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diff --git a/31099-h/31099-h.htm b/31099-h/31099-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0e733d9 --- /dev/null +++ b/31099-h/31099-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,11786 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<title>'Jena' or 'Sedan'?</title> +<meta name="Author" content="Franz Adam Beyerlein"> +<meta name="Publisher" content="William Heinemann"> +<meta name="Date" content="1905"> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> +<style type="text/css"> + +body { + + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + background-color:#FFFFFF} + + + +p.normal {text-indent:.25in; + text-align: justify;} + +p.center {text-align:center; + margin-top:9pt;} + +p.hang1 {margin-left:2em; + text-indent:-2em; + text-align: justify;} + +p.hang2 {margin-left:6em; + text-indent:-2em; + text-align: justify;} + +p.right {text-align:right; + margin-top: 9pt;} + +p.continue {text-indent: 0in; + margin-top:9pt;} + + + +h1,h2,h3,h4,h5 {text-align: center;} + +span.sc {font-variant: small-caps;} + +blockquote {margin-left:3em} + +span.space {letter-spacing: 2pt; } + +hr.ftn { text-align:left; width:30%; margin-top:48pt; color:black; } +div.ftn { font-size: 100%; margin-top:9pt; color:#000000} +sup.ftnRef {font-size:100%; color:black; } +p.ftnText { margin-left: 3em; text-indent: -1em; margin-top:14pt; text-align:justify; } +div.ftnlast { font-size: 90%; margin-top:9pt; margin-bottom:64pt; color:#000000} + + + + +</style> + +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of 'Jena' or 'Sedan'?, by Franz Beyerlein + +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: 'Jena' or 'Sedan'? + +Author: Franz Beyerlein + +Release Date: January 27, 2010 [EBook #31099] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 'JENA' OR 'SEDAN'? *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from scans obtained from The +Internet Archive. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<p class="continue">Transcriber's note: The source of this book is the Web Archive "http://www.archive.org/details/jenorsedan00beyerich".</p> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h1>'JENA' OR 'SEDAN'?</h1> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h3>FROM THE GERMAN OF</h3> +<h2>FRANZ ADAM BEYERLEIN</h2> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h3>LONDON<br> +WILLIAM HEINEMANN</h3> +<h4>1905</h4> +<br> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p class="continue"><i>All rights reserved</i></p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>Publisher's Note</h2> +<br> +<br> +<p class="continue"><i>The German original of this novel had a larger circulation in the first +year of its career than any novel of our days, close upon one quarter of a +million copies having been sold. It was praised by some as a superb piece of +imaginative literature of the realistic school: by others it has been +anathematised as a libel on the great army that made Modern Germany. The truth +about it is probably best summarised in the words of a reviewer of the</i> "<i>Daily +Mail</i>":-- </p> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="normal">"<i>The author holds up the mirror with impartiality, without fear or +passion, and with an unmistakably friendly intention, and asks</i>, '<i>Where +art thou going? Towards Jena or Sedan?</i>'"</p> +</blockquote> + +<p class="normal"><i>It is perhaps unnecessary to remind the English reader in explanation of +the title that Jena stands for French supremacy and German defeat--Sedan for +German victory and a French débâcle; but he should be warned that in this +truthful mirror of life there may be details liable to shock insular notions. +The author could not shrink from such in the fulfilment of his task, which was +to give the truth--the whole truth and nothing but the truth. His work must be +judged not only as a novel (and assuredly as such it is a most admirable and +artistic piece of work), but it must be regarded also as the cry of a patriot +who loves his country above anything in the world. This is most completely +realised in the following opening sentences of a long and careful review given +to the original by the</i> +"<i>Spectator</i>":--</p> +<blockquote> +<p class="normal">"<i>The Englishman who is acutely distressed by the report of shortcomings in +the German Army can hardly be human. The frank pleasure which the Germans took +in our troubles is too recent to be quite forgotten, even by a people so +forgetful as we are. But for all that, only those who crave for the</i> '<i>wicked +joys of the soul</i>,' <i>which grow, the poet tells us, near by the gates of +hell, can lay down Herr Beyerlein's story without a sense of sadness. In spite +of its freshness and its humour, there breathes through it that note of +disappointment, almost of lassitude, which is not seldom audible in Germany +to-day. If is as though the nation, which has travelled such an astonishing +distance in the last thirty years, were pausing to ask</i>, '<i>Is this all that +has come of it?</i>'</p> +<p class="normal">"<i>Herr Beyerlein's theme is the decadence of the German Army. That it is +decadent he has no doubt at all, and he is a close, careful and not unfriendly +observer. But the writer who deals boldly and broadly with the German Army is in +reality dealing with a much larger subject. The British Army is a piece cut from +the stuff of which the nation is made, and shaped to a particular end. In +Germany the whole material of the nation passes through the Army, and is to some +extent shaped and coloured in the process; if does not come out precisely as it +went in. German military training is an iron pressure to which men cannot be +submitted for two years at an impressionable age and remain unchanged. Symptoms +of decay in the Army point, therefore, not only to possible disaster abroad, but +to demoralisation at home; and it is with this aspect of his subject that Herr +Beyerlein is chiefly concerned.</i>"</p> +</blockquote> +<br> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h1>JENA OR SEDAN?</h1> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER I</h2> +<br> +<div style="margin-left:70%"> +<p class="continue">"Must I go, must I go,<br> +Away into the town?"</p> +<p class="right">(<i>Swabian Folk-song.</i>)</p> +</div> +<br> +<p class="continue">Franz Vogt was on his way home. He carried a neatly tied-up parcel containing +the under-linen and the boots that he had been buying in the town. He had +trodden this same road a countless number of times during his life; but now that +he must bid good-bye to it so soon, the old familiar surroundings presented +themselves to him in a new light.</p> + +<p class="normal">Of course it was not good-bye for ever, nor was it even as though he were +going to America. At the most he would only be away for his two years of +military service, and between-whiles there would, he supposed, be leave now and +again; moreover, this was not the first time he had left the village. But there +was one circumstance peculiar to this going away--he was obliged to go.</p> +<p class="normal">Franz Vogt did not trouble his head much about the why and the wherefore of +this obligation. He reasoned it out thus: Germany had enemies--the French and +the Russians, to wit--who might some day and for some unknown reason begin a +war; therefore, of course, it behoved Germany to keep watch and ward, and for +that soldiers were necessary. Furthermore, there was a certain consolation in +the thought that this authoritative call took no respect of persons; the sons of +the two richest peasants in the village had been called up just like +himself--they to the Uhlans, he to the field-artillery.</p> + +<p class="normal">The life, however, must be so different from anything hitherto experienced +that one could not but feel a little nervous about it. For the men on leave whom +he had come across were never tired of talking about the hard words and harder +usage that fell to a soldier's lot. Never mind! hard words break no bones. He +was strong and active; no one had done better than he in athletics. One must +take things as they come, and perhaps after all they won't turn out as bad as +they have been painted.</p> +<p class="normal">The young man pushed his hat back from his brow and began to whistle as he +stepped forward more briskly.</p> +<p class="normal">It was fairly warm for October. The broad dusty road that led onward up the +hill lay shining as brightly in the sun as if it were July and the corn rising +on either side, tall and golden. But instead the stubble showed in paler streaks +against the darker ground that was already prepared for a new sowing. Further on +in the valley green meadows stretched away to the border-line of a forest.</p> +<p class="normal">On the hither side of those woods, but disappearing at last in the dense +verdure, ran the straight line of the railway. A cloud of white smoke could just +be seen above the trees, and then the train would glide out into the open. By +that line Franz Vogt must travel on the morrow to the place where he would have +to sojourn for the next two years; and again the thought, "How shall I get on +there?" forced itself upon his mind, and absorbed his thoughts until he reached +the cross-roads where stood the paternal dwelling. Years ago, when toll was +still levied on the highway, it had been the gate-keeper's cottage; and Franz +Vogt's father, the last turnpike-keeper, had bought it from the State when the +toll was abolished. Nearly twenty years had gone by since the white-painted +barrier had been let down at night for the last time, but the little house +remained the same in appearance. His father had even stuck the old barrier up in +the garden, and had nailed at the top a box for the starlings to nest in; every +spring a pair of birds built there.</p> +<p class="normal">And his father himself, how little he had altered! Only the beard, which he +wore after the fashion of the old Emperor William, had become more and more +grey, and the hair of his head had retreated from the crown in an ever-widening +circle. But the old man who now stepped to the door held himself as stiff and +erect as ever; the eyes looked forth from beneath the bushy eyebrows with a +stern yet kindly gaze, and the deep voice rang out with military precision and +sharpness.</p> +<p class="normal">"Why, boy," he cried, "you're looking quite dashed! Shaking in your shoes +about to-morrow, eh? See what comes of having a woman for your mother! Come +along in." He preceded his son into the parlour, and made him exhibit his +purchases.</p> +<p class="normal">"Dear, very dear, all these odds and ends!" he grumbled; but finally declared +himself pleased that Franz had preserved intact a good portion of the money +entrusted to him.</p> +<p class="normal">"That you can keep," said his father; "for you know at first you'll have +nothing more from me. By-and-bye, perhaps, a few groschen now and then; but +first you must learn to shift for yourself. That's always good for one. I had to +get along on my pay the whole time, from the first year to the fifteenth. Now go +up and pack your traps, and make everything shipshape."</p> +<p class="normal">At supper the fare was no more sumptuous than usual; but Franz was surprised +to see that his father had set out two smoked sausages instead of one.</p> +<p class="normal">"To-morrow, boy," said the old man, "you'll have regimental black bread. Good +nourishing stuff! You'll soon like it." And pointing to the two long fat +sausages, he continued:</p> +<p class="normal">"And the remains of those sausages can go in your box. You shall pack them +up."</p> +<p class="normal">The two men ate off wooden platters, and cut up their bread and sausage with +their pocket-knives; there was nothing to do afterwards but to gather up the +fragments and carry the plates into the kitchen. An old woman came every morning +to do the housework and prepare the midday meal, and every afternoon the +turnpike keeper waited with repressed impatience till the door had closed behind +her. Then he felt better.</p> +<p class="normal">When Franz had put the sausage in his box and come downstairs again, he found +his father with cap in hand, ready to go out.</p> +<p class="normal">"Come, boy," he said, "let's stretch our legs a bit."</p> + +<p class="normal">They went past the village, and wandered for a while in silence under the +starry heavens. Then the old man began to speak less briskly and decidedly than +was his wont.</p> +<p class="normal">"Look you, my boy, to-morrow you will be standing on your own feet, as it +were; you'll be responsible for yourself. For it's like this: before one has +served one is a silly youth: but afterwards, a man. Therefore you want something +that you can steer by; and I tell you, you must make a rule for yourself that +you can look to. The printed ones--they're only just by the way. Always ask +yourself: is it right, is it honest, what you're doing? If yes, then fire away! +And when you don't know exactly one way or the other, then just think: could you +tell your old father about it and look him straight in the eyes?"</p> +<p class="normal">He had a heavy load of cares and hopes on his mind for the welfare of this +son, the only thing left him to love; but he broke short off. He felt himself +incapable of expressing clearly the result of the experience gained during his +sixty years of life. He lived himself by that gathered wisdom, and it had passed +into his flesh and bone; but the right words failed him when he would have +imparted it to his son.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Friedrich August Vogt and his twin sister had been born in 1840, the +little-prized children of an unmarried mother, who had vanished one day and left +no trace. Probably she had died in a ditch. The children were taken into an +orphanage, on leaving which the girl had gone to service, while the boy had +become a soldier and climbed the ladder of promotion to the rank of sergeant, +receiving the silver medal for bravery, and at St. Privat the iron cross. In +command over others he proved strict and just; and though assuming an outwardly +harsh, bearish manner, he looked after those who were under him with +indefatigable and almost fatherly care. His whole endeavour throughout those +fifteen years had been to stand blameless, not only in the eyes of his +superiors, but, what was more important still, in his own.</p> +<p class="normal">His comrades disliked the quiet, serious man, and Vogt himself was just as +little drawn to their frivolous ways; nor had women any attraction for him. He +was sufficient unto himself, and looked neither for friend nor wife; but though +he had grown up independent of love, he yet +craved to win for himself some modest amount of grateful recognition within the +narrow limits of the service, and he felt richly rewarded if a reservist when +bidding good-bye gripped his hand and muttered a few clumsy words of gratitude. +Of such were many good-for-nothings whom he had saved from dangerous follies and +their inevitable punishment, not by rough words, but by kindly counsel. When he +eventually doffed his uniform he had nothing with which to reproach himself; no +neglect and no overstepping of duty, no injustice and no improper leniency; he +had good cause for self-satisfaction.</p> +<p class="normal">He was given the post of turnpike-keeper in recognition of his good service, +and could then carry out a long-cherished wish: he took his sister to live with +him. But he did not long enjoy her companionship. She left him after but a few +years, during which she succeeded--not without difficulty--in bringing some sort +of brightness into the life of her grave brother. She foresaw that he would in +all probability lapse into deeper and deeper gloom when she was no longer there; +and on her deathbed she joined his hand with that of a girl some years younger +than herself, with whom she had struck up a firm friendship. They respected the +wishes of the dead, married, and lived together happily, thinking themselves the +most fortunate of mortals when a son was born to them. But August Vogt was +doomed to loneliness, for his wife died when the boy was just old enough to go +to school.</p> +<p class="normal">Shortly after this Vogt inherited a small property from his wife's father, +and the toll on the highway being at the same time abolished, he bought the now +superfluous house cheap from the State, and set up as a peasant proprietor. He +had now a new source of pride: that this land, which he watered with his sweat, +should bring forth abundantly; that his cattle, whom no strange hand might +touch, should be the sleekest and fattest of all. Solitary and unaided he +laboured in house and field, as if wishing to defy that fate which had torn from +him the only two people he had loved. As he could love them no longer he had +rather be quite alone, save for the little chap who trotted after him +everywhere, and--looking almost as grave and preoccupied as his father--copied +with his tiny gardening tools everything he saw his father do. In course of +time the child became a more and more useful +helper, till at last the two in equal comradeship spent their entire energies on +the land, by whose produce they were almost exclusively nourished, with the +addition of the milk from their own cow.</p> +<p class="normal">In the evening they sat opposite to each other, resting after their toil. +Occasionally, with a youth's eagerness for adventure, the younger man would ask +the elder to recount those military experiences to which the decorations in the +cash-box bore testimony; but the father gave only scanty and unwilling replies. +He bethought himself how in those days of St. Privat they had stormed a burning +village, rushing through a fine field of ripe oats, and how a man had fallen +next to him--a boyish drummer--with a bullet in his throat. In dying he had +grasped and torn up the golden ears; and he held a bunch of them in his dead +hand, all dyed in his blood like some red flag.</p> +<p class="normal">Oh yes, he was proud of his medal and his cross, notwithstanding a sort of +doubt that he could not suppress. An ever-widening gulf now separated him from +that famous past; and it gave him a certain sense of discomfort, in the midst of +this life of creative labour, to think of a time devoted chiefly, after all, to +death and destruction.</p> +<p class="normal">It was from this feeling that he had abandoned his first intention of making +his son follow his own old profession. There was no hurry. When the youngster +was serving his time, he could decide to join on if he liked.</p> +<p class="normal">And now one thing was certain: it was very tiresome that his son should be +called up just at this moment. Of course he mustn't let the boy see it; but he +felt it hard, all the same. The recruiting-sergeant had pointed out to him that +he could claim his son if he could show that the lad was indispensable to his +work. But August Vogt was too honourable for that. Certainly he was sixty years +of age; but even had he been ninety he would have managed to keep things going. +Still, it was hard.</p> +<p class="normal">The father was probably heavier of heart than the son, as they paced through +the night together; but when they stood once more before their door, after +making a somewhat lengthy round, he only said: "Well, well, young 'un; you'll +often think of this. Now sleep well, your last night at home." +And as his son went off upstairs he added softly to himself, "My dear good boy!"</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Early next day Franz Vogt departed.</p> +<p class="normal">The greater number of the recruits left the train when it reached the +capital, and it was only a small company that proceeded onwards to the little +garrison town.</p> +<p class="normal">Two or three non-commissioned officers received the detachment when it +ultimately arrived at its destination. The recruits were then formed into squads +and conducted to a large exercise-ground. The main body, hailing from the +coal-mines and factories of the neighbouring mountain district, had already +arrived by special train. There must have been about four hundred men +altogether. Two or three officers, and numerous non-commissioned officers with +helmets and shoulder-straps, were standing about. An endless calling over of +names began. Those who were told off to the first battery were taken first, and +were led away as soon as their number was complete. Then came those of the +second battery, then the third, and so on. The other recruits stood looking +dully in front of them, while those whose names were called out pressed forward +through the ranks with feverish haste, jostling every one else with their boxes +and bundles.</p> +<p class="normal">Franz Vogt listened at first full of expectation. Each time he thought that +his name would be the next; but when the third battery had marched off without +him his interest began to flag, and he thought he would take a look round. What +he saw was not very encouraging. The large square exercise-ground was strewn +with a fine black dust, coke-refuse, evidently; on three sides it was surrounded +by a wooden paling through which bare fields could be seen, and, in the +direction of the town, miserable-looking vegetable-gardens in all the desolation +of autumn. On the fourth side was an irregular row of buildings; first a long +shed with windows at wide intervals, before which stood a sentry, who gazed +across at the recruits with great curiosity; next a forge, from the door of +which a grimy blacksmith and his assistants were watching, and a soldier in a +grey jacket was leading out a black mare that had just been shod; then came +another shed with large gates, one of which was open, and a number of + +men inside were busily engaged around a gun with cloths and brushes.</p> +<p class="normal">At length the names of the men belonging to the last--the sixth battery were +read out. Franz Vogt counted them for want of something better to do--his own +was the nineteenth on the list; he answered with a loud "Here!" and hurried +forward. The corporal, who was arranging his men in ranks of six abreast, was a +little man with a red face, flashing eyes, and a heavy dark moustache over a +mouth whence continually issued objurgations and reprimands. When Vogt with +quick comprehension placed himself at the beginning of a new row he gave a nod +of satisfaction, and the young recruit felt mildly gratified that he had at any +rate begun well.</p> +<p class="normal">As soon as the recruits told off to the sixth battery were in order they were +marched off, two non-commissioned officers in front, one on either side, and +another behind. It looked almost as if they were prisoners with a military +escort.</p> +<p class="normal">The road went through part of the town and then took a curve round a corner +into a street that led out into the open country. Broad fields stretched on +either hand, those on the right separated from the road by a stream, alongside +of which ran a branch railway line. Beyond these fields rose steep, +sparsely-wooded hills, showing in some places the bare rock.</p> +<p class="normal">A good way up the valley the walls of a large mass of buildings gleamed white +in the sunshine. The little corporal in front turned round and cried, "Those are +your future quarters, boys!"</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt felt glad they were not in the town with its close alleys, but out in +the open country, where one could feel nearer the fertile mother-earth; where +the eye had an uninterrupted out-look, and where one could watch the sprouting +and blossoming of springtime.</p> +<p class="normal">A whirl of dust now issued from the barrack gates and drew rapidly nearer. An +officer, and behind him a soldier, both mounted, came along at a trot. When he +had almost reached the detachment of recruits the officer reined in his bay +horse, and as they passed by let his eyes rest for a moment on each one of them +in careful scrutiny. He acknowledged with a curt nod the salutes of the +non-commissioned officers as they marched quickly past. Although not a big man, +he sat his horse with dignity; while a huge red moustache and piercing eyes that flashed +through his <i>pince-nez</i> lent him an aspect of considerable fierceness. Vogt +thought to himself, "He looks strict, but not exactly bad-tempered," when the +little corporal turned round once more and said: "Boys, that was your +captain--von Wegstetten."</p> +<p class="normal">The escort of armed and spurred non-commissioned officers had already made +Vogt feel as if he were going to prison, and the entry into the barracks made it +full clear that he was, at any rate, under stringent discipline, and must +henceforth renounce a large measure of individual freedom. The opening gates +were of iron, and were adorned with sharp spikes on the top, so as to make +climbing over impossible; a sentry, too, stood at the entrance. The gates opened +on to a spacious courtyard surrounded by buildings. Not a green thing was to be +seen, and the gravelled yard was as naked and barren as the buildings +themselves, whose blank windows suggested deserted rooms. Only a few were graced +with white curtains, which gave promise of habitation. Even the young +chestnut-trees that had been planted round the borders of the courtyard throve +but poorly; now and then a yellow leaf fell to the ground, although the woods +outside were still a mass of green.</p> +<p class="normal">The quarters of the sixth battery were exactly facing the entrance, but the +inner yard was evidently held sacred, for the recruits were taken round it by a +paved pathway.</p> +<p class="normal">The little corporal now marshalled them carefully in two rows, and announced +to an older man in a green jacket trimmed with red braid who was standing in a +doorway: "The recruits are here, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">"Are they all there?" asked the other, as he came down the steps.</p> +<p class="normal">"All here, sir," replied the little man.</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major passed slowly along the ranks, and examined each recruit +with a searching glance. Vogt looked him fearlessly in the face. He reminded him +of his father. He, too, could look one through and through like that; but one +need never cast down one's eyes if one has a clear conscience.</p> +<p class="normal">The recruits were next conducted into the barrack-rooms, where to each was +allotted a locker of his own, in which a white napkin and a spoon had already +been placed. After putting their bundles into these lockers, they were +taken straight to the dining-hall. Each gave in his white napkin through a +serving-hatch and received it back again full, almost burning his fingers with +the contents before he could put it down on the well-scoured wooden table. Beans +and bacon was the fare, and it tasted rather good. No wonder, when the men had +been travelling ever since early morning.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt's neighbour during the march came and sat next him on the wooden bench. +He wiped his short black beard, and nodded to Vogt.</p> +<p class="normal">"This goes down pretty quick, doesn't it?" he said, as he spooned up his +food.</p> +<p class="normal">"Rather!" answered Vogt. And the other went on, as he pointed to his empty +napkin:</p> +<p class="normal">"If only our two years would go as fast!"</p> +<p class="normal">They soon made acquaintance. Weise was the man's name, and he was a locksmith +from a factory in the neighbouring coal-district. But they only had time to +exchange the barest preliminaries of intercourse when they had to get up again, +go and wash their dishes and spoons at a tap, and then return.</p> +<p class="normal">Outside in the court-yard, in front of the quarters of another battery, some +recruits who had arrived still earlier were standing, looking hungrily towards +the kitchen.</p> +<p class="normal">"We've come off better than they," remarked Weise. "Things are going well +with us, it seems."</p> +<p class="normal">Now again they had to go outside, and the reading over of names began once +more. This time the standing-orders were given out, and during this performance +their captain came into the barrack-yard. He dismounted, and walked up and down, +sometimes behind and sometimes in front of the recruits, occasionally standing +still and examining a man with special attention. It felt very uncomfortable if +the little captain paused too long behind one; but--so much they had learned +already--it would not do to turn round.</p> +<p class="normal">It was a considerable time before the last standing-order was given out, +after which the sergeant-major desired those who wished to attend to the horses +and to be drivers to stand on one side, and those who wanted to be gunners to +take up their position on the other. Vogt and his new friend Weise placed themselves with +the gunners, Vogt in this acting after his father's advice. "Youngster," the old +man had said, "first and foremost be a good gunner. Then if you want to go on serving +and become a corporal, you will get on faster than you would otherwise. You will know your +gun and will only have to learn to ride."</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt began now to long for the end of all this. He felt tired in every limb, +and would never have believed that waiting and standing about could take it out +of one to such an extent. But what had gone before was child's play compared +with the tiresome business of getting fitted with a uniform, which now began. +Vogt himself came off rather well: the trousers, measured according to the +length of the outstretched arm, fitted exactly, as did also the second coat he +tried on; the leather belt with sword attached he buckled on at once, and cap +and helmet were soon forthcoming, but he had to put on several pairs of boots +before he found the right ones. Then the corporal tossed him over a drill suit +as well, and he was ready.</p> +<p class="normal">But with some of the men nothing would fit. The tallest of all found the +sleeves reaching just below his elbows, and when he tried the next size, the +coat hung in folds across his chest. Others had square heads on which the round +helmets rocked about, until they were jammed on by two or three good blows of +the fist. One sturdy, thick-set, big-bellied fellow it seemed impossible to +suit; everything was far too tight for him.</p> +<p class="normal">"What have you been hitherto?" asked one of the non-commissioned officers.</p> +<p class="normal">"A brewer," answered the fat man.</p> +<p class="normal">"Did you drink all your beer yourself, then, eh?" inquired the other; and the +man who gave out the clothing flung over a fresh suit, saying, threateningly: +"Well, if that doesn't fit, by God! you shall drill in your drawers!"</p> +<p class="normal">He made the trousers meet with difficulty, and the coat was abominably tight; +but the corporal gave him a dig in the stomach and said: "Cheer up, fatty! +that'll soon go. They'll get rid of your paunch here in no time!"</p> +<p class="normal">When Vogt left the kit-room with his regimentals on his arm the erstwhile +perfect order of the shelves, and of the symmetrically-folded piles of clothing, had +been transformed into a scene of the wildest confusion. "A pity so much labour +should be wasted," he thought.</p> +<p class="normal">And in what a wretched state were the clothes he had now to wear! The green +cloth of the coat was so shabby that in parts it was positively threadbare; dark +patches had been put in near the arm-holes, and the once red facings were quite +faded. He examined them dejectedly and shook his head; he had expected something +very different, and certainly he would not cut much of a figure in this get-up. +He pulled a stool up to his locker, and began to take his things off. Weise sat +down near him, already a full-blown soldier. The smart young fellow could adapt +himself to anything, and had known at once how to give just the right saucy tilt +to his forage-cap.</p> +<p class="normal">"Fine, eh?" he said, laughing, as he struck an attitude and gave his +moustache an upward twirl.</p> +<p class="normal">But now once more the little corporal's penetrating voice recalled the +recruits from their short breathing-space; those who were ready dressed must go +down into the yard again, and then began another putting-to-rights all round. +The presiding non-commissioned officers were in despair, for one of the men had +one leg shorter than the other, another had crooked shoulders, and a third drew +forth the exclamation: "Why, the fellow is humpbacked!"</p> +<p class="normal">The corporal called across the court-yard to his comrades: "We've got a +hunchback here in the sixth!"</p> +<p class="normal">And the poor devil, a firmly-knit, broad-shouldered fellow, who had got +somewhat round-shouldered from sheer hard labour, stood inwardly raging, and +letting them pull him about as they liked; straighten his back he could not.</p> +<p class="normal">"A fellow-townsman of mine, that Findeisen there, a stonemason," said Weise.</p> +<p class="normal">He and Vogt came off well in this inspection. Their things fitted exactly.</p> +<p class="normal">"Thank God some of them have straight bones!" sighed the corporal, and sent +them indoors again.</p> +<p class="normal">"You can be packing up your civilian clothes," he called after them, "and +getting them ready to be sent away."</p> +<p class="normal">In the passage Vogt stopped: "Which is our room then?" he asked.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, number nine; we're all in nine," answered Weise. He pushed the door +open, and with mock ceremony invited his comrade to enter.</p> +<p class="normal">At this moment the opposite door opened, and a tall thin soldier stepped over +the threshold. Weise started. "What! you, Wilhelm?" he exclaimed in +astonishment.</p> +<p class="normal">The other said, "Well, why not? Didn't you know?----How are you, anyhow?"</p> +<p class="normal">They shook hands warmly, and it seemed to Vogt that they looked at each other +as if there were some private understanding between them. Curious for an +explanation, he inquired, "Who's that? He's an old hand, isn't he?"</p> +<p class="normal">Weise replied: "Oh, he's an old friend of mine; Wolf is his name. Yes, he has +served since last autumn."</p> +<p class="normal">He had been speaking quite gravely; but quickly regained his cheerful manner, +and soon after left the room.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt put his civilian clothes into his box and snapped the padlock with a +click. With that he felt that the last link that had bound him to the old life +was broken. He was a soldier now. He looked round the room that was to be his +home for two years: the floor of bare boards; the grey-plastered walls, hidden +for the most part by the rows of lockers, and their only decoration a portrait +of the King over the door and two unframed battle pictures fastened up with +tin-tacks. These had evidently been torn out of a newspaper. Two large tables +surrounded by stools stood in the middle of the room; and at one of the two +windows, which were bare except for their striped roller-blinds, a smaller table +was placed with a common chair before it, the seat assigned to the corporal in +charge of the room.</p> +<p class="normal">The others now began to come up from the court-yard. They were fifteen, all +told; but as there were sixteen cupboards in the room, one man must be still to +come. Most of them had to finish packing their civilian clothes; when that was +done they sat down in the darkening room, tired and silent, hardly even caring +to make acquaintance with one another.</p> +<p class="normal">The fat brewer had placed himself at the table next to Vogt and Weise. He was +overcome with heat, and said he would rather hang himself than endure this +horrible drudgery for two whole years. But Weise chaffed him in his genial way: +"How do you know you could find a tough enough rope, brewer? you're no light +weight!" And presently the brewer grew less melancholy; now that he could sit +down things did not look so formidable, and he only groaned pathetically: "Oh, +if I'd only a mug of beer--just one!"</p> +<p class="normal">At last Weise suggested lighting up. The two lamps gave but a scanty light; +yet even that helped to dispel the gloomy thoughts of the men. And soon the +little corporal appeared, with two of the "old gang" carrying loaves of bread, +of which every man received one.</p> +<p class="normal">It tasted very good, this hard black bread, to which each recruit had some +little relish of his own to add--butter, or dripping, or perhaps a sausage. Only +one sat regarding his dry loaf disconsolately: Klitzing, a pale, spare young +fellow with hollow cheeks, whose uniform was a world too wide for him. Vogt, who +sat beside him, cut a big piece from his smoked sausage and pushed it to his +neighbour: "There, comrade, let's go shares!"</p> +<p class="normal">Klitzing at first declined; but at last he took it, and thanked Vogt shyly.</p> +<p class="normal">"Why didn't you pack up your clothes?" asked the latter.</p> +<p class="normal">"I have no friends," replied Klitzing, "and I only came out of hospital on +Monday."</p> +<p class="normal">"Poor fellow! all the more reason for you to eat. What were you?"</p> +<p class="normal">"A clerk."</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, we'll stick together, and you'll get along all right," said Vogt +kindly. This pale clerk attracted him more than did Weise. Klitzing had frank +honest eyes; one could not but feel sorry for his pallor and languor; how was he +going to stand the hard work?</p> +<p class="normal">The men were still sitting over their meal when the little corporal brought +in another recruit, a tall overgrown lad with a pink and white boyish face, +apparently several years younger than the rest. The corporal spoke less gruffly +to him, and showed him his locker with something like politeness. Apparently +there was something special about this Frielinghausen, as he was called; even +the uniform he wore was rather less patched and threadbare than those of the +others. However, the new comrade seemed in anything but a cheerful mood; he +dropped into a seat at the darkest end of the table, leant his head on his hand, and +did not touch the loaf which the corporal placed before him.</p> +<p class="normal">Most of the recruits regarded him with unconcealed mistrust. What kind of +stuck-up fine gentleman was this, who sat there as if his comrades didn't exist? +He was no better than they. Only Vogt and Klitzing looked at him with +compassion; who could tell what trouble this Frielinghausen was suffering from?</p> +<p class="normal">Weise became only the more gay. He took on himself to enliven the feast with +jokes and drollery, and they all listened willingly; it kept off dulness, and +the disagreeable thoughts that assailed them.</p> +<p class="normal">The corporal, too, listened awhile, well pleased. Then he called to the +joker: "Hi, you black fellow! come here a minute!"</p> +<p class="normal">Weise sprang up, and his superior looked him up and down, not unfavourably.</p> +<p class="normal">"You're right," he said; "it's no good pulling a long face; a soldier should +be jolly. Tell me, what's your name?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Weise," answered the recruit.</p> +<p class="normal">"Weise? Gustav Weise?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">"Oh, indeed. Well, all right; sit down again."</p> +<p class="normal">Weise went back to his place, feeling somewhat snubbed. Why had the corporal +suddenly looked so glum when he heard the name? There was nothing peculiar about +his name. He did not trouble his head very much about it; but his cheerfulness +passed away.</p> +<p class="normal">The last thing to do on this first day of their soldier's life was to give up +their civilian clothes, with the address to which each box was to be sent. +Klitzing knew no one who could receive his belongings; so they remained in the +custody of the battery.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">At length the day drew to a close. Shortly before ten o'clock "Lights out and +go to bed!" was called. They hung up their jackets and went upstairs to the +dormitory.</p> +<p class="normal">This was a spacious room, which extended, directly under the roof, the whole +length and breadth of the building. Vogt had the good fortune to secure a bed in one +of the outer rows close to a window, and he beckoned to Klitzing to take +possession of the bed next him on the right. That on the left, in the corner, +had been allotted by the corporal to Frielinghausen. The recruits were not long +in getting to bed; though the "old gang" were more leisurely in their +proceedings.</p> +<p class="normal">It was only on lying down that Vogt discovered how tired he was. The lean +clerk on the right fell asleep immediately. Frielinghausen, however, seemed +wakeful. Vogt listened. No, he was not deceived: the tall lad was weeping. For a +moment he felt inclined to question his comrade about his trouble; but he feared +a repulse, so turned over on the other side. After all, it was not for a man to +weep, especially a soldier!</p> +<p class="normal">Once more he started from incipient slumber; he thought he heard the cow in +her stall, clattering her chain. Surprised, he collected his wits. "Of course," +he then said to himself, "it is the tattoo. I am a soldier."</p> + + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER II</h2> +<br> +<br> +<div style="margin-left:70%"> +<p class="continue">"Every hour of every day,<br> +Gunners, be ye blithe and gay!"</p> +<p class="right">(<i>Old Artillery song.</i>)</p> +</div> +<p class="continue">There was a good deal to do in the orderly-room. This new batch of sixty +recruits meant a large amount of work that must be seen to at once, if the +wilderness of papers were ever to be brought into some sort of order.</p> +<p class="normal">Three men sat bending over their writing: a bombardier, a corporal, and the +sergeant-major.</p> +<p class="normal">The bombardier was doggedly filling in the lists, only glancing occasionally +to see if the pile of forms still to be got through were not growing somewhat +smaller.</p> +<p class="normal">Käppchen, the corporal, a lanky fellow with cunning eyes, grumbled from time +to time at the trouble, and consigned to perdition the dirty rascals who caused +it. Of course it was much pleasanter for him to sit in the orderly-room than to +be messing about with the idiots out of doors; but he had never bargained for +having to scribble away till he nearly got writer's cramp. And to-day the +sergeant-major didn't even seem to be thinking of a pause for luncheon.</p> +<p class="normal">It therefore happened very opportunely when Captain von Wegstetten, having +scarcely listened to the sergeant-major's report, "Nothing new in the battery," +said: "Sergeant Schumann, I want to speak to you for a minute."</p> +<p class="normal">No further intimation was needed; Käppchen and the bombardier disappeared +from the room instantly.</p> +<p class="normal">Sergeant Schumann stood by his table in the orthodox attitude of respectful +attention. As on every day of the eight years during which Wegstetten had +commanded the sixth battery, and he, Schumann, had been its sergeant-major, he +waited until the former by a gesture or a word should permit him to assume an +easier position. Nothing could alter this; not even the confidence that time had +gradually established between them.</p> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten motioned him kindly to a seat, and then bent over the records of +the recruits.</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, Schumann," he began, "what sort of a lot have we got this time?"</p> +<p class="normal">"It doesn't seem a bad year, sir," answered the sergeant-major; "they've +nearly all got clean sheets----"</p> +<p class="normal">"Hm," assented the officer, "nearly all, but----?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Two have been convicted, one of theft, the other of resisting lawful +authority. The first made away with a quantity of copper wire from a building; +and the second made a row because he was notified that he had contravened some +regulations as to driving. He was a cab-driver. Then there is another who has +been punished for begging, tramping the streets, and sleeping out at nights."</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, he won't catch cold camping out, at any rate! What do you think, +sergeant? mustn't a chap like that be glad to have a good roof over his head +every night? Well, go on! What about political antecedents?"</p> +<p class="normal">"There is only one marked for that, sir--Gustav Weise."</p> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten began to polish his eye-glasses; then, "Read it aloud, Schumann," +he said.</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major took the paper and read: "Weise has more than once taken +an active part in socialist propaganda; in spite of his youth he was for a time +confidential agent for the Metal Workers' Union, and sometimes spoke at +meetings, without, however, necessitating the interference of the police-officer +in attendance, as Weise's communications chiefly referred to details of the +trade."</p> +<p class="normal">"Nothing further? He seems a promising fellow! Where have we put him?"</p> +<p class="normal">"In Room IX., Corporal Wiegandt."</p> +<p class="normal">"Does he know----?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, sir, I've mentioned it to him."</p> +<p class="normal">"Right. Call him in; I'll speak to him, and afterwards to Frielinghausen."</p> +<p class="normal">"Very good, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">In a few minutes the little bearded corporal was in the room and awaiting his +captain's pleasure.</p> + +<p class="normal">The officer appealed to the honour of his subordinate, in whom he was placing +a special trust, and impressed upon him in carefully chosen language the +necessity for keeping a watchful eye on the new recruit Weise, without, however, +treating him differently from his comrades.</p> +<p class="normal">Wiegandt thereupon felt called on to describe and commend Weise's smartness +and good humour.</p> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten listened, a fleeting smile once passing over his face. At the end +he said: "Well, that's another proof that this sort often turn out good +soldiers. You understand what I have said, Wiegandt? A sharp eye, and a firm +grip on the rein; otherwise--just as with the rest of them."</p> +<p class="normal">"Very good, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">"That's all then."</p> +<p class="normal">When Wiegandt had gone, the officer turned to the sergeant-major and said +with a sigh, "Damned nuisances they are! Now we've got two of these fellows, +Wolf and Weise, we must see they don't get together. How is Wolf doing?"</p> +<p class="normal">"No fault to find with him, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten walked to the window and looked out silently. This was not the +lightest part of an officer's duty, this supervision of the suspicious political +element among the men. A perfect task of Sisyphus, indeed! After all, one could +do nothing more than prevent the fellows from spouting their wisdom as long as +they were soldiers, make them keep to the beaten track, give them "patriotism +and the joys of a soldier's life" for their watchword. What sort of a fanatic +was this Wolf? A man who had been handed over to him labelled "Poison!" with +four cross-bones and a death's-head; who put on an expressionless face when his +opinions were alluded to, and to the question "Are you a social-democrat?" +answered with a stereotyped, almost sarcastic, "No, sir," and always went about +looking as dark as a regular conspirator!</p> +<p class="normal">He turned round and began again: "Do you know, Schumann, I shall be glad when +Wolf is off our hands. The man strikes me as almost uncanny. And then that +Sergeant Keyser; he's a revengeful, resentful kind of fellow. He'll never +forgive Wolf the six weeks he had on his account. Just see to it that the two +have as little to do with one another as possible. Of course he'd never really +do anything to a fellow like that; but it's always as well to be on the safe +side. I'm not going to have another rumpus in my battery, with the whole lot of +them had up as witnesses for three days on end! And that Keyser must mind what +he's about. After all, we can't have the army turned into a big incubator for +social-democrats."</p> +<p class="normal">"Very good, sir. And as Keyser has got charge of the kit-room now, that's +easily arranged."</p> +<p class="normal">Any mention of this affair of Keyser and Wolf always rekindled Wegstetten's +anger. Had he not himself been publicly shamed by it, as it had taken place in +his battery? It had only been a trifle at bottom; such rough words as the +sergeant had hurled at Wolf's head were daily showered on the men; but this +social-democrat had, of course, a quite peculiar sense of personal dignity, and +the stupid thing was that they had had to allow him to be in the right. For +these zoological comparisons were strictly forbidden. An inquiry had been held +about the sergeant's conduct, and then such a crowd of other "oxen," "pigs," and +"donkeys," had appeared in the witness-box, that the commanding officer of the +battery had felt quite giddy, and the presiding judge had perpetrated the cheap +witticism that the entire German army might have been fed for a month on the +cattle that the defendant had bullied into existence. He, Wegstetten, had hardly +been in a humour to enjoy the joke, when the senior major (that detestable +Lischke, in whose bad books he already stood), who was commanding the regiment +during the colonel's absence on leave, had taken him aside and lectured him +about the rough tone that seemed to prevail in the sixth battery. Wegstetten had +taken it much to heart, and as he made the stiff little bow that formality +prescribed, he had sworn a grim oath that never, no, never, should such a +sickening business occur again in his battery. To have affairs like this +connected with one's name had been for many the beginning of the end. And he was +ambitious; he meant to go far.</p> +<p class="normal">He turned once more to the sergeant-major. "But it will be all right," he +said, "at any rate so long as I have you, Schumann. I can depend on you. God +knows, I should be pretty furious if you thought of deserting the colours."</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major looked somewhat embarrassed: "Forgive me, sir. I shall +have seen eighteen years' service come Easter; and however glad I might be to +stop on, still--a man ought to provide for his old age. Schmidt, of the fourth +battery, left four years ago, and he's got a good post as assistant +station-master."</p> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten reassured him: "You mustn't think I was serious, Schumann. I know +better than any one what you've gone through and what I have to thank you for, +and I shall wish you good luck with all my heart when you go. But you must feel +for me, and understand how hard it will be for me to do with-out you. If I only +knew who could take your place!"</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major shrugged his shoulders.</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, speak out; you know the men better even than I do."</p> +<p class="normal">Schumann hesitated a little, and then said: "You know yourself, sir; Heppner +is the next in seniority."</p> +<p class="normal">"Of course," said Wegstetten rather testily, "I know that. But I know, too, +that you have something in your mind against him. What's the matter with +Heppner? Isn't he steady in his work and first-rate in the stables?"</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major answered slowly: "In his work, and as far as the horses +are concerned--oh, yes."</p> +<p class="normal">"But----?"</p> +<p class="normal">Schumann shrugged his shoulders again.</p> +<p class="normal">The captain began to be angry. "Good God, man! so----" but he swallowed the +sentence and continued more mildly: "Look here, Schumann. I'm not asking you for +any gossip about your comrades; I only speak in the interest of the service. +What is all this about Heppner? Is it that story about his wife and his +sister-in-law?"</p> +<p class="normal">"No, sir, that's his private affair. But he won't do for the office, or +to--to assist in money matters."</p> +<p class="normal">"But why?"</p> +<p class="normal">"He gambles, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten walked up and down the room for a few moments, plunged in thought; +then came to a stand in front of the sergeant-major.</p> +<p class="normal">"Thank you for being so open with me, Schumann," he said; "but I don't see +how we can avoid it. Heppner has served eleven years, the colonel likes him well +enough,--and he really is a capable man in all practical work."</p> + +<p class="normal">He looked at the clock and went on: "Thank goodness, you will be here another +six months, and we shall be able to get this year's recruits well started. Now +it's half-past ten, and I must be off to the riding-school. What else was there? +Oh yes, Frielinghausen. Have him here at eleven." And with a friendly "Good +morning, Schumann," he left the room.</p> +<p class="normal">Schumann sat down again to his writing; but he did not take up the pen. What +his captain had said about "desertion" kept running in his head. He himself +sometimes had the feeling that it would be wrong of him to quit the service. +Especially now, when these new-fangled ways made men of the good old stamp all +the more necessary.</p> +<p class="normal">He had worked his way upwards through long years of service, only getting +promotion by slow degrees; and eight years ago he had been made sergeant-major, +Wegstetten getting his battery on the self-same day. Nowadays any young fool of +a gunner might be made bombardier in a year, in another six months corporal, and +then be set to teach others. Raw, empty-headed fellows that only thought of +their own comfort, and disappeared from barracks the moment their time of +service had expired, without leaving a trace behind. Chaps without the least +pride or interest in the service;--nice sort of non-commissioned officers!</p> +<p class="normal">He looked round. Just so; Käppchen was still away. Where was that lazy +beggar? and where was the bombardier? He shut up his book and went off on the +hunt.</p> +<p class="normal">The bombardier was waiting outside the door: he "thought the captain was +still in the orderly-room." That might be true, of course. He didn't know where +Käppchen was.</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major knew where to look, and went straight to the canteen. +There indeed was Käppchen, just lighting a cigarette, after wiping from his thin +black beard the froth of a freshly-drawn glass of beer.</p> +<p class="normal">Schumann would not make a fuss before the other non-commissioned officers who +were standing about, so only said: "Käppchen, you're wanted in the +orderly-room." Whereupon the corporal was off like a shot, not even finishing +his beer.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten sauntered along the sandy road that led from the riding-school to the +barracks. Now and then he stopped to switch off the dust scattered over him by +the galloping hoofs. Now and then he flung an oath or so at the riders, but on +the whole he was contented enough. It could not be gainsaid, Heppner was the man +for him. Yes, the battery was all right, and he, Wegstetten, would see to it +that it remained so. On every speech-making occasion when the chief held it up +as an example, he had rejoiced to see the envious faces with which the +commanders of the other batteries congratulated him.</p> +<p class="normal">Undoubtedly on this account he was given extra hard nuts to crack--such as +this case of Frielinghausen.</p> +<p class="normal">Baron Walter von Frielinghausen was a second-year student, expelled from the +gymnasium for repeated misdemeanours. His mother, a very poor widow, had not the +means to continue his education, neither was the family ready to do so. They had +therefore suggested that the young scapegrace should be brought under strict +soldierly discipline, with the view to his eventually entering the Fire-Workers' +Corps, and perhaps being made an officer therein.</p> +<p class="normal">And it was the sixth battery that was selected as the scene of action for +this young man's talents! Wegstetten resolved to take all the nonsense out of +him, and to destroy any delusions the youth might have as to his being in any +way privileged.</p> +<p class="normal">But when Frielinghausen stood before him, an overgrown stripling, whose +somewhat angular limbs looked still more immature in the coarse, ready-made +uniform; and when he met a pair of anxious young eyes fixed on him, his tone +softened perceptibly. There occurred to him, too, the consciousness of another +bond: Frielinghausen, like himself, belonged to the old Thuringian +nobility--possibly even to an older family than Wegstetten's. Although this +youngster had undoubtedly caused his mother grave anxiety, yet he had not stolen +copper-wire, nor taken part in any socialistic demonstration. Wegstetten at the +moment did not know of what worse he could be accused. Naturally he would see to +it that this sympathy with the fate of a common soldier should not be wasted on +an unworthy object. Directly Frielinghausen did amiss, he would be down on him; +just as with that other sprig of nobility, Count Egon Plettau, who had actually +managed to serve nearly eight years and of that time to spend, first six months, +then two and then five years confined in a fortress--always on account of +insubordination. Now this incarnate disgrace to the German nobility was nearing +his release, and was expected to be back again soon in the battery. Accident +would determine whether he would finish his remaining two months before he was +put on the Reserve, or would again get himself into prison.</p> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten had sufficient knowledge of men to recognise the difference +between the two. Count Plettau was a mere hopeless idler and vagabond. +Frielinghausen was at least inspired with a wish to pull himself together and +become good for something.</p> +<p class="normal">Accordingly Wegstetten spoke to him like a father; told him in a few pointed +words that he must try to be independent and steady, and must not expect to be +treated exceptionally; enjoining him by zeal and good conduct to earn promotion +as quickly as possible. But at the door he added softly, for he did not wish the +non-commissioned officers to hear: "Be worthy of the name you bear! That alone +should be sufficient inducement to make you try to get on."</p> +<p class="normal">Frielinghausen stood breathless for a moment after he had closed the door of +the orderly-room. His heart was full of gratitude for the warm, humane words, +which, after all the dry exhortations and admonitions, put new life into his +heart. He earnestly resolved to repay his chief by his deeds, and to take all +possible pains to please him.</p> +<p class="normal">The boy, than whom a few weeks ago none had been more light-hearted and +careless, had been forced into serious reflections the night before. He had been +a favourite with all his fellow-students, even outdoing the others in boyish +exuberance, looking only at the sunny side of life and laughing at the censure +of his teachers. Now suddenly he found himself banished to surroundings the +misery of which made sweet by comparison even the bitterest hours of the past, +which he could only remember with shame. He thought of the times when his mother +had implored him with anxious, fervent words to be good. How ill he had +succeeded as to that "goodness"! That dear tender mother had not grudged him the +freedom of youth; often she had told him that she had no wish to see him a +priggish, model boy, but had urged him not to lag behind the others, nor to fall +short of his goal. This was chiefly because of the stingy, well-to-do relations, +whose goodwill she had to secure in order that he might not have an utterly +joyless youth. She had borne every burden, and was prematurely aged through her +anxiety that he should attain the object which had shone so brightly in the +future: namely, the family scholarship at the University of Jena, an endowment +founded by a Frielinghausen of old for the benefit of his descendants.</p> +<p class="normal">Then came the catastrophe. Never in all his life would he forget the blank +dismay of his mother when the head of the gymnasium interviewed her and told her +of the inevitable expulsion. "Levity, carelessness, lack of industry, +superficiality in almost every subject," thus ran the reports of his teachers.</p> +<p class="normal">Hereupon followed a period of dreary inaction, and again a feverish +succession of petitions and persuasions, with the object of obtaining means for +three years' private coaching, but the relations declined to open their purses. +So they had fallen upon this last expedient for providing him with a career as a +sort of mongrel, half officer, half non-com.</p> +<p class="normal">He envied the simple lads who were his comrades. They had, it is true, +entered into new and strange conditions, but after all they remained in their +natural environment. Many of them had never been so well off as in barracks. +There was no bridge between the heights of culture to which he had aspired and +the uncivilised depths in which his comrades dwelt so contentedly. Possibly they +numbered among them fine and loveable natures: he was most attracted by the +shabby clerk Klitzing, and by Vogt, the rough peasant-boy; but all these men, +with their scanty words and awkward gestures, fought shy of him, fearing to be +despised by an educated gentleman.</p> +<p class="normal">The prospect of intercourse with the non-commissioned officers, who, on +promotion, would be his comrades, promised to be but little better than with the +recruits. Among them he met, for the most part, with the same distrustful +reticence that he had experienced among the men, though a few of them made up to +him, thinking him the <i>protégé</i> of the captain, and this he resented. +Käppchen, in particular, a little man, with unpleasant cunning eyes, offered to +his "future comrade" sundry little favours which, being battery-clerk, were in +his power to bestow.</p> +<p class="normal">Look at it as he would, the life of both the present and the future had +seemed to him scarcely worth living. Upon such reflections broke the captain's +hearty, friendly words, bringing a glimmer of light into the terrible darkness. +To merit the goodwill of this man, to show him that his sympathy had not been +unworthily bestowed, was at least an object to live for. Frielinghausen set +himself to attain it.</p> +<p class="normal">He paused near the door sunk in thought, he hardly knew for how long. He was +startled by a hand on his shoulder and a voice saying: "Just let me pass, my +son."</p> +<p class="normal">Frielinghausen stood aside at the bidding of an officer who, in full-dress +helmet, with aigrette, epaulettes, bandolier, and scarf, strode into the +orderly-room. He thought sadly how he had himself as a youngster dreamt of being +an officer, until his mother had talked him over to the safer career of letters. +Now he glanced at his own shabby uniform and compared it regretfully with that +of the other.</p> +<p class="normal">In the orderly-room Wegstetten rose briskly to meet the new-comer, and held +out his hand: "Delighted to have you in my battery, Reimers; you are heartily +welcome!" cutting short the lieutenant's acknowledgments with: "Yes indeed, I am +pleased to have a man with me who has some actual experience of soldiering; of +possibly something even more severe than that of Madelung with the fourth +battery in China."</p> +<p class="normal">Laughingly he held up a warning finger as he added:</p> +<p class="normal">"Even though it was entirely contrary to orders that you should have fought +for the Boers. How did you get on in the fortress?"</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers answered, smiling:</p> +<p class="normal">"Pretty well, sir. I have scarcely ever been so well treated as during that +arrest."</p> +<p class="normal">"Very likely. And his majesty did not let you languish there long?"</p> +<p class="normal">"No, indeed, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten glanced at his watch.</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, I'm sorry I can't stop any longer now, for I must go back to the +riding-school again. So good-bye, my dear fellow. But let me say once more how +glad I am to have a man who has really smelt powder. They are only to be found +among colonels and generals as a rule nowadays."</p> +<p class="normal">As soon as the captain had gone, Reimers put his helmet on the table, and +drew off his gloves.</p> +<p class="normal">He glanced round the orderly-room and nodded with satisfaction as he noted +that everything was as it used to be. Then he held out his hand to the +sergeant-major.</p> +<p class="normal">"Good-day, Schumann!" he said cheerily. "You're still here? How are you?"</p> +<p class="normal">"I'm well, sir, thank God. And, beg pardon, sir, but how are you?"</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers looked surprised. "I'm quite well, of course. Why should I not be?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, sir, you had sick-leave last year----?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Ah, yes, that's all gone, Schumann; all gone--not a trace of it left."</p> +<p class="normal">"I'm delighted to hear it, sir," said the sergeant-major; "and, if you will +excuse me, sir," he went on somewhat hesitatingly, "I'm glad, very glad, you've +come back to the sixth, especially after you've fought for the Boers. I should +like to go out there myself, you know, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">"Oh, no, Schumann," said Reimers, "you must not think of that. I don't +believe you would like it. There's another side to that affair. Stay contentedly +here. This is the place for you. Besides, the poor devils have next to no +artillery left."</p> +<p class="normal">Lieutenant Reimers took Schumann's familiarity in good part. He recognised +that it was the strong love of justice which made him espouse the cause of the +weak.</p> +<p class="normal">"No, Schumann," he went on: "that is no place for you. Wait; wait quietly +here. Mark my words! There will be work enough! The lessons learnt over there in +China, too, will have to be worked out here, and for that we shall want our best +men. You will be wanted. If only we had more like you!"</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers emphasised the last words, and heartily wrung the sergeant-major's +hand.</p> +<p class="normal">Then he put on his helmet again and strode out of the room; a man, indeed, +over whom the soldier heart of Schumann rejoiced. One could have confidence in a +man like that, with his quick penetrating glance and his easy, erect carriage. +He was a handsome fellow too, fair-haired and of open countenance, only just a +trifle thin from his campaigning experiences. Not one of those young puppies, +like some of the officers, who caused the sergeant-major, notwithstanding his +due respect for his superiors, to shake his head sadly at times.</p> +<p class="normal">Schumann seated himself at his table. But despite all his efforts he could +not concentrate his attention on the recruiting papers. The words of Reimers +haunted him: that he, Schumann, would be wanted. That was the second time the +same thing had been said to him this very day. There must be something in it. He +felt as though he had a bad conscience.</p> +<p class="normal">But all day long he was busy, and it was only towards evening, when work was +nearly done, that he had time to think. He left what he could for the next day, +and went into his own quarters at the end of the corridor. Here he would +earnestly think it out, whether he would not remain for a few more years with +the battery.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Two families were quartered at the end of the corridor, that of Sergeant-major +Schumann and that of the deputy sergeant-major, Heppner; each had a bedroom, +sitting-room, and kitchen, and they shared the entrance-hall between them.</p> +<p class="normal">As Schumann entered he could hear through the door the rough, blustering +voice of Heppner.</p> +<p class="normal">That was the worst of these quarters; the thin walls and doors let the +faintest sound through, to say nothing of rows and quarrelling. Unless one +positively whispered, one's neighbours could overhear everything one said, even +though they were not intentionally listening.</p> +<p class="normal">The Heppners were always noisy. It was the old story that caused the +bickerings of the ill-mated pair: a sickly wife stricken with lung disease, +drawing daily nearer to her grave, and a husband of rough exuberant physical +strength.</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner had married his wife when she was already with child by him; and he +never could imagine afterwards how he had come to tie himself to her. He had at +no time really cared for the pale, thin woman; but she had a quiet way of +managing, inch by inch, to attain the end she aimed at. She had caught him by +appearing humble and patient; so humble and patient that he fancied she would +make a submissive wife--a wife who would let him go his own way and would wink +at his shortcomings. For he had never had the smallest intention of playing the +faithful spouse.</p> +<p class="normal">Devil take it! Wasn't he a jolly young chap who looked thoroughly well in his +smart uniform; tall, broad-shouldered, strong of limb, with full ruddy face and +black moustache; a fellow all the women ran after; was such as he to belong +solely to a broomstick like his wife? It would be a sin and a shame! Lucky for +her that she was so tame and yielding!</p> +<p class="normal">But after marriage the pliant, patient woman altered suddenly. She turned out +a regular scold; a perfect vixen, who was ever at his heels, distorting his most +harmless acts, and starting a new jealousy every day. Once she went for him with +finger-nails and scissors; but he had given her such a drubbing that she never +attempted that game again. She used her tongue all the more; and when, driven to +extremity, he sought to chastise her, she screamed so that the whole barracks +ran to the rescue.</p> +<p class="normal">In the end Heppner completely gave up troubling about her. He went his own +way, going out evening after evening, enjoying himself after his fashion. He +hardly ever gave his wife money enough for housekeeping. When he did come home +it was he who was the aggressor now, and the reproaches of his wife were +indifferent to him.</p> +<p class="normal">Thus things went on for months. It was not exactly pleasant for Heppner; but +one can get used to anything. He seemed only to grow handsomer and more robust, +while his wife became daily thinner and uglier. Finally she did him an ill turn +by falling sick. The doctor declared her case to be hopeless from the first, and +gave her but a short time to live. But even the approach of death did not +silence her evil tongue.</p> +<p class="normal">Once the wretched wife went to Wegstetten, the captain of their battery, in +the vain hope that he might be able to help her.</p> +<p class="normal">"Just consider a little, Frau Heppner," he suggested, "whether you yourself +may not be somewhat to blame. For it is impossible that a man so regular in his +duties, who never has to be found fault with, can be as violent as you make out. +You exaggerate a bit, my good woman."</p> +<p class="normal">After this she resigned herself angrily to her miserable fate.</p> + +<p class="normal">Wegstetten was not wrong in his praise of Heppner. Outside his own quarters +Heppner was a blameless non-commissioned officer; one who knew his duties as +well as any, and was strictly obedient to rules and regulations. He handled the +men smartly, his brutal, leonine voice being audible all over the parade-ground; +yet he never permitted himself any undue licence of speech.</p> +<p class="normal">In general, if his men took the trouble to try, he got on well enough with +them. It was a satisfaction to him to command a well-drilled body of men; if +they behaved themselves he showed them thorough good-will. Only now and then he +would fix on a man and worry him to the utmost permissible limit in a grim, cold +way almost past endurance. It would always be one of the weaker sort; pale-faced +lads he could never endure. And occasionally in other ways the rough animal +nature of the man would show itself. If any one got hurt, Heppner was the first +to run up--not to help, but to see the blood; he would watch it flow with +unmistakable pleasure in his eager eyes.</p> +<p class="normal">His special forte was the breaking-in of chargers. In the riding-school he +was thoroughly in his element; particularly under cover in the winter, when the +horses steamed and the dim lamps glowed red through the dust. With the air of a +conqueror he would mount some horse which had refused a jump. His hand could be +as soft as satin or as hard as steel, and he would always try gentle means +first. Throwing himself back on the hind-quarters, where the weight tells most, +and thus driving the brute involuntarily forward till with his powerful legs he +had forced it up to the obstacle, with one final squeeze he would get it over. +If a refractory horse fell with him, he would be out of the saddle in a moment, +and would wait, rein in hand, smiling quietly, until the animal was up again +snorting. Then he would remount, and four or five times must the rebellious +horse take the jump; then at last his rider would be satisfied.</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner's voice would sometimes sound quite good-humoured during riding +instruction; he would then relax somewhat. He knew that his men would ride well +when it came to the point; for that the sixth battery must have the best +horsemen was an understood thing.</p> + +<p class="normal">Thus it will be seen that the brutality Heppner displayed at home he could +successfully repress when on duty. But the most remarkable thing about this man, +who behaved like a brute to his wife, and had no affection for his comrades, was +the metamorphosis he underwent if the horses were in question. Towards those +beautiful animals he showed an almost womanly tenderness. They all knew him, and +he loved them all, though naturally he had his favourites among them. There was +Udo, a light-brown gelding, who could kneel down. And Zulu, almost black, would +shake his head when asked if he were French, but nodded when one said, "A German +artillery-man, aren't you?" Heppner would take them sugar every day, or other +tit-bits, which he would divide among them with scrupulous fairness.</p> +<p class="normal">If by chance a horse fell ill, Heppner's devotion amounted to actual +self-sacrifice, and he would anticipate the orders of the vet. with marvellous +acuteness. Once only had he mal-treated a subordinate, a driver whom as a rule +he particularly liked. He gave him a blow which caused the blood to spurt from +both nose and mouth, because he had, when on stable duty, allowed Dornröschen to +get caught in her chain. Dornröschen was Heppner's own riding-horse, and the +very apple of his eye.</p> +<p class="normal">It was chiefly among these beautiful and intelligent animals that the more +human element in Heppner's nature came out, and his love for them almost +amounted to superstition. There must always be a goat about the stables, for it +was an old belief that the strong smell of that animal was a preventive of +disease, and the long-bearded Billy was the special +<i>protégé</i> of the deputy sergeant-major. Now and then there were +difficulties concerning him; as, for instance, when an unexpected attack in the +rear knocked the major down in the dust before the whole corps. It was only by +desperate entreaty that Heppner succeeded in saving the life of the bleating +culprit, and then a curious chance led to his reinstatement. The very first +night that the goat was turned out of the barracks, two of the horses began to +cough the vet. hinted at bronchitis--four weeks only from the manœuvres, and +bronchitis!--Billy was at once restored to his place in the stables, and both +horses ceased to cough.</p> + +<p class="normal">The deputy sergeant-major would have found it difficult to answer had he been +asked which he preferred: to play cards in a beerhouse with a buxom Bohemian +waitress beside him, or to be in the neat stables amid the chain-rattling, +snorting, stamping company of the horses. Both were to his taste; but perhaps on +the whole he was really happiest walking up and down before the stalls, with the +goat trotting after him, and the horses turning their heads to follow him with +their sagacious eyes.</p> +<p class="normal">But as soon as the stable-door closed behind him the soft look would vanish; +and as he opened the door of his own quarters an evil expression would +overspread his face, as if he were ready at once to fall upon his defenceless +wife.</p> +<p class="normal">Through grief and illness the unfortunate woman became at last incapable of +attending to her domestic duties. She cast about for an assistant, and at last +wrote to her sister Ida, who was in service in Lusatia. Ida willingly threw up +her situation, came to her brother-in-law's dwelling, and immediately took over +the management of the little household and of the invalid.</p> +<p class="normal">For a time it seemed as if the loathsome atmosphere of hate and squalor must +disappear in presence of the tall fresh country girl; the deputy sergeant-major +put a restraint upon himself before his sister-in-law, and the sickly wife found +comfort and relief in talking to her. But eventually the presence of this third +party transformed the house into a veritable hell.</p> +<p class="normal">The eyes of hatred are as keen as those of love. Julie Heppner soon +discovered that her husband loved her sister with his usual coarse passion, as +he had loved so many others before. She recognised the ardent fixed gaze that +rested lustfully on the young girl, following her every movement. This, then, +was to be the last, bitterest, deadliest drop in her cup; this betrayal, in her +own home, under her very eyes.</p> +<p class="normal">The sick woman watched her sister's conduct in agonised suspense. At first +Ida had been honestly indifferent to the behaviour of her brother-in-law; after +a while, however, a faint embarrassed flush would sometimes overspread her +pretty youthful countenance. From the fugitive glances which she now and then +intercepted between the two, the invalid foresaw the most sinister results.</p> + +<p class="normal">Heppner himself, not being particularly quick-witted, and being used only to +coarse associates, did not quite know what to make of his sister-in-law. Of only +one thing was he certain, this beautiful girl must be his. He was even prepared, +if he could not otherwise succeed, to resort to violence.</p> +<p class="normal">One evening Heppner had been exercising Walküre, Wegstetten's charger, for an +hour. Having seen her wisped down in the stable and covered with a horse cloth, +he went towards the canteen for a drink, when he remembered that there was a +bottle of beer in his own kitchen. He strolled slowly and somewhat stiffly +towards his quarters.</p> +<p class="normal">Ida was washing in the kitchen. He said briefly, "Good evening," poured out +the beer, and drank it in great gulps. Then he shook the last drops in the glass +to make them froth up, silently watching his sister-in-law the while. She had +round white arms; and as she bent over the tub, the outline of her hips showed +broad and firm.</p> +<p class="normal">Through the open door came the shrill hoarse voice of his wife.</p> +<p class="normal">"Ida, who is there?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Who else should it be but Otto?" answered the girl.</p> +<p class="normal">Again the shrill voice called, yet more insistently, "Why does he not come +in?"</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner finished his glass, put it down, and said: "Because I won't. Because +I'm better off here. Because Ida's a pretty girl, and you're an old crone."</p> +<p class="normal">At this, as though in fun, he put his arm round the girl and pressed her to +him.</p> +<p class="normal">Ida kept still for a moment. She shivered. Then she shook him off: "Let go, +stupid! Go to your wife."</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner let her go. The single moment that she had permitted his embrace +convinced him that here, too, he would conquer. How she had quivered in his +arms! He understood such signs.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Meanwhile Sergeant Schumann, only separated from the Heppners by a partition +wall, sat at the round table by the sofa with his wife.</p> +<p class="normal">Their room, with its antimacassars, its upholstered furniture, its +flower-pots and canary-bird, its sewing-machine in the window, was more like an +old maid's best parlour than a soldier's sitting-room. The small, neat-featured +mistress herself, who was not very strong, and always, even in summer, wore a +little shawl round her shoulders, suited her surroundings admirably.</p> +<p class="normal">She had a thousand small cares, and one great grief: that they were +childless. But she never troubled her husband with her sorrow, taking care to +bear it alone. He had bothers enough in the service; how often did she not hear +his voice storming outside! He should have peace at home. One thing only she +could not bear without complaining to him: the terrible quarrellings of their +neighbours. She shuddered whenever she heard the strife begin afresh; and +gradually out of this had grown an aversion from all this noisy life. She became +a most zealous advocate of her husband's plans for retiring; and could scarcely +find patience to await the moment when he would put off the richly-laced coat +beside which she had formerly been so proud to walk. In her heart she had always +been rather against the martial calling, and would take Schumann's sword from +him as though it dripped blood.</p> +<p class="normal">All this would cease when he changed his military coat or the handsome dark +uniform of a railway-official; all this discomfort would come to an end; above +all, this noise: the shouts and curses with which recalcitrant recruits had to +be knocked into shape, the trampling of nailed boots on the stone stairs, the +bellowing of commands on the parade-ground, and--last, but not least--the +hideous racket next door.</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major had almost finished his time of service. A post awaited +him as assistant at a small railway-station in the neighbourhood; and once when +Schumann was away at the practice-camp, she had not been able to resist the +temptation to see the place for herself. It was on a branch-line, which wound up +among the hills. The station was a little distance from the village in a green +plantation. She yearned after the peaceful spot.</p> +<p class="normal">And now Schumann had again begun to speak of remaining on in the army!</p> +<p class="normal">His wife let him talk, listening patiently. She sat quietly opposite to him, +giving him his supper as usual, as busy and attentive as though he were only +speaking on indifferent topics. But when he had finished she spoke out, saying +that, as a rule, she was not the woman to meddle in her husband's affairs, but +that <i>this</i> was a matter which concerned herself as well. His notion that +to quit the service now would make him feel like a deserter and a scoundrel +seemed to her utter unpractical nonsense. He would be sacrificing a couple of +years to a mere fancy.</p> +<p class="normal">Finally she produced her trump-card. She knew that the rural quiet of the +little station had wound itself round her husband's heart during the week of +trial he had already passed there. So she confessed her own secret journey.</p> +<p class="normal">And she conquered.</p> +<p class="normal">Each could describe as well as the other the charms of the unassuming little +retreat. What one omitted the other supplied. Thus the picture in the +sergeant-major's mind was revived afresh, and in such vivid colours that it +regained its old power over him, dissipating the cloud of self-reproachful +doubt. He saw before him a calm bright future in the narrow valley between +wooded heights, and it came over him suddenly that there in the stillness, where +one could live in touch with nature, he would for the first time begin really to +live.</p> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER III</h2> +<br> +<div style="margin-left:70%"> +<p class="hang1">"I vow to thee my duty,<br> +My heart and my hand,</p> +<p class="hang1" style="margin-top:-9pt">O land of love and beauty,<br> +My German fatherland!"</p> +<p class="right">(<i>Massmann.</i>)</p> +</div> +<p class="continue">Lieutenant Reimers had reported himself to the colonel of the regiment and to +the major.</p> +<p class="normal">These officers had given him a hearty welcome, each after his own fashion.</p> +<p class="normal">Major Schrader, who never let pass an opportunity of making a joke, received +his report at first in a very stiff official manner, assuring him with a frown +that he was very loth to have in his division officers who had been in disgrace; +then almost fell on his neck, and asked him if it were true that the Kaffir +girls had such an abominable smell.</p> +<p class="normal">Colonel Falkenhein gave him only a prolonged handshake; but Reimers could +read the great gladness in his eyes.</p> +<p class="normal">The colonel had treated the young man almost as a son; and a year before, +when the doctors had sent Reimers to Egypt as a consumptive patient with a very +doubtful prospect of recovery, had seen him depart with a heavy heart. Now, +looking upon him once more, he was doubly glad. Reimers had not developed into a +broad-chested, red-cheeked, powerful man, but every trace of illness had +vanished from the bronzed face; the thin features and the rather spare rigid +figure gave an impression of tough endurance, a characteristic of greater value +in resisting disease than mere well-nourished sleekness.</p> +<p class="normal">"You are well out of that, thank God! Reimers," he said, once more shaking +the lieutenant's hand; "and it looks as if the improvement would be permanent, +considering the test to which your health has been put."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It was rather <i>va banque</i>, sir," replied the lieutenant. "Either all or +nothing."</p> +<p class="normal">"I decidedly prefer the all," said Falkenhein, in such a hearty, affectionate +tone that a rush of devotion carried the lieutenant past the barriers of +formality. He bent quickly over the colonel's hand and kissed it. Tears stood in +his eyes--tears of grateful pleasure. Now he indeed felt himself back in his +native country.</p> +<p class="normal">How he had longed for it, day after day, during this year of furlough!</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">At first when, in Cairo, he was again laid low by the fatigues of the journey, +he had thought of his country with pensive melancholy. Later, as his strength +returned, homesickness asserted itself increasingly; he suffered from it more +than from his gradually-subsiding bodily malady, and the aimless life of a +health-resort only increased his sufferings. He could never have resigned +himself to pass long months of such inaction in a strange land; and when he +joined the Boer forces, it was to no small extent in order to counteract the +torturing longing for Germany.</p> +<p class="normal">He loved his country with a passionate ardour. The ideas of greatness, power +and sovereignty were inseparably connected in his mind with the name of the +German Empire. But his chief enthusiasm was reserved for the diligent, +unostentatious work, quietly accomplished and conscious of its aim, which, begun +by Stein, Scharnhorst and Boyen, had led through long struggles to such a +glorious result. He reviewed the whole story with the eye of a soldier from the +collapse at Jena onward to the last great war he seemed to trace an +uninterruptedly ascending line, not diverted even by Prussia's temporary +political defeats. In the unparalleled siege of Sedan a height of military +efficiency had been reached from which no further ascent was possible. He could +not imagine anything in the whole world more honourable than to belong to that +splendid army of Sedan; and he wore his officer's sword-knot with a pride far +removed from any kind of conceit: in fact, nearly akin to religious veneration.</p> +<p class="normal">As a boy, it had been his bitterest grief that his mother's wishes and the +doctor's opinion were against his becoming a soldier,--an officer like his dead +father, who had fought in the great campaign. His mother and the doctor had +feared that he was too weakly for the military profession. In order to remove +this objection, the boy voluntarily subjected himself to heroic discipline, and +by strictly following a graduated system of physical exercises inured his body +to hardships, until he was actually found fit for service. Conquered by such +persistent devotion, his mother at last yielded to his wishes; but she saw him +wear his father's familiar old uniform only a few times, for she died shortly +after, barely forty years old.</p> +<p class="normal">Bernhard Reimers thus became doubly an orphan. But he had far more than the +death of a mother to deplore. With his mother he also lost the only person who +had loved him, and the only one whom he in return had loved.</p> +<p class="normal">So closely was the boy encircled by his mother's love, that the need which +led his schoolfellows at the gymnasium to form friendships was never felt by +him. Whenever he wanted to learn something, to solve a doubt or to confide a +secret, he could count on his mother's tenderness; she would explain, soothe, or +sympathise, as the joys and sorrows of the growing youth became ever more +serious. From this relation he retained a touch of womanliness in his character, +even after he had left home to enter the regiment: a shrinking from everything +coarse, a reserve before all that was unlovely. This instinctive feeling did +not, indeed, altogether protect him from temptation, but it withheld him from +yielding to excess. He joined in the little drink and love follies of the other +young subalterns from a sense of comradeship; alone they would never have +appealed to him.</p> +<p class="normal">As at school, so in the regiment, he had many comrades, but no friend. He did +not trouble himself about this, and until his mother's death he felt no want. +Then he recognised sadly that he was quite alone; but he was incapable of +setting to work to seek a friend, so he just waited for some happy chance to +bring the right person across his path.</p> +<p class="normal">When, at last, he found the friendship he sought, it did not come in the way +he had dreamed, suddenly, like a gift from heaven thrown into his lap; but was a +gradual strong growth, a slow mutual recognition.</p> +<p class="normal">It would be difficult to find a greater contrast than that presented by +Reimers and this Senior-lieutenant Güntz; externally and internally they +differed radically. Reimers was tall and lean, with golden-brown hair, and a +noble, but somewhat melancholy expression; Güntz was small and very fair, with a +tendency to stoutness, and with a red jovial face like the full moon. The one +was romantic and even exuberant, slightly fantastic in his moods; the other +firmly rooted in prosaic fact.</p> +<p class="normal">Both were prized as able officers. Reimers was referred to on questions of +military history and science; Güntz was considered an authority on mathematical +technicalities, especially in connection with the artillery. Thoroughness was a +characteristic of each alike; and on the strength of this, and despite all +difference, they were daily attracted more and more to each other. Güntz, the +more expansive nature, soon opened his whole heart to his friend; though +Reimers, partly from a kind of timidity, still kept his deepest and innermost +feelings somewhat hidden. For Güntz, with his sober sense and terrible logic, +must necessarily, since he could never be otherwise than sincere, destroy most +of the ideals and illusions to which Reimers passionately clung, and without +which he believed he could not live.</p> +<p class="normal">Little by little, however, the wall of separation between them gave way, and +their friendship and mutual confidence had become almost ideal, when Güntz was +ordered to serve in the Experimental Department of the Artillery in Berlin. This +was a distinction; but it meant absence for a year.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers had thus found a friend only to lose him again.</p> +<p class="normal">The exchange of letters between the two was not specially brisk. Things which +could be instantly understood in conversation had to be treated in such detail +on paper! They would have had to write each other scientific treatises, and for +that there was no time; Reimers was too zealous in his garrison duty, and Güntz +too much absorbed in the technical problems on which he was engaged. His +loneliness only caused Reimers to devote himself with the greater zeal to his +profession.</p> +<p class="normal">Even the irksome duties of the service did not trouble him, and he took +special interest in his recruits, superintending, correcting, and instructing +them. In times of peace this was, indeed, the greatest and most important work +of the young officer, to mould this stubborn human material into +soldiers--soldiers who, after the first rough shaping, had to be trained till +finally they attained their highest end: fitness for active service.</p> +<p class="normal">At the same time he had to pursue his own studies in military science. But he +would have been ashamed to call that work; he knew no nobler pleasure, and would +gladly have sat up the whole night over the plans of the general staff, only +refraining so that the next morning might find him fresh with the needful, or, +as he smilingly called it, the "regulation" vigour for practical duty.</p> +<p class="normal">Thus, when Güntz had gone, Reimers was in danger of becoming somewhat shy of +his fellow-creatures. He had honestly to put constraint on himself to fulfil the +claims of comradeship with a good grace, and more especially his social +obligations. He was most at home in outdoor recreations; he played tennis with +enthusiasm, and had nothing against excursions on foot or bicycle with a picnic +thrown in, or the regimental races, or hunting. These all meant healthy +exercise, and afforded a wholesome change from the confined life of the +garrison. But winter, with its obligatory dinners and balls, was a torment to +him.</p> +<p class="normal">On one occasion, standing in the doorway of a ballroom, he had closed his +ears so as to exclude all sound of the music, and then had seriously doubted the +sanity of the men and women he saw madly jumping about. He felt almost ashamed +afterwards when he had to ask the no longer youthful Frau Lischke for a dance; +but the fat lady hung smiling on his arm, and did not spare him a single round. +Reimers thought sadly of his honest friend Güntz, and the rude things he had +been wont to say about such follies as these.</p> +<p class="normal">But chance threw in his way a gift which to some extent compensated him for +the loss of his friend. He and Colonel von Falkenhein were brought together; +and, by the irony of fate, at one of these same odious balls.</p> +<p class="normal">After working through his duty dances, Reimers had allowed himself to omit a +polka, and was leaning out of a window in the end room of the suite, when +Colonel Falkenhein tapped him on the shoulder.</p> + +<p class="normal">The colonel was bored; for those of the older men who were not occupied with +the ladies had set themselves down to cards, and he--a widower, whose only +daughter was still at school--could not bear cards, and liked dancing still +less. This Lieutenant Reimers, standing alone gazing out into the night, seemed +a kindred spirit.</p> +<p class="normal">The young officer had already excited his interest; his behaviour as a +soldier was loudly praised by his superiors; and then unprofessionally he was +distinguished from the average type of young lieutenant by a certain attractive +maturity of bearing, without, however, impressing one as a prig. Priggishness +was even less endurable to Falkenhein than play and dancing.</p> +<p class="normal">The colonel had the gift of making people open their hearts to him by means +of a few judicious questions, and could very well distinguish between genuine +and spurious sentiment.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers answered with a candour which astonished himself most of all, and +Falkenhein listened with a pleased attention. Here was a man after his own +heart, possessed by a manly seriousness, and with a deliberate lofty aim in +life; not merely dreaming of substituting a general's epaulettes for the simple +shoulder-knots of a lieutenant. Here, too, was a fine enthusiasm, which touched +the veteran of fifty and warmed his heart. It recalled the old warlike days and +the cry: "Only put us to the proof! and rather to-day than to-morrow!" Ah! since +those days he had learnt to judge such things rather differently; but +nevertheless it was the right way for youth to regard them. Such enthusiasm was +a little exaggerated, at any rate as things stood at present, and also a trifle +shortsighted. It was now no longer as in the days of 1870 and after, when the +watch on the Rhine had to be kept for fear of vengeance. He could not join as +heartily as he might then have done in the proud joy of the young officer.</p> +<p class="normal">He felt inclined to take himself to task for this, and on no account would he +pour cold water on this fine flame of enthusiasm. It was the very thing in which +the present time was most lacking: patriotism as a genuine conviction rooted +firmly and deep in the breast, not venting itself in mere cheering and hurrahs; +and accompanied by a steady comprehension of the soldier's profession as simply +a constant readiness for war.</p> + +<p class="normal">From the time of this conversation, Reimers began to feel heartily +enthusiastic about his colonel. He was almost ashamed to find that his good +friend Güntz was thus slightly forgotten; but this was not really the case--the +two might safely share in his affection without wrong to either of them. The +honest, faithful fellow in Berlin remained his dear friend; the colonel he began +to look on as a second father.</p> +<p class="normal">Falkenhein's partiality was not, of course, openly expressed; but by many +little signs he let the young man see how much he thought of him. Reimers, fully +aware of the fatherly sympathy, was happy in the knowledge of it. His comrades +were, indeed, surprised to find how lively and almost exuberant the hitherto +staid Reimers could become; and particularly was this so during the artillery +practice and the autumn manœuvres, when--garrison and parade drills at an end +for a time--conditions were somewhat akin to those of real warfare.</p> +<p class="normal">Then the even course of things was broken by his illness.</p> +<p class="normal">When, before his enforced furlough, he took leave of the colonel, the +latter's hearty liking for the first time broke through the barriers of official +form. His clear eyes became dim, and his voice slightly trembled as he said: +"Come back well, my dear Reimers--come back to me. Be sure and do all you can to +get cured!"</p> +<p class="normal">Now, when at last Reimers found himself once more standing face to face with +this honoured colonel, joy overpowered him, and he kissed the hand of his +fatherly friend.</p> +<p class="normal">The colonel tolerated this altogether unmilitary excess with a good-natured +smile. He would have been delighted to clasp in his arms this young man, who was +as dear as a son to him; but he, an old soldier, could not allow his feelings to +get the better of him as the lieutenant had done, rejoiced though he had been by +the latter's outburst.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Out on the parade-ground Reimers looked about him with interest. Everything +seemed to have become different and delightful; even the bare, prosaic yard of +the barracks appeared no longer devoid of charm. He passed through the gate and +went slowly along the high road towards the town. Then it was that the glad +feeling of being in his native country asserted itself in full force. He +realised that it was just the tender green of those beeches and alders edging +the brook that he had longed to see when, in Cairo, the fan-like palm-leaf hung +motionless at his window; just this slope of meadow land that he had remembered +on the arid veldt of South Africa. It was this mild sunshine of his native land, +this blue German sky that he had pined for in the glowing furnace of the Red +Sea. The tiny engine which puffed along asthmatically up the valley, dragging +its little carriages and ringing its bell from time to time when a browsing +sheep strayed between the rails, had been ever present in his mind during his +journeyings to and fro.</p> +<p class="normal">As he walked along, the young officer thought of his comrades whom he would +now meet again.</p> +<p class="normal">In this glad moment he could tolerate them all. Their various defects, +whether small or great, now appeared less offensive than of yore; and in any +case it was kind of them and a great compliment to him that on this very day of +his return they should have arranged a feast. It is true he rather dreaded this +feast, which was sure to end in the usual way--general drunkenness--but it was +well meant, and there was at least one advantage in it, that he would at once be +made acquainted with all the details of garrison gossip; for, though altogether +beneath contempt, they must be known in order to avoid giving unintentional +offence.</p> +<p class="normal">At the door of his quarters he found waiting the gunner who had been +appointed as his servant.</p> +<p class="normal">"Gunner Gähler, as servant to Lieutenant Reimers," he announced himself.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers took a good look at the man. The sergeant-major seemed to have done +well for him in this respect. Gähler was a smart fellow, not exactly tall, but +well proportioned, and very clean. His hair smelt a little too strongly of +pomade, and wax had not been spared on his fashionably-stiffened moustache.</p> +<p class="normal">When Reimers drew his bunch of keys out of his pocket to unlock the door, +Gähler hastened to take them from his hand, and opened the door for the +lieutenant to pass in before him. He quickly laid his bundle of clothes upon a +chair, and at once helped to take off Reimer's helmet, shoulder-belt, and scarf.</p> +<p class="normal">The officer smiled at such excessive zeal.</p> +<p class="normal">"How is it that you are so well up in this work?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was for a time servant to Captain von Wegstetten, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">"Indeed? And why did you leave him?"</p> +<p class="normal">Gähler hesitated a little; then he resumed glibly: "Please do not think badly +of me, sir. There were difficulties; the servant-girl slandered me; you will +understand, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">He stood there embarrassed, polishing the chin-piece of the helmet with the +sleeve of his coat.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers felt amused at his choice manner of expressing himself. "So you can't +leave the women alone?" he asked. "Well, with me you will not be led into +temptation."</p> +<p class="normal">Gähler modestly demurred: "I beg your pardon, sir; but in that case it was +really not at all my fault."</p> +<p class="normal">The lieutenant laughed. "Oh, all right!" he said; "but before that, where +were you?"</p> +<p class="normal">The gunner drew himself up proudly, and replied with dignity: "I was groom to +Count Vocking, in Dresden."</p> +<p class="normal">"Aha, that accounts for it!"</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers was no longer surprised. The aristocratic cavalry-officer was +considered the richest and smartest sportsman in Germany.</p> +<p class="normal">First, Reimers asked for his smoking-jacket, and then told Gähler to help him +in unpacking the case of books which had just arrived from Suez.</p> +<p class="normal">Gähler handed him the volumes, and could not help remarking: "You have an +awful lot of books, sir!"</p> +<p class="normal">The lieutenant did not look offended, so he went on: "The count hadn't so +many, and none at all of this sort."</p> +<p class="normal">He stole another glance to assure himself that he had not displeased his +master, and then added: "The count only had books about horses, and a few about +women, and the Regulations for cavalry-exercise."</p> +<p class="normal">At this Reimers could not help laughing, and his "Hold your tongue," did not +sound to Gähler particularly angry.</p> +<p class="normal">But if Count Vocking possessed fewer books than the lieutenant, he apparently +surpassed him greatly in other respects.</p> +<p class="normal">As Gähler was arranging the washhand stand, he remarked: "The count had lots +of little boxes and bottles, with real silver tops."</p> +<p class="normal">And when he fetched Reimers some sandwiches and a glass of beer for lunch +from the kitchen on the ground floor, he informed his master, "The count had his +own kitchen, and used to drink Burgundy at lunch."</p> +<p class="normal">And here another result of his training in the Vocking household came to +light. In a few moments the table was covered with a clean cloth, with knife, +fork, and spoon neatly in place; and it was certainly not the rough maid down +below in the simple kitchen to whom it had occurred to decorate the dish so +prettily with parsley and radishes. The meal looked far more appetising than +usual, and this was Gähler's work.</p> +<p class="normal">"Where did you get the radishes from?" Reimers asked.</p> +<p class="normal">"The cook gave them to me, sir," his servant replied.</p> +<p class="normal">"So you are at it again, making yourself agreeable?"</p> +<p class="normal">This time Gähler was not in the least confused, but replied frankly, "I beg +your pardon, sir; the cook is very old and very fat, I----"</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">That evening, in the mess-house, the officers, both his seniors in rank and +those of his own age, vied with each other in pleasant speeches. But it ended +just as it had done a year before; when all had greeted him, he was left +standing alone in the doorway of the reading-room.</p> +<p class="normal">His only friend, Güntz, was still in Berlin, and the officers chatted +together in the other rooms of the mess-house, standing in groups which in +almost every case denoted circles of friends. There was hardly any change in the +composition of these circles, which was usually due to similar length of +service, but in certain cases they were held together by some other bond. There +was the Keyl-Möller group of two senior-lieutenants and a lieutenant, who were +brothers-in-law in a double sense, two Keyls having married two Fräulein +Möllers, and a Möller a Fräulein Keyl. There was also the trio of musical +officers, one of whom sang and played the violin and also the French horn, while +the second was an excellent pianist, and the third only whistled, but in a most +artistic manner. Then, finally, there was the philosophic group, to which little +Lieutenant Dr. von Fröben gave the tone. He had taken his doctor's degree in +jurisprudence at Heidelberg, and had recently become an officer, as during his +year of military service he had lost all taste for legal science. He bore his +academic honours with that dignity which often accompanies the unusual; he was +considered extremely up-to-date, and at times rather extravagant in his +opinions. Among his friends were two officers still very young, one of whom was +always reading Prevost and Maupassant; and the other blushingly acknowledged +himself to be the author of an ode, printed in a daily newspaper, welcoming the +troops just returned from China, among whom had been Captain Madelung of the +regiment.</p> +<p class="normal">Everything at the mess-house seemed to be just as of old; it seemed to +Reimers as if he had not been away for a day. He looked around him: all were as +before, the elder men, with thick moustaches and hair growing thin in places, +with the cares of a future command already on the brow; those of his own age, +easy-going and assuming nonchalant airs; and the youngest of all very spick and +span and extremely correct. Just as of old the three brothers-in-law stood close +together (two of them had in the meantime become fathers, and the wife of Keyl +II., <i>nêe</i> Möller, was in an interesting condition), and chatted about +their various uncles and aunts. As of yore, the singing, violin and horn-playing +Manitius was at the piano, turning over the leaves of a pianoforte arrangement +of the "Trompeter von Säkkingen." And again, as of old, the little red-haired +Dr. von Fröben held forth learnedly to every one who would listen. There were +only two new men who had entered the regiment during his illness, and had just +got their commissions as lieutenants. One of them, Landsberg, had introduced +himself to Reimers as belonging to his battery.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers was not much taken with him. This youth, with his somewhat vacant +expression, hair glossy with pomade, and single eye-glass squeezed into his eye, +was too artificial and dandified to suit his taste. But he seemed somehow to be +an object of interest to Landsberg, though the latter was evidently shy of +addressing his elder comrade.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers thought he could guess what was coming. No doubt it was again some +question about his experiences in the war, of the kind he had already answered +twenty times this evening in a more or less evasive fashion. This curiosity did +not offend him, for such questions must be in every officer's mind, and +especially in that of one who was fresh to the soldier's calling.</p> +<p class="normal">Sure enough Landsberg came up. He began rather slowly. "Excuse me, may I ask +you a question?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Certainly, I shall be most happy," answered Reimers.</p> +<p class="normal">"Do tell me," Landsberg proceeded hesitatingly, "I would like so much--in +fact, the shape of your boots pleases me immensely; they are awfully smart, and +I--in fact, you would confer a tremendous favour on me if you would give me the +address of your bootmaker."</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers considered for a moment, then replied coldly: "I bought these boots +in passing through Berlin."</p> +<p class="normal">"Just what I expected! They do look awfully smart, really! And do you +remember the address of the shop?"</p> +<p class="normal">"No."</p> +<p class="normal">"What a pity! But, if you don't mind, I will send my servant to you to copy +it off the lining. May I?"</p> +<p class="normal">Again Reimers was silent for a moment, then he said: "I have no objection, if +you think it important."</p> +<p class="normal">Landsberg brought his heels together with a click, bowed, and murmured: "You +are very kind; I shall certainly do so."</p> +<p class="normal">Then he moved away with, "Thank you so much."</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers turned away. He suddenly found the room too hot, and he walked up and +down for a time in the cooler air of the vestibule. All the doors were open. In +the mess-room the staff-officers and the captains were standing near the table, +which was already laid. It was a few minutes before half-past seven. Only the +colonel had not come yet.</p> +<p class="normal">Andreae, the senior staff-surgeon, gave Reimers a friendly nod through the +doorway. Reimers was his show patient. The specialist had shrugged his +shoulders, but he, Andreae, had not thrown up the sponge. The thing was in +reality quite simple. It only needed, like other military affairs, initiative. +The right diagnosis must be made as promptly as possible, and the right +treatment must follow without delay. Then all went well, as in this +case--unless, indeed, something went wrong. Yes, indeed, this patient was a +triumph which should finally reduce to silence those civilian colleagues of his +who considered a military surgeon competent at most to deal with venereal +diseases and broken bones.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers listened in an absent-minded way to his long-winded deliverances on +the subject of acclimatisation, taking furtive glances the while at the other +officers in the mess-room.</p> + +<p class="normal">They also seemed in no way changed. Major Lischke and Captain von Wegstetten +were still at loggerheads, Lischke blustering away in his loud voice, and +Wegstetten assuming his most ironical expression. Captain Stuckardt was +listening in a half-hearted way; he had quite recently been put on the list for +promotion to the staff, and consequently wore a rather preoccupied look. +Hitherto he had found the charge of one battery difficult enough, and now he +would have to command three. Undisturbed by the dispute, the captain of the +fifth battery, Mohr, had sat down to the table by himself; he was always +thirsty, and had already disposed of half a bottle of champagne. Madelung, fresh +from the Far East, paced up and down with short nervous steps between him and +the disputing officers. In passing, he glanced at the two fighting-cocks with a +kind of scornful pity, and at the silent toper with contempt. Major Schrader and +Captain von Gropphusen were whispering and chuckling together in a window nook. +They had one inexhaustible theme--women; while forage was the favourite topic of +the two men standing beneath the chandelier--Träger and Heuschkel, the officers +commanding the first and second batteries. The third battery had the fattest +horses in the regiment--"and the laziest," said the colonel; nevertheless, it +must be allowed, that when the inspector from the Ministry of War paid his +visit, it was an uncommonly pleasant sight to see the hind-quarters of those +horses shining so round and sleek in their stalls.</p> +<p class="normal">"Carrots! carrots!" cried Heuschkel. "They're the thing!" And Andreae, who, +as a healer of men must also have some knowledge of the inside of beasts, was +called on to endorse this view as to the excellence of carrots as fodder.</p> +<p class="normal">Thus Reimers felt himself rather out of it all, and was just about to leave +the mess-room and join his younger comrades, when Madelung came towards him.</p> +<p class="normal">The lieutenant waited expectantly. He was interested, for it was almost an +event when Madelung spoke to any one.</p> +<p class="normal">This lean, black-haired man, with the thin dark face and the deep-set +penetrating eyes, was undoubtedly the most unpopular officer in the regiment. He +was characterised as an unscrupulous place-hunter, and gave himself not the +slightest trouble to disprove the accusation. The one excuse that could be +offered for him was that, his father having been ruined through no fault of his +own, he was almost entirely dependent on his pay, and had been able to keep up +his position as an officer only by means of the strictest economy, and with the +help of an extra allowance from the royal privy-purse. It may have been this +that embittered him so that he avoided all social intercourse with the other +officers, and devoted himself entirely to his profession. By means of relentless +industry he had now won for himself the prospect of a brilliant career; on +leaving the Staff College he had been presented by the king with a sword of +honour, and he could look forward to a position on the general staff. Naturally +he had volunteered for the expedition to Eastern Asia, and had recently returned +from China decorated with an order, thinner and more pinched-looking than ever, +and still less amiable.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers stood before him in a strictly correct attitude, for the captain was +not to be trifled with. But Madelung put him at his ease with a nod, and said, +glancing sharply at him, "So you are the other exotic prodigy who is being fêted +to-day!"</p> +<p class="normal">He laughed drily.</p> +<p class="normal">The lieutenant made no response, and Madelung went on rapidly: "I may tell +you that I envy you!"</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers felt the captain take his hand and give it a quick, hearty shake; but +before he could answer, Madelung had turned and walked away to the table.</p> +<p class="normal">At this moment the colonel appeared. He greeted each of the older officers +with a couple of words, and the younger with a general nod. Reimers alone, on +the day of his return, had a special greeting and a hearty handshake.</p> +<p class="normal">Then they sat down to table. From the colonel in the seat of honour, +downwards, the officers were placed according to rank and length of service. The +youngest and the last was an <i>avantageur</i>[A] who had joined the regiment on +October 1st. He had been on stable duty from half-past four that morning, and +had to pull himself together now not to fall asleep; till at last a bottle of +Zeltinger was placed before him by the orderly, and then he became livelier.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">[Footnote A: A one-year volunteer who elects to remain on in the army and await +promotion.--<i>Translator</i>.]</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Reimers had chosen a place near the little lieutenant of doctor's degree, who +was quite an amusing fellow, and chattered away so glibly that his neighbour +hardly needed to contribute to the conversation.</p> +<p class="normal">Of course Fröben had begun: "Well, Reimers, fire away! Give us some leaves +from your military diary. We are all ears!" But Reimers soon changed the +subject. What he had seen and gone through down there among the Boers was still +in his own mind a dim, confused chaos of impressions, and it was repugnant to +him to touch on it even superficially, so long as he was not clear about it +himself.</p> +<p class="normal">The little doctor began to dilate on the splendid German East-African line of +steamers, which conveyed one for a mere trifle from Hamburg to Naples, by way of +Antwerp, Oporto, and Lisbon, and he enlarged at great length on the educational +influence of long journeys in general and of sea-voyages in particular.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers listened patiently, letting his eyes wander round the table. Just as +of old, the various groups still kept together, and were continuing their +conversations uninterruptedly. Falkenhein, in their midst, listened with +amusement as the senior staff-surgeon chaffed Stuckhardt about that oldest and +yet newest of nervous diseases--"majoritis." Madelung was looking rather glum, +and kept twirling the little silver wheel of the knife-rest. Next to him, Mohr +was staring straight before him with glassy eyes, and Schrader leant back in his +chair laughing, while Gropphusen still kept on talking to him.</p> +<p class="normal">"He's got something to laugh about!" said Fröben to his neighbour, +interrupting his discourse.</p> +<p class="normal">"How do you mean?" asked Reimers.</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, to put it delicately, Schrader has got a flirtation on with Frau von +Gropphusen--a very intimate flirtation!"</p> +<p class="normal">"Indeed!" Reimer responded indifferently.</p> +<p class="normal">Here was a fine piece of gossip, and strange to say, in this, too, things +were as before; it was not the first time that Major Schrader and Frau von +Gropphusen had afforded material for conversation.</p> +<p class="normal">Dr. von Fröben continued: "But you must not think, Reimers, that in such +matters I am a bigoted moralist. Ideas of morality are subject to just the same +fluctuations as----"</p> + +<p class="normal">And he dealt out what remained in his memory of a newspaper article, the +writer of which had entirely misunderstood Nietsche.</p> +<p class="normal">After the toast of "The King," a momentary silence fell upon the company, +contrasting strangely with the clatter of voices which had preceded it.</p> +<p class="normal">During this lull in the conversation the word "China" was spoken somewhere +near the colonel, and all eyes involuntarily turned to Madelung.</p> +<p class="normal">He sat there stiffly with his cold face, a cynical smile on his thin lips. +"Dangers!" he cried in his hard voice, which had the shrillness of a musical +instrument that has lost its resonance, "Dangers! I knew nothing about them."</p> +<p class="normal">He laughed drily.</p> +<p class="normal">Captain Heuschkel, who was always worrying about his fat horses, inquired: +"Well, against such an opponent, surely cover had to be considered most of all. +Wasn't it so? that cover was of more importance than action? Ten thousand of +those yellow fellows were not worth a single trained soldier, surely?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Or one of my horses," he added in his own mind. He would probably have +committed suicide if he had seen one of his horses shot by a dirty Chinaman.</p> +<p class="normal">"Surely it was a question of good cover, wasn't it?" he insisted.</p> +<p class="normal">"No," answered Madelung in a loud voice. "It was a question of keeping your +fingers out of your mouth."</p> +<p class="normal">"What on earth had that to do with it?" put in Captain von Stuckardt, rather +hesitatingly.</p> +<p class="normal">Madelung bowed with ironical politeness.</p> +<p class="normal">"Infection with the typhus bacillus," he replied, "was the principal danger +in China, Captain von Stuckardt."</p> +<p class="normal">After a little pause the shrill voice continued: "We had a senior-lieutenant +in our cantonment, belonging to some Prussian grenadier regiment, a gay fellow, +and, indeed, quite a useful officer besides."</p> +<p class="normal">Madelung paused a moment, and again his dry, mocking laugh resounded.</p> +<p class="normal">Then he continued: "He had a queer fad. He cultivated one of his +finger-nails, that of the little finger of his left hand, with the greatest +care. Just like a Chinese mandarin. At last the nail was fully a centimetre +long, and made holes in all his gloves. Now, whenever a speck of dirt lodged in +this nail, he was in the habit of removing it with his teeth. It wasn't exactly +a nice thing to do; but, you see, he had a passion for that nail. I often said +to him, 'My dear fellow, do keep your finger away from your mouth--it's just +swarming with typhus bacilli.' He did try, but sometimes he forgot; and so in +the end he was caught."</p> +<p class="normal">Every one looked inquiringly at Madelung, and he added: "He died of typhus."</p> +<p class="normal">He sipped his wine, and continued, rather more gently: "I firmly believe that +it required greater self-control in that senior-lieutenant to refrain from +putting his little finger into his mouth than to lead his men under the heaviest +fire against one of those Chinese clay and mud walls."</p> +<p class="normal">Then he raised his voice again, as if ashamed of the rather gentler tone of +his last words, and concluded, harshly and shrilly: "Besides, it really is a bad +habit, putting one's fingers in one's mouth."</p> +<p class="normal">And again he sat silent and stiff, twirling the little silver wheel of the +knife-rest.</p> +<p class="normal">The feast then took the usual course.</p> +<p class="normal">After the table had been cleared some of the officers remained in the +mess-room sitting over their wine, while others went off to the reading or +smoking-rooms with a <i>schoppen</i> of Pilsener. In the mess-room the talk +became more and more noisy, while in the adjoining rooms quieter conversation +was the rule. A couple of inveterate card-players started a game of skat; and in +the billiard-room Captain Madelung amused himself alone, making cannon after +cannon. At his first miss he put down his cue and waited impatiently for the +colonel's departure, that being the signal for the official close of the +festivity. Madelung left almost immediately after Falkenhein, and the majority +of the married men followed his example.</p> +<p class="normal">At last only lieutenants remained, except Major Schrader and Captain von +Gropphusen. The one other senior officer, Captain Mohr, did not count. He had +not quitted his seat the whole evening, and still went on persistently drinking +with the assistant-surgeon, an exceedingly stout man, with a face scarred by +students' fights. The scars were glowing now as if they would burst.</p> +<p class="normal">The subalterns could feel quite at their ease, for Schrader and Gropphusen +were no spoil-sports.</p> +<p class="normal">Manitius now sang his "Behüet dich Gott," rather unsteadily, accompanied by +Frommelt, who was quite tipsy. The song was a great success, for the young <i> +avantageur</i> was overcome by emotion, and began blubbering about a certain +Martha whom he loved prodigiously, and whom he must now abandon, because he +would never be permitted to marry a barmaid. On this Schrader suddenly tore open +his uniform and offered him nourishment from his hairy breast, and the boy sank +weeping into his arms.</p> +<p class="normal">At last the comedy grew wearisome. The <i>avantageur</i> was sent off to bed, +and Frommelt had to play a cancan, to which Gropphusen and Landsberg danced. +Gropphusen was supple and agile, and, with his pale, handsome, rather worn face, +looked a perfect Montmartre type. Landsberg, on the contrary, cut a grotesque +figure, kicking up his long shoes in the air, and as he did so almost choking in +his unduly high collar.</p> +<p class="normal">The company became smaller and smaller, and at last only two groups were +left.</p> +<p class="normal">In the card-room half-a-dozen men still sat awhile at one of the tables, and +in the mess-room Captain Mohr and the junior surgeon continued drinking. They +had long ago given up conversation; but occasionally one of them would say +"Prosit!" and then they would both drink. When at last they left their seats +they found the orderly in the ante-room half-asleep, half drunk, fallen from his +chair, and lying snoring on the ground.</p> +<p class="normal">Growling "Damned swine!" the assistant-surgeon kicked the man till he rose, +and with an effort stood upright.</p> +<p class="normal">When the last two officers had left the mess-house he locked the doors, drank +the end of a bottle of champagne, and lay down to sleep on the sofa in the +smoking-room.</p> +<p class="normal">The sofa-cover was a sacred relic, a present to the mess-house from an +officer in the East African forces, who had formerly belonged to the regiment. +It was a magnificent specimen of Oriental art. The orderly found the thick gold +embroidery very uncomfortable to his cheek; but then it certainly was a fine +thing to scratch his head with!</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">When Reimers, who had left early, reached his quarters, he was surprised to find +his servant waiting up for him.</p> +<p class="normal">"Why on earth are you not in bed?" he inquired.</p> +<p class="normal">Gähler answered respectfully, "Beg pardon, sir, on such occasions the count +used sometimes to need me; he often went out again."</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, I don't. So remember that in future," enjoined Reimers.</p> +<p class="normal">Gähler still waited, and asked, "Would you like some tea, sir?"</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers looked up. Not a bad idea that! He was too much excited to sleep, for +he had been obliged to pledge his comrades far too often, and a cup of tea would +be just the thing. After that he would read a few pages, and only then try to go +to sleep.</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, make me some tea," he assented, "but not too strong."</p> +<p class="normal">He put on a comfortable smoking-jacket. Gähler brought his tea almost +immediately, and with it a plate of anchovy sandwiches.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers smiled. It certainly paid to have for one's servant the quondam groom +of an elegant cavalry officer. He gave Gähler a friendly nod, and said, "I +think, Gähler, that we shall get on capitally together."</p> +<p class="normal">The gunner stood at attention.</p> +<p class="normal">"Any other orders, sir?" he asked.</p> +<p class="normal">"No. Good-night."</p> +<p class="normal">"Good-night, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers ate a few mouthfuls as he walked up and down the room; then he +carried the green-shaded lamp to his writing-table, and took down a volume of +the official history of the great Franco-Prussian War.</p> +<p class="normal">He spread out the marvellously accurate maps, and began, as he had done so +often before, to follow the various phases of his favourite battle, the three +days' fight on the Lisaine. That was the only great defensive battle of the +campaign, clearer and easier to follow than any other in its simple tactics, +almost suggesting the typical example of a textbook, and yet what a living +reality! Almost at the same moment when the German Empire was being proclaimed +at Versailles, Bavarians were fighting shoulder to shoulder with East Prussians, +regiments from Schleswig next those from Upper Silesia, soldiers from the +Rhine-provinces side by side with soldiers from Saxony: a glorious demonstration +of the newly achieved unity.</p> +<p class="normal">His admiration for the valiant defenders was no greater than his pity for the +tragic fate of the attacking army, which, almost dying of starvation, had fought +with the wild courage of despair, and had deserved a more honourable reward than +to be driven along that terrible path of suffering to the Swiss frontier. Not +less tragic was the fate of its commander; a fate, indeed, which Bourbaki shared +with the other military leaders of the Republic. All those generals, Aurelle de +Paladines, Chanzy, Faidherbe, Bourbaki, who at the brave but somewhat futile +summons of the Committee of National Defence tried to arrest the victorious +advance of the German army, were inevitably doomed to defeat; and even the +inspiration of a military genius could not have got over the fundamental mistake +that had been made, of considering the impossible possible.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers looked up from the book with a glowing face. He had followed the +French army as far as Pontarlier. That was the moment in which the German forces +commanded the largest area. In the west the Rhinelanders were gazing astonished +at the winter waves on the canal, while to the east, Pomeranians greeted the +sentinels of the Swiss frontier.</p> +<p class="normal">Where in all the world could a nation be found richer in honour and in +victories?</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">During the next few days Reimers had to make calls on the ladies of the +regiment.</p> +<p class="normal">It was wearisome work, answering the same questions over and over again; and +once more he had proof of the fact that against certain conditions time seems +powerless. Some of the young married women had during his absence become +mothers; but most of the ladies of the regiment presided without change over the +solid domestic comfort of their house-holds. The main thing noticeable was that +they had sacrificed themselves with greater or less success to fashion, which +was just now in favour of slender figures.</p> +<p class="normal">The course of their conversation was almost literally the same as of yore, +and in each case the curiosity shown was of exactly the same degree, except that +Captain Heuschkel's wife, who was president of the Red Cross Society, inquired +as to the care of the wounded in South Africa; while the lady who presided over +the Home Missions wished to know if the Boers were really as pious as they were +represented to be.</p> +<p class="normal">This monotony was, to a certain extent, the result of natural selection. Most +of the officers had chosen their wives very carefully, and this had brought +about a fine similarity in their views, a similarity which even found expression +in the rather unattractive arrangement of their dwellings, in which the +upholsterer's hand was but too evident.</p> +<p class="normal">Only two ladies, the wives of Captains von Stuckardt and von Gropphusen, +differed from this type.</p> +<p class="normal">Frau von Stuckardt was unjustly considered haughty. She was merely +unfortunate in being unable to adapt herself to the mental atmosphere of the +other ladies. She had been placed for a couple of years in an institution for +the daughters of the nobility, and was just preparing to enter a convent when +Stuckardt, who was a distant cousin of hers, proposed to her. In her heart she +regretted the worldly emotion to which she had then yielded; she believed that, +by her marriage, she had defrauded the Church, and felt her conscience +constantly oppressed by this grave offence. The interests of the other officers' +wives puzzled her, doubly separated from them as she was by creed and by +education; and when, under social compulsion, she gave a coffee-party, she sat +among her guests like a being from a strange world, a pale and slender figure, +always dressed in dark colours and wearing a cap of old lace upon her smoothly +parted black hair; a striking contrast to the other fair, rosy, lively women in +their gay gowns.</p> +<p class="normal">Frau von Gropphusen's parties were much more amusing. You could not be quite +sure that she was not making fun of you; but you were certain to carry away on +each occasion a supply of gossip which would last for weeks.</p> +<p class="normal">Externally, Gropphusen and his wife were exceedingly well matched. He was of +medium height, with slender limbs and a pale, finely chiselled face, vivacious +eyes, wavy dark hair, and a small black beard. She was one of those dainty +blondes who remind one of iced champagne, with a marvellously graceful figure, a +droll little nose, and steel blue eyes under dark eyebrows.</p> +<p class="normal">When first married they were madly in love with each other; but when the fire +burnt out, Gropphusen went back to his old habits.</p> +<p class="normal">Truth to tell, he was a rake, who, even after marriage, thought nothing of +spending dissipated nights week after week in the capital, returning by the +early morning train. He seemed to have cast-iron nerves; for even the envious +had to admit that his official work did not suffer. He had a clever head, and +was an artist into the bargain, an excellent painter of horses; experts advised +him to hang up his sword on a nail and devote himself to the brush. But he had +not yet made up his mind to that.</p> +<p class="normal">Irregular in all other departments of life, he was regular only in his +excesses. He was very rich, so that he could give the rein to almost all his +whims. Indeed, reports of a rather fantastic kind, somewhat recalling Duke +Charles of Brunswick, were current about him, the most extravagant being of a +ballet he had had performed for him by fifty naked dancing girls. There was a +certain amount of exaggeration about this, perhaps. In any case he troubled +himself no longer about his young wife.</p> +<p class="normal">Hannah Gropphusen indemnified herself in her own way by coquetry and +flirtations, and she was soon gossipped about as much as her husband. But those +that whispered and chattered about her felt their consciences prick them when +they carried their backbiting further; the young wife could never be accused of +anything more serious.</p> +<p class="normal">It was noteworthy that Reimers had always felt more attracted by these +exceptions among the officers' ladies than by the typical representatives of +that class. He did not know why exactly, but he thought he saw a certain +similarity between the position of these ladies and his own; these two and he +were different from the average.</p> +<p class="normal">Unlike his comrades, he enjoyed visiting Frau von Stuckardt. She never talked +platitudes, she would rather remain silent, and she was a little given to +proselytising. Reimers liked to hear her subdued voice extolling the mysteries +of the Catholic faith; he was proof against her endeavours, but a beneficent +calm emanated from this unworldly woman, and he could feel with her that the +spiritual renunciations of Catholicism offered a quiet resting-place to the +world-weary.</p> +<p class="normal">The Gropphusen interested him. She was considered superficial and frivolous, +but he did not think her really so. There was too much system in her frivolity +and superficiality.</p> +<p class="normal">He had purposely left these two visits to the last. But Frau von Stuckardt +was away from home; and when he handed his card to Frau von Gropphusen's servant +he was told that the lady was unwell, but the man would ask if she could +receive.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers felt rather vexed, and was just turning away when the gunner returned +and asked him to come in.</p> +<p class="normal">He conducted the lieutenant along the corridor. "My mistress is in her +boudoir," he said.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers was shown into a small room, the only window of which was darkened. +Frau von Gropphusen half raised herself from a broad couch. She wore a loose +tea-gown of soft silk, and had a light covering spread over her knees.</p> +<p class="normal">"Welcome back, Herr Reimers!" she said, and stretched out her hand to him.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers bent over it respectfully, and kissed the tips of her fingers.</p> +<p class="normal">Then his young hostess let herself fell back again upon the couch and drew +her hand across her forehead.</p> +<p class="normal">"I am not very well," she resumed; "but I could not refuse to see you."</p> +<p class="normal">"No, no, you must stay," she went on; for Reimers looked as if he meant to +take leave at once. "There, sit down. Just wait a minute; I feel better +already."</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers took a seat and glanced round the room. The couch almost filled it, +the only other furniture being a dainty little writing-table in the window and a +couple of chairs. Above the couch hung the only picture, a fine print of +Gainsborough's <i>Blue Boy</i>.</p> +<p class="normal">In the meanwhile, Frau von Gropphusen had recovered herself. Her pretty pale +face was lighted up by a somewhat melancholy smile, and she began softly: "No, +really, I couldn't let you go!"</p> +<p class="normal">She raised herself again, drew her knees up beneath their covering, and +clasped her arms round them. It was done quite simply and naturally, without any +touch of coquetry. And then she stretched out her hand again to Reimers and +said: "You, the champion of the Boers!" Then, supporting her chin on her knees, +she continued: "But now you must tell me exactly why you fought for them?"</p> +<p class="normal">As Reimers was preparing to answer, she interrupted him: "No, I will question +you. Wait a minute. Was it from love of adventure?"</p> +<p class="normal">"No. At least, that is not the right way of putting it. I wanted for once to +see something of the serious side of my profession. But even that was not the +chief reason."</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, then, was it in search of fame?"</p> +<p class="normal">Involuntarily Reimers deviated from his usual rule of answering evasively, +and replied: "No; that was not it either. I wanted nothing for myself +personally, or at most only to prove my fitness for my profession."</p> +<p class="normal">"But neither was that your principal motive?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Oh, no."</p> +<p class="normal">"Perhaps it was indignation against the strong who were oppressing the weak?"</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers was silent for a moment. Then he said: "Perhaps. But other things +contributed; above all, boredom. And--I wanted a decision as to whether I was to +live or not. I could not remain an invalid for ever."</p> +<p class="normal">"But still your chief, your final motive was the love of justice, wasn't it?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, yes."</p> +<p class="normal">Hannah Gropphusen sank back again languidly. For the third time she stretched +out her hand to Reimers: "It rejoices me to find that such people still exist, +and to know one of them!"</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers had held her hand for a moment in his own. It was a small hand, +almost too thin, with slender fingers. As he looked at it, he was reminded of +the gentle hands of his mother. He respectfully touched the beautiful fingers +with his lips and rose. Frau von Gropphusen made no effort to detain him.</p> +<p class="normal">"It is perhaps better for me," she said wearily; and as he reached the door, +she added: "But it has given me great pleasure to see you again," and she +dismissed him with a friendly nod.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers stood for a moment before the front door, thoughtfully buttoning his +gloves.</p> +<p class="normal">It was certainly odd; the very woman whom every one else seemed to distrust +appeared to him more worthy of esteem than any of the others. He realised this +only after the visit just paid. To her alone had he answered frankly, and +although they had hardly exchanged a dozen words, he felt they under-stood each +other perfectly. He could not avoid the thought that their souls were akin. Each +of them yearned after what was great and beautiful in life. This woman, indeed, +deserved pity, for she had suffered shipwreck in the greatest and noblest end +for which woman is created--in her love; but he, thank God, was a man; and his +ideal, Germany, still stood out clear and definite, dwarfing mere personal aims.</p> +<p class="normal">In that dim room a sinister thought had seized upon him, oppressing and +paralysing him; a vague foreboding that his fate would resemble that of this +pale woman. But he chased the dark clouds away. His star did not vary in its +light as does the shifting and drifting human mind; it was like the sun, steady, +unchangeable, inspiring.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> +<br> +<div style="margin-left:70%"> +<p class="continue">"For oh! I had a comrade,<br> +And a better could not be."</p> +<p class="right">(<i>Uhland.</i>)</p> +</div> +<p class="normal">During the first days of December Corporal Wiegandt would sometimes observe, +in a pause of the drill, that the recruits were beginning to look a little like +soldiers; and in the bar-rack-room, after drill was over, he occasionally even +went so far as to give them some praise.</p> +<p class="normal">When he was getting ready to go out in the evening, and, with sabre buckled +on and forage-cap stuck jauntily on his head, brushed his moustache before the +little looking-glass, he would say: "Boys, I am almost pleased with you to-day. +I shall tell my Frieda."</p> +<p class="normal">Whereupon the recruits would laugh, as in duty bound. They might all hate the +corporal; he would not dispense with a fraction of their drill, and did not +express himself in a complimentary way during the exercises; but he made things +easy for them as far as possible, changing about from difficult to less +difficult movements, and giving them long intervals between those that were the +most exacting. His division never had to stand for minutes together with their +knees bent, like Heppner's. Moreover, despite his roughness, there was about him +a certain kind-heartedness which took the form of good-natured little extra +lessons to the least efficient after drill.</p> +<p class="normal">His Frieda was a merry industrious girl who sewed muslin in a frilling +factory, and hoarded up the groschen she earned in order to save enough money to +be married some day.</p> +<p class="normal">And Wiegandt, who, despite his martial appearance, was an ardent lover, added +the pfennigs of his pay, and deprived himself of his evening beer, going for +walks with his sweet-heart instead, and kissing her over and over again.</p> +<p class="normal">"That tastes better than beer," he would say, "and costs nothing."</p> +<p class="normal">As the pair had not much to talk of except their lover-like wishes, Wiegandt +used to tell the girl about the recruits, so that by degrees Frieda learnt to +know all their names and idiosyncrasies, and began to take a certain interest in +them. Above all had the case of Frielinghausen appealed to her. The sympathetic +little seamstress saw in him something of the romantic disguised prince; and it +amused her to make the credulous Wiegandt a little jealous, until at last she +would assure him with a hearty kiss that he was her dearest and best.</p> +<p class="normal">When the corporal had gone off to his rendezvous, Frielinghausen was left in +supervision of Room IX. The sergeant-major had arranged it thus, in order that +from the very beginning the young man might become accustomed to responsibility. +And the charge was quite an easy one. By evening none of the recruits had much +inclination to make a noise or to get into mischief. All the day-time, from +morning till evening, was occupied in the various branches of their duty; and +the hours which then remained were completely filled up with the brushing and +polishing of their clothes and accoutrements. It they could have done as they +liked, they would have gone to bed directly after evening stable-duty; but that +was not permitted until nine o'clock.</p> +<p class="normal">So when their cleaning up was done and they sat on their stools round the +table, most of them would stretch their arms on the top and fall asleep; +occasionally some one would scribble a few lines home. When bedtime came at +last, none of them tarried; but, drunken with sleep, would tramp one after the +other up the stairs to the dormitory.</p> +<p class="normal">Some, of course, were more fatigued by the work than others. Vogt and Weise +were among those who got on best. Both were strong, healthy lads, and, moreover, +not stupid; so that the theoretical instruction was as easy to them as the +foot-drill, gun-practice, and gymnastics. To be attentive and quick--that was +the chief thing.</p> +<p class="normal">Among the worst were Truchsess the fat brewer, the clerk Klitzing, and +Frielinghausen.</p> +<p class="normal">The brewer, it is true, was a strong, powerful man, but far too slow in his +movements. Klitzing, on the other hand, was too weak for the demands of the +drill. It was impossible for him, in the gun-practice, to raise the end of the +gun-carriage as "Number 3," or as "Number 5" to direct the pole of the carriage; +in gymnastics he would hang helplessly on the horizontal bar; and even in the +foot-drill it was difficult for him to stand up straight.</p> +<p class="normal">When Vogt advised him to report himself as ill he refused. "No, I won't go +into hospital. Never!"</p> +<p class="normal">"Why not?" asked Vogt.</p> +<p class="normal">"I don't wish to," replied the clerk; and as Vogt insisted, he said, "Well, +Vogt, I'll tell you: I should never come out again; I should die there."</p> +<p class="normal">And with a strained smile he added: "It doesn't matter where I die; but I +shouldn't like it to be in hospital."</p> +<p class="normal">Frielinghausen, though an active and agile young fellow, seemed to be +constitutionally flighty and superficial. He had been one of the quickest to +pick up a general idea of things; but afterwards the minute details of +instruction, which sometimes appeared so unpractical and so apt to make more of +the "how?" than of the "what?" would not stay in his head. What difference could +it make whether one sprang forward with the right foot or with the left, or +whether in pulling the lanyard the right hand had rested upon the left? Surely +the essential things were that one should spring over the line and that the shot +should go off!</p> +<p class="normal">So, despite his honest zeal, he made many mistakes, and the everlastingly +warning calls of his name maddened him. In the theoretical work he was naturally +far in advance of his comrades; for, despite idleness at school, this was mere +child's play to his practised memory. He, who had had to learn hundreds of lines +of the "Odyssey" by heart, could easily remember facts about the bores of guns!</p> +<p class="normal">Klitzing also distinguished himself in these instruction-lessons. The +delicate clerk possessed another advantage, in his own calling almost +surprising, and particularly useful to an artilleryman: that is to say, +unusually sharp sight, which found the mark in a moment and took aim with +absolute accuracy.</p> +<p class="normal">This somewhat atoned to Wiegandt for his other faults, and it was only for +Lieutenant Landsberg that Klitzing remained nothing but a scapegoat.</p> +<p class="normal">During drill Landsberg generally stood at the end of the parade-ground, +looking utterly bored and staring at his boots, which he had had made in the +style of Reimers'. It was only if Wegstetten was in sight that he troubled +himself about the recruits. Then he would run to Corporal Wiegandt's division, +and always began to abuse Klitzing, the "careless fellow," the "lazy-bones."</p> +<p class="normal">He was constantly threatening the poor devil with extra drill; but he never +enforced the punishment, as that would have meant that he himself must put in an +appearance at the same time.</p> +<p class="normal">At last Reimers, who was commanding the battery during a brief absence of the +captain, put an end to this little game.</p> +<p class="normal">"Tell me, Landsberg, have you ever consulted Corporal Wiegandt about that +wretched Klitzing?"</p> +<p class="normal">"No, sir," answered Landsberg.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers called Wiegandt to him.</p> +<p class="normal">"What's the matter with Klitzing?" he inquired.</p> +<p class="normal">The corporal replied: "Beg pardon, sir; the man means thoroughly well and +takes great pains; but I think he is far too delicate."</p> +<p class="normal">"Very good, Wiegandt," said Reimers, and dismissed him. Then he turned +seriously and officially to Landsberg. "I think, Landsberg, you had better leave +the man in peace."</p> +<p class="normal">Landsberg murmured: "Yes, sir," and looked out for another victim.</p> +<p class="normal">During the week the recruits in Room IX. had got to know each other better. +The band of comradeship had wound itself imperceptibly around them, and within +it some closer, more cordial friendships had sprung up.</p> +<p class="normal">The most varied types of men found themselves thrown together.</p> +<p class="normal">If, in the evening, the fat brewer happened for once not to be resting his +tired body in sleep after the fatigues of the day, he would squat down near +Listing, who had been a wanderer and a vagabond. He would listen with many a +shake of the head to the stories Listing related of his life on the roads, +especially of the nights the fine ones, in which one lay on the dry grass +beneath the twinkling stars, or in the forest under a beech in the branches of +which the screech-owl was calling; and of the wretched, rainy, cold nights of +late autumn. Then one would pull a few trusses of straw out of a stack and creep +shivering into the hole, which would gradually become wet through from the +dripping rain, and through the opening of which the east wind would blow in +icily.</p> +<p class="normal">Then the brewer would clap his comrade on the knee with his broad, fat hand, +and say: "Well, friend, it must feel first-class to you now when you roll into a +good bed?"</p> +<p class="normal">But Listing replied: "Well, no. Not exactly. But perhaps I shall get used to +it. I have often slept better out of doors; but worse too."</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Vogt soon formed his own opinions about his comrades.</p> +<p class="normal">The best of them all, the one who put the whole lot into the shade, was +without doubt Klitzing. The courage with which the weakly clerk performed his +duties filled him with an almost reverential admiration, and the honest fellow +was ready to stand by the poor, harassed lad whenever it was possible.</p> +<p class="normal">During the dinner hour, if Klitzing were too much fatigued to go to the +dining-hall, Vogt would carry his rations to him, and if possible would add his +own piece of meat to the other's portion. Then he would quickly polish up boots +and buttons for him and hand him his cap when it was time for the after-noon +drill to commence.</p> +<p class="normal">"Come, Heinrich, I have made you smart," he would say with an attempt to +joke. "Now we shall be all right."</p> +<p class="normal">And Klitzing would go down the steps with aching limbs and fall into line.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt's care for him only ceased at night and began anew every morning. It was +the source both of joy and shame to the clerk; he deprecated it to his comrade, +but Vogt shut him up with good-natured roughness. So Klitzing let the matter be, +and thought that a mother's care for her child must be something like this. For +he had never known his parents, but after their early death had grown up as the +adopted child of some distant relations.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt himself had also the feeling that instead of a comrade Klitzing was more +like a child, or, rather, a younger brother to care for; but that suited his +strength of character, and anyhow Klitzing was a very different fellow from the +gay, clever, Weise, and a far better one.</p> +<p class="normal">Weise tried to make himself a favourite with all, but the others noticed that +he kept a check upon himself and never showed himself as he really was. +Moreover, even when he was alone with them, he evidently felt a certain +constraint.</p> +<p class="normal">One morning while washing there was almost a quarrel, when Vogt caught him by +the arm and tried to examine the tattoo marks on his skin. Weise angrily shook +himself free; but Vogt had seen that on the right forearm the words "Liberty, +Equality, Fraternity" were inscribed, surrounded by a broken chain and a wreath +of flame, and above them something that looked like a nightcap.</p> +<p class="normal">His father had never discussed politics with him, but Vogt had learnt enough +by himself to recognise the significance of the tattooing; Weise was a +social-democrat! Well, that was nothing so very bad. At home in the village +there were numbers of social-democrats, chiefly workers in the large fire-clay +factory by the river, and they were all very good sort of people. Certainly, +such tendencies were strictly forbidden in the army, so Weise must take care of +himself.</p> +<p class="normal">On the whole this meant nothing to Vogt. He had almost forgotten about the +tattooed arm, and the recollection of it was only once forced upon his memory +when taking the oath. Then Weise had sworn fealty to the king, raising the arm +on which was inscribed the motto of revolution. His sleeve had slipped up a +little, so that the word "Fraternity" could be distinctly seen.</p> +<p class="normal">Surely there was some inconsistency here! But then Vogt reflected: how could +Weise help the hypocrisy? If he had objected to taking the oath, he would simply +have been imprisoned. Weise's swearing falsely was practically on compulsion; he +was in the same case with Findeisen and all the others.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">At Christmas the greater number of the "old gang" went on leave. For those who +remained behind there was a tree in the large Room VII., with something on it +for every one; a penknife, a cigarette holder, or a wooden pipe, together with a +few cigars; but Listing, who could not even yet be got to wash himself properly, +received a large piece of soap with his cigars. At the same time a big barrel of +lager-beer was broached.</p> +<p class="normal">But before the battery Christmas-tree most of the men had had a special +rejoicing of their own. The orderly had had the precaution to take a small +hand-cart with him to the post-office, and had brought it back full of boxes and +packages. Then the men stood round the sergeant-major, and each one pricked up +his ears to hear whether there was anything for him.</p> +<p class="normal">Klitzing had moved aside, he had nothing to expect. Suddenly his name was +called. There was a small box for him, and it was not very light either when he +took it in his hand. He thought it must be a mistake, but there were his name +and address sure enough: "Gunner Heinrich Klitzing, 6th Battery, 80th Regiment, +Eastern Division, Field Artillery." He looked at the label, the sender was +Friedrich August Vogt; and on the back was written, "To my boy's best friend, +for Christmas!"</p> +<p class="normal">The clerk went to Room IX. and showed the label to Vogt, who was already +unpacking his parcel. Klitzing could say nothing; he could only press his +friend's hand, while tears stood in his eyes.</p> +<p class="normal">But Vogt shouted cheerfully: "I say! the old man has done finely! Let's see +what else there is."</p> +<p class="normal">And when they compared their gifts--sausages, Christmas fare, and warm +woollen underclothing--it looked almost as though his father had given more +presents to his friend than to himself. At the bottom he found a letter from the +old man:</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">"My Dear Boy,--Herewith are a few trifles for you for Christmas. I think I shall +have done as you would wish by sending half of what I intended for you to your +friend and comrade, Klitzing, of whom you are always writing to me. You know I +was an orphan myself, and I can understand his feelings. I had my dear sister; +but he has nobody. So a merry Christmas to you! and keep well and hearty. "Your +loving father, "FRIEDRICH AUGUST VOGT."</p> +<p class="normal">Frielinghausen also had a letter, which he read with streaming eyes and a +glowing face. He held his mother's pardon in his hands, and the love which +trembled in her words poured balm and healing on his heart, and raised his +desponding spirits.</p> +<p class="normal">He was another man after this Christmas Eve. Duties which before had been a +burden to him, which he had, besides, despised, he now performed willingly and +zealously.</p> +<p class="normal">If now Wegstetten inquired about him, Corporal Wiegandt always answered, "He +could not be doing better, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">The captain took an opportunity of praising him; and when he had finished, +Frielinghausen, his face quite red with pride and joy, remained standing before +him.</p> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten asked, "Well, is there anything you want to ask me?"</p> +<p class="normal">The tall youth choked a bit over his reply, but finally he got it out: +"Pardon me, sir--I don't know whether my request is in order--but, sir, if you +would have the goodness to write to my mother and tell her that you are +satisfied with me?"</p> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten was silent with astonishment. The request did seem a little +unusual and unmilitary; but he consented, and wrote to "The high and well-born +Baroness von Frielinghausen" a letter over which a mother might well rejoice.</p> +<p class="normal">It seemed the more terrible for Frielinghausen when in February, after the +examination of the recruits, he received a telegram briefly announcing his +mother's death.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Work became lighter for the recruits after the examination. Certainly the +battery foot-drill and gun-drill was no joke; but things went more quietly than +they had done during the wild rush of the training, and between-whiles one had +occasionally time to take breath.</p> +<p class="normal">And now the recruits were gradually allotted their respective duties. Horses +to look after were given to the young drivers and to some of the gunners. Vogt, +Klitzing, and Weise, however, were not among these. Corporal Wiegandt, who had +been promoted to sergeant after the examination, and had been put in charge of +the guns and waggons of the battery, knew them for industrious, trustworthy +fellows, just such as he needed to assist him.</p> +<p class="normal">The recruits were also being trained in sentry-duty; though this was not made +very much of. The field-artillery would never be put on sentry-duty in time of +war; gunners only equipped with swords and revolvers would not be sufficiently +armed for that work; for it the infantry, or in case of necessity the cavalry, +must be responsible. So all that was necessary was easily learnt, and in the +peaceful garrison-town it was merely a question of guarding the official +buildings.</p> +<p class="normal">However, Vogt felt as if something very important were taking place when he +was the first recruit to be put on sentry-duty.</p> +<p class="normal">The second-year soldiers, on the other hand, rejoiced over their lazy days. +They took things easy, and laughed at the recruits, who adhered conscientiously +to every detail of the instructions, and would not take off their uncomfortable +swords while sleeping on the hard benches, even after the orderly-officer had +inspected them.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt was posted inside the back gate of the barracks, through which the road +led towards the riding-school on one side, and straight on to the wood on the +slope of the hill. The first two hours from five to seven o'clock in the after +noon seemed to him terribly wearisome and purposeless; but during the night from +eleven to one o'clock he felt stimulated by the sense of responsibility. The +sentries were then locked outside, and had to patrol two sides of the great +quadrangle surrounded by the public offices.</p> +<p class="normal">The night was pitch dark, so that Vogt was unable to distinguish his narrow +path. But he stumbled bravely up and down by the buildings for his two hours. +Even if he often missed his footing, it was better than standing still. For then +one heard all kinds of strange noises, the cause of which could not be perceived +in the baffling darkness. The forest was never quite silent; there were always +cracklings and rustlings from its boughs and bushes. But in going the rounds +these things went unheard in the noise of one's own footsteps; and one passed +the quarters in which comrades were sleeping, and the stables, whose +dimly-lighted windows showed small squares in the night, and one could +indistinctly hear the rattling of the halter chains.</p> +<p class="normal">When Vogt went into the dormitory from the fresh, pure, night air he thought +at first that he would choke in the atmosphere laden with stale tobacco-smoke +and foul odours; but in the end he slept splendidly, despite his hard bed.</p> +<p class="normal">At five o'clock he was again on sentry-go. It was still dark, but there was +already movement in the kitchen and the stables. At the gate there was a delay; +the watch about to be relieved was nowhere to be found. The bombardier in charge +cursed and swore unavailingly; finally, he consented to the suggestion of the +others and organised a search. In a small shed, which served for the storing of +hurdles and such-like, the gunner was discovered fast asleep. He had covered +himself up with straw, and his sword lay by his side. The bombardier kicked him +in the ribs with his heavy boots, and stormed at the rashness of such conduct, +when at any moment an officer might come by.</p> +<p class="normal">But the sentry, a tall, strong fellow, answered crossly, "Shut your mouth, +you stupid swine! And if you dare to report me I'll break every bone in your +body!"</p> +<p class="normal">The bombardier grumbled something about "not going too far and getting into +trouble."</p> +<p class="normal">"Any one might happen to fall asleep," continued the gunner. He yawned a few +times, brushed the dust off his uniform, and said laughingly to Vogt: "It is +nothing unusual on sentry-duty, you raw booby of a recruit! Nothing for you to +gape about!"</p> +<p class="normal">And he walked off solemnly behind the bombardier.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt stood thoughtfully beside the sentry-box. That was pretty bad +discipline! At the same time the case was quite clear: if the bombardier +reported the sentry, then the latter would naturally be punished, and severely +too; but he would certainly revenge himself on the bombardier. Despite the +buttons on his collar, the bombardier was not technically superior to the +gunner; it would only bring about a quarrel, and in a fight it would certainly +be the bombardier who would come off worst. It was quite the rule for the men to +stick loyally together, and never expose a comrade if it could possibly be +avoided.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt, however, considered that there was a limit to comradeship, and that the +sentry ought to have been punished. For in such ways respect was lost for other +still more important rules. And, finally, he congratulated himself on having +nothing to do with the matter.</p> +<p class="normal">This morning, for the first time for weeks, the memory of his home and the +longing for it overwhelmed him.</p> +<p class="normal">He thought of how at home in the early days of the year he and his father had +finished preparing the fields for the spring cultivation. He remembered how the +young sun, in those fresh morning hours, had seemed to caress the long-deserted +wintry earth with his kindling rays; and the black soil turned up by the harrow +had exhaled a refreshing odour as of incense offered by nature's maternal heart. +The daily increasing heat of the sun, the milder air, and the grateful +receptivity of earth: all betokened the end of idle winter and the beginning of +a new year of fruitfulness, the gospel of labour and of blessing. The ardent +forces of nature welled up also in the hearts of men; and though his father had +seemed to him old in the short cold days of winter, the scent of spring-time +always made him young again.</p> +<p class="normal">He almost felt like a deserter not to be at home working. But no! the +contrary was really the case. It was these thoughts that were disloyal. Was he +not now a soldier, called to protect the soil of his beloved fatherland, if an +enemy threatened it?</p> +<p class="normal">If----? he reflected further. There had been peace for thirty years now, and +it might quite well last thirty more, or even a hundred. Was not this, then, +mere waste of time? But, on the other hand, there was nothing to prevent a war +breaking out to-morrow. He knew that it was improbable, but not impossible. The +devil! then of course war must be prevented. But how?</p> +<p class="normal">His simple mind saw no solution of these contradictions. He gazed +contemplatively at his sentry-box, and almost omitted to present arms to his +captain, who was passing to the riding-school with the remount division.</p> +<p class="normal">After being relieved he watched two comrades who were playing at <i>skat</i> +in the guard-room with dreadfully dirty cards. Suddenly he had a kind of waking +vision. It was like the taking of the oath, when each man stretched out an arm +to swear. The tattooed letters on Weise's arm, where the sleeve had slipped off, +began suddenly to glow as brightly and clearly as if the sun were shining on +them. Fraternity! that was not merely an empty word, then, not simply talk? If +all men, Germans, French, Russians, and all others, stretched forth their arms +and swore to be brothers, then--yes, then--there would be no more war.</p> +<p class="normal">But would that ever happen?</p> +<p class="normal">The card-players brought his reflections on the question of fraternity to a +hasty close; they began to quarrel furiously, and wound up by throwing the cards +at each other's heads in a very unbrotherly manner.</p> +<p class="normal">The recruit had to pick up the scattered cards, and when a king and a ten +were missing there was nearly a fight. Finally the corporal in charge angrily +stopped the noise.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">When Vogt returned from his sentry-duty between eleven and one, he found his +comrade Klitzing singularly depressed, and after a time the clerk confided to +him that he had been very unlucky all the day before.</p> +<p class="normal">"You see, Franz," he said, "I can't get on at all without you. If you are my +neighbour at foot-drill, I know just where I am. But yesterday you were absent, +and I was a regular blockhead. Just because of me the drill lasted nearly an +hour longer than usual."</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, now I shall be back again," Vogt replied.</p> +<p class="normal">Klitzing continued: "Yes, but this morning it was the same thing; and after +drill the deputy sergeant-major said that slack fellows like me should be given +a lesson by the other men, and so----"</p> +<p class="normal">Here he was silent, and nothing more could be got out of him, so that Vogt +was quite angry over this lack of confidence.</p> +<p class="normal">By and by the fat brewer (who, however, was no longer fat) joined them, and +said: "Well, mate, aren't you a bit dense to-day? The 'old gang,' especially the +drivers, mean to be at him, to do for him, all because of that little bit of +extra drill."</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt could not but smile at his comrade's good-nature. Truchsess, the most +easy-going of them all, whose clothes after drill were as wet with perspiration +as if they had been in water, Truchsess called it "a little bit of extra drill"!</p> +<p class="normal">But before he could speak, Klitzing began again: "Franz, you mustn't mix +yourself up in this. If they mean to do it you can't prevent it. The best thing +will be for me to submit quietly."</p> +<p class="normal">And with a little bitterness he added: "The most they can do is to beat me to +death."</p> +<p class="normal">But Vogt interrupted: "Don't talk such nonsense! I don't know what they are +thinking of doing, but I can tell you it shall be prevented. I promise you that. +Don't be afraid. I shall find a way out."</p> +<p class="normal">He began to ponder how he could protect his friend from the roughness of the +"old gang."</p> +<p class="normal">Should he ask Sergeant Wiegandt to give up going to see his Frieda for one +evening? If he told him, of course not officially, but in a sort of way +privately, about the intentions of the elder soldiers, then Wiegandt would +certainly stay in. But his feeling of solidarity with his comrades forbad this.</p> +<p class="normal">Only, were they any longer comrades when they could ill-treat a poor +weakling? Surely not.</p> +<p class="normal">Still he rejected this plan, and in the end decided himself to defend +Klitzing regardless of consequences. If he challenged the fellows fearlessly and +cheekily they would be sure to turn on him, and he would be able to defend +himself. At any rate he could better stand a good hard blow than the clerk +could.</p> +<p class="normal">Evening came, and Sergeant Wiegandt went to his rendezvous as usual. An +expectant silence lay over Room IX. The recruits cleaned their things and +glanced now and then in an embarrassed way at the corner where Vogt had seated +himself close to Klitzing. The brewer had joined them also.</p> +<p class="normal">All was quiet until shortly before bed-time. Then heavy clanking steps +approached from the large Room VII. on the other side of the corridor, and eight +or nine old drivers pushed themselves in, armed with whips, belts, and +snaffle-reins.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt placed himself full in front of Klitzing.</p> +<p class="normal">"You be off!" they said.</p> +<p class="normal">"I shan't!" answered Vogt.</p> +<p class="normal">"We'll soon make you!"</p> +<p class="normal">"We shall see about that!"</p> +<p class="normal">In a moment a dozen hands had seized him; but the big, strong fellow defended +himself bravely. He lashed out powerfully with fists and feet, making the +attacking party more and more furious; but finally he was dashed to the ground, +dragging several of his opponents with him. As if they had been waiting for +this, the others now threw themselves upon him, and their blows fell thick as +hail.</p> +<p class="normal">Klitzing, with his whole body trembling, stood by as if he had been +paralysed. But the brewer bent his round head like a furious bull, and charged, +using his skull as a battering ram, right into the middle of the scrimmage. Now +there were two against ten. The odds were still far too great; and the brewer +also was soon on the floor. The fighters made a tremendous noise, but whereas +usually at the least sound a corporal would come running up to enjoin quiet, +to-day nobody seemed to heed.</p> +<p class="normal">With a sudden effort Vogt succeeded in shaking two of his opponents off, and +in half raising himself; he just caught Weise's eye, who, with his hands in his +trousers pockets, was looking on at the row and laughing a little. He shouted to +him goadingly: "Is this what you call liberty, equality, fraternity, you lousy +fellow? Liberty, equality, fraternity!"</p> +<p class="normal">And he gave a shrill, scornful laugh.</p> +<p class="normal">But, as if summoned by the words, the haggard, sombre-visaged Wolf came to +the door from the opposite room. He had at once understood why the row was going +on. It was only to be expected, after the deputy sergeant-major's words! It was +one of those injustices that he hated so intensely; worse and a thousandfold +more cowardly even than a blow given to a soldier on the parade-ground by his +superior officer.</p> +<p class="normal">He felt he had been summoned by those three words.</p> +<p class="normal">"Here I am!" he shouted, and his long thin arms brought substantial help.</p> +<p class="normal">But the "old gang" also received reinforcements. The struggle became wilder +and wilder, and the combatants grappled with each other more and more furiously. +The shouts had ceased, and one noticed now only the gasps of the fighters, the +grinding of their teeth, the dull sound of blows, and now and then a grim oath.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt was bleeding from a wound in his brow, in return for which he had bitten +his opponent in the hand. But now the heavy buckle of a belt caught him full in +the face. Sparks flew before his eyes, he reeled from the force of the blow, +and, like an infuriated animal, his only desire was to revenge himself, to hit +out and to kill his enemy. A newly polished sword lay near him, where it had +fallen from the table. He seized it and struck and thrust with it in blind fury.</p> +<p class="normal">The recruits shrieked as they saw this development, but no one had the +courage to seize the arms of the furious man.</p> +<p class="normal">Then an inspiration came to one of them.</p> +<p class="normal">"The sergeant-major!" he yelled at the door.</p> +<p class="normal">The struggling <i>mêlée</i> dispersed in a twinkling, the "old gang" vanished +from Room IX., and only a great cloud of dust betrayed what had taken place.</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major of course did not appear. But it was just as well; blood +poured down Vogt's face, and when Klitzing awakened from his torpor he was +seized with a kind of convulsive attack. He threw himself down, weeping and +shrieking before his brave comrade, embracing his knees, and no talking could +soothe him.</p> +<p class="normal">The other recruits stood frightened and helpless around the two. The brewer +sat down on his stool to get his breath, and wiped the perspiration off his +face.</p> +<p class="normal">Listing, the quondam tramp, was the most sensible. On the roads there is +occasionally a fight or an accident, therefore one must know how to render +assistance. He ran to the water-tap, and returned with a bowl of fresh water. He +washed the wounded man's face, and then put quite a respectable bandage round +Vogt's head. It is true that the folds were a little thick, as two towels were +applied, and they looked almost like a turban, but they stopped the bleeding and +held together.</p> +<p class="normal">The tattoo sounded over the courtyard.</p> +<p class="normal">It was high time to get ready for bed. The corporal in charge came into the +room and told them to be quick. Suddenly he noticed the wounded man.</p> +<p class="normal">"What's the matter?" he asked.</p> +<p class="normal">Listing lied fluently: "He fell down the dormitory stairs, sir, just a little +while ago, when the wind had blown out the lamp."</p> +<p class="normal">"Indeed!" said the officer in charge. "Is he badly hurt?"</p> +<p class="normal">"No, sir," answered Vogt.</p> +<p class="normal">"Then off to bed!"</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt and Klitzing were the last to leave Room IX. Klitzing went silently +along by his wounded comrade and looked at him timidly.</p> +<p class="normal">"Does it hurt, Franz?" he asked on the stairs.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt began hesitatingly: "Well, you know----" but then when he saw his +friend's sad eyes he continued: "Oh, no; it's not a bit bad."</p> +<p class="normal">Tears stood in the clerk's eyes.</p> +<p class="normal">"Franz, what a dear good fellow you are!" he said softly. "I don't know how I +can thank you; but never doubt that I <i>shall</i> thank you some time."</p> +<p class="normal">In the bedroom Listing whispered to him that the "old gang" would beware of +beginning it again. Wolf had told them that he should at once report them if +they did, and he was known to keep his word in such matters.</p> +<p class="normal">When the two friends were in bed, the tall man came round to their corner.</p> +<p class="normal">"How are you?" he asked Vogt.</p> +<p class="normal">"All right, thanks," he answered.</p> +<p class="normal">"Glad to hear it."</p> +<p class="normal">He stretched out his hand to the recruit, and the two men exchanged a hearty +grip.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER V</h2> +<br> +<div style="margin-left:60%"> +<p class="continue">"So pass the bottle about, hurrah!<br> +Gaily sing and shout, hurrah!<br> +Jolly artillerymen are we!"</p> +<p class="right">(<i>Artillery song.</i>)</p> +</div> +<p class="continue">Sergeant Schumann looked once more round the two rooms and the kitchen; no, +nothing had been left behind. Only his overcoat and hat hung on the window-bolt, +and his stick stood in the corner.</p> +<p class="normal">The civilian clothes did not please him at all. Every other minute his hand +was up at his neck, feeling for a collar-band which seemed to be much too loose, +but which, in reality, was not there at all.</p> +<p class="normal">His wife came in, busy as ever, in her hat and cloak, a little leather bag +and an umbrella in her hand. She was to start at noon for the little mountain +railway-station, where she would get the house ready for the furniture, which +should arrive during the day. The sergeant-major, or rather the station-master's +assistant, had some money matters to settle in the garrison town, and would not +follow her until the next morning.</p> +<p class="normal">Frau Schumann was quite out of breath. Those stupid gunners had been so +disagreeable when she wished to have her flowers put in the furniture van. She +began excitedly: "Thank God, Schumann, the van is ready. Here are the keys. It's +quite time for me to go to the station, isn't it?"</p> +<p class="normal">Schumann looked at his watch and growled: "Certainly, quite!"</p> +<p class="normal">"Then I'll be off," said the little woman.</p> +<p class="normal">But she remained standing in the middle of the room, seemingly unable to tear +herself away.</p> +<p class="normal">"Dear, dear!" she said, "for years I have wished to leave this place, and now +that we are really going I feel quite sad; don't you, Schumann?"</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major muttered something unintelligible. If it had depended on +him the house would not now have been empty and the furniture-van before the +door. It was his wife who had worried him into it, and yet now probably she +would begin to snivel.</p> +<p class="normal">Indeed, she had just taken her handkerchief out of her pocket and raised it +to her eyes, when suddenly her face changed: "Good gracious! our bean-poles are +still in the garden! I'm not going to leave them behind. Fancy it's only +occurring to me now!"</p> +<p class="normal">She was hurrying out. But the sergeant-major got in the way and held up his +watch in her face.</p> +<p class="normal">"Look here!" he said. "If you don't stir your stumps you'll miss your train."</p> +<p class="normal">She was alarmed: "Good heavens, yes, of course! I'm going. Good bye, +Schumann! Look after everything, and--and--good bye."</p> +<p class="normal">Standing on tiptoe she reached up for a kiss from her husband and was quickly +out of the door.</p> +<p class="normal">Schumann drew a long breath. She was his dear wife, but now that he had to +say farewell to the battery he preferred to be alone, without her.</p> +<p class="normal">He stood still in the doorway.</p> +<p class="normal">A driver had just brought two horses out of the stable and was harnessing +them to the furniture van.</p> +<p class="normal">Schumann had not taken much to do with the horses of late years; he knew that +they were thoroughly well cared for under Heppner's superintendence, and the +deputy sergeant-major was rather apt to resent any interference with his +department. But he would have failed in his duty if he had not, in spite of +this, kept himself informed of all that concerned the horses; if, in fact, he +had not been individually acquainted with each one of them.</p> +<p class="normal">Sergeant Schumann went down the steps. He must begin his leave-taking--so he +would first say good-bye to the horses.</p> +<p class="normal">Slowly he passed between the stalls. At that moment the strong smell of the +stable seemed to him more delicious than the most fragrant scent, more delicious +than the resinous forest breeze which blew through the valley where the little +station of the mountain railway lay surrounded by pine woods.</p> +<p class="normal">There stood the beautiful creatures side by side in splendid condition and +with coats like satin. Nearly all of them were dark bay, and according to +temperament they stood stolidly staring before them, or pawed impatiently at the +straw, or playfully bit and teased each other. Only four stalls were empty. +"Sybille" and "Achat" were drawing his belongings to the station. Another pair +had been borrowed by Major Schrader, who had been invited to a hunting party on +a neighbouring estate.</p> +<p class="normal">Last he came to his own riding-horse in the loose box, a pretty creature with +four white fetlocks, who was rather nervous, and unusually tender-mouthed. +Baldwin shrank from the man in the dark brown suit, and it was only when the +sergeant-major spoke that the animal recognised him. Even then he was shy, and +sugar and bread failed to re assure him. Schumann called him by his pet name, +rubbing his cheek against the velvet nostrils, and then only did the horse +become quiet. The sergeant-major could have shed tears. But he wanted to make an +end of it, and clear out from these barracks, where he no longer had his place. +Lingeringly he quitted the stable, and going out on to the parade-ground, stood +once more before the battery's memorial tablet. The sixth was one of the oldest +batteries; there were therefore a goodly number of skirmishes and battles +engraved upon the tablet. Sedan was the most disastrous and at the same time the +most glorious day--the day on which the battery had fired nearly eight hundred +shots, so that by evening the gunners had become so deaf that they could hardly +understand the orders which were shrieked into their ears.</p> +<p class="normal">Oh yes, it had been an honour to belong to the battery, and it was only right +that in times of peace also the sixth should always have been an example for +others.</p> +<p class="normal">"To commemorate the fallen; to inspire the living!" he read softly.</p> +<p class="normal">He nodded in earnest assent; then turned round suddenly and re entered his +house.</p> +<p class="normal">He put on his overcoat hastily, and seized his hat and stick. Then he locked +up, and knocked at the deputy sergeant-major's door, in order to give up the +keys.</p> +<p class="normal">Frau Heppner was alone.</p> +<p class="normal">"Are you just going, Herr Schumann?" she asked softly.</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major nodded, and said: "I am putting the keys here, in front of +the looking-glass."</p> +<p class="normal">Then he went up to the sofa on which the invalid was lying and took her hand. +"Good-bye, Frau Heppner."</p> +<p class="normal">"Good-bye," answered the woman; and whispering softly she added: "And as we +shall not meet again, I must thank both you and your wife."</p> +<p class="normal">"But what for?"</p> +<p class="normal">The invalid was silent for a moment, then she replied: "Well, when one's own +house has always been a perfect hell, one learns to appreciate the peace and +quiet of others. At least, it helps one to see there is something better than +one's own lot."</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant was silent. What could he say to the unhappy woman?</p> +<p class="normal">"So, good-bye, Herr Schumann!" she went on. "I sincerely wish you well!"</p> +<p class="normal">Schumann breathed more freely as the door closed behind him. He felt deeply +for the poor woman, and was relieved to have got over the parting from her.</p> +<p class="normal">With the giving up of the key the last cord was loosened which had bound him +to the battery and to the military life as a whole. Everything else had already +been done.</p> +<p class="normal">The evening before there had been a small <i>fête</i>, to which the captain +and the two subalterns had invited him and all the non-commissioned officers of +the battery. Then in the morning, in the presence of the officers, including the +colonel, and before all the men of the regiment, the good-service cross, which +the king had granted him, had been handed him by the commanding officer; he had +also received permission to wear his old uniform at any patriotic festivities. +The colonel had spoken of him warmly as a pattern soldier, and had concluded +with a cheer for the emperor and the king. Then the sergeant-major had requested +that he, on his side, might be allowed to say a few words; and with a voice +which failed many times he led a cheer for the beloved regiment, and especially +for the splendid sixth battery. Afterwards handsome presents were given him: +from Wegstetten and the two lieutenants a beautiful gold watch; from Major +Schrader a heavy gold chain for it; from the non-commissioned officers an album +with views of the town and the barracks, and with photographic groups of +officers, non-commissioned officers, men, and horses. Finally, the commanding +officer presented to him that service sabre which he had worn for ten long +years, to be now his own private property.</p> +<p class="normal">He had only been able to thank them by a silent grasp of the hand, for fear +that if he spoke he would begin to cry like a girl. Afterwards he had also said +farewell to all the men. So now he was ready and could go.</p> +<p class="normal">It was about half an hour before the time for the afternoon drill. As +Schumann entered the parade-ground he heard a voice shout from the steps: "The +sergeant-major is going!" And in a moment all came running towards him, the +drivers and gunners, old stagers and raw recruits, the entire battery crowding +round to shake hands with him once more.</p> +<p class="normal">Again the sergeant-major had to clench his teeth; he passed silently along, +shaking the hands that were stretched out to him.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly he stopped in astonishment, thinking he must be mistaken. But no, +Wolf was there too--Wolf, the social-democrat, whose whole existence as a +soldier was a cynical mask, the revolutionist who was only waiting for the +moment when, free from the green uniform, he might preach his faith again! And +he, Schumann, had never been at any pains to conceal what he thought of such +disgraceful opinions.</p> +<p class="normal">Wolf had not exactly run up, but had come with the rake over his shoulder +with which he had been raking the riding-ground, and was at any rate associating +himself with the others.</p> +<p class="normal">"What, you too, Wolf?" Schumann involuntarily exclaimed.</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, sir," answered the soldier. "You never were hard on any-one. You were +always just."</p> +<p class="normal">Schumann was just a little bit shamefaced at this obviously sincere praise. +Generally speaking, he had honestly tried to deserve it; but with regard to this +social-democrat, he knew quite well he had many times been lacking in justice. +He remembered how often, when Wolf's turn came, he had ordered him to perform +some specially unpleasant work.</p> +<p class="normal">Embarrassed and hesitating, he replied: "Well, well, and you have always been +a good soldier yourself, at any rate in externals. Only that you--well, there +was no getting at you there!"</p> +<p class="normal">It was a good thing that after Wolf others came up to grasp his hand in +farewell; or else, notwithstanding order, watch, and sabre, he would have left +the barracks with a bad conscience.</p> +<p class="normal">The last, who kept on moving further down in order to be the very last to say +good bye, was Niederlein, a smart little gunner, who had polished his +accoutrements for him during the last year.</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major pressed his hand with special heartiness, and breathed +freely: Thank God, Niederlein made up for Wolf! Once when ill, and left alone in +the dormitory, Niederlein had broken open a locker and appropriated a piece of +sausage therefrom. Schumann had caught him red-handed. Thieving from a comrade +was a serious offence, entailing severe punishment and public disgrace; but +Schumann knew Niederlein was only thoughtless and greedy, and it had been more a +stupid prank than a crime, for the money which lay near the sausage was +untouched. So he had held the boy across the table and given him five-and-twenty +strokes with his leather belt. He was not quite clear in his mind whether this +had been entirely in order--it might have been technically an assault; at any +rate it turned out right. Niederlein was now about the best soldier in the whole +battery, and would have, gone through fire and water for the sergeant-major.</p> +<p class="normal">The lad watched awhile how Schumann went slowly out through the back gateway +and disappeared into the little wood. Then he hurried off to his quarters, for +the battery was collecting for foot-drill.</p> +<p class="normal">Schumann had purposely chosen to go to the town by the lonely way through the +wood, because if he had gone by the high road he would have met the battery +officers again. That would have meant another delay; and then besides he felt he +belonged far more to the men than to the officers, despite his double stripes.</p> +<p class="normal">He paused on the hill and gazed at the well-known landscape beneath him, +where in the foreground lay the great drill-ground at his feet.</p> +<p class="normal">With his sharp eyes he could even recognise individual men. The fourth +battery had just brought its six guns up to the gate; the fifth had not stirred +as yet--Captain Mohr was not fond of duty so soon after dinner; and now his own +battery, the sixth, arrived on the ground to perform foot-drill. The ornaments +on the helmets shimmered in the sun, and he almost fancied he could hear the +even tread. Wegstetten and the two lieutenants were behind.</p> +<p class="normal">The drill began, and the breaking up into files, the deployment, and finally +the parade-march, first in file and then in battery column--all went splendidly. +It was a joy to look down upon the smart, well-ordered straight lines as they +moved. Instead of himself, Heppner marched in the sergeant-major's place, and +Keyser, as the senior non-commissioned officer present, led the file of drivers +instead of the deputy sergeant-major.</p> +<p class="normal">All was thoroughly well done, there was not a hitch anywhere.</p> +<p class="normal">And he, Schumann, had believed that he was indispensable, he had thought +things could not go on without him!</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">At supper Julie Heppner said to her husband: "Otto, the money you give us for +housekeeping isn't enough. Ida couldn't pay the milkman to-day."</p> +<p class="normal">"No affair of mine," replied the deputy sergeant-major, with his mouth full. +"You must manage things better."</p> +<p class="normal">When he had finished eating he put his coat on, buckled on his sabre and put +on his forage cap.</p> +<p class="normal">His wife watched him from the sofa with angry eyes as he brushed his heavy +beard and put on his gloves.</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner looked her straight in the face, laughed scornfully and said: "Yes, +you are thinking again: 'Now he is going to the public-house and will spend all +the bit of money!' Well, as it happens, it's not so this time. But you had +better believe it all the same, and make yourself really angry."</p> +<p class="normal">This perpetual lack of money was, however, no joke to the sister-in-law +either, as she was always having to put off and conciliate the creditors, and +she joined in angrily: "It's the truth! You squander the money and we have to +manage as best we can."</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner went round behind her and mockingly retorted: "So you're beginning to +scold like your dear sister? It seems to be catching. But I'll tell you how it +is: there was a good lot of the farewell beer left over yesterday, and I saved +it up for myself. Now, who's right?"</p> +<p class="normal">He tapped his sister-in-law's round shoulder playfully, and added: "Who +knows? Perhaps to-morrow I may give you quite a lot of money."</p> +<p class="normal">With that he left the house.</p> +<p class="normal">He was in a good temper. It had long been a grievance to him that +Schumann--grumbling old plodder!--instead of packing up his few sticks and being +drafted into the civil service, should have remained so long stuck fast to the +battery, thus preventing his own promotion. Now at last the old man had +disappeared, and he was certain of becoming sergeant-major.</p> +<p class="normal">To-day was a lucky day for him, he felt sure; and this must be taken +advantage of: a little game must be arranged for the evening.</p> +<p class="normal">Therefore, he had taken care only to invite men on whom he could rely to this +second instalment of the farewell drinking party: the sergeant-major of the +fifth battery, who imitated his chief in drinking, and Trumpeter Henke of his +own, the sixth battery, two seasoned gamblers. The two other members of the +party were to be the landlord of the White Horse, and the fat baker, Kühn, who +held the contract for the white bread supplied to the regiment. To the baker in +particular he had allotted the <i>rôle</i> of loser, as he had the most money.</p> +<p class="normal">At the gate it suddenly occurred to Heppner that it would be much pleasanter +to walk the half-mile to the town in company, and he decided to fetch the +trumpeter.</p> +<p class="normal">Sergeant Henke was a lively young fellow, with a fresh, rosy face, a flowing +black beard and curly hair, rather beyond the regulation length. He was of a +handsome soldierly appearance, and contrasted well with his wife, Lisbeth, a +beautiful blonde, who with her slender figure always looked like a young girl.</p> +<p class="normal">This fair woman was blindly in love with her husband. She almost worshipped +him, but he did not trouble himself much about her. He regarded himself as a +great artist, because in the choir concerts he played the cornet solos, and +always received much applause from the female part of the audience, and he +considered that his marriage alone had prevented him from becoming a +"celebrity." Once he had received a passionate love letter, signed by "a lady of +high degree, who deplored with tears of blood" the dividing difference of rank +between them. It was transparently the coarse work of a practical joker; but +Henke in his conceit believed in the high-born heiress, and this dream quite +turned his head. He ever afterwards posed as a fine gentleman, ogled all the +elegant women of the town, and had hardly a glance left for his wife. She worked +and pinched for him in order that he might be able to enjoy his aristocratic +tastes, and thought herself happy because he bore with her. And he was always +urging her to work and earn money, as he longed to become rich and be the equal +of really fashionable people.</p> +<p class="normal">Gambling was to help him to this; besides, in itself it gave him intense +pleasure.</p> +<p class="normal">He was ready dressed to go out, and was only lingering before the +looking-glass, when he heard outside the signal-whistle with which Heppner, his +boon-companion, was accustomed to call him. He soon joined the deputy +sergeant-major in the street, and after a brief greeting the two walked rapidly +towards the town.</p> +<p class="normal">A few steps from the White Horse the trumpeter suddenly stopped, felt in his +pocket, and exclaimed, "Damnation! I've left my money behind at home!"</p> +<p class="normal">"Never mind!" said Heppner, in his genial mood. "You shall eat and drink free +to-day, and I'll lend you a thaler into the bargain. There, catch hold!"</p> +<p class="normal">He gave him the piece of money before they reached the door, and the +trumpeter rejoiced: borrowed money brought luck.</p> +<p class="normal">The landlord of the Horse had laid the table neatly in the little parlour. +The leavings of the previous evening had been freshly dished up, and the barrel, +which must still contain nearly forty litres of beer, had been cooled with ice.</p> +<p class="normal">But only one of the five banqueters was in the vein--Blechschmidt, +sergeant-major of the fifth battery. He was still eating and drinking when the +four others were already sitting at the half-cleared table playing cards.</p> +<p class="normal">"Something moderate to begin with!" the master baker Kühn had suggested; so +each one put down three marks.</p> +<p class="normal">It was a long time before the last fifty-pfennig piece was played out of the +pool; but Heppner triumphed. He had been right in his premonition; when he +counted his money he had won nearly two marks.</p> +<p class="normal">After this exertion the players took a little refreshment, and while eating +talked the game over.</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner swallowed his bread and meat eagerly, and the last plate had hardly +been cleared before he began, his eyes twinkling craftily, "And what next, +gentlemen?"</p> +<p class="normal">The master baker laughed pleasantly and replied, "Well, as we've been lying +low, we may afford to let ourselves go a bit now."</p> +<p class="normal">Thereupon the landlord bolted the door and saw that the shutters were firmly +closed. They drew closer together, and even Blechschmidt came nearer.</p> +<p class="normal">The players bent over the table, their eyes followed the dealing of the cards +with eagerness, their faces glowed. They lighted their fresh cigars on the +stumps of the old ones, and when their throats became parched from excitement, +they gulped down rapid draughts of the beer, which was gradually becoming flat +and muddy as it flowed from the tap into the glasses.</p> +<p class="normal">They had lost all thought of time.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly Blechschmidt, the tireless toper, grumbled, "No, I shan't play with +you any more. Beer's best."</p> +<p class="normal">The landlord looked at the clock. "It is nearly five," he said.</p> +<p class="normal">None of them could believe it; they thought they had not been playing above +an hour at most.</p> +<p class="normal">But late or early they must finish the game, and they all heaved deep breaths +as the last round ended. While playing they had been quite unconscious of the +terrible fatigue, which, now that they had stopped, utterly overpowered them.</p> +<p class="normal">Now they had to calculate the gains and losses of the night. The trumpeter +got through quickest. He tossed Heppner the borrowed thaler, and laughed +contentedly to himself. He had every reason to be cheerful, he, who had not +brought a single red pfennig with him, and who now had more than a hundred +marks--chiefly in silver, but with a few gold pieces also--clinking in his +pocket!</p> +<p class="normal">The other four had all lost. The deputy sergeant-major was quite thirty marks +poorer. He glanced darkly at the small sum which still lay before him. How +stupid he had been! He had thrown away his luck with the thaler which he had +lent Henke, that was quite certain. Now, instead of himself, this fop had hauled +in the fat baker's money. That was the reward of his good nature!</p> +<p class="normal">Then suddenly Henke had an idea.</p> +<p class="normal">"Gentlemen!" he began, "I see that I have had tremendous luck. I must really +give some of it away."</p> +<p class="normal">He dug the sleepy landlord in the ribs, and shouted in his ear, "Now then, +Anton! I want two bottles of champagne."</p> +<p class="normal">The landlord was quite alert in a moment. He stood to win by this sort of +play.</p> +<p class="normal">"Bring the most expensive!" trumpeted the trumpeter. "Eleven marks the +bottle, Henke!"</p> +<p class="normal">"No matter! What our officers can do I can do also. Bring it along!"</p> +<p class="normal">Mine host hurried down into his cellar and fetched two bottles of Pommery +from the furthermost corner, a good dry brand with which horse-dealers sometimes +christened a concluded bargain.</p> +<p class="normal">There was no more ice to be had; so he opened the bottle as it came out of +the cellar. The cork sprang to the ceiling with a loud pop, and the wine poured +from the neck like a fountain.</p> +<p class="normal">The two sergeants had given the word of command, "Fire!" as the cork flew +out, and the trumpeter had blown a fanfare. All five buried their noses in their +glasses and let them be tickled by the rising bubbles. Then they drank off the +wine, which was far too warm, and could not praise it enough.</p> +<p class="normal">The trumpeter, who was always imitating the officers, considered himself a +judge of wine. He smelt the champagne, let it lie on his tongue, while at the +same time his face took on an enraptured expression, and he shouted +enthusiastically, "Gentlemen, gentlemen! in this bouquet one recognises the true +French brand. It is utterly different from German champagne!"</p> +<p class="normal">The others imitated his action and were in complete agreement with him.</p> +<p class="normal">Only Kühn remarked discontentedly, "The hog-wash tastes like bitter almonds!"</p> +<p class="normal">At which the landlord took offence. "Don't you know then, baker," he snarled, +"that that is just the way to know genuine French champagne?"</p> +<p class="normal">And he looked lovingly at the two corks which he had placed carefully in a +corner.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">When Captain von Wegstetten entered the orderly-room on the morning of April +1st, he at once said to the deputy sergeant-major, "What is the matter with you? +You look quite green."</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner answered, "Excuse me, sir, my wife has had a very bad night."</p> +<p class="normal">"Indeed!" drawled Wegstetten. "I am sorry to hear it."</p> +<p class="normal">But to himself he thought: "If that is at all true, the man must have been +consoling himself with whisky; one can smell it five paces away from him."</p> +<p class="normal">However, the captain offered to let him dispense with riding; but Heppner +objected, and begged to be allowed to take part in the drill. He felt that would +help him to shake off his unpleasant sensations; an hour's ride and he would be +fresh again. A fine thing if a night's dissipation could really upset a man like +himself!</p> +<p class="normal">His commanding officer was pleased at such enthusiasm; and as during the +drill the deputy sergeant-major managed his horse--the most troublesome of all +the remounts--exceedingly well, he remarked to him, "Heppner, I think I shall be +able to bring you some good news at noon."</p> +<p class="normal">Afterwards it occurred to him that he had intended to raise objections to the +colonel with regard to Heppner's elevation to the rank of sergeant-major, but +now that he had committed himself to the man this was no longer possible.</p> +<p class="normal">He did just mention his doubts in the colloquy with Falkenhein, but he made +no impression, and in the end the colonel himself covered the retreat.</p> +<p class="normal">"What do you expect, my dear Wegstetten?" he said. "I ask you, just take all +your non-commissioned officers. Who is there you cannot accuse of gambling? It +is a fatal characteristic of these mongrels that they will copy the officers, +and unfortunately only in what is stupid or bad. The fine gentlemen all play, +drink, fool with women, gamble; it's only a question of the one a little more, +the other a little less."</p> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten objected modestly. "Pardon me, sir, not all. My old +sergeant-major----"</p> +<p class="normal">He got no further. Falkenhein interrupted quickly: "You mean Schumann? Yes; +there you are quite correct. But then he was the last of another generation, one +of the old type--steady, quiet, discreet, honest, and trustworthy to the last +fibre. But they are dying out, my dear Wegstetten. Such perfect specimens of +non-commissioned officers, that used to be the rule, are now more and more the +exception. I ask you for the truth: since you entered the army, have our +non-coms. become better, or--well, less good? What do you say?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Less good, sir, unfortunately," replied the captain.</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, unfortunately. Exactly my opinion."</p> +<p class="normal">The colonel rummaged among the papers lying on his desk, and selected two.</p> +<p class="normal">"Now, my dear Wegstetten," he said, "here are the appointments. I can't +settle such details. That is not my business. I put it to you, therefore; will +you try with Heppner?"</p> +<p class="normal">"As you wish, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">"Good; I think you are right."</p> +<p class="normal">Falkenhein signed the document and gave it to the captain.</p> +<p class="normal">"There! now he is sergeant-major!" he said, and continued: "What I most +regret is, that you should partially lose him in the active work. That was his +real field. But a younger man cannot be promoted over his head."</p> +<p class="normal">He took the second document and handed it to Wegstetten. "And here, at the +same time, is the other promotion. I have followed your advice. Sergeant Heimert +is to-day appointed deputy sergeant-major and relieved of his present duty. He +will report himself to you to-morrow.</p> +<p class="normal">"Thank you, sir," replied the captain.</p> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten stuck the documents into his sleeve and took leave. The colonel +accompanied him to the door and shook hands with him very cordially.</p> +<p class="normal">The captain reflected, however, as he went down the steps, that every one +must have at least one fault. He, like the whole contingent, was of opinion that +Falkenhein was one of the finest officers in the army, certain to become a +major-general, if not a full general. And with an artilleryman this was of +double significance. But why, because a man had had the good fortune to work +under the sainted Moltke on the general staff, he should, therefore, always +describe anything that had occurred since that time as "less good,"--that he +could never understand.</p> +<p class="normal">That evening after roll-call Heppner read out his own promotion to the rank +of sergeant-major, and that of Sergeant Heimert to the post of deputy +sergeant-major.</p> +<p class="normal">Everybody was surprised. Heimert? Who was Heimert? No one could say.</p> +<p class="normal">Ah! It went on: "Deputy sergeant-major Heimert will therefore be relieved +from his management of the forage department of the infantry and artillery +ammunition columns and will return to his battery."</p> +<p class="normal">So it really was that fellow with the gigantic nose, who was always slouching +about the coach-houses and baggage sheds!</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner returned to the orderly-room and sat down at his table, on which lay +a mass of unfinished writing. Now the wakeful night was making itself felt. The +sergeant yawned and took up his work unwillingly. Evidently the post of +sergeant-major had some drawbacks! To be kept shut up in this room! It was not +pleasant to retire from drill, riding remounts, giving riding-lessons, and +leading a line in driving exercises--all that had been so much after his own +heart. And this eternal scribbling would be altogether against the grain.</p> +<p class="normal">If only he had a clever clerk, like Blechschmidt of the fifth battery, who +did not over-exert himself! But Käppchen was a lazy fellow; and yet on Käppchen +he must rely, asking his advice about all kinds of things, because he himself +did not know the routine yet.</p> +<p class="normal">It was very late before he locked his desk and went home.</p> +<p class="normal">His sister-in-law greeted him with news which did not improve his temper. +"The tailor has been here," she said, "and wanted the money for your uniform, +which you have owed for a month. He will come again to-morrow."</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner grumbled: "The fellow must wait!" He had no more money. It had nearly +all vanished yesterday, and to-day he had been obliged to give the greater part +of what remained to the women for housekeeping.</p> +<p class="normal">With a surly face he sat down to his supper.</p> +<p class="normal">"Have you been made sergeant-major?" his wife asked.</p> +<p class="normal">He saw his sister-in-law's eyes too fixed on him questioningly. He muttered, +"Yes," to her, and then turned roughly on his wife: "What business is it of +yours?"</p> +<p class="normal">She lay back, and answered gently: "I am so glad." "Really?" he sneered. He +cast a sharp glance at her and snarled between his teeth: "Don't gush!"</p> +<p class="normal">Then he pushed his plate away, tossed off two glasses of beer, and lay down +to rest in the bedroom.</p> +<p class="normal">The two sisters remained together, the invalid stretched on the sofa, the +other sewing near the lamp. They heard Heppner snoring.</p> +<p class="normal">His wife's face was in shadow, but her eyes blazed at her sister and rested +with an uncanny expression of hatred on the strong, well-developed beauty of the +young girl.</p> +<p class="normal">There was a knock at the door. The battery tailor had brought the +sergeant-major's tunic, on the sleeve of which he had stitched the double +stripes. Ida took it from him and hung it up silently.</p> +<p class="normal">The invalid watched her indifferently. A short time before she had been +mildly excited with joy at her husband's promotion; he had quite spoilt this +feeling for her. Now she was callous to everything.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly she pressed her lips together and clenched her hands feverishly.</p> +<p class="normal">Had not her sister just handled his tunic lingeringly with a kind of furtive +tenderness?</p> +<p class="normal">Had the scandal already gone so far?</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Julie Heppner believed that she would die betrayed and forsaken by all; but +during her last days she gained a sympathetic friend in the newly appointed +deputy sergeant-major Heimert.</p> +<p class="normal">Heimert had taken possession of the Schumanns' empty house. True that at the +time he was still single; but as his marriage was to take place in a few weeks, +the captain had at once allotted married quarters to him. Now the deputy +sergeant-major was furnishing the rooms and decking the bare walls and windows +with touching care. He would arrange and rearrange the furniture, and would +drape a curtain a thousand different ways, and yet nothing was ever beautiful +enough for him.</p> +<p class="normal">On holidays he was seldom able to visit his sweetheart, Albina Worzuba. At +other times he devoted every spare hour to her; but she was the barmaid of a +small tavern in the town, and had no time to spare for him on holidays. Besides, +Heimert did not like watching how the guests would go up to the counter for +glasses of beer, and joke with Albina, or even dare to pinch her cheeks. He had +on several occasions made scenes about this till the landlord had almost +forbidden him the place. Albina herself, too, advised him to come as seldom as +possible. She considered that as long as she was a barmaid she must be friendly, +and not too sensitive to the chaff of the guests; and if it pained him to see +this, it was better that he should remain away. And with an ardent glance she +added that when she was his wife he would have her all to himself. Heimert had +constrained himself to agree to this.</p> +<p class="normal">On one of these Sundays it befell that Heimert was startled from his +carpentering by the sound of a groan. He went outside and listened; the moaning +sounds came from Heppner's quarters. He burst the door open and entered. The +sick woman had been left alone. Her sister had gone for a walk, and the +sergeant-major was doubtless at a public-house. Such neglect of her had often +occurred before; but this time she had suddenly been seized by an attack of pain +so severe that she thought she was dying.</p> +<p class="normal">To die alone! With no one even to hold her hand; without a ray of light from +a living eye to brighten the dark porch of death!</p> +<p class="normal">Between the attacks of pain she called feverishly and breathlessly for her +husband: "Otto! Otto! Otto!!"</p> +<p class="normal">Heimert ran to her anxiously. He gave her his hand, which she seized and held +convulsively, spoke to her soothingly, and wiped the drops of sweat from her +brow with his handkerchief.</p> +<p class="normal">He quietly gave her time to recover from her exhaustion, then said to her +gently: "Frau Heppner, would you like me to send to find your own people?"</p> +<p class="normal">She shook her head energetically: "No, no!" and whispered wearily: "But if +you would only stay just a little while, Herr Heimert!"</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant nodded, and remained sitting silently beside her.</p> +<p class="normal">It was some time before Julie Heppner had the strength to explain to him what +had happened to her. While so doing she looked at him more attentively, and was +almost frightened by his ugliness. The coarse face with the outstanding ears was +made half grotesque, half repellent, by an enormous nose, which was always red. +What did it matter that two beautiful, kindly child-like eyes shone from this +countenance? Would any one trouble to look for them in the midst of such +hideousness?</p> +<p class="normal">The invalid remembered she had heard that Heimert was going to be married. In +the light of her own unhappiness she thought to herself that this marriage could +only turn out well if the man had chosen a woman as ugly as himself, so that in +their common misfortune the pair could comfort each other.</p> +<p class="normal">As she gradually became able to talk to him she inquired about his bride, and +the enamoured swain raved to her unceasingly of Albina's beauty and charm.</p> +<p class="normal">Heimert now appeared to her as a fellow-sufferer; only she was about to lay +down the heavy burden, and he was but just going to take the load upon his back.</p> +<p class="normal">The two talked together as if they had known each other for years; they were +nearly always of the same opinion. Finally, the invalid invited the deputy +sergeant-major to come over often when she was alone; she would always give him +a sign, and he could bring his carpenter's bench with him, the hammering would +not disturb her in the least.</p> +<p class="normal">After this, Heimert always appeared directly Julie Heppner called him. He +gained distraction from his jealous fits in this way, and he thought the +sergeant-major's wife a really good woman, who had been unfortunate enough to +marry the wrong man, when with another she would perhaps have been happy. The +brutality with which Heppner treated the dying woman was revolting to him, and +his sympathy with the injured wife gradually inspired him with a positive hatred +for the sergeant-major.</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major laughed at Heimert. "The Prince with the Nose" he called +him, and sneered at his wife about this "lover."</p> +<p class="normal">"You two would have suited each other well!" he jeered. "You would have +nothing to reproach each other with in the way of beauty!"</p> +<p class="normal">One day in passing he looked into the neighbouring quarters, and found the +deputy sergeant-major gazing at a cabinet photograph of his betrothed. Heimert, +startled, tried quickly to hide the portrait; but Heppner begged to see it.</p> +<p class="normal">He had expected to see a girl,--well, something like his wife, or perhaps +uglier, for surely it would be impossible for any one else to fall in love with +Heimert; but as he took the picture in his hand an involuntary expression of +surprise escaped him: "By Jove! Isn't she beautiful!"</p> +<p class="normal">From that moment he was always asking Heimert to take him with him to see his +sweetheart.</p> +<p class="normal">"Why?" Heimert asked suspiciously. "Do you want to cut me out with her?"</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner laughed at him. "The devil!" he said. "I have two women in the house +myself, and that's more than enough. Surely one may make the acquaintance of a +comrade's sweetheart?"</p> +<p class="normal">"And," he added craftily, "have you so little confidence in her, then?"</p> +<p class="normal">Heimert burst out: "Oh, that's not the reason!"</p> +<p class="normal">"Well then," said the other, "you know you won't be able to lock her up and +hide her when she is your wife. Where's the harm in my just saying good-day to +her?"</p> +<p class="normal">The deputy sergeant-major was forced to agree that there was really nothing +against it. Moreover he was rather proud of having won such a beautiful girl; he +enjoyed seeing the sergeant-major's envious eyes; and finally he said he would +take him to Grundmann's the following Monday. Grundmann was the name of the +landlord of the tavern in which Albina was barmaid; and as on Monday business +there was at its slackest, they might hope to exchange a few quiet words with +the girl.</p> +<p class="normal">On the Monday evening appointed he met Heppner on the parade-ground.</p> +<p class="normal">Heimert had made himself as smart as possible. He had put on his new extra +uniform, which he had meant to keep for his wedding, and had forced his big +hands into shiny white kid gloves. The collar of his tunic was very high, and so +tight that he could hardly turn his head. Heppner, on the other hand, had only +put on his best undress uniform. He was in a very good temper and very +talkative, whereas Heimert walked beside him depressed and silent.</p> +<p class="normal">They arrived at Grundmann's very opportunely. They were the only guests, and +the landlord had no objection to Albina's sitting at their table with them.</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner chose a place from which he could gaze undisturbed at the girl's +profile. She pleased him. She was just to his taste, this full-bosomed girl with +salient hips and rounded arms. In his opinion her face was more than pretty; her +eager, passionate eyes, and her mouth with the full, rather pouting lips, on +which one longed to plant a big kiss, seemed to him quite beautiful. She wore +her dark hair, which was as coarse as a horse's tail, dressed in a new-fashioned +way which gave her a certain "individuality"; and, above all, she had some scent +about her of a kind that was only used by the most distinguished ladies.</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner was annoyed that she noticed him so little. She was quite taken up +with her betrothed, who was telling her of the progress made in the preparation +of the house, and she only gave Heppner a glance at rare intervals.</p> +<p class="normal">At first she did not talk much; but when, in order to say something, he asked +her where her home was, she immediately began to relate her whole history.</p> +<p class="normal">She came from Prague, and was the daughter of a shoe-maker--or, rather, of a +boot and shoe manufacturer--and, moreover, not of an ordinary boot and shoe +manufacturer, but of a Court boot and shoe manufacturer by Royal and Imperial +appointment, who did not work for just any one, but only for the Archdukes and +for the high Bohemian nobility. And she, Albina, had always to write down the +figures when her father was taking measures, and so it had come about that a +Count Colloredo had fallen in love with her. He had wished to educate and marry +her; but she had at last refused because the noble relations of her beloved had +threatened to disinherit him if he married the "shoemaker's daughter." She could +never have endured causing him to discard his beautiful Thurn and Taxis +dragoon's uniform.</p> +<p class="normal">Now came a pause in Albina's narrative, which however did not last long. +Next, she had fled from her father's house. Why? She kept that a secret. And +finally, after many vicissitudes she had found a refuge here, where she was safe +from her father. For he had wished later to marry her to a master chimney-sweep, +and although the latter was a millionaire she would have none of him.</p> +<p class="normal">In reality she was the child of a miserably poor cobbler; and after a stormy +youth she had brought her somewhat damaged little ship of life to anchor in the +small garrison town at the bar of Grundmann's alehouse.</p> +<p class="normal">Heimert waited impatiently for the conclusion of her romance, which he had +heard many times before. But if Albina had a chance of telling the story of her +life, she became like a freshly wound-up clock, which ticks on inexorably until +it runs down.</p> +<p class="normal">She simply left unanswered the questions her lover interposed now and then; +and when he interrupted her to say that Count Colloredo had been in the Palatine +hussars, and not in the Thurn and Taxis dragoons, she said crossly that he had +better pay more attention the next time she told him anything. Heppner, on the +contrary, who appeared to listen with interest, rose in her favour, and in +answer to his questions she launched still further into detail.</p> +<p class="normal">And now she looked at him more closely, and took his measure with those +bright eyes of hers. But having brought her story up to the present date, she +turned once more to Heimert, regarded him tenderly, and said, "Shall I not be +happy with him, after having had such hard times in the past?"</p> +<p class="normal">A few newly-arrived guests now called her to her duties at the bar, and the +two non-commissioned officers remained behind alone at the table. Heimert felt +the sergeant-major looking at him, as he thought, with a sneering, incredulous +sort of expression. He was embarrassed, and began describing figures on the +table with a little beer that had been spilt.</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, well," he began at last, "women are always like that. She draws the +long bow, of course--as to her origin and so forth."</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes," answered Heppner; "girls love doing that."</p> +<p class="normal">"But," Heimert continued, "there is some truth in it. Her father is a +shoemaker--was, at least, for he is dead now--even if he wasn't a Court +shoemaker. And he must have been wealthy. He only left her what he was obliged +to, and yet she receives fifty crowns interest monthly. I know that for +certain."</p> +<p class="normal">"By Jove! that is over forty marks. You certainly are a lucky dog! Why, she's +almost rich."</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, not quite that. But it is very pleasant, naturally. However, I didn't +choose her for that reason. I first heard of it quite indirectly, long after I +had proposed."</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner was almost overcome with envy as he saw sitting opposite to him this +picture of hideousness, this perfect monster, who had succeeded--how, Heaven +alone knew!--in winning a beautiful and also a rich woman. For he was obliged to +believe that about her income. It was plain that Heimert was not lying.</p> +<p class="normal">As a matter of fact the barmaid did receive fifty crowns every month. The +money, however, did not come as interest on capital inherited from her father, +but was an annuity which a former lover had settled on her: a good-natured, fat +tallow-chandler, who had been with great regret obliged to give the youthful +Albina Worzuba the go-by, as his wife had caught him tripping. He had sweetened +the farewell for Albina with this annuity.</p> +<p class="normal">Albina was careful not to reveal this to her future husband. Why should she? +She argued that ignorance was bliss, and beyond everything she was weary of the +unsettled life she had been leading, now as waitress, now as barmaid, or as +something quite different, and she wanted to find rest in an honest marriage. +She could attract most men as lovers, but as a husband she could only hope for +one who was as simple and as much in love as Heimert. So she had fastened upon +him, and she had no intention of endangering her plans by any unpleasant +communications. Prague was a long way off; and, moreover, many years had passed +since those days, and the money itself could tell no tales as to its source.</p> +<p class="normal">Apparently the barmaid would have no more free moments. So at last the two +non-commissioned officers rose, paid their bill, and then went up to the bar to +say good-night to her.</p> +<p class="normal">Now it was that Albina first noticed the full difference between her future +husband and the sergeant-major. As the men stood side by side, Heppner was more +than a head taller than Heimert. He was strongly built, and, despite a certain +fulness, he was well-proportioned; strength, however, untrammelled, powerful, +raw strength was his salient characteristic. Heimert's frame, too broad and too +short, and crowned by its mask of a comic clown, looked almost deformed by the +side of the other.</p> +<p class="normal">The girl's eyes rested with unfeigned admiration on Heppner's appearance; and +when she finally turned towards her lover, a scornful smile played about her +coarse mouth. But in an instant she changed it to a tender expression.</p> +<p class="normal">To Heppner she said: "I am glad to have made the acquaintance of one of my +future husband's comrades."</p> +<p class="normal">"When you are married, Fräulein, we shall be living in the same building," +replied Heppner eagerly. "We shall be great friends, shall we not?"</p> +<p class="normal">And the beauty raised her eyes to his with a peculiar glance as she answered +softly: "Oh yes, I think so."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> +<br> +<div style="margin-left:60%"> +<p class="hang1">"For now the time to pack has come, And love is put away;</p> +<p class="hang1">Farewell! I hear the roll of drum, And may no longer stay."</p> +<p class="right">(<i>Hoffmann von Fallersleben.</i>)</p></div> +<p class="continue">Towards the end of March Reimers was turning over the pages of the +<i>Weekly Military Gazette</i> before dinner, when he saw the announcement that +his dear friend Senior-lieutenant Güntz was to rejoin his regiment on April 1st. +The red order of the Eagle was to be given to him upon the expiration of his +work in Berlin.</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz to return! Dear old pedantic Güntz, who had so often and so ruthlessly +opened his eyes for him! To tell the truth, this friend had almost passed out of +his thoughts; yet now he suddenly felt a genuine longing for him.</p> +<p class="normal">During the past winter Reimers had grown much more at home in the regiment, +feeling as a wanderer returned. He felt himself freer and more light-hearted, +and his comrades seemed more congenial. Never had a winter flown by so swiftly; +and yet he counted the days till the 1st.</p> +<p class="normal">He had made a special resolve to spend his evenings over his books, and had +plunged with renewed zeal into his studies for the examination of the Staff +College, which had been interrupted by his illness. And then the feeling of +loneliness had suddenly returned. But now all would be well, now that Güntz was +coming back--Güntz, from whom no difference of rank or age had ever divided him; +to whom he could speak straight from the heart, and on whose sympathy he could +at all times rely.</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz's return was scarcely alluded to by his brother officers. After all +there was nothing extraordinary about it; every year some one took up or left a +post of the kind he had been filling.</p> +<p class="normal">The ladies of the regiment made somewhat more of a stir; for one question, +which had previously been theoretically discussed, now became suddenly of +burning importance.</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz had married in Berlin, <i>and his bride was a governess</i>. This much +only was known: that she was not even particularly pretty. He had, of course, +obtained the requisite official sanction, so that there could not be anything +actually against her family; but concerning the reception into their midst of +this young person, who had formerly filled a "menial position," the ladies of +the regiment felt somewhat troubled.</p> +<p class="normal">Frau Lischke laid the case before her husband, and begged him to ask +instructions of the colonel.</p> +<p class="normal">"H'm," answered the major, "I'll do it; but I don't care for the job. +Falkenhein can be pretty sharp-tongued upon occasion."</p> +<p class="normal">"Sharp-tongued?" retorted his wife. "My dearest, surely you are more than a +match for him there! And there's another matter. While you are about it, you +might just mention that stuck-up Reimers. This entire winter he has kept away, +quite without excuse, from all society. Just tell the colonel that I don't think +that proper in a young officer."</p> +<p class="normal">Lischke was not as a rule shy or in awe of his superior officer, but his +wife's commission gave him an ill-defined uneasiness, so that he boggled over +his errand.</p> +<p class="normal">The colonel let him have his say out. Then he began, in his somewhat nervous, +quick way:</p> +<p class="normal">"My dear major, give my compliments to Frau Lischke, and tell her that young +Reimers is preparing for an examination, so that she will understand his +seclusion. For my part, Lischke, if Reimers had turned up at every dance of +which your wife is patroness, or which she has helped to get up, I should have +been surprised. There may be C.O.'s who think differently; for my own part, so +long as I have the honour of commanding the regiment, such festivities shall +only be obligatory on those youngsters whose manners need touching up. That that +is not the case with Reimers does not, I hope, escape the penetration of your +excellent wife. That is my official view of the case; as to my personal feeling, +which I give Frau Lischke in strict confidence: it is that I wish the devil +would take all these everlasting balls and parties!</p> +<p class="normal">"With regard to Lieutenant Güntz's wife, I beg you to express to your good +lady my very respectful surprise at her question. If the Ministry of War has +found no fault with the young lady, then surely the ladies here may be +satisfied. Perhaps they are afraid that one who has been a governess may +outshine them in wisdom? Well, of course, that may very well be! I do not want +to be disagreeable, my dear major; so please make my views known to the ladies +as tenderly as you can."</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Reimers met Güntz at the station. The dear fellow had grown somewhat stouter. No +wonder, considering he had been away from duty for a good year.</p> +<p class="normal">As they walked away the elder officer looked keenly at the younger.</p> +<p class="normal">"Reimers," he said, delightedly, "you look thoroughly well. African +traveller! Boer campaigner! Prisoner in a fortress! Which has suited you best?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Probably all three," answered Reimers; "the one counteracted the other."</p> +<p class="normal">"Was that so? Am I not the only destroyer of illusions? You must tell me all +about everything, won't you?"</p> +<p class="normal">"All to <i>you</i> certainly."</p> +<p class="normal">"That's right. Well, to begin with, how does the garrison air suit you?"</p> +<p class="normal">"So-so. And you? How will you like this after Berlin?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Oh, all right, I think. If not----Well, we shall see."</p> +<p class="normal">For a while the friends were silent; then Güntz was about to speak, when +Reimers interrupted him.</p> +<p class="normal">"But I must ask you, above all things, how is your wife, and where is she +now?"</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz looked at him smiling. "She is very well, thanks, and is at the moment +with her brother, a parson in Thuringia. But you don't ask after my boy!"</p> +<p class="normal">"What? Have you got one?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Rather! A fat little cub, as round as a bullet. Ten weeks old. You must help +us christen him."</p> +<p class="normal">"Güntz, you should have told me."</p> +<p class="normal">"Told you what, my son?"</p> +<p class="normal">"That you were a father."</p> +<p class="normal">"Why, there was time enough. Anyhow, it was in the <i>Weekly Military</i>. So +it is your own fault if you didn't know. But will you be godfather?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Of course, of course, gladly."</p> +<p class="normal">"Then next Saturday afternoon at five. Morning dress."</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers laughed gaily.</p> +<p class="normal">"Since when have you taken to talking like a telegram, Güntz? Are words +expensive in Berlin?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Expensive? Pooh! Cheap, cheap! A hundred thou-sand for a farthing," broke +out the new arrival, with somewhat unaccountable fierceness. His open, friendly +face suddenly darkened and took on a grim, bitter expression.</p> +<p class="normal">"Well," he said, as they parted, "we shall meet again, very often, I hope. So +long, old chap!"</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">In fact, Reimers became a constant guest at the Güntzes'. He feared at times +that he came too often.</p> +<p class="normal">"Güntz, old boy," he said, "tell me frankly, am I not a nuisance?"</p> +<p class="normal">"How so?" asked his host, sitting up in his easy chair.</p> +<p class="normal">"I am afraid I come too often."</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz knocked the ash off the end of his cigar, and reassured him; "No, +certainly not, old chap. If you did I should not hesitate to tell you."</p> +<p class="normal">So it came about that every Sunday at mid-day, and on every Wednesday +evening, Reimers found himself at the dinner-table of the snug little villa, +Waisenhaus Strasse No. 57.</p> +<p class="normal">Frau Kläre Güntz, a little lady with a fresh, pretty face, and bright, clever +eyes, called these her "at home" days.</p> +<p class="normal">"You see, Fatty," she said to her husband, "I am trying to follow in the +footsteps of Frau Lischke."</p> +<p class="normal">She lifted her eyebrows and went on, sarcastically: "When you have only been +a governess you have to be so very careful. And it's difficult! Sometimes I have +my doubts whether I shall ever attain to the standard of Gustava Lischke."</p> +<p class="normal">She sighed comically and nodded at her husband.</p> +<p class="normal">He threatened her: "Mind what you are about, Kläre. I will not permit +disrespect. Gustava!" he added, chuckling, and turned to Reimers: "We were +neighbours as children," he explained, "Gustava and I; but now she denies the +acquaintance. My old father--God bless him!--was a builder. Gustava's papa dealt +in butter and eggs; a worthy, most worthy man. But now, of course, according to +the new fashion, they must pile it on, and Gustava's papa was a merchant."</p> +<p class="normal">He laughed, and then went on, more bitterly: "If you weren't present, Kläre, +I should use a strong expression to set the whole dirty pack in their true +light. Gustava is unhappily only a symptom, and one among many. And I tell you, +Kläre, if you were to behave like her, then--then----"</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, what terrible thing would befall me?" asked the young wife.</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz checked himself. He smiled slily. "Why, then I should make use of the +right which the good old law allows me, and administer corporal punishment."</p> +<p class="normal">Kläre laughed aloud.</p> +<p class="normal">"Anyhow," said she, "the women really aren't as bad as you make them out, +Fatty."</p> +<p class="normal">The senior-lieutenant would not agree: "Now, now, Kläre, I was within earshot +when all the divinities sat together discussing whether you would have hands +roughened by "service," by polishing glasses, washing children, and such like."</p> +<p class="normal">Kläre was a little vexed. "Well," she cried, "would you have had them eat me +up out of affection at the first go-off?"</p> +<p class="normal">"That's just what does happen sometimes," said her husband. "The moment Frau +Kauerhof first appeared on the scene, a perfect stranger to them all, they threw +themselves upon her neck, and hugged and kissed her, as if they had been her +adoring sisters. Of course, Frau Kauerhof was a von Lüben, the daughter of a +colonel and head of a department in the War Office, and you, my Kläre--shame on +you!--were a governess!"</p> +<p class="normal">But the young wife insisted more vehemently: "Now do be reasonable!" she +cried. "It has really become quite an <i>idée fixe</i> with you that I have not +been received with due respect. I can only assure you again and again that all +the ladies have been most polite and amiable towards me."</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz growled on: "Geese, a pack of stupid geese!"</p> +<p class="normal">"For shame, Fatty!" Kläre remonstrated.</p> +<p class="normal">But he continued to grumble. "Has a single one of them embraced you as they +did Frau Kauerhof? Has one of them even kissed you? Has one been really nice and +friendly to you?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Look here," cried Kläre quite roused, "I don't want any of them to fall on +my neck when they scarcely know me. And as it happens, one has been kind to me, +very kind indeed!"</p> +<p class="normal">"Pooh! Who, then?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Frau von Gropphusen!"</p> +<p class="normal">"Oh, I am not surprised. I except her. She is not a goose. But she's a crazy +creature, all the same."</p> +<p class="normal">"Fatty! Don't be abominable! What has the poor woman done to you?"</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz rose from his chair. He took a few turns up and down the room to work +off the stiffness, and grumbled on: "Done? To me? Nothing, of course. But she's +hysterical out and out. That's it, hysterical!"</p> +<p class="normal">Kläre warmly took up the defence of the accused woman. "You may be right," +she said, "but there's a reason for it."</p> +<p class="normal">"Certainly, certainly," answered Güntz. "Her husband is--forgive the coarse +expression, Kläre--a regular hog. But an hysterical woman is an utter horror to +me."</p> +<p class="normal">"I can only feel sorry for Frau von Gropphusen."</p> +<p class="normal">"And so do I. But I don't want her to hang on to you."</p> +<p class="normal">"She does not hang on to me," answered his wife simply.</p> +<p class="normal">But at this moment a subdued wailing was heard, and Kläre instantly hastened +from the room.</p> +<p class="normal">The men, left alone, dropped into reflection. Neither spoke for a while.</p> +<p class="normal">At last Reimers broke the silence.</p> +<p class="normal">"I think, Güntz, that you exaggerate a bit. Senseless and silly prejudices +are not only to be found in military circles. Anyhow, there's no good in running +your head against a brick wall."</p> +<p class="normal">"True," assented Güntz. "But if a dung-cart were driven right under my nose, +I should have to give it a shove."</p> +<p class="normal">He resumed his perambulations of the room, and lapsed for a while into +silence.</p> +<p class="normal">"Anyhow," he began again, smiling contentedly, "Frau Gropphusen may come to +Kläre for consolation if she likes to have her. I am sure my wife is proof +against the hysterical bacillus. Eh?"</p> +<p class="normal">Before Reimers could answer, Kläre returned, a little flushed. She bore the +baby on a pillow, rocking him in her arms.</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz answered his own question.</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, yes, she's proof," he said.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Reimers was thoroughly happy in the Güntzes' society. The atmosphere of security +and candour in which they lived influenced him unawares; it wrought as a useful +antidote when his spirit was inclined to soar too high into the realms of the +unsubstantial. He was much delighted to find that his friend shared his +admiration for his honoured and beloved Falkenhein. Indeed, in this matter, the +dry and reserved man sometimes outdid his young fellow-officer.</p> +<p class="normal">"There's a <i>man</i>!" he would say. "Head and heart, eyes and mouth in the +right places! A good fellow. In one word--a man!"</p> +<p class="normal">This word was the highest in Güntz's vocabulary. The opposite to it, until +his marriage, had been woman. After marriage he naturally excepted Kläre.</p> +<p class="normal">How sick he was of the way people went on in Berlin! He could hardly speak +too strongly about the weaknesses of certain officers.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers did not hold it necessary to be absolutely blind to the faults of +one's superiors and comrades; still, he thought that his friend went a bit too +far in his strictures, and he did not conceal his opinion.</p> +<p class="normal">"Dear boy," responded Güntz, "why should I not speak freely to you? Do you +think it gives me any pleasure that so many of our superiors and comrades do not +merit the respect which, as officers, they command? This has nothing to do with +their personal character. The only question for me is: are they fit for their +profession? If not, they are only a nuisance in it, so far as I can see."</p> +<p class="normal">"You used to be less severe."</p> +<p class="normal">"Possibly. But when one has rubbed the sleepiness of habit out of one's eyes +one sees more clearly and sharply. Besides, take an example. Stuckhardt will be +a major soon. Do you consider him fit to lead a division?"</p> +<p class="normal">"No, he has already made a terrible mess of his battery. He won't stay on the +staff for a year, that's certain."</p> +<p class="normal">"Why should he be there at all? I tell you he should never even have been +made a captain. What about Gropphusen?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Ah! There you are! He has missed his vocation!"</p> +<p class="normal">"Why is he still where he is then?" Güntz laughed grimly to himself. "What +ought he to have been?"</p> +<p class="normal">"A painter," answered Reimers.</p> +<p class="normal">The other made a grimace. "Possibly!----Well, thirdly, what of my revered +chief, Captain Mohr? What do you think of him?"</p> +<p class="normal">"He has already got a knife at his throat. I bet he'll be sent off after the +manœuvres."</p> +<p class="normal">"He goes on drinking just as he has ever since I've known him." Güntz sighed +deeply. "And I tell you, Reimers, it's no joke to serve under such a man."</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers nodded. "I feel with you, old man. And yet half the regiment envies +you for being in the fifth battery."</p> +<p class="normal">"Pooh!" laughed Güntz bitterly, "there you see them. They would all like to +idle under a sot. They just want to be where they think they're least looked +after. They may do as they choose; but I want to know what I'm here for. If I +have a profession I like to live up to it; I consider myself too good to be +merely ornamental. I tell you, Reimers," he went on, "I was thoroughly upset +when I joined the battery. The way things go on there you would hardly believe. +I wondered at first how it could be kept dark. But there's a regular planned-out +system of hurrying things into shape somehow for inspection--fixing up a sort of +model village. And as for honour! Well, one must admit that they all stand by +one another in the most infernal way, from the respected chief of the battery +down to the smallest gunner, so that they'll rattle along somehow. There's a +show of some sort of discipline; but really and truly it's just an all-round +compromise. A man does a couple of days' work, and earns by that the right of +idling all the more shamelessly afterwards. And that <i>I</i> should be let in +for this sort of thing! Dear boy, you know how few palpable results, naturally, +an officer can show in time of peace; but still it's too much that one should do +one's duty with no possible chance of any <i>kudos</i>. Old man, it's too bad! I +can't stand it. I know this, that if it goes on I shall quit the service, dearly +as I love it."</p> +<p class="normal">He glanced with deep sorrow at his dark green coat, and strode up and down +the room.</p> +<p class="normal">"This is my only hope," he went on, with grim satisfaction, "that my beloved +captain will soon succumb to D.T."</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers reflected. "You must allow that this battery's unfortunate condition +is quite exceptional. Let me make a suggestion. Provoke Mohr to a quarrel! +You'll be sure to be backed up. Every one knows he can't control himself when he +is drunk. And you can go to Madelung, or, still better, come to us under +Wegstetten."</p> +<p class="normal">"That's an idea," observed Güntz. "But it won't do. For, in confidence, +Falkenhein has let it transpire that in the autumn I shall get my captaincy; and +probably--indeed certainly--I shall succeed Mohr."</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers jumped up, delighted.</p> +<p class="normal">"But, dear old chap, then it's all right! You'll bring the fifth out of the +mud. You're just the chap to do it! And your reward will be the greater in +proportion to the wretched state of affairs now. Jerusalem! What a splendid +division it will be! Madelung, Güntz, Wegstetten! The best heads of batteries in +the whole corps! Without any flattery, old chap!"</p> +<p class="normal">But the other did not join in his rejoicing. "Dear old fellow," he answered, +"you may think so. But I confess that it seems to me as if we had got a bit off +the right track with our whole military system; as if Madelung's and +Wegstetten's and my own work were bound to be labour in vain."</p> +<p class="normal">He stopped suddenly. His usually cheerful face had grown careworn and gloomy.</p> +<p class="normal">"How do you mean?" asked Reimers.</p> +<p class="normal">The other sighed, and answered, "Dear boy, I cannot say more as yet; I have +not fully thought it out. I will first make an attempt to settle down to the +work here. I promise you, as soon as my own mind is clear, I will tell you +honestly what is bothering me."</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers suspected moisture in the eyes of his friend, as they clasped hands.</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz went on softly: "Dear old boy, it's pretty hard when a man finds, or +thinks he finds, that he has devoted his life to a fruitless, hopeless business! +What is such a man to do? But it is possible that I am right in my fears--and of +that I cannot bear to think."</p> +<p class="normal">"What fears do you mean?"</p> +<p class="normal">"I can't help myself. I am often forced to remember that we've had a bad time +before."</p> +<p class="normal">"Before when?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Before Jena."</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers started. The ominous word struck his pride like a lash. He drew +himself up stiffly. "Why not before Sedan?"</p> +<p class="normal">The other calmly answered: "Sedan? Jena? Perhaps you are right, perhaps I am. +No one knows."</p> +<p class="normal">After this conversation Güntz avoided such topics with his friend. If Reimers +tried to draw him again on the subject, he answered evasively, "I have told you +I must fight it out with myself. Until then I don't want to talk at random."</p> +<p class="normal">But for all that he grew calmer and more equable. The biting, sarcastic tone +he had adopted gradually disappeared; and it almost seemed as if the mood had +been merely a survival of his Berlin experience.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">At Easter a small event occurred in the little garrison,</p> +<p class="normal">During Holy Week Colonel von Falkenhein took a short leave of absence in +order to fetch his daughter Marie home from school at Neuchatel. After Easter +she was to come out into society.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers debated whether he ought not to pay his respects to the Falkenheins +during the holidays. Most of the unmarried officers had gone away on leave, and +on Easter Monday he was alone in the mess-room at the mid-day meal.</p> +<p class="normal">Finally he decided to pay his visit that afternoon.</p> +<p class="normal">He was not in the least curious about the young lady. He remembered her as +Falkenhein's little Marie, three years ago, before she went to school; a pretty, +rather slender little girl, with a thick plait of bright gold hair down her +back, blushing scarlet when one spoke to her and responding quickly and daintily +with the regulation childish curtsey.</p> +<p class="normal">She was now just seventeen; still slender, and her little face framed by the +same bright golden hair, that seemed almost too great a weight for her head. +Beautiful clear grey eyes she had also; and Reimers particularly remarked her +delicate straight nose, by the trembling of whose nostrils one could judge if +the little lady were excited about anything. She bore the dignity of being the +colonel's daughter with modest pride. She handled the tea-things with the style +of an accomplished matron, and led the conversation with a sort of old-fashioned +self-possession.</p> +<p class="normal">Falkenhein never took his eyes off his child. Sometimes he smiled to himself, +as he noted how unconcernedly she did the honours to her first guest, knowing +well her secret anxiety to play her new part with success.</p> +<p class="normal">When Reimers rose to go, the colonel invited him to supper. The lieutenant +accepted with pleasure. He was sure that intercourse with his commander would be +of a thousand times more value to him than the dry wisdom of books.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Hitherto when Reimers had supped at the colonel's, after the meal, as they sat +smoking, the senior officer would dilate on his reminiscences and experiences.</p> +<p class="normal">This time, however, there was a little alteration. Before a young girl the +two men could not discuss specially military matters. Nevertheless, Reimers was +not bored.</p> +<p class="normal">When Fräulein Marie showed symptoms of beginning again in her quaint +universal-conversationalist style her father interrupted her.</p> +<p class="normal">"Little one," he said, "leave that sort of chatter alone! Keep it for others. +Lieutenant Reimers does not care for that kind of thing. And I know him well, I +assure you, my child; he is one of my best officers."</p> +<p class="normal">The little lady opened her eyes wide on the young soldier. "If papa says +that," she said gravely, "I congratulate you, Herr Reimers."</p> +<p class="normal">The colonel laughed aloud. Conversation flowed fast and free after this. The +young girl could talk brightly of her little life, and asked intelligent +questions.</p> +<p class="normal">She began confidentially to question her guest about the ladies of the +regiment, whereupon Falkenhein said abruptly: "Tell me, Reimers; you often go to +the Güntzes', don't you?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">"Of course Güntz is an old friend of yours. Do you know, I am much taken by +his wife. She seems to me to be amiable, straightforward, sensible. We are +neighbours; I should like Marie to see something of her. But they keep +themselves to themselves rather, don't they?" "Oh, not altogether. Only Güntz +finds ordinary shallow society uncongenial."</p> +<p class="normal">"So do I, and so do you; eh, Reimers? But I see what you mean."</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Next day Lieutenant Güntz and Frau Kläre called at the colonel's, and regular +intercourse soon established itself between the neighbours. Marie von Falkenhein +was secretly enraptured with Kläre Güntz and her "sweet baby"; while Kläre took +to her heart the fair young girl who had so early lost a mother's love.</p> +<p class="normal">From this time the social status of the former governess was completely +changed. Frau Lischke invited that "delightful" Frau Güntz to her select coffee +parties. But Kläre excused herself on the plea that she was nursing her baby and +could not be away from him for more than two hours together.</p> +<p class="normal">Later in the year, when the evenings were warmer, and it was tempting to +linger in the open air, the neighbours took to meeting together for supper in +one garden or the other. The occupants of Waisenhaus Strasse No. 55 and those of +No. 57 alternately provided the comestibles.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers was always free of the table. Once he triumphantly contributed a +liver sausage with truffles; but he was ruthlessly snubbed by Kläre for bringing +such a thing in the dog-days.</p> +<p class="normal">The little clique was much censured by the regiment. Such familiar +intercourse, it was thought, undermined the authority of the colonel. +Nevertheless, people were eager for the goodwill of Frau Güntz.</p> +<p class="normal">Thus it came about that Güntz had the satisfaction of seeing his wife one of +the most popular ladies of the regiment, and was able to tease her with the new +discovery that she was "exclusive, not to say stuck up and proud."</p> +<p class="normal">In reality Kläre had only become intimate with two of the ladies. After Marie +von Falkenhein she foregathered chiefly with Hannah von Gropphusen.</p> +<p class="normal">The latter was a real puzzle to her new friends. She was always alternating +in her moods from one extreme to the other. Sometimes she would not appear for +weeks at a time; then she would come down day after day, each time seeming +unable to tear herself away. Now she would be full of nervous, overwrought +vivacity, and again would sit perfectly silent, staring gloomily before her.</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz fled from her presence; he said she made him feel creepy. Once he +whispered mysteriously in his wife's ear: "Do you know, I believe she and +Gropphusen have committed a murder between them: and this terrible bond holds +them together, although they fight like cat and dog."</p> +<p class="normal">But Kläre strongly objected to such jokes. "How can you tell what that poor +woman may have to bear? There may have been a murder in her history; but it was +done by Gropphusen, and on her soul. Joke about something else, Fatty."</p> +<p class="normal">The happy young wife entertained the warmest sympathy for the other unhappy +one, who always had the look of being pursued by some terrible evil. More than +once a sisterly feeling impelled her, not from curiosity, but from genuine +sympathy, to put a question to Hannah about her sorrow; but she read in the +sombre, hopeless eyes of the sufferer that the burden must be borne alone; so +she left Frau von Gropphusen in peace. She listened patiently when the nervous +woman talked ceaselessly about a thousand different things, in short, jerky +sentences as if to drown some inner voice; neither would Kläre interrupt with a +single question the heavy silence in which, at other times, Hannah would sit for +hours, watching her as she busied herself with her little housewifely tidyings +and mendings. It was only in watching this peaceful activity that Frau von +Gropphusen recovered her equanimity. Her face would then lose its unnatural +fixity of expression, and she would draw a deep breath, as though eased of a +heavy burden.</p> +<p class="normal">"It is so peaceful here with you, Frau Kläre," she said sometimes. "It does +one good."</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz shook his head over her weird conduct. One thing gratified him +concerning her, however: it was that she admired his little son unreservedly, +and could be given no greater treat than to be allowed to hold the boy on her +lap. She would sit as though worshipping the child, who, indeed, was no angel, +only a quite ordinary, fat, chubby infant. At such times her small +finely-chiselled features would light up with a glorious beauty; so that Güntz +one day whispered to his wife, "Do you know what the Gropphusen needs? A child!"</p> +<p class="normal">And in his open-hearted way he once said jokingly to Hannah: "Wouldn't you +like a beautiful boy like that for yourself, dear lady?"</p> +<p class="normal">At that Hannah Gropphusen sprang up wildly. Her hands shook so that she could +scarcely hold the baby, whom Kläre snatched from her only just in time.</p> +<p class="normal">"I, a child?" she cried. "For the love of God, never, never!"</p> +<p class="normal">A look of horror was in her eyes. She held her hands before her face as +though to shut out something horrible.</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz drew back shocked, and stole softly from the room, taking with him the +baby, who had set up a mighty howling. Kläre put her arm round the trembling +woman, led her to a seat, and soothed her like a child.</p> +<p class="normal">Sitting motionless, Frau von Gropphusen listened to the gentle, comforting +sound of the words, without taking in their meaning, Suddenly she sprang up and +said in a voice of enforced calm:</p> +<p class="normal">"Forgive me, dear kind Frau Kläre, for having caused such a disturbance. It +is wrong of me not to be able to control myself better. Don't be vexed, or angry +with me, but please just forget what has happened."</p> +<p class="normal">She began hurriedly to prepare for leaving. Her hands still shook as she +pinned on her hat before the mirror.</p> +<p class="normal">"Let me go with you, dear Frau von Gropphusen," urged Kläre.</p> +<p class="normal">Hannah von Gropphusen, however, was smiling once more; though in sooth on her +pallid countenance the smile had something of a ghastly look.</p> +<p class="normal">"No, no, Frau Kläre," she assured her; "I am better alone."</p> +<p class="normal">Once more saying, "Forgive me, won't you?" she departed.</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz meanwhile had not been able to quiet the little screamer, and was glad +enough when Kläre took the child from him.</p> +<p class="normal">"What is the matter with her?" he asked.</p> +<p class="normal">Kläre shrugged her shoulders. "She did not tell me; perhaps she could not. +The trouble may be too profound, too terrible."</p> +<p class="normal">"You have left her alone?"</p> +<p class="normal">"She has gone."</p> +<p class="normal">The senior-lieutenant looked out of window. His wife, with the baby in her +arms, came and stood beside him.</p> +<p class="normal">"See!" he cried. "There she goes! Young, beautiful, rich, fashionable--has +she not everything to make her happy?" And shaking his head he added, "Poor, +poor woman!"</p> +<p class="normal">He vowed to himself not to make depreciatory remarks about the Gropphusen in +the future. One thing, however, he felt he must impress on his wife: "Look here, +Kläre," he cautioned her, "you won't let her hold the boy often, will you?"</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">With the returning spring Hannah von Gropphusen seemed to awaken from her +depression. She had one great passion, to which she eagerly resorted as soon as +the days became fit for it: this was tennis.</p> +<p class="normal">In their small garrison she had no real match; the only person who came +anywhere near her was Reimers. He had, of course, been absent from the tennis +club for a whole year, and she was all the more delighted at the approach of +fine weather.</p> +<p class="normal">Frau von Gropphusen and Reimers were always the last to leave the ground, +when the balls were often hardly discernible in the gathering twilight. She soon +found that her opponent had, during his absence, come on very much in his play. +At Cairo he had played with English people, acknowledged masters of the game; +whilst she herself, through playing with indifferent performers, had lost much +of her former facility; so now they were well matched.</p> +<p class="normal">Feeling this, Reimers played more easily and surely than of old, and +consequently had greater leisure to remark what he had formerly been indifferent +to--the beauty and grace of his opponent.</p> +<p class="normal">Meeting her during the winter in society, when she was as though bowed down +by her secret sorrow, and took little part in the gay life around her, he had +thought her looking older. But now, in the budding springtime, in the warm +sunshine, animated by the game, she seemed to have bathed in the fountain of +youth.</p> +<p class="normal">Her tennis costume--with which, of course, she wore no corset, but only a +narrow belt--was very becoming: a light blouse, a mouse-coloured skirt, close +fitting over the hips and not reaching to her ankles, grey silk stockings, and +white suede shoes guiltless of heels.</p> +<p class="normal">The ladies of the regiment pronounced this attire "indecent"; though not one +of them would have hesitated to dress similarly, if it had suited her as well as +it did Frau von Gropphusen. Frau Kauerhof (<i>née</i> von Lüben) had indeed once +attempted to appear in a like toilet, only her skirt was navy-blue. It was +difficult to say wherein the difference consisted,--perhaps her skirt was a +little longer than the other's,--but the whole effect was not so successful. And +yet Frau Kauerhof was a pretty creature enough; not exactly slim, but rather of +a blonde plumpness, and this was somewhat noticeable in her loose shirt. The +glances of the young lieutenants dwelt rather insistently thereon. They were +also able to make another interesting discovery. Frau Kauerhof's calves began +immediately above her ankles. They were very fat calves.</p> +<p class="normal">Furthermore, Frau Kauerhof's white shoes advertised the fact that her feet +were enormous. This the ladies decided with absolute unanimity; and they begged +Frau Wegstetten, the highest in rank among the women tennis-players, to give her +a hint.</p> +<p class="normal">That lady shrank from the commission. It was unpleasant to offend one whose +papa was in the Ministry of War; and the situation might therefore have +continued, perhaps to the satisfaction of the younger officers, if a fortunate +chance had not brought Kauerhof himself to the tennis-ground.</p> +<p class="normal">He escorted his wife chivalrously home, and led her, without a word, to the +mirror.</p> +<p class="normal">Her starched shirt was crumpled, and wet through with perspiration, also her +shoes were trodden all out of shape.</p> +<p class="normal">"Dear Marion," he said, "I have no objection to your going to balls as +<i>décolletée</i> as ever you please, for you are beautiful ..." and he kissed +her neck; "but I do beg you not to exhibit yourself like this again."</p> +<p class="normal">Marion coloured and answered: "Yes, you're right, Hubby! Now I know why +Fröben and Landsberg were staring at me so."</p> +<p class="normal">Then she pouted: "But Frau von Gropphusen looked nice dressed like this!"</p> +<p class="normal">Her husband answered quietly: "My child, '<i>quod licet Jovi, non licet bovi.</i>'"</p> +<p class="normal">"What? What does that mean?"</p> +<p class="normal">Kauerhof translated gallantly, "You are prettier than the Gropphusen, my +Marion; but she is thinner than you."</p> +<p class="normal">For one must be polite to a wife who is by birth a von Lüben, and the +daughter of the head of a department in the War Office.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Reimers was not, like his comrades, accustomed to spend the greater part of his +leisure in frivolity and flirting. It therefore never occurred to him to conceal +his admiration for Frau von Gropphusen.</p> +<p class="normal">It often happened that he missed the easiest balls, fascinated in watching +the movements and graceful attitudes of his opponent. Her feet, which even in +the unflattering tennis-shoes looked small and dainty, seemed merely to skim +over the ground like the wings of a passing swallow; and the most daring bounds +and leaps, which in others would have been grotesque, she accomplished with the +easy agility of a cat.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers asked himself where his eyes had been that all this should hitherto +have passed him unnoticed. He thought he had never seen anything so exquisite. +But Hannah Gropphusen would scold him when he stood gazing thus in naïve +admiration.</p> +<p class="normal">"Herr Reimers," she would cry, "how inattentive you are. You must really look +after the balls better!"</p> +<p class="normal">But when she noted the direction of his admiring glances, a delicate flush +would overspread her face and mount to her white brow, on which a single +premature furrow was curiously noticeable.</p> +<p class="normal">"You see, Herr Reimers," she said, one evening in May, "we are the last +again."</p> +<p class="normal">The sun had just set. A light mist rising from the river was faintly coloured +by the last red rays.</p> +<p class="normal">Frau von Gropphusen rested her foot on a garden chair and refastened the +strap of her shoe. Reimers stood watching, with his racquet in his hand. The +stooping posture, though unusual, was so graceful, that he said simply and with +conviction, but without the least passion or sentimentality in his voice: "Dear +lady, how wonderfully beautiful you are!"</p> +<p class="normal">Hannah von Gropphusen bent closer over her shoe-lace. She wanted to say +something in reply just as simple as his own words had been; but she could find +nothing except the banal rejoinder: "Please do not flatter me, Herr Reimers!" +and her voice rang a little sharply.</p> +<p class="normal">They walked silently side by side towards the town, by the footpath across +the meadows, and then along a little bit of the high-road until they came to the +first houses.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers was under a spell. He could not speak. He listened to the light rapid +footfall that accompanied his longer stride to the rhythm of her silk-lined +skirt as she walked; and as the evening breeze from the river wafted a faint +perfume towards him, he thought of the lovely slender arm he had seen through +the transparent material of her sleeve. This perfume must come from that fair +soft skin. He felt a sudden longing to kiss the beautiful arms.</p> +<p class="normal">Frau von Gropphusen avoided looking at her companion. Once only she stole a +glance at him with a shy, questioning, dubious expression. It chanced that +Reimers was looking at her. Their eyes met, and parted reluctantly.</p> +<p class="normal">At the garden gate he kissed her hand in farewell. She started a little and +said with an assumption of gaiety, "Heavens! what can have come to us? On a warm +spring evening like this our hands are as cold as ice!"</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers hastened homewards, much perturbed in spirit. He was due at the +Güntzes' to supper at half-past eight. It had already struck the hour, and he +had yet to dress; for the colonel, who would probably be there too, objected to +see his officers in mufti, except when shooting or some great sporting occasion +was the excuse.</p> +<p class="normal">He found everything ready to his hand. Gähler was very satisfactory and most +thoughtful, even to setting a bottle of red wine and a carafe of cool spring +water on a table. A glass of water with a dash of wine in it was the best thing +to quench one's thirst after playing tennis.</p> +<p class="normal">He hastily tossed off a glassful. It cooled him wonderfully. He poured out a +second and drank it more slowly. The water was so cold as to dew the glass, yet +it seemed powerless to quench the fire which consumed his throat, his breast, +his head.</p> +<p class="normal">He began to dress hurriedly. He had but a few minutes. He was ready but for +his coat, when suddenly everything around him seemed to vanish into endless +distance. He felt loosed from time and space.</p> +<p class="normal">Mechanically he let himself slip into a chair, covering his face with his +hands and closing his eyes.</p> +<p class="normal">He thought of Hannah von Gropphusen. How beautiful she was! How marvellously +beautiful! He thought of that one look she had bestowed on him; of the silent +question spoken by her lovely shy eyes. He guessed it to be: "Shall I really be +happy once more? Dare I hope it? Is it indeed you who will bring me happiness?" +Out of an unfathomable abyss of doubt and misery she appealed to him thus.</p> +<p class="normal">How unhappy was this woman! and how beautiful!</p> +<p class="normal">The door opened. Gähler came in.</p> +<p class="normal">"What do you want?" demanded Reimers.</p> +<p class="normal">"Beg pardon, sir," stammered the fellow, "I thought you were ready."</p> +<p class="normal">He held in his hand his master's cap and sabre.</p> +<p class="normal">"All right, give them to me!"</p> +<p class="normal">The lieutenant quickly completed his toilet, and hurried away to Waisenhaus +Strasse.</p> +<p class="normal">His passion for Frau von Gropphusen increased day by day. He took no pains to +combat it. True, his beloved was the wife of another, of a brother-officer; but +he did not even in thought desire to draw nearer to her, and, should ever the +temptation arise, he believed himself strong enough to resist it.</p> +<p class="normal">Indeed, no words passed between them that might not have been overheard by a +third party. At their meeting and parting there was no meaning pressure of the +hand; only their glances betrayed the secret understanding of a mighty, burning +love: the deep sorrow of the one, and the sweet, tender consolation of the +other.</p> +<p class="normal">Needless to say, the gossips of the garrison were soon busy over such a +welcome morsel. Since the Gropphusen's flirtation with Major Schrader a winter +ago, she had furnished no cause of scandal. All the busier now were the evil +tongues.</p> +<p class="normal">It was not long before the subalterns began to make more or less pointed +remarks, half jestingly, to Reimers.</p> +<p class="normal">Little Dr. von Fröben shook his finger at him, and let fly a solitary shaft: +"Aye, aye, still waters run deep!" he said.</p> +<p class="normal">Landsberg actually congratulated him. "Happy you!" he cried with mock sorrow, +"as for me----" And he proceeded crudely to extol the physical charms of Frau +von Gropphusen--"that rattling fine woman," as he called her.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers shut him up sharply.</p> +<p class="normal">These attacks ended by opening his eyes to the comparative jejuneness of his +own outlook on life.</p> +<p class="normal">"You are an extraordinary young idealist," the colonel had said to him not +long before; Reimers began to think so too. Concerning a woman whose favours +were to be bought, one might think as did Landsberg; but not concerning a lady +of social standing. It never occurred to him to think whether Frau von +Gropphusen was or was not high-bosomed; he only knew that she was lovely.</p> +<p class="normal">He would dearly have liked to knock down that reptile Landsberg. But that +would only have caused a scandal, which, for the dear woman's sake, must not be.</p> +<p class="normal">He avoided her somewhat. No one should speak ill of her on his account. He +absented himself from the tennis-ground, and when he appeared there did not play +exclusively with her.</p> +<p class="normal">Hannah Gropphusen felt crushed. She did not understand him. What matter if +the gossips did amuse themselves at her expense? And with falsehoods, too! She +was used to it, and had a sufficiently thick skin not to feel the stings of such +insects. Was he going to turn from her for such a reason as this? From her, who +would gladly have thrown herself at his feet, saying, "Leave me your love; I +only live through you"?</p> +<p class="normal">A choking sob clutched at her throat. In order not to feel herself utterly +overcome, she went to all the biggest parties, and mingled in the gayest +company. She would be talkative and noisy, merely to make him aware of her +presence. A wild desire seized her to make him notice her at any cost, even at +the risk of wounding him; yes, she wished to wound him.</p> +<p class="normal">She flirted outrageously; uttering in shrill, tremulous tones loathsome +things which were monstrous in her mouth.</p> +<p class="normal">One evening she lingered on the recreation-ground with Reimers and Landsberg, +to the latter of whom she, by preference, directed her unnatural merriment +during this miserable period--just because she knew that Reimers hated him. And +the booby Landsberg was deeply flattered by it.</p> +<p class="normal">They were resting a little before turning homewards. Landsberg had thrown +himself down on the grass, and was gazing fixedly upwards.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers disapproved of the attitude, thinking it too cavalier altogether, and +glowered at him. Unintentionally he followed the direction of his +brother-officer's gaze.</p> +<p class="normal">Hannah von Gropphusen had seated herself upon a chair, carelessly crossing +her legs so that the grey silk stockings were visible from ankle to knee. +Presently she became conscious of Landsberg's regard; she moved disdainfully, +and slowly rearranged her skirt.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers felt furious. He longed to kick the offending youth. He sprang to his +feet. He felt he must break some-thing, destroy something, dash something to +pieces. Tremblingly he swung his racquet, as if to hurl it at the fellow's head. +But suddenly his arm dropped to his side; he had twisted his wrist. The racquet +fell from his hand.</p> +<p class="normal">"What's the matter?" asked Frau von Gropphusen.</p> +<p class="normal">"Nothing," he answered roughly. "Excuse me, I must say good-night."</p> +<p class="normal">He bowed stiffly. All grew dark before his eyes. He saw dimly that the lady +had risen.</p> +<p class="normal">For a moment she stood perplexed. Then she said in a much softer voice: "But +won't you see me home to-night, Herr Reimers?"</p> +<p class="normal">"I am at your service," he answered.</p> +<p class="normal">Landsberg hastened to take his departure, and the two followed him slowly.</p> +<p class="normal">Black clouds lowered overhead; now and then a gust of wind swept over the +fields.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers quickened his pace.</p> +<p class="normal">Once only Hannah Gropphusen broke the silence: "You have hurt your hand?" she +asked.</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes--no--I don't know."</p> +<p class="normal">It was almost dark when they reached her garden gate.</p> +<p class="normal">"Show me your hand," she said gently.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers held it out to her in silence. His wrist was a good deal swollen.</p> +<p class="normal">Hannah bent down suddenly and breathed a hasty kiss on the injured member. +When she raised her head again tears were running down her cheeks.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers stooped a little. He seized her cool white fingers and kissed them +lingeringly. "Hannah!" he murmured.</p> +<p class="normal">She tenderly stroked his brow and bent her head sadly. Then he left her.</p> +<p class="normal">When he had gone some distance he looked back. All was dark. A flash of +lightning shimmered on the horizon. It revealed an indistinct figure, which was +instantly swallowed up again by the darkness.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">"Nothing much, old man," pronounced the surgeon-major, when he had examined the +injury. "You have strained it a bit. A tight bandage and an application of +arnica. You can go on duty, but you will not be able to play tennis for the +present."</p> +<p class="normal">In any case there would have been an end to that, as the order to start for +the practice-camp had already been issued.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers learnt from his comrades that Frau von Gropphusen appeared no more at +the tennis club. It was said that she was not well and was going away to some +watering-place or other. There was much chuckling over the news. "There has been +a split," opined the gossips.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers did not care. He knew better.</p> +<p class="normal">But the quartette at the supper-table in Waisenhaus Strasse did not seem +displeased with the way in which things had turned out.</p> +<p class="normal">Formerly, if he came late to supper, and excused himself on the plea of +having been detained at tennis, there had been a fatal air of constraint, which +would only gradually wear off; sometimes even lasting the whole evening.</p> +<p class="normal">Now they received him at once with their old cordiality; they did not believe +in his sprain, taking it to be but a convenient pretext. He made as much of it +as he could. He showed the swelling; but, to be sure, it had nearly gone down, +and he still was not believed.</p> +<p class="normal">Finally, an amazing thing happened. Frau Kläre had been taking a turn in the +garden one evening with Marie Falkenhein, when she was called in to her baby. On +his way out, Reimers encountered the colonel's daughter alone. He said +good-night to her politely.</p> +<p class="normal">The young girl looked him full in the face with her clear grey eyes, and +said: "I am very glad, Lieutenant Reimers, that you have put an end to that +hateful gossip. It distressed me, on Frau von Gropphusen's account, and also on +yours, to have to hear horrid things said, and not to be able to contradict +them."</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers bowed and withdrew, in his astonishment forgetting to take leave of +Frau Kläre. Marie Falkenhein had spoken so warmly and heartily, had looked at +him so kindly and honestly, that he felt quite overcome.</p> +<p class="normal">It struck him that the man who should win this maiden for his bride would +find through her an assured and tranquil happiness; there was a sense of +security in her steady gaze. Yet behind the clear placid eyes of the young girl +he saw the sorrowful orbs of the unhappy woman he loved. He saw the heavy tears +coursing down her white cheeks, as she stood motionless in the fleeting gleam of +the lightning ere she vanished in the darkness of night.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> +<br> +<div style="margin-left:70%"> +<p class="continue">"Now off and away, lads,<br> +With merry sound of horn!"</p> +<p class="right">(<i>Methfessel.</i>)</p> +</div> +<p class="continue">The lithographed regimental orders for May 31, the Saturday before Whitsuntide, +contained the following announcement:</p> +<p class="normal">"On June 3, at 6.30 A.M., the regiment will be ready in the Waisenhaus +Strasse to march to the practice-camp in the following order: Batteries 1, 2, 3, +4, 5, 6. Corps of trumpeters and band.</p> +<p class="center"><span class="space">* * * * * * * * * *</span></p> +<p class="normal">"On no pretext whatever will leave be granted for Whitsuntide. It is to be +duly notified to the troops that their Whitsuntide leave--cancelled for official +reasons--may be made good, so far as they deserve it, after the gun-practice.... +Night-passes may be granted for Whitsun-Day. (Signed) "VON FALKENHEIN, "Colonel +and Commandant."</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">The news that no leave would be granted for Whitsuntide drew deep curses from +many of the recruits. They would have liked to go home and exhibit themselves in +uniform to their friends and relations. But what was the good of swearing? they +had to submit.</p> +<p class="normal">The two friends, Vogt and Klitzing, were much upset in their calculations. +They had got on so well together that Vogt had asked his father if he might +bring his friend home with him. Still, it was only put off; better luck next +time! They did not apply for night-leave on the Sunday, as neither of them found +any pleasure in spinning round hot dancing-saloons with any women they could +pick up. Weise, on the contrary, was quite at home under such circumstances, and +had managed to find himself a sweetheart directly permission was granted the +recruits to go into the town. It is true she was neither pretty nor particularly +youthful; but then she never failed to pay for all his drinks, and when he had +promised to marry her she had even bought him new regimentals.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt had taken a favourable opportunity of begging Sergeant Wiegandt to put +him and Klitzing together, when, on the completion of their preliminary +training, the men were grouped into detachments. Wiegandt had not only acceded +to the request, but had taken them both to serve on his own gun, the sixth; +Klitzing, with his sharp eyes, as gun-layer, or No. 2; Vogt as No. 1, whose duty +it was to fire.</p> +<p class="normal">And now they sat, this Whitsun-Tuesday, side by side on the gun-carriage, +with the muzzle of the gun between them; and when Wegstetten called out in his +clear, strident voice, "Battery, mount!" Vogt whispered gaily across to +Klitzing, "Now we're off!" as the long procession of thirty-six guns and six +ammunition-waggons began slowly to move.</p> +<p class="normal">It was not half bad to be riding along like this. Certainly, the gunners' +seats were not provided with cushions, and the guns were not mounted on +C-springs; but the shaking and jolting were not very great on the smooth +high-road, it was only when the wheels crunched over newly-strewn rubble that +their seats vibrated roughly under them.</p> +<p class="normal">There had, fortunately, been a heavy thundershower on the previous afternoon, +and it had washed the roads clear of dust. Now the sun shone mildly, the air was +fresh after the rain; what could be better than to get out into the country on +such a day? Vogt and Klitzing rolled along contentedly on their hard-seated +chariot, between the white-blossoming cherry-trees which bordered the highway.</p> +<p class="normal">Their halting place for the night was a large farm, where were quartered the +fifth and sixth guns and the ammunition waggon, one sergeant, one trumpeter, two +corporals, twenty-one men, and twenty horses. The farmer's entertainment left +nothing to be desired. The litter for the beds was thick and soft; clean sheets +were laid over the straw; and there were warm blankets for covering. For supper +there were two gigantic hams and many other dainties, a meal for the gods; and +the noble peasant had even provided beer and cigars. The second day's march had +a no less successful ending. Vogt and Klitzing were quartered together on a +cottager, and though the poor fellow did not even own a cow, the older men +proved right who had told them that the poor were generally better hosts than +the rich.</p> +<p class="normal">On the third day the regiment was to arrive at the practice camp. The country +now became more level. The black soil gradually lightened in tint; green copses +gave place to pine-woods; stretches of barren sandy waste land appeared more and +more frequently between the cornfields. At last a flat table-land was reached, +bounded in the far distance by an immense forest; and on a still nearer approach +isolated white houses could be descried on the forest's edge, while on one side +a tall water-tower reared itself high above the level ground.</p> +<p class="normal">Captain von Wegstetten ordered his men to halt and dismount. The sixth +battery had arrived the first.</p> +<p class="normal">Further back along the road just traversed and also on a neighbouring highway +the other batteries were seen slowly approaching. At length the commandants of +the two divisions arrived with their adjutants, and finally the colonel with his +staff. He received the reports of the staff-officers, and then after a short +interval placed himself at the head of his regiment.</p> +<p class="normal">The long line of men, horses and vehicles, with the band preceding them, then +entered the encampment. The sentry at the gate had to present arms so +incessantly that he became quite exhausted. A considerable time elapsed before +the last officer had passed in.</p> +<p class="normal">The guns and carriages were taken to the gun-park. The horses were +unharnessed, and the knapsacks unfastened from the guns. Then the drivers made +their way to the stables, and the gunners to their barracks. The quartermaster +had pointed out his place to every one, so that each man had only to take +possession of his cupboard and his bed.</p> +<p class="normal">The young soldiers, who had never been in camp before, gazed about with much +interest. Things, on the whole, looked very inviting. A wide road with broad +footpaths on either side traversed the whole camp, almost further than the eye +could see, and along it stood the barracks on the left, and the stables on the +right. The houses were all alike; in the middle a square one-storied building, +and running out from it a wing containing lofty, airy rooms for the men, open to +the wooden rafters that supported the slated roof. At the back were covered +verandas, in which, during bad weather, instruction could be carried on and the +roll called. Beyond these outbuildings began the outskirts of the wood, +beautiful stately pines growing thick and close. The resinous scent of +pine-needles was wafted into the rooms through the open windows.</p> +<p class="normal">"Heinrich," said Vogt to Klitzing, "this is just like a summer holiday for +us, isn't it? Isn't this air splendid?"</p> +<p class="normal">The clerk stopped his unpacking for a moment and drew in a deep breath of the +invigorating odour.</p> +<p class="normal">"Oh yes," he answered; "we can do with this all right!"</p> +<p class="normal">However, it was not a "summer holiday" by any means, and the two friends +found that out soon enough. There was a lot of real hard work to do during these +weeks; but it was all done with a good will. Actual gun-practice was a very +different thing from that dull work in garrison with blank cartridges.</p> +<p class="normal">The magazine where the ammunition was stored lay at some little distance from +the other buildings, near the gun-park, and was surrounded by a thick high wall +of earth. One realised from this how dangerous were its contents. But the +store-men, who gave out the shrapnel-shells and the fuses, went about their work +as if regardless of the fact that in each one of these lurked death and +destruction. And yet in every shrapnel-shell were a couple of hundred bullets +that could easily put a whole company <i>hors de combat</i>.</p> +<p class="normal">The beginning of the gun-practice did not, however, seem likely to be very +dangerous. Only twenty-four shrapnel, <i>i.e.</i>, six shots for each gun, were +given out next morning. It was a first experience, meant especially for the +younger officers, and Lieutenant Landsberg was to command the battery.</p> +<p class="normal">The men were very curious to know what he would make of it. The affected +young dandy was extremely unpopular with every one. Besides which, he was +clearly not blessed with much intelligence; for at garrison-drill more reproofs +and reprimands were showered upon him alone than upon all the rest of the +battery put together. Again and again would Wegstetten's trumpet-tones ring +across the parade-ground: "Lieutenant Landsberg, you are not in your right +place!" "Lieutenant Landsberg, you are allowing too much distance!" The little +captain had sworn many a fierce oath as he galloped to and fro on his +long-legged "Walküre": "Lieutenant Landsberg! attention, please. What in thunder +are you about?" or "Good God, sir! don't go to sleep! Time's getting on!"</p> +<p class="normal">And to-day he was to command the whole battery. Wegstetten took the +precaution of accompanying the young man himself, so that he might be able to +come to the rescue in case of necessity.</p> +<p class="normal">He was soon needed. The battery started from the gun-park and left the camp, +turning off the road and crossing the heather towards the broad level stretch of +the exercise-ground.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly Landsberg's snapping voice crowed out: "Battery, halt!" and +immediately afterwards: "Open with shrapnel!"</p> +<p class="normal">The men grinned at one another.</p> +<p class="normal">Two or three of the gunners got down and stood there, quite at a loss. They +ought to load; yet the word of command, "Prepare for action!" had not been +given. And how could they load when the seats and the limber-boxes were still +locked, and when the gun was still covered?</p> +<p class="normal">The clever lieutenant had forgotten the word of command that should properly +have been given before leaving the gun-park. And the best of it was that he +didn't even now notice what was wrong.</p> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten, close at hand, kept quite still. He had taken his feet out of the +stirrups and was swinging his short legs carelessly to and fro. His eyes flashed +scorn as he looked at the hapless lieutenant.</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, Lieutenant Landsberg," he said, shrugging his shoulders, "if I were +one of the men myself I shouldn't know what to do either."</p> +<p class="normal">The lieutenant raised his spotlessly gloved hand to his helmet and replied, +"Yes, sir." But as yet no solution of the riddle had dawned on him.</p> +<p class="normal">Then at last the captain sat upright in his saddle, and his clear voice rang +out over the battery: "Prepare for action!"</p> +<p class="normal">It put life into the men at once, and all set about their various duties with +the utmost zeal.</p> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten turned to the subaltern, who stood stupidly looking on, and said, +"Well, Lieutenant Landsberg, you may take over the command again now."</p> +<p class="normal">Truchsess, the brewer, as No. 4 of gun six, brought out the shrapnel very +gingerly. How easily such stuff as that might go off!</p> +<p class="normal">The old hands had gruesome tales to tell of accidents that had happened +during gun-practice. Once while being loaded, a gun had prematurely exploded +backwards, making a great hole through gunner No. 3, right through his chest, a +hole just the same size as the bore of the gun. As the corpse was being carried +away afterwards the sun shone right through it; so that in the middle of the +shadow cast by the body was a bright round spot exactly the same size and shape +as the bore of a gun.</p> +<p class="normal">The brewer could not help thinking of this as he very cautiously pushed the +shrapnel into the bore. Klitzing, however, shoved it vigorously with the rammer, +so that its metal casing clinked against the inside of the gun.</p> +<p class="normal">"Now then, old fellow, easy on! The thing might go off!" whispered Truchsess.</p> +<p class="normal">But Klitzing only smiled, and the brewer sullenly thought to himself, "Well, +if that clerk has no use for his life, I have for mine, anyhow!"</p> +<p class="normal">Carefully he pushed in the cartridge, and heaved a sigh of relief as the lock +slipped back once more. At any rate, it couldn't explode at the back now and hit +him.</p> +<p class="normal">The battery now started again and went on at an easy trot to the +exercise-ground. In the midst of a luxuriant growth of heather they unlimbered. +It was a wonderful picture, the guns and the scattered gunners on that peaceful +sea of purple. The waves of blossom reached nearly to the axles of the blue +wheels and above the knees of the men, and closed over the trail of the +gun-carriage as it passed. The men had to make their way through the heather +almost as if it had been a wood.</p> +<p class="normal">"Open with shrapnel! Straight in front! At the battery before the guide-post +at the edge of the wood. Third gun! Two thousand eight hundred!" commanded +Lieutenant Landsberg. "Fire from left flank! Fire from left flank!"--that meant +that gun six should begin; that of the whole regiment it was to have the honour +of firing the first shot in this year's practice.</p> +<p class="normal">Klitzing, as gun-layer, set the sight in a twinkling to 2800 yards, got +astride the box, and laid the gun in the right direction.</p> +<p class="normal">The enemy's battery was not very hard to find. The young officer had not been +given too difficult a task. Far away over the heath, where the sand gleamed +yellow in the distance, six dark, rather broad patches showed up against the +light ground, each surrounded by smaller objects. They were the six guns that +were to be attacked, with the dummy men belonging to them. It was Sergeant +Wiegandt's duty to verify the aim; he gave a satisfied nod, and then the word of +command, "Gun six, fire!"</p> +<p class="normal">Upon which the men sprang out of the way of the backward recoil of the +carriage, and Vogt, with a jerk of the body, pulled the lanyard and fired.</p> +<p class="normal">There was a loud report, and the gun rolled heavily back quite eight paces. +In another moment it was moved into its original place again.</p> +<p class="normal">After a few seconds, far away on the heath, a light cloud of dust rose into +the air, as if a giant's hand had stirred up the sand, and immediately +afterwards--almost at the same moment--all the dark patches disappeared in a +dense grey cloud of smoke. When this had cleared away, the dummies on the left +of the gun had vanished, and the gun itself appeared to have been damaged, as it +was leaning over on one side.</p> +<p class="normal">The first shot had hit the mark full. This simply showed that excellent aim +had been taken. The actual distance had corresponded exactly with the +calculation. Still, it caused great satisfaction.</p> +<p class="normal">Colonel von Falkenhein, on his big chestnut, was stationed near by. He had +been watching the target through his field-glasses, and a scarcely audible +exclamation had escaped him as he saw the splinters flying about through the +smoke.</p> +<p class="normal">Turning to the battery he called out a short "Bravo, gun-layer!"</p> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten, who had dismounted near him, smiled. Well, at any rate, battery +six was all right, even when commanded by a noodle!</p> +<p class="normal">The shooting went on steadily. Now the distance had been ascertained the +shrapnels were fired off by means of time-fuses; and they exploded regularly +each time over the mark, the little clouds of smoke showing up picturesquely +against the dark background of the wood. Over there it was as if heavy raindrops +were falling on a dusty road; everywhere little columns of sand were spurting up +into the air.</p> +<p class="normal">After the first shot the men lost all nervousness. Even Truchsess took hold +of the shells quite courageously; and when the twenty-four that had been served +out to them were used up, the men would willingly have gone on longer.</p> +<p class="normal">In the criticism of the result Landsberg came out well. He had had four good +hits from one shrapnel--a very fair result; mainly due, of course, to the luck +of the first shot, which by itself would have placed all the men belonging to +one of the enemy's guns <i>hors de combat</i>.</p> +<p class="normal">The lieutenant's face took on a self-satisfied expression, which seemed to +say: "Of course from me nothing less could have been expected."</p> +<p class="normal">Falkenhein, who always kept a watchful eye on each one of his officers, and +who up to that moment had not heard much in favour of this young man, thought it +best to take down his pride a little.</p> +<p class="normal">"You know, Lieutenant Landsberg," he said, "your commanding officer made +things very easy for you. As the youngest officer in the regiment you had the +lightest task. Remember that in taking credit to yourself; and let me tell you +that they won't build such barn-doors for you to aim at next year!"</p> +<p class="normal">Upon which he turned pleasantly to Wegstetten and asked: "Did you ride over +and see that target, my dear Wegstetten?--I mean the one that was hit full?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, sir; the shrapnel must have exploded almost inside the gun."</p> +<p class="normal">"I thought so. Capital thing, the very first shot of the year being such a +good one. No one like you for that, Wegstetten!"</p> +<p class="normal">The captain smiled, much gratified, and modestly answered, "A bit of good +luck, sir!"</p> +<p class="normal">But the colonel continued, more seriously: "Well, partly luck, perhaps. Just +one thing more, my dear Wegstetten. That gun-layer who made the lucky shot--has +he been ill? He looked pretty bad to me--like a perfect death's-head."</p> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten gave as many particulars about the man as he himself knew, and +Reimers added some information, Landsberg meanwhile standing by in silence.</p> +<p class="normal">"It is really you, Lieutenant Landsberg, who ought to be telling me all +this," said Falkenhein with some warmth. "You trained the recruits, and +therefore ought to know all about them." Then, turning to Wegstetten: "If the +man is as capable as I hear," he continued, "you might manage to make things a +bit easier for him."</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, sir," the captain hastened to reply. "I had been thinking of employing +him in the autumn as assistant clerk."</p> +<p class="normal">This was not true. To think of such details so long beforehand was +impossible, even for the commander of the most efficient battery in the whole +army-corps. But it served its purpose. Falkenhein nodded pleasantly: "Quite +right, my dear Wegstetten. You have hit the bull's-eye again! You see one can +never deal with men all in a lump; you must take them separately. Some best +serve the king with their sturdy arms and legs, but your gun-layer with his eyes +and pen." He then raised his hand to his helmet, and the two men parted.</p> +<p class="normal">As they all repaired to their respective quarters they had very different +thoughts in their minds. Reimers was full of admiration: "What a man is that," +thought he, "who, with all his heavy duties, yet occupies himself with the +insignificant destiny of a poor devil of a gunner!"</p> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten's face wore a rather self-satisfied smile. "One must speak up for +oneself, and not hide one's light under a bushel! Better say too much than too +little. In doing one's superior officer a small service, one may be doing the +greatest of all to oneself."</p> +<p class="normal">Landsberg said to himself, with a sneer: "The man prates about that +whipper-snapper of a gunner nearly as much as about my splendid firing. And so +that's the celebrated Colonel von Falkenhein!"</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Next day almost all the men would have liked to go on with the shell-firing; but +the subsequent cleaning of the guns was not at all to their taste. The smokeless +powder left in the bore of the gun a horrid, sticky slime that must not be +allowed to remain there. This meant sousing with clean water again and again, +washing out with soft soap, and then going on pumping and working with the mop +until the water came out again as clean as it had gone in.</p> +<p class="normal">"Now, boys," Sergeant Wiegandt used to say, "if you don't feel inclined to +drink the water as it comes out of the gun, then that means it isn't clean +enough yet. So go ahead!"</p> +<p class="normal">And then the drying afterwards! They had to wrap rags and cloths round the +mop until it was so thick that it would scarcely go through the muzzle of the +gun. If this were not done the inside edges and corners remained wet; and one +spot of rust on the bright metal--well! that would be almost as bad as murder! +So they had to push and to twist, to pull and to drag, till the perspiration +streamed from their foreheads. Finally the barrel was thinly oiled; and the next +day the firing took place once more, and then there was the drudgery of the +cleaning all over again.</p> +<p class="normal">Yet the men endured these exertions far better than the garrison life. This +was partly owing to the variety of the work; but, above all, the greatest +torment of a soldier's life had been left behind,--that monotonous drilling +under which all groaned, and the object of which no one could ever pretend to +understand. Even the dullest--to say nothing of Vogt with his simple, sound +common-sense--could see that the gun-practice here in the practice-camp was the +most important part of the whole training. What the men had already learnt was +now found out practically. But where did the parade-marching and all the other +display drill come in?</p> +<p class="normal">Here was Klitzing, who in the garrison had been looked on as the most feeble +soldier of the lot, now all at once distinguishing himself! Vogt shook his head +as he thought it over.</p> +<p class="normal">He often felt glad that at any rate he was an artilleryman, for others had a +much worse time of it. A few days earlier an infantry regiment had moved into +the neighbouring barracks; and looking through the palings of their +parade-ground they could see the battalions exercising.</p> +<p class="normal">There was a yellow, dried-up looking major who was never, never satisfied. He +would keep his battalion at it in the sun till past noon; and then after a short +pause for refreshment the same cruel business would begin all over again. The +devil! How could a couple of hundred men be as symmetrical as a machine?</p> +<p class="normal">The artillery-drivers had climbed on to the fence. They were polishing their +curbs and chains, and laughed at the spectacle before them. But to Vogt it did +not seem amusing. What was the use of making those two hundred men do such +childish things there on the parade-ground? Would they ever march into battle +like that? He thought of how those dummies had all been riddled by the bullets +when a single shrapnel burst in front of them. Why, it would be sheer madness! +They would have to crawl, to run, to jump--then to crawl again! That wasn't what +they were doing when every morning on the parade-ground one heard a continual +tack--tack--tack--tack, as if a thousand telegraph clerks were hard at work. +What was the good of all this senseless show, which only aggravated the men?</p> +<p class="normal">Their comrades of the infantry looked very far from cheerful, and darted +glances full of suppressed hatred at the yellow-faced major. And when, +dead-tired, they had finished the drill, and were putting away their guns in the +corner, they would curse the very uniform they wore as if it had been a +strait-waistcoat.</p> +<p class="normal">Certainly it was not necessary to agree in everything with a social-democrat +like Weise; but there was no doubt what-ever that he was perfectly right about +some things. In the evenings, when the non-commissioned officers were sitting in +the canteen, the men took their stools out on the open veranda that looked over +the forest; and then Weise would begin to hold forth, his comrades, either +smoking or cleaning their clothes and accoutrements, grouped round him listening +to his orations. When some of the men, fresh from the country, complained of the +hard work there, the endless long hours, and the small pay, he laughed outright.</p> +<p class="normal">"Why do you allow your landed-proprietors to treat you so?" he scoffed. "Why +are you so stupid? Of course if you won't utter a word of protest you don't +deserve anything better."</p> +<p class="normal">And he explained how things were managed in his trade, at the factory. If one +of the workmen was unfairly treated, or if the pay was considered too small, +then they had a thorough good strike. They took care to choose the best possible +time for it, when the manufacturers had the most pressing work to do. The +trade-union, to which of course they all had to belong, kept blacklegs at a +distance, and they went on doggedly righting until new terms had been won. +Certainly the workmen did not invariably carry all their demands; but a strike +seldom ended without their gaining some solid advantage. Yes, the workers had +only to show the world that they were a power; that they were not going to be +trampled on for ever; that they intended henceforth to have their share of the +profits which they had hitherto been putting into the pockets of the rich, +although earned by their own toil and sweat.</p> +<p class="normal">Or Weise would reckon how much was spent in one day's gun-practice. Each shot +cost about fifteen marks; and the sixth battery alone had fired about a hundred +and twenty shots that morning. There were six batteries in each regiment, four +regiments in each army-corps, and twenty-three army-corps in the whole of +Germany.</p> +<p class="normal">"Any-one who likes can reckon it up," said Weise. "In any case the money +would be enough to give every poor devil in the whole world one happy day!"</p> +<p class="normal">He pulled out a sheet of paper and read from it the sum that Germany spent +annually on her army. It made the men open their eyes pretty wide. An incredible +sum, truly, of which they could form no clear idea at all.</p> +<p class="normal">Sometimes one of them would say! "But look here, old man; suppose there was +war, and we had no soldiers?"</p> +<p class="normal">"War! war!" said Weise. "What is war, pray? Who is it that makes war? Do you +want war? Do you want to have to go and stand up like those targets out there +and be hit on the skull or in the belly by the shrapnel?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Not I."</p> +<p class="normal">"Perhaps you would, Findeisen?"</p> +<p class="normal">"I? God damn me--no!"</p> +<p class="normal">"Or you, Truchsess?"</p> +<p class="normal">The brewer thought a moment, and answered:</p> +<p class="normal">"No, certainly not. I wish for peace. But the French might want to fight us, +or the Russians."</p> +<p class="normal">"Ha, ha!" laughed Weise. "Well, now, think about it a moment. Over there in +France are sitting together just such poor simple fellows as we are here. Ask +them if they want to let themselves be shot dead in a moment without rhyme or +reason? Do you expect them to say yes?"</p> +<p class="normal">"No, of course not. But--but--then who is it who really does want war?"</p> +<p class="normal">Weise did not speak for a moment, but laughed softly. Then he answered, +shrugging his shoulders: "Ah, that I don't know. Probably nobody. So much only +is clear: <i>we</i> don't want it."</p> +<p class="normal">During these conversations, Wolf, the lean gunner of the "old gang," was +always careful to hold aloof. He listened to the talk, but never joined in it. +When his comrades had gone in to bed, he would stay on, gazing out into the +beautiful night of the woods. No one longed as fervently as he did for the end +of the term of service. He, who had been wont to grudge every day on which he +had done nothing to further the cause of revolution and social-democracy, was +forbidden for two long years to allow a word to pass his lips about what lay +nearest his heart! Yet he was all the more cautious not to commit any +indiscretions that might perhaps entail a prolongation of the hateful restraint.</p> +<p class="normal">Hitherto he had had but a vague comprehension of the idea of freedom; now he +felt that he grasped it. Freedom! It meant the time after his discharge--the +time when he would no longer wear the soldier's uniform! When, during these +weeks, Wolf had been an auditor of Weise's covertly inflammatory speeches, he +had longed each time to step forward and speak out too. He knew that his own +words would have flowed far more convincingly and more passionately than +Weise's. But he knew also that in such case he would only have the greater +difficulty in restraining himself afterwards; so he kept silence.</p> +<p class="normal">However, the end was attained without his help. It was quite remarkable how +after such conversations these peasant lads and the others, who up to now had +heard nothing of socialism and labour movements, rapidly assimilated the new and +palatable wisdom, although no word of direct propaganda had been spoken. And if +this result was so marked in their own corps, where the work was not very +irksome or heavy, what must it not be among the infantry over yonder, where any +small spark of liking for the soldier's life must be quenched by the deadly +monotony of eternal parade-drill!</p> +<p class="normal">Not long before, a man had suddenly gone mad in the middle of drill. What was +responsible for this calamity? The sun, over-exertion, perhaps an inherited +tendency that would in any case sooner or later have resulted in such a +catastrophe? No one could say with any certainty. But the men who had seen and +heard how the poor fellow writhed and shrieked, gripped their rifles tightly, +and the same thought could plainly be read in the eyes of them all.</p> +<p class="normal">No wonder that the period of military service was extremely favourable to the +spread of social-democracy! Such sensational object-lessons were not necessary; +the circumstances of every-day life all pointed towards socialism.</p> +<p class="normal">Wolf understood the part that Weise played in the battery. It was always the +same. Each batch of recruits was a mixture of men from towns and men from the +country. The city-bred, even if fewer in number, immediately established an +ascendancy over the country yokels. They were quicker-witted, and their town +bringing-up had developed their intelligence more. And just because of this they +adapted themselves more easily to the requirements of military service, so that +they often made better soldiers than the country recruits with their slower +comprehension. Most of them were entirely unaware that they were socialistic +agitators; they quite unconsciously imparted to their fellow-soldiers ideas that +to them appeared self-evident, but that for the others meant an upheaval of +their whole way of thinking.</p> +<p class="normal">What was the use of searching every hole and corner of the barracks at +regular intervals for socialistic literature? They could confiscate red rosettes +and pamphlets; but how could they control transient, intangible thoughts?</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">On Sundays the camp was as quiet as it was full of life on week-days. The +boundary-lines beyond which the men were not allowed to pass without leave, were +drawn round a considerable area. Within it were three large villages; and on +Sundays their taverns were thronged by soldiers quartered in the camp. The +enterprising innkeepers had made ample provision for such crowds of visitors. +They had erected wooden platforms in the open air where dancing went on without +intermission, regimental bands supplying the music; and the amount of beer +consumed in one Sunday was greater than that drunk by the entire village the +whole winter through. Of course there were strong patrols set to keep order at +the dancing-platforms and licensed houses. As there were too few partners for +the soldiers quarrels were of constant occurrence, and were seldom amicably +settled; a brawl was the usual result, and at times a regular fight.</p> +<p class="normal">It was the custom in these villages to hire maidservants only by the month, +as sufficient work could hardly be found for them during the winter; and there +were also other members of the female sex--not servants, but ladies who had +taken up their summer quarters here. They were the cause of much perplexity to +the officers in command of the troops. The soldiers would stand in queues at the +doors of these summer residences, like people at a baker's shop in time of +famine; and then if any of them were drunk and got a little impatient there was +sure to be a row. Censorious tongues passed severe comments on such proceedings. +The commanding officers were most anxious to rectify the evil; but they could +hardly post sentries at those particular houses, and finally they got over the +difficulty by bringing a little moral pressure to bear upon the local +authorities. These worthy civilians achieved the desired end by the simple means +of administrative expulsions.</p> +<p class="normal"> +As the two comrades were getting ready to go out, Vogt asked the clerk: "Well, +Heinrich, what shall we do with ourselves? Shall we go along and drink a glass +of beer and look on at the racket for a bit?"</p> +<p class="normal">"If you like, Franz," replied Klitzing.</p> +<p class="normal">"Then we won't," said Vogt. "You ought to say at once when you don't like a +thing. I don't in the least want to go myself, and we can always get beer in the +canteen. We'll just walk a bit through the wood as far as the butts, shall we?"</p> +<p class="normal">Klitzing assented, and they waited till their comrades were off, then +strolled slowly into the cool forest. Troops of men were leaving the camp gates +to walk by the hard high road towards the villages that could be seen in the +distance. Vogt looked after the cloud of dust they made.</p> +<p class="normal">"Can you understand what they see in women?" he asked.</p> +<p class="normal">"No, indeed I can't."</p> +<p class="normal">"You don't care about women?"</p> +<p class="normal">The clerk shook his head. "And you, Franz?" he inquired.</p> +<p class="normal">"Not I. At any rate, not yet."</p> +<p class="normal">Walking on in the shade of the forest's edge they came at last to the butts. +The black, tarred, wooden target had been put up ready for the next day, and +cheerfully awaited the terrors of the firing that lay before it. A little to one +side of the principal erection a ruined village stood out against the blue of +the summer sky. It had been purchased by the Government and left standing to be +used for testing the effect of shots upon buildings.</p> +<p class="normal">The shells had certainly done their work. Substantial walls had gaping +fissures right through them; gables and chimney-stacks had been laid low. Some +of the houses seemed to have been set on fire by the shots, and any wood-work +spared by the devouring flames had been stolen and carried away by some-one or +other. No stairs were left leading to the upper storeys, nor boards to any of +the floors. Rafters and beams had been hewn down; doors and windows with their +frames had been torn out. On some of the walls rude drawings had been scrawled +in paint or red chalk, with facetious inscriptions and obscene jokes; but from +most of them the whitewash had fallen, leaving bare the rough masonry. It was a +depressing picture of desolation. One could almost imagine that the smell of +burning still hung about.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt gazed gloomily at the ruins and said: "And that's what things look like +in war! By God, it's true! we must do away with war!"</p> +<p class="normal">Klitzing smiled quietly to himself: "Yes, but who'll be the first to begin?" +he asked.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">The regiment stayed fully three weeks at the practice-camp, and then +accomplished the return journey to the garrison in three days.</p> +<p class="normal">The two friends were anxiously looking forward to the leave that had been +promised the men after the gun-practice. They were to start on the first +Saturday in July, and had eight days' leave granted to them. Only very few had +been allowed as much, and their captain did not fail to point out in a little +speech that this favour was due to their blameless conduct at the practice-camp.</p> +<p class="normal">It was one of Wegstetten's little methods, when he found good qualities in +his men and wished to spur them on, to make the meagre rewards that the service +held out to them appear in a specially brilliant light. Regardless of +exaggeration, he spoke of that week's leave as if it were an extremely rare mark +of distinction unheard of for years. And on the whole he gained his object. As +Vogt and Klitzing stood before their commanding officer blushing with pride, +they had the feeling that they must thank him, and promise to go on doing their +duty. They only did not know how. At length Vogt plucked up courage and +stammered a few words.</p> +<p class="normal">Captain von Wegstetten listened kindly. He had soon perceived that he had to +do with two worthy, honest lads; and, with his own ends in view, he proceeded to +inquire in a condescending way about their homes. When it then came out that the +one had invited the other to stay with him, he praised them for their faithful +comrade-ship, and took the first opportunity of relating this instance of the +fraternising of town and country to the colonel, who liked such proofs of an +individual interest being taken in the soldiers.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">The first Saturday in July was a day of excitement for the turnpike-keeper, +Friedrich August Vogt. He was rather annoyed with himself for losing his usual +calm. Why? because his son--his only son--was coming home for the first time? +Really, that was not such an event as to put him beside himself in this way! And +then next he blamed himself for having thought it unbefitting an old soldier, +and too soft-hearted altogether, to go and fetch his son from the station. He +could not remain in the house, so he went to a spot on the highway whence he +could watch the railway. He could see the train coming in, and the clouds of +white smoke from the engine rising up from behind the station; then he heard the +whistle--but still nothing was to be seen of the two holiday-makers. Could Franz +be stopping to have a glass of beer? No; now the two men could be seen emerging +from the village on to the broad high-road, their helmets and uniform buttons +glistening in the sun--it must be they! The turnpike-keeper drew back a little, +so that he was out of sight. Why should the boy know that he had been staring +the eyes out of his head in order to catch the first glimpse of him?</p> +<p class="normal">When Vogt and Klitzing arrived at the house he looked out of the window as if +quite by chance. "Ah, here you are!" and with a hearty grip of the hand he bade +them both welcome.</p> +<p class="normal">But it was no use fighting against it, he could not take his eyes off his +son. What a well set-up, vigorous young fellow his Franz had grown! Yet he was +still the same good honest lad; that was written in his face.</p> +<p class="normal">And Franz's friend, with his frank open countenance, inspired confidence at +once. He looked, to be sure, as if he had never in his life had enough to eat. +He must be properly fed up for once. While he was on leave, at any rate, he +should not want for anything.</p> +<p class="normal">The two gunners settled down very quickly, and nothing could prevent Franz +from going round the fields the very first evening while his father milked and +fed the cows. He had almost hoped to find something or other left neglected +because he had not been there when it was put in hand. But no, his father had +allowed nothing to go wrong anywhere.</p> +<p class="normal">And now in the company of the two young soldiers the old turnpike-keeper +became quite a different creature. He realised suddenly that the quiet, sluggish +peasant's blood had not quite replaced in him the old, quick-flowing blood of +the soldier. He listened, fascinated, to the tales told by the two gunners about +their soldier's life. How things had changed since his time! He could never hear +enough about it all.</p> +<p class="normal">Then Franz came to tell of his reflections during the gun-practice: how +through the fence he had seen the infantry battalion tormented with drill for +hours at a time; how the dried-up looking major had foamed with fury; and how +the poor devil of a private had been struck down bodily and mentally in the +middle of it all.</p> +<p class="normal">Old Vogt quietly heard his son out, although he was burning to speak. Then he +began: "Look here, youngster, you as a simple soldier can't understand it all. +But depend upon it, this drill is the most important thing that every soldier +must first be made to learn. For it alone teaches military obedience, soldierly +subordination, discipline. It alone can give that unity which preserves a +company from utter demoralisation if one of your horrible new-fangled shrapnel +bursts among them. But for drill the cowards would turn tail without further +ceremony, and take to their heels; and in the end even the brave ones would +follow them. It is the drill that teaches them to stay on and stick together."</p> +<p class="normal">He held to it, in spite of all his son could say about what he had seen of +the kind of drill that the troops were kept at.</p> +<p class="normal">"You could not have seen aright," said his father.</p> +<p class="normal">The elder Vogt would not allow his son to put his hand to anything in the +afternoons. He always insisted on sending the two young fellows out by +themselves.</p> +<p class="normal">"Be off with you, youngsters," he would say. "Take a walk, drink a glass of +beer somewhere or other--whatever you like. Enjoy your few days of freedom!"</p> +<p class="normal">Then the two young men would march off and let the hot sun and the fresh air +burn them and brown them. Vogt had shown his friend his favourite spot, whence +they could look out over the river to the castle in the neighbouring town. There +they lay in the grass.</p> +<p class="normal">The peasant felt impelled to get up every now and then. He was restless; he +felt that he must keep looking at the fields that lay around them. But the clerk +lay quite still in the short grass, and with blinking half-closed eyes gazed up +into the summer sky.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<br> +<br> +<p class="center"><img src="images/pg142.png" alt="Reveille"></p> +<br> +<p class="continue">Baron Walther von Frielinghausen was made bombardier on July 1st.</p> +<p class="normal">He had now got his foot on the ladder of military distinction, but he felt no +special elation at the fact. What signified this little piece of promotion in a +career which had now no attraction for him?</p> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten had arranged that he should at once begin doing some of the work +of a corporal; but this, too, had its inconvenient side. When merely a gunner he +had always imagined that he knew better than those uneducated fellows the +non-coms.; and he had occasionally looked forward to the moment when he would be +put in authority, and would be able to show off some of his knowledge. But now +to command had become more difficult than to obey, and there was certainly just +as much blame going. One was scolded as if one were a silly boy, and the men +always took notice of the fact.</p> +<p class="normal">Only one thing caused him pleasant anticipations: he would have riding +lessons. But this, too, proved unlike his expectations. Heppner, after his +fashion, kept him hard at it. Like every recruit, he had to begin with riding +bareback; then after a time came the more difficult task of balancing on the +slippery saddle without stirrups; and only after considerable practice would the +sergeant-major occasionally allow him to let the stirrups down. There were days +on which he had more than twenty falls from his horse; and at last it was always +in fear and trembling that he went to riding instruction. Whenever his horse +dashed away riderless after a jump, Frielinghausen rejoiced in the few minutes' +respite that shortened by that much the hour of his lesson. He could never +manage to go over a hurdle with his hands placed on his hips; at every jump they +snatched at the horse's mane. Heppner raged over this cowardice; but storm and +shout as he would, Frielinghausen's hands were for ever clutching at his only +means of safety.</p> +<p class="normal">At last the sergeant-major left the long-limbed youth alone in his +incompetence. He had an impression that Wegstetten wished to hear good of the +bombardier, and after all, in the fire-workers, it would not be necessary for +Frielinghausen to be a proficient at riding. But the less Frielinghausen knew +about horses the more he boasted of his acquirements, when once the riding +instruction had come to an end.</p> +<p class="normal">As soon as he was made bombardier he was removed from Room IX. to the +non-commissioned officers' quarters.</p> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten thought to do his <i>protégé</i> a favour by this; but +Frielinghausen felt no happier in his new surroundings than in the company of +the recruits. The mental atmosphere was hardly more enlightened than that of his +former room-mates. The service, horses, and women: these were the chief subjects +of conversation. They all appeared to be great riders before the Lord, though +had Heppner been questioned in the matter he might have expressed a contrary +opinion; but every mounted non-com, thinks it necessary to be a bit of a +Munchausen. He would far rather be called a blockhead than be told he cannot +ride. Though, of course, Frielinghausen contributed his mite to such +conversations, on the whole he felt very much in doubt which he preferred: the +narrow interests of the common soldiers in Room IX., or the well-meant rough +good nature of the non-commissioned officers. He rather inclined to Room IX.</p> +<p class="normal">All this was changed when the non-commissioned officers' room received a new +inmate, the one-year volunteer Trautvetter.</p> +<p class="normal">Captain von Wegstetten fully intended that his one-year volunteers, like his +whole battery, should be distinguished above all the others in the regiment. If +they behaved well he was most charming to them; if not, then he was all the more +strict, because he considered them young people whose superior education laid +them under the greater obligations.</p> +<p class="normal">All his labour had been in vain with Trautvetter. The one year volunteer was +a ne'er-do-weel, a drunkard, a debauchee, and a useless fool on duty into the +bargain. And he had command of considerable supplies of money, which, being an +orphan and of age, he could spend as he pleased.</p> +<p class="normal">All means had failed with him: punishment drill, being reported, deprivation +of leave, and being put under arrest. So at last Wegstetten decided to send him +to live in barracks.</p> +<p class="normal">Trautvetter, a bull-necked, square-shouldered man, with a broad chest, took +this punishment with great equanimity. He arranged his belongings complacently +in his locker and looked calmly round the bare room. His little eyes had a +bleary look of perpetual drunkenness, which obscured the hearty, good-humoured +expression really natural to them.</p> +<p class="normal">It was all one to him where he lived: was there not beer in the canteen? and +if one paid for it the canteen-keeper, despite the prohibition, would let one +have a case of bottled ale. The non-coms, of course would drink with him; then +they would all be a pleasant company together.</p> +<p class="normal">He was right in his calculations: none of them could withstand the good +cigars and drinks which he distributed freely. Even the sergeant-major took to +joining them; such a chance was not to be let slip. But the deputy +sergeant-major, Heimert, kept his distance; he was occupied with preparing for +his approaching marriage. And Sergeant Wiegandt preferred walking with his +sweetheart Frieda in the quiet evenings.</p> +<p class="normal">A special relation soon established itself between Frielinghausen and the +one-year volunteer. Trautvetter had been a couple of terms at Breslau, and the +education they had both received gave them something in common.</p> +<p class="normal">Frielinghausen had a good time now. Trautvetter paid for him and let him take +part in his amusements and pleasures. It even seemed as though Trautvetter had +some honourable feeling towards the young baron, for he sternly refused ever to +let him join in the gambling with which the drinking-bouts soon came to be +enlivened.</p> +<p class="normal">The one-year volunteer had his reasons for this. His luck remained faithful +to him with almost puzzling persistency. His little swimming eyes seemed to +hypnotise the dealer when they were playing cards, and his big fat hands had +nothing to do but to rake in the winnings.</p> +<p class="normal">He had not the least scruple in taking money from the sergeant-major and +Trumpeter-sergeant Henke, who were usually his adversaries--why else did the +fellows play with him? but he did not like winning from Frielinghausen.</p> +<p class="normal">When the two non-commissioned officers had lost all their money, Trautvetter +had no objection to lending, and let them give him notes-of-hand, which at last +amounted to very considerable sums.</p> +<p class="normal">He had not, indeed, any real intention of claiming repayment; but these +I.O.U.'s were very useful weapons in his hand, and it was not long before the +sergeant-major had to dance to his piping.</p> +<p class="normal">Every night when an inspection was not expected, Trautvetter and Heppner +would slip out of barracks. As soon as the sentinel had gone round the corner, +they would creep out of the window, and make off to a neighbouring tavern, where +gambling and drinking went on into the early morning hours.</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner ground his teeth as he bowed beneath this uneasy yoke; but there was +no help for him. He already owed Trautvetter more than a thousand marks; and the +one-year volunteer now became less willing to lend, and caused the +sergeant-major endless vexation and trouble. He would suddenly demand to be made +corporal, or to be given a couple of weeks' leave: demands which it was quite +impossible to grant. But if Heppner pointed this out to him, he would flourish +the notes-of-hand under the sergeant-major's nose and threaten to lay them +before Wegstetten.</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner could think of no other way of escape than the chance of a sudden +stroke of luck. Of course, however, he needed money in order to go on playing. +He himself had no more, and nobody would lend to him.</p> +<p class="normal">At last he fell back on the cash-box of the battery. From time to time he +replaced a portion of what he had taken, but the deficit nevertheless became +greater and greater.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">One morning, in the beginning of August, Wegstetten said to him: "Sergeant +Heppner, have the one-year volunteers paid their board-money?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">"All right. Then get your cash-box ready for settling up accounts. I am just +going over to headquarters, and you can have the money and the books for me when +I return."</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner hardly had the strength to reply with the usual "Very good, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">More than a hundred marks was missing from the box. Time pressed; Wegstetten +might be back again in half an hour. He went to find Heimert. Heimert was no +friend to him, he knew; but he had always been a good comrade.</p> +<p class="normal">The deputy sergeant-major was away at the big parade-ground with the +pioneers. That was half-an-hour's distance.</p> +<p class="normal">Trautvetter, where was Trautvetter?</p> +<p class="normal">At last he discovered him in the canteen.</p> +<p class="normal">"Trautvetter, you must lend me a hundred marks!" said the sergeant-major +breathlessly.</p> +<p class="normal">"Must?" asked the one-year volunteer sarcastically. "Must? Not if I know it!"</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner had dragged him out of the canteen into the empty vestibule.</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, yes, you must, Trautvetter!" he repeated.</p> +<p class="normal">Trautvetter now perceived the disturbed mien of the sergeant-major. Something +very particular must have happened, that was clear; and in such case he could +not refuse to help. For it was no part of his plan to push this man to +extremity.</p> +<p class="normal">"What's up?" he asked.</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner murmured, with some confusion: "Settling up accounts, all of a +sudden--there is some money missing; of course I had meant to replace it."</p> +<p class="normal">Trautvetter understood, and was beginning to pull out his purse, but he +suddenly hesitated.</p> +<p class="normal">"Why, I have got no money left!" he cried in dismay. "Must it be at once? +To-morrow afternoon you can have as much as you want."</p> +<p class="normal">"No, no, at once! Wegstetten has only just gone over to headquarters for a +minute."</p> +<p class="normal">"Damnation! What are we to do?"</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major believed Trautvetter was doing this on purpose. He became +more insistent, and implored: "Trautvetter, for heaven's sake help me just for +once! I beg of you! I beg of you! lend me the money!"</p> +<p class="normal">With a shrug the volunteer held out his open purse. There were only a few +silver pieces in it.</p> +<p class="normal">"You can see for yourself, Herr Heppner," he said. "I am not the sort of +fellow to leave you in the lurch like that."</p> +<p class="normal">But Heppner could not yet believe him. He begged and threatened. At last the +great big fellow threw himself on the ground and clung round Trautvetter's +knees: "Just this once, just this once!"</p> +<p class="normal">The volunteer pushed him roughly away. The sight of the blubbering giant +revolted him.</p> +<p class="normal">"Stand up, Heppner!" he insisted. "All this is no good. I would give you the +money, but God knows I have none at the moment. Let us consider how we can get +out of this."</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major stood up again, and looked at him in suspense.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly Trautvetter pointed to the canteen: "He must lend us something," he +whispered.</p> +<p class="normal">But the canteen-keeper objected to this. Even when Trautvetter offered him +ten, twenty marks for the loan, he remained obstinate.</p> +<p class="normal">The volunteer struck the counter furiously.</p> +<p class="normal">"Pig-headed fool!" he cried. "Will you do it for fifty?"</p> +<p class="normal">The canteen-keeper hesitated. He had settled up the day before; there was not +much risk for him, and fifty marks----!</p> +<p class="normal">"Give me your note-of-hand," he demanded,</p> +<p class="normal">And Trautvetter wrote him an I.O.U. for one hundred and fifty marks.</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner took the money, and when Wegstetten came into the orderly-room he +found the sergeant-major counting over his cash.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">This event made a powerful impression on the one-year volunteer. From the moment +when Heppner had lain grovelling on the ground before him a thorough change came +over Trautvetter. The whole scene had been unspeakably revolting to him; he was +seized with a grim horror on his own account too. Half unconsciously the sight +of the big imposing-looking man clamouring and petitioning on his knees made +Trautvetter suddenly realise how near he himself stood to a similar degradation.</p> +<p class="normal">The next morning he gave the sergeant-major back his notes-of-hand.</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner coloured. "Why is this?" he asked. "Perhaps I shall be able to pay +them up."</p> +<p class="normal">But Trautvetter answered quietly, "No, never mind! I only won the money from +you in play, and gambling debts are not legally reclaimable. I ought never to +have lent you the money in the first place." Then suddenly Trautvetter assumed a +severely respectful manner, and added, "I should like to ask you something, sir; +and that is that you would promise me never to play again."</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner looked at him, astonished. Was all this irksome dependence on one of +his subordinates, this degradation before the whole battery, really to come to +an end? He could scarcely believe that any one could be so generous. But he +could see that the one-year volunteer was in earnest, not simply making fun of +him.</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, I promise you, Trautvetter," he said firmly. "I will not play any +more."</p> +<p class="normal">And for the moment he meant what he said; he felt that this was the right +minute for making good resolutions and turning over a new leaf.</p> +<p class="normal">Some days later Wegstetten asked him: "How is the one-year volunteer +Trautvetter behaving? I have been quite pleased with him on duty these last few +days."</p> +<p class="normal">And Heppner answered: "He has been much more steady, sir; there has been no +fault to find with him."</p> +<p class="normal">The commander of the battery nodded, well pleased.</p> +<p class="normal">"You see, sergeant," he said, "my plan has been a success. I think we will +let him out of barracks again. You can tell him so."</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Trautvetter had also returned all his notes-of-hand to his other debtor, +Trumpeter-sergeant Henke.</p> +<p class="normal">The cornet-player did not feel constrained to any special feeling of +gratitude for this. He had never had the smallest intention of repaying the +money, some hedge-lawyer having advised him of the fact that gambling debts were +not legally recoverable.</p> +<p class="normal">Why therefore should he be grateful?</p> +<p class="normal">Lisbeth, on the contrary, his pretty fair-haired wife, was profoundly touched +by Trautvetter's generosity.</p> +<p class="normal">"Dear, dear!" she sighed, "what a kind good man that volunteer must be, to +give away such a lot of money!"</p> +<p class="normal">The trumpeter laughed at her: "Silly goose!" he said, "haven't I told you +that they were gambling debts, and he could never have claimed them?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Well," remarked Lisbeth, "there were others too. Your new uniform was bought +with the borrowed money, your beautiful patent leather shoes too, and +half-a-dozen pairs of white gloves."</p> +<p class="normal">Her husband did not care to remember this: "Hold your tongue!" he growled; +but his pretty wife insisted: "No, no, he must be a good kind man!"</p> +<p class="normal">"A drunken fat pig, that's what he is!" said Henke. "You can see that at a +glance."</p> +<p class="normal">"That's as may be," replied Lisbeth calmly; and she proceeded to set forth to +her wondering husband a plan she had conceived for increasing the financial +resources of the household.</p> +<p class="normal">She would do fine washing and ironing for the one-year volunteers; and he, +Henke, should arrange it with them.</p> +<p class="normal">Henceforth the young wife spent her days over the wash-tub and the +ironing-board. She found plenty to do; for the young men liked to have their +things brought home by a lovely little person like the trumpeter's wife, in her +neat fresh attire.</p> +<p class="normal">A special friendship soon established itself between her and Trautvetter. She +looked upon the plump volunteer as a good-natured person, who did not, at any +rate now, show any of the evil characteristics imputed to him by her husband. He +looked rather embarrassed when she thanked him heartily for giving back the +notes-of-hand; and as he was acquainted with her husband's weaknesses it came to +pass that they often talked about Henke. The woman felt a need of speaking out +to some one about her husband, and Trautvetter gave her the best advice he +could.</p> +<p class="normal">The young woman pleased him with her industrious, intelligent ways. Formerly +he would probably have thoughtlessly tried to seduce her; but now he felt an +involuntary respect for her diligent activity, and her love for her husband +impressed him.</p> +<p class="normal">The trumpeter soon became aware that his wife had a certain influence over +the one-year volunteer, and he immediately used this discovery to make Lisbeth a +means of obtaining further small loans of money.</p> +<p class="normal">Lisbeth was ashamed of the deception this entailed upon her; she always +refused to undertake the commission, but on each occasion Henke managed to +prevail upon her to do so. Then when she brought him the money he would laugh +sarcastically. It was capital to have a pretty wife who could manage things so +nicely. He had no need even to be jealous; she was helplessly in love with +himself!</p> +<p class="normal">But in the course of time his wife's eyes were opened. She learnt to examine +her husband more closely, and saw through him more clearly every day. How blind +she had been! Now that her perceptions were sharpened her fondness suddenly +disappeared, and nothing remained but a dim feeling of duty towards him. She +would at any rate make good the wrong she had done to Trautvetter in her foolish +adoration for her husband, and would not conceal the truth from the one-year +volunteer. She said nothing about a new request for money with which Henke had +charged her, but confessed to him instead that all he had already given her for +housekeeping and such-like had been appropriated by her husband, who had used it +to buy himself a gold watch-chain, an extra sword, and silver spurs.</p> +<p class="normal">Trautvetter looked down upon her fair head. She had hung down her blushing +face and would not look up at him.</p> +<p class="normal">"I thought as much," he said.</p> +<p class="normal">Without raising her eyes she asked: "Then why did you do it?"</p> +<p class="normal">Trautvetter hesitated a moment, then he said gently: "I thought I was doing +you a pleasure, Frau Lisbeth."</p> +<p class="normal">The young woman looked him full in the face for an instant. Then she stood up +quickly, took her washing-basket, and departed.</p> +<p class="normal">Henke had been awaiting her at home anxiously. He had just engaged in a +love-affair with a music-hall singer, who had been entertaining the country +people of the neighbourhood with her ditties during the August cattle-market +season. "Countess Miramara" was a great success on the boards, for her costume +reached upwards and downwards only just as far as was absolutely necessary; but +she repelled the advances of the farmers, though they jingled persuasively the +coin they had received in exchange for their oxen and pigs. She preferred to +distinguish with her favour the handsome black-bearded trumpeter.</p> +<p class="normal">Henke now wanted to show himself a gallant lover. He intended to present the +countess with a bracelet.</p> +<p class="normal">"Give me the money!" he cried to Lisbeth when she entered.</p> +<p class="normal">"I have none," she replied. "Trautvetter won't give me any more."</p> +<p class="normal">Henke tugged at his beard. This was a fatal upset to his calculations. What +would the countess say if he broke his promise?</p> +<p class="normal">He began quietly; "Oh, yes, he'll give you some! You must just be a bit nice +to him."</p> +<p class="normal">Lisbeth looked surprised. "What do you mean?" she said.</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, you women can always manage a man if you only want to, don't you see? +Just be really nice to him. It's all the same to me." And he left the room, much +put out.</p> +<p class="normal">His pretty wife shook her head thoughtfully. What had he meant by "a bit +nice"?</p> +<p class="normal">Going into the town on an errand she met the one-year volunteer. They walked +part of the way together. Lisbeth had forgotten her embarrassment, and chattered +away gaily.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly she remembered her husband's incomprehensible words, and she began, +smilingly; "Do you know, Herr Trautvetter, what my husband has just been saying +to me, that I was to be really nice to you. Have I not been nice then?"</p> +<p class="normal">"What did he mean by that?" Trautvetter asked sharply.</p> +<p class="normal">"Well," she laughed, "I ought to have taken back some more money to-day. But +I never mean to do that again. And then he said that if I were only really nice +to you, you would give me lots of money."</p> +<p class="normal">She started, so violently had the man struck his sword upon the ground, and +he looked at her quite red and angry.</p> +<p class="normal">"Just like the low brute!" he cried.</p> +<p class="normal">"What! What do you mean?"</p> +<p class="normal">Trautvetter could not contain his wrath. He blurted out: "Don't you know, +Frau Lisbeth, what he meant?--that you should take me for a lover!"</p> +<p class="normal">She met his glance with a straight look; then she hung her head, and walked +dumbly beside him.</p> +<p class="normal">"I will go back," she said suddenly.</p> +<p class="normal">He took her hand and begged: "Forgive me, Frau Lisbeth! please!"</p> +<p class="normal">She nodded silently and turned back on the road they had just traversed.</p> +<p class="normal">In her little sitting-room she sank limply into a chair. The windows were +wide open; she heard the rippling of the brook, and the insects humming and +buzzing in the big willow. At last she roused herself. She must be certain if +Trautvetter was right in his suspicion, and that would need cunning. Her plan +was soon made; it was very simple: she need only behave as if she had been +following her husband's hint, then he would have to declare himself.</p> +<p class="normal">"Henke," she began that evening, "Trautvetter has made a proposal to-day. As +soon as he has finished his service he is going to buy a place in the country, +far away from here, and he wants me to keep house for him. If you agree, then +you shall have a hundred marks a month."</p> +<p class="normal">Henke was silent for a time; he was in some doubt what he should say to this. +Lisbeth was so queer and cold, almost uncanny; but on the other hand she did not +seem to be the least annoyed.</p> +<p class="normal">In a tone of would-be resignation he said at last: "Well, Lisbeth, if you +don't love me any more, if you think it's for your happiness, and you like to +leave me----" he stopped.</p> +<p class="normal">His wife was suddenly standing before him, deathly pale. She shook her +trembling clasped hands in his face, and spat contemptuously on the boards in +front of him. Then she fled from the room.</p> +<p class="normal">He looked after her stupefied.</p> +<p class="normal">"So she's gone!" he muttered. Well, it was no use being too tragic over it. +Either Lisbeth would be reasonable again, or----he was free of her.</p> +<p class="normal">There was a third possibility.</p> +<p class="normal">Countess Miramara had assured him that he could make an enormous fortune if +he would go on the stage as a cornet-player. To-morrow she was going off to +Bohemia. Suppose he were to join her? He did not trouble himself about +desertion: he had got his papers all right, and desertion was not a crime for +which one could be extradited. Austria was a big place and a merry; so the +countess asserted. And there was Hungary too.</p> +<p class="normal">Really that would be the best thing to do.</p> +<p class="normal">Next day Henke was over the border. He had already converted all his property +into gold, and only took his trumpet with him. In place of his artilleryman's +coat he wore a gorgeous fancy uniform, which showed off to the best advantage +the excellences of his person. Evening after evening he performed his most +admired pieces.</p> +<p class="normal">And he became a favourite with all the ladies.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Frau Lisbeth, however, obtained the dissolution of her marriage on the ground +of malicious desertion.</p> +<p class="normal">At first she thought of furnishing a little shop in the town and setting up a +laundry; but Trautvetter begged her rather to go into service for a time.</p> +<p class="normal">"Why?" asked she.</p> +<p class="normal">He found some difficulty in answering her. At last he came out with:</p> +<p class="normal">"I am very fond of you, Frau Lisbeth; and if you could make up your mind to +it I should like to ask you if you would have me."</p> +<p class="normal">Lisbeth smiled a little, and then said, "You may ask me that now!"</p> +<p class="normal">Her voice sounded honest and friendly.</p> +<p class="normal">Trautvetter took her hand in his and said: "Then that's all right!"</p> +<p class="normal">But she continued gaily and cheerfully: "Besides, in any case, I should have +ended by being your mistress."</p> +<p class="normal">"Oh, no!" said Trautvetter. "Under certain circumstances I prefer a wife."</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Despite the warmth of the August sun, Julie Heppner grew worse day by day; but +this was nothing to her in comparison with the burden of mental suffering which +almost overwhelmed her. She watched her husband and sister with a gaze that +never faltered. She saw with horror how Ida became less shy of her and abandoned +herself more and more to her passion. Nor was this hidden from her husband. He +noticed with cynical satisfaction how the young girl's power of resistance +diminished. The desired fruit must soon fall into his hands almost of itself.</p> +<p class="normal">Soon, under cover of the playful teasing which went on between the +sergeant-major and his sister-in-law, even in the presence of the invalid wife, +he began to indulge in passionate, lustful touches and covert embraces which +brought the blood to the girl's face and made her shiver.</p> +<p class="normal">She resented Julie's reproaches with the hard, insensitive egoism of one in +love. What! Did this wretched moribund creature still think to claim the man +whom she, the fresh, young girl, loved, and who loved her in return?</p> +<p class="normal">Julie laughed bitterly to herself. Would it not be best to resign herself to +it, to close her eyes, and to await the deliverance of Death?</p> +<p class="normal">Oh, no! She could not endure this shameless insult which they both, as it +were, hurled in her face. She racked her brain as to how she could revenge +herself on them; but in vain. Most terrible of all was it to feel that though +still alive she was virtually dead already, as powerless and helpless as a +corpse!</p> +<p class="normal">Then the worst happened.</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major and his sister-in-law were invited to a <i>fête</i> which +the military society, "The Fellow-Soldiers of 1870-1," were arranging in memory +of the battle of St. Privat.</p> +<p class="normal">The programme included music, theatricals, and dancing. Towards evening a +fanfare of trumpets summoned the guests to the festival-play. Even in the garden +under the lime-trees the heat of the summer sun had been great, and in the +confined space of the overcrowded hall it became unbearably intense. The rows of +chairs were placed much too close together, in order to accommodate the large +audience. Once seated, it was impossible to move; one remained wedged in between +one's neighbours.</p> +<p class="normal">Shortly before the curtain was raised, Heppner and Ida discovered two empty +chairs. The sergeant-major sat down first. The narrow space then left on the +neighbouring chair was far too small for the girl's fully-developed hips.</p> +<p class="normal">Consequently his sister-in-law was almost sitting on his knee. He felt the +warmth of her blood and her firm limbs through her thin cotton skirt. They were +pressed close to one another in the darkened room. Drops of sweat gathered on +their brows, and their breath came gaspingly and with difficulty. But, as if by +mutual consent, they did not move a limb. They were hearing nothing but the +voice of their blood, and in the close contact they could distinctly feel the +pulse-beats.</p> +<p class="normal">Neither of them took in a word of the play which was being performed on the +stage.</p> +<p class="normal">At last the singing of the National Anthem announced the end of the piece. +The spectators breathed sighs of relief and pushed patiently and slowly through +the narrow doors out into the evening air of the garden, wiping and fanning +their hot faces with their handkerchiefs.</p> +<p class="normal">Ida looked pale, and sank down exhausted on a chair. "I would rather go +home," she said.</p> +<p class="normal">"Why not?" he agreed, and held out her jacket for her to put on. But the girl +took it from his hand and hung it over her arm. A rush as of fire streamed +through her body, making her skin prick and tingle.</p> +<p class="normal">Walking silently side by side they left the restaurant garden.</p> +<p class="normal">A house stood half-way up the hill, whence two roads led to the barracks: the +high-road down through the valley, and a footpath which led to the little wood +at the back of the barracks, and then went on further. Heppner chose the +footpath.</p> +<p class="normal">The evening had not brought coolness. The leaves hung motionless on the +branches. The twilight began to give way to night. The girl felt the tepid +breeze like a warm bath on her bare neck and arms.</p> +<p class="normal">At the edge of the little wood the pair turned and looked back. The lights of +the garden gleamed through the darkness. The noise of the merry-making was +hardly audible; only a trumpet and the rumble of a double bass, marking the +dance measure, could be heard distinctly.</p> +<p class="normal">In the shadow of the trees Heppner put his arm round his sister-in-law's +shoulders. She shrank slightly, and shuddered as if at a touch of frost. Pressed +closely to each other they walked on slowly, and still in silence. The man's hot +hand weighed heavily on the woman's shoulder; his throat was parched; his arms +were as if paralysed; he could not turn his head and look her in the face.</p> +<p class="normal">They had reached the end of the wood. Fields stretched away on both sides of +the path; the darkness of night surrounded them.</p> +<p class="normal">In the valley a train was passing. A cloud of sparks streamed from the funnel +of the engine; on the dark ground the windows of the lighted carriages threw +illuminated squares, which flashed along beside the train and vanished with it +in the dim distance of the night. Not a glimmer remained to show the trail of +man.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly the girl stood still, and with a wrench freed her self from the +man's arm. She gave a stifled cry, like the wail of one vanquished after a hard +struggle--then flung herself on his breast.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">After a night of terrifying visions and dreams Julie Heppner had become +quieter. She fought against the belief that her horrible suspicions could have +become truth. It was too monstrous; they could not have been brutal enough to +inflict this last injury on her as she lay dying!</p> +<p class="normal">But her doubts became certainties as she observed the altered demeanour of +her husband and sister. The restless yearning had vanished. They were more at +ease; there was a complete understanding between them; and their glances no +longer desired and hungered, but rather told of a happiness already tasted.</p> +<p class="normal">From this time the invalid's mind was filled with schemes of vengeance, and +she gradually conceived a mad determination to kill the guilty pair. She felt +that she had no time to lose. Her life was nearly spent. She could now only take +a few tottering steps; and increasing weakness would soon prevent her leaving +her bed.</p> +<p class="normal">From under her eyelids she watched the girl's every movement. Oh, how she +hated her, this healthy, blooming creature, with her splendid stature, her round +white arms, and her magnificent bust! How she hated her! Her freshness, her +youth, her beauty, her soft young body with which she had seduced the man, which +he had caressed!</p> +<p class="normal">And Ida never suspected that vengeance was imminent, that death was near +her--nearer even than to the dying woman herself!</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">The sands ran unceasingly through the hour-glass of the nearly expiring life. +Constant and violent attacks of coughing kept the invalid from sleep, until the +staff-surgeon prescribed morphia for her in fairly large doses. The poor woman +was near death; why should not her last days be lightened, her last sufferings +relieved? He cautioned the sergeant-major as to the danger of the drug, warning +him to be careful in pouring out the doses.</p> +<p class="normal">Julie did not know how to praise the staff-surgeon enough; the rest was such +a wonderful refreshment. True that on awaking her limbs felt rather heavy; but +at the same time she felt the strengthening effect of the long undisturbed +night's sleep. Sometimes she even thought she might begin to hope again; and +when she felt particularly well she regained a faint desire for life. That would +indeed be the most perfect vengeance, if she could live to spite them both, +perhaps for years!</p> +<p class="normal">Then her illness once more overcame her; she despaired anew, and hourly +planned revenge.</p> +<p class="normal">One morning, as she lay on her bed in a kind of stupor, she tried to recall +the events of the night. Something had happened which she had seen vaguely +through the veil of her torpor. Despite her drowsiness, she had been frightened, +horrified by it; yet afterwards the incident had vanished from her memory, and +now she was endeavouring to bring back the faint trace into consciousness.</p> +<p class="normal">It was just before she had fallen completely asleep, when her senses were +becoming dulled, and the final action of the morphia was about to set in, that a +slight cough had brought her back from the void, partially arousing her. While +in this condition she had perceived that Otto, her husband, had softly raised +himself in bed. Sitting up he had listened awhile, then had crept cautiously +towards her, and had remained standing by her bed for a long time.</p> +<p class="normal">Now she remembered: she had been horribly afraid that he would do her some +injury; that with his big strong hands he would take her by the throat and +strangle her. She was far too weak to resist him; indeed, she had felt that she +had not even the strength to cry out. But nothing of this had happened. He had +only stood there motionless by her bedside, looking into her face. She had felt +his gaze through eyelids that had closed with fatigue. Then she had gradually +sunk into sleep; and just at the very last she fancied she had been aware that +her husband was moving away from her bed.</p> +<p class="normal">She pressed her hands to her brow as if to prevent the thoughts from +escaping. She closed her eyes and forced herself to live again through the +events of the night. At last they came back to her, and the memory struck her +like a stinging lash, so that she cowered on her bed, clutching the coverlet +with her hands, and biting her handkerchief to keep herself from shrieking with +horror and hatred.</p> +<p class="normal">When he left her side her husband had turned towards the door--towards the +door beyond which her sister slept. And thus it was that the shameless pair took +advantage of that sleep for which she, poor invalid, had been so thankful! Even +this relief, this wretched remnant of happiness, they embittered for her!</p> +<p class="normal">Never again should the healing, sleep-giving drug cross her lips, to give the +opportunity for such abominations! Never! Not if it cost her her life! For that +life was no longer worth having.</p> +<p class="normal">But stay! She would dissemble; would appear to take the drug and then pretend +to go to sleep, in order to gain a chance of revenging herself on the adulterers +how, she did not know; but it must be soon. In two days the regiment would be +off to the autumn manœuvres, and by that time her vengeance must be consummated; +she felt her strength would not last much longer.</p> +<p class="normal">On the following morning there was much work and bustle going forward in the +battery, as early the next day they were to start for the manœuvres. The +sergeant-major had barely time to throw together the few things that he intended +to take with him.</p> +<p class="normal">"Ida," he shouted through the door, "cut some bread and butter for my +breakfast, and send it over to me in the orderly-room."</p> +<p class="normal">Julie was as usual on the sofa, which was pushed close up to the table. Her +sister was sitting doing some needlework.</p> +<p class="normal">Rather annoyed at the interruption Ida got up, and fetched bread and butter +out of the kitchen. With a large bread-knife she cut two slices, buttered them, +and carried them off.</p> +<p class="normal">The bread and the knife had been left lying close to the edge of the table. +The knife swayed a moment on the round crust, then it slipped slowly off the +loaf, and fell flat upon the rug in which the invalid was wrapped.</p> +<p class="normal">At first Julie let it lie there unnoticed; Ida could take it away when she +returned. Suddenly, however, an inspiration, as it were, flashed through her +mind. It was fate that this knife should have fallen on her sofa; it was to be +the instrument of her revenge! She took it quickly in her blanched hand and +examined it. It had a sharp, pointed blade, fit to go through flesh and bone; it +seemed to have been freshly sharpened. She felt the edge, and in so doing cut +her finger slightly. A few drops of blood spurted on to the shining steel, and +near them were the marks left by the bread which it had cut. Julie felt as +though she could not take her eyes off the blade.</p> +<p class="normal">But she heard the outer door close, and swiftly hid the knife under her +coverings.</p> +<p class="normal">Ida came in, and began to get her own breakfast. She looked about the table.</p> +<p class="normal">"Have you the bread-knife, Julie?" she asked. "It was certainly here."</p> +<p class="normal">The invalid answered sullenly: "I?--No."</p> +<p class="normal">"Didn't you see it lying here, Julie?" Ida asked again. "Just here on the +bread?"</p> +<p class="normal">"No," replied the invalid, "It wasn't there. I should have seen it if it had +been. Perhaps you took it with you to the orderly-room by mistake."</p> +<p class="normal">"Perhaps I did," said Ida; and in the afternoon she asked her brother-in-law: +"Otto, can you tell me whether I left the bread-knife lying in the orderly-room +this morning?"</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major answered: "Perhaps so. I'll see." After which nothing more +was said about the missing knife.</p> +<p class="normal">Julie Heppner felt strangely strong and well as she held the formidable +weapon in her hand. Now at last the hour had come in which she would be revenged +for years of suffering, and for the accumulated disgrace of her married life. +And she regarded her husband and sister with triumphant glances, as two victims +who must fall under her hand without chance of escape.</p> +<p class="normal">There was so much to pack up and arrange during the evening that no one +thought of giving the invalid her morphia.</p> +<p class="normal">"Otto, will you give me the medicine?" she requested at last. "I can prepare +it for myself."</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major started, and glanced at his sister-in-law, smiling +cynically. The devil! In all this silly excitement they might have sacrificed +the last night before their long separation, if the very person they were +deceiving had not herself come to the rescue.</p> +<p class="normal">Ida smiled back at him.</p> +<p class="normal">He gave the bottle and a spoon to his wife with a "Mind you don't take too +much." But he thought to himself, "Perhaps she will take a little more than is +ordered, and so sleep the sounder."</p> +<p class="normal">Then he went back to his sister-in-law and the packing.</p> +<p class="normal">"There!" said Julie, as she held out the spoon. "I believe I did take just a +little more than usual. Ida, will you help me to bed? I begin to feel tired +already!"</p> +<p class="normal">Just then it struck ten o'clock. The tattoo sounded.</p> +<p class="normal">"So late already?" exclaimed the sergeant-major. "I must be off at once with +this to the baggage-waggon."</p> +<p class="normal">He took up his box and turned to go. In the doorway he paused once more and +said, "I shall only just go through the battery and then come back to bed, for I +must be up betimes in the morning."</p> +<p class="normal">The sick woman lay waiting. She had taken the knife with her into the bedroom +hidden under her shawl, and now held it grasped convulsively in her hand.</p> +<p class="normal">Close by in the sitting-room her sister was bustling about. The door had +remained half open, so that her movements and occupations could be plainly +perceived from the bedroom. At last she undressed herself hurriedly, as if +forced to hasten.</p> +<p class="normal">Through the half opened door she called softly into the dark bedroom, "Julie, +are you asleep?"</p> +<p class="normal">Then again, louder and more insistently, "Julie, are you asleep?"</p> +<p class="normal">She stood listening awhile at the door, and then got into bed. The door was +still open and the sick woman heard how restlessly she tossed about.</p> +<p class="normal">An hour later the sergeant-major opened the outer door. He took his spurred +boots off in the corridor, and slipped cautiously into the bedroom.</p> +<p class="normal">Once more came a whispered, "Julie, are you asleep?" and the woman felt as if +she could have laughed aloud at the fools who let themselves be thus led by the +nose.</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner stripped his uniform off rapidly. Then he moved again to the side of +her bed and listened--as on that other night.</p> +<p class="normal">The invalid lay motionless.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">The deceived wife suffered the tortures of the damned; and it seemed to her that +her agony must be as eternal as hell itself. She clutched so hard at the +knife-handle that her nails were driven into her flesh, and she bit her lips +until they bled to keep herself from shrieking with frenzy. A thousand times she +thought that morning must be breaking; yet still the shameless pair were +together.</p> +<p class="normal">At last came an end to the horror.</p> +<p class="normal">The woman was asleep already when the man left her. She did not reply to the +farewell which he whispered to her from the door. Then he lay down, breathing +heavily, and in a moment had fallen into a deep sleep.</p> +<p class="normal">Julie waited a little while. Then she got up, her husband's snores and heavy +breathing drowning the slight noise of her movements. Now she was standing with +her bare feet on the boards. She had the knife in her right hand.</p> +<p class="normal">Which of the two should she punish first?</p> +<p class="normal">She must kill them both, that was certain. But before she died that shameless +creature should know the truth. A flood of abusive words, the most obscene and +filthy she could conjure up, lay on her tongue. She would shriek them into the +ears of her dying victims, would shout for joy, would exult over them! Oh, how +she would triumph! After all the shame, after all the sorrow, she would at last +remain the conqueror!</p> +<p class="normal">She dragged herself along by the bed carefully. With trembling steps she +crossed the threshold and went into the sitting-room. The feeble light of +breaking day struggled in, just clearly enough to enable her to distinguish +things. The room looked dreary, clothing was strewn about, the chairs were out +of their places, and the remains of the evening meal were still on the table. A +moist heat pervaded this scene of disorder. The suffocating air seemed laden +with a sense of the horrible, unnatural crime.</p> +<p class="normal">The sick woman staggered. There was a mist before her eyes. But with an +effort she pulled herself together and moved towards the bed.</p> +<p class="normal">Her sister was asleep, her face hidden by her loosened hair and pressed into +the pillow.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly she stirred, and as she stretched herself slowly the coverlet fell +rustling to the ground.</p> +<p class="normal">In the dim light her white skin gleamed.</p> +<p class="normal">The woman fixed her burning eyes on this beauty. Suddenly a mad smile +distorted her lips, and she raised the knife. She would plunge the blade into +her sister's adulterous bosom; and thus deal out justice, measure for measure.</p> +<p class="normal">But there came a rush of blood to her throat that choked her. She swayed, and +grasped at the empty air with clutching fingers. The knife slipped from her +relaxing hand and clanged on the floor. The dying woman collapsed with a dull +thud.</p> +<p class="normal">The sleeping girl turned over lazily.</p> +<p class="normal">"Be quiet, Otto!" she murmured.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly she gave a shriek of horror, rushed into the bedroom, and shook the +man, who could hardly be aroused from his sleep.</p> +<p class="normal">He followed her, still half dazed.</p> +<p class="normal">Julie Heppner lay dead, bathed in her own blood.</p> +<p class="normal">The husband and sister gazed at her horror-stricken, and shuddered as they +saw the knife lie gleaming near the corpse.</p> +<p class="normal">Death had passed over them.</p> +<p class="normal">Outside the trumpeter on duty blew the joyful fanfare of the reveille:--</p> +<br> + +<p class="center"><img src="images/pg163.png" alt="Reveille"></p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2> +<br> +<br> +<div style="margin-left:40%"> +<p class="continue">"The bullets are all of iron and lead;<br> +But it's not every bullet will strike a man dead."</p> +<p class="right">(<i>Old Soldier-song.</i>)</p> +</div> +<p class="continue">Kläre Güntz was nursing her child. Through the thick drooping branches of the +pear-tree the sun shone on the mother's breast and on the infant's little round +head. She bent over him with a happy smile, and held him close.</p> +<p class="normal">Sheltered on one side by a high wall, and on the other by the thick leafage, +the little garden seemed a haven of joy and peace far removed from all turmoil +and tumult of the outside world. The stillness of the summer morning reigned +unbroken.</p> +<p class="normal">A few more sucks, and then, sleepy and satisfied, the little head sank back +on its cushion. Kläre laid the baby-boy in his perambulator.</p> +<p class="normal">In the heavenly quiet of this secluded corner of the garden, in the presence +of her sleeping child, a picture of health, and from whose lusty sucking her +breast still ached a little: in the fulness of this bliss she felt so +overwhelmed with thankfulness that she could not help shedding a few holy tears +of joy over the blessedness of life.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly she checked herself.</p> +<p class="normal">Kläre Güntz did not exactly regard such moments of tender emotion as +inadmissible; but one should not give way to feelings of this sort too long. +Recognition of great happiness should always manifest itself in cheerful +activity. So she sat up, and began stitching energetically.</p> +<p class="normal">But the work was almost mechanical. Like Cæsar, Kläre Güntz could do two +things at once: mend, darn, sew, or anything else of the kind, and think at the +same time.</p> +<p class="normal">She was anxious about her husband,</p> +<p class="normal">Not on account of his health; she tended and cared for him too wisely, with +her housewifely watchfulness and love. But he, who usually stood so firmly +before the world, was suffering now from inward uncertainty. His moods were +unequal; and sometimes the cheerful, determined man would be quite overcome by +irresolute depression.</p> +<p class="normal">This depression was connected with the service. Kläre had found that out at +once. The eternal disputes with a disagreeable superior were probably to blame. +For Captain Mohr, who feared a rival and a successor in the senior-lieutenant, +opposed tooth and nail every improved regulation that Güntz endeavoured to +introduce in the battery, thus causing endless discussion and unpleasantness.</p> +<p class="normal">At last Frau Kläre had made a move. She came to the conclusion that she must +appeal to the colonel, who at once agreed to her request that Güntz should be +transferred, and Kläre was not a little proud of her success. In reality, +however, she was only responsible for it in the very smallest degree.</p> +<p class="normal">True, Falkenhein had heard her attentively, whereas he usually only listened +to ladies out of pure courtesy. He had a very high opinion of this clever, +capable woman. But he would have refused even her request without hesitation had +he not himself been convinced of the necessity for the measure demanded. The +discipline of the fifth battery, loose enough already, suffered more and more +from the constant friction between the two officers. He regarded Mohr as a very +harmful element in the service. The captain, through some outside influence--a +very influential relative of high position, it was said--had managed so far to +retain his post; but he, as colonel of the regiment, would see to it that the +undesirable officer should receive his dismissal in the spring at latest. And +meanwhile Güntz must be transferred from the fifth battery. It fell out +conveniently that Wegstetten should be ordered away just then to the Austrian +manœuvres. Güntz was put in charge of the sixth battery; and the affair had a +perfectly natural appearance, since the command properly fell to the +senior-lieutenant of the regiment.</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz had no idea of his wife's little intrigue. He assumed his new position +with fresh courage, and it seemed to please him; but nevertheless he did not +regain his former happy balance.</p> +<p class="normal">Something still troubled him; and the young wife, pleased as she was at her +successful assumption of the good fairy's part, was again at her wits' end to +discover the cause.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">The fact was that Güntz felt himself daily less and less satisfied with an +officer's career, and he almost began to believe that he had missed his +vocation. It was very hard to realise this only after he had devoted the twelve +best years of his life to soldiering. But he did not think it was yet too late +to make a decisive change, and he was earnestly elaborating a plan to send in +his resignation and devote all his time to mastering the technique of +engineering, his former favourite study.</p> +<p class="normal">He now determined to command the battery for a year, and then to decide +definitely whether to adopt this course or no.</p> +<p class="normal">On August 15 he took over the command of the sixth battery. He felt easier in +the more congenial atmosphere of his new department; yet his full zest for a +soldier's life did not return.</p> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten's battery seemed to be in excellent order; the only exception +being Lieutenant Landsberg. That young man had positively raved with joy when +Wegstetten's temporary absence was announced. The captain's hand had pressed +heavily on him, and Landsberg thought that now he would be able to live his life +more as he pleased. Senior-lieutenant Güntz, who was to be in command, was after +all virtually his equal, and it was quite impossible that he should be as strict +about duty as the full-blown captain of a battery.</p> +<p class="normal">So he at once began to behave with a self-satisfied independence which under +Wegstetten's rule would have been regarded simply as high treason. He did not +appear punctually on parade, and sometimes he would remain away altogether, even +when it was his week to be on duty.</p> +<p class="normal">But Güntz shook off his doubts and depression of spirits, and said to +Reimers:</p> +<p class="normal">"Look here, my boy, I shall have to make that Landsberg eat humble-pie; +there's more than one way of doing it. The worst of it is, though, that the +fellow is not an exception, but just a representative of the whole species of +decorative officers; and in the end it will be little enough use if one of them +is brought to book for once in a way. Directly a more lenient officer is in +command the whole thing will begin over again. And just consider the prospect, +my dear boy; if this slack, unenthusiastic crew increases in number, what will +happen then? Now and then, perhaps, one of them gains a little sense by the time +he is promoted to captain. With the greater number the chances are that during +the ten or more years that they are subalterns, utter superficiality will have +become their rule in life; from which, despite responsibility, they are unable +to break loose, and according to which, therefore, they act. Then, when they are +found to be good for nothing, they are either retired, and eat the unearned +bread of pensioners (unearned, of course, only in such cases as theirs), or, if +they have a cousin or great-uncle anywhere, who can put in a good word for them, +or if they belong to the best families, or if they are very religious--why, then +God Almighty intervenes, and the scandal waxes still grosser; for the useless +captains become staff-officers."</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers tried to reply, but Güntz waived off his objection with an impatient +gesture, and continued: "As to the young officer of whom we are speaking, the +disinclination which he manifests for the actual duties of his profession is a +fact, and, unfortunately distinctly typical. I assure you that most of our +lieutenants look at their life and work from the point of view of mere +schoolboys. They lounge about, do just the duty they are positively obliged to +do, laugh in their sleeves if they get rowed, and swear at every short hour +demanded by the service. Nothing but continuous lazing! Then in the end, every +one who has not been arrested for some piece of sheer stupidity is made +captain,--of course always supposing he has not been positively dishonest, or +done something criminal."</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers interrupted him: "Come, you know, the thing's not quite so simple as +all that!"</p> +<p class="normal">But Güntz replied: "Oh yes, it is! To master the elementary formulae +according to which the service is regulated, sufficiently to satisfy the mere +requirements of inspection--that is child's play. And yet on that the superior +has to found his judgment! But to work them out so thoroughly that one has them +at one's finger-ends at any moment and on every emergency (for that alone can +prove their efficiency) that is really difficult, demanding long and exhaustive +study. And who has the patience or the inclination to do it? Everything is +sacrificed to making a good show at the reviews. If only one has been able to +cut a good figure then, one has got out of it well! A teacher must have good and +bad pupils in his class, of course; but woe to the commander of a battery who is +disgraced by having a bad officer under him! He has not been able to educate +him! So, instead of an incapable man being got rid of when he deserves it, an +enormous amount of pains and trouble is wasted on him--absolutely wasted! +Disgusting love of show! Instead of our holding forth everlastingly to these +young people about upholding the honour of their position in the eyes of the +world, they should rather have it brought home to them that they ought to win +their own self-respect by honest and conscientious attention to duty."</p> +<p class="normal">"You exaggerate!" murmured Reimers.</p> +<p class="normal">"I wish indeed that I did!" rejoined Güntz. "But just you go to every +individual brother-subaltern and say: Is drilling recruits a pleasure to you? Do +you get up early, determined to work hard all day and to endeavour to train good +soldiers for the king? or, do you on awakening growl that the devil may take the +whole dirty pack of recruits?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Why don't you rather ask with what thoughts they awake during gun-practice +and the manœuvres?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Because the one depends upon the other, my dear fellow. Without the training +of recruits there would be no gun-practice and no manœuvres. It is just as if we +were military teachers. Well, gun-practice is to a certain extent an examination +for the men; while the manœuvres, as you know, don't teach the men anything new, +but are rather a test for the higher officers. But the teacher who only wants to +make a show at the examination, and who does not expend all the enthusiasm and +inspiration of his calling upon the teaching itself,--I have no use for him!"</p> +<p class="normal">"You really are unjust!" exclaimed Reimers.</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, perhaps so----"</p> +<p class="normal">"You see, you allow it yourself!"</p> +<p class="normal">"But in a different way from what you mean. I say that the subalterns +themselves are only in part answerable for their faults, the other part of the +responsibility is borne by the entire system."</p> +<p class="normal">"What system?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Why, the system of our entire army service, of our military education."</p> +<p class="normal">"Has it not been tested in three campaigns?"</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz was silent for a time, and then he answered, turning away: "Yes, +certainly. But you are not unaware of the fact that a system can go on being +tested until the moment when it collapses?"</p> +<p class="normal">"And anyhow," he continued, "all this refers to private thoughts of my own, +about which I can't tell you just yet. I am now going to make the final +experiment, and then I shall have to decide."</p> +<p class="normal">"What?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Whether I remain an officer or not."</p> +<p class="normal">This struck Reimers like a blow. "Güntz, you are mad!" he cried.</p> +<p class="normal">His friend shook his head gravely, and said, "We shall see."</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Meanwhile, Güntz coolly took up the glove which Landsberg in his presumption had +thrown down. He had decided that, if possible, he would only meet the young +man's impudence with the weapons which stood at his command as the head of the +battery.</p> +<p class="normal">One day Güntz had ordered Landsberg to superintend the checking of the stores +ordered by the regiment, and found him instead fast asleep and carefully covered +up on a sofa. This was a gross breach of duty; for according to the rules the +officer in charge should have himself supervised the checking of the stores by +one of the sergeants. But this was not all; Landsberg had had gunners posted on +the watch, so that he should not be surprised by his commanding officer, and +that was misappropriation of the service staff.</p> +<p class="normal">When called to order, he coolly excused himself: "I beg your pardon, sir; but +I really thought it could not matter much about a few dozen horseshoe nails more +or less."</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz felt it would have been trouble wasted to explain to the lieutenant how +it was perfectly possible that the lack of "a few dozen horseshoe nails" might +be the cause of a battery's immobility in time of need. He simply rebuked him +briefly and sharply.</p> +<p class="normal">Landsberg took the punishment in strictly correct style. But a most +unreasonable anger gleamed in his eyes. He made up his mind in all seriousness +that he would complain of Güntz, and tried to get his fellow-subaltern, Reimers, +to associate himself with him. Reimers, however, refused politely and decidedly, +and moreover spoke to Landsberg for his good, strongly advising him to submit to +discipline and amend his behaviour.</p> +<p class="normal">Landsberg was apparently convinced, and for a time his behaviour rarely gave +occasion for blame. But in the circle of the younger officers he let fall dark +insinuations that he would be revenged for the "insult" which the hateful +martinet Güntz had inflicted on him. He gradually worked up a genuine hatred of +Güntz, and this hatred took an important place in his previously empty life. He +vowed Güntz must stand in front of his pistol, even if it cost him his officer's +sword-knot. With every reprimand this fury increased, till Landsberg determined +to pick a quarrel with Güntz and somehow positively insult him, when a duel +would be unavoidable.</p> +<p class="normal">At last an accident brought things to a climax.</p> +<p class="normal">The officers of the second division of the regiment were in the habit of +going occasionally to the Auer, a lonely forest tavern, during the summer +months, to play skittles. The Auer was about an hour's distance from the +garrison, and lay nearly in the middle of the pine forest, which extended over +the mountains and beyond the frontier. The younger men bicycled there and back, +while their elders either rode or drove. Major Schrader arranged these +excursions, and bore the expenses himself. They were partly intended to provide +opportunities for personal intercourse between him and his officers.</p> +<p class="normal">He declared himself a lover of rural life, and the party always fell in with +country ways quite contentedly. Pilsener beer was the tipple, or, at most, a +little brandy or gin; and in the way of food, fresh eggs and butter, black +country bread and strong ham, played the principal parts. Scandal-mongers of +course wanted to know whether, the Auer's landlady had been a former sweetheart +of the major's, and Schrader defended himself laughingly against the +insinuation; although he need not have been ashamed of the dignified, buxom +woman, so scrupulously neat and clean. It certainly was a fact that no one ever +saw the landlord of the Auer, and that the landlady's two smart boys, who helped +so cheerfully in picking up the skittles, bore a striking resemblance to the +major.</p> +<p class="normal">It was in the courtyard of the Auer tavern, when, after one of these +excursions of Major Schrader's, they were getting their bicycles out of the +shed, that Landsberg's rancour broke out.</p> +<p class="normal">He had not been thinking about his grievances at the moment. He had preferred +a stronger drink than the light beer, had almost emptied a half bottle of gin, +and was more inclined for sleep than for anything else, so that he did not find +his bicycle quickly. Güntz made some harmless chaffing remark, and a violent +quarrel broke out.</p> +<p class="normal">Finally Güntz turned away, shrugging his shoulders. He considered that +Landsberg was drunk. But the lieutenant suddenly ran after him and aimed a blow +at him, striking him on the arm. The other men at once threw themselves between +the two, and held Landsberg fast. The young fellow, perfectly mad with rage, +kicked out with his feet and literally foamed at the mouth.</p> +<p class="normal">Schrader had him taken home in a carriage by his adjutant and Captain +Madelung. To Reimers he said: "My dear Reimers, you will see that your friend +Güntz goes home quietly, won't you?" And Reimers replied: "Yes, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz signed to his friend to remain behind. From the dark skittle-alley they +could watch their comrades starting for the town, all much depressed by the +untoward occurrence, speaking in undertones, and accompanying their whispered +words with restrained gestures.</p> +<p class="normal">For a few minutes Güntz walked silently up and down the gravel-strewn +skittle-alley. Reimers sat down in a small arbour, where the empty barrel still +lay upon a bed of ice. When Güntz stood still, Reimers could hear the drops of +the melting ice falling into the earthen basin. Otherwise all was silent, until +the steps on the crunching gravel approached once more.</p> +<p class="normal">"I think we can go now," said Güntz, in his calm voice, which only sounded a +little harder than usual.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers answered: "All right, if you like."</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes. Let us go."</p> +<p class="normal">In the courtyard the senior-lieutenant suddenly stood still. "The devil! I am +horribly thirsty!" he said, clearing his throat.</p> +<p class="normal">"Shall I fetch you a glass of beer from the bar?" suggested Reimers.</p> +<p class="normal">"No, don't bother. Water will do me more good," replied Güntz.</p> +<p class="normal">He returned to the arbour, fetched a glass, and went to the well. The pump +creaked discordantly in the stillness of the night.</p> +<p class="normal">In the moonlight Reimers saw how his friend drank the clear water with eager +gulps, filled the glass again, and again emptied it.</p> +<p class="normal">Then they went towards the shed in which the bicycles had been stored.</p> +<p class="normal">"That was delicious water," said Güntz, with a sigh of satisfaction. "The +strength of the forest and of the earth!"</p> +<p class="normal">The shed was badly lighted by a miserable oil lamp. The two machines were +leaning against the wall. Outside was a third--Landsberg's. Güntz pushed it in +under cover.</p> +<p class="normal">"It would be a pity," he said, "for the night dew to spoil the nickel."</p> +<p class="normal">They wheeled their bicycles slowly through the gate, and as they were +starting Güntz said: "Look here, dear boy; will you go to Landsberg early +to-morrow morning and take him a challenge? I will see about the announcement to +the court of honour myself."</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers answered simply, "Yes." And then he added: "But what are the +conditions?"</p> +<p class="normal">The senior-lieutenant considered for a moment.</p> +<p class="normal">"Oh, well," he said at last, "the court of honour will decide as to that. +Meanwhile, say fifteen paces, and three exchanges of shots."</p> +<p class="normal">"Right."</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, off then! But look out, it's horribly dark."</p> +<p class="normal">The two friends rode in silence until they reached the garden gate of Güntz's +house. The senior-lieutenant would have said a mere brief farewell, but Reimers +held him fast.</p> +<p class="normal">"Güntz," he said, "I can't help thinking that a challenge on grounds +connected with the service is incorrect. And--I believe that it is so in the +present instance."</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes," replied Güntz, "the private reason is undoubtedly connected with the +service. Landsberg wishes to revenge himself because I reprimanded him sharply. +But overtly the affair has arisen quite otherwise. I have no alternative but to +challenge him."</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, you are right," acknowledged Reimers. He stood awhile leaning against +his bicycle, deep in thought, until Güntz pressed his hand, and said, "Good +night, dear boy!"</p> +<p class="normal">And Reimers answered, "Good-night, my dear Güntz." Güntz put his bicycle +carefully away, and then quietly went upstairs. During the summer months, when +his duty sometimes began at five o'clock or even earlier, he occupied a small +bedroom next to the larger one in which his wife and child slept. But the door +of communication between the two rooms was always open.</p> +<p class="normal">In a few rapid movements he took off his sword and his spurred boots. Then he +went to the door of the bedroom and listened in the darkness. A slight breeze +came from the garden and moved the lowered window-blind with the regularity of a +pendulum. Somewhere in the grass a cricket was chirping; and through the slight +noises the deep contented breathing of the two sleepers could be heard, slow and +deep the mother's, and the child's soft and light.</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz leant against the lintel and listened lovingly to the sweet, regular +sounds. This room contained a world of happiness for him; and the breathing of +his sleeping dear ones was to him the most priceless music.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly he shivered in the warm August air. An over-powering fatigue almost +paralysed his limbs, and one single horrible thought filled his mind.</p> +<p class="normal">Wearily he pulled off his clothes, and was soon wrapped in heavy sleep.</p> +<p class="normal">The court of honour endorsed the challenge but it modified the terms, +arranging that instead of three interchanges of shots there should be two, at +fifteen paces. The duel was to take place early the next morning, at half-past +five, on the pistol-practice ground of the regiment.</p> +<p class="normal">After Reimers had presented the challenge to Landsberg, he made all the +necessary arrangements to act as his friend's second. He whispered the time and +the place to Güntz while at the table in the orderly-room signing despatches.</p> +<p class="normal">The senior-lieutenant nodded curtly, and answered: "Right; I'll speak to you +later."</p> +<p class="normal">Sergeant-major Heppner approached him, and said: "At what time to-morrow +morning do you wish the battery to be ready for the tactical exercises, sir?"</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz was at once on the spot. He signed the order and leant back.</p> +<p class="normal">"To-morrow? H'm!" he murmured.</p> +<p class="normal">The duel was to take place at half-past five. He considered; in a quarter of +an hour one could easily cover the short distance between the shooting-ground +and the barracks.</p> +<p class="normal">"Six sharp," he then answered decisively.</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner replied: "Yes, sir, six o'clock;" and wrote the time in the +order-book.</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, six o'clock," repeated Güntz.</p> +<p class="normal">If it were no longer possible for him, then Reimers would command the +battery.</p> +<p class="normal">It was Wednesday, the day on which Reimers was engaged to dine with the +Güntzes. He would have excused himself, so that his friend should devote himself +undisturbed to his wife and child, but Güntz refused: "Nothing of the kind, my +boy. Why, Kläre might smell a rat! No, no! you must come. But you'll have to put +on another expression, you know!"</p> +<p class="normal">So Reimers went, but left unusually early, and when he returned to his +quarters Gähler handed him a letter from Falkenhein.</p> +<p class="normal">The colonel wrote as follows:</p> +<p class="normal">"MY DEAR REIMERS,--I return from Kühren about eleven o'clock, and I beg of +you to look me up this evening without fail. "Yours, "v. F."</p> +<p class="normal">Here was a glimmer of hope! Perhaps this wretched duel might yet be avoided! +The colonel of a regiment had in certain cases the right to suspend the judgment +of the court of honour, and to refer the matter directly to the throne for a +decision.</p> +<p class="normal">Frankly, Reimers could not think on what, in this case, such interference +could be based. The affair seemed just as clear and distinct as could well be; a +verbal quarrel whence resulted the actual insult, which, though not serious, +left not the smallest loophole for a revocation. The duel seemed utterly +inevitable.</p> +<p class="normal">Falkenhein was already waiting for him. The firm, clear-headed man was in a +state of almost feverish excitement. He walked restlessly up and down the room, +constantly buttoning and unbuttoning a button of his coat.</p> +<p class="normal">"Thank you for coming, my dear Reimers," he said in a voice of forced +steadiness, and speaking in jerky sentences. "Tell me, you are his second +to-morrow, are you not?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, sir," answered Reimers.</p> +<p class="normal">"It is a good thing that you will be there. Yes, it is a good thing. I--I +felt I must speak to you about it. It is true that a commander should come to +his decisions alone, and I have done that--but now I must speak to some-one. I +have not been to Kühren; I sent the carriage away, and have been walking in the +forest for a long time, and alone. This duel--it is a mistake, a terrible +mistake; that's certain. But my hands are tied. I can do nothing to prevent it. +And yet if things go badly, I shall be partially responsible. My best officer, +one of the best, most excellent of men, against a lazy ne'er-do-weel! God knows +that laws are sometimes utterly unreasonable, and many of our ideas are equally +senseless. I have racked my brains to find a way out of this difficulty, and it +seems impossible. I know that Landsberg's real reason is military antagonism; +but despite that, I dare not interfere."</p> +<p class="normal">The colonel stopped suddenly right in front of the lieu-tenant, and looking +him squarely in the eyes, asked: "Do you really think that Güntz's honour is +affected?"</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers was silent. A "yes" seemed to him quite contrary to reason, and yet +he could not say "no."</p> +<p class="normal">Falkenhein had again begun to walk up and down the room, not awaiting a +reply.</p> +<p class="normal">At last he turned again to Reimers.</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, the matter must take its course," he said, in a somewhat calmer tone. +"One thing, however, I ask you to do for me. Directly all is over to-morrow, +will you come and tell me--quite privately? I shall hear officially from +Kauerhof. He's to be umpire, isn't he? And be quick, won't you, even if all has +gone well?--a 'three-cross' ride!"[A]</p> +<p class="normal"> +[Footnote A: The necessary speed in conveying military despatches is indicated +by crosses. Thus, one cross signifies walking and trotting alternately; two +crosses, a quick trot; and three crosses, as fast as the strength of the horse +will permit.]</p> +<p class="normal"> +He held the lieutenant's hand in his, and pressed it warmly. His depression +seemed to have partly passed away.</p> +<p class="normal">"But you must not break your neck," he concluded, smiling slightly. "And now +let us hope for a happy meeting!"</p> +<p class="normal">In passing Reimers glanced at the Güntzes' villa. It was all in darkness, +save for the window of his friend's study on the ground floor, whence a light +was still gleaming.</p> +<p class="normal">Within, Güntz sat at his writing-table, with several sheets of paper lying +before him. For more than an hour he had been staring at the white sheets and +reflecting.</p> +<p class="normal">Shortly after ten Kläre had fed her baby; and then, the sleeping child +tenderly clasped in her arms, she had gone up-stairs. Her husband had watched +her through the half-open door, and the nursery-lullaby with which she hummed +the child to sleep sounded in his ears for long after.</p> +<p class="normal">Now he sat there, not knowing whether he would ever again see his wife's +honest, sensible eyes, or the droll, wondering gaze of his child.</p> +<p class="normal">A hard battle was going on within him, and once or twice he raised his hand +as if to push a heavy weight from his brow.</p> +<p class="normal">The cuckoo-clock in the corner by the stove cuckooed twelve times, and then +from without sounded the deep, full tone of the parish-church clock. The new day +had begun.</p> +<p class="normal">With a strong effort Güntz raised himself, bent over the white leaves, and +with swift-moving pen filled page after page.</p> +<p class="normal">He had decided to send in his resignation.</p> +<p class="normal">The request should go up to the regiment before the duel, and now he was +explaining to Reimers the reasons which had decided him to take this sudden +step. To Reimers alone. But if he wished he might show the letter to the +colonel. The opinion of any one else was immaterial to him.</p> +<p class="normal">At the outset he begged his friend not to think that he had withdrawn from +the duel out of cowardice. He could point to his whole previous life in support +of this--the life of a quiet, resolute man, always consistent with his +principles. And, after all, Reimers knew and trusted him.</p> +<p class="normal">This duel was utterly senseless, brought about as it had been by a laughably +trivial occurrence; and, moreover, it was in the highest degree unfair, despite +the fact that both duellists would face each other under similar conditions, +with similar weapons, and with the same sun and the same wind. It was unfair, +because the stakes were of such totally unequal value. A man in his prime, who +had done good work in his profession and promised to do still more, must pit +himself against an irresponsible young fellow, who up to the present had shirked +everything serious. And then Güntz's position as husband and father must be +compared with his opponent's irregular life. An absolute cypher was opposed to a +number that counted; and, moreover, to a number doubled in its capacity.</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz said roundly that he regarded his life as too valuable to be thrown +into the balance of this quarrel.</p> +<p class="normal">Then he went more into detail with regard to the doubts which for weeks had +been harassing him and driving him towards the decision to renounce his right to +wear the uniform of an officer; the strong doubts as to whether, under existing +conditions, German officers were not undertaking work of no benefit to the +future.</p> +<p class="normal">He did not mean to say that the calling of an officer was an altogether +unproductive vocation. The yearly training of a large number of soldiers, who +supported the credit of the kingdom, and thereby insured peace, was, no doubt, a +positive factor in both political and social life.</p> +<p class="normal">But was this bulwark, which year by year was rebuilt and strengthened anew, +really secure enough to withstand storms and assaults?</p> +<p class="normal">That was just what he doubted.</p> +<p class="normal">The organisation of the German army rested on foundations which had been laid +nearly a hundred years ago. Prussian institutions, tested by many victories, had +been transferred to the new empire, and were still continued. Since the great +war they had never seriously been put to the proof; and during the three last +decades they had only been altered in the most trifling details. In three long +decades! And in one of those decades the world at large had advanced as much as +in the whole previous century!</p> +<p class="normal">The system of the military training of the men, evolved in an age of +patriarchal bureaucratic government, had remained pedantically the same, +counting on an ever-present patriotism. Meanwhile, in place of the previous +overwhelming preponderance of country recruits, a fresh element had now been +introduced: the strong social-democratic tendencies of the industrial workers, +who, it is true, did not compose the majority of the contingents, but who, with +their highly-developed intelligence, always exerted a very powerful influence.</p> +<p class="normal">Now, instead of turning this highly-developed intelligence to good account, +they bound it hand and foot on the rack of an everlasting drill, which could not +have been more soullessly mechanical in the time of Frederick the Great. And +they expected this purely mechanical drill to hold together men from whom all +joyful spontaneity was taken by the stiff, wooden formalism of their duty, and +not a few of whom cherished the very opposite of patriotism in their breasts! +Drill was to maintain discipline among them? It held them together as an iron +hoop holds together a cask, the dry staves of which would fall asunder at the +first kick!</p> +<p class="normal">Confronting the men stood their officers, who, although many of them actuated +by the most honourable intentions, were quite incompetent to guide the recruits +to a convinced and conscious obedience, a voluntary patriotism. The officer, as +a consequence of his origin or education, was separated by a veritable abyss +from the sensations and thoughts of the common soldier; and, on the other hand, +the soldier was unable to understand the spirit in which he was treated by the +officer. It thus came about that the officer for the most part had a pretty low +opinion of the privates, while the private did not fail to form his own +conclusions as to the officers.</p> +<p class="normal">The constancy with which the German corps of officers clung to the old +principles of army organisation was worthy of a better cause. Pinning their +faith to their glorious traditions, all criticism was set down as malicious +gossip, even if it came from their own midst. To an ideal of such doubtful value +they devoted their industry and strength. And it was strange how little the +analogy of the miserable year 1806 shook military self-confidence, despite the +startling points of resemblance. Now, as then, the complaint was of the +one-sided reactionary training of the officers, which must separate them from +the forward movement of the people; now, as then, there was a kind of hidebound +narrow-mindedness, too often degenerating into overweening self-conceit, making +them a laughing-stock to civilians; and, finally, now as then, there were the +same stiff, wooden regulations, the mechanical drill, which, despite all +personal bravery, failed utterly before the convinced enthusiastic onrush of the +revolutionary army. But worse than defeat in battles was the cowardly +capitulation of strongholds which ensued. The commanders of those days certainly +understood how to command the evolutions of a battalion, how to direct a parade +march, and how to ensure that all pigtails were of the regulation length; but +despite all the drill and all the pedantry, they remained strangers to the +inspiration which inaugurated a new era of military service--the new patriotism, +the love of one's country. They had stood in a strongly personal relationship to +their king but it no longer sufficed to save them. They had shouted "Long live +the king!" thousands of times; yet they betrayed the king when they presumed he +had lost because they knew no better.</p> +<p class="normal">They had <i>played</i> too long at being soldiers to be able really to be +soldiers.</p> +<p class="normal">Subsequently such men as Scharnhorst, Boyen, and Gneisenau directed the +military service into the new paths of allegiance to the nation; a work which +was crowned by the unexampled successes of the years 1870-71. But since that +epoch, while the foundation of the system--the people themselves--had with each +new year altered and progressed in every relation of life, yet the system itself +had remained unchanged, and the German officer's devotion to duty, similarly +unchanged, was largely wasted by being directed into worn-out channels.</p> +<p class="normal">Again, it must be deeply deplored that promotions were no longer due to +military efficiency alone, but also to victories achieved at the courts of +princes. To this circumstance, opening up, as it did, an anything but reassuring +view of the good faith of the authorities, was to be added yet another, also +tending to undermine the soundness of the army: the ever-increasing luxury +apparent in military circles. Of necessity, and in the true interests of the +army, the best material in the corps of officers--the members of the old noble +and gentle "army nobility"--were careful to shun this vice. These officers, +whose families had often served the king as soldiers for four or five +generations, held fast to a Spartan simplicity of life, and to the old Prussian +independence of material comforts, and with them were all those who regarded +their vocation as something loftier than an amusement. Otherwise, a most +unsoldierlike luxury was spreading unhindered in all directions, causing the +young subalterns especially to neglect their duties, and rendering them in great +measure absolutely unfit for real hard work and privations. And despite the +numerous orders levelled against them, these tendencies continued to increase, +because of the lack of a good example in high quarters.</p> +<p class="normal">The plain and simple uniform in which so many great victories had been won no +longer sufficed. New embellishments medals, cords, trimmings, or what not were +eternally being devised. As though such mere external trumpery could create anew +the now waning love for military service!</p> +<p class="normal">In what striking contrast stood the magnificent goblets of delicate porcelain +and other costly materials, in which the officers of the Chinese Expedition +offered champagne to their French comrades, to that broken-footed glass cup out +of which--and in abominably bad wine--King William drank to the victors of St. +Privat!</p> +<p class="normal">All became clear to Güntz as he wrote, and he felt as though a heavy burden +were being lifted from his shoulders.</p> +<p class="normal">He concluded: "I can no longer regard as valuable the work which as an +officer it is my duty to perform, and have therefore decided to resign my +commission. Although I am only one small wheel in a large and complicated +machine, I have still the right to give my opinion; and I am making use of that +right because I recognise that the mechanical power which drives this machine is +threatened with paralysis, and will, in my view, infallibly succumb unless there +is an entire reconstruction of the whole fabric. That, I fear, is not to be +expected within any reasonable time."</p> +<p class="normal">He laid down his pen, and looked thoughtfully at the closely written sheets.</p> +<p class="normal">Everything that he had set down had been well considered and frequently +thought over; but was it right, after all, to send in his application just at +this moment? Was it right for him to break the vow he had made to himself that +he would test himself carefully, that he would pass a year in command of the +battery before making his final decision? Ought he not to stand by the calling +to which his life had been dedicated, until he could resign quite voluntarily, +fully convinced, and without any extraneous considerations? Without, for +instance, the danger of losing his life through the custom of this calling--a +custom, just or unjust, but which at any rate was in operation and perfectly +well known to him?</p> +<p class="normal">The lamp under the green shade began to burn less brightly, and flickered +with a quick hissing sound. The hands of the cuckoo-clock pointed to half-past +four.</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz got up and stretched himself. He walked firmly to the window, pushed +the curtains far back, and opened both sides of the casement.</p> +<p class="normal">Outside the warm summer's night was giving place to the dawn of day. A cool +morning breeze blew into the room, fluttering the curtains, and extinguishing +the lamp's weak flame. It cooled the man's eyes and filled his lungs with fresh +air.</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz drew himself up. He returned to the writing-table, placed the loose +leaves carefully in order, and locked them in a drawer.</p> +<p class="normal">Right or wrong he would keep his word.</p> +<p class="normal">He scribbled a few words on a sheet of paper: "My Kläre, I love you +unspeakably. You and the boy. Be brave!"</p> +<p class="normal">He glanced round to see where he should lay the paper. In the end he folded +it up, and put it under a meteoric stone, shaped like a fungus, which during +their honeymoon he had found on the sand-dunes of the Heligoland coast.</p> +<p class="normal">The servant knocked, and brought in the coffee. He had found the +senior-lieutenant's bed untouched, and his face showed his surprise.</p> +<p class="normal">The coffee was too hot, but the water in the carafe was deliciously cold. +Güntz damped his handkerchief and wiped the ravages of the night from his brow +and eyes.</p> +<p class="normal">Then he went again to the window and the refreshing morning breeze. He was in +good spirits. He felt as if nothing untoward could happen to him that day.</p> +<p class="normal">There was a sound of hoofs in the street outside. The groom had brought the +brown mare. He held the animal before the garden gate and carefully took a piece +of straw out of her mane.</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz told him to walk her quietly up and down. He must wait for Reimers, who +would be sure to come directly.</p> +<p class="normal">Soon in between the measured paces of the led horse came the sound of a +quicker step. Güntz recognised the fidgety trot for that of Reimers horse "Jay." +He went out of the house and through the iron gate into the street.</p> +<p class="normal">"Morning, my boy!" he said, and offered his hand to Reimers. Then he mounted, +and both trotted down the street in silence.</p> +<p class="normal">Once outside the town Güntz let his mare slow down. "We are in plenty of +time," he said.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly he stopped and listened. A horse's trot and the rumbling of a +carriage could be heard coming from the town.</p> +<p class="normal">"The others," said the senior-lieutenant. "Let us get on."</p> +<p class="normal">The pistol practice-ground lay half way up the incline upon a shelf-like +terrace of the hillside, a smooth grassy space, surrounded on both sides by high +bushes; at the lower end there was a shed built of strong boards, in which tools +and targets were stored.</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz and Reimers dismounted at the shed, and fastened up their horses by the +bridle. Reimers pressed his friend's hand once more, gazing at him with anxious +eyes. He could not speak.</p> +<p class="normal">They stood side by side on the edge of the terrace, whence they could look +down upon the country road in the valley below. A carriage was approaching, +followed by three riders: Landsberg, little Dr. von Fröben, his second, and +Gretzschel, who was brought chiefly to look after the horses.</p> +<p class="normal">The carriage stopped at the foot of the hill. Kauerhof got out, with the +pistol cases in his hand, and after him the surgeon-major and his assistant, +both with instrument cases. The three other men rode slowly behind them up the +steep incline.</p> +<p class="normal">Before the shed, brief polite greetings were exchanged, Gretzschel remaining +there with the horses.</p> +<p class="normal">There was a singular expression of shyness on the faces of all. One might +have fancied that these men were assembled for some guilty purpose. Güntz alone +looked frank and unembarrassed.</p> +<p class="normal">The prescribed attempts at reconciliation were unsuccessful. Güntz shook his +head in refusal.</p> +<p class="normal">Then Kauerhof began to measure the distance. He had long legs, and he made +the fifteen paces as lengthy as possible.</p> +<p class="normal">Just at this moment the sun rose above the mountains on the other side of the +valley.</p> +<p class="normal">Kauerhof loaded the pistols, and the seconds carried them to their +principals. Güntz nodded cheerfully to Reimers as he took his weapon.</p> +<p class="normal">The umpire then took up his position and convinced himself with a glance that +all was prepared. The duellists were standing at their marked lines, the seconds +at a little distance alongside of them. He took out his watch, and glancing at +it said: "I shall count: ready, one, then three seconds; two, and again three +seconds; then, stop! Between one and stop, the gentlemen may fire."</p> +<p class="normal">He glanced round once more. The four officers stood motionless in the clear +light of the sun, Landsberg sideways, Güntz with his broad chest facing his +opponent. The junior surgeon wiped the moisture from his brow; Andreae tugged +nervously at his hair.</p> +<p class="normal">The umpire counted.</p> +<p class="normal">Landsberg raised his pistol at once and fired. Güntz heard the bullet whizz +past on his left. He had directed his barrel a little to the side of his +opponent's shoulder, and pressed the trigger. The shot missed fire. He had +forgotten to cock the pistol.</p> +<p class="normal">The second attempt at reconciliation was also unsuccessful.</p> +<p class="normal">Again Kauerhof gave the word.</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz saw Landsberg's pistol aimed directly at his breast. Then Landsberg +looked up, and for the hundredth part of a second caught his opponent's gaze.</p> +<p class="normal">Landsberg's aim was unerringly directed on his man, when suddenly his hand +began to shake, and he fired blindly, just as he heard Güntz's bullet whistle +past him.</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz stood unharmed, a happy smile on his good-natured, open face.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers hastened up to him and seized his hand. He would have liked to throw +his arms round the dear fellow's neck.</p> +<p class="normal">Now the reconciliation took place, and when the opponents shook hands +Landsberg's glance fell before the honest eyes of the senior-lieutenant.</p> +<p class="normal">All traces of embarrassment vanished from the men's faces. There were sighs +of relief, and hearty congratulations; the two doctors packed up their grisly +instruments again; all were anxious to get away, and to report the fortunate +result of the duel to their comrades. Reimers was on his horse and already +starting off at a trot, when Güntz called to him: "Where are you going in such a +hurry?"</p> +<p class="normal">And Reimers shouted back gaily: "The colonel's waiting. 'Three crosses,' my +orders say!"</p> +<p class="normal">The senior-lieutenant rode slowly down. He himself had plenty of time to +spare. It was only ten minutes after the half hour, and it was not until six +o'clock that he was due at the tactical exercises.</p> +<p class="normal">The carriage and the three riders overtook him. Dr. von Fröben and Gretzschel +greeted him with candid joy in their faces; Landsberg was a little stiff. The +surgeon-major blew him a kiss from the carriage. Güntz responded cordially, and +continued at his leisurely pace.</p> +<p class="normal">The colonel was looking out into the street from his high summer-house in the +garden. Reimers recognised him from a distance, and as nothing better occurred +to him he took off his cap and waved it in the air.</p> +<p class="normal">Falkenhein checked him energetically when he was preparing to dismount. "Stay +where you are! Stay where you are!" he cried. "So all has gone well?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, sir," answered Reimers, still out of breath with his quick ride.</p> +<p class="normal">The colonel heaved a sigh of relief.</p> +<p class="normal">"I am glad; very, very glad!" he said.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">In the barrack-yard Gähler was waiting for his master. He handed him his helmet +and bandolier and took the forage-cap in exchange.</p> +<p class="normal">The battery was ready to move on. Reimers set his horse to a short gallop and +rode up to Güntz. "I beg to report myself, sir," he said. Güntz nodded to him +smilingly, and gave the words of command in his clear, resonant voice.</p> +<p class="normal">In the midst of the exercises two riders suddenly approached from the town. +At first it was difficult to recognise them in the thick dust; but +Sergeant-major Heppner announced that he saw the colonel's big sorrel horse. It +was in fact the colonel and his adjutant.</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz galloped up to them and gave his report.</p> +<p class="normal">Falkenhein thanked him.</p> +<p class="normal">"I only wanted to watch you for a little," he said simply. And his eyes shone +joyfully on seeing the officer he had learnt to love stand unhurt before him.</p> +<p class="normal">He approached the battery and greeted them with his powerful voice: "Good +morning, sixth battery!"</p> +<p class="normal">And the many-voiced reply was shouted back: "Good morning, sir!"</p> +<p class="normal">Falkenhein rode slowly along the ranks, taking stock of everything with his +sharp eyes; then he spoke: "Senior-lieutenant Güntz, be kind enough to +continue!"</p> +<p class="normal">It was a lucky day. Everything went like clockwork; there was not a hitch, +not the smallest oversight.</p> +<p class="normal">At the conclusion of the exercises the colonel ordered the officers and +non-commissioned officers to come to him. His criticism contained nothing but +approbation, and he crowned his praise by saying: "I rejoice that the sixth +battery, though under new leadership, has again proved its excellence. And I am +proud of commanding a regiment to which belong such admirable officers and +non-commissioned officers and such a faultlessly trained battery."</p> +<p class="normal">He shook hands with Güntz, and whispered to him softly: "I rejoice +doubly--threefold--a hundredfold, my dear Güntz."</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz gave the order to march.</p> +<p class="normal">He rode thoughtfully beside Reimers at the head of the battery. The colonel's +unstinted praise was a great joy to him; but besides that he had found a still +higher prize: for the first time during many months he had a heartfelt +conviction of his vocation as an officer. He had done his duty this morning as +if rejuvenated; all doubts had left him, and it did not seem as if a tinge of +bitterness remained behind.</p> +<p class="normal">He thought of all those written sheets which he had locked in his desk during +the night. When had he found his way through the wood? At the writing-table, or +here in the rye-stubble in which the tracks of the gun-carriage wheels had made +deep ruts?</p> +<p class="normal">Well, in any case he had done right not to break away suddenly from the time +of probation on which he himself had determined; for it was certainly strange +how a calm, stead-fast man, such as he believed himself to be, could be so +swayed backwards and forwards in opposite directions in such a short time. +During the night he had been firmly resolved to retire; a few hours later this +step seemed an impossibility to him.</p> +<p class="normal">Was there really so little, then, in his imagined calmness and steadfastness?</p> +<p class="normal">But he was glad that the time of probation, though not shortened, would, on +the other hand, not have to be extended. He would command the battery for a +year; by then he must have made his decision.</p> +<p class="normal">And for to-day he was determined to put no check on his joy and good humour.</p> +<p class="normal">Frau Kläre wondered at her husband, who would not leave her a moment in peace +with his teasing and nonsense, and even waked the baby up from a sound sleep.</p> +<p class="normal">And Güntz stood beaming before the mother and child, laughing heartily at the +angry howl set up by his little son, and lighted his cigar with a spill until +the whole piece of paper was reduced to a cinder.</p> +<p class="normal">He had made that spill out of the farewell note he had placed under the +fungus-like letterweight.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER X</h2> +<br> +<div style="margin-left:70%"> +<p class="continue">"Morning red, morning red,<br> +Light me to my dying bed!"</p> +<p class="right">(<i>Hauff.</i>)</p> +</div> +<p class="normal">Room IX. was still to remain "aristocratic"--as Weise satirically remarked--even +after Baron Walther von Frielinghausen had moved over to the non-commissioned +officers' quarters. A few days before the regiment left for the manœuvres, Count +Egon Plettau arrived and took possession of Frielinghausen's locker.</p> +<p class="normal">All kinds of wild reports had been circulating in the battery about Plettau. +Judging from these he appeared to be a perfect terror. A lieutenant who had had +his ears boxed, and a sergeant who had been flung against a wall, played the +chief part in these reports. But, as a matter of fact, of the whole battery only +Heppner and the senior non-commissioned officers knew the mad count personally, +and during the five years' detention in a fortress that Plettau had had to +undergo, two sets of recruits had already come and gone without having made his +acquaintance.</p> +<p class="normal">The inmates of Room IX. expected to see a pale man, bent and bowed with long +imprisonment; but the new comrade bore a tolerably healthy appearance, and had a +good-tempered, friendly face.</p> +<p class="normal">The count was handled very tenderly by the non-commissioned officers. They +had received an intimation that as far as their duty permitted they were to do +all they could to enable this child of misfortune at last to complete his +military service.</p> +<p class="normal">Count Egon Plettau received these attentions with calm complacency. +"Children," he used to say--for so it was his habit to address his +comrades--"people know quite well that they owe me respect. To have been eight +years accomplishing a two-years' term of service, and not to have finished it +yet--that is a performance that cannot be sufficiently appreciated. Really, I +ought to be shown at a fair! Strive, therefore, to follow my example!"</p> +<p class="normal">He looked forward to the manœuvres with a real and almost child-like +pleasure; for, in spite of his eight years' service, he had never taken part in +them. "Something" had always come in the way.</p> +<p class="normal">Even Güntz had often to bite his lips to keep himself from laughing at +Plettau's absurdities. He, too, had been curious to make the acquaintance of the +notorious gunner-count, and he, too, was agreeably surprised. Plettau seemed to +him to be a very good fellow, terribly frivolous, no doubt, but not bad by any +means. He was glad to find he had not been mistaken in his judgment: viewed +impartially, the cause of Plettau's first two acts of insubordination had been +malice on the part of his superior almost amounting to cruelty; and even the +last five years had been added to his term of imprisonment simply because he had +knocked down a sergeant who was proved to have ill-treated a comrade. All things +considered, the gay placidity of temper with which the count had borne his fate +was really remarkable.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">For the autumn manœuvres the men and horses were all redistributed to serve the +various guns. Vogt and Klitzing remained in their places, and for the rest gun +six was served as follows:</p> +<table cellspacing="10" style="width:90%; margin-left:5%; font-size:14pt"> +<colgroup><col style="width:33%; vertical-align:top"> +<col style="width:33%; vertical-align:top"><col style="width:33%; vertical-align:top"></colgroup> +<tr> +<td></td> +<td style="text-align:center"><b>Gun Six.</b></td> +<td></td> +</tr><tr> +<td colspan="2"></td> +<td>(Horses)</td> +</tr><tr> +<td>Gun-leader</td> +<td>Corporal Vertler</td> +<td>Christine</td> +</tr><tr> +<td>Lead-driver</td> +<td>Driver Nowack</td> +<td>Zenobia, Egon</td> +</tr><tr> +<td>Centre-driver</td> +<td>Driver Inoslavsky</td> +<td>Viper, Eidechse</td> +</tr><tr> +<td>Wheel-driver</td> +<td>Bombardier Sickel</td> +<td>Turk, Cavalier</td> +</tr><tr> +<td>Gunners</td> +<td>Count Plettau, Wolf,</td> +<td></td> +</tr><tr> +<td></td> +<td>Truchsess, Klitzing, Vogt.</td> +</tr></table> +<br> +<p class="normal">The leader of the third column was Ensign Gysinger, who had just joined the +regiment from the Military Academy, and had exchanged with Lieutenant Landsberg, +transferred to the first battery. Heimert had for the first time taken over the +distribution of the horses. But when Heppner saw how the six horses for gun six +had been placed, he shook his head.</p> +<p class="normal">"That won't do," said he to Heimert. "The lead and centre horses are all +right, but the wheel-driver must have another beast under him. The Turk is too +old; especially as gun six has always the longest way to go on the march."</p> +<p class="normal">"That's just what I told the captain," put in Heimert. "It's all Wegstetten's +doing. I wanted Cyrus for the wheel, and old Turk for the baggage-waggon, but as +the other five are light bays, Wegstetten insisted on having the Turk, That's +why he has put Sickel on him, our best driver. He thought <i>he'd</i> make him +go at any rate, if the worst came to the worst."</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner remained thoughtful. At last he said, "Yes; but then old Turk hasn't +much more go left in him. Don't you think we could arrange it differently?" +"No," answered the deputy sergeant-major; "you know that when Wegstetten has +once got a thing into his head there's nothing more to be done."</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major shrugged his shoulders. "We two, at any rate," he said, +"won't have the responsibility. I only hope it will turn out all right! We've +got some damned hilly country for the manœuvres this time, as it happens. One +part lies close to the frontier, and is over 2000 feet high. Downright +mountain-artillery I call it!" he growled in conclusion. But it was impossible +to oppose the express orders of the captain.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">On August 30 the battery was ready in the barrack square at six o'clock in the +morning to start for the manœuvres.</p> +<p class="normal">Shortly after reveille various rumours had been current in the stables and in +the barrack-rooms that something had happened at the Heppners'; and just as the +men were getting into their places the news spread from one to the other that +the sergeant-major's wife was dead. As this was a private and personal matter, +it could not give cause for the slightest delay. Heppner, of course, remained at +home for the funeral, and Käppchen meanwhile took over his duties as +sergeant-major. However, it considerably damped the spirits of the men in +setting out; and a fine rain which began to fall did not tend to restore their +good humour. The sixth battery marched just behind the corps of trumpeters; but +the inspiriting strains of the Hohenfriedberger March were entirely out of +harmony with the moody faces of the men and the dismal weather.</p> +<p class="normal">Klitzing again sat next to Vogt on the limber of gun six. How unlike the day +on which they had started for the gun-practice at Whitsuntide!</p> +<p class="normal">"It's a bad beginning," said he to his friend; and half to himself he added, +"Who knows how it will end?"</p> +<p class="normal">The rain gradually became heavier, and at the first halt the colonel ordered +the men to put on their cloaks. The gunners, huddled up in their seats, kept +fairly dry; but the riders got their high boots full of water, so that as they +went up and down in their saddles their feet splashed with a sound like butter +in a churn. During the longest halt the drivers lay on their backs in the grass, +and as they stretched their legs up in the air, the water trickled down out of +their boots in streams.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">The manœuvres began, and continued their course, one day very much like another, +only the scene changing. The brigade would assemble in the early morning. +Cavalry scouts told off for the purpose, had generally gone on in advance and +sent back their reports. These hussars or Uhlans were marvellously clever +fellows, who never failed to find out the enemy. Then the advance-guard was set +in motion, and after a certain time the main body followed. The batteries were +usually ordered to the front during the march. If they reached the scene of +action unnoticed by the enemy and wanted to open fire upon him unawares, the men +had to crawl almost on all-fours in line; then there was a mad gallop forwards +over hedges and ditches when they found themselves within range of the hostile +fire; and when the gunners were almost jolted out of their seats the men of the +infantry would burst into loud peals of laughter as they lay sideways on the +ground. It was all very well for them to laugh then; but when the manœuvres were +over, and they were on the march back to their quarters, they cast envious +glances at the artillerymen as they took their seats and were driven home on +their hard-seated chariots.</p> +<p class="normal">In the skirmishes, too, during the manœuvres, it was the artillery who got +the best of it. The infantry had to be always on the march, then firing off +their blank cartridges either stooping or lying down, and at last making a +bayonet charge on the disorganised foe. The batteries, on the other hand, +generally remained in the same position, and only now and then fired a shot, +reserving their ammunition for doings on a larger scale during the last few days +of the manœuvres. In this way they had a splendid view of the fighting, and +could quietly look on as the dark lines of rifles approached nearer and nearer; +or when an officer commanding a squadron of cavalry, thirsting for fame, made an +impossible, but very daring attack.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">On off-days Vogt lent a sturdy helping hand in gathering in the harvest. It +delighted him to be able, as of old, to reach up and put the sheaves on the top +of the well-loaded waggons, and to find that he could still wield a scythe with +the same vigorous strokes, mowing the scanty second crop of grass on the +mountain meadows just as close to the ground as ever. While Klitzing lay down +after his exertions and rested his weary limbs, Vogt would spend hours over such +field-work; and the fatigue after this heaven-blest labour was far more grateful +to him than the idle, lazy time a soldier often enjoys directly the arduous +period of his early training is over. In the evenings after bugle-call, out he +would go again to mow a strip of grass before dusk; and when returning, scythe +on shoulder to the court-yard of his quarters, he would sometimes quite forget +that he still wore the uniform of a soldier.</p> +<p class="normal">The sight of the various couples who, lovingly entwined, promenaded the green +lanes, suddenly appearing and as suddenly disappearing behind the thick hedges, +would recall him to actuality. He would then bethink him how odd it seemed that +he himself cared so little about womenfolk, Now and then a pretty fresh girl +would take his fancy, and he might have liked well enough to take her face +between his hands and give her a hearty kiss; but he was too bashful, and he +felt no desire to put himself under the tutelage of the painted ladies of the +garrison town who smiled so engagingly at all the lads. The rough village +maidens suited him better; but one evening he had an experience which raised +grave doubts in his mind as to the virtue of even those rustic beauties.</p> +<p class="normal">A woman's voice shrieking for help had suddenly resounded from a little shady +hollow not far from where Vogt was strolling, smoking his evening pipe. He +instantly ran forward, crying out in clear tones the first words that came into +his head: "Halt! halt! Who goes there?" Drawing nearer he saw first a couple of +soldiers in hasty flight through the trees, and afterwards a curious something +which he could not at once make out.</p> +<p class="normal">When he came closer he discovered that some of his comrades had been playing +off one of their jokes upon a village girl. They had gathered up her skirts +above her head and tied them together with string; this they called "making a +tulip." She was running round in a comical enough fashion, her lower limbs being +entirely exposed, as she wore no under-clothes; while her arms and the upper +part of her body were imprisoned in the woollen skirts, whence issued her +muffled protests.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt said, very politely: "Wait; I will set you free;" and pulling out his +knife, cut the string, whereupon the petticoats fell down, and a touzled head +made its appearance. The girl hid her face in her hands, as if ashamed; but +through her fingers she peeped expectantly up at the soldier. Then she let her +hands fall, making manifest her hard and coarse but yet undeniable beauty; and +her rather large, full mouth smiled tenderly at the gunner.</p> +<p class="normal">But the doughty champion stood dumb and unresponsive; so after a moment the +girl swung sharply round, muttering "Stupid ass!" and departed through the +gathering dusk.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">It was on the Monday of the third week after leaving the garrison that the two +divisions of the army-corps began manœuvring against each other. The troops, now +doubled in number, presented a gay and lively picture as they assembled at the +meeting-place in the brilliant sunshine. Summer seemed to have returned that day +for a short while, so hot were the rays that poured down upon the earth from the +deep-blue vault of heaven. The heat, however, was not oppressive, modified as it +was by the cool mountain breezes.</p> +<p class="normal">The sixth battery of the 80th Regiment, Eastern Division Field Artillery, had +been told off to join the advance-guard, and was awaiting the signal to start. +Gunners and drivers stood behind the guns, or close to the horses, all ready to +mount at the word of command. Vogt was lost in amazement at Klitzing's +demeanour, for he had never seen his friend in such high spirits. His eyes shone +and his cheeks were slightly flushed. Vogt thought to himself what a +good-looking fellow the clerk was with this touch of animation. His appearance +had certainly been much improved by soldiering. Vogt was quite pleased; shaking +his finger good-naturedly at him, "Hullo, Heinrich!" he asked, "haven't you been +liquoring up a bit on the sly? or is this one of your lucky days?"</p> +<p class="normal">And Klitzing answered, "Ah! I feel to-day--I don't know myself how I feel. I +feel so strong, so well--I that am usually so shaky, I feel as if some great +piece of luck were going to happen to me to-day. Do you know, if I had ever felt +like this at home I should have bought a lottery ticket and should certainly +have won the biggest prize!"</p> +<p class="normal">"Well," rejoined Vogt, "mind you don't miss the opportunity the next time +such a day comes!"</p> +<p class="normal">The clerk shook his head. "Ah, no!" he returned; "such days only come once, +and then never again. I shall just have to give up the Great Prize and die a +poor devil. But it's good to feel so jolly for once!"</p> +<p class="normal">He took Vogt by the shoulders and looked into his face with happy eyes.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly, a gruff voice called out from beyond the horses: "You fellows have +far too good a time of it! I don't know what you're always grinning about!"</p> +<p class="normal">Bombardier Sickel was looking round at them with a surly expression, and he +shook his head contemptuously. He, being a driver, did not think much of the +gunners. What an easy life fellows like them had! While he--what had he not got +to see to? He went up to his team and looked anxiously at Turk, the horse he was +to ride. With drooping head the gelding stood there limp and spiritless. He had +refused his food that morning. What could one do mounted on a sick wheeler? +Sickel had told the gun-leader about this; but it was too late to replace the +horse, as the baggage-waggon was already under weigh. Poor Turk must do for +to-day somehow.</p> +<p class="normal">The advance-guard began to move, a battalion of infantry in front, then the +battery, and behind it the two other battalions of the regiment. They made their +way upwards from the bottom of the valley along a moderately steep road, on each +side of which was very hilly ground.</p> +<p class="normal">They had proceeded for about an hour or more when at last the cavalry-scouts +bringing further orders were seen returning; coming not from in front but from +the left, down a hill covered with undergrowth. They seemed in a great hurry, +and their horses were covered with foam. The fore-most portion of the +advance-guard at once, therefore, wheeled round, and leaving the road took the +nearest way up the hill: a steep zig-zag, and a stiff piece of work. The +gun-teams strained every muscle and took short, quick steps, trying to overcome +the weight of the guns. Sergeant-major Heppner, who was riding behind the last +gun, growled out: "I tell you, it's downright mountain artillery, this!" and he +trotted a few steps on in front to find out how the Turk was getting on. The +light bay was panting with exhaustion and dripping with sweat. Heppner scratched +his head: little more could be expected of the poor beast that day. But worse +was to come.</p> +<p class="normal">The battery had scarcely accomplished the climb up the hill when the order +came to form line. A gentle slope of even ground had still to be covered, and +the battery was to get into position as quickly as possible behind the crest of +the hill. The words of command rang out in quick succession: "Trot!" and +"Gallop!" The ensign wheeled his column much too far to the right, just where +the lie of the land was steepest; and Corporal Vertler, the leader of gun six, +thinking it too near, took a circuit twice as great as was necessary. To get to +the crest of the hill in this way was utterly impossible.</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner looked anxiously across. With swift determination he gave over his +duties as sergeant-major to Sergeant Wiegandt, then galloped to the right flank +to try and mend matters somehow if possible. But the disaster had already begun.</p> +<p class="normal">Gun six had from a gallop dropped into a trot, and from a trot into a walk. +At last the six horses could not drag the gun one inch further.</p> +<p class="normal">The ground was covered with smooth coarse grass that gave the horses very +little foothold. Trembling and snorting, the animals just managed to support the +weight of the gun, while, straining forwards and pawing the ground, they tried +to get a firmer footing. The gunners had got down, and grasping the spokes of +the wheels did what they could to assist.</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major kept close by and tried especially to egg on the +wheel-driver.</p> +<p class="normal">"Buck up, Sickel!" he cried. "Show us what you can make of this! You want to +be thought our best driver, and you can't get up a little hill like this! Get +on! Put your back into it!"</p> +<p class="normal">The bombardier almost hung on the Turk's neck so as to release the weight on +his haunches, while the gun actually moved forward two or three fractions of an +inch. But suddenly Turk's hind legs gave way under him, the animal collapsed and +slid down upon the slippery ground.</p> +<p class="normal">The jerk caused by the fall made the other five horses also lose their hold. +They began to tread backwards.</p> +<p class="normal">"Put on the dag-chain!" roared Heppner.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt darted forward, quick as lightning, and slung the chain on the spokes of +the wheel. It bore the strain for a moment, then there was a sharp metallic +sound: the chain had snapped.</p> +<p class="normal">The gun began to roll down the hill, faster and faster, dragging the six +powerless horses behind it. One after the other they stumbled, slipped down, and +were whirled away, kicking wildly, or entangled in the drag-ropes.</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major swore a terrible oath when he saw what had happened. +Springing from his horse he threw the reins to Plettau, who was standing near, +and ran down the hill. Chance had prevented the worst from happening. At the +upper edge of the precipice there was a hollow where formerly stones may have +been broken after having been quarried below; the surface was now level, and +here the gun had come to a standstill.</p> +<p class="normal">But the scene was terrible enough. The six horses lay together in a heap. +Again and again they tried to raise themselves, but in such close proximity one +hindered the other. Amidst the panting and snorting of the frantic animals could +be heard the groans of Sickel, who was lying somewhere under one of them.</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner had recovered his self-possession in a moment. He called the four +gunners to him, and was himself the first to jump down into the hollow. Vertler, +the gun-leader, was close by on his horse, but scarcely seemed able to grasp +what had happened. Heppner caught sight of Sickel at once. He lay with his left +leg under the Turk's body, and was shielding himself behind the neck of the +gelding to avoid being struck by the hoofs of the centre horse, who was kicking +furiously.</p> +<p class="normal">"Here! Vogt and Truchsess!" commanded Heppner. "We'll pull him out." They +grasped the bombardier under the arms and tried to drag him out from under the +horse. But it was not so easy, and at the very moment when they stooped for a +second attempt, one of the lead horses made a sudden movement which knocked Vogt +down. The gunner got entangled in the drag-ropes and could not get up again.</p> +<p class="normal">Eidechse, the centre horse, again began to kick. She had a yawning wound in +the buttock from which the blood streamed, and she writhed, mad with pain. Lying +on her back she turned herself to and fro, and the gleaming iron shoes flashed +nearer and nearer to Vogt's head, at last striking him so that his helmet flew +off and the blood gushed from beneath his fair, close-cropped hair.</p> +<p class="normal">Klitzing saw the increasing peril, and of a sudden flung himself blindly +beneath the infuriated, plunging hoofs.</p> +<p class="normal">Like lightning it had flashed across his brain how Vogt had once shed his +blood for him. Was not this the time to show his gratitude? This was perhaps the +object of his existence to save the life of that other, stronger than he. And +was not this his lucky day? He felt in him the strength of a giant. Yes, he +would stop those terrible hoofs until his friend could get free. And in an +ecstasy of confidence he threw himself like a shield between his friend and +danger.</p> +<p class="normal">The next moment he had received a furious kick in the side. He was hurled to +a distance, and fell lifeless to the ground.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt in the meanwhile had freed himself and risen quickly, only to turn faint +a moment later. He sat down on the hill-side and supported his aching head in +his hands.</p> +<p class="normal">Again the sergeant-major swore violently. In despair he looked up for a +moment from the terrible medley and noted the gun-leader still staring down into +the hollow with vacant eyes.</p> +<p class="normal">"You fellow!" he shouted, "it's no time to go to sleep, at any rate!" With +admirable clearness he gave his orders: "Ride as fast as your beast will go, and +fetch the doctor and the veterinary surgeon! And ambulance-orderlies as well!" +And immediately afterwards he added: "And send the team belonging to gun five +here, and report the mess we're in!" For the service must not suffer, and the +gun should be brought up to the line of fire as soon as possible.</p> +<p class="normal">The corporal galloped away and was soon out of sight.</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner now approached the entangled heap of bodies from the other side. He +then set himself to extricate the lead horses from the different parts of the +harness that trammeled them, and helped them to get up. They appeared to be +uninjured, shook themselves and moved restlessly to and fro. He made the +lead-driver take them to one side, and then turned to the centre horses. +Inoslavsky gave him a helping hand. The near centre horse was uninjured, but +Eidechse had a gaping wound in the buttock. Wolf had to hold her by the snaffle, +and found it difficult to manage her. The near wheeler got up readily; but the +Turk, beneath whose body Sickel was writhing in agony, was badly hurt. The near +hind fetlock seemed to be crushed. At last the gelding managed to raise himself +a little on his fore-legs, and at the same moment Truchsess dragged out the +wheel-driver from under the saddle. Sickel made a weak attempt to stand up, but +fell back in a swoon.</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major wiped the perspiration from his brow. Damnation! That had +been a bad piece of work! He looked round him: three men and two horses knocked +out of time. Well, it might have been even worse.</p> +<p class="normal">Klitzing's was the most serious case. The clerk still lay there motionless, +and only the blood-stained froth at his mouth, stirring as he breathed, showed +there was still life in the motionless body. The sergeant-major went up to the +unconscious man and carefully placed his head on the haversack. He had never +been able to endure this sickly fellow, but, by Jove, what he had done that day +was first-class! It was grand! Would he never recover from his swoon? Heppner +took a brandy-flask from his saddle-bag, and gently moistened the gunner's +forehead with the spirit. He tried to force a drop between his lips, but in +vain; there was no sound or movement in response.</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major looked impatiently for some sign of the doctor's arrival. +The other two wounded men seemed in less serious case. The bombardier regained +consciousness as the brandy touched his lips; he took a good mouthful, and +answered the sergeant-major's question as to his condition with: "All right, +sir. Only my left leg feels a bit queer. I must have given it a wrench."</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt even tried to stand up and assume the regulation attitude in speaking to +the sergeant-major but he staggered back again, and said faintly that his head +was going round, otherwise there was nothing wrong with him.</p> +<p class="normal">From the heights above was now heard the sound of horses' hoofs and the +clanking of harness. It was Corporal Vertler with the team belonging to gun +five; he announced that a trumpeter had gone to find a doctor, and that the +ambulance-orderlies would soon be here.</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major had now no more time to bestow on the wounded men, who +could be left to wait for the doctor. He busied himself with the harnessing of +the gun.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt leaned against the slope of the hill, resting his dizzy head in his +hands.</p> +<p class="normal">The blood trickled through his fingers and dropped upon his knees. Although +he tried to think it all over, he could not understand what had happened to him. +The horse had kicked him on the forehead--that much he was able to recollect, +and he also clearly remembered that afterwards he had again seen the hoof coming +in his direction; but from that moment his memory was a blank.</p> +<p class="normal">Sliding and slipping, the hospital-orderly now came hurrying down the hill. +He saw that three men were lying there; two of them had their eyes open, but not +the third, so he addressed himself to the latter. He gave him ether to smell, +tried to administer a stimulant, and moistened his forehead. He unfastened and +opened his coat and shirt, and slapped the palms of his hands. All in vain; but +at least the poor devil still breathed, though with a gurgling and rattling in +his chest.</p> +<p class="normal">The orderly then turned to the two others. He gave Vogt a piece of medicated +cotton-wool to press on his wound, put the bottle of cordial to his lips and +made him drink. Vogt took a good mouthful; the liquid tasted acid and +refreshing, and cleared his head wonderfully.</p> +<p class="normal">Sickel declined the draught with impatience. "Get away with your slops, you +bone-breaker!" he said; "but if you've got any brandy I'll have it."</p> +<p class="normal">The hospital-orderly had none. "Well, what's the matter with you, then?" he +asked.</p> +<p class="normal">"Something's wrong with my pins," answered the driver, and pointed to his +leg.</p> +<p class="normal">"Is that it?" said the orderly. "You don't seem very bad on the whole. But +what's wrong with this one? I can't get him to come to," and he pointed to the +motionless form of Klitzing.</p> +<p class="normal">"Perhaps cold water would bring him round," said Sickel. "Down there to the +left there must be a stream. You can hear it running."</p> +<p class="normal">"Then I'll just go down there," returned the orderly. He laid the bottle of +cordial at Vogt's feet and climbed down through the brushwood.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt slowly raised his head and looked about him in surprise. The draught had +revived him wonderfully. Where was he? A horse was standing near him bleeding +from a gaping wound in the flank. Not far off lay one of his comrades stretched +out like a corpse, and pale as death, with eyes closed and blood-stained froth +on his lips. Why, it was Klitzing! He clutched at his forehead, and all at once +the curtain that had clouded his memory parted. He realised what had happened +after he had seen the hoof coming in the direction of his skull. A dark body had +thrown itself between him and the glistening iron--and then the blow had been +struck. There had been a terrible, hollow sound, and then--then that body had +been hurled into the air.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly he understood it all: Klitzing had sacrificed himself for him, his +friend had saved him from the death-dealing blow of that iron-shod hoof, and +there he now lay upon the grass, pale, unconscious--perhaps dead.</p> +<p class="normal">At this moment the unconscious man's eyelids opened at last with difficulty, +his dull gaze went searching round, then rested upon Vogt with an expression of +boundless devotion. Vogt darted to the clerk's side, threw himself down, and +took the pale face between his hands.</p> +<p class="normal">"Heinrich!" he cried. "My dear good Heinrich! What have you done for me?"</p> +<p class="normal">Bright tears ran down his cheeks, and through his sobs he could only stammer +again and again: "Heinrich! my dear good fellow!"</p> +<p class="normal">Klitzing tried to speak. His lips moved slightly, but no word came from them. +A feeble hand was raised to his friend's shoulder, stroked it languidly, then +fell heavily back. Again the eyes closed and remained shut, although Vogt went +on earnestly begging and praying: "Heinrich! Heinrich! Tell me what is the +matter! Can't I help you?"</p> +<p class="normal">Sickel gazed thoughtfully at the two friends. He remembered the moment of +departure, and how gay and merry the two gunners had been together. Suddenly he +turned his head to one side and listened.</p> +<p class="normal">"The doctor is coming," he said.</p> +<p class="normal">Immediately afterwards the portly assistant medical-officer, Rademacher, came +down into the hollow. "Well, what is the matter here?" he asked.</p> +<p class="normal">He turned first of all to the driver, but Sickel motioned him away; "Excuse +me, sir, but there's plenty of time for me. The other man there needs you more."</p> +<p class="normal">Rademacher bent down over Klitzing. When he saw the blood-stained froth on +the lips his face involuntarily put on a grave expression. He laid his ear to +the chest and listened for a long time.</p> +<p class="normal">"What happened to the man?" he inquired.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt pointed to Eidechse, who was gazing across at them with dull eyes, and +answered: "She kicked him in the chest."</p> +<p class="normal">"Badly?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, sir. He threw himself between, so that I should not be kicked again."</p> +<p class="normal">The fat doctor looked up surprised. This was an unusually touching incident +in the rough life of a soldier. He saw the tears in the young man's honest eyes, +and he understood.</p> +<p class="normal">"Then you were great friends?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, sir. And--and--how is he now?"</p> +<p class="normal">Rademacher looked hesitatingly down at the mortally wounded man, and answered +evasively: "Well--we must wait and see."</p> +<p class="normal">Once more he listened to the breathing, then stood up. According to his +diagnosis the injured man had but a few hours to live, at the most--perhaps even +only minutes.</p> +<p class="normal">"Has he recovered consciousness at all?" he asked.</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, sir; but only for a very short time."</p> +<p class="normal">The doctor shrugged his shoulders.</p> +<p class="normal">"But what's wrong with you?" he said, turning to the bombardier.</p> +<p class="normal">"My leg's rather queer, sir. Old Turk fell on it, and it's sprained, I +suppose. But I expect you can soon put it right, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">Rademacher removed the driver's riding-trousers with the aid of the +hospital-orderly.</p> +<p class="normal">His examination was soon over.</p> +<p class="normal">"You have a double fracture of the thigh," he said. "But we'll soon set it +for you."</p> +<p class="normal">Sickel listened open-mouthed.</p> +<p class="normal">"Then I shall be ready to leave when I get my discharge?" he inquired.</p> +<p class="normal">The medical officer smiled. "No, my friend, it will take from four to six +weeks."</p> +<p class="normal">This was too much for the driver, and he grumbled loudly. He would cheerfully +have been more hurt, although, as it was, he had had a narrow shave--but not to +be able to get his discharge--it was hard lines indeed!</p> +<p class="normal">Meanwhile the ambulance-orderly had put a bandage round Vogt's head. +Rademacher gazed thoughtfully down on Klitzing. At last he turned away; it was a +hopeless case. He sent the trumpeter, who had come with him for an +ambulance-waggon. He had seen one standing in the road not far off.</p> +<p class="normal">Restlessly he walked up and down, trying to shorten the time of waiting. +Every time he passed the clerk he looked at the lips through which still came +that heavy breathing. It was a perfect marvel that the man still lived. Three +ribs were broken, and they had wounded the lung so severely that a violent +hæmorrhage had ensued.</p> +<p class="normal">Four stretcher-bearers came down the hill at last, carrying two stretchers. +Klitzing was first placed on one of them.</p> +<p class="normal">"Where is he to go?" asked the foremost stretcher-bearer. Rademacher +considered a moment, and then answered:</p> +<p class="normal">"Up yonder, right on the brow of the hill, there's a farm, manor-house, or +something of the sort. Take him there. On my responsibility."</p> +<p class="normal">The stretcher-bearers set out, Vogt joining them. The doctor had nodded +assent to his beseeching glance.</p> +<p class="normal">Sickel was just going to be carried away when two veterinary surgeons arrived +to look after the injured horses.</p> +<p class="normal">"Beg pardon, sir," said the driver, "but I should like so much to know what's +wrong with my beast."</p> +<p class="normal">Rademacher told the stretcher-bearers to wait. The case of the horse was +diagnosed as quickly as that of the rider. The vet. raised himself and said to +his colleague: "The off hind-pastern is fractured."</p> +<p class="normal">"Can anything be done?" asked the driver.</p> +<p class="normal">The other shrugged his shoulders: "No, it's all up with him," he said.</p> +<p class="normal">Sickel looked across at the Turk. "Poor old fellow!" he muttered to himself. +Then he made them carry him up to the bay's head, and gently took hold of the +tuft of hair on his forehead, caressing him. Turk raised himself with +difficulty, and rubbed his nose against his driver's leg. Then the bombardier +turned himself impatiently on to the other side, and cried to the +stretcher-bearers to make haste. "Now get me away quickly!" Turk gazed after the +stretcher with his large, mournful eyes, and as it disappeared behind the edge +of the declivity he snorted piteously.</p> +<p class="normal">Soon after the hollow was just as peaceful and deserted as it had been early +that morning, with blackbirds building their nests in the wild luxuriance of the +beech-trees. But the grass and the bushes were trampled down everywhere; the +spot looked like the scene of a fight, and in the middle of the battle-field lay +the carcase of poor Turk. Late that evening some soldiers came with lifting +apparatus and took the ponderous dead beast to the nearest knacker's yard.</p> +<p class="normal">When Vogt and the stretcher-bearers had climbed to the top of the hill and +saw the building to which the doctor had directed them, they stopped short. Dr. +Rademacher had spoken of a manor-house or farm; but what they saw before them +looked more like a castle. However, as there was not another roof to be seen +near or far, they could not be making any mistake.</p> +<p class="normal">The stretcher-bearers looked through a gate surmounted by a count's coronet, +and saw the front door of the building. Not a sign of life was anywhere visible. +Vogt pulled the bell; but a considerable time elapsed before there was any +movement on the other side of the grating. Just as he was about to ring a second +time, a white-haired old woman appeared on the threshold of the door at the top +of the front steps. She was dressed like any other old peasant woman of the +neighbourhood. She walked slowly to the gate along the paved pathway, a bunch of +keys in her hand.</p> +<p class="normal">One of the soldiers addressed her:</p> +<p class="normal">"Tell us, please, can you give this man here a bed, and let us have one for +another as well? They have both met with an accident, and for the present cannot +be moved any further."</p> +<p class="normal">The old woman looked at the unconscious corpse-like form on the stretcher for +a time without speaking, then said, in a tranquil voice:</p> +<p class="normal">"Oh, yes, there is room enough here."</p> +<p class="normal">She unlocked the gate, and let Vogt and the stretcher-bearers in.</p> +<p class="normal">"Where is the other?" she then asked; and the soldier answered: "He will soon +follow."</p> +<p class="normal">The woman nodded silently. She locked the gate behind them, and then turned +towards a wing of the building. The stretcher-bearer, walking close behind her, +whispered: "This one won't be a burden to you long. The end must soon come." +Again the old woman gazed thoughtfully at the face that looked so deathly pale +on the grey linen cushion of the stretcher. She hesitated; then all at once she +turned right round and went up the front steps of the main building. "We can +find him a bed here," she murmured. The three soldiers stepped into a lofty +hall. A softened, mellow light from without fell through a stained-glass window, +and the floor was paved with shining tiles, on which the soldiers' nail-studded +boots clattered discordantly. Vogt and the other two men opened their eyes in +wonder; but the woman went on further, threw wide open two high folding-doors, +and ushered them into a spacious room. "I will bring sheets," she said, and did +not herself enter.</p> +<p class="normal">The stretcher-bearers put down their burden and gave a deep breath, gazing +round them in surprise. The room was square. The bright daylight streamed in +through two windows that reached to the ceiling. The floor was beautifully +inlaid with wood of different colours, and carved oak panelling covered the +walls. Against a side wall stood a broad, low bed, over which a faded quilted +silk coverlet was spread, and there was a carved wooden canopy fixed to the wall +above, from which curtains had formerly hung. The design of the wood-work was +surmounted by a royal crown.</p> +<p class="normal">The old woman soon returned with a pair of fine snow-white linen sheets.</p> +<p class="normal">"He's to go in there?" asked the soldier, pointing to this bed of state. She +assented with a nod of the head, and made haste to prepare the bed, which she +had ready in a few moments.</p> +<p class="normal">The loud, clear sound of the bell was heard once more. "That's the other +one," said the soldier; and the woman left the room with her quiet, shuffling +steps.</p> +<p class="normal">The two stretcher-bearers now began to undress Klitzing with their practised +hands, and the clerk was soon lying beneath the silken coverlet, the royal crown +over his head. Then one of the men asked: "What shall we do now?" and the other +answered: "Well, we'd better go back to the ambulance waggon, anyhow. The doctor +will have arrived by this time. You can stop here," he said to Vogt, and they +left the two friends alone.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt had been standing still in the middle of the room, his head feeling +quite clear again; but suddenly once more all became dark before his eyes, and +he had to sit down on one of the huge armchairs that stood against the wall. Was +this not all a bad dream? There on the white pillow lay Klitzing, still +unconscious, looking more dead than alive. Vogt went and knelt down beside him, +and pressed his hot face against the cool silk of the coverlet. Would his +faithful friend never wake again, not even for a moment, so that he might thank +him? But Klitzing's eyelids remained closed, and there was no movement of the +body, only the rapid, stertorous breathing.</p> +<p class="normal">The shrill sound of the bell broke the silence for the third time, and +immediately after the senior staff-surgeon, Andreae, entered the room, followed +by Dr. Rademacher and a hospital orderly. He gave a rapid glance of surprise at +the unusual surroundings, and went at once to the bed.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt had risen at his entrance. Andreae nodded to him, and pointing to +Klitzing, asked: "Has he never recovered consciousness?"</p> +<p class="normal">"No, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">The medical-officer then bent his head to the injured man's chest, and +listened to his breathing for some time. Finally he felt his pulse. The hand +fell back as if lifeless upon the coverlet.</p> +<p class="normal">"Unfortunately you are right," he said to Rademacher; and as the other looked +questioningly at him he added, shrugging his shoulders, "Nothing can be done."</p> +<p class="normal">So saying he went up to Vogt, and laid his hand kindly upon the young man's +arm: "Dr. Rademacher has told me," he said, "how the poor fellow sacrificed +himself for your sake. It grieves me very much to have to say it, but I cannot +hide the truth from you. Your friend has indeed given his life for yours; he has +but a short time to live."</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt remained fixed in the stiff soldierly attitude he had assumed; otherwise +he felt he would have fallen to the ground. "Then, sir," he stammered, "will he +never wake up again?"</p> +<p class="normal">"That no one can tell," answered the surgeon. "I hardly think so."</p> +<p class="normal">"But I may stay with him?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, certainly. You are quartered here for to-night. You yourself are +invalided in any case, and to-morrow your friend will not last till then, I +fear, probably not even till this evening. So pull yourself together, my man, +and be proud that you have had such a brave fellow for a friend. Friendship even +unto death! There are not many like that nowadays. God knows, I wish we could +help the poor fellow!"</p> +<p class="normal">Andreae was quite affected by the unusual circumstances of the case; but he +had other duties, and dared not indulge his feelings. He drew himself up, and +continued in firm tones: "We must dress your wound for you too, Vogt; but first +I ought to set the driver's leg."</p> +<p class="normal">"We must go," he said, turning to the others; "the gunner will remain with +his comrade for the present."</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt followed the doctor with his eyes. When the door closed he turned them +towards the pale face of his dear friend. It was true then? Klitzing had given +his life for him. And no one could do anything to help. There was a hot +sensation in his throat, and then at last his sorrow found relief in a flood of +tears.</p> +<p class="normal">After a time he looked again at his friend. How white he looked as he lay +there! And how thin the face appeared against the white sheet! Klitzing had +indeed refined, distinguished-looking features, and one could easily take him +for a real gentleman lying in that magnificent bed, if the shabby dust-covered +uniform were not hanging over the back of the chair close by. Vogt remembered +how he had sometimes teased his friend about his sickly pallor; he racked his +brains to think whether he had not wounded his feelings in other ways, and +reproached himself for every harsh word he could remember using towards +Klitzing. How much more friendly and affectionate he might often have been!</p> +<p class="normal">The doctors left the castle at last, having given the hospital-orderly the +necessary instructions to carry out during their absence. As Rademacher was the +medical officer on duty, he went the rounds once more before leaving; and Vogt, +whose head had been re-bandaged and who had scarcely thought of meat and drink, +now took some milk-soup at his desire.</p> +<p class="normal">Nerve-exhaustion and loss of blood soon made themselves felt. Ensconcing +himself on a hard sofa that stood at the head of Klitzing's bed, he fell into a +heavy sleep.</p> +<p class="normal">The sound of voices roused him. He opened his eyes, and it was a considerable +time before he realised where he was. Again the voices spoke. A conversation was +evidently going on in the garden outside between two people, a man and a woman. +Vogt went to the window and looked out. Close to the wall of the house +vegetables had been planted. A bearded man was digging the beds with a spade; +the old woman was assisting him by breaking up the clods of earth with a hoe.</p> +<p class="normal">"But I can't understand, mother," said the man, "why you gave him the +Princes' Room."</p> +<p class="normal">The old woman stopped her work for a moment and leant upon the handle of her +hoe. Then in her quiet monotonous voice she replied: "They told me he would soon +die, and the dead are the greatest kings on earth. They are free. They have no +more desires, no more cares. No one can help or harm them any more."</p> +<p class="normal">The son said nothing, and both worked on busily.</p> +<p class="normal">Without thinking what he was doing Vogt watched them for a time at their +digging and hoeing, and when he turned back into the room the heavy atmosphere +of the long unventilated apartment gave him a momentary sense of oppression.</p> +<p class="normal">But in the meantime something had happened, something that made him suddenly +stand still, speechless. Klitzing had awakened.</p> +<p class="normal">The sick man had moved his head to one side; his eyes were wide open, and he +was looking through the long window. His gaze wandered till it rested on his +friend, and apparently recognising him brightened with intense pleasure; then it +returned to the picture framed by the window. Undazzled, his eyes looked out +upon the radiance of the setting sun, already half below the horizon. The face +of the dying man was lighted up by quiet happiness. He stood on the threshold of +Paradise, and seemed already to behold it in that fair vision of distant +landscape bathed in the departing glow of daylight. The sun's rays kissed the +eyes of the dying man, and he appeared to live but by their light. He gazed +fixedly on the vanishing disk until it sank out of sight. When he could see it +no longer an expression of fear passed over his countenance, as though he +dreaded the darkness and sought something that had disappeared from view.</p> +<p class="normal">Then he closed his eyes, and found Paradise.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2> +<br> +<div style="margin-left:60%"> +<p class="continue">"Reservists they may rest,<br> +Reservists may rest;<br> +And if reservists rest may have,<br> +Then may reservists rest."</p> +<p class="right">(<i>Song of the Reserve.</i>)</p> +</div> +<p class="continue">Thursday, September 19th, four P.M., was fixed for the funeral of Gunner +Heinrich Karl Klitzing, "accidentally killed on September 16th, and to be buried +in the nearest convenient churchyard." The order ended with the words; "The cost +of the funeral shall be provisionally defrayed by the regiment."</p> +<p class="normal">During the intervening three days the manœuvring force had moved on to the +plain, so that they lay at a distance of nearly fifteen miles from the castle. +On foot this would mean a march of four hours, and it was therefore impossible +to allow many of the men to take part in the funeral. On Wednesday evening the +sergeant read out the order that "those who wished to attend the ceremony, and +felt able to undertake the fatiguing march there and back, should come forward."</p> +<p class="normal">The men looked grave. Nearly all of them would have liked to show this last +sign of respect to the comrade who had died so honourable a death; but to be on +their feet for eight hours, and that after the fatigue of the manœuvres, was too +much.</p> +<p class="normal">Only three gave in their names: Count Plettau, Wolf, and Truchsess,</p> +<p class="normal">Senior-lieutenant Güntz looked surprised. He had never expected it from the +first two, and such a decision from the fat brewer certainly showed great +devotion. But, in any case, their intentions were excellent, and so they must +have their way.</p> +<p class="normal">He himself would see to Vogt, who was again on duty, the wound on his +forehead covered with plaster; the gunner should ride on the box of his own +carnage. For he, as the officer commanding the battery, Reimers as its +lieutenant, and the sergeant-major, were, in a way, obliged to attend the +funeral. Besides these, Sergeant Wiegandt was to go with them as representative +of the other non-commissioned officers; while head-quarters Colonel Falkenhein +and Major Schrader had notified their intention of being present with their +adjutants.</p> +<p class="normal">At the end of one of the wings of the castle there was a small room arranged +as a chapel, and an enclosure which adjoined the park was used as a graveyard.</p> +<p class="normal">A fine drizzle was falling, so the short service was held in the chapel.</p> +<p class="normal">Nothing was lacking in the obsequies of the poor clerk. The major, from his +private means, had doubled the sum to be spent on the funeral, A beautiful oak +coffin therefore stood in the centre of the little chapel, covered with the +wreaths sent by the battery comrades of the dead man, by Schrader on the part of +the division, and by Falkenhein on that of the regiment. They were thick wreaths +of laurel, adorned with simple ribbon bows. The white-haired widow of the keeper +of the castle had also picked all the flowers she could find still spared by +autumn, and had made wreaths of many-coloured asters and dahlias, with which she +had decorated the coffin, somewhat fantastically. While rummaging in the attics, +she had found in some corner a chest, forgotten for perhaps a hundred years, +full of old-fashioned moulded candles, and with these she had filled two +many-branched candelabra.</p> +<p class="normal">The pastor stood at the head of the coffin and began the service; behind him +the sexton had taken up his position with folded hands. On either side sat the +officers and men, holding their helmets on their knees and looking on with +serious countenances. The old woman knelt crouching on a prie-dieu, and hid her +face in her hands. When the pastor had pronounced a final "Amen," the four +gunners raised the coffin on their shoulders and bore it to the little +graveyard. The sexton preceded the coffin, and behind it followed, in order, the +pastor, the two staff officers, Güntz and Reimers, the two adjutants, Heppner +and Wiegandt, and last came the woman and her son.</p> +<p class="normal">At the grave the pastor pronounced the blessing and prayed. Then the four +soldiers lifted the coffin up by the black straps, the sexton removed the +supporting boards, and the dead man was slowly lowered to his place of rest.</p> +<p class="normal">The colonel now stepped forward and spoke a few simple words in remembrance +of the dead. He recalled his genuine loyalty to his comrades, proved even by his +death, and pronounced happy that prince and that country in whose army so brave +a soldier was counted.</p> +<p class="normal">Every man present threw three handfuls of earth on the coffin, and the +funeral was at an end.</p> +<p class="normal">The little procession left the graveyard at a quicker pace than when it came. +Vogt remained alone at the graveside.</p> +<p class="normal">The carriage drove up, but Vogt was still missing, and they had to fetch him +from the grave. As he sat on the box, he looked back wistfully at the spot where +his dear friend lay buried.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">The last day of the manœuvres had come. A light mist which veiled the autumn sun +made the heat bearable. The exercises ended in the early forenoon, and, after a +final parade, the troops marched off to their garrisons. The infantry were +despatched in long railway-trains, while the mounted branches of the service +covered the ground by moderate marches. The 80th regiment was lucky; its +garrison could be reached by a four hours' march.</p> +<p class="normal">In order to avoid the inevitable stoppages of an immoderately long marching +column, the colonel had appointed different roads for the separate batteries, +and had fixed on a meeting-place at a short distance from the barracks, whence +they could march in together.</p> +<p class="normal">The sixth battery had trotted down a slight incline on the high road, and +afterwards climbed the next rise at a slow pace. The horses no longer tugged at +their traces. They drew the guns patiently and bravely, but with subdued +spirits. Sergeant Heppner looked on thoughtfully; the animals were certainly +more used up this time than on former occasions of the kind. Their sleek sides +had fallen in; and a couple of them looked very rough in the coat, too. This in +addition to the facts that away somewhere in a bone-mill poor old Turk's bones +had perhaps already been ground into dust, and that Eidechse was not exactly +improved by that gigantic wound in the buttock, which had been sewn up by the +farrier with innumerable stitches.</p> +<p class="normal">But this was all because the officers would not listen to such an experienced +counsellor as himself. His contention against Wegstetten in pronouncing the six +light bays too weak to drag gun six had indeed been proved correct. That, of +course, afforded him a certain amount of satisfaction; but to have one horse +dead and another disfigured was paying too high a price for it!</p> +<p class="normal">They had now reached the top of the ridge, and the barracks could be descried +far below in the valley. There was plenty of time before the rendezvous, so the +battery might still keep to their easy pace. Nevertheless, the time of the march +was gradually accelerated the horses of course could not yet scent the nearness +of their stables; but the men were impatient, and involuntarily urged the +animals on. Having once seen the barracks, they wanted to be home as soon as +possible.</p> +<p class="normal">Half of them, it was true, were only to sleep one more night within these +walls; then they would doff the green coat and be once more their own masters. +To these men it felt as if their time of service had ended with the parade which +closed the manœuvres. When they had marched past the commanding general they had +still been soldiers; but if now they received orders, they would not carry them +out with the prompt, alert movements to which they had been trained during the +last two years. They took things more leisurely now. The drill which had been +thrashed into them already began to be forgotten; only a perfunctory obedience +remained.</p> +<p class="normal">It was as though a spirit of revolt had taken possession of the men. There +were many among them who had never thought of concerning themselves with the +aims of Social-Democracy; who might perhaps have returned to their ploughs and +their spades in a docile and dutiful spirit. But now it dawned upon them all at +once how the little they as soldiers had been obliged to learn had been made +quite unnecessarily difficult for them. They stripped off, like a troublesome +strait-waistcoat, the superfluity of petty rules to which they had been +subjected; and the recognition of the needless compulsion they had so long +endured produced, as its inevitable consequence, a violent reaction, which quite +naturally manifested itself in a hasty change of opinion. Many of those who, on +their discharge the next morning, would have to join in the cheers for the +Emperor and the King, had, no doubt, already on their lips the socialist song +which would be sung after midnight in the taverns of their native places.</p> +<p class="normal">And the rest, who, from either stupidity or laziness, were not completely +converted to such political views, were nevertheless not entirely free from +their influence. There would remain in their minds some vestige of these ideas, +and this seed would be carried back by the peasant lads to their remote +villages, where the new wisdom from the city would bring forth fruit an +hundredfold, sounding as it did so pleasantly to the ear. And yet the mighty +lords of the soil wondered at the growth of the socialist vote among the purely +agricultural electorate! Of course it continued to grow and to increase every +year, because the army, under its present conditions simply constituted a school +of Social-Democracy.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt sat on his gun-carriage and cast sad glances at the man next to him, who +had taken Klitzing's place: the blue-collared hospital-orderly On the outward +march his friend had been his neighbour, and the talk between them had been +hearty, merry, and familiar; it had been almost snug on the gun-carriage. But +now that dear old comrade lay away there in the hills, and Vogt had to shift for +himself during this last year of his service. He kept thinking how lonely it +would be for him now in the barracks with the excitement of the autumn manœuvres +a thing of the past, and with the monotonous winter work beginning again.</p> +<p class="normal">Above, on the limber, Wolf sat between Truchsess and Plettau. The nearer the +wished-for day of freedom approached the more nervous Wolf became. He tried not +even to think of life after his discharge, always fearing that some slip might +still occur to detain him longer in his fetters. There was now only this one +last day and this one last night to endure--then he would be free. He felt as if +now he might dare to breathe freely. What could possibly happen amiss? There was +no more duty, merely the formal giving up of his kit. Then he would take his +certificate of discharge and would be able to go wherever he wished.</p> +<p class="normal">And so it came about that Wolf was filled with joy as they passed in through +the barrack gates.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">That very afternoon the men whose time was expired handed over their packing +materials and all that could be spared of their outfit and uniform, only +retaining the suit they had on. Of course, until the morning of the day of their +discharge, they remained soldiers; but it was impossible to keep up the usual +discipline, and the authorities gave every one, from first to last, a loose +rein.</p> +<p class="normal">After the orders of the day had been read, the half-demoralised crew +dispersed themselves through the town. They stood at the doors of houses, +clasping servant-maids round the waist. When a superior officer passed by they +assumed the regulation attitude slowly and carelessly, and the officers and +non-commissioned officers took pains not to see the incipient insubordination. +Rebellious phrases passed from mouth to mouth, and many a one boasted how he +would thrash this or that corporal or sergeant--when once he was in civilian +dress.</p> +<p class="normal">"When once one is in civilian dress"--that seemed to be the noisy pass-word +given out for the evening. It was as though these swaggering men could no longer +endure the last hardly perceptible signs of the discipline to which they had so +long obediently submitted; as though this evening would end in open mutiny.</p> +<p class="normal">Wolf took no part in these noisy demonstrations; he was perhaps the only +reservist in the whole regiment who held aloof. He could not stand the noise and +the drunkenness. The whole of that free afternoon he stayed in the barrack-room, +dreaming away comfortably, and looking at the first-year men, who now, when the +"old gang" had left, would suddenly have about twice as much to do as hitherto. +If a non-commissioned officer crossed the threshold, he jumped up and stood at +attention, quickly and accurately, just as he had done at any time during these +last two years. Why not still continue to play the comedy for these few +remaining hours, after having been an actor so long?</p> +<p class="normal">With almost affectionate zeal he cleaned and polished the accoutrements he +had to hand over; and he had the satisfaction of having his kit held up as an +example by Sergeant Keyser, his former enemy, to others who gave in things +insufficiently cleaned. The sergeant, it is true, promptly ceased his praises +when, seeing the name marked on the various articles, he realised who the +exemplary gunner was; however, that was no matter.</p> +<p class="normal">After the orders of the day had been read, Wolf walked restlessly up and down +the courtyard of the barracks. Would this day never end? The sun had set behind +the heights in the west some time since, but a dull glow still overspread that +part of the sky. He quitted the barracks by the back gate and walked round the +great quadrangle of the drill-ground. The vast space had been freshly strewn +with that fine coke refuse which, in the wet seasons of the year, works up into +such an ugly black slush. In an absent-minded way he stirred the loose grit with +the toe of his boot, then smoothed the surface with the sole, and dug little +channels in it.</p> +<p class="normal">When he looked up from this amusement it was growing dark; and then the last +evening was succeeded by the last night. Most of the men slept the heavy sleep +of drunkenness; Wolf never closed his eyes. He heard every stroke of the clock, +and the intervening half-hours seemed to him of infinite duration.</p> +<p class="normal">Half an hour before the reveille he rose. A cold sponge waked him up +thoroughly, and after this sleepless night he felt a thousand times fresher and +stronger than at other times after enjoying his full share of rest. He opened +the window of the bathroom, and let the cool air of the grey morning fan his +chest. A fine autumn day was dawning for this feast-day of freedom, so long +desired. A thin haze still veiled the prospect, but was retiring shyly before +the approach of the conquering sun.</p> +<p class="normal">With sparkling eyes he gazed over the opposite roofs towards the hills, from +behind which the lord of day must soon emerge. He stood erect and stretched his +arms out wide.</p> +<p class="normal">Now for the first time he dared to believe in his happiness.</p> +<p class="normal">He took his civilian clothes from the chest as if they had been precious +treasures. The trumpet was just sounding the reveille while he dressed himself. +The white shirt, the clean collar, the comfortable jacket, and the soft slouched +hat--how light they were and how easily they fitted! Another sign that this +cramping restraint was at an end!</p> +<p class="normal">He stood there ready, as his comrades came yawning and rough-headed from the +dormitory. They looked at him in surprise.</p> +<p class="normal">"You're in a damned hurry," said one of them. And Wolf answered gaily, "Yes, +indeed, I've waited long enough!"</p> +<p class="normal">Now came the last falling into line as a soldier, and the handing over of the +clothing and kit which had been used at the last.</p> +<p class="normal">Sergeant Keyser went into each room and superintended the counting over of +the separate articles. Then he threw them over the arm of a gunner who was to +carry them to the kit-room.</p> +<p class="normal">He had intentionally left Wolf's room to the last, and had despatched all the +other reservists before him. For he meant to pay out the socialist fellow who +had let him in for six weeks' arrest; Wolf should have to wait about as long as +possible before being finally released from military discipline.</p> +<p class="normal">At last, however, his turn came. He counted out just the right number of +articles; the buttons of the jacket shone again, and not a rent was to be found +anywhere. He folded the trousers and beat them with his hand--not a particle of +dust rose from them. The leather things also were unimpeachable, and the boots +were in the exact regulation condition--not brightly polished, but merely rubbed +over with grease to prevent the leather from drying up.</p> +<p class="normal">Keyser muttered a surly "all right," and turning away threw the things over +Findeisen's arm and put the boots into his hand. But the gunner, who was already +holding four pairs by the tags, let them fall to the ground.</p> +<p class="normal">Sergeant Keyser picked them up, scolding furiously. The dust from the floor +had stuck in thick streaks on the greasy leather.</p> +<p class="normal">Then a bright idea occurred to the sergeant. He held the boots up before +Findeisen's face and bellowed at him, "Lick that off, you swine!"</p> +<p class="normal">It was not really meant literally, that was plain; but an ungovernable fury +began to glow in his eyes.</p> +<p class="normal">Findeisen had drawn back. He ground his teeth and looked defiance straight +into the sergeant's eyes.</p> +<p class="normal">This maddened Keyser. His face became purple with passion, and again he +hissed out, "Dog, lick it at once!"</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly the resolute spirit of opposition died out of Findeisen's eyes. The +strong, broad-shouldered man bowed as if under the lash; he became pale as +death, and actually touched the boot with his tongue.</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant rubbed the leather roughly over his face, leaving patches of +dirt and grease on the skin. Then he turned and looked Wolf straight in the +eyes. "Do you see that, fellow?" the triumphant challenging look seemed to say: +"Your comrade must abase himself to the level of the beasts, if we so will +it,--we, who have the power!"</p> +<p class="normal">Wolf hit him full in the face with his clenched fist.</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant staggered. He uttered a gurgling cry and tried to throw himself +upon the reservist.</p> +<p class="normal">Then something unexpected happened, taking place so suddenly and so quickly +that afterwards Wolf was hardly able to picture it. Findeisen had thrown to the +ground all that he carried--the boots and the outfit. In a flash he seized the +sergeant, held him raised for an instant in his powerful arms, and then flung +him head forwards against the wall.</p> +<p class="normal">The skull struck the wall with a dull thud, and the body fell heavily to the +ground.</p> +<p class="normal">There was a cry of "Stop that!" Deputy sergeant-major Heimert rushed through +the doorway and flung himself upon Findeisen. The gunner defended himself +wildly, hitting, biting, and scratching; he felt that he was fighting for his +life, but Heimert was a match for him.</p> +<p class="normal">Others soon came, too,--non-commissioned officers and men. They dragged the +raving soldier to the ground and bound him.</p> +<p class="normal">Wolf stood motionless, and let them tie his arms behind his back. His head +was in a whirl, and it all seemed a confused dream.</p> +<p class="normal">It really was quite ludicrous that his first dream, of happy release from the +service, should have such a horrible sequel. This was certainly a nightmare.</p> +<p class="normal">He shook his head and tugged at the cords which bound his hands, trying to +awake from the hideous delusion. The cords pressed deeper into the flesh, and +the pain brought him back to reality.</p> +<p class="normal">He gazed round, not trusting his eyes.</p> +<p class="normal">This was indeed the old dormitory in which he had slept these two years. A +lot of people were standing together and speaking with excited gestures. The air +was thick with dust, as if from a fight; and just by the press, near a bundle of +clothing, lay a man, his arms tied behind his back, his face deadly pale, and +his chest heaving. It was Findeisen. And four soldiers were lifting +another--Sergeant Keyser--who lay stretched out by the wall near the window. The +sergeant's face was quite white, and his limbs hung limply down from his body.</p> +<p class="normal">"He's done for!" said the voice of Sergeant-major Heppner. "Carry him to his +room and lay him on his bed."</p> +<p class="normal">And four soldiers carried the dead man past Wolf out through the door.</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major sent away the other loitering gunners, and only the +non-commissioned officers remained in the room with the two bound men.</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner stepped up to Wolf and looked him over from head to foot.</p> +<p class="normal">"Your fine civilian clothes, my lad," he said, "will have to lie a bit longer +in the chest."</p> +<p class="normal">He picked out Wolf's things from the bundles scattered about the room, and +threw them over the reservist's shoulders.</p> +<p class="normal">"There," he said mockingly, "that will suit your complexion better. And +what'll suit you best of all is a convict's grey suit. In the meantime, just get +yourself up as a gunner again, my son."</p> +<p class="normal">He ordered two of the non-commissioned officers to put Wolf and Findeisen +under arrest.</p> +<p class="normal">"Look out!" he warned the corporals. "These two scoundrels are capable of +anything. And if they utter a word, then you know why you've got swords dangling +at your sides!"</p> +<p class="normal">The two prisoners were led across the yard to the guard-house. The reservists +were just collecting before the barracks. Most of them went about arm in arm, +and in their uproarious spirits made passes in the air with their betassled +walking-sticks.</p> +<p class="normal">As the little procession passed the noisy crowd, the merry songs ceased. The +reservists, taken aback, stepped aside, and amid startled whispers looked after +the prisoners.</p> +<p class="normal">Findeisen walked with bowed head. They had put his cap on right over his +forehead, so that he could hardly see from under it. Wolf looked straight ahead, +but walked as if in a fog. He saw nothing of what was passing before him, and +stumbled as he stepped across a gutter.</p> +<p class="normal">The corporal on guard was going to unlock two contiguous cells for the +prisoners, but one of the men in charge of them objected.</p> +<p class="normal">"They might communicate with each other by knocking or somehow," he said. +"Better lock them up as far apart as possible."</p> +<p class="normal">So Wolf was put into the cell nearest to the road, and Findeisen into one at +the other end of the corridor.</p> +<p class="normal">The corporal placed the reservist's uniform on a stool, and near by the pair +of boots which had caused the dispute, still bearing traces of dust.</p> +<p class="normal">"Change your clothes quickly," he said. "I must take back your plain clothes +with me at once."</p> +<p class="normal">But Wolf stood there motionless.</p> +<p class="normal">He heard the key turn in the lock without realising what was happening. Then +the steps retreated from his door, once more the great bunch of keys jingled, +another door was opened, creaked unwillingly on its hinges, and was slammed to +and locked.</p> +<p class="normal">The voices of the non-commissioned officers resounded in the stone-paved +corridor as they returned to the guard-room.</p> +<p class="normal">"What have the fellows done?" asked the soldier on guard.</p> +<p class="normal">The answer was almost lost behind a corner of the passage: "Murder--Sergeant +Keyser."</p> +<p class="normal">The reservist still stood motionless beside the stool. He was trying in vain +to think why he was here. What was he doing here, when it was to-day that he was +at last released from the hated discipline? He passed his hand over his eyes, as +if to remove something that was covering them, and mechanically he pressed down +the latch of the door.</p> +<p class="normal">It was indeed true; he was locked in.</p> +<p class="normal">Again the key sounded in the lock, and the corporal on guard entered. Behind +him a gunner brought a jug of water into the cell, set it down, and at once +retired.</p> +<p class="normal">"Why haven't you changed yet?" asked the corporal.</p> +<p class="normal">The reservist stared at him blankly, without comprehension.</p> +<p class="normal">"Damnation!" thundered his superior. "Change your clothes this moment, do you +hear?"</p> +<p class="normal">And Wolf sat down obediently on the stool. Automatically he took off his coat +and trousers, undid his collar, and pulled off his shoes. Then he took off his +hat also; and in the same mechanical way dressed himself again in uniform.</p> +<p class="normal">The corporal had bidden him a couple of times to make haste, and now he threw +the civilian clothes over his arm.</p> +<p class="normal">"Everything must be taken away from you," he said as he went.</p> +<p class="normal">Wolf nodded, and dully looked on. Once he moved as though to seize at +something--the corporal's fingers were not clean, and were dirtying his white +collar; he might at least hold it by the edge--but the outstretched hand sank +back languidly.</p> +<p class="normal">Such behaviour made the corporal look serious. When in the guard-room he +handed over the clothes to the non-commissioned officer who had brought in the +prisoners, he pointed with his thumb back over his shoulder, and said: "That +fellow there's not quite right in his head."</p> +<p class="normal">"Do you think not?" asked the other.</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, I do. So I took away his braces, and now at least he can't hang +himself."</p> +<p class="normal">Wolf had involuntarily stood at attention as the corporal left the cell, and +when the door closed he put forward his right foot and relaxed his position just +as if the order "Stand at ease" had been given.</p> +<p class="normal">He looked down at his worn uniform, the green cloth of which was grey and +threadbare, while the madder-red facings had faded to a dirty pink. The +well-polished buttons shone, and a darker patch in a corner of the tunic showed +up clearly against the shabby material.</p> +<p class="normal">By that patch he recognised the coat which he had worn for two endless years, +and which he still wore; and all at once he understood his fate.</p> +<p class="normal">Under the horror of the revelation he broke down. He sank helplessly on the +stool, and hid his face in his hands.</p> +<p class="normal">He was still incapable of ordered thought. Only one thing could he grasp, +that his dream of freedom lay shattered and destroyed before him. This single, +fearful, desperate certainty so entirely filled his mind, that his capacity for +other thought seemed paralysed. His senses received external impressions, but +did not transmit them to the brain.</p> +<p class="normal">Wolf's cell was situated in the outermost corner of the guard-house. At a +distance of about ten paces the high-road ran past the brick wall, which was +none too thick. Besides this, a small pane of the window was open; so that the +crunching of the wheels as they turned on the freshly-laid metalling, the +encouragements of the drivers to their horses, and the cracking of the whips, +could be distinctly heard. Even the steps of the passers-by were audible, and a +word here and there of their conversation.</p> +<p class="normal">Wolf still sat upon the stool. All these noises reached his ear, but he paid +no heed to them.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly he raised his head.</p> +<p class="normal">An indistinct sound of distant singing came in snatches through the little +window, borne by gusts of wind. Nearer and nearer it approached. Now the singers +seemed to be turning a corner, their measured tread became audible, and their +hearty voices rang out:</p> +<div style="margin-left:20%"> +<p class="continue">"Reservists they may rest,<br> +Reservists may rest,<br> +And if reservists rest may have,<br> +Then may reservists rest."</p> +</div> +<p class="continue">The song of the reservists who were leaving the barracks and marching to the +station.</p> +<p class="normal">From time to time the rough joke of some passing wit interrupted the song. +Then the reservists would break out into a loud laugh and call back some still +more spicy retort. But they always took up their jingling refrain, repeating the +childish words again and again, and jogging along clumsily, keeping time to the +song.</p> +<p class="normal">Wolf heard the harsh sounds gradually retreating, till finally they died away +in the direction of the town.</p> +<p class="normal">Once more he buried his face in his hands.</p> +<p class="normal">When at last he sat up again, he had conquered himself. He had determined to +wage war against fate.</p> +<p class="normal">Upright and with firm steps he paced up and down his cell. He thought over +everything that could serve for his defence: how he had held himself in check, +so as not in any way to prolong by his own fault his time of service; how he had +even looked on quietly when Findeisen obeyed the sergeant's humiliating order; +but how Keyser's provocative look had made his blood boil and had driven him to +his unlucky deed. He had, it is true, raised his hand against a superior; but +the sight of the gunner licking the dust off the boots had seemed to him an +insult to humanity itself.</p> +<p class="normal">The judges would not be able to disregard this, and at least they would judge +his offence leniently. Even if their outlook on life were diametrically opposed +to his own, surely in pronouncing their verdict on him that could not prevent +their taking into consideration the purity of his motives.</p> +<p class="normal">And he thought out a speech of defence which must penetrate the hearts of the +judges, a speech full of eloquent, inspiring words about that dignity of man +which none should wound with impunity, and about that justifiable wrath which is +not only excusable, but even praiseworthy.</p> +<p class="normal">He intoxicated himself with his thoughts. Hope dazzled him, and already he +saw himself acquitted. He piled up argument after argument, and planned +artistically-turned periods and effective antitheses, concluding his apology +with a sublime appeal to the sense of justice of his judges.</p> +<p class="normal">The hours passed. He paced incessantly up and down the narrow cell, with a +glowing face and sparkling eyes. The bowl of food which had been brought in for +his dinner stood untouched. What had he to do with food and drink? He was +contending for something higher--for his freedom.</p> +<p class="normal">In the afternoon he was taken before the officer who was to conduct the +inquiry, who had been summoned by telegraph from the divisional head-quarters.</p> +<p class="normal">The proceedings took place in barrack-room VII. of the sixth battery, the +scene of the fatal incident. At the table sat the presiding officer, a stout +man, whose head rose red and swollen above his tight collar. He had a couple of +sheets of paper before him, and while interrogating constantly fidgeted with a +pencil. A clerk waited with pen to paper.</p> +<p class="normal">The hearing began.</p> +<p class="normal">Findeisen, when questioned, maintained a stubborn silence. The examining +officer tried by reasoning and by scolding to get something out of him; the +gunner remained dumb. He kept his eyes on the ground, from time to time glancing +furtively at the door. But two non-commissioned officers were posted on the +threshold.</p> +<p class="normal">Wolf gave an accurate and connected account of what had occurred. The clerk's +pen flew swiftly over the paper. Then the examining officer read the report +aloud. "Is that correct?" he asked Wolf. "Yes, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">He turned to Findeisen: "I ask you also, is that correct? If you have any +objection to make, out with it! For as it stands, the account is not exactly +favourable to you. Therefore I ask you if you have anything to say against this +version?"</p> +<p class="normal">Then Findeisen gave his first answer during the proceedings, he shook his +head.</p> +<p class="normal">"Nothing, then?" asked the examining officer. The gunner repeated, "Nothing."</p> +<p class="normal">Deputy sergeant-major Heimert, as the only witness, had nothing else to +depose beyond what Wolf had already said: and Findeisen again persisted in his +silence.</p> +<p class="normal">After this, the officer closed the judicial examination. He gave orders that +Wolf should be conducted back to his cell, while Findeisen was to be confronted +with the corpse of the sergeant.</p> +<p class="normal">Keyser's death had resulted from fracture of the skull, due to its forcible +impact against the wall. The medical report, however, stated that fatal +consequences had resulted on account of the unusual thinness of the skull.</p> +<p class="normal">The two orderlies took Findeisen between them and escorted him to the +infirmary. Wolf went with the soldier on guard diagonally across the yard back +to the guard-house. He mounted the steps composedly. Before the door he stopped +for a moment, drew the fresh air deep into his lungs, and looked all round him. +Then he was locked into his cell again.</p> +<p class="normal">The examination had opened his eyes; he had been on quite a wrong tack when +he had hoped to convince his judges by a fiery speech. In the midst of this cold +calm procedure, his words would sound distorted and fantastic, and his eloquent +tongue would fail him. The views of these men were separated from his by an +impassable gulf. However good a will they might have, they were absolutely +incapable of understanding him.</p> +<p class="normal">No, he would undergo his examination quietly and without any attempt at +eloquence. Would not the naked facts speak loudly enough in his favour?</p> +<p class="normal">He no longer had any hope of an acquittal. On the contrary, he knew he would +be condemned; but his punishment could not be severe. He called to memory all +the similar cases that he had known. They had almost always resulted in less +than a year of imprisonment. It was true that in none of these had there been an +actual assault on the person of a superior, such as he had committed. But could +that make a very great difference?</p> +<p class="normal">On the whole he thought it most likely that he would get off with about six +months, and he already began to arm himself with patience to bear the hundred +and eighty dreary days. It was quite certain that even one hundred and eighty +days must have an end.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly he felt hungry, greedily hungry, and he hastily attacked the food he +had hitherto left untouched. The meat lay in the cold gravy surrounded by +congealed fat. The first mouthful gave him a strong feeling of disgust; +nevertheless, he swallowed the meat down quickly, and finished the gravy to the +last drop.</p> +<p class="normal">It was soon disposed of, and then he began to take stock of his surroundings: +the grey walls, the water jug, and the stool in the corner; the plank bed, +strapped up to the wall during the day. The grated window was high above the +ground; but he could reach it by standing on his stool. Even that, however, was +not of much use; for all view was cut off by a wooden screen, so arranged that +the light only penetrated from above, and he had to twist his head considerably +in order to catch the least glimpse of the sky.</p> +<p class="normal">Wolf remained in this cramped position as if fascinated, gazing upward, with +his cheek against the cold stone of the wall. Grey clouds were passing over the +tiny bit of sky visible to him. Occasionally the whole of the narrow space was +filled in with a clear deep blue.</p> +<p class="normal">One of the panes of the window was open, admitting a breath of fresh pure +air. It seemed to the prisoner that without this mouthful of free air he would +not be able to breathe, and he pressed his face against the woodwork of the +window as if suffocating.</p> +<p class="normal">Gradually it grew dark outside. The wind rose, and a few heavy drops of rain +pattered on the boards of the screen. In the yard outside the trumpeter sounded +the call to stable-duty. The poor fellow in the narrow cell remembered that this +evening he should have rejoined the circle of his socialist comrades. Instead of +which, here he was twisting his neck to see even a little bit of the sky, rather +than the ghastly grey walls of his prison.</p> +<p class="normal">As the evening went on even that comfort failed. Everything was grey in the +grey light around him.</p> +<p class="normal">As a gust of damp air blew in he once more drew a deep breath and got down +from the stool.</p> +<p class="normal">Within the cell it was quite dark; but suddenly a square of light appeared in +the door,--the little window through which the prisoner could be observed from +without. The gas had been lit in the corridor, and the unsteady light of the +unprotected, flickering jet penetrated the gloom of the cell.</p> +<p class="normal">At the same moment the corporal on guard appeared on the threshold. He +brought with him the third of a loaf of bread, and he proceeded to let down the +bed from the wall.</p> +<p class="normal">"Shall I shut the window?" he asked.</p> +<p class="normal">Wolf answered hastily, "No, no, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">The corporal nodded, looked round once more to see if everything was in +order, and quitted the cell, turning the key twice in the lock.</p> +<p class="normal">The reservist heard him go along the passage to Findeisen's cell. Shortly +after, the click of the spurs was again audible passing his door, and then +everything was as still as before.</p> +<p class="normal">Wolf lay on the bed and munched hard lumps of bread, from time to time taking +a drink of water. After that he fell into a soothing reverie, more and more +forgetting his position, till at last he settled himself down comfortably on the +hard wood, and fell fast asleep.</p> +<p class="normal">In the middle of the night he began to feel very cold. Instinctively he tried +not to awake, as if even in sleep he knew how comfortless his surroundings were. +He thrust his hands up his coat-sleeves and curled himself up on the bed; but at +last the cold waked him completely.</p> +<p class="normal">More benumbing still than the frost of the autumn night was the consciousness +of his misery. He shivered with cold, and yet could not rouse himself +sufficiently to get up.</p> +<p class="normal">In the darkness of the night, the clear light of the hopes which had so +heartened him grew pale. An unspeakable fear assailed him that he might be +condemned to long years of imprisonment, and the darkness which engulfed him now +seemed like a symbol of that terrible time,--an endless horror.</p> +<p class="normal">Through the window could be heard the monotonous pouring of the rain. The +night wind was caught in the wooden screen, sent a damp breath into the cell, +and swept on with a low moan.</p> +<p class="normal">In the intervals between these sounds, Wolf thought he could hear an +indistinct scraping and scratching. From time to time it ceased, then began +again. Could it be rats in the drain under the cell?</p> +<p class="normal">In the morning he started up suddenly. The key was thrust hastily into the +lock, and the door opened violently. The corporal on guard appeared on the +threshold.</p> +<p class="normal">"Is <i>this</i> one here, at any rate?" he cried.</p> +<p class="normal">The dawn only lighted the cell faintly; but he could make out the form of the +prisoner, and gave a sigh of relief.</p> +<p class="normal">"Thank God!" he said. "I am spared that, anyhow. They aren't both gone."</p> +<p class="normal">He called a gunner in, and searched every corner with a lantern.</p> +<p class="normal">While he was on his knees lighting the space under the bed, the gunner +whispered furtively to Wolf, "The other man has escaped."</p> +<p class="normal">At first the reservist did not understand. Escaped? How was that possible?</p> +<p class="normal">He looked round the cell, and was unable to imagine how any one could escape +from such a place.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly he remembered the scratching and scraping in the night, and his eyes +sought for some tool with which it might be possible to break a hole through a +wall. He noticed the strong iron trestles which supported the bed when it was +let down; it might perhaps be done with one of them. But no. Up by the window +the thickness of the wall could be seen; it must be close on twenty inches.</p> +<p class="normal">And yet Findeisen had escaped!</p> +<p class="normal">Necessity had quickened the wits of the dull lad, and had made him inventive. +When they confronted him with the corpse of the sergeant, he realised that he +had committed a murder; and from that moment he felt his head no longer safe on +his shoulders. The fear of death lent him a subtlety of which he would never +otherwise have been capable.</p> +<p class="normal">He had, as Wolf guessed, used the iron bed support as an implement. He had at +once recognised that it would be impossible to break through the principal +external wall; the other walls, however, might be expected to be considerably +less strong, and they sounded hollower when he tapped them. Findeisen knew that +one of them merely divided his cell from another, and so was useless for his +purpose. But beyond the other wall lay a shed in which the fire-engine was kept. +Its window, he knew, was only covered with wire-netting, and opened on to a +field.</p> +<p class="normal">And as soon as all was quiet in the guard-house he had set to work, listening +anxiously in the direction of the corridor during the pauses of his boring and +levering. The wall was only the length of a brick thick, and after the first +stone had been broken out bit by bit, it cost but little labour to widen the +hole enough to let a man pass.</p> +<p class="normal">The night sentinels declared that they had not remarked anything unusual. +Besides, they had an excuse in the regulations; for in such pouring rain they +were permitted to take shelter in the sentry-boxes. So it was not even known +when the prisoner had escaped.</p> +<p class="normal">A warrant for his arrest was sent out, but in vain. Gunner Findeisen had +disappeared.</p> +<p class="normal">Later during the same morning on which Findeisen, avoiding all frequented +paths, had slipped away through undergrowth and thickets to the frontier, Wolf, +a prisoner awaiting trial, was removed to the house of detention in the capital.</p> +<p class="normal">The train in which he and the soldier who guarded him travelled passed +another at an intermediate station. Reservists were looking out of every +carriage; men from every branch of the service were mixed together, and all were +alike in the wildness of their spirits.</p> +<p class="normal">The two trains started again at the same moment, and the reservists began to +sing:</p> +<div style="margin-left:20%"> +<p class="continue">"Reservists they may rest,<br> +Reservists may rest,<br> +And if reservists rest may have.<br> +Then may reservists rest."</p> +</div> +<p class="normal">Wolf kept his eyes fixed on the dusty floor of the compartment.</p> +<p class="normal">As the song died away in the distance, he lifted his head courageously. The +bright light of day gave him new confidence. Looked at from a truly enlightened +standpoint, and regarded fully and clearly, his act had indeed been of the most +excusable kind.</p> +<p class="normal">Perhaps in six months he would be free again.</p> +<p class="normal">A week later, Gunner Heinrich Wilhelm Wolf, of the Sixth Battery, 80th +Regiment, Eastern Division Field Artillery, was condemned by the military +tribunal of the 42nd Division, for actual bodily assault on a superior officer, +to three years' imprisonment.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2> +<br> +<p class="continue">Sergeant-Major Heppner married his sister-in-law[A] Ida very quietly during +Christmas week. It was quite necessary, unless there was to be a christening +before the wedding.</p> +<br> +<p class="continue">[Footnote A: Marriage with a deceased wife's sister is legal in Germany.--<i>Translator.</i>]</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">The terrible death of his wife had somewhat chastened the coarse recklessness of +the man's bearing. Throughout the autumn and far into the winter he seemed +entirely changed. He restrained himself, his harsh voice being seldom heard in +the corridors of the barracks; and he attended scrupulously to his duties, so +that the inner wheels of the battery ran smoothly in perfect order.</p> +<p class="normal">Captain von Wegstetten sometimes took himself to task. He could not but be +pleased with his sergeant-major, and yet he could not quite overcome the +antipathy he had hitherto felt for Heppner. The certain degree of intimacy that +otherwise might be expected to arise from their common care of the new recruits +appeared to him quite impossible. He could not bring himself to feel complete +confidence in Heppner's uprightness.</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major, however, was unaware of anything lacking in their +relations; when he felt he had discharged his duty thoroughly his heart glowed +with satisfaction, and he resolved never to fall back into his old follies.</p> +<p class="normal">He felt very awkward about his compulsory marriage; but happily no one seemed +to think the worse of him for it. People considered it natural enough that a +healthy young couple under one roof, with only a dying woman between them, +should have been carried away by their passion.</p> +<p class="normal">The peace which now reigned in his dwelling seemed to him something unwonted +and delightful. He began to change his manner of life completely, and, instead +of frequenting public-houses, spent his evenings cosily at home. In order to +save fuel, Ida had made the kitchen more habitable; and the sergeant-major, +luxuriously ensconced in Julie's armchair, would watch the fire glowing through +the stove door, and Ida bustling about her household tasks. Then, before turning +in, he had to go once more through the stables, between the ranks of sleeping +horses, the stable-guard emerging from the darkness of some corner to make his +report. The sharp frosty air of the nights, after the moist aromatic warmth of +the stables, would make the sergeant-major shiver and draw his cloak closer +around him. He would settle himself anew by the stove, watching his young wife, +whose quick, clever hands were busy with baby-clothes; and at such moments, +tired by an honest day's work, Heppner felt himself to be a thoroughly good +fellow.</p> +<p class="normal">During the course of the summer, Albina Worzuba had been brought home as a +bride by Deputy sergeant-major Heimert, to the Schumanns' old quarters next +door.</p> +<p class="normal">The married life of the young pair began happily. Albina was brimming over +with affection for her husband, and Heimert felt he could not show his wife too +much attention.</p> +<p class="normal">Ere long Frau Heimert played a leading <i>rôle</i> in the little world of the +barracks. The wives of the non-commissioned officers listened more or less +dubiously to the romantic tale of her origin, and envied her the all-powerful +money at her disposal. For not only did she give one pure coffee from the +bean,--no chicory mixture,--but she was also extremely fashionable in her +attire, rustling about in silk-lined skirts, so that folk turned to look as she +passed them. The good women considered her gowns altogether too noticeable. And +such undergarments as she possessed! Red and yellow silk chemises and drawers, +trimmed with the finest lace. Such lovely jewellery, too! Yes, indeed, Frau +Heimert must come of well-to-do people. That was obvious in everything belonging +to her, her house, her clothes, her linen. Her expensive musk scent penetrated +even into the men's quarters.</p> +<p class="normal">Albina accepted the honour paid her with the airs of a little queen. She +spared neither her good coffee nor her good nature; she wore her dresses, which +she said came from one of the leading firms, with an easy grace. In reality, she +bought them from an old "friend," part of whose business it was to be always in +the latest Paris mode.</p> +<p class="normal">The non-coms.' wives envied Frau Heimert's taste, and tried to copy her +manner and deportment. Only the fair-haired little Berlin seamstress, Frieda, +Sergeant Wiegandt's sweetheart, found fault with her. Once at the +non-commissioned officers' summer fête, that young person--who, by-the-by, was +almost suspected of being a red-hot little social-democrat--saw Albina, and had +the courage to declare, "That creature?--Otto, she's a----no! I won't soil my +mouth with the dirty word. But I know that sort of truck! In some matters you +men are just as blind and as stupid as new-born kittens."</p> +<p class="normal">Seeing Albina surrounded by lieutenants and non-coms., dancing first with one +and then with another, Frieda grew quite excited.</p> +<p class="normal">"Otto," cried she, "if you dare to dance with that baggage, all is over +between us. It's like flies buzzing about a sugar-cake."</p> +<p class="normal">Wiegandt had fully intended to dance the next dance with Frau Heimert; but he +dutifully abandoned the idea, and conducted Frieda into a secluded little +plantation, where other couples wandered lovingly entwined like themselves.</p> +<p class="normal">They chatted about the future, which now lay plain before them. Wiegandt had +not again signed on, and by the following autumn he would have a good position +in the town-police, with thirteen hundred marks a year, free quarters, and a +hundred and twenty marks allowance for clothes. The burgo-master of the little +town, being a senior-lieutenant of the reserve, had been present at the +performance of some exercises by the sixth battery, and had personally chosen +out his man. Wegstetten was furious at losing his best non-commissioned officer, +and pressed Wiegandt to stick to the flag; but the sergeant was not to be +prevailed upon, for he was impatient now to quit the service. With such a noble +competency in view, therefore, he might well venture on marriage.</p> +<p class="normal">"All right, even when the children come," he whispered to his sweetheart; and +Frieda nodded sagaciously, whispering back: "They'll come, sure enough!"</p> +<p class="normal">Albina Heimert never noticed that such a humble and inconspicuous little +person gave her the go-by. As the wife of the deputy sergeant-major, she felt +herself at last on firm solid ground. She carried her head high in the +barrack-yard, and ordered her house with a fine matronly dignity.</p> +<p class="normal">She met the admiring glances of her neighbours, even if only prompted by some +matter of domestic economy, with an indescribable little smile. No word might be +spoken, but it would be quite evident that she was gratified by the admiration. +It was Venus triumphing over Mars.</p> +<p class="normal">The person who was least affected by the beautiful Frau Heimert's charms was, +curiously enough, Sergeant Heppner. Once, when Albina chanced to meet him in the +corridor, she said: "When I first met you, Herr Heppner--you remember that day +at Grundmann's--you were perfectly different--ever so much smarter and livelier! +Really, I almost think you must be ageing, Herr Heppner!" And she burst into a +shrill, affected laugh, which rang rather unpleasantly in his ears.</p> +<p class="normal">As Heppner sat in his armchair by the stove he contrasted his pretty, +healthy, buxom Ida with the woman next door, and would be seized with a +veritable horror of the all-pervasive odour of the scent she used.</p> +<p class="normal">He would make a disdainful grimace when Albina, in a huge hat, rustled past +him, and would greet her carelessly, almost discourteously.</p> +<p class="normal">But with the spring the old spirit of restlessness possessed the +sergeant-major.</p> +<p class="normal">Ida was expecting her confinement in May, and had no thoughts but for the +child. Heppner began to marvel at himself for having been so domestic all the +winter. Surely his limbs must have been benumbed and this brain addled! He +really must rouse himself now and get a few new ideas into his head. So he +easily slipped back into his old wild ways of life, and could less and less +understand how he had come to live otherwise during so many months.</p> +<p class="normal">His former boon-companions welcomed him back joyfully, and it was not long +before he was once more at cards with them. The promise he had given to +Trautvetter he should construe after his own views; he would be careful to keep +within bounds, under all circumstances.</p> +<p class="normal">It happened, nevertheless, that he lost at times; and to meet such little +reverses he was obliged to borrow from the battery cash-box, for Ida kept a +tight hand on the purse-strings, and he could not bring himself to cut down her +housekeeping money. Of course, to balance these bad days there were runs of good +luck, when he had a considerable surplus; but, like a true gambler, he did not +set his winnings against his losses, considering them as so much pure gain, +which enabled him to indulge in extravagances. He made new holes in order to +stop up the old ones.</p> +<p class="normal">About this time Frau Albina Heimert spoke to him again one day.</p> +<p class="normal">"Thank heaven!" she said. "You seem to have roused up a bit, Herr Heppner! I +quite began to fear you were becoming a hopeless rustic."</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major watched her thoughtfully as, with her provoking little +air, she disappeared into her own quarters.</p> +<p class="normal">The devil! How utterly absurd! He had actually positively disliked this +beautiful creature all the winter! He was astonished at his own bad taste. +Before him stood his wife on the kitchen hearth, her figure rendered shapeless +by her advanced state of pregnancy. And he had once thought her prettier than +Albina!</p> +<p class="normal">From this time he began to show Frau Heimert small attentions. He would walk +with her if they met in the barrack-yard, would carry her parcels, or stand +aside politely to let her precede him up the stairs, and then open the door for +her. He would inquire earnestly after her health; and once, when she complained +of a headache, he brought her all sorts of remedies, besides enjoining the men +to be very quiet and to tread softly as they passed her door.</p> +<p class="normal">But Albina played the prude. She received the sergeant-major's attentions +very coolly, and cut short his conversational efforts so as to excite him the +more. At the same time her mockingly triumphant and provocative glances would +contradict the virtuous compression of her lips.</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner did not at all despair. Unobtrusively he gradually multiplied the +proofs of his gallantry; and by slow degrees the object of his attentions +suffered her demeanour towards him to soften.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly Heimert noticed their intercourse, and, stirred by suspicious +jealousy, tried hard to put a stop to it. But was that possible? The deputy +sergeant-major was often detained for hours at the exercise-ground half a mile +away. Heppner, as sergeant-major, could order it so; and thus he and Albina +could be together undisturbed as often and as long as they pleased.</p> +<p class="normal">Heimert would learn from the other men who had been on duty at the barracks +what Heppner had been about during the morning. He always tried to find out +stealthily and without exciting comment; but his comrades knew very well what +was up, and enjoyed playing on the jealousy of the young husband.</p> +<p class="normal">At last the deputy sergeant-major hit on a curious plan. This was to bring +the two together in his presence. He thought that if there really was a secret +understanding between them they would betray themselves in a moment of +thoughtlessness. So he invited Heppner to drop in now and then, in a neighbourly +way, for a cigar and a bottle of beer.</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major accepted. Once or twice he brought Ida with him; then, as +the time for her lying-in approached, he came alone.</p> +<p class="normal">Heimert watched them closely; every word, every movement, almost every look. +But his suspicions were not justified. Heppner was polite, easy, and perfectly +unconstrained; while Albina chatted easily and naturally, and accepted the +homage of their guest with a kind of haughty tranquillity. Towards her husband +she displayed quite unusual tenderness, so long as the sergeant-major was +present.</p> +<p class="normal">Heimert was somewhat reassured by this. When Heppner rose to take leave +Heimert would fling his arm confidently about Albina's waist, with a gesture +which seemed to say: "You see, my wife is my own. I have her and hold her, and +you won't get her, however much you may covet her. That's the right of +possession. And so it will be, no matter how much you may hate and envy me. And +when you have gone I shall claim my rights, and this woman must obey my will."</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major read this defiance plainly in Heimert's face, and it had +the effect of causing him to swear inwardly that he would seduce his comrade's +wife.</p> +<p class="normal">In the middle of May Ida bore a child,--a fat, strong, healthy boy, weighing +nine pounds. A splendid weight for a new-born baby!</p> +<p class="normal">At first the sergeant-major rather fancied himself as a father. Every one +said that the fine boy was his living image. Certainly there was no need to be +ashamed of being seen with such a child. Of course this son of his should be a +soldier, an artilleryman. He should learn to ride as soon as he could sit on the +saddle, and woe to him if he showed any fear!</p> +<p class="normal">Ida was happy beyond measure, and there could not have been a tenderer or +more careful mother. Motherhood awoke in her much that had hitherto been +unapparent in her somewhat stolid nature.</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner thought her little occupations silly and tiresome. The first sight of +his boy at the healthy young mother's breast seemed to him charming enough. But +before long he was continually scolding Ida for her over-indulgence of the +child, telling her he would grow up a milksop, always hanging on to his mother's +skirts.</p> +<p class="normal">And it soon bored him to be much with the child. If one wanted to rest the +youngster was sure to start whining and squalling or if one felt inclined to +play with him, to tickle his fat sides and toss him in the air, he was certain +to have just dropped off to sleep, and Ida would stand sentinel over him, not +suffering him to be disturbed at any price. She, indeed, seemed now to be +nothing but mother, and to have forgotten altogether that she was also a wife.</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner consequently redoubled his attentions to Frau Heimert.</p> +<p class="normal">Albina could not endure little children, and took no interest whatever in his +remarkable baby. This he thought rather stupid of her; nevertheless the Bohemian +girl completely turned his head.</p> +<p class="normal">Uninvited, he constantly dropped in now on the Heimerts "to smoke a cigar +with the deputy sergeant-major," as he said. Almost shamelessly he pursued his +object, grossly flattering Albina, and making risky jokes with her.</p> +<p class="normal">Heimert sat by nearly choking with rage. He hardly knew why he did not seize +the seducer by the throat. But the culprits would have a complete defence ready. +Was it not all mere harmless jesting? Whatever anguish of jealousy he might +feel, he must wait for fuller evidence.</p> +<p class="normal">And into the midst of the laughter would come through the thin walls now the +cry of the infant, and then the low singing of Ida as she lulled her little one +to sleep.</p> +<p class="normal">Albina wished to enjoy her revenge to the full. During the winter the +sergeant-major had treated her as a cast-off love; he should suffer awhile for +that. She exercised all her arts to augment his pain; it gave her a half +fearful, half delicious pleasure to note his impatience.</p> +<p class="normal">One evening Heppner seized an opportunity when he imagined himself alone with +her. He caught her head in his hands almost savagely and pressed a wild, +passionate kiss on her lips. Albina's defiant resolution broke down; she +returned his kiss with equal passion.</p> +<p class="normal">Heimert, standing in the dark kitchen, screened by the door, saw it all.</p> +<p class="normal">He had been to fetch a bottle of beer, now he suddenly re-entered the room.</p> +<p class="normal">"There's no beer, Albina," he said; "you must have been mistaken."</p> +<p class="normal">He sat down slowly at the table, and drummed gently with his fingers on a +plate. The guilty pair were as if stunned by the fervour of their embrace; +though little suspecting that the betrayed husband had witnessed it. They did +not respond to his remark, and seemed lost to time and space. Neither did they +notice that a long, oppressive silence had fallen on them, that the lamp was +burning low, and the room darkening.</p> +<p class="normal">At last Heimert drew out his watch. "It's time to go to bed," he said; "we've +got to get up to-morrow morning."</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner and Albina awoke suddenly from their entranced condition, and the +sergeant-major hastened to say good night.</p> +<p class="normal">Quickly Albina prepared for bed. Usually she went through many ceremonies +with a view to preserving her beauty: she rubbed her skin with lanoline, or +sprinkled it with powder, to keep it soft and smooth; she spread a perfumed +emollient on her hands, afterwards drawing on gloves to prevent them from losing +their whiteness with rough work. But to-night she merely loosened her hair, and +was between the sheets in a trice.</p> +<p class="normal">Heimert lay sleepless. Hour after hour he heard strike; the short May night +seemed to him an eternity.</p> +<p class="normal">The woman beside him had sunk into a deep slumber. Now and then her breathing +quickened, and she gave almost a gasp, flinging herself about as though in a +troubled dream.</p> +<p class="normal">With the dawn of morning Heimert came to a decision. He would not allow +himself to believe in Albina's guilt. He had noticed that when Heppner threw his +arm around her she had shrunk from him. (This was true enough; Albina had +winced; but it was on account of her artistically dressed hair.) She had +submitted, he forced himself to think, in the paralysis of surprise. In such a +case Heppner, no doubt, would have scolded his wife for not confessing. By right +she ought certainly to have told her husband. But Heimert found a thousand +excuses for her. Albina knew his jealousy, and desired, possibly, to avoid +scandal, which would have been inevitable had she told him. Or perhaps she would +speak to him about it after she had thought it over quietly by herself. Or, +again, she might intend to deal with the sergeant-major in her own way. Or, once +more, perhaps she was just beginning to yield to the temptation.</p> +<p class="normal">That was as might be. Anyhow, the affront was there: his wife had been +insulted, and he, Heimert, must obtain satisfaction. He would set about it quite +quietly, so as to avoid the gossip; but between men such an injury must mean a +duel.</p> +<p class="normal">The officers always acted on that principle, and what was right for them must +be right for the non-coms., who also wore swords at their sides. But all the +ceremonial of a court of honour and seconds was not necessary among common folk +like Heppner and himself. Alone, without witnesses, as man to man they would +fight it out.</p> +<p class="normal">Heimert thought at first of selecting swords as the weapons; but their swords +were not sharpened, and it might attract attention if he had them put in order. +Besides, he thought it more becoming to use pistols when such a weighty matter +as the honour of a husband was in question.</p> +<p class="normal">It was a piece of good luck that some years before he had picked up a couple +of live cartridges after a shooting-practice.</p> +<p class="normal">Now he handled the little things with a grim satisfaction. They were not +quite so small as those of the infantry, for the regulation revolver had a range +of ten millimetres. The brass cases had grown a little dull, so he rubbed them +until they shone.</p> +<p class="normal">Nothing more was wanting. The duel could take place.</p> +<p class="normal">The only remaining difficulties were locality and time; but concerning these +also Heimert soon decided. Sloping up behind the barracks, the road led straight +to an open bit of overhanging ground. There could not be a better spot. And of +course the affair could only take place at night. He consulted the calendar: in +two days there would be a full moon, so they would have light enough to see each +other clearly at ten paces. The moon rose shortly before ten o'clock; she would +be high in the heavens by midnight.</p> +<p class="normal">At daybreak the deputy sergeant-major went about his duty, cool and punctual +as usual, only taking pains to avoid meeting Heppner. He did not wish to see him +until the evening,--or, better still, till night,--so that the duel might follow +immediately upon their interview. He knew the sergeant-major would not flinch, +but would fall in with his arrangements. Heppner was no coward.</p> +<p class="normal">Albina behaved just as usual during the day, and said nothing to her husband +about the kiss. But that, of course, made no difference to Heimert's plans. He +learned from the stablemen that Heppner would be at the White Horse with +Blechschmidt, the sergeant-major of the fifth, that evening. That was capital. +He would catch him as he came home, and the affair would be arranged in two +minutes.</p> +<p class="normal">Heimert ate his supper in silence. Albina imagined that he had had words with +the captain or somebody, and did not bother him with questions. After she had +cleared the table, she sat down to read the sensational <i>feuilleton</i> of the +local daily paper, eating pralines all the while. Then she performed her evening +toilet and went to bed. It was not yet nine o'clock; but that did not matter. +She liked lying in bed.</p> +<p class="normal">On the stroke of nine Heimert heard the sergeant-major go out. In the +corridor he caught some of the men larking about without their caps, and rebuked +them sharply. Then he clanked down the stairs, and all was still.</p> +<p class="normal">Heimert carried the lamp to the table in the window and sat down to write. In +order to pass the time until Heppner should return, he was going to check the +shoeing account in his register by the entries in the ordnance books. In his +slow, neat handwriting he inscribed one careful entry after another, and became +so absorbed by his task that he never even heard the tattoo. When he looked up +from the books it was already past eleven; but that was all right, for the +sergeant-major was safe not to be going home till midnight.</p> +<p class="normal">Heimert opened the window and looked out. It had rained during the day, and +now all nature seemed to be sprouting and budding. The odour of the young fresh +green things was wafted in by a breath of wind, which gently swayed the cotton +curtains. Forest and hills were illuminated by the brilliant moonlight; and like +a white ribbon the foot-path climbed the steep ascent behind the barracks, till +it lost itself in the shadows of a thicket. On the grassy slope stood a group of +young birches, their white stems gleaming, and their shimmering leaves--still +wet from the rain--shining as though made of silver.</p> +<p class="normal">Heimert gazed at it all with no thought for the beauty of the May night. He +was glad that the moon shone so brightly, as he would be able to see his man +with ease in such a light.</p> +<p class="normal">He fetched his revolver, and returning to the window looked across at the +notice-board opposite, which threatened trespassers in the barracks or +parade-ground with "a fine of sixty marks or five days' imprisonment." The +white-lettered notice-board was fixed to the trunk of a beech-tree by a huge +nail, and at the head of this nail Heimert took careful aim.</p> +<p class="normal">Satisfied, he laid down the pistol and returned to the table. But almost +immediately he jumped up again and took a light out into the corridor. Yes, +Heppner's revolver was in its usual place on the rack. He took the weapon with +him into the kitchen, and sat down once more. Just midnight! The twelve strokes +were sounding slowly from the great clock of the barracks.</p> +<p class="normal">Heimert still waited. After a little his head sank down on the table, and he +fell asleep.</p> +<p class="normal">At half-past two Heppner came home. He had had a run of bad luck at the White +Horse, had lost over a hundred marks, and that amount was now missing from the +battery cash-box. He was quite overcome by this sudden misfortune. As if stunned +he groped his way home to the barracks, scarcely seeing where he was going, +stumbling at times over his sword, or entangling himself with his spurs.</p> +<p class="normal">When he rang at the gate for admittance he was ready to fly into a passion. +He thought he had not heard the ringing of the bell, and he began to rage at +somebody's carelessness in not having a broken bell mended on the instant. But +the corporal on guard opened to him; so the bell was all right, and the sound +must have escaped him. He stumbled over the threshold.</p> +<p class="normal">The corporal gazed after him in astonishment. Was the sergeant-major asleep +or awake? He had staggered past with wide-open, staring eyes, like a +sleep-walker. Perhaps he was simply drunk.</p> +<p class="normal">In the passage Heimert came to meet him. He looked distraught, as though just +awakened out of sleep. He beckoned Heppner into the kitchen. Heppner entered and +shut the door behind him. The light blinded him; he blinked stupidly, and +thought he saw in the lamp-light two shining revolvers lying on the table.</p> +<p class="normal">"You kissed my wife yesterday," said Heimert, in a half whisper. "Isn't that +so?"</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner nodded. "Yes, yes." What had the silly fellow got in his head? Of +course he had kissed the woman; and he meant to do it again, and again too.</p> +<p class="normal">"And so you have got to fight it out with me," continued the other. "Man +against man. Are you agreed?"</p> +<p class="normal">Again the sergeant-major nodded stolidly. Why not? Their betters acted thus.</p> +<p class="normal">"Shall we settle the thing now at once?"</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner nodded for the third time. It was all one to him, so long as he could +get to rest at last.</p> +<p class="normal">Heimert took up the two revolvers in one of his big hands; with the other he +pointed over his shoulder out of the window.</p> +<p class="normal">"We'll go up there," he said. "There's plenty of room there. And we'll take +our own two revolvers with us. Look here! I will load them, each with one +cartridge."</p> +<p class="normal">Under Heppner's eyes he placed the cartridges in the chambers of the +revolvers, the shining brass gleaming beside the dull steel. He gripped the +pistols by the barrel, and held out the butt-ends to the sergeant-major.</p> +<p class="normal">"Now choose," he said.</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner languidly took with his right hand the revolver which the other was +holding in his left. Heimert held the remaining pistol in the lamp light, and +read off the number.</p> +<p class="normal">"I have got yours," he said, "and you have mine. And now we'll wait till the +sentry has gone round the corner."</p> +<p class="normal">He leant out of the window cautiously, and took a look round. The moon was in +the zenith; houses, trees, and bushes cast but short shadows. The sentinel was +strolling along by the hedge of the jumping-ground. His sword was in the +scabbard, and he had buried his hands deep in his breeches-pockets. Every now +and then the lubberly fellow would whistle a stave, or stand still and kick a +stone from his path, or gape so loudly that the moon shone into his open mouth. +At last he disappeared round a corner of the buildings.</p> +<p class="normal">"Now!" whispered Heimert. "You go first, but take off your sword."</p> +<p class="normal">Obediently Heppner unbuckled his belt and laid it down. He pushed the +revolver carefully into his coat-pocket, and swung himself out of the window. +The deputy sergeant-major extinguished the lamp and followed him.</p> +<p class="normal">Side by side, like two good friends, the two men climbed the path that led up +the hill-side; Heimert striding on with quiet even pace, and Heppner, with +unsteady knees and panting breast, trying involuntarily to keep step with the +other man.</p> +<p class="normal">They vanished into the deep shadow of the wood, and after a short time +stepped out again into the bright moonlight above. The moon was almost exactly +overhead.</p> +<p class="normal">The deputy sergeant-major went thoughtfully along the path till he arrived at +the spot where the ascent ceased and the ground became quite level.</p> +<p class="normal">"This is the best place, I think," he said. With the spurred heel of his +riding-boot he drew a deep furrow in the clayey soil.</p> +<p class="normal">"Will you stand here?" he said to the sergeant-major. Without a word Heppner +walked up to the mark. He carefully placed his feet with the toes against the +marked line. Heimert went on another ten paces, not the leaping strides that are +usually taken in arranging a duel, but fairly long ordinary paces.</p> +<p class="normal">At the tenth he paused, and again dug his heel into the earth.</p> +<p class="normal">The two men stood opposite to each other, separated by the terribly narrow +interval of scarcely nine yards.</p> +<p class="normal">"Cock your pistol, Heppner!" cried Heimert to him. And the sergeant-major did +as the other desired. He seemed quite unaware of its being a matter of life and +death; he moved as in a dream.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly Heimert let out a curse. A difficulty had presented itself at the +last moment, and threatened to upset his whole plan.</p> +<p class="normal">How were they to shoot?</p> +<p class="normal">By counting, of course. He had intended to count "one," then, after a couple +of seconds by his watch, "two," and then again, after another couple of seconds, +"three." Between "one" and "three" they were to fire. But, damn it all! how +could he take aim if he was holding the watch in his hand and counting the +seconds on the dial?</p> +<p class="normal">Irresolutely he looked down at his watch. This was like a bad joke, and +perfectly maddening.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly an idea came to him. The minute-hand showed just two minutes to the +hour. In two minutes then the barrack clock would strike three. That would be as +good as counting.</p> +<p class="normal">In a clear voice he called out to his opponent: "Listen to what I say, +Heppner. In two minutes the clock down there will strike three times. At the +first stroke we must lift our revolvers, before that they must be pointed to the +ground. Between the first and the third strokes we may fire, but not after the +third. Do you understand, and are you agreed?"</p> +<p class="normal">For the first time the sergeant-major made an articulate sound. "All right," +he said. His voice sounded husky, and he cleared his throat.</p> +<p class="normal">"Very good," said Heimert; "then it's all settled."</p> +<p class="normal">He took up his position, and looked coolly before him. The moon shone down +from a clear sky. A single light cloud floated against the dark background, +looking like a little white skiff.</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner watched the cloud. He tried to think how he came to be in this place, +up on the hill in the wood, in the middle of the night, like this. He could not +quite make it out. More than all there weighed on him a leaden feeling of +weariness. He would have liked to throw himself down on the bare earth.</p> +<p class="normal">The seconds dragged on slowly.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly a night-bird screamed loudly from a neighbouring tree-top, and +immediately afterwards sounded the first stroke of the hour.</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major pulled himself up. With suddenly awakened senses he looked +about him. Opposite him stood Heimert with his revolver, and he himself felt the +butt-end of a weapon in his right hand.</p> +<p class="normal">But this was all madness. It was a crime. He wanted to cry out, "Stop!" This +folly was impossible. If anything happened to him he was lost. There was money +missing from the battery cash-box; at least he must put that right.</p> +<p class="normal">Then came the second stroke. Stop! Stop! Why was his tongue tied?</p> +<p class="normal">Heimert saw him draw himself up. He thought his adversary was going to fire, +and he raised his revolver hastily. His forefinger pressed the trigger. The +sound of the shot echoed through the air, and almost simultaneously the clock +struck for the third time.</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner remained a moment standing. His revolver rattled to the ground, his +left hand clutched at his breast. Then the tall upright figure lurched forward, +and fell like a lifeless mass. A violent shudder ran through the limbs; the body +contracted, stretched itself again, turned over on itself, and fell on its back.</p> +<p class="normal">Then all was still.</p> +<p class="normal">Heimert stood in his place. The hand with the revolver had slowly sunk, and +hung down limply. His glance wandered from the corpse to the boundary line at +his feet. He had not stepped over it. Everything was according to order.</p> +<p class="normal">At last he aroused himself from his stupor. He forced himself to pass the +little furrow in the ground, and went towards his opponent. His footsteps were +heavy and uncertain; it felt to him as if his soles adhered to the earth.</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major was dead; there was no doubt about that. On the left +breast were a slight blood-stain and a quite diminutive hole. His head was +thrown back. The wide-open eyes of the dead man stared into the moonlight.</p> +<p class="normal">Heimert gently closed the eyelids. He paused for a time beside the corpse +with folded hands, and softly muttered the Lord's prayer. Then he began to +descend the hill.</p> +<p class="normal">But he seemed to bethink himself of something. He dived again through the +shadow of the trees and knelt beside the sergeant-major. With great care he laid +his own discharged revolver in place of the loaded weapon which Heppner had +dropped.</p> +<p class="normal">When he stood up again a shifty, vague, cunning expression passed over his +face.</p> +<p class="normal">Between the white stems of the young birch-trees he looked out for the +sentry, who must have heard the shot. Redoubled precautions would be necessary +in regaining the barracks.</p> +<p class="normal">The sentry was staring fixedly up into the woods hence he had heard the +firing. With his head still turned towards the heights he walked up to the +gates, and waited to be relieved. When the bombardier and the relieving sentry +appeared he made his announcement. He pointed several times to the wood. The +bombardier shrugged his shoulders and asked questions; finally he disappeared +through the gateway with the sentry who had been relieved. The gates clanged +together, and the keys rattled as the lock was turned.</p> +<p class="normal">The new sentry listened awhile to his comrades' retreating steps; then he +strolled along his beat at a leisurely pace, occasionally looking up the hill. +He took his time, but at last he turned the corner of the officers' quarters.</p> +<p class="normal">Heimert made use of the opportunity. He ran hastily down the pathway to the +barracks. He drew himself up with the aid of the lightning-conductor till his +feet reached the top of the wall, and soon after was standing, breathing +heavily, in his own kitchen.</p> +<p class="normal">A moonbeam fell on something shining that leant against a kitchen chair. It +was Heppner's sword. Heimert took it up and carefully hung it on its nail in the +passage.</p> +<p class="normal">For a moment he stood listening. The Heppner baby was crying; the soothing +murmurs of its mother could be plainly heard: "Sh, sh!"</p> +<p class="normal">He stepped back on tiptoe, drew the door gently to, and began hastily to +undress. Then he lay down quietly in bed, taking pains not to make the bedstead +creak.</p> +<p class="normal">His precautions were superfluous; Albina slept soundly. An earthquake would +hardly have awakened her.</p> +<p class="normal">The deputy sergeant-major lay and listened. He could only hear the beating of +his own heart, and through the wall the muffled sound of the child's crying.</p> +<p class="normal">"Widow and orphan," he thought.</p> +<p class="normal">The wailing voice subsided by degrees. The child had fallen asleep, or the +mother had taken it to her breast.</p> +<p class="normal">Its father was lying up there on the hill-side, his huge body blocking the +pathway.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Schellhorn, the fat paymaster of the regiment, whom Surgeon-major Andreae sent +every spring to Carlsbad for a cure, found the corpse during his early morning +constitutional.</p> +<p class="normal">He hastened to the barracks and gave the alarm.</p> +<p class="normal">After all particulars had been noted, the dead man was carried away. Four +gunners bore the heavy body down the hill on a stretcher, and laid it on the bed +in the Heppners' dwelling, the poor wife looking on with bewildered eyes.</p> +<p class="normal">There was no doubt as to the case being one of suicide. The direction of the +shot, as shown by the post-mortem examination, was not against this theory; but +the most unmistakable proof lay in the motive for the deed, which was only too +clear. From the various cash-boxes under the charge of the deceased one hundred +and twenty marks were missing.</p> +<p class="normal">Sergeant-major Heppner, in dread of this being discovered, had shot himself.</p> +<p class="normal">The colonel, Major Schrader, and Captain von Wegstetten unanimously decided +to hush up the affair, in view of the certain censure of the higher authorities; +and Schrader replaced the missing sum without more ado.</p> +<p class="normal">Heppner's gambling companions were seriously warned.</p> +<p class="normal">Sergeant-major Blechschmidt, who was most to blame, received an official +intimation that he must not count upon a further term of service.</p> +<p class="normal">Finally the widow was informed that her husband had committed suicide in a +moment of temporary mental aberration.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">A few days after the funeral Heimert was installed in Heppner's place.</p> +<p class="normal">It gave him an immense deal of trouble to fulfil his new duties, and yet no +man could have set himself to the task more zealously and conscientiously.</p> +<p class="normal">Captain von Wegstetten sometimes raged with impatience when his new +sergeant-major could not meet his requirements. Mere indications and suggestions +were not sufficient for the dull and somewhat limited understanding of Heimert. +Every detail had to be pointed out to him and explained at length; but once he +comprehended them he showed himself capable of carrying out orders punctually +and carefully.</p> +<p class="normal">From the time of his promotion Heimert troubled himself little about Albina. +His behaviour towards her became shy and odd; he avoided as much as possible +being alone with her. He preferred to sit at his desk in the orderly-room, while +she on her side felt no regret in being relieved from the too particular +attentions of her unloved husband.</p> +<p class="normal">Käppchen came to the conclusion that the sergeant-major must have a screw +loose somewhere. Heimert exhibited certain strange whims. He would become +perfectly furious if the many-coloured penholder which Heppner had used were +offered him, and he strictly forbade the corporal ever to put it on his desk. +Käppchen would sometimes for fun hand him this penholder "by mistake" if a +signature were wanted in a hurry. The sergeant-major looked so comic with his +blazing eyes and crimson face, his nose shining reddest of all.</p> +<p class="normal">But the days were always too long for the sergeant-major. Even his writing +came at last to an end, and there was still time left on his hands. He was not +long in finding an occupation.</p> +<p class="normal">In the mounted exercises he had hitherto led the third column, but as +sergeant-major he now had to take an entirely different place in the formation. +His work was, as a matter of fact, much easier than formerly; but he seemed to +find it twice as difficult to understand. He often did not know where he ought +to be, and when Wegstetten found fault with him he took it much to heart. What +sort of an impression would it give, if even the sergeant-major did not know his +work, the senior non-commissioned officer of the battery?</p> +<p class="normal">When he went over his book, puzzling out the regulations with his fingers in +his ears, his thoughts seemed to become more and more wildly confused. He could +form no clear picture of all these evolutions. He therefore took his pen-knife, +and with endless trouble made little wooden figures, roughly representing the +guns, the ammunition waggons, and the individual mounted men. He coloured these +figures so that they might be perfectly distinguishable: the commander of the +battery, the leader of the column, the sergeant-major, the trumpeter, and the +corporal in the rear. And then he made them exercise on the table, advance and +retire, form into line, and wheel round; but his chief care was always to keep +the yellow-striped sergeant-major in his right position.</p> +<p class="normal">Soon Wegstetten had no complaint to make of his sergeant-major, but Heimert +still went on playing with his little figures. For these wooden guns and +horsemen he was now the commander of the battery, and he would not be contented +till his miniature troop was brought to as great a state of perfection as +reigned under the captain of the sixth battery.</p> +<p class="normal">Albina shook her head over her husband's conduct. The man was ill, of that +she was convinced. She spoke to him once of consulting the doctor, but Heimert +repulsed her roughly.</p> +<p class="normal">"Thank God!" he said; "there's nothing the matter with me. I wish everybody +were as healthy as I am!"</p> +<p class="normal">After this she left him in peace. In her opinion some insidious disease was +advancing upon him, and sooner or later the trouble would break out.</p> +<p class="normal">Heimert's appetite began to fail at last; he hardly ate any-thing. He had +always been extremely ugly, but people now shrank back at the sight of his face. +His eyes had become sunken, and had acquired an unnatural brilliancy, while his +hideous nose jutted out prominently from the middle of his ashy countenance.</p> +<p class="normal">Albina sighed. What sort of show could one make with a husband like that? It +was fortunate that he kept out of the way so much.</p> +<p class="normal">But the time began to hang very heavy on her hands. From sheer ennui she took +to having her hair curled.</p> +<p class="normal">The barber who shaved the sergeant-major every morning had already offered +his services, commenting in a most flattering manner on the magnificent hair +which he said she did not show off to the best advantage.</p> +<p class="normal">Albina had hitherto passed him proudly by. She despised barbers. But now she +began to observe him more closely. He appeared to her a polite, agreeable, young +man; he was good-looking too, even elegant. And he was entertaining. He could +tell her the most interesting things about all sorts of people.</p> +<p class="normal">"You see, madam," he used to say, "a barber is one of the family almost. He +sees people in <i>déshabille</i>, as it were. And sometimes one learns all +manner of strange things. Of course the honour of the profession forbids +gossiping. But there is no harm in repeating little trifling occurrences. Don't +you think so? It amuses one's clients; and that is quite permissible."</p> +<p class="normal">Albina entirely agreed with him.</p> +<p class="normal">Here was at least a man with whom one could have some rational conversation.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">During the exercises one morning the captain came riding up to the +sergeant-major.</p> +<p class="normal">"You must go back home at once, Heimert," he cried. "The major wants the +regulations that were in force at the last manœuvres. Look them out, and send +them over to the division at once, will you?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Now, at once?" asked Heimert.</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, yes! Make haste and get them!"</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major hastened back to the barracks. With helmet on head and +sword by his side he set off at once on the quest. He gave Käppchen the +regulations to carry over to the orderly-room of the division, and he himself +returned home.</p> +<p class="normal">In the bedroom he found Albina and the barber together.</p> +<p class="normal">The shameless woman had felt so secure that she had not even troubled to bolt +the door.</p> +<p class="normal">Her gallant lover disappeared through the window like a shot.</p> +<p class="normal">Albina was not so quick. Heimert seized hold of her and dragged her through +the doorway just as she was, clad only in a dressing-jacket and a thin +petticoat.</p> +<p class="normal">The jacket tore in his hands. Then he seized her by her thick hair. She +screamed, but he pushed her before him down the passage.</p> +<p class="normal">A heavy riding-whip was hanging on a nail; as he passed he tore it down, and +the leathern thong descended in furious blows on the woman's head, and on her +bare shoulders and bosom.</p> +<p class="normal">She gave a loud yell of pain. The few men who had remained away from the +exercises came running, and stared open-mouthed. The whip made deep red marks on +the smooth skin, and the shrieks of the woman became more and more piercing. But +Heimert drove her down the steps into the barrack-yard. She stumbled, and lost a +shoe. No matter! on she must go!</p> +<p class="normal">If she stopped for a moment the whip lashed round her feet, her ankles, her +knees. She cowered, shrieking. With outstretched arms she tried to parry the +blows. Her husband pulled her upright; she staggered, but was again dragged +along by her hair under the pressure of that remorseless hand. The blood ran +from her shoulders, but the blows still rained down like hail.</p> +<p class="normal">At last, on reaching the back gate the iron grip was loosened. One last +furious stroke tore her garments and dyed the white linen red. She stood there +for a moment, with bleeding hands pressed to her head, with shut eyes and +trembling knees.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly she realised that she was free, and with wild leaps she fled towards +the forest. On the slope of the hill she turned. Her bare skin gleamed in the +bright sunshine, and her dishevelled hair hung down over her brow. She shook her +naked arms with furious gestures towards the sergeant-major, and screamed a +hideous curse in his face. Then she disappeared into the wood.</p> +<p class="normal">Heimert looked after her with a dull expression of countenance, till no trace +of her white garments was to be seen among the green bushes. Then he returned +home with firm footsteps.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten gave orders that the sergeant-major should not be disturbed that day. +Under such circumstances a man had better be left to himself. But when Heimert +did not put in an appearance next morning, Käppchen was sent to look him up.</p> +<p class="normal">The battery-clerk came back much disturbed, and announced: "Excuse me, sir, I +think the sergeant-major's gone mad."</p> +<p class="normal">"Mad? You are mad yourself, man!" was the captain's reply; and he went in +person to the sergeant-major's quarters.</p> +<p class="normal">Heimert was sitting at the table, his little wooden guns and horsemen before +him. With smiling looks he was drilling them, giving the words of command in a +soft voice.</p> +<p class="normal">He did not seem to recognise the commander of his battery, but gazed stupidly +at Wegstetten when he spoke to him.</p> +<p class="normal">"Don't you know me, sergeant-major?" asked the captain.</p> +<p class="normal">Heimert smiled at him, and pointed to the little horses.</p> +<p class="normal">"I ask you, Sergeant-major Heimert, don't you know your captain?" demanded +Wegstetten once more.</p> +<p class="normal">The sergeant-major shook his head, grinning. Then he set to work again, and +the guns were made to advance, each at an equal distance from the other, with +the leaders of the columns and the mounted men all in their places.</p> +<br><p class="normal">Heimert was taken to the lunatic asylum of the district. In general he was a +very manageable patient, and it was only if a woman approached him that he began +to rave. His greatest delight was to play with some wooden toys that were given +him,--mimic guns and mounted soldiers of all descriptions.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2> +<br> +<br> +<p class="center"><img src="images/pg252.png" alt="Das_Gamze_--_halt!"></p> +<br> +<p class="continue">Shortly before Christmas Senior-lieutenant Güntz was promoted to be captain, and +was placed in command of the fifth battery, <i>vice</i> Captain Mohr, discharged +from the service for incompetence.</p> +<p class="normal">New brooms sweep clean, and Güntz set to work with ardour at the difficult +task of bringing order and efficiency into the neglected troop. By means of +stringent discipline, and even severity, he succeeded in this more easily than +he himself had expected, and soon began to notice with satisfaction that his +labour was gradually bearing fruit.</p> +<p class="normal">After a time the fifth battery could be ranged alongside the pattern fourth +and sixth batteries. Major Schrader rubbed his hands cheerfully: to have three +such excellent officers commanding batteries in one division at the same time +was indeed unusual good fortune, and he well knew how to make use of them.</p> +<p class="normal">At the spring inspection he received a string of compliments at least a yard +long from the commander of the brigade, and in his joy showered thanks upon +Güntz for having helped him to achieve such a success. Güntz himself was greatly +pleased that the inspection had gone so smoothly. He had not been sure that this +would be so, as he did not feel his battery quite well enough in hand even yet.</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, it went off tolerably, didn't it, sir?" he replied modestly.</p> +<p class="normal">"Faultlessly! faultlessly!" said the major.</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, sir, it was partly good luck. The officer in command of a battery is +right in the middle of it all, and sees lots of things which look as if they +might go wrong. Then some happy accident occurs, and the situation is saved."</p> +<p class="normal">The major, however, seemed to have something more on his mind, and stood +stroking his whiskers in embarrassment.</p> +<p class="normal">"Certainly, certainly," he answered. "A man must have good luck, or he will +have bad! But your merit is there all the same, my dear Güntz."</p> +<p class="normal">And then he continued, rather haltingly: "And therefore, you know, it is all +the more painful to me. But there is something more behind. These superior +officers never seem to give unstinted praise."</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz's hand went up to his helmet, and he said, in a level voice: "Of course +I am at your orders, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">"No, no, my dear Güntz," said Schrader, deprecatingly; "the colonel is kind +enough to undertake the unpleasant part of my duty for me, and I am glad of it; +for it would have been very much against the grain with me. Well, well! just you +go quietly to the colonel, and don't worry about it at all. Thank you, my dear +Güntz. Good morning, good morning!"</p> +<p class="normal">He turned towards his quarters, and from the steps nodded in friendly fashion +to the captain.</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz did feel a little anxious about the interview which lay before him. He +was conscious of having performed his duty to the best of his ability. But +heaven knows what commanding officers won't sometimes get their backs up about!</p> +<p class="normal">Colonel von Falkenhein received him very cordially.</p> +<p class="normal">"My dear friend," he said, "I congratulate you! You could not have wished for +a better <i>début</i> as the youngest officer in command of a battery."</p> +<p class="normal">"Thank you very much, sir," replied Güntz; and then went straight to the +point about the mysterious affair. His curiosity was surely pardonable.</p> +<p class="normal">"Excuse me, sir," he continued, "Major Schrader informs me that----"</p> +<p class="normal">Falkenhein interrupted him: "Yes, quite right. You will take it to heart, but +you must know that our esteemed brigadier has still something <i>in petto</i>. +As you have heard, he was highly satisfied with your direction of your battery +to-day; but he considers that in regard to discipline you do not seem to be +quite at home yet in your new position."</p> +<p class="normal">This was just what Güntz had not expected. He had imagined his best work to +have been precisely in this direction.</p> +<p class="normal">Falkenhein smiled at his puzzled look as he asked for further explanation, +and shrugging his shoulders went on: "Yes, so the general said, But, my dear +Güntz, I have only formally repeated this to you as I was commanded to do so. +Now let us talk it over as colleagues. I can understand your astonishment, and +you will soon be more puzzled than ever. The reason the general gives for his +strictures is that there has been so much punishment in your battery--more than +double as much as in the fourth and the sixth together."</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz restrained a gesture of impatient surprise. This was rather beyond a +joke!</p> +<p class="normal">"But, sir," he said, "you know under what circumstances I took command!"</p> +<p class="normal">"Know? why, of course I do!" answered Falkenhein; "and of course I explained +to him. But he regarded my description as exaggerated. I may tell you in +confidence that he belongs to the very clique who managed to keep Mohr in the +service so long. And he regards his opinion as infallible--namely, that too many +punishments in a troop are the consequence of a lack of discipline. He considers +that a certain similarity in the punishment-registers of the batteries should be +aimed at unconditionally. Otherwise unfavourable conclusions as to the +capability of individual captains must be drawn, he says."</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz was honestly indignant, and when anything struck him as unjust, it +never mattered to him in whose presence he was; he must speak his mind, even to +his colonel.</p> +<p class="normal">"Pardon me, sir," he began, "but the general has surely lost sight of the +fact that for similar results similar previous conditions are necessary. I +consider, with all respect, that even in normal batteries the material on which +we have to work is different; and that in the very same battery perhaps the new +year's recruits may effect an enormous difference in the punishment-register. To +say nothing of such circumstances as there were in my case. If my +punishment-register were +<i>not</i> greater than those of the fourth and sixth batteries, then that would +reflect unfavourably upon me. And I most respectfully hope that it is not a more +important matter to the general to receive punishment-registers of the same +length, than that the discipline of a battery should suffer." Almost out of +breath, he added! "Pardon me, sir, I beg!"</p> +<p class="normal">Falkenhein had become very serious.</p> +<p class="normal">"I take nothing you have said amiss, my dear Güntz," he replied. "I cannot +but admit that you are perfectly right. And exactly what you have just argued I +myself said very plainly to the general, very plainly indeed. He became damnably +cold to me at the end of it."</p> +<p class="normal">The colonel paused, and smiled a little to himself as he thought over the +conversation. The general had been nearly bursting with rage, and would not have +permitted such opposition from any one else to go unpunished. But Falkenhein was +a recognised favourite of the old monarch; he had been the king's +hunting-companion for days together, and was surer in his position than even the +general in his. So he could not cut up too rough.</p> +<p class="normal">"Nevertheless," continued the colonel more cheerfully, "he regarded it as +desirable that a greater similarity should gradually be obtained."</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz answered firmly: "Forgive me, sir, I cannot promise the general this in +anticipation. I could not bring it into harmony with my conception of the duty +of an officer."</p> +<p class="normal">"Good," answered Falkenhein. "You have given me that answer as your friend +and colleague. As your commander, I have perfect confidence that you will do all +you can that is useful and desirable for the king's service, and that in this +sense you will accede to the general's wish."</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz bowed, and answered: "Certainly, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">In the orderly-room he asked the sergeant-major whether Zampa had been +exercised that day.</p> +<p class="normal">"Not yet, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">"Then please have him saddled, and I will take him out for a little myself."</p> +<p class="normal">He rode down towards the valley. Yonder on the left among the fresh green +plantations lay the pistol-practice ground, on which a few months ago his duel +with Lieutenant Landsberg had taken place. He thought less of that episode +itself than of the night before it, during which he had written down his reasons +for contemplating resignation.</p> +<p class="normal">To-day he felt himself enriched by a fresh argument.</p> +<p class="normal">Deuce take it! Was not this passion for similarity enough to madden one? Must +everything be tainted by this damned, regular, grinding drill, this parade-march +sort of principle? Must things everywhere run smoothly and according to rule, +just in order that the authorities might be convinced of the excellence of the +whole system?</p> +<p class="normal">So even the punishment-register should be carefully edited! No one must lift +his head above his fellows! It was really laughable. Teachers might have bad +pupils; but it seemed to be against the rules for the captain of a battery to +have bad soldiers in his troop!</p> +<p class="normal">Luckily for him, he happened to be in very favourable circumstances. He had a +colonel who stood up for him, and who could dare to express a difference of +opinion from his superior officer, because he himself chanced to be in the good +books of the king. So that this affair would pass by all right and do nobody any +harm. But what would have happened if the colonel himself had felt uncertain of +his position? Would he have found the moral courage to oppose his influential +superior, even if only by a modest remonstrance? Would he not rather, for the +sake of his career, have said, merely: "Certainly, sir!"</p> +<p class="normal">And then the pressure would have gone on downwards; and among a hundred +captains there were certainly but few who, in the struggle between their better +knowledge and their future career, would remain true to their convictions. Most +of them would bring the punishment-register up to the "desirable" regularity, +and just do as best they could with the bad elements in their batteries: the men +who sneered at all discipline, and whom nevertheless their captain dared not +punish properly; who spoilt the good soldiers, and increased the dislike of the +reservists for the service. Otherwise the punishment-register might exceed the +average demanded, and "that would cause unfavourable conclusions as to the +discipline of the battery and the capability of the captain."</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz rode slowly back along the grassy lane. He looked around him. Yonder +the white walls of the barracks gleamed in the sunshine; a fresh wind gently +shook the budding branches, and all around everything was sprouting, filled with +the vigour of youth. He guided his horse carefully round a patch of primroses, +which covered the whole width of the path with a sheet of yellow blossoms.</p> +<p class="normal">He bade dull care begone. Could he not at any time quit the service directly +he became convinced of its ineffectiveness? To-day's experience was simply a +fresh weight in the scales of his doubt.</p> +<p class="normal">He had once more determined to apply all his strength to the solution of a +problem, which had been in his mind even at the time of his employment in +Berlin.</p> +<p class="normal">There seemed to him no doubt that the French field-artillery with its +anti-recoil construction had gained a great advantage over all other armies; an +advantage which could only be prejudiced if the utility of the invention were +proved on the field of battle to be less than was expected. Up to the present +time the French gun-carriage had only been tested on a small scale in peace +manœuvres, and it had not been absolutely demonstrated that its construction +would stand the continuous high pressure of a campaign. He was now absorbed in a +scheme for simplifying and strengthening the anti-recoil attachments in such a +way that they would keep in working order under the severest test. And at the +same time he had been directing his attention to the steel shields used in the +French field-artillery for the protection of the men who served the guns. German +military authorities were for the most part opposed to the introduction of this +method of protection; but the shield seemed to him very worthy of adoption. In +the battles of the future the percentage of probable losses must be computed +quite mathematically; and it would be a great advantage if, by virtue of the +shield, a large number of the combatants could be considered safe. The opponents +of the measure gave it as their opinion that the men would shirk quitting the +protection of the shield; or that, at any rate, they would take aim so hurriedly +that their accuracy must necessarily suffer. Well, one might equally well argue +that the infantry would refuse to leave their trenches. The other objection was +more convincing: shooting would become too difficult if this steel shield were +associated with the anti-recoil construction. It was a question of mobility; +therefore Güntz set to work to find out some method of lightening the gun. Why +should the gun-carriage be loaded with such a large quantity of ammunition as +was customary--more, probably, than would ever be needed? He was constructing +the model of a carriage in which the quantity of ammunition carried was to be +diminished by one-third; so that the extra weight of the anti-recoil +construction and the steel shield should be more than counterbalanced.</p> +<p class="normal">When he was in Berlin he had gone into the details of his invention with the +head of a large Rhenish gun-foundry. This man proposed that Güntz should send in +his resignation and enter the service of the firm at a handsome salary. Güntz at +that time was not prepared to decide in the matter; but at the close of the +interview the manager had said: "Who knows? perhaps we shall see each other +again."</p> +<p class="normal">Had the man been right?</p> +<p class="normal">In any case, Güntz felt strong enough to make his own way through life.</p> +<p class="normal">The servant took his horse from him at the garden gate.</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, did it go off all right?" asked Kläre.</p> +<p class="normal">The captain answered, "Yes, first-rate." He did not conceal the "but," +however. The calm good sense of his wife always helped him to test his own +impressions. Kläre was, indeed, a woman whose like was not to be found in the +whole world; a woman who had been created just for him.</p> +<p class="normal">She had her own methods in everything. If, at dinner, her husband were +worried with thoughts of the black sheep in his battery, and would keep +introducing such topics at their comfortable board, then she would snub him +quite severely. But when he came to her with his real doubts and anxieties she +was ever ready to comfort and advise him. She knew all about his plan of testing +himself for a year in the command of a battery; and sometimes she was inclined +to advise him to shorten the period of probation. She was shrewd enough to +foresee that within a year and a day he would have discarded his officer's +uniform.</p> +<p class="normal">Lieutenant Reimers continued as hitherto to be a welcome guest in the Güntz +household.</p> +<p class="normal">He had realised that his frequent visits were in no way a bother to his +friend; and when Frau Kläre, with the amiability of a careful hostess, +considered his little idiosyncrasies of taste, he could but protest feebly: +"Really, dear lady, you spoil me too much! What shall I do if, for instance, I +have to go to the Staff College next year?"</p> +<p class="normal">To Güntz he once said, "I must say that in contemplating you and your wife, +one realises what a half-man a bachelor is."</p> +<p class="normal">The stout captain laughed good-naturedly.</p> +<p class="normal">"Kläre," he shouted to his wife, who was just coming into the room, "it +appears that I wasn't making a mistake when I chose you for my wife."</p> +<p class="normal">"How's that, my Fatty?" asked his wife.</p> +<p class="normal">"Reimers has just been saying that the sight of our wedded life gives him an +appetite for matrimony. What do you say to that?"</p> +<p class="normal">"A very sensible remark, Herr Reimers," laughed Kläre.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers blushed a little and rejoined: "Well, then, I shall soon go +bride-hunting. For your advice is always good, dear lady."</p> +<p class="normal">"Now then, flatterer!" growled Güntz. "Don't make my wife conceited."</p> +<p class="normal">But when Reimers had bidden them good-bye he said to Kläre: "I really believe +it would be a most sensible thing for Reimers to marry; he is not the sort to +become a mere mess-house or tavern <i>habitué</i>. He ought to go about and +study the daughters of our country a little."</p> +<p class="normal">"Why go about? There's good enough near at hand," said Frau Kläre.</p> +<p class="normal">The captain looked up: "Eh?"</p> +<p class="normal">Smilingly his wife pointed over her shoulder to the neighbouring villa.</p> +<p class="normal">"Marie Falkenhein?" asked Güntz.</p> +<p class="normal">Frau Kläre nodded.</p> +<p class="normal">"You don't want to earn a match-maker's reward, do you, now?" inquired her +husband.</p> +<p class="normal">"Oh, Fatty, darling! don't you know me better than that?" his wife protested. +"No, no, nothing of the sort! But seriously, I do mean that those two young +people would suit each other very well. With regard to Marie, I know positively +this much, she thinks Reimers very nice; and that is, at any rate, something to +go on, until our dear Reimers opens his eyes."</p> +<p class="normal">"But let him open them quite by himself, please; no assistance, I do beg!" +the captain interrupted.</p> +<p class="normal">"Of course, Fatty, quite by himself."</p> +<p class="normal">"But, Kläre, how about that episode of the Gropphusen? That was a bit off the +rails, wasn't it?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Nothing of the kind. Nothing but a mere passing flirtation."</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz shook his head thoughtfully.</p> +<p class="normal">"No, Kläre," he replied. "I understand Reimers. He would never have anything +to do with mere passing flirtations. It is just the dear fellow's misfortune +that he takes everything so damned seriously. It went pretty deep with him that +time with the Gropphusen; you can believe me as to that."</p> +<p class="normal">"Still, one does not cling for all eternity to such a useless sort of +business."</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz was not quite convinced.</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, we must hope not," he said. "And, really, the two would suit each +other excellently."</p> +<p class="normal">Walking up and down the room he continued: "Yes, in all respects. Reimers has +an income of about seventy thousand marks, and the colonel would certainly be +able to give his daughter a bit of money without having to pinch himself. I +should say about twenty thousand. True, he is no Crœsus; but then he will soon +be made a general. Our dear Reimers will have to keep his passion for books in +check. Yes, yes! The thing would answer admirably."</p> +<p class="normal">He stood still and knocked the ash off his cigar.</p> +<p class="normal">"Why are you laughing, you sly little woman?" he asked, glancing down at her.</p> +<p class="normal">"How funny you are, Fatty!" Kläre answered. "You accuse me quite sternly of +the worst intentions, and then you make plan after plan, and even begin to +reckon up their joint income!"</p> +<p class="normal">But Güntz parried the accusation gallantly:</p> +<p class="normal">"Just another compliment for you, my Kläre. Only happy couples try to bring +about other marriages."</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">A short time afterwards, without any prompting from the Güntzes, Reimers said to +his stout friend: "Güntz, doesn't it strike you that Mariechen Falkenhein is a +very nice girl?"</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz leant back in his chair reflectively, and answered: "A nice girl? how +do you mean? Certainly she has a pretty face, her eyes are especially sweet, and +she has a good figure. Just a little too slight. For my taste, of course I +mean."</p> +<p class="normal">"No," replied Reimers, "I don't mean that so much. Certainly she is pretty. +But, after all, that's a secondary matter. I mean more the effect of her +personality. There seems to be something so sure, so comfortable, so restful +about her. Don't you think so?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, you know, I have not made such detailed observations. But I daresay +you are right. And I should say that she will make a splendid wife some day. +Quick and accurate, without a trace of superficiality, with a strong instinct +for housewifely order; a simple, clear, shrewd intellect--the man who wins her +for his wife will be a lucky fellow!"</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers unconsciously drew himself up a little, and he said doubtfully:</p> +<p class="normal">"But surely she is still much too young."</p> +<p class="normal">"Not a bit," replied Güntz. "She will be eighteen in the autumn, and she is +not even engaged yet. And after that there would be the betrothal time of the +educated European--not less than six months. Well, that would bring her nearly +up to twenty, and at twenty a woman in our geographical area is quite eligible +for marriage."</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers appeared to meditate upon this. Finally, however, he only replied by +a prolonged "H'm," and dropped the subject.</p> +<p class="normal">But the ladies of the regiment had soon a fresh subject for gossip. +Lieutenant Reimers was paying his addresses to Marie Falkenhein. There was no +doubt that his intentions were serious. Well, he had no rivals to fear. +Falkenhein was poor every one knew that. He could have very little income beyond +his pay. And his daughter? Oh, yes, she was a pretty, graceful creature; but she +was not brilliantly beautiful, and therefore could not have any very great +expectations. No question of anything beyond just a suitable and satisfactory +marriage in the service.</p> +<p class="normal">From this time onward the matter was almost regarded as settled; and in the +garrison gossip Marie von Falkenhein and Lieutenant Reimers were soon spoken of +as though their betrothal had been already announced.</p> +<p class="normal">Naturally the interesting news was eagerly carried to Frau von Gropphusen, +and she was narrowly watched for the effect of the communication; but nothing +could be detected. No flinching, no pauses in the conversation, no alteration in +the expression of her face or of her voice. What a pity that there was no +theatre in the town, when they so thoroughly enjoyed such little dramas!</p> +<p class="normal">Hannah Gropphusen did not discontinue her visits to Frau Güntz. She came +neither more rarely nor more frequently. She seemed to have regained +self-control.</p> +<p class="normal">Frau Kläre's birthday was celebrated in the arbour of the Falkenheins' +garden, by the second <i>Maibowle</i> of the season. They had drunk to the +health of the birthday-queen, and were just sitting down again when there was +the tinkle of a bicycle-bell outside in the street. The soft sound of the quick +wheels came nearer, and just in front of the garden there was the thud of a +light pair of feet jumping to the ground.</p> +<p class="normal">A clear voice, which would have sounded merry, but that for the moment it +seemed a little breathless, called up to the arbour: "Hurrah! hurrah! And for +the third time hurrah! Can one get anything to drink here?"</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz hurried to the balustrade.</p> +<p class="normal">"My dear lady!" he exclaimed astonished. "Certainly you can! There's still +lots left."</p> +<p class="normal">He turned round: "Pardon me, sir, but here's Frau von Gropphusen."</p> +<p class="normal">Falkenhein went quickly to his side: "Do give us the pleasure of your +company, dear Frau von Gropphusen. I will have your bicycle taken in at once."</p> +<p class="normal">He went to the gate and conducted Frau von Gropphusen to the arbour. Güntz +had already placed a chair at the table for her and poured out a glass of <i> +Maibowle</i>.</p> +<p class="normal">"Who rides so late through night and wind?" asked Kläre merrily, holding out +her hand cordially to the new arrival.</p> +<p class="normal">Hannah Gropphusen greeted the festive circle with a bright smile, and +replied: "Do forgive me, Colonel von Falkenhein. The lights and the festivity in +your arbour were too inviting." She raised her glass, and drank to Kläre Güntz: +"To your happiness, dear Frau Kläre, from the bottom of my heart."</p> +<p class="normal">"I have been delayed at Frau von Stuckardt's," she then said; "or, rather, +Frau von Stuckardt would not let me leave."</p> +<p class="normal">"Stuckardt told me," interrupted the colonel, "that his wife was not well."</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, she has got the old pain in her face back again, which no doctor can +relieve, and that was why I had to stay so long. I had to keep my hands on her +cheeks. She says I have soothing hands and can do her good."</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers looked across at her. She was sitting a little in the shadow, so that +her white straw hat and light blouse stood out distinctly. On her bosom sparkled +a small diamond. Only the tip of her foot was visible in the lamplight, a +beautiful, narrow, elegantly-shod foot, which was swinging rapidly backwards and +forwards.</p> +<p class="normal">To avoid catching her eye, Reimers turned to Marie Falkenhein, his neighbour. +The <i>Maibowle</i> had got into his head a little. He chatted away cheerfully, +the young girl listening with flushed cheeks and radiant eyes, and answering +laughingly from time to time. They neither of them noticed that meanwhile Frau +von Gropphusen had emptied her glass and was preparing to go.</p> +<p class="normal">"Many thanks," she said. "I was nearly fainting. The <i>Maibowle</i> has done +me good. But it's getting late; I must go home."</p> +<p class="normal">"Of course they are expecting you at home?" asked Falkenhein.</p> +<p class="normal">Hannah Gropphusen laughed rather bitterly.</p> +<p class="normal">"Expecting me?" she replied. "Who? Oh no, I don't suppose my husband is at +home. But pray, colonel, don't punish him for that!"</p> +<p class="normal">This was rather painful. However, Frau von Gropphusen afterwards said +good-bye to them so simply and naturally that no one thought anything more about +it.</p> +<p class="normal">The colonel accompanied her to the gate, and the four in the arbour went over +to the balustrade. Güntz had put his arm tenderly round Frau Kläre, and Reimers +was standing beside Marie Falkenhein. They watched Hannah Gropphusen mount her +bicycle and ride slowly away. She turned round in the saddle, waved her right +hand, and shouted out a laughing "Good-night."</p> +<p class="normal">A little further along she looked back, and the white-gloved hand waved +again, but they could no longer distinguish her features.</p> +<p class="normal">Then the rushing wheels disappeared in the darkness.</p> +<p class="normal">Frau von Gropphusen rode quietly home.</p> +<p class="normal">The servant was waiting at the door. He took the machine from her, asking if +she would take tea.</p> +<p class="normal">"No," she answered. "I have had it. You can clear the things away."</p> +<p class="normal">She threw herself on the couch in her room just as she was, in her bicycling +costume. She drew up the rug and wrapped herself in it.</p> +<p class="normal">And Hannah Gropphusen lay thus till far into the night, staring with +wide-open eyes into the darkness of the room.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">A few days later Marie Falkenhein came through the garden gate to Kläre Güntz's +house.</p> +<p class="normal">"Kläre," she said, "I am going into the town to inquire after Frau von +Stuckardt. Would you like me to call in at the chemist's and tell him he is to +send you the sugar-of-milk for the baby?"</p> +<p class="normal">Frau Kläre took stock of the young girl, and shook her finger at her +laughingly.</p> +<p class="normal">"Mariechen! Mariechen!" she said. "I never would have believed you could +become such an accomplished hypocrite, my child."</p> +<p class="normal">Marie turned crimson.</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, yes," continued Kläre. "Because you have heard me call vanity a vice, +you were ashamed to show off your new dress and hat to me. But you hadn't quite +the heart to pass by your old friend's house. Isn't that the way of it?"</p> +<p class="normal">The young girl nodded, her face scarlet.</p> +<p class="normal">Kläre stroked her cheek caressingly, and went on: "You silly little goose! +But really, you know, when one's as pretty as you are, a little vanity is +excusable. And now tell me, where in the world did you get these things?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Oh, Kläre," replied the girl, "not here, of course. Frau von Gropphusen went +with me and helped me to choose them. I can tell you, Kläre, she does understand +such things."</p> +<p class="normal">The young woman stood in front of her friend and looked her over from head to +foot. It would have been impossible to find any costume which lent itself more +happily to Marie's dainty appearance than this of some light-grey soft silken +material, trimmed with white, and with a little hat to match, the shape of which +softly emphasised the delicate beauty of the young face.</p> +<p class="normal">Kläre gave the girl a hearty kiss, and said: "You are as pretty as a picture, +little one. Quite lovely. Well, and what did the stern father say to all this?"</p> +<p class="normal">Marie was quite flushed with pride. "At first he said, 'By Jove!'" she +answered. "Then I made him give me a kiss; and next he got quite anxious and +wanted to know whether I hadn't been running into debt. I had to swear to him +that the whole turn-out didn't cost me more than what he had given me for it."</p> +<p class="normal">"And is that the truth, dear child?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, I had just to add four marks from my pocket-money."</p> +<p class="normal">Kläre shook her head smilingly. "Dear, dear! So young and already so +depraved! Hypocrisy and perjury! Well, at least it is worth it."</p> +<p class="normal">Frau von Gropphusen now made quite a business of helping Marie von Falkenhein +about her clothes. Hannah's slender hands were quicker and cleverer than those +of the deftest maid, and she knew how to transform the young girl's plain +boarding-school frocks into something quite pretty and original.</p> +<p class="normal">She did all this with a soft motherly tenderness, hardly in accordance with +her own youthfulness. Marie Falkenhien's school-girl stiffness disappeared +gradually, and a dainty young woman blossomed out.</p> +<p class="normal">"By Jove!" said Güntz to Frau Kläre. "How Mariechen is coming on! She is +getting a deuced pretty little girl!"</p> +<p class="normal">And Reimers looked at the young girl with eyes which no longer contained the +brotherly indifference of past months.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Shortly before the departure of the troops for the practice-camp the regimental +adjutant, Senior-lieutenant Kauerhof, had a fall from his horse, and injured one +of the tendons of his knee-joint. This would probably keep him away from duty +for about six weeks, so Lieutenant Reimers was appointed to take his work. Being +the eldest lieutenant in the regiment his promotion to senior-lieutenant was +expected any day.</p> +<p class="normal">The young officer was in the seventh heaven of delight at this mark of +distinction. He embarked on his new duties with boundless and untiring zeal. He +almost divined the wishes of Falkenhein; and sometimes it was not even necessary +to give explicit directions as to the manner in which this or that order was to +be carried out. The colonel knew that Reimers, with his powers of intuition, +would do the right thing.</p> +<p class="normal">Falkenhein could not imagine a more painstaking adjutant, nor one who, when +off duty, on the march, or at the practice-camp, could have looked after his +colonel's comfort with more tender consideration. He had noticed that Reimers +had of late paid his daughter attention, and the idea of some day entrusting his +child to the care of this excellent young man--already like a beloved son to +him--gave him real pleasure. This gratifying prospect made him more unreserved +than was usually his custom. It was well known that the colonel was not exactly +delighted with the hundred and one innovations that had been introduced into the +army at the accession of the young emperor. And now, feeling that he could trust +his acting adjutant implicitly, and that not a word of misrepresentation or +misconstruction would ever reach the ears of any evil-disposed person, he freely +unburdened his mind of the cares and anxieties that weighed upon it.</p> +<p class="normal">Some of these confidential communications struck Reimers with amazement. He +had expected to find in Falkenhein an officer who would entirely dissipate all +the doubts that Güntz had awakened in his mind; and now he discovered that this +honoured superior also was filled with the gravest views as to the thoroughness +and efficiency of the organisation of the German army. The more important of +these conversations he noted down each evening in the following manner:--</p> +<br> +<p class="right"><i>June 2nd.</i></p> +<p class="normal">The colonel happened to talk about the supply of officers for the German +army. In his opinion, the best material to draw from is the so-called "army +nobility"--that is to say, those families (not necessarily noble) members of +which have in many successive generations been German officers--German meaning +Prussian, Saxon, Hanoverian, &c.--(examples: the colonel himself, Wegstetten, +and also my humble self). These families are mostly of moderate means, and often +intermarry. That conscientious devotion to their calling as officers is thus +ingrained in their flesh and blood must be self-evident. It is born in them; and +by their simple, austere up-bringing, with their profession ever in view, they +become thoroughly imbued with it. But there is a danger that in such a mental +atmosphere their range of observation may be so restricted that they cannot view +the life of the world around them with intelligence or comprehension. Therefore +it is of immense importance that the corps of German officers should be +strengthened by the infusion of fresh blood from the middle and lower-middle +classes, whose members, having been brought up and educated according to modern +ideas, are of great service to the other officers in enlarging their range of +view. They provide unprejudiced minds and clear intellects capable of dealing +with the more advanced technical problems of modern warfare (Güntz, for +instance).</p> +<p class="normal">The most! unsatisfactory material consists of those officers who, on account +of inherited wealth, look upon their profession as a kind of sport, attractive, +abounding in superficial honours, and for that reason very agreeable. They +generally spring from well-to-do middle-class families (Landsberg), or, in the +smart regiments of Guards, from the families of large landed proprietors and +wealthy manufacturers. These latter are apt to regard court ball-rooms and +racecourses as more important fields of action than drill-grounds and barracks. +They are wholly without ambition, because they only intend to spend a few years +in the army, and then retire to the comforts of private life on their own +estates. They are neither good officers because to be that demands a man's whole +attention and energies; nor, subsequently, good citizens--because the proper +management of a large estate needs training and experience, which cannot be +acquired during their years of military life.</p> +<p class="normal">"Yet sometimes these very officers become generals in command, or something +of the sort!" said he. "That's the worst of it!"</p> +<br> +<p class="right"> <i>June 3rd.</i></p> +<p class="normal">The colonel continued the conversation of yesterday. We talked about the +aristocracy and the middle-class in the army. He admits without hesitation that +the middle-class element is despised, from the staff-officers downwards, owing +to causes originating in the reflected glory of the old personal relations +between the monarch and his feudal lords, now somewhat modified by the +indiscriminate giving of titles--the acceptance of which titles, moreover, on +the part of the middle-classes, he utterly condemns. He wound up by saying: "If +only it were always members of the aristocracy who were really the most +efficient, and attained the highest eminence!"</p> +<p class="normal">Just as the colonel had argued before that there was danger of one-sidedness +from the prevailing influence of the "army nobility," he now pointed out that, +on the other hand, an advantage arose: a kind of accumulation of specific +military qualities of a bodily as well as of a mental kind. He may be quite +right.</p> +<br>> +<p class="right"><i>June 6th.</i></p> +<p class="normal">Yesterday and to-day the Crown Prince lunched at the mess. He came for these +two days in order to inspect the regiment of dragoons here, which belongs to his +brigade. An amiable, good-tempered fellow (although our cooking did not give him +entire satisfaction), and one who likes to sit over his wine a little.</p> +<p class="normal">As we rode after dinner his Highness told us some most racy and amusing +stories in capital style. Then the conversation turned upon questions of tactics +during the last campaign, and at this juncture the colonel became quite grave. +These visits of exalted personages to regimental officers, which are to a +certain extent of a social character, may, he says, bring about serious +consequences. Such exalted persons are apt to regard any intellectual cypher as +a great military genius if he happens to be an agreeable and versatile talker, +and then the military authorities have not always the courage to disturb the +preconceived notions of their sovereign. Result: Society-generals for dinners +and balls; after whom rank next the petticoat-generals. And then he referred to +the female ascendency in the reign of the third Napoleon.</p> +<p class="right"> <i>June 11th.</i></p> +<p class="normal">There is in the Reuss regiment of infantry an amusing little adjutant, +Senior-lieutenant Schreck. He was with the expedition in China, and for that was +awarded a medal. He is never to be seen without his little red and yellow +ribbon. In fun the colonel asked him: "Have you got a ribbon like that on your +night-shirt too?"</p> +<p class="normal">"You are pleased to jest, sir!" answered the little fellow indignantly, from +the back of his long-legged bay mare.</p> +<p class="normal">"After all," said Falkenhein to me later, "I was just as proud of my first +medal in the year 1870!"</p> +<p class="normal">"But this deluge of orders," he continued, "that was showered upon the China +Expedition leads to a lot of self-delusion. It magnifies an insignificant event +to an unnatural degree. Trivial successes stand out as if they were great +victories, and cause exaggerated notions of individual infallibilty. This was +exactly what happened in the Dutch campaign of 1787, upon which followed the +disasters of Valmy and Jena."</p> +<p class="normal">Jena!----Güntz said that too. Moreover, the colonel does not deny that the +Expedition achieved all possible success. But he considers most objectionable +that self-asserting propensity to boast about it associated as it so often is +with an unctuous piety. "Of course," he said, "it's only one of the signs of the +times; and it is just these times that don't please me. All this outward show in +religion is detestable. It was just so in Berlin and Potsdam in the time of +Bischoffswerder and Woellner."</p> +<p class="normal">That again was before--Jena.</p> +<p class="right"><i>June 13th.</i></p> +<p class="normal">For the first time the colonel asked me about my experiences in the South +African War. He was reminded of it because a lieutenant belonging to the +South-West African Defence Corps happened to call upon him at the practice-camp. +I could only say that I had brought away with me from the Transvaal an +unspeakable abhorrence of war.</p> +<p class="normal">"Of war in general?" asked Falkenhein.</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, indeed," I answered; and then it suddenly struck me what a preposterous +reply this was for an officer to make. I qualified the assertion by saying I had +assisted at the most unfortunate period of the Boer War, during the panic that +followed Cronje's capture, and had got to know only the seamy side of warfare: +demolished farms, trampled-down fields, no real steady fighting, scarcely any +skirmishing even, but just one continual rout.</p> +<p class="normal">The colonel listened to my torrent of words in silence. Then at last--"Good +God!" he said, "a thoughtful man <i>must</i> detest war--all war. But it does +not do to be sentimental. Sentimentality in this matter is synonymous with +stupidity." He spoke of this for a long time, then about other topics, and +finally wound up by saying: "There are many such enigmas in this world that must +remain unsolved for the present, and with which men are yet forced to deal in a +practical manner, even at the risk of making mistakes. So that we just have to +choose a sensible middle course. We must be neither too superficial nor too +profound. And above all, we must not think too much!" Unfortunately, I am not +the man for such compromises.</p> +<p class="right"><i>June 16th.</i></p> +<p class="normal">The colonel lunched with me in the canteen, sitting on benches in the middle +of the wood; our fare being bread, sausage, and some excellent lager-beer. Close +by were several one-year volunteers, and two or three non-commissioned officers +with them. They looked uncomfortable, for they are forbidden to be on familiar +terms with the non-commissioned officers. The colonel, however, did not mind it +much.</p> +<p class="normal">"I believe," he said, "that it cannot always be avoided." Then he spoke of +the one-year volunteer system, which in his opinion is a two-edged sword. It +furnishes most efficient reserve-officers,--it has that advantage, certainly. +But the drawbacks are as follows:</p> +<p class="normal">It is apt to demoralise the non-commissioned officers. True, bribery is +strictly forbidden; but that is a mere empty form, a prohibition which is daily +infringed, such infringement being purposely overlooked, whether for good or +evil. The non-commissioned officer then ceases to depend on his pay alone; and +that puts temptations to dishonourable conduct before many a perhaps otherwise +conscientious man, besides inevitably engendering dissatisfaction with his +profession. Furthermore, the one-year volunteer system takes away just those men +who, with their higher intelligence and culture, might most effectually oppose +the socialistic propaganda that goes on in the ranks, and who might in a certain +sense exert an enlightening influence on those around them. The colonel regards +all prohibitions and regulations against the inroads of the revolutionary spirit +in the army as more or less futile. The only practicable expedient is the +influence over the privates of thoroughly trustworthy elements in their midst. +The fact that the one-year volunteers live in barracks among the privates +certainly makes severe demands on the patriotism of the younger ones; but then +it renders careful surveillance possible, and affords a valuable insight into +the life of the common soldier, into his ways of thinking and his views of the +world in general. Falkenhein maintains that for the same reason this +arrangement, although in some respects inconvenient, is highly desirable for the <i> +avantageur</i> as a future officer. The French military authorities, who have +lately instituted a similar system, have, in his opinion, done perfectly right.</p> +<p class="normal">The hardships of the life serve both to sift out the incapables, and to +produce officers who are more mature, more manly, and who do not look upon their +inferiors as utter aliens.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">The inspection of the regimental shooting went off without a hitch. In his +subsequent criticism the general spoke of the pleasure it invariably afforded +him to inspect the 80th Regiment of the Eastern Division Field-Artillery,--a +pleasure of which he had never been disappointed. He ended by saying: "I +congratulate both the regiment and yourself, Colonel von Falkenhein. The +regiment, because it has such an excellent commanding officer at its head; and +you, because you have made your regiment such a splendid body of men." Hardly a +very brilliant or very witty remark, this; but it sounded pleasantly, and one +could not reasonably expect higher praise.</p> +<p class="normal">Falkenhein was in the best of good humours. "Come, Reimers," he said after +lunch, when he had accompanied the general to his carriage, "We'll give my two +bays a little exercise. They've had none yet to-day."</p> +<p class="normal">The two officers started off at an easy trot towards the butts, chatting as +they went.</p> +<p class="normal">"Here's something that will interest you, my dear Reimers," said the colonel +presently. "Wednesday, the day we arrive home, is your day to go to the Güntzes. +Mariechen has written to say there will be a surprise in the evening--vegetables +of her own growing and poultry of her own rearing. The child makes one's mouth +water, after our fare at the mess! The ladies promise us asparagus, home-bred +chickens, new potatoes, salad, rhubarb shape, and a bowl of strawberries, +too--everything home-grown. They drew lots as to which of the fowls were to be +sacrificed, and are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the men, because not one +of the kitchenmaids will consent to wring the neck of a chicken. My daughter +also thanks you very much for your kind message; and I was to give you her kind +remembrances, and to thank you heartily for taking such excellent care of her +old papa." Reimers thanked him in a low voice.</p> +<p class="normal">"It is wonderful," continued Falkenhein pleasantly, "what a change a little +creature like that girlie of mine can make in one's home. It used to be quite +immaterial to me where I slept whether here, in barracks, or in my own house. +After my dear wife died I never cared to be at home. And now this little girl +makes things so pleasant again that I once more enjoy being within my own four +walls."</p> +<p class="normal">The lieutenant did not think this at all extraordinary. And as the colonel +went on chatting gaily about his little daughter, Reimers, so silent hitherto, +became quite talkative. Falkenhein turned and glanced at him now and then. The +young man threw his heart and soul into his subject, and his eyes shone as he +related various little instances of Marie Falkenhein's amiability and charm.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly Reimers paused. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask the colonel +at once for this jewel of a girl. It would, indeed, be the most natural end to +their conversation, and he felt sure that he would meet with no rebuff. But then +he had not meant to approach the colonel on the subject so long as he was a mere +simple lieutenant. He would at least wait for his promotion to +senior-lieutenant. Therefore he held back the proposal he had so nearly made.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">It fell out that the very next day an official telegram arrived, promoting +Reimers to the rank of senior-lieutenant. Colonel von Falkenhein was the first +to congratulate his acting adjutant, and it astonished him that an event of the +kind, bound to occur in the natural order of things, should throw the sedate +Reimers into such a state of excitement.</p> +<p class="normal">The new senior-lieutenant, too, was surprised at himself, having hitherto +imagined that he regarded such externals with considerable equanimity. The +delight with which he now fastened the stars upon his epaulettes was little less +than that with which, seven years earlier, he had attached the epaulettes +themselves to his uniform, feeling himself the happiest man in the whole world.</p> +<p class="normal">When Senior-lieutenant Reimers reported himself to the colonel, Falkenhein +made him an unexpected proposition.</p> +<p class="normal">"My dear Reimers," said he, "you know that Kauerhof is now the eldest +senior-lieutenant in the regiment. Before he gets his captaincy he will have to +return to ordinary duty for a time, and I must therefore look about for another +adjutant. So I thought of you, my dear Reimers. You have been so entirely +satisfactory as acting adjutant that I cannot wish for a better man. But what do +you think of it yourself?"</p> +<p class="normal">Reddening with pride and pleasure, Reimers replied: "If you are kind enough +to think me worthy of such a mark of distinction, sir, I can only promise to do +my best."</p> +<p class="normal">The colonel nodded, and continued: "I can well believe in your good +intentions. But now, how about the Staff College?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Under these circumstances," replied Reimers quickly, "I will of course +gladly give up the Staff College."</p> +<p class="normal">"That's just what you shall not do!" returned Falkenhein. "You shall go to +the Staff College. It is my wish, in your own interests and in that of your +career, my dear Reimers. Perhaps the matter could be arranged by your postponing +your examination for a little while. You will probably in any case have to wait +patiently for quite six years to come before you get the command of a battery. +Be my adjutant for the first two years of that period, and then go in for your +examination. By that time I shall probably be no longer in the regiment. Well, +what do you say?"</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers agreed with pleasure. There seemed nothing but good fortune for him +that day. Apparently all his wishes were to be fulfilled. Would it not perhaps +be best to propose at once for the hand of Mariechen? Was not this just the +right moment, after receiving such a conspicuous proof of Falkenhein's esteem +and goodwill? But finally a piece of pure punctilio prevented him from carrying +out his intentions. It was not at all correct to make a proposal of marriage at +the time of receiving an official notification.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">At luncheon that day it was continually, "Your health, Reimers!" "Good luck to +you, Reimers!" or the orderly would be at his elbow with a message: "Captain +Blank, or Lieutenant So-and-so, would like to drink a glass of wine with you, +sir." And Reimers pledged his friends gaily across the table. He had invited +Güntz and little Dr. von Fröben to a bottle of champagne, and grew more reckless +as time went on. When lights were brought for the cigars Güntz said to him: +"You're a bit screwed, my boy. You'd better go and sleep it off."</p> +<p class="normal">But Reimers had become exceedingly jovial. "Oh, it's nothing at all!" he +declared. "I'm going for my ride now It was postponed on account of the +announcements to-day."</p> +<p class="normal">"That'll do nicely, my son," said Güntz; "that will put you right again." And +he looked on smiling as the new senior-lieutenant swung himself into the saddle. +The first attempt miscarried, and even the successful one was accomplished with +difficulty; but the rider sat firmly enough in his seat when he got there and +Dorothy had no tricks. Güntz waved merrily to his friend as he turned off into +the forest.</p> +<p class="normal">The mare's hoofs sank deep into the soft sand; she soon allowed herself to +fall into a lazy pace, and Reimers did not press her. Dorothy stretched out her +neck and drew the bridle through her rider's fingers; he let it hang loose.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers now became aware for the first time that the glasses and half-glasses +in which he had answered his friends' congratulations must have amounted to a +considerable number. If he tried to concentrate his thoughts on any particular +subject, they slipped away from him in the most perverse manner. He reflected +vaguely that this was the kind of mood in which he had of old committed all +manner of pleasant follies and youthful indiscretions. And why not? Was he not +young, and a free man?</p> +<p class="normal">How delightful was this solitude after the noise and smoke of the mess-room! +It was now about six o'clock, and a heavenly June evening. The sun was still +high, but the heat was no longer oppressive; the air felt soft and caressing. +The dense forest on either hand was wrapped in stillness; no sound penetrated +between the slender stems of the trees; the horse's tread in the soft sand made +only a slight swishing noise.</p> +<p class="normal">At a crossing of the ways the mare came to a standstill, stretching out her +nose towards a narrower lane, and snuffing the air. Finally she turned off the +sandy road on to a grassy bridle-path. Reimers gave her her head; this was +probably a short cut to the neighbouring village.</p> +<p class="normal">Now the wood became thinner. Cleared patches or young plantations alternated +with the groups of tall pine-trees, and presently a fairly large meadow appeared +on the left. The hay had already been carried; but in one corner the last +remains of the crop had been collected and heaped together. This little haycock +exhaled a penetrating fragrance, the essence of forest, grass, and sunshine, +which the mare sniffed at longingly.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly there came over Reimers an irresistible desire to stretch himself +out in the hay and rest there for a little. Without further thought he +dismounted, pushed some hay to the mare with his foot, passed the bridle round +the trunk of a pine that stood solitary at the edge of the field, and threw +himself down on the soft grass. He pillowed his head on his cap, and buried +himself deep in his rustling couch. He drew out along stalk and chewed at it; it +still retained the sweet grassy taste. Thin wisps fell across his face, and +between them he looked up into the blue sky, lazy and contented. Perfect +stillness reigned around him; only as from time to time he turned his head the +dry grass crackled and rustled, sounding in his ears like the snapping of twigs +and branches.</p> +<p class="normal">At last his eyes became painful from staring so long into the dazzling blue +of heaven. He shut them; all now was red instead of blue, and to lie with closed +lids was grateful and delicious after the blinding light. He cast one sleepy +glance at the mare. She stood there flicking her sides with her tail, and kept +trying vainly to get some hay from the ground into her bit-encumbered mouth. He +thought of slackening the curb for the poor beast, but was too lazy to stir.</p> +<p class="normal">While he was dozing off it seemed to him as if something light and fluttering +passed him by; and for a moment he became aware of another perfume added to the +scent of the hay--something faint, yet distinct. But he kept his eyes closed; +nothing external mattered to him.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Reimers was awakened by a gentle pricking and tickling. It felt as though a wisp +of hay were passing lightly over his mouth, backwards and forwards. He snatched +at it, and a long stalk remained in his hand. His eyes were slightly dazzled; he +was gazing straight at the sun, already considerably lower in the sky.</p> +<p class="normal">Lazily he looked around him. Thank goodness, the mare was still there, her +head turned towards him, her ears pricked attentively.</p> +<p class="normal">And here--close beside him? A woman sat there; a dainty little figure, +dressed in some light silken fabric, on her fashionably-curled golden hair an +enormous straw hat, above which nodded brilliant scarlet poppies. She sat with +her back to him, and was trying to pick out the longest stalk from a tuft of +grass that grew at the edge of the meadow.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers rubbed his eyes. Devil take it all! was he still dreaming? A subtle +odour came wafting from the rustling silk of her attire, a breath of depravity, +as though hailing from the corrupt life of some big city; a bewildering, +insinuating atmosphere, that had of a sudden overpowered the delicious freshness +of hay and pine-trees.</p> +<p class="normal">He shut his eyes dizzily. His senses were still somewhat dazed from his +potations; he could not rouse himself to a clear awakening.</p> +<p class="normal">The woman turned towards him. A charming, rather bold face bent down over +him, and a pair of hot, eager lips were pressed to his. And Reimers, after the +space of years behind him, was once again in that mood in which he had of yore +committed acts of folly.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">A few weeks later Senior-lieutenant Reimers had a consultation with the +surgeon-major, Dr. Andreae.</p> +<p class="normal">"What you tell me, doctor," he said at the end, "is very much like a +death-sentence, so far as a man's domestic happiness is concerned. He must never +hope to found a family?"</p> +<p class="normal">"No," replied Andreae; "a decent man does not marry under such circumstances. +If he does, he commits a crime, consciously or unconsciously, not only upon a +woman, but upon his children."</p> +<p class="normal">"Thank you, doctor." And Reimers would have taken leave, but Andreae stopped +him at the door.</p> +<p class="normal">"I beg of you, my dear Reimers," he said, "not to take too tragic a view of +your case. I assure you, many men in like circumstances make out a very +tolerable existence. Among the younger men of the present generation the average +is enormously high, though fortunately most cases are not so serious as yours. +Quite alarmingly high, the average, to us doctors.</p> +<p class="normal">"But after all, life is not entirely concerned with this one relation to the +other sex. Those who find themselves cut off from domestic happiness in this +particular are often most excellent officers. In peace they can devote +themselves entirely to their profession without other distractions; so that it +benefits somewhat, as does the Catholic Church by the services of her celibate +priesthood. And in active warfare it seems to me that such men must enjoy +something of the fatalism of Islam. All is not lost, my dear fellow! I hear +everywhere the greatest praise of your capacity and talents as an officer. So be +brave, and throw the others as mere ballast behind you. You have a guiding star +in your profession--is it not so?"</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers nodded.</p> +<p class="normal">"You are right, doctor," he said, "and I am much obliged to you."</p> +<p class="normal">He looked weary and broken as he went out at the door. In a thoughtless +moment he had destroyed his one chance of happiness. That moment he must +expiate, and he knew he was strong enough to bear the burden.</p> +<p class="normal">But it seemed to him that it was not this alone that had decided his fate. He +felt as though a grey veil had descended over his whole future; even over all +that in his imagination had elevated him above the more sordid chances of +destiny.</p> +<p class="normal">Could this be because that star to which the doctor had pointed him was +losing its brilliancy?</p> +<p class="normal">Gloomily he trod the woodland path to the town. Down below in a field behind +the barracks an old sergeant was giving the assistant trumpeters a lesson. The +lads blew forth a horribly ill-tuned unison. Then the sergeant set his own +trumpet to his lips, and the notes of the dismissal rang clearly through the +air:--</p> +<br> +<p class="center"><img src="images/pg278.png" alt="Notes of the Dismissal"></p> +<p class="center">Notes of the Dismissal</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">The signal that in the manœuvres indicated the close of each evolution.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2> +<br> +<br> +<p class="continue">After eighteen months of service Gustav Weise was made bombardier. Captain +von Wegstetten thought this would now be a safe experiment with the erstwhile +social-democrat.</p> +<p class="normal">But more non-commissioned officers were still required.</p> +<p class="normal">Sergeant Wiegandt had gone away on April 1: Wegstetten's best non-com., and +now the blissful husband of the beaming Frieda. He would have been made deputy +sergeant-major very shortly; but not even this prospect had been sufficient to +retain him. At Michaelmas two more non-commissioned officers would obtain their +discharge; Heppner was dead; Heimert was in a mad-house; there were strange +faces everywhere, instead of the old tried experienced men. And even so there +were not enough of them.</p> +<p class="normal">In this embarrassment Wegstetten bethought himself of Vogt. He was an honest +steady lad, on whom one could depend. All his superiors praised him, and, +besides, he had good blood in his veins, inherited from his father, the brave +old sergeant, with his iron cross and his medal for bravery.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt did not prove to be particularly willing. Every plough in its furrow, +every mower deftly at work, awakened in him longings for his old agricultural +pursuits. He wore his uniform with a good grace; there was no help for it, and +grumbling would have only made the life harder. But to stay on longer than +necessary--for that he had no hankering.</p> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten knew how to tackle his men. He talked glibly to the gunner about +the honour and distinction to be won as a non-commissioned officer, not +forgetting to observe how much the father at home would rejoice to see the son +following in his footsteps.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt asked his father's advice, and the turnpike-keeper wrote back: "Jump at +your captain's offer, my lad. As an old soldier, I am very glad to think of my +boy as a non-commissioned officer. Never mind about me. The pleasure you give me +will make me young and strong, so that I shall be able to keep the place going +till you come home again at last."</p> +<p class="normal">So Vogt signed on for another year.</p> +<p class="normal">But directly he found himself committed he began to regret his decision.</p> +<p class="normal">He had been very lonely in the battery since his comrade Klitzing's death. He +had not felt inclined to strike up a friendship with any one else; none of them +were quite his sort. Despite his good nature, Truchsess was a lazy obtuse kind +of fellow. Count Plettau, to be sure, was different; for though one never quite +knew whether he was in jest or earnest, still one could have something like +rational conversation with him. And Plettau took a real interest in the sturdy +peasant lad, in whom he recognised an outlook on life so different from his own +as to fill him with constant amazement. He told Vogt about the peasants of his +own Westphalian home, who in many cases had lived on their land from generation +to generation, and knew no higher source of pride than to call themselves +peasant-farmers.</p> +<p class="normal">Then Vogt's eyes would brighten up. These men of the red mother-earth were +people after his own heart.</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes," he said, "so it should be everywhere in Germany:</p> +<div style="margin-left:20%"> +<p class="continue">Peasant farm by peasant farm,<br> +Then shall none have hunger or harm!"</p> +</div> +<p class="normal">Vogt was grateful to the count for talking to him so sensibly and kindly; but +still things were totally changed: he could not find any one to replace his +faithful friend Klitzing. The poor fellow felt more and more lonely every day.</p> +<p class="normal">In addition to this he had many vexations to bear when on duty. Captain von +Wegstetten and Lieutenant Reimers, who certainly both knew their business well, +had always shown themselves satisfied with him; but a new senior-lieutenant was +imported into the battery, a certain Brettschneider, who was always pulling Vogt +up and finding fault with him.</p> +<p class="normal">Senior-lieutenant Brettschneider came from the Staff College, and the +non-commissioned officers whispered it about that he was considered no end of a +swell. Well, he might be clever and smart enough; but, nevertheless, the new +officer was not infallible. When the exercises were going on he could make +mistakes like every one else. One thing was certain: he was tremendously +well-set-up. He always stood as straight and stiff as a ramrod, and he could +scarcely turn his carefully groomed head, so high was his collar! Moreover, his +pink, clean-shaven face never for one moment lost its expression of haughty +disdain. The men avoided him as far as they could, for one seldom came near him +without being called back and found fault with; and everybody--non-coms. and +all--felt exasperated by the young man's conceited behaviour.</p> +<p class="normal">Devil take the fellow! Wegstetten and Reimers certainly did not make +themselves cheap with the men. But when things were going right, they always had +time for a word of praise and an appreciative smile. Even the sharp eyes of +little Wegstetten could look quite good-humoured on occasion. But +Senior-lieutenant Brettschneider always remained stand-offish, looking as if he +had swallowed a poker.</p> +<p class="normal">All this incensed our honest Vogt. Of course it was true--confound it! that a +soldier was only doing his duty; still, one is but human, and one deserves a +little recognition for hard and faithful service. And isn't that the right way +to knit a lasting bond between officers and men, one that should prove valuable +when hard times come?</p> +<p class="normal">During the gun-practice Vogt had been several times called over the coals by +Senior-lieutenant Brettschneider. The bombardier did his duty in a cheerful +spirit, and sometimes let fall half-audible jokes and chaff for his comrades' +benefit. This much annoyed the officer in question, and he spiced his rebuke +with the remark that he didn't know how a man who couldn't observe the first +rudiments of discipline could aspire to being a non-commissioned officer!</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt laid this scolding to heart. He had meant no harm when he had called out +"Hurry up!" to that dilatory old Truchsess. On the other hand, it could not be +denied that Brettschneider was in the right: they were forbidden to speak unless +it was absolutely necessary, and "necessary" his admonition had certainly not +been.</p> +<p class="normal">Nevertheless, a bitter feeling of having been unjustly treated remained in +Vogt's mind.</p> +<p class="normal">When they came back from the practice-camp he rejoiced to be once more doing +ordinary drill; for at this he knew he was especially good, particularly in the +gun-drill. He would be able now to show the senior-lieutenant what a capable +fellow he was. And this time they would have to be more than usually particular +over the exercises; the colonel himself was going to review the sixth battery.</p> +<p class="normal">The mantling and dismantling of the guns needed great promptitude and +dexterity. Imaginary accidents were therefore said to have happened, and the men +keenly competed together to see who should remedy them most quickly and +satisfactorily.</p> +<p class="normal">The pole of Vogt's gun was supposed to be broken. In a second he had put on +the spare iron bands that should in reality be fixed with nails, and then he +wound coil after coil of stout rope round the join, till the pole was as if held +in a strong web of cordage, and would be more likely to break in a new place +than to give way again where it had broken before.</p> +<p class="normal">He had just finished this piece of work, when a gunner came running to say +that the off-wheel of the gun-carriage had been destroyed by a shot, and must be +replaced by a new one.</p> +<p class="normal">This was a serious piece of business. Three men would have to hold the heavy +carriage while the two others fixed the scarcely less heavy wheel on to the +axle. To make things worse, that blockhead Truchsess had hurt himself in +removing the wheel that had been "destroyed," so that only four men were left. +Vogt rolled up the spare wheel, but it was almost impossible to fix it; the +heavy wheel was too cumbersome for a single man.</p> +<p class="normal">The sweat ran in streams down Vogt's forehead into his eyes, making them +smart terribly; but he would not give up, and at last with a tremendous effort +managed to lift the wheel into place and slide it on to the axle. There was +nothing to do now but to run the linch-pin through the axle and screw on the +nave to keep all safe. This he did with trembling fingers.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt raised himself. Thank God! Neither of the other five guns had got as far +as his, and yet his had been the heaviest job. He told his men to keep still, +and ran over to Senior-lieutenant Brettschneider to report the completion of his +task.</p> +<p class="normal">Brettschneider was standing at the edge of the parade-ground in the shade of +the baggage-shed, talking to Senior-lieu-tenant Reimers.</p> +<p class="normal">It was only while he was running that Vogt first noticed how severely he had +strained himself. His heart hammered as though it would burst from his body, and +his legs were trembling. With the back of his hand he wiped the sweat from his +brow, and drew himself up in the prescribed fashion as he reported: "Gun six +ready, sir. Pole mended and spare wheel fixed."</p> +<p class="normal">As through a mist he saw that Senior-lieutenant Reimers was smiling a little, +probably at his over-heated appearance. Then suddenly he heard the sharp high +voice of Brettschneider.</p> +<p class="normal">"Please stand in a more respectful attitude, Bombardier Vogt, when you have +something to say to me," the voice snapped out.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt pulled himself up and repeated his announcement.</p> +<p class="normal">But now the senior-lieutenant began to correct him and find fault with him: +he was to put his right shoulder higher, his cap was not straight, he must place +the tip of his little finger on his trouser-seam, and put his feet wider apart.</p> +<p class="normal">"Straighten your knees!" commanded he at last.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt felt how his legs were trembling. He might have been able to obey; but +he was at the end of his patience.</p> +<p class="normal">Brettschneider again and in a louder tone commanded: "Bombardier Vogt, +straighten your knees!"</p> +<p class="normal">But Vogt did not care; a mad resentment surged up in him. He would not obey +this idiot at any price. He raised his head, and looked the officer straight in +the face with eyes full of open mutiny.</p> +<p class="normal">Brettschneider shouted again: "Bombardier Vogt, I order you to straighten +your knees. Do you know that you are being guilty of disobedience to orders, and +that that is a military crime?"</p> +<p class="normal">But Bombardier Vogt remained unmoved, with his mutinous eyes fixed on the +senior-lieutenant.</p> +<p class="normal">Brettschneider waited a few seconds, then he called quietly to one of the +corporals: "Put Bombardier Vogt under arrest!"</p> +<p class="normal">The corporal looked blankly, first at Brettschneider, then at Vogt.</p> +<p class="normal">The senior-lieutenant repeated his order, whereupon the corporal took the +bombardier by his right arm and marched away with him through the gate into the +courtyard of the barrack.</p> +<p class="normal">When they were out of hearing, Reimers turned to his companion: "Were you not +a little hard on him, Brettschneider?"</p> +<p class="normal">The clean-shaven face turned towards him languidly, and Brettschneider asked +coolly: "How do you mean, my dear fellow?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, you must know yourself!" pursued Reimers. "The man had just done a +good piece of work, he came running to you and expected a word of +recognition,--he deserved it, Brettschneider,--and you let him be taken off like +that! I don't think that's the way to make men love their work."</p> +<p class="normal">"One must preserve discipline, and prevent these rascals from getting +thoroughly demoralised."</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers shrugged his shoulders. "Vogt was the best soldier in the whole +battery," he declared.</p> +<p class="normal">"Then the battery is in a bad way!" retorted Brettschneider impatiently. "The +man commits an undeniable piece of disobedience before your eyes and you defend +him? I am much obliged!" Brettschneider put on his haughtiest expression, smiled +with the utmost politeness, and said amiably: "You must confess, my dear +Reimers, that I am entitled to my own opinion about the matter."</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">In Room IX. that evening the conversation was of a heated description. Truchsess +swore that he would not put up with that low fellow, that Brettschneider. All of +them were furious with the stuck-up young man; and though they had hitherto gone +through their duty without much fuss or grumbling, they were now filled with a +thorough repugnance for the soldier's uniform and a perfect hatred for military +life in which one had to knuckle under to idiots like that. You half killed +yourself and what did you get by it? More kicks than halfpence, or perhaps you +even get clapped into prison!</p> +<p class="normal">"Keep your hair on, brewer!" said Count Plettau to Truchsess; and putting on +a superior tone: "We don't understand all this, you see! this is the higher kind +of patriotism! Lieutenant Brettschneider ought to have a medal, instead of being +blamed by such as you!"</p> +<p class="normal">He also was beside himself with rage over the exasperating piece of folly he +had witnessed. Hang it all! if he had not been so seriously concerned to get to +the end of his long years of service he would certainly have put a spoke in the +wheel of this young gentleman, the senior-lieutenant. But no; that would be too +foolish. Only a few days more and he would be free at last; he could not play +tricks with his chances.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly he laughed aloud.</p> +<p class="normal">"You keep your mouths shut, boys!" he said, "otherwise you may get into +trouble yourselves. But don't worry! When I have got over the next few days I'll +give the senior-lieutenant the lesson he wants!"</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">The turnpike-keeper, Friedrich August Vogt, was gazing in surprise on a letter +which the postman had just pushed in at the little window. The superscription +was in the hand-writing of his son, but the post-mark bore the name of the +capital.</p> +<p class="normal">What was the boy doing there? He had written nothing as to any prospective +change. Well, the letter itself must explain.</p> +<p class="normal">At first the old man could not understand the written words. He read them +through a second and a third time. At last he comprehended what had happened. He +sat on his chair as if paralysed, and read the last page of the letter over and +over again without attaching any meaning to it.</p> +<p class="normal">His son wrote from the prison where he was now detained as a prisoner +awaiting trial. He related all that had passed straightforwardly and without +excusing himself.</p> +<p class="normal">"To-day I have been shown the charge against me," he concluded. "It is a case +of wilful disobedience before all the other men. I believe it is an offence that +is rather severely punished, and I know, too, that I am not without blame. But +perhaps, dear father, you will not condemn me altogether; perhaps you will be +able to imagine what my feelings must have been. For your sake alone I ought to +have been able to control myself, and I beg you to forgive me for not having +done so."</p> +<p class="normal">The turnpike-keeper jumped up suddenly from his chair. He flung the letter +violently down on the table and struck it with his fist. He felt full of +uncontrollable anger against this boy, who had brought shame upon him in his old +age at the end of an honourable and blameless life. And why? because my +gentleman did not choose to obey orders! because he had chosen to feel injured! +A soldier to feel himself "injured" by the blame of his superior! So these were +the new-fangled times of no discipline and no respect for one's betters!</p> +<p class="normal">And this was the reward of his trouble in bringing up the boy to be loyal and +true: that he had now got a son in prison! When the neighbours asked: "Your son +is in the artillery, isn't he?" he must reply: "Oh, no; he was once! Now he is +carting sand." "What! carting sand?" "Oh, yes; he is carting sand, dressed in a +grey shirt, and with a lot of other gentlemen in a long row A Oh, very +honourable gentlemen, all of them! A thief on one side of him, and on the other +a person who did not quite know the difference between mine and thine." "Your +son!" "My son, neighbour."</p> +<p class="normal">The turnpike-keeper seized the letter again to see how the thing went +exactly.</p> +<p class="normal">Nice sort of business this! There it was right enough: "Wilful disobedience +before all the other men!" Nothing else was to be made of it.</p> +<p class="normal">But this Senior-lieutenant Brettschneider--by God!--he was not one of the +right sort, if the boy was telling the truth. With all due respect for an +officer, he seemed to be a perfect popinjay. There were people like that here +and there who were ready to burst with pride and conceit, and who looked upon an +inferior as scarcely a human being.</p> +<p class="normal">And again he snatched up the letter.</p> +<p class="normal">What the boy wrote was all very clear and straightforward honestly and +truthfully put. One could not help believing what was there on the paper; and, +of course, it was easy to understand how the thing had come about. After all, +every man has his feelings, whether he be a gunner or a senior-lieutenant. The +devil! he himself would have done exactly as Franz did; though, of course, in +his case life in a charity-school had made him used to giving in to people. But +the boy had always been so independent, no one could help feeling for him.</p> +<p class="normal">And after all, when one looked at it rightly, it was a clumsy thing for +Lieutenant Brettschneider to have done, and his son's fault had been the outcome +of an unfortunate set of circumstances,--not a very serious fault either, though +the poor lad would have to pay for it dearly enough!</p> +<p class="normal">Wilful disobedience--what sort of punishment would there be for that? It had +such an imposing, ceremonious sound! He racked his brains to think whom he could +ask about it. But there was no one in the village who would be of any use.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">After a sleepless night he rose from his bed with his decision made. He milked +the cow, and asked a neighbour to see to the animals during the day. Then he put +on his old-fashioned black Sunday coat and the top hat which he only wore on +great occasions, such as the king's birthday. On his breast he fastened his +medal and cross. Over all he wore his old cloak, and he put some pieces of bread +and sausage in his pocket. He was ready for travelling.</p> +<p class="normal">On the way to the station he passed a field of barley. It was ripe for +cutting, and he had meant to begin reaping that morning. But what did it matter +about the barley? He had got to see after his boy and petition for him. He would +go straight to the right person: he would go to the garrison and seek out the +head of his son's battery, Captain von Wegstetten.</p> +<p class="normal">Throughout the whole journey he was alone in the railway carriage; other +people did not travel so early. He looked stupidly out of the window. It was all +one to him to-day what the fields looked like and how the harvest was getting +on. He could only think of what he should say for his boy. Perhaps it was still +possible to make them give up the charge against him.</p> +<p class="normal">In the capital he sat for an hour and a half in the waiting-room, waiting for +his train. He got a cup of coffee, and ate his breakfast from the provisions in +his pocket.</p> +<p class="normal">It was close and hot in the big room. He felt uncomfortable in such an +atmosphere, as every one must do who is accustomed to work in the open air, and +at last he threw back his cloak to relieve his oppression. People stared at his +medals, nudged one another, and would not take their eyes off him, looking +curious but respectful.</p> +<p class="normal">The turnpike-keeper sighed and buttoned his cloak again. Oh, if people only +knew in what trouble he was!</p> +<p class="normal">It was just eight o'clock when he reached the garrison town. Of course that +was somewhat early to be making such a visit as his; but he had no time to lose, +and he knew that an officer must always begin the day early.</p> +<p class="normal">The porter at the station did not know where Captain von Wegstetten lived. +But the turnpike-keeper had a piece of luck: outside the station he met a +gunner, who readily told him the address--"11 Markt Strasse, up two flights of +stairs"--and showed him the way to go.</p> +<p class="normal">The two flights of stairs tried the old man sorely. He had to wait on the +first landing in order to get his breath. "Have I grown old all of a sudden?" he +asked himself in surprise.</p> +<p class="normal">A soldier in a red coat opened the door to him.</p> +<p class="normal">"Is the captain at home?" asked the turnpike-keeper.</p> +<p class="normal">"Sorry, but he's not," answered the lad.</p> +<p class="normal">"Can you tell me where I can find him?"</p> +<p class="normal">"That would be no good. The captain's gone away--to a court-martial."</p> +<p class="normal">The turnpike-keeper started violently.</p> +<p class="normal">"Is the court-martial on Bombardier Vogt?" he asked.</p> +<p class="normal">The soldier answered in the affirmative, and inquired in surprise, "Who are +you, then?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Vogt's father. I--I wanted to talk to the captain about my son. But it is +too late, I see."</p> +<p class="normal">He turned about, saying, "Thank you all the same," and went towards the +stairs. In the dark he missed the first step and stumbled; the lad ran after +him. He led the old man to the banister and said, "Take care you don't fall; it +is rather dark here. And you know, Herr Vogt, the men of the battery all say it +is a mean shame, what's happened to Vogt, a mean shame."</p> +<p class="normal">But the turnpike-keeper did not seem to understand him. He only nodded and +said, "Thank you, thank you," and tramped slowly down the stairs in his heavy +boots.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Whilst Friedrich August Vogt waited for his train in the station of the little +garrison town, the trial of his son was taking place before the military court +of the district.</p> +<p class="normal">There was no doubt about the circumstances of the case. The two +eye-witnesses, Senior-lieutenant Brettschneider and Senior-lieutenant Reimers, +were unanimous on the subject, and the accused gave his assent to the +correctness of the particulars.</p> +<p class="normal">The trial would therefore have come to an end very quickly had there not been +a number of witnesses for the accused.</p> +<p class="normal">Captain von Wegstetten, as head of the battery; Captain Güntz, who had +commanded it during Wegstetten's temporary absence; Senior-lieutenant Reimers +and Lieutenant Landsberg, as officers in the battery; the sergeant-major and +other non-commissioned officers: all united in giving Vogt the very best +possible character. Wegstetten had had a violent altercation with +Brettschneider, not only from personal feeling for the bombardier, but also from +annoyance that his best candidate for a non-commissioned officer's post was lost +to him through a piece of such tactless mismanagement. Brettschneider had +complained about this reprimand, but no notice had been taken of his complaint, +and that in itself spoke volumes for the accused. Güntz and Reimers were very +warm in their praise of Vogt, and even Lieutenant Landsberg remembered the man +as being particularly willing and diligent on duty.</p> +<p class="normal">Things looked favourable for the accused.</p> +<p class="normal">One of the officers present, a captain of the pioneers, asked Vogt: "You had +just been working very hard, had you not? had fixed the heavy wheel +single-handed, and had run very fast to tell Senior-lieutenant +Brettschneider?--were you not very much exhausted and out of breath?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">"I mean, you were rather over-tired and your eyes were dazed?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">"Perhaps you did not quite know what you were doing?"</p> +<p class="normal">The accused hesitated a moment.</p> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten and Reimers had remained in the room. The former moved restlessly +from one foot to the other. If Vogt were only to say "Yes," then the whole thing +would be put down to a temporary aberration of mind due to hurry and fatigue, +and the affair would end with his acquittal.</p> +<p class="normal">But the bombardier answered: "No, sir, I knew quite well what I was doing."</p> +<p class="normal">Now that was honest, but distinctly stupid.</p> +<p class="normal">The countenance of the prosecutor lightened up. He was a very young man, with +many scars on his face. He sat stiffly on his chair, tightly buttoned into an +immaculate brand-new uniform; and hitherto he had been regarding with a bored +expression a silver bangle that he wore on his right wrist.</p> +<p class="normal">The hearing of witnesses was at an end. The president of the court-martial, a +fat, good-humoured man of mature years, asked: "Is there anything that you wish +to say, Bombardier Vogt?"</p> +<p class="normal">"No, thank you, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">"You acknowledge your guilt, then?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">But the president wanted to give the man a chance, and asked another +question, to which an affirmative answer would be a matter of course.</p> +<p class="normal">"But you are sorry for your conduct?" he asked.</p> +<p class="normal">The accused, however, again hesitated. Naturally every one expected him to +say "yes," so that people were not listening very attentively. But when this +"yes" did not appear to be forthcoming, all eyes were suddenly fixed upon Vogt.</p> +<p class="normal">"No," said he firmly.</p> +<p class="normal">The president looked amazed. "You cannot have understood me," he said. "I +asked you if you were not sorry for your conduct?"</p> +<p class="normal">But the answer came, clear and decided: "No, I cannot be sorry."</p> +<p class="normal">Every one present looked dumfounded. Wegstetten thrust his sword angrily +against the ground. God in heaven! was the fellow an ass? Now his fate was +sealed!</p> +<p class="normal">Those who were assisting at the court-martial looked indignant; the chief of +them, a major of dragoons, tapped impatiently on the table with his gold +pencil-case, and gave a condemnatory shake of his head. The youngest of his +colleagues, a senior-lieutenant in the grenadiers, twirled his moustache +briskly; the expression of his face said plainly: "Just wait a bit! we'll give +you a lesson!"</p> +<p class="normal">The public prosecutor beamed. He rose with an air of triumph, and demanded, +"having full regard for all the extenuating circumstances of the case, but also +in consideration of the obstinate persistence of the accused in his offence," a +punishment of nine months' imprisonment.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt turned as pale as death when he heard these words. This was impossible! +It could not, it ought not to be!</p> +<p class="normal">The court was not long in coming to its decision, and its judgment was read +out by the president in a quiet even tone of voice.</p> +<p class="normal">The accused hung on his lips with anxious expectation. At last, after all the +formalities, came the verdict: "five months' imprisonment." He leant against the +railing that separated him from his judges. The wood gave a creak. Long after +the fat gentleman had sat down again Vogt went on listening. Surely something +more was coming; some mitigation of this terrible sentence? But the trial was at +an end.</p> +<p class="normal">The condemned man was taken away by a non-commissioned officer; he walked +with unsteady steps, his eyes staring into vacancy. In the passage outside he +caught sight of Wegstetten. The captain was talking to an old man in civilian +clothes. Vogt felt a thrill when he saw the white hair that surrounded the old +man's face. But it was only after he had gone round the next corner of the +passage that the recognition struck him: great God, it was his father!</p> +<p class="normal">Involuntarily he stopped and tried to turn back; but the non-com, took his +arm and pushed him forward, not roughly, yet in such fashion that the prisoner +gave up his attempt.</p> +<p class="normal">"You fool, you!" said his companion; "if you had said you were quite sick +with shame for your silly behaviour, you'd have got off with a month!"</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">After endless questions the turnpike-keeper had managed to find his way to the +court-house of the army-corps. He had been wandering through street after +street; the busy traffic of the capital had made his head spin, and he was tired +to death with this unwonted tramping over hard stone pavements.</p> +<p class="normal">He had arrived before the court-room door just as the witnesses were leaving. +He had recognised Captain von Wegstetten immediately--his boy had so often +described the little man with his gigantic red moustache and sparkling eyes--and +he was not afraid of addressing him on the spot.</p> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten was at first not particularly pleased at this encounter; but the +honest troubled face of the old soldier touched him, and he listened patiently.</p> +<p class="normal">The turnpike-keeper had not much to say; it only amounted to an earnest +representation of how well-conducted his son had always hitherto been; of how +glad he had been to be a soldier; and he ended with a bitter lamentation that +all this should have happened to such a good, brave lad; the boy must have gone +clean out of his senses. The old man said it all with the most touching +self-restraint. He took great pains to preserve a soldierly bearing, and omitted +none of the customary tokens of respect, just as if he had been still clad in +his old sergeant's uniform, and standing before an officer of the most severe +type. Yet all the time the tears ran down his weather-beaten furrowed cheeks and +his snow-white beard, and as he tried to draw up his bent shoulders the medals +clinked together on his breast.</p> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten had but little comfort for the poor old man. He told him how +favourably all the witnesses had spoken of his son, both officers and +non-commissioned officers; how he as captain of the battery had always been glad +to have such a capable man under him; and how the whole wretched business had +come about through the mismanagement of an officer who had only lately returned +to the regiment.</p> +<p class="normal">The face of the turnpike-keeper lighted up as he listened to the captain's +words. He breathed again. Thank God! things could not go so badly with the boy. +A few weeks under arrest--and the affair would be at an end.</p> +<p class="normal">But Wegstetten proceeded to tell him of the continued obstinacy of his son, +and at last was forced to impart to the old man the severe sentence that had +been passed.</p> +<p class="normal">Five months' imprisonment! It struck the old turnpike-keeper like a blow. He +staggered, and the captain was obliged to support him. But the weakness soon +passed, and Vogt begged the officer's pardon. He could not, however, listen to +Wegstetten's explanation of the harsh verdict. This was a terrible, a crying +piece of injustice; on the one side was an offence, a perfectly trivial offence, +committed by a brave well-behaved soldier (as by common consent his boy had been +pronounced), who had been driven into it moreover by the "mismanagement" of his +superior; and on the other side was this heavy punishment of five months' +imprisonment! The disproportion between crime and sentence was incomprehensible +to his mind.</p> +<p class="normal">He walked in silence beside Wegstetten, who was speaking to him earnestly the +while. At the door of the court-house the old man stood still and saluted, +meaning to take leave of the captain.</p> +<p class="normal">Then the officer asked him: "Would you not like to speak to your son? I will +get you a permit."</p> +<p class="normal">"Thank you, sir," said the turnpike-keeper, "if you would have the kindness, +sir."</p> +<p class="normal">This was soon done. Wegstetten exchanged a few words with the superintendent +of the military prison and returned with the pass. He himself conducted the old +man to the gate of the prison building.</p> +<p class="normal">"Don't take all this too hard, Herr Vogt," he said in farewell. "Your son has +committed an excusable offence, and has been very severely but not unjustly +punished. He remains an honourable soldier all the same."</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, sir," answered the turnpike-keeper. He looked darkly after the little +officer. What sort of talk was that? Was it any comfort to be told that his boy +was not a dishonourable rascal? He knew himself what his boy was; none knew +better! Bravery and honour, that was Franz all over. Nobody need tell him that.</p> +<p class="normal">And the poor lad had been punished as if he had stolen something! Many +thieves, indeed, got off easier. They had condemned his boy to a dishonourable +punishment,--and why? because he had too much sense of honour!</p> +<p class="normal">He rang violently at the entrance gate of the prison. A sentry opened the +door, took the permit, and ushered him into the waiting-room. "I will tell the +inspector you are here," he said, and left the room.</p> +<p class="normal">After a few moments the door of the waiting-room opened again and an +inspector appeared on the threshold, a dried-up looking man with a leathery +complexion. He looked at the permit through his spectacles, and turned curious +eyes towards the medals on the breast of the veteran. He shook his head +deprecatingly, and called out an order from the door.</p> +<p class="normal">Shortly afterwards a grenadier announced: "Bombardier Vogt is here, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">"Let him come in," said the inspector. Then he turned away, and stood looking +out of the window.</p> +<p class="normal">Franz Vogt went quietly up to his father and looked into his face with his +frank honest eyes.</p> +<p class="normal">"Good-day, father," he said simply.</p> +<p class="normal">The turnpike-keeper took his son's hand in both his own. The tears came into +his eyes and he looked at him as through a veil. Thank God, the boy still wore +his artillery uniform! The old man was spared the sight of him in the grey +prison garb.</p> +<p class="normal">As the father was silent the son began to speak. He described in his plain +hearty way how the whole unfortunate business had played itself out, and related +truthfully everything that was in his own favour, while acknowledging his fault +without further excuse. "Do you know, father," he concluded, "what the sentence +is?"</p> +<p class="normal">The turnpike-keeper nodded. Franz cast his eyes down and said in a troubled +voice: "It seems to me very hard, father."</p> +<p class="normal">He felt a spasmodic pressure of his hand, and his father nodded his head in +assent.</p> +<p class="normal">"The corporal said I had only myself to thank for it," the prisoner went on. +"They asked me if I was sorry, and I said 'no.' The corporal said that was +stupid. But I couldn't say otherwise. And I should have to say the same if they +asked me again."</p> +<p class="normal">Then the turnpike-keeper opened his mouth for the first time since he had +entered the room.</p> +<p class="normal">"You were <i>right</i>!" he said, so loudly and emphatically that the +inspector at the window started and gave a warning cough.</p> +<p class="normal">Now that he had seen his son again, this brave honest lad, a change seemed to +have come over the old man. The boy had been a willing dutiful soldier, +everybody said so, and yet they were going to shut him up in prison for five +long months, all because of a piece of fiddle-faddle! Devil take them all! What +was the use of being a good soldier? And at a stroke every trace disappeared of +the obedient and respectful old sergeant who had worn the uniform so proudly; he +was peasant pure and simple, hard-headed and stiff-necked, a peasant who would +stand up for what he thought right and defend it through thick and thin.</p> +<p class="normal">"You are <i>right</i>" he said, "and you were right all along."</p> +<p class="normal">But the son was more discriminating than the father, even though the +punishment affected himself.</p> +<p class="normal">"You are not in earnest, father," he remonstrated; "I know I was in fault. +But the punishment is too hard, even so; and I can appeal."</p> +<p class="normal">The turnpike-keeper laughed softly.</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, you can be a fool," he said, "and get yourself into a worse mess! No, +boy, if you take my advice you will leave appealing alone. If they have been +unjust to you then you must put up with the injustice proudly, it won't last for +ever! but never beg for justice!"</p> +<p class="normal">Franz Vogt looked disappointed. He had hoped that the higher courts might +mitigate his sentence, but his father's advice must be best.</p> +<p class="normal">The inspector turned round from the window. The visitor's time was up.</p> +<p class="normal">Once more the son regarded with loving pride the venerable appearance of his +father.</p> +<p class="normal">"Why, you have put on all your medals, father!" he said, smiling a little.</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes," replied the turnpike-keeper. "I put on all my medals when I came to +see you." And, in a loud voice, that the inspector might hear, he repeated: "I +put them on for you, my dear good boy, and for you only." And for the first time +in his life he embraced his son, took the boy's head between his hands, and +kissed him on the forehead. Franz Vogt felt the trembling of the old man's lips, +and choked back his own tears. As the warder was taking him back down the long +passage he looked round once more. His father was just going out of the door, +and a ray of sunlight fell on the venerable white head. Then the folding-doors +closed, and shut in the grey twilight of the corridor.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">The villagers had always regarded the turnpike-keeper as rather an eccentric +person; but henceforth they began to look upon him as downright crazy. The old +widow who had hitherto done his housekeeping was the first to spread this +rumour.</p> +<p class="normal">The old man took to shutting himself up more and more. Nobody was ever +allowed to cross his threshold.</p> +<p class="normal">The peasants, however, let him go his way. Every one has a right to do as he +likes; and the turnpike-keeper's manner of life was beginning to be looked on as +a matter of course, when suddenly he drew upon himself universal attention.</p> +<p class="normal">There was to be a fresh election for the Reichstag in the district, the +conservative candidate's victory having been disallowed. He had only been +successful after a second ballot, in which the votes of the two parties had held +the balance almost even; and the election had just been declared null and void, +in consequence of the protest made by the social-democrats. The two rival +parties, social-democrats and conservatives, were now preparing anew for battle. +Every single vote was of consequence, and canvassing went on busily. Election +literature flooded the constituency; it was thrown in at open windows and pushed +under door-sills.</p> +<p class="normal">The turnpike-keeper had hitherto always placed himself at the disposal of the +conservative candidate.</p> +<p class="normal">The conservative party liked to display names of the "small people" of the +neighbourhood on the list of their supporters, in addition to signatures of +councillors of state, burgomasters, landlords, &c.</p> +<p class="normal">And now suddenly Friedrich August Vogt came and demanded to have his name +taken off the list.</p> +<p class="normal">The president of the election committee, a cavalry officer in the reserve and +the lord of the manor, attempted to make him reconsider his determination. He +wanted to know the reasons for this sudden change of conviction, and asked +pathetically if the old soldier was going to be unfaithful at this time of day +to the motto: "God, King, and Country"? Vogt stuck to his demand, but he +declined to give any reasons.</p> +<p class="normal">On the day of the election the turnpike-keeper was troubled with a feverish +unrest. Ten times and more he put on his hat and stood at the house door with +his big stick in his hand, but he always turned back again.</p> +<p class="normal">The polling was to end at six o'clock. Shortly before that hour he strung +himself up to a resolve. He left the house hastily, and hurried to the +ale-house, in the garden of which the polling-booth had been erected.</p> +<p class="normal">Before the door stood the two men who were distributing voting-papers. Tired +with their day's work, they were leaning against the paling in front of the +tavern. One of them, employed by the conservatives, was a superannuated farm +labourer from the manor; the socialist was an invalided stonemason, who had lost +a leg in consequence of a fall from some scaffolding. They were chatting +together in a friendly fashion, notwithstanding the antagonism of their +employers.</p> +<p class="normal">The one-legged man did not even give himself the trouble to offer Vogt one of +his voting-papers. Everybody knew old Vogt. The blood of an old soldier ran in +his veins, he was conservative to the bone.</p> +<p class="normal">The farm labourer held out a conservative voting-paper, and said:</p> +<p class="normal">"You are nearly too late, Herr Vogt. Here is your vote."</p> +<p class="normal">But the turnpike-keeper turned away with a lowering look. He stretched out +his hand to the other man and demanded a voting-paper, with which the stonemason +hastened to furnish him; and Friedrich August Vogt stumped heavily up the steps +into the polling-station.</p> +<p class="normal">The magistrate of the district was taking charge of the proceedings. Beside +him sat the schoolmaster of the church schools, and the inspector of the manor. +A few peasants and a workman from the fire-clay factory, his clothes covered +with lime, were standing about.</p> +<p class="normal">The schoolmaster announced the name: "Vogt, Friedrich August, retired +turnpike-keeper, registered number 41."</p> +<p class="normal">The old man stretched out the folded voting-paper with a hesitating movement; +the magistrate took it and placed it in the tin-box which served as a receptacle +for the votes. He nodded familiarly to the elector; this was a certain vote for +the conservatives.</p> +<p class="normal">But the turnpike-keeper did not respond to the greeting. He stood stiffly by +the table looking at the box that contained the voting-papers; suddenly his +erect figure seemed to collapse, and the old man slunk out of the +polling-station almost like an evil-doer.</p> +<p class="normal">The results of the election were known in the village by seven o'clock. One +hundred and fifty-three votes had been registered: seventy-seven for the +social-democrats, seventy-six for the conservatives. It was the first time there +had been a socialist majority in this place. The social-democrats had, +therefore, every reason for rejoicing. They sat in the little inn at the end of +the village, which was only able to maintain itself through the political +disagreements of the villagers, and drank success to their party in the ultimate +result of the election throughout the whole constituency. The peasants in the +bar of the big inn were not less hopeful; they comforted themselves by declaring +that the result in such a small place was of no real consequence. Nevertheless, +it was a disgrace to think that there were now in the village more red +revolutionists than loyal subjects.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">The morning of August the 10th dawned bright and glorious; the day on which +Plettau, after so many long years, came once more under the jurisdiction of +civil law. It was one of those mornings when it is a joy to be a soldier; when +every wearer of the uniform feels heartily thankful that his day's work is to be +done out in God's free open world of nature, and not behind a desk or in some +overheated factory.</p> +<p class="normal">The inspection of the battery was fixed for half-past seven. Lieutenant +Brettschneider had had his men out since six, and had already robbed them of +their last remnants of good temper. Here he had discovered a helmet the polish +of which was not bright enough to please him, there a coat the sleeves of which +were too long; or he had waxed wroth over some head of hair that he considered +insufficiently cropped. And all this, while "stand at attention" was the order; +so that the men got cramp in their legs, and sneezing fits from staring the +whole time in the face of the morning sun.</p> +<p class="normal">At last the battery was drawn up on the parade-ground, and Senior-lieutenant +Brettschneider was ready to do himself credit. The colonel was seen slowly +approaching, accompanied by Major Schrader on one side, and by Captain von +Wegstetten on the other. Brettschneider hastened towards them to report that the +battery was in position.</p> +<p class="normal">The colonel received his announcement graciously. "Let the men stand at +ease," he commanded. And when Brettschneider had called out the order, he +returned to his place to begin the parade.</p> +<p class="normal">Then occurred something very startling.</p> +<p class="normal">A shout was heard: "Holdrio, hoho!" And then again: "Holdrio--yoho-hoho o!" +And again a third time: "Holdrio--yoho--yoho--hoho--o--o!"</p> +<p class="normal">The yodel was evidently sounding from the slope of the opposite hill. Every +one looked that way; and, behold, on the hillside appeared the figure of Count +Egon Plettau, still dressed as for his discharge, in the grey drill trousers and +much-patched coat.</p> +<p class="normal">He waved his cap to the battery; then he lowered his hands, while the eyes of +the onlookers followed in suspense his every movement.</p> +<p class="normal">He let down the grey drill trousers; and there in the full blaze of the +morning sunshine he went through a certain performance which even the +Scythians--suggesting though they did to Greek art the original conception of +the centaur--could certainly not have achieved without descending from +horseback.</p> +<p class="normal">If Plettau, like Janus, had had eyes in the back of his head, down below in +the parade-ground he would have seen an array of wide-open eyes and gaping +mouths.</p> +<p class="normal">After a short interval he arose, picked up a big piece of white cardboard +from the ground, and pointed to it as he brandished it in the air. Then he laid +it down again, and once more he yodelled gaily: +"Holdrio--yoho--yoho--hoho--o--o!" He then bowed politely, and vanished +precipitately among the bushes.</p> +<p class="normal">Down on the parade-ground every one was speechless. The men looked sheepish; +they longed to burst into peals of laughter, but were afraid of getting into +trouble. So they took great pains not to commit themselves, and tried to look as +if something perfectly ordinary had been happening.</p> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten was beside himself with anger and resentment. "I beg you will +allow me, sir," he said to the colonel, "to send a couple of non-commissioned +officers to arrest that fellow. This is an unheard-of insult to the whole +army--a scandal a disgrace!"</p> +<p class="normal">Falkenhein's lips twitched. He, too, thought this piece of impudence quite +beyond a joke. But he held the same opinion as did the Grand Duke of Oldenburg +concerning <i>lêse-majesté</i>: that the insult of a fool is no insult.</p> +<p class="normal">"Be calm, my dear Wegstetten," he said. "Let your count take himself off. But +you had better just send some one up there--one of the non-coms, upon whom you +can rely--to fetch down that placard before any of the men can get hold of it. +Who knows what impertinence the fellow may not have scrawled?"</p> +<p class="normal">Corporal von Frielinghausen was charged with the mission, and ascended the +hillside. The exercises were begun meanwhile.</p> +<p class="normal">Frielinghausen found the piece of cardboard neatly placed against a bank +beside the last traces of Count Egon Plettau. Carrying the placard with its back +carefully turned to the battery, he descended the slope again, and returned to +the three officers. With the tips of his fingers the colonel took the document +from him. The inscription was short enough:</p> +<p class="normal">"Senior-lieutenant Brettschneider," cried Major Schrader suddenly, "please be +good enough to come here for a moment."</p> +<p class="normal">Brettschneider advanced in haste: "You called me, sir?"</p> +<p class="normal">Schrader pointed to the placard. "A few words in elucidation of the +demonstration up yonder!" he said, shaking with suppressed laughter.</p> +<p class="normal">On the cardboard was neatly written in gigantic letters, coloured +artistically with red and blue: "A farewell greeting to Senior-lieutenant +Brettschneider!"</p> +<p class="normal">"A reminiscence of 'Ekkehard,'" said the colonel. "This Count Plettau has +read a certain amount. One must give the devil his due!"</p> +<p class="normal">But Major Schrader, who in his leisure hours occupied himself with modern +literature, who had seen "Die Weber" and "Seine Kleine" in Berlin, and was even +acquainted with "Rosenmontag," murmured softly to himself; "A farewell to the +regiment!"</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XV</h2> +<br> +<br> +<div style="margin-left:70%"> +<p class="continue">"Freedom, that I sing--"</p> +<p class="right">(<i>Von Schenkendorf.</i>)</p> +</div> + +<p class="continue">In August Corporal von Frielinghausen was ordered to the Fire-workers' College +in Berlin. The young fellow made a good appearance in his neat uniform; his +figure had filled out and become more manly, and on his upper lip a slight +moustache had begun to show. But his bronzed visage had retained the old frank +boyish expression, and altogether he was a fine-looking lad, after whom the +women already turned to gaze.</p> +<p class="normal">After two years had passed, his friends received a formal notification of his +marriage; it was sent with the greetings of Baron Walther von Frielinghausen and +Baroness Minna Victoria von Frielinghausen, <i>née</i> +Kettke.</p> +<p class="normal">Frielinghausen had obtained his discharge from the army. Minna Victoria was +the only child and heiress of the manager of a large place of entertainment, and +Baron Walther von Frielinghausen played the part of manager in place of his +father-in-law, the rather impossible Papa Willy Kettke. He went about attired in +an unimpeachable black coat, and with a well-bred little bow would himself usher +into their places any specially distinguished-looking guests. Then he would +stand with the air of a young prince in the neighbourhood of the bar, and the +waiters and cooks, barmaids and kitchenmaids, had a mighty respect for him. He +waxed portly in figure, and Minna Victoria often felt herself obliged to call +him over the coals for paying too much attention to some one of the elegant +ladies who patronised the establishment.</p> +<p class="normal">The sixth battery of the 80th regiment, Eastern Division of the Field +Artillery, had occasion, however, to send another non-commissioned officer to +the Fire-workers' College--Gustav Weise.</p> +<p class="normal">Captain von Wegstetten was very well pleased with Weise; he considered he had +made him a permanent convert to the cause of king and country, But Weise was +rather inclined to domineer over his subordinates--which was not what might have +been expected of a former social-democrat--and on that account his captain had +hit upon the idea of persuading him to be a fire-worker. The non-commissioned +officer had a clear head, and it might be hoped he would make a career for +himself.</p> +<p class="normal">Under these circumstances Weise began more and more to curse the day when he +had had tattooed upon his arm that ridiculous jingle about Liberty, Equality, +and Fraternity. It caused him serious annoyance if one of his comrades noticed a +scrap of the motto peeping out from under his sleeve, and wanted to see the +whole inscription.</p> +<p class="normal">One day when he was out walking in the town he noticed on a door a brass +plate bearing the announcement: "Dr. Büchsenstein, specialist in skin diseases, +&c." It occurred to him that this gentleman might be of assistance to him, and +he put in an appearance at the hour of consultation.</p> +<p class="normal">The little dark-haired doctor could not entirely restrain his intense +amusement when the patient bared his arm and came out with the request that the +tattooing might be scraped away.</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, my good man," he said, "I can't do that for you! You can't have it +scraped away! Anyhow, you're wearing the sleeve of the king's uniform over the +watchword of revolution; and if you want to do more, you can put on a thick +coating of lanoline and dust it with rice-powder. Then nobody will see it."</p> +<p class="normal">"Thank you, doctor," said Weise, standing up. "What do I owe you for your +trouble?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Nothing at all, my man!" said the little doctor, laughing. "It's been no +trouble; only a pleasure!"</p> +<p class="normal">And the non-commissioned officer went off to the nearest druggist's, where he +bought the largest tube of lanoline in the shop and half a pound of rice-powder.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">The military prisoner Wolf could hardly believe his eyes when he saw his former +comrade Vogt dressed in the grey prison clothes. The prisoners had been ordered +out for open-air work and were standing in the corridor, but at some distance +from each other; it was quite impossible to get nearer together, and speaking +was strictly forbidden. The guard stepped into their places around the little +band, and it was as usual well rubbed into the minds of the latter that these +armed sentries carried loaded weapons, and were not supposed to hold their hands +in any case of attempted escape. "Halt!" would be called three times, and they +would fire if the word of command were not obeyed. The non-commissioned officer +in command made this announcement, and then the doors were unlocked and thrown +open.</p> +<p class="normal">Out in the yard the sunlight only touched the upper storey of one of the +wings, and within the high walls the air felt icy cold. As from the bottom of a +shaft they looked up to the clear sky overhead, and then stepped out into the +real sunshine and felt the warmth of the bright rays.</p> +<p class="normal">During the time of the autumn manœuvres, and until the early part of the new +year, the enormous parade-ground was deserted. The drilling of the troops went +on in the barrack-yard, and it was only after the inspection of recruits was +completed that exercises took place in the big ground.</p> +<p class="normal">The prisoners were ordered to get the place tidy for the spring and repair +any damages that had occurred during the summer. The principal work, however, +was the banking up of a high obstacle wall, and beyond it to dig a deep ditch; +both for use in the artillery driving-exercises. This was an unspeakably +fatiguing business. The soil, to a depth of several feet, consisted of light +fine sand. In this they stood ankle deep, loading their wheelbarrows; yet the +ditch never seemed to grow any deeper, nor the wall any higher. It was like +working with water which continually flowed in again.</p> +<p class="normal">Whilst work was going on it was easy for one man to approach another. When +Vogt and Wolf passed each other for the first time, one pushing his wheelbarrow +before him, the other trotting with his empty barrow down into the ditch, they +exchanged melancholy nods. Later it came about that they were standing next each +other shovelling the loose sand into their barrows. True, speaking was +forbidden; but it was possible to murmur words almost without moving the lips, +yet so as to be perfectly intelligible.</p> +<p class="normal">"How do you come to be here?" was Wolf's first question.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt related his story, often interrupted by the progress of their work; but +when he had deposited his barrowful up above, he always managed to return to the +neighbourhood of his erstwhile comrade in the regiment, and at last he had told +the whole history of his crime.</p> +<p class="normal">Wolf gave a short bitter laugh. He was heartily sorry for this poor fellow, +but was not this a new example of the fact that socialists had no need to work +hard at propaganda? The ripe fruit was ready to drop into their laps without any +co-operation of their own. This Vogt, the bravest of soldiers, the most amenable +of men, fitted for a post in the royal body-guard, was wheeling his barrow here +amongst thieves and ruffians of all sorts. And beside him the blood-red +social-democrat!</p> +<p class="normal">And then he listened as Vogt went on to tell of his other acquaintances in +the battery; each day, of course, his narrative was interrupted, and sometimes +they had only time for a few words.</p> +<p class="normal">Weise had been promoted to be non-commissioned officer! That everlasting +chatterer, who only owed it to his gift of the gab that he had been able to +boast of himself as confidential agent of his union!</p> +<p class="normal">Was not this a topsy-turvy world?</p> +<p class="normal">But no. Weise fitted his position to a nicety. His fluent adaptability was in +its right place. Little Captain von Wegstetten would have no non-commissioned +officer under him better calculated to satisfy his desires than Gustav Weise. If +he had remained a social-democrat, thought Wolf to himself, he would simply have +been a pliant tool in the hands of some stronger member of the party. He was not +to be relied on either here or there.</p> +<p class="normal">How different was Vogt, the peasant! Honour and steadfast faith looked out of +his quiet grey eyes. Wolf began to take him in hand.</p> +<p class="normal">The echoes of those hastily whispered words as to the great injustice and +oppression of the present, and the glorious equality and freedom of the future, +rang the clearer and the more insistently for being awakened within the walls of +a prison. Two men, who could with a clear conscience acquit themselves of any +guilty intention, were here herding with common criminals and carting sand like +them.</p> +<p class="normal">The peasant yielded this point at once. Wolf and he were both being punished +unjustly. And the world was full of injustice.</p> +<p class="normal">"Then you belong to us," said Wolf.</p> +<p class="normal">"How do you mean?" asked Vogt. "To you?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Why, you are a social-democrat!"</p> +<p class="normal">"Am I?" said Vogt. "Perhaps. I don't know."</p> +<p class="normal">"If you think like that you must be."</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, but I don't want a revolution, or anything of the kind; though it is +all the same to me whether we have a king or a republic. I only want to have my +work, and to do it as I like, and to be left alone."</p> +<p class="normal">"The one leads to the other," said Wolf. "If things are to become better +there must be a different form of government."</p> +<p class="normal">He went on further to speak of the brotherhood which should include all +nations of the earth, so that there should be no more war and no more soldiers. +Who else was it but the princes and rulers that hindered the coming of this fair +unity of hearts? The people certainly desired ever-enduring peace. The +oppressive sense of captivity stirred him to eloquence that fired his own +imagination, and finally even inflamed the sober judgment of Vogt.</p> +<p class="normal">The peasant nodded: "Yes, yes. That would be fine!"</p> +<p class="normal">He could form no clear picture of that brilliant future. All men brothers? No +more quarrelling and no more war? No one who would give orders to others? No one +who would demand taxes and rent? Was this really possible?</p> +<p class="normal">But the other man spoke in such a convinced manner, he seemed so certain, +that there was hardly room for doubt. And these were the aims of those +social-democrats of whom people were so afraid, thinking they wanted to destroy +and annihilate everything!</p> +<p class="normal">Of course they were right. Everything would be better then, and more +beautiful. And to work for that would be worth one's trouble! One could give +one's life for it if need be.</p> +<p class="normal">They were on the way back to the prison after their work. Vogt and Wolf +stepped along side by side in the ranks. The long lean man seemed to be merely +skin and bone; his cheeks had fallen in, the grey prison clothes hung loosely on +his limbs. But his eyes glowed and sparkled as though with an inward fever, and +a proud smile was on his lips. Vogt nodded to him. The gesture was the +expression of a solemn vow.</p> +<p class="normal">The troop of prisoners arrived at the gate. A heavy shower of rain drove them +to take shelter in the arched doorway, and they stood pressed closely together +waiting for the door to open.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly Vogt felt Wolf's hand seize his own in a firm grip.</p> +<p class="normal">"I think we are now at one about this, comrade?" he heard him whisper. And +the peasant returned the strong pressure, and answered, "Yes, comrade."</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Each day in prison resembled every other; they passed slowly by like a chain of +exactly equal links.</p> +<p class="normal">When the ground became frozen and neither spade nor pickaxe could be used, +the prisoners were given straw mats to plait or sacks to sew.</p> +<p class="normal">Then Vogt used to swear to himself. "Damn it all! Why didn't I straighten my +knees? What did it matter to me that the lieutenant had such a stuck-up way with +him?" Thank God the first three months of the five had passed by, and in January +he would return to the garrison. Then there would be two more months to serve; +till in March, in the first days of spring, he would be free.</p> +<p class="normal">But before that, when December was just beginning, bad news came to him from +outside.</p> +<p class="normal">His father was dead. And, worse still, he was already buried when the son +first heard of the occurrence. But that had been the old man's wish.</p> +<p class="normal">It all sounded like an old story, this that was told to the military prisoner +Vogt, as he stood in the office by the superintendent of the prison, a little +sickly-looking captain of infantry.</p> +<p class="normal">The village-elder from home had come himself all this long way to inform the +son of his father's death. There he stood, big, fat, and strong, in his +sheepskin cloak; a freer breath of air seemed to have come in with him, and he +related all there was to tell. It was not even certain when the turnpike-keeper +had died.</p> +<p class="normal">With the departure of summer the old man had seemed gradually to decay. In +spite of that, however, he steadily refused to have any one to help him; and +when the cold weather put a stop to work in the field he was seen no more by the +neighbours.</p> +<p class="normal">The little house looked lifeless with its closed shutters, and only the thin +line of smoke which ascended from the chimney at morning and midday betrayed the +presence of a living creature.</p> +<p class="normal">Then came the hard frost at the beginning of winter. The boy who daily +fetched away the milk that Vogt sold reported one day that the pitcher of milk +had not been left in the yard for him as usual. But there was nothing +extraordinary about that. Perhaps the queer old man had wanted to make butter. +The peasants thought it was just some new fancy of his. At midday some one drove +past the turnpike-keeper's house, taking corn to the mill, and observed that no +smoke was coming from the chimney. Why had old Vogt got no fire? Even if he +didn't want to cook food for himself, the cows ought to have their warm meal. On +his way home the same peasant heard the cows mooing incessantly in a troubled +manner, and he related all this at the ale-house in the evening.</p> +<p class="normal">Then the villagers put their heads together. Possibly the old turnpike-keeper +was really ill. The more curious among the neighbours left the warm parlour of +the inn, and tramped along the high-road in the biting east wind. They knocked +at the door of the turnpike-keeper's little house, and tapped on the window +shutters. Nothing could be heard but the sighing of the wind; and at last they +turned away homewards. But next morning the milk-pitcher was still absent, and +there was no smoke from the chimney. The village-elder was then informed. He +ordered out the gendarme, and sent a locksmith to force the door. Half the +village went after them and crowded round the turnpike-keeper's cottage, so that +the gendarme had some trouble in keeping the women and children at a distance.</p> +<p class="normal">The village-elder banged on the door with his fist and rattled the handle. +"Herr Vogt!" he cried, "Herr Vogt! open the door!" And again: "Herr Vogt! +turnpike-keeper! open the door!" Then the gendarme, an old comrade in arms of +the turnpike-keeper, called loudly; "August! open the door! or let us know if +you are ill!"</p> +<p class="normal">All was silent. The shutters were closed; the whole house seemed asleep.</p> +<p class="normal">Only the lowing of the cows sounded from their stable, and the rattling of +their chains, as if they had heard the cries that could not awaken their old +master.</p> +<p class="normal">Then the village-elder turned to the locksmith: "We must break the door +open."</p> +<p class="normal">The lock was soon forced, but the door would only open an inch or two; an +iron bar had been fixed across it, but that was soon lifted.</p> +<p class="normal">A couple of young men were posted at the door to keep out the crowd, which +thronged around the house in silent breathless curiosity.</p> +<p class="normal">The two officials stepped into the passage. The gendarme pushed the +kitchen-door open; the room was cold as ice. On the hearth a handful of broken +sticks had been placed, and the match-box lay beside them ready for kindling the +fire.</p> +<p class="normal">The front room was darkened by the closed shutters, and a close smell as from +a vault met them when the door was opened. There sat the turnpike-keeper at the +table dead. His head had fallen forward; the body sat stiff and stark in the +narrow arm-chair, and his hand, which had evidently been supporting his chin, +was still raised, stiffened by the paralysis of death and by the icy cold. +Papers of various kinds were spread out before the dead man: account-books, and +gilt-edged testimonials dating from the turnpike-keeper's time in the army. +Beside these were cardboard boxes filled with money, each neatly labelled: +"Money for milk," "Money for corn," "Money for cattle." The old man had +evidently taken them out of a cash-box which stood open before him, and at the +bottom of which lay his medals and cross of honour.</p> +<p class="normal">The gendarme laid his hand on the shoulder of the dead man and said: "You +were just looking at your cross again, old comrade, were you, and then you fell +asleep?"</p> +<p class="normal">The two men put the money and the papers back into the cash-box, which the +village-elder placed in a cupboard that stood open. This he locked, and took +possession of the key.</p> +<p class="normal">"There is something else," cried the gendarme suddenly; and he pointed to a +folded paper lying on a little table by the door.</p> +<p class="normal">"My last will and testament. To be opened immediately," was written on the +document in the rather shaky but distinct handwriting of the turnpike-keeper. +The "immediately" was underlined three times.</p> +<p class="normal">Well, the injunction was plain enough; and the two officials did not hesitate +to comply with it. They had the legal right to do so, and besides they were +extremely curious.</p> +<p class="normal">The paper was not even sealed up. It contained nothing at all extraordinary. +Old Vogt desired in case of his death that the crippled neighbour who had +sometimes helped him to look after the place should keep everything in order +until his son returned from his military service. He was to have the money +obtained from the sale of the milk as a reward for his trouble. Then the will +continued: "Everything I have belongs, of course, to my dear son Franz. The +expenses of my burying are to be defrayed from the money contained in the box +labelled 'funeral money.' I wish to have a very simple funeral, and desire +particularly that my son shall only be informed of my death after the ceremony +is over, in case it should happen before February 3rd next year."</p> +<p class="normal">"We shook our heads over that," said the village-elder to Franz. "It seemed +so funny that he should have fixed upon a date." He coughed and went on in an +embarrassed way. "Now of course we know that your father did not want us to hear +of your--misfortune, at least as long as he was still above ground. Well, well, +it has not been so bad after all, according to what your captain told me."</p> +<p class="normal">The superintendent of the prison cut him short rather nervously: "That has +nothing to do with the case, sir, has it?"</p> +<p class="normal">Thereupon the peasant proceeded with his narrative. After they had left the +dead man, of course the first thing was to see to the cows. The pigs had eaten +all the straw in their sty and the poultry had rushed like mad things upon the +grain that was given them.</p> +<p class="normal">Everything was in order, and he, the village-elder, would see to it that it +was kept so. Besides, old Wackwitz was an honest, stupid sort of fellow; he was +quite to be trusted.</p> +<p class="normal">For the funeral, of course, everything had been arranged according to the +dead man's desire. But the old sergeant was not buried without having the three +salutes fired over his grave. And the lord of the manor, in his uniform, with +two old warriors of 1870-71, headed the procession of mourners.</p> +<p class="normal">Franz Vogt sat on the bench in his dark cell and wept hot tears for his +father's death. The poor fellow had indeed grounds for lamenting his fate. Death +had taken from him first his friend and then his father. Was he always to be +lonely?</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">During the frosty days of winter Vogt had hardly set eyes upon his regimental +comrade Wolf. But now a few days of damp weather brought the severe frost +prematurely to an end. There was a sudden change one night at the end of +January, and next morning the smiling sun beamed down from a clear blue sky upon +the surprised, drowsy earth.</p> +<p class="normal">The military prisoners at once began their daily work again upon the big +parade-ground. The snow had to be removed before it could melt and settle in +pools upon the ground they had so carefully levelled. In the grey morning +twilight, therefore, a little troop of prisoners, with old cloaks over their +prison clothes, were set to work as usual, surrounded by the armed sentries.</p> +<p class="normal">For Vogt and Wolf it was a meeting after a long separation. The peasant +recounted the particulars of his father's death; not without a certain pride in +the unusual circumstances under which the old man had met his end in +self-appointed loneliness.</p> +<p class="normal">"A true man to the last!" said Wolf. But he could not even press his friend's +hand in sympathy.</p> +<p class="normal">Then Vogt began to speak of the day of release. For him that would soon come. +He knew that every word must cut his comrade to the heart, for poor Wolf had +still to endure long years of martyrdom in prison; but he could not help it. He +could not restrain himself from expressing the great joy that filled his breast. +He counted the hours and the minutes as they passed, and could scarcely sleep at +night.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt walked with uplifted head and bright eyes; he handled his spade with +cheerful zeal, and pushed his heavily-loaded wheelbarrow energetically. Would he +not be a free man in a few days?</p> +<p class="normal">But Wolf compressed his lips together, and the brighter the sunshine the +darker grew the cloud on his brow. His cheeks had fallen in more and more, and +at the slightest exertion the sweat poured down his thin face. He looked ready +to break down, and his eyes glowed with a feverish light.</p> +<p class="normal">"I shall never last it out," he whispered to Vogt one morning. "I shall go +all to pieces. I would rather break away altogether and escape."</p> +<p class="normal">"You are mad," said Vogt. "Do you not see the sentries? You would not be able +to get a hundred yards away."</p> +<p class="normal">Wolf looked at him. The chance of escape out of this narrow circle was indeed +small. But he stuck to his project, adding: "What does it matter if I am shot +down? Would that not be better than going on in this way for three more long +years?"</p> +<p class="normal">Of a sudden his plan appeared to him in a new light. If his flight were +unsuccessful, if a sentry's bullet put a stop to it, would he not equally have +suffered for his opinions? Would not this bloody sacrifice to the cause of +revolution win new adherents? And would that not be better in the end than if he +got free and lived out a painful existence in some foreign country?</p> +<p class="normal">Though formerly he had longed to be free at any price, death now shone before +him as a desirable goal. Better that than to be crippled merely.</p> +<p class="normal">Next day he whispered to Vogt, "Next time that the Jägers are on duty I shall +try it."</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt shook his head emphatically with a gesture of protest. His comrade must +have gone clean out of his wits. And why should Wolf want to make the attempt +just when the Jägers were mounting guard, the troops that were most proficient +in shooting? It looked as if he were courting death.</p> +<p class="normal">The kind-hearted fellow set it before himself to dissuade his comrade from +his intention. It would never do to let such a brave man commit suicide in a fit +of despair. But he must manage it soon; in five days he himself would be free, +and before that Wolf must give him his promise to abstain from his folly. +Unfortunately the Jägers would be mounting guard the very next day.</p> +<p class="normal">As he pushed his loaded wheelbarrow before him he sought to meet Wolf's eyes; +his comrade also had just filled his barrow. Vogt passed close by him, and +signed to Wolf to come with him. But Wolf purposely remained behind and shook +his head, smiling.</p> +<p class="normal">Soon afterwards they were called in. The prisoners put away their tools and +their barrows, and Vogt stood waiting in the half-dark shed till the others were +ready.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly he felt his hand gripped, and Wolf whispered in his ear: "Farewell, +comrade, and keep true!"</p> +<p class="normal">Next minute the tall lean man had glided past him, and others had crowded +between; it was impossible to get near him again.</p> +<p class="normal">On their way back to the prison he again intercepted a glance from Wolf. His +comrade looked cheerful and triumphant, like one who has shaken off a heavy +burden, and sees his future lie clear before him.</p> +<p class="normal">The guard that came on duty next morning in the parade-ground wore the green +Jäger uniform. One of the sentries, a smart young fellow with a carefully waxed +black moustache and quick eyes, had on his breast the mark of distinction for +shooting. He was doing this duty evidently for the first time, and he looked the +prisoners up and down with a curious glance, as if they were some queer sort of +wild beast. Then he took up his position, and marched stiffly beside the +procession as they left the gate.</p> +<p class="normal">A thin mist covered the broad expanse of the big ground, but the sun soon +dispelled the damp vapour, and shone down warm and unclouded.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt looked anxiously at Wolf. But his comrade seemed to have given up his +intention; he was bending diligently over his work, and had not even taken his +place in the outside rank of workers, but was digging busily among the others. +At a little distance from the prisoners the sentries strolled up and down their +beat.</p> +<p class="normal">Presently an orderly from head-quarters came riding by on a dark-brown horse, +which he was making step high in a stately manner as if on parade.</p> +<p class="normal">The Jäger with the black moustache held his gun negligently on his shoulder +and looked on with an interested expression. It was very boring to be always +watching the prisoners messing about in the dirt.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly a lean figure detached itself from the little group of workmen--it +was Wolf. With long strides he fled behind the sentry in the direction of the +forest. The Jäger had not even remarked his flight, and it was only the cry of +the sergeant that drew his attention.</p> +<p class="normal">Then he hastily took the gun from his shoulder, made ready to fire, and cried +the first "Halt!"</p> +<p class="normal">Wolf ran on without stopping. Then something happened which decidedly +bettered the chances of the fugitive: the mounted orderly felt called upon to +give chase. He set his horse to a gallop and dashed after the escaping prisoner.</p> +<p class="normal">Wolf heard the hoofs behind him and glanced round hastily. The rider was +between himself and the sentry. Only a few more steps and he would be in the +forest and under cover, if the horse did not reach him before that. At a stroke +the despairing wish for a martyr's death had vanished. He no longer wished to +die; he wanted to live and be free. Freedom was awaiting him, there in the +forest towards which his hurrying feet were carrying him. How would they ever be +able to find him in that thick labyrinth of young pine-trees? He would break +through the undergrowth at the forest's edge and take a lateral direction; then +he would lie crouching on the ground and let the bullets whistle over his head.</p> +<p class="normal">From behind him sounded the second "Halt!" The sentry's voice rang more +sharply and insistently.</p> +<p class="normal">Yes, shout as you like! He was only a few paces from the forest's edge; a +little ditch separated it from the parade-ground, but it was only about a yard +wide and easy to leap.</p> +<p class="normal">Wolfs plan was made.</p> +<p class="normal">He knew that the forest extended to the outskirts of the town. The first +houses of the suburb were built among the trees. Workmen dwelt +there--iron-founders and metal-workers--members of his party. They or some +compassionate woman would certainly give the fugitive some cast-off clothes, and +then he thought he could make for the frontier.</p> +<p class="normal">From behind came the third warning "Halt!"</p> +<p class="normal">The mounted orderly had apparently perceived the hopelessness of his efforts, +and had reined in his horse; the sound of hoofs was no more to be heard. Now for +the ditch!</p> +<p class="normal">He sprang. He thought he could smell already the powerful odour of the +fir-trees. There, a little to the left, was an opening in the thicket; he could +slip in there and be safe.</p> +<p class="normal">Then, midway in his leap, a bullet struck him in the nape of the neck. He +stumbled forward with his face buried in the haven of the undergrowth, his eyes +gazing forwards towards the land of freedom.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Some weeks later the head physician of the military hospital in the capital gave +a lecture, with illustrations, before the Medical Society, "Upon an interesting +case of the effects of small bore ammunition."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2> +<br> +<p class="center"><img src="images/pg316.png" alt="Trumpet-call_at_tattoo"></p> + +<p class="continue">Senior-Lieutenant Reimers sought an interview with his colonel, and frankly +confided his trouble to him. In a sad, hopeless voice he told the whole story, +concealing nothing.</p> +<p class="normal">There was, in fact, nothing to hide. The thoughtless behaviour which had had +such serious consequences was in itself one of those offences which society +looks upon as venial. But he reproached himself chiefly with the breach of faith +towards Marie Falkenhein, to whom he considered himself to have been virtually +betrothed, in allowing himself to be carried away by the impulse of a moment's +folly.</p> +<p class="normal">When Reimers had finished the colonel sat for a long time silent. He leant +his cheek on his hand and looked gloomily before him. During this confidential +interview his daughter had not been alluded to in a single syllable, but in +every word that the young officer spoke sounded an echo of painful regret for a +much-desired happiness now lost to him. Of a sudden those fair prospects that +the colonel had thought based on such a solid foundation had fallen to the +ground. It was a bitter grief to him to see the pleasant vision destroyed, and +he knew that a heavy sorrow was in store for his child.</p> +<p class="normal">At last he broke the silence.</p> +<p class="normal">"My poor boy," he said, "I wish I knew what I could say to comfort you, for I +do not want to reproach you. You have enough to bear already in payment for a +moment of thoughtlessness. You have gambled away one of your best chances of +earthly happiness. Nevertheless, be brave; set your teeth and do not let your +feelings overcome you. You have a proud and honourable calling, and have a real +vocation for it. Let that be your consolation." His voice broke off short, +trembling with inward emotion.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers murmured in some confusion: "I am very much obliged to you, sir." And +the two men sat for awhile opposite each other in silence.</p> +<p class="normal">"After this," the colonel continued with some hesitation and difficulty, "you +will probably wish to get away for a change. I therefore advise you to go up for +the winter examination at the Staff College. There is no doubt about your +getting through. The work will prevent you from brooding over your thoughts, and +afterwards there will be Berlin and entire change of surroundings. All that will +be helpful to you."</p> +<p class="normal">Falkenhein's voice became softer, and shielding his eyes with his hand, he +continued in a scarcely audible whisper: "It would be advisable that you should +withdraw a little from society; and of course to any unavoidable questions it +will be necessary to invent an answer of some sort. It seems to me it will be +best to say that your old lung-trouble obliges you to take certain precautions. +Is that agreed?"</p> +<p class="normal">With a sob the senior-lieutenant stammered out, "You have always been like a +father to me, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">He had stood up and was about to depart without another word. Then suddenly +the colonel took him in his arms. This seasoned, clear-headed man had great +difficulty in restraining his emotion.</p> +<p class="normal">"I have long looked on you as a son, Reimers," he said. "And that all this +has turned out so differently from my expectations is a grief to me, a very +great grief. I cannot tell you how great."</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers took his departure. The colonel looked after him till the portière +fell.</p> +<p class="normal">Whose fault was it that the young man left the room with hanging head and +miserable face, instead of with the beaming eyes of an accepted lover? Whose +fault was it that the happiness of two young people had thus been shattered to +pieces?</p> +<p class="normal">The colonel sat down before his writing-table and let his clenched fist fall +in helpless anger upon the desk. He had not even the satisfaction of being able +to direct his wrath against anybody or anything. The fault lay in something +uncalled-for and apparently unavoidable, an evil, and at the same time +necessary, outcome of the existing order of things.</p> +<p class="normal">Then he began to reflect. How should he break the bad news to Mariechen? By +many little scarcely noticeable signs he had become convinced that she loved the +unfortunate young officer. There was a delicate understanding, an unspoken +engagement, between the two. How should he explain to her Reimers' sudden +withdrawal?</p> +<p class="normal">This talk about the examination at the Staff College, and Reimers' necessary +care of his health, was not sufficient to break off an honourable attachment. He +must rather think of some means for effecting a permanent, even if painful, +cure, and put an end once for all to his daughter's dream of love.</p> +<p class="normal">The colonel made out a regular plan of campaign. Among his relations there +had been a cousin, Otto von Krewesmühlen, the owner of a large property in +Franconia. The poor wretch had passed more of his lifetime in Meran and Cannes +than on his own estate; but he had married in spite of that for the sake of the +entail, and unfortunately had married an acquaintance in the Riviera who also +was not on the shores of the Mediterranean solely for pleasure. Two boys had +been born to them, but Otto von Krewesmühlen had not long survived their birth. +The eldest child had followed the father not only in the entail but also in the +manner of his death, and the widow and the second son were only like two feeble +flames which the wind of life permits out of charity still to flicker for a +while.</p> +<p class="normal">This cousin must serve to point the moral for his poor Mariechen, and help +her to forget her young love in as painless a manner as possible. It happened +fortunately that Marie kept up a correspondence with her Franconian relations.</p> +<p class="normal">"I had something to ask you, Mariechen," began Falkenhein at supper. "Oh yes, +of course; have you had any more news from your Aunt Krewesmühlen?"</p> +<p class="normal">"No, father," answered the girl, "not since the last letter, which you +remember."</p> +<p class="normal">"I do not recollect quite well. Where was she then?"</p> +<p class="normal">"At Cannes, I think. Or it might have been San Remo."</p> +<p class="normal">"They have gone back again then?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, unfortunately. And my aunt wrote in perfect despair."</p> +<p class="normal">The desired point had been reached; but his carefully-thought-out plan now +seemed to the colonel inexpressibly clumsy and cruel. Nevertheless, he could not +let the opportunity go by.</p> +<p class="normal">"I am really very much grieved," he said. His voice sounded to himself hollow +and flat, like an ill-tuned instrument. But he went on speaking painfully and +with difficulty, whilst his fingers kept clutching his collar. "As a matter of +fact, Otto von Krewesmühlen committed a crime in marrying at all. He is +responsible for an enormous amount of trouble and sorrow. He would have done a +better and a nobler thing if he had renounced the idea of happiness in marriage. +We cannot but ask ourselves: Was not this marriage simply a source of misery?"</p> +<p class="normal">He stopped. Marie looked at him thoughtfully.</p> +<p class="normal">Everything was very still in the lofty dining room. The colonel felt as if +his words must re-echo like a trumpet-call from the walls, and he lowered his +voice almost to a whisper.</p> +<p class="normal">"Of course it requires strength and self-control to give everything up when +one is in love. But an honourable man should have both; he is equally to be +pitied and respected. And imagine, Mariechen, dear Mariechen--one of our best +friends--Senior-lieutenant Reimers--that's how it is with him--just as with poor +Otto Krewesmühlen; but he--will renounce his happiness. He is a brave man."</p> +<p class="normal">Falkenhein breathed more freely. Thank God! the mischief was out.</p> +<p class="normal">He looked anxiously across at Marie. Her face had become as white as the +table-cloth. He was afraid she might faint. But no, the child pulled herself +together; the trembling hand laid down the fork, which rattled gently against +the plate and fell on the table.</p> +<p class="normal">The colonel went round the table softly to his daughter and stroked her fair +golden hair with a gentle hand. Marie's shoulders began to heave, and suddenly +she threw herself on his breast, weeping bitterly. The colonel was not quite +sure what was the best way to meet this outburst. He did not like to touch too +pointedly upon the cause of his child's grief. Then he fell back on a method +with which he had quieted Marie in days of old, before she had ever gone to +school.</p> +<p class="normal">When the motherless child was weeping her heart out over some trouble that +had possessed her, even when she was quite a big school-girl, he would take her +in his arms and carry her up and down the room, consoling and comforting her, +till the wild sobbing ceased at last. She was now nearly twenty years of age; +but the old method might still be effective. Unresisting she let him take her in +his arms, and leaned her face against her father's cheek; bright tears ran down +from his own eyes as he whispered to her over and over again: "Yes, cry, my +little girl; cry, Mariechen!"</p> +<p class="normal">And the first great sorrow of the woman calmed itself, even as had the +school-girl's trivial griefs. The colonel carried his daughter tenderly to her +room and laid her down on the sofa. With a shy gesture she buried her face in +the cushion. Once more the father's hand passed lightly over her brow, then he +went out on tip-toe. Time must be the physician that would heal this wound.</p> +<p class="normal">Falkenhein listened for a second at the door: Mariechen was still weeping; +but he could hope that the tempest would subside. That tearful outburst, +uncontrolled as it was, showed still the unruly grief of a child. The blow that +strikes deepest into the heart and embitters a whole life-time is otherwise met +and parried, with a grim, silent, enduring pain. Traces of such pain he had seen +in Reimers' hopeless eyes; for his child he might expect a cure.</p> +<p class="normal">The best thing would be to take Marie away into entirely new surroundings.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">As usual, each year during the partridge-shooting, the colonel one day received +an invitation to join the royal party. At breakfast the old king asked him: +"Well, Falkenhein, what do you say? That longlegged Friesen in the War Office +has obtained command of the Lusatian brigade. How would you like to be chief of +the department?"</p> +<p class="normal">The colonel hesitated with his answer.</p> +<p class="normal">"I know quite well," the old gentleman went on, "that you have a +disinclination for anything that smells of the office, even though fifteen +hundred others would lick their lips over it."</p> +<p class="normal">"Your Majesty is very good," said Falkenhein. "I will do whatever your +Majesty desires."</p> +<p class="normal">The king looked at him searchingly.</p> +<p class="normal">"Really?" he said.</p> +<p class="normal">"Certainly, your Majesty. Only, if you will allow me to say so, not for too +long a period!"</p> +<p class="normal">"Very well, very well!--till you get the command of my household brigade."</p> +<p class="normal">His Majesty was holding in his hand a silver cup full of corn-brandy. "Your +health, Falkenhein!" he said. "I look forward to having you by me at court."</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">The appointment was gazetted after the manœuvres on October 1.</p> +<p class="normal">There was certainly no officer in the regiment, even excepting Captain Güntz +and Senior-lieutenant Reimers, who did not hear of Falkenhein's prospective +departure with real regret. But that did not last long; some one's departure +must always be taking place in military life. How else would room be made for +successors? And besides, without this appointment in the War Office, the colonel +would in any case have obtained his brigade in another two years, and the +regiment would have had to do without him. It was much more important now for +the officers to know who was to be their new chief.</p> +<p class="normal">Major Mohbrinck was appointed to command the regiment; he had hitherto +commanded the mounted division of the artillery guard. He was an unknown +quantity in the Eastern Division, for he belonged to a different army-corps; but +military gossip gave a not very favourable account of him.</p> +<p class="normal">Little Dr. von Fröben received from an old chum of his, who was in the +mounted division, a telegram which ran thus: "Hymn No. 521." The hymn indicated +is the translation of the Ambrosian hymn of praise, commencing: "Lord God, we +praise thee; Lord God, we thank thee."</p> +<p class="normal">Well, this was a piece of subaltern wit.</p> +<p class="normal">It was more significant that Captain von Wegstetten had a letter from his +brother-in-law, the head of the first mounted battery, also written in a +remarkably Ambrosian vein. "I can tell you"--it ran--"we two heads of batteries +thank God on our knees that we are rid of Mohbrinck. My joy thereat is no doubt +damped somewhat by my brotherly sympathy for you in having now to put up with +that scourge of God. However--you can keep calm, as I might have done. We sit +too tight in our places for him; thanks to our favourable relations with the +powers that be. Mohbrinck only seeks out absolutely defenceless victims whereon +to prove his capacity. He considers it a commander's chief task in time of peace +'to purify the army from all incapable people.' In confidence, he should himself +have been purified away first of all. As those who know assert, he has always +from the first made it his business to shove aside any one who stood in front of +him. We of the cavalry heartily wish never to set eyes on him again."</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Mohbrinck arrived.</p> +<p class="normal">He was overflowing with graciousness, and expressed his sense of "his good +fortune in having to devote his poor efforts (supported of course by such able +assistants) to so excellently trained a regiment."</p> +<p class="normal">The speech with which he greeted the regiment held the happy mean between +theatrical gush and a sermon. It was adorned with pompous imagery, and contained +numerous eulogiums of the reigning family. "Christian humility" and "God's +assistance" played a great part therein, and it dealt rude thrusts at those who +waged war in secret upon the sup-porters of throne and altar. The acidulated +vituperative voice of the major gave the whole performance an indescribably +comical effect; the bold artillerymen, standing at attention, got stiff necks, +aching knees, and dizzy heads from listening so long to these flowers of speech.</p> +<p class="normal">After this Major Mohbrinck had all the officers of the regiment brought up +and introduced to him.</p> +<p class="normal">One thing was to be noted: he had a nice perception for everything that was +useful and paying. He had taken care to be well instructed in all particulars +before his arrival in the garrison.</p> +<p class="normal">He seemed at once to be hand in glove with the adjutant, Kauerhof. This was, +of course, because the adjutant's wife, Marion Kauerhof, <i>née</i> von Lüben, +was the daughter of an important personage in the War Office. The adjutant +presented the other men according to their seniority in rank. First came the two +majors. Lischke received a studiously polite greeting; Schrader was far more +graciously treated--was not the smart bachelor a notable waltzer at court balls? +He was often commanded to dance with the princesses, and, people said, regaled +the royal ladies with many little stories which they would never otherwise have +had a chance of hearing.</p> +<p class="normal">Next approached Staff-Captain von Stuckhardt. He found himself very coolly +received by the new chief. What was the use of troubling much with any one who +was known to be a predestined dead man? Stuckhardt stepped back feeling +considerably snubbed.</p> +<p class="normal">Träger, Gropphusen, and Heuschkel got rather neutral pressures of the hand; +Gropphusen, perhaps, being of noble family, was greeted rather more warmly than +the others.</p> +<p class="normal">Kauerhof proceeded with his introductions: "And now, sir, here is the head of +our sixth battery, Captain von Wegstetten."</p> +<p class="normal">Mohbrinck twisted his lips into a honied smile. For Wegstetten had a cousin, +about seven times removed, who was something of a celebrity, not so much on +account of his martial exploits as because he was ninety-eight years of age, the +oldest soldier in the army, and a former adjutant-general of his late Majesty. +Uncle Ehrenfried, dried up like a mummy, had some difficulty in even sitting +upright in his wheel-chair; and for years it had been impossible to carry on an +articulate conversation with him. But his immense age lent a certain <i>cachet</i> +to his nephew, the chief of the sixth battery. If the mummy were really to +attain his century, or were to die on some marked day--a royal birthday or +funeral--the services of a Wegstetten to the reigning family would show in a +dazzling light, the reflection of which could not be disregarded by an acute man +like Mohbrinck.</p> +<p class="normal">Little Wegstetten smiled a contented smile under his big red moustache. +Before a commanding officer like this he felt he had no cause to tremble.</p> +<p class="normal">"Captain Madelung, head of the fourth battery," proceeded Kauerhof.</p> +<p class="normal">Mohbrinck greeted him with something like effusion: "Ah!" he cried, "our +celebrated warrior from China. I am delighted--delighted--to have the honour of +meeting you." He put on a rallying expression: "But you must not go to the Far +East now, my dear sir. I hear you have just made happy domestic arrangements +that will keep you at home."</p> +<p class="normal">Madelung bowed; just before the manœuvres he had married the eldest +maid-of-honour.</p> +<p class="normal">The youngest captain of the regiment, Güntz, was now presented. Major +Mohbrinck assumed his would-be-agreeable smile, and said jokingly: "Dear, dear! +our youngest captain, and so stout already!"</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz looked at him. Well, of course he was not exactly one of the slim ones, +but why should this rather uncomplimentary remark be fired in his face?</p> +<p class="normal">Major Schrader saved him the trouble of answering. He patted him +good-humouredly on the back, and said: "Well, yes, he has got something of a +corporation, like Dr. Luther; but that does not prevent him from shining +brilliantly in the constellation of my commanders of batteries."</p> +<p class="normal">Mohbrinck turned to him, and remarked sweetly; "Oh, I should never have +suggested such a thing, my dear sir. I am quite well aware of the merits of +Captain Güntz." And he touched Güntz's little red eagle; his own breast was +still undecorated.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">It was the common talk of the army that the 80th Regiment, Eastern Division, +Field Artillery, had, under Falkenhein's command, become a perfect pattern to +all the troops. It would therefore have seemed most expedient to carry on the +methods of its former chief. But Mohbrinck considered that to do so would make +him appear an officer without military distinction or views of his own. He posed +as having studied to a nicety every little whim and peculiarity of the +major-general commanding the brigade, and had made up his mind that at the +review his regiment should have no fault found with it, not even if for months +everything more important should be set aside in order to drill into the men +every little fancy of the brigadier.</p> +<p class="normal">"I tell you, sir, I have heard the last word of the major-general on this +subject or that," was his ever-recurring refrain.</p> +<p class="normal">Throughout the batteries this caused a certain sense of nervous insecurity. +The captains were instructed to lay stress on all manner of insignificant +details, and it was difficult to get on with the regular training. Only such +remarkably active and circumspect officers as Wegstetten and Madelung could +manage to satisfy both claims upon them: their ordinary military duties, and the +merely personal likes and dislikes of the commander of the regiment and the +brigadier. Gropphusen let his battery go as it pleased; he was in one of his +wild fits. But Träger and Heuschkel quite lost their heads. Was the new +commander going to turn the world upside down? And yet they had thought they +were fairly good at their work; Falkenhein himself had told them so from time to +time.</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz got sick of the whole affair. Under Mohbrinck's system the battery +might cut a very dashing figure before the commander of the brigade at the +review, and yet be worth the devil only knew how little in sober reality. Güntz, +for his part, would not bother about it; it was his business to train capable +soldiers for his king and country, but not for Major Mohbrinck and Major-general +Hausperg.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Captain Güntz had commanded the battery for a year; his time of probation was +over. Already he had brought his plans to such a point that he could lay them in +practical shape before the directors of the gun-foundry in the Rhine provinces.</p> +<p class="normal">After serious counsel with Frau Kläre, he concluded his letter to the manager +with the following sentence: "Therefore I beg you, sir, to give my work your +most serious consideration. In case you find my plans workable, please remember +that I should be very glad personally to superintend the carrying of them out."</p> +<p class="normal">"Fatty," said Frau Kläre, "that last sentence is shockingly expressed!"</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz sat before his letter and looked down reflectively at his +signature--"Güntz, captain commanding the sixth battery in the 80th Regiment, +Eastern Division, Field Artillery."</p> +<p class="normal">"Do you know, my Kläre," he said, "I don't quite like the look of it myself."</p> +<p class="normal">The answer to this letter was very long in coming, unreasonably long, Kläre +thought. Her husband comforted her: "Do you think people can come to a decision +in a week about a matter over which I pondered for many years?"</p> +<p class="normal">At last came a letter bearing the stamp of the gun-foundry.</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz was just changing his coat for his smoking-jacket. He skimmed through +the document, and read aloud to Kläre the most important phrase: "... plans +extremely promising, ... their construction must certainly be undertaken at +once."</p> +<p class="normal">Then followed a most dazzling proposal for Güntz to enter the factory and +occupy a leading position there. Compared with the modest pay of a captain, the +suggested salary of fifteen thousand marks seemed positively fabulous.</p> +<p class="normal">Frau Kläre's was an eminently practical nature, and she had often lamented +over the miserable income on which the claims of an officer's position made such +serious inroads; but now these words escaped her: "Good God, Fatty! Isn't that +far too much?"</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz had not heard her exclamation. He had just taken off his coat; he held +it for a moment in his hand and stroked the epaulettes caressingly. Then he hung +it carefully over the back of a chair.</p> +<p class="normal">"Of course I shall accept," he said, in a voice which was meant to be calm, +but in which strong emotion was evident. "I hope I shall be able to serve my +country and my king better than I could in that dear old coat."</p> +<p class="normal">Kläre stretched out her hand to him in silence; then she went softly out of +the room. It is better for a man to have that sort of thing out with himself +alone.</p> +<p class="normal">What might have taken an enormous expenditure of time and writing proved, as +a matter of fact, to be very simply and easily accomplished. Captain Güntz sent +in his papers, and they were accepted before Easter.</p> +<p class="normal">At the farewell dinner, Major Mohbrinck spoke of the heartfelt concern with +which the regiment must lose such a charming companion and promising officer, +and of the good wishes with which all the officers would follow him to his new +and important sphere of activity. All this came from the heart. Who could know +whether, as retired lieutenant-colonel or colonel, a man holding such a post in +a gun-foundry might not be a very useful acquaintance?</p> +<p class="normal">When Güntz took his departure from the little station he had got over all his +regrets. He only left behind one man for whom he cared--Reimers.</p> +<p class="normal">He looked out of the window of the railway-carriage and saw his friend +standing on the narrow platform, gazing after the departing train. That thin +face, with its sad eyes, became by degrees undistinguishable, and at last he +could hardly recognise the slender, slightly bent figure.</p> +<p class="normal">He waved his handkerchief for the last time; but his friend probably did not +see, for he stood motionless.</p> +<p class="normal">Then the train ran round a corner of rock; the carriage swayed slightly, and +the little station was out of sight. Güntz sat back sighing in his corner. He +had been able to give his friend no consolation, and only one piece of good +advice--to work.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Little Dr. von Fröben accompanied Senior-lieutenant Reimers to the examinations +at the Staff College.</p> +<p class="normal">"One can only be plucked," he said in excuse when he was teased about his +presumption. Of course if he compared his knowledge with that of his companion, +Reimers, his candidature seemed to himself an unwarrantable piece of bravado. +And Reimers went on studying with an indefatigable, almost feverish energy.</p> +<p class="normal">"My dear Reimers," said the little doctor, "there will be nothing more for +you to learn at the Staff College, if you work like this. You had better slack +off, dear boy!"</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers smiled a little half-heartedly. The good progress he was making gave +him no joy. He no longer prosecuted his studies with the inspired devotion that +had formerly possessed him; and only the strong feeling of duty, which had +become habitual with him, spurred him on to further efforts. He often said to +himself: "After all, what is the good of it?"</p> +<p class="normal">There was no sign of any obstacle in his path; despite all that had happened +he was in a very fair way to achieve a distinguished military career. But he +could not rid himself of an oppressive feeling that all his labour was in vain.</p> +<p class="normal">And then again after a moment of hopeless depression he would be possessed +anew by the old fair vision, his enthusiasm for the wonderful German army, to +belong to which had been his pride and his salvation. With eyes full of rapture +he pored over the pages of the military history, and for the thousandth time +followed the army on its path of conquest.</p> +<p class="normal">Then suddenly he checked himself. Was the army of to-day, of which he was a +member, really that old victorious army?</p> +<p class="normal">Güntz had handed over to him the justification for his resignation which he +had written out before the duel with Landsberg. It had been unnecessary to add +or to erase anything.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers had often in old days wished to have his friend's opinions in black +and white before him, in order to overthrow them singly, point by point, +brilliantly to overthrow them. He now held in his hand Güntz's views, succinctly +and definitely expressed; but whither had flown his former keen spirit? He could +no longer summon up the old impetuous dash with which he had meant to fall upon +his opponent's arguments one after another, raze them to the ground and trample +them underfoot like the entrenchments and fortifications in some mock combat.</p> +<p class="normal">He compared Güntz's statement with the notes he had taken of his +conversations with Falkenhein, during the short period of his adjutancy. There +was much in which they agreed, and this agreement staggered him. Here were two +men of fundamentally different nature whose judgment concurred; both of them +were distinguished by clarity of perception and exhaustive knowledge of the +circumstances with which they were dealing, and both were entitled to their +opinions by a past record that excluded all idea of bias.</p> +<p class="normal">Were they both right, then? The one with his vague uneasiness, the other with +his heavy disquietude?</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers could not dismiss the doubts of these two men. At most he might reply +to Güntz that this unsatisfactory state of affairs was not so widespread as his +friend asserted.</p> +<p class="normal">This inclination to outward show was a universal sign of the times, and was +not confined to Germany. In France a cavalry charge had been made upon the grand +stand where the President was seated beside the Tsar. Was that not more +theatrical than some of the impossible evolutions undertaken in the German +manœuvres?</p> +<p class="normal">But to this consolation was opposed the old teaching of experience, that a +nation in extremity is capable of the most unheard-of exertions in reparation of +its errors. The cheerful self-sacrifice of Prussia in 1813 was almost without +parallel in the history of the world; and yet the sensitive, heavily-chastened +French nation was effecting a similar arduous work, the more striking by reason +of its long persistence.</p> +<p class="normal">France had, besides, this advantage; in actual fact a great number of the +French people, through an artificially nourished feeling of embitterment, were +keen for war with their eastern neighbour. Germans, on the contrary, thought no +more of the "hereditary enemy" of 1870; in the progress of science and the +development of art they felt themselves closely connected with France. Germany +had linked herself to France that they might march together arm-in-arm in the +forefront of civilisation.</p> +<p class="normal">Germany <i>desired</i> peace. It was not exactly that the German had become +unwarlike; but, because of his Teutonic thoroughness and sobriety, he was deeply +impressed with the necessity and utility of peace, as the most truly rational +condition of things. Once the danger of vengeance from the west had blown over, +any and every war would have been unpopular in Germany, except perhaps one with +England, which, as a naval war, would less immediately affect the masses of the +people, and everybody in Germany held the conviction that warlike developments +would never arise from an irresistible outbreak of popular feeling, but only +from political or dynastic mismanagement.</p> +<p class="normal">In this way--that is, as a failing in warlike ardour--did Reimers account for +the want of patriotism which Güntz pointed to as the most significant inward +danger of the present military system.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers had never interested himself particularly in parliamentary or +political controversies,--an officer should hold aloof from such matters,--he +was therefore not inclined to lay so much stress as his friend did on the +influence of revolutionary politicians.</p> +<p class="normal">The evil was great enough without that. Was not an army that went into the +field without enthusiasm beaten beforehand? And the thoughts suggested to him by +the reflections of the colonel and of his friend all pointed to a similar +conclusion. They seemed to stand like warning signposts beside the road on which +the German army was marching; and all, all, bore upon their outstretched +pointing arms the ominous word--Jena.</p> +<p class="normal">The sinister idea haunted Reimers like a ghost. If he sat down to his books +it was there; and it fell across his vision like a dark shadow when the sun +shone its bravest on the imposing array of the batteries at exercise.</p> +<p class="normal">His old friends had gone far away; and if Reimers looked into his own mind he +was obliged to admit that he could not greatly regret this. It was indeed better +so. The delightful intimate relations between himself and those dear people had +already been destroyed by scarcely perceptible degrees.</p> +<p class="normal">The thought of Marie Falkenhein weighed on him the least heavily. When he had +once got over the first bitter sorrow at his ill fortune he thought of her, +strangely enough, with no desperate longing, but rather with a feeling of shame. +The young girl did not represent the immediate necessity of his life which he +now found lacking. That lay in a different sphere.</p> +<p class="normal">For this reason he was glad that Falkenhein and Güntz had left the garrison. +No one should be there to see how the guiding star which he had followed so +ardently all his days was now setting in diminished glory: no one should be by +when his whole life suffered shipwreck.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">The regiment was now under orders to march to the practice-camp. A few days +before the departure Reimers ordered his man to bring him his portmanteau.</p> +<p class="normal">He wanted to see if the faithful old trunk, which had accompanied him on all +his travels, was still in proper condition. It needed no attention.</p> +<p class="normal">"Shall I take off the labels?" asked his servant. "Then perhaps, I could +freshen it up a little with varnish."</p> +<p class="normal">The trunk displayed a vast number of hotel and luggage labels. His journey to +Egypt, in particular, had left brightly-coloured traces.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers stood buried in thought. Suddenly he observed the waiting servant.</p> +<p class="normal">"Yes, of course," he said; "see to it."</p> +<p class="normal">He had been thinking of his return from that long furlough.</p> +<p class="normal">What renewed vigour he had then felt in every limb! With what exhilaration he +had set foot on the quay at Hamburg, his first step on German soil after a whole +long year in foreign lands! He would have liked to fall on the neck of the first +gunner he met; and he could hardly wait for the moment when he might again don +the unpretending coat that outshone in his eyes the most gorgeous robe of state +in the world, attired in which he might again perform the dear old wearisome +duty.</p> +<p class="normal">Were those high hopes to end in this sordid fashion?</p> +<p class="normal">He recollected how, amidst the jubilation of his home-coming, he had been +disquieted by a presentiment of evil, a visionary dream that now confronted him +in such cruel reality.</p> +<p class="normal">It was during his first visit to Frau von Gropphusen that the shadow had +fallen upon him. He saw the room again before him in the dim light from its +darkened window, and it seemed to him filled with gloom and hopelessness.</p> +<p class="normal">The suffering woman lay wearily on the big sofa under the picture of the +"Blue Boy." She drew up the silken covering with her fair white hands, leant her +chin on her knees, and gazed at him with her wonderful sad eyes.</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly he became aware of the reason why he only thought of Marie +Falkenhein with gentle resignation, with that fugitive feeling which seemed to +himself scarcely compatible with grief for a real attachment: he had never +ceased to love Hannah Gropphusen.</p> +<p class="normal">Had his eyes been struck with blindness?</p> +<p class="normal">His passion now revived in him as with the throes of an intermittent fever. +His spirit was free from all other prepossession. Enthusiasm for his country, +for his calling, had been driven out of him. His whole being was defenceless +against the might of this love, and he was carried away by it as on the wings of +a tempest.</p> +<p class="normal">He now only lived in the thought of Hannah Gropphusen. How long was it since +he had seen her last?</p> +<p class="normal">He had to go far back in his memory to the beginning of the past winter. She +had been the fairest at one of the first balls of the season. Her face had shone +with seductive charm; a black dress, glittering with sequins, had enveloped her +slender form, leaving bare the tender whiteness of her arms and shoulders. She +bore the palm of beauty, and every one had acknowledged her sovereignty. And as +he had sat idly in one of the most distant rooms, a morose observer of the gay +throng, she had come gliding up to him like some dazzling messenger of joy. She +had spoken to him, few words only and on indifferent topics, with a hasty, +excited voice; but in her eyes had been once more that expression of utter +self-abandonment which had made him so happy on their return from the +tennis-ground during the previous spring.</p> +<p class="normal">He had stood before her, his shoulders bowed beneath his adverse fate, and +had not dared to raise his eyes to hers.</p> +<p class="normal">Since the night of that ball, Frau von Gropphusen had been absent for the +whole winter; she had gone on a visit to her parents, after (so the gossips +whispered) a terrible scene with her husband. And on this occasion even the +women had taken the side of their own sex. For Gropphusen had been getting +wilder and wilder; it could hardly fail that legal proceedings would before very +long be undertaken against him for his scandalous behaviour.</p> +<p class="normal">The injured wife had returned only a few days ago, probably for a last +painful attempt to preserve appearances. Gropphusen himself would be leaving the +garrison for the gun-practice, and she would at least remain there during that +time; but she did not go out, and nobody had yet seen her face to face.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers was possessed with a restless impatience to meet the woman he loved; +he had wasted too much time already to brook delay.</p> +<p class="normal">Then again he was thrown into dull inaction by an agonising doubt. How could +he think of approaching Hannah Gropphusen--he, a marked man, a condemned man? He +set it before himself a thousand times, and dinned it into his own ears: he +desired nothing, he wanted nothing but to be allowed to live in her soothing +presence. He racked his brains to discover a pretext for visiting her but could +find none. He directed his goings from day to day so as to pass by the +Gropphusen villa as often as possible. He sauntered near the house by the hour +together, possessed by the foolish hope of catching sight of his beloved. +Perhaps she would come to the window to breathe the fresh air of the night, to +cool her burning forehead in the soft breeze, or to refresh her tear-stained +eyes with a sight of the starry heaven.</p> +<p class="normal">He waited in vain.</p> +<p class="normal">On the morning of their march to the practice-camp, Captain von Gropphusen, +the head of the second battery, was missing.</p> +<p class="normal">Major Lischke sent his adjutant to the Gropphusens' villa to ask for news. +The lieutenant came back with the answer that Captain von Gropphusen had as +usual gone to town the evening before, and had not yet returned.</p> +<p class="normal">Lischke grumbled. "The dissipated scoundrel has missed the early train, of +course. He might at least have telegraphed."</p> +<p class="normal">Naturally Gropphusen could not be waited for. Senior-lieutenant Frommelt took +charge of the battery, and the regiment set off on its march.</p> +<p class="normal">But even at their first halting-place the missing man failed to put in an +appearance, and now came some enlightenment as to his proceedings.</p> +<p class="normal">The police had made a raid upon the club to which Gropphusen belonged. +Rumours were spread abroad of unlawful and immoral practices carried on there. A +certain number of the members, Gropphusen among them, had managed to escape; the +rest were already in custody.</p> +<p class="normal">Thereanent the regiment received an official letter, in which it was pointed +out to the authorities that Captain von Gropphusen was accused of desertion, and +was to be reported at once in case of his reappearance. This was, of course, +only a matter of form, for Gropphusen had no doubt left the kingdom long before.</p> +<p class="normal">Senior-lieutenant Frommelt was entrusted with the command of the battery, and +as Lieutenant Weissenhagen, the other officer belonging to the detachment, had +already been sent on to the practice-camp to look over the barracks and stables, +Senior-lieutenant Reimers was attached to the second battery during the march, +and until further orders.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers rejoiced that a fortunate turn of events had released the woman he +loved from her tormentor he was glad also that this alteration in the +arrangements for the march would withdraw him from surroundings in which his +thoughts had now become so completely and dizzily changed.</p> +<p class="normal">Finally, a faint hope sprang up in his mind: perhaps at the practice-camp, +where the capacity of the army was put to its sharpest test in time of peace, he +might regain some of his old belief in the unimpeachable superiority of the +German forces.</p> +<p class="normal">He greeted the open expanse of heath with joyful eyes.</p> +<p class="normal">The battery had crossed a river, one of those quiet waters of the flat +country that glide along lazily between their sandy banks, and conceal beneath +their harmless-looking surface deep holes and dangerous under-currents.</p> +<p class="normal">From the rear came riding a troop of hussars, apparently engaged in +scouting-practice. The bridge was supposed to have been destroyed, and they were +trying to find a place for fording the river. The officer first drove his horse +into the water, and the animal sank at once up to its neck, but then began to +swim, and soon reached the opposite side. The hussars followed smartly and +quickly, and the troop proceeded onward from the other bank, leaving wet traces +on the light sandy soil. The officer galloped up closer to the marching battery.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers recognised an old companion from the Military Academy.</p> +<p class="normal">"You, Ottensen?" he cried. "What a strange chance!"</p> +<p class="normal">"Isn't it?" said the hussar. "Pity I've no time to stop. I must teach my +chaps to scout!"</p> +<p class="normal">They exchanged a pressure of the hand; then the cavalry officer spurred on +his horse, and disappeared in a cloud of yellow dust.</p> +<p class="normal">Shortly after this the battery came upon the hussars for a second time. The +riders had dismounted at the edge of a fir plantation. One hussar after another +was being made to buckle on the climbing-irons and climb up a tree-trunk in +order to survey the surrounding country with a telescope.</p> +<p class="normal">The lieutenant was examining them, and testing their reports by the map.</p> +<p class="normal">"Not seen you for a long time, Reimers!" he laughed, as the battery marched +by. "Just look; these chaps climb like monkeys!"</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers nodded gaily to his lively friend. It was indeed a pleasure to watch +the agile hussars.</p> +<p class="normal">"Wait a bit!" said Ottensen, "I'll ride a little way with you." He asked +Senior-lieutenant Frommelt politely for permission, and sent his men back in +charge of a sergeant. Then he joined the battery, chattering away gaily in his +droll, staccato fashion, and making his horse leap the ditch from time to time. +He sat his magnificent steed splendidly, and with his slender, neatly-made +figure, looked the perfect model of a cavalry officer.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers looked at him with honest admiration and pleasure.</p> +<p class="normal">"Your hussars are smart fellows!" he said.</p> +<p class="normal">Ottensen smiled, well pleased, and said: "Well, perhaps so!"</p> +<p class="normal">"They climb the trees well," continued the artilleryman.</p> +<p class="normal">"I should think so!" said Ottensen. "Trees, corn-stacks, church-towers, roofs +of houses, telegraph-posts, and devil knows what besides--mountain-tops too, +only there aren't any hereabouts."</p> +<p class="normal">"Perhaps there will be during the manœuvres."</p> +<p class="normal">The hussar let his single eye-glass fall, and showed an astonished face.</p> +<p class="normal">"Manœuvres, my dear fellow? Why, all's plain sailing in them!"</p> +<p class="normal">"How do you mean? Plain sailing?"</p> +<p class="normal">"The rendezvous all fixed up beforehand, with friends on the enemy's side; +simultaneous luncheons arranged for when possible. Every detail settled in +advance."</p> +<p class="normal">The little hussar suddenly burst out laughing: "Reimers! my dear fellow!" he +cried, "don't pull a face like a funeral march! Do you mean to say you didn't +know it? You didn't? Well!"</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers asked him: "But what do you take to be the object of the manœuvres?"</p> +<p class="normal">"Object? Oh, there is plenty of object!"</p> +<p class="normal">"Surely the object of the manœuvres is to get the nearest possible approach +to the conditions of actual warfare?"</p> +<p class="normal">"All rot!" declared the hussar. "You're still just the same old bookworm as +ever; an incorrigible old wool-gatherer! The object of the manœuvres is the most +deadly punctuality in the meeting of the two opposing parties, and not the +training of young cavalry lieutenants in scouting. The object is attained by +careful consultations beforehand. Oh, yes! I was once just such another innocent +youth as you, dear boy. Shall I ever forget it, my first scouting expedition, +with no rendezvous? On and on I rode till it was perfectly dark. Couldn't see a +single wicked enemy. Didn't I just get a rowing! A whole winter practice thrown +away! Two infantry regiments with a mile of transport, and behind them four +batteries and four squadrons of horse. All had marched gaily past each other at +about half an hour's interval! Not a shot fired! No, thanks--never again!"</p> +<p class="normal">At a cross-road Ottensen took leave of them. From afar he waved once more his +immaculately-gloved right hand.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers rode on in silence.</p> +<p class="normal">On the horizon appeared the white walls of the barracks and stables, and the +water-tower of the practice-camp.</p> +<p class="normal">It was an unwelcome thought this that his old companion of the Military +Academy had suggested to him. Here was another proof of how everything in the +army was worked up simply to present a smooth outward appearance. How he would +laugh now if any one spoke to him of a similarity between the conditions of real +warfare and those of the manœuvres! It was a thoroughly planned-out game, in +which no ill-timed mischance was allowed to disturb the preordained harmony of +the arrangements.</p> +<p class="normal">But what a crying shame that such splendid material should be spoilt by this +dangerous system! Ottensen was not a highly-gifted soldier; he was no model +military instructor; but he was a fine horseman, had a cool head, plenty of +dash, and some keen mother-wit to boot: a born leader of scouts. And yet these +brilliant qualities were sacrificed to outward show, and were let go to waste +for want of use! One good cavalry officer the less; that was bad enough. But had +not Ottensen spoken as though these were quite usual practices? It looked as +though this purely external unwarlike training of the army were being erected +into a principle.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">The first day at the practice-camp was entirely taken up by settling into +quarters. The tables were laid at six o'clock in the evening. Most of the +officers were perfectly exhausted with standing about and running hither and +thither; and directly the meal was over they retired to their rooms to get half +an hour's nap before their evening duty.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers left the camp by the back gate and went slowly along the edge of the +forest towards the butts.</p> +<p class="normal">The sun was setting, and the rim of the red disk seemed to be just resting on +the dark line of the tree-tops. The heath glowed with colour in the evening +radiance.</p> +<p class="normal">Some men with pickaxes and spades over their shoulders met him; behind them a +waggon laden with planks toiled heavily through the sand. Even the drill coats +of the soldiers were tinted red by the sunset light. Reimers strolled on +further. A sandy pathway cut across the pink blossoms of the heather; without +thinking he turned into it. This was the road which had formerly led from the +forest towards the ruined village; there was now no use for it, and it was being +allowed to fall into disrepair.</p> +<p class="normal">The solitary wanderer approached the dilapidated dwellings. In the village +itself the perilously inclined walls of the ruins threatened to fall into the +roadway. Reimers stepped through a doorway into the courtyard of one of the +largest houses. A rose-tree spread its branches over the wall. Everything was +bathed in the red light of the setting sun. Through the empty casements Reimers +seemed to be looking at the fierce glow of some incendiary fire. The white roses +gleamed pink, and a pool of water that had run down from a gutter shone like +newly-shed blood. The deserted garden, the empty casements, the smoke-blackened +walls, the glowing colour in the sky, and the red pool on the ground: this was a +picture of war, in which men were laid low beneath blossoming rose trees, whose +roots were drenched in their hearts' blood.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers stumbled down the dim mud-stained passage and over the broken +threshold into the village street, and wandered back again to the camp, gazing +with thoughtful eyes into the gathering dusk.</p> +<p class="normal">The picture of the ruined cottages had recalled his South African experiences +to his memory.</p> +<p class="normal">He saw the cosy farm-houses burst into flames behind the fleeing riders. The +men shook their clenched fists as they looked back, and sent up grim but +child-like petitions to a patriarchal God on whose help they had too confidently +relied. But they made no stand, possessed by the irresistible panic which had +seized upon them after the unfortunate episode of Cronje's capture.</p> +<p class="normal">It was but now and then that a handful of brave men, together with a few from +the foreign legion, had made a short resistance at some pass or ford; and these +were the only experiences, during the time of that gradual break-up, to which he +could look back with any satisfaction.</p> +<p class="normal">Like the others he had lain in the high grass or behind a jutting rock, and +had picked out his man; while beside him a twig would occasionally be snapped by +a bullet, or splinters of stone strewn over him. This had been sharp, honest +skirmishing, and he had had no scruple about doing as much injury to the English +as possible. He never knew whether he had killed his man or merely wounded him. +Either was possible; and did not war necessarily involve this?</p> +<p class="normal">At last, however, he had an experience that weighed more heavily on his mind.</p> +<p class="normal">It was near the Portuguese frontier on an open grassy expanse, somewhat +resembling the heath by the practice-camp. They were hurrying onwards, hoping to +reach neutral territory and escape capture by the English. Between them and the +pursuing lancers lay only the deep channel of a river, whose waters lapped idly +and languidly on the shore in the peaceful summer stillness.</p> +<p class="normal">An English officer came riding carelessly up to it, a fresh young lad. He had +slung his carbine on his saddle, and was gaily flourishing a switch in the air +and flicking at his brown leather gaiters. He was within speaking distance, his +men were trotting far behind him.</p> +<p class="normal">Then one of the foreigners, a lean Irishman, reined in his flying steed. With +a wild expression of hatred he raised his loaded weapon, took aim, and fired. +The Englishman fell heavily backwards on his horse and plump into the shallow +water.</p> +<p class="normal">The Irishman galloped up to Reimers' side. His ragged coat and brown +weather-beaten face proclaimed the seasoned fighter.</p> +<p class="normal">"A good shot, mate!" he said. Reimers looked sideways at him and answered +nothing.</p> +<p class="normal">The other waxed indignant, and began fiercely:</p> +<p class="normal">"Damn it, sir! Thirty years ago my father rented a farm in county Waterford +that one of yon fellow's breed coveted. My father died in Philadelphia, with +nothing but a torn shirt to his back and his bones coming through his skin. It's +an old debt that I have just paid off!"</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers nodded in assent; he could do nothing else. The man was one of the +many Fenians who had entered the ranks of the Boer army, instigated by the +age-long hereditary hatred of Irishman for Englishman; from his point of view he +was justified. This was warfare, and why had the young officer ridden ahead in +that boyish, foolhardy way?</p> +<p class="normal">Nevertheless, the deed had filled the German with inexpressible disgust.</p> +<p class="normal">And suddenly, in this evening hour among the blossoming heather, within view +of the ruined village now fast becoming indistinguishable in the twilight, the +recollection of that nearly dry river-bed on the frontier of the Transvaal +Republic drove in upon his mind clearly and definitely all the terrors of war: +men falling upon each other like ravening beasts, blood and fire, death and +destruction.</p> +<p class="normal">Innumerable thoughts conflicted in his brain. Whose was the guilt that these +immemorial horrors still existed, that they were even protected by law? Who was +it that desired war? Was it the nations, incensed against each other by +race-hatred? Was it their rulers seeking renown? Was it greedy self-interested +diplomatists? Secret, but so much the more effectual, under-currents of +Jesuitical intrigue? Fire-eating generals, pining to justify their existence? +Who was it that dared assume responsibility for such a colossal crime against +humanity?</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers was loth to press such considerations further, By so doing he might +be led to conclusions before which he shrank, because from his youth up they had +been pictured to him as detestable and criminal; he turned from them in alarm.</p> +<p class="normal">One thing he saw clearly and distinctly: war, which seemed to be a necessity +in the life of a nation, demanded strong-minded men, hard as steel. Men like +himself, broken in spirit, were useless and unfit for the profession of an +officer. A soldier without fresh living enthusiasm for his calling was nothing +but a figure of straw.</p> +<p class="normal">It was borne in upon him that he was a mere caricature of an officer, such as +he had hitherto despised; perhaps but a more thoughtful, melancholy variation +from the whole brainless type.</p> +<p class="normal">But what had he to look for in the world beside?</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Next morning Senior-lieutenant Frommelt, the temporary commander of the second +battery, came to Reimers in a hurry.</p> +<p class="normal">"My dear Reimers," he said, "I must ask you to do me a kindness. After the +exercises to-day will you drive back at once to the garrison? Somewhere in +Gropphusen's house the punishment-book of the battery must be lying about, and a +few important orders with it. The sergeant-major sent it over to him the evening +before our departure, and now we want it. Will you go?"</p> +<p class="normal">And Reimers answered, "Of course I will, Frommelt."</p> +<p class="normal">The commander of the battery continued, quivering with the anxiety +appertaining to his new dignity: "You know, I would have sent Weissenhagen, as +he is the youngest officer; but he is a little flighty, and I don't quite like +to trust him with such a delicate matter as conversing with a lady about the +failings of her absent husband."</p> +<p class="normal">"But is that necessary?" asked Reimers.</p> +<p class="normal">"I think so. You see we have not been able to find the things anywhere. You +must describe the books--you know the usual binding--and then they must be +sought for very thoroughly."</p> +<p class="normal">"Very good. I will go."</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers went through the shooting-practice (in which, by-the-by, the +"flighty" Lieutenant Weissenhagen seemed to give a very good account of +himself), buried in a deep reverie. At every shot he started in his saddle, and +when the battery took up a change of position he entirely forgot to ride into +his place. But the good brown mare moved correctly of herself. Her rider patted +her neck in praise, and drew himself up erect. The joy which had at first +stupefied him made him now feel glad and proud. Happiness smiled upon him once +more, before the consummation of his evil fortune--he would see Hannah +Gropphusen again.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">It was noon when he arrived in the garrison town. All the good citizens were at +their midday meal. The streets were deserted, and the little colony of villas +that formed the officers' quarters showed no sign of living inhabitants.</p> +<p class="normal">The Gropphusens' house, with its closed shutters and lowered blinds, looked +half asleep; but Hannah's windows were as usual draped in their pale pink +curtains. Reimers went through the garden and into the porch. He hesitated a +moment and listened; not a sound was to be heard.</p> +<p class="normal">Then he rang. The electric bell echoed sharply in the deep stillness; but +everything remained quiet. He could only hear the beating of his pulses.</p> +<p class="normal">He rang for the second time, but silence still reigned. Had the unhappy wife +returned to her parents? Was the household broken up?</p> +<p class="normal">Then a door banged within the house, and light steps approached. The chain +was taken down and the key turned in the lock.</p> +<p class="normal">Hannah Gropphusen stood on the threshold, a weary expression on her pale +face; she was clad in a loose flowing gown of thin white silk. Her shoulders +scarcely seemed fit to bear the weight of anything heavier than this light airy +texture. Her small head was bowed as though unable to support the burden of her +hair.</p> +<p class="normal">Her eyes expressed the astonished query: "How come you here?" And she stepped +back hesitatingly.</p> +<p class="normal">"I have come on business," stammered Reimers.</p> +<p class="normal">Hannah opened the door and signed to him to enter. Her noiseless steps +preceded him as she led him into her own little sitting-room.</p> +<p class="normal">She seated herself on the edge of the sofa and pointed to a chair.</p> +<p class="normal">"Won't you sit down?" she said gently. But Reimers remained standing, gazing +down upon the woman he loved. At last he was near her; he could see her and hear +her voice.</p> +<p class="normal">She raised her eyes to his, as if asking why he would not be seated. Their +glances met, greeting and caressing each other in the first shy emotion of love.</p> +<p class="normal">The man threw himself down before the woman, covering her feet, her dress, +her hands, her knees with kisses, and sobbing out the irrepressible confession +of his love, over and over again, in unceasing repetition: "I love you! how I +love you! I love you! how I love you!"</p> +<p class="normal">Hannah suffered his protestations silently. An unspeakable bliss weighed upon +her and paralysed her. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and as though in the far +distance she heard the soothing call of love: "I love you! how I love you!"</p> +<p class="normal">She bent over him with a glad, loving look. Her deep blue eyes shone darkly +and protectingly, like the night sky.</p> +<p class="normal">"Hannah, I love you. I have always, always loved you. Only you, Hannah, only +you!"</p> +<p class="normal">Her beautiful hand cooled his burning forehead. "I know," she whispered. And +he asseverated: "Even when I was hovering round Marie Falkenhein, it was you, +you that I loved. You, only you! Hannah, do you believe me?"</p> +<p class="normal">She nodded: "I know."</p> +<p class="normal">Suddenly her aspect changed, and instead of the overpowering happiness came a +hard, bitter expression.</p> +<p class="normal">"I know, too," she continued, in a low voice, "why you have broken off with +Marie Falkenhein."</p> +<p class="normal">The words struck Reimers like a blow. He started back and tried to disengage +himself from her. But the slender fingers held his hand with a spasmodic grasp +which almost hurt him.</p> +<p class="normal">"You!" he cried. "How can that be?" Hannah had become calm. She stroked his +hair tenderly. "How can that be?" she repeated. "Dearest! a woman can always +find out anything she really wants to know. I wished to know this, and I know +it."</p> +<p class="normal">In bitter shame the man broke down completely. He kissed the hem of her robe, +and would have turned to the door.</p> +<p class="normal">"Forgive! forgive me!" he murmured.</p> +<p class="normal">But the fair hands would not let him go, and close in his ear a trembling +voice whispered: "Stay, my beloved! For we belong to each other. I am--what you +are. We are damned together, both of us. Stay!"</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers gazed up at her speechless, his eyes full of a terrible question.</p> +<p class="normal">Hannah rose. All signs of weariness had fallen from her; she stood erect, a +sombre dignity in the expression of her countenance. She pointed back to that +part of the house formerly inhabited by her husband.</p> +<p class="normal">"Through him," she said, in accents of denunciation, "I have been ruined. He +has destroyed my life, so that I am--what I am."</p> +<p class="normal">She looked down upon the kneeling man before her, and suddenly the wild look +of hatred and unrelenting sternness died out of her face.</p> +<p class="normal">"And now," she went on softly, "as things are, I could almost bless him for +what he has done." Bitter irony invaded her tone. "Besides, he has bidden me +adieu now like a man of honour. He is in Paris, and is going henceforth to +devote himself entirely to art."</p> +<p class="normal">But then again lamentations burst from her lips, and long pent-up +confessions, which she poured forth with a self-accusing candour.</p> +<p class="normal">"Listen, beloved," she said. "When he took me for his wife, a sort of dizzy +enchantment overwhelmed me. We lived as in a mad whirl of intoxication. The +hours that were not passed together we counted lost; and there was nothing he +could have asked of me in vain. He set my foot on his neck and called me queen, +goddess. And I--I gave him my beauty."</p> +<p class="normal">She lifted her head with an imperial gesture, and a proud smile curved her +lips.</p> +<p class="normal">"I was a spendthrift," she went on. "Undraped I have danced before him; and +down in the garden he had a tent erected--people never could guess the purpose +of those canvas walls, but there I sat to him, naked, on his dun-coloured Irish +mare, Lady Godiva. And he fell weeping on his knees and worshipped me. He longed +for a thousand eyes, that he might drink in the twofold beauty--mine, and the +noble animal's. He boasted that he would not repine if his eyes were stricken +with blindness after having looked upon us."</p> +<p class="normal">She paused for a moment. The eternal might of beauty illumined her brow as +though with an invisible crown. Then she bowed her head, and her voice lost its +resonance.</p> +<p class="normal">"All that I gave him. I was no miser. The day came in which I repented my +generosity. I suffered when he turned from me; but jealousy I felt none. Perhaps +I was to blame for not recovering my pride at once. But through my love he had +taught me that it is bitter indeed to love in vain."</p> +<p class="normal">She was silent. Her features hardened, and a deep furrow was graven in her +smooth forehead.</p> +<p class="normal">"And then," her voice continued; "then came the moment of that terrible +revelation. I do not know how I bore it. I was struck as by a lightning-flash; I +was shattered. I wanted to leave him; but my people at home would not consent, +and I--I could not tell him. Unresisting I let them do with me what they would. +I would lie like a corpse, without movement or sensation; then I would rave, +needing the most careful watching. And he--he came to me again, as the +culmination of his misdeeds. I had become changed for him, more desirable. But I +spat in his face. He came crawling and begging to me on his knees, and I struck +him in the face and spurned him."</p> +<p class="normal">She raised her clenched hand to her brow, and shook it as against an +invisible enemy. Her eyes glowed with resentment, and her breath came pantingly.</p> +<p class="normal">Then again the unnaturally excited bearing relaxed; she sank gently down on +the couch, and bent over her lover, who hid his face in the silk of her gown.</p> +<p class="normal">"Beloved," she whispered, in an infinitely softened tone; "it was then, just +when I had recovered from my delirium, that you returned. When I saw you again, +here in this room, it was borne in on me that we belonged to each other, and I +thought you must feel as I did."</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers looked up at her, and made a movement to seize her hand.</p> +<p class="normal">"I know now that I already loved you," he said, "but I fought against it, +because I feared unhappiness for you."</p> +<p class="normal">Hannah gently shook her head.</p> +<p class="normal">"Do not speak of unhappiness, beloved," she exhorted him. "Do I not love you, +and do you not love me? Are we not happy?"</p> +<p class="normal">She stooped to him, and pressed her lips to his in a long kiss.</p> +<p class="normal">"I could not see clearly through my dreadful doubts," she went on. "What +could I be to you--impure, defiled, ruined? There was only in me the longing +that you should love me. What was the mad intoxication of my girlish folly to +the happiness that possessed me when I became certain that you did love me? I +could have denied you nothing, dearest. How happy I was!"</p> +<p class="normal">She smiled softly to herself, sunk in tender recollection, and Reimers felt +her light hand touch his hair gently with a caressing motion. He grasped that +fair hand and kissed it reverently.</p> +<p class="normal">"Ah, how happy I was!" repeated Hannah, with a sigh. "But the serpent lurked +in my Paradise. I came to know the pangs of jealousy, and I hated Marie +Falkenhein--hated her from the bottom of my soul. Ah, beloved! it hurts, hurts +deeply, to see the glance of the man one loves passing one over for another +woman. Do you remember the night of Kläre's birthday, when you sat in the +Falkenheins' garden? I did not exist for you. I could have knelt before you, +begging and imploring, 'Can you not even see me here?' But you had eyes only for +Mariechen, and when I went away into the night, you and she were standing +together by the railing like a betrothed pair. Happiness shone in your eyes. +Yes! in yours too, dearest."</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers kissed the hand of his adored lady. "Forgive me!" he sobbed. "Forgive +me! darling, my poor darling! My eyes were drawn to follow you; but I turned +them by force to Mariechen. I know now that I loved you alone even then. In +dreams, and when half awake, when I let myself go, it was you only for whom I +longed. Dearest, forgive me!"</p> +<p class="normal">Hannah shook her head gently, and looked fondly into his petitioning eyes.</p> +<p class="normal">"Be content," she whispered; "it was wrong of me, and I conquered it. In the +night, after I had seen you both like that, I fought it out with myself. I +recognised that it was hateful egoism that made me grudge you your happiness, +and that my love for you should be quite otherwise--more unselfish. From +thenceforth Marie Falkenhein became dear to me; it was as though I were you,--I +felt an involuntary yearning towards her, warmer, apparently, than your own. I +would have liked to endow her with all that you found clever and charming in my +speech or actions; I would have given her all that remained to me of beauty; +above all, I longed to pour into her veins the fire of my own great love, that +you might be entirely happy and blest. I would have decked your bride with my +own hands, and have brought her to you; I would have kept watch, that nothing +profane should disturb your bliss."</p> +<p class="normal">Tenderly her arms encircled her lover's neck, and her words flowed faster.</p> +<p class="normal">"Suddenly all this was changed, and I was not less so. I could not be sad +when I saw Mariechen's tear-stained eyes. I guessed that something terrible had +occurred; but I was groping in the dark till I got the truth out of that good +Andreae. Then I wept for grief that your happiness was blighted; and I wept for +joy that you were now wholly mine. For you are mine?"</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers clasped her to him passionately; she nestled quivering in his arms. +Their lips met, and she whispered: "If chance had not led you to me to-day--then +I should have gone to you. I love you so."</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Late in the afternoon Frau von Gropphusen rang for the maid; but the girl had +been allowed to go out, and had not yet returned. The groom from the stable came +hastening to answer the second ring. He stood still in the doorway, astonished. +His mistress had let down her hair and was standing in the sunshine as though +wrapped in a golden mantle.</p> +<p class="normal">"Is Betty not here yet?" she asked.</p> +<p class="normal">"No, madam."</p> +<p class="normal">"Well, it does not matter. Saddle Lady Godiva for me."</p> +<p class="normal">"Very good, madam. But excuse me, madam; you will remember that Lady Godiva +has not been ridden for three days; she will be very fresh."</p> +<p class="normal">Frau von Gropphusen smiled: "Do not be afraid. I shall be able to manage +her."</p> +<p class="normal">"Shall I go with you, madam?"</p> +<p class="normal">"No, I am going alone."</p> +<p class="normal">Languidly she put up her hair before the mirror. Her pale cheeks were faintly +coloured, and her lips shone moist and red. She slipped on her riding habit and +settled her hat firmly. When the hoofs of the mare clattered on the pavement +outside she was quite ready.</p> +<p class="normal">The maid met her at the garden gate, and was profuse in her apologies.</p> +<p class="normal">Frau von Gropphusen replied lightly: "All right, all right."</p> +<p class="normal">Lady Godiva was fidgeting about impatiently. She whinnied joyfully as her +mistress's hand stroked her delicate nostrils.</p> +<p class="normal">The groom helped Frau von Gropphusen to mount, and inquired if he should +tighten the curb a little.</p> +<p class="normal">His mistress nodded.</p> +<p class="normal">The mare resented not being given her head at once; but finally trotted off +with a coquettish gait that showed her fine breeding and her graceful +proportions. And the beautiful woman on her back was like a bride going forth to +meet her beloved.</p> +<p class="normal">Hannah Gropphusen chose the road that led to the big exercise-ground of the +regiment. Lady Godiva neighed with pleasure as she cantered along the well-known +path; the gentle ascent which she had to traverse in no way exhausted her +long-restrained impatience.</p> +<p class="normal">The great level quadrangle of the exercise-ground lay at a high elevation; in +the valley below the air had felt hot and stifling, but up here a soft breeze +was blowing, and with gentle caressing touch it brushed back the golden tendrils +of hair from the rider's white forehead.</p> +<p class="normal">Upon the scantily growing grass of the plain Hannah Gropphusen gave the mare +her head, and the animal bore her at a light even gallop to the far end of the +ground. From thence ran a narrow cart-track, by which their sluggish teams drew +the loaded harvest-waggons down to the high road. The track led straight on to +the edge of the plain, the chalky surface being there broken up by deep +quarries. Here a strong rough paling had been erected as a barrier, in case any +stubborn horse should prove unmanageable. This was no impediment to an unerring +fencer like Lady Godiva. She went over it easily at full stretch.</p> +<p class="normal">After her landing Hannah Gropphusen gave the mare a touch of the whip. The +animal laid her ears back and increased the pace. At a little distance a second +obstacle showed itself, a whitethorn hedge that looked like a hurdle.</p> +<p class="normal">Lady Godiva scarcely seemed to touch the ground with her hoofs. Her mane and +tail gleamed golden as they streamed on the mild evening breeze. A pair of +quails started up from amid the ripe corn.</p> +<p class="normal">The mare rose on her hind legs for the jump, then made a sudden violent +movement as though to avoid it. Behind the whitethorn yawned an abyss.</p> +<p class="normal">But the impetus of her motion carried her on, and a firm grip kept her head +forwards.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Early next morning when the stone-breakers came to their work they found at the +bottom of the precipice a dead woman and a dead horse.</p> +<p class="normal">There were no external injuries either to the animal or her rider. The force +of the fall must have killed them both. The terrified eyes of the mare were +staring into vacancy, but those of the woman--indeed she was but a girl--were +closed, and her small delicate hands still gripped the bridle firmly.</p> +<p class="normal">The foreman sent a boy to inform the village-elder; the other workmen stood +in a silent circle round the unfortunate pair.</p> +<p class="normal">"Mates," said the foreman at last, "it's quite clear there is nothing to be +done. We'd better be getting back to work."</p> +<p class="normal">A lean, bearded man protested: "We might as well say a prayer first for the +poor creature." For the stone-breakers are a pious people; they stand always +with one foot in the grave. A loosened mass of chalk, a collapsing wall, a mine +exploding prematurely, may threaten their lives; and the chalk-dust chokes their +lungs so that they die early.</p> +<p class="normal">The bearded man took off his hat and began to pray. All the others bared +their heads.</p> +<p class="normal">After the "deliver us from evil" he inserted another petition: "And grant to +this poor lady, who has met with such a terrible and sudden death, Thy eternal +rest, we beseech Thee, O Lord! For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the +glory, for ever and ever. Amen."</p> +<p class="normal">One only had gone back to his work, an aged man who, with trembling knees, +was pushing a loaded wheelbarrow before him. He was himself too near death for +the sight of a corpse to strike him as anything out of the common.</p> +<p class="normal">When he saw the others praying he set down his burden. His toothless mouth +stammered out his words with difficulty.</p> +<p class="normal">"What are you praying for?" he said. "That the Lord will grant her eternal +rest? Look at her, then! Isn't eternal rest written on her face?"</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Reimers reached the practice-camp again when his brother-officers were at mess.</p> +<p class="normal">It was only on alighting from the carriage that he remembered Frommelt's +commission. He was staggered a little at this neglect; but after all what did +such trifles matter? He smiled to himself that he should trouble about it now.</p> +<p class="normal">In his own room he threw himself upon the hard camp-bed. The bare place felt +stifling, although the window was wide open. The white-washed walls seemed +narrowing about him, and he felt as if he would be suffocated.</p> +<p class="normal">He shut his eyes wearily. Then the troubled vision disappeared, and he had a +feeling of freedom and deliverance, a grateful sensation of release from the +limitations of matter, as though borne aloft into the unconfined regions of +cosmic space.</p> +<p class="normal">The mounted sentry patrolling the forest passed by the window. The man had +settled himself comfortably on horse-back, and his hanging bugle and +accoutrements jingled. As he came near the creaking of the saddle could be +heard. By degrees the sounds subsided, though the metallic tinkling was +perceptible for a long time.</p> +<p class="normal">Perhaps, however, that gentle sound was but the prelude to some illusion of +the senses.</p> +<p class="normal">Then voices sounded from the mess-room: the high crowing tones of Wegstetten +and the mellow bass of Major Lischke, The little captain was grumbling about the +food.</p> +<p class="normal">"No, no, major," he piped. "The mess-steward sets disgusting stuff before us, +and that's the truth. Now, to-day beef and potato-soup? Pah! It was lean old +cow, as tough as shoe-leather! And soup? hot water and Liebig!"</p> +<p class="normal">"But, my dear Wegstetten," Lischke tried to appease him, "think of the +difficulties of transport! A two-hours' drive, and we're not to run up the +expenses!"</p> +<p class="normal">Wegstetten's reply was lost in the passage.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers rose quickly from the bed. He was afraid that Frommelt might seek him +out, and that he would have to invent some kind of excuse.</p> +<p class="normal">He took his little revolver out of the drawer and examined the chamber; it +was loaded with five cartridges. He had often thought of unloading the weapon, +but had then said to himself: "Why? Who knows if it might not be wanted?"</p> +<p class="normal">He hastened down the steps of the officers' quarters and ran quickly along +the camp-road to the gate. The sentry stared after him in surprise; he had not +expected to have to present arms at such an hour. Then he stepped into his place +beside the sentry-box, and performed the neglected salute; for so the +regulations prescribed.</p> +<p class="normal">At a little distance from the camp Reimers moderated his pace; at last he +walked quite slowly. His footsteps were hesitating, as if groping in the dark. +He could not hear his tread upon the ground, and his eyes gazed into space like +those of a sleep-walker. Everything seemed to him far remote: the sandy path +beneath his feet, the dark forest, and the blossoming heather beside the way. +And he felt strangely light, as if he were floating or flying.</p> +<p class="normal">Night was beginning to sink over the ruins of the deserted village. Reimers +found his way among the dilapidated dwellings and into the courtyard of the big +house where he had lingered the previous day.</p> +<p class="normal">The white roses of the creeper on the wall still glimmered faintly through +the gloom. He bent aside a straggling piece of a box-tree and sat down on the +broken masonry of the smoke-blackened wall. Somewhere in the corner of the ruins +a screech-owl shrieked. The cry sounded quite close.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers smiled. There is an old wives' superstition that where a screech-owl +cries there will soon be a corpse. This time the old women would be right.</p> +<p class="normal">He rested his head in his hands and reflected.</p> +<p class="normal">Before him passed with bewildering rapidity many recollections and +impressions from his life's history: vague boyish impulses; enthusiasms of +youth; exalted strivings and ambitions of manhood; the disenchantments and +doubts of these latter days. It was as though he had been already lifted into a +clearer light, above all the errors of earthly experience.</p> +<p class="normal">The restless ineffectual arguing to and fro with which he had tormented +himself the day before was absent from this calmer mood. What was the use of +struggling against inexorable necessity? Certainly war was one of the most +terrible evils to which the world had ever been subjected, and he who should +deliver mankind from this curse would be a new Saviour. But when would the +Messiah come? Till then one must have patience.</p> +<p class="normal">The nations groaned under the weight of their armaments; but none would set +the example of throwing off the oppressive burden. And the German people, who +seemed to furnish an object-lesson in the world's history, whose destiny had +been fuller than any other of changes and contradictions--the German people, at +once so large-minded and so petty, so admirable and so despicable, so strong and +so weak; who had done so much for the advancement of culture, and yet were so +unconscious of their great work; hated by the rest of the world, yet divided +amongst themselves--the German people had least call of all to make a beginning. +They must, like every other nation, look to a strong army as their safeguard.</p> +<p class="normal">But then came the crushing thought: that army was no longer the same that had +in one famous struggle forced the whole world to unwilling admiration.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers took a mournful farewell of the beloved heroes of that mighty epoch. +Every name connected with it thrilled his memory: Saarbrücken, a skirmish still +scarcely imbued with the gravity of war, and assuming rather the character of +playful bantering provocation; Weissenburgh and Wörth, where Bavarians and North +Germans met as comrades in arms; Spicheren, where a slight encounter with the +rear-guard grew into a serious conflict; Metz, which cost the enemy one of his +two armies in the field, and was the cause of weeping to countless German +mothers; Beaumont, the prelude to the huge tragedy of Sedan; and lastly, Paris, +and the grim tussle of the seasoned fighters with the young enthusiasm of the +republican army of relief at Orleans, Beaune la Rolande, Le Mans, St. Quentin, +and on the Lisaine. He saw the army returning from the campaign crowned with +victory; and then began that steady persevering activity which, not content to +rest on its laurels, proceeded with the work of strengthening and protecting +what had been won.</p> +<p class="normal">Then he thought of the present, and, still more gravely, of the future.</p> +<p class="normal">A good part of that modest, quiet devotion to duty was still alive in the +army; but was not the new-fangled, shallow, noisy bustle of show and glitter +every day displacing the good old feeling that recognised its power without any +big words? A proud self-denying asceticism had given way to trivialities and +superficialities. And that in a time when such follies were more than ever +dangerous!</p> +<p class="normal">And in proportion as the army pursued this course did disintegration go +forward within its ranks. The ever-increasing spread of socialistic opinions +among the men, and the growing disaffection for military service, perfected the +work which was already loosening the structure from without. This army, lacking +in martial ardour, and educated more for parade than for war, was rushing with +blinded eyes towards its doom. The flames of annihilation already shone ahead; +the heirs of Sedan's conquerors marched straight onward, firm and erect in grand +ceremonial array--and the sign-posts by the way pointed to Jena.</p> +<p class="normal">Reimers groaned in bitter distress of mind.</p> +<p class="normal">Was there no salvation?</p> +<p class="normal">He looked around him and gazed into the blackness of night. All about him was +gloom. A light breeze was blowing; it bore on its wings the scent of the +blossoming heather and the resinous odour of pine-trees. And from the beds of +the wasted garden arose another smell that mingled with the per fume of the +breeze: the invigorating smell of the soil, of the mother-earth. It infused +courage into the despairing heart of the lonely man, and elevated his drooping +spirit.</p> +<p class="normal">The soil of their native land was the inexhaustible source from which the +strength of the German people constantly renewed itself. Thanks to their love +for the soil they could never utterly perish.</p> +<p class="normal">To this was owing the continual unconscious longing that drove the workmen +out of the great cities on holidays, so that the green of woods and meadows was +dotted with colour by the gay summer attire of women and children; a longing +that made the lower classes crave to possess a few roods of land, if only to +stand on their own soil and cultivate fruit whose flavour would be sweeter to +them than any food that money could buy: the mighty living love for the soil of +their native land.</p> +<p class="normal">And suddenly Reimers had a waking vision. He looked down upon the earth from +some point of vantage. Germany lay beneath him as though viewed from the car of +a balloon, with the familiar outlines pictured in the maps; yet he seemed to +distinguish every roof in the cities and every tree in the woods. All parts of +the country bore harvest; moors, marshes, heath-lands, had been converted into +orchards, fruitful fields, or stately forests. But the extended boundaries of +the large estates had vanished.</p> +<p class="normal">From the Baltic to the Vosges, from the marches of Schleswig to the Bavarian +highlands, one peasant-farm neighboured another. The towns had grown no larger, +for a new and happy race of men cultivated the soil: a lusty race, who flooded +the cities with fresh vigour; a free race, loving its fatherland with a +jubilant, willing, conscious love. And the sun shone down joyfully on this land +of peace and plenty.</p> +<p class="normal">The pleasant picture vanished, and once more his eyes stared into the gloom.</p> +<p class="normal">From the distant camp came borne on the night wind the sound of the tattoo. +He listened vaguely. Distance muffled the clear trumpet-call, and the final +majestic roll of the drum was alike lost in the deep melancholy of the darkness. +The tattoo. All must now go to rest. He thought of the beautiful pale woman whom +he loved, who had given him one last moment of ecstatic joy in life before death +claimed him.</p> +<p class="normal">Had she too gone to her rest?</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">The little weapon gave a faint report.</p> +<p class="normal">The screech-owl fluttered out of its cranny in the wall. With an apprehensive +beat of its wings it sailed off over the deserted village and sent forth its +piteous cry.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2> +<br> +<div style="margin-left:60%"> +<p class="continue">"Love of the fatherland,<br> +Love of the freeborn man,--"</p> +<p class="right">(<i>German National Anthem.</i>)</p> +</div> +<p class="continue">Franz Vogt had calculated that his release from prison would take place at the +beginning of February. He had hoped for a clear sunshiny day, a blue winter sky, +a hard frost, and crackling snow beneath his feet.</p> +<p class="normal">Everything turned out according to his wish; yet when the heavy prison-gates +opened, Vogt never noticed the beauty of the winter day. He thought of Wolf, +whom they had shot down in his attempt to escape. He himself had helped to lift +the dead man, whose skull had been shattered by the shot.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt was escorted back to the garrison by a sergeant. He would have had about +two months more to serve, as the five months of his imprisonment were not +counted; but on account of his father's death he had in any case to be given his +discharge, in order that his little property might not suffer by neglect.</p> +<p class="normal">He had to wait a few days till all the formalities were gone through. Gunner +Vogt did everything he was told punctually and obediently, though hardly with +that cheerful frank readiness which had of old proved him such a good soldier. +During his punishment the fresh open-hearted lad had become a gloomy, +self-contained man.</p> +<p class="normal">One evening Käppchen, the clerk, who among all the changes in the battery +seemed to be the only person who remained in his place, announced to him: "Vogt, +your papers are made out. To-morrow you can go."</p> +<p class="normal">And Vogt answered him respectfully: "Very good, sir."</p> +<p class="normal">He was alone in Room IX. on the morning of his release, putting on his +civilian clothes. The battery had gone down to the big exercise-ground for +general foot-drill. He took his time over his dressing. What need was there to +hurry? Nobody was waiting for him outside; and nobody would miss him here. He +was quite alone in the wide world.</p> +<p class="normal">At the door he gave a last look round the bare barrack-room. Once these grey +walls had seemed almost home-like to him; once, when the faithful Klitzing had +the locker next his own. But that was long ago.</p> +<p class="normal">He went down the steps and out towards the back-gate, In the drill-ground the +battery, just returned from exercise, was drawn up.</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt pulled off his hat and the captain slightly touched his cap. The +greeting looked almost embarrassed.</p> +<p class="normal">This was a topsy-turvy world. Wegstetten's eyes chanced to rest on Gustav +Weise, who was in his place in the right wing as corporal in charge of the first +column. It would be unjust to complain of him; Weise did his work very well. But +the captain would have preferred to see a Corporal Vogt in his stead.</p> +<p class="normal">In front of Weise stood Senior-lieutenant Brettschneider as leader of the +first column. With his stiffened neck and proudly erect carriage he gave the +impression of wishing to point out what an immense gulf separated him from the +men. Between this officer and his subordinates there was no kind of sympathy.</p> +<p class="normal">And at that sight the commander of the battery looked still more glum. +Brettschneider might have been quite brilliant at the Staff College in tactics +and military history, but he was of no real use as an officer; still less could +he instil into the men either military efficiency or convinced patriotism.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">When Vogt arrived at the station the train he had meant to take had already +gone.</p> +<p class="normal">Well, that couldn't be helped. He must wait for the next.</p> +<p class="normal">The dull February day was drawing towards its close when he stepped out upon +the road that led to his native village. Joylessly he saw the familiar details +of the neighbourhood appearing out of the fog, and he gave a casual, +uninterested glance over the fields that bordered the highway.</p> +<p class="normal">Before the turnpike-keeper's cottage he stood still a moment. The dusty +windows looked strange and dead; and the closed door over the well-worn +threshold seemed to warn him off.</p> +<p class="normal">The little side-gate into the yard was not locked. Franz Vogt entered by it +upon his paternal inheritance.</p> +<p class="normal">Just then old Wackwitz came hobbling with his wooden leg across the yard, +carrying a pot of steamed potatoes.</p> +<p class="normal">"Nobody has any business here!" he cried out to the intruder.</p> +<p class="normal">Then he recognised "young Herr Vogt." He took him at once across the yard, +and pointed out to him, in his clumsy, babbling way, the fine glossy appearance +of the cows and the appetising sleekness of the pigs. Who could be found to take +more trouble with the beasts than he? And he had been very economical with the +food, although the local authorities had not given him too liberal an allowance!</p> +<p class="normal">Vogt listened perfunctorily. He nodded assent to all the garrulous old man +said. It was quite true, the beasts looked well cared-for.</p> +<p class="normal">He patted the strawberry cow, who was in calf; and she turned her head +towards him as she lay in her stall comfortably chewing the cud. Yet he could +not feel easy. With his foot he pushed aside some straw that was littering about +the place, and he carefully avoided the dung that lay on the stones of the yard.</p> +<p class="normal">He went down to the village and got the keys. A stuffy, chilly atmosphere met +him in the passage and exhaled from every room. Thick dust lay everywhere on +floors and furniture.</p> +<p class="normal">Nothing had been moved from its place, and every picture hung as usual on the +wall. But it seemed to Vogt as if the rooms were empty and the walls bare. He +shuddered with cold and with the sense of loneliness.</p> +<p class="normal">In the living-room his father's plain easy-chair was pushed up to the table, +and beside it the stool on which the son had usually sat. It looked as if they +had both only been out into the field for a moment and would return immediately; +but yet he could not feel at home.</p> +<p class="normal">Franz Vogt looked about him sadly. All else was as of old; but his father lay +in the churchyard beneath the heaped-up clay of his newly-made grave, and the +son stood like a stranger in his father's house.</p> +<p class="normal">The lowing of the cows aroused him from his dismal brooding. He had sent away +old Wackwitz after rewarding him liberally: for he meant to do as his father had +done, and manage all the work himself.</p> +<p class="normal">He gave the beasts their food, which had already been prepared for them. +There was not a scrap of bread nor of butter in the house for himself. He made +his way down to the village in the dark, and was glad to find that the baker's +shop was not yet shut, and that a neighbour could provide him with some butter.</p> +<p class="normal">And when, dead tired after the varying experiences of the day, he went +upstairs, there were no sheets on his bed. He could not take the trouble to +rummage in the linen-chest, and crept heavy-heartedly between the rough woollen +blankets.</p> +<p class="normal">Early next morning he was aroused by the uneasy mooing of the cows. He sprang +from bed and scarcely gave himself time to wash. He had to bestir himself, and +the fagging and worry lasted without intermittence from morning until night. He +had hardly time to go down to the village inn in the middle of the day and get a +hot meal.</p> +<p class="normal">He would not allow himself to fall short in any way, and was unremitting in +his exertions.</p> +<p class="normal">But was this the condition on which, while a soldier, he had looked back with +such longing? This haste and breathless labour, this hurrying from one thing to +another without pause or rest?</p> +<p class="normal">He smiled bitterly to himself, and looked about him with dull, joyless eyes. +He was tired with his day's work, and his back ached with fatigue; where was +that joy of labour, which had formerly sustained him, and had lightened the +burden on his shoulders?</p> +<p class="normal">Seed-time was coming on; when the young leaves of the lime-tree began to show +as tender brown buds on the twigs, then the corn must be sown for the summer's +harvest. But before that the fields, which had lain fallow through the winter, +must be ploughed and harrowed.</p> +<p class="normal">Franz Vogt yoked the two dun cows, the strawberry remaining in her stall. +Wintry weather persisted obstinately this year. As he followed the plough the +hail lashed in his face, and the icy wind penetrated to the skin through his +jacket and warm knitted vest. He turned his back to the storm in order to get +breath, and hid his face behind a sheltering arm. More than once he broke off +work half-way, and took back his team to their warm stable.</p> +<p class="normal">He would then spare no trouble with the beasts, and the two cows would soon +be standing contentedly with their feet in the plentiful straw. But he himself +would crouch before the cold hearth, trying to blow up the smouldering turf into +a bright flame. He would throw his damp frieze coat over the back of a chair, +and wait shivering for the fire to burn up and warm him. Sometimes he would +dally with the thought that it might be best for him to sell up the whole +place--house, stock, and field, and go into the town. Was he not living the life +of a beast of burden? Worse, indeed! He had not had a single day of rest since +his release: not one, among all these days of labour on which he had toiled till +his bones ached. Wolf had told him how easily any poor devil could get on in +town if he only had a fairly level head, how free and independent one could be +there; how much more, then, a man with a few thousand thalers in his pocket!</p> +<p class="normal">It so happened that at this moment the lord of the manor made a rather +advantageous offer for the land. He wanted it to "round off" his estate.</p> +<p class="normal">Would it not be his most prudent course to seize this opportunity? Certainly +the very least he could do was to turn the matter over carefully.</p> +<p class="normal">Perhaps the lord of the manor would offer more if one seemed unwilling to +sell.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">At last the bad weather came to an end, and it seemed possible to begin to +think about the sowing.</p> +<p class="normal">A suggestion of a warmer spell to come mellowed the freshness of the morning +air when Vogt came out of the yard with his team, The eastern horizon was gaily +tinted. The rising sun shone clear and bright, sending forth prophetic rays that +foretold fair weather.</p> +<p class="normal">The young peasant glanced into the cow-house, where the strawberry seemed +scarcely able to sustain her heavy burden, though she was not due to calve for +another fortnight. For the first time Vogt began to feel some return of joy and +content. This strawberry cow was a magnificent animal. She brought gigantic +calves into the world; lively little creatures too, that made the funniest leaps +and bounds, and were always beautifully marked. One could not but feel sorry +when the butcher fetched them away.</p> +<p class="normal">The two dun cows lowed with pleasure when they came briskly out into the +yard, as though they already scented summer, with its mild air and green grass. +He yoked them to the small wooden cart. Then he brought the sack of seed-corn +from the barn. He had laid it in some time before, and the sack had not been +disturbed. But he opened it to convince himself that all was right. He took up a +large handful, and let the grains of wheat run through his fingers. The seed lay +plump and heavy in the palm of his hand.</p> +<p class="normal">Then a current of joy made his heart beat higher. He saw the crop growing +green, then ripening; the stalks crowded thickly together, and as the summer +breeze passed over the field the heavy ears bowed and swayed like ripples upon +the sea.</p> +<p class="normal">With a happy glance he looked about him; house and yard were in good order, +the harrow lay waiting in the field, all was ready. And he drove his team +merrily onwards.</p> +<p class="normal">The dun cows stopped of themselves when they reached their destination.</p> +<p class="normal">Franz Vogt smiled. Yes, this must be a thorn in the flesh for the lord of the +manor! The corn-patch was small; but it stretched out amid the turnip-fields +like a long arm that could hold its own, and that would not brook encroachment. +Rich fruitful soil it was, that scarcely needed the manure he gave it.</p> +<p class="normal">Pride awoke in the heart of the young peasant-farmer. Oh no, it was not so +simple as the lord of the manor thought! It might be a good while yet before the +big estate was "rounded off."</p> +<p class="normal">Franz Vogt opened the mouth of the sack and shook out a portion of the +seed-corn. The two cows stood chewing the cud by the wayside. He turned to the +field.</p> +<p class="normal">The sun shone gaily as it mounted upwards. The black earth lay ready and +receptive; above the furrows hovered a light mist, and an invigorating aroma +ascended from the soil, like incense offered by the maternal earth to the +engendering sun to celebrate the new year of fruitfulness that was just +beginning.</p> +<p class="normal">The untiring force of nature was in this fragrance, shedding courage and +strength into the hearts of mankind with the full benediction of spring.</p> +<p class="normal">An overpowering sensation made the young peasant fall on his knees, and he +touched the earth with reverent caressing hands as though it were something +sacred.</p> +<p class="normal">He had found his home again.</p> +<p class="normal">A troop of hired labourers, strangers from Galicia, were approaching a field +in the neighbouring property of the manor. They followed each other wearily like +a band of slaves, unwilling and half asleep. Behind them came the inspector.</p> +<p class="normal">"Avanti, avanti!" he cried, supposing, apparently, that this was Polish.</p> +<p class="normal">And the strangers set to work. Their heads were bowed wearily, and their +movements resembled the automatism of a machine.</p> +<p class="normal">But Franz Vogt stepped out into the broad sunshine with head erect, and +strewed the seed into the furrows of his land with a free sweep of his +outstretched arm.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p class="normal"> Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co. London & Edinburgh.</p> +<p class="normal"> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of 'Jena' or 'Sedan'?, by Franz Beyerlein + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 'JENA' OR 'SEDAN'? *** + +***** This file should be named 31099-h.htm or 31099-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/0/9/31099/ + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from scans obtained from The +Internet Archive. + + +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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