the mortgages, and advanced money on +them, raising from its own debtors, in addition to the interest, a small +sum as commission, for the purpose of defraying expenses, and also for +the gradual extinction of the debt incurred. + +"I will have nothing to do with money transactions," said the baron, +proudly. But the string the tradesman had touched went on vibrating +notwithstanding. + +"Transactions such as those I speak of are carried on by every prince," +continued Mr. Ehrenthal, fervently. "If you were to do as I suggested, +you might any day obtain fifty thousand dollars in good parchment. For +it you would pay to the company four per cent.; and if you merely let +the mortgages lie in your cash-box, they would bring you in three and a +half. So you would only have a half per cent. to pay, and by so doing +you would liquidate the capital." + +"That is to say, I am to run into debt in order to get rich," said the +baron, shrugging his shoulders. + +"Excuse me, baron; if a nobleman like you has fifty thousand dollars +lying by him, for which he only pays a half per cent., he may buy up +half the world. There are always opportunities of getting estates for a +mere nothing, or shares in mines, or something or other, if you only +have the money ready. Or you might establish some kind of works on your +property; as, for instance, for making beet-root sugar, like Herr von +Bergue; or a brewery, like your neighbor, Count Horn. There is no +possible risk to be feared. Why, you would receive ten, twenty, ay, +fifty per cent. for the capital borrowed at four per cent." + +The baron looked down thoughtfully. Ideas of the sort had often flitted +across his mind. It was just the time when numerous industrial +speculations had started up, and landed proprietors looked upon them as +the best way to increase their means. Mr. Ehrenthal perceived the effect +his words had taken, and concluded in the obsequious tone most natural +to him: "But what right have I to give any advice to a nobleman like +you? Only, every capitalist will tell you that in our days this is the +surest method by which a man of rank can provide for his family; and, +when the grass is growing over old Ehrenthal's grave, you will think of +me and say, 'Ehrenthal was but a plain man, but he gave me advice which +has proved advantageous to my family.'" + +The baron still looked thoughtfully down. His mind was made up, but he +merely replied, with affected indifference, "I will think the matter +over." Ehrenthal asked no more. + +It was a pity that the baron did not see the expression of the +tradesman's face as he got into his conveyance and drove away. He told +the coachman to go slowly through the grounds, and looked with delight +at the flourishing crops on either side. "A fine property," he went on +muttering to himself; "truly a fine property." + +Meanwhile the baroness sat in the shrubbery, and turned over the leaves +of a new magazine, every now and then casting a look at her daughter, +who was occupied in framing, with old newspapers and flowers, a +grotesque decoration for the pony's head and neck, while he kept tearing +away all of it that he could reach. As soon as she caught her mother's +glance, she flew to her, and began to talk nonsense to the smart ladies +and gentlemen who displayed the fashions in the pages of the magazine. +At first her mother laughed, but by-and-by she said, "Lenore, you are +now a great girl, and yet a mere child. We have been too careless about +your education; it is high time that you should begin and learn more +systematically, my poor darling." + +"I thought I was to have done with learning," said Lenore, pouting. + +"Your French is still very imperfect, and your father wishes you to +practice drawing, for which you have a talent." + +"I only care for drawing caricatures," cried Lenore; "they are so easy." + +"You must leave off drawing these; they spoil your taste, and make you +satirical." Lenore hung her head. "And who was the young man with whom I +saw you a short time ago?" continued the baroness, reprovingly. + +"Do not scold me, dear mother," cried Lenore; "he was a stranger--a +handsome, modest youth, on his way to the capital. He has neither father +nor mother, and that made me so sorry for him." + +Her mother kissed her, and said, "You are my own dear, wild girl. Go and +call your father; his coffee will get cold." + +As soon as the baron appeared, his head still full of his conversation +with Ehrenthal, his wife laid her hand in his, and said, "Oscar, I am +uneasy about Lenore!" + +"Is she ill?" inquired her father, in alarm. + +"No, she is well and good-hearted, but she is more free and +unconventional than she should be at her age." + +"She has been brought up in the country, and a fine, clever girl she +is," replied the baron, soothingly. + +"Yes, but she is too frank in her manner toward strangers," continued +his wife; "I fear that she is in danger of becoming an original." + +"Well, and is that a very great misfortune?" asked the baron, laughing. + +"There can be no greater to a girl in our circle. Whatever is unusual in +society is ridiculous, and the merest shade of eccentricity might ruin +her prospects. I am afraid she will never improve in the country." + +"What would the child do away from us, and growing up with strangers?" + +"And yet," said the baroness, earnestly, "it must come to this, though I +grieve to tell you so. She is rude to girls of her own age, +disrespectful to ladies, and, on the other hand, much too forward to +gentlemen." + +"She will change," suggested the baron, after a pause. + +"She will not change," returned the baroness, gently, "so long as she +leaps over hedge and ditch with her father, and even accompanies him out +hunting." + +"I can not make up my mind to part with both children," said the +kind-hearted father; "it would be hard upon us, indeed, and hardest upon +you, you rigid matron!" + +"Perhaps so," said the baroness, in a low voice, and her eyelids +moistened; "but we must not think of ourselves, only of their future +good." + +The baron drew her closer to him, and said in a firm voice, "Listen, +Elizabeth; when in earlier days we looked forward to these, we had other +plans for Lenore's education. We resolved to spend the winter in town, +to give the child some finishing lessons, and then to introduce her into +the world. We will go this very winter to the capital." + +The baroness looked up in amazement. "Dear, kind Oscar," cried she; +"but--forgive the question--will not this be a great sacrifice to you in +other respects?" + +"No," was the cheerful reply; "I have plans which make it desirable for +me to spend the winter in town." + +He told them, and the move was decided upon. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +The sun was already low when the travelers reached the suburbs of the +capital. First came cottages, then villas, then the houses crowded +closer, and the dust and noise made our hero's heart sink within him. He +would soon have lost his way but for Veitel Itzig, who seemed to have a +preference for by-streets and narrow flag-stones. At length they reached +one of the main streets, where large houses, with pillared porticoes, +gay shops, and a well-dressed crowd, proclaimed the triumph of wealth +over poverty. Here they stopped before a lofty house. Itzig pointed out +the door with a certain degree of deference, and said, "Here you are, +and here you will soon get as proud as any of them; but, if you ever +wish to know where I am to be found, you can inquire at Ehrenthal's, in +Dyer Street. Good-night." + +Anton entered with a beating heart, and felt for his father's letter. He +had become so diffident, and his head felt so confused, that he would +gladly have sat down for a moment to rest and compose himself. But there +was no rest here. A great wagon stood at the door, and within, colossal +bales and barrels; while broad-shouldered giants, with leathern aprons +and short hooks in their belts, were carrying ladders, rattling chains, +rolling casks, and tying thick ropes into artistic knots; while clerks, +with pens behind their ears and papers in their hands, moved to and fro, +and carriers in blue blouses received the different goods committed to +their care. Clearly there was no rest to be had here. Anton ran up +against a bale, nearly fell over a ladder, and was with difficulty saved +by the loud "Take care!" of two leathern-aproned sons of Anak from being +crushed flat under an immense tun of oil. + +In the centre of all this movement--the sun around which porters, and +clerks, and wagoners revolved--stood a young official, of decided air +and few words, holding a large black pencil in his hand, with which he +made colossal hieroglyphics on the bales before he desired the porters +to move them. To him Anton addressed himself in a nearly inaudible +voice, and was directed by a wave of the pencil to the counting-house. +Slowly he approached the door, which it cost him a mighty effort to +open, and as it gently yielded, and he saw the great room before him, +his alarm was such that he could scarcely enter. His entrance, however, +did not make much sensation. Half a dozen clerks were dashing in haste +over the blue folio paper before them, to save the post. Only one of +them, who sat next the door, rose, and asked what Anton was pleased to +want. + +Upon his replying that he wished to speak to Mr. Schröter, there emerged +from an inner room a tall man, with a deeply-marked visage, standing +shirt-collar, and thoroughly English aspect. Anton took a rapid survey +of his countenance, and felt his courage return. He at once discovered +uprightness and kindness of heart, though the air and manner were +somewhat stern. He rapidly drew out his letter, gave his name, and, in a +broken voice, mentioned his father's death. + +At this a friendly light beamed from the merchant's eyes; he opened the +letter, read it attentively, and stretched out his hand, saying, "You +are welcome." Then turning to one of the clerks, who wore a green coat +and a gray over-sleeve on the right arm, he announced, "Mr. Wohlfart +enters our office from this day." For an instant the six pens were +silent, and the principal went on to say to Anton, "You must be tired; +Mr. Jordan will show you your room: the rest to-morrow." So saying, he +went back to his office, and the six pens began again with fearful +rapidity. + +The gentleman in the green coat rose, drew off his over-sleeve, +carefully folded and locked it up, and invited Anton to follow him. +Anton felt a different man to that he had done ten minutes before; he +had now a home, and belonged to the business. Accordingly, as he passed, +he patted a great bale as though it had been the shoulder of a friend, +at which his conductor turned and benevolently vouchsafed the word +"cotton;" next he rapped a gigantic barrel, and received the information +"currants." He no longer fell over ladders--nay, he boldly pushed one +out of his way, bestowed a friendly greeting upon one of the +leathern-aproned Anakims, and felt pleased to be politely thanked in +return, especially when informed that this was the head porter. + +They crossed the court, mounted a well-worn staircase, and then Mr. +Jordan opened the door of a room which he told Anton would most probably +be his, and had been formerly occupied by a friend of his own. It was a +neat little room, with a beautiful stucco cat sitting on the +writing-table, which had been left by the former tenant for the benefit +of his successor. + +Mr. Jordan hurried off to the office, where he had to be earliest and +latest of all; and Anton, with the help of a friendly servant, arranged +his room and his dress. + +Soon the green coat reappeared, and said that Mr. Schröter was gone out, +and not to be seen again that day. "Would the new-comer make the +acquaintance of his colleagues? It was not necessary to dress." + +Anton followed him down stairs, and Mr. Jordan was just about to knock +at the door of a certain room, when it was opened by a handsome, slender +young man, whose whole appearance made a great impression upon our hero. + +He wore a riding-dress, had on a jockey's cap, and a whip in his hand. +"So you are trotting your colt round already?" said the stranger, +laughing. Mr. Jordan looked solemn, and went on to introduce Mr. +Wohlfart, the new apprentice, just arrived; Herr von Fink, son of the +great Hamburg firm, Fink and Becker. + +"Heir of the greatest train-oil business in the world, and so forth," +broke in Fink, carelessly. "Jordan, give me ten dollars; I want to pay +the groom; add them to the rest." Then turning to Anton, he said, with +some degree of politeness, "If you were coming to call upon me, as I +guess from the festive air of your Mercury, I am sorry not to be at +home, having to buy a new horse. I consider your visit paid, return you +my most ceremonious thanks, and give you my blessing on your entrance." +And, with a careless nod, he went rattling down the stairs. + +Anton was a good deal discomposed by this cool behavior, and Jordan +thought it desirable to add a short commentary of his own. "Fink only +half belongs to us, and has been here but a short time. He was brought +up in New York, and his father has sent him here to be made a rational +being." + +"Is he not rational, then?" inquired Anton, with some curiosity. + +"Why, he is too wild, too full of mischief--else, a pleasant fellow +enough. And now come with me; I have invited all our gentlemen to tea, +that they may make your acquaintance." + +Mr. Jordan's room was the largest of those appropriated to the clerks, +and having a piano-forte and a few arm-chairs, it was occasionally used +as a drawing-room. + +Here, then, the gentlemen were sitting and standing, awaiting the +new-comer. Anton went through the ceremony of introduction with becoming +gravity, shaking each of them by the hand, and asking for their +good-will and friendly assistance, as he had been but little in the +world, and was totally inexperienced as to business. This candor +produced a favorable impression. The conversation grew animated, and was +seasoned with many allusions and jests wholly unintelligible to the +stranger, who held his peace, and devoted himself to observation. First, +there was the book-keeper, Liebold, a little, elderly man, with a gentle +voice and a modest smile, that seemed to apologize to the world at large +for his having taken the liberty of existing in it. He said but little, +and had a way of always retracting what he had advanced, as, for +example, "I admit this tea is too weak; though, to be sure, strong tea +is unwholesome," and so on. Next came Mr. Pix, the despotic wielder of +the black pencil, a decided kind of man, who seemed to look upon all +social relations as mere business details, respectable but trivial. As a +chair was wanting, he sat astride on a small table. Near him was Mr. +Specht, who spoke much, and dealt in assertions that every one else +disputed. Then there was a Mr. Baumann, with short hair and thoughtful +aspect, very regular in his attendance at church, a contributor to every +missionary association, and, as his friends declared, much inclined to +be a missionary himself, but that the force of habit retained him in +Germany and with the firm. Anton remarked with pleasure the courtesy and +good feeling that prevailed. Being tired, he soon made his retreat; and +having contradicted no one, and been friendly to all, he left a +favorable impression behind. + +Meanwhile, Veitel Itzig made his way through the narrow and crowded +streets till he reached a large house, the lower windows of which were +secured by iron bars; while, on the drawing-room floor, the panes of +glass were large, and showed white curtains within; the attic windows +again being dirty, dusty, and here and there broken; in short, the house +had a disreputable air, reminding one of an old gipsy who has thrown a +new and gayly-colored shawl over her rags. + +Into this house he entered, kissing his hand to a smart maid-servant, +who resented the liberty. The dirty staircase led to a white door, on +which the name "Hirsch Ehrenthal" was inscribed. He rang; and an old +woman, with a torn cap, appeared, who, having heard his request, called +out to those within, "Here is one from Ostrau, Itzig Veitel by name, who +wishes to speak to Mr. Ehrenthal." A loud voice replied, "Let him wait;" +and the clatter of plates showed that the man of business meant to +finish his supper before he gave the future _millionnaire_ a hearing. +Accordingly, Veitel sat upon the steps admiring the brass plate and the +white door, and wondering how the name of Itzig would look upon just +such another. That led him to reflect how far he was from being as rich +as this Hirsch Ehrenthal; and, feeling the half dozen ducats his mother +had sewn into his waistcoat, he began to speculate how much he could +daily add to them, provided the rich man took him into his service. In +the midst of these reflections the door was flung open, and Mr. +Ehrenthal stood before him, no longer the same man we saw in the +morning; the deference, the kindness, all were gone. No Eastern despot +so proud and lofty. Itzig felt his own insignificance, and stood humbly +before his master. + +"Here is a letter to Baruch Goldmann, in which Mr. Ehrenthal has sent +for me," began Veitel. + +"I wrote Goldmann word to send you, that I might see whether you would +suit; nothing is yet settled," was the dignified reply. + +"I came that you might see me, sir." + +"And why did you come so late, young Itzig? this is not the time for +business." + +"I wished to show myself to-night, in case, sir, you should have any +commission to give me for to-morrow. I thought I might be useful, as it +is market-day; and I know most of the coachmen of the farmers who come +in with rape-seed and other produce; and I know many of the brokers +too." + +"Are your papers in good order," was the reply, "so that I may have no +trouble with the police?" + +When Veitel had given satisfaction on this important subject, Ehrenthal +vouchsafed to say, "If I take you into my house, you must turn your hand +to any thing that I, or Mrs. Ehrenthal, or my son, may chance to order; +you must clean the boots and shoes, and run errands for the cook." + +"I will do any thing, Mr. Ehrenthal, to make you satisfied with me," was +the humble reply. + +"For this you will receive two dollars a month; and, if I make a good +bargain by your assistance, you will have your share. As for your +sleeping-quarters, they had better be with Löbel Pinkus, that I may know +where to find you when wanted." So saying, Ehrenthal opened the door, +and called, "Wife, Bernhard, Rosalie, come here." + +Mrs. Ehrenthal was a portly lady in black silk, with strongly-marked +eyebrows and black ringlets, who laid herself out to please, and was +extremely successful, report averred. As for her daughter, she was, +indeed, a perfect beauty, with magnificent eyes and complexion, and a +very slightly aquiline nose. But how came Bernhard to be one of the +family? Short, slight, with a pale, deeply-lined face, and bent figure, +it was only his mouth and his clear eye that bespoke him young, and he +was more negligently attired, too, than might have been expected. They +all looked at Veitel in silence, while Ehrenthal proceeded to say that +he had taken him into his service; and Veitel himself mentally resolved +to be very subservient to the mother, to fall in love with the daughter, +to clean carelessly Bernhard's boots, and carefully to search his pocket +in brushing his coat. On the whole, he was well pleased with the +arrangement made, and smiled to himself as he went along to Löbel +Pinkus. + +This Löbel Pinkus was a householder who kept a spirit-shop on the ground +floor; but one thing was certain, no mere spirit-shop could have +enriched him as this did. However, he bore a good character. The police +willingly took a glass at his counter, for which he always declined +payment. He paid his taxes regularly, and passed, indeed, for a friend +of the executive. On the first floor he kept a lodging-house for bearded +and beardless Jews. These gentlemen generally slipped in late and out +early. Besides such regular guests, others of every age, sex, and creed +arrived at irregular intervals. These had strictly private dealings with +the host, and showed a great objection to having a lucifer match struck +near their faces. The other lodgers took their own views of these +peculiarities, but judged it best to keep them to themselves. In this +house it was that Itzig went up a dark stair, and, groping along a dirty +wall, came to a heavy oaken door, with a massive bolt, and, after a good +push, entered a waste-looking room that ran the whole length of the +house. In the middle stood an old table with a wretched oil lamp, and +opposite the door a great partition, with several smaller doors, some of +which were open, and showed that the whole consisted of narrow +subdivisions, with hooks for hanging clothes. The small windows had +faded blinds, but on the opposite side of the room the twilight entered +through an open door that led to a wooden gallery running along the +outside of the house. + +Itzig threw down his bundle and went out on this gallery, which he +viewed with much interest. Below him rolled a rapid stream of dirty +water, hemmed in on either side by dilapidated wooden houses, most of +which had similar galleries to every story. In olden times, the worthy +guild of dyers had inhabited this street, but now they had changed their +quarters, and instead of sheep and goat skins, there hung over the +worm-eaten railings only the clothes of the poor put out to dry. Their +colors contrasted strangely with the black woodwork; the light fell in a +remarkable way upon the rude carvings, and the dark posts that started +here and there out of the water. In short, it was a wretched place, save +for cats, painters, or poor devils. + +Young Itzig had already been here more than once, but never alone. Now +he observed that a long, covered staircase led down from the gallery to +the water's edge, and that a similar one ran up to the next house, +whence he concluded that it would be possible to go from one house to +another without doing more than wetting the feet; also, that when the +water was low, one could walk along at the base of the houses, and he +wondered whether there were men who availed themselves of these +possibilities. His fancy was so much excited by this train of thought, +that he ran back, crept into the partition, and found out that the wall +at the back of it was also of wood. As this was the wall dividing the +neighboring house from the one in which he was, he considered it a +pleasant discovery, and was just going to see whether some chink in the +main wall might not afford a further prospect, when he was disturbed by +a hollow murmur, which showed him that he was not alone. So he settled +himself upon a bag of straw opposite his companion, who was too sleepy +to talk much. By-and-by Pinkus came in, placed a jug of water on the +table, and locked the door outside. Itzig ate in the dark the dry bread +he had in his pocket, and at length fell asleep to the snoring of his +companion. + +At the same hour his fellow-traveler wrapped himself round in his +comfortable bed, looked about him more asleep than awake, and fancied +that he saw the stucco cat rise on his feet, stretch out his paws, and +proceed to wash his face. Before he had time to marvel at this, he fell +asleep. Both the youths had their dreams. Anton's was of sitting on a +gigantic bale, and flying on it through the air, while a certain lovely +young lady stretched her arms out toward him; and Itzig's was of having +become a baron, and being teased into flinging an alms to old Ehrenthal. + +The following morning each set to work. Anton sat at the desk and copied +letters, while Itzig, having brushed the collective boots and shoes of +the Ehrenthal family, stationed himself as a spy at the door of the +principal hotel, to watch a certain gentleman who was discontented with +his master, and suspected of applying to other moneyed men. + +The first idle hour he had, Anton drew from memory the castle, the +balcony, and the turrets, on the best paper the town could afford; the +next, he put the drawing in a gilt frame, and hung it over his sofa. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +Just at first Anton found some difficulty in adapting himself to the new +world in which he was placed. + +The business was one of a kind becoming rare nowadays, when rail-roads +and telegraphs unite remotest districts, and every merchant sends from +the heart of the country to bid his agents purchase goods almost before +they reach the shore. Yet there was a something about this old-fashioned +house of a dignified, almost a princely character; and what was still +better, it was well calculated to inspire confidence. At the time of +which we speak, the sea was far off, facilities of communication were +rare, so that the merchants' speculations were necessarily more +independent, and involved greater hazard. The importance of such a +mercantile house as this depended upon the quantity of stores it bought +with its own money and at its own risk. Of these, a great part lay in +long rows of warehouses along the river, some in the vaults of the old +house itself, and some in the warehouses and stores of those around. +Most of the tradesmen of the province provided themselves with colonial +produce from the warehouses of the firm, whose agents were spread to +east and south, and carried on, even as far as the Turkish frontier, a +business which, if less regular and secure than the home trade, was +often more lucrative than any other. + +Thus it happened that the every-day routine afforded to the new +apprentice a wide diversity of impressions and experiences. A varied +procession poured through the counting-house from morning to evening; +men of different costumes, all offering samples of different articles +for sale--Polish Jews, beggars, men of business, carriers, porters, +servants, etc. Anton found it difficult to concentrate his thoughts amid +this endless going and coming, and to get through his work, simple as it +was. + +For instance, Mr. Braun, the agent of a friendly house in Hamburgh, had +just come in and taken a sample of coffee out of his pocket. While it +was being submitted to the principal, the agent went on gesticulating +with his gold-headed cane, and talking about a recent storm, and the +damage it had done. The door creaked, and a poorly-dressed woman +entered. + +"What do you want?" asked Mr. Specht. + +Then came lamentable sounds, like the peeping of a sick hen, which +changed, as soon as the merchant had put his hand into his pocket, into +a joyful chuckle. + +"Waves mountain-high," cried the agent. + +"God reward you a thousand-fold," chuckled the woman. + +"Comes to 550 merks, 10 shillings," said Baumann to the principal. + +And now the door was vehemently pushed open, and a stoutly-built man +entered, with a bag of money under his arm, which he triumphantly +deposited on the marble table, exclaiming, with the air of one doing a +good action, "Here am I; and here is money!" + +Mr. Jordan rose immediately, and said, in a friendly voice, +"Good-morning, Mr. Stephen; how goes the world in Wolfsburg?" + +"A dreadful hole!" groaned Mr. Braun. + +"Where?" inquired Fink. + +"Not such a bad place either," said Mr. Stephen; "but little business +doing." + +"Sixty-five sacks of Cuba," returned the principal to a question of one +of the clerks. + +Meanwhile, the door opened again, and this time admitted a man-servant +and a Jew from Brody. The servant gave the merchant a note of invitation +to a dinner-party--the Jew crept to the corner where Fink sat. + +"What brings you again, Schmeie Tinkeles?" coldly asked Fink; "I have +already told you that we would have no dealings with you." + +"No dealings!" croaked the unlucky Tinkeles, in such execrable German +that Anton had difficulty in understanding him. "Such wool as I bring +has never been seen before in this country." + +"How much a hundred weight?" asked Fink, writing, without looking at the +Jew. + +"What I have already said." + +"You are a fool," said Fink; "off with you!" + +"Alas!" screamed he of the caftan, "what language is that? 'Off with +you!'--there's no dealing so." + +"What do you want for your wool? + +"41-2/3," said Tinkeles. + +"Get out!" suggested Fink. + +"Don't go on forever saying 'Get out!'" implored the Jew, in despair; +"say what you will give." + +"If you ask such unreasonable prices, nothing at all," replied Fink, +beginning another sheet. + +"Only say what you will give." + +"Come, then, if you speak like a rational man," answered Fink, looking +at the Jew. + +"I _am_ rational," was the low reply; "what will you give?" + +"Thirty-nine," said Fink. + +At that Schmeie Tinkeles went distracted, shook his black greasy hair, +and swore by all he held holy that he could not take it under 41, +whereupon Fink signified that he should be put out by one of the +servants if he made so much noise. The Jew, therefore, went off in high +dudgeon; soon, however, putting his head in again, and asking, "Well, +then, what will you give?" + +"Thirty-nine," said Fink, watching the excitement he thus raised much as +an anatomist might the galvanic convulsions of a frog. The words +"thirty-nine" occasioned a fresh explosion in the mind of the Jew; he +came forward, solemnly committed his soul to the deepest abyss, and +declared himself the most unworthy wretch alive if he took less than 41. +As he could not profit by Fink's repeated exhortations to quit, a +servant was called. His appearance was so far composing, that Mr. +Tinkeles now declared he could go alone, and would go alone; whereupon +he stood still, and said 40-1/2. The agent, the provincials, and the +whole counting-house watched the progress of the bargain with some +curiosity; while Fink, with a certain degree of cordiality, proceeded to +counsel the poor Jew to retire without further discussion, seeing that +he was an utter fool, and there really was no dealing with him. Once +more the Jew went out, and Fink said to the principal, who was reading a +letter the while, "He'll let us have the wool if I let him have another +half dollar." + +"How much is there of it?" asked the merchant. + +"Six tons," said Fink. + +"Take it," said Mr. Schröter, reading on. + +Again the door opened and shut, the chattering went on, and Anton kept +wondering how they could speak of a purchase when the seller had been so +decided in his refusal of their terms. Once more the door was gently +pushed open, and Tinkeles, creeping behind Fink, laid his hand on his +shoulder, and said, in a melancholy but confidential voice, "What will +you give, then?" + +Fink turned round, and replied with a good-natured smile, "If you please +to take it, Tinkeles, 39-1/3; but only on the condition that you do not +speak another word, otherwise I retract the offer." + +"I am not speaking," answered the Jew. "Say 40." + +Fink made a movement of impatience, and silently pointed to the door. +The wool-dealer went out once more. + +"Now for it!" said Fink. + +In a moment or two Tinkeles returned, and, with more composure of +manner, brought out "39-1/2, if you will take it at that." + +After some appearance of uncertainty, Fink carelessly replied, "So be +it, then;" at which Schmeie Tinkeles underwent an utter transformation, +behaving like an amiable friend of the firm, and politely inquiring +after the health of the principal. + +And so it went on; the door creaking, buyers and sellers coming and +going, men talking, pens scratching, and money pouring ceaselessly in. + +The household of which Anton now formed part appeared to him to be most +impressive and singular. The house itself was an irregular and ancient +building, with wings, court-yards, out-houses, short stairs, mysterious +passages, and deep recesses. In the front part of it were handsome +apartments, occupied by the merchant's family. Mr. Schröter had only +been married for a very short time, his wife and child had died within +the year, and his sister was now his only near relation. + +The merchant adhered rigidly to the old customs of the firm. All the +unmarried clerks formed part of the household, and dined with him +punctually at one o'clock. On the day after Anton's arrival, a few +minutes before that hour, he was taken to be introduced to the lady of +the house, and gazed with wonder at the elegance and magnificence of the +rooms through which he passed on his way to her presence. + +Sabine Schröter's pale, delicate face, crowned with hair of raven black, +shone out very fair above her graceful summer attire. She seemed about +Anton's own age, but she had the dignity of a matron. + +"My sister governs us all," said the merchant, looking fondly at her. +"If you have any wish, make it known to her; she is the good fairy who +keeps the house in order." + +Anton looked at the fairy, and modestly replied, "Hitherto I have found +every thing exceed my wishes." + +"Your life will, in time, appear a monotonous one," continued the +merchant. "Ours is a rigidly regular house, where you have much work to +look forward to, and little recreation. My time is much engrossed; but, +if you should ever need advice or assistance, I hope you will apply +directly to myself." + +This short audience over, he rose and led Anton to the dining-room, +where all his colleagues were assembled; next, Sabine entered, +accompanied by an elderly lady, a distant relation, who looked very +good-natured. The clerks made their obeisance, and Anton took the seat +appointed to him at the end of a long table, among the younger of his +brethren. Opposite him sat Sabine, beside her brother, then the elderly +relative, and next to her, Fink. On the whole, it was a silent dinner. +Anton's neighbors said little, and that under their breath; but Fink +rattled away with thorough unconcern, told droll stories, mimicked +voices and manners, and was exaggerated in his attentions to the +good-natured relative. Anton was positively horrified at this freedom, +and fancied that the principal did not like it much better. The +black-coated domestics waited with the utmost propriety; and Anton rose +with the impression that this repast had been the most solemn and +stately of which he had ever partaken, and that he should get on with +all the household with the exception of "that Von Fink." + +One day that they accidentally met on the staircase, Fink, who had not +for some time appeared conscious of his existence, stopped and asked +him, "Well, Master Wohlfart, how does this house suit you?" + +To which Anton replied, "Exceedingly well, indeed. I see and hear so +much that is new to me that I have hardly thought of myself as yet." + +"You'll soon get accustomed to it," said Fink, laughing; "one day is the +same as the other all the year long. On Sunday, an extra good dinner, a +glass of wine, and your best coat--that's all. You are one of the wheels +in the machine, and will be expected to grind regularly." + +"I am aware that I must be industrious in order to merit Mr. Schröter's +confidence," was the rather indignant reply. + +"Truly a virtuous remark; but you'll soon see, my poor lad, what a gulf +is fixed between the head of the firm and those who write his letters. +No prince on earth stands so far removed above his vassals as this same +coffee-lord above his clerks. But do not lay much stress on what I say," +added he, more good-naturedly; "the whole house will tell you that I am +not quite _compos_. However, I'll give you a piece of good advice. Get +an English master, and make some progress before you got rusty. All they +teach you here will never make a clever man of you, if you happen to +want to be one. Good-night." And, turning upon his heel, he left our +Anton somewhat disconcerted. + +Indeed, he too, in course of time, began to be conscious of the monotony +of a business life, but he did not fret about it, having been taught by +his parents habits of industry and order. + +Mr. Jordan took much pains to initiate him into the mysteries of divers +wares; and the hours that he first spent in the warehouses, amid the +varied produce of different lands, were fraught with a certain poetry of +their own, as good, perhaps, as any other. There was a large, gloomy, +vaulted room on the ground floor, in which lay stores for the traffic of +the day. Tuns, bales, chests, were piled on each other, which every +land, every race, had contributed to fill. The floating palace of the +East India Company, the swift American brig, the patriarchal ark of the +Dutchman, the stout-ribbed whaler, the smoky steamer, the gay Chinese +junk, the light canoe of the Malay--all these had battled with winds and +waves to furnish this vaulted room. A Hindoo woman had woven that +matting; a Chinese had painted that chest; a Congo negro, in the service +of a Virginian planter, had looped those canes over the cotton bales; +that square block of zebra-wood had grown in the primeval forests of the +Brazils, and monkeys and bright-hued parrots had chattered among its +branches. Anton would stand long in this ancient hall, after Mr. +Jordan's lessons were over, absorbed in wonder and interest, till roof +and pillars seemed transferred to broad-leaved palm-trees, and the noise +of the streets to the roar of the sea--a sound he only knew in his +dreams; and this delight in what was foreign and unfamiliar never wore +off, but led him to become, by reading, intimately acquainted with the +countries whence all these stores came, and with the men by whom they +were collected. + +Thus the first months of his life in the capital fled rapidly away; and +it was well for him that he took so much interest in his studies, for +Fink proved right in one respect. In spite of the daily meal in the +stately dining-room, Anton remained as great a stranger as ever to the +principal and his family. He was too rational, indeed, to murmur at +this, but he could not avoid feeling depressed by it; for, with the +enthusiasm of youth, he was ready to revere his chief as the ideal of +mercantile greatness. He admired his sagacity, decision, energy, and +inflexible uprightness, and would have been devoted to him heart and +soul, but that he so seldom saw him. When the merchant was not engaged +by business, he lived for his sister, whom he most tenderly loved. For +her he kept a carriage and horses which he himself never used, and gave +evening parties to which Anton and his colleagues were not invited. Gay +equipages rolled in one after the other, liveried servants ran up and +down stairs, and graceful shadows flitted across the windows, while +Anton sat in his little upper chamber, and yearned eagerly after the +brilliant gayeties in which he had no part. True, his reason told him +that they did not belong to men of his class, but at nineteen reason is +not always supreme; and many a time he went back with a sigh from his +window to his books, and tried to forget the alluring strains of the +quadrille and waltz in the descriptions of the lion's roar and the +bull-frog's croak in the far-off tropics. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +The Baron of Rothsattel had moved to his town residence. It was not +indeed large, but its furniture, the arabesques on its walls, the +arrangement of its hangings were so graceful, that it ranked as a model +of comfort and elegance. The baron had made all his preparations in +silence. At length the day came when the new carriage stopped at the +door, and, lifting down his wife, he led her through the suite of +apartments to her own little boudoir, all fitted up with white silk. +Enchanted beyond measure, she flew into his arms, and he felt as proud +and happy as a king. They were soon perfectly settled, and able to begin +their course of visiting. + +It was the custom of a large portion of the nobility to spend the winter +in town, and accordingly the Rothsattels met many friends, and several +of their acquaintance. Every one was pleased to welcome them, and after +a few weeks they found themselves immersed in gayety. The baroness soon +became a leader of the feminine world, and her husband, after at first +missing his walks through his farm and his woods, began to take equal +pleasure in reviving his youthful acquaintance. He became member of a +nobleman's club, indulged his virtuoso tendencies, played whist, and +filled his idle hours with a little politics and a little art. And so +the winter passed pleasantly on, and the baron and his wife often +wondered why they had not earlier indulged in this agreeable variety. + +Lenore was the only one dissatisfied with the change. She continued to +justify her mother's fear lest she should become an original. She found +it difficult to pay proper respect to the numberless elderly cousins of +the family, and still more difficult to refrain from accosting first any +pleasant gentleman she had known in the country, and now chanced to meet +in the streets. Likewise, the Young Lady's Institution, which she had to +attend, was in many ways objectionable to her. She had certain maps and +tiresome lesson-books to take to and fro, and her mother did not approve +of the servants' time being occupied in carrying them after her. One +day, when walking like an angry Juno--the tokens of her slavery upon her +arm, and her little parasol in her hand--she beheld the young gentleman +to whom she had shown her flower-garden coming to meet her, and she +rejoiced at it, for he was pleasantly associated in her mind with home, +the pony, and the family of swans. He was still some way off when her +hawk's eye discerned him, but he did not see her even when he came +nearer. As her mother had forbidden her ever to accost a gentleman in +the street, there was nothing for it but to stand still and to strike +her parasol on the flags. + +Anton looked up and saw to his pleasant surprise the lovely lady of the +lake. Blushing, he took off his hat, and Lenore observed with +satisfaction that, in spite of the satchel on her arm, she impressed him +as much us ever. + +"How are you, sir?" she inquired, in a dignified way. + +"Very well," replied Anton; "how delighted I am to see you in town!" + +"We are living here at present," said the young lady, with less +stateliness, "at No. 20 Bear Street." + +"May I inquire for the pony?" said Anton, respectfully. + +"Only think, he had to be left behind!" was the sorrowful reply; "and +what are you doing here?" + +"I am in the house of T. O. Schröter," said Anton, bowing. + +"Oh! a merchant; and what do you deal in?" + +"In colonial produce. It is the largest firm in that department in the +whole town," replied Anton, complacently. + +"And have you met with kind people who take care of you?" + +"My principal is very kind, but I must take care of myself." + +"Have you any friends here with whom you can amuse yourself?" + +"A few acquaintances. But I have much to do, and I must improve myself +in my leisure hours." + +"You look rather pale," said the young lady, with motherly interest; +"you should move more about, and take long walks. I am glad to have met +you, and shall be pleased to hear of your well-doing," added she, +majestically; and, with an inclination of her pretty little head, she +vanished in the crowd, while Anton remained gazing after her, hat in +hand. + +Lenore did not consider it necessary to mention this meeting. But a few +days later, when the baroness happened to inquire where they should get +some necessary stores, she looked up from her book and said, "The +largest firm here is that of T. O. Schröter, dealer in colonial produce." + +"How do you know that?" inquired her father, laughing; "you speak like +an experienced merchant." + +"All the result of the Young Lady's Institution," answered Lenore, +pertly. + +Meanwhile, in the midst of his social pleasures, the baron did not +forget the chief end of his town life. He made close inquiries as to the +speculations of other landed proprietors, visited the factories in the +town, became acquainted with educated manufacturers, and acquired some +knowledge of machinery. But the information thus gained was so +contradictory, that he thought it best not to precipitate matters, but +to wait till some specially advantageous and safe undertaking should +offer. + +We must not omit to mention that about this time the family property was +increased by a small, handsome, brass-inlaid casket, with a lock that +defied any thief's power of opening, so that, if minded to steal, he +would have nothing for it but to carry off the casket itself. In it were +laid forty-five thousand dollars in the form of new promissory notes. +The baron contemplated these with much tenderness. At first he would sit +for hours opposite the open casket, never weary of arranging the +parchment leaves according to their numbers, delighting in their glossy +whiteness, and forming plans for paying off the capital; and even when, +for safety's sake, the casket had been made over to the keeping of the +Joint-stock Company, the thought of it was a continual pleasure. Nay, +the spirit of the casket began to peep out even in household +arrangements. The baroness was surprised at her husband counseling +certain economies, or telling with a degree of pleasure of ten louis +d'or won last evening at cards. She was at first a little afraid that he +had become in some way embarrassed; but, as he assured her, with a +complacent smile, that this was far from being the case, she soon +learned to treat these little attempts at saving as an innocent whim, +especially as they only extended to trifling details, the baron +insisting as much as ever upon keeping up a dignified and imposing +social appearance. Indeed, it was impossible for him to retrench just +now. The town life, the furnishing of the house, and the necessary +claims of society, of course increased the outgoings. + +And so it came to pass that the baron, after having paid a visit to his +property to settle the yearly accounts, returned to town much out of +tune. He had become aware that the expenditure of the last year had +exceeded the income, and that the income of the next year gave no +promise of balancing the existing deficit of two thousand dollars. The +thought occurred that the sum must be taken from the white parchments; +and the man who would have stood calm beneath a shower of bullets, broke +out into a cold perspiration at the idea of the debts thus to be +incurred. It was plain that there had been an error in his calculations. +He who wishes to raise a sum by small yearly savings must not increase, +but lessen his expenditure. True, the increase in his case had been +unavoidable; but still, a most unlucky coincidence. The baron had not +felt such anxiety since his lieutenant-days. There were a thousand good +reasons, however, against giving up the town house; it was rented for a +term of years; and then, what would his acquaintance say? So he kept +his troubles to himself; quieted the baroness by talking of a cold +caught on his journey; but all day long the same thought kept gnawing at +his heart. Sometimes in the evening he was able to drive it away a +while, but it was sure to return in the morning. + +It was one of these weary mornings that Mr. Ehrenthal, who had to pay +for some grain, was announced. The very name was at that moment +unpleasant to the baron, and his greeting was colder than usual; but the +man of business did not mind little ups and downs of temper, paid his +money, and was profuse in expressions of devoted respect, which all fell +coldly, till, just before going away, he inquired, "Did the promissory +notes duly arrive?" + +"Yes," was the ungracious reply. + +"It is sad," cried Ehrenthal, "to think of forty-five thousand dollars +lying dead. To you, baron, a couple of thousands or so is a mere trifle, +but not to one of my sort. At this moment I might speculate boldly, and +safely too; but all my money being locked up, I must lose a clear four +thousand." The baron listened attentively; the trader went on: "You have +known me, baron, for years past, to be a man of honor, and of some +substance too; and now I will make a proposition to you. Lend me for +three months ten thousand dollars' worth of promissory notes, and I will +give you a bill of exchange, which is as good as money. The speculation +should bring in four thousand dollars, and that I will divide with you +in lieu of interest. You will run no risk; if I fail, I will bear the +loss myself, and pay back the principal in three months." + +However uninteresting these words may appear to the reader, they threw +the baron into such a state of joyous excitement that he could scarce +command himself sufficiently to say, "First of all, I must know what +sort of a bargain it is that you wish to drive with my money." Ehrenthal +explained. The offer of purchasing a quantity of wood had been made to +him, which wood lay on a raft in an upper part of the province. He would +take all the expense of transport on himself; and he proceeded to +demonstrate the certain profit of the transaction. + +"But," said the baron, "how comes it that the present proprietor does +not carry out this profitable scheme himself?" + +Ehrenthal shrugged his shoulders. "He who means to speculate must not +always inquire the reason of bargains. An embarrassed man can not wait +two or three months; the river is at present frozen, and he wants the +money in two or three days." + +"Are you sure that his right to sell is incontestable?" + +"I know the man to be safe," was the reply; "and that, if I pay him this +evening, the wood is mine." + +Now it was painful to the baron, much as he wanted money, to turn the +embarrassment of another to his own profit; and he said, "I consider it +unfair to reckon upon what is certain loss to the seller." + +"Why should it be certain loss?" cried Ehrenthal. "He is a +speculator--he wants money; perhaps he has a greater bargain still in +his eye. He has offered me the whole quantity of wood for ten thousand +dollars, and I have no business to inquire whether he can or can not +make more of my money than I of his wood." + +And so far Ehrenthal was right; but this was not all. The seller was an +unlucky speculator, pressed by his creditors, threatened with an +execution, and determined to frustrate their hopes by driving an +immediate bargain with a stranger, and then making off with the money. +Perhaps Ehrenthal knew this; perhaps the baron too surmised that there +must be a mystery, for he shook his head. And yet _he_ ran no risk, +incurred no responsibility; he but lent his money to a safe man, whom he +had known for years, and in a short time he should get rid of the evil +genius that tormented him ceaselessly. Too much excited to reflect +whether this was not a casting out of devils by Beelzebub, their chief, +he rang the bell for his carriage, and said, in a lordly tone, "You +shall have the money in an hour." + +From that day the baron led a life of anxious suspense. He was always +going over this interview, always thinking of the piles of wood; and, +whenever he rode out, his horse's head was turned to the river, that he +might watch the progress of the thaw. + +He had not seen Ehrenthal for some time. At length he came one morning +with his endless bows, and, taking out a large packet, said +triumphantly, "Well, baron, the affair is settled. Here are your notes, +and here the two thousand dollars, your share of the profit." + +The baron snatched the packet. Yes; they were the very same parchments +he had taken out of the casket with so heavy a heart, and a bundle of +bank-notes besides. A weight fell from him. The parchments were safe, +the deficit made up. Ehrenthal was courteously dismissed. That very day +the baron bought a turquoise ornament for his wife, which she had long +silently wished for, and sunshine prevailed in the family circle. + +But a dark shadow from the recent past had yet to fall athwart it. The +baron, reading the paper one day in his wife's room, observed an +advertisement concerning a bankrupt dealer in wood, who had made his +escape after swindling his creditors. He laid down the paper, and the +drops stood on his brow. "If it should be the same man!" + +Ehrenthal had given no name. Had he, a man of honor, been the means of +defrauding just claims; had he taken part in a swindling transaction, +ay, and gained by it too! The thought was too fearful. He hurried to his +desk that he might pack up and send off the accursed profits--whither he +knew not, but any where, away. He saw with horror that only a small +portion of them remained. In extreme agitation, he rang the bell, and +sent for Ehrenthal. + +As chance would have it, Ehrenthal was gone on a journey. Meanwhile +arose those soothing inward voices which know so well how to place +things doubtful in a favorable light. "How foolish this anxiety! There +were hundreds of dealers in wood in that part of the country; and was it +likely that this very man should be Ehrenthal's client? Or, even if he +were, in a business point of view, how could they help the use he might +make of their money? Nothing could be fairer than the transaction +itself." Thus the voices within; and oh! how attentively the baron +listened. + +But still, when Ehrenthal at length appeared, the baron met him with an +expression that positively appalled him. "What was the name of the man +from whom you bought the wood?" cried he. + +Ehrenthal had read the newspaper too, and the truth now flashed upon +him. He gave a name at once. + +"And the place where the wood lay?" + +Ehrenthal named that too. + +"Are you telling me the truth?" asked the baron, drawing a third deep +breath. + +Ehrenthal saw that he had a sick conscience to deal with, and treated +the case with the utmost gentleness. "What is the baron uneasy about?" +said he, shaking his head; "I believe that the man with whom I dealt has +made a good profit out of the affair. Nothing could be more fair than +the whole transaction. But, even had it not been so, why, my good sir, +should you be troubled? There was no reason why I should not tell you +the names, both of the man and place, before; but I did not do so, +because the bargain was mine, not yours. I became your debtor, and I +have repaid you with a bonus--a large one, it is true; but I have dealt +with you for years, and why should I keep back from you the share of +profit which I should have had to give any one else?" + +"That is all right, Ehrenthal," said the baron, more graciously; "and I +am glad that the case stands thus. But, had this man been the bankrupt +in question, I should have broken off our connection, and should never +have forgiven you for involving me in a fraudulent transaction." + +Ehrenthal bowed himself out, muttering, as he went down stairs, "He's a +good man, this baron; a good, good man." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +We now return to Anton, who had been placed under the joint command of +Messrs. Jordan and Pix, and who found himself the small vassal of a +great body corporate, containing a variety of grades and functions +little dreamed of by the uninitiated. First in the counting-house was +the book-keeper Liebold, who, as minister of the home department, +reigned supreme and solitary in a window of his own, forever recording +figures in a colossal book, and seldom looking off their columns. + +In the opposite part of the room ruled the second dignitary in the +state, the cashier Purzel, surrounded by iron safes, heavy bags, and +with a large stone table before him, on which dollars rung, or gray +paper money fell noiselessly the whole day through. + +Jordan was the principal person in the office. He was the head clerk, +and his opinion was sometimes asked by the principal himself. In him +Anton found, from the day of his arrival, a good adviser, and an example +of activity and healthy common sense. + +Of all the clerks under Jordan's superintendence, the most interesting +to Anton was Baumann, the future missionary. Not only was he a truly +religious man, he was an admirable and infallible accountant. But, +besides all these, the firm had some officials who did not live in the +house. One was Birnbaum, the custom-house clerk, who was seldom visible +in the office, and only dined with the principal on Sundays. Then there +was the head of the warehouse department, Mr. Balbus, who, though by no +means a cultivated man, was always treated by the chief with great +respect; and, as Anton heard it said, had a mother and sick sister +entirely dependent upon him. + +But of all these men, the most aggressively active, the most despotic in +his measures, was Pix, the manager of the provincial traffic department. +His domain began in the office, and extended throughout the house, and +far into the street. He was the divinity of all the country shopkeepers, +who looked upon him as the real head of the business. He arranged the +whole exports of the house, knew every thing, was always to be found, +and could do half a dozen things at once. Like all dignitaries, he was +impatient of contradiction, and fought for his opinions against the +merchant himself with a stiff-neckedness that often horrified Anton. One +of his peculiarities was that of abhorring a vacuum as much as nature +herself. Wherever there was an empty corner, a closet, a cellar, a +recess to be discovered, there Pix would intrude with tuns, ladders, +ropes, and all imaginable commodities; and wherever he and his giant +band of porters had once got a footing, no earthly power could dislodge +them--not even the principal himself. + +"Where is Wohlfart?" called Mr. Schröter from the door of his office. + +"Up stairs," calmly replied Pix. + +"What is he doing there?" was the amazed inquiry. + +At that moment loud voices were heard, and Anton came thundering down +the steps, followed by a servant, and both laden with cigar-boxes, while +behind them appeared the female relative in much excitement. + +"They will not tolerate us up stairs," said Anton, hurriedly, to Pix. + +"Now they have actually come to the laundry," said the lady, just as +hurriedly, to the principal. + +"The cigars can not stand down here," declared Pix to both. + +"And I will not have cigars in the laundry," cried the distant cousin. +"I declare there is not a place in the house safe from Mr. Pix. He has +filled the maid-servants' rooms with cigars, and they complain that the +smell is intolerable." + +"It is dry up there," explained Mr. Pix to the merchant. + +"Could you not, perhaps, place them elsewhere?" inquired the latter, +respectfully. + +"Impossible!" was the decided reply. + +"Do you really require the whole laundry, my dear cousin?" said the +principal, turning to the lady. + +"The half of it were ample," interpolated Pix. + +"I hope, Pix, you will content yourself with a corner," said the head of +the firm, by way of decision. "Tell the carpenter to run up a partition +at once." + +"If Mr. Pix once gets admittance, he will take the whole of our +laundry," expostulated the too experienced cousin. + +"It is the last concession we will make," was the reply. + +Mr. Pix laughed silently--or grinned rebelliously, as the lady phrased +it; and, as soon as the authorities were out of sight, sent Anton up +again with the cigar-boxes. + +But what chiefly constituted the importance of Pix in the eyes of the +community were the Herculean porters under his command. When these men +rolled mighty casks about, and lifted hundred weights like pounds, they +seemed to the new apprentice like the giants of fairy lore. Some of them +belonged to this firm exclusively, others to a corporation of porters +who worked for different houses, but T. O. Schröter's was the house they +liked best. For more than one generation the head of this particular +firm had enjoyed their highest consideration, and stood godfather to all +their large-headed babies. + +Among these men, the strongest and tallest was Sturm, their chief--a man +who could hardly get through narrow streets, and was frequently called +to move a weight found impracticable by his comrades. Wonderful stories +were told of his exploits; and Specht affirmed that there was nothing on +earth beyond his powers. + +His relations with the firm were very intimate indeed; and having an +only child, upon whom he doted, and who had early lost his mother, he +placed him, at the age of fifteen, in T. O. Schröter's house, in a +nondescript capacity. The boy was a universal favorite, knew every hole +and corner, collected all the nails and pieces of packthread, folded all +the packing-paper, fed Pluto the watch-dog, and did sundry other odd +jobs. Up to every thing, invariably good-humored and ready-witted, the +porters fondly called him "our Karl;" and his father often glanced aside +from his work to look at him with delight. + +But in one point Karl did disappoint him: he gave no promise of ever +attaining to his father's stature. He was a handsome, fair-haired, +rosy-cheeked youth; but all the giants agreed that he would never be +more than a middle-sized man; and so his father fell into the habit of +treating him like a sort of delicate dwarf, with the utmost +consideration, and a certain touch of compassion. + +"I don't care," said the indulgent parent to Mr. Pix, when introducing +the boy into the business, "what the little fellow learns besides, so +that he does learn to be honorable and practical." This was a speech +after Mr. Pix's own heart; and this system of education was at once +begun by Sturm taking his son into the great vaulted room, and saying, +"Here are the almonds and the raisins--taste them." + +"Oh, they are good, father," cried the boy. + +"I believe you, Liliputian," nodded Sturm. "Now, see, you may eat as +many of them as you like; neither Mr. Schröter, Mr. Pix, nor I shall +interfere. But, my little lad, you had better see how long you can hold +out without beginning. The longer the better for yourself, and the more +honor in it; and when you can stand it no longer, come to me and say +'Enough;'" upon which he left him, having laid his great turnip of a +watch on a chest standing by. The boy proudly placed his hands in his +pockets, and walked up and down among the goods. After more than two +hours, he came, watch in hand, to his father, exclaiming "Enough." + +"Two hours and a half," said old Sturm, nodding at Mr. Pix. "Very well, +child; come and nail up this chest; here is a new hammer for you; it +cost tenpence." + +"It's not worth it," was the reply. "You always pay too much." Such was +Karl's education. + +The day after Anton's arrival, Pix had introduced him to Sturm, and +Anton had said, in a tone of respect, "this is my first experience of +business; pray give me a hint whenever you can." + +"Every thing is to be learned in time," replied the giant; "yonder is my +little boy, who has got on capitally in a year. So your father was not a +merchant?" + +"My father was an accountant; he is dead," was the reply. + +"I am sorry to hear it," said Sturm; "but you have still the comfort of +a mother?" + +"My mother, too, is dead." + +"Alas! alas!" cried the porter, compassionately. He went on shaking his +head for a long time, and at length added, in a low voice, to his Karl, +"He has no mother." + +"And no father either," rejoined Karl. + +"Be kind to him, little one," said old Sturm; "you are a sort of orphan +yourself." + +"Not I," cried Karl; "any one with such a great father as mine to look +after has his hands full." + +"Why, you are a perfect little monster!" said his father, cheerfully +hammering away at a cask. + +From that hour Karl showed all manner of small attentions to Anton, and +a species of affectionate intimacy sprang up between the two youths. + +Indeed, Anton was on excellent terms with all the officials. He listened +attentively to Jordan's sensible remarks, was prompt and unconditional +in his obedience to Mr. Pix, entered into political discussions with +Specht, read with interest Baumann's missionary reports, never asked Mr. +Purzel for money in advance, and often encouraged Mr. Liebold to utter +some palpable truth without retracting the statement. There was only one +with whom he could not get on well, and that was the volunteer clerk, +Fink. + +One gloomy afternoon, Mr. Jordan chanced to give our hero a certain +message to take to another house, and, as he rose, Fink looked up from +his desk, and said to Jordan, "Just send him at the same time to the +gunsmith--the good-for-nothing fellow can send my gun by him." + +Our hero crimsoned. "Do not give me that commission," said he to Jordan; +"I shall not execute it." + +"Really!" asked Fink, in amazement; "and why not, my fine fellow?" + +"I am not your servant," replied Anton, bitterly. "Had you requested me +to do this for you, I might have complied; but I will take no orders +from you." + +"Dolt!" muttered Fink, and went on writing. + +The whole office had heard him, and every eye turned to Anton, whose +eyes flashed as he exclaimed, "You have insulted me--I will not bear an +insult from any one--you must explain yourself." + +"I am not fond of giving any one a thrashing," said Fink, negligently. + +"Enough!" cried Anton, turning deadly pale; "you shall hear farther;" +and off he rushed to deliver Jordan's message. + +A cold rain was falling, but Anton was not aware of it: he felt nothing +but an agonizing sense of insult and wrong. As he reached the +establishment he sought, he saw his principal's carriage at the door, +and as he came out again he met Sabine just about to enter it. He could +not avoid handing her in; and, struck with his appearance, she asked him +what was the matter. + +"A trifle," was the reply. + +Insignificant as the incident was, it changed Anton's mood. Her +courteous greeting and kindly inquiry raised his spirits. He felt that +he was no longer a helpless child; and, raising his hand to heaven, his +resolve was taken. + +On his return to the office, he quietly went on with his work, heedless +of the inquiring glances around him; and, when the office was closed, he +hurried to Jordan's room, where Pix and Specht were already met. They +all treated him with a commiseration not quite free from contempt; but +he, having inquired from Jordan, in their presence, whether Fink had any +right to give him such an order, and whether in his (Jordan's) opinion +he had done wrong in resenting it, and having been satisfactorily +answered on both heads, requested a few moments' private conversation, +and then proceeded to declare that he should demand a public apology +from Fink. + +"Which he will never consent to," said Jordan, with a shake of the head. + +"In that case I challenge him, either with sword or pistols." + +Now, if Jordan had seen a dusky vapor rise from his ink-bottle, and take +the form of a hideous genie, after the manner of fairy tales, and this +genie had announced his intention of strangling him on the spot, he +could not have been more amazed. "The devil is in you, Wohlfart," said +he at last; "you want to fight a duel with Herr von Fink, a dead shot, +while you are only an apprentice, and not half a year in the business: +impossible." + +"I should now be a student if I had not been brought up to be a +merchant. Curses on business, if it so degrades me that I can not even +ask satisfaction for insult. I shall go to Mr. Schröter at once, and +give in my resignation." + +Jordan's surprise increased. Here was the good-natured apprentice +transformed before his eyes. At length it was agreed that he should take +the message; but Fink was not found at home. "Very possibly he has +forgotten all about it, and is amusing himself at some club or other," +was Jordan's commentary on the fact. + +"In that case," said Anton, "I shall at once write to him, and have the +letter laid on his table." + +Meanwhile great conferences were held in Jordan's room; for, although +Pix and Specht had promised secrecy, they indulged in such dark and +mysterious hints that the truth was soon known. Baumann stole up to +Anton to implore him not to peril two human lives for the sake of a +rough word; and, when he was gone, Anton found a New Testament on his +table, open at the words, "Bless them that curse you." Although not +exactly in the mood to enter into their spirit, he took up the sacred +book, and, having read the passages his good mother so often repeated to +him, he prepared for bed in a softened frame of mind. + +Meanwhile, a rumor of some impending catastrophe pervaded the whole +house. + +Sabine was in her treasure-chamber. Along its walls stood great oaken +presses, richly carved; in the middle, a table with twisted legs, and a +few old-fashioned chairs around. On the shelves of the presses appeared +piles of linen, and rows of glass, china, and plate, collected by the +taste of more than three generations. The air was fragrant with old +lavender and recent eau de Cologne. Here Sabine reigned supreme. She +herself took out and replaced whatever was wanted, and was not fond of +admitting any other person. She was now standing at the table, which was +covered with newly-washed linen, and, as she looked over the arabesques +of the exquisitely fine table-napkins, a cloud passed over her brow. +Two, three, four holes! She rang for the servant. + +"It is intolerable, Franz," said she; "there are three spoiled now in +No. 24; one of the gentlemen runs his fork through the napkins. There is +surely no need for that here." + +"That there is not," was the indignant reply; "the plate is under my own +care." + +"Which of the gentlemen is so reckless?" asked Sabine, severely. + +"It is Herr von Fink," was the reply; "he has a habit of constantly +running his fork through the napkins. It goes to my heart, Miss Sabine; +but what can I do?" + +Sabine hung her head. "I knew that it was he," she sighed; "but we can +not go on thus. I will give you a set for Herr von Fink's use, and we +must sacrifice it." She went to the cupboard, and began to look for one, +but the choice was difficult; the beautiful table-linen was dear to her +heart. At length, with a lingering look at the pattern, she sorrowfully +laid a set on the servant's arm. + +Franz still lingered. "He has burned a curtain in his bed-room," said +he; "the pair is spoiled." + +"And they were quite new!" sighed Sabine again. "Take them away +to-morrow. What more, Franz? What else has happened?" + +"Ah! ma'am," replied the servant, mysteriously, "Herr von Fink has +insulted Herr Wohlfart, who is quite raging, and Herr Specht says there +is to be a duel." + +"A duel!" cried Sabine; "you must have misunderstood Herr Specht." + +"No, indeed, ma'am, it's all too true. Something dreadful will happen. +Herr Wohlfart brushed past me angrily, and did not touch his tea." + +"Has my brother returned?" + +"He does not come back till late to-day; he is on committee." + +"Very well," said Sabine; "say nothing about it, Franz, to any one." + +And Sabine sat down again at the table, but the damask was forgotten. +"So that was what made poor Wohlfart look so sad! This wild youth--he +came to us like a whirlwind, and the blossoms all fall in his path. His +whole life is confusion and excitement, and he carries away with him all +who approach within his reach. Even me--even me! Do what I will, I too +feel his spell--so beautiful, so brilliant, so strange. He is always +grieving me, and yet all day long I am thinking and caring about him. +Oh, my mother! it was in this room that I sat at your feet for the last +time when, with your hand on my head, you prayed that Heaven might +shield me from every sorrow. Beloved mother, shield thy daughter against +her own beating heart. Strengthen me against him, his ensnaring levity, +his daring mockery." + +Long did Sabine sit thus, communing with her guardian spirits. Then +wiping her eyes, she resolutely returned to count and arrange the +table-linen. + +Anton had got into bed, and was just going to put out his candle, when a +loud knock was heard at the door, and the man he least expected stood +before him--Herr von Fink himself, with his riding-whip, and his usual +careless manner. "Ah! in bed already!" said he, sitting astride on a +chair close by. "I am sorry to disturb you. You have written me a very +spirited letter, and Jordan has told me the rest, so I am come to answer +you in person." + +Anton was silent, and looked darkly at him. + +"You are all good and very sensitive people," continued Fink, whipping +his boots; "I am sorry that you took my words so to heart, but I am glad +you have so much spirit." + +"Before I listen further," said Anton, angrily, "I must know whether it +is your intention to make an apology to me before the other gentlemen. +Perhaps a more experienced man would not consider this sufficient, but +it would satisfy me." + +"There you are right," nodded Fink; "you _may_ be quite satisfied." + +"Will you make this apology to-morrow morning?" inquired Anton. + +"Why should I not? I don't want to fight with you, and I will declare +before the assembled firm that you are a hopeful young man, and that I +was wrong to insult one younger and--forgive me the expression--much +greener than myself." + +Our hero listened with mingled feelings, and then declared that he was +not satisfied with this explanation. + +"Why not?" asked Fink. + +"Your manner at this moment is unpleasant to me; you show me less +respect than is conventional. I know that I am young, have seen little +of the world, and that in many points you are my superior; but, for +these very reasons, it would better become you to behave differently." + +Fink stretched out his hand good-humoredly, and said in reply, "Do not +be angry with me, and give me your hand." + +"I can not do so yet," cried Anton, with emotion; "you must first assure +me that you do not treat the matter thus because you consider me too +young or too insignificant, or because you are noble and I am not." + +"Hark ye, Master Wohlfart," said Fink, "you are running me desperately +hard. However, we'll settle these points too. As for my German +nobility"--he snapped his fingers--"I would not give that for it; and as +for your youth and position, all I can say is, that, after what I have +seen this evening, the next time we quarrel I will fight you with any +murderous weapon that you may prefer." And again he held out his hand, +and said, "Now, then, take it; we have settled every thing." + +Anton laid his hand in his, and Fink, having heartily shaken it, wished +him good-night. + +The following morning, the clerks being all assembled earlier than +usual, Fink made his appearance last, and said, in a loud voice, "My +lords and gentlemen of the export and home-trade, I yesterday behaved to +Mr. Wohlfart in a manner that I now sincerely regret. I have already +apologized to him, and I repeat that apology in your presence; and beg +to say that our friend Wohlfart has behaved admirably throughout, and +that I rejoice to have him for a colleague." At this the clerks smiled, +Anton shook hands with Fink, Jordan with both of them, and the affair +was settled. + +But it had its results. It raised Anton's position in the opinion of his +brother officials, and entirely changed his relation to Fink, who, a few +days after, as they were running up stairs, stopped and invited him into +his own apartment, that they might smoke a friendly cigar. + +It was the first time that Anton had crossed the threshold of the +volunteer, and he stood amazed at the aspect of his room. Handsome +furniture all in confusion, a carpet soft as moss, on whose gorgeous +flowers cigar-ashes were recklessly strewed. On one side a great press +full of guns, rifles, and other weapons, with a foreign saddle and heavy +silver spurs hanging across it; on the other, a large book-case, +handsomely carved, and full of well-bound books, and above, the +outspread wings of some mighty bird. + +"What a number of books you have!" cried Anton, in delight. + +"Memorials of a world in which I no longer live." + +"And those wings--are they a part of those memorials?" + +"Yes, they are the wings of a condor. I am proud of them, as you see," +answered Fink, offering Anton a packet of cigars, and propelling a great +arm-chair toward him with his foot. "And now let us have a chat. Are you +knowing in horses?" + +"No," said Anton. + +"Are you a sportsman?" + +"Not that either." + +"Are you musical?" + +"Very slightly so," said Anton. + +"Why, what specialities have you, then, in Heaven's name?" + +"Few in your sense of the word," answered Anton, indignantly. "I can +love those who please me, and can, I believe, be a true friend; I can +also resent insolence." + +"Very well," said Fink, "I am quite aware of that. I know there is +plenty of spirit in you. Now let me hear what fate has hurled you into +this dreary tread-mill, where all must at last go dusty and resigned, +like Liebold, or, at best, punctual and precise, like Jordan." + +"It was a kind fate, after all," replied Anton, and began to tell the +story of his life. + +Fink kept nodding approvingly, and then said, "After all, the greatest +difference between us is that you remember your mother, and I do not +mine. I have known people who found less love in their home than you +have done." + +"You have seen so much of the world," pleaded Anton; "pray let me hear +how you chanced to come here." + +"Very simply," began Fink; "I have an uncle at New York, one of the +aristocrats of the Exchange. When I was fourteen, he wrote to my father +to send me over, as he meant to make me his heir. My father was a +thorough merchant. I was packed up and sent across. In New York I soon +became an accomplished scapegrace, was up to every species of folly, and +kept race-horses at an age when German boys eat bread and butter, and +play with tops in the streets. I had my favorite _danseuses_ and +_cantatrices_, and so bullied my servants, both white and black, that my +uncle had enough to do to bribe them into taking it quietly. My friends +had torn me from my home without consulting my feelings, and I did not +care a straw for theirs. In short, I was the most renowned of the young +scamps who pique themselves upon their devilry on the other side the +water. It was on one of my birth-days that, returning home from a +certain _petit souper_, the thought suddenly struck me that this career +must come to an end, or it would end me. So I went to the harbor instead +of to my uncle's house, and having, on my way, bought a coarse sailor's +dress and put it on, I hired myself to an English captain. We sailed +round Cape Horn, and when we reached Valparaiso I thanked the Englishman +for my passage, treated the crew, and jumped on shore with twenty +doubloons in my pocket, to make my fortune by the strength of my arm. I +soon fell in with an intelligent man, who took me to his _hacienda_, +where I won my laurels as herdsman. I was about half a year with him, +and liked the life. I was treated as a useful guest, and much admired as +sportsman and horseman. What did I need further? We were just going to +have a great buffalo hunt, when suddenly two soldiers made their +appearance on the scene, and trotted me off with them to the town, where +I was made over to the American consul; and as my uncle had moved heaven +and earth to track me, and as I found, from a long letter he had +written, that my father was really unhappy, I resolved to return to +Europe by the next ship. I at once told my father that I did not mean to +be a merchant, but an agriculturist. At this the firm of Fink and Becker +went distracted; but I stood to my point. At last we came to a +compromise. I went for two years to a business-house in North Germany; +then I came here to learn office-work, through which discipline they +hope to tame me. So here I am now in a cloister. But it's all in vain. I +humor my father by sitting here, but I shall only stay long enough to +convince him that I am right, and then I shall take to agriculture." + +"Will you buy land in this country?" inquired Anton. + +"Not I," returned Fink; "I prefer riding half the day without coming to +the end of my property." + +"Then you mean to return to America?" + +"There or elsewhere. I am not particular as to hemisphere. Meanwhile, I +live like a monk, as you see," said Fink, laughing, as he mixed for +himself a fiery potion, and pushed the bottle to Anton. "Brew for +yourself, my lad," said he; "and let us chat away merrily, as becomes +good fellows and reconciled foes." + +From that evening forth Fink treated our hero with a friendship that he +showed to none of the other clerks. He often took him into his room, and +even went up the long staircase to his. Anton soon discovered that his +new friend was a well-known character in the town--a perfect despot +among the fashionables, and the leader of all riding and hunting parties +given. Accordingly, he was much in society, and often did not come home +till morning. Anton could not help admiring the strength and energy of +this man, who could take his place at the desk after only two or three +hours' sleep without showing a trace of fatigue. Fink also departed from +the rigid regularity of the house by sometimes appearing after +office-hours had begun, or leaving before they ended. Of this, however, +Mr. Schröter took no notice. + +Thus the winter passed away, and signs of spring penetrated even here. +The visitors no longer brought in snow-flakes, but left brown footmarks. +The brokers began to speak of the yellow blossoms of the olive, and at +length Mr. Braun came in with a rose in his button-hole. + +A year was gone since Anton crossed the little lake with the fleet of +swans behind him. The whole year through he had thought of that one +day. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +Veitel Itzig still occupied the same sleeping-quarters as on the evening +of his arrival. If, according to the assertions of the police, every man +must have some home or other--and, according to popular opinion, our +home be where our bed stands--Veitel was remarkably little at his home. +Whenever he could slip away from Ehrenthal's, he would wander about the +streets, and watch for such youths as were likely to buy from or sell to +him. He had always a few dollars to rattle in his pocket. He never +addressed the rawest of schoolboys but as a grown-up man; he was a +proficient in the art of bowing, could brighten up old brass and silver +as good as new, was always ready to buy old black coats, and possessed +the skill of giving them a degree of gloss which insured their selling +again. + +With every bargain that he made for Ehrenthal he combined one for +himself, and soon won a reputation that excited the envy of gray-bearded +fripperers. He did not confine his activity to any one department +either, but became a horse-dealer's agent, the _employé_ of secret +money-lenders--nay, a money-lender himself. Then he had the faculty of +never getting tired, was all day on his feet, would run any length for a +few pence, and never resented a harsh word. He allowed himself no other +recreation than that of counting over his different transactions and +their probable results. He lived upon next to nothing; a slice or two of +bread abducted from Ehrenthal's kitchen would serve for his supper. Only +once during the first year of his town life did he allow himself a glass +of thin small beer, and that after a very profitable bargain. + +He was always remarkably neat in his attire, considering it essential +that a man of business should bear the aspect of a gentleman. In short, +at the end of twelve months his six ducats had increased thirty fold. + +He soon became indispensable in Mr. Ehrenthal's household. Nothing +escaped him. He never forgot a face, and was as familiar with the daily +state of the funds as any broker on 'Change. He still occupied the post +of errand-boy, blacked Bernhard's boots, and dined in the kitchen; but +it was plain that a stool in the office, which Ehrenthal kept for form's +sake, would ultimately be his. This was the goal of his ambition--the +paradise of his hopes. He soon saw that he only wanted three things to +attain to it--a more grammatical knowledge of German, finer caligraphy, +and an initiation into the mysteries of book-keeping, of which he as yet +knew nothing. + +Meanwhile, he had become a distinguished man in his caravanserai, one +whom even Löbel Pinkus himself treated with respect. Veitel owed this to +his own sharp-wittedness. Ever since his first arrival, the hollow sound +of the wooden partition had a good deal excited him, and he had often +vainly sought to explore the mystery. At last, one Saturday evening, he +pretended to be ill, and remained at home, when his host and the rest of +the household had gone to the synagogue. + +Having had the good fortune to widen a chink in the partition, he beheld +what delighted him in the extreme. A large dirty room, quite full of +chests, coffers, and a chaos of desirable articles--old clothes, beds, +piles of linen, stuffs, hangings, hardware-goods, etc. Aladdin at his +first entrance into the magician's cave was hardly so enraptured as +Itzig by his discovery, which he carefully kept to himself. Sometimes at +night he heard a stir in the mysterious room; nay, once whispers reached +him, some of them in the deep voice of Pinkus himself. One evening, too, +coming home late, he saw boxes and bundles in a little carriage before +the next house, all modestly covered up with white linen; and that very +night two silent guests disappeared, and came back no more; from all of +which Veitel concluded that his host was a commission agent, who had his +reasons for carrying on business by night rather than by day. + +It was as clear as possible. These goods were taken eastward, smuggled +over the border, and spread all over Russia. + +Veitel used his discovery judiciously, only giving such hints of it to +Pinkus as to insure his most respectful behavior. + +On one eventful day Veitel returned in thoughtful mood to his lodgings, +and sat in the public room. He was pondering how best to get hold of +some scribe who would initiate him into the mysteries of grammar and +book-keeping for the smallest possible fee; nay, perhaps for a certain +old black coat, which, owing to the peculiarity of its cut, he had never +yet been able to dispose of. Happening to look up in the midst of his +reflections, his eye fell on a stranger who held a pen in his hand, and +conversed with a tradesman. It was plain that this man was no Jew. He +was little and fat. He had a red turned-up nose, bushy gray hair, and he +wore an old pair of spectacles, which had great difficulty in keeping on +the nose aforesaid. Veitel remarked that he had on an unusually bad +coat, and took snuff. It was plain that this man was a writer of some +kind; so, as soon as he had seen him hand over a paper to the tradesman, +and receive a small piece of money, Veitel approached, and began: + +"I wished, sir, to ask you if you happened to know any one who could +give lessons in writing and book-keeping to a man of my acquaintance?" + +"And this man of your acquaintance is yourself?" said the little man. + +"Why should I make a secret of it?" said Veitel. "Yes, it is I; but I am +only a beginner, and able to give but little." + +"He who gives little receives little, my dear fellow," said the elderly +scribe, taking a pinch of snuff. "What is your name, and with whom are +you placed?" + +"My name is Veitel Itzig, and I am in Hirsch Ehrenthal's office." + +The stranger grew attentive. "Ehrenthal," he said, "is a rich man, and a +wise. I have had dealings with him in my time; he has a very fair +knowledge of law. What fee are you willing to pay, provided a master +could be found?" + +"I do not know what should be given," said Veitel. + +"Then I will tell you," said he of the spectacles. "I might or might not +give you instructions myself; but first I must know more about you. If I +were to do so, in consideration of your being but poor, and a beginner, +as you say, and also of having myself a little spare time on hand, I +should only ask fifty dollars." + +"Fifty dollars!" cried Veitel, in horror, sinking down on a stool, and +repeating mechanically, "fifty dollars!" + +"If you think that too much," said he of the spectacles, sharply, "know +that I am not going to deal with a greenhorn; secondly, that I never +gave my assistance for so little before; and, thirdly, that I should +never think of teasing myself with you if I had not a fancy to spend a +few weeks here." + +"Fifty dollars!" cried Itzig; "why, I had thought it would not cost more +than three or four, and a waistcoat and a pair of boots, and"--for +Veitel saw that a storm was coming, and that the hat on the table was +much dilapidated--"a hat almost as good as new." + +"Go, you fool!" said the old man, "and look out for a parish +schoolmaster." + +"Then," said Itzig, "you are not a writing-master?" + +"No, you great donkey," muttered the stranger; then, in a soliloquy, +"Who could have supposed that Ehrenthal would keep such a booby as this? +He takes me for a writing-master!" + +"Who are you, then?" + +"One with whom you have nothing to do," was the curt reply, and the +little man rose and betook himself to the loft, while Veitel went off to +ask Pinkus, as unconcernedly as he could, the name and calling of the +new guest. + +"Don't you know him?" said Pinkus, with an ironical smile; "take care +you don't know him to your cost. Ask him his name; he knows it better +than I do." + +"If you will put no confidence in me, I will in you," said Veitel, and +told him the whole conversation. + +"So he would have given you instruction?" said Pinkus, shaking his head +in amazement; "fifty dollars is a large sum; but many a man would give a +hundred times as much to know what he does. Not that I care what you +learn, or from whom." + +Veitel went to his lair in greater perplexity than ever. Soon came +Pinkus with a slight supper for the stranger, to whom he manifested a +remarkable degree of sociability. + +He now called him out on the balcony, and after a short talk in the +dark, of which Veitel guessed himself the subject, re-entered the room, +saying, + +"This gentleman wishes to spend a few weeks here in private; therefore, +even if questioned, you will not mention it." + +"I don't even know who the gentleman is," said Veitel; "how could I tell +any one that he is living here?" + +"You may trust this young man," observed Pinkus to the stranger, and +then wished the two good-night. + +The man in spectacles sat down to his supper, every now and then casting +such a glance at Veitel as an old raven might do at an unfledged +chicken, who had innocently ventured within his reach. + +Meanwhile, the thought darted across Itzig's mind that this mysterious +person might be one of the chosen few--a possessor of the infallible +receipt by which a poor man could become rich. Veitel knew now that +there was no magic in this, that the receipt consisted in being more +cunning than the rest of the world, and that this cunning was not +without its serious consequences to its possessor; nay, it seemed to him +as though to acquire it were to make a compact with Satan himself. His +hand trembled, his pale face glowed, but his desire for more certain +knowledge on the subject prevailed; and he told the stranger that, +having heard that there was an art of always buying and selling to the +best advantage, and so of making a fortune, he wished to ask whether it +was that art that he (the stranger) could impart if he chose. + +The old man pushed his plate away, and looked at him with amazement. +"Either," said he, "you are a great dolt, or the best actor I have ever +seen." + +"No; I am only a dolt, but I wish to become clever," was the reply. + +"A singular fellow," said the other, adjusting his spectacles so as to +see him better. After a long examination, he went on: "What you, my lad, +call an art, is only a knowledge of law, and the wisdom to turn it to +one's own profit. He who is up to this can not fail to be a great man, +for he will never be hanged." At which he laughed in a way that made a +painful impression even upon Itzig. + +"This art," he went on, "is not easily acquired, my boy. It takes much +practice, a good head, prompt decision, and, above all, what the knowing +call 'character.'" At which he laughed again. + +Veitel felt that a crisis in his life had come. He fumbled for his +worn-out pocket-book, and held it for a moment in his trembling hand. +During that moment, all manner of conflicting thoughts flashed like +lightning through his mind. He thought of his worthy mother's tearful +farewell, and how she had said, "Veitel, this is a wicked world; gain +thy bread honestly." He saw his old father on his death-bed, with his +white head drooping over his emaciated frame. He thought, too, of his +fifty dollars gathered together so laboriously--of the insults he had +had to bear for their sake--the threatened blows. At that thought he +threw his pocket-book on the table, and cried, "Here is the money!" but +he knew, at the same time, that he was committing sin, and an invisible +weight settled on his heart. + +A few hours later, the lamp had burned low, but still Veitel sat with +mouth open, eyes fixed, and face flushed, listening to the old man, who +was speaking about what most people would vote a tiresome +subject--promissory notes. + +Later still, the light was gone out; and the stranger, having emptied +his bottle of brandy, was asleep on his straw bed, but still Veitel sat +and wrote in fancy on the dark walls fraudulent bonds and receipts, +while the sweat ran down from his brow; then he opened the balcony door, +and, leaning on the railing, saw the water rush by like a mighty stream +of ink. Again he traced bonds on the shadows of the opposite walls, and +wrote receipts on the surface of the stream. The shadows fled, the water +ran away; but his soul had contracted, in that dark night, a debt to be +one day required with compound interest. + +From that night Veitel hurried home every evening, and the lessons went +on regularly. + +We may here briefly relate what he gradually discovered as to the +history of his teacher. + +Herr Hippus had seen better days. He had once been a leading attorney, +and had then taken to the Bar, where he soon gained a high reputation +for his skill in making a doubtful cause appear a good one. At first he +had no intention of gaining a fortune by confounding right and wrong. On +the contrary, he had a painful sense of insecurity when retained for a +client whose cause seemed to him unjust. He differed but little, indeed, +from the best of his colleagues; perhaps he had somewhat fewer scruples; +and, certainly, he was too fond of good red wine. He had a caustic wit, +made an admirable boon companion, and, having a subtle intellect, was +fond of paradoxes and skillful hair-splitting. Thanks to the red wine, +he fell into the habit of spending much, and so into the necessity of +making much also. Vanity and the love of excitement led him to devote +the whole energy of his brilliant intellect to winning bad cases, and +thus that frequent curse of barristers overtook him; all who had bad +cases applied to him. For a long time this annoyed him; but gradually, +very gradually, he became demoralized by the constant contact with +falsehood and wrong. His wants went on increasing, temptations +multiplied, and conscience weakened. But, though long hollow within, he +continued outwardly prosperous, and many prophesied that he, with his +immense practice, would die one of the richest men in the city, when, +cunning lawyer as he was, he had the misfortune to provoke inquiry by +appearing in a desperate case. The result was, that he was at once +disgraced, and vanished like a falling star from the circle of his +professional brethren. He soon lost the last remains of respectability. +In reality, he had amassed very little, and his love of drink went on +increasing. He sunk to a mere frequenter of brandy-shops, a promoter of +unfair litigation, and an adviser of rogues and swindlers. Owing to some +of these practices it was that he now found it convenient, under the +pretense of a long journey, to become for a time invisible. Pinkus was +an old ally, and hence the opportunity for Veitel's lessons. + +These lessons soon became an absolute necessity to the old man's +heart--ay, to his heart; for, bad as he was, its warmth was not yet +utterly extinguished. + +It grew a melancholy pleasure to him to open out his mental resources to +the youth, whose attention flattered him, and gradually he began to +attach himself to him. He would put by a portion of his supper, and even +of his brandy for him, and enjoy seeing him consume it. Once, when +Veitel had caught a feverish cold, and lay shivering under his thin +coverlet, the old man spread his own blankets over him, and felt a glow +of pleasure on seeing his grateful smile. + +Veitel repaid these sparks of friendly feeling with a degree of +reverence, greater than ever pupil felt before. He did many small +kindnesses on his side, and made Hippus the confidant of all his own +transactions. It is true that this intimacy had its thorns. The old man +could not refrain from practicing his sharp wit on Itzig, who called +him, too, by many an irreverent name when he had stupefied himself with +brandy; but, on the whole, they got on capitally, and were essential to +each other. + +During the months that the old man spent in this retreat, Veitel learned +much besides the special science already alluded to; he improved in +speaking and writing German, and gained a great amount of general +information. This change did not escape Mr. Ehrenthal, who mentioned it +in his family circle much as a farmer would the promising points of a +young bullock; and, at the end of the quarter, announced of his own +accord to Veitel that the shoe-blacking and kitchen dinner were to +cease, and that he was prepared to give him a place in his office, and a +small salary besides. Veitel received the long-desired intelligence with +great self-command, and returned his humble thanks, adding, "I have +still one very, very great favor to ask. May I have the honor of dining +once a week at Mr. Ehrenthal's table, that I may see how people conduct +themselves in good society? If you will do me this kindness, you may +deduct it from my salary." + +Ehrenthal shook his head, and said that he must refer the question to +his wife; the result of which consultation was, that on the following +Sabbath Veitel was invited to eat a roast goose with the family. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +One warm summer evening, office hours being over, Fink said to Anton, +"Will you accompany me to-day? I am going to try a boat that I have just +had built." Anton was ready at once; so they jumped into a carriage, and +drove to the river. Fink pointed out a round boat that floated on the +water like a pumpkin, and said, in a melancholy tone, "There it is--a +perfect horror, I declare! I cut out the model for the builder myself +too; I gave him all manner of directions, and this is the sea-gull's egg +he has produced." + +"It is very small," replied Anton, with an uncomfortable foreboding. + +"I'll tell you what it is," cried Fink to the builder, who now came +forward, respectfully touching his hat, "our deaths will be at your +door, for we shall inevitably be drowned in that thing, and it will be +owing to your want of sense." + +"Sir," replied the man, "I have made it exactly according to your +directions." + +"You have, have you?" continued Fink. "Well, then, as a punishment, you +shall go with us; you must see that it is but fair that we should be +drowned together." + +"No, sir, that I will not do, with so much wind as this," returned the +man, decidedly. + +"Then stay ashore and make sawdust pap for your children. Give me the +mast and sails." He fitted in the little mast, hoisted and examined the +sails, then took them down again, and laid them at the bottom of the +boat, threw in a few iron bars as ballast, told Anton where to sit, and, +seizing the two oars, struck out from shore. The pumpkin danced gayly on +the water, to the great delight of the builder and his friends, who +stood watching it. + +"I wanted to show these lazy fellows that it is possible to row a boat +like this against the stream," said Fink, replacing the mast, setting +the sail, and giving the proper directions to his pupil. The wind came +in puffs, sometimes filling the little sail, and bending the boat to +the water's edge, sometimes lulling altogether. + +"It is a wretched affair," cried Fink, impatiently; "we are merely +drifting now, and we shall capsize next." + +"If that's the case," said Anton, with feigned cheerfulness, "I propose +that we turn back." + +"It doesn't matter," replied Fink, coolly; "one way or other, we'll get +to land. You can swim?" + +"Like lead. If we do capsize I shall sink at once, and you will have +some trouble to get me up again." + +"If we find ourselves in the water, mind you do not catch hold of me, +which would be the surest way of drowning both. Wait quietly till I draw +you out; and, by the way, you may as well be pulling off your coat and +boots; one is more comfortable in the water _en négligé_." Anton did so +at once. + +"That's right," said Fink. "To say the truth, this is wretched sport. No +waves, no wind, and now no water. Here we are, aground again! Push off, +will you? Hey, shipmate! what would you say if this dirty shore were +suddenly to sink, and we found ourselves out on a respectable sea--water +as far as the horizon, waves as high as that tree yonder, and a good +hearty wind, that blew your ears off, and flattened your nose on your +face?" + +"I can't say that I should like it at all," replied Anton, nervously. + +"And yet," said Fink, "there are few plights so bad but they might be +still worse. Just think; in that case it would be some comfort to have +even these good-for-nothing planks between us and the water; but what if +we ourselves lay on the stream--no boat, no shore--mountain waves all +round?" + +"I at least should be lost!" cried Anton, with genuine horror. + +"I have a friend, a good friend, to whom I trust implicitly in any +crisis, to whom this once happened. He sauntered down to the shore on a +glorious evening, had a fancy to bathe, stripped, plunged, and struck +out gayly. The waves lifted him up and drew him down; the water was +warm, the sunset dyed the sea with ten thousand exquisite hues, and the +golden sky glowed above him. The man shouted with ecstasy." + +"You were that man?" inquired Anton. + +"True. I went on swimming for about an hour, when the dull look of the +sky reminded me that it was time to return; so I made for land; and what +think you, Master Wohlfart, that I saw?" + +"A ship?" said Anton; "a fish?" + +"No. I saw _nothing_--the land had vanished. I looked on all sides--I +rose as high as I could out of the water--there was nothing to be seen +but sea and sky. The current that set out from the land had +treacherously carried me out. I was in mid ocean, somewhere between +England and America, that I knew; but this geographical fact was by no +means soothing to one in my circumstances. The sky grew dark, the +hollows filled with black uncanny shadows, the waves got higher, and a +cold wind blew round my head; nothing was to be seen but the dusky red +of the sky and the rolling waters." + +"Horrible!" cried Anton. + +"It was a moment when no priest in the world could have prevented a poor +human being from wishing himself a pike, or some such creature. I knew +by the sky where the land lay. Now came the question, which was +stronger--the current or my arm? I began a deadly struggle with the +treacherous ocean deities. I should not have done much by such swimming +as they teach in schools. I rolled like a porpoise, and struck out +desperately for about two hours; then the labor got hard indeed. It was +the fiercest battle I ever fought. The sky grew dark, the emerald waves +pitchy black, only they were crested with foam that blew in my face. At +times a single star peeped from the clouds--that was my only comfort. So +I swam on and on, and still there was no land to be seen. I was tired +out, and the hideous darkness sometimes made me think of giving up the +struggle. The clouds gathered darker, the stars disappeared; I began to +doubt whether I was taking the right direction, and I was making very +little way. I knew the game was nearly up--my chest heaved--countless +sparks rose before my eyes. Just then, my boy, when I had glided half +unconsciously down the slope of a wave, I felt something under my feet +that was no longer water." + +"It was land!" cried Anton. + +"Yes," said Fink; "it was good firm sand. I found myself on shore about +a mile to leeward of my clothes, and fell down like a dead seal." Then +stopping, and with a steady look at Anton, "Now, mate, get ready!" cried +he; "take your legs from under the bench; I am going to tack and make +for shore. Now for it!" + +At that moment came a violent gust of wind; the mast creaked, the boat +heeled over, and could not right herself. According to promise, Anton +went to the bottom without any more ado. Quick as lightning Fink dived +after him, brought him up, and, with a violent effort, reached a spot +whence they could wade ashore. "Deuce take it," gasped Fink; "take hold +of my arm, can't you?" + +But Anton, who had swallowed a quantity of water, was hardly conscious, +and only waved Fink off. + +"I do believe he'll be down again," cried the latter, impatiently, +catching hold of him and making for the shore. + +A crowd had by this time assembled round the spot where Fink was holding +his companion in his arms and exhorting him to recover himself. At +length Anton opened his eyes. + +"Why, Wohlfart," said Fink, anxiously, "how goes it, my lad? You have +taken the matter too much to heart. Poncho y ponche!" cried he to the +by-standers; "a cloak and a glass of rum--that will soon bring him +round." + +A cloak was willingly lent, and our hero carried to the builder's house. + +"Here is an end of boat, sails, oars, and all," said Fink, +reproachfully, "and of our coats into the bargain. Did not I tell you +that it was a good-for-nothing tub?" + +For an hour, at least, Fink tended his victim with the greatest +tenderness, but it was late before Anton was sufficiently recovered to +walk home. + +The next day was Sunday, and the principal's birth-day besides. On this +important occasion, the gentlemen of the office spent some hours after +dinner with the family circle, and coffee and cigars were served. As +they were sitting down to table, the good-natured cousin said to Fink, +"The whole town is full of the fearful risk which you and Mr. Wohlfart +ran yesterday." + +"Not worth mentioning, my dear lady!" replied Fink, carelessly; "I only +wanted to see how Master Wohlfart would behave in drowning. I threw him +into the water, and he was within a hair's-breadth of remaining at the +bottom, considering it indiscreet to give me the trouble of saving him. +Only a German is capable of such self-sacrificing politeness." + +"But," cried the cousin, "this is a sheer tempting of Providence. It is +dreadful to think of it!" + +"It is dreadful to think of the impurity of your river. The water +sprites that inhabit it must be a dirty set. But Wohlfart did not mind +their mud. He fell into their arms with enthusiasm. He threw both legs +over the boat's edge before there was any occasion." + +"You told me to do so," cried Anton, in self-exculpation. + +"Poor Mr. Wohlfart!" exclaimed the astonished cousin. "But your coats! +This morning I met a policeman with the wet bundle in his arms, and it +was he who told me of your accident." + +"The coats were fished up at an early hour," said Fink, "but Karl doubts +whether they will ever dry. Meanwhile, Wohlfart's boots are on a voyage +of discovery toward the ocean." + +Anton blushed with anger at his friend's jests, and looked stealthily +toward the upper end of the table. The merchant glanced darkly at the +cheerful Fink. Sabine was pale and downcast--the cousin alone was fluent +in her pity for the coats. + +The dinner was more solemn than usual. After the plates were removed, +Mr. Liebold rose to fulfill the arduous duty imposed upon him by his +position--to propose the health of their principal. He took all possible +pains not to retract or qualify his eulogiums and good wishes; but even +this toast fell flat--a certain painful excitement seemed to prevail at +the head of the table. + +After dinner they all stood round in groups, drinking their coffee; and +bold spirits--Mr. Pix, for instance, ventured upon a cigar as well. +Meanwhile, Anton roamed through the suite of rooms, looking at the +paintings on the walls, turning over albums, and fighting off ennui as +well as he could. In this way he reached the end room, and stopped there +in amazement. Sabine stood before him, tears falling from her eyes. She +was sobbing silently, her slender form shaken by the conflict within, +but yet she was trying to repress her grief with an energy that only +made it the more touching. + +As Anton, filled with deepest sympathy, turned to go, she looked round, +composed herself, passed her handkerchief over her eyes, and said +kindly, "Take care, Mr. Wohlfart, that the foolhardiness of your friend +leads you into no fresh danger. My brother would be very sorry that your +intercourse with him should prove an injury to you." + +"Miss Sabine," replied Anton, looking reverentially at her, "Fink is as +noble as he is reckless. He saved me at the peril of his own life." + +"Oh yes!" cried Sabine, with an expression Anton did not quite +understand; "he loves to play with whatever is sacred to others." + +At that moment Mr. Jordan came to request her to give them some music. +She went at once. + +Anton was excited to the utmost. Sabine Schröter stood so high in the +estimation of the gentlemen of the counting-house that they paid her the +compliment of rarely naming her. Most of the younger clerks had been +desperately in love with her; and though the flames had burned down for +want of fuel, yet the embers still glowed in the innermost recesses of +their hearts. All alike would have fought for her against any enemy in +the world. But they looked upon her as a marble saint, a being beyond +the influence of human weaknesses. + +Anton, however, now doubted whether she were really this. To him, too, +the young lady of the house had been like the moon, only visible afar +off, and on one side. Daily he sat opposite her, saw the delicate +sadness of her face--the deep glance of her beautiful eyes--heard her +speak the same commonplace sentences, and knew no more of her. All at +once an accident made him her confidant. He felt sure, by many a token, +that this grief was connected with Fink; and although he had for him the +devoted admiration that an unsophisticated youth readily bestows upon a +daring and experienced comrade, yet, in this case, he found himself +enlisted on the lady's side against his friend; he resolved to watch him +narrowly, and be to her a brotherly protector, a faithful +confidant--all, in short, that was sympathizing and helpful. + +A few hours later, Sabine sat in the window with folded hands. Her +brother had laid aside his newspaper, and was watching her anxiously. At +last he rose, stepped silently up to her, and laid his hand on her head. +She clasped him in her arms. There they stood, leaning against each +other, two friends who had so shared their lives that each knew the +other's thoughts without a spoken word. + +Tenderly stroking his sister's hair, the merchant began: "You know what +large dealings we have with Fink's father?" + +"I know that you are not satisfied with the son." + +"I could not help taking him into our house, but I regret the hour I did +so." + +"Do not be hard upon him," pleaded the sister, kissing her brother's +hand; "think how much there is that is noble in his character." + +"I am not unjust toward him. But it is yet to be proved whether he will +be a blessing or a curse to his fellow-men. He may become a more paltry +aristocrat, who wastes his energies in refined self-indulgence, or a +covetous, unscrupulous money-maker, like his uncle in America." + +"He is not heartless!" murmured Sabine; "his friendship for Wohlfart +shows that." + +"He does but play with him--throws him into the water, and picks him out +again." + +"Nay," cried Sabine; "he esteems his good sense and high principles, and +feels that he has a better nature than his own." + +"Do not deceive yourself and me," replied the merchant; "I know the +fascination that this strange man has long had for you. I have said +nothing, for I could trust you. But, now that I see that he makes you +really unhappy, I can not but wish for his absence. He shall leave our +house without delay." + +"Oh no, no!" cried Sabine, wringing her hands. "No, Traugott, that shall +not, must not be! If there be any way of rescuing him from the evil +influences of his past life, it is the being with you. To see, to take +part in the regular activity, the high honor of your mercantile career, +is salvation to him. Brother," continued she, taking his hand, "I have +no secrets from you; you have found out my foolish weakness; but I +promise you that henceforth it shall be no more to me than the +recollection of some tale that I have read. Never by look or word will I +betray it; only do not, oh! do not be angry with him--do not send him +away, and that on my account." + +"But how can I tell whether his remaining here may not subject you to a +painful conflict?" inquired the merchant. "Our position as regards him +is difficult enough without this. He ranks as a brilliant match in every +sense of the word. His father has intrusted him to me. If an attachment +were to spring up between you, it would be treachery to his father to +withhold it from him. It might seem to him as if we had a wish to secure +the young heir; and he, accustomed as he is to easy conquests, might +perhaps laugh at what he would call your weakness and my +long-headedness. The very thought calls up all my pride." + +"Brother," cried Sabine, with burning cheeks, "do not forget that I am +your sister. I am a merchant's daughter, and he would never belong +entirely to our class. I am as proud as you, and have always had the +conviction that not all the love in the world could ever fill the gulf +between us. Trust me," continued she, with tears; "you shall see no more +sad looks. But be kinder to him; think what his fate has been, tossed +about among strangers; think how he has grown up without affection, +without a home; spoiled in many ways, but still with a high sense of +honor, an abhorrence of all that is little. Trust me, and be kinder to +him." + +"He shall stay," said the merchant; "but besides, my darling, there is +another whom we should seek to guard from his influence." + +"Wohlfart!" cried Sabine, cheerfully; "oh, I will answer for him." + +"You undertake a good deal. So he, too, is a favorite?" + +"He is tender-hearted and honorable, and devoted to you; and he has +plenty of spirit too. Trust him, he will be a match for Fink. I happened +to meet him at the time that Fink had insulted him, and I have given him +a place in my heart ever since." + +"How does this heart find room for every thing?" cried the merchant, +playfully; "above and beyond all, the great store-room, the oaken +presses of our grandmother, and the piles of white linen; then, in a +side-chamber apart, your strict brother; then--" + +"Then all the others in the ante-chamber," broke in Sabine. + +Meanwhile Fink entered Anton's room, humming a tune, little suspecting +the storm in the front part of the house, and, truth to tell, little +caring what they thought about him there. "I have fallen into disgrace +on your account, my son," cried he, merrily. "His majesty has treated me +all the day long with killing indifference, and the black-haired has not +deigned me a single glance--good sort of people, but desperately matter +of fact. That Sabine has at bottom plenty of life and spirit, but she +plagues herself about the merest trifles. She would raise a question as +to whether it was a fly's duty to scratch its head with the right leg or +the left. Why, you are on the way to be looked upon as the 'Mignon' of +the counting-house, and I as your evil genius. Never mind; to-morrow we +will go together to the swimming-school." + +And so it was. From that day forth Fink delighted to initiate his young +friend into all his own pursuits. He taught him to swim, to ride, to +leap, to shoot at a mark, and even threatened to get him an invitation +to a hunting-party. Against this Anton vehemently protested. + +Anton on his side rewarded him by the greatest devotion. They were happy +evenings for both when, sitting under the shadow of the condor's wings, +they chatted away and laughed so loud that through the open window the +sound reached old Pluto the watch-dog, who, feeling himself the guardian +of the establishment, and considered by all as a distinguished member of +it, woke up to bay out his hearty sympathy with their enjoyment--ay, +they were happy hours; for their intimacy ripened for the first time in +the life of either into sincere friendship. And yet Anton never left off +watching Fink's bearing to Sabine; although he did not name her to him, +he was always expecting to hear of some important event: a betrothal, or +a quarrel between Fink and the merchant, or something extraordinary. But +nothing of the kind occurred; the solemn daily meals went on, and +Sabine's behavior to both friends was the same as before. + +Another year had passed away, the second since our apprentice's arrival, +and again the roses blossomed. One evening Anton bought a large nosegay +of them, and knocked with them at the door of Jordan, who was a great +lover of flowers. He was surprised to find all the clerks assembled, as +they had been on the day of his arrival, and he saw at a glance that +they were embarrassed by his appearance. Jordan hurried to meet him, +and, with a slight degree of confusion, requested that he would leave +them for about an hour, as they were discussing a subject into which he, +as an apprentice, could not enter. It was the first time that these +kind-hearted men had ever allowed him to feel any difference between his +position and theirs, and therefore his banishment slightly depressed +him. He carried back his nosegay, placed it with a resigned air upon his +own table, and took up a book. + +Meanwhile a solemn deliberation was going on in Jordan's room. He rose, +struck the table with a ruler, and went on to state that a colleague +having, as they all knew, left the business, a vacancy had occurred, +which Mr. Schröter himself wished should be filled by Wohlfart; but as +his case would thus be made exceptional--he having been an apprentice +only two years instead of four--the principal kindly referred the +decision to the body of the clerks. + +An imposing silence succeeded to these words, which was at length +interrupted by Mr. Pix proposing punch, and that they should order in +the kettle for the tea-drinkers. + +The other gentlemen preserved a dignified silence, looked with +solemnity at the preparations going forward, and each felt his +responsibility and his importance as a man and a clerk. + +The next question was, "How shall we vote?" + +It was decided that the youngest should begin. + +Specht was the youngest. "First of all, I have to remark that Herr von +Fink is not present," said he, looking around in some excitement. + +A general murmur arose, "He does not belong to us; he is a volunteer." + +"In that case," continued Specht, somewhat taken down by this universal +opposition, "I am of opinion that Anton ought, according to custom, to +remain an apprentice for four years; but, as he is a good fellow, and +likely to prove useful, I am also of opinion that an exception should be +made in his favor; while I propose that, in order to remind him of his +former position, he be appointed to make tea for us during a year, and +to mend a hundred pens for each of his colleagues." + +"Stuff and nonsense!" muttered Pix; "you have always such overstrained +notions." + +"What do you mean by overstrained notions?" inquired Specht, angrily. + +"I must call you to order," said Mr. Jordan. + +The rest of the colleagues proceeded to give in their adherence to the +plan. Baumann did so with enthusiasm. At last it came to the turn of +Pix. "Gentlemen," said he, "what is the use of much talking? His +knowledge of business is fair, considering that he is but a young +fellow; his manner is pleasant--the servants respect him. According to +my notions, he is too tender and considerate; but it is not given to all +to manage others. He is a poor hand at cards, and can make little or +nothing of punch--that's about what he is. But, as these last +peculiarities have nothing to do with the present proposal, I see no +reason why he should not, from the present date, become our colleague." + +Then came Purzel and Liebold, who each gave his vote in his own +characteristic way, and the affair was settled. Baumann was about to +rush off and call Anton, when Specht insisted upon the solemnity of a +deputation, and Liebold and Pix were appointed to escort the astonished +youth, who could not conceive what it all meant, till Jordan, advancing +to meet him, said, with the utmost cordiality, "Dear Wohlfart, you have +now worked with us two years; you have taken pains to learn the +business, and have won the friendship of us all. It is the will of the +principal, and our united wish, that the term of your apprenticeship +should be abridged, and that you should to-morrow enter upon your duties +as a clerk. We congratulate you sincerely, and hope that, as our +colleague, you will show us the same friendly regard that you have +hitherto shown." So said worthy Mr. Jordan, and held out his hand. + +Anton stood for a moment as if stupefied, and then there followed an +amount of hand-shaking and congratulation never witnessed before in that +apartment. Next came toasts, speeches, and, after an evening of most +hearty enjoyment, the colleagues separated at a late hour. + +Anton could not go to bed, however, without imparting his good fortune +to his friend Fink. So he went to meet him on his return home, and told +him the important event in the bright moonlight. Fink made a grand +flourish in the air with his riding-whip, and said, "Bravo! bravo! I +should not have given our despot credit for such contempt of precedent. +You will be launched a year the sooner into life." + +The following day the principal called the new clerk into his own +sanctuary, and received his thanks with a smile. + +Last of all, at dinner, the ladies congratulated the new official. +Sabine even came down the whole length of the table to where Anton +stood, and greeted him in the kindest terms. A bottle of wine was placed +beside each cover; while the merchant, raising his glass, and bowing to +our happy hero, said, with earnest kindness, "Dear Wohlfart, we drink to +the memory of your excellent father." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +One winter morning Anton was reading diligently the "Last of the +Mohicans," while the first snow-flakes were dancing down outside his +window, when Fink came in hurriedly, saying, "Anton, let me have a look +at your wardrobe?" He opened the different drawers, examined their +contents, and, shaking his head, said, "I will send my tailor to measure +you for a new suit." + +"I have no money," replied Anton, laughing. + +"Nonsense!" cried Fink; "the tailor will give you as much credit as you +like." + +"I do not, however, choose to buy on credit," said Anton, settling +himself upon the sofa to argue the point with his friend. + +"You must make an exception in this case. It is high time that you +should see more of society, and I am going to introduce you." + +Anton started up, blushed, and exclaimed, "It won't do, Fink; I am quite +a stranger, and have no position to give me confidence." + +"That's the very reason why you must go into society," replied Fink, +severely. "You must get rid of this miserable timidity as soon as +possible. Can you waltz? Have you any remote conception of the figures +of a quadrille?" + +"A few years ago I had some dancing-lessons in Ostrau." + +"Very well; now you shall have some more. Frau von Baldereck informed me +yesterday that a few families purposed instituting a private assembly, +where their half-grown chickens might learn to spread their wings, +secure from birds of prey. It is to be held in her house, as she has a +chicken of her own to bring up for the market. It's the very thing for +you, and I will introduce you." + +"Fink," said our hero, "this is another of your mad adventures. Frau von +Baldereck belongs to the aristocratic set; you would only occasion me +the mortification of being rejected, or, worse, treated with hauteur." + +"Is he not enough to put a saint out of patience?" cried Fink, in +dudgeon; "you and your class have more reason to hold your heads high +than half of those here assembled. And yet you are the very people, with +your timidity and subserviency, to keep up their foolish pretensions! +How can you suppose yourself their inferior? I should never have +expected to have found such meanness in you." + +"You mistake me," replied Anton, angry in his turn. "I am not wanting in +self-respect; but it would be foolish and unbecoming to intrude into a +circle where I am not wished for, and where a man would be despised for +being in a counting-house." + +"Nonsense! you _are_ wished for. There is a paucity of gentlemen. The +lady of the house (I am a favorite--no honor, mind you) has asked me to +introduce three young men of my acquaintance, and so nothing can be more +simple. You pay for your lessons like another; and whether you whirl +round a countess or a young _bourgeoise_, what matters it?" + +"It won't do," replied Anton, shaking his head; "I have an inward +conviction that it is unbecoming, and wish to be guided by this." + +"Well, then," said Fink, impatiently, "I have one other proposal to +make. You shall this very day call with me upon Frau von Baldereck. I +will introduce you as Anton Wohlfart, one of the clerks in the firm of +T. O. Schröter. Not a word shall be said of these dancing-lessons, and +you shall see that she herself will invite you. If she does not, or if +she shows the very least hauteur, you can stay away. This you can not +object to." + +Anton demurred. The case seemed by no means so clear as Fink made it +out, but he was no longer able to weigh it dispassionately. For years +past he had yearned for the free, dignified, refined life of the upper +circles. Whenever he heard music--whenever he read of the doings of the +aristocracy, the turreted castle and the noble maiden rose before him in +the golden light of poetry. He consented to the proposal of his +experienced friend. + +An hour later came the tailor, and Fink himself determined the cut of +the new suit with a technical precision which impressed the tailor no +less than it did Anton. + +That afternoon, as the November sun melted away the snow, Fink, with a +large bundle of papers in his hand, loitered down the most unfrequented +streets, evidently on the look-out for some one or other. At last he +crossed over, and encountered, apparently to his surprise, two +elegantly-dressed gentlemen who were sauntering, on the opposite side. + +"Ah! Fink." + +"Oh, how do you do?" + +"Where are you wandering to in this absent mood?" inquired young Von +Tönnchen. + +"I am looking," replied Fink, in a melancholy voice, "for two good +fellows who will come and drink a bottle of wine with me this gloomy +afternoon, and assist me in a little matter of business beforehand." + +"What! a duel?" inquired Herr von Zernitz. + +"No, fair sir," replied Fink; "you know that I have forsworn all evil +ways, and am become a hard-working man of business, a worthy son of the +firm of Fink and Becker. I only want two witnesses to a legal document, +which must be executed at once. Will you accompany me for a quarter of +an hour to the notary--for the rest of the evening to Feroni's?" + +The two gentlemen were only too happy. Fink took them to a well-known +lawyer, to whom he delivered a long and important-looking document, +written in English, and setting forth that Fritz von Fink was the +lawful proprietor of the territory of Fowling-floor, in the State of New +York. This, he explained to the lawyer, he now wished to make over to +Anton Wohlfart, at present clerk in the house of T. O. Schröter, +imploring the man of business, at the same time, to keep the matter +secret, which he duly promised; and the two witnesses attested the deed. +As they left, Fink earnestly besought them never to reveal the +circumstance to Mr. Wohlfart. They both gave him their word of honor, +evincing, however, some degree of curiosity as to the whole transaction. + +"I can not explain it to you," said Fink, "there being about it a +political mystery that is not quite clear even to myself." + +"Is the estate large that you have just ceded?" inquired Von Tönnchen. + +"An estate!" said Fink, looking up to the sky; "it is no estate. It is a +district, mountain and vale, wood and water--but a small part, +certainly, of America. But then, what _is_ large? On the other side of +the Atlantic we measure things by a very different scale to that used in +this corner of Germany. At all events, I shall never again call the +property mine." + +"But who is this Wohlfart?" asked the lieutenant. + +"You shall make his acquaintance," answered Fink. "He is a handsome +youth from the heart of the province, over whom a remarkable destiny +hovers--of which, however, he knows, and is to know, nothing. But enough +of business. I have a plan for you this winter. You are old boys, it is +true; but you must take dancing-lessons." + +And, so saying, he led the way into Feroni's, where the three were soon +deep in a bottle of port wine. + +Frau von Baldereck was one of the main supports of the very best +society, consisting as it did of the families of the county nobility, +the officers, and a few of the highest officials. It was difficult to +say what had given this lady her social importance, for she was neither +very well connected, nor very rich, nor very elegant, nor very +intellectual. Perhaps it was this absence of all marked superiority +which accounted for it. She had a very large acquaintance, was rigidly +conventional, valued every one according to a social standard, and, +therefore, her estimate was always attended to. She had a young daughter +who promised to be very like her, and she inhabited a suite of large +rooms on a first floor, where for many years dramatic representations, +_tableaux vivants_, rehearsals, etc., had been constantly held. + +This influential lady was deep in consultation with her mantuamaker as +to how the new dress of her daughter could be best made so as to display +her faultless bust without exciting comment at the dancing-lesson, when +her favorite, Fink, was announced. Dismissing a while the weighty +consideration, she hurried down to give him a most gracious reception. + +After a few introductory remarks upon the last evening party at which +they had met, Fink began: + +"I have obeyed your orders, lady patroness, and shall bring you three +gentlemen." + +"And who are they?" + +"First, Lieutenant von Zernitz." + +"A great acquisition," was the reply, for the lieutenant was considered +an accomplished officer. He made neat verses, was great in the +arrangement of _tableaux vivants_, and was said to have written a tale +in some annual or other. "Herr von Zernitz is a delightful companion." + +"Yes," said Fink; "but he can not bear port wine. The second is young +Von Tönnchen." + +"An old family," observed the mistress of the house; "but is he not a +little--just a little--wild?" added she, modestly. + +"By no means," said Fink; "though sometimes, perhaps, he makes other +people so." + +"And the third?" inquired the lady. + +"The third is a Mr. Wohlfart." + +"Wohlfart!" returned she, somewhat perplexed; "I do not know the name." + +"Very likely not," said Fink, coolly; "Mr. Wohlfart came here from the +country two or three years ago, to get an insight into the mysteries of +business; he is now in Schröter's office, like myself." + +"But, my dear Fink!" interposed the lady. + +Fink was by no means taken aback. Comfortably reclining in his +arm-chair, he went on: "Mr. Wohlfart is a striking and interesting +person. There are some singular circumstances connected with him. I +think him the finest fellow I ever met with. He comes from Ostrau, and +calls himself the son of an accountant there, now dead. But there hangs +a mystery over him, of which he himself knows nothing." + +"But, Herr von Fink," said the lady, anxious to be heard. + +Fink looked intently at the cornice, and went on. "He is already the +possessor of certain lands in America. The title-deeds have passed +through my hands confidentially; but he must know nothing of it for the +present. I myself believe that he has every prospect of more than a +million some future day. Did you ever see the late archduke?" + +"No," said the lady, with some curiosity. + +"There are people," continued Fink, "who maintain that Anton is +strikingly like him. What I have said is a secret, however, of which my +friend knows nothing. One thing is certain, that the late emperor, on +the occasion of his last journey through the province, stopped at +Ostrau, and had a long conversation with the pastor there." + +Now this last circumstance was true, and Anton had chanced to mention it +to Fink among other of his childish recollections. He had also stated +that the pastor in question had been an army-chaplain in the last war, +and that the emperor had asked him in what corps he had served. + +Fink, however, did not think it necessary to descend to such minutiæ. +Frau von Baldereck declared herself ready to receive Mr. Wohlfart. + +"One word more," said Fink, rising; "what I have confided to you, good +fairy"--the fairy weighed upward of ten stone--"must remain a secret +between us. I am sure I may trust to your delicacy what, were it to be +spoken of by others, I should resent as a liberty taken with me and my +friend, Mr. Wohlfart." He pronounced the name so ironically that the +lady felt convinced that this gentleman, now under the disguise of a +clerk, would soon burst upon the world as a prince. + +"But," said she, as they parted, "how shall I introduce him to my +acquaintance?" + +"Only as my best friend; for whom I will answer, in every respect, as a +great addition to our circle." + +When Fink found himself in the street, he muttered irreverently enough, +"How the old lady swallowed all my inventions, to be sure! As the son of +plain honest parents, they would have given the poor lad the cold +shoulder; now, however, they will all behave with a courtesy that will +charm my young friend. I never thought that old sand-hole and its +tumble-down hut would turn out so useful." + +The seed that Fink had sown fell on fruitful soil. Frau von Baldereck, +who had a maternal design upon him, was only too glad to have a chance +of him as her daughter's partner in these dancing-lessons, which she had +not expected him to attend. The few hints that she ventured to throw out +about Anton being confirmed by certain mysterious observations made by +two officers, a rumor became current that a gentleman of immense +fortune, for whom the Emperor of Russia had purchased extensive +possessions in America, would make his appearance at the +dancing-lessons. + +A few days later, Anton was taken by Fink to call upon Frau von +Baldereck, from whom he received the most gracious, nay, pressing +invitation to join their projected _réunions_. + +The visit over, Anton, tripping down stairs on his Mentor's arm, +remarked, in all simplicity, that he was surprised to find it so easy to +converse with people of distinction. + +Fink muttered something, which might or might not be an assent, and +said, "On the whole, I am satisfied with you. Only you must, this +winter, get over that confounded habit of blushing. It's bad enough in a +black neckcloth, but what will it be in a white one? You will look like +an apoplectic Cupid." + +Frau von Baldereck, however, thought this modesty exceedingly touching; +and when her daughter announced decidedly that she liked Fink much the +best of the two, she shook her head, and smiling, replied, "You are no +judge, dear; there is a nobility and natural grace in every thing the +stranger does and says that is perfectly enchanting." + +Meanwhile the great day of the opening lesson arrived, and Fink, having +superintended Anton's toilette, carried him off to the scene of action. + +As they went down stairs, the door of Jordan's room softly opened, and +Specht, stretching out his long neck to look after them, cried out to +those within, "He is gone. Did you ever hear of such a thing? Why, there +are only the nobility there! A pretty story it will make." + +"After all, why should he not go, since he is invited?" said the +good-natured Jordan. To this no one knew exactly what to answer, till +Pix cried angrily, "I do not like his accepting such an invitation. He +belongs to us and to the office. He will learn no good among such +people." + +"These dancing-lessons must be curious scenes," chimed in Specht; +"frivolous in the extreme, mere love-making and dueling--for which we +know Wohlfart has always had a turn. Some fine morning we shall have him +going out with pistols under his arm, and not returning on his feet." + +"Nonsense!" replied the irritable Pix; "they don't fight more than other +people." + +"Then he will have to speak French?" + +"Why not Russ?" asked Mr. Pix. + +At which the two fell into a dispute as to what was the medium of +communication in the great lady's _salon_. However, all the colleagues +agreed in considering that Wohlfart had taken an exceedingly bold and +mysterious step, and one pregnant with calamitous consequences. + +Nor was this the only discussion on the subject. "He is gone!" announced +the cousin, returning from an interview with some of the domestics. + +"Another trick of his friend Fink," said the merchant. + +Sabine looked down at her work. "I am glad," said she at length, "that +Fink should use his influence to give his friend pleasure. He himself +does not care for dancing, and I am sure that to attend these lessons is +in him an act of self-denial; and I am also truly glad that Wohlfart, +who has hitherto led such a solitary life, should go a little into +society." + +"But into such society as this? How is it possible!" cried the cousin. + +Sabine tapped the table with her thimble. "Fink has spoken highly of +him, and that was good and kind. And, in spite of the grave face of my +dear brother, he shall, as a reward, have his favorite dish to-morrow." + +"Ham, with Burgundy sauce," added the cousin. + +Meanwhile Fink and Anton were entering Frau von Baldereck's lighted +rooms, and Fink, whispering, "Come, summon all your courage; you have +nothing to fear," led his unresisting friend up to the lady of the +house, by whom they were most graciously received, and who, saying at +once to Anton, "I will introduce you to Countess Pontak," led him off to +a gaunt lady of uncertain age, who sat on a slightly-elevated seat, +surrounded by a small court of her own. "Dear Betty, this is Mr. +Wohlfart." Anton saw at once that "dear Betty" had a nose of parchment, +thin lips, and a most unpleasing countenance. He bowed before her with +the resigned air of a prisoner, while she began to cross-examine him as +to who he was and whence he came, till his shyness was fast changing +into annoyance, when Fink stepped in. + +"My friend, proud lady, is half Slavonic, though he passionately +protests against any doubts cast upon his German origin. I recommend him +to your kindness. You have just given a proof of your talent for +investigation, now give my friend the benefit of the gentle indulgence +for which we all admire you." The ladies smiled, the gentlemen turned +away to hide their laughter, and Betty sat there with ruffled feathers, +like some small bird of prey whom a larger has robbed of its victim. + +As for Anton, he was hurrying away into a corner to recover, when he +felt a light tap on his arm, and heard a fresh young voice say, "Mr. +Wohlfart, do you not remember your old friend? This is the second time +that I have been obliged to speak first." + +Anton turned, and saw a tall, slight figure, with fair hair, and large +dark blue eyes, smiling at him. The expression of delight on his face +was so unmistakable that Lenore could not help telling him how glad she +too was to see him again. Soon they were in full conversation; they had +met but three times in their lives, and yet had so much to say. At last +the young lady reminded him that he must now speak to others, told him +to join her when the music began, and, with the majesty of a queen, +crossed the room to her mother. + +Anton was now hardened against all social terrors, and his embarrassment +over and gone. He joined Fink, who introduced him to a dozen gentlemen, +not one of whose names he remembered, caring for them no more than for +poplars along a high road. + +But this audacious mood vanished when he approached the baroness. There +were the delicate features, the unspeakable refinement, which had so +impressed him when he saw her first. She at once discovered that he was +unaccustomed to society, and looked at him with a curiosity not +unmingled with some misgiving; but Lenore cut the interview as short as +she could by saying that it was time to take their places in the dance. + +"He waltzes tolerably--too much swing, perhaps," muttered Fink to +himself. + +"A distinguished-looking pair," cried Frau von Baldereck, as Anton and +Lenore whirled past. + +"She talks too much to him," said the baroness to her husband, who +happened to join her. + +"To him?" asked he; "who is the young man? I have never seen the face +before." + +"He is one of the adherents of Herr von Fink--he is alone here--has rich +relatives in Russia or America; I do not like the acquaintance for +Lenore." + +"Why not?" replied the baron; "he looks a good, innocent sort of youth, +and is far better suited for this child's-play than the old boys that I +see around. There is Bruno Tönnchen, whose only pleasure is to make the +girls blush, or teach them to leave off blushing. Lenore looks +uncommonly well to-night. I am going to my whist; send for me when the +carriage is ready." + +Anton heard none of these comments upon him; and if the hum of the +company around had been as loud as that of the great bell of the city's +highest steeple, he would not have heard it better. For him the whole +world had shrunk to the circle round which he and his partner revolved. +The beautiful fair head so near his own that sometimes they touched, the +warm breath that played on his cheek, the unspeakable charm of the white +glove that hid her small hand, the perfume of her handkerchief, the red +flowers fastened to her dress--these he saw and felt; all besides was +darkness, barrenness, nothingness. + +Suddenly the music stopped, and Anton's world fell back into chaos. +"What a pity!" said Lenore, as the last note died away. + +"I thank you for this bliss!" said Anton, leading her back to her place. + +As he moved to and fro in the crowd like a rudderless ship amid the +waves, Fink took him in tow, and said, "I say, you hypocrite, you have +either drunk sweet wine, or you are a quiet sort of Don Juan. How long +have you known the Rothsattel? You have never spoken of her to me. She +has a lovely figure and a classical face. Has she any sense?" + +At that moment how unspeakably Anton despised his friend! Such an +expression as that could only proceed from the most degraded of human +beings. + +"Sense!" exclaimed he, casting on Fink a look of deadly enmity; "he who +doubts it must be utterly devoid of sense himself." + +"Well, well!" exclaimed Fink, in amazement; "I am not in that melancholy +plight, for I think the girl, or rather the young lady, uncommonly +lovely; and, had I not some small engagements elsewhere, I might feel +constrained to choose her for the mistress of my affections. As it is, I +can only admire her afar off." + +"You are right," said Anton, squeezing his arm. + +"Really," returned Fink, in his usual careless tone, "you begin well, it +must be allowed; go on, my son, and prosper." + +And Anton did go on, and did his Mentor honor. He was indeed +intoxicated, but not with wine. The music, the excitement of the dance, +the gay scene around, inspired him; he felt self-confident, nay, +daring; and, one or two trifling solecisms excepted, behaved as if he +had been surrounded by waxlights and obsequious domestics all the days +of his life. He was a good deal remarked--made, indeed, quite a +sensation; while dark hints of a mystery attached to him spread from +corner to corner of the spacious rooms. + +At length came the cotillon. Anton sought out Lenore, who exclaimed, "I +knew that you would dance it with me!" This was to both the happiest +part of the whole happy evening. + +As to all that followed, it was a mere indistinct vision. Anton was +dimly conscious of walking about with Fink, of talking and laughing with +him and others, of bowing before the lady of the house, and murmuring +his thanks; of having his paletot reached him by a servant, and of +putting something into his hand; but all this was shadowy and unreal. He +only saw one thing clearly: a white cloak, with a silk hood and a +tassel--oh, that tassel! Once more the large eyes shone full upon him, +and he heard the whispered words, "Good-night!" Then came an +uninteresting dream of going up stairs with Fink, and but half hearing +his jesting comments; of entering a small room, lighting a lamp, and +wondering whether it was really here he lived; of slowly undressing, and +at length falling asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +Since the important evening above described, the dancing-lessons had +gone on regularly, and Anton, having got over the purgatory of the first +introduction, began to feel perfectly at home. Indeed, he became a +useful member of the association, and was a pattern of assiduity and +punctuality, and a striking contrast to Fink, who horrified the +dancing-master by declaring that the _galop_ step was fitted for every +and all dances alike, and by waltzing in the most eccentric orbits +conceivable. + +The fact was, Anton was so happy that his transfigured aspect struck +both the young and the old ladies, confirming the former in their +conviction that he was good and true-hearted, and the latter in theirs, +that he was a prince in disguise. He himself best knew the secret of his +bliss. Every thought of his loyal heart revolved around its absolute +mistress. All dances or conversations with others he looked upon as +more flourishes surrounding her name; neither was he without his +reward. She soon treated him like an old friend; and, whenever she +entered the room, it was not till she had discovered his brown curls +among the circle that she felt at home in the brilliant assembly. + +It is, however, a melancholy fact, that destiny never long permits a +child of earth to feel his whole nature and circumstances strung up to +their utmost sweetness and power. It invariably contrives to let down +some string while winding up another. Hence arises a discord, such as +Anton was now called upon to experience. + +It was plain that the gentlemen of the counting-house looked with +critical eye upon the change in his way of life. There existed every +possible diversity among them, it is true; but all were unanimous in +pronouncing that, since he had attended these dancing-lessons, our hero +had greatly changed for the worse. They declared that his increased +silence was pride, his frequent absences in an evening tokens of +unbecoming levity; and he who had once been a universal favorite was now +in danger of being universally condemned. He himself considered the +colder bearing of his colleagues very unkind; and so it came to pass +that, for several weeks, he lived almost exclusively with Fink, and that +the two formed, as it were, an aristocratic section in opposition to the +rest. + +Anton was more depressed by this state of things than he chose to +confess: he felt it every where--at his desk, in his room, nay, even at +dinner. If Jordan wanted a commission executed, it was no longer to him, +but to Baumann, that he turned; when Purzel, the cashier, came into the +office, he no longer accepted Anton's seat; and though Specht addressed +him oftener than ever, it was no comfort to have questions like these +whispered in his ear, "Is it true that Baron von Berg has dapple-gray +horses?" or, "Must you wear patent leather boots, or shoes, at Frau von +Baldereck's?" But Pix, his former patron, was the severest of all. +Excessive toleration had never been one of this gentleman's weaknesses, +and he now, for no very definite reasons, looked upon Anton as a traitor +to himself and the firm. He was in the habit of keeping his birth-day in +a most festal manner, surrounded by all his friends, and, knowing this, +Anton had purposely refused an invitation of Herr von Zernitz; yet, when +the day came, Fink and he were not included among the birth-day guests. + +Anton felt this deeply; and, to make matters worse, Specht +confidentially told him that Pix had declared that a young gentleman who +associated with lieutenants, and frequented Feroni's, was no companion +for a plain man of business. As he sat alone and heard the merry +laughter of his colleagues, he fell into a melancholy mood, which none +of his ball-room recollections had the power to dispel. + +For, truth to tell, he was not satisfied with himself--he was changed. +He was not exactly negligent of business, but it gave him no +pleasure--his work was a task. Sometimes, in writing letters, he had +forgotten the most important clauses; nay, once or twice he had made +mistakes as to prices, and Jordan had handed him them back to re-write. +He fancied, too, that the principal had not noticed him for some time +past, and that Sabine's greeting had grown colder. Even the good-natured +Karl had asked him, ironically he thought, whether he, as well as Fink, +had a pass-key. It was in this mood that he now sat down to look over +his own accounts, which of late he had omitted to keep punctually. He +was horrified to find that his debts amounted to more than he could pay +without mortgaging his little inheritance. He felt very unhappy and out +of tune; but fate willed that the discord should increase. + +Two or three evenings later, the merchant, returning early from his +club, answered Sabine's greeting dryly, and paced up and down the room. + +"What is the matter, Traugott?" asked she. + +He threw himself into a chair. "Would you like to know how Fink got his +protégé introduced into Frau von Baldereck's circle? You were so ready +to admire this proof of his friendship! He has concocted a whole system +of lies, and made the inexperienced Wohlfart play the part of a mere +adventurer." And he went on to narrate all that we already know. + +"But is it certain that Fink has done this?" + +"Not a doubt of it. It is exactly like him. It is the same reckless, +unscrupulous spirit, that neither heeds the life nor the reputation of a +friend." + +Sabine fell back in her chair, and again her heart swelled with +indignation. "Oh, how sad it is!" cried she; "but Wohlfart is innocent, +that I am convinced of. Such falsehoods are not in his nature." + +"I shall know to-morrow," said the merchant; "for his own sake, I hope +you are right." + +The next day the principal summoned Anton to his own apartment, and +telling him the rumors that had arisen, asked him what he had done to +contradict them. + +Anton replied in much amazement, "That he knew nothing of such rumors as +these; that sometimes, indeed, he had been joked with as to his means, +but that he had always avowed how small they were." + +"Have you spoken decidedly?" asked the merchant, severely. + +"I believe that I have," was the honest reply. + +"These idle tales would not signify," continued the principal, "but that +they expose you to the charge of having sought, by unworthy means, to +gain a position to which you are not entitled, and also that they tend +to degrade your parents' reputation, for it is given out that you are +the son of a man of very high rank." + +"Oh my mother!" cried Anton, wringing his hands, and the tears rolling +down his cheeks. As soon as he could control his emotion, he said, + +"The most painful part of all this is, that you should have supposed me +capable of circulating these falsehoods. I implore you to believe that I +never knew of them till now." + +"I am glad to believe it," said the merchant; "but you have done much to +substantiate them. You have appeared in a circle and incurred expenses +which were alike unsuited to your position and your fortune." + +Anton felt that he would greatly prefer the centre of the earth to its +surface. At length he cried, "I know it--you are right--nay, I knew it +all the time; and especially since I found that I had run into +debt"--here the merchant smiled almost imperceptibly--"I have felt that +I was on the wrong road altogether, though I did not know how to retrace +my steps. But now I will lose no more time." + +"Was it not Fink who introduced you to that circle? Perhaps," said the +merchant, "he may be able to throw some light on the affair." + +"Allow me to call him," said Anton, "and let him be witness as to +whether I knew of this." + +"Certainly, if it be any satisfaction to you;" and Fink was summoned. On +entering, he looked with astonishment at Anton's excited aspect, and +cried, without particularly heeding the principal's presence, "The +devil! you have been weeping!" + +"Over calumnies," said the merchant, gravely, "which affect his own +character as a respectable man of business, and the honor of his +family." And he proceeded to state the whole affair. + +"He is quite innocent," said Fink, good-naturedly: "innocent and +harmless as the violet that blows in the shade. He knew nothing of this +ridiculous affair; and, if any one be to blame, it is I, and the +babbling fools who have spread the story. Don't torment yourself, Anton; +since it annoys you, we will soon set it all to rights." + +"I shall go once more," declared Anton, "to Frau von Baldereck, and tell +her that I can no longer attend the dancing-parties." + +"As you like," said Fink. "At all events, you have learned to dance, and +to hold your hat like a gentleman." + +Before dinner, the merchant said to his sister, "You were right, +Wohlfart had nothing to do with it; it was all Fink's invention." + +"I knew it," cried Sabine, drawing out her needle vehemently. + +Anton worked hard all day, said little, and, when evening came, went up +stairs to dress, like a man whose mind is made up. + +If Fink could have seen into his heart, he would have been shocked at +the sorrow there. It was not alone wounded self-love, mortification, +shame, but the anguish of bidding farewell to Lenore. As it was, "I +say," cried he, "I have a notion that you take this nonsense a great +deal too tragically. Are you angry with me?" holding out his hand. + +"Neither with you nor with any one else; but let me for once act for +myself." + +"What are you going to do?" + +"Do not ask me. I have but one thing to do." + +"So be it, then," was the good-humored reply; "but do not forget that +any thing like a scene would only amuse those people." + +"Trust me," said Anton, "I shall make none." + +It happened to be a very gay meeting, and there were more gentlemen +present than usual. Anton at once went up to Lenore, who came to meet +him more lovely than ever, in her first ball-dress, saying, "How late +you are! Come, papa is here, and I want to introduce you to him. But +what is the matter, you look so grave?" + +"Dear lady," returned Anton, "I do indeed feel sad. I can not dance the +next dance with you, and am only come to apologize to you, and to the +lady of the house, for my abrupt departure." + +"Mr. Wohlfart!" cried Lenore, clasping her hands. + +"Your good opinion is more to me than that of all others," said he, +blushing; and proceeded rapidly to state the whole story, assuring her +that he had known nothing of it. + +"I believe you," said Lenore, cordially; "and, indeed, papa said that it +was all most probably an idle tale. And because of this you will give up +our dancing-parties!" + +"I will," said Anton; "for, if I do not, I run a risk of being +considered an intruder or an impostor." + +Lenore tossed her little head. "Go, then, sir!" and she turned away. + +Anton stood like one annihilated. Had he been ten years older, he might +have interpreted her anger more favorably. As it was, a bitter pang +thrilled through him. But the thought of what was still to be done +nerved him to overcome it, and he walked steadily, nay, proudly to where +Frau von Baldereck was doing the honors. All the most distinguished +members of the party were around her. The gaunt old countess sat +drinking a cup of tea. The baroness was there; and near her a tall, +handsome man, whom Anton knew instinctively to be Lenore's father. As he +advanced to make his bow to the lady of the house, his glance took in +the whole scene at once. Years have passed since then; but still he +knows the color of every dress, could count the flowers in the bouquet +of the baroness, ay, and remembers the gilt pattern on the countess's +tea-cup. Frau von Baldereck received his obeisance with a gracious +smile, and was about to say something flattering, when Anton interrupted +her, and in a voice that shook a little, perhaps, but was audible +throughout the room, began his address, which was soon listened to in +profound silence. "Madam, I have this day heard that a rumor has been +spread of my possessing lands in America, and exciting an interest in +certain high quarters. I now declare that this is all false. I am the +son of a late accountant in Ostrau, and I inherit from my parents hardly +any thing beyond an unsullied name. You, madam, have been kind enough to +invite me, an insignificant stranger, to take part in your _réunions_ +this winter. After what I have just heard, I dare do so no longer, lest +I should thus substantiate the idle reports I have mentioned, and be +suspected of imposing upon your hospitality. Therefore I have only to +thank you sincerely for your past kindness, and to take my leave." + +The whole party was struck dumb. Anton bowed, and turned to go. + +Just then there flew out from the paralyzed circle a brilliant form, and +taking both his hands in hers, Lenore looked at him with tearful eyes, +and said, in a broken voice, "Farewell!" The door closed, and all was +over. + +When life returned in the room he had left, the first words audible were +the baroness's whisper to her daughter, "Lenore, you have forgotten +yourself." + +"Do not blame her," said the baron, aloud, with great presence of mind; +"the daughter only did what the father should have done. The young man +has behaved admirably, and we can not but esteem him." + +A murmur, however, began to arise from different groups. "Quite a +dramatic scene," said the lady of the house; "but who then said--" + +"Ay, who was it that said," interposed Von Tönnchen. All eyes turned to +Fink. + +"It was you, Herr von Fink, who--" Frau von Baldereck majestically +began. + +"I, my dear lady!" said Fink, with the composure of a just man unjustly +accused. "What have I to do with the report? I have always contradicted +it as much as possible." + +"Yes," said several voices; "but then you used to hint--" + +"And you certainly did say--" interpolated Frau von Baldereck. + +"What?" coldly inquired the imperturbable Fink. + +"That this Mr. Wohlfart was mysteriously connected with the Czar." + +"Impossible!" cried Fink, earnestly; "that is a complete +misunderstanding. In describing the appearance of the gentleman, then +unknown to you, I may possibly have mentioned an accidental likeness, +but--" + +"But the American property," chimed in Herr von Tönnchen; "why, you +yourself made it over to him, and requested us to keep the transaction a +profound secret." + +"As you have kept my secret so well," replied Fink, "as to tell it every +where, and now in my presence, before all assembled here, you and +Zernitz are evidently answerable for the whole foolish rumor. And now +listen, gentlemen; my friend Wohlfart having once expressed a playful +wish to have land in America, I amused myself by making him a +Christmas-box of a certain possession of mine on Long Island, near New +York, which possession consists of a few sand-hills and a tumble-down +hut, built for wild-duck shooting. It was natural that I should ask you +not to mention this, and I am very sorry that, from such a trifle, you +should have spun a web that excludes a delightful man from our circle." +And then a cold irony spreading over his features, he went on: "I +rejoice to see how strongly you all share my feeling, and despise the +low snobbishness of soul which could consider a man more fitted for +society because a foreign potentate had evinced an interest in him. And, +since we have begun this evening's dance with explanations, let me +further explain, that Mr. Anton Wohlfart is the son of a late accountant +in Ostrau, and that I shall consider any further allusion to this +misunderstanding as an insult to my most intimate friend. And now, my +dear lady, I am engaged to your daughter for the first quadrille, and +can positively wait no longer." + +In the course of the evening Lieutenant von Zernitz came up and said, +"Fink, you have made fun of us, and I am sorry to be under the necessity +of demanding satisfaction." + +"Be rational, and do nothing of the kind," replied Fink. "We have shot +together so often, it would be a pity now to take each other for a +mark." + +Fink being by far the best shot in the room, Herr von Zernitz allowed +himself to be convinced. + +Anton had vanished from the fashionable circle like a falling star, and +he never reappeared therein. True, it did occur to Frau von Baldereck, +rather late in the day, that it would be proper occasionally to invite +the young man, to prove that he had not been tolerated merely as--what +he was not, and some other families thought the same; but as these +invitations came, as before said, rather late, and as Anton declined +them, his fate was that of many a greater man--society forgot him. For a +short time the two chief hatchers of the grand report, Messrs. von +Tönnchen and von Zernitz, spoke to him when they met him in the street; +for a whole year they bowed, then they too knew him no more. + +The following day Anton told the merchant all that had passed, begged +him to forgive his late remissness, and promised greater attention in +future. + +"I have no fault to find," replied the merchant, kindly. "And now let me +see the amount of your debts, that we may get your affairs in order." +Anton drew a slip of paper from his pocket, the cashier was called, the +sum paid, and put down to Anton's account, and that was settled. + +In the evening Fink said to Anton, "You went off with flying colors; the +oldest man there declared aloud that you had behaved admirably." + +"Who said that?" Fink told him it was the Baron Rothsattel, and did not +appear to remark his deep blush. "It would have been better," continued +he, "if you had not taken such a decided step. Why avoid the whole +circle, in which there are some who have a strong personal regard for +you?" + +"I have done what my own feelings prompted," said Anton; "perhaps one +older and more experienced might have managed better; but you can not +blame me for not taking _your_ advice in this matter." + +"It is singular," thought Fink, as he went down stairs, "what different +events teach different men to have and exert wills of their own. This +boy has become independent in one night, and whatever Fate may now have +in store for him, he is sure to acquit himself well." + +It spoke highly, both for Anton and his friend, that their intimacy was +by no means decreased by the circumstances just related. On the +contrary, it was deepened. Fink behaved with more consideration, and +Anton gained more freedom, both of opinion and action. The influence of +the younger of the friends weaned the elder from many an evil habit. +Anton being more than ever zealous in his office duties, and more +obliging to his colleagues, Fink insensibly accustomed himself to +greater application and punctuality. There was only one subject that he +never touched upon, though he well knew that it was always uppermost in +Anton's mind, and that was the lovely young girl who had shown so much +heart and spirit on the occasion of his last dancing-lesson. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +Never had the flowers bloomed so gorgeously, never had the birds sung so +gayly, as they did this summer on the baron's estate. The season spent +in town had greatly extended the family acquaintance, and the castle +was, in consequence, almost always full of guests. Dances, rides, acted +charades, amusements of every kind, filled up the laughing hours. + +What happy days these were to Lenore! True, she still remained something +of an original, and her mother would at times shake her head at some +daring freak or over-emphatic speech. It came naturally to her to play +the gentleman's part whenever there was a lack of gentlemen. She was the +leader in every expedition, delighting to carry off all her young female +friends to some distant spot whence there was a fine view, to force them +into some little village inn, where they had only milk and black bread +for supper, and then to carry them all home dead-tired in a wagon, which +she herself would drive standing. She had a way of treating young men +with a sort of motherly kindness, as though they were still little +bread-and-butter-eating urchins; and on the occasion of a certain +dramatic representation, she horrified her mother by appearing in a male +character, with a riding-whip and a little beard, which she twisted +about in the most fascinating way. But she looked so wondrously lovely, +even thus attired, that her mother could not chide in earnest. + +If, however, there was any one not entirely satisfied with this way of +life, it was the baroness. A certain preoccupation and restlessness had +stolen over her husband--the cloudless serenity of former years was +gone. It was but a slight change, visible only to the wife's eyes; and +even she owned to herself that she was hardly justified in grieving over +it. + +Just at this time, too, a great joy awaited her. Eugene had passed his +examination, and promised them a visit to show them his epaulettes. His +mother had his room newly fitted up, and his father placed some +first-rate guns and a new hunting-dress in it as a present for him. On +the day of his arrival he rode out to meet him, and it was a pleasant +sight to see the two noble-looking men embrace, and then ride home +together. + +"We will surprise the ladies," said the baron, and soon the baroness +clasped her son in her arms. This was the climax of happiness at the +castle. Both parents' eyes glistened whenever they rested on their son. +True, some of his expressions and gestures savored of the riding-school, +but the baroness only smiled at them all. From time immemorial, indeed, +the stable has been for the young cavalier the ante-chamber of the +saloon. Eugene soon became supreme among the band of young ladies; he +paid visits all around, invited friends in return; in short, one gayety +succeeded another. + +To all this there was only one drawback of which the baron was +conscious. He could no longer live within his income. What had been +possible for twenty years now became manifestly an utter impossibility. +The winter residence in town, the epaulettes of his son, Lenore's gauzes +and laces--even the additional interest of his promissory notes, all +tended to embarrass him. The returns from his property were eagerly +expected, and already in part forestalled; nor were they increased. Nay, +many a projected improvement of former years remained unaccomplished. He +had once meant to plant a sandy waste at the extremity of his estate, +but even that small outlay was inconvenient, and the yellow sand still +glistened in the sun. Again he was obliged to open the inlaid casket, +and take out some of the fair parchments, and again his brow grew +clouded and his mind troubled; but it was no longer the same agony of +anxiety as before: he had had a little practice, and looked at things +with a calmer eye. Something would turn up--there would be some way or +other of becoming freed from these embarrassments; at most, he need only +spend two more winters in town till Lenore's education should be quite +completed, and then he would devote himself energetically to the care of +his property. Meanwhile, he resolved to talk matters over a little with +Ehrenthal, for, on the whole, he was an honorable man, that is, as far +as a tradesman could be so; and, what was more, he knew the baron's +circumstances exactly, and it was easier to discuss them with him than +with a stranger. + +As usual, Ehrenthal appeared just when wanted. His diamond breast-pin +shone as usual, his obsequious compliments were as ludicrous as ever, +and his admiration of the property as boundless. The baron took him all +over the farm, and good-humoredly said, "You must give me some advice, +Ehrenthal." + +Only two or three years had passed since a similar walk over this farm, +and how the times had changed! Then, Ehrenthal had to insinuate his +advice to the proud baron, and now the baron himself asked him for it. + +In the lightest tone that he could assume, he went on to say, "I have +had greater expenses than usual this year. Even the promissory notes do +not yield enough, and I must therefore think of increasing my income. +What would you consider the best means of doing this?" + +The usurer's eyes brightened; but he answered, with all due deference, +"The baron must be a better judge of that than I can be." + +"None of your bargains, however, Ehrenthal. I shall not enter into +partnership with you again." + +Ehrenthal replied, shaking his head, "There are not, indeed, many such +bargains to be made, which I could conscientiously recommend. The baron +has five-and-forty thousand dollars' worth of promissory notes. Why do +you keep them when they pay so small an interest? If you were, instead, +to buy a good mortgage at five per cent, you would pay four per cent to +the Joint-stock Company, and one per cent. would be your own; in other +words, a yearly addition of four hundred and fifty dollars. But you +might make a better thing of them than that. There are many safe +mortgages which are offered to sale for ready money, at a great profit +to the purchaser. You might, perhaps, for forty thousand dollars, or +even less, get a mortgage that would bring you in five per cent. on +forty-five thousand dollars." + +"I have thought of that," replied the baron; "but the security for such +mortgages as these, which come into the hands of you brokers, is +exceedingly poor, and I can not rely on it." + +Ehrenthal waived off this reproach, and said, in a tone of virtuous +indignation against all dealers in insecure mortgages, "For my own part, +I am very shy of mortgages altogether, and such as are in the market are +not fit for the baron, of course. You must apply to a trustworthy man; +your own lawyer, for instance, may be able to procure you a good +mortgage." + +"Then you really know of none?" said the baron, secretly hoping that he +did. + +"I know of none," was the positive reply; "but if you wish, I can +inquire; there are always some to be had. Your lawyer can tell you what +he would consider good security; only you would have to pay down the sum +total in case you procured it from him, whereas, if you could get one +from a commercial man, you might make a profit of some thousands." + +Now this profit was a most important point to the baron, and his mind +was made up to realize it if possible. But he only said, "There is no +hurry; should you hear of any thing desirable, you can let me know." + +"I will do all I can," was the cautious reply; "but it will be well that +the baron should also make inquiries himself, for I am not accustomed to +deal in mortgages." + +If this assertion were not strictly true, it was, at all events, +politic, for the cool indifference of the tradesman increased the +baron's confidence in him tenfold. The following day he went to town, +and had a consultation with his lawyer, who strongly advised him to give +up the idea of making any such profit as he contemplated, because such a +mortgage would infallibly prove insecure. But this good advice only +confirmed the baron in his intention of taking his own way in the +matter. + +A few days later, a tall stout man, with a shining red face, called upon +the baron--a Mr. Pinkus, from the capital. He had heard, he said, that +the baron wished to invest, and he knew of a remarkably safe and +desirable mortgage, on a large property in the neighboring province, +belonging to the rich Count Zaminsky, who lived abroad. This property +had every possible advantage, including two thousand acres of +magnificent natural wood. The mortgage was at present in Count +Zaminsky's own hands. It was possible, Pinkus mysteriously hinted, to +purchase it for ninety per cent.; in other words, for thirty-six +thousand dollars. Certainly, it was a pity that the property lay in +another province, where agriculturists had many primitive peculiarities. +But it was only six miles from the frontier--the neighboring town was on +the high road--the estate was princely. In short, the drawbacks were so +small, and the advantages so great, that Pinkus never could have made up +his mind to let a stranger purchase it, had he not been such an example +of human perfection as the baron. + +The baron received the compliment in a dignified manner, and before his +departure Pinkus laid down a heavy roll of parchment, that the question +of the security might be carefully investigated. + +Early the next morning the baron took the deeds to his man of business, +and himself ascended the dirty staircase that led to the white door of +Ehrenthal, who was overjoyed to hear of his visit--dressed himself with +the utmost rapidity, and insisted upon the baron doing him the infinite +honor of breakfasting with him. The baron was not cruel enough to +refuse, and accordingly he was ushered into the state apartment, where +the contrast between splendor and shabbiness amused him not a little, as +did also that between the gorgeous attire of the beautiful Rosalie, and +the sneaking, crouching manner of her father. + +During breakfast the baron asked Ehrenthal whether he happened to know a +Mr. Pinkus. + +At this business-like inquiry Rosalie vanished, and her father sat bolt +upright. "Yes, I do know him," said he; "he is in a very small way, but +I believe him an upright man. He is in a very small way, and all his +business is with Poland." + +"Have you mentioned to him my wish to buy a mortgage?" + +"How should I have thought of mentioning it to him? If he has offered +you a mortgage, he must have heard of it from another dealer, of whom I +did make inquiries. But Pinkus is in a small way; how can he procure a +mortgage for you?" And Ehrenthal indicated by a gesture how small Pinkus +was, and by a look upward how immeasurably great his guest. + +The baron then told him all particulars, and asked about the property +and circumstances of the count. + +Ehrenthal knew nothing; but he bethought himself that there was then in +town a respectable tradesman from that very district, and promised to +have him sent to the baron, who soon after took his leave, Ehrenthal +accompanying him down stairs, and saying, "Be cautious about the +mortgage, baron; it is good money, and there are many bad mortgages. To +be sure, there are good mortgages too; and, of course, people will say a +good deal to recommend their own. As to Löbel Pinkus, he is in but a +small way of business; but, so far as I know, a trustworthy man. All you +tell me about the mortgage sounds well, I own; but I humbly entreat you, +baron, to be cautious--very cautious." + +The baron, not much enlightened by this worthy address, went to his town +house, and impatiently awaited for the arrival of the stranger, who soon +came. His name was Löwenberg, and his appearance was a sort of medley of +that of Ehrenthal and Pinkus, only he was thinner. He gave himself out +as a wine-merchant, and appeared intimately acquainted with the count +and his property. He said that the present possessor was young, and +lived abroad; that his father had been rather a bad manager; but that, +though the estate was burdened, it was not in the very least endangered. +The land was not in high cultivation, therefore was susceptible of +improvement, and he hoped the young count was the very man to see to it. +On the whole, his report was decidedly favorable; there was no +exaggeration about it--all was sensible and straightforward. The baron's +mind was very nearly made up, and he went off straightway to one of his +acquaintance, who knew the Zaminsky family. He did not hear much from +him certainly, but still it was rather favorable than otherwise. On the +other hand, Ehrenthal called to inform him that the wool of the sheep +of that district was seldom fine, and to beg that he would consult his +lawyer before he decided. + +Ehrenthal's little office was on the same floor as the rest of the +apartments, and opened out upon the hall. It was evening before he +returned to it, in a state of great excitement. Itzig, who had been +sitting before a blank book, wearily waiting for his master, wondered +what could be the matter, when Ehrenthal eagerly said to him, "Itzig, +now is the time to show whether you deserve your wages, and the +advantage of a Sabbath dinner in good society." + +"What am I to do?" replied Veitel, rising. + +"First, you are to tell Löbel Pinkus to come here, and then to get me a +bottle of wine and two glasses. Next go and bring me word to whom in +Rosmin, Councilor Horn, who lives near the market-place, has written +to-day, or, if not to-day, to whom he writes to-morrow. In finding this +out you may spend five dollars, and if you bring me back word this +evening you shall have a ducat for yourself." + +Veitel felt a glow of delight, but replied calmly, "I know none of +Councilor Horn's clerks, and must have some time to become acquainted +with them." + +He ordered the bottle of wine, and ran off into the street like a dog in +scent of game. + +Meanwhile Ehrenthal, his hat still on, his hands behind his back, walked +up and down, nodding his head, and looking in the twilight like an ugly +ghost who once has had his head cut off and can not now keep it steadily +on. + +As Veitel went on his way, his mind kept working much as follows: "What +can be in the wind? It must be an important affair, and I am to know +nothing about it! I am to send Pinkus. Pinkus was with Ehrenthal a few +days ago, and the next morning he went to Baron Rothsattel's place in +the country; so it must have something to do with the baron. And now, as +to these letters. If I could catch the clerk who takes them to the post, +and contrive to read the directions, I should save money. But how manage +this? Well, I must find out some way or other." And, accordingly, Veitel +posted himself at the door, and soon saw a young man rush out with a +packet of letters in his hand. He followed him, and, turning sharply +round a corner, contrived to meet him. Touching his hat, "You are from +Councilor Horn's office?" + +"Yes," said the clerk, in a hurry to get on. + +"I am from the country, and have been waiting for three days for an +important letter from the councilor; perhaps you may have one for me." + +"What is your name?" said the clerk, looking at him mistrustfully. + +"Bernhard Madgeburg, of Ostrau," said Veitel; "but the letter may be +addressed to my uncle." + +"There is no letter for you," replied the clerk, hurriedly glancing at +the directions. + +Do what he would, Veitel's eyes could not follow this rapid shuffling, +so he seized the packet, and while the enraged official, catching hold +of him, exclaimed, "What are you about, man! how dare you?" he devoured +the directions, gave back the letters, and touching his hat, coolly +said, "Nothing for me; do not lose the post; I am going to the +councilor," turned on his heel and made his escape. + +Spite of this bold stroke, he could only remember two or three of the +addresses. "Perhaps I have made my money," thought he; "and if not, +there's no time lost." So he went back, and, creeping to the office +door, stood and listened. The worthy Pinkus was speaking, but very low, +and Veitel could make little of it. At last, however, the voices grew +louder. + +"How can you ask such a large sum!" cried Ehrenthal, angrily; "I have +been mistaken in thinking you a trustworthy man." + +"I am trustworthy," replied Pinkus; "but I must have four hundred +dollars, or this affair will fall through." + +"How dare you say it will fall through? What do you know about it?" + +"I know this much, that I can get four hundred dollars from the baron by +telling him what I know," screamed Pinkus. + +"You are a rascal! You are a traitor! Do you know who it is that you use +thus? I can ruin your credit, and disgrace you in the eyes of all men of +business." + +"And I can show the baron what sort of a man you are," cried Pinkus, +with equal vehemence. + +At this the door opened, and Veitel plunged into the shadow of the +staircase. + +"I will give you till to-morrow to consider," were Pinkus's parting +words. + +Veitel coolly stepped into the office, and his patron hardly noticed +him. He was pacing up and down the little room, like a wild beast in its +cage, and exclaiming, "Just heavens! that this Pinkus should turn out +such a traitor! He will blab the whole matter; he will ruin me!" + +"Why should he ruin you?" asked Veitel, throwing his hat on the desk. + +"What are you doing here? What have you overheard?" + +"Every thing," was the cool reply. "You have both screamed so as to be +heard all over the hall. Why do you keep the affair a secret from me? I +could have compelled Löbel to give you better terms." + +Ehrenthal stared in utter amazement at the audacious youth, and could +only bring out, "What does this mean?" + +"I know Pinkus well," continued Veitel, determined henceforth to take a +part in the game. "If you give him a hundred dollars, he will readily +sell you a good mortgage for the baron." + +"How should you know any thing about the mortgage?" + +"I know enough to help in the matter," replied Itzig; "and I will help +you, if you trust me." + +Ehrenthal continued to stare and stare, till at last it dawned upon him +that his assistant had more coolness and decision than himself. +Accordingly, he said, "You are a good creature, Veitel; go and bring in +Pinkus; he shall have the hundred dollars." + +"I have seen the directions of the councilor's letters: there was one to +Commissary Walter." + +"I thought so," cried Ehrenthal, with delight. "All right, Itzig; now +for Löbel." + +"I have to pay five dollars to the councilor's clerk," continued the +youth, "and I am to have a ducat for myself." + +"All right! you shall have the money; but first I must see Pinkus." + +Veitel hastened to his lodgings, and found Pinkus still much excited, +and revolving all Ehrenthal's injurious speeches. + +In a few decided words, he gave him to understand that he was quietly to +accept a hundred dollars, and to help Ehrenthal in this matter, else he, +Veitel, would give the police a hint of the mysterious chamber in the +next house, and of the smuggling guests; and further, that henceforth he +must have a comfortable room on reasonable terms, and be treated no +longer like a poor devil, but an equal. The result of which address was, +that, after a good deal of useless fuming and fretting, Pinkus +accompanied Veitel to Ehrenthal's house, where both worthies shook hands +and came to terms; soon after which Veitel opened the door for +Löwenberg, the wine-merchant, and was politely dismissed. This time he +did not care to listen, but returned to enjoy his supper in his new +apartment. + +Meanwhile Ehrenthal said, over a glass of wine, to Löwenberg, "I have +heard that Councilor Horn has written for information respecting this +mortgage to Commissary Walter, in your town. Is there any thing to be +made of him?" + +"Not by money," answered the stranger, thoughtfully, "but possibly by +other means. He does not know that I have been authorized by the count's +attorney to sell this mortgage. I shall go to him, as if on business of +my own, and take some opportunity of praising the property." + +"But if he knows it himself, of what use is that?" said Ehrenthal, +shaking his head. + +"There will still be some use; for, after all, those lawyers must trust +to us traders for details. How can they know, as we do, how wool and +grain sell on estates? At all events, we must do what we can." + +Ehrenthal sighed, "You can believe, Löwenberg, that it makes me +anxious." + +"Come, come," said the other, "it will be a profitable concern. The +buyer you have in view pays ninety per cent., and seventy is sent to the +count in Paris; of the twenty per cent. remaining, you pay the count's +attorney five, and me five for my trouble, and you keep ten. Four +thousand dollars is a pretty profit where no capital has been risked." + +"But it makes me anxious," said Ehrenthal. "Believe me, Löwenberg, it +excites me so much that I can not sleep at night; and when my wife asks +me, 'Are you asleep, Ehrenthal?' I have always to say, 'I can not sleep, +Sidonie; I must think of business.'" + +An hour later a carriage with four horses rolled away from the door. The +following morning Commissary Walter received a business call from +Löwenberg, and was convinced, by the cool, shrewd manner of the man, +that the circumstances of the Count Zaminsky could not be so desperate +as was commonly believed. + +Eight days after, the baron received a letter from his legal adviser, +containing a copy of one from Commissary Walter. These experienced +lawyers both agreed in thinking that the mortgage in question was not +positively undesirable; and when Ehrenthal next called, he found the +baron's mind made up to the purchase. The irresistible inducement was +the making a few thousand dollars. He was resolved to think the +mortgage good, and would perhaps have bought it even had his lawyer +positively dissuaded him. + +Ehrenthal, having a journey to take to that part of the country, most +unselfishly offered to complete the purchase for the baron, who was +pleased with this arrangement. + +In about a fortnight he received the deeds. All were well contented with +their share in the business, but Veitel Itzig with most reason, for he +had by it got a hold over his master, and was now friend and confidant +in the most secret transactions. The baron took out his richly-inlaid +casket, and, in place of the fair white parchments, put in a thick, +dirty bundle of deeds. Having done this, he joined the ladies, and gave +a humorous account of Ehrenthal's bows and compliments. + +"I hate that man," said Lenore. + +"On this occasion he has behaved with a certain disinterestedness," +replied her father. "But there is no denying that people of his class +have their absurdities of manner, and it is difficult to help laughing +at them." + +That evening Ehrenthal was so cheerful in his family circle that his +wife asked him whether he had settled the affair with the baron. + +"I have," he gayly replied. + +"He is a handsome man," remarked the daughter. + +"He is a good man," rejoined Ehrenthal, "but he has his weaknesses. He +is one of those who require low bows and civil speeches, and pay others +to think for them. There must be such people in the world, or what would +become of people of our profession?" + +About the same time Veitel was relating to his friend, the ex-advocate, +the whole particulars of the affair. Hippus had taken off his +spectacles, and sat on a corner of the four-cornered chest Mrs. Pinkus +was pleased to call a sofa, looking like a sagacious elderly ape who +despises the race of men, and bites his keeper when he can. He listened +with critical interest to his pupil's narrative, and shook his head or +smiled, according as he dissented or approved. + +When Veitel had done, Hippus cried, "Ehrenthal is a simpleton. He is up +to nothing great; he is always trying half-measures. If he goes on thus, +the baron will throw him overboard yet." + +"What more can he do?" asked Veitel. + +"He must give him anxieties--the anxieties of business, extensive +business, ceaseless activity, daily cares--that's what the baron could +not stand. That class is accustomed to little work and much enjoyment. +Every thing is made easy to them from their childhood. There are few of +them who may not be ruined by having some great care always boring at +their brains. If Ehrenthal wishes to have the baron in his power, he +must entangle him in business." + +So said the advocate, and Veitel understood him, and looked with a +mixture of respect and aversion at the ugly little imp gesticulating +before him. At last Hippus took out the brandy bottle, and cried, "An +extra glass to-day. What I have just told you, you young gallows-bird, +is worth more than a bottle of brandy." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +"I am eighteen years old to-day," said Karl to his father, who was +sitting at home one Sunday morning, never weary of contemplating the +handsome youth. + +"So you are," replied the father; "there are eighteen tapers round the +cake." + +"Therefore, father," Karl went on, "it is time that I should turn to, +something, and make some money. I will be a porter." + +"Make some money!" repeated old Sturm, looking at his son in amazement. +"Do I not make as much, and more than we want? Why, you are going to +turn a miser!" + +"I can't always hang to your apron," said Karl; "and if you were to earn +a thousand dollars, would that make an active, useful man of me? Or, if +I were to lose you, what would become of me?" + +"You will lose me, boy," said the giant, nodding, "in a few years, +perhaps, and then you may become what you like, so it be not a porter." + +"But why should I not be what you are? Do not be unreasonable." + +"You know nothing about the matter. Do not be covetous; I can not bear +covetous people." + +"But, father, if I am not to be a porter, I must learn _something_," +cried Karl. + +"Learn!" exclaimed his father; "how much learning have you not had +stuffed into your little head already! Two years at the infant school, +four at the city school, two at the industrial. Why, you have had eight +years' schooling, and you know the different goods as well as a clerk. +Why, you are an insatiable youth." + +"Yes; but I must have a calling," replied Karl. "I must be a shoemaker, +tailor, shopkeeper, or mechanic." + +"Don't tease yourself about that," said his father; "I have provided for +all that in your education. You are practical and honorable too." + +"Yes; but can I make a pair of boots? can I cut out a coat?" + +"You can," replied old Sturm; "try, and you'll succeed." + +"Very well; to-morrow I'll buy you some leather, and make you a pair of +boots: you shall feel how they'll pinch. But, once for all, I can't go +on as I am, and I'll set some one at you who will tell you the same." + +"Don't be covetous, Karl," said his father, "or spoil this day for me. +Give me the can of beer, and be a good boy." + +Karl placed the great can before his father, and soon took up his cap +and went out. Old Sturm sat still a while, but his comfort was +destroyed, and the house seemed dull without his son's cheerful face. At +length he went into the next room, and drew out a heavy iron chest from +under the bed. He opened it with a little key that he took out of his +waistcoat pocket, lifted one bag after another, began a long mental +calculation, then pushed the chest under the bed again, and returned to +his can of beer with a calmer aspect. + +Meanwhile Karl had hurried off to the town, and soon made his appearance +in Anton's apartment. After the kindly greeting on both sides, he began: + +"I am come, sir, to ask your advice as to what is to become of me? I can +make nothing of my father. He won't hear of my being a porter; and if I +speak of another calling, he comforts me with saying that he shall not +live long. A pretty comfort that! Would you be so good as to speak to +him about me? He has a high opinion of you, and knows that you are +always kind to me." + +"That I will, gladly," replied Anton; "but what do you think of +becoming?" + +"It's all one to me," said Karl, "so that it's something regular. Here I +turn my hands to all sorts of things, but that's different to regular +work." + +The next Sunday Anton went to old Sturm's. The home of the head porter +was a small house near the river, distinguished from those of his +neighbors by its red-washed walls. Anton opened the low door, and +wondered how the giant could possibly live in so small a space. It must +have required constant patience and forbearance; for, had he ever drawn +himself up to his full height, he would infallibly have carried off the +roof. + +"I am delighted to see you in my house, sir," said Sturm, taking Anton's +hand in his immense grasp as gently as he could. + +"It is rather small for you, Mr. Sturm," answered Anton, laughing. "I +never thought you so large as I do now." + +"My father was still taller," was the complacent reply; "taller and +broader. He was the chief of the porters, and the strongest man in the +place; and yet a small barrel, not half so high as you are, was the +death of him. Be seated, sir," said he, lifting an oaken chair, so heavy +that Anton could hardly move it. "My Karl has told me that he has been +to see you, and that you were most kind. He is a good boy, but he is a +falling off as to size. His mother was a little woman," added Sturm, +mournfully, draining a quart of beer to the last drop. "It is draught +beer," he said, apologetically; "may I offer you a glass? It is a custom +among us to drink no other, but certainly we drink this the whole day +through, for our work is heating." + +"Your son wishes to become one of your number, I hear," said Anton. + +"A porter!" rejoined the giant. "No, that he never shall." Then laying +his hand confidentially on Anton's knee, "It would never do; my dear +departed wife besought me against it on her death-bed. And why? Our +calling is respectable, as you, sir, best know. There are not many who +have the requisite strength, and still fewer who have the requisite--" + +"Integrity," said Anton. + +"You are right," nodded Sturm. "Always to have wares of every kind in +immense quantities under our eyes, and never to touch one of them--this +is not in every body's line. And our earnings are very fair too. My dear +departed saved a good deal of money, gold as well as silver. But that is +not my way. For why? If a man be practical, he need not plague himself +about money, and Karl will be a practical man. But he must not be a +porter. His mother would not hear of it, and she was right." + +"Your work is very laborious," suggested Anton. + +"Laborious!" laughed Sturm; "it may be laborious for the weak, but it is +not that. It is this," and he filled his glass; "it is the draught +beer." + +Anton smiled. "I know that you and your colleagues drink a good deal of +this thin stuff." + +"A good deal," said Sturm, with self-complacency; "it is a custom of +ours--it always has been so--porters must be strong men, true men, and +beer-drinkers. Water would weaken us, so would brandy; there is nothing +for it but draught beer and olive oil. Look here, sir," said he, mixing +a small glassful of fine oil and beer, stirring plenty of sugar into it, +and drinking off the nauseous compound; "this is a secret of ours, and +makes an arm like this;" and he laid his on the table, and vainly +endeavored to span it. "But there is a drawback. Have you ever seen an +old porter? No; for there are none. Fifty is the greatest age they have +ever reached. My father was fifty when he died, and the one we lately +buried--Mr. Schröter was at the funeral--was forty-nine. I have still +two years before me, however." + +Anton looked at him anxiously. "But, Sturm, since you know this, why not +be more moderate?" + +"Moderate!" asked Sturm; "what is moderate? It never gets into our +heads. Twenty quarts a day is not much if you know nothing of it. +However, Mr. Wohlfart, it is on this account that my dear departed did +not choose that Karl should be a porter. As for that, few men do live to +be much more than fifty, and they have all sorts of ailments that we +know nothing about. But such were my wife's wishes, and so it must be." + +"And have you thought of any other calling? True, Karl is very useful in +our house, and we should all miss him much." + +"There it is," interrupted the porter; "you would miss him, and so +should I. I am alone here; when I see my little lad's red cheeks, and +hear his little hammer, I feel my heart glad within me. When he goes +away, and I sit here by myself, I know not how I shall bear it." And his +features worked with strong emotion. + +"But must he leave you at present?" inquired Anton; "perhaps he may +remain on for another year." + +"Not he; I know him; if he once thinks of a thing at all, he thinks of +nothing else. And, besides, I have been considering the matter these +last days, and I see I have been wrong. The boy did not come into the +world merely to amuse me; he must turn to something or other; so I try +to think of what my dear departed would have liked. She had a brother, +who is my brother-in-law, you know, and who lives in the country; I +should like my boy to go to him. It is far away, but then there's +kinship." + +"A good thought, Sturm; but, since you are resolved, keep your son no +longer in uncertainty." + +"He shall know at once; he is only in the garden." And he went and +called him in stentorian tones. + +Karl hastened in, greeted Anton, and looked expectantly first at him and +then at his father, who had seated himself, and now inquired, in his +usual voice, "Little mannikin, will you be a farmer?" + +"A farmer! that never occurred to me. Why, I should have to leave you, +father." + +"He thinks of that," said the father, nodding his head to Anton. + +"Do you then wish that I should leave you?" asked Karl, in amazement. + +"I must, my little man," said Sturm, gravely; "I must wish it, because +it is necessary for your dear departed mother's sake." + +"I am to go to my uncle!" cried Karl. + +"Exactly so," said his father; "it's all settled, provided your uncle +will have you. You shall be a farmer, you shall learn something regular, +you shall leave your father." + +"Father," said Karl, much downcast, "I do not like leaving you. Can't +you come with me to the country?" + +"_I_ go to the country! Ho, ho, ho!" Sturm laughed till the house shook +again. "My mannikin would put me into his pocket, and take me to the +country." Then wiping his eyes: "Come here, my Karl," said he, holding +the youth's head between his two great hands; "you are my own good lad; +but there must be partings on this earth, and if it were not now, it +would be in a couple of years." + +And thus Karl's departure from the firm was arranged. + +As the time drew near, he tried in vain to conceal his emotion by a +great deal of cheerful whistling. He stroked Pluto tenderly, executed +all his various odd jobs with intense zeal, and kept as close as he +could to his father, who often left his barrels to place his hand in +silence on his son's head. + +"Nothing heavy in farming!" said the paternal Sturm to Anton, looking +anxiously into his face. + +"Heavy!" replied Anton; "it will be no light matter to learn all +connected with it." + +"Learn!" cried the other; "the more he has to learn the better, so it be +not very heavy." + +"No," said Pix, who understood his meaning, "nothing heavy. The heaviest +are sacks of corn--hundred and eighty; beans--two hundred pounds. And +those he need not lift; the servants do it." + +"If that's the case with farming," cried Sturm, contemptuously rearing +himself to his full height, "it's all one to me whether he lifts them or +not. Even my mannikin can carry two hundred pounds." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +Anton was now the most assiduous of all the clerks in the office. Fink +was seldom able to persuade him to accompany him out riding or to the +shooting gallery, but, on the other hand, he made diligent use of his +friend's book-shelves, and having, after arduous study, gained some +insight into the mysteries of the English language, he was anxious to +exercise his conversational powers upon Fink. But the latter proving a +most irregular and careless master, Anton thought it best to put himself +in the hands of a well-educated Englishman. + +One day, looking up from his desk as the door opened, he saw, to his +amazement, Veitel Itzig, his old Ostrau schoolfellow. Hitherto they had +but seldom met, and whenever they did so, Anton had taken pains to look +another way. + +"How are you getting on?" asked he, coldly enough. + +"Poorly," was the reply; "there is nothing to be made in our business. I +was to give you this letter, and to inquire when Mr. Bernhard Ehrenthal +may call upon you." + +"Upon me!" said Anton, taking the letter and a card with it. + +The letter was from his English master, asking whether he would join +young Ehrenthal in a systematic course of some of the older English +writers. + +"Where does Mr. Bernhard Ehrenthal live?" asked Anton. + +"At his father's," said Itzig, making a face. "He sits in his own room +all the day long." + +"I will call upon him," rejoined Anton; and Itzig took his departure. + +Anton was not much inclined to agree to the proposal. The name of +Ehrenthal did not stand high, and Itzig's appearance had not conferred +any pleasant associations upon it. But the ironical way in which he had +mentioned his master's son, and something Anton had heard of him +besides, determined him to take the matter at least into consideration. + +Accordingly, one of the next days he mounted the dingy staircase, and +was at once ushered into Bernhard's room, which was long and narrow, and +filled with books great and small. + +A young man came toward him with the uncertainty of manner that +short-sight gives. He had fine features, a fragile frame, brown curling +hair, and deep, expressive gray eyes. Anton mentioned the reason of his +visit, and inquired the terms for the course. To his astonishment, young +Ehrenthal did not know them, but said that, if Anton insisted upon +sharing the expense, he would inquire. Our hero next asked whether +Bernhard was in business with his father. + +"Oh no," was the reply; "I have been at the University, and as it is not +easy for a young man of my creed to get a government appointment, and I +can live with my family, I occupy myself with my books." And, casting a +loving glance at his book-shelves, he rose as if to introduce his guest +to them. + +Anton looked at their titles, and said, "They are too learned for me." + +Bernhard smiled. "Through the Hebrew I have gone on to the other Asiatic +languages. There is much beauty in them, and in their Old-World legends. +I am now engaged upon a translation from the Persian, and some day or +other, when you have a few idle minutes, I should like to inflict a +short specimen upon you." + +Anton had the politeness to beg to hear it at once. It was one of those +countless poems in which a votary of the grape compares his beloved to +all fair things in heaven and earth. Its complicated structure impressed +Anton a good deal, but he was somewhat amazed at Bernhard exclaiming, +"Beautiful! is it not? I mean the thought, for I am unable to give the +beauty of language;" and he looked inspired, like a man who drinks +Schiraz wine, and kisses his Zuleika all day long. + +"But must one drink in order to love?" said Anton; "with us the one is +very possible without the other." + +"With us, life is very commonplace." + +"I do not think so," Anton replied, with fervor. "We have the sunshine +and the roses, the joy in existence, the great passions and strange +destinies of which poets sing." + +"Our present time is too cold and uniform," rejoined Bernhard. + +"So I read in books, but I do not believe it. I think that whoever is +discontented with our life would be so still more with life in Teheran +or Calcutta, if he remained there long enough. It is only novelty that +charms the traveler." + +"But how poor in vivid sensations our civilized existence is," rejoined +Bernhard. "I am sure you must often feel business very prosaic." + +"That I deny," was the eager reply; "I know nothing so interesting as +business. We live amid a many-colored web of countless threads, +stretching across land and sea, and connecting man with man. When I +place a sack of coffee in the scales, I am weaving an invisible link +between the colonist's daughter in Brazil, who has plucked the beans, +and the young mechanic who drinks it for his breakfast; and if I take up +a stick of cinnamon, I seem to see, on the one side, the Malay who has +rolled it up, and, on the other, the old woman of our suburb who grates +it over her pudding." + +"You have a lively imagination, and are happy in the utility of your +calling. But if we seek for poetry, we must, like Byron, quit civilized +countries to find it on the sea or in the desert." + +"Not so," replied Anton, pertinaciously; "the merchant has just as +poetical experiences as any pirate or Arab. There was a bankruptcy +lately. Could you have witnessed the gloomy lull before the storm broke, +the fearful despair of the husband, the high spirit of his wife, who +insisted upon throwing in her own fortune to the last dollar to save his +honor, you would not say that our calling is poor in passion or +emotion." + +Bernhard listened with downcast eyes, and Anton remarked that he seemed +embarrassed and distressed. + +Changing the conversation, he proposed that they should both walk +together to the English master, and make the final arrangements. They +left the house like two old acquaintances; Anton surprised that +Ehrenthal's son should be so little of a trader, Bernhard delighted to +find a man with whom he could discuss his favorite subjects. + +That evening he joined the family circle in a cheerful mood, and placing +himself behind his sister, who was practicing a difficult piece on a +costly piano, he kissed her ear. "Do not disturb me, Bernhard," said +she; "I must get this piece perfect for the large party on Sunday, when +I shall be asked to play." + +"Of course you will be asked," said her mother. "There is no company +that does not wish to hear Rosalie play. If you could only be persuaded +to come with us, Bernhard--you are so clever and so learned. It was but +the other day that Professor Starke, of the University, spoke of you to +me in the highest terms. It is so pleasant for a mother to feel proud of +her children! Why will you not join us? The society will be as good as +any in the town." + +"You know, mother, that I am not fond of strangers." + +"And I desire that my son Bernhard should have his own way," cried +Ehrenthal from a neighboring room, having chanced, during a pause in +Rosalie's practice, to hear the last sentence, and now joining his +family: "our Bernhard is not like other people, and his way is sure to +be a good one. You look pale, my son," stroking his brown curls; "you +study too much. Think of your health. The doctor recommended exercise. +Will you have a horse, my son Bernhard? I will get the most expensive +horse in the town for you, if you like." + +"Thank you, dear father; but it would give me no pleasure," and he +gratefully pressed the hand of his father, who looked sorrowfully at his +pale face. + +"Do you always give Bernhard what he likes to eat? Get him some peaches, +Sidonie; there are hot-house peaches to be had. You shall have any thing +you like; you are my good son Bernhard, and my delight is in you." + +"He will not have any thing of the kind," interposed his mother. "All +his joy is in his books. Many a day he never asks for Rosalie and me. He +reads too much, and that's why he looks like a man of sixty. Why will he +not go with us on Sunday?" + +"I will, if you like," said Bernhard, mournfully; adding soon after, "Do +you know a young man of the name of Wohlfart, in Schröter's house?" + +"No," said his father, decidedly. + +"Perhaps you do, Rosalie. He is handsome and refined-looking; I think +you must have met him." + +"Hardly, if he is in an office." + +"Our Rosalie dances chiefly with officers and artists," explained her +mother. + +"He is a clever and a delightful man," continued Bernhard; "I am going +to study English with him, and rejoice to have made his acquaintance." + +"He shall be invited," decreed Ehrenthal; "if he pleases our Bernhard, +he shall be welcome to our house. Let us have a good dinner on Sunday, +Sidonie, at two o'clock. He shall come to all our parties; Bernhard's +friend shall be the friend of us all." + +The mother gave her consent, and Rosalie began to ponder what dress she +should wear, so as to make the greatest impression. + +But whence came it to pass that Bernhard did not communicate to his +family the subject of the conversation that had so much interested him? +that he soon relapsed into silence and returned to his study? that, when +there, he bowed his head over his old manuscripts, while large drops +rolled down on them, erasing the much-prized characters unobserved? +Whence came it that the young man, of whom his mother was so proud, whom +his father so loved and honored, sat alone, shedding the bitterest tears +that an honest man can, while in another part of the house Rosalie's +white fingers were flying over the keys, practicing the difficult piece +that was to astonish the next soiree? From that day dated a friendship +between Anton and Bernhard which was a source of pleasure and profit to +both. Anton described the studious youth to the free and easy Fink, and +expressed his wish to bring about a meeting between the two by a +tea-drinking in his rooms. + +"If it amuses you, Tony," said Fink, shrugging his shoulders, "I will +come; but I warn you that of all living characters I most dislike a +book-worm. No one theorizes more presumptuously upon every possible +subject, or makes a greater fool of himself when it comes to practice. +And, besides, a son of the worthy Ehrenthal! Don't be angry if I soon +run away." + +On the evening appointed, Bernhard sat on Anton's sofa in anxious +expectation of the arrival of this well-known character, many wild +anecdotes of whom had found their way even into his study. + +At first Anton feared that the two would never suit. Two greater +contrasts could hardly be imagined; the thin, transparent hand of +Bernhard, and the healthy, muscular development of Fink; the bent form +of the one, the elastic strength of the other; here, a deeply-lined +face, with dreamy eyes; there, a proud set of features, lighted up by a +glance like an eagle's--how could these possibly harmonize? But all +turned out better than he had expected. Bernhard listened with much +interest to what Fink had to say of foreign countries, and Anton did all +he could to turn the conversation to subjects likely to bring out +Bernhard. + +The result was, that a few days later Bernhard found himself sitting in +one of Fink's easy-chairs, and even ventured to invite him, with Anton, +to spend an evening with him. Fink consented. + +And now arose great excitement in the Ehrenthal circle. + +Bernhard dusted his books and set them in order, and for the first time +in his life troubled himself about household matters. "We must have tea, +supper, wine, and cigars," said he. + +"You need not be uneasy," replied his mother; "Herr von Fink shall find +every thing well arranged." + +"I will buy you some of the very finest cigars, and see to the wine," +added his father. + +As the hour drew near, Bernhard grew increasingly anxious, nay, +irritable. "Where is the tea-kettle? The tea-kettle is not yet in my +room! Nothing is ready!" cried he to his mother. + +"I will make the tea and send it in--that is the fashionable way," +replied his mother, rustling up and down in a new silk. + +"No," said Bernhard, decidedly, "I will make the tea myself. Anton makes +it, and so does Von Fink." + +"Bernhard will make the tea himself!" cried the astonished mother to +Rosalie. "Wonderful! he will make his own tea!" exclaimed Ehrenthal, who +was in his room drawing on his boots. "He is going to make the tea!" +cried the cook in the kitchen, clapping her hands in amazement. + +On their way, Anton said to Fink, "It is very kind of you, Fritz, to +come; Bernhard will be delighted." + +"One must make sacrifices," replied Fink. "I have taken the liberty to +eat my supper beforehand, for I have a horror of Jewish cookery. But the +handsomest girl in town is worth a little effort. I saw her lately at a +concert--a gorgeous figure, and such eyes! The old usurer, her father, +has never seen such diamonds pass through his hands." + +"We are invited to see Bernhard," replied Anton, somewhat reproachfully. + +"And we shall certainly see his sister too," said Fink. + +"I hope not," thought Anton. + +Bernhard's room was wonderfully adorned for their reception, and he +himself was a most pleasant host. The three were soon in full talk. Fink +was in one of his most benevolent moods, and Anton mentally prayed that +the beautiful sister might be kept out of sight. + +But, just as the clock struck nine, the door opened, and Madam Ehrenthal +majestically crossed the threshold. "Bathsheba entering in to Solomon," +whispered Fink to Anton, who angrily trod upon his foot in return. +Bernhard, in some embarrassment, introduced his mother, and she invited +them all three to the next room, where Ehrenthal and the fair Rosalie +awaited them. Fink soon fell into a lively discussion with her about +music, for which, in reality, he little cared; promised her an excellent +place at the ensuing races, and told her and her mother satirical +anecdotes of the best society, which, as they were excluded from it, +they particularly enjoyed. A princess of celebrated beauty came under +discussion. Fink, who had been introduced to her once upon a time, +declared that the young lady now before him might be taken for her, +except, indeed, that the princess was not quite so tall and +majestic-looking; and then he went into ecstasies over Mrs. Ehrenthal's +mosaic brooch. The paternal Ehrenthal, however, tried in vain to keep up +a conversation with him. Fink contrived not to appear aware of his +presence, without, however, being in any way rude. Every one felt it to +be in the nature of things; and Ehrenthal himself humbly acted the part +of nonentity assigned to him, and consoled himself by eating a whole +pheasant. + +The supper lasted till midnight, and then Rosalie moved to the piano, +after which Fink ran his fingers over the keys, and sang a wild Spanish +song. When at length the guests took their departure, the family +remained perfectly enraptured. Rosalie ran to the piano to try and +remember the air Fink had sung; her mother was full of his praises, and +her father, spite of his temporary annihilation, was enchanted with the +visit of the rich young heir, and kept repeating that he must be worth +more than a million. Even Bernhard's ingenuous spirit was captivated by +his manner and brilliant rattle. True, he had occasionally felt an +uncomfortable misgiving, as though Fink might be making fun of them all; +but he was too inexperienced to feel sure of it, and soothed himself by +thinking that it was only the way of all men of the world. + +Anton alone was dissatisfied with his friend, and he told him so as they +walked home. + +"Why, you sat there like a stock," replied Fink; "I entertained the good +people, and what more would you have? Change yourself into a mouse, +creep into the decked-out room, and hear how they are singing my +praises. What more can be wanted than that our behavior to people should +be what they themselves find pleasant?" + +"I think," said Anton, "that our aim should rather be to behave in a +manner worthy of ourselves. You went on like a frivolous nobleman who +meant to ask a loan from old Ehrenthal on the morrow." + +"I choose to be frivolous," cried Fink; "and perhaps I may want a loan +from the Ehrenthal house. And now have done with your preachments--it is +past one o'clock." + +A few days later, Anton remembered, at the close of the office, that he +had promised to send on a book to the young student. As Fink, who had +gone out an hour before, had carried off his paletot, which indeed often +happened, Anton wrapped himself in Fink's burnoose, which chanced to lie +in his room, and hurried off to Ehrenthal's house. As he reached the +door, he was not a little amazed to see it noiselessly open, and a +shawled and veiled figure come out. A soft arm wound itself round his, +and a low voice said, "Come quickly; I have waited for you long." Anton +recognized Rosalie's voice, and stood petrified. At length he said, "You +are mistaken." With a suppressed scream the young lady rushed up stairs, +and Anton, little less confused, entered his friend's room, where he had +the shock of being at once addressed by the short-sighted Bernhard as +Herr von Fink. A dreadful suspicion crossed his mind; and, pretending to +be in the utmost haste, he carried the luckless cloak home, over a heart +full of grief and anger. If it were, indeed, Fink that Ehrenthal's fair +daughter had been expecting! The longer Anton had to wait for his +friend, the more angry he grew. At last he heard his step in the +court-yard--ran down to meet him--told him the circumstance--and ended +by saying, "Look! I wore your cloak; it was dusk; and I have a horrible +suspicion that she mistook me for you, and that you have most +unjustifiably abused Bernhard's friendship." + +"Ah ha!" said Fink, shaking his head, "here we have a proof of how ready +these virtuous ones are to throw a stone at others. You are a child. +There are other white cloaks in the town; how can you prove that mine +was the one waited for? And then allow me to remark, that you showed +neither politeness nor presence of mind on the occasion. Why not have +led the lady down stairs, and when the mistake became apparent, have +said, 'It is true that I am not he you take me for, but I am equally +ready to die in your service,' and so forth?" + +"You don't deceive me," rejoined Anton; "when I think the matter over, I +can not, spite of your lies, shake off the belief that you were the one +expected." + +"You cunning little fellow," said Fink, good-humoredly, "confess, at +least, that when a lady is in the case, I needs must lie. For seest +thou, my son, to admit this were to compromise the fair daughter of an +honorable house." + +"Alas!" said Anton, "I fear that she already feels herself compromised." + +"Never mind," said Fink, coolly, "she will bear it." + +"But, Fritz," said Anton, wringing his hands, "have you, then, no sense +of the wrong you are doing to Bernhard? It is just because his pure +heart beats in the midst of a family circle that he only endures because +he is so trusting and inexperienced, that this injury pains me so +bitterly." + +"Therefore you will do wisely to spare your friend's sensitiveness, and +keep his sister's secret." + +"Not so," replied Anton, indignantly; "my duty to Bernhard leads me to a +different course. I must demand from you that you break off your +connection with Rosalie, whatever its nature, and strive only to see in +her what you always should have seen--the sister of my friend." + +"Really," returned Fink, in a mocking tone, "I have no objection to your +making this demand; but if I do not comply with it, how then?--always +supposing, which, by the way, I deny, that I was the fortunate expected +one." + +"If you do not," cried Anton, in high excitement, "I can never forgive +you. This is more than mere want of feeling--it is something worse." + +"And what, pray?" coldly asked Fink. + +"It is base," cried Anton. "It is bad enough to take advantage of the +young girl's coquetry, but worse to forget her brother as well as me, +through whom you made this unfortunate acquaintance." + +"Be so good as to hear me say," replied Fink, lighting the lamp of his +tea-kettle, "that I never gave you any right to speak to me thus. I +have no wish to quarrel with you, but I shall be much obliged to you +henceforth to drop this subject." + +"Then I must leave you, for I can speak of nothing else while I have the +conviction that you are acting unworthily." + +Anton moved to the door. "I give you your choice; either you break with +Rosalie, or, dreadful as it is to me to think of it, you break with me. +If you do not by to-morrow evening give me an assurance that this +intrigue is at an end, I go to Rosalie's mother." + +"Good-night, thou stupid Tony!" said Fink. + +The following day was a gray one for both. + +It was Fink's constant custom, on entering the office, to beckon to his +friend, whereupon Anton would leave his place, and exchange a few words +as to how Fink had spent the previous evening. But this morning Anton +doggedly remained where he was, and bent down over his letters when Fink +took his seat opposite him. Whenever they looked up, they had to make as +though empty space were before them, and not each other's faces. Fink +had found it easy to treat the paternal Ehrenthal as a nonentity, but it +was not so in this case; and Anton, who had had no practice in the art +of overlooking others, felt himself supremely uncomfortable. Then every +thing conspired to make it peculiarly difficult to each to play his +part. Schmeie Tinkeles, the unfortunate little Jew who spoke such +execrable German, and whom Fink always found especial pleasure in +badgering and beating down, made his appearance in the office, and, as +usual, a laughable scene ensued. All the clerks watched Fink, and chimed +in with him, but Anton had to behave as though Tinkeles were a hundred +miles away. Then Mr. Schröter gave him a commission, which obliged him +to ask Fink a question, and he had to cough hard to get out the words at +all. He received a very short answer, which increased his anger. +Finally, when the dinner hour struck, Fink, who used regularly to wait +till Anton came for him, walked off with Jordan, who wondered what could +keep Wohlfart, to which Fink could only reply that he neither knew nor +cared. + +During the afternoon Anton could not avoid a few furtive glances at the +haughty face opposite him. He thought how dreadful it would be to become +estranged from one he so dearly loved; but his resolve was firm as ever. +And so it happened that Fink, chancing to look up, met his friend's eyes +mournfully fixed upon his face, and this touched him more than the +anger of the previous night. He saw that Anton's mind was made up, and +the side of the scale in which sat the fair Rosalie kicked the beam. +After all, if Anton did, in his virtuous simplicity, tell her mother, +the adventure was spoiled, and, still worse, their friendship forever at +an end. These reflections furrowed his fine brow. + +A little before seven o'clock a shadow fell on Anton's paper, and, +looking up, he saw Fink silently holding out a small note to him, +directed to Rosalie. He sprang up at once. + +"I have written to tell her," said Fink, with icy coldness, "that your +friendship left me no other choice than that of compromising her or +giving her up, and that, therefore, I chose the latter. Here is the +letter; I have no objection to your reading it; it is her dismissal." + +Anton took the letter out of the culprit's hand, sealed it in all haste +with a little office seal, and gave it to one of the porters to post at +once. + +And so this danger was averted, but from that day there was an +estrangement between the friends. Fink grumbled, and Anton could not +forget what he called treachery to Bernhard; and so it was, that for +some weeks they no longer spent their evenings together. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +The firm of T. O. Schröter had one day in the year invariably dedicated +to enjoyment. It was the anniversary of their principal's first entrance +into partnership with his father. Upon this festive occasion there was a +dinner given to the whole counting-house assembled, after which they all +drove to a neighboring village, where the merchant had a country house, +and whither a number of public gardens and summer concerts always +attracted the inhabitants of the town. There they drank coffee, enjoyed +nature, and returned home before dark. + +This year was the five-and-twentieth of these jubilees. Early in the +morning came deputations of servants and porters to congratulate, and +all the clerks appeared at the early dinner in full state; M. Liebold in +a new coat, which, for many years past, he had been in the habit of +first wearing upon this auspicious day. + +After dinner, the carriages drove up and took them to the great +"Restauration" of the village. There they got out, the gentlemen all +surrounding their young lady, and loud music sounding a welcome as they +entered the beechen avenues of the garden, which was bright to-day with +gay toilettes from the town. + +Sabine floated on with a perfect nebula of gentlemen around her. +Possibly this court would have given more pleasure to most other women, +but, at all events, the effect was very striking. The gentle Liebold's +face wore a continual smile of delight, which he was obliged to +suppress, as well as he could, from the fear of being supposed to laugh +at the passers-by: Sabine's shawl hung on his arm. Specht had, by a bold +_coup de main_, possessed himself of her parasol, and walked on, hoping +that some falling blossom, some passing butterfly, might afford him a +pretext for beginning a conversation with her. But this was no easy +matter, for Fink was on the other side. He was in one of his most +malevolent moods, and Sabine could not help laughing against her will at +his unmerciful comments upon many of the company. And so they walked on +among the tripping, rustling crowd of pleasure-seekers. There was a +constant bowing, smiling, and greeting; the merchant had each moment to +take off his hat, and, whenever he did so, the fourteen clerks took off +theirs too, and created quite a draught; and very imposing it was. After +having swum thus with the stream for some time, Sabine expressed a wish +to rest. Instantly benches were set, the table got ready, and an +ubiquitous waiter brought a giant coffee-pot and the number of cups +required. Sabine's office was no sinecure. She chose Anton for her +adjutant, and it was a pretty sight to see how kindly she gave each one +his cup, how watchful she was lest the sugar-bowl and the cream-jug +should be interrupted in their rounds, and at the same time how she +contrived to bow to her passing acquaintance, and to carry on a +conversation with any friends of her brother's who came up to her. She +was very lovely thus. Anton and Fink both felt how well her serene +activity became her; and Fink said, "If this be for you a day of +recreation, I do not envy your other days. No princess has such a +reception--so many to bow, smile, and speak to as you; but you get on +capitally, and have no doubt studied it. Now comes the mayor himself to +pay his compliments. I am really sorry for you; you have to lend me your +ear; Liebold's cup is in your hand, and your eyes must be reverentially +fixed upon the great civic official. I am curious to know whether you +understand my words." + +"Take your spoon out of your cup, and I will fill it immediately," said +Sabine, laughing, as she rose to greet her old acquaintance. Meanwhile, +Anton amused himself by listening to the remarks made on his party by +the passers-by. "That is Herr von Fink," whispered a young lady to her +companion. "A pretty face; a capital figure," drawled a lieutenant. +"What is one among so many?" muttered another idler. "Hush! those are +the Schröters," said a clerk to his brother. Then two tall handsome +forms came slowly by--Dame Ehrenthal and Rosalie. Rosalie passed next to +the table: a deep flush suffused her face. She threw a troubled glance +at Fink, who, in spite of the lively conversation he was carrying on +with Sabine, had eyes for every thing that was going on. Anton rose to +bow; and the imperturbable Fink coolly took off his hat, and looked at +the two ladies with as much unconcern as though he had never admired the +bracelets on Rosalie's white arm. Anton's bow, Rosalie's striking +beauty, and, perhaps, some peculiarity in their dress, had attracted +Sabine's attention. + +Ehrenthal's daughter did not heed the bow, but fixed her dark eyes on +Sabine, whom she took for her fortunate rival, with such a flashing +glance of anger and hatred that Sabine shrank as though to avoid the +spring of a beast of prey. + +Fink's lip curled, and he slightly shrugged his shoulders. When the +ladies had passed by, Sabine asked who they were. + +"Some acquaintances of Anton's," said he, satirically. + +Anton named them as the mother and sister of the young student of whom +he had lately told her. + +Sabine was silent, and leaned back on the bench; her gay spirits were +over. The conversation flagged; and when her brother returned from a +visit to the next table, she rose and invited the party to come and see +her garden. Again the nebula followed her, but Fink was no longer at her +side. That burning glance had withered the green tendrils that had been +drawing them together. Sabine turned to Anton, and tried to be cheerful, +but he saw the effort it cost her. + +This large garden, with its hot-houses and conservatories, was one of +Sabine's favorite resorts, both in summer and winter. While the merchant +carried off Fink to look at a plot of neighboring ground which he +thought of buying, the clerks besieged Sabine with questions as to the +names and peculiarities of the different plants. She showed them a +great palm-tree that her brother had given her, tropical ferns, gorgeous +cactuses, and told them that she often drank coffee under these large +leaves on sunny winter days. Just then the gardener came up to her with +crumbs of bread and bird-seed on a plate. "Even when I have not so large +a party with me as to-day, I am not quite alone," said she. + +"Pray let us see your birds," cried Anton. + +"You must go out of sight, then, and keep quite still. The little +creatures know _me_, but so many gentlemen would terrify them." + +Sabine then went out a few steps, scattered the crumbs on the gravel, +and clapped her hands. A loud chirping instantly succeeded, and numbers +of birds shot down, hopping boldly about, and picking up the crumbs +close to her feet. They were not a very distinguished company--finches, +linnets, and a whole nation of sparrows. Sabine gently stepped back to +the door, and said, "Can you see any difference among these sparrows? +They have, I assure you, individualities of dress and character. Several +of them are personal acquaintances of mine." She pointed to a large +sparrow with a black head and a bright brown back. "Do you see that +stout gentleman?" + +"He is the largest of them all," said Anton, with delight. + +"He is my oldest acquaintance, and it is my dinners that have made him +so fat. He moves about among the others like a rich banker. Only hear +him! His very chirp has in it something aristocratic and supercilious. +He looks upon this crumb-scattering as a duty society owes him, and +determines generously to leave for the others all he can not eat up +himself. But I think I see a tuft on his little breast." + +"A loose feather?" whispered Specht. + +"Yes," continued Sabine; "I much fear his wife has pulled it out; for, +important as he seems, he is under petticoat government. That gray +little lady yonder, the lightest of them all, is his wife. Now look, +they are going to quarrel." And a great contest began for an especially +large crumb, in which all the birds manifested a strong dislike to the +banker, and the wife came off victorious. + +"And now, do look!" cried Sabine, joyfully; "here comes my little +one--my pet;" and down plumped a young sparrow, with helpless outspread +wings, and fluttered up to the maternal bird, who hacked the large crumb +into little bits, and put them into its wide-opened beak, while the +father hopped up and down, at a little distance, looking with a certain +misgiving at his energetic better half. + +"What a pretty sight!" cried Anton. + +"Is it not?" said Sabine. "Even these little creatures have characters +and a family life." + +But the scene was suddenly changed; a quick step came round the +hot-house; the birds flew away, and the mother called piteously to her +child to follow. But the little thing, heavy and stupefied with all it +had eaten, could not so quickly lift its weak wings. A cut from Fink's +riding-whip caught him, and sent its little body dead among the flowers. +An angry exclamation arose, and all faces looked darkly on the murderer. +As for Sabine, she went to the bed, picked up the bird, kissed its +little head, and said, in a broken voice, "It is dead." Then she put it +down on the bench near the door, and covered it with her handkerchief. + +An awkward silence ensued. At length Jordan said reproachfully, "You +have killed Miss Sabine's favorite bird." + +"I am sorry for it," replied Fink, drawing a chair to the table. Then +turning to Sabine, "I did not know that you extended your sympathy to +this class of rogues. I really believed that I deserved the thanks of +the house for disposing of the young thief." + +"The poor little fellow!" said Sabine, mournfully; "his mother is +calling for him; do you hear her?" + +"She will get over it," rejoined Fink; "I consider it overdone to expend +more feeling upon a sparrow than his own relatives do. But I know you +like to consider all around you in a tender and pathetic light." + +"If you have not this peculiarity yourself, why ridicule it in others?" +asked Sabine, with a quivering lip. + +"Why," cried Fink, "because this eternal feeling, which here I meet with +every where, expended on what does not deserve it, makes people at +length weak and trivial. He who is always getting up emotions about +trifles will have none to give when a strong attachment demands them." + +"And he who ever looks on all around him with cold unconcern, will not +he too be wanting in emotion when a strong attachment becomes a duty?" +returned Sabine, with a mournful glance. + +"It would be impolite to contradict you," said Fink, shrugging his +shoulders. "At all events, it is better that a man should be too hard +than too effeminate." + +"But just look at the people of this country," said he, after another +uncomfortable pause. "One loves the copper kettle in which his mother +has boiled sausages; another loves his broken pipe, his faded coat, and +with these a thousand obsolete customs. Just look at the German +emigrants! What a heap of rubbish they take away with them--old +birdcages, worm-eaten furniture, and every kind of lumber! I once knew a +fellow who took a journey of eight days merely to eat _sauer-kraut_. And +when once a poor devil has squatted in an unhealthy district, and lived +there a few years, he has spun such a web of sentimentalism about it +that you can not stir him, even though he, his wife and children, should +die there of fever. Commend me to what you call the insensibility of the +Yankee. He works like two Germans, but he is not in love with his +cottage or his gear. What he has is worth its equivalent in dollars, and +no more. 'How low! how material!' you will say. Now, I like this. It has +created a free and powerful state. If America had been peopled by +Germans, they would be still drinking chicory instead of coffee, at +whatever rate of duty the paternal governments of Europe liked to +impose." + +"And you would require a woman to be thus minded?" asked Sabine. + +"In the main, yes," rejoined Fink. "Not a German housewife, wrapped up +in her table-linen. The larger her stock, the happier she. I believe +that they silently rate each other as we do men on 'Change--worth five +hundred, worth eight hundred napkins. The American makes as good a wife +as the German, but she would laugh at such notions. She has what she +wants for present use, and buys more when the old set is worn out. Why +should she fix her heart on what is so easily replaced?" + +"Oh, how dreary you make life!" rejoined Sabine. "Our possessions lose +thus their dearest value. If you kill the imagination which lends its +varied hues to lifeless things, what remains? Nothing but an egotism to +which every thing is sacrificed! He who can thus coldly think may do +great deeds perhaps, but his life will never be beautiful nor happy, nor +a blessing to others;" and unconsciously she folded her hands and looked +sadly at Fink, whose face wore a hard and disdainful expression. + +The silence was broken by Anton's cheerfully observing, "At all events, +Fink's own practice is a striking refutation of his theory." + +"How so, sir?" asked Fink, looking round. + +"I shall soon prove my case; but first a few words in our own praise. We +who are sitting and standing around are working members of a business +that does not belong to us, and each of us looks upon his occupation +from the German point of view which Fink has been denouncing. None of us +reasons, 'The firm pays me so many dollars, consequently the firm is +worth so many dollars to me.' No; when the house prospers we are all +pleased and proud; if it loses, we regret it perhaps more than the +principal does. When Liebold enters his figures in the great book, and +admires their fair caligraphical procession, he silently smiles with +delight. Look at him; he is doing so now." + +Liebold, much embarrassed, pulled up his shirt collar. + +"Then there is our friend Baumann, who secretly longs for another +calling. A short time ago he brought me a report of the horrors of +heathenism on the African coast, and said, 'I must go, Wohlfart; the +time is come.' 'Who will attend to the calculations?' asked I; 'and what +will become of the department which you and Balbus keep so entirely in +your own hands?' 'Ay, indeed,' cried Baumann, 'I had not thought of +that; I must put it off a little longer.'" + +The whole party looked smilingly at Baumann, who said, as if to himself, +"It was not right of me." + +"As for the tyrant Pix, I will only say that there are many hours in +which he is not quite clear as to whether the concern is his or Mr. +Schröter's." + +All laughed. Mr. Pix thrust his hand into his breast, like Napoleon. + +"You are an unfair advocate," said Fink; "you enlist private feelings." + +"You did the same," replied Anton. "And now I will soon dispose of you. +About half a year ago, this Yankee went to our principal and said, 'I +wish no longer to be a volunteer, but a regular member of your house.' +Why was this? Of course, only for the sake of a certain number of +dollars." + +Again all smiled and looked kindly at Fink, for it was well known that +he had said on that occasion, "I wish for a regular share of employment, +I wish for the responsibility attached to it, and I thoroughly like my +work." + +"And then," continued Anton, triumphantly, "he shares all the weak +sentimentalities he so condemns. He loves his horse, as you all know, +not as the sum of five hundred dollars represented by so many hundred +weight of flesh, and covered by a glossy skin--he loves it as a friend." + +"Because he amuses me," said Fink. + +"Of course," said Anton; "and thus table-linen amuses our housewives, so +that is even. And then his pair of condor wings, his pistols, +riding-whips, red drinking-glasses, are all trifles that he values, just +as a German emigrant does his birdcages; and, in short, he is, in point +of fact, nothing more than a poor-spirited German, like the rest of us." + +Sabine shook her head, but she looked more kindly at the American, and +his face too had changed. He looked straight before him, and there was a +something playing over his haughty features that, in any one else, would +have been called emotion. + +"Well," said he, at length, "both the lady and I were perhaps too +positive." Then pointing to the dead sparrow, "Before this serious fact +I lay down my arms, and confess that I wish the little gentleman were +still alive, and likely to reach a good old age among the cherries and +other delicacies of the firm. And so," turning to Sabine, "you will not +be angry with me any more, will you?" + +Sabine smiled, and cordially answered "No." + +"As for you, Anton, give me your hand. You have made a brilliant +defense, and gained me a verdict of 'Not guilty' from a German jury. +Take your pen and scratch out a few weeks from our calendar; you +understand?" Anton pressed his hand, and threw his arm around his +shoulder. + +Once more the party was in a thoroughly genial mood. Mr. Schröter joined +them, cigars were lit, and all tried to be as pleasant as possible. Mr. +Liebold rose to ask permission from the principal and his sister--that +is, if it would not be considered an interruption--to sing a few +concerted pieces with some of his colleagues. As he had for several +years regularly made the same proposition in the same words, all were +prepared for it, and Sabine good-naturedly cried, "Of course, Mr. +Liebold; half the pleasure would be gone if we had not our quartette." +Accordingly, the four singers began. Mr. Specht was the first tenor, +Liebold the second, Birnbaum and Balbus took the base. These formed the +musical section of the counting-house, and their voices went really very +well together, with the exception of Specht's being rather too loud, and +Liebold's rather too low; but their audience was well-disposed, the +evening exquisite, and all listened with pleasure. + +"It's an absurd thing," began Fink, when the applause was over, "that a +certain sequence of tones should touch the heart, and call forth tears +from men in whom all other gentle emotions are dead and gone. Every +nation has its own simple airs, and fellow-countrymen recognize each +other by the impression these make. When those emigrants of whom we +spoke just now have lost all love for their fatherland--nay, have +forgotten their mother tongue, their home melodies still survive, and +many a foolish fellow, who piques himself on being a naturalized Yankee, +suddenly feels himself German at heart on chancing to hear a couple of +bars familiar to him in youth." + +"You are right," said the merchant. "He who leaves his home is seldom +aware of all that he relinquishes, and only finds it out when home +recollections become the charm of his later years. Such recollections +often form a sanctuary, mocked and dishonored indeed, but always +revisited in his best hours." + +"I confess, with a certain degree of shame," said Fink, "that I am +little conscious of this charm. The fact is, I do not exactly know where +my home is. Looking back, I find that I have lived most of my years in +Germany, but foreign countries have left a livelier impression on my +mind. Destiny has always torn me away before I could take deep root any +where. And now, at times, I find myself a stranger here. For example, +the dialects of the provinces are unintelligible to me. I get more +presents than I deserve on Christmas-day, but am not touched by the +magic of the Christmas-tree; and few of the popular melodies you are all +so proud of, haunt my ear. And, besides these smaller matters, there are +other things in which I feel deficient," continued he, more earnestly; +"I know that at times I make too heavy demands upon the indulgence of my +friends. I shall have to thank your house," said he, in conclusion, +turning to the merchant, "if I ever acquire a knowledge of the best side +of the German character." + +Fink spoke with a degree of feeling he rarely showed. Sabine was happy; +the sparrow was forgotten; and she cried, with irrepressible emotion, +"That was nobly said, Herr von Fink." + +The servants then announced that supper was ready. + +The merchant took his place in the middle, and Sabine smiled brightly +when Fink sat down, at her side. + +"I must have you opposite me, Liebold," cried the principal; "I must +see your honest face before me to-day. We have now been connected for +five-and-twenty years. Mr. Liebold joined us a few weeks after my father +took me into partnership," said he, by way of explanation to the younger +clerks; "and while I am indebted to you all, I am most indebted to him." +He held up his glass: "I drink your good health, my old friend; and so +long as our desks stand side by side, separated only by a thin +partition, so long shall there exist between us, as heretofore, a full +and firm confidence, without many spoken words." + +Liebold had stood at the beginning of this speech, and he remained +standing. He wished to propose a health, it was evident, for he looked +at the principal, held up his glass, and his lips moved. At last he sat +down again, speechless. Straightway, to the amazement of all, Fink rose, +and said, with deep earnestness, "Join me in drinking to the prosperity +of a German house where work is a pleasure, and honor has its home. +Hurrah for our counting-house and our principal!" + +Thundering hurrahs followed, in which Sabine could not help joining. The +rest of the evening was unbroken hilarity, and it was long past ten when +they reached the town. + +As they went up stairs, Fink said to Anton, "To-day, my boy, you are not +to pass me by. I have found it a great bore to be so long without you;" +and the reconciled friends sat together far into the night. + +Sabine went to her own room, where her maid gave her a note in an +unknown handwriting. The smell of musk and the delicate characters +showed that it came from a lady. + +"Who brought it?" inquired she. + +"A stranger," replied the maid; "he said that there was no answer, and +would not give his name." + +Sabine read, "Do not triumph too soon, fair lady. You have by your +coquetry allured a gentleman who is accustomed to mislead, to forget, +and shamefully to use those who trust him. A short time ago he said to +another all he now says to you. He will but betray and forsake you +also." + +The note was not signed: it came from Rosalie. + +Sabine knew well who had written it. She held it to the taper, and then +flinging it on the hearth, silently watched spark by spark die out. Long +did she stand there, her head against the mantel-piece, her eyes fixed +upon the little heap of ashes. + +Tearless, voiceless, she held her hand pressed firmly on her heart. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +Veitel Itzig was in the highest excitement. After many consultations +with his adviser Hippus, many nightly calculations as to the state of +his purse, he had ventured upon a bold stroke of business, and had +succeeded in it. He had wormed himself into a not very creditable +secret, and had sold it for eight thousand dollars. The happy day had at +length arrived when he was to carry home this large capital. After his +long endeavor to appear calm, while his heart was beating with anxious +suspense like a smith's hammer, he was now happy as a child; he jumped +round the room, laughed with pleasure, and asked Hippus what sort of +wine he would like to drink to-day. "Wine alone will not do," replied +Hippus, ominously. "However, it is long since I have tasted any +Hungarian. Get a bottle of old Upper Hungarian; or, stay, it is dark +enough, I will go for it myself." + +"How much does it cost?" + +"Two dollars." + +"That is a good deal, but 'tis all one; here they are;" and he threw +them on the table. + +"All right," said Hippus, snatching at them. "But this alone will not +do, I must have my percentage. However, as we are old acquaintances, I +will be satisfied with only five per cent. of what you have made +to-day." + +Veitel stood petrified. + +"Not a word against it," continued Hippus, with a wicked glance at him +over his spectacles; "we know each other. I was the means of your +getting the money, and I alone. You make use of me, and you see that I +can make use of you. Give me four hundred of your eight thousand at +once." + +Veitel tried to speak. + +"Not a word," repeated Hippus, rapping the table with the dollars in his +hand; "give me the money." + +Veitel looked at him, felt in the pocket of his coat, and laid down two +notes. + +"Now two more," said Hippus, in the same tone. Veitel added another. + +"And now for the last, my son," nodded he, encouragingly. + +Veitel delayed a moment and looked hard at the old man's face, on which +a malevolent pleasure was visible. There was no comfort there, however; +so he laid down the fourth note, saying, in a stifled voice, "I have +been mistaken in you, Hippus;" and, turning away, he wiped his eyes. + +"Do not take it to heart, you booby," said his instructor; "if I die +before you, you shall be my heir. And now I am off to taste the wine, +and I will make a point of drinking your health, you sensitive Itzig;" +and, so saying, he crept out of the door. + +Veitel once more wiped away a bitter tear that rolled down his cheeks. +His pleasure in his winnings was gone. It was a complex sort of feeling, +this grief of his. True, he mourned the lost notes, but he had lost +something more. The only man in the world for whom he felt any degree of +attachment had behaved unkindly and selfishly toward him. It was all +over henceforth between him and Hippus. He could not, indeed, do without +him, but he hated him from this hour. The old man had made him more +solitary and unscrupulous than before. Such is the curse of bad men; +they are rendered wretched not only by their crimes, but even their best +feelings turn to gall. + +However, this melancholy mood did not long continue. He took out his +remaining treasure, counted it over, felt cheered thereby, and turned +his thoughts to the future. His social position had been changed at a +stroke. As the possessor of eight thousand dollars--alas! there were but +seven thousand six hundred--he was a small Croesus among men of his +class: many carried on transactions involving hundreds of thousands +without as much capital as he had; in short, the world was his oyster, +and he had but to bethink himself with what lever he should open it--how +invest his capital--how double it--how increase it tenfold. There were +many ways before him: he might continue to lend money on high interest, +he might speculate, or carry on some regular business; but each of these +involved his beloved capital in some degree of risk; he might win, +indeed, but then he might lose all, and the very thought so terrified +him that he relinquished one scheme after another. + +There was, indeed, one way in which a keen-witted man might possibly +make much without great danger of loss. + +Veitel had been accustomed, as a dealer in old clothes, to visit the +different seats of landed proprietors; at the wool market he was in the +habit of offering his services to gentlemen with mustaches and orders of +merit; in his master's office he was constantly occupied with the means +and affairs of the nobility. How intimately he knew old Ehrenthal's +secret desire to become the possessor of a certain estate! And how came +it that in the midst of his annoyance with Hippus, the thought of his +schoolfellow Anton suddenly flashed across him, and of the day when he +had walked with him last? That very morning he had walked about the +baron's estate, and lounged by the cow-house, counting the double row of +horns within, till the dairy-maid ordered him away. Now the thought +passed like lightning through his brain that he might as well become the +owner of that estate as Ehrenthal, and drive with a pair of horses into +the town. From that moment he had a fixed plan, and began to carry it +out. + +And he speculated cunningly too. He determined to acquire a claim upon +the baron's property by a mortgage; thus he would safely invest his +capital, and work on quietly till the day came when he could get hold of +the property itself. At all events, if he did not succeed in that, his +money would be safe. Meanwhile, he would become an agent and +commissioner, buy and sell, and do many clever things besides. Also, he +must remain Ehrenthal's factotum as long as it suited him. Rosalie was +handsome and rich, for Bernhard would not live to inherit his father's +wealth. Perhaps he might desire to become Ehrenthal's son-in-law, +perhaps not; at all events, there was no hurry about that. There was one +other whom he must get on a secure footing--the little black man now +drinking that expensive wine down stairs. Henceforth he would pay him +for whatever he did for him, but he would not confide in him. + +These were the resolves of Veitel Itzig; and, having concocted his +plans, he locked his door, threw himself down exhausted on his hard bed, +the imaginary possessor of Baron Rothsattel's fair property. + +That evening the baroness and her daughter sat together in the +conservatory, and both were silent; the baroness intently watching a +bright moth, which was bent upon flying into the lamp, and came knocking +its thick little body over and over against the glass which saved its +life. + +Lenore bent over her book, but often cast an inquiring glance at her +mother's thoughtful face. + +There came a quick step along the gravel, and the old bailiff, cap in +hand, asked for the master. + +"What do you want?" said Lenore; "has any thing happened?" + +"It's all over with the old black horse," said the bailiff, in great +concern; "he has been biting and kicking like mad, and now he is gasping +his last." + +Lenore sprang up with an exclamation for which her mother chid her. + +"I will come and see to him myself," said she, and hurried off with the +old man. + +The sick horse lay on his straw, with the sweat running down, and his +sides heaving violently. The stable-boys stood around, looking at him +phlegmatically. When Lenore entered, the horse turned his head toward +her as if asking help. + +"He knows me yet," cried she. Then turning to the head groom, "Ride off +instantly for a veterinary surgeon." + +The man did not like the thought of a long ride at night, and replied, +"The doctor is never at home, and the horse will be dead before he can +come." + +"Go at once!" commanded Lenore, pointing to the door. + +"What is the matter with the groom?" asked Lenore, as they left the +stable. + +"He is grown good for nothing, and ought to be sent off, as I have often +told my master; but the lout is as obedient to him as possible--he knows +the length of his foot--while to every one else he is cross-grained, and +gives me daily trouble." + +"I will speak to my father," replied Lenore, with a slight frown. + +The old servant continued: "Ah! dear young lady, if you would but look +after things a little, it would be a good thing for the property. I am +not satisfied with the dairy either: the new housekeeper does not know +how to manage the maids; she is too smart by half--ribbons before and +behind. Things used to go on better; the baron used to come and look at +the butter-casks, now he is busy with other things; and when the master +grows careless, servants soon snap their fingers at the bailiff. You can +be sharp enough with people; it's a thousand pities you are not a +gentleman." + +"You are right; it is a thousand pities," said Lenore, approvingly; "but +there's no help for it. However, I will see to the butter from this very +day. How is corn now? You have been buying some lately?" + +"Yes," said the old man, dejectedly, "my master would have it so. I +don't know what's come to him: he sold the whole granary full to that +Ehrenthal in winter." + +Lenore listened sympathizingly, with her hands behind her. + +"Do not fret about it, my old friend," said she; "whenever papa is not +at home, I will go about the fields with you, and you shall smoke your +pipe all the same. How do you like the new one I brought you?" + +"It has a beautiful color already," said the bailiff, chuckling, and +drawing it out of his pocket. "But to return to the black horse; the +baron will be very angry when he hears of it, and we could not help it +either." + +"Well, then," said Lenore, "if it could not be helped, it must be +endured. Good-night. Go back now to the horse." + +"I will, dear young lady; and good-night to you too," said the bailiff. + +The baroness had remained in the conservatory, thinking of her husband, +who formerly would have been by her side on an evening like this. Yes, +there was a change in him: kind and affectionate toward her as ever, he +was often absent and preoccupied, and more easily irritated by trifles; +his cheerfulness was of a more boisterous character, and his love for +men's society increasing; and she mournfully asked herself whether it +were the fading of her youth that accounted for this. + +"Is not my father yet returned?" asked Lenore, as she entered. + +"No, my child, he has much to do in town; perhaps he will not be back +till to-morrow morning." + +"I do not like papa being so much away," said Lenore; "it is long since +he has read aloud to us in the evening, as he used to do." + +"He means you to be my reader," said her mother, with a smile; "so take +your book, and sit down quietly by me, you impetuous child." + +Lenore pouted, and instead of taking up the book, threw her arms round +her mother, and said, "Darling, you too are sad and anxious about my +father. Things are no longer as they used to be. I am no child now; tell +me what he is doing." + +"Nonsense," calmly replied the baroness. "I am keeping nothing back from +you. If there really be any reason for your father's frequent absence, +it is our duty to wait till he chooses to communicate it; and this is +not difficult to those who love and trust him as we do." + +"And yet your eyes are tearful, and you do seek to hide your anxiety +from me. If you will not, I will ask my father myself." + +"No, you shall not," said the baroness, in a tone of decision. + +"My father!" cried Lenore; "I hear his step." + +The stately form came rapidly toward them. "Good-evening, my home +treasures!" he called out. Then clasping wife and daughter at once in +his arms, he looked so cheerfully at them that the baroness forgot her +anxiety and Lenore her question. The baron sat down between them, and +asked whether they saw any thing unusual about him. + +"You are cheerful," said his wife, fondly, "as you always are." + +"You have been paying visits," said Lenore; "I know that by your white +cravat." + +"Right," replied the baron; "but there's something more: the king has +been graciously pleased to give me the Order my father and grandfather +have both worn, and I am much pleased that the cross should thus become, +as it were, hereditary in our family. And with the Order came a most +gracious letter from the prince." + +"How charming!" cried his wife, throwing her arms around him; "I have +longed for this star for some years past. We will put on the +decoration;" and, having done so, she loyally kissed, first her husband, +and then the cross. + +"We know indeed," said the baron, "how such things are rated in our +days, and yet I confess that the rank implied by such a decoration is +intensely precious to me. Our family is one of the oldest in the +kingdom, and there has never been a _mésalliance_ among us. However, at +the present time, money is beginning to replace our former privileges, +and even we nobles must take thought for it if we wish to preserve our +families in the same position as ourselves. I must provide for you, +Lenore, and your brother." + +"As for me," said Lenore, crossing her arms, "I can do nothing for the +honor of the family. If I marry, which I have, however, no inclination +to do, I must take some other name; and little will my old ancestors, in +armor yonder in the hall, care whom I choose for master. I can not +remain a Rothsattel." + +The father drew her toward him laughingly. "If I could only find out how +my child has got these heretical notions!" said he. + +"She has always had them," said her mother. + +"They will pass," answered the baron, kissing his daughter's brow. "And +now read the prince's letter, while I go and look after the black +horse." + +"I will go with you," said Lenore. + +The order, a memorial of the chivalrous past, was a source of still more +satisfaction to the baron than he cared to avow. The congratulations of +his numerous acquaintance pleased him, and he felt it a prop to his +self-respect, which it often needed. A week later, Ehrenthal came on his +way to the neighboring village to offer his congratulations too, and +just as he was making his final bow he said, "You had once a notion, +baron, of setting up a beet-root-sugar factory. I find that a company is +about to be formed to build one in your neighborhood. I have been asked +to take shares, but first of all I thought I would ascertain your +views." + +This intelligence was very unwelcome; for though, after much +deliberation and consultation, he had resolved, for the present, to +postpone the project, the baron did not like it to be hopelessly +interfered with by a rival factory. + +In a tone of vexation, he exclaimed, "Just now, when I have, for a time, +that capital to dispose of!" + +"Baron," said Ehrenthal, heartily, "you are a rich man, and much +respected. Give out that you mean to set up a factory yourself and the +company will be dispersed in a few days." + +"You know I can not do so at present," said the baron, reluctantly. + +"You can, gracious sir, if you choose. I am not the man to urge you to +it. What do you want with money-making? But if you say to me, +'Ehrenthal, I will set up a factory,' why, I have capital for you as +much as you like. I myself have a sum of ten thousand dollars ready; you +may have it any day. And now I will make a proposal. I will get you the +money you want, at a moderate rate of interest; and for the money I +myself advance, you shall give me a share of the business until you are +able to repay the sum. Should you require further money, you must take a +mortgage on your property until you can replace the whole." + +The proposal appeared disinterested and friendly, but the baron felt a +certain misgiving, and declined it. + +Accordingly, Ehrenthal had to retire, saying, "You can think the matter +over; I shall, at all events, put off the forming of the company for a +month." + +From that day forth the baron was deluged with letters, notes, and +messages. First Ehrenthal wrote to say he had got the month's delay; +then Herr Karfunkelstein, one of the projected company, wrote to say he +resigned his pretensions; then Ehrenthal wrote again, inclosing the +yearly accounts of a similar factory, that the profits might be judged +of. Then a Herr Wolfsdorf wrote to offer capital at a low rate of +interest. Then, lastly, an unknown person of the name of Itzigveit wrote +to beg that at least the baron would not enter into partnership with +Ehrenthal, as was rumored in the town, for, though a rich, he was a very +selfish man, and that the writer could advance capital on much better +terms; whereupon Ehrenthal wrote again that some of his enemies were, he +knew, intriguing against him, and wishing to make money themselves in +the baron's promising undertaking, but that the baron must please +himself; that, for his part, he was an honorable man, and did not wish +to push himself forward. + +The consequence of all these communications was, that the baron grew +familiar with the thought of building his factory with borrowed money. +However, there was one thing that offended his pride, and that was the +thought of Ehrenthal as a shareholder; so far the letter of the unknown +Itzigveit had taken effect. + +During the next month he was the prey of a miserable irresolution, and +his wife, in silent sorrow, observed his excitement. He often went to +town, and often inspected similar factories. True, the evidence thus +collected was not encouraging, but this he attributed to dread of his +competition, or to unfavorable details of site or management. + +The month was over, and a letter came from Ehrenthal to beg for a +decision, as some members of the company were impatient of further +delay. + +It was on the evening of a hot day that the baron wandered restlessly +over his grounds. Heavy black, clouds gathered over an arch of yellow +sky. The grasshoppers chirped far louder than their wont. The little +birds twittered as if in apprehension of some coming evil. The swallows +flew low, and darted by close to the baron, as if they did not see him. +The wild flowers along the road hung down covered with dust. The +shepherd who passed him looked gray and spectral in the lurid light. + +The baron strolled on to the other side of the lake whence Anton had +taken his last look of the lordly home. The castle now stood before him +in a crimson glow; every window-pane seemed on fire, and the red roses +lay like drops of blood upon the dark green climbers beneath. And nearer +and nearer rolled on the black clouds, as if to shroud the bright pile +from sight. Not a leaf stirred, not a ripple curled the water. The baron +looked down into the water for some living thing, a spider, a +dragon-fly, and started back from the pale face that met him, and which +at first he did not recognize as his own. There was a sultry, boding, +listless gloom over his heart, as over all nature. + +Suddenly a strange shivering sound in the tree-tops--a signal to the +storm. Again a pause, and then down rushed the mighty wind, bending the +trees, curling the lake, driving the dust in wild whirls along. The +bright light faded from the castle, and all the landscape toned down +into bluish gray. Then forked lightning, and a long and solemn peal. + +The baron drew himself up to his full height, and turned to meet the +storm. Leaves and branches flew round him, big drops fell on his head, +but he kept looking up at the clouds, and at the lightning that flashed +from them, as though expecting a decision from on high. + +Then came the galloping of a horse's feet, and a gay voice cried out, +"Father!" A young cavalry officer had drawn up beside him. + +"My son! my beloved son!" cried the baron, with a quivering voice; "you +are come at the right time;" and he clasped the youth to his heart, and +then held his hands and looked long into his face. All indecision, all +mournful forebodings were over; he felt again as the head of his house +should feel. Before him stood, blooming in youth and health, the future +of his family. He took it as an omen, as the voice of fate to him in the +hour of decision. "And now," said he, "come home; there is no further +need for our remaining in the rain." + +While the baroness drew her son down by her on the sofa, and never +wearied of looking at and admiring him, the baron sat at the window and +watched the torrents of rain. Brighter grew the flashes, and shorter the +interval between them and the thunder's roll. + +"Shut the window," said she; "the storm comes this way." + +"It will do our house no harm," replied her husband, encouragingly. "The +conductor stands firm on the roof, and shines through the clouds. And +now look there where the clouds are blackest, behind those bright green +ash-trees." + +"I see the spot," returned she. + +"Make up your mind," continued he, smiling, "always to have your beloved +blue sky covered with gray smoke in that direction. Above those trees +will rise the factory chimney." + +"You mean to build?" inquired the baroness, anxiously. + +"I do," was the reply. "The undertaking will involve much that will be +disagreeable to you and me, and will require all my energies. If I +venture upon it, it is not for our own sake, but our children's. I wish +to secure this property to our family, and so to increase its return +that the owner may be able amply to provide for the rest of his +children, and yet leave the estate to the eldest son. After much painful +deliberation, I have this day taken my resolve." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +The baron carried on his undertaking with the greatest possible spirit. +He superintended the burning of the bricks; he himself marked the trees +destined to be cut down for the building. Ehrenthal had recommended a +builder, and the baron had found out a manager for the concern. He had +made careful inquiries as to this man's past career, and congratulated +himself upon the amount of his theoretical knowledge. Possibly this was +not wholly an advantage, for plain practical men declared that he could +never let a factory go quietly on, but was always interrupting the daily +work with new inventions and contrivances, and was therefore both +expensive and unsafe. But the baron, naturally enough, considered his +probity and intelligence to be the main point, and valued the +theoretical skill of the manager in proportion to his own ignorance. + +Pleasant as his prospects were, there were yet many drawbacks. Order and +comfort had flown away with the storks, who had for years been +accustomed to make their nests on the great barn. Every body suffered +from the new undertaking. The baroness lost a corner of the park, and +had the grief of seeing a dozen noble old trees felled. The gardener +wrung his hands over the thefts committed by the strange laborers that +swarmed in all directions. The bailiff was in perfect despair at the +disorders in his jurisdiction. His horses and oxen were taken from him +to carry timber when he wanted them to plow. The wants of the household +increased; the returns from the property became less and less. Lenore +had much to do to comfort him, and brought him many pounds of tobacco +from the town, that he might smoke off his annoyance. But the heaviest +burden of course pressed upon the baron himself. His study was now +become a place of public resort, like any tradesman's shop. He had to +give advice, to come to a decision, to overcome difficulties in a dozen +directions at once. He went almost daily to town, and when he returned +he was absent and morose in the midst of his family. His was a fair hope +indeed, but it was one very difficult to realize. + +The baron found some comfort, however, in Ehrenthal's cheerful +devotedness. He was always useful, and fertile in expedient, and never +appeared doubtful as to the result of the undertaking. He was now a +frequent visitor, welcome to the master of the house, but less so to the +ladies, who suspected him of having been the prompter of the factory +scheme. + +One sunny day, Ehrenthal, with shirt-frill and diamond pin, made his +appearance in his son's room. "Will you drive with me to-day to the +Rothsattel's Castle, my Bernhard? I told the baron that I should bring +you with me to introduce you to the family." + +Bernhard sprang up from his seat. "But, father, I am an utter stranger +to them all." + +"When you have seen and spoken to them, you will no longer be a +stranger," replied his father. "They are good people--good people," +added he, benevolently. + +Bernhard had still some modest scruples, but they were overruled, and +the two set out together--the pale student in much excitement at the +novelty of the drive, and the prospect of seeing a renowned beauty like +Lenore. + +Meanwhile, his father overflowed with the praises of the family. "Noble +people," said he; "if you could only see the baroness as she is in her +lace cap, so delicate and so refined! Too refined for this world as it +is! Every thing so elegant! To be sure, the pieces of sugar are too +large, and the wine is too dear, but it all seems of a piece with their +rank." + +"Is Fräulein Lenore a great beauty?" inquired Bernhard. "Is she very +proud?" + +"She is proud, but she is a beauty indeed. Between ourselves, I admire +her more than Rosalie." + +"Is she a blonde?" + +Ehrenthal took some time to consider. "Blonde? what should she be but a +blonde or a brunette? One thing I know, she has blue eyes. You can look +over the farm, and do not forget to walk round the park. See whether you +can find a spot where you would like to sit with your book." + +The guileless Bernhard heard in silence. + +The carriage stopped at the castle door. The servants announced that the +baron was in his room--the baroness not visible, but that the young lady +was walking in the garden. Ehrenthal and his son went round the house, +and saw Lenore's tall figure slowly crossing the grass-plot. Ehrenthal +threw himself into a deferential attitude, and presented his son, who +bowed low. Lenore bestowed a cool sort of salutation upon the student, +and said, "If you want my father, he is up stairs in his room." + +"I will go to him, then. Bernhard, you may, I am sure, remain with the +young lady." + +Arrived in the baron's room, the trader placed some thousand dollars on +the table, saying, "Here is the first sum. And now, what does the baron +wish as to the security?" + +"According to our agreement, I must give you a mortgage on the +property," was the reply. + +"Do you know what, baron? It would never do for you to grant a fresh +mortgage for every thousand dollars that I might happen to pay in; it +would be very expensive, and would bring the property into disrepute. +Rather have a deed of mortgage drawn up for some considerable sum, say +twenty thousand dollars, and let it stand in the name of the baroness; +you will then have a security that you may sell any day. And every time +I pay you, give me a simple note of hand, pledging your word of honor +that I have a claim to that amount on the mortgage. That is a simple +plan, and remains a secret between you and me. And when you need no +further advances, we can settle the matter finally before an attorney. +You can make over the mortgage to me, and I return you the notes of +hand, and repay you whatever may be wanted to make up the twenty +thousand. I only ask your word of honor on a slip of paper no longer +than my finger, and when the deed is ready, I should wish to have it +executed in my house. You can not object to that. Any lawyer would tell +you that I am not dealing in a business-like way. A man's word is often +broken, but if there is one thing sure and steadfast in the world, I +believe it is your word of honor, baron." + +Ehrenthal said this with an expression of sincerity, which was not +altogether assumed. This plan of his was the result of many a +consultation with Itzig. He knew that the baron would require far more +than twenty thousand dollars, and it was to his advantage that he should +procure them easily; besides which, he, the thorough rogue, had firm +trust in the nobleman's integrity. + +Meanwhile, Lenore had asked Bernhard whether he would like to walk in +the park. He followed her in silence, looking timidly at the fair young +aristocrat, who carried her head high, and troubled herself but little +about her companion. When she reached the grass-plot station that had +once so enchanted Anton, she stood still, and pointed to the +gravel-walk, saying, "That way leads to the lake, and this to the garden +again." + +Bernhard looked up in amazement at the castle and its turrets, its +balcony and creeping plants, and exclaimed, "I have seen all this +before, and yet I have never been here." + +"And certainly," said Lenore, "the castle has never been to the town; +there may be others like it." + +"No," replied Bernhard, trying to collect his ideas, "no; I have seen a +drawing of it in a friend's room. He must know you," cried he, with +delight; "and yet he never told me so." + +"What is your friend's name?" + +"Anton Wohlfart." + +The lady turned round at once with sudden animation. "Wohlfart? a clerk +in T. O. Schröter's house? Is it he? And this gentleman is your friend? +How did you become acquainted with him?" And she stood before Bernhard +with her hands behind her back, like a severe schoolmistress +cross-examining a little thief about a stolen apple. + +Bernhard told her how he had learned to know and love Anton; and in +doing so, he lost some of his embarrassment, while the young lady lost +some of her haughty indifference. + +She asked him many questions about his friend, and Bernhard grew +eloquent as he replied. + +Then she led him through the park, as once she had led Anton. Bernhard +was a son of the city. It was not the lofty, wide-spreading trees, nor +the gay flower-beds, nor the turreted castle which made an impression on +him; his eyes were riveted on Lenore alone. It was a bright September +evening; the sunlight fell through the branches, and whenever Lenore's +hair caught its rays, it shone like gold. The proud eye, the delicate +mouth, the slender limbs of the noble girl took his fancy prisoner. She +laughed, and showed her little white teeth--he was enraptured; she +broke off a twig, and struck the shrubs with it as she passed--it seemed +to him that they bent before her in homage to the ground. + +They came to the bridge between the park and the fields, where a few +little girls ran to Lenore and kissed her hands; she received the +tribute of respect as a queen might have done. Two other children had +made a long chain of dandelion stalks, and with it barred Bernhard's +way. + +"Away with you, rude little things," cried Lenore; "how can you think of +barring our way? The gentleman comes from the castle." + +And Bernhard felt with pride that, for the moment, he belonged to her. +He put his hand in his purse, and soon got rid of the children. "It is +long," said he, "since I have seen a dandelion chain. I have an +indistinct recollection of sitting as a little boy in a green nook, and +trying to make one;" and, gathering a few dandelion stalks, he began the +childish task. + +"If you are so expert in such childish play," said Lenore, "here is +something for you," and she pointed to a great burdock near the +road-side. "Have you ever seen a cap of burs?" + +"No," answered Bernhard, with some slight misgiving. + +"You shall have one immediately," said Lenore. She went to the burdock; +Bernhard gathered her some handfuls of burs. She fitted one into the +other, and made a cap with two little horns. "You may put it on," said +she, graciously. + +"I dare not; the very birds would be frightened. If you too would--" + +"You can not expect me to wear burs," replied she; "but you shall have +your wish." She led him back to a group of sunflowers in the shrubbery, +and, gathering a few of them, she made a kind of helmet, which she +laughingly put on. "Now for your cap," commanded she. Bernhard obeyed, +and his thoughtful, deeply-marked features, black coat, and white cravat +looked so strange and incongruous beneath the cap of burs, that Lenore +could not help laughing. "Come with me," said she; "you shall look at +yourself in the lake." And she led him past the site of the factory--a +rough place, with heaps of earth, tiles, beams, in utmost confusion. It +was a holiday; all the laborers had left, but some village children were +playing about and collecting chips. A few steps farther on they came to +a little bay, covered with water-lilies and surrounded by brushwood. +"How desolate it looks!" said Lenore; "the bushes half pulled +away--even the trees injured: all the result of this building. We seldom +come here on account of the strange workmen. The village children, too, +are become so bold, they make this their play-ground, and there is no +keeping them away." + +That moment a boat came in sight. A little village girl, a red-faced +chubby thing, stood up tottering in it, while her older brother tried to +get as far from shore as with one oar he could. "Look!" cried Lenore, +angrily, "the little wretches have actually taken our boat. Come back +instantly to the shore." The children were startled, the boy dropped the +oar, the little girl tottered more than before, and, in the terror of a +guilty conscience, lost her balance and fell into the water. Her brother +drifted helplessly into the bay. "Save the child!" screamed Lenore. +Bernhard ran into the lake forgetting that he could not swim, waded in a +few steps, and then stood up to the breast in mud and water. He +stretched out his arms to the spot where the child had sunk, but could +not reach it. Meanwhile Lenore had sprung, quick as lightning, behind a +bush. After a few seconds she returned and ran to a projecting bank. + +Bernhard looked with rapture and terror at her tall figure. She still +wore her fantastic coronal, her light garments floated round her, her +eyes were fixed upon the spot where the child would reappear. Raising +her arms above her head, she leaped in and swam toward it, seized its +frock, struck out with her free arm, and soon reached the boat. Exerting +all her strength, she lifted the child in, and then drew the boat to +land. Bernhard, who, pale as death, had stood watching her efforts, +fought his way back to the land, gave her his hand, and drew in the +boat. Lenore carried the unconscious child. Bernhard lifted out the boy, +and both hurried to the gardener's house, while the little lad ran +screaming behind them. Lenore's soaked garments clung closely to her +beautiful form, and every movement of her fair limbs was seen almost +unveiled by her companion. She did not heed it. Bernhard went with her +into the room, but she hastily sent him out again; while, with the help +of the gardener's wife, she undressed, and sought by friction and other +means to restore the child to life. Meanwhile Bernhard stood without, +his teeth chattering with cold, but in a state of excitement which made +his eyes glow like fire. "Is the child alive?" he called through the +door. + +"She is," answered Lenore from within. + +"Thank God!" cried Bernhard; but his thoughts rose no higher than the +fair being within. Long he stood there shuddering and dreaming, till at +length a tall figure in woolen garments came out of the door. It was +Lenore in the clothes of the gardener's wife, still agitated by all she +had gone through, but with a happy smile on her lips. Bernhard, beside +himself, kissed her hand more than once. + +"You look very well," said Lenore, cheerfully; "but you will catch +cold." + +He stood before her, wet and dripping, covered with weeds and mud. "I do +not feel cold," cried he, but his limbs shook. + +"Go in at once," urged Lenore; and, opening the door, she called to the +good woman, "Give this gentleman your husband's clothes." + +Bernhard obeyed, and when he came out metamorphosed into a rustic, he +found Lenore rapidly walking up and down. + +"Come to the castle," said she, with all her former dignity. + +"I should like once more to see the child," replied he. + +They went to the bed on which the little girl lay. She looked up +dreamingly at Bernhard, who bent over her and kissed her forehead. "She +is the child of a laborer in the village," said the gardener's wife. +Unobserved by Lenore, Bernhard laid his purse on the bed. + +On their return they found Ehrenthal impatient to depart. His amazement +at recognizing his Bernhard in the rustic before him was boundless. + +"Give the gentleman a cloak," said Lenore to the servants; "he is +benumbed with cold. Wrap yourself up well, or you may long have cause to +remember your march among the water-lilies." + +And Bernhard did remember it. He wrapped the cloak about him, and +squeezed himself up into a corner of the carriage. A burning heat had +succeeded to the chill, and his blood rushed wildly through his veins. +He had seen the fairest woman on the earth; he had experienced realities +more transporting, more absorbing, than any of his favorite poet's +dreams. He could hardly answer his father's questions. There they sat +side by side, cold cunning and burning passion personified. This +excursion had been propitious to both; the father had got the +long-desired hold on the Rothsattel property, the son had had an +adventure which gave a new coloring to his whole existence. + +On the baron's estate the factory slowly rose; in Ehrenthal's coffers +the baron's casket was filled by notes of hand and the new deed of +mortgage; and while Bernhard's tender frame drooped under the effects of +the cold bath above described, he gave his spirit up to the intoxication +of the sweetest fancies. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +One afternoon the postman brought to Fink a letter with a black seal. +Having opened it, he went silently to his own room. As he did not +return, Anton anxiously followed, and found Fink sitting on the sofa, +his head resting on his hand. + +"You have had bad news?" inquired Anton. + +"My uncle is dead," was the reply; "he, the richest man, perhaps, in +Wall Street, New York, has been blown up in a Mississippi steamer. He +was an unapproachable sort of man, but in his way very kind to me, and I +repaid him by folly and ingratitude. This thought imbitters his death to +me. And, besides that, the fact decides my future career." + +"You will leave us!" cried Anton, in dismay. + +"I must set off to-morrow. My father is heir to all my uncle's property, +with the exception of some land in the Far West, to which I am left +executor. My uncle was a great speculator, and there is much troublesome +business to be settled. Therefore my father wishes me to go to New York +as soon as possible, and I plainly see that I am wanted there. He has +all at once conceived a high idea of my judgment and capacity for +business. Read his letter." Anton scrupled to take it. "Read it, my +boy," said Fink, with a sad smile; "in my family circle, father and son +write each other no secrets." Anton read. "The excellent accounts which +Mr. Schröter sends me of your practical sense and shrewdness in business +lead me to request you to go over yourself, in which case I shall send +Mr. Westlock, of our house, to assist you." + +Anton laid the letter down, and Fink asked, "What say you to this praise +of the principal's? You know that I had some reason to believe myself +far from a favorite." + +"Be that as it may, I consider the praise just, and his estimate +correct," replied Anton. + +"At all events," said Fink, "it decides my fate. I shall now be what I +have long wished, a landed proprietor on the other side of the +Atlantic. And so, dear Anton, we must part," he continued, holding out +his hand to his friend; "I had not thought the time would so soon come. +But we shall meet again." + +"Possibly," said Anton, sadly, holding the young nobleman's hand fondly +in his. "But now go to Mr. Schröter; he has the first claim to hear +this." + +"He knows it already; he has had a letter from my father." + +"The more reason why he should expect you." + +"You are right; let us go." + +Anton returned to his desk, and Fink went to the principal's little +office. The merchant came to meet him with a serious aspect; and, after +having expressed his sympathy, invited him to sit down, and quietly to +discuss his future prospects. + +Fink replied with the utmost courtesy: "My father's views for me--based +on your estimate--agree so well with my own wishes, that I must express +my gratitude to you. Your opinion of me has been more favorable than I +could have ventured to expect. If, however, you have really been +satisfied with me, I should rejoice to hear it from your own lips." + +"I have not been entirely satisfied, Herr von Fink," replied the +merchant, with some reserve; "you were not in your proper place here. +But that has not prevented my discerning that for other and more active +pursuits you were eminently well fitted. You have, in a high degree, the +faculty of governing and arranging, and you possess uncommon energy of +will. A desk in a counting-house is not the place for such a nature." + +Fink bowed. "Nevertheless, it was my duty," said he, "to fill that place +properly, and I own that I have not done so." + +"You came here unaccustomed to regular work, but during the last few +months you have differed but little from a really industrious +counting-house clerk. Hence my letter to your father." + +Fink rose, and the merchant accompanied him to the door, saying, "Your +departure will be a great loss to one of our friends." + +Fink abruptly stopped, and said, "Let him go with me to America. He is +well fitted to make his fortune there." + +"Have you spoken to him on the subject?" + +"I have not." + +"Then I may state my opinion unreservedly. Wohlfart is young, and I +believe the defined and regular work of a house like this very +desirable discipline for him for some years to come. Meanwhile, I have +no right to sway his decision. I shall be sorry to lose him, but if he +thinks he will make his fortune more rapidly with you, I have no +objection to make." + +"If you will allow me, I will ask him at once," said Fink. + +Then calling Anton into the office, he went on to say, "Anton, I have +requested Mr. Schröter to allow you to accompany me. It will be a great +point to me to have you with me. You know how much attached to you I am; +we will share my new career, and get on gloriously, and you shall fix +your own conditions. Mr. Schröter leaves you to decide." + +Anton stood for a moment thoughtful and perplexed; the future so +suddenly opened out to him looked fair and promising, but he soon +collected himself, and, turning to the principal, inquired, "Is it your +opinion that I should do right to go?" + +"I can not say it is, dear Wohlfart," was the merchant's grave reply. + +"Then I remain," said Anton, decidedly. "Do not be angry with me, Fritz, +for not following you. I am an orphan, and have now no home but this +house and this firm. If Mr. Schröter will keep me, I will remain with +him." + +Evidently touched by the words, the merchant replied: "Remember, +however, that thus deciding you give up much. In my counting-house you +can neither become a rich man, nor have any experience of life on a +large and exciting scale; our business is limited, and the day may come +when you will find this irksome. All that tends to your future +independence, wealth, connections, and so forth, you will more readily +secure in America than with me." + +"My good father often used to say to me, 'Dwell in the land; and verily +thou shalt be fed.' I will live according to his wish," said Anton, in a +voice low with emotion. + +"He is, and always will be, a mere cit," cried Fink, in a sort of +despair. + +"I believe that this love of country is a very sound foundation for a +man's fortune to rise upon," said the merchant, and there was an end of +the matter. + +Fink said nothing more about the proposal, and Anton tried, by countless +small attentions, to show his friend how dear he was to him, and how +much he regretted his departure. + +That evening Fink said to Anton, "Hearken, my lad; I have a fancy to +take a wife across with me." + +Anton looked at his friend in utter amazement, and, like one who has +received a great shock and wishes to conceal it often does, he inquired, +in forced merriment, "What! you will actually ask Fräulein von +Baldereck--" + +"That's not the quarter. What should I do with a woman whose only +thought would be how she could best amuse herself with her husband's +money?" + +"But who else can you be thinking of? Not of the ancient cousin of the +house?" + +"No, my fine fellow, but of the young lady of the house." + +"For Heaven's sake, no!" cried Anton, springing up; "that would, indeed, +be a pretty business." + +"Why so?" was the cool reply. "Either she takes me, and I am a lucky +man, or she takes me not, and I start without a wife." + +"But have you ever thought of it before?" inquired Anton, uneasily. + +"Sometimes--indeed often during the last year. She is the best +housewife, and the noblest, most unselfish creature in the world." + +Anton looked at his friend in growing astonishment. Not once had Fink +given him the remotest hint of such a thing. + +"But you never told me of it." + +"Have you ever told me of your feelings for another young lady?" replied +Fink, laughing. + +Anton blushed and was silent. + +"I think," continued Fink, "that she does not dislike me; but whether +she will go with me or not I can not tell; however, we shall soon know, +for I am going at once to ask her." + +Anton barred the way. "Once more I implore you to reflect upon what you +are going to do." + +"What is there to reflect upon, you simple child?" laughed Fink; but an +unusual degree of excitement was visible in his manner. + +"Do you then love Sabine?" asked Anton. + +"Another of your home questions," replied Fink. "Yes, I do love her in +my own way." + +"And do you mean to take her into the back woods?" + +"Yes; for she will be a high-hearted, strong-minded wife, and will give +stability and worth to my life there. She is not fascinating--at least +one can't get on with her as readily as with many others; but if I am to +take a wife, I need one who can look after me. Believe me, the +black-haired one is the very one to do that; and now let me go; I must +find out how I stand." + +"Speak at least to the principal in the first instance," cried Anton +after him. + +"First to herself," cried Fink, rushing down the stairs. + +Anton paced up and down the room. All that Fink had said in praise of +Sabine was true; that he warmly felt. He knew, too, how deep her feeling +for him was, and yet he foresaw that his friend would meet with some +secret obstacle or other. Then another thing displeased him. Fink had +only spoken of himself; had he thought of her happiness in the +matter--had he even felt what it would cost her to leave her beloved +brother, her country, and her home? True, Fink was the very man to +scatter the blossoms of the New World profusely at her feet, but he was +always restless; actively employed, would he have any sympathy for the +feelings of his German wife? And involuntarily our hero found himself +taking part against his friend, and deciding that Sabine ought not to +leave the home and brother to whom she was so essential; and, absorbed +in these thoughts, Anton paced up and down, anxious and heavy-hearted. +It grew dark, and still Fink did not return. + +Meanwhile he was announced to Sabine. She came hurriedly to meet him, +and her cheeks were redder than usual as she said, "My brother has told +me that you must leave us." + +Fink began in some agitation, "I must not, I can not leave without +having spoken openly to you. I came here without any interest in the +quiet life to which I had been so unaccustomed. I have here learned the +worth and the happiness of a German home. You I have ever honored as the +good spirit of the house. Soon after my arrival, you began to treat me +with a distance of manner which I have always lamented. I now come to +tell you how much my eyes and heart have clung to you. I feel that my +life would be a happy one if I could henceforth ever hear your voice, +and if your spirit could accompany mine along the paths of my future +life." + +Sabine became very pale, and retreated. "Say no more, Herr von Fink," +said she, imploringly, raising her hand unconsciously, as if to avert +what she foresaw. + +"Nay, let me speak," rapidly continued he. "I should consider it the +greatest happiness if I could take with me the conviction of not being +indifferent to you. I have not the audacity to ask you to follow me at +once into an uncertain life, but give me a hope that in a year I may +return and ask you to become my wife." + +"Do not return," said Sabine, motionless as a statue, and in a voice +scarcely audible; "I implore you to say no more." + +Her hands convulsively grasped the back of the chair next to her, and, +supporting herself by it, she stood with bloodless cheeks, looking at +her suitor through her tears with eyes so full of grief and tenderness +that the wild-hearted man before her was thoroughly overcome, and lost +all self-confidence--nay, forgot his own cause in his distress at her +emotion, and his anxiety to soothe it. + +"I grieve that I should thus have shocked you," said he; "forgive me, +Sabine." + +"Go! go!" implored Sabine, still standing as before. + +"Let me not part from you without some comfort; give me an answer; the +most painful were better than this silence." + +"Then hear me," said Sabine, with unnatural calmness, while her breast +heaved and her hands trembled; "I loved you from the first day of your +arrival; like a childish girl, I listened with rapture to the tone of +your voice, and was fascinated by all your lips uttered; but I have +conquered the feeling. I have conquered it," she repeated. "I dare not +be yours, for I should be miserable." + +"But why--why?" inquired Fink, in genuine despair. + +"Do not ask me," said Sabine, scarce audibly. + +"I must hear my sentence from your own lips," cried Fink. + +"You have played with your own life and with the life of others; you +would always be unsparing in carrying out your plans; you would +undertake what was great and noble--that I believe--but you would not +shrink from the sacrifice of individuals. I can not bear such a spirit. +You would be kind to me--that, too, I believe; you would make as many +allowances for me as you could, but you would always have to make them: +that would become burdensome to you, and I should be alone--alone in a +foreign land. I am weak, spoiled, bound by a hundred ties to the customs +of this house, to the little domestic duties of every day, and to my +brother's life." + +Fink looked down darkly. "You are punishing severely in this hour all +that you have disapproved in me hitherto." + +"No," cried Sabine, holding out her hand, "not so, my friend. If there +have been hours in which you have pained me, there have been others in +which I have looked up to you in admiration; and this is the very reason +that keeps us apart forever. I can never be at rest near you; I am +constantly tossed from one extreme of feeling to another; I am not sure +of you, nor ever should be. I should have to conceal this inward +conflict in a relation where my whole nature ought to be open to you, +and you would find that out, and would be angry with me." + +She gave him her hand. Fink bent low over the little hand, and pressed a +kiss upon it. + +"Blessings on your future!" said Sabine, trembling all over. "If ever +you have spent a happy hour among us, oh! think of it when far away. If +ever in the German merchant's house, in the career of my brother, you +have found any thing to respect, think, oh! think of it in that far +country. In the different life that awaits you, in the great +enterprises, the wild struggles that you will engage in, never think +slightly of us and of our quiet ways;" and she held her left hand over +his head, like an anxious mother blessing her parting darling. + +Fink pressed her right hand firmly in his own; both looked long into +each other's eyes, and both faces were pale. At last Fink said, in his +deep, melodious voice, "Fare you well!" + +"Fare you well!" replied she, so low that he hardly caught the words. He +walked slowly away, while she looked after him motionless, as one who +watches the vanishing of an apparition. + +When the merchant, after the close of his day's work, went into his +sister's room, Sabine flew to meet him, and, clasping him in her arms, +laid her head on his breast. + +"What is it, my child?" inquired he, anxiously stroking back her hair +from her damp brow. + +"Fink has been with me; I have been speaking with him." + +"About what? Has he been disagreeable? Has he made you an offer?" asked +the merchant, in jest. + +"He has made me an offer," said Sabine. + +Her brother started: "And you, my sister?" + +"I have done what you might expect me to do--I shall not see him again." + +Tears started at the words; she took her brother's hand and kissed it. + +"Do not be angry with me for weeping. I am still a little shaken: it +will soon pass." + +"My precious sister--dear, dear Sabine!" cried the merchant; "I can not +but fear that you thought of me when you refused." + +"I thought of you and of your self-sacrificing, duty-loving life, and +his bright form lost the fair colors in which I had once seen it +clothed." + +"Sabine, you have made a sacrifice for my sake," cried her brother. + +"No, Traugott; if this has been a sacrifice, I have made it to the home +where I have grown up under your care, and to the memory of our good +parents, whose blessing rests on our quiet life." + +It was late when Fink re-entered Anton's room; he looked heated, threw +his hat on the table, himself on the sofa, and said to his friend, + +"Before any thing else, give me a cigar." + +Anton shook his head as he reached him a bundle, and asked, "How have +you fared?" + +"No wedding to be," coolly returned Fink. "She plainly showed me that I +was a good for nothing sort of fellow, and no match for a sensible girl. +She took the matter rather too seriously, assured me of her regard, gave +me a sketch of my character, and dismissed me. But, hang me!" cried he, +springing up, and throwing away his cigar, "if she be not the best soul +that ever preached virtue in a petticoat. She has only one fault, that +of not choosing to marry me; and even there she is right." + +Fink's strange bearing made Anton feel anxious. + +"Why have you been so long away, and where have you been?" said he. + +"Not to the wine-shop, as your wisdom seems to surmise. If a man be +refused, he has surely a good right to be melancholy for a couple of +hours or so. I have done what any one would in such desperate +circumstances. I have walked about and philosophized. I have quarreled +with the world--that is to say, with the black-haired and myself--and +then ended by standing still before a lamp-lit stall, and buying three +oranges." So saying, he drew them out of his pocket. "And now, my son, +the past is over and gone; let us speak of the future: this is the last +evening that we shall spend together; let no cloud hang over our +spirits. Make me a glass of punch, and squeeze these fat fellows in. +Orange-punch-making is one of the accomplishments you owe to me. I +taught it you, and now the rogue makes it better than I do. Come and sit +down beside me." + +The next morning old Sturm himself came to carry off the luggage. Fink +took Anton's hand, and said, "Before I go through my leave-taking of all +the others, I repeat to you what I said in our early days. Go on with +your English, that you may come after me. And be I where I may, in log +hut or cabin, I shall always have a room ready for you. As soon as you +are tired of this Old World, come to me. Meanwhile, I make you my heir; +you will take possession of my rooms. For the rest, be perfectly sure +that I have done with all bad ways. And now--no emotion, my boy!--there +are no great distances nowadays on our little earth." He tore himself +away, hurried into the counting-house, returned, bowed to the ladies at +the window, clasped his friend once more to his heart, leaped into the +carriage, and away--away to the New World. + +Meanwhile Anton mournfully returned to the office, and wrote a letter to +Herr Stephan in Wolfsburg, inclosing that worthy man a new price current +and several samples of sugar. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +A bad year came upon the country. A sudden rumor of war alarmed the +German borderers in the east, and our province among the rest. The +fearful consequences of a national panic were soon perceptible. Trade +stood still; the price of goods fell. Every one was anxious to realize +and withdraw from business, and large sums embarked in mercantile +speculations became endangered. No one had heart for new ventures. +Hundreds of ties, woven out of mutual interest, and having endured for +years, were snapped at once. Each individual existence became more +insecure, isolated, and poor. On all sides were anxious faces and +furrowed brows. The country was out of health; money, the vital blood of +business, circulated slowly from one part of the great body to the +other--the rich fearing to lose, the poor becoming unable to win. The +future was overcast all at once, like the summer sky by a heavy storm. + +That word of terror, "Revolution in Poland!" was not without serious +effects in Germany. The people on the other side of the frontier, +excited by old memories and by their landed proprietors, rose, and, led +by fanatical preachers, marched up and down the frontier, falling upon +travelers and merchandise, plundering and burning small towns and +noblemen's seats, and aiming at a military organization under the +command of their favorite leaders. Arms were forged, old fowling-pieces +produced from many a hiding-place; and, finally, the insurgents took and +occupied a large Polish town not far from the frontier, and proclaimed +their independent national existence. Troops were then assembled in all +haste by government, and sent to invest the frontier. Trains filled with +soldiers were incessantly running up and down the newly-constructed +railway. The streets of the capital were filled with uniforms, and the +drum every where heard. The army, of course, was all at once in the +ascendant. The officers ran here and there, full of business, buying +maps, and drinking toasts in all sorts of wines. The soldiers wrote home +to get money if possible, and to send more or less loving greetings to +their sweethearts. Numberless young clerks grew pale; numberless mothers +knit strong stockings through their tears, and providently made lint for +their poor sons; numberless fathers spoke with an unsteady voice of the +duty of fighting for king and country, and braced themselves up by +remembering the damage they had in their day done to that wicked +Napoleon. + +It was on a sunny autumn morning that the first positive intelligence of +the Polish insurrection reached the capital. Dark rumors had indeed +excited the inhabitants on the previous evening, and crowds of anxious +men of business and scared idlers were crowding the railway terminus. No +sooner was the office of T. O. Schröter open, than in rushed Mr. Braun, +the agent, and breathlessly related (not without a certain inward +complacency, such as the possessor of the least agreeable news +invariably betrays) that the whole of Poland and Galicia, as well as +several border provinces, were in open insurrection, numerous quiet +commercial travelers and peaceable officials surprised and murdered, and +numerous towns set fire to. + +This intelligence threw Anton into the greatest consternation, and with +good cause. A short time before, an enterprising Galician merchant had +undertaken to dispatch an unusually large order to the firm; and, as is +the custom of the country, he had already received the largest part of +the sum due to him for it (nearly twenty thousand dollars) in other +goods. The wagons that were to bring the merchandise must now, Anton +reckoned, be just in the heart of the disturbed district. Moreover, +another caravan, laden with colonial produce, and on its way to Galicia, +must be on the very confines of the enemy's land. And, what was still +worse, a large portion of the business of the house, and of the credit +granted it, was carried on in, and depended upon, this very part of the +country. Much--nay, every thing, he apprehended, would be endangered by +this war. So he rushed up to his principal, met him coming down, and +hastily related the news just heard; while Mr. Braun hurried to deliver +a second edition in the office, with as many further particulars as were +compatible with his love of truth. + +The principal remained for a moment silent where he stood, and Anton, +who was watching him anxiously, fancied that he looked a shade paler +than usual; but that must have been a mistake, for the next moment, +directing his attention to the porters beyond, he called out, in the +cool, business-like tone which had so often impressed Anton with +respect, "Sturm, be good enough to remove that barrel: it's in the very +middle of the way; and bestir yourselves, all of you; the carrier will +set out in an hour." To which Sturm, with a sorrowful look upon his +broad face, replied, "The drums are beating, and our men marching off. +My Karl is there as a hussar, with gay lace on his little coat. It is +unlucky, indeed. Alas for our wares, Mr. Schröter!" + +"Make the more haste on that account," replied the principal, smiling. +"Our wagons are going to the frontier too, laden with sugar and rum; our +soldiers will be glad of a glass of punch in the cold weather." Then +turning to Anton, he said, "These tidings are not satisfactory, but we +must not believe all we hear." And then, going into his office, he spoke +rather more cheerfully than usual to Mr. Braun; and, having quietly +heard his whole story, made a few comforting observations as to the +probability of the wagons not having yet reached the frontier. + +And so the great subject of interest was laid aside for the day, and +office-work went on as usual. Mr. Liebold wrote down large sums in his +ledger; Mr. Purzel piled dollar on dollar; and Mr. Pix wielded the black +brush and governed the servants with his wonted decision. At dinner the +conversation was as calm and cheerful as ever; and after it, the +principal went out walking with his sister and a few ladies of his +acquaintance, while all business men who met him exclaimed in amazement, +"He goes out walking to-day! As usual, he has known it all before the +rest of us. He has a good head of his own. The house is a solid house. +All honor to him!" + +Anton sat all day at his desk in a state of nervous excitement till then +unknown to him. He was full of anxiety and suspense, and yet there was +something of enjoyment in his feelings. He was keenly alive to the +danger in which his principal and the business were placed, but he was +no longer dejected or spiritless--nay, he felt every faculty enhanced; +never had he written so easily; never had his style been so' clear, or +his calculations so rapidly made. He remarked that Mr. Schröter moved +with a quicker step, and looked round with a brighter glance than usual. +Never had Anton so honored him before; he seemed, as it were, +transfigured in his eyes. In wild delight, our hero said to himself, +"This is poetry--the poetry of business; we can only experience this +thrilling sense of power and energy in working our way against the +stream. When people say that these times are wanting in inspiration, and +our calling wanting most of all, they talk nonsense. That man is at this +very moment staking all he has at a single cast--all that he holds +dearest, the result of a long life, his pride, his honor, his happiness; +and there he sits coolly at his desk, writes letters about logwood, and +examines samples of clover-seed--nay, I believe that he actually laughs +within himself." So mused Anton while locking up his desk and preparing +to join his colleagues. He found them discussing, over a cup of tea, the +news of the day, and its probable effect upon business, with a pleasant +sort of shudder. All agreed that the firm must indeed suffer loss, but +that they were the men to retrieve it sooner than ever was done before. +Various views were then propounded, till at length Mr. Jordan pronounced +that it was impossible to know beforehand what turn things would take, +which profound opinion was generally adopted, and the conference broke +up. Through the thin wall of his room Anton heard his neighbor Baumann +put up a fervent prayer for the principal and the business, and he +himself worked off his excitement by walking up and down till his lamp +burned low. + +It was already late when a servant noiselessly entered, and announced +that Mr. Schröter wished to speak to him. Anton followed in all haste, +and found the merchant standing before a newly-packed trunk, with his +portfolio on the table, together with that unmistakable symptom of a +long journey, his great English cigar-case of buffalo hide. It contained +a hundred cigars, and had long excited the admiration of Mr. Specht. +Indeed, the whole counting-house viewed it as a sort of banner never +displayed but on remarkable occasions. Sabine stood at the open drawers +of the writing-table, busily and silently collecting whatever the +traveler might want. The merchant advanced to meet Anton, and kindly +apologized for having summoned him so late, adding that he had not +expected him to be still up. + +When Anton replied that he was far too excited to sleep, such a ray of +gratitude for his sympathy shone from Sabine's eyes that our hero was +mightily moved, and did not trust himself to speak. + +The principal, however, smiled. "You are still young," he said; +"composure will come by-and-by. It will be necessary that I go and look +after our merchandise to-morrow. I hear that the Poles show special +consideration to our countrymen; possibly they imagine that our +government is not disaffected toward them. This illusion can not last +long; but there will be no harm in our trying to turn it to advantage +for the safety of our goods. You have conducted the correspondence, and +know all that is to be done for me. I shall travel to the frontier, and, +when there, shall decide what steps should next be taken." + +Sabine listened in the utmost excitement, and tried to read in her +brother's face whether he was keeping back any thing out of +consideration for her. Anton understood it all. The merchant was going +over the frontier into the very heart of the insurrection. + +"Can I not go in your stead?" said he, imploringly. "I feel, indeed, +that I have hitherto given you no grounds for trusting me in so +important an affair, but, at least, I will exert myself to the utmost, +Mr. Schröter." Anton's face glowed as he spoke. + +"That is kindly said, and I thank you," replied the principal; "but I +can not accept your offer. The expedition may have its difficulties, and +as the profits will be mine, it is but fair that the trouble should be +so too." Anton hung his head. "On the contrary, I purpose leaving +definite instructions with you, in case of my not being able to return +the day after to-morrow." + +Sabine, who had been anxiously listening, now seized her brother's hand, +and whispered, "Take him with you." + +This support gave Anton fresh courage. "If you do not choose to send me +alone, at least allow me to accompany you; possibly I may be of some +use; at least I would most gladly be so." + +"Take him with you," again implored Sabine. + +The merchant slowly looked from his sister to Anton's honest face, which +was glowing with youthful zeal, and replied, "Be it so, then. If I +receive the letters I expect, you will accompany me to-morrow to the +frontier; and now good-night." + +The following morning, Anton, who had thrown himself ready dressed on +the bed, was awakened by a slight knock. "The letters are come, sir." +And, hurrying into the office, he found the principal and Mr. Jordan +already there, engaged in earnest conversation, which the former merely +interrupted for a moment by the words "We go." Never had Anton knocked +at so many doors, run so quickly up and down stairs, and so heartily +shaken the hands of his colleagues, as in the course of the next hour. +As he hurried along the dim corridor, he heard a slight rustling. Sabine +stepped toward him and seized hold of his hand. "Wohlfart, protect my +brother." Anton promised, with inexpressible readiness, to do so; felt +for his loaded pistols, a present from Mr. Fink, and jumped into the +railway carriage with the most blissful feelings a youthful hero could +possibly have. He was bent on adventure, proud of the confidence of his +principal, and exalted to the utmost by the tender relation into which +he had entered with the divinity of the firm. He was indeed happy. + +The engine puffed and snorted across the wide plain like a horse from +Beelzebub's stables. There were soldiers in all the carriages--bayonets +and helmets shining every where; at all the stations, crowds of curious +inquirers, hasty questions and answers, fearful rumors, and marvelous +facts. Anton was glad when they left the railroad and the soldiers, and +posted on to the frontier in a light carriage: The high road was quiet, +less frequented indeed than usual, but when they drew near the border +they repeatedly met small detachments of military. The merchant did not +say any thing to Anton about the business in hand, but spoke with much +animation on every other subject, and treated his traveling companion +with confidential cordiality. Only he showed an aversion to Anton's +pistols, which a little damped the latter's martial ardor; for when, at +the second station, he carefully drew them out of his pocket to examine +their condition, Mr. Schröter pointed toward their brown muzzles, +saying, "I do not think we shall succeed in getting back our goods by +dint of pocket pistols. Are they loaded?" + +Anton bowed assent, adding, with a last remnant of martial vanity, "They +are at full cock." + +"Really!" said the principal, seriously, taking them out of Anton's +pocket, and then calling to the postillion to hold his horses, he coolly +shot off both barrels, remarking good-naturedly as he returned the +pistols to their owner, "It is better to confine ourselves to our +accustomed weapons: we are men of peace, and only want our own property +restored to us. If we can not succeed in convincing others of our +rights, there is no help for it. Plenty of powder will be shot away to +no purpose--plenty of efforts without result, and expenditure which only +tends to impoverish. There is no race so little qualified to make +progress, and to gain civilization and culture in exchange for capital, +as the Slavonic. All that those people yonder have in their idleness +acquired by the oppression of the ignorant masses they waste in foolish +diversions. With us, only a few of the specially privileged classes act +thus, and the nation can bear with it if necessary; but there, the +privileged classes claim to represent the people. As if nobles and mere +bondsmen could ever form a state! They have no more capacity for it than +that flight of sparrows on the hedge. The worst of it is that we must +pay for their luckless attempt." + +"They have no middle class," rejoined Anton, proudly. + +"In other words, they have no culture," continued the merchant; "and it +is remarkable how powerless they are to generate the class which +represents civilization and progress, and exalts an aggregate of +individual laborers into a state." + +"In the town before us, however," suggested Anton, "there is Conrad +Gaultier, and the house of the three Hildebrands in Galicia as well." + +"Worthy people," agreed the merchant, "but they are all merely settlers, +and the honorable burgher-class feeling has no root here, and seldom +goes down to a second generation. What is here called a city is a mere +shadow of ours, and its citizens have hardly any of those qualities +which with us characterize commercial men--the first class in the +state." + +"The first?" said Anton, doubtingly. + +"Yes, dear Wohlfart, the first. Originally individuals were free, and, +in the main, equal; then came the semi-barbarism of the privileged idler +and the laboring bondsman. It is only since the growth of our large +towns that the world boasts civilized states--only since then is the +problem solved which proves that free labor alone makes national life +noble, secure, and permanent." + +Toward evening our travelers reached the frontier station. It was a +small village, consisting, in addition to the custom-house and the +dwellings of the officials, of only a few poor cottages and a public +house. On the open space between the houses, and round about the +village, bivouacked two squadrons of cavalry, who had posted themselves +along the narrow river that defined the border, and who were appointed +to guard it in company with a detachment of riflemen. The public house +presented a scene of wild confusion: soldiers moving to and fro, and +sitting cheek by jowl in the little parlor; gay hussars and green coats +camped round the house on chairs, tables, barrels, and every thing that +could by any contrivance be converted into a seat. They appeared to +Anton so many Messrs. Pix, such was the peremptoriness with which they +disposed of the little inn and its contents. The Jew landlord received +the well-known merchant with a loud welcome, and his zeal was such that +he actually cleared out a small room for the travelers, where they could +at least spend the night alone. + +The merchant had scarcely dismounted when half a dozen men surrounded +him with shouts of joy. They were the drivers of the wagons that had +been recently expedited. The oldest of their party related that, when +just beyond the frontier, they had been induced to make a hasty retreat +by the alarming spectacle of a body of armed peasants. In turning round, +the wheel of the last wagon had come off; the driver, in his fright, had +unharnessed the horses and left the wagon. While the delinquent stood +there, flourishing his hat in the air, and excusing himself as well as +he could, the officer in command came up and confirmed the story. + +"You may see the wagon on the road, about a hundred yards beyond the +bridge," he went on to say; and when the merchant begged leave to cross +the bridge, he offered to send one of his officers with him. + +A young officer belonging to a squadron just returned from a patrol was +curbing his fiery steed at the door of the tavern. + +"Lieutenant von Rothsattel," called the captain, "accompany the +gentlemen beyond the bridge." + +It was with rapture that Anton heard a name linked with so many sweet +recollections. He knew at once that the rider of the fiery charger could +be no other than the brother of his lady of the lake. + +The lieutenant, tall and slender, with a delicate mustache, was as like +his sister as a young cavalry officer could be to the fairest of all +mortal maidens. Anton felt at once a warm and respectful regard for him, +which was perhaps discernible in his bow, for the young gentleman +acknowledged it by a careless inclination of his small head. His horse +went prancing on by the side of the merchant and his clerk. They hurried +to the middle of the bridge, and looked eagerly along the road. There +lay the colossal wagon, like a wounded white elephant resting on one +knee. + +"A short time ago it had not been plundered," said the lieutenant; "the +canvas was stretched quite tightly over it; but they have been at it +now, for I see a corner fluttering." + +"There does not appear to have been much mischief done," replied the +principal. + +"If you could get over a wheel and a pair of horses, you might carry off +the whole affair," replied the lieutenant, carelessly. "Our men have had +a great hankering after it all day. They were very anxious to ascertain +whether there was any thing drinkable in it or not. Were it not that we +are commanded not to cross the borders, it would be a mere trifle to +bring the wagon here, if the commanding officer allowed you to pass the +sentinels, and if you could manage those fellows yonder." So saying, he +pointed to a crowd of peasants, who were camping behind some stunted +willows just out of reach of shot, and who had stationed an armed man on +the high road as sentinel. + +"We will fetch the wagon if the officer in command permit us to do so," +said the principal. "I hope we may find a way of dealing with those +people yonder." + +Meanwhile Anton could not refrain from murmuring, "The whole day long +these gentlemen have allowed two thousand dollars' worth to lie there on +the highway; they have had plenty of time to get back the wagon for us." + +"We must not be unreasonable in our demands upon the army," replied the +merchant, with a smile. "We shall be satisfied if they only allow us to +rescue our property from those boors;" and, accordingly, they turned +back to make their wishes known to the captain. + +"If you can find men and horses, I have nothing to object," replied he. + +As soon as the wagoners were reassembled, the principal inquired which +of them would accompany him, engaging to make good any harm that might +happen to the horses. + +After some scratching and shaking of their heads, most of them declared +their willingness to go. Four horses were speedily harnessed, a child's +sledge belonging to the landlord produced, a wheel and some levers +placed thereon, and then the little caravan set off in the direction of +the bridge, pursued by the jocular approbation of the soldiers, and +accompanied by some of the officers, who showed as much interest in the +expedition as comported with their martial dignity. + +On the bridge the captain said, "I wish you success, but unfortunately I +am unable to send any of my men to assist you." + +"It is better as it is," answered the principal, bowing; "we will +proceed to recover our goods like peaceable people, and while we do not +fear those gentry yonder, we do not wish to provoke them. Be so good, +Mr. Wohlfart, as to leave your pistols behind you; we must show these +armed men that we have nothing to do with war and its apparatus." + +Anton had replaced his pistols in his pocket, whence they peeped out +with an air of defiance, but now he gave them to a soldier called by +Lieutenant von Rothsattel. And so they crossed the bridge, at the end of +which the lieutenant reluctantly reined up his charger, muttering, +"These grocers march into the enemy's country before us;" while the +captain called out, "Should your persons be in danger, I shall not +consider it any departure from duty to send Lieutenant Rothsattel and a +few soldiers to your aid." The lieutenant rushed back and gave the word +of command to his troop, which was not far off, to sit still, and then +he dashed again to the end of the bridge, and watched with great +interest and warlike impatience the progress of the grocers, as he +called them. To his and his country's honor, be it here said, that they +all alike wished the poor civilians a warm reception, and some serious +inconvenience, that they might have a right to interfere, and cut and +hack a little on their behalf. + +Meanwhile, the march of the merchants into the enemy's country had +nothing very imposing about it; lighting his cigar, and walking with a +brisk step, the principal went on, Anton close by his side, and behind +them three stout wagoners with the horses. When they had got within +about thirty yards of certain peasants in white smock frocks, these +brandished their weapons, and cried out to them in Polish to halt. + +The principal, raising his voice, addressed them in their own tongue, +desiring that they would call their leader. + +Accordingly, some of the savages began by wild gesticulations to +communicate with their companions at a distance, while others held +their weapons in readiness, and aimed, as Anton remarked without any +particular satisfaction, pretty exactly at him. Meanwhile the leader of +the band advanced with long strides. He wore a blue coat with colored +lace, a square red cap trimmed with gray fur, and he carried a wild-duck +gun in his hand. He seemed a dark-hued fellow, of a formidable aspect, +enhanced by a long black mustache falling down on each side of his +mouth. As soon as he came near, the merchant addressed him in a loud +voice, and rather imperfect Polish. "We are strangers. I am the owner of +that wagon yonder, and am come to fetch it; tell your people to help me, +and I will give them a good gratuity." At which word all the weapons +were reverentially lowered. The chief of the krakuse, or irregulars, now +placed himself pathetically in the middle of the highway, and began a +long oration, accompanied by much action, of which Anton understood very +little, and his principal not all, but which, being interpreted by one +of the wagoners, was found to signify that the leader much regretted his +inability to serve the gentlemen, as he had received orders from the +corps stationed behind him to keep watch over the wagon till the horses +should arrive which were to take it to the nearest town. + +The merchant merely shook his head, and replied, in a tone of quiet +command, "That won't do. The wagon is mine, and I must carry it off. I +can not wait the permission of your expected wagoners;" and, putting his +hand into his pocket, he displayed to the owner of the blue coat half a +dozen shining dollars, unseen by the rest. "So much for you, and as much +for your people." The leader looked at the dollars, scratched his head +vehemently, and turned his cap round and round; the result of which was, +that he at last arrived at the conclusion that, since things stood thus, +the worthy gentleman might drive off his wagon. + +The procession now triumphantly proceeded; the drivers seized the +levers, and, by their united efforts, raised the fallen side, detached +the fragments of the broken wheel, put on the new one, and harnessed the +horses; and all this with the active assistance of some of the peasants, +and the brotherly support of their commandant, who himself wielded a +lever. Then the horses were set off with a good will, and the wagon +rolled on toward the bridge amid the loud acclamations of the krakuse, +which were perhaps intended to drown a dissentient voice in his +innermost breast. + +"Go on with the wagon," said the merchant to Anton; and when the latter +hesitated to leave his principal alone with the boors, the command was +still more peremptorily repeated. And so the wagon slowly progressed +toward the frontier; and Anton already heard from a distance the +laughing greetings of the soldiers. + +Meanwhile the merchant remained in animated conversation with the +peasant band, and at length parted on the best possible terms with the +insurgents' leader, who, with true Slavonic politeness, acted the part +of landlord on the public road, and, cap in hand, accompanied the +travelers till within gunshot of the military on the bridge. The +principal got into the wagon, underwent the warlike ceremonial of +"Halt!" &c., on the part of the sentinels, and received the smiling +congratulations of the captain, while the lieutenant said satirically to +Anton, "You have had no cause to lament the want of your pocket +pistols." + +"All the better," answered Anton; "it was a tame affair indeed. The poor +devils had stolen nothing but a small cask of rum." + +An hour later, the travelers were sitting with the officers of both +regiments, in the little tavern parlor, over a bottle of old Tokay, +which the host had disinterred from the lowest depths of his cellar. Not +the least happy of the party was Anton. For the first time in his life +he had experienced one of the small perils of war, and was, on the +whole, pleased with the part he had played; and now he was sitting by a +young soldier, whom he was prepared to admire to the utmost, and had the +privilege of offering him his cigars, and discussing with him the day's +adventures. + +"The boors pointed their guns at you at first," said the young nobleman, +carelessly curling his mustache; "you must have found that a bore." + +"Not much of one," replied Anton, as coolly as he could. "For a moment I +felt startled as I saw the guns aimed at me, and behind them men with +scythes, pantomiming the cutting off of heads. It struck me +uncomfortably at first that all the muzzles should point so directly at +my face; afterward I had to work away at the wagon, and thought no more +about it; and when, on our return, each of our wagoners affirmed that +the guns had pointed at him and no one else, I came to the conclusion +that this many-sidedness must be part of the idiosyncrasy of guns--a +sort of optical unmannerliness that does not mean much." + +"We should soon have cut you out if the peasants had been in earnest," +replied the lieutenant, benevolently. "Your cigars are remarkably good." + +Anton was rejoiced to hear it, and filled his neighbor's glass. And so +he entertained himself, and looked at his principal, who seemed to be +unusually inclined to converse with the gay gentlemen around him on all +subjects connected with peace and war. Anton remarked that he treated +the officers with a degree of formal politeness, which considerably +checked the free and easy tone which they had at first adopted. The +conversation soon became general, and all listened with attention to the +merchant while he spoke of the disturbed districts, with which former +journeys had made him familiar, and sketched some of the leaders of the +insurrection. Young Von Rothsattel alone, to Anton's great distress, did +not seem to like the attention lent by his comrades to the civilian, nor +the lion's share of the conversation conceded him. He threw himself +carelessly back on his chair, looked absently at the ceiling, played +with his sword-hilt, and uttered curt observations, intended to denote +that he was not a little bored. When the captain mentioned that he +expected their commander-in-chief to arrive in the morning, and the +merchant said in reply, "Your colonel will not be here till to-morrow +evening, so at least he said to me when I met him at the station," the +demon of pride in the young officer's breast became uncontrollable, and +he rudely said, "You know our colonel, then? I suppose he buys his tea +and sugar from you." + +"At all events, he used to do so," politely replied the merchant; +"indeed, as a younger man, I have sometimes weighed out coffee for him +myself." + +A certain degree of embarrassment now arose among the officers, and one +of the elder attempted, according to his light, to rectify the +intentional rudeness by saying something about a most highly-respectable +establishment where civilians or military alike might procure, with +perfect satisfaction, whatever they needed. + +"I thank you, captain, for the confidence you repose in my house," +replied the merchant, with a smile, "and I am indeed proud that it +should have become respectable through my own active exertions and those +of my firm." + +"Lieutenant Rothsattel, you head the next patrol; it is time that you +should set out," said the captain. Accordingly, with clink and clatter, +the lieutenant rose. + +"Here comes our landlord with a new bottle on which he sets great value; +it is the best wine in his cellar. May not Herr von Rothsattel take a +glass of it before he goes to watch over our night's rest?" inquired the +merchant, with calm politeness. + +The young man haughtily thanked him and clattered out of the room. Anton +could have thrashed his new favorite with all his heart. + +It was now late; and Anton saw, with some astonishment, that the +merchant still continued with the utmost politeness to play the host, +and to evince a pleasure in every fresh experience of the Tokay not easy +to reconcile with the purpose of his journey. At last, another bottle +having been uncorked, and the captain having taken and commenced a fresh +cigar of the merchant's, the latter casually observed, "I wish to travel +to the insurgent capital to-morrow, and request your permission, if it +be necessary." + +"You do!" cried all the officers round the table. + +"I must!" said the merchant, gravely, and proceeded briefly to state the +reasons for his resolve. + +The captain shook his head. "It is true," said he, "that the exact terms +in which my orders are couched leave it optional whether I bar the +frontier against all alike, but yet the chief aim of our occupying this +position is the closing up of the disturbed district." + +"Then I must make known my wishes to the commander-in-chief; but this +will delay me more than a day, and this delay will very probably defeat +the whole object of my journey. As you have kindly informed me, there +still exists a certain degree of order among the insurgents, but it is +impossible to say how long this may last. Now it is upon the existence +of this very order that I must depend for the recovery of my property, +for I can only get the loaded wagons out of the town with the consent of +the revolutionary party." + +"And do you hope to obtain it?" + +"I must endeavor to do so," was the reply; "at all events, I shall +oppose might and main the plundering and destroying of my goods." + +The captain mused a while. "Your plans," said he, "place me in a strait; +if any harm should befall you, which is, I fear, only too likely, I +shall be reproached for having allowed you to cross the frontier. Can +nothing persuade you to give up this undertaking?" + +"Nothing," said the merchant--"nothing but the law of the land." + +"Are the wagons, then, of such consequence to you, that you are willing +to risk your life for them?" asked the captain, rather morosely. + +"Yes, captain, of as much consequence as the doing your duty is to you. +To me their safety involves far more than mere mercantile profit. I must +cross the frontier unless prevented by a positive prohibition. That I +should not actually resist, but I should do all in my power to have an +exception made in my favor." + +"Very good," said the captain; "I will lay no hinderance in your way; +you will give me your word of honor that you will disclose nothing +whatever as to the strength of our position, the arrangement of our +troops, or as to what you have heard of our intended movements." + +"I pledge my word," said the merchant. + +"Your character is sufficient guarantee that your intentions in taking +this journey are upright; but officially I could wish to see the papers +connected with it, if you have them by you." + +"Here they are," said the merchant, in the same business-like tone. +"There is my passport for a year, here the bill of goods of the Polish +seller, the copies of my letters to the custom-house officer, and the +replies to them." + +The captain glanced over the papers, and gave them back. "You are a +brave man, and I heartily wish you success," said he, in a dignified +tone. "How do you mean to travel?" + +"With post-horses. If I can not hire, I shall buy, and drive them +myself. Our host will let me have a carriage, and I shall set out +to-morrow morning, as I might cause more suspicion traveling by night." + +"Very well, then, I shall see you again at break of day. I believe that +we ourselves are to move over into the enemy's country in three days' +time; and if I hear no tidings from you in the mean time, I shall look +you out in the conquered city. We must disperse, gentlemen; we have +already sat here too long." + +The officers then retired with clank of arms, and Anton and his +principal remained alone with the empty bottles. The merchant opened the +window, and then turning to Anton, who had listened to the foregoing +conversation in the greatest excitement, began, "We must part here, dear +Wohlfart--" + +Before he could finish his sentence Anton caught hold of his hand, and +said, with tears in his eyes, "Let me go with you; do not send me back +to the firm. I should reproach myself intolerably my whole life through +if I had left you on this journey." + +"It would be useless, perhaps unwise, that you should accompany me. I +can perfectly well do alone all that has to be done; and if there be any +risk to run, which, however, I do not believe, your presence could not +protect me, and I should only have the painful feeling of having +endangered another for my sake." + +"Still, I should be very grateful to you if you would take me with you," +urged Anton; "and Miss Sabine wished it too," added he, wisely keeping +his strongest argument for the last. + +"She is a terrible girl," said the merchant, with a smile. "Well, then, +so let it be. We will go together; call the landlord, and let us make +all our traveling arrangements." + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +It was still night when Anton stepped over the threshold of the tavern. +A thick cloud hung over the plain. A red glare on the horizon marked the +district through which the travelers had to pass. The mist of night +covered, with a gray veil, a dark mass on the ground. Anton went nearer, +and found that it consisted of men, women, and children, cowering on the +earth, pale, hungry, and emaciated. "They are from the village on the +other side of the boundary," explained an old watchman, who stood +wrapped in his cavalry cloak. "Their village was on fire; they had run +into the forest, and during the night they had come down to the river, +stretching out their hands, and crying piteously for bread. As they were +mostly women and children, our captain allowed them to cross, and has +had a few loaves cut up for them. They are half famished. After them +came larger bodies, all crying 'Bread! bread!' and wringing their hands. +We fired off a few pistol-shots over their heads, and soon scattered +them." + +"Ha!" said Anton, "this is a poor prospect for us and our journey. But +what will become of these unfortunate creatures?" + +"They are only border rascals," said the watchman, soothingly. "Half +the year they smuggle and swill, the other half they starve. They are +freezing a little just now." + +"Could one not have a caldron full of soup made for them?" inquired +Anton, compassionately, putting his hand into his pocket. + +"Why soup?" replied the other, coldly; "a drink of brandy would please +the whole fry better. Over there they all drink brandy, even the child +at the breast; if you are inclined to spend something upon them in that +way, I'll give it out, not forgetting a loyal old soldier at the same +time." + +"I will request the landlord to have something warm got ready for them, +and you will have the goodness to see that it is all right." And again +Anton's hand went into his pocket, and the watchman promised to keep his +warlike heart open to compassion. + +An hour later the travelers were rolling along in an open britzska. The +merchant drove; Anton sat behind him, and looked eagerly out into the +surrounding landscape, where, through darkness and mist, a few detached +objects were just beginning to appear. When they had driven about two +hundred yards, they heard a Polish call. The merchant stopped, and a +single man cautiously approached. "Come up, my good friend," said the +merchant; "sit here by me." The stranger politely took off his cap, and +swung himself up to the driving-box. He turned out to be the chief +krakuse of the day before--the man with the drooping mustache. + +"Keep an eye on him," said the merchant in English to Anton; "he shall +serve us as a safe-conduct, and be paid for it too; but if he touches +me, lay hold of him from behind." + +Anton took his despised pistols out of an old leathern pouch on one side +of the carriage, and, in sight of the krakuse, arranged them +ostentatiously in the pocket of his paletot. But the latter only smiled, +and soon showed himself a creature of a friendly and social nature, +nodding confidentially to both travelers, drinking some mouthfuls out of +Anton's traveling flask, trying to keep up, over his left shoulder, a +conversation with him, calling him "your grace" in broken German, and +giving him to understand that he too smoked, though he did not happen to +have any tobacco. At last he requested the honor of driving the +gentlemen. + +In this manner they passed a group of fallen houses, which lay on a flat +close to a marsh, looking like giant fungi that had shot up on a +malarian soil, when they suddenly found themselves surrounded by a band +of insurgents. It was a general levy, such as they had seen the day +before. There were flails in abundance, a few scythes, old muskets, +linen smock-frocks, a strong smell of spirits, and wild, staring eyes. +This troop at once seized the horses by the bridles, and quick as +lightning began to unharness them. The krakuse now sprang up lion-like +from his seat, and displayed, in his Polish tongue, a vast amount of +eloquence, aided by much gesticulation with hands and feet. He declared +that these gentlemen were great noblemen, who were traveling to the +capital that they might speak with the government, and that it would +cost the head of every man who presumed to pull a hair out of one of +their horses' tails. This speech provoked several animated replies, +during which some clenched their fists, and some took off their caps. +Upon that the driver began a still more powerful oration, setting before +the patriots a prospective quartering if they even ventured to look +askance at the heads of the horses. This had the effect of diminishing +the number of clenched fists, and increasing that of the doffed caps. At +length the merchant put an end to the whole scene by suddenly flogging +the horses, and thus compelling the last recusants to jump aside as fast +as they could. The horses galloped off, loud interjections were heard in +the distance, and a few shots passed harmlessly over the heads of the +travelers, probably fired out of a general enthusiasm for fatherland +rather than with any definite purpose. + +So the hours passed on. They not unfrequently met bands of armed +peasantry screaming and brandishing their cudgels, or else following, +with bent heads and hymn-singing, a priest who bore a church banner +displayed. The travelers were sometimes, indeed, stopped and threatened, +but at other times saluted with the utmost reverence, especially Anton, +who, sitting as he did behind, was taken for the most important +personage. + +At length they approached a larger village, the bands grew closer, the +uproar greater, and here and there a uniform, a cockade, or a bayonet +appeared among the smock-frocks. Here, too, the driver began to show +symptoms of disquiet, and announced to the merchant that he could not +take them any farther, and that they must report themselves to the +leader in command. To this Mr. Schröter made no objection, but paid the +driver and stopped the carriage. + +A young man with a blue head-piece, and a red and white scarf about his +waist, stepped forward, obliged the travelers to dismount, and with a +great display of zeal led them to the chief. The merchant still held the +reins in his hand, and whispered to Anton that he was on no account to +lose sight of the carriage. Anton pretended the utmost unconcern, and +pressed a coin into the hand of the friendly krakuse, who had crept +behind the carriage, that he might go and get the horses a bundle of +hay. + +The sentry was in a house whose thatched roof had been dignified by the +whitewashing of the walls. A few muskets and guns leaned up against it, +watched by a youthful volunteer in blue coat and red cap. Near at hand +sat the commanding officer, whose flat face was surmounted by an immense +white plume, and whose person was adorned by an enormous white scarf, +and a sword with elaborate hilt. This dignitary was considerably excited +when he beheld the strangers; he clapped his hat more firmly on his +head, stroked his unkempt beard, and began to give audience. After a few +preliminary remarks, the travelers told him that they had weighty +business to transact with the heads of the government. They refused, +however, to give any account of its purport. This statement wounded the +dignity of the authority before them. He made harsh allusions to +suspicious characters and spies, and called to his guard to stand to +their arms. Instantly five youths in blue caps rushed out of the house, +ranged themselves in order, and were commanded to hold their guns in +readiness. Involuntarily Anton sprang between them and his principal. +Meanwhile the man of the giant sword, on seeing that the merchant still +stood quietly by the post round which he had fastened the reins, changed +his murderous intent, contenting himself with assuring him that he +considered him a very dangerous character, and was much inclined to +shoot him as a traitor. + +The merchant shrugged his shoulders, and said, with calm politeness, +"You are entirely mistaken as to the object of our journey. You can not +seriously believe us to be spies, for we have just been brought to you +by one of your own people, in order that we might obtain from your +kindness a convoy to the capital. I must once more request you not to +detain us, as our business with the government is of a pressing nature, +and I shall be obliged to make you responsible for all unnecessary +delay." This address led to another volley of oaths on the part of the +man in authority, who snorted violent defiance against the travelers, +drank off a large glass of brandy, and finally came to a decision. He +called three of his men, and desired them to take their seats in the +carriage, and to convey it to the capital. A bundle of fresh straw was +thrown in, two youths with arms in their hands placed themselves behind +the travelers, while a white-frocked peasant sat on the box, took the +reins, and indifferently drove the whole cargo, suspicious characters, +patriots, and all, at a gallop toward the capital. + +"Our condition has changed for the worse," said Anton. "Five men in this +little carriage, and the poor horses tired already." + +"I told you," replied the merchant, "that our journey would have some +inconveniences. Men are never more troublesome than when they play at +being soldiers. In other respects, this guard over us does no harm; at +least, with such an escort, we are sure to be admitted into the city." + +It was evening when they reached the capital. A red glare in the sky +showed them their goal while they were still far from it. As they +approached, they met numerous companies of armed men moving in and out. +Next came a long detention at the gates--an interchange of questions and +answers--an examination of the travelers by the aid of lanterns and pine +torches, angry looks, and even intelligible threats, and, finally, a +long drive through the streets of the old capital. Sometimes all around +them was still as death; sometimes a wild cry resounded from the crowd, +all the more alarming because the words were not understood. + +At length the driver turned into a square, and stopped before a handsome +house. The travelers were surrounded and pushed up a broad staircase by +a crowd of gay uniforms, laced coats, and clean smock frocks. Next they +were thrust into a large apartment, and placed before a gentleman +wearing white silk gloves, who looked into a written report, and briefly +informed them that, according to the report of the commandant at the +station, they were suspected of being spies, and were to undergo a +court-martial. The merchant at once broke out in high displeasure: "I am +sorry that your informant should have told you a great falsehood, for we +have undertaken this journey on the highway and in broad daylight, for +the express purpose of speaking to your governors. The horses and +carriage which brought me here are both mine, and it was an uncalled-for +act of politeness on the part of your commandant to furnish me with an +escort. I wish to see the gentleman in command here as soon as possible; +it is to him alone that I mean to impart the motive of my journey; be so +good, therefore, as to hand him my passport." + +The official examined the passport, and, looking at Anton, proceeded to +inquire, with somewhat more consideration, "But this gentleman? He has +the appearance of an officer in your army." + +"I am a clerk of Mr. Schröter's," returned Anton, with a bow; "and out +and out a civilian." + +"Wait a while," said the young man, superciliously, going with the +passport into a neighboring room. + +As he remained away some time, and no one interfered with the travelers, +they sat down on a bench, and tried to appear as unconcerned as +possible. Anton first cast an anxious glance at his principal, who was +looking down gloomily, and then gazed about him in amazement. The room +in which they were was lofty, and the ceiling much ornamented, but the +walls were dirty and smoke-stained; tables, chairs, and benches stood +about in confusion, and seemed as if just brought in from the nearest +tavern. A few writers bent over their papers, while soldiers sat or lay +along the walls, asleep or talking loudly, several of them in French. A +room like this, dimly lighted, was not calculated to make a cheerful +impression upon Anton, who whispered to the merchant, "If revolutions in +general look like this, they are ugly things." + +"They always destroy, and seldom recreate," was the reply. "I am afraid +that this room is an emblem of the whole town: the painted coat of arms +on the ceiling, and the dirty bench on which we are sitting. When such +contrasts as these are brought into juxtaposition, it is enough to make +a sober-minded man cross himself in horror. The nobles and the people +are bad enough, taken separately, when they each try their hands at +government; but when they unite, they are sure to bring down the house +that holds them." + +"The nobles are the most troublesome," said Anton. "Commend me to our +krakuse; he was a polite insurgent, and knew the value of a half dollar; +but these gentlemen seem to have no business notions at all." + +"Let us wait a little," said the principal. + +A quarter of an hour had passed, when a young man, tall in stature and +stately in aspect, followed by the white-gloved gentleman, politely +approached the merchant, saying so loudly that even the sleepers could +hardly fail to hear, "I rejoice to see you here, and have indeed been +expecting it; have the goodness to follow me with your companion." + +"By Jove, we are looking up!" thought Anton. + +They followed their majestic guide into a small corner room, which was +evidently the boudoir of the quarters, for it contained an ottoman, easy +chairs, and a handsome writing-table. Different uniforms and articles of +dress were carelessly thrown upon the furniture; and on the table lay, +in the midst of papers, a pair of double-barreled pocket pistols, and a +large seal richly set in gold. + +While Anton was noticing that the whole room was very elegant, but, at +the same time, very untidy, the young chief turned to the merchant and +said, with somewhat more reserve and less amenity, "You have, through a +misunderstanding, been exposed to some rudeness, as is indeed often +unavoidable in troubled times. Your escort has confirmed your +statements. I now beg you to impart to me the reason of your visit." + +The merchant accordingly briefly but precisely explained the purpose of +his journey, named those men in the place with whom he was connected in +business, and appealed to them to ratify his statements. + +"I know both those gentlemen," answered the officer, carelessly. Then +looking fixedly at the merchant, he asked, after a pause, "Have you +nothing further to communicate?" + +The principal said he had not; but the other rapidly continued, "I quite +understand that our peculiar position prevents your government from +treating with us directly, and that, in the event of your being charged +with a commission, you must proceed with the utmost caution." + +Here the merchant hastily interrupted him. "Before you say more, I again +assure you, as a man of honor, that I am come merely on my own business, +and that my business is only what I have already stated. But as I +conclude from your words, as well as much that I have heard on my way +hither, that you take me for a delegate, I feel constrained to tell you +that I never could have been charged with any commission such as you +seem to expect, its very existence being an utter impossibility." + +The noble looked grave, and said, after a moment's silence, "Very well; +you shall not suffer on that account. The wish that you express is so +singular, that it would be impossible, in the common course of things, +to grant it. If we are not permitted to consider you a friend, the rules +of war command us to deal with you and yours as enemies. But the men of +my nation have ever possessed, in taking up arms, the rare virtue of +trusting to the virtue of others, as well as of acting nobly, even when +they could expect no gratitude in return. Be assured that I will, as far +as in me lies, assist you to recover your property." + +So said the nobleman with self-conscious dignity; and Anton was keenly +alive to the true nobility of the words, though too thoroughly a man of +business to give himself up to the impression they made, his budding +enthusiasm being frostbitten by a very matter-of-fact thought: "He +promises to help us, and yet he is not quite convinced that the property +we wish to carry off is of right our own." + +"I am not, alas! so absolute," continued the chief, "as to be able to +gratify you at once. However, I hope in the morning to furnish you with +a pass for your wagons. First of all, try to find out where your +property now is, and I will send one of my officers with you as a +protection. The rest to-morrow." + +With these words the travelers were courteously dismissed; and as Anton +went out he saw the officer wearily throw himself back into an +easy-chair, and with bent head begin to play with the trigger of his +pistols. + +A slight youth, with a large scarf, almost a child in years, but of a +most noble bearing, accompanied our friends. As they left the house, +they were politely saluted by several present, and it was plain that the +ante-chamber still believed in their diplomatic character. + +The officer inquired whether he should accompany the gentlemen, as it +was his duty not to lose sight of them. + +"Is this by way of protection or surveillance?" inquired Anton, who now +felt in good spirits. + +"You will give me no occasion, I am sure, to exercise the latter," +returned the small warrior in exquisite French. + +"No," said the merchant, looking kindly at the youth; "but we shall +weary you, for we have yet to get through a good deal of uninteresting +and commonplace business this evening." + +"I am only doing my duty," replied their escort, with some haughtiness, +"in accompanying you wherever you wish." + +"And in order to do ours, we must make all the haste we can," said the +merchant. And so they traversed the streets of the capital. Night had +set in, and the confusion and bustle seemed sadder still under her +cloak. Crowds of the lowest of the populace, patrols of military, bands +of fugitive peasantry jostled each other, snatching, shrieking, cursing. +Many windows were illuminated, and their brilliance cast a shadowless, +ghostly glare over the streets. Thick red clouds rolled above the roofs +of the houses, for one of the suburbs was on fire, and the wind blew +swarms of golden sparks and burning splinters over the heads of the +travelers. Meanwhile the bells of the churches kept up a monotonous +tolling. The strangers hurried silently along, the imperious tones of +their escort always making way for them through the most unruly throng. +At length they reached the house of the agent of their firm. It was shut +up, and they had to knock long and loud before a window was opened, and +a piteous voice heard asking who was there. + +When they entered the agent ran to meet them, wringing his hands, and +tearfully falling on the merchant's neck. The presence of the young +insurgent prevented him from expressing his feelings. He threw open the +nearest door, and in lamentable tones apologized for the exceeding +disorder in which the room was. Chests and coffers were being packed up; +male and female servants were running to and fro, hiding silver +candlesticks here, thrusting in silver spoons there. Meanwhile the +master of the house never left off wringing his hands, lamenting his +misfortunes and those of the firm, welcoming, and, in the same breath, +regretting the arrival of the principal, and every now and then assuring +the young officer, with choking voice, that he too was a patriot, and +that it was only owing to an unaccountable mistake on the part of one of +the maids that the cockade had been taken off his hat. It was plain that +the man and his whole family had quite lost their wits. + +The merchant had much trouble before he could get him into a corner and +hear some business details. It appeared that the wagons had arrived in +town on the very day that the insurrection broke out. Through the +foresight of one of the wagoners, they had been taken into the great +court-yard of a remote inn, but as to what had become of them since then +the agent knew nothing. + +After some further conversation the merchant said, "We shall not claim +your hospitality to-night; we shall sleep wherever our wagons are." All +the persuasions of the agent were peremptorily rejected. + +This worthy but weak man seemed really distressed at the new danger into +which his friend was determined to run. + +"I shall call you up early," said the merchant, as he left; "I propose +setting out to-morrow with my wagons, but first I wish to make a few, as +you know, necessary visits to our customers, and to have your company +during them." The agent promised to do his best by daylight. + +Again our travelers went forth into the night, accompanied by the Pole, +who had scornfully listened to the half-whispered conversation. As they +went along the street, the principal, angrily throwing away his cigar, +said to Anton, + +"Our friend will be of little use to us; he is helpless as a child. In +the beginning of the disturbance, he neglected to do his duty--to +collect money, and seek for reimbursement." + +"And now," said Anton, sorrowfully, "no one will be inclined to pay or +reimburse us." + +"And yet we must bring this about to-morrow, and you shall help me to do +so. By heaven, these warlike convulsions are in themselves inconvenient +enough to trade without this addition, paralyzing as they do all useful +activity, which is the only thing that prevents us from becoming mere +animals. But if a man of business allows himself to be more crushed than +is absolutely unavoidable, he does an injury to civilization--an injury +for which there is no compensation." + +They had now reached a part of the town where empty streets, and the +silence of the grave immediately at hand, only enhanced the horrors of +the distant clamor and the red glare in the sky. At length they stopped +before a low building with a large gateway. Entering, they looked into +the bar, a dirty room with blackened rafters, in which loud-voiced and +brandy-drinking patriots clustered on bench and table. The young officer +called for the landlord. A fat figure with a red face appeared. + +"In the name of the government, rooms for myself and my companions," +said the young man. The host sullenly took up a bundle of rusty keys and +a tallow candle, and led them to an upper floor, where he opened the +door of a damp room, and morosely declared that he had no other for +them. + +"Bring us supper and a bottle of your best wine," said the merchant; "we +pay well, and at once." + +This announcement occasioned a visible improvement in the mood of the +fat landlord, who even made an unsuccessful attempt to be polite. The +merchant next asked for the wagons and wagoners. These questions were +evidently unwelcome. At first Boniface pretended to know nothing about +them, declaring that there were a great many wagons coming and going in +his court-yard, and that there were several wagoners too, but that he +did not know them. + +It was in vain that the merchant tried to make him understand the object +of his coming; the landlord remained obtuse, and was about to relapse +into his former moroseness, when the young Pole came forward, and +informed Mr. Schröter that this was not the way of dealing with such +people. He then faced the landlord, called him all manner of hard names, +and declared that he would arrest and carry him off on the spot unless +he at once gave the most exact information. + +The landlord looked timidly at the officer, and begged to be allowed to +retire and send up one of the wagoners. + +Soon a lanky figure with a brown felt hat came lumbering up stairs, +started at the sight of the merchant, and at last announced, with +pretended cheerfulness, that there he was. + +"Where are the wagons? where are the bills of lading?" + +The wagons were in the court-yard. The bills were reluctantly produced +from the dirty leather purse of the wagoner. + +"You guarantee me that your load remains complete and undisturbed?" +asked the merchant. + +The felt hat ungraciously replied that he could do nothing of the kind. +The horses had been unharnessed and hid in a secret stable, that they +might not be confiscated by the government; as to the fate of the +wagons, he could neither prevent nor ascertain it, and all +responsibility ceased in troublous times like these. + +"We are in a den of thieves," said the merchant to his escort; "I must +request your assistance in bringing these people to reason." + +Now bringing people to reason was just what the young Pole believed to +be his speciality; so, with a smile, he took a pistol in one hand, and +said aside to Anton, "Do as I, and have the goodness to follow me." Next +he seized the wagoner by the throat, and dragged him down the stair. +"Where is the landlord?" cried he, in the most formidable tone he could +raise. "The dog of a landlord and a lantern!" The lantern being brought, +he drove the whole pack--the strangers, the fat landlord, the captured +wagoner, and all others assembled by the noise, before him into the +court-yard. Arrived there, he placed himself and his prisoner in the +centre of the circle, bestowed a few more injurious epithets upon the +landlord, rapped the wagoner on the head with his pistol, and then +courteously observed in French to the merchant, "This fellow's skull +sounds remarkably hollow; what next do you require from the boobies?" + +"Have the goodness to summon the wagoners." + +"Good," said the Pole; "and then?" + +"Then I will examine the freight of the wagons, if it be possible to do +so in the dark." + +"Every thing is possible," said the Pole, "if you like to take the +trouble to search through the old canvas in the night. But I should be +inclined to advise a bottle of Sauterne and a few hours' repose instead. +In times like these, one should not lose an opportunity of refreshing +one's self." + +"I should prefer to inspect the wagons at once," said the merchant, with +a smile, "if you have no objection to it." + +"I am on duty," replied the Pole, "therefore let's to work at once; +there are plenty of hands here to hold lights for you. You confounded +rascals," continued he, in Polish, again cuffing the wagoner and +threatening the landlord, "I will carry you all off together, and have a +court-martial held upon you, if you do not instantly bring all the +drivers belonging to this gentleman into my presence. How many of them?" +inquired he, in French, from the merchant. + +"There are fourteen wagons," was the reply. + +"There must be fourteen wagoners," thundered the Pole again to the +people; "the devil shall fly away with you all if you do not instantly +produce them." With the help of an old domestic servant, a dozen of the +drivers were at length brought forward; two, however, were in no way to +be recovered, and finally the landlord confessed that they had gone to +join the patriots. + +The young Pole did not seem to attach much value to this instance of +patriotism. Turning to the merchant, he said, "Here you have the men, +now see to the freight; if a single article be found wanting, I will +have the whole of these fellows tried by court-martial." Then he +carelessly sat down on the pole of a carriage, and looked at the points +of his polished boots, which had got a good deal bemired. + +A number of lanterns and torches were now brought, and after a few +encouraging words from the merchant, the wagoners proceeded to roll +away some empty carts, and to open out a passage to their own goods. +Most of these men had been employed by him before, and knew him and +Anton personally; some of them proved themselves trustworthy and +obliging; and while Mr. Schröter was cross-questioning the most +intelligent of their number, Anton hastened to ascertain, as well as he +could, the condition of the freight, which mostly consisted of wool and +tallow. Some wagons were untouched; one was entirely unloaded, and many +had lost their canvas covering, and been otherwise plundered. The +merchant had once more recourse to the young Pole. "It is just as we +supposed," said he; "the landlord has persuaded some of the drivers +that, now the revolution has set in, their obligations have ceased, and +they have begun to unload the wagons. Had we been a day later, every +thing would have been carried off. The landlord and a few of his +associates have been the instigators, and some of the wagoners have been +frightened into compliance." + +At this announcement a new volley of imprecations proceeded from the +lips of the small authority, and the landlord, from whose face all +ruddiness had vanished, was soon on his knees before the officer, who +pulled him by the hair, and treated him very roughly indeed. Meanwhile +Anton and some of the men laid siege to a locked-up coach-house, broke +open the door, and disclosed the bales of wool and the remainder of the +stolen goods. + +"Let these people reload," said the merchant; "they may well work the +night through as a punishment." After some opposition, the wagoners set +to, overpowered by a combination of threats and promises. The Pole drove +the drunken guests out of the tavern, had the outer door closed, and all +the candles and lanterns of the establishment brought into the +court-yard. Next he dragged the host by the hair of his head to the +upper story, and then, by the help of some patriots with great cockades, +tied him to a bedpost, and gave him to understand that that was the +nearest approach to a night's rest which he had to expect. "In the event +of the freight being found entire, and safely removed from your +premises, you shall be forgiven," said the Pole; "in the opposite case, +I shall have you tried at once, and shot." + +Meanwhile the uproar in the court was great indeed. Anton had the wagons +reloaded and the freight properly secured. Full of his work, he scarcely +looked around, and only realized at odd moments his singular +_entourage_, and the exciting nature of the scene. It was a large square +court, surrounded by low, ruinous wooden buildings, stables, and +coach-houses, and having two entrances, one through the inn itself, and +one through a gate opposite. It occupied a space of several acres, as is +often the case with these hostelries of eastern Europe, stationed on +great thoroughfares; and afforded, as do the caravanseries of Asia, +shelter for large transports of goods, as well as for multitudes of the +poor and needy. All sorts of wagons were now assembled in the square +court in question, and it was crowded besides with ladders, poles, +wheels, gigantic hampers, gray canvas coverings, bundles of hay and +straw, old tar-barrels, and portable racks. Besides the stable lanterns +and flaming pine torches, there was the red glare in the sky, and the +lurid clouds of smoke and sparks rolling still over the heads of the +travelers. This strange sort of twilight shone here at least upon a +peaceful task. The wagoners worked hard, shouting loudly the while; dark +forms now vanished in the shadow of the bales, now sprang on the top of +them, while their animated gesticulations made them look, in the red +light, like a crowd of savages holding some mysterious nocturnal orgies. + +The merchant, meanwhile, walked up and down between the inn and the +scene of action. It was in vain that Anton implored him to rest for a +few hours. "This is no night for us to sleep in," said he, gloomily; and +Anton read in his dark glance the resolve of a man who is ready to stake +his all upon the accomplishment of his inflexible will. + +It was nearly morning when the last giant bale was firmly secured with +ropes and chains on the wagon top. Anton, who had himself been lending a +hand, now slipped down, and announced to his principal that their work +was done. + +"At last!" replied the merchant, drawing a long breath; and then he went +up to announce the fact to their friendly escort. + +He, for his part, had contrived to get through the night in his own way; +first, he thoroughly enjoyed the supper and wine brought him by the +terrified maids, and found leisure to say a few encouraging words to the +prettiest of them. Then he contemplated the dirty bed, and at last threw +himself, with a French oath, upon it, looking now at the distorted +countenance of the roguish host, who sat opposite him on the ground, now +at the ceiling; and, while half asleep himself, complimenting the +merchant, who looked in from time to time, upon his capacity of keeping +awake a whole night. At length the youth fell fast asleep. At least the +merchant found him in the morning outstretched on the coarse coverlet, +his delicate face shaded by his long black hair, his small hands +crossed, and a pleasant smile playing around his lips. + +As he lay there he afforded no incorrect type of the aristocracy of his +nation: noble child that he was, with the passions, and perhaps the sins +of a man; while over against him crouched the coarse build of the +fettered plebeian, who pretended to sleep too, but often cast a +malicious glance at the recumbent form before him. + +The aristocrat sprang up when the merchant approached the bed, and, +throwing the window open, said, "Good-day: it is morning, I see; I have +slept admirably." Next he called to a patrol passing by, briefly +informed the leader how things stood, made over to him the landlord and +the remainder of the supper, and desired him to stop at once, and keep +guard over the house until he should return. Then he ordered the +wagoners to harness the horses, and led the travelers out into the gray +dawn of a comfortless-looking day. + +On their way to the agent the merchant said to Anton, "We shall divide +the most necessary visits between us. Tell our customers that we have no +kind of intention of oppressing them; that, on the restoration of some +degree of order, they may reckon upon the greatest forbearance and +consideration--nay, under conditions, upon an extension of credit, but +that at present we insist upon securities. We shall not effect much in +this confusion; but that these gentlemen should be, at a time like this, +even reminded of our firm, is worth a good deal." Then, in a lower tone, +he added, "The town is doomed: we shall do little business here for some +time to come; remember that, and be firm." And, turning to the Pole, he +said, "I request you to allow my fellow-traveler to pay a few business +calls in the company of our agent." + +"If your agent will answer with his person for the gentleman's return," +returned the Pole, with some reluctance, "I consent." + +The light of day had exercised its gracious office of giving color to +flowers and courage to the faint-hearted, even in favor of the agent. He +declared himself ready to accompany Anton upon the terms proposed. +Accordingly, under the protection of the great cockade upon his +companion's hat, Anton hurried from house to house, pale indeed from +loss of rest, but with an undaunted heart. Every where he was received +with amazement not always free from confusion. "How could people think +in such a time about winding up matters of business, with the noise of +arms all round, and in deadly fear of a horrible future?" + +Anton coolly replied, "Our firm is not accustomed to trouble itself +about rumors of war when not absolutely obliged to do so. All times are +suited for the fulfillment of obligations; and if this be a fit season +for us to come here, it is also a fit season for you to arrange matters +with me;" through which representations he succeeded here and there in +obtaining definite promises, commissions, nay, even reimbursement. + +After a few hours' hard work, Anton met his principal in the agent's +house. When he had made his report, the merchant said, reaching out his +hand to him, "If we can succeed in getting our wagons safely out of the +town, we shall have done enough to enable us to bear the unavoidable +losses that we must undergo. Now, then, to the commandant." He gave a +few further instructions to the agent, whispering to him in parting, "In +a few days our troops will enter; I take it for granted that you will +not leave your house till then. We shall thus meet again." + +With upraised hands the agent invoked the protection of all the saints +in the calendar upon the travelers, locked and bolted the house door +behind them, and hid his revolutionary cockade in the stove. + +Our friends now hurried on through the tumult, led by the Pole. The +streets were full again; bands of armed men passed by, the populace was +in wilder excitement, and the noise greater than on the previous +evening. The houses were thundered at, and an entrance insisted on. +Brandy-casks were rolled on to the flags, and surrounded by drunken men +and women. Every thing denoted that the authorities were not +sufficiently strong to enforce street-discipline. Even in the house of +the commandant there was agitation and restlessness, soldiers were +hurrying to and fro, and the messages which they brought were evidently +unfavorable, for there was much whispering going on in the great +ante-chamber, and anxious suspense was visible on every face. + +As soon as the young Pole entered he was surrounded by his friends and +drawn into a corner. After some hasty questions, he seized a musket, +called off a few soldiers by name, and left the room, without troubling +himself any further about the travelers. + +The merchant and Anton were shown into the next room, where the young +commander-in-chief received them. He too looked pale and dejected, but +it was with the bearing of a true nobleman that he addressed Mr. +Schröter: "I have forwarded your wishes; here is a passport for you and +your wagons. I pray you to infer from this that we are anxious to treat +the citizens of your state with consideration, possibly even more than +the duty of self-preservation would dictate." + +The merchant received the important document with shining eyes. "You +have shown me a remarkable degree of kindness," said he; "I feel myself +deeply indebted to you, and wish that I may one day be permitted to +prove my gratitude." + +"Who knows?" answered the young commandant, with a melancholy smile; "he +who stakes all upon a cast may lose all." + +"He may lose much," replied the merchant, courteously, "but not all, if +he has striven honorably." + +At that moment a hollow sound was heard, a sound like the sweep of a +howling wind, or the roaring of a rushing flood. The commandant stood +motionless and listened. Suddenly a discordant scream of many voices +resounded close by, and some shots followed. Anton, made susceptible by +a night of wakefulness and long-continued excitement, started with +terror, and remarked that his principal's hand, in which was the +passport, shook violently. The door of the cabinet now burst open, and a +few stately-looking men rushed in, with garments torn, arms in their +hands, the traces of a street combat visible on their excited +countenances, and at their head the young escort of the travelers. + +"Mutiny!" cried the youth to his commanding officer; "they are seeking +you. Save yourself. I will keep them off." + +Quick as thought Anton sprang toward his principal, dragged him away, +and both flew through the ante-chamber, and down the staircase to the +ground floor. Here they came upon a band of soldiers who were +endeavoring to garrison the house against masses of the populace. But, +swift as were the movements of the travelers, those of their last +night's escort were quicker still, as, with a loud shout, he rushed to +head his friends in their resistance to the invaders. His black hair +flew wildly around his bare head, and his eyes shone out from his +beautiful and now pallid face with the unconquerable energy of a brave +man. + +"Back!" he cried, with a loud, clear voice, to the raging people, and +sprang like a panther in among them, dealing sword-strokes round. The +masses gave way; the comrades of the brave youth ranged themselves +behind him. Again Anton seized his principal's arm, and dragged him off +with such speed as is only possible to men under the influence of strong +excitement. They had just got behind a projection of the house when they +heard a shot fired, and saw with horror the young Pole fall backward +bleeding, and heard his last cry, "The _canaille_!" + +"To the wagons!" said the merchant, dashing down a narrow cross-street. +They still heard in the distance shots and cries of discord; and +breaking through bands of curious and terrified inhabitants, who +hindered their progress, they arrived breathless, and fearing the worst, +at the door of the inn. + +Here, too, there was mutiny. The soldiers left in charge of the house +had loosed the landlord, and speedily made their retreat as soon as news +of the tumult reached them. The court-yard was now a scene of wrangling +and confusion. The landlord, supported by a number of idlers collected +from the street, was disputing violently with the wagoners. Some of the +wagons were harnessed and ready for departure, but from others the +canvas covering had been again dragged off. The case was a desperate +one. The merchant tore away from Anton, who tried to detain him, and, +rushing into the midst of the disputants, called out in Polish as loudly +as he could, while holding the passport above his head, "Stop, I say; +here is the order of the commander-in-chief authorizing the departure of +our wagons. Whoever resists it will be punished. We are under the +protection of the government." + +"What government, you rogue of a German?" screamed the landlord, with +ominous face; "the old government is done away with; the traitors have +had their reward, and their spies shall be hanged as well;" and, rushing +at the merchant, he brandished an old sword at his head. + +Our Anton shuddered; but man being in the most critical moments liable +to strange associations of idea, which play like meteors across the +anguish of his spirit, it chanced that the broad back of the landlord +suddenly reminded him of the back of a squat schoolfellow of his at +Ostrau, a good-natured baker's son, upon whom, in many a scuffle, he had +often practiced the boyish trick of tripping an adversary from behind. +Quick as lightning he sprang upon the landlord, and most skillfully +threw him. The falling sword swerved from its fatal aim, only striking +the arm of the merchant, cutting through the coat and into the flesh. As +the fat fellow lay struggling on his back like a beetle, Anton drew out +his trusty pistols, and cried, with the inspiration of despair, "Back, +you rascals, or I shoot him dead!" + +This rapid diversion had more effect than could reasonably have been +hoped; the people that the landlord had collected around him, and who, +after all, were only working for his interest, fell back, while half a +dozen wagoners, with bars of iron and other implements of the kind, +crowded round the merchant, and now screamed as loudly as the other +party had done a short time before, declaring that no harm should happen +to the gentleman and his wagons. The merchant cried, "Drive these +strangers out!" and, taking up the sword that the landlord had dropped, +at the head of his adherents stormed the latter's abettors, and drove +them through the house. The most stiff-necked of them tried to intrench +themselves in the bar, but one after the other was cast out, roaring and +cursing the while. The door was then locked, and the merchant hastened +back to the court-yard, and found Anton still kneeling by the +incorrigible landlord to prevent him from rising. The rest of the +wagoners having timidly got out of the way, the merchant now summoned +them all, and ordered them to put the horses to, saying to Anton, "We +must leave this place. Better the street pavement than this den of +thieves." + +"You bleed!" cried Anton, in great distress, his eye falling on the +merchant's arm. + +"It must be a mere scratch; I can move the arm," was the prompt reply. +"Open the gate; out with the wagons. Forward, my men! Anton, one of the +wagoners will help you to bind the landlord." + +"And where shall we go?" inquired Anton, in English. "Are we to take +these wagons into the bloodshed of the streets?" + +"We have a passport, and will leave the town," answered the merchant, +doggedly. + +"They will not respect our passport," cried Anton in return, while he +held a pistol at the head of the obstreperous landlord. + +"If the worst come to the worst, there are other inns in this part of +the town; any of them will be a better refuge." + +"But we have not the full complement of drivers, and some of our number +are disaffected." + +"I will manage the disaffected," answered the merchant, sternly; "we +have the full number of horses, we only want the men. Those to whom the +horses belong will remain with them. The gate is open--out with the +wagons!" + +The gate led to an open space covered with building-stones and _débris_, +and surrounded by a few poor houses. The merchant hastened thither to +superintend the departure. A stout youth came to Anton's assistance. +They were anxious moments these. Near the house, he and his helper were +struggling with the prostrate man, whose ugly wife and her two +maid-servants were howling at the house door. As the first wagon rolled +away, their screams became louder: the landlady called out "help" and +"murder!" and the maids wailed all the louder the more fervently the +young wagoner assured them that no harm would befall his worship, the +landlord, if he would only lie still, and that, moreover, they would all +pay their bills besides. + +Just then loud knocks were heard at the house door; the women rushed in +and unlocked it at once; and so great had been the hopeless excitement +of the last few minutes, that it was almost with a sense of relief that +Anton saw a strong body of soldiery defile into the court. He rose from +the ground, and left the landlord free. But the merchant walked slowly, +and with uncertain steps, like a broken-down man, to meet the enemies +who, at this decisive moment, frustrated his will. + +The leader of the band, one of those whom the young Pole had in the +morning summoned to the inn, said to the merchant, "You are prisoners; +neither you nor your wagons can leave the town." + +"I have a passport," eagerly replied Mr. Schröter, feeling for his +pocket-book. + +"The new government forbids your journey," was the curt rejoinder. + +"I must submit," said the merchant, mechanically sitting down on a +wagon-pole, and clinging to the body of the vehicle. + +Anton held the half-unconscious man in his arms, and said, in utmost +indignation, "We have been twice robbed in this inn; we were in danger +of being killed; my companion is wounded, as you see; if your government +is determined to detain us and our wagons, at least protect our lives +and our property. The wagons can not remain here, and if we are +separated from them, it will be still more difficult to prevent their +being plundered." + +The soldiers now held a consultation, and at length their leader called +Anton to share in it. After much discussion, it was finally arranged +that the wagons should be moved to a neighboring establishment, equal to +this in accommodation, but superior in character. Anton obtained leave +to move to it with his companion, and there remain under surveillance +till something further should be decided. Meanwhile the merchant sat +leaning against the canvas covering, and taking, apparently, no interest +in what was going on. Anton now rapidly told him the decision arrived +at. + +"We must bear it," said the principal, rising slowly and with +difficulty. "Ask the landlord for our bill." + +"We will pay the landlord," said the soldier in command, roughly pushing +the functionary aside. "Think of yourself," added he, kindly catching +hold of the wounded man's arm to support him. + +"Pay for us and for the horses," repeated Mr. Schröter to Anton; "we can +not remain in these people's debt." + +Anton accordingly took out his pocket-book, called the drivers together, +and, in their presence, made over a banknote to the landlord, saying to +him, "I now pay you this sum provisionally, until you shall have made +out your account. You men are witnesses." The drivers respectfully +bowed, and hurried back to their wagons. + +The procession now set forth. First a portion of the armed escort, then +the heavy wagons, which slowly and helplessly rumbled along over the +stones; some of them without drivers, but kept in line by their +well-trained horses. + +Mr. Schröter stood at the gate, leaning upon Anton, and counted each +wagon as it passed; and as the last rolled off, he said, "Done at last," +and consented to be led away. + +In the very next cross-street the procession turned into the great +court-yard of another inn. When the last of the wagons had at length had +its horses unharnessed, and the soldiers had barred the gate from +within, the merchant fell down in a swoon, and was carried into the +house. + +He was placed in a small room, a guard stationed at his door, and +another in the court. Anton remained alone with the sufferer. Full of +anxiety, he knelt by his bed, unfastened his clothes, and bathed his +face with cold water. After a time Mr. Schröter revived, opened his +eyes, looked gratefully at Anton, and pointed to the window. + +Anton looked out, and said, joyously, "It opens upon the court-yard. I +can overlook and count the wagons. I really think that here, although +prisoners, we are tolerably safe. But, first of all, allow me to look to +your wound: your clothes are much stained with blood." + +"My weakness proceeds more from over-excitement than loss of blood," +replied the merchant, raising himself up. + +Anton opened the door, and begged for a surgeon. Their guard was +prepared to go for one, and after an anxious hour had passed, he +introduced a shabby-looking individual, who hurriedly produced a razor +and a dirty pocket-handkerchief, wiping the razor on his sleeve, and +bringing the handkerchief into alarming proximity with Anton's chin. It +was with some difficulty that the reason of his being sent for was +conveyed to him. + +Anton cut away the sleeve of the coat and shirt, and himself examined +the wound. It was a cut in the upper arm; not a deep one, indeed, but +the arm was stiff, and Mr. Schröter suffered severely. The barber +attempted to bandage it, and went off, promising to return on the +morrow. The merchant fell back, exhausted with the pain of the +bandaging, and Anton sat by him the remainder of the day, laying wet +cloths around the arm, and watching the feverish slumber of the patient. + +Soon he sank himself into a sort of half sleep, a dull apathy, which +made him indifferent to all that was going on without. Thus evening wore +away, and night came on. Anton occasionally dipped his fingers in cold +water, and crept from the bed to the window to watch the wagons, or to +the door to exchange a whisper with the guard, who showed a friendly +interest in the case. + +Meanwhile the fire continued its ravages, and the sound of musketry +thundered at the gates. Anton looked carelessly at the burning fragments +which the wind drove over the unhappy town, and heard, with a faint +degree of surprise, that the noise of the firing grew louder and louder, +and at last became a deafening crash; all the sounds that struck his ear +from the street appearing to him as unimportant as the ringing of a +little early church-bell which he had often heard from his own room in +the principal's house, and which never disturbed any one out of his +morning repose. The whole night through he kept mechanically wetting and +applying cold-water poultices to the patient's arm, and rising whenever +the latter groaned or turned; but when, toward morning, the merchant +fell into a sounder sleep, Anton forgot his task, his head fell heavy +upon his hands outstretched on the table, he neither saw nor heard; and +amid the screams of the wounded, and the thundering of cannon which +attended the taking of a stoutly-defended town, amid all the horrors of +a bloody conflict, he slept like a tired boy over his school-task. + +When he awoke, after the lapse of a few hours, it had long been morning. +The merchant smiled kindly at him from his bed, and reached out his +hand. Anton pressed it with all his heart, and hurried to the window. +"They are all right," said he. He then opened the door; the guard of the +previous night had vanished; and on the street he heard the beat of +drums, and the regular tramp of regiments marching in. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +"We gave you up for lost," cried the newly-arrived captain to Mr. +Schröter. "They manage inns wretchedly here, and all my inquiries after +you proved fruitless. It was a fortunate thing that your letter found me +out in this confusion." + +"We have accomplished our purpose," said the merchant, "but not, as you +see, without drawbacks;" and he pointed, smiling, to his wounded arm. + +"First and foremost, let me hear your adventures," said the captain, +sitting down by the bedside. "You have more tokens of the fight to show +than I." + +The merchant told his story. He dwelt warmly upon Anton's courage, to +which he ascribed his safety, and ended by saying, "My wound does not +prevent my traveling, and my return is imperative. I shall go with the +wagons as far as the frontier." + +"Early to-morrow morning one of our companies returns to the frontier; +you can send your wagons under its escort; besides which, the high roads +are now safe. To-morrow the mails begin to run again." + +"I must still further request your assistance. I am anxious to write +home by a courier this very day." + +"I will take care," promised the captain, "that your return to-morrow +shall meet with no impediments." + +As soon as the officer had left the room, Mr. Schröter said to Anton, "I +have a surprise for you, dear Wohlfart, which will, I fear, be an +unwelcome one. I wish to leave you here in my place." Anton drew nearer +in amazement. "There is no relying on our agent at a time like this," +continued the merchant, "and I have, during the last few days, rejoiced +to discover how perfectly I can depend upon you. What you have just done +to save my head-piece will be unforgotten as long as I live. And now +draw a writing-table here beside me; we have still some plans to +arrange." + +The next morning a post-chaise stood before the inn door, into which Mr. +Schröter was lifted by Anton. It was then drawn up to the side of the +street till he had seen the wagons pass one by one out of the gateway. +Then pressing Anton's hand once more, he said, "Your stay here may last +weeks, nay, months. Your work will be very disagreeable, and often +fruitless. But I repeat it, do not be too anxious; I trust to your +decision as to my own. And do not be afraid of incurring contingent +loss, if you can only get unsafe debtors to pay up. This place is +devastated and lost to us for the future. Farewell till our happy +meeting at home." + +Thus Anton remained alone in the strange town, in a position where great +trust imposed upon him great responsibility. He went back to his room, +called the landlord, and at once made arrangements for his further stay +there. The town was so filled with military that he preferred to remain +in the small quarters that he had already occupied, and to put up with +their inconveniences, having little expectation of changing for the +better. + +It was indeed a devastated town which Anton now explored. A few days +back, crowds of passionately-excited men had filled the streets, and +every kind of daring enterprise was to be read on their wild faces. +Where was now the haughty defiance, the thirst of battle, that inspired +all those thousands? + +The crowds of peasants, the swarming town populace, the soldiers of the +patriot army, had vanished like ghosts scared by the presence of an +enchanter. The few men to be seen were foreign soldiers. But their gay +uniforms did not improve the aspect of the town. True, the fire was +quenched, whose clouds of smoke had darkened the sky. But there stood +the houses in the pale light, looking as if they had been gutted. The +doors remained closed; many of the window-panes were broken; on the +flags lay heaps of mud, dirty straw, and fragments of furniture. Here, a +car with a broken wheel; there, a uniform, arms, the carcass of a horse. +At the corner of a street stood barrels and pieces of furniture which +had been thrown out of the houses, as a last barricade to impede the +advancing troops; and behind them lay, carelessly strewn over with +straw, the corpses of slaughtered men. Anton turned away in horror when +he saw the pale faces through the straw. Newly-arrived troops were +bivouacking in the square--their horses stood in couples round; in all +the streets the tramp of patrols was heard; while it was only at rare +intervals that a civilian was seen to pass along the flag-stones; with +his hat drawn low over his face, and casting timid sidelong glances at +the foreign troops. Sometimes, too, a pale-looking man was seen, led +along by soldiers, and pushed onward with the bayonet if he went too +slowly. The town had worn an ugly appearance during the insurrection, +but it was still worse now. + +When Anton returned from his first walk, with these impressions upon his +mind, he found a hussar walking up and down before his door like a +sentinel. + +"Mr. Wohlfart!" shouted the hussar, rushing at him. + +"My dear Karl," cried Anton; "this is the first pleasure I have had in +this wretched town. But how came you hither?" + +"You know that I am serving my time. We joined our comrades at the +frontier a few hours after you had left. The landlord knew me, and told +me of your departure. You may imagine the fright I was in. To-day I got +leave of absence for the first time, and had the good luck to meet one +of the drivers, else I should not have found you out yet. And now, Mr. +Wohlfart, what of our principal, and what of your goods?" + +"Come with me into my room, and you shall hear all," replied Anton. + +"Stop a moment," cried Karl; "you speak to me more formally than you +used to do, and I can't stand that. Please to speak just as if I was +Karl in our old place yonder." + +"But you are no longer so," said Anton, laughing. + +"This is only a masquerade," said Karl, pointing to his uniform; "in my +heart I am still a supernumerary porter of T. O. Schröter's." + +"Have it your own way, Karl," replied Anton; "but come in, and hear all +about it." + +Karl soon fell, as might have been expected, into a violent rage with +the good-for-nothing landlord. "The thievish dog! he has dared to attack +our firm and our head! To-morrow I'll take a whole troop of our fellows +there. I'll drive him into his own yard, and we'll all play at leap-frog +over him by the hour, and at every leap we'll give a kick to that wicked +head of his." + +"Mr. Schröter let him go unpunished," said Anton; "don't be more cruel +than he. I say, Karl, you are become a handsome youth." + +"I shall do," returned Karl, much flattered. "I've got reconciled to +agriculture. My uncle is a worthy man. If you picture my father to +yourself about half his own size, thin instead of stout, and with a +small stumpy nose instead of a large one, and a long face instead of a +round, with a gray coat and no leather apron, and with a pair of great +boots up to his knees, why then you have my uncle--a most capital little +fellow. He is very kind to me. At first I found it dull in the country, +but I got used to it in time; one is always going about the farm, and +that's pleasant. It was a blow to my gray-headed uncle when I had to +turn soldier, but I was delighted to get upon a horse in right down +earnest, and to see something of the scuffle here. There are wretched +inns in this country, Mr. Wohlfart, and this place is a horrible scene +of desolation." + +Thus Karl rattled on. At last he caught up his cap: "If you remain here, +will you allow me often to spend a quarter of an hour with you?" + +"Do as at home," said Anton; "and if I happen to be out, the landlord +will have the key, and here are the cigars." + +And so Anton found an old friend; but Karl was not his only military +acquaintance. The captain was delighted with a countryman who had played +so bold a part against the insurgents. He introduced him to the colonel +who commanded the division. To him Anton had to tell his adventures, and +to receive high commendation from a large circle of epaulets; and the +following day the captain invited him to dinner, and introduced him to +the officers of his own squadron. Anton's modest composure made a +favorable impression upon them all. At home they would probably have +been restricted by their views of human greatness from becoming intimate +with a young merchant, but here in the camp they were themselves wiser +men than in the idle days of peace, their social prejudices were fewer, +and their recognition of others' deserts less impeded. Consequently, +they soon came to consider the young clerk as a "deuced good fellow," +fell into the habit of calling him by his Christian name, and whenever +they were going to drink their coffee or to play a game of dominoes, +they invariably invited him to join them. An obscure tradition of large +means and mysterious relationship once more emerged from the abyss of +past years, but, to do the squadron justice, it was not this which +prompted their kind attentions to their countryman. Anton himself was +more exalted by this good fellowship with these noble lads than he would +have chosen to confess to himself or to Mr. Pix. He now enjoyed a free +intercourse with men of mark, and felt as if born to many enjoyments +which heretofore he had only contemplated with silent reverence from +afar. Old recollections began to reassert their sway, and he felt once +more drawn into the magic circle, where every thing appeared to him +free, bright, and beautiful. Lieutenant von Rothsattel belonged to the +number of Anton's friendly acquaintance. Our hero treated him with the +tenderest consideration, and the lieutenant, who was at bottom a +reckless, light-hearted, good-natured fellow, was readily pleased by +Anton's cordial admiration, and repaid him with peculiar confidence. + +Fortunately, however, for our hero, his business prevented him losing +his independence among his new allies. The town was indeed devastated; +the wild uproar was over; but all peaceful activity seemed exhausted +too. The necessaries of life were dear, and work scarce. Many who once +wore boots went barefoot now. He who could formerly have bought a new +coat, now contented himself with having the old one mended; the +shoemaker and tailor breakfasted on water-gruel instead of coffee; the +shopkeeper was unable to pay his debts to the merchant, and the merchant +unable to discharge his obligations to other firms. He who had to +recover money from men thus depressed had a hard task indeed, as Anton +soon found out. On every side he heard lamentations which were but too +well founded; and frequently every species of artifice was employed to +evade his claims. Every day he had to go through painful scenes, often +to listen to long legal proceedings carried on in Polish, out of which +he generally came with an impression of having been "_done_," though the +agent played the part of interpreter. It was a strange commercial drama +in which Anton had now to take a share. Men from every portion of Europe +were here, and trade had many peculiarities, which to German eyes seemed +irregular and insecure. Nevertheless, habits of duty exercise so great +an influence even over weaker natures, that Anton's perseverance more +than once won the day. + +The greatest claim that his house had was upon a Mr. Wendel, a dry +little man, who had done a great deal of business on every side. People +said that he had become rich by smuggling, and was now in great danger +of failing. He had received the principal himself with something of +contumely, and had at first comported himself toward his young deputy +like a man distracted. Anton had again spent an hour in reasoning with +him, and, in spite of all the latter's twistings and turnings, had +remained firm to his point. At length Wendel broke out, "Enough; I am a +ruined man, but you deserve to get your money. Your house has always +dealt generously by me. You shall be reimbursed. Send your agent to me +again in the course of the day, and come to me early to-morrow morning." + +On the morrow, when Anton, accompanied by the agent, appeared before +their debtor, Wendel, after a gloomy salutation, seized hold of a great +rusty key, slowly put on a faded cloak on which countless darns showed +like cobwebs on an old wall, and led his creditors to a remote part of +the town, stopping before a ruined monastery. They went through a long +cloister. Anton looked admiringly at the exquisite moulding of the +arches, from which, however, time had worn off many a fragment that +encumbered the pavement. Monuments of the old inhabitants of the place +were ranged along the walls, and weather-stained inscriptions announced +to the inattentive living that pious Slavonic monks had once sought +peace within this shelter. Here in this cloister they had paced up and +down; here they had prayed and dreamed till they had to make over their +poor souls to the intercession of their saints. In the centre of this +building Wendel now opened a secret door, and led his companions down a +winding staircase into a large vault. This had once been used as the +cellar of the rich cloister, and down that same staircase the cellarer +had gone--ah! how often--wandering between the casks, tasting here and +tasting there; and at the ringing of the little bell above him, bowing +his head and saying a short prayer, and then returning to taste again, +or in comfortable mood to walk up and down. The prayer-bell of the +cloister had been melted down long ago; the empty cells were in ruins, +the cattle fed where once the prior sat at the head of his brethren at +their stately meal. All had vanished; the cellar only remained, and the +casks of fiery Hungarian wine stood as they did five hundred years +before. Still the rays of light converged into a star on the beautiful +arch of the roof; still the vault was kept stainlessly whitewashed, and +the floor strewn with finest sand; and still it was the cellarer's +custom only to approach the noble wine with a waxlight. True, they were +not the identical casks out of which the old monks drew their potions, +but they were now, as then, filled with the produce of the vine-clad +hills of Hegyalla, with the rosy wine of Menes, with the pride of +OEdenburg, and the mild juice of the careful vintage of Rust. + +"A hundred and fifty casks at eighteen, four-and-twenty, and thirty +ducats the cask," said the agent, beginning the inventory. + +Meanwhile Wendel went from one cask to another, the waxlight in his +hand. He stood a little time before each, carefully wiping off with a +clean linen cloth the very slightest trace of mould. "This was my +favorite walk," said he to Anton. "For twenty years I have attended +every vintage as a purchaser. Those were happy days, Mr. Wohlfart, and +now they are gone forever. I have often walked up and down here, looking +at the sunlight that shone down upon the barrels, and thinking of those +that walked here before me. To-day I am here for the last time. And what +will become of the wine? It will all be exported; they will drink it in +foreign parts, without knowing its merits; and some brandy distiller +will take possession of this cellar, or some new brewer will keep his +Bavarian beer in it. The old times are over for me too. This is the +noblest wine of all," said he, going up to a particular cask. "I might +have excepted it from my surrender. But what should I do with this +barrel only? Drink it? I shall never drink wine more. It shall go with +the rest, only I must take leave of it." He filled his glass. "Did you +ever drink wine like that before?" asked he, mournfully, holding out the +glass to Anton, who willingly owned he never had. + +They slowly reascended the steps. Arrived at the top, the wine-merchant +cast one last long look into the cellar, then turned round like one +fully resolved, locked the secret door, took out the key, and laid it +solemnly in Anton's hand. "There is the key of your property. Our +accounts are settled. Fare you well, gentlemen." Slowly and with bent +head he went through the ruined cloister, looking, in the gray light of +the early morning, like the ghost of some ancient cellarer still +haunting the relics of his past glory. + +The agent called after him, "But our breakfast, Mr. Wendel!" The old man +shook his head, and made a gesture of refusal. + +Yes, indeed, the breakfast. Every transaction was drowned in wine in +this town. The long sittings in drinking-houses, which even the bad +times did not prevent, were no small sorrow to Anton. He saw that men +worked much less, and talked and drank much more in this country than in +his. Whenever he had succeeded in getting a matter arranged, he could +not dispense with the succeeding breakfast. Then buyers, sellers, +assistants, and hangers-on of every kind sat at a round table together +in one of the taverns; began with porter, ate Caviare by the pound, and +washed it down with red Bordeaux wine. Hospitality was dispensed on all +sides; every familiar face must come and take a share in the banquet; +and so the company went on increasing till evening closed. Meanwhile the +wives, accustomed to such proceedings, would have dinner brought up and +removed three successive times, and at last adjourned till the next day. +At times like these Anton often thought of Fink, who, despite his +reluctance, had at least taught him to get through such ordeals as these +respectably. + +One afternoon, while Anton was sitting watching a game at dominoes, an +old lieutenant, looking off his newspaper, called to the players, +"Yesterday evening one of our hussars had two fingers of his right hand +smashed. The ass who was quartered with him had been playing with his +carabine, which was loaded. The doctor thinks amputation unavoidable. I +am sorry for the fine fellow: he was one of the most efficient of our +squadron. These misfortunes always happen to the best." + +"What is the man's name?" asked Herr von Bolling, going on with his +game. + +"It is Corporal Sturm." + +Anton sprang up, making all the pieces on the table dance again, and +asked where he was to be found. + +The lieutenant described the situation of the Lazaretto. In a dark room, +full of beds and invalid soldiers, Karl lay pale and suffering, and +reached out his left hand to Anton. "It is over," he said; "it hurt me +most confoundedly, but I shall be able to use the hand again. I can +still guide a pen, and shall try to do every thing else, if not with the +right hand, why, with the left. Only I shall never again cut a figure in +gold rings." + +"My poor, poor Karl," cried Anton; "it's all over with your soldiering." + +"Do you know," said Karl, "I can stand that misfortune pretty well. +After all, it was not a regular war; and when spring and sowing-time +comes, I shall be all right again. I could get up now if the doctor were +not so strict. It is not pleasant here," added he, apologetically; +"many of our people are sick, and one must shift for one's self in a +strange town." + +"You shall not remain in this room," said Anton, "if I can help it. +There is such an atmosphere of disease here that a man in health becomes +quite faint; I shall ask permission to have you moved into my lodging." + +"Dear Mr. Anton!" cried Karl, overjoyed. + +"Hush!" said the other; "I do not yet know whether we shall get leave." + +"I have one other request to make," said the soldier, at parting, "and +that is, that you will write the circumstance off to Goliath, so as not +to make him too uneasy. If he first heard of it from a stranger, he +would go on like a madman, I know." + +Anton promised to do this, and then hurried to the surgeon of the +regiment, and next to his kind friend the captain. + +"I will answer for his getting leave," said the latter. "And as, from +the account of his wound, his dismissal from the service seems to me +unavoidable, he may as well stay with you till he receives it." + +Three days later, Karl, with his arm in a sling, entered Anton's room. +"Here I am," said he. "Adieu my gay uniform! adieu Selim, my gallant +bay! You must have patience with me, Mr. Anton, for one other week, then +I shall be able to use my arm again." + +"Here is an answer from your father," said Anton, "directed to me." + +"To you?" inquired Karl, in amazement. "Why to you? why has he not +written to me?" + +"Listen." Anton took up a great sheet of folio paper, which was covered +over with letters half an inch long, and read as follows: "Worshipful +Mr. Wohlfart, this is a great misfortune for my poor son. Two fingers +from ten--eight remain. Even though they were but small fingers, the +pain was all the same. It is a great misfortune for both of us that we +can no longer write to each other. Therefore I beg of you to have the +goodness to tell him what follows: 'He is not to grieve overmuch. Boring +can still perhaps be done, and a good deal with the hammer. And even if +it be Heaven's will that this too should be impossible, still he is not +to grieve overmuch. He is provided for by an iron chest. When I am dead, +he will find the key in my waistcoat pocket. And so I greet him with my +whole heart. As soon as he can travel, he must come to me; all the more, +as I can no longer tell him in writing that I am his true and loving +father, Johann Sturm.'" Anton gave the letter to the invalid. + +"It is just like him," said Karl, between smiles and tears; "in his +first sorrow he has imagined that he can no longer write to me, because +I have hurt my hand. How he will stare when he receives my letter!" + +Karl spent the next few weeks with Anton. As soon as he could move his +hand, he took possession of the wardrobe of his friend, and began to +render him the little services that he had undertaken long ago in the +principal's house. Anton had some difficulty to prevent him from playing +the superfluous part of valet. + +"There you are brushing my coat again," said he one day, going into +Karl's room. "You know I will not stand it." + +"It was only to keep mine in countenance," said Karl, by way of excuse; +"two look so much better hanging together than one. Your coffee is +ready, but the coffee-pot is good for nothing, and always tastes of the +spirit of wine." + +When he found that, as he said, he could be of no use to Anton, he began +to work on his own account. Owing to his old love of mechanics, he had +collected a quantity of tools of all sorts, and whenever Anton left the +house, he began such a sawing, boring, planing, and rasping, that even +the deaf old artillery officer, who was quartered in the neighboring +house, was under the impression that a carpenter had settled near him, +and sent a broken bedstead to be repaired. As Karl was still obliged to +spare his right hand, he used one tool after the other with the left, +and was as pleased as a child with the progress he made. And when the +surgeon forbade such exertions for a week to come, Karl began to write +with his left hand, and daily exhibited to Anton samples of his skill. +"Practice is all that is wanted," said he; "man has to discover what he +can do. As for that, writing with the hands at all is merely a habit; if +one had no hands, one would write with one's feet; and I even believe +that they are not essential, and that it could be managed with the +head." + +"You are a foolish fellow," laughed Anton. + +"I do assure you," continued Karl, "that with a long reed held in the +mouth, with two threads fastened to the ears to lessen the shaking, one +might get on very tolerably. There is the setting of your keyhole come +off; we'll glue that on in no time." + +"I wonder that it does not stick of itself," said Anton, "for a most +horrible smell of glue comes from your room. The whole atmosphere is +impregnated with glue." + +"God forbid!" said Karl; "what I have is perfectly scentless glue--a new +invention." + +When this true-hearted man set out homeward, with his dismission in his +pocket, Anton felt as if he himself then first exchanged the +counting-house for the foreign city. + +One day our Anton passed the inn where his principal had been wounded. +He stood still a moment, and looked with some curiosity at the old house +and at the court-yard, where white-coated soldiers were now occupied in +blacking and polishing their belts. At that moment he perceived a form +in a black caftan glide away like a shadow out of the bar across the +entrance. It had the black curls, the small cap, the figure and bearing +of his old acquaintance, Schmeie Tinkeles. Alas! but it was his face no +longer. The former Tinkeles had been rather a smart fellow of his kind. +He had always worn his long locks shining and curled; he had had red +lips, and a slight tinge of color on his yellow cheeks. The present +Schmeie was but a shadow of him of yore: he looked pale as a ghost, his +nose had become pointed and prominent, and his head drooped down like +the cup of a fading flower. + +Anton cried out in amazement, "Tinkeles, is it really you?" and went up +to him. Tinkeles collapsed as if struck by a thunderbolt, and stared +with wide-opened eyes at Anton, an image of horror and alarm. + +"God of justice!" were the only words that escaped his white lips. + +"What is the matter with you, Tinkeles? you look a most miserable +sinner. What are you doing in this place, and what in the world leads +you to this house, of all others?" + +"I can not help being here," answered the trader, still half +unconscious. "I can not help our principal being so unfortunate. His +blood has flowed on account of the goods which Mausche Fischel sent off, +having been paid for them. I am innocent, Mr. Wohlfart, on my eternal +salvation. I did not know that the landlord was such a worthless being, +and that he would lift his hand against the gentleman who stood before +him there without hat, without cap on--without cap on," he whined out +still more loudly; "bareheaded. You may believe that it was with me as +though a sword had fallen upon my own body when I saw the landlord use +such violence to a man who stood before him like a nobleman as he is, +and has been all his life long." + +"Hear me, Schmeie," said Anton, looking wondering at the Galician, who +still harped upon the same string, trying to regain his composure by +dint of speaking. "Hear me, my lad; you were in this town when our +wagons were plundered--you saw from some hiding-place or other our +quarrel with the landlord--you know this man's character, and yet you +remain here; and now I will just tell you, in so many words, what you +have half confessed to me--you knew of the unloading of the wagons, and, +more, you had an interest in the carriers remaining behind; and in +short, you and the landlord are in the same boat. After what you have +now said, I shall not let you go till I know all. You shall either come +with me to my room, and there freely confess, or I will take you to the +soldiers, and have you examined by them." + +Tinkeles was annihilated. "God of my fathers, it is fearful--it is +fearful!" whined he, and his teeth chattered. + +Anton felt compassion for his great terror, and said, "Come with me, +Tinkeles, and I promise you that if you make a candid confession nothing +shall be done to you." + +"What shall I confess to the gentleman?" groaned Tinkeles; "I, who have +nothing to confess." + +"If you will not come at once, I call the soldiers," said Anton, +roughly. + +"No soldiers," implored Tinkeles, shuddering again. "I will come with +you, and will tell you what I know, if you will promise to betray me to +no one, not to your principal, not to Mausche Fischel, and not either to +the wicked man, the landlord, and not to any soldiers." + +"Come," said Anton, pointing down the street. And so he led away the +reluctant Tinkeles like a prisoner, and never took his eyes off him, +fearing that he would follow the suggestions of his evil conscience, and +run off down some side street. The Galician, however, had not courage to +do this, but crept along by Anton, looked toward him every now and then, +sighing deeply, and gurgled out unintelligible words. Arrived at Anton's +lodging, he began of his own accord: "It has been a weight on my +heart--I have not been able to sleep--I have not been able to eat or +drink; and whenever I ran here or there on business, it has lain on my +soul just as a stone does in a glass--when one tries to drink, the stone +falls against the teeth, and the water spills. Alas! what have I not +spilled!" + +"Go on," said Anton, again mollified by the candid confession. + +"I came here on account of the wagons," continued Tinkeles, looking +timidly at Anton. "Mausche has dealt with your firm for ten years, and +always uprightly, and you have made a good sum of money out of him, and +so he thought that the time was come when he might do a business of his +own, and settle his account with you. And when the uproar began, he came +to me and said, 'Schmeie,' said he, 'you are not afraid,' said he. 'Let +them shoot away, and go you among them and see that you keep the wagons +for me. Perhaps you can sell them, perhaps you can bring them back; at +all events, it is better that we should have them than any one else.' +And so I came and waited till the wagons arrived, and I spoke with the +landlord, saying that, since the goods could not reach you, it was +better they should fall into our hands. But that the landlord should +prove such a man of blood, that I did not wish, and did not know; and +since I saw how he cut your master's arm, I have had no peace, and I +have ever seen before me the bloody shirt, and the fine cloth of his +great-coat, which was cut in two." + +Anton listened to this confession with an interest that outweighed the +aversion he felt for these--not uncommon--manoeuvres of Galician +traders. He contented himself with saying to the delinquent, "Your +rascality has cost Mr. Schröter a wounded arm; and, had we not appeared +upon the scene, you would have stolen from us twenty thousand dollars." + +"Not twenty thousand," cried Schmeie; "wool is very low, and there's +nothing to be made of tallow. Less than twenty thousand." + +"Indeed!" said Anton, disdainfully; "and now, what am I to do with you?" + +"Do nothing with me," implored Schmeie, laying his hand on Anton's coat. +"Let the whole matter go to sleep. You have the goods, be satisfied with +that. It was a good business that which Mausche Fischel was not able to +undertake because you hindered him." + +"You still regret it," said Anton, indignantly. + +"I am glad that you have the property," replied the Jew, "because you +shed your blood about it; and therefore do nothing with me; I will see +whether I can't please you in other matters. If you have any thing for +me to do in this place, it will be a satisfaction to me to help you." + +Anton coldly replied, "Although I have promised not to bring your +thievishness to judgment, yet we can never deal with you again. You are +a worthless man, Tinkeles, and have dealt unfairly with our house. +Henceforth we are strangers." + +"Why do you call me worthless?" complained Tinkeles. "You have known me +as an upright man for years past; how can you call me worthless because +I wanted to do a little stroke of business, and was unfortunate and +could not do it? Is that worthless?" + +"Enough," said Anton; "you may go." Tinkeles remained standing, and +asked whether Anton required any new imperial ducats. "I want nothing +from you," was the reply. "Go." + +The Jew went slowly to the door, and then turning round, observed, +"There is an excellent bargain to be made with oats; if you will +undertake it with me, I will go shares with you; there is much money to +be made by it." + +"I have no dealings with you, Tinkeles. In Heaven's name, go away." + +The Jew crept out, once more scratching at the door, but not venturing +in. A few minutes later, Anton saw him cross the street, looking much +dejected. + +From that time Anton was regularly besieged by the repentant Tinkeles. +Not a day passed without the Galician forcing an entrance, and seeking a +reconciliation after his fashion. Sometimes they met in the streets, +sometimes Anton was disturbed when writing by his unsteady knock; he had +always something to offer, or some tidings to impart, through which he +hoped to find favor. His power of invention was quite touching. He +offered to buy or sell any thing or every thing, to transact any kind of +business, to spy or carry messages; and when he found out that Anton was +a good deal with the military, and that a certain young lieutenant, in +particular, went often with him to the "Restauration," Tinkeles began to +offer whatever he conceived might prove attractive to an officer. True, +Anton remained firm in his resolve of not dealing with him, but at last +he had no longer the heart to treat the poor devil roughly; and Tinkeles +found out from many a suppressed smile, or short question put, that +Anton's intercession for him with the principal was not quite hopeless. +And for this he served with the perseverance of his ancestor Jacob. + +One morning young Rothsattel came clattering into Anton's room. "I have +been on the sick-list. I had a bad catarrh, and was obliged to remain in +my comfortless quarters," said he, throwing himself on the sofa. "Can +you help me to while away time this evening? We are to have a game at +whist. I have invited our doctor and a few of our men. Will you come?" +Pleased and a little flattered, Anton accepted. "Very well," continued +the young gentleman; "then you must give me the power of losing my money +to you. That wretched _vingt-et-un_ has emptied my pockets. Lend me +twenty ducats for eight days." + +"With pleasure," said Anton; and he eagerly produced his purse. + +Just as the lieutenant carelessly pocketed it, a horse's hoofs were +heard in the street, and he rushed to the window. "By Jove, that is a +lovely thing--pure Polish blood--the horse-dealer has stolen it from one +of the rebels, and now wants to tempt an honest soldier with it." + +"How do you know that the horse is to be sold?" asked Anton, sealing a +letter at the writing-table. + +"Don't you see that the creature is led about by a rogue to attract +notice?" + +At that moment there was a light knock at the door, and Schmeie Tinkeles +first inserted his curly head, and then his black caftan, and gurgled +submissively, "I wished to ask their honors whether they would look at a +horse that is worth as many louis-d'or as it cost dollars. If you would +just step to the window, Mr. Wohlfart, you would see it--seeing is not +buying." + +"Is this one of your mercantile friends, Wohlfart?" asked the +lieutenant, laughing. + +"He is so no longer; he is fallen into disgrace," replied Anton, in the +same tone. "This time his visit is intended for you, Herr von +Rothsattel. Take care, or he will tempt you to buy the horse." + +The dealer listened attentively to the dialogue, and looked with much +curiosity at the lieutenant. + +"If the gracious baron will buy the horse," said he, coming forward, and +staring at the young officer, "it will be a beautiful saddle-horse for +him on his estate." + +"What the deuce do you know about my estate?" said the lieutenant; "I +have none." + +"Do you know this gentleman?" asked Anton. + +"How should I not know him, if it be he who has the great estate in your +country, in which he has built a factory, where he makes sugar out of +fodder." + +"He means your father," explained Anton. "Tinkeles has connections in +our province, and often stays months there." + +"What do I hear?" cried the Galician; "the father of this worshipful +officer! Your pardon, Mr. Wohlfart; so you are acquainted with the +baron, who is the father of this gentleman!" A smile hovered over the +lieutenant's mustache. + +"I have, at all events, seen this gentleman's father," replied Anton, +annoyed with the pertinacious questioning of the trader, and with +himself for blushing. + +"And forgive me if I ask whether you know this gentleman intimately, and +whether he is what one calls your good friend?" + +"What are you driving at, Tinkeles?" said Anton, sharply, and blushed +still deeper, not knowing exactly how to answer the question. + +"Yes, Jew, he is my good friend," said the lieutenant, clapping Anton on +the shoulder. "He is my cashier; he has just lent me twenty ducats, and +he won't give me any money to buy your horse. So go to the devil." + +The trader listened attentively to every word spoken, and looked at the +young men with curiosity, but, as Anton remarked, with a degree of +sympathy foreign to his nature. "So," he repeated, mechanically, "he has +lent you twenty ducats; he would lend you more if you asked him; I +know--I know. So you do not want the horse, Mr. Wohlfart? My services to +you, Mr. Wohlfart;" and, so saying, he vanished, and soon the quick trot +of a horse was heard. + +"What a fellow that is!" cried the lieutenant, looking out after him. + +"He is not generally so easy to get rid of," said Anton, perplexed at +the strange conduct of the Jew. "Perhaps your uniform expedited his +departure." + +"I hope it was of some use to you, then. Good-by till the evening," said +the lieutenant, taking his leave. + +That afternoon the light knocking was heard again, and Tinkeles +reappeared. He looked cautiously around the room, and approached Anton. +"Allow me to ask," said he, with a confidential wink, "is it really true +that you lent him twenty ducats, and would lend him more if he wished?" + +Anton assented to both these propositions. "And now," said he, "tell me +plainly what is running in your head, for I see you have something to +disclose." + +Tinkeles made a sly face, and winked harder. "Even though he be your +good friend, beware of lending him money. If you know what you are +about, you will lend him no more money." + +"And why not?" inquired Anton. "Your good advice is useless, unless I +know on what it is founded." + +"And if I tell you what I know, will you intercede for me with Mr. +Schröter, so that he may not think about the wagons when he sees me in +his counting-house?" + +"I will tell him that you have behaved well in other respects. It will +be for him to decide what he will do." + +"You will intercede for me," said Tinkeles; "that's enough. Things are +going ill with Von Rothsattel, the father of this young man--very ill. +Misfortune's black hand is raised over him. He is a lost man. There is +no saving him." + +"How do you know this?" cried Anton, horrified. "But it is impossible," +he added, more calmly; "it is a lie, a mere idle rumor." + +"Believe my words," said the Jew, impressively. "His father is in the +hands of one who walks about in secret, like the angel of destruction. +He goes and lays his noose around the necks of the men he has singled +out without any one seeing him. He tightens the noose, and they fall +around like ninepins. Why should you lend your money to those who have +the noose around their neck?" + +"Who is this demon who has the baron in his power?" cried Anton, in +uncontrollable excitement. + +"What signifies the name?" coolly replied the Galician. "Even if I knew +it I would not tell it, and if I told it it could do you no good, nor +the baron either, for you know him not, and he knows him not." + +"Is it Ehrenthal?" inquired Anton. + +"I can not tell the name," rejoined the trader, shrugging his shoulders; +"but it is not Hirsch Ehrenthal." + +"If I am to believe your words, and if you wish to do me a service," +continued Anton, more composedly, "you must give me exact information. I +must know this man's name--must know all that you have heard of him and +of the baron." + +"I have heard nothing," replied the trader, doggedly, "if you wish to +examine me as they do in the courts of law. A word that is spoken flies +through the air like a scent; one perceives it, another does not. I can +not tell you the words I have heard, and I will not tell them for much +money. What I say is meant for your ear alone. To you I say that two men +have sat together, not one, but many evenings--not one, but many years; +and they have whispered in the balcony of our inn, under which the water +runs; and the water whispered below them, and they whispered above the +water. I lay in the room on my bed of straw, so that they believed I was +asleep; and I have often heard the name of Rothsattel from the lips of +both, and the name of his estate too; and I know that misfortune hovers +over him, but further I know not; and now I have said all, and will go. +The good advice I have this day given you will make up for the day when +you fought for the wool and the hides; and you will remember the promise +you have made me." + +Anton was lost in thought. He knew from Bernhard that Ehrenthal was in +many ways intimately connected with the baron, and this link between the +landed proprietor and the ill-spoken-of speculator had often seemed to +him unaccountable. But Tinkeles' story was too incredible, for he had +never himself heard any unfavorable account of the baron's +circumstances. "I can not," said he, after a long pause, "be satisfied +with what you have told me. You will think the matter over, and perhaps +you will remember the name, and some of the words you heard." + +"Perhaps I may," said the Galician, with a peculiar expression, which +Anton in his perplexity quite lost. "And now we have squared our +accounts. I have occasioned you anxiety and danger, but, on the other +hand, I have done you a service--a great service," he repeated, +complacently. "Would you take louis-d'or instead of bank-notes?" asked +he, suddenly falling into a business tone; "if so, I can let you have +them." + +"You know that I have no money transactions," replied Anton, absently. + +"Perhaps you can give Vienna bills drawn upon safe houses." + +"I have no bills to give," said Anton, with some irritation. + +"Very well," said the Jew; "a question does no harm;" and he turned to +go, stopping, however, when he reached the door. "I was obliged to give +two florins to Seligmann, who led the horse, and waited half a day upon +the gentleman's pleasure. It was a mere advance that I made for you; +will you not give me my two florins back?" + +"Heavens be praised!" cried Anton, laughing in spite of himself; "now we +have the old Tinkeles once more. No, Schmeie, you won't get your two +florins." + +"And you will not take louis-d'or in exchange for Vienna notes?" + +"I will not." + +"Adieu!" said Tinkeles; "and now, when we meet again, we are good +friends." He lifted the latch. "If you want to know the name of the man +who can make Von Rothsattel as small as the grass in the streets which +every one treads upon, inquire for Hirsch Ehrenthal's book-keeper, of +the name of Itzig. Veitel Itzig is the name." With these words he made +his exit so rapidly that, although Anton tried, he could not overtake +him. + +He determined at once to inform the baron's son of what he had heard, +though he feared that it would occasion his tender nature great +distress. "But it must be done this very evening," thought he. "I will +go early, or remain till the others have left." + +Fate, however, did not favor this intention. Early as Anton went, he +found five or six young cavalry officers already arrived at young +Rothsattel's rooms before him. Eugene lay in his dressing-gown on the +sofa, the squadron encamping round him. The doctor succeeded Anton. "How +are you?" said he to the patient. + +"Well enough," replied Eugene. "I don't want your powders." + +"A little fever," continued the doctor. "Pulse full, and so on. It is +too hot here. I propose that we open the window." + +"By Jove, doctor, you shall do no such thing," cried a young gentleman, +who had made himself a sort of couch of two chairs; "you know that I +can't stand a draught except when on duty." + +"Leave it alone," cried Eugene; "we are homoeopathists here; we will +drive out heat by heat. What shall we drink?" + +"A mild punch would be best for the patient," said the doctor. + +"Bring the pine-apple, my good Anton; it is somewhere there, with the +rest of the apparatus." + +"Ha!" cried the doctor, as Anton produced the fruit, and the servant +came in with a basket of wine; "a sweet Colossus, a remarkable specimen +indeed! With your leave, I'll make the punch. The proportions must have +some reference to the state of the patient." + +So saying, the doctor put his hand into his pocket, and brought out a +black case, in which he looked for a knife to cut the fruit. + +The young hussars broke out at once into a volley of oaths. + +"My good sirs," cried the doctor, little moved by the storm he had +raised, "has any one of you got a knife? Not one, I know. There is +nothing to be found in your pockets but looking-glasses and brushes; and +which of you understands the making of a bowl that a man of the world +can drink? You can, indeed, empty one, but make it you can not." + +"I will try what I can do, doctor," said Bolling, from a corner. + +"Ah! Herr von Bolling, are you here too?" replied the doctor, with a +bow. + +Bolling took the pine-apple, and carefully held it out of reach of the +medical arm. "Come here, Anton," said he, "and take care that that +monster of a doctor does not approach our punch with his +dissecting-knife." + +While these two were brewing, the doctor took out two packs of cards, +and solemnly laid them on the table. + +"None of your cards!" cried Eugene; "to-day, at least, let us be +together without sinning." + +"You can't," said the doctor, mockingly; "you'll be the first to touch +them. I thought of nothing but a quiet game at whist, a game for pious +hermits. Time, however, will show what you will make of these packs; +there they lie by the candlesticks." + +"Don't listen to the tempter," cried one of the lieutenants, laughing. + +"Whoever touches the cards first shall forfeit a breakfast to the +party," said another. + +"Here is the punch," said Bolling, setting down the bowl. "Taste it, oh +man of blood!" + +"Raw!" pronounced the oracle; "it would be drinkable to-morrow evening." + +While these gentlemen were disputing about the merits of the beverage, +Eugene took up one of the packs of cards, and mechanically cut them. The +doctor exclaimed, "Caught, I declare! He himself is the one to pay the +forfeit." All laughed, and crowded round the table. "The bank, doctor," +cried the officers, throwing him the cards. Soon other packs came out +of other pockets; and the doctor laying a little heap of paper and +silver on the table, the game began. The stakes were not high, and light +jests accompanied the loss and gain of the players. Even Anton took a +card and staked away without much thought. He found it difficult, +though, to take any cordial part in the entertainment, and looked with +sincere sympathy at young Rothsattel bending, in his ignorance, over the +cards. He himself won a few dollars, but remarked with pain that Eugene +was invariably unlucky. As, however, he was a party concerned in this, +he made no remark; but the doctor himself said to his patient, after +having again swept away the ducats the former had put down, "You are +getting hot; you are feverish; if you are prudent, you will play no +more. I have never yet had a fever-patient who did not lose at Pharao." + +"That won't do, doctor," replied Eugene, sharply, and staked again. + +"You are unlucky, Eugene," cried the good-humored Bolling. "You go on +too fast." + +His deal over, the doctor took up the cards and placed them in his +pocket. "The bank has won immensely," said he; "but I leave off; I have +made enough." + +Again a storm arose among the officers. "I will hold the bank," cried +Eugene; "give me your cash, Wohlfart." + +The doctor protested, but at length gave in, thinking, "Perhaps he'll +have a run of luck as banker; one must not refuse a man a chance of +compensation." + +Anton took some bank-notes out of his pocket, and laid them down before +Eugene, but he himself played no more. He sat there sadly, and looked at +his friend, who, heated by wine and fever, stared fixedly at the cards +of the players. Deal succeeded deal, and Eugene lost all he had before +him. The officers glanced at each other in amazement. + +"I too propose that we leave off," said Bolling; "we will give you your +revenge another time." + +"I will have it to-day," cried Eugene, springing up and shutting the +door. "Not one of you shall stir. Keep your places and play; here is +money." He threw a bundle of matches on the table. "Every match stands +for a dollar; no stake under. I will pay to-morrow." The game went on; +Eugene continued to lose; the matches were scattered in all directions, +as by some secret spell. Eugene got another bundle, exclaiming wildly, +"We'll reckon when we separate." + +Bolling rose and stamped with his chair. + +"Whoever leaves the room is a scoundrel!" cried Eugene. + +"You are a fool!" said the other, angrily. "It is a shame to take all a +comrade's money as we are doing to-day. I have never seen such a thing. +If it be Satan's contriving, I will not help him further." He rose and +sat apart. Anton joined him. Both looked on in silence at the desperate +way in which gold was flung about. + +"I too have had enough of it," said the doctor, showing a thick bundle +of matches in his hand. "This is a singular evening; since I have known +cards, such a case as this has never come within my experience." + +Once more Eugene sprang to the side-table where the matches lay, but +Bolling seized the whole box and flung them into the street. "Better +that they burn our boots than your purse," cried he. Then throwing the +cards on the floor, "The game shall cease, I say." + +"I will not be dictated to thus," retorted Eugene, in a rage. + +Bolling buckled on his sword and laid his hand on the belt. "I will talk +to you to-morrow. And now make your reckoning, gentlemen," said he; "we +are going to break up." + +The counters were thrown on the table, the doctor counting. Eugene +gloomily took out his pocket-book, and entered into it the amount of his +debt to each. The company retired without any courteous greetings. + +On the way the doctor said, "He owes eight hundred dollars." + +Bolling shrugged his shoulders. "I hope he can raise the money; but I do +wish you had kept your cards in your pocket. If the story gets about, +Rothsattel will have cause to regret it. We shall all do our best to +hush it up, and I request you, Mr. Wohlfart, to do the same." + +Anton returned to his lodgings in the utmost excitement. The whole +evening he had sat upon thorns, and silently reproached the spendthrift. +He regretted having lent him money, and yet felt it would have been +impossible to refuse. + +The following morning, just as he was setting out to pay Eugene a visit, +the door opened, and Eugene himself entered, out of tune, dejected, +unsteady. + +"A horrid piece of ill luck yesterday," cried he. "I am in great +straits; I must get hold of eight hundred dollars, and have not in all +this luckless town a friend to whom I can turn except you. Exert your +faculties, Anton, and contrive to get me the money." + +"It is no easy matter for me to do so," replied Anton, gravely. "The sum +is no inconsiderable one, and the money which I have here at my disposal +is not my own." + +"You will contrive it, though," continued Eugene, persevering; "if you +do not help me out of this scrape, I know not where to turn. Our colonel +is not to be trifled with. I risk the loss of all if the matter be not +soon settled and hushed up." And in his distress he took Anton's hand +and pressed it. + +Anton looked at the troubled face of Lenore's brother, and replied with +an inward struggle: "I have a little sum belonging to me invested in the +funds of our house, and have now got money to transmit thither; it would +be possible to tell the cashier to take my money and to keep back the +sum you require." + +"You are my deliverer," cried Eugene, suddenly relieved; "in a month, at +latest, I will repay you the eight hundred dollars," added he, inclined +at the speedy prospect of money to hope the best. + +Anton went to his desk and counted out the sum. It was the larger part +of what still remained of his inheritance. + +When Eugene had with warmest thanks pocketed the money, Anton began: +"And now, Herr von Rothsattel, I wish to communicate something which +weighed upon my heart all yesterday evening. I beg that you will not +consider me intrusive if I tell you what you ought to know, and yet what +a stranger has hardly a right to say." + +"If you are going to sermonize me, the moment is ill chosen," replied +the lieutenant, sulkily. "I know perfectly that I have done a stupid +thing, and am in for a lecture from my papa. I do not wish to hear from +another what I must listen to from him." + +"You trust very little to my good feeling," cried Anton, indignantly; "I +yesterday heard from a very singular source that your father has got +into difficulties through the intrigues of an unprincipled speculator. I +even heard the name of the man who is plotting his ruin." + +The lieutenant looked in amazement at Anton's earnest face, and at last +said, "The devil! you frighten me. But no, it is impossible. Papa has +never told me any thing about his affairs being out of order." + +"Perhaps he himself does not know the schemes, or the worthlessness of +the men who mean to use his credit for their own ends." + +"The Baron of Rothsattel is not the man to be made a tool of by any +one." + +"That I agree to," said Anton, readily; "and yet I must beg you to +reflect that his late extensive undertakings may have brought him into +contact with cunning and unprincipled traders. He who gave me this +information evidently did it with a good purpose. He announced his +belief, which is, I fear, widely shared by a number of inferior men of +business, that your father is in grave danger of losing severely. I now +request that you will go with me to the man; perhaps we shall succeed in +eliciting more from him. He is the very Jew you saw with me yesterday." + +The lieutenant looked down in deep dejection, and, without saying a +word, took up his cap and accompanied Anton to the inn at which Tinkeles +was staying. + +"It will be better that you should ask for him," said Anton on the way. +So the officer entered and asked every servant that he met, and then the +landlord. Schmeie had left in the middle of the previous day. They +hurried from the inn to the government offices, and there found that +Tinkeles had taken out his passport for the Turkish frontier. His +departure made his warning appear the more important. The longer they +discussed the matter, the more excited the lieutenant became, and the +less he knew what to do. At last he broke out: "My father is perhaps now +distressed for money, and how am I to tell him of my debt? It is a +dreadful case. Wohlfart, you are a good fellow for lending me the money, +though this wandering Jew's report was in your head. You must be still +more accommodating, and lend me the sum for a longer time." + +"Until you yourself express a wish to repay it." + +"That is kind," cried the lieutenant; "and now do one thing more: write +to my father. You know best what this confounded man has told you, and +it would be a great bore to me to have to tell a thing of the kind to +papa." + +"But your father may well consider the interference of a stranger +unwarrantable impertinence," rejoined Anton, oppressed by the idea of +having to write to Lenore's father. + +"My father already knows you," said Eugene, persuasively; "I remember my +sister talking to me about you. Just say that I entreated you to write. +It would really be better that you should do so." + +Anton consented. He sat down at once, and informed the baron of the +warning given by the wool-dealer. And thus he, while far away, came +into new relations with the family of the baron, which were destined to +have important consequences for him and them alike. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +Happy the foot that can roam over a wide expanse of property--happy the +head which knows how to subject the forces of ever-fresh nature to an +intelligent human will. All that makes man strong, healthy, worthy, is +given in portion to the agriculturist: his life is a ceaseless battle +and a ceaseless victory. The pure air of heaven steels the muscles of +his body, and the primeval order of nature forces his thoughts too into +a regular orbit. Other species of industry may become obsolete; his is +enduring as the earth: other tastes may prison men in narrow walls, in +the depths of the earth, or between the planks of a ship; his glance has +only two boundaries--the blue sky above, the firm earth below. His is +almost the rapture of creation; for whatever his edict demands from +organic or inorganic nature, springs up beneath his hand. Even the +townsman's heart is refreshed by the green blade and the golden ear, the +quietly pasturing cow and the frisking colt, the shade of the woods and +the perfume of the fields; but far stronger, higher, nobler is the +enjoyment of the man who, walking over his own land, can say, "All this +is mine; all this is a blessing upon my energy and insight." For he does +not merely supinely enjoy the picture before him: some definite wish +accompanies every glance, some resolve every impression. Every thing has +a meaning for him, and he a purpose regarding it. Daily labor is his +delight, and it is a delight that quickens each faculty. So lives the +man who is himself the industrious cultivator of his own soil. + +And three times happy the proprietor of land where a battle with nature +has been carried on for long years. The plowshare sinks deep into the +well-cleaned ground, the ears hang heavy on the well-grown corn, and the +turnip swells to colossal size. Then comes the time when a new form of +industry is added to the old. Strange shapes of machinery are seen near +the farm-buildings, giant caldrons, mighty wheels, and huge pipes, while +the grinding and turning of the engines goes on ceaselessly by day and +night. A noble industry, this! It springs from the energies of the +soil, and increases them a hundred-fold. When the fruits of his own +ground are devoted to the factory, the ancient plow without, the new +steam-engine within, unite in perfect harmony to make their owner +richer, stronger, and wiser. His life is linked by many ties to men of +other callings, and strangers rejoice to hold out their hands to him, +and unite their efforts with his. The circle of his interests goes on +widening, and his influence over others increasing. + +Near to the dwelling of a man like this a new race of laborers build +cottages of every degree, all comes right to him, and can be turned to +profit. The value of the land rises yearly, and the tempting prospect of +great returns impels even the obstinate peasantry out of the old +accustomed track. The wretched path becomes a good road, the marshy +ditch a canal. Wagons pass along from field to field, red-tiled roofs +rise in once desolate stations; the postman, who formerly came in twice +a week, appears daily now, his bag heavy with letters and newspapers, +and as he stops at some new house to bring the young wife, lately +settled there, a letter from her home, he gratefully accepts the glass +of milk she offers him in her delight, and tells her how long the way +used to be from village to village in the summer heat. Soon new wants +arise--the childish hangers on to all progress. The needle of the tailor +has many a new stuff to pierce, the small shopkeeper sets up his store +between the cottages, the village schoolmaster complains of the +multitude of his scholars; a second school is built, an adult class +established; the teacher keeps the first germ of the lending library in +a cupboard in his own room, and the bookseller in the next town sends +him books for sale; and thus the life of the prosperous agriculturist is +a blessing to the district, nay, to the whole country. + +But woe to the landed proprietor when the ground he treads has fallen +into the power of strangers. He is lost if his crops fail to satisfy +their claims, and the genii of nature give their smiles to him only who +confronts them freely and securely--they revolt when they discern +weakness, precipitation, and half measures. No undertaking any longer +prospers. The yellow blossoms of the turnip and the blue flowers of the +flax wither without fruit. Rust and gangrene appear among the cattle, +the shriveled potato sickens and dies; all these, long accustomed to +obey skill, now cruelly avenge neglect. Then the daily walk through the +fields becomes a daily curse; the very lark that springs from the corn +reminds him that it is all sold as it stands; the yoke of oxen carrying +the clover to the barn suggests that the whole yield of the dairy +belongs to a creditor. Gloomy, morose, despairing, the man returns home. +It is natural that he should become a stranger to his farm, should seek +to escape from painful thoughts in change of scene, and his absence +precipitates his downfall. The one thing that might yet save him, a +complete surrender of himself to his avocations, is become intolerable. + +Woe, threefold woe, to the landed proprietor who has precipitately +invoked the black art of steam to settle on his land, in order to educe +from it energies which it does not possess! The heaviest curse that +mortal man can know has fallen upon him. He not only becomes weaker +himself, but he deteriorates all those whom he takes into his service. +All that still remains to him is torn to fragments by the rotation of +the wheels he has madly introduced; his oxen and his horses are worn out +by the heavy demands the factory makes upon them; his worthy +farm-servants are transformed into a dirty, hungry proletariat. Where +once the necessary work at least was obediently performed, contention, +cheating, and opposition prevail. He himself is swept away in a vortex +of complicated business, claims surge in upon him wave upon wave, and +he, in his desperate struggle, drowning man that he is, has no choice +but to cling to whatever comes within his grasp, and then, wearied by +his fruitless efforts, to sink into the abyss. + +Once the baron's lands had borne better crops than those of his +neighbors, his herds were acknowledged to be thoroughly healthy, bad +years, which crushed others, had passed comparatively lightly over him. +Now, all this was reversed as by some evil spell. A contagious disease +broke out among the cattle; the wheat grew tall indeed, but when it came +to be threshed the grain was light. Every where the outgoings exceeded +the incomings. Once upon a time he could have borne this calmly, now it +made him positively ill. He began to hate the sight of his farm, and +left it entirely to the bailiff. All his hopes centred in the factory, +and if he ever visited his fields, it was only to look after the +beet-root. + +The new buildings rose behind the trees of the park. The voices of many +busy laborers sounded shrill around it. The first crop of beet was +brought in and heaped up ready for the mill. On the following day the +regular factory was to begin, and yet the coppersmith was still +hammering there, mechanics were working away at the great engine, and +busy women carrying off chips and fragments of mortar, and scouring the +scenes of their future labor. The baron stood before the building, +listening impatiently to the beating of the hammer which had been so +dilatory in completing its task. The morrow was to be to him the +beginning of a new era. He stood now at the door of his treasure-house. +He might now cast all his old cares away. During the next year he should +be able to pay off what he owed, and then he would begin to put by. But, +while he thus speculated, his eye fell upon his over-worked horses, and +the anxious face of his old bailiff, and a vague fear crept, like a +loathly insect, over the fluttering leaves of his hopes; for he had +staked all on this cast; he had so mortgaged his land that at this +moment he hardly knew how much of it was his own; and all this to raise +still higher the social dignity of his family tree! + +The baron himself was much altered during the last few years. A wrinkled +brow, two fretful lines around the mouth, and gray hair on the temples: +these were the results of his eternal thought about capital, his family, +and the future aggrandizement of the property. His voice, which once +sounded strong and full, had become sharp and thin, and every gesture +betrayed irritation and impatience. + +The baron had, indeed, had heavy cares of late. He had thoroughly +learned the misery of extensive building operations combined with a +scarcity of money. Ehrenthal was now become a regular visitor at the +castle. Every week his horses consumed the baron's good hay; every week +he brought out his pocket-book, and reckoned up the account or paid off +bills. His hand, which at first so readily and reverentially sought his +purse, did so now tardily and reluctantly; his bent neck had become +stiff, his submissive smile had changed into a dry greeting; he walked +with a scrutinizing air through the farm, and, instead of fervent +praises, found many a fault. The humble agent had grown into the +creditor, and the baron had to bear, with still increasing aversion, the +pretensions of a man with whom he could no longer dispense. And not +Ehrenthal alone, but many a strange figure besides knocked at the +baron's study, and had private dealings with him there. The broad shape +of the uncouth Pinkus appeared every quarter, and each time that his +heavy foot ascended the castle stairs discord and dissatisfaction +followed. + +Every week, as we said, Ehrenthal had visited the estate: now came the +most anxious time of all, and no eye beheld him. They said in the town +that he was gone off upon a journey, and the baron was listening +restlessly to the noise of every carriage that passed, wondering whether +it brought the tardy, the hated, yet the indispensable visitor. + +Lenore now joined her father, a radiant beauty, full in form and tall in +stature, but somewhat shadowed by life's cares, as her thoughtful eyes +and the anxious glance she cast at the baron plainly proved. "The post +is come in," said she, reaching him a packet of letters and newspapers; +"I dare say there is no letter from Eugene again." + +"He has many other things to do," replied her father; but he himself +looked eagerly for the handwriting of his son. Then he saw a direction +in a strange hand, and on the letter the postmark of the very town in +which Eugene was quartered. It was Anton's letter. The baron tore it +open. When he had seen from its respectful tenor how well it was meant, +and had read the name of Itzig in it, he put it up in his pocket. The +secret terror which had so often shot through his heart fell upon him +again, and then followed the unwelcome thought that his embarrassments +were the subject of conversation even in foreign towns. Ill-timed +warnings were the last thing that he wanted; they only humbled. He stood +long in gloomy silence by his daughter. But, as the letter contained +tidings of Eugene, he forced himself at length to speak. "A Mr. Wohlfart +has written to me. He is now traveling in his mercantile capacity on the +other side of the frontier, and has made Eugene's acquaintance." + +"He!" cried Lenore. + +"He seems to be an estimable kind of man," said the baron, with an +effort. "He speaks affectionately of Eugene." + +"Yes," cried Lenore, in delight; "one learns to know what +conscientiousness and stability mean when one associates with him. What +a strange coincidence! The sister and the brother. What has he written +to you about, father!" + +"Matters of business, kindly meant, no doubt, but not of any present use +to me. The foolish boys have heard some idle rumor, and have +unnecessarily troubled themselves about my affairs." And, so saying, he +gloomily walked toward his factory. + +Much perturbed, Lenore followed him. At length he opened the newspaper, +and carelessly turned it over till his eye fell upon a certain +advertisement. His face flushed deeply, the paper fell out of his hand, +and, catching hold of one of the wagons, he leaned his head upon it. +Lenore, much shocked, took up the paper, and saw the name of the Polish +estate on which she knew that her father had a large mortgage. A day was +specified for the sale of that estate by auction on behalf of a +concourse of creditors. + +The intelligence fell like a thunderbolt upon the baron. Since he had +burdened his own property, the sum that he had invested in Poland was +his last hope of well-doing. He had often doubted whether he was not +foolish to leave his money in the hands of strangers abroad, and to pay +so high an interest to strangers at home; but he had always had a horror +of being led to invest this round sum in his undertakings, considering +it in the light of his wife's jointure and his daughter's portion. Now +it, too, was endangered, the last security had vanished. Every thing +around him reeled. Ehrenthal had deceived him. It was he who had carried +on the correspondence with the lawyer of the Polish count. He had +punctually paid him the interest when it was last due. There was no +doubt that he had known the precarious nature of this foreign +investment, and had kept back the knowledge from his client. + +"Father," cried Lenore, raising him as she spoke, "speak with Ehrenthal; +go to your solicitor; he may be able to suggest some remedy." + +"You are right, my child," said the baron, with a toneless voice; "it is +possible that the danger may not yet be imminent. Tell them to put the +horses to; I will go to town at once. Conceal what you have read from +your mother, and you, dear Lenore, come with me." + +When the carriage drove up, the baron was still in the very same place +where he had first read the fatal tidings. During the journey he sat +silently in a corner of the carriage. Arrived in town, he took his +daughter to his lodgings, which he had not yet given up, for fear of +leading his wife or his acquaintance to suspect that his means were +impaired. He himself drove to Ehrenthal's. He entered the office in +angry mood, and, after a dry salutation, held out the newspaper to the +trader. Ehrenthal rose slowly, and said, nodding his head, "I know it; +Löwenberg has written to me about it." + +"You have deceived me, Mr. Ehrenthal," cried the baron, striving hard +for composure. + +"To what purpose?" replied Ehrenthal. "Why should I hide from you what +the newspapers must needs reveal? This may happen in the case of any +estate, any mortgage; what great misfortune is there in this?" + +"The property is deeply involved, it seems: you must long have known +this; you have deceived me." + +"What are you saying there about deceit?" cried Ehrenthal, indignantly; +"have a care that no stranger hear your words. I have left my money +standing with you; what interest can I have in lowering you and +increasing your difficulties? I myself am only too deeply involved in +them," and he pointed to the place occupied in most men by a heart. "Had +I known that your factory would devour my good money, one thousand after +another, even as the lean kine of Egypt devoured the fat, I should have +taken more time to consider, and would not have paid you a single +dollar. A herd of elephants will I feed with my substance, but never +more a factory. How then can you say that I have deceived you?" +continued he, in increasing dudgeon. + +"You have known the state of matters," cried the baron, "and have +disguised the count's position from me." + +"Was it I who sold you the mortgage?" inquired the offended Ehrenthal. +"I have paid you the interest half-yearly--that is my offense; I have +paid you much money besides--that is my deceit." He then continued more +conciliatingly: "Look at the matter calmly, baron: another creditor has +offered to purchase the estate; the lawyers have not apprised us of it, +or they have sent the advertisement to a wrong address. What of that? +You will now be paid your capital, and then you can pay off the +mortgages on your own land. I hear that this estate in Poland is a very +valuable one, so you have nothing to fear for your capital." + +The baron had only to depart with this uncertain hope. As he dejectedly +entered his carriage, he called out to the coachman, "To the Councilor +Horn;" but on the way thither he gave counter orders, and returned to +his lodgings. A coolness had sprung up between him and his former legal +adviser; he shrunk from disclosing to him his never-ceasing +embarrassments, and had been offended by Horn's well-meant warnings. He +had often, therefore, applied for advice to other lawyers. + +Itzig, in the tenderness of his heart, had rushed out of the office as +soon as he beheld the baron's horses, but now he put in his head again. + +"How was he?" he inquired from Ehrenthal. + +"How should he be?" answered Ehrenthal, ungraciously; "he was in a +great taking, and I had good cause to be angry. I have buried my gold in +his property, and I have as many cares about that property as I have +hairs on my head--all because I followed your advice." + +"If you think that the ancestral inheritance of the baron is to come +swimming toward you like a fish with the stream, and that you have only +to reach out your hand and take it, I am sorry for you," replied Itzig, +spitefully. + +"What am I doing with the factory?" cried Ehrenthal. "The land would +have been worth twice as much to me without the chimney." + +"When once you have got the chimney you can sell the bricks," was +Itzig's ironical rejoinder. "I wanted to tell you that I expect a visit +to-morrow from an acquaintance out of my own district; I can not, +therefore, come to the office." + +"You have this last year gone after your own affairs so often," rudely +replied Ehrenthal, "that I don't care how long you remain away." + +"Do you know what you have just said?" Veitel broke out. "You have said, +'Itzig, I need you no longer; you may go;' but I shall go when it suits +me, not when it suits you." + +"You are a bold man," cried Ehrenthal. "I forbid you to speak thus to +me. Who are you, young Itzig?" + +"I am one who knows your whole business, who can ruin you if he will, +and one who means kindly toward you, better than you do toward yourself; +and, therefore, when I come to the office the day after to-morrow, you +will say, 'Good morning, Itzig.' Do you understand me now, Mr. +Ehrenthal?" and, seizing his cap, he hurried into the street, where his +suppressed wrath broke out into a flame, and, gesticulating wildly, he +muttered threatening words. And so did Ehrenthal alone in the office. + +The baron returned to his daughter, threw himself heavily down on the +sofa, and scarcely heard her loving words. There was nothing to detain +him in town but the dread of communicating this intelligence to his +wife. He alternately brooded over plans for getting over the possible +loss, and painted its consequences in the blackest colors. + +Meanwhile Lenore sat silent at the window, looking down upon the noisy +streets, with their rolling carriages and the stream of passers-by; and +while she wondered if any of these had ever felt the secret anxiety, +fear, and dejection which the last few years had brought her young +heart, one of the throng would now and then look up to the plate-glass +windows of the stately dwelling, and, his eye resting admiringly on the +beautiful girl, he perhaps envied the happy destiny of the nobly born, +who could thus look calmly down on those whose lot it was to toil for +daily bread. + +The streets grew dim, the lamps threw their dull rays into the room, +Lenore watched the play of light and shade on the wall, and her sadness +increased as the darkness deepened. Meanwhile two men were standing in +eager conversation at the house door; the bell sounded, a heavy step was +heard in the ante-room, and the servants announced Mr. Pinkus. At that +name the baron rose, called for candles, and went to the next room. + +The innkeeper entered, bobbing his great head, but seemed in no hurry to +speak. + +"What brings you here so late?" asked the baron, leaning on the table +like one prepared for every thing. + +"Your honor knows that the bill of exchange for the ten thousand dollars +falls due to me to-morrow." + +"Could you not wait till I paid you your full ten per cent. for an +extension of the loan?" asked the baron, contemptuously. + +"I am come," said Pinkus, "to explain that I am suddenly in want of +money, and must request you to let me have the principal." + +The baron retreated a step. This was the second blow, and it was mortal. +His face turned pale yellow, but he began with a hoarse voice to say, +"How can you make such a demand, after all that has passed between us? +how often have you assured me that this bill of exchange was a mere +form!" + +"It has been so hitherto," said Pinkus; "now it comes into force. I have +ten thousand dollars to pay to-morrow to a creditor of mine." + +"Make arrangements with him, then," returned the baron; "I am prepared +for a higher rate of interest, but not to pay off the principal." + +"Then, baron, I am sorry to tell you that you will be proceeded +against." + +The baron silently turned away. + +"At what hour may I return to-morrow for my money?" inquired Pinkus. + +"At about this hour," replied a voice, weak and hollow as that of an old +man. Pinkus bobbed again and went away. + +The baron tottered back to his sitting-room, where he sank down on the +sofa as if paralyzed. Lenore knelt by him, calling him by every tender +name, and imploring him to speak. But he neither saw nor heard, and his +heart and head beat violently. The fair, many-colored bubble that he had +blown had burst now; he knew the fearful truth--he was a ruined man. + +They sat till late in the evening, when his daughter persuaded him to +take a glass of wine and to return home. They drove away rapidly. As the +trees along the road-side flew past him, and the fresh air blew in his +face, the baron's spirit revived. + +A night and day were still his, and during their course he must needs +find help. This was not his first difficulty, and he hoped it would not +be his last. He had incurred this debt of, originally, seven thousand +dollars odd, because the fellow who now dunned him had brought him the +money some years ago, and entreated, almost forced him to take it at +first at a very low rate of interest. For a few weeks he had let it lie +idle; then he had appropriated it, and step by step his creditor had +increased his demands up to a bill of exchange and a usurious rate of +interest. And now the vagabond grew insolent. Was he like the rat who +foresees the sinking of the ship, and tries to escape from it? The baron +laughed so as to make Lenore shudder; why, he was not the man to fall +resistless into the hands of his adversary; the next day would bring +help. Ehrenthal could never leave him in the lurch. + +It was night when they reached home, and the baron hurried to his own +room and went to bed, knowing well, however, that sleep would not visit +him that night. He heard every hour strike, and every hour his pulse +beat more stormily and his anguish increased. He saw no hope of +deliverance but in Ehrenthal; yet his horror of appearing before that +man as a suppliant forced drops of sweat from his brow. It was morning +before he lost the consciousness of his misery. + +Shrill sounds awoke him. The factory laborers, with the village band, +had prepared him a serenade. + +At another time he would have been pleased with this mark of good +feeling; now, he only heard the discord it produced, and it annoyed him. + +He hastily dressed himself and hurried into the court. The house was +hung with garlands, the laborers were all ranged in order before the +door, and received him with loud acclamations. He had to tell them in +return how much he rejoiced to see this day, and that he expected great +results, and while he spoke he felt his words a lie, and his spirit +broken. He drove off without seeing his wife or daughter, and knocked at +the door of Ehrenthal's office before it was open. The usurer was +summoned down from his breakfast. + +Anxious to know the reason of so unusual an occurrence as this early +visit, Ehrenthal did not give himself time to change his dressing-gown. +The baron stated the case as coolly as he could. + +Ehrenthal fell into the greatest passion. "This Pinkus," he went on +repeating, "he has presumed to lend you money on a bill of exchange. How +could he have so large a sum? The man has not got ten thousand dollars; +he is an insignificant man, without capital." + +The baron confessed that the sum was not so large originally, but this +only increased Ehrenthal's excitement. + +"From seven to ten," he cried, running wildly up and down till his +dressing-gown flapped round him like the wings of an owl. "So he has +made nearly three thousand dollars! I have always had a bad opinion of +that man; now I know what he is. He is a rascal--a double dealer. He +never advanced the seven thousand either; his whole shop is not worth so +much." + +This strong moral indignation on the part of Ehrenthal threw a ray of +joy into the baron's soul. "I, too, have reason to consider Pinkus a +dangerous man," said he. + +But this agreement in opinion proved unlucky, diverting, as it did, +Ehrenthal's anger against the baron instead. "Why do I speak of Pinkus?" +he screamed; "he has acted as a man of his stamp will act. But you--you, +who are a nobleman, how could you deal so with me? You have carried on +money transactions with another man behind my back, and you have, in a +short time, let him win three thousand dollars on a bill of exchange--a +bill of exchange," continued he; "do you know what that means?" + +"I wish that the debt had not been necessary," said the baron; "but as +it falls due to-day, and the man will not wait, the question is how we +are to pay him." + +"What do you mean by _we_?" cried Ehrenthal, hastily. "You must contrive +to pay; you must see where you can get money for the man you have helped +to pocket three thousand dollars; you did not consult me when you gave +the bill; you need not consult me as to how you are to pay it." + +In the baron's soul a contest between wrath and wretchedness was going +on. "Moderate your language, Mr. Ehrenthal," cried he. + +"Why should I be moderate?" screamed he. "You have not been moderate, +nor Pinkus either, and neither will I." + +"I will call again," said the baron, "when you have regained that degree +of decorum which, under all circumstances, I must beg you to observe +toward me." + +"If you want money from me, don't call again, baron," cried Ehrenthal. +"I have no money for you; I would rather throw my dollars in the street +than pay you one other." + +The baron silently retired. His wretchedness was great; he had to bear +the insults of the plebeian. Next, he went round to all his +acquaintances, and endured the torment of asking on all sides for money, +and on all sides having it refused. He returned to his lodgings, and was +considering whether it were best to try Ehrenthal again, or to attempt +to postpone the payment of the bill by offering usurious interest, when, +to his surprise, a strange figure, that he had only seen once or twice +before, entered his apartments, with a haggard face, surrounded by red +hair, two sly eyes, and a grotesque expression about the mouth, such as +one sees on laughing-masks at Carnival time. + +Veitel bowed low, and began: "Most gracious baron, have the +condescension to forgive my coming to you on matters of business. I have +a commission from Mr. Pinkus, empowering me to receive the money for the +bill of exchange. I would most humbly inquire whether you will be so +gracious as to pay it me?" + +The sad seriousness of the hour was for a moment lost upon the baron +when he saw the lank figure twisting and turning before him, making +faces and attempting to be polite. "Who are you?" inquired he, with all +the dignity of his race. + +"Veitel Itzig is my name, gracious sir, if you will permit me to +announce it to you." + +The baron started on hearing the name of Itzig. That was the man of whom +he had been warned--the invisible, the merciless. + +"I was till now book-keeper at Ehrenthal's," modestly continued Itzig; +"but Ehrenthal was too haughty for me. I have come into a small sum of +money, and I have invested it in Mr. Pinkus's business. I am on the +point of establishing myself." + +"You can not have the money at present," said the baron, more +composedly. This helpless creature could hardly be a dangerous enemy. + +"It is an honor to me," said Veitel, "to be told by the gracious baron +that he will pay me later in the afternoon; I have plenty of time." He +drew out a silver watch. "I can wait till evening; and that I may not +inconvenience the baron by coming at an hour that might not suit him, or +when he chanced to be out, I will take the liberty to place myself on +his steps. I will stand there," said he, as if deprecating the baron's +refusal to let him sit. "I will wait till five o'clock. The baron need +not inconvenience himself on my account." And Veitel bowed himself out, +and retired from the room backward like a crab. The baron recalled him, +and he stood still in that bent and ridiculous attitude. At that moment +he looked the weakest and oddest of men. The warning letter must have +confounded the poor book-keeper with his master. At all events, it was +easier to deal with this man than with any other. + +"Can you tell me of any way in which I may satisfy your claim without +paying down the sum this day?" + +Veitel's eyes flashed like those of a bird of prey, but he shook his +head and shrugged his shoulders long in pretended reflection. "Gracious +baron," said he, at length, "there is one way--only one way. You have a +mortgage of twenty thousand on your property, which mortgage belongs to +yourself, and is kept in Ehrenthal's office. I will persuade Pinkus to +leave you the ten thousand, and will add another ten if you make over +that mortgage to my friend." + +The baron listened. "Perhaps you do not know," rejoined he, with much +severity, "that I have already made over that deed of mortgage to +Ehrenthal." + +"Forgive me, gracious sir, you have not; there has been no legal +surrender of it made." + +"But my written promise has been given," said the baron. + +Veitel shrugged again. "If you promised Ehrenthal a mortgage, why should +it be this very one of all others? But what need of a mortgage to +Ehrenthal at all? This year you will receive your capital from the +Polish estate, and then you can pay him off in hard cash. Till then, +just leave the mortgage quietly in his hands; no one need know that you +have surrendered it to us. If you will have the kindness to come with me +to a lawyer, and assign the deed to my friend, I will give you two +thousand dollars for it at once, and on the day that you place the deed +in our hands I will pay down the rest of the money." + +The baron had forced himself to listen to this proposal with a smile. At +last he replied briefly, "Devise some other plan; I can not consent to +this." + +"There is no other," said Itzig; "but it is only midday, and I can wait +till five." + +He again began a series of low bows, and moved to the door. + +"Reflect, gracious sir," said he, earnestly, "that you do not merely +want the ten thousand dollars. You will, in the course of the next few +months, require as much more for your factory and the getting your money +out of the Polish investment. If you surrender the mortgage to us, you +will have the whole sum you need; but pray do not mention the matter to +Ehrenthal: he is a hard man, and would injure me throughout life." + +"Have no fear," said the baron, with a gesture of dismissal. + +Veitel withdrew. + +The baron paced up and down. The proposal just made revolted him. True, +it would rescue him from this and other impending difficulties, but, of +course, it was out of the question. The man who proposed it was so +absurd a being, that it was of no use even to be angry with him. But the +baron's word was pledged, and the matter could not be thought of +further. + +And yet how trifling the risk! The documents would remain at Ehrenthal's +till the Polish count had paid him, then he would clear his own debts to +Ehrenthal, and release his documents. No one need ever know of it; and +if the worst should befall, he had but to give Ehrenthal another +mortgage on his property, and the money-broker would be equally +satisfied. The baron kept banishing the thought, and yet it ceaselessly +returned. It struck one, it struck two: he rang for his servant, and +ordered the carriage round, carelessly asking if the stranger were still +there. The coachman drove up; the stranger was on the steps; the baron +went down without looking at him, got into the carriage, and when he was +asked by the footman, hat off, whither the coachman was to drive, it +first occurred to him that he did not know. At length he said, "To +Ehrenthal's." + +Meanwhile Ehrenthal had been spending a troubled morning. He began to +suspect that some other, too, was speculating against the baron. He sent +for Pinkus, overwhelmed him with reproaches, and tried in every sort of +way to discover whence he had got his capital; but Pinkus had been well +schooled: he was bold, rude, and silent. Then Ehrenthal sent for Itzig. +Itzig was nowhere to be found. + +Consequently, Ehrenthal was in a very bad temper when the baron +returned, and he told him dryly that the day had come when his payments +must cease. A painful scene ensued; the baron left the office in bitter +mood, and determined to pay a last visit to an early comrade, who was +known to be a rich man. + +It was past four when he returned hopeless to his lodgings. A thin +figure was leaning against the steps, and bowed low to the baron as he +hurried past. His strength was exhausted; he sat on the sofa as he had +done the day before, and blindly stared before him. He knew there was no +rescue but that which waited on the steps below. Prostrate, powerless, +he heard the clock strike the quarter to five; his pulses beat like +hammers, and each throb brought the moment nearer that was to decide his +fate. The last stroke of the hour was over. The ante-room bell rang; the +baron rose. Itzig opened the door, holding the two papers in his hand. + +"I can not pay," the baron cried, in a hoarse voice. + +Itzig bowed again and offered him the other paper: "Here is the sketch +of a contract." + +The baron took up his hat, and said, without looking at him, "Come to an +attorney." + +It was evening when the baron returned to the castle of his forefathers. +The pale moonlight shone on the turrets, the lake was black as ink, and +colorless as they was the face of the man who leaned back in the +carriage, with close compressed lips, like one who, after a long +struggle, had come to an irrevocable decision. He looked apathetically +on the water and on the cool moonshine on the roof, and yet he was glad +that the sun did not shine, and that he did not see his father's house +in its golden light. He tried to think of the future he had insured; he +pondered over all the advantages to accrue from his factory; he looked +forward to the time when his son would dwell here, rich, secure, free +from the cares that had involved his father with vulgar traders, and +prematurely blanched his hair. He thought of all this, but his favorite +thoughts had become indifferent to him. He entered the house, felt for +his full pocket-book before he gave his hand to his wife, and nodded +significantly to Lenore. He spoke cheerfully to the ladies, and even +contrived to joke about his busy day; but he felt that something had +come between him and his dearest ones--even they seemed estranged. If +they leaned over him or took his hand, his impulse was to withdraw from +the caress. And when his wife looked lovingly at him, there was a +something in her eyes, where once he was wont to turn for comfort in +every extremity, that he could no longer bear to meet. + +He went to his factory, where he was again received with huzza after +huzza by the workmen, and with merry tunes by the village band. They +played the very air to which he had often marched with his regiment by +the side of his old general, whom he loved as a father. He thought of +the scarred face of the old warrior, and thought too of a court of honor +that he and his brother officers had once held upon an unhappy youth who +had lightly given and broken his word of honor. He went into his +bed-room, and rejoiced that it had become dark, and that he could no +longer see his castle, his factory, or his wife's searching glance. And +again he heard hour after hour strike, and at the stroke of each the +thought was forced in upon him, "There is now another of that regiment +who has, when gray-haired, done the very deed that led a youth to blow +out his brains: here lies the man, and can not sleep because he has +broken his word of honor." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + +The spring storms were sweeping over the plains when Anton was recalled. +The winter had been a laborious and anxious season. He had often +traveled in frost and snow through devastated districts far into the +east and south. Every where he had seen mournful sights, burnt castles, +disturbed trade, insecurity, famine, brutality, and burning party hate. + +"When will he come?" asked Sabine. + +"In a few hours, by the next train," replied her brother. + +Sabine sprang up and seized her bunch of keys. "And the maids are not +yet ready; I must look after things myself. Let him spend the evening +with us, Traugott; we women must see something of him." + +Her brother laughed. "Take care that you do not spoil him." + +"No fear of that," said the cousin; "when he once gets back into the +office, there he will remain, and we shall never see him except at +dinner." + +Meanwhile Sabine was searching among the treasures, loading the servants +with packets of every kind, and impatiently watching till the clerks +left their apartments for the counting-house. At last she herself crept +into Anton's room. She gave one more searching glance at the +sofa-cushion she had worked, and arranged in an alabaster vase all the +flowers that the gardener had succeeded in forcing. While so engaged, +her eye fell upon the drawing that Anton had done on his first arrival, +and on the rich carpet which Fink had had laid down. Where was Fink now? +She felt on this day as if she had been parted from him many, many +years, and the recollection of him resembled the sad, perplexed feeling +that succeeds an unhappy dream. But she could openly tell the +noble-hearted man to whom this room now belonged how much she had +learned to value him, and she rejoiced that the hour was at hand when +she could thank him for all that he had done for her brother. + +"But Sabine!" cried the cousin, in amazement, for she too had found her +way into the room. + +"What is the matter?" said Sabine, looking up. + +"Why, these are the embroidered curtains which you have had put up. They +do not belong to this part of the house." + +"Let them be," returned Sabine, with a smile. + +"And the coverlet, and these towels--why, they are your best set. Good +heavens! The coverlet with lace, and the rose-colored lining!" + +"Never mind, cousin," said Sabine, blushing. "He whom we expect deserves +the best that our old chests contain." + +But the cousin went on shaking her head. "If I had not seen this, I +should never have believed it. To give these for daily use! I can not +make you out, Sabine. My only comfort is that he will never remark it. +That I should live to see this day!" And, clasping her hands, she left +the room in much excitement. + +Sabine hurried after her. "She will go and tease Traugott about it," +said she; "I must persuade her that things could not have been otherwise +arranged." + +Meanwhile the traveler felt like a son returning to his home after a +long absence. At the nearest station to the capital his heart began to +beat with delight; the old house, his colleagues, the business, his +desk, his principal, and Sabine, all floated pleasantly before his +mind's eye. At last the drosky stopped before the open door, and Father +Sturm, calling out his name with a voice that sounded all over the +street, ran and lifted him out of the carriage like a child. Then up +came Mr. Pix, and shook his hand long, not remarking that his black +brush, during the up-and-down movement, was making all sorts of +hieroglyphics on his young friend's coat. Next Anton went into the +counting-house, where the lights were already burning, and heartily +cried out "Good-evening." His colleagues rose like one man, and with +loud expressions of pleasure crowded about him. Mr. Schröter hurried out +of his own room, and his grave face beamed with satisfaction. These were +happy moments, indeed, and Anton was more moved than became such a +traveled man. And on his way from the counting-house to his room, old +Pluto sprang out impetuously, immoderately wagging his matted tail, so +that Anton could hardly escape from his caresses. Arrived at his own +door, a servant met him with a smile, and respectfully opened it. Anton +gazed in wonder at the way in which it was decorated. + +"Our young lady herself arranged it as you see," imparted the servant. +Anton bent over the alabaster vase, and closely examined every flower as +though he had never seen such before. Then he took up the cushion, felt +it, stroked it, and, full of admiration, put it back in its place. He +now returned to the office, to give Mr. Schröter the latest intelligence +as to his proceedings. The merchant took him into his own little room, +and they talked long and confidentially. + +It was a serious conversation. Much was lost, much still endangered, and +it would require years of industry to make good what was forfeited, and +replace old connections by new. "To your judgment and energy," said Mr. +Schröter, "I already owe much. I hope you will continue to assist me in +regaining lost ground. And now there is still some one else who wants to +thank you. I hope you will be my guest this evening." + +Anton next went to his long-closed desk, and took out pens and paper. +But much could not be made of writing to-day. One of his colleagues +after the other left his own place and came to Anton's stool. Mr. +Baumann often walked across, just to clap him on the back, and then +cheerfully returned to his own corner; Mr. Specht kept knocking away at +the railings which divided him from Anton, and showered down questions +upon him. Mr. Liebold left the blotting-paper several moments on the +last page of the great ledger, and came over for a chat. Even Mr. Purzel +moved, with the sacred chalk in his hand, out of his partition; and, +finally, Mr. Pix came into the room to confide to Anton that, for some +months back, he had played no _solo partie_, and that Specht, meanwhile, +had fallen into a state closely resembling insanity. + +Later in the evening Anton entered the principal's apartments. Sabine +stood before him. Her mouth smiled, but her eyes were moist as she bent +down over the hand that had saved her brother's life. + +"Lady!" cried Anton, shocked, and drew his hand away. + +"I thank you, oh! I thank you, Wohlfart," cried Sabine, holding his +hands in both hers. And so she stood silent, transfigured by an emotion +she knew not how to repress. While Anton contemplated the fair girl, +who, with blushing cheeks, looked so gratefully at him, he realized the +change that Polish sword-cut had made in his position. The partition +wall had fallen which, till now, had divided the clerk from the +principal's family. And he also felt his heart swelling with honest +pride the while, that he was not all unworthy of a woman's trust. + +He now told her, in reply to her questions, the particulars of their +struggle for the wagons, and the other incidents of that adventurous +time. Sabine hung upon his words; and when her eyes met the full, clear +light of his, they involuntarily drooped beneath it. She had never +before remarked how singularly handsome he was. Now it burst upon her. A +manly, open face, curling chestnut hair, beautiful dark blue eyes, a +mouth that told of energy and decision, and a color that went and came +with every change of feeling. He seemed to be, at the same time, a +stranger, and yet a dear and trusted friend. + +The cousin entered next, the embroidered curtains having caused an +excitement in her mind, which now displayed itself in a silk gown and +new cap. Her greetings were loud and fluent; and when she remarked that +Mr. Wohlfart's whiskers were very becoming to him, Sabine looked assent. + +"There you have the hero of the counting-house," cried the merchant, +joining them. "Now show that you know how to reward knightly valor +better than with fair words. Let him have the best that cellar and +kitchen afford. Come along, my faithful fellow-traveler. The Rhine wine +expects that, after all your heavy Polish potations, you will do it +honor." + +The lamp-lighted room looked the picture of comfort as the four sat down +to dinner. The merchant raised his glass. "Welcome to your country! +Welcome home!" cried Sabine. Anton replied, in a low tone, "I have a +country, I have a home in which I am happy; I owe both to your kindness. +Many an evening, when sitting in some wretched inn, far away among +savage strangers, whose language I imperfectly understood, I have +thought of this table, and of the delight it would be to me to see this +room and your face once more; for it is the bitterest thing on earth to +be alone in hours of relaxation and repose without a friend, without any +thing that one loves." + +As he bade them good-night, the principal said, "Wohlfart, I wish to +bind you still more closely to this firm. Jordan is leaving us next +quarter to become a partner in his uncle's business; I can not appoint a +better man than you to fill his place." + +When Anton returned to his room, he felt what mortal man is seldom +allowed to feel here below, unpunished by a reverse--that he was +perfectly happy, without a regret and without a wish. He sat on the +sofa, looked at the flowers and at the cushion, and again saw in fancy +Sabine bending over his hand. He had sat there long enjoying this +vision, when his eye fell upon a letter on the table, the postmark "New +York," the direction in Fink's hand. + +Fink, when he first left, had written more than once to Anton, but only +a few lines at a time, telling nothing of his occupation, nor his plans +for the future. Then a long interval passed away, during which Anton had +had no tidings from his friend, and only knew that he spent a good deal +of his time in traveling in the Western States of the Union as manager +of the business of which his uncle had been the head, and in the +interest of several other companies in which the deceased had had +shares. But it was with horror that he now read the following letter: + +"It must out at last, though I would gladly have kept it from you, poor +boy! I have joined thieves and murderers. If you want any thing of the +kind done, apply to me. I envy a fellow who becomes a villain by choice; +he has at least the pleasure of driving a good bargain with Satan, and +can select the particular sort of good-for-nothingness which suits his +tastes; but my lot is less satisfactory. I have been, through the +pressure of rascalities invented by others, driven into a way of life +which is as much like highway robbery as one hair is to another. + +"Like a rock in an avalanche, I, pressed on all sides, have got frozen +into the midst of the most frightful speculations ever devised by a +usurer's brain. My departed uncle was good enough to make me heir to his +favorite branch of business--land speculations. + +"I put off involving myself with its details as long as I could, and +left the charge of that part of my inheritance to Westlock. As this was +cowardly, I found an excuse for it in the quantity of work the +money-matters of the deceased afforded me. At last there was no help for +it; I had to undertake the responsibility. And if before I had had a +pretty good guess at the elasticity of whatever it was that served my +uncle instead of a conscience, it now became beyond a doubt that the +purpose of his will and testament was to punish my juvenile offenses +against him by making me a companion of old weather-beaten villains, +whose cunning was such that Satan himself would have had to put his tail +into his pocket, and become chimney-sweep in order to escape them. + +"This letter is written from a new town in Tennessee, a cheerful +place--no better, though, for being built on speculation with my money: +a few wooden cottages, half of them taverns, filled to the roof with a +dirty and outcast emigrant rabble, half of whom are lying ill with +putrid fever. + +"Those who are still moving about are a hollow-eyed, anxious-looking +set, all candidates for death. Daily, when the poor wretches look at the +rising sun, or are unreasonable enough to feel a want of something to +eat and drink--daily, from morn to eve, their favorite occupation is to +curse the land-shark who took their money from them for transport, land, +and improvements, and brought them into this district, which is under +water two months in the year, and for the ten others more like a tough +kind of pap than any thing else. Now the men who have pointed out to +them this dirty way into heaven are no other than my agents and +colleagues, so that I, Fritz Fink, am the lucky man upon whom every +imprecation there is in German and Irish falls all the day long. I send +off all who are able to walk about, and have to feed the inhabitants of +my hospital with Indian corn and Peruvian bark. As I write this, three +naked little Paddies are creeping about my floor, their mother having so +far forgotten her duty as to leave them behind her, and I enjoy the +privilege of washing and combing the frog-like little abominations. A +pleasant occupation for my father's son! I don't know how long I shall +have to stick here; probably till the very last of the set is dead. + +"Meanwhile I have fallen out with my partners in New York. I have had +the privilege of rousing universal dissatisfaction; the shareholders of +the Great Western Landed Company Association have met, made speeches, +and passed resolutions against me. I should not much care for that if I +saw a way of getting clear of the whole affair. But the deceased has +managed so cleverly that I am tied down like a nigger in a slave-ship. +Immense sums have been embarked in this atrocious speculation. If I make +known its nature, I am sure that they will find a way of making me pay +the whole sum at which my late uncle put down his name; and how to do +that without ruining not myself alone, but probably also the firm of +Fink and Becker, I can't yet see. + +"Meantime I don't want to hear your opinion as to what I ought to do. It +can be of no use to me, for I know it already. Indeed, I wish for no +letter at all from you, you simple old-fashioned Tony, who believe that +to act uprightly is as easy a thing as to eat a slice of bread and +butter; for, as soon as I have done all I can, buried some, fed others, +and offended my colleagues as much as possible, I shall go for a few +months to the far southwest, to some noble prairie, where one may find +alligators, and horned owls, and something more aristocratic than there +is here. If the prairie afford pen and ink, I shall write to you again. +If this letter be the last you ever get from me, devote a tear to my +memory, and say, in your benevolent way, 'I am sorry for him: he was not +without his good points.'" + +Then came a precise description of Fink's affairs, and of the statutes +of the association. + +Having read this unsatisfactory letter, Anton sat down at once and spent +the night in writing to his friend. + +Even in the common light of the next day our hero retained his feelings +of the night before. Whether he worked at his desk or jested with his +friends, he felt conscious how deeply his life was footed in the walls +of the old house. The rest saw it too. Besides other marks of favor, +Anton often spent the evenings with the principal and the ladies. These +were happy hours to Sabine. She rejoiced to find, as they discussed the +events of the day, a book read, or some matter of feeling and +experience, how much agreement there was between her views and Anton's. +His culture, his judgment surprised her; she suddenly saw him invested +with glowing colors, just as the traveler gazes in amazement at some +fair landscape, which heavy clouds have long hidden from his view. + +His colleagues, too, took his peculiar position very pleasantly. They +had heard from the principal's own lips that Anton had saved his life, +and that enabled even Mr. Pix to look upon the frequent invitations he +received without note or comment. Anton, too, did his part toward +keeping up the good feeling of the counting-house. He often asked them +all to his room, and Jordan complained, with a smile, that his parties +were now quite forgotten. His favorite companion was Baumann, who had +had an increase of missionary zeal during the last half year, and only +been kept back by finding that an experienced calculator could ill be +spared at the present crisis. Specht, too, was a special candidate for +his favor, Anton's travels and adventures having invested him with a +romantic halo in the former's fantastic mind. + +Unfortunately, Specht's own position in the good-will of his colleagues +had been materially shaken during Anton's absence. He had long been the +butt of all their witticisms, but now Anton was very sorry to see that +he was universally disliked. Even the quartette had given him up--at +least there was decided enmity between him and both basses. Whenever +Specht ventured upon an assertion that was not quite incontrovertible, +Pix would shrug his shoulders and ejaculate "Pumpkins." Indeed, almost +all that Specht said was met by a whisper of "pumpkins" from one or +other; and whenever he caught the word, he fell into a towering passion, +broke off the discourse, and withdrew. + +One evening Anton visited the tabooed clerk in his own room. Before he +reached the door, he heard Specht's shrill voice singing the celebrated +song, "Here I sit on the green grass, with violets around;" and looking +in, he saw the minstrel, in poetical attitude, so enjoying his own +melody, that he stood without for a few moments, not to disturb the +inspiration. Specht's room was by no means large, and his invention had +been exercised for years in giving it a special and distinguished +character. Indeed, he had succeeded by means of pictures, plaster of +Paris casts, small ornaments of different kinds, useless pieces of +furniture, and a great coat of arms over the bed, in making it unlike +any other apartment ever seen. But the most remarkable thing about it +was in the very centre of the room. There hung an immense ring suspended +to a beam in the ceiling. On each side were large flower-pots filled +with earth, and from these countless threads were fastened to the ring. +Under the ring was a garden-table made of twisted boughs, and a few +chairs of the same nature. + +Anton stood still in amazement, and at last called out, "What the deuce +have you such a network as this in your room for?" + +Specht sprang up and said, "It is an arbor." + +"An arbor! I see nothing green about it." + +"That will come," said Specht, pointing out his great flower-pots. + +On a closer inspection, Anton detected a few weak shoots of ivy, which +looked dusty and faded, like the twilighted dream-visions which the +waking man allows to cling round his spirit for a few moments before he +sweeps them away forever. + +"But, Specht, this ivy will never grow," said Anton. + +"There are other things," importantly announced Specht, showing Anton a +few wan-looking growths that just peered above the top of the pots, and +resembled nothing so much as the unfortunate attempts to germinate which +the potato will make in a cellar when spring-time comes. + +"And what are these shoots?" + +"Kidney-beans and pumpkins. The whole will form an arbor. In a few weeks +the tendrils will run up the threads. Only think, Wohlfart, how well it +will look--the green tendrils, the flowers, and the great leaves! I +shall cut off most of the pumpkins, but a few of them shall remain. Just +picture to yourself the fresh green and the yellow blossoms! What a +place it will be to sit with friends over a glass of wine or to sing a +quartette in!" + +"But, Specht," inquired Anton, laughing, "can you really suppose that +the plants will grow in your attic?" + +"Why not?" cried Specht, much offended. "They will do as well here as +elsewhere. They have sun; I take care that they have air too, and I +water them with bullock's blood. They have all they want." + +"But they look desperately sick." + +"Just as at first they will, of course; the air is still cold, and we +have had little sun as yet. They will soon shoot up. When we have no +garden, we must do the best we can." He looked complacently around his +room, "As to the decorations of a room, you see I can cope with any +one--of course, in proportion to my means. However, I have spent a good +deal upon it; and so, though not large, it is thoroughly comfortable." + +"Yes," rejoined Anton, "except for a certain class of restless men who +like freedom to move about. You can have no visitors here but those who +are content to sit down the moment they enter." + +"To sit quiet is one of the first rules of good society," rejoined +Specht. "Unfortunately, men are often heartless and worthless. Do you +not find, Wohlfart, that in our counting-house there are many very +unfeeling?" + +"Often a little blunt," replied Anton, "but kind-hearted at bottom." + +"That is not my experience," sighed Specht. "I am now quite alone, and +must seek my comfort out of doors. When I can, I go to the theatre, or +to the circus, or to see a dwarf or a giant if they happen to come +round, and of course I go to the concerts." + +"But even there you are solitary." + +"Yes; and then it is expensive, and I am not, as you know, very well +off, nor shall I, I fear, ever be much better. I ought to have been +rich," said he, importantly, "but a cousin and trustee of mine brought +me to this, else I should have driven my carriage and four. I dare say I +should not have been at all happier. If only Pix were not so rude! It is +dreadful, Anton, to be daily liable to this. When you were away, I +challenged him," said he, pointing to an old rapier on the wall; "but he +behaved very ill. I told him I was sorry to be obliged to do it, and +offered him a choice of arms and place. He rudely wrote back that he +would fight on the ground floor where he was always stationed, and that +as to arms I might use any I liked, but that his weapon would be his +great brush, with which he was ready to sign his name on both my cheeks. +You will allow that I could not consent to that." Anton allowed it. + +"And now he sets all the others against me. My position is unbearable. I +can not be with them without getting insulted. But I know how to revenge +myself. When the pumpkins blow, I will invite all the rest and leave out +Pix. I will serve him as he once did you, Wohlfart, and revenge the +wrongs of each." + +"Very good," said Anton. "But suppose that, as I owe some civility to +our colleagues, we unite in giving a party in your room?" + +"That is indeed kind of you, Wohlfart," cried Specht, joyously. + +"And we will not wait till the pumpkins have grown up; we will bring in +a little green in the mean while." + +"Very good; fir-trees, perhaps." + +"Leave it to me," continued Anton; "and, after all, we won't exclude +Pix, but invite him with the rest. That is a much better revenge, and +worthy of your good heart." + +"You think so?" inquired Specht, doubtfully. + +"I am sure of it. I propose next Sunday evening; and will send out the +invitations in our joint names." + +"In writing," cried Specht, in ecstasy, "on pink paper." + +"The very thing." + +The clerks were not a little amazed the following morning at receiving +smart-looking notes, laid by Mr. Specht himself, early in the morning, +upon the desk of each, inviting them to see the pumpkins flower in his +apartment. However, as Anton's name was at the bottom of the page, there +was nothing for it but to accept. Meanwhile Anton took Sabine into his +confidence, and begged from her ivy and flowers. Specht himself worked +hard the remainder of the week, and on the day of the festival, with the +help of the servant, he contrived to entwine the threads with green +leaves, to procure a number of colored lamps, and to intermix with the +leaves some triangular inventions of yellow paper, which were +marvelously like the flowers of the pumpkin. + +Thus the room really did present the aspect Mr. Specht had long seen in +his day-dreams. The colleagues were exceedingly amazed. Mr. Pix was the +last to enter, and could not suppress an exclamation of surprise when he +saw the unlucky arbor positively overgrown and covered with yellow +flowers, shining in the colored lamp-light. The great flower-pots were +filled with gay nosegays, a red lamp hung down from the centre, and on +the rustic table was placed a large pumpkin. Anton would make the +quartette sit in the arbor, and grouped the others around the room, the +bed having been arranged with bolsters and cushions so as to look like a +second sofa. + +When they were all settled, Specht approached the great pumpkin, and +solemnly exclaimed, "You have long plagued me about pumpkins; here is my +revenge." He took hold of the short stalk, and lifted away the other +half. It was hollow. A bowl of punch stood within. The clerks laughed, +and cried "Bravo!" while Specht filled the glasses. + +Nevertheless, at first, there was a certain degree of estrangement +visible between the host and his guests. True, the obnoxious word was +never mentioned, but his propositions seldom found favor. When Anton +went round dispensing a bundle of Turkish pipes, which he had bought +while abroad for his colleagues, Specht proposed that they should all +sit cross-legged on the sofas and on the floors, in true Turkish +fashion. This proposal fell through. Also, when he next asserted that, +as our commerce with the East increased, the Circassian maidens sold by +their parents to Turkish families would soon come over and play the part +of waitresses in Bavarian beer-shops, he evidently failed to carry +conviction to any of the party. But the gentle influences of the +pumpkin-bowl gradually told upon the severe intellects of the +counting-house. + +First of all, the musical members of the firm were reconciled. Anton +proposed the health of the quartette. The quartette returned thanks in +some embarrassment, having been dissolved for about a month. It came +out, however, from certain dark hints given by the first bass, that +Specht had been unreasonable in his demands upon them. He had wished to +make use of the quartette to serenade the charming Zillibi, the _prima +donna_ of the circus; and when the basses declined, Specht had flown +into a violent passion, and sworn he would never sing with them till +they consented. + +"If he had been content to serenade her in the evening," said Balbus, +"we might, perhaps, have given in for the sake of peace, but he +maintained that it must be at four o'clock in the morning, as it was +then that the riding-master rose to feed his horses. That was too much. +Meanwhile the lady ran off with a Bajazzo." + +"That is not true," cried Specht; "the Bajazzo carried her off by +force." + +"At all events, it has been a fortunate incident for us," said Anton, +"as it releases these gentlemen from the observance of their vows. I see +no reason, therefore, why they should any longer deprive us of the +enjoyment their musical talents are so calculated to afford. From what I +hear, my dear Specht, you were a little hasty; so make such an apology +to these gentlemen as becomes a man of honor, and then I shall propose +the instant re-establishment of the quartette." + +Specht rose accordingly, and said, "Adopting the advice of my friend +Wohlfart, I now beg to apologize to you all, and am, moreover, ready to +give you satisfaction in any way that you prefer." Whereupon he tossed +off his glass, and vehemently shook hands with the basses. + +After that the music-books were brought out, and the four voices sounded +remarkably well out of the arbor. A reconciliation with Pix still +remained to be effected. Specht looked at him all evening mistrustfully, +as he sat on the sofa-bed, stroking old Pluto, who had come with him to +the party. Specht now poured out another glass for Pix, and laid it down +beside him. Pix quaffed it in silence; Specht refilled it, and began in +a free-and-easy tone--"Now, Pix, what do you think of the pumpkins?" + +"It is a crazy idea," said Pix. + +Specht turned away much hurt, but he soon returned to the charge. "You +will grant, Pix, that men may hold different opinions on many subjects, +and yet need not be enemies." + +"I grant that." + +"Why, then, are you my enemy? Why do you think meanly of me? It is hard +to live on bad terms with one's colleagues. I will not conceal that I +esteem you, and that your conduct pains me. You have refused me +satisfaction, and yet you are angry with me." + +"Don't heat yourself," said Pix; "I have refused you no satisfaction, +and I am not angry with you." + +"Will you prove this to these gentlemen?" cried Specht, much pleased; +"will you hob-nob with me?" + +"Come, now," said Pix, good-humoredly, "I have no wish to quarrel; I +only say this pumpkin notion was a crazy one." + +"But it is my notion still," cried Specht, withdrawing his glass; "I +water them with bullock's blood, and in a few weeks they will be green." + +"No," said Pix; "that is over forever, as you will see yourself +to-morrow morning. And now come here and hob-nob with me, and pumpkins +shall never be spoken of between us any more." + +Specht hob-nobbed with all his heart, and became exceedingly cheerful. +The weight that had long oppressed him had fallen off. He sang, he shook +all his colleagues by the hand, and dealt more largely than ever in bold +assertions. + +As Anton went down stairs with the others, he remarked that Pluto was +carrying something yellow in his mouth, and gnawing it eagerly. + +"It is Specht's pumpkin," said Pix; "the dog has taken it for a piece of +beef, and bitten it to pieces." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + +Anton stood by the sick-bed of his friend Bernhard, and looked with +sincere sympathy at his wasted form. The young student's face was more +furrowed than ever, his complexion was transparent as wax, his long hair +hung in disorder around his damp brow, and his eyes shone with feverish +excitement. + +"All the time you have been away," said he, sadly, "I have been longing +for you; now that you are returned, I shall be better." + +"I will often come if our conversation does not excite you too much," +replied Anton. + +"No," said Bernhard, "I will merely listen, and you shall tell me about +your travels." + +Anton began his recital: "I have seen of late what we have both of us +often wished to see--foreign scenes and a life of adventures. I have +found pleasant companionship in other countries, but the result of my +experience is that there is no greater happiness than that of living +quietly among one's own people. I have met with much that would have +delighted you, because it was poetical and soul-stirring, but +disappointment was largely mingled with it all." + +"It is the same all over the earth," said Bernhard. "When a mighty +feeling shakes the heart, and seeks to impel onward, the world stains +and tarnishes it, and fair things die, and lofty aims become ridiculous. +So it is no better with others than with us." + +"That is our old bone of contention," said Anton, cheerily; "are you not +converted, you skeptic?" + +Bernhard looked down embarrassed. "Perhaps I am, Wohlfart." + +"Oh ho!" cried Anton; "and what has brought this change about? Was it +some experience of your own? It must have been, I am sure." + +"Whatever it was," said Bernhard, with a smile that irradiated his face, +"I believe that with us, too, beauty and loveliness are to be found; +that with us, too, life can give birth to great passions, holy joys, and +bitter griefs; and I believe," continued he, mournfully, "that even +with us many sink under the burden of a terrible destiny." + +Anton listened anxiously to these words, and remarked that the large +eyes of the invalid shone with a sudden inspiration. + +"No doubt," said he, "it is as you say, but the fairest and most +ennobling thing this life can boast is the triumph of the mind over all +external influences. I honor the man who lets neither his passions nor +his destiny overpower him, but who, even if he have erred, can tear +himself away and regain his liberty." + +"But how if it be too late, and if the force of circumstances be +stronger than he?" + +"I am not willing to believe in such force of circumstances," replied +Anton. "I imagine that, however sore pressed a man may be, if he sets +himself to work in earnest, he may hew his way out. True, he will bear +the scars of such an encounter, but, like a soldier's, there will be +honor in them. Or, even if he does not overcome, he can at least fight +valiantly, and if conquered at last, he deserves the sympathy of all; +but he who yields himself up without resistance, the wind blows such +away from the face of the earth." + +"No spell will change down into stone, sings the poet," said Bernhard, +taking a feather from his pillow and brushing it away. "I have a +question to ask you, Wohlfart," said he, after a pause. "Fancy that I am +a Christian, and that you are my father-confessor, from whom no secrets +must be kept back." Then looking anxiously at the door of the next room, +he whispered, "What do you think of my father's business?" + +Anton started in amazement, while Bernhard watched him in painful +suspense. "I understand little about these matters," continued he; +"alas! too little, perhaps. I do not want to know whether he passes for +poor or rich; but I ask you, as my friend, what do strangers think of +the way in which he makes his money? It is dreadful, and perhaps sinful, +that I, his son, should put such a question as this, but an irresistible +impulse urges me on. Be honest with me, Wohlfart." He rose in his bed, +and, putting his arm round Anton's neck, said in his ear, "Does my +father rank with men of your class as an upright man?" + +Anton was silent. He could not say what he really thought, and he could +not tell a lie. Meanwhile the invalid sank back upon his pillows, and a +low groan quivered through the room. + +"My dear Bernhard," replied Anton, at length, "before I answer to a son +such a question as this, I must know his motive for asking it." + +"I ask," said Bernhard, solemnly, "because I am exceedingly uneasy about +the good of others, and your answers may spare much misery to many." + +"Then," said Anton, "I will answer you. I know of no particular dealing +of your father's which is dishonorable in the mercantile sense of the +word. I only know that he is numbered among that large class of business +men who are not particular in inquiring whether their own profit is +purchased at the price of another's loss. Mr. Ehrenthal passes for a +clear, keen-sighted man, to whom the good opinion of solid merchants is +more indifferent than to a hundred others. He would probably do much +that men of higher principle would avoid, but I do not doubt that he +would also shrink from what certain other speculators around venture +upon." + +Again there came a trembling sigh from the invalid, and a painful +silence ensued. At last he lifted himself up again, and, placing his +lips so near Anton's ear that his burning breath played upon his +friend's cheek, he said, "I know that you are acquainted with the Baron +Rothsattel. The young lady herself told me so." + +"It is as she has said," replied Anton, with difficulty concealing his +excitement. + +"Do you know any thing of the connection between my father and the +baron?" + +"But little; only what you have yourself occasionally told me, that your +father had money on the baron's estate. But when I was abroad, I heard +that a great danger threatened the baron, and I was even authorized to +warn him against an intriguer." Bernhard watched Anton's lips in agony. +Anton shook his head. "And yet," said he, "it was one who is no stranger +in your house. It was your book-keeper Itzig." + +"He is a villain," cried Bernhard, eagerly, clenching his thin hand. "He +is a man of low nature. From the first day that he entered our house, I +felt a loathing of him as of an unclean beast." + +"It appears to me," continued Anton, "that Itzig, of whom I knew +something in earlier years, is plotting against the baron behind your +father's back. The warning I received was so obscure, I hardly knew what +to make of it; however, I could but inform the baron of what had been +told me." + +"That Itzig rules my father," whispered Bernhard. "He is a demon in our +family. If my father acts selfishly toward the baron, that man is +answerable for it." + +Anton soothingly assented. "I must know how matters stand between the +baron and my father," continued the invalid. "I must know what is to be +done to help that family out of their difficulties. I can help," he went +on to say, and again a ray of joy lit up his pale face. "My father loves +me. He loves me much. In my present weak state, I have found out how his +heart clings to me--when he comes in the evening to my bed, and strokes +my forehead; when he sits where you do, Wohlfart, and mournfully looks +at me for hours together! Wohlfart, after all, he is my father!" He +clasped his hands, and hid his face in the pillows. "You must help me, +my friend; you must tell me how to save the baron. I charge you to do +this. I myself will speak to my father. I dreaded the hour before, but, +after what you have told me, I fear now either that he does not know +all, or," added he, in a low murmur, "that he will not tell me all. You +yourself must go to the baron." + +"You must not forget, Bernhard," replied Anton, "that, even with the +best will in the world, it is not permitted us to force ourselves thus +into the affairs of others. However good our intentions may be, still I +am a stranger to the baron. My interference may seem, both to him and to +your father, sheer presumption. I do not say that the step is a useless, +but it is a most uncertain one. It would be better that you should first +find out the nature of your father's proceedings." + +"Go, though, to the baron," implored Bernhard, "and if he remain silent, +ask the young lady. I have seen her," continued he; "I have kept it back +from you as men will keep their dearest secret; now you shall hear it. I +have been more than once on the Rothsattel estate. I know how fair she +is, how proud her bearing, how noble her every gesture. When she walks +over the grass, she seems the queen of nature; an azure glory shines +around her head; wherever she looks, all things bow down before her; her +teeth like pearls, her bosom a bed of lilies," whispered he, and sank +down on his pillows with folded hands and flashing eyes. + +"He too!" cried Anton to himself. "My poor Bernhard, you are delirious!" + +Bernhard shook his head. "Since that day," said he, "I know that life is +not commonplace, but it is terrible! Will you now consent to speak to +the baron and his daughter?" + +"I will," said Anton, rising to go. "But I repeat to you that, in doing +this, I am taking an important step, which may easily lead to fresh +involvements for us both." + +"One in my state fears no involvements," said Bernhard; "and as for +you," and he cast a searching glance at Anton, "you will be what you +have spoken of to me this day, a man who can cut his way through +difficulties, and whose business it is, even though wounded, to fight +with fate. Me, Anton Wohlfart, me the whirlwind will sweep away." + +"Faint-heart," cried Anton, tenderly, "it is your disease that speaks +thus. Courage will return with health." + +"You hope so?" inquired the invalid, doubtingly. "I do so too, at times; +but often I grow faint-hearted, as you say. Yes, I will live, and I will +live no longer as of yore. I will try hard to grow stronger. I will not +dream so much as I do now, will not fret and excite myself in solitude. +I will make trial of the life of a brave and wise man, who gives back +every blow that he receives," cried he, with flushed cheeks, and holding +out his hand to his friend. Anton bent over him, and left the room. + +That evening Ehrenthal went to his son's bedside, as he always did, +after having closed the office door and hidden the key in his own room. + +"What did the doctor say to you to-day, my Bernhard?" + +Bernhard had turned his face to the wall, but he now suddenly flung +himself round, and said impetuously, "Father, I have something to speak +to you about. Lock the door, that no one may disturb us." + +Ehrenthal, in amazement, ran to both doors, locked and bolted them +obediently, and then hurried back to his son's bedside. + +"What is it that vexes you, my Bernhard?" inquired he, stretching out +his hand to feel his son's brow. + +Bernhard drew back his head, and his father's hand sank on the +bedclothes. + +"Sit down there," said the invalid, darkly, "and answer my questions as +sincerely as if you were speaking to yourself." + +The old man sat down. "Ask, my son, and I will answer you." + +"You have told me that you have lent much money to Baron Rothsattel; +that you will lend him no more, and that the nobleman will not be able +to retain his estate." + +"It is as I have said," replied his father, as cautiously as if +undergoing a legal examination. + +"And what is to become of the baron and of his family?" + +Ehrenthal shrugged his shoulders. "He will forfeit his property; and +when the day comes that the estate has to be sold, I shall, on account +of my money invested therein, bid for it, and I hope I shall be the +purchaser. I have a large mortgage on it, which is safe, and a small +mortgage besides, which is not worth much." + +"Father," cried Bernhard, with a piercing voice, which made Ehrenthal +start, "you wish to turn this man's misfortunes to your own profit; you +wish to seat yourself in his place. Yes, you drove to the baron's +estate, and took me with you, and perhaps you were then planning how to +turn his embarrassment to advantage. It is horrible! horrible!" He threw +himself back on the pillows and wrung his hands. + +Ehrenthal moved restlessly on his seat: "Speak not of matters that you +do not understand. Business is for the day; when I come to you in the +evenings, then you are not to trouble yourself about my occupations. I +will not have you lift up your hands, and cry 'Horrible!'" + +"Father!" exclaimed Bernhard, "if you would not see me die with shame +and sorrow, you will give up your plan." + +"Give up!" cried Ehrenthal, indignantly. "How can I give up my gold? How +can I give up the estate about which I have taken thought night and day? +How can I give up the greatest stroke of business I have yet carried on? +You are a disobedient child, and do grieve me for nothing. What fault of +mine was it that I gave the baron my money? He would have it so. What +fault is it of mine that I buy the property? I but redeem my money." + +"Cursed be every dollar that you have laid out thus! Cursed be the day +that this unblessed purpose entered your mind!" continued Bernhard, and +he raised his hand threateningly against his father. + +"What is this!" cried Ehrenthal, springing up; "what evil thoughts have +taken hold of my son's heart, that he should thus speak to his father? +What I have done, have I not done it for thee, not for myself--not for +my old days? I always thought of thee, and of how thou shouldst be a +different man to thy father. I should have the labor and the anxiety, +and thou shouldst go from the castle to the garden, book in hand, and +back to the castle again, and move to and fro as thou wouldst. The +bailiff should take off his cap, and the servants their hats, and they +should all say, 'That is our young master, he who walks yonder.'" + +"Yes," cried Bernhard, "this is your love: you want to make me partaker +in an unrighteous deed. You are mistaken, father. Never will I go out of +the castle into the garden, book in hand; rather will I, a poor beggar, +beg my bread on the public road, than set my foot on an estate that has +been gained by sin." + +"Bernhard," cried the old man, wringing his hands in his turn, "thou +castest a stone on thy father's heart, and its weight sinks him to the +earth." + +"And you ruin your son," cried Bernhard, in uncontrolled passion. "See +to it for whom you are lying and cheating; for, as sure as there is a +heaven above us, it shall never be said that you have done it for your +unhappy son." + +"My son," wailed the father, "do not smite my heart with your curses. +Ever since you were a little lad, carrying your satchel to school, you +have been all my pride. I have always allowed you to do your own +pleasure. I have bought you books. I have given you more money than you +required. I have watched your eyes to read your wishes there. While I +was toiling hard all day below, I used to think, 'Because of my pains, +my son will rejoice.'" He took the corner of his dressing-gown to wipe +his eyes, and tried to recover his composure. And so he sat, a +broken-down man, face to face with his son. + +Bernhard looked silently at his father's bent head. At last he reached +out his hand. "My father!" he gently said. + +Ehrenthal instantly seized the proffered hand between his, and holding +it fast for fear it should be again withdrawn, he came nearer, kissed +and stroked it. "Now thou art my own kind son once more," said he, with +emotion; "now thou wilt not speak such wicked words again, or quarrel +with me about this baron." + +Bernhard snatched his hand away. + +"I will not press him; I will have patience about the interest," said +Ehrenthal, beseechingly, trying to recover his son's hand. + +"Ah! it is useless to speak to him!" cried Bernhard, in deepest +distress; "he does not even understand my words." + +"I will understand every thing," gasped out Ehrenthal, "if you will only +give me back your hand." + +"Will you relinquish your plan about the estate?" asked Bernhard. + +"Speak not of the estate," besought the old man. + +"In vain!" murmured Bernhard, turning away and hiding his face in his +hands. + +Ehrenthal sat by him annihilated and sighing deeply. "Hear me, my son," +said he, at length; "I will see if I can not get him another estate that +he can buy with his remaining means. Do you hear me, my son Bernhard?" + +"Go!" cried Bernhard, without anger, but with the energy of intense +grief. "Go, and leave me alone!" + +Ehrenthal rose and left the room, walking up and down vehemently in the +next, wringing his hands, and talking to himself. Then he opened the +door, approaching Bernhard's bed, and asked, in a piteous voice, "Wilt +thou not give me thy hand, my son?" But Bernhard lay silent, with +averted face. + +It was with a beating heart that Anton, two days later, gave his name to +the baron's servant. + +"Wohlfart!" cried the baron, and the recollection of the letter returned +disagreeably to him; "bring him in." He met Anton's low bow rather +coolly. "I am obliged to you," said he, "for a letter lately received, +and you must excuse my having, on account of much business on hand, left +it unanswered." + +"If," began Anton, "I now take the liberty of calling with reference to +the same subject, I implore you not to look upon it as intrusive. I come +here charged with a message from a friend of mine who feels the most +devoted respect for you and your family. He is the son of Ehrenthal the +merchant. He himself is prevented from waiting upon you by illness, and +therefore implores you, through me, to make use of the influence he +possesses with his father. In the event of your thinking it probable +that he may be of use, may I request you to communicate your wishes to +him?" + +The baron listened eagerly. Now, when every thing forsook him upon which +he had himself relied, strangers began to interfere with his fate--this +Itzig, for instance, and Wohlfart, and now Ehrenthal's son. "I know but +little of the young man," said he, with reserve; "I must request you, +first of all, to explain to me how I happen to have the honor of +exciting such an unusual amount of interest in his mind." + +Anton replied with some warmth "Bernhard Ehrenthal has a noble heart, +and his life is stainless. Having grown up among his books, he +understands little or nothing of his father's business matters, but he +is under the impression that the latter is led on by wicked advisers to +act the part of an enemy toward you. He has influence over his +father--his fine sense of rectitude is much disturbed--and he ardently +wishes to hold back a parent from proceedings which he himself considers +dishonorable." + +Here was help. It was a breath of fresh air piercing through the choking +atmosphere of a sick-room; but the fresh air made the patient +uncomfortable. These honorable men, so ready to condemn all that did not +approve itself to their own sense of honor, had become distressing to +the baron. At all events, he would not expose himself to this +Wohlfart--the very essence, no doubt, of scrupulous conscientiousness. +And, accordingly, he replied with affected cordiality, "My relations to +the father of your friend are precisely such as might be facilitated by +the kindly intervention of one mutually interested in us both. Whether +young Ehrenthal, however, be the proper person, I can not decide. +Meanwhile, tell him that I am grateful for his sympathy, and that I +purpose calling upon him at his own time to consult him on the subject." +Upon which announcement Anton rose, the baron accompanying him to the +door, and, wonderful to say, making him a low bow. + +It was the result of no accident that, as Anton passed through the +ante-chamber, Lenore should enter it. "Mr. Wohlfart!" she cried, with +delight, and hurried to him. "Dear young lady!" cried he; and they met +as old friends. + +They forgot their interval of separation; they were as of old, partners +in the dance. Both said how much they had altered since then, and while +they said so, all the intervening years dropped off unperceived from +each. + +"You wear upright collars again," cried Lenore, with a slightly +reproachful voice. Anton instantly turned them down. + +"Have you got the hood you then wore? It was lined with red silk, and it +became you exquisitely." + +"My present hood is lined with blue," said Lenore, laughing. "And only +think, the little Countess Lara is to be married next week! She and I +were talking of you not long ago; and Eugene, too, has written to us +about you. How enchanting, that you should have become acquainted with +my brother! Come this way, Mr. Wohlfart; I must hear how the time has +passed with you." She led him into the drawing-room, and made him sit by +her on the sofa, looking at him with those smiling eyes, whose light +used formerly to make him so happy. Much in him had changed since then; +perhaps another maiden occupied his imagination now; but when he looked +upon the mistress of his early youth, the wild, high-spirited girl +matured into the noble and graceful woman, all the feelings of the past +revived, and he breathed with rapture the perfumed air of the elegant +saloon. + +"Now that I see you," said Lenore, "it seems to me as if our +dancing-lessons had only been yesterday. That was a pleasant time for me +too. Since then I have had much sorrow," added she, drooping her head. + +Anton lamented this with a fervor which made her look up brightly again. + +"What has brought you to my father?" inquired she, at length, in an +altered tone. + +Anton spoke of Bernhard, of his long sickness, and deep regard for her +family, not concealing that she herself was the chief cause of it, which +made her look down, and fold the corners of her handkerchief together. +"If you can find a way of recommending your father to use Bernhard's +influence, do so. I can not get rid of a fear that there is a conspiracy +carrying on against him in Ehrenthal's office. Perhaps you will find +means of letting Bernhard or me know how we can best be useful." + +Lenore looked mournfully in Anton's face, and moved nearer to him. "You +are to me like an old friend, and I can trust my sorrows to you. My +father conceals the cause of his anxiety from my mother and me, but he +is sadly changed the last few years. This factory requires much money, +and he is often without any, I am sure. My mother and I pray daily that +peace may be restored to us--a happy time like that when I first became +acquainted with you. As soon as I can discover any thing, I will write +to you," said she, with firm resolve; "and when Eugene comes home on +leave, he will seek you out." + +Thus Anton left the baron's house, excited by his meeting with his fair +friend, and full of anxiety to serve the whole family. At the house door +he stumbled upon Ehrenthal, who, in return for his distant bow, called +after him to come very soon again to see his son Bernhard. + +Ehrenthal had spent a miserable day. He had never, in the whole course +of his life, sighed or shaken his head so much before. It was in vain +that his wife, Sidonia, asked her daughter, "What ails the man, that he +sighs so deeply?" It was in vain that Itzig sought to cheer his master's +spirits by drawing glowing pictures of the future. All the +dissatisfaction in Ehrenthal's breast exploded against his book-keeper. +"It was you who advised me to take these steps against the baron," he +screamed at him on the morning after his scene with Bernhard. "Do you +know what you are? You are a good for nothing fellow." Itzig shrugged +his shoulders, and returned an ironical reply, which made Ehrenthal glad +to bury his head in the newspaper. Longer than two days he could not +endure the sight of the sorrow of his son, who got visibly worse, and +only answered his father in monosyllables. "I must make a sacrifice," +said Ehrenthal to himself. "I must give back sleep to his eyes, and put +an end to his groaning. I will remember my son; and I will get the baron +the Rosmin property, or I will save the money that he has invested in +it, without any profit for myself. I shall lose in that way, for I might +have arranged with Löwenberg so as to gain more than a thousand dollars. +I think this will please my Bernhard." And putting his hat firmly on his +head, as if to crush down all rebellious thoughts, he entered the +dwelling of his debtor. + +The baron received his unexpected visitor with breathless terror. "The +warner is scarcely gone when the enemy arrives," thought he. "He is come +to require the legal surrender of the mortgage." + +But what was his relief when Ehrenthal of his own accord politely +requested that he might go to Rosmin on the baron's behalf, and take the +necessary steps. "I will employ as my coadjutor a safe man--the +Commissary Walter--so that you may see that all is done legally. You +will give me authority to bid for the property, and to raise it thus to +such a sum as shall insure your mortgage being covered by the +purchase-money that some other will pay." + +"I know that this will be necessary," said the baron; "but, for God's +sake, Ehrenthal, what will be done if the property remains upon our +hands!" + +Ehrenthal shrugged his shoulders. "You know that I did not persuade you +into the mortgage; indeed, I may say, if I remember aright, that I even +dissuaded you from it. If you had taken my advice then, you would +probably never have bought that mortgage." + +"The thing is done, however," returned the baron, irascibly. + +"First of all, baron, I must beg you to admit that I am innocent of this +matter." + +"That is immaterial now." + +"It is immaterial to you," said Ehrenthal, "but not to me, and to my +honor as a man of business." + +"What do you mean by that?" cried the baron, in a tone that made +Ehrenthal start. "Do you dare to insinuate that any thing can be +immaterial to me about which even your honor is sensitive?" + +"Why are you so irritable, baron? I say nothing against your honor God +forbid that I should." + +"You spoke of it, though," said the unhappy man. + +"How can you thus misunderstand an old acquaintance? I only wish for +your declaration that I am innocent of the purchase of this mortgage." + +"Be it so," cried the baron, stamping. + +"Then it is all right. And should a misfortune befall us, and you be +obliged to purchase the property, we will see what can be done. It is a +bad time to lend money; but still I will advance you a sum in return for +a mortgage on the property." + +He then proceeded to make arrangements for his departure as the baron's +representative, and left him a prey to conflicting emotions. + +Was he saved? was he lost? A fear came over him that this mortgage would +decide his fate. He resolved to go to Rosmin himself, and not leave +matters to Ehrenthal. But then came the painful thought that he must +needs repose unlimited trust in this man, lest the man learn to mistrust +him, and so he drifted here and there in a sea of dangers. The waves +rose and threatened his very life. + +That evening Ehrenthal entered his son's sick-room, and placed the +newly-executed document on his bed. "Canst thou give me thy hand now?" +said he to his son, who looked gloomily before him. "I am to travel for +the baron. I am to buy him a new estate. We have settled it all +together. Here is his signature authorizing me to act for him. I am to +advance him capital; if he is wise, he may again become a man of +substance." + +Bernhard looked sorrowfully at his father, and shook his head. "That is +not enough, my poor father," said he. + +"But I am reconciled to the baron, and he has himself confessed that I +am not to blame for his misfortunes. Is not that enough, my son?" + +"No," said the invalid; "so long as you keep that wicked man Itzig in +your office, no joy can shine in on my life." + +"He shall go," said Ehrenthal, readily; "he shall go this next quarter, +if my son Bernhard wishes it." + +"And will you give up the idea of buying the baron's estate for +yourself?" + +"When it comes to be sold, I will think of what you have said," replied +his father. "And now speak no more about the estate; when you are my +strong, healthy son again, we will return to the subject." + +So saying, he seized the hand which Bernhard delayed giving, held it +fast in both his, and sat silently beside him. + +If ever in the course of his life Ehrenthal had known satisfaction, it +was now, in having brought about this reconciliation with his son. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + +Wave after wave broke over the head of the drowning man. + +The factory had now been in operation for some months. The beet-root +crop on the estate itself had been deficient, and the cultivation of it +in the country round had proved unsuccessful. Many of the small farmers +had failed to fulfill their contracts, and others had brought in +inferior produce. There was a scarcity of beet-root as well as a +scarcity of capital; the works stopped, the workmen dispersed. + +Ehrenthal was gone off to the Polish property, and the baron was +consumed by the fever of suspense. At last came the dark day when +Ehrenthal appeared before him, a letter from Commissary Walter in his +hand. The baron's capital had only been saved by his buying the estate. + +The owners of the first mortgage of a hundred thousand dollars had +raised the property, by bidding, up to a hundred and four thousand; they +had then left off, and no other purchaser had come forward. + +"The estate is now yours, baron," said Ehrenthal. "In order that you may +be able to maintain it, I have negotiated with the owners of the first +mortgage, and they will leave the hundred thousand upon the estate. I +have advanced for you four thousand dollars and the legal expenses." + +The baron said not a word; his head fell heavily on his writing-table. +As Ehrenthal left the room, he muttered, "It is all over with him. And +the next quarter he will lose his old estate, and he has not energy to +undertake the new. I shall have to buy the Polish property too, in the +end." + +And now term-time drew near, and the baron had the interest of all his +borrowed money to pay. Once more he looked round for help. In vain! +Last of all he came to his neighbor, George Werner, who had for some +years paid homage to Lenore, and then prudently drawn back, the baron's +embarrassments being no longer a secret. The young man showed all the +sympathy conventional in such a case. He was very sorry, indeed, to hear +that there was so large a mortgage upon the recently-purchased property. +"Whom did you send to the auction?" asked he. + +"Hirsch Ehrenthal," was the reply. + +George Werner waxed eloquent. "I fear," cried he, "that that fellow has +played you false. I know the usurer well: years ago we lost a large sum +by his villainy. My father had cut down a wood in the next province, and +sold it to a timber-merchant. Ehrenthal made a cheating bargain with +this man, got the timber from him at a nominal price, while the other +fellow ran off to America. The two rogues shared my father's money." + +The baron's face grew livid; he rose, said not another word about his +concerns, and slunk out of his neighbor's house like a felon. + +From that day he brooded darkly in his arm-chair, was harsh to his wife, +unapproachable by his daughter. The two poor women suffered +inexpressibly. + +One ray of hope still remained to him--Bernhard's influence with his +father. But he would not take the hand unselfishly offered him. He did +not send for Anton, but for another, of whom the idea was repulsive to +him, yet whose grotesque presence seemed to cheer him whenever they met. +Once more, at the last hour, a gracious destiny left his choice free. +But alas! he was himself free no longer. It was the curse of an evil +deed that now confused his judgment. + +Again Itzig stood before him, and the baron, looking askance at the bent +figure, said, "Young Ehrenthal has offered to make up my difference with +his father." + +Veitel leaped up suddenly as if he had been shot. "Bernhard!" said he. + +"That is his name, I dare say; he is an invalid." + +"He will die," replied Veitel. + +"When?" asked the baron, occupied with his own thoughts; but, recovering +himself, he added, "What is the matter with him?" + +"It is here," said Itzig, laying his hand on his chest; "it labors like +a pair of bellows: when a hole is once torn, the breath ceases." + +The baron put on an expression of sympathy, but, in reality, his only +thought was that he had no time to lose. "The invalid," said he, "has +sufficient influence over his father to give me hopes of Ehrenthal's +consent to my wishes." + +"What does Bernhard know of business? He is a fool," cried Veitel, +unable to conceal his annoyance. "If you were to put an old parchment +covered with manuscript before him, he would give you any mortgage you +liked for it; he is half-witted." + +"I see that you do not approve this plan," said the baron, again +drifting hopelessly. + +Before Itzig replied, he stood for a long time reflecting, and +restlessly looking away from the baron into every corner of the room. At +last he said, in a more self-possessed tone, "The baron is right. It +will be best, after all, that you and Ehrenthal should go together to +Bernhard's sick-bed, and there finally settle your affairs." Again he +was silent, and his face grew red with stormy thoughts. "Will the baron +be graciously pleased to leave me to fix the day and the hour when he +can best speak to Bernhard Ehrenthal? As soon as you enter the office, I +will go up and tell him that you are there. Meanwhile you will have the +goodness to wait in the office, even if I should be half an hour away. +You will wait, whatever Ehrenthal may say. And when I take you up +stairs, all will be right, for Bernhard can do what he likes with his +father." + +"I shall wait till I hear from you," decided the baron, distressed at +the thought of the painful day. + +Itzig then took his leave, and rushed in frantic excitement to his lair +in the house of Pinkus. Arrived there, he ran wildly up and down, +clenching his fist at the thought of Bernhard. He opened his old desk, +and took out of a secret drawer two keys, which he laid on the table, +and stood looking at them steadfastly and long. At length he pushed them +into his pocket, and ran down to the caravanserai. There, cowering in a +corner of the gallery, he found his sagacious friend Mr. Hippus, whose +aspect had certainly not improved during the last few days. He was now +sitting squeezed into a corner where the sunlight fell, and was reading +a dirty romance. When Veitel hurriedly entered, he only buried his head +deeper in his book, for which he appeared to care far more than for the +young man of business before him. + +"Shut up your book, and listen to me," cried Itzig, impatiently. +"Rothsattel will get his notes of hand back from Ehrenthal; he will give +in the mortgage, and I shall have to pay him the remaining eight +thousand dollars." + +"Only think--only think," replied the old man, wagging his ugly head, +"what things one lives to see! If Ehrenthal gives his money away to a +vagabond who has broken his word, it will be time for us all to mend our +ways and turn honest. Before, however, we speak further, you may just +bring me up something to eat and drink. I am thirsty, and have not +another word to say at present." + +Veitel hurried down stairs, and the old man, looking after him, +muttered, "Now for it! now for it!" + +When Veitel had placed his meal before him, Hippus briefly inquired, +"How much?" + +"Three hundred," said the old man; "and even then I must have time to +consider. It is not in my line, most worthy Itzig. I am willing to labor +in my vocation for less, as you have experienced ere now, but for a +noble exploit in the style of Cartouche and others of your friends, I +require better compensation. I am only a volunteer, and I can't say that +my preferences lie in this direction." + +"Do mine?" cried Itzig. "If there be any other means to take, tell me +them. If you know how the baron and Ehrenthal can be kept asunder, say +so. Ehrenthal's only son will make peace between them; he will stand +between them like the winged cupid on a valentine between two lovers, +and we shall be done." + +"_We_?" chuckled the old man. "_You_ will be done, you jackdaw. What are +your affairs to me?" + +"Two hundred," cried Veitel, drawing nearer. + +"Three," replied the old man, tossing off his glass; "but even then I +will not do it alone; you must be there." + +"If I am to be there," said Veitel, "I can do it alone, and shall not +require your help. Listen to me. I will contrive that the office shall +be empty; that Ehrenthal and the baron shall leave the house at the same +moment. I will give you a sign, to say whether the papers are on the +table or in the press. It will be dark. You will have about half an +hour's time. I will fasten the house door, and unbolt the back door, +which is generally closed. It will all be so safe that a child of two +years might do it easily." + +"Safe enough for you," said the old man, dryly, "but not for me." + +"We have tried what could be done with the law, and it has not +answered," cried Veitel; "now we must defy it." He struck the balustrade +with his clenched fist, and ground his teeth fiercely. "And if you don't +choose to do it, still it shall be done, though I know that all the +suspicion will fall upon me, unless I am in Bernhard's room at the +time." + +"Very fine indeed, gallant Itzig," said the man, adjusting his +spectacles, so as to observe more closely the expression of the other's +countenance. "Since you are so brave, I will not leave you in the lurch. +But three hundred." + +The bargaining then began. The pair squeezed themselves into the +farthest corner of the gallery, and whispered together till dark. + +A few days later, at twilight, Anton entered his friend's sick-room. "I +am come to pay you a flying visit, just to see how you are." + +"Weak," replied Bernhard; "still very weak, and breathing becomes very +difficult. If I could only get out, only once out of this gloomy room." + +"Does your doctor allow you to drive out? If the sun be bright and warm, +I will bring a carriage to-morrow and take you a drive." + +"Yes," cried Bernhard, "you shall come. I shall have something to tell +you then." He looked cautiously around. "I have this day received by the +townpost a note without a signature." He drew it out from under his +pillow, and gave it with a mysterious look to his friend. "Take it: +perhaps you know the hand." + +Anton went to the window and read, "The Baron Rothsattel wishes to speak +to you this evening. Contrive, therefore, to be alone with your father." + +When Anton gave back the note, Bernhard received it reverentially, and +replaced it under his pillow. "Do you know the hand?" said he. + +"No," replied Anton; "the hand seems a feigned one; it is not the young +lady's." + +"Whoever the writer may be," continued Bernhard, dejectedly, "I hope for +a good result from this evening's interview. Wohlfart, this dispute lies +like a hundred weight on my breast; it takes my breath away. This +evening I shall be better; I shall be free." + +Speaking had tired him. "Farewell, then, till morning," said Anton. As +he rose he heard the rustle of ladies' dresses, and Bernhard's mother +and sister approached the bed and greeted the visitor. "How are you, +Bernhard?" asked his mother; "you will be all alone with your father +this evening. There is a great musical meeting, and Rosalie is to play. +We have moved the piano into the back room, Mr. Wohlfart, that Bernhard +may not be disturbed by Rosalie's practicing." + +"Sit down for a moment beside me, mother," said Bernhard; "it is long +since I have seen you handsomely dressed. You look beautiful to-day; you +had just such a gown as this when I, as a boy, took scarlet fever. When +I dream of you I always see you in a scarlet dress. Give me your hand, +mother; and while you listen to the music this evening, think, too, of +your Bernhard, who will be making silent melody here." + +His mother sat down beside him. "He is feverish again," said she to +Anton, who silently assented. + +"To-morrow I shall go out into the sunshine," cried Bernhard, in an +excited tone; "that will be my enjoyment." + +"The carriage waits," said Rosalie, remindingly; "and we have to go out +the back way, which is dirty. Itzig has persuaded my father that the +carriage must not drive round to the front for fear of disturbing +Bernhard." + +"Good-night, Bernhard," said his mother, once more reaching out her +plump hand. The ladies hurried away. Anton followed them. + +"What do you think of Bernhard?" asked the mother, as they went down +stairs. + +"I consider him very ill," Anton replied. + +"I have already told my husband that, when summer comes, and I go with +Rosalie to the Baths, we will take Bernhard with us." + +Anton went home with a heavy heart. + +The house grew silent; nothing was to be heard in the sick-room but the +labored breathing of the sufferer. But there was a stir on the floor +below him--doubtless a mouse gnawing the wainscot. Bernhard listened +uneasily. "How long will it go on gnawing? till it makes a hole at last, +and comes into the room." A shudder came over him--he tossed about on +his bed--the darkness seemed to press him in--the air grew thick. He +rang till the maid came and set down the lamp. Then he gazed languidly +round. The room looked old and prison-like to-day; it appeared +unfamiliar to him, like some room in a strange house, where he was only +a visitor. He looked with indifference at his library, and the drawer +where lay his beloved manuscripts. That spot upon the floor--that chink +through which the light from the next room shone in every evening, +to-morrow he would leave them all to drive with Anton. He wondered +whether they would take the road the young lady took when going to and +fro between town and her father's estate. Perhaps they might meet her. +His eye beamed; he confidently believed that they should meet her. She +would sit queen-like in her carriage, her veil flying round her blooming +face; she would raise her white hand and wave it to him--nay, she would +recognize him; she would know that he had rendered her father a service; +she would stop and inquire how he was. He should speak to her--should +hear the noble tones of her voice; she would bow once more; then the +carriages would separate, one here, the other there. And whither would +he go? "Into the sunshine," whispered he. And again he listened +anxiously to the gnawing of the mouse. + +A hurried step came through the room beyond. Bernhard sat up--the blood +mounted to his face. It was the father of Lenore who was coming to him. +The door opened softly; an ugly face peeped in, and glanced stealthily +around the room. Bernhard cried in dismay, "What do you want here?" + +Itzig went up to the bed in haste, and breathing hard, said, in a voice +that sounded as choked as that of the invalid, "The baron has just gone +into the office. He has told me to come to you, and to persuade you to +support the proposal that he is about to make to your father." + +"He has said that to you?" cried Bernhard. "How can the baron give a +message to a man like you?" + +"Hold your peace," rejoined Veitel, rudely; "there is no time for your +speeches. Listen to what I have to say. The baron promised your father, +on his word of honor, security for twenty thousand dollars, and now he +can not give him that security, because he has sold the deed to another. +He has broken his word, and now demands that your father should renounce +his security. If you can advise your father to lose twenty thousand +dollars, why, do so." + +Bernhard trembled all over. "You are a liar!" cried he. "Every word that +proceeds from your mouth is hypocrisy, double-dealing, and deceit." + +"Hold your peace," replied Veitel, in feverish anxiety. "You are not to +persuade your father to his harm. There is no helping this baron; he is +a fly who has burned his wings in the candle; he can only crawl. And +even if Ehrenthal be fool enough to follow your evil counsel, he can not +maintain for the baron possession of his estate. If he does not eject +him, another will. I have no interest in saying this to you," continued +he, uneasily listening to a sound in front of the house; "I do so merely +out of attachment to your family." + +Bernhard struggled for breath. "Get out of my sight!" said he, at +length; "there is nothing but deceit and falsehood on earth." + +"I will bring up the baron and your father," said Veitel, and rushed out +of the room. + +Meanwhile Ehrenthal's angry voice sounded loudly on the ground floor. "I +will go to the lawyer; I will expose you and your intrigues." + +Veitel burst open the door. The baron sat on the stool, and hid his face +with his hands. Ehrenthal stood before him trembling with rage. On the +desk stood the baron's casket, containing the fatal notes of hand and +the mortgage. Veitel cried out, "Have done, Ehrenthal; your Bernhard is +very ill; he is all alone up stairs, and calls for you and for the +baron; he wants you both beside him." + +"What means this?" screamed Ehrenthal. "Are you intriguing with my son +too, behind my back?" + +"Have you shown him the new mortgage that you have had drawn up for +him?" asked Veitel, hurriedly. + +"He will not even look at it," returned the baron, gloomily. + +"Give it to me," said Veitel; and he laid a new deed before Ehrenthal. + +"You want me to take a bit of paper instead of my good money--mere +trash, that is not worth my burning." + +"Will you not give over?" cried Veitel, in greatest distress. "No one is +up stairs with Bernhard, and he is calling out for you and the baron; he +will do himself a mischief. Do go up stairs; he has groaned out that I +am to bring you both to him immediately." + +"Just God!" cried Ehrenthal, "what is to be done! I can not come to my +son; I am in terror about my money." + +"He will cry himself to death," said Veitel; "you can speak about the +money long enough afterward. Do make haste." + +The baron and Ehrenthal both left the office. Itzig followed. Ehrenthal +locked the door, laid the iron bar across it, and fastened the bolts. As +they went up stairs a piece of money rang upon the step. Ehrenthal +looked round. "It dropped out of my pocket," said Veitel. + +The baron and Ehrenthal entered the sick-chamber, and Itzig pushed +himself in after them, creeping along the wall to the window behind +Bernhard, so that the latter should not see him. The baron sat down at +the head of the bed, the father at the foot, and the lamp threw a pale +light on the parties who came to wrangle about capital and security in +the presence of the dying. The nobleman began by a courteous speech, +referring to Bernhard's visit to his estate, hoping soon to welcome him +there again; but his eyes rested with terror on the sunken face, and an +inner voice told him the last hour was near. Bernhard sat up in his bed, +his head resting on his breast, and, raising his hand, he interrupted +the baron, saying, "I pray you, baron, to tell me what you require from +my father, and, while doing so, to recollect that I am no man of +business." + +The baron proceeded to state his case. Ehrenthal was often about to +interrupt him, but each time Bernhard waved his hand, and then the old +man stopped, and contented himself with vehemently shaking his head and +mumbling to himself. + +When the baron's statement was over, Bernhard beckoned to his father. +"Come nearer me, and listen quietly to my words." + +The father stooped down with his ear close to his son's mouth. "What I +am about to say," continued Bernhard, in a low voice, "is my firm +resolve, and it is not one taken this day. If you have made money, it +was with the hope that I should outlive you and be your heir. Was it not +so?" + +Ehrenthal vehemently nodded assent. "If, then, you behold your heir in +me, listen to my words. If you love me, act in accordance with them. I +renounce my inheritance so long as we both live. What you have laid up +for me has been laid up in vain. I require nothing for my future. If it +be appointed me to recover, I will learn to support myself by my own +labor. Beside your love and your blessing, father, I want nothing. Think +upon this." + +Ehrenthal raised his arms and cried, "What words are these, my Bernhard, +my poor son! Thou art ill; thou art very ill." + +"Hear me further," besought Bernhard. "Whatever your claims may be on +this gentleman's estate, they must be given up. You have been connected +with him in business for long years; you must not be the means of +making his family unhappy. I do not ask you to give away the large sum +in question. That would pain you too much, and would be humiliating to +him; all I require is, that you should accept the security he offers +you. If he ever promised you any other, forget it; if you have papers in +your possession which compromise him, give them back." + +"He is ill," groaned his father; "he is very ill." + +"I know that this will pain you, my father. Ever since you left your +grandfather's house, a poor barefooted Jew-boy, with one dollar in your +pocket, you have thought of nothing but money-making. No one ever taught +you any thing else, and your creed excluded you from the society of +those who better understood what gave value to life. I know it goes to +your heart to risk a large sum, but yet, father, you will do it--you +will do it because you love me." + +Ehrenthal wrung his hands, and said, with floods of tears, "You know not +what you ask, my son. You plead for a robbery--a robbery from your +father." + +The son took his father's hand. "You have always loved me. You have +wished that I should be different from yourself. You have always given +heed to my words, and before I could express a wish you have fulfilled +it. But this is the first great request that I have ever made. And this +request I will whisper in your ear as long as I live; it is the first, +father, and it will be my last." + +"Thou art a foolish child," cried the father, beside himself; "thou +askest my life--my whole substance." + +"Fetch the papers," replied Bernhard. "I must, with my own eyes, see you +give back to the baron what he wishes to retract, and receive from him +what he can still give." + +Ehrenthal took out his handkerchief and wept aloud: "He is ill. I shall +lose him, and I shall lose my money too." Meanwhile the baron sat silent +and looked down. As for Itzig, he was clenching his fist convulsively, +and unconsciously tearing the curtain down from the pole. + +Bernhard looked at his father's emotion unmoved, and repeated with an +effort, "I will have it so; bring the papers, father," Then he sank back +on his pillow. His father bent over him, but with a silent gesture of +aversion Bernhard waved him off, saying, "Enough! you hurt me." + +Then Ehrenthal rose, took up his office-candle, and tottered out of the +room. + +The baron sat still as before, but in the midst of his suspense he was +conscious of flashes that resembled joy. He saw a spot of blue in his +clouded sky. His promise given back to him, eight thousand dollars to +receive from the man in the window, he might look up once more. He took +Bernhard's hand, and, pressing it, said, "I thank you, sir--oh how I +thank you! You are my deliverer; you save my family from despair, and me +from disgrace." + +Bernhard held the baron's hand firmly in his, and a blissful smile +passed over his face. Meanwhile the one in the window was grinding his +teeth in his phrensy of anxiety, and pressing himself against the wall +to control the fever-fit which shook him. + +Thus they remained a long while. No one spoke. Ehrenthal did not return. +Suddenly the room door was burst open, and a man rushed in furious, with +distorted face and streaming hair. It was Ehrenthal, holding in his hand +the flaring candle, but nothing else. + +"Gone!" said he, clasping his hands, and letting the candle fall; "all +gone! all is stolen!" He fell on his son's bed, and stretched out his +arms, as if to implore help from him. + +The baron sprang up, not less horrified than Ehrenthal. "What is +stolen?" cried he. + +"Every thing!" groaned Ehrenthal, looking only at his son. "The notes of +hand, are gone, the mortgages are gone. I am robbed!" screamed he, +springing up. "Robbery! burglary! Send for the police!" And again he +rushed out, the baron following him. + +Half fainting and bewildered, Bernhard looked after them. Itzig now +stepped out from the window and came to the bed. The sufferer threw his +head on one side, and gazed at him as the bird does at the snake. It was +the face of a devil into which he gazed; the red hair stood up +bristling; hellish dread and hate were in every ugly feature. Bernhard +closed his eyes, and covered them with his hand. But the face came +nearer still, and a hoarse voice whispered in his ear. + +Meanwhile two men stood in the office below, and looked at each other in +stupid amazement. The casket and its contents were gone. The deeds that +the baron had laid on the desk were gone too. Ehrenthal had unlocked the +door as usual. There was nothing wrong with the bolts. Every thing stood +in its right place. If any money had been taken out of the drawer, it +could be but very little. There was not a sign of the well-secured +shutters having been touched; it was inexplicable how the documents +could have been taken away. + +Then they searched the whole ground floor: nothing to be seen--even the +house door was locked. They recollected that the cautious book-keeper +had done that as they went up stairs. Again they went back to the office +and searched every corner, but more rapidly and more hopelessly than +before. Then they sat over against each other, watching for some token +of treachery; and again they sprang up, and mutually poured out such +reproaches as only despair can invent. + +The papers had vanished from Ehrenthal's office just as he had +unwillingly yielded to his son's entreaties for a reconciliation with +the baron. He had not, indeed, made up his mind to it--he had only gone +to fetch the papers. Would any one believe that those papers were +stolen? Would his own son believe him? + +And as for the baron, his loss was greater still. He had just had a hope +of rescue, now he fell again into an abyss beyond his fathoming. His +notes of hand were in some stranger's possession. If the thief +understood how to make use of them--nay, if the thief were only +apprehended, he was lost; and if they were never found again, still he +was equally lost. He was not in a condition to make any arrangement with +Ehrenthal; he was not in a condition to pay any of his creditors; he was +lost beyond possibility of deliverance. Before him lay poverty, failure, +disgrace. Again there recurred to his mind that court of honor, his +fellow-officers, and the unfortunate young man who had destroyed +himself. He had been obliged to view the body; he knew how one looks who +has died thus; he knew too, now, how a man comes to die. Once he had +shuddered at the image of the corpse, now he shuddered at it no longer. +His lips moved, and as in a dream he said to himself, "That is the last +resource." The door was now torn open, a hideous head appeared, and a +wild cry was heard, "Come up, Hirsch Ehrenthal; your son is dying." Then +the apparition vanished, Ehrenthal rushed off with a shriek, and the +baron tottered out of the house. + +When the father fell down beside his son's bed, a white hand was lifted +up once more, then a corpse fell back. Bernhard was gone out into the +sunshine. + +The evening was warm. A light mist hid the stars, but there was still a +pleasant twilight. The balmy breath of the flowering shrubs in the +public gardens was wafted into the streets. The passers-by returned +slowly home, sorry to leave the sweet south breeze, and shut themselves +up in-doors. The beggar stretched himself comfortably out on the +threshold of the stately house; every young fellow who had a sweetheart +led her out with him through the streets. He who was weary forgot his +past day's work; he who was sad felt his sadness less on such an evening +as this; he who was alone the whole year felt impelled to seek +companionship to-day. Groups stood laughing and chattering at the doors; +children were playing; the caged nightingale sang her sweetest +song--sang of the early summer--that happy time when life is sweet and +fond hopes blossom. + +Through these swarms of people a tall man walked slowly; his head had +sunk on his breast. He did not hear the nightingale's note, and passed +through the circle of dancing children without one sound of their happy +voices falling upon his ear. He passed into the suburbs, slowly ascended +a flower-crowned hill, and sat down on a bench. Beneath him the dark +river rolled onward to the sea, and opposite him rose the mighty mass of +the old cathedral. The river was covered with timber-rafts brought down +from the mountains. On these rafts stood the little huts of their +rowers, with small fires in them, at which the men were now preparing +their suppers. He too had had to do with timber-rafts like these, and +the money he had thus won had been spoken of as a theft. He got up +hastily and hurried down the hill. + +His way lay through an alley of tall sycamores, and again he stopped, +and wearily leaned against the trunk of a tree. Before him rose the +chimneys of the manufacturing part of the town. He too knew what it was +to build a tall pile like that. He had laid all he had at its base--his +strength, his money, his honor. He had paid for it with sleepless nights +and whitened hair; it was the tomb-stone of his race which he had raised +on his estate, and what he now saw before him in the uncertain light was +a monster church-yard, full of shadowy monuments, beneath which lay +coffined the peace of mind of many wretched men; and nodding, he said, +and started to hear his own words, "It is the last." He rose and went to +his house. + +On his way thither he felt how comforting it was to think of that which +would free him from such hideous pictures. He went in and smiled when +the lamp shone on his face. As he stood in the hall he could hear voices +in his wife's room. Lenore was reading aloud. He listened and heard +that she was reading a novel. He would not frighten those poor women; +but there was a back room apart from all the rest--he would go there. +While he was still standing in the hall, the room door opened, and the +baroness looked out. She gave an involuntary start when she saw him. He +smiled and cheerfully entered the room, gave his hand to his wife, +stroked Lenore's head, and bent down to see what she was reading. The +baroness regretted that she had had her tea without him, and he joked +her about her impatience for her favorite beverage. He went to the cage +in which two foreign birds were sitting on the same perch, their small +heads resting against each other, and putting his fingers to the wires +as if to stroke them, he said absently, "They are gone to rest." Then +taking the waxlight from the servant's hand, he moved toward his own +room. As he took hold of the door-handle, he remarked that his wife's +eyes followed him anxiously, and, turning toward her, he nodded +cheerfully. Then he closed the door, took a polished case out of his +writing-table, and carried it and the candle to the small back room. +Here he was sure he should disturb no one. + +Slowly he loaded. In loading he looked at the inlaid work on the +barrels. It had been the toilsome task of some poor devil of a +gunmaker--it had often been admired by his acquaintance. The pistols +themselves had been a wedding-present from the general, who had on one +occasion acted the part of father to his orphan bride. He hurriedly +rammed down the charge, then looked behind him. When he fell it should +not be on the floor; he would not make on those who should come in the +same painful impression that his outstretched comrade had made on him. + +He placed the barrel to his temple. At that moment a woman's shriek was +heard, his wife rushed in, his arm was seized with the strength of +despair; he started, and his finger touched the trigger--a flash, a +report, and he sank back on the sofa, and groaning, raised both his +hands to his eyes. + +In the merchant's house the bereaved father came, candle in hand, out of +the room of the dead to the office below. He looked anxiously about on +the desk, in the cupboard, in every corner of the room; then sat down, +shook his head, and marveled. Then he locked up the office, went up +stairs again, and fell groaning and crying on the bed. So he spent the +whole night, seeking and wailing, wailing and seeking--a distracted, +desolate, broken-down man. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + +In the merchant's house domestic life flowed smoothly on again. The +small disturbance made by the return of Anton had gradually settled +down. Those first-class treasures of Sabine's had made way for other +specimens of damask, still of a superior kind, it is true, but which +came within the compass of the elderly cousin's comprehension. She had +been quite right in prophesying that Anton would never remark those +signs of exuberant gratitude or their withdrawal. However, one change +had been permanently made--the greatest, the best of all changes--the +clerk retained a privileged place in the heart of the young mistress of +the firm, and his tall figure often appeared as one of the circle that +Sabine's fancy loved to gather round her when at her work-table or in +her treasure-chamber. + +To-day she was walking restlessly up and down before dinner. The cousin, +who heard every thing, had just told her that a maid from Ehrenthal's +had run into the office to announce Bernhard's death to his friend. "How +will he bear it?" thought she. And the name of Ehrenthal forced her +thoughts back to the past, to one now far away, and to that painful hour +when the struggle going on in her own mind had been suddenly brought to +a close by a letter from the house of the departed. And Anton had known +of that conquered feeling of hers. How considerate he had always been, +how chivalrous, how helpful! She wondered if he had any idea of the +completeness of her triumph over a girlish illusion. She shook her head. +"No, he has not. It was here, at this very table, that an accident first +betrayed me to him. That past time still rises like a cloud between us. +Whenever I sit near Wohlfart of an evening, I am conscious of another's +shadow at my side; and when he speaks to me, his tone, his manner always +seem to say, 'You are not alone; he is with you.'" Sabine started, and +lovingly passed her hand over the beautiful flowers on the table before +her, as if to dispel a painful thought. She could not tell him that she +was free from that long-felt sorrow. Now, however, when he had lost a +friend whom he so much loved, she must show him that there were other +hearts that clung to him still. And again she walked up and down, trying +to devise a way of speaking to him alone. + +Dinner was announced. Anton came with the rest, and took his place at +once. There was no opportunity of exchanging a word during the meal, but +he often met her sad and sympathizing eye. "He eats nothing at all +to-day," whispered her cousin; "not even any of the roast," she added, +reproachfully. Sabine was much perturbed. Mr. Jordan had already risen; +Anton would leave the room with the rest, and she should not see him +again the whole day through. So she called out, "The great Calla is +fully blown now. You were admiring the buds the other day; will you +remain a moment; I should like to show it you?" Anton bowed and staid +behind. A few more awkward moments, then her brother rose too; and, +hurrying to Anton, she took him to the room where the flowers were. + +"You have had sorrowful tidings to-day," she began. + +"The tidings themselves did not surprise me," replied Anton. "The doctor +gave no hope. But I lose much in him." + +"I never saw him," said Sabine; "but I know from you that his life was +lonely--poor in affection and in enjoyment." + +She moved an arm-chair toward Anton, and led him on to talk about his +friend. She listened to every word with warm sympathy, and well knew +what to ask and how to comfort. It was a relief to Anton to speak of the +departed one, to describe his quiet way of life, his erudition, his +poetical enthusiasm. After a pause, Sabine looked up frankly into his +face, and asked, "Have you any tidings of Herr von Fink?" + +It was the first time since his departure that she had ever breathed his +name. Anton felt how touching her confidence was, given in this hour of +his sadness. In his emotion, he seized her hand, which she was slow in +withdrawing. + +"He is not happy in his new life," he gravely replied. "There was a +savage humor in his last letter, from which I gather, even more than +from his actual words, that the business into which his uncle's death +has thrown him does not suit him." + +"It is unworthy," cried Sabine. + +"At all events, it is not what would be recognized as honorable in this +house," replied Anton. "Fink is upright, and has lived too long with +your brother to take pleasure in the wild speculations so common on the +other side the Atlantic. His partners and colleagues are for the most +part men without a conscience, and his feelings revolt against their +companionship." + +"And can Herr von Fink tolerate such relations as these for a day?" + +"It is a remarkable thing that he whose own will was ever so arbitrarily +exercised, should now be obliged against that will to obey a pressure +from without, and every where to work with his hands tied. The +organization of such speculations in America is so complicated that one +shareholder can do little to alter it; and, now that Fink has attained +what used to be the goal of his wishes--a large capital, and the +management of immense districts--his condition appears more uncertain +than it ever was before. He was always in danger of thinking slightingly +of others, now I am distressed at the bitter contempt he expresses for +his own life. His last letter paints an intolerable state of things, and +seems to point to some decisive resolve." + +"There is only one resolve for him," cried Sabine. "May I ask what you +said to him in reply?" + +"I entreated him instantly, come what would, to free himself from the +business in which he was entangled. I said that his own strong will +might find a way of extrication, even if that which I pointed out proved +impracticable. Then I begged of him either to carry out his old plan of +becoming a landed proprietor in America, or to return to us." + +"I knew that you would write thus," said Sabine, drawing a long breath. +"Yes, Wohlfart, he shall return," said she, gently, "but he shall not +return to us." + +Anton was silent. + +"And do you think that Herr von Fink will follow your advice?" + +"I do not know. My advice was not very American." + +"But it was worthy of you," cried Sabine, with proud delight. + +"An officer wishes to speak to Mr. Wohlfart," said a servant at the +door. + +Anton sprang up. Sabine went to her flowers and bent mournfully over +them. The shadows of others hovered still between her friend and her. + +The few words spoken by the servant filled Anton with a vague terror. He +hurried into the ante-room: there stood Eugene von Rothsattel. Anton was +gladly rushing forward to greet him, but the young soldier's face of +agony made him start back. He whispered, "My mother wishes to speak to +you; something dreadful has occurred." Anton caught up his hat, ran into +the office, hurriedly asked Baumann to excuse him to the principal, and +then accompanied the lieutenant to the baron's house. + +On the way, Eugene, who had lost all self-command, said unconnectedly to +Anton, "My father last night accidentally wounded himself by a +pistol-shot--a messenger was sent to summon me--when I came, I found my +mother in a swoon--my sister and I do not know what to do--Lenore +implored my mother on her knees to send for you--you are the only one in +whom we have any confidence in our distress--I understand nothing about +business, but my father's affairs must be in a dreadful state--my mother +is beside herself--the whole house is in the greatest disorder." + +From what Eugene said and what he did not say; from his broken sentences +and his look of agony, Anton guessed at the horrors of the previous +evening. In the boudoir of the baroness he found Lenore, weeping and +exhausted. + +"Dear Wohlfart!" cried she, taking his hand and beginning again to sob, +while her head sank powerless on his shoulder. + +Meanwhile Eugene walked up and down, wringing his hands, and at length +throwing himself on the sofa, he gave himself up to silent tears. + +"It is horrible, Mr. Wohlfart," said Lenore, lifting up her head. "No +one may approach my father--Eugene may not, nor I--only my mother and +old John are with him; and early this morning the merchant Ehrenthal was +here, insisting that he must see my father. He screamed at my mother, +and called my father a deceiver, till she fainted away. When I rushed +into the room, the dreadful man went off threatening her with his +clenched fist." + +Anton led Lenore to a chair and waited till she had told him all. There +was no possibility of comforting in this case, and his own heart was +wrung to the utmost by the misery he witnessed. + +"Call my mother, Eugene," said Lenore, at length. + +Her brother left the room. + +"Do not forsake us," implored Lenore, clasping her hands; "we are at the +last gasp; even your help can not save us." + +"He is dead who might perhaps have done so," mournfully replied Anton. +"Whether I can be of any use I know not, but you can not doubt my +willingness to be so." + +"No," cried Lenore. "And Eugene, too, thought of you at once." + +The baroness now entered. She walked wearily; but, steadying herself by +a chair, she saluted Anton with dignity. "In our position," said she, +"we need a friend who knows more of business than we three do. An +unfortunate accident prevents the baron--possibly for a long time to +come--from managing his own affairs, and, little as I understand them, I +can see that our interests require prompt measures. My children have +mentioned you to me, but I fear I am unreasonable in asking you to +devote your time to our service." + +She sat down, beckoned Anton to take a chair, and said to her children, +"Leave us; I shall be better able to tell Mr. Wohlfart the little that I +know when I do not see your grief." + +When they were alone, she motioned him nearer and tried to speak, but +her lips quivered, and she hid her face in her handkerchief. + +"Before I can consent, gracious lady," said he, "to your reposing in me +such confidence as this, I must first inquire whether the baron has no +relative or intimate friend to whom you could with less pain make such a +communication. I pray you to remember that my own knowledge of business +is but small, and my position not one to constitute me a proper +counselor to the baron." + +"I know no one," said the baroness, hopelessly. "It is less painful to +me to tell you what I can not conceal, than to one of our own circle. +Consider yourself a physician sent for to visit a patient. The baron has +this morning told me some particulars of his present circumstances." And +then she proceeded to relate what she had gathered as to the nature of +his embarrassments, the danger in which the family property was placed, +and the capital needed to take possession of the Polish estate. + +"My husband," continued she, "has given me the key of his desk, and he +wishes Eugene, with the help of a man of business, to go over his +papers. I now request of you to make this examination together with my +son. When you need explanations, I will try to obtain them from the +baron. The question is now, whether you are inclined to undertake this +trouble for us, who are only strangers." + +"I am most willing to do so," earnestly replied Anton; "and I hope that +the kindness of my principal will allow me the time needful for the +purpose, if you do not consider it more advisable to depute the baron's +experienced legal adviser to the task." + +"There will be an opportunity of asking that gentleman's advice later," +said the baroness. + +Anton rose. "When do you wish to begin?" + +"Immediately. I fear there is not a day to lose. I shall do all I can to +help you look the papers over." She led Anton into the next room, called +in Eugene, and unlocked the baron's desk. As she opened it she lost her +self-command for a moment, and moving to the window, the quivering of +the curtains betrayed the anguish that shook her fragile frame. + +The mournful task began. Hour after hour passed. Eugene was in no +condition to peruse any thing, but his mother reached letters and +documents to Anton, and, though often obliged to desist a while, she +bravely returned to the task. Anton placed the papers in order, and +sought, by glancing over each, to arrive at least at a superficial view +of the facts of the case. + +It was evening, when the old servant opened the door in dismay, and +called out, "He is there again." The baroness could not repress a slight +scream, and made a gesture of aversion. + +"I have told him that no one is at home, but he will not be dismissed; +he makes such a noise on the steps. I can not get rid of him." + +"It will kill me if I hear his voice again," murmured the baroness. + +"If the man be Ehrenthal," said Anton, rising, "I will try to get him +away. We have now done what was most necessary; have the goodness to +lock up these papers, and to allow me to return to-morrow." The baroness +silently assented, and sank back in her chair. Anton hurried off to the +ante-room, whence he could hear Ehrenthal's loudly-raised voice. + +The appearance of the usurer shocked him. His hat pushed half off his +head, his pale face swelled as if by drinking, his glazed eyes red with +tears, Ehrenthal stood before him, calling in broken sentences for the +baron, wailing and cursing alternately. "He must come! he must come at +once!" cried he; "the wicked man! A nobleman, indeed! he is a vagabond, +after whom I will send the police. Where is my money? Where is my +security? I want my mortgage from this man who is not at home." + +Anton went straight up to him, and asked, "Do you know me, Mr. +Ehrenthal?" Ehrenthal turned his glazed eyes upon him, and gradually +recognized the friend of his dead son. + +"He loved you!" he cried, in a lamentable voice. "He spoke to you more +than to his father. You were the only friend that he had on earth. Have +you heard what has happened in the house of Ehrenthal?" continued he, in +a whisper. "Just as they stole the papers he died. He died with a hand +like this," and clenching his fist he struck his forehead. "Oh my son! +my son! why didst not thou forgive thy father!" + +"We will go to your son," said Anton, taking the arm of the old man, who +unresistingly allowed himself to be led back to his own house. + +From thence Anton hurried to Councilor Horn, with whom he had a long +conversation. + +It was late before he returned home. In the midst of his anxiety about +those whose prosperity had filled his imagination years before, the +confidence that they, in their adversity, reposed in him, dilated his +breast with a feeling of pride. He burned with desire to help them, and +hoped that his zealous devotion might yet find some way of rescue. As +yet he saw none. Looking up at the great building before him, so firm +and secure, in the moonlight, a thought flashed into his mind. If any +man could help them, it was his principal. His keen eye would be able to +unravel all the dark secrets in which the baron was entangled, and his +iron strength of will would crush the villains who held the unfortunate +nobleman in their power. And then he had a noble nature; he always +decided on the right, without an effort or a struggle. Anton looked at +the first floor. The whole house-front was dark, but in a corner room a +light still burned. It was the private office of his chief. + +With sudden resolve, Anton begged the servant to take him to Mr. +Schröter, who looked with amazement at the unexpected visitor, and asked +what brought him, and whether any thing had happened. + +"I implore your counsel--I implore your help," cried Anton. + +"For yourself or for others?" inquired the merchant. + +"For a family with whom I have accidentally become connected. They are +lost if a strong hand does not ward off the impending catastrophe." +Anton then rapidly related the occurrences of the afternoon, and, +seizing his principal's hand in his emotion, cried, "Have pity upon the +unhappy ladies, and help them." + +"Help them!" replied the merchant; "how can I? Have you been +commissioned to apply to me, or are you only following the impulse of +your own feelings?" + +"I am not commissioned; it is only the interest that I take in the +baron's fate which leads me to you." + +"And what right have you to inform me of facts communicated in strict +confidence to yourself by the baron's lady?" asked the merchant, dryly. + +"I am committing no indiscretion in telling you what will, in a few +days, be no secret, even to strangers." + +"You are unusually excited, otherwise you would not forget that, under +no circumstances whatever, does a man of business venture to make such a +communication without the special permission of the parties concerned. +Of course, I shall make no wrong use of what you have said, but it was +by no means business-like, Wohlfart, to be so open toward me." + +Anton was silent, feeling, indeed, that his principal was right, but yet +it seemed hard to be blamed for reposing confidence at such a time as +this. The merchant walked silently up and down; at length, stopping +before Anton, he said, "I do not now inquire how you come to take so +warm an interest in this family. I fear it is an acquaintance you owe to +Fink." + +"You shall hear all," said Anton. + +"Not at present. I will now content myself with repeating that it is +impossible for me to interfere in these affairs without being specially +applied to by the parties themselves. I may add that I by no means wish +for such an application, and do not disguise from you that, were it +made, I should probably decline to do any thing for the Baron +Rothsattel." + +Anton's feelings were roused to the utmost. "The question is the rescue +of an honorable man, and of lovely and amiable women from the toils of +rogues and impostors. To me, this seems the duty of every one; I, at +least, consider it a sacred obligation which I dare not shrink from. But +without your support I can do nothing." + +"And how do you think this embarrassed man can be helped?" inquired the +merchant, seating himself. + +With somewhat more composure, Anton replied: "In the first instance, by +an experienced man of business making himself master of the case. There +must be some way of circumventing these villains. Your penetration would +discover it." + +"Any attorney would be far more likely to do so, and the baron might +readily engage the services of experienced and upright legal advisers. +If his enemies have done any thing illegal, the quick eye of a lawyer is +the most likely to detect it." + +"Alas! the baron's own lawyer gives but little hope," replied Anton. + +"Then, my dear Wohlfart, no other is likely to do much good. Show me an +embarrassed man who has strength to grasp an offered hand, and bid me +help him, and for the sake of all I owe you, I will not refuse to do so. +I think you are convinced of this." + +"I am," said Anton, dejectedly. + +"From all I hear, however," the merchant went on, "this is not the case +with the baron. From what I gather from general report, as well as from +you, his embarrassments arise from his having fallen into the hands of +usurers, which proves him deficient in what alone ennobles the life of +any man--good sense, and the power of steady exertion." + +Anton could only sigh his assent. + +"To help such a man," inexorably continued the merchant, "is a futile +attempt, against which reason may well protest. We are not to despair of +any, but want of strength is the most hopeless case of all. Our power of +laboring for others being limited, it becomes our duty to inquire, +before we devote our time to the weak, whether we are not thus +diminishing our chances of helping better men." + +Anton interrupted him. "Does he not deserve every allowance to be made +for him? He was brought up to exact much; he has not learned, as we +have, to make his way by his own labor." + +The merchant laid his hand on the young man's shoulder. "The very +reason. Believe me, a large number of these landed gentry, who pay the +penalty of their old family memories, are beyond help. I am the last to +deny that many worthy and admirable men belong to this class. Indeed, +wherever remarkable talent or nobility of character shoots up among +them, no doubt their position offers peculiar scope for its development, +but for average men it is not a favorable one. He who considers it his +hereditary privilege to enjoy life, and who assumes a distinguished +position in virtue of his family, will very often fail to put forth his +whole strength in order to deserve that position. Accordingly, numbers +of our oldest families are declining, and their fall will be no loss to +the state. Their family associations make them haughty without any +right to be so--limit their perceptions and confuse their judgment." + +"Even if all this be true," cried Anton, "it does not absolve us from +helping individuals of the class who have excited our sympathy." + +"No," said the principal, "if it be excited. But it does not glow so +rapidly in advancing years as in youth. The baron has endeavored to +isolate his property from the current of circumstances, in order to +leave it forever to his family. Forever! You, as a merchant, know how to +estimate the attempt. True, every rational man must allow it to be +desirable that the culture of the same soil should be handed down from +father to son. We all prize what our forefathers have possessed before +us, and Sabine would unlock every room in this house with pride, because +her great-great-grandmother turned the same keys before her. It is +therefore natural that the landed proprietor should desire to preserve +those familiar scenes, which are the source of his own prosperity, to +those nearest and dearest to him. But there must be means to this end, +and these means are the making his own existence available for the +maintenance and increase of his patrimony. Where energy dies in families +or individuals, then it is well that their means die too, that their +money should circulate through other hands, and their plowshare pass to +those who can guide it better. A family that has become effete through +luxury ought to sink down into common life, to make room for the +uprising of fresh energies and faculties. Every one who seeks, at the +cost of free activity for others, to preserve permanent possessions and +privileges for himself or his family, I must look upon as an enemy to +the healthy development of our social state. And if such a man ruin +himself in his endeavors, I should feel no malicious pleasure in his +downfall, but I should say that he is rightly served, because he has +sinned against a fundamental law of our social being; consequently, I +should consider it doubly wrong to support this man, because I could but +fear that I should thus be supporting an unsound condition of the body +politic." + +Anton looked down mournfully. He had expected sympathy and warm +concurrence, and he met with disaffection and coldness that he despaired +of conquering. "I can not gainsay you," he at length replied; "but in +this case I can not feel as you do. I have been witness to the +unspeakable distress in the baron's family, and my whole soul is full +of sadness and sympathy, and of the wish to do something for those who +have opened their heart to me. After what you have said, I dare no +longer ask you to trouble yourself with their affairs, but I have +promised the baroness to assist her as far as my small powers permit, +and your kindness allows. I implore you to grant me permission to do +this. I shall endeavor to be regular in my attendance at the office, but +if during the next few weeks I am occasionally absent, I must ask you to +excuse me." + +Once more the merchant walked up and down the room, and then, looking at +Anton's excited face, with deep seriousness and something of regret, he +replied, "Remember, Wohlfart, that every occupation which excites the +mind soon obtains a hold over a man, which may retard as well as advance +his success in life. It is this which makes it difficult to me to agree +to your wishes." + +"I know it," said Anton, in a low voice; "but I have now no choice +left." + +"Well, then, do what you must," said the merchant, gloomily; "I will lay +no hinderance in your way; and I hope that after a few weeks you will be +able to consider the whole circumstances more calmly." Anton left the +room, and the merchant stood looking long with frowning brow at the +place his clerk had occupied. + +Nor was Anton in a more congenial mood. "So cold, so inexorable!" +exclaimed he, as he reached his own room. He began to suspect that his +principal was more selfish and less kindly than he had hitherto +supposed. Many an expression of Fink's recurred to his mind, as well as +that evening when young Rothsattel, in his boyish conceit, had spoken +impertinently to the merchant. "Is it possible," thought he, "that that +rude speech should be unforgotten?" And his chief's keen, deep-furrowed +face lost inexpressibly by contrast with the fair forms of the noble +ladies. "I am not wrong," he cried to himself; "let him say what he +will, my views are more just than his, and henceforth my destiny shall +be to choose for myself the way in which I shall walk." He sat long in +the darkness, and his thoughts were gloomy as it; then he went to the +window to look down into the dark court below. A great white blossom +rose before him like a phantom. Striking a light, he saw that it was the +beautiful Calla out of Sabine's room. It hung down mournfully on its +broken stem. Sabine had had it placed there. This little circumstance +struck him as a mournful omen. + +Meanwhile Sabine, taper in hand, entered her brother's room. +"Good-night, Traugott," nodded she. "Wohlfart has been with you this +evening; how long he staid!" + +"He will leave us," replied the merchant, gloomily. + +Sabine started and dropped her taper on the table. "For God's sake, what +has happened? Has Wohlfart said that he was going away?" + +"I do not yet know it, but I see it coming step by step; and I can not, +and still less can you, do any thing to retain him. When he stood before +me here with glowing cheeks and trembling voice, pleading for a ruined +man, I found out what it was that lured him away." + +"I do not understand you," said Sabine, looking full at her brother. + +"He chooses to become the confidential friend of a decayed noble. A pair +of bright eyes draws him away from us: it seems to him a worthy object +of ambition to become Rothsattel's man of business. This intimacy with +nobility is the legacy bequeathed to him by Fink." + +"And you have refused to help him?" inquired Sabine, in a low voice. + +"Let the dead bury their dead," said the merchant, harshly; and he +turned to his writing-table. + +Sabine slowly withdrew. The taper trembled in her hand as she passed +through the long suite of rooms listening to her own footfall, and +shuddering as the feeling came over her that an invisible companion +glided by her side. This was the revenge of that other. The shadow that +once fell on her innocent life now drove her friend away from their +circle. Anton's affections clung to another. She had but been in his +eyes a mere stranger, who had once loved and languished for one now far +away, and who now, in widow's weeds, looked back regretfully to the +feelings of her youth. + +The few next weeks were spent by Anton in over-hard work. He had great +difficulty in keeping up his counting-house duties, while he spent every +spare hour in conference with the baroness and the lawyer. + +In the mean time, the misfortunes of the baron ran their course. He had +not been able to pay the interest of the sums with which his estate was +burdened. When last they were due, a whole series of claims was brought +against him, and the estate fell under the administration of the +district authorities. Complicated lawsuits arose. Ehrenthal complained +loudly, claiming the first mortgage of twenty thousand dollars--nay, he +was inclined to advance claims on the last mortgage offered by the baron +in the recent fatal hour. Löbel Pinkus also appeared as claimant of the +first mortgage, and asserted that he had paid the whole sum of twenty +thousand dollars. Ehrenthal had no proof to bring forward, and had been +for some weeks past quite unable to manage his own affairs, while +Pinkus, on the contrary, fought with every weapon a hardened sinner can +devise or employ, and the deeds which the baron had executed at Veitel's +suggestion proved to be so capital a master-stroke of the cunning +advocate, that the baron's man of business had, from the first, little +hope of the case. We may here observe that Pinkus did eventually win it, +and that the mortgage was made over to him. + +Anton was now gradually gaining some insight into the baron's +circumstances. But the double sale of the first mortgage was still kept +a secret by the latter, even from his wife. He declared Ehrenthal's +claim unfounded, and even expressed a suspicion that he had himself had +something to do with the robbery in his office. Indeed, he really +believed this. Then the name of Itzig was never broached, and the +suspicion against Ehrenthal, which the baron's lawyer shared, prevented +Anton seeking any explanation from him. + +Meanwhile, an estrangement had sprung up between our hero and his +principal, which the whole counting-house remarked with surprise. The +merchant scowled at Anton's vacant seat when the latter chanced to be +absent during office-hours, or looked coldly at his clerk's face, made +pale as it was with excitement of mind and night-work. He took no notice +of his new occupation, and never seemed to remark him. Even to his +sister he maintained a stiff-necked silence; nor could all her attempts +lead him to speak of Anton, who, on his side, felt his heart revolt +against this coldness. After his return, to be treated like a child of +the house, praised, promoted, petted, and now to be treated like a mere +hireling, who is not worth the bread thrown to him; to be a toy of an +incomprehensible caprice--this, at least, he had not deserved; so he +became reserved toward the whole family, and sat silent at his desk; but +he felt the contrast between the now and the then so keenly, that often, +when alone, he would spring up and stamp on the ground in the bitter +indignation of his heart. + +One comfort remained. Sabine was not estranged. True, he saw little of +her, and at dinner she seemed to avoid speaking to him, but he knew that +she was on his side. + +A few days after his first conversation with the merchant, she came down +stairs as he stood in the hall, and had to pass him by so closely that +her dress touched him. He had retreated, and made a formal bow, but she +looked at him imploringly, and whispered, "You must not be estranged +from me." It was an affair of a moment, but the faces of both were +radiant with a happy understanding. + +The time had now arrived when Mr. Jordan was to quit the firm. The +principal again called Anton into his little office, and without any +severity, but also without a trace of his former cordiality, began: "I +have already mentioned to you my intention of appointing you Jordan's +successor; but, during the last few weeks, your time has been more taken +up with other business than would be compatible with such a post, I +therefore ask you whether you are now at liberty to undertake Jordan's +duties?" + +"I am not," replied Anton. + +"Can you name any--not very distant--time when you will be free from +your present occupation? In that case I will endeavor to find a +substitute until then." + +Anton sorrowfully replied, "I can not at present say when I shall again +be master of my whole time; and, besides, I feel that, even as it is, I +tax your indulgence by many irregularities. Therefore, Mr. Schröter, I +beg that you will fill up this post without any reference to me." + +The merchant's brow grew furrowed and dark, and he silently bowed +assent. Anton felt as he closed the door that the estrangement between +them was now complete, and, resuming his place, he leaned his throbbing +head on his hand. A moment later Baumann was summoned to the principal, +and Jordan's situation conferred upon him. On returning to the office, +he went up to Anton and whispered, "I refused at first, but Mr. Schröter +insisted. I am doing you an injustice." And that evening Mr. Baumann, in +his own room, read in the first book of Samuel the chapters treating of +the unjust Saul (the principal), and of the friendship between Jonathan +and the persecuted David, and strengthened his heart thereby. + +The next day Anton was summoned to the baroness. Lenore and her mother +sat before a large table covered with jewel-boxes and toilette elegances +of every description, while a heavy iron chest stood at their feet. The +curtains were drawn, and the subdued light shone softly into the richly +furnished room. On the carpet glowed wreaths of unfading flowers, and +the clock ticked cheerfully in its alabaster case. Under the shade of +flowering plants sat the two love-birds in their silvered cage, hopping +from perch to perch, screaming ceaselessly, or sitting up quietly close +to each other. The whole room was beauty and perfume. "For how long?" +thought Anton. The baroness rose. "We are already obliged to trouble you +again," said she; "we are engaged in a very painful occupation." On the +table were all manner of ornaments, gold chains, brilliants, rings, +necklaces, gathered into a heap. + +"We have been looking out all that we can dispense with," said the +baroness, "and now pray you to undertake to sell these things for us. I +have been told that some of them are of value, and as we are now in much +need of money, we turn here for help." + +Anton looked in perplexity at the glittering heap. + +"Tell us, Wohlfart," cried Lenore, anxiously, "is this necessary? can it +be of any use? Mamma has insisted upon setting apart for sale all our +ornaments, and whatever plate is not in daily use. What I can give is +not worth talking of, but my mother's jewels are costly; many of them +were presents made to her in youth, which she shall not part with unless +you say that it is necessary." + +"I fear," said Anton, gravely, "that it will prove so." + +"Take them," said the baroness to Anton; "I shall be calmer when I know +that we have at least done what we could." + +"But do you wish to part with all?" inquired Anton, anxiously. "Much +that is dear to you may have but little value in a jeweler's eyes." + +"I shall never wear an ornament again," quietly replied the baroness. +"Take them all;" and, holding her hands before her eyes, she turned +away. + +"We are torturing my mother," cried Lenore, hastily; "will you lock up +all that is on the table, and get them out of the house as soon as you +can?" + +"I can not undertake the charge of these valuables," said Anton, +"without taking some measures to decrease my own responsibility. First +of all, I will in your presence make a short note of all you intrust to +me." + +"What useless cruelty!" exclaimed Lenore. + +"It will not take long." + +Anton took out a few sheets from his pocket-book, and began to note down +the different articles. + +"You shall not see it done, mother," said Lenore, drawing her mother +away, and then returning to watch Anton at his task. + +"These preparations for the market are horrible," said she. "My mother's +whole life will be sold; some memory of hers is linked with every single +thing. Look, Wohlfart, the princess gave her this diamond ornament when +she married my father." + +"They are magnificent brilliants," cried Anton, admiringly. + +"This ring was my grandfather's, and these are presents of poor papa's. +Alas! no man can know how we love all these things. It was always a +festival to me when mamma put on her diamonds. Now we come to my +possessions. They are not worth much. Do you think this bracelet good +gold?" She held out her hand as she spoke. + +"I do not know." + +"It shall go with the rest," said Lenore, taking it off. "Yes, you are a +kind, good man, Wohlfart," continued she, looking trustfully into his +tearful eyes; "do not forsake us. My brother has no experience, and is +more helpless than we are. It is a frightful position for me. Before +mamma I do all I can to be composed, else I could scream and weep the +whole day through." She sank in a chair, still holding his hand. "Dear +Wohlfart, do not forsake us." + +Anton bent over her, and looked with passionate emotion at the lovely +face that turned so trustfully to him in the midst of its tears. + +"I will be helpful to you when I can," said he, in the fullness of his +heart. "I will be at hand whenever you need me. You have too good an +opinion of my information and my faculties; I can be of less assistance +to you than you suppose, but what I can, that I will do in any and every +possible way." + +Their hands parted with a warm pressure; the affair was settled. + +The baroness now returned. "Our lawyer was with me this morning," said +she; "and now I must ask for your opinion on another subject. He tells +me that there is no prospect of preserving the baron's family estate." + +"At this time, when interest is high, and money difficult to get, none," +replied Anton. + +"And you, too, think that we must turn all our efforts toward preserving +the Polish property?" + +"I do," was the answer. + +"For that, also, money will be necessary. Perhaps I may be able through +my relatives to intrust you with a small sum, which, with the help of +that"--she pointed to the iron chest--"may suffice to cover the first +necessary expenses. I do not, however, wish to sell the jewels here, and +a journey to the residence would be necessary in order to procure the +sum to which I have just alluded. The baron's lawyer has spoken most +highly of your capacity for business. It is his wish which now decides +me to make a proposal to you. Will you for the next few years, or, at +all events, until our greatest difficulties are over, devote your whole +time to our affairs? I have consulted my children, and they agree with +me in believing that in your assistance lies our only hope of rescue. +The baron, too, has come in to the plan. The question now is whether +your circumstances allow you to give your support to our unfortunate +family. We shall be grateful to you, whatever conditions you affix; and +if you can find any way of making our great obligations to you apparent +in the position you hold, pray impart it to me." + +Anton stood petrified. What the baroness required of him was separation +from the firm, separation from his principal, and from Sabine! Had this +thought occurred to him before, when standing in Lenore's presence or +bending over the baron's papers? At all events, now that the words were +spoken, they shocked him. He looked at Lenore, who stood behind her +mother with hands clasped in supplication. At length he replied, "I +stand in a position which I can not leave without the consent of others. +I was not prepared for this proposal, and beg to have time allowed me +for consideration. It is a step which will decide my whole future life." + +"I do not press you," said the baroness; "I only request your +consideration. Whatever your decision be, our warmest gratitude will +still be yours; if you are unable to uphold our feeble strength, I fear +that we shall find no one to do so. You will think of that," she added, +beseechingly. + +Anton hurried through the street with throbbing pulse. The noble lady's +glance of entreaty, Lenore's folded hands, beckoned him out of the +gloomy counting-house into a sphere of greater liberty, into a new +future, from whose depths bright images flashed out upon his fancy. A +request had been frankly made, and he was strongly inclined to justify +the confidence that prompted it. Those ladies required an unwearied, +self-sacrificing helper to save them from utter ruin, and if he +followed his impulse he should be doing a good work--fulfilling a duty. + +In this mood he entered the merchant's dwelling. Alas! all that he saw +around him seemed to stretch out a hand to detain him. As he looked at +the warehouse, the good-humored faces of the porters, the chains of the +great scales, the hieroglyphics of the worthy Pix, again he felt that +this was the place that he belonged to. Sabine's dog kissed his hand, +and ran before him to his room--his and Fink's room. Here the childish +heart of the orphan boy had found a friend, kind companions, a home, a +definite and honorable life-purpose. Looking down through his window on +all the long-familiar objects, he saw a light in Sabine's store-chamber. +How often he had sought for that light, which brightened the whole great +building, and brought a sense of comfort and cheerfulness even into his +room. He now sprang up suddenly, and said to himself, "She shall +decide." + +Sabine started in amazement when Anton appeared before her. "I am +irresistibly impelled to seek you," cried he. "I have to decide upon my +future life, and I feel undetermined, and unable to trust to my own +judgment. You have always been a kind friend to me since the day of my +arrival. I am accustomed to look up to you, and to think of you in +connection with all that interests me here. Let me hear your opinion +from your own lips. The Baroness Rothsattel has to-day proposed to me +permanently to undertake the situation of confidential adviser and +manager of the baron's affairs. Shall I accept; or shall I remain here? +I know not--tell me what is right both for myself and others." + +"Not I," said Sabine, drawing back and growing very pale. "I can not +venture to decide in the matter. Nor do you wish me to do so, Wohlfart, +for you have already decided." + +Anton looked straight before him and was silent. + +"You have thought of leaving this house, and a wish to do so has sprung +out of the thought. And I am to justify you, and approve your resolve! +This is what you require of me," continued she, bitterly. "But this, +Wohlfart, I can not do, for I am sorry that you go away from us." + +She turned away from him and leaned on the back of a chair. + +"Oh, be not angry with me too!" said Anton; "that I can not bear. I have +suffered much of late. Mr. Schröter has suddenly withdrawn from me the +friendly regard that I long held my life's greatest treasure. I have not +deserved his coldness. What I have been doing has not been wrong, and +it was done with his knowledge. I had been spoiled by his kindness; I +have the more deeply felt his displeasure. My only comfort has been that +you did not condemn me. And now, do not you be cold toward me, else I +shall be wretched forever. There is not a soul on earth to whom I can +turn for affectionate comprehension of my difficulties. Had I a sister, +I should seek her heart to-day. You do not know what to me, lonely as I +am, your smile, your kindly shake of the hand has been till now. Do not +turn coldly from me, I beseech you." + +Sabine was silent. At length she inquired, still with averted face, +"What draws you to those strangers; is it a joyful hope, is it sympathy +alone? Give this question close consideration before you answer it to +yourself at least." + +"What it is that makes it possible for me to leave this house," said +Anton, "I do not myself know. If I can give a name to my motives, it is +gratitude felt toward one. She was the first to speak kindly to the +wandering boy on his way out into the world. I have admired her in the +peaceful brightness of her former life. I have often dreamed childish +dreams about her. There was a time when a tender feeling for her filled +my whole heart, and I then believed myself forever the slave of her +image. But years bring changes, and I learned to look on men and on life +with other eyes. Then I met her again, distressed, unhappy, despairing, +and my compassion became overmastering. When I am away from her, I know +that she is nothing to me; when I am with her, I feel only the spell of +her sorrow. Once, when I had to depart out of her circle like a culprit, +she came to me, and before the whole scornful assembly she gave me her +hand and acknowledged me her friend; and now she comes and asks for my +hand to help her father. Can I refuse it? Is it wrong to feel as I do? I +know not, and no one can tell me--no one but you alone." + +Sabine's head had sunk down to the back of the chair on which she bent. +She now suddenly raised it, and with tearful eyes, and a voice full of +love and sorrow, cried, "Follow the voice that calls you. Go, Wohlfart, +go." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + +On a cold October day, two men were seen driving through the latticed +gate of the town of Rosmin on toward the plain, which stretched out +before them monotonous and boundless. Anton sat wrapped in his fur coat, +his hat low on his forehead, and at his side was young Sturm, in an old +cavalry cloak, with his soldier's cap cocked cheerily on one side. In +front of them a farm-servant, squatted on a heap of straw, flogged on +the small horses. The wind swept the sand and straw from the +stubble-fields, the road was a broad causeway without ditches or hedges, +the horses had to wade alternately through puddles and deep sand. Yellow +sand gleamed through the scanty herbage in all directions wherever a +field-mouse had made her way to her nest or an active mole had done what +he could to diversify the unbroken plain. Wherever the ground sank, +stagnant water lodged, and there hollow willow-trees stretched their +crippled arms in the air, their boughs flapping in the wind, and their +faded leaves fluttering down into the muddy pool below. Here and there +stood a small dwarf pine, a resting-place for the crows, who, scared by +the passing carriage, flew loudly croaking over the travelers' heads. +There was no house to be seen on the road, no pedestrian, and no +conveyance of any kind. + +Karl looked every now and then at his silent companion, and said at +last, pointing to the horses, "How rough their coats are, and how pretty +their gray mouse skins! I wonder how many of these beasties would go to +make up my sergeant's horse! When I took leave of my father, the old man +said, 'Perhaps I shall pay you a visit, little one, when they light the +Christmas-tree.' 'You'll never be able,' said I. 'Why not?' asked he. +'You'll never trust yourself in any post-chaise.' Then the old boy +cried, 'Oho! post-chaises are always of a stout build; I shall be sure +to trust myself in one.' But now, Mr. Anton, I see that my father never +can pay us a visit." + +"Why not?" + +"It is possible that he may reach Rosmin; but, as soon as he sees these +horses and this road, he will instantly turn back. 'Shall I trust +myself,' he'll say, 'in a district where sand runs between one's legs +like water, and where mice are put into harness? The ground is not firm +enough for me.'" + +"The horses are not the worst things here," said Anton, absently. "Look! +these go fast enough." + +"Yes," replied Karl, "but they don't go like regular horses; they +entangle their legs like two cats playing in a parsley-bed. And what +things they have for shoes--regular webbed hoofs, I declare, which no +blacksmith can ever fit." + +"If we could only get on!" returned Anton; "the wind blows cold, and I +am shivering in spite of my fur." + +"You have slept but little the last few nights, sir," said Karl. "The +wind blows here as if over a threshing-floor. The earth is not round +hereabouts as elsewhere, but flat as a cake. This is a complete desert; +we have been driving for more than an hour, and there is not a village +to be seen." + +"A desert indeed," sighed Anton; "let us hope it may improve." They +relapsed into profound silence. At length the driver stopped near a +pool, unharnessed the horses, and led them to the water's edge, without +noticing the travelers. + +"What the deuce does this mean?" cried Karl, jumping down from the +carriage. + +"I am going to feed," replied the servant, sulkily, in a foreign accent. + +"I am anxious to know how that will be done," said Karl. "There is not +the shadow of a bag of provender." + +The horses, however, soon proved that they could live without corn; they +stretched down their shaggy heads, and began to pull the grass and weeds +at the edge of the pool, sometimes taking a draught of the dirty water. +Meanwhile the servant drew a bundle from under his seat, settled himself +under the lee of an alder-bush, and, taking his knife, cut his bread and +cheese without even glancing at the travelers. + +"I say, Ignatius or Jacob," cried Karl, sharply, "how long will this +breakfast of yours last?" + +"An hour," replied the man, munching away. + +"And how far is it from here to the estate?" + +"Six miles, or maybe more." + +"You can make nothing of him," said Anton; "we must put up with the +customs of the country;" and, leaving the carriage, they went to look on +at the horses feeding. + +Anton is on his way to the Polish property. He is now the baron's agent. +Anxious months have the last proved to him. The parting from his +principal and the firm had been painful in the extreme. For some time +before it, indeed, Anton had found himself alone in the midst of his +colleagues. The quiet Baumann still remained his friend, but the others +considered him a castaway. The merchant received his resignation with +icy coldness; and even in the hour of parting, his hand lay impassive as +metal in Anton's grasp. Since then, our hero had undertaken several +journeys to the capital and to creditors in the family's behalf, and now +he was on his way to set the new estate in order, accompanied by Karl, +whom he had induced to become the baron's bailiff. + +Ehrenthal had, by the authority conferred on him, taken possession of +the property from the time of the sale by auction, and hired the Polish +bailiff for the baron. There had been unfair dealings between them at +the time, and it was well known in Rosmin that the bailiff had sold off +a good deal, and been guilty of all sorts of frauds since, so that Anton +had even now no prospect of a quiet life. + +"The hour is come when I may execute my commission," cried Karl, groping +in the straw under the seat. He drew out a large japanned tin case, and +carried it to Anton. "Miss Sabine gave me this in charge for you." He +then joyously opened the lid, produced the materials for an excellent +breakfast, a bottle of wine, and a silver goblet. Anton took hold of the +case. + +"It has a very knowing look," said Karl. "Miss Sabine planned it +herself." + +Anton examined it on all sides, and placed it carefully on a tuft of +grass; then he took up the goblet, and saw his initials engraved on it, +and underneath the words, "To thy welfare." Whereupon he forgot the +breakfast and all around him, and stood gazing at the goblet, lost in +thought. + +"Do not forget the breakfast, sir," suggested Karl, respectfully. + +"Sit down by me, my faithful friend; eat and drink with me. Leave off +your absurd politeness. We shall have but little, either of us, but what +we have we will share like brothers. Take the bottle if you have no +glass." + +"There's nothing like leather," said Karl, taking a small leathern +drinking-cup out of his pocket. "As for what you have just said, it was +kindly meant, and I thank you; but there must be subordination, if it +were but for the sake of the others; and so, sir, be kind enough to let +me shake hands with you now, and then let things be as they were before. +Only look at the horses, Mr. Anton. My faith! the creatures devour +thistles." + +Again the horses were harnessed, again they threw out their short legs +in the sand, and again the carriage rolled through the barren +district--first through an empty plain, next through a wretched +fir-wood, then past a row of low sand-hills, then over a tumble-down +bridge crossing a small stream. + +"This is the property," said the driver, turning round, and pointing +with his whip to a row of dirty thatched roofs that had just come into +sight. + +Anton stood up to look for the group of trees in which the Hall might be +supposed to stand. Nothing of the sort to be seen. The village was +deficient in all that adorns the home of the poorest German peasant--no +orchard, no hedged-in gardens, no lime-trees in the market-place. + +"This is wretched," said he, sitting down again; "much worse than they +told us in Rosmin." + +"The village looks as if under a curse," cried Karl; "no teams working +in the fields--not a cow or a sheep to be seen." + +The farm-servant flogged his horses into an irregular gallop, and so +they passed through the rows of mud huts which constituted the village, +and arrived at the public house. Karl sprang from the carriage, opened +the tavern door, and called for the landlord. A Jew slowly rose from his +seat by the stove and came to the threshold. "Is the gendarme from +Rosmin come?" He is gone into the village. "Which is the way to the +farm-yard?" + +The landlord, an elderly man with an intelligent countenance, described +the way in German and Polish, and remained standing at the +door--bewildered, Karl declared, by the sight of two human beings. The +carriage turned into a cross-road, planted on both sides with thick +bushes, the remains of a fallen avenue. Over holes, stones, and puddles, +it rattled on to a group of mud huts, which still had a remnant of +whitewash upon them. "The barns and stables are empty," cried Karl, "for +I see gaps in the roofs large enough to drive our carriage through." + +Anton said no more; he was prepared for every thing. They drove through +a break between the stables into the farm-yard, a large irregular space, +surrounded on three sides by tumble-down buildings, and open to the +fields on the fourth. A heap of _débris_ lay there--lime and rotten +timber, the remains of a ruined barn. The yard was empty; no trace of +farm implements or human labor to be seen. "Which is the inspector's +house," inquired Anton, in dismay. The driver looked round, and at last +made up his mind that it was a small one-storied building, with straw +thatch and dirty windows. + +At the noise of the wheels a man appeared on the threshold, and waited +phlegmatically till the travelers had dismounted, and were standing +close before him. He was a broad-shouldered fellow, with a bloated, +brandy-drinking face, dressed in a jacket of shaggy cloth, while behind +him peered the muzzle of an equally shaggy dog, who snarled at the +strangers. "Are you the steward of this property?" + +"I am," replied the man, in broken German, without stirring from where +he was. + +"And I am the agent of the new proprietor," said Anton. + +"That does not concern me," growled the shaggy man, turning sharp round, +entering the house, and bolting the door within. + +Anton was thoroughly roused. "Break the window in, and help me to catch +the rascal," cried he to Karl, who coolly seized a piece of wood, struck +the panes so as to make the rotten framework give way, and cleared the +opening at one leap. Anton followed him. The room was empty, so was the +next, and in it an open window--the man was gone. + +"After him!" cried Karl, and dashed on in pursuit, while Anton looked +about the house and out-buildings. He soon heard the barking of a dog, +and saw Karl capture the fugitive. Hurrying to his help, he held the man +fast, while, with a kick, Karl sent the dog flying. They then contrived +to force the steward back to the house, though he kept striking out +violently all the way. + +"Go to the tavern, and bring the gendarme and the landlord," cried Anton +to the driver, who, undisturbed by all that had been going on, had +meanwhile unpacked the carriage. The man accordingly drove leisurely +off, and the fugitive being got into the room, Karl found an old cloth, +and with it bound his hands behind his back. "I beg your pardon, sir," +said he; "it is only for an hour or so, till the arrival of the Rosmin +gendarme, whom we have appointed to meet us." + +Anton then proceeded to examine the house, but there was nothing to be +found but the merest necessaries; no books nor papers of any kind. It +had doubtless been emptied already. A bundle projected from the +coat-pocket of the prisoner, which turned out to be receipts and legal +documents in Polish. In time, the driver returned with the landlord and +the armed policeman. The landlord stood at the door in some perplexity, +and the policeman explained in a few moments what remained to be done. +"You must make a statement to the local judge, and give the man up to +me. He shall go back in your carriage to Rosmin. You will do well to get +rid of him, for this is a wild country, and it will be safer for you to +have him at Rosmin than here, where he has friends and accomplices." + +After a long search, a sheet of paper was found in a cupboard, the +statement made and submitted to the policeman, who shook his head a +little over the Polish composition, and the prisoner lifted into the +carriage, the gendarme taking his seat beside him, and saying to Anton, +"I have long expected something of the kind. You may have often occasion +to want me again." The carriage then drove away, and thus the property +came under Anton's administration. He felt as if cast on a desert +island. + +His portmanteau and traveling effects were leaning against a mud wall, +and the Polish landlord was the only man who could give him and Karl any +information or advice in their forlorn condition. + +Now that the steward was fairly gone, the landlord grew more +communicative, and showed himself serviceable and obliging. A long +conversation ensued, and its purport was what Anton had apprehended from +the warning given by the Commissary Walter and other Rosmin officials. +The inspector had, during the last few weeks, done all he could in the +way of spoliation, rendered daring by a report which had found its way +from the town to the village, that the present proprietor would never be +able to take possession of the estate. At last Anton said, "What that +wretched man has done away with he will have to account for; our first +care must be to preserve what is still to be found on the property. You +must be our guide to-day." + +They then examined the empty buildings. Four horses and two +servants--they were gone into the wood--a few old plows, a pair of +harrows, two wagons, a britzska, a cellar full of potatoes, a few +bundles of hay, a little straw--the inventory did not take much time in +drawing up. The buildings were all out of repair, not through age, but +neglect. + +"Where is the dwelling-house?" inquired Anton. The landlord led the way +out of the yard to the meadow--a broad plain, gradually sloping down to +the level of the brook. It had been a great pasture. The cattle had +trodden it down into holes; the snouts of greedy swine had rooted it up; +gray molehills and rank tufts of grass rose on all sides. + +The landlord stretched out his hand. "There is the castle. This castle +is famous throughout the whole country," he added, reverentially; "no +nobleman in the district has a stone house like that. All the gentry +here live in wood and mud buildings. Herr von Tarow, the richest of +them, has but a poor dwelling." + +About three hundred yards from the last out-building rose a great brick +edifice, with a black slate roof and a thick round tower. Its gloomy +walls on this treeless pasture-land, without one trace of life around, +rose beneath the cloudy sky like a phantom fortress which some evil +spirit had evoked from the abyss--a station from which to blight all the +surrounding landscape. + +The strangers approached it. The castle had fallen into ruins before the +builders had finished their task. The tower had stood there for ages. It +was built of unhewn stone, and had small windows and loop-holes. The +former lords of the land had looked down from its summit on the tops of +the trees, which then stretched far into the plain. They had then ruled +with a rod of iron the serfs who cultivated their land, and toiled and +died for them. Many an arrow had sped through those loop-holes at the +enemy storming below, and many a Tartar horse had been overthrown before +those massive walls. Years ago, a despot of the district had, in +expiation of former sins, begun to add to the gray tower the walls of a +holy monastery; but the monastery never got finished, and the useless +walls had already stood there long, when the late count took it into his +head to convert them into a lordly dwelling for his race, and to raise a +house unparalleled for magnificence in the whole country. + +The front of the house was added on to both sides of the tower, which +projected in the middle. The intention had been to have a high +terrace-road up to the castle, and the principal entrance had been made +in the tower, and arched over; but the terrace never having been formed, +the stone threshold of the main door was quite inaccessible without the +help of ladders, and the wide opening was left. The window-spaces of +the lower floor were merely closed up with boards, while on the second +story were some window-frames of beautifully carved wood, in which large +panes had once been placed, but they had got broken. In other windows +were temporary frames of rough deal, with small panes of muddy glass let +into them. A company of jackdaws sat on the top of the tower, looking +down in amazement on the strangers, and every now and then one flew off, +screaming loudly, to contemplate the intruders from a new point of view. + +"A house for crows and bats, not for human beings," said Anton. "At +least, I see no way of getting into it." + +The landlord now took them round the building. Behind, where the two +wings made a sort of horse-shoe, there were low entrances to the cellars +and offices; beneath which, again, were stables, great arched kitchens, +and small cells for the serfs. A wooden staircase led to the upper +story. The door turned creaking on its hinges, and a narrow passage took +them through a side wing to the front part of the house. There all was +at least magnificently planned. The circular entrance-hall--an arched +room of the old tower--was painted in mosaic, and through the great +doorway-opening was seen a wide expanse of country. A broad staircase, +worthy of a palace, led up to another round hall, with narrow windows, +the second story of the tower. On each side lay suites of apartments: +large, lofty, desolate rooms, with heavy oak folding-doors, and dirty +plastered walls, the ceiling made of fir branches arranged in squares; +in some rooms colossal green tile stoves, in other rooms no stoves at +all; in some, beautiful inlaid floors, in others rude deal boards. An +immense saloon, with two gigantic chimney-pieces, had merely a +provisional ceiling of old laths. The castle was fitted for a wild +Asiatic household, for hangings of leather and of silk from France, for +costly woodwork from England, for massive silver services from German +mines, for a proud master, numerous guests, and a troop of retainers to +fill the halls and ante-rooms. The builder of the castle had looked back +to the wealth of his wild ancestors when he devised the plan; he had had +hundreds of trees cut down in the woods, and his hereditary bondsmen had +kneaded many thousand bricks with their own hands and feet; but Time, +the inexorable, had raised his finger against him, and none of his hopes +had been realized. His ruin first, and then his death, occurred during +the progress of the building; and his son, brought up among strangers, +had, as fast as one fool could, hurried on the ruin of his house. Now +the walls of the Slavonic castle stood with doors and windows gaping +wide, but no guest spoke his good wishes as he entered; only wild birds +flew in and out, and the marten crept over the floors. Useless and +unsightly the walls stood there, threatening to crumble and fall, like +the race that had raised them up. + +Anton passed with rapid step from room to room, vainly hoping to find +one in which he could even imagine the two ladies, who were looking +forward to this house as their asylum. He opened door after door, went +up and down creaking steps, disturbed the birds who had flown in through +the open archway, and still clung to their last summer's nest; but he +found nothing save uninhabitable rooms, with dirty plastered walls, or +without any plaster at all. Every where draughts, gaping doors, and +windows boarded up. Some oats had been shaken out in the large saloon; +and a few rooms looked as if they might have been temporarily made use +of, but a few old chairs and a rude table were all the furniture they +contained. + +At length Anton ascended the decayed staircase in the tower, and found +himself on its summit. Thence he saw the whole pile of building below +him, and looked far into the plain. To his left the sun sank down behind +gray masses of cloud into the depths of the forest; to his right lay the +irregular square of the farm-yard, and beyond it the untidy village; +behind him ran the brook, with a strip of meadow-land on either side. +Wild pear-trees, the delight of the Polish farmer, rose here and there +in the fields, with their thick and branching crowns; and under each was +an oasis of grass and bushes, gayly colored by the fallen leaves. These +trees, the dwelling-places of countless birds, alone broke the +monotonous surface of the plain--these, and at the verge of the horizon, +on all sides, the dark forest mentioned above. The sky was gray, the +ground colorless, the trees and bushes that bordered the brook were +bare, and the forest, with its promontories and bays, looked like a wall +that separated this spot of earth from the rest of humanity, from +civilization, from every joy and charm of life. + +Anton's heart sank. "Poor Lenore! poor family!" he groaned aloud; +"things look terrible, but they could be improved. With money and taste +every thing is possible. This house might, without prodigious expense, +be metamorphosed by the upholsterer into a gorgeous residence. It would +be easy to level the pasture-land around--to sow it with fine grass--to +intersperse it with a few gayly-colored flower-beds--and to plant out +the village. Nothing is wanting to change the whole face of the district +but capital, industry, and judgment. But how is the baron to procure +these? To make any thing of this place should be the task of some fresh +and active life, and the baron is broken down; and thousands of dollars +would be needed, and years would pass away before the soil would do more +than pay the expenses of its culture, or yield any interest whatever on +the capital sunk in it." + +Meanwhile Karl was contemplating two particular rooms in the upper story +with a knowing eye. "These take my fancy more than any of the others," +said he to the landlord; "they have plastered walls, floors, +stoves--nay, even windows. To be sure, the panes are a good deal broken, +but, till we can get better glass, paper is not to be despised. We will +settle ourselves here. Could you get me somebody who knows how to handle +a broom and scrubbing-cloth? Good, you can; and now listen: try to bring +me a few sheets of paper; I have got glue with me; we will first get +some wood, then I will heat the stove, melt my glue, and paper up broken +panes. But, above all, help me to carry up our luggage from the +yard--and let us be quick about it." + +His zeal communicated itself to the landlord; the luggage was got up +stairs; Karl unpacked a case full of tools of every kind, and the host +ran to call his maid from the public house. + +Meanwhile horses' hoofs rang on the court-yard, and some well-dressed +men stopped before the late steward's dwelling, and knocked loudly at +the closed door. At a call from Anton, Karl hurried up to them. + +"Good-morning," said one, in rather labored German; "is the steward at +home?" + +"Where is the steward? where is Bratzky?" cried the others, impatient as +their prancing horses. + +"If you mean the former steward," replied Karl, dryly, "he will not run +away from you though you do not find him here." + +"What do you mean?" inquired the nearest horseman; "I beg that you will +explain yourself." + +"If you wish to speak to Mr. Bratzky, you must take the trouble of +riding to the town. He is in custody." + +The horses reared, and their riders closed round Karl, while Polish +ejaculations were heard on all sides. "In custody! On what account?" + +"Ask my master," replied Karl, pointing to the doorway in the tower, +where Anton stood. + +"Have I the pleasure of speaking to the new proprietor?" inquired one of +the party, taking off his hat. Anton looked down in amazement. The voice +and face reminded him of a white-gloved gentleman whom he had met once +before in a critical hour. + +"I am the Baron Rothsattel's agent," replied he. The horse was pulled +back, and the rider spoke a few words to his companions, upon which an +older man with a fox-like face cried, "We are anxious to speak on +private business with the late steward. We hear that he is in custody, +and beg you will tell us why." + +"He tried to evade by flight the surrender of the property to me, and he +is suspected of dishonest dealings." + +"Are his effects confiscated?" inquired one of the riders. + +"Why do you inquire?" returned Anton. + +"I beg your pardon," said the other, "but the man happens accidentally +to have some papers that belong to me in his house, and it might +embarrass me if I could not get possession of them." + +"His effects are gone with him to town," replied Anton. Once more there +was a consultation, and then the riders, bowing slightly, galloped off +to the village, halted a few minutes at the public house, and +disappeared where the high road turned into the wood. + +"What can they want, Mr. Wohlfart?" inquired Karl. "That was a strange +flying visit." + +"Yes, indeed," replied Anton; "I have reason to think it remarkable. If +I am not much mistaken, I have met one of the gentlemen before in very +different circumstances. Perhaps that fellow Bratzky knew how to make +himself friends through the mammon of unrighteousness." + +The evening now wrapped castle and forest in its dark mantle. The +servants returned with the horses from the wood. Karl led them into +Anton's presence, made them a short Polish oration, and received them +into the service of the new proprietor. Next came the landlord to look +after them, bringing oats and a bundle of wood, and saying to Anton, "I +recommend you, sir, to be watchful during the night; the peasants sit +yonder in the bar, and discuss your arrival; there are bad men about, +and I would not be sure that one of them might not stick a match into +the straw yonder, and burn down the farm-buildings for you." + +"I am sure enough that they will do nothing of the kind," said Karl, +throwing another log into the stove. "A fresh breeze is blowing right on +to the village. No one would be such a fool as to set his own barns on +fire. We shall take care to keep the wind in this point as long as we +are here. Tell your people that. Have you brought me the potatoes I +asked for?" + +Anton appointed the landlord to return the next morning, and the +travelers were left alone in the desolate house. + +"You need not heed that hint, Mr. Anton," continued Karl. "All over the +world drunken rascals have a trick of threatening fire; and, after all, +with reverence be it said, it would be no great harm. And now, Mr. +Anton, that we are by ourselves, let us think as little as possible +about this Polish affair--let us set to and be comfortable." + +"I'm all right," said Anton, drawing a chair to the stove. The wood +crackled in the green tiles, and the red glare threw a warm light over +the floor, and flickered pleasantly on the walls. + +"The warmth does one good," said Anton; "but do you not perceive smoke?" + +"Of course," replied Karl, who was boring round holes in the potatoes by +the firelight. "Even the best stoves will smoke at the beginning of +winter, till they get accustomed to their work, and this great green +fellow has probably not seen fire for a generation, so it is not to be +expected that he should draw kindly at once. Be so good as to cut a bit +of bread and hold it to the fire. I am getting our candles ready." He +took out a great packet of candles, stuck one into each potato, cut off +the lower half, and placed them on the table, and then produced the +japanned case. "This is inexhaustible," said he; "it will last till the +day after to-morrow." + +"That it will," said Anton, cheerily. "I am wonderfully hungry. And now +let us consider how we shall manage our housekeeping. What we absolutely +want we must get from the town; I will make a list at once. We will put +out one candle, though--we must be economical." + +The evening was spent in plans. Karl discovered that he could make part +of the necessary furniture out of the boxes and boards about, and the +laughter of the two companions sounded cheerfully through the rooms of +the starost's dwelling. At last Anton proposed that they should go to +bed. They shook down straw and hay, unbuckled their portmanteaus, and +produced some blankets and coverlets. Karl fastened a lock that he had +brought with him into the room door, examined the loading of his +carbine, took up his potato, and said, with a military salute, "At what +time does major general the agent wish to be called to-morrow?" + +"You good fellow!" cried Anton, reaching out his hand from his straw +bed. + +Karl went into the next room, which he had chosen for himself. Soon both +candles were extinguished--the first signs of life which had shone for +years in the forsaken dwelling. But in the stove the little Kobolds of +the castle lingered long over the newly-kindled fire; they hovered in +the smoke wreaths, they knocked at doors and windows in amazement at the +proceedings of the strangers. At length they assembled in a corner of +the old tower, and began to dispute as to whether or not the flames +lighted this evening would continue to burn, and to cast henceforth +their cheerful glow on meadow, fields, and woods; and as they doubted +whether the new order of things had strength enough to endure, the smoke +drove the bats from their home in the chimney, and they came flapping +down stupefied on the summit of the tower, while the owls in its +crevices shook their round heads and hooted in the new era. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + +He who has always trodden life's macadamized ways, hedged in by law, +moulded by order, custom, form, handed down from generation to +generation habits a thousand years old, and who finds himself suddenly +thrown among strangers, where law can but imperfectly protect him, and +where he must assert by daily struggles his right to exist--such a one +realizes for the first time the full blessing of the holy circle woven +round each individual by his fellow-men, his family, his companions in +labor, his race, his country. Whether he lose or gain in foreign parts, +he must needs change. If he is a weakling, he will sacrifice his own +_manière d'être_ to the external influences around him; if he has the +making of a man in him, he will become one now. The possessions, perhaps +the prejudices, that he has grown up with, will wax dearer to him than +ever; and much that once he looked upon as things of course, like air +and sunshine, will become his most prized treasures. It is in foreign +countries that we first enjoy the dialect of home, and in absence that +we learn how dear to us is our fatherland. + +Our Anton had now to find out what he possessed and what he wanted. + +The following morning they proceeded to view the entire property. It +consisted of the mansion-house, with the lands and buildings adjacent, +and of three farms. About half the land was arable, a small part laid +down in meadow; about half was wood, bordered with barren sand. The +castle and the village lay about the middle of the great clearing; two +of the farms were at opposite points of the compass, east and west, and +both were hid by projections of the forest. The third farm lay toward +the south, and was entirely divided by a wood from the rest of the +estate. It joined on to another Polish village, had its own +farm-buildings, and had always been separately cultivated. It occupied +about a quarter of the plain, had a distillery on it, and had been +rented for many years by a brandy-merchant, well to do. His lease had +been extended by Ehrenthal, but the sum he paid was low. However, his +occupancy was at present a good thing for the property, as it insured +some return for one portion of it, at least. The devastated wood was +under the care of a forester. + +The first walk through the portion adjacent to the castle was as little +cheering as possible: the fields were, generally speaking, not prepared +for winter-sowing; and wherever the marks of the plow appeared, the land +had been taken possession of by the villagers, who regarded the +neglected property as their perquisite, and looked morosely at the +foreign settlers. + +For years they had done none of the work that their feudal tenure +required of them, and the village bailiff plainly told Anton that the +community would resent any return to old customs. He pretended he did +not understand a word of German, and even Karl's eloquence failed to +conciliate him. The soil itself, neglected and weedy as it was, turned +out generally better than Anton had expected, and the landlord boasted +of his crops; but in the vicinity of the wood it was very poor, and in +many places quite unfit for culture. + +"This is a serious sort of day," said Anton, putting up his pocket-book. +"Harness the britzska; we will drive to see the cattle." + +The farm where the cattle were quartered lay to the west, about a mile +and a half from the castle. A miserable stable and the cottage of a +farm-servant was all they found there. The cows and a pair of draught +oxen were under his charge, and he lived there with his wife and a +half-witted herdsman. None of these people understood much German, or +inspired any confidence: the wife was a dirty woman, without shoes and +stockings, whose milk-pails looked as if long unwashed. The +farm-servant, and sometimes the herdsman, plowed with the yoke of oxen +wherever they chose; the cattle fed on the meadow land. + +"Here is work for you," said Anton; "examine the cattle, and see what +you can find of winter provender. I will make an inventory of the +building and implements." + +Karl soon came to report. "Four-and-twenty milch cows, twelve heifers, +and an old bull; about a dozen cows, at most, are in profit, the rest +mere grass-devourers: the whole of them are a poor set. Some foreign +cows, probably Swiss ones, have been brought over and crossed with a +much larger breed, and the result is ugly enough. The best cows have +evidently been exchanged; for some wretched creatures are running about, +the rest keeping aloof from them: they can't have been here long. As to +fodder, there is hay enough for winter, and a few bundles of oat straw; +no wheat straw at all." + +"The buildings are out of order too," cried Anton, in return. "Drive now +to the distillery. I have carefully examined the conditions of the +lease, and am better up in it than in most things." + +The carriage rolled over a shaky bridge that spanned the brook, then +through fields and an expanse of sand scantily covered with arenaceous +plants, in whose roots a pine-seed had nestled here and there, +stretching dwarf branches over the waste; then came the woods, with many +a gap, where lay nothing but yellow sand, and on all sides stumps +overgrown with heath and brambles. Slowly the horses waded on. Neither +of the strangers spoke, as both were engaged in observing every tree +that a fortunate chance had allowed to grow and spread better than the +rest. + +At length the prospect widened, and another plain lay before them, +monotonous and forest-bounded like the rest. Before them rose a church. +They drove past a wooden crucifix, and stopped at the court-yard of the +farm. The tenant had already heard of their arrival; and perhaps he was +better acquainted with the baron's circumstances than Anton could have +wished, for he received them in a patronizing and self-sufficient +manner, hardly taking the trouble to lead them into an unoccupied room. +His first question, was, "Do you really believe that Rothsattel will be +able to take possession of the estate? There is much to be done on it, +and, from all I hear, the poor man has not got the capital required." + +This cool demeanor exasperated Anton not a little; but he answered, with +the composure that habits of business give, "If you wish to ask me +whether the Baron Rothsattel will undertake the management of the +estate, I have to say in reply that he will be all the better able to do +so the more conscientiously his tenants and dependents perform their +duties. I am here at present to ascertain how far you have done this. I +have authority given me, by the terms of your lease, to examine your +inventory. And if you value the baron's good-will, I recommend you to +treat his representative more civilly." + +"The baron's good-will is perfectly immaterial to me," said the inflated +tenant. "But, since you speak of authority, perhaps you will show me +your credentials." + +"Here they are," said Anton, quietly drawing the document in question +from his pocket. + +The tenant read it carefully through, or at least pretended to do so, +and rudely replied, "I am not very sure, after all, whether you have a +right to look over my premises, but I have no objection to it; so go and +inspect as much as you like." And, putting on his cap, he turned to +leave the room, but Anton at once barred the way, and said, in his +quiet, business voice, "I give you the choice of conducting me over your +premises at once, or having an inventory drawn out by a lawyer. This +last measure will occasion you unnecessary expense. I would besides +remind you that the good-will of the proprietor is necessary to every +tenant who wishes for an extension of his lease, and that yours will be +out in two years' time. It is no pleasure to me to spend two hours in +your society; but if you do not fulfill your contract, the baron will of +course take advantage of it to break your lease. I give you your +choice." + +The tenant looked for a few minutes with a stupefied expression at +Anton's resolute countenance, and at last said, "If you insist upon it, +of course. I did not mean to offend." He then reluctantly touched his +hat, and led the way into the court-yard. + +Anton took out his tablets once more, and the survey began. 1. +Dwelling-house: the roof out of order. 2. Cow-house: one side of the +lower wall fallen; and so on. The survey was, on the whole, +unsatisfactory; but Anton's business-like demeanor and Karl's martial +aspect were not without their influence over the tenant, who gradually +relaxed, and muttered out a few excuses. + +When Anton got into the carriage again, he said to him, "I give you four +weeks to rectify what we have found amiss, and at the end of that time I +shall call again." + +To which Karl added, "Will you have the kindness to raise your hat as +you now see me do? This is the right moment for the ceremony. That's it! +You will learn the proper thing in time. Drive on, coachman." + +"When you return," continued Karl to Anton, "this man will be as +obsequious as possible. He has grown bumptious on the farm." + +"And the estate has grown the poorer because of him," said Anton. "Now, +then, for the new farm!" + +A poor dwelling-house on one side, a long row of sheep-pens on the +other, a stable, and a barn. + +"It is remarkable," said Karl, looking at the buildings from a distance, +"the thatch has no holes, and in the corner there is a stack of new +straw. By Jove! they have mended the roof." + +"Here is our last hope," replied Anton. + +As the carriage drew up, the heads of a young woman and a flaxen-haired +child appeared for a moment at the window, then rapidly retreated. + +"This farm is the jewel of the estate," cried Karl, jumping over the +side of the carriage. "There are actually signs of a dunghill here; and +there go a cock and hens--something like a cock too, with a tail like a +sickle! And there is a myrtle in the window. Hurra! here is a housewife! +here is the fatherland! here are Germans!" + +The woman came out--a neat figure--followed by the curly pate, who, at +the sight of strangers, put his fingers in his mouth, and crept behind +his mother's apron. + +Anton inquired for her husband. + +"He can see your carriage from the field; he will be here immediately," +said the wife, blushing. She invited them in, and hastily rubbed two +chairs bright with her apron. + +The room was small, but whitewashed; the furniture painted red, but kept +very clean; the coffee-pot was simmering on the stove; a Black-forest +clock ticked in the corner; on some hanging shelves stood two painted +China figures, a few cups, and about a dozen books; and behind the +little looking-glass on the wall there was a fly-flap, and a birch rod +carefully bound round with red ribbon. It was the first comfortable room +that they had seen on the estate. + +"A song-book and a rod," said Anton, good-naturedly. "I do believe you +are a good woman. Come here, flaxen-hair." He took the scared, stolid +child on his knee, and made him ride there--walk--trot--gallop--till the +little fellow at last got courage to take his fingers out of his mouth. + +"He is used to that," said his mother, much pleased. "It is just what +his father does when he is a good boy." + +"You have had a hard time of it here," suggested Anton. + +"Ah! sir," cried she, "when we heard that a German family had bought the +estate, and that we had to keep things together for them, and thought +they would soon come and perhaps drive over here, we were as glad as +children. My husband was all day just like one who has been in the +public house, and I wept for joy. We thought that at last there would be +some order, and we should know what we were working for. My husband +spoke seriously to the shepherd--he is from our part of the country--and +they both resolved that they would not allow the steward to sell any +more away. And so my husband told him. But weeks passed, and no one +came. We sent every day to the village to inquire, and my husband went +to Rosmin and saw the lawyer. But it seemed they were not coming after +all, and that the estate would be sold again. Then, a fortnight ago, the +steward came over with a strange butcher, and wanted my husband to give +him the wethers; but he refused. At that they threatened him, and wanted +to force their way into the sheep-pens; but the shepherd and my husband +were too much for them; so off they went cursing, and declaring they +would have the sheep yet. Since then a man has watched every night; +there hangs a loaded gun which we have borrowed; and when the shepherd's +dog barks, I get up, and am dreadfully frightened about my husband and +child. There are dangerous men about here, sir, and that you will find." + +"I hope things will improve," said Anton; "you lead a solitary life +here." + +"It is solitary indeed," said the woman, "for we hardly ever go to the +village, and only sometimes on Sunday to the German village, where we go +to church. But there is always something to be done about the house; +and," continued she, somewhat embarrassed, "I will just tell you all, +and if you don't approve, we can give it up. I have dug a little space +behind the barn, we have hedged it in, and made a garden of it, where I +grow what I want for cooking; and then," with increased embarrassment, +"there are the poultry and a dozen ducks; and if you won't be angry, the +geese on the stubble-fields, and," wiping her eyes with her apron, +"there is the cow and the calf." + +"Our calf!" cried the child, in ecstasy, slapping Anton's knees with his +fat hands. + +"If you do not approve of my having kept the cow for myself," continued +the weeping woman, "we will give it up. My husband and the shepherd have +had no wages since the last wool-shearing, and we have been obliged to +buy necessaries; but my husband has kept an account of every thing, and +he will show it you, that you may see that we are not dishonest people." + +"I hope it will so appear," replied Anton, soothingly; "and now let us +have a look at your garden; you shall keep it, if possible." + +"There is not much in it," said the woman, leading them to the inclosed +space where the beds were all prepared for their winter's rest. She +stooped down, and gathered the few flowers remaining, some asters, and +her especial pride, some autumn violets. Tying them together, she gave +the nosegay to Anton, "because," said she with a pleasant smile, "you +are a German." + +A quick step was now heard in the yard, and in came the tenant with +reddened cheeks, and made his bow to them. + +He was a fine young man, with a sensible countenance and a trustworthy +manner. Anton spoke encouragingly, and he readily produced his accounts. + +"We will look over the stock now," replied Anton; "the books I will take +with me. Come to me to-morrow at the castle, and we can arrange the +rest." + +"The horses are in the fields," said the tenant; "I drive one plow +myself, and the shepherd's lad helps with the other. We have only four +horses here; once there were twelve in the stable. We have of late +cultivated little more than was necessary for ourselves and the cattle. +There is a want of every thing." + +However, the survey turned out cheering on the whole; the buildings +were in tolerable repair, and the crops lately got in promised to keep +the flocks through the winter. Last of all, the farmer, with a pleased +smile, opened a door in his dwelling-house, and pointed out a heap of +pease. "You have seen the straw and hay already," he said, "but here are +the pease which I hid from the steward, thinking they belonged to you. +Indeed, there was some selfishness in it," continued he, candidly, "for +we were so placed that we got nothing, and I was obliged to think of +some way of keeping the farm going in case the winter brought no help." + +"Very good," said Anton, smiling; "I hope we shall understand each other +well. And now to the sheep. Come with us, farmer." + +The carriage rolled slowly along the fields, the tenant eagerly pointing +out their condition. Not the fourth part of the land belonging to the +farm was plowed; the rest had been in pasture for many years past. + +As they approached the flocks, the only living creatures of any worth on +the estate, Karl impatiently jumped out. + +The shepherd slowly came to meet the strangers, accompanied by his two +dogs, one an old experienced character, who walked at the same pace as +his master, and looked with as much intelligence and discrimination at +the new authorities; the other a young fellow, a pupil, who vainly +attempted to maintain the aspect of calm dignity becoming his +responsible calling, but kept running with youthful eagerness ahead of +his master, and barking at the strangers, till a growl of rebuke from +his wiser companion brought him back to propriety. The shepherd took off +his broad-brimmed hat with all civility, and waited to be addressed. As +a man of intuition and reflection, he perfectly knew who he saw before +him, but it would have ill become one whose whole life had been spent in +restraining precipitation on the part of sheep and dogs to have evinced +undue curiosity. + +The farmer introduced the strangers to him with a circular movement of +his hand, and the shepherd made several bows in succession, to show that +he perfectly understood who they were. "A fine flock, shepherd," said +Anton. + +"Five hundred and five-and-twenty head," replied the shepherd. +"Eighty-six of them lambs, forty fat wethers." He looked round the flock +for a sheep, who deserved to be presented as a specimen, and suddenly +stooping, caught up one by the hind legs, and exhibited the wool. Karl +was intent in the examination. They were great strong sheep, well +fitted for the country, and far exceeded, both in condition and wool, +what might have been looked for. "If they get plenty of food, they give +wool," said the shepherd, proudly. "It is first-rate wool." + +A yearling was at that moment thoughtless enough to cough. The shepherd +looked disapprovingly at it, and said, "The whole flock is perfectly +healthy." + +"How long have you been in service here?" inquired Anton. + +"Nine years," was the reply. "When I came, the creatures were like the +poodles in town, all bare behind. It has taken trouble to bring them +round. No one else has ever seen after them, but they have not fared the +worse for that. If I could only always have had pea-straw for them, and +this winter, common pease for the mothers." + +"We must see what can be done," said Anton; "but we shall have to be +sparing in our management this winter." + +"True," said the shepherd; "but, however, this is good pasture." + +"I can well believe," said Anton, smiling, "that your sheep have nothing +to complain of. There are few fields here which your dog has not barked +over for years. I have been delighted to hear how bravely you have +defended the property of your new master. Have the people about often +behaved ill to you?" + +"I can hardly say, sir," replied the shepherd; "men are every where +alike--they are not to be depended on. I would rather bring up a colly +than a man." He leaned upon his staff, and looked with satisfaction upon +his dog, who, true to his post, had been barking round the flock, and +now came back to give his master's legs a confidential flap with his +tail. "Look at this dog! When I have had a dog in training for two +years, he is either good or not. If not, I send him away, and have done +with him; if good, I can trust him as I do myself, so long as he lives. +That boy yonder with the wethers I have had three years with me, and I +can never tell the hour that some confounded freak or other may not come +into his head, or that, instead of driving my sheep to the right, he may +not run off to the left. That's why I say there's not much reliance to +be placed upon men." + +"And on whom do you rely in this world?" asked Anton. + +"First of all on myself, for I know myself; then on my dog Crambo, for I +know him too, and, besides, I trust as I ought." He looked up for a +moment, then gave a low whistle, and Crambo again set out on his rounds. +"And you, sir," continued the shepherd, "shall you remain with the +baron?" + +"I think so." + +"May I ask as what? You are neither steward nor bailiff, for you have +not yet looked at the wethers. The wethers should be sold; it's high +time for it. So may I ask what you are to the new landlord?" + +"If you want a name, you may call me his accountant." + +"Accountant," said the shepherd, thoughtfully; "then I am to discuss my +allowance with you." + +"You shall do so the next time we meet." + +"There is no hurry," said the shepherd; "but one likes to know how one +stands. There is a pane broken in my room; the glazier will be coming to +the castle, and I hope, Mr. Accountant, you will remember me." + +Karl and the farmer now joined them. "To the forester's!" cried Anton to +the driver. + +"You mean to go to the forester's?" inquired the farmer. + +"To the forester's!" repeated the shepherd, drawing nearer. + +"Why does that surprise you?" inquired Anton from the carriage. + +"Only," stammered out the farmer, "because the forester is a strange +man. If the baron himself were to come, he would not surrender." + +"Does he live in a fortress, then?" inquired Anton, laughing. + +"He locks himself up," said the tenant, "and lets no one enter; he has a +way of his own." + +"He is a wild man of the woods," said the shepherd, shaking his head. + +"The Poles say that he is a magician," continued the farmer. + +"He can make himself invisible," cried the shepherd. + +"Do you believe that?" asked Karl, much amazed. + +"Not I, but there are plenty in the village who do." + +"He is a good sort of man at the bottom, but he has his oddities," +affirmed the farmer. + +"I hope he will respect my position," rejoined Anton; "it will be worse +for him if he does not." + +"It would be better that I should speak to the forester first," +suggested the tenant. "Will you allow me to drive thither with you? He +is on friendly terms with me." + +"With all my heart; take the reins, and we will leave the servant to +manage the plow till we set you down again on our way-back. And now then +for this dangerous character." + +The carriage turned into a road bordered with young firs, and leading +into the wood. The ground was again sandy, and the trees poor. They went +on over stories and stumps till at length the wood stopped altogether at +a plantation apparently about fifteen years old: here the tenant +fastened the reins round the trunk of a tree, and begged the gentlemen +to dismount. They walked on through a thicket of young trees, whose long +spikes brushed their clothes as they passed, and filled the air with a +strong resinous perfume. Beyond this the ground sank, green moss spread +a soft carpet round, and a group of giant pines reared their dark crowns +high in the air: there stood the forester's house, a low wooden building +surrounded by a strong wooden fence, and further guarded by a triple +hedge of young fir-trees. A little spring trickled under the fence, and +gurgled among a few large stones, overshadowed by giant ferns. + +Altogether it was a picture that could not fail to please in this +district of sand and heath. No one was to be seen about, and there was +not a trace of a footstep on the moss: it was only the barking of a dog +from within that announced the dwelling to be inhabited. They went round +the hedge till they came to a narrow door, which was firmly bolted. + +"His bull-finch sits above the window," said the tenant; "he is at +home." + +"Call him, then," desired Anton. + +"He knows already that we are here," replied the man, pointing to a row +of small openings in the hedge; "look at his peep-holes. He is watching +us; but this is always his way. I must give him a signal, or he will +never open." Accordingly, he put two fingers in his mouth, and whistled +three times, but there was no reply. "He is a cunning fellow," said the +tenant, perplexed, whistling again so shrilly that the dog's bark +changed into a howl, and the bull-finch began to flap his wings. + +At last a rough voice sounded on the other side of the fence. "Who the +deuce are you bringing with you?" + +"Open, forester," cried the tenant; "the new gentry are come." + +"Go to the devil with your gentry; I am sick of the whole race." + +The tenant looked in perplexity toward Anton. "Open the door," said the +latter, authoritatively; "it will be better for you to do of your own +accord what I can force you to do." + +"Force!" said the voice. "How will you manage that, pray?" The double +barrel of a gun now made its appearance through a hole in the door, +turning conveniently to one side, then the other. + +"Your gun will not help you," was the reply; "we have that on our side +which will henceforth be stronger in this forest than brute force, and +that is law and our right." + +"Indeed!" asked the voice. "And who, then, are you?" + +"I am the agent of the new proprietor, and command you to open the +door." + +"Is your name Moses or Levi?" inquired the voice. "I will have nothing +to do with an agent. Whoever comes to me as an agent, I set down for a +rogue." + +"A plague upon your hard head," cried Karl, in a towering passion. "How +dare you speak so disrespectfully of my master, you crazy Jackboots +you!" + +"Jackboots!" said the voice. "I like that; that sounds more like fair +dealing than any thing I have heard for a long time." The bolts were +shot back, and the forester appeared at the door, which he shut behind +him. He was a short, broad-set man, with grizzled hair, and a long gray +beard, which hung down on his breast; a pair of keen eyes shone out of +his furrowed face; he wore a thick shaggy coat, out of which sun and +rain had expelled every trace of color, carried his double-barreled gun +in his hand, and looked defiance at the strangers. "Who is bullying +here?" said he. + +"I am," answered Karl, stepping forward; "and you shall get something +besides hard words if you continue in your insubordination." + +"What sort of a cap is that you wear?" asked the old man, looking hard +at him. + +"Have you grown into a mere fungus here in your wood that you do not +know it?" replied Karl, settling his soldier's cap more firmly on his +head. + +"Hussar?" asked the forester. + +"Invalid," was the reply. + +The old man pointed to a small strip of ribbon on his coat. "Militia," +said he; "1813 and 1814." + +Karl made a military salute. "All honor to you, old boy; but you are a +rough one, notwithstanding." + +"Well, you are not much like an invalid," said the forester; "you look +wild enough, and know how to rap out an oath. So you are neither +tradesman nor steward?" said he, turning to Anton. + +"Now do behave like a sensible man," said the farmer. "This gentleman +has been empowered to take possession of the estate, and to manage every +thing till the family come. You will get yourself into sad trouble with +your obstinate ways." + +"Indeed!" said the forester. "Don't be anxious about me; I shall manage +well enough. So you are an agent, are you?" said he, turning to Anton. +"Of late years I have had enough of agents; and I'll tell you what," he +went on, coming a few steps nearer, "you'll find neither books nor +accounts with me. This is the state of things: For five years I, as the +forester in charge of this wood, have been quarreling with agents. Each +agent has put ever so much timber into his pocket, and at last the +villagers have come from all the country round and carried off whatever +they liked, and when I held my gun under their nose, they thrust a +rascally bit of paper under mine, in which, forsooth, they had got leave +from the agent. I had nothing more to say, and so I have just taken care +of myself. There is but little game, but what I have shot I have eaten, +and have sold the skins--for one must live. It's five years since I have +touched a farthing of salary--I have paid myself. Every year I have +taken fifteen of these trees. As far as to the clearing yonder, the wood +is ninety years old. I reckon that they will last me about three winters +longer. When the last is felled, I will shoot my dog, and choose out a +quiet spot in the forest for myself." He looked down darkly at his gun. +"I have lived here thirty years; I have buried my wife and my children +in the German church-yard, and I don't trouble myself about what is to +befall me now. So far as my dog's bark can be heard and my gun reach, +the wood is in order; the rest belonged to the agent. That is my +reckoning, and now you may do what you like with me;" and, much excited, +he stamped the butt-end of his gun on the ground. + +"I shall reply to what I have just heard," said Anton, "in the house and +room which henceforth belongs to your master, the Baron Rothsattel." He +stepped up to the door and laid his hands on its wooden bolt. "I take +possession of this in the name of the new proprietor." Then opening it, +he beckoned to the forester: "Keep back your dogs, and lead us in as you +ought." + +The old man made no opposition, but slowly preceded them, called down +his dogs, and opened the house door. + +Anton entered with his companions. "And now, forester, that you have +opened the house," said he, "we will proceed to an arrangement at once. +What has hitherto been done here by you can not be altered, and shall +not be discussed; but from this day forth you will receive your regular +allowance, and matters must be put on a different footing. I now place +the forest, and all that belongs to the forest department, under your +charge. Your duty now is to stand up for your master's rights, and from +this time forward I make you responsible for them. I shall protect you +as far as I can, and shall claim for you the protection of the law. We +shall be severe in prosecuting all who damage this wood any further. +This estate shall be better managed henceforth, and your new master +expects that you will help him to do so, as a faithful and obedient man +should. And there must be an end of this wild life of yours in the bush; +we are fellow-countrymen, you know. You will come regularly to the +castle and report the state of things, and we will take care that you +shall not feel desolate in your old days. If you purpose honestly to +fulfill the requirements I have just been making, give me your hand on +it." + +The forester had stood abashed, listening, cap off, to Anton's address, +and he now took the hand offered to him, and said, "I do." + +"With this shake of the hand, then," continued Anton, "I take you into +the service of the present proprietor." + +The forester held Anton's hand in both his, and at length exclaimed, "If +I live to see things improve on the estate, I shall rejoice. I will do +all I can, but I tell you beforehand we shall have a hard fight for it. +Owing to the agents and the rascally management, the people on the +estate are become a pack of robbers, and I am afraid that my old gun +will often be obliged to have the last word of the argument." + +"We will neither do wrong nor suffer wrong, and we must take the +consequences," was the earnest reply. "And now, forester, show us your +house, and then accompany us into the wood." + +Anton then went over the little building: it was entirely of rough wood. +The light fell dimly through the small windows, and the brown walls and +blackened beams increased the darkness, and gave the room a mysterious +aspect. It was difficult at first to distinguish the objects on the +walls: antlers, dogs' collars, huntsmen's horns, whips, and stuffed +birds. On the stove stood a small press with cooking apparatus. + +"I cook for myself," said the forester, "and get what I want from the +public house." + +There were several birdcages in the windows, and a constant trilling and +chirping going on within them. Near the stove sat a raven, whose rough +plumage, and the white feathers about his beak and wings, proved his +great age. He had drawn his head in between his shoulders, and seemed +self-absorbed, but in reality his bright eye was observing every +movement of the strangers. + +Next came the bed-room, where several guns were hanging. A grating +before the window proved that this was the citadel of the house. + +"Where does that door lead to?" asked Anton, pointing to a trap-door in +the floor. + +"To a cellar," replied the forester, with some embarrassment. + +"Is it arched?" + +"I will take you down, if you will come alone." + +"Wait for us," cried Anton to his companions in the room. + +The forester lit a lantern, carefully bolted the door, and went first +with the light. + +"I had not thought," said he, "that any eyes but mine would see my +secret in my lifetime." + +A few steps led them into a narrow vault, one side of which had been +broken through, and a low subterranean passage made, supported by stems +of trees triangularly placed. + +"That is my run," said the forester, holding the candle down, "and it +leads into the young wood. It is more than forty yards long, and I was a +great while excavating it. This is the way I creep in and out +unobserved; and I may thank it that I am here still, for this is why the +stupid villagers believe me a sorcerer. When they have watched me go +into the house, and think they may steal in safely, I suddenly appear +among them. Two years ago a band of them broke into my house, and it +would have been all up with me but that I slunk out here like a badger. +Do not betray to any one what I have just shown you." + +Anton promised that he would not, and they went back into the little +inclosure, where they found Karl occupied in fastening, between four +blocks that he had driven into the ground, the wooden trough of a young +fox. The fox, insensible to this delicate attention on the part of the +hussar, snarled at him, rattled his chain, and tried all it could, under +the board that Karl had placed across its kennel, to get at his hands. + +"Do you want to kiss my hands, little red-head?" cried Karl, hammering +away. "You are a pretty fellow! What a pair of soft truthful eyes you +have, to be sure! Now, there, it's done; jump backward and forward as +much as you like. He does what's told him, forester; a good-natured +beast--something of your own character, comrade." + +The forester laughed. "Do you know how to set about trapping a fox?" + +"I should think so," said Karl. + +"There are plenty more such fellows here," continued the old man; "if +you like, we will go after them next Sunday." + +And so they went together through the wood, all on the best terms +possible. Anton called the forester to his side, and got much +information from him. Certainly, he had nothing very cheering to tell. +Of wood fit for cutting there was hardly enough for the use of the +family and tenants. The old system of plunder had done its worst here. +As they reached the carriage, the forester respectfully touched his hat, +and asked at what hour in the morning he should come to the castle. + +Anton rejoiced to have succeeded so well in concealing the feeling of +insecurity which made his present position an irksome one to him. + +"You see," said he to his faithful ally, as they both sat over the green +tile stove at evening, "what disturbs me most is that I feel more +ignorant and helpless than any of the servants about, and yet I have got +to maintain their respect. These two last days have taught me how little +mere good-will can do. Now, then, give me some sensible advice. What +shall be our next step?" + +"First sell off all the cattle that are out of profit, and instantly +dismiss the good for nothing people who have them in charge. Bring +cattle and horses to the farm-yard, that we may have them under our own +eyes. What can be done in farming with our small means shall be done +regularly, not hurried over. We must buy straw and oats for the present. +Till next year, when a regular bailiff will be wanted, give me the +charge of things; I shall not do much, to be sure, but more than any of +your other people." + +It was already late, when a quick step was heard on the stairs. With a +great stable-lantern in his hand, and a face full of bad news, the +landlord made his appearance in Anton's room. "I wished to tell you, +sir, what I have heard. A German from Kunau, who has just passed +through, has brought word that Bratzky never got to Rosmin yesterday." + +"Never got there!" cried Anton, springing up. + +"About two miles from Rosmin, in the wood, four riders fell upon the +carriage. It was dark; the riders overpowered the gendarme and bound +him, took off Bratzky and all his things, mounted him on one of the +horses, and off with him into the bush. Two of them remained with the +carriage, and obliged the driver to turn out of the road into a thicket, +and there they staid two whole hours, holding their loaded pistols at +the gendarme and the driver all the time. The driver said the horses +were gentlemen's horses, and that the riders spoke like gentry. The +gendarme was bruised, but otherwise unhurt, and they took your paper +away from him." + +Anton and Karl looked at each other significantly, and thought of the +party of the day before. + +"Where is the man who has brought the news?" asked Anton, snatching up +his hat. + +"He was in a hurry to get on before dark. To-morrow we shall hear more. +Such a thing has not happened for years as mounted men falling upon a +carriage with a gendarme in it. When a robbery has been committed, it +has always been on foot." + +"Did you know the riders who were in the village yesterday afternoon, +and who were calling for the steward?" inquired Anton. + +The host cast a sly glance at him, and seemed reluctant to answer. + +"Nay," continued Anton, "you must have known them all; they belonged to +this part of the country." + +"Why should not I know them?" replied the landlord, in some +perturbation. "It was the rich Herr von Tarow himself with his guests. A +powerful man, Mr. Wohlfart, who has the command of the police on your +property too. And as to what he wanted with Bratzky? Bratzky, as +inspector, has had to do with the police, and has often been employed by +the gentry in buying and selling horses, and in other ways too. If the +head of the police wanted to speak to the inspector, why should not he? +The Von Tarows are a clever set, who know what they are about in +speaking and acting." So far the landlord, with much fluency, but his +eyes and the expression of his countenance told a very different tale. + +"You have a suspicion," cried Anton, looking fixedly at him. + +"God preserve me from all suspicion!" continued the landlord, horrified +at the idea. "And Mr. Wohlfart, if you will allow me to tell you my +opinion, why should you go and suspect any one either? You will have +enough to do on the property here, and will need the gentry round in +many ways. Why should you make enemies for no purpose? This is a country +where the gentlemen ride in parties, and then divide, put their heads +together, and then start off in different directions. He is wisest who +does not trouble himself about them." + +When the landlord was gone, Anton said gloomily to Karl, "I am afraid +that, besides our trouble with the property, much of a different nature +is going on around us, which all our skill will not be able to set +right." + +This singular circumstance set the whole country in a ferment. Anton was +often summoned to Rosmin in the course of the next few weeks, but his +depositions led to no result, the authorities not succeeding in +discovering the offenders, or in getting hold of the abducted steward. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + +Our two colonists spent the next few weeks in such active pursuits, that +every night, when they threw themselves upon their beds, they were quite +exhausted. + +Karl had been duly installed as bailiff, and held the reins of +management with a firm hand, and Anton had committed the care of the +house and kitchen to a hard-working woman, whom he found in one of the +German settlements around. The most difficult matter had been to +establish tolerably satisfactory relations with the adjacent village; +but Anton's calm decision had at all events prevented any outbreak of +opposition. One of his first measures had been to appeal, in all cases +of breach of trust or dereliction of duty, to the proper authorities. +Karl's cavalry cloak attracted a few men who had served; and through +these, the most civilized part of the community, the settlers gained +some influence over others. At length, several voluntarily offered to +become servants at the castle, or day-laborers on the estate. + +Anton had written to the baroness, not disguising from her the state of +the property, nor the unfriendly feeling of the district, and his own +anxiety about the family moving thither in the course of the next +winter. He had asked whether she would not prefer to remain till spring +in the capital. In reply, he received a letter from Lenore, in which she +told him, on the part of her parents, that they abode by their former +resolve to leave the town, which had now become a painful residence to +them all. She therefore begged him to have the castle put into a +habitable condition as soon as possible. + +Anton called out to his ally, "They are actually coming." + +"They are, are they?" said Karl. "It is fortunate that we have heard of +workmen--masons, joiners, locksmiths, glaziers, potters, and so on. If +you will allow me, I will at once send a messenger off to Rosmin. If I +could only get off this ugly brown paint from the door--it hides the +beautiful oak carving. But lye won't stir it. And then how many stoves +shall we want?" + +An important conversation now began. "We must leave the whole lower +floor unoccupied," Anton said, "closing up the windows with thick +boards; but we shall have to put up a strong door in the hall, because +one is constantly passing through it. These walls, too, can not remain +as they are, and we have no one to trust to but the Rosmin mason." + +"Since that is the case," said Karl, "I propose that we paint the walls +ourselves. I am a dab-hand at marbling." + +"You are?" replied Anton, looking at him with some anxiety. "No; I think +we had better make all the rooms one color. What do you think of brown?" + +"Hum--not bad," said Karl. + +"I know it is a favorite color of Fräulein Lenore's. It must not be too +dark, though, but a bright mixture of yellow, gray, red, and green, +with, perhaps, a little black in it." + +"Aha!" said Karl, disconcerted; "a peculiar sort of brown, I suppose." + +"Of course," continued Anton, eagerly drawing his chair nearer; "we will +mix it ourselves." + +"That's my way," said Karl; "but I tell you beforehand, these chalk +colors are the very deuce! You paint a blue, the next day you have +white; you have the most beautiful orange in your brush, and when it has +dried on the wall it is a dirty yellow." + +"Between ourselves," replied Anton, "we shall not succeed very +perfectly, but I think we shall manage to make things look tolerably +comfortable." + +The following day the hammering and painting began. The joiner and his +men set up a workshop on the lower floor; above, the great brush of the +painter kept unwearyingly passing and repassing over the walls, and +white figures, with great aprons, carried buckets now up, now down. As +for Karl, he seemed to have a dozen hands. Whenever he could get away +from the farm, he painted woodwork and walls with all sorts of brushes. +He ran round with a foot-measure, drove in nails and hooks for curtains, +and the very next moment there he was again in the field or the stable, +but every where whistling his soldier's songs and urging on the +laborers. As the arrangements of the house progressed, his love of +beautifying became more and more developed. He bought a quantity of +oil-paint, which he found excellent, and displayed a decided talent for +the art. He now ventured to give to several objects, which seemed to him +qualified to receive it, the appearance of finely-polished wood, and, +with the aid of a soft brush and a bunch of feathers, succeeded in +producing wonderful effects. He even carried his brush and his +beautifying into the farm-yard, and teased Anton into consenting to a +general whitewashing of the mud walls. "They will dry in this weather +just as well as in summer," said he. "My only regret is, that I can't +wash the straw thatch." To make up for that, however, he was determined +to give the two new potato-carts and the best plow a coating of +beautiful blue oil-paint. "One must have something pleasant for the eye +to rest on here," said he, by way of apology. "And it will pay for +itself, for these Poles get on better with gayly-colored things." + +The castle was temporarily arranged, and the arrival of the family +expected on a cold December day. The sky had carried out Karl's wishes, +most effectually covering the earth with a pure white mantle, and hiding +many an eyesore from the expected party. The snow lay thick on pasture +and sands, the summits of the pines wore white crowns, and the leafless +shrubs glittered with frost-crystals. The ugly straw thatches were +whitewashed to some purpose, the broken parapets of the bridge filled +up. Each projection of the castle walls, the top of the tower, the whole +roof, was capped with dazzling white, while the red-brown walls stood +out in bold relief below. Within, it was a busy and exciting day. Wagons +of furniture and stores were unpacked, and all arranged as well as the +haste allowed. The farmer's wife and the housekeeper wove great garlands +of fir-branches, and decorated the hall and the room doors. The sun set, +and the silver landscape turned to gold, till the rising moon suffused +it with a mysterious blue light. Several lamps were lit in the house, as +many candles as possible placed in the apartments, the stoves all burned +cheerily, and the fir-twigs filled the air with their fragrance. The gay +curtains were drawn, and the open suite of rooms looked so habitable, +that Anton asked himself in amazement how the labors of a few weeks +could have wrought such a change as this. Karl had placed pitch-pans on +both sides of the castle, and they shed a cheerful glow around. + +Meanwhile all the dependents assembled in the hall--the forester in a +new green coat, the memorial of his battles on his breast, a deer-hound +at his side, stood in military attitude next to the German farmer and +the shepherd. The housekeeper and the farmer's wife had put their best +ribbons on their caps, and tripped to and fro in restless expectation. +Karl, too, appeared in his hussar's frock. + +Meanwhile Anton went once more through the rooms, and listened for the +crack of the whip that should announce the baron's arrival. His own +heart beat: for him, too, a new era was about to begin. After all, his +life here had been a pleasant one enough hitherto: he and his trusty +ally had felt themselves the masters of the castle, and had got through +their anxieties cheerfully together. Now, however, Karl must take up his +quarters in the farm-yard, while Anton, according to the wish of the +baroness, was to occupy a room in the castle, so that he must come into +daily relations with the family, and he now asked himself of what nature +these would be. The baron was almost a stranger to him: how would he +suit this baron? And he was blind too--yes, blind. Lenore had written +him word that the surgeon gave no hope of the injured optic nerve ever +recovering. This had been kept back from the sufferer, who comforted +himself with the hope that time and skill might yet remove the dark +cloud from his eyes. But Anton confided the truth to Karl, and was +obliged to tell all the dependents that the baron was at present +suffering from his eyes, and obliged to wear a bandage over them; and he +read upon the faces of all that they felt this was a misfortune for the +property. And his heart beat unquietly, too, when he thought of Lenore, +with whom he should now be brought into constant contact. How would she +and her mother treat him? He determined carefully to suppress what he +now felt to have been idle claims, and so to behave from the first as to +afford them no cause for mortifying his self-respect. And yet he could +not help wondering whether they would treat him as a friend and an +equal, or make him feel that he was a hired dependent. It was in vain +that he said to himself that his own feelings made the latter +arrangement desirable; he could not check the delightful visions that +would arise of life led with Lenore on equal terms. + +The crack of the whip was now heard in the village, and soon the family +and establishment arrived. The farm-servants, the landlord, and a few of +the villagers were grouped around the pitch-pans. The farmers rushed +forward to open the carriage-door, and as Lenore jumped out, and her +face was seen, the women pressed nearer, and the men broke out into loud +acclamations. All looked in eager expectation at the carriage. But the +welcome met with no return. The baron was got out with some difficulty, +and with sunken head, supported by his wife and daughter, he toiled up +the steps. The pale face of the baroness from behind him had only a mute +glance for the tenants and servants--only a short nod of recognition for +Anton, who proceeded to lead them to their suite of rooms. + +"All very nice, Mr. Wohlfart," said she, with quivering lips; and as he +remained standing and waiting for his first orders, she dismissed him +with a wave of the hand, and the words, "I thank you." When the door had +closed upon Anton, the baron stood helpless in the strange room, and the +baroness broke out into loud weeping. Lenore leaned against the window, +looking out into the snow-covered plain, with its black wall at the +horizon, and great tears rolled silently down her cheeks. It was with a +heavy heart that Anton returned to tell the people assembled that the +family were fatigued and overcome, and would not be seen by them till +the morning. Karl had the carriage unpacked, and led the old cook, who +wept like her mistress, into the underground kitchen. None of the family +reappeared that evening, and the light was soon put out in their rooms; +but the pitch still glowed and flickered in the wind, and a black cloud +rose above the window where the baron sat hiding his face in his hands. + +Such was the entrance of this family upon their new estate. + +"How beautifully Wohlfart has arranged every thing!" said Lenore to her +mother the following day. + +"These high rooms are dreadful," replied the baroness, wrapping her +shawl around her; "and the monotonous brown of the walls makes them +still more desolate!" + +"It is surely time to send and ask him to come here and speak to us?" +suggested Lenore, timidly. + +"Your father is not yet in a mood to speak to him." + +"Do not leave my father alone with Wohlfart," implored Lenore. "It would +be horrible if he were to treat him rudely." + +The baroness sighed. "We must accustom ourselves to pay to a stranger in +our house a degree of attention and observance which will be irksome +both to your father and to us." + +"How will you arrange about the housekeeping?" asked Lenore, again. +"Wohlfart will, of course, have his meals with us?" + +"Impossible!" said the baroness, firmly. "You know what a melancholy +thing our dinner is. Your father is not yet calm enough to be able to +bear the daily presence of a stranger." + +"Is he to eat with the servants, then?" asked Lenore, bitterly. + +"He will have his table laid in his own room, and on Sundays we shall +always invite him, and, if he is not disagreeable to your father, often +in the evenings also. More would be troublesome to all parties. It is +desirable to reserve at first a comfortable amount of freedom. Your +father's state will be sufficient excuse." + +She rang, and Anton was summoned. Lenore went to meet him, and with +tearful eyes silently held out her hand. Anton was moved when he saw the +traces of suffering in her mother's face. The baroness prayed him to be +seated, and in well-chosen words expressed her gratitude for all he had +done, and asked him both for information and advice. Then she went on to +say, "My husband wishes to speak to you. I earnestly beg you to remember +that the baron is an invalid. He has suffered fearfully in mind and +body. He is never free from pain, and his helplessness distresses him +inexpressibly. We are careful to avoid whatever may excite him, and yet +we can not avert dark hours, nay, days. You, sir, will be considerate if +his gloomy mood should affect you disagreeably. Time, they say, heals +all. I hope it will restore him to peace." + +Anton promised all possible consideration. + +"My husband will naturally wish to be placed in possession of all the +facts connected with this property, and yet I dread any painful +impressions for him. Therefore, whenever you have any thing important to +communicate, try to make the matter intelligible to me in the first +instance. I may thus spare you much that is disagreeable. I shall have +my writing-table carried into one of the rooms near yours, and I shall +daily spend part of my mornings there. Lenore is her father's private +secretary. And now, be kind enough to wait till I have announced your +visit to the baron." + +The baroness left the room. Anton looked down gravely. Lenore went up to +him and said, as cheerfully as she could, "Brown walls, Wohlfart! my +favorite color. You are not glad we are come, you ungallant man!" + +"Only on your own account," replied Anton, pointing to the snowy plain. +"Whenever I walked through the fields, I have always thought how lonely +you would be here, and when I paced these great rooms of an evening, I +have feared that your time would hang very heavily. The town is more +than six miles distant, and even there you will find but little; the +wretched lending-library will hardly satisfy you." + +"I will draw," said Lenore; "I will do fancy work. Alas! I shall find it +difficult, Mr. Wohlfart, for I am not skillful. I do not care for lace +on either cuff or collar; but mamma, who is accustomed to have every +thing so beautiful, and in such order--oh, how sorry I am for mamma!" + +Anton tried to comfort her. + +"We were obliged to leave the capital," cried Lenore; "we should all +have perished if we had remained in that dreadful _entourage_. Our own +property in other hands, cold, distant faces on all sides, every where +false friends, smooth words, and a pity which maddened. I am delighted +that we are alone here. And even were we to suffer cold and hunger, I +could bear it better far than the shrugging of Madame Werner's +shoulders. I have learned to hate my fellow-creatures," said she, +vehemently. "When you have been with papa, I will come down, and then +you must show me the house, the farm, and the village. I want to see +where my poor pony is, and what the people about look like." + +The baroness now returned, and led Anton into her husband's room. +Helpless and confused, the baron rose from his chair. Anton felt the +deepest compassion for him. He looked at his sunken face, bent figure, +and the black bandage over his eyes. He warmly declared his ardent wish +to be of use to him, and begged his indulgence if he had in any way +erred in judgment hitherto. Then he proceeded to tell him how he found +the estate, and what had been done up to the present time. + +The baron heard the report almost in silence, only making a few short +observations in return. But when Anton proceeded, with the utmost +delicacy indeed, but still with the precision of a man of business, to +state the obligations under which the baron at present lay, and his +inadequate means of fulfilling them, the nobleman writhed in his chair +like a victim on the rack. And Anton keenly felt how painful it must +needs be to him to have a stranger thus introduced into his most secret +affairs--a stranger anxious to spare his feelings, it is true, but at +every moment betraying that anxiety, and so giving fresh offense. The +baroness, who stood behind her husband, looked on nervously at the +attempts he made to control his irritation, but at length she waved her +hand so significantly that Anton had abruptly to break off his report. + +When he had left the room, the baron flung himself back in the utmost +excitement, and exclaimed, "You have set a trustee over me." He was +perfectly beside himself, and the baroness vainly attempted to compose +him. + +Such was Anton's entrance into the family. + +He too returned sadly to his room. From that moment he felt convinced +that it would hardly be possible to establish a good understanding +between himself and the baron. He was accustomed, in matters of +business, to express himself curtly, and to be promptly understood, and +he now foresaw long disquisitions on the part of the ladies, succeeded +probably by no decision at all. Even his position with regard to them +appeared uncertain. True, the baroness had treated him with the utmost +graciousness, but still as a stranger. He feared that she would continue +the great lady, giving just as much of her confidence as might be useful +to herself, but warding off all intimacy by a cold politeness. Even +Lenore's friendly voice could not restore his equanimity. They went over +the premises silently and thoughtfully, like two men of business engaged +in making an estimate. + +Such as these first days promised was Anton's life for the next few +months, anxious, monotonous, formal. He wrote, kept accounts, and ate +alone in his room, and when invited to join the family circle the party +was far from a cheerful one. The baron sat there like a lump of ice, a +check upon all free and animated conversation. + +Formerly Anton used to admire all the accessories of the family, the +arrangement of their _salons_, and the elegant trifles around. Now, the +self-same furniture stood in the drawing-room suite--even the little +foreign birds had survived their winter journey--the same carpets, the +same worsted-work, even the same perfume was there; but now the very +birds seemed to him rather bores than otherwise, and soon nothing about +the room interested him but the share he had himself had in putting it +in order. + +Anton had brought with him a profound respect for the polished tone, the +easy conversation, and the graceful forms of social intercourse that +prevailed in the family circle. + +But, crushed and downcast as the Von Rothsattels now were, he could not +expect the same light-hearted grace that had captivated him at Frau von +Baldereck's parties. They had been torn away from their accustomed +circle; all the external influences, and the excitement which keep the +spirits elastic, and help us to vanquish sorrow, were wanting now, and +he modestly confessed that he could afford no substitute for them. But +there was more than this to disenchant him. When, after a silent +evening, he returned to his own room, he often regretted that they took +no part in much that interested him; that their culture, in short, was +of a perfectly different order; and, before long, he took the liberty of +doubting whether their culture was the better of the two. Almost all his +reading was new to them, and when they discussed the newspapers, he +marveled at their ignorance of foreign politics. History was by no means +a favorite study with the baron, and if, for example, he condemned the +English Constitution, he showed himself, at the same time, very little +acquainted with it. On another evening, it came out, to Anton's +distress, that the family's views of the position of the island of +Ceylon widely differed from those established by geographers. The +baroness, who was fond of reading aloud, revered Chateaubriand, and read +fashionable novels by lady writers. Anton found Atala unnatural, and the +novels insipid. In short, he soon discovered that those with whom he +lived contemplated the universe from a very different point of view to +his own. Unconsciously they measured all things by the scale of their +own class-interests. Whatever ministered to these found favor, however +unbearable to mankind at large; whatever militated against them was +rejected, or at least pushed out of sight. Their opinions were often +mild, sometimes even liberal, but they always seemed to wear an +invisible helmet, visor up, and to look through the narrow space on the +doings of common mortals; and whenever they saw any thing in these that +was displeasing, but unalterable, they silently shut down the visor, +and isolated themselves. The baron sometimes did this awkwardly, but his +wife understood to perfection how, by a bewitching turn of the hand, to +shut out whatever was unwelcome. + +The family belonged to the German church in Neudorf; but there was no +choir there, and no pew near the altar. They would have had to sit in +the body of the church among the rustics: that was out of the question. +So the baron set up a chapel in the castle, and sent every now and then +for a minister. Anton seldom made his appearance at this domestic +worship, preferring to ride to Neudorf, where he sat by the side of the +bailiff among the country people. + +He had other vexations too. A wine-merchant's traveler forced his way on +one occasion through sand and forest into the very study of the baron. +He was an audacious fellow, with a great gift of the gab, and a devoted +lover of races and steeple-chases. He brought with him a whole budget of +the latest sporting intelligence, and bamboozled the baron into ordering +a pipe of port wine. Anton looked at the empty purse, cursed the pipe, +and hurried into the audience-chamber of the baroness. It required a +long feminine intrigue to effect the retraction of the order given. + +The baron was displeased with his carriage-horses, which were no longer +young, and, besides, of a chestnut color. This last peculiarity might, +indeed, have been supposed immaterial to him now, but it had been an +annoyance for years, his family having always had a preference for +roans; nay, was there not an old distich to the following effect: + +"Who rides thus through the fray alone? + I ween a noble knight, +The red drops fall from his gallant roan, + With red is the saddle dight." + +This was supposed to allude to some remote ancestor, and on this account +the Rothsattels (red-saddles) prized roans above all other horseflesh; +but, as the color is rare in handsome horses, the baron had never had +the good luck to meet with them. Now, however, Fate willed that a +horse-dealer in the district should just bring round a pair. The blind +man evinced a delight which much affected the ladies. He had them +ridden, and driven backward and forward, carefully felt them all over, +took Karl's opinion as to their merits, and revolved a plan of +pleasantly surprising the baroness by their purchase. Karl ran to +advertise Anton of the impending danger, and he again entered the +audience-chamber, but on this occasion he met with no favorable hearing. +The baroness, indeed, allowed that he was not wrong in theory, but still +she implored him to let the baron have his own way. At length the new +horses were in all secrecy led to their stalls, and the purchaser gave, +besides the chestnuts and all the money he had in his private purse, a +promise of letting the horse-dealer have, after the next harvest, two +hundred bushels of oats at an unreasonably low price. Anton and Karl, in +their zeal for the estate, were highly indignant at this when it first +came to their knowledge months later. + +The forester had the misfortune not to be an especial favorite. The +baroness disliked the abrupt manner of the old man, who, in his +solitude, had entirely lost the obsequiousness to which she was +accustomed. One evening a plan was disclosed of giving him notice, and +replacing him by a younger man, who might be dressed in livery, and +serve as a representative huntsman, the family having been used to a +functionary of this kind on their late estate. Anton had some difficulty +in concealing his annoyance while stating that, in the disturbed state +of the district, the experienced man, who was feared by every scapegrace +around, was of more use than a stranger. Lenore was on his side, and the +plan was given up, with a look of resignation on the part of the +baroness, and an icy silence on that of her husband. Both henceforth +endured the uncouth old man with outward composure, but with visors +down. + +These were slight discords, indeed, such as must necessarily occur when +we live with people whose habits of thought and action differ from our +own; but it was no sign of contentment that Anton kept constantly +repeating this to himself. Not only did Karl suit him in many ways +better than the family, but so did the forester, and the shepherd too; +and he sometimes felt with pride that he was other than they were--that +he was one of the people. Lenore, too, was not what he had imagined her. +He had always honored in her the lady of rank, and felt her cordial +friendship a favor; but now she ceased to impress him as a distinguished +person. He intimately knew the pattern of all her cuffs and collars, and +very plainly saw a small rent in her dress which the careless girl +herself was long in observing. He had read through the few books that +she had brought with her, and had often, in conversation, overstepped +the limits of her information. Her way of expressing herself no longer +excited his admiration, and he would have been less indignant than of +yore if his friend Fink had made inquiry as to her sense. She had less +information than another girl of his acquaintance, and her tastes were +not half so cultivated; but hers was a healthy, upright nature; she had +quick feelings and noble instincts, and oh! she was beautiful. That he +had always thought her, but his tender reverence long wrapped her image +round with a sacred halo. It was now, however, when he saw her daily in +her simple morning dress, in the every-day moods of this working world, +that he first felt the full spell of her blooming youth. Yet he was +often dissatisfied with her too. One of the first days after her arrival +she had anxiously inquired how she could make herself useful in the +house, and he told her that her superintendence in the kitchen, and +exact keeping of accounts, might be of very great use indeed. He had +ruled an account-book for her, and had had the pleasure of teaching her +how to make entries in it. She threw herself warmly into the new +pursuit, and ran into the kitchen ten times a day to see how Balbette +was getting on; but her calculations were not much to be depended upon, +and after having for a week conscientiously labored at the task, some +days of sunshine came, and then she could not resist accompanying the +forester on his rounds after game, or riding far beyond the boundary of +the estate on her little pony, forgetting alike the cook and her +book-keeping. + +Again she purposed studying history and learning a little English under +was getting on; but her calculations were not much to be depended upon, +and after having for a week conscientiously labored at the task, some +days of sunshine came, and then she could not resist accompanying the +forester on his rounds after game, or riding far beyond the boundary of +the estate on her little pony, forgetting alike the cook and her +book-keeping. + +Again she purposed studying history and learning a little English under +Anton's superintendence. Anton was delighted. But she could not +recollect dates, found the pronunciation of English impossible, and +sauntered off into the stable, or went into the room of the bailiff, +whose mechanical achievements she could watch with the utmost interest +for hours at a time. One day, when Anton came to call her to her English +lesson, he found her in Karl's room, a plane in her hand, working hard +at the seat of a new sledge, and good-naturedly saying, "Don't take so +much trouble with me, Wohlfart; I can learn nothing: I have always been +a dunce." + +The snow again lay thick on the ground, and millions of ice-crystals +glittered in the sunshine on bush and tree. Karl had two sledges in +order, one a double-seated one, the other a running sledge for the young +lady, which, with her assistance, he had painted beautifully. + +At the next morning conference Anton had to announce to the baroness +that he must go in the afternoon to Tarow on some police business. + +"We know the Tarowskis from having met them at the Baths," said the +baroness. "We were quite intimate while there with Frau von Tarowska and +her daughter. I earnestly wish that the baron should have some +acquaintance in the neighborhood. Perhaps I may be able to prevail upon +him to pay a visit with us to-day. At all events, we ladies will avail +ourselves of your escort, and make an excursion thither." + +Anton gently reminded her of the vanished Bratzky and his own +suspicions. + +"They are only suspicions," said the baron, soothingly, "and there can +be no doubt that it is our duty to call. Indeed, I can not believe that +Herr von Tarowski had any thing to do with the man's disappearance." + +In the afternoon the two sledges were brought round. The baroness seated +herself with her husband in the larger one, and Lenore insisted upon +driving her own. "Wohlfart shall sit behind me on the seat," decided +she. + +The baron whispered to his wife, "Wohlfart!" + +"I can not allow you to drive alone," calmly replied she. "Have no +anxiety. He is in your service, besides; there is no great impropriety; +and you and I shall be together." + +The little bells sounded merrily across the plain. Lenore sat in the +highest spirits in her little nutshell of a seat, and loudly urged on +her horse. She often turned round, and her laughing face looked so +lovely under her dark cap that Anton's whole heart went out toward her. +Her green veil fluttered in the wind, and brushed across his cheeks, +hung over his face, and concealed the view. The next moment his breath +moved the ribbon round her neck, and he saw that only that slight silken +covering lay between his hand and her white throat and golden hair. +Absorbed in this contemplation, he could hardly resist the delight of +gently passing his fur glove over her hood, when a hare jumped from its +form close to him, shaking its ears threateningly, and significantly +flinging its legs in the air. Anton understood the friendly hint, and +drew back the fur glove; and the hare, pleased to have done a good turn, +galloped off over the plain. + +Our hero turned his thoughts into another direction. "This white road +bears no trace of man's presence, no slides, no footprints; there is no +life around to disturb the silent sleep of nature. We are travelers +penetrating into regions hitherto untrodden. One tree is like another, +the snow expanse is boundless, the silence of the grave around, and the +laughing sunshine above. I wish we were going on thus the whole day +through." + +"I am so glad to drive you for once," said Lenore, bending back, and +giving him her hand. + +Anton so far forgot the hare as to imprint a kiss upon her glove. + +"It is Danish leather," laughed Lenore; "do not give yourself the +trouble." + +"Here is a hole," said Anton, prepared to renew the attempt. + +"You are very attentive to-day," cried Lenore, slowly withdrawing her +hand. "The mood suits you charmingly, Wohlfart." + +The fur glove was again stretched out to detain the hand withdrawn. At +that moment two crows on the nearest tree began a violent dispute, +screamed, croaked, and flew about Anton's head. + +"Begone, you wretched creatures!" thought Anton, in his excitement; "you +shall not disturb me any more." + +But Lenore looked full and frankly at him. "I am not sure, either, that +you ought to be so attentive," said she, gravely. "You should not kiss +my hand, for I have no wish to return the compliment, and what is right +for the one must be right for the other. Huzza! my horse, forward!" + +"I am curious to know how these Poles will receive us," said Anton, +resuming their former conversation. + +"They can not be otherwise than friendly," returned Lenore. "We lived +for weeks with Frau von Tarowska, and took every excursion together. She +was the most elegant of all the ladies at the Baths, and her daughters, +too, made a great impression by their distinguished bearing. They are +very lovely and refined." + +"He has eyes, though, exactly like those of the forester's fox. I would +not trust him a yard out of my sight." + +"I have made myself very smart to-day," laughed Lenore, again turning +round; "for the girls are, as I said, lovely, and the Poles shall not +say that we Germans look ill beside them. How do you like my dress, +Wohlfart?" She turned back the flap of her pelisse. + +"I shall admire no other half so much," Anton replied. + +"You true-hearted Mr. Wohlfart!" cried Lenore, again reaching out her +hand. Alas! the warning hare, the crows, would have been powerless to +break the spell which attracted the fur glove to the Danish leather; +something stronger must interfere. + +When Anton stretched out his hand for the third time, he marveled to see +it rise against his will, and describe a circle in the air, while he +found himself outstretched in the snow. Looking round in amazement, he +saw Lenore sitting by the overturned sledge, while the horse stood +still, and laughed after his fashion. The lady had looked too much at +her companion and too little at the way, and so they had been upset. +Both jumped up lightly. Anton raised the sledge, and they were soon +galloping onward once more. But the sledge-idyl was ended. Lenore looked +steadily before her, and Anton occupied himself in shaking the snow out +of his sleeves. + +The sledges turned into a spacious court. A long, one-storied +farm-house, whitewashed, and roofed with shingles, looked upon the +wooden stables. Anton sprang out, and asked a servant in livery for the +dwelling of Herr von Tarowski. + +"This is the palace," replied the Pole, with a low obeisance, and +proceeded to help the ladies out of the sledges. Lenore and the baroness +exchanged looks of amazement. They entered a dirty hall; several bearded +domestics rushed up to them, eagerly tore off their wraps, and threw a +low door open. A numerous party was assembled in the large sitting-room. +A tall figure in black silk came forward to meet them, and received them +with the best grace in the world. So did the daughters--slender girls, +with their mother's eyes and manners. Several of the gentlemen were +introduced--Herr von this, Herr von that, all elegant-looking men in +evening dress. At last the master of the house came in, his cunning face +beaming with cordial hospitality, and his pair of fox's eyes looking +perfectly harmless. The reception was faultless--on all sides the +pleasant ease of perfect self-possession. The baron and the ladies were +treated as welcome additions, and Anton too had his share of attention. +His business was soon transacted, and Herr von Tarow smilingly reminded +him that they had met before. + +"That rogue of an inspector got off, after all," said he; "but do not be +uneasy, he will not escape his fate." + +"I hope not," replied Anton; "nor yet his abettors." + +Herr von Tarow's eyes tried hard to look dove-like as he went on to say, +"The fellow must be concealed somewhere about." + +"Possibly somewhere very near," said Anton, casting a significant glance +at the mean-looking buildings around. + +Our hero looked in vain among the gentlemen present for the stranger he +had previously seen, and charitably attributed to him good reasons for +wishing to remain unseen by German eyes. However, to make up for him, +there was another gentleman of a striking aspect, who seemed to be +treated with especial respect. "They come and go, assemble and +disperse," thought Anton, "just as the landlord said; there is a whole +band of them to feel anxious about, not merely a few individuals." At +that moment the stranger came up and began a courteous conversation. +However unstudied the speaker's manner might appear, yet Anton remarked +that he led the conversation, with the view of extracting his opinions +and feelings as a German. This made him reserved; and the Pole, finding +him so, soon lost his interest in him, and turned to the ladies. + +Anton had now time to look about him. A Vienna piano-forte stood amid +furniture evidently made by the village carpenter, and near the sofa a +tattered carpet was spread over the black boards. The ladies sat on +velvet seats around a worn-out table. The mistress of the house and her +grown-up daughters had elegant Parisian toilettes; but a side door being +casually opened, Anton caught a sight of some children running about in +the next room so scantily clothed that he heartily pitied them. They, +however, did not seem to feel the cold, and were screaming and fighting +like little demons. + +A fine damask table-cloth was now laid on the unsteady table, and a +silver tea-kettle put down. The conversation went on most pleasantly. +Graceful French <i>bon mots</i> and animated exclamations in melodious Polish +blended occasionally with an admixture of quiet German. The sudden +bursts of laughter, the gestures and the eagerness, all showed Anton +that he was among foreigners. They spoke rapidly, and excitement shone +in their eyes and reddened their cheeks. + +They were a more excitable people, more elastic, and more impressionable +than his countrymen. Anton remarked with amazement how perfectly Lenore +seemed in her element among them. Her face, too, grew flushed; she +laughed and gesticulated like the rest; and her eyes looked, he thought, +boldly into the courteous faces of the gentlemen present. The same +smile, the same hearty, natural manner that she had enchanted him with, +when alone, she now lavished upon strangers, who had acted as highwaymen +against her father's interests. This displeased him to the utmost. Then +the saloon, so incongruous in its arrangements, the carpet dirty and +torn, the children in the next room barefooted, and the master of the +house the secret patron of a dishonest rogue, and perhaps worse still! +Anton contented himself with coldly looking on, and said as little as he +possibly could. + +At last a young gentleman struck a few chords on the piano, and all +sprang up and voted for a dance. The lady of the house rang, four +wild-looking men rushed into the room, snatched up the grand piano, and +carried it off. The whole party swept through the hall to an apartment +opposite. Anton was tempted to rub his eyes as he entered it. It was an +empty room, with rough-cast walls, benches around them, and a frightful +old stove in a corner. In the middle, linen was hung on lines to dry. +Anton could hardly suppose they meant to dance here; but the linen was +torn down by one servant in the twinkling of an eye, while another ran +to the stove, and was equally expeditious in blowing up the fire, and in +a very few moments six couples stood up for a quadrille. As there was a +lady wanting, a young count, with a black beard like velvet, and a +wondrously beautiful pair of blue eyes, bound his cambric handkerchief +round his arm, and with a graceful courtesy announced himself a lady. He +was immediately led out by another gentleman. Their dancing, in spite of +its fashionable character, betrayed at times the fire and impetuosity of +their race. Lenore threw herself into it heart and soul. + +Meanwhile the baroness was conversing with great animation with her +host, and Frau von Tarow made it her occupation to amuse the baron. +Here, then, were all the social forms, the keen enjoyment of the +present, which Anton had so often admired, but now they only excited a +cold smile. It did not seem to him creditable that a German family +should be on terms of such intimacy with recent enemies--people who were +probably at this very time plotting against them and their country. +Accordingly, when the first dance was over, and Lenore, passing him, +asked why he did not dance with her, he replied, "I am every moment +expecting to see Bratzky's face appear in some corner of the room." + +"We will not think of him at present," returned Lenore, turning away +offended. + +Dance followed dance, the heads of the young people swam, their curls +hung down damp, and relaxed with their exertions. Another rush of +bearded domestics, and iced Champagne was brought in. The dancers tossed +it off standing, and immediately a cry rose on all sides for a Polish +mazurka--the national dance. Now, then, the dresses fluttered wide and +high; the dancers positively flew along; the ladies were tossed like +balls from one partner's arm to another; and Lenore, alas! in the midst +of it all. + +Anton stood near the distinguished Pole, carrying on a spiritless +conversation, and coldly listened to the praises the former liberally +bestowed on the German dancer. The rapid movements and strong excitement +that were natural to the Polish girls made Lenore wild, and, Anton +regretted to see, unfeminine; and his glance wandered away from her to +the rough walls, the dusty stove, in which an immense fagot was burning, +and the ceiling, from which long gray cobwebs hung down. + +It was late before the baroness broke up the party. The furs were +brought in, the guests were wrapped therein, and the little bells +sounded again cheerily over the snowy scene. But Anton was glad that +Lenore now drove her father, and that he had to take care of the +baroness. Silently he guided the sledge, thinking all the while that +another whom he knew would never have swung to and fro in the mazes of +the mazurka beneath the fluttering cobwebs, and in the house of her +country's foes. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + + +Mr. Itzig was now regularly established in business. Whoever visited him +passed through a much-frequented hall, and went up a not entirely clean +staircase, at the head of which was a white door, on which a great plate +revealed the name of "V. Itzig." This door was closed. It had a very +massive China handle, and was altogether much more suggestive and +imposing than Ehrenthal's had been. Passing through this door, the +visitor entered an empty lobby, in which a shrewd youth spent the day as +half porter, half errand-boy, and a spy besides. This youth differed +from the original Itzig only by a species of shabby gentility in his +appearance. He wore his master's old clothes--shining silk waistcoats, +and a coat a little too large for him. He showed, in short, that the new +firm was more advanced in matters of taste and toilette than the in many +respects commonplace establishment of Ehrenthal. The visitor, advancing +through the lobby, was received by Mr. Itzig in one of two small rooms, +of which the first contained little furniture, but two strikingly +handsome lamps--a temporary security for the unpaid interest of a note +of hand. The second was his sleeping apartment; in it were a simple bed, +a long sofa, and a large round mirror, with a broad gilt frame, an +acquisition from the secret stores of the worthy Pinkus. Itzig himself +was marvelously changed, and on dark days, in his dimly-lighted office, +he might really--looked at from a little distance--have almost passed +for a gentleman. His haggard face had filled out, his great freckles had +faded away, and his red hair, through much pomade and skillful brushing, +had grown darker and more manageable. He had still a preference for +black; but his clothes were new now, and fitted him better; for Mr. +Itzig had acquired a taste for externals. He no longer grudged himself +good food--nay, he even allowed himself wine. Yet, insignificant as his +new establishment was, Itzig only used it at night and during +office-hours. His inclinations still led him to his old haunts at Löbel +Pinkus's. Thus he led a double life--that of a respectable man of +business in his newly-painted office, beneath the glare of his solar +lamps; and when in the caravanserai, which fitted his taste far better, +a modest sort of life, with red woolen curtains, and a four-cornered +chest for a sofa. Perhaps this shelter suited him so exactly, because of +his uncontested influence over the master of the house. Pinkus, to his +shame be it spoken, had sunk into a mere tool of Veitel's, and his wife, +too, was devoted in her allegiance to the rising man. + +On the present occasion Itzig sat carelessly on his sofa, and smoked a +pipe with an amber mouth-piece. He was completely the gentleman, and +expected a visitor of distinction. The bell rang, the servant flew to +the door, and a sharp voice was heard. Next there arose a dispute in the +lobby, which moved Veitel to shut up his writing-table in all haste, and +to put the key into his pocket. + +"Not at home, indeed! He is at home, you wretched greenhorn you!" cried +the sharp voice to the guardian of the door. Next some resisting body +was heard to be thrust on one side. Veitel buried himself in an old +mortgage. The door opened, and Hippus appeared, red-faced and much +ruffled. He had never looked more like an old raven. + +"So you deny yourself, do you? You tell that grub yonder to send away +old friends! Of course, you are become quite genteel, you fool! Did one +ever meet with such barefaced ingratitude? Because the fellow has +swindled himself into two fine rooms, his former associates are no +longer good enough for him! But you have reckoned without your host, my +boy, as far as I am concerned; I am not to be got rid of so easily." + +Veitel looked at the angry little man before him with an expression of +countenance by no means friendly. + +"Why did you make a scene with the young man?" he said, coldly; "he has +done nothing wrong. I was expecting a visitor on business, and I gave +orders to exclude all strangers. How could I know that you would be +coming? Have we not settled that you should only visit me in the +evening? Why do you disturb me during my business hours?" + +"Your business hours, you young gosling, with your shell still hanging +about you!" cried Hippus, still more irate, and threw himself on the +sofa. "Your business hours!" he continued, with infinite contempt; "any +hours are good enough for <i>your</i> business." + +"You are drunk again, Hippus," answered Veitel, thoroughly roused. "How +often have I told you that I will have nothing to do with you when you +come out of the spirit-shop?" + +"Indeed!" cried Hippus; "you son of a witch, my visit is at all times an +honor to you. I drunk!" he hiccoughed out; "and with what, you +jack-pudding you? How is a man to get drunk," he screamed out, "when he +has not wherewithal to pay for a glass?" + +"I knew that he was without money again," said Veitel, in exasperation. +"I gave you a dollar quite lately, but you are a perfect sponge. It is a +pity to waste a farthing upon you." + +"You will prove, though, that it is not at all a pity," answered the old +man, tauntingly; "you will give me ten dollars here on the spot." + +"That I will not," cried Veitel. "I am sick of supplying you. You know +our agreement; you are only to have money given you when you do +something for me in return. And now you are not in a condition either to +read or write." + +"I am always good enough for you and such as you, even if I had had a +ten times better breakfast," said the old man, more calmly. "Give me +what you have got for me to do. You are become a covetous rascal, but +I'll put up with you. I will forgive your having denied yourself; I will +forgive your having become a presumptuous ass--making a show with lamps +that were meant for your betters; and I will not deprive you of my +advice, provided, be it understood, I duly get my honorarium. And so we +will make peace, my son. Now tell me what deviltry you have in hand." + +Veitel pushed a thick parchment toward him, and said, "First of all, you +must look over that, write me out an abstract of it, and tell me what +you think of it. It has been offered me for sale. Now, however, I am +expecting some one, so you must go into the other room, sit down at the +table, and get through your task. When it is done we will talk about the +money." + +Mr. Hippus took the heavy deed under his arm and steered toward the +door. + +"To-day I am going to oblige you again, because you are a good boy," +said he, affectionately, lifting his hand to pat Veitel on the cheek. + +Veitel tolerated the caress, and was going to shut the door, when the +drunken old man turned round once more, and inquired with a cunning +leer, "So you expect some one, my child? Whom do you expect, little +Itzig? Is it a lad or a lady?" + +"It is a money-matter," said Veitel, shrugging his shoulders. + +"A money-matter!" repeated Hippus, with tender approbation of his +associate. "Ay, you are great in them--an accomplished swindler. Truly +he who gets money from you is lost; it were better for him to jump into +the water at once, though water is a despicable element, you confounded +little swindler you!" And, raising his head, he fixed his swimming eyes +affectionately on Veitel. + +"And yet you yourself are come to get money from me," replied Veitel, +with a forced smile. + +"Yes, I am determined," said Hippus, stammering. "I am not flesh and +blood! I am Hippus! I am Death!" and he tried to laugh intelligently. + +The door-bell rang. Veitel desired him to keep quiet, shut the door upon +him, took up his amber pipe, and awaited his visitor. + +A sword was heard to clatter in the lobby--a hussar officer came in. +Eugene Rothsattel had become a little older since the last winter, his +fine face was more haggard, and he had a blue ring round his eyes. He +put on an appearance of indifference, which did not deceive Mr. Itzig +for a single second, for behind that mask his experienced glance +detected the fever peculiar to hard-pressed debtors. + +"Mr. Itzig?" inquired the officer <i>de haut en bas</i>. + +"Such is my name," said Veitel, rising carelessly from the sofa. Eugene +looked at him uneasily. This was the very man against whom his father +had been warned, and now fate had driven him into the same snare. "I +have to pay a debt in the course of the next few days to certain +agents," began the lieutenant, "gentlemen of your acquaintance. When I +proposed to hold a consultation with them, I was informed by both that +they had sold their claims to you." + +"I bought them unwillingly," replied Itzig. "I am not fond of having any +thing to do with military men. Here are two notes of hand, one for +eleven hundred, and the other for eight hundred, making a total of +nineteen hundred dollars. Do you recognize these signatures as yours?" +he coldly inquired, producing the documents; "and do you acknowledge +nineteen hundred to be the sum borrowed by you?" + +"I suppose it must be about that," said the lieutenant, reluctantly. + +"I ask whether you acknowledge that to be the sum that you have to pay +me on these notes of hand?" + +"In the devil's name, yes," cried the lieutenant. "I own the debt, +though I did not receive the half of it in cash." + +Veitel locked up the papers in his desk, and, with a shrug of his +shoulders, said ironically, "At all events, I have paid the whole sum to +the parties herein named. Accordingly, I shall summon you to pay me +to-morrow and the next day." + +The officer was silent for a while, and a flush slowly overspread his +sunken cheeks. At last, after a hard struggle, he began: "I beg of you, +Mr. Itzig, to give me a little more time." + +Veitel took up his amber pipe and leisurely turned it round. "I can give +you no further credit," said he. + +"Come, Itzig, be reasonable," said the officer, with forced familiarity. +"I shall very probably soon be able to pay you." + +"You will have as little money in a few weeks' time as you have now," +replied Veitel, rudely. + +"I am ready to write an I.O.U. for a larger sum, if you will have +patience." + +"I never enter into any transactions of the kind," lied Veitel. + +"I will procure you an acknowledgment of the debt from my father." + +"The Baron Rothsattel would obtain as little credit with me as +yourself." + +The lieutenant angrily struck the floor with his sword: "And supposing I +do not pay?" he broke out; "you know that I am not legally compelled to +do so." + +"I know," quietly replied Veitel. "Will you pay to-morrow and the next +day?" + +"I can not!" exclaimed Eugene, in despair. + +"Then take care of the coat on your back," said Veitel, turning away. + +"Wohlfart was right to warn me against you," cried Eugene, beside +himself. "You are an obdurate--" he suppressed the last word. + +"Speak your mind freely," said Itzig; "no one hears you. Your words are +like the fire in my stove; it crackles now, in an hour it will be burned +to ashes. What you say to me in private, the people in the street will +say to you in three days' time if you do not pay." + +Eugene turned away with a curse. On reaching the door he stood still for +a moment, then rushed down stairs. + +Veitel looked round triumphantly. "The son as well as the father! He, +too, is safely noosed," said he to himself; "he can never procure the +money. There is an end of the Rothsattels, and their Wohlfart will not +be able to sustain them. When I am married to Rosalie, Ehrenthal's +mortgages will be mine. That will be the time, too, for finding the +vanished notes of hand among my father-in-law's papers. Then I shall +have the baron completely in my power, and the estate will be mine." + +After this soliloquy he opened the door that had shut out Mr. Hippus +from the distinguished visitor--the sunken from the sinking--and he +found the little advocate fast asleep over the deed. Itzig looked at him +with hearty contempt, and said, "He grows burdensome. He said he was +death; I wish he were dead, and I freed from him." Then roughly shaking +up the old man, he screamed out to him, "You are fit for nothing but to +sleep; why must you come here to snore? Go home; I will give you the +deed when you are sober." + +The advocate accordingly reeled away, promising to return the following +afternoon. Itzig proceeded to brush his silk hat with enviable +dexterity; he then put on his best coat, gave his hair its most +graceful curve, and went to the house of his antagonist Ehrenthal. As he +entered the hall he cast a shy glance at the office door, and hurried on +to the staircase. But he stopped on the lowest step. "There he is, +sitting again in the office," said he, listening. "I hear him mutter; he +often mutters so when he is alone. I will venture in; perhaps I can make +something of him." So he stepped slowly to the door and listened again; +then taking heart, he opened it suddenly. In the dimly-lighted room sat +a stooping figure in a leathern chair, a shapeless hat on its head. The +figure kept constantly nodding, and muttering unintelligible words. How +changed was Hirsch Ehrenthal in the course of the past year! When he +last drove over the baron's estate, he was a stout, respectable-looking +man, a fresh, well-preserved man, who knew how to stick in his +breast-pin to the best advantage, and cut a figure in ladies' eyes. Now +the head that was constantly nodding in nervous debility was that of an +old man, and the beard that hung down from his furrowed face had been +untrimmed for weeks. He was a picture of that most lamentable decay, +when the mind precedes the body on the way to second childhood. + +The agent stood at the door and looked in dismay at his former master. +Then, advancing nearer, he said, "I wish to speak to you, Mr. +Ehrenthal." + +The old man continued to nod his head, and answered in a trembling +voice, "Hirsch Ehrenthal is my name; what have you to say to me?" + +"I wish to speak to you on important business," continued Itzig. + +"I hear," returned Ehrenthal, without looking up; "if the business be +important, why do you not speak?" + +"Do you know me, Hirsch Ehrenthal?" said Itzig, bending down and raising +his voice. + +The man in the leathern chair looked at him with languid eyes, and at +length recognized him. He got up in all haste, and stood, his head still +nodding, with a glance full of hatred and terror in his eyes. "What do +you want here in my office?" cried he, with a quivering voice. "How can +you come before me? Get out, man! get out!" + +Itzig remained stationary. "Don't scream so; I am not doing any thing to +you; I only want to speak to you on important subjects, if you will be +calm as a man of your years should be." + +"It is Itzig," murmured the old man; "he wants to speak on important +subjects, and I am to be calm. How can I be calm," screamed he again, +"when I see you before me? You are my enemy; you have ruined me here and +ruined me there; you have been to me like the evil spirit with the +sword, on which hangs the drop of gall. I opened my mouth, you pierced +me with your sword, the gall has reached my heart; I needs must tremble +when I see you." + +"Be quiet," said Itzig; "and when you are so, listen to me." + +"Is his name Itzig?" mumbled the old man to himself. "His name is Itzig, +but the dogs bark at him as he walks through the streets. I will not see +you," he again exclaimed. "Get out! I loathe the sight of you: I would +rather have to do with a spider than with you." + +To this Veitel replied in a resigned voice, "What has happened, +Ehrenthal, has happened, and it's no use talking of it. You behaved +unkindly to me, and I acted against you; both are true." + +"He ate every Sabbath at my table," growled the old man. + +"If you remember that," continued Itzig, "why, so will I. True, I have +eaten at your table, and on that account I am sorry to be on bad terms +with you. I have always felt a great attachment to your family." + +"You have shown your attachment, young Itzig," continued the old man. +"You are he who came into my house, and killed me before I am laid in my +grave." + +"What nonsense are you talking?" continued Veitel, impatiently. "Why do +you always speak as if you were dead, and I the evil spirit with the +sword? I am here, and I wish your prosperous life, and not your death. I +will so contrive that you shall yet occupy a good position among our +people, and that they who pass you in the street shall again take off +their hats to you, as they did before Hirsch Ehrenthal became childish." + +Ehrenthal mechanically took off his hat and sat down again. His hair had +grown white. + +"There ought to be friendship between you and me," continued Veitel, +persuasively, "and your business ought to be as mine. I have sent to you +more than one man of our connection, and have told you my wishes through +him, and Mrs. Ehrenthal, your wife, has told you them too. I am become a +man who can rank with the best men of business; I can show you a safe +capital larger than you imagine. Why should we not put our money +together? If you will give me your daughter Rosalie to wife, I shall be +able to act for you as your son-in-law." + +Old Ehrenthal looked at the suitor with a glance in which something of +his old cunning shone through his half-wittedness. "If you want my +daughter Rosalie," replied he, "hear the only question I have to put: +What will you give me if I give you Rosalie?" + +"I will reckon it up to you at once," cried Veitel. + +"You can reckon up a good deal, I dare say," said Ehrenthal, declining +the statement, "but I will only require one thing: if you can give me +back my son Bernhard, you may have my daughter. If you can not bring +Bernhard out of the grave, so long as I have any voice left I shall say, +'Get out with you! get out of my office!' Get out!" screamed he, in a +sudden transport of rage, clenching both fists against the suitor. +Veitel quietly retreated into the shadow cast by the door, the old man +sunk down again on his chair, and threatened and muttered to himself. +Itzig watched him till his words again became unintelligible, when he +shrugged his shoulders and left the room. + +As he went up stairs to pay his visit to the ladies, he repeated the +movement occasionally, to express his utter contempt of the poor +imbecile below. He rang the bell, and was admitted by the untidy cook +with a familiar smile. + +Meanwhile Eugene drifted helplessly from one officer's room to another. +He went to Feroni's; the oysters were flavorless, the Burgundy tasted +like ink. Again he paced up and down the streets, the sweat of anguish +on his brow. At last he sat down in a confectioner's shop, tired to +death, and revolved every possible contingency. If Wohlfart were only +here! But there was no time to write to him. These agents had put him +off from day to day; it was only last night that they had both finally +referred him to Mr. Itzig. But, though it was too late to write to +Anton, might not this obliging friend have some acquaintance in the +town? In recommending young Sturm, Anton had told him that the future +bailiff's father was a safe man, not without substance. Perhaps he could +get money from the father of a hussar now in the service of his family, +if, indeed, the old man had any money. That was the question. + +He turned to the Directory, and found John Sturm, porter, Island +Street, No. 17. He drove thither in a drosky. A loud "Come in" was the +reply to his hurried knock. The sore-pressed officer crossed the +threshold of the porter. Father Sturm sat alone with his can of beer, a +small daily paper in his hand. "A hussar!" cried he, remaining seated +through very astonishment. The officer, on his part, was astonished at +the colossal form now contemplating him, and both were silent. + +"To be sure!" said the giant. "A hussar of my Karl's regiment--the coat +is the same, the epaulettes the same; you are welcome, comrade!" and he +rose. Then for the first time perceiving the metal of the epaulettes, he +exclaimed, "As I live, an officer!" + +"My name is Eugene von Rothsattel," began the lieutenant. "I am an +acquaintance of Mr. Wohlfart." + +"Of Mr. Wohlfart and of my son Karl," said Sturm, eagerly; "sit down, +sir; it is an exceeding pleasure and honor to me to see you." He brought +out a chair, and thumped it down in his zeal so as to make the door +shake again. + +Eugene was going to sit down. "Not yet," said Sturm; "I will first wipe +it, that the uniform take no harm. Since my Karl went away, things are a +little dusty here." + +He wiped and polished up the chair for his visitor. "Now, sir, allow me +to sit opposite you. You bring me tidings of my little fellow?" + +"Only," replied Eugene, "that he is well in health, and that my father +much values his services." + +"Indeed!" cried Sturm, smiling all over, and rapping on the table so as +to create a small earthquake in the room. "I knew, sir, that your father +the baron would be satisfied with him; I would have given him a bond for +that on stamped paper. He was a clever lad, even when he was that high," +indicating with his hand a degree of smallness that belongs to no human +being, even in the earliest days of its visible life. + +"But can he do any thing?" he anxiously inquired, "in spite of--you know +what." He held out his great fingers, and made confidential signs with +them. "First and middle finger--it was a great misfortune, sir." + +Eugene now called to mind the unlucky accident. "He has got over it," +said he, rather embarrassed at the part the paternal affections of the +giant made him play. "I came here to ask a favor." + +"A favor?" laughed Sturm; "ask away, young baron; that is a simple +matter. Any one from the house where my Karl is bailiff has a right to +ask a favor from old Sturm. That is my view of the case." + +"Well, then, Mr. Sturm, to make a long story short, I am called upon to +make a heavy payment to-morrow, and I want the money for it. The debt +has come upon me suddenly, and I have no time to communicate with my +father. I know no one in this town to whom I can turn with so much +confidence as to the father of our bailiff." + +Sturm bent forward, and in his delight clapped the officer on the knee. +"That was nobly said. You are a gentleman, who keeps to his own house, +and does not go to strangers for what he can have from his own people. +You want money? My Karl is bailiff at your father the baron's; my Karl +has some money, so it is all right. How much do you want? A hundred +dollars? Two hundred dollars? The money is there." + +"I can hardly take courage, Mr. Sturm, to tell you the amount of the +sum," said Eugene, embarrassed; "it is nineteen hundred dollars." + +"Nineteen hundred dollars!" repeated the giant, in amazement; "that's a +capital; that's a firm; that's what people call a fortune." + +"So it is, Mr. Sturm," said Eugene, sadly. "And since you are so +friendly toward me, I must own to you that I am heartily grieved that it +should be so much. I am ready to give you a note of hand for it, and to +pay any interest you may like." + +"Do you know what," said Sturm, after some cogitation, "we will say +nothing about the interest; you can settle that with my Karl; but as to +the note of hand, that was a good thought of yours. A note of hand is +pleasant, on account of the chances of life and death. You and I would +have no need of such a thing; but I may die before my time. That would +not matter, for you, who know of the transaction, would still be there. +But then you might die, which, however, I have no fear of--quite the +contrary; but still such a thing might be, and then my Karl ought to +have your signature, so that he might come forward and say, 'My poor +young master has written this, therefore pay.'" + +"You will then have the kindness to lend me the money?" + +"There is no kindness in it," said Sturm; "it is but my duty, as the +thing is done regularly, and my dwarf is your bailiff." + +Eugene was moved as he looked at the giant's laughing face. "But, Mr. +Sturm, I want the money to-morrow." + +"Of course," replied Sturm, "that is just what suits me. Come, baron, +this way." He took up the candle, and led him into his bed-room. "Excuse +things being so disorderly; but I am a lone man, and at my work all day +long. Look here, this is my money-box." He drew out the iron chest. "It +is safe from thieves," said he, with self-complacency, "for no one in +the town can stir it but I, and no one can open it, for the lock is the +masterpiece of the father of my dear departed wife. Few besides me can +lift the lid, and even if many of them came, they would find it too +tough a job for them; so you may believe that the money is safe here +from rogues, and swindlers, and the like," said he, triumphantly. He was +about to put the key into the lock. "Stop," he suddenly cried; "one word +more. I trust you, baron, as I do my Karl--that of course; but just +answer me this question: You really are the young baron?" + +Now it was Eugene's turn to smile, and, putting his hand into his +pocket, he said, "Here is my patent." + +"Ah! many thanks," cried Sturm, carefully looking through the paper, and +reverentially reading the names, then bowing, and giving it back with +two fingers in the most respectful manner possible. + +"And here," continued Eugene, "I happen to have a letter of Wohlfart's +in my pocket." + +"Of course," cried Sturm, looking at the address, "that is his living +hand." + +"And here is his signature." + +"Your devoted Wohlfart," read the giant; "and if he writes that, you may +be sure that it is true. So now the business is settled," said he, +opening the box. "Here is the money. So, then, nineteen hundred +dollars!" He took five great rolls out of the chest, held them +comfortably in one hand, and gave them to Eugene. "Here are a thousand." + +Eugene tried in vain to hold them. + +"Just so," said the porter; "I will bring them down to the carriage. The +rest I must give you in promissory notes. These are worth a little less +than a hundred dollars, as of course you know." + +"It does not signify," said Eugene. + +"No," said the giant. "It can be mentioned in the note of hand. And now +the matter is all settled." He closed the chest, and pushed it under the +bed. + +Eugene re-entered the little parlor with a lightened heart. + +"Now, then, I will carry the money to the carriage," cried Sturm. + +"The note of hand has yet to be written." + +"True," nodded the giant; "we must do things in order. Just see, sir, +whether you can write with my coarse pen. If I had known that I should +have such a visitor, I would have brought a better one with me from Mr. +Schröter's." + +Eugene wrote out an acknowledgment, while Sturm sat by his can of beer, +and looked at him in admiration. Then he accompanied him to the +carriage, and said at leave-taking, "Greet my little lad heartily, and +Mr. Wohlfart too. I have promised Karl to come to him at Christmas, on +account of the Christmas-tree; but my health is no longer as good as it +should be. I am forty-nine past." + +A short time afterward, Eugene, writing to Anton, casually mentioned +that he had borrowed nineteen hundred dollars from father Sturm on a +note of hand. "Try to arrange the matter for me," said the letter; "of +course my father must know nothing of it. A good-hearted, foolish +fellow, that old Sturm. Think of something nice for his son the +hussar--something that I can bring him when I pay you a visit." + +Anton flung down the letter indignantly. "There is no helping them; the +principal was right," said he. "He has squandered the money in golden +bracelets for a mercenary <i>danseuse</i>, or at dice with his lawless +comrades, and he now pays his usurer's bills with the hard earnings of +an honest working-man." + +He called Karl into his room. "I have often been sorry to have brought +you into this confusion, but to-day I deeply feel how wrong it was. I am +ashamed to tell you what has happened. Young Rothsattel has taken +advantage of your father's good-heartedness to borrow from him nineteen +hundred dollars!" + +"Nineteen hundred dollars from my governor!" cried Karl. "Had my Goliath +so much money to lend! He always pretended that he did not know how to +economize." + +"Part of your inheritance is given away in return for a worthless note +of hand, and what makes it still more aggravating is the coolness of the +thoughtless borrower. Have you, then, not heard of it from your father?" + +"From him!" cried Karl; "I should think not. I am only sorry that you +should be so vexed. I implore you not to make any disturbance about it. +You best know how many clouds hang over this house; do not increase the +anxiety of these parents on my account." + +"To be silent in a case like this," replied Anton, "would be to make +one's self an accomplice in an unfair transaction. You must immediately +write and tell your father not to be so obliging in future; the young +gentleman is capable of going to him again." + +Anton's next step was to write Eugene a letter of serious remonstrance, +in which he pointed out to him that the only way of giving Sturm +tolerably good security would be the procuring the baron's +acknowledgment of his son's debt, and begged that he would lose no time +in doing this. + +This letter written, Anton said to Karl, "If he does not confess to his +parents, I shall state the whole affair to the baron in his presence the +very next day after his arrival. Don't try to dissuade me; you are just +like your father." + +The consequence of this communication was, that Eugene left off writing +to Anton, and that his next letter to his father contained a rather +unintelligible clause: "Wohlfart," he said, "was a man to whom he +certainly had obligations; only the worst of that kind of people was, +that they took advantage of these to adopt a dictatorial tone that was +unbearable; therefore it was best civilly to shake them off." + +This opinion was quite after the baron's own heart, and he warmly +applauded it. "Eugene always takes the right view of the case," said he; +"and I too earnestly long for the day when I shall be able to +superintend the property, and to dismiss our Mr. Wohlfart." + +The baroness, who had read the letter out to her husband, merely +replied, "You would miss Wohlfart very much if he were to leave you." + +Lenore, however, was unable to suppress her displeasure; and, leaving +the room in silence, she went to look for Anton out of doors. + +"What are you and Eugene differing about?" she cried, as soon as she saw +him. + +"Has he been complaining of me to you?" inquired Anton, in return. + +"Not to me; but in his letter to my father he does not speak as he ought +of one who has been so kind to him." + +"Perhaps this is accidental--a fit of ill-humor that will pass off." + +"No, it is more, and I will know about it." + +"If it be more, you can only hear it from himself." + +"Then, Wohlfart," cried Lenore, "Eugene has been doing something wrong, +and you know of it." + +"Be that as it may," returned Anton, gravely, "it is not my secret, else +I should not withhold it from you. I pray you to believe that I have +acted uprightly toward your brother." + +"What I believe little signifies," cried Lenore. "I am to know nothing; +I understand nothing; I can do nothing in this wretched world but grieve +and fret when others are unjust to you." + +"I very often," continued Anton, "feel the responsibility laid upon me +by your father's indisposition a grievous burden. It is natural that he +should be annoyed with me when I have to communicate unwelcome facts. +This can not be avoided. I have strength, however, to brave much that is +painful, so long as you and the baroness are unshaken in your conviction +that I always act in your interest so far as I understand it." + +"My mother knows what you are to us," said Lenore. "She never, indeed, +speaks of you to me, but I can read her glance when she looks at you +across the table. She has always known how to conceal her thoughts; how +she does so more than ever--yes, even to me. I seem to see her pure +image behind a white veil; and she is become so fragile, that often the +tears rush to my eyes merely in looking at her. She always says what is +kind and judicious, but she seems to have lost interest in most things; +and though she smiles at what I say, I fancy that the effort gives her +pain." + +"Yes, just so," cried Anton mournfully. + +"She only lives to take care of my father. No one, not even her +daughter, knows what she inwardly suffers. She is like an angel, +Wohlfart, who lingers on our earth reluctantly. I can be but little to +her, that I feel. I am not helpful, and want all that makes my mother so +lovely--- the self-control, the calm bearing, the enchanting manner. My +father is sick--my brother thoughtless--my mother, spite of all her +love, reserved toward me. Wohlfart, I am indeed alone." + +She leaned on the side of the well and wept. + +"Perhaps it will all be for your good," said Anton, soothingly, from the +other side the well. "Yours is an energetic nature, and I believe you +can feel very strongly." + +"I can be very angry," chimed in Lenore through her tears, "and then +very careless again." + +"You grew up without a care in prosperous circumstances, and your life +was easy as a game." + +"My lessons were difficult enough, I am sure," remonstrated Lenore. + +"I think that you were in danger of becoming a little wild and haughty +in character." + +"I am afraid I was so," cried Lenore. + +"Now, you have had to bear heavy trials, and the present looks serious +too; and if I may venture to say so, dear lady, I think you will find +here just what the baroness has acquired in the great world--dignity and +self-control. I often think that you are changed already." + +"Was I, then, an unbearable little savage formerly?" asked Lenore, +laughing in the midst of her tears, and looking at Anton with girlish +archness. + +He had hard work not to tell her how lovely she was at that moment; but +he valiantly conquered the inclination, and said, as coolly as he could, +"Not so bad as that, dear lady." + +"And do you know what you are?" asked Lenore, playfully. "You are, as +Eugene writes, a little schoolmaster." + +"So that is what he has written!" cried Anton, enlightened. + +Lenore grew grave at once. "Do not let us speak of him. As soon as I +heard his letter, I came here to tell you that I trust you as I do no +one on earth, if it be not my mother; that I shall always trust you as +long as I live; that nothing could shake my faith in you; that you are +the only friend that we have in our adversity; and that I could ask your +pardon on my knees when any one offends you in word or even thought." + +"Lenore, dear lady," cried Anton, joyously, "say no more." + +"I will say," continued Lenore, "how I admire the self-possession with +which you follow your own way and manage the people, and that it is you +alone who keep any order on the estate, or can bring it into a better +condition. This has been upon my mind to say; and now, Wohlfart, you +know it." + +"I thank you, lady," cried Anton; "such words make this a happy day. But +I am not so self-possessed and efficient as you think, and every day I +feel more and more that I am not the person to be really of service +here. If I ever wish that you were not the baron's daughter, but his +son, it is when I go over this property." + +"Yes," said Lenore, "that is just the old regret. Our former bailiff +used often to say the same. When I sit over my work, and see you and Mr. +Sturm go out together, I get so hot, and I throw my useless frame +aside. I can only spend, and understand nothing but buying lace; and +even that I don't understand well, according to mamma. However, you must +put up with the stupid Lenore as your good friend;" and she gave him her +own true-hearted smile. + +"It is now many years since I have, in my inmost soul, felt your +friendship to be a great blessing," cried Anton, much moved. "It has +always, up to this very hour, been one of my heart's best joys secretly +to feel myself your faithful friend." + +"And so it shall ever be between us," said Lenore. "Now I am comfortable +again. And do not plague yourself any more about Eugene's foolish ways. +Even I am not going to do so." + +Thus they parted like innocent children who find a pleasure in saying to +each other all that the passion of love would teach to conceal. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + + +The enmity between Pix and Specht raged fiercely as ever. Now, however, +Specht stood no longer alone; the quartette was on his side; for Specht +was wounded in feelings that the quartette respected, and often +celebrated in song. Mr. Specht was in love. Certainly this was nothing +new to his excitable nature; on the contrary, his love was eternal, +though its object often changed. Every lady of his acquaintance had, in +her turn, been worshiped by him. Even the elderly cousin had been for a +time the subject of his dreams. + +On this occasion, however, Mr. Specht's love had some solid foundation. +He had discovered a young woman, a well-to-do householder, the widow of +a fur-merchant, with a round face and a pleasant pair of nut-brown eyes. +He followed her to the theatre and in the public gardens, walked past +her windows as often as he could, and did all that in him lay to win her +heart. + +He disturbed the quiet of her bereaved life by showers of anonymous +notes, in which he threatened to quit this sublunary scene if she +despised him. In the list of advertisements, among fresh caviare, +shell-fish, and servants wanting places, there appeared, to the +astonishment of the public, numerous poetical effusions, where Adèle, +the name of the widow, was made prominent either in an acrostic, or else +by its component letters being printed in large capitals. At length +Specht had not been able to resist taking the quartette into his +confidence on the subject. The two basses were amazed at such poetical +efforts having proceeded from their office. True, they had often +ridiculed them with others, while Specht inwardly groaned over +counting-house criticism; but now that they knew one of themselves to +have been the perpetrator, the <i>esprit de corps</i> awoke, and they not +only received his confessions kindly, but lent him their assistance in +bribing the watchman in the widow's street, and serenading her, on which +occasion a window had been seen to open, and something white to appear +for a few minutes. Specht was now at the summit of earthly felicity, and +as that condition is not a reticent one, he imprudently extended his +confidence to others of his colleagues, and so it was that the matter +came to the ears of Pix. + +And now there began in the local advertiser a most extraordinary game of +hide-and-seek. There were numerous insertions appointing a Mr. S. to a +rendezvous with one dear to him in every possible part of the town. +Wherever the place, Specht regularly repaired to it, and never found her +whom he sought, but suffered from every variety of weather, was repulsed +by stranger ladies, and had the end of a cigar thrown into his face by a +shoemaker's apprentice, whom he mistook for his fair one in disguise. Of +course he, on his side, gave vent, through the same medium, to his +complaints and reproaches, which led to excuses and new appointments. +But he never met the long-sought-for one. + +This went on for some weeks, and Specht fell into a state of excitement +which even the basses found reprehensible. + +One morning Pix was standing as usual on the ground floor, when a plump, +pretty lady, with nut-brown eyes, and enveloped in beautiful furs, +entered the house, and in an irate tone of voice inquired for Mr. +Schröter. + +Pix informed her that he was not then at home, adding, with the air and +tone of a field-marshal, that he was his representative. + +After some reluctance to tell her tale to any other than Mr. Schröter +had been overcome by the polite decision of Mr. Pix, the lady preferred +her complaint against one of the clerks in that office who persecuted +her with letters and poems, and unworthily made her name public in the +daily papers. + +The whole thing flashed upon Pix at once. "Can you give me the +gentleman's name?" + +"I do not know his name," said the widow; "he is tall and has curly +hair." + +"Gaunt in figure and a large nose, eh?" inquired Pix. "Very well, madam; +from this day forth you shall have no further annoyance. I will be +answerable for that." + +"Still," recommenced the lady in the furs, "I should wish Mr. Schröter +himself--" + +"Better not, madam. The young man has behaved toward you in a manner for +which I can find no adequate terms. Yet your kind heart will remember +that he did not mean to offend. He wanted sense and tact, that was his +offense. But he was really in earnest; and since I have had the honor to +know you, I find it natural." He bowed. "I condemn him, as I said +before, but I find it natural." + +The pretty widow stood there embarrassed, and Pix proceeded to say that +her forgiveness would be a source of happiness to the whole +establishment. + +"I never meant to make the establishment responsible for the +ungentlemanlike behavior of one of its members." + +"I thank you with my whole heart for your gracious conduct," said Pix, +triumphantly, and then skillfully proceeded to lead the conversation to +the goods with which they were surrounded, pointing out the +peculiarities of different coffees, and stating that, although the firm +had left off retail dealings, yet that in her case they would, at any +time, be much flattered to receive an order, however small, and to +furnish her with the articles required at wholesale prices. + +The lady expressed her gratitude, and went away reconciled to the firm. + +Pix went into the office, and calling Specht aside, severely +remonstrated with him. Specht was at first speechless with terror. "She +began in the daily papers," cried he, at length; "she first appointed +the theatre, then the promenade, then the tower to see the view, then--" + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed Pix, with virtuous indignation; "don't you see +that some scapegrace or other has been making a fool of you? The lady +has been rendered very unhappy by your conduct." + +Specht wrung his hands. + +"I have done all I could to set her mind at rest, and have promised that +you shall never again intrude upon her in any one way; so mind what you +are about, or Mr. Schröter shall hear the whole story." + +While Specht, suffering inexpressibly, took counsel with his musical +friends, Pix acted. A porter carried an immense packet to the widow's +house that very evening, which Pix scrupulously charged to his own +account. That same evening he called to announce Specht's penitence, and +promises of never offending again. The following Sunday he took coffee +at the lady's house, and four weeks after he made her a proposal. This +was accepted, and Mr. Pix determined, in spite of moths and other +hinderances, to give a fresh impulse to the fur-trade, and to become its +centre. + +To his honor be it said, he felt bound to communicate the fact to Specht +before any one else, and to vouchsafe him a few words of consolation. +"Fate has so willed it; be rational, Specht, and make up your mind. +After all, it is one of your colleagues who is getting married; take my +advice, and fall in love as fast as you can with some one else. It will +give you no trouble at all." + +"So you think," cried Specht, in despair. + +"I assure you it will not, if you set about it in earnest. We will +remain good friends; you shall be my groom's-man, and you will soon find +another whose name will rhyme quite as well as Adèle." + +This consolation, however, proved unavailing at the time, and Specht, +indignant at the treachery of his opponent, enjoyed at least the +mournful satisfaction of having the whole counting-house on his side, +and hearing Pix universally condemned as a hard-hearted, selfish fellow. +But time gradually poured its balsam into his heart; and the widow +happening to have a niece whose eyes were blue and whose hair was +golden, Specht began by finding her youth interesting, then her manners +attractive, till one day he returned to his own room fully resolved to +be the nephew-in-law of Mr. Pix. + +The merchant sat one evening in his arm-chair, and seemed absorbed in +his own thoughts. At last, turning to his sister, he said, "Fink has +disappeared again." + +Sabine let her work fall. "Disappeared! In America!" + +"An agent of his father's was in our counting-house to-day. According to +what he told me, there has been a fresh difference between Fink and his +father, and this time I fear Fink is more in the right of it than the +firm. He has suddenly given up the management of its affairs, has broken +up by his strong measures a great company founded by his uncle, has +renounced his claim upon his inheritance, and has disappeared. The +uncertain reports that have come from New York say that he has gone to +the prairies of the interior." + +Sabine listened with intense interest, but she said not a word. Her +brother, too, was silent a while. "After all, there were noble elements +in his character," said he, at length. "The present time requires energy +and strength like his. Pix, too, is leaving us. He is to marry a widow +with means, and to set up for himself. I shall give his post to Balbus, +but he will not replace him." + +"No," said Sabine, anxiously. + +"This house is growing empty," continued her brother, "and I feel that +my strength is failing. These last years have been heavy ones. We get +accustomed to the faces, even to the weaknesses of our fellow-men. No +one thinks how bitter it often is to the head of a firm to sever the tie +that binds him to his coadjutors; and I was more used to Pix than to +most men: it is a great blow to me to lose him. And I am growing old. I +am growing old, and our house empty. You alone are left to me at this +gloomy time; and when I am called upon to leave you, you will remain +behind me desolate. My wife and my child are gone; I have been setting +my whole hopes upon your blooming youth; I have thought of your husband +and your children, my poor darling; but meanwhile I have grown old, and +I see you at my side with a cheerful smile and a wounded heart--active, +sympathizing, but alone; without great joys and without happy hopes." + +Sabine laid her head on her brother's shoulder, and wept silently. "One +of those whom you have lost was dear to you," said she, gently. + +"Do not speak or think of him," replied her brother, darkly. "Even if he +returned from thence he would be lost to us." He passed his hand over +her head, took up his hat, and left the room. + +"Yet he himself is always thinking of Wohlfart," cried the cousin from +her window-niche. "This very day he was cross-examining old Sturm about +Karl and the property. I declare I don't understand the man." + +"<i>I</i> understand him," sighed Sabine, and sat down again to her work. The +cousin pouted: "You and he are just alike; there is no speaking to you +on certain subjects." And she left the room. + +Sabine left the room. The fire crackled in the stove, the pendulum of +the clock swung backward and forward monotonously. "Ever so! ever so!" +it seemed to say. Those pictures of her parents had been looking calmly +down upon her, their last child, for many years. Her youth was passing +away silent, serious, still as those painted forms. Sabine bowed her +head and listened. Hush! little fairy steps in the corner of the room. +Hark again! a merry laugh from a child's lip, and the steps tripped +nearer, and a curly head was laid on her knee, and two little arms +stretched out lovingly to clasp her neck. She bent down and kissed the +air, and listened again to those blessed sounds which swelled her heart +with rapture, and brought tears of joy to her eyes. Alas! she but +grasped at empty air, and nothing was real but the tears that fell into +her lap. + +So sat she long till twilight closed in. The vibrations of the pendulum +seemed to fail, the fire grew low in the stove, the pictures dim on the +walls, the room dark and lonely. + +At that moment old Sturm's hammer was heard outside. Every stroke fell +strong, vigorous, decided. It sounded through court-yard and house. +Sabine rose: "So it shall be," cried she. "I have twice hoped and +feared, twice it has been an illusion, now it is over. My life is to be +devoted to him to whom I am all. I can not bring to him the husband he +hoped for, and no band of children will twine their arms about his neck. +Yes, things will go on with us as they have done hitherto, always more +silent, always more empty. But me shall he have, and my whole life. My +brother, thou shalt never again feel with regret that thy life and mine +are wanting in joyousness!" + +She caught up her little key-basket, and hurried into her brother's +room. Meanwhile the cousin was making up her mind to pay Mr. Baumann a +visit. + +Between the cousin and Mr. Baumann there had long been a silent +understanding, and fate now willed that he should be her neighbor at the +dinner-table. When the cousin glanced back over her succession of +neighbors, she came to the conclusion that they had lost in +sprightliness what they had gained in moral worth. Fink was rather +profane, but very amusing; Anton had a certain equipoise of goodness and +pleasantness; Baumann was the best of them all, but also the most +silent. Her conversation with him, though edifying enough, was never +exciting. On Mondays, indeed, they had a mutual interest in discussing +the Sunday's sermon, but there was another tie between them, and that +was Anton. + +The good lady could not account for what she called his unnatural +departure. Whether the fault was that of the principal or the clerk, she +could not take upon herself to decide, but she was firmly convinced that +the step was unnecessary, unwise, and injurious to all parties; and she +had done all toward bringing the wanderer back into the firm that tender +hints and feminine persuasions can do to counteract manly perversity. +When first Anton left, she had taken every opportunity of mentioning and +praising him, both to the merchant and to Sabine; but she met with no +encouragement. The merchant always answered dryly, sometimes rudely, and +Sabine invariably turned the subject or was silent. The cousin was not, +however, to be taken in by that. Those embroidered curtains had let in a +flood of light upon her mind, in which Sabine stood plainly revealed to +her gaze. She knew that Mr. Baumann was the only one of his colleagues +with whom Anton kept up a correspondence, and to-day she resolved to +call him to her aid; therefore she took up the report of a benevolent +society lent her by the future missionary, and, knocking at Mr. +Baumann's door, handed it in to him. "Very good," said she, on the +threshold; "Heaven will bless such a cause. Pray set me down as a +subscriber for the future." Mr. Baumann thanked her in the name of the +poor. The cousin went on. "What do you hear of late from your friend +Wohlfart? He seems to have vanished from the face of the earth; even old +Sturm has nothing to say about him." + +"He has a great deal to do," said the reticent Baumann. + +"Nay, I should think not more than here. If occupation was all he +wanted, he might have remained where he was." + +"He has a difficult task to perform, and is doing a good work where he +is," cautiously continued Mr. Baumann. + +"Don't talk to me of your good work," cried the cousin, entering, in her +excitement, and closing the door behind her. "He had a good work to do +here too. I beg your pardon, but really I never knew such a thing in all +my life. He runs away just when he was most wanted. And no excuse for it +either. If he had married or set up for himself, that would have been a +different thing, for a man likes a business and a household of his own. +That would have been God's will, and I should not have said a word +against it. But to run off from the counting-house after sheep and cows, +and noblemen's families and Poles, when he was made so much of, and was +such a favorite here! Do you know what I call that, Mr. Baumann?" said +she, the bows on her cap shaking with her eagerness; "I call that +ungrateful. And what are we to do here? This house is getting quite +desolate. Fink gone, Jordan gone, Wohlfart gone, Pix gone--you are +almost the only one remaining of the old set, and you can't do every +thing." + +"No," said Baumann, embarrassed; "and I, too, am very awkwardly placed. +I had fixed last autumn as the term of my stay here, and now spring is +coming on, and I have not followed the voice that calls me." + +"Stuff and nonsense!" cried the cousin, in horror, "you are not going +away too?" + +"I must," said Baumann, looking down; "I have had letters from my +English brethren; they blame my lukewarmness. I fear I have done very +wrong in not leaving you before; but when I looked at the heaps of +letters, and Mr. Schröter's anxious face, and thought what hard times +these were, and that the house had lost most of its best hands, I was +withheld. I too wish that Wohlfart would return; he is wanted here." + +"He must return," cried the cousin; "it is his Christian duty. Write and +tell him so. Certainly we are not very cheerful here," said she, +confidentially; "he may have a pleasanter time of it yonder. The Poles +are a merry, riotous set." + +"Alas!" replied Mr. Baumann, in the same confidential tone, "he does not +lead a merry life. I am afraid he has a hard time of it there; his +letters are by no means cheerful." + +"You don't say so!" said the cousin, taking a chair. + +Baumann drew his near her and went on. + +"He writes anxiously; he takes a gloomy view of the times, and fears +fresh disturbances." + +"God forbid!" cried the good woman; "we have had enough of them." + +"He lives in an unsettled district, with bad men around, and the police +regulations seem to be quite inadequate." + +"There are fearful dens of robbers there," chimed in the excited cousin. + +"And I fear, too, that his earnings are but small. At first I sent him a +few trifles to which he is accustomed, such as tea and cigars, but in +his last letter he told me he was going to be economical, and to leave +them off. He must have very little money," continued Baumann, shaking +his head; "not more than two hundred dollars." + +"He is in want," cried the cousin; "actually he is. Poor Wohlfart! When +you next write, we will send him a chest of the Pekoe tea, and a couple +of our hams." + +"Hams to the country! I fancy there are more swine there than any thing +else." + +"But they don't belong to him," cried she. "Listen to me, Mr. Baumann; +it is your Christian duty to write to him at once, and tell him to +return. The business wants him. I have the best reasons to know how much +my cousin Schröter is silently feeling the loss of his best coadjutors, +and how much he would rejoice to see Wohlfart back again." + +This was a pious fraud of the good lady's. + +"It does not appear so to me," interpolated Baumann. + +"It was only to-day that my cousin Sabine said to her brother how dear +Wohlfart had been to us all, and how great a loss he was. If he has +duties yonder, he has duties here too, and these are the oldest." + +"I will write to him," said Mr. Baumann; "but I fear, honored lady, that +it will be to no purpose, for, now that he himself is a loser by it, he +will never look back from the plow to which, for the sake of others, he +has put his hand." + +"He does not belong to the plow, but to the pen," cried the cousin, +irritably, "and his place lies here. And because he gets a good name +here, and drinks his tea comfortably, he does his duty none the less. +And I tell you, too, Mr. Baumann, that I beg never to hear again of your +African notions." + +Baumann smiled proudly. However, as soon as the cousin had left the +room, he obediently sat down and wrote off the whole conversation to +Anton. + +The snow had melted away from the Polish estate; the brook had swollen +to a flood, the landscape still lay silent and colorless, but the sap +began to circulate in the branches, and the buds on the bushes to +appear. The ruinous bridge had been carried away by the winter torrents, +and Anton was now superintending the building of a new one. Lenore sat +opposite him, and watched his measurements. "The winter is over," cried +she; "spring is coming. I can already picture to myself green grass and +trees, and even the gloomy castle will look more cheerful in the bright +spring sunshine than it does now. But I will sketch it for you just as +it is, and it shall remind you of the first winter that we spent here +under your protection." + +And Anton looked with shining eyes at the beautiful girl before him, +and, with the pencil in his hand, sketched her profile on a new board. +"You won't succeed," said Lenore; "you always make my mouth too large +and my eyes too small. Give me the pencil; I can do better. Stand +still. Look! that is your face--your good, true face; I know it by +heart. Hurrah! the postman!" cried she, throwing away the pencil and +hurrying to the castle. Anton followed her; for the postman and his +heavy bag were to the castle as a ship steering through the sandy deep, +and bringing the world's good things to the dwellers on a lonely island. +The man was soon relieved from his burden. Lenore gladly caught up the +drawing-paper that she had ordered from Rosmin. "Come, Wohlfart, we will +look out the best place for sketching the castle, and you shall hang up +the picture in your room instead of the old one, which saddens me +whenever I see it. Once you sketched our home, now I will sketch it for +you. I will take great pains, and you shall see what I can do." + +She had spoken joyously, but Anton had not heard a word she said. He had +torn open Baumann's letter, and as he read it his face reddened with +emotion. Slowly, thoughtfully, he turned away, went up to his room, and +came down no more. Lenore snatched up the envelope, which he had +dropped. "Another letter from his friend in the firm!" said she, sadly; +"whenever he hears from him, he becomes gloomy and cold toward me." She +threw away the envelope, and hurried to the stable to saddle her trusty +friend the pony. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + + +It was the weekly market in the little town of Rosmin. From time +immemorial this had been an important festival to the country people +around. + +For five days of the week the peasant had to cultivate his plot, of +ground, or to render feudal service to his landlord, and on Sunday his +heart was divided between the worship of the Virgin, his family, and the +public house; but the market-day led him beyond the narrow confines of +his fields into the busy world. There, amid strangers, he could feel and +show himself a shrewd man in buying and selling; he greeted +acquaintances whom else he would never have met; saw new things and +strange people, and heard the news of other towns and districts. So it +had been even when the Slavonic race alone possessed the soil. Then the +site where Rosmin now stands was an open field, with perhaps a chapel or +a few old trees, and the house of some sagacious landed proprietor, who +saw farther than the rest of his long-bearded countrymen. At that time +the German peddler used to cross the border with his wagon and his +attendants, and to display his stores under the protection of a crucifix +or of a drawn Slavonic sword. These stores consisted of gay +handkerchiefs, stockings, necklaces of glass and coral, pictures of +saints and ecclesiastical decorations, which were given in exchange for +the produce of the district--wolf-skins, honey, cattle, and corn. In +course of time the handicraftsman followed the peddler, the German +shoemaker, the tinsmith, and the saddler established themselves; the +tents changed into strongly-built houses that stood around the +market-place. The foreign settlers bought land, bought privileges from +the original lords of the soil, and copied in their statutes those of +German towns in general. In the woods and on the commons round, it was +told with wonder how rapidly those men of a foreign tongue had grown up +into a large community, and how every peasant who passed through their +gate must pay toll; nay, that even the nobleman, all-powerful as he was, +must pay it as well. Several of the Poles around joined lots with the +citizens, and settled among them as mechanics or shopkeepers. This had +been the origin of Rosmin, as of many other German towns on foreign +soil, and these have remained what at first they were, the markets of +the great plains, where Polish produce is still exchanged for the +inventions of German industry, and the poor field-laborer brought into +contact with other men, with culture, liberty, and a civilized state. + +As we have before said, the market-day at Rosmin is a great day still. +From early dawn hundreds of basket-carriages, filled with field-produce, +move on toward the town, but the serf no longer whips on the used-up +chargers of his master, but his own sturdy horse of German breed. And +when the light carriage of a nobleman rolls by, the peasant urges his +horse to a sharper trot, and only slightly touches his hat. Every where +they are moving on toward the town: the children are driving their geese +thither, and the women carrying their butter, fruit, and mushrooms, and, +carefully concealed, a hare or two that has fallen a victim to their +husbands' guns. Numbers of carts stand at the door of every inn, and +crowds are pushing in and out of every drinking-shop. In the +market-place the corn-wagons are closely ranged, and the whole wide +space covered with well-filled sacks, and horses of every size and +color; and a few brokers are winding their way, like so many eels, among +the crowd, with samples of grain in each pocket, asking and answering in +two languages at once. Amid the white smock frocks of the Poles, and +their hats adorned with a peacock's feather, the dark blue of the German +colonists appears, together with soldiers from the next garrison, +townspeople, agriculturists, and fine youths, sons of the nobility. You +may see the gendarme yonder at the corner of the square, towering high +on his tall horse; he, too, is excited to-day, and his voice sounds +authoritatively above all the confusion of the carts that have stopped +up the way. Every where the shops are opened wide, and small dealers +spread out their wares on tables and barrels in front of the houses; +there the bargains are deliberately made, and the enjoyment of shopping +is keenly felt. The last purchase over, the next move is into the +tavern. There, cheeks get redder, gestures more animated, voices louder, +friends embrace, or old foes try hard to pick a quarrel. Meanwhile men +of business have to make the most of this day, when actions are brought +and taxes paid. Now it is that Mr. Löwenberg drives his best bargains, +not only in swine, but in cows and wool; besides which, he lends money, +and is the trusted agent of many a landed proprietor. So passes the +market-day, in ceaseless talking and enjoyment, earning and spending, +rolling of carts and galloping of horses, till evening closes in, and +the housewife pulls her husband by the coat, remembering that the +earthen mugs he carries are easily broken, and that the little children +at home are beginning to cry out for their mother. Such has ever been +the weekly market in the town of Rosmin. + +During the last winter the numbers attending it had not decreased, but +there was a degree of restlessness to be observed in many, particularly +in the gentry of the district. Strangers of military appearance often +entered the principal wine-shop, and went into the back room, of which +the door was at once shut. Youths wearing square red caps, and +peculiarly attired, walked in and out among the crowd, tapping one +peasant on the shoulder, calling another by name, and taking them into a +corner apart. + +Wherever a soldier appeared, he was looked at as a character in a +masquerade; many avoided him; many, Germans and Poles alike, made more +of him than ever. In the taverns, the people from the German villages +sat apart, and the Poles on Herr von Tarow's estate drank and bought +more than they were wont to do. The tenant of the new farm had been +unable, last market-day, to find a new scythe any where in the town, and +the forester had complained to Anton that he could not in any shop get +powder enough to last him more than a week. Something was in the wind, +but no one would say what it was. + +It was market-day again at Rosmin, and Anton drove thither, accompanied +by a servant. It was one of the first spring days, and the sun shone +brightly, reminding him how gay the gardens must now be with early +flowers, and that he and the ladies in the castle would see none this +year, save a few, perhaps, from the little farm garden behind the barn. +But, indeed, it was no time to care much for flowers; everywhere men's +hearts were restless and excited, and much that had stood firm for years +now seemed to totter. A political hurricane was blowing over wide +districts; every day the newspapers related something unexpected and +alarming; a time of commotion and universal insecurity seemed impending. +Anton thought of the baron's circumstances, and what a misfortune it +would be to him should land fall in value, and money rise. He thought of +the firm, of the place in the office which he secretly still considered +his own, and of the letter written by Mr. Baumann, telling him how +gloomy the principal looked, and how quarrelsome the clerks had become. + +He was roused out of his sorrowful reverie by a noise on the road. A +number of gentlemen's carriages drove past him, Herr von Tarowski +occupying the first, and politely bowing as he passed. Anton was +surprised to see that his huntsman sat on the box as if they were going +to the chase. Three other carriages followed, heavily laden with +gentlemen; and behind came a whole troop of mounted men, Von Tarow's +German steward among them. + +"Jasch," cried Anton to the servant who drove him, "what was it that the +gentlemen in the second carriage were so careful to hide as they drove +by?" + +"Guns," said Jasch, shaking his head. + +This sunny day, after so long a period of snow and rain, naturally +attracted people from all sides of the town. Parties of them hurried +forward, but few women were among them, and there was a degree of +excitement and animation prevailing that was in general only displayed +when returning in the evening. Anton halted at the first public house on +the way, and told the driver to remain there with the horses. + +He himself walked rapidly on through the gate. The town was so crowded +that the carts of grain could hardly make their way along. When Anton +reached the market-place he was struck with the scene before him. On all +sides heated faces, eager gestures, not a few in hunting costume, and a +strange cockade on numerous caps. The crowd was densest before the +wine-merchant's store; there the people trode on one another, staring up +at the windows, from whence hung gayly-colored flags, the Polish colors +above the rest. While Anton was looking with disquietude at the front of +the house, the door was opened, and Herr von Tarow came out upon the +stone steps, accompanied by a stranger with a scarf bound round him, in +whom Anton recognized the same Pole who had once threatened him with a +court-martial, and who had been inquiring for the steward a few months +ago. A young man sprang out of the crowd on to the lowest step, saying +something in Polish, and waving his hat. A loud shout rose in return, +and then came a profound silence, during which Von Tarow spoke a few +words, the import of which Anton could not catch, owing to the noise of +carts and the pushing of the crowd. Next, the gentleman with the scarf +made a long oration, during which he was often interrupted by loud +applause. At the end of it, a deafening tumult arose. The house door was +thrown wide open, and the crowd swayed to and fro like the waves of the +sea, some rushing off in another direction, and others running into the +house, whence they hurried back with cockades on their caps and scythes +in their hands. The number of the armed went on rapidly increasing, and +small detachments of scythe-bearers, headed by men with guns, proceeded +to invest the market-place. + +Hearing the word of command given behind him, Anton turned, and saw a +few men mounted and armed, who were ordering all the wagons to be +removed from the market-place. The noise and confusion increased, the +peasants dragging off their horses in all haste, the traders flying into +the houses with their stores, the shops being gradually closed. The +market-place soon presented an ominous appearance. Anton was now swept +off by the crowd to its opposite side, where the custom-house stood, +made conspicuous from afar by the national escutcheon suspended near the +windows. That was now the point of attraction, and Anton saw from a +distance a man plant a ladder against the wall, and hack away at the +escutcheon till, amid profound silence, it fell to the ground. Soon, +however a drunken rabble fell upon it with wild yells, and, tying a rope +about it, ignominiously dragged it through the gutter and over the +stones. + +Anton was beside himself. "Wretches!" cried he, running toward the +offenders. But a strong arm was thrown around him, and a broken voice +said, "Stop, Mr. Wohlfart, this is their day; to-morrow will be ours." +Dashing away the unwelcome restraint, Anton saw the portly form of the +Neudorf bailiff, and found himself surrounded by a number of +dark-looking figures. These were the blue-coated German farmers, their +faces full of grief and anger. "Let me go!" cried Anton, in a phrensy. +But again the heavy hand of the bailiff was laid on his shoulder, and +tears were in the man's eyes as he said, "Spare your life, Mr. Wohlfart; +it is all in vain; we have nothing but our fists, and we are the +minority." And, on the other side, his hand was grasped as if in a vice +by the old forester, who stood there groaning and sobbing: "That ever I +should live to see this day! Oh, the shame, the shame!" Again there rose +a yell nearer them, and a voice cried, "Search the Germans; take their +arms from them; let no one leave the market-place!" Anton looked round +him hastily. "This we will not stand, friends, to be trapped here in a +German town, and to have our escutcheon outraged by those miscreants." + +A drum was heard at a distance. "It is the drum of the guard," cried the +bailiff; "the town militia are assembling: they have arms." + +"Perhaps all may not be lost yet," cried Anton; "I know a few men who +are to be relied upon. Compose yourself, old friend," said he to the +forester. "The Germans from the country must be enlisted; no one knows +yet what we can do. We will, at all events, disperse in different +directions, and reassemble at the fountain here. Let each go and call +his acquaintances together. No time is to be lost. You go in that +direction, bailiff; you, smith of Kunau, come with me." They divided; +and Anton, followed by the forester and the smith, went once more round +the market-place. Wherever they met a German there was a glance, a +hurried hand-clasp, a whispered word--"The Germans assemble at the +fountain;" and these spirited up the irresolute to join their +countrymen. + +Anton and his companions paused for a moment in the midst of the dense +crowd around the wine-merchant's. About fifty men with scythes stood +before the house, near them a dozen more with guns; the doors were +still open, and people were still going in to get arms. Some young +gentlemen were addressing the crowd, but Anton remarked that the Polish +peasants did not keep their ranks, and looked doubtfully at each other. +While the forester and the smith were giving the sign to the Germans, of +whom many were assembled, Anton rushed up to a little man in working +garments, and, seizing him by the arm, said, "Locksmith Grobesch, you +standing here? Why do you not hasten to our meeting-place? You a citizen +and one of the militia, will you put up with this insult?" + +"Alas! Mr. Agent," said the locksmith, taking Anton apart, "what a +misfortune! Only think, I was hammering away in my workshop, and heard +nothing of what was going on. One can't hear much at our work. Then my +wife ran in--" + +"Are you going to put up with this insult?" cried Anton, shaking him +violently. + +"God forbid, Mr. Wohlfart; I head a band of militia. While my wife +looked out my coat, I just ran over the way to see how many of them +there were. You are taller than I; how many are there carrying arms?" + +"I count fifty scythes," replied Anton, hurriedly. + +"It is not the scythes; they are a cowardly set; how many guns are +there?" + +"A dozen before the door, and perhaps as many more in the house." + +"We have about thirty rifles," said the little man, anxiously, "but we +can't count upon them all to-day." + +"Can you get us arms?" asked Anton. + +"But few," said the locksmith, shaking his head. + +"There is a band of us Germans from the country," said Anton, rapidly; +"we will fight our way into the suburb as far as the Red Deer Inn, and +there I will keep the people together, and, for God's sake, send us a +patrol to report the state of things, and the number of arms you can +procure. If we can eject the nobles, the others will run away at once." + +"But then the revenge these Poles will take!" said the locksmith. "The +town will have to pay for it." + +"No such thing, my man. The military can be sent for to-morrow, if you +but help to eject these madmen to-day. Off with you; each moment +increases the danger." + +He drove the little man away, and hurried back to the fountain. There +the Germans were assembled in small groups, and the Neudorf bailiff +came to meet him, crying, "There's no time to lose; the others are +beginning to notice us; there is a party of scythes forming yonder +against us." + +"Follow me!" cried Anton, in a loud voice; "draw close; forward! let's +leave the town." + +The forester sprang from side to side, marshaling the men; Anton and the +bailiff led the way. As they reached the corner of the market-place, +scythes were crossed; and the leader of the party cocked his gun, and +said theatrically, "Why do you wish to leave, my fine sir? Take arms, ye +people; to-day is the day of liberty!" + +He said no more, for the forester, springing forward, gave him such an +astounding box on the ear that he reeled and fell, his gun dropping from +his hand. A loud cry arose; the forester caught up the gun, and the +scythe-bearers, taken by surprise, were dashed aside, their scythes +taken from them, and broken on the pavement. Thus the German band +reached the gates, and there, too, the enemy yielded, and the dense mass +passed on unmolested till they reached the inn appointed. There the +bailiff, urged on by Anton, addressed the people: + +"There is a plot against the government. There is a plot against us +Germans. Our armed enemies are few, and we have just seen that we can +manage them. Let every orderly man remain here, and help the citizens to +drive out the strangers. The town militia will send us word how we can +best do this, therefore remain together, countrymen!" + +At these words, many cried "We will! we will!" but many, too, grew +fearful, and stole away home. Those who remained looked out for arms as +best they could, taking up pitchforks, bars of iron, wooden cudgels, or +whatever else lay ready to hand. + +"I came here to buy powder and shot," said the forester to Anton. "Now I +have a gun, and I will fire my very last charge, if we can only revenge +the insult they have offered to our eagle." + +Meanwhile the hours passed as usual at the castle, and it was now about +noon. The baron, accompanied by his wife, walked in the sunshine, +grumbling because the molehills against which his foot tripped were not +yet leveled. This led him to the conclusion that there was no reliance +to be placed upon hired dependents of any kind; and that Wohlfart was +the most forgetful of his class. On this theme he enlarged with a kind +of gloomy satisfaction, the baroness only contradicting him as far as +she could without putting him out of temper. At last he sat down on a +chair that one of the servants carried after him, and quietly listened +to his daughter, who was discussing with Karl the best site for a small +plantation. No one thought of mischief, and each one was occupied with +things immediately around him. + +Then came the rumor of some great disaster, flying on wings of evil omen +over the wide plain. It swooped down on the baron's oasis, heavily +fluttered over pines and wild pear-trees, corn-fields and meadows, till +it reached the castle. At first it was indistinct, like a little cloud +on a sunny sky; but soon it grew, it darkened the air, it brooded with +its black pinions over all hearts--it made the blood stand still in the +veins, and filled the eyes with burning tears. + +In the middle of his work, Karl suddenly looked up, and said in dismay, +"That was a shot." + +Lenore started, then laughed at her own terror. "I did not hear it," +said she; "perhaps it was the forester." + +"The forester is gone to town," replied Karl, gravely. + +"Then it is some confounded poacher in the wood," cried the baron, +angrily. + +"It was a cannon shot," maintained the positive Karl. + +"That is impossible," said the baron; but he himself listened with +intense attention; "there are no cannon for many miles round." + +The next moment a voice sounded out from the farm-yard, "There is a fire +in Rosmin." + +Karl looked at his young lady, threw down his spade, and ran toward the +farm-yard. Lenore followed him. + +"Who said that there was a fire in Rosmin?" he inquired. Not one would +own that he had, but all ran in dismay to the high road, though the town +was six miles off, and no view of it was to be had from thence. + +"Many scared women have been running along toward Neudorf," said one +servant; and another added, "There must be mischief going on in Rosmin, +for we can see the smoke rise above the wood." All thought, indeed, that +they did perceive a dark cloud in that direction, Karl as well as the +rest. + +"The nobles are all there to-day," cried one. "They have set the town on +fire." Another professed to have heard from a man in the fields that +this was to be a serious day for landed proprietors; then, looking +askance at Karl, he added, "Many things may yet happen before evening." +Next came the landlord, exclaiming, "If this day were but over!" and +Karl returned, "Would that it were!" yet no one knew exactly why. + +From that hour, fresh messengers of ill succeeded each other. "The +soldiers and the Poles are fighting," said one. "Kunau is on fire too," +cried some women who had been working in the fields. At last came the +farmer's wife, running up to Lenore. "My husband sends me because he +won't leave the farm on a day like this. He wishes to know whether you +have any tidings of the forester; there is murder going on in the town, +and people say the forester is shooting away in the midst of it all." + +"Who says so?" asked the baron. + +"One who came running across the fields told it to my husband; and it +must be true that there is an uproar in the town, for when the forester +went thither he had no gun." + +Thus the dark rumor spread. Karl had much difficulty in getting the men +out again to their plowing. Lenore meantime went up to the tower with +him, but they could not be positive whether or not there was smoke in +the direction of Rosmin. They had scarcely got down, when one of the +farmer's servants came back with his horses to say that a man from the +next district had told him, as he galloped past, that Rosmin was filled +with men bearing red flags, and armed with scythes; and that all the +Germans in the country were to be shot. The baroness wrung her hands and +began to weep, and her husband lost all the self-command he had sought +to exercise. He burst out into loud complaints against Wohlfart for not +being on the spot on a day like this, and gave Karl a dozen +contradictory orders in quick succession. Lenore could not endure her +suspense within the castle walls, but kept as much as she could with +Karl, in whose trusty face she found more comfort than in any thing +else. Both looked constantly along the high road to see if a carriage or +a messenger were coming. + +"He is peaceable," said she to Karl, hoping for confirmation from him. +"Surely he would never expose himself to such fearful risk." + +But Karl shook his head. "There is no trusting to that. If things in the +town are as people say, Mr. Anton will not be the last to take a hand in +them. He will not think of himself." + +"No, that he will not," cried Lenore, wringing her hands. + +So the day passed. Karl sternly insisted upon keeping all the servants +together, he himself shouldering his carbine, not knowing why, and +saddling a horse to tie it up again in the stable. At evening the +landlord came running to the castle, accompanied by a servant from the +distillery. As soon as he saw the young lady, the good-natured man +called out, "Here are tidings, dreadful tidings, of Mr. Wohlfart." + +Lenore ran forward, and the servant began to give a confused report of +the horrors of the day in Rosmin. He had seen the Poles and Germans +about to fire at each other in the market-place, and Anton was marching +at the head of the latter. + +"I knew that," cried Karl, proudly. + +The servant went on to say that he had run off just as all the Poles had +taken aim at the gentleman. Whether he were alive or dead, he could not +exactly say, owing to his terror at the time, but he fully believed that +the gentleman must be dead. + +Lenore leaned against the wall, Karl tore his hair in distraction. +"Saddle the pony," said Lenore, in a smothered voice. + +"You are not thinking of going yourself at night through the wood all +the way to the town?" cried Karl. + +The brave girl hurried toward the stable without answering him; Karl +barred the way. "You must not. The baroness would die with anxiety about +you, and what could you do among those raging men yonder?" + +Lenore stood still. "Then go for him," said she, half unconscious; +"bring him to us, alive or dead." + +"Can I leave you alone on a day like this?" cried Karl, beside himself. + +Lenore snatched his carbine from him. "Go, if you love him. I will mount +guard in your stead." + +Karl rushed to the farm-yard, got out his horse, and galloped off along +the Rosmin road. The sound of the horse's hoofs soon died away, and all +was still. Lenore paced up and down before the castle walls; her friend +was in mortal peril, perhaps lost; and the fault was hers, for she had +brought him hither. She called to mind in her despair all that he had +been to her and to her parents. To live on in this solitude without him +seemed impossible. Her mother sent for her, her father called to her out +of the window, but she paid no attention. Every other feeling was merged +in the realization of the pure and sincere attachment that had existed +between her and him she had lost. + +To return to Rosmin, Anton and his party had remained for about half an +hour in expectation before the Red Deer. The frightened market-people +kept pouring by, on their way to their village homes; many of them, +indeed, passed on, but many, too, remained with their countrymen, and +even several Poles went up to Anton and asked whether they could be of +use to him. At length came the locksmith, by a back way, in his green +uniform and epaulette, followed by some of the town militia. + +Anton rushed up to see how things were going on. + +"There are eighteen of us," said the locksmith, "all safe men. The +people in the market-place are dispersing, and those in the wine-store +are not much stronger than before. Our captain is as brave as a lion. If +you will help him, he is prepared to try a bold stroke. We can get into +Löwenberg's house from behind. I made the lock on the back door myself. +If we manage cleverly, we can surprise the leaders of the insurrection, +and take them and their arms." + +"We must attack them both in front and in the rear," replied Anton. +"Then we shall be sure of them." + +"Yes," said the locksmith, a little crestfallen, "if you and your party +will attack them in front." + +"We have no arms," cried Anton. "I will go with you, and so will the +forester and a few more, perhaps; but an unarmed band against scythes +and a dozen guns is out of the question." + +"Look you, now," said the worthy locksmith; "it comes hard to us, too. +Those who have just left wives and children in their first alarm are not +much inclined to make targets of themselves. Our people are full of +good-will, but those men yonder are desperate, and therefore let us get +in quietly from behind. If we can surprise them, there will be the less +bloodshed, and that's the chief thing. I have got no arms, only a sword +for you." + +The party accordingly set off in silence, the locksmith leading the way. +"Our men are assembled in the captain's house," said he; "we can enter +it through the garden without being seen." + +At length, having got over hedges and ditches, they found themselves in +the court-yard of a dyer. + +"Wait here," said the locksmith, with some disquietude. "The dyer is one +of us militiamen. His house door opens upon the back street, which takes +into Löwenberg's court-yard: I am going to the captain." + +The party had only a few minutes to wait before they were joined by the +militia. The captain, a portly butcher, requested Anton to join forces +and walk by his side. They moved on to the back entrance of Löwenberg's +house, saw that the gate was neither locked nor guarded, and the court +empty. They halted for a moment, and the forester proposed his plan. + +"We are more than are wanted in the house," said he. "Hard by there is a +broad cross-street leading to the market. Let me have the drummer, a few +of the militia, and half of the country people. We will run to the +market-place and invest the opening of the cross-street, shouting +loudly. Those in front of the house will be diverted thither: meanwhile, +you can force an entrance and take them prisoners. As soon as you hear +the drum, let the captain rush through the court into the house and make +fast the door." + +"I approve the plan," said the burly captain, his blood thoroughly up; +"only be quick about it." + +The forester took six of the militia, beckoned to the bailiff and to +some of the country people, and went quietly down the side street. Soon +the beating of a drum was heard, and loud hurrahs. At that signal all +rushed through the court, the captain and Anton waving their swords, and +found themselves inside the house before any one was aware of them, for +all were looking out at door and window on the other side. + +"Hurrah!" cried the captain; "we have them," catching hold of one of the +gentlemen. "Not one shall escape. Close the door!" he cried, and he held +his victim fast by the collar like a cow by its horns. Ten strong men +closed and locked the house door, so that all the more zealous of the +enemy who were standing on the steps found themselves shut out. Next +some of the band rushed up stairs, and the others spread themselves over +the ground floor. All the conspirators on that floor, however, jumped +out through the window, so that the Germans took nothing but a list of +names, a quantity of scythes, and half a dozen guns belonging to the +nobles. These the locksmith caught up, and ran, together with Anton and +a few others, to join the forester's detachment, which they found in a +critical position. + +The beat of the drums and the shouting, together with the attack made +simultaneously upon the house, had thrown the enemy into confusion. The +men with scythes were standing about in disorder, while the bearer of +the scarf, himself unarmed, was busy trying to rally them. On the other +hand, all such as had guns--stewards, huntsmen, and a few young men of +rank, had marched against the forester's party. Both bands halted with +weapons raised, kept back for a moment by the thought of the fearful +consequences that must follow the word of command. At that moment, Anton +and the valiant locksmith joined them, and the guns they brought were +dispensed quick as lightning. A bloody conflict on the pavement now +seemed unavoidable. + +Just then a loud voice sounded from the window of the wine-store. +"Brothers, we have them. Here is the prisoner. It is Herr von Tarow +himself." All lowered their guns and listened. The captain showed his +prisoner, who made no fruitless struggles to escape from his awkward +situation, "And now," went on the orator, "listen to my words: all the +windows of this house are invested; all the streets are invested; and as +soon as I lift my finger you'll all be shot down dead." + +"Hurrah, captain!" cried a voice from a house in the middle of the +market-place, while the shopkeeper dwelling there projected his duck-gun +from one of the windows of the first floor, the apothecary and +post-master soon doing the same. + +"Good-morning, gentlemen," cried the butcher, pleasantly, to these +unexpected recruits. "You see, good people, that your resistance is +vain, so throw away your scythes, or you are all dead men." A number of +scythes clattered on the pavement. + +"And as for you, gentlemen," continued the captain, "you shall be +allowed to depart unmolested, if you give up your arms; but if any of +you make any resistance, this man's blood be upon your heads." So +saying, he caught hold of Tarowski by the head, and, holding it out of +the window, drew a great knife. Throwing down its sheath into the +street, he waved it so ferociously round the prisoner's head that the +worthy butcher seemed for the moment transformed into a very cannibal. + +Then the forester cried, "Hurrah! we have them! March, my friends." The +drummer thundered away, and the Germans charged. The Poles fell into +disorder, some random shots were fired on both sides, then the rebels +took to flight, pursued by their enemies. Many sought refuge in the +houses, others ran out of the town; while, on the other hand, armed +citizens began to present themselves, and the dilatory members of the +militia corps now joined the rest. The captain made over his prisoner to +a few trusty men, and, waving off the congratulations that poured in +upon him, cried, "Duty before all. We have now to lock and invest the +gates. Where is the captain of our allies?" + +Anton stepped forward. "Comrade," said the butcher, with a military +salute, "I propose that we muster our men and appoint the watches." + +This was done, and those belonging to Rosmin were proud of their +numbers. The national arms, washed clean and decorated by many busy +feminine hands with the first flowers of the town gardens, were solemnly +raised to their former place, all the men marching by them and +presenting arms, while patriotic acclamations were raised by hundreds of +throats. + +Anton stood on one side, and when he saw the spring flowers on the +escutcheon, he remembered having doubted in the morning whether he +should see any flowers that year. Now their colors were gleaming out +brightly on the shield of his fatherland. But what a day this had been +to him! + +Much against his will, he was summoned to the council convened to take +measures for the public safety. Ere long he had a pen in his hand, and +was writing, at the long green table, a report of the events of the day +to the authorities. Prompt steps were taken: messengers were sent off to +the next military station; the houses of the suspected searched; such of +the country people as were willing to remain till the evening billeted +in different houses. Patrols were sent out in all directions, a few +prisoners examined, and information as to the state of the surrounding +district collected. Discouraging tidings poured in on all sides. Bands +of Poles from several villages round were said to be marching on the +town. An insurrection had been successful in the next circle, and the +town was in the hands of a set of Polish youths. There were tales of +plunder, and of incendiarism too, and fearful rumors of an intended +general massacre of the Germans. The faces of the men of Rosmin grew +long again; their present triumph gave way to fears for the future. Some +timid souls were for making a compromise with Herr von Tarow, but the +warlike spirit of the majority prevailed, and it was determined to pass +the night under arms, and hold the town against all invaders till the +military should arrive. + +By this time it was evening. Anton, alarmed at the numerous reports of +plundering going on in the open country, left the town council, and sent +the bailiff to collect all the Germans of their immediate district to +march home together. When they reached the wooden bridge at the +extremity of the suburb, the townsmen who had accompanied them thither +with beat of drum and loud hurrahs took a brotherly leave of their +country allies. + +"Your carriage is the last that shall pass to-day," said the locksmith; +"we will break up the pavement of the bridge, and station a sentinel +here. I thank you in the name of the town and of the militia. If bad +times come, as we have reason to fear, we Germans will ever hold +together." + +"That shall be our rallying cry," called out the bailiff; and all the +country people shouted their assent. + +On their homeward way Anton and his associates fell into earnest +conversation. All felt elated at the part they had that day played, but +no one attempted to disguise from himself that this was but a beginning +of evils. "What is to become of us in the country?" said the bailiff. +"The men in the town have their stout walls, and live close together; +but we are exposed to the revenge of every rascal; and if half a dozen +vagabonds with guns come into the village, it is all over with us." + +"True," said Anton, "we can not guard ourselves against large troops, +and each individual must just take the chances of war; but large troops, +under regular command, are not what we have most to fear. The worst are +bands of rabble, who get together to burn and plunder, and henceforth we +must take measures to defend ourselves against these. Stay at home +to-morrow, bailiff, and you, smith of Kunau, and send for the other +Germans round, on whom we can depend. I will ride over to-morrow morning +early, and we will hold a consultation." + +By this time they had reached the cross-way, and there the two divisions +parted, and hurried home in different directions. + +Anton got into the carriage, and took the forester with him, to help +watch the castle through the night. In the middle of the wood they were +stopped by a loud cry of "Halt! who goes there?" + +"Karl!" exclaimed Anton, joyfully. + +"Hurrah! hurrah! he is alive," cried Karl, in ecstasy. "Are you unhurt +too?" + +"That I am; what news from the castle?" + +Now began a rapid interchange of question and answer. "To think that I +was not with you!" cried Karl, again and again. + +Arrived at the castle, a bright form flew up to the carriage. "You, +lady!" cried Anton, springing out. + +"Dear Wohlfart!" cried Lenore, seizing both his hands. + +For a moment she hid her face on his shoulder, and her tears fell fast. +Anton grasped her hand firmly, while he said, "A fearful time is coming. +I have thought of you all day." + +"Now that we have you again," said Lenore, "I can bear it all; but come +at once to my father; he is dying with impatience." She drew him up the +stairs. + +The baron opened the door, and cried out, "What news do you bring?" + +"News of war, baron," replied Anton, gravely; "the most hideous of all +wars--war between neighbor and neighbor. The country is in open revolt." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + + +The baron's estate lay in a corner of the Rosmin circle. Behind the +forest, to the north, was the German village of Neudorf, and farther +off, to the east, that of Kunau. + +Both these spots were separated by a wide expanse of sand and heath from +any Polish proprietors, Herr von Tarow being the nearest. To the west +and south of the estate the country was inhabited by a mixed population; +but the Germans there were strong, rich freeholders and large farmers +having settled among the Slavonic race. Beyond Kunau and Neudorf, to the +north, there was a Polish district peopled by small freeholders, for the +most part in very reduced circumstances, and over head and ears in debt. + +"It is on that side that our greatest danger lies," said the baron to +Anton on the morning after the memorable market-day. "The villagers are +our natural outposts. If you can induce the people to establish a +systematic watch, let it be on the north; we will then try to maintain a +regular communication with them. Do not forget the beacons and places of +rendezvous. As you are already on such friendly terms with the rustics, +you will be able to manage that part of the business best. Meanwhile, I +shall drive, accompanied by young Sturm, to the next circle, and try to +come to the same understanding with the landed gentry there." + +Accordingly, Anton rode off to Neudorf. There he found that fresh evil +tidings had arrived in the night; some German villages had been +surprised by armed bands, the houses searched for arms, and many young +people dragged away. No one was working in the fields at Neudorf. The +men sat in the bar of the public house, or stood about without any +purpose, every hour expecting an attack. + +Anton's horse was immediately surrounded by a dense crowd, and in a few +minutes the bailiff had gathered the whole population together. Anton +proceeded to state what might be done to guard the village against the +danger of a sudden surprise; for instance, he advised the calling out of +a regular peasant militia, sentinels on the road along the border, +patrols, a rallying-place in the village, and other precautions which +the baron had pointed out. "In this way," said he, "you will be able to +procure our help in a short time, to defend yourselves against a weak +foe, or to summon the military to your aid against a strong. In this way +you will save your wives and children, your household goods, and, +perhaps, your cattle from plunder and ill treatment. It will be no small +labor, indeed, to keep watch thus night and day, but your village is a +large one. Perhaps these measures will soon be enjoined by the +government, but it is safer for all not to wait for that." + +His pressing representations and the authority of the intelligent +bailiff brought the community to a unanimous resolve. The young men of +the village took up the matter eagerly, many professing themselves ready +to buy a gun; and the women began to pack up their most valuable effects +in chests and bundles. + +From Neudorf, Anton went on to Kunau, where similar regulations were +made; and finally it was arranged that the young men of both villages +should come every Sunday afternoon to the baron's estate to be drilled. + +When Anton returned to the castle, the existing means of defense on the +estate itself had to be taken into consideration. A martial fever +prevailed in the German colony: all were affected by it, even the most +peaceful: the shepherd and his dog Crambo, who had, by night patrols, +sentinels, and other disturbances, been worked up to such a state of +excitement that he took to flying at the legs of all strangers--an act +he had often rebuked in his young associate. All thoughts turned on +weapons of warfare and means of defense. Alas! the mood of mind was all +that could be desired, but the forces were very small. To make up for +that, the staff was a distinguished one. First of all, there was the +baron--an invalid, it is true, but great in theory; then Karl and the +forester, as respective leaders of the cavalry and infantry; while Anton +was not to be despised in the commissariat and fortification department. + +The baron now left his room each day to hold a council of war. He +superintended the drill, heard reports from surrounding districts, and +sent off messengers to the German circles. A remnant of military ardor +lit up his face. He good-humoredly rallied the baroness about her fears, +spoke words of encouragement to his German tenantry, and threatened to +have all the evil-disposed in the village locked up at once, and kept on +bread and water. It was touching to all to see how the blind man stood +erect, musket in hand, to show certain niceties of manipulation to the +forester, and then bent his ear down to ascertain whether the latter had +thoroughly acquired them. Even Anton put on something of a martial +panoply. He stuck a cockade in his cap; his voice assumed a tone of +military severity, and ever since the Rosmin day he took to wearing an +immense pair of water-proof boots, and his step fell heavy on the stair. +He would have laughed at himself if any one had asked for what purpose +he gave this particular outward expression to his state of mind; but no +one did ask. It seemed natural and congruous to all, and especially to +Karl, who never himself appeared but in such remnants of his dress +uniform as he had carefully preserved, and who curled his mustache, and +sang military songs all day long. As the greatest danger was to be +apprehended from the lawless in their own village, he summoned all the +men who had once served, and, with the aid of the forester, who was +respected as a magician, made an impressive speech, addressed them as +comrades, drew his sword, and cried, "We military men will keep order +among the boors here." Then ordering a few quarts of brandy, he sang +wild martial songs in chorus with them, gave them new cockades, and +constituted them a species of militia. Thus, for a time at least, he +gained a hold over the better part of the population, and heard through +them of any conspiracy that was carried on in the tavern. + +When the whole force of the estate was mustered before the castle walls, +the men stared in amazement at each other. They had all been +metamorphosed by the last few days. The agent looked like a wild man +from some outlandish swamp, where he daily stood up to the hips in +water. Those from the new farm resembled forms of a vanished era. The +forester, with his close-cut hair, long beard, and weather-beaten coat, +looked an old mercenary of Wallenstein's army, who had been asleep in +the forest depths for two hundred years, and now reappeared on the +stage, violence and cruelty being again in the ascendant. The shepherd +marched next to him, resembling a pious Hussite, with the broad brim of +his round hat hanging low on his shoulders, a stout leathern girdle +round his loins, and in his hand a long crook, to which he had fastened +a bright steel point. His phlegmatic face and thoughtful eyes made him +as strong a contrast as possible to the forester. All in all, the armed +force of the estate did not amount to more than twenty men; +consequently, it was very difficult to maintain any regular system of +watching, either in the castle or the village. Each individual, it was +plain, would have to make the greatest efforts, but none of them +complained. + +The next step was to see to the securing of the castle--to protect it +from any nocturnal assault in the rear. Anton had a strong wooden fence +run up from one wing to another. Thus a tolerably large court-yard was +inclosed, and an open shed was roughly built on to the walls, to shelter +fugitives and horses, if need were. The windows of the lower story were +also strongly boarded; and as all the entrances were on this side of the +house, strangers were allowed as little ingress as possible. The well +that supplied the castle lay outside the fence, between the farm-yard +and the castle: on which account, a large water-butt was made and filled +each morning. + +Next came tidings from Rosmin. The locksmith appeared, after being +repeatedly sent for, to strengthen bolts and bars. He brought with him +military greetings from the militia, and the fact that a company of +infantry had entered the town. "But there are but few of them," said he, +"and we militiamen have severe duty." + +"And what have you done with your prisoners?" inquired Anton. + +The locksmith scratched his ear and twitched his cap as he answered in a +crestfallen tone: "So you have not yet heard? The very first night came +a message from the enemy to the effect that if we did not give up the +nobleman at once, they would march upon us with their whole force and +set fire to our barns. I opposed the measure, and so did our captain; +but every one who had a barn raised an outcry, and the end of it was +that the town had to come to terms with Von Tarow. He gave his word that +he and his would undertake nothing further against us, and then we took +him over the bridge and let him go." + +"So he is free, false man that he is!" cried Anton, in indignation. + +"Yes, indeed," said the locksmith; "he is on his estate again, and has a +number of young gentlemen about him. They ride with their cockades over +the fields just as they did before. Tarowski is a cunning man, who can +open every castle door with a stroke of a pen, and get on with every +one. There's no reaching him." + +Of course, farming suffered from these warlike preparations. Anton +insisted, indeed, upon what was absolutely necessary being done, but he +felt that a time was come when anxiety about individual profit and loss +vanished before graver terrors. The rumors, which grew daily more +threatening, kept him, and those around him, in ever-increasing +excitement; and at last they fell into a habitual state of feverish +suspense, in which the future was looked forward to with reckless +indifference, and the discomforts of the present endured as matter of +course. + +But more strongly than on any of the men around did this general fever +seize upon Lenore. Since the day that she had waited for the absent +Anton, she had seemed to begin a new life. Her mother mourned and +despaired, but the daughter's young heart beat high against the storm, +and the excitement was to her a wild enjoyment, to which she gave +herself up, heart and soul. She was out of doors the whole day long, +whatever the weather, and at the tavern door as often as the worst +drunkard in the village, for each day the landlord and his wife had +something new to tell her. Ever since Karl had mounted his hussar coat, +she treated him with the familiarity of a comrade, and when he held a +consultation with the forester, her fair head was put together with +theirs. The three spent many an hour in council of war in Karl's room or +in the farm-yard, the men listening with reverence to her courageous +suggestions, and requesting her opinion as to whether Ignatz, Gottlieb, +or Blasius from the village deserved to be trusted with a gun. It was in +vain that the baroness remonstrated with her martial daughter; in vain +that Anton tried to check her ardor; for, the greater his own, the more +the mood displeased him in the young lady. Again, she struck him as too +vehement and bold; nor did he disguise his views. Upon that she subsided +a little, and tried to conceal her warlike tendencies from him, but they +did not really abate. She would have dearly liked to go with him to +Neudorf and Kunau, to play at soldiers there, but Anton, once made so +happy by her company, protested so strongly against the step that the +young lady had to turn back at the end of the village. + +However, on the day when the first drill of the men belonging to the +estate was to take place, Lenore came out with a soldier's cap and a +light sword, took her pony out of the stable, and said to Anton, "I +shall exercise with you." + +"Pray do nothing of the kind," replied he. + +"Indeed I will," replied Lenore, saucily. "You want men, and I can do as +good service as if I were one." + +"But, dear young lady, it is so singular!" + +"It is indifferent to me whether people think it singular or not. I am +strong; I can go through a good deal; I shall not be tired." + +"But before the servants," remonstrated Anton. "You are letting yourself +down before the servants and the country people." + +"That is my own concern," replied Lenore, doggedly; "do not oppose me; I +am determined, and that is enough." + +Anton shrugged his shoulders, and was obliged to acquiesce. Lenore rode +next to Karl, and went through all the exercises as well as a lady's +saddle allowed; but Anton, who was one of the infantry, looked over from +his post at the bright face with dissatisfaction. She had never pleased +him so little. Yet, as she sprang forward with the rest, wheeled her +horse round, waved her sword, her bright hair floating in the wind, her +eyes beaming with courage, she was enchantingly beautiful. But what +would have charmed him in mere play seemed unfeminine now that this +drilling had become a matter of life and death; and as soon as it was +over, and Lenore came up to him with glowing cheeks, waiting that he +should address her, he was silent, and she had to laugh and say to him, +"You look so morose, sir; do you know that the expression is very +unbecoming?" + +"I am not pleased at your being so willful," replied Anton. Lenore +turned away without a word, gave her horse to a servant, and walked back +in dudgeon to the castle. + +Since that time she took no share in the drilling, indeed, but she was +always present when the men assembled, and looked on longingly from a +little distance; and when Anton was away, she would ride off in secret +with Karl to the other villages, or walk alone through woods and fields, +armed with a pocket pistol, and delighted if she could stop and +cross-question any wayfarer. + +Anton remonstrated with her on that subject too. + +"The district is disturbed," he said. "How easily some rascal or other +might do you an injury! If not a stranger, it might be some one from our +own village." + +"I am not afraid," Lenore would reply, "and the men of our village will +do me no harm." And, in fact, she knew how to manage them better than +Anton or any one else. She alone was always reverentially saluted, even +by the rudest among them; and whenever her tall figure was seen in the +village street, the men bowed down to the ground, and the women ran to +the windows and looked admiringly after her. And she had the pleasure, +too, of hearing them tell her so in Anton's hearing. One Sunday evening, +Karl, the forester, and the shepherd sat watching in the farm-yard while +the peasants were assembled drinking in the tavern, Sunday being the +most dangerous day for those in the castle. Karl had furnished a room +for military purposes in the late bailiff's house. Thither Lenore +herself now carried a bottle of rum and some lemons, that the sentinels +might brew themselves some punch. The shepherd and the forester grinned +from ear to ear at the attention. Karl placed a chair for the young +lady, the forester began to tell a tale of terror from the neighboring +district, and in a few minutes Lenore was sitting with them, exchanging +views on the course of events. Just as the punch was ready, and she +poured it into two glasses and a mug, in came Anton. She did not exactly +want him just then, but, however, he found no fault, and merely turned +and beckoned to a stranger to come in. A slender youth in a blue coat, +with bright woolen epaulettes, a soldier's cap in his hand, and wide +linen trowsers pushed into his boots, proudly entered the room. As soon +as he saw the lady, he was at her knees, and then he stood before her +with downcast eyes, cap in hand. Karl went up to him: "Now then, +Blasius, what news from the tavern?" + +"Oh, nothing," replied the youth, in the melodious cadence with which +the Pole speaks broken German. "Peasant sits, and drinks, and is merry." + +"Are there strangers there? Has any one come from Tarow?" + +"No one," said Blasius. "No one is there; but the host's niece is come +to him, Rebecca, the Jewish maiden." Meanwhile he looked steadfastly at +Lenore, as though it were to her that he had to deliver his report. + +Lenore stepped to the table, poured out a glass of punch, and gave it to +the youth, who received it with delight, quaffed it, set down the glass, +and bent again at the lady's knee with a grace that a prince might have +envied. + +"You need never fear," cried he. "No one in the village will harm you; +if any one offended you, we would kill him at once." + +Lenore blushed and said, looking at Anton the while, "You know I have no +fear, at all events of you;" and Karl dismissed the messenger with +orders to return in an hour. As he left the room, Lenore said to Anton, +"How graceful his bearing is!" + +"He was in the Guards," replied Anton, "and is not the worst lad in the +village; but I pray you not to rely too much upon the chivalry of the +worthy Blasius and his friends. I was uneasy about you again all the +afternoon, and sent your maid to meet you on the Rosmin road; for a +traveling apprentice came running to the castle, frightened out of his +senses, saying that he had been detained by an armed lady, and obliged +to produce his passport. According to his story, the lady had a +monstrous dog, as large as a cow, with her, and he complained that her +aspect was awful. The poor man was positively beside himself." + +"He was a craven," said Lenore, contemptuously. "As soon as he saw me +with the pony he ran off, scared by his own bad conscience. Then I +called after him, and threatened him with my pocket pistol." + +In this manner the dwellers on the baron's estate daily awaited the +outbreak of the insurrection on their own oasis. Meanwhile it spread +like a conflagration over the whole province. Wherever the Poles were +thickly congregated, the flames leaped up fiercely. On the borders, they +flared unsteadily here and there, like fire in green wood. In many +places they seemed quenched for a long time, then suddenly broke out +again. + +One Sunday afternoon there was to be a great drill of the united forces. +The men of Neudorf and Kunau came with their flags--the foot-soldiers +first, the mounted behind--the small band of cavalry from the castle +riding to meet them, led by Karl, together with some men on foot, at +whose head marched the forester, the generalissimo of all the troops. +Even Anton was under his command. When Lenore saw them set out, she +ordered her pony to be saddled. + +"I will look on," said she to Anton. + +"But only look on, dear lady!" said the latter, imploringly. + +"Don't tutor me," cried Lenore. + +The drilling-ground was at the edge of the wood. The forester had +contrived, through ancient recollections, and after manifold +consultations with the baron, to bring his men into good order; and Karl +led his squadron with an ardor that might well make amends for lack of +skill. For a long time they had marched, countermarched, performed +various evolutions, and fired at a mark. The mock artillery echoed +cheerfully through the forest. Lenore had looked on from a distance, but +at last she could not resist the pleasure of taking part in the cavalry +exercise, and, trotting on to their head, she whispered to Karl, "Just +for a minute or two." + +"What if Mr. Wohlfart see you?" whispered Karl, in reply. + +"He will not see," was Lenore's laughing answer, as she took her place +in the ranks. + +The youths looked in amazement at the slender figure which trotted at +their side. Owing to the admiration she excited, many performed their +parts ill, and Karl had much fault to find. + +"The young lady does it best," cried a Neudorf man during a pause, and +all took off their hats and cheered her loudly. + +Lenore bowed low, and made her pony curvet gayly. But her amusement was +soon interrupted, for up came Anton. "It is really too bad," whispered +he, angry in good earnest. "You expose yourself to familiar +observations, which are not ill meant, but which would still offend you. +This is no place for the display of your horsemanship." + +"You grudge me every pleasure," replied Lenore, much aggrieved, and rode +away. + +When she found herself alone, she let her pony prance and caracole under +a great pear-tree, and inwardly chafed against Anton. "How rudely he +spoke to me!" thought she. "My father is right; he is very prosaic. When +I saw him first, I was on this pony too, but then I pleased him better; +we were both children then, but his manner was more respectful than +now." The thought flashed across her mind how bright, fair, and pleasant +her life was then, and how bitter now; and while she dreamed over the +contrast, she let the pony cut caper after caper. + +"Not bad, but a little more of the curb, Fräulein Lenore," cried a +sonorous voice near her. Lenore looked round in amazement. A tall +slight figure leaned against the tree, arms crossed, and a satirical +smile playing over the fine features. The stranger advanced and took off +his hat. "Hard work for the old gentleman," said he, pointing to the +pony. "I hope you remember me." + +Lenore looked at him as at an apparition, and at last, in her confusion, +slipped down from her saddle. A vision out of the past had risen +palpably before her; the cool smile, the aristocratic figure, the easy +self-possession of this man, belonged to the old days she had just been +thinking of. + +"Herr von Fink!" she cried, in some embarrassment. "How delighted +Wohlfart will be to see you again!" + +"I have already been contemplating him from afar," replied Fink, "and +did I not know by certain infallible tokens that he it is whom I behold +wading in uniform through the sand, I should not have believed it +possible." + +"Come to him at once," cried Lenore. "Your arrival is the greatest +pleasure that he could have." + +Accordingly, Fink went with her to the place where the men were engaged +in shooting at a mark. Fink stepped behind Anton, and laid his hand on +his shoulder. "Good-day, Anton," said he. + +Turning round in amazement, Anton threw himself on his friend's breast. +There was a rapid interchange of hasty questions and short answers. + +"Where do you come from, welcome wanderer?" cried Anton, at length. + +"From over there," replied Fink, pointing to the horizon. "I have only +been a few weeks in the country. The last letter I got from you was +dated last autumn. Thanks to it, I knew pretty well where to look for +you. In the prevailing confusion, I consider it a remarkable piece of +luck to have found you. There's Master Karl, too," cried he, as Karl +sprang forward with a shout of delight. "Now we have half the firm +assembled, and we might begin offhand to play at counting-house work; +but you seem to have a different way of amusing yourselves here." Then +turning to Lenore, he continued, "I have already presented myself to the +baron, and heard from your lady mother where to find the martial young +spirits. And now I have to implore your intercession. I have some +acquaintance with this man, and would willingly spend a few days with +him, but I am well aware how inconsiderate it would be to tax your +hospitable home at a time like this with the reception of a stranger. +But yet, for his sake--he is a good fellow, on the whole--allow me to +remain long enough clearly to understand the <i>façon</i> of the prodigious +boots which the boy has drawn over his knees." + +Lenore replied in the same strain: "My father will look upon your visit +as a great pleasure; a kind friend is doubly valuable at a time like +this. I go at once to desire a servant to place all Mr. Wohlfart's boots +in your apartment, that you may be able to study their <i>façon</i> at your +leisure." She bowed, and went off in the direction of the castle, +leading her pony by the bridle. + +Fink looked after her and cried, "By Jove! she is become a beauty; her +bearing is faultless--nay, she even knows how to walk. I have no longer +a shadow of doubt as to her having plenty of sense." Then, putting his +arm into Anton's, he led him off to the shade of the wild pear-tree, and +then, shaking him heartily by the hand, exclaimed, "I say again, well +met, my trusty friend. Understand that I have not yet got over my +astonishment. If any one had told me that I should find you painted red +and black like a wild Indian, a battle-axe in your hand, and a fringe of +scalp-locks round your loins, I should naturally have declared him mad. +But you--born, as it would seem, to tread in the footsteps of your +forefathers--to find you on this desolate heath, with thoughts of murder +in your breast, and, as I live, without a neckcloth! If we two are +changed, you, at all events, are not the least so. Perhaps, however, you +are pleased with your change." + +"You know how I came here?" replied Anton. + +"I should think so," said Fink. "I have not forgotten the +dancing-lessons." + +Anton's brow grew clouded. + +"Forgive me," continued Fink, laughing, "and allow something to an old +friend." + +"You are mistaken," replied Anton, earnestly, "if you believe that any +thing of passion has brought me here. I have become connected with the +baron's family through a series of accidents." Fink smiled. "I confess +that these would not have affected me had I not been susceptible of +certain influences. But I may venture to say that I am accidentally in +my present responsible situation. At a time when the baron was very +painfully circumstanced, I was fixed upon by his family as one who at +all events had the will to be of use to them. They expressed a wish to +engage my services for a time. When I accepted their proposal, I did so +after an inward conflict that I have no right to disclose to you." + +"All that is very good," replied Fink; "but when the merchant buys a gun +and a sword, he must at least know why he makes those purchases; and +therefore forgive me the point-blank question, What do you mean to do +here?" + +"To remain as long as I feel myself essential, and then to look out a +place in a merchant's office," said Anton. + +"At our old principal's?" asked Fink, hastily. + +"There or elsewhere." + +"The deuce!" cried Fink. "That does not seem a very direct course, nor +an open confession either; but one must not ask too much from you in the +first hour of meeting. I will be more unreserved and candid to you. I +have worked myself free over there; and thank you for your letter, and +the advice your wisdom gave. I did as you suggested, made use of the +newspapers to explode my Western Land Association. Of course, I flew +with it into the air. I bought half a dozen pens with a thousand +dollars, and had the New York gazettes and others continually filled +with the most appalling reports of the good for nothingness of the +company. I had myself and my partners cursed in every possible key. This +made a sensation. Brother Jonathan's attention was caught; all our +rivals fell upon us at once. I had the pleasure of seeing myself and my +associates portrayed in a dozen newspapers as bloodthirsty swindlers and +scoundrels--all for my good money too. It was a wild game. In a month +the Western Land Company was so down that no dog would have taken a +crust of bread from it. Then came my co-directors and offered to buy me +out, that they might be rid of me. You may fancy how glad I was. For the +rest, I bought my freedom dear, and have left the reputation behind me +of being the devil himself. Never mind, I am free at all events. And now +I have sought you out for two reasons; first, to see and chat with you; +next, seriously to discuss my future life; and I may as well say at once +that I wish you to share it. I have missed you sadly every day. I do not +know what I find in you, for, in point of fact, you are but a dry +fellow, and more contradictious than often suits me. But, in spite of +all, I felt a certain longing for you all the time I was away. I have +come to an understanding with my father, not without hot discussion and +subsequent coolness. And now I repeat my former offer--come with me. +Over the waters to England, across the seas, any where and every where. +We will together ponder and decide upon what to undertake. We are both +free now, and the world is open to us." + +Anton threw his arm round his friend's neck. "My dear Fritz," cried he, +"we will suppose that I have expressed all that your noble proposal +causes me to feel. But you see, for the present, I have duties here." + +"According to your own most official statement, I presume that they will +not last forever," rejoined Fink. + +"That is true; but still we are not on equal terms. See," said Anton, +stretching out his hand, "barren as this landscape is, and disagreeable +the majority of its inhabitants, yet I look upon them with different +eyes to yours. You are much more a citizen of the world than I, and +would feel no great interest in the life of the state of which this +plain and your friend are component parts, however small." + +"No, indeed," said Fink, looking in amazement at Anton. "I have no great +interest in it, and all that I now see and hear makes the state, a +fragment of which you so complacently style yourself, appear to me any +thing but respectable." + +"I, however, am of a different opinion," broke in Anton. "No one who is +not compelled to do so should leave this country at the present time." + +"What do I hear?" cried Fink, in amazement. + +"Look you," continued Anton; "in one wild hour I discovered how my heart +clung to this country. Since then, I know why I am here. For the time +being, all law and order is dissolved; I carry arms in self-defense, and +so do hundreds like me in the midst of a foreign race. Whatever may have +led me individually here, I stand here now as one of the conquerors who, +in the behalf of free labor and civilization, have usurped the dominion +of the country from a weaker race. There is an old warfare between us +and the Slavonic tribes; and we feel with pride that culture, industry, +and credit are on our side. Whatever the Polish proprietors around us +may now be--and there are many rich and intelligent men among +them--every dollar that they can spend, they have made, directly or +indirectly, by German intelligence. Their wild flocks are improved by +our breeds; we erect the machinery that fills their spirit-casks; the +acceptance their promissory notes and lands have hitherto obtained rests +upon German credit and German confidence. The very arms they use against +us are made in our factories or sold by our firms. It is not by a +cunning policy, but peacefully through our own industry, that we have +won our real empire over this country, and, therefore, he who stands +here as one of the conquering nation, plays a coward's part if he +forsakes his post at the present time." + +"You take a very high tone on foreign ground," replied Fink; "and your +own soil is trembling under your feet." + +"Who has joined this province to Germany?" asked Anton, with +outstretched hand. + +"The princes of your race, I admit," said Fink. + +"And who has conquered the great district in which I was born?" inquired +Anton, farther. + +"One who was a man indeed." + +"It was a bold agriculturist," cried Anton; "he and others of his race. +By force or cunning, by treaty or invasion, in one way or other, they +got possession of the land at a time when, in the rest of Germany, +almost every thing was effete and dead. They managed their land like +bold men and good farmers, as they were. They have combined decayed or +dispersed races into a state; they have made their home the central +point for millions, and, out of the raw material of countless +insignificant sovereignties, have created a living power." + +"All that has been," said Fink; "that was the work of a past +generation." + +"They labored for themselves, indeed, while creating us," agreed Anton, +"but now we have come into being, and a new German nation has arisen. +Now we demand of them that they acknowledge our young life. It will be +difficult to them to do this, just because they are accustomed to +consider their collective lands as the domain of their sword. Who can +say when the conflict between us and them will be ended? Perhaps we may +long have to curse the ugly apparitions it will evoke. But, end as it +will, I am convinced, as I am of the light of day, that the state which +they have constructed will not fall back again into its original chaos. +If you had lived much among the lower classes, as I have done of late +years, you would believe me. We are still poor as a nation--our strength +is still small; but every year we are working our way upward, every year +our intelligence, well-being, and fellow-feeling increases. At this +moment we here, on the border, feel like brothers. Those in the interior +may quarrel, but we are one, and our cause is pure." + +"Well done," said Fink, nodding approval; "that was spoken like a +thorough German. The wintrier the time, the greener the hope. From all +this, Master Wohlfart, I perceive that you have no inclination at +present to go with me." + +"I can not," answered Anton, with emotion; "do not be angry with me +because of it." + +"Hear me," laughed Fink; "we have changed parts since our separation. +When I left you a few years ago, I was like the wild ass in the desert, +who scents a far-off fountain. I hoped to emerge out my prosy life with +you into green pastures, and all I found was a nasty swamp. And now I +come back to you wearied out, and find you playing a bold game with +fate. You have more life about you than you had. I can't say that of +myself. Perhaps the reason may be that you have had a home; I never had. +However, we have had enough of wisdom; come and instruct me in your mode +of warfare. Let me have a look at your squatters, and show me, if you +can, a square foot of ground on this charming property in which one does +not sink up to one's knees in sand." + +Meanwhile preparations were going on at the castle for the stranger. The +baron made one servant ascertain that there was a sufficiency of red and +white wine in the cellar, and scolded another for not having had the +broken harness repaired. The baroness ordered a dress to be taken out +which she had not worn since her arrival; and Lenore thought with secret +anxiety about the haughty aristocrat, who had struck her as so imposing +at the time of the dancing-lessons, and whose image had often risen +before her since then. + +Below stairs the excitement was no less, for, excepting a few passing +callers on business, this was the first visitor. The faithful cook +determined to venture upon an artistic dish, but in this wretched +country the materials were not to be had. She thought of killing a few +fowls out of the farm-yard; but that measure was violently opposed by +Suska, a little Pole, Lenore's confidential maid, who wept over the +determined character of the cook, and threatened to call the young lady, +till the former came to her senses, and sent off a barefooted boy to the +forester's in all haste to ask for something out of the common way. A +sudden onslaught was made upon spiders and dust; and a room got ready +near Anton's, into which Lenore's little sofa, her mother's arm-chair, +and carpet, were carried, to keep up the family dignity. + +Fink, little guessing the disturbance his arrival occasioned, sauntered +over the fields with Anton in a more cheerful mood than he had known for +long. He spoke of his experiences, of the refinements in money-making, +and the giant growth of the New World; and Anton heard with delight a +deep abhorrence of the iniquities in which he had been involved break +out in the midst of his jokes. + +"Life is on an immense scale over there, it is true," said he, "but it +was in its whirl that I first learned to appreciate the blessings of the +fatherland." + +While thus talking, they returned to the castle to change their dress. +Anton had merely time to glance in amazement at the arrangements of +Fink's bed-room before they were summoned to the baroness. Now that the +anxieties about domestic arrangements were over, and the lamps shed +their mild radiance through the room, the family felt themselves +cheerfully excited by the visit of this man of fashion. Once more, as of +yore, there was the easy tone of light surface-talk, the delicate +attention which gives to each the sense of contributing to another's +enjoyment, the old forms, perhaps the old subjects of conversation. And +Fink solved the problem ever offered by a new circle to a guest with the +readiness which the rogue had always at his command when he chose. He +gave to each and all the impression that he thoroughly enjoyed their +society. He treated the baron with respectful familiarity, the baroness +with deference, Lenore with straightforward openness. He seemed to take +pleasure in addressing her, and soon overcame her embarrassment. The +family felt that he was one of themselves; there was a freemasonry +between them. Even Anton wondered how it came about that Fink, the +newly-arrived guest, appeared the old friend of the house, and he the +stranger; and again something of the reverence arose within him which, +as a youth, he had always felt for the elegant, distinguished, and +exclusive. But this was a mere shadow passing over his better judgment. + +When Fink rose to retire, the baron declared with genuine cordiality how +gladly he would have him remain their guest; and when he was gone, the +baroness remarked how well the English style of dress became him, and +what a distinguished-looking man he was. Lenore made no remark upon him, +but she was more talkative than she had been for a long time past. She +accompanied her mother to her bed-room, sat down by the bedside of the +weary one, and began merrily to chat away, not, indeed, about their +guest, but about many subjects of former interest, till her mother +kissed her brow, and said, "That will do, my child; go to bed, and do +not dream." + +Fink stretched himself comfortably on the sofa. "This Lenore is a +glorious woman," cried he, in ecstasy; "simple, open--none of the silly +enthusiasm of your German girls about her. Sit an hour with me, as of +old, Anton Wohlfart, baronial rent-receiver in a Slavonic Sahara! I say, +you are in such a romantic position, that my hair still bristles with +amazement. You have often stood by me in my scrapes of former days as my +rational guardian angel; now you are yourself in the midst of madness; +and, as I at present enjoy the advantage of being in my right mind, my +conscience forbids me to leave you in such confusion." + +"Fritz, dear friend!" cried Anton, joyfully. + +"Well, then," said Fink, "you see that I wish to remain with you for a +while. Now I want you to consider how this is to be done. You can easily +manage it with the ladies; but the baron?" + +"You have heard," replied Anton, "that he esteems it a fortunate chance +which brings a knight like you to this lonely castle; only"--he looked +doubtfully around the room--"you must learn to put up with many things." + +"Hmm--I understand," said Fink; "you are become economical." + +"Just so," said Anton. "If I could fill sacks with the yellow sand of +the forest, and sell it as wheat, I should have to sell many and many +sacks before I could put even a small capital into our purse." + +"Where you have pushed yourself in as purse-bearer, I could well suppose +the purse an empty one," said Fink, dryly. + +"Yes," replied Anton, "my strong-box is an old dressing-case, and, I +assure you, it could hold more than it does. I often feel an +unconquerable envy of Mr. Purzel and his chalk in the counting-house. +Could I but once have the good fortune to behold a row of gray linen +bags! As to bank-notes and a portfolio of stocks, I dare not even think +of them." + +Fink whistled a march. "Poor lad," said he. "Yet there is a large estate +and a regular farm-establishment, which must either bring in or take +out. What do you live upon, then?" + +"That is one of the mysteries of the ladies, which I hardly dare to +disclose. Our horses munch diamonds." + +Fink shrugged his shoulders. "But is it possible that Rothsattel can +have come to this?" + +Anton then sketched, with some reserve, the baron's circumstances, +speaking enthusiastically, at the same time, of the noble resignation +of the baroness, and the healthy energy of Lenore. + +"I see," said Fink, "that things are still worse than I supposed. How is +it possible that you can carry on such a farm? The birds of the air are +rich compared to you." + +"As things are," continued Anton, "we may contrive to struggle on till +quieter times--till the judicial sale of the family estate. The +creditors will not press now, and lawyers are almost without work. The +baron can not manage this estate without a large capital, but neither +can he give it up at present without forfeiting the little that its sale +may hereafter bring; and, besides, the family have no other roof over +their heads. All my endeavors, during the last week, to persuade them to +leave this province, have been in vain. They are desperately resolved to +await their fate here. The baron's pride objects to a return to his +former neighborhood, and the ladies will not leave him." + +"Then at least send them to the neighboring town, and do not expose them +to the assault of every drunken band of boors." + +"I have done what I could; I am powerless in this respect," replied +Anton, gloomily. + +"Then, my son, allow me to tell you that your warlike apparatus is not +very encouraging. With the dozen or two that you can collect, you will +hardly keep off an invasion of rascals. You can not even defend the +premises with that handful, to say nothing of covering the ladies' +escape. Have you no prospect of procuring any soldiers?" + +"None," replied Anton. + +"A thoroughly comfortable, cheerful prospect!" cried Fink. "And, in +spite of it, you have sown your fields, and the little farm works on. I +have heard from Karl how it looked when you came, and what improvements +you have made; you have managed capitally. No American, no man of any +other country, would have done the same; in a desperate case, commend me +to the German. But the ladies and your infant establishment must be +better protected. Hire twenty able-bodied men; they will guard the +house." + +"You forget that we are as little able to feed twenty idle mouths as is +the owl on the tower." + +"Let them work!" cried Fink; "you have here land enough to employ a +hundred hands. Have you no swamps to drain, or ditches to dig? There is +a row of wretched puddles yonder." + +"That is work for another season," replied Anton, "the ground is too wet +now." + +"Have a hundred acres of forest sown or planted. Does the brook hold out +in the summer?" + +"I hear that it does," replied Anton. + +"Then turn it to some account." + +"Do not forget," said Anton, smiling, "how difficult it would be to get +good workmen with military abilities to come just now into our +ill-renowned district." + +"To the devil with your objections!" cried Fink; "send Karl into a +German district, and he will hire you plenty of people." + +"You have already heard that we have no money. The baron is not in a +position to carry on greater improvements, with increased expenditure." + +"Let me do it, then," replied Fink; "you can repay me when you are +able." + +"It is doubtful whether we should ever be able." + +"Well, then, he need never know what the men cost." + +"He is blind," replied Anton, with a slight tone of reproach; "and I am +in his service, and bound to lay all my accounts before him. Certainly, +he might accept a loan from you after a few scruples, for his views of +his circumstances vary with his moods. But the ladies have no such +illusions. Your presence would be an hourly humiliation to them, if they +were conscious of owing additional comforts to your means." + +"And yet they have accepted the greater sacrifice that you have made for +them," said Fink, gravely. + +"Perhaps they consider that my humble services entail on me no +sacrifice," replied Anton, blushing. "They are accustomed to me as the +baron's agent. But you are their guest, and their self-respect will +endeavor to conceal from you, as much as possible, the difficulties of +their position. To make your apartment habitable, they have plundered +their own; the very sofa on which you lie is from the young lady's +bed-room." + +Fink looked eagerly at the sofa, and settled himself on it again. "As it +does not suit me," said he, "to travel off immediately, you will have +the goodness to point out to me some way of living here with propriety. +Tell me, offhand, something about the mortgages, and the prospects of +the estate; assume for the moment that I am to be the unfortunate +purchaser of this Paradise." + +Anton made the statement required. + +"That, at all events, is not so desperate," said Fink. "Now hear my +proposal; you can not go on as at present; this restricted establishment +is too undesirable for all parties, most of all for you. The property +may be fearfully devastated, but still it seems to me possible to make +something of it. Whether you are the people to do so or not, I will not +decide; though if you, Anton, are willing to devote some years of your +life to it, and to sacrifice yourself still further to the interests of +others, it is not impossible that, in more tranquil times, you may +succeed in procuring the necessary capital. Meantime I will advance--say +fifteen thousand dollars, and the baron will give me a mortgage for that +sum. This loan will not much diminish your income, and it will make it +easier for you to get over this bad year." + +Anton rose and paced up and down uneasily. + +"It won't do," cried he, at length; "we can not accept your generous +proposal. Look you, Fritz: a year ago, before I knew the man as well as +I do now, I was intensely anxious to lead our principal to take an +interest in the baron's affairs, and if you had made me this offer then, +I should have been delighted; but now I should consider it unjust to you +and to the ladies to accept your proposal." + +"Shall the sofa out of Lenore's bed-room be defiled by the tobacco-ashes +of your guests? I do it now; later it will be done by the Polish +scythe-bearers." + +"We must go through with it," replied Anton, mournfully. + +"Headstrong boy!" cried Fink; "you shall not get rid of me thus. And now +off with you, stiff-necked Tony!" + +After this conversation, Fink did not allude further to his projected +loan, but he had several confidential conversations in the course of the +following day with Karl, and when evening came, he said to the baron, +"May I request you to lend me your horse to-morrow? He is an old +acquaintance of mine. I should like to ride over your property. Do not +be angry with me, dear lady, if I fail to make my appearance at dinner." + +"He is rich; he is come here to buy," said the baron to himself. "This +Wohlfart has told his friend that there is a bargain to be made in this +quarter. The speculation is beginning; I must be cautious." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + + +It was a sunny morning in April--one of those genial growing days that +expand the leaf-bud on the trees, and quicken the throbs of the human +heart. Lenore went with hat and parasol out into the farm-yard, and +walked through the cow-houses. The horned creatures looked full at her +with their large eyes, and raised their broad damp noses, some of them +lowing in expectation of receiving something good at her hands. + +"Is Mr. Wohlfart here?" asked Lenore of the bailiff, who was hurrying by +to the stable. + +"He is in the castle, my lady." + +"His guest is with him, I suppose?" she further inquired. + +"Herr von Fink rode off this morning early to Neudorf. He can't rest in +the house, and is always happiest on horseback. He should have been a +hussar." + +When Lenore heard in which direction Herr von Fink had ridden, she +walked slowly in a different one to avoid meeting him, and crossed the +brook and the fields to the wood. She gazed at the blue sky and reviving +earth. The winter wheat and the green grass looked so cheerful that her +heart laughed within her. The spring had breathed on the willows along +the brook; the yellow branches were full of sap, and the first leaves +bursting out. Even the sand did not annoy her to-day. She stepped +rapidly through the expanse of it that girdled the forest, and hurried +on through the firs to the cottage. The whole wood was alive with hum +and cry. Wherever a group of other trees rose amid the firs, the loud +chirp of the chaffinch was heard, or the eager twitter of some little +newly-wedded birds, disputing about the position of their nest. The +beetle in his black cuirass droned around the buds of the chestnut; at +times a wild bee, newly wakened from its winter sleep, came humming by; +even brown butterflies fluttered over the bushes, and, wherever the +ground sunk into hollows, these were gay with the white and yellow stars +of the anemone and the primrose. Lenore took off her straw hat, and let +the mild breeze play about her temples, while she drew in long draughts +of forest fragrance. She often stopped and listened to the sounds +around her--contemplated the tender leaves of the trees, stroked the +white bark of the birch, stood by the rippling fountain before the +forester's house, and caressed the little firs in the hedge, which stood +as close and regular as the bristles in a brush. She thought she had +never seen the forest so cheerful before. The dogs barked furiously; she +heard the fox rattle his chain, and looked up at the bull-finch, who +jumped to and fro in his cage, and tried to bark like his superiors. + +"Hush, Hector! hush Bergmann!" cried Lenore, knocking at the door. The +loud barking changed into a friendly welcome. As she opened the door, +Bergmann, the otter-hound, came straddling toward her, wagging his tail +immoderately, and Hector made a succession of audacious leaps, while +even the fox crept back into its kennel, laid its nose on its trough, +and looked slyly at her. But she saw a horse's head on the other side of +the hedge; he that she had meant to avoid was actually here. For a +moment she remained irresolute, and was going to turn away, when the +forester came out. Now, then, retreat was impossible, and she followed +him in. Fink stood in the middle of the room, in the full light of the +rays which fell through the small panes. He advanced politely. "I came +to make acquaintance," said he, pointing to the forester; "and here I am +admiring your stout-hearted vassal and his comfortable home." The +forester placed a chair; Lenore could but take it. Fink leaned against +the brown wall, and looked at her with undisguised admiration. "You are +a wonderful contrast to this old boy and to the whole room," said he, +glancing round. "Pray make no sign with your parasol; all these stuffed +creatures only wait your command to come to life again, and lay +themselves at your feet. Look at the heron yonder, raising its head +already." + +"It is only the effect of the sunshine," said the forester, +comfortingly. + +Lenore laughed. "We know what that means," cried Fink; "you are in the +plot; you are the gnome of this queen. If there be no magic here, let me +sleep out the rest of my days. One wave of that wand, and the beams of +this great bird-cage will open, and you fly with your whole suite out +into the sunshine. Doubtless your palace is on the summit of the +fir-trees without; there are the pleasant halls in which your throne +stands, mighty mistress of this place, fair-haired goddess of Spring!" + +"My comfort is," said Lenore, somewhat confused, "that it is not I who +occasion these ideas, but the pleasure you take in the ideas themselves. +I only chance to be the unworthy subject of your fancy. You are a poet." + +"Fie!" cried Fink; "how can you detract from me so much! I a poet! +Except a few merry sailors' songs, I do not know a single piece of +poetry by heart. The only lines I care for are some fragments of the old +school; for example, 'Hurrah! Hurrah! hop, hop, hop,' in a poem which, +if I am not mistaken, bears your name. And even to these classic lines I +have to object that they rather represent the material trot of a +cart-horse than the course of a phantom steed. But we must not be too +exact with these pen-and-ink gentry. Well, then, with this single +exception, you will find no poetry in me, except a few of the great +Schiller's striking lines: <i>Potz Blitz, das ist ja die Gustel von +Blasewitz</i>. There's much truth in that passage." + +"You are making fun of me," said Lenore, somewhat offended. + +"Indeed I am not," asseverated Fink. "How can any one make or read poems +in these days of ours, when we are constantly living them? Since I have +been back in the old country, scarce an hour passes without my seeing or +hearing something that will be celebrated by knights of the pen a +hundred years hence. Glorious material here for art of every kind! If I +had the misfortune to be a poet, I should now be obliged to rush out in +a fit of inspiration, hide myself in the kennel, and, at a safe distance +from all exciting causes, write a passionate sonnet, while the fox kept +biting my heels. But, as I am no poet, I prefer to enjoy the beautiful +when it is before me, to putting it into rhyme." And again he looked +admiringly at the lady. + +"Lenore!" cried a harsh voice from a corner of the room. Lenore and Fink +looked in amazement at each other. + +"He has learned it," said the forester, pointing to the raven; "in a +general way he has left off learning, and sits there sulking with every +one, but still he has learned that." + +The raven sitting on the stove bent down his head, cast a shrewd glance +at both the guests, kept moving his beak as though speaking to himself, +and alternately nodding and shaking his head. + +"The birds already begin to speak," cried Fink, going up to the raven; +"the ceiling will soon fly off, and I shall be left alone with Hector +and Bergmann. Now, sorcerer, does the water boil?" + +The forester looked into the stove. "It boils famously," he said; "but +what is to be done next?" + +"We will ask the lady to help us," replied Fink. "I have," said he, +turning to Lenore, "already been with your family trapper as far as the +distillery and back, and I have brought what always serves me on my +travels for breakfast and dinner." He took out a few tablets of +chocolate. "We will concoct something like a beverage with this, if you +do not disdain to lend us your aid. I propose that we try to mix this +with water as well as we can. It would be charming of you to vouchsafe +an opinion as to how we ought to set about it." + +"Have you a grater or a mortar?" inquired Lenore, laughing. + +"I have neither of those machines," replied the forester. + +"A hammer, then," suggested Fink, "and a clean sheet of paper." + +The hammer was soon brought, but the paper was only found after a long +search. Fink undertook to pound the chocolate, the forester brought +fresh water from the spring, Lenore washed out some cups, and Fink +hammered away with all his heart. "This is antediluvian paper," said he, +"thick as parchment; it must have lain for some centuries in this magic +hut." Lenore shook the chocolate powder into the saucepan, and stirred +it. Then they all three sat down, and much enjoyed the result of their +handiwork. + +The golden sunbeams shone fuller into the room, lighting up the bright +form of the beautiful girl, and the fine face of the man opposite her; +then they fell upon the wall, and decked the head of the heron and the +wings of the hawk. The raven came to the end of his soliloquy, and +fluttered from his seat, hopping about the lady's feet, and croaking out +again, "Lenore! Lenore!" + +Lenore now conversed at her ease with the stranger, and the forester +every now and then threw in a suitable remark. They spoke of the +district and its inhabitants. + +"Wherever I have met Poles in foreign lands, I have got on very well +with them," said Fink. "I am sorry that these disturbances prevent one +visiting them in their own homes; for, certainly, one best learns to +know men from seeing them there." + +"It must be delightful to see so many different scenes and people," +cried Lenore. + +"It is only at first that the difference strikes you. When one has +observed them a while, one comes to the conclusion that they are every +where much alike: a little diversity in the color of the skin and other +details; but love and hate, laughter and tears, these the traveler finds +every where, and every where these are the same. About twenty weeks ago +I was half a hemisphere off, in the log hut of an American, on a barren +prairie. It was just the same as here. We sat at a stout rustic table +like this, and my host was as like this old gentleman as one egg is to +another, and the light of the winter sun fell in just the same way +through the small window. But if men have so little to distinguish them, +women are still more alike in essentials. They only differ in one +trifling particular." + +"And what is that?" asked the forester. + +"They are rather more or less neat," said Fink, carelessly; "that is the +whole difference." + +Lenore rose, offended at his tone more than at his words. + +"It is time that I should return," said she, coldly, tying on her straw +hat. + +"When you rose, all the brightness left the room," cried Fink. + +"It is only a cloud passing over the sun," said the forester, going to +the window; "that causes the shadow." + +"Nonsense," replied Fink; "it is the straw hat hiding the lady's hair +that does it; the light comes from those golden locks." + +They left the house, the forester locked the door, and each went off in +different directions. + +Lenore hurried home; the linnet sang, the thrush whistled, but she did +not heed them. She blamed herself for having crossed the threshold of +the forester's house, and yet she could not turn away her thoughts from +it. The stranger made her feel uneasy and insecure. Was he thus daring +because nothing was sacred to him, or was it only through his extreme +self-possession and self-dependence? Ought she to be angry with him, or +did her sense of awkwardness only arise from the folly of an +inexperienced girl? These questions she kept constantly asking herself, +but, alas! she found no answer. + +When Anton wanted to send a message that evening to the shepherd, +neither Karl nor any other messenger was to be found, so he went +himself. He was not a little surprised to see in one of the farthest +fields through which he had to go his friend Fink on horseback, and the +German farmer and Karl busily occupied near him. Fink was galloping +along short distances, the others placing black and white pegs in the +ground, and taking them out again. And then Karl looked through a small +telescope that he rested on his peg. "Five-and-twenty paces," cried +Fink. + +"Two inches fall," screamed back Karl. + +"Five-and-twenty, two," said the farmer, making an entry in his +pocket-book. + +"So you have come, have you?" cried Fink, laughing, to his friend. "Wait +a moment; we shall soon have done." Again a certain number of leaps, +observations through the telescope, and entries in the pocket-book; then +the men collected their pegs, and Fink rapidly cast up the figures in +the farmer's book. Then giving it back with a smile, he said, "Come on +with me, Anton, I have something to show you. Place yourself by the +brook, with your face to the north. There the brook forms a straight +line from west to east, the border of the wood a semicircle. Wood and +brook together define the segment of a circle." + +"That is evident," said Anton. + +"In olden times the brook ran differently," continued Fink. "It swept +along the curve of the wood, and its old bed is still visible. If you +walk along the ancient water-course toward the west, you come to the +point where the old channel diverges from the new. It is the point where +a wretched bridge crosses the brook, and the water in its present bed +has a fall of more than a foot, strong enough to turn the best mill +going. The ruins of some buildings stand near it." + +"I know the place well enough," said Anton. + +"Below the village, the old channel bends down to the new. It +encompasses a wide plain, more than five hundred acres, if I can trust +the paces of this horse. The whole of this ground slopes down from the +old channel to the new. There are a few acres of meadow, and some +tolerable arable land. The most part is sand and rough pasture, the +worst part of the estate, as I hear." + +"I allow all that," said Anton, with some curiosity. + +"Now mark me. If you lead back the brook to its old channel, and force +it to run along the bow instead of forming the arc of that bow, the +water that now runs to waste will irrigate the whole plain of five +hundred acres, and change the barren sand into green meadows." + +"You are a sharp fellow," cried Anton, excited at the discovery. + +"These acres, well irrigated, would yield a ton of hay an acre; +consequently, each acre would bring in a clear profit of five dollars, +or, in other words, the five hundred acres would give a yearly income of +two thousand five hundred, and to bring this about would require an +outlay of fifteen thousand dollars at the very outside. This, Anton, was +what I had to say to you." + +Anton stood there amazed. There was no doubt that Fink's calculations +were not made at random either as to outlay or return, and the +advantageous prospect which such a measure opened out occupied him so +much that he walked on for some time in silence. "You show me water and +pastures in the desert," said he, at length. "This is cruel of you, for +the baron is not in a condition to carry out this improvement. Fifteen +thousand dollars!" + +"Perhaps ten might do," said Fink, sarcastically. "I have drawn this +castle in the air for you, to punish you for your stiff-neckedness the +other evening. Now let us speak of something else." + +At night the baron, with an important air, summoned his wife and Lenore +to a conference in his room. He sat up in his arm-chair, and said, with +a greater degree of satisfaction than he had for a long time evinced, +"It was easy to discover that this visit of Fink's was not exactly +accidental, nor occasioned by his friendship for Mr. Wohlfart, as the +young men both made it appear: you two pretended to be wiser than I; but +I was right after all, and the visit concerns us more nearly than our +agent." + +The baroness cast a terrified glance at her daughter, but Lenore's eyes +were so fully fixed on her father that her mother was comforted. + +"And what do you suppose has brought this gentleman here?" continued the +baron. + +Lenore shook her head, and said at last, "Father, Herr von Fink has long +been most intimate with Wohlfart, and they have not seen each other for +some years. How natural that Fink should take advantage of his slight +acquaintance with us to spend a few weeks with his dearest friend! Why +should we seek any other reason for his presence?" + +"You speak as young people always do. Men are less influenced by ideal +impressions, and more ruled by their own interest, than your juvenile +wisdom apprehends." + +"Interest!" said the baroness. + +"What is there surprising in it?" continued the baron. "Both are +tradespeople. Fink knows enough of the charms of business to lose no +opportunity of making a good bargain. I will tell you why he is come +here. Our excellent Wohlfart has written to him stating, 'Here is an +estate, and this estate has an owner who is at present unable to +overlook its management himself. There is something to be made here. You +have money, therefore come; I am your friend; some of the profits will +naturally fall to my share.'" + +The baroness gazed steadfastly at her husband, but Lenore sprang up and +cried, with all the energy of a deeply-wounded heart, "Father, I will +not hear you speak thus of a man who has never shown us any thing but +the most unselfish devotion. His friendship for us is such as to enable +him to bear with boundless patience the privations of this lonely place, +and the disagreeables of his present position." + +"His friendship?" said the baron; "I never laid claim to so great a +distinction." + +"We have done so, though," cried Lenore, impetuously. "At a time when my +mother found no one else to stand by us, Wohlfart faithfully clung to us +still. From the day that my brother brought him to us till this very +hour, he has acted for you and cared for us." + +"Very well," admitted the baron; "I find no fault with his activity. I +willingly allow that he keeps the accounts in good order, and is very +industrious in return for a small salary. If you understood men's +motives better, you would hear me more patiently. After all, there is no +harm in what he has done. I want capital, and am, as you know, a good +deal embarrassed besides. What should prevent proposals being made to me +which would advantage others and do me no injury?" + +"For God's sake, father, what proposals do you mean? It is false that +Wohlfart has any other interest at heart but yours." + +The baroness beckoned to her daughter to be silent. "If Fink wishes to +purchase the estate," said she, "I shall hail his resolve as a +blessing--the greatest blessing, beloved Oscar, that could happen to you +now." + +"We are not talking of buying," replied the baron. "I shall think twice +before I give away the estate in such a hurry under the present +circumstances. Fink's proposal is of a different kind; he wishes to +become my tenant." + +Lenore sank down speechless in her chair. + +"He wishes to rent from me five hundred acres of level ground, in order +to convert them into profitable meadows. I do not deny that he has +spoken openly and fairly on the subject. He has proved to me in figures +how great his gains would be, and offered to pay the first year's rent +at once--nay, more, he has offered to give up his tenancy in five years, +and make over the meadows to me, provided I repay him the expenses +incurred." + +"Gracious Heaven!" cried Lenore; "you have surely refused this generous +proposal." + +"I have required time for deliberation," replied the baron, +complacently. "The offer is, as I have already said, not exactly +disadvantageous to myself; at the same time, it might be imprudent to +concede such advantages to a stranger, when, in a year or so, I might be +able to carry out this improvement on my own account." + +"You will never be able to do so, my poor, my beloved husband," cried +the baroness, weeping, and throwing her arms about the baron's neck, +while he sank down annihilated, and laid his head on her breast like a +little child. + +"I must know whether Wohlfart knows of this proposal, and what he says +to it," cried Lenore, decidedly; "and, if you allow me, father, I will +at once send for him." As the baron did not reply, she rang the bell for +the servant, and left the room to meet him at the door. + +Fink sat, meanwhile, in Anton's room, amusing himself with rallying his +friend. "Since you have given up smoking, your good angel has deserted +you, after having so torn his hair at your stiff-neckedness that there +he is now sitting bewigged among the angel choir. As for you, your +punishment is to be the having your soul sewed up in a turnip-leaf, and +daily smoked by the smallest imps in the pit." + +"Have you been a member of some pious fraternity in America, that you +are so well acquainted with the proceedings of the spiritual world?" +inquired Anton, looking up from his account-book. + +"Silence!" said Fink; "formerly there were, at least, occasional hours +when you could trifle too, but now you are always carrying on your +everlasting book-keeping, and, by Tantalus, all for nothing--for nothing +at all!" + +The servant entered, and summoned Anton to the baron. + +As the latter left the room, Fink called out, "Apropos; I have offered +to rent the five hundred acres from the baron at two dollars and half +the acre--the land to be made over in five years' time on repayment of +the capital expended, either in money or by a mortgage. Off with you, my +boy!" + +When Anton entered the baron's apartment, he found the baroness at her +husband's side, his hand in hers, while Lenore walked restlessly up and +down the room. "Have you heard of the offer that Herr von Fink has made +to my father?" asked she. + +"He has this moment told me of it," replied Anton. The baron made a +face. + +"And is it your opinion that my father ought to accept the offer?" + +Anton was silent. "It is an advantageous one for the estate," said he, +at length, with considerable effort. "The outlay of capital is essential +to its improvement." + +"I don't want to be told that," replied Lenore, impatiently, "but to +know whether you, as our friend, advise us to accept this offer?" + +"I do not," said Anton. + +"I knew that you would say so," cried Lenore, stepping behind her +father's chair. + +"You do not; and wherefore, if you please?" inquired the baron. + +"The present time, which makes all things uncertain, seems to me little +fitted for so bold a speculation; besides which, I believe Fink to be +influenced by motives which do him honor, but which would render it +painful to the baron to accept his offer." + +"You will allow me to be the judge of what I ought or ought not to +accept," said the baron. "As a mere question of business, this measure +would be advantageous to both parties." + +"That I must allow," said Anton. + +"And as to the views that people may take of political prospects, that +is merely a personal matter. He who does not allow his undertakings to +be interfered with is more praise-worthy than he who, through a vague +fear, postpones advantageous measures." + +"That, too, I allow." + +"Would this undertaking lead to Herr von Fink permanently taking up his +abode in our neighborhood?" asked the baroness. + +"I do not think so; he would make over the task to a farmer, and his +temperament is sure to send him wandering off again. As to his motives, +I can but surmise. I believe them to be mainly the respect and regard he +feels for your family, and possibly the wish to have some right to +remain with you in these unquiet times. The very danger that would make +this country undesirable to others has a charm for him." + +"And would you not be glad to retain your friend with you?" inquired the +baroness further. + +"Till to-day I had no hope of it," answered Anton. "Formerly, my task +used to be that of holding him back from precipitate resolves, and from +staking much upon a sudden fancy." + +"You consider, then," said the baron, "that your friend has been +precipitate in his proposal to me?" + +"His proposal is a bold one, so far as he himself is concerned," +returned Anton, significantly; "and there is something in it, baron, +which does not satisfy me on your account, though I should find a +difficulty in defining it." + +"Thank you," said the baron; "we will discuss the subject no further; +there is no hurry about it." Anton bowed and left the room. + +Lenore stood silently at the window, repeating to herself his last +words, "I should find a difficulty in defining it," while a crowd of +painful thoughts and forebodings rushed through her mind. She was angry +with her father's weakness, and indignant with Fink for presuming to +offer them assistance. Whether his offer were accepted or not, their +relations to their guest were changed by it. They were indebted to him. +He was no longer a stranger. He had intruded into their private griefs. +She thought of the curl of his lip, of the contraction of his eyebrows; +she fancied she heard him laughing at her father and at her. He had +entered their house in his offhand way, and now carelessly seized the +reins, and meant to direct their fortunes as he liked. Perhaps her +parents might owe their deliverance to one of his arbitrary caprices. +This morning she could feel at her ease with him, brilliant man of the +world as he was; they were on equal terms, but how should they meet +henceforth? Her pride rebelled against one whose influence she so +sensibly felt. She determined to treat him coldly; she made castles in +the air as to how he would speak, and how she would reply, and her fancy +kept flying round the image of the stranger as the scared mother-bird +does around the enemy of her nest. + +"And what will you do, Oscar?" inquired the baroness. + +"My father can not accept," cried Lenore, energetically. + +"What is your opinion?" said the baron, turning to his wife. + +"Choose what will soonest set you free from this estate--from the care, +the gloom, the insecurity which are secretly preying on you. Let us go +to some distant land, where men's passions are less hideously developed. +Let us go far away; we shall be more peaceful in the narrowest +circumstances than we are here." + +"Thus, then, you advise the acceptance of his offer," said the baron. +"He who rents a part will soon undertake the whole." + +"And pay us a pension!" cried Lenore. + +"You are a foolish girl," said her father. "You both excite yourselves, +which is unnecessary. The offer is too important to be refused or +accepted offhand. I will weigh the matter more narrowly. Your Wohlfart +will have plenty of time to examine the conditions," added he, more +good-humoredly. + +"Listen, dear father, to what Wohlfart has already spoken, and respect +what he keeps back." + +"Yes, yes, he shall be listened to," said the baron. "And now +good-night, both of you. I will reconsider the matter." + +"He will accept," said Lenore to her mother; "he will accept, because +Wohlfart has dissuaded him, and because the other offers him ready +money. Mother, why did you not say that we could never look the stranger +in the face if he gave us alms in our very house?" + +"I have no longer any pride or any hope," replied her mother, in a low +voice. + +As Anton slowly re-entered his room, Fink called out cheerfully, "How +goes it, man of business? Am I to be tenant, or will the baron himself +undertake the matter? He would like it dearly. In that case, I lay claim +to compensation--free room for myself and my horse as long as they play +at war hereabouts." + +"He will accept your offer," replied Anton, "though I advised him not." + +"You did!" cried Fink. "Yes, indeed, it's just like you. When a drowning +mouse clings to a raft, you make it a long speech on the imperative +nature of moral obligations, and hurl it back into the water." + +"You are not so innocent as a raft," said Anton, laughing. + +"Hear me," continued Fink; "I have no superfluous sentimentality; but in +this particular case I should not consider it friendly in you to wish to +edify me by a lecture. Is it then so unpleasant to have me to help you +through these confounded times?" + +"I have known you long enough, you rogue," said Anton, "to feel sure +that your friendship for me has had a good deal to do with your offer." + +"Indeed!" said Fink, sarcastically; "and how much, pray? It is a good +for nothing age: however virtuously one may act, one is so dissected +that virtue turns to egotism under the knife of malice." + +Anton stroked his cheek. "I do not dissect," said he. "You have made a +generous offer, and I am not discontented with you, but with myself. In +my first delight at your arrival, I disclosed more about the baron's +circumstances and the ladies' anxieties than was right. I myself +introduced you into the mysteries of the family, and you have used the +knowledge you acquired from me in your own dexterous way. It is I who +have entangled you with the affairs of this family, and your capital +with this disturbed country. That all this should have happened so +suddenly is against my every feeling, and I am amazed at my own +incaution in having brought it about." + +"Of course," laughed Fink, "it is your sweetest enjoyment to be anxious +about those around you." + +"It has twice happened to me," continued Anton, "whose caution you so +often laugh at, to speak unguardedly to strangers about the +circumstances of this family. The first time that I asked help for the +Rothsattels it was refused me, and this, more than any thing else, led +me out of the counting-house hither; and now that my second indiscretion +has procured the help I did not ask, what will the consequences be?" + +"To lead you hence back into the counting-house," laughed Fink. "Did one +ever see such a subtle Hamlet in jack-boots? If I could only find out +whether you secretly desire or fear such a logical conclusion!" Then +drawing a piece of money from his pocket, he said, "Heads or tails, +Anton? Blonde or brunette? Let us throw." + +"You are no longer in Tennessee, you soul-seller!" laughed Anton against +his will. + +"It should have been an honorable game," said Fink, coolly. "I meant to +give you the choice. Remember that hereafter." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + + +The baron accepted. Indeed, it was difficult to resist Fink's offer: +even Anton acknowledged that. But the baron did not come to this resolve +in a straightforward way. His mind underwent many oscillations. It was +disagreeable to him to let a stranger make so considerable a profit out +of lands of his; and when he had confessed with a sigh that it was +impossible to prevent this, it was further disagreeable to him that Fink +should have ventured upon such a proposition as this the third day after +his arrival; and he felt that Lenore's continued opposition was +well-grounded. At these times he saw himself poor, dependent, under +Anton's management, and was imbittered almost to the point of giving up +the plan. But, after such divergences, he always came back to the main +point--his own interest. He knew well how great a help the rent paid +beforehand would be during the current year, and he foresaw that the +outlay of capital would, in the course of a few years, double the value +of the estate. Then he could not but admit to himself that, at the +present disturbed time, Fink would be a desirable associate. However, he +preserved a rigid silence toward his wife and daughter; good-naturedly +threw back Lenore's attempts to bring him to a decision; and was more +dignified than usual in bearing during this period of deliberation. + +After a few days he called his old servant, and said, in strict +confidence, "Find out, John, when Mr. Wohlfart goes out, and Herr von +Fink remains alone in his room, and then go to the latter and announce +me to him." + +The baron being accordingly privately introduced into Fink's apartment, +told him in a friendly way that he accepted his offer, and left it to +him to get the contract drawn up by the Rosmin attorney. + +"All right," said Fink, shaking hands with him; "but have you reflected, +baron, that your kind consent obliges me to claim your hospitality for +weeks, if not months? for I consider my presence desirable, at all +events till the farming operations are fairly set going." + +"I shall be delighted," replied the baron, "if you will put up with our +unsettled establishment. I shall take the liberty of setting apart some +rooms for you. If you have a servant to whom you are accustomed, pray +send for him." + +"I want no servant," said Fink, "if you will desire your John to keep my +room in order; but I have something better from which I don't like to be +long parted--a fine half-blood, which is at present standing in my +father's stable." + +"Would it not be possible to have the horse sent over here?" + +"If you would allow it," said Fink, "I shall be very grateful to you." + +Thus the two concluded their treaty in perfect amity, and the baron left +the room with the comfortable impression of having made a clever +bargain. + +"The matter is settled," said Fink to Anton, on the return of the +latter. "Make no lamentations, for the mischief is done. I shall settle +myself in two rooms in a corner of this wing, and see to the furnishing +of them myself. To-morrow I am off to Rosmin, and farther still. I am on +the scent of an experienced man who can overlook the undertaking, and I +shall bring him and a few laborers back with me. Can you spare me our +Karl for a week or so?" + +"He is not easily spared; but, since it must be so, I will do what I can +to replace him. You must leave me abundant instructions." + +The next morning Fink rode away, accompanied by the hussar, and things +returned to their old course. The drill went on regularly; patrols were +sent around as before; frightful reports were greedily listened to and +repeated. Sometimes small detachments of military appeared, and the +officers were welcome guests at the castle, telling as they did of the +strife going on beyond the forest, and comforting the ladies by bold +assurances that the insurrection would soon be put down. Anton was the +only one who felt the heavy burden on the family funds that their +entertainment involved. + +Nearly a fortnight had passed away, and Fink and Karl were still absent. +One sunny day, Lenore was busy enlarging her plantation, where about +fifty young firs and birches already made some show. In her straw hat, a +small spade in her hand, she seemed so lovely to Anton as he was +hurrying by that he could not resist standing still to look at her. + +"I have you, then, at last, faithless sir," cried Lenore; "for a whole +week you have never given my trees a thought; I have been obliged to +water them all alone. There is your spade, so come at once and help me +to dig." + +Anton obediently took the spade and valiantly began to turn up the sods. + +"I have seen some young junipers in the wood; perhaps you can make use +of them," said he. + +"Yes; on the edge of the plantation," answered Lenore, appeased. + +"I have had more to do these last days than usual," continued he. "We +miss Karl every where." + +Lenore struck her spade deep in the ground, and bent down to examine the +upturned earth. "Has not your friend written to you yet?" inquired she, +in a tone of indifference. + +"I hardly know what to think of his silence," said Anton; "the mails are +not interrupted, and other letters come. I almost fear that some +misfortune may have happened to the travelers." + +Lenore shook her head. "Can you imagine any misfortune happening to Herr +von Fink?" inquired she, digging away. + +"It is, indeed, difficult to imagine," said Anton, laughing; "he does +not look as if he would easily allow any ill luck to settle down upon +him." + +"I should think not," replied Lenore, curtly. + +Anton was silent for a while. "It is singular that we should not yet +have talked over the change that Fink's remaining here will occasion," +said he, at length, not without some constraint, for he had a vague +consciousness that a certain degree of embarrassment had risen up on +Lenore's side as well as his own--a light shadow on the bright grass, +cast no one knows from whence. "Are you, too, satisfied with his sojourn +here?" + +Lenore turned away and twisted a twig in her fingers. "Are you +satisfied?" asked she, in return. + +"For my part," said Anton, "I may well be pleased with the presence of +my friend." + +"Then I am so too," replied Lenore, looking up; "but it really is +strange that Mr. Sturm should not have written either. Perhaps," +exclaimed she, "they will never return." + +"I can answer for Karl," said Anton. + +"But the other? He looks as changeable as a cloud." + +"He is not that," replied Anton; "if he has difficulties to contend +with, all the energy of his nature awakes; he is only bored by what +gives him no trouble." + +Lenore was silent, and dug on more zealously than ever. Just then a hum +of cheerful voices sounded from the farm-yard, and the laborers ran from +their dinner to the road. "Mr. Sturm is coming," cried one of them to +the diggers. A stately procession was seen moving through the village +toward the castle. First of all came half a dozen men all dressed alike, +in gray jackets, wearing broad-brimmed felt hats set on one side, and +decorated with a green sprig, a light gun on their shoulder, and a +sailor's cutlass at their sides. Behind them came a series of loaded +wagons: the first full of shovels, spades, rakes, and wheelbarrows +symmetrically arranged; the latter laden with sacks of meal, chests, +bundles of clothes, and household furniture. The procession was closed +by a number of men dressed like those above described. As they neared +the castle, Karl and a stranger sprang down from the last wagon; the +former placed himself at the head of the procession, had the wagons +driven to the front of the castle, arranged the men in two rows, and +made them present arms. Last of all came Fink galloping up. + +"Welcome!" cried Anton to his friend. + +"You are bringing an army and ammunition," laughed Lenore, greeting him. +"Do you always march with such heavy baggage?" + +"I bring a corps that will henceforth be in your service," replied Fink, +jumping down. "They seem decent folk," said he, turning to Anton; "but I +had some trouble to collect them. Hands are scarce just now, and yet +nothing gets done. We have been drumming and bribing in your country +like recruiting sergeants. These fellows would hardly have been got here +merely to work; the gray jackets and the chasseurs' caps settled the +matter. Some of them have served already, and your hussar knows how to +keep them together as well as any born general." + +The baron and his lady now entered the court. The laborers, at Karl's +bidding, raised a loud hurrah, and then strolled off to the side of the +castle and lay down in the sunshine. + +"Here are your pioneers, my chief," said Fink to the baron; "since your +kindness allows me to be your inmate for some time to come, I have now a +right to do something toward the security of your castle. The condition +of this province is serious. Even in Rosmin they do not feel safe for a +single day; and your imbodying a militia has not escaped the enemy, and +called attention to your house." + +"It is an honor to me," interposed the baron, "to be obnoxious to the +rebels." + +"No doubt," politely chimed in Fink. "But this is only an additional +motive to your friends to watch over your and your family's personal +safety. As yet you are hardly strong enough to defend the castle from an +assault of the rascals immediately around. The dozen laborers that I +bring will form a guard for your house; they have arms, and partly know +how to use them. I have bound them to the performance of certain +military functions which will help to keep them in order. They can work +a few hours less daily, and exercise during the interval, patrol, and, +in so far as you, baron, may think it desirable, keep up a regular +correspondence with the neighboring districts. Of course their support +and payment is my affair, and I have accordingly provided for it. I wish +to run up a slight building for them on the land they are to cultivate, +but just now it will be well to keep them as near the castle as +possible, and therefore I have to ask you for temporary quarters for all +these as well as for myself." + +"Just as you like, dear Fink," cried the baron, carried away by the +young man's enterprising spirit; "all the room we have is at your +disposal." + +"Then allow me to suggest," said Anton, "that a room in the lower story +should be fitted up as a guard-room. There arms and implements can be +safely kept, and some of the men might nightly take up their quarters +there. The rest must be billeted in the farm-yard. In this way they will +get accustomed to consider the castle their place of rendezvous." + +"Capital," said Fink, "so that the disturbance thus caused does not +prove an annoyance to the ladies." + +"The wife and daughter of an old soldier will gratefully submit to any +measures taken for their safety," replied the baron, with dignity. + +Accordingly, the new colony began to settle by universal consent. The +wagons were unloaded, the manager and his men accommodated for the +moment in the farm buildings. + +The first thing they did was to free the furniture from its wrappings of +straw and canvas, and to carry it into the apartments of their new +master. + +The castle servants stood round and looked with curiosity at its simple +style. One article, however, excited such loud admiration, that Lenore +joined the group of gazers. It was a small sofa of singular aspect. The +legs and arms were made of the feet of some great beast of prey, and +the cushions were covered with the bright yellow skin, all dotted over +with regular black spots. At the back and on the bolsters were three +large jaguars' heads, and the framework, instead of wood, was of +beautifully carved ivory. + +"How exquisite!" exclaimed Lenore. + +"If the thing does not displease you," said Fink, coolly, "I propose an +exchange. There is a small sofa in my room, on which I rest so +comfortably that I should like to keep it there. Will you allow your +people to carry off this monster to some other room in the castle, and +to leave me that sofa instead?" + +Lenore could find no reply, and bowed a silent consent; and yet she was +dissatisfied with herself for not having at once declined such an +exchange. When she returned to her room, she found the jaguar-sofa +already there. That vexed her still further. She called Suska and the +man-servant, and desired them to move it elsewhere; but they so loudly +protested that the beautiful creature was nowhere more in keeping than +in their young lady's chamber, that Lenore, to avoid observation, sent +them away and put up with the exchange. Thus it came to pass that her +fair form rested on the jaguar-skins that Fink had shot in the far +forests of the West. + +The next day the new undertaking began. The manager went with his +apparatus to the land in question, and the men had their work portioned +out to them. Karl hunted out day-laborers from the German and Polish +districts around, and even found a few in the village ready to help, so +that in a few days there were fifty hands employed. It must be owned +that things did not go on altogether undisturbed; the laborers came less +regularly than might have been wished, but still the work progressed, +for Fink as well as Karl well understood keeping men in order--the one +by his haughty energy, the other by the invariable good-humor with which +he praised or blamed. The forester came assiduously from his forest to +conduct the military exercises, the castle was nightly watched, and +patrols regularly sent to the villages around. A warlike spirit spread +from the castle over the whole district. A strong <i>esprit de corps</i> soon +sprang up among the broadbrims, which made discipline easy, and after a +few days Fink was besieged with petitioners for a like uniform, and a +gun, and the privilege of being taken into his service. + +"The guard-room is ready," said Fink to Anton; "but you must have holes +for muskets cut in the shutters of the lower story windows." Thus the +troublous time was endured with fresh spirit. The stranger-guest gave a +new impulse to each individual life; the very farm-servants felt his +influence, and the forester was proud to do the honors of his wood to +such a gentleman. Fink was a good deal in the woods with Anton, who, as +well as Karl, soon fell into the habit of asking his advice. He bought +two strong cart-horses--for his own use, he said--but he cleverly +contrived that they should work on the baron's farm, and laughed at +Anton's scruples. The latter was happy to have his friend near him. +Somewhat of their former pleasant life had returned--of those evenings +when the two youths had chatted, as only youths can, sometimes in mere +childish folly, sometimes gravely on the highest subjects. Fink had +changed in many respects. He had become more quiet, or, as Anton +expressed it in counting-house phrase, more solid; but he was more +inclined than ever to make use of men for his own varying interests, and +to look down upon them as mere instruments. His physical strength was +unabated. After having stood all morning superintending his +workmen--after having wandered all through the wood with the forester, +ridden, spite of Anton's remonstrances, far into the disturbed districts +to seek information or establish relations there, and inspected on his +return all the sentry-posts on the estate, there he was at the tea-table +of the baroness, a lively companion, with such inexhaustible funds of +conversation that Anton had often to remind him by signs that the +strength of the lady of the house was not equal to his own. As for the +baron, Fink had completely subjugated him. He never showed the least +deference to the sarcastic humor which had become habitual to the +unfortunate nobleman, never allowed him a bitter observation against +Wohlfart or Lenore, or any one else, without making him at once sensible +of its injustice. Consequently, the baron learned to exercise great +self-control in his presence. On the other hand, Fink took pains to give +him many a pleasure. He helped him to play a rubber of whist, initiated +Lenore in the game, and gradually drew in Wohlfart as the fourth. + +This had the effect of pleasantly whiling away many a weary hour for the +baron; of making Wohlfart one of the family circle, and keeping him up, +so that Fink might, if so minded, drink a glass of Cognac punch and +enjoy his last cigar in his company. The ladies of the house alone did +not seem to feel the cheering influence of Fink's presence. The +baroness fell sick; it was no violent ailment, yet it came suddenly. +That very afternoon she had spoken cheerfully to Anton, and taken from +him some letters which the postman had brought for her husband, but in +the evening she did not make her appearance at the tea-table, though the +baron himself treated her indisposition as trifling. She complained of +nothing but weakness, and the doctor, who ventured from Rosmin to the +castle, could not give her malady a name. She smilingly rejected all +medicine, and said it was her firm conviction that the exhaustion would +pass away. That she might not detain her husband and daughter in her +sick-room, she often expressed a wish to join the family circle, but she +was not able to sit up on the sofa, and lay resting her head on the +pillows. Thus she was still the silent companion of the others. Her eyes +would dwell uneasily upon the baron, or searchingly upon Lenore, as they +sat at the whist-table, and then she would close them and seem to rest, +as if from some great exertion. + +Anton looked with sincere sympathy at the invalid. Whenever there was a +pause in the game, he took the opportunity of quietly stepping to the +sofa and asking her commands. It was a pleasure to him to hand her even +a glass of water, or take a message for her. He gazed with admiration at +the delicate face, which, pale and thin as it was, retained all its +beauty of outline. There was a silent understanding between the two. She +spoke, indeed, less to him than to the rest; for while she often +addressed her husband in a cheerful tone, or followed Fink's lively +narratives with looks and gestures of interest, she did not take the +trouble of hiding her weakness from Anton. Alone with him, she would +collapse or gaze absently straight before her; but when she did look at +him, it was with the calm confidence with which we are inspired by an +old friend from whom we have no longer any secrets. Perhaps this arose +from the baroness being able fully to appreciate his worth--perhaps, +too, it arose from her never having looked at him in any other light +than that of an obliging domestic since he first promised his services; +but had this view of hers been discernible to our hero, it would in no +way have shaken his allegiance to the noble lady. She seemed to him +perfect, just as she was--a picture that rejoiced the heart of all who +came within its influence. He could not get rid of the impression that +some external cause, perhaps one of those letters he had himself given +her, was answerable for the change in her health; for one of them was +directed in a trembling hand, and had an unpleasant look about it, which +had made Anton instinctively feel that it contained bad news. One +evening, while the others were at the card-table, the invalid's head +sunk down from the silken cushions; Anton having arranged them more +comfortably, she looked at him gratefully, and told him in a whisper how +weak she was. "I wish to speak with you once more alone," continued she, +after a pause; "not now, but the time will come;" and then she looked +upward with an expression of anguish that filled Anton's heart with +painful fears. + +Neither the baron nor Lenore, however, shared his anxiety. + +"Mamma has often suffered from similar attacks of weakness before," said +the latter. "The summer is her best cure, and I hope every thing from +warmer weather." + +But indeed Lenore was too preoccupied to be a good judge of what was +going on around her. She too was changed. Many an evening she would sit +mute at the tea-table, and start if addressed; at other times she would +be immoderately lively. She avoided Fink; she avoided Anton too, and was +reserved in manner to both. Her blooming health appeared disturbed; her +mother would often send her out of doors from her own sick-room; and +then she would have her pony saddled, and ride round and round the wood, +till the indignant pony would take her home without her finding it out. +Anton saw this change with silent sorrow. He was deeply conscious how +different Lenore's relation to him had become, but he did not speak of +this to her, and kept his feelings to himself. + +It was a sultry afternoon in May. Dark thunder-clouds hung over the +forest, and the sun threw its burning rays on the parched land, when the +patrol which had been sent to Kunau came hurrying back to the guard-room +to say that there were strange men lurking in the Kunau woods, and that +the villagers wished to know what was to be done. Fink gave the alarm to +his laborers, and sent a message to the forester and to the new farm. +While the men carried the implements into the castle, and the +farm-servants rode home with teams and prepared for a sally, a horseman +came from Kunau to say that a band of Poles had broken into a court-yard +in the village, and that the peasants requested help. All were now in +the cheerful excitement which an alarm occasions when it promises +adventures. + +"Keep some of the workmen back," said Fink to Anton, "and guard the +castle and village. I will send the forester with his little militia to +Kunau, and ride over thither myself first of all, with Karl and the +servants." + +He sprang to the stable and saddled his own horse, while Karl was +getting ready that of the baron for himself. + +"Look at the clouds, Herr von Fink," said Karl. "Take your cloak with +you; we shall have a tremendous shower." + +Fink called accordingly for his plaid, and the little band galloped off +toward Kunau. When they entered the forest they remarked how stifling +the atmosphere was. Even the rapid pace of their horses brought with it +no relief. + +"Look how restless the beasts are," said Karl. "My horse pricks his +ears. There is something in the wood." + +They stopped for a moment. "I hear a horse's tread, and a rustling among +the branches." + +The horse that Karl rode stretched out his neck and neighed loudly. + +"It is an acquaintance--one of our own number," said Fink, looking at +the animal. The branches of the young trees parted, and Lenore, mounted +on her pony, sprang out and barred the way. "Halt! who goes there?" +cried she, laughing. + +"Hurrah! the young lady!" exclaimed Karl. + +"The password?" cried Lenore, in true martial style. + +Fink rode up, saluted her, and whispered, "<i>Potz Blitz, das ist ja die +Gustel von Blasewitz</i>." + +Lenore blushed and laughed. "All right," said she; "I shall ride with +you." + +"Of course," cried Fink; "only let's go on." + +The pony exerted himself to keep up with the tall horse of the stranger, +and thus they reached Kunau and stopped at the rendezvous, where the +village militia was assembled; and its commander, the smith, met the +riders with an anxious face. + +"Those hidden in our wood," cried he, "are an accursed set--armed Poles. +This very day, in broad noonlight, a band of the men, carrying guns, +came to Leonard's farm, which lies out there by the wood, invested the +doors and gate, while their leader and some of the men marched into the +room where the farmer and his family were sitting, and demanded money +and the calf out of the stable. He was a blackguard fellow, with a long +gun, a peacock feather in his cap, and a red scarf around his loins, +like a thorough Klopice. The farmer refused to give up his money, at +which they took aim at him; and his wife, in terror, ran to the closet, +and threw all the money they had at the rascals. Next, they carried away +the geese from the yard, and went off with their booty into the wood, +leaving four rogues armed with guns to mount guard, and prevent any one +getting off the premises till they were far enough. Next, two of the +thieves discharged their guns into the roof, and then all ran away. The +thatch took fire, but fortunately we got it put out." + +"Hours have passed since then," cried Fink; "the rogues are over the +mountains by this time." + +"I do not think so," replied the smith. "I at once sent off Leonard to +the border with our mounted men, that they might watch whether the +thieves crept out of the wood or not, and a woman who crossed it two +hours ago saw Poles there. They had some beast with them too, but the +woman was too much terrified to know whether it was a calf or a dog; if +it were a calf, the hungry wolves would rather eat it than carry it +farther. I have just come from Neudorf; the men there are assembled like +ourselves. We might make a search through the forest if your people +would help us, and if you would show us the way." "Good," said Fink; +"let us set about it." He then sent a message to the forester to the +effect that those in the castle should set out on the search from their +side, and discussed with the smith the best way of disposing the Kunau +men. He next dispatched Karl and the servants to join the Kunau horsemen +on the opposite side of the wood. "Don't stand upon ceremony with the +rascals," he called out after Karl, with a significant tap on his +pistols. "Now, then," said he to the smith, "I will go to Neudorf. When +you have searched your half of the wood, wait for us; you shall then be +joined by the Neudorf detachment." + +The Kunau men set off accordingly to avenge the robbery committed. Fink, +accompanied by Lenore, rode off to the neighboring village. On the way +thither, he said, "At Neudorf we must part, lady." Lenore was silent. + +Fink glanced sidelong at her. "I don't think," said he, "that the rogues +will do us the pleasure of awaiting our approach; and if they are minded +to run off, the evening is closing in, and we shall hardly hinder them; +but the chase will be good practice for our people, and therefore we +must make the most of it." + +"Then I will go with you to the wood," said Lenore, resolutely. + +"That is hardly necessary," replied Fink. "True, I fear no risk for you, +but fatigue, and probably rain." + +"Let me go with you!" prayed Lenore, looking up at him. "I have given +you sensible advice; what more can be demanded from any one?" + +"Between ourselves, I am rejoiced to find you so spirited. Gallop then, +comrade!" + +Arrived at Neudorf, Fink left the horses in the bailiff's stable, and +led the band of villagers to the borders of the wood. There they +deployed into a <i>cordon</i>, and the march now began; Fink walked with +Lenore at the head of the right wing, which, according to the plan laid +down, would be the first to join the Kunau detachment. All went silently +onward, and looked with keen glance from tree to tree. As they got +farther into the wood, there was a rustling in the tops of the trees, +and looking through them, a leaden-colored sky was seen; but below, the +sultriness was undisturbed, the birds sat supinely on the branches, and +the beetles had crept into the heather. + +"The very sky is on the side of these rogues," said Fink, pointing out +the clouds to his companion; "it is getting so dark up there that in +half an hour's time we shall not be able to see ten yards before us." + +The forest now thickened and the light decreased. Lenore had some +difficulty in discerning the men before her. The ground grew swampy, and +she sank up to her ankles. "If only no cold be caught," laughed Fink. +"None will," replied she, cheerfully; but the forest expedition no +longer appeared to her the easy matter it had done an hour before. + +The man nearest to Fink stood still, his whispered word of command ran +along the whole chain, and all stopped to wait for the Kunau men. The +sky grew still blacker, the wood still darker. The thunder began to roll +in the distance, hollow and muffled, beneath the fir-wood arches. At +first the rain sounded only on the tree-tops, but soon large, heavy +drops came down, till at length all view was shut out by the sheets of +water that fell. Each individual was isolated by darkness and rain, and +when the men called to each other, they were hardly audible. + +At that moment Lenore, as she looked at Fink, caught her foot in the +root of a tree, and suppressing a cry of anguish, sank on one knee. Fink +hastened to her. + +"I can go no farther," said she, conquering her pain; "leave me here, I +beseech you, and call for me on your return." + +"To leave you in this condition," cried Fink, "would be barbarity, +compared to which cannibalism is a harmless recreation. You will be good +enough to put up with my proximity. But first of all allow me to lead +you out of this shower-bath to some spot where the rain is less +audacious; and, besides, I have, already lost sight of our men; not one +of the worthy fellows' broad shoulders can I now discern." He raised +Lenore, who tried to use the injured foot, but the pain extorted another +cry of agony. She tottered, and leaned against Fink's shoulder. Winding +his plaid about her, he lifted her from the ground, and carried her, as +one carries a child, underneath some fir-trees, whose thick branches +spread over a small dry space. Any one stooping might find tolerable +shelter there. + +"I must set you down here, dear lady," said Fink, carefully placing +Lenore on the ground. "I will keep watch before your green tent, and +turn my back to you, that you may bind your wet handkerchief round the +naughty ankle." + +Lenore squeezed herself in under the fir canopy. Fink stood leaning +against the trunk of a tree. + +"Is nothing broken?" said he; "can you move the foot?" + +"It hurts me," said Lenore, "but I can move it." + +"That is well," said Fink, looking straight before him; "now bind the +handkerchief round it; I hope that in ten minutes you will be able to +stand. Wrap yourself up well in the large plaid; it will keep you warm; +else my comrade will catch a fever, and that would be paying too dear +for the chase after the stolen calf. Have you arranged the bandage?" + +"Yes," said Lenore. + +"Then allow me to wrap you up." It was in vain that she protested; Fink +wound the large shawl round and round her, and tied it behind in a firm +knot. "Now you may sit in the wood like the gray manikin." + +"Leave me a little breathing space," implored Lenore. + +"There, then," said Fink; "now you will be comfortable." + +Indeed, Lenore soon began to feel a genial warmth, and sat silent in her +shady nook, distressed at the singular position in which she found +herself. Meanwhile Fink had again taken up his post against the +tree-trunk, and chivalrously kept aloof. After a time Lenore called out +of her hiding-place, "Are you there still, comrade mine?" + +"Do you take me for a traitor who forsakes his tent-companion?" returned +Fink. + +"It is quite dry here," continued Lenore, "only that a drop falls now +and then upon my nose; but you, poor you, will be wet through out there. +What fearful rain!" + +"Does this rain terrify you?" inquired Fink, shrugging his shoulders. +"It is but a weak infant, this. If it can break off a twig from a tree, +it thinks it has done wonders. Commend me to the rain of warmer +climates. Drops like apples--nay, not drops at all, streams as thick as +my arm! The water rushes down from the clouds like a cataract. No +standing, for the ground swims away beneath one's feet: no taking +shelter under a tree, for the wind breaks the thickest trunks like +straw. One runs to his house, which is not farther off, perhaps, than +from here to that good for nothing stump that hurt your foot, and the +house has vanished, leaving in its place a hole, a stream, and a heap of +well-washed stones. Perhaps, too, the earth may begin to shake a little, +and to raise waves like those of the sea in a storm. That is a rain +which is worth seeing. Clothes that have been wet through by it never +recover; what was once a great-coat is, after a whole week's drying, +nothing more than a black and shapeless mass--in aspect and texture like +to a morel. If one chances to be wearing such a coat, it sticks on fast +enough indeed, but it never can be got off except by the help of a +penknife, and in narrow strips, peeled away as one peels an apple!" + +Lenore could not help laughing in spite of pain. "I should much like to +have experience of such a rain as that," said she. + +"I am unselfish in not wishing to see you in such a plight," replied +Fink. "Ladies fare worst of all. All that constitutes their toilette +vanishes entirely in torrents such as these. Do you know the costume of +the Venus of Milo?" + +"No," said Lenore, distressed. + +"All women caught in a tropical rain look exactly like that lady, and +the men like scarecrows. Nay, sometimes it happens that human beings are +beaten down flat as penny-pieces, with a knob in the middle, which, on +closer examination, proves to be a human head, and mournfully calls out +to passers-by, 'Oh, my fellow-beings, this is what comes of going out +without an umbrella!'" + +Again Lenore could not help laughing. "My foot no longer hurts me so +much; I believe that I could walk." + +"That you shall not do," replied Fink. "The rain has not abated, and it +is so dark that one can hardly see one's outstretched hand." + +"Then do me the kindness of going to look for the others. I am better +now, and I crouch here like a roe, hidden alike from rain and robbers." + +"It won't do," rejoined Fink from his tree. + +"I implore you to do so," cried Lenore, anxiously, stretching out her +hands from the plaid. "Leave me now alone." Fink turned round, seized +her hand, pressed it to his lips, and silently hurried off in the +direction the men had taken. + +Lenore now sat alone beneath the fir-tree. The rain still rushed down, +and the thunder rolled above her, and at times a sudden flash showed her +the two long rows of trunks, looking like the yellow pillars of an +unfinished building, a black roof over them. At such moments the forest +seemed like an enchanted castle, rising out of the earth and sinking +into nothingness again. Mysterious tones, such as fill the woods by +night, sounded through the rain. Over her head there was a knocking at +regular intervals, as if some wicked wood-sprite were seeking admittance +to her shelter, which made her start, and ask herself whether it +proceeded from a spectre or the branch of a tree. Farther off was heard +the vehement croaking of some crow whose nest had been flooded, and +whose first sleep was disturbed. Close to her there was ghastly +laughter. "Hee, hee! hoo, hoo!" and again Lenore started. Was it a +malicious forest kobold, or only a night-owl? Nature spoke around her in +a hundred melancholy tones. Lenore sometimes enjoyed, and sometimes +trembled at the wild charm of this solitude. Other thoughts, too, passed +through her mind: she blamed herself for having foolishly stolen out to +join an undertaking that made such a result as this possible; she +pictured to herself how they were seeking for her at home; and, above +all, wondered what he who had just left her, at her earnest request, was +thinking of her in his inmost heart. Pushing back the plaid, she +listened, but there was not a human voice to be heard; nothing but the +fall of the rain and the sighing of the wood. But near her something +moved. At first she heard it indistinctly, then plainly as in leaps it +came closer, and presently she felt something press against her plaid. +Terrified, she cautiously reached out her hand, and touched the wet skin +of a hare, who, scared from its form by the incessant rain, now sought +shelter like herself. She held her breath not to disturb her little +companion, and for a while the two cowered side by side. + +Then shots sounded afar off through the rain and thunder. Lenore +started, and the hare bounded away. Yonder there were men fighting; +yonder, blood was being poured out on the dark ground. A scream was +heard--a fierce, ominous scream, then all was still. "Was he in danger?" +she asked herself; yet she felt no fear, and shook her head under her +plaid, sure that, even if he were, no danger would reach him: the gun +aimed at him would strike some broken branch, the knife drawn against +him would break like a splinter before it struck him, the man who rushed +on him would stumble and fall before he could touch that haughty head. +He was above all danger, above all fear; he knew neither care nor grief; +alas! he did not feel like other men. His head was lifted freely, his +eyes were clear and bright when all others were cast in terror down to +earth. No difficulty affrighted, no hinderance stopped him. With a mere +wave of his hand he could remove what crushed other men. Such was he. +And this man had seen her weak, precipitate, and helpless; it was her +own fault that he had now a right to assume a transient intimacy. She +trembled lest he should presume upon this right by a glance, a +presumptuous smile, a passing word. In this way her heart kept beating +and her thoughts fluttering for long hours. + +The storm passed off. Instead of torrents there was small rain, and a +dull gray succeeded to the black darkness and the fiery flashes. Lenore +could now trace the trunk of the nearest trees. The feeling of +solitariness oppressed her more and more. Just then she heard again the +distant sound of human voices, call and counter-call grew louder, and +the bailiff's voice cried, "They went beyond the quarry; look yonder, +you Neudorf men." The steps of the speakers drew near, and Karl, making +a speaking trumpet of his hands, shouted with all his might, "Halloa, +hillo hoa, Fräulein Lenore!" + +"Here I am," cried a female voice at his very feet. + +Karl started back in amazement, and joyfully called out, "Found!" The +peasants surrounded Lenore's shelter. + +"Our young lady is here!" cried a youth of Neudorf, and hurraed in his +delight as though he were at a wedding. + +Lenore rose; her foot still pained her; but, leaning on Karl's arm, she +exerted herself bravely to walk. Meanwhile the young men broke down a +few poles, and laid fir branches across them. In spite of her +resistance, Lenore was constrained to seat herself upon the rude litter, +while some ran on to the bailiff's stable to get her horse ready for +her. + +"Have you found the thieves?" inquired Lenore from Karl, who walked at +her side. + +"Two of them," replied he. "The calf had been killed; we have got its +skin and part of its flesh. The geese were hanging up on a bough, with +their necks wrung, but the rascals had divided the money. We found very +little of it on our prisoners." + +"Those we have caught are Tarow men," said the bailiff, anxiously; "the +worst in the village. And yet I wish they were any where but here, for +there are some desperately revengeful fellows yonder." + +"I heard shots," inquired Lenore, further; "was any harm done?" + +"Not to us," answered Karl. "In their foolhardiness they made a fire, +not much beyond the border where our riders formed a <i>cordon</i>. The +embers were glimmering in spite of the rain, and thus they betrayed +themselves. We dismounted, crept near, and surprised them. They fired +their guns and ran into the bush. There the darkness swallowed them up. +It was a long time before the party on foot could join us, and but for +the shots and the noise they would never have found us out. Herr von +Fink described to us the place where we should meet with you. He is +taking the prisoners with him to the estate, and to-morrow we will send +them farther." + +"But to think that Herr von Fink should have left you thus alone in the +wood!" said the worthy bailiff: "that was a bold stroke indeed." + +"I begged him not to remain behind," cried Lenore, casting down her eyes +in spite of the darkness. + +Half way to the village Lenore's pony was brought to meet them. At +Neudorf, Karl got back the baron's horse and accompanied his young lady +to the castle. It was very late before they arrived. Lenore's long +absence had excited her mother's alarm, and put the baron fearfully out +of temper. She escaped from his cross-questioning as fast as she could, +and hurried to her room. An hour later, Fink, with the forester, came +back from Kunau, bringing both the prisoners, who walked haughtily, with +their hands bound, and carried their peacock's feathers as high as +though they were leading the dance in a tavern. + +"You shall pay for this," said one of them in Polish to his escort, and +clenched his fettered fists. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + + +The rain still continued. It had ceased indeed in the morning, but only +to begin again with double energy. The laborers had gone early to the +field, but they soon returned. They were now sitting silently in the +guard-room of the castle, drying their wet garments at the stove. + +The baron sat in the arm-chair, listening to old John, who read him the +newspaper that had reached the castle on the previous day. The +monotonous voice of the domestic announced nothing but unwelcome news; +the rain-drops rattled on the panes, and the wind rushed howling round +the corner of the house in discordant accompaniment. + +Anton was busy at his desk. Before him lay a letter from Commissary +Horn, announcing that the judicial sale of the family estate was fixed +for the middle of next winter; and that, since the advertisement of this +definite period, several mortgages on the property had passed from one +hand to another, bought up, as he feared, by one speculator, who +disguised himself under different names. Accordingly, Anton reflected in +gloomy mood upon the hazardous position of the baron. + +In the neighboring room Fink was keeping the ladies company, the +baroness lying back on the sofa cushions, covered by a shawl of +Lenore's. She gazed in silence straight before her, but when her +daughter came up with some tender inquiry, she nodded smilingly at her, +and spoke a few cheering words. Lenore was sitting in the window +occupied with some light work, and listening with rapture to the jests +by which Fink brightened the otherwise mournful room. To-day, in spite +of the rain, he was in the wildest spirits. From time to time Lenore's +ringing laugh reached Anton through the massive door, and then he forgot +sale and mortgage, looked with clouded brow at the door, and felt, not +without bitterness, that a new struggle was approaching both for the +family and for himself. + +Without, as we have already said, the rain poured and the storm raged. +The wind from the forest wailed to the castle. The old firs creaked, and +ceaselessly bent down their branches toward the building. Around the +pear-trees in the meadows leaves and white blossoms fluttered timidly to +earth. The storm angrily stripped them off, and crushed them, low with +his rain, howling the while. "Down with your smiling pomp! to-day all +belonging to the castle shall wear mourning." Then the fierce spirit +flew from the trees to the castle walls; it shook the flag-staff on the +tower; it hurled the rain in slanting torrents against the windows; it +groaned in the chimneys and thundered at the doors. It took advantage of +every opening to cry, "Guard your house!" And this it did for hours +together, but those within understood not its speech. + +Neither did any one heed the horseman who was urging his weary horse +through the village to the castle. At last the knocker outside the gate +was heard, the strokes sounded impatient, and loud voices resounded in +the court-yard and on the stairs. Anton opened the door; an armed man, +dripping with wet and stained with mud, entered the room. + +"It is you!" cried Anton, in amazement. + +"They are coming," said Karl, looking cautiously round; "prepare for it; +this time it is our turn." + +"The enemy?" rapidly asked Anton. "How strong is the band?" + +"It was not a band that I saw," replied Karl, seriously; "it was an army +of about a thousand scythe-bearers, and at least a hundred horsemen at +their head. I hear that they have orders to enlist all Poles and disarm +all Germans." + +Anton opened the door of the next room and made a sign to Fink. + +"Ah!" cried Fink, as he cast a look on Karl, "he who brings half the +highway into the room with him has no good tidings to tell. From which +side comes the enemy, sergeant?" + +"From the Neudorf birch wood straight down upon us. Our villagers are +assembled in the tavern drinking and quarreling." + +"No beacon-fires have been seen--no tidings have come from the +neighboring villages," cried Anton at the window. "Have the Germans at +Neudorf and Kunau been fast asleep, then?" + +"They were taken by surprise," continued the messenger of ill. "Their +watch saw the enemy yesterday evening half a mile beyond Neudorf, going +down the high road toward Rosmin. When they had passed the turning to +Neudorf, the villagers took heart again, but their horsemen followed the +enemy till the last scythe-bearers were out of sight. In the night, +however, the whole troop turned back; this morning they fell upon the +village, and wrought sad havoc there. The bailiff is lying on the straw, +covered with wounds, and a prisoner; the guard-house is burned down; but +for this heavy rain we should see the smoke. At this present moment the +enemy has divided. They are making the round of all the German villages: +one party has gone off to Kunau, one to our new farm, the largest is on +its way hither." + +"How much time have we to prepare for these gentry?" asked Fink. + +"In weather like this, the infantry will take an hour to get here." + +"Is the forester warned?" asked Anton; "and do those at the new farm +know?" + +"There was no time to apprise them. The farm is farther from Neudorf +than the estate, and I might have been too late getting here. I lit our +beacon, but in rain like this, neither fire nor smoke is visible, and +all signals are useless." + +"If they have not looked out for themselves," said Fink, decidedly, "we +can do no more for them." + +"The forester is a fox," replied Karl; "no one will catch him; but as to +the farmer and his young wife, Heaven have mercy on them!" + +"Save our people!" cried a supplicating voice close to Fink. Lenore +stood in the room, pale, with folded hands. + +Anton hurried to the door through which she had silently entered. "The +baroness!" cried he, anxiously. + +"She has heard nothing as yet," hurriedly replied Lenore. "Send to the +farm; help our people!" + +Fink caught up his cap. "Bring out my horse," said he to Karl. + +"You can't be spared now," said Anton, barring the way. "I will take +your horse." + +"I beg your pardon, Mr. Wohlfart," interpolated Karl; "if I may ride +Herr von Fink's horse, I shall be quite able to make it out." + +"So be it, then," decided Fink; "send hither the forester and any man +you can beat up; the women, horses, and children you can dispatch to the +forest. Let the farmer go with all his cattle into the thicket as far as +he can, and keep a look-out on the castle from the old firs near the +sand-pit. As for you, keep on my horse, which I shall, alas! have to +make over to you for some days to come; ride off to Rosmin, and seek +out the nearest detachment of our soldiers; tell them we implore them to +come to our aid, and, if possible, to bring cavalry with them." + +"Our red-caps are about three miles beyond Rosmin," said Karl, turning +to go. "The Kunau smith called that out to me as I rode by." + +"Bring any military you can. I'll write a line to the commanding officer +while you are saddling the horse." + +Karl made a military salute, and hurried down stairs, Anton with him. +While he was fastening the girths, Anton said, "As you pass by, call out +to the men in the farm-yard that I will be with them at once. Poor +fellow, you have hardly had any breakfast to-day, and there is little +prospect of your getting any thing for some hours to come." He ran back +to the house, got a bottle of wine, some bread, and the remnant of a +ham, stuffed them into a bag, and, together with Fink's letter, gave +them to the hussar just as he was setting off. + +"Thanks," said Karl, seizing Anton's hand; "you think of every one. But +I've one thing to ask: think of yourself too, Mr. Wohlfart; this Polish +set, here and yonder, are not worth your risking your life; there are +some at home with whom it would go hard if any thing happened to you." + +Anton shook his hand heartily. "Good-by, Karl. I'll do my duty. Don't +forget to send us the forester, and, above all, rescue the farmer's +wife. Lead the military hither through the wood." + +"No fear," said Karl, cheerily; "this gallant bay shall find out how +much a stout-hearted trooper can get through." + +With these words he waved his cap, and vanished behind the +farm-buildings. + +Anton bolted the gate, then hurried to the guard-room, and rang the +alarm-bell, giving orders to the superintendent to let in the men, to +invest the back door, and not to admit any one without questioning them, +not even fugitives. + +"Eat heartily and drink moderately; we shall have enough to do to-day," +he cried. + +Meanwhile Fink stood at the table in Anton's room, loading the guns, +while Lenore reached him whatever he needed. She was pale, but her eyes +glowed with an excitement which did not escape Anton as he entered. +"Leave this serious game to us alone," said he, beseechingly. + +"It is the home of my parents that you defend," cried she. "My father is +unable to act at your head. You shall not expose your lives for our +sakes without my sharing your danger." + +"Forgive me," replied Anton; "your first duty most undoubtedly is to +prepare the baroness, and not to leave her during the next few hours." + +"My mother! my poor mother!" cried Lenore, clasping her hands, laying +down the powder-flask, and hurrying to the neighboring room. + +"I have set all the men eating," said Anton to Fink. "From this moment +you must take the command." + +"Good," replied Fink. "Here are your arms; this double-barrel is light; +one barrel loaded with ball, the other with slugs. The bag of bullets is +under your bed." + +"You think of standing a siege, then?" inquired Anton. + +"We must either not seek to defend ourselves at all, but surrender at +the friendly discretion of the approaching band, or we must hold out to +our last bullet. We are all prepared for the latter course; perhaps +surrender would be the wiser, but I own it does not suit my taste. As +there is a master of the house, however, still extant, he may decide; go +to the baron." + +Anton hurried through the passage to the other wing. Even when at a +distance he could hear the chairs knocked about in the baron's room. +There was an angry "Come in," and he entered. The baron was standing in +the middle of the room, highly excited. "I hear," said he, "that there +is something going on. I must consider it an unpardonable want of +attention that I have not been apprised of it." + +"Your pardon, baron," replied Anton; "we only heard a few minutes ago +that a band of the enemy's cavalry and scythe-bearers was moving on +toward your property. We sent off a messenger in all speed to the +nearest military station, then bolted the door, and now we wait your +orders." + +"Send me Herr von Fink," replied the baron, authoritatively. + +"He is at this moment in the guard-room." + +"I beg that he will take the trouble of coming to me at once," cried the +angry nobleman. "I can not discuss military matters with you. Fink is a +gentleman, and half a soldier; I will give all necessary instructions to +him. What are you waiting for?" rudely continued he. "Do you young +people suppose that you are to trifle with me because I have the +misfortune to be blind? He at least whom I feed and pay shall respect my +commands." + +"Father!" cried Lenore, on the threshold, looking imploringly at Anton. + +"You are right, baron," replied Anton; "I crave your forgiveness for +having in the hurry of the moment forgotten my first duty. I will send +Herr von Fink here at once." Then hastening off, he made his friend +acquainted with the baron's angry mood. + +"He is a fool," said Fink. + +"Go up at once," urged Anton; "the ladies must not suffer from his +temper." Then throwing on a laborer's jacket, he sprang out through the +door into the rain and to the back farm-yard. + +There he found a dreary scene of confusion. German families from the +neighboring villages had taken refuge in the guard-house, and sat there +with their children, and some of their goods and chattels round them. +There were about twenty persons lying on the floor--men, women, and +children, the women lamenting, the children weeping, the men looking +gloomily down. Several of them belonged to the village militia, and some +had their guns with them. Their little carts stood in the yard. +Servants, horses, cows, were all running against each other. Anton +called the superintendent to his assistance. + +He next made over the farm-horses and the cattle to the most trustworthy +of the servants, and to the German dairy-maid. Calling aside the head +servant, a resolute kind of man, he described to him a place in the +thicket, not far from the sand-pit, where man and beast might lie +concealed, and be in some degree protected from the weather. Thither the +man was to drive the cattle, and to keep a sharp look-out for the +bailiff, who was to have the management of the wood-party. Next he +desired the maid to leave a cow behind, opened the gate himself, and saw +them all set out toward the forest. + +"What are we to do with the horses of the baron and of Herr von Fink?" +hurriedly asked the superintendent. + +"They must be brought, together with some of the vehicles, into the +court-yard, come what will. Who knows whether we shall not have to fly, +after all?" + +Accordingly, Anton had Karl's newly-painted carts laden with sacks of +potatoes, meal, oats, and as much hay as they could hold. He had the +great water-butt brought in too, and filled to the brim with fresh +water. The skies were still pouring down bucketfuls, and the servants +had to load in the drenching rain. All was confusion; and weeping and +cursing, in German and Polish, was heard on every side. As Anton +approached the fugitives, the screams of the women grew louder, the men +surrounded him and began to relate their disasters, the children clung +about his knees: it was a mournful spectacle. Anton did what he could to +comfort them. "Above all, be quiet; we will protect you as well as we +can. I hope the military may come to our aid, meanwhile you will be safe +in the castle. You have been faithful to us in this season of distress; +as long as we have bread you shall not want." + +After a quarter of an hour of extreme exertion Anton returned to the +castle. The servants drove the carts to the back door, the troop of +fugitives followed. People still poured in from the German villages +around, and soon the smith of Kunau, with some of his near neighbors, +stood at the castle gate. The whole party was now got into order, the +horses unharnessed, the carts unloaded. The women and children were led +by Anton into two rooms on the lower floor, which, were dark indeed, but +far more comfortable than the guard-house in the soaked fields. The +bringing in the horses was the most troublesome part of the matter; +about a dozen of them had to crowd up beneath an open shed, poorly +protected from rain or bullets. The water-butt was placed in the middle +of the yard, and the potato-carts pushed up to the paling, to serve, in +case of need, as a position for the guard. Next, all the men capable of +bearing arms were assembled by the smith, and, besides Fink's laborers +and four servants, fifteen German peasants were mustered, the larger +number of them armed. Their footsteps sounded heavy in the long +passages, and joining the laborers in the hall, the whole force was seen +at once, Fink in his hunting-coat walking quietly up and down before his +own corps. Anton now went up to him and gave in his report. + +"You bring us men," replied Fink; "that is all very well; but we did not +want a whole clan of women and children into the bargain; the castle is +as full as a bee-hive--more than sixty mouths; to say nothing of a dozen +horses; spite of your potato-carts, we shall have to gnaw the stones +before twenty-four hours are over." + +"Could I leave them outside?" asked Anton, dryly. + +"They would have been just as safe in the wood as here," said Fink, with +a shrug. + +"Possibly," replied Anton; "but to send off people to the forest in rain +like this, without provisions, and in deadly terror, would have been +barbarity for which I could not be responsible. Besides, do you think we +should have got the men without their wives and children?" + +"At all events, we can make use of the men," concluded Fink, "and you +may manage the commissariat as you can." + +Fink next gave arms to those who wanted them, and divided the forces +into four sections, one for the yard, two for the upper and lower +stories, and one as a reserve in the guard-room. Next he had an exact +report of the enemy given him by the Kunau smith and others. Meantime +Anton had rushed to the underground kitchen, where he gave the +provisions in charge of the superintendent, and caused wood and water to +be carried in by the baron's servants. A sack of potatoes and one of +meal were placed near the hearth, and the great caldron put on the fire. + +As he went out, he confided to the cook that a cow had been taken into +the stable, that, at all events, the family might not be without milk at +this doleful time. Old Barbette wrung her hands in anguish. "Alas! Mr. +Wohlfart, what a frightful thing it is!" cried she; "the balls will be +flying about in my kitchen." + +"Heaven forbid!" said Anton; "the window is much too deep for that. No +one can reach you; cook away in peace; the people are famished; I will +send two of the stranger women down to help you." + +"Who could eat in such danger as this?" cried she. + +"We will all eat," said Anton, comfortingly. + +"Will you have soup or potato-broth?" inquired Barbette, feverishly +brandishing her spoon in her despair. + +"Both, my good woman." + +The cook held him back. "But, Mr. Wohlfart, there are no eggs for the +family; indeed, there is not an egg in the whole house. Mercy on us! to +think of this misfortune happening to-day, of all days. What will the +baron say when he has no fresh egg this evening?" + +"The devil take the eggs!" cried Anton, impatiently; "we must not be so +particular to-day." + +As he returned, Fink called to him, "All is ready; we may now quietly +await their arrival. I am going to the tower, and taking a few good +shots with me. If any thing happens, I am to be found there." + +And again the hall was empty and the house quiet. The sentinels stood +silently watching the edge of the forest; the rest of the men sat +talking in a low voice in the guard-room; but the noise was unceasing in +the apartment where the children were, and a constant communication was +kept up between the kitchen and the occupied rooms in the lower story. +Anton walked to and fro in restless suspense from the house to the +court, and back again to his own room, where he tied the baron's papers +together; then through the passages and to the guard-room. In this way +one quarter of an hour after another passed, till at length Lenore came +from her mother's room crying, "This uncertainty is intolerable!" + +"And we have no tidings from the farm either," replied Anton, anxiously; +"but the rain is over, and whatever happens to-day will happen in +sunshine. The clouds are breaking yonder, and the blue sky is seen +through them. How is the baroness?" + +"She is calm," said Lenore, "and prepared for every thing." + +Both walked silently up and down the hall. At last Lenore went up to +Anton, and passionately exclaimed, "Wohlfart, it is horrible to me to +think of you in a position such as this for our sakes." + +"Is this position, then, so terrible?" asked Anton, with, a mournful +smile. + +"You do not perhaps feel it so," said Lenore, "but you are sacrificing +for us far more than we deserve. We are ungrateful to you; you would be +happier elsewhere." + +She placed herself at the window, and wept bitterly. + +Anton tried to soothe her. "If," said he, "you allude to the hasty +expressions of the baron, you need not pity me on that account. You know +what we have formerly said on that subject." + +"It is not that alone," cried Lenore, weeping. + +Anton knew as well as she did that it was not that alone, and felt that +a confession lay in the words. "Be it what it may," said he, cheerfully, +"why should you grudge me the pleasure of an adventure? Certainly I am +an inexperienced soldier, but it seems that our enemies will not give me +much opportunity of doing them any harm to-day." + +"No one thanks you for all that you bear for our sakes. No one!" cried +Lenore. + +"No one?" repeated Anton. "Have I not a friend here who is only too much +inclined to overrate the little I am able to do? Lenore, you have +permitted me to draw nearer to you than would have been possible under +ordinary circumstances. Do you reckon it nothing that I should have won +some of a brother's privileges with regard to you?" + +Lenore fervently seized and pressed his hand. "Even I have been +different to you of late to what I should have been. I am very unhappy," +cried she, passionately. "I can not tell to any human being what I +feel--not to my mother--not to you either. I have lost all confidence +and all control." She pressed her handkerchief to her eyes. + +"Lenore!" cried her father, impatiently, from his apartment. + +"This is no time for explanations," said she, more calmly. "When we have +got over this day, I will try hard to be stronger than I am now. Help me +in this, Wohlfart." + +She hurried away to the baron's room. Anton remained behind, lost in sad +thoughts. Meanwhile the bright sunshine streamed down on the court-yard, +the men left the guard-room and stood on the threshold; even the women +made their way out of their dark retreat, and had to be scolded back +again. + +"Who knows whether they have not overlooked the castle?" said one; "or +if they have courage to attack us?" suggested another; while a sagacious +tailor proved, by a clever <i>résumé</i> of the different reports received, +that all the Polish frocks were by this time far beyond Rosmin. Yet, +eagerly as each asserted that the danger must now be over, all listened +anxiously to the step of the sentinels, and looked constantly to the +tower, to see if any signal were given thence. Even Anton found the +suspense unbearable, and at length he too betook himself to the tower. +Here the whole staff was assembled. The blind baron sat in his +arm-chair, behind him stood Lenore's tall figure shading his eyes with +her parasol; four riflemen sat in the broad embrasures; and Fink, +perched on the wall, hung down his legs into space, and puffed the blue +clouds of a cigar into the wind. + +"Nothing to be seen?" asked Anton. + +"Nothing," replied Fink, "except a drunken band of our villagers, who +are moving off on the Tarow road." He pointed to a dark mass just +vanishing into the wood. "It is very well that we have got rid of the +rabble. They are afraid of the gray-jackets, and are off to plunder +elsewhere. Every hour's delay is a gain, since we reckon that at best +there is no help to be looked for till to-morrow. Now those gentlemen +behind the wood are not interesting enough to wish for a visit of +twenty-four hours from them. This is a grand spot, Baron Rothsattel," +continued Fink. "Certainly there's not much to be seen--some fir woods, +your fields, and plenty of sand; but it is a glorious station to defend, +because it is so bare all round the castle--without tree or bank. Your +sentimentalists, indeed, might pronounce it an uninteresting view. But +what I consider splendid is this: with the exception of the nearest +barn, which is about three hundred yards off in a straight line, there +is no shelter better than that of a molehill for one of the enemy's +skirmishers. Far as a rifle-ball can range, we are monarchs of the plain +below; only there is a thicket in the way yonder--a plantation, I +believe, of Fräulein Lenore's." + +"I acknowledge myself guilty," said Lenore. + +"Very well," replied Fink, carelessly; "then you shall pay the cost if +we are hit. Half a dozen riflemen might lurk safely there." + +"It is Lenore's favorite spot," said the baron, apologetically; "she has +a grass-plot there; it is the only place outside the wall where she can +sit in the open air." + +"Indeed!" said Fink; "that's a different thing;" and, looking round for +Lenore, he saw she had disappeared. The next moment the yard gate +opened, and Lenore, followed by a few laborers, hurried to the +plantation. + +"What are you going to do?" cried Fink from his height. + +Lenore signified by a gesture that she was going to have the trees +removed; and, seizing a young fir, she exerted all her strength to +uproot it. The men followed her example. In a few moments the young +plantation was done away with. Then Lenore herself caught up a spade, +and began to level the grassy mound. + +Now Anton had planted these trees with the young lady. Both had +thoroughly enjoyed the improvement. Since then, Lenore had gone there +daily, and each of the little trees had been to her a personal friend. +When, therefore, Anton saw it all annihilated, he could not help saying +somewhat coldly, "That feeble plantation would have done us little harm; +surely you have caused useless devastation." + +"Why," replied Fink, "the lady has acted like a prudent commandant of a +fortress, the first display of whose talents always consists in leveling +about the building, and a plantation can be made again any spring day. +Carry off the wood to the farm-yard," cried he to the men; "tear down +the wooden inclosure of the well, bring the boards to the yard, and hide +the well's mouth." + +When Lenore returned to her place behind her father's chair, Fink nodded +to her like an elder comrade to a younger, took up his telescope, and +again explored the border of the forest. + +And thus the party spent another hour. No one was inclined to speak, and +Fink's occasional jests fell on unfruitful ground. Anton went down to +keep the people in order, but something soon impelled him to return to +the battlements, and watch the forest with the rest. At last, after a +longer silence than usual, Fink, throwing away his cigar, observed, "It +is getting late, and we pay our guests too much honor by expecting them +with such silent devotion. When the news came of their march, Wohlfart +and I were both wanted in the house; and as Karl is breaking my poor +horse's legs at a distance, we sent no one to reconnoitre. Now we pay +for that sin of omission; we sit here prisoners, and our men are getting +tired before the enemy comes. It is essential that one of us should +mount and away to bring in further tidings. This stillness is unnatural: +not a creature to be seen in the fields, not one on the roads. It seems +odd to me, too, that for the last two hours no refugees should have +arrived from the forest; and, besides, the very smoke of Neudorf has +disappeared." + +Anton silently turned away. "Go, my son," said Fink; "take one of the +most trustworthy of our men with you; look how things are going on in +our village, and beware of the pine wood. Stay a moment; I will take one +other look through the telescope." He looked long, examined each tree, +and at last laid down the glass. "There is nothing to be seen," said he, +thoughtfully. "If the gentry we are expecting carried any thing besides +scythes, we should be compelled to believe there is some witchcraft at +work. But now all is uncertainty. Beware of the woods." + +Anton left the tower, called the superintendent and two servants, had +the baron's horse and two of the swiftest farm-horses got ready, and the +gate opened by the Kunau smith. All was silent and peaceful. The fowls +that Karl had bought a few weeks before were scratching away on the +dunghill; the pigeons were cooing on the thatch; a little dog, belonging +to the smith, had constituted himself the guardian of the forsaken +buildings, and barked suspiciously at the riding party. + +They trotted away through the village, and stopped at the tavern. The +bar was empty. Anton called for the landlord. After a while the man came +to the door, looking pale and frightened, and clasped his hands when he +saw Anton. "Just God! Mr. Wohlfart, to think of your still being in the +country! I believed that you and the family had fled to Rosmin or to the +heart of our troops long ago. Heavens! this is a misfortune! Bratzy has +been here, and has been stirring up the people against the family in the +castle, and against the Germans every where; but he could not bring them +to attack the castle; so the greatest part of the villagers have gone +off to the Poles at Tarow. Those that have remained behind have +concealed themselves; and here I am, burying what I may want to carry +off in a hurry." + +"Where are the enemy now?" inquired Anton. + +"I do not know," cried the landlord; "but I know that they are a great +host, and that they have with them lancers in uniform." + +"Do you know whether the wood is safe toward Neudorf?" + +"How can it be safe? No one has come from Neudorf here for several +hours. If the way were open, half the village would now be here in my +inn or at the castle." + +"You are right. Will you wait here for the band that is coming?" +inquired Anton, ready to start. "You would be safer in the castle." + +"Who knows!" cried the host. "I can not leave; if I do, my whole place +will be laid waste." + +"But your women?" asked Anton, holding in his horse. + +"I must have people to help me," wailed the distracted man. "As they are +young, they must just endure it. There is Rebecca, my sister's child: +she belongs to a family that understands business. She knows how to deal +with the peasants; she knows how to get money from them, even when they +are dead drunk. Rebecca," cried he; "Mr. Wohlfart asks whether you will +go to the castle, to be safe from these wild men." + +The face of Rebecca, surrounded with red hair, now emerged from the +cellar. + +"What have I to do with the castle, uncle?" cried she, resolutely. "Who +do you call wild men? Our peasants are the wildest men in the whole +country; if I can get on with them, I shall get on with any. My aunt has +quite lost her wits, and there must be some one here who knows how to +deal with guests. I am much obliged to you, kind sir, but I am not +afraid; the gentlemen who are with the party will not let any harm +happen to me." + +"Forward, my men!" cried Anton. They galloped farther on through the +village; all the doors were closed, but a woman's face was seen here and +there looking through the small windows after the riders. In this way +they came along the broad highway till they got near the wood. + +One of the servants now said to Anton, "There is a young plantation on +the left as you enter the wood, where a hundred men might lie in ambush +without our seeing them, and if there, they would soon snuff us out, or +cut off our way to the castle." + +"You are right," said Anton. "We will ride along the field till we have +got behind the plantation, where the trees stand singly, and we can +venture in and out. From thence we can explore the plantation on foot." +They turned accordingly off the road, and crossed the fields, keeping +their horses out of the range of shot from the wood. Now Anton bade them +dismount, gave the bridles into the superintendent's keeping, and +cautiously advanced. "Fire into the wood," ordered Anton, "and then run +back to your horses as hard as you can." + +The shots rattled through the plantation, and were answered in a few +moments by an irregular fire and a loud yell. The balls whistled over +Anton's head, but the distance was great, and the men got back to their +horses without injury. "Gallop! we know enough. They had not the wisdom +to keep quiet." The little band flew along the highway, the loud cries +of their pursuers sounding behind them. They arrived breathless at the +castle, where they found all in alarm. Fink met them at the entrance. + +"You were right," cried Anton: "they are lying in ambush no doubt these +many hours, perhaps in hopes of surprising you, or both of us, indeed, +on the way to Neudorf. They would then have got the castle without a +struggle." + +"How many of them may there be?" asked Fink. + +"Indeed, we had no time to count them," replied Anton. "No doubt, only a +detachment has advanced so far; the greater number are behind in the +wood." + +"We have roused them," replied Fink; "now we may expect their visit. It +is better for our people to receive them before sunset than in the +night." + +"They come," cried Lenore's voice from the tower. + +The two friends hurried to the platform. As Anton looked over the +battlements the sun was preparing to set. The golden sky turned the +green of the woods to bronze. Forth from the forest came, in orderly +procession toward the village, a troop of horsemen, about half a +squadron, followed by more than a hundred men on foot, the nearest of +them armed with muskets, the others carrying scythes. The lovely evening +light suffused the figures on the tower. A cockchafer hummed merrily at +Anton's ear, and, high in air, the lark was chanting his evening lay. +Meanwhile the danger was approaching. It came nearer and nearer along +the winding way, a dark, long-drawn-out mass, unheard as yet, but +plainly seen. + +Still the cockchafer kept on humming, and the lark soared higher in its +rapturous song. At length the procession disappeared behind the first +cottages in the village. These were moments of breathless silence. All +looked steadfastly at the place where the enemy would emerge into sight. +Lenore stood next to Anton, her left hand clutched a gun, and her right +kept unconsciously moving the bullets in a sportsman's pouch. As soon as +the horsemen appeared in the middle of the village, Fink caught up his +cap, and said gravely, "Now, gentlemen, to our posts! You, Anton, be +kind enough to lead the baron down stairs." As Anton supported the blind +man down the steps, he pointed back at Lenore, who remained motionless, +gazing at the advancing enemy. "And you too, dear lady," continued Fink, +"I pray you to think of your own safety." + +"I am safest here," replied Lenore, firmly, letting her gun drop on the +flags. "You will not require me to hide my head in the sofa-cushions +when you are about to risk your life." + +Fink looked with intense admiration at her beautiful face, and said, "I +have no objection to make. If you are resolved to take up your station +on this platform, you are as safe as any where in the castle." + +"I will be cautious," replied Lenore, waving him off. + +"And you, my boys," said Fink, "hide behind the walls; take care not to +let a shoulder or the top of your cap be seen, and do not fire before I +sound an alarm with this. You will hear it plainly up here." He took out +a broad whistle of foreign aspect. "Good-by till we meet again," said +he, looking at Lenore with a beaming glance. + +"Till we meet again," answered Lenore, raising her arm and looking after +him till the door closed behind him. + +Fink found the baron in the hall. The poor nobleman was reduced to a +most pitiable state of mind by the excitement of the day and the sense +of his own uselessness at a time when he felt action the rightful +privilege of his station. In his earlier years he had ever met personal +danger in the most intrepid manner. How much his strength was broken +now plainly appeared in his unsuccessful attempts to maintain his +self-control. His hands were restlessly outstretched as though seeking +some weapon, and painful groans forced themselves through his lips. + +"My kind host and friend," said Fink, addressing him, "as your +indisposition makes it inconvenient to you to deal with these strangers, +I crave permission to do so in your stead." + +"You have <i>carte blanche</i>, dear Fink," replied the baron, in a hoarse +voice; "in fact, the state of my eyes is not such as to allow me to hope +that I can be of any use. A miserable cripple!" cried he, and covered +his face with his hands. + +Fink turned away with his usual shrug, opened a slide in the oaken door +which had been intended to lead to the unfinished terrace, and looked +out. + +"Permit me," said Anton to the baron, "to lead you to a place where you +may not be unnecessarily exposed to the balls." + +"Do not trouble yourself about me, young man," said the baron; "I am of +less consequence to-day than the poorest day-laborer who has taken up +arms for my sake." + +"Have you any thing more to say to me?" asked Anton of Fink, as he took +up his gun. + +"Nothing," replied the latter, with a smile, "except to beg that you +will not forget your usual caution if you come to a hand-to-hand +scuffle. Good luck to you!" He stretched out his hand. Anton grasped it, +and hurried to the court. + +"The enemy are passing their opinion upon your farming just now," said +Fink to the baron; "we shall have the gentlemen here in a few minutes; +there they come, cavalry and infantry. They stop at the barn; a party of +riders advance; it is the staff. There are some handsome young fellows +among them, and a couple of beautiful horses; they ride beyond the range +of our fire, all round the castle. They are seeking an entrance; we +shall soon hear the knocker at the back door." + +All was silent. "Strange," said Fink. "It is surely the custom of war, +before the assault, to summon the besieged to surrender; but there come +the officers from their circuit round the castle back to their infantry. +Has Wohlfart inspired them with such terror that they have fled away +<i>ventre à terre</i>?" + +The ring of horses' hoofs and the hollow march of the infantry were now +heard. + +"Zounds!" said Fink; "the whole corps marches as if on parade up to the +castle front. If they mean to storm your fortress on this side, they +have the most remarkable conceptions of the nature of a strong place. +They draw up against us at a distance of five hundred yards. The +infantry in the middle, the horsemen at both sides: quite a Roman order +of battle. Julius Caesar over again, I declare. Look! they have a +drummer; the fellow advances; the row you hear is the beat of drums. Ah +ha! the leader rides forward. He comes on, and halts just before our +door. Politeness demands that we should inquire what he wants." Fink +pushed back the heavy bolts of the door; it opened; he stepped out on +the threshold covering the entrance, and carrying his double-barrel +carelessly in his hand. When the horseman saw the slender figure in +hunting costume standing so quietly before him, he reined in his horse +and touched his hat, which Fink acknowledged by a slight bow. + +"I wish to speak to the proprietor of this estate," said the horseman. + +"You must put up with me," replied Fink; "I represent him." + +"Tell him, then, that we have some orders of the government to carry out +in his house," cried the rider. + +"Would your chivalry permit me to ask what government has been frivolous +enough to give you a message for the Baron Rothsattel? From what I hear, +the views taken in this country about government in general are a little +disturbed." + +"The Polish Central Committee is your as well as my government," replied +the rider. + +"You are very good-natured in allowing a Central Committee to dispose of +your heads; you will allow us, however, to hold a different opinion on +this particular point." + +"You see that we have the means to enforce obedience to the orders of +government, and I advise you not by opposition to provoke us to use +force." + +"I thank you for this advice, and should be still more obliged if, in +your zeal for your duty, you would not forget that the ground on which +you stand is not public, but private property, and that strange horses +are only allowed to exercise thereon by the consent of the proprietor, +which, so far as I know, you have not obtained." + +"We have had words enough, sir," cried the rider, impatiently; "if you +are really authorized to represent the proprietor, I require you to +open this castle to us without delay, and to deliver up your arms." + +"Alas!" replied Fink, "I am under the unpleasant necessity of refusing +your request. I would add a hope that you, together with the gentry in +shabby boots ranged behind you there, will leave this place as soon as +possible. My young folk are just going to see whether they can hit the +molehills under your feet. We should be sorry if the bare toes of your +companions were to be hurt. Begone, sir!" cried he, suddenly changing +his careless tone to one of such vehement anger and scorn that the +Pole's horse reared, and he himself laid his hand on the pistols at his +holster. + +During this conversation the rest of the horsemen and the infantry had +drawn nearer to catch the words. + +More than once a barrel had been lowered, but they had always been +pushed back by a few riders in advance of the ranks. At Fink's last +words, a wild-looking figure in an old frieze jacket took aim, a shot +was heard, and the bullet flew past Fink's cheek, and struck the door +behind him. At the same moment a suppressed scream was heard, a flash +seen on the top of the tower, and the luckless marksman fell to the +ground. The man who had conducted the parley turned his horse, the +assailants all fell back, and Fink closed the door. As he turned round, +Lenore stood on the first flight of the stairs, the recently-discharged +gun in her hand, her large eyes fixed wildly upon him. "Are you +wounded?" cried she, beside herself. + +"Not at all, my faithful comrade," cried Fink. + +Lenore threw away the gun, and sank at her father's feet, hiding her +face on his knees. Her father bent over her, took her head in his hands, +and the nervous agitation of the last few hours brought on a convulsive +fit of sobbing. His daughter passionately clasped his trembling frame, +and silently held him in her arms. There they were, a broken-down +existence, and one in which the warm glow of youthful life was bursting +into flame. + +Fink looked out of the window; the enemy had retired beyond range of +fire, and were, as it seemed, holding a consultation. Suddenly he +stepped up to Lenore, and, laying his hand on her arm, said, "I thank +you, dear lady, for having so promptly punished that rascal. And now I +beg you to leave this room with your father. We shall do better if +anxiety on your account does not withdraw our eyes from the enemy." +Lenore shrunk back at his touch, and a warm blush overspread her cheek +and brow. + +"We will go," she said, with downcast eyes. "Come, my father." She then +led the baron up stairs to her mother's room. There she heroically +strove to compose herself, sat down by the couch of the invalid, and did +not go near Fink again the whole evening. + +"Now, then, we are by ourselves," cried Fink to the sentinels; "short +distances, and a steady aim! If they storm this stone building, they +shall get nothing by it but bloody pates." + +Accordingly, there he stood with his companions, and looked with keen +eye at the ranks of their assailants. There was a great stir among them. +Some detachments went off to the village; the horsemen rode up and down; +there was evidently something afloat. At last a party brought some thick +boards and a row of empty carts. The upper parts of them were lifted +off, and the lower placed in a row, the poles away from the castle, the +hind wheels toward it. Next, boards were nailed together, and made into +pent-houses, which being fastened to the back of the carts, projected a +few feet beyond them, and afforded a tolerable shelter for five or six +men. + +"Ask Mr. Wohlfart to come here," cried Fink to one of his riflemen. + +"There has been shooting," said Anton, as he entered the hall; "is any +one wounded?" + +"This thick door, and one of the rabble yonder," replied Fink. "Without +any order, they replied to the first shot from the tower." + +"There is not an enemy to be seen in the court. A troop of horsemen came +to the gate; one ventured up to the palings, and tried to look through. +But when I started up behind them, they all took to flight in terror." + +"Look there," said Fink; "they are amusing themselves in making small +barricades. As long as this evening light allows us to see, the danger +is not great. But in the night, those huts on wheels may come a little +too near." + +"The sky keeps clear," said Anton; "there will be a bright starlight." + +"If I only knew," said Fink, "why they have had the madness to attack +the strongest side of our fortress! It can only be that your peaceful +visage has had the effect of the Gorgon's head upon them. Henceforth you +will be described as a scarecrow in all Slavonic fights." + +It was dark when the hammering away at the carts ceased. A word of +command was heard. The officers summoned a few men by name to the poles, +and six movable roofs rolled on rapidly to about thirty yards from the +front of the castle. + +"Now for it," cried Fink. "Remain here and look to the lower story." He +sprang up the steps; the long row of front rooms was opened; one could +see from one end of the house to the other. "Mind your heads," cried he +to the sentinels. Immediately came an irregular fire against the windows +of the upper story, the leaden shower rattling through the panes, the +glass clattering on the floor. Fink took out his whistle; a shrill sound +vibrated loudly through the house, and was responded to by the salvos of +the besieged from both stories and from the tower. + +And now followed an irregular fire from both sides. The besieged had the +advantage--their aim was truer, and they were better concealed than +those without. + +During the brief pauses, Fink's voice was to be heard crying, "Steady, +men; keep close." He was every where; his light step, the clear tones of +his voice, his wild jests from time to time, kept up the spirits of all. +They filled Lenore's soul with a thrill of rapture; she hardly felt the +full terrors of her situation; nor did the convulsive starts of her +father, nor her mother's low groans, lead her to despair, for the words +of the man she loved sounded like a message of salvation in her ear. + +For about an hour the battle raged around the walls. The great building +rose dark in the pale starlight; no light, no form was to be seen from +without; only the flashes that from time to time shone out from a corner +of the windows announced to those outside that there was life within. He +who walked through the rooms could discover a dark shape here and there +behind a pillar, could see eyes glowing with excitement, and a head bent +to observe the foe. True, none of the men there assembled were used to +this bloody work; they had been gathered from the plow, the workshop, +from every species of peaceful industry; and painful excitement, +feverish suspense, protracted during the whole day, was visible in the +aspect of the strongest among them. + +Yet Anton remarked with a gloomy satisfaction how calm he himself was, +and how brave the men in general. They were busy, they were at work, +and, even in the midst of their deadly occupation, the strength and +energy were evident which all active labor gives to man. After the first +shots, those on the front side loaded as composedly as though they were +at their every-day toil. The face of the farm-servant hardly looked more +anxious than when he walked between his oxen in the field, and the +skillful tailor handled his gun with as much indifference as he would +his smoothing-iron. It was only the reserve guard who were restless; not +from fear, but from dissatisfaction with their own inactivity. At times +a bold fellow would steal into the house, behind Anton's back, in order +to have a chance of firing off his gun in front, and Anton was obliged +to place the superintendent at the court-door to prevent this courageous +way of desertion. + +"Only once, Mr. Wohlfart; do let me have one shot at them!" urgently +pleaded a young fellow from Neudorf. + +"Wait," replied Anton, loading; "your turn will come; in an hour you +will relieve the others here." + +Meanwhile the stars rose higher, and the shots became fewer as both +parties grew weary. + +"Our people are the strongest," said Anton to his friend; "the men in +the court are not to be kept back any longer." + +"It is all little better than shooting in the dark," replied Fink; +"true, they make it matter of conscience to take good aim, but it is +generally a mere accident if their balls take effect. Nothing has +happened to our side but a few slight wounds, and I believe those +without have not suffered more." + +The rolling of wheels was now heard. "Listen! they are drawing back +their war-chariots." The firing ceased, and the whole line disappeared +in the darkness. "Leave off," continued Fink; "and, Anton, if you have +any thing to drink, give it, for these have shown themselves brave men. +Then let us quietly await the renewal of the siege." + +Anton accordingly had some refreshments distributed to the men, and went +through the whole house, dismissing them, and examining the rooms from +the cellar upward. As he drew near the women's rooms on the lower story, +he heard, even at a distance, a lamentable chaos of voices. Entering, he +found the bare walls dimly lighted, the floor covered with straw, on +which crouched women and children. The women expressed their terror by +every kind of passionate gesture, many ceaselessly imploring the help of +Heaven, without any alleviation of their intense misery; others staring +straight before them, stunned by the horrors of the night; in short, the +pleasantest impression was that made by the children, who, having howled +with all their might, had no further care. In the midst of all this +wretchedness, these little ones lay, their heads resting on a bundle of +clothes, their small hands clenched, sleeping as quietly as in their +beds at home, while one young woman sat in a corner rocking her sleeping +infant in her arms, apparently forgetful of all besides. At last, still +watching the child, she came up to Anton, and asked how her husband was +faring. + +Meanwhile the enemy made large fires, and part of their soldiery sat +near them, and were seen to boil their coffee. There was great +disturbance, too, in the village; men were heard shouting and ordering, +lights were seen in all directions, and there was rapid coming and going +along the streets. + +"That does not look like a truce," cried Anton. + +At that moment a loud knock was heard at the back door; the friends +looked at each other, and rushed down to the court. + +"Rothsattel and roebucks," whispered a voice, improvising a password. + +"The forester!" cried Anton, pushing back the bars and letting the old +man in. + +"Shut the gate," said the forester; "they are close on my track. +Good-evening to you all; I am come to inquire whether you can make any +use of me?" + +"Get into the house," cried Anton, "and tell us all." + +"Every thing is as quiet in the forest as in the church," said the +forester; "the cattle are lying in the quarry, and the shepherd, too, is +there with his creatures. The farmer keeps watch. I crept, in the dark, +into the village to reconnoitre, and now come to warn you. As they have +not made much of their guns, the rascals are going to try fire. They +have got together all the grease and tar in the village, they have taken +all the women's shavings, and whenever they found an oil lamp, they +poured it over bundles of rushes." + +"They mean to burn the yard gate?" asked Fink. + +The forester made a face. "Not the yard gate; they have a deadly fear of +that, because you have artillery-wagons and a cannon in the yard." + +"Artillery!" cried both friends, in amazement. + +"Yes," nodded the forester; "through the chinks of the planks they have +seen blue carts, horses, and a gun-carriage." + +"Karl's new potato-carts, the plow, and the water-butt!" cried Anton. + +"No doubt," replied the forester. "On my way here I peeped into the inn +yard, and waited for some one that I knew. Then Rebecca ran by me with +a basket; I whistled, and called her out behind the stable. 'Are you +there, old Swede?' said the wild thing. 'Take care that your head be not +set on fire. I have no time to talk with you; I must attend to the +gentlemen; they want coffee.' 'Why not Champagne?' said I. 'No doubt the +gentlemen are very polite, you pretty creature,' said I; for one gets +over women with flowery speeches. 'You are an ugly fellow yourself,' +said the girl, laughing at me; 'get away with you!' 'They won't hurt +you, my little Rebecca,' said I, stroking her cheeks. 'What's that to +you, old sorcerer?' said the little toad; 'if I were to scream, the +whole roomful would come to my aid.' 'Don't be so contradictious, my +child,' said I; 'be a good girl, fill another bottle, and bring it out +here. One must do something for one's friends in bad times.' Then she +snatched the bottle out of my hand, telling me to wait, and ran off with +her basket. After a while she returned with the bottle quite full, for +she is a good creature at heart, and as she gave it me, she cried, 'If +you see the young gentlemen in the castle, tell them that the folks here +have a great dread of their artillery; they have been asking me whether +it was true that they had cannon. I told them I was quite sure that was +the name of a great thing I had often seen on the property.' Then I +slunk off again, and crept along the ditch, past fellows with scythes, +who are mounting guard behind our farm-yard. When I was about a hundred +yards from them, I tore away, and they swore after me. That's how things +stand." + +"That notion of theirs about fire is uncomfortable," said Fink; "if they +understand the thing, they may smoke us out like badgers." + +"The threshold is stone, and this thick door is high above the ground," +said the forester. + +"I am not afraid of the flames, but of the smoke and glare," replied +Fink; "if they light up our windows, our men will aim still worse. One +good thing for us is that the gentlemen on the English saddles, who head +the enemy, have never stormed any but a petticoat fortress before. We +will bring all our men to the front, and leave only two or three +sentinels behind; we will trust Rebecca's story." + +Fresh cartridges were given out, and a fresh detachment stationed at the +windows, additional men were placed in the halls of the upper and lower +story, and on the platform of the tower, Anton commanding up stairs, the +smith below, and the forester remaining with a small body in reserve. +All these arrangements were just made in time, for a loud hum was heard +at a distance, together with shouts of command, the march of an +advancing body, and the rumbling of carts. + +"Keep your guns at full cock," cried Fink, "and fire only at those who +press in at the door." + +The wheeled pent-houses moved on as before, a Polish order was given, +and a rapid fire began on the part of the enemy, exclusively directed to +the important door and the windows near it. The balls thundered on the +oaken planks and on the masonry, and more than one found its way through +the window openings, and struck the ceiling above the heads of the +garrison. Fink cried to the forester, "You shall run a risk, old man; +take your people to the back door, open it, creep round close to the +house, and drive away those fellows behind the three carts to the left, +who have ventured too near; get close to them; you can knock them all +over if you aim true; the carts have no covering; you can be back before +the fellows run out from behind. Be quick and cautious; with this +whistle I will give the signal for your rushing out from the shadow of +the walls." + +The forester collected his men and hurried to the court. Fink ran up +stairs to Anton. The enemy's fire grew still more frequent. "This time +it is grim earnest," said Anton. "Our people, too, are getting excited." + +"Here comes the real danger," cried Fink, pointing through a loop-hole +in the wall to a high shapeless mass which slowly approached. It was a +harvest-wagon, loaded to an immense height and breadth, and propelled by +invisible hands to the front of the castle. "A fire-ship! there are the +yellow straw bundles on the top. Their plan is evident; they are +steering it against the door. Now, then, we must shoot well; not one of +the fellows who mount it must get back safe." He sprang up the stairs, +and cried to those stationed on the tower, "Every thing now depends upon +you; as soon as you see the men who are pushing the wagon onward, fire! +wherever you can see a head, or even a leg, fire! Every one of them must +die!" The wagon came nearer. Fink raised his own rifle twice, took aim, +and twice laid it down. The wagon load was so high that it was +impossible to see those who propelled it. These were moments of painful +suspense on both sides; even the enemy's fire ceased; every eye was +fixed on the fearful vehicle which was to bring the bitter conflict to a +fatal close. At length the backs of the hindmost men at the pole came +into sight. Two flashes from Fink's rifle, two yells, the wagon stood +still; those who were pushing it crowded closer. Two dark bodies lay on +the ground. Fink loaded again, a wild smile playing round his lips. A +raging fire upon the tower was the answer given by the foe. One of the +men on the tower was shot in the breast; his gun fell down over the +wall; he sank at Fink's feet. Fink merely glanced at him, and rammed his +second bullet down. At that moment some figures rushed out of the +darkness to the wagon. A spirited shout was heard, and the machine was +once more set in motion. "Brave fellows!" muttered Fink; "they are +doomed to death." Other forms were now visible at the end of the pole. +Fink again took aim. Again a cry of anguish; but the wagon moved on. It +was not more than thirty yards from the door; the moment was indeed +critical. The shrill sound of the whistle was heard through the night; +from the windows of the upper story flew the fiery salvo, and from the +left side of the house rose a loud cry. The forester made a sally, a +crowd of dark figures rushed against the pent-house that stood nearest +to the corner of the castle; for a moment there was a scuffle, then some +shots fired, and the conquered foe fled from their shelter to the open +plain. For the third time the deadly double-barrel flashed from the +tower, and struck the pole of the wagon, and the men who were propelling +it, seized with a sudden panic, retreated from its cover into the +sheltering darkness. But this did not avail them. From the tower and the +windows of the upper story bullets pursued them, and more than one fell. +Behind them rose a cry of rage, and a dark line rapidly advanced to +receive the fugitives. A universal fire against the house began. Then +the enemy retreated rapidly as they had advanced, carrying the wounded +and the carts back with them. The fire-ship alone, a dark mass, still +stood a few yards from the door. The firing ceased, and an uncomfortable +silence succeeded to the deadly conflict. + +In the hall of the upper story Anton and Fink met, and were immediately +joined by the forester. Each of the friends silently sought to +ascertain, in the dim light, whether the other stood before him +unharmed. "Capitally done, forester," cried Fink. "Demand to be admitted +to the baron, and give in your report." + +"And request Fräulein Lenore to give you linen for dressings; we have +had losses," said Anton, mournfully, as he pointed to the floor, where +two men sat leaning against the wall and groaning. + +"Here comes a third," replied Fink, as a dark shape was slowly carried +down stairs from the tower. "I fear the man is dead; he lay at my feet +like a log." + +"Who is it?" inquired Anton, shuddering. + +"Barowsky, the tailor," whispered one of the bearers. + +"What a fearful night!" cried Anton, turning away. + +"We must not think of that now," said Fink. "Human life is only valuable +when one is ready to surrender it on a fitting opportunity. The great +point is, that we have shaken off that fiery millstone from our throats. +It is not impossible that the wretches may yet succeed in kindling it; +but it will not do much harm at its present distance." + +At that moment a bright light shone through the loop-holes of the tower. +All rushed to the window. A dazzling light flamed up from the opposite +side of the wagon, and a sudden impetus hurled the heavy mass against +the wall of the house. A single man sprang back from the wagon; a dozen +guns were pointed at him at once. + +"Stop!" cried Fink, in a piercing voice. "It is too late. Spare him; he +is a fine fellow; the mischief is done." + +"Merci, Monsieur; au revoir!" said a voice from below; and the man +sprang uninjured into the darkness. + +In a moment the wagon was in a blaze, and from the straw and rushes with +which it was laden on the top, the yellow flames rose crackling, while +firebrands flew in all directions. The house was suddenly illuminated: +masses of smoke burst through the shattered windows. + +"That is powder," cried Fink. "Steady, steady, my men! We will keep the +enemy off if they force an entrance. You, Anton, see whether you can put +out the fire." + +"Water!" cried the men; "the window-frame has caught!" Without, there +were fresh orders shouted out. The drums beat; and, with a wild cry of +triumph, a cordon of skirmishers neared the house. The fire of the +besiegers began once more, in order to impede the quenching of the +flames. Water was brought from the great butt in the yard, and poured on +the burning window-frames--a dangerous task enough; for the front of the +house was lighted up, and the ever-advancing skirmishers aimed at every +figure as it became visible. The besieged glanced anxiously at the +flames, and returned the fire of their opponents unsteadily. Even the +sentinels in the court looked more behind than before them. The +disorder became general. The moment of greatest danger had come. All +seemed lost. + +Next a man called down from the tower, "They are bringing short ladders +from the village; we can see the axes in their hands." + +"They will get over the palings, and break in the windows of the lower +story," cried the men to each other, in utmost alarm. + +The forester rushed to the court. Fink carried off a few men with him to +the side of the house on which the men with ladders were advancing. All +were in confusion. Even Fink's threatening voice no longer took effect +upon them. + +At that moment some men, with bars of iron in their hands, were seen +hurrying in from the court-yard to the hall door. "Make way!" cried a +stalwart figure; "this is blacksmith's work!" The man pushed back the +bolts of the door. The opening was filled by the burning wagon. Spite of +smoke and flames, the smith leaped upon its burning frame. "Help me, you +hares!" screamed he, in angry tones. + +"He is right," cried Anton. "Onward, my men!" + +Boards and poles were brought, and the men unweariedly pressed onward +through the smoke, and pushed and heaved away at the glowing mass. At +length the smith succeeded in throwing down some of the sheaves. One +could now get a glance of the dark sky, and the smoke was less stifling. + +"Now we have it!" cried he, triumphantly; and bundle after bundle fell +to the ground, and burned harmlessly away. The wagon was more and more +quickly unloaded, blazing feather-beds and billets of wood falling with +other things. + +Anton had the door half closed as the enemy's bullets passed through the +flames, and the men had to use their levers from the side. The +wagon-ladders fell down, burned to charcoal; and with a shout of +triumph, all the levers were applied at once, and the fragments of the +wagon pushed a few yards from the door, which was quickly locked again +from inside; while the men, black as imps, and with clothes burned, +loudly congratulated each other. + +"Such nights as these make strong friendships," cried the smith, in +great delight, as he shook Anton's hand, which was little less black +than his own. + +Meanwhile the axes of the besiegers were hacking away at several windows +of the lower story, the loosened boards creaked, and Fink's voice was +heard saying, "Knock them down with the butt-ends!" + +Anton and the forester now betook themselves upon the window through +which the besiegers sought to enter. But the worst was over there too. +Fink came to meet them, the bloody axe of an insurgent in his hand, and, +flinging it away, he cried to Anton and his party, "Put new boards into +the windows. I hope the butchery is at an end." + +A few more salvos from without, and single shots from within, and all +was still in the castle and in the field. The walls still glowed a while +in the firelight, but it faded and faded away. The wind rose and drove +away the smoke curling round the windows from the burning fragments +before the door. The pure night air filled the corridors and the halls +once more, and the starlight shone quietly on the sunken eyes and pale +faces of the garrison. On both sides the energies of the combatants were +exhausted. + +"What hour of the night is it?" asked Fink, going up to Anton, who was +watching the movements of the enemy through the loop-holes of the wall. + +"Past midnight," replied Anton. + +They went up to the tower and looked about them. The fields around the +castle were empty. + +"They have laid themselves down to sleep," said Fink. "Even the fires +below are out, and but few isolated voices sound from the village. Those +shadows all round the house alone tell us that we are besieged. We have +some hours of peace before us; and as we shall hardly get sleeping-time +to-morrow, our people must avail themselves of the present. Leave only +the necessary sentinels, and let the posts be relieved in two hours. If +you have no objection, I shall go to bed too. Let me be called as soon +as any thing is stirring outside. You will take very good care of the +night-posts, that I know." So saying, Fink turned away and went to his +room, where he threw himself on his bed, and in a few moments was fast +asleep. + +Anton hurried to the guard-room, arranged the posts with the forester, +and fixed the order in which they were to be relieved. + +"I shall not be sleepy," said the old man; "firstly, because of my age; +next, from my habits as a huntsman. I will, if you allow, arrange the +posts, and look after things in general." + +Once more Anton went round the court and the stables. Here, too, quiet +was restored: only the horses restlessly stamped their hoofs on the hard +ground. Anton gently opened the door of the women's rooms, in the second +of which the wounded had been laid. As he entered, he saw Lenore on a +stool near the straw beds, two of the stranger women at her feet. He +bent down over the couch of the wounded: the colorless face and +disordered hair of the unfortunate men looked ghastly on the white +pillows which Lenore had snatched from her own bed. + +"How fares it with you?" whispered Anton. + +"We have tried to bind up the wounds," replied Lenore. "The forester +says that there is hope of both." + +"Then," continued Anton, "leave them in charge of the women, and avail +yourself of these hours of rest." + +"Do not speak to me of rest," said Lenore, rising. "We are in the +chamber of death." She took him by the hand, and led him to the opposite +corner, drew aside a dark cloak, and pointed to a human form beneath it. +"He is dead!" said she, with a hollow voice. "As I raised him with these +hands, he died. His blood is on my clothes; and it is not the only blood +that has been spilled to-day. It was I," she wildly cried, convulsively +pressing Anton's hand, "it was I who began this blood-shedding. How I am +to bear this curse, I know not; how I am to live on after this day, I +know not. If I have henceforth a place in this world, it is in this +room. Leave me here, Wohlfart, and think no more about me." + +She turned away and resumed her seat on the stool by the side of the +straw bed. Anton drew the cloak over the dead, and silently left the +room. He went next to the guard-room and took up his gun. "I am going to +the tower, forester," said he. + +"Each has his own way," muttered the old man. "The other is wiser--he +sleeps. But it will be cold up there; this one shall not be without a +wrap." He sent a man up with a villager's cloak, and ordered him to +remain with the gentleman. + +Anton told the man to lie down and sleep, and wrapped himself up in the +warm covering. Then he sat in silence, resting his head against the wall +over which Lenore had leaned as she fired, and his thoughts flew over +the plain--from the gloomy present to the uncertain future. He looked +beyond the circle of the enemy's sentinels, and over the darker boundary +of the fir woods, which kept him prisoner here, and bound him to +circumstances which appeared to him strange and improbable, as though he +read them in a book. His wearied mind contemplated his own fate as +though it were that of a stranger, and he could now calmly look down +into the depths of his own spirit, which the stormy alternations of the +day had hitherto hid from him. He saw his former life pass in review +before him: the figure of the noble lady on the balcony of her castle; +the beautiful girl in her skiff, surrounded by her swans; the waxlights +in the dancing-saloon; the mournful hour when the baroness had placed +her jewels in his hands--each of those moments when Lenore's eyes had +lovingly met his own. All those seasons now returned to his mind, and he +plainly discerned the glamour that she had cast around him. All that had +chained his fancy, warped his judgment, and flattered his self-love, now +appeared to him an illusion. + +It had been an error of his childish spirit which vanity had fostered. +Alas! the brilliant mirage had long been dissipated in which the life of +the aristocratic family seemed great, noble, enviable to the poor +accountant's son. Another feeling had replaced it, and a purer--a tender +friendship for the only one in that circle who had retained her strength +when the others sank. Now, she too parted from him. He felt this was, +and must be so more and more. He felt this now without pain, as natural, +as inevitable. And further, he felt that he was thus free from the ties +that detained him here. He raised his head, and looked over the woods +into the distance. He blamed himself, first, that this loss did not +grieve him more, and, next, that he was conscious of a loss. Had there, +then, been a silent hope at the bottom of his heart? Had he thought to +win the beauteous girl to share his future life? had he dreamed of +becoming a member of the family by whom he was employed? If he had +occasionally been weak enough to do this, he now condemned himself. + +He had not always felt rightly; he had secretly cherished many a selfish +thought when looking at Lenore. That had been wrong, and it served him +right that he now stood alone among strangers, in relations that pained +him because they were indefinite, and in a position from which his own +resolve could not free him at present, could hardly free him for some +time to come. + +And yet he felt himself free. "I shall do my duty, and only think of her +happiness," said he, aloud. But her happiness? He thought of +Fink--thought of the character of his friend, which always impressed, +but often angered him. Would he love her in return, and would he allow +himself to be bound? "Poor Lenore!" he sighed. + +In this way Anton stood till the bright aspect of the northern horizon +passed over to the east, and thence a pale gray spread over the sky, the +chilly forerunner of the rising sun. Then Anton looked once more at the +landscape round him. He could hardly count the enemy's sentinels, who +surrounded the castle in pairs, and here and there a scythe shone in the +brightening light. Bending down, he woke the man, who had gone to sleep +on the flags stained by his comrade's blood; then he went to the +guard-room, threw himself on the straw that the forester carefully shook +down for him, and fell asleep just as the lark soared from the dewy +ground, by its joyous call to summon forth the sun. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + + +After an hour the forester woke the sleeper. Anton started up and looked +round, stupefied at the unfamiliar scene. + +"It is almost a sin to disturb you," said the good old man; "all is +quiet outside, only the enemy's cavalry have gone off to Rosmin." + +"Gone off!" cried Anton; "then we are free." + +"Except for the foot-folks," said the forester, "and they are still two +to one of us. They hold us fast. And I have something else to say. There +is no more water in the butt. Our men have drunk half of it, the rest +was thrown on the fire. For my part, I can do without it, but the castle +is full of men, and they will hardly get through the day without a +drink." + +Anton sprang up. "This is a melancholy good-morning, my old friend." + +"The well is broken," continued the old man; "but how if we were to send +some of the women to the brook? The sentinels would not do much to the +women; perhaps they would not prevent them from getting a few bucketfuls +of water." + +"A few buckets would not do much for us," replied Anton. + +"They would raise the spirits," said the old man; "they would have to be +shared. Were Rebecca here, she would get us the water. We must try what +we can do with the others. Those confounded fellows are not bad to +women, if they be but bold. If you approve, I will see what I can make +of some of our girls." + +The forester called down to the kitchen--"Suska!" The young Pole sprang +up stairs. + +"Listen to me, Suska," said the forester, anxiously; "when, the baron +awakes, he will call for his hot water; all the water in the castle is +done; we have beer and schnapps enough, indeed, but what Christian can +wash his hands in beer? so take the buckets, and get us water. Run down +to the brook; you will get on very well with your countrymen. Don't stay +too long chattering, or we shall get a scolding. And, I say, just ask +our neighbors why they stand there still with their lances; their +horsemen have gone away; we have no objection to their moving off too." + +The girl willingly caught up the buckets, the forester opening the yard +door for her, and down she went to the water. Anton watched her in +anxious suspense. She got to the brook without any hinderance, and +without troubling herself about the sentinels, who were some twenty +yards off, and who looked with much curiosity at her. At length one of +the men with scythes went up to her. The girl put down her buckets, +crossed her arms, and both began a peaceful conversation. Then the Pole +took up the buckets, filled them with water, and gave them to the girl, +who slowly returned to the castle, the forester opening the gate for +her, and saying, in a caressing tone, "Bravo, Susan! what did the +sentinel say to you?" + +"Stupid things," replied she, blushing. "He told me that I must open the +door for him and his comrades when they return to the castle." + +"As if that were all?" said the forester, slyly. "So they mean to return +to the castle?" + +"To be sure they do," said the girl. "Their horsemen are gone to meet +the soldiers from Rosmin. When they return, the man said they would all +run together to the castle." + +"We shall hardly admit them," replied the forester. "None shall enter +the gate but your sweetheart yonder. You have, I suppose, promised him +admittance, if he comes alone and late?" + +"No!" answered Susan, indignantly; "but I dared not be uncivil." + +"Perhaps we may try it once more," suggested the forester, glancing at +Anton. + +"I don't think it," replied the latter. "An officer is riding round the +posts, and the poor fellow will get a rough return for his gallantry. +Come, and let us divide our little store. Half of this first bucket for +the family--half for us men; let the other make a breakfast for the +women and children." + +Anton himself poured the water into the different vessels, and appointed +the smith to guard it. While so doing, he said to the forester, "This is +the hardest task that we have had as yet. I do not know how we are to +hold out during the day." + +"Many things may happen," replied the forester, consolingly. + +A bright spring day now began; the sun rose cloudlessly behind the +farm-yard, and soon warmed the mist that hung around the walls; the +people sought out the sunny corner of the court; the men sat in little +groups with their wives and children, and all seemed in good heart. +Anton went in and out among them. "We must have patience till +noon--perhaps till the afternoon; then our troops will come." + +"If those fellows yonder do no more than at present," replied the smith, +"we may be easy enough. They stand there like so many wooden posts." + +"They lost their courage yesterday," said another, contemptuously. + +"It was a mere straw-fire; the smith threw it down, and they have +nothing to follow it up with," cried a third. + +The smith folded his arms and smiled proudly, his wife looking at him +with delight. + +Next the upper story began to show symptoms of life. The baron rang and +demanded a report. Anton went up to give it him, then entered Fink's +room and woke his friend, who was still fast asleep. + +"Good-morning, Tony," cried Fink, comfortably stretching himself. "I +shall be down in a moment. If you can send me a little water through +some of your connections, I shall be very grateful to you." + +"I will get you a bottle of wine from the cellar," replied Anton; "you +must wash in wine to-day." + +"Ha!" cried Fink, "is it come to that? At all events, it is not Port +wine, I hope." + +"We have but a few bottles of either kind," continued Anton. + +"You are a bird of ill omen," said Fink, looking for his boots. "You +have doubtless the more beer in your cellars." + +"Just enough to give the garrison one draught. A small cask of brandy is +our chief treasure." + +Fink whistled the Hessian march. "You will own, my son, that your +tenderness for the women and children was somewhat sentimental. I +already see you, in my mind's eye, with your shirt sleeves tucked up, +killing the lean cow, and, with your old conscientiousness, +administering mouthfuls to the famished household--you in the +middle--fifty gaping mouths around you. Be sure that you prepare a dozen +birch rods; in a few hours the screams of the hungry children will rise +to heaven, and, in spite of your philanthropy, you will be obliged to +scourge the whole troop of them. Otherwise, I think we managed pretty +well yesterday. I have had a famous sleep, and so things must take their +chance another day. Now let's go and have a look at the enemy." + +The two friends mounted to the tower. Anton reported what he had heard. +Fink carefully explored the sentries' posts and the line of road till +lost in the wood. "Our situation is too quiet to be comfortable," said +he, shutting up the glass. + +"They mean to starve us out," said Anton, gravely. + +"I give them credit for that clever notion; and they do not judge ill, +for, between ourselves, I have strong doubts whether we have any relief +to hope for." + +"We may depend upon Karl," said Anton. + +"And upon my bay too," replied Fink; "but it is very possible that my +poor Blackfoot may have the misfortune to be carrying the carcass of one +of the insurgents at this very moment; and whether the youth Karl may +not have fallen into the hands of one of the bands who, no doubt, swarm +throughout the country; whether he ever found our soldiers; whether they +chose to march to our aid; whether, in short, they will have the sense +to come in time; and whether they are strong enough, after all, to +disperse the troop gone out to meet them--these, my boy, are all +questions which may reasonably be put, and I, for one, dare not answer +them hopefully." + +"We might attempt a sally, but it would be bloody work," said Anton. + +"Pooh!" said Fink; "it would be useless, which is worse. We might +disperse one set of them, and another would be there in an hour; +nothing but having a strong party to relieve us can get us out of the +scrape. As long as we keep within these walls we are strong; on the open +field, encumbered with women and children, a dozen horsemen might ride +us down." + +"We must wait, then," said Anton, gloomily. + +"Well said, after all. The whole of human wisdom consists in never +putting to one's self or to others questions which nobody can answer. +The affair threatens to be tedious." + +The friends came down again, and hour after hour passed--weary hours of +leaden inactivity. First Anton, then Fink, looked through the glass at +the opening into the wood. There was little to be seen; patrols came and +went; armed peasants entered the village, and were dispatched in +different directions; the sentinels were regularly inspected and +relieved every two hours; the besiegers were busy in searching and +disarming the surrounding villages, in order to make a more vigorous +assault than ever on the castle. + +The Germans were pent up in their fortress like a wild beast in his +lair, and the huntsmen waited with calm confidence for the time when +hunger, or else fire, should complete their conquest. + +Meanwhile Fink tried to employ his people; made the men clean and +brighten their arms, and himself inspected them all; next, powder and +lead were given out, bullets cast, and cartridges made. Anton showed the +women how to clean the house and the court, as well as they could, +without water. All this had the good effect of keeping the prisoners +occupied for a few hours. + +The sun rose higher, and the breeze wafted the peaceful chime of bells +from the nearest village. + +"Our breakfast will be sparing enough," said Anton to his comrades. "The +potatoes are roasted in the ashes, meat and bacon are finished; the cook +can not bake, for we are again without water." + +"As long as we have the milch-cow in the stable," replied Fink, "we +still possess a treasure which we can display to the hungry ones. Next, +we have the mice in the castle, and, finally, our boots. He who has been +condemned to eat beefsteaks in this country ought not to find +boot-leather a tough diet." + +The forester interrupted them. "A single horseman is coming from the +farm-yard to the castle with a woman behind him. I lay any thing it is +Rebecca." + +The horseman approached the front door, waving a white handkerchief, +halting near the burnt fragments of the great wagon, and looking at the +windows of the upper story. It was the envoy of the preceding day. + +"We will not be so unpolite as to keep the gentleman waiting," said +Fink, pushing back the bolts, and appearing unarmed on the threshold. +The Pole silently bowed; Fink raised his cap. + +"I told you yesterday evening," began the former, "that I should have +the pleasure of seeing you again." + +"Ah!" replied Fink; "you, then, were the gentleman who occasioned all +that smoke? It was a pity to spoil the wagon." + +"You prevented your men from firing on me yesterday," continued the +Pole, in German, spoken with a hard foreign accent. "I am grateful to +you for it, and anxious to prove myself so. I hear that there are ladies +in the castle; this girl brings them milk. We know that you are without +water, and I should not wish the ladies to be inconvenienced by our +conflict." + +"Jackanapes!" muttered the forester. + +"If you will permit me to give you a few bottles of wine in exchange for +your milk," replied Fink, "I will accept your present with thanks. I +presume you have no superfluity of this commodity at your command." + +"Very good," said the Pole, smiling. Rebecca hurried with her pitcher to +the yard gate, gave in the milk, and received the wine from the growling +forester. The Pole continued: "Even if you be well supplied with wine, +it can not serve instead of water. Your garrison is numerous, and we +hear that you have many women and children in the house." + +"I should consider it no hardship," replied Fink, "for these women and +children to drink wine, as well as we men, till you do us the favor +which I yesterday requested, of leaving this estate and the brook yonder +altogether." + +"Do not hope it, sir," said the Pole, gravely; "we shall employ all our +strength to disarm you; we know now that you have no artillery, and it +would be at any time in our power to force an entrance. But you have +held out like brave men, and we do not wish to go further than is +absolutely necessary." + +"Prudent and sensible," replied Fink. + +"Therefore I make you a proposal which need not offend your +self-respect. You have no relief to hope for. Between your soldiers and +this village there is a strong body of our troops. A collision of the +armies is expected in the course of the next few days at no great +distance from here, and your generals are, therefore, unable to detach +any number of men. I am telling you no news; you know this as well as I; +therefore I promise to you and to all within these walls a safe-conduct, +if you will give up the castle and your fire-arms. We are ready to +escort you and the ladies in any direction that you may wish, as far as +our occupation of the country extends." + +Fink replied more seriously than he had hitherto done, "May I ask who it +is whose word of honor would be pledged to me?" + +"Colonel Zlotowsky," replied the horseman, with a slight bow. + +"Your offer, sir," returned Fink, "demands our thanks. I have no doubt +of its sincerity, and will assume that you have influence enough over +your companions to carry it out. But, as I am not the master of this +house, I must communicate your proposal to him." + +"I will wait," replied the Pole, retreating to a distance of about +thirty yards, and stopping opposite the door. + +Fink closed it, and said to Anton, "Let us go to the baron at once. What +should you think best?" + +"To hold out," replied Anton. + +They found the baron in his room, his head resting on his hands, his +face distorted, a picture of distress and nervous agitation. Fink told +him of the Pole's offer, and begged for his decision. + +The baron replied, "I have perhaps suffered more hitherto than any of +the brave men who have risked their lives in this house. It is a +horrible feeling to be obliged to sit still when honor summons one to +the foremost ranks. But, for this very reason, I have no right to +dictate to you. He who is incapable of fighting has no right to decide +when the fighting shall cease; nay, I have hardly a right to tell you my +views, because I fear that they may influence your high-hearted minds; +besides which, unfortunately, I do not know the men who defend me; I can +not judge of their mood or of their strength. I confidently leave every +thing to you, and place the fate of my nearest and dearest in your +hands. May Heaven reward you for what you do for me. Yet not for me--for +God's sake, not for me--the sacrifice would be too great," cried he, in +utmost excitement, raising his folded hands and sightless eyes to +heaven; "think of nothing but the cause that we defend." + +"Since you repose so generous a trust in us," said Fink, with chivalrous +bearing, "we are resolved to hold your castle so long as we have the +very least hope of relief. Meanwhile there are serious contingencies to +be anticipated; our men may refuse to fight longer, or the enemy may +force an entrance." + +"My wife and daughter beg, as I do also, that you will not consider them +at a time like this. Go, gentlemen," cried the baron, with outstretched +arms; "the honor of an old soldier is in your hands." + +Both bowed low before the blind man, and left the room. "After all, +there is honor in the man," said Fink, nodding as he went along. Then he +opened the door and the officer rode up. + +"The Baron Rothsattel thanks you for your proposal; but he is resolved +to defend his house, and the property of those who have trusted to him, +to the very utmost. We can not accept your offer." + +"Take, then, the consequences," cried the officer, "and the +responsibility of all that must ensue." + +"I will take the responsibility," said Fink; "but I have still one +request to make from you. Besides the wives and children of the country +people, there are two ladies in the castle, the wife and daughter of the +Baron Rothsattel; if an accident should enable you to occupy this house, +I recommend these defenseless ones to the protection of your honor." + +"I am a Pole!" cried the officer, proudly rising in his stirrups. Then +taking off his hat, he galloped back to the farm-yard. + +"He looks a bold fellow," said Fink, turning to the men who had gathered +round him from the guard-room; "but, my friends, when one has the choice +of trusting to an enemy's promises or to this little iron barrel, I +always think it best to rely upon what we have in our hand." + +He shook his rifle as he spoke. + +"The Pole promises safe-conduct," continued Fink, "because he knows that +in a couple of hours his band will be dispersed by our soldiers. We +should be a good bite for him with our thirty guns. And then, if our +cavalry came, and instead of us, who sent for them, found the house full +of that rabble yonder, they would send a rattling curse after us, and we +should be disgraced forever." + +"I wonder whether he meant fair?" inquired one of the men, doubtingly. + +Fink took him confidentially by the lappet of his coat. "I do believe, +my boy, that he meant fair; but I ask you how far one could calculate +upon the discipline of those men? We should not get much beyond the wood +yonder before another party would overtake us, and the women and our +property would be maltreated before our eyes; and so I calculate we +shall do the best to show them our teeth." + +Warm approbation followed this speech, and a few hurrahs were raised for +the young gentlemen in the castle. + +"We thank you," said Fink; "and now all of you to your posts, my men, +for it may chance that you will get a few cracks on your heads again. +That will keep them quiet for an hour or two," said he, turning to +Anton. "I don't expect an attack by day, but it is better for them to +stand at their posts than to be putting their heads together. It was +unlucky that they should have heard the negotiations." + +But even the severe discipline which Fink maintained did not avail to +ward off the depression which fell upon the little garrison as the day +wore on. The Pole's proposal had been heard by many; even the women had +in their curiosity opened their door and pushed into the hall. Quietly, +gradually, fear began to take possession of the men's hearts, and, +contagious as a disease, it spread from one to the other. It broke out, +too, in the women's apartments. Suddenly some of them felt a great +desire for water, complaining of thirst, first timidly, then louder, +pressing against the door of the kitchen, and beginning to sob aloud. +Not long after, all the children took to screaming for water, and many +who, under other circumstances, would not have thought about drinking at +all, now felt themselves unspeakably wretched. + +Anton had the last bottle of wine brought out of the cellar, cut the +last loaf and soaked it in the wine, giving a piece to each, assuring +them that it was the best remedy against thirst, and that if one held it +in the mouth, he would be quite unable to drink water, even if paid for +it. This expedient answered for a time, but terror found other avenues +by which to enter. Many began to consider whether they would have lost +any thing in giving up an old gun, and gaining thereby their liberty, +and the right to go where they would. This view of things was loudly +combated by the forester, who placed himself in the midst of the +guard-room, and resolutely replied: "I tell you, Gottlieb Fitzner, and +you, you stout Bökel, that the giving away our guns would be a mere +trifle to any of us; the only thing is, that any one of you to whom +this vile thought could occur would be a low, mean, cowardly scoundrel, +who would make me sick whenever I saw him." To which proposition Fitzner +and Bökel eagerly acceded, and Bökel declared that, for his part, he +could stand such a fellow just as little as the forester himself; so +that danger was averted. But the unemployed sentinels were engaged in +anxious conversation. The castle forces were contrasted with those of +the enemy, and finally the slight nature of the palings in the yard +became the leading object of a searching criticism. It was clear that +the next attack would be directed against them, and the most +stout-hearted admitted that they could offer little resistance. Even the +faithful smith shook them with his strong hand, and by no means admired +the manner in which they were nailed together. + +In the middle of the day these attacks of timidity were not actually +dangerous, for the greatest portion of the men were waiting ready armed +for the enemy's approach. But as the sun began to decline without any +attack, and without the sentinels on the top of the tower announcing any +prospect of relief, inactivity and exhaustion combined to increase the +universal distress. Their dinner had been unsatisfying: potatoes burnt +to a cinder, and a little salt; no wonder that they should again begin +to be thirsty, and that the women should return and complain to Anton +that his expedient had only availed for a very short time. Among the +men, too, fear, hunger, and thirst spread fast from one story to +another. Anton had served out a double ration of brandy, but that did +not avail. Several of the men became, not rebellious, but weaker and +more depressed. Fink looked with contemptuous smile at these symptoms of +a condition of which his elastic spirit and iron nerves had no +experience; but Anton, to whom all came with petitions and laments, felt +the whole distress of these hours. Something must be done to help +efficiently, or all was lost. Accordingly, he went into the court-yard, +determined to sacrifice the cow. He walked up to her, stroked her neck: +"Lizzie, my poor beast, you must go," said he. As he led her out, his +eye fell upon the empty water-butt, and a happy thought flashed across +him. The yard was only raised a few feet above the brook. The whole +district was full of springs; it was probable that, if dug for here, +water might be found, and it would be an easy thing for the garrison to +dig a well. If the earth excavated were pushed up against the palings, +their strength would be considerably increased, and, what was the chief +thing, the work would set all idle hands going, and might last for +hours, nay, days. He knew, indeed, from former attempts, that the water +immediately about the castle was muddy, and in ordinary times +undrinkable, but that did not signify to-day. Anton looked up at the +sun; there was not a minute to be lost. He called the superintendent +into the court, and the latter joyfully agreeing to the proposal--all +the unoccupied hands about the castle, and the women and children +too--the laborers' implements were produced, and in a few minutes ten +men with spades and rakes were occupied in digging a large hole in the +middle of the court, while the women and children heaped the thrown-up +earth against the palings. Some men, and such of the women as were to be +had, were summoned by Anton to the slaughter of the poor cow, who was +once more exhibited before she fell a victim to the exigencies of the +day. Soon all were in full employment. The well-mouth, which was far +wider than would have been required for an ordinary shaft, deepened +visibly, and a wall rose inside the palings, which seemed the work of +friendly underground gnomes. The people worked as they had never in +their life done before; the men's spades emulated each other; little +bare legs sprang actively over the ground; wooden shoes and slippers +left deep traces in the mound of earth. Each wanted to work; there were +more hands than space in which to move them. All sadness and anxiety +were over and gone. Jests were bandied about. Even Fink came to look on, +and said to Anton, "You are a missionary, and you know how to promote +the spiritual good of your people." + +"They work!" replied Anton, with greater cheerfulness than he had felt +for the last four-and-twenty hours. + +The well had now become so deep that it became necessary to have a +ladder to descend by; the ground got damper and damper, till the men +worked in a perfect swamp. The mud had to be taken out in buckets; but +the people were more eager than ever, and the buckets flew from hand to +hand, while all laughed like little children at the mud-sprinkling their +impatience got. The mud wall rose rapidly above the palings, and wood +and stones were thrown in to consolidate it. Anton could hardly get the +little doorway kept open. Meanwhile there was restless agitation among +the enemy. Horsemen rode rapidly along the line of sentries, and watched +the progress of the new fortification: from time to time, one would +venture nearer than the rest, then withdraw as soon as the forester +raised his gun above the wall. Thus hour after hour passed; the sun sank +down, and the red light of evening suffused the sky. But those in the +court-yard took no heed of it, for at the bottom of the well the men +were standing up to their waists in water. It was a yellow, dirty liquid +enough; but the people stared down the hole as though streams of gold +were flowing there. At last, when the twilight shadows lay dark on its +mouth, Anton ordered the diggers to leave the well. A coarse sheet was +brought, and laid over the water-butt, and the water strained through +it. + +"My horses first," cried one of the servants, snatching a bucketful for +the thirsting animals. + +"When it has settled a little, it will be as good as river-water," +exclaimed the smith, in delight. + +As for the diggers, they were never tired of tasting, and each +triumphantly corroborated the worthy man's assertion. Meanwhile, Anton +had fresh palings driven into the mud rampart, and the strong planks of +the potato-carts securely fastened to them. At nightfall all was +finished. The women kept straining water into the butt. Great joints of +meat were taken to the kitchen, where a brisk fire was crackling away, +and the cheerful hopes of an excellent supper rose in the hearts of the +besieged. + +Then the drums of the enemy were again heard, and the shrill call of +Fink's whistle vibrated through the castle. For a moment the men in the +court-yard stood still; they had, during the last few hours, thought +little about the foe; then all rushed into the guard-room and caught up +their arms. The lower story was doubly occupied. The forester hurried +off with a strong detachment to the court-yard, and clambered up the new +wall. + +"The crisis approaches," whispered Fink to Anton; "in the course of the +last few hours strong parties have come into the village, and just now a +troop of horsemen has joined them. We shall not be able to hold out for +a second night. They will attack on both sides at once, and with the +help of short ladders they will soon make their way into the castle. And +that they know, for you may see that every band that leaves the village +is armed with axes and ladders. Let us meet our inevitable doom with +spirit; the praise is yours if we are beaten like men and not like +cowards. I have been with the baron; he and the ladies are prepared; +they will all remain together in his room. If you have a few words to +spare when one of the Messieurs of the party walks in over you, remind +him of the ladies. God willing, Anton, I'll take the court-yard +side--you the front." + +"It seems to me impossible," cried Anton, "that we should be beaten. I +have never had so good a hope as in this very hour." + +"Hope of relief!" said Fink, shrugging his shoulders, and pointing +through the window at the enemy. "If it comes in an hour's time it comes +too late. Since Rebecca's cannon exploded, we are in the hands of the +foe as soon as they choose to storm in earnest. And they will choose. +One must not indulge in illusions that glow no longer than a cigar. Give +me your hand, my dear fellow, and farewell." + +He pressed Anton's hand, and a proud smile beamed again over his face. +So stood the friends, each looking affectionately at the face of the +other, uncertain whether he should ever behold it again. "Farewell!" +cried Fink, taking up his rifle as their hands parted; but all at once +he seemed rooted to the ground, and intently listened, for above the +drums of the foe and the tramp of their approach a clear sound rang +through the night air, a merry pealing <i>fanfare</i>, and in reply to it +there came from the village the regular beat of a drum of the line, then +a loud discharge of artillery, and a distant hurrah. + +"They come!" was the cry on all sides; "our soldiers come!" + +The forester rushed into the hall. "The red-caps!" he screamed out. +"They are riding up along the brook to the bridge, and the infantry are +storming the village from behind." + +"Now our side!" cried Fink; "prepare for a sally!" + +The bolts were shot back; the whole garrison was out in a moment; and +Anton could hardly get the superintendent and a few of the servants to +return and take care of the house. The forester rapidly marshaled the +men into order while Fink looked at the position of the combatants. The +columns of infantry advanced through the village. The ceaseless +discharges showed how inveterate the fight was; but the soldiery slowly +approached, the enemy yielded, a few fugitives had already run out of +the farm-yard. Meanwhile a detachment of hussars crossed the brook +opposite the castle, driving small parties of the besiegers before them. +Fink led his men round the house, and stationed them at the corner that +lay nearest to the village. "Patience!" cried he; "and when I lead you +on, don't forget your password, or you will be ridden and trodden down +in the dark like the others." + +It was with the greatest difficulty that the men were kept in rank, such +was their impatience. + +A single horseman now came riding toward them. "Hurrah! Rothsattel!" +cried he, while still at a distance. + +"Sturm!" called out a dozen voices; and Anton sprang forward to greet +his ally. + +"We have them," said Karl. "They had occupied the Rosmin high road, but +I led our men by by-paths through the woods." + +A dark mass was visible at the end of the village, with riders in +advance. The enemy halted and assembled in the farm-yard. + +"Now for it!" cried Fink. + +The garrison marched at a quick pace over the meadow, placed themselves +sideways near the first barn, and a salvo from five-and-twenty guns +burst upon the flank of the enemy, who fell into confusion and fled +across the plain. Again the trumpet sounded, behind them the hussars +came galloping up, and cut down those that still kept their ground. Karl +joined them, and vanished in the fray. The enemy were thus driven into +the fields. + +The Polish cavalry now sprang forward from the village, at their head +the spokesman of the morning, who with loud shouts urged his men against +the hussars. + +"Rothsattel!" cried a youthful voice close to Anton, and, heading a +detachment of hussars, a tall, slight officer rushed against the Poles. +Fink raised his rifle and aimed at the Polish colonel. + +"Thanks!" cried he, reeling on his horse, firing his pistol with his +last breath at the breast of the hussar who was riding him down. The +hussar fell from his horse, and the Pole's charger galloped away with +his master's lifeless body. + +In a few minutes more the vicinity of the castle was cleared of all +foes. Night concealed the fugitives, and the trees of the forest spread +their sheltering branches over the sons of the soil. In small +detachments, the conquerors followed the last remnant of the enemy's +troops. + +Before the castle, Anton knelt on the ground and supported the head of +the prostrate horseman on his arm. With tears in his eyes, he looked +from the dying man up to his friend, who stood on one side with a group +of sympathizing officers. Their triumph was rendered a mute one, the +peasants surrounding the spot in solemn silence. The motionless form was +slowly carried on their crossed hands to the castle. + +The baron stood on the hall steps with his daughter, ready to greet the +welcome guests. As soon as Lenore saw the wounded officer, she rushed +down among the bearers, by whom the body was silently laid at the +baron's feet, and sank to the ground with a scream. + +"Who is it?" groaned the blind man, groping in the air. No one answered +him; all drew back in terror. + +"Father!" murmured the wounded youth, and a stream of blood gushed from +his mouth. + +"My son! my son!" cried the baron, in agony, and his knees sank under +him. + +The youth had left his garrison to join the troops which were to be +stationed near his parents. He had succeeded in exchanging into another +regiment, and in accompanying the squadron sent to his father's +assistance. He wished to give his father a happy surprise, and, with the +raising of the siege, he brought them his bleeding breast into their +house, and death into their hearts. + +A mournful silence lay upon the high Slavonic castle. The storm had +raged itself to rest; the white blossoms floated silently down from the +great fruit-trees in the fields, and lay pure and spotless on the ground +like a white shroud. Where are ye, airy schemes of the blind man, which +he has so striven, suffered, and sinned to realize? Listen, poor father; +hold your breath and listen. All is still in the castle, still in the +forest, and yet you can not hear the one sound of which you ever thought +amid your parchments and your plans--the heart-throb of your only son, +the first heir of the house of Rothsattel! + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + + +Days of sorrow now passed over the castle, hard to endure by every one +who dwelt within its walls. Disease lurked in the family like canker in +a flower. Since the dark hour when the dying son had been carried into +his father's presence, the baron had never left his room. His small +measure of remaining strength had been broken; grief consumed mind and +body. He would sit silently brooding throughout the livelong day, and +neither the entreaties of Lenore nor the companionship of his wife +availed to rouse him. When the fatal tidings were first communicated to +the baroness, Anton had feared that the fragile thread that bound her to +the earth would burst, and for weeks Lenore never left her side; but, to +the astonishment of all, she rallied, her husband's state so claiming +her care that her own sorrows and weakness seemed to pass away. She +appeared stronger than before, and solely occupied with tending her +husband: she was able to sit up for hours beside his chair. It is true +that the doctor used to shake his head privately, and to tell Anton that +this sudden improvement was not be trusted. As for Lenore, for the first +few weeks after her brother's death she was invisible to all; and now, +whenever she emerged from the sick-room, it was to answer inquiries for +the invalids, or to send, through Anton, messages to the doctor. + +Meanwhile, beyond the walls, a stormy spring had passed, succeeded by an +unsettled summer. True, the property had no longer to dread the horrors +of civil war, but the burdens that the times imposed fell heavy on the +establishment. Daily the blast of trumpet and beat of drum was +heard--castle and village alike had their complement of soldiers to +support, and these were frequently exchanged. Anton had enough to do to +provide for man and horse. The slender resources of the estate were soon +exhausted, and, but for Fink's laborers, they never could have got on. +Then there were all manner of interruptions to the work of the farm. +More than one acre had been trodden down at the time of the siege. The +men had become bewildered by passing events, and had lost their relish +for regular employment. But, on the whole, order was maintained, and the +plans laid down early in the spring were being carried out. The +irrigation of the meadow-land prospered still better; the number of gray +jackets went on increasing; and this body-guard of Herr von Fink were +acknowledged throughout the district as a stout set, with whom it was +well to be on good terms. Fink himself was often away. Having made and +renewed the acquaintance of several officers, he threw himself heart and +soul into military matters, and shared as a volunteer in the encounter +in which the insurgents had been defeated. His defense of the castle had +made him a marked man: he was equally hated and admired by the two +conflicting parties. + +Weeks had passed away since the relief of the castle, when Lenore +appeared at the house door, before which Anton and the forester were +holding a consultation. She looked across the court-yard, where a pump +now stood, and over the palings, from which the earth had been cleared +away, to the landscape, now bright with the fresh green of early summer. +At last she said with a sigh, "Summer is come, Wohlfart, and we have not +noticed it!" + +Anton looked anxiously at her pale face. "It is delightful now in the +woods," said he. "I was at the forester's yesterday, and since the rain +the trees and flowers are in full beauty. If you would but agree to go +out!" + +Lenore shook her head. "What do <i>I</i> signify?" said she, bitterly. + +"At least hear the news which the forester has just brought," continued +Anton. "The man you shot was the wretched Bratzky. You did not kill him. +If you have reproached yourself on that score, I can set your mind at +rest." + +"God be praised!" cried Lenore, folding her hands. + +"That night when the forester came to us, he thought he had seen the +rascal sitting in the bar with his arm tied up. Yesterday he was taken +prisoner to Rosmin." + +"Ay!" said the forester; "a bullet does a fellow like him no harm; he +aims higher than that;" and he laid his own hand on his throat with a +significant gesture. + +"This has weighed on me day and night," whispered Lenore to Anton; "I +have looked on myself as one under a curse. I have had the most fearful +dreams and visions of the man as he fell, hands clenched, and the blood +gushing from his shoulder. Oh, Wohlfart, what have we gone through!" And +she leaned against the door, and fixed her tearless eyes on the ground. + +A horse's hoof rung on the pavement. Fink's bay was led out. + +"Where is he going?" hurriedly asked Lenore. + +"I do not know," replied Anton; "he has been a great deal out of late; I +see nothing of him the whole day long." + +"What is he doing here with us?" said Lenore; "this unhappy house is no +place for him." + +"If he would only be careful," said the forester. "The Tarow people are +mad at him; they have sworn to send a bullet after him, and he always +rides alone, and late at night." + +"It is in vain to warn him," added Anton. "Do be rational for once, +Fritz," cried he, as his friend came out; "do not go riding alone, or, +at least, not through the Tarow estate." + +Fink shrugged his shoulders. "Ah! so our Fräulein is here! It is so long +since we have had the pleasure of seeing you, that our time has hung +rather heavy on our hands." + +"Listen to the advice of your friends," replied Lenore, anxiously, "and +beware of dangerous men." + +"Why?" returned Fink; "there is no straightforward danger to apprehend; +and in times like these, there is no guarding against every stupid devil +who may lurk behind a tree; that would be taking too much trouble." + +"If not for your own sake, think of the anxiety of your friends," +implored Lenore. + +"Have I still friends?" asked Fink, laughing; "I often fancy they have +become faithless. My friends belong to the class who perfectly +understand the duty of composure. Our worthy Wohlfart, perchance, will +put an extra handkerchief in his pocket, and wear his most solemn mien +if the game goes against me; and another companion in arms will console +herself still more readily. Out with my horse!" cried he, swinging +himself on the saddle, and with a slight bow galloping away. + +"There he goes, straight to Tarow," said the forester, striking his head +as he watched Fink disappear. + +Lenore returned in silence to her parents' room. + +But late at night, long after the castle lights were all put out, a +curtain was drawn back, and a woman listened anxiously for the sound of +horses' hoofs. Hour after hour passed away, and it was morning before +the window closed as a rider halted at the door, and, whistling a tune, +himself took his horse to the stable. After a night of watching, Lenore +hid her aching head in her pillows. + +Thus months passed away. At length the baron, leaning upon his +daughter's arm and on a staff, ventured out into the open air, to sit +silently in the shadow cast by the castle walls, or to listen for every +trifle which might afford possible scope for fault-finding. At these +times his dependents in general would go a good deal out of their way to +avoid him, and as Anton never did this, he was not unfrequently their +scapegoat. Every day the baron had to hear, in return for his +cross-questioning, "Mr. Wohlfart ordered this," or "Mr. Wohlfart forbade +that." He eagerly found out what orders were given by Anton, that he +might countermand, and all the bitterness and disappointment +accumulated in the spirit of the unfortunate nobleman were concentrated +in an impotent hatred to his agent. + +Fink, for his part, took little heed of the baron, merely contracting +his brows when he observed his quarrelsomeness toward Anton, and never +saying more than "he can not help it." + +Karl was the one who got on best with the baron, never calling him any +thing but captain, and making an audible military salute whenever he had +any thing to say, and this pleased the blind man. Indeed, the first +token of sympathy for others which the baron evinced was elicited by the +bailiff. A garden chair had been warped by the sun, and seemed on the +point of coming to pieces. Karl, as he passed by, took it up, and with +his clenched fist hammered it together. "You are not striking with your +right hand, I hope, my good Sturm?" inquired the baron. + +"Just as it happens, captain," replied Karl. + +"You should not do so," remonstrated the invalid. "An injury like yours +should make you careful; very often the pain returns after long years; +you can not be sure that this may not be your case in after-life." + +"A short life and a merry one, captain," replied Karl; "I do not look +forward." + +"That is a very useful fellow," said the baron to his daughter. + +The corn ripened, the green fields turned to gold, the cheerful sounds +of harvest began. When the first loaded wagon rolled into the farm-yard, +Anton stood by the barn and watched the sheaves put in. He was joined by +Lenore, who inquired, "What of the harvest?" + +"As far as we could contrive to sow this year, the returns have not been +bad. At least, Karl seems pleased with the crop, which exceeds our +calculations," cheerfully returned Anton. + +"Then you have one pleasure, Wohlfart," said Lenore. + +"It is a pleasure for all on the farm; look at the steady activity of +the men. Even the idle work well to day. But what pleases me most is +your question; you have been so estranged from the farm, and all that +concerns the property." + +"Not from you, my friend," said Lenore, looking down. + +"You must be ill!" eagerly continued Anton. "If I dared, I could scold +you for having thought so little about your own health all this time; +your pony is become quite stiff. Karl has often been obliged to use it, +that it might not lose the use of its limbs." + +"It may go like the rest," cried Lenore; "I shall never mount it again. +Have pity upon me, Wohlfart! I often feel as if I should lose my senses; +every thing in the world has become indifferent to me." + +"Why so savage, Fräulein?" said a mocking voice behind her. Lenore +started and turned round. Fink, who had been absent more than a week, +had joined them. "See that you send off Blasius," said he to Anton, +without taking any further notice of Lenore. "The rascal has been drunk +again; he flogs the horses till the poor beasts are covered with wales. +I have a great mind to give them the satisfaction of seeing him punished +before their eyes." + +"Have patience till after the harvest," replied Anton; "we can not spare +him now." + +"Is he not a good-natured man in other respects?" timidly suggested +Lenore. + +"Good-nature is a convenient name for every thing that is morbid," +replied Fink. "We call it good-nature in men and sensibility in women." +He looked at Lenore. "How has the poor pony sinned, that you will never +ride him more?" + +Lenore blushed as she replied, "I find that riding gives me headache." + +"Indeed!" said Fink, tauntingly; "you once had the advantage of being +less delicate. I do not think this lachrymose mood is suitable for you; +you will not lose your headache thus." + +Lenore, quite subdued, turned to Anton: "Have the newspapers arrived? I +came to ask for them for my father." + +"The footman has taken them to the baroness's room." + +Lenore turned away with a slight inclination, and went back to the +castle. + +Fink looked after her and said to Anton, "Black does not become her; she +is much faded. Hers is one of those faces which only please when they +are full and blooming." + +Anton cast a dark glance at his friend. "Your behavior toward her has +been so strange for the last few weeks, that I have often felt indignant +at it. I do not know what your purpose may be, but you treat her with a +<i>nonchalance</i> which does not offend her alone." + +"But you too, Master Wohlfart, eh?" asked Fink, looking Anton full in +the face. "I was not aware that you were this lady's duenna too." + +"This tone will not avail you," replied Anton, more quietly. "I do right +to remind you that you are behaving worse than ungently toward a noble +creature who has now a double claim upon the tender consideration of us +all." + +"Be good enough to pay her that consideration yourself, and don't +trouble yourself about me and my manner," returned Fink, dryly. + +"Fritz," cried Anton, "I do not understand you. It is true, you are +inconsiderate." + +"Have you found me so?" interpolated Fink. + +"No," replied Anton. "Whatever you have been to others, to me you have +always shown yourself generous and sympathizing; but for this very +reason it pains me inexpressibly that you should have thus changed +toward Lenore." + +"Leave that to me," returned Fink; "every one has his own way of taming +birds. Let me just add, that if your Fräulein Lenore be not soon shaken +out of this sickly way of life, she will be utterly ruined. The pony +alone will not do it, I know; but you, my son, and your melancholy +sympathy, won't do it either; and so we will just let things take their +course. I am going to Rosmin to-day; have you any commands?" + +This conversation, although it led to no estrangement between the +friends, was never forgotten by Anton, who silently resented Fink's +dictatorial tone, and anxiously watched his bearing toward Lenore, whom +Fink never sought nor avoided, but simply treated as a stranger. + +Anton himself had some unpleasant experiences to go through. Much as he +avoided communicating what was unwelcome to the baron, there was one +thing he could no longer spare him, and that was the settlement of his +son's debts. Soon after Eugene's death, numberless letters, with bills +inclosed, had arrived at the castle, been given by Lenore to Anton, and +then by him all made over, Sturm's note of hand included, to Councilor +Horn, whose opinion and advice he craved to have respecting them. This +opinion had now arrived. The lawyer did not disguise that the note of +hand given by young Rothsattel to the porter was so informal that it +amounted to nothing more than a mere receipt, and did not in any way +bind the baron to pay the debt. Indeed, the sum was so great that +immediate payment was out of the question. Then Anton himself had lent +the young prodigal more than eight hundred dollars. As he drew out +Eugene's note of hand from among his papers, he looked long at the +handwriting of the dead. That was the sum by which his imprudence had +purchased a share in the fate of this noble family. And what had this +purchase brought him? He had then thought it a fine thing to help his +aristocratic friend out of his embarrassments; now, he saw that he had +only abetted his downward course. He gloomily locked up his own note of +hand in his desk again, and with a heavy heart prepared for a +conversation with the baron. + +At the first mention of his son, the baron fell into a state of painful +excitement; and when Anton, in the flow of his narrative, chanced to +call the departed by his Christian name, the father's pent-up anger +found a vent. He interrupted Anton by sharply saying, "I forbid you to +use that familiar appellation in speaking of my son. Living or dead, he +is still Herr von Rothsattel as far as you are concerned." Anton replied +with great self-command, "Herr Eugene von Rothsattel had contracted +debts to the amount of about four thousand dollars." + +"That is impossible!" broke in the baron. + +"The accredited copies of notes of hand and bills of exchange which +Councilor Horn has procured, place the matter beyond doubt. With regard +to the largest debt, one of nineteen hundred dollars, the certainty is +the more complete, as the lender, the father of the bailiff Sturm, +happens to be a man of peculiar uprightness. A letter to me from the +departed expressly acknowledges this obligation." + +"Then you knew of this debt," cried the baron, with increasing anger, +"and you have kept it back from me! Is this your much-vaunted fidelity?" + +It was in vain that Anton sought to explain the circumstances of the +case. The baron had lost all self-control. "I have long ago found out," +said he, "how self-willed your whole line of conduct is. You take +advantage of my situation to get the disposition of all my means; you +make debts, you allow debts to be made, you draw money, you charge it to +my account, just as you see fit." + +"Say no more, baron," cried Anton. "It is only compassion for your +helplessness which at this moment prevents me from answering you as you +deserve. How great that compassion is, you may infer from the fact that +I will endeavor to forget your words, and still ask you for your +decision: will you or will you not acknowledge your late son's debts, +and give legal security to the porter Sturm, or to his son, your +bailiff?" + +"I will do nothing," cried the baron, beside himself, "that you require +of me in so peremptory and pretentious a tone." + +"Then it is useless to speak to you any longer. I implore you, baron, to +reconsider the affair before you pronounce your final decision. I shall +have the honor of receiving your ultimatum this evening, and I hope that +ere then your sense of honor will have triumphed over a mood to which I +should not wish a second time to expose myself." + +With these words he left, and heard the poor baron upsetting chairs and +tables in his wrath. Scarcely had he reached his room when the +confidential servant appeared, and asked for the deeds and +account-books, which had hitherto been kept in Anton's room. Silently +the latter made them over to the affrighted domestic. + +He was dismissed, then--rudely and summarily dismissed; his uprightness +questioned: this breach was final. It was a bitter hour. Even now, while +indignantly pacing up and down, he felt that this insult offered him was +a punishment. True, his aim had been pure, and his actions blameless; +but the enthusiastic feelings which had led him hither had not availed +to establish proper relations between him and the baron--those of +employer and employed. It was not the freewill, the rational choice of +both, that had brought them together, but the pressure of mysterious +circumstances and his own youthful romance. And thus he had claims +beyond what his situation gave him, and by these the baron was oppressed +and cumbered. + +These reflections were interrupted by Lenore's sudden entrance. "My +mother wishes to speak to you," she cried. "What will you do, Wohlfart?" + +"I must go," said Anton, gravely. "To leave you thus, with your future +so uncertain, is what I never could have believed possible. There was +but one thing which could have induced me to part from you before I had +made over the property into stronger hands. And this one thing is come +to pass." + +"Go!" cried Lenore, in utmost excitement. "All is crumbling around us; +there is no help to be looked for; even you can not save us; go, and +free your life from that of our sinking family." + +When Anton joined the baroness, he found her lying on the sofa. "Sit +down beside me, Mr. Wohlfart," whispered she. "The hour is come in which +I must impart what, to spare myself, I have reserved for the hour when +we speak most openly to each other--the last hour spent together. The +baron's illness has so affected him that he no longer appreciates your +faithful help--nay, your presence aggravates his unhappy state. He has +so hurt your feelings that reconciliation is become impossible. Even +could you forget, we should consider the sacrifice you would be making +far too great." + +"I purpose leaving the property on an early day," replied Anton. + +"I can not," continued the baroness, "atone for my husband's offenses +toward you, but I wish to give you an opportunity of revenging yourself +in a manner worthy of you. The baron has attacked your honor; the +revenge that I, his wife, offer you, is to assist him to retrieve his +own." + +Hitherto the baroness had spoken fluently, as was her wont in society; +now she stopped, and seemed to lack words. + +"Years ago," she said, "he pledged his word of honor, and--and broke it +in a moment of desperation. The proof of this is probably in the hands +of some low man, who will use this knowledge to ruin him. That I should +communicate this to you at a time like this will show you the light in +which I regard your connection with our house. If it be possible to +restore his peace of mind, you, I know, will do it." She drew a letter +from under the pillow, and placed it in Anton's hand. + +Anton took it to the window, and saw with surprise that it was in +Ehrenthal's handwriting. He had to read it twice before he could master +its contents. In a lucid interval the imbecile had happened to recall +his former dealings with the nobleman, and wrote to remind him of the +stolen notes of hand, to demand his money, and to threaten the baron. +The letter was full, besides, of laments over his own weakness, and the +wickedness of others; and what its confusion left unexplained was +cleared up by the copy of a note of hand--probably from the draught of +one agreed upon by the baron and Ehrenthal, for the letter mentioned the +existence of the original, and threatened to use it against the baron. + +Folding up the letter, Anton said, "The threats which Ehrenthal connects +with the copy inclosed need not disturb you, baroness, for the note of +hand seems to have no signature, and the sum which it represents is a +small one." + +"And do you believe that it is a true statement?" asked the baroness. + +"I do," was the reply. "This letter explains to me much that hitherto I +never could understand." + +"I know that it is true," whispered the baroness, in so low a voice that +Anton scarcely heard it, while a faint blush overspread her face. "And +you, Mr. Wohlfart, will you endeavor to get back the stolen papers for +us?" + +"I will," replied Anton, earnestly. "But my hopes are small. The baron +has no existing claim upon these missing documents. They belong to +Ehrenthal, and an understanding with him is necessary in the first +instance. It will be difficult to bring about. And again, I very +imperfectly understand the circumstances, and must request you to try +and inform me of all you can connected with the robbery." + +"I will endeavor to write to you," said the baroness. "You can draw up a +list of the questions you wish answered, and I will do so as well as I +can. Whatever may be the result of your efforts, I now thank you with +all my soul. Our house will never pay the debt it owes you. If the +blessing of a dying woman can shed a brightness over your future, take +it with you on your way." + +Anton rose. + +"We shall not meet again," said the invalid; "this is our final +leave-taking. Farewell, Wohlfart! this is the last time I shall see you +on earth." She held out her hand. He bent over it, and, deeply moved, +quitted the room. + +Yes, she deserved to be called a noble lady. Her nature was noble, her +insight into the character of others clear, and her mode of recompensing +Anton's zeal dignified--very dignified. In her eyes, at least, he had +always worn a powdered wig and silver knee-buckles. + +In the evening Fink's step was heard in the corridor, and, entering +Anton's room, he cried, "Halloo, Anton, what's up now? John slinks about +as if he had broken the great china vase; and when old Barbette saw me, +she began to wring her hands." + +"I must leave this house, my friend," returned Anton, gloomily. "I have +had a painful scene with the baron to-day." He then proceeded to relate +it, and concluded by saying, "The position of this family was never so +desperate as now. They need the command of twenty thousand dollars to +avert new misfortunes." + +Fink threw himself into a chair. "First of all," said he, "I hope you +availed yourself as little as possible of this fine opportunity of being +angry. We won't waste words over the scene; the baron is not +accountable; and between ourselves, I am not surprised. I have seen all +summer that you could not retain your romantic connection with this +family. On the other hand, it is plain that you are indispensable as +father-confessor to the ladies, and confidential man of business to all +the people around. And I need not tell you that your sudden departure +cuts up many a plan of mine. But now for the question, What will you +do?" + +"I shall return as soon as possible to our own capital," replied Anton. +"There I shall be engaged for some time in the interest of the +Rothsattels. My official relations to them cease from this very day, and +as soon as the baron's family estate is sold, I shall consider my moral +obligations to them canceled." + +"Good!" said Fink; "that's all right. If you ever set pen to paper again +on their behalf, it can only be from a sense of compassion. Another +point is that Rothsattel has brought a curse upon himself by his folly, +for without you things can't go on as they do for another month. Now, +then, Master Anton, comes the question, What will be done here?" + +"I have thought of that the whole day," returned Anton, "and I do not +know. There is only one possible plan, and that is, that you should +undertake that part of my office which Karl can not fill." + +"Thank you," said Fink, "both for your good opinion and your friendly +offer. You have been, excuse me, a good-natured fool. I am not of that +stamp. In a week's time I should be under the unpleasant necessity of +maltreating the baron. Have you no other plan to propose?" + +"None," cried Anton. "If you do not with all your heart and soul +undertake the management of the property, all that we have effected +during the last year will be undone, and our German colony will go to +ruin." + +"It will," said Fink. + +"And you, Fritz," continued Anton, "have, through your intimacy with me, +become involved in its fate, and are thus in danger of losing too." + +"Spoken like a book!" said Fink. "You run off and leave me here tied and +bound. I'll tell you what--wait for me here; I will first of all speak a +few words to Lenore." + +"What are you going to do?" cried Anton, holding him fast. + +"Not to make love," replied Fink, laughing. "You may rely upon that, my +boy!" He rang the bell, and requested an interview with Fräulein Lenore +in the drawing-room. + +When Lenore entered with eyes red from weeping, and only maintaining her +composure by a strong effort, he politely advanced and led her to the +sofa. + +"I abstain from commenting upon what has passed to-day," began he. "We +will assume that my friend's presence in the capital will be more +desirable for your family interests than his stay here. From all I hear, +this is really the case. Wohlfart leaves the day after to-morrow." + +Lenore hid her face in her hands. + +Fink coldly continued: "Meanwhile, my own interests require that I +should attend to them. I have spent several months here, and acquired a +share in this estate. For this reason, I request you to be the bearer of +a message from me to your father: I am prepared to purchase this estate +from the baron." + +Lenore started and rose up, wringing her hands, and exclaiming, "For the +second time!" + +"Be kind enough quietly to hear me," continued Fink. "I by no means +intend to play toward the baron the part of angel of deliverance. I have +less of the angelic nature about me than our patient Anton, and feel in +no way inclined to make any offer to your father that will not advance +my own interest. Let us look upon each other as opponents, and my +proposal, as it really is, prompted by self-love. My offer, then, is as +follows: The price of this estate, if reckoned at a sum that would +secure the baron from loss, would amount to more than a hundred and +sixty thousand dollars. I offer him the outside of what I consider its +present worth--that is, I will accept all its liabilities, and pay the +baron twenty thousand dollars in the course of twenty-four hours. Till +next Easter, I should wish to leave the castle in your hands, and to +remain here as your guest, if this could be arranged without +inconvenience. In point of fact, I should generally be absent, and in no +way burdensome to you." + +Lenore looked wistfully in his face, which was at this moment hard as +that of a genuine Yankee; the remnant of her composure gave way, and she +burst into tears. + +Fink quietly leaned back in his chair, and, without heeding her, +continued: "You see I offer you a loss, probably that of half of your +inheritance. The baron has been so precipitate in investing his capital +in this property that his family must needs suffer, for the market-price +of it, in its present state, would assuredly not exceed my offer. I +should be acting dishonorably if I disguised from you that, properly +cultivated, it would probably be worth twice as much in a few years' +time, but not, I am firmly convinced, under the baron's management. Had +Anton remained, it might have been possible, but that hope is over. I +will not conceal from you either that Wohlfart has even proposed to me +to occupy his situation." + +Lenore, in the midst of her sobs, here made a deprecating gesture. + +"I am glad," continued Fink, "that we are of the same mind on that +subject. I considered the proposal quite out of place, and rejected it +at once." He then stopped, and looked searchingly at the girl before +him, whose heart was torn by his words. He spoke harshly to her, he for +whose smile, whose kindly glance she would have done any thing. He +mentioned her father with ill-concealed contempt; his language was that +of a hard egotist; and yet his offer seemed a blessing in her helpless +condition, and with the second-sight of a loving heart she divined a +meaning in it that she did not fully understand, but which shone into +her abyss of sorrow like a distant ray of hope. However he might phrase +it, this offer proceeded from no ordinary motives; and her convulsive +sobs giving way to quiet tears, she tried to rise from the sofa, but +sank to the floor near his chair, the very picture of sorrowful +submission. "You do not deceive me," murmured she; "do with us what you +will." + +A proud smile passed over Fink's face as he bent over her, wound his arm +round her head, pressed a kiss on her hair, and said, "My comrade, I +will that you should be free." Lenore's head fell on his breast; she +wept, softly supported by his arm; at last taking her hand, he pressed +it tenderly. "Henceforth let us understand each other. You shall be +free, Lenore, both as regards me and all others. You are losing one who +has shown you the self-sacrificing tenderness of a brother, and I am +glad that he is leaving you. I do not yet ask you whether you will share +my fate as my wife, for you are not now free to answer as your heart +dictates. Your pride shall not say me nay, and your 'yes' shall not +lessen your self-respect. When the curse that lies on your house is done +away with, and you are free to remain with or leave me, your decision +shall be made. Till then, an honorable friendship, comrade mine!" + +And now Fink went on in another voice: "Let us think of nothing but our +property; dry up those tears, which I am not fond of seeing in your blue +eyes, and impart the business half of my proposal to your father and +mother. If not before, I request an answer by this time to-morrow." + +Lenore went to the door, then returned, and silently offered him her +hand. + +Slowly Fink returned to his friend's room. "Do you remember, Anton," +asked he, "what you told me of your patriotism the day of my arrival +here?" + +"We have often spoken on the subject since then." + +"It made an impression on me," continued Fink. "This property shall not +fall again under a Bratzky's sceptre. I shall buy it if the baron +consents." + +Anton started. "And Lenore?" + +"She will share her parents' fate; we have just settled that." He then +told his friend the offer he had made. + +"Now I hope that all will end well," cried Anton. "We shall see." + +"What a purgatory for the sinner up stairs! I am glad I don't hear his +groans!" said Fink. + +The following morning the servant brought each of the friends a letter +from the baron's room; the one of apology and thanks to Anton, the other +of acceptance to Fink. These they read, and then silently exchanged. + +"So the matter is settled," cried Fink, at length. "I have run half over +the world, and every where found something to object to; and now I bury +myself in this sand-hole, where I must kindle a nightly fire to scare +the Polish wolf. As for you, Anton, raise your head and look before you, +for if I have found a home, you are going to where the best part of your +heart is; and so, my boy, let's go over your instructions once more. +Your first commission is to find certain stolen papers. Think, too, of +the second. Do what you can to secure to the family the little they have +saved in this quarter, and see that their old estate, when sold by +auction, is bid up to a price that will cover all mortgages. You must +go, I see, and I do not ask you to remain at present, but you know that, +under all circumstances, my home is yours. And now, one thing more. I +should be sorry to lose the bailiff; employ your eloquence to induce +your trusty Sancho to remain here, at least over the winter." + +"No one knows as yet that I am leaving," replied Anton; "he must be the +first to hear it. I am going to him." + +The dirty dwelling which Mr. Bratzky once occupied had changed, under +Karl's management, to a comfortable abode, which had only one drawback, +that of being too full of useful things, and smelling strongly of glue. +Often and often Anton had sat in it to rest and refresh himself by +Karl's cheery ways, and as he glanced at each familiar object, his heart +sank at the prospect of leaving his faithful, unexacting ally. Leaning +against the joiner's table in the window, he said, "Put your accounts +by, Karl, and let us have a serious word or two." + +"Now for it," cried Karl; "something has been brewing for a long while, +and I see by your face that the crisis is come." + +"I am going away, my friend." + +Karl let his pen fall, and silently stared at the grave face opposite +him. + +"Fink undertakes the management of the property, which he has just +bought." + +"Hurrah!" cried Karl; "if Herr von Fink be the man, why, all's right! I +give you joy, with all my heart," said he, shaking Anton's hand, "that +things have turned out thus. In the spring I had other foolish notions. +But it's all regular and right now, and our farming is safe too." + +"I hope so," said Anton, smiling. + +"But you?" continued Karl, his face growing suddenly grave. + +"I go back to our capital, where I have some business to do for the +baron, and then I shall look out for a stool in an office." + +"And here we have worked together for a year," said Karl, sadly; "you +have had all the pains, and another will have the profits." + +"I go back to my proper place. But it is of your future, not mine, dear +Karl, that I am now come to speak." + +"Of course, I go back with you," cried Karl. + +"I come to implore you not to do so. Could we set up together, we would +never part; but I am not in a position for this. I must seek another +situation. Part of the little I possessed is gone; I leave no richer +than I came; so we should have to separate when we got home." + +Karl looked down and meditated. "Mr. Anton," said he, "I hardly dare to +speak of what I do not understand. You have often told me that my old +governor is an owl who sits on money-bags. How would it do," stammered +he, in embarrassment, working away at the chair with one of his tools, +"that if what is in the iron chest be not too little for you, you should +take it; and if any thing can be made of it--it is very presumptuous of +me--perhaps I might be useful to you as a partner. It is only an idea, +and you must not be offended." + +Anton, much moved, replied: "Look you, Karl, your offer is just like +your generous self, but I should do wrong to accept it. The money is +your father's; and even if he gave his consent, as I believe he would, +such a plan would involve great risk. At all events, his substance would +be better invested in your own calling than in one you might enter into +out of love for me; so it is better for you, my friend, that we part." + +Karl snatched his pocket-handkerchief, and blew his nose violently +before he asked, "And you won't make use of the money? You would be sure +to give us good interest?" + +"Impossible," replied Anton. + +"Then I'll go back to my father, and hide my head in some hayloft about +home," cried Karl, in high dudgeon. + +"That you must not do," said Anton. "You have become better acquainted +with the property than any other; it were a sin to throw that knowledge +away. Fink wants a man like you; the farm can not possibly spare you +till next summer. When we came here, it was not to benefit ourselves, +but to improve the land. My work is over; you are in the midst of yours, +and you will sin against yourself and your task if you forsake it now." + +Karl hung his head. + +"One thing that used to distress me was the meagre salary that the +estate could afford you; that will be changed now." + +"Don't let us speak of that," said Karl, proudly. + +"We ought to speak of it," returned Anton, "for a man does wrong when he +devotes the best gifts he has to an occupation that does not adequately +repay him. 'Tis an unnatural life; and good results can scarcely be +expected, take my word for that. I therefore beg you to remain, at least +till next summer, when, owing to the extended scale of farming +operations, an experienced inspector may occupy your post." + +"Then," said Karl, "may I go?" + +"Fink would always like to keep you; but should you leave him, remember, +Karl, our frequent conversations during the past year. You have become +accustomed to a life among strangers, and have all a colonist's claims +to a new soil. If higher duties do not urge you home, your place is to +remain here as one of us. If you leave this estate, buy land from the +Poles. You, with the plowshare in your hand, will be still a German +soldier, for the boundary of our tongue and our customs is gaining upon +our enemies." So saying, he pointed to the east. + +Karl reached out his hand, and said, "I remain." + +When Anton left the bailiff he found Lenore at the door. "I am waiting +for you," cried she; "come with me, Wohlfart; while you remain here, you +belong to me." + +"If your words were less friendly," replied Anton, "I might fancy that +you were secretly glad to get rid of me, for I have not seen you so +cheerful for a long time. Head erect, rosy cheeks; even the black dress +has vanished." + +"This is the dress I wore when we drove together in the sledge, and you +admired it then. I am vain," cried she, with a mournful smile. "I wish +that the impression you carry away with you of me should be a pleasant +one. Anton, friend of my youth, what a mystery it is that, on the very +first day free from care that I have known for years, we must part. The +estate is sold, and I breathe again. What a life it has been of late +years! always anxious, oppressed, humbled by friend and foe; always in +debt, either for money or services: it was fearful. Not as far as you +were concerned, Wohlfart. You are my childhood's friend; and if you were +in trouble of any kind, it would be happiness to me if you would call +me, and say, 'Now I want you; now come to me, wild Lenore.' I will be +wild no longer. I will think of all you have said to me." Thus she ran +on in her excitement, her eyes beaming. She hung on his arm, which she +had never done before, and drew him in and out of every building in the +farm-yard. "Come, Wohlfart, let us take a last walk through the farm +which was once ours. We bought this cow with the white star together," +cried she; "you asked for my opinion of her, and that pleased me much." + +Anton nodded. "We neither of us were very sure about it, and Karl had to +decide." + +"What do you mean? You paid for her, and I gave her her first hay, +consequently she belongs to us both. Just look at this lovely black +calf. Mr. Sturm threatens to paint its ears red, that it may look a +perfect little demon." She knelt down beside it, stroked and hugged it, +then suddenly starting up, she cried, "I don't know why I should make so +much of it; it is mine no longer; it belongs to somebody else." Yet +there was mirth in her tone of pretended regret. "Come to the pony now," +she said; "my poor little fellow! He has grown old since the day when I +rode after you through our garden." + +Anton caressed the favorite, who turned his head now to him, now to +Lenore. + +"Do you know how it happened that I met you on the pony?" said Lenore to +Anton over its back. "It was no accident. I had seen you sitting under +the shrubs. I can tell you so to-day; and I had thought, 'Heavens! what +a handsome youth! I will have a good look at him.' And that's how it +happened as it did." + +"Yes," said Anton; "then came the strawberries, then the lake. I stood +there and swallowed the strawberries, and was rather inclined to tears; +but through it all my heart was full of delight in you, who rose before +me so fair and majestic. I see you still in fluttering muslin garments, +with short sleeves, a golden bracelet on your white arm." + +"Where is the bracelet gone?" asked Lenore, gravely, leaning her head on +the pony's mane. "You sold it, you naughty Wohlfart!" The tears stood in +her eyes, and she stretched out both hands to him over the pony's back. +"Anton, we could not remain children. My heart's friend, farewell! +Adieu, girlish dreams! adieu, bright spring-time! I must now learn to go +through the world without my guardian. I will not disgrace you," she +continued, more calmly. "I will always be steady, and a good +housekeeper. And I will be economical. I will keep the book with three +long lines down its sides once more, and put every thing down. We shall +need to be saving even in trifles, Wohlfart. Alas! poor mother!" And she +wrung her hands, and looked sad again. + +"Come out into the country," suggested Anton; "if you like it, let us go +into the woods." + +"Not to the woods, not to the forester's," said Lenore, solemnly, "but +to the new farm; I will go with you." + +They walked across the fields. "You must lead me to-day," said Lenore. +"I will not give you up." + +"Lenore, you will make our parting very painful to me." + +"Will it be painful to you?" cried Lenore, much pleased. Then +immediately afterward, shaking her head, "No, Wohlfart, not so; you have +often longed in secret to be far away from me." + +Anton looked at her with surprise. + +"I know," cried she, confidentially pressing his arm, "I know it very +well. Even when you were with me your heart was not always with me too. +Often it was, that day in the sledge, for instance; but oftener you were +thinking of others, when you got certain letters, that you always read +in the greatest hurry. What was the gentleman's name?" asked she. + +"Baumann," innocently replied Anton. + +"Caught!" cried Lenore, again pressing his arm. "Do you know that that +made me very unhappy for a long time? I was a foolish child. We are +grown wise, Wohlfart; we are free people now, and therefore we can go +about arm in arm. Oh, you dear friend!" + +Arrived at the farm, Lenore said to the farmer's wife, "He is leaving +us. He has told me that his first pleasure here was the nosegay that you +gathered for him. I have no flowers myself; they don't flourish with me. +The only garden on the estate is here, behind your house." + +The good woman tied up a small nosegay, gave it to Anton with a +courtesy, and sadly said, "It is just the same as a year ago." + +"But he is going," cried Lenore, and, turning away, her tears began to +flow. + +Anton now shook hands heartily with the farmer and the shepherd: "Think +kindly of me, worthy friends." + +"We have always had kindness from you," cried the farmer's wife. + +"And fodder for man and beast," said the shepherd, taking off his hat; +"and, above all, consideration and order." + +"Your future is secured," said Anton; "you will have a master who has +more in his power than I had." Finally, Anton kissed the farmer's +curly-headed boy, and gave him a keepsake. The boy clung to his coat, +and would not let him go. + +On their return, Anton said, "What makes our parting easier to me is the +future fate of the property. And I have a prevision that all that still +seems uncertain in your life will be happily settled ere long." + +Lenore walked in silence by his side; at length she asked, "May I speak +to you of the present owner of this estate? I should like to know how +you became his friend." + +"By not putting up with a wrong he did me. Our intimacy has remained +unshaken, because, while I willingly gave way to him in trifles, I +always abode by my own convictions in graver matters. He has a high +respect for strength and independence, and might easily become +tyrannical if he encountered weakness of judgment and will." + +"How can a woman be firm and self-reliant with such a one as he?" said +Lenore, cast down. + +"No doubt," replied Anton, thoughtfully, "this must be much more +difficult for a woman who passionately loves him. Every thing that looks +like temper or self-will he will rudely break down, and will not spare +the conquered; but if opposed by a worthy and modest nature, he will +respect it. And if I were ever called upon to give his future wife a +counsel, it would be this, that she should carefully guard against +whatever might pass for bold or free in woman. The very thing that might +make a stranger agreeable, because easily establishing a familiar +footing between them, is just what he would least esteem in her." + +Lenore clung closer to Anton as he spoke, and bent her head. They +returned in silence to the castle. + +In the afternoon Anton went once more over the estate with Karl for +companion. Hitherto he had always felt that he was living in a strange +land; now, when about to leave it, this seemed a home. Wherever he +looked, he saw objects that had for a whole year engaged his attention. +He had bought the wheat with which this field was sown; he had ordered +the plow with which that servant was plowing; here he had roofed-in a +barn; there he had improved a ruinous bridge. Like all who enter upon a +new field of labor, he had had numberless plans, hopes, projects; and +now that he was suddenly called upon to relinquish these, he first +discovered how dear they had been. He next spent an hour in the +forester's house. As they parted, the latter said, "When you first laid +hand on this door, I little thought that the trees around us would stand +so safe, and that I should ever live again among my fellow-men. You have +made dying difficult to an old man, Mr. Wohlfart." + +The parting hour came. Anton took a short and formal leave of the baron; +Lenore was quite absorbed in sorrow, and Fink affectionate as a brother. +As Anton stood by him, and looked with emotion at Lenore, he said, "Be +at ease, my friend; here, at least, I will try to be what you were." One +last hand-clasp, one last farewell, then Anton jumped into the carriage. +Karl seized the reins. They drove past the barn into the village road; +the castle disappeared. At the end of the wood Karl halted. A troop of +men were there assembled--the forester, the farmer, the shepherd, the +Kunau smith, with a few of his neighbors, and the son of the Neudorf +bailiff. + +Anton joyfully sprang down and greeted them once more. + +"My father sends me to bid you farewell," said the bailiff's son. "His +wounds are healing, but he can not leave his room." And the Kunau smith +shouted out as a last farewell, "Greet our countrymen at home for me, +and say that they must never forget us!" + +Silently, as on the day of his arrival, Anton sat by the side of his +faithful Karl. He was free--free from the spell that had lured him +hither--free from many a prejudice; but while as free, he was as poor as +a bird of the air. He had now to begin life over again. Whether the past +year had made him stronger or weaker remained to be proved. On the +whole, however, he did not regret what he had done. He had had, gains as +well as losses; he had helped to found a new German colony; he had +opened out the path to a happy future for those he loved; he felt +himself more mature, more experienced, more settled; and so he looked +beyond the heads of the horses which were carrying him homeward, and +said to himself, "Onward! I am free, and my way is now clear." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + + +It is evening. Sabine stands in her treasure-chamber before the open +cupboards, arranging the newly-washed table-linen, and again tying +rose-colored tickets on the different sets. Of course, she knew nothing +and guessed nothing. Her white damask shines to-day like silver; the +cut-glass cover, which she lifts from the old family goblet, rings +cheerily as a bell, and the vibrations thrill through the woodwork of +the great presses. All the painted heads on the china cups look +singularly cheerful to-day. Doctor Martin Luther and the sorcerer Faust +positively laugh. Even Goethe smiles, and it is impossible to say how +amused old Fritz appears. Yet Sabine, the sagacious mistress of the +house, knows not what these know. Or does she guess it? Hark! she sings. +A merry tune has not passed her lips for long; but to-day her heart is +light, and as she looks at the shining display of glass and damask, +something of their brightness seems to fall upon her, and, low as the +notes of the wood-bird, a song of her childhood sounds through the +little room. And from the cupboard she suddenly moves to the window, +where her mother's picture hangs over the arm-chair, and she looks +cheerfully at the picture, and sings before her mother's face the +self-same song that once, from that very arm-chair, that mother sang to +the little Sabine. + +At that moment a cloaked figure is gliding across the ground floor. +Balbus, who is superintending the great scales, stands in the arched +room, casts a half glance at the figure, and thinks to himself, with +surprise, "That is rather like Anton." The porters are closing a chest, +and the eldest, turning round accidentally, sees a shadow thrown by a +lantern on the wall, and, leaving off hammering for a moment, says, "I +could almost have fancied that was Mr. Wohlfart." And in the yard a +vehement barking and leaping is heard, and Pluto runs in frantically to +the servants, wags his tail, barks, licks their hands, and, in his own +way, tells the whole story. But even the servants know nothing, and one +of them says, "It must have been a ghost; I have lost sight of it." + +Then the door of Sabine's room opens. "Is it you, Franz?" said she, +interrupting her song. No one answered. She turned round, her eyes fixed +wistfully upon the figure at the door. Then her hand trembled and +clasped the back of the chair, while he hurried toward her, and in +passionate emotion, not knowing what he was doing, knelt down near the +chair into which she had sunk, and laid his head on her hand. That was +Anton. Not a word was spoken. Sabine gazed on the kneeling form as at +some beatific vision, and gently laid her other hand on his shoulder. + +She does not ask why he is come, nor whether he is free from the glamour +that led him away. As he kneels before her, and she looks into his eyes, +that tenderly and anxiously seek hers, she understands that he is +returning to the firm, to her brother, to her. + +"How long you have been away!" said she, reproachfully, but with a +blissful smile upon her face. + +"Ever have I been here!" said Anton, passionately. "Even in the hour +when I left these walls I knew that I was giving up all of joy--all of +happiness that I could hope to know; and now I am irresistibly impelled +to come and tell you how it is with me. I worshiped you as a holy image +while living near you. The thought of you has been my safety when far +away. It has protected me in solitude, in an irregular life, in great +temptation. Your form has ever risen protectingly between me and that of +another. Often have I seen your eyes fixed upon me as of yore--often +have you raised your hand to warn me of the danger I was in. If I have +not lost myself, Sabine, I owe it to you." + +And again he bent over her hand. Sabine held him fast and whispered, "My +friend! my dear friend! we must both feel that we have dreamed and +struggled--that we have resolved and overcome. What must you not have +suffered, my friend!" + +"No," cried Anton, "it was not the same suffering nor the same strength. +I saw and reverenced you at the time when you were silently conquering +yourself. I was a weak, willful man. I do not know what would have +become of me had not your memory lived in my soul. When far away, the +influence you exerted over me went on increasing, and only because I +thought of you became I free." + +"And how do you know that it may not have been the same in my case?" +asked Sabine, looking lovingly at him. + +"Sabine!" cried Anton, beside himself. + +"Yes, that is your own noble face," cried she. "Alas! in your features, +too, I can read the traces of an iron time." She rose. "We have heard of +your heroic deeds, though you sent us nothing during the whole long year +but a short message." + +"Could I venture to do more?" broke in Anton, eagerly. + +Sabine nodded archly. "We have, however, watched for tidings that +reached us through your friends. Oh! when I, in the midst of these safe +walls, thought of my friend exposed to every assault of the enemy! +Wohlfart! Wohlfart! I rejoice that I see you again." + +"Another has the property now, and the care of the defenseless family," +replied Anton. + +"It is the ordering of Providence," cried Sabine; and looked with +delight on the newly-returned one. + +In the uniform tenor of her domestic life, she had for many years had a +cordial liking for Anton. Since he had left her, she had found out that +she loved him, and had hidden the feeling in her heart. No trace of her +love nor her renunciation had appeared in the regular household. Hardly +had she by a look betrayed the struggle going on within. Now, in the +rapture of meeting, her feelings broke out. She looked at Anton in +beaming delight, thinking of nothing but the joy of having him with her +again, and not remarking the traces of a different feeling in Anton's +pale features. He has found her indeed, but only to lose her again +forever. + +Still does Sabine hold his hand, and now she leads him through the +corridor to her brother's study. + +What are you doing, Sabine? This house is a good house, certainly, but +not one in which people feel poetically, are easily moved, open their +arms at once, and press new-comers to their heart. It is a +straightforward, prosaic house, where requests are made and refused in +few words; and it is a proud and rigid house besides. Remember this, it +is no tender welcome to which you are leading your friend. + +This Sabine felt, and delayed a moment before she opened the door; but +her resolve was taken, and, holding Anton's hand in hers, she drew him +in, crying to her brother with a beaming face, "Here he is; he is +returned to us." + +The merchant rose from his writing-table, but he remained standing by +it; and his first words, coldly and peremptorily spoken, were these: +"Release my sister's hand, Mr. Wohlfart." + +Sabine drew back. Anton stood alone in the middle of the room, and +looked at the principal. His strongly-marked features were aged during +the last year, his hair had grown gray, the lines in his face had +deepened. + +"That I should enter here at the risk of being unwelcome," said Anton, +"will show you how strong my desire was to see you and the firm once +more. If I have excited your displeasure, do not let me feel it in this +hour." + +The merchant turned to his sister. "Leave us, Sabine; I wish to speak to +Mr. Wohlfart alone." Sabine went up to her brother, and stood erect +before him. She said not a word, but with a bright glance, in which a +firm resolve was plainly visible, she looked full into his frowning +face, and then left the room. The merchant looked gloomily after her, +and turned to Anton. "What brings you back to us, Wohlfart?" said he. +"Have you failed to attain what your youthful ambition hoped for, and +are you come to seek in the tradesman's house the happiness that once +seemed inadequate to your claims? I hear that your friend Fink has +settled himself on the baron's property; has he sent you back to us +because you were in his way there?" + +Anton's brow grew clouded. "I do not appear before you as an +adventurer," said he; "you are unjust in expressing such a suspicion; +nor does it become me to submit to it. There was a time when your +judgment of me was more friendly; I thought of that time when I sought +you out; I think of it now, that I may forgive your injurious words." + +"You once said to me," continued the merchant, "that you felt yourself +at home in my house and firm. And you had a home, Wohlfart, in our +hearts and in the business. In a moment of effervescence you gave us up, +and we, with sorrow, did the same with you. Why do you return? You can +not be a stranger to us, for we have been attached to you, and, +personally, I am deeply indebted to you. You can no more be our friend, +for you have yourself forcibly rent the ties that bound us. You reminded +me, just when I least expected it, that a mere business contract alone +bound you to my counting-house. What are you seeking now? Do you want a +place in my office, or do you, as appears, want much more?" + +"I want nothing," cried Anton, in the utmost excitement--"nothing but a +reconciliation with you. I want neither a place in your office, nor any +thing else. When I left the baron, I felt that my first step must be to +your house, my next to seek employment elsewhere. Whatever I may have +lost during the past year, I have not lost my self-respect; and had you +met me as kindly as I felt toward you, I should have told you in the +course of our first hour together what you now demand. I am aware that +here I can not stay. I used to feel this when far away, as often as I +thought of this house. Since I have entered its walls and seen your +sister again, I know that I can not remain here without acting +dishonorably." + +The merchant went to the window, and silently looked out into the night. +When he turned round again the hard expression had left his face, and he +looked searchingly at Anton. "That was well spoken, Wohlfart," said he +at length, "and I hope sincerely meant. I will be equally open toward +you in saying that I still regret that you have left us. I knew you as +an older man seldom knows a younger; I could thoroughly trust you. Now, +dear Wohlfart, you are become a stranger to me; forgive me what I am +about to say. An unregulated imagination allured you into circumstances +which could not but be morally unhealthy. You have been the confidant +of a bankrupt and a debtor, who may have retained many amiable +characteristics, but who must have lost, in his dealings with +unprincipled men, what we here in this firm call honor. I gladly assume +that your uprightness refused to do any thing contrary to your sense of +right; but, Wohlfart, I repeat to you what I have said before: any +permanent dealings with the weak and wicked bring the best man into +danger. Gradually and imperceptibly his standard becomes lowered, and +necessity compels him to agree to measures that elsewhere he would have +peremptorily rejected. I am convinced that you are still what the world +calls an upright man of business, but I do not know whether you have +preserved that proudly pure integrity, which, alas! many in the +mercantile world treat as mere pedantry, and to have to tell you this +makes your return painful to me." + +Anton, white as the handkerchief he held, with trembling lips replied, +"Enough, Mr. Schröter. That you should, in the first hour of meeting, +say to me the most bitter thing one could possibly say to an enemy, +convinces me that I did wrong to re-enter this house. Yes, you are +right. I never, during my year of absence, lost the sense of the danger +you speak of. I ever felt it the greatest misfortune to be unable to +esteem the man by whom I was employed. But I dare make answer to you, +with pride equal to your own, that the purity of the man who carefully +shrinks from temptation is worth little; and that, if I have gained any +thing from a year of bitterness, it is the consciousness of having been +tried, and knowing that I no longer act as a boy, from instinct and +habit, but from principle, as a man should. I have gained a confidence +in myself that I had not before; and because I know how to respect my +own character, I tell you that I perfectly understand your doubt; but +that, since you have given it utterance, I look upon all ties between us +as by yourself dissolved, and leave you, never to return. Farewell, Mr. +Schröter!" + +Anton turned to go, but the merchant hurried after him, and laid his +hand on his shoulder. + +"Not so fast, Wohlfart," said he, gently; "the man who saved me from the +stroke of the Polish sword must not leave my house in anger." + +"Do not recall the past," replied Anton; "it is useless. It is you, not +I, who have mixed up injury and indignation with our meeting; you, not +I, who have annihilated the power of old recollections." + +"Not so, Wohlfart," said the merchant. "If by my words I have offended +you more than I intended, make allowance for my gray hairs, and for a +heart full of painful anxiety the past year through, and full of +anxiety, too, on your account. We do not meet as we parted; and whenever +friends have a mutual misgiving, let them openly express it, that they +may stand and start clear. Had I valued you less, I should have kept +back my thoughts, and my greeting would have been more polite. Now, +however, I bid you welcome." And he held out his hand. + +Anton took it, and repeated the word "Farewell." + +The merchant held his hand firmly, and said, with a smile, "Not so fast; +I can not let you go just yet. Remember that it is your oldest +acquaintance who now entreats you to remain." + +"I will remain, then, this evening, Mr. Schröter," said Anton, coldly. + +The merchant led him to the sofa, and began to communicate the present +state of the firm. It was no cheerful picture that he drew, but it +proved his entire confidence, and helped to allay the sting of his harsh +reception. + +Gradually Anton became absorbed in the business details, eagerly went +over calculations, and unconsciously began to speak of the business as +though he still belonged to it. Once more the merchant held out his hand +with a melancholy smile. Anton now grasped it cordially, and the +reconciliation was complete. + +"And now, dear Wohlfart," said Mr. Schröter, "let us speak of yourself. +You once confided to me some particulars connected with your exertions +in the baron's cause, and I impatiently cut you short; I now entreat you +to tell me all you can." + +Anton accordingly proceeded to mention all matters that admitted of +being publicly talked of, and the merchant listened with the utmost +attention. + +"And now," said he, rising from his seat, "allow me to touch upon your +future. After what you have said, I will not ask you to spend the next +few years with me, welcome as your help would prove just now, but I beg +that you will leave it to me to look out for a fitting post for you. We +will not be in too great a hurry about it. Meanwhile, spend the few next +weeks with us. Your room is empty, and just as you left it. I find, from +what you tell me, that you have occupation cut out for you for some +months to come. If, in addition to this, you are inclined to help me in +the counting-house, your help will be very welcome. As for your +relations with my family," he gravely continued, "I fully trust you. It +is a positive necessity to me to prove this, and hence my present +proposal." + +Anton looked down in silence. + +"I am not imposing on you any painful ordeal," said the merchant; "you +know the habits of our household, and how little opportunity there is of +much conversation. For Sabine, as well as for yourself, I wish a few +weeks of your olden way of life, and when the time comes, a calm +parting. I wish this on my sister's account, Wohlfart," added he, +candidly. + +"Then," said Anton, "I remain." + +Meanwhile Sabine was restlessly pacing up and down the drawing-room, and +trying to catch a sound from her brother's study. Sometimes, indeed, a +sad thought would intrude, but it did not find a resting-place to-day. +Again the fire crackled and the pendulum swung; but the fir-logs burned +right merrily, throwing out small <i>feux de joie</i> through the stove door, +and the clock kept constantly ticking to her ear, "He is come! he is +there!" + +The door opened and the cousin came bustling in. "What do I hear?" cried +she. "Is it possible? Franz will have it that Wohlfart is with your +brother." + +"He is," said Sabine, with averted face. + +"What new mystery is this?" continued the cousin, in a tone of +discontent. "Why does not Traugott bring him here? and why is not his +room got ready? How can you stand there so quietly, Sabine? I declare I +don't understand you." + +"I am waiting," whispered Sabine, pressing her wrists firmly, for her +hands trembled. + +At that moment footsteps were heard nearing the room; the merchant cried +out at the door, "Here is our guest." And while Anton and the cousin +were exchanging friendly greetings, he went on to say, "Mr. Wohlfart +will spend a few weeks with us, till he has found such a situation as I +should wish for him." The cousin heard this announcement with intense +surprise, and Sabine shifted the cups and saucers to conceal her +emotion; but neither made any remark, and the lively conversation +carried on at the tea-table served to disguise the agitation which all +shared. Each had many questions to hear and answer, for it had been a +year rich in events. It is true that a certain constraint was visible +in Anton's manner while speaking of his foreign life, of Fink and the +German colony on the Polish estate, and that Sabine listened with +drooping head. But the merchant got more and more animated; and when +Anton rose to retire, the face of the former wore its good-humored smile +of old, and heartily shaking his guest's hand, he said in jest, "Sleep +well, and be sure to notice your first dream; they say it is sure to +come to pass." + +And when Anton was gone, the merchant drew his sister into the unlighted +ante-room, kissed her brow, and whispered in her ear, "He has remained +uncorrupted, I hope so now with all my soul;" and when they both +returned to the lamp-light, his eyes were moist, and he began to rally +the cousin upon her secret partiality for Wohlfart, till the good lady +clasped her hands and exclaimed, "The man is fairly demented to-day!" + +Weary and exhausted, Anton threw himself upon his bed. The future +appeared to him joyless, and he dreaded the inner conflict of the next +few weeks; and yet he soon sank into a peaceful slumber. And again there +was silence in the house. A plain old house it was, with many angles, +and secret holes and corners--no place, in truth, for glowing enthusiasm +and consuming passion; but it was a good old house for all that, and it +lent a safe shelter to those who slept within its walls. + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + + +The next morning Anton hurried to Ehrenthal's. The invalid was not to be +spoken to on business, and the ladies gave him so ungracious a reception +that he thought it unwise to afford them any inkling of the reason of +his visit. That very day he had notice given to Ehrenthal's attorney, by +Councilor Horn, of twenty thousand dollars being ready in hand for the +discharge of Ehrenthal's claims to that amount. As for his other +demands, unsupported as they were by documentary evidence, they were to +be referred to proper legal authorities. The attorney refused to accept +the payment offered. Anton accordingly took the necessary steps to +compel Ehrenthal at once to accept it, and to forego all claims that he +had hitherto urged in connection therewith. + +It was evening when Anton drew on an old office coat, and with his +quickest business step proceeded to the house of Löbel Pinkus. He +looked through the window into the little bar, and, seeing the worthy +Pinkus there, put a short matter of fact inquiry to him: "Mr. T. O. +Schröter wishes to be informed if Schmeie Tinkeles of Brody has arrived, +or is expected here. He is immediately to proceed to the firm on +business." + +Pinkus returned a cautious answer. Tinkeles was not there, and he did +not know when he might come. Tinkeles often announced himself, and often +he did not. The thing was uncertain. However, if he saw the man, he +would give the message. + +The next day the servant opened Anton's door, and Schmeie Tinkeles +stepped in. "Welcome, Tinkeles!" cried Anton, looking at him with a +smile. + +The trader was astonished to see Anton. A shadow passed over his sly +face, and a secret disquietude was traceable through all his voluble +expression of joy. "God's miracle it surely is that I should see you +again before me in the body. I have often inquired at Schröter's house, +and have never been able to find out whither you were gone. I have +always liked to deal with you; we have made many an excellent purchase +together. + +"We have had our quarrels too, Tinkeles," suggested Anton. + +"That was a bad business," said Tinkeles, deprecatingly. "Now, too, +there is a sad look out for trade; the grass grows in the streets; the +country has had a heavy time of it. The best man did not know, when he +went to sleep at night, whether he should have a leg to stand on in the +morning." + +"You have got through it, however, Tinkeles, and I presume you have not +found it so bad, after all. Sit down; I have something to say to you." + +"Why should I sit down?" said the Jew, distrustfully, as Anton shut and +bolted the door. "In business one has no time for sitting down; and why +do you bolt the door? Bolts are not wanted; business disturbs no one." + +"I have something to say to you in confidence," said Anton to the +trader. "It will do you no harm." + +"Speak on, then, but leave the door open." + +"Listen to me," began Anton. "You remember our last conversation when we +met upon our travels?" + +"I remember nothing," said the broker, shaking his head, and anxiously +looking at the door. + +"You gave me some good advice; and when I tried to hear further, I found +you had vanished." + +"These are old stories," replied Tinkeles, with growing disquiet. "I +can't recall them now. I have something to do in the market; I thought +you wanted to speak to me on business." + +"It is business about which we are treating, and it may be a profitable +business for you," said Anton, significantly. He went to his +writing-table, and, taking out a roll of money, laid it on the table +before Tinkeles. "This hundred dollars belongs to you if you give me the +information I want." + +Tinkeles slyly glanced at the roll and replied, "A hundred dollars are +all very well, but I can't give you any information. I know nothing; I +can not remember. Whenever I see you," he irritably went on, "bad luck +follows; whenever I have had any thing to do with you, it has brought me +trouble and vexation." + +Anton silently went to his desk and laid another roll of money by the +first. "Two hundred dollars! They are yours if you give me the +information I need," said he, drawing a square around them with a piece +of white chalk. + +The Galician's eyes fastened greedily upon the square, to which Anton +kept silently pointing. Tinkeles at first pretended indifference, but +his eyes grew gradually keener, his gestures more restless. He shrugged +his shoulders, raised his eyebrows, and tried hard to shake off the +spell that bound him. At length he could bear it no longer; he reached +out his hands for the money. + +"Speak first," said Anton, placing his own hand on it. + +"Do not be too severe with me," implored Tinkeles. + +"Hear me," said Anton. "I want nothing unfair--nothing which an +honorable man need object to. I might perhaps expose you to a legal +examination, and get at what I want without cost, but I know of old your +objections to law, and therefore I offer you money. If you were amenable +to other motives, it would be enough to tell you that a family has been +made unhappy because you did not tell me more long ago. But this would +be useless with you." + +"Yes," said Tinkeles, candidly, "it would be useless. Let me see the +money that you have put up for me. Are there really two hundred +dollars?" continued he, looking greedily at the rolls. "Very well, I +know they are right. Ask me what you want to know." + +"You have told me that Itzig, Ehrenthal's former book-keeper, was +plotting to ruin Baron Rothsattel?" + +"Has it not turned out as I said?" asked Tinkeles. + +"I have reason to assume that you spoke the truth. You mentioned two +men. Who was the other?" + +The trader stopped short. Anton made a feint of removing the money. + +"Let it lie there," entreated Tinkeles. "The other is named Hippus, +according to what I have heard. He is an old man, and has lived a long +time with Löbel Pinkus." + +"Is he in business?" + +"He is not of our people, and not in business. He is baptized. He has +been a barrister." + +"Have you ever had any dealings with Itzig?" + +"God preserve me from that man!" cried Tinkeles; "the very first day +that he came to town he tried to open the cupboard in which my effects +were. I had trouble to prevent him from stealing my clothes. I have +nothing to do with such men." + +"So much the better for you," replied Anton; "now hear me out. The baron +has had a casket stolen, in which most important documents were kept. +The robbery took place in Ehrenthal's office. Have you chanced to hear +of it? or have you any suspicion as to who the thief may be?" + +The Galician looked restlessly around the room, at Anton, at the money, +and then, with closed eyes and a resolute tone, replied, "I have not." + +"This, however, is just what I want to hear; and the money is for him +who gives me information respecting it." + +"If I must speak, then," said the Galician, "I must. I have heard that +the man named Hippus, when drunk, has screamed, and has said, 'Now, +then, we have the red cock; he is done for; owing to those papers, he is +doomed.'" + +"And you know nothing more?" asked Anton, in painful suspense. + +"Nothing," said the Galician; "it was long ago, and I understood but +little of what they said to each other." + +"You have not earned the money," returned Anton, after a pause; "you +have told me scarce any thing. However, that you may see the stress I +lay upon obtaining information from you, take this hundred dollars; the +second will be given when you can put me on the track of the thief or +the lost papers. Perhaps that is not out of your power?" + +"It is," said the Galician, positively, weighing the one roll in his +hand, and contemplating the other. "What Itzig does, he does so as not +to be overlooked; and I am a stranger in the place, and have no dealings +with rogues." + +"See what you can do, however," replied Anton. "As soon as you hear any +thing, bring me word, and this money is yours. I need not caution you to +avoid exciting Itzig's suspicions. Do not let it appear that you know +me." + +"I am no child," answered Tinkeles; "but I fear that I shall not be of +use to you in this matter." + +With that he withdrew, having hid the money in the folds of his caftan. + +Anton had now heard the name of the man who had probably committed the +robbery. But the difficulty of obtaining the missing documents without +legal aid seemed greater than ever. Meanwhile, he would risk a bold +step. He would enter into negotiations with Itzig himself, and make the +best use he could of the small amount of knowledge he had gained from +the Galician. + +Itzig's shrewd boy opened the door to him. Anton stood opposite his +former schoolfellow, who knew of his return from the baron's estate, and +was prepared for this visit. The two men looked at each other for a +moment, both seeking to read the countenance and manner of the other, +and to arm themselves for the coming conflict. There were some things +that they had in common. Both were accustomed to maintain a calm +exterior, and to conceal the point at which they were aiming. Both were +accustomed to rapid induction, careful speech, and cool reserve. Both +had, in voice and manner, something of the formality which business +gives. Both were to-day in a state of excitement, which reddened Anton's +face, and even suffused Veitel's gaunt cheek-bones. + +But the clear glance of the former encountered one that was unsteady and +lowering; the honest earnestness of his manner was met by a mixture of +presumption and obsequiousness. Each felt that his opponent was +dangerous, and gathered his full strength. The conflict began. Itzig +opened it in his own way. "It is a pleasure to me to see you again, Mr. +Wohlfart," said he, with sudden friendliness of manner; "it is long +since I have been fortunate enough to meet you. I have always taken a +great interest in you; we were schoolfellows; we both came to town the +same day; we have both got on in the world. I heard you were gone to +America. People will talk. I hope you will remain in town now. Perhaps +you will return to Mr. Schröter's office; they say he much regretted +your departure." In this way he ran on, really intent to discover from +Anton's aspect the purport of his call. + +He had made an error in pretending not to know where Anton had been of +late, for his avoidance of the name of Rothsattel firmly convinced Anton +that he had cause for peculiar circumspection regarding it. + +Availing himself of this mistake of Veitel's, Anton replied as coldly as +though he had not heard a word of the former's introductory flourish, "I +am come, Mr. Itzig, to consult you on a matter of business. You are +acquainted with the circumstances connected with the family property of +Baron Rothsattel, now about to be judicially sold." + +"I have the sort of general information respecting it," replied Veitel, +throwing himself back resolutely against the corner of the sofa, "that +people have on such subjects. I have heard a good deal about it." + +"You have yourself for many years, in Ehrenthal's office, conducted +transactions with the baron relative to his estate, and therefore you +must have exact information on the subject," returned Anton. "And as +Ehrenthal is too great an invalid to enter upon business topics, I now +apply to you for this information." + +"What I heard in Ehrenthal's office when book-keeper there, I heard in +confidence, and can not impart. I am surprised that you should ask me to +do so," added Itzig, with a malicious glance. + +Anton coldly replied, "I ask nothing that need interfere with the sense +of duty you profess. I am simply anxious to know in whose hands the +mortgages on the estate now are." + +"You can easily ascertain that by reference to the mortgage-book," said +Veitel, with well-assumed indifference. + +"You may perhaps have heard," continued the persevering Anton, "that +some of the mortgages have changed hands during the last few months, +and, consequently, the present possessors are not entered in the book. +It is to be presumed that the deeds have been bought to facilitate or to +impede a purchase at the approaching sale." + +Hitherto the conversation had been a commonplace preamble to a serious +contest, something like the first moves in a game at chess or the +beginning of a race. Itzig's impatience now made a decided advance. + +"Have you a commission to buy the estate?" he suddenly inquired. + +"We will assume that I have," replied Anton, "and that I wish your +co-operation. Are you in a position to give me information without loss +of time, and will you undertake the measures rendered necessary by the +sale of the mortgages?" + +Itzig took time to consider. It was possible that Anton's only purpose +was to secure the property to his friend Fink, or to the baron himself. +In this case he was in danger of losing the fruit of his long scheming +and bold deeds. If Fink, by his wealth, covered the baron, Itzig lost +the estate. While thus perplexed, he remarked that Anton was watching +him, and decided, with the subtlety of a bad conscience, that Anton had +heard of his plans, and had some ulterior purpose. Possibly this +commission to buy was but a feint. Accordingly, he hastened to promise +his co-operation, and to express the hope that he might succeed, at the +right time, in discovering the present possessor of the mortgages. + +Anton saw that the rogue understood him, and was on his guard. Changing +his mode of attack, he suddenly asked, "Do you know a certain Hippus?" +and keenly observed the effect of the query. + +For a moment Itzig's eyelids quivered, and a slight flush suffused his +face. As if he was trying to recollect the name, he tardily replied, +"Yes, I know him. He is a decayed, useless creature." + +Anton saw that he had struck home. "Perhaps you recollect that, about a +year and a half ago, a casket belonging to the baron, and containing +deeds and papers of great importance to him, was stolen from Ehrenthal's +office." + +Itzig sat still, but his eyes glanced restlessly to and fro. No stranger +would have observed that symptom of a bad conscience, but Anton +remembered it in the boy Veitel, when accused at school of some petty +theft. Itzig, he saw, knew all about the papers and the robbery. + +At length, the agent replied in a tone of indifference, "I have heard of +this; it occurred a short time before I left Ehrenthal's." + +"Very well," continued Anton; "these papers could have no value for the +thief himself. But there is reason to believe that they have found their +way into the hands of a third person." + +"That is not impossible, but I should hardly think it likely any one +would keep up worthless papers so long." + +"I know that these papers are extant--nay, I know that they are being +used to the baron's prejudice." + +Itzig writhed upon his seat. "Why do you speak to me upon these +subjects?" said he, hoarsely. + +"You will soon discover my drift," said Anton. "I know, as I before +said, that the papers are still extant, and I have reason to believe +that you may discover their possessor. You can gain any information you +may still want respecting them from Hippus." + +"Why from him?" + +"He has, in the presence of witnesses, made use of expressions that +plainly prove him to be acquainted with their purport." + +Itzig ground his teeth, and muttered something very like the words +"Drunken rascal." + +Anton continued: "The casket and papers are the baron's property; and as +he is less intent upon the prosecution of the thief than on the +restoration of the papers, he is prepared to pay a large sum to any one +who procures them." + +"If," said Itzig, "the baron lays so much stress upon the recovery of +the casket, how came it that so little fuss was made about it at the +time of its disappearance? I never heard of the police being applied to, +or of any steps being taken in connection with it." + +This insolence enraged Anton. He replied indignantly, "The robbery was +accompanied by circumstances which made an inquiry painful to Ehrenthal; +the casket disappeared from his locked-up office, and it was probably on +that account that no legal investigation was made." + +Itzig rejoined, "If I remember aright, Ehrenthal informed his friends at +the time that the investigation was given up out of consideration to the +baron." + +Anton keenly felt this home-thrust, and could hardly command himself as +he replied, "It is possible that the baron may have had, at the time, +other reasons for letting the subject drop." + +Now, then, Veitel felt safe. He read in Anton's suppressed anger how +necessary secrecy was felt. It was a <i>bona fide</i> offer; the baron was in +dread of the thief. Recovering all his composure, he quietly went on to +say, "As far as I know Hippus, he is a lying sort of fellow, who often +gets drunk. Whatever he may have said in his cups will not, I fear, help +us much in recovering the papers. Has he given you any sufficient ground +for applying to him?" + +Now, then, Anton had reason to be on his guard. "He has, in the presence +of witnesses, made use of expressions which prove that he is acquainted +with the papers, knows where they are to be found, and purposes to make +use of them." + +"That may be enough for a lawyer, but not enough for a man of business," +continued Veitel. "Do you know his exact words?" + +Anton parried the question, and struck at his opponent by saying, "His +statements are known exactly by me and by others, and have occasioned my +visit to you." + +Itzig had to quit this dangerous ground. "And what sum will the baron +spend in the recovery of these papers? I mean to say, is it an affair +that is worth the outlay of time and trouble? I have a great many other +matters on hand. You could hardly expect me to devote myself, for the +sake of a couple of louis-d'or, to the search of any thing so +insignificant and difficult to find as papers that some one has hidden." + +Years ago, when the two were traveling together to the capital, where +they now met as opponents, it was the Jew-boy who was in search of +papers on which his childish folly fancied his fortune dependent. At +that time he was ready to buy the baron's estate for Anton, and now it +was Anton who was in search of important documents, and who applied to +him for the baron's property. Veitel had discovered the mysterious +receipt he then looked for; he held the baron's estate in his hands, and +his destiny neared its fulfillment. Both thought at the same moment of +the day of their common journey. + +Anton replied, "I am authorized to treat with you as to the sum; but I +would observe that the matter is a pressing one. I therefore entreat you +to inform me whether you are prepared to deliver the documents to the +Baron Rothsattel, and to be employed in our interest as regards the +purchase of the mortgages." + +"I will make inquiries, and consider whether I can serve you," coldly +replied Veitel. + +Anton rejoined as coldly, "How much time do you require to make up your +mind?" + +"Three days," said the agent. + +"I can only give you four-and-twenty hours," said Anton, positively. +"If, in that time, you have not informed me of your intention, I shall, +on the baron's behalf, take every possible step to procure the papers, +or to convince myself of their destruction, and I shall use my present +knowledge respecting their abstraction and hiding-place to discover the +perpetrator of the felony." Then taking out his watch, he said, +"To-morrow, at the same hour, I shall call for your reply." + +And so the important interview ended. As the door closed behind Anton, +Itzig's resolve was taken. "Only one week," muttered he, "to my +betrothal to Rosalie! The following day I shall find the notes of hand +in a corner of Ehrenthal's office. Then Rothsattel and his friends must +come to an arrangement upon my own terms. By the threat of a legal +investigation, and of making the baron's misconduct public, I can force +this Wohlfart to any thing I like. Only a week! If I hold out so long, +the game is mine." + +When Anton returned at the expiration of the four-and-twenty hours, he +found the office closed. He called again in the evening: no one at home. +The following morning the shrewd youth appeared at the door, and +informed him that Mr. Itzig was gone on a journey, that he might perhaps +return that very hour, but might, on the other hand, be absent for some +days. + +Anton knew, from his fluency, that the youth spoke according to orders +given. + +He next went to an official, who had the reputation of being one of the +cleverest detectives in the town--cautiously disclosed the essentials +respecting the stolen casket--expressed his suspicions of the robbery +having been effected by Hippus, under Itzig's directions--and revealed +the incomplete warnings of the worthy Tinkeles. The detective listened +with attention, and at length said, "Out of all the inadequate +information that you have given, the name of Hippus interests me most. +He is a very dangerous character, and hitherto I have not exactly known +how to get at him. On account of swindling and petty rascalities, he has +often been punished, and the police have their eye upon him. I will do +all I can for you, so far as he goes. I will have him and his effects +searched this very day. I tell you beforehand we shall find nothing. I +am further prepared to repeat this search in the course of a few days, +at the risk of lowering my character in the eyes of the brave Hippus; +for our trick of making thieves feel safe by means of superficially +searching them may indeed answer with novices, but would never avail +with this old hand. It is certain that we shall find nothing at our +second search." + +"Of what use can the measure be to me, then?" asked Anton, in a tone of +resignation. + +"Of more than you fancy. It may further your game with the agent Itzig; +for, generally speaking, the effect of a search is to make the parties +uncomfortable. And though I am not quite sure how Hippus will take it, I +am inclined to believe it will perplex him. That may help you on. I will +see, too, that the first search be clumsily and ostentatiously made. +Fortunately, he has now a settled abode again; for some time he has had +a respite from us, and has grown bold. I hear, too, that he is getting +old and feeble. All this may help you to catch Itzig one way or other." + +This decision come to, Anton had to retire. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. + + +It was a dark November evening; a fog lay heavily on the town, filling +the old streets and squares, and forcing its way into the houses. It +gathered round the street-lanterns, which looked like dull red balls, +and gave no light a yard off. It hung over the river, rolled along the +black stream, under the bridge, up the steps, and clung to the wooden +pillars of the gallery. At times there would be a rift in its masses, +through which the inky stream below became visible, flowing like the +river of death along the dwellings of men. + +The streets were empty. Here and there, close to a light, a form would +be seen to emerge, and then suddenly to disappear. One of these shadows +was a short man with a stoop, who unsteadily struggled onward as fast as +he could. He tottered into the court where Itzig's office was, and +looked up at the agent's windows. The curtains were drawn, but there was +a glimmer of light to be seen through them. The little man tried to +stand firm, stared at the light, clenched his fists at it, and then +going up the steps, rang once, twice, thrice. At length a muffled +footstep was heard, the door was opened, and the little man, entering, +ran through the ante-room, which Itzig shut behind him. Itzig looked +still paler than his wont, and his eyes glanced unsteadily at his +untimely guest. Hippus had never been a model of manly beauty, but +to-day he was positively uncanny. His features were sunken, a mixture of +fear and insolence sat on his ugly face, and his eyes looked maliciously +over his spectacles at his former scholar. Evidently he had been drunk; +but some feverish terror had seized him, and for a moment neutralized +the effects of the brandy. + +"They are on me," he cried, grasping recklessly at empty air; "they are +on the look-out for me!" + +"Who would look out for you?" asked Itzig. But he knew only too well. + +"The police, you villain!" shrieked the old man. "It is on your account +that I am in trouble. I dare not go home; you must hide me." + +"We are not come to that yet," returned Veitel, with all the composure +he could. "How do you know that the police are at your heels?" + +"The children in the street are talking of it," cried Hippus. "I heard +it in the street when I was going to creep back to my hole. It was a +mere chance that they did not find me in my room. They are in my house, +standing on the steps, waiting till I come. You must hide me! I must +have money! I will cross the border. I can't stay here any longer; you +must send me off." + +"Send you off!" repeated Itzig, gloomily. "Where to, pray?" + +"Any where--where the police can not reach me--over the frontier--to +America." + +"And suppose I don't choose?" said Itzig, in a tone of enmity. + +"You will choose, simpleton. Are you green enough not to know what I +shall do if you don't get me out of this scrape, you varlet? They'll +have quick ears at the criminal courts for what I have to tell of you." + +"You would not be so wicked as to betray an old friend," said Veitel, in +a tone that he vainly tried to make pathetic. "Do look at things more +calmly. What danger is there, even if they do arrest you? Who can prove +any thing? For want of proof they will have to let you off. You know the +law as well as the judges do." + +"Indeed!" screamed the old man, spitefully. "You think I shall go to +prison for the sake of a fellow like you? that I shall sit eating bread +and water, while you are feeding upon the fat of the land, and laughing +at the old ass Hippus? I will not go to prison; I will be off; and, till +I can get off, you must hide me." + +"You can't remain here," darkly replied Veitel. "There is no safety here +for you or me. Jacob would betray you; the people in the house would +find out that you were here." + +"Where best to take me is your look-out," said the man; "but I demand +your help, or--" + +"Hold your jaw!" said Veitel, "and listen to me. If I were disposed to +give you money, and get you off by railroad to Hamburg, and over the +sea, I could not do so immediately nor without aid. You must be taken by +night a few miles hence to some small station on the line. I dare not +hire a conveyance--that might betray you; and, as you are, you can not +walk. I must look out for some opportunity of getting you off safely. +Meanwhile, I must get you to some place that the police do not know you +to frequent, for I fear they will look for you here. If you don't go +home, they will probably come here this very night. I must go and +inquire for a conveyance and a safe shelter. Meanwhile, stay in the back +room till I return." + +He opened the door, and Mr. Hippus slipped in like a frightened bat. But +as Veitel was about to shut the door upon him, the old creature pushed +between it and the wall, crying in high dudgeon, "I will not remain in +the dark like a rat; you must leave me a light. I will have a light, you +devil!" + +"They will see from below that there is a light in the room, and that +will betray us." + +"I will not sit in the dark!" screamed the old man once more. + +Muttering a curse, Veitel took up the lamp and carried it into the inner +room. Then he closed the door and hurried into the street. Very +cautiously he approached the dwelling of Löbel Pinkus. There all was +still; and, looking into the bar, he discerned Pinkus sitting among his +guests in all the security of a good conscience. He crept up the steps +to his former abode, then took some rusty keys from a hidden corner, +carefully examined the sleeping-room, and saw with satisfaction that it +was both dark and empty. He hurried on to the gallery, where he remained +for a moment looking at the rolling cloud-masses and the dusky stream. +Every thing was favorable, but there was not an instant to be lost, for +a capricious breeze sometimes blew over the water, and the fog seemed to +be breaking up. In a short time the wind would clearly reveal the +stream, the outlines of the houses, and the lanterns, which now looked +like red specks at the corners of the streets. + +Itzig hurried on next to the end of the gallery, and turned the key in a +door which concealed the way down the steps. The door creaked as it +opened. Itzig went down to the river and tried to ascertain its depth. +The platform which ran along the base of the houses, and which was +generally visible the whole year through, was covered; but a few strides +through the water would lead from these steps to those of the +neighboring house. Veitel stared down into the river, and put his foot +into it to see how deep one would have to wade before reaching those +steps. So occupied was he with the escape of the old man, that he did +not heed, did not even feel the cold. The water rose to his knee. He +looked round once more. All was darkness, mist, silence, like that of +the grave, but for the wail of the water and the rising wind. + +Meanwhile Hippus tried to make himself comfortable. After having sent +all manner of curses after Veitel, he gave his troubled mind to the +investigation of the room. He went to a low cupboard, turned the key, +and looked for some fluid that might restore his sinking strength and +refresh his parched gums. He found a bottle of rum, poured its contents +into a glass, and gulped it down as fast as the fiery nature of the +poison allowed. A cold sweat immediately broke out on his brow, and, +drawing a remnant of a handkerchief from his pocket, he hurriedly wiped +his face, and reeled up and down the room, talking to himself. + +"He is a fool! a rascally, cowardly hare! a miserable chafferer! If I +wanted to sell him this old handkerchief, he could not help buying; it +is his nature; he is a despicable creature. And he tries to defy me, and +put me in prison; and he is to sit, forsooth, on this sofa, with the +rum-bottle at his side--the scoundrel!" Then taking up the empty bottle, +he dashed it against the woodwork of the sofa and broke it to pieces. +"Who was he?" he went on, in increasing rage; "a chaffering +jack-pudding. I have made him what he is, the noodle. If I whistle, he +dances; he is only the decoy, I am the bird-catcher." Here Hippus tried +to whistle a tune, and to execute a few steps. Again the cold sweat +rained from his brow, and, taking out his handkerchief, he dried his +face, and carefully replaced the rag in his pocket. "He does not +return," he suddenly cried; "he leaves me here, and they will find me." +Then running to the door and violently shaking it, "The villain has +locked me in--a Jew has locked me in!" shrieked the miserable creature, +wringing his hands. "I am to die of hunger and thirst in this prison. +Oh, he has used me ill--used his benefactor basely; he is an ungrateful +wretch, an unnatural son!" At this he began to sob: "I have nursed him +when he was sick, I have taught him knowing tricks, I have made a man +of him, and this is how he rewards his old friend." The lawyer wept +aloud. Suddenly stopping before the mirror, he started at his own +reflection. His eyes flashed still more angrily as, pushing his +spectacles more firmly on, he examined the frame. He knew that mirror. +Had chance brought one of the articles belonging to his better days into +Pinkus's secret stores, and thence to Veitel's room, or did some +resemblance mislead the drunkard? At all events, the thoughts it awoke +of his former position filled him with rage. "It is my mirror," he +screamed--"my own mirror that the rascal has here;" and, rushing wildly +about the room, he snatched up a chair, and struck the mirror with it. +The glass soon rattled down in a hundred pieces, but he went on +belaboring the frame and screaming like a madman. "It hung in my house; +the rogue has stolen my mirror--he has stolen my prosperity." He poured +forth hideous imprecations against the supposed thief. + +At that moment Veitel rushed in, having heard the noise from the +ante-room, and guessing its cause. As soon as the lawyer saw him, he ran +at him with the raised chair, crying out, "You have brought me to want, +and you shall pay for it," aimed a blow at Itzig's head. But the latter +pushed the chair away, and seized hold of the old man with all his +strength. Hippus struggled and cursed in vain. + +Veitel forced him down into a corner of the sofa, and whispered, as he +held him down, "If you do not keep quiet, old man, it's all over with +you." + +When the drunkard saw in Itzig's eyes, which were fixed upon his, that +he had the worst to apprehend from his anger, the paroxysm left him, he +sank down powerless, and muttered in a low voice, while shuddering all +over, "He will kill me." + +"Not if you are quiet, you drunken fool; what devil drove you to destroy +my room?" + +"He will kill me," mumbled the old man, "because I have found my +mirror." + +"You are mad," cried Veitel, shaking him. "Collect your senses; you +can't stay here. You must come away; I have a hiding-place for you." + +"I won't go with you," wailed Hippus; "you want to kill me." + +Veitel uttered a horrible curse, took up the old man's shabby hat, +forced it on, and, seizing him by the neck, cried, "You must come, or +you are lost. The police will look for you here--and find you too, if +you lose any more time. Come, or you'll oblige me to do you a mischief." + +The old man's strength was broken; he wavered. Veitel took him by the +arm, and drew him unresistingly away. He took him down the steps, +anxiously looking round for fear of meeting any one. + +In the cold night air the lawyer's senses partially returned, and Veitel +enjoined him to be silent, and to follow him, and he would get him off. + +"He will get me off," mechanically repeated Hippus, running along at his +side. As they neared Pinkus's house, Veitel proceeded more cautiously. +Leading his companion through the dark ground floor, and whispering, +"Take my hand, and come quietly up stairs with me," they reached the +large public room, which was still empty. Much relieved, Veitel said, +"There is a hiding-place in the next house; you must go there." + +"I must go there," repeated the old man. + +"Follow me," cried Veitel, leading him along the gallery, and then down +the covered staircase. + +The old man tottered down the steps, firmly holding the coat of his +guide, who had almost to carry him. In this way they came down step +after step till they reached the last one, over which water was rushing. +Veitel went first, and unconcernedly stepped up to his knee in the +stream, only intent upon leading the old man after him. + +As soon as Hippus felt the cold on his boot, he stood still and cried +out, "Water!" + +"Hush!" angrily whispered Veitel; "not a word." + +"Water!" screamed the old man. "Help! he will murder me!" + +Veitel seized him and put his hand on his mouth; but the fear of death +had again roused the lawyer's energies, and, placing his foot on the +next step, he clung as firmly as he could to the banisters, and again +screamed out, "Help!" + +"Accursed wretch!" muttered Veitel, gnashing his teeth with rage at this +determined resistance; then, forcing his hat over his face, he took him +by the neckcloth with all his strength, and hurled him into the water. +There was a splash--a heavy fall--a hollow gurgling--and all was still. + +Beneath the leaden clouds that overhung the river, a dark mass might be +seen rolling along with the current. Soon it disappeared; the mist +concealed it; the stream rushed on; the water broke wailingly over the +steps and palings, and the night-wind kept howling out its monotonous +complaint. + +The murderer stood for a few moments motionless in the darkness, leaning +against the staircase railings. Then he slowly went up the steps. While +doing so he felt his trowsers to see how high up they were wet. He +thought to himself that he must dry them at the stove this very night, +and saw in fancy the fire in the stove, and himself sitting before it in +his dressing-gown, as he was accustomed to do when thinking over his +business. If he had ever in his life known comfortable repose, it had +been when, weary of the cares of the day, he sat before his stove-fire +and watched it till his heavy eyelids drooped. He realized how tired he +was now, and what good it would do him to go to sleep before a warm +fire. Lost in the thought, he stood for a moment like one overcome with +drowsiness, when suddenly he felt a strange pressure within +him--something that made it difficult to breathe, and bound his breast +as with iron bars. Then he thought of the bundle that he had just thrown +into the river; he saw it cleave the flood; he heard the rush of water, +and remembered that the hat which he had forced over the man's face had +been the last thing visible on the surface--a round, strange-looking +thing. He saw the hat quite plainly before him--battered, the rim half +off, and two grease-spots on the crown. It had been a very shabby hat. +Thinking of it, it occurred to him that he could smile now if he chose. +But he did not smile. Meanwhile he had got up the steps. As he opened +the staircase door, he glanced along the dark gallery through which two +had passed a few minutes before, and only one returned. He looked down +at the gray surface of the stream, and again he was sensible of that +singular pressure. He rapidly crept through the large room and down the +steps, and on the ground floor ran up against one of the lodgers in the +caravansera. Both hastened away in different directions without +exchanging a word. + +This meeting turned his thoughts into another direction. Was he safe? +The fog still lay thick on the street. No one had seen him go in with +Hippus, no one had recognized him as he went out. The investigation +would only begin when they found the old man in the river. Would he be +safe then? + +These thoughts passed through the murderer's mind as calmly as though he +were reading them in a book. Mingled with them came doubts as to whether +he had his cigar-case with him, and as to why he did not smoke a cigar. +He cogitated long about it, and at length found himself returned to his +dwelling. He opened the door; the last time he had opened the door a +loud noise had been heard in the inner room. He listened for it now. He +would give any thing to hear it. A few minutes ago it had been to be +heard. Oh, if those few minutes had never been! Again he felt that +hollow pressure, but more strongly, ever more strongly than before. He +entered the room, the lamp still burned, the fragments of the rum-bottle +lay about the sofa, the bits of broken mirror shone like silver dollars +on the floor. Veitel sat down exhausted. Then it occurred to him that +his mother had often told him a childish story in which silver dollars +fell upon a poor man's floor. He could see the old Jewess sitting at the +hearth, and he, a small boy, standing near her. He could see himself +looking anxiously down on the dark earthen floor, wondering whether the +white dollars would fall down for him. Now he knew--his room looked just +as if there had been a rain of white dollars. He felt something of the +restless delight which that tale of his mother had always awaked, when +again came suddenly that same hollow pressure. Heavily he rose, stooped, +and collected the broken glass. He put all the pieces into a corner of +the cupboard, detached the frame from the wall, and put it wrong-side +out in a corner. Then he took the lamp, and the glass which he used to +fill with water for the night; but as he touched it a shudder came over +him, and he put it down. He who was no more had drunk out of that glass. +He took the lamp to his bedside and undressed. He hid his trowsers in +the cupboard, and brought out another pair, which he rubbed against his +boots till they were dirty at the bottom. Then he put out the lamp, and +as it flickered before it went quite out, the thought struck him that +human life and a flame had something in common. He had extinguished a +flame. And again that pain in the breast, but less clearly felt, for his +strength was exhausted, his nervous energy spent. The murderer slept. + +But when he wakes! Then the cunning will be over and gone with which his +distracted mind has tried, as if in delirium, to snatch at all manner of +trivial things and thoughts in order to avoid the one feeling which ever +weighs him down. When he wakes! Henceforth, while still half asleep, he +will feel the gradual entrance of terror and misery into his soul. Even +in his dreams he will have a sense of the sweetness of unconsciousness +and the horrors of thought, and will strive against waking, while, in +spite of his strivings, his anguish grows stronger and stronger, till, +in despair, his eyelids start open, and he gazes into the hideous +present, the hideous future. + +And again his mind will seek to cover over the fact with a web of +sophistry; he will reflect how old the dead man was, how wicked, how +wretched; he will try to convince himself that it was only an accident +that occasioned his death--a push given by him in sudden anger--how +unlucky that the old man's foot should have slipped as it did! Then will +recur the doubt as to his safety; a hot flush will suffuse his pale +face, the step of his servant will fill him with dread, the sound of an +iron-shod stick on the pavement will be taken for the tramp of the armed +band whom justice sends to apprehend him. Again he will retrace every +step he took yesterday, every gesture, every word, and will seek to +convince himself that discovery is impossible. No one had seen him, no +one had heard; the wretched old man, half crazy as he was, had drawn his +own hat over his eyes and drowned himself. + +And yet, through all this sophistry, he is conscious of that fearful +weight, till, exhausted by the inner conflict, he flies from his house +to his business, amid the crowd anxiously desiring to find something +that shall force him to forget. If any one on the street looks at him, +he trembles; if he meet a policeman, he must rush home to hide his +terror from those discerning eyes. Wherever he finds familiar faces, he +will press into the thick of the assembly, he will take an interest in +any thing, will laugh and talk more than heretofore; but his eyes will +roam recklessly around, and he will be in constant dread of hearing +something said of the murdered man, something surmised about his sudden +end. He may deceive his acquaintance: they will perhaps consider him +remarkably cheerful, and one and the other will say, "Itzig is a good +fellow; he is getting on in business." He will hang on many an arm that +he never touched before, will tell merry stories, and go home gladly +with any one who asks him, because he knows that he can not be alone. He +will frequent the coffee-houses and beer-shops to hunt out acquaintance, +and will drink and be as much excited as they, because he knows that he +dare not be alone. + +And when, late of an evening, he returns home, tired to death and worn +out by his fearful struggle, he feels lighter hearted, for he has +succeeded in obscuring the truth, he is conscious of a melancholy +pleasure in his weariness, and awaits sleep as the only good thing earth +has still to offer him. And again he will fall asleep, and when he +awakes the next morning he will have to begin his fearful task anew. So +will it be this day, next day, always, so long as he lives. His life is +no longer like that of another man; his life is henceforth a battle, a +horrible battle with a corpse, a battle unseen by all, yet constantly +going on. All his intercourse with living men, whether in business or in +society, is but a mockery, a lie. Whether he laughs and shakes hands +with one, or lends money and takes fifty per cent. from another, it is +all mere illusion on their part. He knows that he is severed from human +companionship, and that all he does is but empty seeming; there is only +one who occupies him, against whom he struggles, because of whom he +drinks, and talks, and mingles with the crowd, and that one is the +corpse of the old man in the water. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII. + + +Besides all friendly house-sprites and household divinities, there is +one other in the secret, and silently triumphant at Anton's return, and +that is the cousin. + +Strangers indeed may shake their heads at much that passes, but she +knows better: that Anton should sit all day long pale and silent in the +office; Sabine evince a tendency to blush in her brother's presence, +which never appeared before; sit silent for hours over her work, then +silently start up and rush through the house, playful as a kitten after +a ball of twine; the merchant himself keep constantly looking at Anton, +and growing more and more merry from day to day, so that at last he +positively rallies the cousin without ceasing--all this, indeed, may +seem perplexing, but it was not so to one who had known for years what +each of them liked for dinner (although she only ventured to present the +favorite dish in order, once a month), who had with their own hands +knitted their stockings and starched their collars. She accounted for +all their inconsistencies most naturally. + +The good lady took all the credit of Anton's return entirely to herself. +She had determined to restore her favorite to the office, and she had +had no ulterior intention, at least so she declared; for, in spite of +the rose-lined coverlet and the embroidered curtains, she knew that the +house to which she belonged was a proud house, which had ways of its +own, and required very skillful management. And, indeed, when told that +Anton was only to be a guest, she was herself in some uncertainty. But +soon she got the upper hand of the merchant and his sister, for she made +discoveries. + +The second story of the house had been uninhabited for years. The +merchant and his young wife had occupied it in the lifetime of his +parents. When he had lost one after another, parents, wife, and baby +son, he moved to the first floor, and since then had seldom gone up +stairs. Gray blinds hung down there the whole year through; the +furniture and paintings were all covered up; in short, the whole story +was like an enchanted castle, and even the ladies' footsteps fell softer +when they were obliged to pass through the silent region. + +The cousin was coming up stairs one day. In spite of her endless war +with Pix, she had contrived to keep one small room to dry linen in. She +was just musing upon the change official life made in men's characters, +for Balbus, the successor of Pix, on whose humble bearing she had +founded great hopes, showed himself in his new post just as aggressive +as his predecessor. She had once more found a heap of cigar-boxes +outside the three compartments which Pix had erected by main force in +her own special domain, and she was just going to declare war against +Balbus on their account. At that moment she remarked a door of the upper +story wide open, and thought of thieves, and of calling out for help, +but, upon consideration, judicially determined first to investigate the +mystery. She crept into the curtained rooms, and was in some danger of +being petrified with amazement when she saw her nephew standing there +alone, looking at a picture of his departed wife, taken as a bride, in +white silk, with a myrtle-wreath in her hair. The cousin could not +restrain a sympathizing sigh. The merchant turned round in amazement. "I +mean to remove the picture to my own room," said he, softly. + +"But you have another portrait of Mary there already, and this one has +always depressed you," cried the cousin. + +"Years make us calmer," replied the merchant; "and, in course of time, +another bride may come here." + +The cousin's eyes flashed as she repeated "Another!" + +"It was only a passing idea," said the merchant, cheerfully walking +through the suite of rooms, followed by the cousin, proudly shrugging +her shoulders. They might try to blind her as much as they liked; it was +all in vain. + +Neither did the cautious Sabine succeed any better. + +Anton had silently sat near the cousin at dinner. When he rose, the good +lady remarked that Sabine's eyes rested with an expression of tender +anxiety upon his pale face, and then filled with tears. As soon as he +had left the room, she moved to the window that looked into the court. +The cousin crept behind her, and looked out too. Sabine was gazing down +intently; suddenly she smiled, and her face was perfectly transfigured. +Yet there was nothing to be seen but Anton, with his back toward them, +caressing Pluto, who barked and jumped up at him. + +"Oh!" thought the cousin, "it is not over Pluto that she laughs and +cries at once." + +And soon after, one day that the merchant opened the drawing-room door +and called his sister out, the cousin spied a man with a great parcel +standing in the hall. Her sharp eyes recognized in him a porter from one +of the great draper's shops. The brother and sister went into the +ante-room, a murmur of voices was heard, and a sound uncommonly like +suppressed sobs. When Sabine returned her eyes were very red, but she +looked happy and bashful. When the cousin went into the ante-room on +some pretext or other, the great parcel was lying on a chair; and as she +touched it--of course accidentally--and the paper was not tied up, it +came to pass that she beheld its contents--a variety of exquisite +dresses, and one thing that moved her to tears: it was that white robe +of thickest silk which a woman only wears once in her life--on one +solemn day of devout and trembling joy. + +From that moment the cousin went about her avocations with the +comfortable confidence of a good housewife, who forgives people, even +though for a season they do behave themselves foolishly, knowing that +the end of it all will be great excitement in her own especial +province--hard work in the kitchen, a long bill of fare, great slaughter +of fowls, and immense consumption of preserved fruit. She, too, waxed +mysterious now. The store-room was subjected to a careful inspection, +and new dishes often appeared at dinner. On such days the cousin would +come from the kitchen with very red cheeks, and look at the merchant and +Sabine with an expression which plainly said, "I have found you out," +and was met with a severe glance from the master of the house. + +And yet he was no longer severe now. Sabine and Anton grew daily more +silent and reserved; he became more cheerful, far less silent than of +yore, was never weary of drawing Anton into conversation, and listened +with intense attention to each word he spoke. There was still a great +flatness in trade, but he did not appear to heed it. When Mr. Braun, the +agent, poured out his oppressed heart, he only laughed and returned a +dry jest. + +Anton, however, did not observe the change. When in the office, he sat +silently opposite Mr. Baumann, and seemed to think of nothing but his +correspondence. The evenings he generally spent alone in his room, +burying himself in the books Fink had left, and trying to escape from +his own dark thoughts. He did not find the firm as he had left it: +several of its old mercantile connections were dissolved, several new +ones entered into. He found new agents, new descriptions of goods, and +new servants. + +The clerks' apartments, too, had grown silent. With the exception of Mr. +Liebold and Mr. Purzel, who had never been exciting social elements, he +only found Baumann and Specht remaining of all his former acquaintances, +and they, too, thought of leaving. Baumann had, immediately on Anton's +return, confided to the principal that he must leave in the spring, and +this time Anton's earnest representations failed to shake the future +missionary's firm resolve: "I can no longer delay," said he; "my +conscience protests against it. I go from hence to the London Training +College, and thence wherever they choose to send me. I confess that I +have a preference for Africa; there are certain kings there"--he +pronounced several crack-jaw names--"that I can not think wholly ill of. +There must be some hope of conversion among them. I trust to wean them +from that heathenish slave-trade. They may make use of their people at +home in planting sugar-cane and cultivating rice. In a couple of years I +will send you, by way of London, the first samples of our produce." + +Mr. Specht, too, came to Anton. "You have always been friendly to me, +Wohlfart, and I should like to have your opinion. I am to marry a very +accomplished girl; her name is Fanny, and she is a niece of Pix." + +"What!" said Anton, "and do you love the young lady?" + +"Yes, that I do," cried Specht, enthusiastically; "but, if I am to marry +her, I am to enter into Pix's business, and that is what I want your +opinion about. My lady-love has some fortune, and Pix thinks it would be +best invested in his firm. Now you know Pix is a good fellow at bottom, +but another partner might suit me better." + +"I think not, my good old Specht," said Anton; "you are apt to be a +little too precipitate, and it would be very well for you to have a +steady partner." + +"Yes," said Specht; "but only think of the branches he has chosen. No +one could have believed it possible that our Pix would have taken to +them." + +"What are they, then?" asked Anton. + +"All sorts of things," cried Specht, "that he never saw before. Skins +and leather, and every kind of fur, from the sable to the mole, and, +besides, hemp and brushes--every thing, in short, that is hairy and +bristling. These are very low articles, Wohlfart." + +"Don't be a child," replied Anton; "marry, my good fellow, and trust to +the management of your uncle-in-law; it will do you no harm." + +The next day Pix himself came to Anton's room. "I found your card, +Wohlfart, and come to invite you to coffee on Sunday next. Cuba, and a +Manilla! You will make my wife's acquaintance." + +"And so you are going to take Specht as your partner?" asked Anton, +smiling. "You used to have a great horror of partnerships." + +"I should not enter into one with any body else. Between ourselves, I +owe the poor fellow some compensation, and I can make the ten thousand +dollars he is marrying useful in my business. I have undertaken a retail +warehouse, in which I will place him. That will amuse him. He can be +polite to the ladies all day long, and can have a new fur coat every +winter. He will come out much stronger there than here in the office." + +"How comes it that you have chosen this branch of trade?" + +"I was obliged," was the reply. "I found a great stock on hand left by +my predecessor in sorry plight, I can assure you, and was thrown all at +once among those who valued hare-skins and pig's bristles exceedingly." + +"And that alone decided you?" replied Anton, laughing. + +"Perhaps something else as well," said Pix. "I could not remain here on +account of my wife; and you will admit, Anton, that I, who was manager +of the provincial department of this firm, could not open another in the +same town of the same nature. I know the whole provincial department +better than the principal, and all small traders know me better than +they do him. I might have injured this house, though my capital is so +much smaller. I should, no doubt, have got on, but this house would have +suffered; so I was obliged to turn to something else. I went to Schröter +as soon as I had decided, and talked it over to him. I only keep one +thing in common with you here, and that is horse-hair, and in that I +beat you hollow. I have told the principal so." + +"The firm can bear that," said Anton, and shook the fur-merchant by the +hand. + +But it was not in the office only; even among the porters around the +great scales a change was observable. Father Sturm, the faithful friend +of the house, threatened to quit both it and this little ball of earth +together. One of Anton's first inquiries, on his return, had been for +Father Sturm. He was told that Sturm had been unwell for some weeks, and +did not leave his room. Full of anxiety, Anton went to the dwelling of +the giant the second evening after his arrival. + +While still in the street, he heard a loud hum, as though a swarm of +gigantic bees had settled in the red-painted house. When he entered, the +hum sounded like the distant roar of a family of lions. He knocked in +amazement. No one answered. When he had opened the door he stood still +on the threshold, for at first he could see nothing but a dense smoke, +through which a yellow speck of light appeared, with a great halo round +it. Gradually he discovered in this smoke a few rotund forms, placed +around the candle like so many planets around the sun, and at times +something was seen to move, possibly a man's arm, but not unlike an +elephant's leg. At length the air through the open door partially +cleared away the smoke, and he could see farther into the room. Six +giants sat around the table--three on a bench, three on oaken chairs. +All had cigars in their mouths, and wooden beer-mugs on the table, and +the loud hum was their speech, duly lowered to suit a sick-room. + +"I smell something," cried a loud voice, at length; "there must be a man +there. I feel a cool draught; the door is open. Let whoever is there say +who he is." + +"Mr. Sturm," cried Anton, still on the threshold. + +The great globes rapidly revolved and eclipsed the light. + +"Do you hear?" cried the loud voice; "a man is there." + +"Yes, and an old friend too," replied Anton. + +"I know that voice," exclaimed some one at the other side of the table. + +Anton drew nearer; the porters all rose and called out his name. + +Father Sturm moved along to the farthest end of his bench, and held out +both his hands. "I heard from my comrades that you had returned. It is a +joy to me that you are come safe and sound from that outlandish +country." + +Anton's hand now passed first into that of old Sturm, who powerfully +grasped it, and then tried to set the broken bones; next into that of +the other five porters, whence it came out red, weak, and slightly +dislocated, so that he was glad to put it into his coat pocket. While +the five were exchanging greetings with him, one after the other, Sturm +suddenly called out, "When does my Karl come?" + +"Have you sent for him, then?" asked Anton. + +"Sent for him! No," returned Sturm, shaking his head, "that I could not +do, because of his situation as bailiff; for if I were to write him word +'come,' he would come if even a million scythes lay in his way. But then +the family might want him, and therefore, unless he comes of his own +accord, he will not come." + +"He will come in the spring," said Anton, looking anxiously into the +father's face. + +Old Sturm shook his head. "He will not come in the spring--not to me, at +least. Perhaps my little manikin may come here, but not to his father +any more." He raised his can of beer and took a long draught, then shut +down the lid, cleared his throat, and, looking full into Anton's face, +solemnly rapped the table. "Fifty!" said he; "one other fortnight, and +then it comes." + +Anton threw his arm round the old man's shoulders, and looked +inquiringly at the others, who held their cigars in their hands, and +stood round like the chorus in a Greek tragedy. + +"Look you, Mr. Wohlfart," said the chorus-leader, who, considered as a +man, was colossal, but as a giant something less than old Sturm, "I will +explain matters to you: This man thinks that he is getting weaker, and +shall go on getting weaker, and that in a few weeks the day will come +when we porters must each take a lemon in our hands, and put a black +tail on our hats. We do not wish this." All shook their heads here and +looked disapprovingly at Sturm. "There is an old dispute between him and +us about the age of fifty. He is determined to be right--that is the +whole of it--and our opinion is that he is not right. He has become +weaker--that may be. Many are stronger at one time, and weaker at +another. Why should the man think of leaving this place on that account? +I'll tell you what it is, Mr. Wohlfart, it is downright absurdity on his +part." + +All the giants confirmed this statement by nodding their heads. + +"So, then, he is sick?" inquired Anton, anxiously. "Whereabouts is your +complaint, old friend?" + +"It is here and there," replied Sturm. "It is in the air--it comes on +slowly--it takes first the strength, then the breath. It begins with the +legs, and then moves up." He pointed to his feet. + +"Is it a trouble to you to stand?" asked Anton. + +"That is just what it is," replied Sturm. "It is a sour trial, and every +day more and more so; but, Wilhelm," continued he, addressing the +spokesman of the party, "in a fortnight that will be all over, and there +will then be no more sourness, except, perhaps, a little in your faces +for an hour or two, till evening, when you must come back here and sit +down, and talk of old Sturm as of a comrade who has laid him down to +rest, and who will never lift another burden; for I fancy that yonder, +where we go, there will be nothing heavy." + +"You hear him!" said Wilhelm, anxiously. "He is getting absurd again." + +"What says the doctor to your complaint?" suddenly inquired Anton. + +"The doctor!" said old Sturm; "if he were to be asked about me, he would +have enough to say. But we do not ask him. Between ourselves, there is +no use in a doctor. They may know what is the matter with many men, that +I don't deny; but how should they know what is the matter with us? Not +one of them can lift a barrel." + +"If you have no doctor, my good Mr. Sturm," cried Anton, throwing open +the window, "let me begin at once to play a doctor's part. If your +breathing be oppressed, this close atmosphere is poison to you; and if +you suffer from your feet, you ought not to go on drinking." And he +moved the beer-mug to another table. + +"Hum, hum, hum!" said Sturm, watching his proceedings; "well meant, but +of no use. A little smoke keeps one warm, and we are accustomed to the +beer. After I have sat on this bench all day alone, without work or +company, it is a pleasure to me that my friends should come and enjoy +themselves with me of an evening. They talk to me, and I get some +tidings of the business, and of what is going on in the world." + +"But you yourself, at least, might abstain from beer and tobacco," +replied Anton; "your Karl would tell you the same; and, as he is away, +you must let me take his place." Then turning to the others, "I will +convince him that he is wrong; leave me alone with him for half an +hour." + +The giants left the room. Anton sat by the invalid and spoke on the +father's favorite topic--spoke of his son. + +Sturm forgot all his dark forebodings, and got into excellent spirits. + +At last he turned to Anton with his eyes shut, and said, confidentially, +"Nineteen hundred dollars. He came here once again." + +"But you gave him nothing?" anxiously inquired Anton. + +"Only a hundred dollars," said the old man, apologetically. "He is dead +now, the poor young gentleman. He looked so handsome with his +epaulettes. While a man is a son, he ought not to die: it gives too much +sorrow." + +"I have spoken of your claim to Herr von Fink," said Anton; "he will see +that you are paid." + +"That Karl is paid," suggested old Sturm, looking round; "and you, Mr. +Wohlfart, will undertake to give into my boy's hands what remains in the +chest, if I do not myself see my little fellow." + +"If you don't give up this idea," cried Anton, "I shall become your foe, +and shall treat you with the greatest severity. Early to-morrow morning +you may expect me to bring you Mr. Schröter's doctor." + +"He is a worthy man, no doubt," said Sturm; "his horses must be +remarkably well fed, they are so fat and strong, but he can do nothing +for me." + +The following morning the doctor visited the invalid. + +"I don't consider his case a serious one as yet," said he; "his feet are +swollen, indeed, but that might soon be cured. However, his sedentary +inactive life is so bad for a frame like his, and his diet is so +unwholesome, that I am sorry to say the sudden development of some +serious complaint is only too likely." + +Anton immediately wrote off this opinion to Karl, and added, "Under +these circumstances, your father's own impression that he shall not +survive his fiftieth birth-day makes me very uneasy. It would be well +that you should be with him at that time." + +Several days had now elapsed since Anton had written this letter, and, +meanwhile, he had paid a daily visit to Sturm, who did not appear to +change for the worse, but yet remained firm in his resolve of not +outliving his birth-day. One morning a servant came to Anton's room, and +announced that Sturm the porter urgently wished to see him. + +"Is he worse?" inquired Anton, in dismay; "I will go to him +immediately." + +"He is at the door in a cart," said the servant. + +Anton hurried out. A carrier's cart was standing there, with great +barrel-hoops bent over the wicker-work, and covered by a white sheet, +from which--a corner of it being turned back--the head of Father Sturm, +ensconced in a colossal fur cap, appeared. He wore an anxious face, and, +as soon as he saw Anton, held out a sheet of paper. "Read this, Mr. +Wohlfart; I have had such a letter from my poor Karl! I must go to him +at once. To the estate beyond Rosmin," he added to the driver, a burly +carrier who stood by the vehicle. + +Anton looked at the letter. It was written in the forester's clumsy +characters, and the contents amazed him. "My dear father, I can not come +to you, for a scythe-man has cut off the remainder of my hand, on which +account I beg you, as soon as you get this, to set out to your poor son. +You must take a large conveyance and drive to Rosmin. There you must +stop at the Red Deer. A carriage and a servant from the estate will be +waiting for you. The servant does not understand a word of German, but +he is a good fellow, and will know you when he sees you. You must buy +yourself a fur for the journey, and fur boots which must come above your +knees, and be lined with leather. If you can't find any large enough for +your great legs, godfather Kürschner must, during the night, sew a skin +over your feet. Greet Mr. Wohlfart from me. Your faithful Karl." + +Anton held the letter in his hand, not exactly knowing what to make of +it. + +"What do you say to this new misfortune?" asked the giant, mournfully. + +"At all events, you must go to your son at once," was Anton's reply. + +"Of course I must," said the porter; "this blow comes heavily upon me +just now; the day after to-morrow I shall be fifty." + +The meaning of the letter now flashed upon Anton. "Are you accoutred +according to Karl's directions?" + +"I am," said the giant, throwing back the linen covering; "all is right, +the fur and the boots too." + +Anton looked in, and had some trouble to preserve his gravity. Sturm +looked like a pre-Adamic bear of colossal dimensions. A great sword +leaned against the seat. "Against those scythe-men!" said he, angrily +shaking it. "I have still one other request to make you. Wilhelm has got +the key of my house; will you take charge of this box? it holds what was +formerly under my bed. Keep it for Karl." + +"I will give it into Mr. Schröter's care," replied Anton; "he is just +gone to the railway station, and may be back any moment." + +"Greet him from me," said the giant; "greet him and Miss Sabine, and +tell them both how heartily I thank them for all the friendliness they +have shown to Karl and me." He looked in with emotion at the ground +floor. "Many a happy year I have worked away there, and if the rings on +the hundred weights are well polished, these hands have done their part +to make them so. I have shared the fate of this house for thirty years, +good and bad, and I can tell you, Mr Wohlfart, we were always wide +awake. I shall roll your barrels no more," continued he, turning to the +servants, "and some one else will help you to unload the wagons. Think +often of old Sturm when you fasten up a sugar-cask. Nothing here below +can last forever, not even the strongest; but this firm, Mr. Wohlfart, +will stand and flourish so long as it has a chief like Mr. Schröter, and +men like you, and good hands below there at the great scales. This is my +heart's wish." He folded his hands, and tears rolled down his cheeks. +"And now farewell, Mr. Wohlfart; give me your hand; and farewell Peter, +Franz, Gottfried--all of you, think kindly of me. To Rosmin, driver." +The cart rolled away over the pavement, the sheet opening once more, and +Sturm's great head emerging for a last look and wave of the hand. + +Anton was exceedingly anxious about him for a few days, when a letter +came in Karl's own hand. + +"Dear Mr. Wohlfart," wrote Karl, "you will of course have seen why I +sent that last note to my Goliath. I had to get him out of that room, +and to drive that notion about his birth-day out of his head; so, in my +anxiety, I hazarded a white lie. This is how it all came about: + +"The day before his birth-day, the servant was waiting for him at the +Red Deer in Rosmin. I had ridden over there myself to see how my father +got on, and how he looked; but I kept myself out of sight. About midday +the cart came slowly rumbling up. The driver helped my father out--for +he had great difficulty in moving--which at first gave me a fright about +his legs; but it was really mainly owing to the fur boots and the +jolting. On the street the old boy took out a letter and read it. Then +he went up to Jasch, who had run to the cart, and who had to pretend +that he did not understand a word of German, and began to make all +manner of alarming gesticulations. He held his hand two feet above the +pavement, and when the servant shook his head, the governor stooped down +to the ground. This was meant to signify, 'My manikin!' but as Jasch +failed to understand it, my father caught hold of one hand with the +other, and shook it so violently under Jasch's nose, that the servant, +who, without this, was frightened at the great creature, was near taking +to his heels. At length my father and his effects were packed into a +spring-cart, he having several times walked round, and shaken it rather +mistrustfully. Then he drove off. I had told the servant to drive +straight to the forester's, with whom I had planned every thing. As for +me, I had gone there by a by-path; and as soon as the wagon arrived in +the evening, I slipped into the forester's bed, and had my hand tied +down under the clothes for fear I should stretch it out in my delight. +When the old gentleman reached my bedside, he was so moved that he wept, +and it went to my heart to be obliged to cheat him. I told him that I +was better already, and that the doctor would allow me to get up on the +morrow. This quieted him; and he said, with a most solemn mien, that he +was glad of that, for that the morrow was a great day for him, and that +he must then take to his bed. And so he went on with his nonsense. But +not long. He soon got cheerful. The forester joined us, and we made a +very good supper on what the young lady had sent us from the castle. I +gave the old boy beer, which he pronounced execrable; whereupon the +forester made some punch, and we all three drank heartily--I with my +amputated hand, my father with his melancholy forebodings, and the +forester. What with the long journey, the warm room, and the punch, my +father soon got sleepy (I had had a strong bedstead placed in the +forester's room); he kissed my head as he wished me good-night, tapped +the quilt, and said, 'To-morrow, then, my manikin!' He was asleep in a +moment; and how he slept, to be sure! I got out of the forester's bed, +and watched every breath he drew. It was a weary night. The next morning +he woke late. As soon as he began to stir, the forester came in, +clapping his hands at the door, and exclaiming over and over again, +'Why, Mr. Sturm, what have you done?' 'What have I done?' asked my +Goliath, still half asleep, and looking round in amazement. The birds +were screaming very loud, and every thing looked so strange to him he +hardly knew if he was still on earth or not. 'Where am I?' cried he; +'this place is not in the Bible.' However, the forester went on +exclaiming, 'No; such a thing never was heard of before,' till the old +man was quite alarmed, and anxiously asked what it was. 'What you have +done, Mr. Sturm!' cried the forester; 'why, you have slept a night, and +then a day, and then another night!' 'How so?' said my old boy; 'to-day +is Wednesday, the 13th.' 'No such thing,' affirmed the forester; 'to-day +is the 14th: it is Thursday.' So they went on disputing. At last the +forester took out his pocket-book, on which he strikes out each day as +it passes, and there was a great stroke over Wednesday; and on Tuesday +he had put down as a memorandum, 'To-day, at seven o'clock, the +bailiff's father arrived: a very tall man, can drink plenty of punch;' +and on Wednesday, 'The bailiff's father has been asleep the whole day +through.' Having read this, my governor got quite composed, and said, +'It's all correct: here we have it in black and white. Tuesday, I +arrived at seven--a tall man--plenty of punch; all this tallies. +Wednesday is past. This is Thursday--this is the 14th.' After some +musing, he cried, 'Where is my son Karl?' Then I entered, my arm bound +up, and told the same tale as the forester, till he said, 'I am like one +bewitched; I don't know what to think.' 'Why, don't you see,' said I, +'that I am out of bed? Yesterday, when you were asleep, the doctor came, +and gave me leave to get up. Now I am so well that I can lift this chair +with my stiff arm.' 'No more weights,' said the old man. Then I went on: +'I spoke of your case, too, to the doctor. He is a skillful man, and +told us one of two things would happen: either you would go off, or +sleep through it. If he sleeps throughout the day,' said he, 'he will +get over it. It's a serious crisis. Such things will happen +sometimes'--'To us porters,' chimed in the old man. And so it was that +we got him out of his bed; and he was very cheerful. But I was anxious +all day long, and never left him. At noon all was nearly lost when the +farmer came in to speak to me. Luckily, though, the forester had locked +the yard door, and so he went out and gave the farmer a hint. As soon as +the latter came in, my father called out, 'What day is it, comrade?' +'Thursday,' said the farmer, 'the 14th;' at which my father's whole face +broke out into a laugh, and he cried, 'Now it's certain; now I believe +it.' However, he slept at the forester's that night too, that we might +get the birth-day well over. + +"The next day I took my father to the farm-yard, to the room next mine. +I had had it hastily furnished for him. Herr von Fink, who knew all +about it, sent some good stout things from the castle; I had his old +Blucher hung up, let in some robin-redbreasts, and put in a joiner's +bench and a few tools, that he might feel comfortable. So I said, 'This +is your room, father; you must stay with me now.' 'No,' said he; 'that +will never do, my manikin.' 'There is no help for it,' I replied; 'Herr +von Fink will have it so, Mr. Wohlfart will have it so, Mr. Schröter +will have it so; you must give way. We won't part again as long as we +are on earth.' And then drew my hand out of its bandages, and gave him +such a fine lecture about his unhealthy way of life, and his fancies, +that he got quite soft, and said all manner of kind things to me. Next +came Herr von Fink, and welcomed him in his own merry way; and in the +afternoon our young lady brought the baron in. The poor blind gentleman +was quite delighted with my father; he liked his voice much, felt him +all over, and as he went away, called him a man after his own heart; and +so he must be, for the baron has come every afternoon since to my +father's little room, and listened to his sawing and hammering. + +"My father is still a good deal perplexed at all he sees here, and he is +not quite clear about that day he is said to have slept, though he must +be up to it too, for ever since he often catches me by the head, and +calls me a rascal. This word now replaces 'dwarf' and 'manikin' in his +talk, although it is a still worse appellation for a bailiff. He is +going to be a wheelwright, and has been cutting out spokes all day. I am +only afraid he will work too hard. I rejoice to have him here, and if he +once gets over the winter, he will soon walk off the weakness in his +feet. He means to sell the little house, but only to a porter. He begs +that you will offer it to Wilhelm, who now rents one, and say that he +shall have it cheaper than a stranger." + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + + +A week after the death of Hippus, Anton was sitting in his own room, +writing to Fink. He was telling him that the lawyer's corpse had been +taken out of the river at the wear at the end of the town, and that the +cause of his death was uncertain. A child belonging to the house in +which the wretched man lived had told that, on the evening of the search +made by the police, Hippus had been met in the street, near his own +dwelling; since then, nothing had been seen of him. Under these +circumstances, suicide did not appear unlikely. However, the police were +of opinion that the crushed hat afforded evidence of violence. No papers +had been found at his dwelling, and a second search had been made there +without results. Anton gave it as his own opinion respecting the fearful +event that Itzig was in some way connected with it. + +At that moment the door was opened, the Galician hastily entered the +room, and, without speaking a word, laid an old pair of spectacles, set +in rusty steel, on the table before Anton, who, looking at the agitated +face before him, sprang from his seat. + +"His spectacles," hoarsely whispered Tinkeles; "I found them close to +the water. Just God! that any one should have such a fright as that!" + +"Whose spectacles are they, and where did you find them?" inquired +Anton, guessing at what the Galician lacked strength to tell, and +looking with horror at the dim glasses before him. "Compose yourself, +Tinkeles, and speak." + +"It can not remain concealed--it cries to Heaven!" said Tinkeles, in +great excitement. "You shall hear how it came to pass. Two days after I +had spoken with you about the two hundred dollars, I went in the evening +to the sleeping-room at Löbel Pinkus's. As I entered the court a man ran +against me in the dark. I thought, is that Itzig, or is it not? I said +to myself, It is Itzig; that is his run when he runs in haste. When I +got up into the large room, it was empty, and I sat down at the table +and looked into my pocket-book; and as I sat there, the wind rose +outside, and there was a knocking in the gallery, as if some one was +knocking who wanted to get in, and could not open a door. I was +frightened, and put up my letters, and cried, 'If any one is there, let +him say so.' No one answered, but the knocking went on all the time. +Then I summoned up courage, took up the lamp, and went into the gallery, +and searched every room. I could see no one. And again there was the +knocking close to me, and then a great crack, and a door flew open, +which had never been open before, and from the door steps led down to +the water. When I put the lamp near the steps, I saw that a wet foot had +come up them, and the marks of it were to be seen all the way to the +room--wet spots on the floor. And I marveled, and said to myself, +'Schmeie,' said I, 'who has gone by night out of the water into the +room, leaving the door open, like a spirit?' And I was afraid; and +before I closed the door, I once more looked along the steps with the +lamp, and then I saw something sparkle in the light close to the water, +on the last step of all, and I ventured down one step after the other: +woe is me, Mr. Wohlfart, it was a hard task. The wind howled, and blew +my lamp about, and the staircase became as dark as a well; and that +which I picked up is yonder"--pointing to the spectacles--"the glasses +that he wore before his eyes." + +"And how do you know that they are the dead man's spectacles?" asked +Anton, in painful suspense. + +"I know them by the joint, which is tied round with black worsted. I +have often seen him in Pinkus's room with those spectacles on. So I hid +the spectacles, and thought to myself that I would say nothing about +them to Pinkus, but give them myself to Hippus, and see whether he could +be of use to me in business. I carried about the glasses till to-day, +expecting to see him; and when he did not come, I asked Pinkus for him, +and he answered, 'I know not where he is hiding.' And to-day, at noon, +as I entered the inn, Pinkus came running toward me, and said, +'Schmeie,' said he, 'if you want to speak to Hippus, you'll have to go +into the water; he has been found in the water.' It went through me like +a shot when he said this, and I had to hold on by the wall." + +Anton went to his writing-table, dashed off a few lines to the +detective, who had not long left him, rang the bell, and desired the +servant to take the note in all haste. + +Meanwhile Tinkeles had sunk down on a chair, and kept muttering +unintelligibly. + +Anton, scarcely less agitated, paced up and down the room. At last the +silence was broken by the Galician raising his voice, and inquiring, "Do +not you think that the spectacles will be worth the hundred dollars you +have for me in your writing-desk?" + +"I don't know," curtly replied Anton, continuing to pace up and down. +Schmeie relapsed into exhaustion and silence. At length he looked up +again and said, "At least fifty?" + +"None of your bargaining at present," replied Anton, dryly. + +"Why not?" cried Tinkeles, in dudgeon. "I have had a great fright; is +that to go for nothing?" And he was again absorbed in distress. + +The interview was interrupted by the appearance of the detective. This +experienced officer made the Galician repeat his tale, took the +spectacles, ordered a coach for himself and the reluctant Tinkeles, and +said to Anton as he left, "Prepare for a sudden clearing up; whether I +shall carry out my purpose is still uncertain, but there is a prospect +for you of finding the documents you seek." + +"At what a cost!" cried Anton, shuddering. + +The drawing-room in Ehrenthal's house was brilliantly lit up, and +through the drawn curtain a slight glimmer fell upon the small rain that +sank down like mist on the streets. Several rooms were opened; heavy +silver candelabra stood about; bright tea-services, gay sets of +porcelain--every thing in the house had been brushed up, washed, and +displayed; the dark floor had been newly waxed; even the cook had a +newly plaited cap--in short, the whole house was renovated. The fair +Rosalie stood in the midst of all this splendor, in a dress of yellow +silk, trimmed with purple flowers, gorgeous as a <i>houri</i> of Paradise, +and, like them, prepared to receive her elect. Her mother smoothed the +thick folds of her dress, looked triumphantly at her, and said, in a +transport of motherly love, "How beautiful you are to-day, Rosalie, my +only child!" + +But Rosalie was too much accustomed to this admiration to heed it, and +went on trying to fasten a bracelet on her round arm. "It was really too +bad of Itzig to bring me turquoises; he ought to have known that they +are out of fashion." + +"They are very handsomely set," said her mother, soothingly. "The gold +is massive, and the pattern quite new." + +"And where is Itzig? To-day, at least, he ought to come early; the +relatives will all be here before the bridegroom," said Rosalie, +complainingly. + +"He will be here in time," replied Itzig's patroness. "You know how he +toils and moils that you may have a brilliant establishment. You are +fortunate," said she, with a sigh; "you are now entering upon life, and +you will be a lady of consequence. You must go to the capital for a few +weeks after your marriage, to spend the honeymoon quietly, and be +introduced to my relations; and, meanwhile, I shall have this story +furnished for you, and will move up stairs, and spend the rest of my +life in nursing Ehrenthal." + +"Will my father make his appearance to-day?" inquired Rosalie. + +"He must do so on account of our relations. He must pronounce the +paternal blessing upon you." + +"He is sure to bring disgrace upon us, and to talk nonsense again," said +the dutiful daughter. + +"I have told him what he is to say," answered her mother; "and he +nodded, to show that he understood me." + +The bell rang, the door opened, and company appeared. The room soon +filled. Ladies in gorgeous gold-embroidered silk dresses, with sparkling +chains and ear-rings, occupied the large sofa and arm-chairs around. +They were mostly large in figure, with here and there a pair of lustrous +eyes and a set of handsome features. They looked like a gay tulip-bed +out of which the gardener has rooted every sober-colored flower. Behind +them stood the gentlemen, with cunning faces and hands in their pockets, +altogether much less imposing and agreeable to behold. Thus all the +company waited for the bridegroom, who still delayed his coming. + +At length he appeared. His eyes wandered suspiciously around; his voice +faltered as he accosted his betrothed. He strove to the utmost to find +some polite words to say to the beautiful girl, and could almost himself +have laughed savagely at the blank he felt within. He did not see her +brilliant eyes, her gorgeous bust, and magnificent attire. Even when at +her side he was obliged to think of something else--of that of which he +was always thinking. He soon turned away from her and joined the +gentlemen, who became more conversable after his arrival. A few +commonplace observations, made by the younger men, were heard from time +to time, such as, "Miss Rosalie looks enchantingly beautiful;" and, "I +wonder whether Ehrenthal will appear;" and, "This long continuance of +fog is unusual, and very unhealthy: one is obliged to wear flannel." At +length some one uttered the words "four and a half per cent." There was +an end of detached remarks; a subject of conversation had been found. +Itzig was one of the loudest, gesticulating on all sides. They spoke of +the funds--of wool--of the failure of a money-broker who had +over-speculated in paper. The ladies were forgotten; and, being quite +accustomed to it on such occasions, they solemnly held their tea-cups in +their hands, smoothed the folds of their dresses, and moved their +throats and arms so as to make their bracelets and chains sparkle in the +light. + +The conversation was now interrupted by a strange sound: a door was +opened, and in the midst of profound silence a heavy arm-chair was +rolled into the room. + +In the arm-chair sat an old, white-haired man, with a fat, swollen face, +with staring eyes, bent frame, and arms supinely hanging down. It was +Hirsch Ehrenthal, the imbecile. The chair being rolled into the midst of +the assembly, he looked slowly round, nodded, and repeated over and over +again the words he had been taught: "Good-evening--good evening." His +wife now bent over him, and, raising her voice, said in his ear, "Do you +know the company here assembled? They are our relatives." + +"I know," nodded the figure; "it is a soiree. They all went to a great +soiree, and I remained alone in my room, and I sat on his bed. Where is +Bernhard, that he does not come to his old father?" + +The guests who had surrounded the arm-chair now retreated in confusion; +and the lady of the house again screamed in the old man's ear, "Bernhard +is traveling, but your daughter Rosalie is here." + +"Traveling?" mournfully inquired the old man. "How can he be traveling? +I wanted to buy him a horse, that he might ride it; I wanted to buy him +an estate, that he might live on it, like a respectable man, as he +always was. I know," he cried, "when I last saw him, he was in bed. He +lay on a bed, and he raised his clenched hand, and shook it at his +father." + +"Come here, Rosalie," cried her mother, distressed at these +reminiscences. "When your father sees you, my child, he will have other +thoughts." + +Rosalie approached, and, spreading out her handkerchief, knelt down +before the arm-chair. "Do you know me, father?" she cried. + +"I know you," said the old man. "You are a woman. Why should a woman lie +on the earth? Give me my praying-cloak, and speak the prayer. I will +kneel in your place, for a long night has come upon us. When it is +past, we will kindle the lights, and will eat. It will be time to put on +gay garments then. Why do you wear gay garments now, when the Lord is +wroth with the congregation?" He began to murmur a prayer, and again +collapsed. + +Rosalie rose impatiently; and her mother said, in much embarrassment, +"He is worse to-day than he has ever been. I wished your father to be +present at his daughter's betrothal, but I see that he can not perform +the duties of the head of the family. I have, then, in my character of +mother, to make a happy announcement to the company assembled." Then +solemnly taking her daughter's hand, she said, "Draw nearer, Itzig." + +Hitherto Itzig had silently stood with the rest, and stared at the old +man, from time to time shrugging his shoulders, and shaking his head +over the melancholy spectacle, as became his position in the family. But +there was another form present before his eyes: he knew better than any +who it was that wailed and groaned; he knew, too, who had died and had +not forgiven. Mechanically he advanced, his eyes still fixed on +Ehrenthal. The guests now formed a circle around him and Rosalie, and +her mother took his hand. + +Then the old man in the arm-chair began again. "Hush!" said he, +distinctly; "there he stands--the invisible. We go home from the burial, +and he dances among the women. He will strike down all he looks upon. +There he stands!" he screamed, and rose from his chair. "There! there! +Throw down your water-jars and fly into the house, for he who stands +there is cursed of the Lord. Cursed!" he screamed; and, clenching his +hands, he tottered like a madman toward Itzig. + +Itzig's face grew ghastly; he tried to laugh, but his features quivered +with fear. Suddenly the door was opened, and his errand-boy looked +anxiously into the room. One glance sufficed to tell Itzig all that the +youth had to say. He was discovered--he was in danger. He sprang to the +door and disappeared. + +Lay aside your bridal attire, fair Rosalie; throw off the turquoise +bracelet. For you there is no betrothal--no marriage feast. Soon you +will leave the town with drooping head, glad, by flying among strangers, +to escape the mockery of cruel hearts at home. The gold that your father +heaped up for his children by usury and fraud will again roll from hand +to hand, will serve good and bad alike, will swell the mighty tide of +wealth by which human life is sustained and adorned, peoples and states +made great and powerful, and individuals strong or weak, each according +to his work. + +Without, the night was dark, small rain was falling, and the air was +chill. Itzig rushed down the steps. A trembling voice called out after +him, "The police are in the house; they are breaking open the +room-door." He heard no more; a horrible dread filled his soul. Thought +after thought passed through his brain with delirious rapidity. He felt +his pocket, in which he had for the last week kept a large sum of money. +It was not the hour of departure of any train that would take him to the +sea, and at all the stations he would be watched for. He ran along +through narrow streets in remote parts of the town, turning back +whenever he got near a lamp, his pace increasingly rapid, his thoughts +increasingly confused. At last his strength failed him, and he cowered +down in a corner to collect himself. But soon he heard a watchman's +hollow horn sound near him. Here, too, was danger. Again he rushed +onward to the one and only place that stood out clearly defined in his +thoughts--the place he shuddered at, yet turned to as a last refuge. As +he neared the inn he saw a dark shadow at the door. The little lawyer +had often stood there in the dark, waiting for Veitel's return. Was he +standing there now and waiting? The wretched fugitive started back, then +approached--the door was free; he stepped in, but the shadow rose again +behind him and stood at the door. Veitel took off his boots and crept up +stairs, groped in the dark for a room door, opened it with trembling +hand, and took down a bunch of keys from the wall, with which he hurried +to the gallery, hearing, as if at a great distance, the long-drawn +breath of sleeping men. He stood at the door of the staircase; a violent +shudder convulsed him as he went down step after step. When he first put +his foot into the water he heard a lamentable groan. He clung to the +banisters as that other had done, and looked down. Again there was a +groan, and he now found out it was only his own breathing. He felt the +depth of the water with his foot. It had risen since that time--it was +higher than his knee, but he found a footing and stood safely in the +stream. + +The night was dark, the rain still came down, the mist hung thick over +the houses--a gable, a paling peeping out here and there; the water +rushed along, the only sound to break the silence of the night, and in +this man's ear it roared like thunder. He felt all the torments of the +lost while wading on and groping for his way. He had to cling to the +slippery palings in order not to sink. He reached the staircase of the +next house, felt in his pockets for the key--one swing round the corner, +and his foot would be on the lowest step. Just as he was about to turn +he started back, his raised foot fell into the water; he saw a dark +stooping figure on the staircase. There it sat motionless. He knew the +outline of the old hat; dark as it was, he could see the ugly features +of the well-known face. He wiped his eyes, he waved his hands to dispel +it; it was no illusion; the spectre sat there a few steps off. At length +the horrible thing stretched out a hand toward him. The murderer started +back, his foot slipped off the platform, he fell up to his neck in +water. There he stood in the stream, the wind howling over him, the +water rushing ever louder and louder. He raised his hands, his eyes +still fixed upon the vision. Slowly it rose from its seat--it moved +along the platform--it stretched out its hand. He sprang back +horror-stricken into the stream--a fall, a loud scream, the short +drowning struggle, and all was over. The stream rolled on, and carried +the corpse away. + +There was a stir along the river's edge; torches flared, arms glistened, +loud shouts were heard, and from the foot of the steps a man waded into +the water and exclaimed, "He was gone before I could reach him. +To-morrow we shall find him at the wear." + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + + +The tavern of Löbel Pinkus was thoroughly searched, the secret stores in +the next house brought to light, and several stolen goods of new and old +date being therein found, the tavern-keeper himself was sent to prison. +Among the things thus discovered was the baron's empty casket, and, in +the secret door of a locked-up press, the missing notes of hand, and +both the deeds of mortgage. In Itzig's house a document was found, by +which Pinkus declared Veitel possessor of the first mortgage of twenty +thousand. Pinkus's obdurate nature being a good deal softened by the +search, he confessed what he had no longer any interest in denying, that +he, had been commissioned by Veitel to pay the money to the baron, and +that the sum only amounted to about ten thousand dollars; so the baron +recovered his claim to the half of the first mortgage. Pinkus was +sentenced to long imprisonment. The mysterious tavern was given up; and +Tinkeles, who had, immediately upon Veitel's death, demanded his second +hundred dollars from Anton, carried his bundle and his caftan to another +retreat. His friendly feelings for the firm of T. O. Schröter had been so +quickened by the late occurrences, that they had to be on their guard, +and to decline some weighty commercial transactions on which he was most +anxious that they should enter with him. The natural consequence of +their shyness was to impress Tinkeles with their wisdom, and he +continued to frequent the counting-house, without, by any further +audacious speculations, hazarding its favor. Pinkus's house was sold to +a worthy dyer, and blue and black wool were seen hanging down from the +gallery over which Veitel's haggard form had so often leaned. + +After long discussions with the attorney and the humbled Ehrenthals, +Anton received the notes of hand and the last mortgage in return for +payment of twenty thousand dollars. + +Meanwhile the sale of the family property came on. A purchaser sought +out Anton even before the term, and arrangements were made which more +than insured the covering of all mortgages. + +The day after the term Anton wrote to the baroness, inclosing the +baron's notes of hand. He sealed up the letter with the cheerful feeling +that out of all the wreck and ruin he had saved for Lenore a dowry of +about thirty thousand dollars. + +The white snow again lay heavy on the Polish castle, and the crows left +the print of their feet on its roof. Winter's holiday robes were spread +over wood and field, the earth was hushed in deepest slumber, no +sheep-dog barked in the meadows, the farming implements were all laid +by, and yet there was life and animation on the estate, and workmen were +busy in the second story with foot-rule and saw. The ground was uneven +in the farm-yard, for the foundation of a new building had been dug; and +in the rooms around, and even out in the sunshine, workmen from the +town--- joiners, wheelwrights, and cabinet-makers--were busily employed. +They whistled cheerily at their work, and the yellow shavings flew far +and wide. New energies, in short, are visible in all directions, and +when spring comes, a colony of laborers will spread over the country, +and force the long-dormant soil to yield the fruits of industry. + +Father Sturm sat in his warm room; hammering away. + +Opposite him, in the only cushioned chair, reclined the blind baron, +staff in hand, listening intently. + +"You must be tired, Sturm," said the baron. + +"Nay," cried the giant, "my hands are as strong as ever, and this is +only a small barrel for rain-water--mere child's work." + +"He once hid in a little barrel," said the baron to himself. "He was a +delicate child. His nurse had put him in to bathe him, and he had bent +his back and knees in such a way that he could not get out. I was +obliged to have the hoops knocked off to extricate my boy from his +prison." + +The giant cleared his throat. "Were they iron hoops?" he asked, +sympathizingly. + +"It was my son," said the baron, his features quivering. + +"Yes," whispered Sturm, "he was stately; he was a handsome man; it was a +pleasure to hear his sword rattle; and to see how he twisted his little +beard." Alas! how often he had said this before to the blind father. + +"It was the will of Heaven!" said the baron, folding his hands. + +"It was," repeated old Sturm. "Our Lord God chose to take him when at +his best. That was an honor; and no man could leave the world more +beautifully. It was for his parents and his fatherland that he put on +his coat with epaulettes, and he was victorious, and driving those Poles +before him, when the Lord called out his name and enrolled him in his +own guard." + +"But I must remain behind," said the baron. + +"And I rejoice that I, too, have seen our young master," continued +Sturm, more fluently; "for you know that he was our young master then. +You trusted my Karl with the whole management of the farm, and so it was +an honor for me to be able to show that I trusted your son." + +"It was wrong of him to borrow money from you," said the baron, shaking +his head. And this he said, because he had often heard old Sturm's +comforting reply, and longed to hear it again. + +The giant laid his tool aside, ran his hand through his hair, and tried +to look very bold as he began, in a light-hearted tone, "Do you know, +sir, that one must make allowance for a young gentleman? Youth will be +wild. Many have to borrow money in their young days, particularly when +they wear such a beautiful coat, with silver fringe upon it. We were no +niggards either, baron," he continued, deprecatingly, gently tapping the +blind man's knee with his tool. "And the young officer was very polite, +and I believe that he was somewhat bashful. And when I gave him the +money, I could see how sorry he was to want it. I gave it him all the +more readily. Then, when I helped him into the drosky, and he leaned out +of the carriage, I can assure you he was much moved, and reached out +both of his little hands to clasp my fist, and shake it once more. And +while he was sitting there, the light fell on his face--a sweet, kind +face it was, something like yours, and still more like the baroness, as +far as I have been able to see her." + +The blind man, too, stretched out his hands to grasp the porter's fist. +Sturm pushed his bench forward, took the baron's hands in his right one, +and stroked them with his left. Both sat silent, side by side. + +At last the baron began with broken voice to say, "You were the last who +showed kindness to my Eugene. I thank you for it from my inmost heart. +An unfortunate, broken-down man thanks you. So long as I live I shall +implore the blessing of the Most High on your head. My son will never +support my feeble footsteps in my old age, but Heaven has preserved a +good son to you. All the blessings that I wished for my poor Eugene, I +now pray to God may be the portion of your Karl." + +Sturm wiped his eyes, and then clasped the baron's hands again. The two +fathers sat together in silence, till, with a sigh, the baron rose. +Sturm carefully took his arm, and led him through yard and meadow to the +castle terrace; for there is a road now up to the tower--a road with a +stone parapet, and the door can be reached by carriages and on foot. +Sturm rings the bell, the baron's valet hurries down, and leads his +master up the steps, for Father Sturm still finds a staircase hard work. + +Meanwhile a carriage stops in the farm-yard. Karl respectfully hurries +from his room, and the new proprietor jumps down. + +"Good-day, sergeant," cried Fink; "how goes it in the castle and on the +farm? How are the Fräulein and the baroness?" + +"All right," reported Karl, "only the baroness is very feeble. We have +been expecting you for a week past. The family have been daily asking +whether there were any tidings of you." + +"I was detained," said Fink; "and perhaps I should not be back now, but +that, since this fall of snow, there is no judging of land. I have +bought Dobrowitz." + +"Zounds!" cried Karl, in delight. + +"Capital ground," continued Fink; "five hundred acres of wood, in which +the manure lies nearly a foot deep. In the Polish hole close by, which +they call a town, the Jews thronged like ants when they heard that +henceforth our spurs would jingle daily over their market-place. I say, +bailiff, you will be delighted when you see the new property. I have a +great mind to send you over there next spring. But what have you +there--a letter from Anton? Let's have it." He hastily tore it open. "Is +the Fräulein in the castle?" + +"Yes, Herr von Fink." + +"Very well. A messenger goes this evening to Neudorf;" and with rapid +step he hurried into the house. + +Lenore sat in her room sewing, with a good deal of cut-out linen round +her. She diligently passed her needle through the stiff cloth, sometimes +stretching the seam on her knee, smoothing it with her thimble, and +looking doubtfully to see whether each individual stitch was small and +even. Then that rapid footstep was heard in the passage, and springing +up, she convulsively pressed her work together. But she composed herself +by a mighty effort, and sat down again to her task. He knocked at her +door. A deep blush spread slowly over her face, and her "Come in" hardly +reached her guest's ear. As Fink entered, he glanced with some curiosity +around the plainly-furnished room, which had a few chalk drawings by +Lenore on the walls, but nothing else except absolutely necessary +furniture. Even the little panther-skin sofa was gone. + +When Fink bowed before her, she inquired in a tone of indifference, +"Have you been detained by any thing unpleasant? We were all uneasy +about you." + +"A property that I have bought interfered with my return. I come now in +all haste to report myself to my mistress, and, at the same time, I +bring a packet which Anton has sent for the baroness. If she feels +sufficiently well to see me, will you prepare her to do so?" + +Lenore took the letter. "I will go immediately to my mother; pray excuse +me;" and, slightly bending, she tried to pass him. + +Fink waved her back, and said jokingly, "I find you most housewifely +busy with needle and scissors. Who is the happy one for whom you are +sewing those wedge-shaped pieces together?" + +Lenore blushed again. "Gentlemen must not inquire into the mysteries of +feminine work," said she. + +"I know, however, that the thimble did not usually stand high in your +favor," said Fink, good-humoredly. "Is it necessary, dear lady, that you +should ruin your eyes?" + +"Yes, Herr von Fink," returned Lenore, firmly, "it is, and it will be +necessary." + +"Oh ho!" cried Fink, shaking his head, and comfortably leaning against +the back of a chair. "Do you suppose, then, that I have not long ago +remarked your secret campaigns with needle and scissors, and also your +grave face, and the magnificent bearing you assume toward me, naughty +boy that I am? Where is the panther-sofa? Where is the brotherly +frankness that I have a right to expect after our understanding? You +have kept very imperfectly to our agreement. I see plainly that my good +friend is inclined to give me up, and withdraw with the best grace +possible; but permit me to remark that this will hardly avail you. You +will not get rid of me." + +"Be generous, Herr von Fink," cried Lenore, in extreme excitement. "Do +not make what I have to do still harder. Yes, I am preparing to part +from this place--to part from you." + +"You refuse, then, to remain with me?" said Fink, with a frowning brow. +"Very well; I shall return, and implore till I am heard. If you run +away, I shall run after you; and if you cut off your beautiful hair and +fly to a convent, I'll leap the walls and fetch you out. Have I not +wooed you as the adventurer in the fairy tales does the king's daughter? +To win you, proud Lenore, I have turned sand into grass, and transformed +myself into a respectable farmer. Therefore, beloved mistress, be +reasonable, and do not torment me by maidenly caprices." + +"Oh, respect such caprices," cried Lenore, bursting into tears. "In the +solitude of these last weeks I have wrestled hourly with my sorrow. I am +a poor girl, whose duty it is to live for her afflicted parent. The +dower that I should bring you would be sickness, gloom, and poverty." + +"You are mistaken," replied Fink, earnestly. "Our friend has provided +for you. He has hunted two rascals into the water, and has paid your +father's debts. The baron has a nice little fortune remaining; and I can +tell your perverse ladyship you are no bad match after all, if you lay +any stress upon that. The letter you hold upsets all your philosophy." + +Lenore looked at the envelope and threw the letter away. + +"No," cried she, beside herself. "When, shattered by sorrow, I lay upon +your breast, you then told me I was to get stronger; and every day I +feel that, when I come into contact with you, I have no strength, no +opinion, no will of my own. Whatever you say appears to me right, and I +forget how I thought before. What you require I must needs do, +unresisting as a slave. The woman who goes through life at your side +should be your equal in intellect and power, and should feel reliant in +her own province; but I am an uncultivated, helpless girl. In my foolish +love I let it appear that I could do for your sake what no woman should. +You find nothing in me to respect. You would kiss me and--endure me." +Lenore's hand clenched, and her eyes flashed as she spoke. + +"Does it then repent you so much that for my sake you sent a bullet into +that villain's shoulder?" said Fink. "What I now see looks less like +love than hatred." + +"I hate you?" cried the poor girl, hiding her face with her hands. + +He took her hands, drew her to him, and pressed a kiss upon her lips. +"Trust me, Lenore." + +"Leave me! leave me!" cried Lenore, struggling; but her lips were +pressed to his, and her arms twined around him; and, looking into his +face with a passionate expression of love and fear, she gradually sank +down at his feet. + +Thoroughly moved, Fink stooped and raised her. "Mine you are, and I hold +you fast," cried he. "With rifle and bullet I have bought your stormy +heart. In the same breath you tell me sweet things and bitter. What, +then, am I such a despot that a noble-minded woman should fear to come +under my yoke? Just as you are, Lenore--resolute, bold, a little +passionate devil--just so will I have you remain. We have been +companions in arms, and so we shall continue to be. The day may return +when we shall both raise our guns to our cheeks, and the people about us +need natures more disposed to give than to take a blow. Were you not my +heart's desire, were you a man, I should like to have you for my life's +companion; so, Lenore, you will be to me not only a beloved wife, but a +courageous friend, the confidante of all my plans, my best and truest +comrade." + +Lenore shook her head, but she clung to him firmly. "I ought to be your +housewife," sighed she. + +Fink caressingly stroked back her hair and kissed her burning brow. "Be +content, sweetheart," said he, tenderly, "and make up your mind to it. +We have been together in a fire strong enough to bring love to maturity, +and we know each other thoroughly. Between ourselves, we shall have many +a storm in our house. I am no easy-going companion, at least for a +woman, and you will very soon find that will of yours again, the loss of +which you are now lamenting. Be at rest, darling, you shall be as +headstrong as of yore; you need not distress yourself on that account; +so you may prepare for a few storms, but for hearty love and a merry +life as well. I will have you laugh again, Lenore. You will have no need +to make my shirts, and, if you don't like account-keeping, why, let it +alone; and if you do sometimes give your boys a box on the ear, it will +do our brood no harm. I think you will give yourself to me." + +Lenore was silent, but she clung closer to his breast. Fink drew her +away. "Come to our mother!" cried he. + +Both bent over the bed of the invalid. A brightness passed over the pale +face of the baroness as she laid her hands on Fink's head and gave him +her blessing. + +"She is still a child," said she. "It remains with you, my son, to make +a good woman of her." + +She sent her children out of the room. "Go to your father; bring him to +me, and leave us alone together." + +When the baron sat by the side of his wife, she drew his hand to her +lips and whispered, "Let me thank you, Oscar, to-day, for many years of +happiness--for all your love." + +"Poor wife!" murmured the blind man. + +"What you have done and suffered," continued the baroness, "you have +done and suffered for me and my son, and we both leave you behind in a +joyless world. You were not to have the happiness of transferring an +inheritance; you are the last to bear the name of Rothsattel." + +The baron groaned. + +"But the reputation we leave behind will be spotless as was your whole +life till two hours of despair." She placed the bundle of notes of hand +in the blind man's grasp; then, having torn each one up, she rang the +bell, and told the servant to put them piece by piece into the stove. +The flames leaped up and threw a red light over the room till the last +was consumed. The evening closed in, and the baron lay on the sick +lady's bed, and hid his face in the pillows, while she held her hands +folded over him, and her lips moved in prayer. + +In the early morning light the ravens and jackdaws fluttered over the +snowy roof; their black wings hovered a while above the tower; then, +with loud cries, they broke away to the wood, to announce to their +feathered race that the castle walls contained a bride and a corpse. The +pale lady from a foreign land has died in the night, and the blind man +who is lying in his daughter's arms has but one consolation, that of +knowing that he shall soon follow her to her endless rest. And the +ill-omened birds scream out to the winds that the old Slavonic curse has +fallen on the castle, and the doom has lighted on the foreign settlers +too. + +But little cares the man who now holds sway within the castle walls +whether a raven croak or a lark sing, and if a curse lie on his +property, he will laughingly blow it away. His life will be a ceaseless +and successful conflict with the dark influences around, and from the +Slavonic castle will come out a band of noble boys, and a new German +race, strong and enduring in mind and body, will overspread the land--a +race of colonists and conquerors. + + * * * * * + +In a few cordial lines Fink announced to his friend his own betrothal +and the death of the baroness. A sealed note to Sabine was inclosed in +the envelope. + +It was evening when the postman brought the letter to Anton's room. Long +did he sit pondering its contents; at length he took up the note to +Sabine, and hurried to the front part of the house. + +He found the merchant in his study, and gave him the letter. + +The merchant immediately called in Sabine. "Fink is betrothed; here is +his announcement." + +Sabine clasped her hands in delight, and was hurrying off to Anton, but +she stopped with a blush, took her note to the lamp, and opened it. +There could not have been much in it, for she read it in an instant, +and, though she tried hard to look grave, could not suppress a smile. At +another time Anton would have watched her mood with passionate interest; +to-day he scarcely heeded it. + +"You will spend the evening with us, dear Wohlfart?" said the merchant. + +Anton replied, "I was going to ask you to spare me a few moments. I have +something to say to you." He looked uneasily at Sabine. + +"Let her hear it. Remain, Sabine," said the merchant to his sister, who +was just going to slip away; "you are good friends; Mr. Wohlfart will +not object to your presence. Speak, my friend; what can I do for you?" + +Anton bit his lips and looked again at the beloved form that leaned with +downcast eyes against the door. "May I inquire, Mr. Schröter," he at +length began, "whether you have found the situation for which you kindly +promised to look out?" + +Sabine moved uneasily, and the merchant looked up in amazement. "I +believe I shall soon have something to offer you; but is there any great +hurry about it, dear Wohlfart?" + +"There is," replied Anton, gravely. "I have not a day to lose. My +relations to the Rothsattel family are now entirely closed, and the +fearful events with which I have been connected during the last weeks +have affected my health. I yearn for repose. Regular employment in some +foreign city, where nothing will remind me of the past, is, however, +positively essential to me." + +Again Sabine moved, but a look from her brother kept her back. + +"And could you not find that repose which I too wish for you here with +us?" inquired the merchant. + +"No," replied Anton, in a faint voice; "I beg you not to be offended if +I leave you to-day." + +"Leave us!" cried the merchant. "I see no reason for such haste. You can +recruit here; the ladies must take better care of you than hitherto. +Wohlfart complains of you, Sabine. He looks pale and worn. You and our +cousin must not allow that." + +Sabine did not answer a word. + +"I must go, Mr. Schröter," said Anton, decidedly. "To-morrow I set out." + +"And will you not at least tell your friends the reason of so hasty a +departure?" said the merchant, gravely. + +"You know the reason. I have done with my past. Hitherto I have ill +provided for my future; for I am about to seek and win, in some +subordinate situation, the confidence and good opinion of strangers. I +have become, too, very poor in friends. I must separate for years from +all I love. I have some cause to feel alone, and since I must needs +begin life again, it is best to do so as soon as possible, for every day +that I spend here is fruitless, and only makes my strength less, the +necessary parting harder." He spoke in deep emotion, his voice +trembling, but he did not lose his self-control. Then going up to +Sabine, he took her hand. "In this last hour I tell you, in the presence +of your brother, what it can not offend you to hear, for you have known +it long. Parting from you pains me more than I can say. Farewell!" And +now he fairly broke down, and turned to the window. + +After a pause the merchant said, "Your sudden departure, dear Wohlfart, +will be inconvenient to my sister as well as to me. Sabine was anxious +to request such a service from you as a merchant's sister is likely to +require. I, too, wish very much that you should not refuse her. Sabine +begs that you will look over some papers for her. It will be no great +task." + +Anton turned, and made a deprecating gesture. + +"Before you decide, listen to a fact that you have probably not known +before," continued the merchant. "Ever since my father's death, Sabine +has secretly been my partner, and her advice and opinion has decided +matters in our counting-house oftener than you think. She, too, has been +your principal, dear Wohlfart." He made a sign to his sister, and left +the room. + +Anton looked in amazement at the principal in white muslin, with black +braided hair. For years, then, he had served and obeyed the youthful +figure which now blushingly approached him. + +"Yes, Wohlfart," said Sabine, timidly, "I, too, have had a small hold +upon your life. And how proud I was of it! Even those Christmas-boxes +you used to receive, I knew of them; and it was my sugar and coffee that +the little Anton drank. When your worthy father came to us and asked for +a situation for you, it was I who persuaded my brother to take you; for +Traugott asked me about it, he himself objecting, and thinking you were +too old. But I begged for you, and from that time my brother always +called you my apprentice. It was I who promised your father to take care +of you here. I was but an inexperienced child myself, and the confidence +of a stranger enchanted me. Your father, good old gentleman, would not +wear, while with us, the velvet cap that peeped out of his pocket, till +I drew it out and put it on his white curls; and then I wondered whether +my apprentice would have such beautiful curls too. And when you came, +and all were pleased with you, and my brother pronounced you the best of +all his clerks, I was as proud of you as your good father could have +been." + +Anton leaned on the desk, and hid his face with his hands. + +"And that day when Fink insulted you, and again after that boating +excursion, I was angry with him, not only for his presumption, but +because he had taken my true apprentice into danger; and because I +always felt that you belonged a little to me, I begged my brother to +take you with him on that dangerous journey. It was for me, too, +Wohlfart, that you toiled in that foreign land; and when you stood by +the loaded wagons, amid fire and clash of arms that fearful night, they +were my goods that you were saving; and so, my friend, I come to you now +in the character of a merchant, and pray you to do me a service. You +shall look over an account for me." + +"I will," said Anton, turning away, "but not at this moment." + +Sabine went to a book-case, and laid out two books, with gilt leaves and +green morocco binding, on the desk. Then taking Anton by the hand, she +said, in a trembling voice, "Please come and look at my Debit and +Credit." She opened the first volume. Beneath all manner of skillful +flourishes stood the words, "With God--Private Ledger of T. O. Schröter." + +Anton started back. "It is the private book of the firm," cried he. +"This is a mistake." + +"It is no mistake," said Sabine. "I want you to look over it." + +"Impossible!" cried Anton. "Neither you nor your brother can seriously +wish this. God forbid that any one should venture to do so but the heads +of the concern. So long as a firm lasts, these pages are for no human +eyes but those of its head, and after that of the next heir. He who +reads this book knows what no stranger should--nay, as far as this book +goes, the most intimate friend is a stranger. Neither as merchant nor as +upright man can I comply with your wish." + +Sabine held his hand fast. "But do look at it, Wohlfart; look at least +at its title." She pointed out its cover. "Here you have T. O. Schröter." +Then turning over the pages, "There are few empty columns here; the book +ends with the last year." Then opening the second volume, she said, +"This book is empty, but here we find another firm; look at least at its +title." + +Anton read, "With God--Private Ledger of T. O. Schröter and Company." + +Sabine pressed his hand, and said gently, and as with entreaty, "And you +are to be the new partner, my friend." + +Anton stood motionless; but his heart beat wildly, and his face flushed +up brightly. Sabine still held his hand. He saw her face near his, and, +light as a breath, her lips touched his. He flung his arms around her, +and the two happy lovers were clasped in speechless embrace. + +The door opened, and the merchant appeared. "Hold fast the runaway!" +cried he. "Yes, Anton, I have wished this for years. Since that time +when you knelt by my bed and bound up my wound in a foreign land, I have +cherished the hope of uniting you forever to our life. When you left us, +I was angry at seeing my hope baffled. Now then, enthusiast, we have you +safe--safe in our private book and in our arms." He drew the lovers to +him. + +"You have chosen a poor partner," cried Anton, on his new brother's +breast. + +"Not so, my brother. Sabine has shown herself a judicious merchant. +Neither wealth nor position have any value for the individual or the +community without the healthy energy which keeps the dead metal in +life-producing action. You bring into the business the courage of youth +and the wisdom of experience. Welcome to our house and to our hearts!" + +Radiant with joy, Sabine held both the hands of her betrothed: "I have +been hardly able to bear seeing you so silent and so sad. Every day when +you rose from the dinner-table I used to feel that I must fly after you, +and tell you before that you belonged to us. You blind one, you never +found out what was passing within me, and Lenore's betrothed has known +it all!" + +"He!" exclaimed Anton. "I never spoke of you to him." + +"Look here!" cried Sabine, taking Fink's note from her pocket. There was +nothing in it but the words, "Hearty friendship, best wishes, Mrs. +Sister-in-law." + +Again Anton caught his beloved in his arms. + +Deck thyself out, old house! rejoice, discreet cousin! dance, ye +friendly house-sprites on the shadowy floor! The poetic dreams that the +boy Anton nursed in his early home, beneath the prayers for blessings of +his worthy parents, were honorable dreams, and here is their +fulfillment. That which allured and unsettled, and diverted him from +his life-purpose, he has with manly heart overcome. + +The old diary, of his life is at an end, and henceforth, ye gracious +house-sprites, in your private book will be inscribed, "With God, his +future career of Debit and Credit." + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Debit and Credit, by Gustav Freytag + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DEBIT AND CREDIT *** + +***** This file should be named 19754-8.txt or 19754-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/7/5/19754/ + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, Graeme Mackreth, Bill Tozier +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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