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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Serapion Brethren., by 
+Ernst Theordor Wilhelm Hoffmann
+
+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: The Serapion Brethren.
+       Vol. II
+
+Author: Ernst Theordor Wilhelm Hoffmann
+
+Translator: Alex. Ewing
+
+Release Date: March 16, 2010 [EBook #31668]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SERAPION BRETHREN. ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Bowen, from scans provided by Google Books
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's notes:
+
+Source of scans: Google Books:
+"http://books.google.com/books?pg=PA2&dq=editions:UCALB4287293&id=ZYQFAQ
+AAIAAJ&as_brr=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false"
+
+Diacritical marks:
+ 1.found in the word D[=a]-l[ve]s
+   [=a] = a macron; [=A] = A macron.
+   [ve] = e caron; [vE] = E caron.
+
+ 2. [oe] = diphthong oe.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                         THE SERAPION BRETHREN.
+
+                              VOLUME II.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                         THE SERAPION BRETHREN.
+
+                                   BY
+                     ERNST THEODOR WILHELM HOFFMANN
+
+
+                       Translated from the German
+                                   BY
+                       LIEUT.-COLONEL ALEX. EWING,
+                                 A.P.D.,
+    TRANSLATOR OF J. P. RICHTER'S "FLOWER, FRUIT, AND THORN PIECES,"
+                                  ETC.
+
+                               VOLUME II.
+
+
+
+
+                                LONDON:
+            GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN,
+                             AND NEW YORK.
+                                  1892.
+
+
+
+
+
+                                 LONDON:
+              PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
+                   STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.
+
+
+
+
+                                CONTENTS.
+
+                               SECTION V.
+                                                              PAGE
+THE LIFE OF A WELL-KNOWN CHARACTER
+ALBERTINE'S WOOERS
+THE UNCANNY GUEST
+
+                              SECTION VI.
+MADEMOISELLE SCUDERI
+GAMBLERS' FORTUNE
+
+                              SECTION VII.
+SIGNOR FORMICA
+PHENOMENA
+
+                              SECTION VIII.
+
+THE MUTUAL INTERDEPENDENCE OF THINGS
+THE KING'S BETHROTHED
+
+
+
+
+                         THE SERAPION BRETHREN.
+
+
+
+
+                               SECTION V.
+
+The ever-fluctuating vicissitudes of human life had once more scattered
+our little group of friends asunder. Sylvester had gone back to his
+country home; Ottmar had travelled away on business, and so had
+Cyprian; Vincent was still in the town, but (after his accustomed
+fashion) he had disappeared in the turmoil, and was nowhere to be seen;
+Lothair was nursing Theodore, who had been laid on a bed of sickness by
+a malady long struggled against, which was destined to keep him there
+for a considerable time.
+
+Indeed, several months had gone by, when Ottmar (whose sudden and
+unlooked-for departure had been the chief cause of the breaking up of
+the "Club") came back, to find, in place of the full-fledged "Serapion
+Brotherhood," one friend, barely convalescent, and bearing the traces
+of a severe illness in his pale face, abandoned by the Brethren, with
+the exception of one, who was tasking him severely by constant
+outbreaks of a grim and capricious "humour."
+
+For Lothair was once more finding himself in one of those strange and
+peculiar moods of mind in which all life seemed to him to have become
+weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, by reason of the everlasting
+mockery ("chaff" might be the modern expression of this idea) of the
+inimical daemonic power which, like a pedantic tutor, ignores and
+contemns the _nature_ of men; giving man (as a tutor of the sort would
+do) bitter drugs and nauseous medicines, instead of sweet and delicious
+macaroons, to the end that his said pupil, man, may take a distaste at
+his own nature, enjoy it no more, and thus keep his digestion in good
+order.
+
+"What an unfortunate idea it was," Lothair cried out, in the gloomiest
+ill-humour, when Ottmar came in and found him sitting with
+Theodore--"what an unfortunate idea it was of ours to insist on binding
+ourselves together again so closely, jumping over all the clefts which
+time had split between us! It is Cyprian whom we have to thank for
+laying the foundation-stone of Saint Serapion, on which we built an
+edifice which seemed destined to last a lifetime, and tumbled down into
+ruin in a few moons. One ought not to hang one's heart on to anything,
+or give one's mind over to the impressions of excitements from without;
+and I was a fool to do so, for I must confess to you that the way in
+which we came together on those Serapion evenings took such a hold on
+my whole being that, when the brethren so suddenly dispersed themselves
+over the world, my life felt to me as weary, stale, flat and
+unprofitable as the melancholy Prince Hamlet's did to him."
+
+"Forasmuch as no spirit has arisen from the grave, revisiting the
+glimpses of the moon, to incite you to revenge," said Ottmar, with a
+laugh, "and as you are not called upon to send your sweetheart
+to a nunnery, or to thrust a poisoned rapier into the heart of a
+murderer-king, I think you ought not to give way to Prince Hamlet's
+melancholy, and should consider that it would be the grossest
+selfishness to renounce every league of alliance into which
+congenially-minded people enter because the storms of life possess the
+power of interfering with it. Human beings ought not to draw in their
+antennas at every ungentle touch, like supersensitive insects. Is the
+remembrance of hours passed in gladsome kindly intercourse nothing to
+you? All through my journeyings I have thought of you continually. On
+the evenings of the meetings of the Serapion Club (which, of course, I
+supposed to be still in full swing) I always took my place amongst you,
+in spirit; assimilated all the delightful and entertaining things going
+on amongst you (entertaining you, at the same time, with whatever the
+spirit moved me to contribute to you). But it is absurd to continue in
+this vein. Is there, in Lothair's mind, really the slightest trace of
+that which his momentary 'out-of-tuneness' has made him say? Does he
+not himself admit that the cause of his being out of tune is merely the
+fact of our having been dispersed?"
+
+"Theodore's illness," said Lothair, "which nearly sent him to his
+grave, was not a matter, either, calculated to put me into a happy
+state of mind."
+
+"No," said Ottmar, "but Theodore is well again; and as to the Serapion
+Club, I cannot see why it should not be considered to be in full
+working order, now that three of the Brethren are met together."
+
+"Ottmar is perfectly right," said Theodore; "it is a matter of
+indisputable necessity that we should have a meeting, in true
+Serapiontic fashion, as early as possible. The germ which we form will
+sprout into a tree full of fresh life and vigour, bearing flowers and
+fruit--I mean that that bird of passage, Cyprian, will come back:
+Sylvester will soon be unhappy, there where he is, away; and when the
+nightingales cease singing, he will long for music of another kind; and
+Vincent will emerge from the billows again, no doubt, and chirp his
+little song."
+
+"Have it your own way," said Lothair, rather more gently than before;
+"only don't expect _me_ to have anything to do with it. However, I
+promise that I will be present when you assemble Serapiontically; and,
+as Theodore ought to be in the open air as much as possible, I suggest
+that we hold our meeting out of doors."
+
+So they fixed upon the last day of May--which was only a few days
+off--for the time; and on a pretty public-garden in the neighbourhood,
+not too much frequented, for the place, of their next Serapiontic
+meeting.
+
+
+A thunderstorm, passing quickly over, and merely sprinkling the trees
+and bushes with a few drops of Heaven's balsam, had relieved the sultry
+oppressiveness of the day. The beautiful garden was lying all still, in
+the most exquisite brightness. The delicious perfume of leaves and
+flowers streamed through it, while the birds, twittering and trilling
+in happiness, went rustling amongst the branches, and bathed themselves
+in the bedewed leafage.
+
+"How refreshed I feel, through and through!" Theodore cried, when the
+friends had sate themselves down in the shade of some thickly-foliaged
+lime-trees; "every trace of illness, down to the most infinitesimal,
+has left me. I feel as if a redoubled life had dawned on me, in my
+active consciousness of reciprocity of action between me and the
+external. A man must have been as ill as I have been to be capable of
+this sensation, which, strengthening mind and body, must surely be (as
+I feel it to be) the true life-elixir which the Eternal Power, the
+ruling World-spirit, administers to us, directly and without
+intermediation. The vivifying breath of Nature is breathing out of my
+own breast. I seem to be floating in that glorious blue Heaven which is
+vaulted over us, with every burden lifted away from me!"
+
+"This," said Ottmar, "shows that you are quite well again, beloved
+friend; and all glory to the Eternal Power which fitted you out with an
+organisation strong enough to survive an illness like that which you
+have gone through. It is a marvel that you recovered at all, and still
+a greater that you recovered so quickly."
+
+"For my part," said Lothair, "I am not surprised that he got well so
+soon, because I never had a moment's doubt that he would. You may
+believe me, Ottmar, when I tell you that, wretched as the state in
+which his physical condition appeared to be, he was never really ill,
+mentally; and so long as the spirit keeps sound--well! it was really
+enough to vex one to death that Theodore, ill as he was, was always in
+better spirits than I was, although I was a perfectly well and sound
+man; and that, so soon as his bodily sufferings gave him an interval of
+rest, he delighted in the wildest fun and jests. At the same time, he
+has the rare power of remembering his feverish illusions. The doctor
+had forbidden him to talk; but when _I_ wished to tell him this, that
+and the other in quiet moments, he would motion me to be silent and not
+disturb his thoughts, which were busy over some important composition,
+or other matter of the kind."
+
+"Yes," said Theodore, laughing, "I can assure you that Lothair's
+communications were of a very peculiar kidney at that time. Directly
+after the dispersion of the Serapion Brethren he became possessed by a
+foul fiend of evil humours. This you probably have gathered; but you
+cannot, by any possibility, divine the extraordinary ideas which he got
+into his head at this period of gloom and dejection. One day he came
+to my bedside (for I had taken to my bed by that time) stating
+that the old Chronicle Books were the grandest and richest mines and
+treasure-houses of tales, legends, novels and dramas. Cyprian said the
+same long ago, and it is true. Next day I noticed, although my malady
+was besetting me sorely, that Lothair was sitting immersed in an old
+folio. Moreover, he went every day to the public library and got
+together all the old Chronicles he could lay his hands upon. _That_ was
+all very well; but, besides, he got his head filled with the strange
+old legends which are contained in those venerable books; and when, in
+my hours of comparative quiet, he bestirred himself to talk to me on
+'entertaining' subjects, what I heard of was war and pestilence,
+monstrous abortions, hurricanes, comets, fires and floods, witches,
+auto-da-fé's, enchantments, miracles, and, above all other subjects,
+his talk was of the manifold works and devices of the Devil--who, as we
+know, plays such an important part in all those old stories that one
+can hardly imagine what has become of him _now_, when he seems to keep
+so quietly in the background, unless he may perhaps have put on some
+new dress which renders him unrecognizable. Now tell me, Ottmar, don't
+you think such subjects of conversation well suited for a man in my
+then state of health?"
+
+"Don't condemn me unheard," cried Lothair. "It is true, and I will
+maintain it fearlessly, that, for writers of tales, there is an immense
+amount of splendid material in those ancient Chronicles. But you know
+that _I_ have never taken much interest in them, and least of all in
+their _diablerie_. However, the evening before Cyprian went away I had
+a great argument with him as to his having far too much to do with the
+Devil and his family; and I told him candidly that my present opinion
+of his tale, 'The Singers' Contest,' is that it is a thoroughly faulty
+and bungling piece of work, although when he read it to us I approved
+of it, for many specious reasons. Upon this he attacked me in the
+character of a real _advocatum diaboli_, and told me such a quantity of
+things, out of old Chronicles and from other sources, that my head
+fairly reeled. And then, when Theodore fell ill, I was seized upon and
+overmastered by real, bitter gloom and misery. Somehow, I scarce know
+how or why, Cyprian's 'Singers' Contest' came back to my mind again.
+Nay, the Devil himself appeared to me in person one night when I
+couldn't sleep; and although I was a good deal frightened by the evil
+fellow, still I could not help respecting him, and paying him my duty
+as an ever helpful aide-de-camp of tale-writers in lack of help; and,
+by way of spiting you all, I determined to set to work and surpass even
+Cyprian himself in the line of the fearsome and the terrible."
+
+"_You_, Lothair, undertake the fearful and terrible!" said Ottmar,
+laughing--"you, whose bright and fanciful genius would seem expressly
+adapted to wave the wand of comedy!"
+
+"Even so," said Lothair; "such was my idea. And as a first step towards
+carrying it out, I set to work to rummage in those old Chronicles which
+Cyprian had told me were the very treasure-houses of the diabolical;
+but I admit that it all turned out quite differently from what I had
+expected."
+
+"I can fully confirm that," said Theodore. "I can assure you it is
+astonishing, and most delicious, the way in which the Devil and the
+gruesomest witch-trials adapt themselves to the mental bent and style
+of the author of 'Nutcracker and the King of Mice.' Just let me tell
+you, dear Ottmar, how I chanced to lay my hands upon an experimental
+essay on this subject of our doughty Lothair's. He had just left me one
+day when I was getting to be strong enough to creep about the room a
+little, and I found, upon the table where he had been writing, the
+truly remarkable book entitled 'Haftitii Michrochronicon Berlinense,'
+open at the page where, _inter alia_, occurs what follows:--
+
+"'Ye Divell, in this year of Grace, appeared bodily in ye streets of
+Berlin, and attended funerals, conducting himself thereat
+sorrowfullie,' &c., &c., &c.
+
+"You will see, my dear Ottmar, that this entertaining piece of
+intelligence was of a nature to delight me immensely; but some pages in
+Lothair's handwriting delighted me still more. In those he had welded
+up the accounts of this curious conduct of the Devil with a horrible
+case of misbirth, and a gruesome trial for witchcraft, into an
+_ensemble_ of the most delightful and entertaining description. I have
+got those pages here; I brought them in my pocket to amuse you with
+them."
+
+He took them out of his pocket and handed them to Ottmar.
+
+"What!" cried Lothair, "the affair which I styled 'Some Account of the
+Life of a Well-known Character,' which I thought was torn up and
+destroyed long ago--the abortive product of a fit of capricious fancy;
+can it be that you have captured _that_ from me and kept it, to bring
+me into discredit with persons of taste and culture? Here with the
+wretched piece of scribbling, that I may tear it up and scatter it to
+the winds of heaven."
+
+"No, no," cried Theodore; "you must read it to Ottmar, as a penance for
+what you inflicted on me in my illness with your horrible weird
+Chronicle matter."
+
+"Well," said Lothair, "I suppose I can't refuse, though I shall cut a
+strange figure before this very grave and carefully-behaved gentleman.
+However, here goes." So Lothair took the papers, and read as follows:--
+
+
+                  THE LIFE OF A WELL-KNOWN CHARACTER.
+
+In the year one thousand five hundred and fifty-one there was to be
+seen in the streets of Berlin, particularly in the evening twilight, a
+gentleman of fine and distinguished appearance. He wore a rich and
+beautiful doublet, trimmed with sable, white galligaskins, and slashed
+shoes; on his head was a satin barret cap with a red feather. His
+manners were charming, and highly polished. He bowed politely to
+everybody, particularly to ladies, both married and single; and to
+_them_ he was wont to address civil and complimentary speeches. He
+would say: "Donna! if you have any wish or desire in the depths of your
+heart, pray command your most humble servant, who will devote his
+humble powers to the utmost to be entirely at your disposal and
+service." This was what he said to married ladies of position. To the
+unmarried he said: "Heaven grant you a nice husband, worthy of your
+loveliness and virtues." To the men he behaved just as charmingly, and
+it was no wonder that everybody was fond of this stranger, and came to
+his assistance when he would stand hesitating, in doubt and difficulty,
+at some crossing, apparently not knowing how to get over it; for though
+a well-grown and handsomely-proportioned person in most respects, he
+had one lame foot, and was obliged to go about with a crutch. But as
+soon as anybody gave him a hand to help him at a crossing, he would
+instantly jump up with him some six ells or so into the air, and not
+come to the ground again within a distance of some twelve paces on the
+other side of the crossing. This rather astonished people, it need not
+be said, and one or two sprained their legs slightly in the process.
+But the stranger excused himself by saying that, before his leg was
+lame, he had been principal dancer at the Court of the King of Hungary;
+so that, when he felt himself called upon to take a jump, the old habit
+came back upon him, and, willy-nilly, he could not help springing up
+into the air as he used to do in the exercise of his profession. The
+people were satisfied with this explanation, and even took much delight
+in seeing some privy councillor, clergyman, or other person of position
+and respectability, taking a great jump of this sort hand-in-hand with
+the stranger.
+
+But, merry and cheerful as he seemed to be, his behaviour changed at
+times in a most extraordinary manner; for he would often go about the
+streets at night and knock at people's doors; and when they opened to
+him, he would be standing there in white grave clothes, raising a
+terrible crying and howling, at which they were fearfully frightened;
+but he would apologize the following day, saying that he was compelled
+to do this to remind the citizens and himself of the perishableness of
+the body, and the imperishableness of the soul, to which their minds
+ought always to be carefully directed. He would weep a little as he
+said this, which touched the folks very much. He went to all the
+funerals, following the coffin with reverent step, and conducting
+himself like one overwhelmed with sorrow, so that he could not join in
+the hymns for sobbing and lamenting. But, overcome with grief as he was
+on those occasions, he was just as delighted and happy at marriages,
+which in those days were celebrated in a very splendid style at the
+town-hall. There he would sing all sorts of songs in a loud and
+delightful voice, and dance for hours on end with the bride and the
+young ladies (on his sound leg, adroitly drawing the lame one out of
+the way), behaving and evincing himself on those occasions as a man of
+the most delightful manners and bearing. But the best of it was that he
+always gave the marrying couples delightful presents, so that of course
+he was always a most welcome guest. He gave them gold chains,
+bracelets, and other valuable things; so that the goodness, the
+liberality, and the superior morality of this stranger became bruited
+abroad throughout the city of Berlin, and even reached the ears of the
+Elector himself. The Elector thought that a person of this sort would
+be a great ornament at his own Court, and caused him to be sounded as
+to his willingness to accept an appointment there. The stranger,
+however, wrote back an answer (in vermilion letters, on a piece of
+parchment a yard and a half in length, and the same in breadth) to the
+effect that he was most submissively grateful for the honour offered to
+him, but implored his Serene Highness to permit him to remain in the
+enjoyment of the citizenesque life which was so wholly conformed to all
+his sentiments, in peace; adding that he had selected Berlin, in
+preference to many other cities, as his residence, because he had
+nowhere else met with such charming people, persons of such
+truthfulness and uprightness, of so much "feeling," of such a sense for
+fine and delightful "manners" so exquisitely after his own heart in
+every respect. The Elector, and his whole Court along with him, much
+admired and wondered at the beautiful style in which this reply of the
+stranger was conceived, and the matter was allowed to rest there.
+
+It happened that just then the lady of Councillor Walter Lütkens was,
+for the first time, "as ladies wish to be who love their lords"; and
+the old _accoucheuse_, Mistress Barbara Roloffin, predicted that this
+fine, grand lady, overflowing with health and strength, would
+undoubtedly bring into the world a grand and vigorous son, so that Herr
+Walter Lütkens was all hope and gladness. Our "stranger," who had been
+a guest at Lütkens's wedding, was in the habit of calling at his house
+now and then; and it chanced that he made one of those calls of his on
+an evening when Barbara Roloffin was there.
+
+As soon as old Barbara set eyes on the stranger she gave a marvellous
+loud ejaculation of delight, and it appeared as though all the deep
+wrinkles of her face smoothed themselves out in an instant. Her pale
+lips and cheeks grew red, and the youth and beauty to which she had
+long said "good-bye" came back to her again. She cried out, "Ah, ah,
+Herr Junker! Is this you that I see here really and truly? Is this you,
+yourself? Oh, I welcome you! I am so delighted to see you!" and she was
+nearly falling down at his feet.
+
+But he answered this demonstration in words of anger, whilst his eyes
+flashed fire. Nobody could understand what it was that he said to her.
+But the old woman shrunk into a corner, as pale and wrinkled as she had
+been at first, and whimpering faintly and unintelligibly.
+
+"My dear Mr. Lütkens," the stranger said to the master of the house, "I
+hope you will take great care lest something annoying may happen in
+your house here. I really hope, with all my heart, that everything will
+go well on this auspicious occasion. But this old creature, Barbara
+Roloffin, is by no means so well up to her business as perhaps you
+suppose. She is an old acquaintance of mine, and I am sorry to say that
+she has on many occasions not paid proper attention to her patients."
+
+
+Both Lütkens and his wife had been very anxious, and had felt most eery
+and uncanny about this whole business, and full of suspicion as to old
+Barbara Roloffin, particularly when they remembered the extraordinary
+transfiguration which took place in her when she saw the stranger. They
+had very great suspicions that she was in the practice of black and
+unholy arts, so that they forbade her to cross the threshold of their
+house any more, and they made arrangements with another _accoucheuse_.
+
+On this, old Barbara was very angry, and said that Lütkens and his wife
+would pay very dearly for what they had done to her.
+
+Lütkens's hope and gladness were turned into bitter heart-sorrow and
+deep grief, when his wife brought into the world a horrible changeling
+in place of the beautiful boy predicted by Barbara Roloffin. It was a
+creature all chestnut brown, with two horns on its head, great fat
+eyes, no nose whatever, a big wide mouth with a white tongue sticking
+out of it upside down, and no neck. Its head was down between its
+shoulders; its body was wrinkled and swollen; its arms came out just
+above its hips, and it had long, thin shanks.
+
+Mr. Lütkens wept and lamented terribly. "Oh, just heavens!" he cried;
+"what in the name of goodness is going to be the outcome of this? Can
+this little one ever be expected to tread in his father's steps? Was
+there ever such a thing known as a Member of Council with a couple of
+horns on his head, and chestnut brown all over?"
+
+The stranger consoled Lütkens as much as ever he could. He pointed out
+to him that a good education does a great deal; that though, as
+concerned form and appearance, the new-born thing was really to be
+characterized as a most arrant schismatic, still he ventured to say
+that it looked about it very understandingly with its fat eyes, and
+that there was room for a deal of wisdom between the two horns on its
+forehead. Also that though it might, perhaps, never be fit to be a
+Member of Council, it was perfectly capable of becoming a distinguished
+_savant_, inasmuch as excessive ugliness is often a characteristic of
+_savants_, and even causes them to be highly respected and much looked
+up to.
+
+However, Lütkens could not but ascribe his misfortune in the depths of
+his heart to old Barbara Roloffin, particularly when he learned that
+she had been sitting at the door of the room during his wife's
+_accouchement_; and Frau Lütkens had declared, with many tears, that
+the old woman's face had been before her eyes all the time of it, and
+that she had not been able to get rid of the sight of her.
+
+Now Mr. Lütkens's suspicions were not, it is true, enough to base any
+legal proceedings upon in the matter; but Heaven so ordered things that
+in a very short time all the infamous deeds which old Barbara had
+committed were brought into the clear light of day.
+
+For it happened that shortly after those events there came on one day,
+about twelve at noon, a terrible storm, and a most violent wind, and
+the people in the streets saw Barbara Roloffin (who was on her way to
+attend a lady in need of her professional services) borne, rushing away
+on the wings of a blast, high up through the air, over the housetops
+and the church steeples, and set down, none the worse for the trip, in
+a meadow close to Berlin.
+
+After this, of course, there could be no more doubt about the "black
+art" of Barbara Roloffin. Lütkens lodged his plaint before the proper
+tribunal, and the woman was taken into custody. She denied everything
+obstinately, till she was put to the rack. Upon that, unable to endure
+the agony, she confessed that she had been in league with the Devil,
+and had practised magical arts for a very long time. She admitted that
+she had bewitched poor Frau Lütkens, and foisted off the vile abortion
+upon her; and that, over and above that, she had in company with two
+other witches belonging to Blumber killed and boiled several children
+of Christian parents, with the object of causing a famine in the land.
+
+Accordingly she was sentenced to be burnt alive in the market-place. So
+when the appointed day arrived old Barbara was conducted there in
+presence of a great concourse of people, and made to ascend the
+scaffold which was there erected. When ordered to take off a fur cloak
+which she was wearing, she would by no means obey, insisting that they
+should tie her to the stake just as she was. This was done. The pile of
+wood was already alight, and burning at all four corners, when suddenly
+the stranger appeared, seemingly grown to gigantic dimensions, and
+glaring over the heads of the populace at Barbara Roloffin with eyes of
+flame.
+
+The clouds of black smoke were rolling on high, the crackling flames
+were catching the woman's dress, she cried out, in a terrible screaming
+voice, "Satan! Satan! is this how thou holdest the pact thou hast made
+with me? Help, Satan! Help! my time is not out yet!" and the stranger,
+it was found, had suddenly vanished. But from the spot where he had
+been standing an enormous bat went fluttering up, darted into the thick
+of the flames, and thence rose screaming into the air with the old
+woman's fur cloak; and the burning pyre went crashing down into
+extinction.
+
+Horror seized upon all the spectators; every one now saw clearly that
+the distinguished stranger had been none other than the very Devil in
+person. He must have had some special grudge against the folks of
+Berlin, to whom he had so long behaved so smoothly and in such friendly
+fashion, and with hellish deceit betrayed Councillor Lütkens and many
+other sapient men and women.
+
+Such is the power of the Evil One; from whom and from all his snares
+may Heaven in its mercy defend us all.
+
+
+When Lothair had finished, he looked into Ottmar's face, in utter
+self-irony, with the peculiar expression of bitter sweetness which he
+had at his command on such occasions.
+
+"Well," said Theodore, "what think you of Lothair's pretty little
+specimen of _diablerie_? One of the best points about it, I think, is
+that there is not too much of it."
+
+Whilst Lothair had been reading, Ottmar had laughed a great deal, but
+towards the close he had become grave and silent. "I must admit," he
+said, "that in this little tale or 'prank'--for I don't know what else
+to call it--of Lothair's there predominates an attempt, often more or
+less successful, at a certain sort of amusing _naďveté_, very
+appropriate to the character of the German Devil. Also, that when he
+talks about the Devil's jumping over the streets hand in hand with
+respectable townfolk and of the 'chestnut brown schismatic,' who might
+turn out a quaint and ugly _savant_, though never a nice, natty,
+spick-and-span Member of Council, we see the curvets and the caprioles
+of the same little Pegasus which was bestridden by the author of
+'Nutcracker.' Still, I think that he ought to have got on the back of a
+horse of a different colour; and, indeed, I cannot say what the reason
+exactly is why the pleasantly comic impression which the earlier part
+of the story produces vanishes away into nothingness; whilst, out of
+this nothingness, there ultimately develops a certain something which
+becomes most uncanny and unpleasant; and the concluding words, which
+are intended to do away with this feeling, do not succeed in doing away
+with it."
+
+"Oh, thou most sapient of all critics," Lothair cried, "who dost such
+high honour to this most insignificant thing of all the insignificant
+things which I have ever written down as to dissect it carefully with
+magnifying glasses on nose, let me tell you that it served me as an
+anatomical study long ago. Did I not style it a mere product of a mood
+of caprice? Have I not anathematized it myself? However, I am glad that
+I read it to you, because it gives me an opportunity of speaking my
+mind concerning tales of this kind. And I am sure that my Serapion
+Brethren will agree with me. In the first place, Ottmar, I should
+like to trace out for you the germ of that unpleasant--or, better,
+'uncanny'--feeling which you were conscious of when you were at first
+beginning to see what you have called the 'amusing _naďveté_' of it.
+Whatever grounds the good old Hafftitz may have had for telling us that
+the Devil passed a certain time leading the life of a townsman of
+Berlin, this remains for us a wholly 'fanciful' or 'fantastic'
+incident. And the quality of the 'supernatural'--the 'spookishness' (to
+use an expression now not unfamiliar)--which is a leading
+characteristic of that tremendous 'principle of negation'--that 'spirit
+which eternally denies and destroys'--is, by reason of the (in a
+manner) comic contrastedness in which it is presented, calculated to
+cause in us the strange sensation, compounded of terror and irony,
+which fetters our attention in a manner the reverse of unpleasant. But
+the case is quite different as to the terrible witch stories. In them
+actual life is brought on to the stage with all its reality of horror.
+When I read about Barbara Roloffin's execution, I felt as though I saw
+the funeral pyre smoking in the market-place. All the horror of the
+terrible witchcraft-trials rose to my memory. A pair of sparkling red
+eyes, and an attenuated weazened body, were enough to cause a poor old
+creature to be assumed to be a witch, guilty of every description of
+wicked and unholy arts and practices; to have legal process instituted
+against her, and to be led to the scaffold. The application of the
+rack, or other form of torture, confirmed the accusations against her,
+and decided the case."
+
+"Still," said Theodore, "it is very remarkable that so many of those
+supposititious witches of their own accord confessed their pact, and
+other relations, with the Evil One, without any coercion whatever. Two
+or three years ago it happened that a number of legal documents fell
+into my hands relating to trials for witchcraft; and I could scarce
+believe my eyes when I read in them confessions of things which made my
+flesh creep. They told of ointments, the use of which turned human
+beings into various animals; they spoke of riding on broomsticks, and,
+in fact, of all the devilish practices which we read of in old legends.
+Bat, first and foremost, and invariably, those supposititious witches
+always openly and shamelessly avowed, and boasted--usually of their own
+accord--as to their unchaste relations with the unclean and diabolical
+'gallant' (as their term for him was). Now, how could such things be
+possible?"
+
+"Because," Lothair said, "belief in a diabolical compact actually
+brought such a compact about."
+
+"How do you mean? What do you say?" the two others cried together.
+
+"Understand me properly, that is all I ask," said Lothair, "It is
+matter of certainty that, in the times when nobody doubted of the
+direct and immediate influence of the Devil, or that he constantly
+appeared visibly, those miserable creatures, who were hunted down and
+put so mercilessly to fire and sword, actually and firmly believed in
+all that they were accused of; and that many, in the wickedness of
+their hearts, tried their utmost, by means of every description of
+supposed arts of witchcraft, to enter into compact with the Devil, for
+the sake of gain, or for the doing of evil deeds; and _then_, in
+conditions of brain-excitement, produced by beverages affecting their
+senses, and by terrible oaths and ceremonies of conjuration, _saw_ the
+Evil One, and entered into those compacts which were to confer upon
+them supernatural powers. The wildest of the fabrications of the brain
+which those confessions contain--based upon inward conviction--do not
+seem too wild when one considers what strange fancies--nay, what
+terrible infatuations--even hysteria itself is capable of producing in
+women. Thus the wickedness of the hearts of those putative witches was
+often paid for by a fearful death. We cannot reasonably reject the
+testimony of those old witch-trials, for they are supported by the
+evidence of witnesses, or other clearly recorded facts; and there are
+many instances of people who have committed crimes deserving of death.
+Remember Tieck's magnificent tale, 'The Love-Spell.' There is a deed
+mentioned in the papers I have been speaking of very analogous to the
+crime of the horrible woman in Tieck's tale. So that a death on the
+funeral pyre was often really the proper punishment for those fearful
+misdoings."
+
+"There occurs to my remembrance," Theodore said, "an occasion when an
+accursed crime of that description chanced to be brought vividly before
+my own eyes, filling me with the profoundest pain and sorrow. When I
+was living in W---- I went to see a certain charming country seat,
+L----, which you know. It has been justly said of it that it seems to
+float like some stately swan mirrored on the beautiful lake which lies
+at its feet. I had heard, before, that there were dark rumours to the
+effect that the unfortunate possessor of it, who had died but a short
+time before, had carried on magical practices, with the help of an old
+woman; and that the aged keeper of the chateau could tell a good deal
+about this business, could one gain his confidence. As soon as I saw
+this man he struck me as a very remarkable person. Imagine to
+yourselves a hoary-headed old man with imprints of the profoundest
+terror in his face, dressed poorly, like a peasant, but indicating,
+by his manner, unusual cultivation. Remark that this man, whom you
+would have taken for an ordinary labourer at the first glance, would
+talk to you--if you did not happen to understand the patois of the
+district--in the purest French, or in equally good Italian, just as you
+chose. I managed to interest and to animate him by touching, as we
+wandered through the great halls, on the troubles which his late master
+had had to go through, and by showing that I was, to some extent,
+acquainted with the subject, and with what had happened in those bygone
+days. He explained the deeper meaning of many of the paintings and
+adornments (which, to the uninitiated, seemed mere unmeaning
+prettinesses), and grew more and more frank and confidential. At last
+he opened a small closet, floored with slabs of white marble, in which
+the only piece of furniture was a cauldron of brass. The walls seemed
+to have been stripped of their former adornments. I knew, I felt, that
+I was in the place where the former master of the house, blinded and
+befooled by his lust for sensuous enjoyment, had descended to
+diabolical practices. When I dropped a word or two hinting at this
+subject, the old man raised his eyes to heaven with an expression of
+the bitterest melancholy, and said, with a deep sigh, 'Ah! Holy Virgin!
+hast thou forgiven him?' He then silently pointed to a large marble
+slab embedded in the middle of the flooring. I looked at this slab with
+much closeness of observation, and became aware that there were reddish
+veins meandering about through the stone. And, as I fixed my attention
+upon them more and more closely, heaven aid me! the features of a human
+face grew more and more distinctly traceable and visible, just as when,
+on looking at a distorted picture through a lens specially constructed,
+all its lines and effects then, and not till then, grow clear and
+sharp.
+
+"It was the face of a child that was looking at me out of that stone,
+marked with the heartrending anguish of the agony of death. I could see
+drops of blood welling from the breast; but the rest of the form of the
+body seemed to flow vaguely into indistinctness, as if a stream of
+water were carrying it away. It was with a hard struggle that I
+overcame the horror which well-nigh overmastered me. I could not bring
+myself to utter a word. We left that terrible, mysterious place in
+silence. Not till I had walked about in the park and the lawns for some
+time could I overcome the inexplicable feeling which had so annulled my
+enjoyment of that little earthly paradise. From many things which I
+gathered from the detached utterances of the old man, I was led to
+conclude that the crazy being who had thrust herself into such intimate
+relations with the last proprietor of the place (in other respects a
+large-hearted and cultivated man) had worked upon him by promising him,
+through the exercise of her accursed arts, the fulfilment of his
+dearest wishes--unfailing and everlasting happiness in love--and so led
+him on to unutterable crime."
+
+"This is an affair for Cyprian," Ottmar said. "He would be as delighted
+over the bleeding baby in the marble, and in the old Castellan, as we."
+"Well," Theodore went on to say, "although all this affair may be
+traceable to foolish fancies--although it may be nothing but a fable
+kept up by the people--still, if that strangely-veined slab of marble
+is capable, even under the influence of a lively imagination, of
+showing the lineaments of a bleeding baby when looked at closely and
+carefully, something uncanny must have happened, or the faithful old
+servant could not have felt his master's guilt so deeply in his heart,
+nor would that strange stone give such a terrible evidence of it."
+
+Ottmar said, replying, "We will take an early opportunity of laying
+this matter before Saint Serapion, that we may ascertain exactly how it
+stands; but for the time, I think we ought to let witches alone, and go
+back to our subject of the 'German Devil,' as to which I would fain say
+a word or two. What I am driving at is--that the characteristic German
+manner of treating this subject is seen in its truest colour when it is
+a question of the Devil's manner of conducting himself in ordinary
+everyday life. Whenever he takes part in that, he is thoroughly 'up' in
+every description of evil and mischief--in everything that is terrible
+and alarming. He is always on the alert to set traps for the good, so
+as to lead as many of them as possible over to his own kingdom; but yet
+he is a thoroughly fair and honourably-dealing personage, abiding by
+his compacts and contracts in the most accurate and punctilious manner.
+From this it results that he is often outwitted, so that he appears in
+the character of a 'stupid' Devil (and this is not improbably the
+origin of the common expression 'stupid devil'); but, besides all this,
+the character of the German Satan has a strong tincture of the
+burlesque mixed up with the more predominant quality of mind-disturbing
+terror--that horror which oppresses the mind and disorganizes it. Now,
+the art of portraying the Devil in this distinctively German fashion
+seems to be very much lost. For this aforesaid amalgamation of his
+characteristics does not seem to occur in any of the more recent
+attempts at representing him. He is either shown as a mere buffoon, or
+as a being so terrible that the mind is revolted by him."
+
+"I think," said Lothair, "you are forgetting one recent story in which
+this said mingling of the brightly Intellectual (verging sometimes on
+the comic) with the Terrific is very finely managed, and in which the
+full effectiveness of the old-world sort of devil-spook-story is
+carried out in a masterly manner. I mean Fouqué's splendid tale, the
+'Galgenmännlein.'[1] The terribly vivacious little creature in the
+phial--who comes out of it at night, and lays himself down on the
+breast of that master of his, who has such awful dreams--the fearsome
+man in the mountain glen, with his great coal-black steed which crawls
+up the perpendicular cliffs like a fly on a wall--in short, all the
+uncanny and supernatural elements which are present in the story in
+such plentiful measure--together rivet and strain the attention to an
+extent absolutely frightening; it affects one like some powerful drink,
+which immensely excites the senses and at the same time sheds a
+beneficent warmth through the heart. It is owing to the tone which
+pervades it all through, and to the vividness of the separate pictures,
+that, although at the end one is thoroughly delighted that the poor
+wretch does get out of the Devil's clutches, still, the element of the
+Intellectuality of the evil beings, and the scenes which touch upon the
+realm of comedy (such as the part about the 'Half Heller') stand out
+with the principal high-lights upon them. I scarcely can think of any
+tale of _diablerie_ which has produced such an impression upon me."
+
+
+[Footnote 1: Known in English as "The Bottle Imp."]
+
+
+"There can't be much doubt," said Theodore, "that Fouqué got the
+materials for that story out of some old chronicle."
+
+"Even if he did," Lothair said, "I should hope you wouldn't detract
+from the author's merit on that score, like the more common class of
+critics, whose peculiar system obliges them always to try and find out
+the fundamental materials from which a writer has 'taken' his work.
+They make immense capital out of pointing out said source, and look
+down with great contempt on the wretched author who merely kneads his
+characters together out of a pre-existent dough. As if it mattered that
+the author absorbed into himself germs from without him! The shaping of
+the material is the important part of the business. We ought to think
+of our Patron Saint Serapion. His stories were told out of his soul as
+he had seen them with his eyes, not as he had read about them."
+
+"You do me much injustice, Lothair," said Theodore, "if you suppose I
+am of any other opinion. And there is nobody who has shown more
+admirably how a subject may be vividly represented than Heinrich Kleist
+in his tale of Kohlhaas, the horse dealer."
+
+"However," said Lothair, "as we have been talking of Hafftitz's book, I
+should like to read to you a story of which I took most of the leading
+ideas from the Michrochronicon. I wrote it during an attack of a very
+queer mood of mind, which beset me for a very considerable time. And I
+hope, Ottmar, my dear friend, it will lead you to admit that the
+'spleen,' which Theodore says I am suffering from, is not so very
+serious as he would make it out to be."
+
+He took out a manuscript, and read:
+
+
+
+                          ALBERTINE'S WOOERS.
+     (A story in which many utterly improbable adventures happen.)
+
+
+                              CHAPTER I.
+
+WHICH TREATS OF SWEETHEARTS, WEDDINGS, CLERKS OF THE PRIVY CHANCERY,
+      PERTURBATIONS, WITCHCRAFT TRIALS, AND OTHER DELECTABLE MATTERS.
+
+On the night of the autumnal equinox, Mr. Tussmann, a clerk in the
+Privy Chancery, was making his way from the café, where he was in the
+habit of passing an hour or two regularly every evening, towards his
+lodgings in Spandau Street. The Clerk of the Privy Chancery was
+excessively regular and punctilious in every action of his life. He
+always had just done taking off his coat and his boots at the exact
+moment when the clocks of St. Mary's and St. Nicholas's churches struck
+eleven; so that, as the reverberating echo of the last stroke died
+away, he always drew his nightcap over his ears, and placed his feet in
+his roomy slippers.
+
+On the night we are speaking of he, in order not to be late in going
+through those ceremonies (for the clocks were just going to strike
+eleven), was just going to turn out of King Street, round the corner
+of Spandau Street, with a rapid sweep--almost to be denominated a
+jump--when the sound of a strange sort of knocking somewhere in his
+immediate proximity rivetted him to the spot.
+
+And he became aware that, down at the bottom of the Town-house
+Tower--rendered visible by the light of the neighbouring lamp--there
+was a tall, meagre figure standing, wrapped in a dark cloak, knocking
+louder and louder on the closed shutters of Mr. Warnatz, the
+ironmonger's shop (which, as everybody knows, is therein situated);
+knocking louder and louder, and then going back a few paces and sighing
+profoundly, gazing up as he did so at the windows of the Tower, which
+were shut.
+
+"My dear sir," said the Clerk of the Privy Chancery, addressing this
+personage in a civil and courteous manner, "you are evidently under
+some misapprehension. There is not a single human creature up in that
+Tower; and indeed--if we except a certain number of rats and mice, and
+a few little owls--not a living thing. If you wish to provide yourself
+with something superior in the hardware line from Warnatz's celebrated
+emporium here, you will have to take the trouble to come back in the
+forenoon."
+
+"Respected Herr Tussmann----" the stranger began.
+
+And Tussmann chimed in with "Clerk of the Privy Chancery, of many
+years seniority." He was a little annoyed, too--astonished, at all
+events--that the stranger seemed to know him. But the latter did not
+seem to mind that in the least, but recommenced:
+
+"Respected Herr Tussmann, you are kind enough to be making a complete
+mistake as to the nature of my proceedings here. I do not want
+ironmongery or hardware of any description; neither have I anything to
+do with Mr. Warnatz. This is the night of the autumnal equinox, and I
+want to see my future wife! She has heard my ardent and longing
+summons, and my sighs of affection, and she will come and show herself
+up at that window directly."
+
+The hollow tones in which the man spoke these words had about them
+something so solemn--nay, so spectral and supernatural--that the Clerk
+of the Privy Chancery felt an icy shudder run through his veins. The
+first stroke of eleven rung down from the tower of St. Mary's, and as
+it did so, there came a clattering and a clinking up at the broken old
+window of the Tower, and a female form became visible at it. As the
+bright light of the street lamps fell upon the face of this figure,
+Tussmann whimpered out in lamentable tones, "Oh, ye just powers!--Oh,
+ye heavenly hosts!--what--_what_ is this?"
+
+At the last stroke of eleven--that is, at the moment when Tussmann
+generally put on his nightcap--the female figure vanished.
+
+This extraordinary apparition seemed to drive the Clerk of the Privy
+Chancery completely out of his senses. He sighed, groaned, gazed up at
+the window, and whispered "Tussmann! Tussmann! Clerk of the Privy
+Chancery--bethink yourself, sir! Consider what you're about. Don't let
+your heart be troubled. Be not deceived by Satan, good soul."
+
+"You seem to be put out by what you have seen, Mr. Tussmann," the
+stranger said. "I only wanted to see my sweetheart--my wife, that is to
+be. You must have seen something else, apparently."
+
+"Please, please," Tussmann said in a whimper, "I should be so much
+obliged to you if you would be good enough to address me by my little
+title. I am Clerk of the Privy Chancery, and truly, at this moment, a
+greatly perturbed Clerk of the Privy Chancery--in fact, one almost out
+of his senses. I beg you, with all due respect, my very dear sir
+(though I regret that I am unable to style you by your proper title, as
+I have not the honour to be in the least acquainted with you, having
+never met you before--however, I shall address you as 'Herr Geheimer
+Rath'--'Mr. Privy Councillor'--there are such an extraordinary number
+of gentlemen here in Berlin bearing that title that one can scarcely be
+in error in applying it)--I beg you, therefore, Herr Geheimer Rath, to
+be so very kind as not to keep me longer in ignorance as to whom the
+lady, your future wife, may be, whom you expected to see here at this
+hour of the night."
+
+"You're a curious fellow, you and your 'titles,'" the stranger said,
+raising his voice. "If a man who knows a number of secrets and
+mysteries, and can give good counsel too, is one of your 'privy' or
+'secret' councillors, I think _I_ may so style myself. I am surprised
+that a gentleman who is so well versed in ancient writings and curious
+manuscripts as you are, dear Mr. Tussmann, Clerk of the Privy Chancery,
+should not know that when an expert--an _expert_, observe!--knocks at
+the door of this Tower here--or even on the wall of it, on the night of
+the autumnal equinox, there will appear to him, up at yonder window,
+the girl who is to be the happiest and luckiest sweetheart in Berlin
+till the spring equinox comes round."
+
+"Mr. Privy Councillor," Tussmann cried, as if in a sudden inspiration,
+and with joyful rapture--"Most respected Mr. Privy Councillor! is that
+really the case?"
+
+"It is," said the stranger. "But what's the good of our standing in the
+street here any longer? It is past your bed time. Let us go to the
+new wine-shop in Alexander Street; just that you may hear a little
+more about this young lady, and recover your peace of mind, which
+something--I have no idea what--has disturbed so tremendously."
+
+Tussmann was a most abstemious person. His sole recreation (for
+"dissipation" we cannot term it) consisted in his spending an hour or
+two every evening in a café; where, whilst he read assiduously
+political and other articles in newspapers, as well as books which he
+brought with him, he sipped a glass of good beer. Wine he seldom
+touched, except that after service on Sundays he allowed himself a
+small glass of Malaga with a biscuit, in a certain restaurant. To go
+about dissipating at nights was an abomination in his eyes. So that it
+seemed incomprehensible how, on this particular occasion, he allowed
+the stranger, who hurried away towards Alexander Street with long
+strides, resounding in the darkness, to carry him away with him without
+a word of objection.
+
+When they came into the wine-shop there was nobody there but one single
+customer, sitting by himself at a table, with a big glass of Rhine wine
+before him. The depth of the wrinkled lines on his face indicated
+extreme age. His eyes were sharp and piercing, and his grand beard
+marked him as a Hebrew, faithful to the ancient laws and customs of his
+people. Also his costume was very much in the old Frankish style, as
+people dressed about the year 1720; and perhaps that was why he had the
+effect of having come back to life out of a period of remote antiquity.
+
+But the stranger whom Tussmann had come across was still more
+remarkable of aspect.
+
+A tall, meagre man, powerfully formed as to his limbs and muscles,
+seemingly about fifty years of age. His face might once have passed for
+handsome, and the great eyes still flashed out from under the black
+bushy eyebrows with youthful fire and vigour. The brow was broad and
+open; the nose strongly aquiline. All this would not have distinguished
+him from a thousand others. But, whilst his coat and trousers were of
+the fashion of the present day, his collar, his cloak, and his barret
+cap belonged to the latter part of the sixteenth century. But it was
+more especially the wonderful eyes of the man, and the blaze of them
+(which seemed to come streaming out of deep mysterious night), and the
+hollow tones of his voice, and his whole bearing--all in the most
+absolute contrast with things of the present day--it was, we say, all
+these things taken together which made everybody experience a strong
+sense of eeriness in his proximity.
+
+He nodded to the man who was sitting at the table as if to an old
+acquaintance.
+
+"Ha!" he cried, "here _you_ are again, after all this time. How do you
+feel? Are you all alive and kicking?"
+
+"Just as you see," the old man growled. "Sound as a roach. All ready on
+my legs at the proper time. All _there_--when there's anything up."
+
+"I'm not quite so sure about that," the stranger said, laughing loudly;
+"we shall see!" And he ordered the waiter to bring a bottle of the
+oldest claret in the cellar.
+
+"My good Mr. Privy Councillor," Tussmann began, deprecatingly. But the
+stranger interrupted him hastily, saying:
+
+"Let us drop the 'titles,' Tussmann, for once and all! I am neither a
+Privy Councillor nor a Clerk of the Privy Council. What I am is an
+artist, a worker in the noble metals and the precious jewels; and my
+name is Leonhard."
+
+"Oh, indeed!" Tussmann murmured to himself--"a goldsmith! a jeweller!"
+And he bethought himself that he might have seen at the first glance
+that the stranger could not possibly be an ordinary Privy Councillor,
+seeing that he had on an antique mantle, collar, and barret cap, such
+as Privy Councillors never went about in nowadays. Leonhard and
+Tussmann sat down at the same table with the old Jew, who received them
+with a grinning kind of smile.
+
+When Tussmann, at Leonhard's instigation, had taken two or three
+glasses of the full-bodied wine, his pale cheeks began to glow, and as
+he swallowed the liquor, he glanced about him with smirks and smiles,
+as if the most delightful ideas were rising in his brain.
+
+"And now," Leonhard said, "tell me openly and candidly, Mr. Tussmann,
+why you went on in such an extraordinary manner when the lady showed
+herself at the Tower-window; and what it is that your head is so very
+full of at the present moment. You and I are very old acquaintances,
+whether you believe it or not; and as to this old gentleman here, you
+need be on no ceremony with him."
+
+"Oh, heavens!" answered the Privy Chancery Clerk--"Oh, good heavens!
+most respected Herr Professor--(I do beg you to allow me to address you
+by that title; I am sure you are a most celebrated artist, and quite in
+a position to be a professor in the Academy of Arts)--and so, most
+respected Herr Professor, how can I hide from you that I am, as the
+proverb puts it, 'walking on wooer's feet.' I am expecting to bring the
+happiest of brides home about the vernal equinox. Could it be otherwise
+than a rather startling thing, when you, most respected Herr Professor,
+were so very kind as to let me see a fortunate bride that is to be?"
+
+"What!" the old Jew broke in, in a screaming voice--"What! are you
+thinking of marrying? Why, you're as old as the hills, and as ugly as a
+baboon into the bargain."
+
+"Never mind him," Leonbard said; for Tussmann was so startled by what
+the old man said that he could not utter a syllable. "He means no harm,
+dear Mr. Tussmann, though you may think he seems to do so. I must say,
+candidly, that it seems to me, too, that it is a little too late in
+life for you to be thinking about such a thing. You must be well on to
+your fiftieth birthday; aren't you?"
+
+"I shall be forty-eight," said Tussman, with a certain amount of
+irritability, "on the 9th of next October--St. Dionysius's day."
+
+"Very well," said Leonhard. "But it isn't only your age that's against
+you--you have always been leading a simple, solitary, virginal
+existence. You have no knowledge or experience of women. I can't see
+what is to become of you in their hands!"
+
+"Knowledge of them--experience of them! Dear Herr Professor, you must
+really take me for a most foolish and inconsiderate person if you think
+I am going to plunge into matrimony without any counsel or reflection
+or advice. I weigh, consider, and reflect upon every step most
+maturely; and, having perceived myself to be pierced to the heart by
+the dart of the wanton deity yclept 'Cupid' by the ancients, could I do
+otherwise than bend all my thoughts upon the preparation of myself for
+the matrimonial life? Would any one who was preparing for a difficult
+examination not be careful to study all the subjects on which he is to
+be interrogated? Very well, most respected Herr Professor, my marriage
+is an examination, for which I have prepared myself, and I feel pretty
+certain that I shall pass it admirably--with honours! Look here, at
+this little book, which I have always carried about in my pocket,
+studying it constantly, since the time when I made up my mind to fall
+in love and get married. Look at it, my dear sir; and you will be
+convinced that I am setting about this business in the most thorough
+and fundamental manner possible, and that I shall certainly not be
+found an ignoramus in it; although, as you say (and as I must admit),
+the feminine sex is--so far, and up to the present date--to me a
+complete _terra incognita_."
+
+With these words Tussmann produced from his pocket a little book in
+parchment binding, and turned up its title-page, which ran as
+follows:--
+
+"Brief Tractate on Diplomatic Acumen. Embracing methods of Self-Counsel
+for guidance in all Societies of our fellow-creatures, conducing to the
+attainment of a proper system of Conduct. Of the utmost importance to
+all Persons who deem themselves Wise, or wish to become Wiser.
+Translated from the Latin of Herr Thomasius. With a complete Index.
+Frankfurt and Leipzig. Johann Grossen's Successors. 1710."
+
+"Now just let me show you," said Tussmann, with a sweet smile, "what
+this worthy author (in his seventh chapter, which deals with the
+subjects 'Wedlock, and the Duties of the Father of a Family and Master
+of a Household') says, in the seventh section of that chapter. You see,
+what he says is this:
+
+"'Above all things, let there be no hurry about it. He who does not
+marry till of mature age is so much the wiser, and the better able to
+cope with the exigencies of the situation. Over-early marriages produce
+shameless, subtle, and disingenuous people, and sacrifice the vigour of
+both body and mind. Although the age of manhood is not the commencement
+of youth, the one should not terminate before the other.'"
+
+"And then, with regard to the choice of the object of the
+affections--her whom one is to love and to marry--this grand Thomasius
+says, in his nineteenth section:
+
+"'The middle course is the safest. We should not select one too
+beautiful or too ill-favoured, too rich nor too poor, too high-born or
+too low-born, but of like social standing with one's self. And,
+similarly, as regards the other qualities, the middle course will be
+found always the safest to follow.'"
+
+"Very well, you see, this is what I have always guided myself by. And
+(as directed by Thomasius--section seventeen), not only have I had
+occasional conversations with the lady of my choice, but (inasmuch as,
+in occasional interviews, misapprehensions may arise with respect to
+peculiarities of character and modes of looking at matters, &c.) I have
+taken opportunities to have very _frequent_ interviews and
+conversations with her; because those frequent interviews necessarily
+make it very difficult for people to conceal themselves from one
+another, don't you see?"
+
+"My dear Mr. Tussmann," the goldsmith said, "it appears to me that all
+this sort of intercourse, 'conversation,' or whatever you please to
+call it, with women requires one to have a good deal of experience,
+extending over a very considerable period of time, if one is to avoid
+being befooled and made an ass of by it."
+
+"Even in this," said Tussmann, "our grand Thomasius comes to our aid,
+giving us completely adequate instruction as to how we are to
+'converse' with ladies, in the most rational and delightful style; even
+telling us exactly how and when to introduce the due amount of
+playfulness and wit, suitable to the occasion. My author says, in his
+fifth chapter, that one ought to be careful to introduce such jocular
+sayings sparingly--as a cook uses salt; and that pointed speeches
+should never be employed as weapons against others, but altogether in
+our own defence--just as a hedgehog uses his spines. And also, that it
+is wise to rely more upon the actions than upon the words; because it
+is often the case that what is hidden by words is made evident by
+actions, and that words very often do not do so much to awaken liking
+or disliking as actions do."
+
+"I see," the goldsmith said, "there is no getting anything like a rise
+out of you. You are closed up in armour of proof. So I am prepared to
+bet, heavily, that you have gained the affections of the lady of your
+choice by means of those wonderfully deep diplomatic dodges of yours."
+
+Tussmann answered, "I study to direct all my endeavours (following
+Thomasius's advice) to attain a deferential, though kindly,
+agreeableness of demeanour, that being the most natural and usual
+indication of affection, and what is most adapted to awaken liking in
+reciprocation: just as if you yawn, you will set an entire company
+gaping too, from sympathy. But, reverentially as I follow his
+instructions, I don't go too far; I always recollect that (as Thomasius
+says) women are neither good angels nor bad angels, but mere human
+beings; and, in fact, as regards strength of mind and body, weaker than
+we are, which, of course, is fully accounted for by the diversity which
+exists between the sexes."
+
+"A black year come over you!" the old Jew cried wrathfully, "sitting
+there chattering your cursed stuff and nonsense without a stop;
+spoiling for me the good hour in which I hoped to enjoy myself a little
+after all the hard work I've been going through."
+
+"Hold your tongue, old man," the goldsmith said. "You ought to be very
+thankful that we put up with you here. I can tell you your company is
+anything but pleasant; your manners are so abominable. You ought to be
+kicked out of decent society, if you had your deserts. Don't let the
+old man disturb you, dear Mr. Tussmann. You believe in the old times;
+you're fond of old Thomasius. I go a good deal further back. What I
+care about is the time to which, as you see, my dress partly belongs.
+Aye! my good friend, those were the days! It is to them that that
+little spell belongs which you saw me putting into practice to-night at
+the Town-house Tower."
+
+"I don't quite understand you, Herr Professor,'' Tussmann said.
+
+"Well," said the goldsmith, "there used to be splendid weddings in
+those old days in the Town-hall--very different affairs from the
+weddings nowadays. Plenty of happy brides used to look out of those
+Tower-windows in those days, so that it's a piece of pleasant glamour
+when an aerial form comes and tells us what is going to happen now,
+from knowledge of olden times. Let me tell you, this Berlin was a very
+different place in those old days; nowadays everything is marked with
+the same stamp of tediousness and _ennui_, and people _ennuyer_ one
+another just because they are so _ennuyées_ and weary in themselves. In
+those days there were entertainments, feastings, rejoicings worthy the
+name, very different from the affairs that are so called now. I shall
+only speak of what was done at Oculi, in the year 1581, when the
+Elector Augustus of Saxony, with his Consort, and Don Christian, his
+son, were escorted to Cologne by all the nobles and gentry. There were
+over a hundred horse, and the citizens of both the cities--Berlin and
+Cologne--and those of Spandau lined both sides of the road from the
+gate to the palace in complete armour. Next day there was a splendid
+running at the ring, at which the Elector of Saxony and Count Jost of
+Barby appeared, with many nobles--in fine suits of gold embroidery, and
+tall golden helms, golden lions' heads on their shoulders, knees, and
+elbows, with flesh-coloured silk on the other parts of their arms and
+legs, just as if they had been naked---exactly as you see the heathen
+warriors painted in pictures. There were singers and musicians hidden
+inside a gilt Noah's Ark, and on the top of it sat a little boy in
+flesh-coloured silk tights, with his eyes bandaged, as Cupid is
+represented. Two other boys, dressed as doves, with white ostrich
+feathers, golden eyes and beaks, drew ąhe ark along; and when the
+prince had run at the ring and been successful, the music in the ark
+played, and a number of pigeons were let fly from it. One of them
+flapped its wings and sang a most delightful Italian _aria_, and did it
+much better than our Court singer Bernard Pasquino Grosso from Mantua
+did seventy years afterwards (but not so charmingly as our _prime
+donne_ sing nowadays). Then there was a foot tournay, to which the
+Elector and the Count went in a ship, which was all dressed over with
+black and yellow cloth, and had a sail of gold taffeta; and behind His
+Highness sate the little boy who had been Cupid the day before, in a
+long coat of many colours, a peaked black and yellow hat, and a
+long grey beard. The singers and musicians were dressed in the same
+way; and nil round about the ship a number of gentlemen danced and
+jumped--gentlemen of good family, mind you!--with heads and tails of
+salmon, herrings, and fishes of other sorts: most delightful to behold.
+In the evening, about ten, there was a grand display of fireworks, with
+thousands of detonations; and the master-gunners played all sorts of
+pranks--had combats; and there were explosions of fiery stars; and
+fiery men and horses, strange birds and other creatures, went up into
+the air with a terrible rushing and banging. They went on for more than
+two hours, those fireworks."
+
+Whilst the goldsmith was narrating all this, the Clerk of the
+Privy Chancery gave every sign of the liveliest interest and the
+utmost enjoyment, crying, in a sympathizing and interested manner,
+"Ey!--oh!--ah!"--smiling, rubbing his hands, moving backwards and
+forwards on his chair, and gulping down glass after glass of the wine
+the while.
+
+"Dearest Professor," he cried at last, in falsetto (always a mark in
+him of intense enjoyment)--"My dearest, most respected Herr Professor!
+what delightful things you have been having the kindness to tell me
+about!--really _quite_ as though you had been there and seen them
+yourself."
+
+"Well!" the goldsmith said, "and wasn't I there?"
+
+Tussmann, who didn't in the least understand this extraordinary
+query, was going to try to get some further light thrown upon it, when
+the old Jew came in with a growl, to the following effect: "Don't
+forget those delightful entertainments when the pyres burned in the
+market-place--the Berlin folks were much delighted with them, you know;
+and the streets ran red with the blood of the wretched victims, slain
+in the most terrific manner, after confessing whatever was imputed to
+them by the wildest infatuation and the most idiotic superstition.
+Don't, I merely say, forget to tell your friend about them!"
+
+"Yes, yes," Tussmann said; "of course you mean those terrible
+witchcraft trials which took place in those old days. Ah! they were
+atrocious businesses; fortunately the enlightenment of the present age
+has altered all those things."
+
+The goldsmith cast strange looks at the old Jew and at Tussmann; and
+presently asked the latter, with a mysterious smile, if he had ever
+heard about the Jew-coiner, Lippold, and what had happened to him in
+the year 1512.
+
+Ere Tussmann could answer, the goldsmith went on to say: "This
+Jew-coiner, Lippold, was accused of an important imposture, and a
+serious roguery. He had at one time been much in the confidence of the
+Elector, and was at the head of all the affairs of the mints and the
+coinage in the country; always ready to produce large sums of money, no
+matter how large, when required. Whether because he was clever at
+shifts, or that he had powers at his command which enabled him to clear
+himself from all blame in the Elector's eyes, or that he was able to
+'shoot with a silver bullet' (to use an expression of those times)
+those who had influence over the Elector's proceedings, he was on the
+very point of getting off scot free from the accusations brought
+against him. But he was still kept under guard, by the town-watch, in
+his little house in Stralau Street. And it so chanced that he had a
+quarrel with his wife, in the course of which she said to him, in the
+hearing of the guard, 'If our gracious lord the Elector only knew what
+a villain you are, and what atrocities you manage to commit by the help
+of that magic book of yours, you'd be in your coffin long ago.' This
+was reported to the Elector, who had careful search made in Lippold's
+house. The magic book was found, and, when it was examined by those who
+understood it, Lippold's guilt was clearly established. He had
+practised magical arts to give him power over the Elector, and to
+enable him to rule the whole country; and it was only the piety and
+Godfearingness of the Elector which had enabled him to withstand those
+spells. Lippold was burned in the market-place. But when the fire was
+taking effect on his body and upon the magic book, a great mouse came
+out from under the scaffold, and leaped into the fire. Many supposed
+that this was Lippold's familiar demon."
+
+Whilst the goldsmith had been relating this, the old Jew had sate
+leaning his arms on the table, with his hands before his eyes, groaning
+and sighing like one suffering unendurable tortures. On the other hand,
+the Clerk of the Privy Chancery did not seem to be paying much
+attention to what the goldsmith was saying. He was in high good-humour,
+and his mind was full of quite other ideas and images; and, when the
+goldsmith had ended, he asked, with many smiles, and in a lisping
+manner: "Tell me, dear Herr Professor, if you will be so kind, was it
+really Miss Albertine Bosswinkel who came and looked out of the window
+of the Tower?"
+
+"What?" cried the goldsmith, furiously--"what business have _you_ with
+Miss Albertine Bosswinkel?"
+
+"My dear sir!" said Tussmann, timidly--"good gracious! My dear friend,
+she is the very lady whom I have made up my mind to marry!"
+
+"Good God, sir!" the goldsmith cried, with a face as red as a furnace,
+and eyes glaring with anger; "you must be out of your reason
+altogether. _You_, an old, worn-out pedant, to think of marrying that
+beautiful young creature! _You_, who, with all your erudition, and your
+'diplomatic acumen,' taken from the idiotic treatise of that old goose
+Thomasius, can't see a quarter of an inch before that nose of yours! I
+advise you to drive every idea of the kind out of your head as quickly
+as you can, or you will probably find that you stand a good chance of
+having that weazened neck of yours drawn, on this autumn equinoctial
+night!"
+
+The Clerk of the Privy Chancery was a quiet, peaceable, nay, timorous
+man, incapable of saying a hard word to anybody, even when attacked;
+but what the goldsmith had said was just a trifle too infernally
+insulting; and then, Tussmann had taken more strong wine than he was
+accustomed to. Accordingly, there was no wonder that he did what he had
+never done before in his life---that is, he burst into a fury, and
+yelled out, right into the goldsmith's teeth: "Eh! What the devil
+business have you with me, Mr. Goldsmith (whose acquaintance I haven't
+the honour of); and how dare you talk to me in this sort of way? You
+seem to me to be trying to make an ass of me, by all sorts of childish
+delusions. I presume you have the effrontery to be paying your
+addresses to Miss Bosswinkel yourself; you've got hold of a portrait of
+her on glass, and shown it at the Town-hall in a magic-lantern held
+under your cloak. My good sir, _I_ know something about these matters,
+as well as _you_ do; you're going the wrong way to work if you think
+you're going to frighten and bully _me_ in this sort of way."
+
+"Be careful what you're about," the goldsmith said, very quietly, and
+with a strange smile. "Be very careful what you're about; you've got
+strange sort of people to do with here."
+
+And as he so spake, lo! instead of the goldsmith's face, there was a
+horrid-looking fox's face snarling and showing its teeth at Tussmann
+from under the goldsmith's bonnet.
+
+The Clerk of the Privy Chancery fell back in his chair in the
+profoundest terror.
+
+The old Jew did not seem to be in the least degree surprised by this
+transformation; rather, he had suddenly lost his mood of ill-temper
+altogether. He laughed, and cried, "Aha! capital sport! But there's
+nothing to be _made_ by those arts. I know better ones. I can do things
+which were always beyond _you_, Leonhard."
+
+"Let us see," said the goldsmith, who had assumed his human countenance
+again--"let us see what you can do."
+
+The old man took from his pocket a large black radish, trimmed it and
+scraped it with a little knife, which also came from his pocket,
+shredded it into thin strips, and laid them in order on the table. Then
+he struck each of them a blow with his clenched fist; when they sprung
+up, one by one, ringing, in the shape of gold coins, which he took up
+and threw across to the goldsmith. But as soon as the goldsmith took
+hold of one of those coins, it fell to dust, in a little shower of
+crackling sparks of fire. This infuriated the old man. He went on
+striking the radish-shavings into gold pieces faster and faster,
+hitting them harder and harder, and they crackled away in the
+goldsmith's hand with fierier and fierier sparks.
+
+Tussmann was nearly out of his senses with fear and agitation. At last
+he pulled himself together out of the swoon into which he was nearly
+falling, and said, in trembling accents: "Really, I must beg, with all
+due courtesy and respect, to say that I feel that I should much prefer
+to bid 'Good-evening' on this occasion." And grasping his hat and
+stick, he bolted out of the room as quickly as he could. When he
+reached the street, he heard those two uncanny people setting up a
+shout of screaming laughter after him, which made the blood run cold in
+his veins.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER II.
+
+IN WHICH IT IS RELATED HOW, BY THE INTERVENTION OF A CIGAR WHICH WOULD
+      NOT DRAW, A LOVE-AFFAIR WAS SET AGOING BETWEEN A LADY AND
+      GENTLEMAN WHO HAD PREVIOUSLY KNOCKED THEIR HEADS TOGETHER.
+
+The manner in which young Edmund Lehsen, the painter, made acquaintance
+with the mysterious goldsmith, Leonhard, was somewhat different to that
+in which Tussmann had done so.
+
+Edmund was one day sketching a beautiful group of trees in a lonely
+part of the Thiergarten, when Leonhard came up, and, without any
+ceremony, looked over his shoulder at what he was doing. Edmund did not
+disturb himself, but went on with his sketch, till the goldsmith
+cried--
+
+"That is a most extraordinary picture, young gentleman. Those will come
+to be something else than trees before you have done with them."
+
+"Do you see anything out of the way, sir?" Edmund said, with flashing
+eyes.
+
+"I mean," said the goldsmith, "that there are all sorts of forms
+and shapes peeping out from amongst those high leaves there, in
+ever-changing variety: geniuses, strange animals, maidens, and flowers.
+Yet the whole thing ought only to amount to that group of trees before
+us there, through which the rays of the evening sun are streaming so
+charmingly."
+
+"Sir!" Edmund answered, "either you have a very profound understanding,
+and a most penetrating eye for matters of this kind, or I have been
+unusually successful in portraying my inmost feelings. Don't you
+perceive when, in looking at Nature, you abandon yourself to all your
+feelings of longing, all kinds of wonderful shapes and forms come
+looking at you through the trees with beautiful eyes? That was what I
+was trying to represent to the senses in this sketch, and I see I have
+succeeded."
+
+"I understand," Leonhard said, rather coldly and dryly. "You wanted to
+drop study, and give yourself a rest, to refresh and strengthen your
+fancy."
+
+"Not at all," Edmund answered. "I consider this way of working from
+Nature is my best and most useful 'study.' Study of this sort enables
+me to put the really poetic and imaginative element into my landscape.
+Unless the landscape painter is every bit as much a poet as the
+portrait painter, he will never be anything but a dauber."
+
+"Heaven help us!" cried the goldsmith. "So you, dear Edmund Lehsen, are
+going to----"
+
+"You know me, then, sir, do you?" the painter cried.
+
+"Why shouldn't I?" said Leonhard. "I first made your acquaintance on an
+occasion which you, probably, don't remember much about; that is to
+say, when you were born. Considering the small experience which you had
+at that time, you had behaved very well--had given your mamma little
+trouble--and as soon as you came into the world, gave a very pretty cry
+of pleasure and delight. Also, you showed a great love for the
+daylight, which, by my advice, you were not kept away from. Because,
+according to the most recent medical opinions, daylight is far from
+having a bad effect on babies, but rather is beneficial to their bodies
+and their minds. Your papa was so pleased that he hopped about the room
+on one leg, singing
+
+           'The manly heart with love o'erflowing,'
+
+from Mozart's 'Flauto Magico.'
+
+"Presently he handed your little person over to me, and asked me to
+draw your horoscope, which I did. Afterwards I often came to your
+father's house, and you didn't disdain to suck at the little bags of
+almonds and raisins which I used to bring you. Then, when you were
+about six or eight, I went away on my peregrinations. When I got back
+to Berlin I saw with satisfaction that your father had sent you here
+from Münchberg to study the noble art of painting; because there is not
+a very large collection in Münchberg of works adapted for fundamental
+study, either in the shape of pictures, statues, bronzes, gems, or
+other art-treasures of value. That good native town of yours can
+scarcely vie with Rome, Florence, or Dresden in that respect; or
+perhaps even with what Berlin will one day become, when bran-new
+antiques, fished out of the Tiber, have been brought to it in some
+considerable quantity."
+
+"Heavens!" Edmund cried, "the most vivid remembrances out of my
+childhood are awaking themselves in my mind. You are Herr Leonhard, are
+you not?"
+
+"Certainly!" Leonhard answered. "Leonhard is my name. Yet I am a little
+astonished that you should remember me all this long time."
+
+"I do, though," Edmund answered. "I know that I was always glad when
+you came to my father's, because you always brought me such delicious
+things to eat, and petted me. But I always felt a sort of reverential
+awe for you; in fact, more than that--a kind of oppressive anxiousness,
+which often lasted after you were gone. But what makes the remembrance
+of you remain so vividly in my mind is what my father used to say about
+you. He set great store by your friendship, because you had got him out
+of a number of troubles in the most wonderful way--out of some of those
+difficulties which come upon people in this world so often. And he used
+to speak in the most enthusiastic way about the extent to which you had
+penetrated into deep and mysterious branches of science; how you
+controlled many of the secret powers of Nature at your will. Not only
+that, but (begging your pardon for saying so) he often went so far as
+to give us to understand that you were really nobody other than
+Ahasuerus, the Wandering Jew."
+
+"Why not the Pied Piper of Hamelin? or the King of the Kobolds?"
+cried the goldsmith. "All the same, there is some foundation for the
+idea that there is something a little out of the everyday line about
+me--something which I don't care to talk about, for fear of giving rise
+to 'unpleasantness.' I certainly did some good turns to your papa, by
+means of my secret knowledge, or 'art.' He was particularly pleased
+with the horoscope which I cast for you at your birth."
+
+"It wasn't so very clear, though," Edmund said. "My father often told
+me you said I should be a great something--either a great Artist, or a
+great Ass. At all events, I have to thank this utterance for my
+father's having given consent to my wish to be a painter; and don't you
+think your horoscope is going to turn out true?"
+
+"Oh, most certainly," the goldsmith answered, very dryly; "there can be
+no doubt about that. At this moment you are in the fairest possible way
+to turn out a very remarkable Ass."
+
+"What!" cried Edmund--"you tell me so to my face!--you----"
+
+"It rests altogether with yourself," the goldsmith said, "to avoid the
+bad alternative of my horoscope, and turn out a very remarkable
+Painter. Your drawings and sketches show that you have a rich and
+lively imagination, much power of expression, and a great deal of
+cleverness in execution. You may raise a grand edifice on those
+foundations. Carefully keep away from all 'modish' exaggerations and
+eccentricities, and apply yourself to serious study. I congratulate you
+upon your efforts to imitate the grave, earnest simpleness of the old
+German masters. But, even in that direction, you must carefully shun
+the precipice which so many fall over. It needs a profound
+intelligence, and a mind strong enough to resist the enervating
+influence of the Modern School, to grasp, wholly, the true spirit of
+the old German masters, and to penetrate completely into the
+significance of their pictures. Without those qualifications, the true
+spark will never kindle in an artist's heart, nor the genuine
+inspiration produce works which, without being imitations, shall be
+worthy of a better age. Nowadays young fellows think that when they
+patch together something on a Biblical subject, with figures all skin
+and bone, faces a yard long, stiff angular draperies, a perspective all
+askew, they have painted a work in the style of the great old German
+masters. Dead-minded imitators of that description are like the country
+lad who holds his bonnet before his face while the Paternoster is being
+sung in church, and says if he doesn't remember the words, he knows the
+tune."
+
+The goldsmith said much more that was true and beautiful on the subject
+of the noble art of painting, and gave Edmund a great many valuable
+hints and lessons; so that the latter, much impressed, asked how it had
+been possible for him to acquire so much knowledge on the subject
+without being a painter himself; and why he went on living in such
+seclusion, and never brought his influence to bear on artistic effort
+of all descriptions.
+
+"I have told you already," the goldsmith said, in a gentle and serious
+tone, "that my ways of looking at life, and at things in general, have
+been rendered exceptionally acute by a long--aye, a marvellously
+long--course of experience. As regards my living in seclusion, I know
+that wherever I should appear, I should produce a rather extraordinary
+effect, as a result, not only of my nature in general, but more
+especially of a certain power which I possess; so that my living
+quietly in Berlin here might not be a very easy matter. I keep thinking
+of a certain person who, in many respects, might have been an ancestor
+of mine: so marvellously like me in every respect, in body and mind
+too, that there are times not a few when I almost believe (perhaps it
+may be fancy) that I am that person. I mean a Swiss of the name of
+Leonhard Turnhäuser zum Thurm, who lived at the court of the Elector
+Johann Georg, about the year 1582. In those days, as you know, every
+chemist was supposed to be an alchemist, and every astronomer was
+called an astrologer; so Turnhäuser was very probably both. It is
+certain, at all events, that he did most wonderful things, and, _inter
+alia_, was a very marvellous doctor. Unfortunately, he had a trick of
+putting his finger in every pie, and getting conspicuously mixed up in
+all that was going on. This made him envied and hated; just as people
+who have money and make a display with it, though it may be never so
+well earned, bring enemies about their throats. Thus it came about that
+people made the Elector believe that Turnhäuser could make gold, and
+that, if he did not do so, he had his reasons for so abstaining. Then
+his enemies came to the Elector and said--'See what a cunning,
+shameless rascal this is. He boasts of powers which he does not
+possess, and carries on sorceries and Jewish deceptions, for which he
+ought to be burned at the stake like Lippolt the Jew.' Turnhäuser had
+been a goldsmith by trade, and this came out. Then everybody said he
+had none of the knowledge imputed to him, though he had given the most
+incontrovertible proofs of it in open day. They even said that he had
+never, himself, written any of the sage and clever books and important
+prognostications which he published, but had paid others to do them. In
+short, envy, hatred, and calumny brought matters so far that he was
+obliged to leave Berlin in the most secret manner, to escape the fate
+of the Jew Lippolt; then his enemies said he had gone to the Catholics
+for protection. But ťthat is not true. He went to Saxony, and worked at
+his trade there, though he did not give up the study and practice of
+his science."
+
+Edmund was wonderfully attracted to this old goldsmith, who inspired in
+him a reverential trustfulness and confidence. Not only was he a critic
+of the most instructive quality, though severe; but he told Edmund
+secrets concerning the preparation of colours and the combining of them
+known to the old masters, and of the most precious importance when he
+put them to the test of practice. Thus there was formed, between these
+two, one of those alliances which come about when there is on the one
+hand hopeful confidence, in a young disciple, and, on the other,
+affectionate paternal friendship on the part of a teacher.
+
+About this time it happened, one fine summer evening, that Herr
+Melchior Bosswinkel, Commissionsrath, who was taking his pleasure in
+the Thiergarten, could not manage to get a single one of his cigars to
+draw. He tried one after another, but every one of them was stopped up.
+He threw them away, one after another, getting more and more vexed and
+annoyed as he did so; at last he cried out: "Oh, God! and those are
+supposed to be the very finest brands to be got in Hamburg. Damme! I've
+spared neither trouble nor money, and here they play the very deuce
+with every idea of enjoyment--not one of the infernal things will draw.
+Can a man enjoy the beauties of nature, or take part in any sort of
+rational conversation, when these damnable things won't burn? Oh, God!
+it's terrible!"
+
+He had involuntarily addressed these remarks to Edmund Lehsen, who
+happened to be close beside him with a cigar which was drawing
+splendidly.
+
+Edmund, who had not the slightest idea who the Commissionsrath was,
+took out his cigar-case and offered it politely to this desperate
+person, saying that he could vouch for both the quality and the drawing
+powers of his cigars, although he had not got them from Hamburg, but
+out of a shop in Frederick Street.
+
+The Commissionsrath accepted, full of gratitude and pleasure, with a
+"Much obliged, I'm sure." And as, the moment he touched the end of the
+cigar which Edmund was smoking with the one just obtained from him,
+this latter drew delightfully, and sent out the loveliest and most
+delicious clouds of blue odoriferous smoke, he cried, enraptured:
+
+"Oh, my dear sir! you have really rescued me from the profoundest
+depths of misery. Do please to accept a thousand thanks. In fact, I
+would almost venture to ask you to let me have one more of those
+magnificent cigars of yours, to be going on with when this one is
+finished."
+
+Edmund said the contents of his cigar-case were quite at the
+gentleman's disposal; and then they went on their several ways.
+
+Presently, when the twilight had fallen a little, and Edmund, with the
+idea for a picture in his head, was making his way, rather absently,
+not paying much attention to those about him, pushing through amongst
+the chairs and tables so as to get out of the crowd, the
+Commissionsrath suddenly appeared in front of him, asking him if he
+would not come and sit down at his table. Just as he was going to
+decline--because he was longing to get away into the open country--he
+suddenly caught sight of a young lady, the very incarnation of youth,
+beauty, and delightsomeness, who was seated at the Commissionsrath's
+table.
+
+"My daughter, Albertine," the Commissionsrath said to Edmund, who was
+gazing motionless at the lady, almost forgetting that it was incumbent
+on him to bow to her. He recognised, at the first glance, in Albertine,
+the beautiful creature whom he had come across at the last exhibition
+as she was admiring one of his own pictures. She was describing and
+pointing out the meaning of this fanciful picture to an old lady and
+two girls who were with her; explaining the peculiarities of the
+drawing and the grouping; applauding the painter, and saying that he
+was quite a young artist, though so full of promise, and that she
+wished she knew him. Edmund was standing close behind her, drinking in
+the praise which flowed from her beautiful lips. His heart was so full
+that he could not bring himself to go forward and say he was the
+painter. And at this juncture Albertine happened to drop one of her
+gloves, which she had taken off. Edmund stooped to pick it up, and as
+Albertine did the same thing at the same instant, their heads banged
+together with such a crash that it rang through the place.
+
+"Oh, good gracious!" Albertine cried, holding her hands to her head.
+
+Edmund started back in consternation and alarm. At his first step he
+stamped on the old lady's pug, which yelled aloud; at his second he
+trampled the gouty toe of a professor, who gave a tremendous shout, and
+devoted poor Edmund to all the infernal deities. Then the people came
+hurrying from the neighbouring rooms, and all the lorgnettes were fixed
+upon Edmund, who made the best of his way out of the place, amid the
+whimperings of the dog, the curses of the professor, the objurgations
+of the old lady, and the tittering and laughter of the girls. He made,
+we say, his escape in those circumstances, blushing over and over with
+shame and discomfiture, in complete despair, whilst a number of young
+ladies got out their essence-bottles and rubbed Albertine's forehead,
+on which a great lump was rapidly rising.
+
+Even then, in the crisis of this ridiculous occurrence, Edmund had
+fallen deeply in love, though he was scarcely aware of it himself. And
+it was only a painful sense of his own stupidity that prevented him
+from going to search for her all over the town. He could not think of
+her otherwise than with a great red lump on her forehead, and the
+bitterest reproach, the most distinct expression of anger, in her face
+and in her whole being.
+
+There was not the faintest trace of this, however, about her as he saw
+her now. She blushed indeed over and over again when she saw him, and
+seemed unable to control herself. But when her father asked him his
+name, &c., she said with a delightful smile, and in gentle accents,
+"that she must be much mistaken if he were not Mr. Lehsen, the
+celebrated painter, whose works she so immensely admired."
+
+Those words, we need not say, ran through Edmund's nerves like an
+electric shock. In his emotion he was about to burst into flowers of
+rhetoric, but the Commissionsrath would not let him get to that,
+clasping him to his breast with fervour, and saying, "My dear sir, what
+about the cigar you promised me?" And whilst he was lighting said cigar
+at the ashes of the former one, he said, "So you are a painter? and a
+great one, from what my daughter Albertine tells me--and she knows what
+she is talking about in such matters, I can assure you. I'm very glad
+you are. I love pictures, and, as my daughter Albertine says, 'Art'
+altogether, most tremendously. I simply dote upon it. And I know
+something about it, too. I'm a first-rate judge of a picture. My
+daughter Albertine and I know what we're about there. We've got eyes in
+our heads. Tell me, my dear painter, tell me without hesitation, wasn't
+it you who painted those pictures which I stop and look at every day as
+I pass them, because I cannot help standing to admire the colouring of
+them? Oh, it is beautiful!"
+
+Edmund did not quite understand how the Commissionsrath managed to see
+any pictures of his daily in passing them, seeing that he had never
+painted any signboards, that he could remember. But after a good deal
+of questioning, it turned out that Melchior Bosswinkel meant certain
+lacquered tea-trays, stove-shades, and things of that sort, which he
+saw and much admired in a shop-window as he went to business of a
+morning, after two or three sardines and a glass of Dantziger at the
+Sala Tarone. These productions constituted his highest ideal of the
+pictorial art. This disgusted the painter not a little; and he cursed,
+internally, Bosswinkel and his wretched chatter, which was preventing
+him from making any approach to the young lady. At last there came up
+an acquaintance, who engaged him in conversation, and Edmund took
+advantage of this to go and sit down beside Albertine, who seemed to be
+very much pleased at his doing so.
+
+Every one who knows Miss Albertine Bosswinkel is aware that, as has
+been said, she is the very personification of youth, beauty, and
+delightsomeness; that, like all other Berlin young ladies, she dresses
+in the best possible taste in the latest fashions, sings in Zelter's
+choir, has lessons on the piano from Herr Lauska, dances most
+beautifully, sent a tulip charmingly embroidered and surrounded by
+violets to the last exhibition, and though by nature of a bright,
+lively temperament, is quite capable of displaying the proper amount of
+sentimentality required at tea-parties, at all events. Also, that she
+copies poetical extracts and sentences which have pleased her in the
+writings of Goethe, Jean Paul, and other talented men and women, in the
+loveliest little tiny handwriting into a nice little book with a gilt
+morocco cover.
+
+Of course it was natural that, sitting beside the young painter, whose
+heart was beaming with the bliss of a timid affection, she should
+be several degrees more sentimental than was usual on the tea and
+reading-aloud occasions; and she lisped in the prettiest manner about
+such subjects as poetic feeling, depth of idea, childlike simplicity,
+and so forth.
+
+The evening breeze had begun to sigh, breathing perfume from the
+flowers and wafting their scents on its wings; and two nightingales
+were singing a lovely duetto in among the thick darkling leafage, in
+the tenderest accents of love-complaining.
+
+Albertine began, quoting from Fouqué--
+
+           "A rustling, whisper'd singing
+              Breaks thro' the leaves of spring,
+            And over heart, and sense, and soul
+              A web of love doth fling."
+
+And Edmund, grown less timid now that the twilight was falling more
+deeply, took her hand and laid it on his heart, whilst he went on,
+continuing the quotation--
+
+           "Did I, in whispered music, sing
+              What my heart hears--aright--
+            From that sweet lay would burst, in fire,
+              Love's own Eternal Light."
+
+Albertine withdrew her hand, but only to take off her glove, and then
+give the hand back to this lucky youngster. He was just going to kiss
+it fervently, when the Commissionsrath broke in with a
+
+"Oh! I say! How chilly it's getting! I wish I had brought my great
+coat! Put on your shawl, Tiny! It's a fine Turkish shawl, my dear
+painter--cost fifty ducats. Wrap yourself up in it, Tiny; we must be
+getting home. Good-bye, my _dear_ sir."
+
+Edmund was here inspired by a happy thought. He took out his cigar case
+and offered the Commissionsrath a third Havannah.
+
+"I really am excessively obliged to you," the Commissionsrath said,
+delighted; "you really are most kind. The police don't let one smoke
+walking about in the Thiergarten, for fear of the grass getting burnt;
+one enjoys a pipe or a cigar more for that very reason."
+
+Bosswinkel went up to the lamp to light the cigar, and Edmund took
+advantage of his doing so to whisper to Albertine, very shyly, that he
+hoped she would let him walk home with her. She put her arm in his,
+they went on together, and Bosswinkel, when he joined them, seemed to
+consider it a matter of course that Edmund was going to walk with them
+all the way to town.
+
+Anybody who has once been young, and in love--or who is both now at
+this present time (there are many who have never been either the one or
+the other)--will understand how Edmund, at Albertine's side, thought he
+was hovering over the tops of the trees, rather than walking through
+amongst them; up among the gleaming clouds, rather than down upon the
+earth.
+
+Rosalind, in Shakespeare's 'As You Like It,' says that the "marks"
+of a man in love are "a lean cheek, a blear eye and sunken, an
+unquestionable spirit, a beard neglected, hose ungartered, bonnet
+unhanded, sleeve unbuttoned, shoe untied, and everything demonstrating
+a careless desolation." But those marks were as little seen in Edmund
+as in Orlando. Like the latter, however, who marred all the trees of
+the forest with carving his mistress's name on them, hung odes on the
+whitethorns, and elegies on the bramble-bushes, Edmund spoilt
+quantities of paper, parchment, canvas and colours, in besinging his
+beloved in verses which were wretched enough, and in drawing her, and
+painting her, without ever succeeding in making her in the least
+like--so far did his fancy soar above his capability. When to this was
+added the peculiar, unmistakable somnambulistic look of the love-sick,
+and a fitting amount of sighing at all times and seasons, it was not to
+be wondered at that the old goldsmith saw into his young friend's
+condition.
+
+"H'm," he said; "you don't seem to think what an undesirable thing it
+is to fall in love with a girl who is engaged. For Albertine Bosswinkel
+is as good as engaged already to Tussmann, the Clerk of the Privy
+Chancery."
+
+This terrible piece of news sent Edmund into the wildest despair.
+Leonhard waited patiently till the first paroxysm was past, and then
+asked if he really wanted to marry Albertine. Edmund declared that was
+the dearest wish of his heart, and implored the goldsmith to help him
+as much as ever he could to beat Tussmann out of the field, and win the
+lovely lady himself.
+
+What the goldsmith thought and said was that a young artist might fall
+in love as much as ever he liked, but to marry straight away was a very
+different affair; and that was just why young Sternbald never cared to
+marry, and, for all he knew, was still unmarried up to that hour.
+
+This thrust took effect, because Tieck's 'Sternbald' was Edmund's
+favourite book, and he would have been only too glad to have been the
+hero of that tale himself. So he then and there put on a very pitiful
+face, and was very near bursting into tears.
+
+"Well," said the goldsmith, "whatever happens, I am going to take
+Tussmann off your hands. What you have got to do is to get into
+Bosswinkel's house, by hook or by crook, as often as you can, and
+attract Albertine to you as much as you can manage to do. As for my
+operations against the Clerk of the Privy Chancery, they can't be begun
+till the night of the Autumnal Equinox."
+
+
+                              CHAPTER III.
+
+CONTAINS A DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF MR. TUSSMANN, CLERK OF THE PRIVY
+      CHANCERY; WITH THE REASON WHY HE HAD TO DISMOUNT THE ELECTOR'S
+      HORSE; AND OTHER MATTERS WORTHY TO BE READ.
+
+Dear reader! From what you have already learnt concerning Mr. Tussmann,
+you can see the man before you, in all his works and ways. But, as
+regards his outward man, I ought to add that he was short of stature,
+very bald, a little bow-legged, and very grotesque in his dress. He
+wore a coat of the most old-world cut, with endlessly long tails; a
+waistcoat, also of enormous length; and long white trousers, with shoes
+which, as he walked, made as loud a clatter as the boots of a courier.
+Here it should be observed that he never walked in the streets with
+regular steps, like most people, but jumped, so to speak, with great
+irregular strides, and incredible rapidity, so that the aforesaid long
+tails of his coat spread themselves out like wings, in the breeze which
+he thus created around him. Although there was something excessively
+comic about his face, yet there was a most kindly smile playing about
+his mouth which impressed you in his favour; and everybody liked him,
+though they laughed at the pedantry and awkwardness of his behaviour,
+which estranged him from the world. His passion was reading. He never
+went out but he had both his coat-pockets crammed full of books. He
+read wherever he was, and in all circumstances; walking or standing, as
+he took his exercise, in church and in the café. He read
+indiscriminately everything that came to his hand: but only out of old
+times, the present being hateful to him. Thus, to-day he would be
+studying, in the café, a work on algebra; to-morrow, 'Frederick the
+Great's Cavalry Regulations,' and next the remarkable book, 'Cicero
+proved to be a Pettifogger and a Windbag: in Ten Discourses. Anno
+1720.' Moreover, he had a most extraordinary memory; he marked all the
+passages which particularly struck him in a book, then read all those
+marked passages over again, after which he never forgot them any more.
+Hence he was a polyhistor, and a walking encyclopćdia, and people
+turned over the leaves of him when they wanted information on any
+point. It was only on the rarest occasions that he was unable to supply
+the information required on the spot, but, if he couldn't, he would go
+rummaging in various libraries till he could get at it, and then emerge
+with it, greatly delighted. It was remarkable that when (as usual) he
+was reading in society, to all appearance completely absorbed in his
+book, he heard, and took in, everything that was being said around him,
+and would often strike in with some most apposite observation, or laugh
+at anything witty in a high tenor laugh, without looking up from his
+book.
+
+Commissionsrath Bosswinkel had been at school with Tussmann at the Grey
+Friars, and from that period dated the intimate friendship which there
+had always been between them. Tussmann saw Albertine grow up from
+childhood; and, on her twelfth birthday, after presenting her with a
+bouquet, the finest that money could procure from the first florist in
+Berlin, kissed her hand for the first time with an amount of courtesy
+and ceremonious deference which no one would have supposed him to be
+capable of. Dating from that day there dawned in the breast of the
+Commissionsrath an idea that it would be a very good thing if his old
+schoolfellow were to marry Albertine. He wanted to get Albertine
+married, and he thought this would be about the least troublesome way
+of getting it done. Tussmann would be content with very little in the
+shape of portion, and Bosswinkel hated bother of every kind, disliked
+making new acquaintances, and, in his capacity of a Commissionsrath,
+thought a great deal more of money than he ought to have done. On
+Albertine's eighteenth birthday he propounded this scheme (which he had
+previously kept to himself) to Tussmann.
+
+The Clerk of the Privy Chancery was at first alarmed at the suggestion.
+The idea of entering the matrimonial estate, particularly with so
+youthful a lady, was more than he could quite see his way to. But he
+got accustomed to it by degrees, and one day, when Albertine, at her
+father's instigation, gave him a little purse, worked by her own hands
+in the prettiest of colours (addressing him by his much-prized "title"
+as she did so), his heart blazed up in a sudden flame of affection. He
+told the Commissionsrath at once that he had made up his mind to marry
+Albertine, and as Bosswinkel immediately embraced him in the character
+of his son-in-law, he, very naturally, considered himself engaged to
+her. There was still one little point in the matter of some importance,
+namely, that the young lady herself had not heard a syllable about the
+affair, and could not possibly have the very faintest inkling what was
+going forward.
+
+At an excessively early hour of the morning, after the strange
+adventures which we have, in our first chapter, described as having
+been met with by Tussmann at the foot of the Townhouse Tower, and in
+the wineshop in Alexander Street, the said Clerk of the Privy Chancery
+came bursting, pale and wild, with distorted features, into his friend
+Bosswinkel's bedroom. The Commissionsrath was much alarmed and
+exercised in his mind, for Tussmann had never come in upon him at such
+an hour, and his manner and appearance clearly indicated that something
+most remarkable had been happening.
+
+"What, in the name of Heaven, is the matter with you?" Bosswinkel
+cried. "Where have you been? What have you been up to? You look like I
+don't know what!"
+
+Tussmann threw himself feebly into an arm-chair, and it was not till he
+had gasped for breath during several minutes that he was able to begin
+to speak--which he did in a whimpering voice.
+
+"Bosswinkel! here, as you see me, in these self-same clothes, with
+'Thomasius on Diplomatic Acumen' in my pocket, I come straight here
+from Spandau Street, where I have been running up and down, and
+backwards and forwards, ever since the clock struck twelve last night.
+I have not set a foot across my own doorstep, or seen the sight of a
+bed, nor have I closed an eye the whole livelong night!"
+
+And he told the Commissionsrath all that had happened to him from the
+time when he first came across the mysterious and fabulous sort of
+Goldsmith, till he had made his escape from the winehouse as fast as he
+could, in his terror at the sorcery which was going on there.
+
+"Tussmann, old fellow," said Bosswinkel, "I see what it is, you're not
+accustomed to liquoring up. You go to your bed every night at eleven
+o'clock, after a couple of glasses of beer, and last night you went and
+took more liquor than was good for you, long after you ought to have
+been asleep; no wonder you had a lot of funny dreams."
+
+"What!" Tussmann cried; "you think I was asleep, do you, and dreaming?
+Don't you know I'm pretty well up in the subject of sleep and dreams.
+I'll prove to you out of Rudow's 'Theory of Sleep,' and explain to you,
+what sleep really is, and that people can sleep without dreaming at
+all; and as for what dreaming is, you will know as well as I do, if you
+will read the 'Somnium Scipionis,' and Artimidorus's great work on
+Dreams, and the Frankfort Dreambook; but, you see, you never read
+_anything_ and that's why you are always making such a hash of
+everything you have to do with."
+
+"Now, my dear old man," the Commissionsrath replied, "don't you go and
+get yourself into a state of excitement. I can see, easily enough, how
+you may have allowed yourself to break out of bounds a bit last night,
+and then have got somehow into company with a set of mountebanks, who
+got the better of you when you had more liquor than you could carry;
+but what I cannot make out is, why, in all the earth, when you had once
+got out of the place, you didn't go straight home to your bed, like a
+reasonable man? Whatever for did you go wandering about the streets?"
+
+"Oh, Bosswinkel!" lamented Tussman, "my old friend! my chum at the Grey
+Friars!--don't you go and insult me by base insinuations of that sort.
+Let me tell you that the infernal, diabolical enchantment which was
+practised upon me did not fairly commence till I got _into_ the street.
+For, when I came to the Town-hall, every one of its windows was blazing
+with light, and there was music playing inside--a brass band, playing
+waltzes and so forth. How it came about I can't tell you; but, though
+I'm not a particularly tall man, I found that I was able to reach up on
+my tiptoes so that I could see in at the windows. And _what_ did I
+see?--Oh, gracious powers of Heaven! _whom_ did I see? _Your daughter_,
+Miss Albertine Bosswinkel, dressed as a bride, and waltzing like the
+very deuce (if I may permit myself such an expression) with a young
+gentleman! I thumped on the window; I cried out, 'Dearest Miss
+Bosswinkel, what are you doing? What sort of goings-on are those, here,
+at this time of the night?' But just as I was saying so, there came
+some horrible beast of a fellow down King Street, pulled my legs away
+from under me as he passed, and ran away from me, with them, in
+peals of laughter. As for me, wretched Clerk of the Privy Chancery
+that I am, I plumped down flat into the filthy mud of the gutter.
+'Watchman!' I shouted, 'Police! patrol; guard, turn out! Come
+here!--look sharp!--Stop the thief!--stop him!--he's got both my legs!'
+But upstairs in the Town-hall everything had suddenly grown pitch-dark,
+and my voice died away in the air. I was getting desperate, when the
+man came back, and, as he flew by me like a mad creature, chucked my
+legs back to me, throwing them right into my face. I then picked myself
+up, as speedily as, in my state of discomfiture, I could, and ran to
+Spandau Street. But when I got to my own door (with my latchkey in my
+hand), there was _I_--_I_, myself, standing there already, staring at
+_me_, with the same big black eyes which you see in my head at this
+moment. Starting back in terror, I fell against a man, who seized me
+with a strong grip of his arms. By the halbert he was carrying, I
+thought he was the watchman; so I said, 'Dearest watchman!--worthy
+man!--please to drive away that wraith of Clerk of the Privy Chancery
+Tussmann from that door there, so that _I_, the _real_ Tussmann, may
+get into my lodgings.' But the man growled out, 'Why, Tussmann! you're
+surely out of your senses!' in a hollow voice; and I saw it wasn't the
+watchman at all, but that terrible Goldsmith who had got me in his
+arms. Drops of cold perspiration stood on my forehead. I said: 'Most
+respected Herr Professor, pray do not take it ill that I should have
+thought you were the watchman, in the dark. Oh, Heavens! call me
+whatever you choose; call me in the most uncourteous manner 'Tussmann,'
+without the faintest adumbration of a title at all; or even 'My dear
+fellow!' I will overlook anything. Only rid me of this terrible
+enchantment--as you can, if you choose. 'Tussmann!' he said, in that
+awful hollow voice of his, 'nothing shall annoy you more, if you will
+take your solemn oath, here where we stand, to give up all idea of
+marrying Miss Albertine Bosswinkel.' Commissionsrath! you may fancy
+what I felt when this atrocious proposition was made to me. I said:
+'Dearest Herr Professor! you make my very heart bleed. Waltzing is a
+horrible and improper thing; and Miss Albertine Bosswinkel was waltzing
+upstairs there--in her wedding-dress as my bride into the bargain--with
+some young gentleman or other (I don't know who he was), in a manner
+that made my sight and my hearing abandon me, out and out. But still,
+for all that, I cannot let that exquisite creature go. I must cleave to
+her, whatever happens, come what will.' The words were scarcely out of
+my mouth, when that awful, abominable Goldsmith gave me a sort of shove
+which made me begin immediately to spin round and round, and, as if
+impelled by some irresistible power, I went waltzing up and down
+Spandau Street, with my arms clasped about a broom-handle--not a lady,
+but a besom, which scratched my face. And all the time there were
+invisible hands beating my back black and blue. More than that; all
+round me, wherever I turned, the place was swarming with Tussmanns
+waltzing with their arms round besoms. At last I fell down exhausted,
+and lost my consciousness. When the light shone into my eyes in the
+morning--oh, Bosswinkel, share my terror!--I found myself sitting up on
+the horse of the Elector's statue, in front of him, with my head on his
+cold, iron breast. Luckily the sentry must have been asleep, for I
+managed to get down without being seen, at the risk of my life, and got
+away. I ran to Spandau Street; but I got so terribly frightened again
+that I was obliged to come on here to you."
+
+"Now, now, old fellow!" Bosswinkel said, "do you think I'm going to
+believe all this rubbish? Did ever anybody hear of magical phenomena of
+this sort happening in our enlightened city of Berlin?"
+
+"Now," said Tussmann, "don't you see what a quagmire of ignorance and
+error the fact that you never _read_ anything plunges you into? If you
+had read Hafftitz's Chronicon, you would have seen that much more
+extraordinary things of the kind have happened here. Commissionsrath, I
+go so far as to assert, and to feel quite convinced, that this
+Goldsmith is the very Devil, in _propria persona_."
+
+"Pooh, pooh!" said Bosswinkel, "I wish you wouldn't talk such nonsense.
+Think a little. Of course, what happened was that you got screwed, and
+then went and climbed up on to the Elector's statue."
+
+The tears came to Tussmann's eyes as he strove to disabuse Bosswinkel's
+mind of this idea; but Bosswinkel grew graver and graver, and at last
+said:
+
+"The more I think of it, the more I feel convinced that those people
+you met with were old Manasseh, the Jew, and Leonhard, the goldsmith, a
+very clever hand at juggling tricks, who comes every now and then to
+Berlin. I haven't read as many books as you have, I know; but, for all
+that, I know well enough that they are good honest fellows, and have no
+more to do with black art than you or I have. I'm astonished that you,
+with your knowledge of law, shouldn't be aware that superstition is
+illegal, and forbidden under severe penalties; no practitioner of the
+black art could get a licence from the Government to carry it on, under
+any circumstances. Look here, Tussmann. I hope there is no foundation
+for the idea which has come into my head. No! I can't believe that
+you've changed your mind about marrying my daughter; that you are
+screening yourself behind all sorts of incredible nonsense and stuff
+which nobody can believe a word of; that you are going to say to me,
+'Commissionsrath: You and I are men of the world, and I can't marry
+your daughter, because, if I do, the Devil will bolt away with my legs
+and beat me black and blue!' It would be too bad, Tussmann, if you were
+to try on a trick of that sort upon me."
+
+Tussmann could not find words to express his indignation at this notion
+on the part of his old friend. He vowed, over and over again, that he
+was most devotedly in love with Miss Albertine; that he would die for
+her without the least hesitation, like a Leander or a Troilus, and that
+the Devil might beat him black and blue, in his innocence, as a martyr,
+rather than he should give Albertine up.
+
+As he was making these asseverations, there was heard a loud knocking
+at the door, and in came that old Manasseh of whom Bosswinkel had been
+speaking.
+
+As soon as Tussmann saw him he cried out: "Oh, gracious powers of
+Heaven! That's the old Jew who made the gold pieces out of the radish,
+and threw them in the Goldsmith's face! The dreadful Goldsmith will be
+coming next, I suppose."
+
+And he was making for the door. But Bosswinkel held him fast, saying:
+"Wait till we see what happens." And, turning to the old Jew, he told
+him what Tussmann had said about him and the events of the previous
+night in the wineshop and in Alexander Place.
+
+Manasseh looked at Tussmann with a malignant grin, and said: "I don't
+know what the gentleman means. He came into the wineshop last night
+with Leonhard, the goldsmith (where I happened to be taking a glass of
+wine to refresh me after a quantity of hard work which had occupied me
+till nearly midnight). The gentleman drank rather more than was good
+for him: he couldn't keep on his legs, and went out to the street
+staggering."
+
+"Don't you see," Bosswinkel said, "this is what comes of that terrible
+habit of liquoring up? You'll have to leave it off, I can assure you,
+if you're going to be my son-in-law."
+
+Tussmann, overwhelmed by this unmerited reproof, sank down into a chair
+breathless, closed his eyes, and murmured something completely
+unintelligible in whimpering accents.
+
+"Of course," said Bosswinkel, "dissipating all night, and now done up
+and wretched."
+
+And, in spite of all his protestations, Tussmann had to submit to
+Bosswinkel's wrapping a white handkerchief about his head, and sending
+him home in a cab to Spandau Street.
+
+"And what's _your_ news, Manasseh?" the Commissionsrath inquired.
+Manasseh simpered most deferentially, and with much amiability, and
+said Mr. Bosswinkel would scarcely be prepared for the news he had to
+tell him, which was that that splendid young fellow, his nephew
+Benjamin Dümmerl, worth close upon a million of money, had just been
+created a baron on account of his remarkable merits, was recently come
+back from Italy, and had fallen desperately in love with Miss
+Albertine, to whom he intended to offer his hand.
+
+We see this young. Baron Dümmerl continually in the theatres, where he
+swaggers in a box of the first tier, and oftener still at concerts of
+every description. So that we well know him to be tall, and as thin as
+a broom-handle; that in his dusky yellow face, overshadowed by jetty
+locks and whiskers, in his whole being, he is stamped with the most
+distinctive and unmistakeable characteristics of the Oriental race to
+which he belongs; that he dresses in the most extravagant style of
+the very latest English fashion, speaks several languages, all in the
+self-same twang (that of "our people"); scrapes on a violin, hammers on
+the piano; is an art connoisseur without acknowledge of art, and would
+fain play the part of a literary Mecćnas; tries to be witty without
+wit, and _spirituel_ without _esprit_; is stupidly forward, noisy, and
+pushing. In short, to use the concise and descriptive expression of
+that numerous class of individuals amongst whom his desire is to shove
+himself, an insufferable snob and boor. When we add to all this that he
+is avaricious and dirtily mean in everything that he does, it cannot be
+otherwise than that even those less elevated souls that fall down and
+worship wealth very soon leave him to himself.
+
+When Manasseh mentioned this nephew, the thought of that approximation
+to a million which "Benjie" possessed passed through the
+Commissionsrath's mind; but along with that thought came the objection
+which, in his opinion, made the idea of him as a son-in-law impossible.
+
+"My good Manasseh, you are forgetting that your nephew belongs to the
+old religion, and that----"
+
+"Ho!" cried Manasseh, "what does _that_ matter? My nephew is in love
+with your daughter, and wants to make her happy. A drop or two of water
+more or less won't make much difference to him. He'll be the same man
+still. You just think the matter over, Herr Commissionsrath; I shall
+come back in a day or two with my little baron, and get your answer."
+With which Manasseh took his departure.
+
+Bosswinkel began to think over the affair at once, but, spite of his
+boundless avarice and his utter absence of conscience or character, he
+could not endure the idea of Albertine's marrying that disgusting
+Benjamin, and in a sudden attack of rectitude he determined that he
+would keep his word to Tussmann.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IV.
+
+            TREATS OF PORTRAITS, A GREEN FACE, JUMPING MICE,
+                        AND ISRAELITISH CURSES.
+
+Albertine, soon after she made Edmund's acquaintance, came to the
+conclusion that the big oil portrait of her father which hung in her
+room was a horribly bad likeness of him, and dreadfully scratched into
+the bargain. She pointed out to her father that though it was so many
+years since the portrait was painted, he was really looking much
+younger, and better in every way, than the painter had represented him.
+Also, she particularly disliked the gloomy, sulky expression of the
+face, the old-fashioned clothes, and a preposterous bunch of flowers
+which he was holding between his fingers in a delicate manner,
+displaying in so doing certain handsome diamond rings.
+
+She talked so much, and so long, on this subject, that at last her
+father himself saw that the portrait was horrible, and couldn't
+understand how the painter had managed to turn out such a caricature of
+his well-looking person. And the more he thought the matter over and
+looked at the picture, the more he was convinced that it was an
+execrable daub. He determined to take it down, and stow it away in the
+lumber room.
+
+Albertine said that was the best thing that could be done, but that,
+all the same, she was accustomed to see dear papa's picture in her
+room, that the bare space on the wall would be such a blank to her that
+she should never feel comfortable; so that the only course was for dear
+papa to have _another_ portrait painted, by some painter who knew what
+he was about, and that _she_ could think of nobody but Edmund Lehsen,
+so celebrated for his admirable portraits.
+
+"My dear," the Commissionsrath said, "you don't know what you're
+talking about. Those young painters are so full of conceit, they don't
+know where to turn themselves, don't care how much they ask for those
+bits of scumblings of theirs, won't think of anything under gold
+Fredericks."
+
+But Albertine declared that Edmund Lehsen painted for the love of the
+thing much more than for money, and would be sure to charge very
+little. And she kept on at her father so assiduously, that at last he
+agreed to go to Edmund Lehsen, and see what he would say about a
+portrait.
+
+We can imagine the delight with which Edmund expressed his readiness to
+undertake the Commissionsrath's portrait; and his delight became
+rapture when he heard that it was Albertine who put the idea in her
+father's head. He saw, of course, that her notion was that this would
+give him opportunities of seeing her. So that it was a matter of course
+that when the Commissionsrath asked, rather anxiously, about the price,
+Edmund said that the honour of being admitted, for the sake of Art, to
+the house and society of a gentleman such as he, was more than
+sufficient remuneration for any little effort of his.
+
+"Good Heavens! Can I believe my ears?" the Commissionsrath cried. "No
+money, dearest Mr. Lehsen? No gold Fredericks for your trouble? Not
+even the expense of your paints and canvas?"
+
+Edmund laughingly said all that was too insignificant to be taken into
+account.
+
+"But," Bosswinkel said, "I'm afraid you don't know that I'm thinking of
+having a three-quarters length life-size."
+
+"It doesn't matter in the slightest," the painter answered.
+
+The Commissionsrath pressed him warmly to his heart, and cried, while
+tears of joy rose to his eyes, "Oh, heavenly powers! Are there human
+souls of this degree of disinterestedness in this world which lieth in
+wickedness? First his cigars, and now this picture. Marvellous man!--or
+'youth' I ought to say. Dear Mr. Lehsen, within your soul dwell those
+virtues, and that true German singleness of heart, which one reads of
+more than enough, but which are rare in these times of ours. But let me
+tell you, though I am a Commissionsrath, and dress in French fashions,
+I am quite of the same way of thinking as yourself. I can appreciate
+your large-mindedness, and am as unselfish, and as free with my money,
+as anybody in the land."
+
+Crafty Miss Albertine had, of course, known exactly how Edmund would
+proceed with her father's commission, and her object was attained.
+Bosswinkel overflowed with laudation of this grand young fellow, so
+entirely free from the least trace of that greediness which is such a
+hateful quality in a man. And he ended by saying that young people,
+especially the artistic, always have a turn for the romantic, and set
+great store by withered flowers and the ribbons which some beloved girl
+has worn, and go out of themselves altogether over any piece of work
+done by the hands of those divinities; so that Albertine had better
+knit a little purse for Edmund, and, if she saw no particular
+objection, even put into it a little lock of her bonny nut-brown hair,
+and thus get out of any little obligation they might be thought to be
+under to him. To do this she had his full permission, and he undertook
+to answer to Tussmann on the subject. Albertine, who was not yet taken
+into her father's confidence as to his projects, had not the remotest
+notion what Tussmann might have to say to the matter, and did not take
+the trouble to inquire.
+
+That very evening Edmund had his painting gear taken to Bosswinkel's
+house, and the next morning he made his appearance there for the first
+sitting.
+
+He begged the Commissionsrath to think of the very happiest moment of
+his life. For instance, when his dead wife first said she loved him, or
+when Albertine was born, or when he unexpectedly saw some dear friend
+whom he had thought to be lost to him; and to try and look as he had
+done _then_.
+
+"Wait a moment, Mr. Lehsen," said Bosswinkel; "I know what to do. One
+day, about three months ago, I got a letter from Hamburg telling me I
+had drawn a big prize in the lottery. I ran to my daughter with the
+letter open in my hand. That was the happiest moment I ever had in all
+my life. Let's choose _that_ one; and, just to place the whole thing
+more vividly before your eyes--and mine--I'll go and get the letter,
+and be taken with it in my hand--just as I was when it came."
+
+So Edmund had no help but to paint Bosswinkel accordingly; and he
+wouldn't be content, either, unless the writing on the letter was
+rendered legibly and distinctly, word for word, as follows:--
+
+     "Honoured Sir,
+         "I have the honour to inform you----"
+
+and so forth; moreover, the envelope had to be portrayed lying on a
+little table, so that the address on it, displaying all the
+Commissionsrath's official titles written out at full length, could be
+clearly read. The very postmark Edmund had to copy with the utmost
+minuteness.
+
+For the rest, he made a portrait of a well-looking, good-tempered,
+handsomely-dressed man, who _did_ display, in some of the features of
+his face, a more or less distant resemblance to the Commissionsrath; so
+that nobody who read what was on the envelope could make any mistake as
+to whom the portrait was intended for.
+
+The Commissionsrath was delighted with it. "There," he said; "there you
+see what a painter who knows his business can make of a more or less
+well-looking fellow, though he _may_ be getting a little on in years! I
+begin to understand now (I didn't before), a thing that the Professor
+in the Humanity Class used to say, that a proper portrait ought to be a
+regular historical picture. Whenever I look at that one, I remember
+that delicious and happy moment when the news came of my prize in the
+lottery, and I understand the meaning of that smile on my face--that
+reflection of the happiness I felt within me then."
+
+Before Albertine could carry out the plans which she had formed in her
+mind, her father took the initiative by begging Edmund to paint _her_,
+as well. Edmund begun this work at once; but he did not find it so easy
+to satisfy himself with her portrait as with her father's. He put in a
+most careful outline, and then rubbed it out again; outlined once
+more--carefully--begun to lay on some colour, and then threw the whole
+thing aside; commenced again; altered the pose. There was always either
+too much light in the room, or not enough. The Commissionsrath, who had
+always been present at those sittings at first, got tired presently,
+and betook himself elsewhere.
+
+Upon this, Edmund came forenoon and afternoon, and if the picture did
+not make much progress, the love-affair made a great deal, and entwined
+itself more and more firmly. I have no doubt, dear reader, that your
+own experience has shown you that when one is in love, and wants to
+give to all the fond, longing words and wishes, which one has got to
+express, their due and proper effect, so that they may go to the
+listener's very heart, it is a matter of absolute necessity that one
+should take hold of the hand of the beloved object, press it, and kiss
+it; upon which, as by the operation of some sudden development of
+electrical force, lip goes into contact with lip; and the electricity
+(if that is what we are to call it), arrives at a condition of
+equilibrium by means of a fire-stream of sweetest kisses. Thus Edmund
+was very often obliged to stop painting, and not only that, but he had
+very frequently to get down from the scaffold upon which he and his
+easel were placed.
+
+Thus it came about that, one forenoon, he was standing with Albertine
+at the window, where the white curtains were drawn, and (on the
+principle we have been explaining), in order to give more force to what
+he was saying to her, was holding her in his arms, and kissing her
+hand.
+
+At this particular hour and moment, Mr. Tussmann, Clerk of the Privy
+Chancery, happened to be passing Bosswinkel's house, with the 'Treatise
+on Diplomatic Acumen,' and sundry tractates and pamphlets (in which
+the useful and the entertaining were combined in due measure) in his
+pockets. And although he was bounding along as fast as ever he
+could--according to his manner--because the clock was just on the very
+stroke of the hour at which he used always to enter his office, still
+he drew up for a moment, in order to cast a sentimental glance up at
+the window of his love.
+
+There he saw, as in a cloud, Albertine with Edmund; and, although he
+could not make out anything at all distinctly, his heart throbbed, he
+knew not why. Some strange sense of anxious alarm impelled him to
+undertake things previously unattempted, undreamt of, namely, to go
+upstairs to Albertine's rooms, at this totally unprecedented hour of
+the day.
+
+As he entered, Albertine was saying, quite distinctly:
+
+"Oh, yes, Edmund! I must always--always love you!" And she pressed
+Edmund to her heart, whilst a whole battery of "restoration of
+electrical equilibrium" began to go off, rushing and sparkling.
+
+The Clerk of the Privy Chancery walked mechanically forward into the
+room, and then stood, dumb and speechless, like a man in a cataleptic
+fit. In the height of their blissfulness the two lovers had not heard
+the elephantine tread of Tussmann's peculiar boot-like shoes, nor his
+opening of the door, nor his coming in, and striding into the middle of
+the room.
+
+He now squeaked out, in his high falsetto:
+
+"But--Miss Albertine Bosswinkel!----"
+
+Edmund and Albertine fled apart like lightning--he to his easel, she to
+the chair where she was supposed to be sitting for her portrait.
+Tussmann, after a short pause, during which he tried to get back his
+breath, resumed, saying--
+
+"But, Miss Albertine Bosswinkel, what are you doing? What are you
+after? First of all, you go and waltz with this young gentleman (I
+haven't the honour of his acquaintance), in the Town-hall at twelve
+o'clock at night, in a way that made me, your husband that is to be,
+almost lose the faculties of seeing and hearing; and now--here--in
+broad daylight, behind those curtains--Oh! Good gracious!--is this a
+way for an engaged young lady to go on?"
+
+"Who's an engaged young lady?" Albertine cried out, in immense
+indignation. "Whom are you talking about, Mr. Tussmann? Tell me, if you
+will be so kind."
+
+"Oh, thou, my Creator," cried Tussmann, in the fulness of his heart.
+"You ask, dearest Miss Albertine, who is an engaged young lady, and of
+whom I am talking? To whom else can I be alluding but to yourself? Are
+you not my future bride, whom I have so long adored in secret? Did not
+your dear papa ever so long ago promise me your beautiful, white, _so_
+kissable little hand?"
+
+"Mr. Tussmann," said Albertine; "either you have been to a wineshop,
+early as it is in the day--(my father says you go to them a great deal
+more than you ought),--or you've gone out of your mind in some
+extraordinary way. My father can never have had the slightest idea of
+_your_ marrying _me_."
+
+"Dearest Miss Albertine," cried Tussmann; "consider for a moment. You
+have known me for many long years. Have I not always been a man of the
+strictest moderation and temperance? Have I ever been given to
+dissipation? Can you suppose that I have taken to drinking and improper
+conduct all at once? Dearest Miss Albertine, I shall be only too happy
+to close my eyes to what I have seen going on here; not a syllable
+concerning it shall ever pass my lips--we'll forget and forgive. But
+remember, adored one, that you promised to marry me out of the tower
+window of the Town-hall at twelve o'clock at night; and, although you
+were waltzing in such a style with this young gentleman (whose
+acquaintance, as I said, I have not the honour of), still I----"
+
+"Don't you see?" interrupted Albertine; "don't you know, that you're
+talking all sorts of incoherent nonsense, like some lunatic out of the
+asylum? Please go away. I feel quite unwell; do go away, for goodness'
+sake."
+
+Tears started in Tussmann's eyes.
+
+"Oh, heavens!" he cried. "Treatment like this from the beloved Miss
+Albertine! No; I shall not go. I shall remain here till you have
+arrived at a truer opinion concerning my unworthy person, dearest Miss
+Albertine."
+
+"Go; go!" reiterated Albertine, running into a corner of the room, and
+covering her face with her handkerchief.
+
+"No, dearest Miss Albertine," answered Tussmann; "I shall not go
+until, in compliance with the sapient advice of Thomasius, I endeavour
+to----" and he made as if he would follow her into the corner.
+
+While this was going on, Edmund had been scumbling angrily at the
+background of his picture. But at this point he could contain himself
+no longer.
+
+"Damned, infernal scoundrel!" he cried, and flew at Tussmann, making
+four dashes over his face with the brush, full of a greyish green tint,
+which he had been working at his background with. Then he grasped him,
+opened the door, and sent him out of it with a kick so forcible that he
+went flying down stairs like an arrow out of a bow.
+
+Bosswinkel, who was just coming up, started back in much alarm as this
+school-chum of his came bumping into his arms.
+
+"What in the name of all that's----" he cried; "what's going on? what
+ails your face?" Tussmann, almost out of his mind, related all that had
+happened, in broken phrases; how Albertine had behaved to him--how
+Edmund had treated him. The Commissionsrath, brimful of rage and fury,
+took Tussmann by the hand and led him back to the room.
+
+"What's all this?" he cried to Albertine. "This is very pretty
+behaviour; is this the way you treat your husband that is to be?"
+
+"My husband that is to be?" echoed Albertine, in wild amazement.
+
+"Most undoubtedly!" the Commissionsrath answered. "I don't know why you
+should pretend to be in a state of mind about a matter which has been
+understood and arranged for such a long time. My dear old friend
+Tussmann is your affianced husband, and the wedding will come off in a
+week or two."
+
+"_Never!_" said Albertine. "Never will I marry him. Good heavens! how
+could anybody have _that_ old creature; nobody could ever bear him."
+
+"I don't know about 'bearing' him, or whether he's an 'old creature' or
+not," said her father. "What you have got to do is to marry him.
+Certainly my friend Tussmann is not one of your giddy young fools. Like
+myself, he has reached those years of discretion when a man is, very
+properly, considered to be at his best; and into the bargain, he is a
+fine, upright, straightforward, honourable fellow, most profoundly
+learned, perfectly eligible, in every way, and my old schoolfellow."
+
+"No!" cried Albertine, in the utmost agitation, with the tears starting
+to her eyes. "I can't endure him. He's insupportable to me. I hate him!
+I abhor him! Oh, Edmund!"
+
+She sank, almost fainting, into Edmund's arms; and he pressed her to
+his heart with the warmest affection.
+
+The Commissionsrath, utterly amazed, opened his eyes as wide as if he
+were seeing spectres, and then cried--"What's all this? what do I see?"
+
+"Ah, yes! yes, indeed!" Tussmann said, in a lamentable tone. "It
+appears, unfortunately, to be the fact that Miss Albertine doesn't care
+to have anything to do with me, and seems to cherish a remarkable
+partiality for this young gentleman--this painter (whose acquaintance I
+have not the honour of, by the way)--inasmuch as she kisses him without
+the slightest hesitation or shyness, though she will scarcely give
+wretched _me_ her hand. And yet I hope to place the ring on her lovely
+finger very shortly indeed."
+
+"Come away from one another, you two," the Commissionsrath cried out,
+and forced Albertine out of Edmund's arms. But Edmund shouted that he
+would never give her up, if it cost him his life.
+
+"Indeed, sir!" said the Commissionsrath, with scathing irony. "Nice
+business, upon my word! A fine little love-affair going on behind my
+back here! Excessively pretty! Very nice indeed, my young Mr. Lehsen!
+This is the meaning of your liberality--your cigars and your pictures.
+He comes sliding into my house--leads my daughter into all this sort of
+thing. A charming idea, that I should go and hang her round the neck of
+a miserable beggar of a dauber, without a rap to bless himself with!"
+
+Beyond himself with anger, Edmund had his mahlstick raised in the act
+to strike, when the voice of Leonhard was heard crying, in tones of
+thunder, as he burst in at the door--
+
+"Stop, Edmund! don't be in a hurry. Bosswinkel is a terrible ass; he'll
+think better of it presently."
+
+The Commissionsrath had run into a corner, frightened by the unexpected
+arrival of Leonhard; and, from that corner, he cried--"I really do not
+know, Mr. Leonhard, what business you have to----"
+
+But Tussmann had hidden himself behind the sofa as soon as he saw
+Leonhard come in. He was crouching down there, and chirping out, in a
+voice of terror--"Gracious powers! take care, Commissionsrath! Hold
+your tongue; don't say a word, dearest schoolfellow. Good God! here's
+the Herr Professor come, the Ball-Entrepreneur of Spandau Street."
+
+"Come along out, Tussmann," said the Goldsmith, laughing; "Don't be
+frightened, nothing's going to happen to you. You've been punished
+enough already for that foolish idea you had of wanting to marry. That
+poor face of yours is going to be green all the rest of the days of
+your life."
+
+"Oh Lord!" cried the Clerk of the Privy Chancery, almost out of his
+mind, "my face green for ever and ever! What will people say? What will
+His Excellency, the minister, say? His Excellency will think I have had
+my face painted green from motives of mere worldly vanity! Ah! it's all
+over with me. I shall be suspended from my official functions. The
+Government will never hear of such a thing as a Clerk of the Privy
+Chancery with a green face. Wretched man that I am; what's to become of
+me?"
+
+"Come, come, Tussmann!" the Goldsmith said; "don't make such a fuss. I
+have no doubt there's hope for you yet, if you pull yourself together,
+and get rid of this idiotic notion of marrying Miss Bosswinkel."
+
+In answer to this, Tussmann and Bosswinkel cried out together, in what
+is termed on the lyric stage "_ensemble_"--
+
+"I can't."
+
+"He shan't."
+
+The Goldsmith fixed his sparkling, penetrating eyes on the two of them;
+but just as he was going to burst out at them, the door opened, and in
+came Manasseh, with his nephew, Baron Benjamin Dümmerl, from Vienna.
+"Benjie" went straight up to Albertine--who had never seen him in her
+life before--and said, in a disagreeable, drawling tone, as he took her
+hand--
+
+"I have come here in person, dear Miss Bosswinkel, to lay myself at
+your feet. Of course you know that is a mere _façon de parler_. Baron
+Dümmerl doesn't really lay himself at anybody's feet, not even at the
+Emperor's. What I mean is--let me have a kiss."
+
+So saying, he went nearer to Albertine, and bent down towards her.
+
+But, at that moment, a something happened which neither he nor anybody
+else--except the Goldsmith--anticipated, and which caused them all much
+alarm. Benjie's rather sizeable nose suddenly shot forward to such a
+length that, passing beyond Albertine's face, it struck the opposite
+wall of the room with a tremendous, resounding bang. He started back a
+step or two, and his nose at once drew in to its ordinary dimensions.
+He approached Albertine again, with exactly the same result. To make a
+long tale short, his nose kept on shooting in and out like a trombone.
+
+"Cursed necromancer!" Manasseh roared; and took a thin cord, fastened
+in a sort of knot, out of his pocket, which he threw to the
+Commissionsrath, crying--"Throw that about the brute's neck--the
+Goldsmith, I mean--and then drag him out of the room. Never mind about
+ceremony. Do as I tell you. All will be right then."
+
+The Commissionsrath took hold of the noose, but instead of throwing it
+about the Goldsmith's neck, he threw it over the Jew's; and immediately
+he and the Jew began flying up to the ceiling and then down again. And
+so they went on, shooting up and down, while Benjie carried on his
+nose-concerto, and Tussmann laughed like a mad creature, till the
+Commissionsrath fell down nearly fainting in an arm-chair.
+
+"Now's the time! now's the time!" Manasseh cried. He slapped his
+pocket, and out sprung an enormous, horrible-looking mouse, which made
+a spring right at the Goldsmith. But as it was jumping at him, the
+Goldsmith transfixed it with a sharp needle of gold, upon which it gave
+a yell, and disappeared, none knew whither.
+
+Then Manasseh clenched his fists at the fainting Commissionsrath, and
+cried, with rage and hatred blazing in his face--
+
+"Ha! Melchior Bosswinkel! thou hast conspired against me. Thou art in
+league with this accursed sorcerer, whom thou hast brought into thine
+house. But cursed, cursed shalt thou be. Thou and all thy race shall be
+swept away like the helpless brood of a bird. The grass shall grow on
+thy doorstep, and all that thou settest thy hand to shall be as the
+dream of the famishing, who sates himself, in dreams, with savoury
+food. And the D[=a]-l[ve]s shall take up his dwelling in thine house,
+and consume thy substance. And thou shalt beg thy bread, in rags,
+before the doors of the despised people of God; and they shall drive
+thee away like a mangy cur, and thou shalt be cast to the earth like a
+rotten branch. And instead of the sound of the harp, moths shall be thy
+fellows, and dogs shall make a divan of the tomb of thy mother!
+Curses!--curses!--curses upon thee! Commissionsrath Melchior
+Bosswinkel!"
+
+And, having thus delivered himself, this raging Manasseh seized hold of
+his nephew, and went storming out of the house with him.
+
+Albertine, in her terror and horror, had taken refuge with Edmund,
+hiding her face on his breast; and he held her closely to him, though
+he had difficulty in mastering his own emotion. But the Goldsmith went
+up to those two, and said, with a smile, and in a gentle voice:
+
+"Don't you be put out in the slightest by all this business: everything
+will come right. I give you my word for it. But, just now, you must bid
+each other good-bye, before Tussmann and Bosswinkel come back to their
+senses."
+
+And he and Edmund left Bosswinkel's house.
+
+
+                               CHAPTER V.
+
+WHEREIN THE READER LEARNS WHAT THE D[=A]-L[vE]S IS: ALSO HOW THE
+      GOLDSMITH SAVES THE CLERK OF THE PRIVY CHANCERY FROM A MISERABLE
+      DEATH, AND CONSOLES THE DESPAIRING COMMISSIONSRATH.
+
+Bosswinkel was utterly shaken; more by Manasseh's curse than by
+the wild piece of spookery which, as he saw, the Goldsmith had been
+carrying on. And indeed it was a terrible curse, for it set the
+D[=a]-l[ve]s on to him.
+
+Dear reader, I don't know if you are aware what the D[=a]-l[ve]s of the
+Jews is.
+
+One of the Talmudists says that the wife of a certain poor Jew, one day
+on coming into her house, found a weazened, emaciated, naked stranger
+there, who begged her to give him the shelter of her roof, and food and
+drink. Being afraid, she went to her husband, and told him, in tones of
+complaint: "A naked, starving man has come in, asking for food and
+shelter. How are we to help him, when it is all we can do to keep body
+and soul together ourselves?" The husband said: "I will go to this
+stranger, and see how I can get him out of the house."
+
+"Why," he said to him, "hast thou come hither, I being so poor and
+unable to help thee? Begone! Betake thee to the house of Riches, where
+the cattle are fat, and the guests bidden to the feast!"
+
+"How," said the stranger, "canst thou drive me from this shelter which
+I have found? Thou seest that I am bare and naked: how can I go to the
+house of Riches? Have clothing made for me that shall be fitting, and I
+will leave thee." "Better," thought the master of the house, "better
+were it for me to spend all I possess in getting rid of him, than that
+he should stay, and consume whatever I earn in the time to come, as
+well." So he killed his last calf, on which he and his wife had thought
+to live for many days; sold the meat, and with the price provided good
+clothing for the stranger. But when he took the clothing to him,
+behold! the stranger, who had before been lean, and short of stature,
+was become tall and stout, so that the clothing was everywhere too
+short for him and too narrow. At this the poor Jew was much afraid. But
+the stranger said: "Give up the foolish idea of getting me out of thy
+house. Know that I am the D[=a]-l[ve]s!" At this the poor Jew wrung his
+hands and lamented, crying: "God of my fathers! I am scourged with the
+rod of Thine anger, and poverty-smitten for ever and ever! For if thou
+art the D[=a]-l[ve]s, thou wilt never leave us, but consume all that we
+have, and always grow bigger and stronger. For the D[=a]-l[ve]s is
+Poverty; which, when once it takes up its abode in a house, never
+departs from it, but ever increases more and more."
+
+If, then, the Commissionsrath was terrified that Manasseh, by his
+curse, had brought poverty into his house, on the other hand, he stood
+in the utmost dread of Leonhard, who, to say nothing of the
+extraordinary magical powers at his command, had a certain something
+about him which created a decided sense of awe. The Commissionsrath
+could not but feel that there was nothing (with respect to the two of
+them) which one could "do;" and thus the full brunt of his anger was
+discharged upon Edmund Lehsen, upon whom he laid all the blame of all
+the "unpleasantness" which had come about. Over and above all this,
+Albertine came to the front, and declared, of her own motion, having
+evidently completely made up her mind on the subject--declared, we say,
+with the utmost distinctness, that she loved Edmund more than words
+could express, and would never marry either that insufferable and
+unendurable old pedant of a Tussmann, or that equally not-to-be-heard-of
+beast of a Baron Benjamin. So that the Commissionsrath got into the
+most tremendous rage imaginable, and wished Edmund at (ahem!) Hong
+Kong, or Jericho, or, to speak idiomatically, "where the pepper grows."
+But inasmuch as he could not carry this wish into effect, as the late
+French Government did (which actually _did_ send objectionable persons
+to the place "where the pepper grows"), he had to be content with
+writing Edmund a nice little note, into which he poured all the gall
+and venom which was in him at the time (and that was not a little), and
+which ended by telling him that if ever he crossed his, the
+Commissionsrath's, threshold again, he had better--look out for
+squalls.
+
+Of course we all know the state of inconsolable despair in which
+Leonhard found Edmund, when he went to see him, at the fall of the
+twilight, according to his wont.
+
+"What have _I_ to thank you for?" Edmund cried, indignantly. "Of what
+service have your protection and all your efforts been to _me_? Your
+attempts to send this cursed rival of mine out of my way--what has been
+the result of them? Those damnable conjuring tricks of yours--all
+that _they_ have done has been to send everybody into a state of
+higgledy-piggledy, where nobody knows what to think of anything! Even
+that darling girl of mine is in the same boat with all the rest of them.
+It's just this stupid, nonsensical bosh of yours--that, and nothing
+else,--which is blocking up _my_ way, and so I tell you. Oh Lord! the
+only thing which I can see that I can do is to be off to Rome at once,
+and, I can assure you, I mean to do it, too."
+
+"Just so," the Goldsmith said: "that is exactly what I want you to do.
+Be good enough to remember what I said to you when you first told me
+you were in love with Albertine. I said my idea was that a young artist
+was right to be in love, but that he should not go and marry, all at
+once, because that was most inadvisable. When I said that to you, I
+brought to your mind, half in jest, the case of Sternbald; but now I
+tell you, in the utmost seriousness, that, if you really wish to become
+a great painter, you must put all ideas of marrying out of your head.
+Go you away, free and glad, into the Father-land of Art; study, in the
+most enthusiastic manner that ever you can, the inner-being of that
+world of Art; and then, and only then, will the technical and practical
+skill (which you might pick up here) be of the slightest real use to
+you."
+
+"Good gracious!" Edmund cried, "what an idiot I was to say anything to
+you about my love affairs. I see, now, that it was you--you, on whom I
+relied for advice and help in them--who have been purposely throwing
+difficulties in the way, playing Old Harry with my most special heart's
+desires, out of mere nastiness and unkindness."
+
+"My good young sir!" the Goldsmith said, "just be good enough to keep a
+rather quieter tongue in your head. Don't be quite so forcible in your
+expressions. Please to remember that you have got one or two things to
+learn, still, before you can quite see through _me_. _I_ can excuse
+you, of course. I know very well what has upset your temper. This
+insane spooniness of yours."
+
+"As regards Art," Edmund said, "I really can't see why I should not go
+to Rome and study, though I do stand in this intimate relation with
+Albertine. You say yourself that I have a certain amount of 'turn' for
+painting, and some practical skill, already. What I was thinking of
+was, that, as soon as I was quite sure that Albertine would be mine,
+one day, I should be off to Italy; spend a year there, and then come
+back to my darling girl, having some real knowledge of my work."
+
+"What, Edmund?" the Goldsmith cried; "was this really your idea,
+arrived at after proper consideration?"
+
+"Yes," Edmund answered: "deeply as I love Albertine, my heart burns for
+that grand country which is the home of my Art."
+
+"Will you give me your sacred word," the Goldsmith asked, "that if you
+are sure that Albertine is yours you will be off at once to Italy?"
+
+"Why shouldn't I?" Edmund replied, "inasmuch as it is my firm
+determination to do so? It always has been so, and would be so--if she
+were to be mine (I have my doubts as to whether she over will or not").
+
+"Well, Edmund," the Goldsmith said, "be of good courage. This firm
+resolve of yours has gained you your sweetheart. I give you my word of
+honour that in a very few days Albertine will be your affianced wife.
+And you know well enough that you need have no doubt as to my having
+the power to keep my word."
+
+Joy and rapture beamed from Edmund's eyes; and the mysterious Goldsmith
+went quickly away, leaving him to all the sweet hopes and dreams which
+had been awakened in his heart.
+
+In an out-of-the-way corner of the Thiergarten, under a shady tree, the
+Clerk of the Privy Chancery, Mr. Tussmann, was lying "like a dropped
+acorn," as Celia, in 'As You Like It,' expresses it, or like a wounded
+knight, pouring forth his heart's complainings to the perfidious autumn
+breeze.
+
+"Oh, God of justice!" he lamented. "Unhappy, pitiable Clerk of the
+Privy Chancery that you are! how did you ever come to deserve all the
+misery which has fallen to your share? Thomasius says that the estate
+of matrimony in no wise hinders the acquisition of wisdom. And yet,
+though you have only been _thinking_ of entering into that estate, you
+have nearly lost that proportion of understanding (and it was not so
+very small, neither,) which originally fell to your share. Whence comes
+the aversion which dear Miss Bosswinkel displays towards your--not
+particularly striking, but still, fairly well endowed--personality? Are
+you a politician, who ought not to take a wife (as some have laid
+down), or an expert in the laws, who (according to Cleobolus) ought to
+give his wife a licking if she misbehaves herself? Am I either of
+those, that this beautiful creature should be warranted in entertaining
+some certain quantum of bashful repugnance to me? Why, oh, why, dearest
+Clerk of the Privy Chancery, Tussmann, must you go and get mixed up
+with a lot of horrible wizards, and raging painters, who took your face
+for a stretched canvas, and painted a Salvator Rosa picture on it
+without saying with your leave or by your leave? Aye! that's the worst
+of the business! I put all my trust in my friend, Herr Seccius, whose
+knowledge of chemistry is so extensive and so profound, and who can
+help people out of every difficulty. But all in vain! The more I rub my
+face with the liquid he gave me, the greener I get! though the green
+does take on the most extraordinary variety of different tints and
+shades that anybody could imagine. My face has been a face of spring,
+of summer, and of autumn. Ah, yes! it's this greenness which is driving
+me to my destruction. And if I don't attain to the whiteness of winter
+(the proper colour for me), I shall run desperate, pitch myself into
+this frog-pond here, and die a green death!"
+
+It was no wonder that Tussmann complained most bitterly, for the colour
+of his countenance was a very great annoyance to him. It was not like
+any ordinary oil-colour, but as if it were some cleverly compounded
+tincture or dye, sunk into his skin, and not to be obliterated by any
+human means. In the day-time the poor wretch dared not go about except
+with his hat down over his eyes, and a pocket-handkerchief before his
+face. And even when night came on he could only venture to go flitting
+through the more out-of-the-way streets at a gallop. He dreaded the
+street-boys, and he also was afraid that he might come across somebody
+belonging to his office, as he had reported himself sick.
+
+We often feel any trouble that has befallen us more keenly in the
+silent hours of night than during the more stirring daylight. And
+so--as the clouds rolled blacker and blacker over the sky, as the
+shadows of the trees fell deeper, and the autumn wind soughed louder
+and louder through the branches--Tussmann, as he pondered over all his
+wretchedness, got into a state of the profoundest despair.
+
+The terrible idea of jumping into the green frog-pond, and so
+terminating a baffled career, assailed his mind so irresistibly that he
+looked on it as an unmistakable hint of destiny, which he was bound to
+obey.
+
+"Yes!" he cried, getting up from the grass, where he had been lying;
+"yes!" he shouted; "it's all over with you, Clerk of the Privy
+Chancery! Despair and die, good Tussmann; Thomasius can't help you! On,
+to a green death! Farewell, terrible Miss Albertine Bosswinkel! Your
+husband, that was to have been--whom you despised so cruelly--you will
+never see again! Here he goes, into the frog-pond!"
+
+Like a mad creature he rushed to the edge of the basin (in the darkness
+it looked like a fine, smooth, broad road, with trees on each side of
+it), and there he remained standing for a time.
+
+Doubtless the notion of the nearness of death affected his mind; for he
+sang, in a high-pitched, penetrating voice, that Scotch song, which has
+the refrain--
+
+           "Green grow the rashes, oh!
+            Green grow the rashes!"
+
+
+And he shied the 'Diplomatic Acumen,' and the 'Handbook for Court and
+City,' and also 'Hufeland, on the Art of Prolonging Life,' into the
+water, and was in the very act of jumping after them, when he felt
+himself seized from behind by a pair of powerful arms.
+
+He at once recognized the well-known voice of the necromantic
+Goldsmith. It said--"Tussmann, what are you after? I beg you not to
+make an ass of yourself; don't go playing idiotic tricks of this sort."
+
+Tussmann strove with all his might to get out of the Goldsmith's grasp,
+while, scarcely capable of utterance, he croaked out--
+
+"Herr Professor! I am in a state of desperation, and all ordinary
+considerations are in abeyance. Herr Professor, I sincerely trust
+you will not take it ill if a Clerk of the Privy Chancery, who is
+(as we have said) in a state of desperation, and who (in ordinary
+circumstances) is well versed in the _convenances_ of official
+etiquette--I say, I hope you won't take it ill, Herr Professor, if I
+assert, openly and unceremoniously, that (under all the circumstances
+of the case) I wish to heaven that you and all your magic tricks were
+at the devil! along with your unendurable familiarity, your 'Tussmann!
+Tussmann!' never giving me my official title!----there!"
+
+The Goldsmith let him go, and he tumbled down, exhausted, in the long,
+wet grass.
+
+Believing himself to be in the basin, he cried out, "Oh, cold death!
+oh, green rashes! oh, meadows! I bid ye farewell. I leave you my
+kindest wishes, dearest Miss Albertine Bosswinkel. Commissionsrath,
+good-bye! The unfortunate 'intended' is lying amongst the frogs that
+praise God in the summer time."
+
+"Tussmann," cried the Goldsmith, in a powerful voice, "don't you see
+that you're out of your senses, and worn out and wretched into the
+bargain? You want to send me to the devil! What if I _were_ the Devil,
+and should set to and twist that neck of yours, here on this spot,
+where you think you're lying in the water?"
+
+Tussmann sighed, groaned, and shuddered as if in the most violent ague.
+
+"But I mean you kindly, Tussmann," the Goldsmith said; "and your
+desperate condition excuses everything. Get up, and come along with
+me." And he helped him to get on his legs.
+
+Tussmann, completely exhausted, said, in a whisper--
+
+"I am completely in your power, most honoured Herr Professor. Do what
+you will with my miserable body; but I most humbly beg you to spare my
+immortal soul."
+
+"Do not talk such absurd nonsense," the Goldsmith said, "but come along
+with me as fast as you can." He took hold of Tussmann by the arm, and
+led him away. But when they came to where the walk which leads to the
+Zelten crosses at right angles, he pulled up, and said--
+
+"Wait a moment, Tussmann. You're wet through, and look like I don't
+know what. Just let me wipe your face, at all events."
+
+The Goldsmith took a handkerchief of dazzling whiteness out of his
+pocket, and wiped Tussmann's face with it.
+
+The bright lights of the Weberschen Zelt were visible, shining brightly
+through the trees. Tussmann cried out, in alarm--
+
+"For God's sake, Herr Professor, where are you taking me? Not into
+town? not to my own lodgings? not (oh, heavens!) into society, amongst
+my fellow-men? Good heavens! I can't be seen. Wherever I go I give rise
+to unpleasantness--create a _scandalum_."
+
+"Tussmann," said the Goldsmith, "I cannot understand that ridiculous
+shyness of yours. What do you mean by it? Don't be an ass. What you
+want is a drop of something pretty strong. I should say a tumbler of
+hot punch, else we shall be having you laid up with a feverish cold.
+Come on!"
+
+Tussmann kept on lamenting as to his greenness, and his Salvator Rosa
+face; but the Goldsmith paid not the slightest attention to him, merely
+hurrying him along with him at a rapid rate.
+
+When they got into the brightly lighted coffee-room, Tussmann hid his
+face in his handkerchief, as there were still some people there.
+
+"What's the matter with you, Tussmann?" the Goldsmith asked. "Why do
+you keep hiding that good-looking face of yours, eh?"
+
+"Oh, dearest Herr Professor, you know all about this awful face of
+mine," Tussmann answered. "You know how that terrible, passionate
+painter young gentleman went and daubed it all over with green paint?"
+
+"Nonsense," said the Goldsmith, taking the Clerk of the Privy Chancery
+by the shoulders and placing him right in front of the big mirror
+at the top of the room, while he threw a strong light on to him
+from a branched candlestick which he had taken up. Tussmann forced
+himself--much against the grain--to look. He could not restrain a loud
+cry of "Gracious heavens!"
+
+For not only had the terrible green tint of his face disappeared, but
+he had a much more beautiful complexion than he ever had had in his
+life, and was looking several years younger. In the excess of his
+delight he jumped up and down with both feet together, and cried, in a
+voice of sweet emotion--"Oh, just Heaven! what do I see? what do I
+contemplate? Most honoured Herr Professor, I have no doubt that it is
+to you that I am indebted for this great happiness!--to you alone! Ah!
+now I feel little doubt that Miss Albertine Bosswinkel--for whose dear
+sake I was so very nearly jumping into the frog-pond--won't make much
+difficulty about accepting me. Really, dearest Professor, you have
+rescued me from the very profoundest depths of misery. There is no
+doubt that I did feel a certain sense of relief and well-being when you
+were so kind as to pass that snow-white handkerchief of yours over my
+face. You really were my benefactor, were you not?"
+
+"I won't deny, Tussmann," the Goldsmith answered, "that I wiped the
+green colour away from your face; and, from that, you may gather that I
+am not by any means so much your enemy as you have supposed me to be.
+What I can't bear to think of is this ridiculous notion of yours (which
+you have allowed the Commissionsrath to put in your head) that you are
+going to go and marry a splendid young creature, bursting with life and
+love. It is this, I say, which I can't bear to think about. And even
+now--though you have scarcely got clear of the little trick which has
+been played on you--you see, you go and begin at once to think about
+this marriage again. I feel inclined to take away your appetite for it
+in a very effectual style; and I could do so if I chose, without the
+slightest difficulty. However, I don't want to go so far as that. But
+what my advice to you would be is--that you should keep as quiet, and
+as much out of the way as ever you can till Sunday next, at twelve
+o'clock at noon, and then you will see more into things. If you dare to
+go and see Albertine before that time, I will make you go on dancing in
+her presence till your breath and senses abandon you. Then I will
+transform you into the very greenest of frogs, and chuck you into the
+basin of the Thiergarten, or into the River Spree itself, where you'll
+go on croaking till the end of your days. Good-bye! I have something to
+do in town which obliges me to get back there as quickly as possible.
+You won't be able to follow me, or keep up with me. Good-bye!"
+
+The Goldsmith was right in saying that it would not be possible for
+Tussmann, or anybody else, to keep up with him, for he was off through
+the door and out of sight, as if he had Schlemihl's seven-leagued boots
+on.
+
+Perhaps this was why, the next minute after he had disappeared from
+Tussmann, he appeared suddenly, like a ghost, in the Commissionsrath's
+room, and bade him good evening in a rough tone.
+
+The Commissionsrath was very frightened, but he pulled himself
+together, and asked the Goldsmith, with some warmth, what he meant by
+coming in at that time of the night, adding that he wished he would
+take himself off, and not bother him any more with any of those
+conjuring tricks of his, as he presumed he was about to do.
+
+"Ah!" said the Goldsmith very calmly, "that is how people are,
+particularly Commissionsraths. Just the very people who come to them,
+wishing to do them a service, into whose arms they ought to throw
+themselves with a confident heart--just those are the people whom they
+want to kick out of the door. My good Herr Commissionsrath, you are a
+poor unfortunate man, a real object of pity and commiseration. I have
+come here--I have _hastened_ here--at this late hour of the night, to
+consult with you as to how this terrible blow which is hanging over you
+may be averted--if averted it can be--and you----"
+
+"Oh, God," the Commissionsrath cried, "another bankruptcy in Hamburg, I
+suppose, or in Bremen, or London, to ruin me out and out! That was all
+that was wanted. Oh, I'm a ruined man!"
+
+"No," the Goldsmith said, "it's an affair of a different kind
+altogether; you say that you won't allow young Edmund Lehsen to marry
+Albertine, do you not?"
+
+"What's the good of talking about such a piece of absurdity?" the
+Commissionsrath replied. "I to give my daughter to this beggar of a
+penciller."
+
+"Well," said the Goldsmith, "he has painted a couple of magnificent
+portraits of you and her."
+
+"Oh, oh," cried Bosswinkel, "a fine piece of business it would be to
+hand over my daughter for a couple of daubs on canvas; I've sent the
+trash back to him."
+
+"If you don't let Edmund have your daughter," the Goldsmith continued,
+"he will have his revenge."
+
+"Pretty story!" answered Bosswinkel. "What revenge is this little bit
+of a beggar, who dribbles paints on to canvas, and hasn't a farthing to
+bless himself with, going to take upon Commissionsrath Melchior
+Bosswinkel, I should like to know?"
+
+"I'll tell you that in a moment," said the Goldsmith. "Edmund is going
+to alter your portrait in a way which you thoroughly deserve. The
+kindly, smiling face he is going to turn into a sour, grumpy one, with
+lowering brow, bleary eyes, and hanging lips. He will deepen the
+wrinkles on the brow and cheeks, and he won't omit to indicate, in
+proper colour, those grey hairs which the powder is intended to hide.
+Before you, instead of the pleasant news about the lottery prize, he
+will write, very legibly, the most unpleasant purport of the letter
+which came to you the day before yesterday, telling you that Campbell
+and Co. of London had stopped payment, addressed on the envelope to the
+'Bankrupt Commissionsrath,' &c., &c. From the torn pockets of your
+waistcoat he will show ducats, thalers, and treasury bills falling, to
+indicate the losses you have had, and this picture will be put in the
+window of the picture dealer next door to the bank in Hunter Street."
+
+"The demon, the blackguard," the Commissionsrath cried; "he shan't do
+that, I'll send for the police, I'll appeal to the courts for an
+interim interdict!"
+
+The Goldsmith said, with much tranquillity, "As soon as even fifty
+people have seen this picture, that is to say, after it has been in the
+window for a brief quarter of an hour, the tale will be all over the
+town, with every description of addition and exaggeration. Every thing
+in the least degree ridiculous which has ever been said about you, or
+is being said now, will be brought up again, dressed in fresh and more
+brilliant colours. Every one you meet will laugh in your face, and,
+what is the worst of all, everybody will talk about your losses in the
+Campbell bankruptcy, so your credit will be gone."
+
+"Oh, Lord," said Bosswinkel, "but he must let me have the picture back,
+the scoundrel? Ay; that he must, the first thing in the morning."
+
+"And if he were to agree to do so," the Goldsmith said, ("of which I
+have great doubts) how much the better would you be? He's making a
+copper etching of you, as I have just described you. He'll have several
+hundred copies thrown off, touch them up himself _con amore_, and send
+them all over the world--to Hamburg, Bremen, Lübeck, London even."
+
+"Stop, stop," Bosswinkel cried; "go, as fast as you can, to this
+terrible fellow; offer him fifty, yes, offer him a hundred thalers if
+he will let this business about my portrait remain in _statu quo_."
+
+"Ha! ha! ha!" laughed the Goldsmith; "you forget that Lehsen doesn't
+care a fiddlestick about money. His people are well off. His
+grand-aunt, Miss Lehsen, who lives in Broad Street, is going to leave
+him all her money, Ł12,000 at the very least."
+
+"What," the Commissionsrath cried, pale with the suddenness of his
+amazement, "Ł12,000. I tell you what it is. I believe Albertine is
+crazy about young Lehsen, and I'm not a bad-hearted fellow. I am an
+affectionate father; can't bear crying, and all that sort of thing.
+When she sets her heart on a thing, I can't refuse her. Besides, I like
+the fellow; he's a first-rate painter, you know; and where Art is
+concerned I'm a perfect gaby. There are a great many capital points
+about Lehsen. Ł12,000. I'll tell you what it is, Leonhard, just out of
+mere goodheartedness, I shall let this nice young fellow have my
+daughter."
+
+"Hm!" said the Goldsmith, "there's something queer, too, which I want
+to speak to you about. I was at the Thiergarten just before I came
+here, and I found your old friend and schoolfellow, Tussmann, going to
+jump into the water because Albertine wouldn't have anything to say to
+him. I had the greatest difficulty in preventing him from doing it; and
+it was only by telling him that you would be quite certain to keep your
+word, and make her marry him, that I did succeed in preventing him.
+Now, if this is not so, if she doesn't marry him, and if you give her
+to young Lehsen, there cannot be a doubt that the Clerk of the Privy
+Chancery will carry out his idea of jumping into that basin. Think what
+a sensation the suicide of a person of Tussmann's 'respectability' will
+create. Everybody will consider that you, and no other, are responsible
+for his death. You will be looked upon with horror and contempt. Nobody
+will ask you to dinner, and if you go to a café to see what's in the
+papers, you will be shown to the door, or kicked downstairs; and more
+than that, Tussmann bears the very highest character in his profession.
+All his superiors have a very high opinion of him; the Government
+departments think him a most valuable official. If you are supposed to
+be answerable for his death, you know that you need never expect to
+find a single member of the Privy Legation, or of the Upper Chamber of
+Finance, in when you go to see them. None of the offices which your
+business affairs require you to be _en rapport_ with will have a word
+to say to you. Your title of Commissionsrath will be taken from you,
+blow will follow upon blow, your credit will be gone, your income will
+fall away, things will go from bad to worse, till at last, in poverty,
+misery and contempt, you will--"
+
+"For God's sake stop!" cried the Commissionsrath, "you are putting me
+to a regular martyrdom. Who would have thought that Tussmann would have
+been such a goose at his time of life? But you are quite right;
+whatever happens, I must keep my word to him, or I'm a ruined man. Yes,
+it is so ordained, Tussmann must marry Albertine."
+
+"You're forgetting all about Baron Dümmerl," said the Goldsmith, "and
+Manasseh's terrible curse. In him, if you reject Baron Benjie, you have
+the most fearful enemy. He will oppose you in all your speculations;
+will stick at no means of injuring your credit, take every possible
+opportunity of doing you an ill turn, and never rest till he has
+brought you to shame and disgrace; till the D[=a]-l[ve]s, which he laid
+upon you along with his curse, has actually taken up its abode in your
+house; so that, you see, whatever you do with Albertine, to whichsoever
+of her wooers you give her, you get into trouble, and that is why I
+said at the beginning, that you are a poor, unfortunate man, an object
+of pity and commiseration."
+
+Bosswinkel ran up and down the room like a lunatic, crying over and
+over again, "It's all over with me; I am a miserable man, a ruined
+Commissionsrath. O Lord, if I only could get the girl off my shoulders;
+the devil take the whole lot of them, Lehsen, and Benjie, and my old
+Tussmann into the bargain."
+
+"Now," said the Goldsmith, "there is one way of getting out of all this
+mess."
+
+"What is it?" said Bosswinkel; "I'll adopt it, whatever it is."
+
+Leonhard said, "Did you ever see the play of 'The Merchant of Venice'?"
+
+"That's the piece," answered Bosswinkel, "where Devrient plays a
+bloody-minded Jew of the name of Shylock, who wants a pound of a
+merchant's flesh. Of course I've seen it, but what has that to do with
+the matter?"
+
+"You will remember," the Goldsmith said, "that there is a certain
+wealthy young lady in it of the name of Portia, whose father so
+arranged matters in his will that her hand is made a species of prize
+in a kind of lottery. Three caskets are set out, of which her wooers
+have each to choose one, and open it. The one who finds Portia's
+portrait in the casket which he chooses obtains her hand. Now do you,
+Commissionsrath, as a living father, do what her dead father did. Tell
+the three wooers that, inasmuch as one of them is exactly the same to
+you as another, they must allow chance to decide between them. Set up
+three caskets for them to choose amongst, and let the one who finds her
+portrait in his casket be her husband."
+
+"What an extraordinary idea," said the Commissionsrath; "and even if I
+were to go in for it, do you suppose, dear Mr. Leonhard, that I should
+be one bit better off? When chance did decide the matter, I should
+still have to deal with the rage and hatred of the unsuccessful two."
+
+"Wait a moment," the Goldsmith said; "it is just there that the
+important part of the business lies. I promise that I will order and
+arrange the affair of the caskets so that it shall turn out happily and
+satisfactorily for all parties. The two who make mistakes shall find in
+their caskets, not a scornful dismissal, like the Princes of Morocco
+and Arragon, but something which shall so greatly please and delight
+them that they will think no more of marrying Albertine, but will look
+upon you as the author of unhoped, undreamt of happiness to them."
+
+"Oh, can it be possible!" the Commissionsrath cried.
+
+"Not only is it possible," the Goldsmith answered, "but it will, it
+must happen, exactly as I have said it will; I give you my word for
+it."
+
+The Commissionsrath made no further objection, and they arranged that
+the Goldsmith's plan should be put in execution on the next Sunday at
+noon. Leonhard undertook to provide the three caskets, all ready.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VI.
+
+         WHAT HAPPENED AT THE CHOOSING OF THE CASKETS, AND THE
+                        CONCLUSION OF THE TALE.
+
+As may be imagined, Albertine got into a condition of the most utter
+despair when her father told her about the wretched lottery in which
+her hand was to be the prize, and all her prayers and tears were
+powerless to turn him from this idea, when he had once got it fairly
+into his head. Then, besides this, Lehsen seemed indifferent and
+indolent, in a way that nobody who really loved could be, not making
+any attempt to see her privately, or even to send her a message.
+
+On the Saturday night before the fateful Sunday she was sitting alone
+in her room, as the twilight was deepening into night, her mind full of
+the misfortune which was threatening her. She was calculating whether
+or not it would be better to come to a speedy determination to fly from
+her father's roof, rather than wait till the most fearful destiny
+conceivable should accomplish itself, that of marrying either the
+pedantic old Tussmann, or the insufferable Baron Benjie, and then she
+remembered the mysterious Goldsmith, and the strange, supernatural way
+in which he had prevented the Baron from touching her. She felt quite
+sure that he had been on Edmund's side then; wherefore a hope began to
+dawn in her heart that it must be on him that she should rely for help
+at this crisis of her affairs. Above all things she wished that she
+only could just have a little talk with him then and there; and was
+quite sure that she shouldn't be at all frightened, really, if he were
+to appear to her suddenly, in some strange, spectral sort of manner.
+
+So that she really was not in the least frightened when she saw that
+what she had been thinking was the stove was really Leonhard the
+Goldsmith, who came up to her and said, in a gentle, harmonious
+voice:--
+
+"My dear child, lay aside all grief and anxiety. Edmund Lehsen, whom,
+at present at all events, you believe you love, is a special _protégé_
+of mine; and I am helping him with all the power at my command. Let me
+further tell you that it was I who put the lottery idea into your
+father's head; that I am going to provide and prepare the caskets, and,
+of course, you see that no one but Edmund will find your portrait."
+
+Albertine felt inclined to shout for joy. The Goldsmith continued:--
+
+"I could have brought about the giving of your hand to Edmund in other
+ways; but I particularly wish to make the two rivals, Tussmann and the
+Baron, completely contented at the same time. So that that is going to
+be done, and you and your father will be quite sure to have no more
+trouble on their part."
+
+Albertine poured forth the warmest expressions of gratitude. She almost
+fell at his feet, she pressed his hand to her heart, she declared that,
+notwithstanding all the magic tricks he had performed, nay, even after
+the way he had come into her room, she wasn't in the least afraid of
+him; and she concluded with the somewhat naive request that he would
+tell her all about himself, and who he really was.
+
+"My dear child," he answered, "it would not be by any means an easy
+matter for me to tell you exactly who I am. Like many others, I know
+much better whom I take other people for than what I really and truly
+am myself. But I may tell you, my dear, that many think I am none other
+than that Leonhard Turnhäuser the Goldsmith, who was such a famous
+character at the court of the Elector Johann Georg, in the year 1580,
+and who disappeared, none knew how or where, when envy and calumny
+tried to ruin him; and if the members of the imaginative or romantic
+school say that I am this Turnhäuser, a spectral being, you may imagine
+what I have to suffer at the hands of the solid and enlightened portion
+of the community, the respectable citizens, and the men of business,
+who think they have something better to do than to bother their heads
+about poetry and romance. Then, even the aesthetic people want to watch
+me and dog my steps, just as the doctors and the divines did in Johann
+Georg's time, and try to embitter and spoil whatever little modicum of
+an existence I am able to lay claim to, as much as ever they can. My
+dear girl, I see well enough already, that though I take all this
+tremendous interest in young Edmund Lehsen and you, and turn up at
+every corner like a regular _deux ex machina_, there will be plenty of
+people of the same way of thinking with those of the aesthetic school,
+who will never be able to swallow me, historically speaking, who will
+never be able to bring themselves to believe that I ever really existed
+at all. So that, just that I might manage to get something like a more
+or less firm footing, I have never ventured to say, in so many words,
+that I am Leonard Turnhäuser, the Goldsmith of the sixteenth century.
+The folks in question are quite welcome to say, if they please, that I
+am a clever conjurer, and find the explanations of every one of my
+tricks (as they may style the phenomena and the results which I
+produce) in Wieglieb's 'Natural Magic,' or some book of the kind. I
+have still one more 'feat,' as they would call it, to perform, which
+neither Philidor, nor Philadelphia, nor Cagliostro, nor any other
+conjurer would be able to do, and which, being completely inexplicable,
+must always remain a stumbling-block to the kind of people in question.
+But I cannot help performing it, because it is indispensable to the
+_dénouement_ of this Berlinese tale of the Choice of a Bride by three
+personages, suitors for the hand of Miss Albertine Bosswinkel. So keep
+up your heart, my dear child, rise to-morrow morning in good time, put
+on the dress which you like the best, because it is the most becoming
+you happen to have; do your hair in the way you think suits you best,
+and then await, as quietly and patiently as you can, what will happen."
+
+He disappeared exactly as he had come.
+
+On the next day--the Sunday--at eleven o'clock--the appointed
+time--there arrived at the place of rendezvous old Manasseh with his
+hopeful nephew--Tussmann--and Edmund Lehsen with the Goldsmith. The
+wooers, not excepting the Baron, were almost frightened when they saw
+Albertine, who had never seemed so lovely and taking. I am in a
+position to assure every lady, married or otherwise, who attaches the
+proper amount of importance to dress, that the way in which Albertine's
+was trimmed, and the material of the trimmings, were most elegant; that
+the frock itself was just the right length to show her pretty little
+feet in their white satin shoes; that the arms of it (short, of
+course), and the corsage were bordered with the richest Point; that her
+white French gloves came up to just the least little bit above her
+elbows, showing her beautiful arm; that the only thing she had on her
+head was a lovely gold comb set with jewels; in short, that her dress
+was quite that of a bride, except that she had no myrtle wreath in her
+bonny brown hair. But the reason why she was so much more beautiful
+than she ever had been before was that love and hope beamed in her eyes
+and bloomed on her cheeks.
+
+Bosswinkel, in a burst of hospitality, had provided a splendid lunch.
+Old Manasseh glowered at the table laid out for this repast with
+malignant glances askance, and when the Commissionsrath begged him to
+fall to, on his countenance could be read the answer of Shylock:--
+
+"Yes, to smell pork, to eat of the habitation which your prophet, the
+Nazarite, conjured the devil into. I will buy with you, sell with you,
+talk with you, walk with you, and so following; but I will not eat with
+you, drink with you, nor pray with you."
+
+The Baron was less conscientious, for he ate more beefsteak than was
+seemly, and talked a great deal of stupid nonsense, as was his wont.
+
+The Commissionsrath behaved wholly contrarily to his nature on this
+important occasion. Not only did he pour out bumpers of Port and
+Madeira, regardless of expense, and even told the company that he had
+some Madeira in his cellar a hundred years old; but when the luncheon
+was over he explained to the suitors the method in which his daughter's
+hand was to be disposed of in a speech much better put together than
+anybody would ever have expected of him. They were given to understand
+most clearly that the successful one must find her portrait in the
+casket which he chose.
+
+When twelve o'clock struck the door of the hall opened, and there was
+seen in the middle of it a table with a rich cover on it, bearing the
+three caskets.
+
+One was of shining gold, with a circle of glittering ducats on its lid,
+and the inscription inside them--
+
+     "Who chooseth me doth gain that which he much desires."
+
+The second was of silver, richly chased. On its lid were many words and
+letters of foreign languages, encircling this inscription--
+
+     "Who chooseth me doth find more than he hopes."
+
+The third, plainly carved of ivory, was inscribed--
+
+     "Who chooseth me doth gain his dreamed-of bliss."
+
+Albertine took her place on a chair behind the table, her father by her
+side. Manasseh and the Goldsmith drew away into the background.
+
+The lots were drawn, and, Tussmann having the first choice, the Baron
+and Edmund had to go into the other room.
+
+The Clerk of the Privy Chancery went carefully and considerately up to
+the table, looked at the caskets with much minuteness of observation,
+read the inscriptions on them one after another. Soon he found himself
+irresistibly attracted by the beautiful characters of foreign languages
+so charmingly intertwined on the cover of the silver casket.
+
+"Good heavens!" he cried, "what beautiful lettering, with what skill
+those Arabic characters are brought in amongst the Roman letters, and
+'Who chooseth me doth gain more than he hopes.' Now have I gone on
+cherishing the slightest hope that Miss Albertine would be so gracious
+as to honour me with her hand? wasn't I going to throw myself into the
+basin? Evidently here is comfort, here is good fortune.
+Commissionsrath! Miss Albertine! I choose the silver one."
+
+Albertine rose and handed him a little key, with which he opened the
+casket. Great was his consternation to find, not Albertine's portrait,
+but a little book bound in parchment, which, when he opened it,
+appeared to consist of blank white pages. Beside it lay a little scrap
+of paper, with the words--
+
+           "Thy choice was, in a way, amiss,
+            But those few words do tell thee this--
+            What thou hast won will never alter,
+            To use it thou needs't never falter.
+            What 'tis as yet thou dost not see,
+            An endless source of joy 'twill be.
+            _Ignorantiam_ 'twill enlighten,
+            _Sapientiam_ further brighten."
+
+"Good heavens!" cried Tussmann, "it's a book. Yet, no, it's not a book,
+and there's nothing in the shape of a portrait. It's merely a lot of
+paper bound up together; my hopes are dashed to earth, all is over with
+me now. All I have got to do is to be off to the frog-pond as quickly
+as I can."
+
+But as he was hurrying away the Goldsmith stopped him, and said--
+
+"Tussmann, you're very foolish; you've got hold of the most priceless
+treasure you could possibly have come across. Those lines of verse
+ought to have told you so at once. Do me the favour to put that book
+which you found in the casket into your pocket."
+
+Tussmann did so.
+
+"Now," said the Goldsmith, "think of some book or other which you would
+wish that you had in your pocket at this moment."
+
+"Oh, my goodness," said Tussmann, "I went and shied Thomasius's little
+treatise on 'Diplomatic Acumen' into the frog-pond, like an utter fool
+as I was."
+
+"Put your hand in your pocket," said the Goldsmith, "and take out the
+book."
+
+Tussmann did so, and lo, the book which he brought out was none other
+than Thomasius's treatise!
+
+"Ha!" cried Tussmann, "what is this? Why it is Thomasius's treatise, my
+beloved Thomasius, rescued from the congregation of frogs in the pond,
+who would never have learned diplomatic acumen from him."
+
+"Keep yourself calm," the Goldsmith said; "put the book into your
+pocket again."
+
+Tussmann did so.
+
+"Think of some other rare work," the Goldsmith said: "one which you
+have never been able to come across in any library."
+
+"Oh, good gracious!" cried Tussmann in melancholy accents. "I have
+been, you see, in the habit of sometimes going to the opera, so that I
+have wanted, very much, to ground myself a little in the theory of
+music, and I have been trying in vain hitherto to get hold of a copy of
+a certain little treatise which explains the arts of the composer and
+the performer, in an allegorical form. I mean Johann Beer's 'Musical
+War,' an account of the contest between composition and harmony, which
+are represented under the guise of two heroines, who do battle with
+each other, and end by being completely reconciled."
+
+"Feel in your pocket," said the Goldsmith; and the Clerk of the Privy
+Chancery shouted with joy when he found that his paper book now
+consisted of Johann Beer's 'Musical War.'
+
+"You see now, do you not," said the Goldsmith, "that in the book which
+you found in the casket you possess the finest and most complete
+library that anybody ever had? and more than that, you take it about
+with you in your pocket. For, while you have this remarkable book in
+your pocket, it will always be whatever book you happen to want to
+read, as soon as you take it out."
+
+Without wasting a thought on Albertine or the Commissionsrath, Tussmann
+went and sat down in an armchair in a corner, stuck the book into his
+pocket, pulled it out again, and it was easy to see, by the delight in
+his countenance, how completely the Goldsmith's promise had been
+fulfilled.
+
+It was the Baron's turn next. He came strolling up to the table in his
+foolish, loutish manner, looked at the caskets through his eyeglass,
+and murmured out the inscriptions one after the other. But soon a
+natural, inborn, irresistible instinct drew him to the gold casket,
+with the shining ducats on its lid. "Who chooseth me doth gain that
+which he much desires." "Certainly ducats are what I much desire, and
+Albertine is what I much desire. I don't see much good in bothering
+over this."
+
+So he grasped the golden casket; took its key from Albertine, opened
+it, and found a nice little English file! Beside it lay a piece of
+paper with the words:--
+
+           "Now thou hast the thing thy heart
+            Longed for, with the keenest smart.
+            All besides is mere parade.
+            Onward--never retrograde--
+            Moves a truly thriving Trade."
+
+"And what the Devil's the use of this thing?" Benjie cried, surveying
+the file. "It isn't Albertine's picture, you know; however, I shall
+hold on to the casket; it'll be a wedding-present to Albertine. Come to
+me, dearest child!" With which he was making straight for Albertine;
+but the Goldsmith held him back by the shoulders, saying--
+
+"Stop, my good sir; that's not in the bargain: you must content
+yourself with the file. And you will be content with it, when you find
+out what a treasure it is. In fact, the paper tells you, if you can
+understand it. Have you got a worn ducat in your pocket?"
+
+"Well," said Benjie, angrily, "and what then?"
+
+"Out with it," the Goldsmith said, "and try the file on the edge of
+it."
+
+The Baron did so, with an amount of skill which told of much previous
+practice; and the more ducats he filed at--for he tried a good many,
+one after another--the fresher the edges of them came out.
+
+Up to this point Manasseh had been looking on in silence at what was
+transpiring; but here he jumped up, with eyes sparkling wildly, and
+dashed at his nephew, crying, in a hollow, terrible voice--
+
+"God of my Fathers! what do I see? Give me that file!--here with it
+instantly! It is the piece of magic-work for which I sold my soul more
+than three hundred years ago. God of my Fathers!--hand it over to me!"
+
+And he made at his nephew to take it from him; but Benjie pushed him
+back, crying, "Go to the Deuce, you old idiot! It was I who found the
+file, not you!"
+
+To which Manasseh responded, in fury: "Viper! Worm-eaten fruit of my
+race!--Here with that file! All the Demons of Hell be upon you,
+accursed thief!"
+
+Manasseh clutched hold of the Baron, with a torrent of Hebrew curses,
+and foaming and gnashing his teeth, he exerted all the strength at his
+command to wrest the file from him. But Benjie fought for it as a
+lioness does for her cubs, till at length Manasseh was worn out; on
+which his nephew seized him by the shoulders and threw him out of the
+door, with such force that all his limbs cracked again. Then, coming
+back like a flash of lightning, he shoved a small table into a corner,
+and sitting down there, opposite to the Clerk of the Privy Chancery,
+took a handful of ducats from his pocket, and set to work to file away
+at them as hard as he could.
+
+"Now," said the Goldsmith, "we have seen the last of that terrible
+Manasseh. He is off our hands, for good and all. People say he is a
+second Ahasuerus, and has been going spooking about since the year
+1572. That was the year in which he was put to death for diabolical
+practices and sorcery, under the name of Lippolt, the Jew-coiner. But
+the Devil saved his body from death at the price of his immortal soul.
+Many folk who understand those things say they have seen him in Berlin
+in a good many forms; so that, if all tales are true, there are a good
+number of Lippolts at the present time about. However, I, who have a
+certain amount of experience in those mysterious matters, can assure
+you that I have given him his quietus."
+
+It would weary you very needlessly, dear reader, were I to waste words
+in telling you what you know quite well; namely, that Edmund Lehsen
+chose the ivory casket, inscribed--
+
+           "Who chooseth me doth gain his dreamed-of bliss,"
+
+and found in it a beautiful portrait of Albertine, with the lines--
+
+           "Yes--thou hast it--read thy chance
+            In thy darling's loving glance.
+              What has past returns no more--
+                Earthly fate so willeth this.
+              All the joy which lies _before_
+                Gather from thy sweetheart's kiss."
+
+And Edmund, like Bassanio, followed the counsel of the last line, and
+pressed his blushing sweetheart to his breast, and kissed her glowing
+lips; whilst the Commissionsrath greatly rejoiced, and was full
+of happiness over this happy _dénouement_ of this most involved
+love-affair.
+
+Meanwhile the Baron had been filing at ducats quite as eagerly and
+absorbedly as the Clerk of the Privy Chancery had been reading, neither
+of them taking the slightest notice of what had been going on, till the
+Commissionsrath announced, in a loud voice, that Edmund Lehsen had
+chosen the casket containing Albertine's portrait, and was,
+consequently, to be her husband. Tussmann seemed to be quite delighted
+to hear it, and expressed his satisfaction in his usual manner, by
+rubbing his hands, jumping a little way up and down for a moment or
+two, and giving a delicate little laugh. The Baron seemed to feel no
+further interest about the matter; but he embraced the Commissionsrath;
+said he was a real "gentleman" and had made him most utterly happy by
+his present of the file, and told him that he could always count upon
+him, in all circumstances. With which he took his departure.
+
+Tussmann, too, thanked him, with tears of the most heartfelt emotion,
+for making him the happiest of men by this most rare and wonderful of
+all rare and wonderful books; and, after the most profuse expenditure
+of politeness to Albertine, Edmund, and the old Goldsmith, he followed
+the Baron as quickly as ever he could.
+
+Benjie ceased to torture the world of letters with literary abortions,
+as he had formerly done, preferring to employ his time in filing
+ducats; and Tussmann no longer made the booksellers' lives a burden to
+them by pestering them to hunt out old forgotten books for him.
+
+But when a few weeks of rapture and happiness had passed, a great and
+bitter sorrow took possession of the Commissionsrath's house. For the
+Goldsmith urged, in the strongest terms, upon Edmund that for his own
+sake, and for the sake of his art, he was bound to keep his solemn
+promise and go to Italy.
+
+Edmund, notwithstanding the dreadful parting from Albertine, felt the
+strongest possible impulse urging him towards the country of the arts;
+and, although Albertine shed the bitterest tears, she could not help
+thinking how very nice it would be to be able to take out letters from
+her lover at Rome, and read them out--or extracts from them--at
+aesthetic teas of an afternoon.
+
+Edmund has been in Rome now more than a year, and people do say that
+his correspondence with Albertine languishes, and that the letters are
+becoming rarer and colder. Who knows whether or not anything will ever
+come, ultimately, of the engagement between those two people? Certainly
+Albertine won't be long "in the market" in any case; she is so pretty,
+and so well off. Just at present, there is young Mr. Gloria (just going
+to be called to the bar), a very nice young gentleman indeed, with a
+slim and tightly-girded waist, a couple of waistcoats on at once, and a
+cravat tied in the English style; and he danced all last season with
+Albertine, and is to be seen now going continually with her to the
+Thiergarten, whilst the Commissionsrath trots very complacently after
+them, looking like a satisfied father. Moreover, Mr. Gloria has passed
+his second examination at the Supreme Court with flying colours.
+
+"So perhaps he and Albertine may make a match of it, should he get a
+fairly good appointment. There's no telling. Let us see what happens."
+
+
+"You have certainly written a wonderfully crack-brained thing in that,"
+Ottmar said, when Lothair had finished. "This 'Tale containing
+improbable incidents,' as you have called it, appears to me to be a
+kind of mosaic, composed of all kinds of stones put together at random,
+which dazzles and confuses one's eyes so that they can't take firm hold
+of any definite figure."
+
+"As far as I am concerned," Theodore said, "I must confess that I think
+a great deal of it is exceedingly delightful, and that it might very
+likely have been a very superior production, if Lothair hadn't, most
+imprudently, gone and read Hafftitz. The consequence of this was that
+those two practitioners of the black art, the Goldsmith and the
+Jew-coiner, had to be brought into the story somehow, willy-nilly; and
+thus those two unfortunate revenants make their appearance as
+heterogeneous elements, working, with their sorceries, in an
+unnaturally constrained manner among the incidents of the tale. It is
+well your story hasn't been printed, or you would have been hauled over
+the coals by the critics."
+
+"Wouldn't it do to light up the pages of a Berlin Almanack?" the Author
+asked, with one of his ironical smiles. "Of course I should still more
+localize the localities, and add a few names of celebrities, and so
+gain a little applause from the literary-aesthetic, if from nobody
+else.[2]
+
+
+[Footnote 2: "This speech of Lothair's shows what the Author had in his
+mind at the time. The tale _did_ appear in the Berlin Almanack of 1820,
+with additional localities, and names of celebrities in the Art-World,
+but the publishers told him he ought to try to keep within the bounds
+of 'probability,' in future."--(Note of Editor of Collected Works.)]
+
+
+"However, all the same, my dear friends, did you not laugh heartily
+enough at times, as I was reading it? and ought that not to deprive
+your criticism of some of its severity? If you, Ottmar, say my tale is
+a mosaic, you might admit that it has something of a Kaleidoscope
+character, in spite of its crackiness, and that its matters, though
+most adventitiously shaken together, do ultimately form more or less
+interesting combinations. At all events, you surely admit that there
+are one or two good characters in my story, and at the head of them,
+the love-stricken Baron Benjie, that worthy scion of the Jew-coiner
+race of Lippolts; however, we've had far too much of my piece of
+patchwork, which was only intended to amuse you for a moment as a
+_bizarre_ jest. What I would have you notice is that I have been
+faithful to my principle of welding on the Legendary to the every-day
+life of the present day."
+
+"And," said Theodore, "I am a great adherent of that principle. It used
+to be supposed to be necessary to localize everything of the legendary
+kind in the remote East, taking Scheherezade as the model in so doing;
+and, as soon as we touched upon the manners, the customs, the ways of
+life of the East, we got into a world which was apparently hovering,
+adrift, all in a sort of unreality, anchorless, before our eyes, on the
+point of floating away and disappearing. This is why those tales so
+often strike coldly on us, and have no power to kindle the inner
+spirit--the fancy. What I think, and mean, is, that the foot of the
+heavenly ladder, which we have got to mount in order to reach the
+higher regions, has to be fixed firmly in every-day life, so that
+everybody may be able to climb up it along with us. When people then
+find that they have got climbed up higher and higher into a marvellous,
+magical world, they will feel that that realm, too, belongs to their
+ordinary, every-day life, and is, merely, the wonderful and most
+glorious part thereof. For them it is the beautiful flower-garden
+beyond the city-wall into which they can go, and in which they can
+wander and enjoy themselves, if they have but made up their minds to
+quit the gloomy walls of the city, for a time."
+
+"Don't forget, though, Theodore, my friend," said Ottmar, "that there
+are quantities of people who won't go up the ladder at all, because it
+isn't 'proper' or 'becoming.' And many turn giddy by the time they get
+to the third rung of it. Many never see the ladder at all, though it is
+facing them in the broad, daily path of their lives, and they pass by
+it every day. As regards the tales of the 'Thousand and One Nights,' it
+is remarkable enough that most of those who have tried to imitate them
+have overlooked that which is just what gives them life and reality--
+exactly what Lothair's principle is. All the cobblers, tailors,
+dervishes, merchants, and so forth, who appear as the characters in
+those tales, are people who are to be met with every day in the
+streets. And--inasmuch as life is independent of times and manners, but
+is always the same affair--in its essential conditions (and always must
+be so), it follows that we feel that all those folks--upon whom, in the
+middle of their everyday lives, such extraordinary and magical
+adventures came, and such spells wound themselves--are really the sort
+of people who are actually walking about amongst us. Such is the
+marvellous, mighty power of description, characterization, and
+representation in that immortal book."
+
+As the evening was fast growing colder, it was thought advisable--on
+account of Theodore's having but half recovered from his late
+illness--that the friends should go to the great summer-house, and
+indulge in a cup of refreshing tea, in place of anything more exciting.
+
+And when the urn was on the table, singing its usual little domestic
+tune, Ottmar said--
+
+"I don't think I could have a better opportunity for reading you a
+tale which I wrote a long while ago, and which happens to begin with
+tea-drinking. I mention, to begin with, that it is in Cyprian's style."
+
+Ottmar read--
+
+
+
+                           THE UNCANNY GUEST.
+
+A storm was raging through the heavens, announcing the coming of
+winter, whirling black clouds on its wings, which dashed down hissing,
+rattling squall-showers of rain and hail.
+
+"Nobody will come to-night," said Madame von G. to her daughter
+Angelica, as the clock struck seven. "They would never venture out in
+such weather. If your father were but home!"
+
+Almost as she was speaking, in came Captain Moritz von E. (a cavalry
+officer), followed by a young Barrister, whose brilliant and
+inexhaustible fund of humour and wit was the life and soul of the
+circle which was accustomed to assemble every Thursday evening in
+Colonel von G.'s house. So that, as Angelica said, there was little
+cause to be sorry that the less intimate members of the circle were
+away, seeing that the more welcome ones had come.
+
+It felt very chilly in the drawing-room. The lady of the house had had
+a fire lighted, and the tea-table brought.
+
+"I am sure," she said, "that you two gentlemen, who have been so
+courageous as to come to see us tonight through such a storm, can
+never be content with our wretched tea. Mademoiselle Marguerite shall
+make you a brew of that good, northern beverage which can keep any
+sort of weather out." Marguerite--a young French lady, who was
+"companion" to Angelica, for the sake of her language, and other
+lady-like accomplishments, but who was only about her own age, or
+barely more--came, and performed the duty thus entrusted to her. So the
+punch steamed, while the fire sparkled and blazed; and the company sate
+down round the little tea-table.
+
+A shiver suddenly passed through them--through each and all of them;
+and they felt chilled. Though they had been talking merrily before they
+sat down, there fell now upon them a momentary silence, during which
+the strange voices which the storm had called into life in the chimney
+whistled and howled with marvellous distinctness.
+
+"There can be no doubt," said Dagobert (the young barrister), "that the
+four ingredients, Autumn, a stormy Wind, a good fire, and a jorum of
+punch, have, when taken together, a strange power of causing people to
+experience a curious sense of awesomeness."
+
+"A very pleasant one, though," said Angelica. "At all events, I do not
+know a more delightful sensation than the sort of strange shiveriness
+which goes through one when one feels--heaven knows how, or why--as if
+one were suddenly casting a glance, with one's eyes open, into some
+strange, mystic dream-world."
+
+"Exactly," said Dagobert; "that delicious shiveriness was exactly what
+came over all of us just now; and the glance into the dream-world,
+which we were involuntarily making at that moment, made us all silent.
+It is well for us that we have got it over, and that we have come back
+so quickly from the dream-world to this charming reality, which
+provides us with this grand liquid." He rose, and, bowing politely to
+Madame von G., emptied the glass before him.
+
+"But," Moritz said, "if you felt all the deliciousness of that species
+of shudder, and of the dreamy condition accompanying it (as Miss
+Angelica and I did), why shouldn't you be glad to prolong it?"
+
+"Let me say, my dear friend," Dagobert answered, "that the kind of
+dreaminess which we have to do with in this instance is not that in
+which the mind, or spirit, goes losing and sinking itself in all kinds
+of vague labyrinths of complexity of wondrous, calm enjoyment. The
+storm-wind, the blazing fire, and the punch are only the predisposing
+causes of the onsetting of that incomprehensible, mysterious
+condition--deeply grounded in our human organism--which our minds
+strive, in vain, to fight against, and which we ought to take great
+care not to allow ourselves to yield to over much. What I mean is, the
+fear of the supernatural. We all know that the uncanny race of ghosts,
+the haunters, choose the night (and particularly in stormy weather), to
+arise from their darksome dwellings, and set forth upon their
+mysterious wanderings. So that we are right in expecting some of those
+fearsome visitants just at a time like this."
+
+"You do not mean what you say, of course," Madame von G. answered; "and
+I need not tell you that the sort of superstitious fear which we so
+often, in a childish way, feel, is not in any degree inherent in our
+organization as human beings. I am certain that it is chiefly traceable
+to the foolish stories of ghosts, and so forth, which servants tell us
+while we are children."
+
+"No, Madame," Dagobert answered; "those tales--which we enjoyed more
+than any others which we heard as children--would never have raised up
+such an enduring echo in us if the strings which re-echo them had not
+existed within us to begin with. There is no denying the existence of
+the mysterious spirit-world which lies all around us, and often gives
+us note of its Being in wondrous, mystic sounds, and even in marvellous
+sights. Most probably the shudder of awe with which we receive those
+intimations of that spirit-world, and the involuntary fear which
+they produce in us, are nothing but the result of our being hemmed
+in--imprisoned--by our human organization. The awe and the fear are
+merely the modes in which the spirit imprisoned within our bodies
+expresses its sorrow thereat."
+
+"You are a spirit-seer, a believer in all those things--like all people
+who have lively imaginations," said Madame von G. "But if I were to go
+the length of admitting, and believing, that it is permitted that an
+unknown spirit-world should reveal its existence to us by means of
+sounds and sights, I should still have to say that I am unable to
+comprehend why that mysterious realm, and its denizens, should stand in
+such a relation to us that they bring merely paralyzing fear and horror
+upon us."
+
+"Perhaps," Dagobert said, "it is the punishment inflicted on us by that
+mother from whose care and discipline we have run away. I mean, that in
+that golden age when our race was living in the most perfect union with
+all nature, no dread or terror disturbed us, for the simple reason that
+in the profound peace and perfect harmony of all created things, there
+was nothing hostile that could cause us any such emotion. I was
+mentioning strange spirit-sounds; but why is it that all the real
+_nature_-tones--of whose origin and causes we can give the most
+complete account--sound to us like the most piercing sorrow, and fill
+our hearts with the profoundest dread? The most remarkable of those
+nature-tones is the air-music, or, as it is called, the 'devil-voice,'
+heard in Ceylon and the neighbouring countries, spoken of by Schubert
+in his 'Glances at the Night-side of Natural Science.' This nature-tone
+is heard on calm and bright nights, sounding like the wail of some
+human creature lamenting in the deepest distress. It seems to come
+sometimes from the most remote distance, and then again to be quite
+close at hand. It affects the human intelligence so powerfully that the
+most self-controlled cannot help feeling the deepest terror when they
+hear it."
+
+"Yes," said Moritz, "it is so. I have never been in Ceylon, certainly,
+or in any of the neighbouring countries; but I have heard that terrible
+nature-sound; and not only I, but every one else who heard it, felt
+just that precise effect which Dagobert alludes to."
+
+"I should be extremely obliged to you," said Dagobert, "and you would
+probably convince Madame von G. also, if you would not mind telling us
+what happened."
+
+"You know," Moritz said, "that I served the campaign in Spain under
+Wellington, with a mixed force of English and Spanish cavalry against
+the French. The night before the battle of Vittoria I was bivouacking
+in the open country. Being wearied to death by the long march we had
+made during the day, I had fallen into a deep sleep of exhaustion, when
+I was awakened by a piercing cry of distress. I naturally thought--and
+it was the only idea that came into my mind--that what I heard was the
+death-cry of some wounded soldier near me; but the comrades who were
+lying round me were all snoring, and there was no other sound to be
+heard. The first gleams of the dawn were breaking through the deep
+darkness, and I got up and strode away over the bodies of the sleepers,
+thinking that I might perhaps come across the wounded man, whoever he
+was, who had uttered that cry. It was a singularly calm night, and
+only most gradually and imperceptibly did the morning breeze begin to
+move, and to cause the leaves to tremble. Then a second cry, like the
+former--a long wail of woe--came ringing through the air, and died away
+in the remotest distance. It was as though the spirits of the slain
+were rising up from the battlefield, and wailing their boundless sorrow
+out into the wide heaven. My breast throbbed, was overwhelmed by an
+inexpressible awe; all the sorrow which I had ever heard exhaled from
+all human breasts was nothing in comparison with that heart-piercing
+wail. Our comrades now awoke from their sleep, and, for the third time,
+that terrible cry of sorrow arose, and filled the whole air, more
+fearful and awful than before. We were all smitten with the profoundest
+fear; even the horses were terrified; they snorted and stamped. Many of
+the Spaniards fell on their knees and prayed aloud. One of the English
+officers told us that he had several times met with this phenomenon in
+southern countries; and that it was of electrical origin, and there
+would probably be a change in the weather. The Spaniards, with their
+bent towards the supernatural, heard in it the mighty voices of
+supernatural beings, announcing great events about to happen. In this
+they were confirmed when, next day, the battle came thundering in upon
+them, with all its horrors."
+
+"Is there any occasion." Dagobert said, "to go to Ceylon, or to Spain,
+to hear these marvellous Nature-tones of sorrow and complaining? Surely
+the howling of the storm-wind, the rattling of the hail, the groanings
+and creakings of the vanes are just as capable of filling us with
+profound terror as are those other Nature-tones we have been speaking
+of. Listen to that weird music which some hundreds of fearful voices
+are organing down this chimney; or to the strange little spirit-like
+ditty which the tea-urn is just beginning to sing."
+
+"Oh! most ingenious indeed!" cried Madame von G. "Even into the very
+tea-urn Dagobert conjures spirits which render themselves cognisable to
+us by fearful cries of woe."
+
+"But he is not far wrong, dear mother!" Angelica said. "I could very
+soon be seriously frightened at the extraordinary way in which that
+whistling, and rattling, and hissing is going on in the chimney; and
+the little tune which the tea-urn is singing, in such a tone of
+profound sorrow, is--to me--so eery and uncomfortable, that I shall go
+and blow out the spirit lamp, that there may be an end of it at once."
+
+Angelica rose: her handkerchief fell. Moritz quickly picked it up and
+handed it to her. She allowed a glance, full of soul, from her heavenly
+eyes to rest upon him; he took her hand, and pressed it fervently to
+his lips.
+
+At that moment Marguerite shuddered convulsively, as if touched by some
+electric current, and allowed the glass of punch, which she had just
+poured out for Dagobert, to drop from her hand. It shattered to atoms
+on the floor. She cast herself down at Madame von G.'s feet sobbing
+bitterly--said she was a stupid creature, and implored that she might
+be allowed to go to her room. She said that what they had been talking
+about had made her frightened and nervous--although she had not
+understood it; that she felt frightened still--as if she could not stay
+in the room--though she could not explain why; that she was feeling
+unwell, and would like to get to bed. So saying, she kissed Madame von
+G.'s hands, and bedewed them with the tears she was shedding.
+
+Dagobert felt the painfulness of the incident, and the necessity of
+giving matters a different turn. He, too, fell at Madame von G.'s feet,
+and in the most pathetic voice at his command, begged forgiveness for
+the culprit. As regarded the stain of punch on the floor, he vowed that
+he would put waxed brushes on his feet in the morning, and go figuring
+athwart the boards in the most exquisite tours, and steps that ever
+inspired the brain of a court dancing-master.
+
+Madame von G., who had at first been looking very grave over
+Marguerite's mishap, strange as it seemed, and inexplicable, cleared up
+a little at Dagobert's words. She gave each of them her hand with a
+smile and said, "Rise, and wipe away your tears. You are forgiven,
+Marguerite; you have this champion of yours to thank that I do not
+inflict a very severe punishment upon you. But I can't let you go
+altogether scot free. If you _are_ a little out of sorts, you must try
+to forget it. I shall ordain you to stay here, be more assiduous than
+before at filling the gentlemen's glasses with the punch, and, above
+all things, you must reward your champion and defender with a kiss, in
+token of your sincere gratitude."
+
+"So that Virtue is its own reward," Dagobert said, with a comic pathos,
+as he took Marguerite's hand. "All I ask of you, beauteous lady," he
+continued, "is to believe that the world contains (though you might be
+sceptical on the subject) legal luminaries of such a heroic sort that
+they do not hesitate a moment to offer themselves up a sacrifice at the
+shrine of Innocence and Truth. But we must obey the commands of our
+fair judge, from whose award there is no appeal." And he impressed a
+fugitive kiss upon Marguerite's lips, and then led her back to her seat
+with much solemnity. Marguerite, blushing like a rose, laughed very
+heartily; but the bright tears still stood in her eyes.
+
+"Stupid fool that I am," she cried in French, "have I not got to do
+whatever Madame von G. bids me? I will keep perfectly calm. I will go
+on making their punch. I will listen to their ghost-stories without
+being in the least afraid."
+
+"Bravo, angelic child," cried Dagobert. "My heroism has infected you,
+and the sweetness of your lips has inspired _me_. My imagination has
+unfolded new wings, and I feel ready to serve up the most awful events
+and mysteries from the 'Regno di Pianto.'"
+
+"I thought we had done with this unpleasant subject," said Madame von
+G.
+
+"Oh no, mother dear," cried Angelica eagerly; "please to let Dagobert
+go on! I am exactly like a child about those things. I don't know
+anything I so delight in as a nice ghost story--something that makes
+all one's flesh creep."
+
+"Oh, how I _do_ like that!" Dagobert cried. "Nothing is so utterly
+delightful in young ladies as their being tremendously superstitious,
+and easily frightened; and I should never dream of marrying a woman who
+was not terribly afraid of ghosts."
+
+"You were saying a little while ago, dear Dagobert," said Moritz, "that
+we ought to guard ourselves against--or take care how we allow
+ourselves to get into--that dreamy state of awe which is the
+commencement of spirit-fear--the dread of the superhuman, the ghostly
+world. You have still got to explain to us the _why_."
+
+"If there is, at the commencement of it, any real cause for that sense
+of awesomeness--which is at first so thoroughly blended up with the
+_dreamily_ pleasurable--it by no means remains at that stage. Soon
+there supervenes a deadly fear--a horror which makes the hair stand on
+end; so that the said pleasurable feeling at the commencement would
+seem to be the fascination of temptation with which the Spirit World
+lures us on and ensnares us. We were talking of certain Nature-tones
+which are capable of explanation, and of their fearsome effect upon our
+senses. But we at times hear sounds more extraordinary, of which the
+origin and cause are indiscoverable by us, and which produce in us the
+profoundest awe and terror. All reassuring ideas--such as that they
+proceed from some animal in pain, or are produced by currents of air,
+or other natural causes--are useless and of no avail. Every one, I
+presume, has experienced that, in the night, the very faintest sound,
+if only it occurs at regular intervals with pauses between, completely
+drives away sleep, and goes on increasingly stirring up one's inward
+disquiet till it reaches the point of complete disorganization of the
+faculties. Not very long ago I had to spend a night, on a journey, at
+an inn, where the landlord put me in a nice, comfortable, lofty, airy
+bedroom. In the middle of the night I started up from my sleep, wide
+awake. The moon was shining brightly in at the window, which was
+uncurtained, so that I could see every article of the furniture, and
+even the minutest objects in the room. There was a sound as of water
+dropping into some metallic dish. I lay and listened. The drops went on
+falling at regular, measured intervals, drip, drip, drip. My dog, who
+was lying under the bed, crept out, and went about the room whimpering
+and crying, scratching on the walls and on the floor. I felt as if
+streams of icy water were running all through me, and the cold
+perspiration dripped from my brow. However, I collected myself by a
+great effort, and--after first of all giving a good loud shout--I got
+out of bed, and went forward to the middle of the room. There the drops
+seemed to be falling close in front of me, or rather I should say
+_right through_ me into the metal, of which I heard the reverberation
+ringing loud and clear as they fell. Then, overcome by terror, I crept
+back, somehow, to the bed, and covered myself up with the bedclothes.
+And then it seemed to me that the dropping--still going on at the same
+regular intervals--grew gradually fainter and fainter, and died away as
+if in the distance. I fell into a deep sleep, out of which I did not
+wake till it was bright daylight in the morning. The dog had come and
+lain down close beside me in bed, and did not move till I got up, when
+he jumped up too, barking vigorously, as if he had got over his terror
+of the previous night. It occurred to me that it might only be to me
+that the (doubtless) natural cause or causes of this strange sound were
+a mystery, and I told the landlord of my adventure--of which I still
+felt the terror in all my frame. I ended by saying that he could, no
+doubt, explain the whole affair to me, but that he ought to have told
+me of it beforehand. He turned as pale as a sheet, and begged me never
+to tell any one what had happened to me, as he would risk the loss of
+his customers. He said many travellers had complained about that sound,
+which they had heard on bright moonlight nights--that he had examined
+everything with the utmost care and attention, and even had the floor
+of that room and the adjoining one taken up, as well as making
+inquisition into everything in the neighbourhood, without coming upon
+the faintest trace of anything to account for this awe-inspiring noise.
+It had not been heard for nearly a year before the night I speak of,
+and he had been flattering himself that the Principle--whatever it
+might be--which was haunting the room had ceased its operation. But
+seeing, to his great alarm, that in this he was mistaken, he determined
+that he would never, in any circumstances, allow anybody to pass the
+night there again."
+
+"Oh! how terrible!" cried Angelica, shuddering like one in the cold
+stage of an ague. "That is really most terrible! Oh! I am sure I should
+have died if anything like that had happened to me! But I have often
+woke up from sleep, suddenly, feeling an indescribable, inexplicable
+alarm and anxiety, as if I had been going through something terrible
+and alarming; and yet, I had not the slightest idea what it was that I
+had been going through, nor the very faintest recollection of any
+fearful dream, or anything of that kind. Rather I seemed to be waking
+from some condition of complete unconsciousness, like death."
+
+"I know that feeling perfectly well," Dagobert said. "Perhaps it points
+straight to the effect upon us of psychical influences external to us,
+to which we are compelled to yield ourselves up, whether we choose or
+not. Just as the mesmeric subject has no remembrance of the mesmeric
+sleep, or of anything which happens in it. Perhaps that sense of fear
+and anxiety which we feel on awaking (as we have said), of which the
+cause is hidden from us, may be the lingering echo of some mighty spell
+which has forced us out of ourselves."
+
+"I remember very distinctly," Angelica said, "some four years ago, the
+night before my fourteenth birthday, awaking in a condition of that
+kind. I could not shake off the terror of it for several days
+afterwards. But I strove in vain to remember anything about my dream
+(if dream it was, that had so terrified me). I knew, and I know quite
+well, that in the very dream itself I had told several people--my own
+dear mother amongst them--what the dream was, several times. But all I
+could remember when I woke was that I had told the dream. I could not
+recall the slightest trace of what the dream had been."
+
+"This strange psychical phenomenon," Dagobert said, "is closely
+connected with the magnetic principle."
+
+"Our conversation is getting more and more dreadful," said Madame von
+G. "We are getting deep, and losing ourselves in matters I can't bear
+even to think about. Moritz, I must beg you to tell us something
+entertaining--outrageous even--that we may get away from this terrible
+region of the supernatural."
+
+"I should be very happy to try," said Moritz, "if you will just allow
+me to tell one gruesome tale, which has been hovering on my lips for a
+long time. At this moment all my being is so filled with it that I feel
+that I could not talk about anything else."
+
+"Discharge yourself, then," said Madame von G., "from the load of
+awesomeness which so weighs upon you. My husband will be home
+immediately, and then I should be so delighted to work through some
+battle or other with you and him, or to hear you talk in your absorbed
+manner about horses, or anything, to get me out of this overstrained
+condition into which all this supernatural stuff, I must admit, puts
+me."
+
+"In my last campaign," said Moritz, "I made the acquaintance of a
+Russian Lieutenant-Colonel, a Livonian by birth, scarcely thirty, who,
+as chance willed it that we should be serving together before the
+enemy for a considerable time, soon became my very intimate friend.
+Bogislav--that was his Christian name--possessed every quality fitted
+to gain for him, everywhere, the highest consideration and the most
+sincere regard. He was tall and fine-looking, with an intellectual
+face. He possessed masculine beauty, much mental cultivation, and was
+kindliness itself, while brave as a lion. He could be particularly
+cheerful and entertaining, especially over a glass of wine; but there
+would often come over him, and overwhelm him, the thought of something
+terrible which had happened to him, leaving traces of the most intense
+horror and terror on his face. When this happened he would lapse into
+silence, leave the company, and stroll about up and down, alone. In the
+field, he used to ride all round the outposts at night, from one to
+another, restlessly, only yielding to sleep when completely exhausted;
+and as, in addition to this, he would often expose himself to the
+extremest danger, without any special necessity, and seemed to seek, in
+battle, death, which fled from him--for in the toughest hand-to-hand
+engagement never a bullet touched him; no sword-cut came near him--it
+seemed evident that his life had been marred by some irreparable
+bereavement, or perhaps some rash deed.
+
+"We stormed, and captured, a fortified castle on the French territory,
+and remained quartered there for a day or two, to give the men some
+rest. The rooms where Bogislav was quartered were but a few steps from
+mine. In the night I was awakened by a gentle knocking at my door. I
+asked who was there. My name was called out: I recognised Bogislav's
+voice, and went to let him in. There he stood in his night-dress, with
+a branched candlestick in his hand, pale as death, with his face
+distorted, trembling in every limb, unable to utter a word.
+
+"'For heaven's sake! what has happened?--what is the matter, dearest
+Bogislav?' I cried. I took him to the arm-chair; made him swallow a
+glass or two of the full-bodied wine which was on the table; held his
+hand fast in mine, and spoke what comforting words I could, in my
+ignorance of the cause of his strange condition.
+
+"He recovered himself by degrees, heaved a deep sigh, and then began,
+in a hollow voice: 'No! no! I shall go mad, unless death takes me; God
+knows I throw myself with eager longing into his arms. To you, my
+faithful Moritz, I will confide my fearful secret. I told you once that
+I was in Naples a good many years ago. There I met the daughter of one
+of the most distinguished families, and fell deeply in love with her.
+She returned my affection, and, as her parents gave their approval, I
+saw the fulfilment of my brightest hopes at hand. The wedding-day was
+fixed, when there appeared on the scene a Sicilian Count, who came
+between us with a most eager suit to my beloved and betrothed. I took
+him to task; he insulted me; we met, and I sent my sword through his
+body. I hastened to my love; I found her bathed in tears. She called me
+the accursed murderer of the man she had adored, and repelled me with
+every mark of disgust; screamed and wept in inconsolable sorrow; fell
+down fainting, as if stung by a scorpion, when I touched her hand. Who
+can describe my amazement! Her parents could not give the slightest
+explanation of the sudden change in her. She had never given any
+favourable heed to the Count's attentions.
+
+"'Her father concealed me in his palazzo, and, with the most noble
+zeal, took care that I should be enabled to leave Naples undiscovered.
+Driven by all the furies, I pushed on to St. Petersburg without a halt.
+It is not the faithlessness of my love which plays havoc with my life.
+No! it is a terrible mystery. Since that unhappy day in Naples I have
+been dogged and pursued by the terrors of hell itself. Often by day,
+but still oftener by night, I hear--sometimes as if a long distance
+away, sometimes as if quite close beside me--a deep death-groan. It is
+the voice of the Count whom I killed! It makes my inmost soul quiver
+with horror. I hear that horrible sound distinctly, close to my ear, in
+the thick of the thunder of the heavy siege-guns, and the rattle of
+musketry, and all the wild despair of madness awakes within me. This
+very night----' Bogislav paused; and I, as well as he, was seized with
+the wildest horror; for there came to our hearing a long-sustained,
+heart-breaking wail of sorrow, as if proceeding from the stair outside.
+Then it was as if some one raised himself, groaning and sighing, with
+difficulty from the ground, and was coming towards us with heavy,
+uncertain steps.
+
+"At this Bogislav started up from his seat, and, with a wild glow in
+his eyes, cried out, in a voice of thunder: 'Appear to me, abominable
+one, if you only will! I am more than a match for you, and all the
+spirits of hell that are at your disposal!'
+
+"On this there came a tremendous crash, and----"
+
+Just then the door of the drawing-room flew open with a startling
+noise.
+
+And just as Ottmar read those words, the door of the summer-house in
+which the friends were sitting flew open, also with a startling noise,
+and they saw a dark form, wrapped in a mantle, approaching slowly, with
+noiseless footfalls, as of a spirit. They all gazed at this form, a
+little startled, holding their breaths.
+
+"Is it right," said Lothair at length, when the full light of the
+lamps, falling upon his face, displayed their friend Cyprian. "Is it
+right to try to frighten good folks with foolish playing the ghost?
+However, I know, Cyprian, that you don't content yourself with studying
+spirits and all sorts of strange, visionary matters; you would often
+fain be a spook or ghost yourself. But where have you appeared from so
+suddenly? How did you find out that we were here?"
+
+"I came back to-day from my journey," Cyprian said. "I went at once to
+see Theodore, Lothair, and Ottmar, but found none of them at home. In
+the fullness of my annoyance I ran out here into the open; and chance
+so willed it that, as I was returning to the town, I struck into the
+walk which leads past this summer-house. Then I seemed to hear a
+well-known voice; I peeped in at the window, and saw my worthy Serapion
+Brethren, and heard Ottmar reading 'The Uncanny Guest.'"
+
+"What," interrupted Ottmar, "you know my tale?"
+
+"You forget," said Cyprian, "that it was from me that you got the
+ingredients of the tale. It was I who told you of the 'Devil's Voice,'
+the aerial music of Ceylon, who even gave you the idea of the sudden
+appearing of the 'Uncanny Guest'; and I am curious to hear how you have
+worked out this 'Thema' of mine. You see that it was a matter of course
+that just when Ottmar had made the drawing-room door fly open I had
+necessarily to do the like, and appear to you myself."
+
+"Not as an uncanny guest, though," said Theodore, "but as a true and
+faithful Serapion Brother, who, although he frightened me not a little,
+as I must perforce admit, is a thousand times welcome to me all the
+same."
+
+"And," said Lothair, "if he insists on being a spirit, he must, at all
+events, not be an unquiet spirit, but sit down and drink tea, without
+making too much clattering with his cup, and listen to Ottmar, as to
+whose tale I am all the more curious, that this time it is a working up
+of a thema given to him by another."
+
+Theodore, who was still easily excited after his recent illness, had
+been affected by Cyprian's proceedings rather more than was desirable.
+He was deadly pale, and it was evident that he had to put some
+constraint on himself to appear at his ease.
+
+Cyprian saw this, and was not a little concerned at what he had done.
+"The truth is," he said, "that I had not thought about our friend's
+having only recently recovered, and hardly that, from a severe illness.
+I was acting contrarily to my own fundamental principle, which totally
+prohibits the perpetration of jokes of this description, because it has
+often happened that the terrible serious reality of the spirit-world
+has come gripping in into jokes of this kind, resulting in very
+terrific things. I remember, for instance----"
+
+"Stop! stop!" cried Lothair. "I can't have any more interruptions.
+Cyprian is on the point of carrying us away, after his manner, into
+that dark world of spells where he is at home. Please to go on with
+your story, Ottmar." Ottmar went on reading.
+
+And in came a man, dressed in black from top to toe, with a pallid
+face, and a set, serious expression. He went up to Madame von G.
+with the most courtly bearing of a man of the highest rank, and in
+well-selected terms, begged her to pardon him for having been so long
+in arriving, though his invitation was of such old standing--but that,
+to his regret, he had been detained by having to pay an unavoidable
+visit first. Madame von G., unable to recover all in a moment from the
+start which his entry had caused her, murmured a few indistinguishable
+words, which seemed to amount to saying, would the stranger be kind
+enough to take a seat. He drew a chair close to her, and opposite to
+Angelica, sat down, and let his eyes pass over every member of the
+company. Every one felt paralysed; none could utter a word. Then the
+stranger began to speak, saying that he felt he stood doubly in need of
+excuses; firstly, for arriving at such a time, and, secondly, for
+having made his entrance in such a sudden manner, and so startlingly.
+The latter, however, he was not to blame for, inasmuch as the door had
+been thrown open in that violent manner by the servant whom he had
+found in the hall. Madame von G., overcoming with difficulty the eery
+feeling with which she was seized, inquired whom she had the honour of
+welcoming. The stranger seemed not to notice this question, his
+attention being fixed on Marguerite, who had suddenly become changed in
+all her ways and bearing, kept tripping and dancing close up to the
+stranger, and telling him, with constant tittering and laughter, and
+with much volubility, in French, that they had all been in the very
+thick of the most delightful ghost-stories, and that Captain Moritz had
+just been saying that some evil spectre ought to make its appearance at
+the very instant when he had come in. Madame von G., feeling all the
+awkwardness of having to ask this stranger, who had said he came by
+invitation, as to his name and so forth, but more distressed and
+rendered uncomfortable by his presence, did not repeat her question,
+but reprimanded Marguerite for her behaviour, which almost passed the
+limits of the "_convenable_." The stranger put a stop to Marguerite's
+chatter, turning to the others, and leading the conversation to some
+event of indifference which had happened in the neighbourhood. Madame
+von G. answered him. Dagobert tried to join in the conversation, which
+soon dragged painfully along in detached, interrupted sentences; and
+during this, Marguerite kept trilling couplets of French chansons, and
+seemed to be trying steps, as if remembering the "tours" of the newest
+gavotte, while the others were scarcely capable of moving. They all
+felt their breasts oppressed; the presence of the stranger weighed upon
+them like the sultry oppressiveness which precedes a thunderstorm. The
+words died on their lips when they looked at the deathly pale face of
+this uncanny guest. The markedly foreign accent with which he spoke
+both French and German indicated that he was neither a German nor a
+Frenchman.
+
+Madame von G. breathed freely, with an enormous sense of relief, when
+at length horses were heard drawing up at the door, and the voice of
+her husband, Colonel von G., was distinguishable.
+
+When the Colonel came in, and saw the stranger, he went up to him
+quickly, saying, "Heartily welcome to my house, dear Count." Then
+turning to his wife, he said, "This is Count S., a very dear friend of
+mine; I made his acquaintance in the north, but met him afterwards in
+the south."
+
+Madame von G., whose anxiety began to be relieved, assured the Count,
+with pleasant smiles, that it was only because her husband had omitted
+to tell her of his visit that he had been received perhaps a little
+strangely, and not as a welcome friend ought to have been. Then she
+told the Colonel how the conversation had been running all the evening
+upon the supernatural; how Moritz had been telling a dreadful story of
+events which had happened to him and a friend of his, and that, at the
+very moment when he had been saying, "There came a tremendous crash,"
+the door had flown open, and the Count had come in.
+
+"Very good indeed," said the Colonel, laughing; "they thought you were
+a ghost, dear Count! I fancy I see traces of alarm and nervousness
+about Angelica's face still, and Moritz looks as though he had scarcely
+shaken off the excitement of the story he was telling. Even Dagobert
+does not seem quite in his ordinary spirits. Really, Count, it is a
+little too bad to take you for a _revenant_; don't you think so?"
+
+"Perhaps," the Count replied; "I really may have something more or less
+ghostly about me. A good deal is being said nowadays, about people who,
+by virtue of some peculiar psychical quality, possess the power of
+influencing others, so that they experience very remarkable effects. I
+may be endowed with such a power."
+
+"You are not serious, my dear Count," said Madame von G. "But there is
+no doubt that people are discovering very wonderful mysteries
+nowadays."
+
+"People are pampering their curiosity, and weakening their minds over
+nursery tales and absurd fancies," was the Count's reply. "We ought all
+to take care not to allow ourselves to be infected by this curious
+epidemic. However, I interrupted this gentleman at the most interesting
+point of his story, and as none of his hearers would like to lose the
+finale, the explanation of the mystery, I would beg him to go on with
+it."
+
+To Captain Moritz this stranger Count was not only uncomfortable and
+uncanny, but utterly repugnant, in all the depths of his being. In his
+words he found--all the more that he gave them out with a most
+irritating, self-satisfied smile--something indescribably contemptuous
+and insulting; and he replied, in an irritated tone, and with flashing
+eyes, that he feared his nursery tales might interfere with the
+pleasantness--the sense of enjoyment--which the Count had introduced
+into the circle, so that he would prefer to say no more.
+
+The Count seemed scarcely to notice what Moritz said. Playing with the
+gold snuff-box which he had taken in his hand, he asked Madame von
+G---- if the "lively" young lady was French. He meant Marguerite, who
+kept dancing about the room, trilling. The Colonel went up to her and
+asked her, half aloud, if she had gone out of her senses. Marguerite
+slunk, abashed, to the tea-table, and sat down there quite quiet. The
+Count now took up the conversation, and spoke, in an entertaining
+manner, of this and the other events which had recently happened.
+Dagobert was scarcely able to put in a word. Moritz stood, red as fire,
+with gleaming eyes, as if waiting eagerly for the signal of attack.
+Angelica appeared to be completely immersed in the piece of feminine
+"work" at which she had set herself to labour. She did not raise an
+eyelid. The company separated in complete discomfort.
+
+"You are a fortunate man," Dagobert cried, when he and Moritz were
+alone together. "Doubt no longer that Angelica is much attached to you.
+Clearly did I read in her eyes to-day that she is devotedly in love
+with you. But the devil is always busy, and sows his poisonous tares
+amongst the blooming wheat. Marguerite is on fire with an insane
+passion. She loves you with all the wild, passionate pain which only a
+fiery temperament is capable of feeling. The senseless way in which she
+behaved tonight was the effect of an irresistible outbreak of the
+wildest jealousy. When Angelica let fall the handkerchief--when you
+took it up and gave it to her--when you kissed her hand--the furies of
+hell possessed that poor Marguerite. And you are to blame for that. You
+used formerly to take the greatest pains to pay every kind of attention
+to that very beautiful French girl. I know well enough that it was only
+Angelica whom you had in your mind. Still, those falsely directed
+lightnings struck, and set on fire. And now the misfortune is there;
+and I do not know how the matter will end without terrible tumult and
+trouble."
+
+"Marguerite be hanged (if I may use such an expression)," said Moritz.
+"If Angelica loves me--and ah! I can't believe, quite, that she does--I
+am the happiest and the most blest of men, and care nothing about all
+the Marguerites in the world, nor their foolishnesses neither. But
+another fear has come into my mind. This uncanny, stranger Count, who
+came in amongst us like some dark, gloomy mystery--doesn't he seem to
+place himself, somehow, most hostilely between her and me? I feel, I
+scarce know how, as if some reminiscence came forward out of the dark
+background--I could almost describe it as a dream--which reminiscence,
+or dream, whichever it may be, brings this Count to my memory under
+terrible circumstances of some sort. I feel as though, wherever he
+makes his appearance, some awful misfortune must come flashing out of
+the depths of the darkness as a result of his conjurations. Did you
+notice how often his eyes rested on Angelica, and how, when they did, a
+feeble flush tinted his pallid cheeks, and disappeared again rapidly?
+The monster has designs upon my darling; and that is why the words
+which he addressed to me sounded so insulting. But I will oppose him
+and resist him to the very death!"
+
+Dagobert said the Count was a supernatural sort of fellow, no doubt,
+with something very eery and spectral about him, and that it would be
+as well to keep a sharp look-out on his proceedings, though, perhaps,
+he thought there was less in, or behind, him than one would suppose;
+and that the uncanny feelings which everybody had experienced with
+regard to him were chiefly attributable to the excited state in which
+they had all been when he made his appearance. "Let us face all this
+disquieting affair," said Dagobert, "with firm courage and unshakable
+confidence. No dark power will bend the head which holds itself up with
+true bravery and indomitable resolution."
+
+A considerable time had elapsed. The Count, whose visits to the
+Colonel's house increased in frequency, had rendered himself almost
+indispensable. It was universally agreed, now, that the accusation
+against him of being uncanny recoiled on those who made it. "He might
+very well have styled us uncanny people, with our white faces and odd
+behaviour," as said Madame von G----. Everything he said evinced a
+store of the most valuable and various information; and although, being
+an Italian, he spoke with a foreign accent, his command of the German
+language was most perfect and fluent. His narratives had a fire which
+bore the hearers irresistibly along, so that even Moritz and Dagobert,
+hostile as were their feelings to this stranger, forgot their
+repugnance to him when he talked, and when a pleasant smile broke out
+over his pale, but handsome and expressive face, and they hung upon his
+lips, like Angelica and the others.
+
+The Colonel's friendship with him had arisen in a way which proved him
+to be one of the noblest-minded of men. Chance had brought them
+together in the far north, and there the Count, in the most unselfish
+and disinterested manner, came to the Colonel's aid in a difficulty in
+which he found himself involved, which might have had the most
+disastrous consequences to his fortune, if not to his good name and
+honour. Deeply sensible of all that he owed him, the Colonel hung on
+him with all his soul.
+
+"It is time," the Colonel said to his wife one day when they were alone
+together, "that I should tell you the principal reason why the Count is
+here. You remember that he and I, when we were in P----, four years
+ago, grew more and more intimate and inseparable, so that at last we
+occupied two rooms which opened one into the other. He happened to come
+into my room one morning early, and he saw the little miniature of
+Angelica, which I had with me, lying on my writing-table. As he looked
+more and more closely at it, he lost his self-command in a strange way.
+Not able to answer me, he kept gazing at it. He could not take his eyes
+from it. He cried out excitedly that he had never seen a more beautiful
+creature--had never before known what love was--it was now blazing up
+in the depths of his heart. I jested about the extraordinary effect of
+the picture on him--called him a second Kalaf, and congratulated him on
+the fact that my good Angelica was not a Turandot. At last I told him
+pretty clearly that at his time of life--for, though not exactly
+elderly, he could not be said to be a very young man--this romantic way
+of falling in love with a portrait rather astonished me. But he vowed
+most vehemently--nay, with every mark of that passionate excitement,
+almost verging on insanity, which belongs to his country--that he loved
+Angelica inexpressibly, and, if he were not to be dashed into the
+profoundest depths of despair, I must allow him to gain her affection
+and her hand. It is for this that the Count has come here to our house.
+He fancies he is certain that she is not ill-disposed to him, and he
+yesterday laid his formal proposal before me. What do you think of the
+affair?"
+
+Madame von G---- could not explain why his latter words shot through
+her being like some sudden shock. "Good heavens," she cried, "_that_
+Count for our Angelica! that utter stranger!"
+
+"Stranger!" echoed the Colonel with darkened brow; "the Count a
+stranger! the man to whom I owe my honour, my freedom, nay, perhaps my
+life! I know he is not quite so young as he has been, and perhaps is
+not altogether suited to Angelica in point of age; but he is of high
+lineage, and rich, very rich."
+
+"And without asking Angelica," said Madame von G----. "Very likely she
+may not have any such liking for him as he, in his fondness, imagines."
+
+The Colonel started from his chair, and placed himself in front of her
+with gleaming eyes. "Have I ever given you cause to imagine," he said,
+"that I am one of those idiotic, tyrannical fathers who force their
+daughters to marry against their inclinations, in a disgraceful way?
+Spare me your absurd romanticisms and sentimentalities. Marriages may
+be made without any such extraordinary, fanciful love at first sight,
+and so forth. Angelica is all ears when he talks; she looks at him with
+most kindly favour; she blushes like a rose when he kisses her hand,
+which she willingly leaves in his. And that is how an innocent girl
+expresses that inclination which truly blesses a man. There is no
+occasion for any of that romantic love which so often runs in your
+sex's heads in such a disturbing fashion."
+
+"I have an idea," said Madame von G----, "that Angelica's heart is not
+so free as, perhaps, she herself imagines it is."
+
+"Nonsense," cried the Colonel, and was on the point of breaking out in
+a passion, when the door opened, and Angelica came in, with the
+loveliest smile of the most ingenuous simplicity. The Colonel, at once
+losing all his irritation, went to her, took her hand, kissed her on
+the brow, and sat down close beside her. He spoke of the Count,
+praising his noble exterior, intellectual superiority, character, and
+disposition; and then asked her if she thought she could care for him.
+She answered that at first he had appeared very strange and eery to
+her, but that now those feelings had quite disappeared, and that she
+liked him very much.
+
+"Heaven be thanked then!" cried the Colonel. "Thus it was ordained to
+turn out, for my comfort, for my happiness. Count S--- loves you, my
+darling child, with all his heart. He asks for your hand, and you won't
+refuse him." But scarcely had he uttered those words when Angelica,
+with a deep sigh, sank back as if insensible. Her mother caught her in
+her arms, casting a significant glance at the Colonel, who gazed
+speechless at the poor child, who was as pale as death. But she
+recovered herself; a burst of tears ran down her cheeks, and she cried,
+in a heart-breaking voice, "The Count! the terrible Count! oh, no, no;
+never, never!"
+
+As gently as possible the Colonel asked her why it was that the Count
+was so terrible to her. Then Angelica told him that at the instant when
+he had said that the Count loved her, that dream which she dreamt four
+years before, on the night before her fourteenth birthday--from which
+she awoke in such deadly terror without being able to remember the
+images or incidents of it in the very slightest--had come back to her
+memory quite clearly.
+
+"I thought," she said, "I was walking in a beautiful garden where there
+were strange bushes and flowers which I had never seen the like of
+before. Suddenly I found myself close before a wonderful tree with dark
+leaves, large flowers, and a curious perfume something like that of the
+elder. Its branches were swaying and making a delicious rustling, and
+it seemed to be making signs inviting me to rest under its shade.
+Irresistibly impelled by some invisible power, I sank down on the grass
+which was under the tree. Then strange tones of complaint or lamenting
+seemed to come through the air, stirring the tree like the touch of
+some breeze; and it began to utter sighs and moans. And I was seized by
+an indescribable pain and sorrow; a deep compassion arose in my heart,
+I could not tell why. Then, suddenly, a burning beam of light darted
+into my breast, and seemed to break my heart in two. I tried to cry
+out, but the cry could not make its way from my heart, oppressed with a
+nameless anguish--it became a faint sigh. But the beam which had
+pierced my heart was the gleam of a pair of eyes which were gazing on
+me from under the shade of the branches. Just then the eyes were quite
+close to me; and a snow-white hand became visible, describing circles
+all round me. And those circles kept getting narrower and narrower,
+winding round me like threads of fire, so that, at last, the web of
+them was so dense and so close that I could not move. At the same time
+I felt that the frightful gaze of those terrible eyes was assuming the
+mastery over my inmost being, and utterly possessing my whole existence
+and personality. The one idea to which it now clung, as if to a feeble
+thread, was, to me, a martyrdom of death-anguish. But the tree bent
+down its blossoms towards me, and out of them spoke the beautiful
+voice of a youth, which said, 'Angelica! I will save you--I will save
+you--but----'"
+
+Angelica was interrupted. Captain von P---- was announced. He came to
+see the Colonel on some matter of duty. As soon as Angelica heard his
+name she cried out with the bitterest sorrow, in such a voice as bursts
+only from a breast wounded with the deepest love-anguish--while tears
+fell down her cheeks--"Moritz! oh, Moritz!"
+
+Captain von P---- heard those words as he came in; he saw Angelica,
+bathed in tears, stretch out her hands to him. Like a man beside
+himself he dashed his forage cap to the ground, fell at Angelica's
+feet, caught her in his arms, as she sank down overwhelmed with rapture
+and sorrow, and pressed her fervently to his heart.
+
+The Colonel contemplated this little scene in speechless amazement.
+Madame von G---- said: "I thought this was how it was; but I was not
+sure!"
+
+"Captain von P----," said the Colonel angrily, "what is there between
+you and my daughter?"
+
+Moritz, quickly recovering himself, placed Angelica--more dead than
+alive--gently down on the couch, picked up his cap, advanced to the
+Colonel with a face red as fire, and eyes fixed on the ground, and
+declared that he loved Angelica unutterably; but that, upon his honour,
+until that moment, not a word approaching to a declaration of his
+feelings had crossed his lips. He had been but too seriously doubtful
+as to its being possible that Angelica could return his love. He said
+it was only at this moment--which he could not possibly have
+anticipated--that the bliss accorded to him by heaven had been fully
+disclosed to him; and that he trusted he should not be repulsed by the
+noblest hearted of mankind, the tenderest of fathers, when he implored
+him to bestow his blessing on a union sealed by the purest and
+sincerest affection.
+
+The Colonel gazed at Moritz, and then at Angelica, with looks of gloom;
+then he paced up and down with folded arms like one who strives to
+arrive at a resolution. He paused before his wife, who had taken
+Angelica in her arms and was whispering to her words of consolation.
+
+"What," he inquired, "has this silly dream of yours to do with
+Count----?"
+
+Angelica threw herself at his feet, kissed his hands, bathed them in
+her tears, and said, half-audibly, "Oh, father! dearest father! those
+terrible eyes which mastered my whole being were the Count's eyes. It
+was his spectral hand which wove round me those meshes of fire. But the
+voice of comfort which spoke to me out of the perfumed blossoms of the
+wondrous tree, was the voice of Moritz--my Moritz!"
+
+"Your Moritz!" cried the Colonel, turning so quickly that he nearly
+threw Angelica down. He continued, speaking to himself in a lower tone:
+"Thus a father's wise resolve, and the offer of a grand and noble
+gentleman, are to be cast to the winds, for the sake of childish
+imaginations, and a clandestine love affair." And he walked up and down
+as before. At last, addressing Moritz, he said--
+
+"Captain von P----, you know very well what a high opinion of you I
+have. I could not have wished for a better son-in-law. But I have
+promised my daughter to Count S----, to whom I am bound by the deepest
+obligations by which one man can be bound to another. At the same time,
+please do not suppose that I am going to play the part of the obstinate
+and tyrannical father. I shall hasten to the Count at once. I shall
+tell him everything. Your love will be the cause of a cruel difference
+between me and this gentleman. It may cost me my life. No matter; it
+can't be helped. Wait here till I come back."
+
+Moritz warmly declared that he would sooner face death a hundred times
+than that the Colonel should run the very slightest risk; but the
+Colonel hurried away without reply.
+
+As soon as he had gone, the lovers fell into each other's arms, and
+vowed unalterable fidelity. Angelica said that it was not until her
+father told her of the Count's views with regard to her, that she felt,
+in the depths of her soul, how unspeakably precious and dear Moritz was
+to her, and that she would rather die than marry any one else. Also
+that she had felt certain for a long time, that he loved her just as
+deeply. Then they both bethought themselves of all the occasions when
+they had given any betrayal of their love for each other; and, in
+short, were in a condition of the highest enjoyment and blissfulness,
+like two children, forgetting all about the Colonel and his anger and
+opposition. Madame von G----, who had long watched the growth of this
+affection, and approved of Angelica's choice with all her heart,
+promised, with deep emotion, to leave no stone unturned to prevent the
+Colonel from entering into an alliance which she abhorred, without
+precisely knowing why.
+
+When an hour or so had passed, the door opened and, to the surprise of
+all, Count S---- came in, followed by the Colonel, whose eyes were
+gleaming. The Count went up to Angelica, took her hand, and looked at
+her with a smile of bitter pain. Angelica shrank, and murmured almost
+inaudibly, "Oh! those eyes!"
+
+"You turn pale, Mademoiselle," said the Count, "just as you did when
+first I came into this house. Do you truly look upon me as a terrible
+spectre? No, no; do not be afraid of me, Angelica. I do but love you
+with all the fervour and passion of a younger man. I had no knowledge
+that you had given away your heart, when I was foolish enough to make
+an offer for your hand. Even your father's promise does not give me the
+slightest claim to a happiness which it is yours alone to bestow. You
+are free, Mademoiselle. Even the sight of me shall no longer remind
+you of the moments of sadness which I have caused you. Soon, perhaps
+to-morrow, I shall go back to my own country."
+
+"Moritz! My Moritz!" Angelica cried in the utmost joy and delight, and
+threw herself on her lover's breast. The Count trembled in every limb;
+his eyes gleamed with an unwonted fire, his lips twitched convulsively;
+he uttered a low inarticulate sound. But turning quickly to Madame von
+G---- with some indifferent question, he succeeded in mastering his
+emotion.
+
+But the Colonel cried, again and again, "What nobility of mind! What
+loftiness of character! Who is there like this man of men--my heart's
+own friend for ever!" Then he pressed Moritz, Angelica, and his own
+wife, to his heart, and said laughingly, that he did not care to hear
+another syllable about the wicked plot they had been laying against
+him, and hoped, too, that Angelica would have no more trouble with
+spectral eyes.
+
+It being now well on in the day, the Colonel begged Moritz and the
+Count to remain and have dinner. Dagobert was sent for, and arrived in
+high spirits.
+
+When they sat down to table, Marguerite was missing. It appeared she
+had shut herself up in her room, saying she was unwell and unable to
+join the company. "I do not know," said Madame von G----, "what has
+been the matter with Marguerite for some time; she has been full of the
+strangest fancies, laughing and crying without apparent reason. Really,
+she is at times almost unendurable."
+
+"Your happiness is Marguerite's death," Dagobert whispered to Moritz.
+
+"Spirit-seer!" answered Moritz in the same tone, "do not mar my joy."
+
+The Colonel had never been in better spirits or happier, and Madame von
+G---- had never been so pleased in the depths of her heart, relieved as
+she was from anxieties which had often been present with her before.
+When, in addition to this, Dagobert was revelling in the most brilliant
+high-spirits, and the Count, forgetting his pain, suffered the stores
+of his much experienced mind to stream forth in rich abundance. It will
+be seen that our couple of lovers were encircled by a rich garland of
+gladness.
+
+Evening was coming on, the noblest wines were pearling in the glasses,
+toasts to the health of the betrothed pair were drunk enthusiastically;
+when suddenly the door opened and Marguerite came tottering in, in
+white night-gear, with her hair down, pale, and distorted, like death
+itself.
+
+"Marguerite, what extraordinary conduct!" the Colonel cried.
+
+But, paying no heed to him, she dragged herself up to Moritz, placed
+her ice-cold hand on his breast, laid a gentle kiss on his brow,
+murmured in a faint, hollow voice, "The kiss of the dying brings luck
+to the happy bridegroom," and sank on the floor.
+
+"This poor foolish girl is in love with Moritz," Dagobert whispered to
+the Count, who answered--
+
+"I know. I suppose she has carried her foolishness so far as to take
+poison."
+
+"Good heavens!" cried Dagobert, starting up and hurrying to the
+arm-chair where they had placed poor Marguerite. Angelica and her
+mother were busy besprinkling her and rubbing her forehead with
+essences. When Dagobert went up she opened her eyes.
+
+"Keep yourself quiet, my dear child," said Madame von G----; "you are
+not very well, but you will soon be better--you will soon be better!"
+
+Marguerite answered in a feeble, hollow voice, "Yes; it will soon be
+over. I have taken poison."
+
+Angelica and her mother screamed aloud.
+
+"Thousand devils!" cried the Colonel. "The mad creature! Run for the
+doctor! Quick! The first and best that's to be found; bring him here
+instantly!"
+
+The servants, Dagobert himself, were setting off in all haste.
+
+"Stop!" cried the Count, who had been sitting very quietly hitherto,
+calmly and leisurely emptying a beaker of his favourite wine--the fiery
+Syracuse. "If Marguerite has taken poison, there is no need to send for
+a doctor, for, in this case, I am the very best doctor that could
+possibly be called in. Leave matters to me."
+
+He went to Marguerite, who was lying profoundly insensible, only giving
+an occasional convulsive twitch. He bent over her, and was seen to take
+a small box out of his pocket, from which he took something between his
+fingers, and this he gently rubbed over Marguerite's neck and the
+region of her heart. Then coming away from her, he said to the others,
+"She has taken opium; but she can be saved by means which I can
+employ."
+
+By the Count's directions Marguerite was taken upstairs to her room,
+where he remained with her alone. Meanwhile, Madame von G---- had found
+the phial which had contained the opium-drops prescribed some time
+previously for herself. The unfortunate girl had taken the whole of the
+contents of the phial.
+
+"The Count is really a wonderful man," Dagobert said, with a slight
+touch of irony. "He divines everything. The moment he saw Marguerite he
+knew she had taken poison, and next he knew exactly the name and colour
+of it."
+
+In half-an-hour the Count came and assured the company that Marguerite
+was out of danger, as far as her life was concerned. With a side-glance
+at Moritz, he added that he hoped to remove all cause of mischief from
+her mind as well. He desired that a maid should sit up with the
+patient, whilst he himself would spend the night in the next room, to
+be at hand in case anything fresh should transpire; but he wished to
+prepare and strengthen himself for this by a few more glasses of wine;
+for which end he sat down at table with the other gentlemen, whilst
+Angelica and her mother, being upset by what had happened, withdrew.
+
+The Colonel was greatly annoyed at this silly trick, as he called it,
+of Marguerite's, and Moritz and Dagobert felt very eery and uncanny
+over the whole affair; but the more out of tune they were the more did
+the Count give the rein to a joviality which had never been seen in him
+before, and which, in sober truth, had a certain amount of gruesomeness
+about it.
+
+"This Count," Dagobert said to Moritz, as they walked away, "has a
+something most eerily repugnant to me about him, in some strange
+inexplicable way. I cannot help a feeling that there must be something
+exceedingly mysterious connected with him."
+
+"Ah!" said Moritz, "there is a weight as of lead on my heart. I am
+filled with a dim foreboding that some dark mischance threatens my
+love."
+
+That night the Colonel was aroused from sleep by a courier from the
+Residenz. Next morning he came to his wife, looking rather pale, and
+constraining himself to a calmness which he was far from feeling, said,
+"We have to be parted again, dearest child. There's going to be another
+campaign, after this little bit of a rest. I shall have to march off
+with the regiment as soon as ever I can, perhaps this evening."
+
+Madame von G---- was greatly startled; she broke out into bitter
+weeping. The Colonel said, by way of consolation, that he felt sure
+this campaign would end as gloriously as the last--that he felt in such
+admirable spirits about it that he was certain nothing could go amiss.
+"What you had better do," he said, "is, take Angelica with you to the
+country-house, and stay there till we send the enemy to the rightabout
+again. I am providing you with a companion who will keep you amused,
+and prevent your feeling lonely. Count S---- is going with you."
+
+"What!" cried Madame von G----. "Good heavens! the Count to go with
+us!--Angelica's rejected lover--that deceitful Italian, who is hiding
+his annoyance in the bottom of his heart, only to bring it out in
+fullest force at the first proper opportunity; this Count who--I cannot
+say why--seems more intensely antipathetic to me since yesterday than
+ever?"
+
+"Good God!" the Colonel cried; "there really is no bearing with the
+nonsensical ideas--the silly dreams--which your sex gets into its head.
+The magnanimity of soul of a man of his firmness and fineness of
+character is too much for you to comprehend. The Count passed the whole
+night in the room next to Marguerite's, as he said he should do. He was
+the first person I told the news of the fresh campaign to. It would
+scarcely be possible for him to go home now. This was very annoying to
+him, and I gave him the option of going to our country-place and
+staying there. He accepted my offer, after much hesitation, and gave me
+his word of honour that he would do everything in his power to take
+care of you, and make the time of our separation pass as quickly as
+possible. You know what obligations I am under to him. My country-place
+is, just now, a real asylum for him; could I refuse him that?"
+
+Madame von G---- could say nothing further. The Colonel did as he had
+said he would. In the course of the evening the trumpets sounded boot
+and saddle, and every description of nameless pain and heart-breaking
+sorrow came upon the loving ones.
+
+A few days after, when Marguerite had recovered, the three ladies went
+off to the country-house. The Count followed, with a number of
+servants.
+
+And at first, the Count, showing the utmost delicacy of feeling, was
+careful never to enter the ladies' presence except when they sent for
+him specially; at all other times he remained in his own rooms, or went
+for solitary walks.
+
+At first the campaign seemed to go rather in favour of the enemy, but
+important successes were soon scored against him, and the Count was
+always the very first to hear the news of those operations, and
+particularly the most accurate and minute intelligence of what was
+happening to the regiment which the Colonel commanded. In the bloodiest
+engagements neither the Colonel nor Moritz had met with so much as a
+scratch; and the despatches from headquarters confirmed this.
+
+Thus the Count always appeared to the ladies in the character of a
+heavenly messenger of victory and good-fortune; besides this, all his
+behaviour betokened the most deep and sincere attachment to Angelica,
+which he exhibited to her as the tenderest of fathers might have done,
+occupied constantly about her happiness. Both she and her mother were
+compelled to admit to themselves that the Colonel's opinion of this
+tried friend of his was the correct one, and that all their--and other
+people's--prejudices against him had been the most preposterous
+fancies. At the same time Marguerite seemed to be quite cured of her
+foolish passion, and to have become the same gay, talkative, sprightly
+French lady whom we saw at an earlier period.
+
+A letter from the Colonel to his wife, enclosing one from Moritz to
+Angelica, dispelled the last remnant of anxiety. The enemy's capital
+city was captured, and an armistice established.
+
+Angelica was floating in a sea of blissfulness; and always it was the
+Count who spoke of the brave deeds of Moritz, and of the happiness
+which was opening its blossoms for the lovely future bride. After such
+speeches he would take Angelica's hand, press it to his heart, and ask
+if he were still as hateful to her as ever. With blushes and tears she
+would assure him that she had never hated him, but that she had loved
+Moritz too deeply and exclusively not to dread the idea of any other
+suitor for her hand. And the Count would say, very solemnly and
+seriously, "Look on me as your true, sincere, fatherly friend,
+Angelica," breathing a gentle kiss upon her forehead, which she
+suffered without ill-will; for it felt much like one of her father's
+kisses, which he used to apply about the same place.
+
+It was almost expected that the Colonel would very soon be home again,
+when a letter from him arrived containing the terrible news that Moritz
+had been set upon by some armed peasants, as he was passing with his
+orderly through a village. Those peasants shot him down at the side of
+the brave trooper, who managed to fight his way through; but the
+peasants carried Moritz away. Thus the joy with which the house was
+inspired was suddenly turned into the deepest and most inconsolable
+sorrow.
+
+
+The Colonel's household was all in busy movement from roof to ceiling.
+Servants in gay liveries were hurrying to and fro; carriages filled
+with guests were rattling into the courtyard, the Colonel in person
+receiving them with his new order on his breast.
+
+In her room upstairs sate Angelica in wedding-dress, beaming in the
+full pride of her loveliness: her mother was with her.
+
+"My dearest child," said the latter, "you have of your own free will
+accepted Count S---- as your husband. Much as jour father desired this,
+he has never at all insisted on it since poor Moritz's death; indeed,
+it seems to me as though he had had much of the feeling which (I cannot
+hide from you) I have had myself; it is utterly incomprehensible to me
+how you can have forgotten poor Moritz so soon. However, the time has
+come; you are giving your hand to the Count. Examine your own heart. It
+is not yet too late. May the remembrance of him whom you have forgotten
+never fall across your heart like some black shadow."
+
+"Never," cried Angelica, while the tears ran down her cheeks, "never
+can I forget Moritz. Never; oh! never can I love as I loved _him_! What
+I feel for the Count is something totally different. I cannot explain
+how it is that the Count has made me feel this irresistible attachment
+to him; but feel it I do, in every fibre of my being. It is not that I
+love him: I do not; I cannot love him in the way I loved Moritz; but
+I feel as if I could not, and cannot live apart from him--without
+him--independently of him. That it is only through him that I can think
+and feel. A spirit voice seems perpetually enjoining me to cleave to
+him as a wife; telling me that I _must_ do so, and that unless I do
+there is no further, or other life possible for me here below. And I
+obey this voice, which I believe to be the mysterious prompting of
+Providence."
+
+The maid here came in to say that Marguerite, who had been missing
+since the early part of the morning, had not made her appearance yet,
+but that the Gardener had just brought a little note which she had
+given him, with instructions to deliver it when he had finished his
+work and taken the last of the flowers to the Castle. It was as
+follows:--
+
+"You will never see me more; a dark mystery drives me from your house.
+I implore you--you, who have been to me as a tender mother--not to have
+me followed, or brought back by force. My second attempt to kill myself
+will be more successful than the first. May Angelica enjoy to the full
+that bliss, the idea of which pierces my heart. Farewell for ever!
+Forget the unfortunate Marguerite."
+
+"What is this?" cried Madame von G----; "the poor soul seems to have
+set her whole mind upon destroying our happiness. Must she always come
+in your way just as you are going to give your hand to the man of your
+choice? Let her go; the foolish, ungrateful thing, whom I treated and
+cared for as if she had been my own daughter. I shall certainly never
+trouble my head about her any more."
+
+Angelica cried bitterly at the loss of her whom she had looked on as a
+sister; her mother implored her not to waste a thought on the foolish
+creature at such an important time.
+
+The guests were assembled in the _salon_, ready, as soon as the
+appointed hour should come, to go to the little chapel where a catholic
+priest was to marry the couple. The Colonel led in the bride. Everyone
+marvelled at her beauty, which was enhanced by the simple richness of
+her dress. The Count had not arrived. One quarter of an hour succeeded
+another, and still he did not make his appearance. The Colonel went to
+the Count's rooms. There he found his valet, who said his master, just
+when he was fully dressed for the ceremony, had suddenly felt unwell,
+and had gone out for a turn in the park, hoping the fresh air would
+revive him, and forbidding him, the valet, to follow him.
+
+The Colonel could not explain to himself why it was that this
+proceeding of the Count's fell on him with such a weight--why it was
+that an idea immediately came to him that something terrible had
+happened. He sent back to the house to say that the Count would come
+very shortly, and that a celebrated doctor, who was one of the guests,
+was to be privately told to come out to him as quickly as possible. As
+soon as he came, he, the Colonel and the valet, went to search for the
+Count in the park. Striking out of the main alley, they went to an open
+space surrounded by thick shrubberies, which the Colonel remembered to
+have been a favourite resort of the Count's; and there they saw him
+sitting on a mossy bank, dressed all in black, with his star sparkling
+on his breast, and his hands folded, leaning his back against an
+elder-tree in full blossom, staring, motionless, before him. They
+shuddered at the sight, for his hollow, darkly-gleaming eyes were
+evidently devoid of the faculty of vision.
+
+"Count S----! what has happened?" the Colonel cried; but there was no
+answer, no movement, not the slightest appearance of respiration. The
+doctor hurried forward; tore off the Count's coat, waistcoat, and
+neckcloth, and rubbed his brow: turning then to the Colonel, he said in
+hollow tones, "Human help is useless here. He is dead!--there has been
+an attack of apoplexy!"
+
+The valet broke out into loud lamentations. The Colonel, mastering his
+inward horror with all his soldierly self-control, ordered him to hold
+his peace, saying, "If we are not careful what we are about, we shall
+kill Angelica on the spot." He caused the body to be taken up and
+carried by unfrequented paths to a pavilion at some distance, of which
+he happened to have the key in his pocket. There he left it under the
+valet's charge, and, with the doctor, went back to the chateau again.
+Hovering between one resolve and another, he could not make up his mind
+whether to conceal the whole matter from Angelica, or tell her, calmly
+and quietly, the terrible truth.
+
+When he came into the house he found everything in the utmost confusion
+and consternation. Angelica, in the middle of an animated conversation,
+had suddenly closed her eyes, and fallen into a state of profound
+insensibility. She was lying on a sofa in an adjoining room. Her face
+was not pale, nor in the least distorted; the roses of her cheeks
+bloomed brighter and fresher than ever, and her face shone with an
+indescribable expression of happiness and delight. She was as one
+penetrated with the highest blissfulness. The doctor, after observing
+her with the minutest carefulness of examination for a long while,
+declared that there was not the least cause for anxiety in her
+condition, nor the slightest danger. He said she was (although it was
+entirely inexplicable _how_ she was) in a magnetized condition, and
+that he would not venture to awaken her from it: she would wake from it
+of her own accord presently.
+
+Meanwhile mysterious whisperings arose amongst the guests. The sudden
+death of the Count seemed to have somehow got wind, and they all
+dispersed in gloomy silence. One could hear the carriages rolling away.
+
+Madame von G----, bending over Angelica, watched her every respiration.
+She seemed to be whispering words, but none could hear or understand
+them. The doctor would not allow her to be undressed; even her gloves
+were not to be taken off; he said it would be hurtful even to touch
+her.
+
+All at once she opened her eyes, started up from the sofa, and, with a
+resounding cry of "Here he is!" "Here he is!" went rushing out of the
+room, through the ante-chamber and down the stairs.
+
+"She is out of her mind," cried Madame von G----. "Oh, God of Heaven,
+she is mad!" "No, no," the Doctor said, "this is not madness; there is
+something altogether unheard of taking place," with which he hastened
+after her down the steps.
+
+He saw her speeding like an arrow, with her arms lifted up above her
+head, out of the gate and away along the broad high road, her rich
+lace-ornamented dress fluttering, and her hair, which had come down,
+streaming in the wind.
+
+A man on horseback was coming tearing up towards her; when he reached
+her, he sprang from his horse and clasped her in his arms. Two other
+riders who were following him drew rein and dismounted.
+
+The Colonel, who had followed the doctor in hot haste, stood gazing on
+the group in speechless astonishment, rubbing his forehead, as if
+striving to keep firm hold of his thoughts.
+
+It was Moritz who was holding Angelica fast pressed to his heart;
+beside him stood Dagobert, and a fine-looking young man in the handsome
+uniform of a Russian General.
+
+"No," cried Angelica over and over again, as the lovers embraced
+one another, "I was never untrue to you, my beloved Moritz." And
+Moritz cried, "Oh, I know that; I know that quite well, my darling
+angel-child. He enchanted you by his satanic arts."
+
+And he more carried than led her back to the chateau, while the others
+followed in silence. Not till he came to the castle did the Colonel
+give a profound sigh, as if it was only then that he came fully to his
+senses; and, looking round him with questioning glances, said, "What
+miracles! what extraordinary events!"
+
+"Everything will be explained," said Moritz, presenting the stranger to
+the Colonel as General Bogislav von Se----n, a Russian officer, his
+most intimate friend.
+
+As soon as they came into the chateau, Moritz, with a wild look, and
+unheeding the Colonel's alarmed amazement, cried out, "Where is Count
+von S----i?"
+
+"Among the dead!" said the Colonel, in a hollow voice, "he was seized
+with apoplexy an hour ago."
+
+Angelica shrank and shuddered. "Yes," she said, "that I know. At the
+very instant when he died I felt as though some crystal thing within my
+being shivered, and broke with a 'kling.' I fell into an extraordinary
+state. I think I must have gone on carrying that frightful dream (which
+I told you of) further, because, when I came to look at matters again,
+I found that those terrible eyes had no more power over me; the web of
+fire loosened and broke away. Heavenly blissfulness was all about me. I
+saw Moritz, my own Moritz; he was coming to me. I flew to meet him,"
+and she clasped her arms round him as if she thought he was going to
+escape from her again.
+
+"Praised be Heaven," said Madame von G----. "Now the weight has gone
+from my heart which was stifling it. I am freed from that inexpressible
+anxiety and alarm which came upon me at the instant when Angelica
+promised to marry that terrible Count. I always felt as though she were
+betrothing herself to mysterious, unholy powers with her betrothal
+ring."
+
+General von Se----n expressed a desire to see the Count's remains, and
+when the body was uncovered and he saw the pale countenance now fixed
+in death, he cried, "By Heaven, it is he! It is none other than
+himself."
+
+Angelica had fallen into a gentle sleep in Moritz's arms, and had been
+carried to her bed, the doctor thinking that nothing more beneficial
+could have happened to her than this slumber, which would rest the
+life-spirits, overstrained as they had been. He considered that in this
+manner a threatening illness would be naturally dispelled.
+
+"Now," said the Colonel, "it is time to solve all those riddles and
+explain all those miraculous events. Tell us, Moritz, what angel of
+Heaven has called you back to life?"
+
+"You know," said Moritz, "all about the murderous and treacherous
+attack which was made upon me near S----, though the armistice had been
+proclaimed. I was struck by a bullet, and fell from my horse. How long
+I lay in that deathlike state I cannot tell. When I first awoke to a
+dim consciousness, I was being moved somewhere, travelling. It was dark
+night; several voices were whispering near me. They were speaking
+French. Thus I knew that I was badly wounded and in the hands of the
+enemy. This thought came upon me with all its horror, and I sank again
+into a deep fainting fit. After that came a condition which has only
+left me the recollection of a few hours of violent headache; but at
+last, one morning, I awoke to complete consciousness. I found myself in
+a comfortable, almost sumptuous bed, with silk curtains and great
+cords and tassels. The room was lofty, and had silken hangings and
+richly-gilt tables and chairs, in the old French style. A strange man
+was bending over me and looking closely into my face. He hurried to a
+bell-rope and pulled at it hard. Presently the doors opened, and two
+men came in, the elder of whom had on an old-fashioned embroidered
+coat, and the cross of Saint Louis. The younger came to me, felt my
+pulse, and said to the elder, in French, 'All danger is over; he is
+saved.' The elder gentleman now introduced himself to me as the
+Chevalier de T----. The house was his in which I found myself. He said
+he had chanced, on a journey, to be passing through the village at the
+very moment when the treacherous attack was made upon me, and the
+peasants were going to plunder me. He succeeded in rescuing me, had me
+put into a conveyance, and brought to his chateau, which was quite
+out of the way of the military routes of communication. Here his own
+body-surgeon had applied himself to the arduous task of curing me of my
+very serious wound in the head. He said, in conclusion, that he loved
+my nation, which had shown him kindness in the stormy revolutionary
+times, and was delighted to be able to be of service to me. Everything
+in his chateau which could conduce to my comfort or amusement was
+freely at my disposal, and he would not, on any pretence, allow me to
+leave him until all risk, whether from my wound or the insecurity of
+the routes, should be over. All that he regretted was the impossibility
+of communicating with my friends for the moment, so as to let them know
+where I was.
+
+"The Chevalier was a widower, and his sons were not with him, so that
+there were no other occupants of the chateau but himself, the surgeon,
+and a great retinue of servants. It would only weary you were I to tell
+you at length how I grew better and better under the care of the
+exceedingly able surgeon, and how the Chevalier did everything he
+possibly could to make my hermit's life agreeable to me. His
+conversation was more intellectual, and his views less shallow, than is
+usually the case with his countrymen. He talked on arts and sciences,
+but avoided the more novel and recent developments of them as much as
+possible. I need not tell you that my sole thought was Angelica, that
+it burned my soul to know that she was plunged in sorrow for my death.
+I constantly urged the Chevalier to get letters conveyed to our
+headquarters. He always declined to do so, on account of the
+uncertainty of the attempt, as it seemed as good as certain that
+fighting was going on again; but he consoled me by promising that as
+soon as I was quite convalescent he would have me sent home safe and
+sound, happen what might. From what he said I was led to suppose that
+the campaign was going on again, and to the advantage of the allies,
+and that he was avoiding telling me so in words from a wish to spare my
+feelings. But I need only mention one or two little incidents to
+justify the strange conjectures which Dagobert has formed in his mind.
+I was nearly free from fever, when one night I suddenly fell into an
+incomprehensible condition of dreaminess, the recollection of which
+makes me shudder, though that recollection is of the dimmest and most
+shadowy kind. I saw Angelica, but her form seemed to be dissolving away
+indistinctly in a trembling radiance, and I strove in vain to hold it
+fast before me. Another being pressed in between us, laid herself on my
+breast, and grasped my heart within me, in the depths of my entity; and
+while I was perishing in the most glowing torment, I was at the same
+time penetrated with a strange miraculous sense of bliss. Next morning
+my eyes fell on a picture hanging near the bed, which I had never seen
+there before. I shuddered, for it was Marguerite beaming on me with her
+black brilliant eyes. I asked the servant whose picture it was, and
+where it came from. He said it was the Chevalier's niece, the Marquise
+de T----, and had always been where it was now, only I had not noticed
+it; it had been freshly dusted the day before. The Chevalier said the
+same. So that, whilst--waking or dreaming--my sole desire was to see
+Angelica, what was continually before me was Marguerite. It seemed to
+me that I was alienated, estranged, from myself. Some exterior foreign
+power seemed to have possession of me, ruling me, taking supreme
+command of me. I felt that I could not get away from Marguerite. Never
+shall I forget the torture of that condition.
+
+"One morning, as I was lying in a window seat, refreshing my whole
+being by drinking in the perfume and the freshness which the morning
+breeze was wafting to me, I heard trumpets in the distance, and
+recognized a cheery march-tune of Russian cavalry. My heart throbbed
+with rapture and delight. It was as if friendly spirits were coming to
+me, wafted on the wings of the wind, speaking to me in lovely voices of
+comfort, as if a newly-won life was stretching out hands to me to lift
+me from the coffin in which some hostile power had nailed me up. One or
+two horsemen came up with lightning speed, right into the castle
+enclosure. I looked down, and saw Bogislav. In the excess of my joy I
+shouted out his name; the Chevalier came in, pale and annoyed,
+stammering out something about an unexpected billeting, and all sorts
+of trouble and annoyance. Without attending to him, I ran downstairs
+and threw myself into Bogislav's embrace.
+
+"To my astonishment, I now learned that peace had been proclaimed a
+long time before, and that the greater part of the troops were on their
+homeward march. All this the Chevalier had concealed from me, keeping
+me on in the chateau as his prisoner. Neither Bogislav nor I knew
+anything in the shape of a motive for this conduct. But each of us
+dimly felt that there must be something in the nature of foul play
+about it. The Chevalier was quite a different man from that moment,
+sulky and peevish. Even to lack of good breeding, he wearied us with
+continual exhibitions of self-will, and naggling about trifles. Nay,
+when, in the purest gratitude, I spoke enthusiastically of his having
+saved my life, he smiled malignantly; and, in fact, his whole conduct
+was that of an incomprehensible eccentric.
+
+"After a halt of eight-and-forty hours for rest, Bogislav marched off
+again, and I went with him. We were delighted when we turned our backs
+on the strange old-world place, which now looked to me like some
+gloomy, uncanny prison-house. But now, Dagobert, do you go on, for it
+is quite your turn to continue the account of the rest of the strange
+adventures which we have met with."
+
+"How," began Dagobert, "can we doubt, and hesitate to believe in, the
+marvellous power of foreboding, and fore-knowing, events which lie so
+deep in man's nature? I never believed that my friend was dead. That
+Spirit or Intelligence (call it whatever you choose) which speaks to
+us, comprehensibly, from out our own selves, in our dreams, told me
+that Moritz was alive, and that, somehow and somewhere, he was being
+held fast in bonds of some most mysterious nature. Angelica's relations
+with the Count cut me to the heart; and when, some little time ago, I
+came here and found her in a peculiar condition, which, I am obliged to
+say, caused me an inward horror (because I seemed to see, as in a magic
+mirror, some terrible mysterious secret), there ripened in me a resolve
+that I would go on a pilgrimage, by land and water, until I should find
+my friend Moritz. I say not a word of my delight when I found him, on
+German ground, at A----, and in the company of General von S----en.
+
+"All the furies of hell awoke in his breast when he heard of Angelica's
+betrothal to the Count; but all his execrations and heart-breaking
+lamentations at her unfaithfulness to him were silenced when I told
+him of certain ideas which I had formed, and assured him that it
+was in his power to set the whole matter straight in a moment. General
+von Se----en shuddered when I mentioned the Count's name to him, and
+when, at his desire, I described his face, figure, and appearance, he
+cried, 'Yes, there can be no further doubt. He is the very man!'"
+
+"You will be surprised," here interrupted the General, "to hear me say
+that this Count S----i, many years ago, in Naples, carried away from
+me, by means of diabolical arts, a lady whom I deeply and fondly loved.
+At the very instant when I ran my sword through his body, both she and
+I were seized upon by a hellish illusion which parted us for ever. I
+have long known that the wounds which I gave him were not dangerous in
+the slightest degree, that he became a suitor for the lady's hand, and,
+alas! that on the very day when she was to have been married to him,
+she fell down dead, stricken by what was said to be an attack of
+apoplexy."
+
+"Good Heavens!" cried Madame von G----. "No doubt a similar fate was
+hanging over my darling child! But how is it that I feel this is so?"
+
+"The voice of the boding Spirit tells you so, Madame," said Dagobert.
+
+"And then," said Madame von G----, "that terrible apparition which
+Moritz was telling us of that evening when the Count came in in such a
+mysterious way?"
+
+"As I was telling you then," said Moritz, "there fell a crashing blow.
+An ice-cold deathly air blew upon me, and it seemed to me that a pale
+indistinct form went hovering and rustling across the room, in
+wavering, scarcely distinguishable outlines. I mastered my terror with
+all the might of my reason. All I seemed to be conscious of was that
+Bogislav was lying stiff, cold, and rigid, like a man dead. When he had
+been brought back to consciousness, with great pains and trouble, by
+the doctor who was summoned, he feebly reached out his hand to me, and
+said, 'Soon, to-morrow at latest, all my sorrows will be over.' And it
+really happened as he said, though it was the will of Providence that
+it should come about in quite a different way to that which we
+anticipated. In the thick of the fighting, next morning, a spent ball
+struck him on the breast and knocked him out of his saddle. This kindly
+ball shattered the portrait of his false love, which he wore next to
+his heart, into a thousand splinters. His contusion soon healed, and
+since that moment Bogislav has been quite free from everything of an
+uncanny nature."
+
+"It is as he says," said the General, "and the very memory of her who
+is lost to me does no more than produce in me that gentle sadness which
+is so soothing to the heart. But I hope our friend Dagobert will go on
+to tell you what happened to us further."
+
+"We made all haste away from A----," Dagobert resumed, "and this
+morning, just as day was breaking, we reached the little town of P---,
+about six miles from this place, meaning to rest there for an hour or
+two, and then come on here. Imagine the feelings of Moritz and me when,
+from one of the rooms in the inn, we saw Marguerite come bursting out
+upon us, with insanity clearly written on her pallid face. She fell at
+Moritz's feet and embraced his knees, weeping bitterly, calling herself
+the blackest of criminals, worthy a thousand deaths. She implored him
+to end her life on the spot. Moritz repulsed her with the deepest
+abhorrence, and rushed away from the house."
+
+"Yes," said Moritz, "when I saw Marguerite at my feet, all the torments
+of that terrible condition in which I had been at the Chevalier's came
+back upon me, goading me into a state of fury such as I had never known
+before. I could scarcely help running my sword through her heart; but I
+succeeded in mastering myself, and I made my escape after a mighty
+effort."
+
+"I lifted Marguerite up from the floor," Dagobert continued, "and
+helped her to her room. I succeeded in calming her, and heard her tell
+me, in broken sentences, exactly what I had expected and anticipated.
+She gave me a letter from the Count, which had reached her the previous
+midnight. I have it here."
+
+He produced it, and read it as follows:--
+
+"Fly, Marguerite! All is lost! The detested one is coming quickly. All
+my science, knowledge, and skill are of no avail to me as against the
+dark fate and destiny about to overtake me at the very culminating
+point of my career.
+
+"Marguerite, I have initiated you into mysteries which would have
+annihilated any ordinary woman had she endeavoured to comprehend them.
+But you, with your exceptional mental powers, and firm, strong will and
+resolution, have been a worthy pupil to the deeply experienced master.
+Your help has been most precious to me. It was through you that I
+controlled Angelica's mind, and all her inner being. And, to reward
+you, it was my desire to prepare for you the bliss of your life,
+according to the manner in which your heart conceived it; and I dared
+to enter within circles the most mysterious, the most perilous. I
+undertook operations which often terrified even myself. In vain. Fly,
+or your destruction is certain. Until the supreme moment comes I shall
+battle bravely on against the hostile powers. But I know well that that
+supreme moment brings to me instant death. But I will die all alone.
+When the supreme moment comes I shall go to that mysterious tree, under
+whose shadow I have so often spoken to you of the wondrous secrets
+which were known to me, and at my command.
+
+"Marguerite, keep aloof from those secrets for evermore. Nature,
+terrible mother, angry when her precocious children prematurely pry
+into her secrets and pluck at the veil which covers her mysteries,
+throws to them some glittering toy which lures them on until its
+destroying power is directed against them. I myself once caused the
+death of a woman, who perished at the very moment when I thought I was
+going to take her to my heart with the most fervid affection; and this
+paralysed my powers. Yet, dolt that I was, I still thought I should
+find bliss here on earth. Farewell, Marguerite, farewell. Go back to
+your own country. Go to S----. The Chevalier de T---- will charge
+himself with your welfare and happiness. Farewell."
+
+As Dagobert read this letter, all the auditors felt an inward shudder,
+and Madame von G---- said, "I shall be compelled to believe in things
+which my whole heart and soul refuse to credit. However, I certainly
+never could understand now it was that Angelica forgot Moritz so
+quickly and devoted herself to the Count. At the same time I cannot but
+remember that she was all the time in an extraordinary, unnatural
+condition of excitement, and that was a circumstance which filled me
+with the most torturing anxiety. I remember that her inclination for
+the Count showed itself at first in a very strange way. She told me she
+used to have the most vivid and delightful dreams of him nearly every
+night."
+
+"Exactly," said Dagobert. "Marguerite told me that, by the Count's
+directions, she used to sit whole nights by Angelica's bedside,
+breathing the Count's name into her ear very, very softly. And the
+Count would very often come into the room about midnight, fix a
+steadfast gaze on Angelica for several minutes together, and then go
+away again. But now that I have read you the Count's letter, is there
+any need of commentary? His aim was to operate psychically upon the
+Inner Principle by various mysterious processes and arts, and in this
+he succeeded, by virtue of special qualifications of his nature. There
+were most intimate relations between him and the Chevalier de T----,
+both of them being members of that secret society or 'school' which has
+a certain number of representatives in France and Italy, and is
+supposed to be descended from, or a continuation of, the celebrated
+P---- school. It was at the Count's instigation that the Chevalier kept
+Moritz so long shut up in his chateau, and practised all sorts of
+love-spells on him. I myself could go deeper into this subject, and say
+more about the mysterious means by which the Count could influence the
+Psychic Principle of others, as Marguerite divulged some of them to me.
+I could explain many matters by a science which is not altogether
+unknown to me, though I prefer not to call it by its name, for fear of
+being misunderstood. However, I had rather avoid all those subjects,
+to-day at all events."
+
+"Oh, pray avoid them for ever," cried Madame von G----. "No more
+reference to the dark, unknown realm, the abode of fear and horror. I
+thank the Eternal Power, which has rescued my beloved child, and freed
+us from the uncanny guest who brought us such terrible trouble."
+
+It was arranged that they should go back to town the following day,
+except the Colonel and Dagobert, who stayed behind to see to the burial
+of the Count's remains.
+
+When Angelica had long been Moritz's happy wife, it chanced that one
+stormy November evening the family, and Dagobert, were sitting round
+the fire in the very room into which Count S---- had made his entry in
+such a spectral fashion. Just as then, mysterious voices were piping,
+awakened by the storm-wind in the chimney.
+
+"Do you remember?" said Madame von G----.
+
+"Come, come," cried the Colonel; "no ghost stories, I beg." But
+Angelica and Moritz spoke of what their feelings had been on that
+evening long ago; of their having been so devotedly in love with each
+other, and unable to help attaching the most overweening importance to
+every little incident which occurred: how the pure beam of that love of
+theirs had been reflected by everything, and even the sweet bond of
+alarm wove itself out of loving, longing hearts--and how the Uncanny
+Guest, heralded by all the spectral voices of ill-omen, had brought
+terror upon them. "Does it not seem to you, dearest Moritz," said
+Angelica, "that the strange tones of the storm-wind, as we hear them
+now, are speaking to us, only of our love, in the kindliest possible
+tones?"
+
+"Yes! yes!" said Dagobert, "and the singing of the kettle sounds
+to-night to _me_ much more like a little cradle song than anything
+eerie."
+
+Angelica hid her blushing face on Moritz's breast. And _he_--for his
+part--clasped his arm round his beautiful wife, and softly whispered,
+"Is there, here below, a higher bliss than this?"
+
+
+"I see very plainly," said Ottmar, when he had finished, and the
+friends still sat in gloomy silence, "that my little story has not
+pleased you particularly, so we had better not say much more about it,
+but consign it to oblivion."
+
+"The very best thing we could do," said Lothair.
+
+"And yet," Cyprian said, "I must take up the cudgels for my friend.
+Of course you will say that I am to some extent mixed up in the
+matter--that Ottmar has taken a good many of the germs of the story
+from me, and on this occasion has been cooking in my kitchen, so that
+you won't be disposed to allow me to be a judge in the case. Yet,
+unless you mean to condemn everything without the slightest remorse,
+like so many Rhadamanthuses--you must admit, yourselves, that there is
+much in Ottmar's story which must be allowed to pass as genuinely
+Serapiontic; the beginning, for instance."
+
+"Quite right," said Theodore; "the party round the tea-table may pass
+as from the life, as well as many other points during the course of the
+tale. But, to speak candidly, we have had a very large assortment of
+spectral characters such as the stranger Count, and it will soon be a
+difficult matter to go on giving them novelty and originality. He is
+too much like Alban in 'The Magnetizer.' You know the tale I mean, and
+indeed that story and Ottmar's have both the same _motif_. Wherefore I
+wish I might beg our Ottmar and you, Cyprian, to leave monsters of that
+sort out of the game in future. For Ottmar this will be possible, but
+for you, Cyprian, I am not so sure that it will. So that we shall have
+to allow _you_ to serve us up a 'Spook' of the kind now and then, I
+suppose, only stipulating that it shall be truly Serapiontic, _i.e._
+come out of the very inmost depths of your imagination. Moreover 'The
+Magnetizer' _seems_ rhapsodical, but the 'Uncanny Guest' is rhapsodical
+in very truth."
+
+"I must take up the cudgels for my friend in this respect too," said
+Cyprian, "and tell you that, in the very neighbourhood of this place
+where we are at this moment, there actually happened an event, not very
+long ago, by no means unlike the incidents of this story. Into a quiet
+happy group of friends, just when supernatural matters were forming the
+subject of conversation, there suddenly came a stranger, who struck
+every one as being uncanny and terrifying, notwithstanding his apparent
+everydayness, and seeming belonging to the common level. By his arrival
+this stranger not only spoiled the enjoyment of the evening in
+question, but subsequently destroyed the peace and happiness of the
+family for a long period. Even at this day deadly shudders seize a
+happy wife when she thinks of the crafty wickedness with which this
+person tried to entangle her in his nets. I told this at the time to
+Ottmar, and nothing made a greater impression on him than the moment
+when the stranger made his spectral entry, and the sense of the
+propinquity of the hostile Spiritual Principle seized upon every one
+present with a sudden terror. This moment came vividly to Ottmar's
+mind, and formed the groundwork of his tale."
+
+"But," said Ottmar, "as a single incident is far from being a complete
+story--which ought to spring perfect and complete from its author's
+brain, like Minerva from the head of Jupiter--my tale is of course not
+worth much as a whole, and it is little to my credit, I suppose, that I
+took advantage of two or three incidents which really happened, weaving
+them--not without some little success perhaps--into a network of the
+imaginary."
+
+"Yes," said Lothair, "you are right, my friend. A single striking
+incident is far from being a tale, just as one well-imagined theatrical
+situation is a long way from constituting a play. This reminds me of
+the way in which a certain playwright (who no longer walks this world,
+and whose terrible death certainly atoned for any shortcomings of his
+during his life, and reconciled his worst enemies to him) used to
+construct his pieces. In a company where I was present, he said,
+without any concealment, that he selected some one's good dramatic
+situation which occurred to him, and then, solely for the sake of that,
+hung a canvas round it and painted away upon it 'just whatever came in
+his head,' or 'as best he could,' to use his own expressions. This
+gave me a complete explanation of, and threw a dazzling flood of light
+upon, the whole character and inner being of that writer's pieces,
+particularly those of his later period. None of them is without some
+very happily devised central situation, but all round this the scenes,
+which he made up out of commonplace material, are woven like a loosely
+knitted web, although the hand of that weaver, skilled as it is in
+_technique_, is never to be mistaken."
+
+"Never, say you?" remarked Theodore. "I have been always waiting and
+looking out for the points where that writer would abandon his
+commonplaces, and rise into the region of romance and true poetry. The
+most striking and melancholy instance of what I mean is the so-called
+Romantic Drama, 'Deodata'; a strange nondescript production, on which a
+clever composer ought not to have wasted capital music. There can be no
+more striking proof of the utter want of infelt poetry, of any
+conception of the higher dramatic life, than where the author of
+'Deodata,' in his preface, finds fault with Opera because it is
+unnatural that people should sing on the stage, and next goes on to
+explain that he has been at pains to introduce the singing, which is
+incidental to it, always in a natural manner."
+
+"_De mortuis nil nisi bonum_," said Cyprian, "let the dead repose in
+peace."
+
+"And all the more," said Lothair, "that I see midnight is close at
+hand, and he might avail himself of that circumstance to give us a box
+or two on the ear (as he is said to have done to his critics in life)
+with his invisible fist."
+
+Just then the carriage which Lothair had sent for on account of
+Theodore's still invalid condition, came rolling up, and the friends
+went back in it to town.
+
+
+
+
+                             SECTION SIXTH.
+
+
+It so happened that some irresistible psychic force had impelled
+Sylvester back to town, although, as a rule, nothing in the world would
+induce him to leave the country at the time of year when the weather
+was at its pleasantest. A little theatrical piece which he had written
+was going to be produced, and it seems an impossibility for an author
+to miss a first performance of one of his pieces, even though he may
+have to contend with a world of trouble and anxiety in connection with
+it. Moreover, Vincent, too, had emerged from the crowd, so that, for
+the time at least, the Serapion Brotherhood was fairly reestablished;
+they held their meeting in the same pleasant public-garden where they
+had last assembled.
+
+Sylvester was not like the same man; he was in better spirits and more
+talkative than when he was last seen, and taking him all over, like one
+who had experienced some piece of great good fortune.
+
+"Was it not well," said Lothair, "that we put off our meeting until our
+friend's piece had been produced? otherwise we should have found our
+good brother preoccupied, uninterested in our conversation, oppressed
+as with a heavy burden. His piece would have been haunting him like
+some distressful spectre, but now that it has burst its chrysalis and
+fluttered away like a beautiful butterfly into the empyrean, and has
+not sued for universal favour in vain, everything is clear and bright
+within him. He stands glorified in the radiance of deserved applause
+which has fallen so richly to his share, and we won't, for a moment,
+take it ill of him that he looks down upon us with the least bit of
+pardonable pride, seeing that not one of us can boast of having done
+what he has; namely, electrified some six or eight hundred people with
+one spark; but let everybody have his due. Your piece is good,
+Sylvester; but you must admit that the admirable rendering was what
+gave it its wings. You must really have been greatly satisfied with the
+actors, were you not?"
+
+"I certainly was," said Sylvester, "although at the same time it is
+very difficult to please the author of a play with the performance of
+it. You see, he is himself each of the characters of the piece; and all
+their most intimate peculiarities, with all their necessary conditions,
+have taken their origin in his own brain; and it seems impossible to
+him that any other person shall so appropriate, and make his own, those
+intimate thoughts of his which are peculiar to and innate in the
+character as to be able to bring them forth into actual life. The
+author, however, insists in his own mind upon this being done; and the
+more vividly he has conceived the character, the more is he
+discontented with the very slightest shortcoming, or alteration in it,
+which he can discover in the actor's rendering of it. Certain is it
+that the author suffers an anxiety which destroys all his pleasure in
+the representation, and it is only when he can manage to soar above
+this anxiousness, and see his character, the character which he has
+invented, portrayed before his eyes, just as he saw it rise before his
+mental vision, that he is able to enjoy, to some extent, seeing his
+piece represented."
+
+"Still," said Ottmar, "any annoyance which a playwright may feel, when
+he sees other characters, quite dissimilar from his own, represented
+instead of them, is richly compensated for by the applause of the
+public, to which no author can, or should, be indifferent."
+
+"No doubt," said Sylvester; "and as it is to the actor who is playing
+the part that the applause is, in the first instance, given, the
+author, who from his distant seat is looking on with trembling and
+anxiety, yea, often with anger and disgust, at last becomes convinced
+that the character (not at all his character) which is speaking the
+speeches of his one on the stage, is, at all events, not so very bad
+after all as might have been. Also it is quite true, and no reasonable
+author, who is not entirely shut up in himself, will deny it, that many
+a clever actor, who has formed a vivid conception of a character,
+develops features in that character which he himself did not think of,
+at least not distinctly, and which he must nevertheless admit to be
+good and appropriate. The author sees a character which was born in his
+own most inmost elements, appearing before him in a shape new and
+strange to him. Yet this shape is by no means foreign to the elements
+of the genesis of the character, nay it does not seem now possible that
+it could have assumed a different form; and he feels a glad
+astonishment over this thing, which is really his own, although it
+seems so different; just as if he had suddenly come upon a treasure in
+his garret, whose existence he had not dreamt of."
+
+"There," said Ottmar, "spoke my dear kind-hearted Sylvester, who does
+not know the meaning of the word 'vanity,' that vanity which has
+stifled many a great and true talent. There is one writer for the stage
+who once said, without the slightest hesitation, that there are no
+actors capable of understanding the soul which dwells within him, or of
+representing the characters which he creates. How wholly otherwise was
+it with our grand and glorious Schiller, who once got into that state
+of delighted surprise of which Sylvester speaks, when he saw his
+Wallenstein performed, and declared that it was then, for the first
+time, that he had seen his hero visibly in flesh and blood before his
+eyes. It was Fleck, the for ever unforgettable hero of our stage, who
+played Wallenstein then."
+
+"On the whole," said Lothair, "I am convinced, and the instance which
+Ottmar has given confirms me, that the writer on whom, in the depths of
+his soul, the true recognition and comprehension of art, and with them,
+that worship which they give to the creating formative spirit of the
+universe, have arisen in light, cannot lower himself to the degraded
+idol-cult, which worships only its own self as being the Fetish that
+created all things. It is very easy for a great talent to be mistaken
+for real genius. But time dispels every illusion: talent succumbs to
+the attacks of time, but they have no effect on true genius, which
+lives on in invulnerable strength and beauty. But, to return to our
+Sylvester, and his theatre-piece, I must declare to you that I cannot
+understand how any one can come to the heroic decision to permit a
+work, for which he is indebted to his imagination, and to fortunate
+creative impulses, to be acted before him on the slippery, risky,
+uncertain boards of the stage."
+
+The friends laughed, thinking that Lothair was, after his wont, going
+to utter some quaint, out-of-the-way opinion.
+
+"Am I," asked he, "really a strange being who often thinks things which
+other people are not very apt to think? Well, be that as it may; I say
+again that when a fairly good writer, who has genuine talent, such as
+our Sylvester, puts a piece upon the stage, it feels to me very much as
+if he made up his mind to jump out of a third-floor window, and take
+his chance of what might happen to him. I am going to make a
+confession; when I told you I did not go to the theatre on the first
+night of Sylvester's piece, I told you a lie. Of course I went; and sat
+on a back seat, a second Sylvester, a second author of the piece, for
+it is impossible that he can have felt the strain of anxiety, the
+strange feeling compounded of pleasure and its opposite, the
+restlessness amounting to real pain, in any greater degree than I did
+myself. Every word of the players, every gesture of theirs, took my
+breath away, and I kept saying to myself, 'Oh, gracious heavens, is it
+possible that that will do, that it will go down with the audience? and
+is the author responsible whether it does or not?'"
+
+"You make the thing worse than it is," said Sylvester. "I feel a
+disagreeable oppression of the breath, particularly at the beginning;
+but if matters are going on pretty well, and the public expresses
+itself favourably, this gradually goes off, and makes room for a very
+pleasant sensation, in which I think selfish satisfaction with one's
+own production occupies the principal place."
+
+"Oh! you theatre-writers," cried out Vincent, "you are the most
+conceited of all. The applause of the multitude is, to you, the very
+honey of Hybla, and you sip and swallow it with the daintiest of faces
+and the sweetest of smiles. But I am going to take up the role of
+devil's advocate, and add that you are as little to be found fault
+with, for your anxiousness and eagerness (which many folks think are
+nothing but the pangs of your vanity), as anybody else who is playing a
+great and risky game. You are staking yourselves; winning means
+applause, but losing means not only deserved blame, but (if this
+amounts to a distinct public expression of it) that besmirching of the
+ludicrous which is the bitterest and (as the French think) the most
+fearful and damnable condemnation which a man can' experience here
+below. A virtuous Frenchman would, therefore, much rather be considered
+a vile reprobate than be laughed at, and it is quite certain that a ban
+of being ludicrous always falls on any playwright who has been
+(theatrically speaking) 'damned'; and he never shakes it off in all his
+lifetime. Even future success is a most questionable affair, and many a
+man who has had this misfortune happen to him, has fled in his despair
+to the doleful wilderness of those productions which possess the
+outward appearance of theatrical pieces, but, as their authors solemnly
+assure us, are not meant for representation."
+
+"I," said Theodore, "can corroborate you both most thoroughly from my
+own experience, that it is a most hazardous matter to put a work on to
+the stage. What it really amounts to is, that you are committing a
+property of yours to the mercy of the winds and the waves. When one
+remembers how many thousand accidental contingencies the effect of a
+work depends upon, how very often the deeply considered and carefully
+contrived effect of some passage is shipwrecked by the blunder, the
+unskilfulness, or the mistake of a singer or instrumentalist; how
+often--"
+
+Vincent here interrupted with a vigourous cry of "hear! hear!"
+
+"I cry 'hear! hear!'" he explained, "as the noble lords in the English
+Parliament do when one of them is just going to let the cat out of the
+bag. Theodore's head is full of nothing but the opera which he put upon
+the stage a few years ago. At the time, he said, 'When I had attended a
+dozen rehearsals which were more or less useless and pretty much
+burked, and when the last one came, and the conductor evidently had
+very little real idea of my score, or about the piece as a whole, I
+gave things up, and felt quite calm in my mind as to the very dubious
+destiny which was hanging over my production like a most threatening
+thunder-cloud.' I said, 'If it is failure, a failure let it be; I am
+far away aloft above all an author's anxieties and uneasinesses.' With
+other pretty speeches of a like nature. But when I saw my friend on the
+day of the performance, and when it came to be time to go to the
+theatre, he suddenly turned as white as a sheet (though he smiled and
+laughed a great deal, nobody quite knew at what), and gave us the most
+eager assurances that he had almost forgotten that that was the night
+when his opera was to be given--tried, when putting on his greatcoat,
+to stick his right arm into the left sleeve, so that I had to help him
+on with it--and then ran off across the street like one possessed,
+without a word. And, as the first chords of his overture sounded just
+as he was getting into his box, he tumbled into the arms of the
+terrified boxkeeper. Then--"
+
+"There, there!" cried Theodore, "that's enough about my opera, and the
+execution of it. I shall be very glad to tell you as much as you please
+about them any time when we happen to be having a regular talk about
+music; but not another word to-night."
+
+"We have said enough, and more than enough," said Lothair, "on this
+particular subject, and by way of winding it up, I may just say that
+there is a little anecdote of Voltaire which pleases me greatly. Once,
+when one of his tragedies--I think it was Zaire--was going to be given
+for the first time, he was in such a terror of anxiety about its fate,
+that he did not dare to be present himself; but all the way between his
+house and the theatre he had people posted to send him messages every
+two or three minutes, by a code of signals, bow the piece was going; so
+that he was able to suffer all the torments of the Author comfortably,
+_en robe de chambre_, in his own room."
+
+"Now," cried Sylvester, "wouldn't that make a capital scene on the
+stage? and what a splendid part it would be for a character actor.
+Think of Voltaire on the boards. News comes that 'The public is
+disturbed, uneasy.' 'Ha!' he cries, 'frivolous race! can any one
+awaken your sympathy?' Next comes a message that 'the public is
+applauding--shouting in delight.' 'Oh! great, grand, noble Frenchmen,'
+he cries, 'you comprehend your Voltaire--you are worthy of him.' 'The
+public is hissing, and there are one or two catcalls audible.' 'Ah!
+traitors! this to me--to me!'"
+
+"Enough, enough," said Ottmar. "Sylvester is so inspired by his success
+that he is favouring us with a scene of a comedy instead of--like a
+proper Serapion Brother--reading us a tale, the most interesting
+subject of which he told me of, in writing, and which I know he has
+finished and brought with him."
+
+"Our having been talking of Voltaire," said Sylvester, "may lead us to
+think of his 'Sičcle de Louis XIV.,' and of that period itself, in
+which I have laid the scenes of the story which I now venture, with all
+modesty, to submit, hoping for your favourable opinion."
+
+He read:--
+
+
+
+                         MADEMOISELLE SCUDERI:
+           A Tale Of The Times Of Louis The Fourteenth.
+
+Magdaleine Scuderi, so famous for her charming poetical and other
+writings, lived in a small mansion in the Rue St. Honoré, by favour of
+Louis the 14th and Madame Maintenon.
+
+Late one night--about midnight--in the autumn of the year 1680, there
+came a knocking at the door of this house, so loud and violent that it
+shook the very ground. Baptiste, who filled the offices of cook,
+butler, and doorkeeper in the lady's modest establishment, had gone, by
+her leave, to the country to his sister's wedding, so that La
+Martiničre, the _femme de chambre_, was the only person still awake in
+the house. She heard this knocking, which went on without ceasing
+almost, and she remembered that, as Baptiste was away, she and her
+mistress were alone and unprotected. She thought of the housebreakings,
+robberies, and murders which were so frequent in Paris at that time,
+and felt convinced that some of the numerous bands of malefactors,
+knowing the defenceless state of the house that night, were raising
+this alarum at the door, and would commit some outrage if it was
+opened; so she remained in her room, trembling and terrified,
+anathematizing Baptiste, and his sister's marriage into the bargain.
+
+Meantime the thundering knocking went on at the door, and she thought
+she heard a voice calling in the intervals, "Open, for the love of
+Christ! Open!--open!" At last, her alarm increasing, she took her
+candle and ran out on to the landing, where she distinctly heard the
+voice crying, "Open the door, for the love of Christ!"
+
+"After all," she said to herself, "one knows that a robber would not be
+crying out in that way. Perhaps it is somebody who is being pursued and
+is come to my lady for refuge. She is known to be always ready to do a
+kind action--but we must be very careful!"
+
+She opened a window, and called down into the street, asking who it was
+who was making such a tremendous thundering at the door at that time of
+the night, rousing everybody from their sleep. This she did in a voice
+which she tried to make as like a man's as she could. By the glimmer of
+the moon, which was beginning to break through dark clouds, she could
+make out a tall figure, in a long grey cloak, with a broad hat drawn
+down over the forehead. Then she cried, in a loud voice, so that this
+person in the street should hear, "Baptiste! Claude! Pierre! Get up,
+and see who this rascal is who is trying to get in at this time of
+night." But a gentle, entreating voice spake from beneath, saying, "Ah,
+La Martiničre, I know it is you, you kind soul, though you are trying
+to alter your voice; and I know well enough that Baptiste is away in
+the country, and that there is nobody in the house but your mistress
+and yourself. Let me in. I _must_ speak with your lady this instant."
+
+"Do you imagine," asked La Martiničre, "that my lady is going to speak
+to you in the middle of the night? Can't you understand that she has
+been in bed ever so long, and that it is as much as my place is worth
+to awaken her out of her first sweet sleep, which is so precious to a
+person at her time of life?"
+
+"I know," answered the person beneath, "that she has just this moment
+put away the manuscript of the novel 'Clelia,' at which she is working
+so hard, and is writing some verses which she means to read to-morrow
+at Madame de Maintenon's. I implore you, Madame La Martiničre, be so
+compassionate as to open the door. Upon your doing so depends the
+escape of an unfortunate creature from destruction. Nay, honour,
+freedom, a human life, depend on this moment in which I _must_ speak
+with your lady. Remember, her anger will rest upon you for ever when
+she comes to know that it was you who cruelly drove away from her door
+the unfortunate wretch who came to beg for her help."
+
+"But why should you come for her help at such an extraordinary time of
+the night?" asked La Martiničre. "Come back in the morning at a
+reasonable hour." But the reply came up, "Does destiny, when it strikes
+like the destroying lightning, consider hours and times? When there is
+but one moment when rescue is possible, is help to be put off? Open me
+the door. Have no fear of a wretched being who is without defence,
+hunted, under the pressure of a terrible fate, and flies to your lady
+for succour from the most imminent peril."
+
+La Martiničre heard the stranger moaning and groaning as he uttered
+those words in the deepest sorrow, and the tone of his voice was that
+of a youth, soft and gentle, and going profoundly to the heart. She was
+deeply touched, and without much more hesitation she went and fetched
+the key.
+
+As soon as she opened the door, the form shrouded in the mantle burst
+violently in, and passing La Martiničre, cried in a wild voice, "Take
+me to your lady!" La Martiničre held up the light which she was
+carrying, and the glimmer fell on the face of a very young man,
+distorted and frightfully drawn, and as pale as death. She almost fell
+down on the landing for terror when he opened his cloak and showed the
+glittering hilt of a stiletto sticking in his doublet. He flashed his
+gleaming eyes at her, and cried, more wildly than before, "Take me to
+your lady, I tell you."
+
+La Martiničre saw that her mistress was in the utmost danger. All her
+affection for her, who was to her as the kindest of mothers, flamed up
+and created a courage which she herself would scarcely have thought
+herself capable of. She quickly closed the door of her room, moved
+rapidly in front of it, and said, in a brave, firm voice, "Your furious
+behaviour, now that you have got into the house, is very different to
+what might have been expected from the way you spoke down in the
+street. I see now that I had pity on you a little too easily. My lady
+you shall not see or speak with at this hour. If you have no bad
+designs, and are not afraid to show yourself in daylight, come and tell
+her your business to-morrow; but take yourself off out of this house
+now."
+
+He heaved a hollow sigh, glared at La Martiničre with a terrible
+expression, and grasped his dagger. She silently commended her soul to
+God, but stood firm and looked him straight in the face, pressing
+herself more firmly against the door through which he would have to
+pass in order to reach her mistress.
+
+"Let me get to your lady, I tell you!" he cried once more.
+
+"Do what you will," said La Martiničre, "I shall not move from this
+spot. Finish the crime which you have begun to commit. A shameful death
+on the Place de Grčve will overtake you, as it has your accursed
+comrades in wickedness."
+
+"Ha! you are right, La Martiničre," he cried. "I am armed, and I look
+as if I were an accursed robber and murderer. But my comrades are not
+executed--are not executed," and he drew his dagger, advancing with
+poisonous looks towards the terrified woman.
+
+"Jesus!" she cried, expecting her death-wound; but at that moment there
+came up from the street below the clatter and the ring of arms, and the
+hoof-tread of horses.
+
+"La Marechaussée! La Marechaussée! Help! help!" she cried.
+
+"Wretched woman, you will be my destruction," he cried. "All is over
+now--all over! Here, take it; take it. Give this to your lady now, or
+to-morrow if you like it better." As he said this in a whisper, he took
+the candelabra from her, blew out the tapers, and placed a casket in
+her hands. "As you prize your eternal salvation," he cried, "give this
+to your lady." He dashed out of the door, and was gone.
+
+La Martiničre had sunk to the floor. She raised herself with
+difficulty, and groped her way back in the darkness to her room,
+where, wholly overcome and unable to utter a sound, she fell into an
+arm-chair. Presently she heard the bolts rattle, which she had left
+unfastened when she closed the house door. The house was therefore now
+shut up, and soft unsteady steps were approaching her room. Like one
+under a spell, unable to move, she was preparing for the very worst,
+when, to her inexpressible joy, the door opened, and by the pale light
+of the night-lamp she saw it was Baptiste. He was deadly pale, and much
+upset. "For the love of all the saints," he exclaimed, "tell me what
+has happened! Oh, what a state I am in! Something--I don't know what it
+was--told me to come away from the wedding yesterday--forced me to come
+away. So when I got to this street, I thought, Madame Martiničre isn't
+a heavy sleeper; she'll hear me if I knock quietly at the door, and let
+me in. Then up came a strong patrol meeting me, horsemen and foot,
+armed to the teeth. They stopped me, and wouldn't let me go. Luckily
+Desgrais was there, the lieutenant of the Marechaussée. He knows me,
+and as they were holding their lanterns under my nose, he said, 'Ho,
+Baptiste! How come you here in the streets at this time of the night?
+You ought to be at home, taking care of the house. This is not a very
+safe spot just at this moment. We're expecting to make a fine haul, an
+important arrest, to-night.' You can't think, Madame La Martiničre, how
+I felt when he said that. And when I got to the door, lo! and behold! a
+man in a cloak comes bursting out with a drawn dagger in his hand, runs
+round me, and makes off. The door was open, the keys in the lock. What,
+in the name of all that's holy, is the meaning of it all?"
+
+La Martiničre, relieved from her alarm, told him all that had happened,
+and both she and he went back to the hall, where they found the
+candelabra on the floor, where the stranger had thrown it on taking his
+flight. "There can't be the slightest doubt that our mistress was
+within an ace of being robbed, and murdered too, very likely," Baptiste
+said. "According to what you say, the scoundrel knew well enough that
+there was nobody in the house but her and you, and even that she was
+still sitting up at her writing. Of course he was one of those infernal
+blackguards who pry into folks' houses and spy out everything that can
+be of use to them in their devilish designs. And the little casket,
+Madame Martiničre, that, I think, we'll throw into the Seine where it's
+deepest. Who shall be our warrant that some monster or other isn't
+lying in wait for our mistress's life? Very likely, if she opens the
+casket, she may tumble down dead, as the old Marquis de Tournay did
+when he opened a letter which came to him, he didn't know where from."
+
+After a long consultation, they came to the conclusion that they would,
+next morning, tell their lady everything that had happened, and even
+hand her the mysterious casket, which might, perhaps, be opened if
+proper precautions were taken. On carefully weighing all the
+circumstances connected with the apparition of the stranger, they
+thought that there must be some special secret or mystery involved in
+the affair, which they were not in a position to unravel, but must
+leave to be elucidated by their superiors.
+
+
+There were good grounds for Baptiste's fears. Paris, at the time in
+question, was the scene of atrocious deeds of violence, and that just
+at a period when the most diabolical inventions of hell provided the
+most facile means for their execution.
+
+Glaser, a German apothecary, the most learned chemist of his day,
+occupied himself--as people who cultivate his science often do--with
+alchemical researches and experiments. He had set himself the task of
+discovering the philosopher's stone. An Italian of the name of Exili
+associated himself with him; but to him the art of goldmaking formed a
+mere pretext. What he aimed at mastering was the blending, preparation,
+and sublimation of the various poisonous substances which Glaser hoped
+would give him the results he was in search of, and at length Exili
+discovered how to prepare that delicate poison which has no odour nor
+taste, and which, killing either slowly or in a moment, leaves not the
+slightest trace in the human organism, and baffles the utmost skill of
+the physician, who, not suspecting poison as the means of death,
+ascribes it to natural causes. But cautiously as Exili went about this,
+he fell under suspicion of dealing with poisons, and was thrown into
+the Bastille. In the same cell with him there was presently quartered
+an officer of the name of Godwin de Sainte-Croix, who had long lived
+in relations with the Marquise de Brinvilliers which brought shame
+upon all her family; and at length, as her husband cared nothing
+about her conduct, her father (Dreux d'Aubray, Civil Lieutenant of
+Paris) had to part the guilty pair by means of a _lettre de cachet_
+against Sainte-Croix. The latter, being a man of passionate nature,
+characterless, affecting sanctity, but addicted from his youth to
+every vice, jealous, envious even to fury, nothing could be more
+welcome to him than Exili's devilish secret, which gave him the power
+of destroying all his enemies. He became Exili's assiduous pupil, and
+soon equalled his instructor, so that when he was released from prison
+he was in a position to carry on operations by himself on his own
+account.
+
+La Brinvilliers was a depraved woman, and Sainte-Croix made her a
+monster. She managed, by degrees, to poison, first, her own father
+(with whom she was living, on the hypocritical pretence of taking care
+of him in his declining years), next her two brothers, and then her
+sister; the father out of revenge, and the others for their fortunes.
+The histories of more than one poisoner bear terrible evidence that
+this description of crime assumes the form of an irresistible passion.
+Just as a chemist makes experiments for the pleasure and the interest
+of watching them, poisoners have often, without the smallest ulterior
+object, killed persons whose living or dying was to them a matter of
+complete indifference. The sudden deaths of a number of paupers,
+patients at the Hôtel Dieu, a little time after the events just alluded
+to, led to suspicion that the bread which La Brinvilliers was in the
+habit of giving them every week (by way of an example of piety and
+benevolence) was poisoned. And it is certain that she poisoned pigeon
+pasties which were served up to guests whom she had invited. The
+Chevalier du Guet, and many more, were the victims of those diabolical
+entertainments. Sainte-Croix, his accomplice La Chaussée, and La
+Brinvilliers, managed to hide their crimes for a long while under a
+veil of impenetrable secrecy. But, however the wicked may brazen
+matters out, there comes a time when the Eternal Power of Heaven
+punishes the criminal, even here on earth. The poisons which
+Sainte-Croix prepared were so marvellously delicate that if the powder
+(which the Parisians appositely named "_poudre de succession_") was
+uncovered while being made, a single inhalation of it was sufficient to
+cause immediate death. Therefore Sainte-Croix always wore a glass mask
+when at work. This mask fell off one day just as he was shaking a
+finished powder into a phial, and, having inhaled some of the powder,
+he fell dead in an instant. As he had no heirs, the law courts at once
+placed his property under seal, when the whole diabolical arsenal of
+poison-murder which had been at the villain's disposal was discovered,
+and also the letters of Madame de Brinvilliers, which left no doubt as
+to her crimes. She fled to a convent at Ličge. Desgrais, an officer of
+the Marechaussée, was sent after her. Disguised as a priest, he got
+admitted into the convent, and succeeded in involving the terrible
+woman in a love-affair, and in getting her to grant him a clandestine
+meeting in a sequestered garden outside the town. When she arrived
+there she found herself surrounded by Desgrais' myrmidons; and her
+ecclesiastical gallant speedily transformed himself into the officer of
+the Marechaussée, and compelled her to get into the carriage which was
+waiting outside the garden, and drove straight away to Paris,
+surrounded by an ample guard. La Chaussée had been beheaded previously
+to this, and La Brinvilliers suffered the same death. Her body was
+burnt, and its ashes scattered to the winds.
+
+The Parisians breathed freely again when the world was freed from the
+presence of this monster, who had so long wielded, with impunity,
+unpunished, the weapon of secret murder against friend and foe. But it
+soon became bruited abroad that the terrible art of the accursed La
+Croix had been, somehow, handed down to a successor, who was carrying
+it on triumphantly. Murder came gliding like an invisible, capricious
+spectre into the narrowest and most intimate circles of relationship,
+love, and friendship, pouncing securely and swiftly upon its unhappy
+victims. Men who, to-day, were seen in robust health, were tottering
+about on the morrow feeble and sick; and no skill of physicians could
+restore them. Wealth, a good appointment or office, a nice-looking
+wife, perhaps a little too young for her husband, were ample reasons
+for a man's being dogged to death. The most frightful mistrust snapped
+the most sacred ties. The husband trembled before his wife; the father
+dreaded the son; the sister the brother. When your friend asked you to
+dinner, you carefully avoided tasting the dishes and wines which he set
+before you; and where joy and merriment used to reign, there were now
+nothing but wild looks watching to detect the secret murderer. Fathers
+of families were to be seen with anxious looks, buying supplies of food
+in out-of-the-way places where they were not known, and cooking them
+themselves in dirty cook-shops, for dread of treason in their own
+homes. And yet often the most careful and ingenious precautions were
+unavailing.
+
+For the repression of this ever-increasing disorder the King
+constituted a fresh tribunal, to which he entrusted the special
+investigation and punishment of those secret crimes. This was the
+Chambre Ardente, which held its sittings near the Bastille. La Regnie
+was its president. For a considerable time La Regnie's efforts,
+assiduous as they were, were unsuccessful, and it was the lot of the
+much overworked Desgrais to discover the most secret lurking-hole of
+the crime. In the Faubourg Saint-Germain there lived an old woman,
+named La Voisin, who followed the calling of a teller of fortunes and a
+summoner of spirits, and, assisted by her accomplices Le Sage and Le
+Vigoureux, managed to alarm and astonish people who were by no means to
+be considered weak or superstitious. But she did more than this. She
+was a pupil of Exili's, like La Croix, and, like him, prepared the
+delicate, traceless poison, which helped wicked sons to speedy
+inheritance and unprincipled wives to other, younger husbands. Desgrais
+fathomed her secrets; she made full confession; the Chambre Ardente
+sentenced her to be burned, and the sentence was carried out on the
+Place de Grčve. Amongst her effects was found a list of those who had
+availed themselves of her services; whence it followed, not only that
+execution succeeded execution, but that strong suspicion fell on
+persons of high consideration. Thus it was believed that Cardinal Bonzy
+had obtained from La Voisin the means of disembarrassing himself of all
+the persons to whom, in his capacity of Archbishop of Narbonne, he was
+bound to pay pensions. Similarly, the Duchess de Bouillon and the
+Countess de Soissons (their names having been found in La Voisin's
+list) were accused of having had relations with her; and even Francis
+Henri de Montmorency, Boudebelle, Duke of Luxemburg, Peer and Marshal
+of the realm, did not escape arraignment before the Chambre Ardente. He
+surrendered himself to imprisonment in the Bastille, where the hatred
+of Louvois and La Regnie immured him in a cell only six feet long.
+Months elapsed before it was proved that his offences did not deserve
+so severe a punishment. He had once gone to La Voisin to have his
+horoscope drawn.
+
+What is certain is that an excess of inconsiderate zeal led President
+La Regnie into violently illegal and barbarous measures. His Court
+assumed the character of the Inquisition. The very slightest suspicion
+rendered any one liable to severe imprisonment, and the establishment
+of the innocence of a person tried for his life was often only a matter
+of the merest chance. Besides, Regnie was repulsive to behold, and of
+malicious disposition, so that he excited the hatred of those whose
+avenger or protector he was called upon to be. When he asked the
+Duchess de Bouillon if she had ever seen the devil, she answered, "I
+think I see him at this moment."
+
+Whilst now, on the Place de Grčve, the blood of the guilty and of the
+merely suspected was flowing in streams, and secret deaths by poison
+were, at last, becoming more and more rare, a trouble of another
+description showed itself, spreading abroad fresh consternation. It
+seemed that a gang of robbers had made up their minds to possess
+themselves of all the jewels in the city. Whenever a valuable set of
+ornaments was bought, it disappeared in an inexplicable manner, however
+carefully preserved and protected. And everybody who dared to wear
+precious stones in the evening was certain to be robbed, either in the
+public streets or in the dark passages of houses. Very often they were
+not only robbed, but murdered. Such of them as escaped with their lives
+said they had been felled by the blow of a clenched fist on the head,
+which came on them like a thunderbolt. And when they recovered their
+senses they found that they had been robbed, and were in a totally
+different place from that where they had been knocked down. Those
+who were murdered--and they were found nearly every morning lying
+in the streets or in houses--had all the selfsame mortal wound--a
+dagger-thrust, right through the heart, which the surgeons said must
+have been delivered with such swiftness and certainty that the victim
+must have fallen dead without the power of uttering a sound. Now who,
+in all the luxurious Court of Louis Quatorze, was there who was not
+implicated in some secret love-affair, and, consequently, often gliding
+about the streets late at night with valuable presents in his pockets?
+Just as if this robber-gang were in intercourse with spirits, they
+always knew perfectly well when anything of this kind was going on.
+Often the fortunate lover wouldn't reach the house where his lady was
+expecting him; often he would fall at her threshold, at her very door,
+where, to her horror, she would discover his bleeding body lying.
+
+It was in vain that Argenson, the Minister of Police, arrested every
+individual, in all Paris, who seemed to be touched by the very faintest
+suspicion; in vain La Regnie raged, striving to compel confession; in
+vain guards and patrols were reinforced. Not a trace of the
+perpetrators of those outrages was to be discovered. The only thing
+which was of a certain degree of use was to go about armed to the
+teeth, and have a light carried before you; and yet there were cases in
+which the servant who carried the light had his attention occupied by
+having stones thrown at him, whilst at that very instant his master was
+being robbed and murdered.
+
+It was a remarkable feature of this business that, notwithstanding all
+search and investigation in every quarter where there seemed to be any
+chance of dealing in jewels going on, not a trace of even the smallest
+of the plundered precious stones ever came to light. Desgrais foamed in
+fury that even his acumen and skill were powerless to prevent the
+escape of those scoundrels. Whatever part of the town he happened to be
+in for the time was let alone, whilst in some other quarter, robbery
+and murder were lying in wait for their rich prey.
+
+Desgrais hit upon the clever idea of setting several facsimiles of
+himself on foot--various Desgrais, exactly alike in gait, speech,
+figure, face, &c.; so that his own men could not tell the one of them
+from the other, or say which was the real Desgrais. Meanwhile he, at
+the risk of his life, watched alone in the most secret hiding-places,
+and followed, at a distance, this or the other person who seemed, by
+the looks of him, to be likely to have jewels about him. But those whom
+he was watching were unharmed, so that this artifice of his was as well
+known, to the culprits as everything else seemed to be. Desgrais was in
+utter despair.
+
+One morning he came to President La Regnie, pale, distorted, almost out
+of his mind.
+
+"What is it--what news? Have you come upon the clue?" the President
+cried to him as he came in.
+
+"Ah, Monsieur!" cried Desgrais, stammering in fury, "last night, near
+the Louvre, the Marquis de la Fare was set upon under my very nose!"
+
+"Heaven and earth!" cried La Regnie, overjoyed, "we have got them!"
+
+"Wait a moment, listen," said Desgrais, with a bitter smile. "I was
+standing near the Louvre, watching and waiting, with hell itself in my
+heart, for those devils who have been baffling me for such a length of
+time. There came a figure close by me--not seeing me--with careful
+uncertain steps, always looking behind it. By the moonlight I
+recognised the Marquis de la Fare. I expected that he would be passing.
+I knew where he was gliding to. Scarcely had he got ten or twelve paces
+beyond me, when, out of the ground apparently, springs a figure, dashes
+the Marquis to the ground, falls down upon him. Losing my self-command
+at this occurrence, which seemed to be likely to deliver the murderer
+into my hands, I cried out aloud, and meant to spring from my
+hiding-place with a great jump and seize hold of him. But I tripped up
+in my cloak and fell down. I saw the fellow flee away as if on the
+wings of the wind; I picked myself up, and made off after him as fast
+as I could. As I ran, I sounded my horn. Out of the distance the
+whistles of my men answered me. Things grew lively--clatter of arms,
+tramp of horses on all sides. 'Here!--come to me!--Desgrais!' I cried,
+till the streets re-echoed. All the time I saw the man before me in the
+bright moonlight, turning off right--left--to get away from me. We came
+to the Rue Nicaise. There his strength seemed to begin to fail. I
+gathered mine up. He was not more than fifteen paces ahead of me."
+
+"You got hold of him!--your men came up!" cried La Regnie, with
+flashing eyes, grasping Desgrais by the arm as if he were the fleeing
+murderer himself.
+
+"Fifteen paces ahead of me," said Desgrais, in a hollow voice, and
+drawing his breath hard, "this fellow, before my eyes, dodged to one
+side, and vanished through the wall."
+
+"Vanished!--through the wall! Are you out of your senses?" La Regnie
+cried, stepping three steps backwards, and striking his hands together.
+
+"Call me as great a madman as you please, Monsieur," said Desgrais,
+rubbing his forehead like one tortured by evil thoughts. "Call me a
+madman, or a silly spirit-seer; but what I have told you is the literal
+truth. I stood staring at the wall, while several of my men came up out
+of breath, and with them the Marquis de la Fare (who had picked himself
+up), with his drawn sword in his hand. We lighted torches, we examined
+the wall all over. There was not the trace of a door, a window, any
+opening. It is a strong stone wall of a courtyard, belonging to a
+house, in which people are living--against whom there is not the
+slightest suspicion. I have looked into the whole thing again this
+morning in broad daylight. It must be the very devil himself who is at
+work befooling us in the matter."
+
+This story got bruited abroad through Paris, where all heads were full
+of the witch-business, spirit conjuration, devil-covenants of La
+Voisin, Vigoureux, and the wicked priest Le Sage; and as it does lie in
+our eternal nature that the bent towards the supernatural and the
+marvellous overpasses all reason, people soon believed nothing less
+than that which Desgrais had only said in his impatience--namely, that
+the very devil himself must protect those rascals, and that they had
+sold their souls to him. We can readily understand that Desgrais's
+story soon received many absurd embellishments. It was printed, and
+hawked about the town, with a woodcut at the top representing a
+horrible devil-form sinking into the ground before the terrified
+Desgrais. Quite enough to frighten the people, and so terrify
+Desgrais's men that they lost all courage, and went about the streets
+behung with amulets, and sprinkled with holy water.
+
+Argenson, seeing that the Chambre Ardente was unsuccessful, applied to
+the King to constitute--with special reference to this novel
+description of crime--a tribunal armed with greater powers for tracking
+and punishing offenders. The King, thinking he had already given powers
+too ample to the Chambre Ardente, and shocked at the horrors of the
+numberless executions, carried out by the bloodthirsty La Regnie,
+refused.
+
+Then another method of influencing His Majesty was devised.
+
+In the apartments of Madame de Maintenon,--where the King was in the
+habit of spending much of his time in the afternoons,--and also, very
+often, would be at work with his Ministers till late at night--a
+poetical petition was laid before him, on the part of the "Endangered
+Lovers," who complained that when "galanterie" rendered it incumbent on
+them to be the bearers of some valuable present to the ladies of their
+hearts, they had always to do it at the risk of their lives. They said,
+that, of course, it was honour and delight to pour out their blood for
+the lady of their heart, in knightly encounter, but that the
+treacherous attack of the assassin, against which it was impossible to
+guard, was quite a different matter. They expressed their hope that
+Louis, the bright pole-star of love and gallantry, might deign--arising
+and shining in fullest splendour--to dispel the darkness of night, and
+thus reveal the black mysteries hidden thereby; that the God-like hero,
+who had hurled his foes to the dust, would now once more wave his
+flashing faulchion, and, as did Hercules in the case of the Lćrnean
+Hydra, and Theseus in that of the Minotaur, vanquish the threatening
+monster who was eating up all love-delight, and darkening all joy into
+deep sorrow and inconsolable mourning.
+
+Serious as the subject was, this poem was not deficient in most
+wittily-turned phrases, particularly where it described the state of
+watchful anxiety in which lovers had to glide to their lady-loves, and
+how this mental strain necessarily destroyed all love-happiness, and
+nipped all adventures of "galanterie" in the very bud. And, as it
+wound up with a high-flown panegyric of Louis XIV., the King could not
+but read it with visible satisfaction. When he perused it, he turned
+to Madame de Maintenon--without taking his eyes from it--read it
+again--aloud this time--and then asked, with a pleased smile, what she
+thought of the petition of the 'Endangered Lovers.' Madame de
+Maintenon, faithful to her serious turn, and ever wearing the garb of a
+certain piousness, answered that hidden and forbidden ways did not
+deserve much in the form of protection, but that the criminals probably
+did require special laws for their punishment. The King, not satisfied
+with this answer, folded the paper up, and was going back to the
+Secretary of State, who was at work in the ante-room, when, happening
+to glance sideways, his eyes rested on Mademoiselle Scuderi, who was
+present, seated in a little arm-chair. He went straight to her; and the
+pleased smile which had at first been playing about his mouth and
+cheeks--but had disappeared--resumed the ascendency again. Standing
+close before her, with his face unwrinkling itself, he said--
+
+"The Marquise does not know, and has no desire to learn, anything about
+the 'galanteries' of our enamoured gentlemen, and evades the subject in
+ways which are nothing less than forbidden. But, Mademoiselle, what do
+_you_ think of this poetical petition?"
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi rose from her chair; a transient blush, like the
+purple of the evening sky, passed across her pale cheeks, and, gently
+bending forward, she answered, with downcast eyes--
+
+           "Un amant qui craint les voleurs.
+            N'est point digne d'amour."
+
+The King, surprised, and struck by admiration at the chivalrous spirit
+of those few words--which completely took the wind out of the sails of
+the poem, with all its ell-long tirades--cried, with flashing eyes--
+
+"By Saint Denis, you are right, Mademoiselle! No blind laws, touching
+the innocent and the guilty alike, shall shelter cowardice. Argenson
+and La Regnie must do their best."
+
+Next morning La Martiničre enlarged upon the terrors of the time,
+painting them in glowing colours to her lady, when she told her all
+that had happened the previous night, and handed her the mysterious
+casket, with much fear and trembling. Both she and Baptiste (who stood
+in the corner as white as a sheet, kneading his cap in his hand from
+agitation and anxiety) implored her, in the name of all the saints, to
+take the greatest precautions in opening it. She, weighing and
+examining the unopened mystery in her hand, said with a smile, "You are
+a couple of bogies! The wicked scoundrels outside, who, as you say
+yourselves, spy out all that goes on in every house, know, no doubt,
+quite as well as you and I do, that I am not rich, and that there are
+no treasures in this house worth committing a murder for. Is my life in
+danger, do you think? Who could have any interest in the death of an
+old woman of seventy-three, who never persecuted any evil-doers except
+those in her own novels; who writes mediocre poetry, incapable of
+exciting any one's envy; who has nothing to leave behind her but the
+belongings of an old maid, who sometimes goes to Court, and two or
+three dozen handsomely-bound books with gilt edges. And, alarming as
+your account is, La Martiničre, of the apparition of this man, I cannot
+believe that he meant me any harm, so----"
+
+La Martiničre sprang three paces backwards, and Baptiste fell on one
+knee with a hollow, "Ah!" as Mademoiselle Scuderi pressed a projecting
+steel knob, and the lid of the casket flew open with a certain amount
+of noise.
+
+Great was her surprise to see that it contained a pair of bracelets,
+and a necklace richly set in jewels. She took them out and as she spoke
+in admiration of the marvellous workmanship of the necklace, La
+Martiničre cast glances of wonder at the bracelets, and cried, again
+and again, that Madame Montespan herself did not possess such jewelry.
+
+"But why is it brought to me?" cried Mademoiselle Scuderi. "What can
+this mean?" She saw, however, a little folded note at the bottom of the
+casket, and in this she rightly thought she would find the key to the
+mystery. When she had read what was written in the note, it fell from
+her trembling hands; she raised an appealing look to heaven, and then
+sank down half fainting in her chair. Baptiste and La Martiničre
+hurried to her, in alarm. "Oh!" she cried, in a voice stifled by tears,
+"the mortification! The deep humiliation! Has it been reserved for me
+to undergo this in my old age? Have I ever been frivolous, like some of
+the foolish young creatures? Are words, spoken half in jest, to be
+found capable of such a terrible interpretation? Am I, who have been
+faithful to all that is pure and good from my childhood, to be made
+virtually an accomplice in the crimes of this terrible confederation?"
+
+She held her handkerchief to her eyes, so that Baptiste and La
+Martiničre, altogether at sea in their anxious conjectures, felt
+powerless to set about helping her, who was so dear to them, as the
+best and kindest of mistresses, in her bitter affliction.
+
+La Martiničre picked up the paper from the floor. On it was written--
+
+           "Un amant qui craint les voleurs
+            N'est point digne d'amour."
+
+"Your brilliant intellect, most honoured lady, has delivered us, who
+exercise, on weakness and cowardice, the rights of the stronger, and
+possess ourselves of treasures which would otherwise be unworthily
+wasted, from much bitter persecution. As a proof of our gratitude, be
+pleased to kindly accept this set of ornaments. It is the most valuable
+that we have been enabled to lay hands on for many a day. Although far
+more beautiful and precious jewels ought to adorn you, yet we pray you
+not to deprive us of your future protection and remembrance.--THE
+INVISIBLES."
+
+"Is it possible," cried Mademoiselle Scuderi, when she had partially
+recovered herself, "that shameless wickedness and abandoned insult can
+be carried further by human beings?" The sun was shining brightly
+through the window curtains of crimson silk, and consequently the
+brilliants, which were lying on the table beside the open casket, were
+flashing a rosy radiance. Looking at them, Mademoiselle Scuderi covered
+her face in horror, and ordered La Martiničre instantly to take those
+terrible jewels away, steeped, as they seemed to be, in the blood of
+the murdered. La Martiničre, having at once put the necklace and
+bracelets back into their case, thought the best thing to do would be
+to give them to the Minister of Police, and tell him all that had
+happened.
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi rose, and walked up and down slowly and in
+silence, as if considering what it was best to do. Then she told
+Baptiste to bring a sedan chair, and La Martiničre to dress her, as she
+was going straight to the Marquise de Maintenon.
+
+She repaired thither at the hour when she knew Madame de Maintenon
+would be alone, taking the casket and jewels with her.
+
+Madame de Maintenon might well wonder to see this dear old lady (who
+was always kindness, sweetness and amiability personified), pale,
+distressed, upset, coming in with uncertain steps. "In heaven's name,
+what has happened to you?" she cried to her visitor, who was scarcely
+able to stand upright, striving to reach the chair which the Marquise
+drew forward for her. At last, when she could find words, she told her
+what a deep, irremediable insult and outrage the thoughtless speech
+which she had made in reply to the King had brought upon her.
+
+Madame de Maintenon, when she had heard the whole affair properly
+related, thought Mademoiselle Scuderi was taking it far too much to
+heart, strange as the occurrence was--that the insult of a pack of
+wretched rabble could not hurt an upright, noble heart: and finally
+begged that she might see the ornaments.
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi handed her the open casket, and when she saw the
+splendid and valuable stones, and the workmanship of them, she could
+not repress a loud expression of admiration. She took the bracelets and
+necklace to the window, letting the sunlight play on the jewels, and
+holding the beautiful goldsmith's work close to her eyes, so as to see
+with what wonderful skill each little link of the chains was formed.
+
+She turned suddenly to Mademoiselle Scuderi, and cried, "Do you know,
+there is only one man who can have done this work--and that is René
+Cardillac."
+
+René Cardillac was then the cleverest worker in gold in all Paris, one
+of the most artistic, and at the same time extraordinary men of his
+day. Short, rather than tall, but broad-shouldered, and of strong and
+muscular build, Cardillac, now over fifty, had still the strength and
+activity of a youth. To this vigour, which was to be called unusual,
+testified also his thick, curling, reddish hair, and his massive,
+shining face. Had he not been known to be the most upright and
+honourable of men, unselfish, open, without reserve, always ready to
+help, his altogether peculiar glance out of his grimly sparkling eyes
+might have brought him under suspicion of being secretly ill-tempered
+and wicked. In his art he was the most skilful worker, not only in
+Paris, but probably in the world at that time. Intimately acquainted
+with every kind of precious stones, versed in all their special
+peculiarities, he could so handle and treat them that ornaments which
+at a first glance promised to be poor and insignificant, came from his
+workshop brilliant and splendid. He accepted every commission with
+burning eagerness, and charged prices so moderate as to seem out of all
+proportion to the work. And the work left him no rest. Day and night he
+was to be heard hammering in his shop; and often, when a job was nearly
+finished, he would suddenly be dissatisfied with the form--would have
+doubts whether some of the settings were tender enough; some little
+link would not be quite to his mind--in fine, the whole affair would be
+thrown into the melting-pot, and begun all over again. Thus every one
+of his works was a real, unsurpassable _chef-d'[oe]uvre_, which set the
+person who had ordered it into amazement. But then, it was hardly
+possible to get the finished work out of his hands. He would put the
+customer off from one week to another, by a thousand excuses, ay, from
+month to month. He might be offered twice the price he had agreed upon,
+but it was useless; he would take no more; and when, ultimately, he was
+obliged to yield to the customer's remonstrances, and deliver the work,
+he could not conceal the vexation--nay, the rage--which seethed within
+him. If he had to deliver some specially valuable and unusually rich
+piece of workmanship, worth perhaps several thousand francs, he would
+get into such a condition that he ran up and down like one demented,
+cursing himself, his work, and every thing and person about him; but
+should, then, some one come running up behind him, crying, "René
+Cardillac, would you be so kind as to make me a beautiful necklace for
+the lady I am going to marry?" or "a pair of bracelets for my girl?" or
+the like, he would stop in a moment, flash his small eyes upon the
+speaker, and say, "Let me see what you have got." The latter would take
+out a little case, and say, "Here are jewels; they are not worth much;
+only every-day affairs; but in your hands----." Cardillac would
+interrupt him, snatch the casket from his hands, take out the stones
+(really not very valuable), hold them up to the light, and cry, "Ho!
+ho! common stones you say! Nothing of the kind!--very fine, splendid
+stones! Just see what I shall make of them; and if a handful of Louis
+are no object to you, I will put two or three others along with them
+which will shine in your eyes like the sun himself!" The customer would
+say: "I leave the matter entirely in your hands, Master René; make what
+charge you please." Whether the customer were a rich burgher or a
+gallant of quality, Cardillac would then throw himself violently on his
+neck, embrace him and kiss him, and say he was perfectly happy again,
+and that the work would be ready in eight days' time. Then he would run
+home as fast as he could to his work-shop, where he would set to work
+hammering away; and in eight days' time there would be a masterpiece
+ready. But as soon as the customer would arrive, glad to pay the
+moderate price demanded, and take away his prize, Cardillac would
+become morose, ill-tempered, rude, and insolent. "But consider, Master
+Cardillac," the customer would say, "to-morrow is my wedding-day."
+"What do I care?" Cardillac would answer; "what is your wedding-day to
+me? Come back in a fortnight." "But it is finished!--here is the money;
+I must have it." "And I tell you that there are many alterations which
+I must make before I let it leave my hands, and I am not going to let
+you have it to-day." "And I tell you, that if you don't give me my
+jewels--which I am ready to pay you for--quietly, you will see me come
+back with a file of D'Argenson's men." "Now, may the devil seize you
+with a hundred red-hot pincers, and hang three hundredweight on to the
+necklace, that it may throttle your bride!" With which he would cram
+the work into the customer's breast-pocket, seize him by the arm, push
+him out of the door, so that he would go stumbling all the way
+downstairs, and laugh like a fiend, out of window, when he saw the
+poor wretch go limping out, holding his handkerchief to his bleeding
+nose. It was not easy of explanation neither that Cardillac, when he
+had undertaken a commission with alacrity and enthusiasm, would
+sometimes suddenly implore the customer, with every sign of the
+deepest emotion--with the most moving adjurations, even with sobs and
+tears--not to ask him to go on with it. Many persons, amongst those
+most highly considered by the King and nation, had in vain offered
+large sums for the smallest specimen of Cardillac's work. He threw
+himself at the King's feet, and supplicated that, of his mercy, he
+would not command him to work for him; and he declined all orders of
+Madame de Maintenon's: once, when she wished him to make a little ring,
+with emblems of the arts on it, which she wanted to give to Racine, he
+refused with expressions of abhorrence and terror.
+
+"I would wager," said Madame de Maintenon, "therefore, that even if I
+were to send for Cardillac, to find out, at least, for whom he had made
+those ornaments, he would somehow evade coming, for fear that I should
+give him an order; nothing will induce him to work for me. Yet he does
+seem to have been rather less obstinate of late, for I hear he is
+working more than ever, and allows his customers to take away their
+jewelry at once, though he does so with deep annoyance, and turns away
+his face when he hands them over."
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi, who was exceedingly anxious that the jewels which
+came into her possession in such an extraordinary manner should be
+restored to their owner as speedily as possible, thought that this
+wondrous René Cardillac should be informed at once that no work was
+required of him, but simply his opinion as to certain stones. The
+Marquise agreed to this; he was sent for, and he came into the room in
+a very brief space, almost as if he had been on the way when sent for.
+
+When he saw Mademoiselle Scuderi, he appeared perplexed, like one
+confronted with the unexpected, who, for the time, loses sight of the
+calls of courtesy; he first of all made a profound reverence to her,
+and then turned, in the second place, to the Marquise. Madame de
+Maintenon impetuously asked him if the jewelled ornaments--to which
+she pointed as they lay sparkling on the dark-green cover of the
+table--were his workmanship. Cardillac scarcely glanced at them, and,
+fixedly staring in her face, he hastily packed the necklace and
+bracelets into their case, and shoved them away with some violence.
+Then he said, with an evil smile gleaming on his red face, "The truth
+is, Madame la Marquise, that one must know René Cardillac's handiwork
+very little to suppose, even for a moment, that any other goldsmith in
+the world made those. Of course, I made them." "Then," continued the
+Marquise, "say whom you made them for." "For myself alone," he
+answered. "You may think this strange," he continued, as they both
+gazed at him with amazement, Madame de Maintenon incredulous, and
+Mademoiselle Scuderi all anxiety as to how the matter was going to turn
+out, "but I tell you the truth, Madame la Marquise. Merely for the sake
+of the beauty of the work, I collected some of my finest stones
+together, and worked for the enjoyment of so doing, more carefully and
+diligently than usual. Those ornaments disappeared from my workshop a
+short time since, in an incomprehensible manner." "Heaven be thanked!"
+cried Mademoiselle Scuderi, her eyes sparkling with joy. With a smile
+she sprang up from her seat, and going up to Cardillac quickly and
+actively as a young girl, she laid her hands on his shoulder, saying,
+"Take back your treasure, Master René, which the villains have robbed
+you of!" And she circumstantially related how the ornaments had come
+into her possession.
+
+Cardillac listened in silence, with downcast eyes, merely from time to
+time uttering a scarcely audible "Hm! Indeed! Ah! Ho, ho!" sometimes
+placing his hands behind his back, again stroking his chin and cheeks.
+When she had ended, he appeared to be struggling with strange thoughts
+which had come to him during her story, and seemed unable to come to
+any decision satisfactory to himself. He rubbed his brow, sighed,
+passed his hand over his eyes--perhaps to keep back tears. At last he
+seized the casket (which Mademoiselle Scuderi had been holding out to
+him), sunk slowly on one knee, and said: "Esteemed lady! Fate destined
+this casket for you; and I now feel, for the first time, that I was
+thinking of you when I was at work upon it--nay, was making it
+expressly for you. Do not disdain to accept this work, and to wear it;
+it is the best I have done for a very long time." "Ah! Master René,"
+said Mademoiselle Scuderi, jesting pleasantly, "how think you it would
+become me at my age to bedeck myself with those beautiful jewels?--and
+what should put it in your mind to make me such a valuable present?
+Come, come! If I were as beautiful and as rich as the Marquise de
+Fontange, I should certainly not let them out of my hands; but what
+have my withered arms, and my wrinkled neck, to do with all that
+splendour?"
+
+Cardillac had risen, and said, with wild looks, like a man beside
+himself, still holding the casket out towards her, "Do me the mercy to
+take it, Mademoiselle! You have no notion how profound is the reverence
+which I bear in my heart for your excellences, your high deserts. Do
+but accept my little offering, as an attempt, on my part, to prove to
+you the warmth of my regard."
+
+As Mademoiselle Scuderi was still hesitating, Madame de Maintenon took
+the casket from Cardillac's hands, saying, "Now, by heaven,
+Mademoiselle, you are always talking of your great age. What have you
+and I to do with years and their burden? You are like some bashful
+young thing who would fain long for forbidden fruit, if she could
+gather it without hands or fingers. Do not hesitate to accept this good
+Master René's present, which thousands of others could not obtain for
+money or entreaty."
+
+As she spoke she continued to press the casket on Mademoiselle Scuderi;
+and now Cardillac sank again on his knees, kissed her dress, her hands,
+sighed, wept, sobbed, sprang up, and ran off in frantic haste,
+upsetting chairs and tables, so that the glass and porcelain crashed
+and clattered together.
+
+In much alarm, Mademoiselle Scuderi cried, "In the name of all the
+saints, what is the matter with the man?" But the Marquise, in
+particularly happy temper, laughed aloud, saying, "What it is,
+Mademoiselle; that Master René is over head and ears in love with you,
+and, according to the laws of _la galanterie_, begins to lay siege to
+your heart with a valuable present." She carried this jest further,
+begging Mademoiselle Scuderi not to be too obdurate towards this
+despairing lover of hers; and Mademoiselle Scuderi, in her turn, borne
+away on a current of merry fancies, said, "If things were so, she would
+not be able to refrain from delighting the world with the unprecedented
+spectacle of a goldsmith's bride of three-and-seventy summers, and
+unexceptionable descent." Madame de Maintenon offered to twine the
+bridal wreath herself, and give her a few hints as to the duties of a
+housewife, a subject on which such a poor inexperienced little chit
+could not be expected to know very much.
+
+But, notwithstanding all the jesting and the laughter, when
+Mademoiselle Scuderi rose to depart, she became very grave again when
+her hand rested upon the jewel casket. "Whatever happens," she said, "I
+shall never be able to bring myself to wear these ornaments. They have,
+at all events, been in the hands of one of those diabolical men, who
+rob and slay with the audacity of the evil one himself, and are very
+probably in league with him. I shudder at the thought of the blood
+which seems to cling to those glittering stones--and even Cardillac's
+behaviour had something about it which struck me as being singularly
+wild and eery. I cannot drive away from me a gloomy foreboding that
+there is some terrible and frightful mystery hidden behind all this;
+and yet, when I bring the whole affair, with all the circumstances of
+it, as clearly as I can before my mental vision, I cannot form the
+slightest idea what that mystery can be--and, above all, how the good,
+honourable Master René--the very model of what a good, well-behaved
+citizen ought to be--can have anything to do with what is wicked or
+condemnable. But, at all events, I distinctly feel that I never can
+wear those jewels."
+
+The Marquise considered that this was carrying scruples rather too far;
+yet, when Mademoiselle Scuderi asked her to say, on her honour, what
+she would do in her place, she replied, firmly and earnestly, "Far
+rather throw them into the Seine than ever put them on."
+
+The scene with Master René inspired Mademoiselle Scuderi to write some
+pleasant verses, which she read to the King the following evening, at
+Madame de Maintenon's. Perhaps, for the sake of the picturing of Master
+René carrying off a bride of seventy-three--of unimpeachable
+quarterings--it was that she succeeded in conquering her feelings of
+the imminence of something mysterious and uncanny; but at all events
+she did so, completely--and the King laughed with all his heart, and
+vowed that Boileau Despreaux had met with his master. So La Scuderi's
+poem was reckoned the very wittiest that ever was written.
+
+Several months had elapsed, when chance so willed it that Mlle. Scuderi
+was crossing the Pont Neuf in the glass coach of the Duchesse de
+Montpensier. The invention of those delightful glass coaches was then
+so recent that the people came together in crowds whenever one of them
+made its appearance in the streets, consequently, a gaping crowd
+gathered about the Duchesse's carriage on the Pont Neuf, so that the
+horses could hardly make their way along. Suddenly Mlle. Scuderi heard
+a sound of quarrelling and curses, and saw a man making a way for
+himself through the crowd, by means of fisticuffs and blows in the
+ribs, and as he came near they were struck by the piercing eyes of a
+young face, deadly pale, and drawn by sorrow. This young man, gazing
+fixedly upon them, vigorously fought his way to them by help of fists
+and elbows, till he reached the carriage-door, threw it open with much
+violence, and flung a note into Mademoiselle Scuderi's lap; after
+which, he disappeared as he had come, distributing and receiving blows
+and fisticuffs. La Martiničre, who was with her mistress, fell back
+fainting in the carriage with a shriek of terror as soon as she saw the
+young man. In vain Mademoiselle Scuderi pulled the string, and called
+out to the driver. He, as if urged by the foul fiend, kept lashing his
+horses till, scattering the foam from their nostrils, they kicked,
+plunged, and reared, finally thundering over the bridge at a rapid
+trot. Mademoiselle Scuderi emptied the contents of her smelling-bottle
+out over the fainting La Martiničre, who at last opened her eyes, and,
+shuddering and quaking, clinging convulsively to her mistress, with
+fear and horror in her pale face, groaned out with difficulty, "For the
+love of the Virgin, what did that terrible man want? It was he who
+brought you the jewels on that awful night." Mademoiselle Scuderi
+calmed her, pointing out that nothing very dreadful had happened after
+all, and that the immediate business in hand was to ascertain the
+contents of the letter. She opened it, and read as follows:--
+
+"A dark and cruel fatality, which _you_ could dispel, is driving me
+into an abyss. I conjure you--as a son would a mother, in the glow of
+filial affection--to send the necklace and bracelets to Master René
+Cardillac, on some pretence or other--say, to have something altered,
+or improved. Your welfare---your very life--depend on your doing this.
+If you do not comply before the day after to-morrow, I will force my
+way into your house, and kill myself before your eyes."
+
+"Thus much is certain, at all events," said Mademoiselle Scuderi, when
+she had read this letter, "that, whether this mysterious man belongs to
+the band of robbers and murderers, or not, he has no very evil designs
+against me. If he had been able to see me and speak to me on that
+night, who knows what strange events, what dark concatenation of
+circumstances would have been made known to me, of which, at present, I
+seek, in my soul, the very faintest inkling in vain. But, be the matter
+as it may, that which I am enjoined in this letter to do, I certainly
+_shall_ do, were it for nothing else than to be rid of those fatal
+jewels, which seem to me as if they must be some diabolical talisman of
+the Prince of Darkness's very own. Cardillac is not very likely to let
+them out of his hands again, if once he gets hold of them."
+
+She intended to take them to him next day; but it seemed as if all the
+_beaux esprits_ of Paris had entered into a league to assail and
+besiege her with verses, dramas, and anecdotes. Scarce had La Chapelle
+finished reading the scenes of a tragedy, and declared that he
+considered he had now vanquished Racine, when the latter himself came
+in, and discomfited him with the pathetic speech of one of his kings,
+until Boileau sent some of his fireballs soaring up into the dark sky
+of the tragedies, by way of changing the subject from that eternal one
+of the colonnade of the Louvre, to which the architectural Dr. Perrault
+was shackling him.
+
+When high noon arrived, Mademoiselle Scuderi had to go to Madame
+Montansier, so the visit to René Cardillac had to be put off till the
+following day. But the young man was always present to her mind, and a
+species of dim remembrance seemed to be trying to arise in the depths
+of her being that she had, somehow and somewhen, seen that face and
+features before. Troubled dreams disturbed her broken slumbers. It
+seemed to her that she had acted thoughtlessly, and delayed culpably to
+take hold of the hands which the unfortunate man was holding out to her
+for help--in fact, as if it had depended on her to prevent some
+atrocious crime. As soon as it was fairly light, she had herself
+dressed, and set off to the goldsmith's with the jewels in her hand.
+
+A crowd was streaming towards the Rue Nicaise (where Cardillac lived),
+trooping together at the door, shouting, raging, surging, striving to
+storm into the house, kept back with difficulty by the Marechaussée,
+who were guarding the place. Amid the wild distracted uproar, voices
+were heard crying, "Tear him in pieces! Drag him limb from limb, the
+accursed murderer!" At length Desgrais came up with a number of his
+men, and formed a lane through the thickest of the crowd. The door flew
+open, and a man, loaded with irons, was brought out, and marched off
+amid the most frightful imprecations of the raging populace. At the
+moment when Mademoiselle Scuderi, half dead with terror and gloomy
+foreboding, caught sight of him, a piercing shriek of lamentation
+struck upon her ears. "Go forward!" she cried to the coachman, and he,
+with a clever, rapid turn of his horses, scattered the thick masses
+of the crowd aside, and pulled up close to René Cardillac's door.
+Desgrais was there, and at his feet a young girl, beautiful as the day,
+half-dressed, with dishevelled hair, and wild grief, inconsolable
+despair in her face, holding his knees embraced, and crying in tones of
+the bitterest and profoundest anguish, "He is innocent! he is
+innocent!" Desgrais and his men tried in vain to shake her off, and
+raise her from the ground, till at length a rough, powerful fellow,
+gripping her arms with his strong hands, dragged her away from Desgrais
+by sheer force. Stumbling awkwardly, he let the girl go, and she went
+rolling down the stone steps, and lay like one dead on the pavement.
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi could contain herself no longer. "In Christ's
+name!" she cried, "what has happened? What is going forward here?" She
+hastily opened the carriage-door and stepped out. The crowd made way
+for her deferentially; and when she saw that one or two compassionate
+women had lifted up the girl, laid her on the steps, and were rubbing
+her brow with strong waters, she went up to Desgrais, and with
+eagerness repeated her question.
+
+"A terrible thing has happened," said Desgrais. "René Cardillac was
+found, this morning, killed by a dagger-thrust. His journeyman,
+Olivier, is the murderer, and has just been taken to prison."
+
+"And the girl----" "Is Madelon," interrupted Desgrais, "Cardillac's
+daughter. The wretched culprit was her sweetheart, and now she is
+crying and howling, and screaming over and over again that Olivier is
+innocent--quite innocent; but she knows all about this crime, and I
+must have her taken to prison too." As he spoke he cast one of his
+baleful, malignant looks at the girl, which made Mademoiselle Scuderi
+shudder. The girl was now beginning to revive, and breathe again
+faintly, though still incapable of speech or motion. There she lay with
+closed eyes, and people did not know what to do, whether to take her
+indoors, or leave her where she was a little longer till she recovered.
+Mademoiselle Scuderi looked upon this innocent creature deeply moved,
+with tears in her eyes. She felt a horror of Desgrais and his men.
+Presently heavy footsteps came downstairs, those of the men bearing
+Cardillac's body. Coming to a rapid decision, Mademoiselle Scuderi
+cried out, "I shall take this girl home with me; the rest of the affair
+concerns you, Desgrais." A murmur of approval ran through the crowd.
+The women raised the girl; every one crowded up; a hundred hands were
+proffered to help, and she was borne to the carriage like one hovering
+in air, whilst from every lip broke blessings on the kind lady who had
+saved her from arrest and criminal trial.
+
+Madelon lay for many hours in deep unconsciousness, but at length the
+efforts of Seron---then the most celebrated physician in Paris--were
+successful in restoring her. Mademoiselle Scuderi completed what Seron
+had commenced, by letting many a gentle ray of hope stream into the
+girl's heart, till at length a violent flood of tears, which started to
+her eyes, brought her relief, and she was able to tell what had
+befallen, with only occasional interruptions, when the overmastering
+might of her sorrow turned her words into sobbing.
+
+She had been awakened at midnight by a soft knocking at her door, and
+had recognised the voice of Olivier, imploring her to get up at once,
+as her father lay dying. She sprung up, terrified, and opened the door.
+Olivier, pale and distorted, bathed in perspiration, led the way, with
+tottering steps, to the workshop; she followed. There her father was
+lying with his eyes set, and the deathrattle in his throat. She threw
+herself upon him, weeping wildly, and then observed that his shirt was
+covered with blood. Olivier gently lifted her away, and then busied
+himself in bathing a wound (which was on her father's left breast) with
+wound-balsam, and in washing it. As he was so doing her father's
+consciousness came back; the rattle in his throat ceased, and, looking
+first on her, and then on Olivier with most expressive glances, he took
+her hand and placed it in Olivier's, pressing them both together. She
+and Olivier then knelt down beside her father's bed; he raised himself
+with a piercing cry, immediately fell back again, and with a deep
+inspiration, departed this life. On this they both wept and lamented.
+Olivier told her how her father had been murdered in his presence
+during an expedition on which he had accompanied him that night by his
+order, and how he had with the utmost difficulty carried him home, not
+supposing him to be mortally wounded. As soon as it was day, the people
+of the house--who had heard the sounds of the footsteps, and of the
+weeping and lamenting during the night--came up, and found them still
+kneeling, inconsolable by the father's body. Then an uproar commenced,
+the Marechaussée broke in and Olivier was taken to prison as her
+father's murderer. Madelon added the most touching account of Olivier's
+virtues, goodness, piety, and sincerity, telling how he had honoured
+his master as if he had been his own father, and how the latter
+returned his affection in the fullest measure, choosing him for his
+son-in-law in spite of his poverty, because his skill and fidelity were
+equal to the nobleness of his heart. All this Madelon spoke right out
+of the fullness of her heart, and added that if Olivier had thrust a
+dagger into her father's heart before her very eyes, she would rather
+have thought it a delusion of Satan's than have believed that Olivier
+was capable of such a terrible and awful crime.
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi, most deeply touched by Madelon's nameless
+sufferings, and quite disposed to believe in poor Olivier's innocence,
+made inquiries, and found everything confirmed which Madelon had said
+as to the domestic relations between the master and his workman. The
+people of the house and the neighbours all gave Olivier the character
+of being the very model of good, steady, exemplary behaviour. No one
+knew anything whatever against him, and yet, when the crime was alluded
+to, every one shrugged his shoulders, and thought there was something
+incomprehensible about that.
+
+Olivier, brought before the Chambre Ardente, denied--as Mademoiselle
+Scuderi learned--with the utmost steadfastness the crime of which he
+was accused, and maintained that his master had been attacked in the
+street in his presence, and borne down, and that he had carried him
+home still alive, although he did not long survive. This agreed with
+Madelon's statement.
+
+Over and over again Mademoiselle Scuderi had the very minutest
+circumstances of the awful event related to her. She specially inquired
+if there had ever been any quarrel between Olivier and the father,
+whether Olivier was altogether exempt from that propensity to hastiness
+which often attacks the best tempered people like a blind madness, and
+leads them to commit deeds which seem to exclude all voluntariness of
+action; but the more enthusiastically Madelon spoke of the peaceful
+home-life which the three had led together, united in the most sincere
+affection, the more did every vestige of suspicion against Olivier
+disappear from her mind. Closely examining and considering everything,
+starting from the assumption that, notwithstanding all that spoke so
+loudly for his innocence, Olivier yet _had_ been Cardillac's murderer,
+Mademoiselle Scuderi could find, in all the realm of possibility, no
+motive for the terrible deed, which, in any case, was bound to destroy
+his happiness. Poor, though skilful, he succeeds in gaining the good
+will of the most renowned of masters; he loves the daughter--his master
+favours his love. Happiness, good fortune for the rest of his life
+are laid open before him. Supposing, then, that--God knows on what
+impulse--overpowered by anger, he should have made this murderous
+attack on his master, what diabolical hyprocrisy it required to
+conduct himself after the deed as he had done. With the firmest
+conviction of his innocence, Mademoiselle Scuderi came to the
+resolution to save Olivier at whatever cost.
+
+It seemed to her most advisable, before perhaps appealing to the King
+in person, to go to the President, La Regnie, point out for his
+consideration all the circumstances which made for Olivier's innocence,
+and so, perhaps, kindle in his mind a conviction favourable to the
+accused which might communicate itself beneficially to the judges.
+
+La Regnie received her with all the consideration which was the due of
+a lady of her worth, held in high esteem by His Majesty himself. He
+listened in silence to all she had to say concerning Olivier's
+circumstances, relationships, and character; and also concerning the
+crime itself. A delicate, almost malignant, smile, however, was all the
+token which he gave that the adjurations, the reminders (accompanied by
+plentiful tears) that every judge ought to be, not the enemy of the
+accused, but ready to attend, too, to whatever spoke in his favour were
+not gliding by ears which were perfectly deaf. When at length
+Mademoiselle Scuderi, quite exhausted and wiping the tears from her
+cheeks, was silent, La Regnie began, saying:--
+
+"It is quite characteristic of your excellent heart, Mademoiselle,
+that, moved by the tears of a young girl who is in love, you should
+credit all she says; nay, be incapable of grasping the idea of a
+fearful crime such as this. But it is otherwise with the Judge, who is
+accustomed to tear off the mask from vile and unblushing hyprocrisy
+and deception. It is, of course, not incumbent on me to disclose the
+course of a criminal process to every one who chooses to inquire. I do
+my duty, Mademoiselle! The world's opinion troubles me not at all.
+Evil-doers should tremble before the Chambre Ardente, which knows no
+punishments save blood and fire. But by you, Mademoiselle, I would not
+be looked upon as a monster of severity and barbarity; therefore,
+permit me to place before your eyes in few words the bloodguilt of this
+young criminal, upon whom, Heaven be thanked, vengeance has fallen.
+Your acute intelligence will then despise the generous feeling and
+kindliness which do honour to you, but in me would be out of place. Eh
+bien! this morning René Cardillac is found murdered by a dagger-thrust,
+no one is by him except his workman, Olivier Brusson and the daughter.
+In Olivier's room there is found, amongst other things, a dagger
+covered with fresh blood which exactly fits into the wound. Olivier
+says, 'Cardillac was attacked in the street before my eyes.' 'Was the
+intention to rob him?' 'I do not know.' 'You were walking with him and
+you could not drive off the murderer or detain him?' 'My master was
+walking fifteen or perhaps sixteen paces in front of me; I was
+following him.' 'Why, in all the world, so far behind?' 'My master
+wished it so.' 'And what had Master Cardillac to do in the streets so
+late?' 'That I cannot say.' 'But he was never in the habit of being out
+after nine o'clock at other times, was he?' At this Olivier hesitates,
+becomes confused, sighs, shed tears, vows by all that is sacred that
+Cardillac _did_ go out that night, and met with his death. Now observe,
+Mademoiselle, it is proved to the most absolute certainty that
+Cardillac did _not_ leave the house that night, consequently Olivier's
+assertion that he went with him is a barefaced falsehood. The street
+door of the house fastens with a heavy lock, which makes a penetrating
+noise in opening and closing, also the door itself creaks and groans on
+its hinges, so that, as experiments have proved, the noise is heard
+quite distinctly in the upper stories of the house. Now, there lives in
+the lower story, that is to say, close to the street door, old Maitre
+Claude Patru with his housekeeper, a person of nearly eighty years of
+age, but still hale and active. Both of them heard Cardillac, according
+to his usual custom, come down stairs at nine o'clock exactly, close
+and bolt the door with a great deal of noise, go upstairs again, read
+evening prayer, and then (as was to be presumed by the shutting of the
+door) go into his bedroom. Maitre Claude suffers from sleeplessness
+like many other old people; and on the night in question he could not
+close an eye, therefore, about half past nine the housekeeper struck a
+light in the kitchen, which she reached by crossing the passage, and
+sat down at the table beside her master with an old chronicle-book,
+from which she read aloud, whilst the old man, fixing his thoughts on
+the reading, sometimes sat in his arm-chair, sometimes walked slowly up
+and down the room to try and bring on sleepiness. All was silence in
+the house till nearly midnight; but then they heard overhead rapid
+footsteps, a heavy fall, as of something on to the floor, and
+immediately after that a hollow groaning. They both were struck by a
+peculiar alarm and anxiety, the horror of the terrible deed which had
+just been committed seemed to sweep past them. When day came what had
+been done in the darkness was brought clearly to light."
+
+"But, in the name of all the Saints," cried Mademoiselle Scuderi,
+"considering all the circumstances which I have told you at such
+length, can you think of any _motive_ for this diabolical deed?"
+
+"Hm!" answered La Regnie. "Cardillac was anything but a poor man. He
+had valuable jewels in his possession." "But all he had would go to the
+daughter! You forget that Olivier was to be Cardillac's son-in-law."
+"Perhaps he was compelled to share with others," said La Regnie, "or to
+do the deed wholly for them!" "Share!--murder for others!" cried
+Mademoiselle Scuderi, in utter amaze.
+
+"You must learn, Mademoiselle," continued La Regnie, "that Olivier's
+blood would have been flowing on the Place de Grčve before this time,
+but that his crime is connected with that deeply-hidden mystery which
+has so long brooded over Paris. It is clear that Olivier belongs to
+that formidable band which, setting at defiance every attempt at
+observation or discovery, carries on its nefarious practices with
+perfect immunity. Through him everything will, must be discovered.
+Cardillac's wound is precisely the same as all those of the persons who
+have been robbed and murdered in the streets and houses; and most
+conclusive of all, since Olivier's arrest, the robberies and murders
+have ceased; the streets are as safe by night as by day. Proof enough
+that Olivier was most probably the chief of the band. As yet he will
+not confess; but there are means of making him speak against his will."
+
+"And Madelon!" cried Mademoiselle Scuderi, "that truthful, innocent
+creature."
+
+"Ah!" cried La Regnie, with one of his venomous smiles, "who answers to
+me that _she_ is not in the plot, too? She does not care so very much
+about her father. Her tears are all for the murderer boy."
+
+"What?" cried Mademoiselle Scuderi, "not for her father?--that
+girl--impossible!" "Oh!" continued La Regnie, "remember the
+Brinvilliers! You must pardon me, if by-and-by I have to carry off
+your _protégée_, and put her in the Conciergerie."
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi shuddered at this grizly notion. It seemed to her
+that no truth or virtue could endure before this terrible man; as if he
+spied out murder and bloodguilt in the deepest and most hidden thoughts
+of people's hearts. She rose. "Be human!" was all that in her state of
+anxiety and oppression she was able, with difficulty, to say. As she
+was just going to descend the stairs, to which the President had
+attended her with ceremonious courtesy, a strange idea came to her--she
+knew not how. "Might I be allowed to see this unfortunate Olivier
+Brusson?" she inquired, turning round sharply. He scrutinised her
+face with thoughtful looks, and then his face distorted itself
+into the repulsive smile which was characteristic of him. "Doubtless,
+Mademoiselle," he said, "your idea is that, trusting your own
+feelings--the inward voice--more than that which happened before our
+eyes, you would like to examine into Olivier's guilt or innocence for
+yourself. If you do not fear that gloomy abode of crime--if it
+is not hateful to you to see those types of depravity in all their
+gradations--the doors of the Conciergerie shall be opened to you in two
+hours time. Olivier, whose fate excites your sympathy, shall be brought
+to you."
+
+In truth, Mademoiselle Scuderi could not bring herself to believe in
+Olivier's guilt. Everything spoke against him. Indeed, no judge in the
+world would have thought otherwise than La Regnie, in the face of what
+had happened. But the picture of domestic happiness which Madelon had
+placed before her eyes in such vivid colours, outweighed and outshone
+all suspicion, so that she preferred to adopt the hypothesis of some
+inscrutable mystery rather than believe what her whole nature revolted
+against.
+
+She thought she would hear Olivier's narrative of the events of that
+night of mystery, and in this manner, possibly, penetrate further into
+a secret which the judges, perhaps, did not see into, because they
+thought it unworthy of investigation.
+
+Arrived at the Conciergerie, she was taken into a large, well-lighted
+room. Presently she heard the ring of fetters. Olivier Brusson was
+brought in; but as soon as she saw him she fell down fainting. When she
+recovered, he was gone. She demanded with impetuosity to be taken to
+her carriage; she would not remain another moment in that place of
+crime and wickedness. Alas! at the first glance she recognised in
+Olivier Brusson the young man who had thrown the letter into her
+carriage on the Pont Neuf, and who had brought her the casket with the
+jewels. Now all doubt was gone, La Regnie's terrible suspicions
+completely justified. Olivier belonged to the atrocious band, and had,
+doubtless, murdered his master! And Madelon! Never before so bitterly
+deceived by her kind feelings, Mademoiselle Scuderi, under this deadly
+attack upon her by the power of the evil one here below--in whose very
+existence she had not believed--doubted if there was such a thing as
+truth. She gave admittance to the fearful suspicion that Madelon, too,
+was forsworn, and might have a hand in the bloody deed. And as it is
+the nature of the human mind that, when an idea has dawned upon it, it
+eagerly seeks, and finds, colours in which to paint that idea more and
+more vividly, she, as she weighed and considered all the circumstances
+of the crime along with Madelon's behaviour, found a very great deal to
+nourish suspicion. Many things which had hitherto been considered
+proofs of innocence and purity, now became evidences of studied
+hypocrisy and deep, corrupt wickedness. Those heartrending cries of
+sorrow, and the bitter tears, might well have been pressed from her by
+the deadly dread of her lover's bleeding--nay, of her own falling into
+the executioner's hands. With a resolve at once to cast away the
+serpent she had been cherishing, Mademoiselle Scuderi alighted
+from her carriage. Madelon threw herself at her feet. Her heavenly
+eyes--(no Angel of God's has them more truthful)--raised to her, her
+hands pressed to her heaving breast, she wept, imploring help and
+consolation. Mademoiselle Scuderi, controlling herself with difficulty,
+giving to the tone of her voice as much calmness and gravity as
+she could, said, "Go! go!--be thankful that the murderer awaits
+the just punishment of his crime. May the Holy Virgin grant that
+blood-guiltiness does not weigh heavily on your own head also." With a
+bitter cry of "Alas! then all is over!" Madelon fell fainting to the
+ground. Mademoiselle Scuderi left her to the care of La Martiničre, and
+went to another room.
+
+Much distressed, and at variance with all earthly things, she longed to
+depart from a world filled with diabolical treachery and falsehood. She
+complained of the destiny which had granted her so many years in which
+to strengthen her belief in truth and virtue, only to shatter in her
+old days the beautiful fancies which had illumined her path.
+
+She heard Madelon, as La Martiničre was leading her away, murmur in
+broken accents, "_Her_, too, have the terrible men deceived. Ah!
+wretched me!--miserable Olivier!" The tones of the voice went to her
+heart, and again there dawned within her the belief in the existence of
+some mystery, in Olivier's innocence. Torn by the most contradictory
+feelings, she cried, "What spirit of the pit has mixed _me_ up in this
+terrible story, which will be my very death!"
+
+At this moment Baptiste came in pale and terrified, to say that
+Desgrais was at the door. Since the dreadful La Voisin trial the
+appearance of Desgrais in a house was the sure precursor of some
+criminal accusation. Hence Baptiste's terror, as to which his mistress
+asked him with a gentle smile, "What is the matter, Baptiste? Has the
+name of Scuderi been found in La Voisin's lists?" "Ah! For Christ's
+sake," cried Baptiste, trembling in every limb, "how can you say such a
+thing; but Desgrais--the horrible Desgrais--is looking so mysterious,
+and presses in so--he seems hardly able to wait till he can see you."
+"Well, Baptiste," she said, "bring him in at once, this gentleman who
+is so frightful to you, and who to _me_, at all events, can cause no
+anxiety."
+
+"President La Regnie sends me to you, Mademoiselle," said Desgrais,
+when he entered, "with a request which he scarce would dare to make if
+he did not know your goodness and bravery, and if the last hope of
+bringing to light an atrocious deed of blood did not lie in your hands,
+had you not already taken such interest (as well as bearing a part), in
+this case, which is keeping the Chambre Ardente, and all of us, in a
+state of such breathless eagerness. Olivier Brusson, since he saw you,
+has been almost out of his mind. He still swears by all that is sacred,
+that he is completely innocent of René Cardillac's death, though he is
+ready to suffer the punishment he has deserved. Observe, Mademoiselle,
+that the latter admission clearly refers to other crimes of which he
+has been guilty. But all attempts to get him to utter anything further
+have been vain. He begs and implores to be allowed to have an interview
+with you. To you alone will he divulge everything. Vouchsafe then,
+Mademoiselle, to listen to Brusson's confession."
+
+"What?" cried Mademoiselle Scuderi, in indignation, "_I_ become an
+organ of the criminal court, and abuse the confidence of this
+unfortunate fellow to bring him to the scaffold! No! Desgrais. Ruffian
+and murderer though he may be, I could never deceive and betray him
+thus villainously. I will have nothing to do with his avowal. If I did,
+it would be locked up in my heart, as if made to a priest under the
+seal of the confessional."
+
+"Perhaps, Mademoiselle," said Desgrais, with a subtle smile, "you might
+alter your opinion after hearing Brusson. Did you not beg the President
+to be human? This he is, in yielding to Brusson's foolish desire, and
+thus trying one more expedient--the last--before resorting to the rack,
+for which Brusson is long since ripe."
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi shuddered involuntarily.
+
+"Understand, Mademoiselle," he continued, "you would by no means be
+expected to go again into those gloomy dungeons, which inspired you
+with such horror and loathing. Olivier would be brought to your own
+house, in the night, like a free man; what he should say would not be
+listened to, though, of course, there would be a proper guard with him.
+He could thus tell you freely and unconstrainedly all he had to say. As
+regards any risk which you might run in seeing the wretched being, my
+life shall answer for that. He speaks of you with the deepest
+veneration; he vows that it is the dark mystery which prevented his
+seeing you earlier which has brought him to destruction. Moreover, it
+would rest with you entirely to repeat as much or as little as you
+pleased of what Brusson confessed to you. How could you be constrained
+to more?"
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi sat with eyes fixed on the ground, in deep
+reflection. It seemed to her that she could not but obey that Higher
+Power which demanded of her the clearing up of this mystery--as if
+there were no escape for her from the wondrous meshes in which she had
+become inwound without her will. Coming to a rapid decision, she said
+with solemnity, "God will give me self-command and firm resolution.
+Bring Brusson here; I will see him."
+
+As on the night when the jewel-casket had been brought, so now, at
+midnight, there came a knocking at the door. Baptiste, properly
+instructed, opened. Mademoiselle Scuderi's blood ran cold when she
+heard the heavy tread of the guard party which had brought Brusson
+stationing themselves about the passages.
+
+At length the door opened, Desgrais came in, and after him, Olivier
+Brusson, without irons, and respectably dressed.
+
+"Here is Brusson, Mademoiselle," said Desgrais, bowing courteously; he
+then departed at once.
+
+Brusson sank down on both knees before Mademoiselle Scuderi. The pure,
+clear expression of a most truthful soul beamed from his face, though
+it was drawn and distorted by terror and bitter pain. The longer she
+looked at him, the more vivid became a remembrance of some well-loved
+person--she could not say whom. When the first feeling of shuddering
+left her, she forgot that Cardillac's murderer was kneeling before her,
+and, speaking in the pleasant tone of quiet goodwill which was natural
+to her, said--
+
+"Now, Brusson, what have you to say to me?"
+
+He--still on his knees--sighed deeply, from profound sorrow, and then
+said--
+
+"Oh, Mademoiselle, you whom I so honour and worship, is there no trace
+of recollection of me left in your mind?"
+
+She, still looking at him attentively, answered that she had certainly
+traced in his face a likeness to some one whom she had held in
+affection, and it was to this that he owed it that she had overcome her
+profound horror of a murderer so far as to be able to listen to him
+quietly. Brusson, much pained by her words, rose quickly, and stepped
+backwards a pace, with his gloomy glance fixed on the ground. Then, in
+a hollow voice, he said--
+
+"Have you quite forgotten Anne Guiot? Her son, Olivier, the boy whom
+you used to dandle on your knee, is he who is now before you."
+
+"Oh! For the love of all the Saints!" she cried, as, covering her face
+with both hands, she sank back in her chair. She had reason for being
+thus horrified. Anne Guiot, the daughter of a citizen who had fallen
+into poverty, had lived with Mademoiselle Scuderi from her childhood;
+she had brought her up like a daughter, with all affection and care.
+When she grew up, a handsome, well-conducted young man, named Claude
+Brusson, fell in love with her. Being a first-rate workman at his trade
+of a watchmaker, sure to make a capital living in Paris, and Anne being
+very fond of him, Mademoiselle Scuderi saw no reason to object to their
+marrying. They set up house accordingly, lived a most quiet and happy
+domestic life, and the bond between them was knitted more closely still
+by the birth of a most beautiful boy, the image of his pretty mother.
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi made an idol of little Olivier, whom she would
+take away from his mother for hours and days, to pet him and kiss him.
+Hence he attached himself to her, and was as pleased to be with her as
+with his mother. When three years passed, the depressed state of
+Brusson's trade brought it about that job-work was scarcer every day,
+so that at last it was all he could do to get bread to eat. In addition
+to this came home-sickness for his beautiful native Geneva; so the
+little household went there, spite of Mademoiselle Scuderi's
+dissuasions and promises of all needful assistance. Anne wrote once or
+twice to her foster-mother, and then ceased; so that Mademoiselle
+Scuderi thought she was forgotten in the happiness of the Brusson's
+life.
+
+It was now just three and twenty years since the Brusson's had left
+Paris for Geneva.
+
+"Horrible!" cried Mademoiselle Scuderi, when she had to some extent
+recovered herself. "You, Olivier! the son of my Anne! And now!----"
+
+"Mademoiselle!" said Olivier, quietly and composedly, "doubtless you
+never thought that the boy whom you cherished like the tenderest of
+mothers, whom you dandled on your knee, and to whom you gave
+sweetmeats, would, when grown to manhood, stand before you accused of a
+terrible murder. I am completely innocent! The Chambre Ardente charges
+me with a crime; but, as I hope to die a Christian's death, though it
+may be by the executioner's hand--I am free from all blood-guiltiness.
+Not by my hand--not by any crime of my committing, was it that the
+unfortunate Cardillac came to his end."
+
+As he said this, Olivier began to tremble and shake so, that
+Mademoiselle Scuderi motioned him to a little seat which was near him.
+
+"I have had sufficient time," he went on, "to prepare myself for this
+interview with you--which I look upon as the last favour of a
+reconciled Heaven--and to acquire as much calmness and self-control as
+are necessary to tell you the story of my terrible, unheard-of
+misfortunes. Be so compassionate as to listen to me calmly, whatever
+may be your horror at the disclosure of a mystery of which you
+certainly have not the smallest inkling. Ah! would to Heaven my poor
+father had never left Paris! As far as my recollections of Geneva carry
+me, I remember myself as being always bedewed with tears by my
+inconsolable parents, and weeping, myself, at their lamentations, which
+I did not understand. Later, there came to me a clear sense--a full
+comprehension--of the bitterest and most grinding poverty, want, and
+privation in which they were living. My father was deceived in all his
+expectations; bowed down and broken with sorrow, he died, just when he
+had managed to place me as apprentice with a goldsmith. My mother spoke
+much of you; she longed to tell you all her misfortunes, but the
+despondency which springs from poverty prevented her. That, and also,
+no doubt, false modesty, which often gnaws at a mortally wounded heart,
+kept her from carrying out her idea. She followed my father to the
+grave a few months after his death."
+
+"Poor Anne! Poor Anne!" said Mademoiselle Scuderi, overwhelmed by
+sorrow.
+
+"I thank and praise the eternal power that she has gone where she
+cannot see her beloved son fall, branded with disgrace, by the hand of
+the executioner," cried Olivier, loudly, raising a wild and terrible
+glance to the skies. Outside, things became unrestful; a sound of
+people moving about made itself heard. "Ho, ho!" said he, with a bitter
+laugh, "Desgrais is waking up his people, as if I could possibly
+escape. But, let me go on. I was harshly treated by my master, though I
+was very soon one of the best of workmen, and, indeed, much better than
+himself. Once a stranger came to our workshop to buy some of our work.
+When he saw a necklace of my making, he patted my shoulder in a kind
+way, and said, looking with admiration at the necklace, 'Ah, ha! my
+young friend, this is really first-class work, I don't know anybody who
+could beat it but René Cardillac, who, of course, is the greatest of
+all goldsmiths. You ought to go to him; he would be delighted to get
+hold of you, for there's nobody but yourself who would be of such use
+to him; and again, there's nobody but he who can teach you anything.'
+The words of this stranger sunk deep into my heart. There was no more
+peace for me in Geneva. I was powerfully impelled to leave it, and at
+length I succeeded in getting free from my master. I came to Paris,
+where René Cardillac received me coldly and harshly. But I stuck to my
+point. He was obliged to give me something to try my hand at, however
+trifling. So I got a ring to finish. When I took it back to him,
+finished, he gazed at me with those sparkling eyes of his, as if he
+would look me through and through. Then he said: 'You are a first-rate
+man--a splendid fellow; you may come and work with me. I'll pay you
+well; you'll be satisfied with me.' And he kept his word. I had been
+several weeks with him before I saw Madelon, who, I think, had been
+visiting an aunt of his in the country. At last she came home. O
+eternal power of Heaven, how was it with me when I saw that angelic
+creature! Has ever a man so loved as I! And now! Oh! Madelon!"
+
+Olivier could speak no more for sorrow. He held both hands over his
+face, and sobbed violently. At last he conquered the wild pain with a
+mighty effort, and went on--
+
+"Madelon looked on me with favour, and came oftener and oftener into
+the workshop. Her father watched closely, but many a stolen hand-clasp
+marked our covenant. Cardillac did not seem to notice. My idea was,
+that if I could gain his good-will, and attain Master's rank, I should
+ask his consent to our marriage. One morning, when I was going in to
+begin work, he came to me with anger and contempt in his face. 'I don't
+want any more of your work,' he said. 'Get out of this house, and don't
+let my eyes ever rest on you again. I have no need to tell you the
+reason. The dainty fruit you are trying to gather is beyond the reach
+of a beggar like you!' I tried to speak, but he seized me and pitched
+me out of the door with such violence that I fell, and hurt my head and
+my arm. Furious, and smarting with the pain, I went off, and at last
+found a kind-hearted acquaintance in the Faubourg St. Germain, who gave
+me quarters in his garret. I had no peace nor rest. At night I wandered
+round Cardillac's house, hoping that Madelon would hear my sighs and
+lamentings, and perhaps manage to speak to me at the window
+undiscovered. All sorts of desperate plans, to which I thought I might
+persuade her, jostled each other in my brain. Cardillac's house in the
+Rue Nicaise abuts on to a high wall with niches, containing old,
+partly-broken statues. One night I was standing close to one of those
+figures, looking up at the windows of the house which open on the
+courtyard which the wall encloses. Suddenly I saw light in Cardillac's
+workshop. It was midnight, and he never was awake at that time, as he
+always went to bed exactly at nine. My heart beat anxiously: I thought
+something might be going on which would let me get into the Louse. But
+the light disappeared again immediately. I pressed myself closely into
+the niche, and against the statue; but I started back in alarm, feeling
+a return of my pressure, as if the statue had come to life. In the
+faint moonlight I saw that the stone was slowly turning, and behind it
+appeared a dark form, which crept softly out, and went down the street
+with stealthy tread. I sprang to the statue: it was standing close to
+the wall again, as before. Involuntarily, as if impelled by some power
+within me, I followed the receding dark figure. In passing an image of
+the Virgin, this figure looked round, the light of the lamp before the
+image falling upon his face. It was Cardillac! an indescribable alarm
+fell upon me; an eery shudder came over me. As if driven by some spell,
+I felt I must follow this spectre-like sleep-walker--for that was what
+I thought my master was, though it was not full-moon, the time when
+that kind of impulse falls upon sleepers. At length Cardillac
+disappeared in a deep shadow; but, by a certain easily distinguishable
+sound, I knew that he had gone into the entry of a house. What was the
+meaning of this? I asked myself in amazement; what was he going to be
+about? I pressed myself close to the wall. Presently there came up a
+gentleman, trilling and singing, with a white plume distinct in the
+darkness, and clanking spurs. Cardillac darted out upon him from the
+darkness, like a tiger on his prey; he fell to the ground gasping. I
+rushed up with a cry of terror. Cardillac was leaning over him as he
+lay on the ground. 'Master Cardillac, what are you about?' I cried
+aloud. 'Curses upon you!' he cried, and, running by me with lightning
+speed, disappeared. Quite beyond myself--scarcely able to walk a
+step--I went up to the gentleman on the ground, and knelt down beside
+him, thinking it might still be possible to save him. But there was no
+trace of life left in him. In my alarm I scarcely noticed that the
+Marechaussée had come up and surrounded me. 'Another one laid low by
+the demons!' they cried, all speaking at once. 'Ah, ha! youngster! what
+are you doing here?--are _you_ one of the band?' and they seized me. I
+stammered out in the best way I could that I was incapable of such a
+terrible deed, and that they must let me go. Then one of them held a
+lantern to my face, and said, with a laugh: 'This is Olivier Brusson;
+the goldsmith who works with our worthy Master René Cardillac. _He_
+murder folks in the street!--very likely story! Who ever heard of a
+murderer lamenting over the body, and letting himself be nabbed? Tell
+us all about it, my lad; out with it straight.' 'Right before my eyes,'
+I said, 'a man sprang out upon this one; stabbed him, and ran off like
+lightning. I cried as loud as I could. I wanted to see if he could be
+saved.' 'No, my son,' cried one of those who had lifted up the body,
+'he's done for!--the dagger-stab right through his heart, as usual.'
+'The deuce!' said another; 'just too late again, as we were the day
+before yesterday.' And they went away with the body.
+
+"What _I_ thought of all this I really cannot tell you. I pinched
+myself, to see if I were not in some horrible dream. I felt as if I
+must wake up directly, and marvel at the absurdity of what I had been
+dreaming. Cardillac--my Madelon's father--an atrocious murderer! I had
+sunk down powerless on the stone steps of a house; the daylight was
+growing brighter and brighter. An officer's hat with a fine plume was
+lying before me on the pavement. Cardillac's deed of blood, committed
+on the spot, came clearly back to my mental vision. I ran away in
+horror.
+
+"With my mind in a whirl, almost unconscious, I was sitting in my
+garret, when the door opened, and René Cardillac came in. 'For Christ's
+sake! what do you want?' I cried. He, paying no heed to this, came up
+to me, smiling at me with a calmness and urbanity which increased my
+inward horror. He drew forward an old rickety stool, and sat down
+beside me; for I was unable to rise from my straw bed, where I had
+thrown myself. 'Well, Olivier,' he began, 'how is it with you, my poor
+boy? I really was too hasty in turning you out of doors. I miss you at
+every turn. Just now I have a job in hand which I shall never be able
+to finish without you; won't you come back and work with me? You don't
+answer. Yes, I know very well I insulted you. I don't hide from you
+that I was angry about your little bit of love-business with my
+Madelon; but I have been thinking matters well over, and I see that I
+couldn't have a better son-in-law than you, with your abilities, your
+skilfulness, diligence, trustworthiness. Come back with me, and see how
+soon you and Madelon can make a match of it.'
+
+"His words pierced my heart; I shuddered at his wickedness; I could not
+utter a syllable. 'You hesitate,' he said, in an acrid tone, while his
+sparkling eyes transfixed me. 'Perhaps you can't come to-day. You have
+other things to do. Perhaps you want to go and see Desgrais, or have an
+interview with D'Argenson or La Regnie. Take care, my boy, that the
+talons which you are thinking of drawing out to clutch others, don't
+mangle yourself.' At this my deeply-tried spirit found vent. 'Those,' I
+said, 'who are conscious of horrible crimes may dread those names which
+you have mentioned, but I do not. I have nothing to do with them.'
+'Remember, Olivier,' he resumed, 'that it is an honour to you to work
+with me--the most renowned Master of his time, everywhere highly
+esteemed for his truth and goodness; any foul calumny would fall back
+on the head of its originator. As to Madelon, I must tell you that it
+is her alone whom you have to thank for my yielding. She loves you with
+a devotion that I should never have given her credit for being capable
+of. As soon as you were gone, she fell at my feet, clasped my knees,
+and vowed, with a thousand tears, that she could never live without
+you. I thought this was mere imagination, for those young things always
+think they're going to die of love whenever a young wheyface looks at
+them a little kindly. But my Madelon really did fall quite sick and
+ill; and when I tried to talk her out of the silly nonsense, she called
+out your name a thousand times. Last evening I told her I gave in and
+agreed to everything, and would go to-day to fetch you; so this morning
+she is blooming again like any rose, and waiting for you, quite beyond
+herself with love-longing.' May the eternal power of Heaven forgive me,
+but--I don't know how it came about--I suddenly found myself in
+Cardillac's house, where Madelon, with loud cries of 'Olivier!--my
+Olivier!--my beloved! my husband!' clasped both her arms about me, and
+pressed me to her heart; whilst I, in the plenitude of the supremest
+bliss, swore by the Virgin and all the Saints never, never to leave
+her."
+
+Overcome by the remembrance of this decisive moment, Olivier was
+obliged to pause. Mademoiselle Scuderi, horrified at the crime of a man
+whom she had looked on as the incarnation of probity and goodness,
+cried--
+
+"Dreadful!--René Cardillac a member of that band of murderers who have
+so long made Paris into a robber's den!" "A member of the band, do you
+say, Mademoiselle?" said Olivier. "There never was any band; it was
+René Cardillac alone, who sought and found his victims with such an
+amount of diabolical ingenuity and activity. It was in the fact of his
+being alone that his impunity lay--the practical impossibility of
+coming upon the murderer's track. But let me go on. What is coming will
+clear up the mystery, and reveal the secrets of the most wicked, and at
+the same time most wretched of all mankind. You at once see the
+position in which I now stood towards my master. The step was taken,
+and I could not go back. At times it seemed to me that I had rendered
+myself Cardillac's accomplice in murder, and it was only in Madelon's
+love that I forgot for a time the inward pain which tortured me; only
+in her society could I drive away all outward traces of the nameless
+horror. When I was at work with the old man in the workshop, I could
+not look him in the face--could scarcely speak a word--for the horror
+which pervaded me in the presence of this terrible being, who fulfilled
+all the duties of the tender father and the good citizen, while the
+night shrouded his atrocities. Madelon, pure and pious as an angel,
+hung upon him with the most idolatrous affection. It pierced my heart
+when I thought that, if ever vengeance should overtake this masked
+criminal, she would be the victim of the most terrible despair. That,
+of itself, closed my lips, though the consequence of my silence should
+be a criminal's death for myself. Although much was to be gathered from
+what the Marechaussée had said, still Cardillac's crimes, their motive,
+and the manner in which he carried them out, were a riddle to me. The
+solution of it soon came. One day Cardillac--who usually excited my
+horror by laughing and jesting during our work, in the highest of
+spirits--was very grave and thoughtful. Suddenly he threw the piece of
+work he was engaged on aside, so that the pearls and other stones
+rolled about the floor, started to his feet, and said: 'Olivier! things
+cannot go on between us like this; the situation is unendurable. What
+the ablest and most ingenious efforts of Desgrais and his myrmidons
+failed to find out, chance has played into your hands. You saw me at my
+nocturnal work, to which my Evil Star compels me, so that no resistance
+is possible for me; and it was your own Evil Star, moreover, which led
+you to follow me; wrapped and hid you in an impenetrable mantle; gave
+that lightness to your foot-fall which enabled you to move along with
+the noiselessness of the smaller animals, so that I--who see clear by
+night, as doth the tiger, and hear the smallest sound, the humming of
+the gnat, streets away--did not observe you. Your Evil Star brought you
+to me, my comrade--my accomplice! You see, now, that you can't betray
+me; therefore you shall know all.'
+
+"I would have cried out, 'Never, never shall I be your comrade, your
+accomplice, you atrocious miscreant.' But the inward horror which I
+felt at his words paralysed my tongue. Instead of words I could only
+utter an unintelligible noise. Cardillac sat down in his working chair
+again, wiped the perspiration from his brow, and seemed to find it
+difficult to pull himself together, hard beset by the recollection of
+the past. At length he began: 'Wise men have much to say of the strange
+impulses which come to women when they are _enceinte_, and the strange
+influence which those vivid, involuntary impulses exercise upon the
+child. A wonderful tale is told of _my_ mother. When she was a month
+gone with me she was looking on, with other women, at a court pageant
+at the Trianon, and saw a certain cavalier in Spanish dress, with a
+glittering chain of jewels about his neck, from which she could not
+remove her eyes. Her whole being was longing for those sparkling
+stones, which seemed to her more than earthly. This same cavalier had
+at a previous time, before my mother was married, had designs on her
+virtue, which she rejected with indignation. She recognized him, but
+now, irradiated by the light of the gems, he seemed to her a creature
+of a higher sphere, the very incarnation of beauty. The cavalier
+noticed the longing, fiery looks which she was bending on him, and
+thought he was in better luck now than of old. He managed to get near
+her, and to separate her from her companions, and entice her to a
+lonely place. There he clasped her eagerly in his arms. My mother
+grasped at the beautiful chain; but at that moment he fell down,
+dragging her with him. Whether it was apoplexy, or what, I do not know;
+but he was dead. My mother struggled in vain to free herself from the
+clasp of the arms, stiffened as they were in death. With the hollow
+eyes, whence vision had departed, fixed on her, the corpse rolled with
+her to the ground. Her shrieks at length reached people who were
+passing at some distance; they hastened to her, and rescued her from
+the embrace of this gruesome lover. Her fright laid her on a bed of
+dangerous sickness. Her life was despaired of as well as mine; but she
+recovered, and her confinement was more prosperous than had been
+thought possible. But the terrors of that awful moment had set their
+mark on _me_. My Evil Star had risen, and darted into me those rays
+which kindled in me one of the strangest and most fatal of passions.
+Even in my earliest childhood I thought there was nothing to compare
+with glittering diamonds with gold settings. This was looked upon as a
+childish fancy; but it was otherwise, for as a boy I stole gold and
+jewels wherever I could lay hands on them, and I knew the difference
+between good ones and bad, instinctively, like the most accomplished
+connoisseur. Only the pure and valuable attracted me; I would not touch
+alloyed or coined gold. Those inborn cravings were kept in check by my
+father's severe chastisements; but, so that I might always have to do
+with gold and precious stones, I took up the goldsmith's calling. I
+worked at it with passion, and soon became the first living master of
+that art. Then began a period when the natural bent within me, so long
+restrained, shot forth in power, and waxed with might, bearing
+everything away before it. As soon as I finished a piece of work and
+delivered it, I fell into a state of restlessness and disconsolateness
+which prevented my sleeping, ruined my health, and left me no enjoyment
+in my life. The person for whom I made the work haunted me day and
+night like a spectre--I saw that person continually before my mental
+vision, with my beautiful jewels on, and a voice kept whispering to me:
+'They belong to you! take them; what's the use of diamonds to the
+dead?' At last I betook myself to thieving. I had access to the houses
+of the great; I took advantage quickly of every opportunity. No locks
+withstood my skill, and I soon had my work back in my hands again. But
+this was not enough to calm my unrest. That mysterious voice made
+itself heard again, jeering at me, and saying, 'Ho, ho! one of the dead
+is wearing your jewels.' I did not know whence it came, but I had an
+indescribable hatred for all those for whom I made jewelry. More than
+that, in the depths of my heart I began to long to kill them; this
+frightened me. Just then I bought this house. I had concluded the
+bargain with the owner: here in this very room we were sitting,
+drinking a bottle of wine in honour of the transaction. Night had come
+on, he was going to leave when he said to me: 'Look here, Maitre René,
+before I go I must let you into a secret about this house.' He opened
+that cupboard, which is let into the wall there, and pushed the back of
+it in; this let him into a little closet, where he bowed down and
+raised a trap-door. This showed us a steep, narrow stair, which we went
+down, and at the bottom of it was a little narrow door, which let us
+out into the open courtyard. There he went up to the wall, pushed a
+piece of iron which projected a very little, and immediately a piece of
+the wall turned round, so that a person could get out through the
+opening into the street. You must see this contrivance sometime,
+Olivier; the sly old monks of the convent, which this house once was,
+must have had it made so as to be able to slip out and in secretly. It
+is wood but covered with lime and mortar on the outside, and to the
+outer side of it is fitted a statue, also of wood, though _looking_
+exactly like stone, which turns on wooden hinges. When I saw this
+arrangement, dark ideas surged up in my mind; it seemed to me that
+deeds, as yet mysterious to myself, were here pre-arranged for. I had
+just finished a splendid set of ornaments for a gentleman of the
+court who, I knew, was going to give them to an opera dancer. My
+death-torture soon was on me; the spectre dogged my steps, the whispering
+devil was at my ear. I went back into the house, bathed in a sweat of
+agony; I rolled about on my bed, sleepless. In my mind's eye I saw the
+man gliding to his dancer with _my_ beautiful jewels. Full of fury I
+sprang up, threw my cloak round me, went down the secret stair, out
+through the wall into the Rue Nicaise. He came, I fell upon him, he
+cried out; but, seizing him from behind, I plunged my dagger into his
+heart. The jewels were mine. When this was done, I felt a peace, a
+contentment within me which I had never known before. The spectre had
+vanished--the voice of the demon was still. _Now_ I knew what was the
+behest of my Evil Star, which I had to obey, or perish. You know all
+now, Olivier. Don't think that, because I must do that which I cannot
+avoid, I have clean renounced all sense of that mercy or kindly feeling
+which are the portion of all humanity, and inherent in man's nature.
+You know how hard I find it to let any of my work go out of my hands,
+that there are many whom I would not have to die for whom nothing will
+induce me to work; indeed, that in cases when I feel that, next day, my
+spectre will have to be exorcised with blood, that day I settle the
+business by a swashing blow, which lays the holder of my jewels on the
+ground, so that I get them back into my own hands.' Having said all
+this, Cardillac took me into his secret strong-room and showed me his
+collection of jewels; the King does not possess such an one. To each
+ornament was fastened a small label stating for whom it had been made,
+and when taken back--by theft, robbery, or murder.
+
+"'On your wedding day, Olivier,' he said, in a solemn tone, 'you will
+swear me a solemn oath, with your hand on the crucifix, that as soon as
+I am dead you will at once convert all those treasures into dust,
+by a process which I will tell you of. I will not have any human
+being, least of all Madelon and you, come into possession of those
+blood-bought stones.'
+
+"Shut up in this labyrinth of crime, torn in twain by love and
+abhorrence, I was like one of the damned to whom a glorified angel
+points, with gentle smile, the upward way, whilst Satan holds him down
+with red-hot talons, and the angel's loving smile, reflecting all the
+bliss of paradise, becomes, to him, the very keenest of his tortures. I
+thought of flight, even of suicide, but Madelon! Blame me, blame me,
+Mademoiselle, for having been too weak to overcome a passion which
+fettered me to my destruction. I am going to atone for my weakness by a
+shameful death. One day Cardillac came in in unusually fine spirits, he
+kissed and caressed Madelon, cast most affectionate looks at me, drank,
+at table, a bottle of good wine, which he only did on high-days and
+holidays, sang, and made merry. Madelon had left us, and I was going to
+the workshop 'Sit still, lad,' cried Cardillac, 'no more work to-day;
+let's drink the health of the most worthy and charming lady in all
+Paris.' When we had clinked our glasses, and he had emptied a bumper,
+he said: 'Tell me, Olivier, how do you like those lines?
+
+          'Un amant qui craint les voleurs
+            N'est point digne d'amour.'
+
+And he told me what had happened between you and the King in Madam de
+Maintenon's salon, adding that he had always worshipped you more than
+any other human being, and that his reverence and esteem for your
+qualities was such that his Evil Star paled before you, and he would
+have no fear that, were you to wear the finest piece of his work that
+ever he made, the spectre would ever prompt him to thoughts of murder.
+'Listen, Olivier,' he said, 'to what I am going to do. A considerable
+time ago I had to make a necklace and bracelets for Henrietta of
+England, supplying the stones myself. I made of this the best piece of
+work that ever I turned out, and it broke my heart to part with those
+ornaments, which had become the very treasures of my soul. You know of
+her unfortunate death by assassination. The things remained with me,
+and now I shall send them to Mademoiselle Scuderi, in the name of the
+dreaded band, as a token of respect and gratitude. Besides its being an
+unmistakable mark of her triumph, it will be a richly deserved sign of
+my contempt for Desgrais and his men. You shall take her the jewels.'
+When he mentioned your name, Mademoiselle, dark veils seemed to be
+taken away, revealing the bright image of my happy early childhood,
+rising again in glowing colours before me. A wonderful comfort came
+into my soul, a ray of hope, driving the dark shadows away. Cardillac
+saw the effect his words had produced upon me, and gave it his own
+interpretation. 'My idea seems to please you,' he said. 'I must declare
+that a deep inward voice, very unlike that which cries for blood like a
+raving wild beast, commanded me to do this thing. Many times I feel the
+strangest ideas come into my mind--an inward fear, the dread of
+something terrible, the awe whereof seems to come breathing into this
+present time from some distant other world, seizes powerfully upon me.
+I even feel, at such times, that the deeds which my Evil Star has
+committed by means of me, may be charged to the account of my immortal
+soul, though it has no part in them. In one of those moods I determined
+that I would make a beautiful diamond crown for the Virgin in the
+Church of St. Eustache. But the indescribable dread always came upon
+me, stronger than ever, when I set to work at it, so that I left it off
+altogether. Now it seems to me that, in presenting Mademoiselle Scuderi
+with the finest work I have ever turned out, I am offering a humble
+sacrifice to goodness and virtue personified, and imploring their
+powerful intercession.' Cardillac, well acquainted with all the minutić
+of your manner of life, told me the how and the when to take the
+ornaments to you. My whole Being rejoiced, for Heaven seemed to be
+showing me, through the atrocious Cardillac, the way to escape from the
+hell in which I was being tortured. Quite contrarily to Cardillac's
+wish, I resolved that I would get access to you and speak with you. As
+Anne Brusson's son, and your former pet, I thought I would throw myself
+at your feet and tell you everything. Out of consideration for the
+nameless misery which a disclosure of the secret would bring upon
+Madelon, I knew that you would keep it, but that your grand and
+brilliant intellect would have been sure to find means to put an end to
+Cardillac's wickedness without disclosing it. Do not ask me what those
+means were to have been; I cannot tell. But that you would rescue
+Madelon and me I believed as firmly as I do in the intercession of the
+Holy Virgin. You know, Mademoiselle, that my intention was frustrated
+that night; but I did not lose hope of being more fortunate another
+time. By-and-by Cardillac suddenly lost all his good spirits; he crept
+moodily about, uttered unintelligible words, and worked his arms as if
+warding off something hostile. His mind seemed full of evil thoughts.
+For a whole morning he had been going on in this way. At last he sat
+down at the work-table, sprang up again angrily, looked out of window,
+and then said, gravely and gloomily, 'I wish Henrietta of England had
+had my jewels.' Those words filled me with terror. I knew that his
+diseased mind was possessed again by the terrible murder-spectre, that
+the voice of the demon was loud again in his ears. I saw your life
+threatened by the horrible murder-demon. If Cardillac could get his
+jewels back again into his hands, you were safe. The danger grew
+greater every instant. I met you on the Pont Neuf, made my way to your
+carriage, threw you the note which implored you to give the jewels back
+to Cardillac immediately. You did not come. My fear became despair,
+when, next day, Cardillac spoke of nothing but the priceless jewels he
+had seen before him in his dreams. I could only suppose that this
+referred to _your_ jewels, and I felt sure he was brooding over some
+murderous attack, which he had determined to carry out that night. Save
+you I must, should it cost Cardillac's life. When, after the evening
+prayer, he had shut himself up in his room as usual, I got into the
+courtyard through a window, slipped out through the opening of the
+wall, and stationed myself close at hand, in the deepest shadow. Very
+soon Cardillac came out, and went gliding softly down the street. I
+followed him. He took the direction of the Rue St. Honoré. My heart
+beat fast. All at once he disappeared from me. I determined to place
+myself at your door. Just as fate had ordered matters on the first
+occasion of my witnessing one of his crimes, there came along past me
+an officer, trilling and singing; he did not see me. Instantly a dark
+form sprang out and attacked him. Cardillac! I determined to prevent
+this murder. I gave a loud shout, and was on the spot in a couple of
+paces. Not the officer, but Cardillac, fell gasping to the ground,
+mortally wounded. The officer let his dagger fall, drew his sword, and
+stood on the defensive, thinking I was the murderer's accomplice. But
+he hastened away when he saw that, instead of concerning myself about
+_him_, I was examining the fallen man. Cardillac was still alive. I
+took up the dagger dropped by the officer, stuck it in my belt, and,
+lifting Cardillac on to my shoulders, carried him, with difficulty, to
+the house, and up the secret stair to the workshop. The rest you know.
+You perceive, Mademoiselle, that my only crime was that I refrained
+from giving Madelon's father up to justice, thereby making an end of
+his crimes. I am innocent of bloodguilt. No torture will draw from me
+the secret of Cardillac's iniquities. Not through any action of mine
+shall that Eternal Power, which hid from Madelon the gruesome
+bloodguilt of her father all this time, break in upon her now, to her
+destruction, nor shall earthly vengeance drag the corpse of Cardillac
+out of the soil which covers it, and brand the mouldering bones with
+infamy. No; the beloved of my soul shall mourn me as an innocent
+victim. Time will mitigate her sorrow for me, but her grief for her
+father's terrible crimes nothing would ever assuage."
+
+Olivier ceased, and then a torrent of tears fell down his cheeks.
+He threw himself at Mademoiselle Scuderi's feet, saying imploringly,
+"You are convinced that I am innocent; I know you are. Be merciful
+to me. Tell me how Madelon is faring." Mademoiselle Scuderi summoned
+La Martiničre, and in a few minutes Madelon was clinging to Olivier's
+neck. "Now that you are here, all is well. I knew that this
+noble-hearted lady would save you," Madelon cried over and over; and
+Olivier forgot his fate, and all that threatened him. He was free and
+happy. They bewailed, in the most touching manner, what each had
+suffered for the other, and embraced afresh, and wept for joy at being
+together again.
+
+Had Mademoiselle Scuderi not been convinced of Olivier's innocence
+before, she must have been so when she saw those two lovers forgetting,
+in the rapture of the time, the world, their sufferings, and their
+indescribable sorrows. "None but a guiltless heart," she cried, "would
+be capable of such blissful forgetfulness."
+
+The morning light came breaking into the room, and Desgrais knocked
+gently at the door, reminding them that it was time to take Olivier
+away, as it could not be done later without attracting attention. The
+lovers had to part.
+
+The dim anticipations which Mademoiselle Scuderi had felt when Olivier
+first came in had now embodied themselves in actual life--in a
+terrible fashion. The son of her much-loved Anne was, though innocent,
+implicated in a manner which apparently made it impossible to save him
+from a shameful death. She admired his heroism, which led him to prefer
+death loaded with the imputation of guilt to the betrayal of a secret
+which would kill Madelon. In the whole realm of possibility, she could
+see no mode of saving the unfortunate lad from the gruesome prison and
+the dreadful trial. Yet it was firmly impressed on her mind that she
+must not shrink from any sacrifice to prevent this most crying
+injustice.
+
+She tortured herself with all kinds of plans and projects, which were
+chiefly of the most impracticable and impossible kind--rejected as soon
+as formed. Every glimmer of hope grew fainter and fainter, and she
+well-nigh despaired. But Madelon's pious, absolute, childlike
+confidence, the inspired manner in which she spoke of her lover, soon
+to be free, and to take her to his heart as his wife, restored
+Mademoiselle Scuderi's hopes to some extent.
+
+By way of beginning to do something, she wrote to La Regnie a long
+letter, in which she said that Olivier Brusson had proved to her in the
+most credible manner his entire innocence of Cardillac's murder, and
+that nothing but a heroic resolution to carry to the grave with him a
+secret, the disclosure of which would bring destruction upon an
+innocent and virtuous person, withheld him from laying a statement
+before the Court which would completely clear him from all guilt, and
+show that he never belonged to the band at all. She said everything she
+could think of, with the best eloquence at her command, which might be
+expected to soften La Regnie's hard heart.
+
+He replied to this in a few hours, saying he was very glad that Olivier
+had so thoroughly justified himself in the eyes of his kind patron and
+protector; but, as regarded his heroic resolution to carry to the grave
+with him a secret relating to the crime with which he was charged, he
+regretted that the Chambre Ardente could feel no admiration for heroism
+of that description, but must endeavour to dispel it by powerful means.
+In three days time he had little doubt he would be in possession of the
+wondrous secret, which would probably bring many strange matters to
+light.
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi knew well what the terrible La Regnie meant by the
+"powerful means," which were to break down Olivier's heroism. It was
+but too clear that the unfortunate wretch was threatened with the
+torture. In her mortal anxiety it at last occurred to her that, were it
+only to gain time, the advice of a lawyer would be of some service.
+Pierre Arnaud d'Andilly was at that time the most celebrated advocate
+in Paris. His goodness of heart, and his highly honourable character
+were on a par with his professional skill and his comprehensive mind.
+To him she repaired, and told him the whole tale, as far as it was
+possible to do so without divulging Olivier's secret. She expected that
+d'Andilly would warmly espouse the cause of this innocent man, but in
+this she was wofully disappointed. He listened silently to what she had
+to say, and then, with a quiet smile, answered in the words of Boileau,
+"Le vrai peut quelquefois n'etre point vraisemblable." He showed her
+that there were the most grave and marked suspicions against Olivier.
+That La Regnie's action was by no means severe or premature, but wholly
+regular; indeed, that to do otherwise would be to neglect his duty as a
+Judge. He did not believe that he--d'Andilly--could save Brusson from
+the rack, by the very ablest of pleading. Nobody could do that but
+Brusson himself, either by making the fullest confession, or by
+accurately relating the circumstances of Cardillac's murder, which
+might lead to further discoveries.
+
+"Then I will throw myself at the King's feet and sue for mercy," cried
+Mademoiselle Scuderi, her voice choked by weeping.
+
+"For Heaven's sake, do not do that," cried d'Andilly. "Keep it in
+reserve for the last extremity. If it fails you once, it is lost for
+ever. The King will not pardon a criminal such as Brusson; the people
+would justly complain of the danger to them. Possibly Brusson, by
+revealing his secret, or otherwise, may manage to dispel the suspicion
+which is on him at present. Then would be the time to resort to the
+King, who would not ask what was legally proved, but be guided by his
+own conviction."
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi could not but agree with what d'Andilly's great
+experience dictated. She was sitting in her room, pondering as to
+what--in the name of the Virgin and all the saints--she should try next
+to do, when La Martiničre came to say that the Count de Miossens,
+Colonel of the King's Body Guard, was most anxious to speak with her.
+
+"Pardon me, Mademoiselle," said the Colonel, bowing with a soldier's
+courtesy, "for disturbing you, and breaking in upon you at such an
+hour. Two words will be sufficient excuse for me. I come about Olivier
+Brusson."
+
+"Olivier Brusson," cried Mademoiselle Scuderi, all excitement as to
+what she was going to hear, "that most unfortunate of men! What have
+you to say of him?"
+
+"I knew," said Miossens, laughing again, "that your _protégé's_ name
+would ensure me a favourable hearing. Everybody is convinced of
+Brusson's guilt. I know you think otherwise, and, it is said, your
+opinion rests on what he himself has told you. With me the case is
+different. Nobody can be more certain than I that Brusson is innocent
+of Cardillac's death."
+
+"Speak! Oh, speak!" cried Mademoiselle Scuderi.
+
+"I was the man who stabbed the old goldsmith, in the Rue St. Honoré,
+close to your door," said the Colonel.
+
+"_You_--_you!_" cried Mademoiselle Scuderi. "In the name of all the
+Saints, how?"
+
+"And I vow to you, Mademoiselle, that I am very proud of my
+achievement. Cardillac, I must tell you, was a most abandoned old
+hypocritical ruffian, who went about at night robbing and murdering
+people, and was never suspected of anything of the kind. I don't,
+myself, know from whence it came, that I felt a suspicion of the old
+scoundrel when he seemed so distressed at handing me over some work
+which I had got him to do for me, when he carefully wormed out of me
+for whom I designed it, and cross-questioned my valet as to the times
+when I was in the habit of going to see a certain lady. It struck me
+long ago, that all the people who were murdered by the unknown hands,
+had the self-same wound, and I saw quite clearly, that the murderer had
+practised to the utmost perfection of certainty that particular thrust,
+which must kill instantaneously--and that he reckoned upon it; so that,
+if it were to fail, the fight would be fair. This led me to employ a
+precaution so very simple and obvious, that I cannot imagine how
+somebody else did not think of it long ago. I wore a light breastplate
+of steel under my dress. Cardillac set upon me from behind. He grasped
+me with the strength of a giant, but his finely directed thrust glided
+off the steel breast-plate. I then freed myself from his clutch, and
+planted my dagger into his heart."
+
+"And you have said nothing?" said Mademoiselle Scuderi. "You have not
+told the authorities anything about this?"
+
+"Allow me to point out to you, Mademoiselle," said he, "that to have
+done that would have involved me in a most terrible legal
+investigation, probably ending in my ruin. La Regnie, who scents out
+crime everywhere, would not have been at all likely to believe me at
+once, when I accused the good, respectable, exemplary Cardillac of
+being an habitual murderer. The sword of Justice would, most probably,
+have turned its point against me."
+
+"Impossible," said Mademoiselle Scuderi. "Your rank--your position----"
+
+"Oh!" interrupted Miossens, "remember the Marechal de Luxemburg; he
+took it into his head to have his horoscope cast by Le Sage, and was
+suspected of poisoning, and put in the Bastille. No; by Saint Dyonys!
+not one moment of freedom--not the tip of one of my ears, would I trust
+to that raging La Regnie, who would be delighted to put his knife to
+all our throats."
+
+"But this brings an innocent man to the scaffold," said Mademoiselle
+Scuderi.
+
+"Innocent, Mademoiselle!" cried Miossens. "Do you call Cardillac's
+accomplice an innocent man? He who assisted him in his crimes, and has
+deserved death a hundred times? No, in verity; _he_ suffers justly;
+although I told you the true state of the case in the hope that you
+might somehow make use of it in the interests of your _protégé_,
+without bringing me into the clutches of the Chambre Ardente."
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi, delighted at having her conviction of Olivier's
+innocence confirmed in such a decided manner, had no hesitation in
+telling the Count the whole affair, since he already knew all about
+Cardillac's crimes, and in begging him to go with her to d'Andilly, to
+whom everything should be communicated under the seal of secrecy, and
+who should advise what was next to be done.
+
+D'Andilly, when Mademoiselle Scuderi had told him at full length all
+the circumstances, inquired again into the very minutest particulars.
+He asked Count Miossens if he was quite positive as to its having been
+Cardillac who attacked him, and if he would recognise Olivier as the
+person who carried away the body.
+
+"Not only," said Miossens, "was the moon shining brightly, so that I
+recognised the old goldsmith perfectly well, but this morning, at La
+Regnie's, I saw the dagger with which he was stabbed. It is mine; I
+know it by the ornamentation of the handle. And as I was within a pace
+of the young man, I saw his face quite distinctly, all the more because
+his hat had fallen off. As a matter of course I should know him in a
+moment."
+
+D'Andilly looked before him in meditation for a few moments, and said:
+"There is no way of getting Brusson out of the hands of justice by any
+ordinary means. On Madelon's account, nothing will induce him to admit
+that Cardillac was a robber and a murderer. And even were he to do so,
+and succeed in proving the truth of it by pointing out the secret
+entrance and the collection of the stolen jewels, death would be his
+own lot, as an accomplice. The same consequence would follow if Count
+Miossens related to the judges the adventure with Cardillac. Delay is
+what we must aim at. Let Count Miossens go to the Conciergerie, be
+confronted with Olivier, and recognise him as the person who carried
+off Cardillac's body; let him then go to La Regnie, and say, 'I saw a
+man stabbed in the Rue St. Honoré, and was close to the body when
+another man darted up, bent down over it, and finding life still in it,
+took it on his shoulders and carried it away. I recognise Olivier
+Brusson as that man.' This will lead to a further examination of
+Brusson, to his being confronted with Count Miossens; the torture will
+be postponed, and further investigations made. Then will be the time to
+have recourse to the King. Your brilliant intellect, Mademoiselle, will
+point out the most fitting way to do this. I think it would be best to
+tell His Majesty the whole story. Count Miossen's statement will
+support Olivier's. Perhaps, too, an examination of Cardillac's house
+would help matters. The King might then follow the bent of his own
+judgment--of his kind heart, which might pardon where justice could
+only punish." Count Miossens closely followed D'Andilly's advice, and
+everything fell out just as he had said it would.
+
+It was now time to repair to the King; and this was the chief
+difficulty of all, as he had such an intense horror of Brusson--whom he
+believed to be the man who had for so long kept Paris in a state of
+terror--that the least allusion to him threw him at once into the most
+violent anger. Madame de Maintenon, faithful to her system of never
+mentioning unpleasant subjects to him, declined all intermediation; so
+that Brusson's fate was entirely in Mademoiselle Scuderi's hands. After
+long reflection, she hit upon a scheme which she put in execution at
+once. She put on a heavy black silk dress, with Cardillac's jewels, and
+a long black veil, and appeared at Madame de Maintenon's at the time
+when she knew the King would be there. Her noble figure in this
+mourning garb excited the reverential respect even of those frivolous
+persons who pass their days in Court antechambers. They all made way
+for her, and when she came into the presence, the King himself rose,
+astonished, and came forward to meet her. The splendid diamonds of the
+necklace and bracelets flashed in his eyes, and he cried: "By Heavens!
+Cardillac's work!" Then, turning to Madame de Maintenon, he said, with
+a pleasant smile, "See, Madame la Marquise, how our fair lady mourns
+for her affianced husband." "Ah, Sire!" said Mademoiselle Scuderi, as
+if keeping up the jest, "it would ill become a mourning bride to wear
+such bravery. No; I have done with the goldsmith; nor would I remember
+him, but that the gruesome spectacle of his corpse carried close by me
+before my eyes keeps coming back to my memory." "What!" said the King,
+"did you actually see him, poor fellow?" She then told him in few words
+(not introducing Brusson into the business at all) how chance had
+brought her to Cardillac's door just when the murder had been
+discovered. She described Madelon's wild terror and sorrow; the
+impression made upon her by the beautiful girl; how she had taken her
+out of Desgrais's hands, and away with her, amid the applause of the
+crowd. The scenes with La Regnie, with Desgrais, with Olivier Brusson
+himself, now followed, the interest constantly increasing. The King,
+carried away by the vividness with which Mademoiselle Scuderi told the
+tale, did not notice that the Brusson case, which he so abominated, was
+in question, listened breathlessly, occasionally expressing his
+interest by an ejaculation. And ere he was well aware, still amazed by
+the marvels which he was hearing, not yet able to arrange them all in
+his mind, behold! Mademoiselle Scuderi was at his feet, imploring mercy
+for Olivier Brusson.
+
+"What are you doing?" broke out the King, taking both her hands and
+making her sit down. "You take us by storm in a marvellous fashion. It
+is a most terrible story! Who is to answer for the truth of Brusson's
+extraordinary tale?" "Miossen's deposition proves it," she cried; "the
+searching of Cardillac's house; my own firm conviction, and, ah!
+Madelon's pure heart, which recognises equal purity in poor Brusson."
+The King, about to say something, was interrupted by a noise in the
+direction of the door. Louvois, who was at work in the next room, put
+his head in with an anxious expression. The King rose, and followed him
+out. Both Madame de Maintenon and Mademoiselle Scuderi thought this
+interruption of evil augury; for, though once surprised into interest,
+the King might take care not to fall into the snare a second time. But
+he came back in a few minutes, walked up and down the room two or three
+times, quickly, and then, pausing with his hands behind his back before
+Mademoiselle Scuderi, he said, in a half-whisper, without looking at
+her: "I should like to see this Madelon of yours." On this Mademoiselle
+Scuderi said: "Oh! gracious Sire! what a marvellous honour you
+vouchsafe to the poor unfortunate child. She will be at your feet in an
+instant." She tripped to the door as quickly as her heavy dress
+allowed, and called to those in the anteroom that the King wished to
+see Madelon Cardillac. She came back weeping and sobbing with delight
+and emotion. Having expected this, she had brought Madelon with her,
+leaving her to wait with the Marquise's maid, with a short petition in
+her hand drawn up by D'Andilly. In a few moments she had prostrated
+herself, speechless, at the King's feet. Awe, confusion, shyness, love,
+and sorrow sent the blood coursing faster and faster through her veins;
+her cheeks glowed, her eyes sparkled with the bright tear-drops, which
+now and again fell from her silken lashes down to her beautiful lily
+breast. The King was moved by the wonderful beauty of the girl. He
+raised her gently, and stooped down as if about to kiss her hand, which
+he had taken in his; but he let the hand go, and gazed at her with
+tears in his eyes, evincing deep emotion. Madame de Maintenon whispered
+to Mademoiselle Scuderi: "Is she not exactly like La Valliére, the
+little thing? The King is sunk in the sweetest souvenirs: you have
+gained the day." Though she spoke softly, the King seemed to hear. A
+blush came to his cheek; he scanned Madame de Maintenon with a glance,
+and then said, gently and kindly: "I am quite sure that you, my dear
+child, think your lover is innocent; but we must hear what the Chambre
+Ardente has to say." A gentle wave of his hand dismissed Madelon,
+bathed in tears. Mademoiselle Scuderi saw, to her alarm, that the
+resemblance to La Valliére, advantageous as it had seemed to be at
+first, had nevertheless changed the King's intention as soon as Madame
+de Maintenon had spoken of it. Perhaps he felt himself somewhat
+ungently reminded that he was going to sacrifice strict justice to
+beauty; or he may have been like a dreamer who, when loudly addressed
+by his name, finds that the beautiful magic visions by which he thought
+he was surrounded vanish away. Perhaps he no longer saw his La Valliére
+before him, but thought only of S[oe]ur Louise de la Misericorde--La
+Valliére's cloister name among the Carmelite nuns--paining him with her
+piety and repentance. There was nothing for it now but to patiently
+wait for the King's decision.
+
+Meanwhile Count Miossen's statement before the Chambre Ardente had
+become known; and, as often happens, popular opinion soon flew from one
+extreme to the other, so that the person whom it had stigmatized as the
+most atrocious of murderers, and would fain have torn in pieces before
+he reached the scaffold, was now bewailed as the innocent victim of a
+barbarous sacrifice. His old neighbours only now remembered his
+admirable character and behaviour, his love for Madelon, and the
+faithfulness and devotion of soul and body with which he had served his
+master. Crowds of people, in threatening temper, often collected before
+La Regnie's Palais, crying, "Give us out Olivier Brusson!--he is
+innocent!" even throwing stones at the windows, so that La Regnie had
+to seek the protection of the Marechaussée.
+
+Many days elapsed without Mademoiselle Scuderi's hearing anything on
+the subject of Olivier Brusson. In her disconsolateness she went to
+Madame de Maintenon, who said the King was keeping silence on the
+subject, and it was not advisable to remind him of it. When she then,
+with a peculiar smile, asked after the "little La Valliére,"
+Mademoiselle Scuderi saw that this proud lady felt, in the depths of
+her heart, some slight annoyance at a matter which had the power of
+drawing the mobile King into a province whose charm was beyond her own
+sphere. Consequently nothing was to be hoped from Madame de Maintenon.
+
+At length Mademoiselle Scuderi managed to find out, with D'Andilly's
+help, that the King had had a long interview with Count Miossens;
+further, that Bontems, the King's confidential groom of the chamber and
+secret agent, had been to the Conciergerie, and spoken with Brusson;
+that, finally, the said Bontems, with several other persons, had paid a
+long visit to Cardillac's house. Claude Patru, who lived in the lower
+story, said he had heard banging noises above his head in the night,
+and that he had recognised Olivier's voice amongst others. So far it
+was certain that the King was, himself, causing the matter to be
+investigated; but what was puzzling was the long delay in coming to a
+decision. La Regnie was most probably trying all in his power to
+prevent his prey from slipping through his fingers; and this nipped all
+hope in the bud.
+
+Nearly a month had elapsed, when Madame de Maintenon sent to tell
+Mademoiselle Scuderi that the King wished to see her that evening in
+her salon.
+
+Her heart beat fast. She knew that Olivier's fate would be decided that
+night. She told Madelon so, and the latter prayed to the Virgin and all
+the Saints that Mademoiselle Scuderi might succeed in convincing the
+King of her lover's innocence.
+
+And yet it appeared as if he had forgotten the whole affair, for he
+passed the time in chatting pleasantly with Madame de Maintenon and
+Mademoiselle Scuderi, without a single word of poor Olivier Brusson. At
+length Bontems appeared, approached the King, and spoke a few words so
+softly that the ladies could not hear them. Mademoiselle Scuderi
+trembled; but the King rose, went up to her, and said, with beaming
+eyes, "I congratulate you, Mademoiselle. Your protégé, Olivier Brusson,
+is free." Mademoiselle Scuderi, with tears streaming down her cheeks,
+unable to utter a word, would have cast herself at the King's feet; but
+he prevented her, saying, "Va! Va! Mademoiselle, you ought to be my
+Attorney-General and plead my causes, for nobody on earth can resist
+your eloquence and powers of persuasion." He added, more gravely, "He
+who is shielded by virtue may snap his fingers at every accusation, by
+the Chambre Ardente, or any other tribunal on earth."
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi, now finding words, poured forth a most glowing
+tribute of gratitude. But the King interrupted her, saying there were
+warmer thanks awaiting her at home than any he could expect from her,
+as at that moment doubtless Olivier was embracing his Madelon.
+"Bontems," added His Majesty, "will hand you 1000 Louis, which you will
+give the little one from me as a wedding portion. Let her marry her
+Brusson, who does not deserve such a treasure, and then they must both
+leave Paris. This is my will."
+
+La Martiničre came to meet her mistress with eager steps, followed by
+Baptiste, their faces beaming with joy, and both crying out, "He is
+here! he is free! Oh, the dear young couple!" The happy pair fell at
+Mademoiselle Scuderi's feet, and Madelon cried, "Ah! I knew that you,
+and you only, would save my husband." "Mother," cried Olivier, "my
+belief in you never wavered." They kissed her hands, and shed many
+tears; and then they embraced again, and vowed that the super-earthly
+bliss of the present time was worth all the nameless sufferings of the
+days that were past.
+
+In a few days the priest pronounced his blessing upon them. Even had it
+not been the King's command that they were to leave Paris, Brusson
+could not have remained there, where everything reminded him of the
+dreadful epoch of Cardillac's atrocities, and where any accident might
+have disclosed the evil secret, already known to several persons,
+destroying the peace of his life for ever. Immediately after the
+wedding he started with his young wife for Geneva, sped on his way by
+Mademoiselle Scuderi's blessings. Handsomely provided with Madelon's
+portion, his own skill at his calling, and every civic virtue, he there
+led a happy life, without a care. The hopes, whose frustration had sent
+the father to his grave, were fulfilled to the son.
+
+A year after Brusson left Paris, a public proclamation, signed by
+Harloy de Chauvalon, Archbishop of Paris, and by Pierre Arnaud
+d'Andilly, Advocate of the Parliament, appeared, stating that a
+repentant sinner had, under seal of confession, made over to the Church
+a valuable stolen treasure of gold and jewels. All those who, up to
+about the end of the year 1680, had been robbed of property of this
+description, particularly if by murderous attack in the street, were
+directed to apply to d'Andilly, when they would receive it back,
+provided that anything in the said collection agreed with the
+description to be by them given, and providing that there was no doubt
+of the genuineness of the application. Many whose names occurred in
+Cardillac's list as having been merely stunned, not murdered, came from
+time to time to d'Andilly to reclaim their property, and received it
+back, to their no small surprise. The remainder became the property of
+the Church of St. Eustache."
+
+
+Sylvester's tale was received by the Brethren with their full approval.
+It was held to be truly Serapiontic, because, whilst founded on
+historical fact, it yet soared into the region of the imaginative.
+
+Lothair said: "Our Sylvester has got very well out of a somewhat risky
+undertaking, for that, I consider, was the representing of a literary
+old maid who kept a sort of _bureau d'esprit_ in the Rue St. Honoré,
+which he lets us have a peep into. Our own authoresses (and if they
+chance to be advanced in years, I hope they may all be genial, kind,
+and dignified as the old lady in the black dress) would be much
+delighted with you, my Sylvester, if they heard your story, and forgive
+you your somewhat gruesome and terrible Cardillac, whom, I suppose, you
+have altogether to thank your own imagination for."
+
+"At the same time," said Ottmar, "I remember having read, somewhere or
+other, of an old shoemaker in Venice, whom the whole town looked upon
+as a good, exemplary, industrious man, though he really was the most
+atrocious robber and murderer. Just like Cardillac, he used to slip out
+in the night-time and get into the palazzi of the great, where, in the
+depths of darkness, his surely-dealt dagger-thrust pierced the hearts
+of those whom he wanted to rob, so that they dropped down on the spot
+without a cry. Every effort of the most clever and observant police to
+detect this murderer, who kept all Venice in terror, was useless, until
+a circumstance led to the shoemaker's being suspected. He fell sick,
+and, strange to say, as long as he was confined to his bed there were
+no murders. They began again as soon as he was well. On some pretext he
+was put in prison, and, just as was expected, so long as he was shut up
+the palaces were in security; but the moment he got out (there being no
+proof of anything against him) the victims fell just as before. Finally
+the rack extracted his secret, and he was executed. A strange thing was
+that he had made no use whatever of the stolen property; it was all
+found stowed away under the flooring of his room. He said, in the
+naďvest manner, that he had made a vow to St. Rochus, the patron of his
+craft, that he would get together a certain, pretty considerable, sum
+by robbery, and then stop; and complained of the hardship of having
+been apprehended before the said sum was arrived at."
+
+"I never heard of the Venetian shoemaker," said Sylvester; "but if I am
+truly to tell you the source from whence I drew, I must inform you that
+the words spoken by Mademoiselle Scuderi, 'Un amant qui craint les
+voleurs,' &c., were really made use of by her, in almost similar
+circumstances to those of my story. Also the affair of the offering
+from the band of robbers is by no means a creature of the brain of the
+felicitously inspired writer. The account of that you will find in a
+book where you certainly would not look for it, Wagenseil's 'Nuernberg
+Chronicle.' The old gentleman speaks of a visit he made to Mademoiselle
+Scuderi in Paris, and if I have succeeded in representing her as
+charming and delightful, I am indebted solely to the distinguished
+_courtoisie_ with which Wagenseil mentions her."
+
+"Verily," said Theodore, laughing, "to stumble upon Mademoiselle
+Scuderi in the 'Nuernberg Chronicle' requires an author's lucky hand,
+such as Sylvester is specially gifted with. In fact, he shines on us
+to-night in his double capacity of playwright and story-teller, like
+the constellation of the Dioscuri."
+
+"That is just where he seems to me so vain," said Vincenz. "A man who
+writes a good play ought not to set to work to tell a good tale as
+well."
+
+"Yet it is strange," said Cyprian, "that authors who can tell a story
+well, who manage their characters and situations cleverly, often fail
+altogether in drama for the stage."
+
+"But," said Lothair, "are not the conditions of drama and of narrative
+so essentially different in their fundamental elements, that the
+attempt to turn a story into a play is very often a complete failure?
+You understand that I am speaking of true narrative, not of the novel,
+so much, because that has often in it germs from which the drama can
+grow up like a glorious, beautiful tree."
+
+"What do you think," asked Vincenz, "of the admirable idea of making a
+story out of a play? Some years ago I read Iffland's 'Jaeger' turned
+into a story, and you can't believe how delightful and touching little
+Anton with the couteau de chasse, and Riekchen with the lost shoe, were
+in this shape. It was delightful, too, that the author, or adapter,
+preserved whole scenes unchanged, merely putting in the 'said he,' and
+'answered she,' between the speeches. I assure you I did not wholly
+realise the truly poetic imagination, and the deep sublimity which
+there is in Iffland's 'Jaeger,' until I read it in this form. Moreover,
+the scientific side of it struck me then, and I saw how properly it was
+classed in a certain library under the head 'Science of Forestry.'"
+
+"Cease your funning," said Lothair, "and lend, with us, an attentive
+ear to the worthy Serapion Brother who, as I perceive, has just pulled
+a manuscript out of his pocket."
+
+"This time," said Theodore, "I have trespassed upon another's ground.
+However, there is a real incident at the basis of my story, not taken
+from any book, but told to me by another."
+
+He read:--
+
+
+
+                           GAMBLERS' FORTUNE.
+
+In the summer of 18-- Pyrmont was more than usually frequented, and the
+influx of visitors, rich and great, increased from day to day, exciting
+the eager emulation of the various speculators and purveyors of their
+wants. Particularly did the faro-table keepers heap up piles of gold in
+unusual quantity, for the attraction of the noble game, which, like
+experienced sportsmen, they set themselves to decoy. As we all know, at
+watering-places especially--where people resolve to give themselves up,
+at their own sweet will, to whatever amusements may be most to their
+taste, to get through the time---the attractions of the play-table are
+not easy to resist. We see people who never touch a card at other
+times, absorbed at those tables; and, in fact, among the upper classes,
+at all events, it is thought only a proper thing to stake something
+every evening.
+
+There was but one exception to this otherwise universal rule, in the
+person of a young German Baron, whom we shall call Siegfried. When
+everybody else rushed to the tables, and there was no way left to him
+to amuse himself in what he considered a rational manner, he preferred
+taking a lonely walk, yielding to the play of his fancy, or would stay
+at home, amusing himself with a book, or sometimes writing something
+himself.
+
+He was young, independent, good-looking, well off, pleasant in manners,
+so of course he was very popular, and his success with the other sex
+was distinguished. But besides all this, there appeared to be a special
+lucky star watching over everything he undertook. People talked of many
+love-affairs, comprising risky adventures of which he had been the
+hero, which, though certain to have proved disastrous to most men, he
+had got out of with marvellous ease and facility. Old gentlemen who
+knew him would speak, particularly, of the affair of a certain watch,
+which had happened in his very early days. It chanced, before he came
+to his majority, that, on a journey, he unexpectedly found himself in
+such a strait for money that, to get on at all, he had to sell his
+watch, a beautiful gold one set with brilliants. Seeing no alternative,
+he had made up his mind to part with it much under its value; but
+it so happened that, in the hotel where he was living, there was a
+young prince who was on the look-out for just such a watch; so
+that he got more for it than it was worth. Rather more than a year
+afterwards--having come to his majority in the meantime--he read in the
+newspaper, at another place where he was, that a watch was going to be
+raffled. He took a ticket, costing only a trifle, and won the very
+watch set in brilliants which he had sold. Soon afterwards, he swopped
+this watch away for a valuable ring. Presently, having been for a time
+in the service of the Prince of G----, as he was leaving, the Prince
+gave him, as a souvenir, the self-same watch which he had twice got rid
+of--and a handsome chain into the bargain.
+
+Then, people went on to talk about Siegfried's fancy of never touching
+a card--which, considering his extraordinary luck, he ought to be just
+the man to do; and everybody came to the conclusion that, in spite of
+all his delightful qualities, the Baron was a screw; far too canny to
+risk a little of his cash. That his whole conduct completely excluded
+the idea of his being avaricious, didn't matter. People are always
+anxious, and delighted to fasten an objectionable "but" on to a man of
+gifts, and to find out this "but" wherever they can, be it only in
+their own imaginations. So everybody was quite satisfied with this
+explanation of Siegfried's hatred of the play-table.
+
+He very soon found out what he was accused of; and, being large-minded
+and liberal--hating nothing so much as avarice--he determined to show
+his calumniators how much they were mistaken, and--much as he detested
+play--sacrifice a hundred Louis d'Ors or so--more if necessary--to
+prove to them their error. He went to the faro-table with the firm
+resolution to lose the rather considerable sum which he had in his
+pocket. But the luck which accompanied him in everything he set about
+was true to him here too. Everything he staked on won. His luck
+shipwrecked the cabalistic calculations of the old, deeply experienced
+gamblers. It was all the same whether he exchanged his cards, or stuck
+to them; he always won. He furnished a unique instance of a _ponteur_
+wild with disgust because the cards favoured him. The by-standers,
+watching him, shook their heads significantly at each other, implying
+that the Baron might come to lose his head, carried along by this
+concatenation of the unusual. For indeed, a man who was furious because
+he was lucky, must surely be a _little_ off his head.
+
+The very circumstance that he had won a considerable sum necessitated
+him to go on playing; and as this gain must, in all probability, be
+followed by a still greater loss, he felt bound to carry out his
+original plan. However, he found it not so easy; his extraordinary luck
+continued to stick to him.
+
+Without his exactly noticing it himself, a love for the game of Faro
+arose within him, and grew. In its very simpleness, Faro is, in truth,
+the most mysterious of all games.
+
+He was not annoyed at being lucky _now_. The game fettered his
+attention, and kept him absorbed in it, night after night, till
+morning. As it was not the winning which interested him, but the game
+itself, he was forced to admit the existence of that extraordinary
+_spell_ connected with it which his friends had spoken of to him, but
+which he had refused to believe in.
+
+One night when the banker had just finished a "taille," on looking up
+he saw an elderly man, who had placed himself opposite to him, and was
+keeping a grave, melancholy gaze fixed upon him. And every time
+Siegfried looked up from his game, he found this grave, melancholy gaze
+still fixed upon him, so that he could not divest himself of a strong,
+rather eery sensation. The Stranger did not go away till the playing
+was over for the night. Next evening he was there again, in his old
+place opposite the Baron, gazing at him continually, with his gloomy,
+spectral eves. The Baron restrained himself; but when, on the third
+night, the Stranger was there again, gazing at him with eyes of
+devouring fire, Siegfried broke out: "I must really beg you, sir, to
+select some other place. You are interfering with my play."
+
+The stranger bowed, with a pained smile, and, without a word, left the
+table, and the room.
+
+But the following night he was standing in his old place, opposite to
+Siegfried, transfixing him with his gloomy, glowing eyes. The Baron
+broke out more angrily than on the previous night. "If it is any
+entertainment to you, sir, to glare at me in that sort of manner, I
+must beg you to select another place and another time. But--for the
+present"--a motion of the hand in the direction of the door took the
+place of the hard words which the Baron had on the tip of his tongue.
+
+And, as on the previous night, the Stranger, bowing with the same
+pained smile, left the room. Excited by the game, by the wine he had
+taken, and by the encounter with the Stranger, Siegfried could not
+sleep. When morning broke, the whole appearance of the Stranger rose to
+his memory. He saw the expressive face, the well-cut features, marked
+with sorrow, the hollow gloomy eyes which had gazed at him. He noticed
+that though he was poorly dressed, his refined manners and bearing
+spoke of good birth and up-bringing. And then the way in which he had
+received the hard words with quiet resignation, and gone away,
+swallowing the bitterness of his feelings with a power over himself.
+"Oh!" said Siegfried, "I was wrong--I did him great injustice. Is it
+like me to fly into a passion, and insult people without rhyme or
+reason, like a foolish boy?" He came to the conclusion that the man had
+been gazing at him with a bitter sense of the tremendous contrast
+between them. At the moment when he--perhaps--was in the depths of
+distress, the Baron was heaping gold on the top of gold, and carrying
+all before him. He determined that the first thing in the morning he
+would go and find out the Stranger, and do something to remedy his
+condition.
+
+And, as fate would have it, the Stranger was the first person he met,
+as he was taking a walk down the Alleé.
+
+The Baron addressed him, apologised for his behaviour on the previous
+night, and formally asked him to forgive him. The Stranger said there
+was nothing to forgive. People who were much interested in their game
+must have every consideration, and he quite deserved to be reminded
+that he was obstinately planting himself in a place where he could not
+but put the Baron out in his play.
+
+The Baron went further. He spoke of the circumstance that in life
+temporary difficulties often come upon people of education in the most
+trying manner, and he gave him pretty clearly to understand that he
+was ready to pay him back the money he had won from him, or more, if
+necessary, should that be likely to be of any assistance to him.
+
+"My dear sir," said the Stranger, "you suppose that I am pressed for
+money. Strictly speaking, I am not. Although I am rather a poor man
+than a rich, I have enough for my little requirements. And you will see
+in a moment, if you consider, that if you should suppose you could
+atone for an insult to me by offering me a sum of money, I could not
+accept it, even as a mere ordinary man of honour. And I am a
+Chevalier."
+
+"I think I understand you," said the Baron; "I am quite ready to give
+you satisfaction in the way you mean."
+
+"Oh, good heavens!" the Stranger said; "what a very unequal affair a
+fight would be between us. I feel sure that, like myself, you do not
+look upon the duel as a mere piece of childish fanfaronade, nor
+consider that a drop or two of blood--perhaps from a scratched
+finger--can wash a stained honour white again. No, no! there are plenty
+of causes which render it impossible for two men to go on existing on
+this earth at the same time. Although one of them may be on the
+Caucasus and the other on the Tiber, there is no separation between
+them so long as the notion of the existence of the hated one subsists.
+In a case like that the duel, which is to decide the question which of
+those two is to make way on this earth for the other, is a positive
+necessity. But between _us_ a duel, as I said, would be one-sided,
+since my life is nothing like as valuable as yours. If I killed you I
+should destroy a whole world of the fairest hopes. But if I fell, you
+would end a miserable existence, marred by the most bitter and painful
+memories. However, the chief point is that I do not consider myself in
+the smallest degree offended. You told me to go, and I went."
+
+He spoke the latter words in a tone which betrayed his inward
+mortification, which was sufficient reason for the Baron to apologise
+to him once more, laying special weight on the circumstance that the
+Stranger's gaze seemed somehow (he could not tell why) to go
+penetrating into him to such an extent that he could bear it no longer.
+
+"If my gaze penetrated you, as you say it did," said the Stranger,
+"would to God it had carried with it the conviction of the threatening
+peril in which you stand. In your gladness of heart, with all your
+youthful unknowingness, you are hovering on the very brink of a
+terrible abyss. One single impulse, and into it you fall, without the
+possibility of rescue. In one word, you are on the point of becoming a
+passionate gambler, and of going to perdition."
+
+The Baron assured him that he was completely mistaken. He explained to
+him how it was that he had been led at first to go to the tables, and
+that the true love of play was completely absent from him--that all he
+desired was to lose a few hundred louis, and, having accomplished that,
+he would play no more; but that, up to this time, he had had the most
+extraordinary luck.
+
+"Alas!" cried the Stranger, "it is just that very luck which is the
+most terrible, mocking temptation of the Infernal Power. Just this very
+luck of yours, Baron, the whole way in which you have been led on to
+play, the whole style of your playing, and everything connected with
+the matter, show but too plainly how your interest in it keeps on
+increasing and increasing. Everything about it reminds me only too
+clearly of the fate of an unfortunate fellow who begun exactly as you
+have done. This was why I could not take my eyes from you, why I could
+scarce refrain from telling you in words what my eyes intended to say
+to you, namely, 'For heaven's sake look at the fiends that are
+stretching out their talons to drag you down to perdition;' that is
+what I longed to cry out to you. I wished to make your acquaintance,
+and in that I have succeeded. Let me tell you the story of the
+unfortunate man to whom I have referred, and then perhaps you will see
+that it is no idle cobweb of my brain which makes me see you to be in
+the most imminent peril, and that I give you fair warning."
+
+They sate down on a seat which was in a lonely place, and the Stranger
+commenced as follows. "The same brilliant gifts which distinguish you,
+Baron, procured for the Chevalier Menars the respect and admiration of
+men, and rendered him the beloved of women. Only as far as wealth was
+concerned fortune had not been so kind to him as to you. He was on the
+confines of penury, and nothing but the most scrupulous economy enabled
+him to keep up the decent appearance which his position as the
+descendant of a family of condition demanded of him. Since the very
+smallest loss of money would have been of much consequence to him,
+upsetting all his course of life, he was precluded from everything in
+the shape of play. But he had not the smallest inclination for it, so
+that his avoidance of it involved not the slightest sacrifice on his
+part. He was excessively lucky in whatever he undertook, so that his
+good fortune became a species of proverb.
+
+"Contrarily to his habit he allowed himself to be persuaded one night
+to go to a gambling-house, where the friends who were with him were
+soon deep in the game.
+
+"Taking no interest in the game, with his mind fully occupied about
+something else, he strolled up and down the room, just now and then
+casting a glance at the table, where the gold was streaming in upon the
+banquier from every side. All at once an elderly Colonel observed him,
+and cried out, 'Oh, the devil! here's the Chevalier Menars, with his
+luck, and none of us can win because he hasn't taken a side. This won't
+do. He must stake for me instantly.'
+
+"The Chevalier tried his utmost to excuse himself, saying he knew
+nothing about the game. But nothing would serve the Colonel but that he
+must to the table willy nilly.
+
+"It happened to him exactly as it did to you, Baron. He won on every
+card, so that he soon had hauled in a considerable sum for the Colonel,
+who could not congratulate himself enough on the great idea he had been
+inspired with of availing himself of the celebrated luck of the
+Chevalier Menars.
+
+"On the Chevalier himself his luck, which so astonished all the others,
+made not the slightest impression. Nay, he did not himself quite
+understand how it came about that his detestation of play, if possible,
+increased, so that the next morning, when he felt the languor and
+listlessness consequent on having sat up so late, and gone through the
+excitement, he made a firm resolution that nothing would ever induce
+him to enter a gambling-house again.
+
+"This resolution was strengthened by the conduct of the old Colonel,
+who had the most extraordinary ill-luck as soon as he took a card in
+his hand, and attributed this, in the most absurd way, to the
+Chevalier. And he insisted, in the most importunate manner, that Menars
+should either play his cards for him, or at all events be at his side
+when he played himself, by way of exorcising the demon who placed
+in his hand the losing cards. We know that nowhere is there such
+absurd superstition as amongst gamblers. It was only with the utmost
+difficulty that Menars managed to shake the Colonel off. He had even to
+go the length of telling him he would rather fight him than stake for
+him; and the Colonel was by no means fond of fighting. The Chevalier
+cursed himself for ever having yielded to the old ass at all.
+
+"Of course the story of the Chevalier's luck could not but be passed on
+from one to another, with all sorts of mysterious, inexplicable
+additions added on to it, representing him as a man in league with
+supernatural powers. But that one who had his luck should go on
+abstaining from touching cards was a thing which could not but give the
+highest idea of the firmness of his character, and much increase the
+consideration in which he was held.
+
+"A year after this the Chevalier found himself in the most pressing and
+distressing embarrassment in consequence of the non-payment to him of
+the trifling sum on which he managed by a struggle to live. He was
+obliged to confide this to his most intimate friend, who, without a
+moment's hesitation, helped him to what he required, at the same time
+telling him he was the most extraordinary, eccentric individual the
+world had ever probably contained.
+
+"'Destiny,' he said, 'gives us hints, indications of the direction in
+which we have to seek and find our welfare, and it is only our
+indolence which is to blame when we neglect those hints and fail to
+understand them. The Power which rules over us has very distinctly
+whispered into your ear, "If thou wouldest have money and possessions,
+go and play; otherwise thou wilt for ever remain poor, needy,
+dependent."'
+
+"Then, for the first time, the thought of the wonderful luck he had
+had at the faro table rose vividly before his mind's eye, and, waking
+and dreaming, he saw cards before him, and heard the monotonous
+_gagne-perd_ of the banquier, and the clink of the gold pieces.
+
+"'It is true,' he said to himself, 'a single night like that one would
+raise me out of poverty, and free me from the terrible necessity of
+being a burden on my friends. It is simply a duty to follow the
+promptings of Destiny.'
+
+"The same friend who advised him to take to playing went with him to
+the table, and, to make him easy in his mind, presented him with twenty
+louis d'or.
+
+"If his game had been an extraordinary one when he was staking for the
+old Colonel, it was doubly so now. He drew out his cards by chance, by
+accident, and staked on them, whatever they happened to be. And the
+unseen hand of that higher Power, which is in league with that which we
+term 'Chance'--nay, which _is_ that Chance--directed his play. When the
+game was done he had won 1000 louis d'or.
+
+"Next morning he felt in a sort of stupor on awaking. The money was
+lying on the table by his bed, just as he had shaken it out of his
+pockets. At first he thought he was dreaming. He rubbed his eyes and
+drew the table nearer to him. But as he gradually recollected what had
+happened--when he sunk his hands well into the heap of gold money, and
+counted the coins delightedly over and over again--suddenly there awoke
+in him, and passed through his being like a poisoned breath, the love
+of the vile mammon. The pureness of mind which had so long been his was
+gone.
+
+"He could scarcely wait till evening came to get back to the
+play-table. His luck continued to attend him, so that in a few weeks,
+during which he played every night, he had won a very large sum.
+
+"There are two sorts of gamblers. To many the game in itself presents
+an indescribable, mysterious joy, quite without any reference to
+winning. The wonderful enchainments of the chances alternate in the
+most marvellous variety; the influence of the Powers which govern the
+issue displays itself, so that, inspired by this, our spirits stretch
+their wings in an attempt to reach that darksome realm, that mysterious
+laboratory, where the Power in question works, and there see it
+working. I knew a man once who used to sit alone in his room for days
+and nights keeping banque, and staking against himself. That man, I
+consider, was a proper player. Others have only the gain in view, and
+look upon the game as a means of winning money quickly. The Chevalier
+belonged to the latter class, thereby proving the theory that the true
+passion for play must exist in a person's nature, and be born with him.
+
+"For this reason the circle within which the mere ponteur is restricted
+soon became too narrow for him. With the very large sum he had now won
+he started a banque of his own; and here, too, fortune favoured him, so
+that in a very short time his was the richest banque in Paris. As lies
+in the nature of things, to him, as the luckiest, richest banquier,
+resorted the greatest number of players.
+
+"The wild rugged life of a gambler soon blotted out in him all those
+mental and bodily superiorities which had formerly brought him love and
+consideration. He ceased to be a faithful friend, an open-hearted
+pleasant companion, a chivalric and gallant honourer of ladies. His
+love for art and science was extinguished, as well as all his wish to
+make progress in knowledge of the desirable sort. In his deathly pale
+countenance and gloomy eyes, sparkling with darksome fire, was
+imprinted the plain expression of that devouring passion which held him
+fast in its bands. It was not the love of play, it was the most
+detestable avarice, the craving for money, which the Devil himself had
+kindled within him. In one word, he was the most thorough specimen of a
+banquier ever seen.
+
+"One night--though he had not, so to speak, lost very much--he found
+that fortune had not been quite so favourable to him as usual. And just
+at this juncture there came up to the table a little old weazened man,
+in poverty-stricken clothes, and altogether of almost disgustingly
+repulsive appearance. He drew a card, with shaking hand, and staked a
+piece of gold on it. Several of those at the table looked at him with
+deep amazement, and immediately behaved towards him with conspicuous
+despite; but he took not the slightest notice, not even by a look, far
+less by a word.
+
+"He lost--lost one piece of gold after another, and the more he lost
+the better the other players were pleased. And when the old man, who
+kept on doubling his stakes, at last staked five hundred louis on a
+card, and lost it in a moment, one of them cried out, laughing loud,
+'Well done, Signor Vertua; keep it up! Don't give in; keep up your
+game! You seem to me as if you would certainly break the bank, your
+luck is so splendid!'
+
+"The old man darted a basilisk look at him, and ran off out of the room
+as quickly as he could; but only to come back in half an hour, with his
+pockets crammed with gold. When the final _taille_ came he could not go
+on, as he had lost all the money he brought with him the second time.
+
+"The Chevalier, who, notwithstanding all the atrocity of his ongoings,
+still insisted on there being a certain observance of ordinary
+_convenance_ amongst the frequenters of his establishment, had been in
+the highest degree displeased at the derision and contempt with which
+the old man had been treated, which was sufficient reason for his
+talking very seriously, when the evening's play was over, to the man
+who had jeered at him, and to one or two others whose contemptuous
+behaviour to him had been the most striking, and whom the Chevalier had
+begged to remain behind on purpose.
+
+"'That fellow,' one of them cried out. 'You don't know old Francesco
+Vertua, Chevalier, or you wouldn't find fault with us for what we did.
+You would rather thank us. This Vertua, by birth a Neapolitan, has been
+for fifteen years here, in Paris, the most vile, foul, wicked miser and
+usurer that could exist. He is lost to every feeling of humanity. If
+his own brother were to drag himself to his door, writhing in the death
+agony, and curl round about his feet, he wouldn't give a louis d'or to
+help him. The curses and execrations of heaps of people, whole families,
+whom he has driven to ruin by his infernal machinations, lie heavy on
+him. There is nobody who does not pray that vengeance for what he has
+done, and is always doing, may overtake him and finish his sin-spotted
+life. He has never played, at all events since he has been in Paris,
+and you need not be astonished at our surprise when we saw the old
+skinflint come to the table. Of course we were just as delighted at
+his losing, for it would have been altogether too bad if fortune had
+favoured the scoundrel. The wealth of your banque has dazzled the old
+noodle. He thought he was going to pluck you, but he has lost his own
+feathers. But the thing I can't understand is how he can have made up
+his miserly mind to play so high.'
+
+"This, however, did not prove well founded, for the next night Vertua
+made his appearance, and staked and lost a great deal more than on the
+night before. He was quite impassible all the time; in fact, he now and
+then smiled with a bitter irony, as one who knew how utterly
+differently everything would soon turn. But his losses swelled like a
+mountain avalanche on each of the succeeding nights, so that at last it
+was calculated that he had lost to the banque well on to thirty
+thousand louis d'or. After this, he came one night, long after the play
+had begun, pale as death, with his face all drawn, and stationed
+himself at some distance from the table, with his eyes fixed on the
+cards which the Chevalier was dealing. At last, when the Chevalier had
+shuffled, had the cards cut, and was going to begin the deal, the old
+man cried out, in a screaming voice, 'Stop!' Every one looked round,
+almost terrified. The old man elbowed his way through the crowd close
+up to the Chevalier, and whispered into his ear, 'Chevalier, my house
+in the Rue St. Honoré, with all its contents, in furniture, gold,
+silver, and jewels, is valued at eighty thousand francs. I stake it! Do
+you accept?'
+
+"'Yes,' said the Chevalier calmly, without looking at him, and began to
+deal.
+
+"'Queen!' said the old man, and the queen lost. The old man fell back,
+and leaned against the wall, motionless as a stone image. Nobody
+troubled himself further about him. When the game was over for the
+night, and the Chevalier and his croupiers were packing away the won
+money in the strong box, Vertua came wavering like a spectre forward
+out of his corner. In a hollow, faint voice, he said, 'One word,
+Chevalier; one single word.'
+
+"'Well, what is it?' said the Chevalier, taking the key from the box
+and putting it in his pocket, as he surveyed the old man contemptuously
+from head to foot.
+
+"'I have lost all I possessed in the world to your banque, Chevalier.
+I have nothing left--nothing. I don't know where I shall lay my head
+to-morrow, or how I shall appease my hunger. I betake myself to you.
+Lend me the tenth part of the sum you have won from me, that I may
+recommence my business, and raise myself from the depths of poverty.'
+
+"'How can you be so absurd, Signor Vertua,' said the Chevalier. 'Don't
+you know that a banquier never lends his winnings? It would be against
+all the rules, and I abide by them.'
+
+"'You are right, Chevalier,' said Vertua. 'What I asked was absurd,
+extravagant. Not a tenth part--lend me a twentieth part.'
+
+"'What I tell you is,' said the Chevalier, 'that I never lend any of my
+winnings.'
+
+"'Quite right,' said Vertua, his face growing paler and paler, and his
+looks more fixed and staring. 'Of course you can't lend. I never used
+to do it myself. But give an alms to a beggar. Let him have one hundred
+louis d'or out of the fortune which blind Chance threw to you tonight.'
+
+"'Well, really, Signor Vertua, you understand how to bother,' was the
+Chevalier's answer. 'I tell you that not one hundred, nor fifty, nor
+twenty, nor one single louis d'or will you get out of me. I should be a
+lunatic to give you any help towards recommencing your shameful trade.
+Fate has dashed you down into the dust like a venomous reptile, and it
+would be a crime to lift you up. Be off with you, and die, as you
+deserve to do.'
+
+"Vertua sank down, with both his hands before his face. The Chevalier
+ordered his servants to take the Strong box down to the carriage, and
+then cried out, in a domineering way, 'When are you going to make over
+your house and effects to me, Signor Vertua?'
+
+"Vertua raised himself from the ground, saying, in a firm voice, 'At
+once. This very moment, Chevalier. Come with me.'
+
+"'Good,' said the Chevalier, 'you may drive there with me. To-morrow
+you must leave it for good and all.'
+
+"On the way neither of them spoke. When they came to the house in the
+Rue St. Honoré Vertua rang at the door, and a little old woman opened,
+and cried, when she saw him, 'Oh, saviour of the world, is it you at
+last, signor? Angela has been nearly dead with anxiety about you.'
+
+"'Hush!' said Vertua. 'Heaven grant that Angela has not heard the
+unlucky bell. I don't want her to know that I have come.' He took the
+candle-holder from the amazed old woman's hand, and lighted the
+Chevalier up the staircase to the salon.
+
+"'I am ready for everything,' said Vertua. 'You detest me and despise
+me. You ruin me for the gratification of yourself and others. But you
+do not know me. I will tell you, then, that I was once a gambler like
+yourself; that capricious fortune was as kind to me as to you; that I
+travelled over the half of Europe, stopping wherever high play and the
+expectation of large winnings attracted me to remain; that the gold in
+the banque which I kept was heaped up as mountain high as in your own.
+I had a devoted and beautiful wife, whom I neglected, who was miserable
+in the midst of the most marvellous wealth. It happened once, in Genoa,
+when I had started my banque there, that a young Roman lost all his
+great fortune to me. As I begged of you to-day, he begged of me that I
+would lend him as much money as would, at all events, take him to Rome.
+I refused, with scornful laughter, and in his despair he thrust his
+stiletto deep into my breast. The surgeons managed to cure me with
+difficulty, and my illness was long and painful. My wife nursed me,
+comforted me, supported me when I would have given in with the pain.
+And with returning health there dawned within me, and grew stronger and
+stronger, a feeling which I had never known before. The gambler is a
+stranger to all the ordinary emotions of humanity, so that till then I
+had no knowledge of love, and the faithful devotion of a wife. The debt
+which my ungrateful heart owed to my wife burned in the depths of my
+soul, as well as the sense of the wickedness of the occupation to which
+I had sacrificed her. Like torturing spirits of vengeance appeared to
+me all those whose happiness, whose very existence, I had ruined,
+reproaching me, in hoarse and hollow voices, with the guilt and crime
+of which _I_ had planted the germs. None but my wife could dispel the
+nameless sorrow, the terror, which then took possession of me. I made a
+solemn vow that I would never touch a card again. I tore myself away.
+I burst the bonds which had held me. I withstood the enticements of
+my croupiers, who could not get on when my luck was gone from the
+enterprise. I had bought a small country house near Rome, and there I
+fled with my wife as soon as I had recovered. Alas! for only one single
+year was it that I was vouchsafed a peace, a happiness, a contentment,
+such as I had never dreamt of. My wife bore me a daughter, and died a
+few weeks afterwards. I was in despair. I accused heaven, and then
+turned round and cursed myself and my sinful career, punished in this
+way by the eternal power, by taking my wife from me, who saved me from
+destruction--the only creature on earth who gave me comfort and hope.
+Like the criminal whom the dreadfulness of solitude terrifies, I fled
+from my country place to Paris. Angela blossomed up, the lovely
+counterpart of her mother. My whole heart hung upon her. For her sake I
+made it my business not only to keep a considerable fortune together,
+but to increase it. It is true that I lent money at high rates of
+interest. But it is a shameful calumny when I am accused of being a
+fraudulent usurer. Who are my accusers? Light-minded creatures, who
+torture and tease me till I lend them money, which they waste and
+squander as if it were of no value, and then are furious when I get it
+back from them with infallible strictness--the money which is not mine
+but my daughter's, whose steward I consider myself to be. Not long ago
+I rescued a young man from ruin and disgrace by lending him a
+considerable sum. I knew he was very poor, and I said nothing about
+repayment till I knew he had succeeded to a fortune. Then I asked him
+to pay me. Would you credit it, Chevalier, this light-minded scoundrel,
+who was indebted to me for his very existence, wanted to deny his
+liability, and, when the law obliged him to pay me, he called me a vile
+skinflint. I could tell you of plenty similar cases, which have made me
+hard and unfeeling when I have been met with ingratitude and baseness.
+More than that, I could tell you of many bitter tears which I have
+wiped away, of many a prayer which has gone up to heaven for me and my
+Angela; but you would look upon that as boasting, and besides, as you
+are a gambler, you would care nothing about it. I hoped and believed
+that the eternal power was appeased. All delusion, for Satan was freely
+empowered to blind and deceive me in a more terrible manner than ever.
+I heard of your luck, Chevalier. Every day I was told of this one and
+the other having beggared himself at your banque. Then it came to me
+that I was destined to pit my luck, which had never failed me, against
+yours--that I was destined to put an end to your career. And this idea,
+which nothing but madness of the most extraordinary kind could have
+suggested to me, left me no further peace or rest. Thus I came to your
+banque. Thus my terrible folly did not leave me until my fortune--no,
+my Angela's fortune--was all yours. But you will let my daughter take
+her clothes away with her, will you not?'
+
+"'I have nothing to do with your daughter's clothes,' answered the
+Chevalier; 'and you may take away the beds and the ordinary household
+things for cooking and so forth. What do I care for rubbish of that
+sort? But take care that nothing of any value of that which is now my
+property goes away amongst them.'
+
+"Old Vertua stared speechlessly at the Chevalier for a few seconds,
+then a stream of tears burst from his eyes. Like a man annihilated, all
+sorrow and despair, he sank down before the Chevalier with hands
+uplifted.
+
+"'Have you any human feeling left in your heart?' he cried. 'Have some
+mercy! Remember it is not me whom you are dashing into ruin and misery,
+but my unoffending angel child--my Angela! Oh, have mercy upon her!
+Lend her the twentieth part of the fortune you have robbed her of. I
+know you will allow yourself to be implored. Oh! Angela, my daughter!'
+
+"And the old man moaned, sobbed, and called out the name of his child
+in heart-breaking tones.
+
+"'I really don't think I can stand much more of this stage business of
+yours,' the Chevalier said indifferently, and in a bored manner. But
+the door opened, and a girl in a white night dress, with her hair
+undone, and death in her face, rushed up to old Vertua, raised
+him, took him in her arms, and cried, 'Oh, father, I have heard it
+all--I know it all! Have you lost everything?--everything? You have
+still your Angela. What would be the use of money if you had not Angela
+to take care of you. Oh, father! don't humiliate yourself more before
+this despicable, inhuman creature. It is not we, it is he who is poor
+and miserable in all his despicable riches, for he stands there in the
+most gruesome, comfortless loneliness. There is not one loving heart in
+the wide world to cling to his breast, to open to him when he is like
+to despair of life--of himself. Come, father, away from this house with
+me; let us go as quickly as we can, that the horrible creature may not
+gloat over our sorrow.'
+
+"Vertua sank half senseless into a chair, whilst Angela knelt down
+before him, took his hands, kissed them and stroked them, and told
+over, with childlike prolixity, all the accomplishments and
+acquirements which she possessed, with which she would be able to
+support him comfortably, imploring him with the warmest tears to have
+no fear, inasmuch as life would, for the first time in her experience,
+begin to possess a real value and delightsomeness for her when--not for
+the enjoying of it, but for her father--she should stitch, sew, sing,
+play the guitar.
+
+"What obdurate sinner could have remained indifferent at the sight of
+Angela beaming in the fulness of her heavenly beauty, comforting her
+old father with sweet, delicious words, the deepest affection, and the
+most childlike purity and goodness streaming from the depths of her
+heart?
+
+"Things were very different with the Chevalier. An entire pandemonium
+of torture and pangs of conscience awoke within him. Angela seemed to
+him to be the punishing angel of God, before whose shining glory the
+cloud-shroud of sinful deception which had surrounded him vanished
+away, so that with terror he clearly saw himself in all his repulsive
+nakedness.
+
+"And through the midst of those hell-flames, which were consuming and
+raging in his heart, there came piercing a heavenly, pure beam of
+radiance, whose light was the sweetest bliss and the very joy of
+heaven, though the brightness of this ray had the effect of rendering
+the inexpressible torture more terrible.
+
+"The Chevalier had never known love before; and the instant he saw
+Angela he was seized by the most passionate affection for her, and, at
+the same time, with the destroying pain of complete hopelessness, for
+surely there could be no hope for one who had appeared to her in the
+light in which he had.
+
+"He longed to say something, but his tongue seemed to be paralysed. At
+length he so far mastered himself as to say, stammering, and in a
+trembling voice, 'Signor Vertua, listen. I have not won anything from
+you--nothing of the kind. There is my strong box; take it, it is yours.
+Yes; and I have to pay you more than that. I am in your debt. Take it,
+take it!'
+
+"'Oh, my girl!' cried Vertua. But Angela went up to the Chevalier,
+beamed a proud look upon him, and said, gravely and calmly,
+'Learn, Chevalier, that there are higher things than money and
+possessions--things which you have no knowledge of--which, while
+filling our souls with the happiness of heaven, make us spurn your
+gifts with compassion and contempt. Keep the mammon upon which lies the
+curse which pursues you, heartless, accursed gambler.'
+
+"'Yes!' cried the Chevalier wildly; 'cursed, cursed in verity may I be,
+if ever this hand of mine touches a card again. And if you repel me,
+Angela, it will be you who will bring inevitable destruction upon me.
+Oh, you don't understand me. You must think me mad; but you will know
+it all when I lie before you with my skull shivered into fragments.
+Angela, it is life or death with me. Adieu!'
+
+"With this he dashed away in utter desperation. Vertua thoroughly
+understood him; he saw what had been passing in his heart, and tried to
+make the lovely Angela comprehend how certain eventualities might arise
+which would render it necessary to accept the Chevalier's offers.
+Angela was afraid to allow herself to understand her father; she did
+not think it would ever be possible to regard the Chevalier otherwise
+than with contempt; but that mysterious chain of events which often
+forms itself within the profundities of the human heart, without our
+cognisance, brought to pass that which seemed unimagined--undreamt of.
+
+"The Chevalier felt as if suddenly awakened from a horrible dream. He
+saw himself standing on the brink of the abyss of hell, stretching his
+arms out in vain to the shining form of light which had appeared to
+him, not to save him, but to tell him of his damnation.
+
+"To the surprise of all Paris his banque opened no more, and he himself
+was no more seen, so that the most marvellous tales concerning him
+became current, each of them a greater falsehood than the others. He
+avoided all society; his love took the form of the profoundest, most
+unconquerable melancholy. One day he met old Vertua and his daughter in
+one of the lonely, shady walks of the garden at Malmaison.
+
+"Angela, who had believed she would never be able to look upon the
+Chevalier again but with horror and contempt, felt strangely moved when
+she saw him so pale and distressed, scarce able to lift his eyes to her
+in the excess of his reverence for her. She knew that, since that
+eventful night, he had given play up entirely, and completely altered
+his mode of life, and that she--she alone--was the cause of this. She
+had saved him from destruction; could anything flatter a woman more?
+
+"When old Vertua had exchanged the ordinary civilities with him, she
+spoke to him in a tone of gentle pity, saying, 'What is the matter,
+Chevalier? You look ill and unhappy. You ought to go and consult a
+doctor.'
+
+"We can understand that her words filled him with comfort and hope. He
+was a different man in a moment. He lifted his head, and managed to
+talk once more in the manner which, when it welled from his very heart
+in former days, used to attract and endear him to all who knew him.
+Vertua reminded him that he had not come to take possession of the
+house he had won.
+
+"'Very well, I will come,' he answered, with an inspiration breaking
+upon him. 'I will come to-morrow; but we must discuss all the
+conditions at proper length and leisure, even if it should take
+months.'
+
+"'So be it, Chevalier,' said Vertua, with a smile. 'Perhaps we may come
+to discuss matters which we do not quite see into at present.'
+
+"The Chevalier, inwardly comforted, resumed all the charm of manner and
+all the delightful qualities which had distinguished him before he was
+carried away by his devouring passion. His visits at Vertua's became
+more and more frequent, and Angela grew more and more disposed towards
+the man whose guardian angel she had been, till at last she believed
+she loved him with all her heart, and promised him her hand, to the
+great joy of old Vertua, who saw in this the settlement of his losses.
+
+"One day Angela, now the happy betrothed of the Chevalier Menars, was
+sitting at a window, lost in all the sweet dreams and happy fancies
+which young ladies in her position are believed to be wont to
+entertain, when a regiment of Jaegers came marching along, with
+trumpets sounding bravely, on their way to join in the Spanish
+campaign. She was looking with pitiful sympathy at the men thus going
+to face death in this war, when a very young officer, who was reining
+his horse quickly to one side, looked up at her, and she fell back
+fainting in her seat.
+
+"Alas! This young Jaeger, marching off to face death in the field, was
+no other than young Duvernet, the son of a neighbour, with whom she had
+grown up, who had been nearly daily in the house, and had only kept out
+of the way since the Chevalier had made his appearance. In the look of
+bitter reproach which the lad cast at her--and the bitterness of death
+itself was in it--she now, for the first time, read not only how
+unspeakably he loved her, but how boundlessly she loved him, without
+having been aware, whilst dazzled by the Chevalier's brilliance. Now.
+for the first time, she understood Duvernet's anxious sighs?--his
+silent, unassuming, unobtrusive attentions; now, and now only, she read
+her own embarrassed heart--what moved her disquiet breast when Duvernet
+came, when she heard his voice.
+
+"'Too late! he is lost to me!' cried the voice in her heart. She had
+the resolution to beat down and conquer the hopeless pain which would
+have torn her heart; and just because she had this resolution she was
+successful.
+
+"The Chevalier was too observant not to see that something had been
+occurring to disturb her; but, tenderly enough, he refrained from
+trying to unriddle a mystery which she thought herself bound to conceal
+from him. He contented himself, by way of clearing anything hostile out
+of the path, with hastening on the wedding. The arrangements connected
+with it he ordered with such admirable consideration and such delicate
+tact, that from his very care in this respect for her state of mind,
+she could not but form a higher opinion of his amiability than even
+before.
+
+"His conduct to her was marked with such observance of the most
+trifling of her wishes, with the sincere courtesy which springs from
+the truest and purest affection, that the remembrance of Duvernet
+naturally faded more and more from her memory. So that the first
+cloud-shadow which fell upon the brightness of their life was the
+illness and death of old Vertua.
+
+"Since the night when he had lost all he possessed to the Chevalier, he
+had never touched a card. But in the closing moments of his life all
+his faculties seemed to be engrossed with the game. Whilst the priest,
+who had come to administer the consolations of the Church to him on his
+departure from this life, spoke to him of spiritual things, he lay with
+closed eyes, murmuring between his teeth, '_Perd!_--_Gagne_,' and
+making, with hands quivering in the spasms of death, the motions of
+dealing and playing out cards. Angela and the Chevalier, bending over
+him, called him by the tenderest names. He did not seem to hear them,
+or to know they were there. With a faint sigh of '_Gagne!_' he gave up
+the ghost.
+
+"In her deep sorrow, Angela could not help an eery shudder at the
+manner of his departure. The remembrance of that night, when she had
+first seen the Chevalier as the most hardened reprobate of a gambler,
+came vividly to her mind, and the thought came into her soul that he
+might some day throw off his angel's mask and, jeering at her in his
+pristine devilishness, begin his old life again.
+
+"This fearful presentiment was to come but too true.
+
+"Deeply shocked as the Chevalier was at the notion of old Francesco
+Vertua's having gone into the next world heedless of the consolations
+of the Church, and unable to leave off thinking of the former sinful
+life, still, somehow--he could not tell why--it brought the memory of
+the game back to his mind again, so that every night in his dreams he
+was presiding at the banque once more, heaping up fresh treasures.
+
+"Since, Angela, impressed by the remembrance how her husband had
+appeared to her at first, found it impossible to maintain the trustful
+affection of her earlier wedded days, mistrust, at the same time, came
+into his soul of her, and he attributed her embarrassment to that
+secret which at once disturbed her peace, and remained unrevealed to
+him. This suspicion produced in him misery and annoyance, which he
+expressed in utterances which pained Angela. By a natural psychical
+reflex action, the remembrance of the unfortunate Duvernet revived in
+her mind, and with it the miserable sense that the love which had
+blossomed forth in her young heart was lost and bidden adieu to for
+ever. The discord grew greater and greater, till it reached such a
+pitch that the Chevalier came to the conclusion that the life of
+retirement which he was leading was a complete mistake, and longed with
+all his heart to be out into the world again.
+
+"In fact, his evil star began to get into the ascendant. And that which
+inward dissatisfaction commenced, was completed by a wicked fellow who
+had formerly been a croupier at his banque, and who, by various crafty
+speeches, brought matters to such a point that the Chevalier came to
+consider his present mode of existence childish and ridiculous, and
+could not comprehend how, for the sake of a woman, he should be
+abandoning a life which appeared to him the only one worth living.
+
+"So very soon the Chevalier's banque, with its heaps of gold, was going
+on again more brilliantly than ever. His luck had not forsaken him;
+victim after victim fell a prey, and money was amassed. But Angela's
+happiness was a thing of the past--destroyed, in a terrible fashion,
+like a brief, bright dream. The Chevalier treated her with
+indifference--more than that, with contempt. Often she did not see him
+for weeks and months. An old house-steward looked after the household
+matters; the servants were changed according to the Chevalier's
+caprice; so that Angela, a stranger in her own home, found no comfort
+anywhere. Often, in sleepless nights, when she heard the Chevalier's
+carriage draw up at the door, the heavy money-chest brought up the
+stairs, and he himself come up, cursing and swearing in monosyllables,
+and shut the door of his distant room with a bang, a torrent of tears
+would burst from her eyes, and in the deepest, most heartbreaking tones
+of misery, she would call a hundred times on the name Duvernet, and
+implore the Eternal Power to make an end of her wretched existence.
+
+"One night a young gentleman of good family, after losing all he
+possessed at the Chevalier's banque, sent a bullet through his head in
+the gaming-house--and indeed in the very room where the banque was
+established--so that the blood and brains besprinkled the players, who
+scattered out of the way in alarm. The only person unaffected by this
+was the Chevalier, who, when every one was about to leave the room,
+asked whether it was according to rule and custom to leave the game
+because a young fool had chosen to commit an absurdity, before the
+regular time for closing.
+
+"This incident excited much comment. The most experienced, most
+hardened gamblers were indignant at the Chevalier's unexampled
+behaviour. Every one took part against him. The police ordered his
+banque to be closed. He was accused of unfair play; and his
+extraordinary luck spoke for the truth of this accusation. He was
+unable to clear himself, and the fine inflicted on him ran away with a
+considerable slice of his fortune. Finding himself robbed of his good
+name, and despised by all, he betook himself back to the arms of the
+wife whom he had ill-treated, who gladly welcomed him in his
+repentance. The recollection that her father, too, had renounced the
+miserable life of a gambler, allowed a gleam of hope to dawn upon her
+mind that perhaps, as the Chevalier was advancing somewhat in years,
+his alteration of life might be lasting.
+
+"He left Paris with her, and they went to Genoa, her birth-place. Here,
+at first, he lived a sedate life; but it was impossible to re-establish
+the old, peaceful, domestic existence with Angola which his evil angel
+had destroyed. Very soon his inward restlessness and disquiet awoke
+and drove him out, away from his house, in unsettled restlessness. His
+ill-repute had followed him from Paris. He dared not establish a
+banque, though he felt impelled to do so with the most irresistible
+force.
+
+"About this time a French Colonel, obliged, by serious wounds, to
+retire from active service, was keeping the most important banque in
+Genoa. The Chevalier went to this banque, with envy and deep hatred in
+his heart, expecting his usual luck to stand by him soon, so that he
+might be the ruin of this rival. The Colonel hailed the Chevalier with
+a merry humour (not at other times characteristic of him), saying that
+now, when the Chevalier de Menars had appeared in the field, the game
+was worth winning at last, since there was something in the nature of a
+real contest to give some interest to the issues.
+
+"And, in fact, during the first few deals, the cards fell to the
+Chevalier with just his old luck. But when, trusting to his invincible
+fortune, he at last called out: 'Va, Banque!' he lost a very
+considerable sum of money at one stroke.
+
+"The Colonel was, ordinarily, completely cool and impassive, whether
+lucky or unlucky; but, this time, he drew in his winnings with the
+liveliest marks of the utmost delight.
+
+"From that moment luck turned away from the Chevalier, utterly and
+completely. He played every night, and lost every night, till he had
+nothing left but two or three thousand ducats, in paper.
+
+"He had been on foot all day, converting this paper into cash, and only
+went home to his house late in the evening. When night was coming on,
+he was going out with his last gold coins in his pocket, when Angela
+came to him (suspecting the truth, no doubt), threw herself at his feet
+with a stream of tears, imploring him, by the Virgin and all the
+saints, to abandon his evil courses, and not leave her in need and
+poverty.
+
+"The Chevalier raised her, pressed her, with painful fervour, to his
+heart, and said, in a hollow voice: 'Angela!--my sweet, beloved
+Angela!--there is no help for it. I must do it. I cannot help it. But
+to-morrow--to-morrow, all your cares will be over. For, by the Eternal
+Destiny which is above us, I swear that I play this night for the very
+last time. Do not distress yourself, my darling child. Go to sleep!
+Dream of happy days!--of a better life which is coming speedily. That
+will bring me luck.'
+
+"He kissed her, and ran off, not to be stopped.
+
+"In two deals he had lost everything--all that he possessed. He
+remained standing motionless near the Colonel, staring, in a dazed
+manner, at the gaming table.
+
+"'Won't you go on, Chevalier?' asked the Colonel, shuffling the cards
+for the next deal.
+
+"'I have lost my all,' the Chevalier answered, powerfully constraining
+himself to be calm.
+
+"'Do you mean to say you have nothing left?' the Colonel asked at the
+next deal.
+
+"'I am a beggar,' the Chevalier cried, in a voice quivering with fury
+and pain, as he continued to stare at the gaming table. He did not
+notice that those who were staking were getting more and more the
+better of the banquier.
+
+"The Colonel calmly continued the game.
+
+"As he shuffled the cards for the third deal, he said to the Chevalier
+(without looking on him), 'You have a beautiful wife, you know!'
+
+"'What do you mean?' cried the Chevalier angrily. The Colonel turned
+away a little without answering him.
+
+"'Ten thousand ducats--or Angela!' he said, half averting his face, as
+the cards were being cut.
+
+"'You are out of your senses!' cried the Chevalier, who had, however,
+now regained his composure a good deal, and began to observe that the
+Colonel was losing at every deal.
+
+"'Twenty thousand ducats, or Angela!' the Colonel said almost in a
+whisper, as he paused for a moment during the shuffling of the cards.
+The Chevalier said not a word. The Colonel played again, and nearly all
+the cards were in favour of the players--against him.
+
+"'Done!' the Chevalier whispered in the Colonel's ear when the next
+deal began; and he threw the Queen on the table.
+
+"The Queen lost.
+
+"The Chevalier drew back, grinding his teeth, and leaned at the window
+with despair and death in his white face.
+
+"The game ended, and, with a jeering 'Well! what next?' the Colonel
+came up to the Chevalier.
+
+"'Oh, God!' cried the Chevalier, quite beside himself. 'You have made
+me a beggar, but you must be a madman if you think you have won my
+wife! Are we in the West Indies? Is my wife a slave--a chattel in her
+husband's power, so that he can sell her, or gamble her away at faro?
+It is true, of course, that you would have had to pay me twenty
+thousand ducats if the Queen had won, so that I have lost the right to
+make any objection if my wife chooses to leave me and go away with you.
+Come home with me, and despair when my wife repulses with horror the
+man whom she would have to follow as a dishonoured mistress.'
+
+"'Despair yourself, Chevalier!' said the Colonel with a scornful laugh,
+'when Angela turns from you with horror---from you, the miserable
+wretch who has brought her to beggary--and throws herself into my arms
+with eager rapture; despair yourself, when you find that the Church's
+benediction unites us--that fate crowns our most eager desires. You say
+I must be mad!--Ha, ha! All I wanted was to gain power of veto. I knew
+of a certainty that your wife belonged to me. Ho, ho, Chevalier! Let me
+tell you that your wife loves me--me--unutterably, to my certain
+knowledge. Let me tell you that I am that Duvernet, the neighbour's
+son, brought up with Angela, united to her in the warmest affection,
+which you, with your devilish artifices, dispelled. Alas! it was not
+till I had to depart on field service that Angela knew what I was to
+her. I know the whole matter. It was too late then. But the dark
+spirit told me that I should succeed in ruining you at play--that was
+why I devoted myself to it and followed you to Genoa. And I have done
+it!--come now to your wife!'
+
+"The Chevalier stood like one annihilated, stricken by a thousand
+burning lightnings. The mystery so long sealed to him was explained.
+Now, for the first time, he saw the full extent of the misfortunes
+which he had brought upon poor Angela.
+
+"'My wife shall make her decision,' he said in a hollow tone, and
+followed the Colonel, who stormed away.
+
+"When they came to the house, and the Colonel seized the handle of
+Angela's door, the Chevalier thrust him back, saying, 'My wife is in a
+sweet sleep; would you awaken her?'
+
+"'Ha!' said the Colonel. 'Has Angela ever been in a sweet sleep since
+you brought nameless misery upon her?'
+
+"He was about to enter the room, but the Chevalier prostrated himself
+at his feet, and cried, in utter despair, 'Have some mercy! You have
+made me a beggar! Leave me my wife!'
+
+"'So lay old Vertua at _your_ feet, unfeeling monster that you were,
+and could not move your stony heart. Therefore, may the vengeance of
+Heaven be upon you!'
+
+"So saying, the Colonel again turned towards Angela's room.
+
+"The Chevalier sprang to the door, burst it open, dashed up to the bed
+where his wife was lying, drew the curtains aside, cried 'Angela!
+Angela!'--bent over her--took her hand--shuddered like one convulsed in
+the death agony, and cried out in a terrible voice--
+
+"'See here! What you have won from me is my wife's corpse!'
+
+"The Colonel hurried to the bedside in terror. There was no trace of
+life. Angela was dead.
+
+"The Colonel raised his clenched hands to heaven, and rushed away with
+a hollow cry. He was no more seen."
+
+It was thus that the stranger finished his narrative, and having done
+so, he went quickly away, before the Baron, much moved by it, was able
+to utter any word.
+
+A day or two afterwards the stranger was found insensible in his room,
+stricken by apoplexy. He was speechless till his death, which happened
+in a few hours. His papers showed that, though he was known by the name
+of Baudasson, he really was none other than the unfortunate Chevalier
+Menars.
+
+The Baron recognized the warning of Heaven which had brought the
+Chevalier Menars to him just when he was nearing the abyss, and he took
+a solemn vow that he would resist all the temptations of the deceptive
+Gambler's Fortune. Hitherto he has kept his vow.
+
+
+"Would one not suppose," said Lothair, when Theodore had ended, "that
+you were a man who knew all about gambling, and were great at all those
+games yourself, though perhaps your conscience might now and then give
+you a slap in the face? and yet I know very well that you never touch a
+card."
+
+"That is quite the case," said Theodore. "And yet I derived much
+assistance, in my story, from a strange experience which I had myself
+once."
+
+"It would be the best _finale_ to your tale," said Ottmar, "to tell us
+this said experience of yours."
+
+"You know," said Theodore, "that when I was finishing my education I
+lived for some time with an old uncle of mine in G----. There was a
+certain friend of this uncle's who, though our ages were very
+different, took a great pleasure in my society, chiefly, perhaps,
+because at that time I was always filled with a brilliant vein of
+humour, sometimes amounting to the mischievous. This gentleman was, I
+can assure you, one of the most extraordinary characters I ever came
+across. Mean in all the relationships of life, ill-tempered, grumbling,
+sulky, with a great tendency to miserliness, he had the utmost
+appreciation for everything in the shape of fun and amusement. To use a
+French expression, he was in the highest degree _amusable_, but not in
+the least _amusant_. At the same time he was excessively vain, and one
+form of his vanity was that he was always dressed in the utmost
+extremity of the prevailing fashion, almost to a ludicrous extent.
+And there was a similar absurdity about his manner of hunting after
+every species of enjoyment in the very sweat of his brow, so to
+speak--striving, with a comic eagerness, to gulp down as much of it as
+he possibly could grasp. I remember so well three particular instances
+of this vanity and struggle for enjoyment of his that I must tell them
+to you. Picture to yourselves this man, being at a place among the
+hills, and invited by some people (ladies being among them), to go on a
+walking expedition to see some waterfalls in the neighbourhood,
+dressing himself for the occasion in a bran new silk coat, never worn
+before, with beautiful shining steel buttons, and white silk stockings,
+shoes with steel buckles, and his finest rings on his fingers. In the
+thickest part of the pine forest which had to be passed through, a
+tremendous thunderstorm came on; the rain fell in torrents, the brooks,
+swollen by the rain, came rushing over the paths. You can well imagine
+the state my poor friend found himself in very soon.
+
+"It chanced that the tower of the Dominican Church at G---- was one
+night struck by lightning. My friend was in raptures with the grand
+fire-pillar which arose in the darkness, magically illuminating all the
+country round; but he soon came to the conclusion that to get the real
+picturesque effect of it in all its perfection, it would be the right
+thing to go and look at it from a certain rising ground just outside
+the town. So he set off as quickly as his carefulness in such matters
+would permit him, not forgetting to put a packet of macaroons and a
+flask of wine into certain of his pockets, or to carry a beautiful
+bouquet of flowers in his hand, and a camp stool under his arm. Thus
+equipped, he paced calmly out of the city gate and up on to the
+eminence, where he sat himself down to enjoy the spectacle, smelling at
+his bouquet, munching a macaroon, washing that down with a mouthful of
+wine, in the most complete, beatific, quiescent state of enjoyment.
+Really this fellow was--taking him all round----"
+
+"Stop! stop!" cried Lothair, "you were going to tell us the adventure
+of your own which helped you in writing your 'Gamester's Fortune,' and
+you cannot get away from a fellow who seems to have been as ludicrous
+as repulsive to every ordinarily constituted person's feelings."
+
+"You must not blame me," said Theodore, "for lingering over this
+personage who was so intimately brought into connection with my life.
+But, to business!--this man whom I have been describing to you invited
+me to make a trip with him to a certain watering place, and, although I
+saw quite clearly that I was to play the _rôle_ of soother, calmer,
+tranquilizer, and _maítre-de-plaisírs_ to him, I was quite satisfied to
+make this charming excursion amongst the mountains at his expense. At
+the watering-place there was some high play going on--a bank of several
+thousand thalers. My companion eyed the heaps of gold with greedy
+simpers, paced up and down the room, circled nearer and nearer to the
+play table, dived into his pockets, brought out a Friedrich-d'or
+between his finger and thumb, dropped it back again--in a word, lusted
+for money. Only too glad would he have been to pocket a little haul
+from that heaped-up treasure, but he had no belief in his star. At last
+he put an end to this droll contest between his longings and his fears,
+which brought the perspiration in drops on to his forehead, by begging
+me to stake for him, to which end he put five or six Friedrichs-d'or
+into my hand. However, I would have nothing to do with the arrangement
+until he assured me that he had not the least belief that he would have
+any luck whatever, but looked upon the sum which he staked as so much
+lost cash. What happened was what I did not in the least degree expect.
+To me, the unpractised, inexperienced player, fortune was propitious.
+I won for my friend in a very short time something like thirty
+Friedrichs-d'or, which he put in his pocket with much glee. Next
+evening he wanted me to play for him again, but to this hour I cannot
+explain how the idea came into my head that I should then play on my
+own account. I had not had the slightest intention of playing any more,
+nay, rather, I was on the very point of going away, out of the room, to
+take a walk outside, when my friend came up to me with his request.
+When I had plainly told him in set terms that I meant to play on my own
+account (but not till then), I walked calmly up to the table and pulled
+out of my little waistcoat pocket two Friedrichs-d'or, the only two
+which I possessed. If fortune had been propitious to me the night
+before, this time it seemed as if some Spirit of Might, at whose
+command luck stood, was in covenant with me. Whatever I did, whatever I
+staked upon, everything turned up in my favour---in fact, just as I
+said in my story, what happened at first to Baron Siegfried happened to
+me. My brain reeled! When a fresh haul of money was handed over to me I
+often felt as if I were in a dream, and should be sure to wake up just
+as I was pocketing my winnings. When the clock struck two the game came
+to an end as usual.
+
+"Just as I was leaving the room, an old officer took me by the
+shoulder, and said, transfixing me with a grave, powerful eye:
+
+"'Young man, if you had known what you were about, you would have
+broken the banque. But if ever you do know about it, no doubt you will
+go to the devil, like all the rest.' He left me, without waiting for my
+answer.
+
+"The day was breaking when I got to my room, and emptied the money out
+of all my pockets on to the table. Picture to yourselves the feelings
+of a mere boy, entirely dependent on his relatives, restricted to a
+miserable mite of an allowance of weekly pocket-money, who suddenly, as
+if at the wave of a magic wand, finds himself in possession of a sum
+which is, at all events, considerable enough to appear, in his eyes, a
+fortune! But, as I gazed at the heaps of coin, all my mind was suddenly
+filled with an anxiety, a strange, alarmed uneasiness, which put me
+into a cold perspiration. The words of the old officer came back to me,
+as they had not struck me before, in the most terrible significance. I
+felt as though the coin which was blinking at me there on the table was
+the earnest money of a bargain whereby I had sold my soul to the powers
+of darkness, so that there was no escape more for it possible, and it
+was destroyed for evermore. The blossoms of my life seemed to be gnawed
+upon by a hidden worm, and I sank into inconsolable despair. The
+morning dawn was flaming up behind the eastern hills. I lay down in the
+window-seat. I gazed, with the most intense longing, for the rising of
+the sun which should drive away the darksome spirits of night; and
+when the woods and plains shone forth in his golden glory, it was day
+in my soul once more, and there came to me the most inspiriting sense
+of a power to resist all temptation, and shield my life from that
+demoniacal impulse, which was full of the power of--somehow and
+somewhere--impelling it to utter destruction. I made then a most sacred
+vow that I would never touch a card again, and that vow I have kept
+most strictly. And the first use I made of my money was to part from my
+friend, to his immense surprise, and set out on that excursion to
+Dresden, Prague, and Vienna, of which I have told you."
+
+"I can well imagine," said Sylvester, "the impression which your
+unexpected, equivocal, most questionable luck must have made upon you.
+It was greatly to your credit that you resisted the temptation, and
+that you recognized how it was that the threatening danger lay in the
+very luck itself. But, allow me to say, your own tale, the manner in
+which you have, with such accuracy, characterized the real gambler in
+it, must make it plain to yourself that you never had within you the
+true love of gambling, and that, if you had, the courage which you
+displayed would have been very difficult, perhaps impossible. Vincent,
+who, I believe, knows a great deal more about such matters than the
+rest of us, will agree with me here, I think."
+
+"As for me," said Vincent, "I was scarcely attending to Theodore's
+account of his luck at the faro-table, because my mind was so full of
+that delicious fellow who walked about the hills in silk stockings, and
+admired burning buildings as if they were so many pictures, enjoying
+his wine, his macaroons, and his bouquets all the time. In fact, it was
+a pleasure and satisfaction to me to see one entertaining character at
+last emerging out of the dark, dreadful background of the stories of
+this evening, and I should have liked to have seen him as the hero of
+some comic drama."
+
+"Ought not the mere suggestion of him to have been enough for us?"
+said Lothair. "We Serapion Brethren ought always to remember that it is
+our duty to set up, for each other's entertainment and refreshment,
+unique characters which we may have come across in life, as a means of
+refreshing us after the tales which may have strained our attention."
+
+"A good idea," said Vincent, "and I thoroughly agree with it. Rough
+sketches of that description ought to serve as studies for more
+finished pictures, which whoever chooses may elaborate after his
+liking. Also, they may be considered as being charitable contributions
+to the general fund of Serapionish fantasy. And to show that I am in
+earnest, I shall at once proceed to describe to you a very great
+'Curio' of a man whom I came across in the south of Germany. One day,
+in B----, I chanced to be walking in a wood near the town, when I came
+upon a number of countrymen hard at work in cutting down a quantity of
+thick underwood, and snipping off the branches from the trees on either
+side of it. I do not know what made me inquire of them if they were
+making a new road, or what. They laughed, and told me that, if I went
+on my way, I should find, outside the trees, upon a little rising
+ground, a little gentleman who would answer my questions, and,
+accordingly, I came there upon a little elderly gentleman, of pale
+complexion, in a great-coat, and with a travelling-cap on his head and
+a game-bag at his back, who was gazing fixedly through a telescope in
+the direction of the men who were cutting down the trees. When he saw
+me he shut up his telescope in a hurry, and said, eagerly, 'You have
+come through the wood, sir? Have you observed how the work is getting
+on?' I told him what I had seen. 'That's right, that's right,' he said;
+'I've been here ever since three in the morning, and I was beginning to
+be afraid that those asses (and I pay them well, too) were leaving me
+in the lurch. But I have some hopes, now, that the view will come into
+sight at the expected time.' He drew out his telescope again, and gazed
+through it towards the wood. After a few minutes, some large branches
+came rustling down, and, as at the stroke of a magic wand, there opened
+up a prospect of distant mountains, a beautiful prospect, with the
+ruins of an old castle glowing in the beams of the setting sun. The
+gentleman gave expression to his extreme delight and gratification in
+one or two detached broken phrases; but when he had enjoyed the
+prospect for a good quarter of an hour, he put away his telescope and
+set off as fast as he could, without bidding me goodbye or taking the
+slightest notice of me. I afterwards heard that he was the Baron von
+B----, one of the most extraordinary fellows in existence, who, like
+the well-known Baron Grotthus, has been on a continual walking tour for
+several years, and has a mania for hunting after beautiful views. When
+he arrives at a place where, to get at a view, he thinks it is
+necessary to have trees cut down, or openings made in woodlands, he
+spares no cost to arrange matters with the proprietors, or to employ
+labourers. In fact, it is said that he once tried his utmost to have a
+set of farm buildings burned down, because he thought they interfered
+with the beauty of a prospect, and interrupted the view of the
+distance. He did not succeed in this particular undertaking. But
+whenever he did attain his object, he would gaze at his newly-arranged
+view for half an hour or so, at the outside, and then set off at such a
+pace that nothing could stop him, never coming back to the place
+again."
+
+The friends were of one mind in the opinion that there is no
+possibility of imagining anything more marvellous or out of the common
+than that which comes before us in actual life, of its own accord.
+
+"I am wonderfully delighted," said Cyprian, "that it chances to be in
+my power to add to your two oddities a third character, of whom I was
+told a short time ago by a well-known violinist, whom we all of us know
+very well. This third character of mine is none other than the Baron
+von B----, a man who lived in Berlin about the years 1789 and 1790, and
+was acknowledged to be one of the most extraordinary phenomenons ever
+met with in the world of music. For the sake of greater vividness, I
+will tell you the tale in the first person, as if I were the violinist
+concerned in it, and I hope my worthy Serapion brother Theodore won't
+take it amiss that I encroach, on this occasion, into his peculiar
+province.
+
+"At the time when the Baron was living in Berlin," the violinist said,
+"I was a very young fellow, scarcely sixteen, and absorbed in the
+most zealous study of my instrument, to which I was devoted with all
+the powers and faculties of my body and soul. My worthy master,
+Concert-Meister Haak, who was excessively strict with me, was much
+content with my progress. He lauded the finish of my bowing, the
+correctness of my intonation, and he allowed me to play in the
+orchestra of the opera, and even in the King's chamber-concerts. On
+those occasions I often heard Haak talking with young Duport, with
+Ritter, and other great artists belonging to the orchestra, about the
+musical evenings which Baron von B---- was in the habit of having in
+his house. Such was the research and the taste connected with those
+evenings that the King himself often deigned to take part in them.
+Mention was made of magnificent works of the old, nearly forgotten
+masters, which were nowhere else to be heard than at the Baron's, who,
+as regarded music for stringed instruments, possessed, probably,
+the most complete collection from the most ancient times down to
+the present day, in existence. Then they spoke of the marvellous
+hospitality which the Baron extended to artists, and they were all
+unanimous in concluding that he was the most bright and shining star
+which had ever risen in the musical horizon of Berlin.
+
+"All this excited my curiosity, and made my teeth water; and all the
+more that, during these conversations, the artists drew their heads
+nearer together, and I gathered, from mysterious whispers and detached
+words and phrases, that there was talk of tuition in music, of giving
+of lessons. I fancied that, on Duport's face especially, there appeared
+a sarcastic smile, and that they all attacked Concert-Meister Haak with
+some piece of chaff, and that he, for his part, only feebly defending
+himself, could scarcely suppress a smile, until at last, turning
+quickly away, and taking up his violin to tune, he cried out, 'All the
+same, he is a first-rate fellow!'
+
+"All this was more than I could withstand, and although I was told, in
+a pretty decided manner, to mind my own business, I begged Haak to
+allow me, if in any manner possible, to go with him to the Baron's and
+play in his concerts.
+
+"Haak surveyed me with great eyes, and I feared that a little
+thunderstorm was going to burst out upon me. But his seriousness melted
+into a strange smile, and he said:
+
+"'Well, well; perhaps you're right. There's a great deal to be picked
+up at the Baron's. I'll talk to him about you, and I think it very
+likely that he will accord you _les entrées_. He is very much
+interested in young musicians.'
+
+"A short time afterwards, I had been playing some very difficult duetts
+with Haak. As he laid his fiddle down, he said, 'Now, Carl, put your
+Sunday coat on to-night, and your silk stockings. We will go together
+to the Baron's. There won't be many there, and it will be a good
+opportunity to introduce you to him.'
+
+"My heart throbbed with delight, for I expected to meet with things
+unheard-of and extraordinary, though I did not know why this was my
+expectation.
+
+"We arrived there. The Baron, a rather small gentleman, advanced in
+age, wearing an old Frankish embroidered gala dress, came to meet us as
+we entered the room, and shook my master cordially by the hand. Never
+had I felt, at the sight of a man of rank, more sincere reverence, a
+more infelt, sincere, pleasant attraction. His face expressed the most
+genuine kindliness, whilst from his eyes flashed that darksome fire
+which so often indicates the artist who is, in verity, penetrated by
+his art. All that diffidence with which I, as an inexperienced
+neophyte, would otherwise have had to contend, fled from me instantly.
+
+"'How are you, my dear Haak?' the Baron said. 'How are you getting on?
+Have you been having a right good study at my concerto? Good, good; we
+shall hear tomorrow. Oh, I suppose this is the young virtuoso you were
+telling me about?'
+
+"I cast my eyes down bashfully. I felt that I blushed over and over
+again.
+
+"Haak mentioned my name, praised my natural talent, and lauded the
+rapid progress which I had made in a short time.
+
+"'And so you have chosen the violin as your instrument,' said the
+Baron. 'Have you considered, my son, that the violin is the most
+difficult of all instruments ever invented, and that it is one which,
+whilst it seems, in its extreme simplicity, to comprehend in itself the
+most luxuriant richness of music, is, in reality, an extraordinary
+mystery, which only discloses itself to a rare few, specially organized
+by nature to comprehend it? Do you know of a certainty, does your
+spirit tell you with distinctness, that you will be the master of that
+marvellous mystery? Many a one has thought this, and has remained a
+miserable bungler all his days. I should not wish, my son, that you
+should swell the ranks of those wretched creatures. However, at all
+events, you can play me something, and then I will tell you what you
+are like, what state you are in as regards this matter, and you will
+follow my counsel. Perhaps it is with you as it was with Carl Staunitz,
+who thought he was going to turn out a marvellous virtuoso. When I
+opened his eyes, he threw his fiddle behind the stove, and took to the
+Tenor and Viol d'Amour, and a very good job he made of them. On them he
+could stamp about with those broad stretching fingers of his, and play
+quite fairly well. But, however, just now I want to hear _you_, my
+little son.'
+
+"This first somewhat extraordinary speech of the Baron's to me was
+calculated to render me somewhat anxious and abashed. What he said went
+deep into my soul, and I felt, not without inward sorrow, that in
+devoting my life to the most difficult of all instruments I had,
+perhaps undertaken a task beyond my powers.
+
+"Just then, four of the artists then present sat down to play the last
+three quartettes of Haydn, which had just appeared in print. My master
+took his violin out of its case; but scarcely had he passed his bow
+over the strings, in tuning, when the Baron, stopping his ears with
+both hands, cried out, like a man possessed, 'Haak, Haak, tell me, for
+God's sake! how can you annihilate all your skill in playing by making
+use of a miserable screaking, caterwauling fiddle like that?'
+
+"Now it happened that my master's violin was one of the most splendid
+and glorious ever to be met with. It was a genuine Antonio Stradivari,
+and nothing could enrage him more than when any one failed to render
+due homage to this darling of his. However, knowing pretty well what
+was going to happen, he put it back into its case with a smile.
+
+"Just as he was taking the key out of the lock of his fiddle-case, the
+Baron, who had left the room for a moment, came in, bearing in both
+arms (as if it had been a babe going to be baptized) a violin-case,
+covered with scarlet velvet, and bound with gold cords.
+
+"'I wish to do you an honour, Haak,' he said; 'tonight you shall play
+on my oldest, most precious violin. This is a genuine Granuelo. Your
+Stradivarius, his pupil, is only a bungler in comparison with him.
+Tartini would never put his fingers on any violin but a Granuelo. So
+please to collect yourself, and pull yourself together, so that the
+Granuelo may be pleased to allow itself to unfold all the gloriousness
+which dwells within it.'
+
+"The Baron opened the violin-case, and I beheld an instrument whose
+build bore witness to its immense antiquity. Beside it lay a most
+marvellous-looking bow, whose exaggerated curvature seemed to indicate
+rather that it was intended for shooting arrows from than for bringing
+tone out of violin strings. With solemn carefulness the Baron took the
+instrument out of its case and handed it to my master, who received it
+with equal solemnity.
+
+"'I'm not going to give you the bow,' said the Baron, tapping my master
+on the shoulder with a pleasant smile, 'you haven't the slightest idea
+how to manage it; and that is why you will never, in all your life,
+attain to a proper style of bowing.
+
+"'This was the sort of bow,' continued the Baron, taking it from the
+case, and contemplating it with a gleaming glance of inspiration,
+'which the grand, immortal Tartini made use of; and now that he is
+gone there are only two of his pupils left in the whole wide world who
+were fortunate enough to possess themselves of the secret of his
+magnificent, marrowy, toneful manner of bowing, which affects the whole
+being of people, and can only be accomplished with a bow of this kind.
+One of those pupils is Narbini, who is now an old man of seventy,
+capable only of inward music; and the other, as I think, gentlemen, you
+are aware, is myself. Consequently, I am now the sole individual in
+whom the true art of violin-playing survives; and my zealous endeavours
+will, I trust and believe, not fail to perpetuate that art which found
+its creator in Tartini. However, let us set to work, gentlemen.'
+
+"The Haydn quartettes were then played through, and with a degree of
+perfection which, it need not be said, left nothing to be desired. The
+Baron sat with closed eyes, swaying backwards and forwards;
+occasionally he would get up from his chair, go closer to the players,
+peer at the music with wrinkled brow, and then go very gently back to
+his seat, lean his head on his hand, sigh, groan--
+
+"'Stop, stop!' he cried suddenly at a melodious passage in one of the
+adagios, 'by all the gods! that was Tartini-ish melody, or I know
+nothing about it. Play it again, please.'
+
+"And the masters, smiling, repeated the passage, with a more sostenuto
+and cantabile effect of bowing, while the Baron wept and sobbed like a
+child.
+
+"When the quartettes were ended, the Baron said, 'A heavenly fellow,
+this Haydn; he knows how to touch the heart; but he has not an idea of
+writing for the violin. Perhaps he does not wish to do it; for if he
+did, and wrote in the only true manner, as Tartini did, you would never
+be able to play it.'
+
+"It was now my turn to play some variations which Haak had written for
+me.
+
+"The Baron stood close behind me, looking at the notes. You may imagine
+the agitation with which I commenced, having this severe critic at my
+elbow. Presently, however, a stirring allegro movement carried me away.
+I forgot all about the Baron, and managed to move about with all
+freedom within the sphere of skill and power which stood then at my
+command.
+
+"When I had finished, the Baron patted me on the shoulder, and said,
+'You may stick to the violin, my son; but as yet you have not an idea
+of bowing or expression, probably because, up to this time, you haven't
+had a proper master.'
+
+"We then sat down to table, in another room, where there was a repast
+laid out and served, which, especially as regarded the rare and
+marvellous wines, was to be characterized as very extravagant. The
+musicians dipped deeply into everything set before them. The talk,
+which waxed more and more animated, was almost entirely on the subject
+of music. The Baron emitted complete treasures of the most marvellous
+information. His opinions and views, most keen and penetrating, proved
+him to be not only the most instructed of connoisseurs, but also the
+most accomplished, talented, and tasteful of artists. What was
+specially striking to me was a sort of portrait gallery of violinists
+which he went through to us in description. So much of it as I remember
+I will tell you.
+
+"'Corelli,' said the Baron, 'was the first to break out the path. His
+compositions can only be played in the real Tartini manner, and that is
+sufficient to prove how well he knew the true art of violin-playing.
+Pugnani is a passable player. He has tone, and plenty of brains, but,
+although he has a tolerable amount of appogiamento, his bowing is too
+feeble altogether. What have not people told me of Geminiani! and yet,
+when I heard him last, some thirty years ago in Paris, he played like a
+somnambulist striding about in a dream, and one felt as if one were in
+a dream one's self. It was all mere tempo rubato; no sort of style or
+delivery. That infernal tempo rubato is the ruin of the very best
+players; they neglect their bowing over it. I played him my sonatas; he
+saw his error, and asked me to give him some lessons, which I was very
+glad to do. But he was too far sunk into his old method. He had grown
+too old in it--he was ninety-one. May God forgive Giardini, and not
+punish him for it in eternity; but he it was who first ate the apple of
+the tree of knowledge, and brought sin upon all subsequent players. He
+was the first of your tremolandoists and flourishers. All he thinks
+about is his left hand, and those fingers of his that have the power of
+jumping hither and thither. He has no idea of the important fact that
+it is in the _right_ hand that the soul of melody lies--that from every
+throb of its pulses stream forth the powers that awaken the feelings of
+the heart. Oh! that every one of those "flourishers" had a stout old
+Jomelli at his elbow to rouse him out of his craziness by a good sound
+box on the ear--as Jomelli actually did--when Giardini, in his
+presence, spoilt a glorious passage of melody by jumps, trills, and
+"mordenti." Lulli, too, conducts himself in a preposterous way. He is
+one of your damnable perpetrators of jumps. An adagio he can't play,
+and his sole quality is that for which ignoramuses, without sense or
+understanding, admire him with their stupid mouths agape. I say it
+again: with Narbini and me will die the true art of the violinist.
+Young Viotti is a fine fellow, full of promise. He is indebted to me
+for what he knows, for he was a most industrious pupil of mine. But
+what does it all amount to? No endurance! No patience! He wouldn't go
+on studying with me. Now, Kreutzer I still hope to get hold of and make
+something of. He has availed himself assiduously of my lessons, and
+will again, when I get back to Paris. That concerto of mine which you
+are studying, Haak, he played not at all badly a short time since. But
+he hasn't the hand, yet, to wield my bow. Giarnovichi shall never cross
+my doorstep again. There's a stupid coxcomb for you! A fellow who has
+the effrontery to turn up his nose at the grand Tartini--master of all
+masters--and despises my lessons. What I should like to know is, what
+that boy Rhode will turn out after he has had lessons from me? He
+promises well, and I have an idea that he will master my bow.'
+
+"The Baron turned to me, saying, 'He is about your age, little son, but
+of a more serious, deep-thoughted nature. You appear to me--don't take
+it ill if I say so--to be a little bit of a--well, I mean, you lack
+purpose. However, no matter. Now you, dear Haak, I have great hopes of.
+Since I have been teaching you you have become quite another man. Keep
+up your unresting zeal and industry. Never waste a single hour. You
+know that is what distresses me.'
+
+"I was turned to stone with amazement and admiration at what I heard. I
+could not wait the necessary time to ask the concert-meister if it was
+all true---if the Baron was, really, the greatest violinist of the
+day--if he, my master himself, did actually take lessons from him.
+
+"'Undoubtedly,' Haak said, 'he had no hesitation in accepting the
+profitable instruction which the Baron placed at his disposal; and he
+told me that I should do well if I went, some morning, to him myself,
+and asked him to let me have some lessons from him too.'
+
+"To all the questions which I then put to him concerning the Baron and
+his artistic talent, Haak would give me no direct reply, but kept on
+telling me that I ought to do as he advised me, and I should then find
+out all about it myself.
+
+"The peculiar smile which passed over Haak's face as he said this did
+not escape me. I did not understand the meaning of it, and it excited
+my curiosity to the highest point.
+
+"When I bashfully made my request to the Baron, assuring him that the
+most unbounded zeal, the most glowing enthusiasm for my art inspired
+me, he looked at me seriously and fixedly. But soon his face put on
+an expression of the most benevolent kindliness. 'Little son! little
+son!' he said, 'that you have betaken yourself to me--the only real
+violin-player now living--proves that you possess the true artistic
+spirit, and that the ideal of the genuine violin-player has come into
+existence within you. I should be delighted to give you lessons; but
+the time--the time! where to find it? Haak occupies me a great deal,
+and then I have got this young man Durand here just now, he wants to be
+heard in public, and knows that he need not try that till he has had a
+good course of lessons from me. However, wait a moment, between
+breakfast and lunch, or at lunch time--yes. I have still an hour at
+liberty then. Little son, come to me at twelve exactly every day, and I
+will fiddle with you for an hour until one; then Durand comes.'
+
+"You can imagine how I hastened, with a throbbing heart, to the Baron's
+the next forenoon at the appointed hour.
+
+"He would not let me play a single note on my own violin, which I had
+brought with me, but placed in my hands a very old instrument by
+Antonio Amati. Never had I had any experience of a violin like this.
+The celestial tone which streamed from its strings altogether inspired
+me. I let myself go, and abandoned myself to a stream of ingenious
+'passages,' suffering the river of music to surge and swell, higher and
+higher, in mighty waves and billows of sound, and then die down and
+expire in murmuring whispers. My own belief is that I was playing
+exceedingly well; much better than I often did afterwards.
+
+"When I had done, the Baron shook his head impatiently, and said: 'My
+little son! my little son! you must forget all that. In the first
+place, you hold your bow most abominably,' and he showed to me,
+practically, how the bow ought to be held, according to the manner of
+Tartini. I thought I should never be able to bring out a single tone
+whilst so holding it; but great was my astonishment when I found that,
+on repeating my 'passages' at the Baron's desire, the amazing advantage
+of holding the bow as he told me to hold it was strikingly manifest,
+after two or three seconds.
+
+"'Good!' said the Baron. 'Little son, let us begin the lesson. Commence
+upon the note G, above the line, and hold out that note as long as you
+can possibly hold it. Economize your bow; make the very utmost of it
+that you possibly can. What the breath is to the singer, the bow is to
+the violinist.'
+
+"I did as I was directed, and was greatly delighted to find that, in
+this manner of dealing with matters, I was enabled to bring out a tone
+of exceptional powerfulness; to swell it out to a marvellous
+fortissimo, and make it die down to a very soft pianissimo, with an
+excessively long stroke of the bow.
+
+"'You see, do you not, little son?' cried the Baron. 'You can play all
+kinds of "passages," jumps, and new-fangled nonsense of that sort, but
+you can't properly sustain a note as it ought to be done.'
+
+"He took the instrument from my hands, and laid the bow across the
+strings, near the bridge--and the simple truth is, that words
+completely fail me to describe to you what then came to pass.
+
+"Laying that trembling bow of his close to the bridge, he went sliding
+with it up and down on the strings, as it quivered in his hands,
+jarringly, whistlingly, squeakingly, mewingly; the tone he produced was
+to be likened to that of some old woman, with spectacles on nose,
+vainly attempting to hit the tune of a hymn.
+
+"And all the time he raised enraptured eyes to heaven, like a man
+lost in the most celestial blissfulness; and when at length he left
+off scraping with his bow up and down between the bridge and the
+finger-board, and laid the violin down, his eyes were shining, and he
+said, in deep emotion: 'That is tone! that is tone!'
+
+"I felt in a most extraordinary condition: although the inward impulse
+to laugh was present with me, it was killed by the aspect of that
+venerable man, glorified by his inspiration. At the same time the whole
+affair had a most eery effect upon me, and I felt very much affected by
+it, and could not utter a syllable.
+
+"'Don't you find, little son,' asked the Baron, 'that that goes to your
+heart? Had you ever any idea that such magic could be conjured out of
+that little thing there, with its four simple strings? Well, well! take
+a glass of wine, little son.' He poured me out a glass of Madeira. I
+had to drink it, and also to take some of the pastry and cakes which
+were upon the table. Just then the clock struck one.
+
+"'This will have to do for to-day,' said the Baron. 'Go, go, little
+son! Here, here! put that in your pocket.'
+
+"And he placed in my hand a little paper packet, in which I found a
+beautiful, shining ducat.
+
+"In my amazement I ran to the concert-meister and told him all that had
+happened. He, however, laughed aloud, and said: 'Now you know all about
+our Baron and his violin lessons. He looks upon you as a mere beginner,
+so that you only get a ducat per lesson; but as the mastership, in his
+opinion, increases, so does the pay. He gives me a Louis, and I think
+Durand gets a couple of ducats.'
+
+"I could not help expressing my opinion that it was anything but an
+honourable style of going to work, to mystify this kind gentleman in
+such a fashion, and pocket his money into the bargain.
+
+"'You ought to be told,' said Haak, 'that his whole enjoyment consists
+in giving lessons--in the way which you now comprehend; and that if I
+and the other artists were to show any symptoms of under-valuing him or
+his lessons, he would proclaim to the whole artistic world, in which he
+is looked upon as a most competent and valuable critic, that we were
+nothing but a set of wretched scrapers; that, in fact, apart from his
+craze of being a marvellous player, the Baron is a man whose vast
+knowledge of music, and most cultivated judgment thereon, are matters
+from which even a master can derive great benefit. So judge for
+yourself whether I am to be blamed if I hold on to him, and now and
+then pocket a few of his Louis. I advise you to go to him as often as
+you can. Don't listen to the cracky nonsense he talks about his own
+execution; but do listen to, and profit by, what this man--who is most
+exceptionally versed in the musical art, and has immense and valuable
+experience in it--has to say about it. It will be greatly to your
+advantage to do so.'
+
+"I took his advice; but it was often hard to repress laughter when the
+Baron would tap about with his fingers upon the belly of the fiddle
+instead of on the finger-board, stroking his bow diagonally over the
+strings the while, and asseverating that he was playing the most
+beautiful of all Tartini's solos, and that he was the only person in
+the world who could play it.
+
+"But soon he would lay the violin down, and pour forth sayings which
+enriched me with the profoundest knowledge, and enflamed my heart
+towards the most glorious of all arts.
+
+"If I then played something from one of his concertos with my utmost
+_verve_, and happened to interpret this or the other passage of it
+better than usual, the Baron would look round with a smile of
+complacence, or of pride, and say: 'The boy has to thank me for that;
+me, pupil of the great Tartini!'
+
+"Thus, you perceive, I derived both profit and pleasure from the
+Baron's lessons; and from his ducats into the bargain."
+
+"Well, really," said Theodore, laughing, "I should think that the
+greater part of the virtuosos of the present day--although they do
+consider themselves far beyond any description of instruction or
+advice--would be glad enough to have a few lessons such as the Baron
+von S---- was in the habit of giving."
+
+"I render thanks to Heaven," said Vincenz, "that this meeting of our
+Club has ended so happily. I never dared to hope that it would; and I
+would fain entreat my worthy Serapion Brethren to see that proper
+measures are taken, in future, that there be a due alternation between
+the terrifying and the entertaining, which on this occasion has by no
+means been the case."
+
+"This admonition of yours," Ottmar said, "is right and proper; but it
+rested with yourself to rectify the error into which we have fallen
+to-night by contributing something of your own, in your special style
+of humour."
+
+"The truth is," said Lothair, "that you, my very fine fellow--and at
+the same time my very lazy-as-to-writing fellow--have never yet paid
+your entrance-money into the Serapion Guild, and the only mode of
+payment is a Serapiontic story."
+
+"Hush!" cried Vincenz. "You don't know what has come glowing forth from
+my heart, and is nestling in this breast-pocket of mine here; a quite
+remarkable little creature of a story, which I specially commend to the
+favour of our Lothair. I should have read it to you to-night. But don't
+you see the landlord's pale face peeping in at the window every now and
+then, just in the style in which the uncle Kuehleborn, in Fouqué's
+'Undine,' used to 'keek' in at the window of the fisherman's hut.
+Haven't you noticed the irritated 'Oh, Jemini!' countenance of the
+waiter? Was there not written on his forehead, legibly and distinctly
+(when he snuffed the candles), 'Are you going to sit here for ever? Are
+you never going to let an honest man get to his well-earned bed?' Those
+people are right. It is past twelve: our parting hour has struck some
+time ago."
+
+The friends agreed to have another Serapiontic meeting at an early
+date, and dispersed.
+
+
+
+
+                              SECTION VII.
+
+The dreary late autumn had arrived, and Theodore was sitting in his
+room beside the crackling fire, waiting for the worthy Serapion
+Brethren, who came dropping in, one by one, at the appointed hour.
+
+"What diabolical weather!" cried Cyprian, entering the last. "In spite
+of my cloak I am nearly wet through, and a gust of wind all but carried
+away my hat."
+
+"And it won't be better very soon," said Ottmar; "for our
+meteorologist, who lives in the same street with me, has prognosticated
+very fine weather at the end of this autumn."
+
+"Right; you are perfectly right, my friend Ottmar," Vincenz said.
+"Whenever our great prophet consoles his neighbours with the
+announcement that the winter is not going to be at all severe, but
+principally of a southerly character, everybody rushes away in alarm,
+and buys all the wood he can cram into his cellar. The weather-prophet
+is a wise and highly-gifted man, whom we can thoroughly trust, so long
+as we expect the exact reverse of what he predicts."
+
+"Those autumnal storms always make me thoroughly wretched," said
+Sylvester; "I always feel depressed and ill whilst they are going on;
+and I think you feel the same, Theodore."
+
+"Oh, indeed I do," answered Theodore; "this sort of weather always
+makes----"
+
+"Splendid!--delightful beginning of a meeting of the Serapion Club!"
+intercalated Lothair. "We set to work to discuss the weather, like a
+parcel of old women round the coffee-table."
+
+"I don't see," said Ottmar, "why we should not talk about the weather;
+the only reason you can object to it is that talking about it seems to
+be an observance of a kind of rather slovenly old custom, which has
+resulted from a necessity to say something or other when there happens
+to be nothing else in people's minds to talk about. What I think is
+that a few words about the weather and the wind make a very good
+beginning of a conversation, whatsoever its nature may turn out to be,
+and that the very universality of the applicability of this as the
+beginning of a conversation prove how natural it really is."
+
+"As far as I am concerned," said Theodore, "I don't think it matters
+a farthing how a conversation commences. But there is one thing
+certain--that, if one wants to make some very striking and clever
+beginning, that is enough to kill all the freedom and unconstraint
+which may be termed the very soul of conversation. I know a young
+man--I think he is known to you all, as well--who is by no means
+deficient in that mobility of intellect which is absolutely necessary
+for good conversation; but he is so tormented, particularly when ladies
+are present, by that kind of eagerness to burst out with something
+brilliant and striking at the very outset of a talk, that he walks
+restlessly about the room; makes the most extraordinary faces in the
+keenness of his inward torment; opens his lips, and--cannot manage to
+utter a syllable."
+
+"Cease, cease, base wretch!" Cyprian cried, with comic pathos, "do not,
+with murderous hand, tear open wounds which are barely healed. He is
+speaking of me," he continued, laughing, "and he doesn't know that, a
+few weeks ago, when I insisted on restraining that tendency of mine,
+which I see the absurdity of, and falling into a conversation in the
+ordinary style of other people, I had to pay for it by complete
+annihilation. I prefer telling you all about this myself to letting
+Ottmar do it, and add witty comments of his own. At a tea-party where
+Ottmar and I were, there was present a certain pretty and clever lady,
+as to whom you are in the habit of maintaining that she interests me
+more than is right and proper. I went to talk to her, and I admit that
+I was a little at a loss how exactly to begin, and she was wicked
+enough to gaze at me with questioning eyes. I burst out with 'The new
+moon has brought a nice change of weather.' She answered, very quietly:
+'Oh, are you writing the Almanac this season?'"
+
+The friends laughed heartily.
+
+"On the other hand," said Ottmar, "I know another young man--and you
+all know him--who, particularly with ladies, is never at a loss for the
+first word of a talk; in fact, my belief is that he has severely
+thought out, in private, a regular system, of the most comprehensive
+kind, as to conversation with ladies, which is by no means likely ever
+to find him left in the lurch. For instance, one of his dodges is to go
+to the prettiest--one who scarce ventures to dip a sweet biscuit in her
+tea; who, at the utmost, whispers into the ear of her who is sitting
+next to her: 'It is very warm, dear;' to which the latter answers with
+equal softness into her ear: 'Dreadfully, my love;' whose communication
+goeth not beyond 'Yea, yea,' and 'Nay, nay,'--to go up to such an one,
+I say, and, in an artful manner, startle her out of her wits, and
+thereby so utterly revolutionize her very being, in such a sudden
+manner, that she seems to herself to be no longer the same person:
+'Good heavens! how very pale you are looking!' he cried out, recently,
+to a pretty creature, as silent as a church, just in the act of
+beginning a stitch of silver thread at a purse which she was working.
+The young lady let her work fall on her lap in terror, said she was
+feeling a little feverish that day. Feverish!--my friend was thoroughly
+at home on that subject; could talk upon it in the most interesting
+way, like a man who knows his ground; inquired minutely into all the
+symptoms; gave advice, gave warnings,--and behold! there was a
+delightful, interesting, confidential conversation spun out in a few
+minutes."
+
+"I am much obliged to you," said Theodore, "for having so carefully
+observed that talent of mine, and given it its due meed of approval."
+
+The friends laughed again at this.
+
+"There is no doubt," said Sylvester, "that society talk is, altogether,
+a rather curious thing. The French say that a certain heaviness in our
+nature always prevents us from hitting the precise tact and tone
+necessary for it; and they may be right, to a certain extent, but I
+must declare that the much-belauded _légčreté_ and lightsomeness of
+French Society puts me out of temper, and makes me feel stupid and
+uncomfortable, and that I cannot look upon those _bon mots_ and
+_calembours_ of theirs, which are continually being fired off in all
+directions, as coming under the class of that 'Society wit' which gives
+out constantly fresh sparks of new life of conversation. Moreover, that
+peculiar style of wit to which the genuine French 'wit' belongs is, to
+me, in the highest degree disagreeable."
+
+"That opinion," said Cyprian, "comes from the very depths of your
+quiet, friendly spirit, my dearest Sylvester: but you are forgetting
+that, besides the (generally utterly empty and insipid) _bon mots_, the
+'Society wit' of the French is, in a great degree, founded on a mutual
+contempt of, and jeering and scoffing at, each other (such as at the
+present time we call 'chaff,' although it is less good-humoured than
+that), which soon passes the bounds of what we consider courtesy and
+consideration, and consequently would speedily deprive our intercourse
+of all pleasure. Then the French have not the very slightest
+comprehension of that wit whose basis is real humour, and it is almost
+incomprehensible how often the point of some not very profound, but
+superficially funny, little story escapes them."
+
+"Don't forget," said Ottmar, "that the point of a story is very often
+completely untranslatable."
+
+"Or is badly translated," said Vincenz. "It so happens that I just
+think of a very amusing thing which happened quite recently, and which
+I will tell you, if you care to hear it."
+
+"Tell us, tell us! delightful fabulist! valued anecdotist!" cried the
+friends.
+
+"A young man," related Vincenz, "whom nature had endowed with a
+splendid bass voice, and who had gone upon the operatic stage, was
+making his first appearance as Sarastro, in the 'Magic Flute.' As he
+was mounting the car, in which he first comes on, he was seized with
+such a terrible attack of stage-fright that he trembled and shook--nay,
+when the car got into motion to come forward, he shrunk into himself,
+and all the manager's efforts to induce him to reassure himself, and,
+at all events, stand upright, were useless. Just then it happened that
+one of the wheels got entangled in the long mantle which Sarastro
+wears, so that the further he got on to the stage, the more this mantle
+dragged him backwards; whilst he, struggling against this, and keeping
+his feet firm, appeared in the centre of the stage with the nether
+portion of his body projecting forwards, and his head and shoulders
+held tremendously far back. The audience were immensely pleased at this
+most regal attitude and appearance of the inexperienced neophyte, and
+the manager offered him, and concluded with him, an engagement on very
+liberal terms. Now, this simple little story was being told, lately, in
+a company where there was a French lady who did not understand a word
+of German. When everybody laughed, at the end of the story, she wanted
+to know what the laughter was about, and our worthy D. (who, when he
+speaks French, gives a most admirable, and very close, imitation of the
+tones and actions of French people, but is continually at a loss for
+the words) undertook to translate the story to her. When he came to the
+wheel which had got entangled with Sarastro's cloak, constraining him
+to his regal attitude, he called it 'Le rat,' instead of 'La roue.' The
+French lady's brow clouded, her eyebrows drew together, and in her face
+was plainly to be read the terror which the story had produced in her,
+whereto conduced the circumstance that D. had 'let on' upon his face
+the full power of tragi-comic muscular play which it was capable of.
+When, at the end, we all laughed more than before at this amusing
+misunderstanding (which we all took good care not to explain), she
+murmured to herself, 'Ah! les barbares!' The good lady not unnaturally
+looked upon us as barbarians for thinking it so amusing that an
+abominable rat should have frightened the poor young man almost to
+death, at the very commencement of his stage-career, by holding on to
+his cloak."
+
+When the friends had done laughing, Vincenz said: "Suppose we now bid
+adieu to the subject of French conversation, with all its _bon mots_,
+_calembours_, and other ingredients, and come to the conclusion that it
+really is an immense pleasure when, amongst intellectual Germans, a
+conversation, inspired by their humour, rushes up skyward like a
+coruscating firework, in a thousand hissing light-balls, crackling
+serpents, and lightning-like rockets."
+
+"But it must be remembered," said Theodore, "that this pleasure is
+possible only when the friends in question, besides being intellectual
+and endowed with humour, possess the talent not only of talking, but of
+listening, the principal ingredient of real conversation."
+
+"Of course," said Lothair; "those people who constitute themselves
+'spokesmen' destroy all conversation--and so, in a lesser degree,
+do the 'witty' folk, who go from one company to another with
+anecdotes, crammed full of all sorts of shallow sayings; a kind of
+self-constituted 'Society clowns.' I knew a man who, being clever and
+witty, and at the same time a terribly talkative fellow, was invited
+everywhere to amuse the company; so that, the moment he came into a
+room, everybody looked in his face, waiting till he came out with
+something witty. The wretch was compelled to put himself to the
+torture, in order to fulfil the expectations entertained of him as
+well as he could, so that he could not avoid soon becoming flat and
+commonplace; and then he was thrown aside by every one, like a used-up
+utensil. He now creeps about, spiritless and sad, and seems to be like
+that dandy in Abener's 'Dream of Departed Souls,' who, brilliant as he
+was in this life, is sorrowful and valueless in the other, because, on
+his sudden and unexpected departure, he left behind him his snuff-box
+of Spanish snuff, which was an integral part of him."
+
+"Then, too," said Ottmar, "there are certain extraordinary people
+who, when entertaining company, keep up an unceasing stream of
+talk; not from conceit in themselves, but from a strange, mistaken
+well-meaningness, for fear that people shouldn't be enjoying
+themselves; and keep asking if people are not 'finding it dull,' and so
+forth, thereby nipping every description of enjoyment in the bud in a
+moment."'
+
+"That is the very surest way to weary people," said Theodore, "and I
+once saw it employed with the most brilliant success by my old
+humourist of an uncle, who, I think, from what I have told you of him,
+you know pretty intimately by this time. An old schoolfellow of his had
+turned up--a man who was utterly tedious and unendurably wearisome in
+all his works and ways--and he came to my uncle's house every forenoon,
+disturbed him at his work, worried him to death, and then sat down to
+dinner without being invited. My uncle was grumpy, snappish, silent,
+giving his visitor most unmistakably to understand that his calls were
+anything but a pleasure to him; but it was all of no use. Once, when
+the old gentleman was complaining to me (in strong enough language, as
+his manner was) on the subject of this schoolfellow, I said I thought
+he should simply show him the door and have done with it. 'That
+wouldn't do, boy,' said my uncle, puckering his face into a rather
+pleased smile. 'You see, he is an old schoolfellow of mine, after all;
+but there is another way of getting rid of him which I shall try; and
+that will do it.' I was not a little surprised when, the next morning,
+my uncle received the schoolfellow with open arms and talked to him
+unceasingly, saying how delighted he was to see him, and go back
+over the old days with him. All the old school-day stories which
+the schoolfellow was incessantly in the habit of repeating, and
+re-repeating, till they became intolerable to listen to, now poured
+from my uncle's lips in a resistless cataract, no that the visitor
+could not escape them. And all the while my uncle kept asking him,
+'What is the matter with you to-day? You don't seem happy. You are so
+monosyllabic. Do be jolly! Let us have a regular feast of old stories
+to-day.' But the moment the schoolfellow opened his lips to speak my
+uncle would cut him short with some interminable tale. At last the
+affair became so unendurable to him that he wanted to cut and run. But
+my uncle so pressed him to stay to lunch and dinner, that, unable to
+resist the temptation of the good dishes, and better wine, he did stay.
+But scarce had he swallowed a mouthful of soup when my uncle, in
+extreme indignation, cried, 'What in the devil's name is this infernal
+mess? Don't touch any more of it, brother, I beg you; there's something
+better to come. Take those plates away, John!' Like a flash of
+lightning the plate was swept away from under the school-friend's nose.
+It was the same thing with all the dishes and courses, though they were
+of a nature sufficiently to excite the appetite, till the 'something
+better to come' resolved itself into Cheshire cheese, which of all
+cheeses the school-friend hated the most, although he disliked all
+cheese. From an apparently ardent endeavour to set before him an
+unusually good dinner he had not been suffered to swallow two
+mouthfuls; and it was much the same with the wine. Scarce had he put a
+glass to his lips when my uncle cried, 'Old fellow, you're making a wry
+face. Quite right, that isn't wine, it's vinegar. John, a better tap!'
+And one kind after another came, French wines, Rhine wines, and still
+the cry was, 'You don't care about that wine,' &c., till, when the
+Cheshire cheese put the finishing stroke on things, the school-friend
+jumped up from his chair in a fury. 'Dear old friend!' said my uncle
+in the kindliest of tones, 'you are not at all like your usual self.
+Come, as we are together here, let us crack a bottle of the real old
+"care-killer."' The school-friend plumped into his chair again. The
+hundred years' old Rhine wine pearled glorious and clear in the two
+glasses which my uncle filled to the brim. 'The devil,' he cried, holding
+his glass to the light, 'this wine has got muddy, on my hands. Don't
+you see? No, no; I can't set that before anybody,' and he swallowed
+the contents of both glasses himself, with evident delight. The
+school-friend popped up again, and plumped into his chair once more on
+my uncle's crying, 'John, Tokay!' The Tokay was brought, my uncle poured
+it out, and handed the schoolfellow a glass, saying, 'There, my boy,
+you shall be satisfied at last, in good earnest. That is nectar!' But
+scarce had the school-friend set the glass to his lips when my uncle
+cried, 'Thunder! there's been a cockroach at this bottle.' At this the
+school-friend, in utter fury, dashed the glass into a thousand pieces
+against the wall, ran out of the house like one possessed, and never
+showed his face across the threshold again."
+
+"With all respect for your uncle's grim humour," said Sylvester, "I
+think there was rather a systematic perseverance in the course of
+mystification involved in such a process of getting rid of a
+troublesome person. I should have much preferred to show him the door
+and have done with it; though I admit that it was quite according to
+your uncle's peculiar vein of humour to prearrange a theatrical scene
+of this sort in place of the perhaps troublesome and unpleasant
+consequences which might have arisen if he had kicked him out. I can
+vividly picture to myself the old parasite as he suffered the torments
+of Tantalus, as your uncle kept continually awakening fresh hopes in
+his mind and instantly dashing them to the ground; and how, at last,
+utter desperation took possession of him."
+
+"You can introduce the scene into your next comedy," said Theodore.
+
+"It reminds me," said Vincenz, "of that delightful meal in
+Katzenberger's _Badereise_, and of the poor exciseman who has almost to
+choke himself with the bites of food which are slid to him over the
+'Trumpeter's muscle,' the Buccinator, although that scene would not be
+of much service to Sylvester for a new piece."
+
+"The great Kazenberger," said Theodore, "whom women do not like on
+account of the robustness of his cynicism, I formerly knew very well.
+He was intimate with my uncle, and I could, at some future time, tell
+you many delightful things concerning him."
+
+Cyprian had been sitting in profound thought, and seemed to have been
+scarcely attending to what the others had been saying. Theodore tried
+to arouse his attention and direct it to the hot punch which he had
+brewed as the best corrective of the evil influence of the weather.
+
+"Beyond a doubt," said Cyprian, "this is the germ of insanity, if it is
+not actually insanity itself."
+
+The friends looked questionably at each other.
+
+"Ha!" cried Cyprian, getting up from his chair and looking round him
+with a smile, "I find I have spoken out, aloud, the conclusion of the
+mental process which has been going on within me in silence. After I
+have emptied this glass of punch and duly lauded Theodore's art of
+preparing that liquid after its mystic proportions, and due relations
+of the hot, strong and sweet, I will simply point out that there is a
+certain amount of insanity, a certain dose of crackiness, so deeply
+rooted in human nature, that there is no better mode of getting at the
+knowledge of it than by carefully studying it in those madmen and
+eccentrics whom we by no means have to go to madhouses to come across,
+but whom we may meet with every hour of the day in our daily course;
+and, in fact, best of all in the study of our own selves, in each of
+whom these is present a sufficient quantum of that 'precipitate
+resulting from the chemical process of life.'"
+
+"What has brought you back to the subject of insanity and the insane?"
+asked Lothair, in a tone of vexation.
+
+"Do not lose your temper, dear Lothair," said Cyprian, "we were talking
+on the subject of society conversation; and then I thought of two
+mutually antagonistic classes of characters which are often fatal to
+social talking. There are people who find it impossible to get away
+from ideas which have come to occupy their minds; who go on repeating
+the same things over and over again, for hours, no matter what turn the
+conversation may have taken. All efforts to carry them along with the
+stream of the conversation are vain; when one at last flatters oneself
+that one has got them into the current of the talk, lo and behold, they
+return _ŕ leurs moutons_ again, just as before, and consequently dam up
+the beautiful, rushing stream of conversation. In contradistinction to
+them are those who forget one second what they said in the immediately
+preceding one; who ask a question, and, without waiting for an answer,
+introduce something completely irrelevant and heterogeneous; to whom
+everything suggests everything else, and consequently nothing which has
+any connection with the subject of the talk--who, in a few words, throw
+together a many-tinted lumber of ideas in which nothing that can be
+called distinct is discoverable. Those latter destroy everything like
+agreeable conversation and drive us to a state of despair, and the
+former produce intolerable tedium and annoyance. But, don't you think
+there lies in those people the germ of real insanity in the one
+case, and in the other of _folie_, whose character is very much,
+if not exactly, what the psychological doctors term 'looseness' or
+'incoherence' of ideas?"
+
+"There is no doubt," said Theodore, "that I should like to say a great
+deal concerning the art of _relating_ in society, for there is much
+which is mysterious about it, depending, as it does, on place, time,
+and individual relationships, and difficult to be ranged under special
+heads. But it seems to me that this matter might carry us too far, and
+be opposed to the real tendency of the Serapion Club."
+
+"Most certainly," said Lothair. "We want to tranquillise ourselves with
+the thought that we--neither madmen nor fools--are, on the contrary,
+the most delightful companions to each other; who not only can talk,
+but can listen; more than that, each of us can listen quite patiently
+when another reads aloud, and that is saying a good deal. Friend Ottmar
+told me a day or two ago that he had written a story in which the
+celebrated poet-painter Salvator Rosa played a leading part. I hope he
+will read it to us now."
+
+"I am a little afraid," said Ottmar, as he took the manuscript from his
+pocket, "that you won't think my story Serapiontic. I had it in mind to
+imitate that ease and genial liberty of breadth which predominates in
+the 'Novelli' of the old Italians, particularly of Boccaccio; and over
+this endeavour I acknowledge that I have grown prolix. Also you will
+say, with justice, that it is only here and there that I have hit upon
+the true 'Novella' tone--perhaps only in the headings of the chapters.
+After this noble and candid confession I am sure you will not deal too
+hardly with me, but think chiefly of anything which you may find
+entertaining and lively."
+
+"What prefaces!" cried Lothair. "An unnecessary _Capitatio
+Benevolentiae_; read us your Novella, my good friend Ottmar, and
+if you succeed in vividly portraying to us your Salvator Rosa
+in verisimilitude before our eyes, we will recognise you as a
+true Serapion brother, and leave everything else to the grumbling,
+fault-finding critics. Shall it not be so, my eminent Serapion
+Brethren?"
+
+The friends acquiesced, and Ottmar began.
+
+
+
+                             SIGNOR FORMICA.
+                              _A NOVELLA._
+
+The renowned painter, Salvator Rosa, comes to Rome, and is attacked by
+      a dangerous malady.--What happened to him during this malady.
+
+People of renown generally have much evil spoken of them, whether
+truthfully or otherwise, and this was the case with the doughty painter
+Salvator Rosa, whose vivid, living pictures you, dear reader, have
+certainly never looked upon without a most special and heartfelt
+enjoyment.
+
+When his fame had pervaded and resounded through Rome, Naples, Tuscany,
+nay, all Italy; when other painters, if they would please, were obliged
+to imitate his peculiar style--just then, malignant men, envious of
+him, invented all sorts of wicked reports concerning him, with
+the view of casting foul spots of shadow upon the shining auriole
+of his artistic fame. Salvator, they said, had, at an earlier
+time of his life, belonged to a band of robbers, and it was to his
+experiences at that time that he was indebted for all the wild, gloomy,
+strangely-attired figures which he introduced into his pictures, just
+as he copied into his landscape those darksome deserts, compounded of
+lonesomeness, mystery, and terror--the _Selve Selvagge_ of Dante--where
+he had been driven to lurk. The worst accusation brought against him
+was that he had been involved in that terrible, bloody conspiracy which
+"Mas' Aniello" of evil fame had set afoot in Naples. People told all
+about that, with the minutest details.
+
+Aniello Falcone, the battle-painter (as he was called), blazed up in
+fury and bloodthirsty revenge when the Spanish soldiers killed one of
+his relations in a skirmish. On the spot he collected together a crowd
+of desperate and foolhardy young men, principally painters, provided
+them with arms, and styled them "the death-company"; and, in verity,
+this band spread abroad a full measure of the terror and alarm which
+its name indicated. Those young men pervaded Naples, in troop form, all
+day long, killing every Spaniard they came across. More than this, they
+stormed their way into all the sacred places of sanctuary, and there,
+without compunction, murdered their wretched enemies who had taken
+refuge there, driven by fear of death. At night they betook themselves
+to their chief, the mad, bloodthirsty Mas' Aniello, and they painted
+pictures of him by torchlight, so that in a short time hundreds of
+those pictures of him were spread about Naples and the surrounding
+neighbourhood.
+
+Now it was said that Salvator Rosa had been a member of this band,
+robbing and murdering all day, but painting with equal assiduity all
+night. What a celebrated art-critic--Taillasson, I think--said of our
+master is true: "His works bear the impress of a wild haughtiness and
+arrogance, of a bizarre energy, of the ideas and of their execution.
+Nature displays herself to him not in the lovely peacefulness of green
+meadows, flowery fields, perfumed groves, murmuring streams, but in the
+awfulness of mighty up-towering cliffs, or sea-coasts, and wild,
+inhospitable forests; the voice to which he listens is not the
+whispering of the evening breeze, or the rustling of the leaves, but
+the roar of the hurricane, the thunder of the cataract. When we look at
+his deserts and the people of strange, wild appearance, who, sometimes
+singly, sometimes in troops, prowl about them, the weirdest fancies
+come to us of their own accord. Here there happened a terrible murder,
+there the bleeding corpse was thrown hurriedly over the cliff, &c.,
+&c."
+
+Now this may all be the case, and although Taillasson may not be far
+wrong when he says that Salvator's "Plato," and even his "St. John in
+the Wilderness announcing the Birth of the Saviour," look just the
+least little bit like brigands, still it is unfair to base any
+conclusions drawn from the works upon the painter himself, and to
+suppose that, though he represents the wild and the terrible in such
+perfection, he must have been a wild and terrible person himself. He
+who talks most of the sword often wields it the worst; he who so feels
+in his heart the terror of bloody deeds that he is able to call them
+into existence with palette, pencil or pen, may be the least capable of
+practising them. Enough! of all the wicked calumnies which would
+represent the doughty Salvator to have been a remorseless robber and
+murderer, I do not believe a single word, and I hope you, dear reader,
+maybe of the same opinion, or I should have to cherish a certain amount
+of doubt whether you would quite believe what I am going to tell you
+about him.
+
+For--as I hope--my Salvator will appear to you as a man burning and
+coruscating with life and fire, but also endowed with the most charming
+and delightful nature, and often capable of controlling that bitter
+irony which--in him, as in all men of depth of character--takes form of
+itself from observation of life. Moreover, it is known that Salvator
+was as good a poet and musician as a painter, his inward genius
+displaying itself in rays thrown in various directions. I repeat that I
+have no belief in his having had anything to do with the crimes of Mas'
+Aniello; I rather hold to the opinion that he was driven from Naples to
+Rome by the terror of the time, and arrived there as a fugitive at the
+very time of Mas' Aniello's fall.
+
+There was nothing very remarkable about his dress, and, with a little
+purse containing a few zecchini in his pocket, he slipped in at the
+gate just as night was falling. Without exactly knowing how, he came to
+the Piazza Navoni, where, in happier days, he had formerly lived in a
+fine house close to the Palazzo Pamphili. Looking up at the great
+shining windows, glittering and sparkling in the moonbeams, he cried,
+with some humour, "Ha! it will cost many a canvass ere I can establish
+my studio there again." Just as he said so he suddenly felt as if
+paralysed in all his limbs, and, at the same time, feeble and powerless
+in a manner which he had never before experienced in all his life. As
+he sank down on the stone steps of the portico of the house he murmured
+between his teeth, "Shall I ever want canvasses? It seems to me that
+_I_ have done with them."
+
+A cold, cutting night-wind was blowing through the streets; Salvator
+felt he must try and get a shelter. He rose with difficulty, tottered
+painfully forward, reached the Corso, and turned into Strada
+Vergognona. There he stopped before a small house, only two windows
+wide, where lived a widow with two daughters. They had taken him as a
+lodger for a small sum when first he came to Rome, known and cared for
+by nobody, and he hoped he would find a lodging with them now suited to
+his reduced circumstances.
+
+He knocked familiarly at the door, and called his name in at it time
+after time. At last he heard the old woman rousing herself with
+difficulty from sleep. She came, dragging along her slippers, to the
+window, scolding violently at the scoundrel who was disturbing her in
+the middle of the night--her house not being an inn, &c. Then it took a
+deal of up and down talking ere she recognised her former lodger by his
+voice; and on Salvator's complaining that he had been obliged to flee
+from Naples and could find no roof to cover him in Rome, she cried out,
+"Ah! Christ and all the saints! Is it you, Signor Salvator? Your room
+upstairs, looking upon the courtyard, is empty still, and the old
+fig-tree has stretched its leaves and branches right into the window,
+so that you can sit and work as if you were in a beautiful cool arbour.
+Ah! how delighted my girls will be that you are here again, Signor
+Salvator. But I must tell you Margerita has grown a big girl, and a
+very _pretty_ girl--it won't do to take her on your knee now! Your cat,
+only fancy, died three months ago--a fish bone stuck in its throat.
+Aye, aye, poor thing! the grave is the common lot. And what do you
+think? Our fat neighbour woman--she whom you so often laughed at and
+drew the funny caricatures of--she has gone and got married to that
+young lad, Signor Luigi. Well, well! _Nozze e magistrati sono da dio
+destinati!_ Marriages are made in heaven, they say."
+
+"But, Signora Caterina," interrupted Salvator, "I implore you by all
+the saints let me in to begin with, and then tell all about your
+fig-tree, your daughters, the kitten, and the fat woman. I am dying of
+cold and weariness."
+
+"Now, just see how impatient he is!" cried the old woman. "_Chi va
+piano va sano; chi va presto muore lesto._ The more haste the less
+speed, is what I always say. But you're tired, you're shivering; so
+quick with the key, quick with the key."
+
+Before getting hold of the key, however, she had to awaken her
+daughters, and then slowly, slowly strike a light. Ultimately she
+opened the door to the exhausted Salvator; but as soon as he crossed
+the threshold he fell down like a dead man, overcome by exhaustion and
+illness. Fortunately the widow's son, who lived at Tivoli, happened to
+have just come home, and he was at once turned out of his bed, which he
+willingly gave up to this sick family friend.
+
+The old lady had a great fondness for Salvator, rated him, as regarded
+his art, above all the painters in the world, and had the utmost
+delight in everything he did. Therefore she was much distressed at his
+deplorable condition, and wanted to run off at once to the neighbouring
+monastery and bring her own Father Confessor, that he might do battle
+with the powers of evil at once, with consecrated tapers, or some
+powerful amulet or other. But the son thought it would be better almost
+to send for a good doctor, and he set off on the instant to the Piazza
+di Spagna, where he knew the celebrated doctor, Splendiano Accoramboni,
+lived. As soon as he heard that the great painter Salvator Rosa was
+lying sick in Strada Vergognona, he prepared to pay him a professional
+visit. Salvator was lying unconscious in the most violent fever. The
+old woman had hung up one or two images of saints over his bed, and was
+praying fervently. The daughters, bathed in tears, were trying to
+get him now and then to swallow a few drops of the cooling lemonade
+which they had made, whilst the son, who had taken his station at the
+bed-head, wiped the cold perspiration from his brow. In these
+circumstances the morning had come, when the door opened with much
+noise, and the celebrated doctor, Signor Splendiano Accoramboni,
+entered.
+
+If it had not been for the great heart-sorrow over Salvator's mortal
+sickness, the two girls, petulant and merry as they were, would have
+laughed loud and long at the doctor's marvellous appearance. As it was,
+they drew away into corners, frightened and shy. It is worth while to
+describe the aspect of this extraordinary little fellow as he came into
+Dame Caterina's in the grey of the morning. Although he had,
+apparently, given early promise of reaching a most distinguished
+stature, Doctor Splendiano Accoramboni had not managed to get beyond
+the altitude of four feet. At the same time he had, in his early years,
+been of most delicate formation as regarded his members--and, before
+the head (which had always been somewhat shapeless) had acquired too
+much increment of matter in the shape of his fat cheeks and his
+stately double chin--ere the nose had assumed too much of a lateral
+development, in consequence of being stuffed with Spanish snuff--ere
+the stomach had assumed too great a rotundity by dint of maccaroni
+fodder--the dress of an Abbate, which he had worn in those early days,
+became him very well. He had a right to be styled a nice little fellow,
+and the Roman ladies accordingly did speak of him as their _caro
+puppazetto_.
+
+But now those days were over, and a German painter, who saw him
+crossing the Piazza di Spagna, said of him, not without reason, that he
+looked as if some stalwart fellow of six feet high had run away from
+his own head and it had fallen on to the shoulders of a little
+marionette Pulcinello, who had now to go about with it as his own. This
+strange little figure had thrust itself into a great mass of Venetian
+damask, all over great flowers, made into a dressing-gown, and girt
+itself about, right under the breast, with a broad leather girdle, in
+which was stuck a rapier three ells long; and above his snow-white
+periwig there clung a high-peaked head-dress, not much unlike the
+obelisk in the Piazza San Pietro. As the periwig went meandering like a
+tangled web, thick and broad, over his back and shoulders, it might
+well have been taken for the cocoon out of which the beautiful insect
+had issued.
+
+The worthy Splendiano Accoramboni glared through his spectacles, first
+at the sick Salvator, and then on Dame Caterina, whom he drew to one
+side. "There," he said, in a scarce audible whisper, "lies the great
+painter Salvator Rosa sick unto death in your house, Dame Caterina, and
+nothing but my skill can save him! Tell me, though, how long it is
+since he came to you? Has he plenty of grand, beautiful pictures with
+him?"
+
+"Ah! dear Signor Dottore," answered the old woman, "this dear boy of
+mine only came to-night, and, as concerns the pictures, I know nothing
+about them as yet. But there's a large box downstairs, which he told
+me, before he got to be unconscious as he is now, to take the greatest
+care of. I should suppose there is a grand picture in it which he has
+painted in Naples."
+
+Now this was a fib which Dame Caterina told; but we shall soon see what
+good reason she had for telling it to the doctor.
+
+"Ah, ah! Yes, yes!" said the doctor, stroking his beard. Then he
+solemnly strode up as close to the patient as his long rapier, which
+banged against and entangled itself with the chairs and tables,
+admitted of his doing, took his hand and felt his pulse, sighing and
+groaning as he did so in a manner which sounded wonderful enough in the
+deep silence of reverential awe which prevailed. He then named a
+hundred and twenty diseases, in Latin and Greek, which Salvator
+had not, then about the same number which he might possibly have
+contracted, and ended by saying that although he could not just at that
+moment exactly name the malady which Salvator was suffering from, he
+would hit upon a name for it in a short time, and also the proper
+remedies and treatment for its cure. He then took his departure with
+the same amount of solemnity with which he had entered, leaving all
+hands in the due condition of anxiety and alarm. He asked to see
+Salvator's box downstairs, and Dame Caterina showed him a box, in which
+were some old clothes of her deceased husband's, and some old boots and
+shoes. He tapped the box with his hand here and there, saying, with a
+smile, "We shall see! We shall see!" In an hour or two he came back
+with a very grand name for what was the matter with Salvator, and
+several large bottles of a potion with an evil smell, which he directed
+that the patient should keep on swallowing. That was not such an easy
+matter, for the patient resisted with might and main, and expressed, as
+well as he could, his utter abhorrence of this stuff, which seemed to
+be a brew from the very pit of Acheron. But whether it was that the
+malady, now that it had got a name, exerted itself more powerfully, or
+that Splendiano and medicine were working too energetically--enough,
+with every day and nearly every hour, one might say, Salvator grew
+weaker and weaker, so that, although Doctor Splendiano Accoramboni
+asseverated that, the processes of life having come to a complete
+standstill, he had given the machine an impetus towards renewed
+activity (as if it had been the pendulum of a clock), all the
+by-standers doubted of Salvator's recovery, and were disposed to think
+that the Signor Dottore might, perhaps, have given the pendulum such a
+rough impulse that it was put out of gear.
+
+But one day it happened that Salvator, who seemed scarcely able to move
+a muscle, suddenly got into a paroxysm of tremendous fever, and,
+regaining strength in an instant, jumped out of bed, seized all the
+bottles of medicine, and in a fury sent the whole collection flying out
+of the window. Doctor Splendiano Accoramboni was just in the act to
+come into the house to pay a visit, and, as Fate would have it, two or
+three of the phials hit him on the head, and breaking, sent the brown
+liquid within them flowing in dark streams over his face, his periwig,
+and his neckerchief. The doctor sprang nimbly into the house, and
+cried, like a man possessed, "Signor Salvator is off his head! Delirium
+has evidently set in--nothing can save him. He'll be a dead man in ten
+minutes. Here with the picture, Dame Caterina; it belongs to me--all I
+shall get for my services! Here with the picture, I tell you."
+
+But when Dame Caterina opened the box, and Doctor Splendiano
+Accoramboni saw the old cloaks and the burst and tattered boots and
+shoes which it contained, his eyes rolled in his head like fire wheels,
+he gnashed his teeth, stamped with his feet, devoted Salvator, the
+widow, and all the inmates of the house, to the demons of hell, and
+bolted out of the door as if discharged from a cannon.
+
+When the paroxysm of excitement was over, Salvator again fell into a
+deathlike condition, and Dame Caterina thought his last hour was
+certainly come. So she ran as quickly as she could to the convent, and
+brought Father Bonifazio to administer the sacraments to the dying man.
+When Father Bonifazio came, he looked at the patient, said he very well
+knew the peculiar signs which death imprints upon the face of one whom
+he is going to carry off; but there was nothing of the sort to be seen
+on the face of the unconscious Salvator in his faint, and that help was
+still possible, and he himself would procure or bestow; only Doctor
+Splendiano Accoramboni, with his Greek names and diabolical phials,
+must never cross the doorstep again. The good father set to work, and
+we shall find that he kept his word.
+
+Salvator came to his senses, and it seemed to him that he was lying in
+a delightful, sweet-smelling arbour, for green branches and leaves were
+stretching over him. He felt a delightful salutary warmth of life
+permeating him, only, apparently, his left arm was fettered.
+
+"Where am I?" he cried, in a faint voice. Then a young man of handsome
+appearance, whom he had not observed before, though he was standing by
+his bed, fell down on his knees, seized Salvator's right hand, bathing
+it in tears, and cried over and over again, "Oh, my beloved Signor, my
+grand master! all is well now! You are saved; you will recover!"
+
+"Well," began Salvator, "but tell me----"
+
+The young man interrupted him, begging him not to talk in his weak
+condition, and promising to tell him all that had been happening. "You
+must know, my dear and great master, that you must have been
+exceedingly ill when you arrived in Naples here; but your condition was
+not probably very dangerous, and moderate measures, considering the
+strength of your constitution, would doubtless have set you on your
+legs again in a short time, if it had not happened, through Carlo's
+well-meant mischance--as he ran for the nearest doctor at once--that
+you fell into the clutches of the abominable Pyramid Doctor, who did
+his very best to put you under the sod."
+
+"The Pyramid Doctor?" said Salvator, laughing most heartily, weak as he
+was. "Yes, yes; ill as I was, I saw him well enough, the little damasky
+creature, who condemned me to swallow all that diabolical stuff--hell
+broth as it was--and had the obelisk of the Piazza San Pietro on the
+top of his head, which is the reason you call him the Pyramid Doctor."
+
+"Oh, heavens!" cried the young man, laughing loudly too. "Yes, it was
+Doctor Splendiano Accoramboni who appeared to you in that mysterious
+high-pointed nightcap of his, in which he gleams out of his window in
+the Piazza di Spagna every morning like some meteor of evil omen. But
+it is not on account of the cap that he is called the Pyramid Doctor;
+there is a very different reason for that. Doctor Splendiano is very
+fond of pictures, and has a very fine collection, which he has got
+together through a peculiar piece of technical practice. He keeps a
+close and watchful eye upon painters and their illnesses, and
+particularly he manages to throw his nets over stranger masters.
+Suppose they have swallowed a little too much macaroni, or taken a cup
+or two more syracuse than is good for them, he succeeds in throwing his
+noose over them, and labels them with this or that disease, which he
+christens by some monstrous name, and then sets to work to cure. As fee
+he makes them promise him a picture, which, as it is only the strongest
+constitutions which can resist the powerful drugs he administers, he
+generally selects from the effects of the deceased, deposited at the
+Pyramid of Cestius. He takes the best of them, and others into the
+bargain. The refuse heap at the Pyramid of Cestius is the seedfield of
+Doctor Splendiano Accoramboni, and he cultivates, dresses, and manures
+it most assiduously. And that is why he is called the Pyramid Doctor.
+Now Dame Caterina, with the best intentions, had given the doctor to
+understand that you had brought a fine picture with you, and you can
+imagine the ardour with which he set to work to brew potions for you.
+It was lucky for you that in your paroxysm of fever you threw the stuff
+at his head, that he left you in a fury, that Dame Caterina sent for
+Father Bonifazio to administer the sacraments, believing you at death's
+door. Father Bonifazio knows a great deal about doctoring; he formed a
+correct opinion as to your condition, sent for me, and----"
+
+"Then you are a doctor too," said Salvator, in a faint, melancholy
+tone.
+
+"No," answered the young gentleman, while a bright colour came to his
+cheek, "my dear, renowned master, I am not a doctor like Signor
+Splendiano Accoramboni; I am a surgeon. I thought I should have sunk
+into the ground with terror--with joy--when Father Bonifazio told me
+Salvator Rosa was lying sick to death in Strada Vergognona and
+requiring my assistance. I hastened here, opened a vein in your left
+arm, and you were saved. We brought you here to this cool, airy room,
+where you used to live before. Look around you; there is the easel
+which you left behind you; there are one or two sketches still,
+preserved, like holy relics, by Dame Caterina. Your illness has had its
+back broken. Simple remedies, which Father Bonifazio will give you, and
+careful nursing will set you on your legs again. And now, permit me
+once more to kiss this creative hand, which calls forth, as by magic,
+the most hidden secrets of nature. Permit the poor Antonio Scacciati to
+allow all his heart to stream forth in delight and fervent gratitude
+that heaven vouchsafed to him the good fortune to save the life of the
+glorious and renowned master, Salvator Rosa."
+
+He again knelt, seized Salvator's hand, kissed it, and bedewed it with
+hot tears as before.
+
+"I cannot tell, dear Antonio," said Salvator, raising himself up a
+little, "what strange spirit inspires you to exhibit such a profound
+veneration for me. You say you are a surgeon, and that is a calling
+which does not usually pair itself readily with art."
+
+"When you have got some strength back, dear master," answered Antonio,
+"there are many matters lying heavy at my heart which I will tell you
+of."
+
+"Do so," said Salvator; "place full confidence in me--you may, for I do
+not know when a man's face went more truly to my very heart than does
+yours. The more I look at you the more clear it becomes to me that
+there is a great likeness in your face to that of the heavenly, godlike
+lad--I mean the Sanzio." Antonio's eyes glowed with flashing fire; he
+seemed to strive in vain to find words.
+
+Just then Dame Caterina came in with Father Bonifazio, bringing a
+draught which he had skilfully compounded, and which the sick man took,
+and relished better than the Acherontic liquids of the Pyramid Doctor,
+Splendiano Accoramboni.
+
+                         *   *   *   *   *   *
+
+Antonio Scacciati comes to high honour through the intervention of
+      Salvator Rosa.--He confides to Salvator the causes of his
+      continual sorrowfulness, and Salvator comforts him, and promises
+      him help.
+
+What Antonio promised came to pass. The simple, healing medicines of
+Father Bonifazio, the careful nursing of Dame Caterina and her
+daughters, the mild season of the year which just then came on, had
+such a speedy effect on Salvator's strong constitution, that he soon
+felt well enough to begin thinking of his art, and, as a beginning,
+made some magnificent sketches for pictures which he intended to paint
+at a future time.
+
+Antonio scarcely left Salvator's room. He was all eye when the master
+was sketching, and his opinions on many matters showed him to be
+initiated in the mysteries of art himself.
+
+"Antonio," said Salvator, one day, "you know so much about art that I
+believe you have not only looked on at a great deal with correct
+understanding, but have even wielded the pencil yourself!"
+
+"Remember, dear master," answered Antonio, "that when you were
+recovering from unconsciousness, I told you there were many things
+lying heavy on my heart. Perhaps it is time, now, for me to divulge my
+secrets to you fully. Although I am the surgeon who opened a vein for
+you, I belong to Art with all my heart and soul. I intend now to devote
+myself to it altogether, and throw the hateful handicraft entirely to
+the winds."
+
+"Ho, ho, Antonio!" said Salvator, "bethink you what you are going to
+do. You are a clever surgeon, and perhaps will never be more than a
+bungler at painting. Young as you are in years, you are too old to
+begin with the crayon. A man's whole life is scarcely enough in which
+to attain to one single perception of the True, still less to the power
+of representing it poetically."
+
+"Ah, my dear master," said Antonio, smiling gently, "how should I
+entertain the mad idea of beginning now to turn myself to the difficult
+art of painting, had I not worked at it as hard as I could ever since I
+was a child, had not heaven so willed it that, though I was kept away
+from art, and everything in the shape of it, by my father's obstinacy
+and folly, I made the acquaintance, and enjoyed the society, of masters
+of renown. Even the great Annibale interested himself in the neglected
+boy, and I have the happiness to be able to say I am a pupil of Guido
+Reni."
+
+"Well, good Antonio," said Salvator, a little sharply, as his manner
+sometimes was. "If that is so, you have had great teachers; so, no
+doubt, in spite of your surgical skill, you may be a great pupil of
+theirs too. Only what I do not understand is, how you, as a pupil of
+the gentle and tender Guido (whom, perhaps, as pupils in their
+enthusiasm sometimes do--you even outdo in tenderness, in your work),
+how you can hold me to be a master in my art at all."
+
+Antonio coloured at those words of Salvator's; in fact, they had about
+them a ring of jeering irony.
+
+Antonio answered: "Let me lay aside all bashfulness, which might close
+my lips. Let me speak freely out exactly what is in my mind. Salvator,
+I have never revered a master so wholly from out the very depths of my
+being as I do you. It is the often superhuman grandeur of the ideas
+which I admire in your works. You see, and comprehend, and grasp the
+profoundest secrets of Nature. You read, and understand, the marvellous
+hieroglyphs of her rocks, her trees, her waterfalls; you hear her
+mighty voices; you interpret her language, and can transcribe what she
+says to you. Yes, transcription is what I would call your bold and
+vivid style of working. Man, with his doings, contents you not; you
+look at him only as being in the lap of Nature, and in so far as his
+inmost being is conditioned by her phenomena. Therefore, Salvator, it
+is in marvellous combinations of landscape with figure that you are so
+wondrous great. Historical painting places limits which hem your
+flight, to your disadvantage."
+
+"You tell me this, Antonio," said Salvator, "as the envious historical
+painters do, who throw landscape to me by way of a _bonne-bouche_, that
+I may occupy myself in chewing it, and abstain from tearing their
+flesh. Do I not know the human figure, and everything appertaining to
+it? However, all those silly slanders, echoed from others----"
+
+"Do not be indignant, dear master," answered Antonio. "I do not repeat
+things blindly after other folks, and least of all should I pay any
+attention to the opinions of our masters here in Rome just now. Who
+could help admiring the daring drawing, the marvellous expression, and
+particularly the lively action, of your figures! One sees that you do
+not work from the stiff, awkward model, or from the dead lay figure,
+but that you are, yourself, your own living model, and that you draw
+and paint the figure which you place on the canvas in front of a great
+mirror."
+
+"Heyday, Antonio!" cried Salvator, laughing. "I believe you must have
+been peeping into my studio without my knowledge, to know so well what
+goes on there."
+
+"Might not that have been?" said Antonio. "But let me go on. The
+pictures which your mighty genius inspires I should by no means narrow
+into one class so strictly as the pedantic masters try to do. In fact,
+the term 'landscape,' as generally understood, applies badly to your
+paintings, which I should prefer to call 'historical representations.'
+In a deeper sense, it often seems that this or the other rock, that or
+the other tree, gazes on us with an earnest look: and that this and the
+other group of strangely-attired people is like some wonderful crag
+which has come to life. All Nature, moving in marvellous unity, speaks
+out the sublime thought which glowed within you. This is how I have
+looked at your pictures, and this is how I am indebted to you, my great
+and glorious master, for a profound understanding of art. But do not
+suppose that, on this account, I have fallen into a childishness of
+imitation. Greatly as I wish I possessed your freedom and daring of
+brush, I must confess that the colouring of Nature seems to me to be
+different from what I see represented in your pictures. I hold that,
+even for the sake of practice, it is helpful to a learner to imitate
+the style of this or that master: but still, when once he stands on his
+own feet, to a certain extent, he should strive to represent Nature as
+he sees it himself. This true seeing, this being at unity with oneself,
+is the only thing which can produce character and truth. Guido was of
+this opinion, and the unresting Preti, whom, as you know, they call the
+Calabrese, a painter who certainly reflected on his art more than any
+other, warned me in the same way against slavish imitation. And now you
+know, Salvator, why I reverence you more than all the others, without
+being in the slightest degree your imitator, in any way."
+
+Salvator had been gazing fixedly into the young man's eyes as he spoke,
+and he now clasped him stormily to his breast.
+
+"Antonio," he said, "you have spoken very wise words of deep
+significance. Young as you are in years, you surpass, in knowledge of
+art, many of our old, much belauded masters, who talk a great deal of
+nonsense about their art, and never get to the bottom of the matter.
+Truly, when you spoke of my pictures, it seemed that I was, for the
+first time, beginning to come to a clear understanding of myself, and I
+prize you very highly just because you do not imitate my style--that
+you don't, like so many others, take a pot of black paint, lay on
+staring high lights, make a few crippled-looking figures, in horrible
+costumes, peep out of the dirty-looking ground, and then think 'There's
+a Salvator.' You have found in me the truest of friends, and I devote
+myself to you with all my soul."
+
+Antonio was beyond himself with joy at the good will which the master
+thus charmingly displayed to him. Salvator expressed a strong desire to
+see Antonio's pictures, and Antonio took him at once to his studio.
+
+Salvator had formed no small expectations of this youth who spoke so
+understandingly about art, and in whom there seemed to be a peculiar
+genius at work; and yet the master was most agreeably astonished by
+Antonio's wealth of pictures. He found everywhere boldness of idea,
+correctness of drawing; and the fresh colouring, the great tastefulness
+of the breadth of the flow of folds, the unusual delicacy of the
+extremities, and the high beauty of the heads evidenced the worthy
+pupil of the great Reni; although Antonio's striving was not, like that
+of his master (who was overapt to do this), to sacrifice expression to
+beauty, often too visibly. One saw that Antonio aimed at Annibale's
+strength, without, as yet, being able to attain to it.
+
+In his first silence Salvator had examined each of Antonio's pictures
+for a long time. At length he said: "Listen, Antonio, there is not the
+slightest doubt about it, you are born for the noble painter's art. For
+not only has Nature given you the creative spirit, from which the most
+glorious ideas flame forth in inexhaustible wealth, but she has further
+endowed you with the rare talent, which, in a brief time, overcomes the
+difficulties of technical practice. I should be a lying flatterer if I
+said you had as yet equalled your teachers, that you had attained to
+Guido's marvellous delightsomeness, or Annibale's power; but it is
+certain that you far surpass our masters who give themselves such airs
+here in the Academy of San Luca, your Tiarini, Gessi, Sementa, and
+whatever they may call themselves, not excepting Lanfranco, who can
+only draw in chalk; and yet, Antonio, were I in your place I should
+consider long before I threw away the lancet altogether, and took up
+the brush. This sounds strange; but hear me further. Just at present an
+evil time for art has begun; or rather, the devil seems to be busy
+amongst our masters, stirring them up pretty freely. If you have not
+made up your mind to meet with mortifications and vexations of every
+kind, to suffer the more hatred and contempt the higher you soar in
+art, as your fame increases everywhere to meet with villains, who
+will press round you with friendly mien, to destroy you all the more
+surely--if, I say, you have not made up your mind for all this, keep
+aloof from painting! Think of the fate of your teacher, the great
+Annibale, whom a knavish crew of fellow-painters in Naples persecuted
+so that he could not get a single great work to undertake, but was
+everywhere shown the door with despite, which brought him to his
+untimely grave. Think what happened to our Domenichino, when he was
+painting the cupola of the chapel of St. Januarius. Didn't the villains
+of painters there (I shall not mention any of their names, not
+even that scoundrel Belisario's or Ribera's), did not they bribe
+Domenichino's servant to put ashes into the lime, so that the
+plastering would not bind? The painting could thus have no permanence.
+Think on all those things, and prove yourself well, whether your spirit
+is strong enough to withstand the like; for otherwise your power will
+be broken, and when the firm courage to make is gone, the power to do
+it is gone along with it."
+
+"Ah, Salvator," said Antonio, "it is scarcely possible that, had I once
+devoted myself entirely to painting, I should have to undergo more
+despite and contempt than I have had to suffer already, being still a
+surgeon. You have found pleasure in my pictures, and you have said,
+doubtless from inner conviction, that I have it in me to do better
+things than many of our San Luca men. And yet it is just they who turn
+up their noses at all that I have, with much industry, achieved, and
+say, contemptuously, 'Ho, ho, the surgeon thinks he can paint a
+picture!' But, for that very reason my decision is firmly come to, to
+get clear of a calling which is more and more hateful to me every day.
+It is on you, master, that I pin all my hopes. Your word is worth much.
+If you chose to speak for me you could at once dash my envious
+persecutors to the dust, and put me in the place which is mine by
+right."
+
+"You have great confidence in me," said Salvator; "but now that we have
+so thoroughly understood each other as to our art, and now that I have
+seen your works, I do not know any one for whom I should take up the
+cudgels, and that with all my might, so readily as I should for you."
+
+Salvator once more examined Antonio's pictures, and paused before one
+representing a Magdalone at the Saviour's feet, which he specially
+commended.
+
+"You have departed," he said, "from the style in which people generally
+represent this Magdalene. Your Magdalene is not an earnest woman, but
+rather an ingenuous, charming child, and such a wondrous one as nobody
+else (except Guido) could have painted. There is a peculiar charm about
+the beautiful creature. You have painted her with enthusiasm, and, if I
+am not deceived, the original of this Magdalene is in life, and here in
+Rome. Confess, Antonio, you are in love."
+
+Antonio cast his eyes down and said, softly and bashfully: "Nothing
+escapes those sharp eyes of yours, my dear master. It may be as you
+say, but don't blame me. I prize this picture most of all, and I have
+kept it concealed from every one's sight, like a holy mystery."
+
+"What!" cried Salvator, "have none of the painters seen this picture?"
+
+"That is so," said Antonio.
+
+"Then," said Salvator, his eyes shining with joy, "be assured, Antonio,
+that I will overthrow your envious, puffed-up enemies, and bring you to
+merited honour. Entrust your picture to me--send it secretly in the
+night to my lodgings, and leave the rest to me. Will you?"
+
+"A thousand times yes, with gladness," answered Antonio. "Ah! I should
+like to tell you, at once, the troubles connected with my love-affair,
+but somehow it seems to me that I do not dare, to-day, just when our
+hearts have opened to one another in art; but some day I shall probably
+ask you to advise and help me in that direction too."
+
+"Both my advice and my help shall be at your service wherever and
+whenever they may be necessary," Salvator answered. As he was leaving
+he turned round and said with a smile: "Antonio, when you told me you
+were a painter, I was sorry I had mentioned your likeness to the
+Sanzio. I thought you might be silly enough, as many of our young
+fellows are, if they chance to have a passing likeness in the face to
+this or that great master, they take to wearing their hair and beard as
+he does, and find it necessary to imitate his style in art as well,
+though it may be quite contrary to their character. We have neither of
+us named the name of Raphael; but, believe me, in your pictures I find
+distinct traces of the extent to which the whole heaven of godlike
+ideas in the works of the greatest master of our time has been revealed
+to you. You understand Raphael. You will not reply to me as did
+Velasquez, whom I asked, the other day, what he thought of the Sanzio.
+He said Titian was the greater master; Raphael knew nothing about flesh
+colour. In that Spaniard is the Flesh, not the Word; yet they laud him
+to the skies in San Luca, because he once painted cherries which the
+birds came and tried to peck."
+
+A few days after the above conversation, it happened that the
+Academists of San Luca assembled in their church to judge the pictures
+of the painters who had applied for admission to the Academy. Salvator
+had sent Scacciati's beautiful Magdalene picture. The painters were
+amazed by the charm and the power of the work, and the most unstinted
+praise resounded from every lip when Salvator explained that he had
+brought the picture with him from Naples--the work of a young painter,
+prematurely snatched away by death.
+
+In a very short time all Rome streamed to see and admire this work of
+the young, unknown, dead master. Every one was unanimously of opinion
+that no such picture had been painted since Guido Reni's time, and,
+indeed, people carried their enthusiasm so far as to declare that this
+work was even to be ranked above Guido Reni's creations of the same
+kind. Among the crowd of people who were always collected before
+Scacciati's picture, Salvator one day observed a man, who, besides
+being of very remarkable exterior, was conducting himself like a
+madman. He was advanced in years, tall, lean as a spindle, pale of
+face, with a long, pointed nose, and an equally long chin, which
+increased its pointedness by being tipped with a little beard, and
+green, flashing eyes. Upon his thick, extremely fair peruke he had
+stuck a tall hat with a fine feather. He had on a short, dark-red cloak
+with many shining buttons, a sky-blue Spanish-slashed doublet, great
+gauntlets trimmed with silver fringe, a long sword by his side, light
+grey hose drawn over his bony knees, and bound with yellow ribbons, and
+bows of the same ribbon on his shoes. This strange figure was standing,
+as if enraptured, before the picture. He would stand up on his tiptoes,
+then bob himself quite low down; then hop up, with both legs at once,
+sigh, groan, close his eyes so tightly that the tears streamed from
+them, and then open them as wide as they would go; gaze incessantly at
+the beautiful Magdalene, sigh afresh, and lisp out in his mournful,
+_castrato_ voice, "Ah, Carissima! Benedetissima! Ah, Marianna!
+Marianna! Belissima!" &c.
+
+Salvator, always greedy after figures of this sort, got as near to him
+as he could, and tried to enter into conversation with him about
+Scacciati's picture, which seemed to delight him so much; but, without
+taking much heed of Salvator, the old fellow cursed his poverty, which
+would not allow him to buy this picture for a million, and so prevent
+any one else from fixing his devilish glances upon it. And then he
+hopped up and down again, and thanked the Virgin and all the saints
+that the infernal painter who had painted this heavenly picture, which
+drove him to madness and despair, was dead and gone.
+
+Salvator came to the conclusion that the man must be either a maniac,
+or some Academician of San Luca whom he did not know.
+
+All Rome rang with the fame of Scacciati's wonderful picture. Scarce
+anything else was talked of, and this ought to have been enough to show
+its superiority. When the painters held their next meeting in San Luca
+to decide as to the reception of sundry applicants for admission,
+Salvator Rosa made a sudden inquiry whether the painter of the
+Magdalene at the Saviour's feet would not have been worthy to be
+admitted. All the members of the Academy, not excepting the excessively
+critical Cavaliere Josepin, declared, with one voice, that such a great
+master would have been an ornament to the Academy, and, in the most
+studied forms of speech, expressed their regret that he was dead
+(though in their hearts they thanked heaven that he was). Not only
+this, but in their enthusiasm for art, they decided to elect this
+marvellous young painter an Academician, notwithstanding that he had
+been withdrawn from art by a premature death; directing masses to be
+said for the repose of his soul in the church of San Luca. Wherefore
+they requested Salvator to acquaint them with the full names of the
+deceased, as well as the year and place of his birth, &c., &c.
+
+On this Salvator rose up and said: "Signori, the honours which you fain
+would pay to a man in his grave are due to, and had better be bestowed
+on, a living painter, who is walking to and fro in our midst. Know ye
+that the Magdalene at the Saviour's feet--the picture which you have
+such a high opinion of justly, and esteem so highly above anything
+which living painters have produced--is not the work of a Neapolitan
+painter no longer in life, as I pretended it was, that your verdict
+might be unbiassed. This picture, this masterpiece, which all Rome
+admires at this moment, is by the hand of Antonio Scacciati, the
+surgeon."
+
+The painters glared dumb and motionless at Salvator, like men struck by
+lightning. Salvator enjoyed their consternation for a short time, and
+then went on to say: "Well, gentlemen, you would not allow Antonio to
+come amongst you because he is a surgeon; but I think the Academy of
+San Luca is in very great need of a surgeon to mend and set the
+crippled arms and legs of the figures which come from the studios of
+many of its members. However, I presume you will not longer delay to do
+what you ought to have done long ago; that is, to admit this admirable
+painter, Antonio Scacciati, a member of your Academy."
+
+The Academicians swallowed Salvator's bitter pill; they said they were
+much overjoyed that Antonio had displayed his talent in such a striking
+and decided manner, and they elected him a member of the Academy with
+much ceremony. As soon as it was known in Rome that Antonio was the
+painter of the wonderful picture, there streamed in upon him from all
+sides congratulations, and commissions to undertake great and important
+works. Thus was this young painter--thanks to Salvator's method of
+setting to work--brought, in a moment, out of obscurity, and raised to
+high honour, at the very juncture when he had made up his mind to start
+upon his career as an artist.
+
+Floating and hovering, as he was, in an atmosphere of happiness and
+bliss, it all the more surprised Salvator one day when Antonio came to
+him, pale and upset, full of anger and despair. "Ah, Salvator," he
+cried, "what does it avail me that you have set me up on a pinnacle,
+where I could never have dreamt of being, that I am overwhelmed with
+praise and honour, that the prospect of the most delightful and
+glorious artistic career opens before me, when I am inexpressibly
+unhappy, when the very picture, to which, next to yourself, dear
+master, I am indebted for my victory, is the express cause of
+irremediable misfortune to me?"
+
+"Silence!" cried Salvator. "Do not commit a sin against your art and
+your picture. I don't believe a word as to your irremediable
+misfortune. You are in love, and perhaps things are not going in all
+respects exactly as you wish; but that is all, no doubt. Lovers are
+like children, they cry and yell the moment anybody touches their toy.
+Leave off lamenting, I beg of you; it is a thing which I cannot endure.
+Sit down there, and tell me quietly how matters stand as regards your
+beautiful Magdalene and your love-affair altogether, and where the
+stumbling-blocks are which we must get out of the way, for I promise
+you, to commence with, that I will help you. The more difficult and
+arduous and adventurous the things are that we have to set about, the
+better I shall be pleased, for the blood is running quick in my veins
+again, and the state of my health calls upon me to set to work and play
+a wild trick or two; so tell me all about it, Antonio, and, as
+aforesaid, none of your 'Ohs' and your 'Ahs.'"
+
+Antonio sat down in the chair which Salvator had placed for him near
+the easel where he was at work, and commenced as follows:--
+
+"In Strada Ripetta, in the lofty house whose projecting balcony you see
+as soon as you go through the Porta del Popolo, lives the greatest ass
+and most idiotic donkey in all Rome. An old bachelor, with all the
+faults of his class--vain, trying to be young, in love, and a coxcomb.
+He is tall, thin as a whip-stalk, dresses in party-coloured Spanish
+costume, with a blonde periwig, a steeple-crowned hat, gauntlets, and
+long sword at his side----"
+
+"Stop, stop! wait a moment, Antonio," cried Salvator, and, turning
+round the picture he was working at, he took a crayon, and, on the
+reverse side of it, drew, in a few bold touches, the curious old fellow
+who had been going on so absurdly in front of Antonio's picture.
+
+"By all the saints!" cried Antonio, jumping up from his chair, and
+laughing loud and clear in spite of his despair, "that is the very
+man--that is Signor Pasquale Capuzzi, of whom I am speaking, to the
+very life."
+
+"There, you see," said Salvator quietly, "I know the gentleman who is
+probably your bitter rival. But go on with your story."
+
+"Signor Pasquale Capuzzi," continued Antonio, "is as rich as Cr[oe]sus,
+but, as I think I was telling you, a terrible miser, as well as a
+perfect ass. His best quality is that he is devoted to the arts,
+particularly to music and painting. But there is so much idiotic
+absurdity mixed up with this, that, even in those directions, it is
+impossible to put up with him. He believes himself to be the greatest
+composer in the world, and a singer the like of whom is not to be found
+in the Papal Chapel. Therefore he looks askance at our old Frescobaldi,
+and when the Romans talk of the marvellous charm and spell which
+Ceccarelli's voice possesses, he thinks Ceccarelli knows as much about
+singing as an old slipper, and that he--Capuzzi--is the person to
+enchant the world. But as the Pope's principal singer bears the proud
+name of Edoardo Ceccarelli di Merania, our Capuzzi likes to be styled
+'Signor Pasquale Capuzzi di Senegaglia,' for his mother bore him in
+that place, and, in fact, people say, in a fishing-boat, from sudden
+terror at the rising of a sea-calf, and there is, consequently, a great
+deal of the sea-calf in his nature. In early life he put an opera on
+the stage, and it was hissed off it in the completest manner possible;
+but that did not cure him of his craze for writing diabolical music. On
+the other hand, when he heard Francesco Cavalli's opera, 'Le Nozze di
+Teti e di Peleo,' he said the Capellmeister had borrowed the most
+sublime ideas from his own immortal works; for saying which he had a
+narrow escape of cudgellings, or even of knife-thrusts. He is still
+possessed with the idea of singing arias, accompanying himself by
+torturing a wretched guitar, which has to groan and sigh in support of
+his mewing and caterwauling. His faithful Pylades is a broken-down,
+dwarfish Castrato, whom the Romans call Pitichinaccio; and guess who
+completes the trio. Well, none other than the Pyramid Doctor, who emits
+sounds like a melancholy jackass, and is under the impression that he
+sings a magnificent bass, as good as Martinelli's, of the Papal Chapel.
+Those three worthies meet together of evenings, and sit on the balcony,
+singing motetts of Carissimi's till all the dogs and cats in the
+neighbourhood yell and howl, and the human beings within earshot devote
+the hellish trio to all the thousand devils.
+
+"My father," Antonio continued, "was in the habit of going in and out
+of the house of this incomparable idiot, Signor Pasquale Capuzzi (whom
+you know sufficiently well from my description), because he used to
+dress his wig and his beard. When he died, I undertook those offices,
+and Capuzzi was greatly pleased with me, firstly, because he considered
+that I was able to give his moustaches a bold upward twist in a manner
+which nobody else could, and further, doubtless, because I was
+satisfied with the two or three quattrinos which he gave me for my
+trouble. But he thought he was over-paying me, inasmuch as, every
+time I dressed his beard he would croak out to me, with closed eyes,
+an aria of his own composing, which flayed the skin off my ears,
+although the remarkable antics of this creature afforded me much
+entertainment--which was the reason I continued to go back to him. I on
+one occasion walked gently up the stairs, knocked at the door, and
+opened it, when there met me a girl--an angel of light! You know my
+Magdalene!--it was she. I stood rooted to the spot. No, no, Salvator, I
+won't treat you to any 'Ohs' or 'Ahs.' I need but say that on the
+instant, when I saw the loveliest of all ladies, I fell into the
+deepest, fondest affection for her. The old fellow said, with simpers,
+that she was the daughter of his brother Pietro, who had died in
+Senegaglia, that her name was Marianna, and that, as she had no mother,
+and neither brothers nor sisters, he had taken her into his house. You
+may imagine that from that time forth Capuzzi's dwelling was my
+paradise. But, scheme as I might, I could never be alone with Marianna
+for a single instant; yet her eyes, as well as many a stolen sigh, and
+even many a pressure of the hand, left me in no doubt of my happiness.
+The old man found this out, and it was not a very difficult matter. He
+told me that he was by no means pleased with my behaviour to his niece,
+and asked me what I meant by it. I candidly confessed that I loved her
+with all my soul, and could imagine no more perfect bliss on earth than
+to make her my wife. On this, Capuzzi eyed me up and down, broke into
+sneering laughter, and said that he could not have imagined that ideas
+of the kind could have haunted the brain of a wretched hairdresser. My
+blood got up: I said he knew very well that I was by no means a mere
+wretched hairdresser, but a skilled surgeon, and, more than that, as
+concerned the glorious art of painting, a faithful scholar and pupil of
+the grand Annibale Caracci, and the unsurpassed Guido Reni. On this the
+despicable Capuzzi broke out into louder laughter, and squeaked out, in
+his abominable falsetto: 'Very good, my sweet Signor Beard-curler, my
+talented Signor Surgeon, my charming Annibale Caracci, my most beloved
+Guido Reni, _go to all the devils_, and don't show that nose of yours
+inside my door again, unless you want every bone in your body broken.'
+And the demented old totterer actually took hold of me with no less
+an idea in his head than that of chucking me out of the door and
+downstairs. But this was rather more than could be endured. I was
+furious, and I seized hold of the fellow, turned him topsy-turvy, with
+his toes pointing to the ceiling (screaming at the top of his lungs),
+and ran downstairs and out of the door, which was from thenceforth
+closed against me.
+
+"Matters were in this position when you came to Rome, and Heaven
+inspired the good Father Bonifazio to conduct me to you; and then, when
+that had happened, through your cleverness, which I had striven after
+in vain, when the Academy of San Luca had admitted me, and all Rome
+was praising and honouring me above my desert, I went straight away to
+the old man, and appeared suddenly before him in his room like a
+threatening spectre. That is what I must have seemed like to him, for
+he turned as pale as death, and drew back behind a table, trembling in
+every limb. In a grave, firm voice, I told him that I was not now the
+Beard-curler and Surgeon, but the celebrated Painter, and Member of the
+Academy of San Luca, Antonio Scacciati, to whom he could not refuse his
+niece's hand. You should have seen the fury into which the old man
+fell. He yelled, he beat about him with his arms, he cried out that I
+was a remorseless murderer, seeking to take his life, that I had stolen
+his Marianna away from him, as I had counterfeited her in the picture
+which drove him to madness and despair. That now all the world--all the
+world--was looking at his Marianna, his life, his hope, his everything,
+with longing, coveting eyes; but that I had better be careful, for he
+would burn the house down about my ears, and make an end of me and my
+picture together. And on this he began to vociferate, and scream out so
+loudly, 'Fire!--murder!--thieves!--help!' that I thought of nothing but
+getting out of the house as speedily as possible.
+
+"You see that this old lunatic Capuzzi is over head and ears in
+love with his niece. He keeps her shut up, and, if he can get a
+dispensation, he will force her to the most horrible marriage
+conceivable. All hope is at an end."
+
+"Why not, indeed?" said Salvator, laughing. "For my part, I think,
+rather, that your affairs could not possibly be in a better position.
+Marianna loves you--you know that well enough--and all that has to be
+done is to get her out of the clutches of this old lunatic. Now I
+really do not see what should prevent two adventurous, sturdy fellows,
+like you and me, from accomplishing this. Keep up your heart, Antonio!
+Instead of lamenting, and getting to be love-sick and powerless, the
+thing to do is to keep thinking on Marianna's rescue. Just watch,
+Antonio, how we will lead the old donkey by the nose. The very wildest
+undertakings are not wild enough for me, in circumstances like those.
+This very moment I shall set to work to see what more I can find out
+about the old fellow and all his ways of life. You must not let
+yourself be seen in this, Antonio. Go you quietly home, and come to me
+to-morrow as early as you can, that we may consider the plan for our
+first attack."
+
+With that Salvator washed his brushes, threw on his cloak, and hastened
+to the Corso; whilst Antonio, comforted, and with fresh hope in his
+heart, went home, as Salvator had enjoined him.
+
+                         *   *   *   *   *   *
+
+Signor Pasquale Capuzzi makes his appearance in Salvator Rosa's
+      abode.--What happened there.--Rosa and Scacciati's artful
+      stratagem, and its consequences.
+
+Antonio was not a little surprised, the next morning, when Salvator
+gave him the most minute account of Capuzzi's whole manner of life,
+which, in the interval, he had found out all about. Salvator said the
+miserable Marianna was tortured by the crack-brained old scoundrel in
+the most fiendish manner. That he sighed, and made love to her all day
+long; and, what was worse, by way of touching her heart, sang to her
+all sorts of amorous ditties and arias which he had composed, or
+attempted to compose. Moreover, he was so madly jealous that he would
+not allow this much-to-be-compassionated girl even the usual female
+attendance, for fear of love-intrigues to which the Abigail might
+possibly be corrupted. "Instead of that," Salvator went on, "there
+comes, every morning and evening, a little horrible, ghastly spectre of
+a creature, with hollow eyes, and pale, flabby, hanging cheeks, to do
+what a maid-servant ought to do for the beautiful Marianna. And this
+spectre is none other than that tiny hop-o-my-thumb Pitichinaccio,
+dressed in woman's clothes. When Capuzzi is away, he carefully locks
+and bars all the doors; and besides that, watch and ward is kept by
+that infernal fellow who was once a Bravo, afterwards a Sbirro, who
+lives downstairs in Capuzzi's house. Therefore it seems impossible to
+get inside the door. But I promise you, Antonio, that to-morrow night
+you shall be in the room with Capuzzi, and see your Marianna, though,
+this time, only in Capuzzi's presence."
+
+"What!" cried Antonio, "is that which appears to me an impossibility
+going to come to pass to-morrow night?"
+
+"Hush, Antonio!" said Salvator; "let us calmly reflect how the plan
+which I have hit upon is to be carried out. To begin with, I must tell
+you that I have a certain connection with Signor Capuzzi which I was
+not aware of. That wretched spinett standing in the corner there is his
+property, and I am supposed to be going to pay him the exorbitant price
+of ten ducats for it. When I had got somewhat better after my illness,
+I had a longing for music, which is consolation and recreation to me. I
+asked my landlady to get hold of an instrument of that sort for me.
+Dame Caterina soon found out that a certain old fellow in Strada
+Ripetta had an old spinett for sale. It was brought here, and I
+troubled myself neither about the price nor about the owner. It was
+only last night that I discovered that it was our honourable Signor
+Capuzzi who was going to swindle me with his old, broken-down
+instrument. Dame Caterina had applied to an acquaintance who lives in
+the house with Capuzzi, and, in fact, on the same storey; so that now
+you see where I got all my information from."
+
+"Ha!" cried Antonio; "thus is the means of admission discovered. Your
+landlady----"
+
+"I know what you are going to say," said Salvator. "You think the way
+to your Marianna is through Dame Caterina. That would never do at all.
+Dame Caterina is much too talkative; she can't keep the most trifling
+secret, and is therefore by no means to be made use of in our
+undertaking. Listen to me, quietly. Every evening, when the little
+Castrato has done the maid-servant work, Signor Pasquale Capuzzi
+carries him home in his arms, difficult as that job is, considering the
+shakiness of his own old knees. Not for all the world would the
+timorous Pitichinaccio set foot on the pavement at that time of the
+night. Very good; when----"
+
+At this moment a knock came to Salvator's door, and, to the no small
+astonishment of both, in came Signor Pasquale Capuzzi in all his glory.
+As soon as he saw Scacciati he stood still, as if paralysed in every
+limb, opened his eyes wide, and panted for air as if his breath would
+fail him. But Salvator hurried up to him, took him by both hands, and
+cried out: "My dear Signor Pasquale! how highly honoured I am that you
+should visit me in my humble lodging. Doubtless it is the love of art
+that brings you. You wish to look at what I have been doing lately;
+perhaps you are even going to honour me with a commission. Tell me,
+dear Signor Pasquale, wherein I can do you a pleasure."
+
+"I have to speak with you," stammered Capuzzi, with difficulty, "dear
+Signor Salvator; but, alone; when you are by yourself. Allow me to take
+my departure for the present, and come back at a more convenient time."
+
+"By no means, my dear Signor," said Salvator, holding the old man fast.
+"You must not go. You could not possibly have come at a more convenient
+time, for, as you are a great honourer of the noble art of painting, it
+will give you no small joy when I present to you here Antonio
+Scacciati, the greatest painter of our time, whose glorious picture,
+the marvellous 'Magdalene at the Saviour's feet,' all Rome regards with
+the utmost enthusiasm. No doubt you are full of the picture, like the
+rest, and have been anxious to make the painter's acquaintance."
+
+The old man was seized by a violent trembling. He shook like one in the
+cold stage of a fever, sending, the while, burning looks of rage at
+Antonio; who, however, went up to him with easy courtesy, declaring
+that he thought himself fortunate to meet Signor Pasquale Capuzzi,
+whose profound knowledge of music, as well as of painting, not only
+Rome, but all Italy admired, and he recommended himself to his
+protection.
+
+It restored the old fellow to his self-control that Antonio treated him
+as if he met him for the first time, and addressed him in such
+flattering terms. He forced himself to a sort of simpering smile, and
+(Salvator having let go his hands) softly stroked the points of his
+moustaches heavenwards, stammered a few unintelligible words, and then
+turned to Salvator, whom he attacked on the subject of the payment of
+the ten ducats. "We will settle that every-day little affair
+afterwards," said Salvator. "First let it please you to look at the
+sketches which I have made for a picture, and, as you do so, to drink a
+glass of good Syracuse." Salvator placed his sketches on the easel,
+drew up a chair for the old gentleman, and, when he had seated himself,
+handed him a large, beautiful goblet, in which the noble Syracuse was
+sparkling.
+
+The old man was only too fond of a glass of good wine, when he had not
+to pay for it; and, moreover, as he was expecting to receive ten ducats
+for a worn-out, rickety spinett, and was seated before a boldly
+sketched-in picture, whose wonderful beauty he was quite capable of
+appreciating, he could not but feel exceedingly happy in his mind. This
+satisfaction he gave expression to, smirking quite pleasantly, stroking
+his chin and moustaches assiduously, half closing his eyes, and
+whispering, time after time, "Glorious! Precious!" without its clearly
+appearing whether he referred to the picture or to the wine.
+
+As he had now become quite friendly, Salvator said, suddenly: "Tell me,
+my dear sir, is it not the case that-you have a most beautiful niece,
+of the name of Marianna? All our young fellows are continually rushing
+to the Strada Ripetta, impelled by love-craziness. They give themselves
+cricks in the neck with gazing up at your balcony in the hope of seeing
+her, and catching a glance from her heavenly eyes."
+
+The complacent smirk disappeared instantly from the old man's face, and
+all the good humour with which the wine had inspired him vanished.
+Gazing before him gloomily, he said, in a harsh voice: "See there the
+profound corruption of our sinful youth, who fasten their diabolical
+looks on children, detestable seducers that they are!--for I assure
+you, my dear sir, my niece Marianna is a mere child--a mere child
+scarce out of the nursery!"
+
+Salvator changed the subject. The old man recovered his composure; but
+when, with new sunshine in his face, he placed the full goblet to his
+lips, Salvator set on him again, with: "Tell me, my dear Signor, has
+your niece (that young lady of sixteen), the lovely Marianna, really
+that wonderful chestnut-brown hair, and those eyes, full of the rapture
+and bliss of Heaven, which we see in Antonio's Magdalene? That is what
+is everywhere said."
+
+"I can't say," cried the old man, in an angrier tone than before.
+"Don't let us refer to my niece; we can exchange words of more
+importance on the subject of the noble art to which your beautiful
+picture itself leads us."
+
+But as, whenever the old man took up the goblet and placed it to his
+lips to take a good draught, Salvator again began to speak of the
+beautiful Marianna, Pasquale at last sprung from his chair in fury,
+banged the goblet down on the table with such violence that it was
+nearly being broken, and cried in a screaming voice: "By the black,
+hellish Pluto, by all the Furies, you make the wine poison--poison to
+me. But I see how it is. You, and your fine Signor Antonio along with
+you, think you will make a fool of me; but you won't find it quite so
+easy. Pay me this instant the ten ducats you owe me, and I will leave
+you and your comrade, the beard-curler Antonio, to all the devils."
+
+Salvator cried out as if overcome by the most furious anger, "What! You
+dare to treat me in this manner in my own lodging? Pay you ten ducats
+for that rotten old box, out of which the worms have long since gnawed
+all the marrow, all the sound! Not ten, not five, not three, not a
+single ducat will I pay you for that spinett, which is scarcely worth a
+quattrino. Away with the crippled old thing," and therewith Salvator
+sent the little spinett spinning round and round with his foot, its
+strings giving out a loud wail of sorrow.
+
+"Ha!" screamed Capuzzi, "there is still law in Rome. I will have
+you put in prison, into the deepest dungeon;" and, growling like a
+thunder-cloud, he was making for the door. But Salvator put both his
+arms about him, set him down in the chair again, and whispered in his
+ear in dulcet tones, "My dear Signor Pasquale, do you not see that I am
+only joking? Not ten, thirteen ducats you shall have for your spinett,"
+and went on repeating into his ear, "thirteen bright ducats," so long
+and so often that Capuzzi said, in a faint, feeble voice, "What say
+you, dear sir? Thirteen ducats for the spinett, and nothing for the
+repairs?" Then Salvator let him go, and assured him, on his honour,
+that in an hour's time the spinett should be worth thirty--forty
+ducats, and that he, Capuzzi, should get that sum for it.
+
+The old man, drawing breath, murmured: with a deep sigh, "Thirty--forty
+ducats!" Then he added, "But you have greatly enraged me, Signor
+Salvator." "Thirty ducats," reiterated Salvator. The old man blinked
+his eyes. But then again, "You have wounded me to the heart, Signor
+Salvator." "Thirty ducats," said Salvator again and again, till at
+length the old man said, quite appeased, "If I can get thirty or forty
+ducats for my spinett, all will be forgotten and forgiven, dear
+Signor."
+
+"But before I fulfil my promise," said Salvator, "I have one little
+stipulation to make which you, my worthy Signor Pasquale Capuzzi di
+Senegaglia, can easily comply with. You are the first composer in all
+Italy, and, into the bargain, the very finest singer that can possibly
+be found. I have listened with rapture to the grand scena in the opera
+'Le Nozze di Teti e di Peleo,' which the villain Francesco Cavalli has
+cribbed from you and given out as his own. If you would be good enough
+to sing me that aria during the time that I am setting the spinett to
+rights, I cannot imagine anything more delightful that could happen to
+me."
+
+The old fellow screwed his face up into the most sugary smile
+imaginable, twitched his eyebrows, and said, "It is easy to see that
+you are a fine musician yourself, Signor, for you have taste, and you
+can value people better than the unthankful Romans. Listen, listen to
+the aria of all arias."
+
+He rose up, stood on the extreme points of his tiptoes, stretched out
+his arms, and closed both his eyes (so that he was exactly like a cock
+making ready for a crow), and immediately began to utter such a
+terrible screeching that the walls resounded again, and Dame Caterina
+came rushing in with her two daughters, having no other idea than that
+the terrible howling indicated the happening of some signal disaster.
+They stood completely bewildered in the doorway when they became aware
+of the old gentleman crooning in this manner, thus constituting
+themselves the audience of this unheard-of virtuoso, Capuzzi.
+
+But as this was going on, Salvator had set the spinett to rights, shut
+down the top of it, taken his palette and set to work to paint, in bold
+touches, upon the very cover of the spinett, the most wonderful subject
+imaginable. The principal theme of it was a scene from Cavalli's opera,
+'Le Nozze di Teti;' but there was mingled with this, in utterly
+fantastic fashion, a whole crowd of other characters, amongst whom were
+Capuzzi, Antonio, Marianna (exactly as she appeared in Antonio's
+picture), Salvator himself, Dame Caterina and her daughters, and even
+the Pyramid Doctor, and all so genially and comprehendingly pourtrayed,
+that Antonio could not conceal his delight at the Maestro's talent and
+technique.
+
+The old fellow by no means restricted himself to the scena which
+Salvator had asked him for, but went on singing, or rather crowing,
+without cessation, working his way through the most terrible
+recitatives from one diabolical aria to another. This may have
+gone on for some two hours or so, till he sank down into an arm-chair,
+cherry-brown of countenance. By that time, however, Salvator had got so
+far with his sketch that everything in it appeared to be alive, and the
+effect of it, when seen a little way off, was that of a finished
+picture.
+
+"I have kept my promise as regards the spinett, dear Signor Capuzzi,"
+Salvator whispered into the old man's ear, and Capuzzi sprang up like
+one awaking from sleep. His eyes fell on the painted spinett; he opened
+them wide, as if looking upon a miracle, crammed his peaked hat down on
+to his periwig, took his crook-headed stick under his arm, made one
+jump to the spinett, wrenched the cover of it out of the hinges, and
+ran, like one possessed, out of the door, down the steps, and off and
+away out of the house, whilst Dame Caterina and her daughters
+accompanied his exit with bursts of laughter.
+
+"The old skinflint knows very well," said Salvator, "that he has only
+to take the painted top of the spinett to Count Colonna, or to my
+friend Rossi, to get forty ducats, or more, for it in a moment."
+
+Salvator and Antonio now set about considering the plan of attack which
+they were about to carry out on the following night. We shall presently
+see what it was, and what was the success of their attempt.
+
+When night came, Pasquale, after carefully bolting and barring up his
+house, carried the little monster of a Castrato home. The little
+creature mewed and complained all the way, that not only was he
+compelled to sing his lungs into a consumption over Capuzzi's arias,
+and burn his hands with cooking of macaroons, but, into the bargain,
+was employed in a service which brought him in nothing but cuffs on the
+ears and sound kicks, which Marianna dealt out to him in ample measure
+whenever he came into her vicinity. The old gentleman comforted him
+as well as he could, promising to supply him more plentifully with
+sugar-stuff than he had hitherto done, and even going so far as to enter
+into a solemn undertaking (inasmuch as the little wretch would not cease
+whining and lamenting) to have a little Abbate's coat made for him out
+of an old black plush doublet, which he had often looked upon with
+envious glances. He demanded, besides, a periwig and a sword.
+Discussing those matters, they reached the Strada Vergognona, for that
+was where Pitichinaccio lived, and, indeed, only four doors from
+Salvator.
+
+The old man set the little creature carefully down, and opened the
+door. Then they went up the narrow steps, more like a hen's ladder than
+anything else; but scarcely had they got half-way up when they became
+aware of a tremendous raging on the storey above, and a wild drunken
+fellow made his voice heard, calling upon all the devils in hell to
+show him the way out of this accursed, haunted house. Pitichinaccio,
+who was in front, pressed himself close to the wall and implored
+Capuzzi to go on first, for the love of all the saints. Scarcely,
+however, had Capuzzi gone a step or two up when the fellow from above
+came stumbling down the stairs, came upon Capuzzi like a whirlwind,
+seized hold of him, and went floundering down with him through the open
+door right into the middle of the street. There they remained lying
+prostrate, Capuzzi nethermost, and the drunken fellow on the top of
+him, like a heavy sack. Capuzzi screamed pitifully for help, and
+immediately there appeared two men, who, with much pains, eased Capuzzi
+of his burden, the drunken fellow, who went staggering away as they did
+so.
+
+The two men were Salvator and Antonio, and they cried, "Jesus! what has
+happened to you, Signor Capuzzi? What are you doing here at this time
+of the night? You seem to have had some bad business going on in the
+house."
+
+"It's all over with me," groaned Capuzzi; "the hellhound has broken
+every bone in my body. I can't move a muscle."
+
+"Let us see--let us see!" said Antonio; and he felt him all over,
+giving him, in the course of his examination, a pinch in the right leg
+of such shrewdness that Capuzzi uttered a yell.
+
+"Saints and angels!" ejaculated Antonio, "your right leg is broken just
+at the most dangerous place. If it is not attended to immediately, you
+are a dead man; or, at the very least, lamed for life."
+
+Capuzzi uttered a frightful howl. "Calm yourself, my dear Signor," said
+Antonio. "Although I am a painter now, I have not forgotten my surgery.
+We will carry you into Salvator's lodgings, and I will bandage you
+properly at once."
+
+"Dear Signor Antonio," whined Capuzzi, "you are inimically minded
+towards me, I am aware."
+
+"Ah!" interposed Salvator, "there can be no question of enmity in a
+case like this. You are in danger, and that is sufficient reason why
+the honourable Antonio should devote all his skill to your service.
+Take hold of him, friend Antonio."
+
+Together they lifted the old man up softly and carefully, and carried
+him--crying out over the suffering which his broken leg caused him--to
+Salvator's lodgings.
+
+Dame Caterina declared she had felt quite certain that something was
+going to happen, and consequently hadn't been able to go to bed. And
+when she saw the old gentleman and heard what had happened to him, she
+broke out into reproaches as to his works and ways. "I know well
+enough, Signor Pasquale, who it was that you were taking home, as
+usual. You think, as long as you have your pretty niece Marianna at
+home with you, you don't require any woman to do anything there, and
+you most shamefully and God-defiantly misuse that poor creature of a
+Pitichinaccio, whom you dress up in woman's clothes. But remember,
+_ogni carne ha il mio osso_--every flesh has its own bones. If you have
+a girl in the house, you can't do without women. _Fate il passo secondo
+il gamba_--don't stretch your legs farther than the bedcover goes, and
+don't do more, nor less, than what is right for your Marianna. Don't
+shut her up like a prisoner. Don't turn your house into a gaol. _Asino
+punto convien che trotti_--one who has started on the road must go
+along. You have a pretty niece, and you must arrange your life
+accordingly; that's to say, you mustn't do what she doesn't wish. But
+you are an ungallant, hard-hearted man, and (I'm afraid I must say, at
+your time of life), amorous and jealous into the bargain. You must
+pardon me for saying all this straight out to your face, but you know
+_chi ha nel petto fiele, non pu sputar miele_--what the heart is
+full of comes out at the lips. If you don't die of this accident of
+yours--as, at your time of life, it is to be feared you will--I hope it
+will be a warning to you, and you'll leave your niece at liberty to do
+what she wishes, and marry the charming young gentleman whom I think I
+know about."
+
+Thus did the stream of Dame Caterina's words flow on, whilst Salvator
+and Antonio carefully undressed the old gentleman and laid him on the
+bed. Dame Caterina's words were dagger-thrusts, which went deep into
+his heart; but, whenever he tried to get in a word between them,
+Antonio impressed on him that anything in the nature of talking was
+fraught with the utmost danger, so that he was obliged to swallow the
+bitter pill of her utterances. Salvator at length sent her away to get
+some iced water, which Antonio had ordered.
+
+Salvator and Antonio convinced themselves that the fellow whom they had
+employed had done his business most admirably. Beyond one or two blue
+marks, Capuzzi had not suffered the slightest damage, frightful as his
+tumble had the appearance of being. Antonio carefully put splints and
+bandages on his right foot and leg, so that he could not move; and at
+the same time they wrapped him in cloths soaked in iced water, on the
+pretext of keeping off fever, so that he shivered as if he were in an
+ague.
+
+"My good Signor Antonio," he said, in faint accents, "tell me, is it
+all over with me? Am I a dead man?"
+
+"Do not excite yourself, Signor Pasquale," said Antonio.
+
+"As you bore the first application of the bandages so well, and did not
+fall into a faint, I hope all danger is over; but the most careful
+nursing is absolutely essential. The most important point is that the
+surgeon must not let you be out of his sight for a moment."
+
+"Ah, Antonio!" whined the old gentleman, "you know how fond I am of
+you--what a high opinion I have of your talent! Don't leave me--give me
+your dear hand! That is it! My dear, good son, you won't go away from
+me, will you?"
+
+"Although I am no longer a surgeon," said Antonio, "although I have
+cast away the abominable slavery of that calling to the four winds of
+heaven, I do not mind making an exception in your case, Signor
+Pasquale, and I undertake to cure you. The only thing which I ask of
+you in return is, that you will give me back your friendship--your
+confidence; you have been a little hard towards me."
+
+"Say nothing about that," whispered the old fellow; "do not let us
+allude to it, dear Antonio."
+
+"Your niece," said Antonio, "will be half-dead with anxiety at your not
+having come home. All things considered, you are wonderfully strong and
+well, and we will move you to your own house as soon as it is daylight.
+When we have got you there, I will have another look at your bandages,
+and see to the bed upon which you are to be laid; and I will tell your
+niece all that will be necessary to do in your case, so that you may
+very soon be quite better."
+
+The old gentleman heaved a very deep sigh, closed his eyes, and
+remained silent for some moments. He then stretched his hand out toward
+Antonio, drew him close to him, and said, in a whisper: "Tell me,
+dearest Antonio, I am right, am I not, in supposing that all that about
+Marianna--my niece--was merely your fun--the sort of jesting which gets
+into young fellows' heads?"
+
+"I beg you," said Antonio, "not to think about matters of that sort at
+such a time as this. Put them out of your head altogether. It is
+certainly true that your niece did attract my eyes a little; but I have
+very different matters in my mind at present. And--I must tell you
+quite candidly--I am very glad that you sent me and my foolish attempt
+to the right about so speedily. I thought I was in love with Marianna,
+but it was merely that I saw in her a splendid model for my Magdalene.
+I presume that is why I have become completely indifferent to her since
+my picture was finished. I have no longer the slightest interest in
+her."
+
+"Antonio!" cried the old gentleman; "Antonio, blessed of heaven! you
+are my comfort, my help, my consolation! If you are not in love with
+Marianna, my troubles are at an end."
+
+"To tell you the truth, Signor Pasquale," said Salvator, "if one did
+not know you to be a serious man, of great intelligence, very well
+aware what is suitable to his advanced period of life, one would be
+disposed to fancy that you were idiot enough to be in love with this
+niece of yours (a child of sixteen) yourself."
+
+The old man closed his eyes again, and groaned and lamented over the
+terrible sufferings he was enduring, which had returned with double
+force.
+
+The morning-red came streaming through the window. Antonio told the old
+gentleman it was time to take him to his own house in Strada Ripetta.
+He answered with a deep, melancholy sigh. Salvator and Antonio lifted
+him out of bed, and wrapped him in a large cloak of Dame Caterina's,
+which had been her husband's. The old gentleman implored, for the love
+of all the saints, that the shameful ice-cloths which were upon his
+bald head should be taken away, and that he should wear his periwig and
+plumed hat; also that Antonio should, as far as possible, arrange his
+moustaches, so that Marianna should not be too much alarmed by his
+appearance. Two bearers, with a litter, were waiting at the door. Dame
+Caterina, continually scolding at the old gentleman, and quoting
+proverbs plentifully, brought down bedding, in which, carefully packed,
+and attended by Salvator and Antonio, he was got home to his own house.
+
+When Marianna saw her uncle in this terrible condition, she gave a loud
+cry, and a flood of tears burst from her eyes. Without paying any
+attention to her lover, who was present, she took the old man's hands,
+pressed them to her lips, and lamented over the sad misfortune which
+had befallen him. Such was this good girl's compassion for the old
+fellow who tortured her with his insane fondness for her. All the same
+the inborn nature of woman within her displayed itself, for a few
+significant looks of Salvator's were amply sufficient to let her
+understand the whole position of matters. It was only then that she
+gave a stolen glance at the happy Antonio, blushing deeply as she did
+so, and it was marvellous to see how a somewhat roguish smile
+victoriously dispelled her tears. On the whole, Salvator had never
+thought that she was so delightful, so wonderfully lovely
+(notwithstanding the Magdalene picture) as he now found her actually to
+be. And whilst he almost envied Antonio his good fortune, he felt
+doubly the necessity of getting the poor girl out of the clutches of
+the accursed Capuzzi, at whatever cost.
+
+The latter, welcomed in this charming manner (which he by no means
+deserved) by his delightful niece, forgot his troubles; he smiled, and
+ogled, working his lips so that his moustaches went up and down; and he
+groaned and whined, not so much from pain as from amorousness.
+
+Antonio skilfully prepared the bed for his patient, and when he had
+been laid down upon it, tightened the bandages--and did so to such an
+extent on the left leg, that the old gentleman had, perforce, to lie as
+motionless as a wooden doll. Salvator went away, leaving the lovers to
+their happiness.
+
+The old gentleman was lying buried in cushions, and Antonio had,
+moreover, so bound a thick cloth soaked in ice-water about his head,
+that he could not hear a trace of what the lovers were whispering; so
+they now, for the first time, uttered all that was in their hearts, and
+vowed eternal fidelity, with tears and the sweetest kisses. The old man
+could not possibly have any suspicion, as Marianna, every now and then,
+kept asking him if there was anything he wanted, and even permitted him
+to press her little white hand to his lips. When it was high day,
+Antonio hastened away, according to his own statement, to order what
+was further necessary for the patient, but, in reality, to consider how
+he might possibly manage to keep him in a still more helpless state, if
+he could, so that Salvator and he might reflect upon what steps were to
+be taken in the next place.
+
+                         *   *   *   *   *   *
+
+A fresh plot which Salvator and Antonio form, and carry out upon Signor
+      Pasquale Capuzzi and his associates; and the results thereof.
+
+On the following morning Antonio came to Salvator, all vexation and
+anger.
+
+"Well, how goes it?" Salvator cried to him. "What are you hanging your
+head for, superlatively happy man, who can kiss and caress his darling
+every day?"
+
+"Ah, Salvator!" answered Antonio; "it is all over with my happiness.
+The devil delights in making me the sport of his tricks. Our plots have
+all come to nothing, and we are at open war with the accursed Capuzzi."
+
+"So much the better! so much the better!" said Salvator. "But tell me
+what has been happening."
+
+"Just imagine, Salvator," said Antonio. "When, yesterday, I was going
+back to Strada Ripetta, after I had been gone about two hours, bringing
+all sorts of essences, &c., there I saw the old gentleman standing at
+his door, completely dressed. At his back were the Pyramid Doctor, and
+the accursed Sbirro, whilst there was some little many-coloured object
+running in and out amongst their legs; this, I believe, was that little
+abortion of a Pitichinaccio. As soon as the old fellow saw me he
+menaced me with his fist, uttered the most gruesome curses and
+maledictions, and swore he would have every bone in my body broken if I
+dared to come to his door. 'Be off with you to all the devils in Hell,
+cursed Beard-scratcher!' he croaked and screamed at me. 'You thought to
+make a fool of me, with all sorts of infernal lies and deceptions; you
+have striven like the very Satan himself to tempt and mislead my
+Marianna. But wait a little. I will spend my last farthing, if
+necessary, in getting your life-light snuffed out before you are aware
+of it. And as for your fine patron, Signor Salvator--the murderer, the
+robber, the cheat-the-gallows!--he shall to hell to join his leader,
+Mas' Aniello. Him I'll get kicked out of Rome; that won't give me much
+trouble.' Thus did the old man rave; and as the cursed Sbirro, egged on
+by the Pyramid Doctor, made as if he would set on me and attack me,
+whilst the curious populace began to crowd round, what could I do but
+get off as quickly as possible? In my despair I thought I should not
+come to you, for I felt certain you would only laugh--and in fact you
+hardly can help doing so at this moment."
+
+Indeed, when Antonio ceased speaking, Salvator did laugh heartily.
+
+"Now," he cried, "now the affair is really beginning to become
+most delightful. But I shall now tell you, circumstantially, my
+dear Antonio, what happened in Capuzzi's house when you had gone
+out. Scarcely had you got down-stairs, when Signor Splendiano
+Accoramboni--who, heaven knows how, had found out that his bosom
+friend Capuzzi had broken his leg in the night--came, in the most
+solemn state, to see him, bringing a surgeon with him. Your bandagings,
+and your whole treatment of Capuzzi, could not but excite some
+suspicion; the surgeon took the splints and bandages off, and of course
+found--what we know very well--that there was nothing whatever the
+matter with Capuzzi's foot; not so much as a sprained ankle. Very well;
+it did not require much acuteness to find out the rest."
+
+"My dearest Maestro," asked Antonio, full of amazement, "how on earth
+did you manage to find out all this?--how could you get into Capuzzi's
+house, and know all that went on?"
+
+"I told you," said Salvator, "that in Capuzzi's house--and in fact on
+the same storey with him--there lives an acquaintance of Dame
+Caterina's. This acquaintance, the widow of a wine-merchant, has a
+daughter whom my little Margerita often goes to see. Girls have a
+special faculty for finding out others like themselves, and in this way
+Rosa (the wine-merchant's widow's daughter) and Margerita soon
+discovered a little peep-hole in the dining-room, which is the next
+room to a dark chamber which opens into Marianna's room. The
+whisperings of the girls by no means escaped Marianna's notice, neither
+did the peephole; so that the way to mutual communications was marked
+out, and taken advantage of. When the old gentleman is having his
+afternoon nap, the girls have a right good chatter to their heart's
+content. You have no doubt noticed that little Margerita (her mother's
+favourite, and mine) is by no means so grave and reserved as her elder
+sister Anna, but a droll, merry creature. Without having exactly told
+her about your love affair, I have asked her to get Marianna to let her
+know all that goes on in the house. In this she has proved very clever;
+and if I, just now, laughed a little at your pain and despair, it was
+because I have it in my power to prove to you that your affairs have
+just, for the first time, got into an exceedingly favourable groove. I
+have a whole sackful of delightful news for you."
+
+"Salvator!" cried Antonio, his eyes bright with joy, "what hopes dawn
+upon me! Blessings on the peephole in the dining-room. I can write to
+Marianna--Margerita will take the note with her."
+
+"No, no, Antonio," said Salvator, "not quite that; Margerita shall
+do us good service without being exactly your go-between. Besides,
+chance--which often plays strange tricks--might place your love-prattle
+in the hands of old Capuzzi, and bring a thousand new troubles upon
+Marianna's head, just at the moment when she is on the point of getting
+the amorous old goose properly and completely under her little satin
+shoe. For just listen how affairs are progressing. The style in which
+Marianna received him when he was taken home has turned him round
+completely. He believes no less a thing than that Marianna has ceased
+to care for you, but has given one half of her heart to him, so that
+all he has to do is to get hold of the other half. Since she has
+imbibed the poison of your kisses, she has all at once become some
+three years cleverer and more experienced. She has not only convinced
+the old gentleman that she had nothing to do with our escapade, but
+that she abhors the idea of it, and would repel with the deepest scorn
+any plot which should have the object of bringing you into her
+proximity. In the excess of his delight at this, he vowed that if there
+should be anything he could do to please her, he would set about it in
+a moment; she had but to give her wish a name. On this she very quietly
+said what she would like would be that her _zio carissima_ should take
+her to the theatre outside the Porto del Popolo, to see Signor Formica.
+The old fellow was somewhat startled by this, and consulted with the
+Pyramid Doctor and Pitichinaccio; and the result is that Signor
+Pasquale and Signor Splendiano are actually going to take Marianna to
+the said theatre to-morrow. Pitichinaccio is to be dressed as a
+waiting-maid; but he only consented to this on condition that Pasquale
+should give him a periwig, over and above the plush doublet, and that
+he and the Pyramid Doctor should relieve each other, from time to time,
+of the task of carrying him home at night. This has been all agreed
+upon; and this remarkable three-bladed-clover will really go, to-morrow
+evening, with beautiful Marianna, to see Signor Formica, at the theatre
+outside the Porto del Popolo."
+
+It is necessary now to say something as to this theatre, and Signor
+Formica himself.
+
+Nothing can be sadder than when, at carnival time in Rome, the
+_impressarii_ have been unfortunate in their composers--when the
+_primo tenore_ of the Argentina has left his voice on the road--when
+the _primo uomo da donna_ in the Teatro Valle is down with the
+influenza--in short, when the chief pleasures to which the Romans have
+been looking forward have proved disappointments, and Giovedi Grasso
+has been shorn, at one fell swoop, of all the hoped-for flowers which
+were expected to come at that time into blossom. Immediately alter a
+melancholy carnival of this description (in fact, the fasts were
+scarcely over) a certain Nicolo Musso opened a theatre outside the
+Porto del Popolo, limiting himself to announcing the performance of
+minor, improvised _buffonades_. His advertisement was couched in a
+clever and witty style of wording, and from it the Romans formed in
+advance a favourable opinion of Musso's undertaking, and would have
+done so even had they not, in the unsatisfied state of their dramatic
+appetites, been eager to snatch at anything of the kind that was
+offered to them. The arrangements of the theatre--or rather of the
+little booth--could not be said to give evidence of any very
+flourishing state of finances on the manager's part. There was no
+orchestra; there were no boxes. There was a sort of gallery at the back
+of the audience part of the house, adorned with the arms of the
+Colonnas--a mark that the Conte Colonna had taken Murso and his theatre
+under his special protection. The stage was a raised platform covered
+with carpets, and surrounded with gay-coloured paper-hangings which had
+to serve for forests, interiors, or streets, according to the
+requirements of the drama. As, moreover, the audience had to be content
+with hard, uncomfortable wooden benches to sit upon, it is not matter
+for wonder that the first set of spectators expressed themselves pretty
+strongly on the subject of the audacity of Signor Musso in giving the
+name of a theatre to this boarded booth. But scarcely had the two first
+actors who appeared spoken a few words, when the audience became
+attentive. As the piece went on, the attention became applause, the
+applause astonishment, and the astonishment enthusiasm, which expressed
+itself in the most prolonged and stormy laughter, hand-clapping, and
+cries of bravo!
+
+And, in truth, nothing more perfect could have been seen than those
+improvised representations of Nicolo Musso's which sparkled with wit,
+fun, and _esprit_, castigating the follies of the day with unsparing
+lash. The performers all rendered their parts with incomparable
+distinctiveness of character, but the "Pasquarello" more particularly
+carried the house away with him bodily, by his inimitable play of
+gesture, and a talent for imitating well-known personages, in voice,
+walk, and manner, by his inexhaustible drollery, and the extraordinary
+originality of the ideas which struck him. This actor, who called
+himself Signor Formica, seemed to be inspired by a very remarkable and
+unusual spirit; often, in his tone and manner, there would be a
+something so strange that the audience, while in the middle of a burst
+of the heartiest laughter, would suddenly feel a species of cold
+shiver. Almost on a par with him, and a worthy compeer, was the "Dr.
+Graziano" of the troupe, who had a play of feature, a voice, a power of
+saying the most delightful things in, apparently, the most foolish
+manner, to which nothing in the world could be likened. This "Doctor
+Graziano" was an old Bolognese, of the name of Maria Aglia. As a matter
+of course, all the fashionable world of Rome soon came thronging to the
+little theatre outside the Porto del Popolo. The name of Formica was on
+everybody's lips; and in the streets as in the theatre, all voices were
+crying, with the utmost enthusiasm, "Oh, Formica! Formica benedetto!
+Oh, Formicisimo!" He was looked upon as a supernatural being; and many
+an old woman, ashake with laughter in the theatre, would (if anybody
+ventured to criticise Formica's action in the slightest degree) turn
+grave, and say, with the utmost seriousness and solemnity--
+
+                "Scherza coi fanti e lascia star santi."
+
+This was because, out of the theatre, Formica was an unfathomable
+mystery. No one ever saw him anywhere, and every attempt to come upon
+his traces was vain. Nothing as to where he lived could be got out of
+Musso.
+
+Such was the theatre to which Marianna wished to go.
+
+"Let us fly straight at our enemies' throats," Salvator said; "the walk
+home from the theatre to the town offers us a most admirable
+opportunity."
+
+He then communicated a plan to Antonio, which seemed very risky and
+daring, but which the latter adopted with delight, thinking it would
+enable him to rescue his Marianna from the abominable Capuzzi;
+moreover, it pleased him well that Salvator made one great feature of
+it the punishing of the Pyramid Doctor.
+
+When evening came, Salvator and Antonio each took a guitar, went to
+Strada Ripetta, and (by way of annoying old Capuzzi) treated the lovely
+Marianna to the most exquisite _serenata_ imaginable. For Salvator
+played and sang like a master, and Antonio had a lovely tenor voice,
+and was almost an Odoardo Ceccarelli. Signor Pasquale of course came
+out on to the balcony, and scolded down at the singers, ordering them
+to hold their peace; but the neighbours, whom the beautiful music had
+brought to their windows, cried out to him, asking him whether, as he
+and his friends were in the habit of howling and screaming like all the
+demons in hell, he wouldn't suffer such a thing as a little _good_
+music in the street? Let him be off into the house, they said, and stop
+his ears, if he didn't want to hear the beautiful singing. Thus Signor
+Pasquale was obliged, to his torture, to endure Salvator and Antonio's
+singing, all night long--songs which at times consisted of the sweetest
+words of love, and at others ridiculed the folly of amorous old men.
+They distinctly saw Marianna at the window, and heard Pasquale adjuring
+her, in the most honeyed terms, not to expose herself to the night air.
+
+The next evening there passed along the street towards the Porto del
+Popolo the strangest group of persons ever seen. They attracted all
+eyes, and people asked each other if some strange survival of the
+Carnival had preserved two or three mad maskers. Signor Pasquale
+Capuzzi, in his many-coloured, well-brushed Spanish suit, a new yellow
+feather in his steeple-crowned hat, tightly belted and buckled, all
+tenderness and grace, tripping along on shoes too tight for him, as if
+treading on eggs, conducted on his arm the lovely Marianna, whose
+pretty figure, and still more beautiful face, could not be seen, in
+consequence of the extraordinary manner in which she was wimpled and
+wrapped up in a cloak and hood. On her other side tripped along Signor
+Splendiano Accoramboni in his enormous wig, which covered the whole of
+his back, so that, when seen from behind, he looked like some enormous
+head moving along on two diminutive legs. Close behind Marianna, almost
+clinging on to her, came, in crab-like fashion, the little hideosity of
+a Pitichinaccio, in flame-coloured female dress, with his hair
+bedecked, in the most repulsive style, with flowers of all the colours
+of the rainbow.
+
+On this particular evening Signor Formica even surpassed himself;
+and--what he had never done before--he introduced little snatches of
+songs, imitating various well-known singers. In old Capuzzi this awoke
+all the old delight in theatrical matters which in former days had been
+a regular mania with him. He kissed Marianna's hands over and over
+again, and vowed that he certainly would bring her to Nicolo Musso's
+theatre every night without fail. He extolled Signor Formica to the
+very skies, and joined most heartily in the uproarious applause of the
+rest of the audience. Signor Splendiano was less content, and
+repeatedly begged Signor Capuzzi and Marianna not to laugh so very
+immoderately. He named, in one breadth, some twenty maladies which were
+liable to be brought on by over-agitation of the diaphragm; but neither
+the one nor the other gave themselves any trouble on the subject.
+Pitichinaccio was thoroughly unhappy. He had been obliged to sit just
+behind the Pyramid Doctor, who so overshadowed him with his enormous
+wig that he could not see the smallest peep of the stage, nor of the
+characters upon it; moreover, he was tortured by two facetious women
+who were sitting beside him, and who kept on calling him "Charming,
+pretty signora," and asking him whether he was married, for all he was
+so young, and had nice little children, who must be the dearest little
+things imaginable, &c., &c. Drops of cold perspiration stood on the
+poor little creature's brow; he whimpered and whined, and cursed the
+hour when he was born.
+
+When the acting was over, Signor Pasquale waited till every one had
+left the house; and as the last of the lamps was being put out, Signor
+Splendiano lighted at it the stump of a wax candle, and they set forth
+on their homeward way. Pitichinaccio whined and cried; Capuzzi, to his
+torment, had to take him on his left arm, having Marianna on his right;
+before them went Doctor Splendiano with his candle-stump, whose feeble
+rays made the darkness of the night seem deeper.
+
+While they were still some distance from the Porto del Popolo, they
+found themselves suddenly surrounded by several tall figures, thickly
+wrapped in cloaks. The Doctor's candle was instantly snatched from
+his hand, and went out on the ground. Capuzzi and the Doctor stood
+speechless and amazed. Then there fell (it was not clear from whence)
+a faint reddish glimmer upon the cloaked figures, and four pale
+death's-heads were seen staring at the Pyramid Doctor, with hollow,
+fearful eyes. "Woe! woe! woe unto thee, Splendiano Accoramboni!" howled
+the terrible spectres, in deep, hollow tones. Then one of them wailed
+out, "Knowest thou me? knowest thou me, Splendiano? I am Cordier, the
+French painter, buried last week; sent under-ground by thee, with thy
+drugs!" Then the second: "Knowest thou _me_, Splendiano? I am Kueffner,
+the German painter, whom thou didst poison with thy hellish
+electuaries!" Then the third: "Knowest thou _me_, Splendiano? I am
+Liers, the Fleming, whom thou didst murder with thy pills, cheating his
+brother out of his pictures!" Then the fourth: "Knowest thou _me_,
+Splendiano? I am Ghigi, the Neapolitan painter, whom thou didst slay
+with thy powders!" Finally, all the four cried out in quartet, "Woe!
+woe to thee, Splendiano Accoramboni, accursed Pyramid Doctor! Thou must
+away!--away with us!--down, down under the earth! On!--on with thee!
+Halloh!--halloh!" Therewith they seized the luckless Doctor, heaved him
+up, and disappeared with him like the storm-wind.
+
+Sorely as terror was like to overcome Pasquale, he collected himself,
+and took heart of grace with wonderful courage, when he saw that this
+affair only concerned his friend Accoramboni. Pitichinaccio had put his
+head, flowers and all, under Pasquale's cloak, and was clinging so
+tightly about his neck that it was impossible to shake him off.
+
+"Recover yourself," said Capuzzi to Marianna, when nothing more was to
+be seen of the spectres or of the Pyramid Doctor. "Recover yourself!
+Come to me, my sweet, darling little dove! My good friend Splendiano is
+gone. May Saint Bernard, who was a doctor himself, stand by him and
+defend him, if those revengeful painters, whom he sent to that Pyramid
+of his rather before their time, are going to twist his windpipe. Ah!
+who will take the bass parts in my canzonet now, I should like to know?
+And this creature here, Pitichinaccio, is squeezing my throat to that
+extent that, what with that, and what with the fright at seeing
+Splendiano spirited away, I dare say it'll be three months good before
+I can get out a single note in tune! Don't you be frightened, my own
+sweetest Marianna!--it is all over."
+
+Marianna declared that she had quite recovered from the fright, and
+only begged him to let her walk by herself to enable him to get quit of
+his troublesome lap-child; but he only held her the tighter, and vowed
+that no consideration in the world would induce him to allow her to
+venture a single step by herself in the terrible darkness.
+
+Just then, as Capuzzi was going to step courageously forward, there
+suddenly rose before him, as if from the depths of the earth, four
+terrible-looking figures of devils, in short cloaks of glittering
+red, who glared at him with fearful eyes, and began making a
+horrible croaking and squeaking. "Hup! hup!" they cried. "Pasquale
+Capuzzi!--idiotic fool!--amorous old donkey! We are comrades of yours;
+we are love-devils; and we have come to carry you down to the hottest
+hell, you and your bosom-friend there, Pitichinaccio!" Thus screaming,
+the devils fell upon Capuzzi, and he, with Pitichinaccio, went down,
+both of them raising piercing yells of distress like those of a whole
+herd of beaten donkeys.
+
+Marianna had forcibly torn herself away from the old fellow, and sprung
+to one side, where one of the devils folded her softly in his arms, and
+said, in a sweet voice of affection: "Oh, Marianna! my own Marianna! it
+has all come right at last. My friends are taking the old man a long
+distance off, while we find some place of safety to fly to."
+
+"My own Antonio!" Marianna whispered softly.
+
+Suddenly a bright glare of torches lightened up the place, and Antonio
+felt himself stabbed on the shoulder-blade. Quick as lightning he
+turned round, drew his sword, and attacked the fellow, who was aiming a
+second stab with his stiletto. He saw that his three friends were
+defending themselves against a much stronger force of Sbirri. He
+managed to beat off the man who was attacking him, and to join his
+friends; but, bravely as they fought, the struggle was too unequal, and
+the Sbirri must unfailingly have had the best of it, had not two men
+suddenly burst, with loud shouts, into the ranks of the young fellows,
+one of whom immediately floored the Sbirro who was taxing Antonio the
+hardest.
+
+The fight was now speedily decided to the disadvantage of the Sbirri,
+and those of them who were not on the ground wounded, fled with loud
+cries towards the Porto del Popolo.
+
+Salvator Rosa--for it was no other who had hastened to Antonio's help,
+and struck down the Sbirro--was for starting off without more ado, with
+Antonio and the young painters who were in the devils' dresses, after
+the Sbirri to town.
+
+Maria Agli, who had come with him, and, notwithstanding his years, had
+set to with the Sbirri like the others, thought this was not advisable,
+as the guard at the Porto del Popolo, informed of the affair, would of
+course arrest them all. So they betook themselves to Nicolo Musso, who
+received them gladly in his small abode not far from the theatre. The
+painters took off their devils' masks and their cloaks rubbed with
+phosphorus; and Antonio--who, save for the unimportant prick in his
+shoulder, was not at all hurt--brought his surgical skill into play,
+all the others having wounds, though none of any importance.
+
+The plot, so daringly and skilfully contrived, would have succeeded had
+not Salvator and Antonio left one person out of account; and that
+person ruined it all. Michele, the ex-Bravo and Sbirro, who lived
+downstairs in Capuzzi's house, and was a kind of servant to him, had,
+by his wish, gone behind him to the theatre, but at some distance, as
+the old man was ashamed of his tattered and scoundrelly appearance. In
+the same way, Michele had followed on the homeward way; so that, when
+the spectres appeared, Michele--who really did not fear death or
+devil--smelt a rat, ran, in the darkness, straight away to the Porto
+del Popolo, gave the alarm, and came back with the Sbirri, who, as we
+know, arrived just at the moment when the devils fell upon Signor
+Pasquale, and were going to take him away, as the dead men had taken
+the Pyramid Doctor.
+
+Bat in the thick of the fight, one of the young painters had distinctly
+seen a fellow hurrying away towards the gate with Marianna, in a
+fainting state, in his arms, followed by Pasquale, who was rushing
+along at an incredible rate, as if his veins were running quicksilver.
+There was, moreover, some glimmering object visible by the torch-light
+hanging on to his cloak, and whining, probably Pitichinaccio.
+
+Next morning Doctor Splendiano was discovered at the Pyramid of
+Cestius, rolled up in a ball and immersed in his periwig, fast asleep,
+as though in a warm, soft nest. When they woke him, he talked
+incoherently, and it was hard to convince him that he was still in this
+visible life and, moreover, in Rome. When, at length, he was taken to
+his house, he thanked the Virgin and all the Saints for his rescue,
+threw all his tinctures, essences, electuaries, and powders out of
+window, made a bonfire of his recipes, and for the future healed his
+patients in no other manner than by laying his hands upon them and
+stroking them, as a celebrated physician used to do before him (who was
+a Saint into the bargain, but whose name I cannot think of at the
+moment), with much success, for his patients died as well as the
+other's, and before their deaths saw heaven open, and anything that the
+Saint pleased.
+
+"I do not know," said Antonio, next day, to Salvator, "what fury has
+blazed up within me since some of my blood was spilt. Death and
+destruction to the miserable, ignoble Capuzzi! Do you know, Salvator,
+that I have made up my mind to get into his house by force; and if he
+makes any resistance, I will run him through, and carry Marianna off."
+
+"Glorious idea!" exclaimed Salvator. "A truly happy inspiration. I have
+no doubt you have also devised the means of carrying Marianna through
+the air to the Piazza di Spagna, so that you may reach that place of
+sanctuary before they have arrested you and hanged you! No, no, dear
+Antonio, there is nothing to be done in this affair by violence, and
+you may be quite certain that Signor Capuzzi will be too well prepared
+for anything in the shape of an open attack. Besides this, our escapade
+has attracted a great deal of attention; and more than that, the
+laughable style in which we set about our little piece of entertainment
+with Splendiano and Capuzzi has had the effect of waking the police up
+from their gentle slumbers, so that they will now be on the watch for
+us, as far as their feeble powers enable them. No, Antonio, we must
+resort to stratagem: '_Con arte e con inganno si vive mezzo l'anno; con
+inganno e con arte si vive l'altro parte._' That is what Dame Caterina
+says, and she is quite right. I can't help laughing at our having set
+to work just as if we were innocent boys; but it is my fault, chiefly,
+seeing that I have the advantage of you in years. Tell me, Antonio,
+if our plot had succeeded, and you had really carried Marianna off,
+where should you have gone with her?--where could you have kept her
+hidden?--how could you have got married by the priest so speedily that
+the old man should not have managed to interfere? As it is, in a very
+few days you shall actually carry her off. I have enlisted the aid of
+Nicolo Musso and Formica, and in conjunction with them thought out a
+plan which scarcely can break down. Comfort yourself, therefore, Signor
+Formica is going to help you."
+
+"Signor Formica!" repeated Antonio, in an indifferent, almost
+contemptuous tone; "and pray how can that 'funny-man' help me?"
+
+"Ho, ho!" cried Salvator, "I must beg you to treat Signor Formica with
+a proper amount of respect. Don't you know that he is a kind of wizard,
+and has all sorts of wondrous secret arts at his command? I tell you,
+Signor Formica is going to help you. And old Maria Agli, our great and
+grand 'Doctor Graziano,' of Bologna, has joined in our plot, and is
+going to play a most important part in it. You shall carry your
+Marianna off from Musso's theatre."
+
+"Salvator," said Antonio, "you are buoying me up with vain hopes. You
+have said, yourself, that Capuzzi will be thoroughly on his guard
+against any more open attacks; so, after what has happened to him
+already, how can he possibly be induced to go to Musso's theatre
+another time?"
+
+"It is not such a difficult matter as you suppose," answered Salvator,
+"to get him to go back there again; the difficulty will be to induce
+him to go without his companions, and to get him on to the stage. But
+however that may be, you must now arrange matters with Marianna so as
+to be ready to fly from Rome whenever the favourable moment arrives.
+You will have to go to Florence. Your art will be an introduction to
+you there to begin with, and I will take care that you shall not want
+for friends, or for valuable support and assistance. We shall have to
+rest on our oars for a few days, and then we shall see what more is to
+be done. Keep up your courage. Formica will help."
+
+
+A Fresh Misfortune Comes Upon Signor Pasquale Capuzzi. Antonio
+      Scacciati Carries Out A Plot At Musso's Theatre, And Flies To
+      Florence.
+
+Signor Pasquale knew but too well who were the authors of the trick
+played upon him and the poor Pyramid Doctor near the Porto del Popolo;
+and we can imagine his rage with Antonio and with Salvator Rosa, whom
+he rightly considered to be the prime mover in the matter. He did his
+utmost to console Marianna, who was quite ill, from the fright--as she
+put it--but really from disappointment and vexation at the accursed
+Michele's having carried her off, with his Sbirri, from Antonio.
+Meanwhile, Margarita industriously brought her tidings of her lover,
+and she based all her hopes and expectations upon the enterprising
+Salvator. She waited most impatiently from day to day for anything in
+the shape of fresh events, and vented her vexation upon the old
+gentleman by a thousand teasings and naggings, which rendered him
+humble and submissive in his foolish amourishness, but had not the
+effect of in any degree casting out the love-devil by which he was
+possessed. When Marianna had poured out upon his devoted head a full
+measure of all the evil caprices of a selfish girl, she had only to
+suffer him to press his withered lips a single time upon her little
+hand, and he would vow, in the excess of his delight, that he would
+never leave off kissing the Pope's slipper till he had obtained his
+dispensation to marry his niece, quintessence as she was of all beauty
+and loveliness. Marianna was careful to do nothing to disturb this
+condition of delight, for those rays of hope of her uncle's made her
+own to shine brighter--her hopes of being all the nearer escaping him,
+the more firmly he believed himself to be united to her by bonds which
+were indissoluble.
+
+Some time had elapsed when, one day, Michele came stumping upstairs and
+announced to his master (who opened the door after a good deal of
+knocking), with much prolixity, that there was a gentleman below who
+insisted, most urgently, on speaking with Signor Pasquale Capuzzi, who,
+he was aware, lived in that house.
+
+"Oh, all ye heavenly hosts!" cried the old gentleman, in a rage,
+"doesn't this lubber know as well as possible that I never speak with
+strangers in the house!"
+
+But Michele said the gentleman was very well-looking, rather elderly,
+and spoke exceedingly nicely, saying his name was Nicolo Musso.
+
+"Nicolo Musso!" said Capuzzi, thoughtfully to himself; "Nicolo Musso,
+who has the theatre outside the Porta del Popolo! What can he want with
+me?" He carefully closed and bolted the door, and went down with
+Michele to talk with Nicolo in the street.
+
+"My dear Signor Pasquale," said Nicolo, greeting him with an easy
+courtesy, "how very much delighted I am that you honour me with
+your acquaintance! How many thanks I owe you! Since the Romans saw
+_you_--the man of the most acknowledged taste, of the most universal
+knowledge, the virtuoso in art--in my theatre, my reputation, and my
+receipts, have been doubled. All the more does it pain me that some
+wicked, malicious fellows should have made a murderous attack upon you
+and your party as you were going home from my theatre at night. For the
+love of all the Saints, Signor Pasquale, do not form a prejudice
+against me and my theatre on account of an affair of this sort, which
+could scarcely have been anticipated. Do not deprive me of your
+patronage."
+
+"My good Signor Nicolo," said Capuzzi, flattered, "let me assure you
+that I never, anywhere, found more pleasure than in your theatre.
+Your Formica, your Agli, are actors, whose equals have still to
+be discovered; but the alarm which brought my friend Splendiano
+Accoramboni--and indeed myself as well--nearly to death's door, was too
+severe. It has closed to me for ever, not your theatre, but the road to
+it. Open your theatre in the Piazza del Popolo, or in Strada Babuina,
+or Strada Ripetta, and I shall never miss a single evening; but no
+power on earth would induce me to set foot outside the Porto del Popolo
+at night."
+
+Nicolo sighed as if possessed by profound sorrow. "That hits me hard,"
+he said; "harder than you perhaps may suppose, Signor Pasquale. I had
+based all my hopes upon you. In fact, I came to implore your
+assistance."
+
+"My assistance!" echoed the old gentleman; "my assistance! In what way
+could that be of any use to you, Signor Nicolo?"
+
+"My dear Signor Pasquale," answered Nicolo, passing his handkerchief
+over his eyes as if wiping away a tear or two, "you will have observed
+that my actors occasionally introduce a little aria or so here and
+there; and my idea was to carry that further gradually; bring a small
+orchestra together, and finally evade prohibitions so far as to start
+an opera. You, Signor Capuzzi, are the first composer in all Italy, and
+it is only the incredible frivolity of the Romans, and the envy of the
+_Maestri_, that are to blame for the circumstance that anything except
+your compositions is to be heard on the stage. Signor Pasquale, I came
+to beg you, on my knees, to allow me to represent your immortal works
+in my theatre."
+
+"My good Signor Nicolo!" cried the old fellow, with bright sunshine in
+his face, "why are we talking here in the public street? Will you be
+kind enough to climb up a steep flight of stairs, and come with me into
+my humble dwelling?"
+
+As soon as he got into the room with Nicolo, he hauled out a great
+packet of dusty music-manuscript, opened it up, turned pages over, and
+began that frightful yelling and screeching which he called "singing."
+Nicolo demeaned himself like one enraptured. He sighed, he groaned; he
+cried "bravo!" from time to time, and "Bravissimo! Benedetto Capuzzi!"
+At length, as if in an excess of blissful enthusiasm, he fell at the
+old man's feet, and clasped his knees, hugging them so very tightly,
+however, that Capuzzi gave a great bound to try and shake him off,
+screamed with the pain, and cried out: "All the Saints! let me go,
+Signor Nicolo! you'll be the death of me!"
+
+"No!" cried Nicolo. "No, Signor Pasquale! I will not rise from this
+spot till you promise to let me have that heavenly aria which you have
+just rendered so magnificently, so that Formica may sing it two nights
+hence on my stage."
+
+"You are a person of some taste," sighed Pasquale; "a man of insight;
+to whom, rather than to you, should I intrust my compositions? You
+shall take all my arias with you (Oh! oh! do let me go!) but, oh
+heavens! I shall not hear them--my heavenly masterpieces! (Oh, oh! let
+go my legs, Signor Nicolo!)"
+
+"No!" cried Nicolo, still on his knees, and firmly grasping the old
+man's spindle-shanks like a vice. "No, Signor Pasquale! I will not let
+you go till you give me your word that you will come to my theatre the
+evening after to-morrow. Have no fear of being attacked again. You may
+be certain that, when the Romans have heard those arias of yours, they
+will carry you home triumphantly in a torchlight procession. But even
+if they do not, I and my trusty comrades will arm, and escort you
+safely home."
+
+"You and your comrades will escort me home, will you?" Pasquale
+inquired; "how many of them might there be?"
+
+"Eight or ten people will be at your disposal, Signor Pasquale. Make up
+your mind; decide upon coming, and yield to my earnest prayers."
+
+"Formica," lisped Pasquale, "has a capital voice; how he _would_ sing
+my arias!"
+
+"Decide on it," cried Nicolo once more, grasping the old man's legs
+tighter than ever.
+
+"You promise me," said Pasquale; "you undertake to be responsible that
+I get safe home without being set upon?"
+
+"Upon my life and honour," said Nicolo, giving the legs an extra grip.
+
+"Done!" cried the old gentleman. "The evening after to-morrow I shall
+be at your theatre."
+
+Nicolo jumped up, and pressed the old man to his heart with such
+violence that he coughed and gasped for breath.
+
+At this juncture Marianna came in. Pasquale tried to restrain her by
+casting a grim look at her, but in vain. She went straight to Musso,
+and said angrily: "It is of no use your trying to entice my dear uncle
+to go to your theatre again. Remember that the horrible trick played
+upon me by abandoned villains who have a plot against me nearly cost my
+darling uncle and his worthy friend Splendiano their lives, not to
+mention myself. Never will I allow him to run such a risk again. Cease
+your attempts, Nicolo. Dearest uncle! you will stay quietly at home,
+will you not, and never venture outside the Porto del Popolo again in
+the treacherous night, which is no one's friend?"
+
+This came upon Signor Pasquale like a clap of thunder. He gazed at his
+niece with eyes widely opened; and presently addressed her in the
+sweetest language, explaining to her at much length that Signor Nicolo
+had taken the responsibility of making such arrangements that there
+should be no possible risk of danger on the homeward way.
+
+"For all that," answered Marianna, "my opinion remains the same, and I
+implore you most earnestly, dearest uncle, not to go. Excuse me, Signor
+Nicolo, for speaking clearly in your presence, and uttering the dark
+presentiment which I so strongly feel. I know that Salvator Rosa is a
+friend of yours, and I have no doubt so is Antonio Scacciati. How if
+you were in collusion with my enemies? How if you are tempting my uncle
+(who, I know, will not go to your theatre unless I am with him) only to
+have a surer opportunity of carrying out some fresh plot against him?"
+
+"What an idea!" cried Nicolo, as if horrified. "What a terrible
+suspicion to entertain, Signora! Have you had such an evil experience
+of me in the past? Is my reputation such that you believe me capable of
+such a frightful piece of treachery? But if you _do_ think so badly of
+me--if you have no confidence in the help I have promised--you can
+bring Michele (who was so useful in rescuing you on the former
+occasion), and let him bring a good force of Sbirri, who could be
+waiting for you outside; as you could scarcely expect _me_ to fill my
+house with Sbirri."
+
+Marianna, looking him steadfastly in the eyes, said earnestly: "Since
+you suggest that, I see that you mean honourably, Signor Nicolo, and
+that my evil suspicions of you were unfounded. Pray forgive my
+thoughtless words. Yet I cannot overcome my anxiety, and my fear for my
+dearest uncle, and I again beg him not to venture upon this dangerous
+expedition."
+
+Signor Pasquale had listened to the conversation with strange looks,
+which clearly testified to the contest within him. He could now
+restrain himself no longer; he fell on his knees before Marianna,
+seized her hands, kissed them, covered them with tears which streamed
+from his eyes, and cried, as if beside himself: "Heavenly and adored
+Marianna! the fire in my heart breaks forth into flame! Ah! this
+anxiety, this fear on my account; what are they but the sweetest
+admissions of your love for me?" He entreated her not to allow herself
+to be alarmed in the very slightest degree, but to hear, on the stage,
+the most lovely of the arias which the divinest of composers ever had
+written.
+
+Nicolo, too, continued the most pathetic entreaties, until Marianna
+declared she was persuaded, and promised to lay aside all fear, and go
+with her dear uncle to the theatre outside the Porto del Popolo.
+
+Signor Pasquale was in the seventh heaven of bliss. He had the full
+conviction that Marianna loved him, and he was going to hear his own
+music on the stage, and gather the laurels which he had so long been
+striving for in vain. He was on the very point of finding his fondest
+dreams realized, and he wanted his light to shine in all its glory on
+his faithful friends. His idea, therefore, was that Signor Splendiano
+and little Pitichinaccio should go with him, just as they had done on
+the former occasion.
+
+But in addition to the spectres who had carried him off, all manner of
+direful apparitions had haunted Signor Splendiano on the night when he
+slept in his periwig near the Pyramid of Cestius. The whole
+burying-ground seemed to have come to life, and hundreds of the dead
+had stretched their bony arms out at him, complaining loudly concerning
+his essences and electuaries, the tortures of which were not abated
+even in the tomb. Hence the Pyramid Doctor, though he could not
+contradict Signor Pasquale when he held that the whole thing was only a
+trick performed by a parcel of wicked young men, continued to be in a
+melancholy mood; and though, formerly, he was not greatly prone to
+anything in the nature of superstition, he now saw spectres everywhere,
+and was sorely plagued with presentiments and evil dreams.
+
+As for Pitichinaccio, nothing would persuade him that those devils who
+fell upon him and Signor Pasquale were not real and veritable demons
+from the flames of hell, and he screamed aloud whenever any one so much
+as alluded to that terrible night. All Pasquale's assurances that it
+was only Antonio Scacciati and Salvator Rosa who were behind those
+devil's masks were unavailing; for Pitichinaccio vowed, with many
+tears, that, notwithstanding his terror, he distinctly recognized the
+fiend Fanfarell, by his voice and appearance, and that said Fanfarell
+had beaten his stomach black and blue.
+
+It may be imagined what trouble Signor Pasquale had to persuade the
+Pyramid Doctor and Pitichinaccio to go with him again to Musso's
+theatre. Splendiano did not agree to do so until he had succeeded in
+getting from a monk of the Order of St. Bernard a consecrated bag of
+musk (the smell whereof neither dead men nor devils can abide), with
+which he was proof against all attacks. Pitichinaccio could not resist
+the promise of a box of grapes in sugar, but Signor Pasquale had to
+expressly agree that he was not to wear female attire (which, he
+thought, was what had brought the devils upon him), but go in his
+Abbate's costume.
+
+What Salvator had dreaded seemed thus to be about to insist on
+happening, although, as he declared, his whole plot depended for
+success upon Signor Pasquale and Marianna going by themselves, without
+the faithful companions, to Musso's theatre.
+
+Both he and Antonio cudgelled their brains how to keep Splendiano and
+Pitichinaccio away; but there was not time enough to carry out any plan
+having that for its aim, as the great stroke itself had to be struck on
+the evening of the next day. But heaven--which often employs the oddest
+tools in the punishment of foolish folk--interposed, in this instance,
+in favour of the lovers, and so guided Michele that he gave the rein to
+his natural dunderheadedness, and by that means brought about what the
+skill of Salvator and Antonio was powerless to accomplish.
+
+On that self-same night there suddenly arose, in Strada Ripetta before
+Pasquale's house, such a terrible swearing, shouting, and quarrelling
+that all the neighbours started from their sleep, and the Sbirri (who
+had been after a murderer who took sanctuary in the Piazza di Spagna),
+supposing there was another murder going on, came hurrying up with
+their torches. When they, and a crowd of people attracted by the noise
+who came with them, arrived on the scene of the supposed murder, what
+was seen was poor little Pitichinaccio lying on the ground as if dead;
+Michele belabouring the Pyramid Doctor with a frightful cudgel, and the
+said Doctor in the act of falling down; whilst Signor Pasquale, picking
+himself up with difficulty, drew his sword, and began furiously lunging
+at Michele. All round lay fragments of shattered guitars. Several
+people stopped the old gentleman's arm, or he would infallibly have run
+Michele through the body. The latter (who, now that the torches had
+come, saw, for the first time, who it was that he had to do with),
+stood like a statue, with eyes staring out of his head. Presently He
+emitted a terrific yell, tore his hair, and implored forgiveness and
+mercy. Neither the Pyramid Doctor nor Pitichinaccio were seriously
+hurt, but they were so stiff, and so black and blue, that they could
+not move a muscle, and had to be carried home.
+
+Signor Pasquale had brought this trouble upon his own pate. We are
+aware that Salvator and Antonio had favoured Marianna with the most
+beautiful night-music imaginable, but I have forgotten to add that they
+went on repeating it on succeeding nights, tremendously infuriating
+Signor Pasquale; his anger was held in check by the neighbours, and he
+was silly enough to apply to the authorities to prevent the two
+painters from singing in Strada Ripetta. The authorities considered it
+an unheard of thing in Rome to forbid anybody singing whenever he
+chose, and said it was absurd to demand it. On this Signor Pasquale
+determined to put an end to the thing himself, and promised Michele a
+good sum of money if he would fall upon the singers and give them a
+good cudgelling on the first opportunity. Michele at once provided
+himself with a big stick, and kept watch every night behind the door.
+However, it happened that Salvator and Antonio thought it advisable to
+discontinue the night-music in Strada Ripetta on the nights immediately
+preceding the execution of their plot, so that nothing might suggest
+ideas of his enemies to the old man. And Marianna innocently remarked
+that, much as she hated Salvator and Antonio, she would have been very
+glad to hear their singing, for their music, soaring on the breeze in
+the night, surpassed everything.
+
+Pasquale took mental note of this, and, as an exquisite piece of
+gallantry, determined to delight and surprise his beloved with a
+serenata, composed by himself, and carefully rehearsed with his
+companions. So the very night before the projected visit to the theatre
+he slipped secretly out and fetched his two associates, who were
+prepared beforehand. But no sooner had they struck the first chords on
+their guitars than Michele (whom his master had unfortunately forgotten
+to warn of what was going to happen), in high glee at the near prospect
+of earning the promised reward, burst out at the door, and set to work
+unmercifully becudgelling the musicians. What happened afterwards we
+know. Of course it was out of the question that either Splendiano or
+Pitichinaccio could go with Pasquale to the theatre, as they were lying
+in their beds covered all over with sticking-plaster. But Signor
+Pasquale could not refrain from going himself, although his shoulders
+and back smarted not a little from the licking he had had; every note
+of his aria was a rope dragging him there irresistibly.
+
+"Now that the obstacle which we thought insurmountable has cleared
+itself out of the way of its own accord," said Salvator to Antonio,
+"everything depends upon your adroitness in not letting slip, when it
+comes, the proper moment for carrying your Marianna off from Nicolo's
+theatre. But you will not fail; and I greet you already as the
+bridegroom of Capuzzi's beautiful niece, who will be your wife in a few
+days. I wish you every happiness, Antonio, although it goes to my very
+marrow when I think of your marriage."
+
+"What do you mean, Salvator?" asked Antonio.
+
+"Call it whim, or fanciful idea, Antonio," he answered; "the long and
+the short of it is, I love women; but every one of them, even her whom
+I am madly in love with, for whom I would gladly die, affects my mind
+with an apprehension which raises in me the most inexplicable and
+mysterious shudder the moment I think of a union with her such as
+marriage would be. The unfathomable element in woman's nature mockingly
+sets all the weapons of our sex at complete defiance. She whom we
+believe to have devoted herself to us with her whole being--to have
+opened to us the innermost recesses of her nature--is the first to
+deceive us, and with the sweetest kisses we imbibe the most destroying
+poison."
+
+"And my Marianna?" asked Antonio, aghast.
+
+"Pardon me, Antonio," answered Salvator; "even your Marianna, who is
+sweetness and delightsomeness personified, has given me a fresh proof
+how constantly we are menaced by the mysterious nature of woman.
+Remember how that innocent, inexperienced child behaved when we took
+her uncle home to her; how, at one glance of mine, she comprehended the
+whole situation, and played her part, as you said yourself, with the
+most amazing ability. But that was not to be named in the same day with
+what happened when Musso went to see the old man. The most practised
+skill, the most impenetrable craftiness--in short, every art of the
+woman most accomplished and experienced in the ways of the world--could
+suggest nothing more than what little Marianna did, in order to throw
+dust in the old man's eyes with the most absolute assurance of success.
+She could not possibly have acted with greater talent to make the road
+clear for us, whatever our undertakings were to be. The campaign
+against the insane old fool was legitimate--every kind of trick and
+artifice seems justified; still, however, dear Antonio, don't let my
+dreamer's fancies influence you too much, and be as happy with your
+Marianna as ever you can."
+
+If only some monk had accompanied Signor Pasquale as he was on his way
+to Musso's theatre with Marianna, everybody must have thought the
+strange pair were being taken to the place of execution; for ahead of
+them marched Michele, truculent in aspect, and armed to the teeth; and
+he was followed by well on to twenty Sbirri, who were surrounding
+Signor Pasquale and Marianna.
+
+Nicolo received the old gentleman and the lady with much solemnity of
+ceremony, and conducted them to the places reserved for them close in
+front of the stage. Much flattered at being thus honoured, Signor
+Pasquale looked about him with proud, beaming glances; and his pleasure
+was increased by the circumstance that there were none but women round
+and behind Marianna. Behind the scenes, on the stage, one or two
+violins and a bass were being tuned, and the old gentleman's heart beat
+high with anticipation, and a sort of electric shock pierced through
+his joints and marrow when all at once the ritornello of his aria
+sounded.
+
+Formica came on as Pasquarello, and sang, with the gestures most
+peculiarly characteristic of Capuzzi, and in his very voice, that most
+atrocious of all arias. The theatre resounded with the audience's most
+uproarious laughter. People shouted out: "Ah! Pasquale Capuzzi!
+Compositore--Virtuoso celeberrimo! Bravo, bravissimo!" The old man, not
+observing the tone of the laughter, was all delight. When the aria
+ended, the audience called for silence; Doctor Graziano (played on this
+occasion by Nicolo) came on, holding his ears, and calling out to
+Pasquarello to cease his din, and not make such an insane crowing. He
+proceeded to ask Pasquarello when he had taken to singing, and where he
+had picked up that abominable tune. Pasquarello said he did not know
+what the Doctor meant, and that he was just like the Romans, who had no
+taste for real music, and left the finest talents in neglect. The aria,
+he said, was by the greatest of living composers and virtuosi, whose
+service it was his good fortune to be in, and who himself gave him
+lessons in music and singing. Graziano went over the names of a number
+of well-known composers and virtuosi, but at each renowned name
+Pasquarello disdainfully shook his head.
+
+At length he said the Doctor showed gross ignorance in not knowing the
+very greatest composer of the day--none other than Signor Pasquale
+Capuzzi, who had done him the honour to take him into his service.
+Could he not see that Pasquarello was the friend and servant of Signor
+Pasquale?
+
+The Doctor broke into an immoderate fit of laughter and cried: "What!
+had Pasquarello, after serving _him_, where, besides wages and food,
+many a good _quattrino_ fell into his mouth, gone to the very greatest
+and most accomplished skinflint and miser that ever swallowed
+macaroni?--to the motley Carnival-fool, who strutted about like a
+turkey-cock after a shower?--to that cur, that amorous old coxcomb, who
+poisons the air in Strada Ripetta with that disgusting goat-bleating
+which he calls 'singing?'" &c., &c.
+
+To this Pasquarello answered quite angrily, that it was mere envy on
+the Doctor's part. To speak with his heart in his hand (_parla col
+cuore in mano_) the Doctor was by no means in a position to pass a
+judgment on Signor Pasquale Capuzzi di Senegaglia. To speak heart in
+hand, the Doctor himself had a pretty good dash of all which he was
+finding fault with in the admirable Signor Pasquale. Speaking, as he
+was, heart in hand, he had often, himself, known some six hundred
+people or so to laugh with all their throats at Doctor Graziano
+himself. And then Pasquarello held forth at great length in praise of
+his new master, Signor Pasquale, attributing to him all possible
+excellences, and finishing with a description of his character, which
+he made out to be absolutely perfect as regarded amiability and
+lovableness.
+
+"Blessed Formica!" whispered Signor Capuzzi aside to himself, "I see
+that you have determined to render my triumph complete, by rubbing the
+noses of the Romans in all the envy and ingratitude with which they
+have persecuted me, and showing them clearly whom and what I am."
+
+"Here comes my master himself," cried Pasquarello; and there came on to
+the stage Signor Capuzzi, as he lived and moved, in dress, face, walk,
+and manner--in all respects so exactly similar to the Capuzzi down in
+the audience part of the house, that the latter, quite alarmed, let go
+his hold of Marianna (whom he had been holding up to this time with one
+hand), and rubbed his nose and periwig, as if to find out whether he
+was awake or dreaming of seeing his own double, or really in Nicolo
+Musso's theatre, obliged to believe his eyes, and infer that he did see
+this miraculous appearance.
+
+The Capuzzi on the stage embraced Doctor Graziano with much amity, and
+inquired after his welfare. The Doctor said his appetite was good, at
+his service (_per servir-lo_), and his sleep sound; but that his purse
+laboured under a complete depletion. Yesterday, in honour of his lady
+love, he said, he had spent his last ducat in buying a pair of rosemary
+stockings, and he was just going to certain bankers to see if they
+would lend him thirty ducats.
+
+"How could you think of such a thing?" cried Capuzzi. "Why pass the
+door of your best friend? Here, my dear sir, are fifty ducats; pray
+accept them."
+
+"Pasquale, what are you doing?" cried the Capuzzi down in the audience,
+half aloud.
+
+Doctor Graziano talked of giving a bill and paying interest; but the
+stage Capuzzi vowed he could not think of taking either from such a
+friend as the Doctor. "Pasquale! are you crazy?" cried the Capuzzi
+below, louder.
+
+Doctor Graziano made his exit here, after many grateful embracings.
+Pasquarello then went forward, with lowly reverences; lauded Signor
+Capuzzi to the skies; said _his_ (Pasquarello's) purse was afflicted
+with the same malady as the Doctor's, and begged for some of the same
+medicine. The Capuzzi on the stage laughed, saying he was glad that
+Pasquarello knew how to take advantage of his good dispositions, and
+threw him two or three shining ducats.
+
+"Pasquale, you're mad! the devil's in you!" the audience-Capuzzi cried,
+very loudly. The audience called him to order. Pasquarello waxed still
+louder in Capuzzi's praise, and came, at length, on the subject of the
+arias which he (Capuzzi) had composed, with which he (Pasquarello) was
+in hopes of charming the world. Capuzzi on the stage patted Pasquarello
+on the shoulder, and said he could confide to a faithful servant like
+_him_, that the truth was that he really knew nothing whatever about
+music, and that the aria he had been mentioning, like all the arias he
+had ever written, was cribbed from Frescobaldi's canzone, and
+Carissimi's motets.
+
+"You lie, you scoundrel, in your throat!" screamed the Capuzzi below,
+rising from his seat. "Silence!--sit down!" cried the audience; the
+women who were sitting near him dragged him down into his place.
+
+The stage-Capuzzi went on to say it was time, now, to come to matters
+of more importance. He wanted to give a large dinner the next day, and
+Pasquarello must set to work briskly to get together all the
+requirements. He drew out of his pocket a list of the most expensive
+and recherché dishes, and read it aloud; as each dish was mentioned,
+Pasquarello had to say how much it would cost, and the money was handed
+to him on the spot.
+
+"Pasquale!--idiotic fool!--madman!--spendthrift!--prodigal!" cried the
+Capuzzi below, in crescendo, after the mention of the several dishes,
+and grew more and more angry the higher the total bill for this most
+unheard-of of all dinners became.
+
+When at length the list was gone through, Pasquarello asked Signor
+Pasquale's reason for giving so grand a dinner; and Capuzzi (on the
+stage) replied: "To-morrow will be the happiest day of all my life. Let
+me tell you, my good Pasquarello, that to-morrow I celebrate the
+wedding-day, rich in blessings, of my dear niece Marianna. I am giving
+her hand to that fine young fellow, the greatest of all painters,
+Scacciati."
+
+Scarce had the Capuzzi on the stage uttered those words, than he of the
+audience, quite beside himself, and incapable of further self-control,
+sprang up, with all the fury of a demon in his face of fire, clenched
+both his fists at his counterfeit, and screamed out at him, in a
+yelling voice: "That you shall not!--that you shall never! you
+infernal scoundrel of a Pasquale! Will you defraud yourself of
+your own Marianna, you dog? Are you going to throw her at that
+diabolical rascal's head? The sweet Marianna--your life, your hope,
+your all-in-all? Ah, beware! Have a care, deluded blockhead! These
+fists shall beat you black and blue, and give you something else to
+think about than dinners and marriages."
+
+But the Capuzzi on the stage clenched _his_ fists too, and cried out in
+a similar fury, with the same yelling voice: "May all the devils enter
+your body! you cursed, senseless Pasquale! Abominable skinflint!--old
+amorous goose!--motley fool, with the cap and bells over your ears!
+Have a care of yourself, or I will blow the breath of life out of you!
+that the mean actions you want to father upon the shoulders of the
+good, honourable, upright Pasquale may be put an end to at last."
+
+To an accompaniment of the most furious curses and maledictions of the
+Capuzzi beneath, he on the stage proceeded to narrate one scurrilous
+story of him after another, finishing off by crying out: "Try if you
+dare, Pasquale--amorous old ape!--to interfere with the happiness of
+those two young people, destined for each other by heaven."
+
+As he spoke, there appeared at the back of the stage Antonio Scacciati
+and Marianna, with their arms about each other. Shaky as the old
+gentleman was on his legs, fury gave him strength and agility. At a
+bound he was on to the stage, where he drew his sword, and ran at
+Antonio. But he felt himself seized from behind; an officer of the
+Papal Guard was holding him, and said, in a serious tone: "Consider a
+little, Signor Pasquale Capuzzi; you are on Nicolo Musso's stage.
+Without being aware of it, you have been playing a most entertaining
+part this evening. You will not find Antonio or Marianna here." The two
+performers whom Capuzzi had taken to be them had come closer, with the
+rest of the actors, and he did not know their faces at all. The sword
+fell from his trembling hand; he drew a deep breath, like one waking
+from a fearful dream, clasped his forehead, forced his eyes wide open.
+The dreadful sense of what had really happened flashed upon him, and he
+cried: "Marianna!" in a terrible voice, till the walls re-echoed.
+
+But his calling could no longer reach her ears; for Antonio had
+carefully watched for the moment when Capuzzi, oblivious of everything,
+even himself, was contending with his counterfeit on the stage, had
+then cautiously made his way to Marianna, and taken her through the
+audience to a side door, where the Vetturino was waiting with the
+carriage; and away they were driven towards Florence as fast as they
+could go.
+
+"Marianna!" the old man continued crying. "She has gone!--she has
+flown!--the villain Antonio has robbed me of her! Away!--after her!
+Good people, have pity! Get torches; search for my dove! Ha, the
+serpent!"
+
+And the old man was making off; but the officer held him fast, saying:
+"If you mean the pretty young girl who was sitting by you, I rather
+fancy I saw her slip out with a young fellow--Antonio Scacciati, I
+believe,--some considerable time ago, just as you were beginning that
+useless, silly quarrel with the actor who had on a mask something like
+you. Signor Pasquale, it is my duty to arrest you, on account of your
+behaviour, and the murderous attack upon the actor."
+
+Signor Pasquale, with pale death in his face, incapable of uttering a
+word or a sound, was marched off by the very Sbirri who had come there
+to protect him from masquerading demons and spectres. Thus there fell
+upon him deep distress and sorrow, and all the wild despair of a
+foolish and deceived old amorous fool, on the very night when he looked
+to celebrate his greatest triumph.
+
+
+      Salvator Rosa Quits Rome For Florence. The End Of This Story.
+
+All things here below under the sun are subject to constant change and
+fluctuation, but there is nothing that more deserves to be called
+fickle and fleeting than mankind's opinions, which keep rotating in an
+eternal circle, like Fortune's wheel. Bitter censure falls to-day upon
+him who yesterday gathered a grand harvest of praise; he who walks
+to-day a-foot may to-morrow ride in a gilded chariot.
+
+Who was there in all Rome who did not scorn and mock at old Capuzzi,
+with his mean avarice, his silly amorousness, his crazy jealousy?--or
+who did not wish the poor tormented Marianna her freedom? Yet now that
+Antonio had succeeded in carrying her off, all the scorn and mockery
+suddenly turned to pity for the poor old fellow who was seen creeping
+about the streets of Rome, with bowed head, inconsolable.
+
+Misfortunes rarely come singly. Soon after Marianna had been carried
+off, Pasquale lost his dearest bosom friends. Little Pitichinaccio
+choked himself with an almond, which he incautiously tried to swallow
+as he was in the middle of a _cadenza_; and a slip of the pen (of
+his own making) put a sudden period to the life of the renowned
+Pyramid-Doctor, Signor Splendiano Accoramboni. Michele's cudgelling had
+such an effect on him that he fell into a fever. He determined to cure
+himself by a remedy which he believed he had discovered. He demanded
+pen and ink, and wrote a recipe, in which, by putting down a wrong
+fever, he enormously increased the quantity of a very powerful
+ingredient; so that as soon as he swallowed the medicine he fell back
+upon his pillow and was gone; proving, by his own death, the effect of
+this final tincture of his prescribing in the most striking and heroic
+manner.
+
+As we have said, all who had previously laughed the most heartily at
+Capuzzi, and the most sincerely wished success to the brave Antonio in
+his undertaking, were now all compassion for the old man; and the
+bitterest blame was laid, not upon Antonio so much as upon Salvator
+Rosa, whom they all, with very good reason, held to have been at the
+bottom of the whole affair.
+
+Salvator's enemies (of whom there were a goodly band) were not slow to
+stir up the fire to the best of their ability. "See!" they said; "this
+is Masaniello's worthy comrade, always ready to lay his hand to any
+evil trick, any robberish undertaking; if his dangerous stay in Rome is
+prolonged, we shall soon feel the effects of it heavily."
+
+And, in fact, the ignoble herd of those who conspired against Salvator
+succeeded in stemming the bold flight which his fame would otherwise
+have taken. One picture after another came from his hand, bold of
+conception, magnificent of execution, but the so-called "connoisseurs"
+always shrugged the shoulder; said, now that the mountains were too
+blue; now, that the trees were too green, the figures too tall, or
+too stumpy; found fault with everything where there was no fault
+to be found, and made it their business to detract from Salvator's
+well-merited renown in every possible way. His chief persecutors were
+the members of the Academia di San Luca, who could never get over the
+affair of the surgeon, and went out of their own province to depreciate
+the pretty verses which Salvator wrote about that time, even trying to
+make out that he did not live upon the fruit of his own land, but
+pilfered the property of other people. And this, too, led to Salvator's
+being by no means in a position to surround himself with the splendour
+and luxury which he had formerly displayed in Rome. Instead of the
+grand, spacious studio, where all the celebrities of Rome used to visit
+him, he went on living at Dame Caterina's, beside his green figtree.
+And in this very restrictedness he, doubtless, soon found comfort and
+ease of heart.
+
+But he laid the malignant conduct of his enemies more to heart than
+there was any occasion for; nay, he felt as though some creeping
+malady, engendered by annoyance and vexation, was gnawing at his inmost
+marrow. In this evil mood, he conceived and executed the great pictures
+which set all Rome in uproar. One of them represented the
+transitoriness of all earthly things; and in the principal female
+figure (which bore all the marks of a disreputable calling) it was easy
+to recognize the lady-love of one of the Cardinals. In the other was
+shown the Goddess of Fortune distributing her precious gifts. But
+Cardinal's hats, Bishop's mitres, and decorations were falling down
+upon bleating sheep, braying asses, and other despised creatures;
+whilst well-favoured men, in tattered garments, looked up in vain
+for the slightest favour. Salvator had given the rein to his bitter
+mood, and those beasts' heads had very striking resemblances to sundry
+well-known characters. It may be imagined how the hatred of him
+increased, and how much more bitterly he was persecuted than before.
+
+Dame Caterina cautioned him with tears in her eyes. She had noticed
+that as soon as it was dark, birds of evil omen--suspicious-looking
+characters--came slinking about the house, watching Salvator's every
+step. He saw that it was time to be gone; and Dame Caterina and her
+dear daughters were the only people he felt any pain in parting from.
+Remembering the Duke of Tuscany's repeated invitations, he went to
+Florence; and there his mortification was richly compensated for, and
+the annoyances of tome lost sight of in the honour and fame--so richly
+merited--which were bestowed upon him in fullest measure. The Duke's
+presents, and the large prices which he got for his pictures, soon
+enabled him to occupy a large mansion, and furnish it in the most
+magnificent style. There he collected round him all the most famous
+poets and literati of the day; it is sufficient to mention amongst them
+Evangelista Torricelli, Valerio Chimentelli, Battista Ricciardi, Andrea
+Cavalcanti, Pietro Salviati, Filippo Apolloni, Volumnio Bandelli,
+Francesco Rovai. Art and science were joined together in a charming
+fusion, and Salvator Rosa had a manner of endowing the meetings with an
+element of the fanciful, which in a peculiar manner gave a stimulus to
+the thoughts and ideas of the company. Thus, the dining-hall had the
+appearance of a beautiful shrubbery, containing sweet-smelling bushes
+and flowers and gurgling springs; and the very dishes, served by
+singularly-attired pages, had a wonderful appearance, as if they came
+from some far-off enchanted land. These assemblages of poets and
+_savants_ in Salvator Rosa's house were at the time known as the
+Academia de' Percossi.
+
+But although Salvator occupied his mind in this manner with art and
+science, his inmost heart was cheered by his friend Antonio Scacciati,
+who was living a happy artistic life, free from care, with the
+beautiful Marianna. They used to think, sometimes, of the old deceived
+Signor Pasquale, and all that took place in Nicolo Musso's theatre. And
+Antonio asked Salvator how he had managed to interest not only Musso,
+but the wonderful Formica and Agli, in his affairs, to employ their
+talents on his behalf as they had done. Salvator said it had been an
+easy matter, inasmuch as Formica had been his most intimate friend in
+Rome, and always delighted to carry out upon the stage anything that he
+had suggested to him. Antonio declared that, much as he was unable
+still to help laughing when he thought of the occurrence which had made
+no happiness, he wished, from his heart, for a reconciliation with the
+old man, even although he should never touch a farthing of Marianna's
+fortune (which the old man had taken possession of), seeing that his
+art brought him money enough. Marianna, too, could often not restrain
+her tears at the thought that her father's brother would never till his
+dying day forgive the trick that had been played upon him; and thus
+Pasquale's hatred cast a sorrowful shadow upon her happy life. Salvator
+comforted them both with the thought that time cures much harder
+matters, and that chance might perhaps bring the old man to them in a
+much less dangerous manner than if they had remained in Rome, or were
+to go back there now.
+
+We shall find that a spirit of prophecy dwelt in Salvator. A
+considerable time had elapsed, when one day Antonio burst into
+Salvator's studio, breathless, and pale as death. "Salvator!" he cried;
+"my friend! my protector!--I am lost unless you help me! Pasquale
+Capuzzi is here, and has got a warrant to arrest me for carrying off
+his niece."
+
+"But what can Pasquale do to you now?" asked Salvator. Has not the
+Church united Marianna and you?"
+
+"Alas!" answered Antonio, in despair, "even the Church cannot save me
+here. Heaven knows how he has accomplished it, but the old man has
+managed to get the ear of the Pope's nephew; and it is this nephew who
+has taken him under his protection, and given him hope that the Holy
+Father will declare our marriage void; and not only that, but give him
+a dispensation to enable _him_ to marry his niece."
+
+"Stop!" cried Salvator. "Now--_now_ I understand the whole matter. It
+is that nephew's hatred for _me_, Antonio, which threatens to ruin
+everything. This nephew--this conceited, raw, boorish fellow--is one of
+those beasts which the Goddess of Fortune is overwhelming with her
+gifts in that picture of mine. That it was I who helped you to your
+Marianna--more or less indirectly, of course--is known not only to this
+nephew, but to every one in Rome. Season enough to persecute you, since
+they cannot specify anything against _me_. Even were it not for my
+affection for you, Antonio, as my best and dearest friend, I could not
+but stand by you if it were for nothing else than that it is I who have
+brought this mischance upon you. But, by all the saints, I do not see
+how I am to set about spoiling the game of your enemies."
+
+As he said this Salvator, who up to this point had been working away at
+a picture without interrupting himself, laid his brushes, palette and
+mahlstick down, got up from his easel, and, folding his arms across his
+breast, strode 'several times up and down, whilst Antonio, in deepest
+thought, contemplated the floor with fixed glance.
+
+Presently Salvator halted before him, and cried, laughing: "Antonio,
+there is nothing that _I_ can accomplish as against your powerful
+enemies; but there is _one_ who can, and will, help you; and that is
+Signor Formica."
+
+"Alas!" cried Antonio; "do not jest with an unfortunate, for whom there
+is no further salvation."
+
+"Still determined to despair?" cried Salvator, who had suddenly risen
+into the highest spirits. He laughed aloud: "I tell you, Antonio,
+friend Formica will help in Florence quite as well as he did in Rome.
+Go quietly home. Comfort your Marianna, and await the course of events
+quite tranquilly. All I expect of you is that you will be ready and
+prepared to do whatever Signor Formica--who happens to be here at this
+moment--may require of you." Antonio promised obedience with all his
+heart, hope and confidence at once beginning to glimmer up within him.
+
+Signor Pasquale was not a little astonished to receive a formal
+invitation from the Academia de' Percossi. "Ha!--indeed!" he cried.
+"One sees that Florence is the place where they know how to esteem
+merit; where a man endowed with such gifts as Signor Pasquale Capuzzi
+di Senegalia chances to possess, is properly appreciated."
+
+Thus the thought of the amount of artistic knowledge which he
+possessed, and of the honours which were being paid to him in
+consequence, overcame the repugnance which he would otherwise have
+entertained to an assemblage which had Salvator Rosa, at its head. The
+Spanish state costume was brushed more carefully than usual; the
+steeple-crowned hat adorned with a new feather; the shoes set off with
+fresh bows of ribbon; and Signor Pasquale made his appearance in
+Salvator's house glittering like a golden beetle, with a countenance of
+radiant sunshine. The splendour around him--Salvator himself (who was
+much more finely dressed than he had been wont to be)--inspired him
+with reverence; and--as is usually the case with shallow souls, which
+are puffed-up at first, but at once fall down into the dust when they
+perceive any distinct superiority over them--Pasquale was all deference
+and humility towards that Salvator whom he was for ever lording over in
+Rome.
+
+So much attention was paid to Signor Pasquale on all hands; his
+opinions were so unconditionally appealed to; so much was said as to
+his artistic merits, that he felt himself a new man; nay, it seemed to
+him that a special spirit came to life within him, so that he really
+spoke much more sensibly on many subjects than might have been
+expected. As, in addition to all this, he had never in all his life
+partaken of such a splendid dinner, or tasted such inspiring wine, his
+enjoyment necessarily mounted higher and higher, and he forgot all
+about the wrongs done him in Rome, and the unpleasant business which
+had brought him to Florence.
+
+In a short time the bushes at the bottom of the hall began to get in
+motion, the leafy branches opened out apart, and a little theatre came
+into view, with its stage, and some seats for an audience.
+
+"All ye saints!" cried Pasquale Capuzzi, in much alarm. "Where am I?
+That is Nicolo Mussos's theatre!"
+
+Without paying attention to his outcry, two gentlemen of dignified
+appearance--Evangelista Torricelli and Andrea Cavalcanti--took him by
+the arms, one on each side, and conducted him to a seat in front of the
+stage, taking their places on either side of him.
+
+No sooner were they seated than there entered on to the stage, Formica,
+as Pasquarello!
+
+"Accursed Formica!" cried Pasquale, springing up and shaking his
+clenched fist towards the stage. Torricelli's and Cavalcanti's grave
+looks of disapproval, however, constrained him to silence and
+quietness.
+
+Pasquarello sobbed, wept, and cursed his fate which brought him nothing
+but grief and misery; declared he did not know how he should manage to
+laugh, were it but ever so little, and concluded by saying that, in the
+excess of his despair, he would most certainly cut his throat, were it
+not that the sight of blood always made him faint; or throw himself
+into the river, if he only could help swimming when in the water.
+
+Here Doctor Graziano entered and inquired the cause of his grief.
+
+Pasquarello asked him if he did not know what had been happening in his
+master's, Signor Pasquale Capuzzi di Senegaglia's, house?--whether he
+had heard that an abandoned ruffian had run off with his master's
+niece, Marianna?
+
+"Ha!" murmured Capuzzi, "I see what it is, Signor Formica. You think
+you will exculpate and excuse yourself; you desire my forgiveness.
+Well, we shall see."
+
+Doctor Graziano expressed his sympathy, and thought the ruffian must
+have been very clever to have evaded Capuzzi's search after him.
+Pasquarello told the Doctor not to allow himself to imagine that the
+rascal Antonio Scacciati succeeded in getting the better of the deep
+and clever Signor Pasquale Capuzzi, supported as he was, moreover, by
+influential friends. Antonio was in prison, his marriage declared void,
+and Marianna again in her uncle's hands.
+
+"Has he got her?" cried Capuzzi, beyond himself; "has he got her again,
+the good Capuzzi? Has he got his little dove again; his Marianna? Is
+the scoundrel Antonio in prison? O most blessed Formica!"
+
+"You take too lively an interest in the piece, Signor Pasquale," said
+Cavalcanti very seriously. "Pray allow the actors to speak, and do not
+interrupt them."
+
+Signor Pasquale, abashed, sat down in his place again.
+
+Pasquarello went on to say that there had been a wedding. Marianna had
+repented of what she had done; Signor Pasquale had obtained the
+necessary dispensation from the Holy Father, and had married his niece.
+
+"Yes, yes," murmured Pasquale, aside, whilst his eyes shone with
+delight; "yes, yes, my dearest Formica! He marries the sweet Marianna,
+the lucky Pasquale! He always knew the little dove loved him; it was
+but the devil that led her astray."
+
+In that case, Doctor Graziano said, everything was well, and there was
+no cause for lamentation.
+
+But Pasquarello began to sob and cry more violently than before, and at
+last fell down in a faint, as if overcome by his terrible sorrow.
+
+Doctor Graziano ran about anxiously; regretted that he had not a
+smelling-bottle about him; searched in all his pockets, and at length
+pulled out a roasted chestnut, which he held under the nose of the
+insensible Pasquarello. The latter recovered at once, sneezing
+violently, begged him to excuse the weak state of his nerves, and went
+on to say that after the marriage Marianna had fallen into the deepest
+melancholy, calling continually on Antonio's name, and regarding the
+old man with loathing and contempt. But the latter, blinded by his love
+and jealousy, had never ceased torturing her in the most terrible
+manner with his foolishness. Then Pasquarello related a number of mad
+tricks which Pasquale had been guilty of, and which were actually told
+of him in Rome. Signor Pasquale jigged uneasily on his seat here and
+there, murmuring, "Accursed Formica, you lie!--what devil inspires
+you?" It was only the fact that Torricelli and Cavalcanti kept their
+grave eyes fixed upon him that restrained a wild outburst of his anger.
+Pasquarello ended by saying that the luckless Marianna had at last
+fallen a victim to her unstilled love-longing, her bitter sorrow, and
+the thousand-fold tortures which the accursed old man had inflicted
+upon her, and had passed away from this world, in the flower of her
+age.
+
+At this moment there was heard an awe-inspiring _De profundis_, chanted
+by hoarse and hollow voices; and men in long white mantles appeared
+upon the stage bearing a bier, on which lay the body of the beautiful
+Marianna, shrouded in white grave-clothes. Signor Pasquale Capuzzi, in
+the deepest mourning, tottered along behind it, moaning aloud, beating
+his breast, and crying, in his despair, "Oh, Marianna! Marianna!"
+
+When the Capuzzi in the audience saw the body of his niece, both the
+Capuzzis (him on the stage and he of the audience) howled, and cried in
+the most heart-breaking tones: "Oh, Marianna! Oh, Marianna! Miserable
+man that I am! Ah me! Ah me!"
+
+Imagine the corpse of the beautiful girl on the open tier, Surrounded
+by the mourners, their solemn _De profundis_, and along with all
+this, the comic masks, Doctor Graziano and Pasquarello, expressing
+their grief in the most absurd gesticulations; and then the two
+Capuzzis, howling and crying in despair. And in truth, all they who
+were spectators of this strangest of dramatic representations,
+notwithstanding the irrepressible laughter into which they could not
+help breaking over the extraordinary old man, were penetrated by a deep
+and eerie shudder of awe.
+
+The stage now suddenly grew dark. There was thunder and lightning; and
+out of the depths arose a pale and spectral form, exactly alike in
+every feature to Capuzzi's brother, Pietro, father of Marianna, who
+died in Senegaglia.
+
+"Wicked Pasquale!" cried the spectre-form, in hollow, terrible tones;
+"what have you done with my daughter? Despair and die, accursed
+murderer of my child! Your reward awaits you in hell!"
+
+The Capuzzi on the stage fell down as if struck by lightning, and at
+the same instant the Capuzzi down beneath fell senseless from his seat.
+The branches rustling, closed into their former places; and the stage,
+with Marianna and Capuzzi, and Pietro's grizzly ghost, disappeared from
+view. Signor Pasquale was in such a deep faint that it cost some
+trouble to bring him to himself again.
+
+At last he revived, with a deep sigh, stretched his hands out before
+him as if to keep off the terror which seized upon him, and cried in
+hollow tones: "Let me go, Pietro!" A stream of tears burst from his
+eyes, and he cried, with sobs: "Ah, Marianna!--my darling beautiful
+girl!--my own Marianna!"
+
+"Bethink you!" said Cavalcanti at last. "Consider Signor Pasquale! It
+was only on the stage that you saw your niece dead. She is alive. She
+is here, to implore your forgiveness for the thoughtless stratagem to
+which love--and, perhaps, your own inconsiderate conduct--impelled
+her."
+
+Here Marianna, with Antonio Scacciati behind her, rushed forward from
+the back of the hall, and fell at the feet of the old gentleman, who
+had been placed in an easy chair. Marianna, in the fullest lustre of
+her beauty, kissed his hands, bedewed them with hot tears, and begged
+forgiveness for herself and Antonio, united to her by the Church's
+benediction. From the old man's deathly pale face flames suddenly
+broke, fury flashed from his eyes, and he cried in a half-articulate
+voice: "Ha! abandoned wretch!--venomous serpent! whom I nourished in my
+bosom, for my destruction!" But the grave old Torricelli came up to
+him, in all his dignity, and said that he (Capuzzi) had seen in a
+figure the fate which would inevitably overtake him if he dared to
+prosecute his evil design against the peace and happiness of Antonio
+and Marianna. He painted, in the most brilliant colours, the folly--the
+madness--of amorous old age yielding to love, which has the power of
+bringing down upon its head the most destroying evil with which Heaven
+can threaten man, since it annihilates all the affection which
+might still be his portion, whilst hatred and contempt aim their
+death-dealing arrows at him from every side.
+
+And Marianna cried out, in a tone which penetrated the heart: "Oh, my
+uncle! I want to love and honour you as a father! You will bring me to
+the bitter death if you take Antonio from me!"
+
+And all the poets who were surrounding the old man cried, with one
+voice, that it was impossible that such an one as Signor Pasquale
+Capuzzi di Senegaglia--a lover and patron of the arts, himself an
+admirable and accomplished artist--should not forgive; that he, who
+occupied the position of a father to the loveliest of women, should not
+welcome with joy, as a son-in-law, a painter such as Antonio Scacciati,
+prized by the whole of Italy, overwhelmed with honour and fame.
+
+It was easy to see that a mental process of some kind was going on
+within the old man. He sighed; he groaned; he hid his face in his
+hands, whilst Torricelli plied him with the most convincing arguments;
+whilst Marianna implored him, in the most moving accents; whilst the
+others extolled and belauded Antonio Scacciati to the utmost of their
+skill. The old man looked, now at his niece, now at Antonio, whose fine
+dress and rich chain of honour proved the truth of what was urged as to
+his artistic position and success.
+
+All anger had disappeared from Capuzzi's countenance. He sprung up with
+beaming glances, pressed Marianna to his heart, and cried: "Yes, I
+forgive you, my beloved child! I forgive you, Antonio! Far be it from
+mo to destroy your happiness. You are right, my worthy Signor
+Torricelli. Signor Formica has shown me, in a figure, on the stage, all
+the misery and destruction which would have come upon me if I had
+carried out my insane idea. I am cured--completely cured--of my folly.
+But where is Signor Formica?--where is my worthy physician, that I may
+thank him a thousand times for my recovery, which he has brought about.
+The terror which he knew how to cause me has transformed my whole
+being."
+
+Pasquarello came forward. Antonio threw himself upon his breast,
+crying:
+
+"Oh, Signor Formica! to whom I owe my life, my all! cast aside the mask
+which disguises you, that I may see your face--that Formica may cease
+to be a mystery to me."
+
+Pasquarello took off the cap, and the skilfully-constructed mask, which
+seemed to be an actual, natural face, placing no obstacle in the way of
+facial expression. And this Formica--this Pasquarello--was transformed
+into--Salvator Rosa!
+
+"Salvator!" cried Marianna, Antonio, and Capuzzi, _ensemble_, all
+amazement.
+
+"Yes," said that wondrous man. "Salvator Rosa; whom the Romans would
+have none of, as painter, as poet; and who, as Formica, for more than a
+year, on Nicolo Musso's poor little stage, moved them almost nightly to
+the loudest and most immoderate applause; from whom they gladly
+accepted all ridicule and mockery of what was bad, though they would
+not swallow it in Salvator's poems and pictures. Salvator Formica it is
+who has aided you, dear Antonio."
+
+"Salvator!" old Capuzzi began; "Salvator Rosa! I have looked upon you
+as my worst enemy, but I have always held your art in highest honour;
+and now I love you as the most valued of my friends, and I venture to
+beg you to accept me as such."
+
+"Say, my worthy Signor Pasquale," answered Salvator, "in what I can be
+of service to you, and be assured beforehand that I will employ all my
+powers to fulfil your desires."
+
+There dawned in Capuzzi's face once more that sugary smile which had
+vanished since Marianna's departure. He took Salvator's hand, and
+whispered gently: "My dear Signor Salvator, you can do anything with
+the good Antonio. Beg him, in my name, to allow me to spend the brief
+remainder of my days with him and my dear daughter Marianna, and to
+accept from me the fortune which she inherits from her mother, to which
+I mean to add a liberal marriage-portion. And then, too, he mustn't
+look askew if I now and then kiss the lovely child's little white hand;
+and--at all events on Sundays when I go to mass--he must dress my
+moustache for me; a thing which nobody in all the world can do as he
+can."
+
+Salvator had difficulty in restraining his laughter; but before he
+could make answer, Antonio and Marianna, embracing the old man, assured
+him that they would not consider the reconciliation complete, or feel
+thoroughly happy, until he took his place by their hearth as a beloved
+father, never to leave them more. Antonio added that he would dress
+Capuzzi's moustachios not only on Sundays, but every day of the week,
+in the daintiest manner. And now the old man was all joy and happiness.
+Meanwhile a splendid supper had been served, and to this they all sate
+down, in the happiest mood of mind.
+
+In taking my leave of you, dear reader, I wish with all my heart that
+the happiness which has now fallen to the lot of Salvator and all his
+friends, may have glowed very brightly in your own breast, whilst you
+have been reading the story of the marvellous Signor Formica.
+
+
+"Now," began Lothair, when Ottmar had ended, "since our friend has
+been fair and honourable enough to admit from the outset the lack of
+vigour--the weakness of knee, so to speak, of his production, which it
+has pleased him to call a 'Novella,' this appeal to our considerateness
+does, certainly, draw the sting out of our criticisms, which were
+formed up, in complete steel, to attack him. He bares his bosom to the
+partizan-pike, and therefore, as magnanimous adversaries, we withhold
+our thrust, and are bound to have mercy."
+
+"More than that," said Cyprian, "to console his pain, we feel ourselves
+permitted to bestow a certain limited amount of praise. For my part, I
+see a good deal in this work that is pleasant and Serapiontic.
+Capuzzi's broken leg, for instance, and its consequences, his
+mysterious serenade----"
+
+"Which," interrupted Vincenz, "has all the more of the real Spanish, or
+the true Italian smack about it, just because it ends with a tremendous
+cudgelling. No proper Novella of the kind would be complete without the
+due amount of licking, and I prize it highly as, medically speaking, a
+specially powerful stimulant, always employed by the best writers. In
+Boccacio things hardly ever wind up without cudgelling; and where does
+it rain more blows or thrusts than in the Romance of all Romances, 'Don
+Quixote?' Cervantes himself considered it necessary to apologise to his
+readers about it. Now-a-days intellectual ladies will have none of such
+matters in connection with the mental 'teas' (which they enjoy along
+with tea for the body); the honoured hide of a favourite poet--if he
+would retain his footing at 'teas,' and in pocket-books--must, at
+highest, be blackened by a tap or so on the nose, or the least little
+box on an ear. But what of tea? What of cultivated ladies? Behold in
+me, oh, Ottmar, your champion in complete armour, and cudgel soundly in
+all the novels you may be thinking of writing. I praise you for the
+cudgelling's sake."
+
+"And I," said Theodore, "for the delightful trio which Capuzzi, the
+Pyramid-doctor, and the somewhat shudder-creating little abortion,
+Pitichinaccio, form; and, moreover, for the wonderful way in which
+Salvator Rosa--who never appears as the hero of the tale, but always as
+an auxiliary--conforms to his character as it is described, and also as
+it appears in his own works."
+
+"Ottmar," said Sylvester, "has held chiefly to the adventurous and
+enterprising side of his character, and given us less of what was grave
+and gloomy in him. _A propos_ of this, I think of the famous sonnet in
+which, allegorising on his own name--Salvator--he utters his deep
+indignation at his enemies and persecutors who accused him of
+plundering from older writers in his poetry, which, indeed, is all
+ruggedness, and deficient in interior connectedness."
+
+"But," said Lothair, "to return to Ottmar's Novella. The principal
+fault which I have to find with it is that, instead of a story rounding
+itself into a whole in all its parts, he has merely given us a series
+of pictures, although they are often delightful enough."
+
+"Can I do otherwise than fully agree with you?" said Ottmar. "Still,
+you will all admit that it requires very skilful navigation to keep
+clear of the rocks upon which I have run."
+
+"Perhaps," said Sylvester, "the rocks in question are more dangerous to
+dramatic writers. Nothing--at least in my opinion--is more annoying
+than, instead of a Comedy, in which all that happens is necessarily and
+closely attached to the thread which runs through the piece, and should
+appear to be indispensably necessary to the picture represented, to see
+merely a series of arbitrary incidents, or even unconnected, detached
+situations; and indeed, the ablest dramatic author of recent times has
+set the example of this thoughtless (or 'frivolous') treatment of
+Comedy. Does the 'Pagen-streiche,' for example, consist of anything but
+a series of ludicrous situations strung together apparently by chance,
+and at random? In former days, when, on the whole (at all events as
+regards the drama), one cannot complain of the want of due seriousness,
+every writer of a Comedy took much pains to construct a regular plot,
+and out of that plot all the comic element, the drollery, nay, the very
+absurdity, duly evolved itself, of itself; because it seemed the
+natural thing for it to do. Jünger (although he but too often seems
+very 'flat') always did this, and even Brenner--utterly prosaic as he
+was on the whole--was by no means deficient in the power of making the
+comic element flow out from his plots, and his characters have often
+real force and vividness of life, derived from actuality; as, for
+instance, in his 'Eheprokurator.' Only those ladies of his, with their
+grand phrases, are completely unenjoyablo by us nowadays.
+Notwithstanding this, I have a very high opinion of him, for the
+reasons I have given."
+
+"In my mind," said Theodore, "his Operas put him out of court
+altogether. They may serve as examples how an opera ought not to be
+written."
+
+"For the simple reason," said Vincenz, "that the departed (peace to his
+ashes, as Sylvester very properly said) did not show many signs of
+having much poetry in his constitution; so that in the romantic realm
+of opera he could not find the slightest indication of a track to go
+upon. However, as you are talking in this strain on the subject of
+Comedy, I might do worse than point out that you are wasting your time
+in discussing a nonentity--a thing which does not exist; and cry out to
+you, as Romeo did to Mercutio--
+
+          'Peace, peace, good people, peace,
+            Ye talk of nothing.'
+
+What I mean is that, taking them altogether, we never see a single
+German Comedy presented on the stage, for the simple reason that the
+old ones cannot be swallowed or digested (by reason of the weakness
+of our stomachs), and new ones are no longer written. The reason
+of the latter I might establish, very briefly, in a treatise of
+some forty sheets or so; but, for the moment, I let you off with a
+play-upon-words. What I say is, that we have no comic plays, because we
+have none of the comic which plays with itself; nor the sense for it."
+
+"Dixi," cried Sylvester, laughing. "Dixi, and the name 'Vincenz'
+thereunder, with due stamp and seal. I happened, at the moment, to be
+thinking that in the lowest class of dramatic performances, or rather
+of productions destined to be represented on the stage, perhaps those
+should be included in which some clever _farceur_ mystifies and befools
+some good uncle--a theatre director, or some such person. And yet it is
+not so very long ago that shallow, stupid stuff of this description
+constituted almost the daily bread of every stage. Just at present
+there seems to be more or less an intermission in this."
+
+"It will never come to an end," said Theodore, "as long as there are
+actors to whom nothing in the world can be more delightful than to let
+themselves be wondered at and admired as chameleontic marvels, in
+that they change their costume and appearance in the most varied
+manner in the course of the same evening. Right out of the very
+depths of my being have I been compelled to roar with laughter over
+the self-apotheosis of self-sufficiency with which, after passing
+through a marvellous series of soul-transmigrations, the true _ego_ of
+the performer takes its enfranchised flight, like a beautiful insect.
+Generally speaking, this is done in the shape of a pretty, elegant
+night-moth, dressed in black, with silk stockings, and a three-cornered
+hat under one arm, having, from the moment of its appearance as such,
+only to deal with the admiring public, not troubling itself about that
+which previously had been doing it soccage-service. As (_vide_ Wilhelm
+Meister's 'Lehr-jahren') a special line of parts may so bind and
+enslave to it some given actor, who, for instance, plays all the
+characters who have to be cudgelled, or otherwise maltreated, every
+stage must possess a _sujet_ who undertakes all the parts of the
+character of _souffre douleur_, and consequently plays those
+indispensable theatre managers, &c.; at all events, every starring
+actor has a part of the kind in his pocket, by way of entrance-pass, or
+letter of credit."
+
+"What you say," answered Lothair, "reminds me of a most extraordinary
+fellow whom I met with in a theatrical troupe in a small town in the
+south of Germany, who was the exact image of that 'pedant' (to speak
+technically) in Wilhelm Meister. Insupportable as he now was on the
+stage in his little minor parts, _praying_ them out in the most direful
+monotony, it was said that formerly, in his younger days, he had been
+a capital actor, and used to play, for instance, those sly, scampish
+inn-keepers which, in older times, used to occur in almost every
+comedy, and over whose total disappearance from the stage the host in
+Tieck's 'Verkehrter Welt' complains. When I knew this man he seemed to
+have completely accepted his fate, which truely had been a pretty hard
+one, and, in complete apathy, to place no value on anything in the
+world, least of all on himself. Nothing penetrated the crust which the
+heaping up of the most complete wretchedness had formed over the
+surface of his better self, and he was perfectly satisfied with himself
+under it; and yet there often beamed out of his deep-set, clever eyes
+the gleam of a higher intelligence, and there would rapidly jerk over
+his face the expression of a bitter irony, so that the exaggerated
+submissiveness with which he bore himself towards every one--and
+more particularly towards his manager (a silly young man, full of
+vanity)--took, in him, the form of an ironical contempt. On Sundays he
+used to take his seat at the lower end of the _table d'hôte_ of the
+best hotel in the place, dressed in a good well-brushed suit of
+clothes, whose cut and extraordinary pattern indicated the actor of a
+long by-gone period; and there he enjoyed a hearty meal, never saying a
+word to a soul, although he was exceptionally temperate, particularly
+as regarded the wine, for he scarcely half-emptied the bottle which was
+placed before him. At each filling of his glass he made a courteous bow
+to the landlord, who gave him his Sunday dinner in return for his
+teaching his children reading and writing. It happened that I was
+dining one Sunday at this _table d'hôte_, and found only one vacant
+seat, which was at this old fellow's side. I hastened to occupy this
+place, hoping that I might have the good fortune to bring to the
+surface that better spirit which must be shut up within the man. It was
+difficult, almost impossible, to get hold of that spirit. Just when one
+thought one had him, he suddenly dived down, and slunk away in utter
+humility of submissiveness. At length, after I had with difficulty
+induced him to swallow a glass or two of good wine, he seemed to begin
+to thaw a little, and spake with visible emotion of the fine old
+theatrical times, now past and gone, apparently never to return. The
+tables were being cleared; one or two of my friends joined themselves
+to me; the player wanted to take his leave. I held him fast, though he
+made the most touching protests. A poor superannuated actor, he said,
+was no fit company for gentlemen such as we; it would be better that he
+should not stay, it was not his place, and so forth. It was not so much
+to my powers of persuasion as to the irresistible attractions of a cup
+of coffee, and a pipe of the best Knaster, which I had in my pocket,
+that I could attribute his remaining. He spoke with vividness and
+_esprit_ of the old theatrical days. He had seen Eckhoff, and acted
+with Schroeder. It came out that the untuned state in which he was now
+so marred proceeded from the circumstance that those by-gone days had
+been, for him, the world wherein he had breathed freely, and moved
+unconstrainedly, and that, now that he was thrown forth out of that
+period, he had no firm standing-point that he could get hold of. But
+how marvellously did this man astonish us when, having become
+thoroughly at his ease, and free from constraint with us, he spoke the
+speech of the Ghost in Hamlet, as given in Schroeder's version
+(Schlegel's translation he knew nothing about), with a power of
+expression which touched our hearts; and we were all moved to
+admiration at the manner in which he delivered several passages from
+the part of Oldenhelm (for he would have nothing to say to the name
+'Polonius'), rendering them in such a way that we distinctly saw before
+our eyes the courtier, in his second childhood now, but who had clearly
+not lacked worldly wisdom in former times, and still showed distinct
+traces of it. This he brought before us in a manner very seldom seen on
+the boards. All this, however, was but the prelude to a scene which I
+never saw the parallel of, and which I can never forget. It is
+here that I really, for the first time, come to what, during this
+conversation of ours, brought to my remembrance the old actor in
+question, and my worthy Serapion Brethren must pardon me if I have made
+my introduction to this somewhat too long. This man was compelled to
+undertake those wretched subordinate parts which we were talking of,
+and thus it chanced that, some days after the occasion I have been
+speaking of, he had to play the part of the 'Manager' in the piece 'The
+Rehearsal,' which the _Impresario_ had altered to suit himself,
+thinking he particularly excelled in it. Whether it was that the
+conversation with us has stirred up his inner, better self, or that,
+perhaps (as it was rumoured afterwards), on that day he had reinforced
+his natural power with wine--contrary as that was to his usual custom--
+he had no sooner come upon the stage than he appeared to be a totally
+different man from what he had been at other times. His eyes sparkled,
+and the hollow wavering voice of the worn-out hypochondriac was
+transformed into a clear, resonant bass, such as is employed by jovial
+characters of the old style; for instance, the rich uncles who, in the
+exercise of poetical justice, punish folly and reward virtue. The
+beginning of the piece gave no indication of what was to come; but how
+amazed was the audience when, after the first changes of dress had been
+made, the strange creature turned upon the manager with sarcastic
+smiles, and addressed him somewhat as follows: 'Would not the respected
+audience have recognised our good So-and-so' (he mentioned the
+manager's name here), 'just as readily as I did myself at the first
+glance? Is it possible to base the power of deception on a coat cut in
+a particular fashion, or on a more or less frizzled wig? and in this
+way to stuff out a meagre talent, unsupported by any vigour of
+intelligence, like a child deserted by its nurse? The young man who is
+trying to pass himself off upon me, in this unskilled manner, as a
+many-sided artist, a chameleontic genius, need not gesticulate so
+immoderately with his hands, nor fold himself up like a pocketknife
+after each of his speeches, nor roll his r's so fearfully; and if he
+had not done so, I believe that a highly-prized audience (any more than
+I myself) would not have recognised our little manager in one instant,
+as has been the case now, to such an extent that it is pitiable. But,
+inasmuch as the piece has got to go on for another half-hour, I shall
+conduct myself, this once more, as if I didn't see it; although the
+affair is terribly tedious and uncongenial to me.' Be it enough to say
+that upon each fresh entrance of the manager, the old fellow ridiculed
+his acting in the most delicious manner; and it may be fancied that
+this was accompanied by the most ringing laughter of the audience;
+whilst the best part of it all was that the manager, completely
+absorbed in his numerous changes of costume, was absolutely unconscious
+of what was going forward till the very last scene. Perhaps the old
+fellow may have made a wicked compact with the theatre tailor; but it
+is a fact that the wretched manager's wardrobe had got into the most
+complete confusion, so that the intermediate scenes which the old man
+had to fill out lasted much longer than usual, giving him time enough
+to let the fulness of his bitter mockery of the poor manager stream
+forth in all its glory, and even to imitate his manner of speaking,
+saying many things with a wicked verity which sent the audience out of
+itself. The whole piece was turned topsy-turvy, so that the stop-gap
+intermediate scenes became the principal and important part of the
+business. It was delightful, too, how the old fellow sometimes told the
+audience beforehand how the manager was going to appear, mimicking his
+gestures and attitudes; and that he attributed the ringing laughter,
+which really belonged to the old fellow's admirable imitation of him,
+to his own success in making up. At last, however, the manager could
+not possibly help finding out what the old fellow was doing, and you
+may suppose he flew at him like a raging wild boar, so that it was all
+that he could do to escape mishandling. He did not dare to appear on
+the stage again; but the audience and the public had got so fond of the
+old actor, and took his side with so much zeal, that the manager
+(burdened, moreover, since that celebrated evening, with the curse of
+ludicrosity), found himself compelled to close his theatre, and betake
+himself elsewhere. Several respectable townsmen, with the innkeeper at
+their head, met, and collected a considerable sum of money for the old
+actor, enough to enable him to have done for ever with the worries of
+the stage, and end his days in comfort in the place. But marvellous,
+nay, unfathomable, is the mind of an actor! Before a year was over he
+suddenly disappeared, nobody knew whither, and presently he was
+discovered travelling with a strolling company, quite in the same
+subordinate position from which he had so recently shaken himself
+clear."
+
+"With a very slight 'moral application,'" said Ottmar, "this tale of
+the old actor belongs to the moral codex of all stage-players, and of
+those who desire to become players."
+
+During this, Cyprian had risen silently, and, after walking once or
+twice up and down the room, taken his position behind the window
+curtain. Just when Ottmar ceased speaking, a blast of wind came
+suddenly howling and raging in. The lights threatened to go out;
+Theodore's writing-table seemed to become alive; hundreds of papers
+flew up, and were wafted about the room; the strings of the old piano
+groaned aloud.
+
+"Hey, hey!" cried Theodore, as he saw his literary notices, and who
+knows what other written matter, at the mercy of the raging autumn
+storm. "Hey, hey, Cyprianus, what are you about?" And they all set to
+work to keep the lights in, and shield themselves from the thick
+snowflakes which came swirling in.
+
+"It is true," said Cyprian, shutting the window, "the weather won't let
+one look to see what it is."
+
+"Tell me," said Sylvester, taking the wholly absentminded and deeply
+preoccupied Cyprian by both hands, and forcing him to sit down again in
+the seat he had left, "only tell me--that is all I ask--where have you
+been? In what distant region have you been wandering? for far, far away
+from us has that restless spirit of yours been bearing you again."
+
+"Not so very far away from you as you may suppose," answered Cyprian.
+"And, at all events, it was your own conversation which opened the door
+for my departure. You had been saying so much about Comedy, and Vincenz
+was stating his conclusion (justly resulting from experience), that
+amongst us the fun which plays with itself is lost. It occurred to me
+that, on the other hand, many real talents have displayed themselves in
+tragedy, in more and most recent times, and along with this thought I
+was struck by the remembrance of a writer who began, with genuine,
+high-aspiring genius, but suddenly, as if carried away by some fatal
+eddy, went under, so that his name is scarcely ever heard of."
+
+"There," said Ottmar, "you were going in exact opposition to Lothair's
+principle--that true genius never goes under."
+
+"And Lothair is right," answered Cyprian, "if he holds that the
+fiercest storms of life cannot blow out the flame which blazes forth
+from the inner spirit,--that the bitterest adversities, the keenest
+misfortunes fight in vain against the inner heavenly might of the soul,
+which only bends the bow to deliver the arrow with the greater power.
+But how were it if in the first inner germ of the embryo there lurked
+the poisonous parasite larva, the worm, which, developing along with
+the beautiful blossom, gnaws at its life, so that it bears its death
+within itself? No storm is then needed for its destruction."
+
+"In that case," said Lothair, "your genius would be wanting in the
+first condition indispensible to the tragic-poet who would enter upon
+life free, and in possession of his powers. I mean that such a poet's
+genius must be absolutely healthy--sound--free from the slightest
+ailment, such as psychic weakness, or, to use your language, anything
+such as congenital poison. Who could, and can, congratulate himself
+more on such a soundness of mental constitution than our grand
+G[oe]the, mighty father of us all? It is with such an unweakened
+strength as his, with such an inward purity, that heroes are begotten,
+such as Goetz von Berlichingen and Egmont! And if we cannot, perhaps,
+admit such a heroic power (in quite the same degree) in our Schiller,
+there is, on the other hand, that pure sun-glance of the inner soul
+beaming round his heroes in which we, beneficently warmed, feel as
+powerful and strong as their creator. And we must not forget the Robber
+Moor, whom Ludwig Tieck, with perfect justice, calls the Titanic
+creation of a young and daring imagination. But we are getting far from
+the tragic poet whom you were speaking of, Cyprian, and I hope you will
+tell us at once to whom you allude, although I fancy I have a strong
+idea?"
+
+"I was very nearly breaking in upon your conversation, as I did once
+before, with strange words and sayings," answered Cyprian, "which you
+would not have understood, inasmuch as you were not seeing the images
+of my waking-dream. Nevertheless, I cry out 'No! Since the days of
+Shakespeare there never stalked such a Being across the stage as this
+superhumanly terrible, gruesome old man!' And that you may not remain a
+moment longer in doubt on the subject, I add at once that no modern
+poet can congratulate himself on such a loftily tragic and powerful
+creation as the author of the Söhne des Thales."
+
+The friends looked at each other in amazement. They made a rapid
+pass-muster of the principal characters in Zacharias Werner's pieces,
+and then came to the same conclusion--that in every case there was a
+certain element of the strange and singular, and often of the
+commonplace, mingled with the truly great, the grandly tragic which
+seemed to indicate that the author had never come to any really clear
+seeing of his heroes, and that he was doubtless deficient in that
+absolute health and soundness of the inner mind which Lothair
+considered indispensible to every writer of tragedy.
+
+Theodore alone had been laughing within himself, as if he were of
+another opinion, and now began:
+
+"Halt! Halt! ye worthy Serapion Brethren. Don't be in too great a
+hurry. I know very well, in fact, I am the only one of you who can
+know, that Cyprian is speaking of a work which the writer never
+finished, which is consequently unknown to the world, although friends
+in the writer's neighbourhood, to whom he communicated sketches of
+scenes from it, had ample reason to be convinced that it would rise to
+the position of being amongst the grandest and most powerful, not only
+that he ever produced, but which have been seen in modern days."
+
+"Of course," said Cyprian, "I was talking of the second part of the
+'Kreuz an der Ostsee,' in which it is that the terrible, gruesome,
+gigantic character to whom I was alluding occurs, the old King of
+Prussia, Waidewuthis. It may be impossible for me to give you a
+distinct idea of this character, which the poet, by virtue of some
+mighty spell at his command, seems to have conjured up from the
+mysterious depths of the subterranean kingdoms. It must suffice if I
+enable you to look into the interior mechanism of the springs which the
+poet has placed within it to set this production of his into due
+activity of movement. According to historical tradition, the earliest
+'culture' of the ancient Prussians was originated by their king,
+Waidewuthis. He introduced the rights of property. The fields were
+divided, and agriculture carried on. He also gave the nation a form of
+religious worship, inasmuch as he himself carved three graven images,
+to which sacrifices were offered beneath an ancient oak-tree, where
+they were set up; but a terrible power grasped hold of him (though
+himself all-powerful, the god of the nation which he ruled), those rude
+graven images, carved by his own hands, that the people's force and
+will might bow down before them as embodiments of a higher energy,
+suddenly awoke into life. And what inflamed those senseless images thus
+into life was the fire which the Satanic Prometheus stole from Hell.
+Rebellious thralls of their Lord and Maker, those idols began to wield
+against himself the weapons with which he had armed them. And thus
+commences the monstrous conflict of the Superhuman principle with the
+Human. I do not know if I have been intelligible to you--if I have
+quite succeeded in representing to you the poet's colossal idea; but,
+as Serapion Brethren, I would charge you to look deep down, as I have
+done, into the terrible abyss which the poet has opened and disclosed,
+and feel the terror and awe which overwhelms me even now as I think of
+that Waidewuthis."
+
+"And in truth," said Theodore, "our Cyprian has turned quite white;
+which of course proves how the whole grand sketch of the extraordinary
+picture which the poet displayed before him--but from which he has
+shown us only one of the principal groups--has stirred his inner soul.
+But, as regards Waidewuthis, I think it would have been sufficient to
+say that the poet, with astonishing power and originality, conceived
+this Daemon with so much grandeur, power, and might, so gigantic a
+figure, that he appears quite worthy of the contest, and that the
+triumph, the glory of Christianity must beam forth all the brighter in
+consequence. It is true that in many of his characteristics, the old
+monarch appears to me as if he were--to speak with Dante--the Imperador
+del Doloroso Regno in person, walking on earth. The catastrophe of his
+overthrow, that triumph of Christianity, which is the final chord
+towards which everything strives, in the whole work (which to me, at
+all events, according to the design of the second part, seems to belong
+to another world), I have never been able to form a conception of to
+myself in dramatic form; although in quite other sounds, and in those
+only, I did conceive the possibility of a conclusion which, in terrific
+sublimity, would surpass everything else which could be conceived of.
+But this only became apparent to me when I had read Calderon's great
+'Magus.' Moreover, the poet has not uttered himself as to the mode in
+which he would finish the work; at least nothing of the sort has
+reached my ears."
+
+"It seems to me," said Vincent, "on the whole very much as though it
+had gone with the poet, as to his work, as it did with old King
+Waidewuthis and his graven images. It grew over his head; and that he
+could not get control of his own power is proved by the very failure of
+his inward energy, which, at length, does not allow anything sound,
+healthy, vigorous, to come to the light of day. On the whole, even if
+Cyprian is right in thinking that the old king had the best possible
+dispositions for turning out a splendid and powerful Satan, I do not
+see how he could have got into due relation with humanity again. The
+Satan would have had to be, at the same time, a grand, powerful kingly
+hero."
+
+"And that is exactly what he was," answered Cyprian. "But to prove this
+to you, I should require to know whole scenes by heart, which the
+author communicated to us. I remember one in particular, very vividly,
+which seemed to me magnificent. King Waidewuthis knew that none of his
+sons would succeed him in the crown, so he selected a boy--I think he
+appeared about twelve years old--as his successor. In the night they
+two--Waidewuthis and the boy--are lying by the fire, and Waidewuthis.
+occupies himself in kindling the boy's courage towards the idea of the
+godly-might of the Euler of a People. This address of Waidewuthis
+seemed to me quite masterly, quite perfect. The boy, who has a young
+tame wolf, his faithful playmate, in his arms, listens attentively to
+the old man's words; and when the latter at last asks him if, for the
+sake of power he would be capable of sacrificing even his wolf, the boy
+looks him gravely in the face, and without a word, throws the wolf into
+the flames."
+
+"I know," cried Theodore, as Vincent smiled strangely, and Lothair
+seemed on the point of breaking out from inward impatience, "I know
+what you are going to say--I hear the severe sentence of condemnation
+with which you dismiss the author; and I will admit that I should have
+perfectly agreed with you only a day or two ago, and been of the same
+opinion, not so much from conviction, as from anger that the author
+should have entered upon paths which must for ever carry him away from
+me, Bo that a re-encounter between us must have appeared scarcely
+conceivable, and moreover, almost not to be desired. It would have been
+quite justifiable for the world, considering the manner in which the
+author had commenced his career, to think that there was evidence of an
+untruthful inconstancy--a weathercockiness--of mind, disposed to cast
+over others the veil which self-deception had woven around him;
+although, all this time, the truth had torn this veil asunder, with
+rude vigour, so that the world could discern, in his heart, a wicked
+spirit of self-seeking, endeavouring to gain the glitter of false fame
+for purposes of self-beatification. But I am obliged to confess that
+his preface to his sacred drama, 'The Mother of the Macabees,' has
+completely disarmed me. And this preface can only be perfectly
+understood by the few friends of his who were closely associated with
+him in his most beautiful blossoming-time. It contains the most
+affecting admissions of culpable weaknesses; the most pathetic
+lamentations over powers for ever lost. Those things may have escaped
+the writer involuntarily, and it is very likely that he did not,
+himself, perceive that deeper significance which the friends whom he
+had abandoned must have seen in those words. As I read this preface, I
+seemed to see, through a dim, colourless ocean of cloud, rays feebly
+piercing of a lofty, noble spirit, rising beyond the crack-brained
+follies of immature perversity, and, if not fully conscious of its own
+value, yet possessing a considerable inkling of its worth. The writer
+seemed to me much like one of those who are victims of that form of
+insanity of which the predominant symptom is 'fixed idea.' Those
+unhappy people are, in their lucid intervals, aware of their delusions;
+but, to soothe the comfortless horror of that consciousness, they
+strive to convince themselves that in those very delusions their
+highest and truest existence lives and moves. And this they do by the
+most ingenious sophisms; striving also to induce themselves to believe
+that their consciousness of their delusion is nothing but the sick
+doubting of Humanity immeshed and enslaved in the Earthly. And in the
+preface which I am speaking of, the writer touches upon the second part
+of the 'Kreuz an der Ostsee,' admitting this."
+
+"Please don't make such horrible faces, Lothair! Sit still on your
+chair, Ottmar; don't drum the Russian Grenadiers' March on the elbow of
+your seat, Vincenz. I really think that the author of the 'Soehne des
+Thales' deserves to be discussed rationally and quietly by us, and I
+must confess that my heart is very full of this subject, and I cannot
+help letting the froth which is seething there boil thoroughly over."
+
+"Ha!" cried Vincenz, very loudly and pathetically, "how the froth
+seethes!--now that is a quotation from the 'Kreuz an der Ostsee,' where
+the heathen priests sing it in fearful and horrible strains. My dear
+Serapion-Brother Theodore, you may rage, revile, curse and blaspheme
+as much as you please, but I must just introduce into this many-sided
+discussion one little anecdote, which will throw, at all events,
+a momentary glimpse of sunshine over all those corpse-watchers'
+countenances. The author of whom we are speaking had got together a few
+friends that he might read to them the 'Kreuz an der Ostsee' from the
+manuscript. They had heard some passages from it before, which had
+raised their expectations to the highest pitch. The author had, as
+usual, seated himself in the centre of the circle, at a small table
+where two candles were burning in tall candlesticks. He had taken his
+manuscript out of his breast-pocket, and laid down before him his big
+snuff-box, and his blue-and-white checked pocket-handkerchief. Profound
+silence reigned. Not a breath was audible. The author, making one of
+his extraordinary faces, which defy all description, began as
+follows:--
+
+"'Bankputtis!--Bankputtis!--Bankputtis!'
+
+"Of course you remember that, in the opening scene, at the rising of
+the curtain, the Prussians are discovered, assembled by the seashore,
+collecting amber; and they invoke the deities who preside over this.
+Very well. The author, as I have said, began with the words--
+
+"'Bankputtis! Bankputtis!"
+
+"Then there was a short pause; after which there came forth out of a
+corner the soft voice of a member of the audience, saying: 'My dearest
+and most beloved friend! Most glorious of all authors; if you have
+written the whole of this most admirable poem of yours in that infernal
+language, not one soul of us understands a single syllable of it. For
+God's sake, be so kind as to start with a translation of it.'"
+
+The friends laughed; but Cyprian and Theodore remained silent and
+grave. Before the latter could begin to speak, Ottmar said: "It is
+impossible, in this connection, that I should forget the extraordinary,
+nay, almost preposterously absurd, meeting of two men who were--at all
+events as concerned their opinions upon Art and their views about
+it--absolutely heterogeneous in their natures. Indisputable as it may
+be that Werner carried the idea of the 'Kreuz an der Ostsee' about with
+him for a long time, to the best of my knowledge the first impulse to
+his writing it came to him from Iffland, who was anxious that he should
+write a tragedy for the Berlin stage. The 'Soehne des Thales' was then
+attracting much attention, and perhaps that dramatic writer may have
+been interested in this newly-developed talent, or he may have thought
+he saw that this young _débutant_ was capable of being trained to the
+performance of the systematic round of theatre tricks, and would
+acquire a skilled 'stage-hand.' However this may be, think of Iffland
+with the manuscript of the 'Kreuz an der Ostsee' in his hands.
+Iffland--to whom the tragedies of Schiller (which then, in spite of all
+opposition, had made their way, chiefly through the great Fleck) were
+really disgustful, in the depths of his soul; Iffland, who although he
+did not dare, for dread of that sharp lash which he had felt already,
+to speak out his real opinion, had put _this_ in print: 'Tragedies
+which contain grand historical incidents, and a crowd of characters,
+are the ruin of the stage;' adding, 'on account of the tremendous
+expenses,' but thinking, in his heart, '_dixi et salvavi_.'--Iffland,
+who would have been too pleased to put upon his privy-councillors,
+secretaries, and so forth, tragic _cothurni_ made after his own
+pattern--read the 'Kreuz an der Ostsee' in the light of its being a
+tragedy expressly written for the Berlin stage, which he himself should
+set out into scenes, and in which he should play nothing less than the
+Ghost of Bishop Adalbert, murdered by the Pagan Prussians, very
+frequently appearing on the stage as a terror-inspiring character not
+sparing of partly edifying, partly mystic speeches, while at every
+mention of the name of Christ a flame breaks out of his forehead, to
+instantaneously disappear again. It was impossible to throw this piece
+overboard (as would have been done in a moment in the case of the _dii
+minores_), notwithstanding that it was one which was full of
+improbabilities, and bristling with difficulties (much more real
+difficulties from the stage-manager's point of view, than many
+Shakesperian plays, in which those difficulties are more apparent than
+real). What had to be done was to express great admiration of it; to
+laud it up to the skies, and then to declare, with deep regret, that
+the capabilities of the stage were not practically sufficient for the
+production of a thing so great. It was this which had to be done; and
+the letter in which Iffland stated all this to the author (the
+construction of which was on the lines of the well-known form of
+refusal of the Italians, '_ben parlato-ma_'), was, of course, a
+classical master-piece of theatrical diplomacy. It was not from the
+nature of the piece itself that the manager deduced the impossibility
+of representing it on the stage; he merely, in a courteous manner,
+complained of the stage-manager, the property-men, and the carpenters,
+to whose magic there were such narrow limits that they were not even
+capable of making a Saint's glory shine in the air. But, no more on the
+subject. It is for Theodore to make such excuses as he can for the
+errors of his friend."
+
+"To defend and excuse this friend of mine," said Theodore, "I fear
+would be a very unsatisfactory thing to try to do. I should much prefer
+to set you a psychical problem to solve, which ought, really, to lead
+you to consider how peculiar influences may work upon the psychical
+organism; or, indeed (to return to Cyprian's simile, the worm
+engendered along with the most beautiful flower), on the worm which is
+to poison and kill. We are told Hysterism in the mother is not
+transmitted, by heredity, to the son, but that it does produce in him a
+peculiarly lively imagination, even to the extent of eccentricity; and
+I believe that there is one of ourselves in whose case the correctness
+of this theory is confirmed. Now, how might it be with the effect of
+actual _insanity_ of the mother upon the son, although he does not, as
+a rule, inherit that either? I am not speaking of that weak, childish
+sort of mental aberration in women, which is often the result of an
+enfeebled nervous system; what I have in view is that abnormal mental
+state in which the psychic principle, volatilized into a sublimate by
+the operation of the furnace of imagination, has been converted into a
+poison, which has attacked the vital spirits, so that they have become
+sick unto death, and the human creature, in the delirium of this
+malady, believes the dream of another life-condition to be actual
+waking reality. Now, a woman highly gifted mentally, and largely
+endowed with imagination and fancy, may in those circumstances be much
+more like to a heavenly prophet than to an insane creature, and in the
+excitement of her paroxysms may say things, which to many persons would
+appear much more like the direct inspiration of higher intelligences
+than the mere utterances of insanity. Suppose that the fixed idea of
+such a woman consisted in her believing herself to be the Virgin Mary,
+and her son Christ, and let this be repeated daily to the boy, who is
+not taken away from her, whilst his powers of comprehension gradually
+develop themselves. He is over-bountifully endowed with talent and
+intelligence, and specially with a glowing imagination. Friends and
+teachers whom he respects and believes all tell him that his poor
+mother is out of her mind, and he himself sees the craziness of the
+idea, which is not so much as new to him, since it exists in nearly
+every lunatic asylum. But his mother's words sink deeply into his
+heart; he thinks he is hearing announcements from another world, and
+feels vividly the belief taking root within him upon which he bases his
+system of thinking. Above all, he is very much struck and imbued with
+what the maternal prophetess tells him regarding the trials of this
+world; the scoffing and despite which the consecrated one must endure.
+He finds this all realized, and in his boyish melancholy looks upon
+himself as a Divine victim, when his schoolfellows make fun of him for
+his quaint-looking clothes and his timid awkward manners. What follows?
+Must there not arise in the breast of such a youth the belief that the
+so-called insanity of his mother, which seems to _him_ lofty and
+sublime beyond the comprehension of the common herd, is really neither
+more nor less than a prophetic announcement, in metaphorical language,
+of the high destiny in store for him, chosen by the powers of heaven!
+Saint--prophet!--could there be stronger impulses to mysticism for a
+youth fired with a glowing power of imagination? Let it be further
+supposed that he is physically and psychically excitable to the most
+destructive extent, and apt to fall a prey to and be carried away by
+the most irresistible tendency to vice, and the wicked lusts of the
+world.... I desire to pass in haste, and with averted face, by the
+fearful abysses of human nature whence the germs of those tendencies
+spring, which might take root and flourish in the heart of the
+unfortunate youth without his being further to blame than in that
+he had a hot blood, only too congenial a soil for the luxuriant
+poison-plant.... I dare not go further; you feel the terrible nature of
+the strife which tears the heart of the unhappy youth. Heaven and hell
+are drawn up in battle array; and it is this mortal combat imprisoned
+within him which gives rise to phenomena on the surface in utter
+discord with everything else conditioned by mortal nature, and capable
+of no interpretation whatever. How, then, if the glowing power of
+imagination of this man (who in youth imbibed the germ of those
+eccentricities from his mother's mental state) should subsequently, at
+a time when Sin, bereft of all her adornments, accuses herself, in all
+her repulsive nakedness, for the hellish deceptions of the past, lead
+him, driven by the pain and remorse of his repentance, to take refuge
+in the mysticism of some religious _cultus_, coming to meet him with
+hymns of victory and perfume of incense? How when then, out of the most
+hidden depths, the voice of some dark spirit within should become
+audible, saying: 'It was but mortal blindness which led you to believe
+that there was dissension in your heart. The veil has fallen, and you
+perceive that sin is the stigma of your heavenly nature, of your
+supernatural calling, wherewith the Eternal has marked the chosen one.
+It was only when you set yourself to offer resistance to sinful
+impulse, to contend with the Eternal Power, that you were abandoned in
+your blindness and degeneracy. The purified fires of hell shine in the
+glories of the Saints.' And thus does this terrible hypermysticism
+impart to the lost one a consolation which completes the ruin of the
+rotten walls of the edifice of his existence; just as it is when the
+madman derives comfort and enjoyment from his madness, that his
+recovery is known to be hopeless."
+
+"Oh, please go no further," cried Sylvester. "You hurried, with averted
+face, past an abyss which you avoided looking into; but to me it seems
+as if you were leading us along upon narrow, slippery paths, where
+terrible and threatening gulfs yawn at us on either side. What you last
+said reminded me of the horrible mysticism of Pater Molinos, the
+dreadful doctrine of Quietism. I shuddered when I read the leading
+theorem of that doctrine. 'Il ne faut avoir nul égard aux tentations,
+ni leur opposer aucune résistance. Si la nature se meut, il faut la
+laisser agir; ce n'est que la nature!'[1] This, of course, would
+carry----"
+
+
+[Footnote 1: "Toute opération active est absolument interdite par
+Molinos. C'est męme offenser Dieu, que de ne pas tellement s'abandonner
+ŕ lui, que l'on soit comme un corps inanimé. De-lŕ vient, suivant cette
+hérésiarque, que le v[oe]u de faire quelque bonne [oe]uvre est un
+obstacle ŕ la perfection, parce que l'activité naturelle est ennemie de
+la grâce; c'est un obstacle aux opérations de Dieu et ŕ la vraie
+perfection, parce que Dieu veut agir en nous sans nous. Il ne faut
+connoître ni lumičre, ni amour, ni résignation. Pour ętre parfait, il
+ne faut pas męme connoître Dieu; il ne faut penser, ni au paradis, ni ŕ
+l'enfer, ni ŕ la mort, ni ŕ l'éternité. On ne doit point désirer de
+sçavoir si on marche dans la volonté de Dieu, si on est assez résigné
+ou non. En un mot, il ne faut point que l'âme connoisse ni son état ni
+son néant; il faut qu'elle soit comme un corps inanimé. Toute réflexion
+est nuisible, męme celles qu'on fait sur ses propres actions, et sur
+ses défauts. Ainsi on ne doit point s'embarrasser du scandale que l'on
+peut causer, pourvu que l'on n'ait pas intention de scandaliser. Quand
+une fois on a donné son libre arbitre ŕ Dieu, on ne doit plus avoir
+aucun désir de sa propre perfection, ni des vertus, ni de sa
+sanctification, ni de son salut; il faut męme se défaire de
+l'espérance, parce qu'il faut abandonner ŕ Dieu tout le soin de ce que
+nous regarde, męme celui de faire en nous et sans nous sa divine
+volonté. Ainsi c'est une imperfection que de demander; c'est avoir une
+volonté et vouloir que celle de Dieu s'y conforme. Par la męme raison
+il ne faut lui rendre grâce d'aucune chose; c'est le remercier d'avoir
+fait notre volonté; et nous n'en devons point avoir." ('Causes
+célčbres,' par Richer. Tom. ii.: 'Histoire du Procčs de la Cadičre.')]
+
+
+"It would carry us a good deal too far," interrupted Lothair, "into the
+realm of the most horrible dreams, and--to speak generally--of that
+amount of crack-brainedness of which there can never be any question
+amongst us Serapion Brethren. So let us abandon the subject of all that
+sublimity of mental unhingedness which is the foster-mother of
+religious mania."
+
+Ottmar and Vincenz agreed in this, and added that Theodore had
+committed a breach of Serapiontic rule by speaking so fully on a
+subject to some extent strange to the other brethren, in this manner
+giving himself up to impulses of the moment, and damming up the flow of
+other communications.
+
+Cyprian, however, look Theodore's part, maintaining that the subject on
+which, for the most part, he had been speaking, might be thought to
+possess such an amount of interest (though, as far as he himself was
+concerned, he must say it was of an uncanny character) that even those
+to whom the person to whom it had referred had never been known, could
+not but feel themselves very much attracted and affected by it.
+
+Ottmar thought that he could have felt a certain amount of interest
+about it if it had been written in a book. Cyprian said that the
+_sapienti sat_, was enough as regarded it.
+
+In the meantime, Theodore had gone into the next room, and now came
+back with a veiled picture, which he placed on a table against the
+wall, setting two candles in front of it. All eyes were bent upon it,
+and when Theodore quickly removed the cloth from before it an "Ah!"
+came from all their lips.
+
+It was the author of the 'Soehne des Thales,' a life-size half-length,
+a most speaking likeness, as if it had been stolen out of a
+looking-glass.
+
+"Is it possible!" cried Ottmar, enthusiastically. "Yes, from under
+those bushy eyebrows there gleams from the dark eyes the strange fire
+of that unlucky mysticism which dragged the poet to his destruction.
+But the goodness, the kindliness, the lovableness and the talents which
+beam out of the rest of his features, and this charmingly 'roguish'
+smile of real humour which plays about the lips, and seems to try
+unsuccessfully to hide itself in the long, projecting chin, which the
+hand is stroking so quietly. Of a truth I feel myself more and more
+drawn to this mystic, who grows the more human the longer one looks at
+him."
+
+"We all feel the same," cried Lothair and Vincenz.
+
+"Yes, yes," cried the latter, "those sorrowful, gloomy eyes get
+brighter. You are right, Ottmar, he grows human--_homo factus est_.
+See, he looks with his eyes--he smiles; presently he will say something
+that will delight us; some heavenly jest; some fulminating sally of wit
+is playing about his lips. Out with it, out with it, good Zacharias!
+Stand on no ceremony! We are your friends, master of reserved irony!
+Ha! Serapion Brethren! let us elect him, glasses in hand, an honorary
+member of our Society; we will drink to our brotherhood, and I will
+pour a libation before his picture, and bedew with a few glittering
+drops my own varnished Parisian boots into the bargain."
+
+The friends took their filled glasses in hand to carry out Vincenz's
+suggestion.
+
+"Stop!" cried Theodore. "Let me say a word or two first. To begin with,
+I hope you will by no means apply that psychical problem of mine (which
+I perhaps stated somewhat too forcibly) directly to our author here.
+Rather take it that my object was to show you very vividly and
+convincingly how dangerous it is to form conclusions about phenomena in
+a man of which we know nothing as to their deep psychic origin; nay,
+how heartless, as well as senseless, it is to persecute, with silly
+scorn and childish derision, one who has been the victim of a
+depressing influence, such as we ourselves would probably have resisted
+less successfully. Who shall cast the first stone at one who has grown
+defenceless because his strength has ebbed away with the heart's-blood
+flowing from wounds inflicted by his own self-deception? My end is
+gained now. Even you--Lothair, Ottmar, Vincenz, severe inflexible
+critics and judges, have quite altered your opinions now that you have
+seen my poet face to face. His face speaks truth. I must testify that,
+in the happy days when he and I were friends, he was the most
+delightful and charming of men in every relation of life. All the
+oddities, and strange eccentricities of his exterior, and of his whole
+being (which he himself, with delicate irony, tried to bring to light,
+rather than to conceal) only produced the effect of rendering him, in
+the most various surroundings and most diverse circumstances, always in
+the most attractive manner, utterly delightful. Moreover, he was full
+of a subtle humour which rendered him the worthy _confrčre_ of Hamann,
+Heppel, and Scheffner. It is impossible that all that blossom of
+promise can be withered and dead, blighted by the poison breath of a
+miserable infatuation. No! If that picture could come to life--if the
+poet were to walk in and sit down actually amongst us here, life and
+genius would coruscate out of his discourse as of yore. I fain would
+hope that I see the dawn of a new and brilliant day! May the rays of
+true wisdom break out more and more brightly; may recovered strength
+and renewed power of labour produce work which shall show us the poet
+in the pure glory of the verily inspired singer, even if it does not
+happen before the late autumn of his days! And to this, ye Serapion
+Brethren, let us drink in happy expectation."
+
+The friends, forming a semicircle round the picture, clinked their
+glasses together. "And then," said Vincenz, "it won't matter whether he
+is Private Secretary, Abbé, or Privy Councillor, Cardinal, or the very
+Pope; or even a Bishop _in partibus infidelium_, that's to say, of
+Paphos!"
+
+As was usually the case with Vincenz, he had without intending it, or
+even being aware of it, stuck a comic tail on to a serious subject. But
+the friends felt too strangely moved to pay particular attention to
+this. They sat down again in silence at the table, while Theodore
+carried the poet's picture back into the next room.
+
+"I had meant," said Sylvester, "to read you this evening a story, for
+the idea of which I am indebted to a strange chance, or rather, to a
+strange remembrance. But it is so late that Serapiontic hours would be
+long over before I had finished it."
+
+"That is very much my case too," said Vincenz, "with my long-promised
+tale, which I have got pressed against my heart here in the
+breast-pocket of my coat (that usual _boudoir_ of literary productions)
+like a pet child. It has sucked itself fat and lusty at the mother's
+milk of my imagination, and has thereby got so forward and so talkative
+that if I were to let it begin, it would go on till daybreak. So that
+it must wait till the next meeting. To talk, I mean to converse,
+appears dangerous to-night; for, before one knows where one is, some
+heathen king, or Pater Molinos (or some _mauvais sujet_ or another of
+the sort), suddenly sits in the midst of us, talking all kinds of
+unintelligible nonsense. So that if either of us can out with a
+manuscript with something amusing in it, I hope he will let us hear
+it."
+
+"If anything which any one of us may be able to produce to-night," said
+Cyprian, "must seem to be nothing more than a stop-gap, or an
+intermezzo between other melodies, I may pluck up courage to read
+to you a trifle which I wrote down many years ago, when I had been
+passing through a period of much mystery and some danger. I had
+completely forgotten the existence of the pages in question, until they
+accidentally came into my hands a short time ago, vividly recalling
+the times to which they relate. My belief is that what led to the
+production of this rather chimerical story is much more interesting
+than the thing itself; and I shall have more to say on that subject
+when I have finished it."
+
+Cyprian read:
+
+
+
+                               PHENOMENA.
+
+When any allusion was made to the last siege of Dresden, Anselmus
+turned even paler than he ordinarily was. He would fold his hands in
+his lap--he would gaze before him, lost in melancholy memories--he
+would murmur to himself,
+
+"God of Heaven, were I to put my legs into my new riding-boots at the
+proper time, and run across the bridge towards Neustadt, paying no
+attention to burning straw, and the bursting shells, I have no doubt
+that this great personage and the other would, put his head out of his
+carriage window and say, with a polite bow, 'Come along, my good sir,
+without any ceremony. I have room for you.' But there was I shut up and
+hemmed in in the middle of the accursed Marmot's-burrow, all ramparts,
+embankments, trenches, star-batteries, covered ways, &c., suffering
+hunger and misery as much as the best of them. Didn't it come to this,
+that if one happened to turn over the pages of a Roux's dictionary by
+way of passing the time, and came upon the word 'Eat,' one's exhausted
+stomach cried out in utter amazement, 'Eat? Now what does that mean?'
+People who had once on a time been fat buttoned their skin over them,
+like a double-breasted coat, a natural Spencer! Oh, heavens, if only
+that Master of the Rolls--that Lindhorst--hadn't been there! Popowicz
+of course wanted to kill me, but the Dolphin sprinkled marvellous
+life-balsam out of its silver-blue nostrils. And Agafia!" When he spoke
+this name, Anselmus was wont to get up from his seat, jump just a little,
+once, twice, three times; and then sit down again. It was always quite
+useless to ask him what he really meant, on the whole, by those
+extraordinary sayings and grimaces. He merely answered, "Can I possibly
+describe what happened with Popowicz and Agafia without being supposed
+to be out of my mind?" And every one would laugh gently, as much as to
+say, "Well, my good fellow, we suppose that whether or not."
+
+One drear, cloudy October evening, Anselmus, who was understood to be
+somewhere a long way off--came in at the door of a friend of his. He
+seemed to be moved to the depths of his being, he was kindlier and
+tenderer than at other times--almost pathetic. His humour (often
+perhaps too wildly discursive, too universally antagonistic) was bowing
+itself, tamed and bridled, before the mighty Spirit which had
+possession of his inner soul. It had grown quite dark, the friend
+wanted to send for lights. But Anselmus, taking hold of both his arms,
+said: "If you would, for once, do me a real favour, don't have lights
+brought. Let's be content with the dim shining of that Astral lamp
+which is sending its glimmer from the closet there. You can do what you
+please--drink tea, smoke tobacco, but don't smash any cups, or throw
+lighted matches on to my new trousers. Either of those things would not
+only pain me, but would make an unnecessary noise and disturbance in
+the enchanted garden into which I have at last managed to get to-day,
+and in which I am enjoying myself to my soul's content. I shall go and
+lie on that sofa."
+
+He did so. After a considerable pause, he began:
+
+"To-morrow morning at eight o'clock it will be exactly two years since
+Count von der Lobau marched out from Dresden with twelve thousand men
+and four-and-twenty guns, to fight his way to the Meissner Hills."
+
+"Well," said his friend, "I have been sitting here on the stretch of an
+expectation, almost of a devout description, thinking I was going to
+hear of some celestial manifestation, coming hovering out of your
+enchanted garden--and this is all? What interest do I take in Count von
+der Lobau and his expedition? And fancy you remembering that there were
+just twelve thousand men and four-and-twenty guns. When did military
+details of the sort begin to effect a lodgment in that head of yours?"
+
+"Are those days of mystery and fatality," said Anselmus, "which we
+passed through so short a time ago so completely forgotten by you that
+you no longer recollect the manner in which the armed monster grasped
+us and drove us? The _noli turbare_ no longer held in check our own
+exertions of force, and we would not _be_ held in check or protected,
+for in every heart the demon made deep wounds, and, driven by wild
+torture, every hand grasped the unfamiliar sword, not for defence,
+no--for attack, that the hateful ignominy might be atoned for, and
+revenged, by Death! Even at this hour there comes upon me, in bodily
+form of flesh and blood, that power which was active in those days
+of darkness, and drove me forth from art and science into that
+blood-stained tumult. Was it possible, do you think, for me to go on
+sitting at my desk? I hurried up and down the streets, I followed the
+troops when they marched out, as far as I dared, merely to see with my
+own eyes as much as I could, and from what I Baw to gather some hope,
+paying no heed to the miserable, deceptive, proclamations and news
+'from the seat of war.' Very good. When at length that battle of all
+battles was fought, when all round us every voice was shouting for joy
+at new-won freedom, whilst we were still lying in chains of slavery, I
+felt as if my heart would break. I felt as though I must gain air and
+freedom, for myself and all who were chained to the stake along with
+me, by means of some terrible deed. It may seem to you now, and with
+the knowledge of me which you think you possess, incredible and
+ludicrous; but I can assure you that I went about with the idea in my
+mind, the insane idea, that I would set a match to some fort which I
+knew the enemy had got well-stocked with powder, and blow it into the
+air."
+
+The friend could not help smiling a little at the wild heroism of the
+unwarlike Anselmus. The latter, however, could not see this, as it was
+dark; and after a few moments' silence he proceeded as follows. "You
+have all of you often said that a peculiar planet which presides over
+me has a manner of bringing marvellous matters about my path on
+occasions of importance, matters in which people do not believe and
+which often seem to myself as if they proceeded out of my own inner
+being, although there they are, outside of me also, taking form as
+mystic symbols of that element of the marvellous which we find all
+about us everywhere in life. It was so with me this day two years ago
+in Dresden. That long day had dragged itself out in dull, mysterious
+silence; everything was quiet outside the gate--not a shot to be heard.
+Late in the evening--it might have been about ten o'clock, I slunk into
+a coffee house in the old market, where, in an out-of-the-way back room
+into which none of the hated foreigners were allowed to penetrate,
+friends of like minds and opinions gave each other reassurance of
+comfort and hope. It was there where, notwithstanding all the lies
+which were current, the true news of the engagements at the Katzbach,
+Culm, &c., were first received, where our R. told us of the victory at
+Leipzig two days after it happened, though God knows how he obtained
+his knowledge of it. My way had led me past the Brühl Palace, where the
+Field Marshal was quartered, and I had been struck by the unusual
+lighting-up of the salons, as well as the stir going on all over the
+house. I was just mentioning this to my friends, with the remark that
+the enemy must have something in hand, when R. came hurrying in,
+breathless, and in great excitement. 'Hear the latest thing,' he began
+at once. 'There has been a Council of War at the Field Marshal's.
+General Mouton (Count von der Lobau) is going to fight his way to
+Meissen with twelve thousand men and four-and-twenty guns. He marches
+out this morning.' After a good deal of discussion we at last adopted
+R.'s opinion that this attack, which, from the unceasing watchfulness
+of our friends outside, might very probably be disastrous to the enemy,
+would very likely force the Field Marshal to capitulate, and so put a
+period to our miseries. "How," thought I, as I was going home about
+midnight, "can R. have found out what the decision come to was almost
+at the very moment it was arrived at?" However, I was presently aware
+of a hollow, rumbling sound making itself audible through the deathly
+stillness of the night. Guns and ammunition waggons, well loaded up
+with forage, began passing slowly by me in the direction of the Elbe
+bridge. "R. was right then," I had to say to myself. I followed the
+line of their march and got as far as the centre of the bridge, where
+there was at that time a broken arch, temporarily repaired with wooden
+beams and scaffolding. At each side of this construction was a species
+of fortification, constructed of high palisading and earth-works. Here,
+close to this fortification, I took up my position, pressing myself
+close to the balustrade of the bridge so as not to be seen. It now
+seemed to me that the tall palisades began moving backwards and
+forwards, and bending over towards me, murmuring hollow, unintelligible
+words. The deep darkness of the cloudy night prevented my seeing
+anything clearly; but when the troops had crossed, and all was as still
+as death on the bridge, I could make out that there was a deep,
+oppressed breathing near me, and a faint, mysterious whimpering or
+whining--one of the dark, scarcely distinguishable baulks of the timber
+was rising into a higher position. An icy horror fell upon me, and,
+like a man tortured in a nightmare dream, firmly fettered by leaded
+clamps, I could not move a muscle. The night-breeze rose, wafting mists
+about the hills: the moon sent feeble rays through rents in the clouds.
+And I saw, not far from me, the figure of a tall old man with silvery
+hair and a long beard. The mantle which fell over his haunches he had
+cast across his breast in numerous heavy folds. With his long, white
+naked arm he was stretching a staff far out over the river. It was from
+him that the murmuring and whimpering proceeded. At that moment I heard
+the sound of marching coming from the town, and I saw the sheen of
+arms. The old man cowered down, and began to whimper and lament, in a
+pitiful voice, holding out a cap to those who were coming over the
+bridge, as if asking for alms. An officer, laughing, cried, "_Voilŕ
+St. Pierre, qui veut pęcher!_" The one who came next stopped, and said
+very gravely, "_Eh bien! Moi, pęcheur, je lui aiderai ŕ pęcher._"
+Several officers and soldiers, quitting the ranks, threw the old man
+money, sometimes silently, sometimes with gentle sighs, like men in
+expectation of death; and he, then, always nodded from side to side
+with his head in a curious way, uttering a sort of hollow cry of a
+singular description. At length an officer (in whom I recognized
+General Mouton) came so very close to the old man that I thought his
+foaming charger would tramp upon him; and, turning quickly to his
+aide-de-camp, as he thrust his hat more firmly down on to his head, he
+asked him, in a loud excited voice, "_Qui est cet homme?_" "The escort
+which was in attendance on him stood motionless; but an old, bearded
+sapper, who was passing with his axe on his shoulder, said, calmly and
+gravely, "_C'est un pauvre maniaque bien connű ici. On l'appelle St.
+Pierre Pęcheur._" On that the force passed on across the bridge, not as
+at other times, full of foolish jesting, but in dispirited ill-temper
+and gloom. As the last sound of them died away, and the last gleam of
+their arms disappeared, the old man slowly reared himself up, and stood
+with uplifted head and staff outstretched, like some miraculous saint
+ruling the stormy water. The waves of the river rose into mightier and
+mightier billows, as if stirred from their depths. And I seemed to hear
+a hollow voice, coming up from amidst those rushing waters, and saying
+in the Russian language.
+
+"Michael Popowicz! Michael Popowicz! Do you not see the fireman?"
+
+The old man murmured to himself. He seemed to be praying. But suddenly
+he cried out, "Agafia!" And at that moment his face glowed in blood-red
+fire which seemed to be shooting up at him out of the Elbe. On the
+Meissner Hills great fluttering flames blazed up into the sky; their
+reflection shone into the river, and upon the old man's face. And now,
+close beside me upon the bridge, there began to be audible a sort of
+plashing and splashing, and I saw a dim form climbing up arduously, and
+presently swing itself over the balustrade with marvellous dexterity.
+
+"Agafia?" the old man cried.
+
+"Girl! Dorothea! In the name of heaven," I was beginning, but in an
+instant I felt myself clasped hold of, and forcibly drawn away. "Oh,
+for Christ's sake keep silence, dearest Anselmus, or you are a dead
+man," whispered the creature who was standing close to me, trembling
+and shivering with cold. Her long black hair hung down dripping, her
+sodden garments were clinging to her slender body. She sank down
+exhausted, saying, in tones of gentle complaining, "Oh, it is so cold
+down there! Do not say another word, Anselmus dearest, or we must
+certainly die."
+
+The light of the flames was glowing upon her face, and I saw that she
+was Dorothea, the pretty country girl who had taken asylum with my
+landlord when her native village was plundered, and her father killed.
+He employed her as a servant, and used to say that her troubles had
+quite stupefied her, or otherwise she would have been a nice enough
+little thing. And he was right there. She scarcely spoke, except to
+utter a few words which sounded like incoherent nonsense, whilst her
+face, which would otherwise have been beautiful, was marred by a
+strange unmeaning smile. She used to bring my coffee into my room every
+morning, and I remarked that her figure, complexion, &c., were not at
+all those of a peasant girl. "Ah," my landlord used to say, "you see
+she's a farmer's daughter, and a Saxon."
+
+As this girl was thus lying, rather than kneeling before me, half dead,
+dripping, I quickly pulled off my cloak and wrapped her in it,
+whispering to her, "Warm yourself, dear, oh, warm yourself, darling
+Dorothea, or you will die! What were you doing in the cold river?"
+
+"Oh, keep silent!" she said, throwing back the hood of her mantle, and
+combing her dripping hair back with her fingers. "What I implore you to
+do is to keep silent. Come to that stone seat yonder. Father is
+speaking with Saint Andrew, and can't hear us."
+
+We crept cautiously to the stone seat. Utterly carried away by the most
+extraordinary sensations, overmastered by fear and rapture, I clasped
+the creature in my arms. She sat down in my lap without hesitation, and
+threw her arms about my neck. I felt the icy water from her hair
+running down my neck; but as drops sprinkled on fire only increase its
+flaming, love and longing only seethed up within me the more
+vehemently.
+
+"Anselmus," she whispered, "I believe you are good and true. When you
+sing it goes right through my heart, and you have charming ways. You
+won't betray me. Who would get you your coffee if you did? And, listen,
+when you are all starving (and you soon will be), I'll come to you at
+night, all alone, when nobody can know, and bake you nice cakes. I have
+flour, fine flour, hidden away in my little room. And we'll have
+bridecake, white and lovely!" At this she began to laugh, but
+immediately sobbed and wept. "Ah me! like those in Moskow. Oh! my
+Alexei! my Alexei! Beautiful dolphin, swim! Swim through the waves! Am
+I not waiting for you, your faithful love?" She drooped her little
+head, her sobs grew fainter, and she seemed to sink into a slumber, her
+bosom heaving and falling in sighs of longing. I looked at the old man.
+He was standing with outstretched arms, and saying, in hollow tones,
+"He gives the signal! See how he shakes his fiery locks of flame; how
+eagerly he treads into the ground those fiery pillars on which he
+traverses the land! Hear ye not his step of thunder? Feel ye not the
+vivifying breath which wreathes before him like a gleaming incense
+cloud? Hither! hither! mighty brethren!"
+
+The sound of the old man's words was like the hollow roar of the
+approaching whirlwind, and while he spoke, the fire upon the Meissner
+Hills blazed brighter and brighter. "Help, Saint Andrew!" the girl
+cried in her sleep. And suddenly she sprung up as if possessed by some
+terrible idea, and throwing her left arm more closely round me,
+whispered into my ear, "Anselmus! it would be better that I killed
+you," and I saw a knife gleaming in her right hand. I repulsed her in
+terror, with a loud cry of, "Mad creature! What would you do?" Then she
+screamed out, "Ah, I cannot do it! But all is over with you now!" At
+that moment the old man cried, "Agafia, with whom are you speaking?"
+And ere I could bethink me, he was close to me, aiming a stroke with
+his swung staff at me which would have cleft my skull in two had not
+Agafia seized me from behind and drawn me quickly away. The staff
+splintered into a thousand pieces on the stone bench. The old man fell
+on his knees. "Allons! allons!" resounded from all sides. I had to
+collect my thoughts, and spring quickly to one side to avoid being
+crushed by the guns and ammunition waggons which were again coming
+across.
+
+Next morning the Russians drove this expeditionary force down from the
+hills, and back into the fortifications, notwithstanding the
+superiority of its numbers. "'Tis a strange thing," people said, "that
+our friends outside were informed of the enemy's plans, for that signal
+fire on the Meissner Hills had the effect of assembling the troops, so
+that they might make a resistance in force, just at the very time and
+place where he intended to concentrate his attacking bodies."
+
+For several days Dorothea did not come in the morning with my coffee;
+and my landlord, pale with terror, told me had seen her, along with the
+mad beggar of the Elbe bridge, marched off from the marshal's quarters
+to Neustadt under a strong escort.
+
+"Oh, good heavens!" said Anselmus's friend, "they were discovered and
+executed."
+
+But Anselmus gave a strange smile and said, "Agafia got away; and,
+alter the Peace was signed, I received, from her own hands, a beautiful
+white wedding-cake of her own making."
+
+The reticence of Anselmus was proof against every effort to induce him
+to say anything more concerning this astonishing affair.
+
+
+When Cyprian had finished, Lothair said, "You told us that the events
+which suggested this sketch would be more interesting than it is
+itself; so that I consider those suggesting circumstances are an
+essential part of it, without which it is not complete. Therefore, I
+think you ought at once to give us your why and wherefore, as a sort of
+explanatory note."
+
+"Does it not seem to you to be as unusual as remarkable," said Cyprian,
+"that all that I have read to you is literally true, and that even the
+little 'wind up,' has its kernel of actuality?"
+
+"Let us hear!" the friends cried.
+
+"To begin with," said Cyprian, "I must tell you that the fate which
+befell Anselmus in my sketch was actually my own, as well. My being ten
+minutes late decided my destiny, so that I was shut up in Dresden just
+as it was surrounded on all sides. It is a fact that after the battle
+of Leipzig, when our condition became more painful and trying day by
+day, certain friends, or mere acquaintances, whom a similar lot and a
+like way of thinking had drawn together, used to assemble in the back
+room of a coffee-house, much as the disciples did at Emmaus. The
+landlord, one Eichelkraut, was a reliable, trustworthy man, who made no
+secret of his hostility to the French, and always obliged them to treat
+him with proper respect and keep their due distance from him when they
+came in as customers. No Frenchman was allowed to make his way into
+that backroom on any pretext, and if one did succeed in showing his
+nose there, he could never get a morsel to eat, or a drop to drink, let
+him implore, or swear, as much as he liked. Moreover, the room was
+always as silent as the grave, and we all blew such stifling clouds out
+of our pipes that the place soon became so full of the exhalation that
+a Frenchman would be very soon smoked out, like a wasp, and usually
+went growling and swearing out of the door like one. As soon as he did,
+the window would be opened to let the reek out, and we would be
+restored to our peace and comfort again. The life and soul of those
+meetings was a well-known talented and charming writer: and I remember
+with great pleasure how he and I used to get upstairs to the upper
+story of the house, look out of the little garret window into the
+night, and see the enemy's bivouac fires shining in the sky. We used to
+say to each other all sorts of wonderful things which the shimmer of
+those fires, combined with the moonlight, used to put into our heads,
+and then go down and tell our friends what we imagined we had seen. It
+is a fact that one night one of our number (an advocate) who was always
+the first to hear any news, and whose reports were always reliable
+(heaven knows whence he derived his information), came in and told us
+the decision which had just been come to by the council of war
+concerning the expedition of Count von der Lobau, exactly as I have
+repeated it to you. It is likewise true that as I was going home about
+midnight, while the French battalions were falling-in in profound
+silence (no _generale_ being beaten) and beginning their march over the
+bridge, I met ammunition waggons, so that I could have no doubt of the
+accuracy of his information. And lastly, it is the fact that, on the
+bridge, there was a grey old beggar lying, begging from the French
+troops as they crossed, whom I could not remember having seen in
+Dresden before. Last of all it is the fact, and the most wonderful of
+all, that when, much interested and excited, I reached my own quarters,
+on climbing up to the top story I _did_ see a fire on the Meissner
+Hills, which was neither a watch fire nor a burning building. The
+sequel showed that the Russians must have known that night all about
+the attack intended to be made on the following morning, inasmuch as
+they concentrated troops which had been at a considerable distance upon
+the Meissner Hills, and it was principally Russian Landwehr which drove
+the French back as a storm sweeps a field of stubble. When the remnant
+of them fell back into the fortifications, the Russians quietly marched
+off to their previous positions. So that at the very time when the
+council of war was held at Gouvion de St. Cyr's, the decision which it
+arrived at was communicated to, or, more probably, overheard by persons
+who were not supposed to have this in their power. Strangely enough,
+the advocate knew every detail of the deliberation; for instance, that
+Gouvion was opposed to the expedition, and only yielded lest he might
+be thought wanting in courage, in a case where rapidity of decision was
+a desideratum. Count von der Lobau was determined to march out and
+endeavour to cut his way to the emperor's army. But how did the
+surrounding force know so soon of what was projected? For they knew of
+it in the course of an hour. Not only was it apparently impossible to
+get across the strongly fortified bridge; and if not, the river would
+have had to be swum, and the various trenches and walls got over.
+Moreover, the whole of Dresden was palisaded, and carefully guarded by
+sentries, to a considerable distance round. Where was the possibility
+of any human being surmounting all those obstacles in such a short
+space of time! One might think of telegraphic signals, made by means of
+lights from some tall tower or loftily situated house. But consider the
+difficulty of carrying that out, and the risk of detection, for such
+signals would have been easily seen. At all events it remains an
+incomprehensible thing how what actually happened came to pass; and
+that is enough to suggest to a lively imagination all sorts of
+mysterious and sufficiently extraordinary hypotheses to account for
+it."
+
+"I bow my knee in deep reverence before Saint Serapion," said Lothair;
+"and before the most worthy of his disciples, and I am quite sure that
+a Serapiontic account of the important incidents of the war, as seen by
+him, if given in his characteristic style, would be exceedingly
+interesting, as well as very instructive, to imaginative members of the
+profession of arms. At the same time I have little doubt that the
+incidents in question came about quite naturally, and in the ordinary
+course of events. But you had to get your landlord's servant-girl, the
+pleasing Dorothea, into the water, as a sort of deluding Nixie; and
+she----"
+
+"Don't jest about that," Cyprian said, very solemnly. "Don't make jokes
+on that subject, Lothair. At this moment I see that beautiful creature
+before my eyes, that lovely terrible mystery (I do not know what other
+name to call her by). It was I who had that bridecake sent to me;
+glittering in diamonds, flashing like lightning, wrapped in priceless
+sables----"
+
+"Listen," cried Vincenz. "We are getting at it now. The Saxon
+maid-servant--the Russian Princess--Moskow--Dresden-- Has not Cyprian
+always spoken in the most mysterious language, and with the most
+recondite allusions, of a certain period of his life just after the
+first French war? It is coming out now! Speak! Let all your heart
+stream forth, my Cyprianic Serapion and Serpiontic Cyprian."
+
+"And how if I keep silence?" answered Cyprian, suddenly drawing in his
+horns, and growing grave and gloomy. "And how if I am obliged to keep
+silence? And I _shall_ keep silence!"
+
+He spoke those words in a strangely solemn and exalted tone, leaning
+back in his chair, and fixing his eyes on the ceiling, as was his wont
+when deeply moved.
+
+The friends looked at one another with questioning glances.
+
+"Well," said Lothair at last, "it seems that somehow our meeting of
+to-night has fallen into a strange groove of ill-fortune, and it appears
+to be hopeless to expect any comfort or enjoyment out of it. Suppose we
+have a little music, and sing some absurd stuff or other as vilely as
+we can."
+
+"Yes," said Theodore, "that is the thing." And he opened the piano. "If
+we don't manage a canon--which, according to Junker Tobias is a thing
+which can reel three souls out of a weaver's body--we will make it
+awful enough to be worthy of Signor Capuzzi and his friends. Suppose we
+sing an Italian _Terzetto buffo_ out of our own heads. I'll be the
+prima donna, and begin. Ottmar will be the lover, and Lothair had
+better be the comic old man, and come in, raging and swearing in rapid
+notes."
+
+"But the words, the words," said Ottmar.
+
+"Sing whatever you please," said Theodore; "Oh Dio! Addio! Lasciami mia
+Vita."
+
+"No, no," cried Vincenz. "If you won't let me take part in your
+singing--although I feel that I possess a wonderful talent for it,
+which only wants the voice of a Catalani to produce itself in the
+work-a-day world with drastic effect, allow me at least to be your
+librettist--your poet-laureate. And here I hand you your libretto at
+once."
+
+He had found on Theodore's writing-table the 'Indice de Teatrali
+Spettacoli' for 1791, and this he handed to Theodore. This indice, like
+all which appear yearly in Italy, merely contained a list of the titles
+of the operas performed, with the names of their composers, and of the
+singers, scene-painters, &c., concerned in their production. They
+opened the page which related to the opera in Milan, and it was decided
+that the prima donna should sing the names of the lover-tenors (with a
+due interspersing of Ah Dio's and Oh Cielo's), that the lover-tenor
+should sing the names of the prima donnas in like manner, and that the
+comic old man should come in, in his furious wrath, with the titles of
+the operas which had been given and an occasional burst of invective,
+appropriate to his character.
+
+Theodore played a _ritornello_ of the cut and pattern which occurs by
+the hundred in the opera buffas of the Italians, and then began to sing
+in sweet, tender strains "Lorenzo Coleoni! Gaspare Rossari! Oh Dio!
+Giuseppo Marelli! Francesco Sedini!" &c. Ottmar followed with "Giuditta
+Paracca! Teresa Ravini! Giovanna Velata--Oh Dio!" &c. And Lothair burst
+duly in with rapid, angry quavers: "Le Gare Generose, del Maestro
+Paesiello--Che vedo? La Donna di Spirito, del Maestro Mariella.
+Briconaccio! Piro, Re di Epiro! Maledetti!--del Maestro Zingarelli,"
+&c.
+
+This singing, which Lothair and Ottmar accompanied with appropriate
+gesticulations (Vincenz illustrating Theodore's impersonations with the
+most preposterous grimaces imaginable), warmed up the friends more and
+more. In a comic description of enthusiastic inspiration each seized
+the drift of the other's ideas. All the passages, imitations, &c. (to
+use musical expressions), usually employed in compositions of this
+description, were reproduced with the utmost accuracy--so that any one
+who had come in by accident would never have dreamt that this
+performance was improvised on the spur of the moment, even if the
+strange hotch-potch of names had struck him as curious.
+
+Louder and more unrestrainedly raged this outbreak of Italian _rabbia_,
+until (as may be supposed), it culminated in a wild, universal burst of
+laughter, in which even Cyprian joined.
+
+At their parting, on this evening, the friends were in a condition of
+wild enjoyment, rather than (as was the case on other occasions), lull
+of rational delight.
+
+
+
+
+                             SECTION EIGHT.
+
+The Serapion Brethren had assembled for another meeting.
+
+"I must be greatly mistaken," said Lothair, "and be anything but the
+possessor of a native genius (supplemented by assiduous practice) for
+physiognomy--such as I believe that I do possess, if I do not read very
+distinctly in the face of every one of us (not excepting my own, which
+I see magically gleaming at me in yonder mirror), that our minds are
+all fully charged with matter of importance, and only waiting for the
+word of command to fire it off. I am rather afraid that more than one
+of us may have got shut up in one or other of his productions one of
+those eccentric little firework devils which may come fizzling out,
+dart backwards and forwards about the room, banging and jumping, and
+not manage to pop out of the window until it has managed to give us all
+a good singeing. I even dread a continuation of our last conversation,
+and may Saint Serapion avert that from us! But lest we should fall
+immediately into those wild, seething waters, and that we may commence
+our meeting in a duly calm and rational frame of mind, I move that
+Sylvester begins by reading to us that story which we could not hear on
+the last occasion because there was no time left."
+
+This proposal was unanimously agreed to.
+
+"The woof which I have spun," said Sylvester, producing a manuscript,
+"is composed of many threads, of the most various shades, and the
+question in my mind is whether--on the whole--you will think it has
+proper colour and keeping. It was my idea that I should, perhaps, put
+some flesh and blood into what I must admit, is a rather feeble body,
+by contributing to it something out of a great, mysterious period--to
+which it really does but serve as a sort of framework."
+
+Sylvester read:--
+
+
+
+                 THE MUTUAL INTERDEPENDENCE OF THINGS.
+
+A tumble over a root as a portion of the system of the universe--Mignon
+      and the gypsy from Lorca, in connection with General Palafox--A
+      Paradise opened at Countess Walther Puck's.
+
+"No!" said Ludwig to his friend Euchar, "no! There is no such lubberly,
+uncouth attendant on the goddess of Fortune as Herr Tieck has been
+pleased to introduce in the prologue to his second part of 'Fortunat,'
+who, in the course of his gyrations, upsets tables, smashes ink-bottles,
+and goes blundering into the President's carriage, hurting his head and
+his arm. No! For there is no such thing as chance. I hold to the opinion
+that the entire universe, and all that it contains, and all that comes
+to pass in it--the complete macrocosm--is like some large, very ingeniously
+constructed piece of clockwork-mechanism, which would necessarily come
+to a stop in a moment if any hostile principle, operating wholly
+involuntarily, were permitted to come in contact--in an opposing
+sense--with the very smallest of its wheels."
+
+"I don't know, friend Ludwig," said Euchar, laughing, "how it
+is that you have come, all of a sudden, to adopt this wretched,
+mechanical theory--which is as old as the hills, and out of date long
+ago--disfiguring and distorting Goethe's beautiful notion of the red
+thread which runs all through our lives--in which, when we think about
+it in our more lucid moments, we recognize that higher Power which
+works above, and in us."
+
+"I have the greatest objection to that simile," said Ludwig. "It is
+taken from the British navy. All through the smallest rope in their
+ships (I know this, of course, from the Wahlverwandschaften), runs a
+small red thread, which shows that the rope is Government property. No,
+my dear friend! Whatever happens is pre-ordained, from the beginning,
+as an essential necessity, just because it does happen. And this is the
+Mutual Interdependence of Things, upon which rests the principle of all
+being, of all existence. Because, as soon as you----"
+
+However, it is necessary, at this point, to explain to the courteous
+reader that as Ludwig and Euchar were thus talking together, they were
+walking in an alley of the beautiful park at W----. It was a Sunday.
+Twilight was beginning to fall, the evening breeze was whispering in
+the branches which, reviving after the heat of the day, were exhaling
+gentle sighs. Among the woods were sounding the happy voices of
+townsfolk in their Sunday clothes, out for the afternoon, some of them
+lying in the sweet grass enjoying their simple supper, and others
+refreshing themselves in the various restaurants, in accordance with
+the winnings of their week.
+
+Just as Ludwig was going on to explain more fully the profound theory
+of the mutual interdependence of things, he stumbled over the thick
+root of a tree, which (as he always wore spectacles) he had not seen;
+and he measured his length on the ground.
+
+"_That_ was comprehended in the mutual interdependence of things," said
+Euchar gravely and quietly, lifting up his friend's hat and stick, and
+giving him his hand to help him on to his legs again. "If you had not
+pitched over in that absurd manner the world would have come to a stop
+at once."
+
+But Ludwig felt his right knee so stiff that he was obliged to limp,
+and his nose was bleeding freely. This induced him to take his
+friend's advice and go into the nearest restaurant, though he
+generally avoided these places, particularly on Sundays. For the
+jubilations of the Sunday townsfolk were exceptionally displeasing to
+him, giving him a sensation of being in places which were not by any
+means _convenable_--at all events for people of his position.
+
+In the front of this restaurant the people had formed a deep,
+many-tinted ring, from the interior of which there Bounded the tones
+of a guitar and a tambourine. Ludwig, assisted by his friend, went
+limping into the house, holding his handkerchief to his face. And he
+begged so pitifully for water, and a little drop of wine-vinegar,
+that the landlady, much alarmed, thought he must be at the point of
+death. Whilst he was being served with what he required, Euchar (on
+whom the sounds of the guitar and tambourine exercised an irresistible
+fascination) crept forth, and endeavoured to penetrate into the closed
+circle. He belonged to that restricted class of Nature's favourites
+whose exterior and whole being ensure a kindly reception everywhere,
+and in all circumstances. So that on this occasion some journeymen
+mechanics (people who are not usually much given to politeness of a
+Sunday) at once made room for him when he asked what was going forward,
+so that he as well as themselves might have a look at the strange
+little creature who was dancing and playing so prettily and cleverly.
+And a curious and delightful scene displayed itself to Euchar, which
+fettered all his mind and attention.
+
+In the middle of the ring a girl with her eyes blindfolded was dancing
+the fandango amongst nine eggs, arranged three by three behind each
+other on the ground, and playing a tambourine as she danced. At one
+side stood a little deformed man, with an ill-looking gypsy face,
+playing the guitar. The girl who was dancing seemed to be about
+fifteen. She was oddly dressed in a red bodice, gold-embroidered, and a
+short white skirt trimmed with ribbons of various colours. Her figure
+and all her motions were the very ideal of elegance and grace. She
+brought the most marvellous variety of sounds out of her tambourine.
+Sometimes she would raise it above her head, and then hold it out in
+front of her or behind her, with her arms stretched out, in the most
+picturesque attitudes. Now it would sound like a far-off drum; now like
+the melancholy cooing of the turtle-dove, and presently like the
+distant roar of the approaching storm. All this was accompanied in the
+most delightful manner by the tinkling of the clear, harmonious bells.
+And the little guitar-player by no means fell short of her in
+virtuosity; for he, too, had quite a style of his own of treating his
+instrument--making the dance melody (which was a most characteristic
+one, wholly out of the common run of such things) predominate at times,
+loud and clear, and hushing it down at other times into a mysterious
+piano, striking the strings with the palms of his hand (as the
+Spaniards do in producing that peculiar effect), and presently dashing
+out bright-sounding, full harmonies. The tambourine went on
+_crescendo_, as the guitar-strings clanged louder and louder, and the
+girl's boundings increased in their scope in a similar ratio. She would
+set down her foot within a hair's-breadth of the eggs with the most
+complete certainty and confidence, so that the spectators could not
+help crying out, thinking that one of those fragile things must
+infallibly be broken. Her black hair had fallen down, and it flew about
+her head, giving her much the effect of a Mćnad. The little fellow
+cried out to her in Spanish, "Stop!" And on this, while still going on
+with her dance, she lightly touched each of the eggs, so that they
+rolled together into a heap; upon which, with a loud beat on her
+tambourine and a forcible chord on the guitar, she came to a sudden
+standstill, as if banned there by some spell. The dance was done.
+
+The little fellow went up to her and undid the cloth which bound her
+eyes. She rolled up her hair, took the tambourine, and went round
+amongst the spectators, with downcast looks, to collect their
+contributions. Not one had slunk off out of the way. Every one, with a
+face of pleasure, put a piece of money into that tambourine. When she
+came to Euchar, and as he was going to put something into it, she made
+a sign of refusal.
+
+"May not I give you anything?" he said.
+
+She looked up at him, and the glowing fire of her loveliest of eyes
+flashed through the night of her black silken lashes.
+
+"The old man," she said gravely--almost solemnly--in her deep voice,
+and with her foreign accent, "told me that you, sir, did not come till
+the best part of my dance was done; and so I ought not to take anything
+from you." Thus speaking she made Euchar a pretty courtesy, and went to
+the little man, taking the guitar from his hands, and going with him to
+a table at some distance.
+
+When Euchar looked round him, he perceived Ludwig sitting not far off,
+between two respectable townsfolk, with a great glass of beer before
+him, making the most earnest signs. Euchar went to him, saying, with a
+laugh, "Why, Ludwig, when did you take to drinking beer?" Ludwig,
+however, made signals to him, and said, in meaning accents, "What do
+you say? Beer is one of the most delicious of drinks, and I delight in
+it above all things--when it is so magnificent as it is here."
+
+The citizens rose, and Ludwig shook hands with them most politely,
+putting on a look which was half-pleased, half-annoyed, when they
+expressed at parting their regret for his mishap.
+
+"You are always getting me into hot water with your want of tact," he
+said. "If I hadn't allowed myself to be treated to a glass of beer, if
+I hadn't managed to gulp the abominable trash down--those sturdy
+counter-jumpers would probably have been offended, and would have
+looked upon me as one of the profane. Then you must needs come and
+bring me into discredit, when I had been playing my part so very
+nicely."
+
+"Well," said Euchar, "if you had been bowed out of their company, or
+even come in for a little touch of cudgelling, wouldn't it all have
+been a part of the mutual interdependence of things? But just listen as
+I tell you what a charming little drama your trip over the tree-root
+(predestined, according to the conditions of the Macrocosmus, to occur)
+gave me an opportunity of seeing."
+
+And he told him about the charming egg dance by the Spanish girl.
+"Mignon!" cried Ludwig enthusiastically. "Heavenly, divine Mignon!"
+
+The guitarist was sitting not far off, at a table, counting the
+receipts, and the girl was standing beside him, squeezing an orange
+into a glass of water. Presently the old man put the money together,
+and nodded to the girl with eyes sparkling with gladness, whilst she
+handed him the orange-water, and stroked his wrinkled cheeks. He gave a
+disagreeable, cackling laugh, and gulped down the liquid with every
+indication of thirst. The girl sat down and began tinkling on the
+guitar. "Oh Mignon!" cried Ludwig again. "Heavenly, divine Mignon! Ah,
+I shall rescue her, like another Wilhelm Meister, from the thraldom of
+this accursed miscreant who holds her in bondage!" "How do you know,"
+asked Euchar, "that this little hunchback is an accursed miscreant?"
+"Cold creature!" answered Ludwig. "Cold, passionless creature, you
+understand nothing, you have no sympathy with anything, no sense of the
+genial, the imaginative. Don't you see--don't you comprehend how every
+description of the most insulting contempt, envious feeling,
+wickedness, ill-temper, and avarice of the vilest kind gleam out of the
+green, cat's-eyes of that little gypsy abortion--are legible in every
+wrinkle of his diabolical-looking face? Yes! I am going to rescue that
+beautiful child out of the clutches--the Satanic clutches--of that
+brown monster! If I could only have a talk with her, the little
+charmer!" "Nothing is easier than that," said Euchar, and he signed to
+her to come near.
+
+The girl put the instrument down, came near, and made a reverence,
+casting her eyes modestly on the ground. "Mignon!" cried Ludwig.
+"Mignon! Sweet, beautiful creature!"
+
+"I am called Emanuela," she said.
+
+"And that horrible ruffian there," Ludwig went on, "where did he steal
+you from? How did you get into his clutches, poor thing?"
+
+The girl lifted her eyes, and sending a beaming, serious glance through
+and through Ludwig, replied. "I don't understand you, sir. I don't know
+what you mean--why you ask me this?"
+
+"You are a Spaniard, my child," Euchar began.
+
+"I am," she answered, her voice trembling. "I am, indeed. You see
+me--you hear me. Why should I deny it?"
+
+"Then, of course, you can play the guitar and sing a song?"
+
+She covered her eyes with her hand, and said, in a scarce audible
+whisper, "Ah! I should like to play and sing _you_ one. But my songs
+are burning hot; and here it is so cold--so cold!
+
+"Do you know," said Euchar, speaking in Spanish, and in a heightened
+tone, "the song _Laurel immortal_?"
+
+She clapped her hands, raised her glance to Heaven, tears filled her
+eyes; she flew to the table, seized the guitar, sprang, rather than
+walked back to the two friends, placed herself before Euchar, and began
+
+           "Laurel immortal al gran Palafox,
+            Gloria da Espańa, de Francia terror!"
+
+The expression which she put into this song was indescribable.
+From the deepest pain of death there flamed forth the most fiery
+enthusiasm--each note seemed to be a lightning flash which must shiver
+every ice-covering of the chilled breast. As for Ludwig he was--to use
+a familiar expression--ready to jump out of his skin with sheer
+rapture. He interrupted her singing with boisterous "Bravas!"
+"Bravissimas!" and a hundred other such expressions of approbation.
+
+"Do be so kind, my dear fellow, as to make a little less noise!" Euchar
+said. "Oh, of course," he answered, "you unimpressionable people are
+never in the least affected by music!" However he did what Euchar had
+asked him to do.
+
+When she had finished, she went and leant on a tree, as if wearied. And
+as she let the chords go on sounding more and more softly till they
+died away in a _pianissimo_, great tears were falling upon the
+instrument.
+
+"You are in some need, my poor, pretty child," said Euchar, in the tone
+which comes only from a deeply moved heart. "Although I did not see the
+beginning of your dance, you have more than made up for that by your
+song, and you must not refuse to accept something from me."
+
+He had taken out a little purse in which bright ducats were shining,
+and was handing it to her as she came closer to him. She fixed her gaze
+upon his hand, seized it in both her own, and falling on her knees with
+a loud cry of "_Oh, Dios!_" covered it with the warmest kisses. "Ah!"
+cried Ludwig, "nothing but gold is worthy to touch that beautiful
+little hand." And he asked Euchar if he could give him change for a
+thaler, as he had no smaller money about him.
+
+Meanwhile the hunchback had come limping up, and he lifted the guitar,
+which Emanuela had dropped on the ground, making many smiling
+reverences to Euchar, supposing that he had been exceedingly generous
+to the girl, from the motion with which she had thanked him.
+
+"Scoundrel--miscreant!" growled Ludwig.
+
+The man started in alarm, and said, in a lamentable tone, "Ah, sir, why
+are you so angry? Don't condemn poor Biagio Cubas--a good, respectable,
+honest man. Don't judge me by the colour of my skin, or by the ugliness
+of my face. I know I _have_ an ugly face. I was born in Lorca, and am
+every bit as good a Christian as you are yourself."
+
+The girl jumped up hastily, crying out to the old man in Spanish, "Come
+away, little father, as quickly as you can." And they both hurried off,
+Cubas continuing to make various odd reverences, and Emanuela fixing
+upon Euchar the most soul-full gaze of which her beautiful eyes were
+capable.
+
+When the strange couple were lost among the trees, Euchar said, "You
+must see, do you not, that you were in much too great a hurry to
+condemn that little cobold in your own mind? He _has_ a touch or so of
+the gypsy about him. As he says himself, he comes from Lorca. And Lorca
+is an old Moorish town, and the Lorcanese (good enough folks, all the
+same) bear undeniable traces of their ancestry. So there is nothing
+which they take in worse part than to have this imputed to them, which
+is why they keep perpetually declaring that they are Christians of ever
+so old standing. This was the case with this little fellow, in whose
+face his Moorish origin is certainly reflected to the extent of
+positive caricature."
+
+"No matter!" cried Ludwig. "I stick to my opinion; the man is a
+tremendous scoundrel, and I will leave no stone unturned till I deliver
+my charming, beautiful Mignon from his clutches."
+
+"If you insist on thinking the little fellow a scoundrel," said Euchar,
+"I can't say that I have very much confidence, for my part, in the
+charming beautiful Mignon."
+
+"What!" cried Ludwig. "Not have confidence in that divine little
+creature, whose eyes beam with the purest, most innocent truth and
+tenderness? However, there we see the icy, prosaic nature wholly devoid
+of feeling for all such matters, distrustful of everything which
+doesn't fit all in a moment into the compartments, the grooves of his
+everyday business."
+
+"Well, don't get so excited about it, my dear, enthusiastic friend,"
+said Euchar quietly. "You will probably say that I have no tangible
+reason for distrusting the beautiful Mignon. But my reason is that I
+have this instant discovered that as she was kissing my hand she took
+away that little ring with the curious stone (which you know I always
+wear) from my finger. And I am greatly distressed to lose it, because
+it is a souvenir of a period of my life which was full of intense
+interest and importance."
+
+"In heaven's name," said Ludwig, in an awestruck whisper, "it is not
+possible, surely! No, no!" he cried, loudly and excitedly, "it cannot
+be possible! That lovely face could not deceive: that eye--that
+glance--You must have dropped the ring--let it fall."
+
+"Well--" said Euchar, "we shall see. But it is getting dark: let us get
+back to the town."
+
+All the way home, Ludwig did not cease talking of Emanuela, calling her
+by the sweetest names, and declaring that he was quite certain--from a
+peculiar glance which she had cast on him at parting--that he had made
+a deep impression on her--a sort of event which generally happened to
+him in similar cases--_i.e._ when the romantic element entered amongst
+the circumstances of everyday life. Euchar did not interrupt him by so
+much as a syllable; but he worked himself up more and more--till, just
+at the town gate (where the drummer of the guard was beginning to beat
+the tattoo), he screamed into his friend's ear (a process necessitated
+by the row made by the military virtuoso on his instrument), as he cast
+himself upon his bosom, that he was most deeply in love with the sweet
+Mignon, and that the sole object of his life from thenceforth was to
+find her again, and free her from the bondage of the atrocious old
+monster.
+
+There was a servant in a handsome livery standing at Ludwig's door,
+who handed him a card of invitation. As soon as he had read it, and
+sent the servant away, he embraced his friend as frantically as he
+had done at the town gate, and cried, "Oh, Euchar! call me the most
+fortunate--the most enviable--of mortals. Open your heart! Form some
+slight idea of my happiness! Mingle your tears of joy with mine!"
+
+"What can there be of such a marvellously fortunate description
+announced to you on a card?" inquired Euchar.
+
+"Don't be startled," murmured Ludwig, "when I open to you the gates of
+the magically brilliant Paradise of a thousand delights, which will
+unfold itself to me by the virtue of this card here."
+
+"Well," said Euchar, "I am sure I shall be very glad indeed, to hear
+what the piece of good fortune is which is coming to you."
+
+"Hear it," cried Ludwig; "learn it--understand it! Be amazed at
+it--doubt of it--cry out--shriek--shout! I have got an invitation to
+the supper and ball to-morrow evening at Countess Walther Puck's!
+Victorine! Victorine! Sweet, lovely Victorine!"
+
+"And how about sweet, lovely Mignon?" asked Euchar. But Ludwig groaned
+forth, in the most pathetic tones, "Victorine! My life!" and bolted
+into his quarters.
+
+
+THE FRIENDS, LUDWIG AND EUCHAR. EVIL DREAM OF THE LOSS, AT PIQUET, OF
+      A PAIR OF HANDSOME LEGS. WOES OF AN ENTHUSIASTIC DANCER. COMFORT,
+      HOPE, AND MONSIEUR COCHENILLE.
+
+It may be expedient to tell the courteous reader a little more
+concerning this pair of friends, so that he may form, at all events, to
+some extent, a well-grounded opinion as to each of them.
+
+Both had the title of Baron. Educated together, and having grown up in
+the most intimate friendship, they could not part even when the lapse
+of years brought to light most striking dissimilarities in their mental
+characteristics, which became more and more developed as time went on.
+In his childhood, Euchar belonged to the class of "good, well-behaved
+children," so-called, because in "society" they will sit for hours in
+the same spot, ask no questions, never want anything, and so forth, and
+then in due course, develop into wooden blockheads. With Euchar the
+case was different. If when, in his capacity of a "good, well-behaved"
+boy he chanced to be sitting with bent head and downcast eyes, some one
+spoke to him, he would start in alarm, stammer, and falter in his
+speech, often even shed tears, and seem to have been awakened from a
+deep dream. When alone, he appeared to be a totally different being. If
+watched without his being aware of it, he would be talking loudly and
+eagerly, as if with several people about him, and he would "act" whole
+stories--which he had heard or read--as if they were dramas, so that
+tables, cupboards, chairs, whatever happened to be in the room with
+him, had to represent towns, forests, villages, and dramatis personć.
+But when he had an opportunity of being alone in the open air, a
+special ecstasy seemed to inspire him. Then he would jump, dance, and
+shout through the woods, putting his arms about the trees, throwing
+himself down into the grass--and so forth. In any sort of game played
+by boys of his own standing, he was most unwilling to take part, and
+was consequently looked upon as being "funky," and a creature who had
+no "pluck," for he would never take his share in anything where there
+was any chance of risk--such as a big jump, or a difficult piece of
+climbing. But here, also, it was curious that, when at the end nobody
+had had the pluck to do the thing, Euchar would wait till they were all
+gone, and then, when he was by himself, would do with the utmost ease,
+what they had all only _wanted_ to do. For instance, if the idea was to
+get up a high, slender tree, and nobody had managed to do it, as soon
+as all their backs were turned, and Euchar was alone, he would be at
+the top of it in a few seconds. Seeming outwardly to be cold and
+apathetic, he really threw himself into everything with all his soul,
+and a persevering steadfastness such as only belongs to strong
+characters. And when--as was often the case--that which he felt keenly
+came to the surface, it did so with such irresistible force, that
+everyone who had any knowledge of such matters was amazed at the depth
+of feeling which lay hidden in the boy's nature. Many schoolmasters,
+and tutors, who had to do with him, could make neither head nor tail of
+him as a pupil, and there was only one of them--the last--who said the
+boy was a poet: at which his papa was very much distressed, thinking
+that the boy had inherited his mother's temperament, and she had always
+had the most terrible headaches whenever she went to a party or
+any social function. However, the papa's most intimate friend, a
+smooth-spoken young chamberlain, assured him that the schoolmaster in
+question was an ass to say what he did, and utterly mistaken, seeing
+that the blood in the veins of young Euchar was noble, so that, being
+by birth an aristocrat, he never could be in any danger of being
+capable of poetry. And this was very consoling to the old gentleman.
+How the lad developed with those dispositions may be readily inferred.
+Nature had imprinted on his face the unmistakable signet with which she
+stamps her prime favourites. But Mother Nature's favourites are those
+who have the power of completely realising the illimitable love of
+their kind mother, and of understanding the depths of her being: and
+they are only understood by those who are favourites themselves.
+Consequently Euchar was not understood by the general crowd--was
+considered unimpressionable, cold, incapable of the due degree of
+ecstasy on the subject of the newest tragedy at the theatre--and was
+stigmatized as a prosaic creature. Above all, a whole coterie of ladies
+of the most refined intellectual development and culture, who might
+well be credited with the power of insight on this particular subject,
+could by no means understand how it was possible that that Apollo's
+brow, those sharply curving, masterful eyebrows, those eyes which
+darted such a darksome fire, those softly pouting lips, should belong
+to a mere lifeless image. And yet all this seemed to be the case. For
+Euchar did not know in the least degree how to say nothing, about
+nothing, in words which meant nothing, to pretty ladies, and look,
+whilst so-doing, like a Rinaldo in bonds.
+
+Matters were quite different with Ludwig. He belonged to the race of
+those wild, uncontrollable boys of whom people are in the habit of
+predicting that the world will not be wide enough for them. It was he
+who always invented the maddest and most adventurous features of all
+games. It was naturally to be expected that he would be the one of all
+others to "come to grief" on those occasions: but he was always the one
+who came out of them safe and sound, because he had the knack of
+keeping himself in a safe spot during the carrying out of the
+adventure--if he did not manage to slip out of it altogether. He took
+up every subject rapidly, with the utmost enthusiasm--and dropped it
+again as quickly. So that he learned a great many things, but did not
+learn much. When he came to young man's estate, he wrote very pretty
+verses, played passably on several instruments, drew very nice
+pictures, spoke with a certain degree of correctness and fluency
+several languages, and was, consequently, a paragon of up-bringing. He
+could get into the most surprising ecstasies about everything, and give
+utterance to the same in the most magniloquent words. But it was with
+him as with the drum--which gives forth a sound which is loud in
+proportion to its emptiness. The impression made upon him by everything
+grand, beautiful, sublime, resembled the outside tickling which excites
+the skin without affecting the inner fibres. Ludwig belonged to that
+class of people who say, "I want to do" so-and-so; but who never get
+beyond this principle of "wanting to do" into action. But, as in this
+world, those who announce, with the proper amount of loudness and
+emphasis, what they "intend," or are "going" to do, are held in far
+greater consideration than those who quietly go and "do" the things in
+question, it of course happened that Ludwig was considered "capable" of
+performing the grandest deeds, and was admired accordingly, people not
+troubling themselves to ascertain whether he had "done" the deeds which
+he had talked about so loudly. There were, it must be said, people who
+"saw through" Ludwig, and, starting from what he said, took some pains
+to find out what he had done, or if he had done anything at all. And
+this grieved him all the more that, in solitary hours, he was sometimes
+obliged to admit to himself that this everlasting "meaning" and
+"intending" to do things, without ever doing them, was, in reality, a
+miserable sort of business. Then he came upon a book--forgotten and out
+of date--in which was set forth that mechanical theory of the mutual
+interdependence of things. He eagerly adopted this theory, which
+justified and accounted for his doings, or rather his "intentions"
+of doing, in his own eyes, and in those of others. According with
+this theory, if he did not carry out anything which he had intended
+to do--what he had said he was going to do--it was not he who
+was to blame: its not happening was simply a part of the mutual
+interdependence of things.
+
+The courteous reader will, at all events, see the great convenience of
+this theory.
+
+Moreover, as Ludwig was a very good-looking young fellow, with blooming
+red cheeks, he would, by virtue of his qualities, have been the idol of
+all elegant circles, had not his short-sight led to his committing
+numerous "quid-pro-quos," which had often most annoying consequences.
+However, he consoled himself with the thought of the "impression,"
+which was indescribable, which he believed himself to make upon all
+female hearts: and, besides, there was a good deal in the habit he had,
+just because he was so short-sighted, of placing himself in a closer
+proximity to ladies with whom he was conversing, than might have been
+considered altogether _convenable_, a species of innocent pushingness,
+belonging to the "genial" character, so as to be sure not to make any
+mistakes with reference to the person he was addressing; a matter which
+had more than once been productive of annoyance.
+
+The morning after the ball at Count Walther Puck's, Euchar received a
+note from Ludwig, running as follows:
+
+"Dearest and most beloved friend,--I am utterly miserable. I am
+stricken by destiny. It is all over with me! I am dashed down from
+the flowery summit of the fairest hope into the blackest and most
+fathomless abyss of the deepest despair. That which was to have been
+the source of my indescribable bliss constitutes my misery. Come to me
+as speedily as you can, and give me some comfort, if such a thing be
+possible."
+
+Euchar found him stretched on his sofa, with his head bound up, pale
+and worn from sleeplessness.
+
+"Is it you?" he cried, in a feeble voice, stretching an arm towards
+him: "is it you, my noble friend? Ah! _you_ have some sympathy for my
+sufferings. At all events, let me tell you what I have gone through,
+and then say whether you think all is over with me, or not."
+
+"Things did not turn out quite as you expected at the ball, I suppose,"
+said Euchar.
+
+Ludwig heaved a deep sigh.
+
+"Was the lovely Victorine a little unkind?" inquired Euchar. "Didn't
+she behave to you quite as you expected?"
+
+"I offended her," answered Ludwig, in the most funereal tones, "to an
+extent, and in a manner, which she can never forgive."
+
+"Good heavens!" cried Euchar; "this is very distressing. How did it
+happen? Please to let me hear."
+
+Ludwig, after heaving a profound sigh, and quoting some verses of
+appropriate poetry, went on, in a voice of profound melancholy:
+
+"Yes, Euchar. As the mysterious whirring of the wheels of a clock tells
+me that it is going to strike the hour, warnings go before coming
+misfortunes. On the very night before the ball I had an awful, a
+horrible dream. I thought I was at the ball, and when I was going to
+begin dancing, I suddenly found that I could not move my feet from the
+floor. And I saw in the mirror, to my horror, that instead of the
+well-looking nether extremities which nature has provided me with,
+I was dragging about under my body, the gouty old legs of the
+Consistorial President, with all their wrappings and bandages. And
+while I had to stick to the floor in this terrible manner, lo and
+behold! the Consistorial President, with Victorine in his arms,
+whirling along in a Laendler, lightly and gracefully as any bird. But
+the point of the thing was, that he sniggered at me, with the most
+insulting style of sneering laughter, and said he had won my legs from
+me at picquet.
+
+"I awoke, as you may imagine, bathed in a perspiration of anguish.
+Still sunk in thought over this horrible vision of the night, I must
+needs set the cup of almost boiling chocolate to my lips, and burn them
+to that extent, that you may see the mark still, although I have rubbed
+on as much pomade as I could. Now I know that you don't take much
+interest in other people's troubles, so I shall say nothing about the
+numerous fateful events which destiny dogged my steps with all day
+yesterday, and merely tell you that when it came to be time to dress in
+the evening, two stitches burst out of one of my silk stockings--two of
+my waistcoat buttons came off--as I was getting into the carriage to go
+to the ball, I let my Wellington get into the mud, and at last, in the
+carriage itself, when I wanted to tighten the patent buckles of my
+pumps, I found, to my intense annoyance, that my idiot of a servant had
+put on two which we're not a pair! I was obliged to go home again, and
+lost a good half hour. However, Victorine came to me in all the glory
+of her beauty and delightsomeness. I asked her for the next dance. It
+was a Laendler, we started off together. I was in heaven. But in a
+moment I felt the spite of adverse fortune."
+
+"The mutual interdependence of things," said Euchar, interrupting.
+
+"Call it whatever you please," said Ludwig, "it doesn't matter to me
+to-day. All I know is, that it was fate which made me fall over that
+tree-stump yesterday. As I was dancing I felt the pain come on again in
+my knee, and it grew more and more unendurable. Just at that moment
+Victorine said, loud enough to be heard by the other people who were
+dancing, "We seem all to be going to sleep." Signs were made to the
+band, people clapped their hands to them, and the pace grew faster
+and faster. With all my might I struggled with the diabolical pain,
+and conquered it. I danced along daintily, and put on a delighted
+expression of countenance; but for all I could do, Victorine kept
+saying: 'What is the matter, Herr Baron? You are not one bit the
+partner that you generally are.' Burning dagger thrusts into my heart!"
+
+"Poor, dear friend," said Euchar, laughing; "I see the full extent of
+your sufferings!"
+
+"And yet," continued Ludwig, "all this was only the prelude to the most
+terrible of all events. You know that I have been for a long time
+applying my mind to arranging the figures of a '_seize_:' and you know
+of your own experience, how little I have made of the very considerable
+amount of china, glass, and stoneware that I have knocked off the
+tables in my lodgings here, in my practice of the intricacies of those
+'tours, or figures,' that I might attain to the perfection of
+performance which was my dream. One of them is the most utterly
+glorious that the mind of man has ever hit upon, of its kind. Four
+couples stand, picturesquely grouped, the gentleman, balancing on his
+right tip-toe, places his right-arm about his partner, raising, at the
+same time, his left-arm in a graceful curve above his head--whilst the
+other couples make the 'ronde.' Such an idea never entered the heads of
+Vestris or Gardel. Very well. I had based my hopes of highest happiness
+upon this particular '_seize_.' I had been destining it for Count
+Walther Puck's birthday: I intended to whisper into Victorine's ear
+during this more than earthly 'tour'--'Most divine countess, I love you
+unutterably--I adore you! Be mine, angel of light!' that was the
+reason, dear Euchar, why I was so overwhelmed with joy when I got the
+invitation to the ball there, for I had had great doubts about it.
+Count Walther Puck had appeared to be a good deal annoyed with me a
+little while ago, one day when I was explaining to him the theory
+of the mutual interdependence of things--the mechanism of the
+macrocosm--when he took it into his head that I was making out that he
+was a pendulum. He said it was a piece of chaff in very bad taste; but
+that he would take no notice of it in consideration of my youth, and he
+turned his back. Very well! The unfortunate Laendler came to an end. I
+did not dance any more, I went into the ante-room, and who should
+follow me but the good Cochenille, who at once opened a bottle of
+champagne for me. The wine sent fresh life into my veins. I didn't feel
+the pain any longer. The '_seize_' was just going to begin--I flew back
+to the dancing-room, darted up to Victorine, kissed her hand fiercely,
+and took my position in the 'ronde.' The 'tour,' which I have told you
+of, came on; I outdid myself! I hovered--I balanced--the God of the
+dance in person; I threw my arm round my partner. I whispered, 'Divine,
+heavenly Countess,' just as I had arranged with myself that I should
+do. My declaration of love went forth from my lips, I gazed ardently
+into my partner's eyes. Ruler of heaven! It was not Victorine I had
+been dancing with! It was somebody else altogether, some lady whom I
+didn't know in the least, though she was the same sort of person as
+Victorine in style and feature, and dressed exactly as she was. You may
+imagine that I felt as if smitten by a flash of lightning. Everything
+about me was swimming in a chaos. I didn't hear the music any longer; I
+dashed wildly through amongst the rows of people, hearing cries of pain
+here and there, till I found myself arrested and held tight by a pair
+of powerful arms, whilst a voice of fury droned into my ear, 'Death and
+damnation, Herr Baron, are you out of your senses? Have you nine devils
+in you, or what?' 'Twas the very Consistorial President whom I had seen
+in my dream. He was holding me tight in a remote corner of the room,
+and he went on as follows: 'I was just getting up from the card-table,
+when you came bursting like a hurricane out of the middle of the
+dancing room, and jumped about like a creature possessed upon my
+unfortunate feet, till I could have roared like a bull with the pain of
+it, if I hadn't been a person of proper conduct. Don't you see what a
+disturbance you've been making here?' And, in fact, the whole of the
+'_seize_' was in confusion, the music had stopped, and I saw that some
+of the dancers were going about limping, ladies were being led to their
+seats, and people were holding smelling-bottles to their noses. I had
+been dancing the 'tour' of despair upon the poor people's feet, till
+the President, strong as a tree, had put a period to my fell career.
+Victorine approached me with eyes sparkling with scorn: 'Verily, Herr
+Baron, a charming performance!' she said. 'You ask me to dance with
+you--you dance with another lady, and throw the whole room into
+confusion.' You may picture to yourself my apologies and excuses.
+'These practical jokes are a speciality of yours, Herr Baron,'
+Victorine went on, scarcely containing her anger. 'I know you--but I
+beg that you will not select _me_ as the object of that cutting irony
+of yours in the future.' With that she left me standing. The lady I had
+been dancing with then came up amiability--nay, I may say, even
+affectionateness--personified. The poor child had taken fire. I cannot
+wonder at it; but is it any fault of mine? Oh, Victorine! Victorine!
+Oh, ill-starred '_seize_'--dance of the furies, which has consigned me
+to the depths of Orcus!"
+
+Ludwig closed his eyes, groaned and sighed. His friend had the grace
+not to break out into irrepressible laughter.
+
+When Ludwig had taken a cup or two of chocolate--without this time
+burning his lips--he seemed to recover himself to some extent, and bear
+his terrible fate with somewhat greater equanimity. Presently he said
+to Euchar, who had been interesting himself in a book which he had
+taken up. "You had an invitation to that accursed ball yourself, had
+you not?"
+
+"I had," said Euchar, scarcely looking up from the page.
+
+"And you never came--and you never told me that you had one, at all."
+
+"I had another engagement," said Euchar, "as it happened, which
+prevented me from going to the ball--an engagement of far greater
+importance to me than any ball in the world, even had the Emperor of
+Japan himself been the giver of it."
+
+"Countess Victorine," Ludwig continued, "made the most particular
+inquiries as to why you didn't come. She was all anxiety, and kept
+looking towards the door. I should have been really very jealous. I
+should quite have thought that, for the first time in your career, you
+had touched a lady's heart, if the matter had not been explained. The
+fact is, I scarcely dare to tell you in what an unsparing manner the
+lovely Victorine spoke of you. She even went the length of saying that
+you were a cold-hearted piece of eccentricity, whose presence often
+marred all enjoyment: so that she had been dreading that you would act
+as her kill-joy on that evening as you so often had done before, and
+was quite delighted when she found that you were not coming. To speak
+candidly, my dear Euchar, I can't make out how it is that you, gifted
+by the heavens with so many bodily and mental excellences, should
+always be so unlucky with the other sex--why I should always cut the
+ground from under your feet. Cold creature! I feel certain that you
+have no conception of the heavenly bliss of love, and that is why you
+are not beloved. Whereas I, on the other hand----Believe me when I tell
+you that Victorine's fiery indignation itself was engendered by the
+flames of love which blazed in her heart for me--the fortunate, the
+blessed one."
+
+The door opened, and there came into the room a quaint little fellow,
+in a red coat with big steel buttons, black silk breeches, heavily
+powdered _frisure_, and a little round pigtail.
+
+"Good Cochenille!" Ludwig called out to him. "Dearest Monsieur
+Cochenille, to what do I owe this pleasure?"
+
+Euchar, declaring that important engagements called him away, left his
+friend alone with the confidential servant of Count Walther Puck.
+
+Cochenille, sweetly smiling, with downcast eyes, stated that their
+Countly Excellencies were quite convinced that the most honoured Herr
+Baron had been attacked, during the '_seize_,' by a malady which bore a
+Latin name something like Raptus, and that he, Monsieur Cochenille, was
+come to make inquiries as to his present state of welfare.
+
+"Raptus! Raptus! Nothing of the kind." And he related, and detailed at
+length, how the whole matter had come about, ending by begging the
+talented Kammerdiener to put affairs in order as far as he possibly
+could.
+
+Ludwig learned that his partner was a cousin of Countess Victorine,
+just arrived from the country for the occasion of the Count's
+birthday--that she and the Countess Victorine were one heart and one
+soul, and--inasmuch as the sympathies of young ladies often display
+themselves in the form of silks and crapes--were often in the habit of
+dressing exactly alike. Cochenille was further of opinion that the
+vexation of Countess Victorine was not very genuine. He had handed her
+an ice at the end of the ball, when she was standing talking to her
+cousin, and had noticed that they were laughing tremendously, and had
+heard them several times mention the honoured Baron's name. The truth
+was, according to what he had been able to observe, that this cousin
+was of a temperament exceedingly disposed to the tender passion, and
+would only be too delighted if the Baron would carry further what he
+had begun, namely, at once set to work to pay assiduous attentions to
+her, and in due course put on _glacé_ gloves, and lead her to the
+altar: but that he, for his part, would do everything he could to
+prevent such a course of events. The first thing in the morning, as he
+would be having the honour to _friser_ his Countly Highness, he would
+take an opportunity of laying the whole matter before him, and would
+also take the liberty of begging him, as an uncle regardful of his
+niece's best interests, to represent to her that the Herr Baron's
+declaration of love was merely a species of "flourish" belonging to the
+"tour" which he happened to be executing at the time--just as
+declarations of the kind generally were. That, he thought, would be of
+some service. Cochenille finally advised the Baron to go and see
+Countess Victorine as soon as possible, and told him there would be an
+opportunity of doing so that very day. Madame Bechs, the Consistorial
+President's lady, was giving an aesthetic tea that afternoon, with tea
+which (he had been told by the Russian Ambassador's valet) had come
+direct overland from China through the Russian Embassy, and had an
+extraordinarily delicious flavour and scent. There he would find
+Victorine, and be enabled to put everything straight again.
+
+Ludwig saw that it was nothing but unworthy doubt which had had the
+power of disturbing his love-happiness: and he resolved to make himself
+so marvellously charming at the "thé" of Madame Bech, the Consistorial
+President's lady, that Victorine should never so much as dream of being
+at all "grumpy."
+
+
+THE ĆSTHETIC TEA. CHOKING COUGH OF A TRAGIC POET. THE STORY TAKES A
+      SERIOUS TURN, AND TELLS OF BLOODY BATTLE, SUICIDE, AND SIMILAR
+      MATTERS.
+
+The courteous reader must be good enough to accompany Ludwig and
+Euchar to this ćsthetic tea, which is now going forward at Madame
+Bech's, the Consistorial President's lady. About a dozen of the fair
+sex, appropriately attired, are seated in a semi-circle. One is
+thoughtlessly laughing; another is immersed in a contemplation of the
+tips of her shoes, with which she is managing to practise the "pas" of
+a "Française," silently and unobserved; a third appears to be sweetly
+sleeping (and dreaming more sweetly still); a fourth darts the fiery
+beams from her eyes athwart the room in all directions, with the
+intention that they shall impinge upon not one but all the men who are
+present. A fifth lisps forth "Heavenly! Glorious! Sublime!" and those
+utterances are for the behoof of a young poet, who is reading out with
+all possible pathos a new tragedy of destiny, tedious and silly enough
+even to be read aloud on such an occasion. A delightful feature of the
+affair was, that one heard a species of _obbligato_ accompaniment going
+on in the next room, a species of growling, like the rumble of distant
+thunder. This was the voice of the Consistorial President, who was
+playing piquet with Count Walther Puck, and making himself audible in
+this manner.
+
+The poet read out, in the most dulcet accents at his command--
+
+           "Ah! but once more! once more only
+            Let me hear thee, voice of beauty,
+            Voice of rapture, voice of sweetness,
+            Voice from out the deep abysses,
+            Voice from out the heights of Heaven!
+            Hark! oh, listen----"
+
+Here the thunder which had been rumbling so long broke out into a peal:
+"Hell and damnation!" roared the Consistorial President's voice,
+re-echoing through the room, so that the people jumped up from their
+chairs, alarmed. But it was pretty that the poet, not suffering himself
+to be disturbed in the slightest, went on reading--
+
+           "Yea! it is the breath beloved,
+            Music of those lips of nectar."
+
+But a destiny higher than that which ruled in the poet's tragedy did
+not permit him to finish his reading. Just as he was going to raise his
+voice to the highest pitch of tragic power, to enunciate a terrible
+execration which his hero was going to utter, something, heaven knows
+what, got into his throat, so that he broke out into a frightful fit of
+coughing, by no means to be assuaged, and had to be assisted out of the
+room, more dead than alive.
+
+This sudden interruption appeared to be the reverse of disagreeable to
+the lady of the house, who had for some time been giving indications of
+weariness and annoyance. As soon as the tranquillity of the company was
+restored, she pointed out that it was time that a vivid narrative of
+something should take the place of reading, and thought Euchar ought
+really to make it his duty to undertake this, seeing that, in general,
+he was so obstinately silent, as to contribute little to the
+entertainment of the company.
+
+Euchar said, modestly, that he was anything but a good story-teller,
+and that the tale which he thought of telling was of a very serious,
+perhaps even terrible description, and might be anything but enjoyable
+by the company. But four very young ladies immediately cried out, with
+one voice "Oh! something terrible, please! I do so love to be
+terrified!"
+
+Euchar took his place in the chair of the narrator, and began as
+follows:--
+
+"We have been passing through a period in which events have swept
+athwart the stage of the world like a series of raging hurricanes.
+Humanity, shaken to its depths, has given birth to things portentous,
+even as the storm-tossed ocean casts up to the surface of its seething
+surges the terrible marvels of its abysses. Whatever could be
+accomplished by lion-like courage, unconquerable valour, hatred,
+revenge, fury, and despair, was achieved during the Spanish war of
+independence. I should like to tell you of the adventures of a friend
+of mine, whom I shall call Edgar, who served in that war, under the
+banners of Wellington. He had left his native place in deep, bitter
+irritation, at the shame of his Fatherland, and gone to Hamburg, where
+he lived in a little room which he had taken, in a retired quarter. He
+had a neighbour, who lived in the next room to him, with only a wall
+between them, but he knew nothing more of him than that he was an old
+man, in infirm health, who never went out. He often heard him groan,
+and break out into gentle pathetic lamentations; but he did not
+understand the words he spoke. After a time, this neighbour begun to
+walk assiduously up and down in his room, and it appeared to indicate
+returning health when he tuned a guitar one day, and began to sing in a
+soft voice, songs which Edgar recognized to be Spanish romances.
+
+On being closely questioned, the landlady confided to Edgar, that his
+neighbour was a French officer who had been invalided from the Romana
+corps, that he was under secret espionage, and very seldom ventured to
+go out.
+
+In the middle of the night Edgar heard this Spaniard play on his guitar
+more loudly than before, and begin, in powerful strangely changing
+melody, the 'Profecia del Pirineo of Don Juan Baptista de Arriaja.'
+There came the stanzas commencing--
+
+           "Y oye que el gran rugido,
+            En ya trueno en los campos de Castilla," &c.
+
+The glowing enthusiasm with which the old gentleman's singing was
+instinct, set Edgar's blood ablaze. A new world dawned on him. He knew,
+now, how to arouse himself from out his sickly mood, and under an
+impulse to deeds of valour, fight out the contest which was eating up
+his heart. He could not resist an eager desire to make the acquaintance
+of the man who had thus inspired him with new life. The door gave way
+at the pressure of his hand, but the moment he entered the room, the
+old man sprung from his bed with a cry of "Träidor" (traitor), and made
+straight at Edgar with a drawn dagger. Edgar succeeded in evading the
+well-aimed thrust by a skilful movement, and in grasping the old man,
+and holding him down on his bed.
+
+While he thus held him, for he had but little strength at the time, he
+implored him in the most touching language, to forgive the stormy
+fashion of his entrance: he assured him that he was no traitor; but
+that on the contrary, what he had heard him sing had lighted up all the
+rage, the inconsolable pain, which had been tearing his breast asunder
+into an unslakeable desire for combat. He longed to hurry to Spain,
+there to fight for the freedom of the country. The old man gazed
+fixedly at him, and said, "Can it be possible?" and embraced Edgar,
+who, naturally, continued his assurances that nothing could induce him
+to forego his resolve, at the same time throwing his dagger down on the
+ground.
+
+Edgar now learned that the old gentleman's name was Baldassare de Luna,
+and that he belonged to one of the most noble families of Spain. He was
+helpless and friendless, and had the prospect, unalleviated, of
+dragging out a miserable existence, far from home, without a friend or
+pecuniary resource. It was some time ere Edgar could succeed in
+infusing any hope or comfort into his heart: but when, at length, he
+most solemnly undertook to arrange for their escape to England
+together, new life appeared to circulate in the Spaniard's veins. He
+was no longer the old invalid, but an enthusiastic youth, breathing out
+defiance to his oppressors. Edgar kept his word. He succeeded in
+evading the vigilance of the spies, and in escaping with Baldassare de
+Luna to England. But it was not the will of fate that this brave and
+luckless man should see his native land again. He was prostrated by
+another attack of illness, and died in London, in Edgar's arms. A
+spirit of prophecy gave him to see the coming glory of his rescued
+country. Amid the latest prayerful whisperings which issued with
+difficulty from his lips stiffening in death, Edgar distinguished the
+word "Vittoria," and an expression of heavenly beatitude glowed on de
+Luna's countenance.
+
+At the time when Souchet's victorious force was threatening to bear
+down all opposition and rivet the shameful foreign yoke more firmly
+than ever, to all eternity, Edgar arrived before Tarragona with Colonel
+Sterret's English brigade. It is matter of history that Colonel Sterret
+considered the position so insecure, that he would not disembark his
+troops. This our eager young soldier could not endure. He left the
+English force, and betook himself to the Spanish general Contreras, who
+was occupying the fortress with 8,000 Spanish soldiers. We are aware
+that Souchet's force took Tarragona by storm, notwithstanding the most
+heroic defence, and that Contreras himself, with a bayonet wound, fell
+into the hands of the enemy.
+
+The scenes which passed before Edgar's eyes, displayed all the
+terribleness of hell itself. Whether it was on account of shameful
+treachery, or from incomprehensible carelessness on the part of those
+whose duty it was to attend to the matter, the troops who had to defend
+the principal _enceinte_ of the fort, soon ran short of ammunition.
+They for a long time resisted with the bayonet the incoming of the
+enemy through the gateway which had been forced: but when, ultimately,
+they had to retire before the urgency of his fire, they rushed across
+to the further gateway in wild disarray, and in confused masses:
+and as this gate was too narrow to admit of their passage, they
+had, therefore, to submit to a terrific massacre. Yet some 4,000
+Spaniards--Almeira's regiment, with which Edgar happened to be at the
+time--managed to force their way through. With the courage of despair
+they broke their passage through the enemy's battalions which were
+there posted, and continued their flight towards Barcelona. They were
+fancying that they were in safety, when they were assailed by a
+terrible fire from some field-pieces, which the enemy had placed in
+position behind a trench cut across the road, bringing inevitable
+destruction into their ranks. Edgar was hit, and fell to the ground.
+
+A violent pain in the head was what he felt when he recovered
+consciousness. It was dark night, and all the terrors of death
+permeated him as he heard the hollow groans and the heart-piercing
+cries which surrounded him. He managed to get upon his legs and creep
+along. When at length the morning began to break he found himself close
+to a deep ravine; but as he was about to go down into it a troop of the
+enemy's cavalry came slowly up. It seemed an impossibility to avoid
+being taken prisoner; but suddenly shots came dropping out of the
+thickest part of the wood, emptying several saddles, and presently a
+party of Guerillas made an attack on the remainder of the troop. He
+shouted out to his deliverers in Spanish, and they welcomed him gladly.
+He had only been struck by a spent ball, and soon recovered, so as to
+be able to join Don Joachim Blake's force, and enter Valenzia with it,
+after several engagements.
+
+Who does not know that the plain watered by the Guadalquivir, where
+stands the beautiful Valenzia with her stately towers, is an earthly
+paradise? All the heavenly delightsomeness of a sky for ever fair
+penetrates and pervades the hearts and souls of the dwellers there, for
+whom life is an unbroken festa. And this Valenzia was now the theatre
+of a most bitter and bloody war. Instead of the dulcet tones of the
+lute, stealing like the cooing of doves up in the nights to the
+trellised windows, the place resounded with the hollow rolling of guns
+and ammunition waggons, the wild challenge of sentries, and the weird,
+mysterious murmur of soldiery marching through the streets. All joy was
+driven into dumbness. All the white faces, drawn by grief and horror,
+had written upon them the dread anticipation of terrible things
+imminent. The most furious execrations, offspring of inward fury, were
+showered upon the enemy. The Alameda--at other times the haunt of the
+gay world--was now a parade ground for the troops. Here Edgar one day,
+as he was standing alone, leaning against a tree, reflecting on the
+dark, adverse destiny which seemed to weigh upon Spain, observed that a
+man, far advanced in years, tall, and of haughty demeanour, who was
+walking up and down near him with long steps, stopped and scrutinized
+him keenly each time that he passed him. At last Edgar accosted him,
+enquiring courteously what in him had attracted such a share of his
+attention. "I see that I was not mistaken," he answered, whilst a
+gloomy fire flashed from beneath his black, bushy eyebrows. "You are
+not a Spaniard--and yet, if your coat does not belie you, I am bound to
+look upon you as one who fights on our side. And that strikes me as
+rather remarkable." Edgar, though nettled at the brusquerie of this
+gentleman's address, told him, temperately enough, what had brought him
+to Spain.
+
+But scarcely had he mentioned the name of Baldassare di Luna than the
+old man cried out in much excitement, "Baldassare di Luna do you say?
+My beloved cousin! the dearest and most intimate friend I have left in
+the world." Edgar repeated all that had happened, not failing to
+mention the heavenly hopes with which Baldassare had taken leave of
+life.
+
+The old man clasped his hands, raised his eyes to heaven--his lips
+moved--he seemed to be communing with his departed friend. "Forgive
+me," he said, "if a gloomy mistrust, which is foreign to my character,
+influenced me against you. Some time ago it was believed that the
+accursed knavery of the enemy had gone so far as to introduce foreign
+officers amongst our forces to act as spies. The incidents at Tarragona
+but too much encouraged suspicions of this kind, and the Junta has now
+determined to expel all foreigners. Don Joachim Blake, however, has
+insisted that foreign engineers, at all events, are indispensable to
+him, solemnly engaging, at the same time, to shoot down every foreigner
+at once who is subject to the slightest ground of suspicion. If you are
+a friend of my Baldassare you are undoubtedly a man of valour and
+honour. At all events, I have told you everything, and you can act
+accordingly." With this he took his departure.
+
+The fortune of arms appeared to have completely abandoned the
+Spaniards, and the very courage of despair itself could avail nothing
+against the rapidly-advancing foe. Valenzia was hemmed in more and more
+closely on all sides, so that Blake, pushed to extremity, determined to
+force his way out with twelve thousand chosen troops. It is known that
+few succeeded in getting through, that the remainder were in part
+killed, in part driven back into the town. It was here that Edgar, at
+the head of the brave Ovihuela Rifle Regiment, managed to give a
+momentary check to the enemy, thus rendering the wild confusion
+of the flight less disastrous. But, as at Tarragona, a musket bullet
+struck him down at the crisis of the engagement. He described his
+condition from that moment till he regained clear consciousness as one
+inexplicably strange. It often seemed to him that he was in the thick
+of fighting. He would seem to hear the thunder of the cannon, the wild
+cries of the combatants--the Spaniards would seem to be advancing
+victorious, but as he was seized on by the joy of battle and starting
+off to lead his battalion under fire, he would seem to become suddenly
+paralysed, and sink down in unconscious insensibility. Then he would
+become clearly aware that he was lying on some soft bed, that people
+were giving him cool drink--he heard gentle voices speaking softly, and
+yet could not arouse himself from his dreams. Once, when he thought he
+was back in the thick of the battle, it seemed to him that he was
+grasped firmly by the shoulder, whilst a rifleman of the enemy's
+fired at him, striking him on the breast, where the bullet in an
+incomprehensible manner went slowly boring its way into the flesh with
+the most unspeakable torments till all sense of feeling sunk away into
+a deep, deathlike sleep.
+
+Out of this death sleep Edgar awoke suddenly into full and clear
+consciousness, but in such strange surroundings that he could not form
+an idea as to where he might be. The soft luxurious bed with its silken
+curtains, was quite out of keeping with the small, low-roofed,
+dungeon-like vault of undressed stones in which it stood. A dim lamp
+shed a feeble light around--neither door nor window was discernible.
+Edgar raised himself with difficulty, and saw that there was a
+Franciscan friar sitting in a corner, seemingly asleep. "Where am I?"
+Edgar cried, with all the energy which he could concentrate.
+
+The monk started from his sleep, trimmed the lamp, took it up, looked
+at Edgar's face by the light, felt his pulse, and murmured something
+which Edgar could not understand. He was going to interrogate the monk
+as to what had happened to him, when the wall opened noislessly, and a
+man came in whom Edgar immediately recognized as the person who had
+spoken to him on the Alameda. The monk called out to this person that
+the crisis was over and all would now go well. "Praise be to God," said
+the old gentleman, and approached nearer to Edgar's bed.
+
+Edgar wished to speak, but the old gentleman prevented him, assuring
+him that the slightest exertion would be dangerous to him still. It was
+natural that he should be surprised at finding himself in such
+surroundings, but a few words would be sufficient, not only to put him
+at his ease, but to explain why it had been necessary to place him in
+this dreary prison.
+
+Edgar now learnt all. When he fell wounded in the breast the intrepid
+"battle-brethren," in spite of the hotness of the fire, had taken him
+up and transported him into the town. It happened that in the thick of
+the confusion Don Rafaele Marchez (this was the old man's name) saw the
+wounded Edgar, and instead of his being sent to the hospital he was
+carried to Don Rafaele's own house at once, so that the friend of his
+Baldassare might have every possible care. His wound was serious enough
+in itself, but the peculiar danger of his condition was the violent
+nervous fever, traces of which had previously displayed themselves,
+which now broke out in all its fury. It is matter of notoriety that a
+tremendous fire had been kept up on Valenzia for three days and nights
+with the most terrible effect, that all the terror and horror of this
+bombardment spread abroad in this city thronged to excess with
+people--that the self-same populace, excited to fury by the Junta,
+after insisting that Blake should keep up the defence to the very
+utmost, turned round and demanded an immediate surrender under the most
+violent threats--that Blake, with heroic self-command, drove the crowds
+asunder by Walloon Guards, and then made an honourable capitulation to
+Souchet. Don Rafaele Marchez would not allow Edgar, sick unto death, to
+fall into the enemy's hands. As soon as the capitulation was arranged
+and the enemy within the walls of Valenzia, Edgar was removed to the
+vault, where he was safe against discovery. "Friend of my sainted
+Baldassare," (thus he finished his narrative) "be _my_ friend too. Your
+blood has flowed for my country--every drop of it has fallen seething
+into my breast, and washed away every vestige of the mistrust which
+cannot but arise in this fateful time. The same fire which enflames the
+Spaniard to the most bitter hatred flashes up in his friendship too,
+making him capable of every deed, every sacrifice, for his ally. My
+house is occupied by the enemy, but you are in safety, for I swear to
+you that whatever happens I will rather let myself be buried under the
+ruins of Valenzia than betray you. Believe me in this."
+
+In the daytime a profound stillness as of the grave reigned around
+Edgar's room, but in the night he often thought he heard in the
+distance the echo of soft footfalls, the hollow murmur of many voices
+together, the opening and shutting of doors, the clatter of weapons.
+Some subterranean action seemed to be going on during the hours
+of sleep. Edgar questioned the Franciscan, who only--and that
+rarely--quitted him for an instant or two, tending him with the most
+unwearied care. But the Franciscan was of opinion that as soon as Edgar
+was well he would hear from Don Rafaele what it was that was going on.
+And this was so. For when Edgar was well enough to leave his bed, Don
+Rafaele came one night with a lighted torch and begged Edgar to dress
+and follow him with Father Eusebio, which was the name of the
+Franciscan, his doctor and nurse.
+
+Don Rafaele led him through a long and rather narrow passage till they
+came to a closed door, which was opened on Don Rafaele's knocking.
+
+How amazed was Edgar to find himself in a spacious vaulted chamber
+brilliantly lighted, in which there was a numerous assemblage of
+persons for the most part of wild, dirty, sullen appearance. In the
+middle stood a man who, though dressed like the commonest peasant, with
+wild hair and all the marks of a homeless, nomadic life, had in all his
+bearing something of the dauntless and the awe-aspiring. The features
+of his face were noble, and from his eyes flashed a warlike fire which
+bespoke the hero. To him Don Rafaele conducted his friend, announcing
+him as the brave young German whom he had rescued from the enemy, and
+who was prepared to take part in the grand contest for the freedom of
+Spain. Then Don Rafaele, turning to Edgar, said, "You are here in the
+heart of Valenzia, which is besieged by our enemies--the hearth on
+which burns for ever that fire whose unquenchable flame, ever blazing
+up with renewed vigour, is destined to destroy our accursed foe when
+the moment comes when, misled by his fallacious successes, he shall
+surpass himself in defiant arrogance. You are here in the subterranean
+vaults of the Franciscan Monastery. Along a hundred bye-paths unknown
+to betrayers the chiefs of the brave make their way to this spot, and
+hence, as from a focus, they dart in all directions rays which carry
+death and destruction to foreigners. Don Edgar, we look upon you as one
+of ourselves. Take your part in the glory of our undertakings."
+
+Empecinado (for the man dressed as a peasant was none other than the
+renowned Guerilla chieftain)--Empecinado, whose fearless daring formed
+the theme of many a popular tale amounting to the miraculous--who set
+at defiance all the efforts of the enemy, like some incarnation of the
+spirit of vengeance, who when he had vanished without a trace would
+suddenly burst forth with redoubled force--who at the very moment when
+the enemy announced the utter annihilation of his bands would suddenly
+appear at the very gates of Madrid, placing the Pretender's life in
+danger--this Empecinado took Edgar by the hand, addressing him in
+enthusiastic words.
+
+At this point in the proceedings a young man was brought in bound. His
+face, of deathly pallor, wore all the signs of hopeless despair; he was
+trembling, and appeared to find it difficult to stand upright when
+placed in the presence of Empecinado. The latter pierced him through
+and through with his glance of fire, and at length spoke to him, in a
+tone of the most appalling calmness. "Antonio," he said, "you are in
+league with the enemy. You have several times had interviews with
+Souchet, at unusual hours. You endeavoured to hand over, by treachery,
+our Place d'Armes at Cuença."--"It is so," answered Antonio, with a
+terrible sigh, not raising his bowed-down head. "Is it possible," cried
+Empecinado, breaking out into the wildest anger, "is it possible that
+you are a Spaniard--that the blood of your ancestors runs in your
+veins? Was not your mother Virtue personified? Would not the slightest
+suspicion that she was capable of betraying the honour of her house be
+an atrocious outrage? But for this I should believe you to be a bastard
+sprung from the most despicable race on earth. You have merited death.
+Prepare yourself to die."
+
+Antonio threw himself at Empecinado's feet in anguish and despair,
+crying, "Uncle! uncle! do you not know that all the furies of hell are
+rending my breast. There are times--often--when the subtlety of Satan
+can bring anything to pass. Yes, uncle, I am a Spaniard. Let me prove
+it. Be merciful. Grant that I may blot out the disgrace which the most
+abominable arts of hell have brought upon me--that I may appear to you
+and to the Brethren purified from my offence. You understand me, uncle?
+You know the reason of my so imploring you!"
+
+Empecinado seemed somewhat moved by the young man's entreaties. He
+raised him, and said gently, "Your repentance is sincere. You are right
+in saying that the cunning of Satan is able to accomplish much. I know
+the reason of your entreaty. I pardon you. Son of my dear sister, come
+to my heart!" Empecinado with his own hands untied his bonds, embraced
+him, and at once handed to him the dagger from his own girdle. "My
+thanks," the young man cried. He kissed Empecinado's hands, bedewing
+them with his tears, then he raised his eyes to heaven in prayer, and
+drove the dagger deep into his heart, falling dead without a sound.
+
+This occurrence so shook the invalid Edgar that he nearly fainted.
+Father Eusebio took him back to his chamber.
+
+Some weeks afterwards Don Rafaele Marchez considered that it was safe
+for him to liberate his friend from the prison in which he could not
+recover his health. He took him, in the night, up to a room which had
+windows looking out upon an unfrequented street, and warned him not to
+cross the threshold--at all events in the daytime, by reason that the
+French were quartered in the house.
+
+Edgar could not explain to himself the irresistible desire which one
+day seized him to go out into the corridor. At the very instant that he
+did so the door of the room opposite opened, and a French officer came
+out meeting him.
+
+"Why how came _you_ here, friend Edgar!" cried the Frenchman. "Welcome
+a thousand times!" Edgar had at once recognized him as Colonel la Combe
+of the Imperial Guard. Chance had brought this Colonel, just at the
+time of Germany's terrible degradation, to his uncle's house, where he
+himself was living, having had to abandon his military career. La Combe
+came from the south of France. Through the tenderness (by no means a
+common characteristic of his nation) with which he dealt with those
+who were so bitterly tried, he succeeded in overcoming the deep
+dislike--nay, the irreconcilable hatred, which was so firmly rooted in
+Edgar's soul against the arrogant foe, and finally, by virtue of
+certain traits of character, which placed beyond all doubt the true
+nobility of la Combe's nature, in gaming his friendship.
+
+"Edgar," cried the Colonel, "what has brought _you_ to Valenzia?"
+
+It may be imagined how sorely the question embarrassed Edgar. He could
+make no reply. The Colonel gazed at him gravely, and said in a serious
+tone. "Ah, I understand. You have given the rein to your animosity--you
+have drawn your sword for the imagined freedom of a nation of madmen,
+and I cannot blame you for it. I should be forming a very poor opinion
+of your friendship if I could suppose you capable of imagining that I
+could betray you. No, my friend; now that I have found you, you are in
+absolute safety for the first time. From this moment you shall be
+nobody but the commercial traveller of a German house of business in
+Marseilles, an old acquaintance of mine. So no more about that." Much
+as it distressed Edgar, la Combe did not rest until he quitted his
+hermitage, and shared with him the better quarters provided for him by
+Don Rafaele.
+
+Edgar hastened to acquaint the suspicious Spaniard with all the
+circumstances of the case, and his previous relations with la Combe.
+Don Rafaele restricted himself to the answer, delivered in a grave and
+dry manner--
+
+"Really; that is a very curious chance indeed!"
+
+The Colonel sympathized keenly with Edgar's position. At the same time
+he could not divest himself of the characteristic temper of his nation,
+which sees in liveliness of movement, and the eager pursuit of
+pleasure, the best means of healing a wounded heart. Thus it happened
+that the Colonel walked arm in arm with the Marseilles commercial
+traveller in the Alameda, and drew him into the wild amusements of his
+light-hearted comrades.
+
+Edgar noticed, clearly enough, that many strange forms dogged him
+about, watching him with suspicious looks; and it went deeply to his
+heart when, one day on entering a Posada with the Colonel, he heard
+distinctly behind him a whisper of "Acqui esta el traďdor!" ("That is
+the traitor.")
+
+Don Rafaele grew daily more cold and monosyllabic towards Edgar, and at
+last he saw him no more, and was given to understand by him that,
+instead of taking his meals with him, he should take them with Colonel
+la Combe.
+
+One day, when duty had called the Colonel elsewhere, and Edgar was
+alone, there came a gentle knock at his door, and Father Eusebio
+entered. He made enquiry after Edgar's welfare, and talked on all kinds
+of indifferent subjects, but presently came to a pause, and after
+looking fixedly into Edgar's eyes, cried with much emotion--
+
+"No, Don Edgar, _you_ are not a traitor. It is in human nature that, in
+that waking dream which constitutes the delirium of fever--when the
+forces of life are in bitter combat with man's earthly envelope, and
+the strong tension of the fibres cannot hem in the thoughts and fancies
+which strive for utterance--it is, I say, in human nature that a man
+can then no longer help revealing phases of his being which are secret
+at other times. How often have I, Don Edgar, watched by your pillow
+during long nights? How often have you, all unknowing, allowed me to
+read the very depths of your soul? No, Don Edgar, it is impossible that
+you can be a traitor. But have a care of yourself--have a care of
+yourself!"
+
+Edgar implored Eusebio to tell him clearly what he was suspected of,
+and what danger was threatening him.
+
+"I will not conceal from you," said Eusebio, "that your intimacy with
+Colonel la Combe and his companions has caused suspicion to rest upon
+you--that fears are entertained that you might, from no evil intention,
+but out of mere lightheartedness, on some occasion when you may have
+taken more of our strong Spanish wines than was advisable, perhaps
+divulge some of the secrets of this house, into which Don Rafaele has
+initiated you. There is no doubt that you are in a certain amount of
+danger."
+
+"But," continued Eusebio, after having maintained a thoughtful silence,
+with downcast eyes, for a time, "there _is_ one way of escaping all
+risk. You have only to throw yourself into the arms of the Frenchmen.
+They will get you out of Valenzia."
+
+"What are you talking about?" Edgar burst out. "Sooner death without
+reproach, than escape coupled with miserable disgrace."
+
+"Don Edgar," cried the monk with enthusiasm, "you _are_ no traitor!" He
+strained Edgar to his heart, and left the chamber with his eyes full of
+tears.
+
+That night Edgar, happening to be alone (the Colonel chancing to be
+from home), heard steps approaching, and Don Rafaele's voice calling,
+"Open your door, Don Edgar." On opening it he saw Don Rafaele with a
+torch in his hand, and Father Eusebio behind him. Don Rafaele begged
+Edgar to accompany him, he having to attend an important meeting in the
+vault of the Franciscan monastery.
+
+As they were passing along the subterranean passage, Don Rafaele being
+in advance with the lighted torch, Eusebio whispered softly in his ear,
+
+"Oh, God, Don Edgar! you are going to your death! There is no escape
+possible for you now."
+
+Edgar had ventured his life in many a fight with brave
+lightheartedness; but here all the anxiousness, the uncertainty of the
+manner of his assassination, could not but weigh heavily upon him, so
+that Eusebio had some difficulty in supporting him. And yet, as the way
+was still long, he managed to acquire a measure of self-control which
+enabled him not only to command himself, but to resolve upon the line
+of conduct which he should adopt in these circumstances. "When the door
+of the vault opened, Edgar saw the terrible Empecinado, with rage and
+fury flashing from his eyes. Behind him were standing several Guerillas
+and one or two Franciscan friars. Having now quite recovered his calm
+courage, Edgar walked firmly and fearlessly up to the Guerilla chief,
+and, addressing him gravely and quietly, said--
+
+"It happens very fortunately that I am brought face to face with you
+to-day, Don Empecinado. I have been anxious to make a request to Don
+Rafaele, and now I have the opportunity of laying it before yourself.
+As Father Eusebio, my doctor and faithful guardian, will testify, I
+have now quite recovered. I am well and strong, and find it impossible
+to bear the tedious idleness of life among enemies whom I detest. I
+therefore beseech you, Don Empecinado, let me be taken and placed upon
+those secret paths known to you, that I may join your bands, and be
+engaged in enterprises for which my soul yearns."
+
+"H'm!" said Empecinado, in a tone approaching mockery. "Do _you_ then
+hold with the crack-brained populace, who prefer death to doing homage
+to the Grand Nation? Have not your friends taught you better?"
+
+"Don Empecinado," said Edgar, "you do not understand the German mode of
+looking at matters. It is not known to you that German courage, which
+burns on for ever inextinguishably, like a pure naphtha flame, and
+German faithfulness, firm as the primeval rock, form the most
+impenetrable coat of mail, from which all the poisoned darts of
+treachery and wickedness fall back harmlessly. I beg you once more, Don
+Empecinado, to let me go out into the open country, that I may prove
+myself deserving of the good opinion which I believe myself to have
+already earned."
+
+Empecinado looked at Edgar in amazement, whilst a low murmur circulated
+amongst the assemblage. Don Rafaele moved forward to speak to
+Empecinado, but he motioned him back, and going to Edgar, took his hand
+and said with emotion--
+
+"Another fate was in store for you. You had another destiny reserved
+for you to-day. However, Don Edgar, think of your own country. The
+enemies who have covered it with shame are here to-day before you.
+Remember that your German peoples, too, will raise their eyes to the
+Phoenix which will soar, with shining plumage, from the flames which
+are kindling here, and their despair give place to warm longing, the
+parent of dauntless courage, of battle to the very death!"
+
+"I thought of all this," said Edgar, "before I left my own country, to
+shed my blood for your freedom. All my being dissolved itself into lust
+for vengeance, when Don Baldassare di Luna lay dying in my arms."
+
+"If you are serious in this," cried Empecinado, as one suddenly
+breaking into fury, "you must set forth this very night, this very
+moment. You must not enter Don Rafaele's house again." Edgar declared
+that this was precisely what he desired, and was immediately conducted
+away by a man named Isidor Mirr (who afterwards became a guerilla
+chief), and Father Eusebio.
+
+As they went the good Eusebio could not sufficiently express his
+delight at Edgar's escape.
+
+"Heaven!" he said, "seeing your goodness put courage into your heart--a
+divine miracle, in my belief."
+
+It was much closer to Valenzia than he expected, or than the enemy
+probably were aware, that Edgar met the first troop of Guerillas, and
+to it he attached himself.
+
+I pass over in silence Edgar's warlike adventures, which often might
+sound as if taken from some book of knightly fables, and I come to the
+time when he unexpectedly encountered Don Rafaele Marchez among the
+Guerillas.
+
+"You really had great injustice done to you, Don Edgar," said Don
+Rafaele. Edgar turned his back upon him.
+
+When morning broke, Don Rafaele got into a state of anxiety which grew
+every instant till it attained a pitch of the most intense anguish. He
+ran up and down, sighed, clasped his hands, raised them to heaven, and
+prayed.
+
+"What is the matter with the old fellow?" Edgar enquired.
+
+"He has managed," said Isidor Mirr, "to get safe out of Valenzia
+himself, and to save the best of his belongings, and get them loaded up
+upon mules. He has been expecting them all night, and has every reason
+to anticipate evil."
+
+Edgar marvelled at Don Rafaele's avarice, which seemed to render him
+oblivious of everything besides. It was midnight; the moon was shining
+brightly among the hills; when musketry fire was heard from the ravine
+beneath, and presently some rather seriously wounded Guerillas came
+limping up, reporting that the troop which was escorting Don Rafaele's
+mules had been unexpectedly attacked by some French Chasseurs, that
+nearly all their comrades had fallen, and the mules been captured by
+the enemy.
+
+"Great heavens, my child--my poor, unfortunate child," Don Rafaele
+cried, and sank to the ground.
+
+"What is the matter here?" cried Edgar loudly. "Come on, come on,
+brethren, down into the glen, to avenge our comrades, and snatch the
+booty from the teeth of these pigs."
+
+"The good German is right," cried Isidor Mirr. "The good German is
+right," re-echoed all around, and away they rushed down into the ravine
+like a bursting thunderstorm.
+
+There were only a few Guerillas left, and they were fighting with the
+courage of despair. With a cry of "Valenzia," Edgar rushed into the
+thickest mass of the enemy, and with the death-announcing roar of
+thirsting tigers the Guerillas dashed after him, planted their daggers
+in the breasts of the foemen, and felled them with the butts of their
+muskets. Well-directed bullets hit them in their headlong flight. These
+were the Valenzia men who had overtaken General Moncey's Cuirassiers in
+their march, dashed upon their flank, cut them down before they
+gathered how they were situated, and retired into their lurking-places
+masters of the arms and horses.
+
+All this was over and done when Edgar heard a piercing scream from the
+densest part of the thicket. He made haste to the spot, and found a
+little man struggling with a Frenchman, and holding the bridle of the
+mule he was in charge of in his teeth. Just as Edgar came on the scene
+the Frenchman struck down the little man with a dagger, which he seemed
+to have taken from him, and was trying to drive the mule further into
+the thicket. Edgar gave a loud shout; the Frenchman fired at him,
+missed him, and Edgar ran him through with his bayonet. The little
+fellow was whimpering. Edgar raised him up, undid with some difficulty
+the bridle, which he had been convulsively biting, and noticed for the
+first time as he was helping him on to the mule that there was a
+shrouded form upon it already clinging to the creature's neck with its
+arms, and softly lamenting. Behind this girl, for such, judging by her
+voice, was the shrouded form, Edgar deposited the little wounded man,
+took the mule by the bridle, and thus made his way back to the little
+Place d'Armes, where, as no more of the enemy was visible, Isidor Mirr
+and his men had again taken up their positions.
+
+The little man, who had fainted from loss of blood, though his wounds
+did not seem to be dangerous, and the girl, were lifted from the mule.
+At this moment Don Rafaele in a state of the most wild excitement
+darted forward with cries of "My child, my sweet child!" and was in the
+act to clasp the young creature, who did not seem to be more than about
+eight or ten in years, in his arms, when, suddenly seeing the bright
+torchlight shining on Edgar's face, he threw himself at his feet,
+crying, "Oh Don Edgar, Don Edgar! this knee has never bent to mortal
+man till now; but you are no mortal--you are an angel of light sent to
+save me from deadly anxiety and inconsolable despair! Oh, Don Edgar,
+fiendish mistrust was deeply rooted in my bosom, ever brooding upon
+evil. It was an undertaking deserving the bitterest execration to plan
+the destruction of one such as you with your true heart all honour
+and valour---to devote you to a shameful death. Strike me down, Don
+Edgar--execute a bloody vengeance upon me, vile wretch that I am! Never
+can you forgive what I have done."
+
+Edgar, fully conscious that he had done nothing more than his duty and
+honour demanded of him, was pained by Don Rafaele's behaviour, and
+tried by all means to calm and silence him, at length with difficulty
+succeeding.
+
+Don Rafaele said Colonel la Combe had been greatly distressed at
+Edgar's disappearance, and suspecting foul play, he had been on the
+point of ransacking the house and having him, Don Rafaele, arrested.
+This was why it had been necessary for him to escape, and it had been
+entirely owing to the Franciscan's help that he had been able to bring
+away his daughter, his servant, and many things which he required.
+Meanwhile the wounded servant and Don Rafaele's daughter had been taken
+on some distance in advance, whilst Don Rafaele, too old to share in
+the exploits of the Guerillas, was to follow them. At his sorrowful
+parting with Edgar he gave him a certain talisman, which brought him
+deliverance in many a serious danger.
+
+
+Here Euchar ended his story, which had been listened to by the company
+with the keenest interest.
+
+The Poet, who had got over his coughing fit and returned to the room,
+expressed the opinion that in Edgar's Spanish adventures there was fine
+material for a tragedy, all that he thought wanting being a due spice
+of love-making and an effective _finale_, such as a striking case of
+insanity, a good apoplexy, or something of the kind.
+
+"Oh, yes, love," said a young lady blushing at her own temerity. "The
+only thing your delightful story wanted was some charmingly interesting
+love affair!"
+
+"Dear Lady," said Euchar laughing, "I was not telling you the story of
+a novel, but the adventures of my friend Edgar. His life amongst the
+wild Spanish mountains was unfortunately poor in experiences of that
+kind."
+
+"I have a strong belief," said Victorine in a low tone, "that I know
+this same Edgar, who has remained in poverty, because he has despised
+the most precious of gifts."
+
+But no one's enthusiasm equalled that of Ludwig, who cried out most
+excitedly, "I know that mysterious Profecia del Pirineo by the glorious
+Don Juan Baptista de Arriaza. Oh, it fired my very veins! I wanted to
+be off to Spain to fight for that glorious cause--had it only been
+comprehended in the system of the mutual interdependence of things. I
+can quite put myself in Edgar's place. How I should have spoken to that
+terrible Empecinado in that awful situation in the Franciscan
+monastery!" And he began a harangue, which was so pathetic that
+everybody was astonished, and could not sufficiently marvel at his
+brave and heroic resolution.
+
+"But it was not a part of the mutual interdependence of things," said
+the lady of the house, "although, perhaps, it does form a part of that
+interdependence--or, at all events, fits into it--that, as it happens,
+I have provided an entertainment for my visitors which forms a suitable
+pendant to Euchar's story."
+
+The doors opened, and Emanuela came in followed by the stunted little
+Biagio Cubas with his guitar in his hands, making all manner of quaint
+obeisances and salutations. But Emanuela, with that indescribable charm
+of manner which had so fascinated Euchar and Ludwig in the Park, came
+into the circle curtseying, and said in a gentle voice that she was
+going to exhibit a little piece of skilfulness, which would not have
+much to recommend it except its being a little out of the common.
+
+During the short time which had elapsed since our two friends had seen
+the girl she seemed to have grown taller, more beautiful, and more
+developed in figure--moreover, she was admirably, almost expensively
+dressed. "Now," Ludwig whispered into his friend's ear, as Cubas
+with quaint and comical features was getting things ready for the
+egg-fandago, "now is your chance to get back your ring."
+
+"My dear goose," said Euchar, "don't you see it is on my finger? I
+found I had taken it off along with my glove; I discovered that on the
+same evening when I thought I had lost it."
+
+Emanuela's dancing took everybody by storm, no one having ever seen
+such a thing before. Euchar kept his gaze fixed upon her earnestly.
+Ludwig broke out into exclamations of the utmost rapture. Victorine,
+close to whom he was sitting, whispered to him, "Hypocrite! You dare to
+pretend to speak of love to me while you are devoted to this brazen
+little wretch of a Spanish egg-dancer! Don't dare to look at her again,
+sir!"
+
+Ludwig was considerably discomposed on the whole by Victorine's passion
+for him, with its tendency to flame out into jealousy without any
+rational cause. He said to himself, "I really am one of the luckiest
+fellows in the world; but all the same, this sort of thing rather bores
+a man."
+
+When she had ended her dance Emanuela took the guitar and began singing
+Spanish ballads of cheerful, happy character. Ludwig begged her to sing
+that splendid thing which had so greatly delighted Euchar. She at once
+began--
+
+           "Laurel immortal al gran Palafox," etc.
+
+Her enthusiastic delivery of these lines waxed in fervour as she went
+on, her voice swelled into greater power, the chords of the instrument
+clanged louder and louder. When she came to the Strophe, which speaks
+of the liberation of the Fatherland, she fixed her beaming eyes on
+Euchar, a river of tears rushed down her cheeks, and she fell on her
+knees. The hostess hurried to her, raised her up, and said, "No more,
+no more, sweet darling child," and, taking her to a sofa, kissed her on
+the brow and stroked her cheeks.
+
+"She's out of her mind," Victorine whispered excitedly to Ludwig. "You
+can't be in love with a mad creature! No, no. Tell me at once--on the
+spot--that you can't possibly be in love with a maniac!"
+
+"Good gracious, no! Of course not," Ludwig cried, considerably alarmed.
+He found the greatest possible difficulty in properly adapting himself
+to the excessively passionate manifestation which Victorine's affection
+had taken to displaying.
+
+While the hostess was refreshing Emanuela with sweet wine and biscuits
+the valiant little guitarist, Biagio Cubas, who had sunk down in a
+corner and was sobbing profusely, was served with a glass of genuine
+Xeres, which he drained to the last drop with a gladsome "Donna, viva
+hasta mil annos."
+
+It may readily be supposed that the ladies attacked Emanuela with a
+string of enquiries as to her country, circumstances, and so forth. The
+hostess felt the painfulness of her position too keenly not to so
+contrive that the firmly-closed circle should disperse itself into
+several subsidiary eddies, in which every one, the piquet players
+included, soon began to revolve. The consistorial president considered
+the little Spanish girl a delightful, natty little creature; the only
+thing was that somehow her dancing got into his own legs and made his
+head feel as giddy as if he were waltzing with the devil in person. The
+singing struck him as something quite out of the common; it delighted
+him immensely.
+
+Count Walther Puck was of quite a different opinion. Of her singing he
+thought nothing at all; there was no such thing as a trillo in it all.
+But he praised her dancing most warmly, and thought it quite delicious.
+He said that his opinion on the subject was of some value, seeing that
+at one time he had been as good a performer as the most celebrated
+Maîtres de ballet.
+
+"Will you believe me, brother Consistorial-President," he said, "when I
+tell you that in my youthful days, when I was a perfect model specimen
+of nimbleness and vigour, I used to be able to spring the fiocco and
+knock down a tambourine hung up nine feet above the tip of my nose with
+my toe! And as for this egg-fandago, why I have often smashed more eggs
+in performing that dance than seven hens would lay in four-and-twenty
+hours."
+
+"Bless my soul," said the Consistorial-President, "that was doing the
+thing in a most stupendous style!"
+
+"Yes," said the Count. "And then I must tell you my good old Cochenille
+plays the flageolet really very nicely indeed. And now and then I get
+him to play for me in the dressing-room; and then I really give myself
+full swing in the dancing line--of course, only there quite in private.
+You see what I mean?"
+
+"Of course, of course," answered the Consistorial-President, "I quite
+understand."
+
+Meanwhile Emanuela and her companion had disappeared.
+
+As the company were about dispersing the hostess said, "Friend Euchar,
+I feel certain that you know a great deal more than you have told us
+about your friend Edgar, We should be deeply interested to hear a great
+deal more. "What you have told us was only a fragment of it, though it
+has so excited and interested us that none of us will sleep a wink to
+night. I can't accord you longer time than till to-morrow evening for
+satisfying our curiosity. "We must hear more of Don Rafaele, and
+Empecinado, and the Guerillas. And if it is possible that Edgar can get
+into a love affair, please don't deprive us of the satisfaction of
+that."
+
+"That would be delightful!" sounded from all sides; and Euchar had to
+promise that he would be present with the matter necessary for the
+completing of his story.
+
+As they were going home Ludwig could not say enough on the subject of
+Victorine's passion for him, bordering, as it seemed to do, on
+insanity. "All the same," he said, "that jealousy of hers has had the
+effect of enabling me to read my own heart clearly. And I have read
+there that my love for Emanuela is a thing unutterable. I am going to
+find her out, declare my passionate adoration for her--and clasp her to
+my heart."
+
+"Exactly, my dear child," said Euchar imperturbably. "That is, of
+course, the proper thing for you to do."
+
+On the next evening when the company were assembled again _chez Madame
+la Présidente_, she told them with much regret that Baron Euchar had
+written to say that he was unexpectedly obliged to start immediately on
+a journey, and must postpone the continuation of his story till he came
+back.
+
+
+EUCHAR'S RETURN. SCENES IN A TRULY HAPPY MÉNAGE. CONCLUSION OF THE
+      STORY.
+
+Two years had past away when one morning a handsome carriage well
+loaded with baggage drew up at the door of the Golden Angel (principal
+hotel in W----), and out of it got a young gentleman, a lady very
+closely shrouded in wraps, and an old man. Ludwig happened to be
+passing at the time, and naturally he had a look at the arrivals
+through his eye-glass. The young gentleman happened to turn round, and
+he immediately embraced Ludwig, crying out, "My dear old fellow!"
+
+The latter was not a little astonished to see his old friend Euchar,
+for it was he who had got out of the carriage. "My dear fellow," he
+said, "who is that terribly muffled-up lady?--and the old gentleman?
+And, bless my soul, here comes a fourgon with baggage, and sitting on
+the back of it--good gracious, do my eyes deceive me?"
+
+Euchar took Ludwig by the arm, led him a step or two across the street,
+and said, "You shall hear all about everything in good time, dear
+friend; but, to begin with, how have things been going with you? You
+are terribly pale--the fire of your eyes has gone out. To tell you the
+honest truth, you look about ten years older than when I saw you last.
+Have you been having a bad illness or some serious trouble?"
+
+"Oh, dear no!" answered Ludwig. "Quite the contrary. I believe I am the
+very happiest fellow under the sun, for I am living a life of utterly
+ideal, Utopian love and bliss. The heavenly Victorine gave me that
+exquisite, tender hand of hers--bestowed it, my dear fellow, upon
+unworthy me rather more than a year ago! That pretty house which you
+see there with its windows shining in the sun is my home, and you must
+come there with me this moment and see that earthly paradise of mine.
+How delighted my dear wife will be to see you again! Let us give her a
+surprise."
+
+Euchar begged for a few minutes time just to change his dress, and
+promised to come then at once and see with his own eyes how all things
+had worked together for Ludwig's happiness.
+
+Ludwig came to meet his friend at the bottom of the stair, and begged
+him to make as little noise as possible in coming up, explaining that
+Victorine often suffered terribly from nervous headaches, and had a bad
+one just then, which rendered her nervous system so sensitive that she
+could hear the very softest footfall in any part of the house, although
+her own rooms were in the most distant part of it. Consequently they
+two now crept as softly as they could up the stairs, which were thickly
+carpeted, into Ludwig's own room. After the heartiest outpourings of
+gladness at seeing his old companion again, Ludwig rang the bell, but
+immediately cried out, "Oh, Lord, what have I done, wretch that I am!"
+putting both his hands before his face. And it was not long before a
+snappish creature of a lady's maid came in screeching out to Ludwig in
+a horrible, vulgar tone of voice, "Herr Baron, for heaven's sake what
+are you doing? You'll kill my lady. She's in spasms now."
+
+"Good gracious! my good Nettie," said Ludwig in a lamentable voice, "I
+really forgot all about it. I was so happy. Here is the greatest friend
+I have in the world come to see me. We haven't met for years. He's an
+old intimate friend of your mistress, too. Go and beg her--implore
+her--to let me bring him to her." Ludwig put money into her hand, and
+she made her exit with a vixenish "I'll see what I can do."
+
+Euchar, finding himself in presence of a situation which is but too
+common in life, and is consequently served up to us _ad nauseam_ in
+comedies and novels, had his own particular ideas as to his friend's
+domestic happiness. He felt with Ludwig all the painfulness of the
+position, and began to talk about indifferent subjects. But Ludwig
+would not give in to this, saying that what had been happening to him
+since they had been apart had been too remarkable and interesting that
+he should delay for a moment to communicate it to Euchar.
+
+"Of course," he began, "you remember that evening when we were all at
+Madame Veh's and you told the Story of your friend Edgar's adventures.
+And, of course, you remember how Victorine flamed up into jealousy and
+showed her heart, which was blazing with passion, without disguise.
+Idiot that I was--I fully admit to you that I was an idiot--I fell
+desperately in love with that little Spanish dancing girl, and thought
+that I could read in her eyes that my love was not without some hope.
+Perhaps you noticed that at the finish of her fandango, whim she made
+the eggs into a pyramid the apex of that pyramid was directed towards
+me. I was sitting just in the centre of the circle behind Madame Veh's
+chair. Now could she have expressed more clearly how deep her interest
+in me was? I wanted to find the dear little creature out the next
+morning, but it was not a part of the mutual interdependence of things
+that I should succeed in that. I had almost forgotten all about her
+when chance----"
+
+"The mutual interdependence of things, you mean," interrupted Euchar.
+
+"Well, well," went on Ludwig. "But, at all events, a few days
+afterwards I was going through the Park, and in front of that Café
+where you and I saw that little Spanish girl for the first time, out
+came the landlady rushing--oh, you have no idea what an interest that
+good woman, who got the vinegar and water that day when I hurt my knee,
+takes in me still--but that is not to the present purpose--to ask if I
+knew what had become of the little Spanish girl and her companion, who
+used to come there so often, and of whom nothing had been seen for
+several weeks. Next day I took a great deal of trouble to find out
+whether she was in the town or not, but it did not lie in the mutual
+interdependence of things that I should succeed in this. And my heart
+repented of the foolishness it had been so near committing, and turned
+back again to the heavenly Victorine. But my crime of infidelity to her
+had made such a profound impression upon that super-sensitive
+organization of hers that she refused to see me or even to hear my name
+mentioned. Good old Cochenille assured me that she had fallen into a
+state of absolute melancholia; that she would often cry till the was
+almost breathless, and wail in the most pathetic manner, saying 'He is
+lost to me. I have lost him for ever.' You may imagine the effect which
+all this produced upon me--how I was dissolved in sorrow over this
+unfortunate misunderstanding. Cochenille proffered me his aid. He said
+he would diplomatically convince the Countess that I was quite an
+altered man, never dancing more than four times at the most at balls,
+sitting at the theatre staring at the stage in an oblivious manner, and
+paying not the smallest attention to my clothes. I sent a flowing
+stream of gold pieces into his hands, and in return he gave me fresh
+hopes every morning. At last Victorine allowed me to see her again. How
+lovely she was! Oh, Victorine, my darling--beautiful, sweetest of
+wives--amiability and kindness personified!"
+
+Here Nettchen came in and said that the Baroness was astonished at the
+Baron's extraordinary conduct. First he rang the bell as if the house
+were on fire, and then he asked her to receive a visitor in the
+exceedingly critical state of her health. She most certainly could not
+see anybody that day whoever it might be, and begged the strange
+gentleman to excuse her. Nettchen looked Euchar straight in the eyes,
+scanned him over carefully from head to foot, and left the room.
+
+Ludwig stared before him in silence, and then continued his tale in a
+low voice and with bated breath, saying, "You can't imagine the degree
+of almost contemptuous coldness with which Victorine received me. If it
+hadn't been that her previous outbursts of burning affection had
+convinced me that this coldness was merely put on to punish me, I
+should really have had my doubts, and should have hesitated. But at
+last this counterfeiting got too difficult for her, her behaviour grew
+kindlier and kindlier, till all in a moment she gave me her shawl to
+carry. And then my triumph was utterly brilliant. I rearranged that
+'_seize_' of mine, which had played such an important part in my
+destiny, danced it with her in the most heavenly manner, whispered in
+her ear--at the proper moment, whilst balancing myself on tiptoe and
+placing my arm about her--'Heavenly Countess, I love you unspeakably!
+Angel of light, I implore you to be mine.' Victorine smiled into my
+eyes; but that did not prevent me from paying the proper visit the next
+morning, with the good help of my friend Cochenille, at the fitting
+hour, about one o'clock, and making my formal proposal for her hand.
+She gazed at me in silence. I threw myself at her feet, seized that
+hand which was to be mine, and covered it with glowing kisses. She
+allowed me to do this; but I really felt it a good deal, and thought it
+was extremely queer, that all the time her eyes were fixed steadfastly
+upon nothing that I could discover, staring before her as if she had
+been a lifeless image. But at last a great tear or two came to her
+eyes. She pressed my hand so vehemently that, as I happened to have a
+sore finger, I could scarcely help crying out with the pain of it, rose
+from her chair, and left the room with her handkerchief over her face.
+I had no doubts as to my good fortune. I hastened to the Count and made
+my formal proposal for his daughter.
+
+"'Good. Very good, indeed, my dear Baron,' said the Count, smiling
+in the most affable manner. 'But have you given the Countess any
+intimation of this? Have you given her any opportunity of inferring it
+at all? Are you beloved? I admit that I am foolish enough to take the
+greatest possible interest in love matters.'
+
+"I told him what had happened during the 'seize.' His eyes sparkled
+with delight. 'That was delicious!' he cried over and over again. 'That
+was most delicious, indeed, Herr Baron! Tell me what your "tour"
+consisted of, dear Baronetto.' I danced this 'tour' for him, and
+remained pausing in the position which I described to you long since.
+'Charming; charming, indeed, my angelic friend!' he cried, and ringing
+the bell, he shouted, 'Cochenille, Cochenille!'
+
+"When Cochenille came in I had to sing him the music of my 'seize,'
+which was composed by myself. 'Get your flageolet, Cochenille,' said
+the Count, 'and play what the Baron has been singing.' Cochenille did
+so tolerably correctly. I had to dance with the Count, taking the
+lady's part, and I should not have believed it of the old gentleman,
+while poising himself on his right tiptoe he whispered into my ear,
+'Most incomparable of barons, my daughter Victorine is yours.'
+
+"The lovely Victorine behaved rather coyly, as young ladies are apt to
+do under such circumstances. She was reserved and silent, formal and
+stiff, said neither 'Yes' nor 'No,' and on the whole behaved to me in
+such a way that my hopes began to sink again. Besides, it so happened
+that I just then, for the first time, found out that on the celebrated
+occasion, when I put my arm round the cousin instead of Victorine in
+the 'seize,' those two girls had planned this practical joke on purpose
+just to make me the victim of a contemptible mystification. I really
+was terribly distressed and annoyed, and could almost have cried, to
+think that it had formed a part of the mutual interdependence of things
+that I should be led about by the nose in this sort of way. But those
+doubts were vain. Ere I knew where I was, wholly unexpectedly the
+heavenly 'Yes' came trembling from her beautiful lips just when I had
+fallen into the deepest dejection. It was only then that I found out
+what a constraint Victorine had been putting upon herself before, for
+she was now so wildly happy and in such amazing spirits that anything
+like this condition had never been seen in her before. No doubt it was
+only maidenly coyness that made her refuse to allow me to take her hand
+or to kiss it, or to indulge in any kind of innocent little endearment.
+Many of my friends did try to put a quantity of absurd nonsense into my
+head. But the day before our wedding was destined to drive the last
+shadow of doubt from my mind. Early on that morning I hastened to her.
+Some papers were lying on her work-table. I glanced at them; they were
+in her own handwriting. I began reading. It was a diary. Oh, heavens!
+Oh, all ye Gods! Each day's entries gave me fresh proof how dearly,
+with what unspeakable fondness Victorine had loved me all along. The
+most trifling incidents were recorded, and always there came, 'You do
+not comprehend this heart of mine. Cold and unfeeling, must I cast
+aside all maidenly reserve in the wildness of my despair, throw myself
+at your feet, and tell you that without your love life is only death to
+me?' And it went on in this strain. On the night when I fancied myself
+so wildly in love with the little Spanish girl she had written, 'All is
+lost and done. He loves her; nothing can be, more certain. Mad
+creature, don't you know that the eye of the woman who loves is
+all-seeing?' Just as I was reading this aloud in came Victorine. I
+threw myself at her feet with the diary in my hand, crying, 'No, no; I
+never was in love with that strange child. You, you alone, were always
+my idol!'
+
+"Victorine fixed a gaze on me, cried out in a screaming sort of tone,
+which rings in my ears still, 'Unfortunate fellow, it was not you I
+meant,' and rushed from the room. Now could you have imagined that
+maidenly coyness would have been capable of being carried so far?"
+
+Here Nettchen came in to enquire on the Baroness's part why the
+Baron did not bring the visitor to see her, inasmuch as she had been
+expecting him for the last half hour. "A splendid model wife," cried
+the Baron with much emotion, "always sacrificing herself to my wishes."
+It astonished Euchar not a little to find the Baroness very much
+dressed as if for company.
+
+"Here is our dear old Euchar!" the Baron cried. "We have got him back
+again." But when Euchar approached and took her hand she was seized
+with a violent trembling, and, with a faint cry of "Oh, God," fell back
+on her couch fainting.
+
+Euchar could not bear the pain of the situation, and he left the room
+as quickly as possible. "Unfortunate fellow," he cried, "it was,
+indeed, not you she meant." He understood now the fathomless depth of
+misery into which his friend's incredible vanity had plunged him--he
+knew now upon whom Victorine's love had been bestowed, and felt himself
+strangely moved and touched. He comprehended now, and only now, the
+significance of many things which his own simple straightforwardness
+had prevented him from seeing before. Now, and only now, he saw through
+and through the impassioned Victorine, and could scarcely explain to
+himself how he had failed to discover that it was with him she was in
+love. The occasions on which her fondness for him had led her to give
+expression to it, almost in defiance of all considerations, rose more
+clearly before his mental sight, and he distinctly remembered that just
+on those very occasions some strange unaccountable antipathy to her had
+caused a curious, inexplicable irritation of feeling towards her. This
+feeling of angry irritation he now brought to bear upon himself, filled
+as he was by the profoundest pity for the poor girl, whose destiny
+seemed to have been ruled by such an evil star.
+
+It so happened that on this very evening the self-same party to which
+Euchar had told the story of Edgar's adventures in Spain, two years
+previously, were assembled at Madame Veh's. He was greeted with the
+greatest warmth, but an electric thrill went through him when he saw
+Victorine, as he had not thought he would meet her there. There was no
+trace of illness about her. Her eyes shone as brilliantly as of old,
+and a carefully-chosen costume of great tastefulness enhanced her
+loveliness and charm. Euchar, distressed by her presence, was depressed
+and put out, contrary to his usual wont. Victorine so managed matters
+as to be able to approach him, and suddenly seizing his hand, drew him
+aside, saying gravely and calmly--
+
+"You know my husband's pet theory of the mutual interdependence of
+things? I believe what constitutes the real 'mutual interdependence of
+things' in our lives to be the follies which we commit, repent of, and
+commit again and again. So that our lives appear to consist of a
+process of being wildly hunted hither and thither by a species of
+enchantment beyond our control, which drives us on before it till it
+mocks and dashes us into death. I know all, Euchar; I know whom I am
+going to see this evening. It was not you who brought those bitter,
+hopeless sorrows upon me; not you, but an evil fate. The demon was laid
+and vanished at the moment when I saw you again. May peace and rest be
+upon us, Euchar."
+
+"Yes, Victorine," Euchar answered, "may rest and peace be upon us.
+However miscomprehended a life may be, the Eternal Power does not leave
+it without hope."
+
+"All is ended--and well," said Victorine; and, wiping a tear away, she
+turned to the company.
+
+Madame Veh had been observant of this pair, and now whispered to
+Euchar--
+
+"I told her everything. Was I right?"
+
+"I must go through with the whole business," Euchar answered.
+
+The company--as often happens in such circumstances--felt a fresh
+impulse to festivity and enjoyment in Euchar's unexpected return, and
+besieged him with enquiries as to where he had been and what had
+happened to him during his absence.
+
+"What has really brought me here," said Euchar, "is the obligation
+which I am under to keep my promise of two years ago that I would tell
+you a good deal more of my friend Edgar's history, and put a copestone
+upon it such as our friend the Poet thought it wanted. As I can now
+assure you that no dark clouds have come over his path, that there have
+been no deeds of violence, but that, on the contrary, as the ladies
+wished, my story will be concerned with a rather romantic love-affair,
+I feel sure that I may reckon upon a fair measure of approval."
+
+All applauded, and speedily formed into a narrower ring. Euchar at once
+commenced as follows--
+
+
+I pass over in silence the warlike adventures which Edgar met with
+while fighting in company with the Guerillas--although _they_ were
+sufficiently romantic--contenting myself with explaining that the
+talisman which Don Rafaele Marchez gave him when parting with him, was
+a little ring inscribed with mystic characters, which showed that he
+was an initiate in the most secret of the confederacies or societies;
+thus assuring him, wherever he might be, of the most absolute and
+unlimited confidence of those acquainted with those signs, and
+rendering all danger such as he had been exposed to in Valenzia
+impossible.
+
+Soon afterwards he joined the English forces, and served under
+Wellington. He was never touched by a hostile bullet again, and when
+the campaign was over he returned to his own country safe and sound.
+Don Rafaele Marchez he had never seen again, nor had he heard anything
+of his further fortunes.
+
+Edgar had been a long while back in his native town, when, one day, Don
+Rafaele's little ring (which he always wore on his finger) disappeared
+under peculiar circumstances. Early on the morning of the day following
+this, a queer little fellow came into his room, held the missing ring
+up to him, and asked him if it was his. When Edgar replied that it was,
+the little man cried out excitedly in Spanish--
+
+"Oh, _you are_ Don Edgar; there can be no doubt about it." And then
+Edgar clearly remembered the face and figure of the little fellow, who
+was Don Rafaele's faithful servant, the same who had displayed the lion
+courage of despair in trying to save his master's daughter.
+
+"In the name of all the saints!" Edgar cried, "you must be Don
+Rafaele's faithful servant! I recognise you. Where is _he_? My strange
+presentiment is going to come true."
+
+The little man implored Edgar to go with him at once.
+
+He took him to one of the most distant suburbs, climbed with him to the
+garret of a miserable house, and--what a spectacle! Sick, worn to a
+shadow, with all the traces of the most mortal suffering upon his
+deathlike face, Don Rafaele Marchez was lying upon a bed of straw, with
+a girl praying by his side. When Edgar came in, the girl rushed up to
+him, and drew him to the side of the old man, crying in a tone of the
+warmest delight--
+
+"Father, father! this is he, is it not?"
+
+"Yes," said the old man, his dim eyes brightening as he raised his
+folded hands to heaven, "it is he--our preserver. Ah, Don Edgar, who
+would have believed that the fire which burned within me for my country
+and freedom would have turned upon me for my destruction."
+
+After the first outpourings of mingled delight and regret, Edgar
+learned that Don Rafaele's enemies had managed, after the establishment
+of peace, to bring charges against him causing him to be regarded with
+suspicion by the government. He was sentenced to be banished, and his
+property was confiscated. He fell into the deepest poverty. His devoted
+daughter and his faithful servant supported him by dancing and playing.
+
+"Emanuela and Biagio Cubas, of course!" Ludwig cried out. And all the
+others repeated after him, "Of course, of course--Emanuela and Biagio
+Cubas!"
+
+The hostess enjoined silence on the ground that, although there might
+be many things which could be gradually explained, the narrator ought
+not to be interrupted until he had come to the end of his story.
+Moreover she felt no doubt that as soon as Edgar saw the lovely
+Emanuela he must, of course, have fallen desperately in love with her.
+
+"That, of course, is exactly what he did do," said Euchar, a slight
+redness overspreading his cheeks. Even before this particular meeting
+with her, on other occasions of his seeing that marvellously
+beautifully child, he had felt the most distinct presentiments of what
+would follow, and a sense of the deepest affection, like nothing which
+he had ever experienced before. He immediately set to remedy the
+condition of affairs. He took away Don Rafaele, Emanuela, and the
+trusty Cubas, to a country estate belonging to his uncle. And in
+arranging this I was of some assistance to him. It seemed as if Don
+Rafaele's lucky star was going to rise again; for soon after this there
+came a letter from good Father Eusebio to say that the brethren, well
+acquainted with the secret corners of his house, had hidden away the
+very considerable property (in the shape of gold and jewels) which he
+possessed (and which he had walled up before his flight) in their own
+convent; so that all that was necessary was to send some trustworthy
+person to fetch them. Edgar set out at once for Valenzia with the
+faithful Cubas. He saw his kind old nurse, Father Eusebio, again, and
+Don Rafaele's treasure was handed over to him. But he knew that Don
+Rafaele prized honour above everything, and he succeeded in Madrid in
+completely re-establishing his innocence. The decree of banishment was
+cancelled.
+
+The doors opened and there entered a beautifully dressed lady, followed
+by an old gentleman of lofty bearing and aristocratic looks. The
+hostess rose to receive them, and led the lady within the circle. The
+other guests had all risen, and the host presented "Donna Emanuela
+Marchez, our friend Euchar's bride. Ron Rafaele Marchez."
+
+"Yes," said Euchar, with the bliss of the happiness which he had
+achieved radiating from his eyes, and glowing in brilliant roses on his
+cheeks, "I have only now to tell you that he whom I spoke of to you as
+Edgar was none other than myself."
+
+Victorine clasped the beautiful Emanuela in her arms, and pressed her
+warmly to her heart. They seemed to know each other already. But
+Ludwig, casting a glance of sorrow upon the group, said--
+
+"All this was a part of the mutual interdependence of things."
+
+
+The friends were pleased with Sylvester's tale, and were unanimous in
+thinking that Edgar's adventures in Spain during the War of
+Independence, although they might perhaps be considered to be
+interwoven in merely an episodical form, really constituted the kernel
+of the story, and that their happy effect was accounted for by their
+being founded upon actual historical facts.
+
+"There is no doubt," said Lothair, "that matter which is absolutely
+historical possesses a certain peculiar quality which the inventive
+faculty, when it merely hovers about in empty space, with nothing to
+anchor upon, cannot attain to. In the same way the skilful introduction
+of truly historical customs, manners, habitudes and so forth, belonging
+to any race, or people, or to any particular class of people, gives to
+a work of fiction a life-like colouring which it is difficult otherwise
+to attain. But I insist upon their being introduced _skilfully_. For
+there is no doubt that it is not so easy to introduce historical
+facts--things which have actually happened--into a work of which the
+incidents belong to the domain of pure imagination, as many people
+think it is. And it requires a peculiar skilfulness, which everybody is
+not fortunate enough to possess. In the absence of it there appears
+merely a pale, distorted simulacrum of life, instead of the freshness
+of reality. I know works--particularly some by literary ladies--in
+which one feels, at every instant, how the writer has gone dipping the
+brush into the colour-box, bringing nothing out of it, after all, but a
+sort of jumble of strokes of different colours, just where what was
+wanted was a thoroughly life-like picture."
+
+"I quite agree with you," said Lothair. "And, having just chanced to
+remember a particular novel, written by an otherwise fairly clever
+woman (which, notwithstanding all the dippings of her brush into the
+aforesaid paint-box, does not possess a single atom of real semblance
+of life, or of poetic truth, from one end of it to the other, so that
+one cannot remember it for a single moment), I merely wish to say that
+this particular skill in producing an effect of reality and historical
+truth, brilliantly distinguishes the works of a writer who has only
+rather recently become known to us. I mean Walter Scott. I have only
+read his 'Guy Mannering.' But _ex ungue leonem_. The 'exposition' of
+this tale is based upon Scotch manners and customs, and matters
+belonging peculiarly to the place in which the scene of it is laid.
+But, without any acquaintance with them, one is carried away by the
+vivid reality of the characters and incidents in an extraordinary
+degree, and the 'exposition' is to be termed so utterly masterly just
+because we are landed _in medias res_ in a moment, as if by the wave of
+an enchanter's wand. Moreover, Scott has the power of drawing the
+figures of his pictures with a few touches, in such a way that they
+seem to come out of their frames, and move about before us in the most
+living fashion imaginable. Scott is a splendid phenomenon appearing in
+the literature of Great Britain. He is as vivid as Smollett, though far
+more classic and noble. But I think he is wanting in that brilliant
+lire of profound humour which coruscates in the writings of Sterne and
+Swift."
+
+"I am just in your position, Ottmar," said Vincenz. "'Guy Mannering' is
+the only work of Scott's which I have read. But I was much struck by
+the originality of it, and the manner in which, in its methodical
+progress, it gradually unwinds itself like a clue of thread, gently and
+quietly, never breaking its firm-spun strands. My chief objection to it
+is, that (no doubt in faithfulness to British manners) the female
+characters are so tame and colourless, except that grand gipsy
+woman--although she is scarcely so much to be called a woman as a kind
+of spectral apparition. Both of the young ladies in 'Guy Mannering'
+remind me of the English coloured engravings, which are all exactly
+alike--_id est_, as pretty as they are meaningless and expressionless,
+and as to which one sees distinctly that the originals of them would
+never allow anything further than 'Yea, yea; nay, nay!' to cross those
+pretty little delicate lips of theirs, as anything more might lead unto
+evil. Hogarth's milkmaid is a prototype of all these creatures. Both of
+the girls in 'Guy Mannering' lack reality--the god-like vivifying
+breath of life."
+
+"Might not one wish," said Theodore, "in the case of some of the female
+characters of one of our most talented writers (particularly in some of
+his earlier works) that they had a little more flesh and blood, since
+they are really all so very apt to melt into wreaths of mist when one
+looks at them closely? Nevertheless, let us love and honour both of
+those writers--the foreigner and our countryman, because of the true
+and glorious things which they have bestowed upon us."
+
+"It is remarkable," said Sylvester, "that--unless I mistake--another
+great writer appeared on the other side of the channel, about the same
+time as Walter Scott, and has produced works of equal greatness and
+splendour, but in a different direction. I mean Lord Byron, who appears
+to me to be much more solid and powerful than Thomas Moore. His 'Siege
+of Corinth' is a masterpiece, fall of genius. His predominant tendency
+seems to be towards the gloomy, the mysterious and the terrible; and
+his 'Vampire' I have avoided reading, for the bare idea of a vampire
+makes my blood run cold. So far as I understand the matter, a vampire
+is an animated corpse which sucks the blood of the living."
+
+"Ho! ho!" cried Lothair, laughing, "a writer such as you, my dear
+friend, Sylvester, must of course have found it necessary to dip more
+or less deeply into all kinds of accounts concerning magic, witches,
+sorcery, enchantment, and other such works of the devil, because they
+are necessary for your work, and part of your stock in trade. And I
+should suppose you have gone into those subjects yourself with the view
+of getting some personal experience of them as well. As regards
+vampirism--that you may see how well read I am in these matters--I will
+tell you the name of a delightful treatise in which you may study this
+dark subject. The complete title of this little book is 'M. Michael
+Ranft (Deacon of Nebra). Treatise on the Mastication and Sucking of the
+Dead in their Graves; wherein the true nature and description of the
+Hungarian vampires and bloodsuckers is clearly set forth, and all
+previous writings on this subject are passed in review and subjected to
+criticism.' This title in itself will convince you of the thoroughness
+of this treatise, and you will learn from it that a vampire is nothing
+other but an accursed creature who lets himself be buried as being
+dead, and then rises out of the grave and sucks people's blood in their
+sleep. And those people become vampires in their turn. So that,
+according to the accounts received from Hungary and quoted by this
+magister, the inhabitants of whole villages become vampires of the most
+abominable description. To render those vampires harmless they must be
+dug out of their graves, a stake driven through their hearts, and their
+bodies burnt to ashes. Those horrible beings very often do not appear
+in their own proper forms, but _en masque_. A certain officer, I happen
+to remember, writing from Belgrade to a celebrated doctor in Leipzig
+for information as to the true nature of vampires, expresses himself
+thus: 'In a village called Kinklina it chanced that two brothers were
+troubled by a vampire, so that one of them used to sit up by the other
+at night whilst he slept. The one who was watching used to see
+something like a dog opening the door, but this dog used to make off
+when he cried out at it. At last one night they both were asleep at the
+same time, and the vampire bit and sucked a place under the right ear
+of one of them, leaving a red mark. The man died of this in three days'
+time. In conclusion,' said the officer, 'as the people of this place
+make all this out to be miraculous, I venture to take the liberty of
+requesting you to tell me your private opinion as to whether it is
+caused by the intervention of sympathetic, diabolical, or astral
+spirits. And I remain, with much respect, &c.' Take example by this
+officer of enquiring mind. As it happens his name occurs to me at this
+moment. He was an ensign in the Prince Alexander regiment, Sigismund
+Alexander Friedrich von Kottwitz. The military mind seems to have been
+considerably exercised on the subject of vampirism about that time.
+Magister Ranft quotes in his book an official declaration made by an
+army surgeon before two of his brother officers concerning the
+detection and destruction of a vampire. This declaration contains,
+_inter alia_, the following passage: 'Inasmuch as they perceived, from
+the aforesaid circumstances, that this was unmistakably a vampire, they
+drove a stake through its heart, upon which it gave vent to a distinct
+gasp, emitting a considerable quantity of blood.' Is that not both
+interesting and instructive?"
+
+"All this of Magister Ranft's," said Sylvester, "may, no doubt, be
+sufficiently absurd and even rather crack-brained; but, at the same
+time, if we keep to the subject of vampirism itself, never minding in
+what particular fashion it may be treated, it certainly is one of the
+most horrible and terrible notions imaginable. I can conceive nothing
+more ghastlily repulsive to the mind."
+
+"Still," said Cyprian, "it is capable of providing a material, when
+dealt with by a writer of imagination possessed of some poetical tact,
+which has the power of stirring within us that profound sense of awe
+which is innate in our hearts, and when touched by the electric impulse
+from an unseen spirit world causes our soul to thrill, not altogether
+unpleasantly after a fashion. A due amount of poetic tact on the
+author's part will prevent the horror of the subject from going so far
+as to be loathsome; for it generally has such an element of the absurd
+about it that it does not impress us so deeply as if that were not the
+case. Why should not a writer be permitted to make use of the levers of
+fear, terror, and horror because some feeble soul here and there finds
+it more than it can bear? Shall there be no strong meat at table
+because there happen to be some guests there whose stomachs are weak,
+or who have spoiled their own digestions?"
+
+"My dear, fanciful Cyprian," Theodore said, "there was no occasion for
+your vindication of the horrible. We all know how wonderfully great
+writers have moved men's hearts to their very depths by means of that
+lever. We have only to think of Shakespeare. Moreover, who knew better
+how to use it than our own glorious Tieck in many of his tales? I need
+only instance the 'Love-Spell.' The leading idea of that story cannot
+but make everybody's blood run cold, and the end of it is full of the
+utmost fear and horror; but still the colours are blended so admirably
+that, in spite of all the terror and dismay, the mysterious magic charm
+so seizes upon us that we yield ourselves up to it without an effort to
+resist. How true is what Tieck puts in the mouth of his Manfred in
+answer to women's objections to the element of the awe-inspiring in
+fiction. Of course, what is the fact is that whatsoever of the terrible
+encounters us in our daily life is just what tortures and tears our
+hearts with irresistible pain. And, indeed, the cruelty of mankind, as
+exercised by tyrants, great and small, without pity or mercy, and with
+the diabolical malignity of hell itself, produces misery on a par with
+anything told of in fiction. And how finely the author says: 'In those
+imaginary legends the misery cannot reach the world with its rays until
+they have been broken up into prismatic colours,' and I should have
+supposed that in that condition they would have been endurable by eyes
+even not very strong."
+
+"We have often spoken already," said Lothair, "of this most genial
+writer; the full recognition of whom, in all his grand super-excellence
+and variety, is reserved for posterity, whilst Wills o' the Wisp
+rapidly scintillating into our ken and blinding the eye for a moment
+with borrowed light, go out into darkness just as speedily. On the
+whole, I believe that the imagination can be moved by very simple
+means, and that it is often more the _idea_ of the thing than the thing
+itself which causes our fear. Kleist's tale of the 'Beggar Woman of
+Lucarno' has in it, at least to me, the most frightening idea that I
+can think of, and yet how simple it is. A beggar woman is sent
+contemptuously, as if she were a dog, to lie behind the stove, and dies
+there. She is heard every night hobbling across the floor towards the
+stove, but nothing is seen. It is, no doubt, the wonderful colouring of
+the whole affair Which produces the effect. Not only could Kleist 'dip'
+into the aforesaid colour-box, but he could lay the colours on, with
+the power and the genius of the most finished master. He did not need
+to raise a vampire out of the grave, all he needed was an old woman."
+
+"This discussion about vampirism," said Cyprian, "reminds me of a
+ghastly story which I either heard or read a very long time ago. But I
+think I heard it, because I seem to remember that the person who told
+it said that the circumstances had actually happened, and mentioned the
+name of the family and of their country seat where it took place. But
+if this story is known to you as being in print, please to stop me and
+prevent my going on with it, because there's nothing more wearisome
+than to tell people things which they have known for ever so long."
+
+"I foresee," said Ottmar, "that you are going to give us something
+unusually awful and terrible. But remember Saint Serapion and be as
+concise as you can, so that Vincenz may have his turn; for I see that
+he is waiting impatiently to read us that long-promised story of his."
+
+"Hush! hush!" said Vincenz. "I could not wish anything better than that
+Cyprian should hang up a fine dark canvas by way of a background so as
+to throw out the figures of my tale, which I think are brightly and
+variedly coloured, and certainly excessively active. So begin, my
+Cyprianus, and be as gloomy, as frightful, as terrible as the vampirish
+Lord Byron himself, though I know nothing about him, as I have never
+read a word of his writings."
+
+
+Count Hyppolitus (began Cyprian) had just returned from a long time
+spent in travelling to take possession of the rich inheritance which
+his father, recently dead, had left to him. The ancestral home was
+situated in the most beautiful and charming country imaginable,
+and the income from the property was amply sufficient to defray
+the cost of most extensive improvements. Whatever in the way of
+architecture and landscape gardening had struck the Count during his
+travels--particularly in England--as specially delightful and apposite,
+he was going to reproduce in his own demesne. Architects, landscape
+gardeners, and labourers of all sorts arrived on the scene as they were
+wanted, and there commenced at once a complete reconstruction of the
+place, whilst an extensive park was laid out on the grandest scale,
+which involved the including within its boundaries of the church, the
+parsonage, and the burial ground. All those improvements the Count, who
+possessed the necessary knowledge, superintended himself, devoting
+himself to this occupation body and soul; so that a year slipped away
+without its ever having occurred to him to take an old uncle's advice
+and let the light of his countenance shine in the Residenz before the
+eyes of the young ladies, so that the most beautiful, the best,
+and the most nobly born amongst them might fall to his share as wife.
+One morning, as he was sitting at his drawing table sketching the
+ground-plan of a new building, a certain elderly Baroness--distantly
+related to his father--was announced as having come to call. When
+Hyppolitus heard her name he remembered that his father had always
+spoken of her with the greatest indignation--nay, with absolute
+abhorrence, and had often warned people who were going to approach her
+to keep aloof, without explaining what the danger connected with her
+was. If he was questioned more closely, he said there were certain
+matters as to which it was better to keep silence. Thus much was
+certain, that there were rumours current in the Residenz of some most
+remarkable and unprecedented criminal trial in which the Baroness had
+been involved, which had led to her separation from her husband, driven
+her from her home--which was at some considerable distance--and for the
+suppression of the consequences of which she was indebted to the
+prince's forbearance. Hyppolitus felt a very painful and disagreeable
+impression at the coming of a person whom his father had so detested,
+although the reasons for this detestation were not known to him. But
+the laws of hospitality, more binding in the country than in town,
+obliged him to receive this visit.
+
+Never had any one, without being at all ill-favoured in the usual
+acceptation of that term, made by her exterior such a disagreeable
+impression upon the Count as did this Baroness. When she came in she
+looked him through and through with a glance of fire, and then she cast
+her eyes down and apologized for her coming in terms which were almost
+over humble. She expressed her sorrow that his father, influenced by
+prejudices against her with which her enemies had impregnated his mind,
+had formed a mortal hatred to her, and though she was almost starving,
+in the depths of her poverty he had never given her the smallest help
+or support. As she had now, unexpectedly as she said, come into
+possession of a small sum of money she had found it possible to leave
+the Residenz and go to a small country town a short distance off.
+However, as she was engaged in this journey she had not found it
+possible to resist the desire to see the son of the man whom,
+notwithstanding his irreconcilable hatred, she had never ceased to
+regard with feelings of the highest esteem. The tone in which all this
+was spoken had the moving accents of sincerity, and the Count was all
+the more affected by it that, having turned his eyes away from her
+repulsive face, he had fixed them upon a marvellously charming and
+beautiful creature who was with her. The Baroness finished her speech.
+The Count did not seem to be aware that she had done so. He remained
+silent. She begged him to pardon--and attribute to her embarrassment at
+being where she was--her having neglected to explain that her companion
+was her daughter Aurelia. On this the Count found words, and blushing
+up to the eyes implored the Baroness, with the agitation of a young man
+overpowered by love, to let him atone in some degree for his lather's
+shortcomings--the result of misunderstandings--and to favour him by
+paying him a long visit. In warmly enforcing this request he took her
+hand. But the words and the breath died away on his lips and his blood
+ran cold. For he felt his hand grasped as if in a vice by fingers cold
+and stiff as death, and the tall bony form of the Baroness, who was
+staring at him with eyes evidently deprived of the faculty of sight,
+seemed to him in its gay many tinted attire like some bedizened corpse.
+
+"Oh, good heavens! how unfortunate just at this moment," Aurelia cried
+out, and went on to lament in a gentle heart-penetrating voice that her
+mother was now and then suddenly seized by a tetanic spasm, but that it
+generally passed off very quickly without its being necessary to take
+any measures with regard to it.
+
+Hyppolitus disengaged himself with some difficulty from the Baroness,
+and all the glowing life of sweetest love delight came back to him as
+he took Aurelia's hand and pressed it warmly to his lips. Although he
+had almost come to man's estate it was the first time that he felt the
+full force of passion, so that it was impossible for him to hide what
+he felt, and the manner in which Aurelia received his avowal in a
+noble, simple, child-like delight, kindled the fairest of hopes within
+him. The Baroness recovered in a few minutes, and, seemingly quite
+unaware of what had been happening, expressed her gratitude to the
+Count for his invitation to pay a visit of some duration at the Castle,
+saying she would be but too happy to forget the injustice with which
+his father had treated her.
+
+Thus the Count's household arrangements and domestic position were
+completely changed, and he could not but believe that some special
+favour of fortune had brought to him the only woman in all the world
+who, as a warmly beloved and deeply adored wife, was capable of
+bestowing upon him the highest conceivable happiness.
+
+The Baroness's manner of conduct underwent little alteration. She
+continued to be silent, grave, much wrapped up in herself, and when
+opportunity offered, evinced a gentle disposition, and a heart disposed
+towards any innocent enjoyment. The Count had become accustomed to the
+death-like whiteness of her face, to the very remarkable network of
+wrinkles which covered it, and to the generally spectral appearance
+which she displayed; but all this he set down to the invalid condition
+of her health, and also, in some measure, to a disposition which she
+evinced to gloomy romanticism. The servants told him that she often
+went out for walks in the night-time, through the park to the
+churchyard. He was much annoyed that his father's prejudices had
+influenced him to the extent that they had; and the most earnest
+recommendations of his uncle that he should conquer the feeling which
+had taken possession of him, and give up a relationship which must
+sooner or later drive him to his ruin, had no effect upon him.
+
+In complete certainty of Aurelia's sincere affection, he asked for her
+hand; and it may be imagined with what joy the Baroness received this
+proposal, which transferred her into the lap of luxury from a position
+of the deepest poverty. The pallor and the strange expression, which
+spoke of some invincible inward pain or trouble, had disappeared from
+Aurelia's face. The blissfulness of love beamed in her eyes, and
+shimmered in roses on her cheeks.
+
+On the morning of the wedding-day a terrible event shattered the
+Count's hopes. The Baroness was found lying on her face dead, not far
+from the churchyard: and when the Count was looking out of his window
+on getting up, full of the bliss of the happiness which he had
+attained, her body was being brought back to the Castle. He supposed
+she was only in one of her usual attacks; but all efforts to bring her
+back to life were ineffectual. She was dead. Aurelia, instead of giving
+way to violent grief, seemed rather to be struck dumb and tearless by
+this blow, which appeared to have a paralyzing effect on her.
+
+The Count was much distressed for her, and only ventured--most
+cautiously and most gently--to remind her that her orphaned condition
+rendered it necessary that conventionalities should be disregarded, and
+that the most essential matter in the circumstances was to hasten on
+the marriage as much as possible, notwithstanding the loss of her
+mother. At this Aurelia fell into the Count's arms, and, whilst a flood
+of tears ran down her cheeks, cried in a most eager manner, and in a
+voice which was shrill with urgency:
+
+"Yes, yes! For the love of all the saints. For the sake of my soul's
+salvation--yes!"
+
+The Count ascribed this burst of emotion to the bitter sense that, in
+her orphaned condition, she did not know whither to betake herself,
+seeing that she could not go on staying in the Castle. He took pains to
+procure a worthy matron as a companion for her, till in a few weeks,
+the wedding-day again came round. And this time no mischance interfered
+with it, and it crowned the bliss of Aurelia and Hyppolitus. But
+Aurelia had all this while been in a curiously strained and excited
+condition. It was not grief for her mother, but she seemed to be
+unceasingly, and without cessation, tortured by some inward anxiety. In
+the midst of the most delicious love-passage she would suddenly clasp
+the Count in her arms, pale as death, and like a person suddenly seized
+by some terror--just as if she were trying her very utmost to resist
+some extraneous power which was threatening to force her to
+destruction--and would cry, "Oh, no--no! Never, never!" Now that she
+was married, however, it seemed that this strange, overstrained,
+excited condition in which she had been, abated and left her, and the
+terrible inward anxiety and disturbance under which she had been
+labouring seemed to disappear.
+
+The Count could not but suspect the existence of some secret evil
+mystery by which Aurelia's inner being was tormented, but he very
+properly thought it would be unkind and unfeeling to ask her about it
+whilst her excitement lasted, and she herself avoided any explanation
+on the subject. However, a time came when he thought he might venture
+to hint gently, that perhaps it would lie well if she indicated to him
+the cause of the strange condition of her mind. She herself at once
+said it would be a satisfaction to her to open her mind to him, her
+beloved husband. And great was his amazement to learn that what was at
+the bottom of the mystery, was the atrociously wicked life which her
+mother had led, that was so perturbing her mind.
+
+"Can there be anything more terrible," she said, "than to have to hate,
+detest, and abhor one's own mother?"
+
+Thus the prejudices (as they were called) of his father and uncle had
+not been unfounded, and the Baroness had deceived him in the most
+deliberate manner. He was obliged to confess to himself--and he made no
+secret of it--that it was a fortunate circumstance that the Baroness
+had died on the morning of his wedding-day. But Aurelia declared that
+as soon as her mother was dead she had been seized by dark and terrible
+terrors, and could not help thinking that her mother would rise from
+her grave, and drag her from her husband's arms into perdition.
+
+She said she dimly remembered, one morning when she was a mere child,
+being awakened by a frightful commotion in the house. Doors opened and
+shut; strangers' voices cried out in confusion. At last, things
+becoming quieter, her nurse took her in her arms, and carried her into
+a large room where there were many people, and the man who had often
+played with her, and given her sweetmeats, lying stretched on a long
+table. This man she had always called "Papa," and she stretched her
+hands out to him, and wanted to kiss him. But his lips, always warm
+before, were cold as ice, and Aurelia broke into violent weeping,
+without knowing why. The nurse took her to a strange house, where she
+remained a long while, till at last a lady came and took her away in a
+carriage. This was her mother, who soon after took her to the Residenz.
+
+When Aurelia got to be about sixteen, a man came to the house whom her
+mother welcomed joyfully, and treated with much confidentiality,
+receiving him with much intimacy of friendship, as being a dear old
+friend. He came more and more frequently, and the Baroness's style of
+existence was soon greatly altered for the better. Instead of living in
+an attic, and subsisting on the poorest of fare, and wearing the most
+wretched old clothes, she took a fine lodging in the most fashionable
+quarter, wore fine dresses, ate and drank with this stranger of the
+best and most expensive food and drink daily (he was her daily guest),
+and took her part in all the public pleasurings which the Residenz had
+to offer.
+
+Aurelia was the person upon whom this bettering of her mother's
+circumstances (evidently attributable solely to the stranger) exercised
+no influence whatever. She remained shut up in her room when her mother
+went out to enjoy herself in the stranger's company, and was obliged to
+live just as miserably as before. This man, though about forty, had a
+very fresh and youthful appearance, a tall, handsome person, and a face
+by no means devoid of a certain amount of manly good looks.
+Notwithstanding this, he was repugnant to Aurelia on account of his
+style of behaviour. He seemed to try to constrain himself, to conduct
+himself like a gentleman and person of some cultivation, but there was
+constantly, and most evidently, piercing through this exterior veneer
+the unmistakable evidence of his really being a totally uncultured
+person, whose manners and habits were those of the very lowest ranks of
+the people. And the way in which he began to look at Aurelia filled her
+with terror--nay, with an abhorrence of which she could not explain the
+reason to herself.
+
+Up to this point the Baroness had never taken the trouble to say a
+single word to Aurelia about this stranger. But now she told her his
+name, adding that this Baron was a man of great wealth, and a distant
+relation. She lauded his good looks, and his various delightful
+qualities, and ended by asking Aurelia if she thought she could bring
+herself to take a liking to him. Aurelia made no secret of the inward
+detestation which she felt for him. The Baroness darted a glance of
+lightning at her, which terrified her excessively, and told her she was
+a foolish, ignorant creature. After this she was kinder to her than she
+had ever been before. She was provided with grand dresses in the height
+of the fashion, and taken to share in all the public pleasures. The man
+now strove to gain her favour in a manner which rendered him more and
+more abhorrent to her. But her delicate, maidenly instincts were
+wounded in the most mortal manner, when an unfortunate accident
+rendered her an unwilling, secret witness of an abominable atrocity
+between her abandoned and depraved mother and him. When, a few days
+after this, this man, after having taken a good deal of wine, clasped
+Aurelia in his arms in a way which left no doubt as to his intention,
+her desperation gave her strength, and she pushed him from her so that
+he fell down on his back. She rushed away and bolted herself in her own
+room. The Baroness told her, very calmly and deliberately, that,
+inasmuch as the Baron paid all the household expenses, and she had not
+the slightest intention of going back to the old poverty of their
+previous life, this was a case in which any absurd coyness would be
+both ludicrous and inconvenient, and that she would really have to make
+up her mind to comply with the Baron's wishes, because, if not, he had
+threatened to part company at once. Instead of being affected by
+Aurelia's bitter tears and agonized intreaties, the old woman, breaking
+into the most brazen and shameless laughter, talked in the most
+depraved manner of a state of matters which would cause Aurelia to bid,
+for ever, farewell to every feeling of enjoyment of life in such
+unrestrained and detestable depravity, defying and insulting all sense
+of ordinary propriety, so that her shame and terror were undescribable
+at what she was obliged to hear. In fact she gave herself up for lost,
+and her only means of salvation appeared to her to be immediate flight.
+
+She had managed to possess herself of the key of the hall door, had got
+together the few little necessaries which she absolutely required, and,
+just after midnight, was moving softly through the dimly-lighted front
+hall, at a time when she thought her mother was sure to be last asleep.
+She was on the point of stepping quietly out into the street, when the
+door opened with a clang, and heavy footsteps came noisily up the
+steps. The Baroness came staggering and stumbling into the hall, right
+up to Aurelia's feet, nothing upon her but a kind of miserable wrapper
+all covered with dirt, her breast and her arms naked, her grey hair all
+hanging down and dishevelled. And close after her came the stranger,
+who seized her by the hair, and dragged her into the middle of the
+hall, crying out in a yelling voice--
+
+"Wait, you old devil, you witch of hell! I'll serve you up a wedding
+breakfast!" And with a good thick cudgel which he had in his hand he
+set to and belaboured and maltreated her in the most shameful manner.
+She made a terrible screaming and outcry, whilst Aurelia, scarcely
+knowing what she was about, screamed aloud out of the window for help.
+
+It chanced that there was a patrol of armed police just passing. The
+men came at once into the house.
+
+"Seize him!" cried the Baroness, writhing in convulsions of rage and
+pain. "Seize him--hold him fast! Look at his bare back. He's----"
+
+When the police sergeant heard the Baroness speak the name he shouted
+out in the greatest delight--
+
+"Hoho! We've got you at last, Devil Alias, have we?" And in spite of
+his violent resistance, they marched him off.
+
+But notwithstanding all this which had been happening, the Baroness had
+understood well enough what Aurelia's idea had been. She contented
+herself with taking her somewhat roughly by the arm, pushing her into
+her room, and locking her up in it, without saying a word. She went out
+early the next morning, and did not come back till late in the evening.
+And during this time Aurelia remained a prisoner in her room, never
+seeing nor hearing a creature, and having nothing to eat or drink. This
+went on for several days. The Baroness often glared at her with eyes
+flashing with anger, and seemed to be wrestling with some decision,
+until, one evening, letters came which seemed to cause her
+satisfaction.
+
+"Silly creature! all this is your fault. However, it seems to be all
+coming right now, and all I hope is that the terrible punishment which
+the Evil Spirit was threatening you with may not come upon you." This
+was what the Baroness said to Aurelia, and then she became more kind
+and friendly, and Aurelia, no longer distressed by the presence of the
+horrible man, and having given up the idea of escaping, was allowed a
+little more freedom.
+
+Some time had elapsed, when one day, as Aurelia was sitting alone in
+her room, she heard a great clamour approaching in the street. The maid
+came running in, and said that they were taking the hangman's son
+of ---- to prison, that he had been branded on the back there for
+robbery and murder, and had escaped, and was now retaken.
+
+Aurelia, full of anxious presentiment, tottered to the window. Her
+presentiment was not fallacious. It _was_ the stranger (as we have
+styled him), and he was being brought along, firmly bound upon a
+tumbril, surrounded by a strong guard. He was being taken back to
+undergo his sentence. Aurelia, nearly fainting, sank back into her
+chair, as his frightfully wild look fell upon her, while he shook his
+clenched fist up at the window with the most threatening gestures.
+
+After this the Baroness was still a great deal away from the house; but
+she never took Aurelia with her, so that the latter led a sorrowful,
+miserable existence--occupied in thinking many thoughts as to destiny,
+and the threatening future which might unexpectedly come upon her.
+
+From the maidservant (who had only come into the house subsequently to
+the nocturnal adventure which has been described, and who had probably
+only quite recently heard about the intimacy of the terms in which the
+Baroness had been living with this criminal), Aurelia learned that the
+folks in the Residenz were very much grieved at the Baroness's having
+been so deceived and imposed upon by a scoundrel of this description.
+But Aurelia knew only too well how differently the matter had really
+stood; and it seemed to her impossible that, at all events, the men of
+the police, who had apprehended the fellow in the Baroness's very
+house, should not have known all about the intimacy of the relations
+between them, inasmuch as she herself had told them his name, and
+directed their attention to the brand-marks on his back, as proofs of
+his identity. Moreover, this loquacious maid sometimes talked in a very
+ambiguous way about that which people were, here and there, thinking
+and saying; and, for that matter, would like very much to know better
+about--as to the courts having been making careful investigations, and
+having gone so far as to threaten the Baroness with arrest, on account
+of strange disclosures which the hangman's son had made concerning her.
+
+Aurelia was obliged to admit, in her own mind, that it was another
+proof of her mother's depraved way of looking at things that, even
+after this terrible affair, she should have found it possible to
+go on living in the Residenz. But at last she felt herself constrained
+to leave the place where she knew she was the object of but too
+well-founded, shameful suspicion, and fly to a more distant spot. On
+this journey she came to the Count's Castle, and there ensued what has
+been related.
+
+Aurelia could not but consider herself marvellously fortunate to have
+got clear of all these troubles. But how profound was her horror when,
+speaking to her mother in this blessed sense of the merciful
+intervention of Heaven in her regard, the latter, with fires of hell in
+her eyes, cried out in a yelling voice--
+
+"You are my misfortune, horrible creature that you are! But in the
+midst of your imagined happiness vengeance will overtake you, if I
+should be carried away by a sudden death. In those tetanic spasms,
+which your birth cost me, the subtle craft of the devil----"
+
+Here Aurelia suddenly stopped. She threw herself upon her husband's
+breast, and implored him to spare her the complete recital of what the
+Baroness had said to her in the delirium of her insanity. She said she
+felt her inmost heart and soul crushed to pieces at the bare idea of
+the frightful threatenings--far beyond the wildest imagination's
+conception of the terrible--uttered to her by her mother, possessed, as
+she was at the time, by the most diabolical powers.
+
+The Count comforted his bride to the best of his ability, although he
+felt himself permeated by the coldest and most deathly shuddering
+horror. Even when he had regained some calmness, he could not but
+confess to himself that the profound horribleness of the Baroness, even
+now that she was dead, cast a deep shadow over his life, sun-bright as
+it otherwise seemed to be.
+
+In a very short time Aurelia began to alter very perceptibly. Whilst
+the deathly paleness of her face, and the fatigued appearance of
+her eyes, seemed to point to sortie bodily ailment, her mental
+state--confused, variable, restless, as if she were constantly
+frightened at something--led to the conclusion that there was some
+fresh mystery perturbing her system. She shunned her husband. She shut
+herself up in her rooms, sought the most solitary walks in the park.
+And when she then allowed herself to be seen, her eyes, red with
+weeping, her contorted features, gave unmistakable evidence of some
+terrible suffering which she had been undergoing. It was in vain that
+the Count took every possible pains to discover the cause of this
+condition of hers, and the only thing which had any effect in bringing
+him out of the hopeless state into which those remarkable symptoms of
+his wife's had plunged him, was the deliberate opinion of a celebrated
+doctor, that this strangely excited condition of the Countess was
+nothing other than the natural result of a bodily state which indicated
+the happy result of a fortunate marriage. This doctor, on one occasion
+when he was at table with the Count and Countess, permitted himself
+sundry allusions to this presumed state of what the German nation
+calls "good hope." The Countess seemed to listen to all this with
+indifference for some time. But suddenly her attention became vividly
+awakened when the doctor spoke of the wonderful longings which women in
+that condition become possessed by, and which they cannot resist
+without the most injurious effects supervening upon their own health,
+and even upon that of the child. The Countess overwhelmed the doctor
+with questions, and the latter did not weary of quoting the strangest
+and most entertaining cases of this description from his own practice
+and experience.
+
+"Moreover," he said, "there are cases on record in which women have
+been led, by these strange, abnormal longings, to commit most terrible
+crimes. There was a certain blacksmith's wife, who had such an
+irresistible longing for her husband's flesh that, one night, when he
+came home the worse for liquor, she set upon him with a large knife,
+and cut him about so frightfully that he died in a few hours' time."
+
+Scarcely had the doctor said these words, when the Countess fell back
+in her chair fainting, and was with much difficulty recovered from the
+succession of hysterical attacks which supervened. The doctor then saw
+that he had acted very thoughtlessly in alluding to such a frightful
+occurrence in the presence of a lady whose nervous system was in such a
+delicate condition.
+
+However, this crisis seemed to have a beneficial effect upon her, for
+she became calmer; although, soon afterwards there came upon her a very
+remarkable condition of rigidity, as of benumbedness. There was a
+darksome fire in her eyes, and her deathlike pallor increased to such
+an extent, that the Count was driven into new and most tormenting
+doubts as to her condition. The most inexplicable thing was that she
+never took the smallest morsel of anything to eat, evincing the utmost
+repugnance at the sight of all food, particularly meat. This repugnance
+was so invincible that she was constantly obliged to get up and leave
+the table, with the most marked indications of loathing. The doctor's
+skill was in vain, and the Count's most urgent and affectionate
+entreaties were powerless to induce her to take even a single drop of
+medicine of any kind. And, inasmuch as weeks, nay, months, had passed
+without her having taken so much as a morsel of food, and it had become
+an unfathomable mystery how she managed to keep alive, the doctor came
+to the conclusion that there was something in the case which lay beyond
+the domain of ordinary human science. He made some pretext for leaving
+the Castle, but the Count saw clearly enough that this doctor, whose
+skilfulness was well approved, and who had a high reputation to
+maintain, felt that the Countess's condition was too unintelligible,
+and, in fact, too strangely mysterious, for him to stay on there,
+witness of an illness impossible to be understood--as to which he felt
+he had no power to render assistance.
+
+It may be readily imagined into what a state of mind all this put the
+Count. But there was more to come. Just at this juncture an old,
+privileged servant took an opportunity, when he found the Count alone,
+of telling him that the Countess went out every night, and did not come
+home till daybreak.
+
+The Count's blood ran cold. It struck him, as a matter which he had not
+quite realized before, that, for a short time back, there had fallen
+upon him, regularly about midnight, a curiously unnatural sleepiness,
+which he now believed to be caused by some narcotic administered to him
+by the Countess, to enable her to get away unobserved. The darkest
+suspicions and forebodings came into his mind. He thought of the
+diabolical mother, and that, perhaps, her instincts had begun to awake
+in her daughter. He thought of some possibility of a conjugal
+infidelity. He remembered the terrible hangman's son.
+
+It was so ordained that the very next night was to explain this
+terrible mystery to him--that which alone could be the key to the
+Countess's strange condition.
+
+She herself used, every evening, to make the tea which the Count always
+took before going to bed. This evening he did not take a drop of it,
+and when he went to bed he had not the slightest symptom of the
+sleepiness which generally came upon him as it got towards midnight.
+However, he lay back on his pillows, and had all the appearance of
+being fast asleep as usual.
+
+And then the Countess rose up very quietly, with the utmost
+precautions, came up to his bedside, held a lamp to his eyes, and then,
+convinced that he was sound asleep, went softly out of the room.
+
+His heart throbbed fast. He got up, put on a cloak, and went after the
+Countess. It was a fine moonlight night, so that, though Aurelia had
+got a considerable start of him, he could see her distinctly going
+along in the distance in her white dress. She went through the park,
+right on to the burying-ground, and there she disappeared at the
+wall. The Count ran quickly after her in through the gate of the
+burying-ground, which he found open. There, in the bright moonlight, he
+saw a circle of frightful, spectral-looking creatures. Old women, half
+naked, were cowering down upon the ground, and in the midst of them lay
+the corpse of a man, which they were tearing at with wolfish appetite.
+
+Aurelia was amongst them.
+
+The Count took flight in the wildest horror, and ran, without any idea
+where he was going or what he was doing, impelled by the deadliest
+terror, all about the walks in the park, till he found himself at the
+door of his own Castle as the day was breaking, bathed in cold
+perspiration. Involuntarily, without the capability of taking hold of a
+thought, he dashed up the steps, and went bursting through the passages
+and into his own bedroom. There lay the Countess, to all appearance in
+the deepest and sweetest of sleeps. And the Count would fain have
+persuaded himself that some deceptive dream-image, or (inasmuch as his
+cloak, wet with dew, was a proof, if any had been needed, that he had
+really been to the burying-ground in the night) some soul-deceiving
+phantom had been the cause of his deathly horror. He did not wait for
+Aurelia's waking, but left the room, dressed, and got on to a horse.
+His ride, in the exquisite morning, amid sweet-scented trees and
+shrubs, whence the happy songs of the newly-awakened birds greeted him,
+drove from his memory for a time the terrible images of the night. He
+went back to the Castle comforted and gladdened in heart.
+
+But when he and the Countess sate down alone together at table, and,
+the dishes being brought and handed, she rose to hurry away, with
+loathing, at the sight of the food as usual, the terrible conviction
+that what he had seen was true, was reality, impressed itself
+irresistibly on his mind. In the wildest fury he rose from his seat,
+crying--
+
+"Accursed misbirth of hell! I understand your hatred of the food of
+mankind. You get your sustenance out of the burying-ground, damnable
+creature that you are!"
+
+As soon as those words had passed his lips, the Countess flew at him,
+uttering a sound between a snarl and a howl, and bit him on the breast
+with the fury of a hyena. He dashed her from him on to the ground,
+raving fiercely as she was, and she gave up the ghost in the most
+terrible convulsions.
+
+The Count became a maniac.
+
+
+"Well," said Lothair, after there had been a few minutes of silence
+amongst the friends, "you have certainly kept your word, my
+incomparable Cyprianus, most thoroughly and magnificently. In
+comparison with this story of yours, vampirism is the merest children's
+tale--a funny Christmas story, to be laughed at. Oh, truly, everything
+in it is fearfully interesting, and so highly seasoned with
+asaf[oe]tida that an unnaturally excited palate, which has lost its
+relish for healthy, natural food, might immensely enjoy it."
+
+"And yet," said Theodore, "our friend has discreetly thrown a veil
+over a great many things, and has passed so rapidly over others,
+that his story has merely caused us a passing feeling of the eery and
+shuddery--for which we are duly grateful to him. I remember very well
+having read this story in an old book, where everything was told with
+the most prolix enumeration of all the details; and the old woman's
+atrocities in particular were set forth in all their minutić, truly
+_con amore_, so that the whole affair produced, and left behind it, a
+most repulsive impression, which it took a long while to get over. I
+was delighted when I had forgotten the horrible thing, and Cyprian
+ought not to have recalled it to my memory; although I must admit that
+he has acted in accordance with the principles of our patron saint
+Serapion, and caused us a sufficient thrill of horror, particularly
+towards the end. It made us all turn pale, particularly the narrator
+himself!"
+
+"We cannot hurry away too quickly from this gruesome picture," Ottmar
+said. "And it will not serve as a dark background (as Vincenz expected
+it would), because the figures of it are in too glaring colours. Allow
+me, by way of a grand change of subject--a sort of sideways spring away
+from the hell-broth which Cyprian has served up to us--to say a word or
+two (merely to give Vincenz time to clear his throat, as I hear him
+doing) concerning a certain aesthetic tea society, which was brought
+to my memory by a little paper which accidentally came into my hand
+to-day. Have I your permission, Vincenz?"
+
+"Strictly speaking," said Vincenz, "it is a breach of all Serapiontic
+rule to keep chattering in this sort of style; and not only that, but,
+moreover, without any especial motive or inducement, the most unseemly
+things about gruesome vampires, and other such matters, are brought
+forward, so that I am obliged to shut my mouth just as I have got it
+opened. But go on, my Ottmar. The hours are flying, and I shall have
+the last word, like a quarrelsome woman, in spite of you. So go on, my
+Ottmar, go on."
+
+"Chance," began Ottmar, "or rather, a kindly-intentioned introduction,
+brought me into the aesthetic tea society which I mentioned; and there
+were circumstances which induced me, or rendered it incumbent on me, to
+attend its meetings regularly for a time, although heaven knows they
+were tedious and wearisome enough. It greatly vexed me that, on an
+occasion when a really talented man read something which was full of
+true wit, and admirably appropriate to the occasion, all the people
+yawned, and grew impatient of it; whilst they were charmed and
+delighted by the marrowless, spiritless trash of a conceited young
+poetaster. This latter was all in the line of the gushing and the
+exuberant, but he also thought very highly of his epigrams. As what
+they were chiefly remarkable for was the absence of the sting in their
+tails, he always gave the signal for the laugh himself by beginning it
+at the proper time; and everybody then joined in it. One evening I
+asked, modestly, if I might be allowed to read out a few little verses
+which had occurred to me in moments of a certain amount of inspiration.
+And as people were good enough to credit me with the possession of a
+certain amount of brains, my request was received with a good deal of
+applause. I took out my manuscript and read, with great solemnity--
+
+                           "'ITALY'S MARVELS.
+
+     'When tow'rds the orient heav'n my gaze I bend,
+      The western sun shines warm upon my back;
+      Whilst, when I turn me to the beauteous west,
+      The golden glory strikes upon mine eyeballs.
+      Oh, sacred land! where nature thus displays
+      Such mighty marvels to the sight of men,
+      All adoration, quite compact of love.'
+
+"'Ah! glorious! heavenly! dear Ottmar, and so deeply felt, Bo
+sensitively expressed, right out of the fulness of your heart, so rich
+in emotions!' cried the lady of the house, whilst several white ladies
+and black gentlemen (I only mean black-dressed ones, with great hearts
+under their jabots) followed her by crying, 'Glorious! heavenly!' and
+one young lady sighed profoundly, weeping away a scalding tear. Being
+asked to read something more, I gave to my voice the expression of a
+deeply moved heart, and read--
+
+                             "'LIFE DEPTHS.
+           'A little lad at Yarrow
+            Had a pretty little sparrow.
+            The other day he let it fly,
+            And now 'tis gone, alas! we sigh,
+            Heigho! the little lad at Yarrow
+            He hath no more the pretty sparrow.'
+
+"There was a fresh tumult of applause. They begged for more; but I
+said, modestly, that I could not but feel that stanzas of this kind,
+grasping as they did comprehensively at the bases of all life, have, in
+the long run, a tendency to impress the hearts of delicate, impassioned
+women too strongly, so that I should prefer to quote a pair of
+epigrams, in which the distinctive feature of the epigram--the sudden
+flashing out of the species of squib which constitutes the tail--would
+not fail to be duly appreciated. I read--
+
+                                 "'WIT.
+           'The pudgy Master Schrein
+            Drank many a glass of wine,
+              But death cut short his thread.
+            Then quoth his neighbour Spry
+            (A gossip, deep and sly),
+            "Our pudgy Master Schrein
+            No longer drinks his wine,
+              And, why?--because he's dead."'
+
+"When the sparkling wit of this roguish epigram had been sufficiently
+admired, I treated them to the following one in addition--
+
+                        "'STINGING REPLY.
+           'Of Hans's book the folks make much ado;
+              "Say, neighbour Hamm, hast read the wonder yet?"
+            Thus Humm to Hamm: and Hamm (a joker he)
+            Said, "Faith, good Humm, I have not read it yet."'
+
+"Everybody laughed heartily, but the lady of the house shook a minatory
+forefinger at me, saying, 'Ah, wicked scoffer! Is nothing to escape
+that scathing wit of yours?'
+
+"The clever man shook hands with me as he passed me, saying--
+
+"'Admirably done. Much obliged to you.'
+
+"The young poet turned his back upon me with much contempt. But the
+young lady who had shed a few tears over 'Italia's Marvels,' came to
+me, and blushing, as she cast down her eyes, said the maidenly,
+virginal heart was more disposed to open to the sense of sweet sadness
+than to the comic; and she begged me to give her a copy of the first
+poem I had read. She said she had felt so curiously happy and creepy
+when she heard it. I promised to give it to her, and I kissed the
+charming young lady's sufficiently pretty hand with all the appropriate
+rapture of a bard duly appreciated by beauty, with the sole intention
+of angering the poet, who cast upon me glances as of an infuriated
+basilisk."
+
+"It is strange enough," said Vincenz, "that, without being in the
+smallest degree aware of it, you have spoken what may be called a
+Goldsmith's prologue to my story. Of course you notice my pretty
+allusion to Shakespeare's Hamlet, and his question, 'Is this a
+prologue, or the posy of a ring?' What I mean is, that your prologue
+consists of what you have said about the irritated poet; for I am
+greatly mistaken if a poet of that kind is not one of the principal
+characters in my story; which story I am now going to begin, and I
+don't intend to stop it until the last word of it is out. And that last
+word is just as hard to speak as the first."
+
+Vincenz read--
+
+
+
+                         THE KING'S BETROTHED.
+                     (A Story Sketched from Life.)
+
+
+                               CHAPTER I.
+
+WHICH GIVES AN ACCOUNT OF THE VARIOUS CHARACTERS, AND THEIR MUTUAL
+      RELATIONS TO EACH OTHER, AND PREPARES THE WAY, PLEASANTLY, FOR
+      THE MANY MARVELLOUS AND MOST ENTERTAINING MATTERS OF WHICH THE
+      SUCCEEDING CHAPTERS TREAT.
+
+It was a blessed year. In the fields the corn, the wheat, and the
+barley grew most gloriously. The boys waded in the grass, and the
+cattle in the clover. The trees hung so full of cherries that, with
+the best will in the world, the great army of the sparrows, though
+determined to peck everything bare, were forced to leave half the fruit
+for a future feast. Every creature filled itself full every day at the
+great guest-table of nature. Above all, however, the vegetables in Herr
+Dapsul von Zabelthau's kitchen-garden had turned out such a splendid
+and beautiful crop that it was no wonder Fräulein Aennchen was unable
+to contain herself with joy on the subject.
+
+We may here explain who Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau and Aennchen were.
+
+Perhaps, dear reader, you may have at some time found yourself in that
+beautiful country which is watered by the pleasant, kindly river Main.
+Soft morning breezes, breathing their perfumed breath over the plain as
+it shimmered in the golden splendour of the new-risen sun, you found it
+impossible to sit cooped up in your stuffy carriage, and you alighted
+and wandered into the little grove, through the trees of which, as you
+descended towards the valley, you came in sight of a little village.
+And as you were gazing, there would suddenly come towards you, through
+the trees, a tall, lanky man, whose strange dress and appearance
+riveted your attention. He had on a small grey felt hat on the top of a
+black periwig: all his clothes were grey--coat, vest, and breeches,
+grey stockings--even his walking-stick coloured grey. He would come up
+to you with long strides, and staring at you with great sunken eyes,
+seemingly not aware of your existence, would cry out, almost running
+you down, "Good morning, sir!" And then, like one awaking from a dream,
+he would add in a hollow, mournful voice, "Good morning! Oh, sir,
+how thankful we ought to be that we have a good, fine morning. The
+poor people at Santa Cruz just had two earthquakes, and now--at this
+moment--rain falling in torrents." While you have been thinking what to
+say to this strange creature, he, with an "Allow me, sir," has gently
+passed his hand across your brow, and inspected the palm of your hand.
+And saying, in the same hollow, melancholy accents as before, "God
+bless you, sir! You have a good constellation," has gone striding on
+his way.
+
+This odd personage was none other than Herr Dapsul Von Zabelthau, whose
+sole--rather miserable--possession is the village, or hamlet, of
+Dapsulheim, which lies before you in this most pleasant and smiling
+country into which you now enter. You are looking forward to something
+in the shape of breakfast, but in the little inn things have rather a
+gloomy aspect. Its small store of provisions was cleared out at the
+fair, and as you can't be expected to be content with nothing besides
+milk, they tell you to go to the Manor House, where the gracious
+Fräulein Anna will entertain you hospitably with whatever may be
+forthcoming there. Accordingly, thither you betake yourself without
+further ceremony.
+
+Concerning this Manor House, there is nothing further to say than that
+it has doors and windows, as of yore had that of Baron Tondertontonk in
+Westphalia. But above the hall-door the family coat-of-arms makes a
+fine show, carved there in wood with New Zealand skilfulness. And this
+Manor House derives a peculiar character of its own from the
+circumstance that its north side leans upon the enceinte, or outer line
+of defence belonging to an old ruined castle, so that the back entrance
+is what was formerly the castle gate, and through it one passes at once
+into the courtyard of that castle, in the middle of which the tall
+watch-tower still stands undamaged. From the hall door, which is
+surmounted by the coat-of-arms, there comes meeting you a red-cheeked
+young lady, who, with her clear blue eyes and fair hair, is to be
+called very pretty indeed, although her figure may be considered just
+the least bit too roundly substantial. A personification of friendly
+kindness, she begs you to go in, and as soon as she ascertains your
+wants, serves you up the most delicious milk, a liberal allowance of
+first-rate bread and butter, uncooked ham--as good as you would find in
+Bayonne--and a small glass of beetroot brandy. Meanwhile, this young
+lady (who is none other than Fräulein Anna von Zabelthau) talks to you
+gaily and pleasantly of rural matters, displaying anything but a
+limited knowledge of such subjects. Suddenly, however, there resounds a
+loud and terrible voice, as if from the skies, crying "Anna, Anna,
+Anna!" This rather startles you; but Fräulein Anna says, pleasantly,
+"There's papa back from his walk, calling for his breakfast from his
+study." "Calling from his study," you repeat, or enquire, astonished.
+"Yes," says Fräulein Anna, or Fräulein Aennchen, as the people call
+her. "Yes; papa's study is up in the tower there, and he calls down
+through the speaking trumpet." And you see Aennchen open the narrow
+door of the old lower, with a similar _déjeuner ŕ la fourchette_ to
+that which you have had yourself, namely, a liberal helping of bread
+and ham, not forgetting the beetroot brandy, and go briskly in at it.
+But she is back directly, and taking you all over the charming
+kitchen-garden, has so much to say about feather-sage, rapuntika,
+English turnips, little greenheads, montrue, great yellow, and so
+forth, that you have no idea that all these fine names merely mean
+various descriptions of cabbages and salads.
+
+I think, dear reader, that this little glimpse which you have had of
+Dapsulheim is sufficient to enable you to understand all the outs and
+ins of the establishment, concerning which I have to narrate to you all
+manner of extraordinary, barely comprehensible, matters and
+occurrences. Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau had, during his youth, very
+rarely left his parents' country place. They had been people of
+considerable means. His tutor, after teaching him foreign languages,
+particularly those of the East, fostered a natural inclination which he
+possessed towards mysticism, or rather, occupying himself with the
+mysterious. This tutor died, leaving as a legacy to young Dapsul a
+whole library of occult science, into the very depths of which he
+proceeded to plunge. His parents dying, he betook himself to long
+journeyings, and (as his tutor had impressed him with the necessity of
+doing) to Egypt and India. When he got home again, after many years, a
+cousin had looked after his affairs with such zeal that there was
+nothing left to him but the little hamlet of Dapsulheim. Herr Dapsul
+was too eagerly occupied in the pursuit of the sun-born gold of a
+higher sphere to trouble himself about that which was earthly. He
+rather felt obliged to his cousin for preserving to him the pleasant,
+friendly Dapsulheim, with the fine, tall tower, which might have been
+built expressly on purpose for astrological operations, and in the
+upper storey and topmost height of which he at once established his
+study. And indeed he thanked his said cousin from the bottom of his
+heart.
+
+This careful cousin now pointed out that Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau was
+bound to marry. Dapsul immediately admitted the necessity, and, without
+more ado, married at once the lady whom his cousin had selected for
+him. This lady disappeared almost as quickly as she had appeared on the
+scene. She died, after bearing him a daughter. The cousin attended to
+the marriage, the baptism, and the funeral; so that Dapsul, up in his
+tower, paid very little attention to either. For there was a very
+remarkable comet visible during most of the time, and Dapsul, ever
+melancholy and anticipative of evil, considered that he was involved in
+its influence.
+
+The little daughter, under the careful up-bringing of an old
+grand-aunt, developed a remarkable aptitude for rural affairs. She had
+to begin at the very beginning, and, so to speak, rise from the ranks,
+serving successively as goose-girl, maid-of-all-work, upper farm-maid,
+housekeeper, and, finally, as mistress, so that Theory was all along
+illustrated and impressed upon her mind by a salutary share of
+Practice. She was exceedingly fond of ducks and geese, hens and
+pigeons, and even the tender broods of well-shaped piglings she was by
+no means indifferent to, though she did not put a ribbon and a bell
+round a little white sucking-pig's neck and make it into a sort of
+lap-dog, as a certain young lady, in another place, was once known to
+do. But more than anything--more than even to the fruit trees--she was
+devoted to the kitchen-garden. From her grand-aunt's attainments in
+this line she had derived very remarkable theoretical knowledge of
+vegetable culture (which the reader has seen for himself), as regarded
+digging of the ground, sowing the seed, and setting the plants.
+Fräulein Aennchen not only superintended all these operations, but lent
+most valuable manual aid. She wielded a most vigorous spade--her
+bitterest enemy would have admitted this. So that while Herr Dapsul von
+Zabelthau was immersed in astrological observations and other important
+matters, Fräulein Aennchen carried on the management of the place in
+the ablest possible manner, Dapsul looking after the celestial part of
+the business, and Aennchen managing the terrestrial side of things with
+unceasing vigilance and care.
+
+As above said, it was small wonder that Aennchen was almost beside
+herself with delight at the magnificence of the yield which this season
+had produced in the kitchen-garden. But the carrot-bed was what
+surpassed everything else in the garden in its promise.
+
+"Oh, my dear, beautiful carrots!" cried Anna over and over again, and
+she clapped her hands, danced, and jumped about, and conducted herself
+like a child who has been given a grand Christmas present.
+
+And indeed it seemed as though the carrot-children underground were
+taking part in Aennchen's gladness, for some extremely delicate
+laughter, which just made itself heard, was undoubtedly proceeding from
+the carrot-bed. Aennchen didn't, however, pay much heed to it, but ran
+to meet one of the farm-men who was coming, holding up a letter, and
+calling out to her, "For you, Fräulein Aennchen. Gottlieb brought it
+from the town."
+
+Aennchen saw immediately, from the hand writing, that it was from none
+other than young Herr Amandus von Nebelstern, the son of a neighbouring
+proprietor, now at the university. During the time when he was living
+at home, and in the habit of running over to Dapsulheim every day,
+Amandus had arrived at the conviction that in all his life he never
+could love anybody except Aennchen. Similarly, Aennchen was perfectly
+certain that she could never really care the least bit about anybody
+else but this brown-locked Amandus. Thus both Aennchen and Amandus had
+come to the conclusion and arrangement that they were to be married as
+soon as ever they could--the sooner the better--and be the very
+happiest married couple in the wide world.
+
+Amandus had at one time been a bright, natural sort of lad enough, but
+at the university he had got into the hands of God knows who, and had
+been induced to fancy himself a marvellous poetical genius, as also to
+betake himself to an extreme amount of absurd extravagance in
+expression of ideas. He carried this so far that he soon soared far
+away beyond everything which prosaic idiots term Sense and Reason
+(maintaining at the same time, as they do, that both are perfectly
+co-existent with the utmost liveliness of imagination).
+
+It was from this young Amandus that the letter came which Aennchen
+opened and read, as follows:--
+
+"HEAVENLY MAIDEN,--
+
+"Dost thou see, dost thou feel, dost thou not image and figure to
+thyself, thy Amandus, how, circumambiated by the orange-flower-laden
+breath of the dewy evening, he is lying on his back in the grass,
+gazing heavenward with eyes filled with the holiest love and the
+most longing adoration? The thyme and the lavender, the rose
+and the gilliflower, as also the yellow-eyed narcissus and the
+shamefaced violet--he weaveth into garlands. And the flowers are
+love-thoughts--thoughts of thee, oh, Anna! But doth feeble prose beseem
+inspired lips? Listen! oh, listen how I can only love, and speak of my
+love, sonnetically!
+
+     "Love flames aloft in thousand eager sunspheres,
+        Joy wooeth joy within the heart so warmly:
+        Down from the darkling sky soft stars are shining.
+      Back-mirrored from the deep, still wells of love-tears.
+
+     "Delight, alas! doth die of joy too burning--
+        The sweetest fruit hath aye the bitt'rest kernel--
+        While longing beckons from the violet distance,
+      In pain of love my heart to dust is turning.
+
+     "In fiery billows rage the ocean surges,
+        Yet the bold swimmer dares the plunge full arduous,
+      And soon amid the waves his strong course urges.
+
+     "And on the shore, now near, the jacinth shoots:
+        The faithful heart holds firm: 'twill bleed to death;
+        But heart's blood is the sweetest of all roots.[1]
+
+"Oh, Anna! when thou readest this sonnet of all sonnets, may all the
+heavenly rapture permeate thee in which all my being was dissolved when
+I wrote it down, and then read it out, to kindred minds, conscious,
+like myself, of life's highest. Think, oh, think I sweet maiden of
+
+                             "Thy faithful, enraptured,
+                                   "AMANDUS VON NEBELSTERN.
+
+"P.S.--Don't forget, oh, sublime virgin! when answering this, to send a
+pound or two of that Virginia tobacco which you grow yourself. It burns
+splendidly, and has a far better flavour than the Porto Rico which the
+Bürschen smoke when they go to the Kneipe."
+
+
+[Footnote 1: The translator may point out that the original of this
+nonsense is, itself, intentionally nonsense, and that he has done his
+best to render it into English--not an easy task.--A. E.]
+
+
+Fräulein Aennchen pressed the letter to her lips, and said, "Oh, how
+dear, how beautiful! And the darling verses, rhyming so beautifully.
+Oh, if I were only clever enough to understand it all; but I suppose
+nobody can do that but a student. I wonder what that about the 'roots'
+means? I suppose it must be the long red English carrots, or, who
+knows, it may be the rapuntica. Dear fellow!"
+
+That very day Fräulein Aennchen made it her business to pack up the
+tobacco, and she took a dozen of her finest goose-quills to the
+schoolmaster, to get him to make them into pens. Her intention was to
+sit down at once and begin her answer to the precious letter. As she
+was going out of the kitchen-garden, she was again followed by a very
+faint, almost imperceptible, sound of delicate laughter; and if she had
+paid a little attention to what was going on, she would have been sure
+to hear a little delicate voice saying, "Pull me, pull me! I am
+ripe--ripe--ripe!" However, as we have said, she paid no attention, and
+did not hear this.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER II.
+
+WHICH CONTAINS AN ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST WONDERFUL EVENT, AND OTHER
+      MATTERS DESERVING OF PERUSAL, WITHOUT WHICH THIS TALE COULD HAVE
+      HAD NO EXISTENCE.
+
+Herr Dapsul Von Zabelthau generally came down from his astronomical
+tower about noon, to partake of a frugal repast with his daughter,
+which usually lasted a very short time, and during which there was
+generally a great predominance of silence, for Dapsul did not like to
+talk. And Aennchen did not trouble him by speaking much, and this all
+the more for the reason that if her papa did actually begin to talk, he
+would come out with all sorts of curious unintelligible nonsense, which
+made a body's head giddy. This day, however, her head was so full, and
+her mind so excited and taken up with the flourishing state of the
+kitchen-garden, and the letter from her beloved Amandus, that she
+talked of both subjects incessantly, mixed up, without leaving off.
+At last Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau laid down his knife and fork,
+stopped his ears with his hands, and cried out, "Oh, the dreary
+higgledy-piggledy of chatter and gabble!"
+
+Aennchen stopped, alarmed, and he went on to say, in the melancholy
+sustained tones which were characteristic of him, "With regard to the
+vegetables, my dear daughter, I have long been cognizant that the
+manner in which the stars have worked together this season has been
+eminently favourable to those growths, and the earthly man will be
+amply supplied with cabbage, radishes, and lettuce, so that the earthly
+matter may duly increase and withstand the fire of the world-spirit,
+like a properly kneaded pot. The gnomic principle will resist the
+attacks of the salamander, and I shall have the enjoyment of eating the
+parsnips which you cook so well. With regard to young Amandus von
+Nebelstern, I have not the slightest objection to your marrying him as
+soon as he comes back from the university. Simply send Gottlieb up to
+tell me when your marriage is going to take place, so that I may go
+with you to the church."
+
+Herr Dapsul kept silence for a few seconds, and then, without looking
+at Aennchen, whose face was glowing with delight, he went on, smiling
+and striking his glass with his fork (two things which he seldom did at
+all, though he always did them together) to say, "Your Amandus has got
+to be, and cannot help being, where and what he is. He is, in fact, a
+gerund; and I shall merely tell you, my dear Aennchen, that I drew up
+his horoscope a long while ago. His constellation is favourable enough
+on the whole, for the matter of that. He has Jupiter in the ascending
+node, Venus regarding in the sextile. The trouble is, that the path of
+Sirius cuts across, and, just at the point of intersection, there
+is a great danger from which Amandus delivers his betrothed. The
+danger--what it is--is indiscoverable, because some strange being,
+which appears to set at defiance all astrological science, seems to be
+concerned in it. At the same time, it is evident and certain that it is
+only the strange psychical condition which mankind terms craziness, or
+mental derangement, which will enable Amandus to accomplish this
+deliverance. Oh, my daughter!" (here Herr Dapsul fell again into his
+usual pathetic tone), "may no mysterious power, which keeps itself
+hidden from my seer-eyes, come suddenly across your path, so that young
+Amandus von Nebelstern may not have to rescue you from any other danger
+but that of being an old maid." He sighed several times consecutively,
+and then continued, "But the path of Sirius breaks off abruptly after
+this danger, and Venus and Jupiter, divided before, come together
+again, reconciled."
+
+Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau had not spoken so much for years as on this
+occasion. He arose exhausted, and went back up into his tower.
+
+Aennchen had her answer to Herr von Nebelstern ready in good time next
+morning. It was as follows:--
+
+"MY OWN DEAREST AMANDUS--
+
+"You cannot believe what joy your letter has given me. I have told papa
+about it, and he has promised to go to church with us when we're
+married. Be sure to come back from the university as soon as ever you
+can. Oh! if I only could _quite_ understand your darling verses, which
+rhyme so beautifully. When I read them to myself aloud they sound
+wonderful, and _then_ I think I _do_ understand them quite well. But
+soon everything grows confused, and seems to get away from me, and I
+feel as if I had been reading a lot of mere words that somehow don't
+belong to each other at all. The schoolmaster says this must be so, and
+that it's the new fashionable way of speaking. But, you see, I'm--oh,
+well!--I'm only a stupid, foolish creature. Please to write and tell me
+if I couldn't be a student for a little time, without neglecting my
+housework. I suppose that couldn't be, though, could it? Well, well:
+when once we're husband and wife, perhaps I may pick up a little of
+your learning, and learn a little of this new, fashionable way of
+speaking.
+
+"I send you the Virginian tobacco, my dearest Amandus. I've packed my
+bonnet-box full of it, as much as ever I could get into it; and, in the
+meantime, I've put my new straw hat on to Charles the Great's head--you
+know he stands in the spare bedroom, although he has no feet, being
+only a bust, as you remember.
+
+"Please don't laugh, Amandus dear; but I have made some poetry myself,
+and it rhymes quite nicely, some of it. Write and tell me how a person,
+without learning, can know so well what rhymes to what? Just listen,
+now--
+
+           "I love you, dearest, as my life.
+            And long at once to be your wife.
+            The bright blue sky is full of light,
+            When evening comes the stars shine bright.
+            So you must love me always truly,
+            And never cause me pain unduly,
+            I pack up the 'baccy you asked me to send,
+            And I hope it will yield you enjoyment no end.
+
+"There! you must take the will for the deed, and when I learn the
+fashionable way of speaking, I'll do some better poetry. The yellow
+lettuces are promising splendidly this year--never was such a crop; so
+are the French beans; but my little dachshund, Feldmann, gave the big
+gander a terrible bite in the leg yesterday. However, we can't have
+everything perfect in this world. A hundred kisses in imagination, my
+dearest Amandus, from
+
+                             "Your most faithful fiancée,
+                                         "ANNA VON ZABELTHAU.
+
+"P.S.--I've been writing in an awful hurry, and that's the reason the
+letters are rather crooked here and there.
+
+"P.S.--But you mustn't mind about that. Though I may write a little
+crookedly, my heart is all straight, and I am
+
+                             "Always your faithful
+                                         "ANNA.
+
+"P.S.--Oh, good gracious! I had almost forgot--thoughtless thing that I
+am. Papa sends you his kind regards, and says you have got to be, and
+cannot help being, where and what you are; and that you are to rescue
+me from a terrible danger some day. Now, I'm very glad of this, and
+remain, once more,
+
+                             "Your most true and loving
+                                         "ANNA VON ZABELTHAU."
+
+It was a good weight off Fräulein Aennchen's mind when she had written
+this letter; it had cost her a considerable effort. So she felt
+light-hearted and happy when she had put it in its envelope, sealed
+it up without burning the paper or her own fingers, and given it,
+together with the bonnet-boxful of tobacco, to Gottlieb to take to the
+post-office in the town. When she had seen properly to the poultry in
+the yard, she ran as fast as she could to the place she loved best--the
+kitchen-garden. When she got to the carrot-bed she thought it was about
+time to be thinking of the sweet-toothed people in the town, and be
+palling the earliest of the carrots. The servant-girl was called in to
+help in this process. Fräulein Aennchen walked, gravely and seriously,
+into the middle of the bed, and grasped a stately carrot-plant. But on
+her pulling at it a strange sound made itself heard. Do not, reader,
+think of the witches' mandrake-root, and the horrible whining and
+howling which pierces the heart of man when it is drawn from the earth.
+No; the tone which was heard on this occasion was like very delicate,
+joyous laughter. But Fräulein Aennchen let the carrot-plant go, and
+cried out, rather frightened, "Eh! Who's that laughing at me?" But
+there being nothing more to be heard she took hold of the carrot-plant
+again--which seemed to be finer and better grown than any of the
+rest--and, notwithstanding the laughing, which began again, pulled up
+the very finest and most splendid carrot ever beheld by mortal eye.
+When she looked at it more closely she gave a cry of joyful surprise,
+so that the maid-servant came running up; and she also exclaimed aloud
+at the beautiful miracle which disclosed itself to her eyes. For there
+was a beautiful ring firmly attached to the carrot, with a shining
+topaz mounted in it.
+
+"Oh," cried the maid, "that's for you! It's your wedding-ring. Put it
+on directly."
+
+"Stupid nonsense!" said Fräulein Aennchen. "I must get my
+wedding-ring from Herr Amandus von Nebelstern, not from a carrot."
+
+However, the longer she looked at the ring the better she was pleased
+with it; and, indeed, it was of such wonderfully fine workmanship that
+it seemed to surpass anything ever produced by human skill. On the ring
+part of it there were hundreds and hundreds of tiny little figures
+twined together in the most manifold groupings, hardly to be made out
+with the naked eye at first, so microscopically minute were they. But
+when one looked at them closely for a little while they appeared to
+grow bigger and more distinct, and to come to life, and dance in pretty
+combinations. And the fire of the gem was of such a remarkable water
+that the like of it could not have been found in the celebrated Dresden
+collection.
+
+"Who knows," said the maid, "how long this beautiful ring may have been
+underground? And it must have got shoved up somehow, and then the
+carrot has grown right through it."
+
+Fräulein Aennchen took the ring off the carrot, and it was strange how
+the latter suddenly slipped through her fingers and disappeared in the
+ground. But neither she nor the maid paid much heed to this
+circumstance, being lost in admiration of the beautiful ring, which the
+young lady immediately put on the little finger of the right hand
+without more ado. As she did so, she felt a stinging pain all up her
+finger, from the root of it to the point; but this pain went away again
+as quickly as it had come.
+
+Of course she told her father, at mid-day, all about this strange
+adventure at the carrot-bed, and showed him the beautiful ring which
+had been sticking upon the carrot. She was going to take it off that he
+might examine it the better, but felt the same stinging kind of pain as
+when she put it on. And this pain lasted all the time she was trying to
+get it off, so that she had to give up trying. Herr Dapsul scanned the
+ring upon her finger with the most careful attention. He made her
+stretch her finger out, and describe with it all sorts of circles in
+all directions. After which he fell into a profound meditation, and
+went up into his tower without uttering a syllable. Aennchen heard him
+giving vent to a very considerable amount of groaning and sighing as he
+went.
+
+Next morning, when she was chasing the big cock about the yard (he was
+bent on all manner of mischief, and was skirmishing particularly with
+the pigeons), Herr Dapsul began lamenting so fearfully down from the
+tower through the speaking trumpet that she cried up to him through her
+closed hand, "Oh papa dear, what are you making such a terrible howling
+for? The fowls are all going out of their wits."
+
+Heir Dapsul hailed down to her through the speaking trumpet, saying,
+"Anna, my daughter Anna, come up here to me immediately."
+
+Fräulein Aennchen was much astonished at this command, for her papa had
+never in all his life asked her to go into the tower, but rather had
+kept the door of it carefully shut. So that she was conscious of a
+certain sense of anxiety as she climbed the narrow winding stair, and
+opened the heavy door which led into its one room. Herr Dapsul von
+Zabelthau was seated upon a large armchair of singular form, surrounded
+by curious instruments and dusty books. Before him was a kind of stand,
+upon which there was a paper stretched in a frame, with a number of
+lines drawn upon it. He had on a tall pointed cap, a wide mantle of
+grey calimanco, and on his chin a long white beard, so that he had
+quite the appearance of a magician. On account of his false beard,
+Aennchen didn't know him a bit just at first, and looked curiously
+about to see if her father were hidden away in some corner; but when
+she saw that the man with the beard on was really papa, she laughed
+most heartily, and asked if it was Yule-time, and he was going to act
+Father Christmas.
+
+Paying no heed to this enquiry, Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau took a small
+tool of iron in his hand, touched Aennchen's forehead with it, and then
+stroked it along her right arm several times, from the armpit to the
+tip of the little finger. While this was going on she had to sit in the
+armchair, which he had quitted, and to lay the finger which had the
+ring upon it on the paper which was in the frame, in such a position
+that the topaz touched the central point where all the lines came
+together. Yellow rays immediately shot out from the topaz all round,
+colouring the paper all over with deep yellow light. Then the lines
+went flickering and crackling up and down, and the little figures which
+were on the ring seemed to be jumping merrily about all over the paper.
+Herr Dapsul, without taking his eyes from the paper, had taken hold of
+a thin plate of some metal, which he held up high over his head with
+both arms, and was proceeding to press it down upon the paper; but ere
+he could do so he slipped his foot on the smooth stone floor, and fell,
+anything but softly, upon the sitting portion of his body; whilst the
+metal plate, which he had dropped in an instinctive attempt to break
+his fall, and save damage to his _Os Coccygis_, went clattering down
+upon the stones. Fräulein Aennchen awoke, with a gentle "Ah!" from a
+strange dreamy condition in which she had been. Herr Dapsul with some
+difficulty raised himself, put the grey sugar-loaf cap, which had
+fallen off, on again, arranged the false beard, and sate himself down
+opposite to Aennchen upon a pile of folio volumes.
+
+"My daughter," he said, "my daughter Anna; what were your sensations?
+Describe your thoughts, your feelings? What were the forms seen by the
+eye of the spirit within your inner being?"
+
+"Ah!" answered Anna, "I was so happy; I never was so happy in all my
+life. And I thought of Amandus von Nebelstern. And I saw him quite
+plainly before my eyes, but he was much better looking than he used to
+be, and he was smoking a pipe of the Virginian tobacco that I sent him,
+and seemed to be enjoying it tremendously. Then all at once I felt a
+great appetite for young carrots with sausages; and lo and behold!
+there the dishes were before me, and I was just going to help myself to
+some when I woke up from the dream in a moment, with a sort of painful
+start."
+
+"Amandus von Nebelstern, Virginia canaster, carrots, sausages," quoth
+Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau to his daughter very reflectively. And he
+signed to her to stay where she was, for she was preparing to go away.
+
+"Happy is it for you, innocent child," he began, in a tone much more
+lamentable than even his usual one, "that you are as yet not initiated
+into the profounder mysteries of the universe, and are unaware of the
+threatening perils which surround you. You know nothing of the
+supernatural science of the sacred cabbala. True, you will never
+partake the celestial joy of those wise ones who, having attained the
+highest step, need never eat or drink except for their pleasure, and
+are exempt from human necessities. But then, you have not to endure and
+suffer the pain of attainment to that step, like your unhappy father,
+who is still far more liable to attacks of mere human giddiness, to
+whom that which he laboriously discovers only causes terror and awe,
+and who is still, from purely earthly necessities, obliged to eat and
+drink and, in fact, submit to human requirements. Learn, my charming
+child, blessed as you are with absence of knowledge, that the depths of
+the earth, and the air, water, and fire, are filled with spiritual
+beings of higher and yet of more restricted nature than mankind. It
+seems unnecessary, my little unwise one, to explain to you the peculiar
+nature and characteristics of the gnomes, the salamanders, sylphides,
+and undines; you would not be able to understand them. To give you some
+slight idea of the danger which you may be undergoing, it is sufficient
+that I should tell you that these spirits are always striving eagerly
+to enter into unions with human beings; and as they are well aware that
+human beings are strongly adverse to those unions, they employ all
+manner of subtle and crafty artifices to delude such of the latter as
+they have fixed their affections upon. Often it is a twig, a flower, a
+glass of water, a fire-steel, or something else, in appearance of no
+importance, which they employ as a means of compassing their intent. It
+is true that unions of this sort often turn out exceedingly happily, as
+in the case of two priests, mentioned by Prince della Mirandola, who
+spent forty years of the happiest possible wedlock with a spirit of
+this description. It is true, moreover, that the most renowned sages
+have been the offspring of such unions between human beings and
+elementary spirits. Thus, the great Zoroaster was a son of the
+salamander Oromasis; the great Apollonius, the sage Merlin, the valiant
+Count of Cleve, and the great cabbalist, Ben-Syra, were the glorious
+fruits of marriages of this description, and according to Paracelsus
+the beautiful Melusina was no other than a sylphide. But yet,
+notwithstanding, the peril of such a union is much too great, for not
+only do the elementary spirits require of those on whom they confer
+their favours that the clearest light of the profoundest wisdom shall
+have arisen and shall shine upon them, but besides this they are
+extraordinarily touchy and sensitive, and revenge offences with extreme
+severity. Thus, it once happened that a sylphide, who was in union with
+a philosopher, on an occasion when he was talking with friends about a
+pretty woman--and perhaps rather too warmly--suddenly allowed her white
+beautifully-formed limb to become visible in the air, as if to convince
+the friends of her beauty, and then killed the poor philosopher
+on the spot. But ah! why should I refer to others? Why don't I
+speak of myself? I am aware that for the last twelve years I have
+been beloved by a sylphide, but she is timorous and coy, and I am
+tortured by the thought of the danger of fettering her to me more
+closely by cabbalistic processes, inasmuch as I am still much too
+dependent on earthly necessities, and consequently lack the necessary
+degree of wisdom. Every morning I make up my mind to fast, and I
+succeed in letting breakfast pass without touching any; but when
+mid-day comes, oh! Anna, my daughter Anna, you know well that I eat
+tremendously."
+
+These latter words Herr Dapsul uttered almost in a howl, while bitter
+tears rolled down his lean chop-fallen cheeks. He then went on more
+calmly--
+
+"But I take the greatest of pains to behave towards the elementary
+spirit who is thus favourably disposed towards me with the utmost
+refinement of manners, the most exquisite _galanterie_. I never venture
+to smoke a pipe of tobacco without employing the proper preliminary
+cabbalistic precautions, for I cannot tell whether or not my tender
+air-spirit may like the brand of the tobacco, and so be annoyed at the
+defilement of her element. And I take the same precautions when I cut a
+hazel twig, pluck a flower, eat a fruit, or strike fire, all my efforts
+being directed to avoid giving offence to any elementary spirit. And
+yet--there, you see that nutshell, which I slid upon, and, falling over
+backwards, completely nullified the whole important experiment, which
+would have revealed to me the whole mystery of the ring? I do not
+remember that I have ever eaten a nut in this chamber, completely
+devoted as it is to science (you know now why I have my breakfast on
+the stairs), and it is all the clearer that some little gnome must have
+been hidden away in that shell, very likely having come here to
+prosecute his studies, and watch some of my experiments. For the
+elementary spirits are fond of human science, particularly such kinds
+of it as the uninitiated vulgar consider to be, if not foolish and
+superstitious, at all events beyond the powers of the human mind to
+comprehend, and for that reason style 'dangerous.' Thus, when I
+accidentally trod upon this little student's head, I suppose he got in
+a rage, and threw me down. But it is probable that he had a deeper
+reason for preventing me from finding out the secret of the ring. Anna,
+my dear Anna, listen to this. I had ascertained that there is a gnome
+bestowing his favour upon you, and to judge by the ring he must be a
+gnome of rank and distinction, as well as of superior cultivation. But,
+my dear Anna, my most beloved little stupid girl, how do you suppose
+you are going to enter into any kind of union with an elementary spirit
+without running the most terrible risk? If you had read Cassiodorus
+Remus you might, of course, reply that, according to his veracious
+chronicle, the celebrated Magdalena de la Croix, abbess of a convent at
+Cordova, in Spain, lived for thirty years in the happiest wedlock
+imaginable with a little gnome, whilst a similar result followed in
+the case of a sylph and the young Gertrude, a nun in Kloster Nazareth,
+near Cologne. But, then, think of the learned pursuits of those
+ecclesiastical ladies and of your own; what a mighty difference.
+Instead of reading in learned books you are often employing your time
+in feeding hens, geese, ducks, and other creatures, which simply molest
+and annoy all cabbalists; instead of watching the course of the stars,
+the heavens, you dig in the earth; instead of deciphering the traces of
+the future in skilfully-constructed horoscopes you are churning milk
+into butter, and putting sauerkraut up to pickle for mean everyday
+winter use; although, really, I must say that for my own part I should
+be very sorry to be without such articles of food. Say, is all this
+likely, in the long run, to content a refined philosophic elementary
+spirit? And then, oh Anna! it must be through you that the Dapsulheim
+line must continue, which earthly demand upon your being you cannot
+refuse to obey in any possible case. Yet, in connection with this ring,
+you in your instinctive way felt a strange irreflective sense of
+physical enjoyment. By means of the operation in which I was engaged, I
+desired and intended to break the power of the ring, and free you
+entirely from the gnome which is pursuing you. That operation failed,
+in consequence of the trick played me by the little student in the
+nut-shell. And yet, notwithstanding, I feel inspired by a courage such
+as I never felt before to do battle with this elementary spirit. You
+are my child, whom I begot, not indeed with a sylphide, salamandress,
+or other elementary spirit, but of that poor country lady of a fine old
+family, to whom the God-forgotten neighbours gave the nickname of the
+'goat-girl' on account of her idyllic nature. For she used to go out
+with a flock of pretty little white goats, and pasture them on the
+green hillocks, I meanwhile blowing a reed-pipe on my tower, a
+love-stricken young fool, by way of accompaniment. Yes, you are my own
+child, my flesh and blood, and I mean to rescue you. Here, this mystic
+file shall befree you from the pernicious ring."
+
+With this, Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau took up a small file and began
+filing away with it at the ring. But scarcely had he passed it once or
+twice backwards and forwards when Fräulein Aennchen cried aloud in
+pain, "Papa, papa, you're filing my finger off!" And actually there was
+dark thick blood coming oozing from under the ring. Seeing this, Herr
+Dapsul let the file fall upon the floor, sank half fainting into the
+armchair, and cried, in utter despair, "Oh--oh--oh--oh! It is all over
+with me! Perhaps the infuriated gnome may come this very hour and bite
+my head off unless the sylphide saves me. Oh, Anna, Anna,
+go--fly!"
+
+As her father's extraordinary talk had long made her wish herself far
+enough away, she ran downstairs like the wind.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER III.
+
+SOME ACCOUNT IS GIVEN OF THE ARRIVAL OF A REMARKABLE PERSONAGE IN
+      DAPSULHEIM, AND OF WHAT FOLLOWED FURTHER.
+
+Herr Dapsul Von Zabelthau had just embraced his daughter with many
+tears, and was moving off to ascend his tower, where he dreaded every
+moment the alarming visit of the incensed gnome, when the sound of a
+horn, loud and clear, made itself heard, and into the courtyard came
+bounding and curvetting a little cavalier of sufficiently strange and
+amusing appearance. His yellow horse was not at all large, and was of
+delicate build, so that the little rider, in spite of his large
+shapeless head, did not look so dwarfish as might otherwise have been
+the case, as he sate a considerable height above the horse's head. But
+this was attributable to the length of his body, for what of him hung
+over the saddle in the nature of legs and feet was hardly worth
+mentioning. For the rest, the little fellow had on a very rich habit of
+gold-yellow atlas, a fine high cap with a splendid grass-green plume,
+and riding-boots of beautifully polished mahogany. With a resounding
+"P-r-r-r-r-r-r!" he reined up before Herr von Zabelthau, and seemed to
+be going to dismount. But he suddenly slipped under the horse's belly
+as quick as lightning, and having got to the other side of him, threw
+himself three times in succession some twelve ells up in the air,
+turning six somersaults in every ell, and then alighted on his head in
+the saddle. Standing on his head there, he galloped backwards,
+forwards, and sideways in all sorts of extraordinary curves and ups and
+downs, his feet meanwhile playing trochees, dactyls, pyrrhics, &c., in
+the air. When this accomplished gymnast and trick-act rider at length
+stood still, and politely saluted, there were to be seen on the ground
+of the courtyard the words, "My most courteous greeting to you and your
+lady daughter, most highly respected Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau." These
+words he had ridden into the ground in handsome Roman uncial letters.
+Thereupon, he sprang from his horse, turned three Catherine wheels, and
+said that he was charged by his gracious master, the Herr Baron
+Porphyrio von Ockerodastes, called "Cordovanspitz," to present his
+compliments to Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau, and to say, that if the
+latter had no objection, the Herr Baron proposed to pay him a friendly
+visit of a day or two, as he was expecting presently to be his nearest
+neighbour.
+
+Herr Dapsul looked more dead than alive, so pale and motionless did he
+stand, leaning un his daughter. Scarcely had a half involuntary,
+"It--will--give--me--much--pleasure," escaped his trembling lips, when
+the little horseman departed with lightning speed, and similar
+ceremonies to those with which he had arrived.
+
+"Ah, my daughter!" cried Herr Dapsul, weeping and lamenting, "alas! it
+is but too certain that this is the gnome come to carry you off, and
+twist my unfortunate neck. But we will pluck up the very last scrap of
+courage which we can scrape together. Perhaps it may be still possible
+to pacify this irritated elementary spirit. We must be as careful in
+our conduct towards him as ever we can. I will at once read to you, my
+dear child, a chapter or two of Lactantius or Thomas Aquinas concerning
+the mode of dealing with elementary spirits, so that you mayn't make
+some tremendous mistake or other."
+
+But before he could go and get hold of Lactantius or Thomas Aquinas, a
+band was heard in the immediate proximity, sounding very much like the
+kind of performance which children who are musical enough get up about
+Christmas-time. And a fine long procession was coming up the street.
+At the head of it rode some sixty or seventy little cavaliers on
+little yellow horses, all dressed like the one who had arrived as
+avant-courier at first, in yellow habits, pointed caps, and boots of
+polished mahogany. They were followed by a couch of purest crystal,
+drawn by eight yellow horses, and behind this came well on to forty
+other less magnificent coaches, some with six horses, some with only
+four. And there were swarms of pages, running footmen, and other
+attendants, moving up and down amongst and around those coaches in
+brilliant costumes, so that the whole thing formed a sight as charming
+as uncommon. Herr Dapsul stood sunk in gloomy amazement. Aennchen, who
+had never dreamt that the world could contain such lovely delightful
+creatures as these little horses and people, was quite out of her
+senses with delight, and forgot everything, even to shut her mouth,
+which she had opened to emit a cry of joy.
+
+The coach and eight drew up before Herr Dapsul. Riders jumped from
+their horses, pages and attendants came hurrying forward, and the
+personage who was now lifted down the steps of the coach on their arms
+was none other than the Herr Baron Porphyrio von Ockerodastes,
+otherwise known as Cordovanspitz. Inasmuch as regarded his figure, the
+Herr Baron was far from comparable to the Apollo of Belvedere, or even
+the Dying Gladiator. For, besides the circumstances that he was
+scarcely three feet high, one-third of his small body consisted of his
+evidently too large and broad head, which was, moreover, adorned by a
+tremendously long Roman nose and a pair of great round projecting
+eyes. And as his body was disproportionately long for his height,
+there was nothing left for his legs and feet to occupy but some four
+inches or so. This small space was made the most of, however,
+for the little Baron's feet were the neatest and prettiest little
+things ever beheld. No doubt they seemed to be scarcely strong enough
+to support the large, important head. For the Baron's gait was somewhat
+tottery and uncertain, and he even toppled over altogether pretty
+frequently, but got up upon his feet immediately, after the manner of a
+jack-in-the-box. So that this toppling over had a considerable
+resemblance to some rather eccentric dancing step more than to anything
+else one could compare it to. He had on a close-fitting suit of some
+shining gold fabric, and a headdress, which was almost like a crown,
+with an enormous plume of green feathers in it.
+
+As soon as the Baron had alighted on the ground, he hastened up to Herr
+Dapsul von Zabelthau, took hold of both his hands, swung himself up to
+his neck, and cried out, in a voice wonderfully more powerful than his
+shortness of stature would have led one to expect, "Oh, my Dapsul von
+Zabelthau, my most beloved father!" He then lowered himself down from
+Herr Dapsul's neck with the same deftness of skill with which he
+had climbed up to it, sprang, or rather slung himself, to Fräulein
+Aennchen, took that hand of hers which had the ring on it, covered
+it with loud resounding kisses, and cried out in the same almost
+thundering voice as before, "Oh, my loveliest Fräulein Anna von
+Zabelthau, my most beloved bride-elect!"
+
+He then clapped his hands, and immediately that noisy clattering
+child-like band struck up, and over a hundred little fellows, who
+had got off their horses and out of the carriages, danced as the
+avant-courier had done, sometimes on their heads, sometimes on their
+feet, in the prettiest possible trochees, spondees, iambics, pyrrhics,
+anapaests, tribrachs, bacchi, antibacchi, choriambs, and dactyls, so
+that it was a joy to behold them. But as this was going on, Fräulein
+Aennchen recovered from the terrible fright which the little Baron's
+speech to her had put her in, and entered into several important and
+necessary economic questions and considerations. "How is it possible,"
+she asked herself, "that these little beings can find room in this
+place of ours? Would it hold even their servants if they were to be put
+to sleep in the big barn? Then what could I do with the swell folk who
+came in the coaches, and of course expect to be put into fine bedrooms,
+with soft beds, as they're accustomed to be? And even if the two plough
+horses were to go out of the stable, and I were to be so hard hearted
+as to turn the old lame chestnut out into the grass field, would there
+be anything like room enough for all those little beasts of horses that
+this nasty ugly Baron has brought? And just the same with the one and
+forty coaches. But the worst of all comes after that. Oh, my gracious!
+is the whole year's provender anything like enough to keep all these
+little creatures going for even so much as a couple of days?" This last
+was the climax of all. She saw in her mind's eye everything eaten
+up--all the new vegetables, the sheep, the poultry, the salt meat--nay,
+the very beetroot brandy gone. And this brought the salt tears to her
+eyes. She thought she caught the Baron making a sort of wicked impudent
+face at her, and that gave her courage to say to him (while his people
+were keeping up their dancing with might and main), in the plainest
+language possible, that however flattering his visit might be to her
+father, it was impossible to think of such a thing as its lasting more
+than a couple of hours or so, as there was neither room nor anything
+else for the proper reception and entertainment of such a grand
+gentleman and such a numerous retinue. But little Cordovanspitz
+immediately looked as marvellously sweet and tender as any marsipan
+tart, pressing with closed eyes Fräulein Aennchen's hand (which was
+rather rough, and not particularly white) to his lips, as he assured
+her that the last thing he should think of was causing the dear papa
+and his lovely daughter the slightest inconvenience. He said he had
+brought everything in the kitchen and cellar department with him, and
+as for the lodging, he needed nothing but a little bit of ground with
+the open air above it, where his people could put up his ordinary
+travelling palace, which would accommodate him, his whole retinue, and
+the animals pertaining to them.
+
+Fräulein Aennchen was so delighted with these words of the Baron
+Porphyrio von Ockerodastes that, to show that she wasn't grudging a
+little bit of hospitality, she was going to offer him the little
+fritter cakes she had made for the last consecration day, and a small
+glass of the beetroot brandy, unless he would have preferred double
+bitters, which the maid had brought from the town and recommended as
+strengthening to the stomach. But at this moment Cordovanspitz
+announced that he had chosen the kitchen garden as the site of his
+palace, and Aennchen's happiness was gone. But whilst the Baron's
+retainers, in celebration of their lord's arrival at Dapsulheim,
+continued their Olympian games, sometimes butting with their big heads
+at each other's stomachs, knocking each other over backwards, sometimes
+springing up in the air again, playing at skittles, being themselves in
+turn skittles, balls, and players, and so forth, Baron Porphyrio von
+Ockerodastes got into a very deep and interesting conversation with
+Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau, which seemed to go on increasing in
+importance till they went away together hand in hand, and up into the
+astronomical tower.
+
+Full of alarm and anxiety, Fräulein Aennchen now made haste to her
+kitchen garden, with the view of trying to save whatever it might still
+be possible to save. The maid-servant was there already, standing
+staring before her with open mouth, motionless as a person turned like
+Lot's wife into a pillar of salt. Aennchen at once fell into the same
+condition beside her. At last they both cried out, making the welkin
+ring, "Oh, Herr Gemini! What a terrible sort of thing!" For the whole
+beautiful vegetable garden was turned into a wilderness. Not the trace
+of a plant in it, it looked like a devastated country.
+
+"No," cried the maid, "there's no other way of accounting for it, these
+cursed little creatures have done it. Coming here in their coaches,
+forsooth! coaches, quotha! as if they were people of quality! Ha! ha! A
+lot of kobolds, that's what _they_ are, trust _me_ for that, Miss. And
+if I had a drop of holy water here I'd soon show you what all those
+fine things of theirs would turn to. But if they come here, the little
+brutes, I'll bash the heads of them with this spade here." And she
+flourished this threatening spade over her head, whilst Anna wept
+aloud.
+
+But at this point, four members of Cordovanspitz's suite came up with
+such very pleasant ingratiating speeches and such courteous reverences,
+being such wonderful creatures to behold, at the same time that the
+maid, instead of attacking them with the spade, let it slowly sink, and
+Fräulein Aennchen ceased weeping.
+
+They announced themselves as being the four friends who were the most
+immediately attached to their lord's person, saying that they belonged
+to four different nationalities (as their dress indicated,
+symbolically, at all events), and that their names were, respectively,
+Pan Kapustowicz, from Poland; Herr von Schwartzrettig, from Pomerania;
+Signor di Broccoli, from Italy; and Monsieur de Rocambolle, from
+France. They said, moreover, that the builders would come directly, and
+afford the beautiful lady the gratification of seeing them erect a
+lovely palace, all of silk, in the shortest possible space of time.
+
+"What good will the silken palace be to me?" cried Fräulein Aennchen,
+weeping aloud in her bitter sorrow. "And what do I care about your
+Baron Cordovanspitz, now that you have gone and destroyed my beautiful
+vegetables, wretched creatures that you are. All my happy days are
+over."
+
+But the polite interlocutors comforted her, and assured her that they
+had not by any means had the blame of desolating the kitchen-garden,
+and that, moreover, it would very soon be growing green and flourishing
+in such luxuriance as she had never seen, or anybody else in the world
+for that matter.
+
+The little building-people arrived, and then there began such a
+confused-looking, higgledy-piggledy, and helter-skeltering on the plot
+of ground that Fräulein Anna and the maid ran away quite frightened,
+and took shelter behind some thickets, whence they could see what would
+be the end of it all.
+
+But though they couldn't explain to themselves how things perfectly
+canny _could_ come about as they did, there certainly arose and formed
+itself before their eyes, and in a few minutes' time, a lofty and
+magnificent marquee, made of a golden-yellow material and ornamented
+with many-coloured garlands and plumes, occupying the whole extent of
+the vegetable garden, so that the cords of it went right away over the
+village and into the wood beyond, where they were made fast to sturdy
+trees.
+
+As soon as this marquee was ready, Baron Porphyrio came down with Herr
+Dapsul from the astronomical tower, after profuse embraces resumed his
+seat in the coach and eight, and in the same order in which they had
+made their entry into Dapsulheim, he and his following went into the
+silken palace, which, when the last of the procession was within it,
+instantly closed itself up.
+
+Fräulein Aennchen had never seen her papa as he was then. The very
+faintest trace of the melancholy which had hitherto always so
+distressed him had completely disappeared from his countenance. One
+would really almost have said he smiled. There was a sublimity about
+his facial expression such as sometimes indicates that some great and
+unexpected happiness has come upon a person. He led his daughter by the
+hand in silence into the house, embraced her three times consecutively,
+and then broke out--
+
+"Fortunate Anna! Thrice happy girl! Fortunate father! Oh, daughter, all
+sorrow and melancholy, all solicitude and misgiving are over for ever!
+Yours is a fate such as falls to the lot of few mortals. This Baron
+Porphyrio von Ockerodastes, otherwise known as Cordovanspitz, is by no
+means a hostile gnome, although he is descended from one of those
+elementary spirits who, however, was so fortunate as to purify his
+nature by the teaching of Oromasis the Salamander. The love of this
+being was bestowed upon a daughter of the human race, with whom he
+formed a union, and became founder of the most illustrious family whose
+name ever adorned a parchment. I have an impression that I told you
+before, beloved daughter Anna, that the pupil of the great Salamander
+Oromasis, the noble gnome Tsilmenech (a Chaldean name, which
+interpreted into our language has a somewhat similar significance to
+our word 'Thickhead'), bestowed his affection on the celebrated
+Magdalena de la Croix, abbess of a convent at Cordova in Spain, and
+lived in happy wedlock with her for nearly thirty years. And a
+descendant of the sublime family of higher intelligences which sprung
+from this union is our dear Baron Porphyrio von Ockerodastes, who has
+adopted the sobriquet of Cordovanspitz to indicate his ancestral
+connection with Cordova in Spain, and to distinguish himself by it from
+a more haughty but less worthy collateral line of the family, which
+bears the title of 'Saffian.' That a 'spitz' has been added to the
+'Cordovan' doubtless possesses its own elementary astrological causes;
+I have not as yet gone into that subject. Following the example of his
+illustrious ancestor the gnome Tsilmenech, this splendid Ockerodastes
+of ours fell in love with you when you were only twelve years of age
+(Tsilmenech had done precisely the same thing in the case of Magdalena
+de la Croix). He was fortunate enough at that time to get a small gold
+ring from you, and now you wear his, so that your betrothal is
+indissoluble."
+
+"What?" cried Fräulein Aennchen, in fear and amazement. "What? I
+betrothed to _him_--I to marry that horrible little kobold? Haven't I
+been engaged for ever so long to Herr Amandus von Nebelstern? No, never
+will I have that hideous monster of a wizard for a husband. I don't
+care whether he comes from Cordova or from Saffian."
+
+"There," said Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau more gravely, "there I
+perceive, to my sorrow and distress, how impossible it is for celestial
+wisdom to penetrate into your hardened, obdurate, earthly sense. You
+stigmatize this noble, elementary, Porphyrio von Ockerodastes as
+'horrible' and 'ugly,' probably, I presume, because he is only three
+feet high, and, with the exception of his head, has very little worth
+speaking of on his body in the shape of arms, legs, and other
+appurtenances; and a foolish, earthly goose, such as you probably think
+of as to be admired, can't have legs long enough, on account of coat
+tails. Oh, my daughter, in what a terrible misapprehension you are
+involved! All beauty lies in wisdom, in the thought; and the physical
+symbol of thought is the head. The more head, the more beauty and
+wisdom. And if mankind could but cast away all the other members of the
+body as pernicious articles of luxury tending to evil, they would
+reach the condition of a perfect ideal of the highest type. Whence
+come all trouble and difficulty, vexation and annoyance, strife and
+contention--in short, all the depravities and miseries of humanity, but
+from the accursed luxury and voluptuousness of the members? Oh, what
+joy, what peace, what blessedness there would be on earth if the
+human race could exist without arms or legs, or the nether parts of
+the body--in short, if we were nothing but busts! Therefore it is a
+happy idea of the sculptors when they represent great statesmen,
+or celebrated men of science and learning as busts, symbolically
+indicating the higher nature within them. Wherefore, my daughter Anna,
+no more of such words as 'ugly and abominable' applied to the noblest
+of spirits, the grand Porphyrio von Ockerodastes, whose bride elect you
+most indubitably are. I must just tell you, at the same time, that by
+his important aid your father will soon attain that highest step of
+bliss towards which he has so long been striving. Porphyrio von
+Ockerodastes is in possession of authentic information that I am
+beloved by the sylphide Nehabilah (which in Syriac has very much the
+signification of our expression 'Peaky nose'), and he has promised to
+assist me to the utmost of his power to render myself worthy of a union
+with this higher spiritual nature. I have no doubt whatever, my dear
+child, that you will be well satisfied with your future stepmother. All
+I hope is, that a favourable destiny may so order matters that our
+marriages may both take place at one and the same fortunate hour."
+
+Having thus spoken, Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau, casting a significant
+glance at his daughter, very pathetically left the room.
+
+It was a great weight on Aennchen's heart that she remembered having, a
+great while ago, really in some unaccountable way lost a little gold
+ring, such as a child might wear, from her finger. So that it really
+seemed too certain that this abominable little wizard of a creature had
+indeed got her immeshed in his net, so that she couldn't see how she
+was ever to get out of it. And over this she fell into the utmost grief
+and bewilderment. She felt that her oppressed heart must obtain relief;
+and this took place through the medium of a goose-quill, which she
+seized, and at once wrote off to Herr Amandus von Nebelstern as
+follows:
+
+"MY DEAREST AMANDUS--
+
+"All is over with me completely. I am the most unfortunate creature in
+the whole world, and I'm sobbing and crying for sheer misery so
+terribly that the dear dumb animals themselves are sorry for me. And
+_you'll_ be still sorrier than they are, because it's just as great a
+misfortune for you as it is for me, and you can't help being quite as
+much distressed about it as I am myself. You know that we love one
+another as fondly as any two lovers possibly can, and that I am
+betrothed to you, and that papa was going with us to the church. Very
+well. All of a sudden a nasty little creature comes here in a coach and
+eight, with a lot of people and servants, and says I have changed rings
+with him, and that he and I are engaged. And--just fancy how awful!
+papa says as well, that I must marry this little wretch, because he
+belongs to a very grand family. I suppose be very likely does, judging
+by his following and the splendid dresses they have on. But the
+creature has such a horrible name that, for that alone if it were for
+nothing else, I never would marry him. I can't even pronounce the
+heathenish words of the name; but one of them is Cordovanspitz,
+and it seems that is the family name. Write and tell me if these
+Cordovanspitzes really _are_ so very great and aristocratic a
+family--people in the town will be sure to know if they are. And the
+things papa takes in his head at his time of life I really can't
+understand; but he wants to marry again, and this nasty Cordovanspitz
+is going to get him a wife that flies in the air. God protect us! Our
+servant girl is looking over my shoulder, and says she hasn't much of
+an opinion of ladies who can fly in the air and swim in the water, and
+that she'll have to be looking out for another situation, and hopes,
+for my sake, that my stepmother may break her neck the first time she
+goes riding through the air to St. Walpurgis. Nice state of things,
+isn't it? But all my hope is in _you_. For I know you are the person
+who ought to be, and has got to be, just where and what you are, and
+has to deliver me from a great danger. The danger has come, so be
+quick, and rescue
+
+       "Your grieved to death, but most true and loving _fiancée_,
+                                              "ANNA VON ZABELTHAU.
+
+"P.S.--Couldn't you call this yellow little Cordovanspitz out? I'm sure
+you could settle his hash. He's feeble on his legs.
+
+"What I implore you to do is to put on your things as fast as you can
+and hasten to
+
+                 "Your most unfortunate and miserable,
+                              "But always most faithful _fiancée_.
+                                              "ANNA VON ZABELTHAU."
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IV.
+
+IN WHICH THE HOUSEHOLD STATE OF A GREAT KING IS DESCRIBED; AND
+      AFTERWARDS A BLOODY DUEL AND OTHER REMARKABLE OCCURRENCES ARE
+      TREATED OF.
+
+Fräulein Aennchen was so miserable and distressed that she felt
+paralyzed in all her members. She was sitting at the window with folded
+arms gazing straight before her, heedless of the cackling, crowing, and
+queaking of the fowls, which couldn't understand why on earth she
+didn't come and drive them into their roosts as usual, seeing that
+the twilight was coming on fast. Nay, she sat there with perfect
+indifference and allowed the maid to carry out this duty, and to hit
+the big cock (who opposed himself to the state of things and evinced
+decided resistance to her authority) a good sharp whang with her whip.
+For the love-pain which was rending her own heart was making her
+indifferent to the troubles of the dear pupils of her happier
+hours--those which she devoted to their up-bringing, although she had
+never studied Chesterfield or Knigge, or consulted Madame de Genlis, or
+any of those other authorities on the mental culture of the young, who
+know to a hair's-breadth exactly how they ought to be moulded. In this
+respect she really had laid herself open to censure on the score of
+lack of due seriousness.
+
+All that day Cordovanspitz had not shown himself, but had been shut up
+in the tower with Herr Dapsul, no doubt assisting in the carrying on of
+important operations. But now Fräulein Aennchen caught sight of the
+little creature coming tottering across the courtyard in the glowing
+light of the setting sun. And it struck her that he looked more hideous
+in that yellow habit of his than he had ever done before. The
+ridiculous manner in which he went wavering about, jumping here and
+there, seeming to topple over every minute and then pick himself up
+again (at which anybody else would have died of laughing), only caused
+her the bitterer distress. Indeed, she at last held her hands in front
+of her eyes, that she mightn't so much as see the little horrid
+creature at all. Suddenly she felt something tugging at her dress, and
+cried "Down, Feldmann!" thinking it was the Dachshund. But it was not
+the dog; and what Fräulein Aennchen saw when she took her hands from
+her eyes was the Herr Baron Porphyrio von Ockerodastes, who hoisted
+himself into her lap with extraordinary deftness, and clasped both his
+arms about her. She screamed aloud with fear and disgust, and started
+up from her chair. But Cordovanspitz kept clinging on to her neck, and
+instantly became so wonderfully heavy that he seemed to weigh a ton at
+least, and he dragged the unfortunate Aennchen back again into her
+chair. Having got her there, however, he slid down out of her lap, sank
+on one knee as gracefully as possible, and as prettily as his weakness
+in the direction of equilibrium permitted, and said, in a clear
+voice--rather peculiar, but by no means unpleasing: "Adored Anna von
+Zabelthau, most glorious of ladies, most choice of brides-elect; no
+anger, I implore, no anger, no anger. I know you think my people laid
+waste your beautiful vegetable garden to put up my palace. Oh, powers
+of the universe, if you could but look into this little body of mine
+which throbs with magnanimity and love; if you could but detect all the
+cardinal virtues which are collected in my breast, under this yellow
+Atlas habit. Oh, how guiltless am I of the shameful cruelty which you
+attribute to me! How could a beneficent prince treat in such a way his
+very own subjects. But hold--hold! What are words, phrases? You must
+see with your own eyes, my betrothed, the splendours which attend you.
+You must come with me at once. I will lead you to my palace, where a
+joyful people await the arrival of her who is beloved by their lord."
+
+It may be imagined how terrified Fräulein Aennchen was at this
+proposition of Cordovanspitz's, and how hard she tried to avoid going
+so much as a single step with the little monster. But he continued to
+describe the extraordinary beauty and the marvellous richness of the
+vegetable garden which was his palace, in such eloquent and persuasive
+language, that at last she thought she would just have a peep into the
+marquee, as that couldn't do her much harm. The little creature, in his
+joy and delight, turned at least twelve Catherine wheels in succession,
+and then took her hand with much courtesy, and led her through the
+garden to the silken palace.
+
+With a loud "Ah!" Fräulein Aennchen stood riveted to the ground with
+delight when the curtains of the entrance drew apart, displaying a
+vegetable garden stretching away further than the eye could reach, of
+such marvellous beauty and luxuriance as was never seen in the
+loveliest dreams. Here there was growing and flourishing every thing in
+the nature of colewort, rape, lettuce, pease and beans, in such a
+shimmer of light, and in such luxuriance that it is impossible to
+describe it. A band of pipes, drums and cymbals sounded louder, and the
+four gentlemen whose acquaintance she had previously made, viz. Herr
+von Schwartzrettig, Monsieur de Rocambolle, Signor di Broccoli and Pan
+Kapustowicz, approached with many ceremonious reverences.
+
+"My chamberlains," said Porphyrio von Ockerodastes, smiling; and,
+preceded by them, he conducted Fräulein Aennchen through between the
+double ranks of the bodyguard of Red English Carrots to the centre of
+the plain, where stood a splendid throne. And around this throne were
+assembled the grandees of the realm; the Lettuce Princes with the Bean
+Princesses, the Dukes of Cucumber with the Prince of Melon at their
+head, the Cabbage Minister, the General Officer of Onions and Carrots,
+the Colewort ladies, etc., etc., all in the gala dresses of their rank
+and station. And amidst them moved up and down well on to a hundred of
+the prettiest and most delightful Lavender and Fennel pages, diffusing
+sweet perfume. When Ockerodastes had ascended the throne with Fräulein
+Aennchen, Chief Court-Marshal Turnip waved his long wand of office, and
+immediately the band stopped playing, and the multitude listened in
+reverential silence as Ockerodastes raised his voice and said, in
+solemn accents, "My faithful and beloved subjects, you see by my side
+the noble Fräulein Anna von Zabelthau, whom I have chosen to be my
+consort. Rich in beauty and virtues, she has long watched over you with
+the eye of maternal affection, preparing soft and succulent beds for
+you, caring for you and tending you with ceaseless ardour. She will
+ever be a true and befitting mother of this realm. Wherefore I call
+upon you to evince and give expression to the dutiful approval, and the
+duly regulated rejoicing at the favour and benefit which I am about to
+graciously confer upon you."
+
+At a signal given by Chief Court-Marshal Turnip there arose the shout
+of a thousand voices, the Bulb Artillery fired their pieces, and the
+band of the Carrot Guard played the celebrated National Anthem--
+
+               "Salad and lettuce, and parsley so green."
+
+It was a grand, a sublime moment, which drew tears from the eyes of the
+grandees, particularly from those of the Colewort ladies. Fräulein
+Aennchen, too, nearly lost all her self-control when she noticed that
+little Ockerodastes had a crown on his head all sparkling with
+diamonds, and a golden sceptre in his hand.
+
+"Ah!" she cried clapping her hands. "Oh, Gemini! You seem to be
+something much grander than we thought, my dear Herr von
+Cordovanspitz."
+
+"My adored Anna," he replied, "the stars compelled me to appear before
+your father under an assumed name. You must be told, dearest girl, that
+I am one of the mightiest of kings, and rule over a realm whose
+boundaries are not discoverable, as it has been omitted to lay them
+down in the maps. Oh, sweetest Anna, he who offers you his hand and
+crown is Daucus Carota the First, King of the Vegetables. All the
+vegetable princes are my vassals, save that the King of the Beans
+reigns for one single day in every year, in conformity to an ancient
+usage."
+
+"Then I am to be a queen, am I?" cried Fräulein Aennchen, overjoyed.
+"And all this great splendid vegetable garden is to be mine?"
+
+King Daucus assured her that of course it was to be so, and added that
+he and she would jointly rule over all the vegetables in the world. She
+had never dreamt of anything of the kind, and thought little
+Cordovanspitz wasn't anything like so nasty-looking as he used to be
+now that he was transformed into King Daucus Carota the First, and that
+the crown and sceptre were very becoming to him, and the kingly mantle
+as well. When she reckoned into the bargain his delightful manners, and
+the property this marriage would bring her, she felt certain that there
+wasn't a country lady in all the world who could have made a better
+match than she, who found herself betrothed to a king before she knew
+where she was. So she was delighted beyond measure, and asked her royal
+_fiancé_ whether she could not take up her abode in the palace then and
+there, and be married next day. But King Daucus answered that eagerly
+as he longed for the time when he might call her his own, certain
+constellations compelled him to postpone that happiness a little
+longer. And that Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau, moreover, must be kept in
+ignorance of his son-in-law's royal station, because otherwise the
+operations necessary for bringing about the desired union with the
+sylphide Nehabilah might be unsuccessful. Besides, he said, he had
+promised that both the weddings should take place on the same day. So
+Fräulein Aennchen had to take a solemn vow not to mention one syllable
+to Herr Dapsul of what had been happening to her. She therefore left
+the silken palace amid long and loud rejoicings of the people, who were
+in raptures with her beauty as well as with her affability and gracious
+condescension of manners and behaviour.
+
+In her dreams she once more beheld the realms of the charming King
+Daucus, and was lapped in Elysium.
+
+The letter which she had sent to Herr Amandus von Nebelstern made a
+frightful impression on him. Ere long, Fräulein Aennchen received the
+following answer--
+
+'IDOL OF MY HEART, HEAVENLY ANNA,--
+
+"Daggers--sharp, glowing, poisoned, death-dealing daggers were to me
+the words of your letter, which pierced my breast through and through.
+Oh, Anna! _you_ to be torn from me. What a thought! I cannot, even now,
+understand how it was that I did not go mad on the spot and commit some
+terrible deed. But I fled the face of man, overpowered with rage at my
+deadly destiny, after dinner--without the game of billiards which I
+generally play--out into the woods, where I wrung my hands, and called
+on your name a thousand times. It came on a tremendously heavy rain,
+and I had on a new cap, red velvet, with a splendid gold tassel
+(everybody says I never had anything so becoming). The rain was
+spoiling it, and it was brand-new. But what are caps, what are velvet
+and gold, to a despairing lover? I strode up and down till I was wet to
+the skin and chilled to the bone, and had a terrible pain in my
+stomach. This drove me into a restaurant near, where I got them to make
+me some excellent mulled wine, and had a pipe of your heavenly Virginia
+tobacco. I soon felt myself elevated on the wings of a celestial
+inspiration, took out my pocket-book, and, oh!--wondrous gift of
+poetry--the love-despair and the stomach-ache both disappeared at once.
+I shall content myself with writing out for you only the last of these
+poems; it will inspire you with heavenly hope, as it did myself.
+
+                 "Wrapped in darkest sorrow--
+                  In my heart, extinguished,
+                  No love-tapers burning--
+                  Joy hath no to-morrow.
+
+                 "Ha! the Muse approaches,
+                  Words and rhymes inspiring,
+                  Little verse inscribing,
+                  Joy returns apace.
+
+                 "New love-tapers blazing,
+                  All the heart inspiring,
+                  Fare thee well, my sorrow,
+                  Joy thy place doth borrow.
+
+"Ay, my sweet Anna, soon shall I, thy champion, hasten to rescue you
+from the miscreant who would carry you off from me. So, once more take
+comfort, sweetest maid. Bear me ever in thy heart. He comes; he rescues
+you; he clasps you to his bosom, which heaves in tumultuous emotion.
+
+                             "Your ever faithful
+                                   "AMANDUS VON NEBELSTERN.
+
+"P.S.--It would be quite impossible for me to call Herr von
+Cordovanspitz out. For, oh Anna! every drop of blood drawn from your
+Amandus by the weapon of a presumptuous adversary were glorious poet's
+blood--ichor of the gods--which never ought to be shed. The world very
+properly claims that such a spirit as mine has it imposed upon it as
+public duty to take care of itself for the world's benefit, and
+preserve itself by every possible means. The sword of the poet is the
+word--the song. I will attack my rival with Tyrtćan battle-songs;
+strike him to earth with sharp-pointed epigrams; hew him down with
+dithyrambics full of lover's fury. Such are the weapons of a true,
+genuine poet, powerful to shield him from every danger. And it is so
+accoutred that I shall appear, and do battle--victorious battle--for
+your hand, oh, Anna!
+
+"Farewell. I press you once more to my heart. Hope all things from my
+love, and, especially, from my heroic courage, which will shun no
+danger to set you free from the shameful nets of captivity in which, to
+all appearance, you are entangled by a demoniacal monster."
+
+Fräulein Aennchen received this letter at a time when she was playing a
+game at "Catch-me-if-you-can" with her royal bridegroom elect, King
+Daucus Carota the First, in the meadow at the back of the garden, and
+immensely enjoying it when, as was often the case, she suddenly ducked
+down in full career, and the little king would go shooting right away
+over her head. Instead of reading the letter immediately (which she had
+always done before), she put it in her pocket unopened, and we shall
+presently see that it came too late.
+
+Herr Dapsul could not make out at all how Fräulein Aennchen had changed
+her mind so suddenly, and grown quite fond of Herr Porphyrio von
+Ockerodastes, whom she had so cordially detested before. He consulted
+the stars on the subject, but as they gave him no satisfactory
+information, he was obliged to come to the conclusion that human hearts
+are more mysterious and inscrutable than all the secrets of the
+universe, and not to be thrown light upon by any constellation. He
+could not think that what had produced love for the little creature in
+Anna's heart was merely the highness of his nature; and personal beauty
+he had none. If (as the reader knows) the canon of beauty, as laid down
+by Herr Dapsul, is very unlike the ideas which young ladies form upon
+that subject, he did, after all, possess sufficient knowledge of the
+world to know that, although the said young women hold that good sense,
+wit, cleverness and pleasant manners are very agreeable fellow-lodgers
+in a comfortable house, still, a man who can't call himself the
+possessor of a properly-made, fashionable coat--were he a Shakespeare,
+a Goethe, a Tieck, or a Jean Paul Richter--would run a decided risk of
+being beaten out of the field by any sufficiently well put-together
+lieutenant of hussars in uniform, if he took it in his head to pay his
+addresses to one of them. Now in Fräulein Aennchen's case it was a
+different matter altogether. It was neither good looks nor cleverness
+that were in question; but it is not exactly every day that a poor
+country lady becomes a queen all in a moment, and accordingly it was
+not very likely that Herr Dapsul should hit upon the cause which had
+been operating, particularly as the very stars had left him in the
+lurch.
+
+As may be supposed, those three, Herr Porphyrio, Herr Dapsul and
+Fräulein Aennchen, were one heart and one soul. This went so far that
+Herr Dapsul left his tower oftener than he had ever been known to do
+before, to chat with his much-prized son-in-law on all sorts of
+agreeable subjects; and not only this, but he now regularly took his
+breakfast in the house. About this hour, too, Herr Porphyrio was wont
+to come forth from his silken palace, and eat a good share of Fräulein
+Aennchen's bread and butter.
+
+"Ah, ah!" she would often whisper softly in his ear, "if papa only knew
+that you are a real king, dearest Cordovanspitz!"
+
+"Be still, oh heart! Melt not away in rapture," Daucus Carota the First
+would say. "Near, near is the joyful day!"
+
+It chanced that the schoolmaster had sent Fräulein Aennchen a present
+of some of the finest radishes from his garden. She was particularly
+pleased at this, as Herr Dapsul was very fond of radishes, and she
+could not get anything from the vegetable garden because it was covered
+by the silk marquee. Besides this, it now occurred to her for the first
+time that, among all the roots and vegetables she had seen in the
+palace, radishes were conspicuous by their absence.
+
+So she speedily cleaned them and served them up for her father's
+breakfast. He had ruthlessly shorn several of them of their leafy
+crowns, dipped them in salt, and eaten them with much relish, when
+Cordovanspitz came in.
+
+"Oh, my Ockerodastes," Herr Dapsul called to him, "are you fond of
+radishes?"
+
+There was still a particularly fine and beautiful radish on the dish.
+But the moment Cordovanspitz saw it his eves gleamed with fury, and he
+cried in a resonant voice--
+
+"What, unworthy duke, do you dare to appear in my presence again, and
+to force your way, with the coolest of audacity, into a house which is
+under my protection? Have I not pronounced sentence of perpetual
+banishment upon you as a pretender to the imperial throne? Away,
+treasonous vassal; begone from my sight for ever!"
+
+Two little legs had suddenly shot out beneath the radish's large head,
+and with them he made a spring out of the plate, placed himself close
+in front of Cordovanspitz, and addressed him as follows--
+
+"Fierce and tyrannical Daucus Carota the First, you have striven in
+vain to exterminate my race. Had ever any of your family a head as
+large as mine, or that of my king? We are all gifted with talent,
+common-sense, wisdom, sharpness, cultivated manners: and whilst _you_
+loaf about in kitchens and stables, and are of no use as soon as your
+early youth is gone (so that in very truth it is nothing but the
+_diable de la jeunesse_ that bestows upon you your brief, transitory,
+little bit of good fortune), _we_ enjoy the friendship of, and the
+intercourse with, people of position, and are greeted with acclamation
+as soon as ever we lift up our green heads. But I despise you, Daucus
+Carota. You're nothing but a low, uncultivated, ignorant Boor, like all
+the lot of you. Let's see which of us two is the better man."
+
+With this the Duke of Radish, flourishing a long whip about his head,
+proceeded, without more ado, to attack the person of King Daucus Carota
+the First. The latter quickly drew his little sword, and defended
+himself in the bravest manner. The two little creatures darted about in
+the room, fighting fiercely, and executing the most wonderful leaps and
+bounds, till Daucus Carota pressed the Duke of Radish so hard that the
+latter found himself obliged to make a tremendous jump out of the
+window and take to the open. But Daucus Carota--with whose remarkable
+agility and dexterity the reader is already acquainted--bounded out
+after him, and followed the Duke of Radish across country.
+
+Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau had looked on at this terrible encounter
+rigid and speechless, but he now broke forth into loud and bitter
+lamentation, crying, "Oh, daughter Anna! oh, my poor unfortunate
+daughter Anna! Lost--I--you--both of us. All is over with us." With
+which he left the room, and ascended the astronomical tower as fast as
+his legs would carry him.
+
+Fräulein Aennchen couldn't understand a bit, or form the very slightest
+idea what in all the world had set her father into all this boundless
+misery all of a sudden. The whole thing had caused her the greatest
+pleasure; moreover, her heart was rejoiced that she had had an
+opportunity of seeing that her future husband was brave, as well as
+rich and great; for it would be difficult to find any woman in all the
+world capable of loving a poltroon. And now that she had proof of the
+bravery of King Daucus Carota the First, it struck her painfully, for
+the first time, that Herr Amandus von Nebelstern had cried off from
+fighting him. If she had for a moment hesitated about sacrificing Herr
+Amandus to King Daucus, she was quite decided on the point now that she
+had an opportunity of assuring herself of all the excellencies of her
+future lord. She sat down and wrote the following letter:--
+
+"MY DEAR AMANDUS,
+
+"Everything in this world is liable to change. Everything passes away,
+as the schoolmaster says, and he's quite right. I'm sure _you_, my dear
+Amandus, are such a learned and wise student that you will agree with
+the schoolmaster, and not be in the very least surprised that my heart
+and mind have undergone the least little bit of a change. You may quite
+believe me when I say that I still like you very well, and I can quite
+imagine how nice you look in your red velvet cap with the gold tassel.
+But, with regard to marriage, you know very well, Amandus dear, that,
+clever as you are, and beautiful as are your verses, you will never, in
+all your days, be a king, and (don't be frightened, dear) little Herr
+von Cordovanspitz isn't Herr von Cordovanspitz at all, but a great
+king, Daucus Carota the First, who reigns over the great vegetable
+kingdom, and has chosen me to be his queen. Since my dear king has
+thrown aside his incognito he has grown much nicer-looking, and I see
+now that papa was quite right when he said that the head was the beauty
+of the man, and therefore couldn't possibly be big enough. And then,
+Daucus Carota the First (you see how well I remember the beautiful name
+and how nicely I write it now that has got so familiar to me), I was
+going to say that my little royal husband, that is to be, has such
+charming and delightful manners that there's no describing them. And
+what courage, what bravery there is in him! Before my eyes he put to
+flight the Duke of Radish, (and a very disagreeable, unfriendly
+creature _he_ appears to be) and hey, how he did jump after him out of
+the window! You should just have seen him: I only wish you had! And I
+don't really think that my Daucus Carota would care about those weapons
+of yours that you speak about one bit. He seems pretty tough, and I
+don't believe verses would do him any harm at all, however fine and
+pointed they might be. So now, dear Amandus, you must just make up your
+mind to be contented with your lot, like a good fellow, and not be
+vexed with me that I am going to be a Queen instead of marrying you.
+Never mind, I shall always be your affectionate friend, and if ever you
+would like an appointment in the Carrot bodyguard, or (as you don't
+care so much about fighting as about learning) in the Parsley Academy
+or the Pumpkin Office, you have but to say the word and your fortune is
+made. Farewell, and don't be vexed with
+
+     "Your former _fiancée_, but now friend and well-wisher, as well
+         as future Queen,
+                                   "ANNA VON ZABELTHAU.
+   "(but soon to be no more Von Zabelthau, but simply
+                               ANNA.)
+
+"P.S.--You shall always be kept well supplied with the very finest
+Virginia tobacco, of that you need have no fear. As far as I can see
+there won't be any smoking at my court, but I shall take care to have a
+bed or two of Virginia tobacco planted not far from the throne, under
+my own special care. This will further culture and morality, and my
+little Daucus will no doubt have a statute specially enacted on the
+subject."
+
+
+                               CHAPTER V.
+
+IN WHICH AN ACCOUNT IS GIVEN OF A FRIGHTFUL CATASTROPHE, AND WE PROCEED
+      WITH THE FUTURE COURSE OF EVENTS.
+
+Fräulein Aennchen had just finished her letter to Herr Amandus von
+Nebelstern, when in came Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau and began, in the
+bitterest grief and sorrow to say, "O, my daughter Anna, how shamefully
+we are both deceived and betrayed! This miscreant who made me believe
+he was Baron Porphyrio von Ockerodastes, known as Cordovanspitz, member
+of a most illustrious family descended from the mighty gnome Tsilmenech
+and the noble Abbess of Cordova--this miscreant, I say--learn it and
+fall down insensible--_is_ indeed a gnome, but of that lowest of all
+gnomish castes which has charge of the vegetables. The gnome Tsilmenech
+was of the highest caste of all, that, namely, to which the care
+of the diamonds is committed. Next comes the caste which has care
+of the metals in the realms of the metal-king, and then follow the
+flower-gnomes, who are lower in position, as depending on the sylphs.
+But the lowest and most ignoble are the vegetable gnomes, and not only
+is this deceiver Cordovanspitz a gnome of this caste, but he is actual
+king of it, and his name is Daucus Carota."
+
+Fräulein Aennchen was far from fainting away, neither was she in the
+smallest degree frightened, but she smiled in the kindliest way at her
+lamenting papa, and the Courteous reader is aware of the reason. But as
+Herr Dapsul was very much surprised at this, and kept imploring her for
+Heaven's sake to realize the terrible position in which she was, and to
+feel the full horror of it, she thought herself at liberty to divulge
+the secret entrusted to her. She told Herr Dapsul how the so-called
+Baron von Cordovanspitz had told her his real position long ago, and
+that since then she had found him altogether so pleasant and delightful
+that she couldn't wish for a better husband. Moreover she described all
+the marvellous beauties of the vegetable kingdom into which King Daucus
+Carota the First had taken her, not forgetting to duly extol the
+remarkably delightful manners of the inhabitants of that realm.
+
+Herr Dapsul struck his hands together several times, and wept bitterly
+over the deceiving wickedness of the Gnome-king, who had been, and
+still was, employing means the most artful--most dangerous for himself
+as well--to lure the unfortunate Anna down into his dark, demoniac
+kingdom. "Glorious," he explained, "glorious and advantageous as may be
+the union of an elementary spirit with a human being, grand as is the
+example of this given by the wedlock of the gnome Tsilmenech with
+Magdalena de la Croix (which is of course the reason why this deceiver
+Daucus Carota has given himself out as being a descendant of that
+union), yet the kings and princes of those races are very different. If
+the Salamander kings are only irascible, the sylph kings proud and
+haughty, the Undine queens affectionate and jealous, the gnome kings
+are fierce, cruel, and deceitful. Merely to revenge themselves on the
+children of earth, who deprive them of their vassals, they are
+constantly trying their utmost to lure one of them away, who then
+wholly lays aside her human nature, and, becoming as shapeless as the
+gnomes themselves, has to go down into the earth, and is never more
+seen."
+
+Fräulein Aennchen didn't seem disposed to believe what her father was
+telling her to her dear Daucus's discredit, but began talking again
+about the marvels of the beautiful vegetable country over which she was
+expecting so soon to reign as queen.
+
+"Foolish, blinded child," cried Herr Dapsul, "do you not give your
+father credit for possessing sufficient cabalistic science to be well
+aware that what the abominable Daucus Carota made you suppose you saw
+was all deception and falsehood? No, you don't believe me, and to save
+you, my only child, I must convince you, and this conviction must be
+arrived at by most desperate methods. Come with me."
+
+For the second time she had to go up into the astronomical tower with
+her papa. From a big band-box Herr Dapsul took a quantity of yellow,
+red, white, and green ribbon, and, with strange ceremonies, he wrapped
+Fräulein Aennchen up in it from head to foot. He did the same to
+himself, and then they both went very carefully to the silken palace of
+Daucus Carota the First. It was close shut, and by her papa's
+directions, she had to rip a small opening in one of the seams of it
+with a large pair of scissors, and then peep in at the opening.
+
+Heaven be about us! what did she see? Instead of the beautiful
+vegetable garden, the carrot guards, the plumed ladies, lavender pages,
+lettuce princes, and so forth, she found herself looking down into a
+deep pool which seemed to be full of a colourless, disgusting-looking
+slime, in which all kinds of horrible creatures from the bowels of the
+earth were creeping and twining about. There were fat worms slowly
+writhing about amongst each other, and beetle-like creatures stretching
+out their short legs and creeping heavily out. On their backs they bore
+big onions; but these onions had ugly human faces, and kept fleering
+and leering at each other with bleared yellow eyes, and trying, with
+their little claws (which were close behind their ears), to catch hold
+of one another by their long roman noses, and drag each other down into
+the slime, while long, naked slugs were rolling about in crowds, with
+repulsive torpidity, stretching their long horns out of their depths.
+Fräulein Aennchen was nearly fainting away at this horrid sight. She
+held both hands to her face, and ran away as hard as she could.
+
+"You see now, do you not," said Herr Dapsul, "how this atrocious Daucus
+Carota has been deceiving you in showing you splendours of brief
+duration? He dressed his vassals up in gala dresses to delude you with
+dazzling displays. But now you have seen the kingdom which you want to
+reign over in undress uniform; and when you become the consort of
+the frightful Daucus Carota you will have to live for ever in the
+subterranean realms, and never appear on the surface any more. And
+if--Oh, oh, what must I see, wretched, most miserable of fathers that I
+am?"
+
+He got into such a state all in a moment that she felt certain some
+fresh misfortune had just come to light, and asked him anxiously
+what he was lamenting about now. However, he could do nothing for
+sheer sobbing, but stammer out, "Oh--oh--dau-gh-ter. Wha-t ar--e
+y-ou--l--l--like?" She ran to her room, looked into the looking-glass,
+and started back, terrified almost to death.
+
+And she had reason; for the matter stood thus. As Herr Dapsul was
+trying to open the eyes of Daucus Carota's intended queen to the danger
+she was in of gradually losing her pretty figure and good looks, and
+growing more and more into the semblance of a gnome queen, he suddenly
+became aware of how far the process had proceeded already. Aennchen's
+head had got much broader and bigger, and her skin had turned yellow,
+so that she was quite ugly enough already. And though vanity was not
+one of her failings, she was woman enough to know that to grow ugly is
+the greatest and most frightful misfortune which can happen here below.
+How often had she thought how delightful it would be when she would
+drive, as queen, to church in the coach and eight, with the crown on
+her head, in satins and velvets, with diamonds, and gold chains, and
+rings, seated beside her royal husband, setting all the women, the
+schoolmaster's wife included, into amazement of admiration, and most
+likely, in fact, no doubt, instilling a proper sense of respect even
+into the minds of the pompous lord and lady of the manor themselves.
+Ay, indeed, how often had she been lapt in these and other such
+eccentric dreams, and visions of the future!--Fräulein Aennchen burst
+into long and bitter weeping.
+
+"Anna, my daughter Anna," cried Herr Dapsul down through the speaking
+trumpet; "come up here to me immediately!"
+
+She found him dressed very much like a miner. He spoke in a tone of
+decision and resolution, saying, "When need is the sorest, help is
+often nearest. I have ascertained that Daucus Carota will not leave his
+palace to-day, and most probably not till noon of to-morrow. He has
+assembled the princes of his house, the ministers, and other people
+of consequence to hold a council on the subject of the next crop of
+winter cabbage. The sitting is important, and it may be prolonged so
+much that we may not have any cabbage at all next winter. I mean to
+take advantage of this opportunity, while he is so occupied with his
+official affairs that he won't be able to attend to my proceedings, to
+prepare a weapon with which I may perhaps attack this shameful gnome,
+and prevail over him, so that he will be compelled to withdraw, and set
+you at liberty. While I am at work, do you look uninterruptedly at the
+palace through this glass, and tell me instantly if anybody comes out,
+or even looks out of it." She did as she was directed, but the marquee
+remained closed, although she often heard (notwithstanding that Herr
+Dapsul was making a tremendous hammering on plates of metal a few paces
+behind her), a wild, confused crying and screaming, apparently coming
+from the marquee, and also distinct sounds of slapping, as if people's
+ears were being well boxed. She told Herr Dapsul this, and he was
+delighted, saying that the more they quarrelled in there the less they
+were likely to know what was being prepared for their destruction.
+
+Fräulein Aennchen was much surprised when she found that Herr Dapsul
+had hammered out and made several most lovely kitchen-pots and
+stew-pans of copper. As an expert in such matters, she observed that
+the tinning of them was done in a most superior style, so that her papa
+must have paid careful heed to the duties legally enjoined on
+coppersmiths. She begged to be allowed to take these nice pots and pans
+down to the kitchen, and use them there. But Herr Dapsul smiled a
+mysterious smile, and merely said:
+
+"All in good time, my daughter Anna. Just you go downstairs, my beloved
+child, and wait quietly till you see what happens to-morrow."
+
+He gave a melancholy smile, and that infused a little hope and
+confidence into his luckless daughter.
+
+Next day, as dinner-time came on, Herr Dapsul brought down his pots and
+pans, and betook himself to the kitchen, telling his daughter and the
+maid to go away and leave him by himself, as he was going to cook the
+dinner. He particularly enjoined Fräulein Aennchen to be as kind and
+pleasant with Cordovanspitz as ever she could, when he came in--as he
+was pretty sure to do.
+
+Cordovanspitz--or rather, King Daucus Carota the First--did come in
+very soon, and if he had borne himself like an ardent lover on previous
+occasions, he far outdid himself on this. Aennchen noticed, to her
+terror, that she had grown so small by this time, that Daucus had no
+difficulty in getting up into her lap to caress and kiss her; and the
+wretched girl had to submit to this, notwithstanding her disgust with
+the horrid little monster. Presently Herr Dapsul came in, and said--
+
+"Oh, my most egregious Porphyrio von Ockerodastes, won't you come into
+the kitchen with my daughter and me, and see what beautiful order your
+future bride has got everything in there?"
+
+Aennchen had never seen the wicked, malicious look upon her father's
+face before, which it wore when he took little Daucus by the arm, and
+almost forced him from the sitting-room to the kitchen. At a sign of
+her father's she went there after them.
+
+Her heart swelled within her when she saw the fire burning so merrily,
+the glowing coals, the beautiful copper pots and pans. As Herr Dapsul
+drew Cordovanspitz closer to the fire-place, the hissing and bubbling
+in the pots grew louder and louder, and at last changed into whimpering
+and groaning. And out of one of the pots came voices, crying, "Oh
+Daucus Carota! Oh King, rescue your faithful vassals! Rescue us poor
+carrots! Cut up, thrown into despicable water; rubbed over with salt
+and butter to our torture, we suffer indescribable woe, whereof a
+number of noble young parsleys are partakers with us!"
+
+And out of the pans came the plaint: "Oh Daucus Carota! Oh King! Rescue
+your faithful vassals--rescue us poor carrots. We are roasting in
+hell--and they put so little water with us, that our direful thirst
+forces us to drink our own heart's blood!"
+
+And from another of the pots came: "Oh Daucus Carota! Oh King! Rescue
+your faithful vassals--rescue us poor carrots. A horrible cook
+eviscerated us, and stuffed our insides full of egg, cream, and butter,
+so that all our ideas and other mental qualities are in utter
+confusion, and we don't know ourselves what we are thinking about!"
+
+And out of all the pots and pans came howling at once a general
+chorus of "Oh Daucus Carota! Mighty King! Rescue us, thy faithful
+vassals--rescue us poor carrots!"
+
+On this, Cordovanspitz gave a loud, croaking cry of--"Cursed, infernal,
+stupid humbug and nonsense!" sprang with his usual agility on to the
+kitchen range, looked into one of the pots, and suddenly popped down
+into it bodily. Herr Dapsul sprang in the act of putting on the cover,
+with a triumphant cry of "a Prisoner!" But with the speed of a spiral
+spring Cordovanspitz came bounding up out of the pot, and gave Herr
+Dapsul two or three ringing slaps on the face, crying "Meddling goose
+of an old Cabalist, you shall pay for this! Come out, my lads, one and
+all!"
+
+Then there came swarming out of all the pots and pans hundreds and
+hundreds of little creatures about the length of one's finger, and they
+attached themselves firmly all over Herr Dapsul's body, threw him down
+backwards into an enormous dish, and there dished him up, pouring the
+hot juice out of the pots and pans over him, and bestrewing him with
+chopped egg, mace, and grated breadcrumbs. Having done this, Daucus
+Carota darted out of the window, and his people after him.
+
+Fräulein Aennchen sank down in terror beside the dish whereon her poor
+papa lay, served up in this manner as if for table. She supposed he was
+dead, as he gave not the faintest sign of life.
+
+She began to lament: "Ah, poor papa--you're dead now, and there's
+nobody to save me from this diabolical Daucus!" But Herr Dapsul opened
+his eyes, sprang up from the dish with renewed energy, and cried in a
+terrible voice, such as she had never heard him make use of before, "Ah
+accursed Daucus Carota, I am not at the end of my resources yet. You
+shall soon see what the meddling old goose of a Cabalist can do."
+
+Aennchen had to set to work and clean him with the kitchen besom from
+all the chopped egg, the mace, and the grated breadcrumbs; and then he
+seized a copper pot, crammed it on his head by way of a helmet, took a
+frying-pan in his left hand, and a long iron kitchen ladle in his
+right, and thus armed and accoutred, he darted out into the open.
+Fräulein Aennchen saw him running as hard as he could towards
+Cordovanspitz's marquee, and yet never moving from the same spot. At
+this her senses left her.
+
+When she came to herself, Herr Dapsul had disappeared, and she got
+terribly anxious when evening came, and night, and even the next
+morning, without his making his appearance. She could not but dread the
+very worst.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VI.
+
+  WHICH IS THE LAST--AND, AT THE SAME TIME, THE MOST EDIFYING OF ALL.
+
+Fräulein Aennchen was sitting in her room in the deepest sorrow,
+when the door opened, and who should come in but Herr Amandus von
+Nebelstern. All shame and contrition, she shed a flood of tears, and in
+the most weeping accents addressed him as follows: "Oh, my darling
+Amandus, pray forgive what I wrote to you in my blinded state! I was
+bewitched, and I am so still, no doubt. I am yellow, and I'm hideous,
+may God pity me! But my heart is true to you, and I am not going to
+marry any king at all."
+
+"My dear girl," said Amandus, "I really don't see what you have to
+complain of. I consider you one of the luckiest women in the world."
+
+"Oh, don't mock at me," she cried. "I am punished severely enough for
+my absurd vanity in wishing to be a Queen."
+
+"Really and truly, my dear girl," said Amandus, "I can't make you
+out one bit. To tell you the real truth, your last letter drove me
+stark, staring mad. I first thrashed my servant-boy, then my poodle,
+smashed several glasses--and you know a student who's breathing out
+threatenings and slaughter in that sort of way isn't to be trifled
+with. But when I got a little calmer I made up my mind to come on here
+as quickly as I could, and see with my own eyes how, why, and to whom I
+had lost my intended bride. Love makes no distinction of class or
+station, and I made up my mind that I would make this King Daucus
+Carota give a proper account of himself, and ask him if this tale about
+his marrying you was mere brag, or if he really meant it--but
+everything here is different to what I expected. As I was passing near
+the grand marquee that is put up yonder, King Daucus Carota came out of
+it, and I soon found that I had before me the most charming prince I
+ever saw--at the same time he happens to be the first I ever did see;
+but that's nothing. For, just fancy, my dear girl, he immediately
+detected the sublime poet in me, praised my poems (which he has never
+read) above measure, and offered to appoint me Poet Laureate in his
+service. Now a position of that sort has long been the fairest goal of
+my warmest wishes, so that I accepted his offer with a thousandfold
+delight. Oh, my dear girl, with what an enthusiasm of inspiration will
+I chant your praises! A poet can love queens and princesses: or rather,
+it is really a part of his simple duty to choose a person of that
+exalted station to be the lady of his heart. And if he _does_ get
+rather cracky in the head on the subject, that circumstance of itself
+gives rise to that celestial delirium without which no poetry is
+possible, and no one ought to feel any surprise at a poet's perhaps
+somewhat extravagant proceedings. Remember the great Tasso, who must
+have had a considerable bee in his bonnet when in love with the
+Princess Leonore d'Este. Yes, my dear girl, as you are going to be a
+queen so soon, you will always be the lady of my heart, and I will
+extol you to the stars in the sublimest and most celestial verses."
+
+"What, you have seen him, the wicked Cobold?" Fräulein Aennchen broke
+out in the deepest amazement. "And he has----"
+
+But at that moment in came the little gnomish King himself, and said,
+in the tenderest accents, "Oh, my sweet, darling _fiancée_! Idol of my
+heart! Do not suppose for a moment that I am in the least degree
+annoyed with the little piece of rather unseemly conduct which Herr
+Dapsul von Zabelthau was guilty of. Oh, no--and indeed it has led to
+the more rapid fulfilment of my hopes; so that the solemn ceremony of
+our marriage will actually be celebrated to-morrow. You will be pleased
+to find that I have appointed Herr Amandus von Nebelstern our Poet
+Laureate, and I should wish him at once to favour us with a specimen of
+his talents, and recite one of his poems. But let us go out under the
+trees, for I love the open air: and I will lie in your lap, while you,
+my most beloved bride elect, may scratch my head a little while he is
+singing--for I am fond of having my head scratched in such
+circumstances."
+
+Fräulein Aennschen, turned to stone with horror and alarm, made no
+resistance to this proposal. Daucus Carota, out under the trees,
+laid himself in her lap, she scratched his head, and Herr Amandus,
+accompanying himself on the guitar, began the first of twelve dozen
+songs which he had composed and written out in a thick book.
+
+It is matter of regret that in the Chronicle of Dapsulheim (from which
+all this history is taken), these songs have not been inserted, it
+being merely stated that the country folk who were passing, stopped on
+their way, and anxiously inquired who could be in such terrible pain in
+Herr Dapsul's wood, that he was crying and screaming out in such a
+style.
+
+Daucus Carota, in Aennschen's lap, twisted and writhed, and groaned and
+whined more and more lamentably, as if he had a violent pain in his
+stomach. Moreover, Fräulein Aennchen fancied she observed, to her great
+amazement, that Cordovanspitz was growing smaller and smaller as the
+song went on. At last Herr Amandus sung the following sublime effusion
+(which is preserved in the Chronicle):--
+
+             "Gladly sings the Bard, enraptured,
+              Breath of blossoms, bright dream-visions,
+            Moving thro' roseate spaces in Heaven,
+            Blessed and beautiful, whither away?
+              'Whither away?' oh, question of questions--
+              Towards that 'Whither,' the Bard is borne onward,
+              Caring for nought but to love, to believe.
+            Moving through roseate heavenly spaces,
+            Towards this 'Whither,' where'er it may be,
+            Singeth the bard, in a tumult of rapture,
+            Ever becoming a radiant em----"
+
+At this point, Daucus Carota uttered a loud croaking cry, and, now
+dwindled into a little, little carrot, slipped down from Aennchen's
+lap, and into the ground, leaving no trace behind. Upon which, the
+great grey fungus which had grown in the night time beside the grassy
+bank, shot up and up; but this fungus was nothing less than Herr Dapsul
+von Zabelthau's grey felt hat, and he himself was under it, and fell
+stormily on Amandus's breast, crying out in the utmost ecstasy, "Oh, my
+dearest, best, most beloved Herr Amandus von Nebelstern, with that
+mighty song of conjuration you have beaten all my cabalistic science
+out of the held? What the profoundest magical art, the utmost daring of
+the philosopher fighting for his very existence, could not accomplish,
+your verses achieved, passing into the frame of the deceitful Daucus
+Carota like the deadliest poison, so that he must have perished of
+stomach-ache, in spite of his gnomish nature, if he had not made off
+into his kingdom. My daughter Anna is delivered--I am delivered from
+the horrible charm which held me spellbound here in the shape of a
+nasty fungus, at the risk of being hewn to pieces by my own daughter's
+hands; for the good soul hacks them all down with her spade, unless
+their edible character is unmistakable, as in the case of the
+mushrooms. Thanks, my most heartfelt thanks, and I have no doubt your
+intentions as regards my daughter have undergone no change. I am sorry
+to say she has lost her good looks, through the machinations of that
+inimical gnome; but you are too much of a philosopher to----"
+
+"Oh, dearest papa," cried Aennchen, overjoyed; "just look there! The
+silken palace is gone! The abominable monster is off and away with all
+his tribe of salad-princes, cucumber-ministers, and Lord knows what
+all!" And she ran away to the vegetable garden, delighted, Herr Dapsul
+following as fast as he could. Herr Amandus went behind them, muttering
+to himself, "I'm sure I don't know quite what to make of all this. But
+this I maintain, that that ugly little carrot creature is a vile,
+prosaic lubber, and none of your poetical kings, or my sublime lay
+wouldn't have given him the stomach-ache, and sent him scuttling into
+the ground."
+
+As Fräulein Aennchen was standing in the vegetable garden, where there
+wasn't the trace of a green blade to be seen, she suddenly felt a sharp
+pain in the finger which had on the fateful ring. At the same time a
+cry of piercing sorrow sounded from the ground, and the tip of a carrot
+peeped out. Guided by her inspiration she quickly took the ring off (it
+came quite easily this time), stuck it on to the carrot, and the latter
+disappeared, while the cry of sorrow ceased. But, oh, wonder of
+wonders! all at once Fräulein Aennchen was as pretty as ever,
+well-proportioned, and as fair and white as a country lady can be
+expected to be. She and her father rejoiced greatly, while Amandus
+stood puzzled, and not knowing what to make of it all.
+
+Fräulein Aennchen took the spade from the maid, who had come running
+up, and flourished it in the air with a joyful shout of "Now let's set
+to work," in doing which she was unfortunate enough to deal Herr
+Amandus such a thwack on the head with it (just at the place where the
+Sensorium Commune is supposed to be situated) that he fell down as one
+dead.
+
+Aennchen threw the murderous weapon far from her, cast herself
+down beside her beloved, and broke out into the most despairing
+lamentations, whilst the maid poured the contents of a watering pot
+over him, and Herr Dapsul quickly ascended the astronomic tower to
+consult the stars with as little delay as possible as to whether Herr
+Amandus was dead or not. But it was not long before the latter opened
+his eyes again, jumped to his legs, clasped Fräulein Aennchen in his
+arms, and cried, with all the rapture of affection, "Now, my best and
+dearest Anna, we are one another again."
+
+The very remarkable, scarcely credible effect of this occurrence on the
+two lovers very soon made itself perceptible. Fräulein Aennchen took a
+dislike to touching a spade, and she did really reign like a queen over
+the vegetable world, inasmuch as, though taking care that her vassals
+were properly supervised and attended to, she set no hand to the work
+herself, but entrusted it to maids in whom she had confidence.
+
+Herr Amandus, for his part, saw now that everything he had ever written
+in the shape of verses was wretched, miserable trash, and, burying
+himself in the works of the real poets, both of ancient and modern
+times, his being was soon so filled with a beneficent enthusiasm that
+no room was left for any consideration of himself. He arrived at the
+conviction that a real poem has got to be something other than a
+confused jumble of words shaken together under the influence of a
+crude, jejeune delirium, and threw all his own (so-called) poetry, of
+which he had had such a tremendous opinion, into the fire, becoming
+once more quite the sensible young gentleman, clear and open in heart
+and mind, which he had been originally.
+
+And one morning Herr Dapsul did actually come down from his
+astronomical tower to go to church with Fräulein Aennchen and Herr
+Amandus von Nebelstern on the occasion of their marriage.
+
+They led an exceedingly happy wedded life. But as to whether Herr
+Dapsul's union with the Sylphide Nehabilah ever actually came to
+anything the Chronicle of Dapsulheim is silent.
+
+
+During the reading of this the Friends had laughed a good deal, and
+they were unanimously of opinion that, though there was not a great
+deal in the plot, yet that the details were so humorous and droll that,
+as a whole, the tale was a success.
+
+"As to the plot," Vincenz said, "there is rather a curious circumstance
+connected with that. Not long since, happening to be dining at the
+table of a certain lady of princely rank, there was a lady present who
+had on a gold ring with a beautiful topaz, of which the remarkably
+antique-looking form and workmanship attracted universal attention. We
+thought it had been some precious heirloom, and were astonished to hear
+that it had been found sticking on a carrot dug up on her property a
+few years previously. Probably it had been lying pretty deep in the
+ground, and had been brought towards the surface when the land was
+trenched, so that the carrot had grown through it.
+
+"The Princess pointed out what a good idea for a story this suggested,
+and wished that I should set to work to write one at once on the
+subject. So, you see, I hadn't far to go for the idea of the 'Vegetable
+King and his People,' and I claim the invention of them for myself, for
+there isn't a trace of him to be found in Gabalis or any other book of
+the kind."
+
+"Now," said Lothair, "I think we may say that on none of our former
+Serapion evenings has our fare been of a more various character than
+to-night. And it is good that we have managed to emerge from that
+gruesome darkness into which we had wandered somehow--I am sure it is
+hard to tell why--into the clear, brightsome light of day, although, no
+doubt, a serious, careful person might, with some reason, say that all
+the fantastic matter which we have so long been going on spinning and
+accumulating might have a considerable tendency to induce confusion of
+head, if not headache and feverishness."
+
+"We should all do the best we can," said Theodore. "But let no one deem
+that his own particular qualities and powers constitute the norm of
+what the human understanding is to have laid before it. For there are
+people--good sensible folks enough in other respects--who are so easily
+made giddy in their heads that they think the rapid flight of an
+awakened imagination is the result of an unsound condition of mind. So
+that such people say, of this or the other writer, that he only writes
+when he is under the influence of intoxicating drinks, and attribute
+his imaginative writings to over-excited nerves, and a certain amount
+of deliriousness thence arising. But everybody knows that although a
+condition of mind raising from either of those causes can give rise to
+a happy thought, or fortunate idea, it is impossible that it can yield
+perfect and finished work, because that demands the very quietest study
+and consideration."
+
+On this evening Theodore had set before his friends some remarkably
+superior wine sent to him by a friend on the Rhine. He poured what
+remained of it into the glasses, and said:--
+
+"I cannot explain why it should be so; but a melancholy foreboding
+comes upon me that we are going to part for a long time, and may,
+perhaps, never meet again. But surely the remembrance of those Serapion
+evenings will long live in our minds. We have given free play to the
+capricious promptings of our fancy. Each of us has spoken out what he
+saw in his mind's eye, without supposing his ideas to be anything
+extraordinary, or giving them forth as being so, knowing well that the
+first essential of all effective composition is that kindly
+unpretendingness which is the thing that has the power to warm the
+heart and please the mind. If Fate is about to part us, then let us
+always faithfully follow the rule of Saint Serapion, and vowing this to
+each other, drink this last glass of our wine."
+
+What Theodore suggested was accordingly done.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, STANFORD STREET
+                           AND CHARING CROSS.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Serapion Brethren., by 
+Ernst Theordor Wilhelm Hoffmann
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SERAPION BRETHREN. ***
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+<title>The Serapion Brethren. Vol. II.</title>
+<meta name="Author" content="E. T. W. Hoffmann">
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Serapion Brethren., by 
+Ernst Theordor Wilhelm Hoffmann
+
+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: The Serapion Brethren.
+       Vol. II
+
+Author: Ernst Theordor Wilhelm Hoffmann
+
+Translator: Alex. Ewing
+
+Release Date: March 16, 2010 [EBook #31668]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SERAPION BRETHREN. ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Bowen, from scans provided by Google Books
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<p class="normal">Transcriber's Notes:</p>
+<p class="hang1">Page scans are from Google Books:
+"http://books.google.com/books?pg=PA2&#38;dq=editions:UCALB4287293&#38;id=ZYQFAQ
+AAIAAJ&#38;as_brr=1#v=onepage&#38;q=&#38;f=false"</p>
+
+<br>
+<br>
+<h1>THE SERAPION BRETHREN.</h1>
+
+<h2>VOLUME II.</h2>
+
+<br>
+
+<br>
+
+<br>
+<h1>THE SERAPION BRETHREN.</h1>
+
+<h3>BY</h3>
+<h2>ERNST THEODOR WILHELM HOFFMANN</h2>
+
+<br>
+<h2>Translated from the German</h2>
+<h3>BY</h3>
+<h2>LIEUT.-COLONEL ALEX. EWING,</h2>
+<h3>A.P.D.,</h3>
+<h3>TRANSLATOR OF J. P. RICHTER'S &quot;FLOWER, FRUIT, AND THORN
+PIECES,&quot;<br>
+ETC.</h3>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>VOLUME II.</h2>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>LONDON:<br>
+GEORGE BELL &#38; SONS, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN,<br>
+AND NEW YORK.</h3>
+<h3>1892.</h3>
+
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h4>LONDON:<br>
+PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,<br>
+STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.</h4>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+<table cellpadding="10" style="width:80%; margin-left:10%; font-size:14pt">
+<colgroup><col style="width:90%; vertical-align:top;"><col style="width:10%; vertical-align:bottom; text-align:right"></colgroup>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"><h3><a name="div1Ref_section5" href="#div1_section5">SECTION V.</a></h3></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td colspan="2" style="text-align:right; font-size:80%">PAGE</td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td><a name="div2Ref_character" href="#div2_character">THE LIFE OF A WELL-KNOWN CHARACTER</a></td>
+<td></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td><a name="div2Ref_wooers" href="#div2_wooers">ALBERTINE'S WOOERS</a></td>
+<td></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td><a name="div2Ref_guest" href="#div2_guest">THE UNCANNY GUEST</a></td>
+<td></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td colspan="2"><h3><a name="div1Ref_section6" href="#div1_section6">SECTION VI.</a></h3></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td><a name="div2Ref_scuderi" href="#div2_scuderi">MADEMOISELLE SCUDERI</a></td>
+<td></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td><a name="div2Ref_gambler" href="#div2_gambler">GAMBLERS' FORTUNE</a></td>
+<td></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td colspan="2"><h3><a name="div1Ref_section7" href="#div1_section7">SECTION VII.</a></h3></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td><a name="div2Ref_formica" href="#div2_formica">SIGNOR FORMICA</a></td>
+<td></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td><a name="div2Ref_phenomena" href="#div2_phenomena">PHENOMENA</a></td>
+<td></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td colspan="2"><h3><a name="div1Ref_section8" href="#div1_section8">SECTION VIII.</a></h3></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td><a name="div2Ref_mutual" href="#div2_mutual">THE MUTUAL INTERDEPENDENCE OF THINGS</a></td>
+<td></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td><a name="div2Ref_betrothed" href="#div2_betrothed">THE KING'S BETROTHED</a></td>
+<td></td>
+</tr></table>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h1>THE SERAPION BRETHREN.</h1>
+
+<br>
+<h2><a name="div1_section5" href="#div1Ref_section5">SECTION V</a>.</h2>
+
+<p class="normal">The ever-fluctuating vicissitudes of human life had once more
+scattered our little group of friends asunder. Sylvester had gone back to his
+country home; Ottmar had travelled away on business, and so had Cyprian; Vincent
+was still in the town, but (after his accustomed fashion) he had disappeared in
+the turmoil, and was nowhere to be seen; Lothair was nursing Theodore, who had
+been laid on a bed of sickness by a malady long struggled against, which was
+destined to keep him there for a considerable time.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Indeed, several months had gone by, when Ottmar (whose sudden
+and unlooked-for departure had been the chief cause of the breaking up of the
+&quot;Club&quot;) came back, to find, in place of the full-fledged &quot;Serapion Brotherhood,&quot;
+one friend, barely convalescent, and bearing the traces of a severe illness in
+his pale face, abandoned by the Brethren, with the exception of one, who was
+tasking him severely by constant outbreaks of a grim and capricious &quot;humour.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For Lothair was once more finding himself in one of those
+strange and peculiar moods of mind in which all life seemed to him to have
+become weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, by reason of the everlasting mockery
+(&quot;chaff&quot; might be the modern expression of this idea) of the inimical daemonic
+power which, like a pedantic tutor, ignores and contemns the <i>nature</i> of men;
+giving man (as a tutor of the sort would do) bitter drugs and nauseous
+medicines, instead of sweet and delicious macaroons, to the end that his said
+pupil, man, may take a distaste at his own nature, enjoy it no more, and thus
+keep his digestion in good order.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What an unfortunate idea it was,&quot; Lothair cried out, in the
+gloomiest ill-humour, when Ottmar came in and found him sitting with Theodore--&quot;what an unfortunate idea it was of ours to insist
+on binding ourselves together again so closely, jumping over all the clefts
+which time had split between us! It is Cyprian whom we have to thank for laying
+the foundation-stone of Saint Serapion, on which we built an edifice which
+seemed destined to last a lifetime, and tumbled down into ruin in a few moons.
+One ought not to hang one's heart on to anything, or give one's mind over to the
+impressions of excitements from without; and I was a fool to do so, for I must
+confess to you that the way in which we came together on those Serapion evenings
+took such a hold on my whole being that, when the brethren so suddenly dispersed
+themselves over the world, my life felt to me as weary, stale, flat and
+unprofitable as the melancholy Prince Hamlet's did to him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Forasmuch as no spirit has arisen from the grave, revisiting
+the glimpses of the moon, to incite you to revenge,&quot; said Ottmar, with a laugh,
+&quot;and as you are not called upon to send your sweetheart to a nunnery, or to thrust a poisoned rapier into the heart of
+a murderer-king, I think you ought not to give way to Prince Hamlet's
+melancholy, and should consider that it would be the grossest selfishness to
+renounce every league of alliance into which congenially-minded people enter
+because the storms of life possess the power of interfering with it. Human
+beings ought not to draw in their antennas at every ungentle touch, like
+supersensitive insects. Is the remembrance of hours passed in gladsome kindly
+intercourse nothing to you? All through my journeyings I have thought of you
+continually. On the evenings of the meetings of the Serapion Club (which, of
+course, I supposed to be still in full swing) I always took my place amongst
+you, in spirit; assimilated all the delightful and entertaining things going on
+amongst you (entertaining you, at the same time, with whatever the spirit moved
+me to contribute to you). But it is absurd to continue in this vein. Is there,
+in Lothair's mind, really the slightest trace of that which his momentary
+'out-of-tuneness' has made him say? Does he not himself admit that the cause of
+his being out of tune is merely the fact of our having been dispersed?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Theodore's illness,&quot; said Lothair, &quot;which nearly sent him to
+his grave, was not a matter, either, calculated to put me into a happy state of
+mind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No,&quot; said Ottmar, &quot;but Theodore is well again; and as to the
+Serapion Club, I cannot see why it should not be considered to be in full
+working order, now that three of the Brethren are met together.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ottmar is perfectly right,&quot; said Theodore; &quot;it is a matter of
+indisputable necessity that we should have a meeting, in true Serapiontic
+fashion, as early as possible. The germ which we form will sprout into a tree
+full of fresh life and vigour, bearing flowers and fruit--I mean that that bird
+of passage, Cyprian, will come back: Sylvester will soon be unhappy, there where
+he is, away; and when the nightingales cease singing, he will long for music of
+another kind; and Vincent will emerge from the billows again, no doubt, and
+chirp his little song.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Have it your own way,&quot; said Lothair, rather more gently than
+before; &quot;only don't expect <i>me</i> to have anything to do with it. However, I
+promise that I will be present when you assemble Serapiontically; and, as
+Theodore ought to be in the open air as much as possible, I suggest that we hold
+our meeting out of doors.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">So they fixed upon the last day of May--which was only a few
+days off--for the time; and on a pretty public-garden in the
+neighbourhood, not too much frequented, for the place, of their next Serapiontic
+meeting.</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="normal">A thunderstorm, passing quickly over, and merely sprinkling
+the trees and bushes with a few drops of Heaven's balsam, had relieved the
+sultry oppressiveness of the day. The beautiful garden was lying all still, in
+the most exquisite brightness. The delicious perfume of leaves and flowers
+streamed through it, while the birds, twittering and trilling in happiness, went
+rustling amongst the branches, and bathed themselves in the bedewed leafage.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How refreshed I feel, through and through!&quot; Theodore cried,
+when the friends had sate themselves down in the shade of some thickly-foliaged
+lime-trees; &quot;every trace of illness, down to the most infinitesimal, has left
+me. I feel as if a redoubled life had dawned on me, in my active consciousness
+of reciprocity of action between me and the external. A man must have been as
+ill as I have been to be capable of this sensation, which, strengthening mind
+and body, must surely be (as I feel it to be) the true life-elixir which the
+Eternal Power, the ruling World-spirit, administers to us, directly and without
+intermediation. The vivifying breath of Nature is breathing out of my own
+breast. I seem to be floating in that glorious blue Heaven which is vaulted over
+us, with every burden lifted away from me!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This,&quot; said Ottmar, &quot;shows that you are quite well again,
+beloved friend; and all glory to the Eternal Power which fitted you out with an
+organisation strong enough to survive an illness like that which you have gone
+through. It is a marvel that you recovered at all, and still a greater that you
+recovered so quickly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For my part,&quot; said Lothair, &quot;I am not surprised that he got
+well so soon, because I never had a moment's doubt that he would. You may
+believe me, Ottmar, when I tell you that, wretched as the state in which his
+physical condition appeared to be, he was never really ill, mentally; and so
+long as the spirit keeps sound--well! it was really enough to vex one to death
+that Theodore, ill as he was, was always in better spirits than I was, although
+I was a perfectly well and sound man; and that, so soon as his bodily sufferings
+gave him an interval of rest, he delighted in the wildest fun and jests. At the
+same time, he has the rare power of remembering his feverish illusions. The
+doctor had forbidden him to talk; but when <i>I</i> wished to tell him this, that and
+the other in quiet moments, he would motion me to be silent and not disturb his
+thoughts, which were busy over some important composition, or other matter of
+the kind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes,&quot; said Theodore, laughing, &quot;I can assure you that
+Lothair's communications were of a very peculiar kidney at that time. Directly
+after the dispersion of the Serapion Brethren he became possessed by a foul
+fiend of evil humours. This you probably have gathered; but you cannot, by any
+possibility, divine the extraordinary ideas which he got into his head at this
+period of gloom and dejection. One day he came to my bedside (for I had taken to my bed by that time) stating
+that the old Chronicle Books were the grandest and richest
+mines and treasure-houses of tales, legends, novels and dramas. Cyprian said the
+same long ago, and it is true. Next day I noticed, although my malady was
+besetting me sorely, that Lothair was sitting immersed in an old folio.
+Moreover, he went every day to the public library and got together all the old
+Chronicles he could lay his hands upon. <i>That</i> was all very well; but, besides,
+he got his head filled with the strange old legends which are contained in those
+venerable books; and when, in my hours of comparative quiet, he bestirred
+himself to talk to me on 'entertaining' subjects, what I heard of was war and
+pestilence, monstrous abortions, hurricanes, comets, fires and floods, witches,
+auto-da-fé's, enchantments, miracles, and, above all other subjects, his talk
+was of the manifold works and devices of the Devil--who, as we know, plays such
+an important part in all those old stories that one can hardly imagine what has
+become of him <i>now</i>, when he seems to keep so quietly in the background, unless
+he may perhaps have put on some new dress which renders him unrecognizable. Now
+tell me, Ottmar, don't you think such subjects of conversation well suited for a
+man in my then state of health?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Don't condemn me unheard,&quot; cried Lothair. &quot;It is true, and I
+will maintain it fearlessly, that, for writers of tales, there is an immense
+amount of splendid material in those ancient Chronicles. But you know that <i>I</i>
+have never taken much interest in them, and least of all in their <i>diablerie</i>.
+However, the evening before Cyprian went away I had a great argument with him as
+to his having far too much to do with the Devil and his family; and I told him
+candidly that my present opinion of his tale, 'The Singers' Contest,' is that it
+is a thoroughly faulty and bungling piece of work, although when he read it to
+us I approved of it, for many specious reasons. Upon this he attacked me in the
+character of a real <i>advocatum diaboli</i>, and told me such a quantity of things,
+out of old Chronicles and from other sources, that my head fairly reeled. And
+then, when Theodore fell ill, I was seized upon and overmastered by real,
+bitter gloom and misery. Somehow, I scarce know how or why, Cyprian's 'Singers'
+Contest' came back to my mind again. Nay, the Devil himself appeared to me in
+person one night when I couldn't sleep; and although I was a good deal
+frightened by the evil fellow, still I could not help respecting him, and paying
+him my duty as an ever helpful aide-de-camp of tale-writers in lack of help;
+and, by way of spiting you all, I determined to set to work and surpass even
+Cyprian himself in the line of the fearsome and the terrible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;<i>You</i>, Lothair, undertake the fearful and terrible!&quot; said
+Ottmar, laughing--&quot;you, whose bright and fanciful genius would seem expressly
+adapted to wave the wand of comedy!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Even so,&quot; said Lothair; &quot;such was my idea. And as a first
+step towards carrying it out, I set to work to rummage in those old Chronicles
+which Cyprian had told me were the very treasure-houses of the diabolical; but I
+admit that it all turned out quite differently from what I had expected.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I can fully confirm that,&quot; said Theodore. &quot;I can assure you
+it is astonishing, and most delicious, the way in which the Devil and the
+gruesomest witch-trials adapt themselves to the mental bent and style of the
+author of 'Nutcracker and the King of Mice.' Just let me tell you, dear Ottmar,
+how I chanced to lay my hands upon an experimental essay on this subject of our
+doughty Lothair's. He had just left me one day when I was getting to be strong
+enough to creep about the room a little, and I found, upon the table where he
+had been writing, the truly remarkable book entitled 'Haftitii Michrochronicon
+Berlinense,' open at the page where, <i>inter alia</i>, occurs what follows:--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Ye Divell, in this year of Grace, appeared bodily in ye
+streets of Berlin, and attended funerals, conducting himself thereat
+sorrowfullie,' &#38;c., &#38;c., &#38;c.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You will see, my dear Ottmar, that this entertaining piece of
+intelligence was of a nature to delight me immensely; but some pages in
+Lothair's handwriting delighted me still more. In those he had welded up the
+accounts of this curious conduct of the Devil with a horrible case of misbirth,
+and a gruesome trial for witchcraft, into an <i>ensemble</i> of the most delightful
+and entertaining description. I have got those pages here; I brought them in my
+pocket to amuse you with them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He took them out of his pocket and handed them to Ottmar.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What!&quot; cried Lothair, &quot;the affair which I styled 'Some
+Account of the Life of a Well-known Character,' which I thought was torn up and
+destroyed long ago--the abortive product of a fit of capricious fancy; can it be
+that you have captured <i>that</i> from me and kept it, to bring me into discredit
+with persons of taste and culture? Here with the wretched piece of scribbling,
+that I may tear it up and scatter it to the winds of heaven.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, no,&quot; cried Theodore; &quot;you must read it to Ottmar, as a
+penance for what you inflicted on me in my illness with your horrible weird
+Chronicle matter.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well,&quot; said Lothair, &quot;I suppose I can't refuse, though I
+shall cut a strange figure before this very grave and carefully-behaved
+gentleman. However, here goes.&quot; So Lothair took the papers, and read as
+follows:--</p>
+
+<br>
+<h2><a name="div2_character" href="#div2Ref_character">THE LIFE OF A WELL-KNOWN CHARACTER</a>.</h2>
+
+<p class="normal">In the year one thousand five hundred and fifty-one there was
+to be seen in the streets of Berlin, particularly in the evening twilight, a
+gentleman of fine and distinguished appearance. He wore a rich and beautiful
+doublet, trimmed with sable, white galligaskins, and slashed shoes; on his head
+was a satin barret cap with a red feather. His manners were charming, and highly
+polished. He bowed politely to everybody, particularly to ladies, both married
+and single; and to <i>them</i> he was wont to address civil and complimentary
+speeches. He would say: &quot;Donna! if you have any wish or desire in the depths of
+your heart, pray command your most humble servant, who will devote his humble
+powers to the utmost to be entirely at your disposal and service.&quot; This was what
+he said to married ladies of position. To the unmarried he said: &quot;Heaven grant
+you a nice husband, worthy of your loveliness and virtues.&quot; To the men he
+behaved just as charmingly, and it was no wonder that everybody was fond of this
+stranger, and came to his assistance when he would stand hesitating, in doubt
+and difficulty, at some crossing, apparently not knowing how to get over it; for
+though a well-grown and handsomely-proportioned person in most respects, he had
+one lame foot, and was obliged to go about with a crutch. But as soon as anybody
+gave him a hand to help him at a crossing, he would instantly jump up with him
+some six ells or so into the air, and not come to the ground again within a
+distance of some twelve paces on the other side of the crossing. This rather
+astonished people, it need not be said, and one or two sprained their legs
+slightly in the process. But the stranger excused himself by saying that, before
+his leg was lame, he had been principal dancer at the Court of the King of
+Hungary; so that, when he felt himself called upon to take a jump, the old habit
+came back upon him, and, willy-nilly, he could not help springing up into the
+air as he used to do in the exercise of his profession. The people were
+satisfied with this explanation, and even took much delight in seeing some privy
+councillor, clergyman, or other person of position and respectability, taking a
+great jump of this sort hand-in-hand with the stranger.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But, merry and cheerful as he seemed to be, his behaviour
+changed at times in a most extraordinary manner; for he would often go about the
+streets at night and knock at people's doors; and when they opened to him, he
+would be standing there in white grave clothes, raising a terrible crying and
+howling, at which they were fearfully frightened; but he would apologize the
+following day, saying that he was compelled to do this to remind the citizens
+and himself of the perishableness of the body, and the imperishableness of the
+soul, to which their minds ought always to be carefully directed. He would weep
+a little as he said this, which touched the folks very much. He went to all the
+funerals, following the coffin with reverent step, and conducting himself like
+one overwhelmed with sorrow, so that he could not join in the hymns for sobbing
+and lamenting. But, overcome with grief as he was on those occasions, he was
+just as delighted and happy at marriages, which in those days were celebrated in
+a very splendid style at the town-hall. There he would sing all sorts of songs
+in a loud and delightful voice, and dance for hours on end with the bride and
+the young ladies (on his sound leg, adroitly drawing the lame one out of the
+way), behaving and evincing himself on those occasions as a man of the most
+delightful manners and bearing. But the best of it was that he always gave the
+marrying couples delightful presents, so that of course he was always a most
+welcome guest. He gave them gold chains, bracelets, and other valuable things;
+so that the goodness, the liberality, and the superior morality of this stranger
+became bruited abroad throughout the city of Berlin, and even reached the ears
+of the Elector himself. The Elector thought that a person of this sort would be
+a great ornament at his own Court, and caused him to be sounded as to his
+willingness to accept an appointment there. The stranger, however, wrote back an
+answer (in vermilion letters, on a piece of parchment a yard and a half in
+length, and the same in breadth) to the effect that he was most submissively
+grateful for the honour offered to him, but implored his Serene Highness to
+permit him to remain in the enjoyment of the citizenesque life which was so
+wholly conformed to all his sentiments, in peace; adding that he had selected
+Berlin, in preference to many other cities, as his residence, because he had
+nowhere else met with such charming people, persons of such truthfulness and
+uprightness, of so much &quot;feeling,&quot; of such a sense for fine and delightful
+&quot;manners&quot; so exquisitely after his own heart in every respect. The Elector, and
+his whole Court along with him, much admired and wondered at the beautiful style
+in which this reply of the stranger was conceived, and the matter was allowed to
+rest there.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It happened that just then the lady of Councillor Walter
+Lütkens was, for the first time, &quot;as ladies wish to be who love their lords&quot;;
+and the old <i>accoucheuse</i>, Mistress Barbara Roloffin, predicted that this fine,
+grand lady, overflowing with health and strength, would undoubtedly bring into
+the world a grand and vigorous son, so that Herr Walter Lütkens was all hope and
+gladness. Our &quot;stranger,&quot; who had been a guest at Lütkens's wedding, was in the
+habit of calling at his house now and then; and it chanced that he made one of
+those calls of his on an evening when Barbara Roloffin was there.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As soon as old Barbara set eyes on the stranger she gave a
+marvellous loud ejaculation of delight, and it appeared as though all the deep
+wrinkles of her face smoothed themselves out in an instant. Her pale lips and
+cheeks grew red, and the youth and beauty to which she had long said &quot;good-bye&quot;
+came back to her again. She cried out, &quot;Ah, ah, Herr Junker! Is this you that I
+see here really and truly? Is this you, yourself? Oh, I welcome you! I am so
+delighted to see you!&quot; and she was nearly falling down at his feet.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But he answered this demonstration in words of anger, whilst
+his eyes flashed fire. Nobody could understand what it was that he said to her.
+But the old woman shrunk into a corner, as pale and wrinkled as she had been at
+first, and whimpering faintly and unintelligibly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My dear Mr. Lütkens,&quot; the stranger said to the master of the
+house, &quot;I hope you will take great care lest something annoying may happen in
+your house here. I really hope, with all my heart, that everything will go well
+on this auspicious occasion. But this old creature, Barbara Roloffin, is by no
+means so well up to her business as perhaps you suppose. She is an old
+acquaintance of mine, and I am sorry to say that she has on many occasions not
+paid proper attention to her patients.&quot;</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="normal">Both Lütkens and his wife had been very anxious, and had felt
+most eery and uncanny about this whole business, and full of suspicion as to old
+Barbara Roloffin, particularly when they remembered the extraordinary
+transfiguration which took place in her when she saw the stranger. They had very
+great suspicions that she was in the practice of black and unholy arts, so that
+they forbade her to cross the threshold of their house any more, and they made
+arrangements with another <i>accoucheuse</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On this, old Barbara was very angry, and said that Lütkens and
+his wife would pay very dearly for what they had done to her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Lütkens's hope and gladness were turned into bitter
+heart-sorrow and deep grief, when his wife brought into the world a horrible
+changeling in place of the beautiful boy predicted by Barbara Roloffin. It was a
+creature all chestnut brown, with two horns on its head, great fat eyes, no nose
+whatever, a big wide mouth with a white tongue sticking out of it upside down,
+and no neck. Its head was down between its shoulders; its body was wrinkled and
+swollen; its arms came out just above its hips, and it had long, thin shanks.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Mr. Lütkens wept and lamented terribly. &quot;Oh, just heavens!&quot; he
+cried; &quot;what in the name of goodness is going to be the outcome of this? Can
+this little one ever be expected to tread in his father's steps? Was there ever
+such a thing known as a Member of Council with a couple of horns on his head,
+and chestnut brown all over?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The stranger consoled Lütkens as much as ever he could. He
+pointed out to him that a good education does a great deal; that though, as
+concerned form and appearance, the new-born thing was really to be characterized
+as a most arrant schismatic, still he ventured to say that it looked about it
+very understandingly with its fat eyes, and that there was room for a deal of
+wisdom between the two horns on its forehead. Also that though it might,
+perhaps, never be fit to be a Member of Council, it was perfectly capable of
+becoming a distinguished <i>savant</i>, inasmuch as excessive ugliness is often a
+characteristic of <i>savants</i>, and even causes them to be highly respected and
+much looked up to.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">However, Lütkens could not but ascribe his misfortune in the
+depths of his heart to old Barbara Roloffin, particularly when he learned that
+she had been sitting at the door of the room during his wife's <i>accouchement</i>;
+and Frau Lütkens had declared, with many tears, that the old woman's face had
+been before her eyes all the time of it, and that she had not been able to get
+rid of the sight of her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Now Mr. Lütkens's suspicions were not, it is true, enough to
+base any legal proceedings upon in the matter; but Heaven so ordered things that
+in a very short time all the infamous deeds which old Barbara had committed were
+brought into the clear light of day.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For it happened that shortly after those events there came on
+one day, about twelve at noon, a terrible storm, and a most violent wind, and
+the people in the streets saw Barbara Roloffin (who was on her way to attend a
+lady in need of her professional services) borne, rushing away on the wings of a
+blast, high up through the air, over the housetops and the church steeples, and
+set down, none the worse for the trip, in a meadow close to Berlin.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After this, of course, there could be no more doubt about the
+&quot;black art&quot; of Barbara Roloffin. Lütkens lodged his plaint before the proper
+tribunal, and the woman was taken into custody. She denied everything
+obstinately, till she was put to the rack. Upon that, unable to endure the
+agony, she confessed that she had been in league with the Devil, and had
+practised magical arts for a very long time. She admitted that she had bewitched
+poor Frau Lütkens, and foisted off the vile abortion upon her; and that, over
+and above that, she had in company with two other witches belonging to Blumber
+killed and boiled several children of Christian parents, with the object of
+causing a famine in the land.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Accordingly she was sentenced to be burnt alive in the
+market-place. So when the appointed day arrived old Barbara was conducted there
+in presence of a great concourse of people, and made to ascend the scaffold
+which was there erected. When ordered to take off a fur cloak which she was
+wearing, she would by no means obey, insisting that they should tie her to the
+stake just as she was. This was done. The pile of wood was already alight, and
+burning at all four corners, when suddenly the stranger appeared, seemingly
+grown to gigantic dimensions, and glaring over the heads of the populace at
+Barbara Roloffin with eyes of flame.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The clouds of black smoke were rolling on high, the crackling
+flames were catching the woman's dress, she cried out, in a terrible screaming
+voice, &quot;Satan! Satan! is this how thou holdest the pact thou hast made with me?
+Help, Satan! Help! my time is not out yet!&quot; and the stranger, it was found, had
+suddenly vanished. But from the spot where he had been standing an enormous bat
+went fluttering up, darted into the thick of the flames, and thence rose
+screaming into the air with the old woman's fur cloak; and the burning pyre went
+crashing down into extinction.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Horror seized upon all the spectators; every one now saw
+clearly that the distinguished stranger had been none other than the very Devil
+in person. He must have had some special grudge against the folks of Berlin, to
+whom he had so long behaved so smoothly and in such friendly fashion, and with
+hellish deceit betrayed Councillor Lütkens and many other sapient men and women.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Such is the power of the Evil One; from whom and from all his
+snares may Heaven in its mercy defend us all.</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="normal">When Lothair had finished, he looked into Ottmar's face, in
+utter self-irony, with the peculiar expression of bitter sweetness
+which he had at his command on such occasions.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well,&quot; said Theodore, &quot;what think you of Lothair's pretty
+little specimen of <i>diablerie</i>? One of the best points about it, I think, is
+that there is not too much of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Whilst Lothair had been reading, Ottmar had laughed a great
+deal, but towards the close he had become grave and silent. &quot;I must admit,&quot; he
+said, &quot;that in this little tale or 'prank'--for I don't know what else to call
+it--of Lothair's there predominates an attempt, often more or less successful,
+at a certain sort of amusing <i>naďveté</i>, very appropriate to the character of the
+German Devil. Also, that when he talks about the Devil's jumping over the
+streets hand in hand with respectable townfolk and of the 'chestnut brown
+schismatic,' who might turn out a quaint and ugly <i>savant</i>, though never a nice,
+natty, spick-and-span Member of Council, we see the curvets and the caprioles of
+the same little Pegasus which was bestridden by the author of 'Nutcracker.'
+Still, I think that he ought to have got on the back of a horse of a different
+colour; and, indeed, I cannot say what the reason exactly is why the pleasantly
+comic impression which the earlier part of the story produces vanishes away into
+nothingness; whilst, out of this nothingness, there ultimately develops a
+certain something which becomes most uncanny and unpleasant; and the concluding
+words, which are intended to do away with this feeling, do not succeed in doing
+away with it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, thou most sapient of all critics,&quot; Lothair cried, &quot;who
+dost such high honour to this most insignificant thing of all the insignificant
+things which I have ever written down as to dissect it carefully with magnifying
+glasses on nose, let me tell you that it served me as an anatomical study long
+ago. Did I not style it a mere product of a mood of caprice? Have I not
+anathematized it myself? However, I am glad that I read it to you, because it
+gives me an opportunity of speaking my mind concerning tales of this kind. And I
+am sure that my Serapion Brethren will agree with me. In the first place,
+Ottmar, I should like to trace out for you the germ of that unpleasant--or,
+better, 'uncanny'--feeling which you were conscious of when you were at first
+beginning to see what you have called the 'amusing <i>naďveté</i>' of it. Whatever
+grounds the good old Hafftitz may have had for telling us that the Devil passed
+a certain time leading the life of a townsman of Berlin, this remains for us a
+wholly 'fanciful' or 'fantastic' incident. And the quality of the
+'supernatural'--the 'spookishness' (to use an expression now not
+unfamiliar)--which is a leading characteristic of that tremendous 'principle of
+negation'--that 'spirit which eternally denies and destroys'--is, by reason of
+the (in a manner) comic contrastedness in which it is presented, calculated to
+cause in us the strange sensation, compounded of terror and irony, which fetters
+our attention in a manner the reverse of unpleasant. But the case is quite
+different as to the terrible witch stories. In them actual life is brought on to
+the stage with all its reality of horror. When I read about Barbara Roloffin's
+execution, I felt as though I saw the funeral pyre smoking in the market-place.
+All the horror of the terrible witchcraft-trials rose to my memory. A pair of
+sparkling red eyes, and an attenuated weazened body, were enough to cause a poor
+old creature to be assumed to be a witch, guilty of every description of wicked
+and unholy arts and practices; to have legal process instituted against her, and
+to be led to the scaffold. The application of the rack, or other form of
+torture, confirmed the accusations against her, and decided the case.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Still,&quot; said Theodore, &quot;it is very remarkable that so many of
+those supposititious witches of their own accord confessed their pact, and other
+relations, with the Evil One, without any coercion whatever. Two or three years
+ago it happened that a number of legal documents fell into my hands relating to
+trials for witchcraft; and I could scarce believe my eyes when I read in them
+confessions of things which made my flesh creep. They told of ointments, the use
+of which turned human beings into various animals; they spoke of riding on
+broomsticks, and, in fact, of all the devilish practices which we read of in old
+legends. Bat, first and foremost, and invariably, those supposititious witches
+always openly and shamelessly avowed, and boasted--usually of their own
+accord--as to their unchaste relations with the unclean and diabolical 'gallant'
+(as their term for him was). Now, how could such things be possible?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Because,&quot; Lothair said, &quot;belief in a diabolical compact
+actually brought such a compact about.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How do you mean? What do you say?&quot; the two others cried
+together.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Understand me properly, that is all I ask,&quot; said Lothair, &quot;It
+is matter of certainty that, in the times when nobody doubted of the direct and
+immediate influence of the Devil, or that he constantly appeared visibly, those
+miserable creatures, who were hunted down and put so mercilessly to fire and
+sword, actually and firmly believed in all that they were accused of; and that
+many, in the wickedness of their hearts, tried their utmost, by means of every
+description of supposed arts of witchcraft, to enter into compact with the
+Devil, for the sake of gain, or for the doing of evil deeds; and <i>then</i>, in
+conditions of brain-excitement, produced by beverages affecting their senses,
+and by terrible oaths and ceremonies of conjuration, <i>saw</i> the Evil One, and
+entered into those compacts which were to confer upon them supernatural powers.
+The wildest of the fabrications of the brain which those confessions
+contain--based upon inward conviction--do not seem too wild when one considers
+what strange fancies--nay, what terrible infatuations--even hysteria itself is
+capable of producing in women. Thus the wickedness of the hearts of those
+putative witches was often paid for by a fearful death. We cannot reasonably
+reject the testimony of those old witch-trials, for they are supported by the
+evidence of witnesses, or other clearly recorded facts; and there are many
+instances of people who have committed crimes deserving of death. Remember
+Tieck's magnificent tale, 'The Love-Spell.' There is a deed mentioned in the
+papers I have been speaking of very analogous to the crime of the horrible woman
+in Tieck's tale. So that a death on the funeral pyre was often really the proper
+punishment for those fearful misdoings.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There occurs to my remembrance,&quot; Theodore said, &quot;an occasion
+when an accursed crime of that description chanced to be brought vividly before
+my own eyes, filling me with the profoundest pain and sorrow. When I was living
+in W---- I went to see a certain charming country seat,
+L----, which you know. It has been justly said of it that it
+seems to float like some stately swan mirrored on the beautiful lake which lies
+at its feet. I had heard, before, that there were dark rumours to the effect
+that the unfortunate possessor of it, who had died but a short time before, had
+carried on magical practices, with the help of an old woman; and that the aged
+keeper of the chateau could tell a good deal about this business, could one gain
+his confidence. As soon as I saw this man he struck me as a very remarkable
+person. Imagine to yourselves a hoary-headed old man with imprints of the
+profoundest terror in his face, dressed poorly, like a peasant, but indicating,
+by his manner, unusual cultivation. Remark that this man, whom you would have
+taken for an ordinary labourer at the first glance, would talk to you--if you
+did not happen to understand the patois of the district--in the purest French,
+or in equally good Italian, just as you chose. I managed to interest and to
+animate him by touching, as we wandered through the great halls, on the troubles
+which his late master had had to go through, and by showing that I was, to some
+extent, acquainted with the subject, and with what had happened in those bygone
+days. He explained the deeper meaning of many of the paintings and adornments
+(which, to the uninitiated, seemed mere unmeaning prettinesses), and grew more
+and more frank and confidential. At last he opened a small closet, floored with
+slabs of white marble, in which the only piece of furniture was a cauldron of
+brass. The walls seemed to have been stripped of their former adornments. I
+knew, I felt, that I was in the place where the former master of the house,
+blinded and befooled by his lust for sensuous enjoyment, had descended to
+diabolical practices. When I dropped a word or two hinting at this subject, the
+old man raised his eyes to heaven with an expression of the bitterest
+melancholy, and said, with a deep sigh, 'Ah! Holy Virgin! hast thou forgiven
+him?' He then silently pointed to a large marble slab embedded in the middle of
+the flooring. I looked at this slab with much closeness of observation, and
+became aware that there were reddish veins meandering about through the stone.
+And, as I fixed my attention upon them more and more closely, heaven aid me! the
+features of a human face grew more and more distinctly traceable and visible,
+just as when, on looking at a distorted picture through a lens specially
+constructed, all its lines and effects then, and not till then, grow clear and
+sharp.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It was the face of a child that was looking at me out of that
+stone, marked with the heartrending anguish of the agony of death. I could see
+drops of blood welling from the breast; but the rest of the form of the body
+seemed to flow vaguely into indistinctness, as if a stream of water were
+carrying it away. It was with a hard struggle that I overcame the horror which
+well-nigh overmastered me. I could not bring myself to utter a word. We left
+that terrible, mysterious place in silence. Not till I had walked about in the
+park and the lawns for some time could I overcome the inexplicable feeling which
+had so annulled my enjoyment of that little earthly paradise. From many things
+which I gathered from the detached utterances of the old man, I was led to
+conclude that the crazy being who had thrust herself into such intimate
+relations with the last proprietor of the place (in other respects a
+large-hearted and cultivated man) had worked upon him by promising him, through
+the exercise of her accursed arts, the fulfilment of his dearest
+wishes--unfailing and everlasting happiness in love--and so led him on to
+unutterable crime.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This is an affair for Cyprian,&quot; Ottmar said. &quot;He would be as
+delighted over the bleeding baby in the marble, and in the old Castellan, as
+we.&quot; &quot;Well,&quot; Theodore went on to say, &quot;although all this affair may be traceable
+to foolish fancies--although it may be nothing but a fable kept up by the
+people--still, if that strangely-veined slab of marble is capable, even under
+the influence of a lively imagination, of showing the lineaments of a bleeding
+baby when looked at closely and carefully, something uncanny must have happened,
+or the faithful old servant could not have felt his master's guilt so deeply in
+his heart, nor would that strange stone give such a terrible evidence of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ottmar said, replying, &quot;We will take an early opportunity of
+laying this matter before Saint Serapion, that we may ascertain exactly how it
+stands; but for the time, I think we ought to let witches alone, and go back to
+our subject of the 'German Devil,' as to which I would fain say a word or two.
+What I am driving at is--that the characteristic German manner of treating this
+subject is seen in its truest colour when it is a question of the Devil's manner
+of conducting himself in ordinary everyday life. Whenever he takes part in that,
+he is thoroughly 'up' in every description of evil and mischief--in everything
+that is terrible and alarming. He is always on the alert to set traps for the
+good, so as to lead as many of them as possible over to his own kingdom; but yet
+he is a thoroughly fair and honourably-dealing personage, abiding by his
+compacts and contracts in the most accurate and punctilious manner. From this it
+results that he is often outwitted, so that he appears in the character of a
+'stupid' Devil (and this is not improbably the origin of the common expression
+'stupid devil'); but, besides all this, the character of the German Satan has a
+strong tincture of the burlesque mixed up with the more predominant quality of
+mind-disturbing terror--that horror which oppresses the mind and disorganizes
+it. Now, the art of portraying the Devil in this distinctively German fashion
+seems to be very much lost. For this aforesaid amalgamation of his
+characteristics does not seem to occur in any of the more recent attempts at
+representing him. He is either shown as a mere buffoon, or as a being so
+terrible that the mind is revolted by him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I think,&quot; said Lothair, &quot;you are forgetting one recent story
+in which this said mingling of the brightly Intellectual (verging sometimes on
+the comic) with the Terrific is very finely managed, and in which the full
+effectiveness of the old-world sort of devil-spook-story is carried out in a
+masterly manner. I mean Fouqué's splendid tale, the 'Galgenmännlein.'[1] The
+terribly vivacious little creature in the phial--who comes out of it at night,
+and lays himself down on the breast of that master of his, who has such awful
+dreams--the fearsome man in the mountain glen, with his great coal-black steed
+which crawls up the perpendicular cliffs like a fly on a wall--in short, all the
+uncanny and supernatural elements which are present in the story in such
+plentiful measure--together rivet and strain the attention to an extent
+absolutely frightening; it affects one like some powerful drink, which immensely
+excites the senses and at the same time sheds a beneficent warmth through the
+heart. It is owing to the tone which pervades it all through, and to the
+vividness of the separate pictures, that, although at the end one is thoroughly
+delighted that the poor wretch does get out of the Devil's clutches, still,
+the element of the Intellectuality of the evil beings, and the
+scenes which touch upon the realm of comedy (such as the part about the 'Half
+Heller') stand out with the principal high-lights upon them. I scarcely can
+think of any tale of <i>diablerie</i> which has produced such an impression upon me.&quot;</p>
+<br>
+<p class="hang1">[Footnote 1: Known in English as &quot;The Bottle Imp.&quot;]</p>
+
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There can't be much doubt,&quot; said Theodore, &quot;that Fouqué got
+the materials for that story out of some old chronicle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Even if he did,&quot; Lothair said, &quot;I should hope you wouldn't
+detract from the author's merit on that score, like the more common class of
+critics, whose peculiar system obliges them always to try and find out the
+fundamental materials from which a writer has 'taken' his work. They make
+immense capital out of pointing out said source, and look down with great
+contempt on the wretched author who merely kneads his characters together out of
+a pre-existent dough. As if it mattered that the author absorbed into himself
+germs from without him! The shaping of the material is the important part of the
+business. We ought to think of our Patron Saint Serapion. His stories were told
+out of his soul as he had seen them with his eyes, not as he had read about
+them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You do me much injustice, Lothair,&quot; said Theodore, &quot;if you
+suppose I am of any other opinion. And there is nobody who has shown more
+admirably how a subject may be vividly represented than Heinrich Kleist in his
+tale of Kohlhaas, the horse dealer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;However,&quot; said Lothair, &quot;as we have been talking of
+Hafftitz's book, I should like to read to you a story of which I took most of
+the leading ideas from the Michrochronicon. I wrote it during an attack of a
+very queer mood of mind, which beset me for a very considerable time. And I
+hope, Ottmar, my dear friend, it will lead you to admit that the 'spleen,' which
+Theodore says I am suffering from, is not so very serious as he would make it
+out to be.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He took out a manuscript, and read:</p>
+
+<br>
+
+<h2><a name="div2_wooers" href="#div2Ref_wooers">ALBERTINE'S WOOERS</a>.</h2>
+<p class="normal">(A story in which many utterly improbable adventures happen.)</p>
+
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<p class="hang1" dir="ltr"><span class="sc">Which treats of Sweethearts, Weddings, Clerks
+of the Privy
+Chancery,
+Perturbations, Witchcraft Trials, and other delectable matters</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="continue">On the night of the autumnal equinox, Mr. Tussmann, a clerk in
+the Privy Chancery, was making his way from the café, where he was in the habit
+of passing an hour or two regularly every evening, towards his lodgings in
+Spandau Street. The Clerk of the Privy Chancery was excessively regular and
+punctilious in every action of his life. He always had just done taking off his
+coat and his boots at the exact moment when the clocks of St. Mary's and St.
+Nicholas's churches struck eleven; so that, as the reverberating echo of the
+last stroke died away, he always drew his nightcap over his ears, and placed his
+feet in his roomy slippers.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On the night we are speaking of he, in order not to be late in
+going through those ceremonies (for the clocks were just going to strike
+eleven), was just going to turn out of King Street, round the corner
+of Spandau Street, with a rapid sweep--almost to be
+denominated a
+jump--when the sound of a strange sort of knocking somewhere
+in his immediate proximity rivetted him to the spot.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he became aware that, down at the bottom of the Town-house
+Tower--rendered visible by the light of the neighbouring
+lamp--there was a tall, meagre figure standing, wrapped in a dark cloak,
+knocking louder and louder on the closed shutters of Mr. Warnatz, the
+ironmonger's shop (which, as everybody knows, is therein situated); knocking
+louder and louder, and then going back a few paces and sighing profoundly,
+gazing up as he did so at the windows of the Tower, which were shut.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My dear sir,&quot; said the Clerk of the Privy Chancery,
+addressing this personage in a civil and courteous manner, &quot;you are evidently
+under some misapprehension. There is not a single human creature up in that
+Tower; and indeed--if we except a certain number of rats and mice, and a few
+little owls--not a living thing. If you wish to provide yourself with something
+superior in the hardware line from Warnatz's celebrated emporium here, you will
+have to take the trouble to come back in the forenoon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Respected Herr Tussmann----&quot; the stranger began.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And Tussmann chimed in with &quot;Clerk of the Privy Chancery, of
+many years seniority.&quot; He was a little annoyed, too--astonished, at
+all events--that the stranger seemed to know him. But the latter did not seem to
+mind that in the least, but recommenced:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Respected Herr Tussmann, you are kind enough to be making a
+complete mistake as to the nature of my proceedings here. I do not want
+ironmongery or hardware of any description; neither have I anything to do with
+Mr. Warnatz. This is the night of the autumnal equinox, and I want to see my
+future wife! She has heard my ardent and longing summons, and my sighs of
+affection, and she will come and show herself up at that window directly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The hollow tones in which the man spoke these words had about
+them something so solemn--nay, so spectral and supernatural--that the Clerk of
+the Privy Chancery felt an icy shudder run through his veins. The first stroke
+of eleven rung down from the tower of St. Mary's, and as it did so, there came a
+clattering and a clinking up at the broken old window of the Tower, and a female
+form became visible at it. As the bright light of the street lamps fell upon the
+face of this figure, Tussmann whimpered out in lamentable tones, &quot;Oh, ye just
+powers!--Oh, ye heavenly hosts!--what--<i>what</i> is this?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At the last stroke of eleven--that is, at the moment when
+Tussmann generally put on his nightcap--the female figure vanished.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This extraordinary apparition seemed to drive the Clerk of the
+Privy Chancery completely out of his senses. He sighed, groaned, gazed up at the
+window, and whispered &quot;Tussmann! Tussmann! Clerk of the Privy Chancery--bethink
+yourself, sir! Consider what you're about. Don't let your heart be troubled. Be
+not deceived by Satan, good soul.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You seem to be put out by what you have seen, Mr. Tussmann,&quot;
+the stranger said. &quot;I only wanted to see my sweetheart--my wife, that is to be.
+You must have seen something else, apparently.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Please, please,&quot; Tussmann said in a whimper, &quot;I should be so
+much obliged to you if you would be good enough to address me by my little
+title. I am Clerk of the Privy Chancery, and truly, at this moment, a greatly
+perturbed Clerk of the Privy Chancery--in fact, one almost out of his senses. I
+beg you, with all due respect, my very dear sir (though I regret that I am
+unable to style you by your proper title, as I have not the honour to be in the
+least acquainted with you, having never met you before--however, I shall address
+you as 'Herr Geheimer Rath'--'Mr. Privy Councillor'--there are such an
+extraordinary number of gentlemen here in Berlin bearing that title that one can
+scarcely be in error in applying it)--I beg you, therefore, Herr Geheimer Rath,
+to be so very kind as not to keep me longer in ignorance as to whom the lady,
+your future wife, may be, whom you expected to see here at this hour of the
+night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You're a curious fellow, you and your 'titles,'&quot; the stranger
+said, raising his voice. &quot;If a man who knows a number of secrets and mysteries,
+and can give good counsel too, is one of your 'privy' or 'secret' councillors, I
+think <i>I</i> may so style myself. I am surprised that a gentleman who is so well
+versed in ancient writings and curious manuscripts as you are, dear Mr.
+Tussmann, Clerk of the Privy Chancery, should not know that when an expert--an
+<i>expert</i>, observe!--knocks at the door of this Tower here--or even on the wall
+of it, on the night of the autumnal equinox, there will appear to him, up at
+yonder window, the girl who is to be the happiest and luckiest sweetheart in
+Berlin till the spring equinox comes round.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Mr. Privy Councillor,&quot; Tussmann cried, as if in a sudden
+inspiration, and with joyful rapture--&quot;Most respected Mr. Privy Councillor! is
+that really the case?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is,&quot; said the stranger. &quot;But what's the good of our
+standing in the street here any longer? It is past your bed time. Let us go to
+the new wine-shop in Alexander Street; just that you may hear a
+little more about this young lady, and recover your peace of mind,
+which something--I have no idea what--has disturbed so tremendously.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Tussmann was a most abstemious person. His sole recreation
+(for &quot;dissipation&quot; we cannot term it) consisted in his spending an hour or two
+every evening in a café; where, whilst he read assiduously political and other
+articles in newspapers, as well as books which he brought with him, he sipped a
+glass of good beer. Wine he seldom touched, except that after service on Sundays
+he allowed himself a small glass of Malaga with a biscuit, in a certain
+restaurant. To go about dissipating at nights was an abomination in his eyes. So
+that it seemed incomprehensible how, on this particular occasion, he allowed the
+stranger, who hurried away towards Alexander Street with long strides,
+resounding in the darkness, to carry him away with him without a word of
+objection.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When they came into the wine-shop there was nobody there but
+one single customer, sitting by himself at a table, with a big glass of Rhine
+wine before him. The depth of the wrinkled lines on his face indicated extreme
+age. His eyes were sharp and piercing, and his grand beard marked him as a
+Hebrew, faithful to the ancient laws and customs of his people. Also his costume
+was very much in the old Frankish style, as people dressed about the year 1720;
+and perhaps that was why he had the effect of having come back to life out of a
+period of remote antiquity.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But the stranger whom Tussmann had come across was still more
+remarkable of aspect.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A tall, meagre man, powerfully formed as to his limbs and
+muscles, seemingly about fifty years of age. His face might once have passed for
+handsome, and the great eyes still flashed out from under the black bushy
+eyebrows with youthful fire and vigour. The brow was broad and open; the nose
+strongly aquiline. All this would not have distinguished him from a thousand
+others. But, whilst his coat and trousers were of the fashion of the present
+day, his collar, his cloak, and his barret cap belonged to the latter part of
+the sixteenth century. But it was more especially the wonderful eyes of the man,
+and the blaze of them (which seemed to come streaming out of deep mysterious
+night), and the hollow tones of his voice, and his whole bearing--all in the
+most absolute contrast with things of the present day--it was, we say, all these
+things taken together which made everybody experience a strong sense of eeriness
+in his proximity.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He nodded to the man who was sitting at the table as if to an
+old acquaintance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ha!&quot; he cried, &quot;here <i>you</i> are again, after all this time.
+How do you feel? Are you all alive and kicking?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Just as you see,&quot; the old man growled. &quot;Sound as a roach. All
+ready on my legs at the proper time. All <i>there</i>--when there's anything up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I'm not quite so sure about that,&quot; the stranger said,
+laughing loudly; &quot;we shall see!&quot; And he ordered the waiter to bring a bottle of
+the oldest claret in the cellar.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My good Mr. Privy Councillor,&quot; Tussmann began, deprecatingly.
+But the stranger interrupted him hastily, saying:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let us drop the 'titles,' Tussmann, for once and all! I am
+neither a Privy Councillor nor a Clerk of the Privy Council. What I am is an
+artist, a worker in the noble metals and the precious jewels; and my name is
+Leonhard.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, indeed!&quot; Tussmann murmured to himself--&quot;a goldsmith! a
+jeweller!&quot; And he bethought himself that he might have seen at the first glance
+that the stranger could not possibly be an ordinary Privy Councillor, seeing
+that he had on an antique mantle, collar, and barret cap, such as Privy
+Councillors never went about in nowadays. Leonhard and Tussmann sat down at the
+same table with the old Jew, who received them with a grinning kind of smile.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When Tussmann, at Leonhard's instigation, had taken two or
+three glasses of the full-bodied wine, his pale cheeks began to glow, and as he
+swallowed the liquor, he glanced about him with smirks and smiles, as if the
+most delightful ideas were rising in his brain.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And now,&quot; Leonhard said, &quot;tell me openly and candidly, Mr.
+Tussmann, why you went on in such an extraordinary manner when the lady showed
+herself at the Tower-window; and what it is that your head is so very full of at
+the present moment. You and I are very old acquaintances, whether you believe it
+or not; and as to this old gentleman here, you need be on no ceremony with him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, heavens!&quot; answered the Privy Chancery Clerk--&quot;Oh, good
+heavens! most respected Herr Professor--(I do beg you to allow me to address you
+by that title; I am sure you are a most celebrated artist, and quite in a
+position to be a professor in the Academy of Arts)--and so, most respected Herr
+Professor, how can I hide from you that I am, as the proverb puts it, 'walking
+on wooer's feet.' I am expecting to bring the happiest of brides home about the
+vernal equinox. Could it be otherwise than a rather startling thing, when you,
+most respected Herr Professor, were so very kind as to let me see a fortunate
+bride that is to be?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What!&quot; the old Jew broke in, in a screaming voice--&quot;What! are
+you thinking of marrying? Why, you're as old as the hills, and as ugly as a
+baboon into the bargain.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Never mind him,&quot; Leonbard said; for Tussmann was so startled
+by what the old man said that he could not utter a syllable. &quot;He means no harm,
+dear Mr. Tussmann, though you may think he seems to do so. I must say, candidly,
+that it seems to me, too, that it is a little too late in life for you to be
+thinking about such a thing. You must be well on to your fiftieth birthday;
+aren't you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I shall be forty-eight,&quot; said Tussman, with a certain amount
+of irritability, &quot;on the 9th of next October--St. Dionysius's day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Very well,&quot; said Leonhard. &quot;But it isn't only your age that's
+against you--you have always been leading a simple, solitary, virginal
+existence. You have no knowledge or experience of women. I can't see what is to
+become of you in their hands!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Knowledge of them--experience of them! Dear Herr Professor,
+you must really take me for a most foolish and inconsiderate person if you think
+I am going to plunge into matrimony without any counsel or reflection or advice.
+I weigh, consider, and reflect upon every step most maturely; and, having
+perceived myself to be pierced to the heart by the dart of the wanton deity
+yclept 'Cupid' by the ancients, could I do otherwise than bend all my thoughts
+upon the preparation of myself for the matrimonial life? Would any one who was
+preparing for a difficult examination not be careful to study all the subjects
+on which he is to be interrogated? Very well, most respected Herr Professor, my
+marriage is an examination, for which I have prepared myself, and I feel pretty
+certain that I shall pass it admirably--with honours! Look here, at this little
+book, which I have always carried about in my pocket, studying it constantly,
+since the time when I made up my mind to fall in love and get married. Look at
+it, my dear sir; and you will be convinced that I am setting about this business
+in the most thorough and fundamental manner possible, and that I shall certainly
+not be found an ignoramus in it; although, as you say (and as I must admit), the
+feminine sex is--so far, and up to the present date--to me a complete <i>terra
+incognita</i>.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With these words Tussmann produced from his pocket a little
+book in parchment binding, and turned up its title-page, which ran as follows:--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Brief Tractate on Diplomatic Acumen. Embracing methods of
+Self-Counsel for guidance in all Societies of our fellow-creatures, conducing to
+the attainment of a proper system of Conduct. Of the utmost importance to all
+Persons who deem themselves Wise, or wish to become Wiser. Translated from the
+Latin of Herr Thomasius. With a complete Index. Frankfurt and Leipzig. Johann
+Grossen's Successors. 1710.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now just let me show you,&quot; said Tussmann, with a sweet smile,
+&quot;what this worthy author (in his seventh chapter, which deals with the subjects
+'Wedlock, and the Duties of the Father of a Family and Master of a Household')
+says, in the seventh section of that chapter. You see, what he says is this:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Above all things, let there be no hurry about it. He who
+does not marry till of mature age is so much the wiser, and the better able to
+cope with the exigencies of the situation. Over-early marriages produce
+shameless, subtle, and disingenuous people, and sacrifice the vigour of both
+body and mind. Although the age of manhood is not the commencement of youth, the
+one should not terminate before the other.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And then, with regard to the choice of the object of the
+affections--her whom one is to love and to marry--this grand
+Thomasius says, in his nineteenth section:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'The middle course is the safest. We should not select one
+too beautiful or too ill-favoured, too rich nor too poor, too high-born or too
+low-born, but of like social standing with one's self. And, similarly, as
+regards the other qualities, the middle course will be found always the safest
+to follow.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Very well, you see, this is what I have always guided myself
+by. And (as directed by Thomasius--section seventeen), not only have I had
+occasional conversations with the lady of my choice, but (inasmuch as, in
+occasional interviews, misapprehensions may arise with respect to peculiarities
+of character and modes of looking at matters, &#38;c.) I have taken opportunities to
+have very <i>frequent</i> interviews and conversations with her; because those
+frequent interviews necessarily make it very difficult for people to conceal
+themselves from one another, don't you see?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My dear Mr. Tussmann,&quot; the goldsmith said, &quot;it appears to me
+that all this sort of intercourse, 'conversation,' or whatever you please to
+call it, with women requires one to have a good deal of experience, extending
+over a very considerable period of time, if one is to avoid being befooled and
+made an ass of by it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Even in this,&quot; said Tussmann, &quot;our grand Thomasius comes to
+our aid, giving us completely adequate instruction as to how we are to
+'converse' with ladies, in the most rational and delightful style; even telling
+us exactly how and when to introduce the due amount of playfulness and wit,
+suitable to the occasion. My author says, in his fifth chapter, that one ought
+to be careful to introduce such jocular sayings sparingly--as a cook uses salt;
+and that pointed speeches should never be employed as weapons against others,
+but altogether in our own defence--just as a hedgehog uses his spines. And also,
+that it is wise to rely more upon the actions than upon the words; because it is
+often the case that what is hidden by words is made evident by actions, and that
+words very often do not do so much to awaken liking or disliking as actions do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I see,&quot; the goldsmith said, &quot;there is no getting anything
+like a rise out of you. You are closed up in armour of proof. So I am prepared
+to bet, heavily, that you have gained the affections of the lady of your choice
+by means of those wonderfully deep diplomatic dodges of yours.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Tussmann answered, &quot;I study to direct all my endeavours
+(following Thomasius's advice) to attain a deferential, though kindly,
+agreeableness of demeanour, that being the most natural and usual indication of
+affection, and what is most adapted to awaken liking in reciprocation: just as
+if you yawn, you will set an entire company gaping too, from sympathy. But,
+reverentially as I follow his instructions, I don't go too far; I always
+recollect that (as Thomasius says) women are neither good angels nor bad angels,
+but mere human beings; and, in fact, as regards strength of mind and body,
+weaker than we are, which, of course, is fully accounted for by the diversity
+which exists between the sexes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A black year come over you!&quot; the old Jew cried wrathfully,
+&quot;sitting there chattering your cursed stuff and nonsense without a stop;
+spoiling for me the good hour in which I hoped to enjoy myself a little after
+all the hard work I've been going through.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hold your tongue, old man,&quot; the goldsmith said. &quot;You ought to
+be very thankful that we put up with you here. I can tell you your company is
+anything but pleasant; your manners are so abominable. You ought to be kicked
+out of decent society, if you had your deserts. Don't let the old man disturb
+you, dear Mr. Tussmann. You believe in the old times; you're fond of old
+Thomasius. I go a good deal further back. What I care about is the time to
+which, as you see, my dress partly belongs. Aye! my good friend, those were the
+days! It is to them that that little spell belongs which you saw me putting into
+practice to-night at the Town-house Tower.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I don't quite understand you, Herr Professor,'' Tussmann
+said.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well,&quot; said the goldsmith, &quot;there used to be splendid
+weddings in those old days in the Town-hall--very different affairs from the
+weddings nowadays. Plenty of happy brides used to look out of those
+Tower-windows in those days, so that it's a piece of pleasant glamour when an
+aerial form comes and tells us what is going to happen now, from knowledge of
+olden times. Let me tell you, this Berlin was a very different place in those
+old days; nowadays everything is marked with the same stamp of tediousness and
+<i>ennui</i>, and people <i>ennuyer</i> one another just because they are so <i>ennuyées</i>
+and weary in themselves. In those days there were entertainments, feastings,
+rejoicings worthy the name, very different from the affairs that are so called
+now. I shall only speak of what was done at Oculi, in the year 1581, when the
+Elector Augustus of Saxony, with his Consort, and Don Christian, his son, were
+escorted to Cologne by all the nobles and gentry. There were over a hundred
+horse, and the citizens of both the cities--Berlin and Cologne--and those of
+Spandau lined both sides of the road from the gate to the palace in complete
+armour. Next day there was a splendid running at the ring, at which the Elector
+of Saxony and Count Jost of Barby appeared, with many nobles--in fine suits of
+gold embroidery, and tall golden helms, golden lions' heads on their shoulders,
+knees, and elbows, with flesh-coloured silk on the other parts of their arms and
+legs, just as if they had been naked---exactly as you see the heathen warriors
+painted in pictures. There were singers and musicians hidden inside a gilt
+Noah's Ark, and on the top of it sat a little boy in flesh-coloured silk tights,
+with his eyes bandaged, as Cupid is represented. Two other boys, dressed as
+doves, with white ostrich feathers, golden eyes and beaks, drew ąhe ark along;
+and when the prince had run at the ring and been successful, the music in the
+ark played, and a number of pigeons were let fly from it. One of them flapped
+its wings and sang a most delightful Italian <i>aria</i>, and did it much better than
+our Court singer Bernard Pasquino Grosso from Mantua did seventy years
+afterwards (but not so charmingly as our <i>prime donne</i> sing nowadays). Then
+there was a foot tournay, to which the Elector and the Count went in a ship,
+which was all dressed over with black and yellow cloth, and had a sail of gold
+taffeta; and behind His Highness sate the little boy who had been Cupid the day
+before, in a long coat of many colours, a peaked black and yellow hat, and a long grey beard. The singers and musicians were dressed in the
+same way; and nil round about the ship a number of gentlemen danced and
+jumped--gentlemen of good family, mind you!--with heads and tails of salmon,
+herrings, and fishes of other sorts: most delightful to behold. In the evening,
+about ten, there was a grand display of fireworks, with thousands of
+detonations; and the master-gunners played all sorts of pranks--had combats; and
+there were explosions of fiery stars; and fiery men and horses, strange birds
+and other creatures, went up into the air with a terrible rushing and banging.
+They went on for more than two hours, those fireworks.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Whilst the goldsmith was narrating all this, the Clerk of the
+Privy Chancery gave every sign of the liveliest interest and
+the
+utmost enjoyment, crying, in a sympathizing and interested
+manner, &quot;Ey!--oh!--ah!&quot;--smiling, rubbing his hands, moving backwards and
+forwards on his chair, and gulping down glass after glass of the wine the while.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Dearest Professor,&quot; he cried at last, in falsetto (always a
+mark in him of intense enjoyment)--&quot;My dearest, most respected Herr Professor!
+what delightful things you have been having the kindness to tell me
+about!--really <i>quite</i> as though you had been there and seen them yourself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well!&quot; the goldsmith said, &quot;and wasn't I there?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Tussmann, who didn't in the least understand this
+extraordinary
+query, was going to try to get some further light thrown upon
+it, when the old Jew came in with a growl, to the following effect: &quot;Don't
+forget those delightful entertainments when the pyres burned in the
+market-place--the Berlin folks were much delighted with them, you know; and the
+streets ran red with the blood of the wretched victims, slain in the most
+terrific manner, after confessing whatever was imputed to them by the wildest
+infatuation and the most idiotic superstition. Don't, I merely say, forget to
+tell your friend about them!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, yes,&quot; Tussmann said; &quot;of course you mean those terrible
+witchcraft trials which took place in those old days. Ah! they were atrocious
+businesses; fortunately the enlightenment of the present age has altered all
+those things.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The goldsmith cast strange looks at the old Jew and at
+Tussmann; and presently asked the latter, with a mysterious smile, if he had
+ever heard about the Jew-coiner, Lippold, and what had happened to him in the
+year 1512.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ere Tussmann could answer, the goldsmith went on to say: &quot;This
+Jew-coiner, Lippold, was accused of an important imposture,
+and a serious roguery. He had at one time been much in the confidence of the
+Elector, and was at the head of all the affairs of the mints and the coinage in
+the country; always ready to produce large sums of money, no matter how large,
+when required. Whether because he was clever at shifts, or that he had powers at
+his command which enabled him to clear himself from all blame in the Elector's
+eyes, or that he was able to 'shoot with a silver bullet' (to use an expression
+of those times) those who had influence over the Elector's proceedings, he was
+on the very point of getting off scot free from the accusations brought against
+him. But he was still kept under guard, by the town-watch, in his little house
+in Stralau Street. And it so chanced that he had a quarrel with his wife, in the
+course of which she said to him, in the hearing of the guard, 'If our gracious
+lord the Elector only knew what a villain you are, and what atrocities you
+manage to commit by the help of that magic book of yours, you'd be in your
+coffin long ago.' This was reported to the Elector, who had careful search made
+in Lippold's house. The magic book was found, and, when it was examined by those
+who understood it, Lippold's guilt was clearly established. He had practised
+magical arts to give him power over the Elector, and to enable him to rule the
+whole country; and it was only the piety and Godfearingness of the Elector which
+had enabled him to withstand those spells. Lippold was burned in the
+market-place. But when the fire was taking effect on his body and upon the magic
+book, a great mouse came out from under the scaffold, and leaped into the fire.
+Many supposed that this was Lippold's familiar demon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Whilst the goldsmith had been relating this, the old Jew had
+sate leaning his arms on the table, with his hands before his eyes, groaning and
+sighing like one suffering unendurable tortures. On the other hand, the Clerk of
+the Privy Chancery did not seem to be paying much attention to what the
+goldsmith was saying. He was in high good-humour, and his mind was full of quite
+other ideas and images; and, when the goldsmith had ended, he asked, with many
+smiles, and in a lisping manner: &quot;Tell me, dear Herr Professor, if you will be
+so kind, was it really Miss Albertine Bosswinkel who came and looked out of the
+window of the Tower?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What?&quot; cried the goldsmith, furiously--&quot;what business have
+<i>you</i> with Miss Albertine Bosswinkel?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My dear sir!&quot; said Tussmann, timidly--&quot;good gracious! My dear
+friend, she is the very lady whom I have made up my mind to marry!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good God, sir!&quot; the goldsmith cried, with a face as red as a
+furnace, and eyes glaring with anger; &quot;you must be out of your reason
+altogether. <i>You</i>, an old, worn-out pedant, to think of marrying that beautiful
+young creature! <i>You</i>, who, with all your erudition, and your 'diplomatic
+acumen,' taken from the idiotic treatise of that old goose Thomasius, can't see
+a quarter of an inch before that nose of yours! I advise you to drive every idea
+of the kind out of your head as quickly as you can, or you will probably find
+that you stand a good chance of having that weazened neck of yours drawn, on
+this autumn equinoctial night!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Clerk of the Privy Chancery was a quiet, peaceable, nay,
+timorous man, incapable of saying a hard word to anybody, even when attacked;
+but what the goldsmith had said was just a trifle too infernally insulting; and
+then, Tussmann had taken more strong wine than he was accustomed to.
+Accordingly, there was no wonder that he did what he had never done before in
+his life---that is, he burst into a fury, and yelled out, right into the
+goldsmith's teeth: &quot;Eh! What the devil business have you with me, Mr. Goldsmith
+(whose acquaintance I haven't the honour of); and how dare you talk to me in
+this sort of way? You seem to me to be trying to make an ass of me, by all sorts
+of childish delusions. I presume you have the effrontery to be paying your
+addresses to Miss Bosswinkel yourself; you've got hold of a portrait of her on
+glass, and shown it at the Town-hall in a magic-lantern held under your cloak.
+My good sir, <i>I</i> know something about these matters, as well as <i>you</i> do; you're
+going the wrong way to work if you think you're going to frighten and bully <i>me</i>
+in this sort of way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Be careful what you're about,&quot; the goldsmith said, very
+quietly, and with a strange smile. &quot;Be very careful what you're about; you've
+got strange sort of people to do with here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And as he so spake, lo! instead of the goldsmith's face, there
+was a horrid-looking fox's face snarling and showing its teeth at Tussmann from
+under the goldsmith's bonnet.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Clerk of the Privy Chancery fell back in his chair in the
+profoundest terror.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The old Jew did not seem to be in the least degree surprised
+by this transformation; rather, he had suddenly lost his mood of ill-temper
+altogether. He laughed, and cried, &quot;Aha! capital sport! But there's nothing to
+be <i>made</i> by those arts. I know better ones. I can do things which were always
+beyond <i>you</i>, Leonhard.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let us see,&quot; said the goldsmith, who had assumed his human
+countenance again--&quot;let us see what you can do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The old man took from his pocket a large black radish, trimmed
+it and scraped it with a little knife, which also came from his pocket, shredded
+it into thin strips, and laid them in order on the table. Then he struck each of
+them a blow with his clenched fist; when they sprung up, one by one, ringing, in
+the shape of gold coins, which he took up and threw across to the goldsmith. But
+as soon as the goldsmith took hold of one of those coins, it fell to dust, in a
+little shower of crackling sparks of fire. This infuriated the old man. He went
+on striking the radish-shavings into gold pieces faster and faster, hitting them
+harder and harder, and they crackled away in the goldsmith's hand with fierier
+and fierier sparks.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Tussmann was nearly out of his senses with fear and agitation.
+At last he pulled himself together out of the swoon into which he was nearly
+falling, and said, in trembling accents: &quot;Really, I must beg, with all due
+courtesy and respect, to say that I feel that I should much prefer to bid
+'Good-evening' on this occasion.&quot; And grasping his hat and stick, he bolted out
+of the room as quickly as he could. When he reached the street, he heard those
+two uncanny people setting up a shout of screaming laughter after him, which
+made the blood run cold in his veins.</p>
+
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<p class="hang1"><span class="sc">In which it is related how, by the
+intervention of a cigar which would not draw, a love-affair was set agoing
+between a lady and gentleman who had previously knocked their heads together.</span></p>
+
+<p class="continue">The manner in which young Edmund Lehsen, the painter, made
+acquaintance with the mysterious goldsmith, Leonhard, was somewhat different to
+that in which Tussmann had done so.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Edmund was one day sketching a beautiful group of trees in a
+lonely part of the Thiergarten, when Leonhard came up, and, without any
+ceremony, looked over his shoulder at what he was doing. Edmund did not disturb
+himself, but went on with his sketch, till the goldsmith
+cried--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is a most extraordinary picture, young gentleman. Those
+will come to be something else than trees before you have done with them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do you see anything out of the way, sir?&quot; Edmund said, with
+flashing eyes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I mean,&quot; said the goldsmith, &quot;that there are all sorts of
+forms
+and shapes peeping out from amongst those high leaves there,
+in
+ever-changing variety: geniuses, strange animals, maidens, and
+flowers. Yet the whole thing ought only to amount to that group of trees before
+us there, through which the rays of the evening sun are streaming so
+charmingly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Sir!&quot; Edmund answered, &quot;either you have a very profound
+understanding, and a most penetrating eye for matters of this kind, or I have
+been unusually successful in portraying my inmost feelings. Don't you perceive
+when, in looking at Nature, you abandon yourself to all your feelings of
+longing, all kinds of wonderful shapes and forms come looking at you through the
+trees with beautiful eyes? That was what I was trying to represent to the senses
+in this sketch, and I see I have succeeded.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I understand,&quot; Leonhard said, rather coldly and dryly. &quot;You
+wanted to drop study, and give yourself a rest, to refresh and strengthen your
+fancy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not at all,&quot; Edmund answered. &quot;I consider this way of working
+from Nature is my best and most useful 'study.' Study of this sort enables me to
+put the really poetic and imaginative element into my landscape. Unless the
+landscape painter is every bit as much a poet as the portrait painter, he will
+never be anything but a dauber.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Heaven help us!&quot; cried the goldsmith. &quot;So you, dear Edmund
+Lehsen, are going to----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You know me, then, sir, do you?&quot; the painter cried.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why shouldn't I?&quot; said Leonhard. &quot;I first made your
+acquaintance on an occasion which you, probably, don't remember much about; that
+is to say, when you were born. Considering the small experience which you had at
+that time, you had behaved very well--had given your mamma little trouble--and
+as soon as you came into the world, gave a very pretty cry of pleasure and
+delight. Also, you showed a great love for the daylight, which, by my advice,
+you were not kept away from. Because, according to the most recent medical
+opinions, daylight is far from having a bad effect on babies, but rather is
+beneficial to their bodies and their minds. Your papa was so pleased that he
+hopped about the room on one leg, singing</p>
+
+<p class="center">'The manly heart with love o'erflowing,'</p>
+
+<p class="continue">from Mozart's 'Flauto Magico.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Presently he handed your little person over to me, and asked
+me to draw your horoscope, which I did. Afterwards I often came to your father's
+house, and you didn't disdain to suck at the little bags of almonds and raisins
+which I used to bring you. Then, when you were about six or eight, I went away
+on my peregrinations. When I got back to Berlin I saw with satisfaction that
+your father had sent you here from Münchberg to study the noble art of painting;
+because there is not a very large collection in Münchberg of works adapted for
+fundamental study, either in the shape of pictures, statues, bronzes, gems, or
+other art-treasures of value. That good native town of yours can scarcely vie
+with Rome, Florence, or Dresden in that respect; or perhaps even with what
+Berlin will one day become, when bran-new antiques, fished out of the Tiber,
+have been brought to it in some considerable quantity.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Heavens!&quot; Edmund cried, &quot;the most vivid remembrances out of
+my childhood are awaking themselves in my mind. You are Herr Leonhard, are you
+not?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Certainly!&quot; Leonhard answered. &quot;Leonhard is my name. Yet I am
+a little astonished that you should remember me all this long time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do, though,&quot; Edmund answered. &quot;I know that I was always
+glad when you came to my father's, because you always brought me such delicious
+things to eat, and petted me. But I always felt a sort of reverential awe for
+you; in fact, more than that--a kind of oppressive anxiousness, which often
+lasted after you were gone. But what makes the remembrance of you remain so
+vividly in my mind is what my father used to say about you. He set great store
+by your friendship, because you had got him out of a number of troubles in the
+most wonderful way--out of some of those difficulties which come upon people in
+this world so often. And he used to speak in the most enthusiastic way about the
+extent to which you had penetrated into deep and mysterious branches of science;
+how you controlled many of the secret powers of Nature at your will. Not only
+that, but (begging your pardon for saying so) he often went so far as to give us
+to understand that you were really nobody other than Ahasuerus, the Wandering
+Jew.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why not the Pied Piper of Hamelin? or the King of the
+Kobolds?&quot;
+cried the goldsmith. &quot;All the same, there is some foundation
+for the idea that there is something a little out of the everyday line about
+me--something which I don't care to talk about, for fear of giving rise to
+'unpleasantness.' I certainly did some good turns to your papa, by means of my
+secret knowledge, or 'art.' He was particularly pleased with the horoscope which
+I cast for you at your birth.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It wasn't so very clear, though,&quot; Edmund said. &quot;My father
+often told me you said I should be a great something--either a great Artist, or
+a great Ass. At all events, I have to thank this utterance for my father's
+having given consent to my wish to be a painter; and don't you think your
+horoscope is going to turn out true?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, most certainly,&quot; the goldsmith answered, very dryly;
+&quot;there can be no doubt about that. At this moment you are in the fairest
+possible way to turn out a very remarkable Ass.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What!&quot; cried Edmund--&quot;you tell me so to my face!--you----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It rests altogether with yourself,&quot; the goldsmith said, &quot;to
+avoid the bad alternative of my horoscope, and turn out a very remarkable
+Painter. Your drawings and sketches show that you have a rich and lively
+imagination, much power of expression, and a great deal of cleverness in
+execution. You may raise a grand edifice on those foundations. Carefully keep
+away from all 'modish' exaggerations and eccentricities, and apply yourself to
+serious study. I congratulate you upon your efforts to imitate the grave,
+earnest simpleness of the old German masters. But, even in that direction, you
+must carefully shun the precipice which so many fall over. It needs a profound
+intelligence, and a mind strong enough to resist the enervating influence of the
+Modern School, to grasp, wholly, the true spirit of the old German masters, and
+to penetrate completely into the significance of their pictures. Without those
+qualifications, the true spark will never kindle in an artist's heart, nor the
+genuine inspiration produce works which, without being imitations, shall be
+worthy of a better age. Nowadays young fellows think that when they patch
+together something on a Biblical subject, with figures all skin and bone, faces
+a yard long, stiff angular draperies, a perspective all askew, they have painted
+a work in the style of the great old German masters. Dead-minded imitators of
+that description are like the country lad who holds his bonnet before his face
+while the Paternoster is being sung in church, and says if he doesn't remember
+the words, he knows the tune.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The goldsmith said much more that was true and beautiful on
+the subject of the noble art of painting, and gave Edmund a great many valuable
+hints and lessons; so that the latter, much impressed, asked how it had been
+possible for him to acquire so much knowledge on the subject without being a
+painter himself; and why he went on living in such seclusion, and never brought
+his influence to bear on artistic effort of all descriptions.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have told you already,&quot; the goldsmith said, in a gentle and
+serious tone, &quot;that my ways of looking at life, and at things in general, have
+been rendered exceptionally acute by a long--aye, a marvellously
+long--course of experience. As regards my living in seclusion,
+I know that wherever I should appear, I should produce a rather extraordinary
+effect, as a result, not only of my nature in general, but more especially of a
+certain power which I possess; so that my living quietly in Berlin here might
+not be a very easy matter. I keep thinking of a certain person who, in many
+respects, might have been an ancestor of mine: so marvellously like me in every
+respect, in body and mind too, that there are times not a few when I almost
+believe (perhaps it may be fancy) that I am that person. I mean a Swiss of the
+name of Leonhard Turnhäuser zum Thurm, who lived at the court of the Elector
+Johann Georg, about the year 1582. In those days, as you know, every chemist was
+supposed to be an alchemist, and every astronomer was called an astrologer; so
+Turnhäuser was very probably both. It is certain, at all events, that he did
+most wonderful things, and, <i>inter alia</i>, was a very marvellous doctor.
+Unfortunately, he had a trick of putting his finger in every pie, and getting
+conspicuously mixed up in all that was going on. This made him envied and hated;
+just as people who have money and make a display with it, though it may be never
+so well earned, bring enemies about their throats. Thus it came about that
+people made the Elector believe that Turnhäuser could make gold, and that, if he
+did not do so, he had his reasons for so abstaining. Then his enemies came to
+the Elector and said--'See what a cunning, shameless rascal this is. He boasts
+of powers which he does not possess, and carries on sorceries and Jewish
+deceptions, for which he ought to be burned at the stake like Lippolt the Jew.'
+Turnhäuser had been a goldsmith by trade, and this came out. Then everybody said
+he had none of the knowledge imputed to him, though he had given the most
+incontrovertible proofs of it in open day. They even said that he had never,
+himself, written any of the sage and clever books and important prognostications
+which he published, but had paid others to do them. In short, envy, hatred, and
+calumny brought matters so far that he was obliged to leave Berlin in the most
+secret manner, to escape the fate of the Jew Lippolt; then his enemies said he
+had gone to the Catholics for protection. But ťthat is not true. He went to
+Saxony, and worked at his trade there, though he did not give up the study and
+practice of his science.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Edmund was wonderfully attracted to this old goldsmith, who
+inspired in him a reverential trustfulness and confidence. Not only was he a
+critic of the most instructive quality, though severe; but he told Edmund
+secrets concerning the preparation of colours and the combining of them known to
+the old masters, and of the most precious importance when he put them to the
+test of practice. Thus there was formed, between these two, one of those
+alliances which come about when there is on the one hand hopeful confidence, in
+a young disciple, and, on the other, affectionate paternal friendship on the
+part of a teacher.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">About this time it happened, one fine summer evening, that
+Herr Melchior Bosswinkel, Commissionsrath, who was taking his pleasure in the
+Thiergarten, could not manage to get a single one of his cigars to draw. He
+tried one after another, but every one of them was stopped up. He threw them
+away, one after another, getting more and more vexed and annoyed as he did so;
+at last he cried out: &quot;Oh, God! and those are supposed to be the very finest
+brands to be got in Hamburg. Damme! I've spared neither trouble nor money, and
+here they play the very deuce with every idea of enjoyment--not one of the
+infernal things will draw. Can a man enjoy the beauties of nature, or take part
+in any sort of rational conversation, when these damnable things won't burn? Oh,
+God! it's terrible!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He had involuntarily addressed these remarks to Edmund Lehsen,
+who happened to be close beside him with a cigar which was drawing splendidly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Edmund, who had not the slightest idea who the Commissionsrath
+was, took out his cigar-case and offered it politely to this desperate person,
+saying that he could vouch for both the quality and the drawing powers of his
+cigars, although he had not got them from Hamburg, but out of a shop in
+Frederick Street.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Commissionsrath accepted, full of gratitude and pleasure,
+with a &quot;Much obliged, I'm sure.&quot; And as, the moment he touched the end of the
+cigar which Edmund was smoking with the one just obtained from him, this latter
+drew delightfully, and sent out the loveliest and most delicious clouds of blue
+odoriferous smoke, he cried, enraptured:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, my dear sir! you have really rescued me from the
+profoundest depths of misery. Do please to accept a thousand thanks. In fact, I
+would almost venture to ask you to let me have one more of those magnificent
+cigars of yours, to be going on with when this one is finished.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Edmund said the contents of his cigar-case were quite at the
+gentleman's disposal; and then they went on their several ways.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Presently, when the twilight had fallen a little, and Edmund,
+with the idea for a picture in his head, was making his way, rather absently,
+not paying much attention to those about him, pushing through amongst the chairs
+and tables so as to get out of the crowd, the Commissionsrath suddenly appeared
+in front of him, asking him if he would not come and sit down at his table. Just
+as he was going to decline--because he was longing to get away into the open
+country--he suddenly caught sight of a young lady, the very incarnation of
+youth, beauty, and delightsomeness, who was seated at the Commissionsrath's
+table.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My daughter, Albertine,&quot; the Commissionsrath said to Edmund,
+who was gazing motionless at the lady, almost forgetting that it was incumbent
+on him to bow to her. He recognised, at the first glance, in Albertine, the
+beautiful creature whom he had come across at the last exhibition as she was
+admiring one of his own pictures. She was describing and pointing out the
+meaning of this fanciful picture to an old lady and two girls who were with her;
+explaining the peculiarities of the drawing and the grouping; applauding the
+painter, and saying that he was quite a young artist, though so full of promise,
+and that she wished she knew him. Edmund was standing close behind her, drinking
+in the praise which flowed from her beautiful lips. His heart was so full that
+he could not bring himself to go forward and say he was the painter. And at this
+juncture Albertine happened to drop one of her gloves, which she had taken off.
+Edmund stooped to pick it up, and as Albertine did the same thing at the same
+instant, their heads banged together with such a crash that it rang through the
+place.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, good gracious!&quot; Albertine cried, holding her hands to her
+head.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Edmund started back in consternation and alarm. At his first
+step he stamped on the old lady's pug, which yelled aloud; at his second he
+trampled the gouty toe of a professor, who gave a tremendous shout, and devoted
+poor Edmund to all the infernal deities. Then the people came hurrying from the
+neighbouring rooms, and all the lorgnettes were fixed upon Edmund, who made the
+best of his way out of the place, amid the whimperings of the dog, the curses of
+the professor, the objurgations of the old lady, and the tittering and laughter
+of the girls. He made, we say, his escape in those circumstances, blushing over
+and over with shame and discomfiture, in complete despair, whilst a number of
+young ladies got out their essence-bottles and rubbed Albertine's forehead, on
+which a great lump was rapidly rising.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Even then, in the crisis of this ridiculous occurrence, Edmund
+had fallen deeply in love, though he was scarcely aware of it himself. And it
+was only a painful sense of his own stupidity that prevented him from going to
+search for her all over the town. He could not think of her otherwise than with
+a great red lump on her forehead, and the bitterest reproach, the most distinct
+expression of anger, in her face and in her whole being.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There was not the faintest trace of this, however, about her
+as he saw her now. She blushed indeed over and over again when she saw him, and
+seemed unable to control herself. But when her father asked him his name, &#38;c.,
+she said with a delightful smile, and in gentle accents,
+&quot;that she must be much mistaken if he were not Mr. Lehsen, the
+celebrated painter, whose works she so immensely admired.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Those words, we need not say, ran through Edmund's nerves like
+an electric shock. In his emotion he was about to burst into flowers of
+rhetoric, but the Commissionsrath would not let him get to that, clasping him to
+his breast with fervour, and saying, &quot;My dear sir, what about the cigar you
+promised me?&quot; And whilst he was lighting said cigar at the ashes of the former
+one, he said, &quot;So you are a painter? and a great one, from what my daughter
+Albertine tells me--and she knows what she is talking about in such matters, I
+can assure you. I'm very glad you are. I love pictures, and, as my daughter
+Albertine says, 'Art' altogether, most tremendously. I simply dote upon it. And
+I know something about it, too. I'm a first-rate judge of a picture. My daughter
+Albertine and I know what we're about there. We've got eyes in our heads. Tell
+me, my dear painter, tell me without hesitation, wasn't it you who painted those
+pictures which I stop and look at every day as I pass them, because I cannot
+help standing to admire the colouring of them? Oh, it is beautiful!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Edmund did not quite understand how the Commissionsrath
+managed to see any pictures of his daily in passing them, seeing that he had
+never painted any signboards, that he could remember. But after a good deal of
+questioning, it turned out that Melchior Bosswinkel meant certain lacquered
+tea-trays, stove-shades, and things of that sort, which he saw and much admired
+in a shop-window as he went to business of a morning, after two or three
+sardines and a glass of Dantziger at the Sala Tarone. These productions
+constituted his highest ideal of the pictorial art. This disgusted the painter
+not a little; and he cursed, internally, Bosswinkel and his wretched chatter,
+which was preventing him from making any approach to the young lady. At last
+there came up an acquaintance, who engaged him in conversation, and Edmund took
+advantage of this to go and sit down beside Albertine, who seemed to be very
+much pleased at his doing so.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Every one who knows Miss Albertine Bosswinkel is aware that,
+as has been said, she is the very personification of youth, beauty, and
+delightsomeness; that, like all other Berlin young ladies, she dresses in the
+best possible taste in the latest fashions, sings in Zelter's choir, has lessons
+on the piano from Herr Lauska, dances most beautifully, sent a tulip charmingly
+embroidered and surrounded by violets to the last exhibition, and though by
+nature of a bright, lively temperament, is quite capable of displaying the
+proper amount of sentimentality required at tea-parties, at all events. Also,
+that she copies poetical extracts and sentences which have pleased her in the
+writings of Goethe, Jean Paul, and other talented men and women, in the
+loveliest little tiny handwriting into a nice little book with a gilt morocco
+cover.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Of course it was natural that, sitting beside the young
+painter, whose heart was beaming with the bliss of a timid affection, she should
+be several degrees more sentimental than was usual on the tea
+and reading-aloud occasions; and she lisped in the prettiest manner about such
+subjects as poetic feeling, depth of idea, childlike simplicity, and so forth.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The evening breeze had begun to sigh, breathing perfume from
+the flowers and wafting their scents on its wings; and two nightingales were
+singing a lovely duetto in among the thick darkling leafage, in the tenderest
+accents of love-complaining.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Albertine began, quoting from Fouqué--</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="i4">&quot;A rustling, whisper'd singing</p>
+<p class="i6">Breaks thro' the leaves of spring,</p>
+<p class="i4">And over heart, and sense, and soul</p>
+<p class="i6">A web of love doth fling.&quot;</p>
+</div>
+<p class="normal">And Edmund, grown less timid now that the twilight was falling
+more deeply, took her hand and laid it on his heart, whilst he went on,
+continuing the quotation--</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="i4">&quot;Did I, in whispered music, sing</p>
+<p class="i6">What my heart hears--aright--</p>
+<p class="i4">From that sweet lay would burst, in fire,</p>
+<p class="i6">Love's own Eternal Light.&quot;</p>
+</div>
+<p class="normal">Albertine withdrew her hand, but only to take off her glove,
+and then give the hand back to this lucky youngster. He was just going to kiss
+it fervently, when the Commissionsrath broke in with a</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh! I say! How chilly it's getting! I wish I had brought my
+great coat! Put on your shawl, Tiny! It's a fine Turkish shawl, my dear
+painter--cost fifty ducats. Wrap yourself up in it, Tiny; we must be getting
+home. Good-bye, my <i>dear</i> sir.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Edmund was here inspired by a happy thought. He took out his
+cigar case and offered the Commissionsrath a third Havannah.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I really am excessively obliged to you,&quot; the Commissionsrath
+said, delighted; &quot;you really are most kind. The police don't let one smoke
+walking about in the Thiergarten, for fear of the grass getting burnt; one
+enjoys a pipe or a cigar more for that very reason.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Bosswinkel went up to the lamp to light the cigar, and Edmund
+took advantage of his doing so to whisper to Albertine, very shyly, that he
+hoped she would let him walk home with her. She put her arm in his, they went on
+together, and Bosswinkel, when he joined them, seemed to consider it a matter of
+course that Edmund was going to walk with them all the way to town.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Anybody who has once been young, and in love--or who is both
+now at this present time (there are many who have never been either the one or
+the other)--will understand how Edmund, at Albertine's side, thought he was
+hovering over the tops of the trees, rather than walking through amongst them;
+up among the gleaming clouds, rather than down upon the earth.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Rosalind, in Shakespeare's 'As You Like It,' says that the
+&quot;marks&quot;
+of a man in love are &quot;a lean cheek, a blear eye and sunken, an
+unquestionable spirit, a beard neglected, hose ungartered, bonnet unhanded,
+sleeve unbuttoned, shoe untied, and everything demonstrating a careless
+desolation.&quot; But those marks were as little seen in Edmund as in Orlando. Like
+the latter, however, who marred all the trees of the forest with carving his
+mistress's name on them, hung odes on the whitethorns, and elegies on the
+bramble-bushes, Edmund spoilt quantities of paper, parchment, canvas and
+colours, in besinging his beloved in verses which were wretched enough, and in
+drawing her, and painting her, without ever succeeding in making her in the
+least
+like--so far did his fancy soar above his capability. When to
+this was added the peculiar, unmistakable somnambulistic look of the love-sick,
+and a fitting amount of sighing at all times and seasons, it was not to be
+wondered at that the old goldsmith saw into his young friend's condition.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;H'm,&quot; he said; &quot;you don't seem to think what an undesirable
+thing it is to fall in love with a girl who is engaged. For Albertine Bosswinkel
+is as good as engaged already to Tussmann, the Clerk of the Privy Chancery.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This terrible piece of news sent Edmund into the wildest
+despair. Leonhard waited patiently till the first paroxysm was past, and then
+asked if he really wanted to marry Albertine. Edmund declared that was the
+dearest wish of his heart, and implored the goldsmith to help him as much as
+ever he could to beat Tussmann out of the field, and win the lovely lady
+himself.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">What the goldsmith thought and said was that a young artist
+might fall in love as much as ever he liked, but to marry straight away was a
+very different affair; and that was just why young Sternbald never cared to
+marry, and, for all he knew, was still unmarried up to that hour.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This thrust took effect, because Tieck's 'Sternbald' was
+Edmund's favourite book, and he would have been only too glad to have been the
+hero of that tale himself. So he then and there put on a very pitiful face, and
+was very near bursting into tears.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well,&quot; said the goldsmith, &quot;whatever happens, I am going to
+take Tussmann off your hands. What you have got to do is to get into
+Bosswinkel's house, by hook or by crook, as often as you can, and attract
+Albertine to you as much as you can manage to do. As for my operations against
+the Clerk of the Privy Chancery, they can't be begun till the night of the
+Autumnal Equinox.&quot;</p>
+
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+<p class="hang1"><span class="sc">Contains a detailed description of Mr. Tussmann, Clerk
+of the Privy Chancery; with the reason why he had to dismount the Elector's
+Horse; and other matters worthy to be read</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="continue">Dear reader! From what you have already learnt concerning Mr.
+Tussmann, you can see the man before you, in all his works and ways. But, as
+regards his outward man, I ought to add that he was short of stature, very bald,
+a little bow-legged, and very grotesque in his dress. He wore a coat of the most
+old-world cut, with endlessly long tails; a waistcoat, also of enormous length;
+and long white trousers, with shoes which, as he walked, made as loud a clatter
+as the boots of a courier. Here it should be observed that he never walked in
+the streets with regular steps, like most people, but jumped, so to speak, with
+great irregular strides, and incredible rapidity, so that the aforesaid long
+tails of his coat spread themselves out like wings, in the breeze which he thus
+created around him. Although there was something excessively comic about his
+face, yet there was a most kindly smile playing about his mouth which impressed
+you in his favour; and everybody liked him, though they laughed at the pedantry
+and awkwardness of his behaviour, which estranged him from the world. His
+passion was reading. He never went out but he had both his coat-pockets crammed
+full of books. He read wherever he was, and in all circumstances; walking or
+standing, as he took his exercise, in church and in the café. He read
+indiscriminately everything that came to his hand: but only out of old times,
+the present being hateful to him. Thus, to-day he would be studying, in the
+café, a work on algebra; to-morrow, 'Frederick the Great's Cavalry Regulations,'
+and next the remarkable book, 'Cicero proved to be a Pettifogger and a Windbag:
+in Ten Discourses. Anno 1720.' Moreover, he had a most extraordinary memory; he
+marked all the passages which particularly struck him in a book, then read all
+those marked passages over again, after which he never forgot them any more.
+Hence he was a polyhistor, and a walking encyclopćdia, and people turned over
+the leaves of him when they wanted information on any point. It was only on the
+rarest occasions that he was unable to supply the information required on the
+spot, but, if he couldn't, he would go rummaging in various libraries till he
+could get at it, and then emerge with it, greatly delighted. It was remarkable
+that when (as usual) he was reading in society, to all appearance completely
+absorbed in his book, he heard, and took in, everything that was being said
+around him, and would often strike in with some most apposite observation, or
+laugh at anything witty in a high tenor laugh, without looking up from his book.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Commissionsrath Bosswinkel had been at school with Tussmann at
+the Grey Friars, and from that period dated the intimate friendship which there
+had always been between them. Tussmann saw Albertine grow up from childhood;
+and, on her twelfth birthday, after presenting her with a bouquet, the finest
+that money could procure from the first florist in Berlin, kissed her hand for
+the first time with an amount of courtesy and ceremonious deference which no one
+would have supposed him to be capable of. Dating from that day there dawned in
+the breast of the Commissionsrath an idea that it would be a very good thing if
+his old schoolfellow were to marry Albertine. He wanted to get Albertine
+married, and he thought this would be about the least troublesome way of getting
+it done. Tussmann would be content with very little in the shape of portion, and
+Bosswinkel hated bother of every kind, disliked making new acquaintances, and,
+in his capacity of a Commissionsrath, thought a great deal more of money than he
+ought to have done. On Albertine's eighteenth birthday he propounded this scheme
+(which he had previously kept to himself) to Tussmann.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Clerk of the Privy Chancery was at first alarmed at the
+suggestion. The idea of entering the matrimonial estate, particularly with so
+youthful a lady, was more than he could quite see his way to. But he got
+accustomed to it by degrees, and one day, when Albertine, at her father's
+instigation, gave him a little purse, worked by her own hands in the prettiest
+of colours (addressing him by his much-prized &quot;title&quot; as she did so), his heart
+blazed up in a sudden flame of affection. He told the Commissionsrath at once
+that he had made up his mind to marry Albertine, and as Bosswinkel immediately
+embraced him in the character of his son-in-law, he, very naturally, considered
+himself engaged to her. There was still one little point in the matter of some
+importance, namely, that the young lady herself had not heard a syllable about
+the affair, and could not possibly have the very faintest inkling what was going
+forward.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At an excessively early hour of the morning, after the strange
+adventures which we have, in our first chapter, described as having been met
+with by Tussmann at the foot of the Townhouse Tower, and in the wineshop in
+Alexander Street, the said Clerk of the Privy Chancery came bursting, pale and
+wild, with distorted features, into his friend Bosswinkel's bedroom. The
+Commissionsrath was much alarmed and exercised in his mind, for Tussmann had
+never come in upon him at such an hour, and his manner and appearance clearly
+indicated that something most remarkable had been happening.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What, in the name of Heaven, is the matter with you?&quot;
+Bosswinkel cried. &quot;Where have you been? What have you been up to? You look like
+I don't know what!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Tussmann threw himself feebly into an arm-chair, and it was
+not till he had gasped for breath during several minutes that he was able to
+begin to speak--which he did in a whimpering voice.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Bosswinkel! here, as you see me, in these self-same clothes,
+with 'Thomasius on Diplomatic Acumen' in my pocket, I come straight here from
+Spandau Street, where I have been running up and down, and backwards and
+forwards, ever since the clock struck twelve last night. I have not set a foot
+across my own doorstep, or seen the sight of a bed, nor have I closed an eye the
+whole livelong night!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he told the Commissionsrath all that had happened to him
+from the time when he first came across the mysterious and fabulous sort of
+Goldsmith, till he had made his escape from the winehouse as fast as he could,
+in his terror at the sorcery which was going on there.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tussmann, old fellow,&quot; said Bosswinkel, &quot;I see what it is,
+you're not accustomed to liquoring up. You go to your bed every night at eleven
+o'clock, after a couple of glasses of beer, and last night you went and took
+more liquor than was good for you, long after you ought to have been asleep; no
+wonder you had a lot of funny dreams.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What!&quot; Tussmann cried; &quot;you think I was asleep, do you, and
+dreaming? Don't you know I'm pretty well up in the subject of sleep and dreams.
+I'll prove to you out of Rudow's 'Theory of Sleep,' and explain to you, what
+sleep really is, and that people can sleep without dreaming at all; and as for
+what dreaming is, you will know as well as I do, if you will read the 'Somnium
+Scipionis,' and Artimidorus's great work on Dreams, and the Frankfort Dreambook;
+but, you see, you never read <i>anything</i> and that's why you are always making
+such a hash of everything you have to do with.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now, my dear old man,&quot; the Commissionsrath replied, &quot;don't
+you go and get yourself into a state of excitement. I can see, easily enough,
+how you may have allowed yourself to break out of bounds a bit last night, and
+then have got somehow into company with a set of mountebanks, who got the better
+of you when you had more liquor than you could carry; but what I cannot make out
+is, why, in all the earth, when you had once got out of the place, you didn't go
+straight home to your bed, like a reasonable man? Whatever for did you go
+wandering about the streets?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, Bosswinkel!&quot; lamented Tussman, &quot;my old friend! my chum at
+the Grey Friars!--don't you go and insult me by base insinuations of that sort.
+Let me tell you that the infernal, diabolical enchantment which was practised
+upon me did not fairly commence till I got <i>into</i> the street. For, when I came
+to the Town-hall, every one of its windows was blazing with light, and there was
+music playing inside--a brass band, playing waltzes and so forth. How it came
+about I can't tell you; but, though I'm not a particularly tall man, I found
+that I was able to reach up on my tiptoes so that I could see in at the windows.
+And <i>what</i> did I see?--Oh, gracious powers of Heaven! <i>whom</i> did I see? <i>Your
+daughter</i>, Miss Albertine Bosswinkel, dressed as a bride, and waltzing like the
+very deuce (if I may permit myself such an expression) with a young gentleman! I
+thumped on the window; I cried out, 'Dearest Miss Bosswinkel, what are you
+doing? What sort of goings-on are those, here, at this time of the night?' But
+just as I was saying so, there came some horrible beast of a fellow down King
+Street, pulled my legs away from under me as he passed, and ran away from me,
+with them, in
+peals of laughter. As for me, wretched Clerk of the Privy
+Chancery
+that I am, I plumped down flat into the filthy mud of the
+gutter. 'Watchman!' I shouted, 'Police! patrol; guard, turn out! Come
+here!--look sharp!--Stop the thief!--stop him!--he's got both
+my legs!' But upstairs in the Town-hall everything had suddenly grown
+pitch-dark, and my voice died away in the air. I was getting desperate, when the
+man came back, and, as he flew by me like a mad creature, chucked my legs back
+to me, throwing them right into my face. I then picked myself up, as speedily
+as, in my state of discomfiture, I could, and ran to Spandau Street. But when I
+got to my own door (with my latchkey in my hand), there was <i>I</i>--<i>I</i>, myself,
+standing there already, staring at <i>me</i>, with the same big black eyes which you
+see in my head at this moment. Starting back in terror, I fell against a man,
+who seized me with a strong grip of his arms. By the halbert he was carrying, I
+thought he was the watchman; so I said, 'Dearest watchman!--worthy man!--please
+to drive away that wraith of Clerk of the Privy Chancery Tussmann from that door
+there, so that <i>I</i>, the <i>real</i> Tussmann, may get into my lodgings.' But the man
+growled out, 'Why, Tussmann! you're surely out of your senses!' in a hollow
+voice; and I saw it wasn't the watchman at all, but that terrible Goldsmith who
+had got me in his arms. Drops of cold perspiration stood on my forehead. I said:
+'Most respected Herr Professor, pray do not take it ill that I should have
+thought you were the watchman, in the dark. Oh, Heavens! call me whatever you
+choose; call me in the most uncourteous manner 'Tussmann,' without the faintest
+adumbration of a title at all; or even 'My dear fellow!' I will overlook
+anything. Only rid me of this terrible enchantment--as you can, if you choose.
+'Tussmann!' he said, in that awful hollow voice of his, 'nothing shall annoy you
+more, if you will take your solemn oath, here where we stand, to give up all
+idea of marrying Miss Albertine Bosswinkel.' Commissionsrath! you may fancy what
+I felt when this atrocious proposition was made to me. I said: 'Dearest Herr
+Professor! you make my very heart bleed. Waltzing is a horrible and improper
+thing; and Miss Albertine Bosswinkel was waltzing upstairs there--in her
+wedding-dress as my bride into the bargain--with some young gentleman or other
+(I don't know who he was), in a manner that made my sight and my hearing abandon
+me, out and out. But still, for all that, I cannot let that exquisite creature
+go. I must cleave to her, whatever happens, come what will.' The words were
+scarcely out of my mouth, when that awful, abominable Goldsmith gave me a sort
+of shove which made me begin immediately to spin round and round, and, as if
+impelled by some irresistible power, I went waltzing up and down Spandau Street,
+with my arms clasped about a broom-handle--not a lady, but a besom, which
+scratched my face. And all the time there were invisible hands beating my back
+black and blue. More than that; all round me, wherever I turned, the place was
+swarming with Tussmanns waltzing with their arms round besoms. At last I fell
+down exhausted, and lost my consciousness. When the light shone into my eyes in
+the morning--oh, Bosswinkel, share my terror!--I found myself sitting up on the
+horse of the Elector's statue, in front of him, with my head on his cold, iron
+breast. Luckily the sentry must have been asleep, for I managed to get down
+without being seen, at the risk of my life, and got away. I ran to Spandau
+Street; but I got so terribly frightened again that I was obliged to come on
+here to you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now, now, old fellow!&quot; Bosswinkel said, &quot;do you think I'm
+going to believe all this rubbish? Did ever anybody hear of magical phenomena of
+this sort happening in our enlightened city of Berlin?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now,&quot; said Tussmann, &quot;don't you see what a quagmire of
+ignorance and error the fact that you never <i>read</i> anything plunges you into? If
+you had read Hafftitz's Chronicon, you would have seen that much more
+extraordinary things of the kind have happened here. Commissionsrath, I go so
+far as to assert, and to feel quite convinced, that this Goldsmith is the very
+Devil, in <i>propria persona</i>.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pooh, pooh!&quot; said Bosswinkel, &quot;I wish you wouldn't talk such
+nonsense. Think a little. Of course, what happened was that you got screwed, and
+then went and climbed up on to the Elector's statue.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The tears came to Tussmann's eyes as he strove to disabuse
+Bosswinkel's mind of this idea; but Bosswinkel grew graver and graver, and at
+last said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The more I think of it, the more I feel convinced that those
+people you met with were old Manasseh, the Jew, and Leonhard, the goldsmith, a
+very clever hand at juggling tricks, who comes every now and then to Berlin. I
+haven't read as many books as you have, I know; but, for all that, I know well
+enough that they are good honest fellows, and have no more to do with black art
+than you or I have. I'm astonished that you, with your knowledge of law,
+shouldn't be aware that superstition is illegal, and forbidden under severe
+penalties; no practitioner of the black art could get a licence from the
+Government to carry it on, under any circumstances. Look here, Tussmann. I hope
+there is no foundation for the idea which has come into my head. No! I can't
+believe that you've changed your mind about marrying my daughter; that you are
+screening yourself behind all sorts of incredible nonsense and stuff which
+nobody can believe a word of; that you are going to say to me, 'Commissionsrath:
+You and I are men of the world, and I can't marry your daughter, because, if I
+do, the Devil will bolt away with my legs and beat me black and blue!' It would
+be too bad, Tussmann, if you were to try on a trick of that sort upon me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Tussmann could not find words to express his indignation at
+this notion on the part of his old friend. He vowed, over and over again, that
+he was most devotedly in love with Miss Albertine; that he would die for her
+without the least hesitation, like a Leander or a Troilus, and that the Devil
+might beat him black and blue, in his innocence, as a martyr, rather than he
+should give Albertine up.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As he was making these asseverations, there was heard a loud
+knocking at the door, and in came that old Manasseh of whom Bosswinkel had been
+speaking.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As soon as Tussmann saw him he cried out: &quot;Oh, gracious powers
+of Heaven! That's the old Jew who made the gold pieces out of the radish, and
+threw them in the Goldsmith's face! The dreadful Goldsmith will be coming next,
+I suppose.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he was making for the door. But Bosswinkel held him fast,
+saying: &quot;Wait till we see what happens.&quot; And, turning to the old Jew, he told
+him what Tussmann had said about him and the events of the previous night in the
+wineshop and in Alexander Place.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Manasseh looked at Tussmann with a malignant grin, and said:
+&quot;I don't know what the gentleman means. He came into the wineshop last night
+with Leonhard, the goldsmith (where I happened to be taking a glass of wine to
+refresh me after a quantity of hard work which had occupied me till nearly
+midnight). The gentleman drank rather more than was good for him: he couldn't
+keep on his legs, and went out to the street staggering.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Don't you see,&quot; Bosswinkel said, &quot;this is what comes of that
+terrible habit of liquoring up? You'll have to leave it off, I can assure you,
+if you're going to be my son-in-law.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Tussmann, overwhelmed by this unmerited reproof, sank down
+into a chair breathless, closed his eyes, and murmured something completely
+unintelligible in whimpering accents.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Of course,&quot; said Bosswinkel, &quot;dissipating all night, and now
+done up and wretched.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And, in spite of all his protestations, Tussmann had to submit
+to Bosswinkel's wrapping a white handkerchief about his head, and sending him
+home in a cab to Spandau Street.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And what's <i>your</i> news, Manasseh?&quot; the Commissionsrath
+inquired. Manasseh simpered most deferentially, and with much amiability, and
+said Mr. Bosswinkel would scarcely be prepared for the news he had to tell him,
+which was that that splendid young fellow, his nephew Benjamin Dümmerl, worth
+close upon a million of money, had just been created a baron on account of his
+remarkable merits, was recently come back from Italy, and had fallen desperately
+in love with Miss Albertine, to whom he intended to offer his hand.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We see this young. Baron Dümmerl continually in the theatres,
+where he swaggers in a box of the first tier, and oftener still at concerts of
+every description. So that we well know him to be tall, and as thin as a
+broom-handle; that in his dusky yellow face, overshadowed by jetty locks and
+whiskers, in his whole being, he is stamped with the most distinctive and
+unmistakeable characteristics of the Oriental race to which he belongs; that he
+dresses in the most extravagant style of
+the very latest English fashion, speaks several languages, all
+in the self-same twang (that of &quot;our people&quot;); scrapes on a violin, hammers on
+the piano; is an art connoisseur without acknowledge of art, and would fain play
+the part of a literary Mecćnas; tries to be witty without wit, and <i>spirituel</i>
+without <i>esprit</i>; is stupidly forward, noisy, and pushing. In short, to use the
+concise and descriptive expression of that numerous class of individuals amongst
+whom his desire is to shove himself, an insufferable snob and boor. When we add
+to all this that he is avaricious and dirtily mean in everything that he does,
+it cannot be otherwise than that even those less elevated souls that fall down
+and worship wealth very soon leave him to himself.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When Manasseh mentioned this nephew, the thought of that
+approximation to a million which &quot;Benjie&quot; possessed passed through the
+Commissionsrath's mind; but along with that thought came the objection which, in
+his opinion, made the idea of him as a son-in-law impossible.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My good Manasseh, you are forgetting that your nephew belongs
+to the old religion, and that----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ho!&quot; cried Manasseh, &quot;what does <i>that</i> matter? My nephew is
+in love with your daughter, and wants to make her happy. A drop or two of water
+more or less won't make much difference to him. He'll be the same man still. You
+just think the matter over, Herr Commissionsrath; I shall come back in a day or
+two with my little baron, and get your answer.&quot; With which Manasseh took his
+departure.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Bosswinkel began to think over the affair at once, but, spite
+of his boundless avarice and his utter absence of conscience or character, he
+could not endure the idea of Albertine's marrying that disgusting Benjamin, and
+in a sudden attack of rectitude he determined that he would keep his word to
+Tussmann.</p>
+
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+<p class="hang1"><span class="sc">TREATS OF PORTRAITS, A GREEN FACE, JUMPING MICE,
+AND ISRAELITISH CURSES.</span></p>
+
+<p class="continue">Albertine, soon after she made Edmund's acquaintance, came to
+the conclusion that the big oil portrait of her father which hung in her room
+was a horribly bad likeness of him, and dreadfully scratched into the bargain.
+She pointed out to her father that though it was so many years since the
+portrait was painted, he was really looking much younger, and better in every
+way, than the painter had represented him. Also, she particularly disliked the
+gloomy, sulky expression of the face, the old-fashioned clothes, and a
+preposterous bunch of flowers which he was holding between his fingers in a
+delicate manner, displaying in so doing certain handsome diamond rings.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She talked so much, and so long, on this subject, that at last
+her father himself saw that the portrait was horrible, and couldn't understand
+how the painter had managed to turn out such a caricature of his well-looking
+person. And the more he thought the matter over and looked at the picture, the
+more he was convinced that it was an execrable daub. He determined to take it
+down, and stow it away in the lumber room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Albertine said that was the best thing that could be done, but
+that, all the same, she was accustomed to see dear papa's picture in her room,
+that the bare space on the wall would be such a blank to her that she should
+never feel comfortable; so that the only course was for dear papa to have
+<i>another</i> portrait painted, by some painter who knew what he was about, and that
+<i>she</i> could think of nobody but Edmund Lehsen, so celebrated for his admirable
+portraits.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My dear,&quot; the Commissionsrath said, &quot;you don't know what
+you're talking about. Those young painters are so full of conceit, they don't
+know where to turn themselves, don't care how much they ask for those bits of
+scumblings of theirs, won't think of anything under gold Fredericks.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Albertine declared that Edmund Lehsen painted for the love
+of the thing much more than for money, and would be sure to charge very little.
+And she kept on at her father so assiduously, that at last he agreed to go to
+Edmund Lehsen, and see what he would say about a portrait.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We can imagine the delight with which Edmund expressed his
+readiness to undertake the Commissionsrath's portrait; and his delight became
+rapture when he heard that it was Albertine who put the idea in her father's
+head. He saw, of course, that her notion was that this would give him
+opportunities of seeing her. So that it was a matter of course that when the
+Commissionsrath asked, rather anxiously, about the price, Edmund said that the
+honour of being admitted, for the sake of Art, to the house and society of a
+gentleman such as he, was more than sufficient remuneration for any little
+effort of his.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good Heavens! Can I believe my ears?&quot; the Commissionsrath
+cried. &quot;No money, dearest Mr. Lehsen? No gold Fredericks for your trouble? Not
+even the expense of your paints and canvas?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Edmund laughingly said all that was too insignificant to be
+taken into account.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But,&quot; Bosswinkel said, &quot;I'm afraid you don't know that I'm
+thinking of having a three-quarters length life-size.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It doesn't matter in the slightest,&quot; the painter answered.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Commissionsrath pressed him warmly to his heart, and
+cried, while tears of joy rose to his eyes, &quot;Oh, heavenly powers! Are there
+human souls of this degree of disinterestedness in this world which lieth in
+wickedness? First his cigars, and now this picture. Marvellous man!--or 'youth'
+I ought to say. Dear Mr. Lehsen, within your soul dwell those virtues, and that
+true German singleness of heart, which one reads of more than enough, but which
+are rare in these times of ours. But let me tell you, though I am a
+Commissionsrath, and dress in French fashions, I am quite of the same way of
+thinking as yourself. I can appreciate your large-mindedness, and am as
+unselfish, and as free with my money, as anybody in the land.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Crafty Miss Albertine had, of course, known exactly how Edmund
+would proceed with her father's commission, and her object was attained.
+Bosswinkel overflowed with laudation of this grand young fellow, so entirely
+free from the least trace of that greediness which is such a hateful quality in
+a man. And he ended by saying that young people, especially the artistic, always
+have a turn for the romantic, and set great store by withered flowers and the
+ribbons which some beloved girl has worn, and go out of themselves altogether
+over any piece of work done by the hands of those divinities; so that Albertine
+had better knit a little purse for Edmund, and, if she saw no particular
+objection, even put into it a little lock of her bonny nut-brown hair, and thus
+get out of any little obligation they might be thought to be under to him. To do
+this she had his full permission, and he undertook to answer to Tussmann on the
+subject. Albertine, who was not yet taken into her father's confidence as to his
+projects, had not the remotest notion what Tussmann might have to say to the
+matter, and did not take the trouble to inquire.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">That very evening Edmund had his painting gear taken to
+Bosswinkel's house, and the next morning he made his appearance there for the
+first sitting.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He begged the Commissionsrath to think of the very happiest
+moment of his life. For instance, when his dead wife first said she loved him,
+or when Albertine was born, or when he unexpectedly saw some dear friend whom he
+had thought to be lost to him; and to try and look as he had done <i>then</i>.</p>
+<p class="normal">&quot;Wait a moment, Mr. Lehsen,&quot; said Bosswinkel; &quot;I know what to
+do. One day, about three months ago, I got a letter from Hamburg telling me I
+had drawn a big prize in the lottery. I ran to my daughter with the letter open
+in my hand. That was the happiest moment I ever had in all my life. Let's choose
+<i>that</i> one; and, just to place the whole thing more vividly before your
+eyes--and mine--I'll go and get the letter, and be taken with it in my
+hand--just as I was when it came.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">So Edmund had no help but to paint Bosswinkel accordingly; and
+he wouldn't be content, either, unless the writing on the letter was rendered
+legibly and distinctly, word for word, as follows:--</p>
+
+<p class="continue">&quot;Honoured Sir,</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have the honour to inform you----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="continue">and so forth; moreover, the envelope had to be portrayed lying
+on a little table, so that the address on it, displaying all the
+Commissionsrath's official titles written out at full length, could be clearly
+read. The very postmark Edmund had to copy with the utmost minuteness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For the rest, he made a portrait of a well-looking,
+good-tempered, handsomely-dressed man, who <i>did</i> display, in some of the features
+of his face, a more or less distant resemblance to the Commissionsrath; so that
+nobody who read what was on the envelope could make any mistake as to whom the
+portrait was intended for.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Commissionsrath was delighted with it. &quot;There,&quot; he said;
+&quot;there you see what a painter who knows his business can make of a more or less
+well-looking fellow, though he <i>may</i> be getting a little on in years! I begin to
+understand now (I didn't before), a thing that the Professor in the Humanity
+Class used to say, that a proper portrait ought to be a regular historical
+picture. Whenever I look at that one, I remember that delicious and happy moment
+when the news came of my prize in the lottery, and I understand the meaning of
+that smile on my face--that reflection of the happiness I felt within me then.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Before Albertine could carry out the plans which she had
+formed in her mind, her father took the initiative by begging Edmund to paint
+<i>her</i>, as well. Edmund begun this work at once; but he did not find it so easy to
+satisfy himself with her portrait as with her father's. He put in a most careful
+outline, and then rubbed it out again; outlined once
+more--carefully--begun to lay on some colour, and then threw
+the whole thing aside; commenced again; altered the pose. There was always
+either too much light in the room, or not enough. The Commissionsrath, who had
+always been present at those sittings at first, got tired presently, and betook
+himself elsewhere.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Upon this, Edmund came forenoon and afternoon, and if the
+picture did not make much progress, the love-affair made a great deal, and
+entwined itself more and more firmly. I have no doubt, dear reader, that your
+own experience has shown you that when one is in love, and wants to give to all
+the fond, longing words and wishes, which one has got to express, their due and
+proper effect, so that they may go to the listener's very heart, it is a matter
+of absolute necessity that one should take hold of the hand of the beloved
+object, press it, and kiss it; upon which, as by the operation of some sudden
+development of electrical force, lip goes into contact with lip; and the
+electricity (if that is what we are to call it), arrives at a condition of
+equilibrium by means of a fire-stream of sweetest kisses. Thus Edmund was very
+often obliged to stop painting, and not only that, but he had very frequently to
+get down from the scaffold upon which he and his easel were placed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus it came about that, one forenoon, he was standing with
+Albertine at the window, where the white curtains were drawn, and (on the
+principle we have been explaining), in order to give more force to what he was
+saying to her, was holding her in his arms, and kissing her hand.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At this particular hour and moment, Mr. Tussmann, Clerk of the
+Privy Chancery, happened to be passing Bosswinkel's house, with the 'Treatise on
+Diplomatic Acumen,' and sundry tractates and pamphlets (in which
+the useful and the entertaining were combined in due measure)
+in his pockets. And although he was bounding along as fast as ever he
+could--according to his manner--because the clock was just on
+the very stroke of the hour at which he used always to enter his office, still
+he drew up for a moment, in order to cast a sentimental glance up at the window
+of his love.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There he saw, as in a cloud, Albertine with Edmund; and,
+although he could not make out anything at all distinctly, his heart throbbed,
+he knew not why. Some strange sense of anxious alarm impelled him to undertake
+things previously unattempted, undreamt of, namely, to go upstairs to
+Albertine's rooms, at this totally unprecedented hour of the day.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As he entered, Albertine was saying, quite distinctly:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, yes, Edmund! I must always--always love you!&quot; And she
+pressed Edmund to her heart, whilst a whole battery of &quot;restoration of
+electrical equilibrium&quot; began to go off, rushing and sparkling.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Clerk of the Privy Chancery walked mechanically forward
+into the room, and then stood, dumb and speechless, like a man in a cataleptic
+fit. In the height of their blissfulness the two lovers had not heard the
+elephantine tread of Tussmann's peculiar boot-like shoes, nor his opening of the
+door, nor his coming in, and striding into the middle of the room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He now squeaked out, in his high falsetto:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But--Miss Albertine Bosswinkel!----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Edmund and Albertine fled apart like lightning--he to his
+easel, she to the chair where she was supposed to be sitting for her portrait.
+Tussmann, after a short pause, during which he tried to get back his breath,
+resumed, saying--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But, Miss Albertine Bosswinkel, what are you doing? What are
+you after? First of all, you go and waltz with this young gentleman (I haven't
+the honour of his acquaintance), in the Town-hall at twelve o'clock at night, in
+a way that made me, your husband that is to be, almost lose the faculties of
+seeing and hearing; and now--here--in broad daylight, behind those curtains--Oh!
+Good gracious!--is this a way for an engaged young lady to go on?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who's an engaged young lady?&quot; Albertine cried out, in immense
+indignation. &quot;Whom are you talking about, Mr. Tussmann? Tell me, if you will be
+so kind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, thou, my Creator,&quot; cried Tussmann, in the fulness of his
+heart. &quot;You ask, dearest Miss Albertine, who is an engaged young lady,
+and of whom I am talking? To whom else can I be alluding but to yourself? Are
+you not my future bride, whom I have so long adored in secret? Did not your dear
+papa ever so long ago promise me your beautiful, white, <i>so</i> kissable little
+hand?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Mr. Tussmann,&quot; said Albertine; &quot;either you have been to a
+wineshop, early as it is in the day--(my father says you go to them a great deal
+more than you ought),--or you've gone out of your mind in some extraordinary
+way. My father can never have had the slightest idea of <i>your</i> marrying <i>me</i>.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Dearest Miss Albertine,&quot; cried Tussmann; &quot;consider for a
+moment. You have known me for many long years. Have I not always been a man of
+the strictest moderation and temperance? Have I ever been given to dissipation?
+Can you suppose that I have taken to drinking and improper conduct all at once?
+Dearest Miss Albertine, I shall be only too happy to close my eyes to what I
+have seen going on here; not a syllable concerning it shall ever pass my
+lips--we'll forget and forgive. But remember, adored one, that you promised to
+marry me out of the tower window of the Town-hall at twelve o'clock at night;
+and, although you were waltzing in such a style with this young gentleman (whose
+acquaintance, as I said, I have not the honour of), still I----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Don't you see?&quot; interrupted Albertine; &quot;don't you know, that
+you're talking all sorts of incoherent nonsense, like some lunatic out of the
+asylum? Please go away. I feel quite unwell; do go away, for goodness' sake.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Tears started in Tussmann's eyes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, heavens!&quot; he cried. &quot;Treatment like this from the beloved
+Miss Albertine! No; I shall not go. I shall remain here till you have arrived at
+a truer opinion concerning my unworthy person, dearest Miss Albertine.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Go; go!&quot; reiterated Albertine, running into a corner of the
+room, and covering her face with her handkerchief.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, dearest Miss Albertine,&quot; answered Tussmann; &quot;I shall not
+go
+until, in compliance with the sapient advice of Thomasius, I
+endeavour to----&quot; and he made as if he would follow her into the corner.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">While this was going on, Edmund had been scumbling angrily at
+the background of his picture. But at this point he could contain himself no
+longer.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Damned, infernal scoundrel!&quot; he cried, and flew at Tussmann,
+making four dashes over his face with the brush, full of a greyish green tint,
+which he had been working at his background with. Then he grasped him, opened
+the door, and sent him out of it with a kick so forcible that he went flying
+down stairs like an arrow out of a bow.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Bosswinkel, who was just coming up, started back in much alarm
+as this school-chum of his came bumping into his arms.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What in the name of all that's----&quot; he cried; &quot;what's going
+on? what ails your face?&quot; Tussmann, almost out of his mind, related all that had
+happened, in broken phrases; how Albertine had behaved to him--how Edmund had
+treated him. The Commissionsrath, brimful of rage and fury, took Tussmann by the
+hand and led him back to the room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What's all this?&quot; he cried to Albertine. &quot;This is very pretty
+behaviour; is this the way you treat your husband that is to be?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My husband that is to be?&quot; echoed Albertine, in wild
+amazement.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Most undoubtedly!&quot; the Commissionsrath answered. &quot;I don't
+know why you should pretend to be in a state of mind about a matter which has
+been understood and arranged for such a long time. My dear old friend Tussmann
+is your affianced husband, and the wedding will come off in a week or two.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;<i>Never!</i>&quot; said Albertine. &quot;Never will I marry him. Good
+heavens! how could anybody have <i>that</i> old creature; nobody could ever bear
+him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I don't know about 'bearing' him, or whether he's an 'old
+creature' or not,&quot; said her father. &quot;What you have got to do is to marry him.
+Certainly my friend Tussmann is not one of your giddy young fools. Like myself,
+he has reached those years of discretion when a man is, very properly,
+considered to be at his best; and into the bargain, he is a fine, upright,
+straightforward, honourable fellow, most profoundly learned, perfectly eligible,
+in every way, and my old schoolfellow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No!&quot; cried Albertine, in the utmost agitation, with the tears
+starting to her eyes. &quot;I can't endure him. He's insupportable to me. I hate him!
+I abhor him! Oh, Edmund!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She sank, almost fainting, into Edmund's arms; and he pressed
+her to his heart with the warmest affection.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Commissionsrath, utterly amazed, opened his eyes as wide
+as if he were seeing spectres, and then cried--&quot;What's all this? what do I see?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, yes! yes, indeed!&quot; Tussmann said, in a lamentable tone.
+&quot;It appears, unfortunately, to be the fact that Miss Albertine doesn't care to
+have anything to do with me, and seems to cherish a remarkable partiality for
+this young gentleman--this painter (whose acquaintance I have not the honour of,
+by the way)--inasmuch as she kisses him without the slightest hesitation or
+shyness, though she will scarcely give wretched <i>me</i> her hand. And yet I hope to
+place the ring on her lovely finger very shortly indeed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Come away from one another, you two,&quot; the Commissionsrath
+cried out, and forced Albertine out of Edmund's arms. But Edmund shouted that he
+would never give her up, if it cost him his life.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Indeed, sir!&quot; said the Commissionsrath, with scathing irony.
+&quot;Nice business, upon my word! A fine little love-affair going on behind my back
+here! Excessively pretty! Very nice indeed, my young Mr. Lehsen! This is the
+meaning of your liberality--your cigars and your pictures. He comes sliding into
+my house--leads my daughter into all this sort of thing. A charming idea, that I
+should go and hang her round the neck of a miserable beggar of a dauber, without
+a rap to bless himself with!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Beyond himself with anger, Edmund had his mahlstick raised in
+the act to strike, when the voice of Leonhard was heard crying, in tones of
+thunder, as he burst in at the door--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Stop, Edmund! don't be in a hurry. Bosswinkel is a terrible
+ass; he'll think better of it presently.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Commissionsrath had run into a corner, frightened by the
+unexpected arrival of Leonhard; and, from that corner, he cried--&quot;I really do
+not know, Mr. Leonhard, what business you have to----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Tussmann had hidden himself behind the sofa as soon as he
+saw Leonhard come in. He was crouching down there, and chirping out, in a voice
+of terror--&quot;Gracious powers! take care, Commissionsrath! Hold your tongue; don't
+say a word, dearest schoolfellow. Good God! here's the Herr Professor come, the
+Ball-Entrepreneur of Spandau Street.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Come along out, Tussmann,&quot; said the Goldsmith, laughing;
+&quot;Don't be frightened, nothing's going to happen to you. You've been punished
+enough already for that foolish idea you had of wanting to marry. That poor face
+of yours is going to be green all the rest of the days of your life.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh Lord!&quot; cried the Clerk of the Privy Chancery, almost out
+of his mind, &quot;my face green for ever and ever! What will people say? What will
+His Excellency, the minister, say? His Excellency will think I have had my face
+painted green from motives of mere worldly vanity! Ah! it's all over with me. I
+shall be suspended from my official functions. The Government will never hear of
+such a thing as a Clerk of the Privy Chancery with a green face. Wretched man
+that I am; what's to become of me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Come, come, Tussmann!&quot; the Goldsmith said; &quot;don't make such a
+fuss. I have no doubt there's hope for you yet, if you pull yourself together,
+and get rid of this idiotic notion of marrying Miss Bosswinkel.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In answer to this, Tussmann and Bosswinkel cried out together,
+in what is termed on the lyric stage &quot;<i>ensemble</i>&quot;--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I can't.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He shan't.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Goldsmith fixed his sparkling, penetrating eyes on the two
+of them; but just as he was going to burst out at them, the door opened, and in
+came Manasseh, with his nephew, Baron Benjamin Dümmerl, from Vienna. &quot;Benjie&quot;
+went straight up to Albertine--who had never seen him in her life before--and
+said, in a disagreeable, drawling tone, as he took her hand--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have come here in person, dear Miss Bosswinkel, to lay
+myself at your feet. Of course you know that is a mere <i>façon de parler</i>. Baron
+Dümmerl doesn't really lay himself at anybody's feet, not even at the Emperor's.
+What I mean is--let me have a kiss.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">So saying, he went nearer to Albertine, and bent down towards
+her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But, at that moment, a something happened which neither he nor
+anybody else--except the Goldsmith--anticipated, and which caused them all much
+alarm. Benjie's rather sizeable nose suddenly shot forward to such a length
+that, passing beyond Albertine's face, it struck the opposite wall of the room
+with a tremendous, resounding bang. He started back a step or two, and his nose
+at once drew in to its ordinary dimensions. He approached Albertine again, with
+exactly the same result. To make a long tale short, his nose kept on shooting in
+and out like a trombone.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Cursed necromancer!&quot; Manasseh roared; and took a thin cord,
+fastened in a sort of knot, out of his pocket, which he threw to the
+Commissionsrath, crying--&quot;Throw that about the brute's neck--the Goldsmith, I
+mean--and then drag him out of the room. Never mind about ceremony. Do as I tell
+you. All will be right then.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Commissionsrath took hold of the noose, but instead of
+throwing it about the Goldsmith's neck, he threw it over the Jew's; and
+immediately he and the Jew began flying up to the ceiling and then down again.
+And so they went on, shooting up and down, while Benjie carried on his
+nose-concerto, and Tussmann laughed like a mad creature, till the
+Commissionsrath fell down nearly fainting in an arm-chair.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now's the time! now's the time!&quot; Manasseh cried. He slapped
+his pocket, and out sprung an enormous, horrible-looking mouse, which made a
+spring right at the Goldsmith. But as it was jumping at him, the Goldsmith
+transfixed it with a sharp needle of gold, upon which it gave a yell, and
+disappeared, none knew whither.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Then Manasseh clenched his fists at the fainting
+Commissionsrath, and cried, with rage and hatred blazing in his face--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ha! Melchior Bosswinkel! thou hast conspired against me. Thou
+art in league with this accursed sorcerer, whom thou hast brought into thine
+house. But cursed, cursed shalt thou be. Thou and all thy race shall be swept
+away like the helpless brood of a bird. The grass shall grow on thy doorstep,
+and all that thou settest thy hand to shall be as the dream of the famishing,
+who sates himself, in dreams, with savoury food. And the D&#257;-l&#283;s shall take
+up his dwelling in thine house, and consume thy substance. And thou shalt beg
+thy bread, in rags, before the doors of the despised people of God; and they
+shall drive thee away like a mangy cur, and thou shalt be cast to the earth like
+a rotten branch. And instead of the sound of the harp, moths shall be thy
+fellows, and dogs shall make a divan of the tomb of thy mother!
+Curses!--curses!--curses upon thee! Commissionsrath Melchior Bosswinkel!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And, having thus delivered himself, this raging Manasseh
+seized hold of his nephew, and went storming out of the house with him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Albertine, in her terror and horror, had taken refuge with
+Edmund, hiding her face on his breast; and he held her closely to him, though he
+had difficulty in mastering his own emotion. But the Goldsmith went up to those
+two, and said, with a smile, and in a gentle voice:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Don't you be put out in the slightest by all this business:
+everything will come right. I give you my word for it. But, just now, you must
+bid each other good-bye, before Tussmann and Bosswinkel come back to their
+senses.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he and Edmund left Bosswinkel's house.</p>
+
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+<p class="hang1"><span class="sc">WHEREIN THE READER LEARNS WHAT THE D&#256;-L&#282;S IS: ALSO HOW
+THE GOLDSMITH SAVES THE CLERK OF THE PRIVY CHANCERY FROM A
+MISERABLE DEATH, AND CONSOLES THE DESPAIRING COMMISSIONSRATH.</span></p>
+
+<p class="continue">Bosswinkel was utterly shaken; more by Manasseh's curse than
+by the wild piece of spookery which, as he saw, the Goldsmith had been carrying
+on. And indeed it was a terrible curse, for it set the D&#257;-l&#283;s on to him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Dear reader, I don't know if you are aware what the
+D&#257;-l&#283;s of the Jews is.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">One of the Talmudists says that the wife of a certain poor
+Jew, one day on coming into her house, found a weazened, emaciated, naked
+stranger there, who begged her to give him the shelter of her roof, and food and
+drink. Being afraid, she went to her husband, and told him, in tones of
+complaint: &quot;A naked, starving man has come in, asking for food and shelter. How
+are we to help him, when it is all we can do to keep body and soul together
+ourselves?&quot; The husband said: &quot;I will go to this stranger, and see how I can get
+him out of the house.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why,&quot; he said to him, &quot;hast thou come hither, I being so poor
+and unable to help thee? Begone! Betake thee to the house of Riches, where the
+cattle are fat, and the guests bidden to the feast!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How,&quot; said the stranger, &quot;canst thou drive me from this
+shelter which I have found? Thou seest that I am bare and naked: how can I go to
+the house of Riches? Have clothing made for me that shall be fitting, and I will
+leave thee.&quot; &quot;Better,&quot; thought the master of the house, &quot;better were it for me
+to spend all I possess in getting rid of him, than that he should stay, and
+consume whatever I earn in the time to come, as well.&quot; So he killed his last
+calf, on which he and his wife had thought to live for many days; sold the meat,
+and with the price provided good clothing for the stranger. But when he took the
+clothing to him, behold! the stranger, who had before been lean, and short of
+stature, was become tall and stout, so that the clothing was everywhere too
+short for him and too narrow. At this the poor Jew was much afraid. But the
+stranger said: &quot;Give up the foolish idea of getting me out of thy house. Know
+that I am the D&#257;-l&#283;s!&quot; At this the poor Jew wrung his hands and lamented,
+crying: &quot;God of my fathers! I am scourged with the rod of Thine anger, and
+poverty-smitten for ever and ever! For if thou art the D&#257;-l&#283;s, thou wilt
+never leave us, but consume all that we have, and always grow bigger and
+stronger. For the D&#257;-l&#283;s is Poverty; which, when once it takes up its
+abode in a house, never departs from it, but ever increases more and more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">If, then, the Commissionsrath was terrified that Manasseh, by
+his curse, had brought poverty into his house, on the other hand, he stood in
+the utmost dread of Leonhard, who, to say nothing of the extraordinary magical
+powers at his command, had a certain something about him which created a decided
+sense of awe. The Commissionsrath could not but feel that there was nothing
+(with respect to the two of them) which one could &quot;do;&quot; and thus the full brunt
+of his anger was discharged upon Edmund Lehsen, upon whom he laid all the blame
+of all the &quot;unpleasantness&quot; which had come about. Over and above all this,
+Albertine came to the front, and declared, of her own motion, having evidently
+completely made up her mind on the subject--declared, we say, with the utmost
+distinctness, that she loved Edmund more than words could express, and would
+never marry either that insufferable and unendurable old pedant of a Tussmann,
+or that equally not-to-be-heard-of beast of a Baron Benjamin. So that the
+Commissionsrath got into the most tremendous rage imaginable, and wished Edmund
+at (ahem!) Hong Kong, or Jericho, or, to speak idiomatically, &quot;where the pepper
+grows.&quot; But inasmuch as he could not carry this wish into effect, as the late
+French Government did (which actually <i>did</i> send objectionable persons to the
+place &quot;where the pepper grows&quot;), he had to be content with writing Edmund a nice
+little note, into which he poured all the gall and venom which was in him at the
+time (and that was not a little), and which ended by telling him that if ever he
+crossed his, the Commissionsrath's, threshold again, he had better--look out for
+squalls.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Of course we all know the state of inconsolable despair in
+which Leonhard found Edmund, when he went to see him, at the fall of the
+twilight, according to his wont.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What have <i>I</i> to thank you for?&quot; Edmund cried, indignantly.
+&quot;Of what service have your protection and all your efforts been to <i>me</i>? Your
+attempts to send this cursed rival of mine out of my way--what has been the
+result of them? Those damnable conjuring tricks of yours--all that <i>they</i> have
+done has been to send everybody into a state of higgledy-piggledy, where nobody
+knows what to think of anything! Even that darling girl of mine is in the same
+boat with all the rest of them. It's just this stupid, nonsensical bosh of
+yours--that, and nothing else,--which is blocking up <i>my</i> way, and so I tell
+you. Oh Lord! the only thing which I can see that I can do is to be off to Rome
+at once, and, I can assure you, I mean to do it, too.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Just so,&quot; the Goldsmith said: &quot;that is exactly what I want
+you to do. Be good enough to remember what I said to you when you first told me
+you were in love with Albertine. I said my idea was that a young artist was
+right to be in love, but that he should not go and marry, all at once, because
+that was most inadvisable. When I said that to you, I brought to your mind, half
+in jest, the case of Sternbald; but now I tell you, in the utmost seriousness,
+that, if you really wish to become a great painter, you must put all ideas of
+marrying out of your head. Go you away, free and glad, into the Father-land of
+Art; study, in the most enthusiastic manner that ever you can, the inner-being
+of that world of Art; and then, and only then, will the technical and practical
+skill (which you might pick up here) be of the slightest real use to you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good gracious!&quot; Edmund cried, &quot;what an idiot I was to say
+anything to you about my love affairs. I see, now, that it was you--you, on whom
+I relied for advice and help in them--who have been purposely throwing
+difficulties in the way, playing Old Harry with my most special heart's desires,
+out of mere nastiness and unkindness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My good young sir!&quot; the Goldsmith said, &quot;just be good enough
+to keep a rather quieter tongue in your head. Don't be quite so forcible in your
+expressions. Please to remember that you have got one or two things to learn,
+still, before you can quite see through <i>me</i>. <i>I</i> can excuse you, of course. I
+know very well what has upset your temper. This insane spooniness of yours.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As regards Art,&quot; Edmund said, &quot;I really can't see why I
+should not go to Rome and study, though I do stand in this intimate relation
+with Albertine. You say yourself that I have a certain amount of 'turn' for
+painting, and some practical skill, already. What I was thinking of was, that,
+as soon as I was quite sure that Albertine would be mine, one day, I should be
+off to Italy; spend a year there, and then come back to my darling girl, having
+some real knowledge of my work.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What, Edmund?&quot; the Goldsmith cried; &quot;was this really your
+idea, arrived at after proper consideration?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes,&quot; Edmund answered: &quot;deeply as I love Albertine, my heart
+burns for that grand country which is the home of my Art.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Will you give me your sacred word,&quot; the Goldsmith asked,
+&quot;that if you are sure that Albertine is yours you will be off at once to Italy?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why shouldn't I?&quot; Edmund replied, &quot;inasmuch as it is my firm
+determination to do so? It always has been so, and would be so--if she were to
+be mine (I have my doubts as to whether she over will or not&quot;).</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, Edmund,&quot; the Goldsmith said, &quot;be of good courage. This
+firm resolve of yours has gained you your sweetheart. I give you my word of
+honour that in a very few days Albertine will be your affianced wife. And you
+know well enough that you need have no doubt as to my having the power to keep
+my word.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Joy and rapture beamed from Edmund's eyes; and the mysterious
+Goldsmith went quickly away, leaving him to all the sweet hopes and dreams which
+had been awakened in his heart.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In an out-of-the-way corner of the Thiergarten, under a shady
+tree, the Clerk of the Privy Chancery, Mr. Tussmann, was lying &quot;like a dropped
+acorn,&quot; as Celia, in 'As You Like It,' expresses it, or like a wounded knight,
+pouring forth his heart's complainings to the perfidious autumn breeze.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, God of justice!&quot; he lamented. &quot;Unhappy, pitiable Clerk of
+the Privy Chancery that you are! how did you ever come to deserve all the misery
+which has fallen to your share? Thomasius says that the estate of matrimony in
+no wise hinders the acquisition of wisdom. And yet, though you have only been
+<i>thinking</i> of entering into that estate, you have nearly lost that proportion of
+understanding (and it was not so very small, neither,) which originally fell to
+your share. Whence comes the aversion which dear Miss Bosswinkel displays
+towards your--not particularly striking, but still, fairly well
+endowed--personality? Are you a politician, who ought not to take a wife (as
+some have laid down), or an expert in the laws, who (according to Cleobolus)
+ought to give his wife a licking if she misbehaves herself? Am I either of
+those, that this beautiful creature should be warranted in entertaining some
+certain quantum of bashful repugnance to me? Why, oh, why, dearest Clerk of the
+Privy Chancery, Tussmann, must you go and get mixed up with a lot of horrible
+wizards, and raging painters, who took your face for a stretched canvas, and
+painted a Salvator Rosa picture on it without saying with your leave or by your
+leave? Aye! that's the worst of the business! I put all my trust in my friend,
+Herr Seccius, whose knowledge of chemistry is so extensive and so profound, and
+who can help people out of every difficulty. But all in vain! The more I rub my
+face with the liquid he gave me, the greener I get! though the green does take
+on the most extraordinary variety of different tints and shades that anybody
+could imagine. My face has been a face of spring, of summer, and of autumn. Ah,
+yes! it's this greenness which is driving me to my destruction. And if I don't
+attain to the whiteness of winter (the proper colour for me), I shall run
+desperate, pitch myself into this frog-pond here, and die a green death!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was no wonder that Tussmann complained most bitterly, for
+the colour of his countenance was a very great annoyance to him. It was not like
+any ordinary oil-colour, but as if it were some cleverly compounded tincture or
+dye, sunk into his skin, and not to be obliterated by any human means. In the
+day-time the poor wretch dared not go about except with his hat down over his
+eyes, and a pocket-handkerchief before his face. And even when night came on he
+could only venture to go flitting through the more out-of-the-way streets at a
+gallop. He dreaded the street-boys, and he also was afraid that he might come
+across somebody belonging to his office, as he had reported himself sick.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We often feel any trouble that has befallen us more keenly in
+the silent hours of night than during the more stirring daylight. And
+so--as the clouds rolled blacker and blacker over the sky, as
+the shadows of the trees fell deeper, and the autumn wind soughed louder and
+louder through the branches--Tussmann, as he pondered over all his wretchedness,
+got into a state of the profoundest despair.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The terrible idea of jumping into the green frog-pond, and so
+terminating a baffled career, assailed his mind so irresistibly that he looked
+on it as an unmistakable hint of destiny, which he was bound to obey.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes!&quot; he cried, getting up from the grass, where he had been
+lying; &quot;yes!&quot; he shouted; &quot;it's all over with you, Clerk of the Privy Chancery!
+Despair and die, good Tussmann; Thomasius can't help you! On, to a green death!
+Farewell, terrible Miss Albertine Bosswinkel! Your husband, that was to have
+been--whom you despised so cruelly--you will never see again! Here he goes, into
+the frog-pond!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Like a mad creature he rushed to the edge of the basin (in the
+darkness it looked like a fine, smooth, broad road, with trees on each side of
+it), and there he remained standing for a time.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Doubtless the notion of the nearness of death affected his
+mind; for he sang, in a high-pitched, penetrating voice, that Scotch song, which
+has the refrain--</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="i6">&quot;Green grow the rashes, oh!</p>
+<p class="i6">Green grow the rashes!&quot;</p>
+</div>
+<br>
+<p class="normal">And he shied the 'Diplomatic Acumen,' and the 'Handbook for
+Court and City,' and also 'Hufeland, on the Art of Prolonging Life,' into the
+water, and was in the very act of jumping after them, when he felt himself
+seized from behind by a pair of powerful arms.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He at once recognized the well-known voice of the necromantic
+Goldsmith. It said--&quot;Tussmann, what are you after? I beg you not to make an ass
+of yourself; don't go playing idiotic tricks of this sort.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Tussmann strove with all his might to get out of the
+Goldsmith's grasp, while, scarcely capable of utterance, he croaked out--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Herr Professor! I am in a state of desperation, and all
+ordinary considerations are in abeyance. Herr Professor, I sincerely trust
+you will not take it ill if a Clerk of the Privy Chancery, who
+is
+(as we have said) in a state of desperation, and who (in
+ordinary circumstances) is well versed in the <i>convenances</i> of official
+etiquette--I say, I hope you won't take it ill, Herr
+Professor, if I assert, openly and unceremoniously, that (under all the
+circumstances of the case) I wish to heaven that you and all your magic tricks
+were at the devil! along with your unendurable familiarity, your 'Tussmann!
+Tussmann!' never giving me my official title!----there!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Goldsmith let him go, and he tumbled down, exhausted, in
+the long, wet grass.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Believing himself to be in the basin, he cried out, &quot;Oh, cold
+death! oh, green rashes! oh, meadows! I bid ye farewell. I leave you my kindest
+wishes, dearest Miss Albertine Bosswinkel. Commissionsrath, good-bye! The
+unfortunate 'intended' is lying amongst the frogs that praise God in the summer
+time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tussmann,&quot; cried the Goldsmith, in a powerful voice, &quot;don't
+you see that you're out of your senses, and worn out and wretched into the
+bargain? You want to send me to the devil! What if I <i>were</i> the Devil, and
+should set to and twist that neck of yours, here on this spot, where you think
+you're lying in the water?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Tussmann sighed, groaned, and shuddered as if in the most
+violent ague.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But I mean you kindly, Tussmann,&quot; the Goldsmith said; &quot;and
+your desperate condition excuses everything. Get up, and come along with me.&quot;
+And he helped him to get on his legs.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Tussmann, completely exhausted, said, in a whisper--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am completely in your power, most honoured Herr Professor.
+Do what you will with my miserable body; but I most humbly beg you to spare my
+immortal soul.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do not talk such absurd nonsense,&quot; the Goldsmith said, &quot;but
+come along with me as fast as you can.&quot; He took hold of Tussmann by the arm, and
+led him away. But when they came to where the walk which leads to the Zelten
+crosses at right angles, he pulled up, and said--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Wait a moment, Tussmann. You're wet through, and look like I
+don't know what. Just let me wipe your face, at all events.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Goldsmith took a handkerchief of dazzling whiteness out of
+his pocket, and wiped Tussmann's face with it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The bright lights of the Weberschen Zelt were visible, shining
+brightly through the trees. Tussmann cried out, in alarm--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For God's sake, Herr Professor, where are you taking me? Not
+into town? not to my own lodgings? not (oh, heavens!) into society, amongst my
+fellow-men? Good heavens! I can't be seen. Wherever I go I give rise to
+unpleasantness--create a <i>scandalum</i>.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tussmann,&quot; said the Goldsmith, &quot;I cannot understand that
+ridiculous shyness of yours. What do you mean by it? Don't be an ass. What you
+want is a drop of something pretty strong. I should say a tumbler of hot punch,
+else we shall be having you laid up with a feverish cold. Come on!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Tussmann kept on lamenting as to his greenness, and his
+Salvator Rosa face; but the Goldsmith paid not the slightest attention to him,
+merely hurrying him along with him at a rapid rate.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When they got into the brightly lighted coffee-room, Tussmann
+hid his face in his handkerchief, as there were still some people there.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What's the matter with you, Tussmann?&quot; the Goldsmith asked.
+&quot;Why do you keep hiding that good-looking face of yours, eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, dearest Herr Professor, you know all about this awful
+face of mine,&quot; Tussmann answered. &quot;You know how that terrible, passionate
+painter young gentleman went and daubed it all over with green paint?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nonsense,&quot; said the Goldsmith, taking the Clerk of the Privy
+Chancery by the shoulders and placing him right in front of the big mirror
+at the top of the room, while he threw a strong light on to
+him
+from a branched candlestick which he had taken up. Tussmann
+forced himself--much against the grain--to look. He could not restrain a loud
+cry of &quot;Gracious heavens!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For not only had the terrible green tint of his face
+disappeared, but he had a much more beautiful complexion than he ever had had in
+his life, and was looking several years younger. In the excess of his delight he
+jumped up and down with both feet together, and cried, in a voice of sweet
+emotion--&quot;Oh, just Heaven! what do I see? what do I contemplate? Most honoured
+Herr Professor, I have no doubt that it is to you that I am indebted for this
+great happiness!--to you alone! Ah! now I feel little doubt that Miss Albertine
+Bosswinkel--for whose dear sake I was so very nearly jumping into the
+frog-pond--won't make much difficulty about accepting me. Really, dearest
+Professor, you have rescued me from the very profoundest depths of misery. There
+is no doubt that I did feel a certain sense of relief and well-being when you
+were so kind as to pass that snow-white handkerchief of yours over my face. You
+really were my benefactor, were you not?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I won't deny, Tussmann,&quot; the Goldsmith answered, &quot;that I
+wiped the green colour away from your face; and, from that, you may gather that
+I am not by any means so much your enemy as you have supposed me to be. What I
+can't bear to think of is this ridiculous notion of yours (which you have
+allowed the Commissionsrath to put in your head) that you are going to go and
+marry a splendid young creature, bursting with life and love. It is this, I say,
+which I can't bear to think about. And even now--though you have scarcely got
+clear of the little trick which has been played on you--you see, you go and
+begin at once to think about this marriage again. I feel inclined to take away
+your appetite for it in a very effectual style; and I could do so if I chose,
+without the slightest difficulty. However, I don't want to go so far as that.
+But what my advice to you would be is--that you should keep as quiet, and as
+much out of the way as ever you can till Sunday next, at twelve o'clock at noon,
+and then you will see more into things. If you dare to go and see Albertine
+before that time, I will make you go on dancing in her presence till your breath
+and senses abandon you. Then I will transform you into the very greenest of
+frogs, and chuck you into the basin of the Thiergarten, or into the River Spree
+itself, where you'll go on croaking till the end of your days. Good-bye! I have
+something to do in town which obliges me to get back there as quickly as
+possible. You won't be able to follow me, or keep up with me. Good-bye!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Goldsmith was right in saying that it would not be
+possible for Tussmann, or anybody else, to keep up with him, for he was off
+through the door and out of sight, as if he had Schlemihl's seven-leagued boots
+on.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Perhaps this was why, the next minute after he had disappeared
+from Tussmann, he appeared suddenly, like a ghost, in the Commissionsrath's
+room, and bade him good evening in a rough tone.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Commissionsrath was very frightened, but he pulled himself
+together, and asked the Goldsmith, with some warmth, what he meant by coming in
+at that time of the night, adding that he wished he would take himself off, and
+not bother him any more with any of those conjuring tricks of his, as he
+presumed he was about to do.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah!&quot; said the Goldsmith very calmly, &quot;that is how people are,
+particularly Commissionsraths. Just the very people who come to them, wishing to
+do them a service, into whose arms they ought to throw themselves with a
+confident heart--just those are the people whom they want to kick out of the
+door. My good Herr Commissionsrath, you are a poor unfortunate man, a real
+object of pity and commiseration. I have come here--I have <i>hastened</i> here--at
+this late hour of the night, to consult with you as to how this terrible blow
+which is hanging over you may be averted--if averted it can be--and you----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, God,&quot; the Commissionsrath cried, &quot;another bankruptcy in
+Hamburg, I suppose, or in Bremen, or London, to ruin me out and out! That was
+all that was wanted. Oh, I'm a ruined man!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No,&quot; the Goldsmith said, &quot;it's an affair of a different kind
+altogether; you say that you won't allow young Edmund Lehsen to marry Albertine,
+do you not?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What's the good of talking about such a piece of absurdity?&quot;
+the Commissionsrath replied. &quot;I to give my daughter to this beggar of a
+penciller.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well,&quot; said the Goldsmith, &quot;he has painted a couple of
+magnificent portraits of you and her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, oh,&quot; cried Bosswinkel, &quot;a fine piece of business it would
+be to hand over my daughter for a couple of daubs on canvas; I've sent the trash
+back to him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If you don't let Edmund have your daughter,&quot; the Goldsmith
+continued, &quot;he will have his revenge.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pretty story!&quot; answered Bosswinkel. &quot;What revenge is this
+little bit of a beggar, who dribbles paints on to canvas, and hasn't a farthing
+to bless himself with, going to take upon Commissionsrath Melchior Bosswinkel, I
+should like to know?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I'll tell you that in a moment,&quot; said the Goldsmith. &quot;Edmund
+is going to alter your portrait in a way which you thoroughly deserve. The
+kindly, smiling face he is going to turn into a sour, grumpy one, with lowering
+brow, bleary eyes, and hanging lips. He will deepen the wrinkles on the brow and
+cheeks, and he won't omit to indicate, in proper colour, those grey hairs which
+the powder is intended to hide. Before you, instead of the pleasant news about
+the lottery prize, he will write, very legibly, the most unpleasant purport of
+the letter which came to you the day before yesterday, telling you that Campbell
+and Co. of London had stopped payment, addressed on the envelope to the
+'Bankrupt Commissionsrath,' &#38;c., &#38;c. From the torn pockets of your waistcoat he
+will show ducats, thalers, and treasury bills falling, to indicate the losses
+you have had, and this picture will be put in the window of the picture dealer
+next door to the bank in Hunter Street.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The demon, the blackguard,&quot; the Commissionsrath cried; &quot;he
+shan't do that, I'll send for the police, I'll appeal to the courts for an
+interim interdict!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Goldsmith said, with much tranquillity, &quot;As soon as even
+fifty people have seen this picture, that is to say, after it has been in the
+window for a brief quarter of an hour, the tale will be all over the town, with
+every description of addition and exaggeration. Every thing in the least degree
+ridiculous which has ever been said about you, or is being said now, will be
+brought up again, dressed in fresh and more brilliant colours. Every one you
+meet will laugh in your face, and, what is the worst of all, everybody will talk
+about your losses in the Campbell bankruptcy, so your credit will be gone.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, Lord,&quot; said Bosswinkel, &quot;but he must let me have the
+picture back, the scoundrel? Ay; that he must, the first thing in the morning.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And if he were to agree to do so,&quot; the Goldsmith said, (&quot;of
+which I have great doubts) how much the better would you be? He's making a
+copper etching of you, as I have just described you. He'll have several hundred
+copies thrown off, touch them up himself <i>con amore</i>, and send them all over the
+world--to Hamburg, Bremen, Lübeck, London even.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Stop, stop,&quot; Bosswinkel cried; &quot;go, as fast as you can, to
+this terrible fellow; offer him fifty, yes, offer him a hundred thalers if he
+will let this business about my portrait remain in <i>statu quo</i>.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ha! ha! ha!&quot; laughed the Goldsmith; &quot;you forget that Lehsen
+doesn't care a fiddlestick about money. His people are well off. His
+grand-aunt, Miss Lehsen, who lives in Broad Street, is going
+to leave him all her money, Ł12,000 at the very least.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What,&quot; the Commissionsrath cried, pale with the suddenness of
+his amazement, &quot;Ł12,000. I tell you what it is. I believe Albertine is crazy
+about young Lehsen, and I'm not a bad-hearted fellow. I am an affectionate
+father; can't bear crying, and all that sort of thing. When she sets her heart
+on a thing, I can't refuse her. Besides, I like the fellow; he's a first-rate
+painter, you know; and where Art is concerned I'm a perfect gaby. There are a
+great many capital points about Lehsen. Ł12,000. I'll tell you what it is,
+Leonhard, just out of mere goodheartedness, I shall let this nice young fellow
+have my daughter.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hm!&quot; said the Goldsmith, &quot;there's something queer, too, which
+I want to speak to you about. I was at the Thiergarten just before I came here,
+and I found your old friend and schoolfellow, Tussmann, going to jump into the
+water because Albertine wouldn't have anything to say to him. I had the greatest
+difficulty in preventing him from doing it; and it was only by telling him that
+you would be quite certain to keep your word, and make her marry him, that I did
+succeed in preventing him. Now, if this is not so, if she doesn't marry him, and
+if you give her to young Lehsen, there cannot be a doubt that the Clerk of the
+Privy Chancery will carry out his idea of jumping into that basin. Think what a
+sensation the suicide of a person of Tussmann's 'respectability' will create.
+Everybody will consider that you, and no other, are responsible for his death.
+You will be looked upon with horror and contempt. Nobody will ask you to dinner,
+and if you go to a café to see what's in the papers, you will be shown to the
+door, or kicked downstairs; and more than that, Tussmann bears the very highest
+character in his profession. All his superiors have a very high opinion of him;
+the Government departments think him a most valuable official. If you are
+supposed to be answerable for his death, you know that you need never expect to
+find a single member of the Privy Legation, or of the Upper Chamber of Finance,
+in when you go to see them. None of the offices which your business affairs
+require you to be <i>en rapport</i> with will have a word to say to you. Your title of
+Commissionsrath will be taken from you, blow will follow upon blow, your credit
+will be gone, your income will fall away, things will go from bad to worse, till
+at last, in poverty, misery and contempt, you will--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For God's sake stop!&quot; cried the Commissionsrath, &quot;you are
+putting me to a regular martyrdom. Who would have thought that Tussmann would
+have been such a goose at his time of life? But you are quite right; whatever
+happens, I must keep my word to him, or I'm a ruined man. Yes, it is so
+ordained, Tussmann must marry Albertine.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You're forgetting all about Baron Dümmerl,&quot; said the
+Goldsmith, &quot;and Manasseh's terrible curse. In him, if you reject Baron Benjie,
+you have the most fearful enemy. He will oppose you in all your speculations;
+will stick at no means of injuring your credit, take every possible opportunity
+of doing you an ill turn, and never rest till he has brought you to shame and
+disgrace; till the D&#257;-l&#283;s, which he laid upon you along with his curse, has actually taken up its abode in
+your house; so that, you see, whatever you do with Albertine, to whichsoever of
+her wooers you give her, you get into trouble, and that is why I said at the
+beginning, that you are a poor, unfortunate man, an object of pity and
+commiseration.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Bosswinkel ran up and down the room like a lunatic, crying
+over and over again, &quot;It's all over with me; I am a miserable man, a ruined
+Commissionsrath. O Lord, if I only could get the girl off my shoulders; the
+devil take the whole lot of them, Lehsen, and Benjie, and my old Tussmann into
+the bargain.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now,&quot; said the Goldsmith, &quot;there is one way of getting out of
+all this mess.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What is it?&quot; said Bosswinkel; &quot;I'll adopt it, whatever it
+is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Leonhard said, &quot;Did you ever see the play of 'The Merchant of
+Venice'?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That's the piece,&quot; answered Bosswinkel, &quot;where Devrient plays
+a bloody-minded Jew of the name of Shylock, who wants a pound of a merchant's
+flesh. Of course I've seen it, but what has that to do with the matter?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You will remember,&quot; the Goldsmith said, &quot;that there is a
+certain wealthy young lady in it of the name of Portia, whose father so arranged
+matters in his will that her hand is made a species of prize in a kind of
+lottery. Three caskets are set out, of which her wooers have each to choose one,
+and open it. The one who finds Portia's portrait in the casket which he chooses
+obtains her hand. Now do you, Commissionsrath, as a living father, do what her
+dead father did. Tell the three wooers that, inasmuch as one of them is exactly
+the same to you as another, they must allow chance to decide between them. Set
+up three caskets for them to choose amongst, and let the one who finds her
+portrait in his casket be her husband.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What an extraordinary idea,&quot; said the Commissionsrath; &quot;and
+even if I were to go in for it, do you suppose, dear Mr. Leonhard, that I should
+be one bit better off? When chance did decide the matter, I should still have to
+deal with the rage and hatred of the unsuccessful two.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Wait a moment,&quot; the Goldsmith said; &quot;it is just there that
+the important part of the business lies. I promise that I will order and arrange
+the affair of the caskets so that it shall turn out happily and satisfactorily
+for all parties. The two who make mistakes shall find in their caskets, not a
+scornful dismissal, like the Princes of Morocco and Arragon, but something which
+shall so greatly please and delight them that they will think no more of
+marrying Albertine, but will look upon you as the author of unhoped, undreamt of
+happiness to them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, can it be possible!&quot; the Commissionsrath cried.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not only is it possible,&quot; the Goldsmith answered, &quot;but it
+will, it must happen, exactly as I have said it will; I give you my word for
+it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Commissionsrath made no further objection, and they
+arranged that the Goldsmith's plan should be put in execution on the next
+Sunday at noon. Leonhard undertook to provide the three caskets, all ready.</p>
+
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="sc">WHAT HAPPENED AT THE CHOOSING OF THE CASKETS, AND THE
+<br>CONCLUSION OF THE TALE.</span></p>
+
+<p class="continue">As may be imagined, Albertine got into a condition of the most
+utter despair when her father told her about the wretched lottery in which her
+hand was to be the prize, and all her prayers and tears were powerless to turn
+him from this idea, when he had once got it fairly into his head. Then, besides
+this, Lehsen seemed indifferent and indolent, in a way that nobody who really
+loved could be, not making any attempt to see her privately, or even to send her
+a message.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On the Saturday night before the fateful Sunday she was
+sitting alone in her room, as the twilight was deepening into night, her mind
+full of the misfortune which was threatening her. She was calculating whether or
+not it would be better to come to a speedy determination to fly from her
+father's roof, rather than wait till the most fearful destiny conceivable should
+accomplish itself, that of marrying either the pedantic old Tussmann, or the
+insufferable Baron Benjie, and then she remembered the mysterious Goldsmith, and
+the strange, supernatural way in which he had prevented the Baron from touching
+her. She felt quite sure that he had been on Edmund's side then; wherefore a
+hope began to dawn in her heart that it must be on him that she should rely for
+help at this crisis of her affairs. Above all things she wished that she only
+could just have a little talk with him then and there; and was quite sure that
+she shouldn't be at all frightened, really, if he were to appear to her
+suddenly, in some strange, spectral sort of manner.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">So that she really was not in the least frightened when she
+saw that what she had been thinking was the stove was really Leonhard the
+Goldsmith, who came up to her and said, in a gentle, harmonious
+voice:--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My dear child, lay aside all grief and anxiety. Edmund
+Lehsen, whom, at present at all events, you believe you love, is a special
+<i>protégé</i> of mine; and I am helping him with all the power at my command. Let me
+further tell you that it was I who put the lottery idea into your father's head;
+that I am going to provide and prepare the caskets, and, of course, you see that
+no one but Edmund will find your portrait.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Albertine felt inclined to shout for joy. The Goldsmith
+continued:--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I could have brought about the giving of your hand to Edmund
+in other ways; but I particularly wish to make the two rivals, Tussmann and the
+Baron, completely contented at the same time. So that that is going to be done,
+and you and your father will be quite sure to have no more trouble on their
+part.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Albertine poured forth the warmest expressions of gratitude.
+She almost fell at his feet, she pressed his hand to her heart, she declared
+that, notwithstanding all the magic tricks he had performed, nay, even after the
+way he had come into her room, she wasn't in the least afraid of him; and she
+concluded with the somewhat naive request that he would tell her all about
+himself, and who he really was.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My dear child,&quot; he answered, &quot;it would not be by any means an
+easy matter for me to tell you exactly who I am. Like many others, I know much
+better whom I take other people for than what I really and truly am myself. But
+I may tell you, my dear, that many think I am none other than that Leonhard
+Turnhäuser the Goldsmith, who was such a famous character at the court of the
+Elector Johann Georg, in the year 1580, and who disappeared, none knew how or
+where, when envy and calumny tried to ruin him; and if the members of the
+imaginative or romantic school say that I am this Turnhäuser, a spectral being,
+you may imagine what I have to suffer at the hands of the solid and enlightened
+portion of the community, the respectable citizens, and the men of business, who
+think they have something better to do than to bother their heads about poetry
+and romance. Then, even the aesthetic people want to watch me and dog my steps,
+just as the doctors and the divines did in Johann Georg's time, and try to
+embitter and spoil whatever little modicum of an existence I am able to lay
+claim to, as much as ever they can. My dear girl, I see well enough already,
+that though I take all this tremendous interest in young Edmund Lehsen and you,
+and turn up at every corner like a regular <i>deux ex machina</i>, there will be
+plenty of people of the same way of thinking with those of the aesthetic school,
+who will never be able to swallow me, historically speaking, who will never be
+able to bring themselves to believe that I ever really existed at all. So that,
+just that I might manage to get something like a more or less firm footing, I
+have never ventured to say, in so many words, that I am Leonard Turnhäuser, the
+Goldsmith of the sixteenth century. The folks in question are quite welcome to
+say, if they please, that I am a clever conjurer, and find the explanations of
+every one of my tricks (as they may style the phenomena and the results which I
+produce) in Wieglieb's 'Natural Magic,' or some book of the kind. I have still
+one more 'feat,' as they would call it, to perform, which neither Philidor, nor
+Philadelphia, nor Cagliostro, nor any other conjurer would be able to do, and
+which, being completely inexplicable, must always remain a stumbling-block to
+the kind of people in question. But I cannot help performing it, because it is
+indispensable to the <i>dénouement</i> of this Berlinese tale of the Choice of a
+Bride by three personages, suitors for the hand of Miss Albertine Bosswinkel. So
+keep up your heart, my dear child, rise to-morrow morning in good time, put on
+the dress which you like the best, because it is the most becoming you happen to
+have; do your hair in the way you think suits you best, and then await, as
+quietly and patiently as you can, what will happen.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He disappeared exactly as he had come.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On the next day--the Sunday--at eleven o'clock--the appointed
+time--there arrived at the place of rendezvous old Manasseh
+with his hopeful nephew--Tussmann--and Edmund Lehsen with the Goldsmith. The
+wooers, not excepting the Baron, were almost frightened when they saw Albertine,
+who had never seemed so lovely and taking. I am in a position to assure every
+lady, married or otherwise, who attaches the proper amount of importance to
+dress, that the way in which Albertine's was trimmed, and the material of the
+trimmings, were most elegant; that the frock itself was just the right length to
+show her pretty little feet in their white satin shoes; that the arms of it
+(short, of course), and the corsage were bordered with the richest Point; that
+her white French gloves came up to just the least little bit above her elbows,
+showing her beautiful arm; that the only thing she had on her head was a lovely
+gold comb set with jewels; in short, that her dress was quite that of a bride,
+except that she had no myrtle wreath in her bonny brown hair. But the reason why
+she was so much more beautiful than she ever had been before was that love and
+hope beamed in her eyes and bloomed on her cheeks.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Bosswinkel, in a burst of hospitality, had provided a splendid
+lunch. Old Manasseh glowered at the table laid out for this repast with
+malignant glances askance, and when the Commissionsrath begged him to fall to,
+on his countenance could be read the answer of Shylock:--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, to smell pork, to eat of the habitation which your
+prophet, the Nazarite, conjured the devil into. I will buy with you, sell with
+you, talk with you, walk with you, and so following; but I will not eat with
+you, drink with you, nor pray with you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Baron was less conscientious, for he ate more beefsteak
+than was seemly, and talked a great deal of stupid nonsense, as was his wont.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Commissionsrath behaved wholly contrarily to his nature on
+this important occasion. Not only did he pour out bumpers of Port and Madeira,
+regardless of expense, and even told the company that he had some Madeira in his
+cellar a hundred years old; but when the luncheon was over he explained to the
+suitors the method in which his daughter's hand was to be disposed of in a
+speech much better put together than anybody would ever have expected of him.
+They were given to understand most clearly that the successful one must find her
+portrait in the casket which he chose.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When twelve o'clock struck the door of the hall opened, and
+there was seen in the middle of it a table with a rich cover on it, bearing the
+three caskets.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">One was of shining gold, with a circle of glittering ducats on
+its lid, and the inscription inside them--</p>
+<div class="quote">
+<p class="center">&quot;Who chooseth me doth gain that which he much desires.&quot;</p>
+</div>
+<p class="normal">The second was of silver, richly chased. On its lid were many
+words and letters of foreign languages, encircling this inscription--</p>
+<div class="quote">
+<p class="center">&quot;Who chooseth me doth find more than he hopes.&quot;</p>
+</div>
+<p class="normal">The third, plainly carved of ivory, was inscribed--</p>
+<div class="quote">
+<p class="center">&quot;Who chooseth me doth gain his dreamed-of bliss.&quot;</p>
+</div>
+<p class="normal">Albertine took her place on a chair behind the table, her
+father by her side. Manasseh and the Goldsmith drew away into the background.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The lots were drawn, and, Tussmann having the first choice,
+the Baron and Edmund had to go into the other room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Clerk of the Privy Chancery went carefully and
+considerately up to the table, looked at the caskets with much minuteness of
+observation, read the inscriptions on them one after another. Soon he found
+himself irresistibly attracted by the beautiful characters of foreign languages
+so charmingly intertwined on the cover of the silver casket.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good heavens!&quot; he cried, &quot;what beautiful lettering, with what
+skill those Arabic characters are brought in amongst the Roman letters, and 'Who
+chooseth me doth gain more than he hopes.' Now have I gone on cherishing the
+slightest hope that Miss Albertine would be so gracious as to honour me with her
+hand? wasn't I going to throw myself into the basin? Evidently here is comfort,
+here is good fortune. Commissionsrath! Miss Albertine! I choose the silver one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Albertine rose and handed him a little key, with which he
+opened the casket. Great was his consternation to find, not Albertine's
+portrait, but a little book bound in parchment, which, when he opened it,
+appeared to consist of blank white pages. Beside it lay a little scrap of paper,
+with the words--</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="i6">&quot;Thy choice was, in a way, amiss,</p>
+<p class="i6">But those few words do tell thee this--</p>
+<p class="i6">What thou hast won will never alter,</p>
+<p class="i6">To use it thou needs't never falter.</p>
+<p class="i6">What 'tis as yet thou dost not see,</p>
+<p class="i6">An endless source of joy 'twill be.</p>
+<p class="i6"><i>Ignorantiam</i> 'twill enlighten,</p>
+<p class="i6"><i>Sapientiam</i> further brighten.&quot;</p>
+</div>
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good heavens!&quot; cried Tussmann, &quot;it's a book. Yet, no, it's
+not a book, and there's nothing in the shape of a portrait. It's merely a lot of
+paper bound up together; my hopes are dashed to earth, all is over with me now.
+All I have got to do is to be off to the frog-pond as quickly as I can.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But as he was hurrying away the Goldsmith stopped him, and
+said--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tussmann, you're very foolish; you've got hold of the most
+priceless treasure you could possibly have come across. Those lines of verse
+ought to have told you so at once. Do me the favour to put that book which you
+found in the casket into your pocket.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Tussmann did so.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now,&quot; said the Goldsmith, &quot;think of some book or other which
+you would wish that you had in your pocket at this moment.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, my goodness,&quot; said Tussmann, &quot;I went and shied
+Thomasius's little treatise on 'Diplomatic Acumen' into the frog-pond, like an
+utter fool as I was.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Put your hand in your pocket,&quot; said the Goldsmith, &quot;and take
+out the book.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Tussmann did so, and lo, the book which he brought out was
+none other than Thomasius's treatise!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ha!&quot; cried Tussmann, &quot;what is this? Why it is Thomasius's
+treatise, my beloved Thomasius, rescued from the congregation of frogs in the
+pond, who would never have learned diplomatic acumen from him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Keep yourself calm,&quot; the Goldsmith said; &quot;put the book into
+your pocket again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Tussmann did so.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Think of some other rare work,&quot; the Goldsmith said: &quot;one
+which you have never been able to come across in any library.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, good gracious!&quot; cried Tussmann in melancholy accents. &quot;I
+have been, you see, in the habit of sometimes going to the opera, so that I have
+wanted, very much, to ground myself a little in the theory of music, and I have
+been trying in vain hitherto to get hold of a copy of a certain little treatise
+which explains the arts of the composer and the performer, in an allegorical
+form. I mean Johann Beer's 'Musical War,' an account of the contest between
+composition and harmony, which are represented under the guise of two heroines,
+who do battle with each other, and end by being completely reconciled.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Feel in your pocket,&quot; said the Goldsmith; and the Clerk of
+the Privy Chancery shouted with joy when he found that his paper book now
+consisted of Johann Beer's 'Musical War.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You see now, do you not,&quot; said the Goldsmith, &quot;that in the
+book which you found in the casket you possess the finest and most complete
+library that anybody ever had? and more than that, you take it about with you in
+your pocket. For, while you have this remarkable book in your pocket, it will
+always be whatever book you happen to want to read, as soon as you take it out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Without wasting a thought on Albertine or the Commissionsrath,
+Tussmann went and sat down in an armchair in a corner, stuck the book into his
+pocket, pulled it out again, and it was easy to see, by the delight in his
+countenance, how completely the Goldsmith's promise had been fulfilled.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was the Baron's turn next. He came strolling up to the
+table in his foolish, loutish manner, looked at the caskets through his
+eyeglass, and murmured out the inscriptions one after the other. But soon a
+natural, inborn, irresistible instinct drew him to the gold casket, with the
+shining ducats on its lid. &quot;Who chooseth me doth gain that which he much
+desires.&quot; &quot;Certainly ducats are what I much desire, and Albertine is what I much
+desire. I don't see much good in bothering over this.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">So he grasped the golden casket; took its key from Albertine,
+opened it, and found a nice little English file! Beside it lay a piece of paper
+with the words:--</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="i6">&quot;Now thou hast the thing thy heart</p>
+<p class="i6">Longed for, with the keenest smart.</p>
+<p class="i6">All besides is mere parade.</p>
+<p class="i6">Onward--never retrograde--</p>
+<p class="i6">Moves a truly thriving Trade.&quot;</p>
+</div>
+<p class="normal">&quot;And what the Devil's the use of this thing?&quot; Benjie cried,
+surveying the file. &quot;It isn't Albertine's picture, you know; however, I shall
+hold on to the casket; it'll be a wedding-present to Albertine. Come to me,
+dearest child!&quot; With which he was making straight for Albertine; but the
+Goldsmith held him back by the shoulders, saying--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Stop, my good sir; that's not in the bargain: you must
+content yourself with the file. And you will be content with it, when you find
+out what a treasure it is. In fact, the paper tells you, if you can understand
+it. Have you got a worn ducat in your pocket?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well,&quot; said Benjie, angrily, &quot;and what then?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Out with it,&quot; the Goldsmith said, &quot;and try the file on the
+edge of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Baron did so, with an amount of skill which told of much
+previous practice; and the more ducats he filed at--for he tried a good many,
+one after another--the fresher the edges of them came out.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Up to this point Manasseh had been looking on in silence at
+what was transpiring; but here he jumped up, with eyes sparkling wildly, and
+dashed at his nephew, crying, in a hollow, terrible voice--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;God of my Fathers! what do I see? Give me that file!--here
+with it instantly! It is the piece of magic-work for which I sold my soul more
+than three hundred years ago. God of my Fathers!--hand it over to me!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he made at his nephew to take it from him; but Benjie
+pushed him back, crying, &quot;Go to the Deuce, you old idiot! It was I who found the
+file, not you!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To which Manasseh responded, in fury: &quot;Viper! Worm-eaten fruit
+of my race!--Here with that file! All the Demons of Hell be upon you, accursed
+thief!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Manasseh clutched hold of the Baron, with a torrent of Hebrew
+curses, and foaming and gnashing his teeth, he exerted all the strength at his
+command to wrest the file from him. But Benjie fought for it as a lioness does
+for her cubs, till at length Manasseh was worn out; on which his nephew seized
+him by the shoulders and threw him out of the door, with such force that all his
+limbs cracked again. Then, coming back like a flash of lightning, he shoved a
+small table into a corner, and sitting down there, opposite to the Clerk of the
+Privy Chancery, took a handful of ducats from his pocket, and set to work to
+file away at them as hard as he could.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now,&quot; said the Goldsmith, &quot;we have seen the last of that
+terrible Manasseh. He is off our hands, for good and all. People say he is a
+second Ahasuerus, and has been going spooking about since the year 1572. That
+was the year in which he was put to death for diabolical practices and sorcery,
+under the name of Lippolt, the Jew-coiner. But the Devil saved his body from
+death at the price of his immortal soul. Many folk who understand those things
+say they have seen him in Berlin in a good many forms; so that, if all tales are
+true, there are a good number of Lippolts at the present time about. However, I,
+who have a certain amount of experience in those mysterious matters, can assure
+you that I have given him his quietus.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It would weary you very needlessly, dear reader, were I to
+waste words in telling you what you know quite well; namely, that Edmund Lehsen
+chose the ivory casket, inscribed--</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="center">&quot;Who chooseth me doth gain his dreamed-of bliss,&quot;</p>
+</div>
+<p class="continue">and found in it a beautiful portrait of Albertine, with the
+lines--</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="i0">&quot;Yes--thou hast it--read thy chance</p>
+<p class="i0">In thy darling's loving glance.</p>
+<p class="i4">What has past returns no more--</p>
+<p class="i6">Earthly fate so willeth this.</p>
+<p class="i4">All the joy which lies <i>before</i></p>
+<p class="i6">Gather from thy sweetheart's kiss.&quot;</p>
+</div>
+<p class="normal">And Edmund, like Bassanio, followed the counsel of the last
+line, and pressed his blushing sweetheart to his breast, and kissed her glowing
+lips; whilst the Commissionsrath greatly rejoiced, and was full of happiness over this happy <i>dénouement</i> of this most
+involved love-affair.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Meanwhile the Baron had been filing at ducats quite as eagerly
+and absorbedly as the Clerk of the Privy Chancery had been reading, neither of
+them taking the slightest notice of what had been going on, till the
+Commissionsrath announced, in a loud voice, that Edmund Lehsen had chosen the
+casket containing Albertine's portrait, and was, consequently, to be her
+husband. Tussmann seemed to be quite delighted to hear it, and expressed his
+satisfaction in his usual manner, by rubbing his hands, jumping a little way up
+and down for a moment or two, and giving a delicate little laugh. The Baron
+seemed to feel no further interest about the matter; but he embraced the
+Commissionsrath; said he was a real &quot;gentleman&quot; and had made him most utterly
+happy by his present of the file, and told him that he could always count upon
+him, in all circumstances. With which he took his departure.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Tussmann, too, thanked him, with tears of the most heartfelt
+emotion, for making him the happiest of men by this most rare and wonderful of
+all rare and wonderful books; and, after the most profuse expenditure of
+politeness to Albertine, Edmund, and the old Goldsmith, he followed the Baron as
+quickly as ever he could.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Benjie ceased to torture the world of letters with literary
+abortions, as he had formerly done, preferring to employ his time in filing
+ducats; and Tussmann no longer made the booksellers' lives a burden to them by
+pestering them to hunt out old forgotten books for him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But when a few weeks of rapture and happiness had passed, a
+great and bitter sorrow took possession of the Commissionsrath's house. For the
+Goldsmith urged, in the strongest terms, upon Edmund that for his own sake, and
+for the sake of his art, he was bound to keep his solemn promise and go to
+Italy.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Edmund, notwithstanding the dreadful parting from Albertine,
+felt the strongest possible impulse urging him towards the country of the arts;
+and, although Albertine shed the bitterest tears, she could not help thinking
+how very nice it would be to be able to take out letters from her lover at Rome,
+and read them out--or extracts from them--at aesthetic teas of an afternoon.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Edmund has been in Rome now more than a year, and people do
+say that his correspondence with Albertine languishes, and that the letters are
+becoming rarer and colder. Who knows whether or not anything will ever come,
+ultimately, of the engagement between those two people? Certainly Albertine
+won't be long &quot;in the market&quot; in any case; she is so pretty, and so well off.
+Just at present, there is young Mr. Gloria (just going to be called to the bar),
+a very nice young gentleman indeed, with a slim and tightly-girded waist, a
+couple of waistcoats on at once, and a cravat tied in the English style; and he
+danced all last season with Albertine, and is to be seen now going continually
+with her to the Thiergarten, whilst the Commissionsrath trots very complacently
+after them, looking like a satisfied father. Moreover, Mr. Gloria has passed his
+second examination at the Supreme Court with flying colours.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So perhaps he and Albertine may make a match of it, should he
+get a fairly good appointment. There's no telling. Let us see what happens.&quot;</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="normal">&quot;You have certainly written a wonderfully crack-brained thing
+in that,&quot; Ottmar said, when Lothair had finished. &quot;This 'Tale containing
+improbable incidents,' as you have called it, appears to me to be a kind of
+mosaic, composed of all kinds of stones put together at random, which dazzles
+and confuses one's eyes so that they can't take firm hold of any definite
+figure.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As far as I am concerned,&quot; Theodore said, &quot;I must confess
+that I think a great deal of it is exceedingly delightful, and that it might
+very likely have been a very superior production, if Lothair hadn't, most
+imprudently, gone and read Hafftitz. The consequence of this was that those two
+practitioners of the black art, the Goldsmith and the
+Jew-coiner, had to be brought into the story somehow,
+willy-nilly; and thus those two unfortunate revenants make their appearance as
+heterogeneous elements, working, with their sorceries, in an unnaturally
+constrained manner among the incidents of the tale. It is well your story hasn't
+been printed, or you would have been hauled over the coals by the critics.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Wouldn't it do to light up the pages of a Berlin Almanack?&quot;
+the Author asked, with one of his ironical smiles. &quot;Of course I should still
+more localize the localities, and add a few names of celebrities, and so gain a
+little applause from the literary-aesthetic, if from nobody else.[2]</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="hang1">[Footnote 2: &quot;This speech of Lothair's shows what the Author
+had in his mind at the time. The tale <i>did</i> appear in the Berlin Almanack of
+1820, with additional localities, and names of celebrities in the Art-World, but
+the publishers told him he ought to try to keep within the bounds of
+'probability,' in future.&quot;--(Note of Editor of Collected Works.)]</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="normal">&quot;However, all the same, my dear friends, did you not laugh
+heartily enough at times, as I was reading it? and ought that not to deprive
+your criticism of some of its severity? If you, Ottmar, say my tale is a mosaic,
+you might admit that it has something of a Kaleidoscope character, in spite of
+its crackiness, and that its matters, though most adventitiously shaken
+together, do ultimately form more or less interesting combinations. At all
+events, you surely admit that there are one or two good characters in my story,
+and at the head of them, the love-stricken Baron Benjie, that worthy scion of
+the Jew-coiner race of Lippolts; however, we've had far too much of my piece of
+patchwork, which was only intended to amuse you for a moment as a <i>bizarre</i>
+jest. What I would have you notice is that I have been faithful to my principle
+of welding on the Legendary to the every-day life of the present day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And,&quot; said Theodore, &quot;I am a great adherent of that
+principle. It used to be supposed to be necessary to localize everything of the
+legendary kind in the remote East, taking Scheherezade as the model in so doing;
+and, as soon as we touched upon the manners, the customs, the ways of life of
+the East, we got into a world which was apparently hovering, adrift, all in a
+sort of unreality, anchorless, before our eyes, on the point of floating away
+and disappearing. This is why those tales so often strike coldly on us, and have
+no power to kindle the inner spirit--the fancy. What I think, and mean, is, that
+the foot of the heavenly ladder, which we have got to mount in order to reach
+the higher regions, has to be fixed firmly in every-day life, so that everybody
+may be able to climb up it along with us. When people then find that they have
+got climbed up higher and higher into a marvellous, magical world, they will
+feel that that realm, too, belongs to their ordinary, every-day life, and is,
+merely, the wonderful and most glorious part thereof. For them it is the
+beautiful flower-garden beyond the city-wall into which they can go, and in
+which they can wander and enjoy themselves, if they have but made up their minds
+to quit the gloomy walls of the city, for a time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Don't forget, though, Theodore, my friend,&quot; said Ottmar,
+&quot;that there are quantities of people who won't go up the ladder at all, because
+it isn't 'proper' or 'becoming.' And many turn giddy by the time they get to the
+third rung of it. Many never see the ladder at all, though it is facing them in
+the broad, daily path of their lives, and they pass by it every day. As regards
+the tales of the 'Thousand and One Nights,' it is remarkable enough that most of
+those who have tried to imitate them have overlooked that which is just what
+gives them life and reality--exactly what Lothair's principle is. All the
+cobblers, tailors, dervishes, merchants, and so forth, who appear as the
+characters in those tales, are people who are to be met with every day in the
+streets. And--inasmuch as life is independent of times and manners, but is
+always the same affair--in its essential conditions (and always must be so), it
+follows that we feel that all those folks--upon whom, in the middle of their
+everyday lives, such extraordinary and magical adventures came, and such spells
+wound themselves--are really the sort of people who are actually walking about
+amongst us. Such is the marvellous, mighty power of description,
+characterization, and representation in that immortal book.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As the evening was fast growing colder, it was thought
+advisable--on account of Theodore's having but half recovered from his late
+illness--that the friends should go to the great summer-house,
+and indulge in a cup of refreshing tea, in place of anything more exciting.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And when the urn was on the table, singing its usual little
+domestic tune, Ottmar said--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I don't think I could have a better opportunity for reading
+you a
+tale which I wrote a long while ago, and which happens to
+begin with tea-drinking. I mention, to begin with, that it is in Cyprian's
+style.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ottmar read--</p>
+
+<br>
+
+<h2><a name="div2_guest" href="#div2Ref_guest">THE UNCANNY GUEST</a>.</h2>
+
+<p class="normal">A storm was raging through the heavens, announcing the coming
+of winter, whirling black clouds on its wings, which dashed down hissing,
+rattling squall-showers of rain and hail.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nobody will come to-night,&quot; said Madame von G. to her
+daughter Angelica, as the clock struck seven. &quot;They would never venture out in
+such weather. If your father were but home!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Almost as she was speaking, in came Captain Moritz von E. (a
+cavalry officer), followed by a young Barrister, whose brilliant and
+inexhaustible fund of humour and wit was the life and soul of the circle which
+was accustomed to assemble every Thursday evening in Colonel von G.'s house. So
+that, as Angelica said, there was little cause to be sorry that the less
+intimate members of the circle were away, seeing that the more welcome ones had
+come.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It felt very chilly in the drawing-room. The lady of the house
+had had a fire lighted, and the tea-table brought.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am sure,&quot; she said, &quot;that you two gentlemen, who have been
+so courageous as to come to see us tonight through such a storm, can
+never be content with our wretched tea. Mademoiselle
+Marguerite shall make you a brew of that good, northern beverage which can keep
+any
+sort of weather out.&quot; Marguerite--a young French lady, who was
+&quot;companion&quot; to Angelica, for the sake of her language, and other
+lady-like accomplishments, but who was only about her own age,
+or barely more--came, and performed the duty thus entrusted to her. So the punch
+steamed, while the fire sparkled and blazed; and the company sate down round the
+little tea-table.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A shiver suddenly passed through them--through each and all of
+them; and they felt chilled. Though they had been talking merrily before they
+sat down, there fell now upon them a momentary silence, during which the strange
+voices which the storm had called into life in the chimney whistled and howled
+with marvellous distinctness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There can be no doubt,&quot; said Dagobert (the young barrister),
+&quot;that the four ingredients, Autumn, a stormy Wind, a good fire, and a jorum of
+punch, have, when taken together, a strange power of causing people to
+experience a curious sense of awesomeness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A very pleasant one, though,&quot; said Angelica. &quot;At all events,
+I do not know a more delightful sensation than the sort of strange shiveriness
+which goes through one when one feels--heaven knows how, or why--as if one were
+suddenly casting a glance, with one's eyes open, into some strange, mystic
+dream-world.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Exactly,&quot; said Dagobert; &quot;that delicious shiveriness was
+exactly what came over all of us just now; and the glance into the dream-world,
+which we were involuntarily making at that moment, made us all silent. It is
+well for us that we have got it over, and that we have come back so quickly from
+the dream-world to this charming reality, which provides us with this grand
+liquid.&quot; He rose, and, bowing politely to Madame von G., emptied the glass
+before him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But,&quot; Moritz said, &quot;if you felt all the deliciousness of that
+species of shudder, and of the dreamy condition accompanying it (as Miss
+Angelica and I did), why shouldn't you be glad to prolong it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let me say, my dear friend,&quot; Dagobert answered, &quot;that the
+kind of dreaminess which we have to do with in this instance is not that in
+which the mind, or spirit, goes losing and sinking itself in all kinds of vague
+labyrinths of complexity of wondrous, calm enjoyment. The storm-wind, the
+blazing fire, and the punch are only the predisposing causes of the onsetting of
+that incomprehensible, mysterious
+condition--deeply grounded in our human organism--which our
+minds strive, in vain, to fight against, and which we ought to take great care
+not to allow ourselves to yield to over much. What I mean is, the fear of the
+supernatural. We all know that the uncanny race of ghosts, the haunters, choose
+the night (and particularly in stormy weather), to arise from their darksome
+dwellings, and set forth upon their mysterious wanderings. So that we are right
+in expecting some of those fearsome visitants just at a time like this.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You do not mean what you say, of course,&quot; Madame von G.
+answered; &quot;and I need not tell you that the sort of superstitious fear which we
+so often, in a childish way, feel, is not in any degree inherent in our
+organization as human beings. I am certain that it is chiefly traceable to the
+foolish stories of ghosts, and so forth, which servants tell us while we are
+children.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, Madame,&quot; Dagobert answered; &quot;those tales--which we
+enjoyed more than any others which we heard as children--would never have raised
+up such an enduring echo in us if the strings which re-echo them had not existed
+within us to begin with. There is no denying the existence of the mysterious
+spirit-world which lies all around us, and often gives us note of its Being in
+wondrous, mystic sounds, and even in marvellous sights. Most probably the
+shudder of awe with which we receive those intimations of that spirit-world, and
+the involuntary fear which
+they produce in us, are nothing but the result of our being
+hemmed
+in--imprisoned--by our human organization. The awe and the
+fear are merely the modes in which the spirit imprisoned within our bodies
+expresses its sorrow thereat.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are a spirit-seer, a believer in all those things--like
+all people who have lively imaginations,&quot; said Madame von G. &quot;But if I were to
+go the length of admitting, and believing, that it is permitted that an unknown
+spirit-world should reveal its existence to us by means of sounds and sights, I
+should still have to say that I am unable to comprehend why that mysterious
+realm, and its denizens, should stand in such a relation to us that they bring
+merely paralyzing fear and horror upon us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Perhaps,&quot; Dagobert said, &quot;it is the punishment inflicted on
+us by that mother from whose care and discipline we have run away. I mean, that
+in that golden age when our race was living in the most perfect union with all
+nature, no dread or terror disturbed us, for the simple reason that in the
+profound peace and perfect harmony of all created things, there was nothing
+hostile that could cause us any such emotion. I was mentioning strange
+spirit-sounds; but why is it that all the real <i>nature</i>-tones--of whose origin
+and causes we can give the most complete account--sound to us like the most
+piercing sorrow, and fill our hearts with the profoundest dread? The most
+remarkable of those nature-tones is the air-music, or, as it is called, the
+'devil-voice,' heard in Ceylon and the neighbouring countries, spoken of by
+Schubert in his 'Glances at the Night-side of Natural Science.' This nature-tone
+is heard on calm and bright nights, sounding like the wail of some human
+creature lamenting in the deepest distress. It seems to come sometimes from the
+most remote distance, and then again to be quite close at hand. It affects the
+human intelligence so powerfully that the most self-controlled cannot help
+feeling the deepest terror when they hear it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes,&quot; said Moritz, &quot;it is so. I have never been in Ceylon,
+certainly, or in any of the neighbouring countries; but I have heard that
+terrible nature-sound; and not only I, but every one else who heard it, felt
+just that precise effect which Dagobert alludes to.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I should be extremely obliged to you,&quot; said Dagobert, &quot;and
+you would probably convince Madame von G. also, if you would not mind telling us
+what happened.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You know,&quot; Moritz said, &quot;that I served the campaign in Spain
+under Wellington, with a mixed force of English and Spanish cavalry against the
+French. The night before the battle of Vittoria I was bivouacking in the open
+country. Being wearied to death by the long march we had made during the day, I
+had fallen into a deep sleep of exhaustion, when I was awakened by a piercing
+cry of distress. I naturally thought--and it was the only idea that came into my
+mind--that what I heard was the death-cry of some wounded soldier near me; but
+the comrades who were lying round me were all snoring, and there was no other
+sound to be heard. The first gleams of the dawn were breaking through the deep
+darkness, and I got up and strode away over the bodies of the sleepers, thinking
+that I might perhaps come across the wounded man, whoever he was, who had
+uttered that cry. It was a singularly calm night, and
+only most gradually and imperceptibly did the morning breeze
+begin to move, and to cause the leaves to tremble. Then a second cry, like the
+former--a long wail of woe--came ringing through the air, and
+died away in the remotest distance. It was as though the spirits of the slain
+were rising up from the battlefield, and wailing their boundless sorrow out into
+the wide heaven. My breast throbbed, was overwhelmed by an inexpressible awe;
+all the sorrow which I had ever heard exhaled from all human breasts was nothing
+in comparison with that heart-piercing wail. Our comrades now awoke from their
+sleep, and, for the third time, that terrible cry of sorrow arose, and filled
+the whole air, more fearful and awful than before. We were all smitten with the
+profoundest fear; even the horses were terrified; they snorted and stamped. Many
+of the Spaniards fell on their knees and prayed aloud. One of the English
+officers told us that he had several times met with this phenomenon in southern
+countries; and that it was of electrical origin, and there would probably be a
+change in the weather. The Spaniards, with their bent towards the supernatural,
+heard in it the mighty voices of supernatural beings, announcing great events
+about to happen. In this they were confirmed when, next day, the battle came
+thundering in upon them, with all its horrors.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Is there any occasion.&quot; Dagobert said, &quot;to go to Ceylon, or
+to Spain, to hear these marvellous Nature-tones of sorrow and complaining?
+Surely the howling of the storm-wind, the rattling of the hail, the groanings
+and creakings of the vanes are just as capable of filling us with profound
+terror as are those other Nature-tones we have been speaking of. Listen to that
+weird music which some hundreds of fearful voices are organing down this
+chimney; or to the strange little spirit-like ditty which the tea-urn is just
+beginning to sing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh! most ingenious indeed!&quot; cried Madame von G. &quot;Even into
+the very tea-urn Dagobert conjures spirits which render themselves cognisable to
+us by fearful cries of woe.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But he is not far wrong, dear mother!&quot; Angelica said. &quot;I
+could very soon be seriously frightened at the extraordinary way in which that
+whistling, and rattling, and hissing is going on in the chimney; and the little
+tune which the tea-urn is singing, in such a tone of profound sorrow, is--to
+me--so eery and uncomfortable, that I shall go and blow out the spirit lamp,
+that there may be an end of it at once.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Angelica rose: her handkerchief fell. Moritz quickly picked it
+up and handed it to her. She allowed a glance, full of soul, from her heavenly
+eyes to rest upon him; he took her hand, and pressed it fervently to his lips.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At that moment Marguerite shuddered convulsively, as if
+touched by some electric current, and allowed the glass of punch, which she had
+just poured out for Dagobert, to drop from her hand. It shattered to atoms on
+the floor. She cast herself down at Madame von G.'s feet sobbing bitterly--said
+she was a stupid creature, and implored that she might be allowed to go to her
+room. She said that what they had been talking about had made her frightened and
+nervous--although she had not understood it; that she felt frightened still--as
+if she could not stay in the room--though she could not explain why; that she
+was feeling unwell, and would like to get to bed. So saying, she kissed Madame
+von G.'s hands, and bedewed them with the tears she was shedding.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Dagobert felt the painfulness of the incident, and the
+necessity of giving matters a different turn. He, too, fell at Madame von G.'s
+feet, and in the most pathetic voice at his command, begged forgiveness for the
+culprit. As regarded the stain of punch on the floor, he vowed that he would put
+waxed brushes on his feet in the morning, and go figuring athwart the boards in
+the most exquisite tours, and steps that ever inspired the brain of a court
+dancing-master.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Madame von G., who had at first been looking very grave over
+Marguerite's mishap, strange as it seemed, and inexplicable, cleared up a little
+at Dagobert's words. She gave each of them her hand with a smile and said,
+&quot;Rise, and wipe away your tears. You are forgiven, Marguerite; you have this
+champion of yours to thank that I do not inflict a very severe punishment upon
+you. But I can't let you go altogether scot free. If you <i>are</i> a little out of
+sorts, you must try to forget it. I shall ordain you to stay here, be more
+assiduous than before at filling the gentlemen's glasses with the punch, and,
+above all things, you must reward your champion and defender with a kiss, in
+token of your sincere gratitude.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So that Virtue is its own reward,&quot; Dagobert said, with a
+comic pathos, as he took Marguerite's hand. &quot;All I ask of you, beauteous lady,&quot;
+he continued, &quot;is to believe that the world contains (though you might be
+sceptical on the subject) legal luminaries of such a heroic sort that they do
+not hesitate a moment to offer themselves up a sacrifice at the shrine of
+Innocence and Truth. But we must obey the commands of our fair judge, from whose
+award there is no appeal.&quot; And he impressed a fugitive kiss upon Marguerite's
+lips, and then led her back to her seat with much solemnity. Marguerite,
+blushing like a rose, laughed very heartily; but the bright tears still stood in
+her eyes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Stupid fool that I am,&quot; she cried in French, &quot;have I not got
+to do whatever Madame von G. bids me? I will keep perfectly calm. I will go on
+making their punch. I will listen to their ghost-stories without being in the
+least afraid.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Bravo, angelic child,&quot; cried Dagobert. &quot;My heroism has
+infected you, and the sweetness of your lips has inspired <i>me</i>. My imagination
+has unfolded new wings, and I feel ready to serve up the most awful events and
+mysteries from the 'Regno di Pianto.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I thought we had done with this unpleasant subject,&quot; said
+Madame von G.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh no, mother dear,&quot; cried Angelica eagerly; &quot;please to let
+Dagobert go on! I am exactly like a child about those things. I don't know
+anything I so delight in as a nice ghost story--something that makes all one's
+flesh creep.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, how I <i>do</i> like that!&quot; Dagobert cried. &quot;Nothing is so
+utterly delightful in young ladies as their being tremendously superstitious,
+and easily frightened; and I should never dream of marrying a woman who was not
+terribly afraid of ghosts.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You were saying a little while ago, dear Dagobert,&quot; said
+Moritz, &quot;that we ought to guard ourselves against--or take care how we
+allow ourselves to get into--that dreamy state of awe which is the commencement
+of spirit-fear--the dread of the superhuman, the ghostly world. You have still
+got to explain to us the <i>why</i>.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If there is, at the commencement of it, any real cause for
+that sense of awesomeness--which is at first so thoroughly blended up with the
+<i>dreamily</i> pleasurable--it by no means remains at that stage. Soon there
+supervenes a deadly fear--a horror which makes the hair stand on end; so that
+the said pleasurable feeling at the commencement would seem to be the
+fascination of temptation with which the Spirit World lures us on and ensnares
+us. We were talking of certain Nature-tones which are capable of explanation,
+and of their fearsome effect upon our senses. But we at times hear sounds more
+extraordinary, of which the origin and cause are indiscoverable by us, and which
+produce in us the profoundest awe and terror. All reassuring ideas--such as that
+they proceed from some animal in pain, or are produced by currents of air, or
+other natural causes--are useless and of no avail. Every one, I presume, has
+experienced that, in the night, the very faintest sound, if only it occurs at
+regular intervals with pauses between, completely drives away sleep, and goes on
+increasingly stirring up one's inward disquiet till it reaches the point of
+complete disorganization of the faculties. Not very long ago I had to spend a
+night, on a journey, at an inn, where the landlord put me in a nice,
+comfortable, lofty, airy bedroom. In the middle of the night I started up from
+my sleep, wide awake. The moon was shining brightly in at the window, which was
+uncurtained, so that I could see every article of the furniture, and even the
+minutest objects in the room. There was a sound as of water dropping into some
+metallic dish. I lay and listened. The drops went on falling at regular,
+measured intervals, drip, drip, drip. My dog, who was lying under the bed, crept
+out, and went about the room whimpering and crying, scratching on the walls and
+on the floor. I felt as if streams of icy water were running all through me, and
+the cold perspiration dripped from my brow. However, I collected myself by a
+great effort, and--after first of all giving a good loud shout--I got out of
+bed, and went forward to the middle of the room. There the drops seemed to be
+falling close in front of me, or rather I should say <i>right through</i> me into the
+metal, of which I heard the reverberation ringing loud and clear as they fell.
+Then, overcome by terror, I crept back, somehow, to the bed, and covered myself
+up with the bedclothes. And then it seemed to me that the dropping--still going
+on at the same regular intervals--grew gradually fainter and fainter, and died
+away as if in the distance. I fell into a deep sleep, out of which I did not
+wake till it was bright daylight in the morning. The dog had come and lain down
+close beside me in bed, and did not move till I got up, when he jumped up too,
+barking vigorously, as if he had got over his terror of the previous night. It
+occurred to me that it might only be to me that the (doubtless) natural cause or
+causes of this strange sound were a mystery, and I told the landlord of my
+adventure--of which I still felt the terror in all my frame. I ended by saying
+that he could, no doubt, explain the whole affair to me, but that he ought to
+have told me of it beforehand. He turned as pale as a sheet, and begged me never
+to tell any one what had happened to me, as he would risk the loss of his
+customers. He said many travellers had complained about that sound, which they
+had heard on bright moonlight nights--that he had examined everything with the
+utmost care and attention, and even had the floor of that room and the adjoining
+one taken up, as well as making inquisition into everything in the
+neighbourhood, without coming upon the faintest trace of anything to account for
+this awe-inspiring noise. It had not been heard for nearly a year before the
+night I speak of, and he had been flattering himself that the
+Principle--whatever it might be--which was haunting the room had ceased its
+operation. But seeing, to his great alarm, that in this he was mistaken, he
+determined that he would never, in any circumstances, allow anybody to pass the
+night there again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh! how terrible!&quot; cried Angelica, shuddering like one in the
+cold stage of an ague. &quot;That is really most terrible! Oh! I am sure I should
+have died if anything like that had happened to me! But I have often woke up
+from sleep, suddenly, feeling an indescribable, inexplicable alarm and anxiety,
+as if I had been going through something terrible and alarming; and yet, I had
+not the slightest idea what it was that I had been going through, nor the very
+faintest recollection of any fearful dream, or anything of that kind. Rather I
+seemed to be waking from some condition of complete unconsciousness, like
+death.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know that feeling perfectly well,&quot; Dagobert said. &quot;Perhaps
+it points straight to the effect upon us of psychical influences external to us,
+to which we are compelled to yield ourselves up, whether we choose or not. Just
+as the mesmeric subject has no remembrance of the mesmeric sleep, or of anything
+which happens in it. Perhaps that sense of fear and anxiety which we feel on
+awaking (as we have said), of which the cause is hidden from us, may be the
+lingering echo of some mighty spell which has forced us out of ourselves.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I remember very distinctly,&quot; Angelica said, &quot;some four years
+ago, the night before my fourteenth birthday, awaking in a condition of that
+kind. I could not shake off the terror of it for several days afterwards. But I
+strove in vain to remember anything about my dream (if dream it was, that had so
+terrified me). I knew, and I know quite well, that in the very dream itself I
+had told several people--my own dear mother amongst them--what the dream was,
+several times. But all I could remember when I woke was that I had told the
+dream. I could not recall the slightest trace of what the dream had been.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This strange psychical phenomenon,&quot; Dagobert said, &quot;is
+closely connected with the magnetic principle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Our conversation is getting more and more dreadful,&quot; said
+Madame von G. &quot;We are getting deep, and losing ourselves in matters I can't bear
+even to think about. Moritz, I must beg you to tell us something
+entertaining--outrageous even--that we may get away from this terrible region of
+the supernatural.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I should be very happy to try,&quot; said Moritz, &quot;if you will
+just allow me to tell one gruesome tale, which has been hovering on my lips for
+a long time. At this moment all my being is so filled with it that I feel that I
+could not talk about anything else.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Discharge yourself, then,&quot; said Madame von G., &quot;from the load
+of awesomeness which so weighs upon you. My husband will be home immediately,
+and then I should be so delighted to work through some battle or other with you
+and him, or to hear you talk in your absorbed manner about horses, or anything,
+to get me out of this overstrained condition into which all this supernatural
+stuff, I must admit, puts me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In my last campaign,&quot; said Moritz, &quot;I made the acquaintance
+of a Russian Lieutenant-Colonel, a Livonian by birth, scarcely thirty, who, as
+chance willed it that we should be serving together before the
+enemy for a considerable time, soon became my very intimate
+friend. Bogislav--that was his Christian name--possessed every quality fitted to
+gain for him, everywhere, the highest consideration and the most sincere regard.
+He was tall and fine-looking, with an intellectual face. He possessed masculine
+beauty, much mental cultivation, and was kindliness itself, while brave as a
+lion. He could be particularly cheerful and entertaining, especially over a
+glass of wine; but there would often come over him, and overwhelm him, the
+thought of something terrible which had happened to him, leaving traces of the
+most intense horror and terror on his face. When this happened he would lapse
+into silence, leave the company, and stroll about up and down, alone. In the
+field, he used to ride all round the outposts at night, from one to another,
+restlessly, only yielding to sleep when completely exhausted; and as, in
+addition to this, he would often expose himself to the extremest danger, without
+any special necessity, and seemed to seek, in battle, death, which fled from him
+--for in the toughest hand-to-hand engagement never a bullet touched him; no
+sword-cut came near him--it seemed evident that his life had been marred by some
+irreparable bereavement, or perhaps some rash deed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We stormed, and captured, a fortified castle on the French
+territory, and remained quartered there for a day or two, to give the men some
+rest. The rooms where Bogislav was quartered were but a few steps from mine. In
+the night I was awakened by a gentle knocking at my door. I asked who was there.
+My name was called out: I recognised Bogislav's voice, and went to let him in.
+There he stood in his night-dress, with a branched candlestick in his hand, pale
+as death, with his face distorted, trembling in every limb, unable to utter a
+word.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'For heaven's sake! what has happened?--what is the matter,
+dearest Bogislav?' I cried. I took him to the arm-chair; made him swallow a
+glass or two of the full-bodied wine which was on the table; held his hand fast
+in mine, and spoke what comforting words I could, in my ignorance of the cause
+of his strange condition.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He recovered himself by degrees, heaved a deep sigh, and then
+began, in a hollow voice: 'No! no! I shall go mad, unless death takes me; God
+knows I throw myself with eager longing into his arms. To you, my faithful
+Moritz, I will confide my fearful secret. I told you once that I was in Naples a
+good many years ago. There I met the daughter of one of the most distinguished
+families, and fell deeply in love with her. She returned my affection, and, as
+her parents gave their approval, I saw the fulfilment of my brightest hopes at
+hand. The wedding-day was fixed, when there appeared on the scene a Sicilian
+Count, who came between us with a most eager suit to my beloved and betrothed. I
+took him to task; he insulted me; we met, and I sent my sword through his body.
+I hastened to my love; I found her bathed in tears. She called me the accursed
+murderer of the man she had adored, and repelled me with every mark of disgust;
+screamed and wept in inconsolable sorrow; fell down fainting, as if stung by a
+scorpion, when I touched her hand. Who can describe my amazement! Her parents
+could not give the slightest explanation of the sudden change in her. She had
+never given any favourable heed to the Count's attentions.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Her father concealed me in his palazzo, and, with the most
+noble zeal, took care that I should be enabled to leave Naples undiscovered.
+Driven by all the furies, I pushed on to St. Petersburg without a halt. It is
+not the faithlessness of my love which plays havoc with my life. No! it is a
+terrible mystery. Since that unhappy day in Naples I have been dogged and
+pursued by the terrors of hell itself. Often by day, but still oftener by night,
+I hear--sometimes as if a long distance away, sometimes as if quite close beside
+me--a deep death-groan. It is the voice of the Count whom I killed! It makes my
+inmost soul quiver with horror. I hear that horrible sound distinctly, close to
+my ear, in the thick of the thunder of the heavy siege-guns, and the rattle of
+musketry, and all the wild despair of madness awakes within me. This very
+night----' Bogislav paused; and I, as well as he, was seized with the wildest
+horror; for there came to our hearing a long-sustained, heart-breaking wail of
+sorrow, as if proceeding from the stair outside. Then it was as if some one
+raised himself, groaning and sighing, with difficulty from the ground, and was
+coming towards us with heavy, uncertain steps.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;At this Bogislav started up from his seat, and, with a wild
+glow in his eyes, cried out, in a voice of thunder: 'Appear to me, abominable
+one, if you only will! I am more than a match for you, and all the spirits of
+hell that are at your disposal!'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;On this there came a tremendous crash, and----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Just then the door of the drawing-room flew open with a
+startling noise.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And just as Ottmar read those words, the door of the
+summer-house in which the friends were sitting flew open, also with a startling
+noise, and they saw a dark form, wrapped in a mantle, approaching slowly, with
+noiseless footfalls, as of a spirit. They all gazed at this form, a little
+startled, holding their breaths.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Is it right,&quot; said Lothair at length, when the full light of
+the lamps, falling upon his face, displayed their friend Cyprian. &quot;Is it right
+to try to frighten good folks with foolish playing the ghost? However, I know,
+Cyprian, that you don't content yourself with studying spirits and all sorts of
+strange, visionary matters; you would often fain be a spook or ghost yourself.
+But where have you appeared from so suddenly? How did you find out that we were
+here?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I came back to-day from my journey,&quot; Cyprian said. &quot;I went at
+once to see Theodore, Lothair, and Ottmar, but found none of them at home. In
+the fullness of my annoyance I ran out here into the open; and chance so willed
+it that, as I was returning to the town, I struck into the walk which leads past
+this summer-house. Then I seemed to hear a
+well-known voice; I peeped in at the window, and saw my worthy
+Serapion Brethren, and heard Ottmar reading 'The Uncanny Guest.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What,&quot; interrupted Ottmar, &quot;you know my tale?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You forget,&quot; said Cyprian, &quot;that it was from me that you got
+the ingredients of the tale. It was I who told you of the 'Devil's Voice,' the
+aerial music of Ceylon, who even gave you the idea of the sudden appearing of
+the 'Uncanny Guest'; and I am curious to hear how you have worked out this
+'Thema' of mine. You see that it was a matter of course that just when Ottmar
+had made the drawing-room door fly open I had necessarily to do the like, and
+appear to you myself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not as an uncanny guest, though,&quot; said Theodore, &quot;but as a
+true and faithful Serapion Brother, who, although he frightened me not a little,
+as I must perforce admit, is a thousand times welcome to me all the same.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And,&quot; said Lothair, &quot;if he insists on being a spirit, he
+must, at all events, not be an unquiet spirit, but sit down and drink tea,
+without making too much clattering with his cup, and listen to Ottmar, as to
+whose tale I am all the more curious, that this time it is a working up of a
+thema given to him by another.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Theodore, who was still easily excited after his recent
+illness, had been affected by Cyprian's proceedings rather more than was
+desirable. He was deadly pale, and it was evident that he had to put some
+constraint on himself to appear at his ease.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Cyprian saw this, and was not a little concerned at what he
+had done. &quot;The truth is,&quot; he said, &quot;that I had not thought about our friend's
+having only recently recovered, and hardly that, from a severe illness. I was
+acting contrarily to my own fundamental principle, which totally prohibits the
+perpetration of jokes of this description, because it has often happened that
+the terrible serious reality of the spirit-world has come gripping in into jokes
+of this kind, resulting in very terrific things. I remember, for instance----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Stop! stop!&quot; cried Lothair. &quot;I can't have any more
+interruptions. Cyprian is on the point of carrying us away, after his manner,
+into that dark world of spells where he is at home. Please to go on with your
+story, Ottmar.&quot; Ottmar went on reading.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And in came a man, dressed in black from top to toe, with a
+pallid face, and a set, serious expression. He went up to Madame von G.
+with the most courtly bearing of a man of the highest rank,
+and in well-selected terms, begged her to pardon him for having been so long in
+arriving, though his invitation was of such old standing--but that, to his
+regret, he had been detained by having to pay an unavoidable visit first. Madame
+von G., unable to recover all in a moment from the start which his entry had
+caused her, murmured a few indistinguishable words, which seemed to amount to
+saying, would the stranger be kind enough to take a seat. He drew a chair close
+to her, and opposite to Angelica, sat down, and let his eyes pass over every
+member of the company. Every one felt paralysed; none could utter a word. Then
+the stranger began to speak, saying that he felt he stood doubly in need of
+excuses; firstly, for arriving at such a time, and, secondly, for having made
+his entrance in such a sudden manner, and so startlingly. The latter, however,
+he was not to blame for, inasmuch as the door had been thrown open in that
+violent manner by the servant whom he had found in the hall. Madame von G.,
+overcoming with difficulty the eery feeling with which she was seized, inquired
+whom she had the honour of welcoming. The stranger seemed not to notice this
+question, his attention being fixed on Marguerite, who had suddenly become
+changed in all her ways and bearing, kept tripping and dancing close up to the
+stranger, and telling him, with constant tittering and laughter, and with much
+volubility, in French, that they had all been in the very thick of the most
+delightful ghost-stories, and that Captain Moritz had just been saying that some
+evil spectre ought to make its appearance at the very instant when he had come
+in. Madame von G., feeling all the awkwardness of having to ask this stranger,
+who had said he came by invitation, as to his name and so forth, but more
+distressed and rendered uncomfortable by his presence, did not repeat her
+question, but reprimanded Marguerite for her behaviour, which almost passed the
+limits of the &quot;<i>convenable</i>.&quot; The stranger put a stop to Marguerite's chatter,
+turning to the others, and leading the conversation to some event of
+indifference which had happened in the neighbourhood. Madame von G. answered
+him. Dagobert tried to join in the conversation, which soon dragged painfully
+along in detached, interrupted sentences; and during this, Marguerite kept
+trilling couplets of French chansons, and seemed to be trying steps, as if
+remembering the &quot;tours&quot; of the newest gavotte, while the others were scarcely
+capable of moving. They all felt their breasts oppressed; the presence of the
+stranger weighed upon them like the sultry oppressiveness which precedes a
+thunderstorm. The words died on their lips when they looked at the deathly pale
+face of this uncanny guest. The markedly foreign accent with which he spoke both
+French and German indicated that he was neither a German nor a Frenchman.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Madame von G. breathed freely, with an enormous sense of
+relief, when at length horses were heard drawing up at the door, and the voice
+of her husband, Colonel von G., was distinguishable.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When the Colonel came in, and saw the stranger, he went up to
+him quickly, saying, &quot;Heartily welcome to my house, dear Count.&quot; Then turning to
+his wife, he said, &quot;This is Count S., a very dear friend of mine; I made his
+acquaintance in the north, but met him afterwards in the south.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Madame von G., whose anxiety began to be relieved, assured the
+Count, with pleasant smiles, that it was only because her husband had omitted to
+tell her of his visit that he had been received perhaps a little strangely, and
+not as a welcome friend ought to have been. Then she told the Colonel how the
+conversation had been running all the evening upon the supernatural; how Moritz
+had been telling a dreadful story of events which had happened to him and a
+friend of his, and that, at the very moment when he had been saying, &quot;There came
+a tremendous crash,&quot; the door had flown open, and the Count had come in.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Very good indeed,&quot; said the Colonel, laughing; &quot;they thought
+you were a ghost, dear Count! I fancy I see traces of alarm and nervousness
+about Angelica's face still, and Moritz looks as though he had scarcely shaken
+off the excitement of the story he was telling. Even Dagobert does not seem
+quite in his ordinary spirits. Really, Count, it is a little too bad to take you
+for a <i>revenant</i>; don't you think so?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Perhaps,&quot; the Count replied; &quot;I really may have something
+more or less ghostly about me. A good deal is being said nowadays, about people
+who, by virtue of some peculiar psychical quality, possess the power of
+influencing others, so that they experience very remarkable effects. I may be
+endowed with such a power.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are not serious, my dear Count,&quot; said Madame von G. &quot;But
+there is no doubt that people are discovering very wonderful mysteries
+nowadays.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;People are pampering their curiosity, and weakening their
+minds over nursery tales and absurd fancies,&quot; was the Count's reply. &quot;We ought
+all to take care not to allow ourselves to be infected by this curious epidemic.
+However, I interrupted this gentleman at the most interesting point of his
+story, and as none of his hearers would like to lose the finale, the explanation
+of the mystery, I would beg him to go on with it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To Captain Moritz this stranger Count was not only
+uncomfortable and uncanny, but utterly repugnant, in all the depths of his
+being. In his words he found--all the more that he gave them out with a most
+irritating, self-satisfied smile--something indescribably contemptuous and
+insulting; and he replied, in an irritated tone, and with flashing eyes, that he
+feared his nursery tales might interfere with the pleasantness--the sense of
+enjoyment--which the Count had introduced into the circle, so that he would
+prefer to say no more.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Count seemed scarcely to notice what Moritz said. Playing
+with the gold snuff-box which he had taken in his hand, he asked Madame von
+G---- if the &quot;lively&quot; young lady was French. He meant
+Marguerite, who kept dancing about the room, trilling. The Colonel went up to
+her and asked her, half aloud, if she had gone out of her senses. Marguerite
+slunk, abashed, to the tea-table, and sat down there quite quiet. The Count now
+took up the conversation, and spoke, in an entertaining manner, of this and the
+other events which had recently happened. Dagobert was scarcely able to put in a
+word. Moritz stood, red as fire, with gleaming eyes, as if waiting eagerly for
+the signal of attack. Angelica appeared to be completely immersed in the piece
+of feminine &quot;work&quot; at which she had set herself to labour. She did not raise an
+eyelid. The company separated in complete discomfort.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are a fortunate man,&quot; Dagobert cried, when he and Moritz
+were alone together. &quot;Doubt no longer that Angelica is much attached to you.
+Clearly did I read in her eyes to-day that she is devotedly in love with you.
+But the devil is always busy, and sows his poisonous tares amongst the blooming
+wheat. Marguerite is on fire with an insane passion. She loves you with all the
+wild, passionate pain which only a fiery temperament is capable of feeling. The
+senseless way in which she behaved tonight was the effect of an irresistible
+outbreak of the wildest jealousy. When Angelica let fall the handkerchief--when
+you took it up and gave it to her--when you kissed her hand--the furies of hell
+possessed that poor Marguerite. And you are to blame for that. You used formerly
+to take the greatest pains to pay every kind of attention to that very beautiful
+French girl. I know well enough that it was only Angelica whom you had in your
+mind. Still, those falsely directed lightnings struck, and set on fire. And now
+the misfortune is there; and I do not know how the matter will end without
+terrible tumult and trouble.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Marguerite be hanged (if I may use such an expression),&quot; said
+Moritz. &quot;If Angelica loves me--and ah! I can't believe, quite, that she does--I
+am the happiest and the most blest of men, and care nothing about all the
+Marguerites in the world, nor their foolishnesses neither. But another fear has
+come into my mind. This uncanny, stranger Count, who came in amongst us like
+some dark, gloomy mystery--doesn't he seem to place himself, somehow, most
+hostilely between her and me? I feel, I scarce know how, as if some reminiscence
+came forward out of the dark background--I could almost describe it as a
+dream--which reminiscence, or dream, whichever it may be, brings this Count to
+my memory under terrible circumstances of some sort. I feel as though, wherever
+he makes his appearance, some awful misfortune must come flashing out of the
+depths of the darkness as a result of his conjurations. Did you notice how often
+his eyes rested on Angelica, and how, when they did, a feeble flush tinted his
+pallid cheeks, and disappeared again rapidly? The monster has designs upon my
+darling; and that is why the words which he addressed to me sounded so
+insulting. But I will oppose him and resist him to the very death!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Dagobert said the Count was a supernatural sort of fellow, no
+doubt, with something very eery and spectral about him, and that it would be as
+well to keep a sharp look-out on his proceedings, though, perhaps, he thought
+there was less in, or behind, him than one would suppose; and that the uncanny
+feelings which everybody had experienced with regard to him were chiefly
+attributable to the excited state in which they had all been when he made his
+appearance. &quot;Let us face all this disquieting affair,&quot; said Dagobert, &quot;with firm
+courage and unshakable confidence. No dark power will bend the head which holds
+itself up with true bravery and indomitable resolution.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A considerable time had elapsed. The Count, whose visits to
+the Colonel's house increased in frequency, had rendered himself almost
+indispensable. It was universally agreed, now, that the accusation against him
+of being uncanny recoiled on those who made it. &quot;He might very well have styled
+us uncanny people, with our white faces and odd behaviour,&quot; as said Madame von
+G----. Everything he said evinced a store of the most valuable and various
+information; and although, being an Italian, he spoke with a foreign accent, his
+command of the German language was most perfect and fluent. His narratives had a
+fire which bore the hearers irresistibly along, so that even Moritz and
+Dagobert, hostile as were their feelings to this stranger, forgot their
+repugnance to him when he talked, and when a pleasant smile broke out over his
+pale, but handsome and expressive face, and they hung upon his lips, like
+Angelica and the others.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Colonel's friendship with him had arisen in a way which
+proved him to be one of the noblest-minded of men. Chance had brought them
+together in the far north, and there the Count, in the most unselfish and
+disinterested manner, came to the Colonel's aid in a difficulty in which he
+found himself involved, which might have had the most disastrous consequences to
+his fortune, if not to his good name and honour. Deeply sensible of all that he
+owed him, the Colonel hung on him with all his soul.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is time,&quot; the Colonel said to his wife one day when they
+were alone together, &quot;that I should tell you the principal reason why the Count
+is here. You remember that he and I, when we were in P----, four years ago, grew
+more and more intimate and inseparable, so that at last we occupied two rooms
+which opened one into the other. He happened to come into my room one morning
+early, and he saw the little miniature of Angelica, which I had with me, lying
+on my writing-table. As he looked more and more closely at it, he lost his
+self-command in a strange way. Not able to answer me, he kept gazing at it. He
+could not take his eyes from it. He cried out excitedly that he had never seen a
+more beautiful creature--had never before known what love was--it was now
+blazing up in the depths of his heart. I jested about the extraordinary effect
+of the picture on him--called him a second Kalaf, and congratulated him on the
+fact that my good Angelica was not a Turandot. At last I told him pretty clearly
+that at his time of life--for, though not exactly elderly, he could not be said
+to be a very young man--this romantic way of falling in love with a portrait
+rather astonished me. But he vowed most vehemently--nay, with every mark of that
+passionate excitement, almost verging on insanity, which belongs to his
+country--that he loved Angelica inexpressibly, and, if he were not to be dashed
+into the profoundest depths of despair, I must allow him to gain her affection
+and her hand. It is for this that the Count has come here to our house. He
+fancies he is certain that she is not ill-disposed to him, and he yesterday laid
+his formal proposal before me. What do you think of the affair?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Madame von G---- could not explain why his latter words shot
+through her being like some sudden shock. &quot;Good heavens,&quot; she cried, &quot;<i>that</i>
+Count for our Angelica! that utter stranger!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Stranger!&quot; echoed the Colonel with darkened brow; &quot;the Count
+a stranger! the man to whom I owe my honour, my freedom, nay, perhaps my life! I
+know he is not quite so young as he has been, and perhaps is not altogether
+suited to Angelica in point of age; but he is of high lineage, and rich, very
+rich.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And without asking Angelica,&quot; said Madame von G----. &quot;Very
+likely she may not have any such liking for him as he, in his fondness,
+imagines.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Colonel started from his chair, and placed himself in
+front of her with gleaming eyes. &quot;Have I ever given you cause to imagine,&quot; he
+said, &quot;that I am one of those idiotic, tyrannical fathers who force their
+daughters to marry against their inclinations, in a disgraceful way? Spare me
+your absurd romanticisms and sentimentalities. Marriages may be made without any
+such extraordinary, fanciful love at first sight, and so forth. Angelica is all
+ears when he talks; she looks at him with most kindly favour; she blushes like a
+rose when he kisses her hand, which she willingly leaves in his. And that is how
+an innocent girl expresses that inclination which truly blesses a man. There is
+no occasion for any of that romantic love which so often runs in your sex's
+heads in such a disturbing fashion.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have an idea,&quot; said Madame von G----, &quot;that Angelica's
+heart is not so free as, perhaps, she herself imagines it is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nonsense,&quot; cried the Colonel, and was on the point of
+breaking out in a passion, when the door opened, and Angelica came in, with the
+loveliest smile of the most ingenuous simplicity. The Colonel, at once losing
+all his irritation, went to her, took her hand, kissed her on the brow, and sat
+down close beside her. He spoke of the Count, praising his noble exterior,
+intellectual superiority, character, and disposition; and then asked her if she
+thought she could care for him. She answered that at first he had appeared very
+strange and eery to her, but that now those feelings had quite disappeared, and
+that she liked him very much.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Heaven be thanked then!&quot; cried the Colonel. &quot;Thus it was
+ordained to turn out, for my comfort, for my happiness. Count S--- loves you, my
+darling child, with all his heart. He asks for your hand, and you won't refuse
+him.&quot; But scarcely had he uttered those words when Angelica, with a deep sigh,
+sank back as if insensible. Her mother caught her in her arms, casting a
+significant glance at the Colonel, who gazed speechless at the poor child, who
+was as pale as death. But she recovered herself; a burst of tears ran down her
+cheeks, and she cried, in a heart-breaking voice, &quot;The Count! the terrible
+Count! oh, no, no; never, never!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As gently as possible the Colonel asked her why it was that
+the Count was so terrible to her. Then Angelica told him that at the instant
+when he had said that the Count loved her, that dream which she dreamt four
+years before, on the night before her fourteenth birthday--from which she awoke
+in such deadly terror without being able to remember the images or incidents of
+it in the very slightest--had come back to her memory quite clearly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I thought,&quot; she said, &quot;I was walking in a beautiful garden
+where there were strange bushes and flowers which I had never seen the like of
+before. Suddenly I found myself close before a wonderful tree with dark leaves,
+large flowers, and a curious perfume something like that of the elder. Its
+branches were swaying and making a delicious rustling, and it seemed to be
+making signs inviting me to rest under its shade. Irresistibly impelled by some
+invisible power, I sank down on the grass which was under the tree. Then strange
+tones of complaint or lamenting seemed to come through the air, stirring the
+tree like the touch of some breeze; and it began to utter sighs and moans. And I
+was seized by an indescribable pain and sorrow; a deep compassion arose in my
+heart, I could not tell why. Then, suddenly, a burning beam of light darted into
+my breast, and seemed to break my heart in two. I tried to cry out, but the cry
+could not make its way from my heart, oppressed with a nameless anguish--it
+became a faint sigh. But the beam which had pierced my heart was the gleam of a
+pair of eyes which were gazing on me from under the shade of the branches. Just
+then the eyes were quite close to me; and a snow-white hand became visible,
+describing circles all round me. And those circles kept getting narrower and
+narrower, winding round me like threads of fire, so that, at last, the web of
+them was so dense and so close that I could not move. At the same time I felt
+that the frightful gaze of those terrible eyes was assuming the mastery over my
+inmost being, and utterly possessing my whole existence and personality. The one
+idea to which it now clung, as if to a feeble thread, was, to me, a martyrdom of
+death-anguish. But the tree bent down its blossoms towards me, and out of them
+spoke the beautiful
+voice of a youth, which said, 'Angelica! I will save you--I
+will save you--but----'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Angelica was interrupted. Captain von P---- was announced. He
+came to see the Colonel on some matter of duty. As soon as Angelica heard his
+name she cried out with the bitterest sorrow, in such a voice as bursts only
+from a breast wounded with the deepest love-anguish--while tears fell down her
+cheeks--&quot;Moritz! oh, Moritz!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Captain von P---- heard those words as he came in; he saw
+Angelica, bathed in tears, stretch out her hands to him. Like a man beside
+himself he dashed his forage cap to the ground, fell at Angelica's feet, caught
+her in his arms, as she sank down overwhelmed with rapture and sorrow, and
+pressed her fervently to his heart.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Colonel contemplated this little scene in speechless
+amazement. Madame von G---- said: &quot;I thought this was how it was; but I was not
+sure!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Captain von P----,&quot; said the Colonel angrily, &quot;what is there
+between you and my daughter?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Moritz, quickly recovering himself, placed Angelica--more dead
+than alive--gently down on the couch, picked up his cap, advanced to the Colonel
+with a face red as fire, and eyes fixed on the ground, and declared that he
+loved Angelica unutterably; but that, upon his honour, until that moment, not a
+word approaching to a declaration of his feelings had crossed his lips. He had
+been but too seriously doubtful as to its being possible that Angelica could
+return his love. He said it was only at this moment--which he could not possibly
+have anticipated--that the bliss accorded to him by heaven had been fully
+disclosed to him; and that he trusted he should not be repulsed by the noblest
+hearted of mankind, the tenderest of fathers, when he implored him to bestow his
+blessing on a union sealed by the purest and sincerest affection.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Colonel gazed at Moritz, and then at Angelica, with looks
+of gloom; then he paced up and down with folded arms like one who strives to
+arrive at a resolution. He paused before his wife, who had taken Angelica in her
+arms and was whispering to her words of consolation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What,&quot; he inquired, &quot;has this silly dream of yours to do with
+Count----?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Angelica threw herself at his feet, kissed his hands, bathed
+them in her tears, and said, half-audibly, &quot;Oh, father! dearest father! those
+terrible eyes which mastered my whole being were the Count's eyes. It was his
+spectral hand which wove round me those meshes of fire. But the voice of comfort
+which spoke to me out of the perfumed blossoms of the wondrous tree, was the
+voice of Moritz--my Moritz!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Your Moritz!&quot; cried the Colonel, turning so quickly that he
+nearly threw Angelica down. He continued, speaking to himself in a lower tone:
+&quot;Thus a father's wise resolve, and the offer of a grand and noble gentleman, are
+to be cast to the winds, for the sake of childish imaginations, and a
+clandestine love affair.&quot; And he walked up and down as before. At last,
+addressing Moritz, he said--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Captain von P----, you know very well what a high opinion of
+you I have. I could not have wished for a better son-in-law. But I have promised
+my daughter to Count S----, to whom I am bound by the deepest obligations by
+which one man can be bound to another. At the same time, please do not suppose
+that I am going to play the part of the obstinate and tyrannical father. I shall
+hasten to the Count at once. I shall tell him everything. Your love will be the
+cause of a cruel difference between me and this gentleman. It may cost me my
+life. No matter; it can't be helped. Wait here till I come back.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Moritz warmly declared that he would sooner face death a
+hundred times than that the Colonel should run the very slightest risk; but the
+Colonel hurried away without reply.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As soon as he had gone, the lovers fell into each other's
+arms, and vowed unalterable fidelity. Angelica said that it was not until her
+father told her of the Count's views with regard to her, that she felt, in the
+depths of her soul, how unspeakably precious and dear Moritz was to her, and
+that she would rather die than marry any one else. Also that she had felt
+certain for a long time, that he loved her just as deeply. Then they both
+bethought themselves of all the occasions when they had given any betrayal of
+their love for each other; and, in short, were in a condition of the highest
+enjoyment and blissfulness, like two children, forgetting all about the Colonel
+and his anger and opposition. Madame von G----, who had long watched the growth
+of this affection, and approved of Angelica's choice with all her heart,
+promised, with deep emotion, to leave no stone unturned to prevent the Colonel
+from entering into an alliance which she abhorred, without precisely knowing
+why.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When an hour or so had passed, the door opened and, to the
+surprise of all, Count S---- came in, followed by the Colonel, whose eyes were
+gleaming. The Count went up to Angelica, took her hand, and looked at her with a
+smile of bitter pain. Angelica shrank, and murmured almost inaudibly, &quot;Oh! those
+eyes!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You turn pale, Mademoiselle,&quot; said the Count, &quot;just as you
+did when first I came into this house. Do you truly look upon me as a terrible
+spectre? No, no; do not be afraid of me, Angelica. I do but love you with all
+the fervour and passion of a younger man. I had no knowledge that you had given
+away your heart, when I was foolish enough to make an offer for your hand. Even
+your father's promise does not give me the slightest claim to a happiness which
+it is yours alone to bestow. You are free, Mademoiselle. Even the sight of me
+shall no longer remind
+you of the moments of sadness which I have caused you. Soon,
+perhaps
+to-morrow, I shall go back to my own country.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Moritz! My Moritz!&quot; Angelica cried in the utmost joy and
+delight, and threw herself on her lover's breast. The Count trembled in every
+limb; his eyes gleamed with an unwonted fire, his lips twitched convulsively; he
+uttered a low inarticulate sound. But turning quickly to Madame von G---- with
+some indifferent question, he succeeded in mastering his emotion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But the Colonel cried, again and again, &quot;What nobility of
+mind! What loftiness of character! Who is there like this man of men--my heart's
+own friend for ever!&quot; Then he pressed Moritz, Angelica, and his own wife, to his
+heart, and said laughingly, that he did not care to hear another syllable about
+the wicked plot they had been laying against him, and hoped, too, that Angelica
+would have no more trouble with spectral eyes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It being now well on in the day, the Colonel begged Moritz and
+the Count to remain and have dinner. Dagobert was sent for, and arrived in high
+spirits.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When they sat down to table, Marguerite was missing. It
+appeared she had shut herself up in her room, saying she was unwell and unable
+to join the company. &quot;I do not know,&quot; said Madame von G----, &quot;what has been the
+matter with Marguerite for some time; she has been full of the strangest
+fancies, laughing and crying without apparent reason. Really, she is at times
+almost unendurable.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Your happiness is Marguerite's death,&quot; Dagobert whispered to
+Moritz.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Spirit-seer!&quot; answered Moritz in the same tone, &quot;do not mar
+my joy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Colonel had never been in better spirits or happier, and
+Madame von G---- had never been so pleased in the depths of her heart, relieved
+as she was from anxieties which had often been present with her before. When, in
+addition to this, Dagobert was revelling in the most brilliant high-spirits, and
+the Count, forgetting his pain, suffered the stores of his much experienced mind
+to stream forth in rich abundance. It will be seen that our couple of lovers
+were encircled by a rich garland of gladness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Evening was coming on, the noblest wines were pearling in the
+glasses, toasts to the health of the betrothed pair were drunk enthusiastically;
+when suddenly the door opened and Marguerite came tottering in, in white
+night-gear, with her hair down, pale, and distorted, like death itself.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Marguerite, what extraordinary conduct!&quot; the Colonel cried.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But, paying no heed to him, she dragged herself up to Moritz,
+placed her ice-cold hand on his breast, laid a gentle kiss on his brow, murmured
+in a faint, hollow voice, &quot;The kiss of the dying brings luck to the happy
+bridegroom,&quot; and sank on the floor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This poor foolish girl is in love with Moritz,&quot; Dagobert
+whispered to the Count, who answered--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know. I suppose she has carried her foolishness so far as
+to take poison.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good heavens!&quot; cried Dagobert, starting up and hurrying to
+the
+arm-chair where they had placed poor Marguerite. Angelica and
+her mother were busy besprinkling her and rubbing her forehead with essences.
+When Dagobert went up she opened her eyes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Keep yourself quiet, my dear child,&quot; said Madame von G----;
+&quot;you are not very well, but you will soon be better--you will soon be better!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Marguerite answered in a feeble, hollow voice, &quot;Yes; it will
+soon be over. I have taken poison.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Angelica and her mother screamed aloud.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Thousand devils!&quot; cried the Colonel. &quot;The mad creature! Run
+for the doctor! Quick! The first and best that's to be found; bring him here
+instantly!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The servants, Dagobert himself, were setting off in all haste.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Stop!&quot; cried the Count, who had been sitting very quietly
+hitherto, calmly and leisurely emptying a beaker of his favourite wine--the
+fiery Syracuse. &quot;If Marguerite has taken poison, there is no need to send for a
+doctor, for, in this case, I am the very best doctor that could possibly be
+called in. Leave matters to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He went to Marguerite, who was lying profoundly insensible,
+only giving an occasional convulsive twitch. He bent over her, and was seen to
+take a small box out of his pocket, from which he took something between his
+fingers, and this he gently rubbed over Marguerite's neck and the region of her
+heart. Then coming away from her, he said to the others, &quot;She has taken opium;
+but she can be saved by means which I can employ.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">By the Count's directions Marguerite was taken upstairs to her
+room, where he remained with her alone. Meanwhile, Madame von G---- had found
+the phial which had contained the opium-drops prescribed some time previously
+for herself. The unfortunate girl had taken the whole of the contents of the
+phial.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Count is really a wonderful man,&quot; Dagobert said, with a
+slight touch of irony. &quot;He divines everything. The moment he saw Marguerite he
+knew she had taken poison, and next he knew exactly the name and colour of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In half-an-hour the Count came and assured the company that
+Marguerite was out of danger, as far as her life was concerned. With a
+side-glance at Moritz, he added that he hoped to remove all cause of mischief
+from her mind as well. He desired that a maid should sit up with the patient,
+whilst he himself would spend the night in the next room, to be at hand in case
+anything fresh should transpire; but he wished to prepare and strengthen himself
+for this by a few more glasses of wine; for which end he sat down at table with
+the other gentlemen, whilst Angelica and her mother, being upset by what had
+happened, withdrew.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Colonel was greatly annoyed at this silly trick, as he
+called it, of Marguerite's, and Moritz and Dagobert felt very eery and uncanny
+over the whole affair; but the more out of tune they were the more did the Count
+give the rein to a joviality which had never been seen in him before, and which,
+in sober truth, had a certain amount of gruesomeness about it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This Count,&quot; Dagobert said to Moritz, as they walked away,
+&quot;has a something most eerily repugnant to me about him, in some strange
+inexplicable way. I cannot help a feeling that there must be something
+exceedingly mysterious connected with him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah!&quot; said Moritz, &quot;there is a weight as of lead on my heart.
+I am filled with a dim foreboding that some dark mischance threatens my love.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">That night the Colonel was aroused from sleep by a courier
+from the Residenz. Next morning he came to his wife, looking rather pale, and
+constraining himself to a calmness which he was far from feeling, said, &quot;We have
+to be parted again, dearest child. There's going to be another campaign, after
+this little bit of a rest. I shall have to march off with the regiment as soon
+as ever I can, perhaps this evening.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Madame von G---- was greatly startled; she broke out into
+bitter weeping. The Colonel said, by way of consolation, that he felt sure this
+campaign would end as gloriously as the last--that he felt in such admirable
+spirits about it that he was certain nothing could go amiss. &quot;What you had
+better do,&quot; he said, &quot;is, take Angelica with you to the country-house, and stay
+there till we send the enemy to the rightabout again. I am providing you with a
+companion who will keep you amused, and prevent your feeling lonely. Count S----
+is going with you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What!&quot; cried Madame von G----. &quot;Good heavens! the Count to go
+with us!--Angelica's rejected lover--that deceitful Italian, who is hiding his
+annoyance in the bottom of his heart, only to bring it out in fullest force at
+the first proper opportunity; this Count who--I cannot say why--seems more
+intensely antipathetic to me since yesterday than ever?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good God!&quot; the Colonel cried; &quot;there really is no bearing
+with the nonsensical ideas--the silly dreams--which your sex gets into its head.
+The magnanimity of soul of a man of his firmness and fineness of character is
+too much for you to comprehend. The Count passed the whole night in the room
+next to Marguerite's, as he said he should do. He was the first person I told
+the news of the fresh campaign to. It would scarcely be possible for him to go
+home now. This was very annoying to him, and I gave him the option of going to
+our country-place and staying there. He accepted my offer, after much
+hesitation, and gave me his word of honour that he would do everything in his
+power to take care of you, and make the time of our separation pass as quickly
+as possible. You know what obligations I am under to him. My country-place is,
+just now, a real asylum for him; could I refuse him that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Madame von G---- could say nothing further. The Colonel did as
+he had said he would. In the course of the evening the trumpets sounded boot and
+saddle, and every description of nameless pain and heart-breaking sorrow came
+upon the loving ones.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A few days after, when Marguerite had recovered, the three
+ladies went off to the country-house. The Count followed, with a number of
+servants.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And at first, the Count, showing the utmost delicacy of
+feeling, was careful never to enter the ladies' presence except when they sent
+for him specially; at all other times he remained in his own rooms, or went for
+solitary walks.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At first the campaign seemed to go rather in favour of the
+enemy, but important successes were soon scored against him, and the Count was
+always the very first to hear the news of those operations, and particularly the
+most accurate and minute intelligence of what was happening to the regiment
+which the Colonel commanded. In the bloodiest engagements neither the Colonel
+nor Moritz had met with so much as a scratch; and the despatches from
+headquarters confirmed this.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus the Count always appeared to the ladies in the character
+of a heavenly messenger of victory and good-fortune; besides this, all his
+behaviour betokened the most deep and sincere attachment to Angelica, which he
+exhibited to her as the tenderest of fathers might have done, occupied
+constantly about her happiness. Both she and her mother were compelled to admit
+to themselves that the Colonel's opinion of this tried friend of his was the
+correct one, and that all their--and other people's--prejudices against him had
+been the most preposterous fancies. At the same time Marguerite seemed to be
+quite cured of her foolish passion, and to have become the same gay, talkative,
+sprightly French lady whom we saw at an earlier period.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A letter from the Colonel to his wife, enclosing one from
+Moritz to Angelica, dispelled the last remnant of anxiety. The enemy's capital
+city was captured, and an armistice established.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Angelica was floating in a sea of blissfulness; and always it
+was the Count who spoke of the brave deeds of Moritz, and of the happiness which
+was opening its blossoms for the lovely future bride. After such speeches he
+would take Angelica's hand, press it to his heart, and ask if he were still as
+hateful to her as ever. With blushes and tears she would assure him that she had
+never hated him, but that she had loved Moritz too deeply and exclusively not to
+dread the idea of any other suitor for her hand. And the Count would say, very
+solemnly and seriously, &quot;Look on me as your true, sincere, fatherly friend,
+Angelica,&quot; breathing a gentle kiss upon her forehead, which she suffered without
+ill-will; for it felt much like one of her father's kisses, which he used to
+apply about the same place.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was almost expected that the Colonel would very soon be
+home again, when a letter from him arrived containing the terrible news that
+Moritz had been set upon by some armed peasants, as he was passing with his
+orderly through a village. Those peasants shot him down at the side of the brave
+trooper, who managed to fight his way through; but the peasants carried Moritz
+away. Thus the joy with which the house was inspired was suddenly turned into
+the deepest and most inconsolable sorrow.</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="normal">The Colonel's household was all in busy movement from roof to
+ceiling. Servants in gay liveries were hurrying to and fro; carriages filled
+with guests were rattling into the courtyard, the Colonel in person receiving
+them with his new order on his breast.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In her room upstairs sate Angelica in wedding-dress, beaming
+in the full pride of her loveliness: her mother was with her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My dearest child,&quot; said the latter, &quot;you have of your own
+free will accepted Count S---- as your husband. Much as jour father desired
+this, he has never at all insisted on it since poor Moritz's death; indeed, it
+seems to me as though he had had much of the feeling which (I cannot hide from
+you) I have had myself; it is utterly incomprehensible to me how you can have
+forgotten poor Moritz so soon. However, the time has come; you are giving your
+hand to the Count. Examine your own heart. It is not yet too late. May the
+remembrance of him whom you have forgotten never fall across your heart like
+some black shadow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Never,&quot; cried Angelica, while the tears ran down her cheeks,
+&quot;never can I forget Moritz. Never; oh! never can I love as I loved <i>him</i>! What I
+feel for the Count is something totally different. I cannot explain how it is
+that the Count has made me feel this irresistible attachment to him; but feel it
+I do, in every fibre of my being. It is not that I love him: I do not; I cannot
+love him in the way I loved Moritz; but
+I feel as if I could not, and cannot live apart from
+him--without
+him--independently of him. That it is only through him that I
+can think and feel. A spirit voice seems perpetually enjoining me to cleave to
+him as a wife; telling me that I <i>must</i> do so, and that unless I do there is no
+further, or other life possible for me here below. And I obey this voice, which
+I believe to be the mysterious prompting of Providence.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The maid here came in to say that Marguerite, who had been
+missing since the early part of the morning, had not made her appearance yet,
+but that the Gardener had just brought a little note which she had given him,
+with instructions to deliver it when he had finished his work and taken the last
+of the flowers to the Castle. It was as follows:--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You will never see me more; a dark mystery drives me from
+your house. I implore you--you, who have been to me as a tender mother--not to
+have me followed, or brought back by force. My second attempt to kill myself
+will be more successful than the first. May Angelica enjoy to the full that
+bliss, the idea of which pierces my heart. Farewell for ever! Forget the
+unfortunate Marguerite.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What is this?&quot; cried Madame von G----; &quot;the poor soul seems
+to have set her whole mind upon destroying our happiness. Must she always come
+in your way just as you are going to give your hand to the man of your choice?
+Let her go; the foolish, ungrateful thing, whom I treated and cared for as if
+she had been my own daughter. I shall certainly never trouble my head about her
+any more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Angelica cried bitterly at the loss of her whom she had looked
+on as a sister; her mother implored her not to waste a thought on the foolish
+creature at such an important time.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The guests were assembled in the <i>salon</i>, ready, as soon as
+the appointed hour should come, to go to the little chapel where a catholic
+priest was to marry the couple. The Colonel led in the bride. Everyone marvelled
+at her beauty, which was enhanced by the simple richness of her dress. The Count
+had not arrived. One quarter of an hour succeeded another, and still he did not
+make his appearance. The Colonel went to the Count's rooms. There he found his
+valet, who said his master, just when he was fully dressed for the ceremony, had
+suddenly felt unwell, and had gone out for a turn in the park, hoping the fresh
+air would revive him, and forbidding him, the valet, to follow him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Colonel could not explain to himself why it was that this
+proceeding of the Count's fell on him with such a weight--why it was that an
+idea immediately came to him that something terrible had happened. He sent back
+to the house to say that the Count would come very shortly, and that a
+celebrated doctor, who was one of the guests, was to be privately told to come
+out to him as quickly as possible. As soon as he came, he, the Colonel and the
+valet, went to search for the Count in the park. Striking out of the main alley,
+they went to an open space surrounded by thick shrubberies, which the Colonel
+remembered to have been a favourite resort of the Count's; and there they saw
+him sitting on a mossy bank, dressed all in black, with his star sparkling on
+his breast, and his hands folded, leaning his back against an elder-tree in full
+blossom, staring, motionless, before him. They shuddered at the sight, for his
+hollow, darkly-gleaming eyes were evidently devoid of the faculty of vision.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Count S----! what has happened?&quot; the Colonel cried; but there
+was no answer, no movement, not the slightest appearance of respiration. The
+doctor hurried forward; tore off the Count's coat, waistcoat, and neckcloth, and
+rubbed his brow: turning then to the Colonel, he said in hollow tones, &quot;Human
+help is useless here. He is dead!--there has been an attack of apoplexy!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The valet broke out into loud lamentations. The Colonel,
+mastering his inward horror with all his soldierly self-control, ordered him to
+hold his peace, saying, &quot;If we are not careful what we are about, we shall kill
+Angelica on the spot.&quot; He caused the body to be taken up and carried by
+unfrequented paths to a pavilion at some distance, of which he happened to have
+the key in his pocket. There he left it under the valet's charge, and, with the
+doctor, went back to the chateau again. Hovering between one resolve and
+another, he could not make up his mind whether to conceal the whole matter from
+Angelica, or tell her, calmly and quietly, the terrible truth.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When he came into the house he found everything in the utmost
+confusion and consternation. Angelica, in the middle of an animated
+conversation, had suddenly closed her eyes, and fallen into a state of profound
+insensibility. She was lying on a sofa in an adjoining room. Her face was not
+pale, nor in the least distorted; the roses of her cheeks bloomed brighter and
+fresher than ever, and her face shone with an indescribable expression of
+happiness and delight. She was as one penetrated with the highest blissfulness.
+The doctor, after observing her with the minutest carefulness of examination for
+a long while, declared that there was not the least cause for anxiety in her
+condition, nor the slightest danger. He said she was (although it was entirely
+inexplicable <i>how</i> she was) in a magnetized condition, and that he would not
+venture to awaken her from it: she would wake from it of her own accord
+presently.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Meanwhile mysterious whisperings arose amongst the guests. The
+sudden death of the Count seemed to have somehow got wind, and they all
+dispersed in gloomy silence. One could hear the carriages rolling away.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Madame von G----, bending over Angelica, watched her every
+respiration. She seemed to be whispering words, but none could hear or
+understand them. The doctor would not allow her to be undressed; even her gloves
+were not to be taken off; he said it would be hurtful even to touch her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">All at once she opened her eyes, started up from the sofa,
+and, with a resounding cry of &quot;Here he is!&quot; &quot;Here he is!&quot; went rushing out of
+the room, through the ante-chamber and down the stairs.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She is out of her mind,&quot; cried Madame von G----. &quot;Oh, God of
+Heaven, she is mad!&quot; &quot;No, no,&quot; the Doctor said, &quot;this is not madness; there is
+something altogether unheard of taking place,&quot; with which he hastened after her
+down the steps.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He saw her speeding like an arrow, with her arms lifted up
+above her head, out of the gate and away along the broad high road, her rich
+lace-ornamented dress fluttering, and her hair, which had come down, streaming
+in the wind.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A man on horseback was coming tearing up towards her; when he
+reached her, he sprang from his horse and clasped her in his arms. Two other
+riders who were following him drew rein and dismounted.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Colonel, who had followed the doctor in hot haste, stood
+gazing on the group in speechless astonishment, rubbing his forehead, as if
+striving to keep firm hold of his thoughts.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was Moritz who was holding Angelica fast pressed to his
+heart; beside him stood Dagobert, and a fine-looking young man in the handsome
+uniform of a Russian General.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No,&quot; cried Angelica over and over again, as the lovers
+embraced one another, &quot;I was never untrue to you, my beloved Moritz.&quot; And Moritz
+cried, &quot;Oh, I know that; I know that quite well, my darling angel-child. He
+enchanted you by his satanic arts.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he more carried than led her back to the chateau, while
+the others followed in silence. Not till he came to the castle did the Colonel
+give a profound sigh, as if it was only then that he came fully to his senses;
+and, looking round him with questioning glances, said, &quot;What miracles! what
+extraordinary events!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Everything will be explained,&quot; said Moritz, presenting the
+stranger to the Colonel as General Bogislav von Se----n, a Russian officer, his
+most intimate friend.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As soon as they came into the chateau, Moritz, with a wild
+look, and unheeding the Colonel's alarmed amazement, cried out, &quot;Where is Count
+von S----i?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Among the dead!&quot; said the Colonel, in a hollow voice, &quot;he was
+seized with apoplexy an hour ago.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Angelica shrank and shuddered. &quot;Yes,&quot; she said, &quot;that I know.
+At the very instant when he died I felt as though some crystal thing within my
+being shivered, and broke with a 'kling.' I fell into an extraordinary state. I
+think I must have gone on carrying that frightful dream (which I told you of)
+further, because, when I came to look at matters again, I found that those
+terrible eyes had no more power over me; the web of fire loosened and broke
+away. Heavenly blissfulness was all about me. I saw Moritz, my own Moritz; he
+was coming to me. I flew to meet him,&quot; and she clasped her arms round him as if
+she thought he was going to escape from her again.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Praised be Heaven,&quot; said Madame von G----. &quot;Now the weight
+has gone from my heart which was stifling it. I am freed from that inexpressible
+anxiety and alarm which came upon me at the instant when Angelica promised to
+marry that terrible Count. I always felt as though she were betrothing herself
+to mysterious, unholy powers with her betrothal ring.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">General von Se----n expressed a desire to see the Count's
+remains, and when the body was uncovered and he saw the pale countenance now
+fixed in death, he cried, &quot;By Heaven, it is he! It is none other than himself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Angelica had fallen into a gentle sleep in Moritz's arms, and
+had been carried to her bed, the doctor thinking that nothing more beneficial
+could have happened to her than this slumber, which would rest the life-spirits,
+overstrained as they had been. He considered that in this manner a threatening
+illness would be naturally dispelled.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now,&quot; said the Colonel, &quot;it is time to solve all those
+riddles and explain all those miraculous events. Tell us, Moritz, what angel of
+Heaven has called you back to life?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You know,&quot; said Moritz, &quot;all about the murderous and
+treacherous attack which was made upon me near S----, though the armistice had
+been proclaimed. I was struck by a bullet, and fell from my horse. How long I
+lay in that deathlike state I cannot tell. When I first awoke to a dim
+consciousness, I was being moved somewhere, travelling. It was dark night;
+several voices were whispering near me. They were speaking French. Thus I knew
+that I was badly wounded and in the hands of the enemy. This thought came upon
+me with all its horror, and I sank again into a deep fainting fit. After that
+came a condition which has only left me the recollection of a few hours of
+violent headache; but at last, one morning, I awoke to complete consciousness. I
+found myself in a comfortable, almost sumptuous bed, with silk curtains and
+great
+cords and tassels. The room was lofty, and had silken hangings
+and richly-gilt tables and chairs, in the old French style. A strange man was
+bending over me and looking closely into my face. He hurried to a bell-rope and
+pulled at it hard. Presently the doors opened, and two men came in, the elder of
+whom had on an old-fashioned embroidered coat, and the cross of Saint Louis. The
+younger came to me, felt my pulse, and said to the elder, in French, 'All danger
+is over; he is saved.' The elder gentleman now introduced himself to me as the
+Chevalier de T----. The house was his in which I found myself. He said he had
+chanced, on a journey, to be passing through the village at the very moment when
+the treacherous attack was made upon me, and the peasants were going to plunder
+me. He succeeded in rescuing me, had me put into a conveyance, and brought to
+his chateau, which was quite
+out of the way of the military routes of communication. Here
+his own body-surgeon had applied himself to the arduous task of curing me of my
+very serious wound in the head. He said, in conclusion, that he loved my nation,
+which had shown him kindness in the stormy revolutionary times, and was
+delighted to be able to be of service to me. Everything in his chateau which
+could conduce to my comfort or amusement was freely at my disposal, and he would
+not, on any pretence, allow me to leave him until all risk, whether from my
+wound or the insecurity of the routes, should be over. All that he regretted was
+the impossibility of communicating with my friends for the moment, so as to let
+them know where I was.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Chevalier was a widower, and his sons were not with him,
+so that there were no other occupants of the chateau but himself, the surgeon,
+and a great retinue of servants. It would only weary you were I to tell you at
+length how I grew better and better under the care of the exceedingly able
+surgeon, and how the Chevalier did everything he possibly could to make my
+hermit's life agreeable to me. His conversation was more intellectual, and his
+views less shallow, than is usually the case with his countrymen. He talked on
+arts and sciences, but avoided the more novel and recent developments of them as
+much as possible. I need not tell you that my sole thought was Angelica, that it
+burned my soul to know that she was plunged in sorrow for my death. I constantly
+urged the Chevalier to get letters conveyed to our headquarters. He always
+declined to do so, on account of the uncertainty of the attempt, as it seemed as
+good as certain that fighting was going on again; but he consoled me by
+promising that as soon as I was quite convalescent he would have me sent home
+safe and sound, happen what might. From what he said I was led to suppose that
+the campaign was going on again, and to the advantage of the allies, and that he
+was avoiding telling me so in words from a wish to spare my feelings. But I need
+only mention one or two little incidents to justify the strange conjectures
+which Dagobert has formed in his mind. I was nearly free from fever, when one
+night I suddenly fell into an incomprehensible condition of dreaminess, the
+recollection of which makes me shudder, though that recollection is of the
+dimmest and most shadowy kind. I saw Angelica, but her form seemed to be
+dissolving away indistinctly in a trembling radiance, and I strove in vain to
+hold it fast before me. Another being pressed in between us, laid herself on my
+breast, and grasped my heart within me, in the depths of my entity; and while I
+was perishing in the most glowing torment, I was at the same time penetrated
+with a strange miraculous sense of bliss. Next morning my eyes fell on a picture
+hanging near the bed, which I had never seen there before. I shuddered, for it
+was Marguerite beaming on me with her black brilliant eyes. I asked the servant
+whose picture it was, and where it came from. He said it was the Chevalier's
+niece, the Marquise de T----, and had always been where it was now, only I had
+not noticed it; it had been freshly dusted the day before. The Chevalier said
+the same. So that, whilst--waking or dreaming--my sole desire was to see
+Angelica, what was continually before me was Marguerite. It seemed to me that I
+was alienated, estranged, from myself. Some exterior foreign power seemed to
+have possession of me, ruling me, taking supreme command of me. I felt that I
+could not get away from Marguerite. Never shall I forget the torture of that
+condition.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;One morning, as I was lying in a window seat, refreshing my
+whole being by drinking in the perfume and the freshness which the morning
+breeze was wafting to me, I heard trumpets in the distance, and recognized a
+cheery march-tune of Russian cavalry. My heart throbbed with rapture and
+delight. It was as if friendly spirits were coming to me, wafted on the wings of
+the wind, speaking to me in lovely voices of comfort, as if a newly-won life was
+stretching out hands to me to lift me from the coffin in which some hostile
+power had nailed me up. One or two horsemen came up with lightning speed, right
+into the castle enclosure. I looked down, and saw Bogislav. In the excess of my
+joy I shouted out his name; the Chevalier came in, pale and annoyed, stammering
+out something about an unexpected billeting, and all sorts of trouble and
+annoyance. Without attending to him, I ran downstairs and threw myself into
+Bogislav's embrace.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To my astonishment, I now learned that peace had been
+proclaimed a long time before, and that the greater part of the troops were on
+their homeward march. All this the Chevalier had concealed from me, keeping me
+on in the chateau as his prisoner. Neither Bogislav nor I knew anything in the
+shape of a motive for this conduct. But each of us dimly felt that there must be
+something in the nature of foul play about it. The Chevalier was quite a
+different man from that moment, sulky and peevish. Even to lack of good
+breeding, he wearied us with continual exhibitions of self-will, and naggling
+about trifles. Nay, when, in the purest gratitude, I spoke enthusiastically of
+his having saved my life, he smiled malignantly; and, in fact, his whole conduct
+was that of an incomprehensible eccentric.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;After a halt of eight-and-forty hours for rest, Bogislav
+marched off again, and I went with him. We were delighted when we turned our
+backs on the strange old-world place, which now looked to me like some gloomy,
+uncanny prison-house. But now, Dagobert, do you go on, for it is quite your turn
+to continue the account of the rest of the strange adventures which we have met
+with.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How,&quot; began Dagobert, &quot;can we doubt, and hesitate to believe
+in, the marvellous power of foreboding, and fore-knowing, events which lie so
+deep in man's nature? I never believed that my friend was dead. That Spirit or
+Intelligence (call it whatever you choose) which speaks to us, comprehensibly,
+from out our own selves, in our dreams, told me that Moritz was alive, and that,
+somehow and somewhere, he was being held fast in bonds of some most mysterious
+nature. Angelica's relations with the Count cut me to the heart; and when, some
+little time ago, I came here and found her in a peculiar condition, which, I am
+obliged to say, caused me an inward horror (because I seemed to see, as in a
+magic mirror, some terrible mysterious secret), there ripened in me a resolve
+that I would go on a pilgrimage, by land and water, until I should find my
+friend Moritz. I say not a word of my delight when I found him, on German
+ground, at A----, and in the company of General von S----en.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;All the furies of hell awoke in his breast when he heard of
+Angelica's betrothal to the Count; but all his execrations and heart-breaking
+lamentations at her unfaithfulness to him were silenced when I told
+him of certain ideas which I had formed, and assured him that
+it
+was in his power to set the whole matter straight in a moment.
+General von Se----en shuddered when I mentioned the Count's name to him, and
+when, at his desire, I described his face, figure, and appearance, he cried,
+'Yes, there can be no further doubt. He is the very man!'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You will be surprised,&quot; here interrupted the General, &quot;to
+hear me say that this Count S----i, many years ago, in Naples, carried away from
+me, by means of diabolical arts, a lady whom I deeply and fondly loved. At the
+very instant when I ran my sword through his body, both she and I were seized
+upon by a hellish illusion which parted us for ever. I have long known that the
+wounds which I gave him were not dangerous in the slightest degree, that he
+became a suitor for the lady's hand, and, alas! that on the very day when she
+was to have been married to him, she fell down dead, stricken by what was said
+to be an attack of apoplexy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good Heavens!&quot; cried Madame von G----. &quot;No doubt a similar
+fate was hanging over my darling child! But how is it that I feel this is so?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The voice of the boding Spirit tells you so, Madame,&quot; said
+Dagobert.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And then,&quot; said Madame von G----, &quot;that terrible apparition
+which Moritz was telling us of that evening when the Count came in in such a
+mysterious way?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As I was telling you then,&quot; said Moritz, &quot;there fell a
+crashing blow. An ice-cold deathly air blew upon me, and it seemed to me that a
+pale indistinct form went hovering and rustling across the room, in wavering,
+scarcely distinguishable outlines. I mastered my terror with all the might of my
+reason. All I seemed to be conscious of was that Bogislav was lying stiff, cold,
+and rigid, like a man dead. When he had been brought back to consciousness, with
+great pains and trouble, by the doctor who was summoned, he feebly reached out
+his hand to me, and said, 'Soon, to-morrow at latest, all my sorrows will be
+over.' And it really happened as he said, though it was the will of Providence
+that it should come about in quite a different way to that which we anticipated.
+In the thick of the fighting, next morning, a spent ball struck him on the
+breast and knocked him out of his saddle. This kindly ball shattered the
+portrait of his false love, which he wore next to his heart, into a thousand
+splinters. His contusion soon healed, and since that moment Bogislav has been
+quite free from everything of an uncanny nature.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is as he says,&quot; said the General, &quot;and the very memory of
+her who is lost to me does no more than produce in me that gentle sadness which
+is so soothing to the heart. But I hope our friend Dagobert will go on to tell
+you what happened to us further.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We made all haste away from A----,&quot; Dagobert resumed, &quot;and
+this morning, just as day was breaking, we reached the little town of P---,
+about six miles from this place, meaning to rest there for an hour or two, and
+then come on here. Imagine the feelings of Moritz and me when, from one of the
+rooms in the inn, we saw Marguerite come bursting out upon us, with insanity
+clearly written on her pallid face. She fell at Moritz's feet and embraced his
+knees, weeping bitterly, calling herself the blackest of criminals, worthy a
+thousand deaths. She implored him to end her life on the spot. Moritz repulsed
+her with the deepest abhorrence, and rushed away from the house.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes,&quot; said Moritz, &quot;when I saw Marguerite at my feet, all the
+torments of that terrible condition in which I had been at the Chevalier's came
+back upon me, goading me into a state of fury such as I had never known before.
+I could scarcely help running my sword through her heart; but I succeeded in
+mastering myself, and I made my escape after a mighty effort.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I lifted Marguerite up from the floor,&quot; Dagobert continued,
+&quot;and helped her to her room. I succeeded in calming her, and heard her tell me,
+in broken sentences, exactly what I had expected and anticipated. She gave me a
+letter from the Count, which had reached her the previous midnight. I have it
+here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He produced it, and read it as follows:--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Fly, Marguerite! All is lost! The detested one is coming
+quickly. All my science, knowledge, and skill are of no avail to me as against
+the dark fate and destiny about to overtake me at the very culminating point of
+my career.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Marguerite, I have initiated you into mysteries which would
+have annihilated any ordinary woman had she endeavoured to comprehend them. But
+you, with your exceptional mental powers, and firm, strong will and resolution,
+have been a worthy pupil to the deeply experienced master. Your help has been
+most precious to me. It was through you that I controlled Angelica's mind, and
+all her inner being. And, to reward you, it was my desire to prepare for you the
+bliss of your life, according to the manner in which your heart conceived it;
+and I dared to enter within circles the most mysterious, the most perilous. I
+undertook operations which often terrified even myself. In vain. Fly, or your
+destruction is certain. Until the supreme moment comes I shall battle bravely on
+against the hostile powers. But I know well that that supreme moment brings to
+me instant death. But I will die all alone. When the supreme moment comes I
+shall go to that mysterious tree, under whose shadow I have so often spoken to
+you of the wondrous secrets which were known to me, and at my command.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Marguerite, keep aloof from those secrets for evermore.
+Nature, terrible mother, angry when her precocious children prematurely pry into
+her secrets and pluck at the veil which covers her mysteries, throws to them
+some glittering toy which lures them on until its destroying power is directed
+against them. I myself once caused the death of a woman, who perished at the
+very moment when I thought I was going to take her to my heart with the most
+fervid affection; and this paralysed my powers. Yet, dolt that I was, I still
+thought I should find bliss here on earth. Farewell, Marguerite, farewell. Go
+back to your own country. Go to S----. The Chevalier de T---- will charge
+himself with your welfare and happiness. Farewell.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As Dagobert read this letter, all the auditors felt an inward
+shudder, and Madame von G---- said, &quot;I shall be compelled to believe in things
+which my whole heart and soul refuse to credit. However, I certainly never could
+understand now it was that Angelica forgot Moritz so quickly and devoted herself
+to the Count. At the same time I cannot but remember that she was all the time
+in an extraordinary, unnatural condition of excitement, and that was a
+circumstance which filled me with the most torturing anxiety. I remember that
+her inclination for the Count showed itself at first in a very strange way. She
+told me she used to have the most vivid and delightful dreams of him nearly
+every night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Exactly,&quot; said Dagobert. &quot;Marguerite told me that, by the
+Count's directions, she used to sit whole nights by Angelica's bedside,
+breathing the Count's name into her ear very, very softly. And the Count would
+very often come into the room about midnight, fix a steadfast gaze on Angelica
+for several minutes together, and then go away again. But now that I have read
+you the Count's letter, is there any need of commentary? His aim was to operate
+psychically upon the Inner Principle by various mysterious processes and arts,
+and in this he succeeded, by virtue of special qualifications of his nature.
+There were most intimate relations between him and the Chevalier de T----, both
+of them being members of that secret society or 'school' which has a certain
+number of representatives in France and Italy, and is supposed to be descended
+from, or a continuation of, the celebrated
+P---- school. It was at the Count's instigation that the
+Chevalier kept Moritz so long shut up in his chateau, and practised all sorts of
+love-spells on him. I myself could go deeper into this
+subject, and say more about the mysterious means by which the Count could
+influence the Psychic Principle of others, as Marguerite divulged some of them
+to me. I could explain many matters by a science which is not altogether unknown
+to me, though I prefer not to call it by its name, for fear of being
+misunderstood. However, I had rather avoid all those subjects, to-day at all
+events.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, pray avoid them for ever,&quot; cried Madame von G----. &quot;No
+more reference to the dark, unknown realm, the abode of fear and horror. I thank
+the Eternal Power, which has rescued my beloved child, and freed us from the
+uncanny guest who brought us such terrible trouble.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was arranged that they should go back to town the following
+day, except the Colonel and Dagobert, who stayed behind to see to the burial of
+the Count's remains.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When Angelica had long been Moritz's happy wife, it chanced
+that one stormy November evening the family, and Dagobert, were sitting round
+the fire in the very room into which Count S---- had made his entry in such a
+spectral fashion. Just as then, mysterious voices were piping, awakened by the
+storm-wind in the chimney.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do you remember?&quot; said Madame von G----.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Come, come,&quot; cried the Colonel; &quot;no ghost stories, I beg.&quot;
+But Angelica and Moritz spoke of what their feelings had been on that evening
+long ago; of their having been so devotedly in love with each other, and unable
+to help attaching the most overweening importance to every little incident which
+occurred: how the pure beam of that love of theirs had been reflected by
+everything, and even the sweet bond of alarm wove itself out of loving, longing
+hearts--and how the Uncanny Guest, heralded by all the spectral voices of
+ill-omen, had brought terror upon them. &quot;Does it not seem to you, dearest
+Moritz,&quot; said Angelica, &quot;that the strange tones of the storm-wind, as we hear
+them now, are speaking to us, only of our love, in the kindliest possible
+tones?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes! yes!&quot; said Dagobert, &quot;and the singing of the kettle
+sounds
+to-night to <i>me</i> much more like a little cradle song than
+anything eerie.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Angelica hid her blushing face on Moritz's breast. And
+<i>he</i>--for his part--clasped his arm round his beautiful wife, and softly
+whispered, &quot;Is there, here below, a higher bliss than this?&quot;</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="normal">&quot;I see very plainly,&quot; said Ottmar, when he had finished, and
+the friends still sat in gloomy silence, &quot;that my little story has not pleased
+you particularly, so we had better not say much more about it, but consign it to
+oblivion.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The very best thing we could do,&quot; said Lothair.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And yet,&quot; Cyprian said, &quot;I must take up the cudgels for my
+friend.
+Of course you will say that I am to some extent mixed up in
+the
+matter--that Ottmar has taken a good many of the germs of the
+story from me, and on this occasion has been cooking in my kitchen, so that you
+won't be disposed to allow me to be a judge in the case. Yet, unless you mean to
+condemn everything without the slightest remorse, like so many
+Rhadamanthuses--you must admit, yourselves, that there is much in Ottmar's story
+which must be allowed to pass as genuinely Serapiontic; the beginning, for
+instance.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Quite right,&quot; said Theodore; &quot;the party round the tea-table
+may pass as from the life, as well as many other points during the course of the
+tale. But, to speak candidly, we have had a very large assortment of spectral
+characters such as the stranger Count, and it will soon be a difficult matter to
+go on giving them novelty and originality. He is too much like Alban in 'The
+Magnetizer.' You know the tale I mean, and indeed that story and Ottmar's have
+both the same <i>motif</i>. Wherefore I wish I might beg our Ottmar and you, Cyprian,
+to leave monsters of that sort out of the game in future. For Ottmar this will
+be possible, but for you, Cyprian, I am not so sure that it will. So that we
+shall have to allow <i>you</i> to serve us up a 'Spook' of the kind now and then, I
+suppose, only stipulating that it shall be truly Serapiontic, <i>i.e.</i> come out of
+the very inmost depths of your imagination. Moreover 'The Magnetizer' <i>seems</i>
+rhapsodical, but the 'Uncanny Guest' is rhapsodical in very truth.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I must take up the cudgels for my friend in this respect
+too,&quot; said Cyprian, &quot;and tell you that, in the very neighbourhood of this place
+where we are at this moment, there actually happened an event, not very long
+ago, by no means unlike the incidents of this story. Into a quiet happy group of
+friends, just when supernatural matters were forming the subject of
+conversation, there suddenly came a stranger, who struck every one as being
+uncanny and terrifying, notwithstanding his apparent everydayness, and seeming
+belonging to the common level. By his arrival this stranger not only spoiled the
+enjoyment of the evening in question, but subsequently destroyed the peace and
+happiness of the family for a long period. Even at this day deadly shudders
+seize a happy wife when she thinks of the crafty wickedness with which this
+person tried to entangle her in his nets. I told this at the time to Ottmar, and
+nothing made a greater impression on him than the moment when the stranger made
+his spectral entry, and the sense of the propinquity of the hostile Spiritual
+Principle seized upon every one present with a sudden terror. This moment came
+vividly to Ottmar's mind, and formed the groundwork of his tale.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But,&quot; said Ottmar, &quot;as a single incident is far from being a
+complete story--which ought to spring perfect and complete from its author's
+brain, like Minerva from the head of Jupiter--my tale is of course not worth
+much as a whole, and it is little to my credit, I suppose, that I took advantage
+of two or three incidents which really happened, weaving them--not without some
+little success perhaps--into a network of the imaginary.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes,&quot; said Lothair, &quot;you are right, my friend. A single
+striking incident is far from being a tale, just as one well-imagined theatrical
+situation is a long way from constituting a play. This reminds me of the way in
+which a certain playwright (who no longer walks this world, and whose terrible
+death certainly atoned for any shortcomings of his during his life, and
+reconciled his worst enemies to him) used to construct his pieces. In a company
+where I was present, he said, without any concealment, that he selected some
+one's good dramatic situation which occurred to him, and then, solely for the
+sake of that, hung a canvas round it and painted away upon it 'just whatever
+came in his head,' or 'as best he could,' to use his own expressions. This
+gave me a complete explanation of, and threw a dazzling flood
+of light upon, the whole character and inner being of that writer's pieces,
+particularly those of his later period. None of them is without some very
+happily devised central situation, but all round this the scenes, which he made
+up out of commonplace material, are woven like a loosely knitted web, although
+the hand of that weaver, skilled as it is in <i>technique</i>, is never to be
+mistaken.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Never, say you?&quot; remarked Theodore. &quot;I have been always
+waiting and looking out for the points where that writer would abandon his
+commonplaces, and rise into the region of romance and true poetry. The most
+striking and melancholy instance of what I mean is the so-called Romantic Drama,
+'Deodata'; a strange nondescript production, on which a clever composer ought
+not to have wasted capital music. There can be no more striking proof of the
+utter want of infelt poetry, of any conception of the higher dramatic life, than
+where the author of 'Deodata,' in his preface, finds fault with Opera because it
+is unnatural that people should sing on the stage, and next goes on to explain
+that he has been at pains to introduce the singing, which is incidental to it,
+always in a natural manner.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;<i>De mortuis nil nisi bonum</i>,&quot; said Cyprian, &quot;let the dead
+repose in peace.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And all the more,&quot; said Lothair, &quot;that I see midnight is
+close at hand, and he might avail himself of that circumstance to give us a box
+or two on the ear (as he is said to have done to his critics in life) with his
+invisible fist.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Just then the carriage which Lothair had sent for on account
+of Theodore's still invalid condition, came rolling up, and the friends went
+back in it to town.</p>
+
+<br>
+
+<br>
+<h2><a name="div1_section6" href="#div1Ref_section6">SECTION SIXTH</a>.</h2>
+
+<br>
+<p class="normal">It so happened that some irresistible psychic force had
+impelled Sylvester back to town, although, as a rule, nothing in the world would
+induce him to leave the country at the time of year when the weather was at its
+pleasantest. A little theatrical piece which he had written was going to be
+produced, and it seems an impossibility for an author to miss a first
+performance of one of his pieces, even though he may have to contend with a
+world of trouble and anxiety in connection with it. Moreover, Vincent, too, had
+emerged from the crowd, so that, for the time at least, the Serapion Brotherhood
+was fairly reestablished; they held their meeting in the same pleasant
+public-garden where they had last assembled.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Sylvester was not like the same man; he was in better spirits
+and more talkative than when he was last seen, and taking him all over, like one
+who had experienced some piece of great good fortune.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Was it not well,&quot; said Lothair, &quot;that we put off our meeting
+until our friend's piece had been produced? otherwise we should have found our
+good brother preoccupied, uninterested in our conversation, oppressed as with a
+heavy burden. His piece would have been haunting him like some distressful
+spectre, but now that it has burst its chrysalis and fluttered away like a
+beautiful butterfly into the empyrean, and has not sued for universal favour in
+vain, everything is clear and bright within him. He stands glorified in the
+radiance of deserved applause which has fallen so richly to his share, and we
+won't, for a moment, take it ill of him that he looks down upon us with the
+least bit of pardonable pride, seeing that not one of us can boast of having
+done what he has; namely, electrified some six or eight hundred people with one
+spark; but let everybody have his due. Your piece is good, Sylvester; but you
+must admit that the admirable rendering was what gave it its wings. You must
+really have been greatly satisfied with the actors, were you not?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I certainly was,&quot; said Sylvester, &quot;although at the same time
+it is very difficult to please the author of a play with the performance of it.
+You see, he is himself each of the characters of the piece; and all their most
+intimate peculiarities, with all their necessary conditions, have taken their
+origin in his own brain; and it seems impossible to him that any other person
+shall so appropriate, and make his own, those intimate thoughts of his which are
+peculiar to and innate in the character as to be able to bring them forth into
+actual life. The author, however, insists in his own mind upon this being done;
+and the more vividly he has conceived the character, the more is he discontented
+with the very slightest shortcoming, or alteration in it, which he can discover
+in the actor's rendering of it. Certain is it that the author suffers an anxiety
+which destroys all his pleasure in the representation, and it is only when he
+can manage to soar above this anxiousness, and see his character, the character
+-which he has invented, portrayed before his eyes, just as he saw it rise before
+his mental vision, that he is able to enjoy, to some extent, seeing his piece
+represented.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Still,&quot; said Ottmar, &quot;any annoyance which a playwright may
+feel, when he sees other characters, quite dissimilar from his own, represented
+instead of them, is richly compensated for by the applause of the public, to
+which no author can, or should, be indifferent.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No doubt,&quot; said Sylvester; &quot;and as it is to the actor who is
+playing the part that the applause is, in the first instance, given, the author,
+who from his distant seat is looking on with trembling and anxiety, yea, often
+with anger and disgust, at last becomes convinced that the character (not at all
+his character) which is speaking the speeches of his one on the stage, is, at
+all events, not so very bad after all as might have been. Also it is quite true,
+and no reasonable author, who is not entirely shut up in himself, will deny it,
+that many a clever actor, who has formed a vivid conception of a character,
+develops features in that character which he himself did not think of, at least
+not distinctly, and which he must nevertheless admit to be good and appropriate.
+The author sees a character which was born in his own most inmost elements,
+appearing before him in a shape new and strange to him. Yet this shape is by no
+means foreign to the elements of the genesis of the character, nay it does not
+seem now possible that it could have assumed a different form; and he feels a
+glad astonishment over this thing, which is really his own, although it seems so
+different; just as if he had suddenly come upon a treasure in his garret, whose
+existence he had not dreamt of.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There,&quot; said Ottmar, &quot;spoke my dear kind-hearted Sylvester,
+who does not know the meaning of the word 'vanity,' that vanity which has
+stifled many a great and true talent. There is one writer for the stage who once
+said, without the slightest hesitation, that there are no actors capable of
+understanding the soul which dwells within him, or of representing the
+characters which he creates. How wholly otherwise was it with our grand and
+glorious Schiller, who once got into that state of delighted surprise of which
+Sylvester speaks, when he saw his Wallenstein performed, and declared that it
+was then, for the first time, that he had seen his hero visibly in flesh and
+blood before his eyes. It was Fleck, the for ever unforgettable hero of our
+stage, who played Wallenstein then.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;On the whole,&quot; said Lothair, &quot;I am convinced, and the
+instance which Ottmar has given confirms me, that the writer on whom, in the
+depths of his soul, the true recognition and comprehension of art, and with
+them, that worship which they give to the creating formative spirit of the
+universe, have arisen in light, cannot lower himself to the degraded idol-cult,
+which worships only its own self as being the Fetish that created all things. It
+is very easy for a great talent to be mistaken for real genius. But time dispels
+every illusion: talent succumbs to the attacks of time, but they have no effect
+on true genius, which lives on in invulnerable strength and beauty. But, to
+return to our Sylvester, and his theatre-piece, I must declare to you that I
+cannot understand how any one can come to the heroic decision to permit a work,
+for which he is indebted to his imagination, and to fortunate creative impulses,
+to be acted before him on the slippery, risky, uncertain boards of the stage.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The friends laughed, thinking that Lothair was, after his
+wont, going to utter some quaint, out-of-the-way opinion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Am I,&quot; asked he, &quot;really a strange being who often thinks
+things which other people are not very apt to think? Well, be that as it may; I
+say again that when a fairly good writer, who has genuine talent, such as our
+Sylvester, puts a piece upon the stage, it feels to me very much as if he made
+up his mind to jump out of a third-floor window, and take his chance of what
+might happen to him. I am going to make a confession; when I told you I did not
+go to the theatre on the first night of Sylvester's piece, I told you a lie. Of
+course I went; and sat on a back seat, a second Sylvester, a second author of
+the piece, for it is impossible that he can have felt the strain of anxiety, the
+strange feeling compounded of pleasure and its opposite, the restlessness
+amounting to real pain, in any greater degree than I did myself. Every word of
+the players, every gesture of theirs, took my breath away, and I kept saying to
+myself, 'Oh, gracious heavens, is it possible that that will do, that it will go
+down with the audience? and is the author responsible whether it does or not?'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You make the thing worse than it is,&quot; said Sylvester. &quot;I feel
+a disagreeable oppression of the breath, particularly at the beginning; but if
+matters are going on pretty well, and the public expresses itself favourably,
+this gradually goes off, and makes room for a very pleasant sensation, in which
+I think selfish satisfaction with one's own production occupies the principal
+place.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh! you theatre-writers,&quot; cried out Vincent, &quot;you are the
+most conceited of all. The applause of the multitude is, to you, the very honey
+of Hybla, and you sip and swallow it with the daintiest of faces and the
+sweetest of smiles. But I am going to take up the role of devil's advocate, and
+add that you are as little to be found fault with, for your anxiousness and
+eagerness (which many folks think are nothing but the pangs of your vanity), as
+anybody else who is playing a great and risky game. You are staking yourselves;
+winning means applause, but losing means not only deserved blame, but (if this
+amounts to a distinct public expression of it) that besmirching of the ludicrous
+which is the bitterest and (as the French think) the most fearful and damnable
+condemnation which a man can' experience here below. A virtuous Frenchman would,
+therefore, much rather be considered a vile reprobate than be laughed at, and it
+is quite certain that a ban of being ludicrous always falls on any playwright
+who has been (theatrically speaking) 'damned'; and he never shakes it off in all
+his lifetime. Even future success is a most questionable affair, and many a man
+who has had this misfortune happen to him, has fled in his despair to the
+doleful wilderness of those productions which possess the outward appearance of
+theatrical pieces, but, as their authors solemnly assure us, are not meant for
+representation.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I,&quot; said Theodore, &quot;can corroborate you both most thoroughly
+from my own experience, that it is a most hazardous matter to put a work on to
+the stage. What it really amounts to is, that you are committing a property of
+yours to the mercy of the winds and the waves. When one remembers how many
+thousand accidental contingencies the effect of a work depends upon, how very
+often the deeply considered and carefully contrived effect of some passage is
+shipwrecked by the blunder, the unskilfulness, or the mistake of a singer or
+instrumentalist; how often--&quot;</p>
+
+++++++line 5644--can corroborate you both most thoroughly from my
+
+
+<p class="normal">Vincent here interrupted with a vigourous cry of &quot;hear! hear!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I cry 'hear! hear!'&quot; he explained, &quot;as the noble lords in the
+English Parliament do when one of them is just going to let the cat out of the
+bag. Theodore's head is full of nothing but the opera which he put upon the
+stage a few years ago. At the time, he said, 'When I had attended a dozen
+rehearsals which were more or less useless and pretty much burked, and when the
+last one came, and the conductor evidently had very little real idea of my
+score, or about the piece as a whole, I gave things up, and felt quite calm in
+my mind as to the very dubious destiny which was hanging over my production like
+a most threatening thunder-cloud.' I said, 'If it is failure, a failure let it
+be; I am far away aloft above all an author's anxieties and uneasinesses.' With
+other pretty speeches of a like nature. But when I saw my friend on the day of
+the performance, and when it came to be time to go to the theatre, he suddenly
+turned as white as a sheet (though he smiled and laughed a great deal, nobody
+quite knew at what), and gave us the most eager assurances that he had almost
+forgotten that that was the night when his opera was to be given--tried, when
+putting on his greatcoat, to stick his right arm into the left sleeve, so that I
+had to help him on with it--and then ran off across the street like one
+possessed, without a word. And, as the first chords of his overture sounded just
+as he was getting into his box, he tumbled into the arms of the terrified
+boxkeeper. Then--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There, there!&quot; cried Theodore, &quot;that's enough about my opera,
+and the execution of it. I shall be very glad to tell you as much as you please
+about them any time when we happen to be having a regular talk about music; but
+not another word to-night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We have said enough, and more than enough,&quot; said Lothair, &quot;on
+this particular subject, and by way of winding it up, I may just say that there
+is a little anecdote of Voltaire which pleases me greatly. Once, when one of his
+tragedies--I think it was Zaire--was going to be given for the first time, he
+was in such a terror of anxiety about its fate, that he did not dare to be
+present himself; but all the way between his house and the theatre he had people
+posted to send him messages every two or three minutes, by a code of signals,
+bow the piece was going; so that he was able to suffer all the torments of the
+Author comfortably, <i>en robe de chambre</i>, in his own room.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now,&quot; cried Sylvester, &quot;wouldn't that make a capital scene on
+the stage? and what a splendid part it would be for a character actor. Think of
+Voltaire on the boards. News comes that 'The public is disturbed, uneasy.' 'Ha!'
+he cries, 'frivolous race! can any one
+awaken your sympathy?' Next comes a message that 'the public
+is applauding--shouting in delight.' 'Oh! great, grand, noble Frenchmen,' he
+cries, 'you comprehend your Voltaire--you are worthy of him.' 'The public is
+hissing, and there are one or two catcalls audible.' 'Ah! traitors! this to
+me--to me!'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Enough, enough,&quot; said Ottmar. &quot;Sylvester is so inspired by
+his success that he is favouring us with a scene of a comedy instead of--like a
+proper Serapion Brother--reading us a tale, the most interesting subject of
+which he told me of, in writing, and which I know he has finished and brought
+with him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Our having been talking of Voltaire,&quot; said Sylvester, &quot;may
+lead us to think of his 'Sičcle de Louis XIV.,' and of that period itself, in
+which I have laid the scenes of the story which I now venture, with all modesty,
+to submit, hoping for your favourable opinion.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He read:--</p>
+
+<br>
+
+<h2><a name="div2_scuderi" href="#div2Ref_scuderi">MADEMOISELLE SCUDERI</a>:</h2>
+<p class="center"><span class="sc">A Tale Of The Times Of Louis The Fourteenth.</span></p>
+
+<p class="normal">Magdaleine Scuderi, so famous for her charming poetical and
+other writings, lived in a small mansion in the Rue St. Honoré, by favour of
+Louis the 14th and Madame Maintenon.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Late one night--about midnight--in the autumn of the year
+1680, there came a knocking at the door of this house, so loud and violent that
+it shook the very ground. Baptiste, who filled the offices of cook, butler, and
+doorkeeper in the lady's modest establishment, had gone, by her leave, to the
+country to his sister's wedding, so that La Martiničre, the <i>femme de chambre</i>,
+was the only person still awake in the house. She heard this knocking, which
+went on without ceasing almost, and she remembered that, as Baptiste was away,
+she and her mistress were alone and unprotected. She thought of the
+housebreakings, robberies, and murders which were so frequent in Paris at that
+time, and felt convinced that some of the numerous bands of malefactors, knowing
+the defenceless state of the house that night, were raising this alarum at the
+door, and would commit some outrage if it was opened; so she remained in her
+room, trembling and terrified, anathematizing Baptiste, and his sister's
+marriage into the bargain.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Meantime the thundering knocking went on at the door, and she
+thought she heard a voice calling in the intervals, &quot;Open, for the love of
+Christ! Open!--open!&quot; At last, her alarm increasing, she took her candle and ran
+out on to the landing, where she distinctly heard the voice crying, &quot;Open the
+door, for the love of Christ!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;After all,&quot; she said to herself, &quot;one knows that a robber
+would not be crying out in that way. Perhaps it is somebody who is being pursued
+and is come to my lady for refuge. She is known to be always ready to do a kind
+action--but we must be very careful!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She opened a window, and called down into the street, asking
+who it was who was making such a tremendous thundering at the door at that time
+of the night, rousing everybody from their sleep. This she did in a voice which
+she tried to make as like a man's as she could. By the glimmer of the moon,
+which was beginning to break through dark clouds, she could make out a tall
+figure, in a long grey cloak, with a broad hat drawn down over the forehead.
+Then she cried, in a loud voice, so that this person in the street should hear,
+&quot;Baptiste! Claude! Pierre! Get up, and see who this rascal is who is trying to
+get in at this time of night.&quot; But a gentle, entreating voice spake from
+beneath, saying, &quot;Ah, La Martiničre, I know it is you, you kind soul, though you
+are trying to alter your voice; and I know well enough that Baptiste is away in
+the country, and that there is nobody in the house but your mistress and
+yourself. Let me in. I <i>must</i> speak with your lady this instant.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do you imagine,&quot; asked La Martiničre, &quot;that my lady is going
+to speak to you in the middle of the night? Can't you understand that she has
+been in bed ever so long, and that it is as much as my place is worth to awaken
+her out of her first sweet sleep, which is so precious to a person at her time
+of life?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know,&quot; answered the person beneath, &quot;that she has just this
+moment put away the manuscript of the novel 'Clelia,' at which she is working so
+hard, and is writing some verses which she means to read to-morrow at Madame de
+Maintenon's. I implore you, Madame La Martiničre, be so compassionate as to open
+the door. Upon your doing so depends the escape of an unfortunate creature from
+destruction. Nay, honour, freedom, a human life, depend on this moment in which
+I <i>must</i> speak with your lady. Remember, her anger will rest upon you for ever
+when she comes to know that it was you who cruelly drove away from her door the
+unfortunate wretch who came to beg for her help.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But why should you come for her help at such an extraordinary
+time of the night?&quot; asked La Martiničre. &quot;Come back in the morning at a
+reasonable hour.&quot; But the reply came up, &quot;Does destiny, when it strikes like the
+destroying lightning, consider hours and times? When there is but one moment
+when rescue is possible, is help to be put off? Open me the door. Have no fear
+of a wretched being who is without defence, hunted, under the pressure of a
+terrible fate, and flies to your lady for succour from the most imminent peril.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">La Martiničre heard the stranger moaning and groaning as he
+uttered those words in the deepest sorrow, and the tone of his voice was that of
+a youth, soft and gentle, and going profoundly to the heart. She was deeply
+touched, and without much more hesitation she went and fetched the key.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As soon as she opened the door, the form shrouded in the
+mantle burst violently in, and passing La Martiničre, cried in a wild voice,
+&quot;Take me to your lady!&quot; La Martiničre held up the light which she was carrying,
+and the glimmer fell on the face of a very young man, distorted and frightfully
+drawn, and as pale as death. She almost fell down on the landing for terror when
+he opened his cloak and showed the glittering hilt of a stiletto sticking in his
+doublet. He flashed his gleaming eyes at her, and cried, more wildly than
+before, &quot;Take me to your lady, I tell you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">La Martiničre saw that her mistress was in the utmost danger.
+All her affection for her, who was to her as the kindest of mothers, flamed up
+and created a courage which she herself would scarcely have thought herself
+capable of. She quickly closed the door of her room, moved rapidly in front of
+it, and said, in a brave, firm voice, &quot;Your furious behaviour, now that you have
+got into the house, is very different to what might have been expected from the
+way you spoke down in the street. I see now that I had pity on you a little too
+easily. My lady you shall not see or speak with at this hour. If you have no bad
+designs, and are not afraid to show yourself in daylight, come and tell her your
+business to-morrow; but take yourself off out of this house now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He heaved a hollow sigh, glared at La Martiničre with a
+terrible expression, and grasped his dagger. She silently commended her soul to
+God, but stood firm and looked him straight in the face, pressing herself more
+firmly against the door through which he would have to pass in order to reach
+her mistress.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let me get to your lady, I tell you!&quot; he cried once more.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do what you will,&quot; said La Martiničre, &quot;I shall not move from
+this spot. Finish the crime which you have begun to commit. A shameful death on
+the Place de Grčve will overtake you, as it has your accursed comrades in
+wickedness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ha! you are right, La Martiničre,&quot; he cried. &quot;I am armed, and
+I look as if I were an accursed robber and murderer. But my comrades are not
+executed--are not executed,&quot; and he drew his dagger, advancing with poisonous
+looks towards the terrified woman. </p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Jesus!&quot; she cried, expecting her death-wound; but at that
+moment there came up from the street below the clatter and the ring of arms, and
+the hoof-tread of horses.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;La Marechaussée! La Marechaussée! Help! help!&quot; she cried.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Wretched woman, you will be my destruction,&quot; he cried. &quot;All
+is over now--all over! Here, take it; take it. Give this to your lady now, or
+to-morrow if you like it better.&quot; As he said this in a whisper, he took the
+candelabra from her, blew out the tapers, and placed a casket in her hands. &quot;As
+you prize your eternal salvation,&quot; he cried, &quot;give this to your lady.&quot; He dashed
+out of the door, and was gone.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">La Martiničre had sunk to the floor. She raised herself with
+difficulty, and groped her way back in the darkness to her room,
+where, wholly overcome and unable to utter a sound, she fell
+into an arm-chair. Presently she heard the bolts rattle, which she had left
+unfastened when she closed the house door. The house was therefore now shut up,
+and soft unsteady steps were approaching her room. Like one under a spell,
+unable to move, she was preparing for the very worst, when, to her inexpressible
+joy, the door opened, and by the pale light of the night-lamp she saw it was
+Baptiste. He was deadly pale, and much upset. &quot;For the love of all the saints,&quot;
+he exclaimed, &quot;tell me what has happened! Oh, what a state I am in! Something--I
+don't know what it was--told me to come away from the wedding yesterday--forced
+me to come away. So when I got to this street, I thought, Madame Martiničre
+isn't a heavy sleeper; she'll hear me if I knock quietly at the door, and let me
+in. Then up came a strong patrol meeting me, horsemen and foot, armed to the
+teeth. They stopped me, and wouldn't let me go. Luckily Desgrais was there, the
+lieutenant of the Marechaussée. He knows me, and as they were holding their
+lanterns under my nose, he said, 'Ho, Baptiste! How come you here in the streets
+at this time of the night? You ought to be at home, taking care of the house.
+This is not a very safe spot just at this moment. We're expecting to make a fine
+haul, an important arrest, to-night.' You can't think, Madame La Martiničre, how
+I felt when he said that. And when I got to the door, lo! and behold! a man in a
+cloak comes bursting out with a drawn dagger in his hand, runs round me, and
+makes off. The door was open, the keys in the lock. What, in the name of all
+that's holy, is the meaning of it all?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">La Martiničre, relieved from her alarm, told him all that had
+happened, and both she and he went back to the hall, where they found the
+candelabra on the floor, where the stranger had thrown it on taking his flight.
+&quot;There can't be the slightest doubt that our mistress was within an ace of being
+robbed, and murdered too, very likely,&quot; Baptiste said. &quot;According to what you
+say, the scoundrel knew well enough that there was nobody in the house but her
+and you, and even that she was still sitting up at her writing. Of course he was
+one of those infernal blackguards who pry into folks' houses and spy out
+everything that can be of use to them in their devilish designs. And the little
+casket, Madame Martiničre, that, I think, we'll throw into the Seine where it's
+deepest. Who shall be our warrant that some monster or other isn't lying in wait
+for our mistress's life? Very likely, if she opens the casket, she may tumble
+down dead, as the old Marquis de Tournay did when he opened a letter which came
+to him, he didn't know where from.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After a long consultation, they came to the conclusion that
+they would, next morning, tell their lady everything that had happened, and even
+hand her the mysterious casket, which might, perhaps, be opened if proper
+precautions were taken. On carefully weighing all the circumstances connected
+with the apparition of the stranger, they thought that there must be some
+special secret or mystery involved in the affair, which they were not in a
+position to unravel, but must leave to be elucidated by their superiors.</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="normal">There were good grounds for Baptiste's fears. Paris, at the
+time in question, was the scene of atrocious deeds of violence, and that just at
+a period when the most diabolical inventions of hell provided the most facile
+means for their execution.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Glaser, a German apothecary, the most learned chemist of his
+day, occupied himself--as people who cultivate his science often do--with
+alchemical researches and experiments. He had set himself the task of
+discovering the philosopher's stone. An Italian of the name of Exili associated
+himself with him; but to him the art of goldmaking formed a mere pretext. What
+he aimed at mastering was the blending, preparation, and sublimation of the
+various poisonous substances which Glaser hoped would give him the results he
+was in search of, and at length Exili discovered how to prepare that delicate
+poison which has no odour nor taste, and which, killing either slowly or in a
+moment, leaves not the slightest trace in the human organism, and baffles the
+utmost skill of the physician, who, not suspecting poison as the means of death,
+ascribes it to natural causes. But cautiously as Exili went about this, he fell
+under suspicion of dealing with poisons, and was thrown into the Bastille. In
+the same cell with him there was presently quartered an officer of the name of
+Godwin de Sainte-Croix, who had long lived
+in relations with the Marquise de Brinvilliers which brought
+shame
+upon all her family; and at length, as her husband cared
+nothing
+about her conduct, her father (Dreux d'Aubray, Civil
+Lieutenant of Paris) had to part the guilty pair by means of a <i>lettre de
+cachet</i> against Sainte-Croix. The latter, being a man of passionate nature,
+characterless, affecting sanctity, but addicted from his youth to
+every vice, jealous, envious even to fury, nothing could be
+more welcome to him than Exili's devilish secret, which gave him the power of
+destroying all his enemies. He became Exili's assiduous pupil, and soon equalled
+his instructor, so that when he was released from prison he was in a position to
+carry on operations by himself on his own account.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">La Brinvilliers was a depraved woman, and Sainte-Croix made
+her a monster. She managed, by degrees, to poison, first, her own father (with
+whom she was living, on the hypocritical pretence of taking care of him in his
+declining years), next her two brothers, and then her sister; the father out of
+revenge, and the others for their fortunes. The histories of more than one
+poisoner bear terrible evidence that this description of crime assumes the form
+of an irresistible passion. Just as a chemist makes experiments for the pleasure
+and the interest of watching them, poisoners have often, without the smallest
+ulterior object, killed persons whose living or dying was to them a matter of
+complete indifference. The sudden deaths of a number of paupers, patients at the
+Hôtel Dieu, a little time after the events just alluded to, led to suspicion
+that the bread which La Brinvilliers was in the habit of giving them every week
+(by way of an example of piety and benevolence) was poisoned. And it is certain
+that she poisoned pigeon pasties which were served up to guests whom she had
+invited. The Chevalier du Guet, and many more, were the victims of those
+diabolical entertainments. Sainte-Croix, his accomplice La Chaussée, and La
+Brinvilliers, managed to hide their crimes for a long while under a veil of
+impenetrable secrecy. But, however the wicked may brazen matters out, there
+comes a time when the Eternal Power of Heaven punishes the criminal, even here
+on earth. The poisons which
+Sainte-Croix prepared were so marvellously delicate that if
+the powder (which the Parisians appositely named &quot;<i>poudre de succession</i>&quot;) was
+uncovered while being made, a single inhalation of it was sufficient to cause
+immediate death. Therefore Sainte-Croix always wore a glass mask when at work.
+This mask fell off one day just as he was shaking a finished powder into a
+phial, and, having inhaled some of the powder, he fell dead in an instant. As he
+had no heirs, the law courts at once placed his property under seal, when the
+whole diabolical arsenal of poison-murder which had been at the villain's
+disposal was discovered, and also the letters of Madame de Brinvilliers, which
+left no doubt as to her crimes. She fled to a convent at Ličge. Desgrais, an
+officer of the Marechaussée, was sent after her. Disguised as a priest, he got
+admitted into the convent, and succeeded in involving the terrible woman in a
+love-affair, and in getting her to grant him a clandestine meeting in a
+sequestered garden outside the town. When she arrived there she found herself
+surrounded by Desgrais' myrmidons; and her ecclesiastical gallant speedily
+transformed himself into the officer of the Marechaussée, and compelled her to
+get into the carriage which was waiting outside the garden, and drove straight
+away to Paris, surrounded by an ample guard. La Chaussée had been beheaded
+previously to this, and La Brinvilliers suffered the same death. Her body was
+burnt, and its ashes scattered to the winds.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Parisians breathed freely again when the world was freed
+from the presence of this monster, who had so long wielded, with impunity,
+unpunished, the weapon of secret murder against friend and foe. But it soon
+became bruited abroad that the terrible art of the accursed La Croix had been,
+somehow, handed down to a successor, who was carrying it on triumphantly. Murder
+came gliding like an invisible, capricious spectre into the narrowest and most
+intimate circles of relationship, love, and friendship, pouncing securely and
+swiftly upon its unhappy victims. Men who, to-day, were seen in robust health,
+were tottering about on the morrow feeble and sick; and no skill of physicians
+could restore them. Wealth, a good appointment or office, a nice-looking wife,
+perhaps a little too young for her husband, were ample reasons for a man's being
+dogged to death. The most frightful mistrust snapped the most sacred ties. The
+husband trembled before his wife; the father dreaded the son; the sister the
+brother. When your friend asked you to dinner, you carefully avoided tasting the
+dishes and wines which he set before you; and where joy and merriment used to
+reign, there were now nothing but wild looks watching to detect the secret
+murderer. Fathers of families were to be seen with anxious looks, buying
+supplies of food in out-of-the-way places where they were not known, and cooking
+them themselves in dirty cook-shops, for dread of treason in their own homes.
+And yet often the most careful and ingenious precautions were unavailing.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For the repression of this ever-increasing disorder the King
+constituted a fresh tribunal, to which he entrusted the special investigation
+and punishment of those secret crimes. This was the Chambre Ardente, which held
+its sittings near the Bastille. La Regnie was its president. For a considerable
+time La Regnie's efforts, assiduous as they were, were unsuccessful, and it was
+the lot of the much overworked Desgrais to discover the most secret lurking-hole
+of the crime. In the Faubourg Saint-Germain there lived an old woman, named La
+Voisin, who followed the calling of a teller of fortunes and a summoner of
+spirits, and, assisted by her accomplices Le Sage and Le Vigoureux, managed to
+alarm and astonish people who were by no means to be considered weak or
+superstitious. But she did more than this. She was a pupil of Exili's, like La
+Croix, and, like him, prepared the delicate, traceless poison, which helped
+wicked sons to speedy inheritance and unprincipled wives to other, younger
+husbands. Desgrais fathomed her secrets; she made full confession; the Chambre
+Ardente sentenced her to be burned, and the sentence was carried out on the
+Place de Grčve. Amongst her effects was found a list of those who had availed
+themselves of her services; whence it followed, not only that execution
+succeeded execution, but that strong suspicion fell on persons of high
+consideration. Thus it was believed that Cardinal Bonzy had obtained from La
+Voisin the means of disembarrassing himself of all the persons to whom, in his
+capacity of Archbishop of Narbonne, he was bound to pay pensions. Similarly, the
+Duchess de Bouillon and the Countess de Soissons (their names having been found
+in La Voisin's list) were accused of having had relations with her; and even
+Francis Henri de Montmorency, Boudebelle, Duke of Luxemburg, Peer and Marshal of
+the realm, did not escape arraignment before the Chambre Ardente. He surrendered
+himself to imprisonment in the Bastille, where the hatred of Louvois and La
+Regnie immured him in a cell only six feet long. Months elapsed before it was
+proved that his offences did not deserve so severe a punishment. He had once
+gone to La Voisin to have his horoscope drawn.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">What is certain is that an excess of inconsiderate zeal led
+President La Regnie into violently illegal and barbarous measures. His Court
+assumed the character of the Inquisition. The very slightest suspicion rendered
+any one liable to severe imprisonment, and the establishment of the innocence of
+a person tried for his life was often only a matter of the merest chance.
+Besides, Regnie was repulsive to behold, and of malicious disposition, so that
+he excited the hatred of those whose avenger or protector he was called upon to
+be. When he asked the Duchess de Bouillon if she had ever seen the devil, she
+answered, &quot;I think I see him at this moment.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Whilst now, on the Place de Grčve, the blood of the guilty and
+of the merely suspected was flowing in streams, and secret deaths by poison
+were, at last, becoming more and more rare, a trouble of another description
+showed itself, spreading abroad fresh consternation. It seemed that a gang of
+robbers had made up their minds to possess themselves of all the jewels in the
+city. Whenever a valuable set of ornaments was bought, it disappeared in an
+inexplicable manner, however carefully preserved and protected. And everybody
+who dared to wear precious stones in the evening was certain to be robbed,
+either in the public streets or in the dark passages of houses. Very often they
+were not only robbed, but murdered. Such of them as escaped with their lives
+said they had been felled by the blow of a clenched fist on the head, which came
+on them like a thunderbolt. And when they recovered their senses they found that
+they had been robbed, and were in a totally different place from that where they
+had been knocked down. Those
+who were murdered--and they were found nearly every morning
+lying
+in the streets or in houses--had all the selfsame mortal
+wound--a dagger-thrust, right through the heart, which the surgeons said must
+have been delivered with such swiftness and certainty that the victim must have
+fallen dead without the power of uttering a sound. Now who, in all the luxurious
+Court of Louis Quatorze, was there who was not implicated in some secret
+love-affair, and, consequently, often gliding about the streets late at night
+with valuable presents in his pockets? Just as if this robber-gang were in
+intercourse with spirits, they always knew perfectly well when anything of this
+kind was going on. Often the fortunate lover wouldn't reach the house where his
+lady was expecting him; often he would fall at her threshold, at her very door,
+where, to her horror, she would discover his bleeding body lying.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was in vain that Argenson, the Minister of Police, arrested
+every individual, in all Paris, who seemed to be touched by the very faintest
+suspicion; in vain La Regnie raged, striving to compel confession; in vain
+guards and patrols were reinforced. Not a trace of the perpetrators of those
+outrages was to be discovered. The only thing which was of a certain degree of
+use was to go about armed to the teeth, and have a light carried before you; and
+yet there were cases in which the servant who carried the light had his
+attention occupied by having stones thrown at him, whilst at that very instant
+his master was being robbed and murdered.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was a remarkable feature of this business that,
+notwithstanding all search and investigation in every quarter where there seemed
+to be any chance of dealing in jewels going on, not a trace of even the smallest
+of the plundered precious stones ever came to light. Desgrais foamed in fury
+that even his acumen and skill were powerless to prevent the escape of those
+scoundrels. Whatever part of the town he happened to be in for the time was let
+alone, whilst in some other quarter, robbery and murder were lying in wait for
+their rich prey.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Desgrais hit upon the clever idea of setting several
+facsimiles of himself on foot--various Desgrais, exactly alike in gait, speech,
+figure, face, &#38;c.; so that his own men could not tell the one of them from the
+other, or say which was the real Desgrais. Meanwhile he, at the risk of his
+life, watched alone in the most secret hiding-places, and followed, at a
+distance, this or the other person who seemed, by the looks of him, to be likely
+to have jewels about him. But those whom he was watching were unharmed, so that
+this artifice of his was as well known, to the culprits as everything else
+seemed to be. Desgrais was in utter despair.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">One morning he came to President La Regnie, pale, distorted,
+almost out of his mind.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What is it--what news? Have you come upon the clue?&quot; the
+President cried to him as he came in.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, Monsieur!&quot; cried Desgrais, stammering in fury, &quot;last
+night, near the Louvre, the Marquis de la Fare was set upon under my very nose!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Heaven and earth!&quot; cried La Regnie, overjoyed, &quot;we have got
+them!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Wait a moment, listen,&quot; said Desgrais, with a bitter smile.
+&quot;I was standing near the Louvre, watching and waiting, with hell itself in my
+heart, for those devils who have been baffling me for such a length of time.
+There came a figure close by me--not seeing me--with careful uncertain steps,
+always looking behind it. By the moonlight I recognised the Marquis de la Fare.
+I expected that he would be passing. I knew where he was gliding to. Scarcely
+had he got ten or twelve paces beyond me, when, out of the ground apparently,
+springs a figure, dashes the Marquis to the ground, falls down upon him. Losing
+my self-command at this occurrence, which seemed to be likely to deliver the
+murderer into my hands, I cried out aloud, and meant to spring from my
+hiding-place with a great jump and seize hold of him. But I
+tripped up in my cloak and fell down. I saw the fellow flee away as if on the
+wings of the wind; I picked myself up, and made off after him as fast as I
+could. As I ran, I sounded my horn. Out of the distance the whistles of my men
+answered me. Things grew lively--clatter of arms, tramp of horses on all sides.
+'Here!--come to me!--Desgrais!' I cried, till the streets re-echoed. All the
+time I saw the man before me in the bright moonlight, turning off
+right--left--to get away from me. We came to the Rue Nicaise. There his strength
+seemed to begin to fail. I gathered mine up. He was not more than fifteen paces
+ahead of me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You got hold of him!--your men came up!&quot; cried La Regnie,
+with flashing eyes, grasping Desgrais by the arm as if he were the fleeing
+murderer himself.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Fifteen paces ahead of me,&quot; said Desgrais, in a hollow voice,
+and drawing his breath hard, &quot;this fellow, before my eyes, dodged to one side,
+and vanished through the wall.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Vanished!--through the wall! Are you out of your senses?&quot; La
+Regnie cried, stepping three steps backwards, and striking his hands together.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Call me as great a madman as you please, Monsieur,&quot; said
+Desgrais, rubbing his forehead like one tortured by evil thoughts. &quot;Call me a
+madman, or a silly spirit-seer; but what I have told you is the literal truth. I
+stood staring at the wall, while several of my men came up out of breath, and
+with them the Marquis de la Fare (who had picked himself up), with his drawn
+sword in his hand. We lighted torches, we examined the wall all over. There was
+not the trace of a door, a window, any opening. It is a strong stone wall of a
+courtyard, belonging to a house, in which people are living--against whom there
+is not the slightest suspicion. I have looked into the whole thing again this
+morning in broad daylight. It must be the very devil himself who is at work
+befooling us in the matter.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This story got bruited abroad through Paris, where all heads
+were full of the witch-business, spirit conjuration, devil-covenants of La
+Voisin, Vigoureux, and the wicked priest Le Sage; and as it does lie in our
+eternal nature that the bent towards the supernatural and the marvellous
+overpasses all reason, people soon believed nothing less than that which
+Desgrais had only said in his impatience--namely, that the very devil himself
+must protect those rascals, and that they had sold their souls to him. We can
+readily understand that Desgrais's story soon received many absurd
+embellishments. It was printed, and hawked about the town, with a woodcut at the
+top representing a horrible devil-form sinking into the ground before the
+terrified Desgrais. Quite enough to frighten the people, and so terrify
+Desgrais's men that they lost all courage, and went about the streets behung
+with amulets, and sprinkled with holy water.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Argenson, seeing that the Chambre Ardente was unsuccessful,
+applied to the King to constitute--with special reference to this novel
+description of crime--a tribunal armed with greater powers for tracking and
+punishing offenders. The King, thinking he had already given powers too ample to
+the Chambre Ardente, and shocked at the horrors of the numberless executions,
+carried out by the bloodthirsty La Regnie, refused.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Then another method of influencing His Majesty was devised.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the apartments of Madame de Maintenon,--where the King was
+in the habit of spending much of his time in the afternoons,--and also, very
+often, would be at work with his Ministers till late at night--a poetical
+petition was laid before him, on the part of the &quot;Endangered Lovers,&quot; who
+complained that when &quot;galanterie&quot; rendered it incumbent on them to be the
+bearers of some valuable present to the ladies of their hearts, they had always
+to do it at the risk of their lives. They said, that, of course, it was honour
+and delight to pour out their blood for the lady of their heart, in knightly
+encounter, but that the treacherous attack of the assassin, against which it was
+impossible to guard, was quite a different matter. They expressed their hope
+that Louis, the bright pole-star of love and gallantry, might deign--arising and
+shining in fullest splendour--to dispel the darkness of night, and thus reveal
+the black mysteries hidden thereby; that the God-like hero, who had hurled his
+foes to the dust, would now once more wave his flashing faulchion, and, as did
+Hercules in the case of the Lćrnean Hydra, and Theseus in that of the Minotaur,
+vanquish the threatening monster who was eating up all love-delight, and
+darkening all joy into deep sorrow and inconsolable mourning.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Serious as the subject was, this poem was not deficient in
+most wittily-turned phrases, particularly where it described the state of
+watchful anxiety in which lovers had to glide to their lady-loves, and how this
+mental strain necessarily destroyed all love-happiness, and nipped all
+adventures of &quot;galanterie&quot; in the very bud. And, as it
+wound up with a high-flown panegyric of Louis XIV., the King
+could not but read it with visible satisfaction. When he perused it, he turned
+to Madame de Maintenon--without taking his eyes from it--read
+it
+again--aloud this time--and then asked, with a pleased smile,
+what she thought of the petition of the 'Endangered Lovers.' Madame de
+Maintenon, faithful to her serious turn, and ever wearing the garb of a certain
+piousness, answered that hidden and forbidden ways did not deserve much in the
+form of protection, but that the criminals probably did require special laws for
+their punishment. The King, not satisfied with this answer, folded the paper up,
+and was going back to the Secretary of State, who was at work in the ante-room,
+when, happening to glance sideways, his eyes rested on Mademoiselle Scuderi, who
+was present, seated in a little arm-chair. He went straight to her; and the
+pleased smile which had at first been playing about his mouth and cheeks--but
+had disappeared--resumed the ascendency again. Standing close before her, with
+his face unwrinkling itself, he said--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Marquise does not know, and has no desire to learn,
+anything about the 'galanteries' of our enamoured gentlemen, and evades the
+subject in ways which are nothing less than forbidden. But, Mademoiselle, what
+do <i>you</i> think of this poetical petition?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Mademoiselle Scuderi rose from her chair; a transient blush,
+like the purple of the evening sky, passed across her pale cheeks, and, gently
+bending forward, she answered, with downcast eyes--</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="i6">&quot;Un amant qui craint les voleurs.</p>
+<p class="i6">N'est point digne d'amour.&quot;</p>
+</div>
+<p class="normal">The King, surprised, and struck by admiration at the
+chivalrous spirit of those few words--which completely took the wind out of the
+sails of the poem, with all its ell-long tirades--cried, with flashing eyes--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;By Saint Denis, you are right, Mademoiselle! No blind laws,
+touching the innocent and the guilty alike, shall shelter cowardice. Argenson
+and La Regnie must do their best.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Next morning La Martiničre enlarged upon the terrors of the
+time, painting them in glowing colours to her lady, when she told her all that
+had happened the previous night, and handed her the mysterious casket, with much
+fear and trembling. Both she and Baptiste (who stood in the corner as white as a
+sheet, kneading his cap in his hand from agitation and anxiety) implored her, in
+the name of all the saints, to take the greatest precautions in opening it. She,
+weighing and examining the unopened mystery in her hand, said with a smile, &quot;You
+are a couple of bogies! The wicked scoundrels outside, who, as you say
+yourselves, spy out all that goes on in every house, know, no doubt, quite as
+well as you and I do, that I am not rich, and that there are no treasures in
+this house worth committing a murder for. Is my life in danger, do you think?
+Who could have any interest in the death of an old woman of seventy-three, who
+never persecuted any evil-doers except those in her own novels; who writes
+mediocre poetry, incapable of exciting any one's envy; who has nothing to leave
+behind her but the belongings of an old maid, who sometimes goes to Court, and
+two or three dozen handsomely-bound books with gilt edges. And, alarming as your
+account is, La Martiničre, of the apparition of this man, I cannot believe that
+he meant me any harm, so----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">La Martiničre sprang three paces backwards, and Baptiste fell
+on one knee with a hollow, &quot;Ah!&quot; as Mademoiselle Scuderi pressed a projecting
+steel knob, and the lid of the casket flew open with a certain amount of noise.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Great was her surprise to see that it contained a pair of
+bracelets, and a necklace richly set in jewels. She took them out and as she
+spoke in admiration of the marvellous workmanship of the necklace, La Martiničre
+cast glances of wonder at the bracelets, and cried, again and again, that Madame
+Montespan herself did not possess such jewelry.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But why is it brought to me?&quot; cried Mademoiselle Scuderi.
+&quot;What can this mean?&quot; She saw, however, a little folded note at the bottom of
+the casket, and in this she rightly thought she would find the key to the
+mystery. When she had read what was written in the note, it fell from her
+trembling hands; she raised an appealing look to heaven, and then sank down half
+fainting in her chair. Baptiste and La Martiničre hurried to her, in alarm.
+&quot;Oh!&quot; she cried, in a voice stifled by tears, &quot;the mortification! The deep
+humiliation! Has it been reserved for me to undergo this in my old age? Have I
+ever been frivolous, like some of the foolish young creatures? Are words, spoken
+half in jest, to be found capable of such a terrible interpretation? Am I, who
+have been faithful to all that is pure and good from my childhood, to be made
+virtually an accomplice in the crimes of this terrible confederation?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She held her handkerchief to her eyes, so that Baptiste and La
+Martiničre, altogether at sea in their anxious conjectures, felt powerless to
+set about helping her, who was so dear to them, as the best and kindest of
+mistresses, in her bitter affliction.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">La Martiničre picked up the paper from the floor. On it was
+written--</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="i6">&quot;Un amant qui craint les voleurs</p>
+<p class="i6">N'est point digne d'amour.&quot;</p>
+</div>
+<p class="normal">&quot;Your brilliant intellect, most honoured lady, has delivered
+us, who exercise, on weakness and cowardice, the rights of the stronger, and
+possess ourselves of treasures which would otherwise be unworthily wasted, from
+much bitter persecution. As a proof of our gratitude, be pleased to kindly
+accept this set of ornaments. It is the most valuable that we have been enabled
+to lay hands on for many a day. Although far more beautiful and precious jewels
+ought to adorn you, yet we pray you not to deprive us of your future protection
+and remembrance.--<span class="sc">The Invisibles</span>.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Is it possible,&quot; cried Mademoiselle Scuderi, when she had
+partially recovered herself, &quot;that shameless wickedness and abandoned insult can
+be carried further by human beings?&quot; The sun was shining brightly through the
+window curtains of crimson silk, and consequently the brilliants, which were
+lying on the table beside the open casket, were flashing a rosy radiance.
+Looking at them, Mademoiselle Scuderi covered her face in horror, and ordered La
+Martiničre instantly to take those terrible jewels away, steeped, as they seemed
+to be, in the blood of the murdered. La Martiničre, having at once put the
+necklace and bracelets back into their case, thought the best thing to do would
+be to give them to the Minister of Police, and tell him all that had happened.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Mademoiselle Scuderi rose, and walked up and down slowly and
+in silence, as if considering what it was best to do. Then she told Baptiste to
+bring a sedan chair, and La Martiničre to dress her, as she was going straight
+to the Marquise de Maintenon.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She repaired thither at the hour when she knew Madame de
+Maintenon would be alone, taking the casket and jewels with her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Madame de Maintenon might well wonder to see this dear old
+lady (who was always kindness, sweetness and amiability personified), pale,
+distressed, upset, coming in with uncertain steps. &quot;In heaven's name, what has
+happened to you?&quot; she cried to her visitor, who was scarcely able to stand
+upright, striving to reach the chair which the Marquise drew forward for her. At
+last, when she could find words, she told her what a deep, irremediable insult
+and outrage the thoughtless speech which she had made in reply to the King had
+brought upon her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Madame de Maintenon, when she had heard the whole affair
+properly related, thought Mademoiselle Scuderi was taking it far too much to
+heart, strange as the occurrence was--that the insult of a pack of wretched
+rabble could not hurt an upright, noble heart: and finally begged that she might
+see the ornaments.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Mademoiselle Scuderi handed her the open casket, and when she
+saw the splendid and valuable stones, and the workmanship of them, she could not
+repress a loud expression of admiration. She took the bracelets and necklace to
+the window, letting the sunlight play on the jewels, and holding the beautiful
+goldsmith's work close to her eyes, so as to see with what wonderful skill each
+little link of the chains was formed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She turned suddenly to Mademoiselle Scuderi, and cried, &quot;Do
+you know, there is only one man who can have done this work--and that is René
+Cardillac.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">René Cardillac was then the cleverest worker in gold in all
+Paris, one of the most artistic, and at the same time extraordinary men of his
+day. Short, rather than tall, but broad-shouldered, and of strong and muscular
+build, Cardillac, now over fifty, had still the strength and activity of a
+youth. To this vigour, which was to be called unusual, testified also his thick,
+curling, reddish hair, and his massive, shining face. Had he not been known to
+be the most upright and honourable of men, unselfish, open, without reserve,
+always ready to help, his altogether peculiar glance out of his grimly sparkling
+eyes might have brought him under suspicion of being secretly ill-tempered and
+wicked. In his art he was the most skilful worker, not only in Paris, but
+probably in the world at that time. Intimately acquainted with every kind of
+precious stones, versed in all their special peculiarities, he could so handle
+and treat them that ornaments which at a first glance promised to be poor and
+insignificant, came from his workshop brilliant and splendid. He accepted every
+commission with burning eagerness, and charged prices so moderate as to seem out
+of all proportion to the work. And the work left him no rest. Day and night he
+was to be heard hammering in his shop; and often, when a job was nearly
+finished, he would suddenly be dissatisfied with the form--would have doubts
+whether some of the settings were tender enough; some little link would not be
+quite to his mind--in fine, the whole affair would be thrown into the
+melting-pot, and begun all over again. Thus every one of his works was a real,
+unsurpassable <i>chef-d'&#339;uvre</i>, which set the person who had ordered it into
+amazement. But then, it was hardly possible to get the finished work out of his
+hands. He would put the customer off from one week to another, by a thousand
+excuses, ay, from month to month. He might be offered twice the price he had
+agreed upon, but it was useless; he would take no more; and when, ultimately, he
+was obliged to yield to the customer's remonstrances, and deliver the work, he
+could not conceal the vexation--nay, the rage--which seethed within him. If he
+had to deliver some specially valuable and unusually rich piece of workmanship,
+worth perhaps several thousand francs, he would get into such a condition that
+he ran up and down like one demented, cursing himself, his work, and every thing
+and person about him; but should, then, some one come running up behind him,
+crying, &quot;René Cardillac, would you be so kind as to make me a beautiful necklace
+for the lady I am going to marry?&quot; or &quot;a pair of bracelets for my girl?&quot; or the
+like, he would stop in a moment, flash his small eyes upon the speaker, and say,
+&quot;Let me see what you have got.&quot; The latter would take out a little case, and
+say, &quot;Here are jewels; they are not worth much; only every-day affairs; but in
+your hands----.&quot; Cardillac would interrupt him, snatch the casket from his
+hands, take out the stones (really not very valuable), hold them up to the
+light, and cry, &quot;Ho! ho! common stones you say! Nothing of the kind!--very fine,
+splendid stones! Just see what I shall make of them; and if a handful of Louis
+are no object to you, I will put two or three others along with them which will
+shine in your eyes like the sun himself!&quot; The customer would say: &quot;I leave the
+matter entirely in your hands, Master René; make what charge you please.&quot;
+Whether the customer were a rich burgher or a gallant of quality, Cardillac
+would then throw himself violently on his neck, embrace him and kiss him, and
+say he was perfectly happy again, and that the work would be ready in eight
+days' time. Then he would run home as fast as he could to his work-shop, where
+he would set to work hammering away; and in eight days' time there would be a
+masterpiece ready. But as soon as the customer would arrive, glad to pay the
+moderate price demanded, and take away his prize, Cardillac would become morose,
+ill-tempered, rude, and insolent. &quot;But consider, Master Cardillac,&quot; the customer
+would say, &quot;to-morrow is my wedding-day.&quot; &quot;What do I care?&quot; Cardillac would
+answer; &quot;what is your wedding-day to me? Come back in a fortnight.&quot; &quot;But it is
+finished!--here is the money; I must have it.&quot; &quot;And I tell you that there are
+many alterations which I must make before I let it leave my hands, and I am not
+going to let you have it to-day.&quot; &quot;And I tell you, that if you don't give me my
+jewels--which I am ready to pay you for--quietly, you will see me come back with
+a file of D'Argenson's men.&quot; &quot;Now, may the devil seize you with a hundred
+red-hot pincers, and hang three hundredweight on to the necklace, that it may
+throttle your bride!&quot; With which he would cram the work into the customer's
+breast-pocket, seize him by the arm, push him out of the door, so that he would
+go stumbling all the way downstairs, and laugh like a fiend, out of window, when
+he saw the
+poor wretch go limping out, holding his handkerchief to his
+bleeding nose. It was not easy of explanation neither that Cardillac, when he
+had undertaken a commission with alacrity and enthusiasm, would sometimes
+suddenly implore the customer, with every sign of the
+deepest emotion--with the most moving adjurations, even with
+sobs and tears--not to ask him to go on with it. Many persons, amongst those
+most highly considered by the King and nation, had in vain offered large sums
+for the smallest specimen of Cardillac's work. He threw himself at the King's
+feet, and supplicated that, of his mercy, he would not command him to work for
+him; and he declined all orders of Madame de Maintenon's: once, when she wished
+him to make a little ring, with emblems of the arts on it, which she wanted to
+give to Racine, he refused with expressions of abhorrence and terror.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I would wager,&quot; said Madame de Maintenon, &quot;therefore, that
+even if I were to send for Cardillac, to find out, at least, for whom he had
+made those ornaments, he would somehow evade coming, for fear that I should give
+him an order; nothing will induce him to work for me. Yet he does seem to have
+been rather less obstinate of late, for I hear he is working more than ever, and
+allows his customers to take away their jewelry at once, though he does so with
+deep annoyance, and turns away his face when he hands them over.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Mademoiselle Scuderi, who was exceedingly anxious that the
+jewels which came into her possession in such an extraordinary manner should be
+restored to their owner as speedily as possible, thought that this wondrous René
+Cardillac should be informed at once that no work was required of him, but
+simply his opinion as to certain stones. The Marquise agreed to this; he was
+sent for, and he came into the room in a very brief space, almost as if he had
+been on the way when sent for.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When he saw Mademoiselle Scuderi, he appeared perplexed, like
+one confronted with the unexpected, who, for the time, loses sight of the calls
+of courtesy; he first of all made a profound reverence to her, and then turned,
+in the second place, to the Marquise. Madame de Maintenon impetuously asked him
+if the jewelled ornaments--to which
+she pointed as they lay sparkling on the dark-green cover of
+the
+table--were his workmanship. Cardillac scarcely glanced at
+them, and, fixedly staring in her face, he hastily packed the necklace and
+bracelets into their case, and shoved them away with some violence. Then he
+said, with an evil smile gleaming on his red face, &quot;The truth is, Madame la
+Marquise, that one must know René Cardillac's handiwork very little to suppose,
+even for a moment, that any other goldsmith in the world made those. Of course,
+I made them.&quot; &quot;Then,&quot; continued the Marquise, &quot;say whom you made them for.&quot; &quot;For
+myself alone,&quot; he answered. &quot;You may think this strange,&quot; he continued, as they
+both gazed at him with amazement, Madame de Maintenon incredulous, and
+Mademoiselle Scuderi all anxiety as to how the matter was going to turn out,
+&quot;but I tell you the truth, Madame la Marquise. Merely for the sake of the beauty
+of the work, I collected some of my finest stones together, and worked for the
+enjoyment of so doing, more carefully and diligently than usual. Those ornaments
+disappeared from my workshop a short time since, in an incomprehensible manner.&quot;
+&quot;Heaven be thanked!&quot; cried Mademoiselle Scuderi, her eyes sparkling with joy.
+With a smile she sprang up from her seat, and going up to Cardillac quickly and
+actively as a young girl, she laid her hands on his shoulder, saying, &quot;Take back
+your treasure, Master René, which the villains have robbed you of!&quot; And she
+circumstantially related how the ornaments had come into her possession.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Cardillac listened in silence, with downcast eyes, merely from
+time to time uttering a scarcely audible &quot;Hm! Indeed! Ah! Ho, ho!&quot; sometimes
+placing his hands behind his back, again stroking his chin and cheeks. When she
+had ended, he appeared to be struggling with strange thoughts which had come to
+him during her story, and seemed unable to come to any decision satisfactory to
+himself. He rubbed his brow, sighed, passed his hand over his eyes--perhaps to
+keep back tears. At last he seized the casket (which Mademoiselle Scuderi had
+been holding out to him), sunk slowly on one knee, and said: &quot;Esteemed lady!
+Fate destined this casket for you; and I now feel, for the first time, that I
+was thinking of you when I was at work upon it--nay, was making it expressly for
+you. Do not disdain to accept this work, and to wear it; it is the best I have
+done for a very long time.&quot; &quot;Ah! Master René,&quot; said Mademoiselle Scuderi,
+jesting pleasantly, &quot;how think you it would become me at my age to bedeck myself
+with those beautiful jewels?--and what should put it in your mind to make me
+such a valuable present? Come, come! If I were as beautiful and as rich as the
+Marquise de Fontange, I should certainly not let them out of my hands; but what
+have my withered arms, and my wrinkled neck, to do with all that splendour?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Cardillac had risen, and said, with wild looks, like a man
+beside himself, still holding the casket out towards her, &quot;Do me the mercy to
+take it, Mademoiselle! You have no notion how profound is the reverence which I
+bear in my heart for your excellences, your high deserts. Do but accept my
+little offering, as an attempt, on my part, to prove to you the warmth of my
+regard.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As Mademoiselle Scuderi was still hesitating, Madame de
+Maintenon took the casket from Cardillac's hands, saying, &quot;Now, by heaven,
+Mademoiselle, you are always talking of your great age. What have you and I to
+do with years and their burden? You are like some bashful young thing who would
+fain long for forbidden fruit, if she could gather it without hands or fingers.
+Do not hesitate to accept this good Master René's present, which thousands of
+others could not obtain for money or entreaty.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As she spoke she continued to press the casket on Mademoiselle
+Scuderi; and now Cardillac sank again on his knees, kissed her dress, her hands,
+sighed, wept, sobbed, sprang up, and ran off in frantic haste, upsetting chairs
+and tables, so that the glass and porcelain crashed and clattered together.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In much alarm, Mademoiselle Scuderi cried, &quot;In the name of all
+the saints, what is the matter with the man?&quot; But the Marquise, in particularly
+happy temper, laughed aloud, saying, &quot;What it is, Mademoiselle; that Master René
+is over head and ears in love with you, and, according to the laws of <i>la
+galanterie</i>, begins to lay siege to your heart with a valuable present.&quot; She
+carried this jest further, begging Mademoiselle Scuderi not to be too obdurate
+towards this despairing lover of hers; and Mademoiselle Scuderi, in her turn,
+borne away on a current of merry fancies, said, &quot;If things were so, she would
+not be able to refrain from delighting the world with the unprecedented
+spectacle of a goldsmith's bride of three-and-seventy summers, and
+unexceptionable descent.&quot; Madame de Maintenon offered to twine the bridal wreath
+herself, and give her a few hints as to the duties of a housewife, a subject on
+which such a poor inexperienced little chit could not be expected to know very
+much.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But, notwithstanding all the jesting and the laughter, when
+Mademoiselle Scuderi rose to depart, she became very grave again when her hand
+rested upon the jewel casket. &quot;Whatever happens,&quot; she said, &quot;I shall never be
+able to bring myself to wear these ornaments. They have, at all events, been in
+the hands of one of those diabolical men, who rob and slay with the audacity of
+the evil one himself, and are very probably in league with him. I shudder at the
+thought of the blood which seems to cling to those glittering stones--and even
+Cardillac's behaviour had something about it which struck me as being singularly
+wild and eery. I cannot drive away from me a gloomy foreboding that there is
+some terrible and frightful mystery hidden behind all this; and yet, when I
+bring the whole affair, with all the circumstances of it, as clearly as I can
+before my mental vision, I cannot form the slightest idea what that mystery can
+be--and, above all, how the good, honourable Master René--the very model of what
+a good, well-behaved citizen ought to be--can have anything to do with what is
+wicked or condemnable. But, at all events, I distinctly feel that I never can
+wear those jewels.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Marquise considered that this was carrying scruples rather
+too far; yet, when Mademoiselle Scuderi asked her to say, on her honour, what
+she would do in her place, she replied, firmly and earnestly, &quot;Far rather throw
+them into the Seine than ever put them on.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The scene with Master René inspired Mademoiselle Scuderi to
+write some pleasant verses, which she read to the King the following evening, at
+Madame de Maintenon's. Perhaps, for the sake of the picturing of Master René
+carrying off a bride of seventy-three--of unimpeachable quarterings--it was that
+she succeeded in conquering her feelings of the imminence of something
+mysterious and uncanny; but at all events she did so, completely--and the King
+laughed with all his heart, and vowed that Boileau Despreaux had met with his
+master. So La Scuderi's poem was reckoned the very wittiest that ever was
+written.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Several months had elapsed, when chance so willed it that
+Mlle. Scuderi was crossing the Pont Neuf in the glass coach of the Duchesse de
+Montpensier. The invention of those delightful glass coaches was then so recent
+that the people came together in crowds whenever one of them made its appearance
+in the streets, consequently, a gaping crowd gathered about the Duchesse's
+carriage on the Pont Neuf, so that the horses could hardly make their way along.
+Suddenly Mlle. Scuderi heard a sound of quarrelling and curses, and saw a man
+making a way for himself through the crowd, by means of fisticuffs and blows in
+the ribs, and as he came near they were struck by the piercing eyes of a young
+face, deadly pale, and drawn by sorrow. This young man, gazing fixedly upon
+them, vigorously fought his way to them by help of fists and elbows, till he
+reached the carriage-door, threw it open with much violence, and flung a note
+into Mademoiselle Scuderi's lap; after which, he disappeared as he had come,
+distributing and receiving blows and fisticuffs. La Martiničre, who was with her
+mistress, fell back fainting in the carriage with a shriek of terror as soon as
+she saw the young man. In vain Mademoiselle Scuderi pulled the string, and
+called out to the driver. He, as if urged by the foul fiend, kept lashing his
+horses till, scattering the foam from their nostrils, they kicked, plunged, and
+reared, finally thundering over the bridge at a rapid trot. Mademoiselle Scuderi
+emptied the contents of her smelling-bottle out over the fainting La Martiničre,
+who at last opened her eyes, and, shuddering and quaking, clinging convulsively
+to her mistress, with fear and horror in her pale face, groaned out with
+difficulty, &quot;For the love of the Virgin, what did that terrible man want? It was
+he who brought you the jewels on that awful night.&quot; Mademoiselle Scuderi calmed
+her, pointing out that nothing very dreadful had happened after all, and that
+the immediate business in hand was to ascertain the contents of the letter. She
+opened it, and read as follows:--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A dark and cruel fatality, which <i>you</i> could dispel, is
+driving me into an abyss. I conjure you--as a son would a mother, in the glow of
+filial affection--to send the necklace and bracelets to Master René Cardillac,
+on some pretence or other--say, to have something altered, or improved. Your
+welfare---your very life--depend on your doing this. If you do not comply before
+the day after to-morrow, I will force my way into your house, and kill myself
+before your eyes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Thus much is certain, at all events,&quot; said Mademoiselle
+Scuderi, when she had read this letter, &quot;that, whether this mysterious man
+belongs to the band of robbers and murderers, or not, he has no very evil
+designs against me. If he had been able to see me and speak to me on that night,
+who knows what strange events, what dark concatenation of circumstances would
+have been made known to me, of which, at present, I seek, in my soul, the very
+faintest inkling in vain. But, be the matter as it may, that which I am enjoined
+in this letter to do, I certainly <i>shall</i> do, were it for nothing else than to
+be rid of those fatal jewels, which seem to me as if they must be some
+diabolical talisman of the Prince of Darkness's very own. Cardillac is not very
+likely to let them out of his hands again, if once he gets hold of them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She intended to take them to him next day; but it seemed as if
+all the <i>beaux esprits</i> of Paris had entered into a league to assail and besiege
+her with verses, dramas, and anecdotes. Scarce had La Chapelle finished reading
+the scenes of a tragedy, and declared that he considered he had now vanquished
+Racine, when the latter himself came in, and discomfited him with the pathetic
+speech of one of his kings, until Boileau sent some of his fireballs soaring up
+into the dark sky of the tragedies, by way of changing the subject from that
+eternal one of the colonnade of the Louvre, to which the architectural Dr.
+Perrault was shackling him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When high noon arrived, Mademoiselle Scuderi had to go to
+Madame Montansier, so the visit to René Cardillac had to be put off till the
+following day. But the young man was always present to her mind, and a species
+of dim remembrance seemed to be trying to arise in the depths of her being that
+she had, somehow and somewhen, seen that face and features before. Troubled
+dreams disturbed her broken slumbers. It seemed to her that she had acted
+thoughtlessly, and delayed culpably to take hold of the hands which the
+unfortunate man was holding out to her for help--in fact, as if it had depended
+on her to prevent some atrocious crime. As soon as it was fairly light, she had
+herself dressed, and set off to the goldsmith's with the jewels in her hand.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A crowd was streaming towards the Rue Nicaise (where Cardillac
+lived), trooping together at the door, shouting, raging, surging, striving to
+storm into the house, kept back with difficulty by the Marechaussée, who were
+guarding the place. Amid the wild distracted uproar, voices were heard crying,
+&quot;Tear him in pieces! Drag him limb from limb, the accursed murderer!&quot; At length
+Desgrais came up with a number of his men, and formed a lane through the
+thickest of the crowd. The door flew open, and a man, loaded with irons, was
+brought out, and marched off amid the most frightful imprecations of the raging
+populace. At the moment when Mademoiselle Scuderi, half dead with terror and
+gloomy foreboding, caught sight of him, a piercing shriek of lamentation struck
+upon her ears. &quot;Go forward!&quot; she cried to the coachman, and he, with a clever,
+rapid turn of his horses, scattered the thick masses
+of the crowd aside, and pulled up close to René Cardillac's
+door. Desgrais was there, and at his feet a young girl, beautiful as the day,
+half-dressed, with dishevelled hair, and wild grief, inconsolable despair in her
+face, holding his knees embraced, and crying in tones of the bitterest and
+profoundest anguish, &quot;He is innocent! he is innocent!&quot; Desgrais and his men
+tried in vain to shake her off, and raise her from the ground, till at length a
+rough, powerful fellow, gripping her arms with his strong hands, dragged her
+away from Desgrais by sheer force. Stumbling awkwardly, he let the girl go, and
+she went rolling down the stone steps, and lay like one dead on the pavement.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Mademoiselle Scuderi could contain herself no longer. &quot;In
+Christ's name!&quot; she cried, &quot;what has happened? What is going forward here?&quot; She
+hastily opened the carriage-door and stepped out. The crowd made way for her
+deferentially; and when she saw that one or two compassionate women had lifted
+up the girl, laid her on the steps, and were rubbing her brow with strong
+waters, she went up to Desgrais, and with eagerness repeated her question.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A terrible thing has happened,&quot; said Desgrais. &quot;René
+Cardillac was found, this morning, killed by a dagger-thrust. His journeyman,
+Olivier, is the murderer, and has just been taken to prison.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And the girl----&quot; &quot;Is Madelon,&quot; interrupted Desgrais,
+&quot;Cardillac's daughter. The wretched culprit was her sweetheart, and now she is
+crying and howling, and screaming over and over again that Olivier is
+innocent--quite innocent; but she knows all about this crime, and I must have
+her taken to prison too.&quot; As he spoke he cast one of his baleful, malignant
+looks at the girl, which made Mademoiselle Scuderi shudder. The girl was now
+beginning to revive, and breathe again faintly, though still incapable of speech
+or motion. There she lay with closed eyes, and people did not know what to do,
+whether to take her indoors, or leave her where she was a little longer till she
+recovered. Mademoiselle Scuderi looked upon this innocent creature deeply moved,
+with tears in her eyes. She felt a horror of Desgrais and his men. Presently
+heavy footsteps came downstairs, those of the men bearing Cardillac's body.
+Coming to a rapid decision, Mademoiselle Scuderi cried out, &quot;I shall take this
+girl home with me; the rest of the affair concerns you, Desgrais.&quot; A murmur of
+approval ran through the crowd. The women raised the girl; every one crowded up;
+a hundred hands were proffered to help, and she was borne to the carriage like
+one hovering in air, whilst from every lip broke blessings on the kind lady who
+had saved her from arrest and criminal trial.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Madelon lay for many hours in deep unconsciousness, but at
+length the efforts of Seron---then the most celebrated physician in Paris--were
+successful in restoring her. Mademoiselle Scuderi completed what Seron had
+commenced, by letting many a gentle ray of hope stream into the girl's heart,
+till at length a violent flood of tears, which started to her eyes, brought her
+relief, and she was able to tell what had befallen, with only occasional
+interruptions, when the overmastering might of her sorrow turned her words into
+sobbing.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She had been awakened at midnight by a soft knocking at her
+door, and had recognised the voice of Olivier, imploring her to get up at once,
+as her father lay dying. She sprung up, terrified, and opened the door. Olivier,
+pale and distorted, bathed in perspiration, led the way, with tottering steps,
+to the workshop; she followed. There her father was lying with his eyes set, and
+the deathrattle in his throat. She threw herself upon him, weeping wildly, and
+then observed that his shirt was covered with blood. Olivier gently lifted her
+away, and then busied himself in bathing a wound (which was on her father's left
+breast) with wound-balsam, and in washing it. As he was so doing her father's
+consciousness came back; the rattle in his throat ceased, and, looking first on
+her, and then on Olivier with most expressive glances, he took her hand and
+placed it in Olivier's, pressing them both together. She and Olivier then knelt
+down beside her father's bed; he raised himself with a piercing cry, immediately
+fell back again, and with a deep inspiration, departed this life. On this they
+both wept and lamented. Olivier told her how her father had been murdered in his
+presence during an expedition on which he had accompanied him that night by his
+order, and how he had with the utmost difficulty carried him home, not supposing
+him to be mortally wounded. As soon as it was day, the people of the house--who
+had heard the sounds of the footsteps, and of the weeping and lamenting during
+the night--came up, and found them still kneeling, inconsolable by the father's
+body. Then an uproar commenced, the Marechaussée broke in and Olivier was taken
+to prison as her father's murderer. Madelon added the most touching account of
+Olivier's virtues, goodness, piety, and sincerity, telling how he had honoured
+his master as if he had been his own father, and how the latter returned his
+affection in the fullest measure, choosing him for his son-in-law in spite of
+his poverty, because his skill and fidelity were equal to the nobleness of his
+heart. All this Madelon spoke right out of the fullness of her heart, and added
+that if Olivier had thrust a dagger into her father's heart before her very
+eyes, she would rather have thought it a delusion of Satan's than have believed
+that Olivier was capable of such a terrible and awful crime.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Mademoiselle Scuderi, most deeply touched by Madelon's
+nameless sufferings, and quite disposed to believe in poor Olivier's innocence,
+made inquiries, and found everything confirmed which Madelon had said as to the
+domestic relations between the master and his workman. The people of the house
+and the neighbours all gave Olivier the character of being the very model of
+good, steady, exemplary behaviour. No one knew anything whatever against him,
+and yet, when the crime was alluded to, every one shrugged his shoulders, and
+thought there was something incomprehensible about that.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Olivier, brought before the Chambre Ardente, denied--as
+Mademoiselle Scuderi learned--with the utmost steadfastness the crime of which
+he was accused, and maintained that his master had been attacked in the street
+in his presence, and borne down, and that he had carried him home still alive,
+although he did not long survive. This agreed with Madelon's statement.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Over and over again Mademoiselle Scuderi had the very minutest
+circumstances of the awful event related to her. She specially inquired if there
+had ever been any quarrel between Olivier and the father, whether Olivier was
+altogether exempt from that propensity to hastiness which often attacks the best
+tempered people like a blind madness, and leads them to commit deeds which seem
+to exclude all voluntariness of action; but the more enthusiastically Madelon
+spoke of the peaceful home-life which the three had led together, united in the
+most sincere affection, the more did every vestige of suspicion against Olivier
+disappear from her mind. Closely examining and considering everything, starting
+from the assumption that, notwithstanding all that spoke so loudly for his
+innocence, Olivier yet <i>had</i> been Cardillac's murderer, Mademoiselle Scuderi
+could find, in all the realm of possibility, no motive for the terrible deed,
+which, in any case, was bound to destroy his happiness. Poor, though skilful, he
+succeeds in gaining the good will of the most renowned of masters; he loves the
+daughter--his master favours his love. Happiness, good fortune for the rest of
+his life are laid open before him. Supposing, then, that--God knows on what
+impulse--overpowered by anger, he should have made this murderous attack on his
+master, what diabolical hyprocrisy it required to conduct himself after the deed
+as he had done. With the firmest conviction of his innocence, Mademoiselle
+Scuderi came to the resolution to save Olivier at whatever cost.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It seemed to her most advisable, before perhaps appealing to
+the King in person, to go to the President, La Regnie, point out for his
+consideration all the circumstances which made for Olivier's innocence, and so,
+perhaps, kindle in his mind a conviction favourable to the accused which might
+communicate itself beneficially to the judges.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">La Regnie received her with all the consideration which was
+the due of a lady of her worth, held in high esteem by His Majesty himself. He
+listened in silence to all she had to say concerning Olivier's circumstances,
+relationships, and character; and also concerning the crime itself. A delicate,
+almost malignant, smile, however, was all the token which he gave that the
+adjurations, the reminders (accompanied by plentiful tears) that every judge
+ought to be, not the enemy of the accused, but ready to attend, too, to whatever
+spoke in his favour were not gliding by ears which were perfectly deaf. When at
+length Mademoiselle Scuderi, quite exhausted and wiping the tears from her
+cheeks, was silent, La Regnie began, saying:--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is quite characteristic of your excellent heart,
+Mademoiselle, that, moved by the tears of a young girl who is in love, you
+should credit all she says; nay, be incapable of grasping the idea of a fearful
+crime such as this. But it is otherwise with the Judge, who is accustomed to
+tear off the mask from vile and unblushing hyprocrisy
+and deception. It is, of course, not incumbent on me to
+disclose the course of a criminal process to every one who chooses to inquire. I
+do my duty, Mademoiselle! The world's opinion troubles me not at all. Evil-doers
+should tremble before the Chambre Ardente, which knows no punishments save blood
+and fire. But by you, Mademoiselle, I would not be looked upon as a monster of
+severity and barbarity; therefore, permit me to place before your eyes in few
+words the bloodguilt of this young criminal, upon whom, Heaven be thanked,
+vengeance has fallen. Your acute intelligence will then despise the generous
+feeling and kindliness which do honour to you, but in me would be out of place.
+Eh bien! this morning René
+Cardillac is found murdered by a dagger-thrust, no one is by him except his
+workman, Olivier Brusson and the daughter. In Olivier's room there is found,
+amongst other things, a dagger covered with fresh blood which exactly fits into
+the wound. Olivier says, 'Cardillac was attacked in the street before my eyes.'
+'Was the intention to rob him?' 'I do not know.' 'You were walking with him and
+you could not drive off the murderer or detain him?' 'My master was walking
+fifteen or perhaps sixteen paces in front of me; I was following him.' 'Why, in
+all the world, so far behind?' 'My master wished it so.' 'And what had Master
+Cardillac to do in the streets so late?' 'That I cannot say.' 'But he was never
+in the habit of being out after nine o'clock at other times, was he?' At this
+Olivier hesitates, becomes confused, sighs, shed tears, vows by all that is
+sacred that Cardillac <i>did</i> go out that night, and met with his death. Now
+observe, Mademoiselle, it is proved to the most absolute certainty that
+Cardillac did <i>not</i> leave the house that night, consequently Olivier's assertion
+that he went with him is a barefaced falsehood. The street door of the house
+fastens with a heavy lock, which makes a penetrating noise in opening and
+closing, also the door itself creaks and groans on its hinges, so that, as
+experiments have proved, the noise is heard quite distinctly in the upper
+stories of the house. Now, there lives in the lower story, that is to say, close
+to the street door, old Maitre Claude Patru with his housekeeper, a person of
+nearly eighty years of age, but still hale and active. Both of them heard
+Cardillac, according to his usual custom, come down stairs at nine o'clock
+exactly, close and bolt the door with a great deal of noise, go upstairs again,
+read evening prayer, and then (as was to be presumed by the shutting of the
+door) go into his bedroom. Maitre Claude suffers from sleeplessness like many
+other old people; and on the night in question he could not close an eye,
+therefore, about half past nine the housekeeper struck a light in the kitchen,
+which she reached by crossing the passage, and sat down at the table beside her
+master with an old chronicle-book, from which she read aloud, whilst the old
+man, fixing his thoughts on the reading, sometimes sat in his arm-chair,
+sometimes walked slowly up and down the room to try and bring on sleepiness. All
+was silence in the house till nearly midnight; but then they heard overhead
+rapid footsteps, a heavy fall, as of something on to the floor, and immediately
+after that a hollow groaning. They both were struck by a peculiar alarm and
+anxiety, the horror of the terrible deed which had just been committed seemed to
+sweep past them. When day came what had been done in the darkness was brought
+clearly to light.&quot;<p class="normal">&quot;But, in the name of all the Saints,&quot; cried Mademoiselle
+Scuderi, &quot;considering all the circumstances which I have told you at such
+length, can you think of any <i>motive</i> for this diabolical deed?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hm!&quot; answered La Regnie. &quot;Cardillac was anything but a poor
+man. He had valuable jewels in his possession.&quot; &quot;But all he had would go to the
+daughter! You forget that Olivier was to be Cardillac's son-in-law.&quot; &quot;Perhaps he
+was compelled to share with others,&quot; said La Regnie, &quot;or to do the deed wholly
+for them!&quot; &quot;Share!--murder for others!&quot; cried Mademoiselle Scuderi, in utter
+amaze.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You must learn, Mademoiselle,&quot; continued La Regnie, &quot;that
+Olivier's blood would have been flowing on the Place de Grčve before this time,
+but that his crime is connected with that deeply-hidden mystery which has so
+long brooded over Paris. It is clear that Olivier belongs to that formidable
+band which, setting at defiance every attempt at observation or discovery,
+carries on its nefarious practices with perfect immunity. Through him everything
+will, must be discovered. Cardillac's wound is precisely the same as all those
+of the persons who have been robbed and murdered in the streets and houses; and
+most conclusive of all, since Olivier's arrest, the robberies and murders have
+ceased; the streets are as safe by night as by day. Proof enough that Olivier
+was most probably the chief of the band. As yet he will not confess; but there
+are means of making him speak against his will.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And Madelon!&quot; cried Mademoiselle Scuderi, &quot;that truthful,
+innocent creature.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah!&quot; cried La Regnie, with one of his venomous smiles, &quot;who
+answers to me that <i>she</i> is not in the plot, too? She does not care so very much
+about her father. Her tears are all for the murderer boy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What?&quot; cried Mademoiselle Scuderi, &quot;not for her father?--that
+girl--impossible!&quot; &quot;Oh!&quot; continued La Regnie, &quot;remember the
+Brinvilliers! You must pardon me, if by-and-by I have to carry off
+your <i>protégée</i>, and put her in the Conciergerie.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Mademoiselle Scuderi shuddered at this grizly notion. It
+seemed to her that no truth or virtue could endure before this terrible man; as
+if he spied out murder and bloodguilt in the deepest and most hidden thoughts of
+people's hearts. She rose. &quot;Be human!&quot; was all that in her state of anxiety and
+oppression she was able, with difficulty, to say. As she was just going to
+descend the stairs, to which the President had attended her with ceremonious
+courtesy, a strange idea came to her--she knew not how. &quot;Might I be allowed to
+see this unfortunate Olivier Brusson?&quot; she inquired, turning round sharply. He
+scrutinised her
+face with thoughtful looks, and then his face distorted itself
+into the repulsive smile which was characteristic of him.
+&quot;Doubtless, Mademoiselle,&quot; he said, &quot;your idea is that, trusting your own
+feelings--the inward voice--more than that which happened
+before our eyes, you would like to examine into Olivier's guilt or innocence for
+yourself. If you do not fear that gloomy abode of crime--if it
+is not hateful to you to see those types of depravity in all
+their gradations--the doors of the Conciergerie shall be opened to you in two
+hours time. Olivier, whose fate excites your sympathy, shall be brought to you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In truth, Mademoiselle Scuderi could not bring herself to
+believe in Olivier's guilt. Everything spoke against him. Indeed, no judge in
+the world would have thought otherwise than La Regnie, in the face of what had
+happened. But the picture of domestic happiness which Madelon had placed before
+her eyes in such vivid colours, outweighed and outshone all suspicion, so that
+she preferred to adopt the hypothesis of some inscrutable mystery rather than
+believe what her whole nature revolted against.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She thought she would hear Olivier's narrative of the events
+of that night of mystery, and in this manner, possibly, penetrate further into a
+secret which the judges, perhaps, did not see into, because they thought it
+unworthy of investigation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Arrived at the Conciergerie, she was taken into a large,
+well-lighted room. Presently she heard the ring of fetters. Olivier Brusson was
+brought in; but as soon as she saw him she fell down fainting. When she
+recovered, he was gone. She demanded with impetuosity to be taken to her
+carriage; she would not remain another moment in that place of crime and
+wickedness. Alas! at the first glance she recognised in Olivier Brusson the
+young man who had thrown the letter into her carriage on the Pont Neuf, and who
+had brought her the casket with the jewels. Now all doubt was gone, La Regnie's
+terrible suspicions completely justified. Olivier belonged to the atrocious
+band, and had, doubtless, murdered his master! And Madelon! Never before so
+bitterly deceived by her kind feelings, Mademoiselle Scuderi, under this deadly
+attack upon her by the power of the evil one here below--in whose very existence
+she had not believed--doubted if there was such a thing as truth. She gave
+admittance to the fearful suspicion that Madelon, too, was forsworn, and might
+have a hand in the bloody deed. And as it is the nature of the human mind that,
+when an idea has dawned upon it, it eagerly seeks, and finds, colours in which
+to paint that idea more and more vividly, she, as she weighed and considered all
+the circumstances of the crime along with Madelon's behaviour, found a very
+great deal to nourish suspicion. Many things which had hitherto been considered
+proofs of innocence and purity, now became evidences of studied hypocrisy and
+deep, corrupt wickedness. Those heartrending cries of sorrow, and the bitter
+tears, might well have been pressed from her by the deadly dread of her lover's
+bleeding--nay, of her own falling into the executioner's hands. With a resolve
+at once to cast away the serpent she had been cherishing, Mademoiselle Scuderi
+alighted
+from her carriage. Madelon threw herself at her feet. Her
+heavenly eyes--(no Angel of God's has them more truthful)--raised to her, her
+hands pressed to her heaving breast, she wept, imploring help and consolation.
+Mademoiselle Scuderi, controlling herself with difficulty, giving to the tone of
+her voice as much calmness and gravity as she could, said, &quot;Go! go!--be thankful
+that the murderer awaits the just punishment of his crime. May the Holy Virgin
+grant that blood-guiltiness does not weigh heavily on your own head also.&quot; With
+a bitter cry of &quot;Alas! then all is over!&quot; Madelon fell fainting to the ground.
+Mademoiselle Scuderi left her to the care of La Martiničre, and went to another
+room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Much distressed, and at variance with all earthly things, she
+longed to depart from a world filled with diabolical treachery and falsehood.
+She complained of the destiny which had granted her so many years in which to
+strengthen her belief in truth and virtue, only to shatter in her old days the
+beautiful fancies which had illumined her path.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She heard Madelon, as La Martiničre was leading her away,
+murmur in broken accents, &quot;<i>Her</i>, too, have the terrible men deceived. Ah!
+wretched me!--miserable Olivier!&quot; The tones of the voice went to her heart, and
+again there dawned within her the belief in the existence of some mystery, in
+Olivier's innocence. Torn by the most contradictory feelings, she cried, &quot;What
+spirit of the pit has mixed <i>me</i> up in this terrible story, which will be my
+very death!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At this moment Baptiste came in pale and terrified, to say
+that Desgrais was at the door. Since the dreadful La Voisin trial the appearance
+of Desgrais in a house was the sure precursor of some criminal accusation. Hence
+Baptiste's terror, as to which his mistress asked him with a gentle smile, &quot;What
+is the matter, Baptiste? Has the name of Scuderi been found in La Voisin's
+lists?&quot; &quot;Ah! For Christ's sake,&quot; cried Baptiste, trembling in every limb, &quot;how
+can you say such a thing; but Desgrais--the horrible Desgrais--is looking so
+mysterious, and presses in so--he seems hardly able to wait till he can see
+you.&quot; &quot;Well, Baptiste,&quot; she said, &quot;bring him in at once, this gentleman who is
+so frightful to you, and who to <i>me</i>, at all events, can cause no anxiety.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;President La Regnie sends me to you, Mademoiselle,&quot; said
+Desgrais, when he entered, &quot;with a request which he scarce would dare to make if
+he did not know your goodness and bravery, and if the last hope of bringing to
+light an atrocious deed of blood did not lie in your hands, had you not already
+taken such interest (as well as bearing a part), in this case, which is keeping
+the Chambre Ardente, and all of us, in a state of such breathless eagerness.
+Olivier Brusson, since he saw you, has been almost out of his mind. He still
+swears by all that is sacred, that he is completely innocent of René Cardillac's
+death, though he is ready to suffer the punishment he has deserved. Observe,
+Mademoiselle, that the latter admission clearly refers to other crimes of which
+he has been guilty. But all attempts to get him to utter anything further have
+been vain. He begs and implores to be allowed to have an interview with you. To
+you alone will he divulge everything. Vouchsafe then, Mademoiselle, to listen to Brusson's confession.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What?&quot; cried Mademoiselle Scuderi, in indignation, &quot;<i>I</i>
+become an organ of the criminal court, and abuse the confidence of this
+unfortunate fellow to bring him to the scaffold! No! Desgrais. Ruffian and
+murderer though he may be, I could never deceive and betray him thus
+villainously. I will have nothing to do with his avowal. If I did, it would be
+locked up in my heart, as if made to a priest under the seal of the
+confessional.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Perhaps, Mademoiselle,&quot; said Desgrais, with a subtle smile,
+&quot;you might alter your opinion after hearing Brusson. Did you not beg the
+President to be human? This he is, in yielding to Brusson's foolish desire, and
+thus trying one more expedient--the last--before resorting to the rack, for
+which Brusson is long since ripe.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Mademoiselle Scuderi shuddered involuntarily.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Understand, Mademoiselle,&quot; he continued, &quot;you would by no
+means be expected to go again into those gloomy dungeons, which inspired you
+with such horror and loathing. Olivier would be brought to your own house, in
+the night, like a free man; what he should say would not be listened to, though,
+of course, there would be a proper guard with him. He could thus tell you freely
+and unconstrainedly all he had to say. As regards any risk which you might run
+in seeing the wretched being, my life shall answer for that. He speaks of you
+with the deepest veneration; he vows that it is the dark mystery which prevented
+his seeing you earlier which has brought him to destruction. Moreover, it would
+rest with you entirely to repeat as much or as little as you pleased of what
+Brusson confessed to you. How could you be constrained to more?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Mademoiselle Scuderi sat with eyes fixed on the ground, in
+deep reflection. It seemed to her that she could not but obey that Higher Power
+which demanded of her the clearing up of this mystery--as if there were no
+escape for her from the wondrous meshes in which she had become inwound without
+her will. Coming to a rapid decision, she said with solemnity, &quot;God will give me
+self-command and firm resolution. Bring Brusson here; I will see him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As on the night when the jewel-casket had been brought, so
+now, at midnight, there came a knocking at the door. Baptiste, properly
+instructed, opened. Mademoiselle Scuderi's blood ran cold when she heard the
+heavy tread of the guard party which had brought Brusson stationing themselves
+about the passages.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At length the door opened, Desgrais came in, and after him,
+Olivier Brusson, without irons, and respectably dressed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Here is Brusson, Mademoiselle,&quot; said Desgrais, bowing
+courteously; he then departed at once.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Brusson sank down on both knees before Mademoiselle Scuderi.
+The pure, clear expression of a most truthful soul beamed from his face, though
+it was drawn and distorted by terror and bitter pain. The longer she looked at
+him, the more vivid became a remembrance of some well-loved person--she could
+not say whom. When the first feeling of shuddering left her, she forgot that
+Cardillac's murderer was kneeling before her, and, speaking in the pleasant tone
+of quiet goodwill which was natural to her, said--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now, Brusson, what have you to say to me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He--still on his knees--sighed deeply, from profound sorrow,
+and then said--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, Mademoiselle, you whom I so honour and worship, is there
+no trace of recollection of me left in your mind?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She, still looking at him attentively, answered that she had
+certainly traced in his face a likeness to some one whom she had held in
+affection, and it was to this that he owed it that she had overcome her profound
+horror of a murderer so far as to be able to listen to him quietly. Brusson,
+much pained by her words, rose quickly, and stepped backwards a pace, with his
+gloomy glance fixed on the ground. Then, in a hollow voice, he said--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Have you quite forgotten Anne Guiot? Her son, Olivier, the
+boy whom you used to dandle on your knee, is he who is now before you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh! For the love of all the Saints!&quot; she cried, as, covering
+her face with both hands, she sank back in her chair. She had reason for being
+thus horrified. Anne Guiot, the daughter of a citizen who had fallen into
+poverty, had lived with Mademoiselle Scuderi from her childhood; she had brought
+her up like a daughter, with all affection and care. When she grew up, a
+handsome, well-conducted young man, named Claude Brusson, fell in love with her.
+Being a first-rate workman at his trade of a watchmaker, sure to make a capital
+living in Paris, and Anne being very fond of him, Mademoiselle Scuderi saw no
+reason to object to their marrying. They set up house accordingly, lived a most
+quiet and happy domestic life, and the bond between them was knitted more
+closely still by the birth of a most beautiful boy, the image of his pretty
+mother.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Mademoiselle Scuderi made an idol of little Olivier, whom she
+would take away from his mother for hours and days, to pet him and kiss him.
+Hence he attached himself to her, and was as pleased to be with her as with his
+mother. When three years passed, the depressed state of Brusson's trade brought
+it about that job-work was scarcer every day, so that at last it was all he
+could do to get bread to eat. In addition to this came home-sickness for his
+beautiful native Geneva; so the little household went there, spite of
+Mademoiselle Scuderi's dissuasions and promises of all needful assistance. Anne
+wrote once or twice to her foster-mother, and then ceased; so that Mademoiselle
+Scuderi thought she was forgotten in the happiness of the Brusson's life.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was now just three and twenty years since the Brusson's had
+left Paris for Geneva.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Horrible!&quot; cried Mademoiselle Scuderi, when she had to some
+extent recovered herself. &quot;You, Olivier! the son of my Anne! And now!----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Mademoiselle!&quot; said Olivier, quietly and composedly,
+&quot;doubtless you never thought that the boy whom you cherished like the tenderest
+of mothers, whom you dandled on your knee, and to whom you gave sweetmeats,
+would, when grown to manhood, stand before you accused of a terrible murder. I
+am completely innocent! The Chambre Ardente charges me with a crime; but, as I
+hope to die a Christian's death, though it may be by the executioner's hand--I
+am free from all blood-guiltiness. Not by my hand--not by any crime of my
+committing, was it that the unfortunate Cardillac came to his end.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As he said this, Olivier began to tremble and shake so, that
+Mademoiselle Scuderi motioned him to a little seat which was near him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have had sufficient time,&quot; he went on, &quot;to prepare myself
+for this interview with you--which I look upon as the last favour of a
+reconciled Heaven--and to acquire as much calmness and self-control as are
+necessary to tell you the story of my terrible, unheard-of misfortunes. Be so
+compassionate as to listen to me calmly, whatever may be your horror at the
+disclosure of a mystery of which you certainly have not the smallest inkling.
+Ah! would to Heaven my poor father had never left Paris! As far as my
+recollections of Geneva carry me, I remember myself as being always bedewed with
+tears by my inconsolable parents, and weeping, myself, at their lamentations,
+which I did not understand. Later, there came to me a clear sense--a full
+comprehension--of the bitterest and most grinding poverty, want, and privation
+in which they were living. My father was deceived in all his expectations; bowed
+down and broken with sorrow, he died, just when he had managed to place me as
+apprentice with a goldsmith. My mother spoke much of you; she longed to tell you
+all her misfortunes, but the despondency which springs from poverty prevented
+her. That, and also, no doubt, false modesty, which often gnaws at a mortally
+wounded heart, kept her from carrying out her idea. She followed my father to
+the grave a few months after his death.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Poor Anne! Poor Anne!&quot; said Mademoiselle Scuderi, overwhelmed
+by sorrow.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I thank and praise the eternal power that she has gone where
+she cannot see her beloved son fall, branded with disgrace, by the hand of the
+executioner,&quot; cried Olivier, loudly, raising a wild and terrible glance to the
+skies. Outside, things became unrestful; a sound of people moving about made
+itself heard. &quot;Ho, ho!&quot; said he, with a bitter laugh, &quot;Desgrais is waking up his
+people, as if I could possibly escape. But, let me go on. I was harshly treated
+by my master, though I was very soon one of the best of workmen, and, indeed,
+much better than himself. Once a stranger came to our workshop to buy some of
+our work. When he saw a necklace of my making, he patted my shoulder in a kind
+way, and said, looking with admiration at the necklace, 'Ah, ha! my young
+friend, this is really first-class work, I don't know anybody who could beat it
+but René Cardillac, who, of course, is the greatest of all goldsmiths. You ought
+to go to him; he would be delighted to get hold of you, for there's nobody but
+yourself who would be of such use to him; and again, there's nobody but he who
+can teach you anything.' The words of this stranger sunk deep into my heart.
+There was no more peace for me in Geneva. I was powerfully impelled to leave it,
+and at length I succeeded in getting free from my master. I came to Paris, where
+René Cardillac received me coldly and harshly. But I stuck to my point. He was
+obliged to give me something to try my hand at, however trifling. So I got a
+ring to finish. When I took it back to him, finished, he gazed at me with those
+sparkling eyes of his, as if he would look me through and through. Then he said:
+'You are a first-rate man--a splendid fellow; you may come and work with me.
+I'll pay you well; you'll be satisfied with me.' And he kept his word. I had
+been several weeks with him before I saw Madelon, who, I think, had been
+visiting an aunt of his in the country. At last she came home. O eternal power
+of Heaven, how was it with me when I saw that angelic creature! Has ever a man
+so loved as I! And now! Oh! Madelon!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Olivier could speak no more for sorrow. He held both hands
+over his face, and sobbed violently. At last he conquered the wild pain with a
+mighty effort, and went on--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madelon looked on me with favour, and came oftener and
+oftener into the workshop. Her father watched closely, but many a stolen
+hand-clasp marked our covenant. Cardillac did not seem to notice. My idea was,
+that if I could gain his good-will, and attain Master's rank, I should ask his
+consent to our marriage. One morning, when I was going in to begin work, he came
+to me with anger and contempt in his face. 'I don't want any more of your work,'
+he said. 'Get out of this house, and don't let my eyes ever rest on you again. I
+have no need to tell you the reason. The dainty fruit you are trying to gather
+is beyond the reach of a beggar like you!' I tried to speak, but he seized me
+and pitched me out of the door with such violence that I fell, and hurt my head
+and my arm. Furious, and smarting with the pain, I went off, and at last found a
+kind-hearted acquaintance in the Faubourg St. Germain, who gave me quarters in
+his garret. I had no peace nor rest. At night I wandered round Cardillac's
+house, hoping that Madelon would hear my sighs and lamentings, and perhaps
+manage to speak to me at the window undiscovered. All sorts of desperate plans,
+to which I thought I might persuade her, jostled each other in my brain.
+Cardillac's house in the Rue Nicaise abuts on to a high wall with niches,
+containing old, partly-broken statues. One night I was standing close to one of
+those figures, looking up at the windows of the house which open on the
+courtyard which the wall encloses. Suddenly I saw light in Cardillac's workshop.
+It was midnight, and he never was awake at that time, as he always went to bed
+exactly at nine. My heart beat anxiously: I thought something might be going on
+which would let me get into the Louse. But the light disappeared again
+immediately. I pressed myself closely into the niche, and against the statue;
+but I started back in alarm, feeling a return of my pressure, as if the statue
+had come to life. In the faint moonlight I saw that the stone was slowly
+turning, and behind it appeared a dark form, which crept softly out, and went
+down the street with stealthy tread. I sprang to the statue: it was standing
+close to the wall again, as before. Involuntarily, as if impelled by some power
+within me, I followed the receding dark figure. In passing an image of the
+Virgin, this figure looked round, the light of the lamp before the image falling
+upon his face. It was Cardillac! an indescribable alarm fell upon me; an eery
+shudder came over me. As if driven by some spell, I felt I must follow this
+spectre-like sleep-walker--for that was what I thought my master was, though it
+was not full-moon, the time when that kind of impulse falls upon sleepers. At
+length Cardillac disappeared in a deep shadow; but, by a certain easily
+distinguishable sound, I knew that he had gone into the entry of a house. What
+was the meaning of this? I asked myself in amazement; what was he going to be
+about? I pressed myself close to the wall. Presently there came up a gentleman,
+trilling and singing, with a white plume distinct in the darkness, and clanking
+spurs. Cardillac darted out upon him from the darkness, like a tiger on his
+prey; he fell to the ground gasping. I rushed up with a cry of terror. Cardillac
+was leaning over him as he lay on the ground. 'Master Cardillac, what are you
+about?' I cried aloud. 'Curses upon you!' he cried, and, running by me with
+lightning speed, disappeared. Quite beyond myself--scarcely able to walk a
+step--I went up to the gentleman on the ground, and knelt down
+beside him, thinking it might still be possible to save him. But there was no
+trace of life left in him. In my alarm I scarcely noticed that the Marechaussée
+had come up and surrounded me. 'Another one laid low by the demons!' they cried,
+all speaking at once. 'Ah, ha! youngster! what are you doing here?--are <i>you</i>
+one of the band?' and they seized me. I stammered out in the best way I could
+that I was incapable of such a terrible deed, and that they must let me go. Then
+one of them held a lantern to my face, and said, with a laugh: 'This is Olivier
+Brusson; the goldsmith who works with our worthy Master René Cardillac. <i>He</i>
+murder folks in the street!--very likely story! Who ever heard of a murderer
+lamenting over the body, and letting himself be nabbed? Tell us all about it, my
+lad; out with it straight.' 'Right before my eyes,' I said, 'a man sprang out
+upon this one; stabbed him, and ran off like lightning. I cried as loud as I
+could. I wanted to see if he could be saved.' 'No, my son,' cried one of those
+who had lifted up the body, 'he's done for!--the dagger-stab right through his
+heart, as usual.' 'The deuce!' said another; 'just too late again, as we were
+the day before yesterday.' And they went away with the body.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What <i>I</i> thought of all this I really cannot tell you. I
+pinched myself, to see if I were not in some horrible dream. I felt as if I must
+wake up directly, and marvel at the absurdity of what I had been dreaming.
+Cardillac--my Madelon's father--an atrocious murderer! I had sunk down powerless
+on the stone steps of a house; the daylight was growing brighter and brighter.
+An officer's hat with a fine plume was lying before me on the pavement.
+Cardillac's deed of blood, committed on the spot, came clearly back to my mental
+vision. I ran away in horror.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;With my mind in a whirl, almost unconscious, I was sitting in
+my garret, when the door opened, and René Cardillac came in. 'For Christ's sake!
+what do you want?' I cried. He, paying no heed to this, came up to me, smiling
+at me with a calmness and urbanity which increased my inward horror. He drew
+forward an old rickety stool, and sat down beside me; for I was unable to rise
+from my straw bed, where I had thrown myself. 'Well, Olivier,' he began, 'how is
+it with you, my poor boy? I really was too hasty in turning you out of doors. I
+miss you at every turn. Just now I have a job in hand which I shall never be
+able to finish without you; won't you come back and work with me? You don't
+answer. Yes, I know very well I insulted you. I don't hide from you that I was
+angry about your little bit of love-business with my Madelon; but I have been
+thinking matters well over, and I see that I couldn't have a better son-in-law
+than you, with your abilities, your skilfulness, diligence, trustworthiness.
+Come back with me, and see how soon you and Madelon can make a match of it.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;His words pierced my heart; I shuddered at his wickedness; I
+could not utter a syllable. 'You hesitate,' he said, in an acrid tone, while his
+sparkling eyes transfixed me. 'Perhaps you can't come to-day. You have other
+things to do. Perhaps you want to go and see Desgrais, or have an interview with
+D'Argenson or La Regnie. Take care, my boy, that the talons which you are
+thinking of drawing out to clutch others, don't mangle yourself.' At this my
+deeply-tried spirit found vent. 'Those,' I said, 'who are conscious of horrible
+crimes may dread those names which you have mentioned, but I do not. I have
+nothing to do with them.' 'Remember, Olivier,' he resumed, 'that it is an honour
+to you to work with me--the most renowned Master of his time, everywhere highly
+esteemed for his truth and goodness; any foul calumny would fall back on the
+head of its originator. As to Madelon, I must tell you that it is her alone whom
+you have to thank for my yielding. She loves you with a devotion that I should
+never have given her credit for being capable of. As soon as you were gone, she
+fell at my feet, clasped my knees, and vowed, with a thousand tears, that she
+could never live without you. I thought this was mere imagination, for those
+young things always think they're going to die of love whenever a young wheyface
+looks at them a little kindly. But my Madelon really did fall quite sick and
+ill; and when I tried to talk her out of the silly nonsense, she called out your
+name a thousand times. Last evening I told her I gave in and agreed to
+everything, and would go to-day to fetch you; so this morning she is blooming
+again like any rose, and waiting for you, quite beyond herself with
+love-longing.' May the eternal power of Heaven forgive me, but--I don't know how
+it came about--I suddenly found myself in Cardillac's house, where Madelon, with
+loud cries of 'Olivier!--my Olivier!--my beloved! my husband!' clasped both her
+arms about me, and pressed me to her heart; whilst I, in the plenitude of the
+supremest bliss, swore by the Virgin and all the Saints never, never to leave
+her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Overcome by the remembrance of this decisive moment, Olivier
+was obliged to pause. Mademoiselle Scuderi, horrified at the crime of a man whom
+she had looked on as the incarnation of probity and goodness, cried--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Dreadful!--René Cardillac a member of that band of murderers
+who have so long made Paris into a robber's den!&quot; &quot;A member of the band, do you
+say, Mademoiselle?&quot; said Olivier. &quot;There never was any band; it was René
+Cardillac alone, who sought and found his victims with such an amount of
+diabolical ingenuity and activity. It was in the fact of his being alone that
+his impunity lay--the practical impossibility of coming upon the murderer's
+track. But let me go on. What is coming will clear up the mystery, and reveal
+the secrets of the most wicked, and at the same time most wretched of all
+mankind. You at once see the position in which I now stood towards my master.
+The step was taken, and I could not go back. At times it seemed to me that I had
+rendered myself Cardillac's accomplice in murder, and it was only in Madelon's
+love that I forgot for a time the inward pain which tortured me; only in her
+society could I drive away all outward traces of the nameless horror. When I was
+at work with the old man in the workshop, I could not look him in the
+face--could scarcely speak a word--for the horror which pervaded me in the
+presence of this terrible being, who fulfilled all the duties of the tender
+father and the good citizen, while the night shrouded his atrocities. Madelon,
+pure and pious as an angel, hung upon him with the most idolatrous affection. It
+pierced my heart when I thought that, if ever vengeance should overtake this
+masked criminal, she would be the victim of the most terrible despair. That, of
+itself, closed my lips, though the consequence of my silence should be a
+criminal's death for myself. Although much was to be gathered from what the
+Marechaussée had said, still Cardillac's crimes, their motive, and the manner in
+which he carried them out, were a riddle to me. The solution of it soon came.
+One day Cardillac--who usually excited my horror by laughing and jesting during
+our work, in the highest of spirits--was very grave and thoughtful. Suddenly he
+threw the piece of work he was engaged on aside, so that the pearls and other
+stones rolled about the floor, started to his feet, and said: 'Olivier! things
+cannot go on between us like this; the situation is unendurable. What the
+ablest and most ingenious efforts of Desgrais and his myrmidons failed to find
+out, chance has played into your hands. You saw me at my nocturnal work, to
+which my Evil Star compels me, so that no resistance is possible for me; and it
+was your own Evil Star, moreover, which led you to follow me; wrapped and hid
+you in an impenetrable mantle; gave that lightness to your foot-fall which
+enabled you to move along with the noiselessness of the smaller animals, so that
+I--who see clear by night, as doth the tiger, and hear the smallest sound, the
+humming of the gnat, streets away--did not observe you. Your Evil Star brought
+you to me, my comrade--my accomplice! You see, now, that you can't betray me;
+therefore you shall know all.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I would have cried out, 'Never, never shall I be your
+comrade, your accomplice, you atrocious miscreant.' But the inward horror which
+I felt at his words paralysed my tongue. Instead of words I could only utter an
+unintelligible noise. Cardillac sat down in his working chair again, wiped the
+perspiration from his brow, and seemed to find it difficult to pull himself
+together, hard beset by the recollection of the past. At length he began: 'Wise
+men have much to say of the strange impulses which come to women when they are
+<i>enceinte</i>, and the strange influence which those vivid, involuntary impulses
+exercise upon the child. A wonderful tale is told of <i>my</i> mother. When she was a
+month gone with me she was looking on, with other women, at a court pageant at
+the Trianon, and saw a certain cavalier in Spanish dress, with a glittering
+chain of jewels about his neck, from which she could not remove her eyes. Her
+whole being was longing for those sparkling stones, which seemed to her more
+than earthly. This same cavalier had at a previous time, before my mother was
+married, had designs on her virtue, which she rejected with indignation. She
+recognized him, but now, irradiated by the light of the gems, he seemed to her a
+creature of a higher sphere, the very incarnation of beauty. The cavalier
+noticed the longing, fiery looks which she was bending on him, and thought he
+was in better luck now than of old. He managed to get near her, and to separate
+her from her companions, and entice her to a lonely place. There he clasped her
+eagerly in his arms. My mother grasped at the beautiful chain; but at that
+moment he fell down, dragging her with him. Whether it was apoplexy, or what, I
+do not know; but he was dead. My mother struggled in vain to free herself from
+the clasp of the arms, stiffened as they were in death. With the hollow eyes,
+whence vision had departed, fixed on her, the corpse rolled with her to the
+ground. Her shrieks at length reached people who were passing at some distance;
+they hastened to her, and rescued her from the embrace of this gruesome lover.
+Her fright laid her on a bed of dangerous sickness. Her life was despaired of as
+well as mine; but she recovered, and her confinement was more prosperous than
+had been thought possible. But the terrors of that awful moment had set their
+mark on <i>me</i>. My Evil Star had risen, and darted into me those rays which
+kindled in me one of the strangest and most fatal of passions. Even in my
+earliest childhood I thought there was nothing to compare with glittering
+diamonds with gold settings. This was looked upon as a childish fancy; but it
+was otherwise, for as a boy I stole gold and jewels wherever I could lay hands
+on them, and I knew the difference between good ones and bad, instinctively,
+like the most accomplished connoisseur. Only the pure and valuable attracted me;
+I would not touch alloyed or coined gold. Those inborn cravings were kept in
+check by my father's severe chastisements; but, so that I might always have to
+do with gold and precious stones, I took up the goldsmith's calling. I worked at
+it with passion, and soon became the first living master of that art. Then began
+a period when the natural bent within me, so long restrained, shot forth in
+power, and waxed with might, bearing everything away before it. As soon as I
+finished a piece of work and delivered it, I fell into a state of restlessness
+and disconsolateness which prevented my sleeping, ruined my health, and left me
+no enjoyment in my life. The person for whom I made the work haunted me day and
+night like a spectre--I saw that person continually before my mental vision,
+with my beautiful jewels on, and a voice kept whispering to me: 'They belong to
+you! take them; what's the use of diamonds to the dead?' At last I betook myself
+to thieving. I had access to the houses of the great; I took advantage quickly
+of every opportunity. No locks withstood my skill, and I soon had my work back
+in my hands again. But this was not enough to calm my unrest. That mysterious
+voice made itself heard again, jeering at me, and saying, 'Ho, ho! one of the
+dead is wearing your jewels.' I did not know whence it came, but I had an
+indescribable hatred for all those for whom I made jewelry. More than that, in
+the depths of my heart I began to long to kill them; this frightened me. Just
+then I bought this house. I had concluded the bargain with the owner: here in
+this very room we were sitting, drinking a bottle of wine in honour of the
+transaction. Night had come on, he was going to leave when he said to me: 'Look
+here, Maitre René, before I go I must let you into a secret about this house.'
+He opened that cupboard, which is let into the wall there, and pushed the back
+of it in; this let him into a little closet, where he bowed down and raised a
+trap-door. This showed us a steep, narrow stair, which we went down, and at the
+bottom of it was a little narrow door, which let us out into the open courtyard.
+There he went up to the wall, pushed a piece of iron which projected a very
+little, and immediately a piece of the wall turned round, so that a person could
+get out through the opening into the street. You must see this contrivance
+sometime, Olivier; the sly old monks of the convent, which this house once was,
+must have had it made so as to be able to slip out and in secretly. It is wood
+but covered with lime and mortar on the outside, and to the outer side of it is
+fitted a statue, also of wood, though <i>looking</i> exactly like stone, which turns
+on wooden hinges. When I saw this arrangement, dark ideas surged up in my mind;
+it seemed to me that deeds, as yet mysterious to myself, were here pre-arranged
+for. I had just finished a splendid set of ornaments for a gentleman of the
+court who, I knew, was going to give them to an opera dancer. My death-torture
+soon was on me; the spectre dogged my steps, the whispering devil was at my ear.
+I went back into the house, bathed in a sweat of agony; I rolled about on my
+bed, sleepless. In my mind's eye I saw the man gliding to his dancer with <i>my</i>
+beautiful jewels. Full of fury I sprang up, threw my cloak round me, went down
+the secret stair, out through the wall into the Rue Nicaise. He came, I fell
+upon him, he cried out; but, seizing him from behind, I plunged my dagger into
+his heart. The jewels were mine. When this was done, I felt a peace, a
+contentment within me which I had never known before. The spectre had
+vanished--the voice of the demon was still. <i>Now</i> I knew what was the behest of
+my Evil Star, which I had to obey, or perish. You know all now, Olivier. Don't
+think that, because I must do that which I cannot avoid, I have clean renounced
+all sense of that mercy or kindly feeling which are the portion of all humanity,
+and inherent in man's nature. You know how hard I find it to let any of my work
+go out of my hands, that there are many whom I would not have to die for whom
+nothing will induce me to work; indeed, that in cases when I feel that, next
+day, my spectre will have to be exorcised with blood, that day I settle the
+business by a swashing blow, which lays the holder of my jewels on the ground,
+so that I get them back into my own hands.' Having said all this, Cardillac took
+me into his secret strong-room and showed me his collection of jewels; the King
+does not possess such an one. To each ornament was fastened a small label
+stating for whom it had been made, and when taken back--by theft, robbery, or
+murder.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'On your wedding day, Olivier,' he said, in a solemn tone,
+'you will swear me a solemn oath, with your hand on the crucifix, that as soon
+as I am dead you will at once convert all those treasures into dust,
+by a process which I will tell you of. I will not have any
+human
+being, least of all Madelon and you, come into possession of
+those blood-bought stones.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Shut up in this labyrinth of crime, torn in twain by love and
+abhorrence, I was like one of the damned to whom a glorified angel points, with
+gentle smile, the upward way, whilst Satan holds him down with red-hot talons,
+and the angel's loving smile, reflecting all the bliss of paradise, becomes, to
+him, the very keenest of his tortures. I thought of flight, even of suicide, but
+Madelon! Blame me, blame me, Mademoiselle, for having been too weak to overcome
+a passion which fettered me to my destruction. I am going to atone for my
+weakness by a shameful death. One day Cardillac came in in unusually fine
+spirits, he kissed and caressed Madelon, cast most affectionate looks at me,
+drank, at table, a bottle of good wine, which he only did on high-days and
+holidays, sang, and made merry. Madelon had left us, and I was going to the
+workshop 'Sit still, lad,' cried Cardillac, 'no more work to-day; let's drink
+the health of the most worthy and charming lady in all Paris.' When we had
+clinked our glasses, and he had emptied a bumper, he said: 'Tell me, Olivier,
+how do you like those lines?</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="i6">'Un amant qui craint les voleurs</p>
+<p class="i6">N'est point digne d'amour.'</p>
+</div>
+<p class="continue">And he told me what had happened between you and the King in
+Madam de Maintenon's salon, adding that he had always worshipped you more than
+any other human being, and that his reverence and esteem for your qualities was
+such that his Evil Star paled before you, and he would have no fear that, were
+you to wear the finest piece of his work that ever he made, the spectre would
+ever prompt him to thoughts of murder. 'Listen, Olivier,' he said, 'to what I am
+going to do. A considerable time ago I had to make a necklace and bracelets for
+Henrietta of England, supplying the stones myself. I made of this the best piece
+of work that ever I turned out, and it broke my heart to part with those
+ornaments, which had become the very treasures of my soul. You know of her
+unfortunate death by assassination. The things remained with me, and now I shall
+send them to Mademoiselle Scuderi, in the name of the dreaded band, as a token
+of respect and gratitude. Besides its being an unmistakable mark of her triumph,
+it will be a richly deserved sign of my contempt for Desgrais and his men. You
+shall take her the jewels.' When he mentioned your name, Mademoiselle, dark
+veils seemed to be taken away, revealing the bright image of my happy early
+childhood, rising again in glowing colours before me. A wonderful comfort came
+into my soul, a ray of hope, driving the dark shadows away. Cardillac saw the
+effect his words had produced upon me, and gave it his own interpretation. 'My
+idea seems to please you,' he said. 'I must declare that a deep inward voice,
+very unlike that which cries for blood like a raving wild beast, commanded me to
+do this thing. Many times I feel the strangest ideas come into my mind--an
+inward fear, the dread of something terrible, the awe whereof seems to come
+breathing into this present time from some distant other world, seizes
+powerfully upon me. I even feel, at such times, that the deeds which my Evil
+Star has committed by means of me, may be charged to the account of my immortal
+soul, though it has no part in them. In one of those moods I determined that I
+would make a beautiful diamond crown for the Virgin in the Church of St.
+Eustache. But the indescribable dread always came upon me, stronger than ever,
+when I set to work at it, so that I left it off altogether. Now it seems to me
+that, in presenting Mademoiselle Scuderi with the finest work I have ever turned
+out, I am offering a humble sacrifice to goodness and virtue personified, and
+imploring their powerful intercession.' Cardillac, well acquainted with all the
+minutić of your manner of life, told me the how and the when to take the
+ornaments to you. My whole Being rejoiced, for Heaven seemed to be showing me,
+through the atrocious Cardillac, the way to escape from the hell in which I was
+being tortured. Quite contrarily to Cardillac's wish, I resolved that I would
+get access to you and speak with you. As Anne Brusson's son, and your former
+pet, I thought I would throw myself at your feet and tell you everything. Out of
+consideration for the nameless misery which a disclosure of the secret would
+bring upon Madelon, I knew that you would keep it, but that your grand and
+brilliant intellect would have been sure to find means to put an end to
+Cardillac's wickedness without disclosing it. Do not ask me what those means
+were to have been; I cannot tell. But that you would rescue Madelon and me I
+believed as firmly as I do in the intercession of the Holy Virgin. You know,
+Mademoiselle, that my intention was frustrated that night; but I did not lose
+hope of being more fortunate another time. By-and-by Cardillac suddenly lost all
+his good spirits; he crept moodily about, uttered unintelligible words, and
+worked his arms as if warding off something hostile. His mind seemed full of
+evil thoughts. For a whole morning he had been going on in this way. At last he
+sat down at the work-table, sprang up again angrily, looked out of window, and
+then said, gravely and gloomily, 'I wish Henrietta of England had had my
+jewels.' Those words filled me with terror. I knew that his diseased mind was
+possessed again by the terrible murder-spectre, that the voice of the demon was
+loud again in his ears. I saw your life threatened by the horrible murder-demon.
+If Cardillac could get his jewels back again into his hands, you were safe. The
+danger grew greater every instant. I met you on the Pont Neuf, made my way to
+your carriage, threw you the note which implored you to give the jewels back to
+Cardillac immediately. You did not come. My fear became despair, when, next day,
+Cardillac spoke of nothing but the priceless jewels he had seen before him in
+his dreams. I could only suppose that this referred to <i>your</i> jewels, and I felt
+sure he was brooding over some murderous attack, which he had determined to
+carry out that night. Save you I must, should it cost Cardillac's life. When,
+after the evening prayer, he had shut himself up in his room as usual, I got
+into the courtyard through a window, slipped out through the opening of the
+wall, and stationed myself close at hand, in the deepest shadow. Very soon
+Cardillac came out, and went gliding softly down the street. I followed him. He
+took the direction of the Rue St. Honoré. My heart beat fast. All at once he
+disappeared from me. I determined to place myself at your door. Just as fate had
+ordered matters on the first occasion of my witnessing one of his crimes, there
+came along past me an officer, trilling and singing; he did not see me.
+Instantly a dark form sprang out and attacked him. Cardillac! I determined to
+prevent this murder. I gave a loud shout, and was on the spot in a couple of
+paces. Not the officer, but Cardillac, fell gasping to the ground, mortally
+wounded. The officer let his dagger fall, drew his sword, and stood on the
+defensive, thinking I was the murderer's accomplice. But he hastened away when
+he saw that, instead of concerning myself about <i>him</i>, I was examining the
+fallen man. Cardillac was still alive. I took up the dagger dropped by the
+officer, stuck it in my belt, and, lifting Cardillac on to my shoulders, carried
+him, with difficulty, to the house, and up the secret stair to the workshop. The
+rest you know. You perceive, Mademoiselle, that my only crime was that I
+refrained from giving Madelon's father up to justice, thereby making an end of
+his crimes. I am innocent of bloodguilt. No torture will draw from me the secret
+of Cardillac's iniquities. Not through any action of mine shall that Eternal
+Power, which hid from Madelon the gruesome bloodguilt of her father all this
+time, break in upon her now, to her destruction, nor shall earthly vengeance
+drag the corpse of Cardillac out of the soil which covers it, and brand the
+mouldering bones with infamy. No; the beloved of my soul shall mourn me as an
+innocent victim. Time will mitigate her sorrow for me, but her grief for her
+father's terrible crimes nothing would ever assuage.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Olivier ceased, and then a torrent of tears fell down his
+cheeks.
+He threw himself at Mademoiselle Scuderi's feet, saying
+imploringly,
+&quot;You are convinced that I am innocent; I know you are. Be
+merciful
+to me. Tell me how Madelon is faring.&quot; Mademoiselle Scuderi
+summoned
+La Martiničre, and in a few minutes Madelon was clinging to
+Olivier's neck. &quot;Now that you are here, all is well. I knew that this
+noble-hearted lady would save you,&quot; Madelon cried over and
+over; and Olivier forgot his fate, and all that threatened him. He was free and
+happy. They bewailed, in the most touching manner, what each had suffered for
+the other, and embraced afresh, and wept for joy at being together again.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Had Mademoiselle Scuderi not been convinced of Olivier's
+innocence before, she must have been so when she saw those two lovers
+forgetting, in the rapture of the time, the world, their sufferings, and their
+indescribable sorrows. &quot;None but a guiltless heart,&quot; she cried, &quot;would be
+capable of such blissful forgetfulness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The morning light came breaking into the room, and Desgrais
+knocked gently at the door, reminding them that it was time to take Olivier
+away, as it could not be done later without attracting attention. The lovers had
+to part.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The dim anticipations which Mademoiselle Scuderi had felt when
+Olivier first came in had now embodied themselves in actual life--in a
+terrible fashion. The son of her much-loved Anne was, though
+innocent, implicated in a manner which apparently made it impossible to save him
+from a shameful death. She admired his heroism, which led him to prefer death
+loaded with the imputation of guilt to the betrayal of a secret which would kill
+Madelon. In the whole realm of possibility, she could see no mode of saving the
+unfortunate lad from the gruesome prison and the dreadful trial. Yet it was
+firmly impressed on her mind that she must not shrink from any sacrifice to
+prevent this most crying injustice.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She tortured herself with all kinds of plans and projects,
+which were chiefly of the most impracticable and impossible kind--rejected as
+soon as formed. Every glimmer of hope grew fainter and fainter, and she
+well-nigh despaired. But Madelon's pious, absolute, childlike confidence, the
+inspired manner in which she spoke of her lover, soon to be free, and to take
+her to his heart as his wife, restored Mademoiselle Scuderi's hopes to some
+extent.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">By way of beginning to do something, she wrote to La Regnie a
+long letter, in which she said that Olivier Brusson had proved to her in the
+most credible manner his entire innocence of Cardillac's murder, and that
+nothing but a heroic resolution to carry to the grave with him a secret, the
+disclosure of which would bring destruction upon an innocent and virtuous
+person, withheld him from laying a statement before the Court which would
+completely clear him from all guilt, and show that he never belonged to the band
+at all. She said everything she could think of, with the best eloquence at her
+command, which might be expected to soften La Regnie's hard heart.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He replied to this in a few hours, saying he was very glad
+that Olivier had so thoroughly justified himself in the eyes of his kind patron
+and protector; but, as regarded his heroic resolution to carry to the grave with
+him a secret relating to the crime with which he was charged, he regretted that
+the Chambre Ardente could feel no admiration for heroism of that description,
+but must endeavour to dispel it by powerful means. In three days time he had
+little doubt he would be in possession of the wondrous secret, which would
+probably bring many strange matters to light.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Mademoiselle Scuderi knew well what the terrible La Regnie
+meant by the &quot;powerful means,&quot; which were to break down Olivier's heroism. It
+was but too clear that the unfortunate wretch was threatened with the torture.
+In her mortal anxiety it at last occurred to her that, were it only to gain
+time, the advice of a lawyer would be of some service. Pierre Arnaud d'Andilly
+was at that time the most celebrated advocate in Paris. His goodness of heart,
+and his highly honourable character were on a par with his professional skill
+and his comprehensive mind. To him she repaired, and told him the whole tale, as
+far as it was possible to do so without divulging Olivier's secret. She expected
+that d'Andilly would warmly espouse the cause of this innocent man, but in this
+she was wofully disappointed. He listened silently to what she had to say, and
+then, with a quiet smile, answered in the words of Boileau, &quot;Le vrai peut
+quelquefois n'etre point vraisemblable.&quot; He showed her that there were the most
+grave and marked suspicions against Olivier. That La Regnie's action was by no
+means severe or premature, but wholly regular; indeed, that to do otherwise
+would be to neglect his duty as a Judge. He did not believe that
+he--d'Andilly--could save Brusson from the rack, by the very ablest of pleading.
+Nobody could do that but Brusson himself, either by making the fullest
+confession, or by accurately relating the circumstances of Cardillac's murder,
+which might lead to further discoveries.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then I will throw myself at the King's feet and sue for
+mercy,&quot; cried Mademoiselle Scuderi, her voice choked by weeping.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For Heaven's sake, do not do that,&quot; cried d'Andilly. &quot;Keep it
+in reserve for the last extremity. If it fails you once, it is lost for ever.
+The King will not pardon a criminal such as Brusson; the people would justly
+complain of the danger to them. Possibly Brusson, by revealing his secret, or
+otherwise, may manage to dispel the suspicion which is on him at present. Then
+would be the time to resort to the King, who would not ask what was legally
+proved, but be guided by his own conviction.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Mademoiselle Scuderi could not but agree with what d'Andilly's
+great experience dictated. She was sitting in her room, pondering as to
+what--in the name of the Virgin and all the saints--she should
+try next to do, when La Martiničre came to say that the Count de Miossens,
+Colonel of the King's Body Guard, was most anxious to speak with her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pardon me, Mademoiselle,&quot; said the Colonel, bowing with a
+soldier's courtesy, &quot;for disturbing you, and breaking in upon you at such an
+hour. Two words will be sufficient excuse for me. I come about Olivier Brusson.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Olivier Brusson,&quot; cried Mademoiselle Scuderi, all excitement
+as to what she was going to hear, &quot;that most unfortunate of men! What have you
+to say of him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I knew,&quot; said Miossens, laughing again, &quot;that your
+<i>protégé's</i> name would ensure me a favourable hearing. Everybody is convinced of
+Brusson's guilt. I know you think otherwise, and, it is said, your opinion rests
+on what he himself has told you. With me the case is different. Nobody can be
+more certain than I that Brusson is innocent of Cardillac's death.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Speak! Oh, speak!&quot; cried Mademoiselle Scuderi.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I was the man who stabbed the old goldsmith, in the Rue St.
+Honoré, close to your door,&quot; said the Colonel.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;<i>You</i>--<i>you!</i>&quot; cried Mademoiselle Scuderi. &quot;In the name of
+all the Saints, how?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And I vow to you, Mademoiselle, that I am very proud of my
+achievement. Cardillac, I must tell you, was a most abandoned old hypocritical
+ruffian, who went about at night robbing and murdering people, and was never
+suspected of anything of the kind. I don't, myself, know from whence it came,
+that I felt a suspicion of the old scoundrel when he seemed so distressed at
+handing me over some work which I had got him to do for me, when he carefully
+wormed out of me for whom I designed it, and cross-questioned my valet as to the
+times when I was in the habit of going to see a certain lady. It struck me long
+ago, that all the people who were murdered by the unknown hands, had the
+self-same wound, and I saw quite clearly, that the murderer had practised to the
+utmost perfection of certainty that particular thrust, which must kill
+instantaneously--and that he reckoned upon it; so that, if it were to fail, the
+fight would be fair. This led me to employ a precaution so very simple and
+obvious, that I cannot imagine how somebody else did not think of it long ago. I
+wore a light breastplate of steel under my dress. Cardillac set upon me from
+behind. He grasped me with the strength of a giant, but his finely directed
+thrust glided off the steel breast-plate. I then freed myself from his clutch,
+and planted my dagger into his heart.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And you have said nothing?&quot; said Mademoiselle Scuderi. &quot;You
+have not told the authorities anything about this?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Allow me to point out to you, Mademoiselle,&quot; said he, &quot;that
+to have done that would have involved me in a most terrible legal investigation,
+probably ending in my ruin. La Regnie, who scents out crime everywhere, would
+not have been at all likely to believe me at once, when I accused the good,
+respectable, exemplary Cardillac of being an habitual murderer. The sword of
+Justice would, most probably, have turned its point against me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Impossible,&quot; said Mademoiselle Scuderi. &quot;Your rank--your
+position----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh!&quot; interrupted Miossens, &quot;remember the Marechal de
+Luxemburg; he took it into his head to have his horoscope cast by Le Sage, and
+was suspected of poisoning, and put in the Bastille. No; by Saint Dyonys! not
+one moment of freedom--not the tip of one of my ears, would I trust to that
+raging La Regnie, who would be delighted to put his knife to all our throats.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But this brings an innocent man to the scaffold,&quot; said
+Mademoiselle Scuderi.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Innocent, Mademoiselle!&quot; cried Miossens. &quot;Do you call
+Cardillac's accomplice an innocent man? He who assisted him in his crimes, and
+has deserved death a hundred times? No, in verity; <i>he</i> suffers justly; although
+I told you the true state of the case in the hope that you might somehow make
+use of it in the interests of your <i>protégé­</i>, without bringing me into the
+clutches of the Chambre Ardente.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Mademoiselle Scuderi, delighted at having her conviction of
+Olivier's innocence confirmed in such a decided manner, had no hesitation in
+telling the Count the whole affair, since he already knew all about Cardillac's
+crimes, and in begging him to go with her to d'Andilly, to whom everything
+should be communicated under the seal of secrecy, and who should advise what was
+next to be done.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">D'Andilly, when Mademoiselle Scuderi had told him at full
+length all the circumstances, inquired again into the very minutest particulars.
+He asked Count Miossens if he was quite positive as to its having been Cardillac
+who attacked him, and if he would recognise Olivier as the person who carried
+away the body.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not only,&quot; said Miossens, &quot;was the moon shining brightly, so
+that I recognised the old goldsmith perfectly well, but this morning, at La
+Regnie's, I saw the dagger with which he was stabbed. It is mine; I know it by
+the ornamentation of the handle. And as I was within a pace of the young man, I
+saw his face quite distinctly, all the more because his hat had fallen off. As a
+matter of course I should know him in a moment.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">D'Andilly looked before him in meditation for a few moments,
+and said: &quot;There is no way of getting Brusson out of the hands of justice by any
+ordinary means. On Madelon's account, nothing will induce him to admit that
+Cardillac was a robber and a murderer. And even were he to do so, and succeed in
+proving the truth of it by pointing out the secret entrance and the collection
+of the stolen jewels, death would be his own lot, as an accomplice. The same
+consequence would follow if Count Miossens related to the judges the adventure
+with Cardillac. Delay is what we must aim at. Let Count Miossens go to the
+Conciergerie, be confronted with Olivier, and recognise him as the person who
+carried off Cardillac's body; let him then go to La Regnie, and say, 'I saw a
+man stabbed in the Rue St. Honoré, and was close to the body when another man
+darted up, bent down over it, and finding life still in it, took it on his
+shoulders and carried it away. I recognise Olivier Brusson as that man.' This
+will lead to a further examination of Brusson, to his being confronted with
+Count Miossens; the torture will be postponed, and further investigations made.
+Then will be the time to have recourse to the King. Your brilliant intellect,
+Mademoiselle, will point out the most fitting way to do this. I think it would
+be best to tell His Majesty the whole story. Count Miossen's statement will
+support Olivier's. Perhaps, too, an examination of Cardillac's house would help
+matters. The King might then follow the bent of his own judgment--of his kind
+heart, which might pardon where justice could only punish.&quot; Count Miossens
+closely followed D'Andilly's advice, and everything fell out just as he had said
+it would.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was now time to repair to the King; and this was the chief
+difficulty of all, as he had such an intense horror of Brusson--whom he believed
+to be the man who had for so long kept Paris in a state of terror--that the
+least allusion to him threw him at once into the most violent anger. Madame de
+Maintenon, faithful to her system of never mentioning unpleasant subjects to
+him, declined all intermediation; so that Brusson's fate was entirely in
+Mademoiselle Scuderi's hands. After long reflection, she hit upon a scheme which
+she put in execution at once. She put on a heavy black silk dress, with
+Cardillac's jewels, and a long black veil, and appeared at Madame de Maintenon's
+at the time when she knew the King would be there. Her noble figure in this
+mourning garb excited the reverential respect even of those frivolous persons
+who pass their days in Court antechambers. They all made way for her, and when
+she came into the presence, the King himself rose, astonished, and came forward
+to meet her. The splendid diamonds of the necklace and bracelets flashed in his
+eyes, and he cried: &quot;By Heavens! Cardillac's work!&quot; Then, turning to Madame de
+Maintenon, he said, with a pleasant smile, &quot;See, Madame la Marquise, how our
+fair lady mourns for her affianced husband.&quot; &quot;Ah, Sire!&quot; said Mademoiselle
+Scuderi, as if keeping up the jest, &quot;it would ill become a mourning bride to
+wear such bravery. No; I have done with the goldsmith; nor would I remember him,
+but that the gruesome spectacle of his corpse carried close by me before my eyes
+keeps coming back to my memory.&quot; &quot;What!&quot; said the King, &quot;did you actually see
+him, poor fellow?&quot; She then told him in few words (not introducing Brusson into
+the business at all) how chance had brought her to Cardillac's door just when
+the murder had been discovered. She described Madelon's wild terror and sorrow;
+the impression made upon her by the beautiful girl; how she had taken her out of
+Desgrais's hands, and away with her, amid the applause of the crowd. The scenes
+with La Regnie, with Desgrais, with Olivier Brusson himself, now followed, the
+interest constantly increasing. The King, carried away by the vividness with
+which Mademoiselle Scuderi told the tale, did not notice that the Brusson case,
+which he so abominated, was in question, listened breathlessly, occasionally
+expressing his interest by an ejaculation. And ere he was well aware, still
+amazed by the marvels which he was hearing, not yet able to arrange them all in
+his mind, behold! Mademoiselle Scuderi was at his feet, imploring mercy for
+Olivier Brusson.</p>
+
+<p class="normal" dir="ltr">&quot;What are you doing?&quot; broke out the King, taking both her
+hands and making her sit down. &quot;You take us by storm in a marvellous fashion. It
+is a most terrible story! Who is to answer for the truth of Brusson's
+extraordinary tale?&quot; &quot;Miossen's deposition proves it,&quot; she cried; &quot;the searching
+of Cardillac's house; my own firm conviction, and, ah! Madelon's pure heart,
+which recognises equal purity in poor Brusson.&quot; The King, about to say
+something, was interrupted by a noise in the direction of the door. Louvois, who
+was at work in the next room, put his head in with an anxious expression. The
+King rose, and followed him out. Both Madame de Maintenon and Mademoiselle
+Scuderi thought this interruption of evil augury; for, though once surprised
+into interest, the King might take care not to fall into the snare a second
+time. But he came back in a few minutes, walked up and down the room two or
+three times, quickly, and then, pausing with his hands behind his back before
+Mademoiselle Scuderi, he said, in a half-whisper, without looking at her: &quot;I
+should like to see this Madelon of yours.&quot; On this Mademoiselle Scuderi said:
+&quot;Oh! gracious Sire! what a marvellous honour you vouchsafe to the poor
+unfortunate child. She will be at your feet in an instant.&quot; She tripped to the
+door as quickly as her heavy dress allowed, and called to those in the anteroom
+that the King wished to see Madelon Cardillac. She came back weeping and sobbing
+with delight and emotion. Having expected this, she had brought Madelon with
+her, leaving her to wait with the Marquise's maid, with a short petition in her
+hand drawn up by D'Andilly. In a few moments she had prostrated herself,
+speechless, at the King's feet. Awe, confusion, shyness, love, and sorrow sent
+the blood coursing faster and faster through her veins; her cheeks glowed, her
+eyes sparkled with the bright tear-drops, which now and again fell from her
+silken lashes down to her beautiful lily breast. The King was moved by the
+wonderful beauty of the girl. He raised her gently, and stooped down as if about
+to kiss her hand, which he had taken in his; but he let the hand go, and gazed
+at her with tears in his eyes, evincing deep emotion. Madame de Maintenon
+whispered to Mademoiselle Scuderi: &quot;Is she not exactly like La Valliére, the
+little thing? The King is sunk in the sweetest souvenirs: you have gained the
+day.&quot; Though she spoke softly, the King seemed to hear. A blush came to his
+cheek; he scanned Madame de Maintenon with a glance, and then said, gently and
+kindly: &quot;I am quite sure that you, my dear child, think your lover is innocent;
+but we must hear what the Chambre Ardente has to say.&quot; A gentle wave of his hand
+dismissed Madelon, bathed in tears. Mademoiselle Scuderi saw, to her alarm, that
+the resemblance to La Valliére, advantageous as it had seemed to be at first,
+had nevertheless changed the King's intention as soon as Madame de Maintenon had
+spoken of it. Perhaps he felt himself somewhat ungently reminded that he was
+going to sacrifice strict justice to beauty; or he may have been like a dreamer
+who, when loudly addressed by his name, finds that the beautiful magic visions
+by which he thought he was surrounded vanish away. Perhaps he no longer saw his
+La Valliére before him, but thought only of S&#339;ur Louise de la Misericorde--La
+Valliére's cloister name among the Carmelite nuns--paining him with her piety
+and repentance. There was nothing for it now but to patiently wait for the
+King's decision.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Meanwhile Count Miossen's statement before the Chambre Ardente
+had become known; and, as often happens, popular opinion soon flew from one
+extreme to the other, so that the person whom it had stigmatized as the most
+atrocious of murderers, and would fain have torn in pieces before he reached the
+scaffold, was now bewailed as the innocent victim of a barbarous sacrifice. His
+old neighbours only now remembered his admirable character and behaviour, his
+love for Madelon, and the faithfulness and devotion of soul and body with which
+he had served his master. Crowds of people, in threatening temper, often
+collected before La Regnie's Palais, crying, &quot;Give us out Olivier Brusson!--he
+is innocent!&quot; even throwing stones at the windows, so that La Regnie had to seek
+the protection of the Marechaussée.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Many days elapsed without Mademoiselle Scuderi's hearing
+anything on the subject of Olivier Brusson. In her disconsolateness she went to
+Madame de Maintenon, who said the King was keeping silence on the subject, and
+it was not advisable to remind him of it. When she then, with a peculiar smile,
+asked after the &quot;little La Valliére,&quot; Mademoiselle Scuderi saw that this proud
+lady felt, in the depths of her heart, some slight annoyance at a matter which
+had the power of drawing the mobile King into a province whose charm was beyond
+her own sphere. Consequently nothing was to be hoped from Madame de Maintenon.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At length Mademoiselle Scuderi managed to find out, with
+D'Andilly's help, that the King had had a long interview with Count Miossens;
+further, that Bontems, the King's confidential groom of the chamber and secret
+agent, had been to the Conciergerie, and spoken with Brusson; that, finally, the
+said Bontems, with several other persons, had paid a long visit to Cardillac's
+house. Claude Patru, who lived in the lower story, said he had heard banging
+noises above his head in the night, and that he had recognised Olivier's voice
+amongst others. So far it was certain that the King was, himself, causing the
+matter to be investigated; but what was puzzling was the long delay in coming to
+a decision. La Regnie was most probably trying all in his power to prevent his
+prey from slipping through his fingers; and this nipped all hope in the bud.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Nearly a month had elapsed, when Madame de Maintenon sent to
+tell Mademoiselle Scuderi that the King wished to see her that evening in her
+salon.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Her heart beat fast. She knew that Olivier's fate would be
+decided that night. She told Madelon so, and the latter prayed to the Virgin and
+all the Saints that Mademoiselle Scuderi might succeed in convincing the King of
+her lover's innocence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And yet it appeared as if he had forgotten the whole affair,
+for he passed the time in chatting pleasantly with Madame de Maintenon and
+Mademoiselle Scuderi, without a single word of poor Olivier Brusson. At length
+Bontems appeared, approached the King, and spoke a few words so softly that the
+ladies could not hear them. Mademoiselle Scuderi trembled; but the King rose,
+went up to her, and said, with beaming eyes, &quot;I congratulate you, Mademoiselle.
+Your protégé, Olivier Brusson, is free.&quot; Mademoiselle Scuderi, with tears
+streaming down her cheeks, unable to utter a word, would have cast herself at
+the King's feet; but he prevented her, saying, &quot;Va! Va! Mademoiselle, you ought
+to be my Attorney-General and plead my causes, for nobody on earth can resist
+your eloquence and powers of persuasion.&quot; He added, more gravely, &quot;He who is
+shielded by virtue may snap his fingers at every accusation, by the Chambre
+Ardente, or any other tribunal on earth.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Mademoiselle Scuderi, now finding words, poured forth a most
+glowing tribute of gratitude. But the King interrupted her, saying there were
+warmer thanks awaiting her at home than any he could expect from her, as at that
+moment doubtless Olivier was embracing his Madelon. &quot;Bontems,&quot; added His
+Majesty, &quot;will hand you 1000 Louis, which you will give the little one from me
+as a wedding portion. Let her marry her Brusson, who does not deserve such a
+treasure, and then they must both leave Paris. This is my will.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">La Martiničre came to meet her mistress with eager steps,
+followed by Baptiste, their faces beaming with joy, and both crying out, &quot;He is
+here! he is free! Oh, the dear young couple!&quot; The happy pair fell at
+Mademoiselle Scuderi's feet, and Madelon cried, &quot;Ah! I knew that you, and you
+only, would save my husband.&quot; &quot;Mother,&quot; cried Olivier, &quot;my belief in you never
+wavered.&quot; They kissed her hands, and shed many tears; and then they embraced
+again, and vowed that the super-earthly bliss of the present time was worth all
+the nameless sufferings of the days that were past.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In a few days the priest pronounced his blessing upon them.
+Even had it not been the King's command that they were to leave Paris, Brusson
+could not have remained there, where everything reminded him of the dreadful
+epoch of Cardillac's atrocities, and where any accident might have disclosed the
+evil secret, already known to several persons, destroying the peace of his life
+for ever. Immediately after the wedding he started with his young wife for
+Geneva, sped on his way by Mademoiselle Scuderi's blessings. Handsomely provided
+with Madelon's portion, his own skill at his calling, and every civic virtue, he
+there led a happy life, without a care. The hopes, whose frustration had sent
+the father to his grave, were fulfilled to the son.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A year after Brusson left Paris, a public proclamation, signed
+by Harloy de Chauvalon, Archbishop of Paris, and by Pierre Arnaud d'Andilly,
+Advocate of the Parliament, appeared, stating that a repentant sinner had, under
+seal of confession, made over to the Church a valuable stolen treasure of gold
+and jewels. All those who, up to about the end of the year 1680, had been robbed
+of property of this description, particularly if by murderous attack in the
+street, were directed to apply to d'Andilly, when they would receive it back,
+provided that anything in the said collection agreed with the description to be
+by them given, and providing that there was no doubt of the genuineness of the
+application. Many whose names occurred in Cardillac's list as having been merely
+stunned, not murdered, came from time to time to d'Andilly to reclaim their
+property, and received it back, to their no small surprise. The remainder became
+the property of the Church of St. Eustache.&quot;</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="normal">Sylvester's tale was received by the Brethren with their full
+approval. It was held to be truly Serapiontic, because, whilst founded on
+historical fact, it yet soared into the region of the imaginative.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Lothair said: &quot;Our Sylvester has got very well out of a
+somewhat risky undertaking, for that, I consider, was the representing of a
+literary old maid who kept a sort of <i>bureau d'esprit</i> in the Rue St. Honoré,
+which he lets us have a peep into. Our own authoresses (and if they chance to be
+advanced in years, I hope they may all be genial, kind, and dignified as the old
+lady in the black dress) would be much delighted with you, my Sylvester, if they
+heard your story, and forgive you your somewhat gruesome and terrible Cardillac,
+whom, I suppose, you have altogether to thank your own imagination for.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;At the same time,&quot; said Ottmar, &quot;I remember having read,
+somewhere or other, of an old shoemaker in Venice, whom the whole town looked
+upon as a good, exemplary, industrious man, though he really was the most
+atrocious robber and murderer. Just like Cardillac, he used to slip out in the
+night-time and get into the palazzi of the great, where, in the depths of
+darkness, his surely-dealt dagger-thrust pierced the hearts of those whom he
+wanted to rob, so that they dropped down on the spot without a cry. Every effort
+of the most clever and observant police to detect this murderer, who kept all
+Venice in terror, was useless, until a circumstance led to the shoemaker's being
+suspected. He fell sick, and, strange to say, as long as he was confined to his
+bed there were no murders. They began again as soon as he was well. On some
+pretext he was put in prison, and, just as was expected, so long as he was shut
+up the palaces were in security; but the moment he got out (there being no proof
+of anything against him) the victims fell just as before. Finally the rack
+extracted his secret, and he was executed. A strange thing was that he had made
+no use whatever of the stolen property; it was all found stowed away under the
+flooring of his room. He said, in the naďvest manner, that he had made a vow to
+St. Rochus, the patron of his craft, that he would get together a certain,
+pretty considerable, sum by robbery, and then stop; and complained of the
+hardship of having been apprehended before the said sum was arrived at.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I never heard of the Venetian shoemaker,&quot; said Sylvester;
+&quot;but if I am truly to tell you the source from whence I drew, I must inform you
+that the words spoken by Mademoiselle Scuderi, 'Un amant qui craint les
+voleurs,' &#38;c., were really made use of by her, in almost similar circumstances
+to those of my story. Also the affair of the offering from the band of robbers
+is by no means a creature of the brain of the felicitously inspired writer. The
+account of that you will find in a book where you certainly would not look for
+it, Wagenseil's 'Nuernberg Chronicle.' The old gentleman speaks of a visit he
+made to Mademoiselle Scuderi in Paris, and if I have succeeded in representing
+her as charming and delightful, I am indebted solely to the distinguished
+<i>courtoisie</i> with which Wagenseil mentions her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Verily,&quot; said Theodore, laughing, &quot;to stumble upon
+Mademoiselle Scuderi in the 'Nuernberg Chronicle' requires an author's lucky
+hand, such as Sylvester is specially gifted with. In fact, he shines on us
+to-night in his double capacity of playwright and story-teller, like the
+constellation of the Dioscuri.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is just where he seems to me so vain,&quot; said Vincenz. &quot;A
+man who writes a good play ought not to set to work to tell a good tale as
+well.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yet it is strange,&quot; said Cyprian, &quot;that authors who can tell
+a story well, who manage their characters and situations cleverly, often fail
+altogether in drama for the stage.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But,&quot; said Lothair, &quot;are not the conditions of drama and of
+narrative so essentially different in their fundamental elements, that the
+attempt to turn a story into a play is very often a complete failure? You
+understand that I am speaking of true narrative, not of the novel, so much,
+because that has often in it germs from which the drama can grow up like a
+glorious, beautiful tree.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What do you think,&quot; asked Vincenz, &quot;of the admirable idea of
+making a story out of a play? Some years ago I read Iffland's 'Jaeger' turned
+into a story, and you can't believe how delightful and touching little Anton
+with the couteau de chasse, and Riekchen with the lost shoe, were in this shape.
+It was delightful, too, that the author, or adapter, preserved whole scenes
+unchanged, merely putting in the 'said he,' and 'answered she,' between the
+speeches. I assure you I did not wholly realise the truly poetic imagination,
+and the deep sublimity which there is in Iffland's 'Jaeger,' until I read it in
+this form. Moreover, the scientific side of it struck me then, and I saw how
+properly it was classed in a certain library under the head 'Science of
+Forestry.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Cease your funning,&quot; said Lothair, &quot;and lend, with us, an
+attentive ear to the worthy Serapion Brother who, as I perceive, has just pulled
+a manuscript out of his pocket.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This time,&quot; said Theodore, &quot;I have trespassed upon another's
+ground. However, there is a real incident at the basis of my story, not taken
+from any book, but told to me by another.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He read:--</p>
+
+<br>
+
+<h2><a name="div2_gambler" href="#div2Ref_gambler">GAMBLERS' FORTUNE</a>.</h2>
+
+<p class="normal">In the summer of 18-- Pyrmont was more than usually
+frequented, and the influx of visitors, rich and great, increased from day to
+day, exciting the eager emulation of the various speculators and purveyors of
+their wants. Particularly did the faro-table keepers heap up piles of gold in
+unusual quantity, for the attraction of the noble game, which, like experienced
+sportsmen, they set themselves to decoy. As we all know, at watering-places
+especially--where people resolve to give themselves up, at their own sweet will,
+to whatever amusements may be most to their taste, to get through the time---the
+attractions of the play-table are not easy to resist. We see people who never
+touch a card at other times, absorbed at those tables; and, in fact, among the
+upper classes, at all events, it is thought only a proper thing to stake
+something every evening.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There was but one exception to this otherwise universal rule,
+in the person of a young German Baron, whom we shall call Siegfried. When
+everybody else rushed to the tables, and there was no way left to him to amuse
+himself in what he considered a rational manner, he preferred taking a lonely
+walk, yielding to the play of his fancy, or would stay at home, amusing himself
+with a book, or sometimes writing something himself.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He was young, independent, good-looking, well off, pleasant in
+manners, so of course he was very popular, and his success with the other sex
+was distinguished. But besides all this, there appeared to be a special lucky
+star watching over everything he undertook. People talked of many love-affairs,
+comprising risky adventures of which he had been the hero, which, though certain
+to have proved disastrous to most men, he had got out of with marvellous ease
+and facility. Old gentlemen who knew him would speak, particularly, of the
+affair of a certain watch, which had happened in his very early days. It
+chanced, before he came to his majority, that, on a journey, he unexpectedly
+found himself in such a strait for money that, to get on at all, he had to sell
+his watch, a beautiful gold one set with brilliants. Seeing no alternative, he
+had made up his mind to part with it much under its value; but
+it so happened that, in the hotel where he was living, there
+was a young prince who was on the look-out for just such a watch; so
+that he got more for it than it was worth. Rather more than a
+year afterwards--having come to his majority in the meantime--he read in the
+newspaper, at another place where he was, that a watch was going to be raffled.
+He took a ticket, costing only a trifle, and won the very watch set in
+brilliants which he had sold. Soon afterwards, he swopped this watch away for a
+valuable ring. Presently, having been for a time in the service of the Prince of
+G----, as he was leaving, the Prince gave him, as a souvenir, the self-same
+watch which he had twice got rid of--and a handsome chain into the bargain.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Then, people went on to talk about Siegfried's fancy of never
+touching a card--which, considering his extraordinary luck, he ought to be just
+the man to do; and everybody came to the conclusion that, in spite of all his
+delightful qualities, the Baron was a screw; far too canny to risk a little of
+his cash. That his whole conduct completely excluded the idea of his being
+avaricious, didn't matter. People are always anxious, and delighted to fasten an
+objectionable &quot;but&quot; on to a man of gifts, and to find out this &quot;but&quot; wherever
+they can, be it only in their own imaginations. So everybody was quite satisfied
+with this explanation of Siegfried's hatred of the play-table.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He very soon found out what he was accused of; and, being
+large-minded and liberal--hating nothing so much as avarice--he determined to
+show his calumniators how much they were mistaken, and--much as he detested
+play--sacrifice a hundred Louis d'Ors or so--more if necessary--to prove to them
+their error. He went to the faro-table with the firm resolution to lose the
+rather considerable sum which he had in his pocket. But the luck which
+accompanied him in everything he set about was true to him here too. Everything
+he staked on won. His luck shipwrecked the cabalistic calculations of the old,
+deeply experienced gamblers. It was all the same whether he exchanged his cards,
+or stuck to them; he always won. He furnished a unique instance of a <i>ponteur</i>
+wild with disgust because the cards favoured him. The by-standers, watching him,
+shook their heads significantly at each other, implying that the Baron might
+come to lose his head, carried along by this concatenation of the unusual. For
+indeed, a man who was furious because he was lucky, must surely be a <i>little</i>
+off his head.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The very circumstance that he had won a considerable sum
+necessitated him to go on playing; and as this gain must, in all probability, be
+followed by a still greater loss, he felt bound to carry out his original plan.
+However, he found it not so easy; his extraordinary luck continued to stick to
+him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Without his exactly noticing it himself, a love for the game
+of Faro arose within him, and grew. In its very simpleness, Faro is, in truth,
+the most mysterious of all games.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He was not annoyed at being lucky <i>now</i>. The game fettered his
+attention, and kept him absorbed in it, night after night, till morning. As it
+was not the winning which interested him, but the game itself, he was forced to
+admit the existence of that extraordinary <i>spell</i> connected with it which his
+friends had spoken of to him, but which he had refused to believe in.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">One night when the banker had just finished a &quot;taille,&quot; on
+looking up he saw an elderly man, who had placed himself opposite to him, and
+was keeping a grave, melancholy gaze fixed upon him. And every time Siegfried
+looked up from his game, he found this grave, melancholy gaze still fixed upon
+him, so that he could not divest himself of a strong, rather eery sensation. The
+Stranger did not go away till the playing was over for the night. Next evening
+he was there again, in his old place opposite the Baron, gazing at him
+continually, with his gloomy, spectral eves. The Baron restrained himself; but
+when, on the third night, the Stranger was there again, gazing at him with eyes
+of devouring fire, Siegfried broke out: &quot;I must really beg you, sir, to select
+some other place. You are interfering with my play.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The stranger bowed, with a pained smile, and, without a word,
+left the table, and the room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But the following night he was standing in his old place,
+opposite to Siegfried, transfixing him with his gloomy, glowing eyes. The Baron
+broke out more angrily than on the previous night. &quot;If it is any entertainment
+to you, sir, to glare at me in that sort of manner, I must beg you to select
+another place and another time. But--for the present&quot;--a motion of the hand in
+the direction of the door took the place of the hard words which the Baron had
+on the tip of his tongue.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And, as on the previous night, the Stranger, bowing with the
+same pained smile, left the room. Excited by the game, by the wine he had taken,
+and by the encounter with the Stranger, Siegfried could not sleep. When morning
+broke, the whole appearance of the Stranger rose to his memory. He saw the
+expressive face, the well-cut features, marked with sorrow, the hollow gloomy
+eyes which had gazed at him. He noticed that though he was poorly dressed, his
+refined manners and bearing spoke of good birth and up-bringing. And then the
+way in which he had received the hard words with quiet resignation, and gone
+away, swallowing the bitterness of his feelings with a power over himself. &quot;Oh!&quot;
+said Siegfried, &quot;I was wrong--I did him great injustice. Is it like me to fly
+into a passion, and insult people without rhyme or reason, like a foolish boy?&quot;
+He came to the conclusion that the man had been gazing at him with a bitter
+sense of the tremendous contrast between them. At the moment when
+he--perhaps--was in the depths of distress, the Baron was heaping gold on the
+top of gold, and carrying all before him. He determined that the first thing in
+the morning he would go and find out the Stranger, and do something to remedy
+his condition.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And, as fate would have it, the Stranger was the first person
+he met, as he was taking a walk down the Alleé.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Baron addressed him, apologised for his behaviour on the
+previous night, and formally asked him to forgive him. The Stranger said there
+was nothing to forgive. People who were much interested in their game must have
+every consideration, and he quite deserved to be reminded that he was
+obstinately planting himself in a place where he could not but put the Baron out
+in his play.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Baron went further. He spoke of the circumstance that in
+life temporary difficulties often come upon people of education in the most
+trying manner, and he gave him pretty clearly to understand that he was ready
+to pay him back the money he had won from him, or more, if necessary, should
+that be likely to be of any assistance to him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My dear sir,&quot; said the Stranger, &quot;you suppose that I am
+pressed for money. Strictly speaking, I am not. Although I am rather a poor man
+than a rich, I have enough for my little requirements. And you will see in a
+moment, if you consider, that if you should suppose you could atone for an
+insult to me by offering me a sum of money, I could not accept it, even as a
+mere ordinary man of honour. And I am a Chevalier.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I think I understand you,&quot; said the Baron; &quot;I am quite ready
+to give you satisfaction in the way you mean.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, good heavens!&quot; the Stranger said; &quot;what a very unequal
+affair a fight would be between us. I feel sure that, like myself, you do not
+look upon the duel as a mere piece of childish fanfaronade, nor consider that a
+drop or two of blood--perhaps from a scratched
+finger--can wash a stained honour white again. No, no! there
+are plenty of causes which render it impossible for two men to go on existing on
+this earth at the same time. Although one of them may be on the Caucasus and the
+other on the Tiber, there is no separation between them so long as the notion of
+the existence of the hated one subsists. In a case like that the duel, which is
+to decide the question which of those two is to make way on this earth for the
+other, is a positive necessity. But between <i>us</i> a duel, as I said, would be
+one-sided, since my life is nothing like as valuable as yours. If I killed you I
+should destroy a whole world of the fairest hopes. But if I fell, you would end
+a miserable existence, marred by the most bitter and painful memories. However,
+the chief point is that I do not consider myself in the smallest degree
+offended. You told me to go, and I went.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He spoke the latter words in a tone which betrayed his inward
+mortification, which was sufficient reason for the Baron to apologise to him
+once more, laying special weight on the circumstance that the Stranger's gaze
+seemed somehow (he could not tell why) to go penetrating into him to such an
+extent that he could bear it no longer.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If my gaze penetrated you, as you say it did,&quot; said the
+Stranger, &quot;would to God it had carried with it the conviction of the threatening
+peril in which you stand. In your gladness of heart, with all your youthful
+unknowingness, you are hovering on the very brink of a terrible abyss. One
+single impulse, and into it you fall, without the possibility of rescue. In one
+word, you are on the point of becoming a passionate gambler, and of going to
+perdition.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Baron assured him that he was completely mistaken. He
+explained to him how it was that he had been led at first to go to the tables,
+and that the true love of play was completely absent from him--that all he
+desired was to lose a few hundred louis, and, having accomplished that, he would
+play no more; but that, up to this time, he had had the most extraordinary luck.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Alas!&quot; cried the Stranger, &quot;it is just that very luck which
+is the most terrible, mocking temptation of the Infernal Power. Just this very
+luck of yours, Baron, the whole way in which you have been led on to play, the
+whole style of your playing, and everything connected with the matter, show but
+too plainly how your interest in it keeps on increasing and increasing.
+Everything about it reminds me only too clearly of the fate of an unfortunate
+fellow who begun exactly as you have done. This was why I could not take my eyes
+from you, why I could scarce refrain from telling you in words what my eyes
+intended to say to you, namely, 'For heaven's sake look at the fiends that are
+stretching out their talons to drag you down to perdition;' that is what I
+longed to cry out to you. I wished to make your acquaintance, and in that I have
+succeeded. Let me tell you the story of the unfortunate man to whom I have
+referred, and then perhaps you will see that it is no idle cobweb of my brain
+which makes me see you to be in the most imminent peril, and that I give you
+fair warning.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">They sate down on a seat which was in a lonely place, and the
+Stranger commenced as follows. &quot;The same brilliant gifts which distinguish you,
+Baron, procured for the Chevalier Menars the respect and admiration of men, and
+rendered him the beloved of women. Only as far as wealth was concerned fortune
+had not been so kind to him as to you. He was on the confines of penury, and
+nothing but the most scrupulous economy enabled him to keep up the decent
+appearance which his position as the descendant of a family of condition
+demanded of him. Since the very smallest loss of money would have been of much
+consequence to him, upsetting all his course of life, he was precluded from
+everything in the shape of play. But he had not the smallest inclination for it,
+so that his avoidance of it involved not the slightest sacrifice on his part. He
+was excessively lucky in whatever he undertook, so that his good fortune became
+a species of proverb.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Contrarily to his habit he allowed himself to be persuaded
+one night to go to a gambling-house, where the friends who were with him were
+soon deep in the game.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Taking no interest in the game, with his mind fully occupied
+about something else, he strolled up and down the room, just now and then
+casting a glance at the table, where the gold was streaming in upon the banquier
+from every side. All at once an elderly Colonel observed him, and cried out,
+'Oh, the devil! here's the Chevalier Menars, with his luck, and none of us can
+win because he hasn't taken a side. This won't do. He must stake for me
+instantly.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Chevalier tried his utmost to excuse himself, saying he
+knew nothing about the game. But nothing would serve the Colonel but that he
+must to the table willy nilly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It happened to him exactly as it did to you, Baron. He won on
+every card, so that he soon had hauled in a considerable sum for the Colonel,
+who could not congratulate himself enough on the great idea he had been inspired
+with of availing himself of the celebrated luck of the Chevalier Menars.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;On the Chevalier himself his luck, which so astonished all
+the others, made not the slightest impression. Nay, he did not himself quite
+understand how it came about that his detestation of play, if possible,
+increased, so that the next morning, when he felt the languor and listlessness
+consequent on having sat up so late, and gone through the excitement, he made a
+firm resolution that nothing would ever induce him to enter a gambling-house
+again.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This resolution was strengthened by the conduct of the old
+Colonel, who had the most extraordinary ill-luck as soon as he took a card in
+his hand, and attributed this, in the most absurd way, to the Chevalier. And he
+insisted, in the most importunate manner, that Menars should either play his
+cards for him, or at all events be at his side when he played himself, by way of
+exorcising the demon who placed
+in his hand the losing cards. We know that nowhere is there
+such
+absurd superstition as amongst gamblers. It was only with the
+utmost difficulty that Menars managed to shake the Colonel off. He had even to
+go the length of telling him he would rather fight him than stake for him; and
+the Colonel was by no means fond of fighting. The Chevalier cursed himself for
+ever having yielded to the old ass at all.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Of course the story of the Chevalier's luck could not but be
+passed on from one to another, with all sorts of mysterious, inexplicable
+additions added on to it, representing him as a man in league with supernatural
+powers. But that one who had his luck should go on abstaining from touching
+cards was a thing which could not but give the highest idea of the firmness of
+his character, and much increase the consideration in which he was held.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A year after this the Chevalier found himself in the most
+pressing and distressing embarrassment in consequence of the non-payment to him
+of the trifling sum on which he managed by a struggle to live. He was obliged to
+confide this to his most intimate friend, who, without a moment's hesitation,
+helped him to what he required, at the same time telling him he was the most
+extraordinary, eccentric individual the world had ever probably contained.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Destiny,' he said, 'gives us hints, indications of the
+direction in which we have to seek and find our welfare, and it is only our
+indolence which is to blame when we neglect those hints and fail to understand
+them. The Power which rules over us has very distinctly whispered into your ear,
+&quot;If thou wouldest have money and possessions, go and play; otherwise thou wilt
+for ever remain poor, needy, dependent.&quot;'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then, for the first time, the thought of the wonderful luck
+he had
+had at the faro table rose vividly before his mind's eye, and,
+waking and dreaming, he saw cards before him, and heard the monotonous
+<i>gagne-perd</i> of the banquier, and the clink of the gold
+pieces.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'It is true,' he said to himself, 'a single night like that
+one would raise me out of poverty, and free me from the terrible necessity of
+being a burden on my friends. It is simply a duty to follow the promptings of
+Destiny.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The same friend who advised him to take to playing went with
+him to the table, and, to make him easy in his mind, presented him with twenty
+louis d'or.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If his game had been an extraordinary one when he was staking
+for the old Colonel, it was doubly so now. He drew out his cards by chance, by
+accident, and staked on them, whatever they happened to be. And the unseen hand
+of that higher Power, which is in league with that which we term 'Chance'--nay,
+which <i>is</i> that Chance--directed his play. When the game was done he had won
+1000 louis d'or.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Next morning he felt in a sort of stupor on awaking. The
+money was lying on the table by his bed, just as he had shaken it out of his
+pockets. At first he thought he was dreaming. He rubbed his eyes and drew the
+table nearer to him. But as he gradually recollected what had happened--when he
+sunk his hands well into the heap of gold money, and counted the coins
+delightedly over and over again--suddenly there awoke in him, and passed through
+his being like a poisoned breath, the love of the vile mammon. The pureness of
+mind which had so long been his was gone.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He could scarcely wait till evening came to get back to the
+play-table. His luck continued to attend him, so that in a few
+weeks, during which he played every night, he had won a very large sum.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There are two sorts of gamblers. To many the game in itself
+presents an indescribable, mysterious joy, quite without any reference to
+winning. The wonderful enchainments of the chances alternate in the most
+marvellous variety; the influence of the Powers which govern the issue displays
+itself, so that, inspired by this, our spirits stretch their wings in an attempt
+to reach that darksome realm, that mysterious laboratory, where the Power in
+question works, and there see it working. I knew a man once who used to sit
+alone in his room for days and nights keeping banque, and staking against
+himself. That man, I consider, was a proper player. Others have only the gain in
+view, and look upon the game as a means of winning money quickly. The Chevalier
+belonged to the latter class, thereby proving the theory that the true passion
+for play must exist in a person's nature, and be born with him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For this reason the circle within which the mere ponteur is
+restricted soon became too narrow for him. With the very large sum he had now
+won he started a banque of his own; and here, too, fortune favoured him, so that
+in a very short time his was the richest banque in Paris. As lies in the nature
+of things, to him, as the luckiest, richest banquier, resorted the greatest
+number of players.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The wild rugged life of a gambler soon blotted out in him all
+those mental and bodily superiorities which had formerly brought him love and
+consideration. He ceased to be a faithful friend, an open-hearted pleasant
+companion, a chivalric and gallant honourer of ladies. His love for art and
+science was extinguished, as well as all his wish to make progress in knowledge
+of the desirable sort. In his deathly pale countenance and gloomy eyes,
+sparkling with darksome fire, was imprinted the plain expression of that
+devouring passion which held him fast in its bands. It was not the love of play,
+it was the most detestable avarice, the craving for money, which the Devil
+himself had kindled within him. In one word, he was the most thorough specimen
+of a banquier ever seen.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;One night--though he had not, so to speak, lost very much--he
+found that fortune had not been quite so favourable to him as usual. And just at
+this juncture there came up to the table a little old weazened man, in
+poverty-stricken clothes, and altogether of almost disgustingly repulsive
+appearance. He drew a card, with shaking hand, and staked a piece of gold on it.
+Several of those at the table looked at him with deep amazement, and immediately
+behaved towards him with conspicuous despite; but he took not the slightest
+notice, not even by a look, far less by a word.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He lost--lost one piece of gold after another, and the more
+he lost the better the other players were pleased. And when the old man, who
+kept on doubling his stakes, at last staked five hundred louis on a card, and
+lost it in a moment, one of them cried out, laughing loud, 'Well done, Signor
+Vertua; keep it up! Don't give in; keep up your game! You seem to me as if you
+would certainly break the bank, your luck is so splendid!'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The old man darted a basilisk look at him, and ran off out of
+the room as quickly as he could; but only to come back in half an hour, with his
+pockets crammed with gold. When the final <i>taille</i> came he could not go on, as
+he had lost all the money he brought with him the second time.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Chevalier, who, notwithstanding all the atrocity of his
+ongoings, still insisted on there being a certain observance of ordinary
+<i>convenance</i> amongst the frequenters of his establishment, had been in the
+highest degree displeased at the derision and contempt with which the old man
+had been treated, which was sufficient reason for his talking very seriously,
+when the evening's play was over, to the man who had jeered at him, and to one
+or two others whose contemptuous behaviour to him had been the most striking,
+and whom the Chevalier had begged to remain behind on purpose.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'That fellow,' one of them cried out. 'You don't know old
+Francesco Vertua, Chevalier, or you wouldn't find fault with us for what we did.
+You would rather thank us. This Vertua, by birth a Neapolitan, has been for
+fifteen years here, in Paris, the most vile, foul, wicked miser and usurer that
+could exist. He is lost to every feeling of humanity. If his own brother were to
+drag himself to his door, writhing in the death agony, and curl round about his
+feet, he wouldn't give a louis d'or to help him. The curses and execrations of
+heaps of people, whole families, whom he has driven to ruin by his infernal
+machinations, lie heavy on him. There is nobody who does not pray that vengeance
+for what he has done, and is always doing, may overtake him and finish his
+sin-spotted life. He has never played, at all events since he has been in Paris,
+and you need not be astonished at our surprise when we saw the old skinflint
+come to the table. Of course we were just as delighted at his losing, for it
+would have been altogether too bad if fortune had favoured the scoundrel. The
+wealth of your banque has dazzled the old noodle. He thought he was going to
+pluck you, but he has lost his own feathers. But the thing I can't understand is
+how he can have made up his miserly mind to play so high.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This, however, did not prove well founded, for the next night
+Vertua made his appearance, and staked and lost a great deal more than on the
+night before. He was quite impassible all the time; in fact, he now and then
+smiled with a bitter irony, as one who knew how utterly differently everything
+would soon turn. But his losses swelled like a mountain avalanche on each of the
+succeeding nights, so that at last it was calculated that he had lost to the
+banque well on to thirty thousand louis d'or. After this, he came one night,
+long after the play had begun, pale as death, with his face all drawn, and
+stationed himself at some distance from the table, with his eyes fixed on the
+cards which the Chevalier was dealing. At last, when the Chevalier had shuffled,
+had the cards cut, and was going to begin the deal, the old man cried out, in a
+screaming voice, 'Stop!' Every one looked round, almost terrified. The old man
+elbowed his way through the crowd close up to the Chevalier, and whispered into
+his ear, 'Chevalier, my house in the Rue St. Honoré, with all its contents, in
+furniture, gold, silver, and jewels, is valued at eighty thousand francs. I
+stake it! Do you accept?'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Yes,' said the Chevalier calmly, without looking at him, and
+began to deal.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Queen!' said the old man, and the queen lost. The old man
+fell back, and leaned against the wall, motionless as a stone image. Nobody
+troubled himself further about him. When the game was over for the night, and
+the Chevalier and his croupiers were packing away the won money in the strong
+box, Vertua came wavering like a spectre forward out of his corner. In a hollow,
+faint voice, he said, 'One word, Chevalier; one single word.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Well, what is it?' said the Chevalier, taking the key from
+the box and putting it in his pocket, as he surveyed the old man contemptuously
+from head to foot.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'I have lost all I possessed in the world to your banque,
+Chevalier.
+I have nothing left--nothing. I don't know where I shall lay
+my head to-morrow, or how I shall appease my hunger. I betake myself to you.
+Lend me the tenth part of the sum you have won from me, that I may recommence my
+business, and raise myself from the depths of poverty.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'How can you be so absurd, Signor Vertua,' said the
+Chevalier. 'Don't you know that a banquier never lends his winnings? It would be
+against all the rules, and I abide by them.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'You are right, Chevalier,' said Vertua. 'What I asked was
+absurd, extravagant. Not a tenth part--lend me a twentieth part.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'What I tell you is,' said the Chevalier, 'that I never lend
+any of my winnings.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Quite right,' said Vertua, his face growing paler and paler,
+and his looks more fixed and staring. 'Of course you can't lend. I never used to
+do it myself. But give an alms to a beggar. Let him have one hundred louis d'or
+out of the fortune which blind Chance threw to you tonight.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Well, really, Signor Vertua, you understand how to bother,'
+was the Chevalier's answer. 'I tell you that not one hundred, nor fifty, nor
+twenty, nor one single louis d'or will you get out of me. I should be a lunatic
+to give you any help towards recommencing your shameful trade. Fate has dashed
+you down into the dust like a venomous reptile, and it would be a crime to lift
+you up. Be off with you, and die, as you deserve to do.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Vertua sank down, with both his hands before his face. The
+Chevalier ordered his servants to take the Strong box down to the carriage, and
+then cried out, in a domineering way, 'When are you going to make over your
+house and effects to me, Signor Vertua?'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Vertua raised himself from the ground, saying, in a firm
+voice, 'At once. This very moment, Chevalier. Come with me.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Good,' said the Chevalier, 'you may drive there with me.
+To-morrow you must leave it for good and all.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;On the way neither of them spoke. When they came to the house
+in the Rue St. Honoré Vertua rang at the door, and a little old woman opened,
+and cried, when she saw him, 'Oh, saviour of the world, is it you at last,
+signor? Angela has been nearly dead with anxiety about you.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Hush!' said Vertua. 'Heaven grant that Angela has not heard
+the unlucky bell. I don't want her to know that I have come.' He took the
+candle-holder from the amazed old woman's hand, and lighted the Chevalier up the
+staircase to the salon.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'I am ready for everything,' said Vertua. 'You detest me and
+despise me. You ruin me for the gratification of yourself and others. But you do
+not know me. I will tell you, then, that I was once a gambler like yourself;
+that capricious fortune was as kind to me as to you; that I travelled over the
+half of Europe, stopping wherever high play and the expectation of large
+winnings attracted me to remain; that the gold in the banque which I kept was
+heaped up as mountain high as in your own. I had a devoted and beautiful wife,
+whom I neglected, who was miserable in the midst of the most marvellous wealth.
+It happened once, in Genoa, when I had started my banque there, that a young
+Roman lost all his great fortune to me. As I begged of you to-day, he begged of
+me that I would lend him as much money as would, at all events, take him to
+Rome. I refused, with scornful laughter, and in his despair he thrust his
+stiletto deep into my breast. The surgeons managed to cure me with difficulty,
+and my illness was long and painful. My wife nursed me, comforted me, supported
+me when I would have given in with the pain. And with returning health there
+dawned within me, and grew stronger and stronger, a feeling which I had never
+known before. The gambler is a stranger to all the ordinary emotions of
+humanity, so that till then I had no knowledge of love, and the faithful
+devotion of a wife. The debt which my ungrateful heart owed to my wife burned in
+the depths of my soul, as well as the sense of the wickedness of the occupation
+to which I had sacrificed her. Like torturing spirits of vengeance appeared to
+me all those whose happiness, whose very existence, I had ruined, reproaching
+me, in hoarse and hollow voices, with the guilt and crime of which <i>I</i> had
+planted the germs. None but my wife could dispel the nameless sorrow, the
+terror, which then took possession of me. I made a solemn vow that I would never
+touch a card again. I tore myself away.
+I burst the bonds which had held me. I withstood the
+enticements of
+my croupiers, who could not get on when my luck was gone from
+the enterprise. I had bought a small country house near Rome, and there I fled
+with my wife as soon as I had recovered. Alas! for only one single year was it
+that I was vouchsafed a peace, a happiness, a contentment, such as I had never
+dreamt of. My wife bore me a daughter, and died a few weeks afterwards. I was in
+despair. I accused heaven, and then turned round and cursed myself and my sinful
+career, punished in this way by the eternal power, by taking my wife from me,
+who saved me from destruction--the only creature on earth who gave me comfort
+and hope. Like the criminal whom the dreadfulness of solitude terrifies, I fled
+from my country place to Paris. Angela blossomed up, the lovely counterpart of
+her mother. My whole heart hung upon her. For her sake I made it my business not
+only to keep a considerable fortune together, but to increase it. It is true
+that I lent money at high rates of interest. But it is a shameful calumny when I
+am accused of being a fraudulent usurer. Who are my accusers? Light-minded
+creatures, who torture and tease me till I lend them money, which they waste and
+squander as if it were of no value, and then are furious when I get it back from
+them with infallible strictness--the money which is not mine but my daughter's,
+whose steward I consider myself to be. Not long ago I rescued a young man from
+ruin and disgrace by lending him a considerable sum. I knew he was very poor,
+and I said nothing about repayment till I knew he had succeeded to a fortune.
+Then I asked him to pay me. Would you credit it, Chevalier, this light-minded
+scoundrel, who was indebted to me for his very existence, wanted to deny his
+liability, and, when the law obliged him to pay me, he called me a vile
+skinflint. I could tell you of plenty similar cases, which have made me hard and
+unfeeling when I have been met with ingratitude and baseness. More than that, I
+could tell you of many bitter tears which I have wiped away, of many a prayer
+which has gone up to heaven for me and my Angela; but you would look upon that
+as boasting, and besides, as you are a gambler, you would care nothing about it.
+I hoped and believed that the eternal power was appeased. All delusion, for
+Satan was freely empowered to blind and deceive me in a more terrible manner
+than ever. I heard of your luck, Chevalier. Every day I was told of this one and
+the other having beggared himself at your banque. Then it came to me that I was
+destined to pit my luck, which had never failed me, against yours--that I was
+destined to put an end to your career. And this idea, which nothing but madness
+of the most extraordinary kind could have suggested to me, left me no further
+peace or rest. Thus I came to your banque. Thus my terrible folly did not leave
+me until my fortune--no, my Angela's fortune--was all yours. But you will let my
+daughter take her clothes away with her, will you not?'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'I have nothing to do with your daughter's clothes,' answered
+the Chevalier; 'and you may take away the beds and the ordinary household things
+for cooking and so forth. What do I care for rubbish of that sort? But take care
+that nothing of any value of that which is now my property goes away amongst
+them.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Old Vertua stared speechlessly at the Chevalier for a few
+seconds, then a stream of tears burst from his eyes. Like a man annihilated, all
+sorrow and despair, he sank down before the Chevalier with hands uplifted.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Have you any human feeling left in your heart?' he cried.
+'Have some mercy! Remember it is not me whom you are dashing into ruin and
+misery, but my unoffending angel child--my Angela! Oh, have mercy upon her! Lend
+her the twentieth part of the fortune you have robbed her of. I know you will
+allow yourself to be implored. Oh! Angela, my daughter!'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And the old man moaned, sobbed, and called out the name of
+his child in heart-breaking tones.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'I really don't think I can stand much more of this stage
+business of yours,' the Chevalier said indifferently, and in a bored manner. But
+the door opened, and a girl in a white night dress, with her hair undone, and
+death in her face, rushed up to old Vertua, raised
+him, took him in her arms, and cried, 'Oh, father, I have
+heard it
+all--I know it all! Have you lost everything?--everything? You
+have still your Angela. What would be the use of money if you had not Angela to
+take care of you. Oh, father! don't humiliate yourself more before this
+despicable, inhuman creature. It is not we, it is he who is poor and miserable
+in all his despicable riches, for he stands there in the most gruesome,
+comfortless loneliness. There is not one loving heart in the wide world to cling
+to his breast, to open to him when he is like to despair of life--of himself.
+Come, father, away from this house with me; let us go as quickly as we can, that
+the horrible creature may not gloat over our sorrow.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Vertua sank half senseless into a chair, whilst Angela knelt
+down before him, took his hands, kissed them and stroked them, and told over,
+with childlike prolixity, all the accomplishments and acquirements which she
+possessed, with which she would be able to support him comfortably, imploring
+him with the warmest tears to have no fear, inasmuch as life would, for the
+first time in her experience, begin to possess a real value and delightsomeness
+for her when--not for the enjoying of it, but for her father--she should stitch,
+sew, sing, play the guitar.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What obdurate sinner could have remained indifferent at the
+sight of Angela beaming in the fulness of her heavenly beauty, comforting her
+old father with sweet, delicious words, the deepest affection, and the most
+childlike purity and goodness streaming from the depths of her heart?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Things were very different with the Chevalier. An entire
+pandemonium of torture and pangs of conscience awoke within him. Angela seemed
+to him to be the punishing angel of God, before whose shining glory the
+cloud-shroud of sinful deception which had surrounded him vanished away, so that
+with terror he clearly saw himself in all his repulsive nakedness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And through the midst of those hell-flames, which were
+consuming and raging in his heart, there came piercing a heavenly, pure beam of
+radiance, whose light was the sweetest bliss and the very joy of heaven, though
+the brightness of this ray had the effect of rendering the inexpressible torture
+more terrible.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Chevalier had never known love before; and the instant he
+saw Angela he was seized by the most passionate affection for her, and, at the
+same time, with the destroying pain of complete hopelessness, for surely there
+could be no hope for one who had appeared to her in the light in which he had.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He longed to say something, but his tongue seemed to be
+paralysed. At length he so far mastered himself as to say, stammering, and in a
+trembling voice, 'Signor Vertua, listen. I have not won anything from
+you--nothing of the kind. There is my strong box; take it, it is yours. Yes; and
+I have to pay you more than that. I am in your debt. Take it, take it!'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Oh, my girl!' cried Vertua. But Angela went up to the
+Chevalier, beamed a proud look upon him, and said, gravely and calmly,
+'Learn, Chevalier, that there are higher things than money and
+possessions--things which you have no knowledge of--which, while filling our
+souls with the happiness of heaven, make us spurn your gifts with compassion and
+contempt. Keep the mammon upon which lies the curse which pursues you,
+heartless, accursed gambler.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Yes!' cried the Chevalier wildly; 'cursed, cursed in verity
+may I be, if ever this hand of mine touches a card again. And if you repel me,
+Angela, it will be you who will bring inevitable destruction upon me. Oh, you
+don't understand me. You must think me mad; but you will know it all when I lie
+before you with my skull shivered into fragments. Angela, it is life or death
+with me. Adieu!'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;With this he dashed away in utter desperation. Vertua
+thoroughly understood him; he saw what had been passing in his heart, and tried
+to make the lovely Angela comprehend how certain eventualities might arise which
+would render it necessary to accept the Chevalier's offers. Angela was afraid to
+allow herself to understand her father; she did not think it would ever be
+possible to regard the Chevalier otherwise than with contempt; but that
+mysterious chain of events which often forms itself within the profundities of
+the human heart, without our cognisance, brought to pass that which seemed
+unimagined--undreamt of.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Chevalier felt as if suddenly awakened from a horrible
+dream. He saw himself standing on the brink of the abyss of hell, stretching his
+arms out in vain to the shining form of light which had appeared to him, not to
+save him, but to tell him of his damnation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To the surprise of all Paris his banque opened no more, and
+he himself was no more seen, so that the most marvellous tales concerning him
+became current, each of them a greater falsehood than the others. He avoided all
+society; his love took the form of the profoundest, most unconquerable
+melancholy. One day he met old Vertua and his daughter in one of the lonely,
+shady walks of the garden at Malmaison.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Angela, who had believed she would never be able to look upon
+the Chevalier again but with horror and contempt, felt strangely moved when she
+saw him so pale and distressed, scarce able to lift his eyes to her in the
+excess of his reverence for her. She knew that, since that eventful night, he
+had given play up entirely, and completely altered his mode of life, and that
+she--she alone--was the cause of this. She had saved him from destruction; could
+anything flatter a woman more?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;When old Vertua had exchanged the ordinary civilities with
+him, she spoke to him in a tone of gentle pity, saying, 'What is the matter,
+Chevalier? You look ill and unhappy. You ought to go and consult a doctor.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We can understand that her words filled him with comfort and
+hope. He was a different man in a moment. He lifted his head, and managed to
+talk once more in the manner which, when it welled from his very heart in former
+days, used to attract and endear him to all who knew him. Vertua reminded him
+that he had not come to take possession of the house he had won.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Very well, I will come,' he answered, with an inspiration
+breaking upon him. 'I will come to-morrow; but we must discuss all the
+conditions at proper length and leisure, even if it should take months.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'So be it, Chevalier,' said Vertua, with a smile. 'Perhaps we
+may come to discuss matters which we do not quite see into at present.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Chevalier, inwardly comforted, resumed all the charm of
+manner and all the delightful qualities which had distinguished him before he
+was carried away by his devouring passion. His visits at Vertua's became more
+and more frequent, and Angela grew more and more disposed towards the man whose
+guardian angel she had been, till at last she believed she loved him with all
+her heart, and promised him her hand, to the great joy of old Vertua, who saw in
+this the settlement of his losses.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;One day Angela, now the happy betrothed of the Chevalier
+Menars, was sitting at a window, lost in all the sweet dreams and happy fancies
+which young ladies in her position are believed to be wont to entertain, when a
+regiment of Jaegers came marching along, with trumpets sounding bravely, on
+their way to join in the Spanish campaign. She was looking with pitiful sympathy
+at the men thus going to face death in this war, when a very young officer, who
+was reining his horse quickly to one side, looked up at her, and she fell back
+fainting in her seat.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Alas! This young Jaeger, marching off to face death in the
+field, was no other than young Duvernet, the son of a neighbour, with whom she
+had grown up, who had been nearly daily in the house, and had only kept out of
+the way since the Chevalier had made his appearance. In the look of bitter
+reproach which the lad cast at her--and the bitterness of death itself was in
+it--she now, for the first time, read not only how unspeakably he loved her, but
+how boundlessly she loved him, without having been aware, whilst dazzled by the
+Chevalier's brilliance. Now. for the first time, she understood Duvernet's
+anxious sighs?--his silent, unassuming, unobtrusive attentions; now, and now
+only, she read her own embarrassed heart--what moved her disquiet breast when
+Duvernet came, when she heard his voice.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Too late! he is lost to me!' cried the voice in her heart.
+She had the resolution to beat down and conquer the hopeless pain which would
+have torn her heart; and just because she had this resolution she was
+successful.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Chevalier was too observant not to see that something had
+been occurring to disturb her; but, tenderly enough, he refrained from trying to
+unriddle a mystery which she thought herself bound to conceal from him. He
+contented himself, by way of clearing anything hostile out of the path, with
+hastening on the wedding. The arrangements connected with it he ordered with
+such admirable consideration and such delicate tact, that from his very care in
+this respect for her state of mind, she could not but form a higher opinion of
+his amiability than even before.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;His conduct to her was marked with such observance of the
+most trifling of her wishes, with the sincere courtesy which springs from the
+truest and purest affection, that the remembrance of Duvernet naturally faded
+more and more from her memory. So that the first
+cloud-shadow which fell upon the brightness of their life was
+the illness and death of old Vertua.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Since the night when he had lost all he possessed to the
+Chevalier, he had never touched a card. But in the closing moments of his life
+all his faculties seemed to be engrossed with the game. Whilst the priest, who
+had come to administer the consolations of the Church to him on his departure
+from this life, spoke to him of spiritual things, he lay with closed eyes,
+murmuring between his teeth, '<i>Perd!</i>--<i>Gagne</i>,' and making, with hands
+quivering in the spasms of death, the motions of dealing and playing out cards.
+Angela and the Chevalier, bending over him, called him by the tenderest names.
+He did not seem to hear them, or to know they were there. With a faint sigh of
+'<i>Gagne!</i>' he gave up the ghost.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In her deep sorrow, Angela could not help an eery shudder at
+the manner of his departure. The remembrance of that night, when she had first
+seen the Chevalier as the most hardened reprobate of a gambler, came vividly to
+her mind, and the thought came into her soul that he might some day throw off
+his angel's mask and, jeering at her in his pristine devilishness, begin his old
+life again.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This fearful presentiment was to come but too true.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Deeply shocked as the Chevalier was at the notion of old
+Francesco Vertua's having gone into the next world heedless of the consolations
+of the Church, and unable to leave off thinking of the former sinful life,
+still, somehow--he could not tell why--it brought the memory of the game back to
+his mind again, so that every night in his dreams he was presiding at the banque
+once more, heaping up fresh treasures.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Since, Angela, impressed by the remembrance how her husband
+had appeared to her at first, found it impossible to maintain the trustful
+affection of her earlier wedded days, mistrust, at the same time, came into his
+soul of her, and he attributed her embarrassment to that secret which at once
+disturbed her peace, and remained unrevealed to him. This suspicion produced in
+him misery and annoyance, which he expressed in utterances which pained Angela.
+By a natural psychical reflex action, the remembrance of the unfortunate
+Duvernet revived in her mind, and with it the miserable sense that the love
+which had blossomed forth in her young heart was lost and bidden adieu to for
+ever. The discord grew greater and greater, till it reached such a pitch that
+the Chevalier came to the conclusion that the life of retirement which he was
+leading was a complete mistake, and longed with all his heart to be out into the
+world again.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In fact, his evil star began to get into the ascendant. And
+that which inward dissatisfaction commenced, was completed by a wicked fellow
+who had formerly been a croupier at his banque, and who, by various crafty
+speeches, brought matters to such a point that the Chevalier came to consider
+his present mode of existence childish and ridiculous, and could not comprehend
+how, for the sake of a woman, he should be abandoning a life which appeared to
+him the only one worth living.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So very soon the Chevalier's banque, with its heaps of gold,
+was going on again more brilliantly than ever. His luck had not forsaken him;
+victim after victim fell a prey, and money was amassed. But Angela's happiness
+was a thing of the past--destroyed, in a terrible fashion, like a brief, bright
+dream. The Chevalier treated her with indifference--more than that, with
+contempt. Often she did not see him for weeks and months. An old house-steward
+looked after the household matters; the servants were changed according to the
+Chevalier's caprice; so that Angela, a stranger in her own home, found no
+comfort anywhere. Often, in sleepless nights, when she heard the Chevalier's
+carriage draw up at the door, the heavy money-chest brought up the stairs, and
+he himself come up, cursing and swearing in monosyllables, and shut the door of
+his distant room with a bang, a torrent of tears would burst from her eyes, and
+in the deepest, most heartbreaking tones of misery, she would call a hundred
+times on the name Duvernet, and implore the Eternal Power to make an end of her
+wretched existence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;One night a young gentleman of good family, after losing all
+he possessed at the Chevalier's banque, sent a bullet through his head in the
+gaming-house--and indeed in the very room where the banque was established--so
+that the blood and brains besprinkled the players, who scattered out of the way
+in alarm. The only person unaffected by this was the Chevalier, who, when every
+one was about to leave the room, asked whether it was according to rule and
+custom to leave the game because a young fool had chosen to commit an absurdity,
+before the regular time for closing.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This incident excited much comment. The most experienced,
+most hardened gamblers were indignant at the Chevalier's unexampled behaviour.
+Every one took part against him. The police ordered his banque to be closed. He
+was accused of unfair play; and his extraordinary luck spoke for the truth of
+this accusation. He was unable to clear himself, and the fine inflicted on him
+ran away with a considerable slice of his fortune. Finding himself robbed of his
+good name, and despised by all, he betook himself back to the arms of the wife
+whom he had ill-treated, who gladly welcomed him in his repentance. The
+recollection that her father, too, had renounced the miserable life of a
+gambler, allowed a gleam of hope to dawn upon her mind that perhaps, as the
+Chevalier was advancing somewhat in years, his alteration of life might be
+lasting.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He left Paris with her, and they went to Genoa, her
+birth-place. Here, at first, he lived a sedate life; but it was impossible to
+re-establish the old, peaceful, domestic existence with Angola which his evil
+angel had destroyed. Very soon his inward restlessness and disquiet awoke
+and drove him out, away from his house, in unsettled
+restlessness. His ill-repute had followed him from Paris. He dared not establish
+a banque, though he felt impelled to do so with the most irresistible force.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;About this time a French Colonel, obliged, by serious wounds,
+to retire from active service, was keeping the most important banque in Genoa.
+The Chevalier went to this banque, with envy and deep hatred in his heart,
+expecting his usual luck to stand by him soon, so that he might be the ruin of
+this rival. The Colonel hailed the Chevalier with a merry humour (not at other
+times characteristic of him), saying that now, when the Chevalier de Menars had
+appeared in the field, the game was worth winning at last, since there was
+something in the nature of a real contest to give some interest to the issues.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And, in fact, during the first few deals, the cards fell to
+the Chevalier with just his old luck. But when, trusting to his invincible
+fortune, he at last called out: 'Va, Banque!' he lost a very considerable sum of
+money at one stroke.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Colonel was, ordinarily, completely cool and impassive,
+whether lucky or unlucky; but, this time, he drew in his winnings with the
+liveliest marks of the utmost delight.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;From that moment luck turned away from the Chevalier, utterly
+and completely. He played every night, and lost every night, till he had nothing
+left but two or three thousand ducats, in paper.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He had been on foot all day, converting this paper into cash,
+and only went home to his house late in the evening. When night was coming on,
+he was going out with his last gold coins in his pocket, when Angela came to him
+(suspecting the truth, no doubt), threw herself at his feet with a stream of
+tears, imploring him, by the Virgin and all the saints, to abandon his evil
+courses, and not leave her in need and poverty.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Chevalier raised her, pressed her, with painful fervour,
+to his heart, and said, in a hollow voice: 'Angela!--my sweet, beloved
+Angela!--there is no help for it. I must do it. I cannot help it. But
+to-morrow--to-morrow, all your cares will be over. For, by the Eternal Destiny
+which is above us, I swear that I play this night for the very last time. Do not
+distress yourself, my darling child. Go to sleep! Dream of happy days!--of a
+better life which is coming speedily. That will bring me luck.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He kissed her, and ran off, not to be stopped.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In two deals he had lost everything--all that he possessed.
+He remained standing motionless near the Colonel, staring, in a dazed manner, at
+the gaming table.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Won't you go on, Chevalier?' asked the Colonel, shuffling
+the cards for the next deal.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'I have lost my all,' the Chevalier answered, powerfully
+constraining himself to be calm.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Do you mean to say you have nothing left?' the Colonel asked
+at the next deal.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'I am a beggar,' the Chevalier cried, in a voice quivering
+with fury and pain, as he continued to stare at the gaming table. He did not
+notice that those who were staking were getting more and more the better of the
+banquier.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Colonel calmly continued the game.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As he shuffled the cards for the third deal, he said to the
+Chevalier (without looking on him), 'You have a beautiful wife, you know!'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'What do you mean?' cried the Chevalier angrily. The Colonel
+turned away a little without answering him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Ten thousand ducats--or Angela!' he said, half averting his
+face, as the cards were being cut.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'You are out of your senses!' cried the Chevalier, who had,
+however, now regained his composure a good deal, and began to observe that the
+Colonel was losing at every deal.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Twenty thousand ducats, or Angela!' the Colonel said almost
+in a whisper, as he paused for a moment during the shuffling of the cards. The
+Chevalier said not a word. The Colonel played again, and nearly all the cards
+were in favour of the players--against him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Done!' the Chevalier whispered in the Colonel's ear when the
+next deal began; and he threw the Queen on the table.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Queen lost.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Chevalier drew back, grinding his teeth, and leaned at
+the window with despair and death in his white face.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The game ended, and, with a jeering 'Well! what next?' the
+Colonel came up to the Chevalier.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Oh, God!' cried the Chevalier, quite beside himself. 'You
+have made me a beggar, but you must be a madman if you think you have won my
+wife! Are we in the West Indies? Is my wife a slave--a chattel in her husband's
+power, so that he can sell her, or gamble her away at faro? It is true, of
+course, that you would have had to pay me twenty thousand ducats if the Queen
+had won, so that I have lost the right to make any objection if my wife chooses
+to leave me and go away with you. Come home with me, and despair when my wife
+repulses with horror the man whom she would have to follow as a dishonoured
+mistress.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Despair yourself, Chevalier!' said the Colonel with a
+scornful laugh, 'when Angela turns from you with horror---from you, the
+miserable wretch who has brought her to beggary--and throws herself into my arms
+with eager rapture; despair yourself, when you find that the Church's
+benediction unites us--that fate crowns our most eager desires. You say I must
+be mad!--Ha, ha! All I wanted was to gain power of veto. I knew of a certainty
+that your wife belonged to me. Ho, ho, Chevalier! Let me tell you that your wife
+loves me--me--unutterably, to my certain knowledge. Let me tell you that I am
+that Duvernet, the neighbour's son, brought up with Angela, united to her in the
+warmest affection, which you, with your devilish artifices, dispelled. Alas! it
+was not till I had to depart on field service that Angela knew what I was to
+her. I know the whole matter. It was too late then. But the dark
+spirit told me that I should succeed in ruining you at
+play--that was why I devoted myself to it and followed you to Genoa. And I have
+done it!--come now to your wife!'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Chevalier stood like one annihilated, stricken by a
+thousand burning lightnings. The mystery so long sealed to him was explained.
+Now, for the first time, he saw the full extent of the misfortunes which he had
+brought upon poor Angela.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'My wife shall make her decision,' he said in a hollow tone,
+and followed the Colonel, who stormed away.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;When they came to the house, and the Colonel seized the
+handle of Angela's door, the Chevalier thrust him back, saying, 'My wife is in a
+sweet sleep; would you awaken her?'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Ha!' said the Colonel. 'Has Angela ever been in a sweet
+sleep since you brought nameless misery upon her?'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He was about to enter the room, but the Chevalier prostrated
+himself at his feet, and cried, in utter despair, 'Have some mercy! You have
+made me a beggar! Leave me my wife!'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'So lay old Vertua at <i>your</i> feet, unfeeling monster that you
+were, and could not move your stony heart. Therefore, may the vengeance of
+Heaven be upon you!'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So saying, the Colonel again turned towards Angela's room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Chevalier sprang to the door, burst it open, dashed up to
+the bed where his wife was lying, drew the curtains aside, cried 'Angela!
+Angela!'--bent over her--took her hand--shuddered like one convulsed in the
+death agony, and cried out in a terrible voice--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'See here! What you have won from me is my wife's corpse!'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Colonel hurried to the bedside in terror. There was no
+trace of life. Angela was dead.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Colonel raised his clenched hands to heaven, and rushed
+away with a hollow cry. He was no more seen.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was thus that the stranger finished his narrative, and
+having done so, he went quickly away, before the Baron, much moved by it, was
+able to utter any word.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A day or two afterwards the stranger was found insensible in
+his room, stricken by apoplexy. He was speechless till his death, which happened
+in a few hours. His papers showed that, though he was known by the name of
+Baudasson, he really was none other than the unfortunate Chevalier Menars.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Baron recognized the warning of Heaven which had brought
+the Chevalier Menars to him just when he was nearing the abyss, and he took a
+solemn vow that he would resist all the temptations of the deceptive Gambler's
+Fortune. Hitherto he has kept his vow.</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="normal">&quot;Would one not suppose,&quot; said Lothair, when Theodore had
+ended, &quot;that you were a man who knew all about gambling, and were great at all
+those games yourself, though perhaps your conscience might now and then give you
+a slap in the face? and yet I know very well that you never touch a card.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is quite the case,&quot; said Theodore. &quot;And yet I derived
+much assistance, in my story, from a strange experience which I had myself
+once.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It would be the best <i>finale</i> to your tale,&quot; said Ottmar, &quot;to
+tell us this said experience of yours.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You know,&quot; said Theodore, &quot;that when I was finishing my
+education I lived for some time with an old uncle of mine in G----. There was a
+certain friend of this uncle's who, though our ages were very different, took a
+great pleasure in my society, chiefly, perhaps, because at that time I was always
+filled with a brilliant vein of humour, sometimes amounting to the mischievous.
+This gentleman was, I can assure you, one of the most extraordinary characters I
+ever came across. Mean in all the relationships of life, ill-tempered,
+grumbling, sulky, with a great tendency to miserliness, he had the utmost
+appreciation for everything in the shape of fun and amusement. To use a French
+expression, he was in the highest degree <i>amusable</i>, but not in the least
+<i>amusant</i>. At the same time he was excessively vain, and one form of his vanity
+was that he was always dressed in the utmost extremity of the prevailing
+fashion, almost to a ludicrous extent.
+And there was a similar absurdity about his manner of hunting
+after every species of enjoyment in the very sweat of his brow, so to
+speak--striving, with a comic eagerness, to gulp down as much
+of it as he possibly could grasp. I remember so well three particular instances
+of this vanity and struggle for enjoyment of his that I must tell them to you.
+Picture to yourselves this man, being at a place among the hills, and invited by
+some people (ladies being among them), to go on a walking expedition to see some
+waterfalls in the neighbourhood, dressing himself for the occasion in a bran new
+silk coat, never worn before, with beautiful shining steel buttons, and white
+silk stockings, shoes with steel buckles, and his finest rings on his fingers.
+In the thickest part of the pine forest which had to be passed through, a
+tremendous thunderstorm came on; the rain fell in torrents, the brooks, swollen
+by the rain, came rushing over the paths. You can well imagine the state my poor
+friend found himself in very soon.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It chanced that the tower of the Dominican Church at G----
+was one night struck by lightning. My friend was in raptures with the grand
+fire-pillar which arose in the darkness, magically illuminating all the country
+round; but he soon came to the conclusion that to get the real picturesque
+effect of it in all its perfection, it would be the right thing to go and look
+at it from a certain rising ground just outside the town. So he set off as
+quickly as his carefulness in such matters would permit him, not forgetting to
+put a packet of macaroons and a flask of wine into certain of his pockets, or to
+carry a beautiful bouquet of flowers in his hand, and a camp stool under his
+arm. Thus equipped, he paced calmly out of the city gate and up on to the
+eminence, where he sat himself down to enjoy the spectacle, smelling at his
+bouquet, munching a macaroon, washing that down with a mouthful of wine, in the
+most complete, beatific, quiescent state of enjoyment. Really this fellow
+was--taking him all round----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Stop! stop!&quot; cried Lothair, &quot;you were going to tell us the
+adventure of your own which helped you in writing your 'Gamester's Fortune,' and
+you cannot get away from a fellow who seems to have been as ludicrous as
+repulsive to every ordinarily constituted person's feelings.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You must not blame me,&quot; said Theodore, &quot;for lingering over
+this personage who was so intimately brought into connection with my life. But,
+to business!--this man whom I have been describing to you invited me to make a
+trip with him to a certain watering place, and, although I saw quite clearly
+that I was to play the <i>rôle</i> of soother, calmer, tranquilizer, and
+<i>maítre-de-plaisírs</i> to him, I was quite satisfied to make this charming
+excursion amongst the mountains at his expense. At the watering-place there was
+some high play going on--a bank of several thousand thalers. My companion eyed
+the heaps of gold with greedy simpers, paced up and down the room, circled
+nearer and nearer to the play table, dived into his pockets, brought out a
+Friedrich-d'or between his finger and thumb, dropped it back again--in a word,
+lusted for money. Only too glad would he have been to pocket a little haul from
+that heaped-up treasure, but he had no belief in his star. At last he put an end
+to this droll contest between his longings and his fears, which brought the
+perspiration in drops on to his forehead, by begging me to stake for him, to
+which end he put five or six Friedrichs-d'or into my hand. However, I would have
+nothing to do with the arrangement until he assured me that he had not the least
+belief that he would have any luck whatever, but looked upon the sum which he
+staked as so much lost cash. What happened was what I did not in the least
+degree expect. To me, the unpractised, inexperienced player, fortune was
+propitious.
+I won for my friend in a very short time something like thirty
+Friedrichs-d'or, which he put in his pocket with much glee. Next evening he
+wanted me to play for him again, but to this hour I cannot explain how the idea
+came into my head that I should then play on my own account. I had not had the
+slightest intention of playing any more, nay, rather, I was on the very point of
+going away, out of the room, to take a walk outside, when my friend came up to
+me with his request. When I had plainly told him in set terms that I meant to
+play on my own account (but not till then), I walked calmly up to the table and
+pulled out of my little waistcoat pocket two Friedrichs-d'or, the only two which
+I possessed. If fortune had been propitious to me the night before, this time it
+seemed as if some Spirit of Might, at whose command luck stood, was in covenant
+with me. Whatever I did, whatever I staked upon, everything turned up in my
+favour---in fact, just as I said in my story, what happened at first to Baron
+Siegfried happened to me. My brain reeled! When a fresh haul of money was handed
+over to me I often felt as if I were in a dream, and should be sure to wake up
+just as I was pocketing my winnings. When the clock struck two the game came to
+an end as usual.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Just as I was leaving the room, an old officer took me by the
+shoulder, and said, transfixing me with a grave, powerful eye:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Young man, if you had known what you were about, you would
+have broken the banque. But if ever you do know about it, no doubt you will go
+to the devil, like all the rest.' He left me, without waiting for my answer.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The day was breaking when I got to my room, and emptied the
+money out of all my pockets on to the table. Picture to yourselves the feelings
+of a mere boy, entirely dependent on his relatives, restricted to a miserable
+mite of an allowance of weekly pocket-money, who suddenly, as if at the wave of
+a magic wand, finds himself in possession of a sum which is, at all events,
+considerable enough to appear, in his eyes, a fortune! But, as I gazed at the
+heaps of coin, all my mind was suddenly filled with an anxiety, a strange,
+alarmed uneasiness, which put me into a cold perspiration. The words of the old
+officer came back to me, as they had not struck me before, in the most terrible
+significance. I felt as though the coin which was blinking at me there on the
+table was the earnest money of a bargain whereby I had sold my soul to the
+powers of darkness, so that there was no escape more for it possible, and it was
+destroyed for evermore. The blossoms of my life seemed to be gnawed upon by a
+hidden worm, and I sank into inconsolable despair. The morning dawn was flaming
+up behind the eastern hills. I lay down in the window-seat. I gazed, with the
+most intense longing, for the rising of the sun which should drive away the
+darksome spirits of night; and
+when the woods and plains shone forth in his golden glory, it
+was day in my soul once more, and there came to me the most inspiriting sense of
+a power to resist all temptation, and shield my life from that demoniacal
+impulse, which was full of the power of--somehow and somewhere--impelling it to
+utter destruction. I made then a most sacred vow that I would never touch a card
+again, and that vow I have kept most strictly. And the first use I made of my
+money was to part from my friend, to his immense surprise, and set out on that
+excursion to Dresden, Prague, and Vienna, of which I have told you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I can well imagine,&quot; said Sylvester, &quot;the impression which
+your unexpected, equivocal, most questionable luck must have made upon you. It
+was greatly to your credit that you resisted the temptation, and that you
+recognized how it was that the threatening danger lay in the very luck itself.
+But, allow me to say, your own tale, the manner in which you have, with such
+accuracy, characterized the real gambler in it, must make it plain to yourself
+that you never had within you the true love of gambling, and that, if you had,
+the courage which you displayed would have been very difficult, perhaps
+impossible. Vincent, who, I believe, knows a great deal more about such matters
+than the rest of us, will agree with me here, I think.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As for me,&quot; said Vincent, &quot;I was scarcely attending to
+Theodore's account of his luck at the faro-table, because my mind was so full of
+that delicious fellow who walked about the hills in silk stockings, and admired
+burning buildings as if they were so many pictures, enjoying his wine, his
+macaroons, and his bouquets all the time. In fact, it was a pleasure and
+satisfaction to me to see one entertaining character at last emerging out of the
+dark, dreadful background of the stories of this evening, and I should have
+liked to have seen him as the hero of some comic drama.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ought not the mere suggestion of him to have been enough for
+us?&quot;
+said Lothair. &quot;We Serapion Brethren ought always to remember
+that it is our duty to set up, for each other's entertainment and refreshment,
+unique characters which we may have come across in life, as a means of
+refreshing us after the tales which may have strained our attention.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A good idea,&quot; said Vincent, &quot;and I thoroughly agree with it.
+Rough sketches of that description ought to serve as studies for more finished
+pictures, which whoever chooses may elaborate after his liking. Also, they may
+be considered as being charitable contributions to the general fund of
+Serapionish fantasy. And to show that I am in earnest, I shall at once proceed
+to describe to you a very great 'Curio' of a man whom I came across in the south
+of Germany. One day, in B----, I chanced to be walking in a wood near the town,
+when I came upon a number of countrymen hard at work in cutting down a quantity
+of thick underwood, and snipping off the branches from the trees on either side
+of it. I do not know what made me inquire of them if they were making a new
+road, or what. They laughed, and told me that, if I went on my way, I should
+find, outside the trees, upon a little rising ground, a little gentleman who
+would answer my questions, and, accordingly, I came there upon a little elderly
+gentleman, of pale complexion, in a great-coat, and with a travelling-cap on his
+head and a game-bag at his back, who was gazing fixedly through a telescope in
+the direction of the men who were cutting down the trees. When he saw me he shut
+up his telescope in a hurry, and said, eagerly, 'You have come through the wood,
+sir? Have you observed how the work is getting on?' I told him what I had seen.
+'That's right, that's right,' he said; 'I've been here ever since three in the
+morning, and I was beginning to be afraid that those asses (and I pay them well,
+too) were leaving me in the lurch. But I have some hopes, now, that the view
+will come into sight at the expected time.' He drew out his telescope again, and
+gazed through it towards the wood. After a few minutes, some large branches came
+rustling down, and, as at the stroke of a magic wand, there opened up a prospect
+of distant mountains, a beautiful prospect, with the ruins of an old castle
+glowing in the beams of the setting sun. The gentleman gave expression to his
+extreme delight and gratification in one or two detached broken phrases; but
+when he had enjoyed the prospect for a good quarter of an hour, he put away his
+telescope and set off as fast as he could, without bidding me goodbye or taking
+the slightest notice of me. I afterwards heard that he was the Baron von
+B----, one of the most extraordinary fellows in existence,
+who, like the well-known Baron Grotthus, has been on a continual walking tour
+for several years, and has a mania for hunting after beautiful views. When he
+arrives at a place where, to get at a view, he thinks it is necessary to have
+trees cut down, or openings made in woodlands, he spares no cost to arrange
+matters with the proprietors, or to employ labourers. In fact, it is said that
+he once tried his utmost to have a set of farm buildings burned down, because he
+thought they interfered with the beauty of a prospect, and interrupted the view
+of the distance. He did not succeed in this particular undertaking. But whenever
+he did attain his object, he would gaze at his newly-arranged view for half an
+hour or so, at the outside, and then set off at such a pace that nothing could
+stop him, never coming back to the place again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The friends were of one mind in the opinion that there is no
+possibility of imagining anything more marvellous or out of the common than that
+which comes before us in actual life, of its own accord.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am wonderfully delighted,&quot; said Cyprian, &quot;that it chances
+to be in my power to add to your two oddities a third character, of whom I was
+told a short time ago by a well-known violinist, whom we all of us know very
+well. This third character of mine is none other than the Baron von B----, a man
+who lived in Berlin about the years 1789 and 1790, and was acknowledged to be
+one of the most extraordinary phenomenons ever met with in the world of music.
+For the sake of greater vividness, I will tell you the tale in the first person,
+as if I were the violinist concerned in it, and I hope my worthy Serapion
+brother Theodore won't take it amiss that I encroach, on this occasion, into his
+peculiar province.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;At the time when the Baron was living in Berlin,&quot; the
+violinist said, &quot;I was a very young fellow, scarcely sixteen, and absorbed in
+the
+most zealous study of my instrument, to which I was devoted
+with all the powers and faculties of my body and soul. My worthy master,
+Concert-Meister Haak, who was excessively strict with me, was much content with
+my progress. He lauded the finish of my bowing, the correctness of my
+intonation, and he allowed me to play in the orchestra of the opera, and even in
+the King's chamber-concerts. On those occasions I often heard Haak talking with
+young Duport, with Ritter, and other great artists belonging to the orchestra,
+about the musical evenings which Baron von B---- was in the habit of having in
+his house. Such was the research and the taste connected with those evenings
+that the King himself often deigned to take part in them. Mention was made of
+magnificent works of the old, nearly forgotten masters, which were nowhere else
+to be heard than at the Baron's, who, as regarded music for stringed
+instruments, possessed, probably,
+the most complete collection from the most ancient times down
+to
+the present day, in existence. Then they spoke of the
+marvellous hospitality which the Baron extended to artists, and they were all
+unanimous in concluding that he was the most bright and shining star which had
+ever risen in the musical horizon of Berlin.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;All this excited my curiosity, and made my teeth water; and
+all the more that, during these conversations, the artists drew their heads
+nearer together, and I gathered, from mysterious whispers and detached words and
+phrases, that there was talk of tuition in music, of giving of lessons. I
+fancied that, on Duport's face especially, there appeared a sarcastic smile, and
+that they all attacked Concert-Meister Haak with some piece of chaff, and that
+he, for his part, only feebly defending himself, could scarcely suppress a
+smile, until at last, turning quickly away, and taking up his violin to tune, he
+cried out, 'All the same, he is a first-rate fellow!'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;All this was more than I could withstand, and although I was
+told, in a pretty decided manner, to mind my own business, I begged Haak to
+allow me, if in any manner possible, to go with him to the Baron's and play in
+his concerts.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Haak surveyed me with great eyes, and I feared that a little
+thunderstorm was going to burst out upon me. But his seriousness melted into a
+strange smile, and he said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Well, well; perhaps you're right. There's a great deal to be
+picked up at the Baron's. I'll talk to him about you, and I think it very likely
+that he will accord you <i>les entrées</i>. He is very much interested in young
+musicians.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A short time afterwards, I had been playing some very
+difficult duetts with Haak. As he laid his fiddle down, he said, 'Now, Carl, put
+your Sunday coat on to-night, and your silk stockings. We will go together to
+the Baron's. There won't be many there, and it will be a good opportunity to
+introduce you to him.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My heart throbbed with delight, for I expected to meet with
+things unheard-of and extraordinary, though I did not know why this was my
+expectation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We arrived there. The Baron, a rather small gentleman,
+advanced in age, wearing an old Frankish embroidered gala dress, came to meet us
+as we entered the room, and shook my master cordially by the hand. Never had I
+felt, at the sight of a man of rank, more sincere reverence, a more infelt,
+sincere, pleasant attraction. His face expressed the most genuine kindliness,
+whilst from his eyes flashed that darksome fire which so often indicates the
+artist who is, in verity, penetrated by his art. All that diffidence with which
+I, as an inexperienced neophyte, would otherwise have had to contend, fled from
+me instantly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'How are you, my dear Haak?' the Baron said. 'How are you
+getting on? Have you been having a right good study at my concerto? Good, good;
+we shall hear tomorrow. Oh, I suppose this is the young virtuoso you were
+telling me about?'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I cast my eyes down bashfully. I felt that I blushed over and
+over again.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Haak mentioned my name, praised my natural talent, and lauded
+the rapid progress which I had made in a short time.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'And so you have chosen the violin as your instrument,' said
+the Baron. 'Have you considered, my son, that the violin is the most difficult
+of all instruments ever invented, and that it is one which, whilst it seems, in
+its extreme simplicity, to comprehend in itself the most luxuriant richness of
+music, is, in reality, an extraordinary mystery, which only discloses itself to
+a rare few, specially organized by nature to comprehend it? Do you know of a
+certainty, does your spirit tell you with distinctness, that you will be the
+master of that marvellous mystery? Many a one has thought this, and has remained
+a miserable bungler all his days. I should not wish, my son, that you should
+swell the ranks of those wretched creatures. However, at all events, you can
+play me something, and then I will tell you what you are like, what state you
+are in as regards this matter, and you will follow my counsel. Perhaps it is
+with you as it was with Carl Staunitz, who thought he was going to turn out a
+marvellous virtuoso. When I opened his eyes, he threw his fiddle behind the
+stove, and took to the Tenor and Viol d'Amour, and a very good job he made of
+them. On them he could stamp about with those broad stretching fingers of his,
+and play quite fairly well. But, however, just now I want to hear <i>you</i>, my
+little son.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This first somewhat extraordinary speech of the Baron's to me
+was calculated to render me somewhat anxious and abashed. What he said went deep
+into my soul, and I felt, not without inward sorrow, that in devoting my life to
+the most difficult of all instruments I had, perhaps undertaken a task beyond my
+powers.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Just then, four of the artists then present sat down to play
+the last three quartettes of Haydn, which had just appeared in print. My master
+took his violin out of its case; but scarcely had he passed his bow over the
+strings, in tuning, when the Baron, stopping his ears with both hands, cried
+out, like a man possessed, 'Haak, Haak, tell me, for God's sake! how can you
+annihilate all your skill in playing by making use of a miserable screaking,
+caterwauling fiddle like that?'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now it happened that my master's violin was one of the most
+splendid and glorious ever to be met with. It was a genuine Antonio Stradivari,
+and nothing could enrage him more than when any one failed to render due homage
+to this darling of his. However, knowing pretty well what was going to happen,
+he put it back into its case with a smile.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Just as he was taking the key out of the lock of his
+fiddle-case, the Baron, who had left the room for a moment, came in, bearing in
+both arms (as if it had been a babe going to be baptized) a violin-case, covered
+with scarlet velvet, and bound with gold cords.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'I wish to do you an honour, Haak,' he said; 'tonight you
+shall play on my oldest, most precious violin. This is a genuine Granuelo. Your
+Stradivarius, his pupil, is only a bungler in comparison with him. Tartini would
+never put his fingers on any violin but a Granuelo. So please to collect
+yourself, and pull yourself together, so that the Granuelo may be pleased to
+allow itself to unfold all the gloriousness which dwells within it.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Baron opened the violin-case, and I beheld an instrument
+whose build bore witness to its immense antiquity. Beside it lay a most
+marvellous-looking bow, whose exaggerated curvature seemed to indicate rather
+that it was intended for shooting arrows from than for bringing tone out of
+violin strings. With solemn carefulness the Baron took the instrument out of its
+case and handed it to my master, who received it with equal solemnity.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'I'm not going to give you the bow,' said the Baron, tapping
+my master on the shoulder with a pleasant smile, 'you haven't the slightest idea
+how to manage it; and that is why you will never, in all your life, attain to a
+proper style of bowing.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'This was the sort of bow,' continued the Baron, taking it
+from the case, and contemplating it with a gleaming glance of inspiration,
+'which the grand, immortal Tartini made use of; and now that he is
+gone there are only two of his pupils left in the whole wide
+world who were fortunate enough to possess themselves of the secret of his
+magnificent, marrowy, toneful manner of bowing, which affects the whole being of
+people, and can only be accomplished with a bow of this kind. One of those
+pupils is Narbini, who is now an old man of seventy, capable only of inward
+music; and the other, as I think, gentlemen, you are aware, is myself.
+Consequently, I am now the sole individual in whom the true art of
+violin-playing survives; and my zealous endeavours will, I trust and believe,
+not fail to perpetuate that art which found its creator in Tartini. However, let
+us set to work, gentlemen.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Haydn quartettes were then played through, and with a
+degree of perfection which, it need not be said, left nothing to be desired. The
+Baron sat with closed eyes, swaying backwards and forwards; occasionally he
+would get up from his chair, go closer to the players, peer at the music with
+wrinkled brow, and then go very gently back to his seat, lean his head on his
+hand, sigh, groan--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Stop, stop!' he cried suddenly at a melodious passage in one
+of the adagios, 'by all the gods! that was Tartini-ish melody, or I know nothing
+about it. Play it again, please.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And the masters, smiling, repeated the passage, with a more
+sostenuto and cantabile effect of bowing, while the Baron wept and sobbed like a
+child.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;When the quartettes were ended, the Baron said, 'A heavenly
+fellow, this Haydn; he knows how to touch the heart; but he has not an idea of
+writing for the violin. Perhaps he does not wish to do it; for if he did, and
+wrote in the only true manner, as Tartini did, you would never be able to play
+it.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It was now my turn to play some variations which Haak had
+written for me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Baron stood close behind me, looking at the notes. You
+may imagine the agitation with which I commenced, having this severe critic at
+my elbow. Presently, however, a stirring allegro movement carried me away. I
+forgot all about the Baron, and managed to move about with all freedom within
+the sphere of skill and power which stood then at my command.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;When I had finished, the Baron patted me on the shoulder, and
+said, 'You may stick to the violin, my son; but as yet you have not an idea of
+bowing or expression, probably because, up to this time, you haven't had a
+proper master.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We then sat down to table, in another room, where there was a
+repast laid out and served, which, especially as regarded the rare and
+marvellous wines, was to be characterized as very extravagant. The musicians
+dipped deeply into everything set before them. The talk, which waxed more and
+more animated, was almost entirely on the subject of music. The Baron emitted
+complete treasures of the most marvellous information. His opinions and views,
+most keen and penetrating, proved him to be not only the most instructed of
+connoisseurs, but also the most accomplished, talented, and tasteful of artists.
+What was specially striking to me was a sort of portrait gallery of violinists
+which he went through to us in description. So much of it as I remember I will
+tell you.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Corelli,' said the Baron, 'was the first to break out the
+path. His compositions can only be played in the real Tartini manner, and that
+is sufficient to prove how well he knew the true art of violin-playing. Pugnani
+is a passable player. He has tone, and plenty of brains, but, although he has a
+tolerable amount of appogiamento, his bowing is too feeble altogether. What have
+not people told me of Geminiani! and yet, when I heard him last, some thirty
+years ago in Paris, he played like a somnambulist striding about in a dream, and
+one felt as if one were in a dream one's self. It was all mere tempo rubato; no
+sort of style or delivery. That infernal tempo rubato is the ruin of the very
+best players; they neglect their bowing over it. I played him my sonatas; he saw
+his error, and asked me to give him some lessons, which I was very glad to do.
+But he was too far sunk into his old method. He had grown too old in it--he was
+ninety-one. May God forgive Giardini, and not punish him for it in eternity; but
+he it was who first ate the apple of the tree of knowledge, and brought sin upon
+all subsequent players. He was the first of your tremolandoists and flourishers.
+All he thinks about is his left hand, and those fingers of his that have the
+power of jumping hither and thither. He has no idea of the important fact that
+it is in the <i>right</i> hand that the soul of melody lies--that from every throb of
+its pulses stream forth the powers that awaken the feelings of the heart. Oh!
+that every one of those &quot;flourishers&quot; had a stout old Jomelli at his elbow to
+rouse him out of his craziness by a good sound box on the ear--as Jomelli
+actually did--when Giardini, in his presence, spoilt a glorious passage of
+melody by jumps, trills, and &quot;mordenti.&quot; Lulli, too, conducts himself in a
+preposterous way. He is one of your damnable perpetrators of jumps. An adagio he
+can't play, and his sole quality is that for which ignoramuses, without sense or
+understanding, admire him with their stupid mouths agape. I say it again: with
+Narbini and me will die the true art of the violinist. Young Viotti is a fine
+fellow, full of promise. He is indebted to me for what he knows, for he was a
+most industrious pupil of mine. But what does it all amount to? No endurance! No
+patience! He wouldn't go on studying with me. Now, Kreutzer I still hope to get
+hold of and make something of. He has availed himself assiduously of my lessons,
+and will again, when I get back to Paris. That concerto of mine which you are
+studying, Haak, he played not at all badly a short time since. But he hasn't the
+hand, yet, to wield my bow. Giarnovichi shall never cross my doorstep again.
+There's a stupid coxcomb for you! A fellow who has the effrontery to turn up his
+nose at the grand Tartini--master of all masters--and despises my lessons. What
+I should like to know is, what that boy Rhode will turn out after he has had
+lessons from me? He promises well, and I have an idea that he will master my
+bow.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Baron turned to me, saying, 'He is about your age, little
+son, but of a more serious, deep-thoughted nature. You appear to me--don't take
+it ill if I say so--to be a little bit of a--well, I mean, you lack purpose.
+However, no matter. Now you, dear Haak, I have great hopes of. Since I have been
+teaching you you have become quite another man. Keep up your unresting zeal and
+industry. Never waste a single hour. You know that is what distresses me.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I was turned to stone with amazement and admiration at what I
+heard. I could not wait the necessary time to ask the concert-meister if it was
+all true---if the Baron was, really, the greatest violinist of the
+day--if he, my master himself, did actually take lessons from
+him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Undoubtedly,' Haak said, 'he had no hesitation in accepting
+the profitable instruction which the Baron placed at his disposal; and he told
+me that I should do well if I went, some morning, to him myself, and asked him
+to let me have some lessons from him too.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To all the questions which I then put to him concerning the
+Baron and his artistic talent, Haak would give me no direct reply, but kept on
+telling me that I ought to do as he advised me, and I should then find out all
+about it myself.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The peculiar smile which passed over Haak's face as he said
+this did not escape me. I did not understand the meaning of it, and it excited
+my curiosity to the highest point.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;When I bashfully made my request to the Baron, assuring him
+that the most unbounded zeal, the most glowing enthusiasm for my art inspired
+me, he looked at me seriously and fixedly. But soon his face put on
+an expression of the most benevolent kindliness. 'Little son!
+little son!' he said, 'that you have betaken yourself to me--the only real
+violin-player now living--proves that you possess the true artistic spirit, and
+that the ideal of the genuine violin-player has come into existence within you.
+I should be delighted to give you lessons; but the time--the time! where to find
+it? Haak occupies me a great deal, and then I have got this young man Durand
+here just now, he wants to be heard in public, and knows that he need not try
+that till he has had a good course of lessons from me. However, wait a moment,
+between breakfast and lunch, or at lunch time--yes. I have still an hour at
+liberty then. Little son, come to me at twelve exactly every day, and I will
+fiddle with you for an hour until one; then Durand comes.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You can imagine how I hastened, with a throbbing heart, to
+the Baron's the next forenoon at the appointed hour.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He would not let me play a single note on my own violin,
+which I had brought with me, but placed in my hands a very old instrument by
+Antonio Amati. Never had I had any experience of a violin like this. The
+celestial tone which streamed from its strings altogether inspired me. I let
+myself go, and abandoned myself to a stream of ingenious 'passages,' suffering
+the river of music to surge and swell, higher and higher, in mighty waves and
+billows of sound, and then die down and expire in murmuring whispers. My own
+belief is that I was playing exceedingly well; much better than I often did
+afterwards.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;When I had done, the Baron shook his head impatiently, and
+said: 'My little son! my little son! you must forget all that. In the first
+place, you hold your bow most abominably,' and he showed to me, practically, how
+the bow ought to be held, according to the manner of Tartini. I thought I should
+never be able to bring out a single tone whilst so holding it; but great was my
+astonishment when I found that, on repeating my 'passages' at the Baron's
+desire, the amazing advantage of holding the bow as he told me to hold it was
+strikingly manifest, after two or three seconds.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Good!' said the Baron. 'Little son, let us begin the lesson.
+Commence upon the note G, above the line, and hold out that note as long as you
+can possibly hold it. Economize your bow; make the very utmost of it that you
+possibly can. What the breath is to the singer, the bow is to the violinist.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I did as I was directed, and was greatly delighted to find
+that, in this manner of dealing with matters, I was enabled to bring out a tone
+of exceptional powerfulness; to swell it out to a marvellous fortissimo, and
+make it die down to a very soft pianissimo, with an excessively long stroke of
+the bow.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'You see, do you not, little son?' cried the Baron. 'You can
+play all kinds of &quot;passages,&quot; jumps, and new-fangled nonsense of that sort, but
+you can't properly sustain a note as it ought to be done.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He took the instrument from my hands, and laid the bow across
+the strings, near the bridge--and the simple truth is, that words completely
+fail me to describe to you what then came to pass.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Laying that trembling bow of his close to the bridge, he went
+sliding with it up and down on the strings, as it quivered in his hands,
+jarringly, whistlingly, squeakingly, mewingly; the tone he produced was to be
+likened to that of some old woman, with spectacles on nose, vainly attempting to
+hit the tune of a hymn.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And all the time he raised enraptured eyes to heaven, like a
+man
+lost in the most celestial blissfulness; and when at length he
+left
+off scraping with his bow up and down between the bridge and
+the finger-board, and laid the violin down, his eyes were shining, and he said,
+in deep emotion: 'That is tone! that is tone!'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I felt in a most extraordinary condition: although the inward
+impulse to laugh was present with me, it was killed by the aspect of that
+venerable man, glorified by his inspiration. At the same time the whole affair
+had a most eery effect upon me, and I felt very much affected by it, and could
+not utter a syllable.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Don't you find, little son,' asked the Baron, 'that that
+goes to your heart? Had you ever any idea that such magic could be conjured out
+of that little thing there, with its four simple strings? Well, well! take a
+glass of wine, little son.' He poured me out a glass of Madeira. I had to drink
+it, and also to take some of the pastry and cakes which were upon the table.
+Just then the clock struck one.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'This will have to do for to-day,' said the Baron. 'Go, go,
+little son! Here, here! put that in your pocket.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And he placed in my hand a little paper packet, in which I
+found a beautiful, shining ducat.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In my amazement I ran to the concert-meister and told him all
+that had happened. He, however, laughed aloud, and said: 'Now you know all about
+our Baron and his violin lessons. He looks upon you as a mere beginner, so that
+you only get a ducat per lesson; but as the mastership, in his opinion,
+increases, so does the pay. He gives me a Louis, and I think Durand gets a
+couple of ducats.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I could not help expressing my opinion that it was anything
+but an honourable style of going to work, to mystify this kind gentleman in such
+a fashion, and pocket his money into the bargain.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'You ought to be told,' said Haak, 'that his whole enjoyment
+consists in giving lessons--in the way which you now comprehend; and that if I
+and the other artists were to show any symptoms of under-valuing him or his
+lessons, he would proclaim to the whole artistic world, in which he is looked
+upon as a most competent and valuable critic, that we were nothing but a set of
+wretched scrapers; that, in fact, apart from his craze of being a marvellous
+player, the Baron is a man whose vast knowledge of music, and most cultivated
+judgment thereon, are matters from which even a master can derive great benefit.
+So judge for yourself whether I am to be blamed if I hold on to him, and now and
+then pocket a few of his Louis. I advise you to go to him as often as you can.
+Don't listen to the cracky nonsense he talks about his own execution; but do
+listen to, and profit by, what this man--who is most exceptionally versed in the
+musical art, and has immense and valuable experience in it--has to say about it.
+It will be greatly to your advantage to do so.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I took his advice; but it was often hard to repress laughter
+when the Baron would tap about with his fingers upon the belly of the fiddle
+instead of on the finger-board, stroking his bow diagonally over the strings the
+while, and asseverating that he was playing the most beautiful of all Tartini's
+solos, and that he was the only person in the world who could play it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But soon he would lay the violin down, and pour forth sayings
+which enriched me with the profoundest knowledge, and enflamed my heart towards
+the most glorious of all arts.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If I then played something from one of his concertos with my
+utmost <i>verve</i>, and happened to interpret this or the other passage of it better
+than usual, the Baron would look round with a smile of complacence, or of pride,
+and say: 'The boy has to thank me for that; me, pupil of the great Tartini!'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Thus, you perceive, I derived both profit and pleasure from
+the Baron's lessons; and from his ducats into the bargain.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, really,&quot; said Theodore, laughing, &quot;I should think that
+the greater part of the virtuosos of the present day--although they do consider
+themselves far beyond any description of instruction or advice--would be glad
+enough to have a few lessons such as the Baron von S---- was in the habit of
+giving.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I render thanks to Heaven,&quot; said Vincenz, &quot;that this meeting
+of our Club has ended so happily. I never dared to hope that it would; and I
+would fain entreat my worthy Serapion Brethren to see that proper measures are
+taken, in future, that there be a due alternation between the terrifying and the
+entertaining, which on this occasion has by no means been the case.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This admonition of yours,&quot; Ottmar said, &quot;is right and proper;
+but it rested with yourself to rectify the error into which we have fallen
+to-night by contributing something of your own, in your
+special style of humour.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The truth is,&quot; said Lothair, &quot;that you, my very fine
+fellow--and at the same time my very lazy-as-to-writing fellow--have never yet
+paid your entrance-money into the Serapion Guild, and the only mode of payment
+is a Serapiontic story.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hush!&quot; cried Vincenz. &quot;You don't know what has come glowing
+forth from my heart, and is nestling in this breast-pocket of mine here; a quite
+remarkable little creature of a story, which I specially commend to the favour
+of our Lothair. I should have read it to you to-night. But don't you see the
+landlord's pale face peeping in at the window every now and then, just in the
+style in which the uncle Kuehleborn, in Fouqué's 'Undine,' used to 'keek' in at
+the window of the fisherman's hut. Haven't you noticed the irritated 'Oh,
+Jemini!' countenance of the waiter? Was there not written on his forehead,
+legibly and distinctly (when he snuffed the candles), 'Are you going to sit here
+for ever? Are you never going to let an honest man get to his well-earned bed?'
+Those people are right. It is past twelve: our parting hour has struck some time
+ago.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The friends agreed to have another Serapiontic meeting at an
+early date, and dispersed.</p>
+
+<br>
+
+<br>
+<h2><a name="div1_section7" href="#div1Ref_section7">SECTION VII</a>.</h2>
+
+<p class="normal">The dreary late autumn had arrived, and Theodore was sitting
+in his room beside the crackling fire, waiting for the worthy Serapion Brethren,
+who came dropping in, one by one, at the appointed hour.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What diabolical weather!&quot; cried Cyprian, entering the last.
+&quot;In spite of my cloak I am nearly wet through, and a gust of wind all but
+carried away my hat.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And it won't be better very soon,&quot; said Ottmar; &quot;for our
+meteorologist, who lives in the same street with me, has prognosticated very
+fine weather at the end of this autumn.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Right; you are perfectly right, my friend Ottmar,&quot; Vincenz
+said. &quot;Whenever our great prophet consoles his neighbours with the announcement
+that the winter is not going to be at all severe, but principally of a southerly
+character, everybody rushes away in alarm, and buys all the wood he can cram
+into his cellar. The weather-prophet is a wise and highly-gifted man, whom we
+can thoroughly trust, so long as we expect the exact reverse of what he
+predicts.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Those autumnal storms always make me thoroughly wretched,&quot;
+said Sylvester; &quot;I always feel depressed and ill whilst they are going on; and I
+think you feel the same, Theodore.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, indeed I do,&quot; answered Theodore; &quot;this sort of weather
+always makes----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Splendid!--delightful beginning of a meeting of the Serapion
+Club!&quot; intercalated Lothair. &quot;We set to work to discuss the weather, like a
+parcel of old women round the coffee-table.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I don't see,&quot; said Ottmar, &quot;why we should not talk about the
+weather; the only reason you can object to it is that talking about it seems to
+be an observance of a kind of rather slovenly old custom, which has resulted
+from a necessity to say something or other when there happens to be nothing else
+in people's minds to talk about. What I think is that a few words about the
+weather and the wind make a very good beginning of a conversation, whatsoever
+its nature may turn out to be, and that the very universality of the
+applicability of this as the beginning of a conversation prove how natural it
+really is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As far as I am concerned,&quot; said Theodore, &quot;I don't think it
+matters
+a farthing how a conversation commences. But there is one
+thing certain--that, if one wants to make some very striking and clever
+beginning, that is enough to kill all the freedom and unconstraint which may be
+termed the very soul of conversation. I know a young
+man--I think he is known to you all, as well--who is by no
+means deficient in that mobility of intellect which is absolutely necessary for
+good conversation; but he is so tormented, particularly when ladies are present,
+by that kind of eagerness to burst out with something brilliant and striking at
+the very outset of a talk, that he walks restlessly about the room; makes the
+most extraordinary faces in the keenness of his inward torment; opens his lips,
+and--cannot manage to utter a syllable.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Cease, cease, base wretch!&quot; Cyprian cried, with comic pathos,
+&quot;do not, with murderous hand, tear open wounds which are barely healed. He is
+speaking of me,&quot; he continued, laughing, &quot;and he doesn't know that, a few weeks
+ago, when I insisted on restraining that tendency of mine, which I see the
+absurdity of, and falling into a conversation in the ordinary style of other
+people, I had to pay for it by complete annihilation. I prefer telling you all
+about this myself to letting Ottmar do it, and add witty comments of his own. At
+a tea-party where Ottmar and I were, there was present a certain pretty and
+clever lady, as to whom you are in the habit of maintaining that she interests
+me more than is right and proper. I went to talk to her, and I admit that I was
+a little at a loss how exactly to begin, and she was wicked enough to gaze at me
+with questioning eyes. I burst out with 'The new moon has brought a nice change
+of weather.' She answered, very quietly: 'Oh, are you writing the Almanac this
+season?'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The friends laughed heartily.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;On the other hand,&quot; said Ottmar, &quot;I know another young
+man--and you all know him--who, particularly with ladies, is never at a loss for
+the first word of a talk; in fact, my belief is that he has severely thought
+out, in private, a regular system, of the most comprehensive kind, as to
+conversation with ladies, which is by no means likely ever to find him left in
+the lurch. For instance, one of his dodges is to go to the prettiest--one who
+scarce ventures to dip a sweet biscuit in her tea; who, at the utmost, whispers
+into the ear of her who is sitting next to her: 'It is very warm, dear;' to
+which the latter answers with equal softness into her ear: 'Dreadfully, my
+love;' whose communication goeth not beyond 'Yea, yea,' and 'Nay, nay,'--to go
+up to such an one, I say, and, in an artful manner, startle her out of her wits,
+and thereby so utterly revolutionize her very being, in such a sudden manner,
+that she seems to herself to be no longer the same person: 'Good heavens! how
+very pale you are looking!' he cried out, recently, to a pretty creature, as
+silent as a church, just in the act of beginning a stitch of silver thread at a
+purse which she was working. The young lady let her work fall on her lap in
+terror, said she was feeling a little feverish that day. Feverish!--my friend
+was thoroughly at home on that subject; could talk upon it in the most
+interesting way, like a man who knows his ground; inquired minutely into all the
+symptoms; gave advice, gave warnings,--and behold! there was a delightful,
+interesting, confidential conversation spun out in a few minutes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am much obliged to you,&quot; said Theodore, &quot;for having so
+carefully observed that talent of mine, and given it its due meed of approval.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The friends laughed again at this.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is no doubt,&quot; said Sylvester, &quot;that society talk is,
+altogether, a rather curious thing. The French say that a certain heaviness in
+our nature always prevents us from hitting the precise tact and tone necessary
+for it; and they may be right, to a certain extent, but I must declare that the
+much-belauded <i>légčreté</i> and lightsomeness of French Society puts me out of
+temper, and makes me feel stupid and uncomfortable, and that I cannot look upon
+those <i>bon mots</i> and <i>calembours</i> of theirs, which are continually being fired
+off in all directions, as coming under the class of that 'Society wit' which
+gives out constantly fresh sparks of new life of conversation. Moreover, that
+peculiar style of wit to which the genuine French 'wit' belongs is, to me, in
+the highest degree disagreeable.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That opinion,&quot; said Cyprian, &quot;comes from the very depths of
+your quiet, friendly spirit, my dearest Sylvester: but you are forgetting that,
+besides the (generally utterly empty and insipid) <i>bon mots</i>, the 'Society wit'
+of the French is, in a great degree, founded on a mutual contempt of, and
+jeering and scoffing at, each other (such as at the present time we call
+'chaff,' although it is less good-humoured than that), which soon passes the
+bounds of what we consider courtesy and consideration, and consequently would
+speedily deprive our intercourse of all pleasure. Then the French have not the
+very slightest comprehension of that wit whose basis is real humour, and it is
+almost incomprehensible how often the point of some not very profound, but
+superficially funny, little story escapes them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Don't forget,&quot; said Ottmar, &quot;that the point of a story is
+very often completely untranslatable.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Or is badly translated,&quot; said Vincenz. &quot;It so happens that I
+just think of a very amusing thing which happened quite recently, and which I
+will tell you, if you care to hear it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tell us, tell us! delightful fabulist! valued anecdotist!&quot;
+cried the friends.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A young man,&quot; related Vincenz, &quot;whom nature had endowed with
+a splendid bass voice, and who had gone upon the operatic stage, was making his
+first appearance as Sarastro, in the 'Magic Flute.' As he was mounting the car,
+in which he first comes on, he was seized with such a terrible attack of
+stage-fright that he trembled and shook--nay, when the car got into motion to
+come forward, he shrunk into himself, and all the manager's efforts to induce
+him to reassure himself, and, at all events, stand upright, were useless. Just
+then it happened that one of the wheels got entangled in the long mantle which
+Sarastro wears, so that the further he got on to the stage, the more this mantle
+dragged him backwards; whilst he, struggling against this, and keeping his feet
+firm, appeared in the centre of the stage with the nether portion of his body
+projecting forwards, and his head and shoulders held tremendously far back. The
+audience were immensely pleased at this most regal attitude and appearance of
+the inexperienced neophyte, and the manager offered him, and concluded with him,
+an engagement on very liberal terms. Now, this simple little story was being
+told, lately, in a company where there was a French lady who did not understand
+a word of German. When everybody laughed, at the end of the story, she wanted to
+know what the laughter was about, and our worthy D. (who, when he speaks French,
+gives a most admirable, and very close, imitation of the tones and actions of
+French people, but is continually at a loss for the words) undertook to
+translate the story to her. When he came to the wheel which had got entangled
+with Sarastro's cloak, constraining him to his regal attitude, he called it 'Le
+rat,' instead of 'La roue.' The French lady's brow clouded, her eyebrows drew
+together, and in her face was plainly to be read the terror which the story had
+produced in her, whereto conduced the circumstance that D. had 'let on' upon his
+face the full power of tragi-comic muscular play which it was capable of. When,
+at the end, we all laughed more than before at this amusing misunderstanding
+(which we all took good care not to explain), she murmured to herself, 'Ah! les
+barbares!' The good lady not unnaturally looked upon us as barbarians for
+thinking it so amusing that an abominable rat should have frightened the poor
+young man almost to death, at the very commencement of his stage-career, by
+holding on to his cloak.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When the friends had done laughing, Vincenz said: &quot;Suppose we
+now bid adieu to the subject of French conversation, with all its <i>bon mots</i>,
+<i>calembours</i>, and other ingredients, and come to the conclusion that it really
+is an immense pleasure when, amongst intellectual Germans, a conversation,
+inspired by their humour, rushes up skyward like a coruscating firework, in a
+thousand hissing light-balls, crackling serpents, and lightning-like rockets.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But it must be remembered,&quot; said Theodore, &quot;that this
+pleasure is possible only when the friends in question, besides being
+intellectual and endowed with humour, possess the talent not only of talking,
+but of listening, the principal ingredient of real conversation.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Of course,&quot; said Lothair; &quot;those people who constitute
+themselves 'spokesmen' destroy all conversation--and so, in a lesser degree,
+do the 'witty' folk, who go from one company to another with
+anecdotes, crammed full of all sorts of shallow sayings; a
+kind of self-constituted 'Society clowns.' I knew a man who, being clever and
+witty, and at the same time a terribly talkative fellow, was invited everywhere
+to amuse the company; so that, the moment he came into a room, everybody looked
+in his face, waiting till he came out with something witty. The wretch was
+compelled to put himself to the torture, in order to fulfil the expectations
+entertained of him as
+well as he could, so that he could not avoid soon becoming
+flat and commonplace; and then he was thrown aside by every one, like a used-up
+utensil. He now creeps about, spiritless and sad, and seems to be like that
+dandy in Abener's 'Dream of Departed Souls,' who, brilliant as he was in this
+life, is sorrowful and valueless in the other, because, on his sudden and
+unexpected departure, he left behind him his snuff-box of Spanish snuff, which
+was an integral part of him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then, too,&quot; said Ottmar, &quot;there are certain extraordinary
+people
+who, when entertaining company, keep up an unceasing stream of
+talk; not from conceit in themselves, but from a strange,
+mistaken well-meaningness, for fear that people shouldn't be enjoying
+themselves; and keep asking if people are not 'finding it dull,' and so forth,
+thereby nipping every description of enjoyment in the bud in a moment.&quot;'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is the very surest way to weary people,&quot; said Theodore,
+&quot;and I once saw it employed with the most brilliant success by my old humourist
+of an uncle, who, I think, from what I have told you of him, you know pretty
+intimately by this time. An old schoolfellow of his had turned up--a man who was
+utterly tedious and unendurably wearisome in all his works and ways--and he came
+to my uncle's house every forenoon, disturbed him at his work, worried him to
+death, and then sat down to dinner without being invited. My uncle was grumpy,
+snappish, silent, giving his visitor most unmistakably to understand that his
+calls were anything but a pleasure to him; but it was all of no use. Once, when
+the old gentleman was complaining to me (in strong enough language, as his
+manner was) on the subject of this schoolfellow, I said I thought he should
+simply show him the door and have done with it. 'That wouldn't do, boy,' said my
+uncle, puckering his face into a rather pleased smile. 'You see, he is an old
+schoolfellow of mine, after all; but there is another way of getting rid of him
+which I shall try; and that will do it.' I was not a little surprised when, the
+next morning, my uncle received the schoolfellow with open arms and talked to
+him unceasingly, saying how delighted he was to see him, and go back
+over the old days with him. All the old school-day stories
+which
+the schoolfellow was incessantly in the habit of repeating,
+and
+re-repeating, till they became intolerable to listen to, now
+poured from my uncle's lips in a resistless cataract, no that the visitor could
+not escape them. And all the while my uncle kept asking him, 'What is the matter
+with you to-day? You don't seem happy. You are so monosyllabic. Do be jolly! Let
+us have a regular feast of old stories to-day.' But the moment the schoolfellow
+opened his lips to speak my uncle would cut him short with some interminable
+tale. At last the affair became so unendurable to him that he wanted to cut and
+run. But my uncle so pressed him to stay to lunch and dinner, that, unable to
+resist the temptation of the good dishes, and better wine, he did stay. But
+scarce had he swallowed a mouthful of soup when my uncle, in extreme
+indignation, cried, 'What in the devil's name is this infernal mess? Don't touch
+any more of it, brother, I beg you; there's something better to come. Take those
+plates away, John!' Like a flash of lightning the plate was swept away from
+under the school-friend's nose. It was the same thing with all the dishes and
+courses, though they were of a nature sufficiently to excite the appetite, till
+the 'something better to come' resolved itself into Cheshire cheese, which of
+all cheeses the school-friend hated the most, although he disliked all cheese.
+From an apparently ardent endeavour to set before him an unusually good dinner
+he had not been suffered to swallow two mouthfuls; and it was much the same with
+the wine. Scarce had he put a glass to his lips when my uncle cried, 'Old
+fellow, you're making a wry face. Quite right, that isn't wine, it's vinegar.
+John, a better tap!' And one kind after another came, French wines, Rhine wines,
+and still the cry was, 'You don't care about that wine,' &#38;c., till, when the
+Cheshire cheese put the finishing stroke on things, the school-friend jumped up
+from his chair in a fury. 'Dear old friend!' said my uncle in the kindliest of
+tones, 'you are not at all like your usual self. Come, as we are together here,
+let us crack a bottle of the real old &quot;care-killer.&quot;' The school-friend plumped
+into his chair again. The hundred years' old Rhine wine pearled glorious and
+clear in the two glasses which my uncle filled to the brim. 'The devil,' he
+cried, holding his glass to the light, 'this wine has got muddy, on my hands.
+Don't you see? No, no; I can't set that before anybody,' and he swallowed the
+contents of both glasses himself, with evident delight. The school-friend popped
+up again, and plumped into his chair once more on my uncle's crying, 'John,
+Tokay!' The Tokay was brought, my uncle poured it out, and handed the
+schoolfellow a glass, saying, 'There, my boy, you shall be satisfied at last, in
+good earnest. That is nectar!' But scarce had the school-friend set the glass to
+his lips when my uncle cried, 'Thunder! there's been a cockroach at this
+bottle.' At this the school-friend, in utter fury, dashed the glass into a
+thousand pieces against the wall, ran out of the house like one possessed, and
+never showed his face across the threshold again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;With all respect for your uncle's grim humour,&quot; said
+Sylvester, &quot;I think there was rather a systematic perseverance in the course of
+mystification involved in such a process of getting rid of a troublesome person.
+I should have much preferred to show him the door and have done with it; though
+I admit that it was quite according to your uncle's peculiar vein of humour to
+prearrange a theatrical scene of this sort in place of the perhaps troublesome
+and unpleasant consequences which might have arisen if he had kicked him out. I
+can vividly picture to myself the old parasite as he suffered the torments of
+Tantalus, as your uncle kept continually awakening fresh hopes in his mind and
+instantly dashing them to the ground; and how, at last, utter desperation took
+possession of him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You can introduce the scene into your next comedy,&quot; said
+Theodore.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It reminds me,&quot; said Vincenz, &quot;of that delightful meal in
+Katzenberger's <i>Badereise</i>, and of the poor exciseman who has almost to choke
+himself with the bites of food which are slid to him over the 'Trumpeter's
+muscle,' the Buccinator, although that scene would not be of much service to
+Sylvester for a new piece.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The great Kazenberger,&quot; said Theodore, &quot;whom women do not
+like on account of the robustness of his cynicism, I formerly knew very well. He
+was intimate with my uncle, and I could, at some future time, tell you many
+delightful things concerning him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Cyprian had been sitting in profound thought, and seemed to
+have been scarcely attending to what the others had been saying. Theodore tried
+to arouse his attention and direct it to the hot punch which he had brewed as
+the best corrective of the evil influence of the weather.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Beyond a doubt,&quot; said Cyprian, &quot;this is the germ of insanity,
+if it is not actually insanity itself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The friends looked questionably at each other.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ha!&quot; cried Cyprian, getting up from his chair and looking
+round him with a smile, &quot;I find I have spoken out, aloud, the conclusion of the
+mental process which has been going on within me in silence. After I have
+emptied this glass of punch and duly lauded Theodore's art of preparing that
+liquid after its mystic proportions, and due relations of the hot, strong and
+sweet, I will simply point out that there is a certain amount of insanity, a
+certain dose of crackiness, so deeply rooted in human nature, that there is no
+better mode of getting at the knowledge of it than by carefully studying it in
+those madmen and eccentrics whom we by no means have to go to madhouses to come
+across, but whom we may meet with every hour of the day in our daily course;
+and, in fact, best of all in the study of our own selves, in each of whom these
+is present a sufficient quantum of that 'precipitate resulting from the chemical
+process of life.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What has brought you back to the subject of insanity and the
+insane?&quot;
+asked Lothair, in a tone of vexation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do not lose your temper, dear Lothair,&quot; said Cyprian, &quot;we
+were talking on the subject of society conversation; and then I thought of two
+mutually antagonistic classes of characters which are often fatal to social
+talking. There are people who find it impossible to get away from ideas which
+have come to occupy their minds; who go on repeating the same things over and
+over again, for hours, no matter what turn the conversation may have taken. All
+efforts to carry them along with the stream of the conversation are vain; when
+one at last flatters oneself that one has got them into the current of the talk,
+lo and behold, they return <i>ŕ leurs moutons</i> again, just as before, and
+consequently dam up the beautiful, rushing stream of conversation. In
+contradistinction to them are those who forget one second what they said in the
+immediately preceding one; who ask a question, and, without waiting for an
+answer, introduce something completely irrelevant and heterogeneous; to whom
+everything suggests everything else, and consequently nothing which has any
+connection with the subject of the talk--who, in a few words, throw together a
+many-tinted lumber of ideas in which nothing that can be called distinct is
+discoverable. Those latter destroy everything like agreeable conversation and
+drive us to a state of despair, and the former produce intolerable tedium and
+annoyance. But, don't you think there lies in those people the germ of real
+insanity in the one
+case, and in the other of <i>folie</i>, whose character is very
+much,
+if not exactly, what the psychological doctors term
+'looseness' or 'incoherence' of ideas?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is no doubt,&quot; said Theodore, &quot;that I should like to say
+a great deal concerning the art of <i>relating</i> in society, for there is much
+which is mysterious about it, depending, as it does, on place, time, and
+individual relationships, and difficult to be ranged under special heads. But it
+seems to me that this matter might carry us too far, and be opposed to the real
+tendency of the Serapion Club.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Most certainly,&quot; said Lothair. &quot;We want to tranquillise
+ourselves with the thought that we--neither madmen nor fools--are, on the
+contrary, the most delightful companions to each other; who not only can talk,
+but can listen; more than that, each of us can listen quite patiently when
+another reads aloud, and that is saying a good deal. Friend Ottmar told me a day
+or two ago that he had written a story in which the celebrated poet-painter
+Salvator Rosa played a leading part. I hope he will read it to us now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am a little afraid,&quot; said Ottmar, as he took the manuscript
+from his pocket, &quot;that you won't think my story Serapiontic. I had it in mind to
+imitate that ease and genial liberty of breadth which predominates in the
+'Novelli' of the old Italians, particularly of Boccaccio; and over this
+endeavour I acknowledge that I have grown prolix. Also you will say, with
+justice, that it is only here and there that I have hit upon the true 'Novella'
+tone--perhaps only in the headings of the chapters. After this noble and candid
+confession I am sure you will not deal too hardly with me, but think chiefly of
+anything which you may find entertaining and lively.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What prefaces!&quot; cried Lothair. &quot;An unnecessary <i>Capitatio
+Benevolentiae</i>; read us your Novella, my good friend Ottmar, and
+if you succeed in vividly portraying to us your Salvator Rosa
+in verisimilitude before our eyes, we will recognise you as a
+true Serapion brother, and leave everything else to the
+grumbling, fault-finding critics. Shall it not be so, my eminent Serapion
+Brethren?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The friends acquiesced, and Ottmar began.</p>
+
+<br>
+
+<h2><a name="div2_formica" href="#div2Ref_formica">SIGNOR FORMICA</a>.</h2>
+<h2><i>A NOVELLA.</i></h2>
+
+<p class="hang1">The renowned painter, Salvator Rosa, comes to Rome, and is
+attacked by
+a dangerous malady.--What happened to him during this malady.</p>
+
+<p class="continue">People of renown generally have much evil spoken of them,
+whether truthfully or otherwise, and this was the case with the doughty painter
+Salvator Rosa, whose vivid, living pictures you, dear reader, have certainly
+never looked upon without a most special and heartfelt enjoyment.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When his fame had pervaded and resounded through Rome, Naples,
+Tuscany, nay, all Italy; when other painters, if they would please, were obliged
+to imitate his peculiar style--just then, malignant men, envious of him,
+invented all sorts of wicked reports concerning him, with
+the view of casting foul spots of shadow upon the shining
+auriole
+of his artistic fame. Salvator, they said, had, at an earlier
+time of his life, belonged to a band of robbers, and it was to
+his experiences at that time that he was indebted for all the wild, gloomy,
+strangely-attired figures which he introduced into his pictures, just as he
+copied into his landscape those darksome deserts, compounded of lonesomeness,
+mystery, and terror--the <i>Selve Selvagge</i> of Dante--where he had been driven to
+lurk. The worst accusation brought against him was that he had been involved in
+that terrible, bloody conspiracy which &quot;Mas' Aniello&quot; of evil fame had set afoot
+in Naples. People told all about that, with the minutest details.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Aniello Falcone, the battle-painter (as he was called), blazed
+up in fury and bloodthirsty revenge when the Spanish soldiers killed one of his
+relations in a skirmish. On the spot he collected together a crowd of desperate
+and foolhardy young men, principally painters, provided them with arms, and
+styled them &quot;the death-company&quot;; and, in verity, this band spread abroad a full
+measure of the terror and alarm which its name indicated. Those young men
+pervaded Naples, in troop form, all day long, killing every Spaniard they came
+across. More than this, they stormed their way into all the sacred places of
+sanctuary, and there, without compunction, murdered their wretched enemies who
+had taken refuge there, driven by fear of death. At night they betook themselves
+to their chief, the mad, bloodthirsty Mas' Aniello, and they painted pictures of
+him by torchlight, so that in a short time hundreds of those pictures of him
+were spread about Naples and the surrounding neighbourhood.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Now it was said that Salvator Rosa had been a member of this
+band, robbing and murdering all day, but painting with equal assiduity all
+night. What a celebrated art-critic--Taillasson, I think--said of our master is
+true: &quot;His works bear the impress of a wild haughtiness and arrogance, of a
+bizarre energy, of the ideas and of their execution. Nature displays herself to
+him not in the lovely peacefulness of green meadows, flowery fields, perfumed
+groves, murmuring streams, but in the awfulness of mighty up-towering cliffs, or
+sea-coasts, and wild, inhospitable forests; the voice to which he listens is not
+the whispering of the evening breeze, or the rustling of the leaves, but the
+roar of the hurricane, the thunder of the cataract. When we look at his deserts
+and the people of strange, wild appearance, who, sometimes singly, sometimes in
+troops, prowl about them, the weirdest fancies come to us of their own accord.
+Here there happened a terrible murder, there the bleeding corpse was thrown
+hurriedly over the cliff, &#38;c., &#38;c.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Now this may all be the case, and although Taillasson may not
+be far wrong when he says that Salvator's &quot;Plato,&quot; and even his &quot;St. John in the
+Wilderness announcing the Birth of the Saviour,&quot; look just the least little bit
+like brigands, still it is unfair to base any conclusions drawn from the works
+upon the painter himself, and to suppose that, though he represents the wild and
+the terrible in such perfection, he must have been a wild and terrible person
+himself. He who talks most of the sword often wields it the worst; he who so
+feels in his heart the terror of bloody deeds that he is able to call them into
+existence with palette, pencil or pen, may be the least capable of practising
+them. Enough! of all the wicked calumnies which would represent the doughty
+Salvator to have been a remorseless robber and murderer, I do not believe a
+single word, and I hope you, dear reader, maybe of the same opinion, or I should
+have to cherish a certain amount of doubt whether you would quite believe what I
+am going to tell you about him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For--as I hope--my Salvator will appear to you as a man
+burning and coruscating with life and fire, but also endowed with the most
+charming and delightful nature, and often capable of controlling that bitter
+irony which--in him, as in all men of depth of character--takes form of itself
+from observation of life. Moreover, it is known that Salvator was as good a poet
+and musician as a painter, his inward genius displaying itself in rays thrown in
+various directions. I repeat that I have no belief in his having had anything to
+do with the crimes of Mas' Aniello; I rather hold to the opinion that he was
+driven from Naples to Rome by the terror of the time, and arrived there as a
+fugitive at the very time of Mas' Aniello's fall.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There was nothing very remarkable about his dress, and, with a
+little purse containing a few zecchini in his pocket, he slipped in at the gate
+just as night was falling. Without exactly knowing how, he came to the Piazza
+Navoni, where, in happier days, he had formerly lived in a fine house close to
+the Palazzo Pamphili. Looking up at the great shining windows, glittering and
+sparkling in the moonbeams, he cried, with some humour, &quot;Ha! it will cost many a
+canvass ere I can establish my studio there again.&quot; Just as he said so he
+suddenly felt as if paralysed in all his limbs, and, at the same time, feeble
+and powerless in a manner which he had never before experienced in all his life.
+As he sank down on the stone steps of the portico of the house he murmured
+between his teeth, &quot;Shall I ever want canvasses? It seems to me that <i>I</i> have
+done with them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A cold, cutting night-wind was blowing through the streets;
+Salvator felt he must try and get a shelter. He rose with difficulty, tottered
+painfully forward, reached the Corso, and turned into Strada Vergognona. There
+he stopped before a small house, only two windows wide, where lived a widow with
+two daughters. They had taken him as a lodger for a small sum when first he came
+to Rome, known and cared for by nobody, and he hoped he would find a lodging
+with them now suited to his reduced circumstances.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He knocked familiarly at the door, and called his name in at
+it time after time. At last he heard the old woman rousing herself with
+difficulty from sleep. She came, dragging along her slippers, to the window,
+scolding violently at the scoundrel who was disturbing her in the middle of the
+night--her house not being an inn, &#38;c. Then it took a deal of up and down
+talking ere she recognised her former lodger by his voice; and on Salvator's
+complaining that he had been obliged to flee from Naples and could find no roof
+to cover him in Rome, she cried out, &quot;Ah! Christ and all the saints! Is it you,
+Signor Salvator? Your room upstairs, looking upon the courtyard, is empty still,
+and the old
+fig-tree has stretched its leaves and branches right into the
+window, so that you can sit and work as if you were in a beautiful cool arbour.
+Ah! how delighted my girls will be that you are here again, Signor Salvator. But
+I must tell you Margerita has grown a big girl, and a very <i>pretty</i> girl--it
+won't do to take her on your knee now! Your cat, only fancy, died three months
+ago--a fish bone stuck in its throat. Aye, aye, poor thing! the grave is the
+common lot. And what do you think? Our fat neighbour woman--she whom you so
+often laughed at and drew the funny caricatures of--she has gone and got married
+to that young lad, Signor Luigi. Well, well! <i>Nozze e magistrati sono da dio
+destinati!</i> Marriages are made in heaven, they say.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But, Signora Caterina,&quot; interrupted Salvator, &quot;I implore you
+by all the saints let me in to begin with, and then tell all about your
+fig-tree, your daughters, the kitten, and the fat woman. I am
+dying of cold and weariness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now, just see how impatient he is!&quot; cried the old woman.
+&quot;<i>Chi va piano va sano; chi va presto muore lesto.</i> The more haste the less
+speed, is what I always say. But you're tired, you're shivering; so quick with
+the key, quick with the key.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Before getting hold of the key, however, she had to awaken her
+daughters, and then slowly, slowly strike a light. Ultimately she opened the
+door to the exhausted Salvator; but as soon as he crossed the threshold he fell
+down like a dead man, overcome by exhaustion and illness. Fortunately the
+widow's son, who lived at Tivoli, happened to have just come home, and he was at
+once turned out of his bed, which he willingly gave up to this sick family
+friend.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The old lady had a great fondness for Salvator, rated him, as
+regarded his art, above all the painters in the world, and had the utmost
+delight in everything he did. Therefore she was much distressed at his
+deplorable condition, and wanted to run off at once to the neighbouring
+monastery and bring her own Father Confessor, that he might do battle with the
+powers of evil at once, with consecrated tapers, or some powerful amulet or
+other. But the son thought it would be better almost to send for a good doctor,
+and he set off on the instant to the Piazza di Spagna, where he knew the
+celebrated doctor, Splendiano Accoramboni, lived. As soon as he heard that the
+great painter Salvator Rosa was lying sick in Strada Vergognona, he prepared to
+pay him a professional visit. Salvator was lying unconscious in the most violent
+fever. The old woman had hung up one or two images of saints over his bed, and
+was praying fervently. The daughters, bathed in tears, were trying to
+get him now and then to swallow a few drops of the cooling
+lemonade which they had made, whilst the son, who had taken his station at the
+bed-head, wiped the cold perspiration from his brow. In these circumstances the
+morning had come, when the door opened with much noise, and the celebrated
+doctor, Signor Splendiano Accoramboni, entered.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">If it had not been for the great heart-sorrow over Salvator's
+mortal sickness, the two girls, petulant and merry as they were, would have
+laughed loud and long at the doctor's marvellous appearance. As it was, they
+drew away into corners, frightened and shy. It is worth while to describe the
+aspect of this extraordinary little fellow as he came into Dame Caterina's in
+the grey of the morning. Although he had, apparently, given early promise of
+reaching a most distinguished stature, Doctor Splendiano Accoramboni had not
+managed to get beyond the altitude of four feet. At the same time he had, in his
+early years, been of most delicate formation as regarded his members--and,
+before the head (which had always been somewhat shapeless) had acquired too much
+increment of matter in the shape of his fat cheeks and his
+stately double chin--ere the nose had assumed too much of a
+lateral development, in consequence of being stuffed with Spanish snuff--ere the
+stomach had assumed too great a rotundity by dint of maccaroni fodder--the dress
+of an Abbate, which he had worn in those early days, became him very well. He
+had a right to be styled a nice little fellow, and the Roman ladies accordingly
+did speak of him as their <i>caro puppazetto</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But now those days were over, and a German painter, who saw
+him crossing the Piazza di Spagna, said of him, not without reason, that he
+looked as if some stalwart fellow of six feet high had run away from his own
+head and it had fallen on to the shoulders of a little marionette Pulcinello,
+who had now to go about with it as his own. This strange little figure had
+thrust itself into a great mass of Venetian damask, all over great flowers, made
+into a dressing-gown, and girt itself about, right under the breast, with a
+broad leather girdle, in which was stuck a rapier three ells long; and above his
+snow-white periwig there clung a high-peaked head-dress, not much unlike the
+obelisk in the Piazza San Pietro. As the periwig went meandering like a tangled
+web, thick and broad, over his back and shoulders, it might well have been taken
+for the cocoon out of which the beautiful insect had issued.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The worthy Splendiano Accoramboni glared through his
+spectacles, first at the sick Salvator, and then on Dame Caterina, whom he drew
+to one side. &quot;There,&quot; he said, in a scarce audible whisper, &quot;lies the great
+painter Salvator Rosa sick unto death in your house, Dame Caterina, and nothing
+but my skill can save him! Tell me, though, how long it is since he came to you?
+Has he plenty of grand, beautiful pictures with him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah! dear Signor Dottore,&quot; answered the old woman, &quot;this dear
+boy of mine only came to-night, and, as concerns the pictures, I know nothing
+about them as yet. But there's a large box downstairs, which he told me, before
+he got to be unconscious as he is now, to take the greatest care of. I should
+suppose there is a grand picture in it which he has painted in Naples.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Now this was a fib which Dame Caterina told; but we shall soon
+see what good reason she had for telling it to the doctor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, ah! Yes, yes!&quot; said the doctor, stroking his beard. Then
+he solemnly strode up as close to the patient as his long rapier, which banged
+against and entangled itself with the chairs and tables, admitted of his doing,
+took his hand and felt his pulse, sighing and groaning as he did so in a manner
+which sounded wonderful enough in the deep silence of reverential awe which
+prevailed. He then named a hundred and twenty diseases, in Latin and Greek,
+which Salvator
+had not, then about the same number which he might possibly
+have contracted, and ended by saying that although he could not just at that
+moment exactly name the malady which Salvator was suffering from, he would hit
+upon a name for it in a short time, and also the proper remedies and treatment
+for its cure. He then took his departure with the same amount of solemnity with
+which he had entered, leaving all hands in the due condition of anxiety and
+alarm. He asked to see Salvator's box downstairs, and Dame Caterina showed him a
+box, in which were some old clothes of her deceased husband's, and some old
+boots and shoes. He tapped the box with his hand here and there, saying, with a
+smile, &quot;We shall see! We shall see!&quot; In an hour or two he came back with a very
+grand name for what was the matter with Salvator, and several large bottles of a
+potion with an evil smell, which he directed that the patient should keep on
+swallowing. That was not such an easy matter, for the patient resisted with
+might and main, and expressed, as well as he could, his utter abhorrence of this
+stuff, which seemed to be a brew from the very pit of Acheron. But whether it
+was that the malady, now that it had got a name, exerted itself more powerfully,
+or that Splendiano and medicine were working too energetically--enough, with
+every day and nearly every hour, one might say, Salvator grew weaker and weaker,
+so that, although Doctor Splendiano Accoramboni asseverated that, the processes
+of life having come to a complete standstill, he had given the machine an
+impetus towards renewed activity (as if it had been the pendulum of a clock),
+all the
+by-standers doubted of Salvator's recovery, and were disposed
+to think that the Signor Dottore might, perhaps, have given the pendulum such a
+rough impulse that it was put out of gear.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But one day it happened that Salvator, who seemed scarcely
+able to move a muscle, suddenly got into a paroxysm of tremendous fever, and,
+regaining strength in an instant, jumped out of bed, seized all the bottles of
+medicine, and in a fury sent the whole collection flying out of the window.
+Doctor Splendiano Accoramboni was just in the act to come into the house to pay
+a visit, and, as Fate would have it, two or three of the phials hit him on the
+head, and breaking, sent the brown liquid within them flowing in dark streams
+over his face, his periwig, and his neckerchief. The doctor sprang nimbly into
+the house, and cried, like a man possessed, &quot;Signor Salvator is off his head!
+Delirium has evidently set in--nothing can save him. He'll be a dead man in ten
+minutes. Here with the picture, Dame Caterina; it belongs to me--all I shall get
+for my services! Here with the picture, I tell you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But when Dame Caterina opened the box, and Doctor Splendiano
+Accoramboni saw the old cloaks and the burst and tattered boots and shoes which
+it contained, his eyes rolled in his head like fire wheels, he gnashed his
+teeth, stamped with his feet, devoted Salvator, the widow, and all the inmates
+of the house, to the demons of hell, and bolted out of the door as if discharged
+from a cannon.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When the paroxysm of excitement was over, Salvator again fell
+into a deathlike condition, and Dame Caterina thought his last hour was
+certainly come. So she ran as quickly as she could to the convent, and brought
+Father Bonifazio to administer the sacraments to the dying man. When Father
+Bonifazio came, he looked at the patient, said he very well knew the peculiar
+signs which death imprints upon the face of one whom he is going to carry off;
+but there was nothing of the sort to be seen on the face of the unconscious
+Salvator in his faint, and that help was still possible, and he himself would
+procure or bestow; only Doctor Splendiano Accoramboni, with his Greek names and
+diabolical phials, must never cross the doorstep again. The good father set to
+work, and we shall find that he kept his word.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Salvator came to his senses, and it seemed to him that he was
+lying in a delightful, sweet-smelling arbour, for green branches and leaves were
+stretching over him. He felt a delightful salutary warmth of life permeating
+him, only, apparently, his left arm was fettered.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Where am I?&quot; he cried, in a faint voice. Then a young man of
+handsome appearance, whom he had not observed before, though he was standing by
+his bed, fell down on his knees, seized Salvator's right hand, bathing it in
+tears, and cried over and over again, &quot;Oh, my beloved Signor, my grand master!
+all is well now! You are saved; you will recover!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well,&quot; began Salvator, &quot;but tell me----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The young man interrupted him, begging him not to talk in his
+weak condition, and promising to tell him all that had been happening. &quot;You must
+know, my dear and great master, that you must have been exceedingly ill when you
+arrived in Naples here; but your condition was not probably very dangerous, and
+moderate measures, considering the strength of your constitution, would
+doubtless have set you on your legs again in a short time, if it had not
+happened, through Carlo's well-meant mischance--as he ran for the nearest doctor
+at once--that you fell into the clutches of the abominable Pyramid Doctor, who
+did his very best to put you under the sod.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Pyramid Doctor?&quot; said Salvator, laughing most heartily,
+weak as he was. &quot;Yes, yes; ill as I was, I saw him well enough, the little
+damasky creature, who condemned me to swallow all that diabolical stuff--hell
+broth as it was--and had the obelisk of the Piazza San Pietro on the top of his
+head, which is the reason you call him the Pyramid Doctor.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, heavens!&quot; cried the young man, laughing loudly too. &quot;Yes,
+it was Doctor Splendiano Accoramboni who appeared to you in that mysterious
+high-pointed nightcap of his, in which he gleams out of his window in the Piazza
+di Spagna every morning like some meteor of evil omen. But it is not on account
+of the cap that he is called the Pyramid Doctor; there is a very different
+reason for that. Doctor Splendiano is very fond of pictures, and has a very fine
+collection, which he has got together through a peculiar piece of technical
+practice. He keeps a close and watchful eye upon painters and their illnesses,
+and particularly he manages to throw his nets over stranger masters. Suppose
+they have swallowed a little too much macaroni, or taken a cup or two more
+syracuse than is good for them, he succeeds in throwing his noose over them, and
+labels them with this or that disease, which he christens by some monstrous
+name, and then sets to work to cure. As fee he makes them promise him a picture,
+which, as it is only the strongest constitutions which can resist the powerful
+drugs he administers, he generally selects from the effects of the deceased,
+deposited at the Pyramid of Cestius. He takes the best of them, and others into
+the bargain. The refuse heap at the Pyramid of Cestius is the seedfield of
+Doctor Splendiano Accoramboni, and he cultivates, dresses, and manures it most
+assiduously. And that is why he is called the Pyramid Doctor. Now Dame Caterina,
+with the best intentions, had given the doctor to understand that you had
+brought a fine picture with you, and you can imagine the ardour with which he
+set to work to brew potions for you. It was lucky for you that in your paroxysm
+of fever you threw the stuff at his head, that he left you in a fury, that Dame
+Caterina sent for Father Bonifazio to administer the sacraments, believing you
+at death's door. Father Bonifazio knows a great deal about doctoring; he formed
+a correct opinion as to your condition, sent for me, and----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then you are a doctor too,&quot; said Salvator, in a faint,
+melancholy tone.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No,&quot; answered the young gentleman, while a bright colour came
+to his cheek, &quot;my dear, renowned master, I am not a doctor like Signor
+Splendiano Accoramboni; I am a surgeon. I thought I should have sunk into the
+ground with terror--with joy--when Father Bonifazio told me Salvator Rosa was
+lying sick to death in Strada Vergognona and requiring my assistance. I hastened
+here, opened a vein in your left arm, and you were saved. We brought you here to
+this cool, airy room, where you used to live before. Look around you; there is
+the easel which you left behind you; there are one or two sketches still,
+preserved, like holy relics, by Dame Caterina. Your illness has had its back
+broken. Simple remedies, which Father Bonifazio will give you, and careful
+nursing will set you on your legs again. And now, permit me once more to kiss
+this creative hand, which calls forth, as by magic, the most hidden secrets of
+nature. Permit the poor Antonio Scacciati to allow all his heart to stream forth
+in delight and fervent gratitude that heaven vouchsafed to him the good fortune
+to save the life of the glorious and renowned master, Salvator Rosa.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He again knelt, seized Salvator's hand, kissed it, and bedewed
+it with hot tears as before.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I cannot tell, dear Antonio,&quot; said Salvator, raising himself
+up a little, &quot;what strange spirit inspires you to exhibit such a profound
+veneration for me. You say you are a surgeon, and that is a calling which does
+not usually pair itself readily with art.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;When you have got some strength back, dear master,&quot; answered
+Antonio, &quot;there are many matters lying heavy at my heart which I will tell you
+of.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do so,&quot; said Salvator; &quot;place full confidence in me--you may,
+for I do not know when a man's face went more truly to my very heart than does
+yours. The more I look at you the more clear it becomes to me that there is a
+great likeness in your face to that of the heavenly, godlike lad--I mean the
+Sanzio.&quot; Antonio's eyes glowed with flashing fire; he seemed to strive in vain
+to find words.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Just then Dame Caterina came in with Father Bonifazio,
+bringing a draught which he had skilfully compounded, and which the sick man
+took, and relished better than the Acherontic liquids of the Pyramid Doctor,
+Splendiano Accoramboni.</p>
+
+<hr class="W20">
+
+<p class="hang1">Antonio Scacciati comes to high honour through the
+intervention of
+Salvator Rosa.--He confides to Salvator the causes of his
+continual sorrowfulness, and Salvator comforts him, and
+promises
+him help.</p>
+
+<p class="continue">What Antonio promised came to pass. The simple, healing
+medicines of Father Bonifazio, the careful nursing of Dame Caterina and her
+daughters, the mild season of the year which just then came on, had such a
+speedy effect on Salvator's strong constitution, that he soon felt well enough
+to begin thinking of his art, and, as a beginning, made some magnificent
+sketches for pictures which he intended to paint at a future time.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Antonio scarcely left Salvator's room. He was all eye when the
+master was sketching, and his opinions on many matters showed him to be
+initiated in the mysteries of art himself.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Antonio,&quot; said Salvator, one day, &quot;you know so much about art
+that I believe you have not only looked on at a great deal with correct
+understanding, but have even wielded the pencil yourself!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Remember, dear master,&quot; answered Antonio, &quot;that when you were
+recovering from unconsciousness, I told you there were many things lying heavy
+on my heart. Perhaps it is time, now, for me to divulge my secrets to you fully.
+Although I am the surgeon who opened a vein for you, I belong to Art with all my
+heart and soul. I intend now to devote myself to it altogether, and throw the
+hateful handicraft entirely to the winds.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ho, ho, Antonio!&quot; said Salvator, &quot;bethink you what you are
+going to do. You are a clever surgeon, and perhaps will never be more than a
+bungler at painting. Young as you are in years, you are too old to begin with
+the crayon. A man's whole life is scarcely enough in which to attain to one
+single perception of the True, still less to the power of representing it
+poetically.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, my dear master,&quot; said Antonio, smiling gently, &quot;how
+should I entertain the mad idea of beginning now to turn myself to the difficult
+art of painting, had I not worked at it as hard as I could ever since I was a
+child, had not heaven so willed it that, though I was kept away from art, and
+everything in the shape of it, by my father's obstinacy and folly, I made the
+acquaintance, and enjoyed the society, of masters of renown. Even the great
+Annibale interested himself in the neglected boy, and I have the happiness to be
+able to say I am a pupil of Guido Reni.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, good Antonio,&quot; said Salvator, a little sharply, as his
+manner sometimes was. &quot;If that is so, you have had great teachers; so, no doubt,
+in spite of your surgical skill, you may be a great pupil of theirs too. Only
+what I do not understand is, how you, as a pupil of the gentle and tender Guido
+(whom, perhaps, as pupils in their enthusiasm sometimes do--you even outdo in
+tenderness, in your work), how you can hold me to be a master in my art at all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Antonio coloured at those words of Salvator's; in fact, they
+had about them a ring of jeering irony.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Antonio answered: &quot;Let me lay aside all bashfulness, which
+might close my lips. Let me speak freely out exactly what is in my mind.
+Salvator, I have never revered a master so wholly from out the very depths of my
+being as I do you. It is the often superhuman grandeur of the ideas which I
+admire in your works. You see, and comprehend, and grasp the profoundest secrets
+of Nature. You read, and understand, the marvellous hieroglyphs of her rocks,
+her trees, her waterfalls; you hear her mighty voices; you interpret her
+language, and can transcribe what she says to you. Yes, transcription is what I
+would call your bold and vivid style of working. Man, with his doings, contents
+you not; you look at him only as being in the lap of Nature, and in so far as
+his inmost being is conditioned by her phenomena. Therefore, Salvator, it is in
+marvellous combinations of landscape with figure that you are so wondrous great.
+Historical painting places limits which hem your flight, to your disadvantage.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You tell me this, Antonio,&quot; said Salvator, &quot;as the envious
+historical painters do, who throw landscape to me by way of a <i>bonne-bouche</i>,
+that I may occupy myself in chewing it, and abstain from tearing their flesh. Do
+I not know the human figure, and everything appertaining to it? However, all
+those silly slanders, echoed from others----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do not be indignant, dear master,&quot; answered Antonio. &quot;I do
+not repeat things blindly after other folks, and least of all should I pay any
+attention to the opinions of our masters here in Rome just now. Who could help
+admiring the daring drawing, the marvellous expression, and particularly the
+lively action, of your figures! One sees that you do not work from the stiff,
+awkward model, or from the dead lay figure, but that you are, yourself, your own
+living model, and that you draw and paint the figure which you place on the
+canvas in front of a great mirror.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Heyday, Antonio!&quot; cried Salvator, laughing. &quot;I believe you
+must have been peeping into my studio without my knowledge, to know so well what
+goes on there.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Might not that have been?&quot; said Antonio. &quot;But let me go on.
+The pictures which your mighty genius inspires I should by no means narrow into
+one class so strictly as the pedantic masters try to do. In fact, the term
+'landscape,' as generally understood, applies badly to your paintings, which I
+should prefer to call 'historical representations.' In a deeper sense, it often
+seems that this or the other rock, that or the other tree, gazes on us with an
+earnest look: and that this and the other group of strangely-attired people is
+like some wonderful crag which has come to life. All Nature, moving in
+marvellous unity, speaks out the sublime thought which glowed within you. This
+is how I have looked at your pictures, and this is how I am indebted to you, my
+great and glorious master, for a profound understanding of art. But do not
+suppose that, on this account, I have fallen into a childishness of imitation.
+Greatly as I wish I possessed your freedom and daring of brush, I must confess
+that the colouring of Nature seems to me to be different from what I see
+represented in your pictures. I hold that, even for the sake of practice, it is
+helpful to a learner to imitate the style of this or that master: but still,
+when once he stands on his own feet, to a certain extent, he should strive to
+represent Nature as he sees it himself. This true seeing, this being at unity
+with oneself, is the only thing which can produce character and truth. Guido was
+of this opinion, and the unresting Preti, whom, as you know, they call the
+Calabrese, a painter who certainly reflected on his art more than any other,
+warned me in the same way against slavish imitation. And now you know, Salvator,
+why I reverence you more than all the others, without being in the slightest
+degree your imitator, in any way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Salvator had been gazing fixedly into the young man's eyes as
+he spoke, and he now clasped him stormily to his breast.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Antonio,&quot; he said, &quot;you have spoken very wise words of deep
+significance. Young as you are in years, you surpass, in knowledge of art, many
+of our old, much belauded masters, who talk a great deal of nonsense about their
+art, and never get to the bottom of the matter. Truly, when you spoke of my
+pictures, it seemed that I was, for the first time, beginning to come to a clear
+understanding of myself, and I prize you very highly just because you do not
+imitate my style--that you don't, like so many others, take a pot of black
+paint, lay on staring high lights, make a few crippled-looking figures, in
+horrible costumes, peep out of the dirty-looking ground, and then think 'There's
+a Salvator.' You have found in me the truest of friends, and I devote myself to
+you with all my soul.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Antonio was beyond himself with joy at the good will which the
+master thus charmingly displayed to him. Salvator expressed a strong desire to
+see Antonio's pictures, and Antonio took him at once to his studio.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Salvator had formed no small expectations of this youth who
+spoke so understandingly about art, and in whom there seemed to be a peculiar
+genius at work; and yet the master was most agreeably astonished by Antonio's
+wealth of pictures. He found everywhere boldness of idea, correctness of
+drawing; and the fresh colouring, the great tastefulness of the breadth of the
+flow of folds, the unusual delicacy of the extremities, and the high beauty of
+the heads evidenced the worthy pupil of the great Reni; although Antonio's
+striving was not, like that of his master (who was overapt to do this), to
+sacrifice expression to beauty, often too visibly. One saw that Antonio aimed at
+Annibale's strength, without, as yet, being able to attain to it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In his first silence Salvator had examined each of Antonio's
+pictures for a long time. At length he said: &quot;Listen, Antonio, there is not the
+slightest doubt about it, you are born for the noble painter's art. For not only
+has Nature given you the creative spirit, from which the most glorious ideas
+flame forth in inexhaustible wealth, but she has further endowed you with the
+rare talent, which, in a brief time, overcomes the difficulties of technical
+practice. I should be a lying flatterer if I said you had as yet equalled your
+teachers, that you had attained to Guido's marvellous delightsomeness, or
+Annibale's power; but it is certain that you far surpass our masters who give
+themselves such airs here in the Academy of San Luca, your Tiarini, Gessi,
+Sementa, and whatever they may call themselves, not excepting Lanfranco, who can
+only draw in chalk; and yet, Antonio, were I in your place I should consider
+long before I threw away the lancet altogether, and took up the brush. This
+sounds strange; but hear me further. Just at present an evil time for art has
+begun; or rather, the devil seems to be busy amongst our masters, stirring them
+up pretty freely. If you have not made up your mind to meet with mortifications
+and vexations of every kind, to suffer the more hatred and contempt the higher
+you soar in art, as your fame increases everywhere to meet with villains, who
+will press round you with friendly mien, to destroy you all
+the more surely--if, I say, you have not made up your mind for all this, keep
+aloof from painting! Think of the fate of your teacher, the great Annibale,
+whom a knavish crew of fellow-painters in Naples persecuted so that he could not
+get a single great work to undertake, but was everywhere shown the door with
+despite, which brought him to his untimely grave. Think what happened to our
+Domenichino, when he was painting the cupola of the chapel of St. Januarius.
+Didn't the villains of painters there (I shall not mention any of their names,
+not
+even that scoundrel Belisario's or Ribera's), did not they
+bribe Domenichino's servant to put ashes into the lime, so that the plastering
+would not bind? The painting could thus have no permanence. Think on all those
+things, and prove yourself well, whether your spirit is strong enough to
+withstand the like; for otherwise your power will be broken, and when the firm
+courage to make is gone, the power to do it is gone along with it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, Salvator,&quot; said Antonio, &quot;it is scarcely possible that,
+had I once devoted myself entirely to painting, I should have to undergo more
+despite and contempt than I have had to suffer already, being still a surgeon.
+You have found pleasure in my pictures, and you have said, doubtless from inner
+conviction, that I have it in me to do better things than many of our San Luca
+men. And yet it is just they who turn up their noses at all that I have, with
+much industry, achieved, and say, contemptuously, 'Ho, ho, the surgeon thinks he
+can paint a picture!' But, for that very reason my decision is firmly come to,
+to get clear of a calling which is more and more hateful to me every day. It is
+on you, master, that I pin all my hopes. Your word is worth much. If you chose
+to speak for me you could at once dash my envious persecutors to the dust, and
+put me in the place which is mine by right.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You have great confidence in me,&quot; said Salvator; &quot;but now
+that we have so thoroughly understood each other as to our art, and now that I
+have seen your works, I do not know any one for whom I should take up the
+cudgels, and that with all my might, so readily as I should for you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Salvator once more examined Antonio's pictures, and paused
+before one representing a Magdalone at the Saviour's feet, which he specially
+commended.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You have departed,&quot; he said, &quot;from the style in which people
+generally represent this Magdalene. Your Magdalene is not an earnest woman, but
+rather an ingenuous, charming child, and such a wondrous one as nobody else
+(except Guido) could have painted. There is a peculiar charm about the beautiful
+creature. You have painted her with enthusiasm, and, if I am not deceived, the
+original of this Magdalene is in life, and here in Rome. Confess, Antonio, you
+are in love.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Antonio cast his eyes down and said, softly and bashfully:
+&quot;Nothing escapes those sharp eyes of yours, my dear master. It may be as you
+say, but don't blame me. I prize this picture most of all, and I have kept it
+concealed from every one's sight, like a holy mystery.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What!&quot; cried Salvator, &quot;have none of the painters seen this
+picture?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is so,&quot; said Antonio.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then,&quot; said Salvator, his eyes shining with joy, &quot;be assured,
+Antonio, that I will overthrow your envious, puffed-up enemies, and bring you to
+merited honour. Entrust your picture to me--send it secretly in the night to my
+lodgings, and leave the rest to me. Will you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A thousand times yes, with gladness,&quot; answered Antonio. &quot;Ah!
+I should like to tell you, at once, the troubles connected with my love-affair,
+but somehow it seems to me that I do not dare, to-day, just when our hearts have
+opened to one another in art; but some day I shall probably ask you to advise
+and help me in that direction too.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Both my advice and my help shall be at your service wherever
+and whenever they may be necessary,&quot; Salvator answered. As he was leaving he
+turned round and said with a smile: &quot;Antonio, when you told me you were a
+painter, I was sorry I had mentioned your likeness to the Sanzio. I thought you
+might be silly enough, as many of our young fellows are, if they chance to have
+a passing likeness in the face to this or that great master, they take to
+wearing their hair and beard as he does, and find it necessary to imitate his
+style in art as well, though it may be quite contrary to their character. We
+have neither of us named the name of Raphael; but, believe me, in your pictures
+I find distinct traces of the extent to which the whole heaven of godlike ideas
+in the works of the greatest master of our time has been revealed to you. You
+understand Raphael. You will not reply to me as did Velasquez, whom I asked, the
+other day, what he thought of the Sanzio. He said Titian was the greater master;
+Raphael knew nothing about flesh colour. In that Spaniard is the Flesh, not the
+Word; yet they laud him to the skies in San Luca, because he once painted
+cherries which the birds came and tried to peck.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A few days after the above conversation, it happened that the
+Academists of San Luca assembled in their church to judge the pictures of the
+painters who had applied for admission to the Academy. Salvator had sent
+Scacciati's beautiful Magdalene picture. The painters were amazed by the charm
+and the power of the work, and the most unstinted praise resounded from every
+lip when Salvator explained that he had brought the picture with him from
+Naples--the work of a young painter, prematurely snatched away by death.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In a very short time all Rome streamed to see and admire this
+work of the young, unknown, dead master. Every one was unanimously of opinion
+that no such picture had been painted since Guido Reni's time, and, indeed,
+people carried their enthusiasm so far as to declare that this work was even to
+be ranked above Guido Reni's creations of the same kind. Among the crowd of
+people who were always collected before Scacciati's picture, Salvator one day
+observed a man, who, besides being of very remarkable exterior, was conducting
+himself like a madman. He was advanced in years, tall, lean as a spindle, pale
+of face, with a long, pointed nose, and an equally long chin, which increased
+its pointedness by being tipped with a little beard, and green, flashing eyes.
+Upon his thick, extremely fair peruke he had stuck a tall hat with a fine
+feather. He had on a short, dark-red cloak with many shining buttons, a sky-blue
+Spanish-slashed doublet, great gauntlets trimmed with silver fringe, a long
+sword by his side, light grey hose drawn over his bony knees, and bound with
+yellow ribbons, and bows of the same ribbon on his shoes. This strange figure
+was standing, as if enraptured, before the picture. He would stand up on his
+tiptoes, then bob himself quite low down; then hop up, with both legs at once,
+sigh, groan, close his eyes so tightly that the tears streamed from them, and
+then open them as wide as they would go; gaze incessantly at the beautiful
+Magdalene, sigh afresh, and lisp out in his mournful, <i>castrato</i> voice, &quot;Ah,
+Carissima! Benedetissima! Ah, Marianna! Marianna! Belissima!&quot; &#38;c.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Salvator, always greedy after figures of this sort, got as
+near to him as he could, and tried to enter into conversation with him about
+Scacciati's picture, which seemed to delight him so much; but, without taking
+much heed of Salvator, the old fellow cursed his poverty, which would not allow
+him to buy this picture for a million, and so prevent any one else from fixing
+his devilish glances upon it. And then he hopped up and down again, and thanked
+the Virgin and all the saints that the infernal painter who had painted this
+heavenly picture, which drove him to madness and despair, was dead and gone.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Salvator came to the conclusion that the man must be either a
+maniac, or some Academician of San Luca whom he did not know.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">All Rome rang with the fame of Scacciati's wonderful picture.
+Scarce anything else was talked of, and this ought to have been enough to show
+its superiority. When the painters held their next meeting in San Luca to decide
+as to the reception of sundry applicants for admission, Salvator Rosa made a
+sudden inquiry whether the painter of the Magdalene at the Saviour's feet would
+not have been worthy to be admitted. All the members of the Academy, not
+excepting the excessively critical Cavaliere Josepin, declared, with one voice,
+that such a great master would have been an ornament to the Academy, and, in the
+most studied forms of speech, expressed their regret that he was dead (though in
+their hearts they thanked heaven that he was). Not only this, but in their
+enthusiasm for art, they decided to elect this marvellous young painter an
+Academician, notwithstanding that he had been withdrawn from art by a premature
+death; directing masses to be said for the repose of his soul in the church of
+San Luca. Wherefore they requested Salvator to acquaint them with the full names
+of the deceased, as well as the year and place of his birth, &#38;c., &#38;c.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On this Salvator rose up and said: &quot;Signori, the honours which
+you fain would pay to a man in his grave are due to, and had better be bestowed
+on, a living painter, who is walking to and fro in our midst. Know ye that the
+Magdalene at the Saviour's feet--the picture which you have such a high opinion
+of justly, and esteem so highly above anything which living painters have
+produced--is not the work of a Neapolitan painter no longer in life, as I
+pretended it was, that your verdict might be unbiassed. This picture, this
+masterpiece, which all Rome admires at this moment, is by the hand of Antonio
+Scacciati, the surgeon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The painters glared dumb and motionless at Salvator, like men
+struck by lightning. Salvator enjoyed their consternation for a short time, and
+then went on to say: &quot;Well, gentlemen, you would not allow Antonio to come
+amongst you because he is a surgeon; but I think the Academy of San Luca is in
+very great need of a surgeon to mend and set the crippled arms and legs of the
+figures which come from the studios of many of its members. However, I presume
+you will not longer delay to do what you ought to have done long ago; that is,
+to admit this admirable painter, Antonio Scacciati, a member of your Academy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Academicians swallowed Salvator's bitter pill; they said
+they were much overjoyed that Antonio had displayed his talent in such a
+striking and decided manner, and they elected him a member of the Academy with
+much ceremony. As soon as it was known in Rome that Antonio was the painter of
+the wonderful picture, there streamed in upon him from all sides
+congratulations, and commissions to undertake great and important works. Thus
+was this young painter--thanks to Salvator's method of setting to work--brought,
+in a moment, out of obscurity, and raised to high honour, at the very juncture
+when he had made up his mind to start upon his career as an artist.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Floating and hovering, as he was, in an atmosphere of
+happiness and bliss, it all the more surprised Salvator one day when Antonio
+came to him, pale and upset, full of anger and despair. &quot;Ah, Salvator,&quot; he
+cried, &quot;what does it avail me that you have set me up on a pinnacle, where I
+could never have dreamt of being, that I am overwhelmed with praise and honour,
+that the prospect of the most delightful and glorious artistic career opens
+before me, when I am inexpressibly unhappy, when the very picture, to which,
+next to yourself, dear master, I am indebted for my victory, is the express
+cause of irremediable misfortune to me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Silence!&quot; cried Salvator. &quot;Do not commit a sin against your
+art and your picture. I don't believe a word as to your irremediable misfortune.
+You are in love, and perhaps things are not going in all respects exactly as you
+wish; but that is all, no doubt. Lovers are like children, they cry and yell the
+moment anybody touches their toy. Leave off lamenting, I beg of you; it is a
+thing which I cannot endure. Sit down there, and tell me quietly how matters
+stand as regards your beautiful Magdalene and your love-affair altogether, and
+where the stumbling-blocks are which we must get out of the way, for I promise
+you, to commence with, that I will help you. The more difficult and arduous and
+adventurous the things are that we have to set about, the better I shall be
+pleased, for the blood is running quick in my veins again, and the state of my
+health calls upon me to set to work and play a wild trick or two; so tell me all
+about it, Antonio, and, as aforesaid, none of your 'Ohs' and your 'Ahs.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Antonio sat down in the chair which Salvator had placed for
+him near the easel where he was at work, and commenced as follows:--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In Strada Ripetta, in the lofty house whose projecting
+balcony you see as soon as you go through the Porta del Popolo, lives the
+greatest ass and most idiotic donkey in all Rome. An old bachelor, with all the
+faults of his class--vain, trying to be young, in love, and a coxcomb. He is
+tall, thin as a whip-stalk, dresses in party-coloured Spanish costume, with a
+blonde periwig, a steeple-crowned hat, gauntlets, and long sword at his
+side----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Stop, stop! wait a moment, Antonio,&quot; cried Salvator, and,
+turning round the picture he was working at, he took a crayon, and, on the
+reverse side of it, drew, in a few bold touches, the curious old fellow who had
+been going on so absurdly in front of Antonio's picture.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;By all the saints!&quot; cried Antonio, jumping up from his chair,
+and laughing loud and clear in spite of his despair, &quot;that is the very
+man--that is Signor Pasquale Capuzzi, of whom I am speaking,
+to the very life.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There, you see,&quot; said Salvator quietly, &quot;I know the gentleman
+who is probably your bitter rival. But go on with your story.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Signor Pasquale Capuzzi,&quot; continued Antonio, &quot;is as rich as
+Cr&#339;sus, but, as I think I was telling you, a terrible miser, as well as a
+perfect ass. His best quality is that he is devoted to the arts, particularly to
+music and painting. But there is so much idiotic absurdity mixed up with this,
+that, even in those directions, it is impossible to put up with him. He believes
+himself to be the greatest composer in the world, and a singer the like of whom
+is not to be found in the Papal Chapel. Therefore he looks askance at our old
+Frescobaldi, and when the Romans talk of the marvellous charm and spell which
+Ceccarelli's voice possesses, he thinks Ceccarelli knows as much about singing
+as an old slipper, and that he--Capuzzi--is the person to enchant the world. But
+as the Pope's principal singer bears the proud name of Edoardo Ceccarelli di
+Merania, our Capuzzi likes to be styled 'Signor Pasquale Capuzzi di Senegaglia,'
+for his mother bore him in that place, and, in fact, people say, in a
+fishing-boat, from sudden terror at the rising of a sea-calf, and there is,
+consequently, a great deal of the sea-calf in his nature. In early life he put
+an opera on the stage, and it was hissed off it in the completest manner
+possible; but that did not cure him of his craze for writing diabolical music.
+On the other hand, when he heard Francesco Cavalli's opera, 'Le Nozze di Teti e
+di Peleo,' he said the Capellmeister had borrowed the most sublime ideas from
+his own immortal works; for saying which he had a narrow escape of cudgellings,
+or even of knife-thrusts. He is still possessed with the idea of singing arias,
+accompanying himself by torturing a wretched guitar, which has to groan and sigh
+in support of his mewing and caterwauling. His faithful Pylades is a
+broken-down, dwarfish Castrato, whom the Romans call Pitichinaccio; and guess
+who completes the trio. Well, none other than the Pyramid Doctor, who emits
+sounds like a melancholy jackass, and is under the impression that he sings a
+magnificent bass, as good as Martinelli's, of the Papal Chapel. Those three
+worthies meet together of evenings, and sit on the balcony, singing motetts of
+Carissimi's till all the dogs and cats in the neighbourhood yell and howl, and
+the human beings within earshot devote the hellish trio to all the thousand
+devils.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My father,&quot; Antonio continued, &quot;was in the habit of going in
+and out of the house of this incomparable idiot, Signor Pasquale Capuzzi (whom
+you know sufficiently well from my description), because he used to dress his
+wig and his beard. When he died, I undertook those offices, and Capuzzi was
+greatly pleased with me, firstly, because he considered that I was able to give
+his moustaches a bold upward twist in a manner which nobody else could, and
+further, doubtless, because I was satisfied with the two or three quattrinos
+which he gave me for my trouble. But he thought he was over-paying me, inasmuch
+as, every
+time I dressed his beard he would croak out to me, with closed
+eyes,
+an aria of his own composing, which flayed the skin off my
+ears, although the remarkable antics of this creature afforded me much
+entertainment--which was the reason I continued to go back to him. I on one
+occasion walked gently up the stairs, knocked at the door, and opened it, when
+there met me a girl--an angel of light! You know my Magdalene!--it was she. I
+stood rooted to the spot. No, no, Salvator, I won't treat you to any 'Ohs' or
+'Ahs.' I need but say that on the instant, when I saw the loveliest of all
+ladies, I fell into the deepest, fondest affection for her. The old fellow said,
+with simpers, that she was the daughter of his brother Pietro, who had died in
+Senegaglia, that her name was Marianna, and that, as she had no mother, and
+neither brothers nor sisters, he had taken her into his house. You may imagine
+that from that time forth Capuzzi's dwelling was my paradise. But, scheme as I
+might, I could never be alone with Marianna for a single instant; yet her eyes,
+as well as many a stolen sigh, and even many a pressure of the hand, left me in
+no doubt of my happiness. The old man found this out, and it was not a very
+difficult matter. He told me that he was by no means pleased with my behaviour
+to his niece, and asked me what I meant by it. I candidly confessed that I loved
+her with all my soul, and could imagine no more perfect bliss on earth than to
+make her my wife. On this, Capuzzi eyed me up and down, broke into sneering
+laughter, and said that he could not have imagined that ideas of the kind could
+have haunted the brain of a wretched hairdresser. My blood got up: I said he
+knew very well that I was by no means a mere wretched hairdresser, but a skilled
+surgeon, and, more than that, as concerned the glorious art of painting, a
+faithful scholar and pupil of the grand Annibale Caracci, and the unsurpassed
+Guido Reni. On this the despicable Capuzzi broke out into louder laughter, and
+squeaked out, in his abominable falsetto: 'Very good, my sweet Signor
+Beard-curler, my talented Signor Surgeon, my charming Annibale Caracci, my most
+beloved Guido Reni, <i>go to all the devils</i>, and don't show that nose of yours
+inside my door again, unless you want every bone in your body broken.' And the
+demented old totterer actually took hold of me with no less
+an idea in his head than that of chucking me out of the door
+and downstairs. But this was rather more than could be endured. I was furious,
+and I seized hold of the fellow, turned him topsy-turvy, with his toes pointing
+to the ceiling (screaming at the top of his lungs), and ran downstairs and out
+of the door, which was from thenceforth closed against me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Matters were in this position when you came to Rome, and
+Heaven inspired the good Father Bonifazio to conduct me to you; and then, when
+that had happened, through your cleverness, which I had striven after in vain,
+when the Academy of San Luca had admitted me, and all Rome
+was praising and honouring me above my desert, I went straight
+away to the old man, and appeared suddenly before him in his room like a
+threatening spectre. That is what I must have seemed like to him, for he turned
+as pale as death, and drew back behind a table, trembling in every limb. In a
+grave, firm voice, I told him that I was not now the Beard-curler and Surgeon,
+but the celebrated Painter, and Member of the Academy of San Luca, Antonio
+Scacciati, to whom he could not refuse his niece's hand. You should have seen
+the fury into which the old man fell. He yelled, he beat about him with his
+arms, he cried out that I was a remorseless murderer, seeking to take his life,
+that I had stolen his Marianna away from him, as I had counterfeited her in the
+picture which drove him to madness and despair. That now all the world--all the
+world--was looking at his Marianna, his life, his hope, his everything, with
+longing, coveting eyes; but that I had better be careful, for he would burn the
+house down about my ears, and make an end of me and my picture together. And on
+this he began to vociferate, and scream out so loudly,
+'Fire!--murder!--thieves!--help!' that I thought of nothing but getting out of
+the house as speedily as possible.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You see that this old lunatic Capuzzi is over head and ears
+in
+love with his niece. He keeps her shut up, and, if he can get
+a dispensation, he will force her to the most horrible marriage conceivable. All
+hope is at an end.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why not, indeed?&quot; said Salvator, laughing. &quot;For my part, I
+think, rather, that your affairs could not possibly be in a better position.
+Marianna loves you--you know that well enough--and all that has to be done is to
+get her out of the clutches of this old lunatic. Now I really do not see what
+should prevent two adventurous, sturdy fellows, like you and me, from
+accomplishing this. Keep up your heart, Antonio! Instead of lamenting, and
+getting to be love-sick and powerless, the thing to do is to keep thinking on
+Marianna's rescue. Just watch, Antonio, how we will lead the old donkey by the
+nose. The very wildest undertakings are not wild enough for me, in circumstances
+like those. This very moment I shall set to work to see what more I can find out
+about the old fellow and all his ways of life. You must not let yourself be seen
+in this, Antonio. Go you quietly home, and come to me to-morrow as early as you
+can, that we may consider the plan for our first attack.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With that Salvator washed his brushes, threw on his cloak, and
+hastened to the Corso; whilst Antonio, comforted, and with fresh hope in his
+heart, went home, as Salvator had enjoined him.</p>
+
+<hr class="W20">
+
+<p class="hang1">Signor Pasquale Capuzzi makes his appearance in Salvator
+Rosa's
+abode.--What happened there.--Rosa and Scacciati's artful
+stratagem, and its consequences.</p>
+
+<p class="continue">Antonio was not a little surprised, the next morning, when
+Salvator gave him the most minute account of Capuzzi's whole manner of life,
+which, in the interval, he had found out all about. Salvator said the miserable
+Marianna was tortured by the crack-brained old scoundrel in the most fiendish
+manner. That he sighed, and made love to her all day long; and, what was worse,
+by way of touching her heart, sang to her all sorts of amorous ditties and arias
+which he had composed, or attempted to compose. Moreover, he was so madly
+jealous that he would not allow this much-to-be-compassionated girl even the
+usual female attendance, for fear of love-intrigues to which the Abigail might
+possibly be corrupted. &quot;Instead of that,&quot; Salvator went on, &quot;there comes, every
+morning and evening, a little horrible, ghastly spectre of a creature, with
+hollow eyes, and pale, flabby, hanging cheeks, to do what a maid-servant ought
+to do for the beautiful Marianna. And this spectre is none other than that tiny
+hop-o-my-thumb Pitichinaccio, dressed in woman's clothes. When Capuzzi is away,
+he carefully locks and bars all the doors; and besides that, watch and ward is
+kept by that infernal fellow who was once a Bravo, afterwards a Sbirro, who
+lives downstairs in Capuzzi's house. Therefore it seems impossible to get inside
+the door. But I promise you, Antonio, that to-morrow night you shall be in the
+room with Capuzzi, and see your Marianna, though, this time, only in Capuzzi's
+presence.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What!&quot; cried Antonio, &quot;is that which appears to me an
+impossibility going to come to pass to-morrow night?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hush, Antonio!&quot; said Salvator; &quot;let us calmly reflect how the
+plan which I have hit upon is to be carried out. To begin with, I must tell you
+that I have a certain connection with Signor Capuzzi which I was not aware of.
+That wretched spinett standing in the corner there is his property, and I am
+supposed to be going to pay him the exorbitant price of ten ducats for it. When
+I had got somewhat better after my illness, I had a longing for music, which is
+consolation and recreation to me. I asked my landlady to get hold of an
+instrument of that sort for me. Dame Caterina soon found out that a certain old
+fellow in Strada Ripetta had an old spinett for sale. It was brought here, and I
+troubled myself neither about the price nor about the owner. It was only last
+night that I discovered that it was our honourable Signor Capuzzi who was going
+to swindle me with his old, broken-down instrument. Dame Caterina had applied to
+an acquaintance who lives in the house with Capuzzi, and, in fact, on the same
+storey; so that now you see where I got all my information from.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ha!&quot; cried Antonio; &quot;thus is the means of admission
+discovered. Your landlady----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know what you are going to say,&quot; said Salvator. &quot;You think
+the way to your Marianna is through Dame Caterina. That would never do at all.
+Dame Caterina is much too talkative; she can't keep the most trifling secret,
+and is therefore by no means to be made use of in our undertaking. Listen to me,
+quietly. Every evening, when the little Castrato has done the maid-servant work,
+Signor Pasquale Capuzzi carries him home in his arms, difficult as that job is,
+considering the shakiness of his own old knees. Not for all the world would the
+timorous Pitichinaccio set foot on the pavement at that time of the night. Very
+good; when----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At this moment a knock came to Salvator's door, and, to the no
+small astonishment of both, in came Signor Pasquale Capuzzi in all his glory. As
+soon as he saw Scacciati he stood still, as if paralysed in every limb, opened
+his eyes wide, and panted for air as if his breath would fail him. But Salvator
+hurried up to him, took him by both hands, and cried out: &quot;My dear Signor
+Pasquale! how highly honoured I am that you should visit me in my humble
+lodging. Doubtless it is the love of art that brings you. You wish to look at
+what I have been doing lately; perhaps you are even going to honour me with a
+commission. Tell me, dear Signor Pasquale, wherein I can do you a pleasure.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have to speak with you,&quot; stammered Capuzzi, with
+difficulty, &quot;dear Signor Salvator; but, alone; when you are by yourself. Allow
+me to take my departure for the present, and come back at a more convenient
+time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;By no means, my dear Signor,&quot; said Salvator, holding the old
+man fast. &quot;You must not go. You could not possibly have come at a more
+convenient time, for, as you are a great honourer of the noble art of painting,
+it will give you no small joy when I present to you here Antonio Scacciati, the
+greatest painter of our time, whose glorious picture, the marvellous 'Magdalene
+at the Saviour's feet,' all Rome regards with the utmost enthusiasm. No doubt
+you are full of the picture, like the rest, and have been anxious to make the
+painter's acquaintance.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The old man was seized by a violent trembling. He shook like
+one in the cold stage of a fever, sending, the while, burning looks of rage at
+Antonio; who, however, went up to him with easy courtesy, declaring that he
+thought himself fortunate to meet Signor Pasquale Capuzzi, whose profound
+knowledge of music, as well as of painting, not only Rome, but all Italy
+admired, and he recommended himself to his protection.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It restored the old fellow to his self-control that Antonio
+treated him as if he met him for the first time, and addressed him in such
+flattering terms. He forced himself to a sort of simpering smile, and (Salvator
+having let go his hands) softly stroked the points of his moustaches
+heavenwards, stammered a few unintelligible words, and then turned to Salvator,
+whom he attacked on the subject of the payment of the ten ducats. &quot;We will
+settle that every-day little affair afterwards,&quot; said Salvator. &quot;First let it
+please you to look at the sketches which I have made for a picture, and, as you
+do so, to drink a glass of good Syracuse.&quot; Salvator placed his sketches on the
+easel, drew up a chair for the old gentleman, and, when he had seated himself,
+handed him a large, beautiful goblet, in which the noble Syracuse was sparkling.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The old man was only too fond of a glass of good wine, when he
+had not to pay for it; and, moreover, as he was expecting to receive ten ducats
+for a worn-out, rickety spinett, and was seated before a boldly sketched-in
+picture, whose wonderful beauty he was quite capable of appreciating, he could
+not but feel exceedingly happy in his mind. This satisfaction he gave expression
+to, smirking quite pleasantly, stroking his chin and moustaches assiduously,
+half closing his eyes, and whispering, time after time, &quot;Glorious! Precious!&quot;
+without its clearly appearing whether he referred to the picture or to the wine.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As he had now become quite friendly, Salvator said, suddenly:
+&quot;Tell me, my dear sir, is it not the case that-you have a most beautiful niece,
+of the name of Marianna? All our young fellows are continually rushing to the
+Strada Ripetta, impelled by love-craziness. They give themselves cricks in the
+neck with gazing up at your balcony in the hope of seeing her, and catching a
+glance from her heavenly eyes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The complacent smirk disappeared instantly from the old man's
+face, and all the good humour with which the wine had inspired him vanished.
+Gazing before him gloomily, he said, in a harsh voice: &quot;See there the profound
+corruption of our sinful youth, who fasten their diabolical looks on children,
+detestable seducers that they are!--for I assure you, my dear sir, my niece
+Marianna is a mere child--a mere child scarce out of the nursery!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Salvator changed the subject. The old man recovered his
+composure; but when, with new sunshine in his face, he placed the full goblet to
+his lips, Salvator set on him again, with: &quot;Tell me, my dear Signor, has your
+niece (that young lady of sixteen), the lovely Marianna, really that wonderful
+chestnut-brown hair, and those eyes, full of the rapture and bliss of Heaven,
+which we see in Antonio's Magdalene? That is what is everywhere said.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I can't say,&quot; cried the old man, in an angrier tone than
+before. &quot;Don't let us refer to my niece; we can exchange words of more
+importance on the subject of the noble art to which your beautiful picture
+itself leads us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But as, whenever the old man took up the goblet and placed it
+to his lips to take a good draught, Salvator again began to speak of the
+beautiful Marianna, Pasquale at last sprung from his chair in fury, banged the
+goblet down on the table with such violence that it was nearly being broken, and
+cried in a screaming voice: &quot;By the black, hellish Pluto, by all the Furies, you
+make the wine poison--poison to me. But I see how it is. You, and your fine
+Signor Antonio along with you, think you will make a fool of me; but you won't
+find it quite so easy. Pay me this instant the ten ducats you owe me, and I will
+leave you and your comrade, the beard-curler Antonio, to all the devils.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Salvator cried out as if overcome by the most furious anger,
+&quot;What! You dare to treat me in this manner in my own lodging? Pay you ten ducats
+for that rotten old box, out of which the worms have long since gnawed all the
+marrow, all the sound! Not ten, not five, not three, not a single ducat will I
+pay you for that spinett, which is scarcely worth a quattrino. Away with the
+crippled old thing,&quot; and therewith Salvator sent the little spinett spinning
+round and round with his foot, its strings giving out a loud wail of sorrow.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ha!&quot; screamed Capuzzi, &quot;there is still law in Rome. I will
+have
+you put in prison, into the deepest dungeon;&quot; and, growling
+like a thunder-cloud, he was making for the door. But Salvator put both his arms
+about him, set him down in the chair again, and whispered in his ear in dulcet
+tones, &quot;My dear Signor Pasquale, do you not see that I am only joking? Not ten,
+thirteen ducats you shall have for your spinett,&quot; and went on repeating into his
+ear, &quot;thirteen bright ducats,&quot; so long and so often that Capuzzi said, in a
+faint, feeble voice, &quot;What say you, dear sir? Thirteen ducats for the spinett,
+and nothing for the repairs?&quot; Then Salvator let him go, and assured him, on his
+honour, that in an hour's time the spinett should be worth thirty--forty ducats,
+and that he, Capuzzi, should get that sum for it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The old man, drawing breath, murmured: with a deep sigh,
+&quot;Thirty--forty ducats!&quot; Then he added, &quot;But you have greatly enraged me, Signor
+Salvator.&quot; &quot;Thirty ducats,&quot; reiterated Salvator. The old man blinked his eyes.
+But then again, &quot;You have wounded me to the heart, Signor Salvator.&quot; &quot;Thirty
+ducats,&quot; said Salvator again and again, till at length the old man said, quite
+appeased, &quot;If I can get thirty or forty ducats for my spinett, all will be
+forgotten and forgiven, dear Signor.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But before I fulfil my promise,&quot; said Salvator, &quot;I have one
+little stipulation to make which you, my worthy Signor Pasquale Capuzzi di
+Senegaglia, can easily comply with. You are the first composer in all Italy,
+and, into the bargain, the very finest singer that can possibly be found. I have
+listened with rapture to the grand scena in the opera 'Le Nozze di Teti e di
+Peleo,' which the villain Francesco Cavalli has cribbed from you and given out
+as his own. If you would be good enough to sing me that aria during the time
+that I am setting the spinett to rights, I cannot imagine anything more
+delightful that could happen to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The old fellow screwed his face up into the most sugary smile
+imaginable, twitched his eyebrows, and said, &quot;It is easy to see that you are a
+fine musician yourself, Signor, for you have taste, and you can value people
+better than the unthankful Romans. Listen, listen to the aria of all arias.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He rose up, stood on the extreme points of his tiptoes,
+stretched out his arms, and closed both his eyes (so that he was exactly like a
+cock making ready for a crow), and immediately began to utter such a terrible
+screeching that the walls resounded again, and Dame Caterina came rushing in
+with her two daughters, having no other idea than that the terrible howling
+indicated the happening of some signal disaster. They stood completely
+bewildered in the doorway when they became aware of the old gentleman crooning
+in this manner, thus constituting themselves the audience of this unheard-of
+virtuoso, Capuzzi.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But as this was going on, Salvator had set the spinett to
+rights, shut down the top of it, taken his palette and set to work to paint, in
+bold touches, upon the very cover of the spinett, the most wonderful subject
+imaginable. The principal theme of it was a scene from Cavalli's opera, 'Le
+Nozze di Teti;' but there was mingled with this, in utterly fantastic fashion, a
+whole crowd of other characters, amongst whom were Capuzzi, Antonio, Marianna
+(exactly as she appeared in Antonio's picture), Salvator himself, Dame Caterina
+and her daughters, and even the Pyramid Doctor, and all so genially and
+comprehendingly pourtrayed, that Antonio could not conceal his delight at the
+Maestro's talent and technique.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The old fellow by no means restricted himself to the scena
+which Salvator had asked him for, but went on singing, or rather crowing,
+without cessation, working his way through the most terrible recitatives from
+one diabolical aria to another. This may have
+gone on for some two hours or so, till he sank down into an
+arm-chair, cherry-brown of countenance. By that time, however, Salvator had got
+so far with his sketch that everything in it appeared to be alive, and the
+effect of it, when seen a little way off, was that of a finished picture.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have kept my promise as regards the spinett, dear Signor
+Capuzzi,&quot; Salvator whispered into the old man's ear, and Capuzzi sprang up like
+one awaking from sleep. His eyes fell on the painted spinett; he opened them
+wide, as if looking upon a miracle, crammed his peaked hat down on to his
+periwig, took his crook-headed stick under his arm, made one jump to the
+spinett, wrenched the cover of it out of the hinges, and ran, like one
+possessed, out of the door, down the steps, and off and away out of the house,
+whilst Dame Caterina and her daughters accompanied his exit with bursts of
+laughter.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The old skinflint knows very well,&quot; said Salvator, &quot;that he
+has only to take the painted top of the spinett to Count Colonna, or to my
+friend Rossi, to get forty ducats, or more, for it in a moment.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Salvator and Antonio now set about considering the plan of
+attack which they were about to carry out on the following night. We shall
+presently see what it was, and what was the success of their attempt.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When night came, Pasquale, after carefully bolting and barring
+up his house, carried the little monster of a Castrato home. The little creature
+mewed and complained all the way, that not only was he compelled to sing his
+lungs into a consumption over Capuzzi's arias, and burn his hands with cooking
+of macaroons, but, into the bargain, was employed in a service which brought him
+in nothing but cuffs on the ears and sound kicks, which Marianna dealt out to
+him in ample measure whenever he came into her vicinity. The old gentleman
+comforted him as well as he could, promising to supply him more plentifully with
+sugar-
+stuff than he had hitherto done, and even going so far as to
+enter into a solemn undertaking (inasmuch as the little wretch would not cease
+whining and lamenting) to have a little Abbate's coat made for him out of an old
+black plush doublet, which he had often looked upon with envious glances. He
+demanded, besides, a periwig and a sword. Discussing those matters, they reached
+the Strada Vergognona, for that was where Pitichinaccio lived, and, indeed, only
+four doors from Salvator.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The old man set the little creature carefully down, and opened
+the door. Then they went up the narrow steps, more like a hen's ladder than
+anything else; but scarcely had they got half-way up when they became aware of a
+tremendous raging on the storey above, and a wild drunken fellow made his voice
+heard, calling upon all the devils in hell to show him the way out of this
+accursed, haunted house. Pitichinaccio, who was in front, pressed himself close
+to the wall and implored Capuzzi to go on first, for the love of all the saints.
+Scarcely, however, had Capuzzi gone a step or two up when the fellow from above
+came stumbling down the stairs, came upon Capuzzi like a whirlwind, seized hold
+of him, and went floundering down with him through the open door right into the
+middle of the street. There they remained lying prostrate, Capuzzi nethermost,
+and the drunken fellow on the top of him, like a heavy sack. Capuzzi screamed
+pitifully for help, and immediately there appeared two men, who, with much
+pains, eased Capuzzi of his burden, the drunken fellow, who went staggering away
+as they did so.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The two men were Salvator and Antonio, and they cried, &quot;Jesus!
+what has happened to you, Signor Capuzzi? What are you doing here at this time
+of the night? You seem to have had some bad business going on in the house.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It's all over with me,&quot; groaned Capuzzi; &quot;the hellhound has
+broken every bone in my body. I can't move a muscle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let us see--let us see!&quot; said Antonio; and he felt him all
+over, giving him, in the course of his examination, a pinch in the right leg of
+such shrewdness that Capuzzi uttered a yell.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Saints and angels!&quot; ejaculated Antonio, &quot;your right leg is
+broken just at the most dangerous place. If it is not attended to immediately,
+you are a dead man; or, at the very least, lamed for life.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Capuzzi uttered a frightful howl. &quot;Calm yourself, my dear
+Signor,&quot; said Antonio. &quot;Although I am a painter now, I have not forgotten my
+surgery. We will carry you into Salvator's lodgings, and I will bandage you
+properly at once.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Dear Signor Antonio,&quot; whined Capuzzi, &quot;you are inimically
+minded towards me, I am aware.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah!&quot; interposed Salvator, &quot;there can be no question of enmity
+in a case like this. You are in danger, and that is sufficient reason why the
+honourable Antonio should devote all his skill to your service. Take hold of
+him, friend Antonio.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Together they lifted the old man up softly and carefully, and
+carried him--crying out over the suffering which his broken leg caused him--to
+Salvator's lodgings.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Dame Caterina declared she had felt quite certain that
+something was going to happen, and consequently hadn't been able to go to bed.
+And when she saw the old gentleman and heard what had happened to him, she broke
+out into reproaches as to his works and ways. &quot;I know well enough, Signor
+Pasquale, who it was that you were taking home, as usual. You think, as long as
+you have your pretty niece Marianna at home with you, you don't require any
+woman to do anything there, and you most shamefully and God-defiantly misuse
+that poor creature of a Pitichinaccio, whom you dress up in woman's clothes. But
+remember, <i>ogni carne ha il mio osso</i>--every flesh has its own bones. If you
+have a girl in the house, you can't do without women. <i>Fate il passo secondo il
+gamba</i>--don't stretch your legs farther than the bedcover goes, and don't do
+more, nor less, than what is right for your Marianna. Don't shut her up like a
+prisoner. Don't turn your house into a gaol. <i>Asino punto convien che
+trotti</i>--one who has started on the road must go along. You have a pretty niece,
+and you must arrange your life accordingly; that's to say, you mustn't do what
+she doesn't wish. But you are an ungallant, hard-hearted man, and (I'm afraid I
+must say, at your time of life), amorous and jealous into the bargain. You must
+pardon me for saying all this straight out to your face, but you know <i>chi ha
+nel petto fiele, non pu sputar miele</i>--what the heart is
+full of comes out at the lips. If you don't die of this
+accident of yours--as, at your time of life, it is to be feared you will--I hope
+it will be a warning to you, and you'll leave your niece at liberty to do what
+she wishes, and marry the charming young gentleman whom I think I know about.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus did the stream of Dame Caterina's words flow on, whilst
+Salvator and Antonio carefully undressed the old gentleman and laid him on the
+bed. Dame Caterina's words were dagger-thrusts, which went deep into his heart;
+but, whenever he tried to get in a word between them, Antonio impressed on him
+that anything in the nature of talking was fraught with the utmost danger, so
+that he was obliged to swallow the bitter pill of her utterances. Salvator at
+length sent her away to get some iced water, which Antonio had ordered.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Salvator and Antonio convinced themselves that the fellow whom
+they had employed had done his business most admirably. Beyond one or two blue
+marks, Capuzzi had not suffered the slightest damage, frightful as his tumble
+had the appearance of being. Antonio carefully put splints and bandages on his
+right foot and leg, so that he could not move; and at the same time they wrapped
+him in cloths soaked in iced water, on the pretext of keeping off fever, so that
+he shivered as if he were in an ague.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My good Signor Antonio,&quot; he said, in faint accents, &quot;tell me,
+is it all over with me? Am I a dead man?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do not excite yourself, Signor Pasquale,&quot; said Antonio.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As you bore the first application of the bandages so well,
+and did not fall into a faint, I hope all danger is over; but the most careful
+nursing is absolutely essential. The most important point is that the surgeon
+must not let you be out of his sight for a moment.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, Antonio!&quot; whined the old gentleman, &quot;you know how fond I
+am of you--what a high opinion I have of your talent! Don't leave me--give me
+your dear hand! That is it! My dear, good son, you won't go away from me, will
+you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Although I am no longer a surgeon,&quot; said Antonio, &quot;although I
+have cast away the abominable slavery of that calling to the four winds of
+heaven, I do not mind making an exception in your case, Signor Pasquale, and I
+undertake to cure you. The only thing which I ask of you in return is, that you
+will give me back your friendship--your confidence; you have been a little hard
+towards me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Say nothing about that,&quot; whispered the old fellow; &quot;do not
+let us allude to it, dear Antonio.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Your niece,&quot; said Antonio, &quot;will be half-dead with anxiety at
+your not having come home. All things considered, you are wonderfully strong and
+well, and we will move you to your own house as soon as it is daylight. When we
+have got you there, I will have another look at your bandages, and see to the
+bed upon which you are to be laid; and I will tell your niece all that will be
+necessary to do in your case, so that you may very soon be quite better.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The old gentleman heaved a very deep sigh, closed his eyes,
+and remained silent for some moments. He then stretched his hand out toward
+Antonio, drew him close to him, and said, in a whisper: &quot;Tell me, dearest
+Antonio, I am right, am I not, in supposing that all that about Marianna--my
+niece--was merely your fun--the sort of jesting which gets into young fellows'
+heads?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I beg you,&quot; said Antonio, &quot;not to think about matters of that
+sort at such a time as this. Put them out of your head altogether. It is
+certainly true that your niece did attract my eyes a little; but I have very
+different matters in my mind at present. And--I must tell you quite candidly--I
+am very glad that you sent me and my foolish attempt to the right about so
+speedily. I thought I was in love with Marianna, but it was merely that I saw in
+her a splendid model for my Magdalene. I presume that is why I have become
+completely indifferent to her since my picture was finished. I have no longer
+the slightest interest in her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Antonio!&quot; cried the old gentleman; &quot;Antonio, blessed of
+heaven! you are my comfort, my help, my consolation! If you are not in love with
+Marianna, my troubles are at an end.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To tell you the truth, Signor Pasquale,&quot; said Salvator, &quot;if
+one did not know you to be a serious man, of great intelligence, very well aware
+what is suitable to his advanced period of life, one would be disposed to fancy
+that you were idiot enough to be in love with this niece of yours (a child of
+sixteen) yourself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The old man closed his eyes again, and groaned and lamented
+over the terrible sufferings he was enduring, which had returned with double
+force.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The morning-red came streaming through the window. Antonio
+told the old gentleman it was time to take him to his own house in Strada
+Ripetta. He answered with a deep, melancholy sigh. Salvator and Antonio lifted
+him out of bed, and wrapped him in a large cloak of Dame Caterina's, which had
+been her husband's. The old gentleman implored, for the love of all the saints,
+that the shameful ice-cloths which were upon his bald head should be taken away,
+and that he should wear his periwig and plumed hat; also that Antonio should, as
+far as possible, arrange his moustaches, so that Marianna should not be too much
+alarmed by his appearance. Two bearers, with a litter, were waiting at the door.
+Dame Caterina, continually scolding at the old gentleman, and quoting proverbs
+plentifully, brought down bedding, in which, carefully packed, and attended by
+Salvator and Antonio, he was got home to his own house.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When Marianna saw her uncle in this terrible condition, she
+gave a loud cry, and a flood of tears burst from her eyes. Without paying any
+attention to her lover, who was present, she took the old man's hands, pressed
+them to her lips, and lamented over the sad misfortune which had befallen him.
+Such was this good girl's compassion for the old fellow who tortured her with
+his insane fondness for her. All the same the inborn nature of woman within her
+displayed itself, for a few significant looks of Salvator's were amply
+sufficient to let her understand the whole position of matters. It was only then
+that she gave a stolen glance at the happy Antonio, blushing deeply as she did
+so, and it was marvellous to see how a somewhat roguish smile victoriously
+dispelled her tears. On the whole, Salvator had never thought that she was so
+delightful, so wonderfully lovely (notwithstanding the Magdalene picture) as he
+now found her actually to be. And whilst he almost envied Antonio his good
+fortune, he felt doubly the necessity of getting the poor girl out of the
+clutches of the accursed Capuzzi, at whatever cost.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The latter, welcomed in this charming manner (which he by no
+means deserved) by his delightful niece, forgot his troubles; he smiled, and
+ogled, working his lips so that his moustaches went up and down; and he groaned
+and whined, not so much from pain as from amorousness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Antonio skilfully prepared the bed for his patient, and when
+he had been laid down upon it, tightened the bandages--and did so to such an
+extent on the left leg, that the old gentleman had, perforce, to lie as
+motionless as a wooden doll. Salvator went away, leaving the lovers to their
+happiness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The old gentleman was lying buried in cushions, and Antonio
+had, moreover, so bound a thick cloth soaked in ice-water about his head, that
+he could not hear a trace of what the lovers were whispering; so they now, for
+the first time, uttered all that was in their hearts, and vowed eternal
+fidelity, with tears and the sweetest kisses. The old man could not possibly
+have any suspicion, as Marianna, every now and then, kept asking him if there
+was anything he wanted, and even permitted him to press her little white hand to
+his lips. When it was high day, Antonio hastened away, according to his own
+statement, to order what was further necessary for the patient, but, in reality,
+to consider how he might possibly manage to keep him in a still more helpless
+state, if he could, so that Salvator and he might reflect upon what steps were
+to be taken in the next place.</p>
+
+<hr class="W20">
+
+<p class="hang1">A fresh plot which Salvator and Antonio form, and carry out
+upon Signor
+Pasquale Capuzzi and his associates; and the results thereof.</p>
+
+<p class="continue">On the following morning Antonio came to Salvator, all
+vexation and anger.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, how goes it?&quot; Salvator cried to him. &quot;What are you
+hanging your head for, superlatively happy man, who can kiss and caress his
+darling every day?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, Salvator!&quot; answered Antonio; &quot;it is all over with my
+happiness. The devil delights in making me the sport of his tricks. Our plots
+have all come to nothing, and we are at open war with the accursed Capuzzi.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So much the better! so much the better!&quot; said Salvator. &quot;But
+tell me what has been happening.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Just imagine, Salvator,&quot; said Antonio. &quot;When, yesterday, I
+was going back to Strada Ripetta, after I had been gone about two hours,
+bringing all sorts of essences, &#38;c., there I saw the old gentleman standing at
+his door, completely dressed. At his back were the Pyramid Doctor, and the
+accursed Sbirro, whilst there was some little many-coloured object running in
+and out amongst their legs; this, I believe, was that little abortion of a
+Pitichinaccio. As soon as the old fellow saw me he menaced me with his fist,
+uttered the most gruesome curses and maledictions, and swore he would have every
+bone in my body broken if I dared to come to his door. 'Be off with you to all
+the devils in Hell, cursed Beard-scratcher!' he croaked and screamed at me. 'You
+thought to make a fool of me, with all sorts of infernal lies and deceptions;
+you have striven like the very Satan himself to tempt and mislead my Marianna.
+But wait a little. I will spend my last farthing, if necessary, in getting your
+life-light snuffed out before you are aware of it. And as for your fine patron,
+Signor Salvator--the murderer, the robber, the cheat-the-gallows!--he shall to
+hell to join his leader, Mas' Aniello. Him I'll get kicked out of Rome; that
+won't give me much trouble.' Thus did the old man rave; and as the cursed
+Sbirro, egged on by the Pyramid Doctor, made as if he would set on me and attack
+me, whilst the curious populace began to crowd round, what could I do but get
+off as quickly as possible? In my despair I thought I should not come to you,
+for I felt certain you would only laugh--and in fact you hardly can help doing
+so at this moment.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Indeed, when Antonio ceased speaking, Salvator did laugh
+heartily.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now,&quot; he cried, &quot;now the affair is really beginning to become
+most delightful. But I shall now tell you, circumstantially,
+my
+dear Antonio, what happened in Capuzzi's house when you had
+gone
+out. Scarcely had you got down-stairs, when Signor Splendiano
+Accoramboni--who, heaven knows how, had found out that his
+bosom
+friend Capuzzi had broken his leg in the night--came, in the
+most solemn state, to see him, bringing a surgeon with him. Your bandagings, and
+your whole treatment of Capuzzi, could not but excite some suspicion; the
+surgeon took the splints and bandages off, and of course found--what we know
+very well--that there was nothing whatever the matter with Capuzzi's foot; not
+so much as a sprained ankle. Very well; it did not require much acuteness to
+find out the rest.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My dearest Maestro,&quot; asked Antonio, full of amazement, &quot;how
+on earth did you manage to find out all this?--how could you get into Capuzzi's
+house, and know all that went on?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I told you,&quot; said Salvator, &quot;that in Capuzzi's house--and in
+fact on the same storey with him--there lives an acquaintance of Dame
+Caterina's. This acquaintance, the widow of a wine-merchant, has a daughter whom
+my little Margerita often goes to see. Girls have a special faculty for finding
+out others like themselves, and in this way Rosa (the wine-merchant's widow's
+daughter) and Margerita soon discovered a little peep-hole in the dining-room,
+which is the next room to a dark chamber which opens into Marianna's room. The
+whisperings of the girls by no means escaped Marianna's notice, neither did the
+peephole; so that the way to mutual communications was marked out, and taken
+advantage of. When the old gentleman is having his afternoon nap, the girls have
+a right good chatter to their heart's content. You have no doubt noticed that
+little Margerita (her mother's favourite, and mine) is by no means so grave and
+reserved as her elder sister Anna, but a droll, merry creature. Without having
+exactly told her about your love affair, I have asked her to get Marianna to let
+her know all that goes on in the house. In this she has proved very clever; and
+if I, just now, laughed a little at your pain and despair, it was because I have
+it in my power to prove to you that your affairs have just, for the first time,
+got into an exceedingly favourable groove. I have a whole sackful of delightful
+news for you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Salvator!&quot; cried Antonio, his eyes bright with joy, &quot;what
+hopes dawn upon me! Blessings on the peephole in the dining-room. I can write to
+Marianna--Margerita will take the note with her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, no, Antonio,&quot; said Salvator, &quot;not quite that; Margerita
+shall
+do us good service without being exactly your go-between.
+Besides, chance--which often plays strange tricks--might place your love-prattle
+in the hands of old Capuzzi, and bring a thousand new troubles upon Marianna's
+head, just at the moment when she is on the point of getting the amorous old
+goose properly and completely under her little satin shoe. For just listen how
+affairs are progressing. The style in which Marianna received him when he was
+taken home has turned him round completely. He believes no less a thing than
+that Marianna has ceased to care for you, but has given one half of her heart to
+him, so that all he has to do is to get hold of the other half. Since she has
+imbibed the poison of your kisses, she has all at once become some three years
+cleverer and more experienced. She has not only convinced the old gentleman that
+she had nothing to do with our escapade, but that she abhors the idea of it, and
+would repel with the deepest scorn any plot which should have the object of
+bringing you into her proximity. In the excess of his delight at this, he vowed
+that if there should be anything he could do to please her, he would set about
+it in a moment; she had but to give her wish a name. On this she very quietly
+said what she would like would be that her <i>zio carissima</i> should take her to
+the theatre outside the Porto del Popolo, to see Signor Formica. The old fellow
+was somewhat startled by this, and consulted with the Pyramid Doctor and
+Pitichinaccio; and the result is that Signor Pasquale and Signor Splendiano are
+actually going to take Marianna to the said theatre to-morrow. Pitichinaccio is
+to be dressed as a waiting-maid; but he only consented to this on condition that
+Pasquale should give him a periwig, over and above the plush doublet, and that
+he and the Pyramid Doctor should relieve each other, from time to time, of the
+task of carrying him home at night. This has been all agreed upon; and this
+remarkable three-bladed-clover will really go, to-morrow evening, with beautiful
+Marianna, to see Signor Formica, at the theatre outside the Porto del Popolo.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It is necessary now to say something as to this theatre, and
+Signor Formica himself.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Nothing can be sadder than when, at carnival time in Rome, the
+<i>impressarii</i> have been unfortunate in their composers--when the
+<i>primo tenore</i> of the Argentina has left his voice on the
+road--when the <i>primo uomo da donna</i> in the Teatro Valle is down with the
+influenza--in short, when the chief pleasures to which the Romans have been
+looking forward have proved disappointments, and Giovedi Grasso has been shorn,
+at one fell swoop, of all the hoped-for flowers which were expected to come at
+that time into blossom. Immediately alter a melancholy carnival of this
+description (in fact, the fasts were scarcely over) a certain Nicolo Musso
+opened a theatre outside the Porto del Popolo, limiting himself to announcing
+the performance of minor, improvised <i>buffonades</i>. His advertisement was couched
+in a clever and witty style of wording, and from it the Romans formed in advance
+a favourable opinion of Musso's undertaking, and would have done so even had
+they not, in the unsatisfied state of their dramatic appetites, been eager to
+snatch at anything of the kind that was offered to them. The arrangements of the
+theatre--or rather of the little booth--could not be said to give evidence of
+any very flourishing state of finances on the manager's part. There was no
+orchestra; there were no boxes. There was a sort of gallery at the back of the
+audience part of the house, adorned with the arms of the Colonnas--a mark that
+the Conte Colonna had taken Murso and his theatre under his special protection.
+The stage was a raised platform covered with carpets, and surrounded with
+gay-coloured paper-hangings which had to serve for forests, interiors, or
+streets, according to the requirements of the drama. As, moreover, the audience
+had to be content with hard, uncomfortable wooden benches to sit upon, it is not
+matter for wonder that the first set of spectators expressed themselves pretty
+strongly on the subject of the audacity of Signor Musso in giving the name of a
+theatre to this boarded booth. But scarcely had the two first actors who
+appeared spoken a few words, when the audience became attentive. As the piece
+went on, the attention became applause, the applause astonishment, and the
+astonishment enthusiasm, which expressed itself in the most prolonged and stormy
+laughter, hand-clapping, and cries of bravo!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And, in truth, nothing more perfect could have been seen than
+those improvised representations of Nicolo Musso's which sparkled with wit, fun,
+and <i>esprit</i>, castigating the follies of the day with unsparing lash. The
+performers all rendered their parts with incomparable distinctiveness of
+character, but the &quot;Pasquarello&quot; more particularly carried the house away with
+him bodily, by his inimitable play of gesture, and a talent for imitating
+well-known personages, in voice, walk, and manner, by his inexhaustible
+drollery, and the extraordinary originality of the ideas which struck him. This
+actor, who called himself Signor Formica, seemed to be inspired by a very
+remarkable and unusual spirit; often, in his tone and manner, there would be a
+something so strange that the audience, while in the middle of a burst of the
+heartiest laughter, would suddenly feel a species of cold shiver. Almost on a
+par with him, and a worthy compeer, was the &quot;Dr. Graziano&quot; of the troupe, who
+had a play of feature, a voice, a power of saying the most delightful things in,
+apparently, the most foolish manner, to which nothing in the world could be
+likened. This &quot;Doctor Graziano&quot; was an old Bolognese, of the name of Maria
+Aglia. As a matter of course, all the fashionable world of Rome soon came
+thronging to the little theatre outside the Porto del Popolo. The name of
+Formica was on everybody's lips; and in the streets as in the theatre, all
+voices were crying, with the utmost enthusiasm, &quot;Oh, Formica! Formica benedetto!
+Oh, Formicisimo!&quot; He was looked upon as a supernatural being; and many an old
+woman, ashake with laughter in the theatre, would (if anybody ventured to
+criticise Formica's action in the slightest degree) turn grave, and say, with
+the utmost seriousness and solemnity--</p>
+
+<p class="center">&quot;Scherza coi fanti e lascia star santi.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="continue">This was because, out of the theatre, Formica was an
+unfathomable mystery. No one ever saw him anywhere, and every attempt to come
+upon his traces was vain. Nothing as to where he lived could be got out of
+Musso.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Such was the theatre to which Marianna wished to go.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let us fly straight at our enemies' throats,&quot; Salvator said;
+&quot;the walk home from the theatre to the town offers us a most admirable
+opportunity.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He then communicated a plan to Antonio, which seemed very
+risky and daring, but which the latter adopted with delight, thinking it would
+enable him to rescue his Marianna from the abominable Capuzzi; moreover, it
+pleased him well that Salvator made one great feature of it the punishing of the
+Pyramid Doctor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When evening came, Salvator and Antonio each took a guitar,
+went to Strada Ripetta, and (by way of annoying old Capuzzi) treated the lovely
+Marianna to the most exquisite <i>serenata</i> imaginable. For Salvator played and
+sang like a master, and Antonio had a lovely tenor voice, and was almost an
+Odoardo Ceccarelli. Signor Pasquale of course came out on to the balcony, and
+scolded down at the singers, ordering them to hold their peace; but the
+neighbours, whom the beautiful music had brought to their windows, cried out to
+him, asking him whether, as he and his friends were in the habit of howling and
+screaming like all the demons in hell, he wouldn't suffer such a thing as a
+little <i>good</i> music in the street? Let him be off into the house, they said, and
+stop his ears, if he didn't want to hear the beautiful singing. Thus Signor
+Pasquale was obliged, to his torture, to endure Salvator and Antonio's singing,
+all night long--songs which at times consisted of the sweetest words of love,
+and at others ridiculed the folly of amorous old men. They distinctly saw
+Marianna at the window, and heard Pasquale adjuring her, in the most honeyed
+terms, not to expose herself to the night air.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The next evening there passed along the street towards the
+Porto del Popolo the strangest group of persons ever seen. They attracted all
+eyes, and people asked each other if some strange survival of the Carnival had
+preserved two or three mad maskers. Signor Pasquale Capuzzi, in his
+many-coloured, well-brushed Spanish suit, a new yellow feather in his
+steeple-crowned hat, tightly belted and buckled, all tenderness and grace,
+tripping along on shoes too tight for him, as if treading on eggs, conducted on
+his arm the lovely Marianna, whose pretty figure, and still more beautiful face,
+could not be seen, in consequence of the extraordinary manner in which she was
+wimpled and wrapped up in a cloak and hood. On her other side tripped along
+Signor Splendiano Accoramboni in his enormous wig, which covered the whole of
+his back, so that, when seen from behind, he looked like some enormous head
+moving along on two diminutive legs. Close behind Marianna, almost clinging on
+to her, came, in crab-like fashion, the little hideosity of a Pitichinaccio, in
+flame-coloured female dress, with his hair bedecked, in the most repulsive
+style, with flowers of all the colours of the rainbow.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On this particular evening Signor Formica even surpassed
+himself;
+and--what he had never done before--he introduced little
+snatches of songs, imitating various well-known singers. In old Capuzzi this
+awoke all the old delight in theatrical matters which in former days had been a
+regular mania with him. He kissed Marianna's hands over and over again, and
+vowed that he certainly would bring her to Nicolo Musso's theatre every night
+without fail. He extolled Signor Formica to the very skies, and joined most
+heartily in the uproarious applause of the rest of the audience. Signor
+Splendiano was less content, and repeatedly begged Signor Capuzzi and Marianna
+not to laugh so very immoderately. He named, in one breadth, some twenty
+maladies which were liable to be brought on by over-agitation of the diaphragm;
+but neither the one nor the other gave themselves any trouble on the subject.
+Pitichinaccio was thoroughly unhappy. He had been obliged to sit just behind the
+Pyramid Doctor, who so overshadowed him with his enormous wig that he could not
+see the smallest peep of the stage, nor of the characters upon it; moreover, he
+was tortured by two facetious women who were sitting beside him, and who kept on
+calling him &quot;Charming, pretty signora,&quot; and asking him whether he was married,
+for all he was so young, and had nice little children, who must be the dearest
+little things imaginable, &#38;c., &#38;c. Drops of cold perspiration stood on the poor
+little creature's brow; he whimpered and whined, and cursed the hour when he was
+born.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When the acting was over, Signor Pasquale waited till every
+one had left the house; and as the last of the lamps was being put out, Signor
+Splendiano lighted at it the stump of a wax candle, and they set forth on their
+homeward way. Pitichinaccio whined and cried; Capuzzi, to his torment, had to
+take him on his left arm, having Marianna on his right; before them went Doctor
+Splendiano with his candle-stump, whose feeble rays made the darkness of the
+night seem deeper.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">While they were still some distance from the Porto del Popolo,
+they found themselves suddenly surrounded by several tall figures, thickly
+wrapped in cloaks. The Doctor's candle was instantly snatched from
+his hand, and went out on the ground. Capuzzi and the Doctor
+stood speechless and amazed. Then there fell (it was not clear from whence)
+a faint reddish glimmer upon the cloaked figures, and four
+pale death's-heads were seen staring at the Pyramid Doctor, with hollow, fearful
+eyes. &quot;Woe! woe! woe unto thee, Splendiano Accoramboni!&quot; howled the terrible
+spectres, in deep, hollow tones. Then one of them wailed out, &quot;Knowest thou me?
+knowest thou me, Splendiano? I am Cordier, the French painter, buried last week;
+sent under-ground by thee, with thy drugs!&quot; Then the second: &quot;Knowest thou <i>me</i>,
+Splendiano? I am Kueffner, the German painter, whom thou didst poison with thy
+hellish electuaries!&quot; Then the third: &quot;Knowest thou <i>me</i>, Splendiano? I am
+Liers, the Fleming, whom thou didst murder with thy pills, cheating his brother
+out of his pictures!&quot; Then the fourth: &quot;Knowest thou <i>me</i>, Splendiano? I am
+Ghigi, the Neapolitan painter, whom thou didst slay with thy powders!&quot; Finally,
+all the four cried out in quartet, &quot;Woe! woe to thee, Splendiano Accoramboni,
+accursed Pyramid Doctor! Thou must away!--away with us!--down, down under the
+earth! On!--on with thee! Halloh!--halloh!&quot; Therewith they seized the luckless
+Doctor, heaved him up, and disappeared with him like the storm-wind.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Sorely as terror was like to overcome Pasquale, he collected
+himself, and took heart of grace with wonderful courage, when he saw that this
+affair only concerned his friend Accoramboni. Pitichinaccio had put his head,
+flowers and all, under Pasquale's cloak, and was clinging so tightly about his
+neck that it was impossible to shake him off.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Recover yourself,&quot; said Capuzzi to Marianna, when nothing
+more was to be seen of the spectres or of the Pyramid Doctor. &quot;Recover yourself!
+Come to me, my sweet, darling little dove! My good friend Splendiano is gone.
+May Saint Bernard, who was a doctor himself, stand by him and defend him, if
+those revengeful painters, whom he sent to that Pyramid of his rather before
+their time, are going to twist his windpipe. Ah! who will take the bass parts in
+my canzonet now, I should like to know? And this creature here, Pitichinaccio,
+is squeezing my throat to that extent that, what with that, and what with the
+fright at seeing Splendiano spirited away, I dare say it'll be three months good
+before I can get out a single note in tune! Don't you be frightened, my own
+sweetest Marianna!--it is all over.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Marianna declared that she had quite recovered from the
+fright, and only begged him to let her walk by herself to enable him to get quit
+of his troublesome lap-child; but he only held her the tighter, and vowed that
+no consideration in the world would induce him to allow her to venture a single
+step by herself in the terrible darkness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Just then, as Capuzzi was going to step courageously forward,
+there suddenly rose before him, as if from the depths of the earth, four
+terrible-looking figures of devils, in short cloaks of glittering
+red, who glared at him with fearful eyes, and began making a
+horrible croaking and squeaking. &quot;Hup! hup!&quot; they cried.
+&quot;Pasquale Capuzzi!--idiotic fool!--amorous old donkey! We are comrades of yours;
+we are love-devils; and we have come to carry you down to the hottest hell, you
+and your bosom-friend there, Pitichinaccio!&quot; Thus screaming, the devils fell
+upon Capuzzi, and he, with Pitichinaccio, went down, both of them raising
+piercing yells of distress like those of a whole herd of beaten donkeys.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Marianna had forcibly torn herself away from the old fellow,
+and sprung to one side, where one of the devils folded her softly in his arms,
+and said, in a sweet voice of affection: &quot;Oh, Marianna! my own Marianna! it has
+all come right at last. My friends are taking the old man a long distance off,
+while we find some place of safety to fly to.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My own Antonio!&quot; Marianna whispered softly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Suddenly a bright glare of torches lightened up the place, and
+Antonio felt himself stabbed on the shoulder-blade. Quick as lightning he turned
+round, drew his sword, and attacked the fellow, who was aiming a second stab
+with his stiletto. He saw that his three friends were defending themselves
+against a much stronger force of Sbirri. He managed to beat off the man who was
+attacking him, and to join his friends; but, bravely as they fought, the
+struggle was too unequal, and the Sbirri must unfailingly have had the best of
+it, had not two men suddenly burst, with loud shouts, into the ranks of the
+young fellows, one of whom immediately floored the Sbirro who was taxing Antonio
+the hardest.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The fight was now speedily decided to the disadvantage of the
+Sbirri, and those of them who were not on the ground wounded, fled with loud
+cries towards the Porto del Popolo.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Salvator Rosa--for it was no other who had hastened to
+Antonio's help, and struck down the Sbirro--was for starting off without more
+ado, with Antonio and the young painters who were in the devils' dresses, after
+the Sbirri to town.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Maria Agli, who had come with him, and, notwithstanding his
+years, had set to with the Sbirri like the others, thought this was not
+advisable, as the guard at the Porto del Popolo, informed of the affair, would
+of course arrest them all. So they betook themselves to Nicolo Musso, who
+received them gladly in his small abode not far from the theatre. The painters
+took off their devils' masks and their cloaks rubbed with phosphorus; and
+Antonio--who, save for the unimportant prick in his shoulder, was not at all
+hurt--brought his surgical skill into play, all the others having wounds, though
+none of any importance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The plot, so daringly and skilfully contrived, would have
+succeeded had not Salvator and Antonio left one person out of account; and that
+person ruined it all. Michele, the ex-Bravo and Sbirro, who lived downstairs in
+Capuzzi's house, and was a kind of servant to him, had, by his wish, gone behind
+him to the theatre, but at some distance, as the old man was ashamed of his
+tattered and scoundrelly appearance. In the same way, Michele had followed on
+the homeward way; so that, when the spectres appeared, Michele--who really did
+not fear death or
+devil--smelt a rat, ran, in the darkness, straight away to the
+Porto del Popolo, gave the alarm, and came back with the Sbirri, who, as we
+know, arrived just at the moment when the devils fell upon Signor Pasquale, and
+were going to take him away, as the dead men had taken the Pyramid Doctor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Bat in the thick of the fight, one of the young painters had
+distinctly seen a fellow hurrying away towards the gate with Marianna, in a
+fainting state, in his arms, followed by Pasquale, who was rushing along at an
+incredible rate, as if his veins were running quicksilver. There was, moreover,
+some glimmering object visible by the torch-light hanging on to his cloak, and
+whining, probably Pitichinaccio.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Next morning Doctor Splendiano was discovered at the Pyramid
+of Cestius, rolled up in a ball and immersed in his periwig, fast asleep, as
+though in a warm, soft nest. When they woke him, he talked incoherently, and it
+was hard to convince him that he was still in this visible life and, moreover,
+in Rome. When, at length, he was taken to his house, he thanked the Virgin and
+all the Saints for his rescue, threw all his tinctures, essences, electuaries,
+and powders out of window, made a bonfire of his recipes, and for the future
+healed his patients in no other manner than by laying his hands upon them and
+stroking them, as a celebrated physician used to do before him (who was a Saint
+into the bargain, but whose name I cannot think of at the moment), with much
+success, for his patients died as well as the other's, and before their deaths
+saw heaven open, and anything that the Saint pleased.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do not know,&quot; said Antonio, next day, to Salvator, &quot;what
+fury has blazed up within me since some of my blood was spilt. Death and
+destruction to the miserable, ignoble Capuzzi! Do you know, Salvator, that I
+have made up my mind to get into his house by force; and if he makes any
+resistance, I will run him through, and carry Marianna off.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Glorious idea!&quot; exclaimed Salvator. &quot;A truly happy
+inspiration. I have no doubt you have also devised the means of carrying
+Marianna through the air to the Piazza di Spagna, so that you may reach that
+place of sanctuary before they have arrested you and hanged you! No, no, dear
+Antonio, there is nothing to be done in this affair by violence, and you may be
+quite certain that Signor Capuzzi will be too well prepared for anything in the
+shape of an open attack. Besides this, our escapade has attracted a great deal
+of attention; and more than that, the laughable style in which we set about our
+little piece of entertainment with Splendiano and Capuzzi has had the effect of
+waking the police up from their gentle slumbers, so that they will now be on the
+watch for us, as far as their feeble powers enable them. No, Antonio, we must
+resort to stratagem: '<i>Con arte e con inganno si vive mezzo l'anno; con inganno
+e con arte si vive l'altro parte.</i>' That is what Dame Caterina says, and she is
+quite right. I can't help laughing at our having set to work just as if we were
+innocent boys; but it is my fault, chiefly, seeing that I have the advantage of
+you in years. Tell me, Antonio,
+if our plot had succeeded, and you had really carried Marianna
+off, where should you have gone with her?--where could you have kept her
+hidden?--how could you have got married by the priest so speedily that the old
+man should not have managed to interfere? As it is, in a very few days you shall
+actually carry her off. I have enlisted the aid of Nicolo Musso and Formica,
+and in conjunction with them thought out a plan which scarcely can break down.
+Comfort yourself, therefore, Signor Formica is going to help you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Signor Formica!&quot; repeated Antonio, in an indifferent, almost
+contemptuous tone; &quot;and pray how can that 'funny-man' help me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ho, ho!&quot; cried Salvator, &quot;I must beg you to treat Signor
+Formica with a proper amount of respect. Don't you know that he is a kind of
+wizard, and has all sorts of wondrous secret arts at his command? I tell you,
+Signor Formica is going to help you. And old Maria Agli, our great and grand
+'Doctor Graziano,' of Bologna, has joined in our plot, and is going to play a
+most important part in it. You shall carry your Marianna off from Musso's
+theatre.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Salvator,&quot; said Antonio, &quot;you are buoying me up with vain
+hopes. You have said, yourself, that Capuzzi will be thoroughly on his guard
+against any more open attacks; so, after what has happened to him already, how
+can he possibly be induced to go to Musso's theatre another time?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is not such a difficult matter as you suppose,&quot; answered
+Salvator, &quot;to get him to go back there again; the difficulty will be to induce
+him to go without his companions, and to get him on to the stage. But however
+that may be, you must now arrange matters with Marianna so as to be ready to fly
+from Rome whenever the favourable moment arrives. You will have to go to
+Florence. Your art will be an introduction to you there to begin with, and I
+will take care that you shall not want for friends, or for valuable support and
+assistance. We shall have to rest on our oars for a few days, and then we shall
+see what more is to be done. Keep up your courage. Formica will help.&quot;</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="hang1"><span class="sc">A Fresh Misfortune Comes Upon Signor Pasquale Capuzzi. Antonio
+Scacciati Carries Out A Plot At Musso's Theatre, And Flies To
+Florence.</span></p>
+
+<p class="normal">Signor Pasquale knew but too well who were the authors of the
+trick played upon him and the poor Pyramid Doctor near the Porto del Popolo; and
+we can imagine his rage with Antonio and with Salvator Rosa, whom he rightly
+considered to be the prime mover in the matter. He did his utmost to console
+Marianna, who was quite ill, from the fright--as she put it--but really from
+disappointment and vexation at the accursed Michele's having carried her off,
+with his Sbirri, from Antonio. Meanwhile, Margarita industriously brought her
+tidings of her lover, and she based all her hopes and expectations upon the
+enterprising Salvator. She waited most impatiently from day to day for anything
+in the shape of fresh events, and vented her vexation upon the old gentleman by
+a thousand teasings and naggings, which rendered him humble and submissive in
+his foolish amourishness, but had not the effect of in any degree casting out
+the love-devil by which he was possessed. When Marianna had poured out upon his
+devoted head a full measure of all the evil caprices of a selfish girl, she had
+only to suffer him to press his withered lips a single time upon her little
+hand, and he would vow, in the excess of his delight, that he would never leave
+off kissing the Pope's slipper till he had obtained his dispensation to marry
+his niece, quintessence as she was of all beauty and loveliness. Marianna was
+careful to do nothing to disturb this condition of delight, for those rays of
+hope of her uncle's made her own to shine brighter--her hopes of being all the
+nearer escaping him, the more firmly he believed himself to be united to her by
+bonds which were indissoluble.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Some time had elapsed when, one day, Michele came stumping
+upstairs and announced to his master (who opened the door after a good deal of
+knocking), with much prolixity, that there was a gentleman below who insisted,
+most urgently, on speaking with Signor Pasquale Capuzzi, who, he was aware,
+lived in that house.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, all ye heavenly hosts!&quot; cried the old gentleman, in a
+rage, &quot;doesn't this lubber know as well as possible that I never speak with
+strangers in the house!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Michele said the gentleman was very well-looking, rather
+elderly, and spoke exceedingly nicely, saying his name was Nicolo Musso.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nicolo Musso!&quot; said Capuzzi, thoughtfully to himself; &quot;Nicolo
+Musso, who has the theatre outside the Porta del Popolo! What can he want with
+me?&quot; He carefully closed and bolted the door, and went down with Michele to talk
+with Nicolo in the street.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My dear Signor Pasquale,&quot; said Nicolo, greeting him with an
+easy courtesy, &quot;how very much delighted I am that you honour me with
+your acquaintance! How many thanks I owe you! Since the Romans
+saw <i>you</i>--the man of the most acknowledged taste, of the most universal
+knowledge, the virtuoso in art--in my theatre, my reputation, and my receipts,
+have been doubled. All the more does it pain me that some wicked, malicious
+fellows should have made a murderous attack upon you and your party as you were
+going home from my theatre at night. For the love of all the Saints, Signor
+Pasquale, do not form a prejudice against me and my theatre on account of an
+affair of this sort, which could scarcely have been anticipated. Do not deprive
+me of your patronage.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My good Signor Nicolo,&quot; said Capuzzi, flattered, &quot;let me
+assure you that I never, anywhere, found more pleasure than in your theatre.
+Your Formica, your Agli, are actors, whose equals have still
+to
+be discovered; but the alarm which brought my friend
+Splendiano Accoramboni--and indeed myself as well--nearly to death's door, was
+too severe. It has closed to me for ever, not your theatre, but the road to it.
+Open your theatre in the Piazza del Popolo, or in Strada Babuina, or Strada
+Ripetta, and I shall never miss a single evening; but no power on earth would
+induce me to set foot outside the Porto del Popolo at night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Nicolo sighed as if possessed by profound sorrow. &quot;That hits
+me hard,&quot; he said; &quot;harder than you perhaps may suppose, Signor Pasquale. I had
+based all my hopes upon you. In fact, I came to implore your assistance.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My assistance!&quot; echoed the old gentleman; &quot;my assistance! In
+what way could that be of any use to you, Signor Nicolo?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My dear Signor Pasquale,&quot; answered Nicolo, passing his
+handkerchief over his eyes as if wiping away a tear or two, &quot;you will have
+observed that my actors occasionally introduce a little aria or so here and
+there; and my idea was to carry that further gradually; bring a small orchestra
+together, and finally evade prohibitions so far as to start an opera. You,
+Signor Capuzzi, are the first composer in all Italy, and it is only the
+incredible frivolity of the Romans, and the envy of the <i>Maestri</i>, that are to
+blame for the circumstance that anything except your compositions is to be heard
+on the stage. Signor Pasquale, I came to beg you, on my knees, to allow me to
+represent your immortal works in my theatre.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My good Signor Nicolo!&quot; cried the old fellow, with bright
+sunshine in his face, &quot;why are we talking here in the public street? Will you be
+kind enough to climb up a steep flight of stairs, and come with me into my
+humble dwelling?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As soon as he got into the room with Nicolo, he hauled out a
+great packet of dusty music-manuscript, opened it up, turned pages over, and
+began that frightful yelling and screeching which he called &quot;singing.&quot; Nicolo
+demeaned himself like one enraptured. He sighed, he groaned; he cried &quot;bravo!&quot;
+from time to time, and &quot;Bravissimo! Benedetto Capuzzi!&quot; At length, as if in an
+excess of blissful enthusiasm, he fell at the old man's feet, and clasped his
+knees, hugging them so very tightly, however, that Capuzzi gave a great bound to
+try and shake him off, screamed with the pain, and cried out: &quot;All the Saints!
+let me go, Signor Nicolo! you'll be the death of me!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No!&quot; cried Nicolo. &quot;No, Signor Pasquale! I will not rise from
+this spot till you promise to let me have that heavenly aria which you have just
+rendered so magnificently, so that Formica may sing it two nights hence on my
+stage.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are a person of some taste,&quot; sighed Pasquale; &quot;a man of
+insight; to whom, rather than to you, should I intrust my compositions? You
+shall take all my arias with you (Oh! oh! do let me go!) but, oh heavens! I
+shall not hear them--my heavenly masterpieces! (Oh, oh! let go my legs, Signor
+Nicolo!)&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No!&quot; cried Nicolo, still on his knees, and firmly grasping
+the old man's spindle-shanks like a vice. &quot;No, Signor Pasquale! I will not let
+you go till you give me your word that you will come to my theatre the evening
+after to-morrow. Have no fear of being attacked again. You may be certain that,
+when the Romans have heard those arias of yours, they will carry you home
+triumphantly in a torchlight procession. But even if they do not, I and my
+trusty comrades will arm, and escort you safely home.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You and your comrades will escort me home, will you?&quot;
+Pasquale inquired; &quot;how many of them might there be?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Eight or ten people will be at your disposal, Signor
+Pasquale. Make up your mind; decide upon coming, and yield to my earnest
+prayers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Formica,&quot; lisped Pasquale, &quot;has a capital voice; how he
+<i>would</i> sing my arias!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Decide on it,&quot; cried Nicolo once more, grasping the old man's
+legs tighter than ever.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You promise me,&quot; said Pasquale; &quot;you undertake to be
+responsible that I get safe home without being set upon?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Upon my life and honour,&quot; said Nicolo, giving the legs an
+extra grip.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Done!&quot; cried the old gentleman. &quot;The evening after to-morrow
+I shall be at your theatre.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Nicolo jumped up, and pressed the old man to his heart with
+such violence that he coughed and gasped for breath.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At this juncture Marianna came in. Pasquale tried to restrain
+her by casting a grim look at her, but in vain. She went straight to Musso, and
+said angrily: &quot;It is of no use your trying to entice my dear uncle to go to your
+theatre again. Remember that the horrible trick played upon me by abandoned
+villains who have a plot against me nearly cost my darling uncle and his worthy
+friend Splendiano their lives, not to mention myself. Never will I allow him to
+run such a risk again. Cease your attempts, Nicolo. Dearest uncle! you will stay
+quietly at home, will you not, and never venture outside the Porto del Popolo
+again in the treacherous night, which is no one's friend?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This came upon Signor Pasquale like a clap of thunder. He
+gazed at his niece with eyes widely opened; and presently addressed her in the
+sweetest language, explaining to her at much length that Signor Nicolo had taken
+the responsibility of making such arrangements that there should be no possible
+risk of danger on the homeward way.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For all that,&quot; answered Marianna, &quot;my opinion remains the
+same, and I implore you most earnestly, dearest uncle, not to go. Excuse me,
+Signor Nicolo, for speaking clearly in your presence, and uttering the dark
+presentiment which I so strongly feel. I know that Salvator Rosa is a friend of
+yours, and I have no doubt so is Antonio Scacciati. How if you were in collusion
+with my enemies? How if you are tempting my uncle (who, I know, will not go to
+your theatre unless I am with him) only to have a surer opportunity of carrying
+out some fresh plot against him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What an idea!&quot; cried Nicolo, as if horrified. &quot;What a
+terrible suspicion to entertain, Signora! Have you had such an evil experience
+of me in the past? Is my reputation such that you believe me capable of such a
+frightful piece of treachery? But if you <i>do</i> think so badly of me--if you have
+no confidence in the help I have promised--you can bring Michele (who was so
+useful in rescuing you on the former occasion), and let him bring a good force
+of Sbirri, who could be waiting for you outside; as you could scarcely expect
+<i>me</i> to fill my house with Sbirri.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Marianna, looking him steadfastly in the eyes, said earnestly:
+&quot;Since you suggest that, I see that you mean honourably, Signor Nicolo, and that
+my evil suspicions of you were unfounded. Pray forgive my thoughtless words. Yet
+I cannot overcome my anxiety, and my fear for my dearest uncle, and I again beg
+him not to venture upon this dangerous expedition.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Signor Pasquale had listened to the conversation with strange
+looks, which clearly testified to the contest within him. He could now restrain
+himself no longer; he fell on his knees before Marianna, seized her hands,
+kissed them, covered them with tears which streamed from his eyes, and cried, as
+if beside himself: &quot;Heavenly and adored Marianna! the fire in my heart breaks
+forth into flame! Ah! this anxiety, this fear on my account; what are they but
+the sweetest admissions of your love for me?&quot; He entreated her not to allow
+herself to be alarmed in the very slightest degree, but to hear, on the stage,
+the most lovely of the arias which the divinest of composers ever had written.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Nicolo, too, continued the most pathetic entreaties, until
+Marianna declared she was persuaded, and promised to lay aside all fear, and go
+with her dear uncle to the theatre outside the Porto del Popolo.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Signor Pasquale was in the seventh heaven of bliss. He had the
+full conviction that Marianna loved him, and he was going to hear his own music
+on the stage, and gather the laurels which he had so long been striving for in
+vain. He was on the very point of finding his fondest dreams realized, and he
+wanted his light to shine in all its glory on his faithful friends. His idea,
+therefore, was that Signor Splendiano and little Pitichinaccio should go with
+him, just as they had done on the former occasion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But in addition to the spectres who had carried him off, all
+manner of direful apparitions had haunted Signor Splendiano on the night when he
+slept in his periwig near the Pyramid of Cestius. The whole
+burying-ground seemed to have come to life, and hundreds of
+the dead had stretched their bony arms out at him, complaining loudly concerning
+his essences and electuaries, the tortures of which were not abated even in the
+tomb. Hence the Pyramid Doctor, though he could not contradict Signor Pasquale
+when he held that the whole thing was only a trick performed by a parcel of
+wicked young men, continued to be in a melancholy mood; and though, formerly, he
+was not greatly prone to anything in the nature of superstition, he now saw
+spectres everywhere, and was sorely plagued with presentiments and evil dreams.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As for Pitichinaccio, nothing would persuade him that those
+devils who fell upon him and Signor Pasquale were not real and veritable demons
+from the flames of hell, and he screamed aloud whenever any one so much as
+alluded to that terrible night. All Pasquale's assurances that it was only
+Antonio Scacciati and Salvator Rosa who were behind those devil's masks were
+unavailing; for Pitichinaccio vowed, with many tears, that, notwithstanding his
+terror, he distinctly recognized the fiend Fanfarell, by his voice and
+appearance, and that said Fanfarell had beaten his stomach black and blue.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It may be imagined what trouble Signor Pasquale had to
+persuade the Pyramid Doctor and Pitichinaccio to go with him again to Musso's
+theatre. Splendiano did not agree to do so until he had succeeded in getting
+from a monk of the Order of St. Bernard a consecrated bag of musk (the smell
+whereof neither dead men nor devils can abide), with which he was proof against
+all attacks. Pitichinaccio could not resist the promise of a box of grapes in
+sugar, but Signor Pasquale had to expressly agree that he was not to wear female
+attire (which, he thought, was what had brought the devils upon him), but go in
+his Abbate's costume.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">What Salvator had dreaded seemed thus to be about to insist on
+happening, although, as he declared, his whole plot depended for success upon
+Signor Pasquale and Marianna going by themselves, without the faithful
+companions, to Musso's theatre.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Both he and Antonio cudgelled their brains how to keep
+Splendiano and Pitichinaccio away; but there was not time enough to carry out
+any plan having that for its aim, as the great stroke itself had to be struck on
+the evening of the next day. But heaven--which often employs the oddest tools in
+the punishment of foolish folk--interposed, in this instance, in favour of the
+lovers, and so guided Michele that he gave the rein to his natural
+dunderheadedness, and by that means brought about what the skill of Salvator and
+Antonio was powerless to accomplish.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On that self-same night there suddenly arose, in Strada
+Ripetta before Pasquale's house, such a terrible swearing, shouting, and
+quarrelling that all the neighbours started from their sleep, and the Sbirri
+(who had been after a murderer who took sanctuary in the Piazza di Spagna),
+supposing there was another murder going on, came hurrying up with their
+torches. When they, and a crowd of people attracted by the noise who came with
+them, arrived on the scene of the supposed murder, what was seen was poor little
+Pitichinaccio lying on the ground as if dead; Michele belabouring the Pyramid
+Doctor with a frightful cudgel, and the said Doctor in the act of falling down;
+whilst Signor Pasquale, picking himself up with difficulty, drew his sword, and
+began furiously lunging at Michele. All round lay fragments of shattered
+guitars. Several people stopped the old gentleman's arm, or he would infallibly
+have run Michele through the body. The latter (who, now that the torches had
+come, saw, for the first time, who it was that he had to do with), stood like a
+statue, with eyes staring out of his head. Presently He emitted a terrific yell,
+tore his hair, and implored forgiveness and mercy. Neither the Pyramid Doctor
+nor Pitichinaccio were seriously hurt, but they were so stiff, and so black and
+blue, that they could not move a muscle, and had to be carried home.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Signor Pasquale had brought this trouble upon his own pate. We
+are aware that Salvator and Antonio had favoured Marianna with the most
+beautiful night-music imaginable, but I have forgotten to add that they went on
+repeating it on succeeding nights, tremendously infuriating Signor Pasquale; his
+anger was held in check by the neighbours, and he was silly enough to apply to
+the authorities to prevent the two painters from singing in Strada Ripetta. The
+authorities considered it an unheard of thing in Rome to forbid anybody singing
+whenever he chose, and said it was absurd to demand it. On this Signor Pasquale
+determined to put an end to the thing himself, and promised Michele a good sum
+of money if he would fall upon the singers and give them a good cudgelling on
+the first opportunity. Michele at once provided himself with a big stick, and
+kept watch every night behind the door. However, it happened that Salvator and
+Antonio thought it advisable to discontinue the night-music in Strada Ripetta on
+the nights immediately preceding the execution of their plot, so that nothing
+might suggest ideas of his enemies to the old man. And Marianna innocently
+remarked that, much as she hated Salvator and Antonio, she would have been very
+glad to hear their singing, for their music, soaring on the breeze in the night,
+surpassed everything.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pasquale took mental note of this, and, as an exquisite piece
+of gallantry, determined to delight and surprise his beloved with a serenata,
+composed by himself, and carefully rehearsed with his companions. So the very
+night before the projected visit to the theatre he slipped secretly out and
+fetched his two associates, who were prepared beforehand. But no sooner had they
+struck the first chords on their guitars than Michele (whom his master had
+unfortunately forgotten to warn of what was going to happen), in high glee at
+the near prospect of earning the promised reward, burst out at the door, and set
+to work unmercifully becudgelling the musicians. What happened afterwards we
+know. Of course it was out of the question that either Splendiano or
+Pitichinaccio could go with Pasquale to the theatre, as they were lying in their
+beds covered all over with sticking-plaster. But Signor Pasquale could not
+refrain from going himself, although his shoulders and back smarted not a little
+from the licking he had had; every note of his aria was a rope dragging him
+there irresistibly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now that the obstacle which we thought insurmountable has
+cleared itself out of the way of its own accord,&quot; said Salvator to Antonio, &quot;everything depends upon your adroitness in not letting slip,
+when it comes, the proper moment for carrying your Marianna off from Nicolo's
+theatre. But you will not fail; and I greet you already as the bridegroom of
+Capuzzi's beautiful niece, who will be your wife in a few days. I wish you every
+happiness, Antonio, although it goes to my very marrow when I think of your
+marriage.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What do you mean, Salvator?&quot; asked Antonio.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Call it whim, or fanciful idea, Antonio,&quot; he answered; &quot;the
+long and the short of it is, I love women; but every one of them, even her whom
+I am madly in love with, for whom I would gladly die, affects my mind with an
+apprehension which raises in me the most inexplicable and mysterious shudder the
+moment I think of a union with her such as marriage would be. The unfathomable
+element in woman's nature mockingly sets all the weapons of our sex at complete
+defiance. She whom we believe to have devoted herself to us with her whole
+being--to have opened to us the innermost recesses of her nature--is the first
+to deceive us, and with the sweetest kisses we imbibe the most destroying
+poison.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And my Marianna?&quot; asked Antonio, aghast.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pardon me, Antonio,&quot; answered Salvator; &quot;even your Marianna,
+who is sweetness and delightsomeness personified, has given me a fresh proof how
+constantly we are menaced by the mysterious nature of woman. Remember how that
+innocent, inexperienced child behaved when we took her uncle home to her; how,
+at one glance of mine, she comprehended the whole situation, and played her
+part, as you said yourself, with the most amazing ability. But that was not to
+be named in the same day with what happened when Musso went to see the old man.
+The most practised skill, the most impenetrable craftiness--in short, every art
+of the woman most accomplished and experienced in the ways of the world--could
+suggest nothing more than what little Marianna did, in order to throw dust in
+the old man's eyes with the most absolute assurance of success. She could not
+possibly have acted with greater talent to make the road clear for us, whatever
+our undertakings were to be. The campaign against the insane old fool was
+legitimate--every kind of trick and artifice seems justified; still, however,
+dear Antonio, don't let my dreamer's fancies influence you too much, and be as
+happy with your Marianna as ever you can.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">If only some monk had accompanied Signor Pasquale as he was on
+his way to Musso's theatre with Marianna, everybody must have thought the
+strange pair were being taken to the place of execution; for ahead of them
+marched Michele, truculent in aspect, and armed to the teeth; and he was
+followed by well on to twenty Sbirri, who were surrounding Signor Pasquale and
+Marianna.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Nicolo received the old gentleman and the lady with much
+solemnity of ceremony, and conducted them to the places reserved for them close
+in front of the stage. Much flattered at being thus honoured, Signor Pasquale
+looked about him with proud, beaming glances; and his pleasure was increased by
+the circumstance that there were none but women round and behind Marianna.
+Behind the scenes, on the stage, one or two violins and a bass were being tuned,
+and the old gentleman's heart beat high with anticipation, and a sort of
+electric shock pierced through his joints and marrow when all at once the
+ritornello of his aria sounded.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Formica came on as Pasquarello, and sang, with the gestures
+most peculiarly characteristic of Capuzzi, and in his very voice, that most
+atrocious of all arias. The theatre resounded with the audience's most
+uproarious laughter. People shouted out: &quot;Ah! Pasquale Capuzzi!
+Compositore--Virtuoso celeberrimo! Bravo, bravissimo!&quot; The old man, not
+observing the tone of the laughter, was all delight. When the aria ended, the
+audience called for silence; Doctor Graziano (played on this occasion by Nicolo)
+came on, holding his ears, and calling out to Pasquarello to cease his din, and
+not make such an insane crowing. He proceeded to ask Pasquarello when he had
+taken to singing, and where he had picked up that abominable tune. Pasquarello
+said he did not know what the Doctor meant, and that he was just like the
+Romans, who had no taste for real music, and left the finest talents in neglect.
+The aria, he said, was by the greatest of living composers and virtuosi, whose
+service it was his good fortune to be in, and who himself gave him lessons in
+music and singing. Graziano went over the names of a number of well-known
+composers and virtuosi, but at each renowned name Pasquarello disdainfully shook
+his head.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At length he said the Doctor showed gross ignorance in not
+knowing the very greatest composer of the day--none other than Signor Pasquale
+Capuzzi, who had done him the honour to take him into his service. Could he not
+see that Pasquarello was the friend and servant of Signor Pasquale?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Doctor broke into an immoderate fit of laughter and cried:
+&quot;What! had Pasquarello, after serving <i>him</i>, where, besides wages and food, many
+a good <i>quattrino</i> fell into his mouth, gone to the very greatest and most
+accomplished skinflint and miser that ever swallowed macaroni?--to the motley
+Carnival-fool, who strutted about like a turkey-cock after a shower?--to that
+cur, that amorous old coxcomb, who poisons the air in Strada Ripetta with that
+disgusting goat-bleating which he calls 'singing?'&quot; &#38;c., &#38;c.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To this Pasquarello answered quite angrily, that it was mere
+envy on the Doctor's part. To speak with his heart in his hand (<i>parla col cuore
+in mano</i>) the Doctor was by no means in a position to pass a judgment on Signor
+Pasquale Capuzzi di Senegaglia. To speak heart in hand, the Doctor himself had a
+pretty good dash of all which he was finding fault with in the admirable Signor
+Pasquale. Speaking, as he was, heart in hand, he had often, himself, known some
+six hundred people or so to laugh with all their throats at Doctor Graziano
+himself. And then Pasquarello held forth at great length in praise of his new
+master, Signor Pasquale, attributing to him all possible excellences, and
+finishing with a description of his character, which he made out to be
+absolutely perfect as regarded amiability and lovableness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Blessed Formica!&quot; whispered Signor Capuzzi aside to himself,
+&quot;I see that you have determined to render my triumph complete, by rubbing the
+noses of the Romans in all the envy and ingratitude with which they have
+persecuted me, and showing them clearly whom and what I am.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Here comes my master himself,&quot; cried Pasquarello; and there
+came on to the stage Signor Capuzzi, as he lived and moved, in dress, face,
+walk, and manner--in all respects so exactly similar to the Capuzzi down in the
+audience part of the house, that the latter, quite alarmed, let go his hold of
+Marianna (whom he had been holding up to this time with one hand), and rubbed
+his nose and periwig, as if to find out whether he was awake or dreaming of
+seeing his own double, or really in Nicolo Musso's theatre, obliged to believe
+his eyes, and infer that he did see this miraculous appearance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Capuzzi on the stage embraced Doctor Graziano with much
+amity, and inquired after his welfare. The Doctor said his appetite was good, at
+his service (<i>per servir-lo</i>), and his sleep sound; but that his purse laboured
+under a complete depletion. Yesterday, in honour of his lady love, he said, he
+had spent his last ducat in buying a pair of rosemary stockings, and he was just
+going to certain bankers to see if they would lend him thirty ducats.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How could you think of such a thing?&quot; cried Capuzzi. &quot;Why
+pass the door of your best friend? Here, my dear sir, are fifty ducats; pray
+accept them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pasquale, what are you doing?&quot; cried the Capuzzi down in the
+audience, half aloud.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Doctor Graziano talked of giving a bill and paying interest;
+but the stage Capuzzi vowed he could not think of taking either from such a
+friend as the Doctor. &quot;Pasquale! are you crazy?&quot; cried the Capuzzi below,
+louder.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Doctor Graziano made his exit here, after many grateful
+embracings. Pasquarello then went forward, with lowly reverences; lauded Signor
+Capuzzi to the skies; said <i>his</i> (Pasquarello's) purse was afflicted with the
+same malady as the Doctor's, and begged for some of the same medicine. The
+Capuzzi on the stage laughed, saying he was glad that Pasquarello knew how to
+take advantage of his good dispositions, and threw him two or three shining
+ducats.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pasquale, you're mad! the devil's in you!&quot; the
+audience-Capuzzi cried, very loudly. The audience called him to order.
+Pasquarello waxed still louder in Capuzzi's praise, and came, at length, on the
+subject of the arias which he (Capuzzi) had composed, with which he
+(Pasquarello) was in hopes of charming the world. Capuzzi on the stage patted
+Pasquarello on the shoulder, and said he could confide to a faithful servant
+like <i>him</i>, that the truth was that he really knew nothing whatever about music,
+and that the aria he had been mentioning, like all the arias he had ever
+written, was cribbed from Frescobaldi's canzone, and Carissimi's motets.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You lie, you scoundrel, in your throat!&quot; screamed the Capuzzi
+below, rising from his seat. &quot;Silence!--sit down!&quot; cried the audience; the women
+who were sitting near him dragged him down into his place.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The stage-Capuzzi went on to say it was time, now, to come to
+matters of more importance. He wanted to give a large dinner the next day, and
+Pasquarello must set to work briskly to get together all the requirements. He
+drew out of his pocket a list of the most expensive and recherché dishes, and
+read it aloud; as each dish was mentioned, Pasquarello had to say how much it
+would cost, and the money was handed to him on the spot.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pasquale!--idiotic fool!--madman!--spendthrift!--prodigal!&quot;
+cried the Capuzzi below, in crescendo, after the mention of the several dishes,
+and grew more and more angry the higher the total bill for this most unheard-of
+of all dinners became.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When at length the list was gone through, Pasquarello asked
+Signor Pasquale's reason for giving so grand a dinner; and Capuzzi (on the
+stage) replied: &quot;To-morrow will be the happiest day of all my life. Let me tell
+you, my good Pasquarello, that to-morrow I celebrate the wedding-day, rich in
+blessings, of my dear niece Marianna. I am giving her hand to that fine young
+fellow, the greatest of all painters, Scacciati.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Scarce had the Capuzzi on the stage uttered those words, than
+he of the audience, quite beside himself, and incapable of further self-control,
+sprang up, with all the fury of a demon in his face of fire, clenched both his
+fists at his counterfeit, and screamed out at him, in a yelling voice: &quot;That you
+shall not!--that you shall never! you
+infernal scoundrel of a Pasquale! Will you defraud yourself of
+your own Marianna, you dog? Are you going to throw her at that
+diabolical rascal's head? The sweet Marianna--your life, your hope, your
+all-in-all? Ah, beware! Have a care, deluded blockhead! These fists shall beat
+you black and blue, and give you something else to think about than dinners and
+marriages.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But the Capuzzi on the stage clenched <i>his</i> fists too, and cried
+out in a similar fury, with the same yelling voice: &quot;May all the devils enter
+your body! you cursed, senseless Pasquale! Abominable skinflint!--old amorous
+goose!--motley fool, with the cap and bells over your ears! Have a care of
+yourself, or I will blow the breath of life out of you! that the mean actions
+you want to father upon the shoulders of the good, honourable, upright Pasquale
+may be put an end to at last.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To an accompaniment of the most furious curses and
+maledictions of the Capuzzi beneath, he on the stage proceeded to narrate one
+scurrilous story of him after another, finishing off by crying out: &quot;Try if you
+dare, Pasquale--amorous old ape!--to interfere with the happiness of those two
+young people, destined for each other by heaven.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As he spoke, there appeared at the back of the stage Antonio
+Scacciati and Marianna, with their arms about each other. Shaky as the old
+gentleman was on his legs, fury gave him strength and agility. At a bound he was
+on to the stage, where he drew his sword, and ran at Antonio. But he felt
+himself seized from behind; an officer of the Papal Guard was holding him, and
+said, in a serious tone: &quot;Consider a little, Signor Pasquale Capuzzi; you are on
+Nicolo Musso's stage. Without being aware of it, you have been playing a most
+entertaining part this evening. You will not find Antonio or Marianna here.&quot; The
+two performers whom Capuzzi had taken to be them had come closer, with the rest
+of the actors, and he did not know their faces at all. The sword fell from his
+trembling hand; he drew a deep breath, like one waking from a fearful dream,
+clasped his forehead, forced his eyes wide open. The dreadful sense of what had
+really happened flashed upon him, and he cried: &quot;Marianna!&quot; in a terrible voice,
+till the walls re-echoed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But his calling could no longer reach her ears; for Antonio
+had carefully watched for the moment when Capuzzi, oblivious of everything, even
+himself, was contending with his counterfeit on the stage, had then cautiously
+made his way to Marianna, and taken her through the audience to a side door,
+where the Vetturino was waiting with the carriage; and away they were driven
+towards Florence as fast as they could go.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Marianna!&quot; the old man continued crying. &quot;She has gone!--she
+has flown!--the villain Antonio has robbed me of her! Away!--after her! Good
+people, have pity! Get torches; search for my dove! Ha, the serpent!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And the old man was making off; but the officer held him fast,
+saying: &quot;If you mean the pretty young girl who was sitting by you, I rather
+fancy I saw her slip out with a young fellow--Antonio Scacciati, I
+believe,--some considerable time ago, just as you were beginning that useless,
+silly quarrel with the actor who had on a mask something like you. Signor
+Pasquale, it is my duty to arrest you, on account of your behaviour, and the
+murderous attack upon the actor.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Signor Pasquale, with pale death in his face, incapable of
+uttering a word or a sound, was marched off by the very Sbirri who had come
+there to protect him from masquerading demons and spectres. Thus there fell upon
+him deep distress and sorrow, and all the wild despair of a foolish and deceived
+old amorous fool, on the very night when he looked to celebrate his greatest
+triumph.</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="center">Salvator Rosa Quits Rome For Florence. <br>The End Of This Story.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">All things here below under the sun are subject to constant
+change and fluctuation, but there is nothing that more deserves to be called
+fickle and fleeting than mankind's opinions, which keep rotating in an eternal
+circle, like Fortune's wheel. Bitter censure falls to-day upon him who yesterday
+gathered a grand harvest of praise; he who walks
+to-day a-foot may to-morrow ride in a gilded chariot.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Who was there in all Rome who did not scorn and mock at old
+Capuzzi, with his mean avarice, his silly amorousness, his crazy jealousy?--or
+who did not wish the poor tormented Marianna her freedom? Yet now that Antonio
+had succeeded in carrying her off, all the scorn and mockery suddenly turned to
+pity for the poor old fellow who was seen creeping about the streets of Rome,
+with bowed head, inconsolable.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Misfortunes rarely come singly. Soon after Marianna had been
+carried off, Pasquale lost his dearest bosom friends. Little Pitichinaccio
+choked himself with an almond, which he incautiously tried to swallow as he was
+in the middle of a <i>cadenza</i>; and a slip of the pen (of
+his own making) put a sudden period to the life of the
+renowned Pyramid-Doctor, Signor Splendiano Accoramboni. Michele's cudgelling had
+such an effect on him that he fell into a fever. He determined to cure himself
+by a remedy which he believed he had discovered. He demanded pen and ink, and
+wrote a recipe, in which, by putting down a wrong fever, he enormously increased
+the quantity of a very powerful ingredient; so that as soon as he swallowed the
+medicine he fell back upon his pillow and was gone; proving, by his own death,
+the effect of this final tincture of his prescribing in the most striking and
+heroic manner.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As we have said, all who had previously laughed the most
+heartily at Capuzzi, and the most sincerely wished success to the brave Antonio
+in his undertaking, were now all compassion for the old man; and the bitterest
+blame was laid, not upon Antonio so much as upon Salvator Rosa, whom they all,
+with very good reason, held to have been at the bottom of the whole affair.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Salvator's enemies (of whom there were a goodly band) were not
+slow to stir up the fire to the best of their ability. &quot;See!&quot; they said; &quot;this
+is Masaniello's worthy comrade, always ready to lay his hand to any evil trick,
+any robberish undertaking; if his dangerous stay in Rome is prolonged, we shall
+soon feel the effects of it heavily.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And, in fact, the ignoble herd of those who conspired against
+Salvator succeeded in stemming the bold flight which his fame would otherwise
+have taken. One picture after another came from his hand, bold of conception,
+magnificent of execution, but the so-called &quot;connoisseurs&quot; always shrugged the
+shoulder; said, now that the mountains were too blue; now, that the trees were
+too green, the figures too tall, or too stumpy; found fault with everything
+where there was no fault to be found, and made it their business to detract from
+Salvator's well-merited renown in every possible way. His chief persecutors
+were the members of the Academia di San Luca, who could never get over the
+affair of the surgeon, and went out of their own province to depreciate the
+pretty verses which Salvator wrote about that time, even trying to make out that
+he did not live upon the fruit of his own land, but pilfered the property of
+other people. And this, too, led to Salvator's being by no means in a position
+to surround himself with the splendour and luxury which he had formerly
+displayed in Rome. Instead of the grand, spacious studio, where all the
+celebrities of Rome used to visit him, he went on living at Dame Caterina's,
+beside his green figtree. And in this very restrictedness he, doubtless, soon
+found comfort and ease of heart.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But he laid the malignant conduct of his enemies more to heart
+than there was any occasion for; nay, he felt as though some creeping malady,
+engendered by annoyance and vexation, was gnawing at his inmost marrow. In this
+evil mood, he conceived and executed the great pictures which set all Rome in
+uproar. One of them represented the transitoriness of all earthly things; and in
+the principal female figure (which bore all the marks of a disreputable calling)
+it was easy to recognize the lady-love of one of the Cardinals. In the other was
+shown the Goddess of Fortune distributing her precious gifts. But Cardinal's
+hats, Bishop's mitres, and decorations were falling down upon bleating sheep,
+braying asses, and other despised creatures; whilst well-favoured men, in
+tattered garments, looked up in vain
+for the slightest favour. Salvator had given the rein to his
+bitter mood, and those beasts' heads had very striking resemblances to sundry
+well-known characters. It may be imagined how the hatred of him increased, and
+how much more bitterly he was persecuted than before.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Dame Caterina cautioned him with tears in her eyes. She had
+noticed that as soon as it was dark, birds of evil omen--suspicious-looking
+characters--came slinking about the house, watching Salvator's every step. He
+saw that it was time to be gone; and Dame Caterina and her dear daughters were
+the only people he felt any pain in parting from. Remembering the Duke of
+Tuscany's repeated invitations, he went to Florence; and there his mortification
+was richly compensated for, and the annoyances of tome lost sight of in the
+honour and fame--so richly merited--which were bestowed upon him in fullest
+measure. The Duke's presents, and the large prices which he got for his
+pictures, soon enabled him to occupy a large mansion, and furnish it in the most
+magnificent style. There he collected round him all the most famous poets and
+literati of the day; it is sufficient to mention amongst them Evangelista
+Torricelli, Valerio Chimentelli, Battista Ricciardi, Andrea Cavalcanti, Pietro
+Salviati, Filippo Apolloni, Volumnio Bandelli, Francesco Rovai. Art and science
+were joined together in a charming fusion, and Salvator Rosa had a manner of
+endowing the meetings with an element of the fanciful, which in a peculiar
+manner gave a stimulus to the thoughts and ideas of the company. Thus, the
+dining-hall had the appearance of a beautiful shrubbery, containing
+sweet-smelling bushes and flowers and gurgling springs; and the very dishes,
+served by singularly-attired pages, had a wonderful appearance, as if they came
+from some far-off enchanted land. These assemblages of poets and <i>savants</i> in
+Salvator Rosa's house were at the time known as the Academia de' Percossi.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But although Salvator occupied his mind in this manner with
+art and science, his inmost heart was cheered by his friend Antonio Scacciati,
+who was living a happy artistic life, free from care, with the beautiful
+Marianna. They used to think, sometimes, of the old deceived Signor Pasquale,
+and all that took place in Nicolo Musso's theatre. And Antonio asked Salvator
+how he had managed to interest not only Musso, but the wonderful Formica and
+Agli, in his affairs, to employ their talents on his behalf as they had done.
+Salvator said it had been an easy matter, inasmuch as Formica had been his most
+intimate friend in Rome, and always delighted to carry out upon the stage
+anything that he had suggested to him. Antonio declared that, much as he was
+unable still to help laughing when he thought of the occurrence which had made
+no happiness, he wished, from his heart, for a reconciliation with the old man,
+even although he should never touch a farthing of Marianna's fortune (which the
+old man had taken possession of), seeing that his art brought him money enough.
+Marianna, too, could often not restrain her tears at the thought that her
+father's brother would never till his dying day forgive the trick that had been
+played upon him; and thus Pasquale's hatred cast a sorrowful shadow upon her
+happy life. Salvator comforted them both with the thought that time cures much
+harder matters, and that chance might perhaps bring the old man to them in a
+much less dangerous manner than if they had remained in Rome, or were to go back
+there now.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We shall find that a spirit of prophecy dwelt in Salvator. A
+considerable time had elapsed, when one day Antonio burst into Salvator's
+studio, breathless, and pale as death. &quot;Salvator!&quot; he cried; &quot;my friend! my
+protector!--I am lost unless you help me! Pasquale Capuzzi is here, and has got
+a warrant to arrest me for carrying off his niece.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But what can Pasquale do to you now?&quot; asked Salvator. Has not
+the Church united Marianna and you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Alas!&quot; answered Antonio, in despair, &quot;even the Church cannot
+save me here. Heaven knows how he has accomplished it, but the old man has
+managed to get the ear of the Pope's nephew; and it is this nephew who has taken
+him under his protection, and given him hope that the Holy Father will declare
+our marriage void; and not only that, but give him a dispensation to enable
+<i>him</i> to marry his niece.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Stop!&quot; cried Salvator. &quot;Now--<i>now</i> I understand the whole
+matter. It is that nephew's hatred for <i>me</i>, Antonio, which threatens to ruin
+everything. This nephew--this conceited, raw, boorish fellow--is one of those
+beasts which the Goddess of Fortune is overwhelming with her gifts in that
+picture of mine. That it was I who helped you to your Marianna--more or less
+indirectly, of course--is known not only to this nephew, but to every one in
+Rome. Season enough to persecute you, since they cannot specify anything against
+<i>me</i>. Even were it not for my affection for you, Antonio, as my best and dearest
+friend, I could not but stand by you if it were for nothing else than that it is
+I who have brought this mischance upon you. But, by all the saints, I do not see
+how I am to set about spoiling the game of your enemies.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As he said this Salvator, who up to this point had been
+working away at a picture without interrupting himself, laid his brushes,
+palette and mahlstick down, got up from his easel, and, folding his arms across
+his breast, strode 'several times up and down, whilst Antonio, in deepest
+thought, contemplated the floor with fixed glance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Presently Salvator halted before him, and cried, laughing:
+&quot;Antonio, there is nothing that <i>I</i> can accomplish as against your powerful
+enemies; but there is <i>one</i> who can, and will, help you; and that is Signor
+Formica.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Alas!&quot; cried Antonio; &quot;do not jest with an unfortunate, for
+whom there is no further salvation.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Still determined to despair?&quot; cried Salvator, who had
+suddenly risen into the highest spirits. He laughed aloud: &quot;I tell you, Antonio,
+friend Formica will help in Florence quite as well as he did in Rome. Go quietly
+home. Comfort your Marianna, and await the course of events quite tranquilly.
+All I expect of you is that you will be ready and prepared to do whatever Signor
+Formica--who happens to be here at this moment--may require of you.&quot; Antonio
+promised obedience with all his heart, hope and confidence at once beginning to
+glimmer up within him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Signor Pasquale was not a little astonished to receive a
+formal invitation from the Academia de' Percossi. &quot;Ha!--indeed!&quot; he cried. &quot;One
+sees that Florence is the place where they know how to esteem merit; where a man
+endowed with such gifts as Signor Pasquale Capuzzi di Senegalia chances to
+possess, is properly appreciated.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus the thought of the amount of artistic knowledge which he
+possessed, and of the honours which were being paid to him in consequence,
+overcame the repugnance which he would otherwise have entertained to an
+assemblage which had Salvator Rosa, at its head. The Spanish state costume was
+brushed more carefully than usual; the steeple-crowned hat adorned with a new
+feather; the shoes set off with fresh bows of ribbon; and Signor Pasquale made
+his appearance in Salvator's house glittering like a golden beetle, with a
+countenance of radiant sunshine. The splendour around him--Salvator himself (who
+was much more finely dressed than he had been wont to be)--inspired him with
+reverence; and--as is usually the case with shallow souls, which are puffed-up
+at first, but at once fall down into the dust when they perceive any distinct
+superiority over them--Pasquale was all deference and humility towards that
+Salvator whom he was for ever lording over in Rome.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">So much attention was paid to Signor Pasquale on all hands;
+his opinions were so unconditionally appealed to; so much was said as to his
+artistic merits, that he felt himself a new man; nay, it seemed to him that a
+special spirit came to life within him, so that he really spoke much more
+sensibly on many subjects than might have been expected. As, in addition to all
+this, he had never in all his life partaken of such a splendid dinner, or tasted
+such inspiring wine, his enjoyment necessarily mounted higher and higher, and he
+forgot all about the wrongs done him in Rome, and the unpleasant business which
+had brought him to Florence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In a short time the bushes at the bottom of the hall began to
+get in motion, the leafy branches opened out apart, and a little theatre came
+into view, with its stage, and some seats for an audience.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;All ye saints!&quot; cried Pasquale Capuzzi, in much alarm. &quot;Where
+am I? That is Nicolo Mussos's theatre!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Without paying attention to his outcry, two gentlemen of
+dignified appearance--Evangelista Torricelli and Andrea Cavalcanti--took him by
+the arms, one on each side, and conducted him to a seat in front of the stage,
+taking their places on either side of him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">No sooner were they seated than there entered on to the stage,
+Formica, as Pasquarello!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Accursed Formica!&quot; cried Pasquale, springing up and shaking
+his clenched fist towards the stage. Torricelli's and Cavalcanti's grave looks
+of disapproval, however, constrained him to silence and quietness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pasquarello sobbed, wept, and cursed his fate which
+brought him nothing but grief and misery; declared he did not know how he should
+manage to laugh, were it but ever so little, and concluded by saying that, in
+the excess of his despair, he would most certainly cut his throat, were it not
+that the sight of blood always made him faint; or throw himself into the river,
+if he only could help swimming when in the water.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here Doctor Graziano entered and inquired the cause of his
+grief.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pasquarello asked him if he did not know what had been
+happening in his master's, Signor Pasquale Capuzzi di Senegaglia's,
+house?--whether he had heard that an abandoned ruffian had run off with his
+master's niece, Marianna?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ha!&quot; murmured Capuzzi, &quot;I see what it is, Signor Formica. You
+think you will exculpate and excuse yourself; you desire my forgiveness. Well,
+we shall see.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Doctor Graziano expressed his sympathy, and thought the
+ruffian must have been very clever to have evaded Capuzzi's search after him.
+Pasquarello told the Doctor not to allow himself to imagine that the rascal
+Antonio Scacciati succeeded in getting the better of the deep and clever Signor
+Pasquale Capuzzi, supported as he was, moreover, by influential friends.
+Antonio was in prison, his marriage declared void, and Marianna again in her
+uncle's hands.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Has he got her?&quot; cried Capuzzi, beyond himself; &quot;has he got
+her again, the good Capuzzi? Has he got his little dove again; his Marianna? Is
+the scoundrel Antonio in prison? O most blessed Formica!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You take too lively an interest in the piece, Signor
+Pasquale,&quot; said Cavalcanti very seriously. &quot;Pray allow the actors to speak, and
+do not interrupt them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Signor Pasquale, abashed, sat down in his place again.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pasquarello went on to say that there had been a wedding.
+Marianna had repented of what she had done; Signor Pasquale had obtained the
+necessary dispensation from the Holy Father, and had married his niece.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, yes,&quot; murmured Pasquale, aside, whilst his eyes shone
+with delight; &quot;yes, yes, my dearest Formica! He marries the sweet Marianna, the
+lucky Pasquale! He always knew the little dove loved him; it was but the devil
+that led her astray.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In that case, Doctor Graziano said, everything was well, and
+there was no cause for lamentation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Pasquarello began to sob and cry more violently than
+before, and at last fell down in a faint, as if overcome by his terrible sorrow.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Doctor Graziano ran about anxiously; regretted that he had not
+a smelling-bottle about him; searched in all his pockets, and at length pulled
+out a roasted chestnut, which he held under the nose of the insensible
+Pasquarello. The latter recovered at once, sneezing violently, begged him to
+excuse the weak state of his nerves, and went on to say that after the marriage
+Marianna had fallen into the deepest melancholy, calling continually on
+Antonio's name, and regarding the old man with loathing and contempt. But the
+latter, blinded by his love and jealousy, had never ceased torturing her in the
+most terrible manner with his foolishness. Then Pasquarello related a number of
+mad tricks which Pasquale had been guilty of, and which were actually told of
+him in Rome. Signor Pasquale jigged uneasily on his seat here and there,
+murmuring, &quot;Accursed Formica, you lie!--what devil inspires you?&quot; It was only
+the fact that Torricelli and Cavalcanti kept their grave eyes fixed upon him
+that restrained a wild outburst of his anger. Pasquarello ended by saying that
+the luckless Marianna had at last fallen a victim to her unstilled love-longing,
+her bitter sorrow, and the thousand-fold tortures which the accursed old man had
+inflicted upon her, and had passed away from this world, in the flower of her
+age.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At this moment there was heard an awe-inspiring <i>De
+profundis</i>, chanted by hoarse and hollow voices; and men in long white mantles
+appeared upon the stage bearing a bier, on which lay the body of the beautiful
+Marianna, shrouded in white grave-clothes. Signor Pasquale Capuzzi, in the
+deepest mourning, tottered along behind it, moaning aloud, beating his breast,
+and crying, in his despair, &quot;Oh, Marianna! Marianna!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When the Capuzzi in the audience saw the body of his niece,
+both the Capuzzis (him on the stage and he of the audience) howled, and cried in
+the most heart-breaking tones: &quot;Oh, Marianna! Oh, Marianna! Miserable man that I
+am! Ah me! Ah me!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Imagine the corpse of the beautiful girl on the open tier,
+Surrounded by the mourners, their solemn <i>De profundis</i>, and along with all
+this, the comic masks, Doctor Graziano and Pasquarello,
+expressing their grief in the most absurd gesticulations; and then the two
+Capuzzis, howling and crying in despair. And in truth, all they who were
+spectators of this strangest of dramatic representations, notwithstanding the
+irrepressible laughter into which they could not help breaking over the
+extraordinary old man, were penetrated by a deep and eerie shudder of awe.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The stage now suddenly grew dark. There was thunder and
+lightning; and out of the depths arose a pale and spectral form, exactly alike
+in every feature to Capuzzi's brother, Pietro, father of Marianna, who died in
+Senegaglia.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Wicked Pasquale!&quot; cried the spectre-form, in hollow, terrible
+tones; &quot;what have you done with my daughter? Despair and die, accursed murderer
+of my child! Your reward awaits you in hell!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Capuzzi on the stage fell down as if struck by lightning,
+and at the same instant the Capuzzi down beneath fell senseless from his seat.
+The branches rustling, closed into their former places; and the stage, with
+Marianna and Capuzzi, and Pietro's grizzly ghost, disappeared from view. Signor
+Pasquale was in such a deep faint that it cost some trouble to bring him to
+himself again.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At last he revived, with a deep sigh, stretched his hands out
+before him as if to keep off the terror which seized upon him, and cried in
+hollow tones: &quot;Let me go, Pietro!&quot; A stream of tears burst from his eyes, and he
+cried, with sobs: &quot;Ah, Marianna!--my darling beautiful girl!--my own Marianna!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Bethink you!&quot; said Cavalcanti at last. &quot;Consider Signor
+Pasquale! It was only on the stage that you saw your niece dead. She is alive.
+She is here, to implore your forgiveness for the thoughtless stratagem to which
+love--and, perhaps, your own inconsiderate conduct--impelled her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here Marianna, with Antonio Scacciati behind her, rushed
+forward from the back of the hall, and fell at the feet of the old gentleman,
+who had been placed in an easy chair. Marianna, in the fullest lustre of her
+beauty, kissed his hands, bedewed them with hot tears, and begged forgiveness
+for herself and Antonio, united to her by the Church's benediction. From the old
+man's deathly pale face flames suddenly broke, fury flashed from his eyes, and
+he cried in a half-articulate voice: &quot;Ha! abandoned wretch!--venomous serpent!
+whom I nourished in my bosom, for my destruction!&quot; But the grave old Torricelli
+came up to him, in all his dignity, and said that he (Capuzzi) had seen in a
+figure the fate which would inevitably overtake him if he dared to prosecute his
+evil design against the peace and happiness of Antonio and Marianna. He painted,
+in the most brilliant colours, the folly--the madness--of amorous old age
+yielding to love, which has the power of bringing down upon its head the most
+destroying evil with which Heaven can threaten man, since it annihilates all the
+affection which might still be his portion, whilst hatred and contempt aim their
+death-dealing arrows at him from every side.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And Marianna cried out, in a tone which penetrated the heart:
+&quot;Oh, my uncle! I want to love and honour you as a father! You will bring me to
+the bitter death if you take Antonio from me!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And all the poets who were surrounding the old man cried, with
+one voice, that it was impossible that such an one as Signor Pasquale Capuzzi di
+Senegaglia--a lover and patron of the arts, himself an admirable and
+accomplished artist--should not forgive; that he, who occupied the position of a
+father to the loveliest of women, should not welcome with joy, as a son-in-law,
+a painter such as Antonio Scacciati, prized by the whole of Italy, overwhelmed
+with honour and fame.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was easy to see that a mental process of some kind was
+going on within the old man. He sighed; he groaned; he hid his face in his
+hands, whilst Torricelli plied him with the most convincing arguments; whilst
+Marianna implored him, in the most moving accents; whilst the others extolled
+and belauded Antonio Scacciati to the utmost of their skill. The old man looked,
+now at his niece, now at Antonio, whose fine dress and rich chain of honour
+proved the truth of what was urged as to his artistic position and success.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">All anger had disappeared from Capuzzi's countenance. He
+sprung up with beaming glances, pressed Marianna to his heart, and cried: &quot;Yes,
+I forgive you, my beloved child! I forgive you, Antonio! Far be it from mo to
+destroy your happiness. You are right, my worthy Signor Torricelli. Signor
+Formica has shown me, in a figure, on the stage, all the misery and destruction
+which would have come upon me if I had carried out my insane idea. I am
+cured--completely cured--of my folly. But where is Signor Formica?--where is my
+worthy physician, that I may thank him a thousand times for my recovery, which
+he has brought about. The terror which he knew how to cause me has transformed
+my whole being.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pasquarello came forward. Antonio threw himself upon his
+breast, crying:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, Signor Formica! to whom I owe my life, my all! cast aside
+the mask which disguises you, that I may see your face--that Formica may cease
+to be a mystery to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pasquarello took off the cap, and the skilfully-constructed
+mask, which seemed to be an actual, natural face, placing no obstacle in the way
+of facial expression. And this Formica--this Pasquarello--was transformed
+into--Salvator Rosa!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Salvator!&quot; cried Marianna, Antonio, and Capuzzi, <i>ensemble</i>,
+all amazement.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes,&quot; said that wondrous man. &quot;Salvator Rosa; whom the Romans
+would have none of, as painter, as poet; and who, as Formica, for more than a
+year, on Nicolo Musso's poor little stage, moved them almost nightly to the
+loudest and most immoderate applause; from whom they gladly accepted all
+ridicule and mockery of what was bad, though they would not swallow it in
+Salvator's poems and pictures. Salvator Formica it is who has aided you, dear
+Antonio.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Salvator!&quot; old Capuzzi began; &quot;Salvator Rosa! I have looked
+upon you as my worst enemy, but I have always held your art in highest honour;
+and now I love you as the most valued of my friends, and I venture to beg you to
+accept me as such.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Say, my worthy Signor Pasquale,&quot; answered Salvator, &quot;in what
+I can be of service to you, and be assured beforehand that I will employ all my
+powers to fulfil your desires.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There dawned in Capuzzi's face once more that sugary smile
+which had vanished since Marianna's departure. He took Salvator's hand, and
+whispered gently: &quot;My dear Signor Salvator, you can do anything with the good
+Antonio. Beg him, in my name, to allow me to spend the brief remainder of my
+days with him and my dear daughter Marianna, and to accept from me the fortune
+which she inherits from her mother, to which I mean to add a liberal
+marriage-portion. And then, too, he mustn't look askew if I now and then kiss
+the lovely child's little white hand; and--at all events on Sundays when I go to
+mass--he must dress my moustache for me; a thing which nobody in all the world
+can do as he can.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Salvator had difficulty in restraining his laughter; but
+before he could make answer, Antonio and Marianna, embracing the old man,
+assured him that they would not consider the reconciliation complete, or feel
+thoroughly happy, until he took his place by their hearth as a beloved father,
+never to leave them more. Antonio added that he would dress Capuzzi's
+moustachios not only on Sundays, but every day of the week, in the daintiest
+manner. And now the old man was all joy and happiness. Meanwhile a splendid
+supper had been served, and to this they all sate down, in the happiest mood of
+mind.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In taking my leave of you, dear reader, I wish with all my
+heart that the happiness which has now fallen to the lot of Salvator and all his
+friends, may have glowed very brightly in your own breast, whilst you have been
+reading the story of the marvellous Signor Formica.</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now,&quot; began Lothair, when Ottmar had ended, &quot;since our friend
+has
+been fair and honourable enough to admit from the outset the
+lack of vigour--the weakness of knee, so to speak, of his production, which it
+has pleased him to call a 'Novella,' this appeal to our considerateness does,
+certainly, draw the sting out of our criticisms, which were formed up, in
+complete steel, to attack him. He bares his bosom to the partizan-pike, and
+therefore, as magnanimous adversaries, we withhold our thrust, and are bound to
+have mercy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;More than that,&quot; said Cyprian, &quot;to console his pain, we feel
+ourselves permitted to bestow a certain limited amount of praise. For my part, I
+see a good deal in this work that is pleasant and Serapiontic. Capuzzi's broken
+leg, for instance, and its consequences, his mysterious serenade----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Which,&quot; interrupted Vincenz, &quot;has all the more of the real
+Spanish, or the true Italian smack about it, just because it ends with a
+tremendous cudgelling. No proper Novella of the kind would be complete without
+the due amount of licking, and I prize it highly as, medically speaking, a
+specially powerful stimulant, always employed by the best writers. In Boccacio
+things hardly ever wind up without cudgelling; and where does it rain more blows
+or thrusts than in the Romance of all Romances, 'Don Quixote?' Cervantes himself
+considered it necessary to apologise to his readers about it. Now-a-days
+intellectual ladies will have none of such matters in connection with the mental
+'teas' (which they enjoy along with tea for the body); the honoured hide of a
+favourite poet--if he would retain his footing at 'teas,' and in
+pocket-books--must, at highest, be blackened by a tap or so on the nose, or the
+least little box on an ear. But what of tea? What of cultivated ladies? Behold
+in me, oh, Ottmar, your champion in complete armour, and cudgel soundly in all
+the novels you may be thinking of writing. I praise you for the cudgelling's
+sake.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And I,&quot; said Theodore, &quot;for the delightful trio which
+Capuzzi, the Pyramid-doctor, and the somewhat shudder-creating little abortion,
+Pitichinaccio, form; and, moreover, for the wonderful way in which Salvator
+Rosa--who never appears as the hero of the tale, but always as an
+auxiliary--conforms to his character as it is described, and also as it appears
+in his own works.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ottmar,&quot; said Sylvester, &quot;has held chiefly to the adventurous
+and enterprising side of his character, and given us less of what was grave and
+gloomy in him. <i>A propos</i> of this, I think of the famous sonnet in which,
+allegorising on his own name--Salvator--he utters his deep indignation at his
+enemies and persecutors who accused him of plundering from older writers in his
+poetry, which, indeed, is all ruggedness, and deficient in interior
+connectedness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But,&quot; said Lothair, &quot;to return to Ottmar's Novella. The
+principal fault which I have to find with it is that, instead of a story
+rounding itself into a whole in all its parts, he has merely given us a series
+of pictures, although they are often delightful enough.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Can I do otherwise than fully agree with you?&quot; said Ottmar.
+&quot;Still, you will all admit that it requires very skilful navigation to keep
+clear of the rocks upon which I have run.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Perhaps,&quot; said Sylvester, &quot;the rocks in question are more
+dangerous to dramatic writers. Nothing--at least in my opinion--is more annoying
+than, instead of a Comedy, in which all that happens is necessarily and closely
+attached to the thread which runs through the piece, and should appear to be
+indispensably necessary to the picture represented, to see merely a series of
+arbitrary incidents, or even unconnected, detached situations; and indeed, the
+ablest dramatic author of recent times has set the example of this thoughtless
+(or 'frivolous') treatment of Comedy. Does the 'Pagen-streiche,' for example,
+consist of anything but a series of ludicrous situations strung together
+apparently by chance, and at random? In former days, when, on the whole (at all
+events as regards the drama), one cannot complain of the want of due
+seriousness, every writer of a Comedy took much pains to construct a regular
+plot, and out of that plot all the comic element, the drollery, nay, the very
+absurdity, duly evolved itself, of itself; because it seemed the natural thing
+for it to do. Jünger (although he but too often seems very 'flat') always did
+this, and even Brenner--utterly prosaic as he was on the whole--was by no means
+deficient in the power of making the comic element flow out from his plots, and
+his characters have often real force and vividness of life, derived from
+actuality; as, for instance, in his 'Eheprokurator.' Only those ladies of his,
+with their grand phrases, are completely unenjoyablo by us nowadays.
+Notwithstanding this, I have a very high opinion of him, for the reasons I have
+given.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In my mind,&quot; said Theodore, &quot;his Operas put him out of court
+altogether. They may serve as examples how an opera ought not to be written.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For the simple reason,&quot; said Vincenz, &quot;that the departed
+(peace to his ashes, as Sylvester very properly said) did not show many signs of
+having much poetry in his constitution; so that in the romantic realm of opera
+he could not find the slightest indication of a track to go upon. However, as
+you are talking in this strain on the subject of Comedy, I might do worse than
+point out that you are wasting your time in discussing a nonentity--a thing
+which does not exist; and cry out to you, as Romeo did to Mercutio--</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="i4">'Peace, peace, good people, peace,</p>
+<p class="i4">Ye talk of nothing.'</p>
+</div>
+<p class="continue">What I mean is that, taking them altogether, we never see a
+single German Comedy presented on the stage, for the simple reason that the old
+ones cannot be swallowed or digested (by reason of the weakness
+of our stomachs), and new ones are no longer written. The
+reason
+of the latter I might establish, very briefly, in a treatise
+of
+some forty sheets or so; but, for the moment, I let you off
+with a
+play-upon-words. What I say is, that we have no comic plays,
+because we have none of the comic which plays with itself; nor the sense for
+it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Dixi,&quot; cried Sylvester, laughing. &quot;Dixi, and the name
+'Vincenz' thereunder, with due stamp and seal. I happened, at the moment, to be
+thinking that in the lowest class of dramatic performances, or rather of
+productions destined to be represented on the stage, perhaps those should be
+included in which some clever <i>farceur</i> mystifies and befools some good uncle--a
+theatre director, or some such person. And yet it is not so very long ago that
+shallow, stupid stuff of this description constituted almost the daily bread of
+every stage. Just at present there seems to be more or less an intermission in
+this.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It will never come to an end,&quot; said Theodore, &quot;as long as
+there are actors to whom nothing in the world can be more delightful than to let
+themselves be wondered at and admired as chameleontic marvels, in
+that they change their costume and appearance in the most
+varied
+manner in the course of the same evening. Right out of the
+very
+depths of my being have I been compelled to roar with laughter
+over
+the self-apotheosis of self-sufficiency with which, after
+passing
+through a marvellous series of soul-transmigrations, the true
+<i>ego</i> of the performer takes its enfranchised flight, like a beautiful insect.
+Generally speaking, this is done in the shape of a pretty, elegant night-moth,
+dressed in black, with silk stockings, and a three-cornered hat under one arm,
+having, from the moment of its appearance as such, only to deal with the
+admiring public, not troubling itself about that which previously had been doing
+it soccage-service. As (<i>vide</i> Wilhelm Meister's 'Lehr-jahren') a special line
+of parts may so bind and enslave to it some given actor, who, for instance,
+plays all the characters who have to be cudgelled, or otherwise maltreated,
+every stage must possess a <i>sujet</i> who undertakes all the parts of the character
+of <i>souffre douleur</i>, and consequently plays those indispensable theatre
+managers, &#38;c.; at all events, every starring actor has a part of the kind in his
+pocket, by way of entrance-pass, or letter of credit.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What you say,&quot; answered Lothair, &quot;reminds me of a most
+extraordinary fellow whom I met with in a theatrical troupe in a small town in
+the south of Germany, who was the exact image of that 'pedant' (to speak
+technically) in Wilhelm Meister. Insupportable as he now was on the stage in his
+little minor parts, <i>praying</i> them out in the most direful monotony, it was said
+that formerly, in his younger days, he had been
+a capital actor, and used to play, for instance, those sly,
+scampish inn-keepers which, in older times, used to occur in almost every
+comedy, and over whose total disappearance from the stage the host in Tieck's
+'Verkehrter Welt' complains. When I knew this man he seemed to have completely
+accepted his fate, which truely had been a pretty hard one, and, in complete
+apathy, to place no value on anything in the world, least of all on himself.
+Nothing penetrated the crust which the heaping up of the most complete
+wretchedness had formed over the surface of his better self, and he was
+perfectly satisfied with himself under it; and yet there often beamed out of his
+deep-set, clever eyes the gleam of a higher intelligence, and there would
+rapidly jerk over his face the expression of a bitter irony, so that the
+exaggerated submissiveness with which he bore himself towards every one--and
+more particularly towards his manager (a silly young man, full
+of vanity)--took, in him, the form of an ironical contempt. On Sundays he used
+to take his seat at the lower end of the <i>table d'hôte</i> of the best hotel in the
+place, dressed in a good well-brushed suit of clothes, whose cut and
+extraordinary pattern indicated the actor of a long by-gone period; and there he
+enjoyed a hearty meal, never saying a word to a soul, although he was
+exceptionally temperate, particularly as regarded the wine, for he scarcely
+half-emptied the bottle which was placed before him. At each filling of his
+glass he made a courteous bow to the landlord, who gave him his Sunday dinner in
+return for his teaching his children reading and writing. It happened that I was
+dining one Sunday at this <i>table d'hôte</i>, and found only one vacant seat, which
+was at this old fellow's side. I hastened to occupy this place, hoping that I
+might have the good fortune to bring to the surface that better spirit which
+must be shut up within the man. It was difficult, almost impossible, to get hold
+of that spirit. Just when one thought one had him, he suddenly dived down, and
+slunk away in utter humility of submissiveness. At length, after I had with
+difficulty induced him to swallow a glass or two of good wine, he seemed to
+begin to thaw a little, and spake with visible emotion of the fine old
+theatrical times, now past and gone, apparently never to return. The tables were
+being cleared; one or two of my friends joined themselves to me; the player
+wanted to take his leave. I held him fast, though he made the most touching
+protests. A poor superannuated actor, he said, was no fit company for gentlemen
+such as we; it would be better that he should not stay, it was not his place,
+and so forth. It was not so much to my powers of persuasion as to the
+irresistible attractions of a cup of coffee, and a pipe of the best Knaster,
+which I had in my pocket, that I could attribute his remaining. He spoke with
+vividness and <i>esprit</i> of the old theatrical days. He had seen Eckhoff, and
+acted with Schroeder. It came out that the untuned state in which he was now so
+marred proceeded from the circumstance that those by-gone days had been, for
+him, the world wherein he had breathed freely, and moved unconstrainedly, and
+that, now that he was thrown forth out of that period, he had no firm
+standing-point that he could get hold of. But how marvellously did this man
+astonish us when, having become thoroughly at his ease, and free from constraint
+with us, he spoke the speech of the Ghost in Hamlet, as given in Schroeder's
+version (Schlegel's translation he knew nothing about), with a power of
+expression which touched our hearts; and we were all moved to admiration at the
+manner in which he delivered several passages from the part of Oldenhelm (for he
+would have nothing to say to the name 'Polonius'), rendering them in such a way
+that we distinctly saw before our eyes the courtier, in his second childhood
+now, but who had clearly not lacked worldly wisdom in former times, and still
+showed distinct traces of it. This he brought before us in a manner very seldom
+seen on the boards. All this, however, was but the prelude to a scene which I
+never saw the parallel of, and which I can never forget. It is
+here that I really, for the first time, come to what, during
+this conversation of ours, brought to my remembrance the old actor in question,
+and my worthy Serapion Brethren must pardon me if I have made my introduction to
+this somewhat too long. This man was compelled to undertake those wretched
+subordinate parts which we were talking of, and thus it chanced that, some days
+after the occasion I have been speaking of, he had to play the part of the
+'Manager' in the piece 'The Rehearsal,' which the <i>Impresario</i> had altered to
+suit himself, thinking he particularly excelled in it. Whether it was that the
+conversation with us has stirred up his inner, better self, or that, perhaps (as
+it was rumoured afterwards), on that day he had reinforced his natural power
+with wine--contrary as that was to his usual custom--he had no sooner come upon
+the stage than he appeared to be a totally different man from what he had been
+at other times. His eyes sparkled, and the hollow wavering voice of the worn-out
+hypochondriac was transformed into a clear, resonant bass, such as is employed
+by jovial characters of the old style; for instance, the rich uncles who, in the
+exercise of poetical justice, punish folly and reward virtue. The beginning of
+the piece gave no indication of what was to come; but how amazed was the
+audience when, after the first changes of dress had been made, the strange
+creature turned upon the manager with sarcastic smiles, and addressed him
+somewhat as follows: 'Would not the respected audience have recognised our good
+So-and-so' (he mentioned the manager's name here), 'just as readily as I did
+myself at the first glance? Is it possible to base the power of deception on a
+coat cut in a particular fashion, or on a more or less frizzled wig? and in this
+way to stuff out a meagre talent, unsupported by any vigour of intelligence,
+like a child deserted by its nurse? The young man who is trying to pass himself
+off upon me, in this unskilled manner, as a many-sided artist, a chameleontic
+genius, need not gesticulate so immoderately with his hands, nor fold himself up
+like a pocketknife after each of his speeches, nor roll his r's so fearfully;
+and if he had not done so, I believe that a highly-prized audience (any more
+than I myself) would not have recognised our little manager in one instant, as
+has been the case now, to such an extent that it is pitiable. But, inasmuch as
+the piece has got to go on for another half-hour, I shall conduct myself, this
+once more, as if I didn't see it; although the affair is terribly tedious and
+uncongenial to me.' Be it enough to say that upon each fresh entrance of the
+manager, the old fellow ridiculed his acting in the most delicious manner; and
+it may be fancied that this was accompanied by the most ringing laughter of the
+audience; whilst the best part of it all was that the manager, completely
+absorbed in his numerous changes of costume, was absolutely unconscious of what
+was going forward till the very last scene. Perhaps the old fellow may have made
+a wicked compact with the theatre tailor; but it is a fact that the wretched
+manager's wardrobe had got into the most complete confusion, so that the
+intermediate scenes which the old man had to fill out lasted much longer than
+usual, giving him time enough to let the fulness of his bitter mockery of the
+poor manager stream forth in all its glory, and even to imitate his manner of
+speaking, saying many things with a wicked verity which sent the audience out of
+itself. The whole piece was turned topsy-turvy, so that the stop-gap
+intermediate scenes became the principal and important part of the business. It
+was delightful, too, how the old fellow sometimes told the audience beforehand
+how the manager was going to appear, mimicking his gestures and attitudes; and
+that he attributed the ringing laughter, which really belonged to the old
+fellow's admirable imitation of him, to his own success in making up. At last,
+however, the manager could not possibly help finding out what the old fellow was
+doing, and you may suppose he flew at him like a raging wild boar, so that it
+was all that he could do to escape mishandling. He did not dare to appear on the
+stage again; but the audience and the public had got so fond of the old actor,
+and took his side with so much zeal, that the manager (burdened, moreover, since
+that celebrated evening, with the curse of ludicrosity), found himself compelled
+to close his theatre, and betake himself elsewhere. Several respectable
+townsmen, with the innkeeper at their head, met, and collected a considerable
+sum of money for the old actor, enough to enable him to have done for ever with
+the worries of the stage, and end his days in comfort in the place. But
+marvellous, nay, unfathomable, is the mind of an actor! Before a year was over
+he suddenly disappeared, nobody knew whither, and presently he was discovered
+travelling with a strolling company, quite in the same subordinate position from
+which he had so recently shaken himself clear.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;With a very slight 'moral application,'&quot; said Ottmar, &quot;this
+tale of the old actor belongs to the moral codex of all stage-players, and of
+those who desire to become players.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">During this, Cyprian had risen silently, and, after walking
+once or twice up and down the room, taken his position behind the window
+curtain. Just when Ottmar ceased speaking, a blast of wind came suddenly howling
+and raging in. The lights threatened to go out; Theodore's writing-table seemed
+to become alive; hundreds of papers flew up, and were wafted about the room; the
+strings of the old piano groaned aloud.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hey, hey!&quot; cried Theodore, as he saw his literary notices,
+and who knows what other written matter, at the mercy of the raging autumn
+storm. &quot;Hey, hey, Cyprianus, what are you about?&quot; And they all set to work to
+keep the lights in, and shield themselves from the thick snowflakes which came
+swirling in.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is true,&quot; said Cyprian, shutting the window, &quot;the weather
+won't let one look to see what it is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tell me,&quot; said Sylvester, taking the wholly absentminded and
+deeply preoccupied Cyprian by both hands, and forcing him to sit down again in
+the seat he had left, &quot;only tell me--that is all I ask--where have you been? In
+what distant region have you been wandering? for far, far away from us has that
+restless spirit of yours been bearing you again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not so very far away from you as you may suppose,&quot; answered
+Cyprian. &quot;And, at all events, it was your own conversation which opened the door
+for my departure. You had been saying so much about Comedy, and Vincenz was
+stating his conclusion (justly resulting from experience), that amongst us the
+fun which plays with itself is lost. It occurred to me that, on the other hand,
+many real talents have displayed themselves in tragedy, in more and most recent
+times, and along with this thought I was struck by the remembrance of a writer
+who began, with genuine, high-aspiring genius, but suddenly, as if carried away
+by some fatal eddy, went under, so that his name is scarcely ever heard of.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There,&quot; said Ottmar, &quot;you were going in exact opposition to
+Lothair's principle--that true genius never goes under.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And Lothair is right,&quot; answered Cyprian, &quot;if he holds that
+the fiercest storms of life cannot blow out the flame which blazes forth from
+the inner spirit,--that the bitterest adversities, the keenest misfortunes fight
+in vain against the inner heavenly might of the soul, which only bends the bow
+to deliver the arrow with the greater power. But how were it if in the first
+inner germ of the embryo there lurked the poisonous parasite larva, the worm,
+which, developing along with the beautiful blossom, gnaws at its life, so that
+it bears its death within itself? No storm is then needed for its destruction.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In that case,&quot; said Lothair, &quot;your genius would be wanting in
+the first condition indispensible to the tragic-poet who would enter upon life
+free, and in possession of his powers. I mean that such a poet's genius must be
+absolutely healthy--sound--free from the slightest ailment, such as psychic
+weakness, or, to use your language, anything such as congenital poison. Who
+could, and can, congratulate himself more on such a soundness of mental
+constitution than our grand G&#339;the, mighty father of us all? It is with such
+an unweakened strength as his, with such an inward purity, that heroes are
+begotten, such as Goetz von Berlichingen and Egmont! And if we cannot, perhaps,
+admit such a heroic power (in quite the same degree) in our Schiller, there is,
+on the other hand, that pure sun-glance of the inner soul beaming round his
+heroes in which we, beneficently warmed, feel as powerful and strong as their
+creator. And we must not forget the Robber Moor, whom Ludwig Tieck, with perfect
+justice, calls the Titanic creation of a young and daring imagination. But we
+are getting far from the tragic poet whom you were speaking of, Cyprian, and I
+hope you will tell us at once to whom you allude, although I fancy I have a
+strong idea?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I was very nearly breaking in upon your conversation, as I
+did once before, with strange words and sayings,&quot; answered Cyprian, &quot;which you
+would not have understood, inasmuch as you were not seeing the images of my
+waking-dream. Nevertheless, I cry out 'No! Since the days of Shakespeare there
+never stalked such a Being across the stage as this superhumanly terrible,
+gruesome old man!' And that you may not remain a moment longer in doubt on the
+subject, I add at once that no modern poet can congratulate himself on such a
+loftily tragic and powerful creation as the author of the Söhne des Thales.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The friends looked at each other in amazement. They made a
+rapid
+pass-muster of the principal characters in Zacharias Werner's
+pieces, and then came to the same conclusion--that in every case there was a
+certain element of the strange and singular, and often of the commonplace,
+mingled with the truly great, the grandly tragic which seemed to indicate that
+the author had never come to any really clear seeing of his heroes, and that he
+was doubtless deficient in that absolute health and soundness of the inner mind
+which Lothair considered indispensible to every writer of tragedy.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Theodore alone had been laughing within himself, as if he were
+of another opinion, and now began:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Halt! Halt! ye worthy Serapion Brethren. Don't be in too
+great a hurry. I know very well, in fact, I am the only one of you who can know,
+that Cyprian is speaking of a work which the writer never finished, which is
+consequently unknown to the world, although friends in the writer's
+neighbourhood, to whom he communicated sketches of scenes from it, had ample
+reason to be convinced that it would rise to the position of being amongst the
+grandest and most powerful, not only that he ever produced, but which have been
+seen in modern days.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Of course,&quot; said Cyprian, &quot;I was talking of the second part
+of the 'Kreuz an der Ostsee,' in which it is that the terrible, gruesome,
+gigantic character to whom I was alluding occurs, the old King of Prussia,
+Waidewuthis. It may be impossible for me to give you a distinct idea of this
+character, which the poet, by virtue of some mighty spell at his command, seems
+to have conjured up from the mysterious depths of the subterranean kingdoms. It
+must suffice if I enable you to look into the interior mechanism of the springs
+which the poet has placed within it to set this production of his into due
+activity of movement. According to historical tradition, the earliest 'culture'
+of the ancient Prussians was originated by their king, Waidewuthis. He
+introduced the rights of property. The fields were divided, and agriculture
+carried on. He also gave the nation a form of religious worship, inasmuch as he
+himself carved three graven images, to which sacrifices were offered beneath an
+ancient oak-tree, where they were set up; but a terrible power grasped hold of
+him (though himself all-powerful, the god of the nation which he ruled), those
+rude graven images, carved by his own hands, that the people's force and will
+might bow down before them as embodiments of a higher energy, suddenly awoke
+into life. And what inflamed those senseless images thus into life was the fire
+which the Satanic Prometheus stole from Hell. Rebellious thralls of their Lord
+and Maker, those idols began to wield against himself the weapons with which he
+had armed them. And thus commences the monstrous conflict of the Superhuman
+principle with the Human. I do not know if I have been intelligible to you--if I
+have quite succeeded in representing to you the poet's colossal idea; but, as
+Serapion Brethren, I would charge you to look deep down, as I have done, into
+the terrible abyss which the poet has opened and disclosed, and feel the terror
+and awe which overwhelms me even now as I think of that Waidewuthis.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And in truth,&quot; said Theodore, &quot;our Cyprian has turned quite
+white; which of course proves how the whole grand sketch of the extraordinary
+picture which the poet displayed before him--but from which he has shown us only
+one of the principal groups--has stirred his inner soul. But, as regards
+Waidewuthis, I think it would have been sufficient to say that the poet, with
+astonishing power and originality, conceived this Daemon with so much grandeur,
+power, and might, so gigantic a figure, that he appears quite worthy of the
+contest, and that the triumph, the glory of Christianity must beam forth all the
+brighter in consequence. It is true that in many of his characteristics, the old
+monarch appears to me as if he were--to speak with Dante--the Imperador del
+Doloroso Regno in person, walking on earth. The catastrophe of his overthrow,
+that triumph of Christianity, which is the final chord towards which everything
+strives, in the whole work (which to me, at all events, according to the design
+of the second part, seems to belong to another world), I have never been able to
+form a conception of to myself in dramatic form; although in quite other sounds,
+and in those only, I did conceive the possibility of a conclusion which, in
+terrific sublimity, would surpass everything else which could be conceived of.
+But this only became apparent to me when I had read Calderon's great 'Magus.'
+Moreover, the poet has not uttered himself as to the mode in which he would
+finish the work; at least nothing of the sort has reached my ears.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It seems to me,&quot; said Vincent, &quot;on the whole very much as
+though it had gone with the poet, as to his work, as it did with old King
+Waidewuthis and his graven images. It grew over his head; and that he could not
+get control of his own power is proved by the very failure of his inward energy,
+which, at length, does not allow anything sound, healthy, vigorous, to come to
+the light of day. On the whole, even if Cyprian is right in thinking that the
+old king had the best possible dispositions for turning out a splendid and
+powerful Satan, I do not see how he could have got into due relation with
+humanity again. The Satan would have had to be, at the same time, a grand,
+powerful kingly hero.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And that is exactly what he was,&quot; answered Cyprian. &quot;But to
+prove this to you, I should require to know whole scenes by heart, which the
+author communicated to us. I remember one in particular, very vividly, which
+seemed to me magnificent. King Waidewuthis knew that none of his sons would
+succeed him in the crown, so he selected a boy--I think he appeared about twelve
+years old--as his successor. In the night they two--Waidewuthis and the boy--are
+lying by the fire, and Waidewuthis. occupies himself in kindling the boy's
+courage towards the idea of the godly-might of the Euler of a People. This
+address of Waidewuthis seemed to me quite masterly, quite perfect. The boy, who
+has a young tame wolf, his faithful playmate, in his arms, listens attentively
+to the old man's words; and when the latter at last asks him if, for the sake of
+power he would be capable of sacrificing even his wolf, the boy looks him
+gravely in the face, and without a word, throws the wolf into the flames.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know,&quot; cried Theodore, as Vincent smiled strangely, and
+Lothair seemed on the point of breaking out from inward impatience, &quot;I know what
+you are going to say--I hear the severe sentence of condemnation with which you
+dismiss the author; and I will admit that I should have perfectly agreed with
+you only a day or two ago, and been of the same opinion, not so much from
+conviction, as from anger that the author should have entered upon paths which
+must for ever carry him away from me, Bo that a re-encounter between us must
+have appeared scarcely conceivable, and moreover, almost not to be desired. It
+would have been quite justifiable for the world, considering the manner in which
+the author had commenced his career, to think that there was evidence of an
+untruthful inconstancy--a weathercockiness--of mind, disposed to cast over
+others the veil which self-deception had woven around him; although, all this
+time, the truth had torn this veil asunder, with rude vigour, so that the world
+could discern, in his heart, a wicked spirit of self-seeking, endeavouring to
+gain the glitter of false fame for purposes of self-beatification. But I am
+obliged to confess that his preface to his sacred drama, 'The Mother of the
+Macabees,' has completely disarmed me. And this preface can only be perfectly
+understood by the few friends of his who were closely associated with him in his
+most beautiful blossoming-time. It contains the most affecting admissions of
+culpable weaknesses; the most pathetic lamentations over powers for ever lost.
+Those things may have escaped the writer involuntarily, and it is very likely
+that he did not, himself, perceive that deeper significance which the friends
+whom he had abandoned must have seen in those words. As I read this preface, I
+seemed to see, through a dim, colourless ocean of cloud, rays feebly piercing of
+a lofty, noble spirit, rising beyond the crack-brained follies of immature
+perversity, and, if not fully conscious of its own value, yet possessing a
+considerable inkling of its worth. The writer seemed to me much like one of
+those who are victims of that form of insanity of which the predominant symptom
+is 'fixed idea.' Those unhappy people are, in their lucid intervals, aware of
+their delusions; but, to soothe the comfortless horror of that consciousness,
+they strive to convince themselves that in those very delusions their highest
+and truest existence lives and moves. And this they do by the most ingenious
+sophisms; striving also to induce themselves to believe that their consciousness
+of their delusion is nothing but the sick doubting of Humanity immeshed and
+enslaved in the Earthly. And in the preface which I am speaking of, the writer
+touches upon the second part of the 'Kreuz an der Ostsee,' admitting this.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Please don't make such horrible faces, Lothair! Sit still on
+your chair, Ottmar; don't drum the Russian Grenadiers' March on the elbow of
+your seat, Vincenz. I really think that the author of the 'Soehne des Thales'
+deserves to be discussed rationally and quietly by us, and I must confess that
+my heart is very full of this subject, and I cannot help letting the froth which
+is seething there boil thoroughly over.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ha!&quot; cried Vincenz, very loudly and pathetically, &quot;how the
+froth seethes!--now that is a quotation from the 'Kreuz an der Ostsee,' where
+the heathen priests sing it in fearful and horrible strains. My dear
+Serapion-Brother Theodore, you may rage, revile, curse and blaspheme
+as much as you please, but I must just introduce into this
+many-sided discussion one little anecdote, which will throw, at all events,
+a momentary glimpse of sunshine over all those
+corpse-watchers' countenances. The author of whom we are speaking had got
+together a few friends that he might read to them the 'Kreuz an der Ostsee' from
+the manuscript. They had heard some passages from it before, which had raised
+their expectations to the highest pitch. The author had, as usual, seated
+himself in the centre of the circle, at a small table where two candles were
+burning in tall candlesticks. He had taken his manuscript out of his
+breast-pocket, and laid down before him his big snuff-box, and his
+blue-and-white checked pocket-handkerchief. Profound silence reigned. Not a
+breath was audible. The author, making one of his extraordinary faces, which
+defy all description, began as
+follows:--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Bankputtis!--Bankputtis!--Bankputtis!'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Of course you remember that, in the opening scene, at the
+rising of the curtain, the Prussians are discovered, assembled by the seashore,
+collecting amber; and they invoke the deities who preside over this. Very well.
+The author, as I have said, began with the words--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Bankputtis! Bankputtis!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then there was a short pause; after which there came forth
+out of a corner the soft voice of a member of the audience, saying: 'My dearest
+and most beloved friend! Most glorious of all authors; if you have written the
+whole of this most admirable poem of yours in that infernal language, not one
+soul of us understands a single syllable of it. For God's sake, be so kind as to
+start with a translation of it.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The friends laughed; but Cyprian and Theodore remained silent
+and grave. Before the latter could begin to speak, Ottmar said: &quot;It is
+impossible, in this connection, that I should forget the extraordinary, nay,
+almost preposterously absurd, meeting of two men who were--at all events as
+concerned their opinions upon Art and their views about
+it--absolutely heterogeneous in their natures. Indisputable as
+it may be that Werner carried the idea of the 'Kreuz an der Ostsee' about with
+him for a long time, to the best of my knowledge the first impulse to his
+writing it came to him from Iffland, who was anxious that he should write a
+tragedy for the Berlin stage. The 'Soehne des Thales' was then attracting much
+attention, and perhaps that dramatic writer may have been interested in this
+newly-developed talent, or he may have thought he saw that this young <i>débutant</i>
+was capable of being trained to the performance of the systematic round of
+theatre tricks, and would acquire a skilled 'stage-hand.' However this may be,
+think of Iffland with the manuscript of the 'Kreuz an der Ostsee' in his hands.
+Iffland--to whom the tragedies of Schiller (which then, in
+spite of all opposition, had made their way, chiefly through the great Fleck)
+were really disgustful, in the depths of his soul; Iffland, who although he did
+not dare, for dread of that sharp lash which he had felt already, to speak out
+his real opinion, had put <i>this</i> in print: 'Tragedies which contain grand
+historical incidents, and a crowd of characters, are the ruin of the stage;'
+adding, 'on account of the tremendous expenses,' but thinking, in his heart,
+'<i>dixi et salvavi</i>.'--Iffland, who would have been too pleased to put upon his
+privy-councillors, secretaries, and so forth, tragic <i>cothurni</i> made after his
+own pattern--read the 'Kreuz an der Ostsee' in the light of its being a tragedy
+expressly written for the Berlin stage, which he himself should set out into
+scenes, and in which he should play nothing less than the Ghost of Bishop
+Adalbert, murdered by the Pagan Prussians, very frequently appearing on the
+stage as a terror-inspiring character not sparing of partly edifying, partly
+mystic speeches, while at every mention of the name of Christ a flame breaks out
+of his forehead, to instantaneously disappear again. It was impossible to throw
+this piece overboard (as would have been done in a moment in the case of the
+<i>dii minores</i>), notwithstanding that it was one which was full of
+improbabilities, and bristling with difficulties (much more real difficulties
+from the stage-manager's point of view, than many Shakesperian plays, in which
+those difficulties are more apparent than real). What had to be done was to
+express great admiration of it; to laud it up to the skies, and then to declare,
+with deep regret, that the capabilities of the stage were not practically
+sufficient for the production of a thing so great. It was this which had to be
+done; and the letter in which Iffland stated all this to the author (the
+construction of which was on the lines of the well-known form of refusal of the
+Italians, '<i>ben
+parlato-ma</i>'), was, of course, a classical master-piece of
+theatrical diplomacy. It was not from the nature of the piece itself that the
+manager deduced the impossibility of representing it on the stage; he merely, in
+a courteous manner, complained of the stage-manager, the property-men, and the
+carpenters, to whose magic there were such narrow limits that they were not even
+capable of making a Saint's glory shine in the air. But, no more on the subject.
+It is for Theodore to make such excuses as he can for the errors of his friend.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To defend and excuse this friend of mine,&quot; said Theodore, &quot;I
+fear would be a very unsatisfactory thing to try to do. I should much prefer to
+set you a psychical problem to solve, which ought, really, to lead you to
+consider how peculiar influences may work upon the psychical organism; or,
+indeed (to return to Cyprian's simile, the worm engendered along with the most
+beautiful flower), on the worm which is to poison and kill. We are told
+Hysterism in the mother is not transmitted, by heredity, to the son, but that it
+does produce in him a peculiarly lively imagination, even to the extent of
+eccentricity; and I believe that there is one of ourselves in whose case the
+correctness of this theory is confirmed. Now, how might it be with the effect of
+actual <i>insanity</i> of the mother upon the son, although he does not, as a rule,
+inherit that either? I am not speaking of that weak, childish sort of mental
+aberration in women, which is often the result of an enfeebled nervous system;
+what I have in view is that abnormal mental state in which the psychic
+principle, volatilized into a sublimate by the operation of the furnace of
+imagination, has been converted into a poison, which has attacked the vital
+spirits, so that they have become sick unto death, and the human creature, in
+the delirium of this malady, believes the dream of another life-condition to be
+actual waking reality. Now, a woman highly gifted mentally, and largely endowed
+with imagination and fancy, may in those circumstances be much more like to a
+heavenly prophet than to an insane creature, and in the excitement of her
+paroxysms may say things, which to many persons would appear much more like the
+direct inspiration of higher intelligences than the mere utterances of insanity.
+Suppose that the fixed idea of such a woman consisted in her believing herself
+to be the Virgin Mary, and her son Christ, and let this be repeated daily to the
+boy, who is not taken away from her, whilst his powers of comprehension
+gradually develop themselves. He is over-bountifully endowed with talent and
+intelligence, and specially with a glowing imagination. Friends and teachers
+whom he respects and believes all tell him that his poor mother is out of her
+mind, and he himself sees the craziness of the idea, which is not so much as new
+to him, since it exists in nearly every lunatic asylum. But his mother's words
+sink deeply into his heart; he thinks he is hearing announcements from another
+world, and feels vividly the belief taking root within him upon which he bases
+his system of thinking. Above all, he is very much struck and imbued with what
+the maternal prophetess tells him regarding the trials of this world; the
+scoffing and despite which the consecrated one must endure. He finds this all
+realized, and in his boyish melancholy looks upon himself as a Divine victim,
+when his schoolfellows make fun of him for his quaint-looking clothes and his
+timid awkward manners. What follows? Must there not arise in the breast of such
+a youth the belief that the so-called insanity of his mother, which seems to <i>him</i>
+lofty and sublime beyond the comprehension of the common herd, is really neither
+more nor less than a prophetic announcement, in metaphorical language, of the
+high destiny in store for him, chosen by the powers of heaven!
+Saint--prophet!--could there be stronger impulses to mysticism for a youth fired
+with a glowing power of imagination? Let it be further supposed that he is
+physically and psychically excitable to the most destructive extent, and apt to
+fall a prey to and be carried away by the most irresistible tendency to vice,
+and the wicked lusts of the world.... I desire to pass in haste, and with
+averted face, by the fearful abysses of human nature whence the germs of those
+tendencies spring, which might take root and flourish in the heart of the
+unfortunate youth without his being further to blame than in that he had a hot
+blood, only too congenial a soil for the luxuriant poison-plant.... I dare not
+go further; you feel the terrible nature of the strife which tears the heart of
+the unhappy youth. Heaven and hell are drawn up in battle array; and it is this
+mortal combat imprisoned within him which gives rise to phenomena on the surface
+in utter discord with everything else conditioned by mortal nature, and capable
+of no interpretation whatever. How, then, if the glowing power of imagination of
+this man (who in youth imbibed the germ of those eccentricities from his
+mother's mental state) should subsequently, at a time when Sin, bereft of all
+her adornments, accuses herself, in all her repulsive nakedness, for the hellish
+deceptions of the past, lead him, driven by the pain and remorse of his
+repentance, to take refuge in the mysticism of some religious <i>cultus</i>, coming
+to meet him with hymns of victory and perfume of incense? How when then, out of
+the most hidden depths, the voice of some dark spirit within should become
+audible, saying: 'It was but mortal blindness which led you to believe that
+there was dissension in your heart. The veil has fallen, and you perceive that
+sin is the stigma of your heavenly nature, of your supernatural calling,
+wherewith the Eternal has marked the chosen one. It was only when you set
+yourself to offer resistance to sinful impulse, to contend with the Eternal
+Power, that you were abandoned in your blindness and degeneracy. The purified
+fires of hell shine in the glories of the Saints.' And thus does this terrible
+hypermysticism impart to the lost one a consolation which completes the ruin of
+the rotten walls of the edifice of his existence; just as it is when the madman
+derives comfort and enjoyment from his madness, that his recovery is known to be
+hopeless.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, please go no further,&quot; cried Sylvester. &quot;You hurried,
+with averted face, past an abyss which you avoided looking into; but to me it
+seems as if you were leading us along upon narrow, slippery paths, where
+terrible and threatening gulfs yawn at us on either side. What you last said
+reminded me of the horrible mysticism of Pater Molinos, the dreadful doctrine of
+Quietism. I shuddered when I read the leading theorem of that doctrine. 'Il ne
+faut avoir nul égard aux tentations, ni leur opposer aucune résistance. Si la
+nature se meut, il faut la laisser agir; ce n'est que la nature!'[1] This, of
+course, would
+carry----&quot;</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="normal">[Footnote 1: &quot;Toute opération active est absolument interdite
+par Molinos. C'est męme offenser Dieu, que de ne pas tellement s'abandonner ŕ
+lui, que l'on soit comme un corps inanimé. De-lŕ vient, suivant cette
+hérésiarque, que le v&#339;u de faire quelque bonne &#339;uvre est un obstacle ŕ la
+perfection, parce que l'activité naturelle est ennemie de la grâce; c'est un
+obstacle aux opérations de Dieu et ŕ la vraie perfection, parce que Dieu veut
+agir en nous sans nous. Il ne faut connoître ni lumičre, ni amour, ni
+résignation. Pour ętre parfait, il ne faut pas męme connoître Dieu; il ne faut
+penser, ni au paradis, ni ŕ l'enfer, ni ŕ la mort, ni ŕ l'éternité. On ne doit
+point désirer de sçavoir si on marche dans la volonté de Dieu, si on est assez
+résigné ou non. En un mot, il ne faut point que l'âme connoisse ni son état ni
+son néant; il faut qu'elle soit comme un corps inanimé. Toute réflexion est
+nuisible, męme celles qu'on fait sur ses propres actions, et sur ses défauts.
+Ainsi on ne doit point s'embarrasser du scandale que l'on peut causer, pourvu
+que l'on n'ait pas intention de scandaliser. Quand une fois on a donné son libre
+arbitre ŕ Dieu, on ne doit plus avoir aucun désir de sa propre perfection, ni
+des vertus, ni de sa sanctification, ni de son salut; il faut męme se défaire de
+l'espérance, parce qu'il faut abandonner ŕ Dieu tout le soin de ce que nous
+regarde, męme celui de faire en nous et sans nous sa divine volonté. Ainsi c'est
+une imperfection que de demander; c'est avoir une volonté et vouloir que celle
+de Dieu s'y conforme. Par la męme raison il ne faut lui rendre grâce d'aucune
+chose; c'est le remercier d'avoir fait notre volonté; et nous n'en devons point
+avoir.&quot; ('Causes célčbres,' par Richer. Tom. ii.: 'Histoire du Procčs de la
+Cadičre.')]</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="normal">&quot;It would carry us a good deal too far,&quot; interrupted Lothair,
+&quot;into the realm of the most horrible dreams, and--to speak generally--of that
+amount of crack-brainedness of which there can never be any question amongst us
+Serapion Brethren. So let us abandon the subject of all that sublimity of mental
+unhingedness which is the foster-mother of religious mania.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ottmar and Vincenz agreed in this, and added that Theodore had
+committed a breach of Serapiontic rule by speaking so fully on a subject to some
+extent strange to the other brethren, in this manner giving himself up to
+impulses of the moment, and damming up the flow of other communications.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Cyprian, however, look Theodore's part, maintaining that the
+subject on which, for the most part, he had been speaking, might be thought to
+possess such an amount of interest (though, as far as he himself was concerned,
+he must say it was of an uncanny character) that even those to whom the person
+to whom it had referred had never been known, could not but feel themselves very
+much attracted and affected by it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ottmar thought that he could have felt a certain amount of
+interest about it if it had been written in a book. Cyprian said that the
+<i>sapienti sat</i>, was enough as regarded it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the meantime, Theodore had gone into the next room, and now
+came back with a veiled picture, which he placed on a table against the wall,
+setting two candles in front of it. All eyes were bent upon it, and when
+Theodore quickly removed the cloth from before it an &quot;Ah!&quot; came from all their
+lips.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was the author of the 'Soehne des Thales,' a life-size
+half-length, a most speaking likeness, as if it had been stolen out of a
+looking-glass.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Is it possible!&quot; cried Ottmar, enthusiastically. &quot;Yes, from
+under those bushy eyebrows there gleams from the dark eyes the strange fire of
+that unlucky mysticism which dragged the poet to his destruction. But the
+goodness, the kindliness, the lovableness and the talents which beam out of the
+rest of his features, and this charmingly 'roguish' smile of real humour which
+plays about the lips, and seems to try unsuccessfully to hide itself in the
+long, projecting chin, which the hand is stroking so quietly. Of a truth I feel
+myself more and more drawn to this mystic, who grows the more human the longer
+one looks at him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We all feel the same,&quot; cried Lothair and Vincenz.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, yes,&quot; cried the latter, &quot;those sorrowful, gloomy eyes
+get brighter. You are right, Ottmar, he grows human--<i>homo factus est</i>. See, he
+looks with his eyes--he smiles; presently he will say something that will
+delight us; some heavenly jest; some fulminating sally of wit is playing about
+his lips. Out with it, out with it, good Zacharias! Stand on no ceremony! We are
+your friends, master of reserved irony! Ha! Serapion Brethren! let us elect him,
+glasses in hand, an honorary member of our Society; we will drink to our
+brotherhood, and I will pour a libation before his picture, and bedew with a few
+glittering drops my own varnished Parisian boots into the bargain.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The friends took their filled glasses in hand to carry out
+Vincenz's suggestion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Stop!&quot; cried Theodore. &quot;Let me say a word or two first. To
+begin with, I hope you will by no means apply that psychical problem of mine
+(which I perhaps stated somewhat too forcibly) directly to our author here.
+Rather take it that my object was to show you very vividly and convincingly how
+dangerous it is to form conclusions about phenomena in a man of which we know
+nothing as to their deep psychic origin; nay, how heartless, as well as
+senseless, it is to persecute, with silly scorn and childish derision, one who
+has been the victim of a depressing influence, such as we ourselves would
+probably have resisted less successfully. Who shall cast the first stone at one
+who has grown defenceless because his strength has ebbed away with the
+heart's-blood flowing from wounds inflicted by his own self-deception? My end is
+gained now. Even you--Lothair, Ottmar, Vincenz, severe inflexible critics and
+judges, have quite altered your opinions now that you have seen my poet face to
+face. His face speaks truth. I must testify that, in the happy days when he and
+I were friends, he was the most delightful and charming of men in every relation
+of life. All the oddities, and strange eccentricities of his exterior, and of
+his whole being (which he himself, with delicate irony, tried to bring to light,
+rather than to conceal) only produced the effect of rendering him, in the most
+various surroundings and most diverse circumstances, always in the most
+attractive manner, utterly delightful. Moreover, he was full of a subtle humour
+which rendered him the worthy <i>confrčre</i> of Hamann, Heppel, and Scheffner. It is
+impossible that all that blossom of promise can be withered and dead, blighted
+by the poison breath of a miserable infatuation. No! If that picture could come
+to life--if the poet were to walk in and sit down actually amongst us here, life
+and genius would coruscate out of his discourse as of yore. I fain would hope
+that I see the dawn of a new and brilliant day! May the rays of true wisdom
+break out more and more brightly; may recovered strength and renewed power of
+labour produce work which shall show us the poet in the pure glory of the verily
+inspired singer, even if it does not happen before the late autumn of his days!
+And to this, ye Serapion Brethren, let us drink in happy expectation.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The friends, forming a semicircle round the picture, clinked
+their glasses together. &quot;And then,&quot; said Vincenz, &quot;it won't matter whether he is
+Private Secretary, Abbé, or Privy Councillor, Cardinal, or the very Pope; or
+even a Bishop <i>in partibus infidelium</i>, that's to say, of Paphos!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As was usually the case with Vincenz, he had without intending
+it, or even being aware of it, stuck a comic tail on to a serious subject. But
+the friends felt too strangely moved to pay particular attention to this. They
+sat down again in silence at the table, while Theodore carried the poet's
+picture back into the next room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I had meant,&quot; said Sylvester, &quot;to read you this evening a
+story, for the idea of which I am indebted to a strange chance, or rather, to a
+strange remembrance. But it is so late that Serapiontic hours would be long over
+before I had finished it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is very much my case too,&quot; said Vincenz, &quot;with my
+long-promised tale, which I have got pressed against my heart here in the
+breast-pocket of my coat (that usual <i>boudoir</i> of literary
+productions) like a pet child. It has sucked itself fat and lusty at the
+mother's milk of my imagination, and has thereby got so forward and so talkative
+that if I were to let it begin, it would go on till daybreak. So that it must
+wait till the next meeting. To talk, I mean to converse, appears dangerous
+to-night; for, before one knows where one is, some heathen king, or Pater
+Molinos (or some <i>mauvais sujet</i> or another of the sort), suddenly sits in the
+midst of us, talking all kinds of unintelligible nonsense. So that if either of
+us can out with a manuscript with something amusing in it, I hope he will let us
+hear it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If anything which any one of us may be able to produce
+to-night,&quot; said Cyprian, &quot;must seem to be nothing more than a stop-gap, or an
+intermezzo between other melodies, I may pluck up courage to read
+to you a trifle which I wrote down many years ago, when I had
+been passing through a period of much mystery and some danger. I had completely
+forgotten the existence of the pages in question, until they accidentally came
+into my hands a short time ago, vividly recalling
+the times to which they relate. My belief is that what led to
+the production of this rather chimerical story is much more interesting than the
+thing itself; and I shall have more to say on that subject when I have finished
+it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Cyprian read:</p>
+
+<br>
+
+<h2><a name="div2_phenomena" href="#div2Ref_phenomena">PHENOMENA</a>.</h2>
+
+<p class="continue">When any allusion was made to the last siege of Dresden,
+Anselmus turned even paler than he ordinarily was. He would fold his hands in
+his lap--he would gaze before him, lost in melancholy memories--he would murmur
+to himself,</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;God of Heaven, were I to put my legs into my new riding-boots
+at the proper time, and run across the bridge towards Neustadt, paying no
+attention to burning straw, and the bursting shells, I have no doubt that this
+great personage and the other would, put his head out of his carriage window and
+say, with a polite bow, 'Come along, my good sir, without any ceremony. I have
+room for you.' But there was I shut up and hemmed in in the middle of the
+accursed Marmot's-burrow, all ramparts, embankments, trenches, star-batteries,
+covered ways, &#38;c., suffering hunger and misery as much as the best of them.
+Didn't it come to this, that if one happened to turn over the pages of a Roux's
+dictionary by way of passing the time, and came upon the word 'Eat,' one's
+exhausted stomach cried out in utter amazement, 'Eat? Now what does that mean?'
+People who had once on a time been fat buttoned their skin over them, like a
+double-breasted coat, a natural Spencer! Oh, heavens, if only that Master of the
+Rolls--that Lindhorst--hadn't been there! Popowicz of course wanted to kill me,
+but the Dolphin sprinkled marvellous life-balsam out of its silver-blue
+nostrils. And Agafia!&quot; When he spoke this name, Anselmus was wont to get up from
+his seat, jump just a little, once, twice, three times; and then sit down again.
+It was always quite useless to ask him what he really meant, on the whole, by
+those extraordinary sayings and grimaces. He merely answered, &quot;Can I possibly
+describe what happened with Popowicz and Agafia without being supposed to be out
+of my mind?&quot; And every one would laugh gently, as much as to say, &quot;Well, my good
+fellow, we suppose that whether or not.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">One drear, cloudy October evening, Anselmus, who was
+understood to be somewhere a long way off--came in at the door of a friend of
+his. He seemed to be moved to the depths of his being, he was kindlier and
+tenderer than at other times--almost pathetic. His humour (often perhaps too
+wildly discursive, too universally antagonistic) was bowing itself, tamed and
+bridled, before the mighty Spirit which had possession of his inner soul. It had
+grown quite dark, the friend wanted to send for lights. But Anselmus, taking
+hold of both his arms, said: &quot;If you would, for once, do me a real favour, don't
+have lights brought. Let's be content with the dim shining of that Astral lamp
+which is sending its glimmer from the closet there. You can do what you
+please--drink tea, smoke tobacco, but don't smash any cups, or throw lighted
+matches on to my new trousers. Either of those things would not only pain me,
+but would make an unnecessary noise and disturbance in the enchanted garden into
+which I have at last managed to get to-day, and in which I am enjoying myself to
+my soul's content. I shall go and lie on that sofa.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He did so. After a considerable pause, he began:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To-morrow morning at eight o'clock it will be exactly two
+years since Count von der Lobau marched out from Dresden with twelve thousand
+men and four-and-twenty guns, to fight his way to the Meissner Hills.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well,&quot; said his friend, &quot;I have been sitting here on the
+stretch of an expectation, almost of a devout description, thinking I was going
+to hear of some celestial manifestation, coming hovering out of your enchanted
+garden--and this is all? What interest do I take in Count von der Lobau and his
+expedition? And fancy you remembering that there were just twelve thousand men
+and four-and-twenty guns. When did military details of the sort begin to effect
+a lodgment in that head of yours?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Are those days of mystery and fatality,&quot; said Anselmus,
+&quot;which we passed through so short a time ago so completely forgotten by you that
+you no longer recollect the manner in which the armed monster grasped us and
+drove us? The <i>noli turbare</i> no longer held in check our own exertions of force,
+and we would not <i>be</i> held in check or protected, for in every heart the demon
+made deep wounds, and, driven by wild torture, every hand grasped the unfamiliar
+sword, not for defence,
+no--for attack, that the hateful ignominy might be atoned for,
+and revenged, by Death! Even at this hour there comes upon me, in bodily form of
+flesh and blood, that power which was active in those days
+of darkness, and drove me forth from art and science into that
+blood-stained tumult. Was it possible, do you think, for me to
+go on sitting at my desk? I hurried up and down the streets, I followed the
+troops when they marched out, as far as I dared, merely to see with my own eyes
+as much as I could, and from what I Baw to gather some hope, paying no heed to
+the miserable, deceptive, proclamations and news 'from the seat of war.' Very
+good. When at length that battle of all battles was fought, when all round us
+every voice was shouting for joy at new-won freedom, whilst we were still lying
+in chains of slavery, I felt as if my heart would break. I felt as though I must
+gain air and freedom, for myself and all who were chained to the stake along
+with me, by means of some terrible deed. It may seem to you now, and with the
+knowledge of me which you think you possess, incredible and ludicrous; but I can
+assure you that I went about with the idea in my mind, the insane idea, that I
+would set a match to some fort which I knew the enemy had got well-stocked with
+powder, and blow it into the air.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The friend could not help smiling a little at the wild heroism
+of the unwarlike Anselmus. The latter, however, could not see this, as it was
+dark; and after a few moments' silence he proceeded as follows. &quot;You have all of
+you often said that a peculiar planet which presides over me has a manner of
+bringing marvellous matters about my path on occasions of importance, matters in
+which people do not believe and which often seem to myself as if they proceeded
+out of my own inner being, although there they are, outside of me also, taking
+form as mystic symbols of that element of the marvellous which we find all about
+us everywhere in life. It was so with me this day two years ago in Dresden. That
+long day had dragged itself out in dull, mysterious silence; everything was
+quiet outside the gate--not a shot to be heard. Late in the evening--it might
+have been about ten o'clock, I slunk into a coffee house in the old market,
+where, in an out-of-the-way back room into which none of the hated foreigners
+were allowed to penetrate, friends of like minds and opinions gave each other
+reassurance of comfort and hope. It was there where, notwithstanding all the
+lies which were current, the true news of the engagements at the Katzbach, Culm,
+&#38;c., were first received, where our R. told us of the victory at Leipzig two
+days after it happened, though God knows how he obtained his knowledge of it. My
+way had led me past the Brühl Palace, where the Field Marshal was quartered, and
+I had been struck by the unusual lighting-up of the salons, as well as the stir
+going on all over the house. I was just mentioning this to my friends, with the
+remark that the enemy must have something in hand, when R. came hurrying in,
+breathless, and in great excitement. 'Hear the latest thing,' he began at once.
+'There has been a Council of War at the Field Marshal's. General Mouton (Count
+von der Lobau) is going to fight his way to Meissen with twelve thousand men and
+four-and-twenty guns. He marches out this morning.' After a good deal of
+discussion we at last adopted R.'s opinion that this attack, which, from the
+unceasing watchfulness of our friends outside, might very probably be disastrous
+to the enemy, would very likely force the Field Marshal to capitulate, and so
+put a period to our miseries. &quot;How,&quot; thought I, as I was going home about
+midnight, &quot;can R. have found out what the decision come to was almost at the
+very moment it was arrived at?&quot; However, I was presently aware of a hollow,
+rumbling sound making itself audible through the deathly stillness of the night.
+Guns and ammunition waggons, well loaded up with forage, began passing slowly by
+me in the direction of the Elbe bridge. &quot;R. was right then,&quot; I had to say to
+myself. I followed the line of their march and got as far as the centre of the
+bridge, where there was at that time a broken arch, temporarily repaired with
+wooden beams and scaffolding. At each side of this construction was a species of
+fortification, constructed of high palisading and earth-works. Here, close to
+this fortification, I took up my position, pressing myself close to the
+balustrade of the bridge so as not to be seen. It now seemed to me that the tall
+palisades began moving backwards and forwards, and bending over towards me,
+murmuring hollow, unintelligible words. The deep darkness of the cloudy night
+prevented my seeing anything clearly; but when the troops had crossed, and all
+was as still as death on the bridge, I could make out that there was a deep,
+oppressed breathing near me, and a faint, mysterious whimpering or whining--one
+of the dark, scarcely distinguishable baulks of the timber was rising into a
+higher position. An icy horror fell upon me, and, like a man tortured in a
+nightmare dream, firmly fettered by leaded clamps, I could not move a muscle.
+The night-breeze rose, wafting mists about the hills: the moon sent feeble rays
+through rents in the clouds. And I saw, not far from me, the figure of a tall
+old man with silvery hair and a long beard. The mantle which fell over his
+haunches he had cast across his breast in numerous heavy folds. With his long,
+white naked arm he was stretching a staff far out over the river. It was from
+him that the murmuring and whimpering proceeded. At that moment I heard the
+sound of marching coming from the town, and I saw the sheen of arms. The old man
+cowered down, and began to whimper and lament, in a pitiful voice, holding out a
+cap to those who were coming over the bridge, as if asking for alms. An officer,
+laughing, cried, &quot;<i>Voilŕ
+St. Pierre, qui veut pęcher!</i>&quot; The one who came next stopped,
+and said very gravely, &quot;<i>Eh bien! Moi, pęcheur, je lui aiderai ŕ pęcher.</i>&quot;
+Several officers and soldiers, quitting the ranks, threw the old man money,
+sometimes silently, sometimes with gentle sighs, like men in expectation of
+death; and he, then, always nodded from side to side with his head in a curious
+way, uttering a sort of hollow cry of a singular description. At length an
+officer (in whom I recognized General Mouton) came so very close to the old man
+that I thought his foaming charger would tramp upon him; and, turning quickly to
+his
+aide-de-camp, as he thrust his hat more firmly down on to his
+head, he asked him, in a loud excited voice, &quot;<i>Qui est cet homme?</i>&quot; &quot;The escort
+which was in attendance on him stood motionless; but an old, bearded sapper, who
+was passing with his axe on his shoulder, said, calmly and gravely, &quot;<i>C'est un
+pauvre maniaque bien connű ici. On l'appelle St. Pierre Pęcheur.</i>&quot; On that the
+force passed on across the bridge, not as at other times, full of foolish
+jesting, but in dispirited ill-temper and gloom. As the last sound of them died
+away, and the last gleam of their arms disappeared, the old man slowly reared
+himself up, and stood with uplifted head and staff outstretched, like some
+miraculous saint ruling the stormy water. The waves of the river rose into
+mightier and mightier billows, as if stirred from their depths. And I seemed to
+hear a hollow voice, coming up from amidst those rushing waters, and saying in
+the Russian language.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Michael Popowicz! Michael Popowicz! Do you not see the
+fireman?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The old man murmured to himself. He seemed to be praying. But
+suddenly he cried out, &quot;Agafia!&quot; And at that moment his face glowed in blood-red
+fire which seemed to be shooting up at him out of the Elbe. On the Meissner
+Hills great fluttering flames blazed up into the sky; their reflection shone
+into the river, and upon the old man's face. And now, close beside me upon the
+bridge, there began to be audible a sort of plashing and splashing, and I saw a
+dim form climbing up arduously, and presently swing itself over the balustrade
+with marvellous dexterity.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Agafia?&quot; the old man cried.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Girl! Dorothea! In the name of heaven,&quot; I was beginning, but
+in an instant I felt myself clasped hold of, and forcibly drawn away. &quot;Oh, for
+Christ's sake keep silence, dearest Anselmus, or you are a dead man,&quot; whispered
+the creature who was standing close to me, trembling and shivering with cold.
+Her long black hair hung down dripping, her sodden garments were clinging to her
+slender body. She sank down exhausted, saying, in tones of gentle complaining,
+&quot;Oh, it is so cold down there! Do not say another word, Anselmus dearest, or we
+must certainly die.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The light of the flames was glowing upon her face, and I saw
+that she was Dorothea, the pretty country girl who had taken asylum with my
+landlord when her native village was plundered, and her father killed. He
+employed her as a servant, and used to say that her troubles had quite stupefied
+her, or otherwise she would have been a nice enough little thing. And he was
+right there. She scarcely spoke, except to utter a few words which sounded like
+incoherent nonsense, whilst her face, which would otherwise have been beautiful,
+was marred by a strange unmeaning smile. She used to bring my coffee into my
+room every morning, and I remarked that her figure, complexion, &#38;c., were not at
+all those of a peasant girl. &quot;Ah,&quot; my landlord used to say, &quot;you see she's a
+farmer's daughter, and a Saxon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As this girl was thus lying, rather than kneeling before me,
+half dead, dripping, I quickly pulled off my cloak and wrapped her in it,
+whispering to her, &quot;Warm yourself, dear, oh, warm yourself, darling Dorothea, or
+you will die! What were you doing in the cold river?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, keep silent!&quot; she said, throwing back the hood of her
+mantle, and combing her dripping hair back with her fingers. &quot;What I implore you
+to do is to keep silent. Come to that stone seat yonder. Father is speaking with
+Saint Andrew, and can't hear us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We crept cautiously to the stone seat. Utterly carried away by
+the most extraordinary sensations, overmastered by fear and rapture, I clasped
+the creature in my arms. She sat down in my lap without hesitation, and threw
+her arms about my neck. I felt the icy water from her hair running down my neck;
+but as drops sprinkled on fire only increase its flaming, love and longing only
+seethed up within me the more vehemently.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Anselmus,&quot; she whispered, &quot;I believe you are good and true.
+When you sing it goes right through my heart, and you have charming ways. You
+won't betray me. Who would get you your coffee if you did? And, listen, when you
+are all starving (and you soon will be), I'll come to you at night, all alone,
+when nobody can know, and bake you nice cakes. I have flour, fine flour, hidden
+away in my little room. And we'll have bridecake, white and lovely!&quot; At this she
+began to laugh, but immediately sobbed and wept. &quot;Ah me! like those in Moskow.
+Oh! my Alexei! my Alexei! Beautiful dolphin, swim! Swim through the waves! Am I
+not waiting for you, your faithful love?&quot; She drooped her little head, her sobs
+grew fainter, and she seemed to sink into a slumber, her bosom heaving and
+falling in sighs of longing. I looked at the old man. He was standing with
+outstretched arms, and saying, in hollow tones, &quot;He gives the signal! See how he
+shakes his fiery locks of flame; how eagerly he treads into the ground those
+fiery pillars on which he traverses the land! Hear ye not his step of thunder?
+Feel ye not the vivifying breath which wreathes before him like a gleaming
+incense cloud? Hither! hither! mighty brethren!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The sound of the old man's words was like the hollow roar of
+the approaching whirlwind, and while he spoke, the fire upon the Meissner Hills
+blazed brighter and brighter. &quot;Help, Saint Andrew!&quot; the girl cried in her sleep.
+And suddenly she sprung up as if possessed by some terrible idea, and throwing
+her left arm more closely round me, whispered into my ear, &quot;Anselmus! it would
+be better that I killed you,&quot; and I saw a knife gleaming in her right hand. I
+repulsed her in terror, with a loud cry of, &quot;Mad creature! What would you do?&quot;
+Then she screamed out, &quot;Ah, I cannot do it! But all is over with you now!&quot; At
+that moment the old man cried, &quot;Agafia, with whom are you speaking?&quot; And ere I
+could bethink me, he was close to me, aiming a stroke with his swung staff at me
+which would have cleft my skull in two had not Agafia seized me from behind and
+drawn me quickly away. The staff splintered into a thousand pieces on the stone
+bench. The old man fell on his knees. &quot;Allons! allons!&quot; resounded from all
+sides. I had to collect my thoughts, and spring quickly to one side to avoid
+being crushed by the guns and ammunition waggons which were again coming across.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Next morning the Russians drove this expeditionary force down
+from the hills, and back into the fortifications, notwithstanding the
+superiority of its numbers. &quot;'Tis a strange thing,&quot; people said, &quot;that our
+friends outside were informed of the enemy's plans, for that signal fire on the
+Meissner Hills had the effect of assembling the troops, so that they might make
+a resistance in force, just at the very time and place where he intended to
+concentrate his attacking bodies.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For several days Dorothea did not come in the morning with my
+coffee; and my landlord, pale with terror, told me had seen her, along with the
+mad beggar of the Elbe bridge, marched off from the marshal's quarters to
+Neustadt under a strong escort.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, good heavens!&quot; said Anselmus's friend, &quot;they were
+discovered and executed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Anselmus gave a strange smile and said, &quot;Agafia got away;
+and, alter the Peace was signed, I received, from her own hands, a beautiful
+white wedding-cake of her own making.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The reticence of Anselmus was proof against every effort to
+induce him to say anything more concerning this astonishing affair.</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="normal">When Cyprian had finished, Lothair said, &quot;You told us that the
+events which suggested this sketch would be more interesting than it is itself;
+so that I consider those suggesting circumstances are an essential part of it,
+without which it is not complete. Therefore, I think you ought at once to give
+us your why and wherefore, as a sort of explanatory note.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Does it not seem to you to be as unusual as remarkable,&quot; said
+Cyprian, &quot;that all that I have read to you is literally true, and that even the
+little 'wind up,' has its kernel of actuality?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let us hear!&quot; the friends cried.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To begin with,&quot; said Cyprian, &quot;I must tell you that the fate
+which befell Anselmus in my sketch was actually my own, as well. My being ten
+minutes late decided my destiny, so that I was shut up in Dresden just as it was
+surrounded on all sides. It is a fact that after the battle of Leipzig, when our
+condition became more painful and trying day by day, certain friends, or mere
+acquaintances, whom a similar lot and a like way of thinking had drawn together,
+used to assemble in the back room of a coffee-house, much as the disciples did
+at Emmaus. The landlord, one Eichelkraut, was a reliable, trustworthy man, who
+made no secret of his hostility to the French, and always obliged them to treat
+him with proper respect and keep their due distance from him when they came in
+as customers. No Frenchman was allowed to make his way into that backroom on any
+pretext, and if one did succeed in showing his nose there, he could never get a
+morsel to eat, or a drop to drink, let him implore, or swear, as much as he
+liked. Moreover, the room was always as silent as the grave, and we all blew
+such stifling clouds out of our pipes that the place soon became so full of the
+exhalation that a Frenchman would be very soon smoked out, like a wasp, and
+usually went growling and swearing out of the door like one. As soon as he did,
+the window would be opened to let the reek out, and we would be restored to our
+peace and comfort again. The life and soul of those meetings was a well-known
+talented and charming writer: and I remember with great pleasure how he and I
+used to get upstairs to the upper story of the house, look out of the little
+garret window into the night, and see the enemy's bivouac fires shining in the
+sky. We used to say to each other all sorts of wonderful things which the
+shimmer of those fires, combined with the moonlight, used to put into our heads,
+and then go down and tell our friends what we imagined we had seen. It is a fact
+that one night one of our number (an advocate) who was always the first to hear
+any news, and whose reports were always reliable (heaven knows whence he derived
+his information), came in and told us the decision which had just been come to
+by the council of war concerning the expedition of Count von der Lobau, exactly
+as I have repeated it to you. It is likewise true that as I was going home about
+midnight, while the French battalions were falling-in in profound silence (no
+<i>generale</i> being beaten) and beginning their march over the bridge, I met
+ammunition waggons, so that I could have no doubt of the accuracy of his
+information. And lastly, it is the fact that, on the bridge, there was a grey
+old beggar lying, begging from the French troops as they crossed, whom I could
+not remember having seen in Dresden before. Last of all it is the fact, and the
+most wonderful of all, that when, much interested and excited, I reached my own
+quarters, on climbing up to the top story I <i>did</i> see a fire on the Meissner
+Hills, which was neither a watch fire nor a burning building. The sequel showed
+that the Russians must have known that night all about the attack intended to be
+made on the following morning, inasmuch as they concentrated troops which had
+been at a considerable distance upon the Meissner Hills, and it was principally
+Russian Landwehr which drove the French back as a storm sweeps a field of
+stubble. When the remnant of them fell back into the fortifications, the
+Russians quietly marched off to their previous positions. So that at the very
+time when the council of war was held at Gouvion de St. Cyr's, the decision
+which it arrived at was communicated to, or, more probably, overheard by persons
+who were not supposed to have this in their power. Strangely enough, the
+advocate knew every detail of the deliberation; for instance, that Gouvion was
+opposed to the expedition, and only yielded lest he might be thought wanting in
+courage, in a case where rapidity of decision was a desideratum. Count von der
+Lobau was determined to march out and endeavour to cut his way to the emperor's
+army. But how did the surrounding force know so soon of what was projected? For
+they knew of it in the course of an hour. Not only was it apparently impossible
+to get across the strongly fortified bridge; and if not, the river would have
+had to be swum, and the various trenches and walls got over. Moreover, the whole
+of Dresden was palisaded, and carefully guarded by sentries, to a considerable
+distance round. Where was the possibility of any human being surmounting all
+those obstacles in such a short space of time! One might think of telegraphic
+signals, made by means of lights from some tall tower or loftily situated house.
+But consider the difficulty of carrying that out, and the risk of detection, for
+such signals would have been easily seen. At all events it remains an
+incomprehensible thing how what actually happened came to pass; and that is
+enough to suggest to a lively imagination all sorts of mysterious and
+sufficiently extraordinary hypotheses to account for it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I bow my knee in deep reverence before Saint Serapion,&quot; said
+Lothair; &quot;and before the most worthy of his disciples, and I am quite sure that
+a Serapiontic account of the important incidents of the war, as seen by him, if
+given in his characteristic style, would be exceedingly interesting, as well as
+very instructive, to imaginative members of the profession of arms. At the same
+time I have little doubt that the incidents in question came about quite
+naturally, and in the ordinary course of events. But you had to get your
+landlord's servant-girl, the pleasing Dorothea, into the water, as a sort of
+deluding Nixie; and she----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Don't jest about that,&quot; Cyprian said, very solemnly. &quot;Don't
+make jokes on that subject, Lothair. At this moment I see that beautiful
+creature before my eyes, that lovely terrible mystery (I do not know what other
+name to call her by). It was I who had that bridecake sent to me; glittering in
+diamonds, flashing like lightning, wrapped in priceless sables----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Listen,&quot; cried Vincenz. &quot;We are getting at it now. The Saxon
+maid-servant--the Russian Princess--Moskow--Dresden-- Has not
+Cyprian always spoken in the most mysterious language, and with the most
+recondite allusions, of a certain period of his life just after the first French
+war? It is coming out now! Speak! Let all your heart stream forth, my Cyprianic
+Serapion and Serpiontic Cyprian.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And how if I keep silence?&quot; answered Cyprian, suddenly
+drawing in his horns, and growing grave and gloomy. &quot;And how if I am obliged to
+keep silence? And I <i>shall</i> keep silence!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He spoke those words in a strangely solemn and exalted tone,
+leaning back in his chair, and fixing his eyes on the ceiling, as was his wont
+when deeply moved.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The friends looked at one another with questioning glances.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well,&quot; said Lothair at last, &quot;it seems that somehow our
+meeting of to-night has fallen into a strange groove of ill-fortune, and it
+appears to be hopeless to expect any comfort or enjoyment out of it. Suppose we
+have a little music, and sing some absurd stuff or other as vilely as we can.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes,&quot; said Theodore, &quot;that is the thing.&quot; And he opened the
+piano. &quot;If we don't manage a canon--which, according to Junker Tobias is a thing
+which can reel three souls out of a weaver's body--we will make it awful enough
+to be worthy of Signor Capuzzi and his friends. Suppose we sing an Italian
+<i>Terzetto buffo</i> out of our own heads. I'll be the prima donna, and begin.
+Ottmar will be the lover, and Lothair had better be the comic old man, and come
+in, raging and swearing in rapid notes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But the words, the words,&quot; said Ottmar.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Sing whatever you please,&quot; said Theodore; &quot;Oh Dio! Addio!
+Lasciami mia Vita.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, no,&quot; cried Vincenz. &quot;If you won't let me take part in
+your singing--although I feel that I possess a wonderful talent for it, which
+only wants the voice of a Catalani to produce itself in the
+work-a-day world with drastic effect, allow me at least to be
+your librettist--your poet-laureate. And here I hand you your libretto at once.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He had found on Theodore's writing-table the 'Indice de
+Teatrali Spettacoli' for 1791, and this he handed to Theodore. This indice, like
+all which appear yearly in Italy, merely contained a list of the titles of the
+operas performed, with the names of their composers, and of the singers,
+scene-painters, &#38;c., concerned in their production. They opened the page which
+related to the opera in Milan, and it was decided that the prima donna should
+sing the names of the lover-tenors (with a due interspersing of Ah Dio's and Oh
+Cielo's), that the lover-tenor should sing the names of the prima donnas in like
+manner, and that the comic old man should come in, in his furious wrath, with
+the titles of the operas which had been given and an occasional burst of
+invective, appropriate to his character.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Theodore played a <i>ritornello</i> of the cut and pattern which
+occurs by the hundred in the opera buffas of the Italians, and then began to
+sing in sweet, tender strains &quot;Lorenzo Coleoni! Gaspare Rossari! Oh Dio!
+Giuseppo Marelli! Francesco Sedini!&quot; &#38;c. Ottmar followed with &quot;Giuditta Paracca!
+Teresa Ravini! Giovanna Velata--Oh Dio!&quot; &#38;c. And Lothair burst duly in with
+rapid, angry quavers: &quot;Le Gare Generose, del Maestro Paesiello--Che vedo? La
+Donna di Spirito, del Maestro Mariella. Briconaccio! Piro, Re di Epiro!
+Maledetti!--del Maestro Zingarelli,&quot; &#38;c.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This singing, which Lothair and Ottmar accompanied with
+appropriate gesticulations (Vincenz illustrating Theodore's impersonations with
+the most preposterous grimaces imaginable), warmed up the friends more and more.
+In a comic description of enthusiastic inspiration each seized the drift of the
+other's ideas. All the passages, imitations, &#38;c. (to use musical expressions),
+usually employed in compositions of this description, were reproduced with the
+utmost accuracy--so that any one who had come in by accident would never have
+dreamt that this performance was improvised on the spur of the moment, even if
+the strange hotch-potch of names had struck him as curious.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Louder and more unrestrainedly raged this outbreak of Italian
+<i>rabbia</i>, until (as may be supposed), it culminated in a wild, universal burst
+of laughter, in which even Cyprian joined.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At their parting, on this evening, the friends were in a
+condition of wild enjoyment, rather than (as was the case on other occasions),
+lull of rational delight.</p>
+
+<br>
+
+<br>
+<h2><a name="div1_section8" href="#div1Ref_section8">SECTION EIGHT</a>.</h2>
+
+<p class="normal">The Serapion Brethren had assembled for another meeting.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I must be greatly mistaken,&quot; said Lothair, &quot;and be anything
+but the possessor of a native genius (supplemented by assiduous practice) for
+physiognomy--such as I believe that I do possess, if I do not read very
+distinctly in the face of every one of us (not excepting my own, which I see
+magically gleaming at me in yonder mirror), that our minds are all fully charged
+with matter of importance, and only waiting for the word of command to fire it
+off. I am rather afraid that more than one of us may have got shut up in one or
+other of his productions one of those eccentric little firework devils which may
+come fizzling out, dart backwards and forwards about the room, banging and
+jumping, and not manage to pop out of the window until it has managed to give us
+all a good singeing. I even dread a continuation of our last conversation, and
+may Saint Serapion avert that from us! But lest we should fall immediately into
+those wild, seething waters, and that we may commence our meeting in a duly calm
+and rational frame of mind, I move that Sylvester begins by reading to us that
+story which we could not hear on the last occasion because there was no time
+left.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This proposal was unanimously agreed to.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The woof which I have spun,&quot; said Sylvester, producing a
+manuscript, &quot;is composed of many threads, of the most various shades, and the
+question in my mind is whether--on the whole--you will think it has proper
+colour and keeping. It was my idea that I should, perhaps, put some flesh and
+blood into what I must admit, is a rather feeble body, by contributing to it
+something out of a great, mysterious period--to which it really does but serve
+as a sort of framework.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Sylvester read:--</p>
+
+<br>
+
+<h2><a name="div2_mutual" href="#div2Ref_mutual">THE MUTUAL INTERDEPENDENCE OF THINGS</a>.</h2>
+
+<p class="hang1">A tumble over a root as a portion of the system of the
+universe--Mignon
+and the gypsy from Lorca, in connection with General
+Palafox--A
+Paradise opened at Countess Walther Puck's.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No!&quot; said Ludwig to his friend Euchar, &quot;no! There is no such
+lubberly, uncouth attendant on the goddess of Fortune as Herr Tieck has been
+pleased to introduce in the prologue to his second part of 'Fortunat,' who, in
+the course of his gyrations, upsets tables, smashes ink-bottles, and goes
+blundering into the President's carriage, hurting his head and his arm. No! For
+there is no such thing as chance. I hold to the opinion that the entire
+universe, and all that it contains, and all that comes to pass in it--the
+complete macrocosm--is like some large, very ingeniously constructed piece of
+clockwork-mechanism, which would necessarily come to a stop in a moment if any
+hostile principle, operating wholly involuntarily, were permitted to come in
+contact--in an opposing sense--with the very smallest of its wheels.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I don't know, friend Ludwig,&quot; said Euchar, laughing, &quot;how it
+is that you have come, all of a sudden, to adopt this
+wretched,
+mechanical theory--which is as old as the hills, and out of
+date long ago--disfiguring and distorting Goethe's beautiful notion of the red
+thread which runs all through our lives--in which, when we think about it in our
+more lucid moments, we recognize that higher Power which works above, and in
+us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have the greatest objection to that simile,&quot; said Ludwig.
+&quot;It is taken from the British navy. All through the smallest rope in their ships
+(I know this, of course, from the Wahlverwandschaften), runs a small red thread,
+which shows that the rope is Government property. No, my dear friend! Whatever
+happens is pre-ordained, from the beginning, as an essential necessity, just
+because it does happen. And this is the Mutual Interdependence of Things, upon
+which rests the principle of all being, of all existence. Because, as soon as
+you----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">However, it is necessary, at this point, to explain to the
+courteous reader that as Ludwig and Euchar were thus talking together, they were
+walking in an alley of the beautiful park at W----. It was a Sunday. Twilight
+was beginning to fall, the evening breeze was whispering in the branches which,
+reviving after the heat of the day, were exhaling gentle sighs. Among the woods
+were sounding the happy voices of townsfolk in their Sunday clothes, out for the
+afternoon, some of them lying in the sweet grass enjoying their simple supper,
+and others refreshing themselves in the various restaurants, in accordance with
+the winnings of their week.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Just as Ludwig was going on to explain more fully the profound
+theory of the mutual interdependence of things, he stumbled over the thick root
+of a tree, which (as he always wore spectacles) he had not seen; and he measured
+his length on the ground.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;<i>That</i> was comprehended in the mutual interdependence of
+things,&quot; said Euchar gravely and quietly, lifting up his friend's hat and stick,
+and giving him his hand to help him on to his legs again. &quot;If you had not
+pitched over in that absurd manner the world would have come to a stop at once.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Ludwig felt his right knee so stiff that he was obliged to
+limp, and his nose was bleeding freely. This induced him to take his
+friend's advice and go into the nearest restaurant, though he
+generally avoided these places, particularly on Sundays. For
+the jubilations of the Sunday townsfolk were exceptionally displeasing to him,
+giving him a sensation of being in places which were not by any means
+<i>convenable</i>--at all events for people of his position.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the front of this restaurant the people had formed a deep,
+many-tinted ring, from the interior of which there Bounded the tones of a guitar
+and a tambourine. Ludwig, assisted by his friend, went limping into the house,
+holding his handkerchief to his face. And he begged so pitifully for water, and
+a little drop of wine-vinegar, that the landlady, much alarmed, thought he must
+be at the point of death. Whilst he was being served with what he required,
+Euchar (on whom the sounds of the guitar and tambourine exercised an
+irresistible fascination) crept forth, and endeavoured to penetrate into the
+closed circle. He belonged to that restricted class of Nature's favourites whose
+exterior and whole being ensure a kindly reception everywhere, and in all
+circumstances. So that on this occasion some journeymen mechanics (people who
+are not usually much given to politeness of a Sunday) at once made room for him
+when he asked what was going forward, so that he as well as themselves might
+have a look at the strange little creature who was dancing and playing so
+prettily and cleverly. And a curious and delightful scene displayed itself to
+Euchar, which fettered all his mind and attention.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the middle of the ring a girl with her eyes blindfolded was
+dancing the fandango amongst nine eggs, arranged three by three behind each
+other on the ground, and playing a tambourine as she danced. At one side stood a
+little deformed man, with an ill-looking gypsy face, playing the guitar. The
+girl who was dancing seemed to be about fifteen. She was oddly dressed in a red
+bodice, gold-embroidered, and a short white skirt trimmed with ribbons of
+various colours. Her figure and all her motions were the very ideal of elegance
+and grace. She brought the most marvellous variety of sounds out of her
+tambourine. Sometimes she would raise it above her head, and then hold it out in
+front of her or behind her, with her arms stretched out, in the most picturesque
+attitudes. Now it would sound like a far-off drum; now like the melancholy
+cooing of the turtle-dove, and presently like the distant roar of the
+approaching storm. All this was accompanied in the most delightful manner by the
+tinkling of the clear, harmonious bells. And the little guitar-player by no
+means fell short of her in virtuosity; for he, too, had quite a style of his own
+of treating his instrument--making the dance melody (which was a most
+characteristic one, wholly out of the common run of such things) predominate at
+times, loud and clear, and hushing it down at other times into a mysterious
+piano, striking the strings with the palms of his hand (as the Spaniards do in
+producing that peculiar effect), and presently dashing out bright-sounding, full
+harmonies. The tambourine went on <i>crescendo</i>, as the guitar-strings clanged
+louder and louder, and the girl's boundings increased in their scope in a
+similar ratio. She would set down her foot within a hair's-breadth of the eggs
+with the most complete certainty and confidence, so that the spectators could
+not help crying out, thinking that one of those fragile things must infallibly
+be broken. Her black hair had fallen down, and it flew about her head, giving
+her much the effect of a Mćnad. The little fellow cried out to her in Spanish,
+&quot;Stop!&quot; And on this, while still going on with her dance, she lightly touched
+each of the eggs, so that they rolled together into a heap; upon which, with a
+loud beat on her tambourine and a forcible chord on the guitar, she came to a
+sudden standstill, as if banned there by some spell. The dance was done.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The little fellow went up to her and undid the cloth which
+bound her eyes. She rolled up her hair, took the tambourine, and went round
+amongst the spectators, with downcast looks, to collect their contributions. Not
+one had slunk off out of the way. Every one, with a face of pleasure, put a
+piece of money into that tambourine. When she came to Euchar, and as he was
+going to put something into it, she made a sign of refusal.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;May not I give you anything?&quot; he said.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She looked up at him, and the glowing fire of her loveliest of
+eyes flashed through the night of her black silken lashes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The old man,&quot; she said gravely--almost solemnly--in her deep
+voice, and with her foreign accent, &quot;told me that you, sir, did not come till
+the best part of my dance was done; and so I ought not to take anything from
+you.&quot; Thus speaking she made Euchar a pretty courtesy, and went to the little
+man, taking the guitar from his hands, and going with him to a table at some
+distance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When Euchar looked round him, he perceived Ludwig sitting not
+far off, between two respectable townsfolk, with a great glass of beer before
+him, making the most earnest signs. Euchar went to him, saying, with a laugh,
+&quot;Why, Ludwig, when did you take to drinking beer?&quot; Ludwig, however, made signals
+to him, and said, in meaning accents, &quot;What do you say? Beer is one of the most
+delicious of drinks, and I delight in it above all things--when it is so
+magnificent as it is here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The citizens rose, and Ludwig shook hands with them most
+politely, putting on a look which was half-pleased, half-annoyed, when they
+expressed at parting their regret for his mishap.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are always getting me into hot water with your want of
+tact,&quot; he said. &quot;If I hadn't allowed myself to be treated to a glass of beer, if
+I hadn't managed to gulp the abominable trash down--those sturdy counter-jumpers
+would probably have been offended, and would have looked upon me as one of the
+profane. Then you must needs come and bring me into discredit, when I had been
+playing my part so very nicely.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well,&quot; said Euchar, &quot;if you had been bowed out of their
+company, or even come in for a little touch of cudgelling, wouldn't it all have
+been a part of the mutual interdependence of things? But just listen as I tell
+you what a charming little drama your trip over the tree-root (predestined,
+according to the conditions of the Macrocosmus, to occur) gave me an opportunity
+of seeing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he told him about the charming egg dance by the Spanish
+girl. &quot;Mignon!&quot; cried Ludwig enthusiastically. &quot;Heavenly, divine Mignon!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The guitarist was sitting not far off, at a table, counting
+the receipts, and the girl was standing beside him, squeezing an orange into a
+glass of water. Presently the old man put the money together, and nodded to the
+girl with eyes sparkling with gladness, whilst she handed him the orange-water,
+and stroked his wrinkled cheeks. He gave a disagreeable, cackling laugh, and
+gulped down the liquid with every indication of thirst. The girl sat down and
+began tinkling on the guitar. &quot;Oh Mignon!&quot; cried Ludwig again. &quot;Heavenly, divine
+Mignon! Ah, I shall rescue her, like another Wilhelm Meister, from the thraldom
+of this accursed miscreant who holds her in bondage!&quot; &quot;How do you know,&quot; asked
+Euchar, &quot;that this little hunchback is an accursed miscreant?&quot; &quot;Cold creature!&quot;
+answered Ludwig. &quot;Cold, passionless creature, you understand nothing, you have
+no sympathy with anything, no sense of the genial, the imaginative. Don't you
+see--don't you comprehend how every description of the most insulting contempt,
+envious feeling, wickedness, ill-temper, and avarice of the vilest kind gleam
+out of the green, cat's-eyes of that little gypsy abortion--are legible in every
+wrinkle of his diabolical-looking face? Yes! I am going to rescue that beautiful
+child out of the clutches--the Satanic clutches--of that brown monster! If I
+could only have a talk with her, the little charmer!&quot; &quot;Nothing is easier than
+that,&quot; said Euchar, and he signed to her to come near.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The girl put the instrument down, came near, and made a
+reverence, casting her eyes modestly on the ground. &quot;Mignon!&quot; cried Ludwig.
+&quot;Mignon! Sweet, beautiful creature!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am called Emanuela,&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And that horrible ruffian there,&quot; Ludwig went on, &quot;where did
+he steal you from? How did you get into his clutches, poor thing?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The girl lifted her eyes, and sending a beaming, serious
+glance through and through Ludwig, replied. &quot;I don't understand you, sir. I
+don't know what you mean--why you ask me this?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are a Spaniard, my child,&quot; Euchar began.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am,&quot; she answered, her voice trembling. &quot;I am, indeed. You
+see
+me--you hear me. Why should I deny it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then, of course, you can play the guitar and sing a song?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She covered her eyes with her hand, and said, in a scarce
+audible whisper, &quot;Ah! I should like to play and sing <i>you</i> one. But my songs are
+burning hot; and here it is so cold--so cold!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do you know,&quot; said Euchar, speaking in Spanish, and in a
+heightened tone, &quot;the song <i>Laurel immortal</i>?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She clapped her hands, raised her glance to Heaven, tears
+filled her eyes; she flew to the table, seized the guitar, sprang, rather than
+walked back to the two friends, placed herself before Euchar, and began</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="i4">&quot;Laurel immortal al gran Palafox,</p>
+<p class="i4">Gloria da Espańa, de Francia terror!&quot;</p>
+</div>
+<p class="normal">The expression which she put into this song was indescribable.
+From the deepest pain of death there flamed forth the most
+fiery enthusiasm--each note seemed to be a lightning flash which must shiver
+every ice-covering of the chilled breast. As for Ludwig he was--to use a
+familiar expression--ready to jump out of his skin with sheer rapture. He
+interrupted her singing with boisterous &quot;Bravas!&quot; &quot;Bravissimas!&quot; and a hundred
+other such expressions of approbation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do be so kind, my dear fellow, as to make a little less
+noise!&quot; Euchar said. &quot;Oh, of course,&quot; he answered, &quot;you unimpressionable people
+are never in the least affected by music!&quot; However he did what Euchar had asked
+him to do.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When she had finished, she went and leant on a tree, as if
+wearied. And as she let the chords go on sounding more and more softly till they
+died away in a <i>pianissimo</i>, great tears were falling upon the instrument.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are in some need, my poor, pretty child,&quot; said Euchar, in
+the tone which comes only from a deeply moved heart. &quot;Although I did not see the
+beginning of your dance, you have more than made up for that by your song, and
+you must not refuse to accept something from me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He had taken out a little purse in which bright ducats were
+shining, and was handing it to her as she came closer to him. She fixed her gaze
+upon his hand, seized it in both her own, and falling on her knees with a loud
+cry of &quot;<i>Oh, Dios!</i>&quot; covered it with the warmest kisses. &quot;Ah!&quot; cried Ludwig,
+&quot;nothing but gold is worthy to touch that beautiful little hand.&quot; And he asked
+Euchar if he could give him change for a thaler, as he had no smaller money
+about him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Meanwhile the hunchback had come limping up, and he lifted the
+guitar, which Emanuela had dropped on the ground, making many smiling reverences
+to Euchar, supposing that he had been exceedingly generous to the girl, from the
+motion with which she had thanked him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Scoundrel--miscreant!&quot; growled Ludwig.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The man started in alarm, and said, in a lamentable tone, &quot;Ah,
+sir, why are you so angry? Don't condemn poor Biagio Cubas--a good, respectable,
+honest man. Don't judge me by the colour of my skin, or by the ugliness of my
+face. I know I <i>have</i> an ugly face. I was born in Lorca, and am every bit as
+good a Christian as you are yourself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The girl jumped up hastily, crying out to the old man in
+Spanish, &quot;Come away, little father, as quickly as you can.&quot; And they both
+hurried off, Cubas continuing to make various odd reverences, and Emanuela
+fixing upon Euchar the most soul-full gaze of which her beautiful eyes were
+capable.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When the strange couple were lost among the trees, Euchar
+said, &quot;You must see, do you not, that you were in much too great a hurry to
+condemn that little cobold in your own mind? He <i>has</i> a touch or so of the gypsy
+about him. As he says himself, he comes from Lorca. And Lorca is an old Moorish
+town, and the Lorcanese (good enough folks, all the same) bear undeniable traces
+of their ancestry. So there is nothing which they take in worse part than to
+have this imputed to them, which is why they keep perpetually declaring that
+they are Christians of ever so old standing. This was the case with this little
+fellow, in whose face his Moorish origin is certainly reflected to the extent of
+positive caricature.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No matter!&quot; cried Ludwig. &quot;I stick to my opinion; the man is
+a tremendous scoundrel, and I will leave no stone unturned till I deliver my
+charming, beautiful Mignon from his clutches.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If you insist on thinking the little fellow a scoundrel,&quot;
+said Euchar, &quot;I can't say that I have very much confidence, for my part, in the
+charming beautiful Mignon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What!&quot; cried Ludwig. &quot;Not have confidence in that divine
+little creature, whose eyes beam with the purest, most innocent truth and
+tenderness? However, there we see the icy, prosaic nature wholly devoid of
+feeling for all such matters, distrustful of everything which doesn't fit all in
+a moment into the compartments, the grooves of his everyday business.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, don't get so excited about it, my dear, enthusiastic
+friend,&quot; said Euchar quietly. &quot;You will probably say that I have no tangible
+reason for distrusting the beautiful Mignon. But my reason is that I have this
+instant discovered that as she was kissing my hand she took away that little
+ring with the curious stone (which you know I always wear) from my finger. And I
+am greatly distressed to lose it, because it is a souvenir of a period of my
+life which was full of intense interest and importance.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In heaven's name,&quot; said Ludwig, in an awestruck whisper, &quot;it
+is not possible, surely! No, no!&quot; he cried, loudly and excitedly, &quot;it cannot be
+possible! That lovely face could not deceive: that eye--that
+glance--You must have dropped the ring--let it fall.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well--&quot; said Euchar, &quot;we shall see. But it is getting dark:
+let us get back to the town.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">All the way home, Ludwig did not cease talking of Emanuela,
+calling her by the sweetest names, and declaring that he was quite certain--from
+a peculiar glance which she had cast on him at parting--that he had made a deep
+impression on her--a sort of event which generally happened to him in similar
+cases--<i>i.e.</i> when the romantic element entered amongst the circumstances of
+everyday life. Euchar did not interrupt him by so much as a syllable; but he
+worked himself up more and more--till, just at the town gate (where the drummer
+of the guard was beginning to beat the tattoo), he screamed into his friend's
+ear (a process necessitated by the row made by the military virtuoso on his
+instrument), as he cast himself upon his bosom, that he was most deeply in love
+with the sweet Mignon, and that the sole object of his life from thenceforth was
+to find her again, and free her from the bondage of the atrocious old monster.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There was a servant in a handsome livery standing at Ludwig's
+door,
+who handed him a card of invitation. As soon as he had read
+it, and sent the servant away, he embraced his friend as frantically as he
+had done at the town gate, and cried, &quot;Oh, Euchar! call me the
+most
+fortunate--the most enviable--of mortals. Open your heart!
+Form some slight idea of my happiness! Mingle your tears of joy with mine!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What can there be of such a marvellously fortunate
+description announced to you on a card?&quot; inquired Euchar.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Don't be startled,&quot; murmured Ludwig, &quot;when I open to you the
+gates of the magically brilliant Paradise of a thousand delights, which will
+unfold itself to me by the virtue of this card here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well,&quot; said Euchar, &quot;I am sure I shall be very glad indeed,
+to hear what the piece of good fortune is which is coming to you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hear it,&quot; cried Ludwig; &quot;learn it--understand it! Be amazed
+at
+it--doubt of it--cry out--shriek--shout! I have got an
+invitation to the supper and ball to-morrow evening at Countess Walther Puck's!
+Victorine! Victorine! Sweet, lovely Victorine!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And how about sweet, lovely Mignon?&quot; asked Euchar. But Ludwig
+groaned forth, in the most pathetic tones, &quot;Victorine! My life!&quot; and bolted into
+his quarters.</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="hang1"><span class="sc">The Friends, Ludwig and Euchar. Evil Dream of the Loss, at
+Piquet, of a Pair of Handsome Legs. Woes of an Enthusiastic Dancer.
+Comfort, Hope, and Monsieur Cochenille.</span></p>
+
+<p class="normal">It may be expedient to tell the courteous reader a little more
+concerning this pair of friends, so that he may form, at all events, to some
+extent, a well-grounded opinion as to each of them.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Both had the title of Baron. Educated together, and having
+grown up in the most intimate friendship, they could not part even when the
+lapse of years brought to light most striking dissimilarities in their mental
+characteristics, which became more and more developed as time went on. In his
+childhood, Euchar belonged to the class of &quot;good, well-behaved children,&quot;
+so-called, because in &quot;society&quot; they will sit for hours in the same spot, ask no
+questions, never want anything, and so forth, and then in due course, develop
+into wooden blockheads. With Euchar the case was different. If when, in his
+capacity of a &quot;good, well-behaved&quot; boy he chanced to be sitting with bent head
+and downcast eyes, some one spoke to him, he would start in alarm, stammer, and
+falter in his speech, often even shed tears, and seem to have been awakened from
+a deep dream. When alone, he appeared to be a totally different being. If
+watched without his being aware of it, he would be talking loudly and eagerly,
+as if with several people about him, and he would &quot;act&quot; whole stories--which he
+had heard or read--as if they were dramas, so that tables, cupboards, chairs,
+whatever happened to be in the room with him, had to represent towns, forests,
+villages, and dramatis personć. But when he had an opportunity of being alone in
+the open air, a special ecstasy seemed to inspire him. Then he would jump,
+dance, and shout through the woods, putting his arms about the trees, throwing
+himself down into the grass--and so forth. In any sort of game played by boys of
+his own standing, he was most unwilling to take part, and was consequently
+looked upon as being &quot;funky,&quot; and a creature who had no &quot;pluck,&quot; for he would
+never take his share in anything where there was any chance of risk--such as a
+big jump, or a difficult piece of climbing. But here, also, it was curious that,
+when at the end nobody had had the pluck to do the thing, Euchar would wait till
+they were all gone, and then, when he was by himself, would do with the utmost
+ease, what they had all only <i>wanted</i> to do. For instance, if the idea was to get
+up a high, slender tree, and nobody had managed to do it, as soon as all their
+backs were turned, and Euchar was alone, he would be at the top of it in a few
+seconds. Seeming outwardly to be cold and apathetic, he really threw himself
+into everything with all his soul, and a persevering steadfastness such as only
+belongs to strong characters. And when--as was often the case--that which he
+felt keenly came to the surface, it did so with such irresistible force, that
+everyone who had any knowledge of such matters was amazed at the depth of
+feeling which lay hidden in the boy's nature. Many schoolmasters, and tutors,
+who had to do with him, could make neither head nor tail of him as a pupil, and
+there was only one of them--the last--who said the boy was a poet: at which his
+papa was very much distressed, thinking that the boy had inherited his mother's
+temperament, and she had always had the most terrible headaches whenever she
+went to a party or any social function. However, the papa's most intimate
+friend, a smooth-spoken young chamberlain, assured him that the schoolmaster in
+question was an ass to say what he did, and utterly mistaken, seeing that the
+blood in the veins of young Euchar was noble, so that, being by birth an
+aristocrat, he never could be in any danger of being capable of poetry. And this
+was very consoling to the old gentleman. How the lad developed with those
+dispositions may be readily inferred. Nature had imprinted on his face the
+unmistakable signet with which she stamps her prime favourites. But Mother
+Nature's favourites are those who have the power of completely realising the
+illimitable love of their kind mother, and of understanding the depths of her
+being: and they are
+only understood by those who are favourites themselves.
+Consequently Euchar was not understood by the general crowd--was considered
+unimpressionable, cold, incapable of the due degree of ecstasy on the subject of
+the newest tragedy at the theatre--and was stigmatized as a prosaic creature.
+Above all, a whole coterie of ladies of the most refined intellectual
+development and culture, who might well be credited with the power of insight on
+this particular subject, could by no means understand how it was possible that
+that Apollo's brow, those sharply curving, masterful eyebrows, those eyes which
+darted such a darksome fire, those softly pouting lips, should belong to a mere
+lifeless image. And yet all this seemed to be the case. For Euchar did not know
+in the least degree how to say nothing, about nothing, in words which meant
+nothing, to pretty ladies, and look, whilst so-doing, like a Rinaldo in bonds.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Matters were quite different with Ludwig. He belonged to the
+race of those wild, uncontrollable boys of whom people are in the habit of
+predicting that the world will not be wide enough for them. It was he who always
+invented the maddest and most adventurous features of all games. It was
+naturally to be expected that he would be the one of all others to &quot;come to
+grief&quot; on those occasions: but he was always the one who came out of them safe
+and sound, because he had the knack of keeping himself in a safe spot during the
+carrying out of the adventure--if he did not manage to slip out of it
+altogether. He took up every subject rapidly, with the utmost enthusiasm--and
+dropped it again as quickly. So that he learned a great many things, but did not
+learn much. When he came to young man's estate, he wrote very pretty verses,
+played passably on several instruments, drew very nice pictures, spoke with a
+certain degree of correctness and fluency several languages, and was,
+consequently, a paragon of up-bringing. He could get into the most surprising
+ecstasies about everything, and give utterance to the same in the most
+magniloquent words. But it was with him as with the drum--which gives forth a
+sound which is loud in proportion to its emptiness. The impression made upon him
+by everything grand, beautiful, sublime, resembled the outside tickling which
+excites the skin without affecting the inner fibres. Ludwig belonged to that
+class of people who say, &quot;I want to do&quot; so-and-so; but who never get beyond this
+principle of &quot;wanting to do&quot; into action. But, as in this world, those who
+announce, with the proper amount of loudness and emphasis, what they &quot;intend,&quot;
+or are &quot;going&quot; to do, are held in far greater consideration than those who
+quietly go and &quot;do&quot; the things in question, it of course happened that Ludwig
+was considered &quot;capable&quot; of performing the grandest deeds, and was admired
+accordingly, people not troubling themselves to ascertain whether he had &quot;done&quot;
+the deeds which he had talked about so loudly. There were, it must be said,
+people who &quot;saw through&quot; Ludwig, and, starting from what he said, took some
+pains to find out what he had done, or if he had done anything at all. And this
+grieved him all the more that, in solitary hours, he was sometimes obliged to
+admit to himself that this everlasting &quot;meaning&quot; and &quot;intending&quot; to do things,
+without ever doing them, was, in reality, a miserable sort of business. Then he
+came upon a book--forgotten and out of date--in which was set forth that
+mechanical theory of the mutual interdependence of things. He eagerly adopted
+this theory, which justified and accounted for his doings, or rather his
+&quot;intentions&quot; of doing, in his own eyes, and in those of others. According
+with this theory, if he did not carry out anything which he had
+intended to do--what he had said he was going to do--it was not he who
+was to blame: its not happening was simply a part of the
+mutual interdependence of things.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The courteous reader will, at all events, see the great
+convenience of this theory.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Moreover, as Ludwig was a very good-looking young fellow, with
+blooming red cheeks, he would, by virtue of his qualities, have been the idol of
+all elegant circles, had not his short-sight led to his committing numerous
+&quot;quid-pro-quos,&quot; which had often most annoying consequences. However, he
+consoled himself with the thought of the &quot;impression,&quot; which was indescribable,
+which he believed himself to make upon all female hearts: and, besides, there
+was a good deal in the habit he had, just because he was so short-sighted, of
+placing himself in a closer proximity to ladies with whom he was conversing,
+than might have been considered altogether <i>convenable</i>, a species of innocent
+pushingness, belonging to the &quot;genial&quot; character, so as to be sure not to make
+any mistakes with reference to the person he was addressing; a matter which had
+more than once been productive of annoyance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The morning after the ball at Count Walther Puck's, Euchar
+received a note from Ludwig, running as follows:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Dearest and most beloved friend,--I am utterly miserable. I
+am stricken by destiny. It is all over with me! I am dashed down from
+the flowery summit of the fairest hope into the blackest and
+most fathomless abyss of the deepest despair. That which was to have been the
+source of my indescribable bliss constitutes my misery. Come to me as speedily
+as you can, and give me some comfort, if such a thing be possible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Euchar found him stretched on his sofa, with his head bound
+up, pale and worn from sleeplessness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Is it you?&quot; he cried, in a feeble voice, stretching an arm
+towards him: &quot;is it you, my noble friend? Ah! <i>you</i> have some sympathy for my
+sufferings. At all events, let me tell you what I have gone through, and then
+say whether you think all is over with me, or not.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Things did not turn out quite as you expected at the ball, I
+suppose,&quot; said Euchar.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ludwig heaved a deep sigh.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Was the lovely Victorine a little unkind?&quot; inquired Euchar.
+&quot;Didn't she behave to you quite as you expected?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I offended her,&quot; answered Ludwig, in the most funereal tones,
+&quot;to an extent, and in a manner, which she can never forgive.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good heavens!&quot; cried Euchar; &quot;this is very distressing. How
+did it happen? Please to let me hear.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ludwig, after heaving a profound sigh, and quoting some verses
+of appropriate poetry, went on, in a voice of profound melancholy:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, Euchar. As the mysterious whirring of the wheels of a
+clock tells me that it is going to strike the hour, warnings go before coming
+misfortunes. On the very night before the ball I had an awful, a horrible dream.
+I thought I was at the ball, and when I was going to begin dancing, I suddenly
+found that I could not move my feet from the floor. And I saw in the mirror, to
+my horror, that instead of the
+well-looking nether extremities which nature has provided me
+with,
+I was dragging about under my body, the gouty old legs of the
+Consistorial President, with all their wrappings and bandages. And while I had
+to stick to the floor in this terrible manner, lo and behold! the Consistorial
+President, with Victorine in his arms, whirling along in a Laendler, lightly and
+gracefully as any bird. But the point of the thing was, that he sniggered at me,
+with the most insulting style of sneering laughter, and said he had won my legs
+from me at picquet.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I awoke, as you may imagine, bathed in a perspiration of
+anguish. Still sunk in thought over this horrible vision of the night, I must
+needs set the cup of almost boiling chocolate to my lips, and burn them to that
+extent, that you may see the mark still, although I have rubbed on as much
+pomade as I could. Now I know that you don't take much interest in other
+people's troubles, so I shall say nothing about the numerous fateful events
+which destiny dogged my steps with all day yesterday, and merely tell you that
+when it came to be time to dress in the evening, two stitches burst out of one
+of my silk stockings--two of my waistcoat buttons came off--as I was getting
+into the carriage to go to the ball, I let my Wellington get into the mud, and
+at last, in the carriage itself, when I wanted to tighten the patent buckles of
+my pumps, I found, to my intense annoyance, that my idiot of a servant had put
+on two which we're not a pair! I was obliged to go home again, and lost a good
+half hour. However, Victorine came to me in all the glory of her beauty and
+delightsomeness. I asked her for the next dance. It was a Laendler, we started
+off together. I was in heaven. But in a moment I felt the spite of adverse
+fortune.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The mutual interdependence of things,&quot; said Euchar,
+interrupting.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Call it whatever you please,&quot; said Ludwig, &quot;it doesn't matter
+to me to-day. All I know is, that it was fate which made me fall over that
+tree-stump yesterday. As I was dancing I felt the pain come on again in my knee,
+and it grew more and more unendurable. Just at that moment Victorine said, loud
+enough to be heard by the other people who were dancing, &quot;We seem all to be
+going to sleep.&quot; Signs were made to the band, people clapped their hands to
+them, and the pace grew faster
+and faster. With all my might I struggled with the diabolical
+pain,
+and conquered it. I danced along daintily, and put on a
+delighted expression of countenance; but for all I could do, Victorine kept
+saying: 'What is the matter, Herr Baron? You are not one bit the partner that
+you generally are.' Burning dagger thrusts into my heart!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Poor, dear friend,&quot; said Euchar, laughing; &quot;I see the full
+extent of your sufferings!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And yet,&quot; continued Ludwig, &quot;all this was only the prelude to
+the most terrible of all events. You know that I have been for a long time
+applying my mind to arranging the figures of a '<i>seize</i>:' and you know of your
+own experience, how little I have made of the very considerable amount of china,
+glass, and stoneware that I have knocked off the tables in my lodgings here, in
+my practice of the intricacies of those 'tours, or figures,' that I might attain
+to the perfection of performance which was my dream. One of them is the most
+utterly glorious that the mind of man has ever hit upon, of its kind. Four
+couples stand, picturesquely grouped, the gentleman, balancing on his right
+tip-toe, places his right-arm about his partner, raising, at the same time, his
+left-arm in a graceful curve above his head--whilst the other couples make the
+'ronde.' Such an idea never entered the heads of Vestris or Gardel. Very well. I
+had based my hopes of highest happiness upon this particular '<i>seize</i>.' I had
+been destining it for Count Walther Puck's birthday: I intended to whisper into
+Victorine's ear during this more than earthly 'tour'--'Most divine countess, I
+love you unutterably--I adore you! Be mine, angel of light!' that was the
+reason, dear Euchar, why I was so overwhelmed with joy when I got the invitation
+to the ball there, for I had had great doubts about it. Count Walther Puck had
+appeared to be a good deal annoyed with me a little while ago, one day when I
+was explaining to him the theory
+of the mutual interdependence of things--the mechanism of the
+macrocosm--when he took it into his head that I was making out
+that he was a pendulum. He said it was a piece of chaff in very bad taste; but
+that he would take no notice of it in consideration of my youth, and he turned
+his back. Very well! The unfortunate Laendler came to an end. I did not dance
+any more, I went into the ante-room, and who should follow me but the good
+Cochenille, who at once opened a bottle of champagne for me. The wine sent fresh
+life into my veins. I didn't feel the pain any longer. The '<i>seize</i>' was just
+going to begin--I flew back to the dancing-room, darted up to Victorine, kissed
+her hand fiercely, and took my position in the 'ronde.' The 'tour,' which I have
+told you of, came on; I outdid myself! I hovered--I balanced--the God of the
+dance in person; I threw my arm round my partner. I whispered, 'Divine, heavenly
+Countess,' just as I had arranged with myself that I should do. My declaration
+of love went forth from my lips, I gazed ardently into my partner's eyes. Ruler
+of heaven! It was not Victorine I had been dancing with! It was somebody else
+altogether, some lady whom I didn't know in the least, though she was the same
+sort of person as Victorine in style and feature, and dressed exactly as she
+was. You may imagine that I felt as if smitten by a flash of lightning.
+Everything about me was swimming in a chaos. I didn't hear the music any longer;
+I dashed wildly through amongst the rows of people, hearing cries of pain here
+and there, till I found myself arrested and held tight by a pair of powerful
+arms, whilst a voice of fury droned into my ear, 'Death and damnation, Herr
+Baron, are you out of your senses? Have you nine devils in you, or what?' 'Twas
+the very Consistorial President whom I had seen in my dream. He was holding me
+tight in a remote corner of the room, and he went on as follows: 'I was just
+getting up from the card-table, when you came bursting like a hurricane out of
+the middle of the dancing room, and jumped about like a creature possessed upon
+my unfortunate feet, till I could have roared like a bull with the pain of it,
+if I hadn't been a person of proper conduct. Don't you see what a disturbance
+you've been making here?' And, in fact, the whole of the '<i>seize</i>' was in
+confusion, the music had stopped, and I saw that some of the dancers were going
+about limping, ladies were being led to their seats, and people were holding
+smelling-bottles to their noses. I had been dancing the 'tour' of despair upon
+the poor people's feet, till the President, strong as a tree, had put a period
+to my fell career. Victorine approached me with eyes sparkling with scorn:
+'Verily, Herr Baron, a charming performance!' she said. 'You ask me to dance
+with you--you dance with another lady, and throw the whole room into confusion.'
+You may picture to yourself my apologies and excuses. 'These practical jokes are
+a speciality of yours, Herr Baron,' Victorine went on, scarcely containing her
+anger. 'I know you--but I beg that you will not select <i>me</i> as the object of
+that cutting irony of yours in the future.' With that she left me standing. The
+lady I had been dancing with then came up amiability--nay, I may say, even
+affectionateness--personified. The poor child had taken fire. I cannot wonder at
+it; but is it any fault of mine? Oh, Victorine! Victorine! Oh, ill-starred
+'<i>seize</i>'--dance of the furies, which has consigned me to the depths of Orcus!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ludwig closed his eyes, groaned and sighed. His friend had the
+grace not to break out into irrepressible laughter.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When Ludwig had taken a cup or two of chocolate--without this
+time burning his lips--he seemed to recover himself to some extent, and bear his
+terrible fate with somewhat greater equanimity. Presently he said to Euchar, who
+had been interesting himself in a book which he had taken up. &quot;You had an
+invitation to that accursed ball yourself, had you not?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I had,&quot; said Euchar, scarcely looking up from the page.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And you never came--and you never told me that you had one,
+at all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I had another engagement,&quot; said Euchar, &quot;as it happened,
+which prevented me from going to the ball--an engagement of far greater
+importance to me than any ball in the world, even had the Emperor of Japan
+himself been the giver of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Countess Victorine,&quot; Ludwig continued, &quot;made the most
+particular inquiries as to why you didn't come. She was all anxiety, and kept
+looking towards the door. I should have been really very jealous. I should quite
+have thought that, for the first time in your career, you had touched a lady's
+heart, if the matter had not been explained. The fact is, I scarcely dare to
+tell you in what an unsparing manner the lovely Victorine spoke of you. She even
+went the length of saying that you were a cold-hearted piece of eccentricity,
+whose presence often marred all enjoyment: so that she had been dreading that
+you would act as her kill-joy on that evening as you so often had done before,
+and was quite delighted when she found that you were not coming. To speak
+candidly, my dear Euchar, I can't make out how it is that you, gifted by the
+heavens with so many bodily and mental excellences, should always be so unlucky
+with the other sex--why I should always cut the ground from under your feet.
+Cold creature! I feel certain that you have no conception of the heavenly bliss
+of love, and that is why you are not beloved. Whereas I, on the other
+hand----Believe me when I tell you that Victorine's fiery indignation itself was
+engendered by the flames of love which blazed in her heart for me--the
+fortunate, the blessed one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The door opened, and there came into the room a quaint little
+fellow, in a red coat with big steel buttons, black silk breeches, heavily
+powdered <i>frisure</i>, and a little round pigtail.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good Cochenille!&quot; Ludwig called out to him. &quot;Dearest Monsieur
+Cochenille, to what do I owe this pleasure?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Euchar, declaring that important engagements called him away,
+left his friend alone with the confidential servant of Count Walther Puck.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Cochenille, sweetly smiling, with downcast eyes, stated that
+their Countly Excellencies were quite convinced that the most honoured Herr
+Baron had been attacked, during the '<i>seize</i>,' by a malady which bore a Latin
+name something like Raptus, and that he, Monsieur Cochenille, was come to make
+inquiries as to his present state of welfare.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Raptus! Raptus! Nothing of the kind.&quot; And he related, and
+detailed at length, how the whole matter had come about, ending by begging the
+talented Kammerdiener to put affairs in order as far as he possibly could.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ludwig learned that his partner was a cousin of Countess
+Victorine, just arrived from the country for the occasion of the Count's
+birthday--that she and the Countess Victorine were one heart
+and one soul, and--inasmuch as the sympathies of young ladies often display
+themselves in the form of silks and crapes--were often in the habit of dressing
+exactly alike. Cochenille was further of opinion that the vexation of Countess
+Victorine was not very genuine. He had handed her an ice at the end of the ball,
+when she was standing talking to her cousin, and had noticed that they were
+laughing tremendously, and had heard them several times mention the honoured
+Baron's name. The truth was, according to what he had been able to observe, that
+this cousin was of a temperament exceedingly disposed to the tender passion, and
+would only be too delighted if the Baron would carry further what he had begun,
+namely, at once set to work to pay assiduous attentions to her, and in due
+course put on <i>glacé</i> gloves, and lead her to the altar: but that he, for his
+part, would do everything he could to prevent such a course of events. The first
+thing in the morning, as he would be having the honour to <i>friser</i> his Countly
+Highness, he would take an opportunity of laying the whole matter before him,
+and would also take the liberty of begging him, as an uncle regardful of his
+niece's best interests, to represent to her that the Herr Baron's declaration of
+love was merely a species of &quot;flourish&quot; belonging to the &quot;tour&quot; which he
+happened to be executing at the time--just as declarations of the kind generally
+were. That, he thought, would be of some service. Cochenille finally advised the
+Baron to go and see Countess Victorine as soon as possible, and told him there
+would be an opportunity of doing so that very day. Madame Bechs, the
+Consistorial President's lady, was giving an aesthetic tea that afternoon, with
+tea which (he had been told by the Russian Ambassador's valet) had come direct
+overland from China through the Russian Embassy, and had an extraordinarily
+delicious flavour and scent. There he would find Victorine, and be enabled to
+put everything straight again.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ludwig saw that it was nothing but unworthy doubt which had
+had the power of disturbing his love-happiness: and he resolved to make himself
+so marvellously charming at the &quot;thé&quot; of Madame Bech, the Consistorial
+President's lady, that Victorine should never so much as dream of being at all
+&quot;grumpy.&quot;</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="hang1"><span class="sc">The Ćstetic Tea. Choking Cough of a Tragic Poet. The Story
+Takes a Serious Turn, and Tells of Bloody Battle, Suicide, and Similar Matters.</span></p>
+
+<p class="normal">The courteous reader must be good enough to accompany Ludwig
+and
+Euchar to this ćsthetic tea, which is now going forward at
+Madame Bech's, the Consistorial President's lady. About a dozen of the fair sex,
+appropriately attired, are seated in a semi-circle. One is thoughtlessly
+laughing; another is immersed in a contemplation of the tips of her shoes, with
+which she is managing to practise the &quot;pas&quot; of a &quot;Française,&quot; silently and
+unobserved; a third appears to be sweetly sleeping (and dreaming more sweetly
+still); a fourth darts the fiery beams from her eyes athwart the room in all
+directions, with the intention that they shall impinge upon not one but all the
+men who are present. A fifth lisps forth &quot;Heavenly! Glorious! Sublime!&quot; and
+those utterances are for the behoof of a young poet, who is reading out with all
+possible pathos a new tragedy of destiny, tedious and silly enough even to be
+read aloud on such an occasion. A delightful feature of the affair was, that one
+heard a species of <i>obbligato</i> accompaniment going on in the next room, a
+species of growling, like the rumble of distant thunder. This was the voice of
+the Consistorial President, who was playing piquet with Count Walther Puck, and
+making himself audible in this manner.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The poet read out, in the most dulcet accents at his command--</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="i6">&quot;Ah! but once more! once more only</p>
+<p class="i6">Let me hear thee, voice of beauty,</p>
+<p class="i6">Voice of rapture, voice of sweetness,</p>
+<p class="i6">Voice from out the deep abysses,</p>
+<p class="i6">Voice from out the heights of Heaven!</p>
+<p class="i6">Hark! oh, listen----&quot;</p>
+</div>
+<p class="normal">Here the thunder which had been rumbling so long broke out
+into a peal: &quot;Hell and damnation!&quot; roared the Consistorial President's voice,
+re-echoing through the room, so that the people jumped up from
+their chairs, alarmed. But it was pretty that the poet, not suffering himself to
+be disturbed in the slightest, went on reading--</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="i6">&quot;Yea! it is the breath beloved,</p>
+<p class="i6">Music of those lips of nectar.&quot;</p>
+</div>
+<p class="normal">But a destiny higher than that which ruled in the poet's
+tragedy did not permit him to finish his reading. Just as he was going to raise
+his voice to the highest pitch of tragic power, to enunciate a terrible
+execration which his hero was going to utter, something, heaven knows what, got
+into his throat, so that he broke out into a frightful fit of coughing, by no
+means to be assuaged, and had to be assisted out of the room, more dead than
+alive.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This sudden interruption appeared to be the reverse of
+disagreeable to the lady of the house, who had for some time been giving
+indications of weariness and annoyance. As soon as the tranquillity of the
+company was restored, she pointed out that it was time that a vivid narrative of
+something should take the place of reading, and thought Euchar ought really to
+make it his duty to undertake this, seeing that, in general, he was so
+obstinately silent, as to contribute little to the entertainment of the company.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Euchar said, modestly, that he was anything but a good
+story-teller, and that the tale which he thought of telling was of a very
+serious, perhaps even terrible description, and might be anything but enjoyable
+by the company. But four very young ladies immediately cried out, with one voice
+&quot;Oh! something terrible, please! I do so love to be terrified!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Euchar took his place in the chair of the narrator, and began
+as follows:--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We have been passing through a period in which events have
+swept athwart the stage of the world like a series of raging hurricanes.
+Humanity, shaken to its depths, has given birth to things portentous, even as
+the storm-tossed ocean casts up to the surface of its seething surges the
+terrible marvels of its abysses. Whatever could be accomplished by lion-like
+courage, unconquerable valour, hatred, revenge, fury, and despair, was achieved
+during the Spanish war of independence. I should like to tell you of the
+adventures of a friend of mine, whom I shall call Edgar, who served in that war,
+under the banners of Wellington. He had left his native place in deep, bitter
+irritation, at the shame of his Fatherland, and gone to Hamburg, where he lived
+in a little room which he had taken, in a retired quarter. He had a neighbour,
+who lived in the next room to him, with only a wall between them, but he knew
+nothing more of him than that he was an old man, in infirm health, who never
+went out. He often heard him groan, and break out into gentle pathetic
+lamentations; but he did not understand the words he spoke. After a time, this
+neighbour begun to walk assiduously up and down in his room, and it appeared to
+indicate returning health when he tuned a guitar one day, and began to sing in a
+soft voice, songs which Edgar recognized to be Spanish romances.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On being closely questioned, the landlady confided to Edgar,
+that his neighbour was a French officer who had been invalided from the Romana
+corps, that he was under secret espionage, and very seldom ventured to go out.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the middle of the night Edgar heard this Spaniard play on
+his guitar more loudly than before, and begin, in powerful strangely changing
+melody, the 'Profecia del Pirineo of Don Juan Baptista de Arriaja.' There came
+the stanzas commencing--</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="i6">&quot;Y oye que el gran rugido,</p>
+<p class="i6">En ya trueno en los campos de Castilla,&quot; &#38;c.</p>
+</div>
+<p class="normal">The glowing enthusiasm with which the old gentleman's singing
+was instinct, set Edgar's blood ablaze. A new world dawned on him. He knew, now,
+how to arouse himself from out his sickly mood, and under an impulse to deeds of
+valour, fight out the contest which was eating up his heart. He could not resist
+an eager desire to make the acquaintance of the man who had thus inspired him
+with new life. The door gave way at the pressure of his hand, but the moment he
+entered the room, the old man sprung from his bed with a cry of &quot;Träidor&quot;
+(traitor), and made straight at Edgar with a drawn dagger. Edgar succeeded in
+evading the well-aimed thrust by a skilful movement, and in grasping the old
+man, and holding him down on his bed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">While he thus held him, for he had but little strength at the
+time, he implored him in the most touching language, to forgive the stormy
+fashion of his entrance: he assured him that he was no traitor; but that on the
+contrary, what he had heard him sing had lighted up all the rage, the
+inconsolable pain, which had been tearing his breast asunder into an unslakeable
+desire for combat. He longed to hurry to Spain, there to fight for the freedom
+of the country. The old man gazed fixedly at him, and said, &quot;Can it be
+possible?&quot; and embraced Edgar, who, naturally, continued his assurances that
+nothing could induce him to forego his resolve, at the same time throwing his
+dagger down on the ground.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Edgar now learned that the old gentleman's name was Baldassare
+de Luna, and that he belonged to one of the most noble families of Spain. He was
+helpless and friendless, and had the prospect, unalleviated, of dragging out a
+miserable existence, far from home, without a friend or pecuniary resource. It
+was some time ere Edgar could succeed in infusing any hope or comfort into his
+heart: but when, at length, he most solemnly undertook to arrange for their
+escape to England together, new life appeared to circulate in the Spaniard's
+veins. He was no longer the old invalid, but an enthusiastic youth, breathing
+out defiance to his oppressors. Edgar kept his word. He succeeded in evading the
+vigilance of the spies, and in escaping with Baldassare de Luna to England. But
+it was not the will of fate that this brave and luckless man should see his
+native land again. He was prostrated by another attack of illness, and died in
+London, in Edgar's arms. A spirit of prophecy gave him to see the coming glory
+of his rescued country. Amid the latest prayerful whisperings which issued with
+difficulty from his lips stiffening in death, Edgar distinguished the word
+&quot;Vittoria,&quot; and an expression of heavenly beatitude glowed on de Luna's
+countenance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At the time when Souchet's victorious force was threatening to
+bear down all opposition and rivet the shameful foreign yoke more firmly than
+ever, to all eternity, Edgar arrived before Tarragona with Colonel Sterret's
+English brigade. It is matter of history that Colonel Sterret considered the
+position so insecure, that he would not disembark his troops. This our eager
+young soldier could not endure. He left the English force, and betook himself to
+the Spanish general Contreras, who was occupying the fortress with 8,000 Spanish
+soldiers. We are aware that Souchet's force took Tarragona by storm,
+notwithstanding the most heroic defence, and that Contreras himself, with a
+bayonet wound, fell into the hands of the enemy.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The scenes which passed before Edgar's eyes, displayed all the
+terribleness of hell itself. Whether it was on account of shameful treachery, or
+from incomprehensible carelessness on the part of those whose duty it was to
+attend to the matter, the troops who had to defend the principal <i>enceinte</i> of
+the fort, soon ran short of ammunition. They for a long time resisted with the
+bayonet the incoming of the enemy through the gateway which had been forced: but
+when, ultimately, they had to retire before the urgency of his fire, they rushed
+across to the further gateway in wild disarray, and in confused masses:
+and as this gate was too narrow to admit of their passage,
+they
+had, therefore, to submit to a terrific massacre. Yet some
+4,000 Spaniards--Almeira's regiment, with which Edgar happened to be at the
+time--managed to force their way through. With the courage of despair they broke
+their passage through the enemy's battalions which were there posted, and
+continued their flight towards Barcelona. They were fancying that they were in
+safety, when they were assailed by a terrible fire from some field-pieces, which
+the enemy had placed in position behind a trench cut across the road, bringing
+inevitable destruction into their ranks. Edgar was hit, and fell to the ground.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A violent pain in the head was what he felt when he recovered
+consciousness. It was dark night, and all the terrors of death permeated him as
+he heard the hollow groans and the heart-piercing cries which surrounded him. He
+managed to get upon his legs and creep along. When at length the morning began
+to break he found himself close to a deep ravine; but as he was about to go down
+into it a troop of the enemy's cavalry came slowly up. It seemed an
+impossibility to avoid being taken prisoner; but suddenly shots came dropping
+out of the thickest part of the wood, emptying several saddles, and presently a
+party of Guerillas made an attack on the remainder of the troop. He shouted out
+to his deliverers in Spanish, and they welcomed him gladly. He had only been
+struck by a spent ball, and soon recovered, so as to be able to join Don Joachim
+Blake's force, and enter Valenzia with it, after several engagements.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Who does not know that the plain watered by the Guadalquivir,
+where stands the beautiful Valenzia with her stately towers, is an earthly
+paradise? All the heavenly delightsomeness of a sky for ever fair penetrates and
+pervades the hearts and souls of the dwellers there, for whom life is an
+unbroken festa. And this Valenzia was now the theatre of a most bitter and
+bloody war. Instead of the dulcet tones of the lute, stealing like the cooing of
+doves up in the nights to the trellised windows, the place resounded with the
+hollow rolling of guns and ammunition waggons, the wild challenge of sentries,
+and the weird, mysterious murmur of soldiery marching through the streets. All
+joy was driven into dumbness. All the white faces, drawn by grief and horror,
+had written upon them the dread anticipation of terrible things imminent. The
+most furious execrations, offspring of inward fury, were showered upon the
+enemy. The Alameda--at other times the haunt of the gay world--was now a parade
+ground for the troops. Here Edgar one day, as he was standing alone, leaning
+against a tree, reflecting on the dark, adverse destiny which seemed to weigh
+upon Spain, observed that a man, far advanced in years, tall, and of haughty
+demeanour, who was walking up and down near him with long steps, stopped and
+scrutinized him keenly each time that he passed him. At last Edgar accosted him,
+enquiring courteously what in him had attracted such a share of his attention.
+&quot;I see that I was not mistaken,&quot; he answered, whilst a gloomy fire flashed from
+beneath his black, bushy eyebrows. &quot;You are not a Spaniard--and yet, if your
+coat does not belie you, I am bound to look upon you as one who fights on our
+side. And that strikes me as rather remarkable.&quot; Edgar, though nettled at the
+brusquerie of this gentleman's address, told him, temperately enough, what had
+brought him to Spain.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But scarcely had he mentioned the name of Baldassare di Luna
+than the old man cried out in much excitement, &quot;Baldassare di Luna do you say?
+My beloved cousin! the dearest and most intimate friend I have left in the
+world.&quot; Edgar repeated all that had happened, not failing to mention the
+heavenly hopes with which Baldassare had taken leave of life.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The old man clasped his hands, raised his eyes to heaven--his
+lips moved--he seemed to be communing with his departed friend. &quot;Forgive me,&quot; he
+said, &quot;if a gloomy mistrust, which is foreign to my character, influenced me
+against you. Some time ago it was believed that the accursed knavery of the
+enemy had gone so far as to introduce foreign officers amongst our forces to act
+as spies. The incidents at Tarragona but too much encouraged suspicions of this
+kind, and the Junta has now determined to expel all foreigners. Don Joachim
+Blake, however, has insisted that foreign engineers, at all events, are
+indispensable to him, solemnly engaging, at the same time, to shoot down every
+foreigner at once who is subject to the slightest ground of suspicion. If you
+are a friend of my Baldassare you are undoubtedly a man of valour and honour. At
+all events, I have told you everything, and you can act accordingly.&quot; With this
+he took his departure.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The fortune of arms appeared to have completely abandoned the
+Spaniards, and the very courage of despair itself could avail nothing against
+the rapidly-advancing foe. Valenzia was hemmed in more and more closely on all
+sides, so that Blake, pushed to extremity, determined to force his way out with
+twelve thousand chosen troops. It is known that few succeeded in getting
+through, that the remainder were in part killed, in part driven back into the
+town. It was here that Edgar, at the head of the brave Ovihuela Rifle Regiment,
+managed to give a momentary check to the enemy, thus rendering the wild
+confusion
+of the flight less disastrous. But, as at Tarragona, a musket
+bullet struck him down at the crisis of the engagement. He described his
+condition from that moment till he regained clear consciousness as one
+inexplicably strange. It often seemed to him that he was in the thick of
+fighting. He would seem to hear the thunder of the cannon, the wild cries of the
+combatants--the Spaniards would seem to be advancing victorious, but as he was
+seized on by the joy of battle and starting off to lead his battalion under
+fire, he would seem to become suddenly paralysed, and sink down in unconscious
+insensibility. Then he would become clearly aware that he was lying on some soft
+bed, that people were giving him cool drink--he heard gentle voices speaking
+softly, and yet could not arouse himself from his dreams. Once, when he thought
+he was back in the thick of the battle, it seemed to him that he was grasped
+firmly by the shoulder, whilst a rifleman of the enemy's
+fired at him, striking him on the breast, where the bullet in
+an incomprehensible manner went slowly boring its way into the flesh with the
+most unspeakable torments till all sense of feeling sunk away into a deep,
+deathlike sleep.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Out of this death sleep Edgar awoke suddenly into full and
+clear consciousness, but in such strange surroundings that he could not form an
+idea as to where he might be. The soft luxurious bed with its silken curtains,
+was quite out of keeping with the small, low-roofed,
+dungeon-like vault of undressed stones in which it stood. A
+dim lamp shed a feeble light around--neither door nor window was discernible.
+Edgar raised himself with difficulty, and saw that there was a Franciscan friar
+sitting in a corner, seemingly asleep. &quot;Where am I?&quot; Edgar cried, with all the
+energy which he could concentrate.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The monk started from his sleep, trimmed the lamp, took it up,
+looked at Edgar's face by the light, felt his pulse, and murmured something
+which Edgar could not understand. He was going to interrogate the monk as to
+what had happened to him, when the wall opened noislessly, and a man came in
+whom Edgar immediately recognized as the person who had spoken to him on the
+Alameda. The monk called out to this person that the crisis was over and all
+would now go well. &quot;Praise be to God,&quot; said the old gentleman, and approached
+nearer to Edgar's bed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Edgar wished to speak, but the old gentleman prevented him,
+assuring him that the slightest exertion would be dangerous to him still. It was
+natural that he should be surprised at finding himself in such surroundings, but
+a few words would be sufficient, not only to put him at his ease, but to explain
+why it had been necessary to place him in this dreary prison.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Edgar now learnt all. When he fell wounded in the breast the
+intrepid &quot;battle-brethren,&quot; in spite of the hotness of the fire, had taken him
+up and transported him into the town. It happened that in the thick of the
+confusion Don Rafaele Marchez (this was the old man's name) saw the wounded
+Edgar, and instead of his being sent to the hospital he was carried to Don
+Rafaele's own house at once, so that the friend of his Baldassare might have
+every possible care. His wound was serious enough in itself, but the peculiar
+danger of his condition was the violent nervous fever, traces of which had
+previously displayed themselves, which now broke out in all its fury. It is
+matter of notoriety that a tremendous fire had been kept up on Valenzia for
+three days and nights with the most terrible effect, that all the terror and
+horror of this bombardment spread abroad in this city thronged to excess with
+people--that the self-same populace, excited to fury by the
+Junta, after insisting that Blake should keep up the defence to the very utmost,
+turned round and demanded an immediate surrender under the most violent
+threats--that Blake, with heroic self-command, drove the crowds asunder by
+Walloon Guards, and then made an honourable capitulation to Souchet. Don Rafaele
+Marchez would not allow Edgar, sick unto death, to fall into the enemy's hands.
+As soon as the capitulation was arranged and the enemy within the walls of
+Valenzia, Edgar was removed to the vault, where he was safe against discovery.
+&quot;Friend of my sainted Baldassare,&quot; (thus he finished his narrative) &quot;be <i>my</i>
+friend too. Your blood has flowed for my country--every drop of it has fallen
+seething into my breast, and washed away every vestige of the mistrust which
+cannot but arise in this fateful time. The same fire which enflames the Spaniard
+to the most bitter hatred flashes up in his friendship too, making him capable
+of every deed, every sacrifice, for his ally. My house is occupied by the enemy,
+but you are in safety, for I swear to you that whatever happens I will rather
+let myself be buried under the ruins of Valenzia than betray you. Believe me in
+this.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the daytime a profound stillness as of the grave reigned
+around Edgar's room, but in the night he often thought he heard in the distance
+the echo of soft footfalls, the hollow murmur of many voices together, the
+opening and shutting of doors, the clatter of weapons. Some subterranean action
+seemed to be going on during the hours
+of sleep. Edgar questioned the Franciscan, who only--and that
+rarely--quitted him for an instant or two, tending him with
+the most unwearied care. But the Franciscan was of opinion that as soon as Edgar
+was well he would hear from Don Rafaele what it was that was going on. And this
+was so. For when Edgar was well enough to leave his bed, Don Rafaele came one
+night with a lighted torch and begged Edgar to dress and follow him with Father
+Eusebio, which was the name of the Franciscan, his doctor and nurse.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Don Rafaele led him through a long and rather narrow passage
+till they came to a closed door, which was opened on Don Rafaele's knocking.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">How amazed was Edgar to find himself in a spacious vaulted
+chamber brilliantly lighted, in which there was a numerous assemblage of persons
+for the most part of wild, dirty, sullen appearance. In the middle stood a man
+who, though dressed like the commonest peasant, with wild hair and all the marks
+of a homeless, nomadic life, had in all his bearing something of the dauntless
+and the awe-aspiring. The features of his face were noble, and from his eyes
+flashed a warlike fire which bespoke the hero. To him Don Rafaele conducted his
+friend, announcing him as the brave young German whom he had rescued from the
+enemy, and who was prepared to take part in the grand contest for the freedom of
+Spain. Then Don Rafaele, turning to Edgar, said, &quot;You are here in the heart of
+Valenzia, which is besieged by our enemies--the hearth on which burns for ever
+that fire whose unquenchable flame, ever blazing up with renewed vigour, is
+destined to destroy our accursed foe when the moment comes when, misled by his
+fallacious successes, he shall surpass himself in defiant arrogance. You are
+here in the subterranean vaults of the Franciscan Monastery. Along a hundred
+bye-paths unknown to betrayers the chiefs of the brave make their way to this
+spot, and hence, as from a focus, they dart in all directions rays which carry
+death and destruction to foreigners. Don Edgar, we look upon you as one of
+ourselves. Take your part in the glory of our undertakings.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Empecinado (for the man dressed as a peasant was none other
+than the renowned Guerilla chieftain)--Empecinado, whose fearless daring formed
+the theme of many a popular tale amounting to the miraculous--who set at
+defiance all the efforts of the enemy, like some incarnation of the spirit of
+vengeance, who when he had vanished without a trace would suddenly burst forth
+with redoubled force--who at the very moment when the enemy announced the utter
+annihilation of his bands would suddenly appear at the very gates of Madrid,
+placing the Pretender's life in danger--this Empecinado took Edgar by the hand,
+addressing him in enthusiastic words.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At this point in the proceedings a young man was brought in
+bound. His face, of deathly pallor, wore all the signs of hopeless despair; he
+was trembling, and appeared to find it difficult to stand upright when placed in
+the presence of Empecinado. The latter pierced him through and through with his
+glance of fire, and at length spoke to him, in a tone of the most appalling
+calmness. &quot;Antonio,&quot; he said, &quot;you are in league with the enemy. You have
+several times had interviews with Souchet, at unusual hours. You endeavoured to
+hand over, by treachery, our Place d'Armes at Cuença.&quot;--&quot;It is so,&quot; answered
+Antonio, with a terrible sigh, not raising his bowed-down head. &quot;Is it
+possible,&quot; cried Empecinado, breaking out into the wildest anger, &quot;is it
+possible that you are a Spaniard--that the blood of your ancestors runs in your
+veins? Was not your mother Virtue personified? Would not the slightest suspicion
+that she was capable of betraying the honour of her house be an atrocious
+outrage? But for this I should believe you to be a bastard sprung from the most
+despicable race on earth. You have merited death. Prepare yourself to die.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Antonio threw himself at Empecinado's feet in anguish and
+despair, crying, &quot;Uncle! uncle! do you not know that all the furies of hell are
+rending my breast. There are times--often--when the subtlety of Satan can bring
+anything to pass. Yes, uncle, I am a Spaniard. Let me prove it. Be merciful.
+Grant that I may blot out the disgrace which the most abominable arts of hell
+have brought upon me--that I may appear to you and to the Brethren purified from
+my offence. You understand me, uncle? You know the reason of my so imploring
+you!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Empecinado seemed somewhat moved by the young man's
+entreaties. He raised him, and said gently, &quot;Your repentance is sincere. You are
+right in saying that the cunning of Satan is able to accomplish much. I know the
+reason of your entreaty. I pardon you. Son of my dear sister, come to my heart!&quot;
+Empecinado with his own hands untied his bonds, embraced him, and at once handed
+to him the dagger from his own girdle. &quot;My thanks,&quot; the young man cried. He
+kissed Empecinado's hands, bedewing them with his tears, then he raised his eyes
+to heaven in prayer, and drove the dagger deep into his heart, falling dead
+without a sound.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This occurrence so shook the invalid Edgar that he nearly
+fainted. Father Eusebio took him back to his chamber.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Some weeks afterwards Don Rafaele Marchez considered that it
+was safe for him to liberate his friend from the prison in which he could not
+recover his health. He took him, in the night, up to a room which had windows
+looking out upon an unfrequented street, and warned him not to cross the
+threshold--at all events in the daytime, by reason that the French were
+quartered in the house.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Edgar could not explain to himself the irresistible desire
+which one day seized him to go out into the corridor. At the very instant that
+he did so the door of the room opposite opened, and a French officer came out
+meeting him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why how came <i>you</i> here, friend Edgar!&quot; cried the Frenchman.
+&quot;Welcome a thousand times!&quot; Edgar had at once recognized him as Colonel la Combe
+of the Imperial Guard. Chance had brought this Colonel, just at the time of
+Germany's terrible degradation, to his uncle's house, where he himself was
+living, having had to abandon his military career. La Combe came from the south
+of France. Through the tenderness (by no means a common characteristic of his
+nation) with which he dealt with those
+who were so bitterly tried, he succeeded in overcoming the
+deep dislike--nay, the irreconcilable hatred, which was so firmly rooted in
+Edgar's soul against the arrogant foe, and finally, by virtue of certain traits
+of character, which placed beyond all doubt the true nobility of la Combe's
+nature, in gaming his friendship.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Edgar,&quot; cried the Colonel, &quot;what has brought <i>you</i> to
+Valenzia?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It may be imagined how sorely the question embarrassed Edgar.
+He could make no reply. The Colonel gazed at him gravely, and said in a serious
+tone. &quot;Ah, I understand. You have given the rein to your animosity--you have
+drawn your sword for the imagined freedom of a nation of madmen, and I cannot
+blame you for it. I should be forming a very poor opinion of your friendship if
+I could suppose you capable of imagining that I could betray you. No, my friend;
+now that I have found you, you are in absolute safety for the first time. From
+this moment you shall be nobody but the commercial traveller of a German house
+of business in Marseilles, an old acquaintance of mine. So no more about that.&quot;
+Much as it distressed Edgar, la Combe did not rest until he quitted his
+hermitage, and shared with him the better quarters provided for him by Don
+Rafaele.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Edgar hastened to acquaint the suspicious Spaniard with all
+the circumstances of the case, and his previous relations with la Combe. Don
+Rafaele restricted himself to the answer, delivered in a grave and dry manner--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Really; that is a very curious chance indeed!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Colonel sympathized keenly with Edgar's position. At the
+same time he could not divest himself of the characteristic temper of his
+nation, which sees in liveliness of movement, and the eager pursuit of pleasure,
+the best means of healing a wounded heart. Thus it happened that the Colonel
+walked arm in arm with the Marseilles commercial traveller in the Alameda, and
+drew him into the wild amusements of his light-hearted comrades.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Edgar noticed, clearly enough, that many strange forms dogged
+him about, watching him with suspicious looks; and it went deeply to his heart
+when, one day on entering a Posada with the Colonel, he heard distinctly behind
+him a whisper of &quot;Acqui esta el traďdor!&quot; (&quot;That is the traitor.&quot;)</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Don Rafaele grew daily more cold and monosyllabic towards
+Edgar, and at last he saw him no more, and was given to understand by him that,
+instead of taking his meals with him, he should take them with Colonel la Combe.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">One day, when duty had called the Colonel elsewhere, and Edgar
+was alone, there came a gentle knock at his door, and Father Eusebio entered. He
+made enquiry after Edgar's welfare, and talked on all kinds of indifferent
+subjects, but presently came to a pause, and after looking fixedly into Edgar's
+eyes, cried with much emotion--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, Don Edgar, <i>you</i> are not a traitor. It is in human nature
+that, in that waking dream which constitutes the delirium of fever--when the
+forces of life are in bitter combat with man's earthly envelope, and the strong
+tension of the fibres cannot hem in the thoughts and fancies which strive for
+utterance--it is, I say, in human nature that a man can then no longer help
+revealing phases of his being which are secret at other times. How often have I,
+Don Edgar, watched by your pillow during long nights? How often have you, all
+unknowing, allowed me to read the very depths of your soul? No, Don Edgar, it is
+impossible that you can be a traitor. But have a care of yourself--have a care
+of yourself!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Edgar implored Eusebio to tell him clearly what he was
+suspected of, and what danger was threatening him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will not conceal from you,&quot; said Eusebio, &quot;that your
+intimacy with Colonel la Combe and his companions has caused suspicion to rest
+upon you--that fears are entertained that you might, from no evil intention, but
+out of mere lightheartedness, on some occasion when you may have taken more of
+our strong Spanish wines than was advisable, perhaps divulge some of the secrets
+of this house, into which Don Rafaele has initiated you. There is no doubt that
+you are in a certain amount of danger.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But,&quot; continued Eusebio, after having maintained a thoughtful
+silence, with downcast eyes, for a time, &quot;there <i>is</i> one way of escaping all
+risk. You have only to throw yourself into the arms of the Frenchmen. They will
+get you out of Valenzia.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What are you talking about?&quot; Edgar burst out. &quot;Sooner death
+without reproach, than escape coupled with miserable disgrace.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Don Edgar,&quot; cried the monk with enthusiasm, &quot;you <i>are</i> no
+traitor!&quot; He strained Edgar to his heart, and left the chamber with his eyes
+full of tears.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">That night Edgar, happening to be alone (the Colonel chancing
+to be from home), heard steps approaching, and Don Rafaele's voice calling,
+&quot;Open your door, Don Edgar.&quot; On opening it he saw Don Rafaele with a torch in
+his hand, and Father Eusebio behind him. Don Rafaele begged Edgar to accompany
+him, he having to attend an important meeting in the vault of the Franciscan
+monastery.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As they were passing along the subterranean passage, Don
+Rafaele being in advance with the lighted torch, Eusebio whispered softly in his
+ear,</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, God, Don Edgar! you are going to your death! There is no
+escape possible for you now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Edgar had ventured his life in many a fight with brave
+lightheartedness; but here all the anxiousness, the uncertainty of the manner of
+his assassination, could not but weigh heavily upon him, so that Eusebio had
+some difficulty in supporting him. And yet, as the way was still long, he
+managed to acquire a measure of self-control which enabled him not only to
+command himself, but to resolve upon the line of conduct which he should adopt
+in these circumstances. &quot;When the door of the vault opened, Edgar saw the
+terrible Empecinado, with rage and fury flashing from his eyes. Behind him were
+standing several Guerillas and one or two Franciscan friars. Having now quite
+recovered his calm courage, Edgar walked firmly and fearlessly up to the
+Guerilla chief, and, addressing him gravely and quietly, said--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It happens very fortunately that I am brought face to face
+with you to-day, Don Empecinado. I have been anxious to make a request to Don
+Rafaele, and now I have the opportunity of laying it before yourself. As Father
+Eusebio, my doctor and faithful guardian, will testify, I have now quite
+recovered. I am well and strong, and find it impossible to bear the tedious
+idleness of life among enemies whom I detest. I therefore beseech you, Don
+Empecinado, let me be taken and placed upon those secret paths known to you,
+that I may join your bands, and be engaged in enterprises for which my soul
+yearns.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;H'm!&quot; said Empecinado, in a tone approaching mockery. &quot;Do
+<i>you</i> then hold with the crack-brained populace, who prefer death to doing
+homage to the Grand Nation? Have not your friends taught you better?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Don Empecinado,&quot; said Edgar, &quot;you do not understand the
+German mode of looking at matters. It is not known to you that German courage,
+which burns on for ever inextinguishably, like a pure naphtha flame, and German
+faithfulness, firm as the primeval rock, form the most impenetrable coat of
+mail, from which all the poisoned darts of treachery and wickedness fall back
+harmlessly. I beg you once more, Don Empecinado, to let me go out into the open
+country, that I may prove myself deserving of the good opinion which I believe
+myself to have already earned.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Empecinado looked at Edgar in amazement, whilst a low murmur
+circulated amongst the assemblage. Don Rafaele moved forward to speak to
+Empecinado, but he motioned him back, and going to Edgar, took his hand and said
+with emotion--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Another fate was in store for you. You had another destiny
+reserved for you to-day. However, Don Edgar, think of your own country. The
+enemies who have covered it with shame are here to-day before you. Remember that
+your German peoples, too, will raise their eyes to the Phoenix which will soar,
+with shining plumage, from the flames which are kindling here, and their despair
+give place to warm longing, the parent of dauntless courage, of battle to the
+very death!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I thought of all this,&quot; said Edgar, &quot;before I left my own
+country, to shed my blood for your freedom. All my being dissolved itself into
+lust for vengeance, when Don Baldassare di Luna lay dying in my arms.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If you are serious in this,&quot; cried Empecinado, as one
+suddenly breaking into fury, &quot;you must set forth this very night, this very
+moment. You must not enter Don Rafaele's house again.&quot; Edgar declared that this
+was precisely what he desired, and was immediately conducted away by a man named
+Isidor Mirr (who afterwards became a guerilla chief), and Father Eusebio.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As they went the good Eusebio could not sufficiently express
+his delight at Edgar's escape.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Heaven!&quot; he said, &quot;seeing your goodness put courage into your
+heart--a divine miracle, in my belief.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was much closer to Valenzia than he expected, or than the
+enemy probably were aware, that Edgar met the first troop of Guerillas, and to
+it he attached himself.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I pass over in silence Edgar's warlike adventures, which often
+might sound as if taken from some book of knightly fables, and I come to the
+time when he unexpectedly encountered Don Rafaele Marchez among the Guerillas.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You really had great injustice done to you, Don Edgar,&quot; said
+Don Rafaele. Edgar turned his back upon him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When morning broke, Don Rafaele got into a state of anxiety
+which grew every instant till it attained a pitch of the most intense anguish.
+He ran up and down, sighed, clasped his hands, raised them to heaven, and
+prayed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What is the matter with the old fellow?&quot; Edgar enquired.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He has managed,&quot; said Isidor Mirr, &quot;to get safe out of
+Valenzia himself, and to save the best of his belongings, and get them loaded up
+upon mules. He has been expecting them all night, and has every reason to
+anticipate evil.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Edgar marvelled at Don Rafaele's avarice, which seemed to
+render him oblivious of everything besides. It was midnight; the moon was
+shining brightly among the hills; when musketry fire was heard from the ravine
+beneath, and presently some rather seriously wounded Guerillas came limping up,
+reporting that the troop which was escorting Don Rafaele's mules had been
+unexpectedly attacked by some French Chasseurs, that nearly all their comrades
+had fallen, and the mules been captured by the enemy.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Great heavens, my child--my poor, unfortunate child,&quot; Don
+Rafaele cried, and sank to the ground.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What is the matter here?&quot; cried Edgar loudly. &quot;Come on, come
+on, brethren, down into the glen, to avenge our comrades, and snatch the booty
+from the teeth of these pigs.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The good German is right,&quot; cried Isidor Mirr. &quot;The good
+German is right,&quot; re-echoed all around, and away they rushed down into the
+ravine like a bursting thunderstorm.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There were only a few Guerillas left, and they were fighting
+with the courage of despair. With a cry of &quot;Valenzia,&quot; Edgar rushed into the
+thickest mass of the enemy, and with the death-announcing roar of thirsting
+tigers the Guerillas dashed after him, planted their daggers in the breasts of
+the foemen, and felled them with the butts of their muskets. Well-directed
+bullets hit them in their headlong flight. These were the Valenzia men who had
+overtaken General Moncey's Cuirassiers in their march, dashed upon their flank,
+cut them down before they gathered how they were situated, and retired into
+their lurking-places masters of the arms and horses.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">All this was over and done when Edgar heard a piercing scream
+from the densest part of the thicket. He made haste to the spot, and found a
+little man struggling with a Frenchman, and holding the bridle of the mule he
+was in charge of in his teeth. Just as Edgar came on the scene the Frenchman
+struck down the little man with a dagger, which he seemed to have taken from
+him, and was trying to drive the mule further into the thicket. Edgar gave a
+loud shout; the Frenchman fired at him, missed him, and Edgar ran him through
+with his bayonet. The little fellow was whimpering. Edgar raised him up, undid
+with some difficulty the bridle, which he had been convulsively biting, and
+noticed for the first time as he was helping him on to the mule that there was a
+shrouded form upon it already clinging to the creature's neck with its arms, and
+softly lamenting. Behind this girl, for such, judging by her voice, was the
+shrouded form, Edgar deposited the little wounded man, took the mule by the
+bridle, and thus made his way back to the little Place d'Armes, where, as no
+more of the enemy was visible, Isidor Mirr and his men had again taken up their
+positions.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The little man, who had fainted from loss of blood, though his
+wounds did not seem to be dangerous, and the girl, were lifted from the mule. At
+this moment Don Rafaele in a state of the most wild excitement darted forward
+with cries of &quot;My child, my sweet child!&quot; and was in the act to clasp the young
+creature, who did not seem to be more than about eight or ten in years, in his
+arms, when, suddenly seeing the bright torchlight shining on Edgar's face, he
+threw himself at his feet, crying, &quot;Oh Don Edgar, Don Edgar! this knee has never
+bent to mortal man till now; but you are no mortal--you are an angel of light
+sent to save me from deadly anxiety and inconsolable despair! Oh, Don Edgar,
+fiendish mistrust was deeply rooted in my bosom, ever brooding upon evil. It was
+an undertaking deserving the bitterest execration to plan the destruction of one
+such as you with your true heart all honour
+and valour---to devote you to a shameful death. Strike me
+down, Don Edgar--execute a bloody vengeance upon me, vile wretch that I am!
+Never can you forgive what I have done.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Edgar, fully conscious that he had done nothing more than his
+duty and honour demanded of him, was pained by Don Rafaele's behaviour, and
+tried by all means to calm and silence him, at length with difficulty
+succeeding.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Don Rafaele said Colonel la Combe had been greatly distressed
+at Edgar's disappearance, and suspecting foul play, he had been on the point of
+ransacking the house and having him, Don Rafaele, arrested. This was why it had
+been necessary for him to escape, and it had been entirely owing to the
+Franciscan's help that he had been able to bring away his daughter, his servant,
+and many things which he required. Meanwhile the wounded servant and Don
+Rafaele's daughter had been taken on some distance in advance, whilst Don
+Rafaele, too old to share in the exploits of the Guerillas, was to follow them.
+At his sorrowful parting with Edgar he gave him a certain talisman, which
+brought him deliverance in many a serious danger.</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="normal">Here Euchar ended his story, which had been listened to by the
+company with the keenest interest.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Poet, who had got over his coughing fit and returned to
+the room, expressed the opinion that in Edgar's Spanish adventures there was
+fine material for a tragedy, all that he thought wanting being a due spice of
+love-making and an effective <i>finale</i>, such as a striking case of insanity, a
+good apoplexy, or something of the kind.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, yes, love,&quot; said a young lady blushing at her own
+temerity. &quot;The only thing your delightful story wanted was some charmingly
+interesting love affair!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Dear Lady,&quot; said Euchar laughing, &quot;I was not telling you the
+story of a novel, but the adventures of my friend Edgar. His life amongst the
+wild Spanish mountains was unfortunately poor in experiences of that kind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have a strong belief,&quot; said Victorine in a low tone, &quot;that
+I know this same Edgar, who has remained in poverty, because he has despised the
+most precious of gifts.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But no one's enthusiasm equalled that of Ludwig, who cried out
+most excitedly, &quot;I know that mysterious Profecia del Pirineo by the glorious Don
+Juan Baptista de Arriaza. Oh, it fired my very veins! I wanted to be off to
+Spain to fight for that glorious cause--had it only been comprehended in the
+system of the mutual interdependence of things. I can quite put myself in
+Edgar's place. How I should have spoken to that terrible Empecinado in that
+awful situation in the Franciscan monastery!&quot; And he began a harangue, which was
+so pathetic that everybody was astonished, and could not sufficiently marvel at
+his brave and heroic resolution.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But it was not a part of the mutual interdependence of
+things,&quot; said the lady of the house, &quot;although, perhaps, it does form a part of
+that interdependence--or, at all events, fits into it--that, as it happens, I
+have provided an entertainment for my visitors which forms a suitable pendant to
+Euchar's story.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The doors opened, and Emanuela came in followed by the stunted
+little Biagio Cubas with his guitar in his hands, making all manner of quaint
+obeisances and salutations. But Emanuela, with that indescribable charm of
+manner which had so fascinated Euchar and Ludwig in the Park, came into the
+circle curtseying, and said in a gentle voice that she was going to exhibit a
+little piece of skilfulness, which would not have much to recommend it except
+its being a little out of the common.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">During the short time which had elapsed since our two friends
+had seen the girl she seemed to have grown taller, more beautiful, and more
+developed in figure--moreover, she was admirably, almost expensively dressed.
+&quot;Now,&quot; Ludwig whispered into his friend's ear, as Cubas
+with quaint and comical features was getting things ready for
+the
+egg-fandago, &quot;now is your chance to get back your ring.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My dear goose,&quot; said Euchar, &quot;don't you see it is on my
+finger? I found I had taken it off along with my glove; I discovered that on the
+same evening when I thought I had lost it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Emanuela's dancing took everybody by storm, no one having ever
+seen such a thing before. Euchar kept his gaze fixed upon her earnestly. Ludwig
+broke out into exclamations of the utmost rapture. Victorine, close to whom he
+was sitting, whispered to him, &quot;Hypocrite! You dare to pretend to speak of love
+to me while you are devoted to this brazen little wretch of a Spanish
+egg-dancer! Don't dare to look at her again, sir!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ludwig was considerably discomposed on the whole by
+Victorine's passion for him, with its tendency to flame out into jealousy
+without any rational cause. He said to himself, &quot;I really am one of the luckiest
+fellows in the world; but all the same, this sort of thing rather bores a man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When she had ended her dance Emanuela took the guitar and
+began singing Spanish ballads of cheerful, happy character. Ludwig begged her to
+sing that splendid thing which had so greatly delighted Euchar. She at once
+began--</p>
+
+<p class="center">&quot;Laurel immortal al gran Palafox,&quot; etc.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Her enthusiastic delivery of these lines waxed in fervour as
+she went on, her voice swelled into greater power, the chords of the instrument
+clanged louder and louder. When she came to the Strophe, which speaks of the
+liberation of the Fatherland, she fixed her beaming eyes on Euchar, a river of
+tears rushed down her cheeks, and she fell on her knees. The hostess hurried to
+her, raised her up, and said, &quot;No more, no more, sweet darling child,&quot; and,
+taking her to a sofa, kissed her on the brow and stroked her cheeks.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She's out of her mind,&quot; Victorine whispered excitedly to
+Ludwig. &quot;You can't be in love with a mad creature! No, no. Tell me at once--on
+the spot--that you can't possibly be in love with a maniac!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good gracious, no! Of course not,&quot; Ludwig cried, considerably
+alarmed. He found the greatest possible difficulty in properly adapting himself
+to the excessively passionate manifestation which Victorine's affection had
+taken to displaying.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">While the hostess was refreshing Emanuela with sweet wine and
+biscuits the valiant little guitarist, Biagio Cubas, who had sunk down in a
+corner and was sobbing profusely, was served with a glass of genuine Xeres,
+which he drained to the last drop with a gladsome &quot;Donna, viva hasta mil annos.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It may readily be supposed that the ladies attacked Emanuela
+with a string of enquiries as to her country, circumstances, and so forth. The
+hostess felt the painfulness of her position too keenly not to so contrive that
+the firmly-closed circle should disperse itself into several subsidiary eddies,
+in which every one, the piquet players included, soon began to revolve. The
+consistorial president considered the little Spanish girl a delightful, natty
+little creature; the only thing was that somehow her dancing got into his own
+legs and made his head feel as giddy as if he were waltzing with the devil in
+person. The singing struck him as something quite out of the common; it
+delighted him immensely.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Count Walther Puck was of quite a different opinion. Of her
+singing he thought nothing at all; there was no such thing as a trillo in it
+all. But he praised her dancing most warmly, and thought it quite delicious. He
+said that his opinion on the subject was of some value, seeing that at one time
+he had been as good a performer as the most celebrated Maîtres de ballet.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Will you believe me, brother Consistorial-President,&quot; he
+said, &quot;when I tell you that in my youthful days, when I was a perfect model
+specimen of nimbleness and vigour, I used to be able to spring the fiocco and
+knock down a tambourine hung up nine feet above the tip of my nose with my toe!
+And as for this egg-fandago, why I have often smashed more eggs in performing
+that dance than seven hens would lay in four-and-twenty hours.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Bless my soul,&quot; said the Consistorial-President, &quot;that was
+doing the thing in a most stupendous style!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes,&quot; said the Count. &quot;And then I must tell you my good old
+Cochenille plays the flageolet really very nicely indeed. And now and then I get
+him to play for me in the dressing-room; and then I really give myself full
+swing in the dancing line--of course, only there quite in private. You see what
+I mean?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Of course, of course,&quot; answered the Consistorial-President,
+&quot;I quite understand.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Meanwhile Emanuela and her companion had disappeared.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As the company were about dispersing the hostess said, &quot;Friend
+Euchar, I feel certain that you know a great deal more than you have told us
+about your friend Edgar, We should be deeply interested to hear a great deal
+more. &quot;What you have told us was only a fragment of it, though it has so excited
+and interested us that none of us will sleep a wink to night. I can't accord you
+longer time than till to-morrow evening for satisfying our curiosity. &quot;We must
+hear more of Don Rafaele, and Empecinado, and the Guerillas. And if it is
+possible that Edgar can get into a love affair, please don't deprive us of the
+satisfaction of that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That would be delightful!&quot; sounded from all sides; and Euchar
+had to promise that he would be present with the matter necessary for the
+completing of his story.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As they were going home Ludwig could not say enough on the
+subject of Victorine's passion for him, bordering, as it seemed to do, on
+insanity. &quot;All the same,&quot; he said, &quot;that jealousy of hers has had the effect of
+enabling me to read my own heart clearly. And I have read there that my love for
+Emanuela is a thing unutterable. I am going to find her out, declare my
+passionate adoration for her--and clasp her to my heart.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Exactly, my dear child,&quot; said Euchar imperturbably. &quot;That is,
+of course, the proper thing for you to do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On the next evening when the company were assembled again
+<i>chez Madame la Présidente</i>, she told them with much regret that Baron Euchar
+had written to say that he was unexpectedly obliged to start immediately on a
+journey, and must postpone the continuation of his story till he came back.</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="center"><span class="sc">Euchar's Return. Scenes in a truly happy Ménage.<br>Conclusion
+of the Story</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Two years had past away when one morning a handsome carriage
+well loaded with baggage drew up at the door of the Golden Angel (principal
+hotel in W----), and out of it got a young gentleman, a lady very closely
+shrouded in wraps, and an old man. Ludwig happened to be passing at the time,
+and naturally he had a look at the arrivals through his eye-glass. The young
+gentleman happened to turn round, and he immediately embraced Ludwig, crying
+out, &quot;My dear old fellow!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The latter was not a little astonished to see his old friend
+Euchar, for it was he who had got out of the carriage. &quot;My dear fellow,&quot; he
+said, &quot;who is that terribly muffled-up lady?--and the old gentleman? And, bless
+my soul, here comes a fourgon with baggage, and sitting on the back of it--good
+gracious, do my eyes deceive me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Euchar took Ludwig by the arm, led him a step or two across
+the street, and said, &quot;You shall hear all about everything in good time, dear
+friend; but, to begin with, how have things been going with you? You are
+terribly pale--the fire of your eyes has gone out. To tell you the honest truth,
+you look about ten years older than when I saw you last. Have you been having a
+bad illness or some serious trouble?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, dear no!&quot; answered Ludwig. &quot;Quite the contrary. I believe
+I am the very happiest fellow under the sun, for I am living a life of utterly
+ideal, Utopian love and bliss. The heavenly Victorine gave me that exquisite,
+tender hand of hers--bestowed it, my dear fellow, upon unworthy me rather more
+than a year ago! That pretty house which you see there with its windows shining
+in the sun is my home, and you must come there with me this moment and see that
+earthly paradise of mine. How delighted my dear wife will be to see you again!
+Let us give her a surprise.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Euchar begged for a few minutes time just to change his dress,
+and promised to come then at once and see with his own eyes how all things had
+worked together for Ludwig's happiness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ludwig came to meet his friend at the bottom of the stair, and
+begged him to make as little noise as possible in coming up, explaining that
+Victorine often suffered terribly from nervous headaches, and had a bad one just
+then, which rendered her nervous system so sensitive that she could hear the
+very softest footfall in any part of the house, although her own rooms were in
+the most distant part of it. Consequently they two now crept as softly as they
+could up the stairs, which were thickly carpeted, into Ludwig's own room. After
+the heartiest outpourings of gladness at seeing his old companion again, Ludwig
+rang the bell, but immediately cried out, &quot;Oh, Lord, what have I done, wretch
+that I am!&quot; putting both his hands before his face. And it was not long before a
+snappish creature of a lady's maid came in screeching out to Ludwig in a
+horrible, vulgar tone of voice, &quot;Herr Baron, for heaven's sake what are you
+doing? You'll kill my lady. She's in spasms now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good gracious! my good Nettie,&quot; said Ludwig in a lamentable
+voice, &quot;I really forgot all about it. I was so happy. Here is the greatest
+friend I have in the world come to see me. We haven't met for years. He's an old
+intimate friend of your mistress, too. Go and beg her--implore
+her--to let me bring him to her.&quot; Ludwig put money into her
+hand, and she made her exit with a vixenish &quot;I'll see what I can do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Euchar, finding himself in presence of a situation which is
+but too common in life, and is consequently served up to us <i>ad nauseam</i> in
+comedies and novels, had his own particular ideas as to his friend's domestic
+happiness. He felt with Ludwig all the painfulness of the position, and began to
+talk about indifferent subjects. But Ludwig would not give in to this, saying
+that what had been happening to him since they had been apart had been too
+remarkable and interesting that he should delay for a moment to communicate it
+to Euchar.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Of course,&quot; he began, &quot;you remember that evening when we were
+all at Madame Veh's and you told the Story of your friend Edgar's adventures.
+And, of course, you remember how Victorine flamed up into jealousy and showed
+her heart, which was blazing with passion, without disguise. Idiot that I was--I
+fully admit to you that I was an idiot--I fell desperately in love with that
+little Spanish dancing girl, and thought that I could read in her eyes that my
+love was not without some hope. Perhaps you noticed that at the finish of her
+fandango, whim she made the eggs into a pyramid the apex of that pyramid was
+directed towards me. I was sitting just in the centre of the circle behind
+Madame Veh's chair. Now could she have expressed more clearly how deep her
+interest in me was? I wanted to find the dear little creature out the next
+morning, but it was not a part of the mutual interdependence of things that I
+should succeed in that. I had almost forgotten all about her when chance----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The mutual interdependence of things, you mean,&quot; interrupted
+Euchar.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, well,&quot; went on Ludwig. &quot;But, at all events, a few days
+afterwards I was going through the Park, and in front of that Café where you and
+I saw that little Spanish girl for the first time, out came the landlady
+rushing--oh, you have no idea what an interest that good woman, who got the
+vinegar and water that day when I hurt my knee, takes in me still--but that is
+not to the present purpose--to ask if I knew what had become of the little
+Spanish girl and her companion, who used to come there so often, and of whom
+nothing had been seen for several weeks. Next day I took a great deal of trouble
+to find out whether she was in the town or not, but it did not lie in the mutual
+interdependence of things that I should succeed in this. And my heart repented
+of the foolishness it had been so near committing, and turned back again to the
+heavenly Victorine. But my crime of infidelity to her had made such a profound
+impression upon that super-sensitive organization of hers that she refused to
+see me or even to hear my name mentioned. Good old Cochenille assured me that
+she had fallen into a state of absolute melancholia; that she would often cry
+till the was almost breathless, and wail in the most pathetic manner, saying 'He
+is lost to me. I have lost him for ever.' You may imagine the effect which all
+this produced upon me--how I was dissolved in sorrow over this unfortunate
+misunderstanding. Cochenille proffered me his aid. He said he would
+diplomatically convince the Countess that I was quite an altered man, never
+dancing more than four times at the most at balls, sitting at the theatre
+staring at the stage in an oblivious manner, and paying not the smallest
+attention to my clothes. I sent a flowing stream of gold pieces into his hands,
+and in return he gave me fresh hopes every morning. At last Victorine allowed me
+to see her again. How lovely she was! Oh, Victorine, my darling--beautiful,
+sweetest of wives--amiability and kindness personified!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here Nettchen came in and said that the Baroness was
+astonished at the Baron's extraordinary conduct. First he rang the bell as if
+the house were on fire, and then he asked her to receive a visitor in the
+exceedingly critical state of her health. She most certainly could not see
+anybody that day whoever it might be, and begged the strange gentleman to excuse
+her. Nettchen looked Euchar straight in the eyes, scanned him over carefully
+from head to foot, and left the room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ludwig stared before him in silence, and then continued his
+tale in a low voice and with bated breath, saying, &quot;You can't imagine the degree
+of almost contemptuous coldness with which Victorine received me. If it hadn't
+been that her previous outbursts of burning affection had convinced me that this
+coldness was merely put on to punish me, I should really have had my doubts, and
+should have hesitated. But at last this counterfeiting got too difficult for
+her, her behaviour grew kindlier and kindlier, till all in a moment she gave me
+her shawl to carry. And then my triumph was utterly brilliant. I rearranged that
+'<i>seize</i>' of mine, which had played such an important part in my destiny, danced
+it with her in the most heavenly manner, whispered in her ear--at the proper
+moment, whilst balancing myself on tiptoe and placing my arm about
+her--'Heavenly Countess, I love you unspeakably! Angel of light, I implore you
+to be mine.' Victorine smiled into my eyes; but that did not prevent me from
+paying the proper visit the next morning, with the good help of my friend
+Cochenille, at the fitting hour, about one o'clock, and making my formal
+proposal for her hand. She gazed at me in silence. I threw myself at her feet,
+seized that hand which was to be mine, and covered it with glowing kisses. She
+allowed me to do this; but I really felt it a good deal, and thought it was
+extremely queer, that all the time her eyes were fixed steadfastly upon nothing
+that I could discover, staring before her as if she had been a lifeless image.
+But at last a great tear or two came to her eyes. She pressed my hand so
+vehemently that, as I happened to have a sore finger, I could scarcely help
+crying out with the pain of it, rose from her chair, and left the room with her
+handkerchief over her face. I had no doubts as to my good fortune. I hastened to
+the Count and made my formal proposal for his daughter.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Good. Very good, indeed, my dear Baron,' said the Count,
+smiling
+in the most affable manner. 'But have you given the Countess
+any intimation of this? Have you given her any opportunity of inferring it at
+all? Are you beloved? I admit that I am foolish enough to take the greatest
+possible interest in love matters.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I told him what had happened during the 'seize.' His eyes
+sparkled with delight. 'That was delicious!' he cried over and over again. 'That
+was most delicious, indeed, Herr Baron! Tell me what your &quot;tour&quot;
+consisted of, dear Baronetto.' I danced this 'tour' for him,
+and remained pausing in the position which I described to you long since.
+'Charming; charming, indeed, my angelic friend!' he cried, and ringing the bell,
+he shouted, 'Cochenille, Cochenille!'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;When Cochenille came in I had to sing him the music of my
+'seize,' which was composed by myself. 'Get your flageolet, Cochenille,' said
+the Count, 'and play what the Baron has been singing.' Cochenille did so
+tolerably correctly. I had to dance with the Count, taking the lady's part, and
+I should not have believed it of the old gentleman, while poising himself on his
+right tiptoe he whispered into my ear, 'Most incomparable of barons, my daughter
+Victorine is yours.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The lovely Victorine behaved rather coyly, as young ladies
+are apt to do under such circumstances. She was reserved and silent, formal and
+stiff, said neither 'Yes' nor 'No,' and on the whole behaved to me in such a way
+that my hopes began to sink again. Besides, it so happened that I just then, for
+the first time, found out that on the celebrated occasion, when I put my arm
+round the cousin instead of Victorine in the 'seize,' those two girls had
+planned this practical joke on purpose just to make me the victim of a
+contemptible mystification. I really was terribly distressed and annoyed, and
+could almost have cried, to think that it had formed a part of the mutual
+interdependence of things that I should be led about by the nose in this sort of
+way. But those doubts were vain. Ere I knew where I was, wholly unexpectedly the
+heavenly 'Yes' came trembling from her beautiful lips just when I had fallen
+into the deepest dejection. It was only then that I found out what a constraint
+Victorine had been putting upon herself before, for she was now so wildly happy
+and in such amazing spirits that anything like this condition had never been
+seen in her before. No doubt it was only maidenly coyness that made her refuse
+to allow me to take her hand or to kiss it, or to indulge in any kind of
+innocent little endearment. Many of my friends did try to put a quantity of
+absurd nonsense into my head. But the day before our wedding was destined to
+drive the last shadow of doubt from my mind. Early on that morning I hastened to
+her. Some papers were lying on her work-table. I glanced at them; they were in
+her own handwriting. I began reading. It was a diary. Oh, heavens! Oh, all ye
+Gods! Each day's entries gave me fresh proof how dearly, with what unspeakable
+fondness Victorine had loved me all along. The most trifling incidents were
+recorded, and always there came, 'You do not comprehend this heart of mine. Cold
+and unfeeling, must I cast aside all maidenly reserve in the wildness of my
+despair, throw myself at your feet, and tell you that without your love life is
+only death to me?' And it went on in this strain. On the night when I fancied
+myself so wildly in love with the little Spanish girl she had written, 'All is
+lost and done. He loves her; nothing can be, more certain. Mad creature, don't
+you know that the eye of the woman who loves is
+all-seeing?' Just as I was reading this aloud in came
+Victorine. I threw myself at her feet with the diary in my hand, crying, 'No,
+no; I never was in love with that strange child. You, you alone, were always my
+idol!'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Victorine fixed a gaze on me, cried out in a screaming sort
+of tone, which rings in my ears still, 'Unfortunate fellow, it was not you I
+meant,' and rushed from the room. Now could you have imagined that maidenly
+coyness would have been capable of being carried so far?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here Nettchen came in to enquire on the Baroness's part why
+the
+Baron did not bring the visitor to see her, inasmuch as she
+had been expecting him for the last half hour. &quot;A splendid model wife,&quot; cried
+the Baron with much emotion, &quot;always sacrificing herself to my wishes.&quot; It
+astonished Euchar not a little to find the Baroness very much dressed as if for
+company.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Here is our dear old Euchar!&quot; the Baron cried. &quot;We have got
+him back again.&quot; But when Euchar approached and took her hand she was seized
+with a violent trembling, and, with a faint cry of &quot;Oh, God,&quot; fell back on her
+couch fainting.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Euchar could not bear the pain of the situation, and he left
+the room as quickly as possible. &quot;Unfortunate fellow,&quot; he cried, &quot;it was,
+indeed, not you she meant.&quot; He understood now the fathomless depth of misery
+into which his friend's incredible vanity had plunged him--he knew now upon whom
+Victorine's love had been bestowed, and felt himself strangely moved and
+touched. He comprehended now, and only now, the significance of many things
+which his own simple straightforwardness had prevented him from seeing before.
+Now, and only now, he saw through and through the impassioned Victorine, and
+could scarcely explain to himself how he had failed to discover that it was with
+him she was in love. The occasions on which her fondness for him had led her to
+give expression to it, almost in defiance of all considerations, rose more
+clearly before his mental sight, and he distinctly remembered that just on those
+very occasions some strange unaccountable antipathy to her had caused a curious,
+inexplicable irritation of feeling towards her. This feeling of angry irritation
+he now brought to bear upon himself, filled as he was by the profoundest pity
+for the poor girl, whose destiny seemed to have been ruled by such an evil star.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It so happened that on this very evening the self-same party
+to which Euchar had told the story of Edgar's adventures in Spain, two years
+previously, were assembled at Madame Veh's. He was greeted with the greatest
+warmth, but an electric thrill went through him when he saw Victorine, as he had
+not thought he would meet her there. There was no trace of illness about her.
+Her eyes shone as brilliantly as of old, and a carefully-chosen costume of great
+tastefulness enhanced her loveliness and charm. Euchar, distressed by her
+presence, was depressed and put out, contrary to his usual wont. Victorine so
+managed matters as to be able to approach him, and suddenly seizing his hand,
+drew him aside, saying gravely and calmly--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You know my husband's pet theory of the mutual
+interdependence of things? I believe what constitutes the real 'mutual
+interdependence of things' in our lives to be the follies which we commit,
+repent of, and commit again and again. So that our lives appear to consist of a
+process of being wildly hunted hither and thither by a species of enchantment
+beyond our control, which drives us on before it till it mocks and dashes us
+into death. I know all, Euchar; I know whom I am going to see this evening. It
+was not you who brought those bitter, hopeless sorrows upon me; not you, but an
+evil fate. The demon was laid and vanished at the moment when I saw you again.
+May peace and rest be upon us, Euchar.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, Victorine,&quot; Euchar answered, &quot;may rest and peace be upon
+us. However miscomprehended a life may be, the Eternal Power does not leave it
+without hope.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;All is ended--and well,&quot; said Victorine; and, wiping a tear
+away, she turned to the company.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Madame Veh had been observant of this pair, and now whispered
+to Euchar--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I told her everything. Was I right?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I must go through with the whole business,&quot; Euchar answered.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The company--as often happens in such circumstances--felt a
+fresh impulse to festivity and enjoyment in Euchar's unexpected return, and
+besieged him with enquiries as to where he had been and what had happened to him
+during his absence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What has really brought me here,&quot; said Euchar, &quot;is the
+obligation which I am under to keep my promise of two years ago that I would
+tell you a good deal more of my friend Edgar's history, and put a copestone upon
+it such as our friend the Poet thought it wanted. As I can now assure you that
+no dark clouds have come over his path, that there have been no deeds of
+violence, but that, on the contrary, as the ladies wished, my story will be
+concerned with a rather romantic love-affair, I feel sure that I may reckon upon
+a fair measure of approval.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">All applauded, and speedily formed into a narrower ring.
+Euchar at once commenced as follows--</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="normal">I pass over in silence the warlike adventures which Edgar met
+with while fighting in company with the Guerillas--although <i>they</i> were
+sufficiently romantic--contenting myself with explaining that the talisman which
+Don Rafaele Marchez gave him when parting with him, was a little ring inscribed
+with mystic characters, which showed that he was an initiate in the most secret
+of the confederacies or societies; thus assuring him, wherever he might be, of
+the most absolute and unlimited confidence of those acquainted with those signs,
+and rendering all danger such as he had been exposed to in Valenzia impossible.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Soon afterwards he joined the English forces, and served under
+Wellington. He was never touched by a hostile bullet again, and when the
+campaign was over he returned to his own country safe and sound. Don Rafaele
+Marchez he had never seen again, nor had he heard anything of his further
+fortunes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Edgar had been a long while back in his native town, when, one
+day, Don Rafaele's little ring (which he always wore on his finger) disappeared
+under peculiar circumstances. Early on the morning of the day following this, a
+queer little fellow came into his room, held the missing ring up to him, and
+asked him if it was his. When Edgar replied that it was, the little man cried
+out excitedly in Spanish--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, <i>you are</i> Don Edgar; there can be no doubt about it.&quot; And
+then Edgar clearly remembered the face and figure of the little fellow, who was
+Don Rafaele's faithful servant, the same who had displayed the lion courage of
+despair in trying to save his master's daughter.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In the name of all the saints!&quot; Edgar cried, &quot;you must be Don
+Rafaele's faithful servant! I recognise you. Where is <i>he</i>? My strange
+presentiment is going to come true.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The little man implored Edgar to go with him at once.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He took him to one of the most distant suburbs, climbed with
+him to the garret of a miserable house, and--what a spectacle! Sick, worn to a
+shadow, with all the traces of the most mortal suffering upon his deathlike
+face, Don Rafaele Marchez was lying upon a bed of straw, with a girl praying by
+his side. When Edgar came in, the girl rushed up to him, and drew him to the
+side of the old man, crying in a tone of the warmest delight--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Father, father! this is he, is it not?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes,&quot; said the old man, his dim eyes brightening as he raised
+his folded hands to heaven, &quot;it is he--our preserver. Ah, Don Edgar, who would
+have believed that the fire which burned within me for my country and freedom
+would have turned upon me for my destruction.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After the first outpourings of mingled delight and regret,
+Edgar learned that Don Rafaele's enemies had managed, after the establishment of
+peace, to bring charges against him causing him to be regarded with suspicion by
+the government. He was sentenced to be banished, and his property was
+confiscated. He fell into the deepest poverty. His devoted daughter and his
+faithful servant supported him by dancing and playing.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Emanuela and Biagio Cubas, of course!&quot; Ludwig cried out. And
+all the others repeated after him, &quot;Of course, of course--Emanuela and Biagio
+Cubas!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The hostess enjoined silence on the ground that, although
+there might be many things which could be gradually explained, the narrator
+ought not to be interrupted until he had come to the end of his story. Moreover
+she felt no doubt that as soon as Edgar saw the lovely Emanuela he must, of
+course, have fallen desperately in love with her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That, of course, is exactly what he did do,&quot; said Euchar, a
+slight redness overspreading his cheeks. Even before this particular meeting
+with her, on other occasions of his seeing that marvellously beautifully child,
+he had felt the most distinct presentiments of what would follow, and a sense of
+the deepest affection, like nothing which he had ever experienced before. He
+immediately set to remedy the condition of affairs. He took away Don Rafaele,
+Emanuela, and the trusty Cubas, to a country estate belonging to his uncle. And
+in arranging this I was of some assistance to him. It seemed as if Don Rafaele's
+lucky star was going to rise again; for soon after this there came a letter from
+good Father Eusebio to say that the brethren, well acquainted with the secret
+corners of his house, had hidden away the very considerable property (in the
+shape of gold and jewels) which he possessed (and which he had walled up before
+his flight) in their own convent; so that all that was necessary was to send
+some trustworthy person to fetch them. Edgar set out at once for Valenzia with
+the faithful Cubas. He saw his kind old nurse, Father Eusebio, again, and Don
+Rafaele's treasure was handed over to him. But he knew that Don Rafaele prized
+honour above everything, and he succeeded in Madrid in completely
+re-establishing his innocence. The decree of banishment was cancelled.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The doors opened and there entered a beautifully dressed lady,
+followed by an old gentleman of lofty bearing and aristocratic looks. The
+hostess rose to receive them, and led the lady within the circle. The other
+guests had all risen, and the host presented &quot;Donna Emanuela Marchez, our friend
+Euchar's bride. Ron Rafaele Marchez.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes,&quot; said Euchar, with the bliss of the happiness which he
+had achieved radiating from his eyes, and glowing in brilliant roses on his
+cheeks, &quot;I have only now to tell you that he whom I spoke of to you as Edgar was
+none other than myself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Victorine clasped the beautiful Emanuela in her arms, and
+pressed her warmly to her heart. They seemed to know each other already. But
+Ludwig, casting a glance of sorrow upon the group, said--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;All this was a part of the mutual interdependence of things.&quot;</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="normal">The friends were pleased with Sylvester's tale, and were
+unanimous in thinking that Edgar's adventures in Spain during the War of
+Independence, although they might perhaps be considered to be interwoven in
+merely an episodical form, really constituted the kernel of the story, and that
+their happy effect was accounted for by their being founded upon actual
+historical facts.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is no doubt,&quot; said Lothair, &quot;that matter which is
+absolutely historical possesses a certain peculiar quality which the inventive
+faculty, when it merely hovers about in empty space, with nothing to anchor
+upon, cannot attain to. In the same way the skilful introduction of truly
+historical customs, manners, habitudes and so forth, belonging to any race, or
+people, or to any particular class of people, gives to a work of fiction a
+life-like colouring which it is difficult otherwise to attain. But I insist upon
+their being introduced <i>skilfully</i>. For there is no doubt that it is not so easy
+to introduce historical
+facts--things which have actually happened--into a work of
+which the incidents belong to the domain of pure imagination, as many people
+think it is. And it requires a peculiar skilfulness, which everybody is not
+fortunate enough to possess. In the absence of it there appears merely a pale,
+distorted simulacrum of life, instead of the freshness of reality. I know
+works--particularly some by literary ladies--in which one feels, at every
+instant, how the writer has gone dipping the brush into the colour-box, bringing
+nothing out of it, after all, but a sort of jumble of strokes of different
+colours, just where what was wanted was a thoroughly life-like picture.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I quite agree with you,&quot; said Lothair. &quot;And, having just
+chanced to remember a particular novel, written by an otherwise fairly clever
+woman (which, notwithstanding all the dippings of her brush into the aforesaid
+paint-box, does not possess a single atom of real semblance of life, or of
+poetic truth, from one end of it to the other, so that one cannot remember it
+for a single moment), I merely wish to say that this particular skill in
+producing an effect of reality and historical truth, brilliantly distinguishes
+the works of a writer who has only rather recently become known to us. I mean
+Walter Scott. I have only read his 'Guy Mannering.' But <i>ex ungue leonem</i>. The
+'exposition' of this tale is based upon Scotch manners and customs, and matters
+belonging peculiarly to the place in which the scene of it is laid. But, without
+any acquaintance with them, one is carried away by the vivid reality of the
+characters and incidents in an extraordinary degree, and the 'exposition' is to
+be termed so utterly masterly just because we are landed <i>in medias res</i> in a
+moment, as if by the wave of an enchanter's wand. Moreover, Scott has the power
+of drawing the figures of his pictures with a few touches, in such a way that
+they seem to come out of their frames, and move about before us in the most
+living fashion imaginable. Scott is a splendid phenomenon appearing in the
+literature of Great Britain. He is as vivid as Smollett, though far more classic
+and noble. But I think he is wanting in that brilliant lire of profound humour
+which coruscates in the writings of Sterne and Swift.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am just in your position, Ottmar,&quot; said Vincenz. &quot;'Guy
+Mannering' is the only work of Scott's which I have read. But I was much struck
+by the originality of it, and the manner in which, in its methodical progress,
+it gradually unwinds itself like a clue of thread, gently and quietly, never
+breaking its firm-spun strands. My chief objection to it is, that (no doubt in
+faithfulness to British manners) the female characters are so tame and
+colourless, except that grand gipsy
+woman--although she is scarcely so much to be called a woman
+as a kind of spectral apparition. Both of the young ladies in 'Guy Mannering'
+remind me of the English coloured engravings, which are all exactly alike--<i>id
+est</i>, as pretty as they are meaningless and expressionless, and as to which one
+sees distinctly that the originals of them would never allow anything further
+than 'Yea, yea; nay, nay!' to cross those pretty little delicate lips of theirs, as anything more might
+lead unto evil. Hogarth's milkmaid is a prototype of all these creatures. Both
+of the girls in 'Guy Mannering' lack reality--the god-like vivifying breath of
+life.&quot;</p>
+<p class="normal">&quot;Might not one wish,&quot; said Theodore, &quot;in the case of some of
+the female characters of one of our most talented writers (particularly in some
+of his earlier works) that they had a little more flesh and blood, since they
+are really all so very apt to melt into wreaths of mist when one looks at them
+closely? Nevertheless, let us love and honour both of those writers--the
+foreigner and our countryman, because of the true and glorious things which they
+have bestowed upon us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is remarkable,&quot; said Sylvester, &quot;that--unless I
+mistake--another great writer appeared on the other side of the channel, about
+the same time as Walter Scott, and has produced works of equal greatness and
+splendour, but in a different direction. I mean Lord Byron, who appears to me to
+be much more solid and powerful than Thomas Moore. His 'Siege of Corinth' is a
+masterpiece, fall of genius. His predominant tendency seems to be towards the
+gloomy, the mysterious and the terrible; and his 'Vampire' I have avoided
+reading, for the bare idea of a vampire makes my blood run cold. So far as I
+understand the matter, a vampire is an animated corpse which sucks the blood of
+the living.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ho! ho!&quot; cried Lothair, laughing, &quot;a writer such as you, my
+dear friend, Sylvester, must of course have found it necessary to dip more or
+less deeply into all kinds of accounts concerning magic, witches, sorcery,
+enchantment, and other such works of the devil, because they are necessary for
+your work, and part of your stock in trade. And I
+should suppose you have gone into those subjects yourself with
+the view of getting some personal experience of them as well. As regards
+vampirism--that you may see how well read I am in these matters--I will tell you
+the name of a delightful treatise in which you may study this dark subject. The
+complete title of this little book is 'M. Michael Ranft (Deacon of Nebra).
+Treatise on the Mastication and Sucking of the Dead in their Graves; wherein the
+true nature and description of the Hungarian vampires and bloodsuckers is
+clearly set forth, and all previous writings on this subject are passed in
+review and subjected to criticism.' This title in itself will convince you of
+the thoroughness of this treatise, and you will learn from it that a vampire is
+nothing other but an accursed creature who lets himself be buried as being dead,
+and then rises out of the grave and sucks people's blood in their sleep. And
+those people become vampires in their turn. So that, according to the accounts
+received from Hungary and quoted by this magister, the inhabitants of whole
+villages become vampires of the most abominable description. To render those
+vampires harmless they must be dug out of their graves, a stake driven through
+their hearts, and their bodies burnt to ashes. Those horrible beings very often
+do not appear in their own proper forms, but <i>en masque</i>. A certain officer, I
+happen to remember, writing from Belgrade to a celebrated doctor in Leipzig for
+information as to the true nature of vampires, expresses himself thus: 'In a
+village called Kinklina it chanced that two brothers were troubled by a vampire,
+so that one of them used to sit up by the other at night whilst he slept. The
+one who was watching used to see something like a dog opening the door, but this
+dog used to make off when he cried out at it. At last one night they both were
+asleep at the same time, and the vampire bit and sucked a place under the right
+ear of one of them, leaving a red mark. The man died of this in three days'
+time. In conclusion,' said the officer, 'as the people of this place make all
+this out to be miraculous, I venture to take the liberty of requesting you to
+tell me your private opinion as to whether it is caused by the intervention of
+sympathetic, diabolical, or astral spirits. And I remain, with much respect,
+&#38;c.' Take example by this officer of enquiring mind. As it happens his name
+occurs to me at this moment. He was an ensign in the Prince Alexander regiment,
+Sigismund Alexander Friedrich von Kottwitz. The military mind seems to have been
+considerably exercised on the subject of vampirism about that time. Magister
+Ranft quotes in his book an official declaration made by an army surgeon before
+two of his brother officers concerning the detection and destruction of a
+vampire. This declaration contains, <i>inter alia</i>, the following passage: 'Inasmuch as they perceived, from the aforesaid circumstances, that this was
+unmistakably a vampire, they drove a stake through its heart, upon which it gave
+vent to a distinct gasp, emitting a considerable quantity of blood.' Is that not
+both interesting and instructive?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;All this of Magister Ranft's,&quot; said Sylvester, &quot;may, no
+doubt, be sufficiently absurd and even rather crack-brained; but, at the same
+time, if we keep to the subject of vampirism itself, never minding in what
+particular fashion it may be treated, it certainly is one of the most horrible
+and terrible notions imaginable. I can conceive nothing more ghastlily repulsive
+to the mind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Still,&quot; said Cyprian, &quot;it is capable of providing a material,
+when dealt with by a writer of imagination possessed of some poetical tact,
+which has the power of stirring within us that profound sense of awe which is
+innate in our hearts, and when touched by the electric impulse from an unseen
+spirit world causes our soul to thrill, not altogether unpleasantly after a
+fashion. A due amount of poetic tact on the author's part will prevent the
+horror of the subject from going so far as to be loathsome; for it generally has
+such an element of the absurd about it that it does not impress us so deeply as
+if that were not the case. Why should not a writer be permitted to make use of
+the levers of fear, terror, and horror because some feeble soul here and there
+finds it more than it can bear? Shall there be no strong meat at table because
+there happen to be some guests there whose stomachs are weak, or who have
+spoiled their own digestions?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My dear, fanciful Cyprian,&quot; Theodore said, &quot;there was no
+occasion for your vindication of the horrible. We all know how wonderfully great
+writers have moved men's hearts to their very depths by means of that lever. We
+have only to think of Shakespeare. Moreover, who knew better how to use it than
+our own glorious Tieck in many of his tales? I need only instance the
+'Love-Spell.' The leading idea of that story cannot but make everybody's blood
+run cold, and the end of it is full of the utmost fear and horror; but still the
+colours are blended so admirably that, in spite of all the terror and dismay,
+the mysterious magic charm so seizes upon us that we yield ourselves up to it
+without an effort to resist. How true is what Tieck puts in the mouth of his
+Manfred in answer to women's objections to the element of the awe-inspiring in
+fiction. Of course, what is the fact is that whatsoever of the terrible
+encounters us in our daily life is just what tortures and tears our hearts with
+irresistible pain. And, indeed, the cruelty of mankind, as exercised by tyrants,
+great and small, without pity or mercy, and with the diabolical malignity of
+hell itself, produces misery on a par with anything told of in fiction. And how
+finely the author says: 'In those imaginary legends the misery cannot reach the
+world with its rays until they have been broken up into prismatic colours,' and
+I should have supposed that in that condition they would have been endurable by
+eyes even not very strong.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We have often spoken already,&quot; said Lothair, &quot;of this most
+genial writer; the full recognition of whom, in all his grand super-excellence
+and variety, is reserved for posterity, whilst Wills o' the Wisp rapidly
+scintillating into our ken and blinding the eye for a moment with borrowed
+light, go out into darkness just as speedily. On the whole, I believe that the
+imagination can be moved by very simple means, and that it is often more the
+<i>idea</i> of the thing than the thing itself which causes our fear. Kleist's tale of
+the 'Beggar Woman of Lucarno' has in it, at least to me, the most frightening
+idea that I can think of, and yet how simple it is. A beggar woman is sent
+contemptuously, as if she were a dog, to lie behind the stove, and dies there.
+She is heard every night hobbling across the floor towards the stove, but
+nothing is seen. It is, no doubt, the wonderful colouring of the whole affair
+Which produces the effect. Not only could Kleist 'dip' into the aforesaid
+colour-box, but he could lay the colours on, with the power and the genius of
+the most finished master. He did not need to raise a vampire out of the grave,
+all he needed was an old woman.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This discussion about vampirism,&quot; said Cyprian, &quot;reminds me
+of a ghastly story which I either heard or read a very long time
+ago. But I think I heard it, because I seem to remember that the person who told
+it said that the circumstances had actually happened, and mentioned the name of
+the family and of their country seat where it took place. But if this story is
+known to you as being in print, please to stop me and prevent my going on with
+it, because there's nothing more wearisome than to tell people things which they
+have known for ever so long.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I foresee,&quot; said Ottmar, &quot;that you are going to give us
+something unusually awful and terrible. But remember Saint Serapion and be as
+concise as you can, so that Vincenz may have his turn; for I see that he is
+waiting impatiently to read us that long-promised story of his.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hush! hush!&quot; said Vincenz. &quot;I could not wish anything better
+than that Cyprian should hang up a fine dark canvas by way of a background so as
+to throw out the figures of my tale, which I think are brightly and variedly
+coloured, and certainly excessively active. So begin, my Cyprianus, and be as
+gloomy, as frightful, as terrible as the vampirish Lord Byron himself, though I
+know nothing about him, as I have never read a word of his writings.&quot;</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="normal">Count Hyppolitus (began Cyprian) had just returned from a long
+time spent in travelling to take possession of the rich inheritance which his
+father, recently dead, had left to him. The ancestral home was situated in the
+most beautiful and charming country imaginable,
+and the income from the property was amply sufficient to
+defray
+the cost of most extensive improvements. Whatever in the way
+of architecture and landscape gardening had struck the Count during his
+travels--particularly in England--as specially delightful and apposite, he was
+going to reproduce in his own demesne. Architects, landscape gardeners, and
+labourers of all sorts arrived on the scene as they were wanted, and there
+commenced at once a complete reconstruction of the place, whilst an extensive
+park was laid out on the grandest scale, which involved the including within its
+boundaries of the church, the parsonage, and the burial ground. All those
+improvements the Count, who possessed the necessary knowledge, superintended
+himself, devoting himself to this occupation body and soul; so that a year
+slipped away without its ever having occurred to him to take an old uncle's
+advice and let the light of his countenance shine in the Residenz before the
+eyes of the young ladies, so that the most beautiful, the best,
+and the most nobly born amongst them might fall to his share
+as wife. One morning, as he was sitting at his drawing table sketching the
+ground-plan of a new building, a certain elderly Baroness--distantly related to
+his father--was announced as having come to call. When Hyppolitus heard her name
+he remembered that his father had always spoken of her with the greatest
+indignation--nay, with absolute abhorrence, and had often warned people who were
+going to approach her to keep aloof, without explaining what the danger
+connected with her was. If he was questioned more closely, he said there were
+certain matters as to which it was better to keep silence. Thus much was
+certain, that there were rumours current in the Residenz of some most remarkable
+and unprecedented criminal trial in which the Baroness had been involved, which
+had led to her separation from her husband, driven her from her home--which was
+at some considerable distance--and for the suppression of the consequences of
+which she was indebted to the prince's forbearance. Hyppolitus felt a very
+painful and disagreeable impression at the coming of a person whom his father
+had so detested, although the reasons for this detestation were not known to
+him. But the laws of hospitality, more binding in the country than in town,
+obliged him to receive this visit.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Never had any one, without being at all ill-favoured in the
+usual acceptation of that term, made by her exterior such a disagreeable
+impression upon the Count as did this Baroness. When she came in she looked him
+through and through with a glance of fire, and then she cast her eyes down and
+apologized for her coming in terms which were almost over humble. She expressed
+her sorrow that his father, influenced by prejudices against her with which her
+enemies had impregnated his mind, had formed a mortal hatred to her, and though
+she was almost starving, in the depths of her poverty he had never given her the
+smallest help or support. As she had now, unexpectedly as she said, come into
+possession of a small sum of money she had found it possible to leave the
+Residenz and go to a small country town a short distance off. However, as she
+was engaged in this journey she had not found it possible to resist the desire
+to see the son of the man whom, notwithstanding his irreconcilable hatred, she
+had never ceased to regard with feelings of the highest esteem. The tone in
+which all this was spoken had the moving accents of sincerity, and the Count was
+all the more affected by it that, having turned his eyes away from her repulsive
+face, he had fixed them upon a marvellously charming and beautiful creature who
+was with her. The Baroness finished her speech. The Count did not seem to be
+aware that she had done so. He remained silent. She begged him to pardon--and
+attribute to her embarrassment at being where she was--her having neglected to
+explain that her companion was her daughter Aurelia. On this the Count found
+words, and blushing up to the eyes implored the Baroness, with the agitation of
+a young man overpowered by love, to let him atone in some degree for his
+lather's shortcomings--the result of misunderstandings--and to favour him by
+paying him a long visit. In warmly enforcing this request he took her hand. But
+the words and the breath died away on his lips and his blood ran cold. For he
+felt his hand grasped as if in a vice by fingers cold and stiff as death, and
+the tall bony form of the Baroness, who was staring at him with eyes evidently
+deprived of the faculty of sight, seemed to him in its gay many tinted attire
+like some bedizened corpse.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, good heavens! how unfortunate just at this moment,&quot;
+Aurelia cried out, and went on to lament in a gentle heart-penetrating voice
+that her mother was now and then suddenly seized by a tetanic spasm, but that it
+generally passed off very quickly without its being necessary to take any
+measures with regard to it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Hyppolitus disengaged himself with some difficulty from the
+Baroness, and all the glowing life of sweetest love delight came back to him as
+he took Aurelia's hand and pressed it warmly to his lips. Although he had almost
+come to man's estate it was the first time that he felt the full force of
+passion, so that it was impossible for him to hide what he felt, and the manner
+in which Aurelia received his avowal in a noble, simple, child-like delight,
+kindled the fairest of hopes within him. The Baroness recovered in a few
+minutes, and, seemingly quite unaware of what had been happening, expressed her
+gratitude to the Count for his invitation to pay a visit of some duration at the
+Castle, saying she would be but too happy to forget the injustice with which his
+father had treated her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus the Count's household arrangements and domestic position
+were completely changed, and he could not but believe that some special favour
+of fortune had brought to him the only woman in all the world who, as a warmly
+beloved and deeply adored wife, was capable of bestowing upon him the highest
+conceivable happiness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Baroness's manner of conduct underwent little alteration.
+She continued to be silent, grave, much wrapped up in herself, and when
+opportunity offered, evinced a gentle disposition, and a heart disposed towards
+any innocent enjoyment. The Count had become accustomed to the death-like
+whiteness of her face, to the very remarkable network of wrinkles which covered
+it, and to the generally spectral appearance which she displayed; but all this
+he set down to the invalid condition of her health, and also, in some measure,
+to a disposition which she evinced to gloomy romanticism. The servants told him
+that she often went out for walks in the night-time, through the park to the
+churchyard. He was much annoyed that his father's prejudices had influenced him
+to the extent that they had; and the most earnest recommendations of his uncle
+that he should conquer the feeling which had taken possession of him, and give
+up a relationship which must sooner or later drive him to his ruin, had no
+effect upon him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In complete certainty of Aurelia's sincere affection, he asked
+for her hand; and it may be imagined with what joy the Baroness received this
+proposal, which transferred her into the lap of luxury from a position of the
+deepest poverty. The pallor and the strange expression, which spoke of some
+invincible inward pain or trouble, had disappeared from Aurelia's face. The
+blissfulness of love beamed in her eyes, and shimmered in roses on her cheeks.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On the morning of the wedding-day a terrible event shattered
+the Count's hopes. The Baroness was found lying on her face dead, not far from
+the churchyard: and when the Count was looking out of his window on getting up,
+full of the bliss of the happiness which he had attained, her body was being
+brought back to the Castle. He supposed she was only in one of her usual
+attacks; but all efforts to bring her back to life were ineffectual. She was
+dead. Aurelia, instead of giving way to violent grief, seemed rather to be
+struck dumb and tearless by this blow, which appeared to have a paralyzing
+effect on her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Count was much distressed for her, and only ventured--most
+cautiously and most gently--to remind her that her orphaned condition rendered
+it necessary that conventionalities should be disregarded, and that the most
+essential matter in the circumstances was to hasten on the marriage as much as
+possible, notwithstanding the loss of her mother. At this Aurelia fell into the
+Count's arms, and, whilst a flood of tears ran down her cheeks, cried in a most
+eager manner, and in a voice which was shrill with urgency:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, yes! For the love of all the saints. For the sake of my
+soul's salvation--yes!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Count ascribed this burst of emotion to the bitter sense
+that, in her orphaned condition, she did not know whither to betake herself,
+seeing that she could not go on staying in the Castle. He took pains to procure
+a worthy matron as a companion for her, till in a few weeks, the wedding-day
+again came round. And this time no mischance interfered with it, and it crowned
+the bliss of Aurelia and Hyppolitus. But Aurelia had all this while been in a
+curiously strained and excited condition. It was not grief for her mother, but
+she seemed to be unceasingly, and without cessation, tortured by some inward
+anxiety. In the midst of the most delicious love-passage she would suddenly
+clasp the Count in her arms, pale as death, and like a person suddenly seized by
+some terror--just as if she were trying her very utmost to resist some
+extraneous power which was threatening to force her to destruction--and would
+cry, &quot;Oh, no--no! Never, never!&quot; Now that she was married, however, it seemed
+that this strange, overstrained, excited condition in which she had been, abated
+and left her, and the terrible inward anxiety and disturbance under which she
+had been labouring seemed to disappear.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Count could not but suspect the existence of some secret
+evil mystery by which Aurelia's inner being was tormented, but he very properly
+thought it would be unkind and unfeeling to ask her about it whilst her
+excitement lasted, and she herself avoided any explanation on the subject.
+However, a time came when he thought he might venture to hint gently, that
+perhaps it would lie well if she indicated to him the cause of the strange
+condition of her mind. She herself at once said it would be a satisfaction to
+her to open her mind to him, her beloved husband. And great was his amazement to
+learn that what was at the bottom of the mystery, was the atrociously wicked
+life which her mother had led, that was so perturbing her mind.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Can there be anything more terrible,&quot; she said, &quot;than to have
+to hate, detest, and abhor one's own mother?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus the prejudices (as they were called) of his father and
+uncle had not been unfounded, and the Baroness had deceived him in the most
+deliberate manner. He was obliged to confess to himself--and he made no secret
+of it--that it was a fortunate circumstance that the Baroness had died on the
+morning of his wedding-day. But Aurelia declared that as soon as her mother was
+dead she had been seized by dark and terrible terrors, and could not help
+thinking that her mother would rise from her grave, and drag her from her
+husband's arms into perdition.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She said she dimly remembered, one morning when she was a mere
+child, being awakened by a frightful commotion in the house. Doors opened and
+shut; strangers' voices cried out in confusion. At last, things becoming
+quieter, her nurse took her in her arms, and carried her into a large room where
+there were many people, and the man who had often played with her, and given her
+sweetmeats, lying stretched on a long table. This man she had always called
+&quot;Papa,&quot; and she stretched her hands out to him, and wanted to kiss him. But his
+lips, always warm before, were cold as ice, and Aurelia broke into violent
+weeping, without knowing why. The nurse took her to a strange house, where she
+remained a long while, till at last a lady came and took her away in a carriage.
+This was her mother, who soon after took her to the Residenz.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When Aurelia got to be about sixteen, a man came to the house
+whom her mother welcomed joyfully, and treated with much confidentiality,
+receiving him with much intimacy of friendship, as being a dear old friend. He
+came more and more frequently, and the Baroness's style of existence was soon
+greatly altered for the better. Instead of living in an attic, and subsisting on
+the poorest of fare, and wearing the most wretched old clothes, she took a fine
+lodging in the most fashionable quarter, wore fine dresses, ate and drank with
+this stranger of the best and most expensive food and drink daily (he was her
+daily guest), and took her part in all the public pleasurings which the Residenz
+had to offer.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Aurelia was the person upon whom this bettering of her
+mother's circumstances (evidently attributable solely to the stranger) exercised
+no influence whatever. She remained shut up in her room when her mother went out
+to enjoy herself in the stranger's company, and was obliged to live just as
+miserably as before. This man, though about forty, had a very fresh and youthful
+appearance, a tall, handsome person, and a face by no means devoid of a certain
+amount of manly good looks. Notwithstanding this, he was repugnant to Aurelia on
+account of his style of behaviour. He seemed to try to constrain himself, to
+conduct himself like a gentleman and person of some cultivation, but there was
+constantly, and most evidently, piercing through this exterior veneer the
+unmistakable evidence of his really being a totally uncultured person, whose
+manners and habits were those of the very lowest ranks of the people. And the
+way in which he began to look at Aurelia filled her with terror--nay, with an
+abhorrence of which she could not explain the reason to herself.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Up to this point the Baroness had never taken the trouble to
+say a single word to Aurelia about this stranger. But now she told her his name,
+adding that this Baron was a man of great wealth, and a distant relation. She
+lauded his good looks, and his various delightful qualities, and ended by asking
+Aurelia if she thought she could bring herself to take a liking to him. Aurelia
+made no secret of the inward detestation which she felt for him. The Baroness
+darted a glance of lightning at her, which terrified her excessively, and told
+her she was a foolish, ignorant creature. After this she was kinder to her than
+she had ever been before. She was provided with grand dresses in the height of
+the fashion, and taken to share in all the public pleasures. The man now strove
+to gain her favour in a manner which rendered him more and more abhorrent to
+her. But her delicate, maidenly instincts were wounded in the most mortal
+manner, when an unfortunate accident rendered her an unwilling, secret witness
+of an abominable atrocity between her abandoned and depraved mother and him.
+When, a few days after this, this man, after having taken a good deal of wine,
+clasped Aurelia in his arms in a way which left no doubt as to his intention,
+her desperation gave her strength, and she pushed him from her so that he fell
+down on his back. She rushed away and bolted herself in her own room. The
+Baroness told her, very calmly and deliberately, that, inasmuch as the Baron
+paid all the household expenses, and she had not the slightest intention of
+going back to the old poverty of their previous life, this was a case in which
+any absurd coyness would be both ludicrous and inconvenient, and that she would
+really have to make up her mind to comply with the Baron's wishes, because, if
+not, he had threatened to part company at once. Instead of being affected by
+Aurelia's bitter tears and agonized intreaties, the old woman, breaking into the
+most brazen and shameless laughter, talked in the most depraved manner of a
+state of matters which would cause Aurelia to bid, for ever, farewell to every
+feeling of enjoyment of life in such unrestrained and detestable depravity,
+defying and insulting all sense of ordinary propriety, so that her shame and
+terror were undescribable at what she was obliged to hear. In fact she gave
+herself up for lost, and her only means of salvation appeared to her to be
+immediate flight.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She had managed to possess herself of the key of the hall
+door, had got together the few little necessaries which she absolutely required,
+and, just after midnight, was moving softly through the dimly-lighted front
+hall, at a time when she thought her mother was sure to be last asleep. She was
+on the point of stepping quietly out into the street, when the door opened with
+a clang, and heavy footsteps came noisily up the steps. The Baroness came
+staggering and stumbling into the hall, right up to Aurelia's feet, nothing upon
+her but a kind of miserable wrapper all covered with dirt, her breast and her
+arms naked, her grey hair all hanging down and dishevelled. And close after her
+came the stranger, who seized her by the hair, and dragged her into the middle
+of the hall, crying out in a yelling voice--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Wait, you old devil, you witch of hell! I'll serve you up a
+wedding breakfast!&quot; And with a good thick cudgel which he had in his hand he set
+to and belaboured and maltreated her in the most shameful manner. She made a
+terrible screaming and outcry, whilst Aurelia, scarcely knowing what she was
+about, screamed aloud out of the window for help.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It chanced that there was a patrol of armed police just
+passing. The men came at once into the house.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Seize him!&quot; cried the Baroness, writhing in convulsions of
+rage and pain. &quot;Seize him--hold him fast! Look at his bare back. He's----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When the police sergeant heard the Baroness speak the name he
+shouted out in the greatest delight--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hoho! We've got you at last, Devil Alias, have we?&quot; And in
+spite of his violent resistance, they marched him off.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But notwithstanding all this which had been happening, the
+Baroness had understood well enough what Aurelia's idea had been. She contented
+herself with taking her somewhat roughly by the arm, pushing her into her room,
+and locking her up in it, without saying a word. She went out early the next
+morning, and did not come back till late in the evening. And during this time
+Aurelia remained a prisoner in her room, never seeing nor hearing a creature,
+and having nothing to eat or drink. This went on for several days. The Baroness
+often glared at her with eyes flashing with anger, and seemed to be wrestling
+with some decision, until, one evening, letters came which seemed to cause her
+satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Silly creature! all this is your fault. However, it seems to
+be all coming right now, and all I hope is that the terrible punishment which
+the Evil Spirit was threatening you with may not come upon you.&quot; This was what
+the Baroness said to Aurelia, and then she became more kind and friendly, and
+Aurelia, no longer distressed by the presence of the horrible man, and having
+given up the idea of escaping, was allowed a little more freedom.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Some time had elapsed, when one day, as Aurelia was sitting
+alone in her room, she heard a great clamour approaching in the street. The maid
+came running in, and said that they were taking the hangman's son
+of ---- to prison, that he had been branded on the back there
+for robbery and murder, and had escaped, and was now retaken.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Aurelia, full of anxious presentiment, tottered to the window.
+Her presentiment was not fallacious. It <i>was</i> the stranger (as we have styled
+him), and he was being brought along, firmly bound upon a tumbril, surrounded by
+a strong guard. He was being taken back to undergo his sentence. Aurelia, nearly
+fainting, sank back into her chair, as his frightfully wild look fell upon her,
+while he shook his clenched fist up at the window with the most threatening
+gestures.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After this the Baroness was still a great deal away from the
+house; but she never took Aurelia with her, so that the latter led a sorrowful,
+miserable existence--occupied in thinking many thoughts as to destiny, and the
+threatening future which might unexpectedly come upon her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">From the maidservant (who had only come into the house
+subsequently to the nocturnal adventure which has been described, and who had
+probably only quite recently heard about the intimacy of the terms in which the
+Baroness had been living with this criminal), Aurelia learned that the folks in
+the Residenz were very much grieved at the Baroness's having been so deceived
+and imposed upon by a scoundrel of this description. But Aurelia knew only too
+well how differently the matter had really stood; and it seemed to her
+impossible that, at all events, the men of the police, who had apprehended the
+fellow in the Baroness's very house, should not have known all about the
+intimacy of the relations between them, inasmuch as she herself had told them
+his name, and directed their attention to the brand-marks on his back, as proofs
+of his identity. Moreover, this loquacious maid sometimes talked in a very
+ambiguous way about that which people were, here and there, thinking and saying;
+and, for that matter, would like very much to know better about--as to the
+courts having been making careful investigations, and having gone so far as to
+threaten the Baroness with arrest, on account of strange disclosures which the
+hangman's son had made concerning her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Aurelia was obliged to admit, in her own mind, that it was
+another proof of her mother's depraved way of looking at things that, even after
+this terrible affair, she should have found it possible to
+go on living in the Residenz. But at last she felt herself
+constrained to leave the place where she knew she was the object of but too
+well-founded, shameful suspicion, and fly to a more distant
+spot. On this journey she came to the Count's Castle, and there ensued what has
+been related.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Aurelia could not but consider herself marvellously fortunate
+to have got clear of all these troubles. But how profound was her horror when,
+speaking to her mother in this blessed sense of the merciful intervention of
+Heaven in her regard, the latter, with fires of hell in her eyes, cried out in a
+yelling voice--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are my misfortune, horrible creature that you are! But in
+the midst of your imagined happiness vengeance will overtake you, if I should be
+carried away by a sudden death. In those tetanic spasms, which your birth cost
+me, the subtle craft of the devil----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here Aurelia suddenly stopped. She threw herself upon her
+husband's breast, and implored him to spare her the complete recital of what the
+Baroness had said to her in the delirium of her insanity. She said she felt her
+inmost heart and soul crushed to pieces at the bare idea of the frightful
+threatenings--far beyond the wildest imagination's conception of the
+terrible--uttered to her by her mother, possessed, as she was at the time, by
+the most diabolical powers.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Count comforted his bride to the best of his ability,
+although he felt himself permeated by the coldest and most deathly shuddering
+horror. Even when he had regained some calmness, he could not but confess to
+himself that the profound horribleness of the Baroness, even now that she was
+dead, cast a deep shadow over his life, sun-bright as it otherwise seemed to be.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In a very short time Aurelia began to alter very perceptibly.
+Whilst the deathly paleness of her face, and the fatigued appearance of
+her eyes, seemed to point to sortie bodily ailment, her mental
+state--confused, variable, restless, as if she were constantly
+frightened at something--led to the conclusion that there was some fresh mystery
+perturbing her system. She shunned her husband. She shut herself up in her
+rooms, sought the most solitary walks in the park. And when she then allowed
+herself to be seen, her eyes, red with weeping, her contorted features, gave
+unmistakable evidence of some terrible suffering which she had been undergoing.
+It was in vain that the Count took every possible pains to discover the cause of
+this condition of hers, and the only thing which had any effect in bringing him
+out of the hopeless state into which those remarkable symptoms of his wife's had
+plunged him, was the deliberate opinion of a celebrated doctor, that this
+strangely excited condition of the Countess was nothing other than the natural
+result of a bodily state which indicated the happy result of a fortunate
+marriage. This doctor, on one occasion when he was at table with the Count and
+Countess, permitted himself sundry allusions to this presumed state of what the
+German nation
+calls &quot;good hope.&quot; The Countess seemed to listen to all this
+with indifference for some time. But suddenly her attention became vividly
+awakened when the doctor spoke of the wonderful longings which women in that
+condition become possessed by, and which they cannot resist without the most
+injurious effects supervening upon their own health, and even upon that of the
+child. The Countess overwhelmed the doctor with questions, and the latter did
+not weary of quoting the strangest and most entertaining cases of this
+description from his own practice and experience.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Moreover,&quot; he said, &quot;there are cases on record in which women
+have been led, by these strange, abnormal longings, to commit most terrible
+crimes. There was a certain blacksmith's wife, who had such an irresistible
+longing for her husband's flesh that, one night, when he came home the worse for
+liquor, she set upon him with a large knife, and cut him about so frightfully
+that he died in a few hours' time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Scarcely had the doctor said these words, when the Countess
+fell back in her chair fainting, and was with much difficulty recovered from the
+succession of hysterical attacks which supervened. The doctor then saw that he
+had acted very thoughtlessly in alluding to such a frightful occurrence in the
+presence of a lady whose nervous system was in such a delicate condition.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">However, this crisis seemed to have a beneficial effect upon
+her, for she became calmer; although, soon afterwards there came upon her a very
+remarkable condition of rigidity, as of benumbedness. There was a darksome fire
+in her eyes, and her deathlike pallor increased to such an extent, that the
+Count was driven into new and most tormenting doubts as to her condition. The
+most inexplicable thing was that she never took the smallest morsel of anything
+to eat, evincing the utmost repugnance at the sight of all food, particularly
+meat. This repugnance was so invincible that she was constantly obliged to get
+up and leave the table, with the most marked indications of loathing. The
+doctor's skill was in vain, and the Count's most urgent and affectionate
+entreaties were powerless to induce her to take even a single drop of medicine
+of any kind. And, inasmuch as weeks, nay, months, had passed without her having
+taken so much as a morsel of food, and it had become an unfathomable mystery how
+she managed to keep alive, the doctor came to the conclusion that there was
+something in the case which lay beyond the domain of ordinary human science. He
+made some pretext for leaving the Castle, but the Count saw clearly enough that
+this doctor, whose skilfulness was well approved, and who had a high reputation
+to maintain, felt that the Countess's condition was too unintelligible, and, in
+fact, too strangely mysterious, for him to stay on there, witness of an illness
+impossible to be understood--as to which he felt he had no power to render
+assistance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It may be readily imagined into what a state of mind all this
+put the Count. But there was more to come. Just at this juncture an old,
+privileged servant took an opportunity, when he found the Count alone, of
+telling him that the Countess went out every night, and did not come home till
+daybreak.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Count's blood ran cold. It struck him, as a matter which
+he had not quite realized before, that, for a short time back, there had fallen
+upon him, regularly about midnight, a curiously unnatural sleepiness, which he
+now believed to be caused by some narcotic administered to him by the Countess,
+to enable her to get away unobserved. The darkest suspicions and forebodings
+came into his mind. He thought of the diabolical mother, and that, perhaps, her
+instincts had begun to awake in her daughter. He thought of some possibility of
+a conjugal infidelity. He remembered the terrible hangman's son.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was so ordained that the very next night was to explain
+this terrible mystery to him--that which alone could be the key to the
+Countess's strange condition.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She herself used, every evening, to make the tea which the
+Count always took before going to bed. This evening he did not take a drop of
+it, and when he went to bed he had not the slightest symptom of the sleepiness
+which generally came upon him as it got towards midnight. However, he lay back
+on his pillows, and had all the appearance of being fast asleep as usual.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And then the Countess rose up very quietly, with the utmost
+precautions, came up to his bedside, held a lamp to his eyes, and then,
+convinced that he was sound asleep, went softly out of the room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">His heart throbbed fast. He got up, put on a cloak, and went
+after the Countess. It was a fine moonlight night, so that, though Aurelia had
+got a considerable start of him, he could see her distinctly going along in the
+distance in her white dress. She went through the park, right on to the
+burying-ground, and there she disappeared at the
+wall. The Count ran quickly after her in through the gate of
+the burying-ground, which he found open. There, in the bright moonlight, he saw
+a circle of frightful, spectral-looking creatures. Old women, half naked, were
+cowering down upon the ground, and in the midst of them lay the corpse of a man,
+which they were tearing at with wolfish appetite.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Aurelia was amongst them.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Count took flight in the wildest horror, and ran, without
+any idea where he was going or what he was doing, impelled by the deadliest
+terror, all about the walks in the park, till he found himself at the door of
+his own Castle as the day was breaking, bathed in cold perspiration.
+Involuntarily, without the capability of taking hold of a thought, he dashed up
+the steps, and went bursting through the passages and into his own bedroom.
+There lay the Countess, to all appearance in the deepest and sweetest of sleeps.
+And the Count would fain have persuaded himself that some deceptive dream-image,
+or (inasmuch as his cloak, wet with dew, was a proof, if any had been needed,
+that he had really been to the burying-ground in the night) some soul-deceiving
+phantom had been the cause of his deathly horror. He did not wait for Aurelia's
+waking, but left the room, dressed, and got on to a horse. His ride, in the
+exquisite morning, amid sweet-scented trees and shrubs, whence the happy songs
+of the newly-awakened birds greeted him, drove from his memory for a time the
+terrible images of the night. He went back to the Castle comforted and gladdened
+in heart.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But when he and the Countess sate down alone together at
+table, and, the dishes being brought and handed, she rose to hurry away, with
+loathing, at the sight of the food as usual, the terrible conviction that what
+he had seen was true, was reality, impressed itself irresistibly on his mind. In
+the wildest fury he rose from his seat, crying--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Accursed misbirth of hell! I understand your hatred of the
+food of mankind. You get your sustenance out of the burying-ground, damnable
+creature that you are!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As soon as those words had passed his lips, the Countess flew
+at him, uttering a sound between a snarl and a howl, and bit him on the breast
+with the fury of a hyena. He dashed her from him on to the ground, raving
+fiercely as she was, and she gave up the ghost in the most terrible convulsions.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Count became a maniac.</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well,&quot; said Lothair, after there had been a few minutes of
+silence amongst the friends, &quot;you have certainly kept your word, my incomparable
+Cyprianus, most thoroughly and magnificently. In comparison with this story of
+yours, vampirism is the merest children's tale--a funny Christmas story, to be
+laughed at. Oh, truly, everything in it is fearfully interesting, and so highly
+seasoned with asaf&#339;tida that an unnaturally excited palate, which has lost
+its relish for healthy, natural food, might immensely enjoy it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And yet,&quot; said Theodore, &quot;our friend has discreetly thrown a
+veil
+over a great many things, and has passed so rapidly over
+others,
+that his story has merely caused us a passing feeling of the
+eery and shuddery--for which we are duly grateful to him. I remember very well
+having read this story in an old book, where everything was told with the most
+prolix enumeration of all the details; and the old woman's atrocities in
+particular were set forth in all their minutić, truly <i>con amore</i>, so that the
+whole affair produced, and left behind it, a most repulsive impression, which it
+took a long while to get over. I was delighted when I had forgotten the horrible
+thing, and Cyprian ought not to have recalled it to my memory; although I must
+admit that he has acted in accordance with the principles of our patron saint
+Serapion, and caused us a sufficient thrill of horror, particularly towards the
+end. It made us all turn pale, particularly the narrator himself!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We cannot hurry away too quickly from this gruesome picture,&quot;
+Ottmar said. &quot;And it will not serve as a dark background (as Vincenz expected it
+would), because the figures of it are in too glaring colours. Allow me, by way
+of a grand change of subject--a sort of sideways spring away from the hell-broth
+which Cyprian has served up to us--to say a word or two (merely to give Vincenz
+time to clear his throat, as I hear him doing) concerning a certain aesthetic
+tea society, which was brought
+to my memory by a little paper which accidentally came into my
+hand
+to-day. Have I your permission, Vincenz?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Strictly speaking,&quot; said Vincenz, &quot;it is a breach of all
+Serapiontic rule to keep chattering in this sort of style; and not only that,
+but, moreover, without any especial motive or inducement, the most unseemly
+things about gruesome vampires, and other such matters, are brought forward, so
+that I am obliged to shut my mouth just as I have got it opened. But go on, my
+Ottmar. The hours are flying, and I shall have the last word, like a quarrelsome
+woman, in spite of you. So go on, my Ottmar, go on.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Chance,&quot; began Ottmar, &quot;or rather, a kindly-intentioned
+introduction, brought me into the aesthetic tea society which I mentioned; and
+there were circumstances which induced me, or rendered it incumbent on me, to
+attend its meetings regularly for a time, although heaven knows they were
+tedious and wearisome enough. It greatly vexed me that, on an occasion when a
+really talented man read something which was full of true wit, and admirably
+appropriate to the occasion, all the people yawned, and grew impatient of it;
+whilst they were charmed and delighted by the marrowless, spiritless trash of a
+conceited young poetaster. This latter was all in the line of the gushing and
+the exuberant, but he also thought very highly of his epigrams. As what they
+were chiefly remarkable for was the absence of the sting in their tails, he
+always gave the signal for the laugh himself by beginning it at the proper time;
+and everybody then joined in it. One evening I asked, modestly, if I might be
+allowed to read out a few little verses which had occurred to me in moments of a
+certain amount of inspiration. And as people were good enough to credit me with
+the possession of a certain amount of brains, my request was received with a
+good deal of applause. I took out my manuscript and read, with great solemnity--</p>
+
+<p class="center">&quot;'ITALY'S MARVELS. </p>
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="i0">'When tow'rds the orient heav'n my gaze I bend,</p>
+<p class="i0">The western sun shines warm upon my back;</p>
+<p class="i0">Whilst, when I turn me to the beauteous west,</p>
+<p class="i0">The golden glory strikes upon mine eyeballs.</p>
+<p class="i0">Oh, sacred land! where nature thus displays</p>
+<p class="i0">Such mighty marvels to the sight of men,</p>
+<p class="i0">All adoration, quite compact of love.'</p>
+</div>
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Ah! glorious! heavenly! dear Ottmar, and so deeply felt, Bo
+sensitively expressed, right out of the fulness of your heart, so rich in
+emotions!' cried the lady of the house, whilst several white ladies and black
+gentlemen (I only mean black-dressed ones, with great hearts under their jabots)
+followed her by crying, 'Glorious! heavenly!' and one young lady sighed
+profoundly, weeping away a scalding tear. Being asked to read something more, I
+gave to my voice the expression of a deeply moved heart, and read--</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="center">&quot;'LIFE DEPTHS.</p>
+<p class="i6">'A little lad at Yarrow</p>
+<p class="i6">Had a pretty little sparrow.</p>
+<p class="i6">The other day he let it fly,</p>
+<p class="i6">And now 'tis gone, alas! we sigh,</p>
+<p class="i6">Heigho! the little lad at Yarrow</p>
+<p class="i6">He hath no more the pretty sparrow.'</p>
+</div>
+<p class="normal">&quot;There was a fresh tumult of applause. They begged for more;
+but I said, modestly, that I could not but feel that stanzas of this kind,
+grasping as they did comprehensively at the bases of all life, have, in the long
+run, a tendency to impress the hearts of delicate, impassioned women too
+strongly, so that I should prefer to quote a pair of epigrams, in which the
+distinctive feature of the epigram--the sudden flashing out of the species of
+squib which constitutes the tail--would not fail to be duly appreciated. I
+read--</p>
+
+<p class="center">&quot;'WIT.</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="i4">'The pudgy Master Schrein</p>
+<p class="i4">Drank many a glass of wine,</p>
+<p class="i6">But death cut short his thread.</p>
+<p class="i4">Then quoth his neighbour Spry</p>
+<p class="i4">(A gossip, deep and sly),</p>
+<p class="i4">&quot;Our pudgy Master Schrein</p>
+<p class="i4">No longer drinks his wine,</p>
+<p class="i6">And, why?--because he's dead.&quot;'</p>
+</div>
+<p class="normal">&quot;When the sparkling wit of this roguish epigram had been
+sufficiently admired, I treated them to the following one in addition--</p>
+
+<p class="center">&quot;'STINGING REPLY.</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="i0">'Of Hans's book the folks make much ado;</p>
+<p class="i4">&quot;Say, neighbour Hamm, hast read the wonder yet?&quot;</p>
+<p class="i0">Thus Humm to Hamm: and Hamm (a joker he)</p>
+<p class="i4">Said, &quot;Faith, good Humm, I have not read it yet.&quot;'</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Everybody laughed heartily, but the lady of the house shook a
+minatory forefinger at me, saying, 'Ah, wicked scoffer! Is nothing to escape
+that scathing wit of yours?'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The clever man shook hands with me as he passed me, saying--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Admirably done. Much obliged to you.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The young poet turned his back upon me with much contempt.
+But the young lady who had shed a few tears over 'Italia's Marvels,' came to me,
+and blushing, as she cast down her eyes, said the maidenly, virginal heart was
+more disposed to open to the sense of sweet sadness than to the comic; and she
+begged me to give her a copy of the first poem I had read. She said she had felt
+so curiously happy and creepy when she heard it. I promised to give it to her,
+and I kissed the charming young lady's sufficiently pretty hand with all the
+appropriate rapture of a bard duly appreciated by beauty, with the sole
+intention of angering the poet, who cast upon me glances as of an infuriated
+basilisk.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is strange enough,&quot; said Vincenz, &quot;that, without being in
+the smallest degree aware of it, you have spoken what may be called a
+Goldsmith's prologue to my story. Of course you notice my pretty allusion to
+Shakespeare's Hamlet, and his question, 'Is this a prologue, or the posy of a
+ring?' What I mean is, that your prologue consists of what you have said about
+the irritated poet; for I am greatly mistaken if a poet of that kind is not one
+of the principal characters in my story; which story I am now going to begin,
+and I don't intend to stop it until the last word of it is out. And that last
+word is just as hard to speak as the first.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Vincenz read--</p>
+
+<br>
+
+<h2><a name="div2_betrothed" href="#div2Ref_betrothed">THE KING'S BETROTHED</a>.</h2>
+<p class="center">(A Story Sketched from Life.)</p>
+
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<p class="hang1"><span class="sc">WHICH GIVES AN ACCOUNT OF THE VARIOUS CHARACTERS, AND THEIR
+MUTUAL
+RELATIONS TO EACH OTHER, AND PREPARES THE WAY, PLEASANTLY, FOR
+THE MANY MARVELLOUS AND MOST ENTERTAINING MATTERS OF WHICH THE
+SUCCEEDING CHAPTERS TREAT.</span></p>
+
+<p class="continue">It was a blessed year. In the fields the corn, the wheat, and
+the barley grew most gloriously. The boys waded in the grass, and the cattle in
+the clover. The trees hung so full of cherries that, with
+the best will in the world, the great army of the sparrows,
+though determined to peck everything bare, were forced to leave half the fruit
+for a future feast. Every creature filled itself full every day at the great
+guest-table of nature. Above all, however, the vegetables in Herr Dapsul von
+Zabelthau's kitchen-garden had turned out such a splendid and beautiful crop
+that it was no wonder Fräulein Aennchen was unable to contain herself with joy
+on the subject.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We may here explain who Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau and Aennchen
+were.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Perhaps, dear reader, you may have at some time found yourself
+in that beautiful country which is watered by the pleasant, kindly river Main.
+Soft morning breezes, breathing their perfumed breath over the plain as it
+shimmered in the golden splendour of the new-risen sun, you found it impossible
+to sit cooped up in your stuffy carriage, and you alighted and wandered into the
+little grove, through the trees of which, as you descended towards the valley,
+you came in sight of a little village. And as you were gazing, there would
+suddenly come towards you, through the trees, a tall, lanky man, whose strange
+dress and appearance riveted your attention. He had on a small grey felt hat on
+the top of a black periwig: all his clothes were grey--coat, vest, and breeches,
+grey stockings--even his walking-stick coloured grey. He would come up to you
+with long strides, and staring at you with great sunken eyes, seemingly not
+aware of your existence, would cry out, almost running you down, &quot;Good morning,
+sir!&quot; And then, like one awaking from a dream, he would add in a hollow,
+mournful voice, &quot;Good morning! Oh, sir, how thankful we ought to be that we have
+a good, fine morning. The poor people at Santa Cruz just had two earthquakes,
+and now--at this moment--rain falling in torrents.&quot; While you have been thinking
+what to say to this strange creature, he, with an &quot;Allow me, sir,&quot; has gently
+passed his hand across your brow, and inspected the palm of your hand. And
+saying, in the same hollow, melancholy accents as before, &quot;God bless you, sir!
+You have a good constellation,&quot; has gone striding on his way.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This odd personage was none other than Herr Dapsul Von
+Zabelthau, whose sole--rather miserable--possession is the village, or hamlet,
+of Dapsulheim, which lies before you in this most pleasant and smiling country
+into which you now enter. You are looking forward to something in the shape of
+breakfast, but in the little inn things have rather a gloomy aspect. Its small
+store of provisions was cleared out at the fair, and as you can't be expected to
+be content with nothing besides milk, they tell you to go to the Manor House,
+where the gracious Fräulein Anna will entertain you hospitably with whatever may
+be forthcoming there. Accordingly, thither you betake yourself without further
+ceremony.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Concerning this Manor House, there is nothing further to say
+than that it has doors and windows, as of yore had that of Baron Tondertontonk
+in Westphalia. But above the hall-door the family coat-of-arms makes a fine
+show, carved there in wood with New Zealand skilfulness. And this Manor House
+derives a peculiar character of its own from the circumstance that its north
+side leans upon the enceinte, or outer line of defence belonging to an old
+ruined castle, so that the back entrance is what was formerly the castle gate,
+and through it one passes at once into the courtyard of that castle, in the
+middle of which the tall watch-tower still stands undamaged. From the hall door,
+which is surmounted by the coat-of-arms, there comes meeting you a red-cheeked
+young lady, who, with her clear blue eyes and fair hair, is to be called very
+pretty indeed, although her figure may be considered just the least bit too
+roundly substantial. A personification of friendly kindness, she begs you to go
+in, and as soon as she ascertains your wants, serves you up the most delicious
+milk, a liberal allowance of first-rate bread and butter, uncooked ham--as good
+as you would find in Bayonne--and a small glass of beetroot brandy. Meanwhile,
+this young lady (who is none other than Fräulein Anna von Zabelthau) talks to
+you gaily and pleasantly of rural matters, displaying anything but a limited
+knowledge of such subjects. Suddenly, however, there resounds a loud and
+terrible voice, as if from the skies, crying &quot;Anna, Anna, Anna!&quot; This rather
+startles you; but Fräulein Anna says, pleasantly, &quot;There's papa back from his
+walk, calling for his breakfast from his study.&quot; &quot;Calling from his study,&quot; you
+repeat, or enquire, astonished. &quot;Yes,&quot; says Fräulein Anna, or Fräulein Aennchen,
+as the people call her. &quot;Yes; papa's study is up in the tower there, and he
+calls down through the speaking trumpet.&quot; And you see Aennchen open the narrow
+door of the old lower, with a similar <i>déjeuner ŕ la fourchette</i> to that which
+you have had yourself, namely, a liberal helping of bread and ham, not
+forgetting the beetroot brandy, and go briskly in at it. But she is back
+directly, and taking you all over the charming
+kitchen-garden, has so much to say about feather-sage,
+rapuntika, English turnips, little greenheads, montrue, great yellow, and so
+forth, that you have no idea that all these fine names merely mean various
+descriptions of cabbages and salads.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I think, dear reader, that this little glimpse which you have
+had of Dapsulheim is sufficient to enable you to understand all the outs and ins
+of the establishment, concerning which I have to narrate to you all manner of
+extraordinary, barely comprehensible, matters and occurrences. Herr Dapsul von
+Zabelthau had, during his youth, very rarely left his parents' country place.
+They had been people of considerable means. His tutor, after teaching him
+foreign languages, particularly those of the East, fostered a natural
+inclination which he possessed towards mysticism, or rather, occupying himself
+with the mysterious. This tutor died, leaving as a legacy to young Dapsul a
+whole library of occult science, into the very depths of which he proceeded to
+plunge. His parents dying, he betook himself to long journeyings, and (as his
+tutor had impressed him with the necessity of doing) to Egypt and India. When he
+got home again, after many years, a cousin had looked after his affairs with
+such zeal that there was nothing left to him but the little hamlet of
+Dapsulheim. Herr Dapsul was too eagerly occupied in the pursuit of the sun-born
+gold of a higher sphere to trouble himself about that which was earthly. He
+rather felt obliged to his cousin for preserving to him the pleasant, friendly
+Dapsulheim, with the fine, tall tower, which might have been built expressly on
+purpose for astrological operations, and in the upper storey and topmost height
+of which he at once established his study. And indeed he thanked his said cousin
+from the bottom of his heart.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This careful cousin now pointed out that Herr Dapsul von
+Zabelthau was bound to marry. Dapsul immediately admitted the necessity, and,
+without more ado, married at once the lady whom his cousin had selected for him.
+This lady disappeared almost as quickly as she had appeared on the scene. She
+died, after bearing him a daughter. The cousin attended to the marriage, the
+baptism, and the funeral; so that Dapsul, up in his tower, paid very little
+attention to either. For there was a very remarkable comet visible during most
+of the time, and Dapsul, ever melancholy and anticipative of evil, considered
+that he was involved in its influence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The little daughter, under the careful up-bringing of an old
+grand-aunt, developed a remarkable aptitude for rural affairs.
+She had to begin at the very beginning, and, so to speak, rise from the ranks,
+serving successively as goose-girl, maid-of-all-work, upper farm-maid,
+housekeeper, and, finally, as mistress, so that Theory was all along illustrated
+and impressed upon her mind by a salutary share of Practice. She was exceedingly
+fond of ducks and geese, hens and pigeons, and even the tender broods of
+well-shaped piglings she was by no means indifferent to, though she did not put
+a ribbon and a bell round a little white sucking-pig's neck and make it into a
+sort of
+lap-dog, as a certain young lady, in another place, was once
+known to do. But more than anything--more than even to the fruit trees--she was
+devoted to the kitchen-garden. From her grand-aunt's attainments in this line
+she had derived very remarkable theoretical knowledge of vegetable culture
+(which the reader has seen for himself), as regarded digging of the ground,
+sowing the seed, and setting the plants. Fräulein Aennchen not only
+superintended all these operations, but lent most valuable manual aid. She
+wielded a most vigorous spade--her bitterest enemy would have admitted this. So
+that while Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau was immersed in astrological observations
+and other important matters, Fräulein Aennchen carried on the management of the
+place in the ablest possible manner, Dapsul looking after the celestial part of
+the business, and Aennchen managing the terrestrial side of things with
+unceasing vigilance and care.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As above said, it was small wonder that Aennchen was almost
+beside herself with delight at the magnificence of the yield which this season
+had produced in the kitchen-garden. But the carrot-bed was what surpassed
+everything else in the garden in its promise.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, my dear, beautiful carrots!&quot; cried Anna over and over
+again, and she clapped her hands, danced, and jumped about, and conducted
+herself like a child who has been given a grand Christmas present.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And indeed it seemed as though the carrot-children underground
+were taking part in Aennchen's gladness, for some extremely delicate laughter,
+which just made itself heard, was undoubtedly proceeding from the carrot-bed.
+Aennchen didn't, however, pay much heed to it, but ran to meet one of the
+farm-men who was coming, holding up a letter, and calling out to her, &quot;For you,
+Fräulein Aennchen. Gottlieb brought it from the town.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Aennchen saw immediately, from the hand writing, that it was
+from none other than young Herr Amandus von Nebelstern, the son of a
+neighbouring proprietor, now at the university. During the time when he was
+living at home, and in the habit of running over to Dapsulheim every day,
+Amandus had arrived at the conviction that in all his life he never could love
+anybody except Aennchen. Similarly, Aennchen was perfectly certain that she
+could never really care the least bit about anybody else but this brown-locked
+Amandus. Thus both Aennchen and Amandus had come to the conclusion and
+arrangement that they were to be married as soon as ever they could--the sooner
+the better--and be the very happiest married couple in the wide world.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Amandus had at one time been a bright, natural sort of lad
+enough, but at the university he had got into the hands of God knows who, and
+had been induced to fancy himself a marvellous poetical genius, as also to
+betake himself to an extreme amount of absurd extravagance in expression of
+ideas. He carried this so far that he soon soared far away beyond everything
+which prosaic idiots term Sense and Reason (maintaining at the same time, as
+they do, that both are perfectly co-existent with the utmost liveliness of imagination).</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was from this young Amandus that the letter came which
+Aennchen opened and read, as follows:--</p>
+
+<div class="quote">
+<p class="normal">&quot;HEAVENLY MAIDEN,--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Dost thou see, dost thou feel, dost thou not image and figure
+to thyself, thy Amandus, how, circumambiated by the orange-flower-laden breath
+of the dewy evening, he is lying on his back in the grass, gazing heavenward
+with eyes filled with the holiest love and the most longing adoration? The thyme and the lavender, the rose and the gilliflower, as also the yellow-eyed narcissus and the
+shamefaced violet--he weaveth into garlands. And the flowers are love-thoughts--thoughts of thee, oh, Anna! But doth feeble
+prose beseem inspired lips? Listen! oh, listen how I can only love, and speak of
+my love, sonnetically!</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="i0">&quot;Love flames aloft in thousand eager sunspheres,</p>
+<p class="i4">Joy wooeth joy within the heart so warmly:</p>
+<p class="i4">Down from the darkling sky soft stars are shining.</p>
+<p class="i0">Back-mirrored from the deep, still wells of love-tears.</p>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<p class="i0">&quot;Delight, alas! doth die of joy too burning--</p>
+<p class="i4">The sweetest fruit hath aye the bitt'rest kernel--</p>
+<p class="i4">While longing beckons from the violet distance,</p>
+<p class="i0">In pain of love my heart to dust is turning.</p>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<p class="i0">&quot;In fiery billows rage the ocean surges,</p>
+<p class="i4">Yet the bold swimmer dares the plunge full arduous,</p>
+<p class="i0">And soon amid the waves his strong course urges.</p>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<p class="i0">&quot;And on the shore, now near, the jacinth shoots:</p>
+<p class="i4">The faithful heart holds firm: 'twill bleed to death;</p>
+<p class="i0">But heart's blood is the sweetest of all roots.[1]</p>
+</div></div>
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, Anna! when thou readest this sonnet of all sonnets, may
+all the heavenly rapture permeate thee in which all my being was dissolved when
+I wrote it down, and then read it out, to kindred minds, conscious, like myself,
+of life's highest. Think, oh, think I sweet maiden of</p>
+
+<p class="right" style="margin-right:15%">&quot;Thy faithful, enraptured,</p>
+<p class="right">&quot;AMANDUS VON NEBELSTERN.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;P.S.--Don't forget, oh, sublime virgin! when answering this,
+to send a pound or two of that Virginia tobacco which you grow yourself. It
+burns splendidly, and has a far better flavour than the Porto Rico which the
+Bürschen smoke when they go to the Kneipe.&quot;</p>
+</div>
+<br>
+<p class="normal">[Footnote 1: The translator may point out that the original of
+this nonsense is, itself, intentionally nonsense, and that he has done his best
+to render it into English--not an easy task.--A. E.]</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="normal">Fräulein Aennchen pressed the letter to her lips, and said,
+&quot;Oh, how dear, how beautiful! And the darling verses, rhyming so beautifully.
+Oh, if I were only clever enough to understand it all; but I suppose nobody can
+do that but a student. I wonder what that about the 'roots' means? I suppose it
+must be the long red English carrots, or, who knows, it may be the rapuntica.
+Dear fellow!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">That very day Fräulein Aennchen made it her business to pack
+up the tobacco, and she took a dozen of her finest goose-quills to the
+schoolmaster, to get him to make them into pens. Her intention was to sit down
+at once and begin her answer to the precious letter. As she was going out of the
+kitchen-garden, she was again followed by a very faint, almost imperceptible,
+sound of delicate laughter; and if she had paid a little attention to what was
+going on, she would have been sure to hear a little delicate voice saying, &quot;Pull
+me, pull me! I am
+ripe--ripe--ripe!&quot; However, as we have said, she paid no
+attention, and did not hear this.</p>
+
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<p class="hang1"><span class="sc">WHICH CONTAINS AN ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST WONDERFUL EVENT, AND
+OTHER
+MATTERS DESERVING OF PERUSAL, WITHOUT WHICH THIS TALE COULD
+HAVE
+HAD NO EXISTENCE.</span></p>
+
+<p class="continue">Herr Dapsul Von Zabelthau generally came down from his
+astronomical tower about noon, to partake of a frugal repast with his daughter,
+which usually lasted a very short time, and during which there was generally a
+great predominance of silence, for Dapsul did not like to talk. And Aennchen did
+not trouble him by speaking much, and this all the more for the reason that if
+her papa did actually begin to talk, he would come out with all sorts of curious
+unintelligible nonsense, which made a body's head giddy. This day, however, her
+head was so full, and her mind so excited and taken up with the flourishing
+state of the kitchen-garden, and the letter from her beloved Amandus, that she
+talked of both subjects incessantly, mixed up, without leaving off.
+At last Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau laid down his knife and
+fork,
+stopped his ears with his hands, and cried out, &quot;Oh, the
+dreary higgledy-piggledy of chatter and gabble!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Aennchen stopped, alarmed, and he went on to say, in the
+melancholy sustained tones which were characteristic of him, &quot;With regard to the
+vegetables, my dear daughter, I have long been cognizant that the manner in
+which the stars have worked together this season has been eminently favourable
+to those growths, and the earthly man will be amply supplied with cabbage,
+radishes, and lettuce, so that the earthly matter may duly increase and
+withstand the fire of the world-spirit, like a properly kneaded pot. The gnomic
+principle will resist the attacks of the salamander, and I shall have the
+enjoyment of eating the parsnips which you cook so well. With regard to young
+Amandus von Nebelstern, I have not the slightest objection to your marrying him
+as soon as he comes back from the university. Simply send Gottlieb up to tell me
+when your marriage is going to take place, so that I may go with you to the
+church.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Herr Dapsul kept silence for a few seconds, and then, without
+looking at Aennchen, whose face was glowing with delight, he went on, smiling
+and striking his glass with his fork (two things which he seldom did at all,
+though he always did them together) to say, &quot;Your Amandus has got to be, and
+cannot help being, where and what he is. He is, in fact, a gerund; and I shall
+merely tell you, my dear Aennchen, that I drew up his horoscope a long while
+ago. His constellation is favourable enough on the whole, for the matter of
+that. He has Jupiter in the ascending node, Venus regarding in the sextile. The
+trouble is, that the path of Sirius cuts across, and, just at the point of
+intersection, there is a great danger from which Amandus delivers his betrothed.
+The danger--what it is--is indiscoverable, because some strange being, which
+appears to set at defiance all astrological science, seems to be concerned in
+it. At the same time, it is evident and certain that it is only the strange
+psychical condition which mankind terms craziness, or mental derangement, which
+will enable Amandus to accomplish this deliverance. Oh, my daughter!&quot; (here Herr
+Dapsul fell again into his usual pathetic tone), &quot;may no mysterious power, which
+keeps itself hidden from my seer-eyes, come suddenly across your path, so
+that young Amandus von Nebelstern may not have to rescue you from any other
+danger but that of being an old maid.&quot; He sighed several times consecutively,
+and then continued, &quot;But the path of Sirius breaks off abruptly after this
+danger, and Venus and Jupiter, divided before, come together again, reconciled.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau had not spoken so much for years as
+on this occasion. He arose exhausted, and went back up into his tower.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Aennchen had her answer to Herr von Nebelstern ready in good
+time next morning. It was as follows:--</p>
+
+<div class="quote">
+<p class="normal">&quot;<span class="sc">My own dearest Amandus</span>--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You cannot believe what joy your letter has given me. I have
+told papa about it, and he has promised to go to church with us when we're
+married. Be sure to come back from the university as soon as ever you can. Oh!
+if I only could <i>quite</i> understand your darling verses, which rhyme so
+beautifully. When I read them to myself aloud they sound wonderful, and <i>then</i> I
+think I <i>do</i> understand them quite well. But soon everything grows confused, and
+seems to get away from me, and I feel as if I had been reading a lot of mere
+words that somehow don't belong to each other at all. The schoolmaster says this
+must be so, and that it's the new fashionable way of speaking. But, you see,
+I'm--oh, well!--I'm only a stupid, foolish creature. Please to write and tell me
+if I couldn't be a student for a little time, without neglecting my housework. I
+suppose that couldn't be, though, could it? Well, well: when once we're husband
+and wife, perhaps I may pick up a little of your learning, and learn a little of
+this new, fashionable way of speaking.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I send you the Virginian tobacco, my dearest Amandus. I've
+packed my bonnet-box full of it, as much as ever I could get into it; and, in
+the meantime, I've put my new straw hat on to Charles the Great's head--you know
+he stands in the spare bedroom, although he has no feet, being only a bust, as
+you remember.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Please don't laugh, Amandus dear; but I have made some poetry
+myself, and it rhymes quite nicely, some of it. Write and tell me how a person,
+without learning, can know so well what rhymes to what? Just listen, now--</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="i4">&quot;I love you, dearest, as my life.</p>
+<p class="i4">And long at once to be your wife.</p>
+<p class="i4">The bright blue sky is full of light,</p>
+<p class="i4">When evening comes the stars shine bright.</p>
+<p class="i4">So you must love me always truly,</p>
+<p class="i4">And never cause me pain unduly,</p>
+<p class="i4">I pack up the 'baccy you asked me to send,</p>
+<p class="i4">And I hope it will yield you enjoyment no end.</p>
+</div>
+<p class="normal">&quot;There! you must take the will for the deed, and when I learn
+the fashionable way of speaking, I'll do some better poetry. The yellow lettuces
+are promising splendidly this year--never was such a crop; so are the French
+beans; but my little dachshund, Feldmann, gave the big gander a terrible bite in
+the leg yesterday. However, we can't have everything perfect in this world. A
+hundred kisses in imagination, my dearest Amandus, from</p>
+
+<p class="right" style="margin-right:15%">&quot;Your most faithful fiancée,</p>
+<p class="right">&quot;<span class="sc">Anna von Zabelthau</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;P.S.--I've been writing in an awful hurry, and that's the
+reason the letters are rather crooked here and there.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;P.S.--But you mustn't mind about that. Though I may write a
+little crookedly, my heart is all straight, and I am</p>
+
+<p class="right" style="margin-right:15%">&quot;Always your faithful</p>
+<p class="right">&quot;<span class="sc">Anna</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;P.S.--Oh, good gracious! I had almost forgot--thoughtless
+thing that I am. Papa sends you his kind regards, and says you have got to be,
+and cannot help being, where and what you are; and that you are to rescue me
+from a terrible danger some day. Now, I'm very glad of this, and remain, once
+more,</p>
+
+<p class="right" style="margin-right:15%">&quot;Your most true and loving</p>
+<p class="right">&quot;<span class="sc">Anna von Zabelthau</span>.&quot;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="normal">It was a good weight off Fräulein Aennchen's mind when she had
+written this letter; it had cost her a considerable effort. So she felt
+light-hearted and happy when she had put it in its envelope,
+sealed it up without burning the paper or her own fingers, and given
+it, together with the bonnet-boxful of tobacco, to Gottlieb to take to the
+post-office in the town. When she had seen properly to the poultry in the yard,
+she ran as fast as she could to the place she loved best--the kitchen-garden.
+When she got to the carrot-bed she thought it was about time to be thinking of
+the sweet-toothed people in the town, and be palling the earliest of the
+carrots. The servant-girl was called in to help in this process. Fräulein
+Aennchen walked, gravely and seriously, into the middle of the bed, and grasped
+a stately carrot-plant. But on her pulling at it a strange sound made itself
+heard. Do not, reader, think of the witches' mandrake-root, and the horrible
+whining and howling which pierces the heart of man when it is drawn from the
+earth. No; the tone which was heard on this occasion was like very delicate,
+joyous laughter. But Fräulein Aennchen let the carrot-plant go, and cried out,
+rather frightened, &quot;Eh! Who's that laughing at me?&quot; But there being nothing more
+to be heard she took hold of the carrot-plant again--which seemed to be finer
+and better grown than any of the rest--and, notwithstanding the laughing, which began again,
+pulled up the very finest and most splendid carrot ever beheld by mortal eye.
+When she looked at it more closely she gave a cry of joyful surprise, so that
+the maid-servant came running up; and she also exclaimed aloud at the beautiful
+miracle which disclosed itself to her eyes. For there was a beautiful ring
+firmly attached to the carrot, with a shining topaz mounted in it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh,&quot; cried the maid, &quot;that's for you! It's your wedding-ring.
+Put it on directly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Stupid nonsense!&quot; said Fräulein Aennchen. &quot;I must get my
+wedding-ring from Herr Amandus von Nebelstern, not from a
+carrot.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">However, the longer she looked at the ring the better she was
+pleased with it; and, indeed, it was of such wonderfully fine workmanship that
+it seemed to surpass anything ever produced by human skill. On the ring part of
+it there were hundreds and hundreds of tiny little figures twined together in
+the most manifold groupings, hardly to be made out with the naked eye at first,
+so microscopically minute were they. But when one looked at them closely for a
+little while they appeared to grow bigger and more distinct, and to come to
+life, and dance in pretty combinations. And the fire of the gem was of such a
+remarkable water that the like of it could not have been found in the celebrated
+Dresden collection.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who knows,&quot; said the maid, &quot;how long this beautiful ring may
+have been underground? And it must have got shoved up somehow, and then the
+carrot has grown right through it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Fräulein Aennchen took the ring off the carrot, and it was
+strange how the latter suddenly slipped through her fingers and disappeared in
+the ground. But neither she nor the maid paid much heed to this circumstance,
+being lost in admiration of the beautiful ring, which the young lady immediately
+put on the little finger of the right hand without more ado. As she did so, she
+felt a stinging pain all up her finger, from the root of it to the point; but
+this pain went away again as quickly as it had come.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Of course she told her father, at mid-day, all about this
+strange adventure at the carrot-bed, and showed him the beautiful ring which had
+been sticking upon the carrot. She was going to take it off that he might
+examine it the better, but felt the same stinging kind of pain as when she put
+it on. And this pain lasted all the time she was trying to get it off, so that
+she had to give up trying. Herr Dapsul scanned the ring upon her finger with the
+most careful attention. He made her stretch her finger out, and describe with it
+all sorts of circles in all directions. After which he fell into a profound
+meditation, and went up into his tower without uttering a syllable. Aennchen
+heard him giving vent to a very considerable amount of groaning and sighing as
+he went.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Next morning, when she was chasing the big cock about the yard
+(he was bent on all manner of mischief, and was skirmishing particularly with
+the pigeons), Herr Dapsul began lamenting so fearfully down from the tower
+through the speaking trumpet that she cried up to him through her closed hand,
+&quot;Oh papa dear, what are you making such a terrible howling for? The fowls are
+all going out of their wits.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Heir Dapsul hailed down to her through the speaking trumpet,
+saying, &quot;Anna, my daughter Anna, come up here to me immediately.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Fräulein Aennchen was much astonished at this command, for her
+papa had never in all his life asked her to go into the tower, but rather had
+kept the door of it carefully shut. So that she was conscious of a certain sense
+of anxiety as she climbed the narrow winding stair, and opened the heavy door
+which led into its one room. Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau was seated upon a large
+armchair of singular form, surrounded by curious instruments and dusty books.
+Before him was a kind of stand, upon which there was a paper stretched in a
+frame, with a number of lines drawn upon it. He had on a tall pointed cap, a
+wide mantle of grey calimanco, and on his chin a long white beard, so that he
+had quite the appearance of a magician. On account of his false beard, Aennchen
+didn't know him a bit just at first, and looked curiously about to see if her
+father were hidden away in some corner; but when she saw that the man with the
+beard on was really papa, she laughed most heartily, and asked if it was
+Yule-time, and he was going to act Father Christmas.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Paying no heed to this enquiry, Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau took
+a small tool of iron in his hand, touched Aennchen's forehead with it, and then
+stroked it along her right arm several times, from the armpit to the tip of the
+little finger. While this was going on she had to sit in the armchair, which he
+had quitted, and to lay the finger which had the ring upon it on the paper which
+was in the frame, in such a position that the topaz touched the central point
+where all the lines came together. Yellow rays immediately shot out from the
+topaz all round, colouring the paper all over with deep yellow light. Then the
+lines went flickering and crackling up and down, and the little figures which
+were on the ring seemed to be jumping merrily about all over the paper. Herr
+Dapsul, without taking his eyes from the paper, had taken hold of a thin plate
+of some metal, which he held up high over his head with both arms, and was
+proceeding to press it down upon the paper; but ere he could do so he slipped
+his foot on the smooth stone floor, and fell, anything but softly, upon the
+sitting portion of his body; whilst the metal plate, which he had dropped in an
+instinctive attempt to break his fall, and save damage to his <i>Os Coccygis</i>,
+went clattering down upon the stones. Fräulein Aennchen awoke, with a gentle
+&quot;Ah!&quot; from a strange dreamy condition in which she had been. Herr Dapsul with
+some difficulty raised himself, put the grey sugar-loaf cap, which had fallen
+off, on again, arranged the false beard, and sate himself down opposite to
+Aennchen upon a pile of folio volumes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My daughter,&quot; he said, &quot;my daughter Anna; what were your
+sensations? Describe your thoughts, your feelings? What were the forms seen by
+the eye of the spirit within your inner being?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah!&quot; answered Anna, &quot;I was so happy; I never was so happy in
+all my life. And I thought of Amandus von Nebelstern. And I saw him quite
+plainly before my eyes, but he was much better looking than he used to be, and
+he was smoking a pipe of the Virginian tobacco that I sent him, and seemed to be
+enjoying it tremendously. Then all at once I felt a great appetite for young
+carrots with sausages; and lo and behold! there the dishes were before me, and I
+was just going to help myself to some when I woke up from the dream in a moment,
+with a sort of painful start.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Amandus von Nebelstern, Virginia canaster, carrots,
+sausages,&quot; quoth Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau to his daughter very reflectively.
+And he signed to her to stay where she was, for she was preparing to go away.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Happy is it for you, innocent child,&quot; he began, in a tone
+much more lamentable than even his usual one, &quot;that you are as yet not initiated
+into the profounder mysteries of the universe, and are unaware of the
+threatening perils which surround you. You know nothing of the supernatural
+science of the sacred cabbala. True, you will never partake the celestial joy of
+those wise ones who, having attained the highest step, need never eat or drink
+except for their pleasure, and are exempt from human necessities. But then, you
+have not to endure and suffer the pain of attainment to that step, like your
+unhappy father, who is still far more liable to attacks of mere human giddiness,
+to whom that which he laboriously discovers only causes terror and awe, and who
+is still, from purely earthly necessities, obliged to eat and drink and, in
+fact, submit to human requirements. Learn, my charming child, blessed as you are
+with absence of knowledge, that the depths of the earth, and the air, water, and
+fire, are filled with spiritual beings of higher and yet of more restricted
+nature than mankind. It seems unnecessary, my little unwise one, to explain to
+you the peculiar nature and characteristics of the gnomes, the salamanders,
+sylphides, and undines; you would not be able to understand them. To give you
+some slight idea of the danger which you may be undergoing, it is sufficient
+that I should tell you that these spirits are always striving eagerly to enter
+into unions with human beings; and as they are well aware that human beings are
+strongly adverse to those unions, they employ all manner of subtle and crafty
+artifices to delude such of the latter as they have fixed their affections upon.
+Often it is a twig, a flower, a glass of water, a fire-steel, or something else,
+in appearance of no importance, which they employ as a means of compassing their
+intent. It is true that unions of this sort often turn out exceedingly happily,
+as in the case of two priests, mentioned by Prince della Mirandola, who spent
+forty years of the happiest possible wedlock with a spirit of this description.
+It is true, moreover, that the most renowned sages have been the offspring of
+such unions between human beings and elementary spirits. Thus, the great
+Zoroaster was a son of the salamander Oromasis; the great Apollonius, the sage
+Merlin, the valiant Count of Cleve, and the great cabbalist, Ben-Syra, were the
+glorious fruits of marriages of this description, and according to Paracelsus
+the beautiful Melusina was no other than a sylphide. But yet, notwithstanding,
+the peril of such a union is much too great, for not only do the elementary
+spirits require of those on whom they confer their favours that the clearest
+light of the profoundest wisdom shall have arisen and shall shine upon them, but
+besides this they are extraordinarily touchy and sensitive, and revenge offences
+with extreme severity. Thus, it once happened that a sylphide, who was in union
+with a philosopher, on an occasion when he was talking with friends about a
+pretty woman--and perhaps rather too warmly--suddenly allowed her white
+beautifully-formed limb to become visible in the air, as if to convince the
+friends of her beauty, and then killed the poor philosopher
+on the spot. But ah! why should I refer to others? Why don't I
+speak of myself? I am aware that for the last twelve years I
+have
+been beloved by a sylphide, but she is timorous and coy, and I
+am tortured by the thought of the danger of fettering her to me more closely by
+cabbalistic processes, inasmuch as I am still much too dependent on earthly
+necessities, and consequently lack the necessary degree of wisdom. Every morning
+I make up my mind to fast, and I succeed in letting breakfast pass without
+touching any; but when
+mid-day comes, oh! Anna, my daughter Anna, you know well that
+I eat tremendously.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">These latter words Herr Dapsul uttered almost in a howl, while
+bitter tears rolled down his lean chop-fallen cheeks. He then went on more
+calmly--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But I take the greatest of pains to behave towards the
+elementary spirit who is thus favourably disposed towards me with the utmost
+refinement of manners, the most exquisite <i>galanterie</i>. I never venture to smoke a
+pipe of tobacco without employing the proper preliminary cabbalistic
+precautions, for I cannot tell whether or not my tender air-spirit may like the
+brand of the tobacco, and so be annoyed at the defilement of her element. And I
+take the same precautions when I cut a hazel twig, pluck a flower, eat a fruit,
+or strike fire, all my efforts being directed to avoid giving offence to any
+elementary spirit. And yet--there, you see that nutshell, which I slid upon,
+and, falling over backwards, completely nullified the whole important
+experiment, which would have revealed to me the whole mystery of the ring? I do
+not remember that I have ever eaten a nut in this chamber, completely devoted as
+it is to science (you know now why I have my breakfast on the stairs), and it is
+all the clearer that some little gnome must have been hidden away in that shell,
+very likely having come here to prosecute his studies, and watch some of my
+experiments. For the elementary spirits are fond of human science, particularly
+such kinds of it as the uninitiated vulgar consider to be, if not foolish and
+superstitious, at all events beyond the powers of the human mind to comprehend,
+and for that reason style 'dangerous.' Thus, when I accidentally trod upon this
+little student's head, I suppose he got in a rage, and threw me down. But it is
+probable that he had a deeper reason for preventing me from finding out the
+secret of the ring. Anna, my dear Anna, listen to this. I had ascertained that
+there is a gnome bestowing his favour upon you, and to judge by the ring he must
+be a gnome of rank and distinction, as well as of superior cultivation. But, my
+dear Anna, my most beloved little stupid girl, how do you suppose you are going
+to enter into any kind of union with an elementary spirit without running the
+most terrible risk? If you had read Cassiodorus Remus you might, of course,
+reply that, according to his veracious chronicle, the celebrated Magdalena de la
+Croix, abbess of a convent at Cordova, in Spain, lived for thirty years in the
+happiest wedlock imaginable with a little gnome, whilst a similar result
+followed in
+the case of a sylph and the young Gertrude, a nun in Kloster
+Nazareth, near Cologne. But, then, think of the learned pursuits of those
+ecclesiastical ladies and of your own; what a mighty difference. Instead of
+reading in learned books you are often employing your time in feeding hens,
+geese, ducks, and other creatures, which simply molest and annoy all cabbalists;
+instead of watching the course of the stars, the heavens, you dig in the earth;
+instead of deciphering the traces of the future in skilfully-constructed
+horoscopes you are churning milk into butter, and putting sauerkraut up to
+pickle for mean everyday winter use; although, really, I must say that for my
+own part I should be very sorry to be without such articles of food. Say, is all
+this likely, in the long run, to content a refined philosophic elementary
+spirit? And then, oh Anna! it must be through you that the Dapsulheim line must
+continue, which earthly demand upon your being you cannot refuse to obey in any
+possible case. Yet, in connection with this ring, you in your instinctive way
+felt a strange irreflective sense of physical enjoyment. By means of the
+operation in which I was engaged, I desired and intended to break the power of
+the ring, and free you entirely from the gnome which is pursuing you. That
+operation failed, in consequence of the trick played me by the little student in
+the nut-shell. And yet, notwithstanding, I feel inspired by a
+courage such as I never felt before to do battle with this elementary spirit.
+You are my child, whom I begot, not indeed with a sylphide, salamandress, or
+other elementary spirit, but of that poor country lady of a fine old family, to
+whom the God-forgotten neighbours gave the nickname of the 'goat-girl' on
+account of her idyllic nature. For she used to go out with a flock of pretty
+little white goats, and pasture them on the green hillocks, I meanwhile blowing
+a reed-pipe on my tower, a love-stricken young fool, by way of accompaniment. Yes, you
+are my own child, my flesh and blood, and I mean to rescue you. Here, this
+mystic file shall befree you from the pernicious ring.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With this, Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau took up a small file and
+began filing away with it at the ring. But scarcely had he passed it once or
+twice backwards and forwards when Fräulein Aennchen cried aloud in pain, &quot;Papa,
+papa, you're filing my finger off!&quot; And actually there was dark thick blood
+coming oozing from under the ring. Seeing this, Herr Dapsul let the file fall
+upon the floor, sank half fainting into the armchair, and cried, in utter
+despair, &quot;Oh--oh--oh--oh! It is all over with me! Perhaps the infuriated gnome
+may come this very hour and bite my head off unless the sylphide saves me. Oh,
+Anna, Anna,
+go--fly!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As her father's extraordinary talk had long made her wish
+herself far enough away, she ran downstairs like the wind.</p>
+
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+<p class="hang1"><span class="sc">SOME ACCOUNT IS GIVEN OF THE ARRIVAL OF A REMARKABLE PERSONAGE
+IN
+DAPSULHEIM, AND OF WHAT FOLLOWED FURTHER.</span></p>
+
+<p class="continue">Herr Dapsul Von Zabelthau had just embraced his daughter with
+many tears, and was moving off to ascend his tower, where he dreaded every
+moment the alarming visit of the incensed gnome, when the sound of a horn, loud
+and clear, made itself heard, and into the courtyard came bounding and
+curvetting a little cavalier of sufficiently strange and amusing appearance. His
+yellow horse was not at all large, and was of delicate build, so that the little
+rider, in spite of his large shapeless head, did not look so dwarfish as might
+otherwise have been the case, as he sate a considerable height above the horse's
+head. But this was attributable to the length of his body, for what of him hung
+over the saddle in the nature of legs and feet was hardly worth mentioning. For
+the rest, the little fellow had on a very rich habit of gold-yellow atlas, a
+fine high cap with a splendid grass-green plume, and riding-boots of beautifully
+polished mahogany. With a resounding &quot;P-r-r-r-r-r-r!&quot; he reined up before Herr
+von Zabelthau, and seemed to be going to dismount. But he suddenly slipped under
+the horse's belly as quick as lightning, and having got to the other side of
+him, threw himself three times in succession some twelve ells up in the air,
+turning six somersaults in every ell, and then alighted on his head in the
+saddle. Standing on his head there, he galloped backwards, forwards, and
+sideways in all sorts of extraordinary curves and ups and downs, his feet
+meanwhile playing trochees, dactyls, pyrrhics, &#38;c., in the air. When this
+accomplished gymnast and trick-act rider at length stood still, and politely
+saluted, there were to be seen on the ground of the courtyard the words, &quot;My
+most courteous greeting to you and your lady daughter, most highly respected
+Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau.&quot; These words he had ridden into the ground in
+handsome Roman uncial letters. Thereupon, he sprang from his horse, turned three
+Catherine wheels, and said that he was charged by his gracious master, the Herr
+Baron Porphyrio von Ockerodastes, called &quot;Cordovanspitz,&quot; to present his
+compliments to Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau, and to say, that if the latter had no
+objection, the Herr Baron proposed to pay him a friendly visit of a day or two,
+as he was expecting presently to be his nearest neighbour.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Herr Dapsul looked more dead than alive, so pale and
+motionless did he stand, leaning un his daughter. Scarcely had a half
+involuntary,
+&quot;It--will--give--me--much--pleasure,&quot; escaped his trembling
+lips, when the little horseman departed with lightning speed, and similar
+ceremonies to those with which he had arrived.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, my daughter!&quot; cried Herr Dapsul, weeping and lamenting,
+&quot;alas! it is but too certain that this is the gnome come to carry you off, and
+twist my unfortunate neck. But we will pluck up the very last scrap of courage
+which we can scrape together. Perhaps it may be still possible to pacify this
+irritated elementary spirit. We must be as careful in our conduct towards him as
+ever we can. I will at once read to you, my dear child, a chapter or two of
+Lactantius or Thomas Aquinas concerning the mode of dealing with elementary
+spirits, so that you mayn't make some tremendous mistake or other.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But before he could go and get hold of Lactantius or Thomas
+Aquinas, a band was heard in the immediate proximity, sounding very much like
+the kind of performance which children who are musical enough get up about
+Christmas-time. And a fine long procession was coming up the street.
+At the head of it rode some sixty or seventy little cavaliers
+on
+little yellow horses, all dressed like the one who had arrived
+as avant-courier at first, in yellow habits, pointed caps, and boots of polished
+mahogany. They were followed by a couch of purest crystal, drawn by eight yellow
+horses, and behind this came well on to forty other less magnificent coaches,
+some with six horses, some with only four. And there were swarms of pages,
+running footmen, and other attendants, moving up and down amongst and around
+those coaches in brilliant costumes, so that the whole thing formed a sight as
+charming as uncommon. Herr Dapsul stood sunk in gloomy amazement. Aennchen, who
+had never dreamt that the world could contain such lovely delightful creatures
+as these little horses and people, was quite out of her senses with delight, and
+forgot everything, even to shut her mouth, which she had opened to emit a cry of
+joy.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The coach and eight drew up before Herr Dapsul. Riders jumped
+from their horses, pages and attendants came hurrying forward, and the personage
+who was now lifted down the steps of the coach on their arms was none other than
+the Herr Baron Porphyrio von Ockerodastes, otherwise known as Cordovanspitz.
+Inasmuch as regarded his figure, the Herr Baron was far from comparable to the
+Apollo of Belvedere, or even the Dying Gladiator. For, besides the circumstances
+that he was scarcely three feet high, one-third of his small body consisted of
+his evidently too large and broad head, which was, moreover, adorned by a
+tremendously long Roman nose and a pair of great round projecting
+eyes. And as his body was disproportionately long for his
+height,
+there was nothing left for his legs and feet to occupy but
+some four inches or so. This small space was made the most of, however,
+for the little Baron's feet were the neatest and prettiest
+little things ever beheld. No doubt they seemed to be scarcely strong enough to
+support the large, important head. For the Baron's gait was somewhat tottery and
+uncertain, and he even toppled over altogether pretty frequently, but got up
+upon his feet immediately, after the manner of a jack-in-the-box. So that this
+toppling over had a considerable resemblance to some rather eccentric dancing
+step more than to anything else one could compare it to. He had on a
+close-fitting suit of some shining gold fabric, and a headdress, which was
+almost like a crown, with an enormous plume of green feathers in it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As soon as the Baron had alighted on the ground, he hastened
+up to Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau, took hold of both his hands, swung himself up
+to his neck, and cried out, in a voice wonderfully more powerful than his
+shortness of stature would have led one to expect, &quot;Oh, my Dapsul von Zabelthau,
+my most beloved father!&quot; He then lowered himself down from Herr Dapsul's neck
+with the same deftness of skill with which he
+had climbed up to it, sprang, or rather slung himself, to
+Fräulein Aennchen, took that hand of hers which had the ring on it, covered
+it with loud resounding kisses, and cried out in the same
+almost thundering voice as before, &quot;Oh, my loveliest Fräulein Anna von
+Zabelthau, my most beloved bride-elect!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He then clapped his hands, and immediately that noisy
+clattering
+child-like band struck up, and over a hundred little fellows,
+who
+had got off their horses and out of the carriages, danced as
+the
+avant-courier had done, sometimes on their heads, sometimes on
+their feet, in the prettiest possible trochees, spondees, iambics, pyrrhics,
+anapaests, tribrachs, bacchi, antibacchi, choriambs, and dactyls, so that it was
+a joy to behold them. But as this was going on, Fräulein Aennchen recovered from
+the terrible fright which the little Baron's speech to her had put her in, and
+entered into several important and necessary economic questions and
+considerations. &quot;How is it possible,&quot; she asked herself, &quot;that these little
+beings can find room in this place of ours? Would it hold even their servants if
+they were to be put to sleep in the big barn? Then what could I do with the
+swell folk who came in the coaches, and of course expect to be put into fine
+bedrooms, with soft beds, as they're accustomed to be? And even if the two
+plough horses were to go out of the stable, and I were to be so hard hearted as
+to turn the old lame chestnut out into the grass field, would there be anything
+like room enough for all those little beasts of horses that this nasty ugly
+Baron has brought? And just the same with the one and forty coaches. But the
+worst of all comes after that. Oh, my gracious! is the whole year's provender
+anything like enough to keep all these little creatures going for even so much
+as a couple of days?&quot; This last was the climax of all. She saw in her mind's eye
+everything eaten
+up--all the new vegetables, the sheep, the poultry, the salt
+meat--nay, the very beetroot brandy gone. And this brought the salt tears to her
+eyes. She thought she caught the Baron making a sort of wicked impudent face at
+her, and that gave her courage to say to him (while his people were keeping up
+their dancing with might and main), in the plainest language possible, that
+however flattering his visit might be to her father, it was impossible to think
+of such a thing as its lasting more than a couple of hours or so, as there was
+neither room nor anything else for the proper reception and entertainment of
+such a grand gentleman and such a numerous retinue. But little Cordovanspitz
+immediately looked as marvellously sweet and tender as any marsipan tart,
+pressing with closed eyes Fräulein Aennchen's hand (which was rather rough, and
+not particularly white) to his lips, as he assured her that the last thing he
+should think of was causing the dear papa and his lovely daughter the slightest
+inconvenience. He said he had brought everything in the kitchen and cellar
+department with him, and as for the lodging, he needed nothing but a little bit
+of ground with the open air above it, where his people could put up his ordinary
+travelling palace, which would accommodate him, his whole retinue, and the
+animals pertaining to them.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Fräulein Aennchen was so delighted with these words of the
+Baron Porphyrio von Ockerodastes that, to show that she wasn't grudging a little
+bit of hospitality, she was going to offer him the little fritter cakes she had
+made for the last consecration day, and a small glass of the beetroot brandy,
+unless he would have preferred double bitters, which the maid had brought from
+the town and recommended as strengthening to the stomach. But at this moment
+Cordovanspitz announced that he had chosen the kitchen garden as the site of his
+palace, and Aennchen's happiness was gone. But whilst the Baron's retainers, in
+celebration of their lord's arrival at Dapsulheim, continued their Olympian
+games, sometimes butting with their big heads at each other's stomachs, knocking
+each other over backwards, sometimes springing up in the air again, playing at
+skittles, being themselves in turn skittles, balls, and players, and so forth,
+Baron Porphyrio von Ockerodastes got into a very deep and interesting
+conversation with Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau, which seemed to go on increasing in
+importance till they went away together hand in hand, and up into the
+astronomical tower.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Full of alarm and anxiety, Fräulein Aennchen now made haste to
+her kitchen garden, with the view of trying to save whatever it might still be
+possible to save. The maid-servant was there already, standing staring before
+her with open mouth, motionless as a person turned like Lot's wife into a pillar
+of salt. Aennchen at once fell into the same condition beside her. At last they
+both cried out, making the welkin ring, &quot;Oh, Herr Gemini! What a terrible sort
+of thing!&quot; For the whole beautiful vegetable garden was turned into a
+wilderness. Not the trace of a plant in it, it looked like a devastated country.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No,&quot; cried the maid, &quot;there's no other way of accounting for
+it, these cursed little creatures have done it. Coming here in their coaches,
+forsooth! coaches, quotha! as if they were people of quality! Ha! ha! A lot of
+kobolds, that's what <i>they</i> are, trust <i>me</i> for that, Miss. And if I had a drop
+of holy water here I'd soon show you what all those fine things of theirs would
+turn to. But if they come here, the little brutes, I'll bash the heads of them
+with this spade here.&quot; And she flourished this threatening spade over her head,
+whilst Anna wept aloud.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But at this point, four members of Cordovanspitz's suite came
+up with such very pleasant ingratiating speeches and such courteous reverences,
+being such wonderful creatures to behold, at the same time that the maid,
+instead of attacking them with the spade, let it slowly sink, and Fräulein
+Aennchen ceased weeping.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">They announced themselves as being the four friends who were
+the most immediately attached to their lord's person, saying that they belonged
+to four different nationalities (as their dress indicated, symbolically, at all
+events), and that their names were, respectively, Pan Kapustowicz, from Poland;
+Herr von Schwartzrettig, from Pomerania; Signor di Broccoli, from Italy; and
+Monsieur de Rocambolle, from France. They said, moreover, that the builders
+would come directly, and afford the beautiful lady the gratification of seeing
+them erect a lovely palace, all of silk, in the shortest possible space of time.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What good will the silken palace be to me?&quot; cried Fräulein
+Aennchen, weeping aloud in her bitter sorrow. &quot;And what do I care about your
+Baron Cordovanspitz, now that you have gone and destroyed my beautiful
+vegetables, wretched creatures that you are. All my happy days are over.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But the polite interlocutors comforted her, and assured her
+that they had not by any means had the blame of desolating the kitchen-garden,
+and that, moreover, it would very soon be growing green and flourishing in such
+luxuriance as she had never seen, or anybody else in the world for that matter.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The little building-people arrived, and then there began such
+a confused-looking, higgledy-piggledy, and helter-skeltering on the plot of
+ground that Fräulein Anna and the maid ran away quite frightened, and took
+shelter behind some thickets, whence they could see what would be the end of it
+all.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But though they couldn't explain to themselves how things
+perfectly canny <i>could</i> come about as they did, there certainly arose and formed
+itself before their eyes, and in a few minutes' time, a lofty and magnificent
+marquee, made of a golden-yellow material and ornamented with many-coloured
+garlands and plumes, occupying the whole extent of the vegetable garden, so that
+the cords of it went right away over the village and into the wood beyond, where
+they were made fast to sturdy trees.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As soon as this marquee was ready, Baron Porphyrio came down
+with Herr Dapsul from the astronomical tower, after profuse embraces resumed his
+seat in the coach and eight, and in the same order in which they had made their
+entry into Dapsulheim, he and his following went into the silken palace, which,
+when the last of the procession was within it, instantly closed itself up.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Fräulein Aennchen had never seen her papa as he was then. The
+very faintest trace of the melancholy which had hitherto always so distressed
+him had completely disappeared from his countenance. One would really almost
+have said he smiled. There was a sublimity about his facial expression such as
+sometimes indicates that some great and unexpected happiness has come upon a
+person. He led his daughter by the hand in silence into the house, embraced her
+three times consecutively, and then broke out--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Fortunate Anna! Thrice happy girl! Fortunate father! Oh,
+daughter, all sorrow and melancholy, all solicitude and misgiving are over for
+ever! Yours is a fate such as falls to the lot of few mortals. This Baron
+Porphyrio von Ockerodastes, otherwise known as Cordovanspitz, is by no means a
+hostile gnome, although he is descended from one of those elementary spirits
+who, however, was so fortunate as to purify his nature by the teaching of
+Oromasis the Salamander. The love of this being was bestowed upon a daughter of
+the human race, with whom he formed a union, and became founder of the most
+illustrious family whose name ever adorned a parchment. I have an impression
+that I told you before, beloved daughter Anna, that the pupil of the great
+Salamander Oromasis, the noble gnome Tsilmenech (a Chaldean name, which
+interpreted into our language has a somewhat similar significance to our word
+'Thickhead'), bestowed his affection on the celebrated Magdalena de la Croix,
+abbess of a convent at Cordova in Spain, and lived in happy wedlock with her for
+nearly thirty years. And a descendant of the sublime family of higher
+intelligences which sprung from this union is our dear Baron Porphyrio von
+Ockerodastes, who has adopted the sobriquet of Cordovanspitz to indicate his
+ancestral connection with Cordova in Spain, and to distinguish himself by it
+from a more haughty but less worthy collateral line of the family, which bears
+the title of 'Saffian.' That a 'spitz' has been added to the 'Cordovan'
+doubtless possesses its own elementary astrological causes; I have not as yet
+gone into that subject. Following the example of his illustrious ancestor the
+gnome Tsilmenech, this splendid Ockerodastes of ours fell in love with you when
+you were only twelve years of age (Tsilmenech had done precisely the same thing
+in the case of Magdalena de la Croix). He was fortunate enough at that time to
+get a small gold ring from you, and now you wear his, so that your betrothal is
+indissoluble.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What?&quot; cried Fräulein Aennchen, in fear and amazement. &quot;What?
+I betrothed to <i>him</i>--I to marry that horrible little kobold? Haven't I been
+engaged for ever so long to Herr Amandus von Nebelstern? No, never will I have
+that hideous monster of a wizard for a husband. I don't care whether he comes
+from Cordova or from Saffian.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There,&quot; said Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau more gravely, &quot;there I
+perceive, to my sorrow and distress, how impossible it is for celestial wisdom
+to penetrate into your hardened, obdurate, earthly sense. You stigmatize this
+noble, elementary, Porphyrio von Ockerodastes as 'horrible' and 'ugly,'
+probably, I presume, because he is only three feet high, and, with the exception
+of his head, has very little worth speaking of on his body in the shape of arms,
+legs, and other appurtenances; and a foolish, earthly goose, such as you
+probably think of as to be admired, can't have legs long enough, on account of
+coat tails. Oh, my daughter, in what a terrible misapprehension you are
+involved! All beauty lies in wisdom, in the thought; and the physical symbol of
+thought is the head. The more head, the more beauty and wisdom. And if mankind
+could but cast away all the other members of the body as pernicious articles of
+luxury tending to evil, they would
+reach the condition of a perfect ideal of the highest type.
+Whence
+come all trouble and difficulty, vexation and annoyance,
+strife and contention--in short, all the depravities and miseries of humanity,
+but from the accursed luxury and voluptuousness of the members? Oh, what joy,
+what peace, what blessedness there would be on earth if the
+human race could exist without arms or legs, or the nether
+parts of
+the body--in short, if we were nothing but busts! Therefore it
+is a happy idea of the sculptors when they represent great statesmen,
+or celebrated men of science and learning as busts,
+symbolically indicating the higher nature within them. Wherefore, my daughter
+Anna, no more of such words as 'ugly and abominable' applied to the noblest of
+spirits, the grand Porphyrio von Ockerodastes, whose bride elect you most
+indubitably are. I must just tell you, at the same time, that by his important
+aid your father will soon attain that highest step of bliss towards which he has
+so long been striving. Porphyrio von Ockerodastes is in possession of authentic
+information that I am beloved by the sylphide Nehabilah (which in Syriac has
+very much the signification of our expression 'Peaky nose'), and he has promised
+to assist me to the utmost of his power to render myself worthy of a union with
+this higher spiritual nature. I have no doubt whatever, my dear child, that you
+will be well satisfied with your future stepmother. All I hope is, that a
+favourable destiny may so order matters that our marriages may both take place
+at one and the same fortunate hour.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Having thus spoken, Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau, casting a
+significant glance at his daughter, very pathetically left the room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was a great weight on Aennchen's heart that she remembered
+having, a great while ago, really in some unaccountable way lost a little gold
+ring, such as a child might wear, from her finger. So that it really seemed too
+certain that this abominable little wizard of a creature had indeed got her
+immeshed in his net, so that she couldn't see how she was ever to get out of it.
+And over this she fell into the utmost grief and bewilderment. She felt that her
+oppressed heart must obtain relief; and this took place through the medium of a
+goose-quill, which she seized, and at once wrote off to Herr Amandus von
+Nebelstern as follows:</p>
+<div class="quote">
+<p class="normal">&quot;<span class="sc">My dearest Amandus</span>--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;All is over with me completely. I am the most unfortunate
+creature in the whole world, and I'm sobbing and crying for sheer misery so
+terribly that the dear dumb animals themselves are sorry for me. And <i>you'll</i> be
+still sorrier than they are, because it's just as great a misfortune for you as
+it is for me, and you can't help being quite as much distressed about it as I am
+myself. You know that we love one another as fondly as any two lovers possibly
+can, and that I am betrothed to you, and that papa was going with us to the
+church. Very well. All of a sudden a nasty little creature comes here in a coach
+and eight, with a lot of people and servants, and says I have changed rings
+with him, and that he and I are engaged. And--just fancy how
+awful! papa says as well, that I must marry this little wretch, because he
+belongs to a very grand family. I suppose be very likely does, judging by his
+following and the splendid dresses they have on. But the creature has such a
+horrible name that, for that alone if it were for nothing else, I never would
+marry him. I can't even pronounce the heathenish words of the name; but one of
+them is Cordovanspitz, and it seems that is the family name. Write and tell me if
+these Cordovanspitzes really <i>are</i> so very great and aristocratic a
+family--people in the town will be sure to know if they are.
+And the things papa takes in his head at his time of life I really can't
+understand; but he wants to marry again, and this nasty Cordovanspitz is going
+to get him a wife that flies in the air. God protect us! Our servant girl is
+looking over my shoulder, and says she hasn't much of an opinion of ladies who
+can fly in the air and swim in the water, and that she'll have to be looking out
+for another situation, and hopes, for my sake, that my stepmother may break her
+neck the first time she goes riding through the air to St. Walpurgis. Nice state
+of things, isn't it? But all my hope is in <i>you</i>. For I know you are the person
+who ought to be, and has got to be, just where and what you are, and has to
+deliver me from a great danger. The danger has come, so be quick, and rescue</p>
+
+<p class="right" style="margin-right:5%">&quot;Your grieved to death, but most true and loving <i>fiancée</i>,</p>
+<p class="right">&quot;<span class="sc">Anna von Zabelthau</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;P.S.--Couldn't you call this yellow little Cordovanspitz out?
+I'm sure you could settle his hash. He's feeble on his legs.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What I implore you to do is to put on your things as fast as
+you can and hasten to</p>
+
+<p class="right" style="margin-right:15%">&quot;Your most unfortunate and miserable,</p>
+<p class="right" style="margin-right:5%">&quot;But always most faithful <i>fiancée</i>.</p>
+<p class="right">&quot;<span class="sc">Anna von Zabelthau</span>.&quot;</p>
+</div>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+<p class="hang1"><span class="sc">IN WHICH THE HOUSEHOLD STATE OF A GREAT KING IS DESCRIBED; AND
+AFTERWARDS A BLOODY DUEL AND OTHER REMARKABLE OCCURRENCES ARE
+TREATED OF</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="continue">Fräulein Aennchen was so miserable and distressed that she
+felt paralyzed in all her members. She was sitting at the window with folded
+arms gazing straight before her, heedless of the cackling, crowing, and queaking
+of the fowls, which couldn't understand why on earth she didn't come and drive
+them into their roosts as usual, seeing that
+the twilight was coming on fast. Nay, she sat there with
+perfect indifference and allowed the maid to carry out this duty, and to hit the
+big cock (who opposed himself to the state of things and evinced decided
+resistance to her authority) a good sharp whang with her whip. For the love-pain
+which was rending her own heart was making her indifferent to the troubles of
+the dear pupils of her happier
+hours--those which she devoted to their up-bringing, although
+she had never studied Chesterfield or Knigge, or consulted Madame de Genlis, or
+any of those other authorities on the mental culture of the young, who know to a
+hair's-breadth exactly how they ought to be moulded. In this respect she really
+had laid herself open to censure on the score of lack of due seriousness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">All that day Cordovanspitz had not shown himself, but had been
+shut up in the tower with Herr Dapsul, no doubt assisting in the carrying on of
+important operations. But now Fräulein Aennchen caught sight of the little
+creature coming tottering across the courtyard in the glowing light of the
+setting sun. And it struck her that he looked more hideous in that yellow habit
+of his than he had ever done before. The ridiculous manner in which he went
+wavering about, jumping here and there, seeming to topple over every minute and
+then pick himself up again (at which anybody else would have died of laughing),
+only caused her the bitterer distress. Indeed, she at last held her hands in
+front of her eyes, that she mightn't so much as see the little horrid creature
+at all. Suddenly she felt something tugging at her dress, and cried &quot;Down,
+Feldmann!&quot; thinking it was the Dachshund. But it was not the dog; and what
+Fräulein Aennchen saw when she took her hands from her eyes was the Herr Baron
+Porphyrio von Ockerodastes, who hoisted himself into her lap with extraordinary
+deftness, and clasped both his arms about her. She screamed aloud with fear and
+disgust, and started up from her chair. But Cordovanspitz kept clinging on to
+her neck, and instantly became so wonderfully heavy that he seemed to weigh a
+ton at least, and he dragged the unfortunate Aennchen back again into her chair.
+Having got her there, however, he slid down out of her lap, sank on one knee as
+gracefully as possible, and as prettily as his weakness in the direction of
+equilibrium permitted, and said, in a clear
+voice--rather peculiar, but by no means unpleasing: &quot;Adored
+Anna von Zabelthau, most glorious of ladies, most choice of brides-elect; no
+anger, I implore, no anger, no anger. I know you think my people laid waste your
+beautiful vegetable garden to put up my palace. Oh, powers of the universe, if
+you could but look into this little body of mine which throbs with magnanimity
+and love; if you could but detect all the cardinal virtues which are collected
+in my breast, under this yellow Atlas habit. Oh, how guiltless am I of the
+shameful cruelty which you attribute to me! How could a beneficent prince treat
+in such a way his very own subjects. But hold--hold! What are words, phrases?
+You must see with your own eyes, my betrothed, the splendours which attend you.
+You must come with me at once. I will lead you to my palace, where a joyful
+people await the arrival of her who is beloved by their lord.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It may be imagined how terrified Fräulein Aennchen was at this
+proposition of Cordovanspitz's, and how hard she tried to avoid going so much as
+a single step with the little monster. But he continued to describe the
+extraordinary beauty and the marvellous richness of the vegetable garden which
+was his palace, in such eloquent and persuasive language, that at last she
+thought she would just have a peep into the marquee, as that couldn't do her
+much harm. The little creature, in his joy and delight, turned at least twelve
+Catherine wheels in succession, and then took her hand with much courtesy, and
+led her through the garden to the silken palace.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With a loud &quot;Ah!&quot; Fräulein Aennchen stood riveted to the
+ground with delight when the curtains of the entrance drew apart, displaying a
+vegetable garden stretching away further than the eye could reach, of such
+marvellous beauty and luxuriance as was never seen in the loveliest dreams. Here
+there was growing and flourishing every thing in the nature of colewort, rape,
+lettuce, pease and beans, in such a shimmer of light, and in such luxuriance
+that it is impossible to describe it. A band of pipes, drums and cymbals sounded
+louder, and the four gentlemen whose acquaintance she had previously made, viz.
+Herr von Schwartzrettig, Monsieur de Rocambolle, Signor di Broccoli and Pan
+Kapustowicz, approached with many ceremonious reverences.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My chamberlains,&quot; said Porphyrio von Ockerodastes, smiling;
+and, preceded by them, he conducted Fräulein Aennchen through between the double
+ranks of the bodyguard of Red English Carrots to the centre of the plain, where
+stood a splendid throne. And around this throne were assembled the grandees of
+the realm; the Lettuce Princes with the Bean Princesses, the Dukes of Cucumber
+with the Prince of Melon at their head, the Cabbage Minister, the General
+Officer of Onions and Carrots, the Colewort ladies, etc., etc., all in the gala
+dresses of their rank and station. And amidst them moved up and down well on to a
+hundred of the prettiest and most delightful Lavender and Fennel pages,
+diffusing sweet perfume. When Ockerodastes had ascended the throne with Fräulein
+Aennchen, Chief Court-Marshal Turnip waved his long wand of office, and
+immediately the band stopped playing, and the multitude listened in reverential
+silence as Ockerodastes raised his voice and said, in solemn accents, &quot;My
+faithful and beloved subjects, you see by my side the noble Fräulein Anna von
+Zabelthau, whom I have chosen to be my consort. Rich in beauty and virtues, she
+has long watched over you with the eye of maternal affection, preparing soft and
+succulent beds for you, caring for you and tending you with ceaseless ardour.
+She will ever be a true and befitting mother of this realm. Wherefore I call
+upon you to evince and give expression to the dutiful approval, and the duly
+regulated rejoicing at the favour and benefit which I am about to graciously
+confer upon you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At a signal given by Chief Court-Marshal Turnip there arose
+the shout of a thousand voices, the Bulb Artillery fired their pieces, and the
+band of the Carrot Guard played the celebrated National Anthem--</p>
+
+<p class="center" style="font-size:90%">&quot;Salad and lettuce, and parsley so green.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was a grand, a sublime moment, which drew tears from the
+eyes of the grandees, particularly from those of the Colewort ladies. Fräulein
+Aennchen, too, nearly lost all her self-control when she noticed that little
+Ockerodastes had a crown on his head all sparkling with diamonds, and a golden
+sceptre in his hand.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah!&quot; she cried clapping her hands. &quot;Oh, Gemini! You seem to
+be something much grander than we thought, my dear Herr von Cordovanspitz.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My adored Anna,&quot; he replied, &quot;the stars compelled me to
+appear before your father under an assumed name. You must be told, dearest girl,
+that I am one of the mightiest of kings, and rule over a realm whose boundaries
+are not discoverable, as it has been omitted to lay them down in the maps. Oh,
+sweetest Anna, he who offers you his hand and crown is Daucus Carota the First,
+King of the Vegetables. All the vegetable princes are my vassals, save that the
+King of the Beans reigns for one single day in every year, in conformity to an
+ancient usage.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then I am to be a queen, am I?&quot; cried Fräulein Aennchen,
+overjoyed. &quot;And all this great splendid vegetable garden is to be mine?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">King Daucus assured her that of course it was to be so, and
+added that he and she would jointly rule over all the vegetables in the world.
+She had never dreamt of anything of the kind, and thought little Cordovanspitz
+wasn't anything like so nasty-looking as he used to be now that he was
+transformed into King Daucus Carota the First, and that the crown and sceptre
+were very becoming to him, and the kingly mantle as well. When she reckoned into
+the bargain his delightful manners, and the property this marriage would bring
+her, she felt certain that there wasn't a country lady in all the world who
+could have made a better match than she, who found herself betrothed to a king
+before she knew where she was. So she was delighted beyond measure, and asked
+her royal <i>fiancé</i> whether she could not take up her abode in the palace then
+and there, and be married next day. But King Daucus answered that eagerly as he
+longed for the time when he might call her his own, certain constellations
+compelled him to postpone that happiness a little longer. And that Herr Dapsul
+von Zabelthau, moreover, must be kept in ignorance of his son-in-law's royal
+station, because otherwise the operations necessary for bringing about the
+desired union with the sylphide Nehabilah might be unsuccessful. Besides, he
+said, he had promised that both the weddings should take place on the same day.
+So Fräulein Aennchen had to take a solemn vow not to mention one syllable to
+Herr Dapsul of what had been happening to her. She therefore left the silken
+palace amid long and loud rejoicings of the people, who were in raptures with
+her beauty as well as with her affability and gracious condescension of manners
+and behaviour.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In her dreams she once more beheld the realms of the charming
+King Daucus, and was lapped in Elysium.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The letter which she had sent to Herr Amandus von Nebelstern
+made a frightful impression on him. Ere long, Fräulein Aennchen received the
+following answer--</p>
+<div class="quote">
+<p class="continue">'<span class="sc">Idol of my Heart, Heavenly Anna</span>,--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Daggers--sharp, glowing, poisoned, death-dealing daggers were
+to me the words of your letter, which pierced my breast through and through. Oh,
+Anna! <i>you</i> to be torn from me. What a thought! I cannot, even now, understand
+how it was that I did not go mad on the spot and commit some terrible deed. But
+I fled the face of man, overpowered with rage at my deadly destiny, after
+dinner--without the game of billiards which I generally play--out into the
+woods, where I wrung my hands, and called on your name a thousand times. It came
+on a tremendously heavy rain, and I had on a new cap, red velvet, with a
+splendid gold tassel (everybody says I never had anything so becoming). The rain
+was spoiling it, and it was brand-new. But what are caps, what are velvet and
+gold, to a despairing lover? I strode up and down till I was wet to the skin and
+chilled to the bone, and had a terrible pain in my stomach. This drove me into a
+restaurant near, where I got them to make me some excellent mulled wine, and had
+a pipe of your heavenly Virginia tobacco. I soon felt myself elevated on the
+wings of a celestial inspiration, took out my pocket-book, and, oh!--wondrous
+gift of poetry--the love-despair and the stomach-ache both disappeared at once.
+I shall content myself with writing out for you only the last of these poems; it
+will inspire you with heavenly hope, as it did myself.</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="i6">&quot;Wrapped in darkest sorrow--</p>
+<p class="i6">In my heart, extinguished,</p>
+<p class="i6">No love-tapers burning--</p>
+<p class="i6">Joy hath no to-morrow.</p>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<p class="i6">&quot;Ha! the Muse approaches,</p>
+<p class="i6">Words and rhymes inspiring,</p>
+<p class="i6">Little verse inscribing,</p>
+<p class="i6">Joy returns apace.</p>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<p class="i6">&quot;New love-tapers blazing,</p>
+<p class="i6">All the heart inspiring,</p>
+<p class="i6">Fare thee well, my sorrow,</p>
+<p class="i6">Joy thy place doth borrow.</p>
+</div></div>
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ay, my sweet Anna, soon shall I, thy champion, hasten to
+rescue you from the miscreant who would carry you off from me. So, once more
+take comfort, sweetest maid. Bear me ever in thy heart. He comes; he rescues
+you; he clasps you to his bosom, which heaves in tumultuous emotion.</p>
+
+<p class="right" style="margin-right:20%">&quot;Your ever faithful</p>
+<p class="right">&quot;<span class="sc">Amandus von Nebelstern</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;P.S.--It would be quite impossible for me to call Herr von
+Cordovanspitz out. For, oh Anna! every drop of blood drawn from your Amandus by
+the weapon of a presumptuous adversary were glorious poet's blood--ichor of the
+gods--which never ought to be shed. The world very properly claims that such a
+spirit as mine has it imposed upon it as public duty to take care of itself for
+the world's benefit, and preserve itself by every possible means. The sword of
+the poet is the word--the song. I will attack my rival with Tyrtćan
+battle-songs; strike him to earth with sharp-pointed epigrams; hew him down with
+dithyrambics full of lover's fury. Such are the weapons of a true, genuine poet,
+powerful to shield him from every danger. And it is so accoutred that I shall
+appear, and do battle--victorious battle--for your hand, oh, Anna!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Farewell. I press you once more to my heart. Hope all things
+from my love, and, especially, from my heroic courage, which will shun no danger
+to set you free from the shameful nets of captivity in which, to all appearance,
+you are entangled by a demoniacal monster.&quot;</p>
+</div>
+<p class="normal">Fräulein Aennchen received this letter at a time when she was
+playing a game at &quot;Catch-me-if-you-can&quot; with her royal bridegroom elect, King
+Daucus Carota the First, in the meadow at the back of the garden, and immensely
+enjoying it when, as was often the case, she suddenly ducked down in full
+career, and the little king would go shooting right away over her head. Instead
+of reading the letter immediately (which she had always done before), she put it
+in her pocket unopened, and we shall presently see that it came too late.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Herr Dapsul could not make out at all how Fräulein Aennchen
+had changed her mind so suddenly, and grown quite fond of Herr Porphyrio von
+Ockerodastes, whom she had so cordially detested before. He consulted the stars
+on the subject, but as they gave him no satisfactory information, he was obliged
+to come to the conclusion that human hearts are more mysterious and inscrutable
+than all the secrets of the universe, and not to be thrown light upon by any
+constellation. He could not think that what had produced love for the little
+creature in Anna's heart was merely the highness of his nature; and personal
+beauty he had none. If (as the reader knows) the canon of beauty, as laid down
+by Herr Dapsul, is very unlike the ideas which young ladies form upon that
+subject, he did, after all, possess sufficient knowledge of the world to know
+that, although the said young women hold that good sense, wit, cleverness and
+pleasant manners are very agreeable fellow-lodgers in a comfortable house,
+still, a man who can't call himself the possessor of a properly-made,
+fashionable coat--were he a Shakespeare, a Goethe, a Tieck, or a Jean Paul
+Richter--would run a decided risk of being beaten out of the field by any
+sufficiently well put-together lieutenant of hussars in uniform, if he took it
+in his head to pay his addresses to one of them. Now in Fräulein Aennchen's case
+it was a different matter altogether. It was neither good looks nor cleverness
+that were in question; but it is not exactly every day that a poor country lady
+becomes a queen all in a moment, and accordingly it was not very likely that
+Herr Dapsul should hit upon the cause which had been operating, particularly as
+the very stars had left him in the lurch.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As may be supposed, those three, Herr Porphyrio, Herr Dapsul
+and Fräulein Aennchen, were one heart and one soul. This went so far that Herr
+Dapsul left his tower oftener than he had ever been known to do before, to chat
+with his much-prized son-in-law on all sorts of agreeable subjects; and not only
+this, but he now regularly took his breakfast in the house. About this hour,
+too, Herr Porphyrio was wont to come forth from his silken palace, and eat a
+good share of Fräulein Aennchen's bread and butter.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, ah!&quot; she would often whisper softly in his ear, &quot;if papa
+only knew that you are a real king, dearest Cordovanspitz!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Be still, oh heart! Melt not away in rapture,&quot; Daucus Carota
+the First would say. &quot;Near, near is the joyful day!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It chanced that the schoolmaster had sent Fräulein Aennchen a
+present of some of the finest radishes from his garden. She was particularly
+pleased at this, as Herr Dapsul was very fond of radishes, and she could not get
+anything from the vegetable garden because it was covered by the silk marquee.
+Besides this, it now occurred to her for the first time that, among all the
+roots and vegetables she had seen in the palace, radishes were conspicuous by
+their absence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">So she speedily cleaned them and served them up for her
+father's breakfast. He had ruthlessly shorn several of them of their leafy
+crowns, dipped them in salt, and eaten them with much relish, when Cordovanspitz
+came in.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, my Ockerodastes,&quot; Herr Dapsul called to him, &quot;are you
+fond of radishes?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There was still a particularly fine and beautiful radish on
+the dish. But the moment Cordovanspitz saw it his eves gleamed with fury, and he
+cried in a resonant voice--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What, unworthy duke, do you dare to appear in my presence
+again, and to force your way, with the coolest of audacity, into a house which
+is under my protection? Have I not pronounced sentence of perpetual banishment
+upon you as a pretender to the imperial throne? Away, treasonous vassal; begone
+from my sight for ever!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Two little legs had suddenly shot out beneath the radish's
+large head, and with them he made a spring out of the plate, placed himself
+close in front of Cordovanspitz, and addressed him as follows--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Fierce and tyrannical Daucus Carota the First, you have
+striven in vain to exterminate my race. Had ever any of your family a head as
+large as mine, or that of my king? We are all gifted with talent, common-sense,
+wisdom, sharpness, cultivated manners: and whilst <i>you</i> loaf about in kitchens
+and stables, and are of no use as soon as your early youth is gone (so that in
+very truth it is nothing but the <i>diable de la jeunesse</i> that bestows upon you
+your brief, transitory, little bit of good fortune), <i>we</i> enjoy the friendship
+of, and the intercourse with, people of position, and are greeted with
+acclamation as soon as ever we lift up our green heads. But I despise you,
+Daucus Carota. You're nothing but a low, uncultivated, ignorant Boor, like all
+the lot of you. Let's see which of us two is the better man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With this the Duke of Radish, flourishing a long whip about
+his head, proceeded, without more ado, to attack the person of King Daucus
+Carota the First. The latter quickly drew his little sword, and defended himself
+in the bravest manner. The two little creatures darted about in the room,
+fighting fiercely, and executing the most wonderful leaps and bounds, till
+Daucus Carota pressed the Duke of Radish so hard that the latter found himself
+obliged to make a tremendous jump out of the window and take to the open. But
+Daucus Carota--with whose remarkable agility and dexterity the reader is already
+acquainted--bounded out after him, and followed the Duke of Radish across
+country.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau had looked on at this terrible
+encounter rigid and speechless, but he now broke forth into loud and bitter
+lamentation, crying, &quot;Oh, daughter Anna! oh, my poor unfortunate daughter Anna!
+Lost--I--you--both of us. All is over with us.&quot; With which he left the room, and
+ascended the astronomical tower as fast as his legs would carry him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Fräulein Aennchen couldn't understand a bit, or form the very
+slightest idea what in all the world had set her father into all this boundless
+misery all of a sudden. The whole thing had caused her the greatest pleasure;
+moreover, her heart was rejoiced that she had had an opportunity of seeing that
+her future husband was brave, as well as rich and great; for it would be
+difficult to find any woman in all the world capable of loving a poltroon. And
+now that she had proof of the bravery of King Daucus Carota the First, it struck
+her painfully, for the first time, that Herr Amandus von Nebelstern had cried
+off from fighting him. If she had for a moment hesitated about sacrificing Herr
+Amandus to King Daucus, she was quite decided on the point now that she had an
+opportunity of assuring herself of all the excellencies of her future lord. She
+sat down and wrote the following letter:--</p>
+
+<div class="quote">
+<p class="normal">&quot;<span class="sc">My dear Amandus</span>,</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Everything in this world is liable to change. Everything
+passes away, as the schoolmaster says, and he's quite right. I'm sure <i>you</i>, my
+dear Amandus, are such a learned and wise student that you will agree with the
+schoolmaster, and not be in the very least surprised that my heart and mind have
+undergone the least little bit of a change. You may quite believe me when I say
+that I still like you very well, and I can quite imagine how nice you look in
+your red velvet cap with the gold tassel. But, with regard to marriage, you know
+very well, Amandus dear, that, clever as you are, and beautiful as are your
+verses, you will never, in all your days, be a king, and (don't be frightened,
+dear) little Herr von Cordovanspitz isn't Herr von Cordovanspitz at all, but a
+great king, Daucus Carota the First, who reigns over the great vegetable
+kingdom, and has chosen me to be his queen. Since my dear king has thrown aside
+his incognito he has grown much nicer-looking, and I see now that papa was quite
+right when he said that the head was the beauty of the man, and therefore
+couldn't possibly be big enough. And then, Daucus Carota the First (you see how
+well I remember the beautiful name and how nicely I write it now that has got so
+familiar to me), I was going to say that my little royal husband, that is to be,
+has such charming and delightful manners that there's no describing them. And
+what courage, what bravery there is in him! Before my eyes he put to flight the
+Duke of Radish, (and a very disagreeable, unfriendly creature <i>he</i> appears to be)
+and hey, how he did jump after him out of the window! You should just have seen
+him: I only wish you had! And I don't really think that my Daucus Carota would
+care about those weapons of yours that you speak about one bit. He seems pretty
+tough, and I don't believe verses would do him any harm at all, however fine and
+pointed they might be. So now, dear Amandus, you must just make up your mind to
+be contented with your lot, like a good fellow, and not be vexed with me that I
+am going to be a Queen instead of marrying you. Never mind, I shall always be
+your affectionate friend, and if ever you would like an appointment in the
+Carrot bodyguard, or (as you don't care so much about fighting as about
+learning) in the Parsley Academy or the Pumpkin Office, you have but to say the
+word and your fortune is made. Farewell, and don't be vexed with</p>
+
+<p class="hang1" style="margin-left:25%">&quot;Your former <i>fiancée</i>, but now friend and well-wisher, as
+well
+as future Queen,</p>
+<p class="right" style="margin-right:15%">&quot;<span class="sc">Anna von Zabelthau</span>.</p>
+<p class="normal"  style="margin-left:15%">&quot;(but soon to be no more Von Zabelthau, but simply</p>
+<p class="center">ANNA.)</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;P.S.--You shall always be kept well supplied with the very
+finest Virginia tobacco, of that you need have no fear. As far as I can see
+there won't be any smoking at my court, but I shall take care to have a bed or
+two of Virginia tobacco planted not far from the throne, under my own special
+care. This will further culture and morality, and my little Daucus will no doubt
+have a statute specially enacted on the subject.&quot;</p>
+</div>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+<p class="hang1"><span class="sc">IN WHICH AN ACCOUNT IS GIVEN OF A FRIGHTFUL CATASTROPHE, AND
+WE PROCEED
+WITH THE FUTURE COURSE OF EVENTS.</span></p>
+
+<p class="continue">Fräulein Aennchen had just finished her letter to Herr Amandus
+von Nebelstern, when in came Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau and began, in the
+bitterest grief and sorrow to say, &quot;O, my daughter Anna, how shamefully we are
+both deceived and betrayed! This miscreant who made me believe he was Baron
+Porphyrio von Ockerodastes, known as Cordovanspitz, member of a most illustrious
+family descended from the mighty gnome Tsilmenech and the noble Abbess of
+Cordova--this miscreant, I say--learn it and fall down insensible--<i>is</i> indeed a
+gnome, but of that lowest of all gnomish castes which has charge of the
+vegetables. The gnome Tsilmenech was of the highest caste of all, that, namely,
+to which the care
+of the diamonds is committed. Next comes the caste which has
+care
+of the metals in the realms of the metal-king, and then follow
+the flower-gnomes, who are lower in position, as depending on the sylphs. But
+the lowest and most ignoble are the vegetable gnomes, and not only is this
+deceiver Cordovanspitz a gnome of this caste, but he is actual king of it, and
+his name is Daucus Carota.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Fräulein Aennchen was far from fainting away, neither was she
+in the smallest degree frightened, but she smiled in the kindliest way at her
+lamenting papa, and the Courteous reader is aware of the reason. But as Herr
+Dapsul was very much surprised at this, and kept imploring her for Heaven's sake
+to realize the terrible position in which she was, and to feel the full horror
+of it, she thought herself at liberty to divulge the secret entrusted to her.
+She told Herr Dapsul how the so-called Baron von Cordovanspitz had told her his
+real position long ago, and that since then she had found him altogether so
+pleasant and delightful that she couldn't wish for a better husband. Moreover
+she described all the marvellous beauties of the vegetable kingdom into which
+King Daucus Carota the First had taken her, not forgetting to duly extol the
+remarkably delightful manners of the inhabitants of that realm.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Herr Dapsul struck his hands together several times, and wept
+bitterly over the deceiving wickedness of the Gnome-king, who had been, and
+still was, employing means the most artful--most dangerous for himself as
+well--to lure the unfortunate Anna down into his dark, demoniac kingdom.
+&quot;Glorious,&quot; he explained, &quot;glorious and advantageous as may be the union of an
+elementary spirit with a human being, grand as is the example of this given by
+the wedlock of the gnome Tsilmenech with Magdalena de la Croix (which is of
+course the reason why this deceiver Daucus Carota has given himself out as being
+a descendant of that union), yet the kings and princes of those races are very
+different. If the Salamander kings are only irascible, the sylph kings proud and
+haughty, the Undine queens affectionate and jealous, the gnome kings are fierce,
+cruel, and deceitful. Merely to revenge themselves on the children of earth, who
+deprive them of their vassals, they are constantly trying their utmost to lure
+one of them away, who then wholly lays aside her human nature, and, becoming as
+shapeless as the gnomes themselves, has to go down into the earth, and is never
+more seen.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Fräulein Aennchen didn't seem disposed to believe what her
+father was telling her to her dear Daucus's discredit, but began talking again
+about the marvels of the beautiful vegetable country over which she was
+expecting so soon to reign as queen.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Foolish, blinded child,&quot; cried Herr Dapsul, &quot;do you not give
+your father credit for possessing sufficient cabalistic science to be well aware
+that what the abominable Daucus Carota made you suppose you saw was all
+deception and falsehood? No, you don't believe me, and to save you, my only
+child, I must convince you, and this conviction must be arrived at by most
+desperate methods. Come with me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For the second time she had to go up into the astronomical
+tower with her papa. From a big band-box Herr Dapsul took a quantity of yellow,
+red, white, and green ribbon, and, with strange ceremonies, he wrapped Fräulein
+Aennchen up in it from head to foot. He did the same to himself, and then they
+both went very carefully to the silken palace of Daucus Carota the First. It was
+close shut, and by her papa's directions, she had to rip a small opening in one
+of the seams of it with a large pair of scissors, and then peep in at the
+opening.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Heaven be about us! what did she see? Instead of the beautiful
+vegetable garden, the carrot guards, the plumed ladies, lavender pages, lettuce
+princes, and so forth, she found herself looking down into a deep pool which
+seemed to be full of a colourless, disgusting-looking slime, in which all kinds
+of horrible creatures from the bowels of the earth were creeping and twining
+about. There were fat worms slowly writhing about amongst each other, and
+beetle-like creatures stretching out their short legs and creeping heavily out.
+On their backs they bore big onions; but these onions had ugly human faces, and
+kept fleering and leering at each other with bleared yellow eyes, and trying,
+with their little claws (which were close behind their ears), to catch hold of
+one another by their long roman noses, and drag each other down into the slime,
+while long, naked slugs were rolling about in crowds, with repulsive torpidity,
+stretching their long horns out of their depths. Fräulein Aennchen was nearly
+fainting away at this horrid sight. She held both hands to her face, and ran
+away as hard as she could.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You see now, do you not,&quot; said Herr Dapsul, &quot;how this
+atrocious Daucus Carota has been deceiving you in showing you splendours of
+brief duration? He dressed his vassals up in gala dresses to delude you with
+dazzling displays. But now you have seen the kingdom which you want to reign
+over in undress uniform; and when you become the consort of
+the frightful Daucus Carota you will have to live for ever in
+the subterranean realms, and never appear on the surface any more. And
+if--Oh, oh, what must I see, wretched, most miserable of
+fathers that I am?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He got into such a state all in a moment that she felt certain
+some fresh misfortune had just come to light, and asked him anxiously
+what he was lamenting about now. However, he could do nothing
+for
+sheer sobbing, but stammer out, &quot;Oh--oh--dau-gh-ter. Wha-t
+ar--e
+y-ou--l--l--like?&quot; She ran to her room, looked into the
+looking-glass, and started back, terrified almost to death.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And she had reason; for the matter stood thus. As Herr Dapsul
+was trying to open the eyes of Daucus Carota's intended queen to the danger she
+was in of gradually losing her pretty figure and good looks, and growing more
+and more into the semblance of a gnome queen, he suddenly became aware of how
+far the process had proceeded already. Aennchen's head had got much broader and
+bigger, and her skin had turned yellow, so that she was quite ugly enough
+already. And though vanity was not one of her failings, she was woman enough to
+know that to grow ugly is the greatest and most frightful misfortune which can
+happen here below. How often had she thought how delightful it would be when she
+would drive, as queen, to church in the coach and eight, with the crown on her
+head, in satins and velvets, with diamonds, and gold chains, and rings, seated
+beside her royal husband, setting all the women, the schoolmaster's wife
+included, into amazement of admiration, and most likely, in fact, no doubt,
+instilling a proper sense of respect even into the minds of the pompous lord and
+lady of the manor themselves. Ay, indeed, how often had she been lapt in these
+and other such eccentric dreams, and visions of the future!--Fräulein Aennchen
+burst into long and bitter weeping.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Anna, my daughter Anna,&quot; cried Herr Dapsul down through the
+speaking trumpet; &quot;come up here to me immediately!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She found him dressed very much like a miner. He spoke in a
+tone of decision and resolution, saying, &quot;When need is the sorest, help is often
+nearest. I have ascertained that Daucus Carota will not leave his palace to-day,
+and most probably not till noon of to-morrow. He has assembled the princes of
+his house, the ministers, and other people
+of consequence to hold a council on the subject of the next
+crop of winter cabbage. The sitting is important, and it may be prolonged so
+much that we may not have any cabbage at all next winter. I mean to take
+advantage of this opportunity, while he is so occupied with his official affairs
+that he won't be able to attend to my proceedings, to prepare a weapon with
+which I may perhaps attack this shameful gnome, and prevail over him, so that he
+will be compelled to withdraw, and set you at liberty. While I am at work, do
+you look uninterruptedly at the palace through this glass, and tell me instantly
+if anybody comes out, or even looks out of it.&quot; She did as she was directed, but
+the marquee remained closed, although she often heard (notwithstanding that Herr
+Dapsul was making a tremendous hammering on plates of metal a few paces behind
+her), a wild, confused crying and screaming, apparently coming from the marquee,
+and also distinct sounds of slapping, as if people's ears were being well boxed.
+She told Herr Dapsul this, and he was delighted, saying that the more they
+quarrelled in there the less they were likely to know what was being prepared
+for their destruction.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Fräulein Aennchen was much surprised when she found that Herr
+Dapsul had hammered out and made several most lovely kitchen-pots and
+stew-pans of copper. As an expert in such matters, she
+observed that the tinning of them was done in a most superior style, so that her
+papa must have paid careful heed to the duties legally enjoined on coppersmiths.
+She begged to be allowed to take these nice pots and pans down to the kitchen,
+and use them there. But Herr Dapsul smiled a mysterious smile, and merely said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;All in good time, my daughter Anna. Just you go downstairs,
+my beloved child, and wait quietly till you see what happens to-morrow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He gave a melancholy smile, and that infused a little hope and
+confidence into his luckless daughter.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Next day, as dinner-time came on, Herr Dapsul brought down his
+pots and pans, and betook himself to the kitchen, telling his daughter and the
+maid to go away and leave him by himself, as he was going to cook the dinner. He
+particularly enjoined Fräulein Aennchen to be as kind and pleasant with
+Cordovanspitz as ever she could, when he came in--as he was pretty sure to do.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Cordovanspitz--or rather, King Daucus Carota the First--did
+come in very soon, and if he had borne himself like an ardent lover on previous
+occasions, he far outdid himself on this. Aennchen noticed, to her terror, that
+she had grown so small by this time, that Daucus had no difficulty in getting up
+into her lap to caress and kiss her; and the wretched girl had to submit to
+this, notwithstanding her disgust with the horrid little monster. Presently Herr
+Dapsul came in, and said--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, my most egregious Porphyrio von Ockerodastes, won't you
+come into the kitchen with my daughter and me, and see what beautiful order your
+future bride has got everything in there?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Aennchen had never seen the wicked, malicious look upon her
+father's face before, which it wore when he took little Daucus by the arm, and
+almost forced him from the sitting-room to the kitchen. At a sign of her
+father's she went there after them.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Her heart swelled within her when she saw the fire burning so
+merrily, the glowing coals, the beautiful copper pots and pans. As Herr Dapsul
+drew Cordovanspitz closer to the fire-place, the hissing and bubbling in the
+pots grew louder and louder, and at last changed into whimpering and groaning.
+And out of one of the pots came voices, crying, &quot;Oh Daucus Carota! Oh King,
+rescue your faithful vassals! Rescue us poor carrots! Cut up, thrown into
+despicable water; rubbed over with salt and butter to our torture, we suffer
+indescribable woe, whereof a number of noble young parsleys are partakers with
+us!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And out of the pans came the plaint: &quot;Oh Daucus Carota! Oh
+King! Rescue your faithful vassals--rescue us poor carrots. We are roasting in
+hell--and they put so little water with us, that our direful
+thirst forces us to drink our own heart's blood!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And from another of the pots came: &quot;Oh Daucus Carota! Oh King!
+Rescue your faithful vassals--rescue us poor carrots. A horrible cook
+eviscerated us, and stuffed our insides full of egg, cream, and butter, so that
+all our ideas and other mental qualities are in utter confusion, and we don't
+know ourselves what we are thinking about!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And out of all the pots and pans came howling at once a
+general
+chorus of &quot;Oh Daucus Carota! Mighty King! Rescue us, thy
+faithful vassals--rescue us poor carrots!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On this, Cordovanspitz gave a loud, croaking cry of--&quot;Cursed,
+infernal, stupid humbug and nonsense!&quot; sprang with his usual agility on to the
+kitchen range, looked into one of the pots, and suddenly popped down into it
+bodily. Herr Dapsul sprang in the act of putting on the cover, with a triumphant
+cry of &quot;a Prisoner!&quot; But with the speed of a spiral spring Cordovanspitz came
+bounding up out of the pot, and gave Herr Dapsul two or three ringing slaps on
+the face, crying &quot;Meddling goose of an old Cabalist, you shall pay for this!
+Come out, my lads, one and all!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Then there came swarming out of all the pots and pans hundreds
+and hundreds of little creatures about the length of one's finger, and they
+attached themselves firmly all over Herr Dapsul's body, threw him down backwards
+into an enormous dish, and there dished him up, pouring the hot juice out of the
+pots and pans over him, and bestrewing him with chopped egg, mace, and grated
+breadcrumbs. Having done this, Daucus Carota darted out of the window, and his
+people after him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Fräulein Aennchen sank down in terror beside the dish whereon
+her poor papa lay, served up in this manner as if for table. She supposed he was
+dead, as he gave not the faintest sign of life.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She began to lament: &quot;Ah, poor papa--you're dead now, and
+there's nobody to save me from this diabolical Daucus!&quot; But Herr Dapsul opened
+his eyes, sprang up from the dish with renewed energy, and cried in a terrible
+voice, such as she had never heard him make use of before, &quot;Ah accursed Daucus
+Carota, I am not at the end of my resources yet. You shall soon see what the
+meddling old goose of a Cabalist can do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Aennchen had to set to work and clean him with the kitchen
+besom from all the chopped egg, the mace, and the grated breadcrumbs; and then
+he seized a copper pot, crammed it on his head by way of a helmet, took a
+frying-pan in his left hand, and a long iron kitchen ladle in his right, and
+thus armed and accoutred, he darted out into the open. Fräulein Aennchen saw him
+running as hard as he could towards Cordovanspitz's marquee, and yet never
+moving from the same spot. At this her senses left her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When she came to herself, Herr Dapsul had disappeared, and she
+got terribly anxious when evening came, and night, and even the next morning,
+without his making his appearance. She could not but dread the very worst.</p>
+
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+<p class="normal"><span class="sc">WHICH IS THE LAST--AND, AT THE SAME TIME, THE MOST EDIFYING OF
+ALL</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="continue">Fräulein Aennchen was sitting in her room in the deepest
+sorrow,
+when the door opened, and who should come in but Herr Amandus
+von Nebelstern. All shame and contrition, she shed a flood of tears, and in the
+most weeping accents addressed him as follows: &quot;Oh, my darling Amandus, pray
+forgive what I wrote to you in my blinded state! I was bewitched, and I am so
+still, no doubt. I am yellow, and I'm hideous, may God pity me! But my heart is
+true to you, and I am not going to marry any king at all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My dear girl,&quot; said Amandus, &quot;I really don't see what you
+have to complain of. I consider you one of the luckiest women in the world.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, don't mock at me,&quot; she cried. &quot;I am punished severely
+enough for my absurd vanity in wishing to be a Queen.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Really and truly, my dear girl,&quot; said Amandus, &quot;I can't make
+you
+out one bit. To tell you the real truth, your last letter
+drove me stark, staring mad. I first thrashed my servant-boy, then my poodle,
+smashed several glasses--and you know a student who's breathing out threatenings
+and slaughter in that sort of way isn't to be trifled with. But when I got a
+little calmer I made up my mind to come on here as quickly as I could, and see
+with my own eyes how, why, and to whom I had lost my intended bride. Love makes
+no distinction of class or station, and I made up my mind that I would make this
+King Daucus Carota give a proper account of himself, and ask him if this tale
+about his marrying you was mere brag, or if he really meant it--but everything
+here is different to what I expected. As I was passing near the grand marquee
+that is put up yonder, King Daucus Carota came out of it, and I soon found that
+I had before me the most charming prince I ever saw--at the same time he happens
+to be the first I ever did see; but that's nothing. For, just fancy, my dear
+girl, he immediately detected the sublime poet in me, praised my poems (which he
+has never read) above measure, and offered to appoint me Poet Laureate in his
+service. Now a position of that sort has long been the fairest goal of my
+warmest wishes, so that I accepted his offer with a thousandfold delight. Oh, my
+dear girl, with what an enthusiasm of inspiration will I chant your praises! A
+poet can love queens and princesses: or rather, it is really a part of his
+simple duty to choose a person of that exalted station to be the lady of his
+heart. And if he <i>does</i> get rather cracky in the head on the subject, that
+circumstance of itself gives rise to that celestial delirium without which no
+poetry is possible, and no one ought to feel any surprise at a poet's perhaps
+somewhat extravagant proceedings. Remember the great Tasso, who must have had a
+considerable bee in his bonnet when in love with the Princess Leonore d'Este.
+Yes, my dear girl, as you are going to be a queen so soon, you will always be
+the lady of my heart, and I will extol you to the stars in the sublimest and
+most celestial verses.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What, you have seen him, the wicked Cobold?&quot; Fräulein
+Aennchen broke out in the deepest amazement. &quot;And he has----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But at that moment in came the little gnomish King himself,
+and said, in the tenderest accents, &quot;Oh, my sweet, darling <i>fiancée</i>! Idol of my
+heart! Do not suppose for a moment that I am in the least degree annoyed with
+the little piece of rather unseemly conduct which Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau was
+guilty of. Oh, no--and indeed it has led to the more rapid fulfilment of my
+hopes; so that the solemn ceremony of our marriage will actually be celebrated
+to-morrow. You will be pleased to find that I have appointed Herr Amandus von
+Nebelstern our Poet Laureate, and I should wish him at once to favour us with a
+specimen of his talents, and recite one of his poems. But let us go out under
+the trees, for I love the open air: and I will lie in your lap, while you, my
+most beloved bride elect, may scratch my head a little while he is singing--for
+I am fond of having my head scratched in such circumstances.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Fräulein Aennschen, turned to stone with horror and alarm,
+made no resistance to this proposal. Daucus Carota, out under the trees,
+laid himself in her lap, she scratched his head, and Herr
+Amandus, accompanying himself on the guitar, began the first of twelve dozen
+songs which he had composed and written out in a thick book.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It is matter of regret that in the Chronicle of Dapsulheim
+(from which all this history is taken), these songs have not been inserted, it
+being merely stated that the country folk who were passing, stopped on their
+way, and anxiously inquired who could be in such terrible pain in Herr Dapsul's
+wood, that he was crying and screaming out in such a style.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Daucus Carota, in Aennschen's lap, twisted and writhed, and
+groaned and whined more and more lamentably, as if he had a violent pain in his
+stomach. Moreover, Fräulein Aennchen fancied she observed, to her great
+amazement, that Cordovanspitz was growing smaller and smaller as the song went
+on. At last Herr Amandus sung the following sublime effusion (which is preserved
+in the Chronicle):--</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="i6">&quot;Gladly sings the Bard, enraptured,</p>
+<p class="i6">Breath of blossoms, bright dream-visions,</p>
+<p class="i4">Moving thro' roseate spaces in Heaven,</p>
+<p class="i4">Blessed and beautiful, whither away?</p>
+<p class="i6">'Whither away?' oh, question of questions--</p>
+<p class="i6">Towards that 'Whither,' the Bard is borne onward,</p>
+<p class="i6">Caring for nought but to love, to believe.</p>
+<p class="i4">Moving through roseate heavenly spaces,</p>
+<p class="i4">Towards this 'Whither,' where'er it may be,</p>
+<p class="i4">Singeth the bard, in a tumult of rapture,</p>
+<p class="i4">Ever becoming a radiant em----&quot;</p>
+</div>
+<p class="normal">At this point, Daucus Carota uttered a loud croaking cry, and,
+now dwindled into a little, little carrot, slipped down from Aennchen's lap, and
+into the ground, leaving no trace behind. Upon which, the great grey fungus
+which had grown in the night time beside the grassy bank, shot up and up; but
+this fungus was nothing less than Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau's grey felt hat, and
+he himself was under it, and fell stormily on Amandus's breast, crying out in
+the utmost ecstasy, &quot;Oh, my dearest, best, most beloved Herr Amandus von
+Nebelstern, with that mighty song of conjuration you have beaten all my
+cabalistic science out of the held? What the profoundest magical art, the utmost
+daring of the philosopher fighting for his very existence, could not accomplish,
+your verses achieved, passing into the frame of the deceitful Daucus Carota like
+the deadliest poison, so that he must have perished of stomach-ache, in spite of
+his gnomish nature, if he had not made off into his kingdom. My daughter Anna is
+delivered--I am delivered from the horrible charm which held me spellbound here
+in the shape of a nasty fungus, at the risk of being hewn to pieces by my own
+daughter's hands; for the good soul hacks them all down with her spade, unless
+their edible character is unmistakable, as in the case of the mushrooms. Thanks,
+my most heartfelt thanks, and I have no doubt your intentions as regards my
+daughter have undergone no change. I am sorry to say she has lost her good
+looks, through the machinations of that inimical gnome; but you are too much of
+a philosopher to----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, dearest papa,&quot; cried Aennchen, overjoyed; &quot;just look
+there! The silken palace is gone! The abominable monster is off and away with
+all his tribe of salad-princes, cucumber-ministers, and Lord knows what all!&quot;
+And she ran away to the vegetable garden, delighted, Herr Dapsul following as
+fast as he could. Herr Amandus went behind them, muttering to himself, &quot;I'm sure
+I don't know quite what to make of all this. But this I maintain, that that ugly
+little carrot creature is a vile, prosaic lubber, and none of your poetical
+kings, or my sublime lay wouldn't have given him the stomach-ache, and sent him
+scuttling into the ground.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As Fräulein Aennchen was standing in the vegetable garden,
+where there wasn't the trace of a green blade to be seen, she suddenly felt a
+sharp pain in the finger which had on the fateful ring. At the same time a cry
+of piercing sorrow sounded from the ground, and the tip of a carrot peeped out.
+Guided by her inspiration she quickly took the ring off (it came quite easily
+this time), stuck it on to the carrot, and the latter disappeared, while the cry
+of sorrow ceased. But, oh, wonder of wonders! all at once Fräulein Aennchen was
+as pretty as ever,
+well-proportioned, and as fair and white as a country lady can
+be expected to be. She and her father rejoiced greatly, while Amandus stood
+puzzled, and not knowing what to make of it all.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Fräulein Aennchen took the spade from the maid, who had come
+running up, and flourished it in the air with a joyful shout of &quot;Now let's set
+to work,&quot; in doing which she was unfortunate enough to deal Herr Amandus such a
+thwack on the head with it (just at the place where the Sensorium Commune is
+supposed to be situated) that he fell down as one dead.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Aennchen threw the murderous weapon far from her, cast herself
+down beside her beloved, and broke out into the most
+despairing lamentations, whilst the maid poured the contents of a watering pot
+over him, and Herr Dapsul quickly ascended the astronomic tower to consult the
+stars with as little delay as possible as to whether Herr Amandus was dead or
+not. But it was not long before the latter opened his eyes again, jumped to his
+legs, clasped Fräulein Aennchen in his arms, and cried, with all the rapture of
+affection, &quot;Now, my best and dearest Anna, we are one another again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The very remarkable, scarcely credible effect of this
+occurrence on the two lovers very soon made itself perceptible. Fräulein
+Aennchen took a dislike to touching a spade, and she did really reign like a
+queen over the vegetable world, inasmuch as, though taking care that her vassals
+were properly supervised and attended to, she set no hand to the work herself,
+but entrusted it to maids in whom she had confidence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Herr Amandus, for his part, saw now that everything he had
+ever written in the shape of verses was wretched, miserable trash, and, burying
+himself in the works of the real poets, both of ancient and modern times, his
+being was soon so filled with a beneficent enthusiasm that no room was left for
+any consideration of himself. He arrived at the conviction that a real poem has
+got to be something other than a confused jumble of words shaken together under
+the influence of a crude, jejeune delirium, and threw all his own (so-called)
+poetry, of which he had had such a tremendous opinion, into the fire, becoming
+once more quite the sensible young gentleman, clear and open in heart and mind,
+which he had been originally.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And one morning Herr Dapsul did actually come down from his
+astronomical tower to go to church with Fräulein Aennchen and Herr Amandus von
+Nebelstern on the occasion of their marriage.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">They led an exceedingly happy wedded life. But as to whether
+Herr Dapsul's union with the Sylphide Nehabilah ever actually came to anything
+the Chronicle of Dapsulheim is silent.</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="normal">During the reading of this the Friends had laughed a good
+deal, and they were unanimously of opinion that, though there was not a great
+deal in the plot, yet that the details were so humorous and droll that, as a
+whole, the tale was a success.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As to the plot,&quot; Vincenz said, &quot;there is rather a curious
+circumstance connected with that. Not long since, happening to be dining at the
+table of a certain lady of princely rank, there was a lady present who had on a
+gold ring with a beautiful topaz, of which the remarkably antique-looking form
+and workmanship attracted universal attention. We thought it had been some
+precious heirloom, and were astonished to hear that it had been found sticking
+on a carrot dug up on her property a few years previously. Probably it had been
+lying pretty deep in the ground, and had been brought towards the surface when
+the land was trenched, so that the carrot had grown through it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Princess pointed out what a good idea for a story this
+suggested, and wished that I should set to work to write one at once on the
+subject. So, you see, I hadn't far to go for the idea of the 'Vegetable King and
+his People,' and I claim the invention of them for myself, for there isn't a
+trace of him to be found in Gabalis or any other book of the kind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now,&quot; said Lothair, &quot;I think we may say that on none of our
+former Serapion evenings has our fare been of a more various character than
+to-night. And it is good that we have managed to emerge from that gruesome
+darkness into which we had wandered somehow--I am sure it is hard to tell
+why--into the clear, brightsome light of day, although, no doubt, a serious,
+careful person might, with some reason, say that all the fantastic matter which
+we have so long been going on spinning and accumulating might have a
+considerable tendency to induce confusion of head, if not headache and
+feverishness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We should all do the best we can,&quot; said Theodore. &quot;But let no
+one deem that his own particular qualities and powers constitute the norm of
+what the human understanding is to have laid before it. For there are
+people--good sensible folks enough in other respects--who are so easily made
+giddy in their heads that they think the rapid flight of an awakened imagination
+is the result of an unsound condition of mind. So that such people say, of this
+or the other writer, that he only writes when he is under the influence of
+intoxicating drinks, and attribute his imaginative writings to over-excited
+nerves, and a certain amount of deliriousness thence arising. But everybody
+knows that although a condition of mind raising from either of those causes can
+give rise to a happy thought, or fortunate idea, it is impossible that it can
+yield perfect and finished work, because that demands the very quietest study
+and consideration.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On this evening Theodore had set before his friends some
+remarkably superior wine sent to him by a friend on the Rhine. He poured what
+remained of it into the glasses, and said:--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I cannot explain why it should be so; but a melancholy
+foreboding comes upon me that we are going to part for a long time, and may,
+perhaps, never meet again. But surely the remembrance of those Serapion evenings
+will long live in our minds. We have given free play to the capricious
+promptings of our fancy. Each of us has spoken out what he saw in his mind's
+eye, without supposing his ideas to be anything extraordinary, or giving them
+forth as being so, knowing well that the first essential of all effective
+composition is that kindly unpretendingness which is the thing that has the
+power to warm the heart and please the mind. If Fate is about to part us, then
+let us always faithfully follow the rule of Saint Serapion, and vowing this to
+each other, drink this last glass of our wine.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">What Theodore suggested was accordingly done.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+
+<hr class="W100">
+<h3>LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS,
+LIMITED, STANFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.</h3>
+
+<br>
+
+<br>
+<p class="normal"><br>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Serapion Brethren., by 
+Ernst Theordor Wilhelm Hoffmann
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SERAPION BRETHREN. ***
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+</pre>
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+</body>
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+</html>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Serapion Brethren., by
+Ernst Theordor Wilhelm Hoffmann
+
+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: The Serapion Brethren.
+       Vol. II
+
+Author: Ernst Theordor Wilhelm Hoffmann
+
+Translator: Alex. Ewing
+
+Release Date: March 16, 2010 [EBook #31668]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SERAPION BRETHREN. ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Bowen, from scans provided by Google Books
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's notes:
+
+Source of scans: Google Books:
+"http://books.google.com/books?pg=PA2&dq=editions:UCALB4287293&id=ZYQFAQ
+AAIAAJ&as_brr=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false"
+
+Diacritical marks:
+ 1.found in the word D[=a]-l[ve]s
+   [=a] = a macron; [=A] = A macron.
+   [ve] = e caron; [vE] = E caron.
+
+ 2. [oe] = diphthong oe.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                         THE SERAPION BRETHREN.
+
+                              VOLUME II.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                         THE SERAPION BRETHREN.
+
+                                   BY
+                     ERNST THEODOR WILHELM HOFFMANN
+
+
+                       Translated from the German
+                                   BY
+                       LIEUT.-COLONEL ALEX. EWING,
+                                 A.P.D.,
+    TRANSLATOR OF J. P. RICHTER'S "FLOWER, FRUIT, AND THORN PIECES,"
+                                  ETC.
+
+                               VOLUME II.
+
+
+
+
+                                LONDON:
+            GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN,
+                             AND NEW YORK.
+                                  1892.
+
+
+
+
+
+                                 LONDON:
+              PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
+                   STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.
+
+
+
+
+                                CONTENTS.
+
+                               SECTION V.
+                                                              PAGE
+THE LIFE OF A WELL-KNOWN CHARACTER
+ALBERTINE'S WOOERS
+THE UNCANNY GUEST
+
+                              SECTION VI.
+MADEMOISELLE SCUDERI
+GAMBLERS' FORTUNE
+
+                              SECTION VII.
+SIGNOR FORMICA
+PHENOMENA
+
+                              SECTION VIII.
+
+THE MUTUAL INTERDEPENDENCE OF THINGS
+THE KING'S BETHROTHED
+
+
+
+
+                         THE SERAPION BRETHREN.
+
+
+
+
+                               SECTION V.
+
+The ever-fluctuating vicissitudes of human life had once more scattered
+our little group of friends asunder. Sylvester had gone back to his
+country home; Ottmar had travelled away on business, and so had
+Cyprian; Vincent was still in the town, but (after his accustomed
+fashion) he had disappeared in the turmoil, and was nowhere to be seen;
+Lothair was nursing Theodore, who had been laid on a bed of sickness by
+a malady long struggled against, which was destined to keep him there
+for a considerable time.
+
+Indeed, several months had gone by, when Ottmar (whose sudden and
+unlooked-for departure had been the chief cause of the breaking up of
+the "Club") came back, to find, in place of the full-fledged "Serapion
+Brotherhood," one friend, barely convalescent, and bearing the traces
+of a severe illness in his pale face, abandoned by the Brethren, with
+the exception of one, who was tasking him severely by constant
+outbreaks of a grim and capricious "humour."
+
+For Lothair was once more finding himself in one of those strange and
+peculiar moods of mind in which all life seemed to him to have become
+weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, by reason of the everlasting
+mockery ("chaff" might be the modern expression of this idea) of the
+inimical daemonic power which, like a pedantic tutor, ignores and
+contemns the _nature_ of men; giving man (as a tutor of the sort would
+do) bitter drugs and nauseous medicines, instead of sweet and delicious
+macaroons, to the end that his said pupil, man, may take a distaste at
+his own nature, enjoy it no more, and thus keep his digestion in good
+order.
+
+"What an unfortunate idea it was," Lothair cried out, in the gloomiest
+ill-humour, when Ottmar came in and found him sitting with
+Theodore--"what an unfortunate idea it was of ours to insist on binding
+ourselves together again so closely, jumping over all the clefts which
+time had split between us! It is Cyprian whom we have to thank for
+laying the foundation-stone of Saint Serapion, on which we built an
+edifice which seemed destined to last a lifetime, and tumbled down into
+ruin in a few moons. One ought not to hang one's heart on to anything,
+or give one's mind over to the impressions of excitements from without;
+and I was a fool to do so, for I must confess to you that the way in
+which we came together on those Serapion evenings took such a hold on
+my whole being that, when the brethren so suddenly dispersed themselves
+over the world, my life felt to me as weary, stale, flat and
+unprofitable as the melancholy Prince Hamlet's did to him."
+
+"Forasmuch as no spirit has arisen from the grave, revisiting the
+glimpses of the moon, to incite you to revenge," said Ottmar, with a
+laugh, "and as you are not called upon to send your sweetheart
+to a nunnery, or to thrust a poisoned rapier into the heart of a
+murderer-king, I think you ought not to give way to Prince Hamlet's
+melancholy, and should consider that it would be the grossest
+selfishness to renounce every league of alliance into which
+congenially-minded people enter because the storms of life possess the
+power of interfering with it. Human beings ought not to draw in their
+antennas at every ungentle touch, like supersensitive insects. Is the
+remembrance of hours passed in gladsome kindly intercourse nothing to
+you? All through my journeyings I have thought of you continually. On
+the evenings of the meetings of the Serapion Club (which, of course, I
+supposed to be still in full swing) I always took my place amongst you,
+in spirit; assimilated all the delightful and entertaining things going
+on amongst you (entertaining you, at the same time, with whatever the
+spirit moved me to contribute to you). But it is absurd to continue in
+this vein. Is there, in Lothair's mind, really the slightest trace of
+that which his momentary 'out-of-tuneness' has made him say? Does he
+not himself admit that the cause of his being out of tune is merely the
+fact of our having been dispersed?"
+
+"Theodore's illness," said Lothair, "which nearly sent him to his
+grave, was not a matter, either, calculated to put me into a happy
+state of mind."
+
+"No," said Ottmar, "but Theodore is well again; and as to the Serapion
+Club, I cannot see why it should not be considered to be in full
+working order, now that three of the Brethren are met together."
+
+"Ottmar is perfectly right," said Theodore; "it is a matter of
+indisputable necessity that we should have a meeting, in true
+Serapiontic fashion, as early as possible. The germ which we form will
+sprout into a tree full of fresh life and vigour, bearing flowers and
+fruit--I mean that that bird of passage, Cyprian, will come back:
+Sylvester will soon be unhappy, there where he is, away; and when the
+nightingales cease singing, he will long for music of another kind; and
+Vincent will emerge from the billows again, no doubt, and chirp his
+little song."
+
+"Have it your own way," said Lothair, rather more gently than before;
+"only don't expect _me_ to have anything to do with it. However, I
+promise that I will be present when you assemble Serapiontically; and,
+as Theodore ought to be in the open air as much as possible, I suggest
+that we hold our meeting out of doors."
+
+So they fixed upon the last day of May--which was only a few days
+off--for the time; and on a pretty public-garden in the neighbourhood,
+not too much frequented, for the place, of their next Serapiontic
+meeting.
+
+
+A thunderstorm, passing quickly over, and merely sprinkling the trees
+and bushes with a few drops of Heaven's balsam, had relieved the sultry
+oppressiveness of the day. The beautiful garden was lying all still, in
+the most exquisite brightness. The delicious perfume of leaves and
+flowers streamed through it, while the birds, twittering and trilling
+in happiness, went rustling amongst the branches, and bathed themselves
+in the bedewed leafage.
+
+"How refreshed I feel, through and through!" Theodore cried, when the
+friends had sate themselves down in the shade of some thickly-foliaged
+lime-trees; "every trace of illness, down to the most infinitesimal,
+has left me. I feel as if a redoubled life had dawned on me, in my
+active consciousness of reciprocity of action between me and the
+external. A man must have been as ill as I have been to be capable of
+this sensation, which, strengthening mind and body, must surely be (as
+I feel it to be) the true life-elixir which the Eternal Power, the
+ruling World-spirit, administers to us, directly and without
+intermediation. The vivifying breath of Nature is breathing out of my
+own breast. I seem to be floating in that glorious blue Heaven which is
+vaulted over us, with every burden lifted away from me!"
+
+"This," said Ottmar, "shows that you are quite well again, beloved
+friend; and all glory to the Eternal Power which fitted you out with an
+organisation strong enough to survive an illness like that which you
+have gone through. It is a marvel that you recovered at all, and still
+a greater that you recovered so quickly."
+
+"For my part," said Lothair, "I am not surprised that he got well so
+soon, because I never had a moment's doubt that he would. You may
+believe me, Ottmar, when I tell you that, wretched as the state in
+which his physical condition appeared to be, he was never really ill,
+mentally; and so long as the spirit keeps sound--well! it was really
+enough to vex one to death that Theodore, ill as he was, was always in
+better spirits than I was, although I was a perfectly well and sound
+man; and that, so soon as his bodily sufferings gave him an interval of
+rest, he delighted in the wildest fun and jests. At the same time, he
+has the rare power of remembering his feverish illusions. The doctor
+had forbidden him to talk; but when _I_ wished to tell him this, that
+and the other in quiet moments, he would motion me to be silent and not
+disturb his thoughts, which were busy over some important composition,
+or other matter of the kind."
+
+"Yes," said Theodore, laughing, "I can assure you that Lothair's
+communications were of a very peculiar kidney at that time. Directly
+after the dispersion of the Serapion Brethren he became possessed by a
+foul fiend of evil humours. This you probably have gathered; but you
+cannot, by any possibility, divine the extraordinary ideas which he got
+into his head at this period of gloom and dejection. One day he came
+to my bedside (for I had taken to my bed by that time) stating
+that the old Chronicle Books were the grandest and richest mines and
+treasure-houses of tales, legends, novels and dramas. Cyprian said the
+same long ago, and it is true. Next day I noticed, although my malady
+was besetting me sorely, that Lothair was sitting immersed in an old
+folio. Moreover, he went every day to the public library and got
+together all the old Chronicles he could lay his hands upon. _That_ was
+all very well; but, besides, he got his head filled with the strange
+old legends which are contained in those venerable books; and when, in
+my hours of comparative quiet, he bestirred himself to talk to me on
+'entertaining' subjects, what I heard of was war and pestilence,
+monstrous abortions, hurricanes, comets, fires and floods, witches,
+auto-da-fe's, enchantments, miracles, and, above all other subjects,
+his talk was of the manifold works and devices of the Devil--who, as we
+know, plays such an important part in all those old stories that one
+can hardly imagine what has become of him _now_, when he seems to keep
+so quietly in the background, unless he may perhaps have put on some
+new dress which renders him unrecognizable. Now tell me, Ottmar, don't
+you think such subjects of conversation well suited for a man in my
+then state of health?"
+
+"Don't condemn me unheard," cried Lothair. "It is true, and I will
+maintain it fearlessly, that, for writers of tales, there is an immense
+amount of splendid material in those ancient Chronicles. But you know
+that _I_ have never taken much interest in them, and least of all in
+their _diablerie_. However, the evening before Cyprian went away I had
+a great argument with him as to his having far too much to do with the
+Devil and his family; and I told him candidly that my present opinion
+of his tale, 'The Singers' Contest,' is that it is a thoroughly faulty
+and bungling piece of work, although when he read it to us I approved
+of it, for many specious reasons. Upon this he attacked me in the
+character of a real _advocatum diaboli_, and told me such a quantity of
+things, out of old Chronicles and from other sources, that my head
+fairly reeled. And then, when Theodore fell ill, I was seized upon and
+overmastered by real, bitter gloom and misery. Somehow, I scarce know
+how or why, Cyprian's 'Singers' Contest' came back to my mind again.
+Nay, the Devil himself appeared to me in person one night when I
+couldn't sleep; and although I was a good deal frightened by the evil
+fellow, still I could not help respecting him, and paying him my duty
+as an ever helpful aide-de-camp of tale-writers in lack of help; and,
+by way of spiting you all, I determined to set to work and surpass even
+Cyprian himself in the line of the fearsome and the terrible."
+
+"_You_, Lothair, undertake the fearful and terrible!" said Ottmar,
+laughing--"you, whose bright and fanciful genius would seem expressly
+adapted to wave the wand of comedy!"
+
+"Even so," said Lothair; "such was my idea. And as a first step towards
+carrying it out, I set to work to rummage in those old Chronicles which
+Cyprian had told me were the very treasure-houses of the diabolical;
+but I admit that it all turned out quite differently from what I had
+expected."
+
+"I can fully confirm that," said Theodore. "I can assure you it is
+astonishing, and most delicious, the way in which the Devil and the
+gruesomest witch-trials adapt themselves to the mental bent and style
+of the author of 'Nutcracker and the King of Mice.' Just let me tell
+you, dear Ottmar, how I chanced to lay my hands upon an experimental
+essay on this subject of our doughty Lothair's. He had just left me one
+day when I was getting to be strong enough to creep about the room a
+little, and I found, upon the table where he had been writing, the
+truly remarkable book entitled 'Haftitii Michrochronicon Berlinense,'
+open at the page where, _inter alia_, occurs what follows:--
+
+"'Ye Divell, in this year of Grace, appeared bodily in ye streets of
+Berlin, and attended funerals, conducting himself thereat
+sorrowfullie,' &c., &c., &c.
+
+"You will see, my dear Ottmar, that this entertaining piece of
+intelligence was of a nature to delight me immensely; but some pages in
+Lothair's handwriting delighted me still more. In those he had welded
+up the accounts of this curious conduct of the Devil with a horrible
+case of misbirth, and a gruesome trial for witchcraft, into an
+_ensemble_ of the most delightful and entertaining description. I have
+got those pages here; I brought them in my pocket to amuse you with
+them."
+
+He took them out of his pocket and handed them to Ottmar.
+
+"What!" cried Lothair, "the affair which I styled 'Some Account of the
+Life of a Well-known Character,' which I thought was torn up and
+destroyed long ago--the abortive product of a fit of capricious fancy;
+can it be that you have captured _that_ from me and kept it, to bring
+me into discredit with persons of taste and culture? Here with the
+wretched piece of scribbling, that I may tear it up and scatter it to
+the winds of heaven."
+
+"No, no," cried Theodore; "you must read it to Ottmar, as a penance for
+what you inflicted on me in my illness with your horrible weird
+Chronicle matter."
+
+"Well," said Lothair, "I suppose I can't refuse, though I shall cut a
+strange figure before this very grave and carefully-behaved gentleman.
+However, here goes." So Lothair took the papers, and read as follows:--
+
+
+                  THE LIFE OF A WELL-KNOWN CHARACTER.
+
+In the year one thousand five hundred and fifty-one there was to be
+seen in the streets of Berlin, particularly in the evening twilight, a
+gentleman of fine and distinguished appearance. He wore a rich and
+beautiful doublet, trimmed with sable, white galligaskins, and slashed
+shoes; on his head was a satin barret cap with a red feather. His
+manners were charming, and highly polished. He bowed politely to
+everybody, particularly to ladies, both married and single; and to
+_them_ he was wont to address civil and complimentary speeches. He
+would say: "Donna! if you have any wish or desire in the depths of your
+heart, pray command your most humble servant, who will devote his
+humble powers to the utmost to be entirely at your disposal and
+service." This was what he said to married ladies of position. To the
+unmarried he said: "Heaven grant you a nice husband, worthy of your
+loveliness and virtues." To the men he behaved just as charmingly, and
+it was no wonder that everybody was fond of this stranger, and came to
+his assistance when he would stand hesitating, in doubt and difficulty,
+at some crossing, apparently not knowing how to get over it; for though
+a well-grown and handsomely-proportioned person in most respects, he
+had one lame foot, and was obliged to go about with a crutch. But as
+soon as anybody gave him a hand to help him at a crossing, he would
+instantly jump up with him some six ells or so into the air, and not
+come to the ground again within a distance of some twelve paces on the
+other side of the crossing. This rather astonished people, it need not
+be said, and one or two sprained their legs slightly in the process.
+But the stranger excused himself by saying that, before his leg was
+lame, he had been principal dancer at the Court of the King of Hungary;
+so that, when he felt himself called upon to take a jump, the old habit
+came back upon him, and, willy-nilly, he could not help springing up
+into the air as he used to do in the exercise of his profession. The
+people were satisfied with this explanation, and even took much delight
+in seeing some privy councillor, clergyman, or other person of position
+and respectability, taking a great jump of this sort hand-in-hand with
+the stranger.
+
+But, merry and cheerful as he seemed to be, his behaviour changed at
+times in a most extraordinary manner; for he would often go about the
+streets at night and knock at people's doors; and when they opened to
+him, he would be standing there in white grave clothes, raising a
+terrible crying and howling, at which they were fearfully frightened;
+but he would apologize the following day, saying that he was compelled
+to do this to remind the citizens and himself of the perishableness of
+the body, and the imperishableness of the soul, to which their minds
+ought always to be carefully directed. He would weep a little as he
+said this, which touched the folks very much. He went to all the
+funerals, following the coffin with reverent step, and conducting
+himself like one overwhelmed with sorrow, so that he could not join in
+the hymns for sobbing and lamenting. But, overcome with grief as he was
+on those occasions, he was just as delighted and happy at marriages,
+which in those days were celebrated in a very splendid style at the
+town-hall. There he would sing all sorts of songs in a loud and
+delightful voice, and dance for hours on end with the bride and the
+young ladies (on his sound leg, adroitly drawing the lame one out of
+the way), behaving and evincing himself on those occasions as a man of
+the most delightful manners and bearing. But the best of it was that he
+always gave the marrying couples delightful presents, so that of course
+he was always a most welcome guest. He gave them gold chains,
+bracelets, and other valuable things; so that the goodness, the
+liberality, and the superior morality of this stranger became bruited
+abroad throughout the city of Berlin, and even reached the ears of the
+Elector himself. The Elector thought that a person of this sort would
+be a great ornament at his own Court, and caused him to be sounded as
+to his willingness to accept an appointment there. The stranger,
+however, wrote back an answer (in vermilion letters, on a piece of
+parchment a yard and a half in length, and the same in breadth) to the
+effect that he was most submissively grateful for the honour offered to
+him, but implored his Serene Highness to permit him to remain in the
+enjoyment of the citizenesque life which was so wholly conformed to all
+his sentiments, in peace; adding that he had selected Berlin, in
+preference to many other cities, as his residence, because he had
+nowhere else met with such charming people, persons of such
+truthfulness and uprightness, of so much "feeling," of such a sense for
+fine and delightful "manners" so exquisitely after his own heart in
+every respect. The Elector, and his whole Court along with him, much
+admired and wondered at the beautiful style in which this reply of the
+stranger was conceived, and the matter was allowed to rest there.
+
+It happened that just then the lady of Councillor Walter Luetkens was,
+for the first time, "as ladies wish to be who love their lords"; and
+the old _accoucheuse_, Mistress Barbara Roloffin, predicted that this
+fine, grand lady, overflowing with health and strength, would
+undoubtedly bring into the world a grand and vigorous son, so that Herr
+Walter Luetkens was all hope and gladness. Our "stranger," who had been
+a guest at Luetkens's wedding, was in the habit of calling at his house
+now and then; and it chanced that he made one of those calls of his on
+an evening when Barbara Roloffin was there.
+
+As soon as old Barbara set eyes on the stranger she gave a marvellous
+loud ejaculation of delight, and it appeared as though all the deep
+wrinkles of her face smoothed themselves out in an instant. Her pale
+lips and cheeks grew red, and the youth and beauty to which she had
+long said "good-bye" came back to her again. She cried out, "Ah, ah,
+Herr Junker! Is this you that I see here really and truly? Is this you,
+yourself? Oh, I welcome you! I am so delighted to see you!" and she was
+nearly falling down at his feet.
+
+But he answered this demonstration in words of anger, whilst his eyes
+flashed fire. Nobody could understand what it was that he said to her.
+But the old woman shrunk into a corner, as pale and wrinkled as she had
+been at first, and whimpering faintly and unintelligibly.
+
+"My dear Mr. Luetkens," the stranger said to the master of the house, "I
+hope you will take great care lest something annoying may happen in
+your house here. I really hope, with all my heart, that everything will
+go well on this auspicious occasion. But this old creature, Barbara
+Roloffin, is by no means so well up to her business as perhaps you
+suppose. She is an old acquaintance of mine, and I am sorry to say that
+she has on many occasions not paid proper attention to her patients."
+
+
+Both Luetkens and his wife had been very anxious, and had felt most eery
+and uncanny about this whole business, and full of suspicion as to old
+Barbara Roloffin, particularly when they remembered the extraordinary
+transfiguration which took place in her when she saw the stranger. They
+had very great suspicions that she was in the practice of black and
+unholy arts, so that they forbade her to cross the threshold of their
+house any more, and they made arrangements with another _accoucheuse_.
+
+On this, old Barbara was very angry, and said that Luetkens and his wife
+would pay very dearly for what they had done to her.
+
+Luetkens's hope and gladness were turned into bitter heart-sorrow and
+deep grief, when his wife brought into the world a horrible changeling
+in place of the beautiful boy predicted by Barbara Roloffin. It was a
+creature all chestnut brown, with two horns on its head, great fat
+eyes, no nose whatever, a big wide mouth with a white tongue sticking
+out of it upside down, and no neck. Its head was down between its
+shoulders; its body was wrinkled and swollen; its arms came out just
+above its hips, and it had long, thin shanks.
+
+Mr. Luetkens wept and lamented terribly. "Oh, just heavens!" he cried;
+"what in the name of goodness is going to be the outcome of this? Can
+this little one ever be expected to tread in his father's steps? Was
+there ever such a thing known as a Member of Council with a couple of
+horns on his head, and chestnut brown all over?"
+
+The stranger consoled Luetkens as much as ever he could. He pointed out
+to him that a good education does a great deal; that though, as
+concerned form and appearance, the new-born thing was really to be
+characterized as a most arrant schismatic, still he ventured to say
+that it looked about it very understandingly with its fat eyes, and
+that there was room for a deal of wisdom between the two horns on its
+forehead. Also that though it might, perhaps, never be fit to be a
+Member of Council, it was perfectly capable of becoming a distinguished
+_savant_, inasmuch as excessive ugliness is often a characteristic of
+_savants_, and even causes them to be highly respected and much looked
+up to.
+
+However, Luetkens could not but ascribe his misfortune in the depths of
+his heart to old Barbara Roloffin, particularly when he learned that
+she had been sitting at the door of the room during his wife's
+_accouchement_; and Frau Luetkens had declared, with many tears, that
+the old woman's face had been before her eyes all the time of it, and
+that she had not been able to get rid of the sight of her.
+
+Now Mr. Luetkens's suspicions were not, it is true, enough to base any
+legal proceedings upon in the matter; but Heaven so ordered things that
+in a very short time all the infamous deeds which old Barbara had
+committed were brought into the clear light of day.
+
+For it happened that shortly after those events there came on one day,
+about twelve at noon, a terrible storm, and a most violent wind, and
+the people in the streets saw Barbara Roloffin (who was on her way to
+attend a lady in need of her professional services) borne, rushing away
+on the wings of a blast, high up through the air, over the housetops
+and the church steeples, and set down, none the worse for the trip, in
+a meadow close to Berlin.
+
+After this, of course, there could be no more doubt about the "black
+art" of Barbara Roloffin. Luetkens lodged his plaint before the proper
+tribunal, and the woman was taken into custody. She denied everything
+obstinately, till she was put to the rack. Upon that, unable to endure
+the agony, she confessed that she had been in league with the Devil,
+and had practised magical arts for a very long time. She admitted that
+she had bewitched poor Frau Luetkens, and foisted off the vile abortion
+upon her; and that, over and above that, she had in company with two
+other witches belonging to Blumber killed and boiled several children
+of Christian parents, with the object of causing a famine in the land.
+
+Accordingly she was sentenced to be burnt alive in the market-place. So
+when the appointed day arrived old Barbara was conducted there in
+presence of a great concourse of people, and made to ascend the
+scaffold which was there erected. When ordered to take off a fur cloak
+which she was wearing, she would by no means obey, insisting that they
+should tie her to the stake just as she was. This was done. The pile of
+wood was already alight, and burning at all four corners, when suddenly
+the stranger appeared, seemingly grown to gigantic dimensions, and
+glaring over the heads of the populace at Barbara Roloffin with eyes of
+flame.
+
+The clouds of black smoke were rolling on high, the crackling flames
+were catching the woman's dress, she cried out, in a terrible screaming
+voice, "Satan! Satan! is this how thou holdest the pact thou hast made
+with me? Help, Satan! Help! my time is not out yet!" and the stranger,
+it was found, had suddenly vanished. But from the spot where he had
+been standing an enormous bat went fluttering up, darted into the thick
+of the flames, and thence rose screaming into the air with the old
+woman's fur cloak; and the burning pyre went crashing down into
+extinction.
+
+Horror seized upon all the spectators; every one now saw clearly that
+the distinguished stranger had been none other than the very Devil in
+person. He must have had some special grudge against the folks of
+Berlin, to whom he had so long behaved so smoothly and in such friendly
+fashion, and with hellish deceit betrayed Councillor Luetkens and many
+other sapient men and women.
+
+Such is the power of the Evil One; from whom and from all his snares
+may Heaven in its mercy defend us all.
+
+
+When Lothair had finished, he looked into Ottmar's face, in utter
+self-irony, with the peculiar expression of bitter sweetness which he
+had at his command on such occasions.
+
+"Well," said Theodore, "what think you of Lothair's pretty little
+specimen of _diablerie_? One of the best points about it, I think, is
+that there is not too much of it."
+
+Whilst Lothair had been reading, Ottmar had laughed a great deal, but
+towards the close he had become grave and silent. "I must admit," he
+said, "that in this little tale or 'prank'--for I don't know what else
+to call it--of Lothair's there predominates an attempt, often more or
+less successful, at a certain sort of amusing _naivete_, very
+appropriate to the character of the German Devil. Also, that when he
+talks about the Devil's jumping over the streets hand in hand with
+respectable townfolk and of the 'chestnut brown schismatic,' who might
+turn out a quaint and ugly _savant_, though never a nice, natty,
+spick-and-span Member of Council, we see the curvets and the caprioles
+of the same little Pegasus which was bestridden by the author of
+'Nutcracker.' Still, I think that he ought to have got on the back of a
+horse of a different colour; and, indeed, I cannot say what the reason
+exactly is why the pleasantly comic impression which the earlier part
+of the story produces vanishes away into nothingness; whilst, out of
+this nothingness, there ultimately develops a certain something which
+becomes most uncanny and unpleasant; and the concluding words, which
+are intended to do away with this feeling, do not succeed in doing away
+with it."
+
+"Oh, thou most sapient of all critics," Lothair cried, "who dost such
+high honour to this most insignificant thing of all the insignificant
+things which I have ever written down as to dissect it carefully with
+magnifying glasses on nose, let me tell you that it served me as an
+anatomical study long ago. Did I not style it a mere product of a mood
+of caprice? Have I not anathematized it myself? However, I am glad that
+I read it to you, because it gives me an opportunity of speaking my
+mind concerning tales of this kind. And I am sure that my Serapion
+Brethren will agree with me. In the first place, Ottmar, I should
+like to trace out for you the germ of that unpleasant--or, better,
+'uncanny'--feeling which you were conscious of when you were at first
+beginning to see what you have called the 'amusing _naivete_' of it.
+Whatever grounds the good old Hafftitz may have had for telling us that
+the Devil passed a certain time leading the life of a townsman of
+Berlin, this remains for us a wholly 'fanciful' or 'fantastic'
+incident. And the quality of the 'supernatural'--the 'spookishness' (to
+use an expression now not unfamiliar)--which is a leading
+characteristic of that tremendous 'principle of negation'--that 'spirit
+which eternally denies and destroys'--is, by reason of the (in a
+manner) comic contrastedness in which it is presented, calculated to
+cause in us the strange sensation, compounded of terror and irony,
+which fetters our attention in a manner the reverse of unpleasant. But
+the case is quite different as to the terrible witch stories. In them
+actual life is brought on to the stage with all its reality of horror.
+When I read about Barbara Roloffin's execution, I felt as though I saw
+the funeral pyre smoking in the market-place. All the horror of the
+terrible witchcraft-trials rose to my memory. A pair of sparkling red
+eyes, and an attenuated weazened body, were enough to cause a poor old
+creature to be assumed to be a witch, guilty of every description of
+wicked and unholy arts and practices; to have legal process instituted
+against her, and to be led to the scaffold. The application of the
+rack, or other form of torture, confirmed the accusations against her,
+and decided the case."
+
+"Still," said Theodore, "it is very remarkable that so many of those
+supposititious witches of their own accord confessed their pact, and
+other relations, with the Evil One, without any coercion whatever. Two
+or three years ago it happened that a number of legal documents fell
+into my hands relating to trials for witchcraft; and I could scarce
+believe my eyes when I read in them confessions of things which made my
+flesh creep. They told of ointments, the use of which turned human
+beings into various animals; they spoke of riding on broomsticks, and,
+in fact, of all the devilish practices which we read of in old legends.
+Bat, first and foremost, and invariably, those supposititious witches
+always openly and shamelessly avowed, and boasted--usually of their own
+accord--as to their unchaste relations with the unclean and diabolical
+'gallant' (as their term for him was). Now, how could such things be
+possible?"
+
+"Because," Lothair said, "belief in a diabolical compact actually
+brought such a compact about."
+
+"How do you mean? What do you say?" the two others cried together.
+
+"Understand me properly, that is all I ask," said Lothair, "It is
+matter of certainty that, in the times when nobody doubted of the
+direct and immediate influence of the Devil, or that he constantly
+appeared visibly, those miserable creatures, who were hunted down and
+put so mercilessly to fire and sword, actually and firmly believed in
+all that they were accused of; and that many, in the wickedness of
+their hearts, tried their utmost, by means of every description of
+supposed arts of witchcraft, to enter into compact with the Devil, for
+the sake of gain, or for the doing of evil deeds; and _then_, in
+conditions of brain-excitement, produced by beverages affecting their
+senses, and by terrible oaths and ceremonies of conjuration, _saw_ the
+Evil One, and entered into those compacts which were to confer upon
+them supernatural powers. The wildest of the fabrications of the brain
+which those confessions contain--based upon inward conviction--do not
+seem too wild when one considers what strange fancies--nay, what
+terrible infatuations--even hysteria itself is capable of producing in
+women. Thus the wickedness of the hearts of those putative witches was
+often paid for by a fearful death. We cannot reasonably reject the
+testimony of those old witch-trials, for they are supported by the
+evidence of witnesses, or other clearly recorded facts; and there are
+many instances of people who have committed crimes deserving of death.
+Remember Tieck's magnificent tale, 'The Love-Spell.' There is a deed
+mentioned in the papers I have been speaking of very analogous to the
+crime of the horrible woman in Tieck's tale. So that a death on the
+funeral pyre was often really the proper punishment for those fearful
+misdoings."
+
+"There occurs to my remembrance," Theodore said, "an occasion when an
+accursed crime of that description chanced to be brought vividly before
+my own eyes, filling me with the profoundest pain and sorrow. When I
+was living in W---- I went to see a certain charming country seat,
+L----, which you know. It has been justly said of it that it seems to
+float like some stately swan mirrored on the beautiful lake which lies
+at its feet. I had heard, before, that there were dark rumours to the
+effect that the unfortunate possessor of it, who had died but a short
+time before, had carried on magical practices, with the help of an old
+woman; and that the aged keeper of the chateau could tell a good deal
+about this business, could one gain his confidence. As soon as I saw
+this man he struck me as a very remarkable person. Imagine to
+yourselves a hoary-headed old man with imprints of the profoundest
+terror in his face, dressed poorly, like a peasant, but indicating,
+by his manner, unusual cultivation. Remark that this man, whom you
+would have taken for an ordinary labourer at the first glance, would
+talk to you--if you did not happen to understand the patois of the
+district--in the purest French, or in equally good Italian, just as you
+chose. I managed to interest and to animate him by touching, as we
+wandered through the great halls, on the troubles which his late master
+had had to go through, and by showing that I was, to some extent,
+acquainted with the subject, and with what had happened in those bygone
+days. He explained the deeper meaning of many of the paintings and
+adornments (which, to the uninitiated, seemed mere unmeaning
+prettinesses), and grew more and more frank and confidential. At last
+he opened a small closet, floored with slabs of white marble, in which
+the only piece of furniture was a cauldron of brass. The walls seemed
+to have been stripped of their former adornments. I knew, I felt, that
+I was in the place where the former master of the house, blinded and
+befooled by his lust for sensuous enjoyment, had descended to
+diabolical practices. When I dropped a word or two hinting at this
+subject, the old man raised his eyes to heaven with an expression of
+the bitterest melancholy, and said, with a deep sigh, 'Ah! Holy Virgin!
+hast thou forgiven him?' He then silently pointed to a large marble
+slab embedded in the middle of the flooring. I looked at this slab with
+much closeness of observation, and became aware that there were reddish
+veins meandering about through the stone. And, as I fixed my attention
+upon them more and more closely, heaven aid me! the features of a human
+face grew more and more distinctly traceable and visible, just as when,
+on looking at a distorted picture through a lens specially constructed,
+all its lines and effects then, and not till then, grow clear and
+sharp.
+
+"It was the face of a child that was looking at me out of that stone,
+marked with the heartrending anguish of the agony of death. I could see
+drops of blood welling from the breast; but the rest of the form of the
+body seemed to flow vaguely into indistinctness, as if a stream of
+water were carrying it away. It was with a hard struggle that I
+overcame the horror which well-nigh overmastered me. I could not bring
+myself to utter a word. We left that terrible, mysterious place in
+silence. Not till I had walked about in the park and the lawns for some
+time could I overcome the inexplicable feeling which had so annulled my
+enjoyment of that little earthly paradise. From many things which I
+gathered from the detached utterances of the old man, I was led to
+conclude that the crazy being who had thrust herself into such intimate
+relations with the last proprietor of the place (in other respects a
+large-hearted and cultivated man) had worked upon him by promising him,
+through the exercise of her accursed arts, the fulfilment of his
+dearest wishes--unfailing and everlasting happiness in love--and so led
+him on to unutterable crime."
+
+"This is an affair for Cyprian," Ottmar said. "He would be as delighted
+over the bleeding baby in the marble, and in the old Castellan, as we."
+"Well," Theodore went on to say, "although all this affair may be
+traceable to foolish fancies--although it may be nothing but a fable
+kept up by the people--still, if that strangely-veined slab of marble
+is capable, even under the influence of a lively imagination, of
+showing the lineaments of a bleeding baby when looked at closely and
+carefully, something uncanny must have happened, or the faithful old
+servant could not have felt his master's guilt so deeply in his heart,
+nor would that strange stone give such a terrible evidence of it."
+
+Ottmar said, replying, "We will take an early opportunity of laying
+this matter before Saint Serapion, that we may ascertain exactly how it
+stands; but for the time, I think we ought to let witches alone, and go
+back to our subject of the 'German Devil,' as to which I would fain say
+a word or two. What I am driving at is--that the characteristic German
+manner of treating this subject is seen in its truest colour when it is
+a question of the Devil's manner of conducting himself in ordinary
+everyday life. Whenever he takes part in that, he is thoroughly 'up' in
+every description of evil and mischief--in everything that is terrible
+and alarming. He is always on the alert to set traps for the good, so
+as to lead as many of them as possible over to his own kingdom; but yet
+he is a thoroughly fair and honourably-dealing personage, abiding by
+his compacts and contracts in the most accurate and punctilious manner.
+From this it results that he is often outwitted, so that he appears in
+the character of a 'stupid' Devil (and this is not improbably the
+origin of the common expression 'stupid devil'); but, besides all this,
+the character of the German Satan has a strong tincture of the
+burlesque mixed up with the more predominant quality of mind-disturbing
+terror--that horror which oppresses the mind and disorganizes it. Now,
+the art of portraying the Devil in this distinctively German fashion
+seems to be very much lost. For this aforesaid amalgamation of his
+characteristics does not seem to occur in any of the more recent
+attempts at representing him. He is either shown as a mere buffoon, or
+as a being so terrible that the mind is revolted by him."
+
+"I think," said Lothair, "you are forgetting one recent story in which
+this said mingling of the brightly Intellectual (verging sometimes on
+the comic) with the Terrific is very finely managed, and in which the
+full effectiveness of the old-world sort of devil-spook-story is
+carried out in a masterly manner. I mean Fouque's splendid tale, the
+'Galgenmaennlein.'[1] The terribly vivacious little creature in the
+phial--who comes out of it at night, and lays himself down on the
+breast of that master of his, who has such awful dreams--the fearsome
+man in the mountain glen, with his great coal-black steed which crawls
+up the perpendicular cliffs like a fly on a wall--in short, all the
+uncanny and supernatural elements which are present in the story in
+such plentiful measure--together rivet and strain the attention to an
+extent absolutely frightening; it affects one like some powerful drink,
+which immensely excites the senses and at the same time sheds a
+beneficent warmth through the heart. It is owing to the tone which
+pervades it all through, and to the vividness of the separate pictures,
+that, although at the end one is thoroughly delighted that the poor
+wretch does get out of the Devil's clutches, still, the element of the
+Intellectuality of the evil beings, and the scenes which touch upon the
+realm of comedy (such as the part about the 'Half Heller') stand out
+with the principal high-lights upon them. I scarcely can think of any
+tale of _diablerie_ which has produced such an impression upon me."
+
+
+[Footnote 1: Known in English as "The Bottle Imp."]
+
+
+"There can't be much doubt," said Theodore, "that Fouque got the
+materials for that story out of some old chronicle."
+
+"Even if he did," Lothair said, "I should hope you wouldn't detract
+from the author's merit on that score, like the more common class of
+critics, whose peculiar system obliges them always to try and find out
+the fundamental materials from which a writer has 'taken' his work.
+They make immense capital out of pointing out said source, and look
+down with great contempt on the wretched author who merely kneads his
+characters together out of a pre-existent dough. As if it mattered that
+the author absorbed into himself germs from without him! The shaping of
+the material is the important part of the business. We ought to think
+of our Patron Saint Serapion. His stories were told out of his soul as
+he had seen them with his eyes, not as he had read about them."
+
+"You do me much injustice, Lothair," said Theodore, "if you suppose I
+am of any other opinion. And there is nobody who has shown more
+admirably how a subject may be vividly represented than Heinrich Kleist
+in his tale of Kohlhaas, the horse dealer."
+
+"However," said Lothair, "as we have been talking of Hafftitz's book, I
+should like to read to you a story of which I took most of the leading
+ideas from the Michrochronicon. I wrote it during an attack of a very
+queer mood of mind, which beset me for a very considerable time. And I
+hope, Ottmar, my dear friend, it will lead you to admit that the
+'spleen,' which Theodore says I am suffering from, is not so very
+serious as he would make it out to be."
+
+He took out a manuscript, and read:
+
+
+
+                          ALBERTINE'S WOOERS.
+     (A story in which many utterly improbable adventures happen.)
+
+
+                              CHAPTER I.
+
+WHICH TREATS OF SWEETHEARTS, WEDDINGS, CLERKS OF THE PRIVY CHANCERY,
+      PERTURBATIONS, WITCHCRAFT TRIALS, AND OTHER DELECTABLE MATTERS.
+
+On the night of the autumnal equinox, Mr. Tussmann, a clerk in the
+Privy Chancery, was making his way from the cafe, where he was in the
+habit of passing an hour or two regularly every evening, towards his
+lodgings in Spandau Street. The Clerk of the Privy Chancery was
+excessively regular and punctilious in every action of his life. He
+always had just done taking off his coat and his boots at the exact
+moment when the clocks of St. Mary's and St. Nicholas's churches struck
+eleven; so that, as the reverberating echo of the last stroke died
+away, he always drew his nightcap over his ears, and placed his feet in
+his roomy slippers.
+
+On the night we are speaking of he, in order not to be late in going
+through those ceremonies (for the clocks were just going to strike
+eleven), was just going to turn out of King Street, round the corner
+of Spandau Street, with a rapid sweep--almost to be denominated a
+jump--when the sound of a strange sort of knocking somewhere in his
+immediate proximity rivetted him to the spot.
+
+And he became aware that, down at the bottom of the Town-house
+Tower--rendered visible by the light of the neighbouring lamp--there
+was a tall, meagre figure standing, wrapped in a dark cloak, knocking
+louder and louder on the closed shutters of Mr. Warnatz, the
+ironmonger's shop (which, as everybody knows, is therein situated);
+knocking louder and louder, and then going back a few paces and sighing
+profoundly, gazing up as he did so at the windows of the Tower, which
+were shut.
+
+"My dear sir," said the Clerk of the Privy Chancery, addressing this
+personage in a civil and courteous manner, "you are evidently under
+some misapprehension. There is not a single human creature up in that
+Tower; and indeed--if we except a certain number of rats and mice, and
+a few little owls--not a living thing. If you wish to provide yourself
+with something superior in the hardware line from Warnatz's celebrated
+emporium here, you will have to take the trouble to come back in the
+forenoon."
+
+"Respected Herr Tussmann----" the stranger began.
+
+And Tussmann chimed in with "Clerk of the Privy Chancery, of many
+years seniority." He was a little annoyed, too--astonished, at all
+events--that the stranger seemed to know him. But the latter did not
+seem to mind that in the least, but recommenced:
+
+"Respected Herr Tussmann, you are kind enough to be making a complete
+mistake as to the nature of my proceedings here. I do not want
+ironmongery or hardware of any description; neither have I anything to
+do with Mr. Warnatz. This is the night of the autumnal equinox, and I
+want to see my future wife! She has heard my ardent and longing
+summons, and my sighs of affection, and she will come and show herself
+up at that window directly."
+
+The hollow tones in which the man spoke these words had about them
+something so solemn--nay, so spectral and supernatural--that the Clerk
+of the Privy Chancery felt an icy shudder run through his veins. The
+first stroke of eleven rung down from the tower of St. Mary's, and as
+it did so, there came a clattering and a clinking up at the broken old
+window of the Tower, and a female form became visible at it. As the
+bright light of the street lamps fell upon the face of this figure,
+Tussmann whimpered out in lamentable tones, "Oh, ye just powers!--Oh,
+ye heavenly hosts!--what--_what_ is this?"
+
+At the last stroke of eleven--that is, at the moment when Tussmann
+generally put on his nightcap--the female figure vanished.
+
+This extraordinary apparition seemed to drive the Clerk of the Privy
+Chancery completely out of his senses. He sighed, groaned, gazed up at
+the window, and whispered "Tussmann! Tussmann! Clerk of the Privy
+Chancery--bethink yourself, sir! Consider what you're about. Don't let
+your heart be troubled. Be not deceived by Satan, good soul."
+
+"You seem to be put out by what you have seen, Mr. Tussmann," the
+stranger said. "I only wanted to see my sweetheart--my wife, that is to
+be. You must have seen something else, apparently."
+
+"Please, please," Tussmann said in a whimper, "I should be so much
+obliged to you if you would be good enough to address me by my little
+title. I am Clerk of the Privy Chancery, and truly, at this moment, a
+greatly perturbed Clerk of the Privy Chancery--in fact, one almost out
+of his senses. I beg you, with all due respect, my very dear sir
+(though I regret that I am unable to style you by your proper title, as
+I have not the honour to be in the least acquainted with you, having
+never met you before--however, I shall address you as 'Herr Geheimer
+Rath'--'Mr. Privy Councillor'--there are such an extraordinary number
+of gentlemen here in Berlin bearing that title that one can scarcely be
+in error in applying it)--I beg you, therefore, Herr Geheimer Rath, to
+be so very kind as not to keep me longer in ignorance as to whom the
+lady, your future wife, may be, whom you expected to see here at this
+hour of the night."
+
+"You're a curious fellow, you and your 'titles,'" the stranger said,
+raising his voice. "If a man who knows a number of secrets and
+mysteries, and can give good counsel too, is one of your 'privy' or
+'secret' councillors, I think _I_ may so style myself. I am surprised
+that a gentleman who is so well versed in ancient writings and curious
+manuscripts as you are, dear Mr. Tussmann, Clerk of the Privy Chancery,
+should not know that when an expert--an _expert_, observe!--knocks at
+the door of this Tower here--or even on the wall of it, on the night of
+the autumnal equinox, there will appear to him, up at yonder window,
+the girl who is to be the happiest and luckiest sweetheart in Berlin
+till the spring equinox comes round."
+
+"Mr. Privy Councillor," Tussmann cried, as if in a sudden inspiration,
+and with joyful rapture--"Most respected Mr. Privy Councillor! is that
+really the case?"
+
+"It is," said the stranger. "But what's the good of our standing in the
+street here any longer? It is past your bed time. Let us go to the
+new wine-shop in Alexander Street; just that you may hear a little
+more about this young lady, and recover your peace of mind, which
+something--I have no idea what--has disturbed so tremendously."
+
+Tussmann was a most abstemious person. His sole recreation (for
+"dissipation" we cannot term it) consisted in his spending an hour or
+two every evening in a cafe; where, whilst he read assiduously
+political and other articles in newspapers, as well as books which he
+brought with him, he sipped a glass of good beer. Wine he seldom
+touched, except that after service on Sundays he allowed himself a
+small glass of Malaga with a biscuit, in a certain restaurant. To go
+about dissipating at nights was an abomination in his eyes. So that it
+seemed incomprehensible how, on this particular occasion, he allowed
+the stranger, who hurried away towards Alexander Street with long
+strides, resounding in the darkness, to carry him away with him without
+a word of objection.
+
+When they came into the wine-shop there was nobody there but one single
+customer, sitting by himself at a table, with a big glass of Rhine wine
+before him. The depth of the wrinkled lines on his face indicated
+extreme age. His eyes were sharp and piercing, and his grand beard
+marked him as a Hebrew, faithful to the ancient laws and customs of his
+people. Also his costume was very much in the old Frankish style, as
+people dressed about the year 1720; and perhaps that was why he had the
+effect of having come back to life out of a period of remote antiquity.
+
+But the stranger whom Tussmann had come across was still more
+remarkable of aspect.
+
+A tall, meagre man, powerfully formed as to his limbs and muscles,
+seemingly about fifty years of age. His face might once have passed for
+handsome, and the great eyes still flashed out from under the black
+bushy eyebrows with youthful fire and vigour. The brow was broad and
+open; the nose strongly aquiline. All this would not have distinguished
+him from a thousand others. But, whilst his coat and trousers were of
+the fashion of the present day, his collar, his cloak, and his barret
+cap belonged to the latter part of the sixteenth century. But it was
+more especially the wonderful eyes of the man, and the blaze of them
+(which seemed to come streaming out of deep mysterious night), and the
+hollow tones of his voice, and his whole bearing--all in the most
+absolute contrast with things of the present day--it was, we say, all
+these things taken together which made everybody experience a strong
+sense of eeriness in his proximity.
+
+He nodded to the man who was sitting at the table as if to an old
+acquaintance.
+
+"Ha!" he cried, "here _you_ are again, after all this time. How do you
+feel? Are you all alive and kicking?"
+
+"Just as you see," the old man growled. "Sound as a roach. All ready on
+my legs at the proper time. All _there_--when there's anything up."
+
+"I'm not quite so sure about that," the stranger said, laughing loudly;
+"we shall see!" And he ordered the waiter to bring a bottle of the
+oldest claret in the cellar.
+
+"My good Mr. Privy Councillor," Tussmann began, deprecatingly. But the
+stranger interrupted him hastily, saying:
+
+"Let us drop the 'titles,' Tussmann, for once and all! I am neither a
+Privy Councillor nor a Clerk of the Privy Council. What I am is an
+artist, a worker in the noble metals and the precious jewels; and my
+name is Leonhard."
+
+"Oh, indeed!" Tussmann murmured to himself--"a goldsmith! a jeweller!"
+And he bethought himself that he might have seen at the first glance
+that the stranger could not possibly be an ordinary Privy Councillor,
+seeing that he had on an antique mantle, collar, and barret cap, such
+as Privy Councillors never went about in nowadays. Leonhard and
+Tussmann sat down at the same table with the old Jew, who received them
+with a grinning kind of smile.
+
+When Tussmann, at Leonhard's instigation, had taken two or three
+glasses of the full-bodied wine, his pale cheeks began to glow, and as
+he swallowed the liquor, he glanced about him with smirks and smiles,
+as if the most delightful ideas were rising in his brain.
+
+"And now," Leonhard said, "tell me openly and candidly, Mr. Tussmann,
+why you went on in such an extraordinary manner when the lady showed
+herself at the Tower-window; and what it is that your head is so very
+full of at the present moment. You and I are very old acquaintances,
+whether you believe it or not; and as to this old gentleman here, you
+need be on no ceremony with him."
+
+"Oh, heavens!" answered the Privy Chancery Clerk--"Oh, good heavens!
+most respected Herr Professor--(I do beg you to allow me to address you
+by that title; I am sure you are a most celebrated artist, and quite in
+a position to be a professor in the Academy of Arts)--and so, most
+respected Herr Professor, how can I hide from you that I am, as the
+proverb puts it, 'walking on wooer's feet.' I am expecting to bring the
+happiest of brides home about the vernal equinox. Could it be otherwise
+than a rather startling thing, when you, most respected Herr Professor,
+were so very kind as to let me see a fortunate bride that is to be?"
+
+"What!" the old Jew broke in, in a screaming voice--"What! are you
+thinking of marrying? Why, you're as old as the hills, and as ugly as a
+baboon into the bargain."
+
+"Never mind him," Leonbard said; for Tussmann was so startled by what
+the old man said that he could not utter a syllable. "He means no harm,
+dear Mr. Tussmann, though you may think he seems to do so. I must say,
+candidly, that it seems to me, too, that it is a little too late in
+life for you to be thinking about such a thing. You must be well on to
+your fiftieth birthday; aren't you?"
+
+"I shall be forty-eight," said Tussman, with a certain amount of
+irritability, "on the 9th of next October--St. Dionysius's day."
+
+"Very well," said Leonhard. "But it isn't only your age that's against
+you--you have always been leading a simple, solitary, virginal
+existence. You have no knowledge or experience of women. I can't see
+what is to become of you in their hands!"
+
+"Knowledge of them--experience of them! Dear Herr Professor, you must
+really take me for a most foolish and inconsiderate person if you think
+I am going to plunge into matrimony without any counsel or reflection
+or advice. I weigh, consider, and reflect upon every step most
+maturely; and, having perceived myself to be pierced to the heart by
+the dart of the wanton deity yclept 'Cupid' by the ancients, could I do
+otherwise than bend all my thoughts upon the preparation of myself for
+the matrimonial life? Would any one who was preparing for a difficult
+examination not be careful to study all the subjects on which he is to
+be interrogated? Very well, most respected Herr Professor, my marriage
+is an examination, for which I have prepared myself, and I feel pretty
+certain that I shall pass it admirably--with honours! Look here, at
+this little book, which I have always carried about in my pocket,
+studying it constantly, since the time when I made up my mind to fall
+in love and get married. Look at it, my dear sir; and you will be
+convinced that I am setting about this business in the most thorough
+and fundamental manner possible, and that I shall certainly not be
+found an ignoramus in it; although, as you say (and as I must admit),
+the feminine sex is--so far, and up to the present date--to me a
+complete _terra incognita_."
+
+With these words Tussmann produced from his pocket a little book in
+parchment binding, and turned up its title-page, which ran as
+follows:--
+
+"Brief Tractate on Diplomatic Acumen. Embracing methods of Self-Counsel
+for guidance in all Societies of our fellow-creatures, conducing to the
+attainment of a proper system of Conduct. Of the utmost importance to
+all Persons who deem themselves Wise, or wish to become Wiser.
+Translated from the Latin of Herr Thomasius. With a complete Index.
+Frankfurt and Leipzig. Johann Grossen's Successors. 1710."
+
+"Now just let me show you," said Tussmann, with a sweet smile, "what
+this worthy author (in his seventh chapter, which deals with the
+subjects 'Wedlock, and the Duties of the Father of a Family and Master
+of a Household') says, in the seventh section of that chapter. You see,
+what he says is this:
+
+"'Above all things, let there be no hurry about it. He who does not
+marry till of mature age is so much the wiser, and the better able to
+cope with the exigencies of the situation. Over-early marriages produce
+shameless, subtle, and disingenuous people, and sacrifice the vigour of
+both body and mind. Although the age of manhood is not the commencement
+of youth, the one should not terminate before the other.'"
+
+"And then, with regard to the choice of the object of the
+affections--her whom one is to love and to marry--this grand Thomasius
+says, in his nineteenth section:
+
+"'The middle course is the safest. We should not select one too
+beautiful or too ill-favoured, too rich nor too poor, too high-born or
+too low-born, but of like social standing with one's self. And,
+similarly, as regards the other qualities, the middle course will be
+found always the safest to follow.'"
+
+"Very well, you see, this is what I have always guided myself by. And
+(as directed by Thomasius--section seventeen), not only have I had
+occasional conversations with the lady of my choice, but (inasmuch as,
+in occasional interviews, misapprehensions may arise with respect to
+peculiarities of character and modes of looking at matters, &c.) I have
+taken opportunities to have very _frequent_ interviews and
+conversations with her; because those frequent interviews necessarily
+make it very difficult for people to conceal themselves from one
+another, don't you see?"
+
+"My dear Mr. Tussmann," the goldsmith said, "it appears to me that all
+this sort of intercourse, 'conversation,' or whatever you please to
+call it, with women requires one to have a good deal of experience,
+extending over a very considerable period of time, if one is to avoid
+being befooled and made an ass of by it."
+
+"Even in this," said Tussmann, "our grand Thomasius comes to our aid,
+giving us completely adequate instruction as to how we are to
+'converse' with ladies, in the most rational and delightful style; even
+telling us exactly how and when to introduce the due amount of
+playfulness and wit, suitable to the occasion. My author says, in his
+fifth chapter, that one ought to be careful to introduce such jocular
+sayings sparingly--as a cook uses salt; and that pointed speeches
+should never be employed as weapons against others, but altogether in
+our own defence--just as a hedgehog uses his spines. And also, that it
+is wise to rely more upon the actions than upon the words; because it
+is often the case that what is hidden by words is made evident by
+actions, and that words very often do not do so much to awaken liking
+or disliking as actions do."
+
+"I see," the goldsmith said, "there is no getting anything like a rise
+out of you. You are closed up in armour of proof. So I am prepared to
+bet, heavily, that you have gained the affections of the lady of your
+choice by means of those wonderfully deep diplomatic dodges of yours."
+
+Tussmann answered, "I study to direct all my endeavours (following
+Thomasius's advice) to attain a deferential, though kindly,
+agreeableness of demeanour, that being the most natural and usual
+indication of affection, and what is most adapted to awaken liking in
+reciprocation: just as if you yawn, you will set an entire company
+gaping too, from sympathy. But, reverentially as I follow his
+instructions, I don't go too far; I always recollect that (as Thomasius
+says) women are neither good angels nor bad angels, but mere human
+beings; and, in fact, as regards strength of mind and body, weaker than
+we are, which, of course, is fully accounted for by the diversity which
+exists between the sexes."
+
+"A black year come over you!" the old Jew cried wrathfully, "sitting
+there chattering your cursed stuff and nonsense without a stop;
+spoiling for me the good hour in which I hoped to enjoy myself a little
+after all the hard work I've been going through."
+
+"Hold your tongue, old man," the goldsmith said. "You ought to be very
+thankful that we put up with you here. I can tell you your company is
+anything but pleasant; your manners are so abominable. You ought to be
+kicked out of decent society, if you had your deserts. Don't let the
+old man disturb you, dear Mr. Tussmann. You believe in the old times;
+you're fond of old Thomasius. I go a good deal further back. What I
+care about is the time to which, as you see, my dress partly belongs.
+Aye! my good friend, those were the days! It is to them that that
+little spell belongs which you saw me putting into practice to-night at
+the Town-house Tower."
+
+"I don't quite understand you, Herr Professor,'' Tussmann said.
+
+"Well," said the goldsmith, "there used to be splendid weddings in
+those old days in the Town-hall--very different affairs from the
+weddings nowadays. Plenty of happy brides used to look out of those
+Tower-windows in those days, so that it's a piece of pleasant glamour
+when an aerial form comes and tells us what is going to happen now,
+from knowledge of olden times. Let me tell you, this Berlin was a very
+different place in those old days; nowadays everything is marked with
+the same stamp of tediousness and _ennui_, and people _ennuyer_ one
+another just because they are so _ennuyees_ and weary in themselves. In
+those days there were entertainments, feastings, rejoicings worthy the
+name, very different from the affairs that are so called now. I shall
+only speak of what was done at Oculi, in the year 1581, when the
+Elector Augustus of Saxony, with his Consort, and Don Christian, his
+son, were escorted to Cologne by all the nobles and gentry. There were
+over a hundred horse, and the citizens of both the cities--Berlin and
+Cologne--and those of Spandau lined both sides of the road from the
+gate to the palace in complete armour. Next day there was a splendid
+running at the ring, at which the Elector of Saxony and Count Jost of
+Barby appeared, with many nobles--in fine suits of gold embroidery, and
+tall golden helms, golden lions' heads on their shoulders, knees, and
+elbows, with flesh-coloured silk on the other parts of their arms and
+legs, just as if they had been naked---exactly as you see the heathen
+warriors painted in pictures. There were singers and musicians hidden
+inside a gilt Noah's Ark, and on the top of it sat a little boy in
+flesh-coloured silk tights, with his eyes bandaged, as Cupid is
+represented. Two other boys, dressed as doves, with white ostrich
+feathers, golden eyes and beaks, drew +-he ark along; and when the
+prince had run at the ring and been successful, the music in the ark
+played, and a number of pigeons were let fly from it. One of them
+flapped its wings and sang a most delightful Italian _aria_, and did it
+much better than our Court singer Bernard Pasquino Grosso from Mantua
+did seventy years afterwards (but not so charmingly as our _prime
+donne_ sing nowadays). Then there was a foot tournay, to which the
+Elector and the Count went in a ship, which was all dressed over with
+black and yellow cloth, and had a sail of gold taffeta; and behind His
+Highness sate the little boy who had been Cupid the day before, in a
+long coat of many colours, a peaked black and yellow hat, and a
+long grey beard. The singers and musicians were dressed in the same
+way; and nil round about the ship a number of gentlemen danced and
+jumped--gentlemen of good family, mind you!--with heads and tails of
+salmon, herrings, and fishes of other sorts: most delightful to behold.
+In the evening, about ten, there was a grand display of fireworks, with
+thousands of detonations; and the master-gunners played all sorts of
+pranks--had combats; and there were explosions of fiery stars; and
+fiery men and horses, strange birds and other creatures, went up into
+the air with a terrible rushing and banging. They went on for more than
+two hours, those fireworks."
+
+Whilst the goldsmith was narrating all this, the Clerk of the
+Privy Chancery gave every sign of the liveliest interest and the
+utmost enjoyment, crying, in a sympathizing and interested manner,
+"Ey!--oh!--ah!"--smiling, rubbing his hands, moving backwards and
+forwards on his chair, and gulping down glass after glass of the wine
+the while.
+
+"Dearest Professor," he cried at last, in falsetto (always a mark in
+him of intense enjoyment)--"My dearest, most respected Herr Professor!
+what delightful things you have been having the kindness to tell me
+about!--really _quite_ as though you had been there and seen them
+yourself."
+
+"Well!" the goldsmith said, "and wasn't I there?"
+
+Tussmann, who didn't in the least understand this extraordinary
+query, was going to try to get some further light thrown upon it, when
+the old Jew came in with a growl, to the following effect: "Don't
+forget those delightful entertainments when the pyres burned in the
+market-place--the Berlin folks were much delighted with them, you know;
+and the streets ran red with the blood of the wretched victims, slain
+in the most terrific manner, after confessing whatever was imputed to
+them by the wildest infatuation and the most idiotic superstition.
+Don't, I merely say, forget to tell your friend about them!"
+
+"Yes, yes," Tussmann said; "of course you mean those terrible
+witchcraft trials which took place in those old days. Ah! they were
+atrocious businesses; fortunately the enlightenment of the present age
+has altered all those things."
+
+The goldsmith cast strange looks at the old Jew and at Tussmann; and
+presently asked the latter, with a mysterious smile, if he had ever
+heard about the Jew-coiner, Lippold, and what had happened to him in
+the year 1512.
+
+Ere Tussmann could answer, the goldsmith went on to say: "This
+Jew-coiner, Lippold, was accused of an important imposture, and a
+serious roguery. He had at one time been much in the confidence of the
+Elector, and was at the head of all the affairs of the mints and the
+coinage in the country; always ready to produce large sums of money, no
+matter how large, when required. Whether because he was clever at
+shifts, or that he had powers at his command which enabled him to clear
+himself from all blame in the Elector's eyes, or that he was able to
+'shoot with a silver bullet' (to use an expression of those times)
+those who had influence over the Elector's proceedings, he was on the
+very point of getting off scot free from the accusations brought
+against him. But he was still kept under guard, by the town-watch, in
+his little house in Stralau Street. And it so chanced that he had a
+quarrel with his wife, in the course of which she said to him, in the
+hearing of the guard, 'If our gracious lord the Elector only knew what
+a villain you are, and what atrocities you manage to commit by the help
+of that magic book of yours, you'd be in your coffin long ago.' This
+was reported to the Elector, who had careful search made in Lippold's
+house. The magic book was found, and, when it was examined by those who
+understood it, Lippold's guilt was clearly established. He had
+practised magical arts to give him power over the Elector, and to
+enable him to rule the whole country; and it was only the piety and
+Godfearingness of the Elector which had enabled him to withstand those
+spells. Lippold was burned in the market-place. But when the fire was
+taking effect on his body and upon the magic book, a great mouse came
+out from under the scaffold, and leaped into the fire. Many supposed
+that this was Lippold's familiar demon."
+
+Whilst the goldsmith had been relating this, the old Jew had sate
+leaning his arms on the table, with his hands before his eyes, groaning
+and sighing like one suffering unendurable tortures. On the other hand,
+the Clerk of the Privy Chancery did not seem to be paying much
+attention to what the goldsmith was saying. He was in high good-humour,
+and his mind was full of quite other ideas and images; and, when the
+goldsmith had ended, he asked, with many smiles, and in a lisping
+manner: "Tell me, dear Herr Professor, if you will be so kind, was it
+really Miss Albertine Bosswinkel who came and looked out of the window
+of the Tower?"
+
+"What?" cried the goldsmith, furiously--"what business have _you_ with
+Miss Albertine Bosswinkel?"
+
+"My dear sir!" said Tussmann, timidly--"good gracious! My dear friend,
+she is the very lady whom I have made up my mind to marry!"
+
+"Good God, sir!" the goldsmith cried, with a face as red as a furnace,
+and eyes glaring with anger; "you must be out of your reason
+altogether. _You_, an old, worn-out pedant, to think of marrying that
+beautiful young creature! _You_, who, with all your erudition, and your
+'diplomatic acumen,' taken from the idiotic treatise of that old goose
+Thomasius, can't see a quarter of an inch before that nose of yours! I
+advise you to drive every idea of the kind out of your head as quickly
+as you can, or you will probably find that you stand a good chance of
+having that weazened neck of yours drawn, on this autumn equinoctial
+night!"
+
+The Clerk of the Privy Chancery was a quiet, peaceable, nay, timorous
+man, incapable of saying a hard word to anybody, even when attacked;
+but what the goldsmith had said was just a trifle too infernally
+insulting; and then, Tussmann had taken more strong wine than he was
+accustomed to. Accordingly, there was no wonder that he did what he had
+never done before in his life---that is, he burst into a fury, and
+yelled out, right into the goldsmith's teeth: "Eh! What the devil
+business have you with me, Mr. Goldsmith (whose acquaintance I haven't
+the honour of); and how dare you talk to me in this sort of way? You
+seem to me to be trying to make an ass of me, by all sorts of childish
+delusions. I presume you have the effrontery to be paying your
+addresses to Miss Bosswinkel yourself; you've got hold of a portrait of
+her on glass, and shown it at the Town-hall in a magic-lantern held
+under your cloak. My good sir, _I_ know something about these matters,
+as well as _you_ do; you're going the wrong way to work if you think
+you're going to frighten and bully _me_ in this sort of way."
+
+"Be careful what you're about," the goldsmith said, very quietly, and
+with a strange smile. "Be very careful what you're about; you've got
+strange sort of people to do with here."
+
+And as he so spake, lo! instead of the goldsmith's face, there was a
+horrid-looking fox's face snarling and showing its teeth at Tussmann
+from under the goldsmith's bonnet.
+
+The Clerk of the Privy Chancery fell back in his chair in the
+profoundest terror.
+
+The old Jew did not seem to be in the least degree surprised by this
+transformation; rather, he had suddenly lost his mood of ill-temper
+altogether. He laughed, and cried, "Aha! capital sport! But there's
+nothing to be _made_ by those arts. I know better ones. I can do things
+which were always beyond _you_, Leonhard."
+
+"Let us see," said the goldsmith, who had assumed his human countenance
+again--"let us see what you can do."
+
+The old man took from his pocket a large black radish, trimmed it and
+scraped it with a little knife, which also came from his pocket,
+shredded it into thin strips, and laid them in order on the table. Then
+he struck each of them a blow with his clenched fist; when they sprung
+up, one by one, ringing, in the shape of gold coins, which he took up
+and threw across to the goldsmith. But as soon as the goldsmith took
+hold of one of those coins, it fell to dust, in a little shower of
+crackling sparks of fire. This infuriated the old man. He went on
+striking the radish-shavings into gold pieces faster and faster,
+hitting them harder and harder, and they crackled away in the
+goldsmith's hand with fierier and fierier sparks.
+
+Tussmann was nearly out of his senses with fear and agitation. At last
+he pulled himself together out of the swoon into which he was nearly
+falling, and said, in trembling accents: "Really, I must beg, with all
+due courtesy and respect, to say that I feel that I should much prefer
+to bid 'Good-evening' on this occasion." And grasping his hat and
+stick, he bolted out of the room as quickly as he could. When he
+reached the street, he heard those two uncanny people setting up a
+shout of screaming laughter after him, which made the blood run cold in
+his veins.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER II.
+
+IN WHICH IT IS RELATED HOW, BY THE INTERVENTION OF A CIGAR WHICH WOULD
+      NOT DRAW, A LOVE-AFFAIR WAS SET AGOING BETWEEN A LADY AND
+      GENTLEMAN WHO HAD PREVIOUSLY KNOCKED THEIR HEADS TOGETHER.
+
+The manner in which young Edmund Lehsen, the painter, made acquaintance
+with the mysterious goldsmith, Leonhard, was somewhat different to that
+in which Tussmann had done so.
+
+Edmund was one day sketching a beautiful group of trees in a lonely
+part of the Thiergarten, when Leonhard came up, and, without any
+ceremony, looked over his shoulder at what he was doing. Edmund did not
+disturb himself, but went on with his sketch, till the goldsmith
+cried--
+
+"That is a most extraordinary picture, young gentleman. Those will come
+to be something else than trees before you have done with them."
+
+"Do you see anything out of the way, sir?" Edmund said, with flashing
+eyes.
+
+"I mean," said the goldsmith, "that there are all sorts of forms
+and shapes peeping out from amongst those high leaves there, in
+ever-changing variety: geniuses, strange animals, maidens, and flowers.
+Yet the whole thing ought only to amount to that group of trees before
+us there, through which the rays of the evening sun are streaming so
+charmingly."
+
+"Sir!" Edmund answered, "either you have a very profound understanding,
+and a most penetrating eye for matters of this kind, or I have been
+unusually successful in portraying my inmost feelings. Don't you
+perceive when, in looking at Nature, you abandon yourself to all your
+feelings of longing, all kinds of wonderful shapes and forms come
+looking at you through the trees with beautiful eyes? That was what I
+was trying to represent to the senses in this sketch, and I see I have
+succeeded."
+
+"I understand," Leonhard said, rather coldly and dryly. "You wanted to
+drop study, and give yourself a rest, to refresh and strengthen your
+fancy."
+
+"Not at all," Edmund answered. "I consider this way of working from
+Nature is my best and most useful 'study.' Study of this sort enables
+me to put the really poetic and imaginative element into my landscape.
+Unless the landscape painter is every bit as much a poet as the
+portrait painter, he will never be anything but a dauber."
+
+"Heaven help us!" cried the goldsmith. "So you, dear Edmund Lehsen, are
+going to----"
+
+"You know me, then, sir, do you?" the painter cried.
+
+"Why shouldn't I?" said Leonhard. "I first made your acquaintance on an
+occasion which you, probably, don't remember much about; that is to
+say, when you were born. Considering the small experience which you had
+at that time, you had behaved very well--had given your mamma little
+trouble--and as soon as you came into the world, gave a very pretty cry
+of pleasure and delight. Also, you showed a great love for the
+daylight, which, by my advice, you were not kept away from. Because,
+according to the most recent medical opinions, daylight is far from
+having a bad effect on babies, but rather is beneficial to their bodies
+and their minds. Your papa was so pleased that he hopped about the room
+on one leg, singing
+
+           'The manly heart with love o'erflowing,'
+
+from Mozart's 'Flauto Magico.'
+
+"Presently he handed your little person over to me, and asked me to
+draw your horoscope, which I did. Afterwards I often came to your
+father's house, and you didn't disdain to suck at the little bags of
+almonds and raisins which I used to bring you. Then, when you were
+about six or eight, I went away on my peregrinations. When I got back
+to Berlin I saw with satisfaction that your father had sent you here
+from Muenchberg to study the noble art of painting; because there is not
+a very large collection in Muenchberg of works adapted for fundamental
+study, either in the shape of pictures, statues, bronzes, gems, or
+other art-treasures of value. That good native town of yours can
+scarcely vie with Rome, Florence, or Dresden in that respect; or
+perhaps even with what Berlin will one day become, when bran-new
+antiques, fished out of the Tiber, have been brought to it in some
+considerable quantity."
+
+"Heavens!" Edmund cried, "the most vivid remembrances out of my
+childhood are awaking themselves in my mind. You are Herr Leonhard, are
+you not?"
+
+"Certainly!" Leonhard answered. "Leonhard is my name. Yet I am a little
+astonished that you should remember me all this long time."
+
+"I do, though," Edmund answered. "I know that I was always glad when
+you came to my father's, because you always brought me such delicious
+things to eat, and petted me. But I always felt a sort of reverential
+awe for you; in fact, more than that--a kind of oppressive anxiousness,
+which often lasted after you were gone. But what makes the remembrance
+of you remain so vividly in my mind is what my father used to say about
+you. He set great store by your friendship, because you had got him out
+of a number of troubles in the most wonderful way--out of some of those
+difficulties which come upon people in this world so often. And he used
+to speak in the most enthusiastic way about the extent to which you had
+penetrated into deep and mysterious branches of science; how you
+controlled many of the secret powers of Nature at your will. Not only
+that, but (begging your pardon for saying so) he often went so far as
+to give us to understand that you were really nobody other than
+Ahasuerus, the Wandering Jew."
+
+"Why not the Pied Piper of Hamelin? or the King of the Kobolds?"
+cried the goldsmith. "All the same, there is some foundation for the
+idea that there is something a little out of the everyday line about
+me--something which I don't care to talk about, for fear of giving rise
+to 'unpleasantness.' I certainly did some good turns to your papa, by
+means of my secret knowledge, or 'art.' He was particularly pleased
+with the horoscope which I cast for you at your birth."
+
+"It wasn't so very clear, though," Edmund said. "My father often told
+me you said I should be a great something--either a great Artist, or a
+great Ass. At all events, I have to thank this utterance for my
+father's having given consent to my wish to be a painter; and don't you
+think your horoscope is going to turn out true?"
+
+"Oh, most certainly," the goldsmith answered, very dryly; "there can be
+no doubt about that. At this moment you are in the fairest possible way
+to turn out a very remarkable Ass."
+
+"What!" cried Edmund--"you tell me so to my face!--you----"
+
+"It rests altogether with yourself," the goldsmith said, "to avoid the
+bad alternative of my horoscope, and turn out a very remarkable
+Painter. Your drawings and sketches show that you have a rich and
+lively imagination, much power of expression, and a great deal of
+cleverness in execution. You may raise a grand edifice on those
+foundations. Carefully keep away from all 'modish' exaggerations and
+eccentricities, and apply yourself to serious study. I congratulate you
+upon your efforts to imitate the grave, earnest simpleness of the old
+German masters. But, even in that direction, you must carefully shun
+the precipice which so many fall over. It needs a profound
+intelligence, and a mind strong enough to resist the enervating
+influence of the Modern School, to grasp, wholly, the true spirit of
+the old German masters, and to penetrate completely into the
+significance of their pictures. Without those qualifications, the true
+spark will never kindle in an artist's heart, nor the genuine
+inspiration produce works which, without being imitations, shall be
+worthy of a better age. Nowadays young fellows think that when they
+patch together something on a Biblical subject, with figures all skin
+and bone, faces a yard long, stiff angular draperies, a perspective all
+askew, they have painted a work in the style of the great old German
+masters. Dead-minded imitators of that description are like the country
+lad who holds his bonnet before his face while the Paternoster is being
+sung in church, and says if he doesn't remember the words, he knows the
+tune."
+
+The goldsmith said much more that was true and beautiful on the subject
+of the noble art of painting, and gave Edmund a great many valuable
+hints and lessons; so that the latter, much impressed, asked how it had
+been possible for him to acquire so much knowledge on the subject
+without being a painter himself; and why he went on living in such
+seclusion, and never brought his influence to bear on artistic effort
+of all descriptions.
+
+"I have told you already," the goldsmith said, in a gentle and serious
+tone, "that my ways of looking at life, and at things in general, have
+been rendered exceptionally acute by a long--aye, a marvellously
+long--course of experience. As regards my living in seclusion, I know
+that wherever I should appear, I should produce a rather extraordinary
+effect, as a result, not only of my nature in general, but more
+especially of a certain power which I possess; so that my living
+quietly in Berlin here might not be a very easy matter. I keep thinking
+of a certain person who, in many respects, might have been an ancestor
+of mine: so marvellously like me in every respect, in body and mind
+too, that there are times not a few when I almost believe (perhaps it
+may be fancy) that I am that person. I mean a Swiss of the name of
+Leonhard Turnhaeuser zum Thurm, who lived at the court of the Elector
+Johann Georg, about the year 1582. In those days, as you know, every
+chemist was supposed to be an alchemist, and every astronomer was
+called an astrologer; so Turnhaeuser was very probably both. It is
+certain, at all events, that he did most wonderful things, and, _inter
+alia_, was a very marvellous doctor. Unfortunately, he had a trick of
+putting his finger in every pie, and getting conspicuously mixed up in
+all that was going on. This made him envied and hated; just as people
+who have money and make a display with it, though it may be never so
+well earned, bring enemies about their throats. Thus it came about that
+people made the Elector believe that Turnhaeuser could make gold, and
+that, if he did not do so, he had his reasons for so abstaining. Then
+his enemies came to the Elector and said--'See what a cunning,
+shameless rascal this is. He boasts of powers which he does not
+possess, and carries on sorceries and Jewish deceptions, for which he
+ought to be burned at the stake like Lippolt the Jew.' Turnhaeuser had
+been a goldsmith by trade, and this came out. Then everybody said he
+had none of the knowledge imputed to him, though he had given the most
+incontrovertible proofs of it in open day. They even said that he had
+never, himself, written any of the sage and clever books and important
+prognostications which he published, but had paid others to do them. In
+short, envy, hatred, and calumny brought matters so far that he was
+obliged to leave Berlin in the most secret manner, to escape the fate
+of the Jew Lippolt; then his enemies said he had gone to the Catholics
+for protection. But "that is not true. He went to Saxony, and worked at
+his trade there, though he did not give up the study and practice of
+his science."
+
+Edmund was wonderfully attracted to this old goldsmith, who inspired in
+him a reverential trustfulness and confidence. Not only was he a critic
+of the most instructive quality, though severe; but he told Edmund
+secrets concerning the preparation of colours and the combining of them
+known to the old masters, and of the most precious importance when he
+put them to the test of practice. Thus there was formed, between these
+two, one of those alliances which come about when there is on the one
+hand hopeful confidence, in a young disciple, and, on the other,
+affectionate paternal friendship on the part of a teacher.
+
+About this time it happened, one fine summer evening, that Herr
+Melchior Bosswinkel, Commissionsrath, who was taking his pleasure in
+the Thiergarten, could not manage to get a single one of his cigars to
+draw. He tried one after another, but every one of them was stopped up.
+He threw them away, one after another, getting more and more vexed and
+annoyed as he did so; at last he cried out: "Oh, God! and those are
+supposed to be the very finest brands to be got in Hamburg. Damme! I've
+spared neither trouble nor money, and here they play the very deuce
+with every idea of enjoyment--not one of the infernal things will draw.
+Can a man enjoy the beauties of nature, or take part in any sort of
+rational conversation, when these damnable things won't burn? Oh, God!
+it's terrible!"
+
+He had involuntarily addressed these remarks to Edmund Lehsen, who
+happened to be close beside him with a cigar which was drawing
+splendidly.
+
+Edmund, who had not the slightest idea who the Commissionsrath was,
+took out his cigar-case and offered it politely to this desperate
+person, saying that he could vouch for both the quality and the drawing
+powers of his cigars, although he had not got them from Hamburg, but
+out of a shop in Frederick Street.
+
+The Commissionsrath accepted, full of gratitude and pleasure, with a
+"Much obliged, I'm sure." And as, the moment he touched the end of the
+cigar which Edmund was smoking with the one just obtained from him,
+this latter drew delightfully, and sent out the loveliest and most
+delicious clouds of blue odoriferous smoke, he cried, enraptured:
+
+"Oh, my dear sir! you have really rescued me from the profoundest
+depths of misery. Do please to accept a thousand thanks. In fact, I
+would almost venture to ask you to let me have one more of those
+magnificent cigars of yours, to be going on with when this one is
+finished."
+
+Edmund said the contents of his cigar-case were quite at the
+gentleman's disposal; and then they went on their several ways.
+
+Presently, when the twilight had fallen a little, and Edmund, with the
+idea for a picture in his head, was making his way, rather absently,
+not paying much attention to those about him, pushing through amongst
+the chairs and tables so as to get out of the crowd, the
+Commissionsrath suddenly appeared in front of him, asking him if he
+would not come and sit down at his table. Just as he was going to
+decline--because he was longing to get away into the open country--he
+suddenly caught sight of a young lady, the very incarnation of youth,
+beauty, and delightsomeness, who was seated at the Commissionsrath's
+table.
+
+"My daughter, Albertine," the Commissionsrath said to Edmund, who was
+gazing motionless at the lady, almost forgetting that it was incumbent
+on him to bow to her. He recognised, at the first glance, in Albertine,
+the beautiful creature whom he had come across at the last exhibition
+as she was admiring one of his own pictures. She was describing and
+pointing out the meaning of this fanciful picture to an old lady and
+two girls who were with her; explaining the peculiarities of the
+drawing and the grouping; applauding the painter, and saying that he
+was quite a young artist, though so full of promise, and that she
+wished she knew him. Edmund was standing close behind her, drinking in
+the praise which flowed from her beautiful lips. His heart was so full
+that he could not bring himself to go forward and say he was the
+painter. And at this juncture Albertine happened to drop one of her
+gloves, which she had taken off. Edmund stooped to pick it up, and as
+Albertine did the same thing at the same instant, their heads banged
+together with such a crash that it rang through the place.
+
+"Oh, good gracious!" Albertine cried, holding her hands to her head.
+
+Edmund started back in consternation and alarm. At his first step he
+stamped on the old lady's pug, which yelled aloud; at his second he
+trampled the gouty toe of a professor, who gave a tremendous shout, and
+devoted poor Edmund to all the infernal deities. Then the people came
+hurrying from the neighbouring rooms, and all the lorgnettes were fixed
+upon Edmund, who made the best of his way out of the place, amid the
+whimperings of the dog, the curses of the professor, the objurgations
+of the old lady, and the tittering and laughter of the girls. He made,
+we say, his escape in those circumstances, blushing over and over with
+shame and discomfiture, in complete despair, whilst a number of young
+ladies got out their essence-bottles and rubbed Albertine's forehead,
+on which a great lump was rapidly rising.
+
+Even then, in the crisis of this ridiculous occurrence, Edmund had
+fallen deeply in love, though he was scarcely aware of it himself. And
+it was only a painful sense of his own stupidity that prevented him
+from going to search for her all over the town. He could not think of
+her otherwise than with a great red lump on her forehead, and the
+bitterest reproach, the most distinct expression of anger, in her face
+and in her whole being.
+
+There was not the faintest trace of this, however, about her as he saw
+her now. She blushed indeed over and over again when she saw him, and
+seemed unable to control herself. But when her father asked him his
+name, &c., she said with a delightful smile, and in gentle accents,
+"that she must be much mistaken if he were not Mr. Lehsen, the
+celebrated painter, whose works she so immensely admired."
+
+Those words, we need not say, ran through Edmund's nerves like an
+electric shock. In his emotion he was about to burst into flowers of
+rhetoric, but the Commissionsrath would not let him get to that,
+clasping him to his breast with fervour, and saying, "My dear sir, what
+about the cigar you promised me?" And whilst he was lighting said cigar
+at the ashes of the former one, he said, "So you are a painter? and a
+great one, from what my daughter Albertine tells me--and she knows what
+she is talking about in such matters, I can assure you. I'm very glad
+you are. I love pictures, and, as my daughter Albertine says, 'Art'
+altogether, most tremendously. I simply dote upon it. And I know
+something about it, too. I'm a first-rate judge of a picture. My
+daughter Albertine and I know what we're about there. We've got eyes in
+our heads. Tell me, my dear painter, tell me without hesitation, wasn't
+it you who painted those pictures which I stop and look at every day as
+I pass them, because I cannot help standing to admire the colouring of
+them? Oh, it is beautiful!"
+
+Edmund did not quite understand how the Commissionsrath managed to see
+any pictures of his daily in passing them, seeing that he had never
+painted any signboards, that he could remember. But after a good deal
+of questioning, it turned out that Melchior Bosswinkel meant certain
+lacquered tea-trays, stove-shades, and things of that sort, which he
+saw and much admired in a shop-window as he went to business of a
+morning, after two or three sardines and a glass of Dantziger at the
+Sala Tarone. These productions constituted his highest ideal of the
+pictorial art. This disgusted the painter not a little; and he cursed,
+internally, Bosswinkel and his wretched chatter, which was preventing
+him from making any approach to the young lady. At last there came up
+an acquaintance, who engaged him in conversation, and Edmund took
+advantage of this to go and sit down beside Albertine, who seemed to be
+very much pleased at his doing so.
+
+Every one who knows Miss Albertine Bosswinkel is aware that, as has
+been said, she is the very personification of youth, beauty, and
+delightsomeness; that, like all other Berlin young ladies, she dresses
+in the best possible taste in the latest fashions, sings in Zelter's
+choir, has lessons on the piano from Herr Lauska, dances most
+beautifully, sent a tulip charmingly embroidered and surrounded by
+violets to the last exhibition, and though by nature of a bright,
+lively temperament, is quite capable of displaying the proper amount of
+sentimentality required at tea-parties, at all events. Also, that she
+copies poetical extracts and sentences which have pleased her in the
+writings of Goethe, Jean Paul, and other talented men and women, in the
+loveliest little tiny handwriting into a nice little book with a gilt
+morocco cover.
+
+Of course it was natural that, sitting beside the young painter, whose
+heart was beaming with the bliss of a timid affection, she should
+be several degrees more sentimental than was usual on the tea and
+reading-aloud occasions; and she lisped in the prettiest manner about
+such subjects as poetic feeling, depth of idea, childlike simplicity,
+and so forth.
+
+The evening breeze had begun to sigh, breathing perfume from the
+flowers and wafting their scents on its wings; and two nightingales
+were singing a lovely duetto in among the thick darkling leafage, in
+the tenderest accents of love-complaining.
+
+Albertine began, quoting from Fouque--
+
+           "A rustling, whisper'd singing
+              Breaks thro' the leaves of spring,
+            And over heart, and sense, and soul
+              A web of love doth fling."
+
+And Edmund, grown less timid now that the twilight was falling more
+deeply, took her hand and laid it on his heart, whilst he went on,
+continuing the quotation--
+
+           "Did I, in whispered music, sing
+              What my heart hears--aright--
+            From that sweet lay would burst, in fire,
+              Love's own Eternal Light."
+
+Albertine withdrew her hand, but only to take off her glove, and then
+give the hand back to this lucky youngster. He was just going to kiss
+it fervently, when the Commissionsrath broke in with a
+
+"Oh! I say! How chilly it's getting! I wish I had brought my great
+coat! Put on your shawl, Tiny! It's a fine Turkish shawl, my dear
+painter--cost fifty ducats. Wrap yourself up in it, Tiny; we must be
+getting home. Good-bye, my _dear_ sir."
+
+Edmund was here inspired by a happy thought. He took out his cigar case
+and offered the Commissionsrath a third Havannah.
+
+"I really am excessively obliged to you," the Commissionsrath said,
+delighted; "you really are most kind. The police don't let one smoke
+walking about in the Thiergarten, for fear of the grass getting burnt;
+one enjoys a pipe or a cigar more for that very reason."
+
+Bosswinkel went up to the lamp to light the cigar, and Edmund took
+advantage of his doing so to whisper to Albertine, very shyly, that he
+hoped she would let him walk home with her. She put her arm in his,
+they went on together, and Bosswinkel, when he joined them, seemed to
+consider it a matter of course that Edmund was going to walk with them
+all the way to town.
+
+Anybody who has once been young, and in love--or who is both now at
+this present time (there are many who have never been either the one or
+the other)--will understand how Edmund, at Albertine's side, thought he
+was hovering over the tops of the trees, rather than walking through
+amongst them; up among the gleaming clouds, rather than down upon the
+earth.
+
+Rosalind, in Shakespeare's 'As You Like It,' says that the "marks"
+of a man in love are "a lean cheek, a blear eye and sunken, an
+unquestionable spirit, a beard neglected, hose ungartered, bonnet
+unhanded, sleeve unbuttoned, shoe untied, and everything demonstrating
+a careless desolation." But those marks were as little seen in Edmund
+as in Orlando. Like the latter, however, who marred all the trees of
+the forest with carving his mistress's name on them, hung odes on the
+whitethorns, and elegies on the bramble-bushes, Edmund spoilt
+quantities of paper, parchment, canvas and colours, in besinging his
+beloved in verses which were wretched enough, and in drawing her, and
+painting her, without ever succeeding in making her in the least
+like--so far did his fancy soar above his capability. When to this was
+added the peculiar, unmistakable somnambulistic look of the love-sick,
+and a fitting amount of sighing at all times and seasons, it was not to
+be wondered at that the old goldsmith saw into his young friend's
+condition.
+
+"H'm," he said; "you don't seem to think what an undesirable thing it
+is to fall in love with a girl who is engaged. For Albertine Bosswinkel
+is as good as engaged already to Tussmann, the Clerk of the Privy
+Chancery."
+
+This terrible piece of news sent Edmund into the wildest despair.
+Leonhard waited patiently till the first paroxysm was past, and then
+asked if he really wanted to marry Albertine. Edmund declared that was
+the dearest wish of his heart, and implored the goldsmith to help him
+as much as ever he could to beat Tussmann out of the field, and win the
+lovely lady himself.
+
+What the goldsmith thought and said was that a young artist might fall
+in love as much as ever he liked, but to marry straight away was a very
+different affair; and that was just why young Sternbald never cared to
+marry, and, for all he knew, was still unmarried up to that hour.
+
+This thrust took effect, because Tieck's 'Sternbald' was Edmund's
+favourite book, and he would have been only too glad to have been the
+hero of that tale himself. So he then and there put on a very pitiful
+face, and was very near bursting into tears.
+
+"Well," said the goldsmith, "whatever happens, I am going to take
+Tussmann off your hands. What you have got to do is to get into
+Bosswinkel's house, by hook or by crook, as often as you can, and
+attract Albertine to you as much as you can manage to do. As for my
+operations against the Clerk of the Privy Chancery, they can't be begun
+till the night of the Autumnal Equinox."
+
+
+                              CHAPTER III.
+
+CONTAINS A DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF MR. TUSSMANN, CLERK OF THE PRIVY
+      CHANCERY; WITH THE REASON WHY HE HAD TO DISMOUNT THE ELECTOR'S
+      HORSE; AND OTHER MATTERS WORTHY TO BE READ.
+
+Dear reader! From what you have already learnt concerning Mr. Tussmann,
+you can see the man before you, in all his works and ways. But, as
+regards his outward man, I ought to add that he was short of stature,
+very bald, a little bow-legged, and very grotesque in his dress. He
+wore a coat of the most old-world cut, with endlessly long tails; a
+waistcoat, also of enormous length; and long white trousers, with shoes
+which, as he walked, made as loud a clatter as the boots of a courier.
+Here it should be observed that he never walked in the streets with
+regular steps, like most people, but jumped, so to speak, with great
+irregular strides, and incredible rapidity, so that the aforesaid long
+tails of his coat spread themselves out like wings, in the breeze which
+he thus created around him. Although there was something excessively
+comic about his face, yet there was a most kindly smile playing about
+his mouth which impressed you in his favour; and everybody liked him,
+though they laughed at the pedantry and awkwardness of his behaviour,
+which estranged him from the world. His passion was reading. He never
+went out but he had both his coat-pockets crammed full of books. He
+read wherever he was, and in all circumstances; walking or standing, as
+he took his exercise, in church and in the cafe. He read
+indiscriminately everything that came to his hand: but only out of old
+times, the present being hateful to him. Thus, to-day he would be
+studying, in the cafe, a work on algebra; to-morrow, 'Frederick the
+Great's Cavalry Regulations,' and next the remarkable book, 'Cicero
+proved to be a Pettifogger and a Windbag: in Ten Discourses. Anno
+1720.' Moreover, he had a most extraordinary memory; he marked all the
+passages which particularly struck him in a book, then read all those
+marked passages over again, after which he never forgot them any more.
+Hence he was a polyhistor, and a walking encyclopaedia, and people
+turned over the leaves of him when they wanted information on any
+point. It was only on the rarest occasions that he was unable to supply
+the information required on the spot, but, if he couldn't, he would go
+rummaging in various libraries till he could get at it, and then emerge
+with it, greatly delighted. It was remarkable that when (as usual) he
+was reading in society, to all appearance completely absorbed in his
+book, he heard, and took in, everything that was being said around him,
+and would often strike in with some most apposite observation, or laugh
+at anything witty in a high tenor laugh, without looking up from his
+book.
+
+Commissionsrath Bosswinkel had been at school with Tussmann at the Grey
+Friars, and from that period dated the intimate friendship which there
+had always been between them. Tussmann saw Albertine grow up from
+childhood; and, on her twelfth birthday, after presenting her with a
+bouquet, the finest that money could procure from the first florist in
+Berlin, kissed her hand for the first time with an amount of courtesy
+and ceremonious deference which no one would have supposed him to be
+capable of. Dating from that day there dawned in the breast of the
+Commissionsrath an idea that it would be a very good thing if his old
+schoolfellow were to marry Albertine. He wanted to get Albertine
+married, and he thought this would be about the least troublesome way
+of getting it done. Tussmann would be content with very little in the
+shape of portion, and Bosswinkel hated bother of every kind, disliked
+making new acquaintances, and, in his capacity of a Commissionsrath,
+thought a great deal more of money than he ought to have done. On
+Albertine's eighteenth birthday he propounded this scheme (which he had
+previously kept to himself) to Tussmann.
+
+The Clerk of the Privy Chancery was at first alarmed at the suggestion.
+The idea of entering the matrimonial estate, particularly with so
+youthful a lady, was more than he could quite see his way to. But he
+got accustomed to it by degrees, and one day, when Albertine, at her
+father's instigation, gave him a little purse, worked by her own hands
+in the prettiest of colours (addressing him by his much-prized "title"
+as she did so), his heart blazed up in a sudden flame of affection. He
+told the Commissionsrath at once that he had made up his mind to marry
+Albertine, and as Bosswinkel immediately embraced him in the character
+of his son-in-law, he, very naturally, considered himself engaged to
+her. There was still one little point in the matter of some importance,
+namely, that the young lady herself had not heard a syllable about the
+affair, and could not possibly have the very faintest inkling what was
+going forward.
+
+At an excessively early hour of the morning, after the strange
+adventures which we have, in our first chapter, described as having
+been met with by Tussmann at the foot of the Townhouse Tower, and in
+the wineshop in Alexander Street, the said Clerk of the Privy Chancery
+came bursting, pale and wild, with distorted features, into his friend
+Bosswinkel's bedroom. The Commissionsrath was much alarmed and
+exercised in his mind, for Tussmann had never come in upon him at such
+an hour, and his manner and appearance clearly indicated that something
+most remarkable had been happening.
+
+"What, in the name of Heaven, is the matter with you?" Bosswinkel
+cried. "Where have you been? What have you been up to? You look like I
+don't know what!"
+
+Tussmann threw himself feebly into an arm-chair, and it was not till he
+had gasped for breath during several minutes that he was able to begin
+to speak--which he did in a whimpering voice.
+
+"Bosswinkel! here, as you see me, in these self-same clothes, with
+'Thomasius on Diplomatic Acumen' in my pocket, I come straight here
+from Spandau Street, where I have been running up and down, and
+backwards and forwards, ever since the clock struck twelve last night.
+I have not set a foot across my own doorstep, or seen the sight of a
+bed, nor have I closed an eye the whole livelong night!"
+
+And he told the Commissionsrath all that had happened to him from the
+time when he first came across the mysterious and fabulous sort of
+Goldsmith, till he had made his escape from the winehouse as fast as he
+could, in his terror at the sorcery which was going on there.
+
+"Tussmann, old fellow," said Bosswinkel, "I see what it is, you're not
+accustomed to liquoring up. You go to your bed every night at eleven
+o'clock, after a couple of glasses of beer, and last night you went and
+took more liquor than was good for you, long after you ought to have
+been asleep; no wonder you had a lot of funny dreams."
+
+"What!" Tussmann cried; "you think I was asleep, do you, and dreaming?
+Don't you know I'm pretty well up in the subject of sleep and dreams.
+I'll prove to you out of Rudow's 'Theory of Sleep,' and explain to you,
+what sleep really is, and that people can sleep without dreaming at
+all; and as for what dreaming is, you will know as well as I do, if you
+will read the 'Somnium Scipionis,' and Artimidorus's great work on
+Dreams, and the Frankfort Dreambook; but, you see, you never read
+_anything_ and that's why you are always making such a hash of
+everything you have to do with."
+
+"Now, my dear old man," the Commissionsrath replied, "don't you go and
+get yourself into a state of excitement. I can see, easily enough, how
+you may have allowed yourself to break out of bounds a bit last night,
+and then have got somehow into company with a set of mountebanks, who
+got the better of you when you had more liquor than you could carry;
+but what I cannot make out is, why, in all the earth, when you had once
+got out of the place, you didn't go straight home to your bed, like a
+reasonable man? Whatever for did you go wandering about the streets?"
+
+"Oh, Bosswinkel!" lamented Tussman, "my old friend! my chum at the Grey
+Friars!--don't you go and insult me by base insinuations of that sort.
+Let me tell you that the infernal, diabolical enchantment which was
+practised upon me did not fairly commence till I got _into_ the street.
+For, when I came to the Town-hall, every one of its windows was blazing
+with light, and there was music playing inside--a brass band, playing
+waltzes and so forth. How it came about I can't tell you; but, though
+I'm not a particularly tall man, I found that I was able to reach up on
+my tiptoes so that I could see in at the windows. And _what_ did I
+see?--Oh, gracious powers of Heaven! _whom_ did I see? _Your daughter_,
+Miss Albertine Bosswinkel, dressed as a bride, and waltzing like the
+very deuce (if I may permit myself such an expression) with a young
+gentleman! I thumped on the window; I cried out, 'Dearest Miss
+Bosswinkel, what are you doing? What sort of goings-on are those, here,
+at this time of the night?' But just as I was saying so, there came
+some horrible beast of a fellow down King Street, pulled my legs away
+from under me as he passed, and ran away from me, with them, in
+peals of laughter. As for me, wretched Clerk of the Privy Chancery
+that I am, I plumped down flat into the filthy mud of the gutter.
+'Watchman!' I shouted, 'Police! patrol; guard, turn out! Come
+here!--look sharp!--Stop the thief!--stop him!--he's got both my legs!'
+But upstairs in the Town-hall everything had suddenly grown pitch-dark,
+and my voice died away in the air. I was getting desperate, when the
+man came back, and, as he flew by me like a mad creature, chucked my
+legs back to me, throwing them right into my face. I then picked myself
+up, as speedily as, in my state of discomfiture, I could, and ran to
+Spandau Street. But when I got to my own door (with my latchkey in my
+hand), there was _I_--_I_, myself, standing there already, staring at
+_me_, with the same big black eyes which you see in my head at this
+moment. Starting back in terror, I fell against a man, who seized me
+with a strong grip of his arms. By the halbert he was carrying, I
+thought he was the watchman; so I said, 'Dearest watchman!--worthy
+man!--please to drive away that wraith of Clerk of the Privy Chancery
+Tussmann from that door there, so that _I_, the _real_ Tussmann, may
+get into my lodgings.' But the man growled out, 'Why, Tussmann! you're
+surely out of your senses!' in a hollow voice; and I saw it wasn't the
+watchman at all, but that terrible Goldsmith who had got me in his
+arms. Drops of cold perspiration stood on my forehead. I said: 'Most
+respected Herr Professor, pray do not take it ill that I should have
+thought you were the watchman, in the dark. Oh, Heavens! call me
+whatever you choose; call me in the most uncourteous manner 'Tussmann,'
+without the faintest adumbration of a title at all; or even 'My dear
+fellow!' I will overlook anything. Only rid me of this terrible
+enchantment--as you can, if you choose. 'Tussmann!' he said, in that
+awful hollow voice of his, 'nothing shall annoy you more, if you will
+take your solemn oath, here where we stand, to give up all idea of
+marrying Miss Albertine Bosswinkel.' Commissionsrath! you may fancy
+what I felt when this atrocious proposition was made to me. I said:
+'Dearest Herr Professor! you make my very heart bleed. Waltzing is a
+horrible and improper thing; and Miss Albertine Bosswinkel was waltzing
+upstairs there--in her wedding-dress as my bride into the bargain--with
+some young gentleman or other (I don't know who he was), in a manner
+that made my sight and my hearing abandon me, out and out. But still,
+for all that, I cannot let that exquisite creature go. I must cleave to
+her, whatever happens, come what will.' The words were scarcely out of
+my mouth, when that awful, abominable Goldsmith gave me a sort of shove
+which made me begin immediately to spin round and round, and, as if
+impelled by some irresistible power, I went waltzing up and down
+Spandau Street, with my arms clasped about a broom-handle--not a lady,
+but a besom, which scratched my face. And all the time there were
+invisible hands beating my back black and blue. More than that; all
+round me, wherever I turned, the place was swarming with Tussmanns
+waltzing with their arms round besoms. At last I fell down exhausted,
+and lost my consciousness. When the light shone into my eyes in the
+morning--oh, Bosswinkel, share my terror!--I found myself sitting up on
+the horse of the Elector's statue, in front of him, with my head on his
+cold, iron breast. Luckily the sentry must have been asleep, for I
+managed to get down without being seen, at the risk of my life, and got
+away. I ran to Spandau Street; but I got so terribly frightened again
+that I was obliged to come on here to you."
+
+"Now, now, old fellow!" Bosswinkel said, "do you think I'm going to
+believe all this rubbish? Did ever anybody hear of magical phenomena of
+this sort happening in our enlightened city of Berlin?"
+
+"Now," said Tussmann, "don't you see what a quagmire of ignorance and
+error the fact that you never _read_ anything plunges you into? If you
+had read Hafftitz's Chronicon, you would have seen that much more
+extraordinary things of the kind have happened here. Commissionsrath, I
+go so far as to assert, and to feel quite convinced, that this
+Goldsmith is the very Devil, in _propria persona_."
+
+"Pooh, pooh!" said Bosswinkel, "I wish you wouldn't talk such nonsense.
+Think a little. Of course, what happened was that you got screwed, and
+then went and climbed up on to the Elector's statue."
+
+The tears came to Tussmann's eyes as he strove to disabuse Bosswinkel's
+mind of this idea; but Bosswinkel grew graver and graver, and at last
+said:
+
+"The more I think of it, the more I feel convinced that those people
+you met with were old Manasseh, the Jew, and Leonhard, the goldsmith, a
+very clever hand at juggling tricks, who comes every now and then to
+Berlin. I haven't read as many books as you have, I know; but, for all
+that, I know well enough that they are good honest fellows, and have no
+more to do with black art than you or I have. I'm astonished that you,
+with your knowledge of law, shouldn't be aware that superstition is
+illegal, and forbidden under severe penalties; no practitioner of the
+black art could get a licence from the Government to carry it on, under
+any circumstances. Look here, Tussmann. I hope there is no foundation
+for the idea which has come into my head. No! I can't believe that
+you've changed your mind about marrying my daughter; that you are
+screening yourself behind all sorts of incredible nonsense and stuff
+which nobody can believe a word of; that you are going to say to me,
+'Commissionsrath: You and I are men of the world, and I can't marry
+your daughter, because, if I do, the Devil will bolt away with my legs
+and beat me black and blue!' It would be too bad, Tussmann, if you were
+to try on a trick of that sort upon me."
+
+Tussmann could not find words to express his indignation at this notion
+on the part of his old friend. He vowed, over and over again, that he
+was most devotedly in love with Miss Albertine; that he would die for
+her without the least hesitation, like a Leander or a Troilus, and that
+the Devil might beat him black and blue, in his innocence, as a martyr,
+rather than he should give Albertine up.
+
+As he was making these asseverations, there was heard a loud knocking
+at the door, and in came that old Manasseh of whom Bosswinkel had been
+speaking.
+
+As soon as Tussmann saw him he cried out: "Oh, gracious powers of
+Heaven! That's the old Jew who made the gold pieces out of the radish,
+and threw them in the Goldsmith's face! The dreadful Goldsmith will be
+coming next, I suppose."
+
+And he was making for the door. But Bosswinkel held him fast, saying:
+"Wait till we see what happens." And, turning to the old Jew, he told
+him what Tussmann had said about him and the events of the previous
+night in the wineshop and in Alexander Place.
+
+Manasseh looked at Tussmann with a malignant grin, and said: "I don't
+know what the gentleman means. He came into the wineshop last night
+with Leonhard, the goldsmith (where I happened to be taking a glass of
+wine to refresh me after a quantity of hard work which had occupied me
+till nearly midnight). The gentleman drank rather more than was good
+for him: he couldn't keep on his legs, and went out to the street
+staggering."
+
+"Don't you see," Bosswinkel said, "this is what comes of that terrible
+habit of liquoring up? You'll have to leave it off, I can assure you,
+if you're going to be my son-in-law."
+
+Tussmann, overwhelmed by this unmerited reproof, sank down into a chair
+breathless, closed his eyes, and murmured something completely
+unintelligible in whimpering accents.
+
+"Of course," said Bosswinkel, "dissipating all night, and now done up
+and wretched."
+
+And, in spite of all his protestations, Tussmann had to submit to
+Bosswinkel's wrapping a white handkerchief about his head, and sending
+him home in a cab to Spandau Street.
+
+"And what's _your_ news, Manasseh?" the Commissionsrath inquired.
+Manasseh simpered most deferentially, and with much amiability, and
+said Mr. Bosswinkel would scarcely be prepared for the news he had to
+tell him, which was that that splendid young fellow, his nephew
+Benjamin Duemmerl, worth close upon a million of money, had just been
+created a baron on account of his remarkable merits, was recently come
+back from Italy, and had fallen desperately in love with Miss
+Albertine, to whom he intended to offer his hand.
+
+We see this young. Baron Duemmerl continually in the theatres, where he
+swaggers in a box of the first tier, and oftener still at concerts of
+every description. So that we well know him to be tall, and as thin as
+a broom-handle; that in his dusky yellow face, overshadowed by jetty
+locks and whiskers, in his whole being, he is stamped with the most
+distinctive and unmistakeable characteristics of the Oriental race to
+which he belongs; that he dresses in the most extravagant style of
+the very latest English fashion, speaks several languages, all in the
+self-same twang (that of "our people"); scrapes on a violin, hammers on
+the piano; is an art connoisseur without acknowledge of art, and would
+fain play the part of a literary Mecaenas; tries to be witty without
+wit, and _spirituel_ without _esprit_; is stupidly forward, noisy, and
+pushing. In short, to use the concise and descriptive expression of
+that numerous class of individuals amongst whom his desire is to shove
+himself, an insufferable snob and boor. When we add to all this that he
+is avaricious and dirtily mean in everything that he does, it cannot be
+otherwise than that even those less elevated souls that fall down and
+worship wealth very soon leave him to himself.
+
+When Manasseh mentioned this nephew, the thought of that approximation
+to a million which "Benjie" possessed passed through the
+Commissionsrath's mind; but along with that thought came the objection
+which, in his opinion, made the idea of him as a son-in-law impossible.
+
+"My good Manasseh, you are forgetting that your nephew belongs to the
+old religion, and that----"
+
+"Ho!" cried Manasseh, "what does _that_ matter? My nephew is in love
+with your daughter, and wants to make her happy. A drop or two of water
+more or less won't make much difference to him. He'll be the same man
+still. You just think the matter over, Herr Commissionsrath; I shall
+come back in a day or two with my little baron, and get your answer."
+With which Manasseh took his departure.
+
+Bosswinkel began to think over the affair at once, but, spite of his
+boundless avarice and his utter absence of conscience or character, he
+could not endure the idea of Albertine's marrying that disgusting
+Benjamin, and in a sudden attack of rectitude he determined that he
+would keep his word to Tussmann.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IV.
+
+            TREATS OF PORTRAITS, A GREEN FACE, JUMPING MICE,
+                        AND ISRAELITISH CURSES.
+
+Albertine, soon after she made Edmund's acquaintance, came to the
+conclusion that the big oil portrait of her father which hung in her
+room was a horribly bad likeness of him, and dreadfully scratched into
+the bargain. She pointed out to her father that though it was so many
+years since the portrait was painted, he was really looking much
+younger, and better in every way, than the painter had represented him.
+Also, she particularly disliked the gloomy, sulky expression of the
+face, the old-fashioned clothes, and a preposterous bunch of flowers
+which he was holding between his fingers in a delicate manner,
+displaying in so doing certain handsome diamond rings.
+
+She talked so much, and so long, on this subject, that at last her
+father himself saw that the portrait was horrible, and couldn't
+understand how the painter had managed to turn out such a caricature of
+his well-looking person. And the more he thought the matter over and
+looked at the picture, the more he was convinced that it was an
+execrable daub. He determined to take it down, and stow it away in the
+lumber room.
+
+Albertine said that was the best thing that could be done, but that,
+all the same, she was accustomed to see dear papa's picture in her
+room, that the bare space on the wall would be such a blank to her that
+she should never feel comfortable; so that the only course was for dear
+papa to have _another_ portrait painted, by some painter who knew what
+he was about, and that _she_ could think of nobody but Edmund Lehsen,
+so celebrated for his admirable portraits.
+
+"My dear," the Commissionsrath said, "you don't know what you're
+talking about. Those young painters are so full of conceit, they don't
+know where to turn themselves, don't care how much they ask for those
+bits of scumblings of theirs, won't think of anything under gold
+Fredericks."
+
+But Albertine declared that Edmund Lehsen painted for the love of the
+thing much more than for money, and would be sure to charge very
+little. And she kept on at her father so assiduously, that at last he
+agreed to go to Edmund Lehsen, and see what he would say about a
+portrait.
+
+We can imagine the delight with which Edmund expressed his readiness to
+undertake the Commissionsrath's portrait; and his delight became
+rapture when he heard that it was Albertine who put the idea in her
+father's head. He saw, of course, that her notion was that this would
+give him opportunities of seeing her. So that it was a matter of course
+that when the Commissionsrath asked, rather anxiously, about the price,
+Edmund said that the honour of being admitted, for the sake of Art, to
+the house and society of a gentleman such as he, was more than
+sufficient remuneration for any little effort of his.
+
+"Good Heavens! Can I believe my ears?" the Commissionsrath cried. "No
+money, dearest Mr. Lehsen? No gold Fredericks for your trouble? Not
+even the expense of your paints and canvas?"
+
+Edmund laughingly said all that was too insignificant to be taken into
+account.
+
+"But," Bosswinkel said, "I'm afraid you don't know that I'm thinking of
+having a three-quarters length life-size."
+
+"It doesn't matter in the slightest," the painter answered.
+
+The Commissionsrath pressed him warmly to his heart, and cried, while
+tears of joy rose to his eyes, "Oh, heavenly powers! Are there human
+souls of this degree of disinterestedness in this world which lieth in
+wickedness? First his cigars, and now this picture. Marvellous man!--or
+'youth' I ought to say. Dear Mr. Lehsen, within your soul dwell those
+virtues, and that true German singleness of heart, which one reads of
+more than enough, but which are rare in these times of ours. But let me
+tell you, though I am a Commissionsrath, and dress in French fashions,
+I am quite of the same way of thinking as yourself. I can appreciate
+your large-mindedness, and am as unselfish, and as free with my money,
+as anybody in the land."
+
+Crafty Miss Albertine had, of course, known exactly how Edmund would
+proceed with her father's commission, and her object was attained.
+Bosswinkel overflowed with laudation of this grand young fellow, so
+entirely free from the least trace of that greediness which is such a
+hateful quality in a man. And he ended by saying that young people,
+especially the artistic, always have a turn for the romantic, and set
+great store by withered flowers and the ribbons which some beloved girl
+has worn, and go out of themselves altogether over any piece of work
+done by the hands of those divinities; so that Albertine had better
+knit a little purse for Edmund, and, if she saw no particular
+objection, even put into it a little lock of her bonny nut-brown hair,
+and thus get out of any little obligation they might be thought to be
+under to him. To do this she had his full permission, and he undertook
+to answer to Tussmann on the subject. Albertine, who was not yet taken
+into her father's confidence as to his projects, had not the remotest
+notion what Tussmann might have to say to the matter, and did not take
+the trouble to inquire.
+
+That very evening Edmund had his painting gear taken to Bosswinkel's
+house, and the next morning he made his appearance there for the first
+sitting.
+
+He begged the Commissionsrath to think of the very happiest moment of
+his life. For instance, when his dead wife first said she loved him, or
+when Albertine was born, or when he unexpectedly saw some dear friend
+whom he had thought to be lost to him; and to try and look as he had
+done _then_.
+
+"Wait a moment, Mr. Lehsen," said Bosswinkel; "I know what to do. One
+day, about three months ago, I got a letter from Hamburg telling me I
+had drawn a big prize in the lottery. I ran to my daughter with the
+letter open in my hand. That was the happiest moment I ever had in all
+my life. Let's choose _that_ one; and, just to place the whole thing
+more vividly before your eyes--and mine--I'll go and get the letter,
+and be taken with it in my hand--just as I was when it came."
+
+So Edmund had no help but to paint Bosswinkel accordingly; and he
+wouldn't be content, either, unless the writing on the letter was
+rendered legibly and distinctly, word for word, as follows:--
+
+     "Honoured Sir,
+         "I have the honour to inform you----"
+
+and so forth; moreover, the envelope had to be portrayed lying on a
+little table, so that the address on it, displaying all the
+Commissionsrath's official titles written out at full length, could be
+clearly read. The very postmark Edmund had to copy with the utmost
+minuteness.
+
+For the rest, he made a portrait of a well-looking, good-tempered,
+handsomely-dressed man, who _did_ display, in some of the features of
+his face, a more or less distant resemblance to the Commissionsrath; so
+that nobody who read what was on the envelope could make any mistake as
+to whom the portrait was intended for.
+
+The Commissionsrath was delighted with it. "There," he said; "there you
+see what a painter who knows his business can make of a more or less
+well-looking fellow, though he _may_ be getting a little on in years! I
+begin to understand now (I didn't before), a thing that the Professor
+in the Humanity Class used to say, that a proper portrait ought to be a
+regular historical picture. Whenever I look at that one, I remember
+that delicious and happy moment when the news came of my prize in the
+lottery, and I understand the meaning of that smile on my face--that
+reflection of the happiness I felt within me then."
+
+Before Albertine could carry out the plans which she had formed in her
+mind, her father took the initiative by begging Edmund to paint _her_,
+as well. Edmund begun this work at once; but he did not find it so easy
+to satisfy himself with her portrait as with her father's. He put in a
+most careful outline, and then rubbed it out again; outlined once
+more--carefully--begun to lay on some colour, and then threw the whole
+thing aside; commenced again; altered the pose. There was always either
+too much light in the room, or not enough. The Commissionsrath, who had
+always been present at those sittings at first, got tired presently,
+and betook himself elsewhere.
+
+Upon this, Edmund came forenoon and afternoon, and if the picture did
+not make much progress, the love-affair made a great deal, and entwined
+itself more and more firmly. I have no doubt, dear reader, that your
+own experience has shown you that when one is in love, and wants to
+give to all the fond, longing words and wishes, which one has got to
+express, their due and proper effect, so that they may go to the
+listener's very heart, it is a matter of absolute necessity that one
+should take hold of the hand of the beloved object, press it, and kiss
+it; upon which, as by the operation of some sudden development of
+electrical force, lip goes into contact with lip; and the electricity
+(if that is what we are to call it), arrives at a condition of
+equilibrium by means of a fire-stream of sweetest kisses. Thus Edmund
+was very often obliged to stop painting, and not only that, but he had
+very frequently to get down from the scaffold upon which he and his
+easel were placed.
+
+Thus it came about that, one forenoon, he was standing with Albertine
+at the window, where the white curtains were drawn, and (on the
+principle we have been explaining), in order to give more force to what
+he was saying to her, was holding her in his arms, and kissing her
+hand.
+
+At this particular hour and moment, Mr. Tussmann, Clerk of the Privy
+Chancery, happened to be passing Bosswinkel's house, with the 'Treatise
+on Diplomatic Acumen,' and sundry tractates and pamphlets (in which
+the useful and the entertaining were combined in due measure) in his
+pockets. And although he was bounding along as fast as ever he
+could--according to his manner--because the clock was just on the very
+stroke of the hour at which he used always to enter his office, still
+he drew up for a moment, in order to cast a sentimental glance up at
+the window of his love.
+
+There he saw, as in a cloud, Albertine with Edmund; and, although he
+could not make out anything at all distinctly, his heart throbbed, he
+knew not why. Some strange sense of anxious alarm impelled him to
+undertake things previously unattempted, undreamt of, namely, to go
+upstairs to Albertine's rooms, at this totally unprecedented hour of
+the day.
+
+As he entered, Albertine was saying, quite distinctly:
+
+"Oh, yes, Edmund! I must always--always love you!" And she pressed
+Edmund to her heart, whilst a whole battery of "restoration of
+electrical equilibrium" began to go off, rushing and sparkling.
+
+The Clerk of the Privy Chancery walked mechanically forward into the
+room, and then stood, dumb and speechless, like a man in a cataleptic
+fit. In the height of their blissfulness the two lovers had not heard
+the elephantine tread of Tussmann's peculiar boot-like shoes, nor his
+opening of the door, nor his coming in, and striding into the middle of
+the room.
+
+He now squeaked out, in his high falsetto:
+
+"But--Miss Albertine Bosswinkel!----"
+
+Edmund and Albertine fled apart like lightning--he to his easel, she to
+the chair where she was supposed to be sitting for her portrait.
+Tussmann, after a short pause, during which he tried to get back his
+breath, resumed, saying--
+
+"But, Miss Albertine Bosswinkel, what are you doing? What are you
+after? First of all, you go and waltz with this young gentleman (I
+haven't the honour of his acquaintance), in the Town-hall at twelve
+o'clock at night, in a way that made me, your husband that is to be,
+almost lose the faculties of seeing and hearing; and now--here--in
+broad daylight, behind those curtains--Oh! Good gracious!--is this a
+way for an engaged young lady to go on?"
+
+"Who's an engaged young lady?" Albertine cried out, in immense
+indignation. "Whom are you talking about, Mr. Tussmann? Tell me, if you
+will be so kind."
+
+"Oh, thou, my Creator," cried Tussmann, in the fulness of his heart.
+"You ask, dearest Miss Albertine, who is an engaged young lady, and of
+whom I am talking? To whom else can I be alluding but to yourself? Are
+you not my future bride, whom I have so long adored in secret? Did not
+your dear papa ever so long ago promise me your beautiful, white, _so_
+kissable little hand?"
+
+"Mr. Tussmann," said Albertine; "either you have been to a wineshop,
+early as it is in the day--(my father says you go to them a great deal
+more than you ought),--or you've gone out of your mind in some
+extraordinary way. My father can never have had the slightest idea of
+_your_ marrying _me_."
+
+"Dearest Miss Albertine," cried Tussmann; "consider for a moment. You
+have known me for many long years. Have I not always been a man of the
+strictest moderation and temperance? Have I ever been given to
+dissipation? Can you suppose that I have taken to drinking and improper
+conduct all at once? Dearest Miss Albertine, I shall be only too happy
+to close my eyes to what I have seen going on here; not a syllable
+concerning it shall ever pass my lips--we'll forget and forgive. But
+remember, adored one, that you promised to marry me out of the tower
+window of the Town-hall at twelve o'clock at night; and, although you
+were waltzing in such a style with this young gentleman (whose
+acquaintance, as I said, I have not the honour of), still I----"
+
+"Don't you see?" interrupted Albertine; "don't you know, that you're
+talking all sorts of incoherent nonsense, like some lunatic out of the
+asylum? Please go away. I feel quite unwell; do go away, for goodness'
+sake."
+
+Tears started in Tussmann's eyes.
+
+"Oh, heavens!" he cried. "Treatment like this from the beloved Miss
+Albertine! No; I shall not go. I shall remain here till you have
+arrived at a truer opinion concerning my unworthy person, dearest Miss
+Albertine."
+
+"Go; go!" reiterated Albertine, running into a corner of the room, and
+covering her face with her handkerchief.
+
+"No, dearest Miss Albertine," answered Tussmann; "I shall not go
+until, in compliance with the sapient advice of Thomasius, I endeavour
+to----" and he made as if he would follow her into the corner.
+
+While this was going on, Edmund had been scumbling angrily at the
+background of his picture. But at this point he could contain himself
+no longer.
+
+"Damned, infernal scoundrel!" he cried, and flew at Tussmann, making
+four dashes over his face with the brush, full of a greyish green tint,
+which he had been working at his background with. Then he grasped him,
+opened the door, and sent him out of it with a kick so forcible that he
+went flying down stairs like an arrow out of a bow.
+
+Bosswinkel, who was just coming up, started back in much alarm as this
+school-chum of his came bumping into his arms.
+
+"What in the name of all that's----" he cried; "what's going on? what
+ails your face?" Tussmann, almost out of his mind, related all that had
+happened, in broken phrases; how Albertine had behaved to him--how
+Edmund had treated him. The Commissionsrath, brimful of rage and fury,
+took Tussmann by the hand and led him back to the room.
+
+"What's all this?" he cried to Albertine. "This is very pretty
+behaviour; is this the way you treat your husband that is to be?"
+
+"My husband that is to be?" echoed Albertine, in wild amazement.
+
+"Most undoubtedly!" the Commissionsrath answered. "I don't know why you
+should pretend to be in a state of mind about a matter which has been
+understood and arranged for such a long time. My dear old friend
+Tussmann is your affianced husband, and the wedding will come off in a
+week or two."
+
+"_Never!_" said Albertine. "Never will I marry him. Good heavens! how
+could anybody have _that_ old creature; nobody could ever bear him."
+
+"I don't know about 'bearing' him, or whether he's an 'old creature' or
+not," said her father. "What you have got to do is to marry him.
+Certainly my friend Tussmann is not one of your giddy young fools. Like
+myself, he has reached those years of discretion when a man is, very
+properly, considered to be at his best; and into the bargain, he is a
+fine, upright, straightforward, honourable fellow, most profoundly
+learned, perfectly eligible, in every way, and my old schoolfellow."
+
+"No!" cried Albertine, in the utmost agitation, with the tears starting
+to her eyes. "I can't endure him. He's insupportable to me. I hate him!
+I abhor him! Oh, Edmund!"
+
+She sank, almost fainting, into Edmund's arms; and he pressed her to
+his heart with the warmest affection.
+
+The Commissionsrath, utterly amazed, opened his eyes as wide as if he
+were seeing spectres, and then cried--"What's all this? what do I see?"
+
+"Ah, yes! yes, indeed!" Tussmann said, in a lamentable tone. "It
+appears, unfortunately, to be the fact that Miss Albertine doesn't care
+to have anything to do with me, and seems to cherish a remarkable
+partiality for this young gentleman--this painter (whose acquaintance I
+have not the honour of, by the way)--inasmuch as she kisses him without
+the slightest hesitation or shyness, though she will scarcely give
+wretched _me_ her hand. And yet I hope to place the ring on her lovely
+finger very shortly indeed."
+
+"Come away from one another, you two," the Commissionsrath cried out,
+and forced Albertine out of Edmund's arms. But Edmund shouted that he
+would never give her up, if it cost him his life.
+
+"Indeed, sir!" said the Commissionsrath, with scathing irony. "Nice
+business, upon my word! A fine little love-affair going on behind my
+back here! Excessively pretty! Very nice indeed, my young Mr. Lehsen!
+This is the meaning of your liberality--your cigars and your pictures.
+He comes sliding into my house--leads my daughter into all this sort of
+thing. A charming idea, that I should go and hang her round the neck of
+a miserable beggar of a dauber, without a rap to bless himself with!"
+
+Beyond himself with anger, Edmund had his mahlstick raised in the act
+to strike, when the voice of Leonhard was heard crying, in tones of
+thunder, as he burst in at the door--
+
+"Stop, Edmund! don't be in a hurry. Bosswinkel is a terrible ass; he'll
+think better of it presently."
+
+The Commissionsrath had run into a corner, frightened by the unexpected
+arrival of Leonhard; and, from that corner, he cried--"I really do not
+know, Mr. Leonhard, what business you have to----"
+
+But Tussmann had hidden himself behind the sofa as soon as he saw
+Leonhard come in. He was crouching down there, and chirping out, in a
+voice of terror--"Gracious powers! take care, Commissionsrath! Hold
+your tongue; don't say a word, dearest schoolfellow. Good God! here's
+the Herr Professor come, the Ball-Entrepreneur of Spandau Street."
+
+"Come along out, Tussmann," said the Goldsmith, laughing; "Don't be
+frightened, nothing's going to happen to you. You've been punished
+enough already for that foolish idea you had of wanting to marry. That
+poor face of yours is going to be green all the rest of the days of
+your life."
+
+"Oh Lord!" cried the Clerk of the Privy Chancery, almost out of his
+mind, "my face green for ever and ever! What will people say? What will
+His Excellency, the minister, say? His Excellency will think I have had
+my face painted green from motives of mere worldly vanity! Ah! it's all
+over with me. I shall be suspended from my official functions. The
+Government will never hear of such a thing as a Clerk of the Privy
+Chancery with a green face. Wretched man that I am; what's to become of
+me?"
+
+"Come, come, Tussmann!" the Goldsmith said; "don't make such a fuss. I
+have no doubt there's hope for you yet, if you pull yourself together,
+and get rid of this idiotic notion of marrying Miss Bosswinkel."
+
+In answer to this, Tussmann and Bosswinkel cried out together, in what
+is termed on the lyric stage "_ensemble_"--
+
+"I can't."
+
+"He shan't."
+
+The Goldsmith fixed his sparkling, penetrating eyes on the two of them;
+but just as he was going to burst out at them, the door opened, and in
+came Manasseh, with his nephew, Baron Benjamin Duemmerl, from Vienna.
+"Benjie" went straight up to Albertine--who had never seen him in her
+life before--and said, in a disagreeable, drawling tone, as he took her
+hand--
+
+"I have come here in person, dear Miss Bosswinkel, to lay myself at
+your feet. Of course you know that is a mere _facon de parler_. Baron
+Duemmerl doesn't really lay himself at anybody's feet, not even at the
+Emperor's. What I mean is--let me have a kiss."
+
+So saying, he went nearer to Albertine, and bent down towards her.
+
+But, at that moment, a something happened which neither he nor anybody
+else--except the Goldsmith--anticipated, and which caused them all much
+alarm. Benjie's rather sizeable nose suddenly shot forward to such a
+length that, passing beyond Albertine's face, it struck the opposite
+wall of the room with a tremendous, resounding bang. He started back a
+step or two, and his nose at once drew in to its ordinary dimensions.
+He approached Albertine again, with exactly the same result. To make a
+long tale short, his nose kept on shooting in and out like a trombone.
+
+"Cursed necromancer!" Manasseh roared; and took a thin cord, fastened
+in a sort of knot, out of his pocket, which he threw to the
+Commissionsrath, crying--"Throw that about the brute's neck--the
+Goldsmith, I mean--and then drag him out of the room. Never mind about
+ceremony. Do as I tell you. All will be right then."
+
+The Commissionsrath took hold of the noose, but instead of throwing it
+about the Goldsmith's neck, he threw it over the Jew's; and immediately
+he and the Jew began flying up to the ceiling and then down again. And
+so they went on, shooting up and down, while Benjie carried on his
+nose-concerto, and Tussmann laughed like a mad creature, till the
+Commissionsrath fell down nearly fainting in an arm-chair.
+
+"Now's the time! now's the time!" Manasseh cried. He slapped his
+pocket, and out sprung an enormous, horrible-looking mouse, which made
+a spring right at the Goldsmith. But as it was jumping at him, the
+Goldsmith transfixed it with a sharp needle of gold, upon which it gave
+a yell, and disappeared, none knew whither.
+
+Then Manasseh clenched his fists at the fainting Commissionsrath, and
+cried, with rage and hatred blazing in his face--
+
+"Ha! Melchior Bosswinkel! thou hast conspired against me. Thou art in
+league with this accursed sorcerer, whom thou hast brought into thine
+house. But cursed, cursed shalt thou be. Thou and all thy race shall be
+swept away like the helpless brood of a bird. The grass shall grow on
+thy doorstep, and all that thou settest thy hand to shall be as the
+dream of the famishing, who sates himself, in dreams, with savoury
+food. And the D[=a]-l[ve]s shall take up his dwelling in thine house,
+and consume thy substance. And thou shalt beg thy bread, in rags,
+before the doors of the despised people of God; and they shall drive
+thee away like a mangy cur, and thou shalt be cast to the earth like a
+rotten branch. And instead of the sound of the harp, moths shall be thy
+fellows, and dogs shall make a divan of the tomb of thy mother!
+Curses!--curses!--curses upon thee! Commissionsrath Melchior
+Bosswinkel!"
+
+And, having thus delivered himself, this raging Manasseh seized hold of
+his nephew, and went storming out of the house with him.
+
+Albertine, in her terror and horror, had taken refuge with Edmund,
+hiding her face on his breast; and he held her closely to him, though
+he had difficulty in mastering his own emotion. But the Goldsmith went
+up to those two, and said, with a smile, and in a gentle voice:
+
+"Don't you be put out in the slightest by all this business: everything
+will come right. I give you my word for it. But, just now, you must bid
+each other good-bye, before Tussmann and Bosswinkel come back to their
+senses."
+
+And he and Edmund left Bosswinkel's house.
+
+
+                               CHAPTER V.
+
+WHEREIN THE READER LEARNS WHAT THE D[=A]-L[vE]S IS: ALSO HOW THE
+      GOLDSMITH SAVES THE CLERK OF THE PRIVY CHANCERY FROM A MISERABLE
+      DEATH, AND CONSOLES THE DESPAIRING COMMISSIONSRATH.
+
+Bosswinkel was utterly shaken; more by Manasseh's curse than by
+the wild piece of spookery which, as he saw, the Goldsmith had been
+carrying on. And indeed it was a terrible curse, for it set the
+D[=a]-l[ve]s on to him.
+
+Dear reader, I don't know if you are aware what the D[=a]-l[ve]s of the
+Jews is.
+
+One of the Talmudists says that the wife of a certain poor Jew, one day
+on coming into her house, found a weazened, emaciated, naked stranger
+there, who begged her to give him the shelter of her roof, and food and
+drink. Being afraid, she went to her husband, and told him, in tones of
+complaint: "A naked, starving man has come in, asking for food and
+shelter. How are we to help him, when it is all we can do to keep body
+and soul together ourselves?" The husband said: "I will go to this
+stranger, and see how I can get him out of the house."
+
+"Why," he said to him, "hast thou come hither, I being so poor and
+unable to help thee? Begone! Betake thee to the house of Riches, where
+the cattle are fat, and the guests bidden to the feast!"
+
+"How," said the stranger, "canst thou drive me from this shelter which
+I have found? Thou seest that I am bare and naked: how can I go to the
+house of Riches? Have clothing made for me that shall be fitting, and I
+will leave thee." "Better," thought the master of the house, "better
+were it for me to spend all I possess in getting rid of him, than that
+he should stay, and consume whatever I earn in the time to come, as
+well." So he killed his last calf, on which he and his wife had thought
+to live for many days; sold the meat, and with the price provided good
+clothing for the stranger. But when he took the clothing to him,
+behold! the stranger, who had before been lean, and short of stature,
+was become tall and stout, so that the clothing was everywhere too
+short for him and too narrow. At this the poor Jew was much afraid. But
+the stranger said: "Give up the foolish idea of getting me out of thy
+house. Know that I am the D[=a]-l[ve]s!" At this the poor Jew wrung his
+hands and lamented, crying: "God of my fathers! I am scourged with the
+rod of Thine anger, and poverty-smitten for ever and ever! For if thou
+art the D[=a]-l[ve]s, thou wilt never leave us, but consume all that we
+have, and always grow bigger and stronger. For the D[=a]-l[ve]s is
+Poverty; which, when once it takes up its abode in a house, never
+departs from it, but ever increases more and more."
+
+If, then, the Commissionsrath was terrified that Manasseh, by his
+curse, had brought poverty into his house, on the other hand, he stood
+in the utmost dread of Leonhard, who, to say nothing of the
+extraordinary magical powers at his command, had a certain something
+about him which created a decided sense of awe. The Commissionsrath
+could not but feel that there was nothing (with respect to the two of
+them) which one could "do;" and thus the full brunt of his anger was
+discharged upon Edmund Lehsen, upon whom he laid all the blame of all
+the "unpleasantness" which had come about. Over and above all this,
+Albertine came to the front, and declared, of her own motion, having
+evidently completely made up her mind on the subject--declared, we say,
+with the utmost distinctness, that she loved Edmund more than words
+could express, and would never marry either that insufferable and
+unendurable old pedant of a Tussmann, or that equally not-to-be-heard-of
+beast of a Baron Benjamin. So that the Commissionsrath got into the
+most tremendous rage imaginable, and wished Edmund at (ahem!) Hong
+Kong, or Jericho, or, to speak idiomatically, "where the pepper grows."
+But inasmuch as he could not carry this wish into effect, as the late
+French Government did (which actually _did_ send objectionable persons
+to the place "where the pepper grows"), he had to be content with
+writing Edmund a nice little note, into which he poured all the gall
+and venom which was in him at the time (and that was not a little), and
+which ended by telling him that if ever he crossed his, the
+Commissionsrath's, threshold again, he had better--look out for
+squalls.
+
+Of course we all know the state of inconsolable despair in which
+Leonhard found Edmund, when he went to see him, at the fall of the
+twilight, according to his wont.
+
+"What have _I_ to thank you for?" Edmund cried, indignantly. "Of what
+service have your protection and all your efforts been to _me_? Your
+attempts to send this cursed rival of mine out of my way--what has been
+the result of them? Those damnable conjuring tricks of yours--all
+that _they_ have done has been to send everybody into a state of
+higgledy-piggledy, where nobody knows what to think of anything! Even
+that darling girl of mine is in the same boat with all the rest of them.
+It's just this stupid, nonsensical bosh of yours--that, and nothing
+else,--which is blocking up _my_ way, and so I tell you. Oh Lord! the
+only thing which I can see that I can do is to be off to Rome at once,
+and, I can assure you, I mean to do it, too."
+
+"Just so," the Goldsmith said: "that is exactly what I want you to do.
+Be good enough to remember what I said to you when you first told me
+you were in love with Albertine. I said my idea was that a young artist
+was right to be in love, but that he should not go and marry, all at
+once, because that was most inadvisable. When I said that to you, I
+brought to your mind, half in jest, the case of Sternbald; but now I
+tell you, in the utmost seriousness, that, if you really wish to become
+a great painter, you must put all ideas of marrying out of your head.
+Go you away, free and glad, into the Father-land of Art; study, in the
+most enthusiastic manner that ever you can, the inner-being of that
+world of Art; and then, and only then, will the technical and practical
+skill (which you might pick up here) be of the slightest real use to
+you."
+
+"Good gracious!" Edmund cried, "what an idiot I was to say anything to
+you about my love affairs. I see, now, that it was you--you, on whom I
+relied for advice and help in them--who have been purposely throwing
+difficulties in the way, playing Old Harry with my most special heart's
+desires, out of mere nastiness and unkindness."
+
+"My good young sir!" the Goldsmith said, "just be good enough to keep a
+rather quieter tongue in your head. Don't be quite so forcible in your
+expressions. Please to remember that you have got one or two things to
+learn, still, before you can quite see through _me_. _I_ can excuse
+you, of course. I know very well what has upset your temper. This
+insane spooniness of yours."
+
+"As regards Art," Edmund said, "I really can't see why I should not go
+to Rome and study, though I do stand in this intimate relation with
+Albertine. You say yourself that I have a certain amount of 'turn' for
+painting, and some practical skill, already. What I was thinking of
+was, that, as soon as I was quite sure that Albertine would be mine,
+one day, I should be off to Italy; spend a year there, and then come
+back to my darling girl, having some real knowledge of my work."
+
+"What, Edmund?" the Goldsmith cried; "was this really your idea,
+arrived at after proper consideration?"
+
+"Yes," Edmund answered: "deeply as I love Albertine, my heart burns for
+that grand country which is the home of my Art."
+
+"Will you give me your sacred word," the Goldsmith asked, "that if you
+are sure that Albertine is yours you will be off at once to Italy?"
+
+"Why shouldn't I?" Edmund replied, "inasmuch as it is my firm
+determination to do so? It always has been so, and would be so--if she
+were to be mine (I have my doubts as to whether she over will or not").
+
+"Well, Edmund," the Goldsmith said, "be of good courage. This firm
+resolve of yours has gained you your sweetheart. I give you my word of
+honour that in a very few days Albertine will be your affianced wife.
+And you know well enough that you need have no doubt as to my having
+the power to keep my word."
+
+Joy and rapture beamed from Edmund's eyes; and the mysterious Goldsmith
+went quickly away, leaving him to all the sweet hopes and dreams which
+had been awakened in his heart.
+
+In an out-of-the-way corner of the Thiergarten, under a shady tree, the
+Clerk of the Privy Chancery, Mr. Tussmann, was lying "like a dropped
+acorn," as Celia, in 'As You Like It,' expresses it, or like a wounded
+knight, pouring forth his heart's complainings to the perfidious autumn
+breeze.
+
+"Oh, God of justice!" he lamented. "Unhappy, pitiable Clerk of the
+Privy Chancery that you are! how did you ever come to deserve all the
+misery which has fallen to your share? Thomasius says that the estate
+of matrimony in no wise hinders the acquisition of wisdom. And yet,
+though you have only been _thinking_ of entering into that estate, you
+have nearly lost that proportion of understanding (and it was not so
+very small, neither,) which originally fell to your share. Whence comes
+the aversion which dear Miss Bosswinkel displays towards your--not
+particularly striking, but still, fairly well endowed--personality? Are
+you a politician, who ought not to take a wife (as some have laid
+down), or an expert in the laws, who (according to Cleobolus) ought to
+give his wife a licking if she misbehaves herself? Am I either of
+those, that this beautiful creature should be warranted in entertaining
+some certain quantum of bashful repugnance to me? Why, oh, why, dearest
+Clerk of the Privy Chancery, Tussmann, must you go and get mixed up
+with a lot of horrible wizards, and raging painters, who took your face
+for a stretched canvas, and painted a Salvator Rosa picture on it
+without saying with your leave or by your leave? Aye! that's the worst
+of the business! I put all my trust in my friend, Herr Seccius, whose
+knowledge of chemistry is so extensive and so profound, and who can
+help people out of every difficulty. But all in vain! The more I rub my
+face with the liquid he gave me, the greener I get! though the green
+does take on the most extraordinary variety of different tints and
+shades that anybody could imagine. My face has been a face of spring,
+of summer, and of autumn. Ah, yes! it's this greenness which is driving
+me to my destruction. And if I don't attain to the whiteness of winter
+(the proper colour for me), I shall run desperate, pitch myself into
+this frog-pond here, and die a green death!"
+
+It was no wonder that Tussmann complained most bitterly, for the colour
+of his countenance was a very great annoyance to him. It was not like
+any ordinary oil-colour, but as if it were some cleverly compounded
+tincture or dye, sunk into his skin, and not to be obliterated by any
+human means. In the day-time the poor wretch dared not go about except
+with his hat down over his eyes, and a pocket-handkerchief before his
+face. And even when night came on he could only venture to go flitting
+through the more out-of-the-way streets at a gallop. He dreaded the
+street-boys, and he also was afraid that he might come across somebody
+belonging to his office, as he had reported himself sick.
+
+We often feel any trouble that has befallen us more keenly in the
+silent hours of night than during the more stirring daylight. And
+so--as the clouds rolled blacker and blacker over the sky, as the
+shadows of the trees fell deeper, and the autumn wind soughed louder
+and louder through the branches--Tussmann, as he pondered over all his
+wretchedness, got into a state of the profoundest despair.
+
+The terrible idea of jumping into the green frog-pond, and so
+terminating a baffled career, assailed his mind so irresistibly that he
+looked on it as an unmistakable hint of destiny, which he was bound to
+obey.
+
+"Yes!" he cried, getting up from the grass, where he had been lying;
+"yes!" he shouted; "it's all over with you, Clerk of the Privy
+Chancery! Despair and die, good Tussmann; Thomasius can't help you! On,
+to a green death! Farewell, terrible Miss Albertine Bosswinkel! Your
+husband, that was to have been--whom you despised so cruelly--you will
+never see again! Here he goes, into the frog-pond!"
+
+Like a mad creature he rushed to the edge of the basin (in the darkness
+it looked like a fine, smooth, broad road, with trees on each side of
+it), and there he remained standing for a time.
+
+Doubtless the notion of the nearness of death affected his mind; for he
+sang, in a high-pitched, penetrating voice, that Scotch song, which has
+the refrain--
+
+           "Green grow the rashes, oh!
+            Green grow the rashes!"
+
+
+And he shied the 'Diplomatic Acumen,' and the 'Handbook for Court and
+City,' and also 'Hufeland, on the Art of Prolonging Life,' into the
+water, and was in the very act of jumping after them, when he felt
+himself seized from behind by a pair of powerful arms.
+
+He at once recognized the well-known voice of the necromantic
+Goldsmith. It said--"Tussmann, what are you after? I beg you not to
+make an ass of yourself; don't go playing idiotic tricks of this sort."
+
+Tussmann strove with all his might to get out of the Goldsmith's grasp,
+while, scarcely capable of utterance, he croaked out--
+
+"Herr Professor! I am in a state of desperation, and all ordinary
+considerations are in abeyance. Herr Professor, I sincerely trust
+you will not take it ill if a Clerk of the Privy Chancery, who is
+(as we have said) in a state of desperation, and who (in ordinary
+circumstances) is well versed in the _convenances_ of official
+etiquette--I say, I hope you won't take it ill, Herr Professor, if I
+assert, openly and unceremoniously, that (under all the circumstances
+of the case) I wish to heaven that you and all your magic tricks were
+at the devil! along with your unendurable familiarity, your 'Tussmann!
+Tussmann!' never giving me my official title!----there!"
+
+The Goldsmith let him go, and he tumbled down, exhausted, in the long,
+wet grass.
+
+Believing himself to be in the basin, he cried out, "Oh, cold death!
+oh, green rashes! oh, meadows! I bid ye farewell. I leave you my
+kindest wishes, dearest Miss Albertine Bosswinkel. Commissionsrath,
+good-bye! The unfortunate 'intended' is lying amongst the frogs that
+praise God in the summer time."
+
+"Tussmann," cried the Goldsmith, in a powerful voice, "don't you see
+that you're out of your senses, and worn out and wretched into the
+bargain? You want to send me to the devil! What if I _were_ the Devil,
+and should set to and twist that neck of yours, here on this spot,
+where you think you're lying in the water?"
+
+Tussmann sighed, groaned, and shuddered as if in the most violent ague.
+
+"But I mean you kindly, Tussmann," the Goldsmith said; "and your
+desperate condition excuses everything. Get up, and come along with
+me." And he helped him to get on his legs.
+
+Tussmann, completely exhausted, said, in a whisper--
+
+"I am completely in your power, most honoured Herr Professor. Do what
+you will with my miserable body; but I most humbly beg you to spare my
+immortal soul."
+
+"Do not talk such absurd nonsense," the Goldsmith said, "but come along
+with me as fast as you can." He took hold of Tussmann by the arm, and
+led him away. But when they came to where the walk which leads to the
+Zelten crosses at right angles, he pulled up, and said--
+
+"Wait a moment, Tussmann. You're wet through, and look like I don't
+know what. Just let me wipe your face, at all events."
+
+The Goldsmith took a handkerchief of dazzling whiteness out of his
+pocket, and wiped Tussmann's face with it.
+
+The bright lights of the Weberschen Zelt were visible, shining brightly
+through the trees. Tussmann cried out, in alarm--
+
+"For God's sake, Herr Professor, where are you taking me? Not into
+town? not to my own lodgings? not (oh, heavens!) into society, amongst
+my fellow-men? Good heavens! I can't be seen. Wherever I go I give rise
+to unpleasantness--create a _scandalum_."
+
+"Tussmann," said the Goldsmith, "I cannot understand that ridiculous
+shyness of yours. What do you mean by it? Don't be an ass. What you
+want is a drop of something pretty strong. I should say a tumbler of
+hot punch, else we shall be having you laid up with a feverish cold.
+Come on!"
+
+Tussmann kept on lamenting as to his greenness, and his Salvator Rosa
+face; but the Goldsmith paid not the slightest attention to him, merely
+hurrying him along with him at a rapid rate.
+
+When they got into the brightly lighted coffee-room, Tussmann hid his
+face in his handkerchief, as there were still some people there.
+
+"What's the matter with you, Tussmann?" the Goldsmith asked. "Why do
+you keep hiding that good-looking face of yours, eh?"
+
+"Oh, dearest Herr Professor, you know all about this awful face of
+mine," Tussmann answered. "You know how that terrible, passionate
+painter young gentleman went and daubed it all over with green paint?"
+
+"Nonsense," said the Goldsmith, taking the Clerk of the Privy Chancery
+by the shoulders and placing him right in front of the big mirror
+at the top of the room, while he threw a strong light on to him
+from a branched candlestick which he had taken up. Tussmann forced
+himself--much against the grain--to look. He could not restrain a loud
+cry of "Gracious heavens!"
+
+For not only had the terrible green tint of his face disappeared, but
+he had a much more beautiful complexion than he ever had had in his
+life, and was looking several years younger. In the excess of his
+delight he jumped up and down with both feet together, and cried, in a
+voice of sweet emotion--"Oh, just Heaven! what do I see? what do I
+contemplate? Most honoured Herr Professor, I have no doubt that it is
+to you that I am indebted for this great happiness!--to you alone! Ah!
+now I feel little doubt that Miss Albertine Bosswinkel--for whose dear
+sake I was so very nearly jumping into the frog-pond--won't make much
+difficulty about accepting me. Really, dearest Professor, you have
+rescued me from the very profoundest depths of misery. There is no
+doubt that I did feel a certain sense of relief and well-being when you
+were so kind as to pass that snow-white handkerchief of yours over my
+face. You really were my benefactor, were you not?"
+
+"I won't deny, Tussmann," the Goldsmith answered, "that I wiped the
+green colour away from your face; and, from that, you may gather that I
+am not by any means so much your enemy as you have supposed me to be.
+What I can't bear to think of is this ridiculous notion of yours (which
+you have allowed the Commissionsrath to put in your head) that you are
+going to go and marry a splendid young creature, bursting with life and
+love. It is this, I say, which I can't bear to think about. And even
+now--though you have scarcely got clear of the little trick which has
+been played on you--you see, you go and begin at once to think about
+this marriage again. I feel inclined to take away your appetite for it
+in a very effectual style; and I could do so if I chose, without the
+slightest difficulty. However, I don't want to go so far as that. But
+what my advice to you would be is--that you should keep as quiet, and
+as much out of the way as ever you can till Sunday next, at twelve
+o'clock at noon, and then you will see more into things. If you dare to
+go and see Albertine before that time, I will make you go on dancing in
+her presence till your breath and senses abandon you. Then I will
+transform you into the very greenest of frogs, and chuck you into the
+basin of the Thiergarten, or into the River Spree itself, where you'll
+go on croaking till the end of your days. Good-bye! I have something to
+do in town which obliges me to get back there as quickly as possible.
+You won't be able to follow me, or keep up with me. Good-bye!"
+
+The Goldsmith was right in saying that it would not be possible for
+Tussmann, or anybody else, to keep up with him, for he was off through
+the door and out of sight, as if he had Schlemihl's seven-leagued boots
+on.
+
+Perhaps this was why, the next minute after he had disappeared from
+Tussmann, he appeared suddenly, like a ghost, in the Commissionsrath's
+room, and bade him good evening in a rough tone.
+
+The Commissionsrath was very frightened, but he pulled himself
+together, and asked the Goldsmith, with some warmth, what he meant by
+coming in at that time of the night, adding that he wished he would
+take himself off, and not bother him any more with any of those
+conjuring tricks of his, as he presumed he was about to do.
+
+"Ah!" said the Goldsmith very calmly, "that is how people are,
+particularly Commissionsraths. Just the very people who come to them,
+wishing to do them a service, into whose arms they ought to throw
+themselves with a confident heart--just those are the people whom they
+want to kick out of the door. My good Herr Commissionsrath, you are a
+poor unfortunate man, a real object of pity and commiseration. I have
+come here--I have _hastened_ here--at this late hour of the night, to
+consult with you as to how this terrible blow which is hanging over you
+may be averted--if averted it can be--and you----"
+
+"Oh, God," the Commissionsrath cried, "another bankruptcy in Hamburg, I
+suppose, or in Bremen, or London, to ruin me out and out! That was all
+that was wanted. Oh, I'm a ruined man!"
+
+"No," the Goldsmith said, "it's an affair of a different kind
+altogether; you say that you won't allow young Edmund Lehsen to marry
+Albertine, do you not?"
+
+"What's the good of talking about such a piece of absurdity?" the
+Commissionsrath replied. "I to give my daughter to this beggar of a
+penciller."
+
+"Well," said the Goldsmith, "he has painted a couple of magnificent
+portraits of you and her."
+
+"Oh, oh," cried Bosswinkel, "a fine piece of business it would be to
+hand over my daughter for a couple of daubs on canvas; I've sent the
+trash back to him."
+
+"If you don't let Edmund have your daughter," the Goldsmith continued,
+"he will have his revenge."
+
+"Pretty story!" answered Bosswinkel. "What revenge is this little bit
+of a beggar, who dribbles paints on to canvas, and hasn't a farthing to
+bless himself with, going to take upon Commissionsrath Melchior
+Bosswinkel, I should like to know?"
+
+"I'll tell you that in a moment," said the Goldsmith. "Edmund is going
+to alter your portrait in a way which you thoroughly deserve. The
+kindly, smiling face he is going to turn into a sour, grumpy one, with
+lowering brow, bleary eyes, and hanging lips. He will deepen the
+wrinkles on the brow and cheeks, and he won't omit to indicate, in
+proper colour, those grey hairs which the powder is intended to hide.
+Before you, instead of the pleasant news about the lottery prize, he
+will write, very legibly, the most unpleasant purport of the letter
+which came to you the day before yesterday, telling you that Campbell
+and Co. of London had stopped payment, addressed on the envelope to the
+'Bankrupt Commissionsrath,' &c., &c. From the torn pockets of your
+waistcoat he will show ducats, thalers, and treasury bills falling, to
+indicate the losses you have had, and this picture will be put in the
+window of the picture dealer next door to the bank in Hunter Street."
+
+"The demon, the blackguard," the Commissionsrath cried; "he shan't do
+that, I'll send for the police, I'll appeal to the courts for an
+interim interdict!"
+
+The Goldsmith said, with much tranquillity, "As soon as even fifty
+people have seen this picture, that is to say, after it has been in the
+window for a brief quarter of an hour, the tale will be all over the
+town, with every description of addition and exaggeration. Every thing
+in the least degree ridiculous which has ever been said about you, or
+is being said now, will be brought up again, dressed in fresh and more
+brilliant colours. Every one you meet will laugh in your face, and,
+what is the worst of all, everybody will talk about your losses in the
+Campbell bankruptcy, so your credit will be gone."
+
+"Oh, Lord," said Bosswinkel, "but he must let me have the picture back,
+the scoundrel? Ay; that he must, the first thing in the morning."
+
+"And if he were to agree to do so," the Goldsmith said, ("of which I
+have great doubts) how much the better would you be? He's making a
+copper etching of you, as I have just described you. He'll have several
+hundred copies thrown off, touch them up himself _con amore_, and send
+them all over the world--to Hamburg, Bremen, Luebeck, London even."
+
+"Stop, stop," Bosswinkel cried; "go, as fast as you can, to this
+terrible fellow; offer him fifty, yes, offer him a hundred thalers if
+he will let this business about my portrait remain in _statu quo_."
+
+"Ha! ha! ha!" laughed the Goldsmith; "you forget that Lehsen doesn't
+care a fiddlestick about money. His people are well off. His
+grand-aunt, Miss Lehsen, who lives in Broad Street, is going to leave
+him all her money, L12,000 at the very least."
+
+"What," the Commissionsrath cried, pale with the suddenness of his
+amazement, "L12,000. I tell you what it is. I believe Albertine is
+crazy about young Lehsen, and I'm not a bad-hearted fellow. I am an
+affectionate father; can't bear crying, and all that sort of thing.
+When she sets her heart on a thing, I can't refuse her. Besides, I like
+the fellow; he's a first-rate painter, you know; and where Art is
+concerned I'm a perfect gaby. There are a great many capital points
+about Lehsen. L12,000. I'll tell you what it is, Leonhard, just out of
+mere goodheartedness, I shall let this nice young fellow have my
+daughter."
+
+"Hm!" said the Goldsmith, "there's something queer, too, which I want
+to speak to you about. I was at the Thiergarten just before I came
+here, and I found your old friend and schoolfellow, Tussmann, going to
+jump into the water because Albertine wouldn't have anything to say to
+him. I had the greatest difficulty in preventing him from doing it; and
+it was only by telling him that you would be quite certain to keep your
+word, and make her marry him, that I did succeed in preventing him.
+Now, if this is not so, if she doesn't marry him, and if you give her
+to young Lehsen, there cannot be a doubt that the Clerk of the Privy
+Chancery will carry out his idea of jumping into that basin. Think what
+a sensation the suicide of a person of Tussmann's 'respectability' will
+create. Everybody will consider that you, and no other, are responsible
+for his death. You will be looked upon with horror and contempt. Nobody
+will ask you to dinner, and if you go to a cafe to see what's in the
+papers, you will be shown to the door, or kicked downstairs; and more
+than that, Tussmann bears the very highest character in his profession.
+All his superiors have a very high opinion of him; the Government
+departments think him a most valuable official. If you are supposed to
+be answerable for his death, you know that you need never expect to
+find a single member of the Privy Legation, or of the Upper Chamber of
+Finance, in when you go to see them. None of the offices which your
+business affairs require you to be _en rapport_ with will have a word
+to say to you. Your title of Commissionsrath will be taken from you,
+blow will follow upon blow, your credit will be gone, your income will
+fall away, things will go from bad to worse, till at last, in poverty,
+misery and contempt, you will--"
+
+"For God's sake stop!" cried the Commissionsrath, "you are putting me
+to a regular martyrdom. Who would have thought that Tussmann would have
+been such a goose at his time of life? But you are quite right;
+whatever happens, I must keep my word to him, or I'm a ruined man. Yes,
+it is so ordained, Tussmann must marry Albertine."
+
+"You're forgetting all about Baron Duemmerl," said the Goldsmith, "and
+Manasseh's terrible curse. In him, if you reject Baron Benjie, you have
+the most fearful enemy. He will oppose you in all your speculations;
+will stick at no means of injuring your credit, take every possible
+opportunity of doing you an ill turn, and never rest till he has
+brought you to shame and disgrace; till the D[=a]-l[ve]s, which he laid
+upon you along with his curse, has actually taken up its abode in your
+house; so that, you see, whatever you do with Albertine, to whichsoever
+of her wooers you give her, you get into trouble, and that is why I
+said at the beginning, that you are a poor, unfortunate man, an object
+of pity and commiseration."
+
+Bosswinkel ran up and down the room like a lunatic, crying over and
+over again, "It's all over with me; I am a miserable man, a ruined
+Commissionsrath. O Lord, if I only could get the girl off my shoulders;
+the devil take the whole lot of them, Lehsen, and Benjie, and my old
+Tussmann into the bargain."
+
+"Now," said the Goldsmith, "there is one way of getting out of all this
+mess."
+
+"What is it?" said Bosswinkel; "I'll adopt it, whatever it is."
+
+Leonhard said, "Did you ever see the play of 'The Merchant of Venice'?"
+
+"That's the piece," answered Bosswinkel, "where Devrient plays a
+bloody-minded Jew of the name of Shylock, who wants a pound of a
+merchant's flesh. Of course I've seen it, but what has that to do with
+the matter?"
+
+"You will remember," the Goldsmith said, "that there is a certain
+wealthy young lady in it of the name of Portia, whose father so
+arranged matters in his will that her hand is made a species of prize
+in a kind of lottery. Three caskets are set out, of which her wooers
+have each to choose one, and open it. The one who finds Portia's
+portrait in the casket which he chooses obtains her hand. Now do you,
+Commissionsrath, as a living father, do what her dead father did. Tell
+the three wooers that, inasmuch as one of them is exactly the same to
+you as another, they must allow chance to decide between them. Set up
+three caskets for them to choose amongst, and let the one who finds her
+portrait in his casket be her husband."
+
+"What an extraordinary idea," said the Commissionsrath; "and even if I
+were to go in for it, do you suppose, dear Mr. Leonhard, that I should
+be one bit better off? When chance did decide the matter, I should
+still have to deal with the rage and hatred of the unsuccessful two."
+
+"Wait a moment," the Goldsmith said; "it is just there that the
+important part of the business lies. I promise that I will order and
+arrange the affair of the caskets so that it shall turn out happily and
+satisfactorily for all parties. The two who make mistakes shall find in
+their caskets, not a scornful dismissal, like the Princes of Morocco
+and Arragon, but something which shall so greatly please and delight
+them that they will think no more of marrying Albertine, but will look
+upon you as the author of unhoped, undreamt of happiness to them."
+
+"Oh, can it be possible!" the Commissionsrath cried.
+
+"Not only is it possible," the Goldsmith answered, "but it will, it
+must happen, exactly as I have said it will; I give you my word for
+it."
+
+The Commissionsrath made no further objection, and they arranged that
+the Goldsmith's plan should be put in execution on the next Sunday at
+noon. Leonhard undertook to provide the three caskets, all ready.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VI.
+
+         WHAT HAPPENED AT THE CHOOSING OF THE CASKETS, AND THE
+                        CONCLUSION OF THE TALE.
+
+As may be imagined, Albertine got into a condition of the most utter
+despair when her father told her about the wretched lottery in which
+her hand was to be the prize, and all her prayers and tears were
+powerless to turn him from this idea, when he had once got it fairly
+into his head. Then, besides this, Lehsen seemed indifferent and
+indolent, in a way that nobody who really loved could be, not making
+any attempt to see her privately, or even to send her a message.
+
+On the Saturday night before the fateful Sunday she was sitting alone
+in her room, as the twilight was deepening into night, her mind full of
+the misfortune which was threatening her. She was calculating whether
+or not it would be better to come to a speedy determination to fly from
+her father's roof, rather than wait till the most fearful destiny
+conceivable should accomplish itself, that of marrying either the
+pedantic old Tussmann, or the insufferable Baron Benjie, and then she
+remembered the mysterious Goldsmith, and the strange, supernatural way
+in which he had prevented the Baron from touching her. She felt quite
+sure that he had been on Edmund's side then; wherefore a hope began to
+dawn in her heart that it must be on him that she should rely for help
+at this crisis of her affairs. Above all things she wished that she
+only could just have a little talk with him then and there; and was
+quite sure that she shouldn't be at all frightened, really, if he were
+to appear to her suddenly, in some strange, spectral sort of manner.
+
+So that she really was not in the least frightened when she saw that
+what she had been thinking was the stove was really Leonhard the
+Goldsmith, who came up to her and said, in a gentle, harmonious
+voice:--
+
+"My dear child, lay aside all grief and anxiety. Edmund Lehsen, whom,
+at present at all events, you believe you love, is a special _protege_
+of mine; and I am helping him with all the power at my command. Let me
+further tell you that it was I who put the lottery idea into your
+father's head; that I am going to provide and prepare the caskets, and,
+of course, you see that no one but Edmund will find your portrait."
+
+Albertine felt inclined to shout for joy. The Goldsmith continued:--
+
+"I could have brought about the giving of your hand to Edmund in other
+ways; but I particularly wish to make the two rivals, Tussmann and the
+Baron, completely contented at the same time. So that that is going to
+be done, and you and your father will be quite sure to have no more
+trouble on their part."
+
+Albertine poured forth the warmest expressions of gratitude. She almost
+fell at his feet, she pressed his hand to her heart, she declared that,
+notwithstanding all the magic tricks he had performed, nay, even after
+the way he had come into her room, she wasn't in the least afraid of
+him; and she concluded with the somewhat naive request that he would
+tell her all about himself, and who he really was.
+
+"My dear child," he answered, "it would not be by any means an easy
+matter for me to tell you exactly who I am. Like many others, I know
+much better whom I take other people for than what I really and truly
+am myself. But I may tell you, my dear, that many think I am none other
+than that Leonhard Turnhaeuser the Goldsmith, who was such a famous
+character at the court of the Elector Johann Georg, in the year 1580,
+and who disappeared, none knew how or where, when envy and calumny
+tried to ruin him; and if the members of the imaginative or romantic
+school say that I am this Turnhaeuser, a spectral being, you may imagine
+what I have to suffer at the hands of the solid and enlightened portion
+of the community, the respectable citizens, and the men of business,
+who think they have something better to do than to bother their heads
+about poetry and romance. Then, even the aesthetic people want to watch
+me and dog my steps, just as the doctors and the divines did in Johann
+Georg's time, and try to embitter and spoil whatever little modicum of
+an existence I am able to lay claim to, as much as ever they can. My
+dear girl, I see well enough already, that though I take all this
+tremendous interest in young Edmund Lehsen and you, and turn up at
+every corner like a regular _deux ex machina_, there will be plenty of
+people of the same way of thinking with those of the aesthetic school,
+who will never be able to swallow me, historically speaking, who will
+never be able to bring themselves to believe that I ever really existed
+at all. So that, just that I might manage to get something like a more
+or less firm footing, I have never ventured to say, in so many words,
+that I am Leonard Turnhaeuser, the Goldsmith of the sixteenth century.
+The folks in question are quite welcome to say, if they please, that I
+am a clever conjurer, and find the explanations of every one of my
+tricks (as they may style the phenomena and the results which I
+produce) in Wieglieb's 'Natural Magic,' or some book of the kind. I
+have still one more 'feat,' as they would call it, to perform, which
+neither Philidor, nor Philadelphia, nor Cagliostro, nor any other
+conjurer would be able to do, and which, being completely inexplicable,
+must always remain a stumbling-block to the kind of people in question.
+But I cannot help performing it, because it is indispensable to the
+_denouement_ of this Berlinese tale of the Choice of a Bride by three
+personages, suitors for the hand of Miss Albertine Bosswinkel. So keep
+up your heart, my dear child, rise to-morrow morning in good time, put
+on the dress which you like the best, because it is the most becoming
+you happen to have; do your hair in the way you think suits you best,
+and then await, as quietly and patiently as you can, what will happen."
+
+He disappeared exactly as he had come.
+
+On the next day--the Sunday--at eleven o'clock--the appointed
+time--there arrived at the place of rendezvous old Manasseh with his
+hopeful nephew--Tussmann--and Edmund Lehsen with the Goldsmith. The
+wooers, not excepting the Baron, were almost frightened when they saw
+Albertine, who had never seemed so lovely and taking. I am in a
+position to assure every lady, married or otherwise, who attaches the
+proper amount of importance to dress, that the way in which Albertine's
+was trimmed, and the material of the trimmings, were most elegant; that
+the frock itself was just the right length to show her pretty little
+feet in their white satin shoes; that the arms of it (short, of
+course), and the corsage were bordered with the richest Point; that her
+white French gloves came up to just the least little bit above her
+elbows, showing her beautiful arm; that the only thing she had on her
+head was a lovely gold comb set with jewels; in short, that her dress
+was quite that of a bride, except that she had no myrtle wreath in her
+bonny brown hair. But the reason why she was so much more beautiful
+than she ever had been before was that love and hope beamed in her eyes
+and bloomed on her cheeks.
+
+Bosswinkel, in a burst of hospitality, had provided a splendid lunch.
+Old Manasseh glowered at the table laid out for this repast with
+malignant glances askance, and when the Commissionsrath begged him to
+fall to, on his countenance could be read the answer of Shylock:--
+
+"Yes, to smell pork, to eat of the habitation which your prophet, the
+Nazarite, conjured the devil into. I will buy with you, sell with you,
+talk with you, walk with you, and so following; but I will not eat with
+you, drink with you, nor pray with you."
+
+The Baron was less conscientious, for he ate more beefsteak than was
+seemly, and talked a great deal of stupid nonsense, as was his wont.
+
+The Commissionsrath behaved wholly contrarily to his nature on this
+important occasion. Not only did he pour out bumpers of Port and
+Madeira, regardless of expense, and even told the company that he had
+some Madeira in his cellar a hundred years old; but when the luncheon
+was over he explained to the suitors the method in which his daughter's
+hand was to be disposed of in a speech much better put together than
+anybody would ever have expected of him. They were given to understand
+most clearly that the successful one must find her portrait in the
+casket which he chose.
+
+When twelve o'clock struck the door of the hall opened, and there was
+seen in the middle of it a table with a rich cover on it, bearing the
+three caskets.
+
+One was of shining gold, with a circle of glittering ducats on its lid,
+and the inscription inside them--
+
+     "Who chooseth me doth gain that which he much desires."
+
+The second was of silver, richly chased. On its lid were many words and
+letters of foreign languages, encircling this inscription--
+
+     "Who chooseth me doth find more than he hopes."
+
+The third, plainly carved of ivory, was inscribed--
+
+     "Who chooseth me doth gain his dreamed-of bliss."
+
+Albertine took her place on a chair behind the table, her father by her
+side. Manasseh and the Goldsmith drew away into the background.
+
+The lots were drawn, and, Tussmann having the first choice, the Baron
+and Edmund had to go into the other room.
+
+The Clerk of the Privy Chancery went carefully and considerately up to
+the table, looked at the caskets with much minuteness of observation,
+read the inscriptions on them one after another. Soon he found himself
+irresistibly attracted by the beautiful characters of foreign languages
+so charmingly intertwined on the cover of the silver casket.
+
+"Good heavens!" he cried, "what beautiful lettering, with what skill
+those Arabic characters are brought in amongst the Roman letters, and
+'Who chooseth me doth gain more than he hopes.' Now have I gone on
+cherishing the slightest hope that Miss Albertine would be so gracious
+as to honour me with her hand? wasn't I going to throw myself into the
+basin? Evidently here is comfort, here is good fortune.
+Commissionsrath! Miss Albertine! I choose the silver one."
+
+Albertine rose and handed him a little key, with which he opened the
+casket. Great was his consternation to find, not Albertine's portrait,
+but a little book bound in parchment, which, when he opened it,
+appeared to consist of blank white pages. Beside it lay a little scrap
+of paper, with the words--
+
+           "Thy choice was, in a way, amiss,
+            But those few words do tell thee this--
+            What thou hast won will never alter,
+            To use it thou needs't never falter.
+            What 'tis as yet thou dost not see,
+            An endless source of joy 'twill be.
+            _Ignorantiam_ 'twill enlighten,
+            _Sapientiam_ further brighten."
+
+"Good heavens!" cried Tussmann, "it's a book. Yet, no, it's not a book,
+and there's nothing in the shape of a portrait. It's merely a lot of
+paper bound up together; my hopes are dashed to earth, all is over with
+me now. All I have got to do is to be off to the frog-pond as quickly
+as I can."
+
+But as he was hurrying away the Goldsmith stopped him, and said--
+
+"Tussmann, you're very foolish; you've got hold of the most priceless
+treasure you could possibly have come across. Those lines of verse
+ought to have told you so at once. Do me the favour to put that book
+which you found in the casket into your pocket."
+
+Tussmann did so.
+
+"Now," said the Goldsmith, "think of some book or other which you would
+wish that you had in your pocket at this moment."
+
+"Oh, my goodness," said Tussmann, "I went and shied Thomasius's little
+treatise on 'Diplomatic Acumen' into the frog-pond, like an utter fool
+as I was."
+
+"Put your hand in your pocket," said the Goldsmith, "and take out the
+book."
+
+Tussmann did so, and lo, the book which he brought out was none other
+than Thomasius's treatise!
+
+"Ha!" cried Tussmann, "what is this? Why it is Thomasius's treatise, my
+beloved Thomasius, rescued from the congregation of frogs in the pond,
+who would never have learned diplomatic acumen from him."
+
+"Keep yourself calm," the Goldsmith said; "put the book into your
+pocket again."
+
+Tussmann did so.
+
+"Think of some other rare work," the Goldsmith said: "one which you
+have never been able to come across in any library."
+
+"Oh, good gracious!" cried Tussmann in melancholy accents. "I have
+been, you see, in the habit of sometimes going to the opera, so that I
+have wanted, very much, to ground myself a little in the theory of
+music, and I have been trying in vain hitherto to get hold of a copy of
+a certain little treatise which explains the arts of the composer and
+the performer, in an allegorical form. I mean Johann Beer's 'Musical
+War,' an account of the contest between composition and harmony, which
+are represented under the guise of two heroines, who do battle with
+each other, and end by being completely reconciled."
+
+"Feel in your pocket," said the Goldsmith; and the Clerk of the Privy
+Chancery shouted with joy when he found that his paper book now
+consisted of Johann Beer's 'Musical War.'
+
+"You see now, do you not," said the Goldsmith, "that in the book which
+you found in the casket you possess the finest and most complete
+library that anybody ever had? and more than that, you take it about
+with you in your pocket. For, while you have this remarkable book in
+your pocket, it will always be whatever book you happen to want to
+read, as soon as you take it out."
+
+Without wasting a thought on Albertine or the Commissionsrath, Tussmann
+went and sat down in an armchair in a corner, stuck the book into his
+pocket, pulled it out again, and it was easy to see, by the delight in
+his countenance, how completely the Goldsmith's promise had been
+fulfilled.
+
+It was the Baron's turn next. He came strolling up to the table in his
+foolish, loutish manner, looked at the caskets through his eyeglass,
+and murmured out the inscriptions one after the other. But soon a
+natural, inborn, irresistible instinct drew him to the gold casket,
+with the shining ducats on its lid. "Who chooseth me doth gain that
+which he much desires." "Certainly ducats are what I much desire, and
+Albertine is what I much desire. I don't see much good in bothering
+over this."
+
+So he grasped the golden casket; took its key from Albertine, opened
+it, and found a nice little English file! Beside it lay a piece of
+paper with the words:--
+
+           "Now thou hast the thing thy heart
+            Longed for, with the keenest smart.
+            All besides is mere parade.
+            Onward--never retrograde--
+            Moves a truly thriving Trade."
+
+"And what the Devil's the use of this thing?" Benjie cried, surveying
+the file. "It isn't Albertine's picture, you know; however, I shall
+hold on to the casket; it'll be a wedding-present to Albertine. Come to
+me, dearest child!" With which he was making straight for Albertine;
+but the Goldsmith held him back by the shoulders, saying--
+
+"Stop, my good sir; that's not in the bargain: you must content
+yourself with the file. And you will be content with it, when you find
+out what a treasure it is. In fact, the paper tells you, if you can
+understand it. Have you got a worn ducat in your pocket?"
+
+"Well," said Benjie, angrily, "and what then?"
+
+"Out with it," the Goldsmith said, "and try the file on the edge of
+it."
+
+The Baron did so, with an amount of skill which told of much previous
+practice; and the more ducats he filed at--for he tried a good many,
+one after another--the fresher the edges of them came out.
+
+Up to this point Manasseh had been looking on in silence at what was
+transpiring; but here he jumped up, with eyes sparkling wildly, and
+dashed at his nephew, crying, in a hollow, terrible voice--
+
+"God of my Fathers! what do I see? Give me that file!--here with it
+instantly! It is the piece of magic-work for which I sold my soul more
+than three hundred years ago. God of my Fathers!--hand it over to me!"
+
+And he made at his nephew to take it from him; but Benjie pushed him
+back, crying, "Go to the Deuce, you old idiot! It was I who found the
+file, not you!"
+
+To which Manasseh responded, in fury: "Viper! Worm-eaten fruit of my
+race!--Here with that file! All the Demons of Hell be upon you,
+accursed thief!"
+
+Manasseh clutched hold of the Baron, with a torrent of Hebrew curses,
+and foaming and gnashing his teeth, he exerted all the strength at his
+command to wrest the file from him. But Benjie fought for it as a
+lioness does for her cubs, till at length Manasseh was worn out; on
+which his nephew seized him by the shoulders and threw him out of the
+door, with such force that all his limbs cracked again. Then, coming
+back like a flash of lightning, he shoved a small table into a corner,
+and sitting down there, opposite to the Clerk of the Privy Chancery,
+took a handful of ducats from his pocket, and set to work to file away
+at them as hard as he could.
+
+"Now," said the Goldsmith, "we have seen the last of that terrible
+Manasseh. He is off our hands, for good and all. People say he is a
+second Ahasuerus, and has been going spooking about since the year
+1572. That was the year in which he was put to death for diabolical
+practices and sorcery, under the name of Lippolt, the Jew-coiner. But
+the Devil saved his body from death at the price of his immortal soul.
+Many folk who understand those things say they have seen him in Berlin
+in a good many forms; so that, if all tales are true, there are a good
+number of Lippolts at the present time about. However, I, who have a
+certain amount of experience in those mysterious matters, can assure
+you that I have given him his quietus."
+
+It would weary you very needlessly, dear reader, were I to waste words
+in telling you what you know quite well; namely, that Edmund Lehsen
+chose the ivory casket, inscribed--
+
+           "Who chooseth me doth gain his dreamed-of bliss,"
+
+and found in it a beautiful portrait of Albertine, with the lines--
+
+           "Yes--thou hast it--read thy chance
+            In thy darling's loving glance.
+              What has past returns no more--
+                Earthly fate so willeth this.
+              All the joy which lies _before_
+                Gather from thy sweetheart's kiss."
+
+And Edmund, like Bassanio, followed the counsel of the last line, and
+pressed his blushing sweetheart to his breast, and kissed her glowing
+lips; whilst the Commissionsrath greatly rejoiced, and was full
+of happiness over this happy _denouement_ of this most involved
+love-affair.
+
+Meanwhile the Baron had been filing at ducats quite as eagerly and
+absorbedly as the Clerk of the Privy Chancery had been reading, neither
+of them taking the slightest notice of what had been going on, till the
+Commissionsrath announced, in a loud voice, that Edmund Lehsen had
+chosen the casket containing Albertine's portrait, and was,
+consequently, to be her husband. Tussmann seemed to be quite delighted
+to hear it, and expressed his satisfaction in his usual manner, by
+rubbing his hands, jumping a little way up and down for a moment or
+two, and giving a delicate little laugh. The Baron seemed to feel no
+further interest about the matter; but he embraced the Commissionsrath;
+said he was a real "gentleman" and had made him most utterly happy by
+his present of the file, and told him that he could always count upon
+him, in all circumstances. With which he took his departure.
+
+Tussmann, too, thanked him, with tears of the most heartfelt emotion,
+for making him the happiest of men by this most rare and wonderful of
+all rare and wonderful books; and, after the most profuse expenditure
+of politeness to Albertine, Edmund, and the old Goldsmith, he followed
+the Baron as quickly as ever he could.
+
+Benjie ceased to torture the world of letters with literary abortions,
+as he had formerly done, preferring to employ his time in filing
+ducats; and Tussmann no longer made the booksellers' lives a burden to
+them by pestering them to hunt out old forgotten books for him.
+
+But when a few weeks of rapture and happiness had passed, a great and
+bitter sorrow took possession of the Commissionsrath's house. For the
+Goldsmith urged, in the strongest terms, upon Edmund that for his own
+sake, and for the sake of his art, he was bound to keep his solemn
+promise and go to Italy.
+
+Edmund, notwithstanding the dreadful parting from Albertine, felt the
+strongest possible impulse urging him towards the country of the arts;
+and, although Albertine shed the bitterest tears, she could not help
+thinking how very nice it would be to be able to take out letters from
+her lover at Rome, and read them out--or extracts from them--at
+aesthetic teas of an afternoon.
+
+Edmund has been in Rome now more than a year, and people do say that
+his correspondence with Albertine languishes, and that the letters are
+becoming rarer and colder. Who knows whether or not anything will ever
+come, ultimately, of the engagement between those two people? Certainly
+Albertine won't be long "in the market" in any case; she is so pretty,
+and so well off. Just at present, there is young Mr. Gloria (just going
+to be called to the bar), a very nice young gentleman indeed, with a
+slim and tightly-girded waist, a couple of waistcoats on at once, and a
+cravat tied in the English style; and he danced all last season with
+Albertine, and is to be seen now going continually with her to the
+Thiergarten, whilst the Commissionsrath trots very complacently after
+them, looking like a satisfied father. Moreover, Mr. Gloria has passed
+his second examination at the Supreme Court with flying colours.
+
+"So perhaps he and Albertine may make a match of it, should he get a
+fairly good appointment. There's no telling. Let us see what happens."
+
+
+"You have certainly written a wonderfully crack-brained thing in that,"
+Ottmar said, when Lothair had finished. "This 'Tale containing
+improbable incidents,' as you have called it, appears to me to be a
+kind of mosaic, composed of all kinds of stones put together at random,
+which dazzles and confuses one's eyes so that they can't take firm hold
+of any definite figure."
+
+"As far as I am concerned," Theodore said, "I must confess that I think
+a great deal of it is exceedingly delightful, and that it might very
+likely have been a very superior production, if Lothair hadn't, most
+imprudently, gone and read Hafftitz. The consequence of this was that
+those two practitioners of the black art, the Goldsmith and the
+Jew-coiner, had to be brought into the story somehow, willy-nilly; and
+thus those two unfortunate revenants make their appearance as
+heterogeneous elements, working, with their sorceries, in an
+unnaturally constrained manner among the incidents of the tale. It is
+well your story hasn't been printed, or you would have been hauled over
+the coals by the critics."
+
+"Wouldn't it do to light up the pages of a Berlin Almanack?" the Author
+asked, with one of his ironical smiles. "Of course I should still more
+localize the localities, and add a few names of celebrities, and so
+gain a little applause from the literary-aesthetic, if from nobody
+else.[2]
+
+
+[Footnote 2: "This speech of Lothair's shows what the Author had in his
+mind at the time. The tale _did_ appear in the Berlin Almanack of 1820,
+with additional localities, and names of celebrities in the Art-World,
+but the publishers told him he ought to try to keep within the bounds
+of 'probability,' in future."--(Note of Editor of Collected Works.)]
+
+
+"However, all the same, my dear friends, did you not laugh heartily
+enough at times, as I was reading it? and ought that not to deprive
+your criticism of some of its severity? If you, Ottmar, say my tale is
+a mosaic, you might admit that it has something of a Kaleidoscope
+character, in spite of its crackiness, and that its matters, though
+most adventitiously shaken together, do ultimately form more or less
+interesting combinations. At all events, you surely admit that there
+are one or two good characters in my story, and at the head of them,
+the love-stricken Baron Benjie, that worthy scion of the Jew-coiner
+race of Lippolts; however, we've had far too much of my piece of
+patchwork, which was only intended to amuse you for a moment as a
+_bizarre_ jest. What I would have you notice is that I have been
+faithful to my principle of welding on the Legendary to the every-day
+life of the present day."
+
+"And," said Theodore, "I am a great adherent of that principle. It used
+to be supposed to be necessary to localize everything of the legendary
+kind in the remote East, taking Scheherezade as the model in so doing;
+and, as soon as we touched upon the manners, the customs, the ways of
+life of the East, we got into a world which was apparently hovering,
+adrift, all in a sort of unreality, anchorless, before our eyes, on the
+point of floating away and disappearing. This is why those tales so
+often strike coldly on us, and have no power to kindle the inner
+spirit--the fancy. What I think, and mean, is, that the foot of the
+heavenly ladder, which we have got to mount in order to reach the
+higher regions, has to be fixed firmly in every-day life, so that
+everybody may be able to climb up it along with us. When people then
+find that they have got climbed up higher and higher into a marvellous,
+magical world, they will feel that that realm, too, belongs to their
+ordinary, every-day life, and is, merely, the wonderful and most
+glorious part thereof. For them it is the beautiful flower-garden
+beyond the city-wall into which they can go, and in which they can
+wander and enjoy themselves, if they have but made up their minds to
+quit the gloomy walls of the city, for a time."
+
+"Don't forget, though, Theodore, my friend," said Ottmar, "that there
+are quantities of people who won't go up the ladder at all, because it
+isn't 'proper' or 'becoming.' And many turn giddy by the time they get
+to the third rung of it. Many never see the ladder at all, though it is
+facing them in the broad, daily path of their lives, and they pass by
+it every day. As regards the tales of the 'Thousand and One Nights,' it
+is remarkable enough that most of those who have tried to imitate them
+have overlooked that which is just what gives them life and reality--
+exactly what Lothair's principle is. All the cobblers, tailors,
+dervishes, merchants, and so forth, who appear as the characters in
+those tales, are people who are to be met with every day in the
+streets. And--inasmuch as life is independent of times and manners, but
+is always the same affair--in its essential conditions (and always must
+be so), it follows that we feel that all those folks--upon whom, in the
+middle of their everyday lives, such extraordinary and magical
+adventures came, and such spells wound themselves--are really the sort
+of people who are actually walking about amongst us. Such is the
+marvellous, mighty power of description, characterization, and
+representation in that immortal book."
+
+As the evening was fast growing colder, it was thought advisable--on
+account of Theodore's having but half recovered from his late
+illness--that the friends should go to the great summer-house, and
+indulge in a cup of refreshing tea, in place of anything more exciting.
+
+And when the urn was on the table, singing its usual little domestic
+tune, Ottmar said--
+
+"I don't think I could have a better opportunity for reading you a
+tale which I wrote a long while ago, and which happens to begin with
+tea-drinking. I mention, to begin with, that it is in Cyprian's style."
+
+Ottmar read--
+
+
+
+                           THE UNCANNY GUEST.
+
+A storm was raging through the heavens, announcing the coming of
+winter, whirling black clouds on its wings, which dashed down hissing,
+rattling squall-showers of rain and hail.
+
+"Nobody will come to-night," said Madame von G. to her daughter
+Angelica, as the clock struck seven. "They would never venture out in
+such weather. If your father were but home!"
+
+Almost as she was speaking, in came Captain Moritz von E. (a cavalry
+officer), followed by a young Barrister, whose brilliant and
+inexhaustible fund of humour and wit was the life and soul of the
+circle which was accustomed to assemble every Thursday evening in
+Colonel von G.'s house. So that, as Angelica said, there was little
+cause to be sorry that the less intimate members of the circle were
+away, seeing that the more welcome ones had come.
+
+It felt very chilly in the drawing-room. The lady of the house had had
+a fire lighted, and the tea-table brought.
+
+"I am sure," she said, "that you two gentlemen, who have been so
+courageous as to come to see us tonight through such a storm, can
+never be content with our wretched tea. Mademoiselle Marguerite shall
+make you a brew of that good, northern beverage which can keep any
+sort of weather out." Marguerite--a young French lady, who was
+"companion" to Angelica, for the sake of her language, and other
+lady-like accomplishments, but who was only about her own age, or
+barely more--came, and performed the duty thus entrusted to her. So the
+punch steamed, while the fire sparkled and blazed; and the company sate
+down round the little tea-table.
+
+A shiver suddenly passed through them--through each and all of them;
+and they felt chilled. Though they had been talking merrily before they
+sat down, there fell now upon them a momentary silence, during which
+the strange voices which the storm had called into life in the chimney
+whistled and howled with marvellous distinctness.
+
+"There can be no doubt," said Dagobert (the young barrister), "that the
+four ingredients, Autumn, a stormy Wind, a good fire, and a jorum of
+punch, have, when taken together, a strange power of causing people to
+experience a curious sense of awesomeness."
+
+"A very pleasant one, though," said Angelica. "At all events, I do not
+know a more delightful sensation than the sort of strange shiveriness
+which goes through one when one feels--heaven knows how, or why--as if
+one were suddenly casting a glance, with one's eyes open, into some
+strange, mystic dream-world."
+
+"Exactly," said Dagobert; "that delicious shiveriness was exactly what
+came over all of us just now; and the glance into the dream-world,
+which we were involuntarily making at that moment, made us all silent.
+It is well for us that we have got it over, and that we have come back
+so quickly from the dream-world to this charming reality, which
+provides us with this grand liquid." He rose, and, bowing politely to
+Madame von G., emptied the glass before him.
+
+"But," Moritz said, "if you felt all the deliciousness of that species
+of shudder, and of the dreamy condition accompanying it (as Miss
+Angelica and I did), why shouldn't you be glad to prolong it?"
+
+"Let me say, my dear friend," Dagobert answered, "that the kind of
+dreaminess which we have to do with in this instance is not that in
+which the mind, or spirit, goes losing and sinking itself in all kinds
+of vague labyrinths of complexity of wondrous, calm enjoyment. The
+storm-wind, the blazing fire, and the punch are only the predisposing
+causes of the onsetting of that incomprehensible, mysterious
+condition--deeply grounded in our human organism--which our minds
+strive, in vain, to fight against, and which we ought to take great
+care not to allow ourselves to yield to over much. What I mean is, the
+fear of the supernatural. We all know that the uncanny race of ghosts,
+the haunters, choose the night (and particularly in stormy weather), to
+arise from their darksome dwellings, and set forth upon their
+mysterious wanderings. So that we are right in expecting some of those
+fearsome visitants just at a time like this."
+
+"You do not mean what you say, of course," Madame von G. answered; "and
+I need not tell you that the sort of superstitious fear which we so
+often, in a childish way, feel, is not in any degree inherent in our
+organization as human beings. I am certain that it is chiefly traceable
+to the foolish stories of ghosts, and so forth, which servants tell us
+while we are children."
+
+"No, Madame," Dagobert answered; "those tales--which we enjoyed more
+than any others which we heard as children--would never have raised up
+such an enduring echo in us if the strings which re-echo them had not
+existed within us to begin with. There is no denying the existence of
+the mysterious spirit-world which lies all around us, and often gives
+us note of its Being in wondrous, mystic sounds, and even in marvellous
+sights. Most probably the shudder of awe with which we receive those
+intimations of that spirit-world, and the involuntary fear which
+they produce in us, are nothing but the result of our being hemmed
+in--imprisoned--by our human organization. The awe and the fear are
+merely the modes in which the spirit imprisoned within our bodies
+expresses its sorrow thereat."
+
+"You are a spirit-seer, a believer in all those things--like all people
+who have lively imaginations," said Madame von G. "But if I were to go
+the length of admitting, and believing, that it is permitted that an
+unknown spirit-world should reveal its existence to us by means of
+sounds and sights, I should still have to say that I am unable to
+comprehend why that mysterious realm, and its denizens, should stand in
+such a relation to us that they bring merely paralyzing fear and horror
+upon us."
+
+"Perhaps," Dagobert said, "it is the punishment inflicted on us by that
+mother from whose care and discipline we have run away. I mean, that in
+that golden age when our race was living in the most perfect union with
+all nature, no dread or terror disturbed us, for the simple reason that
+in the profound peace and perfect harmony of all created things, there
+was nothing hostile that could cause us any such emotion. I was
+mentioning strange spirit-sounds; but why is it that all the real
+_nature_-tones--of whose origin and causes we can give the most
+complete account--sound to us like the most piercing sorrow, and fill
+our hearts with the profoundest dread? The most remarkable of those
+nature-tones is the air-music, or, as it is called, the 'devil-voice,'
+heard in Ceylon and the neighbouring countries, spoken of by Schubert
+in his 'Glances at the Night-side of Natural Science.' This nature-tone
+is heard on calm and bright nights, sounding like the wail of some
+human creature lamenting in the deepest distress. It seems to come
+sometimes from the most remote distance, and then again to be quite
+close at hand. It affects the human intelligence so powerfully that the
+most self-controlled cannot help feeling the deepest terror when they
+hear it."
+
+"Yes," said Moritz, "it is so. I have never been in Ceylon, certainly,
+or in any of the neighbouring countries; but I have heard that terrible
+nature-sound; and not only I, but every one else who heard it, felt
+just that precise effect which Dagobert alludes to."
+
+"I should be extremely obliged to you," said Dagobert, "and you would
+probably convince Madame von G. also, if you would not mind telling us
+what happened."
+
+"You know," Moritz said, "that I served the campaign in Spain under
+Wellington, with a mixed force of English and Spanish cavalry against
+the French. The night before the battle of Vittoria I was bivouacking
+in the open country. Being wearied to death by the long march we had
+made during the day, I had fallen into a deep sleep of exhaustion, when
+I was awakened by a piercing cry of distress. I naturally thought--and
+it was the only idea that came into my mind--that what I heard was the
+death-cry of some wounded soldier near me; but the comrades who were
+lying round me were all snoring, and there was no other sound to be
+heard. The first gleams of the dawn were breaking through the deep
+darkness, and I got up and strode away over the bodies of the sleepers,
+thinking that I might perhaps come across the wounded man, whoever he
+was, who had uttered that cry. It was a singularly calm night, and
+only most gradually and imperceptibly did the morning breeze begin to
+move, and to cause the leaves to tremble. Then a second cry, like the
+former--a long wail of woe--came ringing through the air, and died away
+in the remotest distance. It was as though the spirits of the slain
+were rising up from the battlefield, and wailing their boundless sorrow
+out into the wide heaven. My breast throbbed, was overwhelmed by an
+inexpressible awe; all the sorrow which I had ever heard exhaled from
+all human breasts was nothing in comparison with that heart-piercing
+wail. Our comrades now awoke from their sleep, and, for the third time,
+that terrible cry of sorrow arose, and filled the whole air, more
+fearful and awful than before. We were all smitten with the profoundest
+fear; even the horses were terrified; they snorted and stamped. Many of
+the Spaniards fell on their knees and prayed aloud. One of the English
+officers told us that he had several times met with this phenomenon in
+southern countries; and that it was of electrical origin, and there
+would probably be a change in the weather. The Spaniards, with their
+bent towards the supernatural, heard in it the mighty voices of
+supernatural beings, announcing great events about to happen. In this
+they were confirmed when, next day, the battle came thundering in upon
+them, with all its horrors."
+
+"Is there any occasion." Dagobert said, "to go to Ceylon, or to Spain,
+to hear these marvellous Nature-tones of sorrow and complaining? Surely
+the howling of the storm-wind, the rattling of the hail, the groanings
+and creakings of the vanes are just as capable of filling us with
+profound terror as are those other Nature-tones we have been speaking
+of. Listen to that weird music which some hundreds of fearful voices
+are organing down this chimney; or to the strange little spirit-like
+ditty which the tea-urn is just beginning to sing."
+
+"Oh! most ingenious indeed!" cried Madame von G. "Even into the very
+tea-urn Dagobert conjures spirits which render themselves cognisable to
+us by fearful cries of woe."
+
+"But he is not far wrong, dear mother!" Angelica said. "I could very
+soon be seriously frightened at the extraordinary way in which that
+whistling, and rattling, and hissing is going on in the chimney; and
+the little tune which the tea-urn is singing, in such a tone of
+profound sorrow, is--to me--so eery and uncomfortable, that I shall go
+and blow out the spirit lamp, that there may be an end of it at once."
+
+Angelica rose: her handkerchief fell. Moritz quickly picked it up and
+handed it to her. She allowed a glance, full of soul, from her heavenly
+eyes to rest upon him; he took her hand, and pressed it fervently to
+his lips.
+
+At that moment Marguerite shuddered convulsively, as if touched by some
+electric current, and allowed the glass of punch, which she had just
+poured out for Dagobert, to drop from her hand. It shattered to atoms
+on the floor. She cast herself down at Madame von G.'s feet sobbing
+bitterly--said she was a stupid creature, and implored that she might
+be allowed to go to her room. She said that what they had been talking
+about had made her frightened and nervous--although she had not
+understood it; that she felt frightened still--as if she could not stay
+in the room--though she could not explain why; that she was feeling
+unwell, and would like to get to bed. So saying, she kissed Madame von
+G.'s hands, and bedewed them with the tears she was shedding.
+
+Dagobert felt the painfulness of the incident, and the necessity of
+giving matters a different turn. He, too, fell at Madame von G.'s feet,
+and in the most pathetic voice at his command, begged forgiveness for
+the culprit. As regarded the stain of punch on the floor, he vowed that
+he would put waxed brushes on his feet in the morning, and go figuring
+athwart the boards in the most exquisite tours, and steps that ever
+inspired the brain of a court dancing-master.
+
+Madame von G., who had at first been looking very grave over
+Marguerite's mishap, strange as it seemed, and inexplicable, cleared up
+a little at Dagobert's words. She gave each of them her hand with a
+smile and said, "Rise, and wipe away your tears. You are forgiven,
+Marguerite; you have this champion of yours to thank that I do not
+inflict a very severe punishment upon you. But I can't let you go
+altogether scot free. If you _are_ a little out of sorts, you must try
+to forget it. I shall ordain you to stay here, be more assiduous than
+before at filling the gentlemen's glasses with the punch, and, above
+all things, you must reward your champion and defender with a kiss, in
+token of your sincere gratitude."
+
+"So that Virtue is its own reward," Dagobert said, with a comic pathos,
+as he took Marguerite's hand. "All I ask of you, beauteous lady," he
+continued, "is to believe that the world contains (though you might be
+sceptical on the subject) legal luminaries of such a heroic sort that
+they do not hesitate a moment to offer themselves up a sacrifice at the
+shrine of Innocence and Truth. But we must obey the commands of our
+fair judge, from whose award there is no appeal." And he impressed a
+fugitive kiss upon Marguerite's lips, and then led her back to her seat
+with much solemnity. Marguerite, blushing like a rose, laughed very
+heartily; but the bright tears still stood in her eyes.
+
+"Stupid fool that I am," she cried in French, "have I not got to do
+whatever Madame von G. bids me? I will keep perfectly calm. I will go
+on making their punch. I will listen to their ghost-stories without
+being in the least afraid."
+
+"Bravo, angelic child," cried Dagobert. "My heroism has infected you,
+and the sweetness of your lips has inspired _me_. My imagination has
+unfolded new wings, and I feel ready to serve up the most awful events
+and mysteries from the 'Regno di Pianto.'"
+
+"I thought we had done with this unpleasant subject," said Madame von
+G.
+
+"Oh no, mother dear," cried Angelica eagerly; "please to let Dagobert
+go on! I am exactly like a child about those things. I don't know
+anything I so delight in as a nice ghost story--something that makes
+all one's flesh creep."
+
+"Oh, how I _do_ like that!" Dagobert cried. "Nothing is so utterly
+delightful in young ladies as their being tremendously superstitious,
+and easily frightened; and I should never dream of marrying a woman who
+was not terribly afraid of ghosts."
+
+"You were saying a little while ago, dear Dagobert," said Moritz, "that
+we ought to guard ourselves against--or take care how we allow
+ourselves to get into--that dreamy state of awe which is the
+commencement of spirit-fear--the dread of the superhuman, the ghostly
+world. You have still got to explain to us the _why_."
+
+"If there is, at the commencement of it, any real cause for that sense
+of awesomeness--which is at first so thoroughly blended up with the
+_dreamily_ pleasurable--it by no means remains at that stage. Soon
+there supervenes a deadly fear--a horror which makes the hair stand on
+end; so that the said pleasurable feeling at the commencement would
+seem to be the fascination of temptation with which the Spirit World
+lures us on and ensnares us. We were talking of certain Nature-tones
+which are capable of explanation, and of their fearsome effect upon our
+senses. But we at times hear sounds more extraordinary, of which the
+origin and cause are indiscoverable by us, and which produce in us the
+profoundest awe and terror. All reassuring ideas--such as that they
+proceed from some animal in pain, or are produced by currents of air,
+or other natural causes--are useless and of no avail. Every one, I
+presume, has experienced that, in the night, the very faintest sound,
+if only it occurs at regular intervals with pauses between, completely
+drives away sleep, and goes on increasingly stirring up one's inward
+disquiet till it reaches the point of complete disorganization of the
+faculties. Not very long ago I had to spend a night, on a journey, at
+an inn, where the landlord put me in a nice, comfortable, lofty, airy
+bedroom. In the middle of the night I started up from my sleep, wide
+awake. The moon was shining brightly in at the window, which was
+uncurtained, so that I could see every article of the furniture, and
+even the minutest objects in the room. There was a sound as of water
+dropping into some metallic dish. I lay and listened. The drops went on
+falling at regular, measured intervals, drip, drip, drip. My dog, who
+was lying under the bed, crept out, and went about the room whimpering
+and crying, scratching on the walls and on the floor. I felt as if
+streams of icy water were running all through me, and the cold
+perspiration dripped from my brow. However, I collected myself by a
+great effort, and--after first of all giving a good loud shout--I got
+out of bed, and went forward to the middle of the room. There the drops
+seemed to be falling close in front of me, or rather I should say
+_right through_ me into the metal, of which I heard the reverberation
+ringing loud and clear as they fell. Then, overcome by terror, I crept
+back, somehow, to the bed, and covered myself up with the bedclothes.
+And then it seemed to me that the dropping--still going on at the same
+regular intervals--grew gradually fainter and fainter, and died away as
+if in the distance. I fell into a deep sleep, out of which I did not
+wake till it was bright daylight in the morning. The dog had come and
+lain down close beside me in bed, and did not move till I got up, when
+he jumped up too, barking vigorously, as if he had got over his terror
+of the previous night. It occurred to me that it might only be to me
+that the (doubtless) natural cause or causes of this strange sound were
+a mystery, and I told the landlord of my adventure--of which I still
+felt the terror in all my frame. I ended by saying that he could, no
+doubt, explain the whole affair to me, but that he ought to have told
+me of it beforehand. He turned as pale as a sheet, and begged me never
+to tell any one what had happened to me, as he would risk the loss of
+his customers. He said many travellers had complained about that sound,
+which they had heard on bright moonlight nights--that he had examined
+everything with the utmost care and attention, and even had the floor
+of that room and the adjoining one taken up, as well as making
+inquisition into everything in the neighbourhood, without coming upon
+the faintest trace of anything to account for this awe-inspiring noise.
+It had not been heard for nearly a year before the night I speak of,
+and he had been flattering himself that the Principle--whatever it
+might be--which was haunting the room had ceased its operation. But
+seeing, to his great alarm, that in this he was mistaken, he determined
+that he would never, in any circumstances, allow anybody to pass the
+night there again."
+
+"Oh! how terrible!" cried Angelica, shuddering like one in the cold
+stage of an ague. "That is really most terrible! Oh! I am sure I should
+have died if anything like that had happened to me! But I have often
+woke up from sleep, suddenly, feeling an indescribable, inexplicable
+alarm and anxiety, as if I had been going through something terrible
+and alarming; and yet, I had not the slightest idea what it was that I
+had been going through, nor the very faintest recollection of any
+fearful dream, or anything of that kind. Rather I seemed to be waking
+from some condition of complete unconsciousness, like death."
+
+"I know that feeling perfectly well," Dagobert said. "Perhaps it points
+straight to the effect upon us of psychical influences external to us,
+to which we are compelled to yield ourselves up, whether we choose or
+not. Just as the mesmeric subject has no remembrance of the mesmeric
+sleep, or of anything which happens in it. Perhaps that sense of fear
+and anxiety which we feel on awaking (as we have said), of which the
+cause is hidden from us, may be the lingering echo of some mighty spell
+which has forced us out of ourselves."
+
+"I remember very distinctly," Angelica said, "some four years ago, the
+night before my fourteenth birthday, awaking in a condition of that
+kind. I could not shake off the terror of it for several days
+afterwards. But I strove in vain to remember anything about my dream
+(if dream it was, that had so terrified me). I knew, and I know quite
+well, that in the very dream itself I had told several people--my own
+dear mother amongst them--what the dream was, several times. But all I
+could remember when I woke was that I had told the dream. I could not
+recall the slightest trace of what the dream had been."
+
+"This strange psychical phenomenon," Dagobert said, "is closely
+connected with the magnetic principle."
+
+"Our conversation is getting more and more dreadful," said Madame von
+G. "We are getting deep, and losing ourselves in matters I can't bear
+even to think about. Moritz, I must beg you to tell us something
+entertaining--outrageous even--that we may get away from this terrible
+region of the supernatural."
+
+"I should be very happy to try," said Moritz, "if you will just allow
+me to tell one gruesome tale, which has been hovering on my lips for a
+long time. At this moment all my being is so filled with it that I feel
+that I could not talk about anything else."
+
+"Discharge yourself, then," said Madame von G., "from the load of
+awesomeness which so weighs upon you. My husband will be home
+immediately, and then I should be so delighted to work through some
+battle or other with you and him, or to hear you talk in your absorbed
+manner about horses, or anything, to get me out of this overstrained
+condition into which all this supernatural stuff, I must admit, puts
+me."
+
+"In my last campaign," said Moritz, "I made the acquaintance of a
+Russian Lieutenant-Colonel, a Livonian by birth, scarcely thirty, who,
+as chance willed it that we should be serving together before the
+enemy for a considerable time, soon became my very intimate friend.
+Bogislav--that was his Christian name--possessed every quality fitted
+to gain for him, everywhere, the highest consideration and the most
+sincere regard. He was tall and fine-looking, with an intellectual
+face. He possessed masculine beauty, much mental cultivation, and was
+kindliness itself, while brave as a lion. He could be particularly
+cheerful and entertaining, especially over a glass of wine; but there
+would often come over him, and overwhelm him, the thought of something
+terrible which had happened to him, leaving traces of the most intense
+horror and terror on his face. When this happened he would lapse into
+silence, leave the company, and stroll about up and down, alone. In the
+field, he used to ride all round the outposts at night, from one to
+another, restlessly, only yielding to sleep when completely exhausted;
+and as, in addition to this, he would often expose himself to the
+extremest danger, without any special necessity, and seemed to seek, in
+battle, death, which fled from him--for in the toughest hand-to-hand
+engagement never a bullet touched him; no sword-cut came near him--it
+seemed evident that his life had been marred by some irreparable
+bereavement, or perhaps some rash deed.
+
+"We stormed, and captured, a fortified castle on the French territory,
+and remained quartered there for a day or two, to give the men some
+rest. The rooms where Bogislav was quartered were but a few steps from
+mine. In the night I was awakened by a gentle knocking at my door. I
+asked who was there. My name was called out: I recognised Bogislav's
+voice, and went to let him in. There he stood in his night-dress, with
+a branched candlestick in his hand, pale as death, with his face
+distorted, trembling in every limb, unable to utter a word.
+
+"'For heaven's sake! what has happened?--what is the matter, dearest
+Bogislav?' I cried. I took him to the arm-chair; made him swallow a
+glass or two of the full-bodied wine which was on the table; held his
+hand fast in mine, and spoke what comforting words I could, in my
+ignorance of the cause of his strange condition.
+
+"He recovered himself by degrees, heaved a deep sigh, and then began,
+in a hollow voice: 'No! no! I shall go mad, unless death takes me; God
+knows I throw myself with eager longing into his arms. To you, my
+faithful Moritz, I will confide my fearful secret. I told you once that
+I was in Naples a good many years ago. There I met the daughter of one
+of the most distinguished families, and fell deeply in love with her.
+She returned my affection, and, as her parents gave their approval, I
+saw the fulfilment of my brightest hopes at hand. The wedding-day was
+fixed, when there appeared on the scene a Sicilian Count, who came
+between us with a most eager suit to my beloved and betrothed. I took
+him to task; he insulted me; we met, and I sent my sword through his
+body. I hastened to my love; I found her bathed in tears. She called me
+the accursed murderer of the man she had adored, and repelled me with
+every mark of disgust; screamed and wept in inconsolable sorrow; fell
+down fainting, as if stung by a scorpion, when I touched her hand. Who
+can describe my amazement! Her parents could not give the slightest
+explanation of the sudden change in her. She had never given any
+favourable heed to the Count's attentions.
+
+"'Her father concealed me in his palazzo, and, with the most noble
+zeal, took care that I should be enabled to leave Naples undiscovered.
+Driven by all the furies, I pushed on to St. Petersburg without a halt.
+It is not the faithlessness of my love which plays havoc with my life.
+No! it is a terrible mystery. Since that unhappy day in Naples I have
+been dogged and pursued by the terrors of hell itself. Often by day,
+but still oftener by night, I hear--sometimes as if a long distance
+away, sometimes as if quite close beside me--a deep death-groan. It is
+the voice of the Count whom I killed! It makes my inmost soul quiver
+with horror. I hear that horrible sound distinctly, close to my ear, in
+the thick of the thunder of the heavy siege-guns, and the rattle of
+musketry, and all the wild despair of madness awakes within me. This
+very night----' Bogislav paused; and I, as well as he, was seized with
+the wildest horror; for there came to our hearing a long-sustained,
+heart-breaking wail of sorrow, as if proceeding from the stair outside.
+Then it was as if some one raised himself, groaning and sighing, with
+difficulty from the ground, and was coming towards us with heavy,
+uncertain steps.
+
+"At this Bogislav started up from his seat, and, with a wild glow in
+his eyes, cried out, in a voice of thunder: 'Appear to me, abominable
+one, if you only will! I am more than a match for you, and all the
+spirits of hell that are at your disposal!'
+
+"On this there came a tremendous crash, and----"
+
+Just then the door of the drawing-room flew open with a startling
+noise.
+
+And just as Ottmar read those words, the door of the summer-house in
+which the friends were sitting flew open, also with a startling noise,
+and they saw a dark form, wrapped in a mantle, approaching slowly, with
+noiseless footfalls, as of a spirit. They all gazed at this form, a
+little startled, holding their breaths.
+
+"Is it right," said Lothair at length, when the full light of the
+lamps, falling upon his face, displayed their friend Cyprian. "Is it
+right to try to frighten good folks with foolish playing the ghost?
+However, I know, Cyprian, that you don't content yourself with studying
+spirits and all sorts of strange, visionary matters; you would often
+fain be a spook or ghost yourself. But where have you appeared from so
+suddenly? How did you find out that we were here?"
+
+"I came back to-day from my journey," Cyprian said. "I went at once to
+see Theodore, Lothair, and Ottmar, but found none of them at home. In
+the fullness of my annoyance I ran out here into the open; and chance
+so willed it that, as I was returning to the town, I struck into the
+walk which leads past this summer-house. Then I seemed to hear a
+well-known voice; I peeped in at the window, and saw my worthy Serapion
+Brethren, and heard Ottmar reading 'The Uncanny Guest.'"
+
+"What," interrupted Ottmar, "you know my tale?"
+
+"You forget," said Cyprian, "that it was from me that you got the
+ingredients of the tale. It was I who told you of the 'Devil's Voice,'
+the aerial music of Ceylon, who even gave you the idea of the sudden
+appearing of the 'Uncanny Guest'; and I am curious to hear how you have
+worked out this 'Thema' of mine. You see that it was a matter of course
+that just when Ottmar had made the drawing-room door fly open I had
+necessarily to do the like, and appear to you myself."
+
+"Not as an uncanny guest, though," said Theodore, "but as a true and
+faithful Serapion Brother, who, although he frightened me not a little,
+as I must perforce admit, is a thousand times welcome to me all the
+same."
+
+"And," said Lothair, "if he insists on being a spirit, he must, at all
+events, not be an unquiet spirit, but sit down and drink tea, without
+making too much clattering with his cup, and listen to Ottmar, as to
+whose tale I am all the more curious, that this time it is a working up
+of a thema given to him by another."
+
+Theodore, who was still easily excited after his recent illness, had
+been affected by Cyprian's proceedings rather more than was desirable.
+He was deadly pale, and it was evident that he had to put some
+constraint on himself to appear at his ease.
+
+Cyprian saw this, and was not a little concerned at what he had done.
+"The truth is," he said, "that I had not thought about our friend's
+having only recently recovered, and hardly that, from a severe illness.
+I was acting contrarily to my own fundamental principle, which totally
+prohibits the perpetration of jokes of this description, because it has
+often happened that the terrible serious reality of the spirit-world
+has come gripping in into jokes of this kind, resulting in very
+terrific things. I remember, for instance----"
+
+"Stop! stop!" cried Lothair. "I can't have any more interruptions.
+Cyprian is on the point of carrying us away, after his manner, into
+that dark world of spells where he is at home. Please to go on with
+your story, Ottmar." Ottmar went on reading.
+
+And in came a man, dressed in black from top to toe, with a pallid
+face, and a set, serious expression. He went up to Madame von G.
+with the most courtly bearing of a man of the highest rank, and in
+well-selected terms, begged her to pardon him for having been so long
+in arriving, though his invitation was of such old standing--but that,
+to his regret, he had been detained by having to pay an unavoidable
+visit first. Madame von G., unable to recover all in a moment from the
+start which his entry had caused her, murmured a few indistinguishable
+words, which seemed to amount to saying, would the stranger be kind
+enough to take a seat. He drew a chair close to her, and opposite to
+Angelica, sat down, and let his eyes pass over every member of the
+company. Every one felt paralysed; none could utter a word. Then the
+stranger began to speak, saying that he felt he stood doubly in need of
+excuses; firstly, for arriving at such a time, and, secondly, for
+having made his entrance in such a sudden manner, and so startlingly.
+The latter, however, he was not to blame for, inasmuch as the door had
+been thrown open in that violent manner by the servant whom he had
+found in the hall. Madame von G., overcoming with difficulty the eery
+feeling with which she was seized, inquired whom she had the honour of
+welcoming. The stranger seemed not to notice this question, his
+attention being fixed on Marguerite, who had suddenly become changed in
+all her ways and bearing, kept tripping and dancing close up to the
+stranger, and telling him, with constant tittering and laughter, and
+with much volubility, in French, that they had all been in the very
+thick of the most delightful ghost-stories, and that Captain Moritz had
+just been saying that some evil spectre ought to make its appearance at
+the very instant when he had come in. Madame von G., feeling all the
+awkwardness of having to ask this stranger, who had said he came by
+invitation, as to his name and so forth, but more distressed and
+rendered uncomfortable by his presence, did not repeat her question,
+but reprimanded Marguerite for her behaviour, which almost passed the
+limits of the "_convenable_." The stranger put a stop to Marguerite's
+chatter, turning to the others, and leading the conversation to some
+event of indifference which had happened in the neighbourhood. Madame
+von G. answered him. Dagobert tried to join in the conversation, which
+soon dragged painfully along in detached, interrupted sentences; and
+during this, Marguerite kept trilling couplets of French chansons, and
+seemed to be trying steps, as if remembering the "tours" of the newest
+gavotte, while the others were scarcely capable of moving. They all
+felt their breasts oppressed; the presence of the stranger weighed upon
+them like the sultry oppressiveness which precedes a thunderstorm. The
+words died on their lips when they looked at the deathly pale face of
+this uncanny guest. The markedly foreign accent with which he spoke
+both French and German indicated that he was neither a German nor a
+Frenchman.
+
+Madame von G. breathed freely, with an enormous sense of relief, when
+at length horses were heard drawing up at the door, and the voice of
+her husband, Colonel von G., was distinguishable.
+
+When the Colonel came in, and saw the stranger, he went up to him
+quickly, saying, "Heartily welcome to my house, dear Count." Then
+turning to his wife, he said, "This is Count S., a very dear friend of
+mine; I made his acquaintance in the north, but met him afterwards in
+the south."
+
+Madame von G., whose anxiety began to be relieved, assured the Count,
+with pleasant smiles, that it was only because her husband had omitted
+to tell her of his visit that he had been received perhaps a little
+strangely, and not as a welcome friend ought to have been. Then she
+told the Colonel how the conversation had been running all the evening
+upon the supernatural; how Moritz had been telling a dreadful story of
+events which had happened to him and a friend of his, and that, at the
+very moment when he had been saying, "There came a tremendous crash,"
+the door had flown open, and the Count had come in.
+
+"Very good indeed," said the Colonel, laughing; "they thought you were
+a ghost, dear Count! I fancy I see traces of alarm and nervousness
+about Angelica's face still, and Moritz looks as though he had scarcely
+shaken off the excitement of the story he was telling. Even Dagobert
+does not seem quite in his ordinary spirits. Really, Count, it is a
+little too bad to take you for a _revenant_; don't you think so?"
+
+"Perhaps," the Count replied; "I really may have something more or less
+ghostly about me. A good deal is being said nowadays, about people who,
+by virtue of some peculiar psychical quality, possess the power of
+influencing others, so that they experience very remarkable effects. I
+may be endowed with such a power."
+
+"You are not serious, my dear Count," said Madame von G. "But there is
+no doubt that people are discovering very wonderful mysteries
+nowadays."
+
+"People are pampering their curiosity, and weakening their minds over
+nursery tales and absurd fancies," was the Count's reply. "We ought all
+to take care not to allow ourselves to be infected by this curious
+epidemic. However, I interrupted this gentleman at the most interesting
+point of his story, and as none of his hearers would like to lose the
+finale, the explanation of the mystery, I would beg him to go on with
+it."
+
+To Captain Moritz this stranger Count was not only uncomfortable and
+uncanny, but utterly repugnant, in all the depths of his being. In his
+words he found--all the more that he gave them out with a most
+irritating, self-satisfied smile--something indescribably contemptuous
+and insulting; and he replied, in an irritated tone, and with flashing
+eyes, that he feared his nursery tales might interfere with the
+pleasantness--the sense of enjoyment--which the Count had introduced
+into the circle, so that he would prefer to say no more.
+
+The Count seemed scarcely to notice what Moritz said. Playing with the
+gold snuff-box which he had taken in his hand, he asked Madame von
+G---- if the "lively" young lady was French. He meant Marguerite, who
+kept dancing about the room, trilling. The Colonel went up to her and
+asked her, half aloud, if she had gone out of her senses. Marguerite
+slunk, abashed, to the tea-table, and sat down there quite quiet. The
+Count now took up the conversation, and spoke, in an entertaining
+manner, of this and the other events which had recently happened.
+Dagobert was scarcely able to put in a word. Moritz stood, red as fire,
+with gleaming eyes, as if waiting eagerly for the signal of attack.
+Angelica appeared to be completely immersed in the piece of feminine
+"work" at which she had set herself to labour. She did not raise an
+eyelid. The company separated in complete discomfort.
+
+"You are a fortunate man," Dagobert cried, when he and Moritz were
+alone together. "Doubt no longer that Angelica is much attached to you.
+Clearly did I read in her eyes to-day that she is devotedly in love
+with you. But the devil is always busy, and sows his poisonous tares
+amongst the blooming wheat. Marguerite is on fire with an insane
+passion. She loves you with all the wild, passionate pain which only a
+fiery temperament is capable of feeling. The senseless way in which she
+behaved tonight was the effect of an irresistible outbreak of the
+wildest jealousy. When Angelica let fall the handkerchief--when you
+took it up and gave it to her--when you kissed her hand--the furies of
+hell possessed that poor Marguerite. And you are to blame for that. You
+used formerly to take the greatest pains to pay every kind of attention
+to that very beautiful French girl. I know well enough that it was only
+Angelica whom you had in your mind. Still, those falsely directed
+lightnings struck, and set on fire. And now the misfortune is there;
+and I do not know how the matter will end without terrible tumult and
+trouble."
+
+"Marguerite be hanged (if I may use such an expression)," said Moritz.
+"If Angelica loves me--and ah! I can't believe, quite, that she does--I
+am the happiest and the most blest of men, and care nothing about all
+the Marguerites in the world, nor their foolishnesses neither. But
+another fear has come into my mind. This uncanny, stranger Count, who
+came in amongst us like some dark, gloomy mystery--doesn't he seem to
+place himself, somehow, most hostilely between her and me? I feel, I
+scarce know how, as if some reminiscence came forward out of the dark
+background--I could almost describe it as a dream--which reminiscence,
+or dream, whichever it may be, brings this Count to my memory under
+terrible circumstances of some sort. I feel as though, wherever he
+makes his appearance, some awful misfortune must come flashing out of
+the depths of the darkness as a result of his conjurations. Did you
+notice how often his eyes rested on Angelica, and how, when they did, a
+feeble flush tinted his pallid cheeks, and disappeared again rapidly?
+The monster has designs upon my darling; and that is why the words
+which he addressed to me sounded so insulting. But I will oppose him
+and resist him to the very death!"
+
+Dagobert said the Count was a supernatural sort of fellow, no doubt,
+with something very eery and spectral about him, and that it would be
+as well to keep a sharp look-out on his proceedings, though, perhaps,
+he thought there was less in, or behind, him than one would suppose;
+and that the uncanny feelings which everybody had experienced with
+regard to him were chiefly attributable to the excited state in which
+they had all been when he made his appearance. "Let us face all this
+disquieting affair," said Dagobert, "with firm courage and unshakable
+confidence. No dark power will bend the head which holds itself up with
+true bravery and indomitable resolution."
+
+A considerable time had elapsed. The Count, whose visits to the
+Colonel's house increased in frequency, had rendered himself almost
+indispensable. It was universally agreed, now, that the accusation
+against him of being uncanny recoiled on those who made it. "He might
+very well have styled us uncanny people, with our white faces and odd
+behaviour," as said Madame von G----. Everything he said evinced a
+store of the most valuable and various information; and although, being
+an Italian, he spoke with a foreign accent, his command of the German
+language was most perfect and fluent. His narratives had a fire which
+bore the hearers irresistibly along, so that even Moritz and Dagobert,
+hostile as were their feelings to this stranger, forgot their
+repugnance to him when he talked, and when a pleasant smile broke out
+over his pale, but handsome and expressive face, and they hung upon his
+lips, like Angelica and the others.
+
+The Colonel's friendship with him had arisen in a way which proved him
+to be one of the noblest-minded of men. Chance had brought them
+together in the far north, and there the Count, in the most unselfish
+and disinterested manner, came to the Colonel's aid in a difficulty in
+which he found himself involved, which might have had the most
+disastrous consequences to his fortune, if not to his good name and
+honour. Deeply sensible of all that he owed him, the Colonel hung on
+him with all his soul.
+
+"It is time," the Colonel said to his wife one day when they were alone
+together, "that I should tell you the principal reason why the Count is
+here. You remember that he and I, when we were in P----, four years
+ago, grew more and more intimate and inseparable, so that at last we
+occupied two rooms which opened one into the other. He happened to come
+into my room one morning early, and he saw the little miniature of
+Angelica, which I had with me, lying on my writing-table. As he looked
+more and more closely at it, he lost his self-command in a strange way.
+Not able to answer me, he kept gazing at it. He could not take his eyes
+from it. He cried out excitedly that he had never seen a more beautiful
+creature--had never before known what love was--it was now blazing up
+in the depths of his heart. I jested about the extraordinary effect of
+the picture on him--called him a second Kalaf, and congratulated him on
+the fact that my good Angelica was not a Turandot. At last I told him
+pretty clearly that at his time of life--for, though not exactly
+elderly, he could not be said to be a very young man--this romantic way
+of falling in love with a portrait rather astonished me. But he vowed
+most vehemently--nay, with every mark of that passionate excitement,
+almost verging on insanity, which belongs to his country--that he loved
+Angelica inexpressibly, and, if he were not to be dashed into the
+profoundest depths of despair, I must allow him to gain her affection
+and her hand. It is for this that the Count has come here to our house.
+He fancies he is certain that she is not ill-disposed to him, and he
+yesterday laid his formal proposal before me. What do you think of the
+affair?"
+
+Madame von G---- could not explain why his latter words shot through
+her being like some sudden shock. "Good heavens," she cried, "_that_
+Count for our Angelica! that utter stranger!"
+
+"Stranger!" echoed the Colonel with darkened brow; "the Count a
+stranger! the man to whom I owe my honour, my freedom, nay, perhaps my
+life! I know he is not quite so young as he has been, and perhaps is
+not altogether suited to Angelica in point of age; but he is of high
+lineage, and rich, very rich."
+
+"And without asking Angelica," said Madame von G----. "Very likely she
+may not have any such liking for him as he, in his fondness, imagines."
+
+The Colonel started from his chair, and placed himself in front of her
+with gleaming eyes. "Have I ever given you cause to imagine," he said,
+"that I am one of those idiotic, tyrannical fathers who force their
+daughters to marry against their inclinations, in a disgraceful way?
+Spare me your absurd romanticisms and sentimentalities. Marriages may
+be made without any such extraordinary, fanciful love at first sight,
+and so forth. Angelica is all ears when he talks; she looks at him with
+most kindly favour; she blushes like a rose when he kisses her hand,
+which she willingly leaves in his. And that is how an innocent girl
+expresses that inclination which truly blesses a man. There is no
+occasion for any of that romantic love which so often runs in your
+sex's heads in such a disturbing fashion."
+
+"I have an idea," said Madame von G----, "that Angelica's heart is not
+so free as, perhaps, she herself imagines it is."
+
+"Nonsense," cried the Colonel, and was on the point of breaking out in
+a passion, when the door opened, and Angelica came in, with the
+loveliest smile of the most ingenuous simplicity. The Colonel, at once
+losing all his irritation, went to her, took her hand, kissed her on
+the brow, and sat down close beside her. He spoke of the Count,
+praising his noble exterior, intellectual superiority, character, and
+disposition; and then asked her if she thought she could care for him.
+She answered that at first he had appeared very strange and eery to
+her, but that now those feelings had quite disappeared, and that she
+liked him very much.
+
+"Heaven be thanked then!" cried the Colonel. "Thus it was ordained to
+turn out, for my comfort, for my happiness. Count S--- loves you, my
+darling child, with all his heart. He asks for your hand, and you won't
+refuse him." But scarcely had he uttered those words when Angelica,
+with a deep sigh, sank back as if insensible. Her mother caught her in
+her arms, casting a significant glance at the Colonel, who gazed
+speechless at the poor child, who was as pale as death. But she
+recovered herself; a burst of tears ran down her cheeks, and she cried,
+in a heart-breaking voice, "The Count! the terrible Count! oh, no, no;
+never, never!"
+
+As gently as possible the Colonel asked her why it was that the Count
+was so terrible to her. Then Angelica told him that at the instant when
+he had said that the Count loved her, that dream which she dreamt four
+years before, on the night before her fourteenth birthday--from which
+she awoke in such deadly terror without being able to remember the
+images or incidents of it in the very slightest--had come back to her
+memory quite clearly.
+
+"I thought," she said, "I was walking in a beautiful garden where there
+were strange bushes and flowers which I had never seen the like of
+before. Suddenly I found myself close before a wonderful tree with dark
+leaves, large flowers, and a curious perfume something like that of the
+elder. Its branches were swaying and making a delicious rustling, and
+it seemed to be making signs inviting me to rest under its shade.
+Irresistibly impelled by some invisible power, I sank down on the grass
+which was under the tree. Then strange tones of complaint or lamenting
+seemed to come through the air, stirring the tree like the touch of
+some breeze; and it began to utter sighs and moans. And I was seized by
+an indescribable pain and sorrow; a deep compassion arose in my heart,
+I could not tell why. Then, suddenly, a burning beam of light darted
+into my breast, and seemed to break my heart in two. I tried to cry
+out, but the cry could not make its way from my heart, oppressed with a
+nameless anguish--it became a faint sigh. But the beam which had
+pierced my heart was the gleam of a pair of eyes which were gazing on
+me from under the shade of the branches. Just then the eyes were quite
+close to me; and a snow-white hand became visible, describing circles
+all round me. And those circles kept getting narrower and narrower,
+winding round me like threads of fire, so that, at last, the web of
+them was so dense and so close that I could not move. At the same time
+I felt that the frightful gaze of those terrible eyes was assuming the
+mastery over my inmost being, and utterly possessing my whole existence
+and personality. The one idea to which it now clung, as if to a feeble
+thread, was, to me, a martyrdom of death-anguish. But the tree bent
+down its blossoms towards me, and out of them spoke the beautiful
+voice of a youth, which said, 'Angelica! I will save you--I will save
+you--but----'"
+
+Angelica was interrupted. Captain von P---- was announced. He came to
+see the Colonel on some matter of duty. As soon as Angelica heard his
+name she cried out with the bitterest sorrow, in such a voice as bursts
+only from a breast wounded with the deepest love-anguish--while tears
+fell down her cheeks--"Moritz! oh, Moritz!"
+
+Captain von P---- heard those words as he came in; he saw Angelica,
+bathed in tears, stretch out her hands to him. Like a man beside
+himself he dashed his forage cap to the ground, fell at Angelica's
+feet, caught her in his arms, as she sank down overwhelmed with rapture
+and sorrow, and pressed her fervently to his heart.
+
+The Colonel contemplated this little scene in speechless amazement.
+Madame von G---- said: "I thought this was how it was; but I was not
+sure!"
+
+"Captain von P----," said the Colonel angrily, "what is there between
+you and my daughter?"
+
+Moritz, quickly recovering himself, placed Angelica--more dead than
+alive--gently down on the couch, picked up his cap, advanced to the
+Colonel with a face red as fire, and eyes fixed on the ground, and
+declared that he loved Angelica unutterably; but that, upon his honour,
+until that moment, not a word approaching to a declaration of his
+feelings had crossed his lips. He had been but too seriously doubtful
+as to its being possible that Angelica could return his love. He said
+it was only at this moment--which he could not possibly have
+anticipated--that the bliss accorded to him by heaven had been fully
+disclosed to him; and that he trusted he should not be repulsed by the
+noblest hearted of mankind, the tenderest of fathers, when he implored
+him to bestow his blessing on a union sealed by the purest and
+sincerest affection.
+
+The Colonel gazed at Moritz, and then at Angelica, with looks of gloom;
+then he paced up and down with folded arms like one who strives to
+arrive at a resolution. He paused before his wife, who had taken
+Angelica in her arms and was whispering to her words of consolation.
+
+"What," he inquired, "has this silly dream of yours to do with
+Count----?"
+
+Angelica threw herself at his feet, kissed his hands, bathed them in
+her tears, and said, half-audibly, "Oh, father! dearest father! those
+terrible eyes which mastered my whole being were the Count's eyes. It
+was his spectral hand which wove round me those meshes of fire. But the
+voice of comfort which spoke to me out of the perfumed blossoms of the
+wondrous tree, was the voice of Moritz--my Moritz!"
+
+"Your Moritz!" cried the Colonel, turning so quickly that he nearly
+threw Angelica down. He continued, speaking to himself in a lower tone:
+"Thus a father's wise resolve, and the offer of a grand and noble
+gentleman, are to be cast to the winds, for the sake of childish
+imaginations, and a clandestine love affair." And he walked up and down
+as before. At last, addressing Moritz, he said--
+
+"Captain von P----, you know very well what a high opinion of you I
+have. I could not have wished for a better son-in-law. But I have
+promised my daughter to Count S----, to whom I am bound by the deepest
+obligations by which one man can be bound to another. At the same time,
+please do not suppose that I am going to play the part of the obstinate
+and tyrannical father. I shall hasten to the Count at once. I shall
+tell him everything. Your love will be the cause of a cruel difference
+between me and this gentleman. It may cost me my life. No matter; it
+can't be helped. Wait here till I come back."
+
+Moritz warmly declared that he would sooner face death a hundred times
+than that the Colonel should run the very slightest risk; but the
+Colonel hurried away without reply.
+
+As soon as he had gone, the lovers fell into each other's arms, and
+vowed unalterable fidelity. Angelica said that it was not until her
+father told her of the Count's views with regard to her, that she felt,
+in the depths of her soul, how unspeakably precious and dear Moritz was
+to her, and that she would rather die than marry any one else. Also
+that she had felt certain for a long time, that he loved her just as
+deeply. Then they both bethought themselves of all the occasions when
+they had given any betrayal of their love for each other; and, in
+short, were in a condition of the highest enjoyment and blissfulness,
+like two children, forgetting all about the Colonel and his anger and
+opposition. Madame von G----, who had long watched the growth of this
+affection, and approved of Angelica's choice with all her heart,
+promised, with deep emotion, to leave no stone unturned to prevent the
+Colonel from entering into an alliance which she abhorred, without
+precisely knowing why.
+
+When an hour or so had passed, the door opened and, to the surprise of
+all, Count S---- came in, followed by the Colonel, whose eyes were
+gleaming. The Count went up to Angelica, took her hand, and looked at
+her with a smile of bitter pain. Angelica shrank, and murmured almost
+inaudibly, "Oh! those eyes!"
+
+"You turn pale, Mademoiselle," said the Count, "just as you did when
+first I came into this house. Do you truly look upon me as a terrible
+spectre? No, no; do not be afraid of me, Angelica. I do but love you
+with all the fervour and passion of a younger man. I had no knowledge
+that you had given away your heart, when I was foolish enough to make
+an offer for your hand. Even your father's promise does not give me the
+slightest claim to a happiness which it is yours alone to bestow. You
+are free, Mademoiselle. Even the sight of me shall no longer remind
+you of the moments of sadness which I have caused you. Soon, perhaps
+to-morrow, I shall go back to my own country."
+
+"Moritz! My Moritz!" Angelica cried in the utmost joy and delight, and
+threw herself on her lover's breast. The Count trembled in every limb;
+his eyes gleamed with an unwonted fire, his lips twitched convulsively;
+he uttered a low inarticulate sound. But turning quickly to Madame von
+G---- with some indifferent question, he succeeded in mastering his
+emotion.
+
+But the Colonel cried, again and again, "What nobility of mind! What
+loftiness of character! Who is there like this man of men--my heart's
+own friend for ever!" Then he pressed Moritz, Angelica, and his own
+wife, to his heart, and said laughingly, that he did not care to hear
+another syllable about the wicked plot they had been laying against
+him, and hoped, too, that Angelica would have no more trouble with
+spectral eyes.
+
+It being now well on in the day, the Colonel begged Moritz and the
+Count to remain and have dinner. Dagobert was sent for, and arrived in
+high spirits.
+
+When they sat down to table, Marguerite was missing. It appeared she
+had shut herself up in her room, saying she was unwell and unable to
+join the company. "I do not know," said Madame von G----, "what has
+been the matter with Marguerite for some time; she has been full of the
+strangest fancies, laughing and crying without apparent reason. Really,
+she is at times almost unendurable."
+
+"Your happiness is Marguerite's death," Dagobert whispered to Moritz.
+
+"Spirit-seer!" answered Moritz in the same tone, "do not mar my joy."
+
+The Colonel had never been in better spirits or happier, and Madame von
+G---- had never been so pleased in the depths of her heart, relieved as
+she was from anxieties which had often been present with her before.
+When, in addition to this, Dagobert was revelling in the most brilliant
+high-spirits, and the Count, forgetting his pain, suffered the stores
+of his much experienced mind to stream forth in rich abundance. It will
+be seen that our couple of lovers were encircled by a rich garland of
+gladness.
+
+Evening was coming on, the noblest wines were pearling in the glasses,
+toasts to the health of the betrothed pair were drunk enthusiastically;
+when suddenly the door opened and Marguerite came tottering in, in
+white night-gear, with her hair down, pale, and distorted, like death
+itself.
+
+"Marguerite, what extraordinary conduct!" the Colonel cried.
+
+But, paying no heed to him, she dragged herself up to Moritz, placed
+her ice-cold hand on his breast, laid a gentle kiss on his brow,
+murmured in a faint, hollow voice, "The kiss of the dying brings luck
+to the happy bridegroom," and sank on the floor.
+
+"This poor foolish girl is in love with Moritz," Dagobert whispered to
+the Count, who answered--
+
+"I know. I suppose she has carried her foolishness so far as to take
+poison."
+
+"Good heavens!" cried Dagobert, starting up and hurrying to the
+arm-chair where they had placed poor Marguerite. Angelica and her
+mother were busy besprinkling her and rubbing her forehead with
+essences. When Dagobert went up she opened her eyes.
+
+"Keep yourself quiet, my dear child," said Madame von G----; "you are
+not very well, but you will soon be better--you will soon be better!"
+
+Marguerite answered in a feeble, hollow voice, "Yes; it will soon be
+over. I have taken poison."
+
+Angelica and her mother screamed aloud.
+
+"Thousand devils!" cried the Colonel. "The mad creature! Run for the
+doctor! Quick! The first and best that's to be found; bring him here
+instantly!"
+
+The servants, Dagobert himself, were setting off in all haste.
+
+"Stop!" cried the Count, who had been sitting very quietly hitherto,
+calmly and leisurely emptying a beaker of his favourite wine--the fiery
+Syracuse. "If Marguerite has taken poison, there is no need to send for
+a doctor, for, in this case, I am the very best doctor that could
+possibly be called in. Leave matters to me."
+
+He went to Marguerite, who was lying profoundly insensible, only giving
+an occasional convulsive twitch. He bent over her, and was seen to take
+a small box out of his pocket, from which he took something between his
+fingers, and this he gently rubbed over Marguerite's neck and the
+region of her heart. Then coming away from her, he said to the others,
+"She has taken opium; but she can be saved by means which I can
+employ."
+
+By the Count's directions Marguerite was taken upstairs to her room,
+where he remained with her alone. Meanwhile, Madame von G---- had found
+the phial which had contained the opium-drops prescribed some time
+previously for herself. The unfortunate girl had taken the whole of the
+contents of the phial.
+
+"The Count is really a wonderful man," Dagobert said, with a slight
+touch of irony. "He divines everything. The moment he saw Marguerite he
+knew she had taken poison, and next he knew exactly the name and colour
+of it."
+
+In half-an-hour the Count came and assured the company that Marguerite
+was out of danger, as far as her life was concerned. With a side-glance
+at Moritz, he added that he hoped to remove all cause of mischief from
+her mind as well. He desired that a maid should sit up with the
+patient, whilst he himself would spend the night in the next room, to
+be at hand in case anything fresh should transpire; but he wished to
+prepare and strengthen himself for this by a few more glasses of wine;
+for which end he sat down at table with the other gentlemen, whilst
+Angelica and her mother, being upset by what had happened, withdrew.
+
+The Colonel was greatly annoyed at this silly trick, as he called it,
+of Marguerite's, and Moritz and Dagobert felt very eery and uncanny
+over the whole affair; but the more out of tune they were the more did
+the Count give the rein to a joviality which had never been seen in him
+before, and which, in sober truth, had a certain amount of gruesomeness
+about it.
+
+"This Count," Dagobert said to Moritz, as they walked away, "has a
+something most eerily repugnant to me about him, in some strange
+inexplicable way. I cannot help a feeling that there must be something
+exceedingly mysterious connected with him."
+
+"Ah!" said Moritz, "there is a weight as of lead on my heart. I am
+filled with a dim foreboding that some dark mischance threatens my
+love."
+
+That night the Colonel was aroused from sleep by a courier from the
+Residenz. Next morning he came to his wife, looking rather pale, and
+constraining himself to a calmness which he was far from feeling, said,
+"We have to be parted again, dearest child. There's going to be another
+campaign, after this little bit of a rest. I shall have to march off
+with the regiment as soon as ever I can, perhaps this evening."
+
+Madame von G---- was greatly startled; she broke out into bitter
+weeping. The Colonel said, by way of consolation, that he felt sure
+this campaign would end as gloriously as the last--that he felt in such
+admirable spirits about it that he was certain nothing could go amiss.
+"What you had better do," he said, "is, take Angelica with you to the
+country-house, and stay there till we send the enemy to the rightabout
+again. I am providing you with a companion who will keep you amused,
+and prevent your feeling lonely. Count S---- is going with you."
+
+"What!" cried Madame von G----. "Good heavens! the Count to go with
+us!--Angelica's rejected lover--that deceitful Italian, who is hiding
+his annoyance in the bottom of his heart, only to bring it out in
+fullest force at the first proper opportunity; this Count who--I cannot
+say why--seems more intensely antipathetic to me since yesterday than
+ever?"
+
+"Good God!" the Colonel cried; "there really is no bearing with the
+nonsensical ideas--the silly dreams--which your sex gets into its head.
+The magnanimity of soul of a man of his firmness and fineness of
+character is too much for you to comprehend. The Count passed the whole
+night in the room next to Marguerite's, as he said he should do. He was
+the first person I told the news of the fresh campaign to. It would
+scarcely be possible for him to go home now. This was very annoying to
+him, and I gave him the option of going to our country-place and
+staying there. He accepted my offer, after much hesitation, and gave me
+his word of honour that he would do everything in his power to take
+care of you, and make the time of our separation pass as quickly as
+possible. You know what obligations I am under to him. My country-place
+is, just now, a real asylum for him; could I refuse him that?"
+
+Madame von G---- could say nothing further. The Colonel did as he had
+said he would. In the course of the evening the trumpets sounded boot
+and saddle, and every description of nameless pain and heart-breaking
+sorrow came upon the loving ones.
+
+A few days after, when Marguerite had recovered, the three ladies went
+off to the country-house. The Count followed, with a number of
+servants.
+
+And at first, the Count, showing the utmost delicacy of feeling, was
+careful never to enter the ladies' presence except when they sent for
+him specially; at all other times he remained in his own rooms, or went
+for solitary walks.
+
+At first the campaign seemed to go rather in favour of the enemy, but
+important successes were soon scored against him, and the Count was
+always the very first to hear the news of those operations, and
+particularly the most accurate and minute intelligence of what was
+happening to the regiment which the Colonel commanded. In the bloodiest
+engagements neither the Colonel nor Moritz had met with so much as a
+scratch; and the despatches from headquarters confirmed this.
+
+Thus the Count always appeared to the ladies in the character of a
+heavenly messenger of victory and good-fortune; besides this, all his
+behaviour betokened the most deep and sincere attachment to Angelica,
+which he exhibited to her as the tenderest of fathers might have done,
+occupied constantly about her happiness. Both she and her mother were
+compelled to admit to themselves that the Colonel's opinion of this
+tried friend of his was the correct one, and that all their--and other
+people's--prejudices against him had been the most preposterous
+fancies. At the same time Marguerite seemed to be quite cured of her
+foolish passion, and to have become the same gay, talkative, sprightly
+French lady whom we saw at an earlier period.
+
+A letter from the Colonel to his wife, enclosing one from Moritz to
+Angelica, dispelled the last remnant of anxiety. The enemy's capital
+city was captured, and an armistice established.
+
+Angelica was floating in a sea of blissfulness; and always it was the
+Count who spoke of the brave deeds of Moritz, and of the happiness
+which was opening its blossoms for the lovely future bride. After such
+speeches he would take Angelica's hand, press it to his heart, and ask
+if he were still as hateful to her as ever. With blushes and tears she
+would assure him that she had never hated him, but that she had loved
+Moritz too deeply and exclusively not to dread the idea of any other
+suitor for her hand. And the Count would say, very solemnly and
+seriously, "Look on me as your true, sincere, fatherly friend,
+Angelica," breathing a gentle kiss upon her forehead, which she
+suffered without ill-will; for it felt much like one of her father's
+kisses, which he used to apply about the same place.
+
+It was almost expected that the Colonel would very soon be home again,
+when a letter from him arrived containing the terrible news that Moritz
+had been set upon by some armed peasants, as he was passing with his
+orderly through a village. Those peasants shot him down at the side of
+the brave trooper, who managed to fight his way through; but the
+peasants carried Moritz away. Thus the joy with which the house was
+inspired was suddenly turned into the deepest and most inconsolable
+sorrow.
+
+
+The Colonel's household was all in busy movement from roof to ceiling.
+Servants in gay liveries were hurrying to and fro; carriages filled
+with guests were rattling into the courtyard, the Colonel in person
+receiving them with his new order on his breast.
+
+In her room upstairs sate Angelica in wedding-dress, beaming in the
+full pride of her loveliness: her mother was with her.
+
+"My dearest child," said the latter, "you have of your own free will
+accepted Count S---- as your husband. Much as jour father desired this,
+he has never at all insisted on it since poor Moritz's death; indeed,
+it seems to me as though he had had much of the feeling which (I cannot
+hide from you) I have had myself; it is utterly incomprehensible to me
+how you can have forgotten poor Moritz so soon. However, the time has
+come; you are giving your hand to the Count. Examine your own heart. It
+is not yet too late. May the remembrance of him whom you have forgotten
+never fall across your heart like some black shadow."
+
+"Never," cried Angelica, while the tears ran down her cheeks, "never
+can I forget Moritz. Never; oh! never can I love as I loved _him_! What
+I feel for the Count is something totally different. I cannot explain
+how it is that the Count has made me feel this irresistible attachment
+to him; but feel it I do, in every fibre of my being. It is not that I
+love him: I do not; I cannot love him in the way I loved Moritz; but
+I feel as if I could not, and cannot live apart from him--without
+him--independently of him. That it is only through him that I can think
+and feel. A spirit voice seems perpetually enjoining me to cleave to
+him as a wife; telling me that I _must_ do so, and that unless I do
+there is no further, or other life possible for me here below. And I
+obey this voice, which I believe to be the mysterious prompting of
+Providence."
+
+The maid here came in to say that Marguerite, who had been missing
+since the early part of the morning, had not made her appearance yet,
+but that the Gardener had just brought a little note which she had
+given him, with instructions to deliver it when he had finished his
+work and taken the last of the flowers to the Castle. It was as
+follows:--
+
+"You will never see me more; a dark mystery drives me from your house.
+I implore you--you, who have been to me as a tender mother--not to have
+me followed, or brought back by force. My second attempt to kill myself
+will be more successful than the first. May Angelica enjoy to the full
+that bliss, the idea of which pierces my heart. Farewell for ever!
+Forget the unfortunate Marguerite."
+
+"What is this?" cried Madame von G----; "the poor soul seems to have
+set her whole mind upon destroying our happiness. Must she always come
+in your way just as you are going to give your hand to the man of your
+choice? Let her go; the foolish, ungrateful thing, whom I treated and
+cared for as if she had been my own daughter. I shall certainly never
+trouble my head about her any more."
+
+Angelica cried bitterly at the loss of her whom she had looked on as a
+sister; her mother implored her not to waste a thought on the foolish
+creature at such an important time.
+
+The guests were assembled in the _salon_, ready, as soon as the
+appointed hour should come, to go to the little chapel where a catholic
+priest was to marry the couple. The Colonel led in the bride. Everyone
+marvelled at her beauty, which was enhanced by the simple richness of
+her dress. The Count had not arrived. One quarter of an hour succeeded
+another, and still he did not make his appearance. The Colonel went to
+the Count's rooms. There he found his valet, who said his master, just
+when he was fully dressed for the ceremony, had suddenly felt unwell,
+and had gone out for a turn in the park, hoping the fresh air would
+revive him, and forbidding him, the valet, to follow him.
+
+The Colonel could not explain to himself why it was that this
+proceeding of the Count's fell on him with such a weight--why it was
+that an idea immediately came to him that something terrible had
+happened. He sent back to the house to say that the Count would come
+very shortly, and that a celebrated doctor, who was one of the guests,
+was to be privately told to come out to him as quickly as possible. As
+soon as he came, he, the Colonel and the valet, went to search for the
+Count in the park. Striking out of the main alley, they went to an open
+space surrounded by thick shrubberies, which the Colonel remembered to
+have been a favourite resort of the Count's; and there they saw him
+sitting on a mossy bank, dressed all in black, with his star sparkling
+on his breast, and his hands folded, leaning his back against an
+elder-tree in full blossom, staring, motionless, before him. They
+shuddered at the sight, for his hollow, darkly-gleaming eyes were
+evidently devoid of the faculty of vision.
+
+"Count S----! what has happened?" the Colonel cried; but there was no
+answer, no movement, not the slightest appearance of respiration. The
+doctor hurried forward; tore off the Count's coat, waistcoat, and
+neckcloth, and rubbed his brow: turning then to the Colonel, he said in
+hollow tones, "Human help is useless here. He is dead!--there has been
+an attack of apoplexy!"
+
+The valet broke out into loud lamentations. The Colonel, mastering his
+inward horror with all his soldierly self-control, ordered him to hold
+his peace, saying, "If we are not careful what we are about, we shall
+kill Angelica on the spot." He caused the body to be taken up and
+carried by unfrequented paths to a pavilion at some distance, of which
+he happened to have the key in his pocket. There he left it under the
+valet's charge, and, with the doctor, went back to the chateau again.
+Hovering between one resolve and another, he could not make up his mind
+whether to conceal the whole matter from Angelica, or tell her, calmly
+and quietly, the terrible truth.
+
+When he came into the house he found everything in the utmost confusion
+and consternation. Angelica, in the middle of an animated conversation,
+had suddenly closed her eyes, and fallen into a state of profound
+insensibility. She was lying on a sofa in an adjoining room. Her face
+was not pale, nor in the least distorted; the roses of her cheeks
+bloomed brighter and fresher than ever, and her face shone with an
+indescribable expression of happiness and delight. She was as one
+penetrated with the highest blissfulness. The doctor, after observing
+her with the minutest carefulness of examination for a long while,
+declared that there was not the least cause for anxiety in her
+condition, nor the slightest danger. He said she was (although it was
+entirely inexplicable _how_ she was) in a magnetized condition, and
+that he would not venture to awaken her from it: she would wake from it
+of her own accord presently.
+
+Meanwhile mysterious whisperings arose amongst the guests. The sudden
+death of the Count seemed to have somehow got wind, and they all
+dispersed in gloomy silence. One could hear the carriages rolling away.
+
+Madame von G----, bending over Angelica, watched her every respiration.
+She seemed to be whispering words, but none could hear or understand
+them. The doctor would not allow her to be undressed; even her gloves
+were not to be taken off; he said it would be hurtful even to touch
+her.
+
+All at once she opened her eyes, started up from the sofa, and, with a
+resounding cry of "Here he is!" "Here he is!" went rushing out of the
+room, through the ante-chamber and down the stairs.
+
+"She is out of her mind," cried Madame von G----. "Oh, God of Heaven,
+she is mad!" "No, no," the Doctor said, "this is not madness; there is
+something altogether unheard of taking place," with which he hastened
+after her down the steps.
+
+He saw her speeding like an arrow, with her arms lifted up above her
+head, out of the gate and away along the broad high road, her rich
+lace-ornamented dress fluttering, and her hair, which had come down,
+streaming in the wind.
+
+A man on horseback was coming tearing up towards her; when he reached
+her, he sprang from his horse and clasped her in his arms. Two other
+riders who were following him drew rein and dismounted.
+
+The Colonel, who had followed the doctor in hot haste, stood gazing on
+the group in speechless astonishment, rubbing his forehead, as if
+striving to keep firm hold of his thoughts.
+
+It was Moritz who was holding Angelica fast pressed to his heart;
+beside him stood Dagobert, and a fine-looking young man in the handsome
+uniform of a Russian General.
+
+"No," cried Angelica over and over again, as the lovers embraced
+one another, "I was never untrue to you, my beloved Moritz." And
+Moritz cried, "Oh, I know that; I know that quite well, my darling
+angel-child. He enchanted you by his satanic arts."
+
+And he more carried than led her back to the chateau, while the others
+followed in silence. Not till he came to the castle did the Colonel
+give a profound sigh, as if it was only then that he came fully to his
+senses; and, looking round him with questioning glances, said, "What
+miracles! what extraordinary events!"
+
+"Everything will be explained," said Moritz, presenting the stranger to
+the Colonel as General Bogislav von Se----n, a Russian officer, his
+most intimate friend.
+
+As soon as they came into the chateau, Moritz, with a wild look, and
+unheeding the Colonel's alarmed amazement, cried out, "Where is Count
+von S----i?"
+
+"Among the dead!" said the Colonel, in a hollow voice, "he was seized
+with apoplexy an hour ago."
+
+Angelica shrank and shuddered. "Yes," she said, "that I know. At the
+very instant when he died I felt as though some crystal thing within my
+being shivered, and broke with a 'kling.' I fell into an extraordinary
+state. I think I must have gone on carrying that frightful dream (which
+I told you of) further, because, when I came to look at matters again,
+I found that those terrible eyes had no more power over me; the web of
+fire loosened and broke away. Heavenly blissfulness was all about me. I
+saw Moritz, my own Moritz; he was coming to me. I flew to meet him,"
+and she clasped her arms round him as if she thought he was going to
+escape from her again.
+
+"Praised be Heaven," said Madame von G----. "Now the weight has gone
+from my heart which was stifling it. I am freed from that inexpressible
+anxiety and alarm which came upon me at the instant when Angelica
+promised to marry that terrible Count. I always felt as though she were
+betrothing herself to mysterious, unholy powers with her betrothal
+ring."
+
+General von Se----n expressed a desire to see the Count's remains, and
+when the body was uncovered and he saw the pale countenance now fixed
+in death, he cried, "By Heaven, it is he! It is none other than
+himself."
+
+Angelica had fallen into a gentle sleep in Moritz's arms, and had been
+carried to her bed, the doctor thinking that nothing more beneficial
+could have happened to her than this slumber, which would rest the
+life-spirits, overstrained as they had been. He considered that in this
+manner a threatening illness would be naturally dispelled.
+
+"Now," said the Colonel, "it is time to solve all those riddles and
+explain all those miraculous events. Tell us, Moritz, what angel of
+Heaven has called you back to life?"
+
+"You know," said Moritz, "all about the murderous and treacherous
+attack which was made upon me near S----, though the armistice had been
+proclaimed. I was struck by a bullet, and fell from my horse. How long
+I lay in that deathlike state I cannot tell. When I first awoke to a
+dim consciousness, I was being moved somewhere, travelling. It was dark
+night; several voices were whispering near me. They were speaking
+French. Thus I knew that I was badly wounded and in the hands of the
+enemy. This thought came upon me with all its horror, and I sank again
+into a deep fainting fit. After that came a condition which has only
+left me the recollection of a few hours of violent headache; but at
+last, one morning, I awoke to complete consciousness. I found myself in
+a comfortable, almost sumptuous bed, with silk curtains and great
+cords and tassels. The room was lofty, and had silken hangings and
+richly-gilt tables and chairs, in the old French style. A strange man
+was bending over me and looking closely into my face. He hurried to a
+bell-rope and pulled at it hard. Presently the doors opened, and two
+men came in, the elder of whom had on an old-fashioned embroidered
+coat, and the cross of Saint Louis. The younger came to me, felt my
+pulse, and said to the elder, in French, 'All danger is over; he is
+saved.' The elder gentleman now introduced himself to me as the
+Chevalier de T----. The house was his in which I found myself. He said
+he had chanced, on a journey, to be passing through the village at the
+very moment when the treacherous attack was made upon me, and the
+peasants were going to plunder me. He succeeded in rescuing me, had me
+put into a conveyance, and brought to his chateau, which was quite
+out of the way of the military routes of communication. Here his own
+body-surgeon had applied himself to the arduous task of curing me of my
+very serious wound in the head. He said, in conclusion, that he loved
+my nation, which had shown him kindness in the stormy revolutionary
+times, and was delighted to be able to be of service to me. Everything
+in his chateau which could conduce to my comfort or amusement was
+freely at my disposal, and he would not, on any pretence, allow me to
+leave him until all risk, whether from my wound or the insecurity of
+the routes, should be over. All that he regretted was the impossibility
+of communicating with my friends for the moment, so as to let them know
+where I was.
+
+"The Chevalier was a widower, and his sons were not with him, so that
+there were no other occupants of the chateau but himself, the surgeon,
+and a great retinue of servants. It would only weary you were I to tell
+you at length how I grew better and better under the care of the
+exceedingly able surgeon, and how the Chevalier did everything he
+possibly could to make my hermit's life agreeable to me. His
+conversation was more intellectual, and his views less shallow, than is
+usually the case with his countrymen. He talked on arts and sciences,
+but avoided the more novel and recent developments of them as much as
+possible. I need not tell you that my sole thought was Angelica, that
+it burned my soul to know that she was plunged in sorrow for my death.
+I constantly urged the Chevalier to get letters conveyed to our
+headquarters. He always declined to do so, on account of the
+uncertainty of the attempt, as it seemed as good as certain that
+fighting was going on again; but he consoled me by promising that as
+soon as I was quite convalescent he would have me sent home safe and
+sound, happen what might. From what he said I was led to suppose that
+the campaign was going on again, and to the advantage of the allies,
+and that he was avoiding telling me so in words from a wish to spare my
+feelings. But I need only mention one or two little incidents to
+justify the strange conjectures which Dagobert has formed in his mind.
+I was nearly free from fever, when one night I suddenly fell into an
+incomprehensible condition of dreaminess, the recollection of which
+makes me shudder, though that recollection is of the dimmest and most
+shadowy kind. I saw Angelica, but her form seemed to be dissolving away
+indistinctly in a trembling radiance, and I strove in vain to hold it
+fast before me. Another being pressed in between us, laid herself on my
+breast, and grasped my heart within me, in the depths of my entity; and
+while I was perishing in the most glowing torment, I was at the same
+time penetrated with a strange miraculous sense of bliss. Next morning
+my eyes fell on a picture hanging near the bed, which I had never seen
+there before. I shuddered, for it was Marguerite beaming on me with her
+black brilliant eyes. I asked the servant whose picture it was, and
+where it came from. He said it was the Chevalier's niece, the Marquise
+de T----, and had always been where it was now, only I had not noticed
+it; it had been freshly dusted the day before. The Chevalier said the
+same. So that, whilst--waking or dreaming--my sole desire was to see
+Angelica, what was continually before me was Marguerite. It seemed to
+me that I was alienated, estranged, from myself. Some exterior foreign
+power seemed to have possession of me, ruling me, taking supreme
+command of me. I felt that I could not get away from Marguerite. Never
+shall I forget the torture of that condition.
+
+"One morning, as I was lying in a window seat, refreshing my whole
+being by drinking in the perfume and the freshness which the morning
+breeze was wafting to me, I heard trumpets in the distance, and
+recognized a cheery march-tune of Russian cavalry. My heart throbbed
+with rapture and delight. It was as if friendly spirits were coming to
+me, wafted on the wings of the wind, speaking to me in lovely voices of
+comfort, as if a newly-won life was stretching out hands to me to lift
+me from the coffin in which some hostile power had nailed me up. One or
+two horsemen came up with lightning speed, right into the castle
+enclosure. I looked down, and saw Bogislav. In the excess of my joy I
+shouted out his name; the Chevalier came in, pale and annoyed,
+stammering out something about an unexpected billeting, and all sorts
+of trouble and annoyance. Without attending to him, I ran downstairs
+and threw myself into Bogislav's embrace.
+
+"To my astonishment, I now learned that peace had been proclaimed a
+long time before, and that the greater part of the troops were on their
+homeward march. All this the Chevalier had concealed from me, keeping
+me on in the chateau as his prisoner. Neither Bogislav nor I knew
+anything in the shape of a motive for this conduct. But each of us
+dimly felt that there must be something in the nature of foul play
+about it. The Chevalier was quite a different man from that moment,
+sulky and peevish. Even to lack of good breeding, he wearied us with
+continual exhibitions of self-will, and naggling about trifles. Nay,
+when, in the purest gratitude, I spoke enthusiastically of his having
+saved my life, he smiled malignantly; and, in fact, his whole conduct
+was that of an incomprehensible eccentric.
+
+"After a halt of eight-and-forty hours for rest, Bogislav marched off
+again, and I went with him. We were delighted when we turned our backs
+on the strange old-world place, which now looked to me like some
+gloomy, uncanny prison-house. But now, Dagobert, do you go on, for it
+is quite your turn to continue the account of the rest of the strange
+adventures which we have met with."
+
+"How," began Dagobert, "can we doubt, and hesitate to believe in, the
+marvellous power of foreboding, and fore-knowing, events which lie so
+deep in man's nature? I never believed that my friend was dead. That
+Spirit or Intelligence (call it whatever you choose) which speaks to
+us, comprehensibly, from out our own selves, in our dreams, told me
+that Moritz was alive, and that, somehow and somewhere, he was being
+held fast in bonds of some most mysterious nature. Angelica's relations
+with the Count cut me to the heart; and when, some little time ago, I
+came here and found her in a peculiar condition, which, I am obliged to
+say, caused me an inward horror (because I seemed to see, as in a magic
+mirror, some terrible mysterious secret), there ripened in me a resolve
+that I would go on a pilgrimage, by land and water, until I should find
+my friend Moritz. I say not a word of my delight when I found him, on
+German ground, at A----, and in the company of General von S----en.
+
+"All the furies of hell awoke in his breast when he heard of Angelica's
+betrothal to the Count; but all his execrations and heart-breaking
+lamentations at her unfaithfulness to him were silenced when I told
+him of certain ideas which I had formed, and assured him that it
+was in his power to set the whole matter straight in a moment. General
+von Se----en shuddered when I mentioned the Count's name to him, and
+when, at his desire, I described his face, figure, and appearance, he
+cried, 'Yes, there can be no further doubt. He is the very man!'"
+
+"You will be surprised," here interrupted the General, "to hear me say
+that this Count S----i, many years ago, in Naples, carried away from
+me, by means of diabolical arts, a lady whom I deeply and fondly loved.
+At the very instant when I ran my sword through his body, both she and
+I were seized upon by a hellish illusion which parted us for ever. I
+have long known that the wounds which I gave him were not dangerous in
+the slightest degree, that he became a suitor for the lady's hand, and,
+alas! that on the very day when she was to have been married to him,
+she fell down dead, stricken by what was said to be an attack of
+apoplexy."
+
+"Good Heavens!" cried Madame von G----. "No doubt a similar fate was
+hanging over my darling child! But how is it that I feel this is so?"
+
+"The voice of the boding Spirit tells you so, Madame," said Dagobert.
+
+"And then," said Madame von G----, "that terrible apparition which
+Moritz was telling us of that evening when the Count came in in such a
+mysterious way?"
+
+"As I was telling you then," said Moritz, "there fell a crashing blow.
+An ice-cold deathly air blew upon me, and it seemed to me that a pale
+indistinct form went hovering and rustling across the room, in
+wavering, scarcely distinguishable outlines. I mastered my terror with
+all the might of my reason. All I seemed to be conscious of was that
+Bogislav was lying stiff, cold, and rigid, like a man dead. When he had
+been brought back to consciousness, with great pains and trouble, by
+the doctor who was summoned, he feebly reached out his hand to me, and
+said, 'Soon, to-morrow at latest, all my sorrows will be over.' And it
+really happened as he said, though it was the will of Providence that
+it should come about in quite a different way to that which we
+anticipated. In the thick of the fighting, next morning, a spent ball
+struck him on the breast and knocked him out of his saddle. This kindly
+ball shattered the portrait of his false love, which he wore next to
+his heart, into a thousand splinters. His contusion soon healed, and
+since that moment Bogislav has been quite free from everything of an
+uncanny nature."
+
+"It is as he says," said the General, "and the very memory of her who
+is lost to me does no more than produce in me that gentle sadness which
+is so soothing to the heart. But I hope our friend Dagobert will go on
+to tell you what happened to us further."
+
+"We made all haste away from A----," Dagobert resumed, "and this
+morning, just as day was breaking, we reached the little town of P---,
+about six miles from this place, meaning to rest there for an hour or
+two, and then come on here. Imagine the feelings of Moritz and me when,
+from one of the rooms in the inn, we saw Marguerite come bursting out
+upon us, with insanity clearly written on her pallid face. She fell at
+Moritz's feet and embraced his knees, weeping bitterly, calling herself
+the blackest of criminals, worthy a thousand deaths. She implored him
+to end her life on the spot. Moritz repulsed her with the deepest
+abhorrence, and rushed away from the house."
+
+"Yes," said Moritz, "when I saw Marguerite at my feet, all the torments
+of that terrible condition in which I had been at the Chevalier's came
+back upon me, goading me into a state of fury such as I had never known
+before. I could scarcely help running my sword through her heart; but I
+succeeded in mastering myself, and I made my escape after a mighty
+effort."
+
+"I lifted Marguerite up from the floor," Dagobert continued, "and
+helped her to her room. I succeeded in calming her, and heard her tell
+me, in broken sentences, exactly what I had expected and anticipated.
+She gave me a letter from the Count, which had reached her the previous
+midnight. I have it here."
+
+He produced it, and read it as follows:--
+
+"Fly, Marguerite! All is lost! The detested one is coming quickly. All
+my science, knowledge, and skill are of no avail to me as against the
+dark fate and destiny about to overtake me at the very culminating
+point of my career.
+
+"Marguerite, I have initiated you into mysteries which would have
+annihilated any ordinary woman had she endeavoured to comprehend them.
+But you, with your exceptional mental powers, and firm, strong will and
+resolution, have been a worthy pupil to the deeply experienced master.
+Your help has been most precious to me. It was through you that I
+controlled Angelica's mind, and all her inner being. And, to reward
+you, it was my desire to prepare for you the bliss of your life,
+according to the manner in which your heart conceived it; and I dared
+to enter within circles the most mysterious, the most perilous. I
+undertook operations which often terrified even myself. In vain. Fly,
+or your destruction is certain. Until the supreme moment comes I shall
+battle bravely on against the hostile powers. But I know well that that
+supreme moment brings to me instant death. But I will die all alone.
+When the supreme moment comes I shall go to that mysterious tree, under
+whose shadow I have so often spoken to you of the wondrous secrets
+which were known to me, and at my command.
+
+"Marguerite, keep aloof from those secrets for evermore. Nature,
+terrible mother, angry when her precocious children prematurely pry
+into her secrets and pluck at the veil which covers her mysteries,
+throws to them some glittering toy which lures them on until its
+destroying power is directed against them. I myself once caused the
+death of a woman, who perished at the very moment when I thought I was
+going to take her to my heart with the most fervid affection; and this
+paralysed my powers. Yet, dolt that I was, I still thought I should
+find bliss here on earth. Farewell, Marguerite, farewell. Go back to
+your own country. Go to S----. The Chevalier de T---- will charge
+himself with your welfare and happiness. Farewell."
+
+As Dagobert read this letter, all the auditors felt an inward shudder,
+and Madame von G---- said, "I shall be compelled to believe in things
+which my whole heart and soul refuse to credit. However, I certainly
+never could understand now it was that Angelica forgot Moritz so
+quickly and devoted herself to the Count. At the same time I cannot but
+remember that she was all the time in an extraordinary, unnatural
+condition of excitement, and that was a circumstance which filled me
+with the most torturing anxiety. I remember that her inclination for
+the Count showed itself at first in a very strange way. She told me she
+used to have the most vivid and delightful dreams of him nearly every
+night."
+
+"Exactly," said Dagobert. "Marguerite told me that, by the Count's
+directions, she used to sit whole nights by Angelica's bedside,
+breathing the Count's name into her ear very, very softly. And the
+Count would very often come into the room about midnight, fix a
+steadfast gaze on Angelica for several minutes together, and then go
+away again. But now that I have read you the Count's letter, is there
+any need of commentary? His aim was to operate psychically upon the
+Inner Principle by various mysterious processes and arts, and in this
+he succeeded, by virtue of special qualifications of his nature. There
+were most intimate relations between him and the Chevalier de T----,
+both of them being members of that secret society or 'school' which has
+a certain number of representatives in France and Italy, and is
+supposed to be descended from, or a continuation of, the celebrated
+P---- school. It was at the Count's instigation that the Chevalier kept
+Moritz so long shut up in his chateau, and practised all sorts of
+love-spells on him. I myself could go deeper into this subject, and say
+more about the mysterious means by which the Count could influence the
+Psychic Principle of others, as Marguerite divulged some of them to me.
+I could explain many matters by a science which is not altogether
+unknown to me, though I prefer not to call it by its name, for fear of
+being misunderstood. However, I had rather avoid all those subjects,
+to-day at all events."
+
+"Oh, pray avoid them for ever," cried Madame von G----. "No more
+reference to the dark, unknown realm, the abode of fear and horror. I
+thank the Eternal Power, which has rescued my beloved child, and freed
+us from the uncanny guest who brought us such terrible trouble."
+
+It was arranged that they should go back to town the following day,
+except the Colonel and Dagobert, who stayed behind to see to the burial
+of the Count's remains.
+
+When Angelica had long been Moritz's happy wife, it chanced that one
+stormy November evening the family, and Dagobert, were sitting round
+the fire in the very room into which Count S---- had made his entry in
+such a spectral fashion. Just as then, mysterious voices were piping,
+awakened by the storm-wind in the chimney.
+
+"Do you remember?" said Madame von G----.
+
+"Come, come," cried the Colonel; "no ghost stories, I beg." But
+Angelica and Moritz spoke of what their feelings had been on that
+evening long ago; of their having been so devotedly in love with each
+other, and unable to help attaching the most overweening importance to
+every little incident which occurred: how the pure beam of that love of
+theirs had been reflected by everything, and even the sweet bond of
+alarm wove itself out of loving, longing hearts--and how the Uncanny
+Guest, heralded by all the spectral voices of ill-omen, had brought
+terror upon them. "Does it not seem to you, dearest Moritz," said
+Angelica, "that the strange tones of the storm-wind, as we hear them
+now, are speaking to us, only of our love, in the kindliest possible
+tones?"
+
+"Yes! yes!" said Dagobert, "and the singing of the kettle sounds
+to-night to _me_ much more like a little cradle song than anything
+eerie."
+
+Angelica hid her blushing face on Moritz's breast. And _he_--for his
+part--clasped his arm round his beautiful wife, and softly whispered,
+"Is there, here below, a higher bliss than this?"
+
+
+"I see very plainly," said Ottmar, when he had finished, and the
+friends still sat in gloomy silence, "that my little story has not
+pleased you particularly, so we had better not say much more about it,
+but consign it to oblivion."
+
+"The very best thing we could do," said Lothair.
+
+"And yet," Cyprian said, "I must take up the cudgels for my friend.
+Of course you will say that I am to some extent mixed up in the
+matter--that Ottmar has taken a good many of the germs of the story
+from me, and on this occasion has been cooking in my kitchen, so that
+you won't be disposed to allow me to be a judge in the case. Yet,
+unless you mean to condemn everything without the slightest remorse,
+like so many Rhadamanthuses--you must admit, yourselves, that there is
+much in Ottmar's story which must be allowed to pass as genuinely
+Serapiontic; the beginning, for instance."
+
+"Quite right," said Theodore; "the party round the tea-table may pass
+as from the life, as well as many other points during the course of the
+tale. But, to speak candidly, we have had a very large assortment of
+spectral characters such as the stranger Count, and it will soon be a
+difficult matter to go on giving them novelty and originality. He is
+too much like Alban in 'The Magnetizer.' You know the tale I mean, and
+indeed that story and Ottmar's have both the same _motif_. Wherefore I
+wish I might beg our Ottmar and you, Cyprian, to leave monsters of that
+sort out of the game in future. For Ottmar this will be possible, but
+for you, Cyprian, I am not so sure that it will. So that we shall have
+to allow _you_ to serve us up a 'Spook' of the kind now and then, I
+suppose, only stipulating that it shall be truly Serapiontic, _i.e._
+come out of the very inmost depths of your imagination. Moreover 'The
+Magnetizer' _seems_ rhapsodical, but the 'Uncanny Guest' is rhapsodical
+in very truth."
+
+"I must take up the cudgels for my friend in this respect too," said
+Cyprian, "and tell you that, in the very neighbourhood of this place
+where we are at this moment, there actually happened an event, not very
+long ago, by no means unlike the incidents of this story. Into a quiet
+happy group of friends, just when supernatural matters were forming the
+subject of conversation, there suddenly came a stranger, who struck
+every one as being uncanny and terrifying, notwithstanding his apparent
+everydayness, and seeming belonging to the common level. By his arrival
+this stranger not only spoiled the enjoyment of the evening in
+question, but subsequently destroyed the peace and happiness of the
+family for a long period. Even at this day deadly shudders seize a
+happy wife when she thinks of the crafty wickedness with which this
+person tried to entangle her in his nets. I told this at the time to
+Ottmar, and nothing made a greater impression on him than the moment
+when the stranger made his spectral entry, and the sense of the
+propinquity of the hostile Spiritual Principle seized upon every one
+present with a sudden terror. This moment came vividly to Ottmar's
+mind, and formed the groundwork of his tale."
+
+"But," said Ottmar, "as a single incident is far from being a complete
+story--which ought to spring perfect and complete from its author's
+brain, like Minerva from the head of Jupiter--my tale is of course not
+worth much as a whole, and it is little to my credit, I suppose, that I
+took advantage of two or three incidents which really happened, weaving
+them--not without some little success perhaps--into a network of the
+imaginary."
+
+"Yes," said Lothair, "you are right, my friend. A single striking
+incident is far from being a tale, just as one well-imagined theatrical
+situation is a long way from constituting a play. This reminds me of
+the way in which a certain playwright (who no longer walks this world,
+and whose terrible death certainly atoned for any shortcomings of his
+during his life, and reconciled his worst enemies to him) used to
+construct his pieces. In a company where I was present, he said,
+without any concealment, that he selected some one's good dramatic
+situation which occurred to him, and then, solely for the sake of that,
+hung a canvas round it and painted away upon it 'just whatever came in
+his head,' or 'as best he could,' to use his own expressions. This
+gave me a complete explanation of, and threw a dazzling flood of light
+upon, the whole character and inner being of that writer's pieces,
+particularly those of his later period. None of them is without some
+very happily devised central situation, but all round this the scenes,
+which he made up out of commonplace material, are woven like a loosely
+knitted web, although the hand of that weaver, skilled as it is in
+_technique_, is never to be mistaken."
+
+"Never, say you?" remarked Theodore. "I have been always waiting and
+looking out for the points where that writer would abandon his
+commonplaces, and rise into the region of romance and true poetry. The
+most striking and melancholy instance of what I mean is the so-called
+Romantic Drama, 'Deodata'; a strange nondescript production, on which a
+clever composer ought not to have wasted capital music. There can be no
+more striking proof of the utter want of infelt poetry, of any
+conception of the higher dramatic life, than where the author of
+'Deodata,' in his preface, finds fault with Opera because it is
+unnatural that people should sing on the stage, and next goes on to
+explain that he has been at pains to introduce the singing, which is
+incidental to it, always in a natural manner."
+
+"_De mortuis nil nisi bonum_," said Cyprian, "let the dead repose in
+peace."
+
+"And all the more," said Lothair, "that I see midnight is close at
+hand, and he might avail himself of that circumstance to give us a box
+or two on the ear (as he is said to have done to his critics in life)
+with his invisible fist."
+
+Just then the carriage which Lothair had sent for on account of
+Theodore's still invalid condition, came rolling up, and the friends
+went back in it to town.
+
+
+
+
+                             SECTION SIXTH.
+
+
+It so happened that some irresistible psychic force had impelled
+Sylvester back to town, although, as a rule, nothing in the world would
+induce him to leave the country at the time of year when the weather
+was at its pleasantest. A little theatrical piece which he had written
+was going to be produced, and it seems an impossibility for an author
+to miss a first performance of one of his pieces, even though he may
+have to contend with a world of trouble and anxiety in connection with
+it. Moreover, Vincent, too, had emerged from the crowd, so that, for
+the time at least, the Serapion Brotherhood was fairly reestablished;
+they held their meeting in the same pleasant public-garden where they
+had last assembled.
+
+Sylvester was not like the same man; he was in better spirits and more
+talkative than when he was last seen, and taking him all over, like one
+who had experienced some piece of great good fortune.
+
+"Was it not well," said Lothair, "that we put off our meeting until our
+friend's piece had been produced? otherwise we should have found our
+good brother preoccupied, uninterested in our conversation, oppressed
+as with a heavy burden. His piece would have been haunting him like
+some distressful spectre, but now that it has burst its chrysalis and
+fluttered away like a beautiful butterfly into the empyrean, and has
+not sued for universal favour in vain, everything is clear and bright
+within him. He stands glorified in the radiance of deserved applause
+which has fallen so richly to his share, and we won't, for a moment,
+take it ill of him that he looks down upon us with the least bit of
+pardonable pride, seeing that not one of us can boast of having done
+what he has; namely, electrified some six or eight hundred people with
+one spark; but let everybody have his due. Your piece is good,
+Sylvester; but you must admit that the admirable rendering was what
+gave it its wings. You must really have been greatly satisfied with the
+actors, were you not?"
+
+"I certainly was," said Sylvester, "although at the same time it is
+very difficult to please the author of a play with the performance of
+it. You see, he is himself each of the characters of the piece; and all
+their most intimate peculiarities, with all their necessary conditions,
+have taken their origin in his own brain; and it seems impossible to
+him that any other person shall so appropriate, and make his own, those
+intimate thoughts of his which are peculiar to and innate in the
+character as to be able to bring them forth into actual life. The
+author, however, insists in his own mind upon this being done; and the
+more vividly he has conceived the character, the more is he
+discontented with the very slightest shortcoming, or alteration in it,
+which he can discover in the actor's rendering of it. Certain is it
+that the author suffers an anxiety which destroys all his pleasure in
+the representation, and it is only when he can manage to soar above
+this anxiousness, and see his character, the character which he has
+invented, portrayed before his eyes, just as he saw it rise before his
+mental vision, that he is able to enjoy, to some extent, seeing his
+piece represented."
+
+"Still," said Ottmar, "any annoyance which a playwright may feel, when
+he sees other characters, quite dissimilar from his own, represented
+instead of them, is richly compensated for by the applause of the
+public, to which no author can, or should, be indifferent."
+
+"No doubt," said Sylvester; "and as it is to the actor who is playing
+the part that the applause is, in the first instance, given, the
+author, who from his distant seat is looking on with trembling and
+anxiety, yea, often with anger and disgust, at last becomes convinced
+that the character (not at all his character) which is speaking the
+speeches of his one on the stage, is, at all events, not so very bad
+after all as might have been. Also it is quite true, and no reasonable
+author, who is not entirely shut up in himself, will deny it, that many
+a clever actor, who has formed a vivid conception of a character,
+develops features in that character which he himself did not think of,
+at least not distinctly, and which he must nevertheless admit to be
+good and appropriate. The author sees a character which was born in his
+own most inmost elements, appearing before him in a shape new and
+strange to him. Yet this shape is by no means foreign to the elements
+of the genesis of the character, nay it does not seem now possible that
+it could have assumed a different form; and he feels a glad
+astonishment over this thing, which is really his own, although it
+seems so different; just as if he had suddenly come upon a treasure in
+his garret, whose existence he had not dreamt of."
+
+"There," said Ottmar, "spoke my dear kind-hearted Sylvester, who does
+not know the meaning of the word 'vanity,' that vanity which has
+stifled many a great and true talent. There is one writer for the stage
+who once said, without the slightest hesitation, that there are no
+actors capable of understanding the soul which dwells within him, or of
+representing the characters which he creates. How wholly otherwise was
+it with our grand and glorious Schiller, who once got into that state
+of delighted surprise of which Sylvester speaks, when he saw his
+Wallenstein performed, and declared that it was then, for the first
+time, that he had seen his hero visibly in flesh and blood before his
+eyes. It was Fleck, the for ever unforgettable hero of our stage, who
+played Wallenstein then."
+
+"On the whole," said Lothair, "I am convinced, and the instance which
+Ottmar has given confirms me, that the writer on whom, in the depths of
+his soul, the true recognition and comprehension of art, and with them,
+that worship which they give to the creating formative spirit of the
+universe, have arisen in light, cannot lower himself to the degraded
+idol-cult, which worships only its own self as being the Fetish that
+created all things. It is very easy for a great talent to be mistaken
+for real genius. But time dispels every illusion: talent succumbs to
+the attacks of time, but they have no effect on true genius, which
+lives on in invulnerable strength and beauty. But, to return to our
+Sylvester, and his theatre-piece, I must declare to you that I cannot
+understand how any one can come to the heroic decision to permit a
+work, for which he is indebted to his imagination, and to fortunate
+creative impulses, to be acted before him on the slippery, risky,
+uncertain boards of the stage."
+
+The friends laughed, thinking that Lothair was, after his wont, going
+to utter some quaint, out-of-the-way opinion.
+
+"Am I," asked he, "really a strange being who often thinks things which
+other people are not very apt to think? Well, be that as it may; I say
+again that when a fairly good writer, who has genuine talent, such as
+our Sylvester, puts a piece upon the stage, it feels to me very much as
+if he made up his mind to jump out of a third-floor window, and take
+his chance of what might happen to him. I am going to make a
+confession; when I told you I did not go to the theatre on the first
+night of Sylvester's piece, I told you a lie. Of course I went; and sat
+on a back seat, a second Sylvester, a second author of the piece, for
+it is impossible that he can have felt the strain of anxiety, the
+strange feeling compounded of pleasure and its opposite, the
+restlessness amounting to real pain, in any greater degree than I did
+myself. Every word of the players, every gesture of theirs, took my
+breath away, and I kept saying to myself, 'Oh, gracious heavens, is it
+possible that that will do, that it will go down with the audience? and
+is the author responsible whether it does or not?'"
+
+"You make the thing worse than it is," said Sylvester. "I feel a
+disagreeable oppression of the breath, particularly at the beginning;
+but if matters are going on pretty well, and the public expresses
+itself favourably, this gradually goes off, and makes room for a very
+pleasant sensation, in which I think selfish satisfaction with one's
+own production occupies the principal place."
+
+"Oh! you theatre-writers," cried out Vincent, "you are the most
+conceited of all. The applause of the multitude is, to you, the very
+honey of Hybla, and you sip and swallow it with the daintiest of faces
+and the sweetest of smiles. But I am going to take up the role of
+devil's advocate, and add that you are as little to be found fault
+with, for your anxiousness and eagerness (which many folks think are
+nothing but the pangs of your vanity), as anybody else who is playing a
+great and risky game. You are staking yourselves; winning means
+applause, but losing means not only deserved blame, but (if this
+amounts to a distinct public expression of it) that besmirching of the
+ludicrous which is the bitterest and (as the French think) the most
+fearful and damnable condemnation which a man can' experience here
+below. A virtuous Frenchman would, therefore, much rather be considered
+a vile reprobate than be laughed at, and it is quite certain that a ban
+of being ludicrous always falls on any playwright who has been
+(theatrically speaking) 'damned'; and he never shakes it off in all his
+lifetime. Even future success is a most questionable affair, and many a
+man who has had this misfortune happen to him, has fled in his despair
+to the doleful wilderness of those productions which possess the
+outward appearance of theatrical pieces, but, as their authors solemnly
+assure us, are not meant for representation."
+
+"I," said Theodore, "can corroborate you both most thoroughly from my
+own experience, that it is a most hazardous matter to put a work on to
+the stage. What it really amounts to is, that you are committing a
+property of yours to the mercy of the winds and the waves. When one
+remembers how many thousand accidental contingencies the effect of a
+work depends upon, how very often the deeply considered and carefully
+contrived effect of some passage is shipwrecked by the blunder, the
+unskilfulness, or the mistake of a singer or instrumentalist; how
+often--"
+
+Vincent here interrupted with a vigourous cry of "hear! hear!"
+
+"I cry 'hear! hear!'" he explained, "as the noble lords in the English
+Parliament do when one of them is just going to let the cat out of the
+bag. Theodore's head is full of nothing but the opera which he put upon
+the stage a few years ago. At the time, he said, 'When I had attended a
+dozen rehearsals which were more or less useless and pretty much
+burked, and when the last one came, and the conductor evidently had
+very little real idea of my score, or about the piece as a whole, I
+gave things up, and felt quite calm in my mind as to the very dubious
+destiny which was hanging over my production like a most threatening
+thunder-cloud.' I said, 'If it is failure, a failure let it be; I am
+far away aloft above all an author's anxieties and uneasinesses.' With
+other pretty speeches of a like nature. But when I saw my friend on the
+day of the performance, and when it came to be time to go to the
+theatre, he suddenly turned as white as a sheet (though he smiled and
+laughed a great deal, nobody quite knew at what), and gave us the most
+eager assurances that he had almost forgotten that that was the night
+when his opera was to be given--tried, when putting on his greatcoat,
+to stick his right arm into the left sleeve, so that I had to help him
+on with it--and then ran off across the street like one possessed,
+without a word. And, as the first chords of his overture sounded just
+as he was getting into his box, he tumbled into the arms of the
+terrified boxkeeper. Then--"
+
+"There, there!" cried Theodore, "that's enough about my opera, and the
+execution of it. I shall be very glad to tell you as much as you please
+about them any time when we happen to be having a regular talk about
+music; but not another word to-night."
+
+"We have said enough, and more than enough," said Lothair, "on this
+particular subject, and by way of winding it up, I may just say that
+there is a little anecdote of Voltaire which pleases me greatly. Once,
+when one of his tragedies--I think it was Zaire--was going to be given
+for the first time, he was in such a terror of anxiety about its fate,
+that he did not dare to be present himself; but all the way between his
+house and the theatre he had people posted to send him messages every
+two or three minutes, by a code of signals, bow the piece was going; so
+that he was able to suffer all the torments of the Author comfortably,
+_en robe de chambre_, in his own room."
+
+"Now," cried Sylvester, "wouldn't that make a capital scene on the
+stage? and what a splendid part it would be for a character actor.
+Think of Voltaire on the boards. News comes that 'The public is
+disturbed, uneasy.' 'Ha!' he cries, 'frivolous race! can any one
+awaken your sympathy?' Next comes a message that 'the public is
+applauding--shouting in delight.' 'Oh! great, grand, noble Frenchmen,'
+he cries, 'you comprehend your Voltaire--you are worthy of him.' 'The
+public is hissing, and there are one or two catcalls audible.' 'Ah!
+traitors! this to me--to me!'"
+
+"Enough, enough," said Ottmar. "Sylvester is so inspired by his success
+that he is favouring us with a scene of a comedy instead of--like a
+proper Serapion Brother--reading us a tale, the most interesting
+subject of which he told me of, in writing, and which I know he has
+finished and brought with him."
+
+"Our having been talking of Voltaire," said Sylvester, "may lead us to
+think of his 'Siecle de Louis XIV.,' and of that period itself, in
+which I have laid the scenes of the story which I now venture, with all
+modesty, to submit, hoping for your favourable opinion."
+
+He read:--
+
+
+
+                         MADEMOISELLE SCUDERI:
+           A Tale Of The Times Of Louis The Fourteenth.
+
+Magdaleine Scuderi, so famous for her charming poetical and other
+writings, lived in a small mansion in the Rue St. Honore, by favour of
+Louis the 14th and Madame Maintenon.
+
+Late one night--about midnight--in the autumn of the year 1680, there
+came a knocking at the door of this house, so loud and violent that it
+shook the very ground. Baptiste, who filled the offices of cook,
+butler, and doorkeeper in the lady's modest establishment, had gone, by
+her leave, to the country to his sister's wedding, so that La
+Martiniere, the _femme de chambre_, was the only person still awake in
+the house. She heard this knocking, which went on without ceasing
+almost, and she remembered that, as Baptiste was away, she and her
+mistress were alone and unprotected. She thought of the housebreakings,
+robberies, and murders which were so frequent in Paris at that time,
+and felt convinced that some of the numerous bands of malefactors,
+knowing the defenceless state of the house that night, were raising
+this alarum at the door, and would commit some outrage if it was
+opened; so she remained in her room, trembling and terrified,
+anathematizing Baptiste, and his sister's marriage into the bargain.
+
+Meantime the thundering knocking went on at the door, and she thought
+she heard a voice calling in the intervals, "Open, for the love of
+Christ! Open!--open!" At last, her alarm increasing, she took her
+candle and ran out on to the landing, where she distinctly heard the
+voice crying, "Open the door, for the love of Christ!"
+
+"After all," she said to herself, "one knows that a robber would not be
+crying out in that way. Perhaps it is somebody who is being pursued and
+is come to my lady for refuge. She is known to be always ready to do a
+kind action--but we must be very careful!"
+
+She opened a window, and called down into the street, asking who it was
+who was making such a tremendous thundering at the door at that time of
+the night, rousing everybody from their sleep. This she did in a voice
+which she tried to make as like a man's as she could. By the glimmer of
+the moon, which was beginning to break through dark clouds, she could
+make out a tall figure, in a long grey cloak, with a broad hat drawn
+down over the forehead. Then she cried, in a loud voice, so that this
+person in the street should hear, "Baptiste! Claude! Pierre! Get up,
+and see who this rascal is who is trying to get in at this time of
+night." But a gentle, entreating voice spake from beneath, saying, "Ah,
+La Martiniere, I know it is you, you kind soul, though you are trying
+to alter your voice; and I know well enough that Baptiste is away in
+the country, and that there is nobody in the house but your mistress
+and yourself. Let me in. I _must_ speak with your lady this instant."
+
+"Do you imagine," asked La Martiniere, "that my lady is going to speak
+to you in the middle of the night? Can't you understand that she has
+been in bed ever so long, and that it is as much as my place is worth
+to awaken her out of her first sweet sleep, which is so precious to a
+person at her time of life?"
+
+"I know," answered the person beneath, "that she has just this moment
+put away the manuscript of the novel 'Clelia,' at which she is working
+so hard, and is writing some verses which she means to read to-morrow
+at Madame de Maintenon's. I implore you, Madame La Martiniere, be so
+compassionate as to open the door. Upon your doing so depends the
+escape of an unfortunate creature from destruction. Nay, honour,
+freedom, a human life, depend on this moment in which I _must_ speak
+with your lady. Remember, her anger will rest upon you for ever when
+she comes to know that it was you who cruelly drove away from her door
+the unfortunate wretch who came to beg for her help."
+
+"But why should you come for her help at such an extraordinary time of
+the night?" asked La Martiniere. "Come back in the morning at a
+reasonable hour." But the reply came up, "Does destiny, when it strikes
+like the destroying lightning, consider hours and times? When there is
+but one moment when rescue is possible, is help to be put off? Open me
+the door. Have no fear of a wretched being who is without defence,
+hunted, under the pressure of a terrible fate, and flies to your lady
+for succour from the most imminent peril."
+
+La Martiniere heard the stranger moaning and groaning as he uttered
+those words in the deepest sorrow, and the tone of his voice was that
+of a youth, soft and gentle, and going profoundly to the heart. She was
+deeply touched, and without much more hesitation she went and fetched
+the key.
+
+As soon as she opened the door, the form shrouded in the mantle burst
+violently in, and passing La Martiniere, cried in a wild voice, "Take
+me to your lady!" La Martiniere held up the light which she was
+carrying, and the glimmer fell on the face of a very young man,
+distorted and frightfully drawn, and as pale as death. She almost fell
+down on the landing for terror when he opened his cloak and showed the
+glittering hilt of a stiletto sticking in his doublet. He flashed his
+gleaming eyes at her, and cried, more wildly than before, "Take me to
+your lady, I tell you."
+
+La Martiniere saw that her mistress was in the utmost danger. All her
+affection for her, who was to her as the kindest of mothers, flamed up
+and created a courage which she herself would scarcely have thought
+herself capable of. She quickly closed the door of her room, moved
+rapidly in front of it, and said, in a brave, firm voice, "Your furious
+behaviour, now that you have got into the house, is very different to
+what might have been expected from the way you spoke down in the
+street. I see now that I had pity on you a little too easily. My lady
+you shall not see or speak with at this hour. If you have no bad
+designs, and are not afraid to show yourself in daylight, come and tell
+her your business to-morrow; but take yourself off out of this house
+now."
+
+He heaved a hollow sigh, glared at La Martiniere with a terrible
+expression, and grasped his dagger. She silently commended her soul to
+God, but stood firm and looked him straight in the face, pressing
+herself more firmly against the door through which he would have to
+pass in order to reach her mistress.
+
+"Let me get to your lady, I tell you!" he cried once more.
+
+"Do what you will," said La Martiniere, "I shall not move from this
+spot. Finish the crime which you have begun to commit. A shameful death
+on the Place de Greve will overtake you, as it has your accursed
+comrades in wickedness."
+
+"Ha! you are right, La Martiniere," he cried. "I am armed, and I look
+as if I were an accursed robber and murderer. But my comrades are not
+executed--are not executed," and he drew his dagger, advancing with
+poisonous looks towards the terrified woman.
+
+"Jesus!" she cried, expecting her death-wound; but at that moment there
+came up from the street below the clatter and the ring of arms, and the
+hoof-tread of horses.
+
+"La Marechaussee! La Marechaussee! Help! help!" she cried.
+
+"Wretched woman, you will be my destruction," he cried. "All is over
+now--all over! Here, take it; take it. Give this to your lady now, or
+to-morrow if you like it better." As he said this in a whisper, he took
+the candelabra from her, blew out the tapers, and placed a casket in
+her hands. "As you prize your eternal salvation," he cried, "give this
+to your lady." He dashed out of the door, and was gone.
+
+La Martiniere had sunk to the floor. She raised herself with
+difficulty, and groped her way back in the darkness to her room,
+where, wholly overcome and unable to utter a sound, she fell into an
+arm-chair. Presently she heard the bolts rattle, which she had left
+unfastened when she closed the house door. The house was therefore now
+shut up, and soft unsteady steps were approaching her room. Like one
+under a spell, unable to move, she was preparing for the very worst,
+when, to her inexpressible joy, the door opened, and by the pale light
+of the night-lamp she saw it was Baptiste. He was deadly pale, and much
+upset. "For the love of all the saints," he exclaimed, "tell me what
+has happened! Oh, what a state I am in! Something--I don't know what it
+was--told me to come away from the wedding yesterday--forced me to come
+away. So when I got to this street, I thought, Madame Martiniere isn't
+a heavy sleeper; she'll hear me if I knock quietly at the door, and let
+me in. Then up came a strong patrol meeting me, horsemen and foot,
+armed to the teeth. They stopped me, and wouldn't let me go. Luckily
+Desgrais was there, the lieutenant of the Marechaussee. He knows me,
+and as they were holding their lanterns under my nose, he said, 'Ho,
+Baptiste! How come you here in the streets at this time of the night?
+You ought to be at home, taking care of the house. This is not a very
+safe spot just at this moment. We're expecting to make a fine haul, an
+important arrest, to-night.' You can't think, Madame La Martiniere, how
+I felt when he said that. And when I got to the door, lo! and behold! a
+man in a cloak comes bursting out with a drawn dagger in his hand, runs
+round me, and makes off. The door was open, the keys in the lock. What,
+in the name of all that's holy, is the meaning of it all?"
+
+La Martiniere, relieved from her alarm, told him all that had happened,
+and both she and he went back to the hall, where they found the
+candelabra on the floor, where the stranger had thrown it on taking his
+flight. "There can't be the slightest doubt that our mistress was
+within an ace of being robbed, and murdered too, very likely," Baptiste
+said. "According to what you say, the scoundrel knew well enough that
+there was nobody in the house but her and you, and even that she was
+still sitting up at her writing. Of course he was one of those infernal
+blackguards who pry into folks' houses and spy out everything that can
+be of use to them in their devilish designs. And the little casket,
+Madame Martiniere, that, I think, we'll throw into the Seine where it's
+deepest. Who shall be our warrant that some monster or other isn't
+lying in wait for our mistress's life? Very likely, if she opens the
+casket, she may tumble down dead, as the old Marquis de Tournay did
+when he opened a letter which came to him, he didn't know where from."
+
+After a long consultation, they came to the conclusion that they would,
+next morning, tell their lady everything that had happened, and even
+hand her the mysterious casket, which might, perhaps, be opened if
+proper precautions were taken. On carefully weighing all the
+circumstances connected with the apparition of the stranger, they
+thought that there must be some special secret or mystery involved in
+the affair, which they were not in a position to unravel, but must
+leave to be elucidated by their superiors.
+
+
+There were good grounds for Baptiste's fears. Paris, at the time in
+question, was the scene of atrocious deeds of violence, and that just
+at a period when the most diabolical inventions of hell provided the
+most facile means for their execution.
+
+Glaser, a German apothecary, the most learned chemist of his day,
+occupied himself--as people who cultivate his science often do--with
+alchemical researches and experiments. He had set himself the task of
+discovering the philosopher's stone. An Italian of the name of Exili
+associated himself with him; but to him the art of goldmaking formed a
+mere pretext. What he aimed at mastering was the blending, preparation,
+and sublimation of the various poisonous substances which Glaser hoped
+would give him the results he was in search of, and at length Exili
+discovered how to prepare that delicate poison which has no odour nor
+taste, and which, killing either slowly or in a moment, leaves not the
+slightest trace in the human organism, and baffles the utmost skill of
+the physician, who, not suspecting poison as the means of death,
+ascribes it to natural causes. But cautiously as Exili went about this,
+he fell under suspicion of dealing with poisons, and was thrown into
+the Bastille. In the same cell with him there was presently quartered
+an officer of the name of Godwin de Sainte-Croix, who had long lived
+in relations with the Marquise de Brinvilliers which brought shame
+upon all her family; and at length, as her husband cared nothing
+about her conduct, her father (Dreux d'Aubray, Civil Lieutenant of
+Paris) had to part the guilty pair by means of a _lettre de cachet_
+against Sainte-Croix. The latter, being a man of passionate nature,
+characterless, affecting sanctity, but addicted from his youth to
+every vice, jealous, envious even to fury, nothing could be more
+welcome to him than Exili's devilish secret, which gave him the power
+of destroying all his enemies. He became Exili's assiduous pupil, and
+soon equalled his instructor, so that when he was released from prison
+he was in a position to carry on operations by himself on his own
+account.
+
+La Brinvilliers was a depraved woman, and Sainte-Croix made her a
+monster. She managed, by degrees, to poison, first, her own father
+(with whom she was living, on the hypocritical pretence of taking care
+of him in his declining years), next her two brothers, and then her
+sister; the father out of revenge, and the others for their fortunes.
+The histories of more than one poisoner bear terrible evidence that
+this description of crime assumes the form of an irresistible passion.
+Just as a chemist makes experiments for the pleasure and the interest
+of watching them, poisoners have often, without the smallest ulterior
+object, killed persons whose living or dying was to them a matter of
+complete indifference. The sudden deaths of a number of paupers,
+patients at the Hotel Dieu, a little time after the events just alluded
+to, led to suspicion that the bread which La Brinvilliers was in the
+habit of giving them every week (by way of an example of piety and
+benevolence) was poisoned. And it is certain that she poisoned pigeon
+pasties which were served up to guests whom she had invited. The
+Chevalier du Guet, and many more, were the victims of those diabolical
+entertainments. Sainte-Croix, his accomplice La Chaussee, and La
+Brinvilliers, managed to hide their crimes for a long while under a
+veil of impenetrable secrecy. But, however the wicked may brazen
+matters out, there comes a time when the Eternal Power of Heaven
+punishes the criminal, even here on earth. The poisons which
+Sainte-Croix prepared were so marvellously delicate that if the powder
+(which the Parisians appositely named "_poudre de succession_") was
+uncovered while being made, a single inhalation of it was sufficient to
+cause immediate death. Therefore Sainte-Croix always wore a glass mask
+when at work. This mask fell off one day just as he was shaking a
+finished powder into a phial, and, having inhaled some of the powder,
+he fell dead in an instant. As he had no heirs, the law courts at once
+placed his property under seal, when the whole diabolical arsenal of
+poison-murder which had been at the villain's disposal was discovered,
+and also the letters of Madame de Brinvilliers, which left no doubt as
+to her crimes. She fled to a convent at Liege. Desgrais, an officer of
+the Marechaussee, was sent after her. Disguised as a priest, he got
+admitted into the convent, and succeeded in involving the terrible
+woman in a love-affair, and in getting her to grant him a clandestine
+meeting in a sequestered garden outside the town. When she arrived
+there she found herself surrounded by Desgrais' myrmidons; and her
+ecclesiastical gallant speedily transformed himself into the officer of
+the Marechaussee, and compelled her to get into the carriage which was
+waiting outside the garden, and drove straight away to Paris,
+surrounded by an ample guard. La Chaussee had been beheaded previously
+to this, and La Brinvilliers suffered the same death. Her body was
+burnt, and its ashes scattered to the winds.
+
+The Parisians breathed freely again when the world was freed from the
+presence of this monster, who had so long wielded, with impunity,
+unpunished, the weapon of secret murder against friend and foe. But it
+soon became bruited abroad that the terrible art of the accursed La
+Croix had been, somehow, handed down to a successor, who was carrying
+it on triumphantly. Murder came gliding like an invisible, capricious
+spectre into the narrowest and most intimate circles of relationship,
+love, and friendship, pouncing securely and swiftly upon its unhappy
+victims. Men who, to-day, were seen in robust health, were tottering
+about on the morrow feeble and sick; and no skill of physicians could
+restore them. Wealth, a good appointment or office, a nice-looking
+wife, perhaps a little too young for her husband, were ample reasons
+for a man's being dogged to death. The most frightful mistrust snapped
+the most sacred ties. The husband trembled before his wife; the father
+dreaded the son; the sister the brother. When your friend asked you to
+dinner, you carefully avoided tasting the dishes and wines which he set
+before you; and where joy and merriment used to reign, there were now
+nothing but wild looks watching to detect the secret murderer. Fathers
+of families were to be seen with anxious looks, buying supplies of food
+in out-of-the-way places where they were not known, and cooking them
+themselves in dirty cook-shops, for dread of treason in their own
+homes. And yet often the most careful and ingenious precautions were
+unavailing.
+
+For the repression of this ever-increasing disorder the King
+constituted a fresh tribunal, to which he entrusted the special
+investigation and punishment of those secret crimes. This was the
+Chambre Ardente, which held its sittings near the Bastille. La Regnie
+was its president. For a considerable time La Regnie's efforts,
+assiduous as they were, were unsuccessful, and it was the lot of the
+much overworked Desgrais to discover the most secret lurking-hole of
+the crime. In the Faubourg Saint-Germain there lived an old woman,
+named La Voisin, who followed the calling of a teller of fortunes and a
+summoner of spirits, and, assisted by her accomplices Le Sage and Le
+Vigoureux, managed to alarm and astonish people who were by no means to
+be considered weak or superstitious. But she did more than this. She
+was a pupil of Exili's, like La Croix, and, like him, prepared the
+delicate, traceless poison, which helped wicked sons to speedy
+inheritance and unprincipled wives to other, younger husbands. Desgrais
+fathomed her secrets; she made full confession; the Chambre Ardente
+sentenced her to be burned, and the sentence was carried out on the
+Place de Greve. Amongst her effects was found a list of those who had
+availed themselves of her services; whence it followed, not only that
+execution succeeded execution, but that strong suspicion fell on
+persons of high consideration. Thus it was believed that Cardinal Bonzy
+had obtained from La Voisin the means of disembarrassing himself of all
+the persons to whom, in his capacity of Archbishop of Narbonne, he was
+bound to pay pensions. Similarly, the Duchess de Bouillon and the
+Countess de Soissons (their names having been found in La Voisin's
+list) were accused of having had relations with her; and even Francis
+Henri de Montmorency, Boudebelle, Duke of Luxemburg, Peer and Marshal
+of the realm, did not escape arraignment before the Chambre Ardente. He
+surrendered himself to imprisonment in the Bastille, where the hatred
+of Louvois and La Regnie immured him in a cell only six feet long.
+Months elapsed before it was proved that his offences did not deserve
+so severe a punishment. He had once gone to La Voisin to have his
+horoscope drawn.
+
+What is certain is that an excess of inconsiderate zeal led President
+La Regnie into violently illegal and barbarous measures. His Court
+assumed the character of the Inquisition. The very slightest suspicion
+rendered any one liable to severe imprisonment, and the establishment
+of the innocence of a person tried for his life was often only a matter
+of the merest chance. Besides, Regnie was repulsive to behold, and of
+malicious disposition, so that he excited the hatred of those whose
+avenger or protector he was called upon to be. When he asked the
+Duchess de Bouillon if she had ever seen the devil, she answered, "I
+think I see him at this moment."
+
+Whilst now, on the Place de Greve, the blood of the guilty and of the
+merely suspected was flowing in streams, and secret deaths by poison
+were, at last, becoming more and more rare, a trouble of another
+description showed itself, spreading abroad fresh consternation. It
+seemed that a gang of robbers had made up their minds to possess
+themselves of all the jewels in the city. Whenever a valuable set of
+ornaments was bought, it disappeared in an inexplicable manner, however
+carefully preserved and protected. And everybody who dared to wear
+precious stones in the evening was certain to be robbed, either in the
+public streets or in the dark passages of houses. Very often they were
+not only robbed, but murdered. Such of them as escaped with their lives
+said they had been felled by the blow of a clenched fist on the head,
+which came on them like a thunderbolt. And when they recovered their
+senses they found that they had been robbed, and were in a totally
+different place from that where they had been knocked down. Those
+who were murdered--and they were found nearly every morning lying
+in the streets or in houses--had all the selfsame mortal wound--a
+dagger-thrust, right through the heart, which the surgeons said must
+have been delivered with such swiftness and certainty that the victim
+must have fallen dead without the power of uttering a sound. Now who,
+in all the luxurious Court of Louis Quatorze, was there who was not
+implicated in some secret love-affair, and, consequently, often gliding
+about the streets late at night with valuable presents in his pockets?
+Just as if this robber-gang were in intercourse with spirits, they
+always knew perfectly well when anything of this kind was going on.
+Often the fortunate lover wouldn't reach the house where his lady was
+expecting him; often he would fall at her threshold, at her very door,
+where, to her horror, she would discover his bleeding body lying.
+
+It was in vain that Argenson, the Minister of Police, arrested every
+individual, in all Paris, who seemed to be touched by the very faintest
+suspicion; in vain La Regnie raged, striving to compel confession; in
+vain guards and patrols were reinforced. Not a trace of the
+perpetrators of those outrages was to be discovered. The only thing
+which was of a certain degree of use was to go about armed to the
+teeth, and have a light carried before you; and yet there were cases in
+which the servant who carried the light had his attention occupied by
+having stones thrown at him, whilst at that very instant his master was
+being robbed and murdered.
+
+It was a remarkable feature of this business that, notwithstanding all
+search and investigation in every quarter where there seemed to be any
+chance of dealing in jewels going on, not a trace of even the smallest
+of the plundered precious stones ever came to light. Desgrais foamed in
+fury that even his acumen and skill were powerless to prevent the
+escape of those scoundrels. Whatever part of the town he happened to be
+in for the time was let alone, whilst in some other quarter, robbery
+and murder were lying in wait for their rich prey.
+
+Desgrais hit upon the clever idea of setting several facsimiles of
+himself on foot--various Desgrais, exactly alike in gait, speech,
+figure, face, &c.; so that his own men could not tell the one of them
+from the other, or say which was the real Desgrais. Meanwhile he, at
+the risk of his life, watched alone in the most secret hiding-places,
+and followed, at a distance, this or the other person who seemed, by
+the looks of him, to be likely to have jewels about him. But those whom
+he was watching were unharmed, so that this artifice of his was as well
+known, to the culprits as everything else seemed to be. Desgrais was in
+utter despair.
+
+One morning he came to President La Regnie, pale, distorted, almost out
+of his mind.
+
+"What is it--what news? Have you come upon the clue?" the President
+cried to him as he came in.
+
+"Ah, Monsieur!" cried Desgrais, stammering in fury, "last night, near
+the Louvre, the Marquis de la Fare was set upon under my very nose!"
+
+"Heaven and earth!" cried La Regnie, overjoyed, "we have got them!"
+
+"Wait a moment, listen," said Desgrais, with a bitter smile. "I was
+standing near the Louvre, watching and waiting, with hell itself in my
+heart, for those devils who have been baffling me for such a length of
+time. There came a figure close by me--not seeing me--with careful
+uncertain steps, always looking behind it. By the moonlight I
+recognised the Marquis de la Fare. I expected that he would be passing.
+I knew where he was gliding to. Scarcely had he got ten or twelve paces
+beyond me, when, out of the ground apparently, springs a figure, dashes
+the Marquis to the ground, falls down upon him. Losing my self-command
+at this occurrence, which seemed to be likely to deliver the murderer
+into my hands, I cried out aloud, and meant to spring from my
+hiding-place with a great jump and seize hold of him. But I tripped up
+in my cloak and fell down. I saw the fellow flee away as if on the
+wings of the wind; I picked myself up, and made off after him as fast
+as I could. As I ran, I sounded my horn. Out of the distance the
+whistles of my men answered me. Things grew lively--clatter of arms,
+tramp of horses on all sides. 'Here!--come to me!--Desgrais!' I cried,
+till the streets re-echoed. All the time I saw the man before me in the
+bright moonlight, turning off right--left--to get away from me. We came
+to the Rue Nicaise. There his strength seemed to begin to fail. I
+gathered mine up. He was not more than fifteen paces ahead of me."
+
+"You got hold of him!--your men came up!" cried La Regnie, with
+flashing eyes, grasping Desgrais by the arm as if he were the fleeing
+murderer himself.
+
+"Fifteen paces ahead of me," said Desgrais, in a hollow voice, and
+drawing his breath hard, "this fellow, before my eyes, dodged to one
+side, and vanished through the wall."
+
+"Vanished!--through the wall! Are you out of your senses?" La Regnie
+cried, stepping three steps backwards, and striking his hands together.
+
+"Call me as great a madman as you please, Monsieur," said Desgrais,
+rubbing his forehead like one tortured by evil thoughts. "Call me a
+madman, or a silly spirit-seer; but what I have told you is the literal
+truth. I stood staring at the wall, while several of my men came up out
+of breath, and with them the Marquis de la Fare (who had picked himself
+up), with his drawn sword in his hand. We lighted torches, we examined
+the wall all over. There was not the trace of a door, a window, any
+opening. It is a strong stone wall of a courtyard, belonging to a
+house, in which people are living--against whom there is not the
+slightest suspicion. I have looked into the whole thing again this
+morning in broad daylight. It must be the very devil himself who is at
+work befooling us in the matter."
+
+This story got bruited abroad through Paris, where all heads were full
+of the witch-business, spirit conjuration, devil-covenants of La
+Voisin, Vigoureux, and the wicked priest Le Sage; and as it does lie in
+our eternal nature that the bent towards the supernatural and the
+marvellous overpasses all reason, people soon believed nothing less
+than that which Desgrais had only said in his impatience--namely, that
+the very devil himself must protect those rascals, and that they had
+sold their souls to him. We can readily understand that Desgrais's
+story soon received many absurd embellishments. It was printed, and
+hawked about the town, with a woodcut at the top representing a
+horrible devil-form sinking into the ground before the terrified
+Desgrais. Quite enough to frighten the people, and so terrify
+Desgrais's men that they lost all courage, and went about the streets
+behung with amulets, and sprinkled with holy water.
+
+Argenson, seeing that the Chambre Ardente was unsuccessful, applied to
+the King to constitute--with special reference to this novel
+description of crime--a tribunal armed with greater powers for tracking
+and punishing offenders. The King, thinking he had already given powers
+too ample to the Chambre Ardente, and shocked at the horrors of the
+numberless executions, carried out by the bloodthirsty La Regnie,
+refused.
+
+Then another method of influencing His Majesty was devised.
+
+In the apartments of Madame de Maintenon,--where the King was in the
+habit of spending much of his time in the afternoons,--and also, very
+often, would be at work with his Ministers till late at night--a
+poetical petition was laid before him, on the part of the "Endangered
+Lovers," who complained that when "galanterie" rendered it incumbent on
+them to be the bearers of some valuable present to the ladies of their
+hearts, they had always to do it at the risk of their lives. They said,
+that, of course, it was honour and delight to pour out their blood for
+the lady of their heart, in knightly encounter, but that the
+treacherous attack of the assassin, against which it was impossible to
+guard, was quite a different matter. They expressed their hope that
+Louis, the bright pole-star of love and gallantry, might deign--arising
+and shining in fullest splendour--to dispel the darkness of night, and
+thus reveal the black mysteries hidden thereby; that the God-like hero,
+who had hurled his foes to the dust, would now once more wave his
+flashing faulchion, and, as did Hercules in the case of the Laernean
+Hydra, and Theseus in that of the Minotaur, vanquish the threatening
+monster who was eating up all love-delight, and darkening all joy into
+deep sorrow and inconsolable mourning.
+
+Serious as the subject was, this poem was not deficient in most
+wittily-turned phrases, particularly where it described the state of
+watchful anxiety in which lovers had to glide to their lady-loves, and
+how this mental strain necessarily destroyed all love-happiness, and
+nipped all adventures of "galanterie" in the very bud. And, as it
+wound up with a high-flown panegyric of Louis XIV., the King could not
+but read it with visible satisfaction. When he perused it, he turned
+to Madame de Maintenon--without taking his eyes from it--read it
+again--aloud this time--and then asked, with a pleased smile, what she
+thought of the petition of the 'Endangered Lovers.' Madame de
+Maintenon, faithful to her serious turn, and ever wearing the garb of a
+certain piousness, answered that hidden and forbidden ways did not
+deserve much in the form of protection, but that the criminals probably
+did require special laws for their punishment. The King, not satisfied
+with this answer, folded the paper up, and was going back to the
+Secretary of State, who was at work in the ante-room, when, happening
+to glance sideways, his eyes rested on Mademoiselle Scuderi, who was
+present, seated in a little arm-chair. He went straight to her; and the
+pleased smile which had at first been playing about his mouth and
+cheeks--but had disappeared--resumed the ascendency again. Standing
+close before her, with his face unwrinkling itself, he said--
+
+"The Marquise does not know, and has no desire to learn, anything about
+the 'galanteries' of our enamoured gentlemen, and evades the subject in
+ways which are nothing less than forbidden. But, Mademoiselle, what do
+_you_ think of this poetical petition?"
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi rose from her chair; a transient blush, like the
+purple of the evening sky, passed across her pale cheeks, and, gently
+bending forward, she answered, with downcast eyes--
+
+           "Un amant qui craint les voleurs.
+            N'est point digne d'amour."
+
+The King, surprised, and struck by admiration at the chivalrous spirit
+of those few words--which completely took the wind out of the sails of
+the poem, with all its ell-long tirades--cried, with flashing eyes--
+
+"By Saint Denis, you are right, Mademoiselle! No blind laws, touching
+the innocent and the guilty alike, shall shelter cowardice. Argenson
+and La Regnie must do their best."
+
+Next morning La Martiniere enlarged upon the terrors of the time,
+painting them in glowing colours to her lady, when she told her all
+that had happened the previous night, and handed her the mysterious
+casket, with much fear and trembling. Both she and Baptiste (who stood
+in the corner as white as a sheet, kneading his cap in his hand from
+agitation and anxiety) implored her, in the name of all the saints, to
+take the greatest precautions in opening it. She, weighing and
+examining the unopened mystery in her hand, said with a smile, "You are
+a couple of bogies! The wicked scoundrels outside, who, as you say
+yourselves, spy out all that goes on in every house, know, no doubt,
+quite as well as you and I do, that I am not rich, and that there are
+no treasures in this house worth committing a murder for. Is my life in
+danger, do you think? Who could have any interest in the death of an
+old woman of seventy-three, who never persecuted any evil-doers except
+those in her own novels; who writes mediocre poetry, incapable of
+exciting any one's envy; who has nothing to leave behind her but the
+belongings of an old maid, who sometimes goes to Court, and two or
+three dozen handsomely-bound books with gilt edges. And, alarming as
+your account is, La Martiniere, of the apparition of this man, I cannot
+believe that he meant me any harm, so----"
+
+La Martiniere sprang three paces backwards, and Baptiste fell on one
+knee with a hollow, "Ah!" as Mademoiselle Scuderi pressed a projecting
+steel knob, and the lid of the casket flew open with a certain amount
+of noise.
+
+Great was her surprise to see that it contained a pair of bracelets,
+and a necklace richly set in jewels. She took them out and as she spoke
+in admiration of the marvellous workmanship of the necklace, La
+Martiniere cast glances of wonder at the bracelets, and cried, again
+and again, that Madame Montespan herself did not possess such jewelry.
+
+"But why is it brought to me?" cried Mademoiselle Scuderi. "What can
+this mean?" She saw, however, a little folded note at the bottom of the
+casket, and in this she rightly thought she would find the key to the
+mystery. When she had read what was written in the note, it fell from
+her trembling hands; she raised an appealing look to heaven, and then
+sank down half fainting in her chair. Baptiste and La Martiniere
+hurried to her, in alarm. "Oh!" she cried, in a voice stifled by tears,
+"the mortification! The deep humiliation! Has it been reserved for me
+to undergo this in my old age? Have I ever been frivolous, like some of
+the foolish young creatures? Are words, spoken half in jest, to be
+found capable of such a terrible interpretation? Am I, who have been
+faithful to all that is pure and good from my childhood, to be made
+virtually an accomplice in the crimes of this terrible confederation?"
+
+She held her handkerchief to her eyes, so that Baptiste and La
+Martiniere, altogether at sea in their anxious conjectures, felt
+powerless to set about helping her, who was so dear to them, as the
+best and kindest of mistresses, in her bitter affliction.
+
+La Martiniere picked up the paper from the floor. On it was written--
+
+           "Un amant qui craint les voleurs
+            N'est point digne d'amour."
+
+"Your brilliant intellect, most honoured lady, has delivered us, who
+exercise, on weakness and cowardice, the rights of the stronger, and
+possess ourselves of treasures which would otherwise be unworthily
+wasted, from much bitter persecution. As a proof of our gratitude, be
+pleased to kindly accept this set of ornaments. It is the most valuable
+that we have been enabled to lay hands on for many a day. Although far
+more beautiful and precious jewels ought to adorn you, yet we pray you
+not to deprive us of your future protection and remembrance.--THE
+INVISIBLES."
+
+"Is it possible," cried Mademoiselle Scuderi, when she had partially
+recovered herself, "that shameless wickedness and abandoned insult can
+be carried further by human beings?" The sun was shining brightly
+through the window curtains of crimson silk, and consequently the
+brilliants, which were lying on the table beside the open casket, were
+flashing a rosy radiance. Looking at them, Mademoiselle Scuderi covered
+her face in horror, and ordered La Martiniere instantly to take those
+terrible jewels away, steeped, as they seemed to be, in the blood of
+the murdered. La Martiniere, having at once put the necklace and
+bracelets back into their case, thought the best thing to do would be
+to give them to the Minister of Police, and tell him all that had
+happened.
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi rose, and walked up and down slowly and in
+silence, as if considering what it was best to do. Then she told
+Baptiste to bring a sedan chair, and La Martiniere to dress her, as she
+was going straight to the Marquise de Maintenon.
+
+She repaired thither at the hour when she knew Madame de Maintenon
+would be alone, taking the casket and jewels with her.
+
+Madame de Maintenon might well wonder to see this dear old lady (who
+was always kindness, sweetness and amiability personified), pale,
+distressed, upset, coming in with uncertain steps. "In heaven's name,
+what has happened to you?" she cried to her visitor, who was scarcely
+able to stand upright, striving to reach the chair which the Marquise
+drew forward for her. At last, when she could find words, she told her
+what a deep, irremediable insult and outrage the thoughtless speech
+which she had made in reply to the King had brought upon her.
+
+Madame de Maintenon, when she had heard the whole affair properly
+related, thought Mademoiselle Scuderi was taking it far too much to
+heart, strange as the occurrence was--that the insult of a pack of
+wretched rabble could not hurt an upright, noble heart: and finally
+begged that she might see the ornaments.
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi handed her the open casket, and when she saw the
+splendid and valuable stones, and the workmanship of them, she could
+not repress a loud expression of admiration. She took the bracelets and
+necklace to the window, letting the sunlight play on the jewels, and
+holding the beautiful goldsmith's work close to her eyes, so as to see
+with what wonderful skill each little link of the chains was formed.
+
+She turned suddenly to Mademoiselle Scuderi, and cried, "Do you know,
+there is only one man who can have done this work--and that is Rene
+Cardillac."
+
+Rene Cardillac was then the cleverest worker in gold in all Paris, one
+of the most artistic, and at the same time extraordinary men of his
+day. Short, rather than tall, but broad-shouldered, and of strong and
+muscular build, Cardillac, now over fifty, had still the strength and
+activity of a youth. To this vigour, which was to be called unusual,
+testified also his thick, curling, reddish hair, and his massive,
+shining face. Had he not been known to be the most upright and
+honourable of men, unselfish, open, without reserve, always ready to
+help, his altogether peculiar glance out of his grimly sparkling eyes
+might have brought him under suspicion of being secretly ill-tempered
+and wicked. In his art he was the most skilful worker, not only in
+Paris, but probably in the world at that time. Intimately acquainted
+with every kind of precious stones, versed in all their special
+peculiarities, he could so handle and treat them that ornaments which
+at a first glance promised to be poor and insignificant, came from his
+workshop brilliant and splendid. He accepted every commission with
+burning eagerness, and charged prices so moderate as to seem out of all
+proportion to the work. And the work left him no rest. Day and night he
+was to be heard hammering in his shop; and often, when a job was nearly
+finished, he would suddenly be dissatisfied with the form--would have
+doubts whether some of the settings were tender enough; some little
+link would not be quite to his mind--in fine, the whole affair would be
+thrown into the melting-pot, and begun all over again. Thus every one
+of his works was a real, unsurpassable _chef-d'[oe]uvre_, which set the
+person who had ordered it into amazement. But then, it was hardly
+possible to get the finished work out of his hands. He would put the
+customer off from one week to another, by a thousand excuses, ay, from
+month to month. He might be offered twice the price he had agreed upon,
+but it was useless; he would take no more; and when, ultimately, he was
+obliged to yield to the customer's remonstrances, and deliver the work,
+he could not conceal the vexation--nay, the rage--which seethed within
+him. If he had to deliver some specially valuable and unusually rich
+piece of workmanship, worth perhaps several thousand francs, he would
+get into such a condition that he ran up and down like one demented,
+cursing himself, his work, and every thing and person about him; but
+should, then, some one come running up behind him, crying, "Rene
+Cardillac, would you be so kind as to make me a beautiful necklace for
+the lady I am going to marry?" or "a pair of bracelets for my girl?" or
+the like, he would stop in a moment, flash his small eyes upon the
+speaker, and say, "Let me see what you have got." The latter would take
+out a little case, and say, "Here are jewels; they are not worth much;
+only every-day affairs; but in your hands----." Cardillac would
+interrupt him, snatch the casket from his hands, take out the stones
+(really not very valuable), hold them up to the light, and cry, "Ho!
+ho! common stones you say! Nothing of the kind!--very fine, splendid
+stones! Just see what I shall make of them; and if a handful of Louis
+are no object to you, I will put two or three others along with them
+which will shine in your eyes like the sun himself!" The customer would
+say: "I leave the matter entirely in your hands, Master Rene; make what
+charge you please." Whether the customer were a rich burgher or a
+gallant of quality, Cardillac would then throw himself violently on his
+neck, embrace him and kiss him, and say he was perfectly happy again,
+and that the work would be ready in eight days' time. Then he would run
+home as fast as he could to his work-shop, where he would set to work
+hammering away; and in eight days' time there would be a masterpiece
+ready. But as soon as the customer would arrive, glad to pay the
+moderate price demanded, and take away his prize, Cardillac would
+become morose, ill-tempered, rude, and insolent. "But consider, Master
+Cardillac," the customer would say, "to-morrow is my wedding-day."
+"What do I care?" Cardillac would answer; "what is your wedding-day to
+me? Come back in a fortnight." "But it is finished!--here is the money;
+I must have it." "And I tell you that there are many alterations which
+I must make before I let it leave my hands, and I am not going to let
+you have it to-day." "And I tell you, that if you don't give me my
+jewels--which I am ready to pay you for--quietly, you will see me come
+back with a file of D'Argenson's men." "Now, may the devil seize you
+with a hundred red-hot pincers, and hang three hundredweight on to the
+necklace, that it may throttle your bride!" With which he would cram
+the work into the customer's breast-pocket, seize him by the arm, push
+him out of the door, so that he would go stumbling all the way
+downstairs, and laugh like a fiend, out of window, when he saw the
+poor wretch go limping out, holding his handkerchief to his bleeding
+nose. It was not easy of explanation neither that Cardillac, when he
+had undertaken a commission with alacrity and enthusiasm, would
+sometimes suddenly implore the customer, with every sign of the
+deepest emotion--with the most moving adjurations, even with sobs and
+tears--not to ask him to go on with it. Many persons, amongst those
+most highly considered by the King and nation, had in vain offered
+large sums for the smallest specimen of Cardillac's work. He threw
+himself at the King's feet, and supplicated that, of his mercy, he
+would not command him to work for him; and he declined all orders of
+Madame de Maintenon's: once, when she wished him to make a little ring,
+with emblems of the arts on it, which she wanted to give to Racine, he
+refused with expressions of abhorrence and terror.
+
+"I would wager," said Madame de Maintenon, "therefore, that even if I
+were to send for Cardillac, to find out, at least, for whom he had made
+those ornaments, he would somehow evade coming, for fear that I should
+give him an order; nothing will induce him to work for me. Yet he does
+seem to have been rather less obstinate of late, for I hear he is
+working more than ever, and allows his customers to take away their
+jewelry at once, though he does so with deep annoyance, and turns away
+his face when he hands them over."
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi, who was exceedingly anxious that the jewels which
+came into her possession in such an extraordinary manner should be
+restored to their owner as speedily as possible, thought that this
+wondrous Rene Cardillac should be informed at once that no work was
+required of him, but simply his opinion as to certain stones. The
+Marquise agreed to this; he was sent for, and he came into the room in
+a very brief space, almost as if he had been on the way when sent for.
+
+When he saw Mademoiselle Scuderi, he appeared perplexed, like one
+confronted with the unexpected, who, for the time, loses sight of the
+calls of courtesy; he first of all made a profound reverence to her,
+and then turned, in the second place, to the Marquise. Madame de
+Maintenon impetuously asked him if the jewelled ornaments--to which
+she pointed as they lay sparkling on the dark-green cover of the
+table--were his workmanship. Cardillac scarcely glanced at them, and,
+fixedly staring in her face, he hastily packed the necklace and
+bracelets into their case, and shoved them away with some violence.
+Then he said, with an evil smile gleaming on his red face, "The truth
+is, Madame la Marquise, that one must know Rene Cardillac's handiwork
+very little to suppose, even for a moment, that any other goldsmith in
+the world made those. Of course, I made them." "Then," continued the
+Marquise, "say whom you made them for." "For myself alone," he
+answered. "You may think this strange," he continued, as they both
+gazed at him with amazement, Madame de Maintenon incredulous, and
+Mademoiselle Scuderi all anxiety as to how the matter was going to turn
+out, "but I tell you the truth, Madame la Marquise. Merely for the sake
+of the beauty of the work, I collected some of my finest stones
+together, and worked for the enjoyment of so doing, more carefully and
+diligently than usual. Those ornaments disappeared from my workshop a
+short time since, in an incomprehensible manner." "Heaven be thanked!"
+cried Mademoiselle Scuderi, her eyes sparkling with joy. With a smile
+she sprang up from her seat, and going up to Cardillac quickly and
+actively as a young girl, she laid her hands on his shoulder, saying,
+"Take back your treasure, Master Rene, which the villains have robbed
+you of!" And she circumstantially related how the ornaments had come
+into her possession.
+
+Cardillac listened in silence, with downcast eyes, merely from time to
+time uttering a scarcely audible "Hm! Indeed! Ah! Ho, ho!" sometimes
+placing his hands behind his back, again stroking his chin and cheeks.
+When she had ended, he appeared to be struggling with strange thoughts
+which had come to him during her story, and seemed unable to come to
+any decision satisfactory to himself. He rubbed his brow, sighed,
+passed his hand over his eyes--perhaps to keep back tears. At last he
+seized the casket (which Mademoiselle Scuderi had been holding out to
+him), sunk slowly on one knee, and said: "Esteemed lady! Fate destined
+this casket for you; and I now feel, for the first time, that I was
+thinking of you when I was at work upon it--nay, was making it
+expressly for you. Do not disdain to accept this work, and to wear it;
+it is the best I have done for a very long time." "Ah! Master Rene,"
+said Mademoiselle Scuderi, jesting pleasantly, "how think you it would
+become me at my age to bedeck myself with those beautiful jewels?--and
+what should put it in your mind to make me such a valuable present?
+Come, come! If I were as beautiful and as rich as the Marquise de
+Fontange, I should certainly not let them out of my hands; but what
+have my withered arms, and my wrinkled neck, to do with all that
+splendour?"
+
+Cardillac had risen, and said, with wild looks, like a man beside
+himself, still holding the casket out towards her, "Do me the mercy to
+take it, Mademoiselle! You have no notion how profound is the reverence
+which I bear in my heart for your excellences, your high deserts. Do
+but accept my little offering, as an attempt, on my part, to prove to
+you the warmth of my regard."
+
+As Mademoiselle Scuderi was still hesitating, Madame de Maintenon took
+the casket from Cardillac's hands, saying, "Now, by heaven,
+Mademoiselle, you are always talking of your great age. What have you
+and I to do with years and their burden? You are like some bashful
+young thing who would fain long for forbidden fruit, if she could
+gather it without hands or fingers. Do not hesitate to accept this good
+Master Rene's present, which thousands of others could not obtain for
+money or entreaty."
+
+As she spoke she continued to press the casket on Mademoiselle Scuderi;
+and now Cardillac sank again on his knees, kissed her dress, her hands,
+sighed, wept, sobbed, sprang up, and ran off in frantic haste,
+upsetting chairs and tables, so that the glass and porcelain crashed
+and clattered together.
+
+In much alarm, Mademoiselle Scuderi cried, "In the name of all the
+saints, what is the matter with the man?" But the Marquise, in
+particularly happy temper, laughed aloud, saying, "What it is,
+Mademoiselle; that Master Rene is over head and ears in love with you,
+and, according to the laws of _la galanterie_, begins to lay siege to
+your heart with a valuable present." She carried this jest further,
+begging Mademoiselle Scuderi not to be too obdurate towards this
+despairing lover of hers; and Mademoiselle Scuderi, in her turn, borne
+away on a current of merry fancies, said, "If things were so, she would
+not be able to refrain from delighting the world with the unprecedented
+spectacle of a goldsmith's bride of three-and-seventy summers, and
+unexceptionable descent." Madame de Maintenon offered to twine the
+bridal wreath herself, and give her a few hints as to the duties of a
+housewife, a subject on which such a poor inexperienced little chit
+could not be expected to know very much.
+
+But, notwithstanding all the jesting and the laughter, when
+Mademoiselle Scuderi rose to depart, she became very grave again when
+her hand rested upon the jewel casket. "Whatever happens," she said, "I
+shall never be able to bring myself to wear these ornaments. They have,
+at all events, been in the hands of one of those diabolical men, who
+rob and slay with the audacity of the evil one himself, and are very
+probably in league with him. I shudder at the thought of the blood
+which seems to cling to those glittering stones--and even Cardillac's
+behaviour had something about it which struck me as being singularly
+wild and eery. I cannot drive away from me a gloomy foreboding that
+there is some terrible and frightful mystery hidden behind all this;
+and yet, when I bring the whole affair, with all the circumstances of
+it, as clearly as I can before my mental vision, I cannot form the
+slightest idea what that mystery can be--and, above all, how the good,
+honourable Master Rene--the very model of what a good, well-behaved
+citizen ought to be--can have anything to do with what is wicked or
+condemnable. But, at all events, I distinctly feel that I never can
+wear those jewels."
+
+The Marquise considered that this was carrying scruples rather too far;
+yet, when Mademoiselle Scuderi asked her to say, on her honour, what
+she would do in her place, she replied, firmly and earnestly, "Far
+rather throw them into the Seine than ever put them on."
+
+The scene with Master Rene inspired Mademoiselle Scuderi to write some
+pleasant verses, which she read to the King the following evening, at
+Madame de Maintenon's. Perhaps, for the sake of the picturing of Master
+Rene carrying off a bride of seventy-three--of unimpeachable
+quarterings--it was that she succeeded in conquering her feelings of
+the imminence of something mysterious and uncanny; but at all events
+she did so, completely--and the King laughed with all his heart, and
+vowed that Boileau Despreaux had met with his master. So La Scuderi's
+poem was reckoned the very wittiest that ever was written.
+
+Several months had elapsed, when chance so willed it that Mlle. Scuderi
+was crossing the Pont Neuf in the glass coach of the Duchesse de
+Montpensier. The invention of those delightful glass coaches was then
+so recent that the people came together in crowds whenever one of them
+made its appearance in the streets, consequently, a gaping crowd
+gathered about the Duchesse's carriage on the Pont Neuf, so that the
+horses could hardly make their way along. Suddenly Mlle. Scuderi heard
+a sound of quarrelling and curses, and saw a man making a way for
+himself through the crowd, by means of fisticuffs and blows in the
+ribs, and as he came near they were struck by the piercing eyes of a
+young face, deadly pale, and drawn by sorrow. This young man, gazing
+fixedly upon them, vigorously fought his way to them by help of fists
+and elbows, till he reached the carriage-door, threw it open with much
+violence, and flung a note into Mademoiselle Scuderi's lap; after
+which, he disappeared as he had come, distributing and receiving blows
+and fisticuffs. La Martiniere, who was with her mistress, fell back
+fainting in the carriage with a shriek of terror as soon as she saw the
+young man. In vain Mademoiselle Scuderi pulled the string, and called
+out to the driver. He, as if urged by the foul fiend, kept lashing his
+horses till, scattering the foam from their nostrils, they kicked,
+plunged, and reared, finally thundering over the bridge at a rapid
+trot. Mademoiselle Scuderi emptied the contents of her smelling-bottle
+out over the fainting La Martiniere, who at last opened her eyes, and,
+shuddering and quaking, clinging convulsively to her mistress, with
+fear and horror in her pale face, groaned out with difficulty, "For the
+love of the Virgin, what did that terrible man want? It was he who
+brought you the jewels on that awful night." Mademoiselle Scuderi
+calmed her, pointing out that nothing very dreadful had happened after
+all, and that the immediate business in hand was to ascertain the
+contents of the letter. She opened it, and read as follows:--
+
+"A dark and cruel fatality, which _you_ could dispel, is driving me
+into an abyss. I conjure you--as a son would a mother, in the glow of
+filial affection--to send the necklace and bracelets to Master Rene
+Cardillac, on some pretence or other--say, to have something altered,
+or improved. Your welfare---your very life--depend on your doing this.
+If you do not comply before the day after to-morrow, I will force my
+way into your house, and kill myself before your eyes."
+
+"Thus much is certain, at all events," said Mademoiselle Scuderi, when
+she had read this letter, "that, whether this mysterious man belongs to
+the band of robbers and murderers, or not, he has no very evil designs
+against me. If he had been able to see me and speak to me on that
+night, who knows what strange events, what dark concatenation of
+circumstances would have been made known to me, of which, at present, I
+seek, in my soul, the very faintest inkling in vain. But, be the matter
+as it may, that which I am enjoined in this letter to do, I certainly
+_shall_ do, were it for nothing else than to be rid of those fatal
+jewels, which seem to me as if they must be some diabolical talisman of
+the Prince of Darkness's very own. Cardillac is not very likely to let
+them out of his hands again, if once he gets hold of them."
+
+She intended to take them to him next day; but it seemed as if all the
+_beaux esprits_ of Paris had entered into a league to assail and
+besiege her with verses, dramas, and anecdotes. Scarce had La Chapelle
+finished reading the scenes of a tragedy, and declared that he
+considered he had now vanquished Racine, when the latter himself came
+in, and discomfited him with the pathetic speech of one of his kings,
+until Boileau sent some of his fireballs soaring up into the dark sky
+of the tragedies, by way of changing the subject from that eternal one
+of the colonnade of the Louvre, to which the architectural Dr. Perrault
+was shackling him.
+
+When high noon arrived, Mademoiselle Scuderi had to go to Madame
+Montansier, so the visit to Rene Cardillac had to be put off till the
+following day. But the young man was always present to her mind, and a
+species of dim remembrance seemed to be trying to arise in the depths
+of her being that she had, somehow and somewhen, seen that face and
+features before. Troubled dreams disturbed her broken slumbers. It
+seemed to her that she had acted thoughtlessly, and delayed culpably to
+take hold of the hands which the unfortunate man was holding out to her
+for help--in fact, as if it had depended on her to prevent some
+atrocious crime. As soon as it was fairly light, she had herself
+dressed, and set off to the goldsmith's with the jewels in her hand.
+
+A crowd was streaming towards the Rue Nicaise (where Cardillac lived),
+trooping together at the door, shouting, raging, surging, striving to
+storm into the house, kept back with difficulty by the Marechaussee,
+who were guarding the place. Amid the wild distracted uproar, voices
+were heard crying, "Tear him in pieces! Drag him limb from limb, the
+accursed murderer!" At length Desgrais came up with a number of his
+men, and formed a lane through the thickest of the crowd. The door flew
+open, and a man, loaded with irons, was brought out, and marched off
+amid the most frightful imprecations of the raging populace. At the
+moment when Mademoiselle Scuderi, half dead with terror and gloomy
+foreboding, caught sight of him, a piercing shriek of lamentation
+struck upon her ears. "Go forward!" she cried to the coachman, and he,
+with a clever, rapid turn of his horses, scattered the thick masses
+of the crowd aside, and pulled up close to Rene Cardillac's door.
+Desgrais was there, and at his feet a young girl, beautiful as the day,
+half-dressed, with dishevelled hair, and wild grief, inconsolable
+despair in her face, holding his knees embraced, and crying in tones of
+the bitterest and profoundest anguish, "He is innocent! he is
+innocent!" Desgrais and his men tried in vain to shake her off, and
+raise her from the ground, till at length a rough, powerful fellow,
+gripping her arms with his strong hands, dragged her away from Desgrais
+by sheer force. Stumbling awkwardly, he let the girl go, and she went
+rolling down the stone steps, and lay like one dead on the pavement.
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi could contain herself no longer. "In Christ's
+name!" she cried, "what has happened? What is going forward here?" She
+hastily opened the carriage-door and stepped out. The crowd made way
+for her deferentially; and when she saw that one or two compassionate
+women had lifted up the girl, laid her on the steps, and were rubbing
+her brow with strong waters, she went up to Desgrais, and with
+eagerness repeated her question.
+
+"A terrible thing has happened," said Desgrais. "Rene Cardillac was
+found, this morning, killed by a dagger-thrust. His journeyman,
+Olivier, is the murderer, and has just been taken to prison."
+
+"And the girl----" "Is Madelon," interrupted Desgrais, "Cardillac's
+daughter. The wretched culprit was her sweetheart, and now she is
+crying and howling, and screaming over and over again that Olivier is
+innocent--quite innocent; but she knows all about this crime, and I
+must have her taken to prison too." As he spoke he cast one of his
+baleful, malignant looks at the girl, which made Mademoiselle Scuderi
+shudder. The girl was now beginning to revive, and breathe again
+faintly, though still incapable of speech or motion. There she lay with
+closed eyes, and people did not know what to do, whether to take her
+indoors, or leave her where she was a little longer till she recovered.
+Mademoiselle Scuderi looked upon this innocent creature deeply moved,
+with tears in her eyes. She felt a horror of Desgrais and his men.
+Presently heavy footsteps came downstairs, those of the men bearing
+Cardillac's body. Coming to a rapid decision, Mademoiselle Scuderi
+cried out, "I shall take this girl home with me; the rest of the affair
+concerns you, Desgrais." A murmur of approval ran through the crowd.
+The women raised the girl; every one crowded up; a hundred hands were
+proffered to help, and she was borne to the carriage like one hovering
+in air, whilst from every lip broke blessings on the kind lady who had
+saved her from arrest and criminal trial.
+
+Madelon lay for many hours in deep unconsciousness, but at length the
+efforts of Seron---then the most celebrated physician in Paris--were
+successful in restoring her. Mademoiselle Scuderi completed what Seron
+had commenced, by letting many a gentle ray of hope stream into the
+girl's heart, till at length a violent flood of tears, which started to
+her eyes, brought her relief, and she was able to tell what had
+befallen, with only occasional interruptions, when the overmastering
+might of her sorrow turned her words into sobbing.
+
+She had been awakened at midnight by a soft knocking at her door, and
+had recognised the voice of Olivier, imploring her to get up at once,
+as her father lay dying. She sprung up, terrified, and opened the door.
+Olivier, pale and distorted, bathed in perspiration, led the way, with
+tottering steps, to the workshop; she followed. There her father was
+lying with his eyes set, and the deathrattle in his throat. She threw
+herself upon him, weeping wildly, and then observed that his shirt was
+covered with blood. Olivier gently lifted her away, and then busied
+himself in bathing a wound (which was on her father's left breast) with
+wound-balsam, and in washing it. As he was so doing her father's
+consciousness came back; the rattle in his throat ceased, and, looking
+first on her, and then on Olivier with most expressive glances, he took
+her hand and placed it in Olivier's, pressing them both together. She
+and Olivier then knelt down beside her father's bed; he raised himself
+with a piercing cry, immediately fell back again, and with a deep
+inspiration, departed this life. On this they both wept and lamented.
+Olivier told her how her father had been murdered in his presence
+during an expedition on which he had accompanied him that night by his
+order, and how he had with the utmost difficulty carried him home, not
+supposing him to be mortally wounded. As soon as it was day, the people
+of the house--who had heard the sounds of the footsteps, and of the
+weeping and lamenting during the night--came up, and found them still
+kneeling, inconsolable by the father's body. Then an uproar commenced,
+the Marechaussee broke in and Olivier was taken to prison as her
+father's murderer. Madelon added the most touching account of Olivier's
+virtues, goodness, piety, and sincerity, telling how he had honoured
+his master as if he had been his own father, and how the latter
+returned his affection in the fullest measure, choosing him for his
+son-in-law in spite of his poverty, because his skill and fidelity were
+equal to the nobleness of his heart. All this Madelon spoke right out
+of the fullness of her heart, and added that if Olivier had thrust a
+dagger into her father's heart before her very eyes, she would rather
+have thought it a delusion of Satan's than have believed that Olivier
+was capable of such a terrible and awful crime.
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi, most deeply touched by Madelon's nameless
+sufferings, and quite disposed to believe in poor Olivier's innocence,
+made inquiries, and found everything confirmed which Madelon had said
+as to the domestic relations between the master and his workman. The
+people of the house and the neighbours all gave Olivier the character
+of being the very model of good, steady, exemplary behaviour. No one
+knew anything whatever against him, and yet, when the crime was alluded
+to, every one shrugged his shoulders, and thought there was something
+incomprehensible about that.
+
+Olivier, brought before the Chambre Ardente, denied--as Mademoiselle
+Scuderi learned--with the utmost steadfastness the crime of which he
+was accused, and maintained that his master had been attacked in the
+street in his presence, and borne down, and that he had carried him
+home still alive, although he did not long survive. This agreed with
+Madelon's statement.
+
+Over and over again Mademoiselle Scuderi had the very minutest
+circumstances of the awful event related to her. She specially inquired
+if there had ever been any quarrel between Olivier and the father,
+whether Olivier was altogether exempt from that propensity to hastiness
+which often attacks the best tempered people like a blind madness, and
+leads them to commit deeds which seem to exclude all voluntariness of
+action; but the more enthusiastically Madelon spoke of the peaceful
+home-life which the three had led together, united in the most sincere
+affection, the more did every vestige of suspicion against Olivier
+disappear from her mind. Closely examining and considering everything,
+starting from the assumption that, notwithstanding all that spoke so
+loudly for his innocence, Olivier yet _had_ been Cardillac's murderer,
+Mademoiselle Scuderi could find, in all the realm of possibility, no
+motive for the terrible deed, which, in any case, was bound to destroy
+his happiness. Poor, though skilful, he succeeds in gaining the good
+will of the most renowned of masters; he loves the daughter--his master
+favours his love. Happiness, good fortune for the rest of his life
+are laid open before him. Supposing, then, that--God knows on what
+impulse--overpowered by anger, he should have made this murderous
+attack on his master, what diabolical hyprocrisy it required to
+conduct himself after the deed as he had done. With the firmest
+conviction of his innocence, Mademoiselle Scuderi came to the
+resolution to save Olivier at whatever cost.
+
+It seemed to her most advisable, before perhaps appealing to the King
+in person, to go to the President, La Regnie, point out for his
+consideration all the circumstances which made for Olivier's innocence,
+and so, perhaps, kindle in his mind a conviction favourable to the
+accused which might communicate itself beneficially to the judges.
+
+La Regnie received her with all the consideration which was the due of
+a lady of her worth, held in high esteem by His Majesty himself. He
+listened in silence to all she had to say concerning Olivier's
+circumstances, relationships, and character; and also concerning the
+crime itself. A delicate, almost malignant, smile, however, was all the
+token which he gave that the adjurations, the reminders (accompanied by
+plentiful tears) that every judge ought to be, not the enemy of the
+accused, but ready to attend, too, to whatever spoke in his favour were
+not gliding by ears which were perfectly deaf. When at length
+Mademoiselle Scuderi, quite exhausted and wiping the tears from her
+cheeks, was silent, La Regnie began, saying:--
+
+"It is quite characteristic of your excellent heart, Mademoiselle,
+that, moved by the tears of a young girl who is in love, you should
+credit all she says; nay, be incapable of grasping the idea of a
+fearful crime such as this. But it is otherwise with the Judge, who is
+accustomed to tear off the mask from vile and unblushing hyprocrisy
+and deception. It is, of course, not incumbent on me to disclose the
+course of a criminal process to every one who chooses to inquire. I do
+my duty, Mademoiselle! The world's opinion troubles me not at all.
+Evil-doers should tremble before the Chambre Ardente, which knows no
+punishments save blood and fire. But by you, Mademoiselle, I would not
+be looked upon as a monster of severity and barbarity; therefore,
+permit me to place before your eyes in few words the bloodguilt of this
+young criminal, upon whom, Heaven be thanked, vengeance has fallen.
+Your acute intelligence will then despise the generous feeling and
+kindliness which do honour to you, but in me would be out of place. Eh
+bien! this morning Rene Cardillac is found murdered by a dagger-thrust,
+no one is by him except his workman, Olivier Brusson and the daughter.
+In Olivier's room there is found, amongst other things, a dagger
+covered with fresh blood which exactly fits into the wound. Olivier
+says, 'Cardillac was attacked in the street before my eyes.' 'Was the
+intention to rob him?' 'I do not know.' 'You were walking with him and
+you could not drive off the murderer or detain him?' 'My master was
+walking fifteen or perhaps sixteen paces in front of me; I was
+following him.' 'Why, in all the world, so far behind?' 'My master
+wished it so.' 'And what had Master Cardillac to do in the streets so
+late?' 'That I cannot say.' 'But he was never in the habit of being out
+after nine o'clock at other times, was he?' At this Olivier hesitates,
+becomes confused, sighs, shed tears, vows by all that is sacred that
+Cardillac _did_ go out that night, and met with his death. Now observe,
+Mademoiselle, it is proved to the most absolute certainty that
+Cardillac did _not_ leave the house that night, consequently Olivier's
+assertion that he went with him is a barefaced falsehood. The street
+door of the house fastens with a heavy lock, which makes a penetrating
+noise in opening and closing, also the door itself creaks and groans on
+its hinges, so that, as experiments have proved, the noise is heard
+quite distinctly in the upper stories of the house. Now, there lives in
+the lower story, that is to say, close to the street door, old Maitre
+Claude Patru with his housekeeper, a person of nearly eighty years of
+age, but still hale and active. Both of them heard Cardillac, according
+to his usual custom, come down stairs at nine o'clock exactly, close
+and bolt the door with a great deal of noise, go upstairs again, read
+evening prayer, and then (as was to be presumed by the shutting of the
+door) go into his bedroom. Maitre Claude suffers from sleeplessness
+like many other old people; and on the night in question he could not
+close an eye, therefore, about half past nine the housekeeper struck a
+light in the kitchen, which she reached by crossing the passage, and
+sat down at the table beside her master with an old chronicle-book,
+from which she read aloud, whilst the old man, fixing his thoughts on
+the reading, sometimes sat in his arm-chair, sometimes walked slowly up
+and down the room to try and bring on sleepiness. All was silence in
+the house till nearly midnight; but then they heard overhead rapid
+footsteps, a heavy fall, as of something on to the floor, and
+immediately after that a hollow groaning. They both were struck by a
+peculiar alarm and anxiety, the horror of the terrible deed which had
+just been committed seemed to sweep past them. When day came what had
+been done in the darkness was brought clearly to light."
+
+"But, in the name of all the Saints," cried Mademoiselle Scuderi,
+"considering all the circumstances which I have told you at such
+length, can you think of any _motive_ for this diabolical deed?"
+
+"Hm!" answered La Regnie. "Cardillac was anything but a poor man. He
+had valuable jewels in his possession." "But all he had would go to the
+daughter! You forget that Olivier was to be Cardillac's son-in-law."
+"Perhaps he was compelled to share with others," said La Regnie, "or to
+do the deed wholly for them!" "Share!--murder for others!" cried
+Mademoiselle Scuderi, in utter amaze.
+
+"You must learn, Mademoiselle," continued La Regnie, "that Olivier's
+blood would have been flowing on the Place de Greve before this time,
+but that his crime is connected with that deeply-hidden mystery which
+has so long brooded over Paris. It is clear that Olivier belongs to
+that formidable band which, setting at defiance every attempt at
+observation or discovery, carries on its nefarious practices with
+perfect immunity. Through him everything will, must be discovered.
+Cardillac's wound is precisely the same as all those of the persons who
+have been robbed and murdered in the streets and houses; and most
+conclusive of all, since Olivier's arrest, the robberies and murders
+have ceased; the streets are as safe by night as by day. Proof enough
+that Olivier was most probably the chief of the band. As yet he will
+not confess; but there are means of making him speak against his will."
+
+"And Madelon!" cried Mademoiselle Scuderi, "that truthful, innocent
+creature."
+
+"Ah!" cried La Regnie, with one of his venomous smiles, "who answers to
+me that _she_ is not in the plot, too? She does not care so very much
+about her father. Her tears are all for the murderer boy."
+
+"What?" cried Mademoiselle Scuderi, "not for her father?--that
+girl--impossible!" "Oh!" continued La Regnie, "remember the
+Brinvilliers! You must pardon me, if by-and-by I have to carry off
+your _protegee_, and put her in the Conciergerie."
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi shuddered at this grizly notion. It seemed to her
+that no truth or virtue could endure before this terrible man; as if he
+spied out murder and bloodguilt in the deepest and most hidden thoughts
+of people's hearts. She rose. "Be human!" was all that in her state of
+anxiety and oppression she was able, with difficulty, to say. As she
+was just going to descend the stairs, to which the President had
+attended her with ceremonious courtesy, a strange idea came to her--she
+knew not how. "Might I be allowed to see this unfortunate Olivier
+Brusson?" she inquired, turning round sharply. He scrutinised her
+face with thoughtful looks, and then his face distorted itself
+into the repulsive smile which was characteristic of him. "Doubtless,
+Mademoiselle," he said, "your idea is that, trusting your own
+feelings--the inward voice--more than that which happened before our
+eyes, you would like to examine into Olivier's guilt or innocence for
+yourself. If you do not fear that gloomy abode of crime--if it
+is not hateful to you to see those types of depravity in all their
+gradations--the doors of the Conciergerie shall be opened to you in two
+hours time. Olivier, whose fate excites your sympathy, shall be brought
+to you."
+
+In truth, Mademoiselle Scuderi could not bring herself to believe in
+Olivier's guilt. Everything spoke against him. Indeed, no judge in the
+world would have thought otherwise than La Regnie, in the face of what
+had happened. But the picture of domestic happiness which Madelon had
+placed before her eyes in such vivid colours, outweighed and outshone
+all suspicion, so that she preferred to adopt the hypothesis of some
+inscrutable mystery rather than believe what her whole nature revolted
+against.
+
+She thought she would hear Olivier's narrative of the events of that
+night of mystery, and in this manner, possibly, penetrate further into
+a secret which the judges, perhaps, did not see into, because they
+thought it unworthy of investigation.
+
+Arrived at the Conciergerie, she was taken into a large, well-lighted
+room. Presently she heard the ring of fetters. Olivier Brusson was
+brought in; but as soon as she saw him she fell down fainting. When she
+recovered, he was gone. She demanded with impetuosity to be taken to
+her carriage; she would not remain another moment in that place of
+crime and wickedness. Alas! at the first glance she recognised in
+Olivier Brusson the young man who had thrown the letter into her
+carriage on the Pont Neuf, and who had brought her the casket with the
+jewels. Now all doubt was gone, La Regnie's terrible suspicions
+completely justified. Olivier belonged to the atrocious band, and had,
+doubtless, murdered his master! And Madelon! Never before so bitterly
+deceived by her kind feelings, Mademoiselle Scuderi, under this deadly
+attack upon her by the power of the evil one here below--in whose very
+existence she had not believed--doubted if there was such a thing as
+truth. She gave admittance to the fearful suspicion that Madelon, too,
+was forsworn, and might have a hand in the bloody deed. And as it is
+the nature of the human mind that, when an idea has dawned upon it, it
+eagerly seeks, and finds, colours in which to paint that idea more and
+more vividly, she, as she weighed and considered all the circumstances
+of the crime along with Madelon's behaviour, found a very great deal to
+nourish suspicion. Many things which had hitherto been considered
+proofs of innocence and purity, now became evidences of studied
+hypocrisy and deep, corrupt wickedness. Those heartrending cries of
+sorrow, and the bitter tears, might well have been pressed from her by
+the deadly dread of her lover's bleeding--nay, of her own falling into
+the executioner's hands. With a resolve at once to cast away the
+serpent she had been cherishing, Mademoiselle Scuderi alighted
+from her carriage. Madelon threw herself at her feet. Her heavenly
+eyes--(no Angel of God's has them more truthful)--raised to her, her
+hands pressed to her heaving breast, she wept, imploring help and
+consolation. Mademoiselle Scuderi, controlling herself with difficulty,
+giving to the tone of her voice as much calmness and gravity as
+she could, said, "Go! go!--be thankful that the murderer awaits
+the just punishment of his crime. May the Holy Virgin grant that
+blood-guiltiness does not weigh heavily on your own head also." With a
+bitter cry of "Alas! then all is over!" Madelon fell fainting to the
+ground. Mademoiselle Scuderi left her to the care of La Martiniere, and
+went to another room.
+
+Much distressed, and at variance with all earthly things, she longed to
+depart from a world filled with diabolical treachery and falsehood. She
+complained of the destiny which had granted her so many years in which
+to strengthen her belief in truth and virtue, only to shatter in her
+old days the beautiful fancies which had illumined her path.
+
+She heard Madelon, as La Martiniere was leading her away, murmur in
+broken accents, "_Her_, too, have the terrible men deceived. Ah!
+wretched me!--miserable Olivier!" The tones of the voice went to her
+heart, and again there dawned within her the belief in the existence of
+some mystery, in Olivier's innocence. Torn by the most contradictory
+feelings, she cried, "What spirit of the pit has mixed _me_ up in this
+terrible story, which will be my very death!"
+
+At this moment Baptiste came in pale and terrified, to say that
+Desgrais was at the door. Since the dreadful La Voisin trial the
+appearance of Desgrais in a house was the sure precursor of some
+criminal accusation. Hence Baptiste's terror, as to which his mistress
+asked him with a gentle smile, "What is the matter, Baptiste? Has the
+name of Scuderi been found in La Voisin's lists?" "Ah! For Christ's
+sake," cried Baptiste, trembling in every limb, "how can you say such a
+thing; but Desgrais--the horrible Desgrais--is looking so mysterious,
+and presses in so--he seems hardly able to wait till he can see you."
+"Well, Baptiste," she said, "bring him in at once, this gentleman who
+is so frightful to you, and who to _me_, at all events, can cause no
+anxiety."
+
+"President La Regnie sends me to you, Mademoiselle," said Desgrais,
+when he entered, "with a request which he scarce would dare to make if
+he did not know your goodness and bravery, and if the last hope of
+bringing to light an atrocious deed of blood did not lie in your hands,
+had you not already taken such interest (as well as bearing a part), in
+this case, which is keeping the Chambre Ardente, and all of us, in a
+state of such breathless eagerness. Olivier Brusson, since he saw you,
+has been almost out of his mind. He still swears by all that is sacred,
+that he is completely innocent of Rene Cardillac's death, though he is
+ready to suffer the punishment he has deserved. Observe, Mademoiselle,
+that the latter admission clearly refers to other crimes of which he
+has been guilty. But all attempts to get him to utter anything further
+have been vain. He begs and implores to be allowed to have an interview
+with you. To you alone will he divulge everything. Vouchsafe then,
+Mademoiselle, to listen to Brusson's confession."
+
+"What?" cried Mademoiselle Scuderi, in indignation, "_I_ become an
+organ of the criminal court, and abuse the confidence of this
+unfortunate fellow to bring him to the scaffold! No! Desgrais. Ruffian
+and murderer though he may be, I could never deceive and betray him
+thus villainously. I will have nothing to do with his avowal. If I did,
+it would be locked up in my heart, as if made to a priest under the
+seal of the confessional."
+
+"Perhaps, Mademoiselle," said Desgrais, with a subtle smile, "you might
+alter your opinion after hearing Brusson. Did you not beg the President
+to be human? This he is, in yielding to Brusson's foolish desire, and
+thus trying one more expedient--the last--before resorting to the rack,
+for which Brusson is long since ripe."
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi shuddered involuntarily.
+
+"Understand, Mademoiselle," he continued, "you would by no means be
+expected to go again into those gloomy dungeons, which inspired you
+with such horror and loathing. Olivier would be brought to your own
+house, in the night, like a free man; what he should say would not be
+listened to, though, of course, there would be a proper guard with him.
+He could thus tell you freely and unconstrainedly all he had to say. As
+regards any risk which you might run in seeing the wretched being, my
+life shall answer for that. He speaks of you with the deepest
+veneration; he vows that it is the dark mystery which prevented his
+seeing you earlier which has brought him to destruction. Moreover, it
+would rest with you entirely to repeat as much or as little as you
+pleased of what Brusson confessed to you. How could you be constrained
+to more?"
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi sat with eyes fixed on the ground, in deep
+reflection. It seemed to her that she could not but obey that Higher
+Power which demanded of her the clearing up of this mystery--as if
+there were no escape for her from the wondrous meshes in which she had
+become inwound without her will. Coming to a rapid decision, she said
+with solemnity, "God will give me self-command and firm resolution.
+Bring Brusson here; I will see him."
+
+As on the night when the jewel-casket had been brought, so now, at
+midnight, there came a knocking at the door. Baptiste, properly
+instructed, opened. Mademoiselle Scuderi's blood ran cold when she
+heard the heavy tread of the guard party which had brought Brusson
+stationing themselves about the passages.
+
+At length the door opened, Desgrais came in, and after him, Olivier
+Brusson, without irons, and respectably dressed.
+
+"Here is Brusson, Mademoiselle," said Desgrais, bowing courteously; he
+then departed at once.
+
+Brusson sank down on both knees before Mademoiselle Scuderi. The pure,
+clear expression of a most truthful soul beamed from his face, though
+it was drawn and distorted by terror and bitter pain. The longer she
+looked at him, the more vivid became a remembrance of some well-loved
+person--she could not say whom. When the first feeling of shuddering
+left her, she forgot that Cardillac's murderer was kneeling before her,
+and, speaking in the pleasant tone of quiet goodwill which was natural
+to her, said--
+
+"Now, Brusson, what have you to say to me?"
+
+He--still on his knees--sighed deeply, from profound sorrow, and then
+said--
+
+"Oh, Mademoiselle, you whom I so honour and worship, is there no trace
+of recollection of me left in your mind?"
+
+She, still looking at him attentively, answered that she had certainly
+traced in his face a likeness to some one whom she had held in
+affection, and it was to this that he owed it that she had overcome her
+profound horror of a murderer so far as to be able to listen to him
+quietly. Brusson, much pained by her words, rose quickly, and stepped
+backwards a pace, with his gloomy glance fixed on the ground. Then, in
+a hollow voice, he said--
+
+"Have you quite forgotten Anne Guiot? Her son, Olivier, the boy whom
+you used to dandle on your knee, is he who is now before you."
+
+"Oh! For the love of all the Saints!" she cried, as, covering her face
+with both hands, she sank back in her chair. She had reason for being
+thus horrified. Anne Guiot, the daughter of a citizen who had fallen
+into poverty, had lived with Mademoiselle Scuderi from her childhood;
+she had brought her up like a daughter, with all affection and care.
+When she grew up, a handsome, well-conducted young man, named Claude
+Brusson, fell in love with her. Being a first-rate workman at his trade
+of a watchmaker, sure to make a capital living in Paris, and Anne being
+very fond of him, Mademoiselle Scuderi saw no reason to object to their
+marrying. They set up house accordingly, lived a most quiet and happy
+domestic life, and the bond between them was knitted more closely still
+by the birth of a most beautiful boy, the image of his pretty mother.
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi made an idol of little Olivier, whom she would
+take away from his mother for hours and days, to pet him and kiss him.
+Hence he attached himself to her, and was as pleased to be with her as
+with his mother. When three years passed, the depressed state of
+Brusson's trade brought it about that job-work was scarcer every day,
+so that at last it was all he could do to get bread to eat. In addition
+to this came home-sickness for his beautiful native Geneva; so the
+little household went there, spite of Mademoiselle Scuderi's
+dissuasions and promises of all needful assistance. Anne wrote once or
+twice to her foster-mother, and then ceased; so that Mademoiselle
+Scuderi thought she was forgotten in the happiness of the Brusson's
+life.
+
+It was now just three and twenty years since the Brusson's had left
+Paris for Geneva.
+
+"Horrible!" cried Mademoiselle Scuderi, when she had to some extent
+recovered herself. "You, Olivier! the son of my Anne! And now!----"
+
+"Mademoiselle!" said Olivier, quietly and composedly, "doubtless you
+never thought that the boy whom you cherished like the tenderest of
+mothers, whom you dandled on your knee, and to whom you gave
+sweetmeats, would, when grown to manhood, stand before you accused of a
+terrible murder. I am completely innocent! The Chambre Ardente charges
+me with a crime; but, as I hope to die a Christian's death, though it
+may be by the executioner's hand--I am free from all blood-guiltiness.
+Not by my hand--not by any crime of my committing, was it that the
+unfortunate Cardillac came to his end."
+
+As he said this, Olivier began to tremble and shake so, that
+Mademoiselle Scuderi motioned him to a little seat which was near him.
+
+"I have had sufficient time," he went on, "to prepare myself for this
+interview with you--which I look upon as the last favour of a
+reconciled Heaven--and to acquire as much calmness and self-control as
+are necessary to tell you the story of my terrible, unheard-of
+misfortunes. Be so compassionate as to listen to me calmly, whatever
+may be your horror at the disclosure of a mystery of which you
+certainly have not the smallest inkling. Ah! would to Heaven my poor
+father had never left Paris! As far as my recollections of Geneva carry
+me, I remember myself as being always bedewed with tears by my
+inconsolable parents, and weeping, myself, at their lamentations, which
+I did not understand. Later, there came to me a clear sense--a full
+comprehension--of the bitterest and most grinding poverty, want, and
+privation in which they were living. My father was deceived in all his
+expectations; bowed down and broken with sorrow, he died, just when he
+had managed to place me as apprentice with a goldsmith. My mother spoke
+much of you; she longed to tell you all her misfortunes, but the
+despondency which springs from poverty prevented her. That, and also,
+no doubt, false modesty, which often gnaws at a mortally wounded heart,
+kept her from carrying out her idea. She followed my father to the
+grave a few months after his death."
+
+"Poor Anne! Poor Anne!" said Mademoiselle Scuderi, overwhelmed by
+sorrow.
+
+"I thank and praise the eternal power that she has gone where she
+cannot see her beloved son fall, branded with disgrace, by the hand of
+the executioner," cried Olivier, loudly, raising a wild and terrible
+glance to the skies. Outside, things became unrestful; a sound of
+people moving about made itself heard. "Ho, ho!" said he, with a bitter
+laugh, "Desgrais is waking up his people, as if I could possibly
+escape. But, let me go on. I was harshly treated by my master, though I
+was very soon one of the best of workmen, and, indeed, much better than
+himself. Once a stranger came to our workshop to buy some of our work.
+When he saw a necklace of my making, he patted my shoulder in a kind
+way, and said, looking with admiration at the necklace, 'Ah, ha! my
+young friend, this is really first-class work, I don't know anybody who
+could beat it but Rene Cardillac, who, of course, is the greatest of
+all goldsmiths. You ought to go to him; he would be delighted to get
+hold of you, for there's nobody but yourself who would be of such use
+to him; and again, there's nobody but he who can teach you anything.'
+The words of this stranger sunk deep into my heart. There was no more
+peace for me in Geneva. I was powerfully impelled to leave it, and at
+length I succeeded in getting free from my master. I came to Paris,
+where Rene Cardillac received me coldly and harshly. But I stuck to my
+point. He was obliged to give me something to try my hand at, however
+trifling. So I got a ring to finish. When I took it back to him,
+finished, he gazed at me with those sparkling eyes of his, as if he
+would look me through and through. Then he said: 'You are a first-rate
+man--a splendid fellow; you may come and work with me. I'll pay you
+well; you'll be satisfied with me.' And he kept his word. I had been
+several weeks with him before I saw Madelon, who, I think, had been
+visiting an aunt of his in the country. At last she came home. O
+eternal power of Heaven, how was it with me when I saw that angelic
+creature! Has ever a man so loved as I! And now! Oh! Madelon!"
+
+Olivier could speak no more for sorrow. He held both hands over his
+face, and sobbed violently. At last he conquered the wild pain with a
+mighty effort, and went on--
+
+"Madelon looked on me with favour, and came oftener and oftener into
+the workshop. Her father watched closely, but many a stolen hand-clasp
+marked our covenant. Cardillac did not seem to notice. My idea was,
+that if I could gain his good-will, and attain Master's rank, I should
+ask his consent to our marriage. One morning, when I was going in to
+begin work, he came to me with anger and contempt in his face. 'I don't
+want any more of your work,' he said. 'Get out of this house, and don't
+let my eyes ever rest on you again. I have no need to tell you the
+reason. The dainty fruit you are trying to gather is beyond the reach
+of a beggar like you!' I tried to speak, but he seized me and pitched
+me out of the door with such violence that I fell, and hurt my head and
+my arm. Furious, and smarting with the pain, I went off, and at last
+found a kind-hearted acquaintance in the Faubourg St. Germain, who gave
+me quarters in his garret. I had no peace nor rest. At night I wandered
+round Cardillac's house, hoping that Madelon would hear my sighs and
+lamentings, and perhaps manage to speak to me at the window
+undiscovered. All sorts of desperate plans, to which I thought I might
+persuade her, jostled each other in my brain. Cardillac's house in the
+Rue Nicaise abuts on to a high wall with niches, containing old,
+partly-broken statues. One night I was standing close to one of those
+figures, looking up at the windows of the house which open on the
+courtyard which the wall encloses. Suddenly I saw light in Cardillac's
+workshop. It was midnight, and he never was awake at that time, as he
+always went to bed exactly at nine. My heart beat anxiously: I thought
+something might be going on which would let me get into the Louse. But
+the light disappeared again immediately. I pressed myself closely into
+the niche, and against the statue; but I started back in alarm, feeling
+a return of my pressure, as if the statue had come to life. In the
+faint moonlight I saw that the stone was slowly turning, and behind it
+appeared a dark form, which crept softly out, and went down the street
+with stealthy tread. I sprang to the statue: it was standing close to
+the wall again, as before. Involuntarily, as if impelled by some power
+within me, I followed the receding dark figure. In passing an image of
+the Virgin, this figure looked round, the light of the lamp before the
+image falling upon his face. It was Cardillac! an indescribable alarm
+fell upon me; an eery shudder came over me. As if driven by some spell,
+I felt I must follow this spectre-like sleep-walker--for that was what
+I thought my master was, though it was not full-moon, the time when
+that kind of impulse falls upon sleepers. At length Cardillac
+disappeared in a deep shadow; but, by a certain easily distinguishable
+sound, I knew that he had gone into the entry of a house. What was the
+meaning of this? I asked myself in amazement; what was he going to be
+about? I pressed myself close to the wall. Presently there came up a
+gentleman, trilling and singing, with a white plume distinct in the
+darkness, and clanking spurs. Cardillac darted out upon him from the
+darkness, like a tiger on his prey; he fell to the ground gasping. I
+rushed up with a cry of terror. Cardillac was leaning over him as he
+lay on the ground. 'Master Cardillac, what are you about?' I cried
+aloud. 'Curses upon you!' he cried, and, running by me with lightning
+speed, disappeared. Quite beyond myself--scarcely able to walk a
+step--I went up to the gentleman on the ground, and knelt down beside
+him, thinking it might still be possible to save him. But there was no
+trace of life left in him. In my alarm I scarcely noticed that the
+Marechaussee had come up and surrounded me. 'Another one laid low by
+the demons!' they cried, all speaking at once. 'Ah, ha! youngster! what
+are you doing here?--are _you_ one of the band?' and they seized me. I
+stammered out in the best way I could that I was incapable of such a
+terrible deed, and that they must let me go. Then one of them held a
+lantern to my face, and said, with a laugh: 'This is Olivier Brusson;
+the goldsmith who works with our worthy Master Rene Cardillac. _He_
+murder folks in the street!--very likely story! Who ever heard of a
+murderer lamenting over the body, and letting himself be nabbed? Tell
+us all about it, my lad; out with it straight.' 'Right before my eyes,'
+I said, 'a man sprang out upon this one; stabbed him, and ran off like
+lightning. I cried as loud as I could. I wanted to see if he could be
+saved.' 'No, my son,' cried one of those who had lifted up the body,
+'he's done for!--the dagger-stab right through his heart, as usual.'
+'The deuce!' said another; 'just too late again, as we were the day
+before yesterday.' And they went away with the body.
+
+"What _I_ thought of all this I really cannot tell you. I pinched
+myself, to see if I were not in some horrible dream. I felt as if I
+must wake up directly, and marvel at the absurdity of what I had been
+dreaming. Cardillac--my Madelon's father--an atrocious murderer! I had
+sunk down powerless on the stone steps of a house; the daylight was
+growing brighter and brighter. An officer's hat with a fine plume was
+lying before me on the pavement. Cardillac's deed of blood, committed
+on the spot, came clearly back to my mental vision. I ran away in
+horror.
+
+"With my mind in a whirl, almost unconscious, I was sitting in my
+garret, when the door opened, and Rene Cardillac came in. 'For Christ's
+sake! what do you want?' I cried. He, paying no heed to this, came up
+to me, smiling at me with a calmness and urbanity which increased my
+inward horror. He drew forward an old rickety stool, and sat down
+beside me; for I was unable to rise from my straw bed, where I had
+thrown myself. 'Well, Olivier,' he began, 'how is it with you, my poor
+boy? I really was too hasty in turning you out of doors. I miss you at
+every turn. Just now I have a job in hand which I shall never be able
+to finish without you; won't you come back and work with me? You don't
+answer. Yes, I know very well I insulted you. I don't hide from you
+that I was angry about your little bit of love-business with my
+Madelon; but I have been thinking matters well over, and I see that I
+couldn't have a better son-in-law than you, with your abilities, your
+skilfulness, diligence, trustworthiness. Come back with me, and see how
+soon you and Madelon can make a match of it.'
+
+"His words pierced my heart; I shuddered at his wickedness; I could not
+utter a syllable. 'You hesitate,' he said, in an acrid tone, while his
+sparkling eyes transfixed me. 'Perhaps you can't come to-day. You have
+other things to do. Perhaps you want to go and see Desgrais, or have an
+interview with D'Argenson or La Regnie. Take care, my boy, that the
+talons which you are thinking of drawing out to clutch others, don't
+mangle yourself.' At this my deeply-tried spirit found vent. 'Those,' I
+said, 'who are conscious of horrible crimes may dread those names which
+you have mentioned, but I do not. I have nothing to do with them.'
+'Remember, Olivier,' he resumed, 'that it is an honour to you to work
+with me--the most renowned Master of his time, everywhere highly
+esteemed for his truth and goodness; any foul calumny would fall back
+on the head of its originator. As to Madelon, I must tell you that it
+is her alone whom you have to thank for my yielding. She loves you with
+a devotion that I should never have given her credit for being capable
+of. As soon as you were gone, she fell at my feet, clasped my knees,
+and vowed, with a thousand tears, that she could never live without
+you. I thought this was mere imagination, for those young things always
+think they're going to die of love whenever a young wheyface looks at
+them a little kindly. But my Madelon really did fall quite sick and
+ill; and when I tried to talk her out of the silly nonsense, she called
+out your name a thousand times. Last evening I told her I gave in and
+agreed to everything, and would go to-day to fetch you; so this morning
+she is blooming again like any rose, and waiting for you, quite beyond
+herself with love-longing.' May the eternal power of Heaven forgive me,
+but--I don't know how it came about--I suddenly found myself in
+Cardillac's house, where Madelon, with loud cries of 'Olivier!--my
+Olivier!--my beloved! my husband!' clasped both her arms about me, and
+pressed me to her heart; whilst I, in the plenitude of the supremest
+bliss, swore by the Virgin and all the Saints never, never to leave
+her."
+
+Overcome by the remembrance of this decisive moment, Olivier was
+obliged to pause. Mademoiselle Scuderi, horrified at the crime of a man
+whom she had looked on as the incarnation of probity and goodness,
+cried--
+
+"Dreadful!--Rene Cardillac a member of that band of murderers who have
+so long made Paris into a robber's den!" "A member of the band, do you
+say, Mademoiselle?" said Olivier. "There never was any band; it was
+Rene Cardillac alone, who sought and found his victims with such an
+amount of diabolical ingenuity and activity. It was in the fact of his
+being alone that his impunity lay--the practical impossibility of
+coming upon the murderer's track. But let me go on. What is coming will
+clear up the mystery, and reveal the secrets of the most wicked, and at
+the same time most wretched of all mankind. You at once see the
+position in which I now stood towards my master. The step was taken,
+and I could not go back. At times it seemed to me that I had rendered
+myself Cardillac's accomplice in murder, and it was only in Madelon's
+love that I forgot for a time the inward pain which tortured me; only
+in her society could I drive away all outward traces of the nameless
+horror. When I was at work with the old man in the workshop, I could
+not look him in the face--could scarcely speak a word--for the horror
+which pervaded me in the presence of this terrible being, who fulfilled
+all the duties of the tender father and the good citizen, while the
+night shrouded his atrocities. Madelon, pure and pious as an angel,
+hung upon him with the most idolatrous affection. It pierced my heart
+when I thought that, if ever vengeance should overtake this masked
+criminal, she would be the victim of the most terrible despair. That,
+of itself, closed my lips, though the consequence of my silence should
+be a criminal's death for myself. Although much was to be gathered from
+what the Marechaussee had said, still Cardillac's crimes, their motive,
+and the manner in which he carried them out, were a riddle to me. The
+solution of it soon came. One day Cardillac--who usually excited my
+horror by laughing and jesting during our work, in the highest of
+spirits--was very grave and thoughtful. Suddenly he threw the piece of
+work he was engaged on aside, so that the pearls and other stones
+rolled about the floor, started to his feet, and said: 'Olivier! things
+cannot go on between us like this; the situation is unendurable. What
+the ablest and most ingenious efforts of Desgrais and his myrmidons
+failed to find out, chance has played into your hands. You saw me at my
+nocturnal work, to which my Evil Star compels me, so that no resistance
+is possible for me; and it was your own Evil Star, moreover, which led
+you to follow me; wrapped and hid you in an impenetrable mantle; gave
+that lightness to your foot-fall which enabled you to move along with
+the noiselessness of the smaller animals, so that I--who see clear by
+night, as doth the tiger, and hear the smallest sound, the humming of
+the gnat, streets away--did not observe you. Your Evil Star brought you
+to me, my comrade--my accomplice! You see, now, that you can't betray
+me; therefore you shall know all.'
+
+"I would have cried out, 'Never, never shall I be your comrade, your
+accomplice, you atrocious miscreant.' But the inward horror which I
+felt at his words paralysed my tongue. Instead of words I could only
+utter an unintelligible noise. Cardillac sat down in his working chair
+again, wiped the perspiration from his brow, and seemed to find it
+difficult to pull himself together, hard beset by the recollection of
+the past. At length he began: 'Wise men have much to say of the strange
+impulses which come to women when they are _enceinte_, and the strange
+influence which those vivid, involuntary impulses exercise upon the
+child. A wonderful tale is told of _my_ mother. When she was a month
+gone with me she was looking on, with other women, at a court pageant
+at the Trianon, and saw a certain cavalier in Spanish dress, with a
+glittering chain of jewels about his neck, from which she could not
+remove her eyes. Her whole being was longing for those sparkling
+stones, which seemed to her more than earthly. This same cavalier had
+at a previous time, before my mother was married, had designs on her
+virtue, which she rejected with indignation. She recognized him, but
+now, irradiated by the light of the gems, he seemed to her a creature
+of a higher sphere, the very incarnation of beauty. The cavalier
+noticed the longing, fiery looks which she was bending on him, and
+thought he was in better luck now than of old. He managed to get near
+her, and to separate her from her companions, and entice her to a
+lonely place. There he clasped her eagerly in his arms. My mother
+grasped at the beautiful chain; but at that moment he fell down,
+dragging her with him. Whether it was apoplexy, or what, I do not know;
+but he was dead. My mother struggled in vain to free herself from the
+clasp of the arms, stiffened as they were in death. With the hollow
+eyes, whence vision had departed, fixed on her, the corpse rolled with
+her to the ground. Her shrieks at length reached people who were
+passing at some distance; they hastened to her, and rescued her from
+the embrace of this gruesome lover. Her fright laid her on a bed of
+dangerous sickness. Her life was despaired of as well as mine; but she
+recovered, and her confinement was more prosperous than had been
+thought possible. But the terrors of that awful moment had set their
+mark on _me_. My Evil Star had risen, and darted into me those rays
+which kindled in me one of the strangest and most fatal of passions.
+Even in my earliest childhood I thought there was nothing to compare
+with glittering diamonds with gold settings. This was looked upon as a
+childish fancy; but it was otherwise, for as a boy I stole gold and
+jewels wherever I could lay hands on them, and I knew the difference
+between good ones and bad, instinctively, like the most accomplished
+connoisseur. Only the pure and valuable attracted me; I would not touch
+alloyed or coined gold. Those inborn cravings were kept in check by my
+father's severe chastisements; but, so that I might always have to do
+with gold and precious stones, I took up the goldsmith's calling. I
+worked at it with passion, and soon became the first living master of
+that art. Then began a period when the natural bent within me, so long
+restrained, shot forth in power, and waxed with might, bearing
+everything away before it. As soon as I finished a piece of work and
+delivered it, I fell into a state of restlessness and disconsolateness
+which prevented my sleeping, ruined my health, and left me no enjoyment
+in my life. The person for whom I made the work haunted me day and
+night like a spectre--I saw that person continually before my mental
+vision, with my beautiful jewels on, and a voice kept whispering to me:
+'They belong to you! take them; what's the use of diamonds to the
+dead?' At last I betook myself to thieving. I had access to the houses
+of the great; I took advantage quickly of every opportunity. No locks
+withstood my skill, and I soon had my work back in my hands again. But
+this was not enough to calm my unrest. That mysterious voice made
+itself heard again, jeering at me, and saying, 'Ho, ho! one of the dead
+is wearing your jewels.' I did not know whence it came, but I had an
+indescribable hatred for all those for whom I made jewelry. More than
+that, in the depths of my heart I began to long to kill them; this
+frightened me. Just then I bought this house. I had concluded the
+bargain with the owner: here in this very room we were sitting,
+drinking a bottle of wine in honour of the transaction. Night had come
+on, he was going to leave when he said to me: 'Look here, Maitre Rene,
+before I go I must let you into a secret about this house.' He opened
+that cupboard, which is let into the wall there, and pushed the back of
+it in; this let him into a little closet, where he bowed down and
+raised a trap-door. This showed us a steep, narrow stair, which we went
+down, and at the bottom of it was a little narrow door, which let us
+out into the open courtyard. There he went up to the wall, pushed a
+piece of iron which projected a very little, and immediately a piece of
+the wall turned round, so that a person could get out through the
+opening into the street. You must see this contrivance sometime,
+Olivier; the sly old monks of the convent, which this house once was,
+must have had it made so as to be able to slip out and in secretly. It
+is wood but covered with lime and mortar on the outside, and to the
+outer side of it is fitted a statue, also of wood, though _looking_
+exactly like stone, which turns on wooden hinges. When I saw this
+arrangement, dark ideas surged up in my mind; it seemed to me that
+deeds, as yet mysterious to myself, were here pre-arranged for. I had
+just finished a splendid set of ornaments for a gentleman of the
+court who, I knew, was going to give them to an opera dancer. My
+death-torture soon was on me; the spectre dogged my steps, the whispering
+devil was at my ear. I went back into the house, bathed in a sweat of
+agony; I rolled about on my bed, sleepless. In my mind's eye I saw the
+man gliding to his dancer with _my_ beautiful jewels. Full of fury I
+sprang up, threw my cloak round me, went down the secret stair, out
+through the wall into the Rue Nicaise. He came, I fell upon him, he
+cried out; but, seizing him from behind, I plunged my dagger into his
+heart. The jewels were mine. When this was done, I felt a peace, a
+contentment within me which I had never known before. The spectre had
+vanished--the voice of the demon was still. _Now_ I knew what was the
+behest of my Evil Star, which I had to obey, or perish. You know all
+now, Olivier. Don't think that, because I must do that which I cannot
+avoid, I have clean renounced all sense of that mercy or kindly feeling
+which are the portion of all humanity, and inherent in man's nature.
+You know how hard I find it to let any of my work go out of my hands,
+that there are many whom I would not have to die for whom nothing will
+induce me to work; indeed, that in cases when I feel that, next day, my
+spectre will have to be exorcised with blood, that day I settle the
+business by a swashing blow, which lays the holder of my jewels on the
+ground, so that I get them back into my own hands.' Having said all
+this, Cardillac took me into his secret strong-room and showed me his
+collection of jewels; the King does not possess such an one. To each
+ornament was fastened a small label stating for whom it had been made,
+and when taken back--by theft, robbery, or murder.
+
+"'On your wedding day, Olivier,' he said, in a solemn tone, 'you will
+swear me a solemn oath, with your hand on the crucifix, that as soon as
+I am dead you will at once convert all those treasures into dust,
+by a process which I will tell you of. I will not have any human
+being, least of all Madelon and you, come into possession of those
+blood-bought stones.'
+
+"Shut up in this labyrinth of crime, torn in twain by love and
+abhorrence, I was like one of the damned to whom a glorified angel
+points, with gentle smile, the upward way, whilst Satan holds him down
+with red-hot talons, and the angel's loving smile, reflecting all the
+bliss of paradise, becomes, to him, the very keenest of his tortures. I
+thought of flight, even of suicide, but Madelon! Blame me, blame me,
+Mademoiselle, for having been too weak to overcome a passion which
+fettered me to my destruction. I am going to atone for my weakness by a
+shameful death. One day Cardillac came in in unusually fine spirits, he
+kissed and caressed Madelon, cast most affectionate looks at me, drank,
+at table, a bottle of good wine, which he only did on high-days and
+holidays, sang, and made merry. Madelon had left us, and I was going to
+the workshop 'Sit still, lad,' cried Cardillac, 'no more work to-day;
+let's drink the health of the most worthy and charming lady in all
+Paris.' When we had clinked our glasses, and he had emptied a bumper,
+he said: 'Tell me, Olivier, how do you like those lines?
+
+          'Un amant qui craint les voleurs
+            N'est point digne d'amour.'
+
+And he told me what had happened between you and the King in Madam de
+Maintenon's salon, adding that he had always worshipped you more than
+any other human being, and that his reverence and esteem for your
+qualities was such that his Evil Star paled before you, and he would
+have no fear that, were you to wear the finest piece of his work that
+ever he made, the spectre would ever prompt him to thoughts of murder.
+'Listen, Olivier,' he said, 'to what I am going to do. A considerable
+time ago I had to make a necklace and bracelets for Henrietta of
+England, supplying the stones myself. I made of this the best piece of
+work that ever I turned out, and it broke my heart to part with those
+ornaments, which had become the very treasures of my soul. You know of
+her unfortunate death by assassination. The things remained with me,
+and now I shall send them to Mademoiselle Scuderi, in the name of the
+dreaded band, as a token of respect and gratitude. Besides its being an
+unmistakable mark of her triumph, it will be a richly deserved sign of
+my contempt for Desgrais and his men. You shall take her the jewels.'
+When he mentioned your name, Mademoiselle, dark veils seemed to be
+taken away, revealing the bright image of my happy early childhood,
+rising again in glowing colours before me. A wonderful comfort came
+into my soul, a ray of hope, driving the dark shadows away. Cardillac
+saw the effect his words had produced upon me, and gave it his own
+interpretation. 'My idea seems to please you,' he said. 'I must declare
+that a deep inward voice, very unlike that which cries for blood like a
+raving wild beast, commanded me to do this thing. Many times I feel the
+strangest ideas come into my mind--an inward fear, the dread of
+something terrible, the awe whereof seems to come breathing into this
+present time from some distant other world, seizes powerfully upon me.
+I even feel, at such times, that the deeds which my Evil Star has
+committed by means of me, may be charged to the account of my immortal
+soul, though it has no part in them. In one of those moods I determined
+that I would make a beautiful diamond crown for the Virgin in the
+Church of St. Eustache. But the indescribable dread always came upon
+me, stronger than ever, when I set to work at it, so that I left it off
+altogether. Now it seems to me that, in presenting Mademoiselle Scuderi
+with the finest work I have ever turned out, I am offering a humble
+sacrifice to goodness and virtue personified, and imploring their
+powerful intercession.' Cardillac, well acquainted with all the minutiae
+of your manner of life, told me the how and the when to take the
+ornaments to you. My whole Being rejoiced, for Heaven seemed to be
+showing me, through the atrocious Cardillac, the way to escape from the
+hell in which I was being tortured. Quite contrarily to Cardillac's
+wish, I resolved that I would get access to you and speak with you. As
+Anne Brusson's son, and your former pet, I thought I would throw myself
+at your feet and tell you everything. Out of consideration for the
+nameless misery which a disclosure of the secret would bring upon
+Madelon, I knew that you would keep it, but that your grand and
+brilliant intellect would have been sure to find means to put an end to
+Cardillac's wickedness without disclosing it. Do not ask me what those
+means were to have been; I cannot tell. But that you would rescue
+Madelon and me I believed as firmly as I do in the intercession of the
+Holy Virgin. You know, Mademoiselle, that my intention was frustrated
+that night; but I did not lose hope of being more fortunate another
+time. By-and-by Cardillac suddenly lost all his good spirits; he crept
+moodily about, uttered unintelligible words, and worked his arms as if
+warding off something hostile. His mind seemed full of evil thoughts.
+For a whole morning he had been going on in this way. At last he sat
+down at the work-table, sprang up again angrily, looked out of window,
+and then said, gravely and gloomily, 'I wish Henrietta of England had
+had my jewels.' Those words filled me with terror. I knew that his
+diseased mind was possessed again by the terrible murder-spectre, that
+the voice of the demon was loud again in his ears. I saw your life
+threatened by the horrible murder-demon. If Cardillac could get his
+jewels back again into his hands, you were safe. The danger grew
+greater every instant. I met you on the Pont Neuf, made my way to your
+carriage, threw you the note which implored you to give the jewels back
+to Cardillac immediately. You did not come. My fear became despair,
+when, next day, Cardillac spoke of nothing but the priceless jewels he
+had seen before him in his dreams. I could only suppose that this
+referred to _your_ jewels, and I felt sure he was brooding over some
+murderous attack, which he had determined to carry out that night. Save
+you I must, should it cost Cardillac's life. When, after the evening
+prayer, he had shut himself up in his room as usual, I got into the
+courtyard through a window, slipped out through the opening of the
+wall, and stationed myself close at hand, in the deepest shadow. Very
+soon Cardillac came out, and went gliding softly down the street. I
+followed him. He took the direction of the Rue St. Honore. My heart
+beat fast. All at once he disappeared from me. I determined to place
+myself at your door. Just as fate had ordered matters on the first
+occasion of my witnessing one of his crimes, there came along past me
+an officer, trilling and singing; he did not see me. Instantly a dark
+form sprang out and attacked him. Cardillac! I determined to prevent
+this murder. I gave a loud shout, and was on the spot in a couple of
+paces. Not the officer, but Cardillac, fell gasping to the ground,
+mortally wounded. The officer let his dagger fall, drew his sword, and
+stood on the defensive, thinking I was the murderer's accomplice. But
+he hastened away when he saw that, instead of concerning myself about
+_him_, I was examining the fallen man. Cardillac was still alive. I
+took up the dagger dropped by the officer, stuck it in my belt, and,
+lifting Cardillac on to my shoulders, carried him, with difficulty, to
+the house, and up the secret stair to the workshop. The rest you know.
+You perceive, Mademoiselle, that my only crime was that I refrained
+from giving Madelon's father up to justice, thereby making an end of
+his crimes. I am innocent of bloodguilt. No torture will draw from me
+the secret of Cardillac's iniquities. Not through any action of mine
+shall that Eternal Power, which hid from Madelon the gruesome
+bloodguilt of her father all this time, break in upon her now, to her
+destruction, nor shall earthly vengeance drag the corpse of Cardillac
+out of the soil which covers it, and brand the mouldering bones with
+infamy. No; the beloved of my soul shall mourn me as an innocent
+victim. Time will mitigate her sorrow for me, but her grief for her
+father's terrible crimes nothing would ever assuage."
+
+Olivier ceased, and then a torrent of tears fell down his cheeks.
+He threw himself at Mademoiselle Scuderi's feet, saying imploringly,
+"You are convinced that I am innocent; I know you are. Be merciful
+to me. Tell me how Madelon is faring." Mademoiselle Scuderi summoned
+La Martiniere, and in a few minutes Madelon was clinging to Olivier's
+neck. "Now that you are here, all is well. I knew that this
+noble-hearted lady would save you," Madelon cried over and over; and
+Olivier forgot his fate, and all that threatened him. He was free and
+happy. They bewailed, in the most touching manner, what each had
+suffered for the other, and embraced afresh, and wept for joy at being
+together again.
+
+Had Mademoiselle Scuderi not been convinced of Olivier's innocence
+before, she must have been so when she saw those two lovers forgetting,
+in the rapture of the time, the world, their sufferings, and their
+indescribable sorrows. "None but a guiltless heart," she cried, "would
+be capable of such blissful forgetfulness."
+
+The morning light came breaking into the room, and Desgrais knocked
+gently at the door, reminding them that it was time to take Olivier
+away, as it could not be done later without attracting attention. The
+lovers had to part.
+
+The dim anticipations which Mademoiselle Scuderi had felt when Olivier
+first came in had now embodied themselves in actual life--in a
+terrible fashion. The son of her much-loved Anne was, though innocent,
+implicated in a manner which apparently made it impossible to save him
+from a shameful death. She admired his heroism, which led him to prefer
+death loaded with the imputation of guilt to the betrayal of a secret
+which would kill Madelon. In the whole realm of possibility, she could
+see no mode of saving the unfortunate lad from the gruesome prison and
+the dreadful trial. Yet it was firmly impressed on her mind that she
+must not shrink from any sacrifice to prevent this most crying
+injustice.
+
+She tortured herself with all kinds of plans and projects, which were
+chiefly of the most impracticable and impossible kind--rejected as soon
+as formed. Every glimmer of hope grew fainter and fainter, and she
+well-nigh despaired. But Madelon's pious, absolute, childlike
+confidence, the inspired manner in which she spoke of her lover, soon
+to be free, and to take her to his heart as his wife, restored
+Mademoiselle Scuderi's hopes to some extent.
+
+By way of beginning to do something, she wrote to La Regnie a long
+letter, in which she said that Olivier Brusson had proved to her in the
+most credible manner his entire innocence of Cardillac's murder, and
+that nothing but a heroic resolution to carry to the grave with him a
+secret, the disclosure of which would bring destruction upon an
+innocent and virtuous person, withheld him from laying a statement
+before the Court which would completely clear him from all guilt, and
+show that he never belonged to the band at all. She said everything she
+could think of, with the best eloquence at her command, which might be
+expected to soften La Regnie's hard heart.
+
+He replied to this in a few hours, saying he was very glad that Olivier
+had so thoroughly justified himself in the eyes of his kind patron and
+protector; but, as regarded his heroic resolution to carry to the grave
+with him a secret relating to the crime with which he was charged, he
+regretted that the Chambre Ardente could feel no admiration for heroism
+of that description, but must endeavour to dispel it by powerful means.
+In three days time he had little doubt he would be in possession of the
+wondrous secret, which would probably bring many strange matters to
+light.
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi knew well what the terrible La Regnie meant by the
+"powerful means," which were to break down Olivier's heroism. It was
+but too clear that the unfortunate wretch was threatened with the
+torture. In her mortal anxiety it at last occurred to her that, were it
+only to gain time, the advice of a lawyer would be of some service.
+Pierre Arnaud d'Andilly was at that time the most celebrated advocate
+in Paris. His goodness of heart, and his highly honourable character
+were on a par with his professional skill and his comprehensive mind.
+To him she repaired, and told him the whole tale, as far as it was
+possible to do so without divulging Olivier's secret. She expected that
+d'Andilly would warmly espouse the cause of this innocent man, but in
+this she was wofully disappointed. He listened silently to what she had
+to say, and then, with a quiet smile, answered in the words of Boileau,
+"Le vrai peut quelquefois n'etre point vraisemblable." He showed her
+that there were the most grave and marked suspicions against Olivier.
+That La Regnie's action was by no means severe or premature, but wholly
+regular; indeed, that to do otherwise would be to neglect his duty as a
+Judge. He did not believe that he--d'Andilly--could save Brusson from
+the rack, by the very ablest of pleading. Nobody could do that but
+Brusson himself, either by making the fullest confession, or by
+accurately relating the circumstances of Cardillac's murder, which
+might lead to further discoveries.
+
+"Then I will throw myself at the King's feet and sue for mercy," cried
+Mademoiselle Scuderi, her voice choked by weeping.
+
+"For Heaven's sake, do not do that," cried d'Andilly. "Keep it in
+reserve for the last extremity. If it fails you once, it is lost for
+ever. The King will not pardon a criminal such as Brusson; the people
+would justly complain of the danger to them. Possibly Brusson, by
+revealing his secret, or otherwise, may manage to dispel the suspicion
+which is on him at present. Then would be the time to resort to the
+King, who would not ask what was legally proved, but be guided by his
+own conviction."
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi could not but agree with what d'Andilly's great
+experience dictated. She was sitting in her room, pondering as to
+what--in the name of the Virgin and all the saints--she should try next
+to do, when La Martiniere came to say that the Count de Miossens,
+Colonel of the King's Body Guard, was most anxious to speak with her.
+
+"Pardon me, Mademoiselle," said the Colonel, bowing with a soldier's
+courtesy, "for disturbing you, and breaking in upon you at such an
+hour. Two words will be sufficient excuse for me. I come about Olivier
+Brusson."
+
+"Olivier Brusson," cried Mademoiselle Scuderi, all excitement as to
+what she was going to hear, "that most unfortunate of men! What have
+you to say of him?"
+
+"I knew," said Miossens, laughing again, "that your _protege's_ name
+would ensure me a favourable hearing. Everybody is convinced of
+Brusson's guilt. I know you think otherwise, and, it is said, your
+opinion rests on what he himself has told you. With me the case is
+different. Nobody can be more certain than I that Brusson is innocent
+of Cardillac's death."
+
+"Speak! Oh, speak!" cried Mademoiselle Scuderi.
+
+"I was the man who stabbed the old goldsmith, in the Rue St. Honore,
+close to your door," said the Colonel.
+
+"_You_--_you!_" cried Mademoiselle Scuderi. "In the name of all the
+Saints, how?"
+
+"And I vow to you, Mademoiselle, that I am very proud of my
+achievement. Cardillac, I must tell you, was a most abandoned old
+hypocritical ruffian, who went about at night robbing and murdering
+people, and was never suspected of anything of the kind. I don't,
+myself, know from whence it came, that I felt a suspicion of the old
+scoundrel when he seemed so distressed at handing me over some work
+which I had got him to do for me, when he carefully wormed out of me
+for whom I designed it, and cross-questioned my valet as to the times
+when I was in the habit of going to see a certain lady. It struck me
+long ago, that all the people who were murdered by the unknown hands,
+had the self-same wound, and I saw quite clearly, that the murderer had
+practised to the utmost perfection of certainty that particular thrust,
+which must kill instantaneously--and that he reckoned upon it; so that,
+if it were to fail, the fight would be fair. This led me to employ a
+precaution so very simple and obvious, that I cannot imagine how
+somebody else did not think of it long ago. I wore a light breastplate
+of steel under my dress. Cardillac set upon me from behind. He grasped
+me with the strength of a giant, but his finely directed thrust glided
+off the steel breast-plate. I then freed myself from his clutch, and
+planted my dagger into his heart."
+
+"And you have said nothing?" said Mademoiselle Scuderi. "You have not
+told the authorities anything about this?"
+
+"Allow me to point out to you, Mademoiselle," said he, "that to have
+done that would have involved me in a most terrible legal
+investigation, probably ending in my ruin. La Regnie, who scents out
+crime everywhere, would not have been at all likely to believe me at
+once, when I accused the good, respectable, exemplary Cardillac of
+being an habitual murderer. The sword of Justice would, most probably,
+have turned its point against me."
+
+"Impossible," said Mademoiselle Scuderi. "Your rank--your position----"
+
+"Oh!" interrupted Miossens, "remember the Marechal de Luxemburg; he
+took it into his head to have his horoscope cast by Le Sage, and was
+suspected of poisoning, and put in the Bastille. No; by Saint Dyonys!
+not one moment of freedom--not the tip of one of my ears, would I trust
+to that raging La Regnie, who would be delighted to put his knife to
+all our throats."
+
+"But this brings an innocent man to the scaffold," said Mademoiselle
+Scuderi.
+
+"Innocent, Mademoiselle!" cried Miossens. "Do you call Cardillac's
+accomplice an innocent man? He who assisted him in his crimes, and has
+deserved death a hundred times? No, in verity; _he_ suffers justly;
+although I told you the true state of the case in the hope that you
+might somehow make use of it in the interests of your _protege_,
+without bringing me into the clutches of the Chambre Ardente."
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi, delighted at having her conviction of Olivier's
+innocence confirmed in such a decided manner, had no hesitation in
+telling the Count the whole affair, since he already knew all about
+Cardillac's crimes, and in begging him to go with her to d'Andilly, to
+whom everything should be communicated under the seal of secrecy, and
+who should advise what was next to be done.
+
+D'Andilly, when Mademoiselle Scuderi had told him at full length all
+the circumstances, inquired again into the very minutest particulars.
+He asked Count Miossens if he was quite positive as to its having been
+Cardillac who attacked him, and if he would recognise Olivier as the
+person who carried away the body.
+
+"Not only," said Miossens, "was the moon shining brightly, so that I
+recognised the old goldsmith perfectly well, but this morning, at La
+Regnie's, I saw the dagger with which he was stabbed. It is mine; I
+know it by the ornamentation of the handle. And as I was within a pace
+of the young man, I saw his face quite distinctly, all the more because
+his hat had fallen off. As a matter of course I should know him in a
+moment."
+
+D'Andilly looked before him in meditation for a few moments, and said:
+"There is no way of getting Brusson out of the hands of justice by any
+ordinary means. On Madelon's account, nothing will induce him to admit
+that Cardillac was a robber and a murderer. And even were he to do so,
+and succeed in proving the truth of it by pointing out the secret
+entrance and the collection of the stolen jewels, death would be his
+own lot, as an accomplice. The same consequence would follow if Count
+Miossens related to the judges the adventure with Cardillac. Delay is
+what we must aim at. Let Count Miossens go to the Conciergerie, be
+confronted with Olivier, and recognise him as the person who carried
+off Cardillac's body; let him then go to La Regnie, and say, 'I saw a
+man stabbed in the Rue St. Honore, and was close to the body when
+another man darted up, bent down over it, and finding life still in it,
+took it on his shoulders and carried it away. I recognise Olivier
+Brusson as that man.' This will lead to a further examination of
+Brusson, to his being confronted with Count Miossens; the torture will
+be postponed, and further investigations made. Then will be the time to
+have recourse to the King. Your brilliant intellect, Mademoiselle, will
+point out the most fitting way to do this. I think it would be best to
+tell His Majesty the whole story. Count Miossen's statement will
+support Olivier's. Perhaps, too, an examination of Cardillac's house
+would help matters. The King might then follow the bent of his own
+judgment--of his kind heart, which might pardon where justice could
+only punish." Count Miossens closely followed D'Andilly's advice, and
+everything fell out just as he had said it would.
+
+It was now time to repair to the King; and this was the chief
+difficulty of all, as he had such an intense horror of Brusson--whom he
+believed to be the man who had for so long kept Paris in a state of
+terror--that the least allusion to him threw him at once into the most
+violent anger. Madame de Maintenon, faithful to her system of never
+mentioning unpleasant subjects to him, declined all intermediation; so
+that Brusson's fate was entirely in Mademoiselle Scuderi's hands. After
+long reflection, she hit upon a scheme which she put in execution at
+once. She put on a heavy black silk dress, with Cardillac's jewels, and
+a long black veil, and appeared at Madame de Maintenon's at the time
+when she knew the King would be there. Her noble figure in this
+mourning garb excited the reverential respect even of those frivolous
+persons who pass their days in Court antechambers. They all made way
+for her, and when she came into the presence, the King himself rose,
+astonished, and came forward to meet her. The splendid diamonds of the
+necklace and bracelets flashed in his eyes, and he cried: "By Heavens!
+Cardillac's work!" Then, turning to Madame de Maintenon, he said, with
+a pleasant smile, "See, Madame la Marquise, how our fair lady mourns
+for her affianced husband." "Ah, Sire!" said Mademoiselle Scuderi, as
+if keeping up the jest, "it would ill become a mourning bride to wear
+such bravery. No; I have done with the goldsmith; nor would I remember
+him, but that the gruesome spectacle of his corpse carried close by me
+before my eyes keeps coming back to my memory." "What!" said the King,
+"did you actually see him, poor fellow?" She then told him in few words
+(not introducing Brusson into the business at all) how chance had
+brought her to Cardillac's door just when the murder had been
+discovered. She described Madelon's wild terror and sorrow; the
+impression made upon her by the beautiful girl; how she had taken her
+out of Desgrais's hands, and away with her, amid the applause of the
+crowd. The scenes with La Regnie, with Desgrais, with Olivier Brusson
+himself, now followed, the interest constantly increasing. The King,
+carried away by the vividness with which Mademoiselle Scuderi told the
+tale, did not notice that the Brusson case, which he so abominated, was
+in question, listened breathlessly, occasionally expressing his
+interest by an ejaculation. And ere he was well aware, still amazed by
+the marvels which he was hearing, not yet able to arrange them all in
+his mind, behold! Mademoiselle Scuderi was at his feet, imploring mercy
+for Olivier Brusson.
+
+"What are you doing?" broke out the King, taking both her hands and
+making her sit down. "You take us by storm in a marvellous fashion. It
+is a most terrible story! Who is to answer for the truth of Brusson's
+extraordinary tale?" "Miossen's deposition proves it," she cried; "the
+searching of Cardillac's house; my own firm conviction, and, ah!
+Madelon's pure heart, which recognises equal purity in poor Brusson."
+The King, about to say something, was interrupted by a noise in the
+direction of the door. Louvois, who was at work in the next room, put
+his head in with an anxious expression. The King rose, and followed him
+out. Both Madame de Maintenon and Mademoiselle Scuderi thought this
+interruption of evil augury; for, though once surprised into interest,
+the King might take care not to fall into the snare a second time. But
+he came back in a few minutes, walked up and down the room two or three
+times, quickly, and then, pausing with his hands behind his back before
+Mademoiselle Scuderi, he said, in a half-whisper, without looking at
+her: "I should like to see this Madelon of yours." On this Mademoiselle
+Scuderi said: "Oh! gracious Sire! what a marvellous honour you
+vouchsafe to the poor unfortunate child. She will be at your feet in an
+instant." She tripped to the door as quickly as her heavy dress
+allowed, and called to those in the anteroom that the King wished to
+see Madelon Cardillac. She came back weeping and sobbing with delight
+and emotion. Having expected this, she had brought Madelon with her,
+leaving her to wait with the Marquise's maid, with a short petition in
+her hand drawn up by D'Andilly. In a few moments she had prostrated
+herself, speechless, at the King's feet. Awe, confusion, shyness, love,
+and sorrow sent the blood coursing faster and faster through her veins;
+her cheeks glowed, her eyes sparkled with the bright tear-drops, which
+now and again fell from her silken lashes down to her beautiful lily
+breast. The King was moved by the wonderful beauty of the girl. He
+raised her gently, and stooped down as if about to kiss her hand, which
+he had taken in his; but he let the hand go, and gazed at her with
+tears in his eyes, evincing deep emotion. Madame de Maintenon whispered
+to Mademoiselle Scuderi: "Is she not exactly like La Valliere, the
+little thing? The King is sunk in the sweetest souvenirs: you have
+gained the day." Though she spoke softly, the King seemed to hear. A
+blush came to his cheek; he scanned Madame de Maintenon with a glance,
+and then said, gently and kindly: "I am quite sure that you, my dear
+child, think your lover is innocent; but we must hear what the Chambre
+Ardente has to say." A gentle wave of his hand dismissed Madelon,
+bathed in tears. Mademoiselle Scuderi saw, to her alarm, that the
+resemblance to La Valliere, advantageous as it had seemed to be at
+first, had nevertheless changed the King's intention as soon as Madame
+de Maintenon had spoken of it. Perhaps he felt himself somewhat
+ungently reminded that he was going to sacrifice strict justice to
+beauty; or he may have been like a dreamer who, when loudly addressed
+by his name, finds that the beautiful magic visions by which he thought
+he was surrounded vanish away. Perhaps he no longer saw his La Valliere
+before him, but thought only of S[oe]ur Louise de la Misericorde--La
+Valliere's cloister name among the Carmelite nuns--paining him with her
+piety and repentance. There was nothing for it now but to patiently
+wait for the King's decision.
+
+Meanwhile Count Miossen's statement before the Chambre Ardente had
+become known; and, as often happens, popular opinion soon flew from one
+extreme to the other, so that the person whom it had stigmatized as the
+most atrocious of murderers, and would fain have torn in pieces before
+he reached the scaffold, was now bewailed as the innocent victim of a
+barbarous sacrifice. His old neighbours only now remembered his
+admirable character and behaviour, his love for Madelon, and the
+faithfulness and devotion of soul and body with which he had served his
+master. Crowds of people, in threatening temper, often collected before
+La Regnie's Palais, crying, "Give us out Olivier Brusson!--he is
+innocent!" even throwing stones at the windows, so that La Regnie had
+to seek the protection of the Marechaussee.
+
+Many days elapsed without Mademoiselle Scuderi's hearing anything on
+the subject of Olivier Brusson. In her disconsolateness she went to
+Madame de Maintenon, who said the King was keeping silence on the
+subject, and it was not advisable to remind him of it. When she then,
+with a peculiar smile, asked after the "little La Valliere,"
+Mademoiselle Scuderi saw that this proud lady felt, in the depths of
+her heart, some slight annoyance at a matter which had the power of
+drawing the mobile King into a province whose charm was beyond her own
+sphere. Consequently nothing was to be hoped from Madame de Maintenon.
+
+At length Mademoiselle Scuderi managed to find out, with D'Andilly's
+help, that the King had had a long interview with Count Miossens;
+further, that Bontems, the King's confidential groom of the chamber and
+secret agent, had been to the Conciergerie, and spoken with Brusson;
+that, finally, the said Bontems, with several other persons, had paid a
+long visit to Cardillac's house. Claude Patru, who lived in the lower
+story, said he had heard banging noises above his head in the night,
+and that he had recognised Olivier's voice amongst others. So far it
+was certain that the King was, himself, causing the matter to be
+investigated; but what was puzzling was the long delay in coming to a
+decision. La Regnie was most probably trying all in his power to
+prevent his prey from slipping through his fingers; and this nipped all
+hope in the bud.
+
+Nearly a month had elapsed, when Madame de Maintenon sent to tell
+Mademoiselle Scuderi that the King wished to see her that evening in
+her salon.
+
+Her heart beat fast. She knew that Olivier's fate would be decided that
+night. She told Madelon so, and the latter prayed to the Virgin and all
+the Saints that Mademoiselle Scuderi might succeed in convincing the
+King of her lover's innocence.
+
+And yet it appeared as if he had forgotten the whole affair, for he
+passed the time in chatting pleasantly with Madame de Maintenon and
+Mademoiselle Scuderi, without a single word of poor Olivier Brusson. At
+length Bontems appeared, approached the King, and spoke a few words so
+softly that the ladies could not hear them. Mademoiselle Scuderi
+trembled; but the King rose, went up to her, and said, with beaming
+eyes, "I congratulate you, Mademoiselle. Your protege, Olivier Brusson,
+is free." Mademoiselle Scuderi, with tears streaming down her cheeks,
+unable to utter a word, would have cast herself at the King's feet; but
+he prevented her, saying, "Va! Va! Mademoiselle, you ought to be my
+Attorney-General and plead my causes, for nobody on earth can resist
+your eloquence and powers of persuasion." He added, more gravely, "He
+who is shielded by virtue may snap his fingers at every accusation, by
+the Chambre Ardente, or any other tribunal on earth."
+
+Mademoiselle Scuderi, now finding words, poured forth a most glowing
+tribute of gratitude. But the King interrupted her, saying there were
+warmer thanks awaiting her at home than any he could expect from her,
+as at that moment doubtless Olivier was embracing his Madelon.
+"Bontems," added His Majesty, "will hand you 1000 Louis, which you will
+give the little one from me as a wedding portion. Let her marry her
+Brusson, who does not deserve such a treasure, and then they must both
+leave Paris. This is my will."
+
+La Martiniere came to meet her mistress with eager steps, followed by
+Baptiste, their faces beaming with joy, and both crying out, "He is
+here! he is free! Oh, the dear young couple!" The happy pair fell at
+Mademoiselle Scuderi's feet, and Madelon cried, "Ah! I knew that you,
+and you only, would save my husband." "Mother," cried Olivier, "my
+belief in you never wavered." They kissed her hands, and shed many
+tears; and then they embraced again, and vowed that the super-earthly
+bliss of the present time was worth all the nameless sufferings of the
+days that were past.
+
+In a few days the priest pronounced his blessing upon them. Even had it
+not been the King's command that they were to leave Paris, Brusson
+could not have remained there, where everything reminded him of the
+dreadful epoch of Cardillac's atrocities, and where any accident might
+have disclosed the evil secret, already known to several persons,
+destroying the peace of his life for ever. Immediately after the
+wedding he started with his young wife for Geneva, sped on his way by
+Mademoiselle Scuderi's blessings. Handsomely provided with Madelon's
+portion, his own skill at his calling, and every civic virtue, he there
+led a happy life, without a care. The hopes, whose frustration had sent
+the father to his grave, were fulfilled to the son.
+
+A year after Brusson left Paris, a public proclamation, signed by
+Harloy de Chauvalon, Archbishop of Paris, and by Pierre Arnaud
+d'Andilly, Advocate of the Parliament, appeared, stating that a
+repentant sinner had, under seal of confession, made over to the Church
+a valuable stolen treasure of gold and jewels. All those who, up to
+about the end of the year 1680, had been robbed of property of this
+description, particularly if by murderous attack in the street, were
+directed to apply to d'Andilly, when they would receive it back,
+provided that anything in the said collection agreed with the
+description to be by them given, and providing that there was no doubt
+of the genuineness of the application. Many whose names occurred in
+Cardillac's list as having been merely stunned, not murdered, came from
+time to time to d'Andilly to reclaim their property, and received it
+back, to their no small surprise. The remainder became the property of
+the Church of St. Eustache."
+
+
+Sylvester's tale was received by the Brethren with their full approval.
+It was held to be truly Serapiontic, because, whilst founded on
+historical fact, it yet soared into the region of the imaginative.
+
+Lothair said: "Our Sylvester has got very well out of a somewhat risky
+undertaking, for that, I consider, was the representing of a literary
+old maid who kept a sort of _bureau d'esprit_ in the Rue St. Honore,
+which he lets us have a peep into. Our own authoresses (and if they
+chance to be advanced in years, I hope they may all be genial, kind,
+and dignified as the old lady in the black dress) would be much
+delighted with you, my Sylvester, if they heard your story, and forgive
+you your somewhat gruesome and terrible Cardillac, whom, I suppose, you
+have altogether to thank your own imagination for."
+
+"At the same time," said Ottmar, "I remember having read, somewhere or
+other, of an old shoemaker in Venice, whom the whole town looked upon
+as a good, exemplary, industrious man, though he really was the most
+atrocious robber and murderer. Just like Cardillac, he used to slip out
+in the night-time and get into the palazzi of the great, where, in the
+depths of darkness, his surely-dealt dagger-thrust pierced the hearts
+of those whom he wanted to rob, so that they dropped down on the spot
+without a cry. Every effort of the most clever and observant police to
+detect this murderer, who kept all Venice in terror, was useless, until
+a circumstance led to the shoemaker's being suspected. He fell sick,
+and, strange to say, as long as he was confined to his bed there were
+no murders. They began again as soon as he was well. On some pretext he
+was put in prison, and, just as was expected, so long as he was shut up
+the palaces were in security; but the moment he got out (there being no
+proof of anything against him) the victims fell just as before. Finally
+the rack extracted his secret, and he was executed. A strange thing was
+that he had made no use whatever of the stolen property; it was all
+found stowed away under the flooring of his room. He said, in the
+naivest manner, that he had made a vow to St. Rochus, the patron of his
+craft, that he would get together a certain, pretty considerable, sum
+by robbery, and then stop; and complained of the hardship of having
+been apprehended before the said sum was arrived at."
+
+"I never heard of the Venetian shoemaker," said Sylvester; "but if I am
+truly to tell you the source from whence I drew, I must inform you that
+the words spoken by Mademoiselle Scuderi, 'Un amant qui craint les
+voleurs,' &c., were really made use of by her, in almost similar
+circumstances to those of my story. Also the affair of the offering
+from the band of robbers is by no means a creature of the brain of the
+felicitously inspired writer. The account of that you will find in a
+book where you certainly would not look for it, Wagenseil's 'Nuernberg
+Chronicle.' The old gentleman speaks of a visit he made to Mademoiselle
+Scuderi in Paris, and if I have succeeded in representing her as
+charming and delightful, I am indebted solely to the distinguished
+_courtoisie_ with which Wagenseil mentions her."
+
+"Verily," said Theodore, laughing, "to stumble upon Mademoiselle
+Scuderi in the 'Nuernberg Chronicle' requires an author's lucky hand,
+such as Sylvester is specially gifted with. In fact, he shines on us
+to-night in his double capacity of playwright and story-teller, like
+the constellation of the Dioscuri."
+
+"That is just where he seems to me so vain," said Vincenz. "A man who
+writes a good play ought not to set to work to tell a good tale as
+well."
+
+"Yet it is strange," said Cyprian, "that authors who can tell a story
+well, who manage their characters and situations cleverly, often fail
+altogether in drama for the stage."
+
+"But," said Lothair, "are not the conditions of drama and of narrative
+so essentially different in their fundamental elements, that the
+attempt to turn a story into a play is very often a complete failure?
+You understand that I am speaking of true narrative, not of the novel,
+so much, because that has often in it germs from which the drama can
+grow up like a glorious, beautiful tree."
+
+"What do you think," asked Vincenz, "of the admirable idea of making a
+story out of a play? Some years ago I read Iffland's 'Jaeger' turned
+into a story, and you can't believe how delightful and touching little
+Anton with the couteau de chasse, and Riekchen with the lost shoe, were
+in this shape. It was delightful, too, that the author, or adapter,
+preserved whole scenes unchanged, merely putting in the 'said he,' and
+'answered she,' between the speeches. I assure you I did not wholly
+realise the truly poetic imagination, and the deep sublimity which
+there is in Iffland's 'Jaeger,' until I read it in this form. Moreover,
+the scientific side of it struck me then, and I saw how properly it was
+classed in a certain library under the head 'Science of Forestry.'"
+
+"Cease your funning," said Lothair, "and lend, with us, an attentive
+ear to the worthy Serapion Brother who, as I perceive, has just pulled
+a manuscript out of his pocket."
+
+"This time," said Theodore, "I have trespassed upon another's ground.
+However, there is a real incident at the basis of my story, not taken
+from any book, but told to me by another."
+
+He read:--
+
+
+
+                           GAMBLERS' FORTUNE.
+
+In the summer of 18-- Pyrmont was more than usually frequented, and the
+influx of visitors, rich and great, increased from day to day, exciting
+the eager emulation of the various speculators and purveyors of their
+wants. Particularly did the faro-table keepers heap up piles of gold in
+unusual quantity, for the attraction of the noble game, which, like
+experienced sportsmen, they set themselves to decoy. As we all know, at
+watering-places especially--where people resolve to give themselves up,
+at their own sweet will, to whatever amusements may be most to their
+taste, to get through the time---the attractions of the play-table are
+not easy to resist. We see people who never touch a card at other
+times, absorbed at those tables; and, in fact, among the upper classes,
+at all events, it is thought only a proper thing to stake something
+every evening.
+
+There was but one exception to this otherwise universal rule, in the
+person of a young German Baron, whom we shall call Siegfried. When
+everybody else rushed to the tables, and there was no way left to him
+to amuse himself in what he considered a rational manner, he preferred
+taking a lonely walk, yielding to the play of his fancy, or would stay
+at home, amusing himself with a book, or sometimes writing something
+himself.
+
+He was young, independent, good-looking, well off, pleasant in manners,
+so of course he was very popular, and his success with the other sex
+was distinguished. But besides all this, there appeared to be a special
+lucky star watching over everything he undertook. People talked of many
+love-affairs, comprising risky adventures of which he had been the
+hero, which, though certain to have proved disastrous to most men, he
+had got out of with marvellous ease and facility. Old gentlemen who
+knew him would speak, particularly, of the affair of a certain watch,
+which had happened in his very early days. It chanced, before he came
+to his majority, that, on a journey, he unexpectedly found himself in
+such a strait for money that, to get on at all, he had to sell his
+watch, a beautiful gold one set with brilliants. Seeing no alternative,
+he had made up his mind to part with it much under its value; but
+it so happened that, in the hotel where he was living, there was a
+young prince who was on the look-out for just such a watch; so
+that he got more for it than it was worth. Rather more than a year
+afterwards--having come to his majority in the meantime--he read in the
+newspaper, at another place where he was, that a watch was going to be
+raffled. He took a ticket, costing only a trifle, and won the very
+watch set in brilliants which he had sold. Soon afterwards, he swopped
+this watch away for a valuable ring. Presently, having been for a time
+in the service of the Prince of G----, as he was leaving, the Prince
+gave him, as a souvenir, the self-same watch which he had twice got rid
+of--and a handsome chain into the bargain.
+
+Then, people went on to talk about Siegfried's fancy of never touching
+a card--which, considering his extraordinary luck, he ought to be just
+the man to do; and everybody came to the conclusion that, in spite of
+all his delightful qualities, the Baron was a screw; far too canny to
+risk a little of his cash. That his whole conduct completely excluded
+the idea of his being avaricious, didn't matter. People are always
+anxious, and delighted to fasten an objectionable "but" on to a man of
+gifts, and to find out this "but" wherever they can, be it only in
+their own imaginations. So everybody was quite satisfied with this
+explanation of Siegfried's hatred of the play-table.
+
+He very soon found out what he was accused of; and, being large-minded
+and liberal--hating nothing so much as avarice--he determined to show
+his calumniators how much they were mistaken, and--much as he detested
+play--sacrifice a hundred Louis d'Ors or so--more if necessary--to
+prove to them their error. He went to the faro-table with the firm
+resolution to lose the rather considerable sum which he had in his
+pocket. But the luck which accompanied him in everything he set about
+was true to him here too. Everything he staked on won. His luck
+shipwrecked the cabalistic calculations of the old, deeply experienced
+gamblers. It was all the same whether he exchanged his cards, or stuck
+to them; he always won. He furnished a unique instance of a _ponteur_
+wild with disgust because the cards favoured him. The by-standers,
+watching him, shook their heads significantly at each other, implying
+that the Baron might come to lose his head, carried along by this
+concatenation of the unusual. For indeed, a man who was furious because
+he was lucky, must surely be a _little_ off his head.
+
+The very circumstance that he had won a considerable sum necessitated
+him to go on playing; and as this gain must, in all probability, be
+followed by a still greater loss, he felt bound to carry out his
+original plan. However, he found it not so easy; his extraordinary luck
+continued to stick to him.
+
+Without his exactly noticing it himself, a love for the game of Faro
+arose within him, and grew. In its very simpleness, Faro is, in truth,
+the most mysterious of all games.
+
+He was not annoyed at being lucky _now_. The game fettered his
+attention, and kept him absorbed in it, night after night, till
+morning. As it was not the winning which interested him, but the game
+itself, he was forced to admit the existence of that extraordinary
+_spell_ connected with it which his friends had spoken of to him, but
+which he had refused to believe in.
+
+One night when the banker had just finished a "taille," on looking up
+he saw an elderly man, who had placed himself opposite to him, and was
+keeping a grave, melancholy gaze fixed upon him. And every time
+Siegfried looked up from his game, he found this grave, melancholy gaze
+still fixed upon him, so that he could not divest himself of a strong,
+rather eery sensation. The Stranger did not go away till the playing
+was over for the night. Next evening he was there again, in his old
+place opposite the Baron, gazing at him continually, with his gloomy,
+spectral eves. The Baron restrained himself; but when, on the third
+night, the Stranger was there again, gazing at him with eyes of
+devouring fire, Siegfried broke out: "I must really beg you, sir, to
+select some other place. You are interfering with my play."
+
+The stranger bowed, with a pained smile, and, without a word, left the
+table, and the room.
+
+But the following night he was standing in his old place, opposite to
+Siegfried, transfixing him with his gloomy, glowing eyes. The Baron
+broke out more angrily than on the previous night. "If it is any
+entertainment to you, sir, to glare at me in that sort of manner, I
+must beg you to select another place and another time. But--for the
+present"--a motion of the hand in the direction of the door took the
+place of the hard words which the Baron had on the tip of his tongue.
+
+And, as on the previous night, the Stranger, bowing with the same
+pained smile, left the room. Excited by the game, by the wine he had
+taken, and by the encounter with the Stranger, Siegfried could not
+sleep. When morning broke, the whole appearance of the Stranger rose to
+his memory. He saw the expressive face, the well-cut features, marked
+with sorrow, the hollow gloomy eyes which had gazed at him. He noticed
+that though he was poorly dressed, his refined manners and bearing
+spoke of good birth and up-bringing. And then the way in which he had
+received the hard words with quiet resignation, and gone away,
+swallowing the bitterness of his feelings with a power over himself.
+"Oh!" said Siegfried, "I was wrong--I did him great injustice. Is it
+like me to fly into a passion, and insult people without rhyme or
+reason, like a foolish boy?" He came to the conclusion that the man had
+been gazing at him with a bitter sense of the tremendous contrast
+between them. At the moment when he--perhaps--was in the depths of
+distress, the Baron was heaping gold on the top of gold, and carrying
+all before him. He determined that the first thing in the morning he
+would go and find out the Stranger, and do something to remedy his
+condition.
+
+And, as fate would have it, the Stranger was the first person he met,
+as he was taking a walk down the Allee.
+
+The Baron addressed him, apologised for his behaviour on the previous
+night, and formally asked him to forgive him. The Stranger said there
+was nothing to forgive. People who were much interested in their game
+must have every consideration, and he quite deserved to be reminded
+that he was obstinately planting himself in a place where he could not
+but put the Baron out in his play.
+
+The Baron went further. He spoke of the circumstance that in life
+temporary difficulties often come upon people of education in the most
+trying manner, and he gave him pretty clearly to understand that he
+was ready to pay him back the money he had won from him, or more, if
+necessary, should that be likely to be of any assistance to him.
+
+"My dear sir," said the Stranger, "you suppose that I am pressed for
+money. Strictly speaking, I am not. Although I am rather a poor man
+than a rich, I have enough for my little requirements. And you will see
+in a moment, if you consider, that if you should suppose you could
+atone for an insult to me by offering me a sum of money, I could not
+accept it, even as a mere ordinary man of honour. And I am a
+Chevalier."
+
+"I think I understand you," said the Baron; "I am quite ready to give
+you satisfaction in the way you mean."
+
+"Oh, good heavens!" the Stranger said; "what a very unequal affair a
+fight would be between us. I feel sure that, like myself, you do not
+look upon the duel as a mere piece of childish fanfaronade, nor
+consider that a drop or two of blood--perhaps from a scratched
+finger--can wash a stained honour white again. No, no! there are plenty
+of causes which render it impossible for two men to go on existing on
+this earth at the same time. Although one of them may be on the
+Caucasus and the other on the Tiber, there is no separation between
+them so long as the notion of the existence of the hated one subsists.
+In a case like that the duel, which is to decide the question which of
+those two is to make way on this earth for the other, is a positive
+necessity. But between _us_ a duel, as I said, would be one-sided,
+since my life is nothing like as valuable as yours. If I killed you I
+should destroy a whole world of the fairest hopes. But if I fell, you
+would end a miserable existence, marred by the most bitter and painful
+memories. However, the chief point is that I do not consider myself in
+the smallest degree offended. You told me to go, and I went."
+
+He spoke the latter words in a tone which betrayed his inward
+mortification, which was sufficient reason for the Baron to apologise
+to him once more, laying special weight on the circumstance that the
+Stranger's gaze seemed somehow (he could not tell why) to go
+penetrating into him to such an extent that he could bear it no longer.
+
+"If my gaze penetrated you, as you say it did," said the Stranger,
+"would to God it had carried with it the conviction of the threatening
+peril in which you stand. In your gladness of heart, with all your
+youthful unknowingness, you are hovering on the very brink of a
+terrible abyss. One single impulse, and into it you fall, without the
+possibility of rescue. In one word, you are on the point of becoming a
+passionate gambler, and of going to perdition."
+
+The Baron assured him that he was completely mistaken. He explained to
+him how it was that he had been led at first to go to the tables, and
+that the true love of play was completely absent from him--that all he
+desired was to lose a few hundred louis, and, having accomplished that,
+he would play no more; but that, up to this time, he had had the most
+extraordinary luck.
+
+"Alas!" cried the Stranger, "it is just that very luck which is the
+most terrible, mocking temptation of the Infernal Power. Just this very
+luck of yours, Baron, the whole way in which you have been led on to
+play, the whole style of your playing, and everything connected with
+the matter, show but too plainly how your interest in it keeps on
+increasing and increasing. Everything about it reminds me only too
+clearly of the fate of an unfortunate fellow who begun exactly as you
+have done. This was why I could not take my eyes from you, why I could
+scarce refrain from telling you in words what my eyes intended to say
+to you, namely, 'For heaven's sake look at the fiends that are
+stretching out their talons to drag you down to perdition;' that is
+what I longed to cry out to you. I wished to make your acquaintance,
+and in that I have succeeded. Let me tell you the story of the
+unfortunate man to whom I have referred, and then perhaps you will see
+that it is no idle cobweb of my brain which makes me see you to be in
+the most imminent peril, and that I give you fair warning."
+
+They sate down on a seat which was in a lonely place, and the Stranger
+commenced as follows. "The same brilliant gifts which distinguish you,
+Baron, procured for the Chevalier Menars the respect and admiration of
+men, and rendered him the beloved of women. Only as far as wealth was
+concerned fortune had not been so kind to him as to you. He was on the
+confines of penury, and nothing but the most scrupulous economy enabled
+him to keep up the decent appearance which his position as the
+descendant of a family of condition demanded of him. Since the very
+smallest loss of money would have been of much consequence to him,
+upsetting all his course of life, he was precluded from everything in
+the shape of play. But he had not the smallest inclination for it, so
+that his avoidance of it involved not the slightest sacrifice on his
+part. He was excessively lucky in whatever he undertook, so that his
+good fortune became a species of proverb.
+
+"Contrarily to his habit he allowed himself to be persuaded one night
+to go to a gambling-house, where the friends who were with him were
+soon deep in the game.
+
+"Taking no interest in the game, with his mind fully occupied about
+something else, he strolled up and down the room, just now and then
+casting a glance at the table, where the gold was streaming in upon the
+banquier from every side. All at once an elderly Colonel observed him,
+and cried out, 'Oh, the devil! here's the Chevalier Menars, with his
+luck, and none of us can win because he hasn't taken a side. This won't
+do. He must stake for me instantly.'
+
+"The Chevalier tried his utmost to excuse himself, saying he knew
+nothing about the game. But nothing would serve the Colonel but that he
+must to the table willy nilly.
+
+"It happened to him exactly as it did to you, Baron. He won on every
+card, so that he soon had hauled in a considerable sum for the Colonel,
+who could not congratulate himself enough on the great idea he had been
+inspired with of availing himself of the celebrated luck of the
+Chevalier Menars.
+
+"On the Chevalier himself his luck, which so astonished all the others,
+made not the slightest impression. Nay, he did not himself quite
+understand how it came about that his detestation of play, if possible,
+increased, so that the next morning, when he felt the languor and
+listlessness consequent on having sat up so late, and gone through the
+excitement, he made a firm resolution that nothing would ever induce
+him to enter a gambling-house again.
+
+"This resolution was strengthened by the conduct of the old Colonel,
+who had the most extraordinary ill-luck as soon as he took a card in
+his hand, and attributed this, in the most absurd way, to the
+Chevalier. And he insisted, in the most importunate manner, that Menars
+should either play his cards for him, or at all events be at his side
+when he played himself, by way of exorcising the demon who placed
+in his hand the losing cards. We know that nowhere is there such
+absurd superstition as amongst gamblers. It was only with the utmost
+difficulty that Menars managed to shake the Colonel off. He had even to
+go the length of telling him he would rather fight him than stake for
+him; and the Colonel was by no means fond of fighting. The Chevalier
+cursed himself for ever having yielded to the old ass at all.
+
+"Of course the story of the Chevalier's luck could not but be passed on
+from one to another, with all sorts of mysterious, inexplicable
+additions added on to it, representing him as a man in league with
+supernatural powers. But that one who had his luck should go on
+abstaining from touching cards was a thing which could not but give the
+highest idea of the firmness of his character, and much increase the
+consideration in which he was held.
+
+"A year after this the Chevalier found himself in the most pressing and
+distressing embarrassment in consequence of the non-payment to him of
+the trifling sum on which he managed by a struggle to live. He was
+obliged to confide this to his most intimate friend, who, without a
+moment's hesitation, helped him to what he required, at the same time
+telling him he was the most extraordinary, eccentric individual the
+world had ever probably contained.
+
+"'Destiny,' he said, 'gives us hints, indications of the direction in
+which we have to seek and find our welfare, and it is only our
+indolence which is to blame when we neglect those hints and fail to
+understand them. The Power which rules over us has very distinctly
+whispered into your ear, "If thou wouldest have money and possessions,
+go and play; otherwise thou wilt for ever remain poor, needy,
+dependent."'
+
+"Then, for the first time, the thought of the wonderful luck he had
+had at the faro table rose vividly before his mind's eye, and, waking
+and dreaming, he saw cards before him, and heard the monotonous
+_gagne-perd_ of the banquier, and the clink of the gold pieces.
+
+"'It is true,' he said to himself, 'a single night like that one would
+raise me out of poverty, and free me from the terrible necessity of
+being a burden on my friends. It is simply a duty to follow the
+promptings of Destiny.'
+
+"The same friend who advised him to take to playing went with him to
+the table, and, to make him easy in his mind, presented him with twenty
+louis d'or.
+
+"If his game had been an extraordinary one when he was staking for the
+old Colonel, it was doubly so now. He drew out his cards by chance, by
+accident, and staked on them, whatever they happened to be. And the
+unseen hand of that higher Power, which is in league with that which we
+term 'Chance'--nay, which _is_ that Chance--directed his play. When the
+game was done he had won 1000 louis d'or.
+
+"Next morning he felt in a sort of stupor on awaking. The money was
+lying on the table by his bed, just as he had shaken it out of his
+pockets. At first he thought he was dreaming. He rubbed his eyes and
+drew the table nearer to him. But as he gradually recollected what had
+happened--when he sunk his hands well into the heap of gold money, and
+counted the coins delightedly over and over again--suddenly there awoke
+in him, and passed through his being like a poisoned breath, the love
+of the vile mammon. The pureness of mind which had so long been his was
+gone.
+
+"He could scarcely wait till evening came to get back to the
+play-table. His luck continued to attend him, so that in a few weeks,
+during which he played every night, he had won a very large sum.
+
+"There are two sorts of gamblers. To many the game in itself presents
+an indescribable, mysterious joy, quite without any reference to
+winning. The wonderful enchainments of the chances alternate in the
+most marvellous variety; the influence of the Powers which govern the
+issue displays itself, so that, inspired by this, our spirits stretch
+their wings in an attempt to reach that darksome realm, that mysterious
+laboratory, where the Power in question works, and there see it
+working. I knew a man once who used to sit alone in his room for days
+and nights keeping banque, and staking against himself. That man, I
+consider, was a proper player. Others have only the gain in view, and
+look upon the game as a means of winning money quickly. The Chevalier
+belonged to the latter class, thereby proving the theory that the true
+passion for play must exist in a person's nature, and be born with him.
+
+"For this reason the circle within which the mere ponteur is restricted
+soon became too narrow for him. With the very large sum he had now won
+he started a banque of his own; and here, too, fortune favoured him, so
+that in a very short time his was the richest banque in Paris. As lies
+in the nature of things, to him, as the luckiest, richest banquier,
+resorted the greatest number of players.
+
+"The wild rugged life of a gambler soon blotted out in him all those
+mental and bodily superiorities which had formerly brought him love and
+consideration. He ceased to be a faithful friend, an open-hearted
+pleasant companion, a chivalric and gallant honourer of ladies. His
+love for art and science was extinguished, as well as all his wish to
+make progress in knowledge of the desirable sort. In his deathly pale
+countenance and gloomy eyes, sparkling with darksome fire, was
+imprinted the plain expression of that devouring passion which held him
+fast in its bands. It was not the love of play, it was the most
+detestable avarice, the craving for money, which the Devil himself had
+kindled within him. In one word, he was the most thorough specimen of a
+banquier ever seen.
+
+"One night--though he had not, so to speak, lost very much--he found
+that fortune had not been quite so favourable to him as usual. And just
+at this juncture there came up to the table a little old weazened man,
+in poverty-stricken clothes, and altogether of almost disgustingly
+repulsive appearance. He drew a card, with shaking hand, and staked a
+piece of gold on it. Several of those at the table looked at him with
+deep amazement, and immediately behaved towards him with conspicuous
+despite; but he took not the slightest notice, not even by a look, far
+less by a word.
+
+"He lost--lost one piece of gold after another, and the more he lost
+the better the other players were pleased. And when the old man, who
+kept on doubling his stakes, at last staked five hundred louis on a
+card, and lost it in a moment, one of them cried out, laughing loud,
+'Well done, Signor Vertua; keep it up! Don't give in; keep up your
+game! You seem to me as if you would certainly break the bank, your
+luck is so splendid!'
+
+"The old man darted a basilisk look at him, and ran off out of the room
+as quickly as he could; but only to come back in half an hour, with his
+pockets crammed with gold. When the final _taille_ came he could not go
+on, as he had lost all the money he brought with him the second time.
+
+"The Chevalier, who, notwithstanding all the atrocity of his ongoings,
+still insisted on there being a certain observance of ordinary
+_convenance_ amongst the frequenters of his establishment, had been in
+the highest degree displeased at the derision and contempt with which
+the old man had been treated, which was sufficient reason for his
+talking very seriously, when the evening's play was over, to the man
+who had jeered at him, and to one or two others whose contemptuous
+behaviour to him had been the most striking, and whom the Chevalier had
+begged to remain behind on purpose.
+
+"'That fellow,' one of them cried out. 'You don't know old Francesco
+Vertua, Chevalier, or you wouldn't find fault with us for what we did.
+You would rather thank us. This Vertua, by birth a Neapolitan, has been
+for fifteen years here, in Paris, the most vile, foul, wicked miser and
+usurer that could exist. He is lost to every feeling of humanity. If
+his own brother were to drag himself to his door, writhing in the death
+agony, and curl round about his feet, he wouldn't give a louis d'or to
+help him. The curses and execrations of heaps of people, whole families,
+whom he has driven to ruin by his infernal machinations, lie heavy on
+him. There is nobody who does not pray that vengeance for what he has
+done, and is always doing, may overtake him and finish his sin-spotted
+life. He has never played, at all events since he has been in Paris,
+and you need not be astonished at our surprise when we saw the old
+skinflint come to the table. Of course we were just as delighted at
+his losing, for it would have been altogether too bad if fortune had
+favoured the scoundrel. The wealth of your banque has dazzled the old
+noodle. He thought he was going to pluck you, but he has lost his own
+feathers. But the thing I can't understand is how he can have made up
+his miserly mind to play so high.'
+
+"This, however, did not prove well founded, for the next night Vertua
+made his appearance, and staked and lost a great deal more than on the
+night before. He was quite impassible all the time; in fact, he now and
+then smiled with a bitter irony, as one who knew how utterly
+differently everything would soon turn. But his losses swelled like a
+mountain avalanche on each of the succeeding nights, so that at last it
+was calculated that he had lost to the banque well on to thirty
+thousand louis d'or. After this, he came one night, long after the play
+had begun, pale as death, with his face all drawn, and stationed
+himself at some distance from the table, with his eyes fixed on the
+cards which the Chevalier was dealing. At last, when the Chevalier had
+shuffled, had the cards cut, and was going to begin the deal, the old
+man cried out, in a screaming voice, 'Stop!' Every one looked round,
+almost terrified. The old man elbowed his way through the crowd close
+up to the Chevalier, and whispered into his ear, 'Chevalier, my house
+in the Rue St. Honore, with all its contents, in furniture, gold,
+silver, and jewels, is valued at eighty thousand francs. I stake it! Do
+you accept?'
+
+"'Yes,' said the Chevalier calmly, without looking at him, and began to
+deal.
+
+"'Queen!' said the old man, and the queen lost. The old man fell back,
+and leaned against the wall, motionless as a stone image. Nobody
+troubled himself further about him. When the game was over for the
+night, and the Chevalier and his croupiers were packing away the won
+money in the strong box, Vertua came wavering like a spectre forward
+out of his corner. In a hollow, faint voice, he said, 'One word,
+Chevalier; one single word.'
+
+"'Well, what is it?' said the Chevalier, taking the key from the box
+and putting it in his pocket, as he surveyed the old man contemptuously
+from head to foot.
+
+"'I have lost all I possessed in the world to your banque, Chevalier.
+I have nothing left--nothing. I don't know where I shall lay my head
+to-morrow, or how I shall appease my hunger. I betake myself to you.
+Lend me the tenth part of the sum you have won from me, that I may
+recommence my business, and raise myself from the depths of poverty.'
+
+"'How can you be so absurd, Signor Vertua,' said the Chevalier. 'Don't
+you know that a banquier never lends his winnings? It would be against
+all the rules, and I abide by them.'
+
+"'You are right, Chevalier,' said Vertua. 'What I asked was absurd,
+extravagant. Not a tenth part--lend me a twentieth part.'
+
+"'What I tell you is,' said the Chevalier, 'that I never lend any of my
+winnings.'
+
+"'Quite right,' said Vertua, his face growing paler and paler, and his
+looks more fixed and staring. 'Of course you can't lend. I never used
+to do it myself. But give an alms to a beggar. Let him have one hundred
+louis d'or out of the fortune which blind Chance threw to you tonight.'
+
+"'Well, really, Signor Vertua, you understand how to bother,' was the
+Chevalier's answer. 'I tell you that not one hundred, nor fifty, nor
+twenty, nor one single louis d'or will you get out of me. I should be a
+lunatic to give you any help towards recommencing your shameful trade.
+Fate has dashed you down into the dust like a venomous reptile, and it
+would be a crime to lift you up. Be off with you, and die, as you
+deserve to do.'
+
+"Vertua sank down, with both his hands before his face. The Chevalier
+ordered his servants to take the Strong box down to the carriage, and
+then cried out, in a domineering way, 'When are you going to make over
+your house and effects to me, Signor Vertua?'
+
+"Vertua raised himself from the ground, saying, in a firm voice, 'At
+once. This very moment, Chevalier. Come with me.'
+
+"'Good,' said the Chevalier, 'you may drive there with me. To-morrow
+you must leave it for good and all.'
+
+"On the way neither of them spoke. When they came to the house in the
+Rue St. Honore Vertua rang at the door, and a little old woman opened,
+and cried, when she saw him, 'Oh, saviour of the world, is it you at
+last, signor? Angela has been nearly dead with anxiety about you.'
+
+"'Hush!' said Vertua. 'Heaven grant that Angela has not heard the
+unlucky bell. I don't want her to know that I have come.' He took the
+candle-holder from the amazed old woman's hand, and lighted the
+Chevalier up the staircase to the salon.
+
+"'I am ready for everything,' said Vertua. 'You detest me and despise
+me. You ruin me for the gratification of yourself and others. But you
+do not know me. I will tell you, then, that I was once a gambler like
+yourself; that capricious fortune was as kind to me as to you; that I
+travelled over the half of Europe, stopping wherever high play and the
+expectation of large winnings attracted me to remain; that the gold in
+the banque which I kept was heaped up as mountain high as in your own.
+I had a devoted and beautiful wife, whom I neglected, who was miserable
+in the midst of the most marvellous wealth. It happened once, in Genoa,
+when I had started my banque there, that a young Roman lost all his
+great fortune to me. As I begged of you to-day, he begged of me that I
+would lend him as much money as would, at all events, take him to Rome.
+I refused, with scornful laughter, and in his despair he thrust his
+stiletto deep into my breast. The surgeons managed to cure me with
+difficulty, and my illness was long and painful. My wife nursed me,
+comforted me, supported me when I would have given in with the pain.
+And with returning health there dawned within me, and grew stronger and
+stronger, a feeling which I had never known before. The gambler is a
+stranger to all the ordinary emotions of humanity, so that till then I
+had no knowledge of love, and the faithful devotion of a wife. The debt
+which my ungrateful heart owed to my wife burned in the depths of my
+soul, as well as the sense of the wickedness of the occupation to which
+I had sacrificed her. Like torturing spirits of vengeance appeared to
+me all those whose happiness, whose very existence, I had ruined,
+reproaching me, in hoarse and hollow voices, with the guilt and crime
+of which _I_ had planted the germs. None but my wife could dispel the
+nameless sorrow, the terror, which then took possession of me. I made a
+solemn vow that I would never touch a card again. I tore myself away.
+I burst the bonds which had held me. I withstood the enticements of
+my croupiers, who could not get on when my luck was gone from the
+enterprise. I had bought a small country house near Rome, and there I
+fled with my wife as soon as I had recovered. Alas! for only one single
+year was it that I was vouchsafed a peace, a happiness, a contentment,
+such as I had never dreamt of. My wife bore me a daughter, and died a
+few weeks afterwards. I was in despair. I accused heaven, and then
+turned round and cursed myself and my sinful career, punished in this
+way by the eternal power, by taking my wife from me, who saved me from
+destruction--the only creature on earth who gave me comfort and hope.
+Like the criminal whom the dreadfulness of solitude terrifies, I fled
+from my country place to Paris. Angela blossomed up, the lovely
+counterpart of her mother. My whole heart hung upon her. For her sake I
+made it my business not only to keep a considerable fortune together,
+but to increase it. It is true that I lent money at high rates of
+interest. But it is a shameful calumny when I am accused of being a
+fraudulent usurer. Who are my accusers? Light-minded creatures, who
+torture and tease me till I lend them money, which they waste and
+squander as if it were of no value, and then are furious when I get it
+back from them with infallible strictness--the money which is not mine
+but my daughter's, whose steward I consider myself to be. Not long ago
+I rescued a young man from ruin and disgrace by lending him a
+considerable sum. I knew he was very poor, and I said nothing about
+repayment till I knew he had succeeded to a fortune. Then I asked him
+to pay me. Would you credit it, Chevalier, this light-minded scoundrel,
+who was indebted to me for his very existence, wanted to deny his
+liability, and, when the law obliged him to pay me, he called me a vile
+skinflint. I could tell you of plenty similar cases, which have made me
+hard and unfeeling when I have been met with ingratitude and baseness.
+More than that, I could tell you of many bitter tears which I have
+wiped away, of many a prayer which has gone up to heaven for me and my
+Angela; but you would look upon that as boasting, and besides, as you
+are a gambler, you would care nothing about it. I hoped and believed
+that the eternal power was appeased. All delusion, for Satan was freely
+empowered to blind and deceive me in a more terrible manner than ever.
+I heard of your luck, Chevalier. Every day I was told of this one and
+the other having beggared himself at your banque. Then it came to me
+that I was destined to pit my luck, which had never failed me, against
+yours--that I was destined to put an end to your career. And this idea,
+which nothing but madness of the most extraordinary kind could have
+suggested to me, left me no further peace or rest. Thus I came to your
+banque. Thus my terrible folly did not leave me until my fortune--no,
+my Angela's fortune--was all yours. But you will let my daughter take
+her clothes away with her, will you not?'
+
+"'I have nothing to do with your daughter's clothes,' answered the
+Chevalier; 'and you may take away the beds and the ordinary household
+things for cooking and so forth. What do I care for rubbish of that
+sort? But take care that nothing of any value of that which is now my
+property goes away amongst them.'
+
+"Old Vertua stared speechlessly at the Chevalier for a few seconds,
+then a stream of tears burst from his eyes. Like a man annihilated, all
+sorrow and despair, he sank down before the Chevalier with hands
+uplifted.
+
+"'Have you any human feeling left in your heart?' he cried. 'Have some
+mercy! Remember it is not me whom you are dashing into ruin and misery,
+but my unoffending angel child--my Angela! Oh, have mercy upon her!
+Lend her the twentieth part of the fortune you have robbed her of. I
+know you will allow yourself to be implored. Oh! Angela, my daughter!'
+
+"And the old man moaned, sobbed, and called out the name of his child
+in heart-breaking tones.
+
+"'I really don't think I can stand much more of this stage business of
+yours,' the Chevalier said indifferently, and in a bored manner. But
+the door opened, and a girl in a white night dress, with her hair
+undone, and death in her face, rushed up to old Vertua, raised
+him, took him in her arms, and cried, 'Oh, father, I have heard it
+all--I know it all! Have you lost everything?--everything? You have
+still your Angela. What would be the use of money if you had not Angela
+to take care of you. Oh, father! don't humiliate yourself more before
+this despicable, inhuman creature. It is not we, it is he who is poor
+and miserable in all his despicable riches, for he stands there in the
+most gruesome, comfortless loneliness. There is not one loving heart in
+the wide world to cling to his breast, to open to him when he is like
+to despair of life--of himself. Come, father, away from this house with
+me; let us go as quickly as we can, that the horrible creature may not
+gloat over our sorrow.'
+
+"Vertua sank half senseless into a chair, whilst Angela knelt down
+before him, took his hands, kissed them and stroked them, and told
+over, with childlike prolixity, all the accomplishments and
+acquirements which she possessed, with which she would be able to
+support him comfortably, imploring him with the warmest tears to have
+no fear, inasmuch as life would, for the first time in her experience,
+begin to possess a real value and delightsomeness for her when--not for
+the enjoying of it, but for her father--she should stitch, sew, sing,
+play the guitar.
+
+"What obdurate sinner could have remained indifferent at the sight of
+Angela beaming in the fulness of her heavenly beauty, comforting her
+old father with sweet, delicious words, the deepest affection, and the
+most childlike purity and goodness streaming from the depths of her
+heart?
+
+"Things were very different with the Chevalier. An entire pandemonium
+of torture and pangs of conscience awoke within him. Angela seemed to
+him to be the punishing angel of God, before whose shining glory the
+cloud-shroud of sinful deception which had surrounded him vanished
+away, so that with terror he clearly saw himself in all his repulsive
+nakedness.
+
+"And through the midst of those hell-flames, which were consuming and
+raging in his heart, there came piercing a heavenly, pure beam of
+radiance, whose light was the sweetest bliss and the very joy of
+heaven, though the brightness of this ray had the effect of rendering
+the inexpressible torture more terrible.
+
+"The Chevalier had never known love before; and the instant he saw
+Angela he was seized by the most passionate affection for her, and, at
+the same time, with the destroying pain of complete hopelessness, for
+surely there could be no hope for one who had appeared to her in the
+light in which he had.
+
+"He longed to say something, but his tongue seemed to be paralysed. At
+length he so far mastered himself as to say, stammering, and in a
+trembling voice, 'Signor Vertua, listen. I have not won anything from
+you--nothing of the kind. There is my strong box; take it, it is yours.
+Yes; and I have to pay you more than that. I am in your debt. Take it,
+take it!'
+
+"'Oh, my girl!' cried Vertua. But Angela went up to the Chevalier,
+beamed a proud look upon him, and said, gravely and calmly,
+'Learn, Chevalier, that there are higher things than money and
+possessions--things which you have no knowledge of--which, while
+filling our souls with the happiness of heaven, make us spurn your
+gifts with compassion and contempt. Keep the mammon upon which lies the
+curse which pursues you, heartless, accursed gambler.'
+
+"'Yes!' cried the Chevalier wildly; 'cursed, cursed in verity may I be,
+if ever this hand of mine touches a card again. And if you repel me,
+Angela, it will be you who will bring inevitable destruction upon me.
+Oh, you don't understand me. You must think me mad; but you will know
+it all when I lie before you with my skull shivered into fragments.
+Angela, it is life or death with me. Adieu!'
+
+"With this he dashed away in utter desperation. Vertua thoroughly
+understood him; he saw what had been passing in his heart, and tried to
+make the lovely Angela comprehend how certain eventualities might arise
+which would render it necessary to accept the Chevalier's offers.
+Angela was afraid to allow herself to understand her father; she did
+not think it would ever be possible to regard the Chevalier otherwise
+than with contempt; but that mysterious chain of events which often
+forms itself within the profundities of the human heart, without our
+cognisance, brought to pass that which seemed unimagined--undreamt of.
+
+"The Chevalier felt as if suddenly awakened from a horrible dream. He
+saw himself standing on the brink of the abyss of hell, stretching his
+arms out in vain to the shining form of light which had appeared to
+him, not to save him, but to tell him of his damnation.
+
+"To the surprise of all Paris his banque opened no more, and he himself
+was no more seen, so that the most marvellous tales concerning him
+became current, each of them a greater falsehood than the others. He
+avoided all society; his love took the form of the profoundest, most
+unconquerable melancholy. One day he met old Vertua and his daughter in
+one of the lonely, shady walks of the garden at Malmaison.
+
+"Angela, who had believed she would never be able to look upon the
+Chevalier again but with horror and contempt, felt strangely moved when
+she saw him so pale and distressed, scarce able to lift his eyes to her
+in the excess of his reverence for her. She knew that, since that
+eventful night, he had given play up entirely, and completely altered
+his mode of life, and that she--she alone--was the cause of this. She
+had saved him from destruction; could anything flatter a woman more?
+
+"When old Vertua had exchanged the ordinary civilities with him, she
+spoke to him in a tone of gentle pity, saying, 'What is the matter,
+Chevalier? You look ill and unhappy. You ought to go and consult a
+doctor.'
+
+"We can understand that her words filled him with comfort and hope. He
+was a different man in a moment. He lifted his head, and managed to
+talk once more in the manner which, when it welled from his very heart
+in former days, used to attract and endear him to all who knew him.
+Vertua reminded him that he had not come to take possession of the
+house he had won.
+
+"'Very well, I will come,' he answered, with an inspiration breaking
+upon him. 'I will come to-morrow; but we must discuss all the
+conditions at proper length and leisure, even if it should take
+months.'
+
+"'So be it, Chevalier,' said Vertua, with a smile. 'Perhaps we may come
+to discuss matters which we do not quite see into at present.'
+
+"The Chevalier, inwardly comforted, resumed all the charm of manner and
+all the delightful qualities which had distinguished him before he was
+carried away by his devouring passion. His visits at Vertua's became
+more and more frequent, and Angela grew more and more disposed towards
+the man whose guardian angel she had been, till at last she believed
+she loved him with all her heart, and promised him her hand, to the
+great joy of old Vertua, who saw in this the settlement of his losses.
+
+"One day Angela, now the happy betrothed of the Chevalier Menars, was
+sitting at a window, lost in all the sweet dreams and happy fancies
+which young ladies in her position are believed to be wont to
+entertain, when a regiment of Jaegers came marching along, with
+trumpets sounding bravely, on their way to join in the Spanish
+campaign. She was looking with pitiful sympathy at the men thus going
+to face death in this war, when a very young officer, who was reining
+his horse quickly to one side, looked up at her, and she fell back
+fainting in her seat.
+
+"Alas! This young Jaeger, marching off to face death in the field, was
+no other than young Duvernet, the son of a neighbour, with whom she had
+grown up, who had been nearly daily in the house, and had only kept out
+of the way since the Chevalier had made his appearance. In the look of
+bitter reproach which the lad cast at her--and the bitterness of death
+itself was in it--she now, for the first time, read not only how
+unspeakably he loved her, but how boundlessly she loved him, without
+having been aware, whilst dazzled by the Chevalier's brilliance. Now.
+for the first time, she understood Duvernet's anxious sighs?--his
+silent, unassuming, unobtrusive attentions; now, and now only, she read
+her own embarrassed heart--what moved her disquiet breast when Duvernet
+came, when she heard his voice.
+
+"'Too late! he is lost to me!' cried the voice in her heart. She had
+the resolution to beat down and conquer the hopeless pain which would
+have torn her heart; and just because she had this resolution she was
+successful.
+
+"The Chevalier was too observant not to see that something had been
+occurring to disturb her; but, tenderly enough, he refrained from
+trying to unriddle a mystery which she thought herself bound to conceal
+from him. He contented himself, by way of clearing anything hostile out
+of the path, with hastening on the wedding. The arrangements connected
+with it he ordered with such admirable consideration and such delicate
+tact, that from his very care in this respect for her state of mind,
+she could not but form a higher opinion of his amiability than even
+before.
+
+"His conduct to her was marked with such observance of the most
+trifling of her wishes, with the sincere courtesy which springs from
+the truest and purest affection, that the remembrance of Duvernet
+naturally faded more and more from her memory. So that the first
+cloud-shadow which fell upon the brightness of their life was the
+illness and death of old Vertua.
+
+"Since the night when he had lost all he possessed to the Chevalier, he
+had never touched a card. But in the closing moments of his life all
+his faculties seemed to be engrossed with the game. Whilst the priest,
+who had come to administer the consolations of the Church to him on his
+departure from this life, spoke to him of spiritual things, he lay with
+closed eyes, murmuring between his teeth, '_Perd!_--_Gagne_,' and
+making, with hands quivering in the spasms of death, the motions of
+dealing and playing out cards. Angela and the Chevalier, bending over
+him, called him by the tenderest names. He did not seem to hear them,
+or to know they were there. With a faint sigh of '_Gagne!_' he gave up
+the ghost.
+
+"In her deep sorrow, Angela could not help an eery shudder at the
+manner of his departure. The remembrance of that night, when she had
+first seen the Chevalier as the most hardened reprobate of a gambler,
+came vividly to her mind, and the thought came into her soul that he
+might some day throw off his angel's mask and, jeering at her in his
+pristine devilishness, begin his old life again.
+
+"This fearful presentiment was to come but too true.
+
+"Deeply shocked as the Chevalier was at the notion of old Francesco
+Vertua's having gone into the next world heedless of the consolations
+of the Church, and unable to leave off thinking of the former sinful
+life, still, somehow--he could not tell why--it brought the memory of
+the game back to his mind again, so that every night in his dreams he
+was presiding at the banque once more, heaping up fresh treasures.
+
+"Since, Angela, impressed by the remembrance how her husband had
+appeared to her at first, found it impossible to maintain the trustful
+affection of her earlier wedded days, mistrust, at the same time, came
+into his soul of her, and he attributed her embarrassment to that
+secret which at once disturbed her peace, and remained unrevealed to
+him. This suspicion produced in him misery and annoyance, which he
+expressed in utterances which pained Angela. By a natural psychical
+reflex action, the remembrance of the unfortunate Duvernet revived in
+her mind, and with it the miserable sense that the love which had
+blossomed forth in her young heart was lost and bidden adieu to for
+ever. The discord grew greater and greater, till it reached such a
+pitch that the Chevalier came to the conclusion that the life of
+retirement which he was leading was a complete mistake, and longed with
+all his heart to be out into the world again.
+
+"In fact, his evil star began to get into the ascendant. And that which
+inward dissatisfaction commenced, was completed by a wicked fellow who
+had formerly been a croupier at his banque, and who, by various crafty
+speeches, brought matters to such a point that the Chevalier came to
+consider his present mode of existence childish and ridiculous, and
+could not comprehend how, for the sake of a woman, he should be
+abandoning a life which appeared to him the only one worth living.
+
+"So very soon the Chevalier's banque, with its heaps of gold, was going
+on again more brilliantly than ever. His luck had not forsaken him;
+victim after victim fell a prey, and money was amassed. But Angela's
+happiness was a thing of the past--destroyed, in a terrible fashion,
+like a brief, bright dream. The Chevalier treated her with
+indifference--more than that, with contempt. Often she did not see him
+for weeks and months. An old house-steward looked after the household
+matters; the servants were changed according to the Chevalier's
+caprice; so that Angela, a stranger in her own home, found no comfort
+anywhere. Often, in sleepless nights, when she heard the Chevalier's
+carriage draw up at the door, the heavy money-chest brought up the
+stairs, and he himself come up, cursing and swearing in monosyllables,
+and shut the door of his distant room with a bang, a torrent of tears
+would burst from her eyes, and in the deepest, most heartbreaking tones
+of misery, she would call a hundred times on the name Duvernet, and
+implore the Eternal Power to make an end of her wretched existence.
+
+"One night a young gentleman of good family, after losing all he
+possessed at the Chevalier's banque, sent a bullet through his head in
+the gaming-house--and indeed in the very room where the banque was
+established--so that the blood and brains besprinkled the players, who
+scattered out of the way in alarm. The only person unaffected by this
+was the Chevalier, who, when every one was about to leave the room,
+asked whether it was according to rule and custom to leave the game
+because a young fool had chosen to commit an absurdity, before the
+regular time for closing.
+
+"This incident excited much comment. The most experienced, most
+hardened gamblers were indignant at the Chevalier's unexampled
+behaviour. Every one took part against him. The police ordered his
+banque to be closed. He was accused of unfair play; and his
+extraordinary luck spoke for the truth of this accusation. He was
+unable to clear himself, and the fine inflicted on him ran away with a
+considerable slice of his fortune. Finding himself robbed of his good
+name, and despised by all, he betook himself back to the arms of the
+wife whom he had ill-treated, who gladly welcomed him in his
+repentance. The recollection that her father, too, had renounced the
+miserable life of a gambler, allowed a gleam of hope to dawn upon her
+mind that perhaps, as the Chevalier was advancing somewhat in years,
+his alteration of life might be lasting.
+
+"He left Paris with her, and they went to Genoa, her birth-place. Here,
+at first, he lived a sedate life; but it was impossible to re-establish
+the old, peaceful, domestic existence with Angola which his evil angel
+had destroyed. Very soon his inward restlessness and disquiet awoke
+and drove him out, away from his house, in unsettled restlessness. His
+ill-repute had followed him from Paris. He dared not establish a
+banque, though he felt impelled to do so with the most irresistible
+force.
+
+"About this time a French Colonel, obliged, by serious wounds, to
+retire from active service, was keeping the most important banque in
+Genoa. The Chevalier went to this banque, with envy and deep hatred in
+his heart, expecting his usual luck to stand by him soon, so that he
+might be the ruin of this rival. The Colonel hailed the Chevalier with
+a merry humour (not at other times characteristic of him), saying that
+now, when the Chevalier de Menars had appeared in the field, the game
+was worth winning at last, since there was something in the nature of a
+real contest to give some interest to the issues.
+
+"And, in fact, during the first few deals, the cards fell to the
+Chevalier with just his old luck. But when, trusting to his invincible
+fortune, he at last called out: 'Va, Banque!' he lost a very
+considerable sum of money at one stroke.
+
+"The Colonel was, ordinarily, completely cool and impassive, whether
+lucky or unlucky; but, this time, he drew in his winnings with the
+liveliest marks of the utmost delight.
+
+"From that moment luck turned away from the Chevalier, utterly and
+completely. He played every night, and lost every night, till he had
+nothing left but two or three thousand ducats, in paper.
+
+"He had been on foot all day, converting this paper into cash, and only
+went home to his house late in the evening. When night was coming on,
+he was going out with his last gold coins in his pocket, when Angela
+came to him (suspecting the truth, no doubt), threw herself at his feet
+with a stream of tears, imploring him, by the Virgin and all the
+saints, to abandon his evil courses, and not leave her in need and
+poverty.
+
+"The Chevalier raised her, pressed her, with painful fervour, to his
+heart, and said, in a hollow voice: 'Angela!--my sweet, beloved
+Angela!--there is no help for it. I must do it. I cannot help it. But
+to-morrow--to-morrow, all your cares will be over. For, by the Eternal
+Destiny which is above us, I swear that I play this night for the very
+last time. Do not distress yourself, my darling child. Go to sleep!
+Dream of happy days!--of a better life which is coming speedily. That
+will bring me luck.'
+
+"He kissed her, and ran off, not to be stopped.
+
+"In two deals he had lost everything--all that he possessed. He
+remained standing motionless near the Colonel, staring, in a dazed
+manner, at the gaming table.
+
+"'Won't you go on, Chevalier?' asked the Colonel, shuffling the cards
+for the next deal.
+
+"'I have lost my all,' the Chevalier answered, powerfully constraining
+himself to be calm.
+
+"'Do you mean to say you have nothing left?' the Colonel asked at the
+next deal.
+
+"'I am a beggar,' the Chevalier cried, in a voice quivering with fury
+and pain, as he continued to stare at the gaming table. He did not
+notice that those who were staking were getting more and more the
+better of the banquier.
+
+"The Colonel calmly continued the game.
+
+"As he shuffled the cards for the third deal, he said to the Chevalier
+(without looking on him), 'You have a beautiful wife, you know!'
+
+"'What do you mean?' cried the Chevalier angrily. The Colonel turned
+away a little without answering him.
+
+"'Ten thousand ducats--or Angela!' he said, half averting his face, as
+the cards were being cut.
+
+"'You are out of your senses!' cried the Chevalier, who had, however,
+now regained his composure a good deal, and began to observe that the
+Colonel was losing at every deal.
+
+"'Twenty thousand ducats, or Angela!' the Colonel said almost in a
+whisper, as he paused for a moment during the shuffling of the cards.
+The Chevalier said not a word. The Colonel played again, and nearly all
+the cards were in favour of the players--against him.
+
+"'Done!' the Chevalier whispered in the Colonel's ear when the next
+deal began; and he threw the Queen on the table.
+
+"The Queen lost.
+
+"The Chevalier drew back, grinding his teeth, and leaned at the window
+with despair and death in his white face.
+
+"The game ended, and, with a jeering 'Well! what next?' the Colonel
+came up to the Chevalier.
+
+"'Oh, God!' cried the Chevalier, quite beside himself. 'You have made
+me a beggar, but you must be a madman if you think you have won my
+wife! Are we in the West Indies? Is my wife a slave--a chattel in her
+husband's power, so that he can sell her, or gamble her away at faro?
+It is true, of course, that you would have had to pay me twenty
+thousand ducats if the Queen had won, so that I have lost the right to
+make any objection if my wife chooses to leave me and go away with you.
+Come home with me, and despair when my wife repulses with horror the
+man whom she would have to follow as a dishonoured mistress.'
+
+"'Despair yourself, Chevalier!' said the Colonel with a scornful laugh,
+'when Angela turns from you with horror---from you, the miserable
+wretch who has brought her to beggary--and throws herself into my arms
+with eager rapture; despair yourself, when you find that the Church's
+benediction unites us--that fate crowns our most eager desires. You say
+I must be mad!--Ha, ha! All I wanted was to gain power of veto. I knew
+of a certainty that your wife belonged to me. Ho, ho, Chevalier! Let me
+tell you that your wife loves me--me--unutterably, to my certain
+knowledge. Let me tell you that I am that Duvernet, the neighbour's
+son, brought up with Angela, united to her in the warmest affection,
+which you, with your devilish artifices, dispelled. Alas! it was not
+till I had to depart on field service that Angela knew what I was to
+her. I know the whole matter. It was too late then. But the dark
+spirit told me that I should succeed in ruining you at play--that was
+why I devoted myself to it and followed you to Genoa. And I have done
+it!--come now to your wife!'
+
+"The Chevalier stood like one annihilated, stricken by a thousand
+burning lightnings. The mystery so long sealed to him was explained.
+Now, for the first time, he saw the full extent of the misfortunes
+which he had brought upon poor Angela.
+
+"'My wife shall make her decision,' he said in a hollow tone, and
+followed the Colonel, who stormed away.
+
+"When they came to the house, and the Colonel seized the handle of
+Angela's door, the Chevalier thrust him back, saying, 'My wife is in a
+sweet sleep; would you awaken her?'
+
+"'Ha!' said the Colonel. 'Has Angela ever been in a sweet sleep since
+you brought nameless misery upon her?'
+
+"He was about to enter the room, but the Chevalier prostrated himself
+at his feet, and cried, in utter despair, 'Have some mercy! You have
+made me a beggar! Leave me my wife!'
+
+"'So lay old Vertua at _your_ feet, unfeeling monster that you were,
+and could not move your stony heart. Therefore, may the vengeance of
+Heaven be upon you!'
+
+"So saying, the Colonel again turned towards Angela's room.
+
+"The Chevalier sprang to the door, burst it open, dashed up to the bed
+where his wife was lying, drew the curtains aside, cried 'Angela!
+Angela!'--bent over her--took her hand--shuddered like one convulsed in
+the death agony, and cried out in a terrible voice--
+
+"'See here! What you have won from me is my wife's corpse!'
+
+"The Colonel hurried to the bedside in terror. There was no trace of
+life. Angela was dead.
+
+"The Colonel raised his clenched hands to heaven, and rushed away with
+a hollow cry. He was no more seen."
+
+It was thus that the stranger finished his narrative, and having done
+so, he went quickly away, before the Baron, much moved by it, was able
+to utter any word.
+
+A day or two afterwards the stranger was found insensible in his room,
+stricken by apoplexy. He was speechless till his death, which happened
+in a few hours. His papers showed that, though he was known by the name
+of Baudasson, he really was none other than the unfortunate Chevalier
+Menars.
+
+The Baron recognized the warning of Heaven which had brought the
+Chevalier Menars to him just when he was nearing the abyss, and he took
+a solemn vow that he would resist all the temptations of the deceptive
+Gambler's Fortune. Hitherto he has kept his vow.
+
+
+"Would one not suppose," said Lothair, when Theodore had ended, "that
+you were a man who knew all about gambling, and were great at all those
+games yourself, though perhaps your conscience might now and then give
+you a slap in the face? and yet I know very well that you never touch a
+card."
+
+"That is quite the case," said Theodore. "And yet I derived much
+assistance, in my story, from a strange experience which I had myself
+once."
+
+"It would be the best _finale_ to your tale," said Ottmar, "to tell us
+this said experience of yours."
+
+"You know," said Theodore, "that when I was finishing my education I
+lived for some time with an old uncle of mine in G----. There was a
+certain friend of this uncle's who, though our ages were very
+different, took a great pleasure in my society, chiefly, perhaps,
+because at that time I was always filled with a brilliant vein of
+humour, sometimes amounting to the mischievous. This gentleman was, I
+can assure you, one of the most extraordinary characters I ever came
+across. Mean in all the relationships of life, ill-tempered, grumbling,
+sulky, with a great tendency to miserliness, he had the utmost
+appreciation for everything in the shape of fun and amusement. To use a
+French expression, he was in the highest degree _amusable_, but not in
+the least _amusant_. At the same time he was excessively vain, and one
+form of his vanity was that he was always dressed in the utmost
+extremity of the prevailing fashion, almost to a ludicrous extent.
+And there was a similar absurdity about his manner of hunting after
+every species of enjoyment in the very sweat of his brow, so to
+speak--striving, with a comic eagerness, to gulp down as much of it as
+he possibly could grasp. I remember so well three particular instances
+of this vanity and struggle for enjoyment of his that I must tell them
+to you. Picture to yourselves this man, being at a place among the
+hills, and invited by some people (ladies being among them), to go on a
+walking expedition to see some waterfalls in the neighbourhood,
+dressing himself for the occasion in a bran new silk coat, never worn
+before, with beautiful shining steel buttons, and white silk stockings,
+shoes with steel buckles, and his finest rings on his fingers. In the
+thickest part of the pine forest which had to be passed through, a
+tremendous thunderstorm came on; the rain fell in torrents, the brooks,
+swollen by the rain, came rushing over the paths. You can well imagine
+the state my poor friend found himself in very soon.
+
+"It chanced that the tower of the Dominican Church at G---- was one
+night struck by lightning. My friend was in raptures with the grand
+fire-pillar which arose in the darkness, magically illuminating all the
+country round; but he soon came to the conclusion that to get the real
+picturesque effect of it in all its perfection, it would be the right
+thing to go and look at it from a certain rising ground just outside
+the town. So he set off as quickly as his carefulness in such matters
+would permit him, not forgetting to put a packet of macaroons and a
+flask of wine into certain of his pockets, or to carry a beautiful
+bouquet of flowers in his hand, and a camp stool under his arm. Thus
+equipped, he paced calmly out of the city gate and up on to the
+eminence, where he sat himself down to enjoy the spectacle, smelling at
+his bouquet, munching a macaroon, washing that down with a mouthful of
+wine, in the most complete, beatific, quiescent state of enjoyment.
+Really this fellow was--taking him all round----"
+
+"Stop! stop!" cried Lothair, "you were going to tell us the adventure
+of your own which helped you in writing your 'Gamester's Fortune,' and
+you cannot get away from a fellow who seems to have been as ludicrous
+as repulsive to every ordinarily constituted person's feelings."
+
+"You must not blame me," said Theodore, "for lingering over this
+personage who was so intimately brought into connection with my life.
+But, to business!--this man whom I have been describing to you invited
+me to make a trip with him to a certain watering place, and, although I
+saw quite clearly that I was to play the _role_ of soother, calmer,
+tranquilizer, and _maitre-de-plaisirs_ to him, I was quite satisfied to
+make this charming excursion amongst the mountains at his expense. At
+the watering-place there was some high play going on--a bank of several
+thousand thalers. My companion eyed the heaps of gold with greedy
+simpers, paced up and down the room, circled nearer and nearer to the
+play table, dived into his pockets, brought out a Friedrich-d'or
+between his finger and thumb, dropped it back again--in a word, lusted
+for money. Only too glad would he have been to pocket a little haul
+from that heaped-up treasure, but he had no belief in his star. At last
+he put an end to this droll contest between his longings and his fears,
+which brought the perspiration in drops on to his forehead, by begging
+me to stake for him, to which end he put five or six Friedrichs-d'or
+into my hand. However, I would have nothing to do with the arrangement
+until he assured me that he had not the least belief that he would have
+any luck whatever, but looked upon the sum which he staked as so much
+lost cash. What happened was what I did not in the least degree expect.
+To me, the unpractised, inexperienced player, fortune was propitious.
+I won for my friend in a very short time something like thirty
+Friedrichs-d'or, which he put in his pocket with much glee. Next
+evening he wanted me to play for him again, but to this hour I cannot
+explain how the idea came into my head that I should then play on my
+own account. I had not had the slightest intention of playing any more,
+nay, rather, I was on the very point of going away, out of the room, to
+take a walk outside, when my friend came up to me with his request.
+When I had plainly told him in set terms that I meant to play on my own
+account (but not till then), I walked calmly up to the table and pulled
+out of my little waistcoat pocket two Friedrichs-d'or, the only two
+which I possessed. If fortune had been propitious to me the night
+before, this time it seemed as if some Spirit of Might, at whose
+command luck stood, was in covenant with me. Whatever I did, whatever I
+staked upon, everything turned up in my favour---in fact, just as I
+said in my story, what happened at first to Baron Siegfried happened to
+me. My brain reeled! When a fresh haul of money was handed over to me I
+often felt as if I were in a dream, and should be sure to wake up just
+as I was pocketing my winnings. When the clock struck two the game came
+to an end as usual.
+
+"Just as I was leaving the room, an old officer took me by the
+shoulder, and said, transfixing me with a grave, powerful eye:
+
+"'Young man, if you had known what you were about, you would have
+broken the banque. But if ever you do know about it, no doubt you will
+go to the devil, like all the rest.' He left me, without waiting for my
+answer.
+
+"The day was breaking when I got to my room, and emptied the money out
+of all my pockets on to the table. Picture to yourselves the feelings
+of a mere boy, entirely dependent on his relatives, restricted to a
+miserable mite of an allowance of weekly pocket-money, who suddenly, as
+if at the wave of a magic wand, finds himself in possession of a sum
+which is, at all events, considerable enough to appear, in his eyes, a
+fortune! But, as I gazed at the heaps of coin, all my mind was suddenly
+filled with an anxiety, a strange, alarmed uneasiness, which put me
+into a cold perspiration. The words of the old officer came back to me,
+as they had not struck me before, in the most terrible significance. I
+felt as though the coin which was blinking at me there on the table was
+the earnest money of a bargain whereby I had sold my soul to the powers
+of darkness, so that there was no escape more for it possible, and it
+was destroyed for evermore. The blossoms of my life seemed to be gnawed
+upon by a hidden worm, and I sank into inconsolable despair. The
+morning dawn was flaming up behind the eastern hills. I lay down in the
+window-seat. I gazed, with the most intense longing, for the rising of
+the sun which should drive away the darksome spirits of night; and
+when the woods and plains shone forth in his golden glory, it was day
+in my soul once more, and there came to me the most inspiriting sense
+of a power to resist all temptation, and shield my life from that
+demoniacal impulse, which was full of the power of--somehow and
+somewhere--impelling it to utter destruction. I made then a most sacred
+vow that I would never touch a card again, and that vow I have kept
+most strictly. And the first use I made of my money was to part from my
+friend, to his immense surprise, and set out on that excursion to
+Dresden, Prague, and Vienna, of which I have told you."
+
+"I can well imagine," said Sylvester, "the impression which your
+unexpected, equivocal, most questionable luck must have made upon you.
+It was greatly to your credit that you resisted the temptation, and
+that you recognized how it was that the threatening danger lay in the
+very luck itself. But, allow me to say, your own tale, the manner in
+which you have, with such accuracy, characterized the real gambler in
+it, must make it plain to yourself that you never had within you the
+true love of gambling, and that, if you had, the courage which you
+displayed would have been very difficult, perhaps impossible. Vincent,
+who, I believe, knows a great deal more about such matters than the
+rest of us, will agree with me here, I think."
+
+"As for me," said Vincent, "I was scarcely attending to Theodore's
+account of his luck at the faro-table, because my mind was so full of
+that delicious fellow who walked about the hills in silk stockings, and
+admired burning buildings as if they were so many pictures, enjoying
+his wine, his macaroons, and his bouquets all the time. In fact, it was
+a pleasure and satisfaction to me to see one entertaining character at
+last emerging out of the dark, dreadful background of the stories of
+this evening, and I should have liked to have seen him as the hero of
+some comic drama."
+
+"Ought not the mere suggestion of him to have been enough for us?"
+said Lothair. "We Serapion Brethren ought always to remember that it is
+our duty to set up, for each other's entertainment and refreshment,
+unique characters which we may have come across in life, as a means of
+refreshing us after the tales which may have strained our attention."
+
+"A good idea," said Vincent, "and I thoroughly agree with it. Rough
+sketches of that description ought to serve as studies for more
+finished pictures, which whoever chooses may elaborate after his
+liking. Also, they may be considered as being charitable contributions
+to the general fund of Serapionish fantasy. And to show that I am in
+earnest, I shall at once proceed to describe to you a very great
+'Curio' of a man whom I came across in the south of Germany. One day,
+in B----, I chanced to be walking in a wood near the town, when I came
+upon a number of countrymen hard at work in cutting down a quantity of
+thick underwood, and snipping off the branches from the trees on either
+side of it. I do not know what made me inquire of them if they were
+making a new road, or what. They laughed, and told me that, if I went
+on my way, I should find, outside the trees, upon a little rising
+ground, a little gentleman who would answer my questions, and,
+accordingly, I came there upon a little elderly gentleman, of pale
+complexion, in a great-coat, and with a travelling-cap on his head and
+a game-bag at his back, who was gazing fixedly through a telescope in
+the direction of the men who were cutting down the trees. When he saw
+me he shut up his telescope in a hurry, and said, eagerly, 'You have
+come through the wood, sir? Have you observed how the work is getting
+on?' I told him what I had seen. 'That's right, that's right,' he said;
+'I've been here ever since three in the morning, and I was beginning to
+be afraid that those asses (and I pay them well, too) were leaving me
+in the lurch. But I have some hopes, now, that the view will come into
+sight at the expected time.' He drew out his telescope again, and gazed
+through it towards the wood. After a few minutes, some large branches
+came rustling down, and, as at the stroke of a magic wand, there opened
+up a prospect of distant mountains, a beautiful prospect, with the
+ruins of an old castle glowing in the beams of the setting sun. The
+gentleman gave expression to his extreme delight and gratification in
+one or two detached broken phrases; but when he had enjoyed the
+prospect for a good quarter of an hour, he put away his telescope and
+set off as fast as he could, without bidding me goodbye or taking the
+slightest notice of me. I afterwards heard that he was the Baron von
+B----, one of the most extraordinary fellows in existence, who, like
+the well-known Baron Grotthus, has been on a continual walking tour for
+several years, and has a mania for hunting after beautiful views. When
+he arrives at a place where, to get at a view, he thinks it is
+necessary to have trees cut down, or openings made in woodlands, he
+spares no cost to arrange matters with the proprietors, or to employ
+labourers. In fact, it is said that he once tried his utmost to have a
+set of farm buildings burned down, because he thought they interfered
+with the beauty of a prospect, and interrupted the view of the
+distance. He did not succeed in this particular undertaking. But
+whenever he did attain his object, he would gaze at his newly-arranged
+view for half an hour or so, at the outside, and then set off at such a
+pace that nothing could stop him, never coming back to the place
+again."
+
+The friends were of one mind in the opinion that there is no
+possibility of imagining anything more marvellous or out of the common
+than that which comes before us in actual life, of its own accord.
+
+"I am wonderfully delighted," said Cyprian, "that it chances to be in
+my power to add to your two oddities a third character, of whom I was
+told a short time ago by a well-known violinist, whom we all of us know
+very well. This third character of mine is none other than the Baron
+von B----, a man who lived in Berlin about the years 1789 and 1790, and
+was acknowledged to be one of the most extraordinary phenomenons ever
+met with in the world of music. For the sake of greater vividness, I
+will tell you the tale in the first person, as if I were the violinist
+concerned in it, and I hope my worthy Serapion brother Theodore won't
+take it amiss that I encroach, on this occasion, into his peculiar
+province.
+
+"At the time when the Baron was living in Berlin," the violinist said,
+"I was a very young fellow, scarcely sixteen, and absorbed in the
+most zealous study of my instrument, to which I was devoted with all
+the powers and faculties of my body and soul. My worthy master,
+Concert-Meister Haak, who was excessively strict with me, was much
+content with my progress. He lauded the finish of my bowing, the
+correctness of my intonation, and he allowed me to play in the
+orchestra of the opera, and even in the King's chamber-concerts. On
+those occasions I often heard Haak talking with young Duport, with
+Ritter, and other great artists belonging to the orchestra, about the
+musical evenings which Baron von B---- was in the habit of having in
+his house. Such was the research and the taste connected with those
+evenings that the King himself often deigned to take part in them.
+Mention was made of magnificent works of the old, nearly forgotten
+masters, which were nowhere else to be heard than at the Baron's, who,
+as regarded music for stringed instruments, possessed, probably,
+the most complete collection from the most ancient times down to
+the present day, in existence. Then they spoke of the marvellous
+hospitality which the Baron extended to artists, and they were all
+unanimous in concluding that he was the most bright and shining star
+which had ever risen in the musical horizon of Berlin.
+
+"All this excited my curiosity, and made my teeth water; and all the
+more that, during these conversations, the artists drew their heads
+nearer together, and I gathered, from mysterious whispers and detached
+words and phrases, that there was talk of tuition in music, of giving
+of lessons. I fancied that, on Duport's face especially, there appeared
+a sarcastic smile, and that they all attacked Concert-Meister Haak with
+some piece of chaff, and that he, for his part, only feebly defending
+himself, could scarcely suppress a smile, until at last, turning
+quickly away, and taking up his violin to tune, he cried out, 'All the
+same, he is a first-rate fellow!'
+
+"All this was more than I could withstand, and although I was told, in
+a pretty decided manner, to mind my own business, I begged Haak to
+allow me, if in any manner possible, to go with him to the Baron's and
+play in his concerts.
+
+"Haak surveyed me with great eyes, and I feared that a little
+thunderstorm was going to burst out upon me. But his seriousness melted
+into a strange smile, and he said:
+
+"'Well, well; perhaps you're right. There's a great deal to be picked
+up at the Baron's. I'll talk to him about you, and I think it very
+likely that he will accord you _les entrees_. He is very much
+interested in young musicians.'
+
+"A short time afterwards, I had been playing some very difficult duetts
+with Haak. As he laid his fiddle down, he said, 'Now, Carl, put your
+Sunday coat on to-night, and your silk stockings. We will go together
+to the Baron's. There won't be many there, and it will be a good
+opportunity to introduce you to him.'
+
+"My heart throbbed with delight, for I expected to meet with things
+unheard-of and extraordinary, though I did not know why this was my
+expectation.
+
+"We arrived there. The Baron, a rather small gentleman, advanced in
+age, wearing an old Frankish embroidered gala dress, came to meet us as
+we entered the room, and shook my master cordially by the hand. Never
+had I felt, at the sight of a man of rank, more sincere reverence, a
+more infelt, sincere, pleasant attraction. His face expressed the most
+genuine kindliness, whilst from his eyes flashed that darksome fire
+which so often indicates the artist who is, in verity, penetrated by
+his art. All that diffidence with which I, as an inexperienced
+neophyte, would otherwise have had to contend, fled from me instantly.
+
+"'How are you, my dear Haak?' the Baron said. 'How are you getting on?
+Have you been having a right good study at my concerto? Good, good; we
+shall hear tomorrow. Oh, I suppose this is the young virtuoso you were
+telling me about?'
+
+"I cast my eyes down bashfully. I felt that I blushed over and over
+again.
+
+"Haak mentioned my name, praised my natural talent, and lauded the
+rapid progress which I had made in a short time.
+
+"'And so you have chosen the violin as your instrument,' said the
+Baron. 'Have you considered, my son, that the violin is the most
+difficult of all instruments ever invented, and that it is one which,
+whilst it seems, in its extreme simplicity, to comprehend in itself the
+most luxuriant richness of music, is, in reality, an extraordinary
+mystery, which only discloses itself to a rare few, specially organized
+by nature to comprehend it? Do you know of a certainty, does your
+spirit tell you with distinctness, that you will be the master of that
+marvellous mystery? Many a one has thought this, and has remained a
+miserable bungler all his days. I should not wish, my son, that you
+should swell the ranks of those wretched creatures. However, at all
+events, you can play me something, and then I will tell you what you
+are like, what state you are in as regards this matter, and you will
+follow my counsel. Perhaps it is with you as it was with Carl Staunitz,
+who thought he was going to turn out a marvellous virtuoso. When I
+opened his eyes, he threw his fiddle behind the stove, and took to the
+Tenor and Viol d'Amour, and a very good job he made of them. On them he
+could stamp about with those broad stretching fingers of his, and play
+quite fairly well. But, however, just now I want to hear _you_, my
+little son.'
+
+"This first somewhat extraordinary speech of the Baron's to me was
+calculated to render me somewhat anxious and abashed. What he said went
+deep into my soul, and I felt, not without inward sorrow, that in
+devoting my life to the most difficult of all instruments I had,
+perhaps undertaken a task beyond my powers.
+
+"Just then, four of the artists then present sat down to play the last
+three quartettes of Haydn, which had just appeared in print. My master
+took his violin out of its case; but scarcely had he passed his bow
+over the strings, in tuning, when the Baron, stopping his ears with
+both hands, cried out, like a man possessed, 'Haak, Haak, tell me, for
+God's sake! how can you annihilate all your skill in playing by making
+use of a miserable screaking, caterwauling fiddle like that?'
+
+"Now it happened that my master's violin was one of the most splendid
+and glorious ever to be met with. It was a genuine Antonio Stradivari,
+and nothing could enrage him more than when any one failed to render
+due homage to this darling of his. However, knowing pretty well what
+was going to happen, he put it back into its case with a smile.
+
+"Just as he was taking the key out of the lock of his fiddle-case, the
+Baron, who had left the room for a moment, came in, bearing in both
+arms (as if it had been a babe going to be baptized) a violin-case,
+covered with scarlet velvet, and bound with gold cords.
+
+"'I wish to do you an honour, Haak,' he said; 'tonight you shall play
+on my oldest, most precious violin. This is a genuine Granuelo. Your
+Stradivarius, his pupil, is only a bungler in comparison with him.
+Tartini would never put his fingers on any violin but a Granuelo. So
+please to collect yourself, and pull yourself together, so that the
+Granuelo may be pleased to allow itself to unfold all the gloriousness
+which dwells within it.'
+
+"The Baron opened the violin-case, and I beheld an instrument whose
+build bore witness to its immense antiquity. Beside it lay a most
+marvellous-looking bow, whose exaggerated curvature seemed to indicate
+rather that it was intended for shooting arrows from than for bringing
+tone out of violin strings. With solemn carefulness the Baron took the
+instrument out of its case and handed it to my master, who received it
+with equal solemnity.
+
+"'I'm not going to give you the bow,' said the Baron, tapping my master
+on the shoulder with a pleasant smile, 'you haven't the slightest idea
+how to manage it; and that is why you will never, in all your life,
+attain to a proper style of bowing.
+
+"'This was the sort of bow,' continued the Baron, taking it from the
+case, and contemplating it with a gleaming glance of inspiration,
+'which the grand, immortal Tartini made use of; and now that he is
+gone there are only two of his pupils left in the whole wide world who
+were fortunate enough to possess themselves of the secret of his
+magnificent, marrowy, toneful manner of bowing, which affects the whole
+being of people, and can only be accomplished with a bow of this kind.
+One of those pupils is Narbini, who is now an old man of seventy,
+capable only of inward music; and the other, as I think, gentlemen, you
+are aware, is myself. Consequently, I am now the sole individual in
+whom the true art of violin-playing survives; and my zealous endeavours
+will, I trust and believe, not fail to perpetuate that art which found
+its creator in Tartini. However, let us set to work, gentlemen.'
+
+"The Haydn quartettes were then played through, and with a degree of
+perfection which, it need not be said, left nothing to be desired. The
+Baron sat with closed eyes, swaying backwards and forwards;
+occasionally he would get up from his chair, go closer to the players,
+peer at the music with wrinkled brow, and then go very gently back to
+his seat, lean his head on his hand, sigh, groan--
+
+"'Stop, stop!' he cried suddenly at a melodious passage in one of the
+adagios, 'by all the gods! that was Tartini-ish melody, or I know
+nothing about it. Play it again, please.'
+
+"And the masters, smiling, repeated the passage, with a more sostenuto
+and cantabile effect of bowing, while the Baron wept and sobbed like a
+child.
+
+"When the quartettes were ended, the Baron said, 'A heavenly fellow,
+this Haydn; he knows how to touch the heart; but he has not an idea of
+writing for the violin. Perhaps he does not wish to do it; for if he
+did, and wrote in the only true manner, as Tartini did, you would never
+be able to play it.'
+
+"It was now my turn to play some variations which Haak had written for
+me.
+
+"The Baron stood close behind me, looking at the notes. You may imagine
+the agitation with which I commenced, having this severe critic at my
+elbow. Presently, however, a stirring allegro movement carried me away.
+I forgot all about the Baron, and managed to move about with all
+freedom within the sphere of skill and power which stood then at my
+command.
+
+"When I had finished, the Baron patted me on the shoulder, and said,
+'You may stick to the violin, my son; but as yet you have not an idea
+of bowing or expression, probably because, up to this time, you haven't
+had a proper master.'
+
+"We then sat down to table, in another room, where there was a repast
+laid out and served, which, especially as regarded the rare and
+marvellous wines, was to be characterized as very extravagant. The
+musicians dipped deeply into everything set before them. The talk,
+which waxed more and more animated, was almost entirely on the subject
+of music. The Baron emitted complete treasures of the most marvellous
+information. His opinions and views, most keen and penetrating, proved
+him to be not only the most instructed of connoisseurs, but also the
+most accomplished, talented, and tasteful of artists. What was
+specially striking to me was a sort of portrait gallery of violinists
+which he went through to us in description. So much of it as I remember
+I will tell you.
+
+"'Corelli,' said the Baron, 'was the first to break out the path. His
+compositions can only be played in the real Tartini manner, and that is
+sufficient to prove how well he knew the true art of violin-playing.
+Pugnani is a passable player. He has tone, and plenty of brains, but,
+although he has a tolerable amount of appogiamento, his bowing is too
+feeble altogether. What have not people told me of Geminiani! and yet,
+when I heard him last, some thirty years ago in Paris, he played like a
+somnambulist striding about in a dream, and one felt as if one were in
+a dream one's self. It was all mere tempo rubato; no sort of style or
+delivery. That infernal tempo rubato is the ruin of the very best
+players; they neglect their bowing over it. I played him my sonatas; he
+saw his error, and asked me to give him some lessons, which I was very
+glad to do. But he was too far sunk into his old method. He had grown
+too old in it--he was ninety-one. May God forgive Giardini, and not
+punish him for it in eternity; but he it was who first ate the apple of
+the tree of knowledge, and brought sin upon all subsequent players. He
+was the first of your tremolandoists and flourishers. All he thinks
+about is his left hand, and those fingers of his that have the power of
+jumping hither and thither. He has no idea of the important fact that
+it is in the _right_ hand that the soul of melody lies--that from every
+throb of its pulses stream forth the powers that awaken the feelings of
+the heart. Oh! that every one of those "flourishers" had a stout old
+Jomelli at his elbow to rouse him out of his craziness by a good sound
+box on the ear--as Jomelli actually did--when Giardini, in his
+presence, spoilt a glorious passage of melody by jumps, trills, and
+"mordenti." Lulli, too, conducts himself in a preposterous way. He is
+one of your damnable perpetrators of jumps. An adagio he can't play,
+and his sole quality is that for which ignoramuses, without sense or
+understanding, admire him with their stupid mouths agape. I say it
+again: with Narbini and me will die the true art of the violinist.
+Young Viotti is a fine fellow, full of promise. He is indebted to me
+for what he knows, for he was a most industrious pupil of mine. But
+what does it all amount to? No endurance! No patience! He wouldn't go
+on studying with me. Now, Kreutzer I still hope to get hold of and make
+something of. He has availed himself assiduously of my lessons, and
+will again, when I get back to Paris. That concerto of mine which you
+are studying, Haak, he played not at all badly a short time since. But
+he hasn't the hand, yet, to wield my bow. Giarnovichi shall never cross
+my doorstep again. There's a stupid coxcomb for you! A fellow who has
+the effrontery to turn up his nose at the grand Tartini--master of all
+masters--and despises my lessons. What I should like to know is, what
+that boy Rhode will turn out after he has had lessons from me? He
+promises well, and I have an idea that he will master my bow.'
+
+"The Baron turned to me, saying, 'He is about your age, little son, but
+of a more serious, deep-thoughted nature. You appear to me--don't take
+it ill if I say so--to be a little bit of a--well, I mean, you lack
+purpose. However, no matter. Now you, dear Haak, I have great hopes of.
+Since I have been teaching you you have become quite another man. Keep
+up your unresting zeal and industry. Never waste a single hour. You
+know that is what distresses me.'
+
+"I was turned to stone with amazement and admiration at what I heard. I
+could not wait the necessary time to ask the concert-meister if it was
+all true---if the Baron was, really, the greatest violinist of the
+day--if he, my master himself, did actually take lessons from him.
+
+"'Undoubtedly,' Haak said, 'he had no hesitation in accepting the
+profitable instruction which the Baron placed at his disposal; and he
+told me that I should do well if I went, some morning, to him myself,
+and asked him to let me have some lessons from him too.'
+
+"To all the questions which I then put to him concerning the Baron and
+his artistic talent, Haak would give me no direct reply, but kept on
+telling me that I ought to do as he advised me, and I should then find
+out all about it myself.
+
+"The peculiar smile which passed over Haak's face as he said this did
+not escape me. I did not understand the meaning of it, and it excited
+my curiosity to the highest point.
+
+"When I bashfully made my request to the Baron, assuring him that the
+most unbounded zeal, the most glowing enthusiasm for my art inspired
+me, he looked at me seriously and fixedly. But soon his face put on
+an expression of the most benevolent kindliness. 'Little son! little
+son!' he said, 'that you have betaken yourself to me--the only real
+violin-player now living--proves that you possess the true artistic
+spirit, and that the ideal of the genuine violin-player has come into
+existence within you. I should be delighted to give you lessons; but
+the time--the time! where to find it? Haak occupies me a great deal,
+and then I have got this young man Durand here just now, he wants to be
+heard in public, and knows that he need not try that till he has had a
+good course of lessons from me. However, wait a moment, between
+breakfast and lunch, or at lunch time--yes. I have still an hour at
+liberty then. Little son, come to me at twelve exactly every day, and I
+will fiddle with you for an hour until one; then Durand comes.'
+
+"You can imagine how I hastened, with a throbbing heart, to the Baron's
+the next forenoon at the appointed hour.
+
+"He would not let me play a single note on my own violin, which I had
+brought with me, but placed in my hands a very old instrument by
+Antonio Amati. Never had I had any experience of a violin like this.
+The celestial tone which streamed from its strings altogether inspired
+me. I let myself go, and abandoned myself to a stream of ingenious
+'passages,' suffering the river of music to surge and swell, higher and
+higher, in mighty waves and billows of sound, and then die down and
+expire in murmuring whispers. My own belief is that I was playing
+exceedingly well; much better than I often did afterwards.
+
+"When I had done, the Baron shook his head impatiently, and said: 'My
+little son! my little son! you must forget all that. In the first
+place, you hold your bow most abominably,' and he showed to me,
+practically, how the bow ought to be held, according to the manner of
+Tartini. I thought I should never be able to bring out a single tone
+whilst so holding it; but great was my astonishment when I found that,
+on repeating my 'passages' at the Baron's desire, the amazing advantage
+of holding the bow as he told me to hold it was strikingly manifest,
+after two or three seconds.
+
+"'Good!' said the Baron. 'Little son, let us begin the lesson. Commence
+upon the note G, above the line, and hold out that note as long as you
+can possibly hold it. Economize your bow; make the very utmost of it
+that you possibly can. What the breath is to the singer, the bow is to
+the violinist.'
+
+"I did as I was directed, and was greatly delighted to find that, in
+this manner of dealing with matters, I was enabled to bring out a tone
+of exceptional powerfulness; to swell it out to a marvellous
+fortissimo, and make it die down to a very soft pianissimo, with an
+excessively long stroke of the bow.
+
+"'You see, do you not, little son?' cried the Baron. 'You can play all
+kinds of "passages," jumps, and new-fangled nonsense of that sort, but
+you can't properly sustain a note as it ought to be done.'
+
+"He took the instrument from my hands, and laid the bow across the
+strings, near the bridge--and the simple truth is, that words
+completely fail me to describe to you what then came to pass.
+
+"Laying that trembling bow of his close to the bridge, he went sliding
+with it up and down on the strings, as it quivered in his hands,
+jarringly, whistlingly, squeakingly, mewingly; the tone he produced was
+to be likened to that of some old woman, with spectacles on nose,
+vainly attempting to hit the tune of a hymn.
+
+"And all the time he raised enraptured eyes to heaven, like a man
+lost in the most celestial blissfulness; and when at length he left
+off scraping with his bow up and down between the bridge and the
+finger-board, and laid the violin down, his eyes were shining, and he
+said, in deep emotion: 'That is tone! that is tone!'
+
+"I felt in a most extraordinary condition: although the inward impulse
+to laugh was present with me, it was killed by the aspect of that
+venerable man, glorified by his inspiration. At the same time the whole
+affair had a most eery effect upon me, and I felt very much affected by
+it, and could not utter a syllable.
+
+"'Don't you find, little son,' asked the Baron, 'that that goes to your
+heart? Had you ever any idea that such magic could be conjured out of
+that little thing there, with its four simple strings? Well, well! take
+a glass of wine, little son.' He poured me out a glass of Madeira. I
+had to drink it, and also to take some of the pastry and cakes which
+were upon the table. Just then the clock struck one.
+
+"'This will have to do for to-day,' said the Baron. 'Go, go, little
+son! Here, here! put that in your pocket.'
+
+"And he placed in my hand a little paper packet, in which I found a
+beautiful, shining ducat.
+
+"In my amazement I ran to the concert-meister and told him all that had
+happened. He, however, laughed aloud, and said: 'Now you know all about
+our Baron and his violin lessons. He looks upon you as a mere beginner,
+so that you only get a ducat per lesson; but as the mastership, in his
+opinion, increases, so does the pay. He gives me a Louis, and I think
+Durand gets a couple of ducats.'
+
+"I could not help expressing my opinion that it was anything but an
+honourable style of going to work, to mystify this kind gentleman in
+such a fashion, and pocket his money into the bargain.
+
+"'You ought to be told,' said Haak, 'that his whole enjoyment consists
+in giving lessons--in the way which you now comprehend; and that if I
+and the other artists were to show any symptoms of under-valuing him or
+his lessons, he would proclaim to the whole artistic world, in which he
+is looked upon as a most competent and valuable critic, that we were
+nothing but a set of wretched scrapers; that, in fact, apart from his
+craze of being a marvellous player, the Baron is a man whose vast
+knowledge of music, and most cultivated judgment thereon, are matters
+from which even a master can derive great benefit. So judge for
+yourself whether I am to be blamed if I hold on to him, and now and
+then pocket a few of his Louis. I advise you to go to him as often as
+you can. Don't listen to the cracky nonsense he talks about his own
+execution; but do listen to, and profit by, what this man--who is most
+exceptionally versed in the musical art, and has immense and valuable
+experience in it--has to say about it. It will be greatly to your
+advantage to do so.'
+
+"I took his advice; but it was often hard to repress laughter when the
+Baron would tap about with his fingers upon the belly of the fiddle
+instead of on the finger-board, stroking his bow diagonally over the
+strings the while, and asseverating that he was playing the most
+beautiful of all Tartini's solos, and that he was the only person in
+the world who could play it.
+
+"But soon he would lay the violin down, and pour forth sayings which
+enriched me with the profoundest knowledge, and enflamed my heart
+towards the most glorious of all arts.
+
+"If I then played something from one of his concertos with my utmost
+_verve_, and happened to interpret this or the other passage of it
+better than usual, the Baron would look round with a smile of
+complacence, or of pride, and say: 'The boy has to thank me for that;
+me, pupil of the great Tartini!'
+
+"Thus, you perceive, I derived both profit and pleasure from the
+Baron's lessons; and from his ducats into the bargain."
+
+"Well, really," said Theodore, laughing, "I should think that the
+greater part of the virtuosos of the present day--although they do
+consider themselves far beyond any description of instruction or
+advice--would be glad enough to have a few lessons such as the Baron
+von S---- was in the habit of giving."
+
+"I render thanks to Heaven," said Vincenz, "that this meeting of our
+Club has ended so happily. I never dared to hope that it would; and I
+would fain entreat my worthy Serapion Brethren to see that proper
+measures are taken, in future, that there be a due alternation between
+the terrifying and the entertaining, which on this occasion has by no
+means been the case."
+
+"This admonition of yours," Ottmar said, "is right and proper; but it
+rested with yourself to rectify the error into which we have fallen
+to-night by contributing something of your own, in your special style
+of humour."
+
+"The truth is," said Lothair, "that you, my very fine fellow--and at
+the same time my very lazy-as-to-writing fellow--have never yet paid
+your entrance-money into the Serapion Guild, and the only mode of
+payment is a Serapiontic story."
+
+"Hush!" cried Vincenz. "You don't know what has come glowing forth from
+my heart, and is nestling in this breast-pocket of mine here; a quite
+remarkable little creature of a story, which I specially commend to the
+favour of our Lothair. I should have read it to you to-night. But don't
+you see the landlord's pale face peeping in at the window every now and
+then, just in the style in which the uncle Kuehleborn, in Fouque's
+'Undine,' used to 'keek' in at the window of the fisherman's hut.
+Haven't you noticed the irritated 'Oh, Jemini!' countenance of the
+waiter? Was there not written on his forehead, legibly and distinctly
+(when he snuffed the candles), 'Are you going to sit here for ever? Are
+you never going to let an honest man get to his well-earned bed?' Those
+people are right. It is past twelve: our parting hour has struck some
+time ago."
+
+The friends agreed to have another Serapiontic meeting at an early
+date, and dispersed.
+
+
+
+
+                              SECTION VII.
+
+The dreary late autumn had arrived, and Theodore was sitting in his
+room beside the crackling fire, waiting for the worthy Serapion
+Brethren, who came dropping in, one by one, at the appointed hour.
+
+"What diabolical weather!" cried Cyprian, entering the last. "In spite
+of my cloak I am nearly wet through, and a gust of wind all but carried
+away my hat."
+
+"And it won't be better very soon," said Ottmar; "for our
+meteorologist, who lives in the same street with me, has prognosticated
+very fine weather at the end of this autumn."
+
+"Right; you are perfectly right, my friend Ottmar," Vincenz said.
+"Whenever our great prophet consoles his neighbours with the
+announcement that the winter is not going to be at all severe, but
+principally of a southerly character, everybody rushes away in alarm,
+and buys all the wood he can cram into his cellar. The weather-prophet
+is a wise and highly-gifted man, whom we can thoroughly trust, so long
+as we expect the exact reverse of what he predicts."
+
+"Those autumnal storms always make me thoroughly wretched," said
+Sylvester; "I always feel depressed and ill whilst they are going on;
+and I think you feel the same, Theodore."
+
+"Oh, indeed I do," answered Theodore; "this sort of weather always
+makes----"
+
+"Splendid!--delightful beginning of a meeting of the Serapion Club!"
+intercalated Lothair. "We set to work to discuss the weather, like a
+parcel of old women round the coffee-table."
+
+"I don't see," said Ottmar, "why we should not talk about the weather;
+the only reason you can object to it is that talking about it seems to
+be an observance of a kind of rather slovenly old custom, which has
+resulted from a necessity to say something or other when there happens
+to be nothing else in people's minds to talk about. What I think is
+that a few words about the weather and the wind make a very good
+beginning of a conversation, whatsoever its nature may turn out to be,
+and that the very universality of the applicability of this as the
+beginning of a conversation prove how natural it really is."
+
+"As far as I am concerned," said Theodore, "I don't think it matters
+a farthing how a conversation commences. But there is one thing
+certain--that, if one wants to make some very striking and clever
+beginning, that is enough to kill all the freedom and unconstraint
+which may be termed the very soul of conversation. I know a young
+man--I think he is known to you all, as well--who is by no means
+deficient in that mobility of intellect which is absolutely necessary
+for good conversation; but he is so tormented, particularly when ladies
+are present, by that kind of eagerness to burst out with something
+brilliant and striking at the very outset of a talk, that he walks
+restlessly about the room; makes the most extraordinary faces in the
+keenness of his inward torment; opens his lips, and--cannot manage to
+utter a syllable."
+
+"Cease, cease, base wretch!" Cyprian cried, with comic pathos, "do not,
+with murderous hand, tear open wounds which are barely healed. He is
+speaking of me," he continued, laughing, "and he doesn't know that, a
+few weeks ago, when I insisted on restraining that tendency of mine,
+which I see the absurdity of, and falling into a conversation in the
+ordinary style of other people, I had to pay for it by complete
+annihilation. I prefer telling you all about this myself to letting
+Ottmar do it, and add witty comments of his own. At a tea-party where
+Ottmar and I were, there was present a certain pretty and clever lady,
+as to whom you are in the habit of maintaining that she interests me
+more than is right and proper. I went to talk to her, and I admit that
+I was a little at a loss how exactly to begin, and she was wicked
+enough to gaze at me with questioning eyes. I burst out with 'The new
+moon has brought a nice change of weather.' She answered, very quietly:
+'Oh, are you writing the Almanac this season?'"
+
+The friends laughed heartily.
+
+"On the other hand," said Ottmar, "I know another young man--and you
+all know him--who, particularly with ladies, is never at a loss for the
+first word of a talk; in fact, my belief is that he has severely
+thought out, in private, a regular system, of the most comprehensive
+kind, as to conversation with ladies, which is by no means likely ever
+to find him left in the lurch. For instance, one of his dodges is to go
+to the prettiest--one who scarce ventures to dip a sweet biscuit in her
+tea; who, at the utmost, whispers into the ear of her who is sitting
+next to her: 'It is very warm, dear;' to which the latter answers with
+equal softness into her ear: 'Dreadfully, my love;' whose communication
+goeth not beyond 'Yea, yea,' and 'Nay, nay,'--to go up to such an one,
+I say, and, in an artful manner, startle her out of her wits, and
+thereby so utterly revolutionize her very being, in such a sudden
+manner, that she seems to herself to be no longer the same person:
+'Good heavens! how very pale you are looking!' he cried out, recently,
+to a pretty creature, as silent as a church, just in the act of
+beginning a stitch of silver thread at a purse which she was working.
+The young lady let her work fall on her lap in terror, said she was
+feeling a little feverish that day. Feverish!--my friend was thoroughly
+at home on that subject; could talk upon it in the most interesting
+way, like a man who knows his ground; inquired minutely into all the
+symptoms; gave advice, gave warnings,--and behold! there was a
+delightful, interesting, confidential conversation spun out in a few
+minutes."
+
+"I am much obliged to you," said Theodore, "for having so carefully
+observed that talent of mine, and given it its due meed of approval."
+
+The friends laughed again at this.
+
+"There is no doubt," said Sylvester, "that society talk is, altogether,
+a rather curious thing. The French say that a certain heaviness in our
+nature always prevents us from hitting the precise tact and tone
+necessary for it; and they may be right, to a certain extent, but I
+must declare that the much-belauded _legerete_ and lightsomeness of
+French Society puts me out of temper, and makes me feel stupid and
+uncomfortable, and that I cannot look upon those _bon mots_ and
+_calembours_ of theirs, which are continually being fired off in all
+directions, as coming under the class of that 'Society wit' which gives
+out constantly fresh sparks of new life of conversation. Moreover, that
+peculiar style of wit to which the genuine French 'wit' belongs is, to
+me, in the highest degree disagreeable."
+
+"That opinion," said Cyprian, "comes from the very depths of your
+quiet, friendly spirit, my dearest Sylvester: but you are forgetting
+that, besides the (generally utterly empty and insipid) _bon mots_, the
+'Society wit' of the French is, in a great degree, founded on a mutual
+contempt of, and jeering and scoffing at, each other (such as at the
+present time we call 'chaff,' although it is less good-humoured than
+that), which soon passes the bounds of what we consider courtesy and
+consideration, and consequently would speedily deprive our intercourse
+of all pleasure. Then the French have not the very slightest
+comprehension of that wit whose basis is real humour, and it is almost
+incomprehensible how often the point of some not very profound, but
+superficially funny, little story escapes them."
+
+"Don't forget," said Ottmar, "that the point of a story is very often
+completely untranslatable."
+
+"Or is badly translated," said Vincenz. "It so happens that I just
+think of a very amusing thing which happened quite recently, and which
+I will tell you, if you care to hear it."
+
+"Tell us, tell us! delightful fabulist! valued anecdotist!" cried the
+friends.
+
+"A young man," related Vincenz, "whom nature had endowed with a
+splendid bass voice, and who had gone upon the operatic stage, was
+making his first appearance as Sarastro, in the 'Magic Flute.' As he
+was mounting the car, in which he first comes on, he was seized with
+such a terrible attack of stage-fright that he trembled and shook--nay,
+when the car got into motion to come forward, he shrunk into himself,
+and all the manager's efforts to induce him to reassure himself, and,
+at all events, stand upright, were useless. Just then it happened that
+one of the wheels got entangled in the long mantle which Sarastro
+wears, so that the further he got on to the stage, the more this mantle
+dragged him backwards; whilst he, struggling against this, and keeping
+his feet firm, appeared in the centre of the stage with the nether
+portion of his body projecting forwards, and his head and shoulders
+held tremendously far back. The audience were immensely pleased at this
+most regal attitude and appearance of the inexperienced neophyte, and
+the manager offered him, and concluded with him, an engagement on very
+liberal terms. Now, this simple little story was being told, lately, in
+a company where there was a French lady who did not understand a word
+of German. When everybody laughed, at the end of the story, she wanted
+to know what the laughter was about, and our worthy D. (who, when he
+speaks French, gives a most admirable, and very close, imitation of the
+tones and actions of French people, but is continually at a loss for
+the words) undertook to translate the story to her. When he came to the
+wheel which had got entangled with Sarastro's cloak, constraining him
+to his regal attitude, he called it 'Le rat,' instead of 'La roue.' The
+French lady's brow clouded, her eyebrows drew together, and in her face
+was plainly to be read the terror which the story had produced in her,
+whereto conduced the circumstance that D. had 'let on' upon his face
+the full power of tragi-comic muscular play which it was capable of.
+When, at the end, we all laughed more than before at this amusing
+misunderstanding (which we all took good care not to explain), she
+murmured to herself, 'Ah! les barbares!' The good lady not unnaturally
+looked upon us as barbarians for thinking it so amusing that an
+abominable rat should have frightened the poor young man almost to
+death, at the very commencement of his stage-career, by holding on to
+his cloak."
+
+When the friends had done laughing, Vincenz said: "Suppose we now bid
+adieu to the subject of French conversation, with all its _bon mots_,
+_calembours_, and other ingredients, and come to the conclusion that it
+really is an immense pleasure when, amongst intellectual Germans, a
+conversation, inspired by their humour, rushes up skyward like a
+coruscating firework, in a thousand hissing light-balls, crackling
+serpents, and lightning-like rockets."
+
+"But it must be remembered," said Theodore, "that this pleasure is
+possible only when the friends in question, besides being intellectual
+and endowed with humour, possess the talent not only of talking, but of
+listening, the principal ingredient of real conversation."
+
+"Of course," said Lothair; "those people who constitute themselves
+'spokesmen' destroy all conversation--and so, in a lesser degree,
+do the 'witty' folk, who go from one company to another with
+anecdotes, crammed full of all sorts of shallow sayings; a kind of
+self-constituted 'Society clowns.' I knew a man who, being clever and
+witty, and at the same time a terribly talkative fellow, was invited
+everywhere to amuse the company; so that, the moment he came into a
+room, everybody looked in his face, waiting till he came out with
+something witty. The wretch was compelled to put himself to the
+torture, in order to fulfil the expectations entertained of him as
+well as he could, so that he could not avoid soon becoming flat and
+commonplace; and then he was thrown aside by every one, like a used-up
+utensil. He now creeps about, spiritless and sad, and seems to be like
+that dandy in Abener's 'Dream of Departed Souls,' who, brilliant as he
+was in this life, is sorrowful and valueless in the other, because, on
+his sudden and unexpected departure, he left behind him his snuff-box
+of Spanish snuff, which was an integral part of him."
+
+"Then, too," said Ottmar, "there are certain extraordinary people
+who, when entertaining company, keep up an unceasing stream of
+talk; not from conceit in themselves, but from a strange, mistaken
+well-meaningness, for fear that people shouldn't be enjoying
+themselves; and keep asking if people are not 'finding it dull,' and so
+forth, thereby nipping every description of enjoyment in the bud in a
+moment."'
+
+"That is the very surest way to weary people," said Theodore, "and I
+once saw it employed with the most brilliant success by my old
+humourist of an uncle, who, I think, from what I have told you of him,
+you know pretty intimately by this time. An old schoolfellow of his had
+turned up--a man who was utterly tedious and unendurably wearisome in
+all his works and ways--and he came to my uncle's house every forenoon,
+disturbed him at his work, worried him to death, and then sat down to
+dinner without being invited. My uncle was grumpy, snappish, silent,
+giving his visitor most unmistakably to understand that his calls were
+anything but a pleasure to him; but it was all of no use. Once, when
+the old gentleman was complaining to me (in strong enough language, as
+his manner was) on the subject of this schoolfellow, I said I thought
+he should simply show him the door and have done with it. 'That
+wouldn't do, boy,' said my uncle, puckering his face into a rather
+pleased smile. 'You see, he is an old schoolfellow of mine, after all;
+but there is another way of getting rid of him which I shall try; and
+that will do it.' I was not a little surprised when, the next morning,
+my uncle received the schoolfellow with open arms and talked to him
+unceasingly, saying how delighted he was to see him, and go back
+over the old days with him. All the old school-day stories which
+the schoolfellow was incessantly in the habit of repeating, and
+re-repeating, till they became intolerable to listen to, now poured
+from my uncle's lips in a resistless cataract, no that the visitor
+could not escape them. And all the while my uncle kept asking him,
+'What is the matter with you to-day? You don't seem happy. You are so
+monosyllabic. Do be jolly! Let us have a regular feast of old stories
+to-day.' But the moment the schoolfellow opened his lips to speak my
+uncle would cut him short with some interminable tale. At last the
+affair became so unendurable to him that he wanted to cut and run. But
+my uncle so pressed him to stay to lunch and dinner, that, unable to
+resist the temptation of the good dishes, and better wine, he did stay.
+But scarce had he swallowed a mouthful of soup when my uncle, in
+extreme indignation, cried, 'What in the devil's name is this infernal
+mess? Don't touch any more of it, brother, I beg you; there's something
+better to come. Take those plates away, John!' Like a flash of
+lightning the plate was swept away from under the school-friend's nose.
+It was the same thing with all the dishes and courses, though they were
+of a nature sufficiently to excite the appetite, till the 'something
+better to come' resolved itself into Cheshire cheese, which of all
+cheeses the school-friend hated the most, although he disliked all
+cheese. From an apparently ardent endeavour to set before him an
+unusually good dinner he had not been suffered to swallow two
+mouthfuls; and it was much the same with the wine. Scarce had he put a
+glass to his lips when my uncle cried, 'Old fellow, you're making a wry
+face. Quite right, that isn't wine, it's vinegar. John, a better tap!'
+And one kind after another came, French wines, Rhine wines, and still
+the cry was, 'You don't care about that wine,' &c., till, when the
+Cheshire cheese put the finishing stroke on things, the school-friend
+jumped up from his chair in a fury. 'Dear old friend!' said my uncle
+in the kindliest of tones, 'you are not at all like your usual self.
+Come, as we are together here, let us crack a bottle of the real old
+"care-killer."' The school-friend plumped into his chair again. The
+hundred years' old Rhine wine pearled glorious and clear in the two
+glasses which my uncle filled to the brim. 'The devil,' he cried, holding
+his glass to the light, 'this wine has got muddy, on my hands. Don't
+you see? No, no; I can't set that before anybody,' and he swallowed
+the contents of both glasses himself, with evident delight. The
+school-friend popped up again, and plumped into his chair once more on
+my uncle's crying, 'John, Tokay!' The Tokay was brought, my uncle poured
+it out, and handed the schoolfellow a glass, saying, 'There, my boy,
+you shall be satisfied at last, in good earnest. That is nectar!' But
+scarce had the school-friend set the glass to his lips when my uncle
+cried, 'Thunder! there's been a cockroach at this bottle.' At this the
+school-friend, in utter fury, dashed the glass into a thousand pieces
+against the wall, ran out of the house like one possessed, and never
+showed his face across the threshold again."
+
+"With all respect for your uncle's grim humour," said Sylvester, "I
+think there was rather a systematic perseverance in the course of
+mystification involved in such a process of getting rid of a
+troublesome person. I should have much preferred to show him the door
+and have done with it; though I admit that it was quite according to
+your uncle's peculiar vein of humour to prearrange a theatrical scene
+of this sort in place of the perhaps troublesome and unpleasant
+consequences which might have arisen if he had kicked him out. I can
+vividly picture to myself the old parasite as he suffered the torments
+of Tantalus, as your uncle kept continually awakening fresh hopes in
+his mind and instantly dashing them to the ground; and how, at last,
+utter desperation took possession of him."
+
+"You can introduce the scene into your next comedy," said Theodore.
+
+"It reminds me," said Vincenz, "of that delightful meal in
+Katzenberger's _Badereise_, and of the poor exciseman who has almost to
+choke himself with the bites of food which are slid to him over the
+'Trumpeter's muscle,' the Buccinator, although that scene would not be
+of much service to Sylvester for a new piece."
+
+"The great Kazenberger," said Theodore, "whom women do not like on
+account of the robustness of his cynicism, I formerly knew very well.
+He was intimate with my uncle, and I could, at some future time, tell
+you many delightful things concerning him."
+
+Cyprian had been sitting in profound thought, and seemed to have been
+scarcely attending to what the others had been saying. Theodore tried
+to arouse his attention and direct it to the hot punch which he had
+brewed as the best corrective of the evil influence of the weather.
+
+"Beyond a doubt," said Cyprian, "this is the germ of insanity, if it is
+not actually insanity itself."
+
+The friends looked questionably at each other.
+
+"Ha!" cried Cyprian, getting up from his chair and looking round him
+with a smile, "I find I have spoken out, aloud, the conclusion of the
+mental process which has been going on within me in silence. After I
+have emptied this glass of punch and duly lauded Theodore's art of
+preparing that liquid after its mystic proportions, and due relations
+of the hot, strong and sweet, I will simply point out that there is a
+certain amount of insanity, a certain dose of crackiness, so deeply
+rooted in human nature, that there is no better mode of getting at the
+knowledge of it than by carefully studying it in those madmen and
+eccentrics whom we by no means have to go to madhouses to come across,
+but whom we may meet with every hour of the day in our daily course;
+and, in fact, best of all in the study of our own selves, in each of
+whom these is present a sufficient quantum of that 'precipitate
+resulting from the chemical process of life.'"
+
+"What has brought you back to the subject of insanity and the insane?"
+asked Lothair, in a tone of vexation.
+
+"Do not lose your temper, dear Lothair," said Cyprian, "we were talking
+on the subject of society conversation; and then I thought of two
+mutually antagonistic classes of characters which are often fatal to
+social talking. There are people who find it impossible to get away
+from ideas which have come to occupy their minds; who go on repeating
+the same things over and over again, for hours, no matter what turn the
+conversation may have taken. All efforts to carry them along with the
+stream of the conversation are vain; when one at last flatters oneself
+that one has got them into the current of the talk, lo and behold, they
+return _a leurs moutons_ again, just as before, and consequently dam up
+the beautiful, rushing stream of conversation. In contradistinction to
+them are those who forget one second what they said in the immediately
+preceding one; who ask a question, and, without waiting for an answer,
+introduce something completely irrelevant and heterogeneous; to whom
+everything suggests everything else, and consequently nothing which has
+any connection with the subject of the talk--who, in a few words, throw
+together a many-tinted lumber of ideas in which nothing that can be
+called distinct is discoverable. Those latter destroy everything like
+agreeable conversation and drive us to a state of despair, and the
+former produce intolerable tedium and annoyance. But, don't you think
+there lies in those people the germ of real insanity in the one
+case, and in the other of _folie_, whose character is very much,
+if not exactly, what the psychological doctors term 'looseness' or
+'incoherence' of ideas?"
+
+"There is no doubt," said Theodore, "that I should like to say a great
+deal concerning the art of _relating_ in society, for there is much
+which is mysterious about it, depending, as it does, on place, time,
+and individual relationships, and difficult to be ranged under special
+heads. But it seems to me that this matter might carry us too far, and
+be opposed to the real tendency of the Serapion Club."
+
+"Most certainly," said Lothair. "We want to tranquillise ourselves with
+the thought that we--neither madmen nor fools--are, on the contrary,
+the most delightful companions to each other; who not only can talk,
+but can listen; more than that, each of us can listen quite patiently
+when another reads aloud, and that is saying a good deal. Friend Ottmar
+told me a day or two ago that he had written a story in which the
+celebrated poet-painter Salvator Rosa played a leading part. I hope he
+will read it to us now."
+
+"I am a little afraid," said Ottmar, as he took the manuscript from his
+pocket, "that you won't think my story Serapiontic. I had it in mind to
+imitate that ease and genial liberty of breadth which predominates in
+the 'Novelli' of the old Italians, particularly of Boccaccio; and over
+this endeavour I acknowledge that I have grown prolix. Also you will
+say, with justice, that it is only here and there that I have hit upon
+the true 'Novella' tone--perhaps only in the headings of the chapters.
+After this noble and candid confession I am sure you will not deal too
+hardly with me, but think chiefly of anything which you may find
+entertaining and lively."
+
+"What prefaces!" cried Lothair. "An unnecessary _Capitatio
+Benevolentiae_; read us your Novella, my good friend Ottmar, and
+if you succeed in vividly portraying to us your Salvator Rosa
+in verisimilitude before our eyes, we will recognise you as a
+true Serapion brother, and leave everything else to the grumbling,
+fault-finding critics. Shall it not be so, my eminent Serapion
+Brethren?"
+
+The friends acquiesced, and Ottmar began.
+
+
+
+                             SIGNOR FORMICA.
+                              _A NOVELLA._
+
+The renowned painter, Salvator Rosa, comes to Rome, and is attacked by
+      a dangerous malady.--What happened to him during this malady.
+
+People of renown generally have much evil spoken of them, whether
+truthfully or otherwise, and this was the case with the doughty painter
+Salvator Rosa, whose vivid, living pictures you, dear reader, have
+certainly never looked upon without a most special and heartfelt
+enjoyment.
+
+When his fame had pervaded and resounded through Rome, Naples, Tuscany,
+nay, all Italy; when other painters, if they would please, were obliged
+to imitate his peculiar style--just then, malignant men, envious of
+him, invented all sorts of wicked reports concerning him, with
+the view of casting foul spots of shadow upon the shining auriole
+of his artistic fame. Salvator, they said, had, at an earlier
+time of his life, belonged to a band of robbers, and it was to his
+experiences at that time that he was indebted for all the wild, gloomy,
+strangely-attired figures which he introduced into his pictures, just
+as he copied into his landscape those darksome deserts, compounded of
+lonesomeness, mystery, and terror--the _Selve Selvagge_ of Dante--where
+he had been driven to lurk. The worst accusation brought against him
+was that he had been involved in that terrible, bloody conspiracy which
+"Mas' Aniello" of evil fame had set afoot in Naples. People told all
+about that, with the minutest details.
+
+Aniello Falcone, the battle-painter (as he was called), blazed up in
+fury and bloodthirsty revenge when the Spanish soldiers killed one of
+his relations in a skirmish. On the spot he collected together a crowd
+of desperate and foolhardy young men, principally painters, provided
+them with arms, and styled them "the death-company"; and, in verity,
+this band spread abroad a full measure of the terror and alarm which
+its name indicated. Those young men pervaded Naples, in troop form, all
+day long, killing every Spaniard they came across. More than this, they
+stormed their way into all the sacred places of sanctuary, and there,
+without compunction, murdered their wretched enemies who had taken
+refuge there, driven by fear of death. At night they betook themselves
+to their chief, the mad, bloodthirsty Mas' Aniello, and they painted
+pictures of him by torchlight, so that in a short time hundreds of
+those pictures of him were spread about Naples and the surrounding
+neighbourhood.
+
+Now it was said that Salvator Rosa had been a member of this band,
+robbing and murdering all day, but painting with equal assiduity all
+night. What a celebrated art-critic--Taillasson, I think--said of our
+master is true: "His works bear the impress of a wild haughtiness and
+arrogance, of a bizarre energy, of the ideas and of their execution.
+Nature displays herself to him not in the lovely peacefulness of green
+meadows, flowery fields, perfumed groves, murmuring streams, but in the
+awfulness of mighty up-towering cliffs, or sea-coasts, and wild,
+inhospitable forests; the voice to which he listens is not the
+whispering of the evening breeze, or the rustling of the leaves, but
+the roar of the hurricane, the thunder of the cataract. When we look at
+his deserts and the people of strange, wild appearance, who, sometimes
+singly, sometimes in troops, prowl about them, the weirdest fancies
+come to us of their own accord. Here there happened a terrible murder,
+there the bleeding corpse was thrown hurriedly over the cliff, &c.,
+&c."
+
+Now this may all be the case, and although Taillasson may not be far
+wrong when he says that Salvator's "Plato," and even his "St. John in
+the Wilderness announcing the Birth of the Saviour," look just the
+least little bit like brigands, still it is unfair to base any
+conclusions drawn from the works upon the painter himself, and to
+suppose that, though he represents the wild and the terrible in such
+perfection, he must have been a wild and terrible person himself. He
+who talks most of the sword often wields it the worst; he who so feels
+in his heart the terror of bloody deeds that he is able to call them
+into existence with palette, pencil or pen, may be the least capable of
+practising them. Enough! of all the wicked calumnies which would
+represent the doughty Salvator to have been a remorseless robber and
+murderer, I do not believe a single word, and I hope you, dear reader,
+maybe of the same opinion, or I should have to cherish a certain amount
+of doubt whether you would quite believe what I am going to tell you
+about him.
+
+For--as I hope--my Salvator will appear to you as a man burning and
+coruscating with life and fire, but also endowed with the most charming
+and delightful nature, and often capable of controlling that bitter
+irony which--in him, as in all men of depth of character--takes form of
+itself from observation of life. Moreover, it is known that Salvator
+was as good a poet and musician as a painter, his inward genius
+displaying itself in rays thrown in various directions. I repeat that I
+have no belief in his having had anything to do with the crimes of Mas'
+Aniello; I rather hold to the opinion that he was driven from Naples to
+Rome by the terror of the time, and arrived there as a fugitive at the
+very time of Mas' Aniello's fall.
+
+There was nothing very remarkable about his dress, and, with a little
+purse containing a few zecchini in his pocket, he slipped in at the
+gate just as night was falling. Without exactly knowing how, he came to
+the Piazza Navoni, where, in happier days, he had formerly lived in a
+fine house close to the Palazzo Pamphili. Looking up at the great
+shining windows, glittering and sparkling in the moonbeams, he cried,
+with some humour, "Ha! it will cost many a canvass ere I can establish
+my studio there again." Just as he said so he suddenly felt as if
+paralysed in all his limbs, and, at the same time, feeble and powerless
+in a manner which he had never before experienced in all his life. As
+he sank down on the stone steps of the portico of the house he murmured
+between his teeth, "Shall I ever want canvasses? It seems to me that
+_I_ have done with them."
+
+A cold, cutting night-wind was blowing through the streets; Salvator
+felt he must try and get a shelter. He rose with difficulty, tottered
+painfully forward, reached the Corso, and turned into Strada
+Vergognona. There he stopped before a small house, only two windows
+wide, where lived a widow with two daughters. They had taken him as a
+lodger for a small sum when first he came to Rome, known and cared for
+by nobody, and he hoped he would find a lodging with them now suited to
+his reduced circumstances.
+
+He knocked familiarly at the door, and called his name in at it time
+after time. At last he heard the old woman rousing herself with
+difficulty from sleep. She came, dragging along her slippers, to the
+window, scolding violently at the scoundrel who was disturbing her in
+the middle of the night--her house not being an inn, &c. Then it took a
+deal of up and down talking ere she recognised her former lodger by his
+voice; and on Salvator's complaining that he had been obliged to flee
+from Naples and could find no roof to cover him in Rome, she cried out,
+"Ah! Christ and all the saints! Is it you, Signor Salvator? Your room
+upstairs, looking upon the courtyard, is empty still, and the old
+fig-tree has stretched its leaves and branches right into the window,
+so that you can sit and work as if you were in a beautiful cool arbour.
+Ah! how delighted my girls will be that you are here again, Signor
+Salvator. But I must tell you Margerita has grown a big girl, and a
+very _pretty_ girl--it won't do to take her on your knee now! Your cat,
+only fancy, died three months ago--a fish bone stuck in its throat.
+Aye, aye, poor thing! the grave is the common lot. And what do you
+think? Our fat neighbour woman--she whom you so often laughed at and
+drew the funny caricatures of--she has gone and got married to that
+young lad, Signor Luigi. Well, well! _Nozze e magistrati sono da dio
+destinati!_ Marriages are made in heaven, they say."
+
+"But, Signora Caterina," interrupted Salvator, "I implore you by all
+the saints let me in to begin with, and then tell all about your
+fig-tree, your daughters, the kitten, and the fat woman. I am dying of
+cold and weariness."
+
+"Now, just see how impatient he is!" cried the old woman. "_Chi va
+piano va sano; chi va presto muore lesto._ The more haste the less
+speed, is what I always say. But you're tired, you're shivering; so
+quick with the key, quick with the key."
+
+Before getting hold of the key, however, she had to awaken her
+daughters, and then slowly, slowly strike a light. Ultimately she
+opened the door to the exhausted Salvator; but as soon as he crossed
+the threshold he fell down like a dead man, overcome by exhaustion and
+illness. Fortunately the widow's son, who lived at Tivoli, happened to
+have just come home, and he was at once turned out of his bed, which he
+willingly gave up to this sick family friend.
+
+The old lady had a great fondness for Salvator, rated him, as regarded
+his art, above all the painters in the world, and had the utmost
+delight in everything he did. Therefore she was much distressed at his
+deplorable condition, and wanted to run off at once to the neighbouring
+monastery and bring her own Father Confessor, that he might do battle
+with the powers of evil at once, with consecrated tapers, or some
+powerful amulet or other. But the son thought it would be better almost
+to send for a good doctor, and he set off on the instant to the Piazza
+di Spagna, where he knew the celebrated doctor, Splendiano Accoramboni,
+lived. As soon as he heard that the great painter Salvator Rosa was
+lying sick in Strada Vergognona, he prepared to pay him a professional
+visit. Salvator was lying unconscious in the most violent fever. The
+old woman had hung up one or two images of saints over his bed, and was
+praying fervently. The daughters, bathed in tears, were trying to
+get him now and then to swallow a few drops of the cooling lemonade
+which they had made, whilst the son, who had taken his station at the
+bed-head, wiped the cold perspiration from his brow. In these
+circumstances the morning had come, when the door opened with much
+noise, and the celebrated doctor, Signor Splendiano Accoramboni,
+entered.
+
+If it had not been for the great heart-sorrow over Salvator's mortal
+sickness, the two girls, petulant and merry as they were, would have
+laughed loud and long at the doctor's marvellous appearance. As it was,
+they drew away into corners, frightened and shy. It is worth while to
+describe the aspect of this extraordinary little fellow as he came into
+Dame Caterina's in the grey of the morning. Although he had,
+apparently, given early promise of reaching a most distinguished
+stature, Doctor Splendiano Accoramboni had not managed to get beyond
+the altitude of four feet. At the same time he had, in his early years,
+been of most delicate formation as regarded his members--and, before
+the head (which had always been somewhat shapeless) had acquired too
+much increment of matter in the shape of his fat cheeks and his
+stately double chin--ere the nose had assumed too much of a lateral
+development, in consequence of being stuffed with Spanish snuff--ere
+the stomach had assumed too great a rotundity by dint of maccaroni
+fodder--the dress of an Abbate, which he had worn in those early days,
+became him very well. He had a right to be styled a nice little fellow,
+and the Roman ladies accordingly did speak of him as their _caro
+puppazetto_.
+
+But now those days were over, and a German painter, who saw him
+crossing the Piazza di Spagna, said of him, not without reason, that he
+looked as if some stalwart fellow of six feet high had run away from
+his own head and it had fallen on to the shoulders of a little
+marionette Pulcinello, who had now to go about with it as his own. This
+strange little figure had thrust itself into a great mass of Venetian
+damask, all over great flowers, made into a dressing-gown, and girt
+itself about, right under the breast, with a broad leather girdle, in
+which was stuck a rapier three ells long; and above his snow-white
+periwig there clung a high-peaked head-dress, not much unlike the
+obelisk in the Piazza San Pietro. As the periwig went meandering like a
+tangled web, thick and broad, over his back and shoulders, it might
+well have been taken for the cocoon out of which the beautiful insect
+had issued.
+
+The worthy Splendiano Accoramboni glared through his spectacles, first
+at the sick Salvator, and then on Dame Caterina, whom he drew to one
+side. "There," he said, in a scarce audible whisper, "lies the great
+painter Salvator Rosa sick unto death in your house, Dame Caterina, and
+nothing but my skill can save him! Tell me, though, how long it is
+since he came to you? Has he plenty of grand, beautiful pictures with
+him?"
+
+"Ah! dear Signor Dottore," answered the old woman, "this dear boy of
+mine only came to-night, and, as concerns the pictures, I know nothing
+about them as yet. But there's a large box downstairs, which he told
+me, before he got to be unconscious as he is now, to take the greatest
+care of. I should suppose there is a grand picture in it which he has
+painted in Naples."
+
+Now this was a fib which Dame Caterina told; but we shall soon see what
+good reason she had for telling it to the doctor.
+
+"Ah, ah! Yes, yes!" said the doctor, stroking his beard. Then he
+solemnly strode up as close to the patient as his long rapier, which
+banged against and entangled itself with the chairs and tables,
+admitted of his doing, took his hand and felt his pulse, sighing and
+groaning as he did so in a manner which sounded wonderful enough in the
+deep silence of reverential awe which prevailed. He then named a
+hundred and twenty diseases, in Latin and Greek, which Salvator
+had not, then about the same number which he might possibly have
+contracted, and ended by saying that although he could not just at that
+moment exactly name the malady which Salvator was suffering from, he
+would hit upon a name for it in a short time, and also the proper
+remedies and treatment for its cure. He then took his departure with
+the same amount of solemnity with which he had entered, leaving all
+hands in the due condition of anxiety and alarm. He asked to see
+Salvator's box downstairs, and Dame Caterina showed him a box, in which
+were some old clothes of her deceased husband's, and some old boots and
+shoes. He tapped the box with his hand here and there, saying, with a
+smile, "We shall see! We shall see!" In an hour or two he came back
+with a very grand name for what was the matter with Salvator, and
+several large bottles of a potion with an evil smell, which he directed
+that the patient should keep on swallowing. That was not such an easy
+matter, for the patient resisted with might and main, and expressed, as
+well as he could, his utter abhorrence of this stuff, which seemed to
+be a brew from the very pit of Acheron. But whether it was that the
+malady, now that it had got a name, exerted itself more powerfully, or
+that Splendiano and medicine were working too energetically--enough,
+with every day and nearly every hour, one might say, Salvator grew
+weaker and weaker, so that, although Doctor Splendiano Accoramboni
+asseverated that, the processes of life having come to a complete
+standstill, he had given the machine an impetus towards renewed
+activity (as if it had been the pendulum of a clock), all the
+by-standers doubted of Salvator's recovery, and were disposed to think
+that the Signor Dottore might, perhaps, have given the pendulum such a
+rough impulse that it was put out of gear.
+
+But one day it happened that Salvator, who seemed scarcely able to move
+a muscle, suddenly got into a paroxysm of tremendous fever, and,
+regaining strength in an instant, jumped out of bed, seized all the
+bottles of medicine, and in a fury sent the whole collection flying out
+of the window. Doctor Splendiano Accoramboni was just in the act to
+come into the house to pay a visit, and, as Fate would have it, two or
+three of the phials hit him on the head, and breaking, sent the brown
+liquid within them flowing in dark streams over his face, his periwig,
+and his neckerchief. The doctor sprang nimbly into the house, and
+cried, like a man possessed, "Signor Salvator is off his head! Delirium
+has evidently set in--nothing can save him. He'll be a dead man in ten
+minutes. Here with the picture, Dame Caterina; it belongs to me--all I
+shall get for my services! Here with the picture, I tell you."
+
+But when Dame Caterina opened the box, and Doctor Splendiano
+Accoramboni saw the old cloaks and the burst and tattered boots and
+shoes which it contained, his eyes rolled in his head like fire wheels,
+he gnashed his teeth, stamped with his feet, devoted Salvator, the
+widow, and all the inmates of the house, to the demons of hell, and
+bolted out of the door as if discharged from a cannon.
+
+When the paroxysm of excitement was over, Salvator again fell into a
+deathlike condition, and Dame Caterina thought his last hour was
+certainly come. So she ran as quickly as she could to the convent, and
+brought Father Bonifazio to administer the sacraments to the dying man.
+When Father Bonifazio came, he looked at the patient, said he very well
+knew the peculiar signs which death imprints upon the face of one whom
+he is going to carry off; but there was nothing of the sort to be seen
+on the face of the unconscious Salvator in his faint, and that help was
+still possible, and he himself would procure or bestow; only Doctor
+Splendiano Accoramboni, with his Greek names and diabolical phials,
+must never cross the doorstep again. The good father set to work, and
+we shall find that he kept his word.
+
+Salvator came to his senses, and it seemed to him that he was lying in
+a delightful, sweet-smelling arbour, for green branches and leaves were
+stretching over him. He felt a delightful salutary warmth of life
+permeating him, only, apparently, his left arm was fettered.
+
+"Where am I?" he cried, in a faint voice. Then a young man of handsome
+appearance, whom he had not observed before, though he was standing by
+his bed, fell down on his knees, seized Salvator's right hand, bathing
+it in tears, and cried over and over again, "Oh, my beloved Signor, my
+grand master! all is well now! You are saved; you will recover!"
+
+"Well," began Salvator, "but tell me----"
+
+The young man interrupted him, begging him not to talk in his weak
+condition, and promising to tell him all that had been happening. "You
+must know, my dear and great master, that you must have been
+exceedingly ill when you arrived in Naples here; but your condition was
+not probably very dangerous, and moderate measures, considering the
+strength of your constitution, would doubtless have set you on your
+legs again in a short time, if it had not happened, through Carlo's
+well-meant mischance--as he ran for the nearest doctor at once--that
+you fell into the clutches of the abominable Pyramid Doctor, who did
+his very best to put you under the sod."
+
+"The Pyramid Doctor?" said Salvator, laughing most heartily, weak as he
+was. "Yes, yes; ill as I was, I saw him well enough, the little damasky
+creature, who condemned me to swallow all that diabolical stuff--hell
+broth as it was--and had the obelisk of the Piazza San Pietro on the
+top of his head, which is the reason you call him the Pyramid Doctor."
+
+"Oh, heavens!" cried the young man, laughing loudly too. "Yes, it was
+Doctor Splendiano Accoramboni who appeared to you in that mysterious
+high-pointed nightcap of his, in which he gleams out of his window in
+the Piazza di Spagna every morning like some meteor of evil omen. But
+it is not on account of the cap that he is called the Pyramid Doctor;
+there is a very different reason for that. Doctor Splendiano is very
+fond of pictures, and has a very fine collection, which he has got
+together through a peculiar piece of technical practice. He keeps a
+close and watchful eye upon painters and their illnesses, and
+particularly he manages to throw his nets over stranger masters.
+Suppose they have swallowed a little too much macaroni, or taken a cup
+or two more syracuse than is good for them, he succeeds in throwing his
+noose over them, and labels them with this or that disease, which he
+christens by some monstrous name, and then sets to work to cure. As fee
+he makes them promise him a picture, which, as it is only the strongest
+constitutions which can resist the powerful drugs he administers, he
+generally selects from the effects of the deceased, deposited at the
+Pyramid of Cestius. He takes the best of them, and others into the
+bargain. The refuse heap at the Pyramid of Cestius is the seedfield of
+Doctor Splendiano Accoramboni, and he cultivates, dresses, and manures
+it most assiduously. And that is why he is called the Pyramid Doctor.
+Now Dame Caterina, with the best intentions, had given the doctor to
+understand that you had brought a fine picture with you, and you can
+imagine the ardour with which he set to work to brew potions for you.
+It was lucky for you that in your paroxysm of fever you threw the stuff
+at his head, that he left you in a fury, that Dame Caterina sent for
+Father Bonifazio to administer the sacraments, believing you at death's
+door. Father Bonifazio knows a great deal about doctoring; he formed a
+correct opinion as to your condition, sent for me, and----"
+
+"Then you are a doctor too," said Salvator, in a faint, melancholy
+tone.
+
+"No," answered the young gentleman, while a bright colour came to his
+cheek, "my dear, renowned master, I am not a doctor like Signor
+Splendiano Accoramboni; I am a surgeon. I thought I should have sunk
+into the ground with terror--with joy--when Father Bonifazio told me
+Salvator Rosa was lying sick to death in Strada Vergognona and
+requiring my assistance. I hastened here, opened a vein in your left
+arm, and you were saved. We brought you here to this cool, airy room,
+where you used to live before. Look around you; there is the easel
+which you left behind you; there are one or two sketches still,
+preserved, like holy relics, by Dame Caterina. Your illness has had its
+back broken. Simple remedies, which Father Bonifazio will give you, and
+careful nursing will set you on your legs again. And now, permit me
+once more to kiss this creative hand, which calls forth, as by magic,
+the most hidden secrets of nature. Permit the poor Antonio Scacciati to
+allow all his heart to stream forth in delight and fervent gratitude
+that heaven vouchsafed to him the good fortune to save the life of the
+glorious and renowned master, Salvator Rosa."
+
+He again knelt, seized Salvator's hand, kissed it, and bedewed it with
+hot tears as before.
+
+"I cannot tell, dear Antonio," said Salvator, raising himself up a
+little, "what strange spirit inspires you to exhibit such a profound
+veneration for me. You say you are a surgeon, and that is a calling
+which does not usually pair itself readily with art."
+
+"When you have got some strength back, dear master," answered Antonio,
+"there are many matters lying heavy at my heart which I will tell you
+of."
+
+"Do so," said Salvator; "place full confidence in me--you may, for I do
+not know when a man's face went more truly to my very heart than does
+yours. The more I look at you the more clear it becomes to me that
+there is a great likeness in your face to that of the heavenly, godlike
+lad--I mean the Sanzio." Antonio's eyes glowed with flashing fire; he
+seemed to strive in vain to find words.
+
+Just then Dame Caterina came in with Father Bonifazio, bringing a
+draught which he had skilfully compounded, and which the sick man took,
+and relished better than the Acherontic liquids of the Pyramid Doctor,
+Splendiano Accoramboni.
+
+                         *   *   *   *   *   *
+
+Antonio Scacciati comes to high honour through the intervention of
+      Salvator Rosa.--He confides to Salvator the causes of his
+      continual sorrowfulness, and Salvator comforts him, and promises
+      him help.
+
+What Antonio promised came to pass. The simple, healing medicines of
+Father Bonifazio, the careful nursing of Dame Caterina and her
+daughters, the mild season of the year which just then came on, had
+such a speedy effect on Salvator's strong constitution, that he soon
+felt well enough to begin thinking of his art, and, as a beginning,
+made some magnificent sketches for pictures which he intended to paint
+at a future time.
+
+Antonio scarcely left Salvator's room. He was all eye when the master
+was sketching, and his opinions on many matters showed him to be
+initiated in the mysteries of art himself.
+
+"Antonio," said Salvator, one day, "you know so much about art that I
+believe you have not only looked on at a great deal with correct
+understanding, but have even wielded the pencil yourself!"
+
+"Remember, dear master," answered Antonio, "that when you were
+recovering from unconsciousness, I told you there were many things
+lying heavy on my heart. Perhaps it is time, now, for me to divulge my
+secrets to you fully. Although I am the surgeon who opened a vein for
+you, I belong to Art with all my heart and soul. I intend now to devote
+myself to it altogether, and throw the hateful handicraft entirely to
+the winds."
+
+"Ho, ho, Antonio!" said Salvator, "bethink you what you are going to
+do. You are a clever surgeon, and perhaps will never be more than a
+bungler at painting. Young as you are in years, you are too old to
+begin with the crayon. A man's whole life is scarcely enough in which
+to attain to one single perception of the True, still less to the power
+of representing it poetically."
+
+"Ah, my dear master," said Antonio, smiling gently, "how should I
+entertain the mad idea of beginning now to turn myself to the difficult
+art of painting, had I not worked at it as hard as I could ever since I
+was a child, had not heaven so willed it that, though I was kept away
+from art, and everything in the shape of it, by my father's obstinacy
+and folly, I made the acquaintance, and enjoyed the society, of masters
+of renown. Even the great Annibale interested himself in the neglected
+boy, and I have the happiness to be able to say I am a pupil of Guido
+Reni."
+
+"Well, good Antonio," said Salvator, a little sharply, as his manner
+sometimes was. "If that is so, you have had great teachers; so, no
+doubt, in spite of your surgical skill, you may be a great pupil of
+theirs too. Only what I do not understand is, how you, as a pupil of
+the gentle and tender Guido (whom, perhaps, as pupils in their
+enthusiasm sometimes do--you even outdo in tenderness, in your work),
+how you can hold me to be a master in my art at all."
+
+Antonio coloured at those words of Salvator's; in fact, they had about
+them a ring of jeering irony.
+
+Antonio answered: "Let me lay aside all bashfulness, which might close
+my lips. Let me speak freely out exactly what is in my mind. Salvator,
+I have never revered a master so wholly from out the very depths of my
+being as I do you. It is the often superhuman grandeur of the ideas
+which I admire in your works. You see, and comprehend, and grasp the
+profoundest secrets of Nature. You read, and understand, the marvellous
+hieroglyphs of her rocks, her trees, her waterfalls; you hear her
+mighty voices; you interpret her language, and can transcribe what she
+says to you. Yes, transcription is what I would call your bold and
+vivid style of working. Man, with his doings, contents you not; you
+look at him only as being in the lap of Nature, and in so far as his
+inmost being is conditioned by her phenomena. Therefore, Salvator, it
+is in marvellous combinations of landscape with figure that you are so
+wondrous great. Historical painting places limits which hem your
+flight, to your disadvantage."
+
+"You tell me this, Antonio," said Salvator, "as the envious historical
+painters do, who throw landscape to me by way of a _bonne-bouche_, that
+I may occupy myself in chewing it, and abstain from tearing their
+flesh. Do I not know the human figure, and everything appertaining to
+it? However, all those silly slanders, echoed from others----"
+
+"Do not be indignant, dear master," answered Antonio. "I do not repeat
+things blindly after other folks, and least of all should I pay any
+attention to the opinions of our masters here in Rome just now. Who
+could help admiring the daring drawing, the marvellous expression, and
+particularly the lively action, of your figures! One sees that you do
+not work from the stiff, awkward model, or from the dead lay figure,
+but that you are, yourself, your own living model, and that you draw
+and paint the figure which you place on the canvas in front of a great
+mirror."
+
+"Heyday, Antonio!" cried Salvator, laughing. "I believe you must have
+been peeping into my studio without my knowledge, to know so well what
+goes on there."
+
+"Might not that have been?" said Antonio. "But let me go on. The
+pictures which your mighty genius inspires I should by no means narrow
+into one class so strictly as the pedantic masters try to do. In fact,
+the term 'landscape,' as generally understood, applies badly to your
+paintings, which I should prefer to call 'historical representations.'
+In a deeper sense, it often seems that this or the other rock, that or
+the other tree, gazes on us with an earnest look: and that this and the
+other group of strangely-attired people is like some wonderful crag
+which has come to life. All Nature, moving in marvellous unity, speaks
+out the sublime thought which glowed within you. This is how I have
+looked at your pictures, and this is how I am indebted to you, my great
+and glorious master, for a profound understanding of art. But do not
+suppose that, on this account, I have fallen into a childishness of
+imitation. Greatly as I wish I possessed your freedom and daring of
+brush, I must confess that the colouring of Nature seems to me to be
+different from what I see represented in your pictures. I hold that,
+even for the sake of practice, it is helpful to a learner to imitate
+the style of this or that master: but still, when once he stands on his
+own feet, to a certain extent, he should strive to represent Nature as
+he sees it himself. This true seeing, this being at unity with oneself,
+is the only thing which can produce character and truth. Guido was of
+this opinion, and the unresting Preti, whom, as you know, they call the
+Calabrese, a painter who certainly reflected on his art more than any
+other, warned me in the same way against slavish imitation. And now you
+know, Salvator, why I reverence you more than all the others, without
+being in the slightest degree your imitator, in any way."
+
+Salvator had been gazing fixedly into the young man's eyes as he spoke,
+and he now clasped him stormily to his breast.
+
+"Antonio," he said, "you have spoken very wise words of deep
+significance. Young as you are in years, you surpass, in knowledge of
+art, many of our old, much belauded masters, who talk a great deal of
+nonsense about their art, and never get to the bottom of the matter.
+Truly, when you spoke of my pictures, it seemed that I was, for the
+first time, beginning to come to a clear understanding of myself, and I
+prize you very highly just because you do not imitate my style--that
+you don't, like so many others, take a pot of black paint, lay on
+staring high lights, make a few crippled-looking figures, in horrible
+costumes, peep out of the dirty-looking ground, and then think 'There's
+a Salvator.' You have found in me the truest of friends, and I devote
+myself to you with all my soul."
+
+Antonio was beyond himself with joy at the good will which the master
+thus charmingly displayed to him. Salvator expressed a strong desire to
+see Antonio's pictures, and Antonio took him at once to his studio.
+
+Salvator had formed no small expectations of this youth who spoke so
+understandingly about art, and in whom there seemed to be a peculiar
+genius at work; and yet the master was most agreeably astonished by
+Antonio's wealth of pictures. He found everywhere boldness of idea,
+correctness of drawing; and the fresh colouring, the great tastefulness
+of the breadth of the flow of folds, the unusual delicacy of the
+extremities, and the high beauty of the heads evidenced the worthy
+pupil of the great Reni; although Antonio's striving was not, like that
+of his master (who was overapt to do this), to sacrifice expression to
+beauty, often too visibly. One saw that Antonio aimed at Annibale's
+strength, without, as yet, being able to attain to it.
+
+In his first silence Salvator had examined each of Antonio's pictures
+for a long time. At length he said: "Listen, Antonio, there is not the
+slightest doubt about it, you are born for the noble painter's art. For
+not only has Nature given you the creative spirit, from which the most
+glorious ideas flame forth in inexhaustible wealth, but she has further
+endowed you with the rare talent, which, in a brief time, overcomes the
+difficulties of technical practice. I should be a lying flatterer if I
+said you had as yet equalled your teachers, that you had attained to
+Guido's marvellous delightsomeness, or Annibale's power; but it is
+certain that you far surpass our masters who give themselves such airs
+here in the Academy of San Luca, your Tiarini, Gessi, Sementa, and
+whatever they may call themselves, not excepting Lanfranco, who can
+only draw in chalk; and yet, Antonio, were I in your place I should
+consider long before I threw away the lancet altogether, and took up
+the brush. This sounds strange; but hear me further. Just at present an
+evil time for art has begun; or rather, the devil seems to be busy
+amongst our masters, stirring them up pretty freely. If you have not
+made up your mind to meet with mortifications and vexations of every
+kind, to suffer the more hatred and contempt the higher you soar in
+art, as your fame increases everywhere to meet with villains, who
+will press round you with friendly mien, to destroy you all the more
+surely--if, I say, you have not made up your mind for all this, keep
+aloof from painting! Think of the fate of your teacher, the great
+Annibale, whom a knavish crew of fellow-painters in Naples persecuted
+so that he could not get a single great work to undertake, but was
+everywhere shown the door with despite, which brought him to his
+untimely grave. Think what happened to our Domenichino, when he was
+painting the cupola of the chapel of St. Januarius. Didn't the villains
+of painters there (I shall not mention any of their names, not
+even that scoundrel Belisario's or Ribera's), did not they bribe
+Domenichino's servant to put ashes into the lime, so that the
+plastering would not bind? The painting could thus have no permanence.
+Think on all those things, and prove yourself well, whether your spirit
+is strong enough to withstand the like; for otherwise your power will
+be broken, and when the firm courage to make is gone, the power to do
+it is gone along with it."
+
+"Ah, Salvator," said Antonio, "it is scarcely possible that, had I once
+devoted myself entirely to painting, I should have to undergo more
+despite and contempt than I have had to suffer already, being still a
+surgeon. You have found pleasure in my pictures, and you have said,
+doubtless from inner conviction, that I have it in me to do better
+things than many of our San Luca men. And yet it is just they who turn
+up their noses at all that I have, with much industry, achieved, and
+say, contemptuously, 'Ho, ho, the surgeon thinks he can paint a
+picture!' But, for that very reason my decision is firmly come to, to
+get clear of a calling which is more and more hateful to me every day.
+It is on you, master, that I pin all my hopes. Your word is worth much.
+If you chose to speak for me you could at once dash my envious
+persecutors to the dust, and put me in the place which is mine by
+right."
+
+"You have great confidence in me," said Salvator; "but now that we have
+so thoroughly understood each other as to our art, and now that I have
+seen your works, I do not know any one for whom I should take up the
+cudgels, and that with all my might, so readily as I should for you."
+
+Salvator once more examined Antonio's pictures, and paused before one
+representing a Magdalone at the Saviour's feet, which he specially
+commended.
+
+"You have departed," he said, "from the style in which people generally
+represent this Magdalene. Your Magdalene is not an earnest woman, but
+rather an ingenuous, charming child, and such a wondrous one as nobody
+else (except Guido) could have painted. There is a peculiar charm about
+the beautiful creature. You have painted her with enthusiasm, and, if I
+am not deceived, the original of this Magdalene is in life, and here in
+Rome. Confess, Antonio, you are in love."
+
+Antonio cast his eyes down and said, softly and bashfully: "Nothing
+escapes those sharp eyes of yours, my dear master. It may be as you
+say, but don't blame me. I prize this picture most of all, and I have
+kept it concealed from every one's sight, like a holy mystery."
+
+"What!" cried Salvator, "have none of the painters seen this picture?"
+
+"That is so," said Antonio.
+
+"Then," said Salvator, his eyes shining with joy, "be assured, Antonio,
+that I will overthrow your envious, puffed-up enemies, and bring you to
+merited honour. Entrust your picture to me--send it secretly in the
+night to my lodgings, and leave the rest to me. Will you?"
+
+"A thousand times yes, with gladness," answered Antonio. "Ah! I should
+like to tell you, at once, the troubles connected with my love-affair,
+but somehow it seems to me that I do not dare, to-day, just when our
+hearts have opened to one another in art; but some day I shall probably
+ask you to advise and help me in that direction too."
+
+"Both my advice and my help shall be at your service wherever and
+whenever they may be necessary," Salvator answered. As he was leaving
+he turned round and said with a smile: "Antonio, when you told me you
+were a painter, I was sorry I had mentioned your likeness to the
+Sanzio. I thought you might be silly enough, as many of our young
+fellows are, if they chance to have a passing likeness in the face to
+this or that great master, they take to wearing their hair and beard as
+he does, and find it necessary to imitate his style in art as well,
+though it may be quite contrary to their character. We have neither of
+us named the name of Raphael; but, believe me, in your pictures I find
+distinct traces of the extent to which the whole heaven of godlike
+ideas in the works of the greatest master of our time has been revealed
+to you. You understand Raphael. You will not reply to me as did
+Velasquez, whom I asked, the other day, what he thought of the Sanzio.
+He said Titian was the greater master; Raphael knew nothing about flesh
+colour. In that Spaniard is the Flesh, not the Word; yet they laud him
+to the skies in San Luca, because he once painted cherries which the
+birds came and tried to peck."
+
+A few days after the above conversation, it happened that the
+Academists of San Luca assembled in their church to judge the pictures
+of the painters who had applied for admission to the Academy. Salvator
+had sent Scacciati's beautiful Magdalene picture. The painters were
+amazed by the charm and the power of the work, and the most unstinted
+praise resounded from every lip when Salvator explained that he had
+brought the picture with him from Naples--the work of a young painter,
+prematurely snatched away by death.
+
+In a very short time all Rome streamed to see and admire this work of
+the young, unknown, dead master. Every one was unanimously of opinion
+that no such picture had been painted since Guido Reni's time, and,
+indeed, people carried their enthusiasm so far as to declare that this
+work was even to be ranked above Guido Reni's creations of the same
+kind. Among the crowd of people who were always collected before
+Scacciati's picture, Salvator one day observed a man, who, besides
+being of very remarkable exterior, was conducting himself like a
+madman. He was advanced in years, tall, lean as a spindle, pale of
+face, with a long, pointed nose, and an equally long chin, which
+increased its pointedness by being tipped with a little beard, and
+green, flashing eyes. Upon his thick, extremely fair peruke he had
+stuck a tall hat with a fine feather. He had on a short, dark-red cloak
+with many shining buttons, a sky-blue Spanish-slashed doublet, great
+gauntlets trimmed with silver fringe, a long sword by his side, light
+grey hose drawn over his bony knees, and bound with yellow ribbons, and
+bows of the same ribbon on his shoes. This strange figure was standing,
+as if enraptured, before the picture. He would stand up on his tiptoes,
+then bob himself quite low down; then hop up, with both legs at once,
+sigh, groan, close his eyes so tightly that the tears streamed from
+them, and then open them as wide as they would go; gaze incessantly at
+the beautiful Magdalene, sigh afresh, and lisp out in his mournful,
+_castrato_ voice, "Ah, Carissima! Benedetissima! Ah, Marianna!
+Marianna! Belissima!" &c.
+
+Salvator, always greedy after figures of this sort, got as near to him
+as he could, and tried to enter into conversation with him about
+Scacciati's picture, which seemed to delight him so much; but, without
+taking much heed of Salvator, the old fellow cursed his poverty, which
+would not allow him to buy this picture for a million, and so prevent
+any one else from fixing his devilish glances upon it. And then he
+hopped up and down again, and thanked the Virgin and all the saints
+that the infernal painter who had painted this heavenly picture, which
+drove him to madness and despair, was dead and gone.
+
+Salvator came to the conclusion that the man must be either a maniac,
+or some Academician of San Luca whom he did not know.
+
+All Rome rang with the fame of Scacciati's wonderful picture. Scarce
+anything else was talked of, and this ought to have been enough to show
+its superiority. When the painters held their next meeting in San Luca
+to decide as to the reception of sundry applicants for admission,
+Salvator Rosa made a sudden inquiry whether the painter of the
+Magdalene at the Saviour's feet would not have been worthy to be
+admitted. All the members of the Academy, not excepting the excessively
+critical Cavaliere Josepin, declared, with one voice, that such a great
+master would have been an ornament to the Academy, and, in the most
+studied forms of speech, expressed their regret that he was dead
+(though in their hearts they thanked heaven that he was). Not only
+this, but in their enthusiasm for art, they decided to elect this
+marvellous young painter an Academician, notwithstanding that he had
+been withdrawn from art by a premature death; directing masses to be
+said for the repose of his soul in the church of San Luca. Wherefore
+they requested Salvator to acquaint them with the full names of the
+deceased, as well as the year and place of his birth, &c., &c.
+
+On this Salvator rose up and said: "Signori, the honours which you fain
+would pay to a man in his grave are due to, and had better be bestowed
+on, a living painter, who is walking to and fro in our midst. Know ye
+that the Magdalene at the Saviour's feet--the picture which you have
+such a high opinion of justly, and esteem so highly above anything
+which living painters have produced--is not the work of a Neapolitan
+painter no longer in life, as I pretended it was, that your verdict
+might be unbiassed. This picture, this masterpiece, which all Rome
+admires at this moment, is by the hand of Antonio Scacciati, the
+surgeon."
+
+The painters glared dumb and motionless at Salvator, like men struck by
+lightning. Salvator enjoyed their consternation for a short time, and
+then went on to say: "Well, gentlemen, you would not allow Antonio to
+come amongst you because he is a surgeon; but I think the Academy of
+San Luca is in very great need of a surgeon to mend and set the
+crippled arms and legs of the figures which come from the studios of
+many of its members. However, I presume you will not longer delay to do
+what you ought to have done long ago; that is, to admit this admirable
+painter, Antonio Scacciati, a member of your Academy."
+
+The Academicians swallowed Salvator's bitter pill; they said they were
+much overjoyed that Antonio had displayed his talent in such a striking
+and decided manner, and they elected him a member of the Academy with
+much ceremony. As soon as it was known in Rome that Antonio was the
+painter of the wonderful picture, there streamed in upon him from all
+sides congratulations, and commissions to undertake great and important
+works. Thus was this young painter--thanks to Salvator's method of
+setting to work--brought, in a moment, out of obscurity, and raised to
+high honour, at the very juncture when he had made up his mind to start
+upon his career as an artist.
+
+Floating and hovering, as he was, in an atmosphere of happiness and
+bliss, it all the more surprised Salvator one day when Antonio came to
+him, pale and upset, full of anger and despair. "Ah, Salvator," he
+cried, "what does it avail me that you have set me up on a pinnacle,
+where I could never have dreamt of being, that I am overwhelmed with
+praise and honour, that the prospect of the most delightful and
+glorious artistic career opens before me, when I am inexpressibly
+unhappy, when the very picture, to which, next to yourself, dear
+master, I am indebted for my victory, is the express cause of
+irremediable misfortune to me?"
+
+"Silence!" cried Salvator. "Do not commit a sin against your art and
+your picture. I don't believe a word as to your irremediable
+misfortune. You are in love, and perhaps things are not going in all
+respects exactly as you wish; but that is all, no doubt. Lovers are
+like children, they cry and yell the moment anybody touches their toy.
+Leave off lamenting, I beg of you; it is a thing which I cannot endure.
+Sit down there, and tell me quietly how matters stand as regards your
+beautiful Magdalene and your love-affair altogether, and where the
+stumbling-blocks are which we must get out of the way, for I promise
+you, to commence with, that I will help you. The more difficult and
+arduous and adventurous the things are that we have to set about, the
+better I shall be pleased, for the blood is running quick in my veins
+again, and the state of my health calls upon me to set to work and play
+a wild trick or two; so tell me all about it, Antonio, and, as
+aforesaid, none of your 'Ohs' and your 'Ahs.'"
+
+Antonio sat down in the chair which Salvator had placed for him near
+the easel where he was at work, and commenced as follows:--
+
+"In Strada Ripetta, in the lofty house whose projecting balcony you see
+as soon as you go through the Porta del Popolo, lives the greatest ass
+and most idiotic donkey in all Rome. An old bachelor, with all the
+faults of his class--vain, trying to be young, in love, and a coxcomb.
+He is tall, thin as a whip-stalk, dresses in party-coloured Spanish
+costume, with a blonde periwig, a steeple-crowned hat, gauntlets, and
+long sword at his side----"
+
+"Stop, stop! wait a moment, Antonio," cried Salvator, and, turning
+round the picture he was working at, he took a crayon, and, on the
+reverse side of it, drew, in a few bold touches, the curious old fellow
+who had been going on so absurdly in front of Antonio's picture.
+
+"By all the saints!" cried Antonio, jumping up from his chair, and
+laughing loud and clear in spite of his despair, "that is the very
+man--that is Signor Pasquale Capuzzi, of whom I am speaking, to the
+very life."
+
+"There, you see," said Salvator quietly, "I know the gentleman who is
+probably your bitter rival. But go on with your story."
+
+"Signor Pasquale Capuzzi," continued Antonio, "is as rich as Cr[oe]sus,
+but, as I think I was telling you, a terrible miser, as well as a
+perfect ass. His best quality is that he is devoted to the arts,
+particularly to music and painting. But there is so much idiotic
+absurdity mixed up with this, that, even in those directions, it is
+impossible to put up with him. He believes himself to be the greatest
+composer in the world, and a singer the like of whom is not to be found
+in the Papal Chapel. Therefore he looks askance at our old Frescobaldi,
+and when the Romans talk of the marvellous charm and spell which
+Ceccarelli's voice possesses, he thinks Ceccarelli knows as much about
+singing as an old slipper, and that he--Capuzzi--is the person to
+enchant the world. But as the Pope's principal singer bears the proud
+name of Edoardo Ceccarelli di Merania, our Capuzzi likes to be styled
+'Signor Pasquale Capuzzi di Senegaglia,' for his mother bore him in
+that place, and, in fact, people say, in a fishing-boat, from sudden
+terror at the rising of a sea-calf, and there is, consequently, a great
+deal of the sea-calf in his nature. In early life he put an opera on
+the stage, and it was hissed off it in the completest manner possible;
+but that did not cure him of his craze for writing diabolical music. On
+the other hand, when he heard Francesco Cavalli's opera, 'Le Nozze di
+Teti e di Peleo,' he said the Capellmeister had borrowed the most
+sublime ideas from his own immortal works; for saying which he had a
+narrow escape of cudgellings, or even of knife-thrusts. He is still
+possessed with the idea of singing arias, accompanying himself by
+torturing a wretched guitar, which has to groan and sigh in support of
+his mewing and caterwauling. His faithful Pylades is a broken-down,
+dwarfish Castrato, whom the Romans call Pitichinaccio; and guess who
+completes the trio. Well, none other than the Pyramid Doctor, who emits
+sounds like a melancholy jackass, and is under the impression that he
+sings a magnificent bass, as good as Martinelli's, of the Papal Chapel.
+Those three worthies meet together of evenings, and sit on the balcony,
+singing motetts of Carissimi's till all the dogs and cats in the
+neighbourhood yell and howl, and the human beings within earshot devote
+the hellish trio to all the thousand devils.
+
+"My father," Antonio continued, "was in the habit of going in and out
+of the house of this incomparable idiot, Signor Pasquale Capuzzi (whom
+you know sufficiently well from my description), because he used to
+dress his wig and his beard. When he died, I undertook those offices,
+and Capuzzi was greatly pleased with me, firstly, because he considered
+that I was able to give his moustaches a bold upward twist in a manner
+which nobody else could, and further, doubtless, because I was
+satisfied with the two or three quattrinos which he gave me for my
+trouble. But he thought he was over-paying me, inasmuch as, every
+time I dressed his beard he would croak out to me, with closed eyes,
+an aria of his own composing, which flayed the skin off my ears,
+although the remarkable antics of this creature afforded me much
+entertainment--which was the reason I continued to go back to him. I on
+one occasion walked gently up the stairs, knocked at the door, and
+opened it, when there met me a girl--an angel of light! You know my
+Magdalene!--it was she. I stood rooted to the spot. No, no, Salvator, I
+won't treat you to any 'Ohs' or 'Ahs.' I need but say that on the
+instant, when I saw the loveliest of all ladies, I fell into the
+deepest, fondest affection for her. The old fellow said, with simpers,
+that she was the daughter of his brother Pietro, who had died in
+Senegaglia, that her name was Marianna, and that, as she had no mother,
+and neither brothers nor sisters, he had taken her into his house. You
+may imagine that from that time forth Capuzzi's dwelling was my
+paradise. But, scheme as I might, I could never be alone with Marianna
+for a single instant; yet her eyes, as well as many a stolen sigh, and
+even many a pressure of the hand, left me in no doubt of my happiness.
+The old man found this out, and it was not a very difficult matter. He
+told me that he was by no means pleased with my behaviour to his niece,
+and asked me what I meant by it. I candidly confessed that I loved her
+with all my soul, and could imagine no more perfect bliss on earth than
+to make her my wife. On this, Capuzzi eyed me up and down, broke into
+sneering laughter, and said that he could not have imagined that ideas
+of the kind could have haunted the brain of a wretched hairdresser. My
+blood got up: I said he knew very well that I was by no means a mere
+wretched hairdresser, but a skilled surgeon, and, more than that, as
+concerned the glorious art of painting, a faithful scholar and pupil of
+the grand Annibale Caracci, and the unsurpassed Guido Reni. On this the
+despicable Capuzzi broke out into louder laughter, and squeaked out, in
+his abominable falsetto: 'Very good, my sweet Signor Beard-curler, my
+talented Signor Surgeon, my charming Annibale Caracci, my most beloved
+Guido Reni, _go to all the devils_, and don't show that nose of yours
+inside my door again, unless you want every bone in your body broken.'
+And the demented old totterer actually took hold of me with no less
+an idea in his head than that of chucking me out of the door and
+downstairs. But this was rather more than could be endured. I was
+furious, and I seized hold of the fellow, turned him topsy-turvy, with
+his toes pointing to the ceiling (screaming at the top of his lungs),
+and ran downstairs and out of the door, which was from thenceforth
+closed against me.
+
+"Matters were in this position when you came to Rome, and Heaven
+inspired the good Father Bonifazio to conduct me to you; and then, when
+that had happened, through your cleverness, which I had striven after
+in vain, when the Academy of San Luca had admitted me, and all Rome
+was praising and honouring me above my desert, I went straight away to
+the old man, and appeared suddenly before him in his room like a
+threatening spectre. That is what I must have seemed like to him, for
+he turned as pale as death, and drew back behind a table, trembling in
+every limb. In a grave, firm voice, I told him that I was not now the
+Beard-curler and Surgeon, but the celebrated Painter, and Member of the
+Academy of San Luca, Antonio Scacciati, to whom he could not refuse his
+niece's hand. You should have seen the fury into which the old man
+fell. He yelled, he beat about him with his arms, he cried out that I
+was a remorseless murderer, seeking to take his life, that I had stolen
+his Marianna away from him, as I had counterfeited her in the picture
+which drove him to madness and despair. That now all the world--all the
+world--was looking at his Marianna, his life, his hope, his everything,
+with longing, coveting eyes; but that I had better be careful, for he
+would burn the house down about my ears, and make an end of me and my
+picture together. And on this he began to vociferate, and scream out so
+loudly, 'Fire!--murder!--thieves!--help!' that I thought of nothing but
+getting out of the house as speedily as possible.
+
+"You see that this old lunatic Capuzzi is over head and ears in
+love with his niece. He keeps her shut up, and, if he can get a
+dispensation, he will force her to the most horrible marriage
+conceivable. All hope is at an end."
+
+"Why not, indeed?" said Salvator, laughing. "For my part, I think,
+rather, that your affairs could not possibly be in a better position.
+Marianna loves you--you know that well enough--and all that has to be
+done is to get her out of the clutches of this old lunatic. Now I
+really do not see what should prevent two adventurous, sturdy fellows,
+like you and me, from accomplishing this. Keep up your heart, Antonio!
+Instead of lamenting, and getting to be love-sick and powerless, the
+thing to do is to keep thinking on Marianna's rescue. Just watch,
+Antonio, how we will lead the old donkey by the nose. The very wildest
+undertakings are not wild enough for me, in circumstances like those.
+This very moment I shall set to work to see what more I can find out
+about the old fellow and all his ways of life. You must not let
+yourself be seen in this, Antonio. Go you quietly home, and come to me
+to-morrow as early as you can, that we may consider the plan for our
+first attack."
+
+With that Salvator washed his brushes, threw on his cloak, and hastened
+to the Corso; whilst Antonio, comforted, and with fresh hope in his
+heart, went home, as Salvator had enjoined him.
+
+                         *   *   *   *   *   *
+
+Signor Pasquale Capuzzi makes his appearance in Salvator Rosa's
+      abode.--What happened there.--Rosa and Scacciati's artful
+      stratagem, and its consequences.
+
+Antonio was not a little surprised, the next morning, when Salvator
+gave him the most minute account of Capuzzi's whole manner of life,
+which, in the interval, he had found out all about. Salvator said the
+miserable Marianna was tortured by the crack-brained old scoundrel in
+the most fiendish manner. That he sighed, and made love to her all day
+long; and, what was worse, by way of touching her heart, sang to her
+all sorts of amorous ditties and arias which he had composed, or
+attempted to compose. Moreover, he was so madly jealous that he would
+not allow this much-to-be-compassionated girl even the usual female
+attendance, for fear of love-intrigues to which the Abigail might
+possibly be corrupted. "Instead of that," Salvator went on, "there
+comes, every morning and evening, a little horrible, ghastly spectre of
+a creature, with hollow eyes, and pale, flabby, hanging cheeks, to do
+what a maid-servant ought to do for the beautiful Marianna. And this
+spectre is none other than that tiny hop-o-my-thumb Pitichinaccio,
+dressed in woman's clothes. When Capuzzi is away, he carefully locks
+and bars all the doors; and besides that, watch and ward is kept by
+that infernal fellow who was once a Bravo, afterwards a Sbirro, who
+lives downstairs in Capuzzi's house. Therefore it seems impossible to
+get inside the door. But I promise you, Antonio, that to-morrow night
+you shall be in the room with Capuzzi, and see your Marianna, though,
+this time, only in Capuzzi's presence."
+
+"What!" cried Antonio, "is that which appears to me an impossibility
+going to come to pass to-morrow night?"
+
+"Hush, Antonio!" said Salvator; "let us calmly reflect how the plan
+which I have hit upon is to be carried out. To begin with, I must tell
+you that I have a certain connection with Signor Capuzzi which I was
+not aware of. That wretched spinett standing in the corner there is his
+property, and I am supposed to be going to pay him the exorbitant price
+of ten ducats for it. When I had got somewhat better after my illness,
+I had a longing for music, which is consolation and recreation to me. I
+asked my landlady to get hold of an instrument of that sort for me.
+Dame Caterina soon found out that a certain old fellow in Strada
+Ripetta had an old spinett for sale. It was brought here, and I
+troubled myself neither about the price nor about the owner. It was
+only last night that I discovered that it was our honourable Signor
+Capuzzi who was going to swindle me with his old, broken-down
+instrument. Dame Caterina had applied to an acquaintance who lives in
+the house with Capuzzi, and, in fact, on the same storey; so that now
+you see where I got all my information from."
+
+"Ha!" cried Antonio; "thus is the means of admission discovered. Your
+landlady----"
+
+"I know what you are going to say," said Salvator. "You think the way
+to your Marianna is through Dame Caterina. That would never do at all.
+Dame Caterina is much too talkative; she can't keep the most trifling
+secret, and is therefore by no means to be made use of in our
+undertaking. Listen to me, quietly. Every evening, when the little
+Castrato has done the maid-servant work, Signor Pasquale Capuzzi
+carries him home in his arms, difficult as that job is, considering the
+shakiness of his own old knees. Not for all the world would the
+timorous Pitichinaccio set foot on the pavement at that time of the
+night. Very good; when----"
+
+At this moment a knock came to Salvator's door, and, to the no small
+astonishment of both, in came Signor Pasquale Capuzzi in all his glory.
+As soon as he saw Scacciati he stood still, as if paralysed in every
+limb, opened his eyes wide, and panted for air as if his breath would
+fail him. But Salvator hurried up to him, took him by both hands, and
+cried out: "My dear Signor Pasquale! how highly honoured I am that you
+should visit me in my humble lodging. Doubtless it is the love of art
+that brings you. You wish to look at what I have been doing lately;
+perhaps you are even going to honour me with a commission. Tell me,
+dear Signor Pasquale, wherein I can do you a pleasure."
+
+"I have to speak with you," stammered Capuzzi, with difficulty, "dear
+Signor Salvator; but, alone; when you are by yourself. Allow me to take
+my departure for the present, and come back at a more convenient time."
+
+"By no means, my dear Signor," said Salvator, holding the old man fast.
+"You must not go. You could not possibly have come at a more convenient
+time, for, as you are a great honourer of the noble art of painting, it
+will give you no small joy when I present to you here Antonio
+Scacciati, the greatest painter of our time, whose glorious picture,
+the marvellous 'Magdalene at the Saviour's feet,' all Rome regards with
+the utmost enthusiasm. No doubt you are full of the picture, like the
+rest, and have been anxious to make the painter's acquaintance."
+
+The old man was seized by a violent trembling. He shook like one in the
+cold stage of a fever, sending, the while, burning looks of rage at
+Antonio; who, however, went up to him with easy courtesy, declaring
+that he thought himself fortunate to meet Signor Pasquale Capuzzi,
+whose profound knowledge of music, as well as of painting, not only
+Rome, but all Italy admired, and he recommended himself to his
+protection.
+
+It restored the old fellow to his self-control that Antonio treated him
+as if he met him for the first time, and addressed him in such
+flattering terms. He forced himself to a sort of simpering smile, and
+(Salvator having let go his hands) softly stroked the points of his
+moustaches heavenwards, stammered a few unintelligible words, and then
+turned to Salvator, whom he attacked on the subject of the payment of
+the ten ducats. "We will settle that every-day little affair
+afterwards," said Salvator. "First let it please you to look at the
+sketches which I have made for a picture, and, as you do so, to drink a
+glass of good Syracuse." Salvator placed his sketches on the easel,
+drew up a chair for the old gentleman, and, when he had seated himself,
+handed him a large, beautiful goblet, in which the noble Syracuse was
+sparkling.
+
+The old man was only too fond of a glass of good wine, when he had not
+to pay for it; and, moreover, as he was expecting to receive ten ducats
+for a worn-out, rickety spinett, and was seated before a boldly
+sketched-in picture, whose wonderful beauty he was quite capable of
+appreciating, he could not but feel exceedingly happy in his mind. This
+satisfaction he gave expression to, smirking quite pleasantly, stroking
+his chin and moustaches assiduously, half closing his eyes, and
+whispering, time after time, "Glorious! Precious!" without its clearly
+appearing whether he referred to the picture or to the wine.
+
+As he had now become quite friendly, Salvator said, suddenly: "Tell me,
+my dear sir, is it not the case that-you have a most beautiful niece,
+of the name of Marianna? All our young fellows are continually rushing
+to the Strada Ripetta, impelled by love-craziness. They give themselves
+cricks in the neck with gazing up at your balcony in the hope of seeing
+her, and catching a glance from her heavenly eyes."
+
+The complacent smirk disappeared instantly from the old man's face, and
+all the good humour with which the wine had inspired him vanished.
+Gazing before him gloomily, he said, in a harsh voice: "See there the
+profound corruption of our sinful youth, who fasten their diabolical
+looks on children, detestable seducers that they are!--for I assure
+you, my dear sir, my niece Marianna is a mere child--a mere child
+scarce out of the nursery!"
+
+Salvator changed the subject. The old man recovered his composure; but
+when, with new sunshine in his face, he placed the full goblet to his
+lips, Salvator set on him again, with: "Tell me, my dear Signor, has
+your niece (that young lady of sixteen), the lovely Marianna, really
+that wonderful chestnut-brown hair, and those eyes, full of the rapture
+and bliss of Heaven, which we see in Antonio's Magdalene? That is what
+is everywhere said."
+
+"I can't say," cried the old man, in an angrier tone than before.
+"Don't let us refer to my niece; we can exchange words of more
+importance on the subject of the noble art to which your beautiful
+picture itself leads us."
+
+But as, whenever the old man took up the goblet and placed it to his
+lips to take a good draught, Salvator again began to speak of the
+beautiful Marianna, Pasquale at last sprung from his chair in fury,
+banged the goblet down on the table with such violence that it was
+nearly being broken, and cried in a screaming voice: "By the black,
+hellish Pluto, by all the Furies, you make the wine poison--poison to
+me. But I see how it is. You, and your fine Signor Antonio along with
+you, think you will make a fool of me; but you won't find it quite so
+easy. Pay me this instant the ten ducats you owe me, and I will leave
+you and your comrade, the beard-curler Antonio, to all the devils."
+
+Salvator cried out as if overcome by the most furious anger, "What! You
+dare to treat me in this manner in my own lodging? Pay you ten ducats
+for that rotten old box, out of which the worms have long since gnawed
+all the marrow, all the sound! Not ten, not five, not three, not a
+single ducat will I pay you for that spinett, which is scarcely worth a
+quattrino. Away with the crippled old thing," and therewith Salvator
+sent the little spinett spinning round and round with his foot, its
+strings giving out a loud wail of sorrow.
+
+"Ha!" screamed Capuzzi, "there is still law in Rome. I will have
+you put in prison, into the deepest dungeon;" and, growling like a
+thunder-cloud, he was making for the door. But Salvator put both his
+arms about him, set him down in the chair again, and whispered in his
+ear in dulcet tones, "My dear Signor Pasquale, do you not see that I am
+only joking? Not ten, thirteen ducats you shall have for your spinett,"
+and went on repeating into his ear, "thirteen bright ducats," so long
+and so often that Capuzzi said, in a faint, feeble voice, "What say
+you, dear sir? Thirteen ducats for the spinett, and nothing for the
+repairs?" Then Salvator let him go, and assured him, on his honour,
+that in an hour's time the spinett should be worth thirty--forty
+ducats, and that he, Capuzzi, should get that sum for it.
+
+The old man, drawing breath, murmured: with a deep sigh, "Thirty--forty
+ducats!" Then he added, "But you have greatly enraged me, Signor
+Salvator." "Thirty ducats," reiterated Salvator. The old man blinked
+his eyes. But then again, "You have wounded me to the heart, Signor
+Salvator." "Thirty ducats," said Salvator again and again, till at
+length the old man said, quite appeased, "If I can get thirty or forty
+ducats for my spinett, all will be forgotten and forgiven, dear
+Signor."
+
+"But before I fulfil my promise," said Salvator, "I have one little
+stipulation to make which you, my worthy Signor Pasquale Capuzzi di
+Senegaglia, can easily comply with. You are the first composer in all
+Italy, and, into the bargain, the very finest singer that can possibly
+be found. I have listened with rapture to the grand scena in the opera
+'Le Nozze di Teti e di Peleo,' which the villain Francesco Cavalli has
+cribbed from you and given out as his own. If you would be good enough
+to sing me that aria during the time that I am setting the spinett to
+rights, I cannot imagine anything more delightful that could happen to
+me."
+
+The old fellow screwed his face up into the most sugary smile
+imaginable, twitched his eyebrows, and said, "It is easy to see that
+you are a fine musician yourself, Signor, for you have taste, and you
+can value people better than the unthankful Romans. Listen, listen to
+the aria of all arias."
+
+He rose up, stood on the extreme points of his tiptoes, stretched out
+his arms, and closed both his eyes (so that he was exactly like a cock
+making ready for a crow), and immediately began to utter such a
+terrible screeching that the walls resounded again, and Dame Caterina
+came rushing in with her two daughters, having no other idea than that
+the terrible howling indicated the happening of some signal disaster.
+They stood completely bewildered in the doorway when they became aware
+of the old gentleman crooning in this manner, thus constituting
+themselves the audience of this unheard-of virtuoso, Capuzzi.
+
+But as this was going on, Salvator had set the spinett to rights, shut
+down the top of it, taken his palette and set to work to paint, in bold
+touches, upon the very cover of the spinett, the most wonderful subject
+imaginable. The principal theme of it was a scene from Cavalli's opera,
+'Le Nozze di Teti;' but there was mingled with this, in utterly
+fantastic fashion, a whole crowd of other characters, amongst whom were
+Capuzzi, Antonio, Marianna (exactly as she appeared in Antonio's
+picture), Salvator himself, Dame Caterina and her daughters, and even
+the Pyramid Doctor, and all so genially and comprehendingly pourtrayed,
+that Antonio could not conceal his delight at the Maestro's talent and
+technique.
+
+The old fellow by no means restricted himself to the scena which
+Salvator had asked him for, but went on singing, or rather crowing,
+without cessation, working his way through the most terrible
+recitatives from one diabolical aria to another. This may have
+gone on for some two hours or so, till he sank down into an arm-chair,
+cherry-brown of countenance. By that time, however, Salvator had got so
+far with his sketch that everything in it appeared to be alive, and the
+effect of it, when seen a little way off, was that of a finished
+picture.
+
+"I have kept my promise as regards the spinett, dear Signor Capuzzi,"
+Salvator whispered into the old man's ear, and Capuzzi sprang up like
+one awaking from sleep. His eyes fell on the painted spinett; he opened
+them wide, as if looking upon a miracle, crammed his peaked hat down on
+to his periwig, took his crook-headed stick under his arm, made one
+jump to the spinett, wrenched the cover of it out of the hinges, and
+ran, like one possessed, out of the door, down the steps, and off and
+away out of the house, whilst Dame Caterina and her daughters
+accompanied his exit with bursts of laughter.
+
+"The old skinflint knows very well," said Salvator, "that he has only
+to take the painted top of the spinett to Count Colonna, or to my
+friend Rossi, to get forty ducats, or more, for it in a moment."
+
+Salvator and Antonio now set about considering the plan of attack which
+they were about to carry out on the following night. We shall presently
+see what it was, and what was the success of their attempt.
+
+When night came, Pasquale, after carefully bolting and barring up his
+house, carried the little monster of a Castrato home. The little
+creature mewed and complained all the way, that not only was he
+compelled to sing his lungs into a consumption over Capuzzi's arias,
+and burn his hands with cooking of macaroons, but, into the bargain,
+was employed in a service which brought him in nothing but cuffs on the
+ears and sound kicks, which Marianna dealt out to him in ample measure
+whenever he came into her vicinity. The old gentleman comforted him
+as well as he could, promising to supply him more plentifully with
+sugar-stuff than he had hitherto done, and even going so far as to enter
+into a solemn undertaking (inasmuch as the little wretch would not cease
+whining and lamenting) to have a little Abbate's coat made for him out
+of an old black plush doublet, which he had often looked upon with
+envious glances. He demanded, besides, a periwig and a sword.
+Discussing those matters, they reached the Strada Vergognona, for that
+was where Pitichinaccio lived, and, indeed, only four doors from
+Salvator.
+
+The old man set the little creature carefully down, and opened the
+door. Then they went up the narrow steps, more like a hen's ladder than
+anything else; but scarcely had they got half-way up when they became
+aware of a tremendous raging on the storey above, and a wild drunken
+fellow made his voice heard, calling upon all the devils in hell to
+show him the way out of this accursed, haunted house. Pitichinaccio,
+who was in front, pressed himself close to the wall and implored
+Capuzzi to go on first, for the love of all the saints. Scarcely,
+however, had Capuzzi gone a step or two up when the fellow from above
+came stumbling down the stairs, came upon Capuzzi like a whirlwind,
+seized hold of him, and went floundering down with him through the open
+door right into the middle of the street. There they remained lying
+prostrate, Capuzzi nethermost, and the drunken fellow on the top of
+him, like a heavy sack. Capuzzi screamed pitifully for help, and
+immediately there appeared two men, who, with much pains, eased Capuzzi
+of his burden, the drunken fellow, who went staggering away as they did
+so.
+
+The two men were Salvator and Antonio, and they cried, "Jesus! what has
+happened to you, Signor Capuzzi? What are you doing here at this time
+of the night? You seem to have had some bad business going on in the
+house."
+
+"It's all over with me," groaned Capuzzi; "the hellhound has broken
+every bone in my body. I can't move a muscle."
+
+"Let us see--let us see!" said Antonio; and he felt him all over,
+giving him, in the course of his examination, a pinch in the right leg
+of such shrewdness that Capuzzi uttered a yell.
+
+"Saints and angels!" ejaculated Antonio, "your right leg is broken just
+at the most dangerous place. If it is not attended to immediately, you
+are a dead man; or, at the very least, lamed for life."
+
+Capuzzi uttered a frightful howl. "Calm yourself, my dear Signor," said
+Antonio. "Although I am a painter now, I have not forgotten my surgery.
+We will carry you into Salvator's lodgings, and I will bandage you
+properly at once."
+
+"Dear Signor Antonio," whined Capuzzi, "you are inimically minded
+towards me, I am aware."
+
+"Ah!" interposed Salvator, "there can be no question of enmity in a
+case like this. You are in danger, and that is sufficient reason why
+the honourable Antonio should devote all his skill to your service.
+Take hold of him, friend Antonio."
+
+Together they lifted the old man up softly and carefully, and carried
+him--crying out over the suffering which his broken leg caused him--to
+Salvator's lodgings.
+
+Dame Caterina declared she had felt quite certain that something was
+going to happen, and consequently hadn't been able to go to bed. And
+when she saw the old gentleman and heard what had happened to him, she
+broke out into reproaches as to his works and ways. "I know well
+enough, Signor Pasquale, who it was that you were taking home, as
+usual. You think, as long as you have your pretty niece Marianna at
+home with you, you don't require any woman to do anything there, and
+you most shamefully and God-defiantly misuse that poor creature of a
+Pitichinaccio, whom you dress up in woman's clothes. But remember,
+_ogni carne ha il mio osso_--every flesh has its own bones. If you have
+a girl in the house, you can't do without women. _Fate il passo secondo
+il gamba_--don't stretch your legs farther than the bedcover goes, and
+don't do more, nor less, than what is right for your Marianna. Don't
+shut her up like a prisoner. Don't turn your house into a gaol. _Asino
+punto convien che trotti_--one who has started on the road must go
+along. You have a pretty niece, and you must arrange your life
+accordingly; that's to say, you mustn't do what she doesn't wish. But
+you are an ungallant, hard-hearted man, and (I'm afraid I must say, at
+your time of life), amorous and jealous into the bargain. You must
+pardon me for saying all this straight out to your face, but you know
+_chi ha nel petto fiele, non pu sputar miele_--what the heart is
+full of comes out at the lips. If you don't die of this accident of
+yours--as, at your time of life, it is to be feared you will--I hope it
+will be a warning to you, and you'll leave your niece at liberty to do
+what she wishes, and marry the charming young gentleman whom I think I
+know about."
+
+Thus did the stream of Dame Caterina's words flow on, whilst Salvator
+and Antonio carefully undressed the old gentleman and laid him on the
+bed. Dame Caterina's words were dagger-thrusts, which went deep into
+his heart; but, whenever he tried to get in a word between them,
+Antonio impressed on him that anything in the nature of talking was
+fraught with the utmost danger, so that he was obliged to swallow the
+bitter pill of her utterances. Salvator at length sent her away to get
+some iced water, which Antonio had ordered.
+
+Salvator and Antonio convinced themselves that the fellow whom they had
+employed had done his business most admirably. Beyond one or two blue
+marks, Capuzzi had not suffered the slightest damage, frightful as his
+tumble had the appearance of being. Antonio carefully put splints and
+bandages on his right foot and leg, so that he could not move; and at
+the same time they wrapped him in cloths soaked in iced water, on the
+pretext of keeping off fever, so that he shivered as if he were in an
+ague.
+
+"My good Signor Antonio," he said, in faint accents, "tell me, is it
+all over with me? Am I a dead man?"
+
+"Do not excite yourself, Signor Pasquale," said Antonio.
+
+"As you bore the first application of the bandages so well, and did not
+fall into a faint, I hope all danger is over; but the most careful
+nursing is absolutely essential. The most important point is that the
+surgeon must not let you be out of his sight for a moment."
+
+"Ah, Antonio!" whined the old gentleman, "you know how fond I am of
+you--what a high opinion I have of your talent! Don't leave me--give me
+your dear hand! That is it! My dear, good son, you won't go away from
+me, will you?"
+
+"Although I am no longer a surgeon," said Antonio, "although I have
+cast away the abominable slavery of that calling to the four winds of
+heaven, I do not mind making an exception in your case, Signor
+Pasquale, and I undertake to cure you. The only thing which I ask of
+you in return is, that you will give me back your friendship--your
+confidence; you have been a little hard towards me."
+
+"Say nothing about that," whispered the old fellow; "do not let us
+allude to it, dear Antonio."
+
+"Your niece," said Antonio, "will be half-dead with anxiety at your not
+having come home. All things considered, you are wonderfully strong and
+well, and we will move you to your own house as soon as it is daylight.
+When we have got you there, I will have another look at your bandages,
+and see to the bed upon which you are to be laid; and I will tell your
+niece all that will be necessary to do in your case, so that you may
+very soon be quite better."
+
+The old gentleman heaved a very deep sigh, closed his eyes, and
+remained silent for some moments. He then stretched his hand out toward
+Antonio, drew him close to him, and said, in a whisper: "Tell me,
+dearest Antonio, I am right, am I not, in supposing that all that about
+Marianna--my niece--was merely your fun--the sort of jesting which gets
+into young fellows' heads?"
+
+"I beg you," said Antonio, "not to think about matters of that sort at
+such a time as this. Put them out of your head altogether. It is
+certainly true that your niece did attract my eyes a little; but I have
+very different matters in my mind at present. And--I must tell you
+quite candidly--I am very glad that you sent me and my foolish attempt
+to the right about so speedily. I thought I was in love with Marianna,
+but it was merely that I saw in her a splendid model for my Magdalene.
+I presume that is why I have become completely indifferent to her since
+my picture was finished. I have no longer the slightest interest in
+her."
+
+"Antonio!" cried the old gentleman; "Antonio, blessed of heaven! you
+are my comfort, my help, my consolation! If you are not in love with
+Marianna, my troubles are at an end."
+
+"To tell you the truth, Signor Pasquale," said Salvator, "if one did
+not know you to be a serious man, of great intelligence, very well
+aware what is suitable to his advanced period of life, one would be
+disposed to fancy that you were idiot enough to be in love with this
+niece of yours (a child of sixteen) yourself."
+
+The old man closed his eyes again, and groaned and lamented over the
+terrible sufferings he was enduring, which had returned with double
+force.
+
+The morning-red came streaming through the window. Antonio told the old
+gentleman it was time to take him to his own house in Strada Ripetta.
+He answered with a deep, melancholy sigh. Salvator and Antonio lifted
+him out of bed, and wrapped him in a large cloak of Dame Caterina's,
+which had been her husband's. The old gentleman implored, for the love
+of all the saints, that the shameful ice-cloths which were upon his
+bald head should be taken away, and that he should wear his periwig and
+plumed hat; also that Antonio should, as far as possible, arrange his
+moustaches, so that Marianna should not be too much alarmed by his
+appearance. Two bearers, with a litter, were waiting at the door. Dame
+Caterina, continually scolding at the old gentleman, and quoting
+proverbs plentifully, brought down bedding, in which, carefully packed,
+and attended by Salvator and Antonio, he was got home to his own house.
+
+When Marianna saw her uncle in this terrible condition, she gave a loud
+cry, and a flood of tears burst from her eyes. Without paying any
+attention to her lover, who was present, she took the old man's hands,
+pressed them to her lips, and lamented over the sad misfortune which
+had befallen him. Such was this good girl's compassion for the old
+fellow who tortured her with his insane fondness for her. All the same
+the inborn nature of woman within her displayed itself, for a few
+significant looks of Salvator's were amply sufficient to let her
+understand the whole position of matters. It was only then that she
+gave a stolen glance at the happy Antonio, blushing deeply as she did
+so, and it was marvellous to see how a somewhat roguish smile
+victoriously dispelled her tears. On the whole, Salvator had never
+thought that she was so delightful, so wonderfully lovely
+(notwithstanding the Magdalene picture) as he now found her actually to
+be. And whilst he almost envied Antonio his good fortune, he felt
+doubly the necessity of getting the poor girl out of the clutches of
+the accursed Capuzzi, at whatever cost.
+
+The latter, welcomed in this charming manner (which he by no means
+deserved) by his delightful niece, forgot his troubles; he smiled, and
+ogled, working his lips so that his moustaches went up and down; and he
+groaned and whined, not so much from pain as from amorousness.
+
+Antonio skilfully prepared the bed for his patient, and when he had
+been laid down upon it, tightened the bandages--and did so to such an
+extent on the left leg, that the old gentleman had, perforce, to lie as
+motionless as a wooden doll. Salvator went away, leaving the lovers to
+their happiness.
+
+The old gentleman was lying buried in cushions, and Antonio had,
+moreover, so bound a thick cloth soaked in ice-water about his head,
+that he could not hear a trace of what the lovers were whispering; so
+they now, for the first time, uttered all that was in their hearts, and
+vowed eternal fidelity, with tears and the sweetest kisses. The old man
+could not possibly have any suspicion, as Marianna, every now and then,
+kept asking him if there was anything he wanted, and even permitted him
+to press her little white hand to his lips. When it was high day,
+Antonio hastened away, according to his own statement, to order what
+was further necessary for the patient, but, in reality, to consider how
+he might possibly manage to keep him in a still more helpless state, if
+he could, so that Salvator and he might reflect upon what steps were to
+be taken in the next place.
+
+                         *   *   *   *   *   *
+
+A fresh plot which Salvator and Antonio form, and carry out upon Signor
+      Pasquale Capuzzi and his associates; and the results thereof.
+
+On the following morning Antonio came to Salvator, all vexation and
+anger.
+
+"Well, how goes it?" Salvator cried to him. "What are you hanging your
+head for, superlatively happy man, who can kiss and caress his darling
+every day?"
+
+"Ah, Salvator!" answered Antonio; "it is all over with my happiness.
+The devil delights in making me the sport of his tricks. Our plots have
+all come to nothing, and we are at open war with the accursed Capuzzi."
+
+"So much the better! so much the better!" said Salvator. "But tell me
+what has been happening."
+
+"Just imagine, Salvator," said Antonio. "When, yesterday, I was going
+back to Strada Ripetta, after I had been gone about two hours, bringing
+all sorts of essences, &c., there I saw the old gentleman standing at
+his door, completely dressed. At his back were the Pyramid Doctor, and
+the accursed Sbirro, whilst there was some little many-coloured object
+running in and out amongst their legs; this, I believe, was that little
+abortion of a Pitichinaccio. As soon as the old fellow saw me he
+menaced me with his fist, uttered the most gruesome curses and
+maledictions, and swore he would have every bone in my body broken if I
+dared to come to his door. 'Be off with you to all the devils in Hell,
+cursed Beard-scratcher!' he croaked and screamed at me. 'You thought to
+make a fool of me, with all sorts of infernal lies and deceptions; you
+have striven like the very Satan himself to tempt and mislead my
+Marianna. But wait a little. I will spend my last farthing, if
+necessary, in getting your life-light snuffed out before you are aware
+of it. And as for your fine patron, Signor Salvator--the murderer, the
+robber, the cheat-the-gallows!--he shall to hell to join his leader,
+Mas' Aniello. Him I'll get kicked out of Rome; that won't give me much
+trouble.' Thus did the old man rave; and as the cursed Sbirro, egged on
+by the Pyramid Doctor, made as if he would set on me and attack me,
+whilst the curious populace began to crowd round, what could I do but
+get off as quickly as possible? In my despair I thought I should not
+come to you, for I felt certain you would only laugh--and in fact you
+hardly can help doing so at this moment."
+
+Indeed, when Antonio ceased speaking, Salvator did laugh heartily.
+
+"Now," he cried, "now the affair is really beginning to become
+most delightful. But I shall now tell you, circumstantially, my
+dear Antonio, what happened in Capuzzi's house when you had gone
+out. Scarcely had you got down-stairs, when Signor Splendiano
+Accoramboni--who, heaven knows how, had found out that his bosom
+friend Capuzzi had broken his leg in the night--came, in the most
+solemn state, to see him, bringing a surgeon with him. Your bandagings,
+and your whole treatment of Capuzzi, could not but excite some
+suspicion; the surgeon took the splints and bandages off, and of course
+found--what we know very well--that there was nothing whatever the
+matter with Capuzzi's foot; not so much as a sprained ankle. Very well;
+it did not require much acuteness to find out the rest."
+
+"My dearest Maestro," asked Antonio, full of amazement, "how on earth
+did you manage to find out all this?--how could you get into Capuzzi's
+house, and know all that went on?"
+
+"I told you," said Salvator, "that in Capuzzi's house--and in fact on
+the same storey with him--there lives an acquaintance of Dame
+Caterina's. This acquaintance, the widow of a wine-merchant, has a
+daughter whom my little Margerita often goes to see. Girls have a
+special faculty for finding out others like themselves, and in this way
+Rosa (the wine-merchant's widow's daughter) and Margerita soon
+discovered a little peep-hole in the dining-room, which is the next
+room to a dark chamber which opens into Marianna's room. The
+whisperings of the girls by no means escaped Marianna's notice, neither
+did the peephole; so that the way to mutual communications was marked
+out, and taken advantage of. When the old gentleman is having his
+afternoon nap, the girls have a right good chatter to their heart's
+content. You have no doubt noticed that little Margerita (her mother's
+favourite, and mine) is by no means so grave and reserved as her elder
+sister Anna, but a droll, merry creature. Without having exactly told
+her about your love affair, I have asked her to get Marianna to let her
+know all that goes on in the house. In this she has proved very clever;
+and if I, just now, laughed a little at your pain and despair, it was
+because I have it in my power to prove to you that your affairs have
+just, for the first time, got into an exceedingly favourable groove. I
+have a whole sackful of delightful news for you."
+
+"Salvator!" cried Antonio, his eyes bright with joy, "what hopes dawn
+upon me! Blessings on the peephole in the dining-room. I can write to
+Marianna--Margerita will take the note with her."
+
+"No, no, Antonio," said Salvator, "not quite that; Margerita shall
+do us good service without being exactly your go-between. Besides,
+chance--which often plays strange tricks--might place your love-prattle
+in the hands of old Capuzzi, and bring a thousand new troubles upon
+Marianna's head, just at the moment when she is on the point of getting
+the amorous old goose properly and completely under her little satin
+shoe. For just listen how affairs are progressing. The style in which
+Marianna received him when he was taken home has turned him round
+completely. He believes no less a thing than that Marianna has ceased
+to care for you, but has given one half of her heart to him, so that
+all he has to do is to get hold of the other half. Since she has
+imbibed the poison of your kisses, she has all at once become some
+three years cleverer and more experienced. She has not only convinced
+the old gentleman that she had nothing to do with our escapade, but
+that she abhors the idea of it, and would repel with the deepest scorn
+any plot which should have the object of bringing you into her
+proximity. In the excess of his delight at this, he vowed that if there
+should be anything he could do to please her, he would set about it in
+a moment; she had but to give her wish a name. On this she very quietly
+said what she would like would be that her _zio carissima_ should take
+her to the theatre outside the Porto del Popolo, to see Signor Formica.
+The old fellow was somewhat startled by this, and consulted with the
+Pyramid Doctor and Pitichinaccio; and the result is that Signor
+Pasquale and Signor Splendiano are actually going to take Marianna to
+the said theatre to-morrow. Pitichinaccio is to be dressed as a
+waiting-maid; but he only consented to this on condition that Pasquale
+should give him a periwig, over and above the plush doublet, and that
+he and the Pyramid Doctor should relieve each other, from time to time,
+of the task of carrying him home at night. This has been all agreed
+upon; and this remarkable three-bladed-clover will really go, to-morrow
+evening, with beautiful Marianna, to see Signor Formica, at the theatre
+outside the Porto del Popolo."
+
+It is necessary now to say something as to this theatre, and Signor
+Formica himself.
+
+Nothing can be sadder than when, at carnival time in Rome, the
+_impressarii_ have been unfortunate in their composers--when the
+_primo tenore_ of the Argentina has left his voice on the road--when
+the _primo uomo da donna_ in the Teatro Valle is down with the
+influenza--in short, when the chief pleasures to which the Romans have
+been looking forward have proved disappointments, and Giovedi Grasso
+has been shorn, at one fell swoop, of all the hoped-for flowers which
+were expected to come at that time into blossom. Immediately alter a
+melancholy carnival of this description (in fact, the fasts were
+scarcely over) a certain Nicolo Musso opened a theatre outside the
+Porto del Popolo, limiting himself to announcing the performance of
+minor, improvised _buffonades_. His advertisement was couched in a
+clever and witty style of wording, and from it the Romans formed in
+advance a favourable opinion of Musso's undertaking, and would have
+done so even had they not, in the unsatisfied state of their dramatic
+appetites, been eager to snatch at anything of the kind that was
+offered to them. The arrangements of the theatre--or rather of the
+little booth--could not be said to give evidence of any very
+flourishing state of finances on the manager's part. There was no
+orchestra; there were no boxes. There was a sort of gallery at the back
+of the audience part of the house, adorned with the arms of the
+Colonnas--a mark that the Conte Colonna had taken Murso and his theatre
+under his special protection. The stage was a raised platform covered
+with carpets, and surrounded with gay-coloured paper-hangings which had
+to serve for forests, interiors, or streets, according to the
+requirements of the drama. As, moreover, the audience had to be content
+with hard, uncomfortable wooden benches to sit upon, it is not matter
+for wonder that the first set of spectators expressed themselves pretty
+strongly on the subject of the audacity of Signor Musso in giving the
+name of a theatre to this boarded booth. But scarcely had the two first
+actors who appeared spoken a few words, when the audience became
+attentive. As the piece went on, the attention became applause, the
+applause astonishment, and the astonishment enthusiasm, which expressed
+itself in the most prolonged and stormy laughter, hand-clapping, and
+cries of bravo!
+
+And, in truth, nothing more perfect could have been seen than those
+improvised representations of Nicolo Musso's which sparkled with wit,
+fun, and _esprit_, castigating the follies of the day with unsparing
+lash. The performers all rendered their parts with incomparable
+distinctiveness of character, but the "Pasquarello" more particularly
+carried the house away with him bodily, by his inimitable play of
+gesture, and a talent for imitating well-known personages, in voice,
+walk, and manner, by his inexhaustible drollery, and the extraordinary
+originality of the ideas which struck him. This actor, who called
+himself Signor Formica, seemed to be inspired by a very remarkable and
+unusual spirit; often, in his tone and manner, there would be a
+something so strange that the audience, while in the middle of a burst
+of the heartiest laughter, would suddenly feel a species of cold
+shiver. Almost on a par with him, and a worthy compeer, was the "Dr.
+Graziano" of the troupe, who had a play of feature, a voice, a power of
+saying the most delightful things in, apparently, the most foolish
+manner, to which nothing in the world could be likened. This "Doctor
+Graziano" was an old Bolognese, of the name of Maria Aglia. As a matter
+of course, all the fashionable world of Rome soon came thronging to the
+little theatre outside the Porto del Popolo. The name of Formica was on
+everybody's lips; and in the streets as in the theatre, all voices were
+crying, with the utmost enthusiasm, "Oh, Formica! Formica benedetto!
+Oh, Formicisimo!" He was looked upon as a supernatural being; and many
+an old woman, ashake with laughter in the theatre, would (if anybody
+ventured to criticise Formica's action in the slightest degree) turn
+grave, and say, with the utmost seriousness and solemnity--
+
+                "Scherza coi fanti e lascia star santi."
+
+This was because, out of the theatre, Formica was an unfathomable
+mystery. No one ever saw him anywhere, and every attempt to come upon
+his traces was vain. Nothing as to where he lived could be got out of
+Musso.
+
+Such was the theatre to which Marianna wished to go.
+
+"Let us fly straight at our enemies' throats," Salvator said; "the walk
+home from the theatre to the town offers us a most admirable
+opportunity."
+
+He then communicated a plan to Antonio, which seemed very risky and
+daring, but which the latter adopted with delight, thinking it would
+enable him to rescue his Marianna from the abominable Capuzzi;
+moreover, it pleased him well that Salvator made one great feature of
+it the punishing of the Pyramid Doctor.
+
+When evening came, Salvator and Antonio each took a guitar, went to
+Strada Ripetta, and (by way of annoying old Capuzzi) treated the lovely
+Marianna to the most exquisite _serenata_ imaginable. For Salvator
+played and sang like a master, and Antonio had a lovely tenor voice,
+and was almost an Odoardo Ceccarelli. Signor Pasquale of course came
+out on to the balcony, and scolded down at the singers, ordering them
+to hold their peace; but the neighbours, whom the beautiful music had
+brought to their windows, cried out to him, asking him whether, as he
+and his friends were in the habit of howling and screaming like all the
+demons in hell, he wouldn't suffer such a thing as a little _good_
+music in the street? Let him be off into the house, they said, and stop
+his ears, if he didn't want to hear the beautiful singing. Thus Signor
+Pasquale was obliged, to his torture, to endure Salvator and Antonio's
+singing, all night long--songs which at times consisted of the sweetest
+words of love, and at others ridiculed the folly of amorous old men.
+They distinctly saw Marianna at the window, and heard Pasquale adjuring
+her, in the most honeyed terms, not to expose herself to the night air.
+
+The next evening there passed along the street towards the Porto del
+Popolo the strangest group of persons ever seen. They attracted all
+eyes, and people asked each other if some strange survival of the
+Carnival had preserved two or three mad maskers. Signor Pasquale
+Capuzzi, in his many-coloured, well-brushed Spanish suit, a new yellow
+feather in his steeple-crowned hat, tightly belted and buckled, all
+tenderness and grace, tripping along on shoes too tight for him, as if
+treading on eggs, conducted on his arm the lovely Marianna, whose
+pretty figure, and still more beautiful face, could not be seen, in
+consequence of the extraordinary manner in which she was wimpled and
+wrapped up in a cloak and hood. On her other side tripped along Signor
+Splendiano Accoramboni in his enormous wig, which covered the whole of
+his back, so that, when seen from behind, he looked like some enormous
+head moving along on two diminutive legs. Close behind Marianna, almost
+clinging on to her, came, in crab-like fashion, the little hideosity of
+a Pitichinaccio, in flame-coloured female dress, with his hair
+bedecked, in the most repulsive style, with flowers of all the colours
+of the rainbow.
+
+On this particular evening Signor Formica even surpassed himself;
+and--what he had never done before--he introduced little snatches of
+songs, imitating various well-known singers. In old Capuzzi this awoke
+all the old delight in theatrical matters which in former days had been
+a regular mania with him. He kissed Marianna's hands over and over
+again, and vowed that he certainly would bring her to Nicolo Musso's
+theatre every night without fail. He extolled Signor Formica to the
+very skies, and joined most heartily in the uproarious applause of the
+rest of the audience. Signor Splendiano was less content, and
+repeatedly begged Signor Capuzzi and Marianna not to laugh so very
+immoderately. He named, in one breadth, some twenty maladies which were
+liable to be brought on by over-agitation of the diaphragm; but neither
+the one nor the other gave themselves any trouble on the subject.
+Pitichinaccio was thoroughly unhappy. He had been obliged to sit just
+behind the Pyramid Doctor, who so overshadowed him with his enormous
+wig that he could not see the smallest peep of the stage, nor of the
+characters upon it; moreover, he was tortured by two facetious women
+who were sitting beside him, and who kept on calling him "Charming,
+pretty signora," and asking him whether he was married, for all he was
+so young, and had nice little children, who must be the dearest little
+things imaginable, &c., &c. Drops of cold perspiration stood on the
+poor little creature's brow; he whimpered and whined, and cursed the
+hour when he was born.
+
+When the acting was over, Signor Pasquale waited till every one had
+left the house; and as the last of the lamps was being put out, Signor
+Splendiano lighted at it the stump of a wax candle, and they set forth
+on their homeward way. Pitichinaccio whined and cried; Capuzzi, to his
+torment, had to take him on his left arm, having Marianna on his right;
+before them went Doctor Splendiano with his candle-stump, whose feeble
+rays made the darkness of the night seem deeper.
+
+While they were still some distance from the Porto del Popolo, they
+found themselves suddenly surrounded by several tall figures, thickly
+wrapped in cloaks. The Doctor's candle was instantly snatched from
+his hand, and went out on the ground. Capuzzi and the Doctor stood
+speechless and amazed. Then there fell (it was not clear from whence)
+a faint reddish glimmer upon the cloaked figures, and four pale
+death's-heads were seen staring at the Pyramid Doctor, with hollow,
+fearful eyes. "Woe! woe! woe unto thee, Splendiano Accoramboni!" howled
+the terrible spectres, in deep, hollow tones. Then one of them wailed
+out, "Knowest thou me? knowest thou me, Splendiano? I am Cordier, the
+French painter, buried last week; sent under-ground by thee, with thy
+drugs!" Then the second: "Knowest thou _me_, Splendiano? I am Kueffner,
+the German painter, whom thou didst poison with thy hellish
+electuaries!" Then the third: "Knowest thou _me_, Splendiano? I am
+Liers, the Fleming, whom thou didst murder with thy pills, cheating his
+brother out of his pictures!" Then the fourth: "Knowest thou _me_,
+Splendiano? I am Ghigi, the Neapolitan painter, whom thou didst slay
+with thy powders!" Finally, all the four cried out in quartet, "Woe!
+woe to thee, Splendiano Accoramboni, accursed Pyramid Doctor! Thou must
+away!--away with us!--down, down under the earth! On!--on with thee!
+Halloh!--halloh!" Therewith they seized the luckless Doctor, heaved him
+up, and disappeared with him like the storm-wind.
+
+Sorely as terror was like to overcome Pasquale, he collected himself,
+and took heart of grace with wonderful courage, when he saw that this
+affair only concerned his friend Accoramboni. Pitichinaccio had put his
+head, flowers and all, under Pasquale's cloak, and was clinging so
+tightly about his neck that it was impossible to shake him off.
+
+"Recover yourself," said Capuzzi to Marianna, when nothing more was to
+be seen of the spectres or of the Pyramid Doctor. "Recover yourself!
+Come to me, my sweet, darling little dove! My good friend Splendiano is
+gone. May Saint Bernard, who was a doctor himself, stand by him and
+defend him, if those revengeful painters, whom he sent to that Pyramid
+of his rather before their time, are going to twist his windpipe. Ah!
+who will take the bass parts in my canzonet now, I should like to know?
+And this creature here, Pitichinaccio, is squeezing my throat to that
+extent that, what with that, and what with the fright at seeing
+Splendiano spirited away, I dare say it'll be three months good before
+I can get out a single note in tune! Don't you be frightened, my own
+sweetest Marianna!--it is all over."
+
+Marianna declared that she had quite recovered from the fright, and
+only begged him to let her walk by herself to enable him to get quit of
+his troublesome lap-child; but he only held her the tighter, and vowed
+that no consideration in the world would induce him to allow her to
+venture a single step by herself in the terrible darkness.
+
+Just then, as Capuzzi was going to step courageously forward, there
+suddenly rose before him, as if from the depths of the earth, four
+terrible-looking figures of devils, in short cloaks of glittering
+red, who glared at him with fearful eyes, and began making a
+horrible croaking and squeaking. "Hup! hup!" they cried. "Pasquale
+Capuzzi!--idiotic fool!--amorous old donkey! We are comrades of yours;
+we are love-devils; and we have come to carry you down to the hottest
+hell, you and your bosom-friend there, Pitichinaccio!" Thus screaming,
+the devils fell upon Capuzzi, and he, with Pitichinaccio, went down,
+both of them raising piercing yells of distress like those of a whole
+herd of beaten donkeys.
+
+Marianna had forcibly torn herself away from the old fellow, and sprung
+to one side, where one of the devils folded her softly in his arms, and
+said, in a sweet voice of affection: "Oh, Marianna! my own Marianna! it
+has all come right at last. My friends are taking the old man a long
+distance off, while we find some place of safety to fly to."
+
+"My own Antonio!" Marianna whispered softly.
+
+Suddenly a bright glare of torches lightened up the place, and Antonio
+felt himself stabbed on the shoulder-blade. Quick as lightning he
+turned round, drew his sword, and attacked the fellow, who was aiming a
+second stab with his stiletto. He saw that his three friends were
+defending themselves against a much stronger force of Sbirri. He
+managed to beat off the man who was attacking him, and to join his
+friends; but, bravely as they fought, the struggle was too unequal, and
+the Sbirri must unfailingly have had the best of it, had not two men
+suddenly burst, with loud shouts, into the ranks of the young fellows,
+one of whom immediately floored the Sbirro who was taxing Antonio the
+hardest.
+
+The fight was now speedily decided to the disadvantage of the Sbirri,
+and those of them who were not on the ground wounded, fled with loud
+cries towards the Porto del Popolo.
+
+Salvator Rosa--for it was no other who had hastened to Antonio's help,
+and struck down the Sbirro--was for starting off without more ado, with
+Antonio and the young painters who were in the devils' dresses, after
+the Sbirri to town.
+
+Maria Agli, who had come with him, and, notwithstanding his years, had
+set to with the Sbirri like the others, thought this was not advisable,
+as the guard at the Porto del Popolo, informed of the affair, would of
+course arrest them all. So they betook themselves to Nicolo Musso, who
+received them gladly in his small abode not far from the theatre. The
+painters took off their devils' masks and their cloaks rubbed with
+phosphorus; and Antonio--who, save for the unimportant prick in his
+shoulder, was not at all hurt--brought his surgical skill into play,
+all the others having wounds, though none of any importance.
+
+The plot, so daringly and skilfully contrived, would have succeeded had
+not Salvator and Antonio left one person out of account; and that
+person ruined it all. Michele, the ex-Bravo and Sbirro, who lived
+downstairs in Capuzzi's house, and was a kind of servant to him, had,
+by his wish, gone behind him to the theatre, but at some distance, as
+the old man was ashamed of his tattered and scoundrelly appearance. In
+the same way, Michele had followed on the homeward way; so that, when
+the spectres appeared, Michele--who really did not fear death or
+devil--smelt a rat, ran, in the darkness, straight away to the Porto
+del Popolo, gave the alarm, and came back with the Sbirri, who, as we
+know, arrived just at the moment when the devils fell upon Signor
+Pasquale, and were going to take him away, as the dead men had taken
+the Pyramid Doctor.
+
+Bat in the thick of the fight, one of the young painters had distinctly
+seen a fellow hurrying away towards the gate with Marianna, in a
+fainting state, in his arms, followed by Pasquale, who was rushing
+along at an incredible rate, as if his veins were running quicksilver.
+There was, moreover, some glimmering object visible by the torch-light
+hanging on to his cloak, and whining, probably Pitichinaccio.
+
+Next morning Doctor Splendiano was discovered at the Pyramid of
+Cestius, rolled up in a ball and immersed in his periwig, fast asleep,
+as though in a warm, soft nest. When they woke him, he talked
+incoherently, and it was hard to convince him that he was still in this
+visible life and, moreover, in Rome. When, at length, he was taken to
+his house, he thanked the Virgin and all the Saints for his rescue,
+threw all his tinctures, essences, electuaries, and powders out of
+window, made a bonfire of his recipes, and for the future healed his
+patients in no other manner than by laying his hands upon them and
+stroking them, as a celebrated physician used to do before him (who was
+a Saint into the bargain, but whose name I cannot think of at the
+moment), with much success, for his patients died as well as the
+other's, and before their deaths saw heaven open, and anything that the
+Saint pleased.
+
+"I do not know," said Antonio, next day, to Salvator, "what fury has
+blazed up within me since some of my blood was spilt. Death and
+destruction to the miserable, ignoble Capuzzi! Do you know, Salvator,
+that I have made up my mind to get into his house by force; and if he
+makes any resistance, I will run him through, and carry Marianna off."
+
+"Glorious idea!" exclaimed Salvator. "A truly happy inspiration. I have
+no doubt you have also devised the means of carrying Marianna through
+the air to the Piazza di Spagna, so that you may reach that place of
+sanctuary before they have arrested you and hanged you! No, no, dear
+Antonio, there is nothing to be done in this affair by violence, and
+you may be quite certain that Signor Capuzzi will be too well prepared
+for anything in the shape of an open attack. Besides this, our escapade
+has attracted a great deal of attention; and more than that, the
+laughable style in which we set about our little piece of entertainment
+with Splendiano and Capuzzi has had the effect of waking the police up
+from their gentle slumbers, so that they will now be on the watch for
+us, as far as their feeble powers enable them. No, Antonio, we must
+resort to stratagem: '_Con arte e con inganno si vive mezzo l'anno; con
+inganno e con arte si vive l'altro parte._' That is what Dame Caterina
+says, and she is quite right. I can't help laughing at our having set
+to work just as if we were innocent boys; but it is my fault, chiefly,
+seeing that I have the advantage of you in years. Tell me, Antonio,
+if our plot had succeeded, and you had really carried Marianna off,
+where should you have gone with her?--where could you have kept her
+hidden?--how could you have got married by the priest so speedily that
+the old man should not have managed to interfere? As it is, in a very
+few days you shall actually carry her off. I have enlisted the aid of
+Nicolo Musso and Formica, and in conjunction with them thought out a
+plan which scarcely can break down. Comfort yourself, therefore, Signor
+Formica is going to help you."
+
+"Signor Formica!" repeated Antonio, in an indifferent, almost
+contemptuous tone; "and pray how can that 'funny-man' help me?"
+
+"Ho, ho!" cried Salvator, "I must beg you to treat Signor Formica with
+a proper amount of respect. Don't you know that he is a kind of wizard,
+and has all sorts of wondrous secret arts at his command? I tell you,
+Signor Formica is going to help you. And old Maria Agli, our great and
+grand 'Doctor Graziano,' of Bologna, has joined in our plot, and is
+going to play a most important part in it. You shall carry your
+Marianna off from Musso's theatre."
+
+"Salvator," said Antonio, "you are buoying me up with vain hopes. You
+have said, yourself, that Capuzzi will be thoroughly on his guard
+against any more open attacks; so, after what has happened to him
+already, how can he possibly be induced to go to Musso's theatre
+another time?"
+
+"It is not such a difficult matter as you suppose," answered Salvator,
+"to get him to go back there again; the difficulty will be to induce
+him to go without his companions, and to get him on to the stage. But
+however that may be, you must now arrange matters with Marianna so as
+to be ready to fly from Rome whenever the favourable moment arrives.
+You will have to go to Florence. Your art will be an introduction to
+you there to begin with, and I will take care that you shall not want
+for friends, or for valuable support and assistance. We shall have to
+rest on our oars for a few days, and then we shall see what more is to
+be done. Keep up your courage. Formica will help."
+
+
+A Fresh Misfortune Comes Upon Signor Pasquale Capuzzi. Antonio
+      Scacciati Carries Out A Plot At Musso's Theatre, And Flies To
+      Florence.
+
+Signor Pasquale knew but too well who were the authors of the trick
+played upon him and the poor Pyramid Doctor near the Porto del Popolo;
+and we can imagine his rage with Antonio and with Salvator Rosa, whom
+he rightly considered to be the prime mover in the matter. He did his
+utmost to console Marianna, who was quite ill, from the fright--as she
+put it--but really from disappointment and vexation at the accursed
+Michele's having carried her off, with his Sbirri, from Antonio.
+Meanwhile, Margarita industriously brought her tidings of her lover,
+and she based all her hopes and expectations upon the enterprising
+Salvator. She waited most impatiently from day to day for anything in
+the shape of fresh events, and vented her vexation upon the old
+gentleman by a thousand teasings and naggings, which rendered him
+humble and submissive in his foolish amourishness, but had not the
+effect of in any degree casting out the love-devil by which he was
+possessed. When Marianna had poured out upon his devoted head a full
+measure of all the evil caprices of a selfish girl, she had only to
+suffer him to press his withered lips a single time upon her little
+hand, and he would vow, in the excess of his delight, that he would
+never leave off kissing the Pope's slipper till he had obtained his
+dispensation to marry his niece, quintessence as she was of all beauty
+and loveliness. Marianna was careful to do nothing to disturb this
+condition of delight, for those rays of hope of her uncle's made her
+own to shine brighter--her hopes of being all the nearer escaping him,
+the more firmly he believed himself to be united to her by bonds which
+were indissoluble.
+
+Some time had elapsed when, one day, Michele came stumping upstairs and
+announced to his master (who opened the door after a good deal of
+knocking), with much prolixity, that there was a gentleman below who
+insisted, most urgently, on speaking with Signor Pasquale Capuzzi, who,
+he was aware, lived in that house.
+
+"Oh, all ye heavenly hosts!" cried the old gentleman, in a rage,
+"doesn't this lubber know as well as possible that I never speak with
+strangers in the house!"
+
+But Michele said the gentleman was very well-looking, rather elderly,
+and spoke exceedingly nicely, saying his name was Nicolo Musso.
+
+"Nicolo Musso!" said Capuzzi, thoughtfully to himself; "Nicolo Musso,
+who has the theatre outside the Porta del Popolo! What can he want with
+me?" He carefully closed and bolted the door, and went down with
+Michele to talk with Nicolo in the street.
+
+"My dear Signor Pasquale," said Nicolo, greeting him with an easy
+courtesy, "how very much delighted I am that you honour me with
+your acquaintance! How many thanks I owe you! Since the Romans saw
+_you_--the man of the most acknowledged taste, of the most universal
+knowledge, the virtuoso in art--in my theatre, my reputation, and my
+receipts, have been doubled. All the more does it pain me that some
+wicked, malicious fellows should have made a murderous attack upon you
+and your party as you were going home from my theatre at night. For the
+love of all the Saints, Signor Pasquale, do not form a prejudice
+against me and my theatre on account of an affair of this sort, which
+could scarcely have been anticipated. Do not deprive me of your
+patronage."
+
+"My good Signor Nicolo," said Capuzzi, flattered, "let me assure you
+that I never, anywhere, found more pleasure than in your theatre.
+Your Formica, your Agli, are actors, whose equals have still to
+be discovered; but the alarm which brought my friend Splendiano
+Accoramboni--and indeed myself as well--nearly to death's door, was too
+severe. It has closed to me for ever, not your theatre, but the road to
+it. Open your theatre in the Piazza del Popolo, or in Strada Babuina,
+or Strada Ripetta, and I shall never miss a single evening; but no
+power on earth would induce me to set foot outside the Porto del Popolo
+at night."
+
+Nicolo sighed as if possessed by profound sorrow. "That hits me hard,"
+he said; "harder than you perhaps may suppose, Signor Pasquale. I had
+based all my hopes upon you. In fact, I came to implore your
+assistance."
+
+"My assistance!" echoed the old gentleman; "my assistance! In what way
+could that be of any use to you, Signor Nicolo?"
+
+"My dear Signor Pasquale," answered Nicolo, passing his handkerchief
+over his eyes as if wiping away a tear or two, "you will have observed
+that my actors occasionally introduce a little aria or so here and
+there; and my idea was to carry that further gradually; bring a small
+orchestra together, and finally evade prohibitions so far as to start
+an opera. You, Signor Capuzzi, are the first composer in all Italy, and
+it is only the incredible frivolity of the Romans, and the envy of the
+_Maestri_, that are to blame for the circumstance that anything except
+your compositions is to be heard on the stage. Signor Pasquale, I came
+to beg you, on my knees, to allow me to represent your immortal works
+in my theatre."
+
+"My good Signor Nicolo!" cried the old fellow, with bright sunshine in
+his face, "why are we talking here in the public street? Will you be
+kind enough to climb up a steep flight of stairs, and come with me into
+my humble dwelling?"
+
+As soon as he got into the room with Nicolo, he hauled out a great
+packet of dusty music-manuscript, opened it up, turned pages over, and
+began that frightful yelling and screeching which he called "singing."
+Nicolo demeaned himself like one enraptured. He sighed, he groaned; he
+cried "bravo!" from time to time, and "Bravissimo! Benedetto Capuzzi!"
+At length, as if in an excess of blissful enthusiasm, he fell at the
+old man's feet, and clasped his knees, hugging them so very tightly,
+however, that Capuzzi gave a great bound to try and shake him off,
+screamed with the pain, and cried out: "All the Saints! let me go,
+Signor Nicolo! you'll be the death of me!"
+
+"No!" cried Nicolo. "No, Signor Pasquale! I will not rise from this
+spot till you promise to let me have that heavenly aria which you have
+just rendered so magnificently, so that Formica may sing it two nights
+hence on my stage."
+
+"You are a person of some taste," sighed Pasquale; "a man of insight;
+to whom, rather than to you, should I intrust my compositions? You
+shall take all my arias with you (Oh! oh! do let me go!) but, oh
+heavens! I shall not hear them--my heavenly masterpieces! (Oh, oh! let
+go my legs, Signor Nicolo!)"
+
+"No!" cried Nicolo, still on his knees, and firmly grasping the old
+man's spindle-shanks like a vice. "No, Signor Pasquale! I will not let
+you go till you give me your word that you will come to my theatre the
+evening after to-morrow. Have no fear of being attacked again. You may
+be certain that, when the Romans have heard those arias of yours, they
+will carry you home triumphantly in a torchlight procession. But even
+if they do not, I and my trusty comrades will arm, and escort you
+safely home."
+
+"You and your comrades will escort me home, will you?" Pasquale
+inquired; "how many of them might there be?"
+
+"Eight or ten people will be at your disposal, Signor Pasquale. Make up
+your mind; decide upon coming, and yield to my earnest prayers."
+
+"Formica," lisped Pasquale, "has a capital voice; how he _would_ sing
+my arias!"
+
+"Decide on it," cried Nicolo once more, grasping the old man's legs
+tighter than ever.
+
+"You promise me," said Pasquale; "you undertake to be responsible that
+I get safe home without being set upon?"
+
+"Upon my life and honour," said Nicolo, giving the legs an extra grip.
+
+"Done!" cried the old gentleman. "The evening after to-morrow I shall
+be at your theatre."
+
+Nicolo jumped up, and pressed the old man to his heart with such
+violence that he coughed and gasped for breath.
+
+At this juncture Marianna came in. Pasquale tried to restrain her by
+casting a grim look at her, but in vain. She went straight to Musso,
+and said angrily: "It is of no use your trying to entice my dear uncle
+to go to your theatre again. Remember that the horrible trick played
+upon me by abandoned villains who have a plot against me nearly cost my
+darling uncle and his worthy friend Splendiano their lives, not to
+mention myself. Never will I allow him to run such a risk again. Cease
+your attempts, Nicolo. Dearest uncle! you will stay quietly at home,
+will you not, and never venture outside the Porto del Popolo again in
+the treacherous night, which is no one's friend?"
+
+This came upon Signor Pasquale like a clap of thunder. He gazed at his
+niece with eyes widely opened; and presently addressed her in the
+sweetest language, explaining to her at much length that Signor Nicolo
+had taken the responsibility of making such arrangements that there
+should be no possible risk of danger on the homeward way.
+
+"For all that," answered Marianna, "my opinion remains the same, and I
+implore you most earnestly, dearest uncle, not to go. Excuse me, Signor
+Nicolo, for speaking clearly in your presence, and uttering the dark
+presentiment which I so strongly feel. I know that Salvator Rosa is a
+friend of yours, and I have no doubt so is Antonio Scacciati. How if
+you were in collusion with my enemies? How if you are tempting my uncle
+(who, I know, will not go to your theatre unless I am with him) only to
+have a surer opportunity of carrying out some fresh plot against him?"
+
+"What an idea!" cried Nicolo, as if horrified. "What a terrible
+suspicion to entertain, Signora! Have you had such an evil experience
+of me in the past? Is my reputation such that you believe me capable of
+such a frightful piece of treachery? But if you _do_ think so badly of
+me--if you have no confidence in the help I have promised--you can
+bring Michele (who was so useful in rescuing you on the former
+occasion), and let him bring a good force of Sbirri, who could be
+waiting for you outside; as you could scarcely expect _me_ to fill my
+house with Sbirri."
+
+Marianna, looking him steadfastly in the eyes, said earnestly: "Since
+you suggest that, I see that you mean honourably, Signor Nicolo, and
+that my evil suspicions of you were unfounded. Pray forgive my
+thoughtless words. Yet I cannot overcome my anxiety, and my fear for my
+dearest uncle, and I again beg him not to venture upon this dangerous
+expedition."
+
+Signor Pasquale had listened to the conversation with strange looks,
+which clearly testified to the contest within him. He could now
+restrain himself no longer; he fell on his knees before Marianna,
+seized her hands, kissed them, covered them with tears which streamed
+from his eyes, and cried, as if beside himself: "Heavenly and adored
+Marianna! the fire in my heart breaks forth into flame! Ah! this
+anxiety, this fear on my account; what are they but the sweetest
+admissions of your love for me?" He entreated her not to allow herself
+to be alarmed in the very slightest degree, but to hear, on the stage,
+the most lovely of the arias which the divinest of composers ever had
+written.
+
+Nicolo, too, continued the most pathetic entreaties, until Marianna
+declared she was persuaded, and promised to lay aside all fear, and go
+with her dear uncle to the theatre outside the Porto del Popolo.
+
+Signor Pasquale was in the seventh heaven of bliss. He had the full
+conviction that Marianna loved him, and he was going to hear his own
+music on the stage, and gather the laurels which he had so long been
+striving for in vain. He was on the very point of finding his fondest
+dreams realized, and he wanted his light to shine in all its glory on
+his faithful friends. His idea, therefore, was that Signor Splendiano
+and little Pitichinaccio should go with him, just as they had done on
+the former occasion.
+
+But in addition to the spectres who had carried him off, all manner of
+direful apparitions had haunted Signor Splendiano on the night when he
+slept in his periwig near the Pyramid of Cestius. The whole
+burying-ground seemed to have come to life, and hundreds of the dead
+had stretched their bony arms out at him, complaining loudly concerning
+his essences and electuaries, the tortures of which were not abated
+even in the tomb. Hence the Pyramid Doctor, though he could not
+contradict Signor Pasquale when he held that the whole thing was only a
+trick performed by a parcel of wicked young men, continued to be in a
+melancholy mood; and though, formerly, he was not greatly prone to
+anything in the nature of superstition, he now saw spectres everywhere,
+and was sorely plagued with presentiments and evil dreams.
+
+As for Pitichinaccio, nothing would persuade him that those devils who
+fell upon him and Signor Pasquale were not real and veritable demons
+from the flames of hell, and he screamed aloud whenever any one so much
+as alluded to that terrible night. All Pasquale's assurances that it
+was only Antonio Scacciati and Salvator Rosa who were behind those
+devil's masks were unavailing; for Pitichinaccio vowed, with many
+tears, that, notwithstanding his terror, he distinctly recognized the
+fiend Fanfarell, by his voice and appearance, and that said Fanfarell
+had beaten his stomach black and blue.
+
+It may be imagined what trouble Signor Pasquale had to persuade the
+Pyramid Doctor and Pitichinaccio to go with him again to Musso's
+theatre. Splendiano did not agree to do so until he had succeeded in
+getting from a monk of the Order of St. Bernard a consecrated bag of
+musk (the smell whereof neither dead men nor devils can abide), with
+which he was proof against all attacks. Pitichinaccio could not resist
+the promise of a box of grapes in sugar, but Signor Pasquale had to
+expressly agree that he was not to wear female attire (which, he
+thought, was what had brought the devils upon him), but go in his
+Abbate's costume.
+
+What Salvator had dreaded seemed thus to be about to insist on
+happening, although, as he declared, his whole plot depended for
+success upon Signor Pasquale and Marianna going by themselves, without
+the faithful companions, to Musso's theatre.
+
+Both he and Antonio cudgelled their brains how to keep Splendiano and
+Pitichinaccio away; but there was not time enough to carry out any plan
+having that for its aim, as the great stroke itself had to be struck on
+the evening of the next day. But heaven--which often employs the oddest
+tools in the punishment of foolish folk--interposed, in this instance,
+in favour of the lovers, and so guided Michele that he gave the rein to
+his natural dunderheadedness, and by that means brought about what the
+skill of Salvator and Antonio was powerless to accomplish.
+
+On that self-same night there suddenly arose, in Strada Ripetta before
+Pasquale's house, such a terrible swearing, shouting, and quarrelling
+that all the neighbours started from their sleep, and the Sbirri (who
+had been after a murderer who took sanctuary in the Piazza di Spagna),
+supposing there was another murder going on, came hurrying up with
+their torches. When they, and a crowd of people attracted by the noise
+who came with them, arrived on the scene of the supposed murder, what
+was seen was poor little Pitichinaccio lying on the ground as if dead;
+Michele belabouring the Pyramid Doctor with a frightful cudgel, and the
+said Doctor in the act of falling down; whilst Signor Pasquale, picking
+himself up with difficulty, drew his sword, and began furiously lunging
+at Michele. All round lay fragments of shattered guitars. Several
+people stopped the old gentleman's arm, or he would infallibly have run
+Michele through the body. The latter (who, now that the torches had
+come, saw, for the first time, who it was that he had to do with),
+stood like a statue, with eyes staring out of his head. Presently He
+emitted a terrific yell, tore his hair, and implored forgiveness and
+mercy. Neither the Pyramid Doctor nor Pitichinaccio were seriously
+hurt, but they were so stiff, and so black and blue, that they could
+not move a muscle, and had to be carried home.
+
+Signor Pasquale had brought this trouble upon his own pate. We are
+aware that Salvator and Antonio had favoured Marianna with the most
+beautiful night-music imaginable, but I have forgotten to add that they
+went on repeating it on succeeding nights, tremendously infuriating
+Signor Pasquale; his anger was held in check by the neighbours, and he
+was silly enough to apply to the authorities to prevent the two
+painters from singing in Strada Ripetta. The authorities considered it
+an unheard of thing in Rome to forbid anybody singing whenever he
+chose, and said it was absurd to demand it. On this Signor Pasquale
+determined to put an end to the thing himself, and promised Michele a
+good sum of money if he would fall upon the singers and give them a
+good cudgelling on the first opportunity. Michele at once provided
+himself with a big stick, and kept watch every night behind the door.
+However, it happened that Salvator and Antonio thought it advisable to
+discontinue the night-music in Strada Ripetta on the nights immediately
+preceding the execution of their plot, so that nothing might suggest
+ideas of his enemies to the old man. And Marianna innocently remarked
+that, much as she hated Salvator and Antonio, she would have been very
+glad to hear their singing, for their music, soaring on the breeze in
+the night, surpassed everything.
+
+Pasquale took mental note of this, and, as an exquisite piece of
+gallantry, determined to delight and surprise his beloved with a
+serenata, composed by himself, and carefully rehearsed with his
+companions. So the very night before the projected visit to the theatre
+he slipped secretly out and fetched his two associates, who were
+prepared beforehand. But no sooner had they struck the first chords on
+their guitars than Michele (whom his master had unfortunately forgotten
+to warn of what was going to happen), in high glee at the near prospect
+of earning the promised reward, burst out at the door, and set to work
+unmercifully becudgelling the musicians. What happened afterwards we
+know. Of course it was out of the question that either Splendiano or
+Pitichinaccio could go with Pasquale to the theatre, as they were lying
+in their beds covered all over with sticking-plaster. But Signor
+Pasquale could not refrain from going himself, although his shoulders
+and back smarted not a little from the licking he had had; every note
+of his aria was a rope dragging him there irresistibly.
+
+"Now that the obstacle which we thought insurmountable has cleared
+itself out of the way of its own accord," said Salvator to Antonio,
+"everything depends upon your adroitness in not letting slip, when it
+comes, the proper moment for carrying your Marianna off from Nicolo's
+theatre. But you will not fail; and I greet you already as the
+bridegroom of Capuzzi's beautiful niece, who will be your wife in a few
+days. I wish you every happiness, Antonio, although it goes to my very
+marrow when I think of your marriage."
+
+"What do you mean, Salvator?" asked Antonio.
+
+"Call it whim, or fanciful idea, Antonio," he answered; "the long and
+the short of it is, I love women; but every one of them, even her whom
+I am madly in love with, for whom I would gladly die, affects my mind
+with an apprehension which raises in me the most inexplicable and
+mysterious shudder the moment I think of a union with her such as
+marriage would be. The unfathomable element in woman's nature mockingly
+sets all the weapons of our sex at complete defiance. She whom we
+believe to have devoted herself to us with her whole being--to have
+opened to us the innermost recesses of her nature--is the first to
+deceive us, and with the sweetest kisses we imbibe the most destroying
+poison."
+
+"And my Marianna?" asked Antonio, aghast.
+
+"Pardon me, Antonio," answered Salvator; "even your Marianna, who is
+sweetness and delightsomeness personified, has given me a fresh proof
+how constantly we are menaced by the mysterious nature of woman.
+Remember how that innocent, inexperienced child behaved when we took
+her uncle home to her; how, at one glance of mine, she comprehended the
+whole situation, and played her part, as you said yourself, with the
+most amazing ability. But that was not to be named in the same day with
+what happened when Musso went to see the old man. The most practised
+skill, the most impenetrable craftiness--in short, every art of the
+woman most accomplished and experienced in the ways of the world--could
+suggest nothing more than what little Marianna did, in order to throw
+dust in the old man's eyes with the most absolute assurance of success.
+She could not possibly have acted with greater talent to make the road
+clear for us, whatever our undertakings were to be. The campaign
+against the insane old fool was legitimate--every kind of trick and
+artifice seems justified; still, however, dear Antonio, don't let my
+dreamer's fancies influence you too much, and be as happy with your
+Marianna as ever you can."
+
+If only some monk had accompanied Signor Pasquale as he was on his way
+to Musso's theatre with Marianna, everybody must have thought the
+strange pair were being taken to the place of execution; for ahead of
+them marched Michele, truculent in aspect, and armed to the teeth; and
+he was followed by well on to twenty Sbirri, who were surrounding
+Signor Pasquale and Marianna.
+
+Nicolo received the old gentleman and the lady with much solemnity of
+ceremony, and conducted them to the places reserved for them close in
+front of the stage. Much flattered at being thus honoured, Signor
+Pasquale looked about him with proud, beaming glances; and his pleasure
+was increased by the circumstance that there were none but women round
+and behind Marianna. Behind the scenes, on the stage, one or two
+violins and a bass were being tuned, and the old gentleman's heart beat
+high with anticipation, and a sort of electric shock pierced through
+his joints and marrow when all at once the ritornello of his aria
+sounded.
+
+Formica came on as Pasquarello, and sang, with the gestures most
+peculiarly characteristic of Capuzzi, and in his very voice, that most
+atrocious of all arias. The theatre resounded with the audience's most
+uproarious laughter. People shouted out: "Ah! Pasquale Capuzzi!
+Compositore--Virtuoso celeberrimo! Bravo, bravissimo!" The old man, not
+observing the tone of the laughter, was all delight. When the aria
+ended, the audience called for silence; Doctor Graziano (played on this
+occasion by Nicolo) came on, holding his ears, and calling out to
+Pasquarello to cease his din, and not make such an insane crowing. He
+proceeded to ask Pasquarello when he had taken to singing, and where he
+had picked up that abominable tune. Pasquarello said he did not know
+what the Doctor meant, and that he was just like the Romans, who had no
+taste for real music, and left the finest talents in neglect. The aria,
+he said, was by the greatest of living composers and virtuosi, whose
+service it was his good fortune to be in, and who himself gave him
+lessons in music and singing. Graziano went over the names of a number
+of well-known composers and virtuosi, but at each renowned name
+Pasquarello disdainfully shook his head.
+
+At length he said the Doctor showed gross ignorance in not knowing the
+very greatest composer of the day--none other than Signor Pasquale
+Capuzzi, who had done him the honour to take him into his service.
+Could he not see that Pasquarello was the friend and servant of Signor
+Pasquale?
+
+The Doctor broke into an immoderate fit of laughter and cried: "What!
+had Pasquarello, after serving _him_, where, besides wages and food,
+many a good _quattrino_ fell into his mouth, gone to the very greatest
+and most accomplished skinflint and miser that ever swallowed
+macaroni?--to the motley Carnival-fool, who strutted about like a
+turkey-cock after a shower?--to that cur, that amorous old coxcomb, who
+poisons the air in Strada Ripetta with that disgusting goat-bleating
+which he calls 'singing?'" &c., &c.
+
+To this Pasquarello answered quite angrily, that it was mere envy on
+the Doctor's part. To speak with his heart in his hand (_parla col
+cuore in mano_) the Doctor was by no means in a position to pass a
+judgment on Signor Pasquale Capuzzi di Senegaglia. To speak heart in
+hand, the Doctor himself had a pretty good dash of all which he was
+finding fault with in the admirable Signor Pasquale. Speaking, as he
+was, heart in hand, he had often, himself, known some six hundred
+people or so to laugh with all their throats at Doctor Graziano
+himself. And then Pasquarello held forth at great length in praise of
+his new master, Signor Pasquale, attributing to him all possible
+excellences, and finishing with a description of his character, which
+he made out to be absolutely perfect as regarded amiability and
+lovableness.
+
+"Blessed Formica!" whispered Signor Capuzzi aside to himself, "I see
+that you have determined to render my triumph complete, by rubbing the
+noses of the Romans in all the envy and ingratitude with which they
+have persecuted me, and showing them clearly whom and what I am."
+
+"Here comes my master himself," cried Pasquarello; and there came on to
+the stage Signor Capuzzi, as he lived and moved, in dress, face, walk,
+and manner--in all respects so exactly similar to the Capuzzi down in
+the audience part of the house, that the latter, quite alarmed, let go
+his hold of Marianna (whom he had been holding up to this time with one
+hand), and rubbed his nose and periwig, as if to find out whether he
+was awake or dreaming of seeing his own double, or really in Nicolo
+Musso's theatre, obliged to believe his eyes, and infer that he did see
+this miraculous appearance.
+
+The Capuzzi on the stage embraced Doctor Graziano with much amity, and
+inquired after his welfare. The Doctor said his appetite was good, at
+his service (_per servir-lo_), and his sleep sound; but that his purse
+laboured under a complete depletion. Yesterday, in honour of his lady
+love, he said, he had spent his last ducat in buying a pair of rosemary
+stockings, and he was just going to certain bankers to see if they
+would lend him thirty ducats.
+
+"How could you think of such a thing?" cried Capuzzi. "Why pass the
+door of your best friend? Here, my dear sir, are fifty ducats; pray
+accept them."
+
+"Pasquale, what are you doing?" cried the Capuzzi down in the audience,
+half aloud.
+
+Doctor Graziano talked of giving a bill and paying interest; but the
+stage Capuzzi vowed he could not think of taking either from such a
+friend as the Doctor. "Pasquale! are you crazy?" cried the Capuzzi
+below, louder.
+
+Doctor Graziano made his exit here, after many grateful embracings.
+Pasquarello then went forward, with lowly reverences; lauded Signor
+Capuzzi to the skies; said _his_ (Pasquarello's) purse was afflicted
+with the same malady as the Doctor's, and begged for some of the same
+medicine. The Capuzzi on the stage laughed, saying he was glad that
+Pasquarello knew how to take advantage of his good dispositions, and
+threw him two or three shining ducats.
+
+"Pasquale, you're mad! the devil's in you!" the audience-Capuzzi cried,
+very loudly. The audience called him to order. Pasquarello waxed still
+louder in Capuzzi's praise, and came, at length, on the subject of the
+arias which he (Capuzzi) had composed, with which he (Pasquarello) was
+in hopes of charming the world. Capuzzi on the stage patted Pasquarello
+on the shoulder, and said he could confide to a faithful servant like
+_him_, that the truth was that he really knew nothing whatever about
+music, and that the aria he had been mentioning, like all the arias he
+had ever written, was cribbed from Frescobaldi's canzone, and
+Carissimi's motets.
+
+"You lie, you scoundrel, in your throat!" screamed the Capuzzi below,
+rising from his seat. "Silence!--sit down!" cried the audience; the
+women who were sitting near him dragged him down into his place.
+
+The stage-Capuzzi went on to say it was time, now, to come to matters
+of more importance. He wanted to give a large dinner the next day, and
+Pasquarello must set to work briskly to get together all the
+requirements. He drew out of his pocket a list of the most expensive
+and recherche dishes, and read it aloud; as each dish was mentioned,
+Pasquarello had to say how much it would cost, and the money was handed
+to him on the spot.
+
+"Pasquale!--idiotic fool!--madman!--spendthrift!--prodigal!" cried the
+Capuzzi below, in crescendo, after the mention of the several dishes,
+and grew more and more angry the higher the total bill for this most
+unheard-of of all dinners became.
+
+When at length the list was gone through, Pasquarello asked Signor
+Pasquale's reason for giving so grand a dinner; and Capuzzi (on the
+stage) replied: "To-morrow will be the happiest day of all my life. Let
+me tell you, my good Pasquarello, that to-morrow I celebrate the
+wedding-day, rich in blessings, of my dear niece Marianna. I am giving
+her hand to that fine young fellow, the greatest of all painters,
+Scacciati."
+
+Scarce had the Capuzzi on the stage uttered those words, than he of the
+audience, quite beside himself, and incapable of further self-control,
+sprang up, with all the fury of a demon in his face of fire, clenched
+both his fists at his counterfeit, and screamed out at him, in a
+yelling voice: "That you shall not!--that you shall never! you
+infernal scoundrel of a Pasquale! Will you defraud yourself of
+your own Marianna, you dog? Are you going to throw her at that
+diabolical rascal's head? The sweet Marianna--your life, your hope,
+your all-in-all? Ah, beware! Have a care, deluded blockhead! These
+fists shall beat you black and blue, and give you something else to
+think about than dinners and marriages."
+
+But the Capuzzi on the stage clenched _his_ fists too, and cried out in
+a similar fury, with the same yelling voice: "May all the devils enter
+your body! you cursed, senseless Pasquale! Abominable skinflint!--old
+amorous goose!--motley fool, with the cap and bells over your ears!
+Have a care of yourself, or I will blow the breath of life out of you!
+that the mean actions you want to father upon the shoulders of the
+good, honourable, upright Pasquale may be put an end to at last."
+
+To an accompaniment of the most furious curses and maledictions of the
+Capuzzi beneath, he on the stage proceeded to narrate one scurrilous
+story of him after another, finishing off by crying out: "Try if you
+dare, Pasquale--amorous old ape!--to interfere with the happiness of
+those two young people, destined for each other by heaven."
+
+As he spoke, there appeared at the back of the stage Antonio Scacciati
+and Marianna, with their arms about each other. Shaky as the old
+gentleman was on his legs, fury gave him strength and agility. At a
+bound he was on to the stage, where he drew his sword, and ran at
+Antonio. But he felt himself seized from behind; an officer of the
+Papal Guard was holding him, and said, in a serious tone: "Consider a
+little, Signor Pasquale Capuzzi; you are on Nicolo Musso's stage.
+Without being aware of it, you have been playing a most entertaining
+part this evening. You will not find Antonio or Marianna here." The two
+performers whom Capuzzi had taken to be them had come closer, with the
+rest of the actors, and he did not know their faces at all. The sword
+fell from his trembling hand; he drew a deep breath, like one waking
+from a fearful dream, clasped his forehead, forced his eyes wide open.
+The dreadful sense of what had really happened flashed upon him, and he
+cried: "Marianna!" in a terrible voice, till the walls re-echoed.
+
+But his calling could no longer reach her ears; for Antonio had
+carefully watched for the moment when Capuzzi, oblivious of everything,
+even himself, was contending with his counterfeit on the stage, had
+then cautiously made his way to Marianna, and taken her through the
+audience to a side door, where the Vetturino was waiting with the
+carriage; and away they were driven towards Florence as fast as they
+could go.
+
+"Marianna!" the old man continued crying. "She has gone!--she has
+flown!--the villain Antonio has robbed me of her! Away!--after her!
+Good people, have pity! Get torches; search for my dove! Ha, the
+serpent!"
+
+And the old man was making off; but the officer held him fast, saying:
+"If you mean the pretty young girl who was sitting by you, I rather
+fancy I saw her slip out with a young fellow--Antonio Scacciati, I
+believe,--some considerable time ago, just as you were beginning that
+useless, silly quarrel with the actor who had on a mask something like
+you. Signor Pasquale, it is my duty to arrest you, on account of your
+behaviour, and the murderous attack upon the actor."
+
+Signor Pasquale, with pale death in his face, incapable of uttering a
+word or a sound, was marched off by the very Sbirri who had come there
+to protect him from masquerading demons and spectres. Thus there fell
+upon him deep distress and sorrow, and all the wild despair of a
+foolish and deceived old amorous fool, on the very night when he looked
+to celebrate his greatest triumph.
+
+
+      Salvator Rosa Quits Rome For Florence. The End Of This Story.
+
+All things here below under the sun are subject to constant change and
+fluctuation, but there is nothing that more deserves to be called
+fickle and fleeting than mankind's opinions, which keep rotating in an
+eternal circle, like Fortune's wheel. Bitter censure falls to-day upon
+him who yesterday gathered a grand harvest of praise; he who walks
+to-day a-foot may to-morrow ride in a gilded chariot.
+
+Who was there in all Rome who did not scorn and mock at old Capuzzi,
+with his mean avarice, his silly amorousness, his crazy jealousy?--or
+who did not wish the poor tormented Marianna her freedom? Yet now that
+Antonio had succeeded in carrying her off, all the scorn and mockery
+suddenly turned to pity for the poor old fellow who was seen creeping
+about the streets of Rome, with bowed head, inconsolable.
+
+Misfortunes rarely come singly. Soon after Marianna had been carried
+off, Pasquale lost his dearest bosom friends. Little Pitichinaccio
+choked himself with an almond, which he incautiously tried to swallow
+as he was in the middle of a _cadenza_; and a slip of the pen (of
+his own making) put a sudden period to the life of the renowned
+Pyramid-Doctor, Signor Splendiano Accoramboni. Michele's cudgelling had
+such an effect on him that he fell into a fever. He determined to cure
+himself by a remedy which he believed he had discovered. He demanded
+pen and ink, and wrote a recipe, in which, by putting down a wrong
+fever, he enormously increased the quantity of a very powerful
+ingredient; so that as soon as he swallowed the medicine he fell back
+upon his pillow and was gone; proving, by his own death, the effect of
+this final tincture of his prescribing in the most striking and heroic
+manner.
+
+As we have said, all who had previously laughed the most heartily at
+Capuzzi, and the most sincerely wished success to the brave Antonio in
+his undertaking, were now all compassion for the old man; and the
+bitterest blame was laid, not upon Antonio so much as upon Salvator
+Rosa, whom they all, with very good reason, held to have been at the
+bottom of the whole affair.
+
+Salvator's enemies (of whom there were a goodly band) were not slow to
+stir up the fire to the best of their ability. "See!" they said; "this
+is Masaniello's worthy comrade, always ready to lay his hand to any
+evil trick, any robberish undertaking; if his dangerous stay in Rome is
+prolonged, we shall soon feel the effects of it heavily."
+
+And, in fact, the ignoble herd of those who conspired against Salvator
+succeeded in stemming the bold flight which his fame would otherwise
+have taken. One picture after another came from his hand, bold of
+conception, magnificent of execution, but the so-called "connoisseurs"
+always shrugged the shoulder; said, now that the mountains were too
+blue; now, that the trees were too green, the figures too tall, or
+too stumpy; found fault with everything where there was no fault
+to be found, and made it their business to detract from Salvator's
+well-merited renown in every possible way. His chief persecutors were
+the members of the Academia di San Luca, who could never get over the
+affair of the surgeon, and went out of their own province to depreciate
+the pretty verses which Salvator wrote about that time, even trying to
+make out that he did not live upon the fruit of his own land, but
+pilfered the property of other people. And this, too, led to Salvator's
+being by no means in a position to surround himself with the splendour
+and luxury which he had formerly displayed in Rome. Instead of the
+grand, spacious studio, where all the celebrities of Rome used to visit
+him, he went on living at Dame Caterina's, beside his green figtree.
+And in this very restrictedness he, doubtless, soon found comfort and
+ease of heart.
+
+But he laid the malignant conduct of his enemies more to heart than
+there was any occasion for; nay, he felt as though some creeping
+malady, engendered by annoyance and vexation, was gnawing at his inmost
+marrow. In this evil mood, he conceived and executed the great pictures
+which set all Rome in uproar. One of them represented the
+transitoriness of all earthly things; and in the principal female
+figure (which bore all the marks of a disreputable calling) it was easy
+to recognize the lady-love of one of the Cardinals. In the other was
+shown the Goddess of Fortune distributing her precious gifts. But
+Cardinal's hats, Bishop's mitres, and decorations were falling down
+upon bleating sheep, braying asses, and other despised creatures;
+whilst well-favoured men, in tattered garments, looked up in vain
+for the slightest favour. Salvator had given the rein to his bitter
+mood, and those beasts' heads had very striking resemblances to sundry
+well-known characters. It may be imagined how the hatred of him
+increased, and how much more bitterly he was persecuted than before.
+
+Dame Caterina cautioned him with tears in her eyes. She had noticed
+that as soon as it was dark, birds of evil omen--suspicious-looking
+characters--came slinking about the house, watching Salvator's every
+step. He saw that it was time to be gone; and Dame Caterina and her
+dear daughters were the only people he felt any pain in parting from.
+Remembering the Duke of Tuscany's repeated invitations, he went to
+Florence; and there his mortification was richly compensated for, and
+the annoyances of tome lost sight of in the honour and fame--so richly
+merited--which were bestowed upon him in fullest measure. The Duke's
+presents, and the large prices which he got for his pictures, soon
+enabled him to occupy a large mansion, and furnish it in the most
+magnificent style. There he collected round him all the most famous
+poets and literati of the day; it is sufficient to mention amongst them
+Evangelista Torricelli, Valerio Chimentelli, Battista Ricciardi, Andrea
+Cavalcanti, Pietro Salviati, Filippo Apolloni, Volumnio Bandelli,
+Francesco Rovai. Art and science were joined together in a charming
+fusion, and Salvator Rosa had a manner of endowing the meetings with an
+element of the fanciful, which in a peculiar manner gave a stimulus to
+the thoughts and ideas of the company. Thus, the dining-hall had the
+appearance of a beautiful shrubbery, containing sweet-smelling bushes
+and flowers and gurgling springs; and the very dishes, served by
+singularly-attired pages, had a wonderful appearance, as if they came
+from some far-off enchanted land. These assemblages of poets and
+_savants_ in Salvator Rosa's house were at the time known as the
+Academia de' Percossi.
+
+But although Salvator occupied his mind in this manner with art and
+science, his inmost heart was cheered by his friend Antonio Scacciati,
+who was living a happy artistic life, free from care, with the
+beautiful Marianna. They used to think, sometimes, of the old deceived
+Signor Pasquale, and all that took place in Nicolo Musso's theatre. And
+Antonio asked Salvator how he had managed to interest not only Musso,
+but the wonderful Formica and Agli, in his affairs, to employ their
+talents on his behalf as they had done. Salvator said it had been an
+easy matter, inasmuch as Formica had been his most intimate friend in
+Rome, and always delighted to carry out upon the stage anything that he
+had suggested to him. Antonio declared that, much as he was unable
+still to help laughing when he thought of the occurrence which had made
+no happiness, he wished, from his heart, for a reconciliation with the
+old man, even although he should never touch a farthing of Marianna's
+fortune (which the old man had taken possession of), seeing that his
+art brought him money enough. Marianna, too, could often not restrain
+her tears at the thought that her father's brother would never till his
+dying day forgive the trick that had been played upon him; and thus
+Pasquale's hatred cast a sorrowful shadow upon her happy life. Salvator
+comforted them both with the thought that time cures much harder
+matters, and that chance might perhaps bring the old man to them in a
+much less dangerous manner than if they had remained in Rome, or were
+to go back there now.
+
+We shall find that a spirit of prophecy dwelt in Salvator. A
+considerable time had elapsed, when one day Antonio burst into
+Salvator's studio, breathless, and pale as death. "Salvator!" he cried;
+"my friend! my protector!--I am lost unless you help me! Pasquale
+Capuzzi is here, and has got a warrant to arrest me for carrying off
+his niece."
+
+"But what can Pasquale do to you now?" asked Salvator. Has not the
+Church united Marianna and you?"
+
+"Alas!" answered Antonio, in despair, "even the Church cannot save me
+here. Heaven knows how he has accomplished it, but the old man has
+managed to get the ear of the Pope's nephew; and it is this nephew who
+has taken him under his protection, and given him hope that the Holy
+Father will declare our marriage void; and not only that, but give him
+a dispensation to enable _him_ to marry his niece."
+
+"Stop!" cried Salvator. "Now--_now_ I understand the whole matter. It
+is that nephew's hatred for _me_, Antonio, which threatens to ruin
+everything. This nephew--this conceited, raw, boorish fellow--is one of
+those beasts which the Goddess of Fortune is overwhelming with her
+gifts in that picture of mine. That it was I who helped you to your
+Marianna--more or less indirectly, of course--is known not only to this
+nephew, but to every one in Rome. Season enough to persecute you, since
+they cannot specify anything against _me_. Even were it not for my
+affection for you, Antonio, as my best and dearest friend, I could not
+but stand by you if it were for nothing else than that it is I who have
+brought this mischance upon you. But, by all the saints, I do not see
+how I am to set about spoiling the game of your enemies."
+
+As he said this Salvator, who up to this point had been working away at
+a picture without interrupting himself, laid his brushes, palette and
+mahlstick down, got up from his easel, and, folding his arms across his
+breast, strode 'several times up and down, whilst Antonio, in deepest
+thought, contemplated the floor with fixed glance.
+
+Presently Salvator halted before him, and cried, laughing: "Antonio,
+there is nothing that _I_ can accomplish as against your powerful
+enemies; but there is _one_ who can, and will, help you; and that is
+Signor Formica."
+
+"Alas!" cried Antonio; "do not jest with an unfortunate, for whom there
+is no further salvation."
+
+"Still determined to despair?" cried Salvator, who had suddenly risen
+into the highest spirits. He laughed aloud: "I tell you, Antonio,
+friend Formica will help in Florence quite as well as he did in Rome.
+Go quietly home. Comfort your Marianna, and await the course of events
+quite tranquilly. All I expect of you is that you will be ready and
+prepared to do whatever Signor Formica--who happens to be here at this
+moment--may require of you." Antonio promised obedience with all his
+heart, hope and confidence at once beginning to glimmer up within him.
+
+Signor Pasquale was not a little astonished to receive a formal
+invitation from the Academia de' Percossi. "Ha!--indeed!" he cried.
+"One sees that Florence is the place where they know how to esteem
+merit; where a man endowed with such gifts as Signor Pasquale Capuzzi
+di Senegalia chances to possess, is properly appreciated."
+
+Thus the thought of the amount of artistic knowledge which he
+possessed, and of the honours which were being paid to him in
+consequence, overcame the repugnance which he would otherwise have
+entertained to an assemblage which had Salvator Rosa, at its head. The
+Spanish state costume was brushed more carefully than usual; the
+steeple-crowned hat adorned with a new feather; the shoes set off with
+fresh bows of ribbon; and Signor Pasquale made his appearance in
+Salvator's house glittering like a golden beetle, with a countenance of
+radiant sunshine. The splendour around him--Salvator himself (who was
+much more finely dressed than he had been wont to be)--inspired him
+with reverence; and--as is usually the case with shallow souls, which
+are puffed-up at first, but at once fall down into the dust when they
+perceive any distinct superiority over them--Pasquale was all deference
+and humility towards that Salvator whom he was for ever lording over in
+Rome.
+
+So much attention was paid to Signor Pasquale on all hands; his
+opinions were so unconditionally appealed to; so much was said as to
+his artistic merits, that he felt himself a new man; nay, it seemed to
+him that a special spirit came to life within him, so that he really
+spoke much more sensibly on many subjects than might have been
+expected. As, in addition to all this, he had never in all his life
+partaken of such a splendid dinner, or tasted such inspiring wine, his
+enjoyment necessarily mounted higher and higher, and he forgot all
+about the wrongs done him in Rome, and the unpleasant business which
+had brought him to Florence.
+
+In a short time the bushes at the bottom of the hall began to get in
+motion, the leafy branches opened out apart, and a little theatre came
+into view, with its stage, and some seats for an audience.
+
+"All ye saints!" cried Pasquale Capuzzi, in much alarm. "Where am I?
+That is Nicolo Mussos's theatre!"
+
+Without paying attention to his outcry, two gentlemen of dignified
+appearance--Evangelista Torricelli and Andrea Cavalcanti--took him by
+the arms, one on each side, and conducted him to a seat in front of the
+stage, taking their places on either side of him.
+
+No sooner were they seated than there entered on to the stage, Formica,
+as Pasquarello!
+
+"Accursed Formica!" cried Pasquale, springing up and shaking his
+clenched fist towards the stage. Torricelli's and Cavalcanti's grave
+looks of disapproval, however, constrained him to silence and
+quietness.
+
+Pasquarello sobbed, wept, and cursed his fate which brought him nothing
+but grief and misery; declared he did not know how he should manage to
+laugh, were it but ever so little, and concluded by saying that, in the
+excess of his despair, he would most certainly cut his throat, were it
+not that the sight of blood always made him faint; or throw himself
+into the river, if he only could help swimming when in the water.
+
+Here Doctor Graziano entered and inquired the cause of his grief.
+
+Pasquarello asked him if he did not know what had been happening in his
+master's, Signor Pasquale Capuzzi di Senegaglia's, house?--whether he
+had heard that an abandoned ruffian had run off with his master's
+niece, Marianna?
+
+"Ha!" murmured Capuzzi, "I see what it is, Signor Formica. You think
+you will exculpate and excuse yourself; you desire my forgiveness.
+Well, we shall see."
+
+Doctor Graziano expressed his sympathy, and thought the ruffian must
+have been very clever to have evaded Capuzzi's search after him.
+Pasquarello told the Doctor not to allow himself to imagine that the
+rascal Antonio Scacciati succeeded in getting the better of the deep
+and clever Signor Pasquale Capuzzi, supported as he was, moreover, by
+influential friends. Antonio was in prison, his marriage declared void,
+and Marianna again in her uncle's hands.
+
+"Has he got her?" cried Capuzzi, beyond himself; "has he got her again,
+the good Capuzzi? Has he got his little dove again; his Marianna? Is
+the scoundrel Antonio in prison? O most blessed Formica!"
+
+"You take too lively an interest in the piece, Signor Pasquale," said
+Cavalcanti very seriously. "Pray allow the actors to speak, and do not
+interrupt them."
+
+Signor Pasquale, abashed, sat down in his place again.
+
+Pasquarello went on to say that there had been a wedding. Marianna had
+repented of what she had done; Signor Pasquale had obtained the
+necessary dispensation from the Holy Father, and had married his niece.
+
+"Yes, yes," murmured Pasquale, aside, whilst his eyes shone with
+delight; "yes, yes, my dearest Formica! He marries the sweet Marianna,
+the lucky Pasquale! He always knew the little dove loved him; it was
+but the devil that led her astray."
+
+In that case, Doctor Graziano said, everything was well, and there was
+no cause for lamentation.
+
+But Pasquarello began to sob and cry more violently than before, and at
+last fell down in a faint, as if overcome by his terrible sorrow.
+
+Doctor Graziano ran about anxiously; regretted that he had not a
+smelling-bottle about him; searched in all his pockets, and at length
+pulled out a roasted chestnut, which he held under the nose of the
+insensible Pasquarello. The latter recovered at once, sneezing
+violently, begged him to excuse the weak state of his nerves, and went
+on to say that after the marriage Marianna had fallen into the deepest
+melancholy, calling continually on Antonio's name, and regarding the
+old man with loathing and contempt. But the latter, blinded by his love
+and jealousy, had never ceased torturing her in the most terrible
+manner with his foolishness. Then Pasquarello related a number of mad
+tricks which Pasquale had been guilty of, and which were actually told
+of him in Rome. Signor Pasquale jigged uneasily on his seat here and
+there, murmuring, "Accursed Formica, you lie!--what devil inspires
+you?" It was only the fact that Torricelli and Cavalcanti kept their
+grave eyes fixed upon him that restrained a wild outburst of his anger.
+Pasquarello ended by saying that the luckless Marianna had at last
+fallen a victim to her unstilled love-longing, her bitter sorrow, and
+the thousand-fold tortures which the accursed old man had inflicted
+upon her, and had passed away from this world, in the flower of her
+age.
+
+At this moment there was heard an awe-inspiring _De profundis_, chanted
+by hoarse and hollow voices; and men in long white mantles appeared
+upon the stage bearing a bier, on which lay the body of the beautiful
+Marianna, shrouded in white grave-clothes. Signor Pasquale Capuzzi, in
+the deepest mourning, tottered along behind it, moaning aloud, beating
+his breast, and crying, in his despair, "Oh, Marianna! Marianna!"
+
+When the Capuzzi in the audience saw the body of his niece, both the
+Capuzzis (him on the stage and he of the audience) howled, and cried in
+the most heart-breaking tones: "Oh, Marianna! Oh, Marianna! Miserable
+man that I am! Ah me! Ah me!"
+
+Imagine the corpse of the beautiful girl on the open tier, Surrounded
+by the mourners, their solemn _De profundis_, and along with all
+this, the comic masks, Doctor Graziano and Pasquarello, expressing
+their grief in the most absurd gesticulations; and then the two
+Capuzzis, howling and crying in despair. And in truth, all they who
+were spectators of this strangest of dramatic representations,
+notwithstanding the irrepressible laughter into which they could not
+help breaking over the extraordinary old man, were penetrated by a deep
+and eerie shudder of awe.
+
+The stage now suddenly grew dark. There was thunder and lightning; and
+out of the depths arose a pale and spectral form, exactly alike in
+every feature to Capuzzi's brother, Pietro, father of Marianna, who
+died in Senegaglia.
+
+"Wicked Pasquale!" cried the spectre-form, in hollow, terrible tones;
+"what have you done with my daughter? Despair and die, accursed
+murderer of my child! Your reward awaits you in hell!"
+
+The Capuzzi on the stage fell down as if struck by lightning, and at
+the same instant the Capuzzi down beneath fell senseless from his seat.
+The branches rustling, closed into their former places; and the stage,
+with Marianna and Capuzzi, and Pietro's grizzly ghost, disappeared from
+view. Signor Pasquale was in such a deep faint that it cost some
+trouble to bring him to himself again.
+
+At last he revived, with a deep sigh, stretched his hands out before
+him as if to keep off the terror which seized upon him, and cried in
+hollow tones: "Let me go, Pietro!" A stream of tears burst from his
+eyes, and he cried, with sobs: "Ah, Marianna!--my darling beautiful
+girl!--my own Marianna!"
+
+"Bethink you!" said Cavalcanti at last. "Consider Signor Pasquale! It
+was only on the stage that you saw your niece dead. She is alive. She
+is here, to implore your forgiveness for the thoughtless stratagem to
+which love--and, perhaps, your own inconsiderate conduct--impelled
+her."
+
+Here Marianna, with Antonio Scacciati behind her, rushed forward from
+the back of the hall, and fell at the feet of the old gentleman, who
+had been placed in an easy chair. Marianna, in the fullest lustre of
+her beauty, kissed his hands, bedewed them with hot tears, and begged
+forgiveness for herself and Antonio, united to her by the Church's
+benediction. From the old man's deathly pale face flames suddenly
+broke, fury flashed from his eyes, and he cried in a half-articulate
+voice: "Ha! abandoned wretch!--venomous serpent! whom I nourished in my
+bosom, for my destruction!" But the grave old Torricelli came up to
+him, in all his dignity, and said that he (Capuzzi) had seen in a
+figure the fate which would inevitably overtake him if he dared to
+prosecute his evil design against the peace and happiness of Antonio
+and Marianna. He painted, in the most brilliant colours, the folly--the
+madness--of amorous old age yielding to love, which has the power of
+bringing down upon its head the most destroying evil with which Heaven
+can threaten man, since it annihilates all the affection which
+might still be his portion, whilst hatred and contempt aim their
+death-dealing arrows at him from every side.
+
+And Marianna cried out, in a tone which penetrated the heart: "Oh, my
+uncle! I want to love and honour you as a father! You will bring me to
+the bitter death if you take Antonio from me!"
+
+And all the poets who were surrounding the old man cried, with one
+voice, that it was impossible that such an one as Signor Pasquale
+Capuzzi di Senegaglia--a lover and patron of the arts, himself an
+admirable and accomplished artist--should not forgive; that he, who
+occupied the position of a father to the loveliest of women, should not
+welcome with joy, as a son-in-law, a painter such as Antonio Scacciati,
+prized by the whole of Italy, overwhelmed with honour and fame.
+
+It was easy to see that a mental process of some kind was going on
+within the old man. He sighed; he groaned; he hid his face in his
+hands, whilst Torricelli plied him with the most convincing arguments;
+whilst Marianna implored him, in the most moving accents; whilst the
+others extolled and belauded Antonio Scacciati to the utmost of their
+skill. The old man looked, now at his niece, now at Antonio, whose fine
+dress and rich chain of honour proved the truth of what was urged as to
+his artistic position and success.
+
+All anger had disappeared from Capuzzi's countenance. He sprung up with
+beaming glances, pressed Marianna to his heart, and cried: "Yes, I
+forgive you, my beloved child! I forgive you, Antonio! Far be it from
+mo to destroy your happiness. You are right, my worthy Signor
+Torricelli. Signor Formica has shown me, in a figure, on the stage, all
+the misery and destruction which would have come upon me if I had
+carried out my insane idea. I am cured--completely cured--of my folly.
+But where is Signor Formica?--where is my worthy physician, that I may
+thank him a thousand times for my recovery, which he has brought about.
+The terror which he knew how to cause me has transformed my whole
+being."
+
+Pasquarello came forward. Antonio threw himself upon his breast,
+crying:
+
+"Oh, Signor Formica! to whom I owe my life, my all! cast aside the mask
+which disguises you, that I may see your face--that Formica may cease
+to be a mystery to me."
+
+Pasquarello took off the cap, and the skilfully-constructed mask, which
+seemed to be an actual, natural face, placing no obstacle in the way of
+facial expression. And this Formica--this Pasquarello--was transformed
+into--Salvator Rosa!
+
+"Salvator!" cried Marianna, Antonio, and Capuzzi, _ensemble_, all
+amazement.
+
+"Yes," said that wondrous man. "Salvator Rosa; whom the Romans would
+have none of, as painter, as poet; and who, as Formica, for more than a
+year, on Nicolo Musso's poor little stage, moved them almost nightly to
+the loudest and most immoderate applause; from whom they gladly
+accepted all ridicule and mockery of what was bad, though they would
+not swallow it in Salvator's poems and pictures. Salvator Formica it is
+who has aided you, dear Antonio."
+
+"Salvator!" old Capuzzi began; "Salvator Rosa! I have looked upon you
+as my worst enemy, but I have always held your art in highest honour;
+and now I love you as the most valued of my friends, and I venture to
+beg you to accept me as such."
+
+"Say, my worthy Signor Pasquale," answered Salvator, "in what I can be
+of service to you, and be assured beforehand that I will employ all my
+powers to fulfil your desires."
+
+There dawned in Capuzzi's face once more that sugary smile which had
+vanished since Marianna's departure. He took Salvator's hand, and
+whispered gently: "My dear Signor Salvator, you can do anything with
+the good Antonio. Beg him, in my name, to allow me to spend the brief
+remainder of my days with him and my dear daughter Marianna, and to
+accept from me the fortune which she inherits from her mother, to which
+I mean to add a liberal marriage-portion. And then, too, he mustn't
+look askew if I now and then kiss the lovely child's little white hand;
+and--at all events on Sundays when I go to mass--he must dress my
+moustache for me; a thing which nobody in all the world can do as he
+can."
+
+Salvator had difficulty in restraining his laughter; but before he
+could make answer, Antonio and Marianna, embracing the old man, assured
+him that they would not consider the reconciliation complete, or feel
+thoroughly happy, until he took his place by their hearth as a beloved
+father, never to leave them more. Antonio added that he would dress
+Capuzzi's moustachios not only on Sundays, but every day of the week,
+in the daintiest manner. And now the old man was all joy and happiness.
+Meanwhile a splendid supper had been served, and to this they all sate
+down, in the happiest mood of mind.
+
+In taking my leave of you, dear reader, I wish with all my heart that
+the happiness which has now fallen to the lot of Salvator and all his
+friends, may have glowed very brightly in your own breast, whilst you
+have been reading the story of the marvellous Signor Formica.
+
+
+"Now," began Lothair, when Ottmar had ended, "since our friend has
+been fair and honourable enough to admit from the outset the lack of
+vigour--the weakness of knee, so to speak, of his production, which it
+has pleased him to call a 'Novella,' this appeal to our considerateness
+does, certainly, draw the sting out of our criticisms, which were
+formed up, in complete steel, to attack him. He bares his bosom to the
+partizan-pike, and therefore, as magnanimous adversaries, we withhold
+our thrust, and are bound to have mercy."
+
+"More than that," said Cyprian, "to console his pain, we feel ourselves
+permitted to bestow a certain limited amount of praise. For my part, I
+see a good deal in this work that is pleasant and Serapiontic.
+Capuzzi's broken leg, for instance, and its consequences, his
+mysterious serenade----"
+
+"Which," interrupted Vincenz, "has all the more of the real Spanish, or
+the true Italian smack about it, just because it ends with a tremendous
+cudgelling. No proper Novella of the kind would be complete without the
+due amount of licking, and I prize it highly as, medically speaking, a
+specially powerful stimulant, always employed by the best writers. In
+Boccacio things hardly ever wind up without cudgelling; and where does
+it rain more blows or thrusts than in the Romance of all Romances, 'Don
+Quixote?' Cervantes himself considered it necessary to apologise to his
+readers about it. Now-a-days intellectual ladies will have none of such
+matters in connection with the mental 'teas' (which they enjoy along
+with tea for the body); the honoured hide of a favourite poet--if he
+would retain his footing at 'teas,' and in pocket-books--must, at
+highest, be blackened by a tap or so on the nose, or the least little
+box on an ear. But what of tea? What of cultivated ladies? Behold in
+me, oh, Ottmar, your champion in complete armour, and cudgel soundly in
+all the novels you may be thinking of writing. I praise you for the
+cudgelling's sake."
+
+"And I," said Theodore, "for the delightful trio which Capuzzi, the
+Pyramid-doctor, and the somewhat shudder-creating little abortion,
+Pitichinaccio, form; and, moreover, for the wonderful way in which
+Salvator Rosa--who never appears as the hero of the tale, but always as
+an auxiliary--conforms to his character as it is described, and also as
+it appears in his own works."
+
+"Ottmar," said Sylvester, "has held chiefly to the adventurous and
+enterprising side of his character, and given us less of what was grave
+and gloomy in him. _A propos_ of this, I think of the famous sonnet in
+which, allegorising on his own name--Salvator--he utters his deep
+indignation at his enemies and persecutors who accused him of
+plundering from older writers in his poetry, which, indeed, is all
+ruggedness, and deficient in interior connectedness."
+
+"But," said Lothair, "to return to Ottmar's Novella. The principal
+fault which I have to find with it is that, instead of a story rounding
+itself into a whole in all its parts, he has merely given us a series
+of pictures, although they are often delightful enough."
+
+"Can I do otherwise than fully agree with you?" said Ottmar. "Still,
+you will all admit that it requires very skilful navigation to keep
+clear of the rocks upon which I have run."
+
+"Perhaps," said Sylvester, "the rocks in question are more dangerous to
+dramatic writers. Nothing--at least in my opinion--is more annoying
+than, instead of a Comedy, in which all that happens is necessarily and
+closely attached to the thread which runs through the piece, and should
+appear to be indispensably necessary to the picture represented, to see
+merely a series of arbitrary incidents, or even unconnected, detached
+situations; and indeed, the ablest dramatic author of recent times has
+set the example of this thoughtless (or 'frivolous') treatment of
+Comedy. Does the 'Pagen-streiche,' for example, consist of anything but
+a series of ludicrous situations strung together apparently by chance,
+and at random? In former days, when, on the whole (at all events as
+regards the drama), one cannot complain of the want of due seriousness,
+every writer of a Comedy took much pains to construct a regular plot,
+and out of that plot all the comic element, the drollery, nay, the very
+absurdity, duly evolved itself, of itself; because it seemed the
+natural thing for it to do. Juenger (although he but too often seems
+very 'flat') always did this, and even Brenner--utterly prosaic as he
+was on the whole--was by no means deficient in the power of making the
+comic element flow out from his plots, and his characters have often
+real force and vividness of life, derived from actuality; as, for
+instance, in his 'Eheprokurator.' Only those ladies of his, with their
+grand phrases, are completely unenjoyablo by us nowadays.
+Notwithstanding this, I have a very high opinion of him, for the
+reasons I have given."
+
+"In my mind," said Theodore, "his Operas put him out of court
+altogether. They may serve as examples how an opera ought not to be
+written."
+
+"For the simple reason," said Vincenz, "that the departed (peace to his
+ashes, as Sylvester very properly said) did not show many signs of
+having much poetry in his constitution; so that in the romantic realm
+of opera he could not find the slightest indication of a track to go
+upon. However, as you are talking in this strain on the subject of
+Comedy, I might do worse than point out that you are wasting your time
+in discussing a nonentity--a thing which does not exist; and cry out to
+you, as Romeo did to Mercutio--
+
+          'Peace, peace, good people, peace,
+            Ye talk of nothing.'
+
+What I mean is that, taking them altogether, we never see a single
+German Comedy presented on the stage, for the simple reason that the
+old ones cannot be swallowed or digested (by reason of the weakness
+of our stomachs), and new ones are no longer written. The reason
+of the latter I might establish, very briefly, in a treatise of
+some forty sheets or so; but, for the moment, I let you off with a
+play-upon-words. What I say is, that we have no comic plays, because we
+have none of the comic which plays with itself; nor the sense for it."
+
+"Dixi," cried Sylvester, laughing. "Dixi, and the name 'Vincenz'
+thereunder, with due stamp and seal. I happened, at the moment, to be
+thinking that in the lowest class of dramatic performances, or rather
+of productions destined to be represented on the stage, perhaps those
+should be included in which some clever _farceur_ mystifies and befools
+some good uncle--a theatre director, or some such person. And yet it is
+not so very long ago that shallow, stupid stuff of this description
+constituted almost the daily bread of every stage. Just at present
+there seems to be more or less an intermission in this."
+
+"It will never come to an end," said Theodore, "as long as there are
+actors to whom nothing in the world can be more delightful than to let
+themselves be wondered at and admired as chameleontic marvels, in
+that they change their costume and appearance in the most varied
+manner in the course of the same evening. Right out of the very
+depths of my being have I been compelled to roar with laughter over
+the self-apotheosis of self-sufficiency with which, after passing
+through a marvellous series of soul-transmigrations, the true _ego_ of
+the performer takes its enfranchised flight, like a beautiful insect.
+Generally speaking, this is done in the shape of a pretty, elegant
+night-moth, dressed in black, with silk stockings, and a three-cornered
+hat under one arm, having, from the moment of its appearance as such,
+only to deal with the admiring public, not troubling itself about that
+which previously had been doing it soccage-service. As (_vide_ Wilhelm
+Meister's 'Lehr-jahren') a special line of parts may so bind and
+enslave to it some given actor, who, for instance, plays all the
+characters who have to be cudgelled, or otherwise maltreated, every
+stage must possess a _sujet_ who undertakes all the parts of the
+character of _souffre douleur_, and consequently plays those
+indispensable theatre managers, &c.; at all events, every starring
+actor has a part of the kind in his pocket, by way of entrance-pass, or
+letter of credit."
+
+"What you say," answered Lothair, "reminds me of a most extraordinary
+fellow whom I met with in a theatrical troupe in a small town in the
+south of Germany, who was the exact image of that 'pedant' (to speak
+technically) in Wilhelm Meister. Insupportable as he now was on the
+stage in his little minor parts, _praying_ them out in the most direful
+monotony, it was said that formerly, in his younger days, he had been
+a capital actor, and used to play, for instance, those sly, scampish
+inn-keepers which, in older times, used to occur in almost every
+comedy, and over whose total disappearance from the stage the host in
+Tieck's 'Verkehrter Welt' complains. When I knew this man he seemed to
+have completely accepted his fate, which truely had been a pretty hard
+one, and, in complete apathy, to place no value on anything in the
+world, least of all on himself. Nothing penetrated the crust which the
+heaping up of the most complete wretchedness had formed over the
+surface of his better self, and he was perfectly satisfied with himself
+under it; and yet there often beamed out of his deep-set, clever eyes
+the gleam of a higher intelligence, and there would rapidly jerk over
+his face the expression of a bitter irony, so that the exaggerated
+submissiveness with which he bore himself towards every one--and
+more particularly towards his manager (a silly young man, full of
+vanity)--took, in him, the form of an ironical contempt. On Sundays he
+used to take his seat at the lower end of the _table d'hote_ of the
+best hotel in the place, dressed in a good well-brushed suit of
+clothes, whose cut and extraordinary pattern indicated the actor of a
+long by-gone period; and there he enjoyed a hearty meal, never saying a
+word to a soul, although he was exceptionally temperate, particularly
+as regarded the wine, for he scarcely half-emptied the bottle which was
+placed before him. At each filling of his glass he made a courteous bow
+to the landlord, who gave him his Sunday dinner in return for his
+teaching his children reading and writing. It happened that I was
+dining one Sunday at this _table d'hote_, and found only one vacant
+seat, which was at this old fellow's side. I hastened to occupy this
+place, hoping that I might have the good fortune to bring to the
+surface that better spirit which must be shut up within the man. It was
+difficult, almost impossible, to get hold of that spirit. Just when one
+thought one had him, he suddenly dived down, and slunk away in utter
+humility of submissiveness. At length, after I had with difficulty
+induced him to swallow a glass or two of good wine, he seemed to begin
+to thaw a little, and spake with visible emotion of the fine old
+theatrical times, now past and gone, apparently never to return. The
+tables were being cleared; one or two of my friends joined themselves
+to me; the player wanted to take his leave. I held him fast, though he
+made the most touching protests. A poor superannuated actor, he said,
+was no fit company for gentlemen such as we; it would be better that he
+should not stay, it was not his place, and so forth. It was not so much
+to my powers of persuasion as to the irresistible attractions of a cup
+of coffee, and a pipe of the best Knaster, which I had in my pocket,
+that I could attribute his remaining. He spoke with vividness and
+_esprit_ of the old theatrical days. He had seen Eckhoff, and acted
+with Schroeder. It came out that the untuned state in which he was now
+so marred proceeded from the circumstance that those by-gone days had
+been, for him, the world wherein he had breathed freely, and moved
+unconstrainedly, and that, now that he was thrown forth out of that
+period, he had no firm standing-point that he could get hold of. But
+how marvellously did this man astonish us when, having become
+thoroughly at his ease, and free from constraint with us, he spoke the
+speech of the Ghost in Hamlet, as given in Schroeder's version
+(Schlegel's translation he knew nothing about), with a power of
+expression which touched our hearts; and we were all moved to
+admiration at the manner in which he delivered several passages from
+the part of Oldenhelm (for he would have nothing to say to the name
+'Polonius'), rendering them in such a way that we distinctly saw before
+our eyes the courtier, in his second childhood now, but who had clearly
+not lacked worldly wisdom in former times, and still showed distinct
+traces of it. This he brought before us in a manner very seldom seen on
+the boards. All this, however, was but the prelude to a scene which I
+never saw the parallel of, and which I can never forget. It is
+here that I really, for the first time, come to what, during this
+conversation of ours, brought to my remembrance the old actor in
+question, and my worthy Serapion Brethren must pardon me if I have made
+my introduction to this somewhat too long. This man was compelled to
+undertake those wretched subordinate parts which we were talking of,
+and thus it chanced that, some days after the occasion I have been
+speaking of, he had to play the part of the 'Manager' in the piece 'The
+Rehearsal,' which the _Impresario_ had altered to suit himself,
+thinking he particularly excelled in it. Whether it was that the
+conversation with us has stirred up his inner, better self, or that,
+perhaps (as it was rumoured afterwards), on that day he had reinforced
+his natural power with wine--contrary as that was to his usual custom--
+he had no sooner come upon the stage than he appeared to be a totally
+different man from what he had been at other times. His eyes sparkled,
+and the hollow wavering voice of the worn-out hypochondriac was
+transformed into a clear, resonant bass, such as is employed by jovial
+characters of the old style; for instance, the rich uncles who, in the
+exercise of poetical justice, punish folly and reward virtue. The
+beginning of the piece gave no indication of what was to come; but how
+amazed was the audience when, after the first changes of dress had been
+made, the strange creature turned upon the manager with sarcastic
+smiles, and addressed him somewhat as follows: 'Would not the respected
+audience have recognised our good So-and-so' (he mentioned the
+manager's name here), 'just as readily as I did myself at the first
+glance? Is it possible to base the power of deception on a coat cut in
+a particular fashion, or on a more or less frizzled wig? and in this
+way to stuff out a meagre talent, unsupported by any vigour of
+intelligence, like a child deserted by its nurse? The young man who is
+trying to pass himself off upon me, in this unskilled manner, as a
+many-sided artist, a chameleontic genius, need not gesticulate so
+immoderately with his hands, nor fold himself up like a pocketknife
+after each of his speeches, nor roll his r's so fearfully; and if he
+had not done so, I believe that a highly-prized audience (any more than
+I myself) would not have recognised our little manager in one instant,
+as has been the case now, to such an extent that it is pitiable. But,
+inasmuch as the piece has got to go on for another half-hour, I shall
+conduct myself, this once more, as if I didn't see it; although the
+affair is terribly tedious and uncongenial to me.' Be it enough to say
+that upon each fresh entrance of the manager, the old fellow ridiculed
+his acting in the most delicious manner; and it may be fancied that
+this was accompanied by the most ringing laughter of the audience;
+whilst the best part of it all was that the manager, completely
+absorbed in his numerous changes of costume, was absolutely unconscious
+of what was going forward till the very last scene. Perhaps the old
+fellow may have made a wicked compact with the theatre tailor; but it
+is a fact that the wretched manager's wardrobe had got into the most
+complete confusion, so that the intermediate scenes which the old man
+had to fill out lasted much longer than usual, giving him time enough
+to let the fulness of his bitter mockery of the poor manager stream
+forth in all its glory, and even to imitate his manner of speaking,
+saying many things with a wicked verity which sent the audience out of
+itself. The whole piece was turned topsy-turvy, so that the stop-gap
+intermediate scenes became the principal and important part of the
+business. It was delightful, too, how the old fellow sometimes told the
+audience beforehand how the manager was going to appear, mimicking his
+gestures and attitudes; and that he attributed the ringing laughter,
+which really belonged to the old fellow's admirable imitation of him,
+to his own success in making up. At last, however, the manager could
+not possibly help finding out what the old fellow was doing, and you
+may suppose he flew at him like a raging wild boar, so that it was all
+that he could do to escape mishandling. He did not dare to appear on
+the stage again; but the audience and the public had got so fond of the
+old actor, and took his side with so much zeal, that the manager
+(burdened, moreover, since that celebrated evening, with the curse of
+ludicrosity), found himself compelled to close his theatre, and betake
+himself elsewhere. Several respectable townsmen, with the innkeeper at
+their head, met, and collected a considerable sum of money for the old
+actor, enough to enable him to have done for ever with the worries of
+the stage, and end his days in comfort in the place. But marvellous,
+nay, unfathomable, is the mind of an actor! Before a year was over he
+suddenly disappeared, nobody knew whither, and presently he was
+discovered travelling with a strolling company, quite in the same
+subordinate position from which he had so recently shaken himself
+clear."
+
+"With a very slight 'moral application,'" said Ottmar, "this tale of
+the old actor belongs to the moral codex of all stage-players, and of
+those who desire to become players."
+
+During this, Cyprian had risen silently, and, after walking once or
+twice up and down the room, taken his position behind the window
+curtain. Just when Ottmar ceased speaking, a blast of wind came
+suddenly howling and raging in. The lights threatened to go out;
+Theodore's writing-table seemed to become alive; hundreds of papers
+flew up, and were wafted about the room; the strings of the old piano
+groaned aloud.
+
+"Hey, hey!" cried Theodore, as he saw his literary notices, and who
+knows what other written matter, at the mercy of the raging autumn
+storm. "Hey, hey, Cyprianus, what are you about?" And they all set to
+work to keep the lights in, and shield themselves from the thick
+snowflakes which came swirling in.
+
+"It is true," said Cyprian, shutting the window, "the weather won't let
+one look to see what it is."
+
+"Tell me," said Sylvester, taking the wholly absentminded and deeply
+preoccupied Cyprian by both hands, and forcing him to sit down again in
+the seat he had left, "only tell me--that is all I ask--where have you
+been? In what distant region have you been wandering? for far, far away
+from us has that restless spirit of yours been bearing you again."
+
+"Not so very far away from you as you may suppose," answered Cyprian.
+"And, at all events, it was your own conversation which opened the door
+for my departure. You had been saying so much about Comedy, and Vincenz
+was stating his conclusion (justly resulting from experience), that
+amongst us the fun which plays with itself is lost. It occurred to me
+that, on the other hand, many real talents have displayed themselves in
+tragedy, in more and most recent times, and along with this thought I
+was struck by the remembrance of a writer who began, with genuine,
+high-aspiring genius, but suddenly, as if carried away by some fatal
+eddy, went under, so that his name is scarcely ever heard of."
+
+"There," said Ottmar, "you were going in exact opposition to Lothair's
+principle--that true genius never goes under."
+
+"And Lothair is right," answered Cyprian, "if he holds that the
+fiercest storms of life cannot blow out the flame which blazes forth
+from the inner spirit,--that the bitterest adversities, the keenest
+misfortunes fight in vain against the inner heavenly might of the soul,
+which only bends the bow to deliver the arrow with the greater power.
+But how were it if in the first inner germ of the embryo there lurked
+the poisonous parasite larva, the worm, which, developing along with
+the beautiful blossom, gnaws at its life, so that it bears its death
+within itself? No storm is then needed for its destruction."
+
+"In that case," said Lothair, "your genius would be wanting in the
+first condition indispensible to the tragic-poet who would enter upon
+life free, and in possession of his powers. I mean that such a poet's
+genius must be absolutely healthy--sound--free from the slightest
+ailment, such as psychic weakness, or, to use your language, anything
+such as congenital poison. Who could, and can, congratulate himself
+more on such a soundness of mental constitution than our grand
+G[oe]the, mighty father of us all? It is with such an unweakened
+strength as his, with such an inward purity, that heroes are begotten,
+such as Goetz von Berlichingen and Egmont! And if we cannot, perhaps,
+admit such a heroic power (in quite the same degree) in our Schiller,
+there is, on the other hand, that pure sun-glance of the inner soul
+beaming round his heroes in which we, beneficently warmed, feel as
+powerful and strong as their creator. And we must not forget the Robber
+Moor, whom Ludwig Tieck, with perfect justice, calls the Titanic
+creation of a young and daring imagination. But we are getting far from
+the tragic poet whom you were speaking of, Cyprian, and I hope you will
+tell us at once to whom you allude, although I fancy I have a strong
+idea?"
+
+"I was very nearly breaking in upon your conversation, as I did once
+before, with strange words and sayings," answered Cyprian, "which you
+would not have understood, inasmuch as you were not seeing the images
+of my waking-dream. Nevertheless, I cry out 'No! Since the days of
+Shakespeare there never stalked such a Being across the stage as this
+superhumanly terrible, gruesome old man!' And that you may not remain a
+moment longer in doubt on the subject, I add at once that no modern
+poet can congratulate himself on such a loftily tragic and powerful
+creation as the author of the Soehne des Thales."
+
+The friends looked at each other in amazement. They made a rapid
+pass-muster of the principal characters in Zacharias Werner's pieces,
+and then came to the same conclusion--that in every case there was a
+certain element of the strange and singular, and often of the
+commonplace, mingled with the truly great, the grandly tragic which
+seemed to indicate that the author had never come to any really clear
+seeing of his heroes, and that he was doubtless deficient in that
+absolute health and soundness of the inner mind which Lothair
+considered indispensible to every writer of tragedy.
+
+Theodore alone had been laughing within himself, as if he were of
+another opinion, and now began:
+
+"Halt! Halt! ye worthy Serapion Brethren. Don't be in too great a
+hurry. I know very well, in fact, I am the only one of you who can
+know, that Cyprian is speaking of a work which the writer never
+finished, which is consequently unknown to the world, although friends
+in the writer's neighbourhood, to whom he communicated sketches of
+scenes from it, had ample reason to be convinced that it would rise to
+the position of being amongst the grandest and most powerful, not only
+that he ever produced, but which have been seen in modern days."
+
+"Of course," said Cyprian, "I was talking of the second part of the
+'Kreuz an der Ostsee,' in which it is that the terrible, gruesome,
+gigantic character to whom I was alluding occurs, the old King of
+Prussia, Waidewuthis. It may be impossible for me to give you a
+distinct idea of this character, which the poet, by virtue of some
+mighty spell at his command, seems to have conjured up from the
+mysterious depths of the subterranean kingdoms. It must suffice if I
+enable you to look into the interior mechanism of the springs which the
+poet has placed within it to set this production of his into due
+activity of movement. According to historical tradition, the earliest
+'culture' of the ancient Prussians was originated by their king,
+Waidewuthis. He introduced the rights of property. The fields were
+divided, and agriculture carried on. He also gave the nation a form of
+religious worship, inasmuch as he himself carved three graven images,
+to which sacrifices were offered beneath an ancient oak-tree, where
+they were set up; but a terrible power grasped hold of him (though
+himself all-powerful, the god of the nation which he ruled), those rude
+graven images, carved by his own hands, that the people's force and
+will might bow down before them as embodiments of a higher energy,
+suddenly awoke into life. And what inflamed those senseless images thus
+into life was the fire which the Satanic Prometheus stole from Hell.
+Rebellious thralls of their Lord and Maker, those idols began to wield
+against himself the weapons with which he had armed them. And thus
+commences the monstrous conflict of the Superhuman principle with the
+Human. I do not know if I have been intelligible to you--if I have
+quite succeeded in representing to you the poet's colossal idea; but,
+as Serapion Brethren, I would charge you to look deep down, as I have
+done, into the terrible abyss which the poet has opened and disclosed,
+and feel the terror and awe which overwhelms me even now as I think of
+that Waidewuthis."
+
+"And in truth," said Theodore, "our Cyprian has turned quite white;
+which of course proves how the whole grand sketch of the extraordinary
+picture which the poet displayed before him--but from which he has
+shown us only one of the principal groups--has stirred his inner soul.
+But, as regards Waidewuthis, I think it would have been sufficient to
+say that the poet, with astonishing power and originality, conceived
+this Daemon with so much grandeur, power, and might, so gigantic a
+figure, that he appears quite worthy of the contest, and that the
+triumph, the glory of Christianity must beam forth all the brighter in
+consequence. It is true that in many of his characteristics, the old
+monarch appears to me as if he were--to speak with Dante--the Imperador
+del Doloroso Regno in person, walking on earth. The catastrophe of his
+overthrow, that triumph of Christianity, which is the final chord
+towards which everything strives, in the whole work (which to me, at
+all events, according to the design of the second part, seems to belong
+to another world), I have never been able to form a conception of to
+myself in dramatic form; although in quite other sounds, and in those
+only, I did conceive the possibility of a conclusion which, in terrific
+sublimity, would surpass everything else which could be conceived of.
+But this only became apparent to me when I had read Calderon's great
+'Magus.' Moreover, the poet has not uttered himself as to the mode in
+which he would finish the work; at least nothing of the sort has
+reached my ears."
+
+"It seems to me," said Vincent, "on the whole very much as though it
+had gone with the poet, as to his work, as it did with old King
+Waidewuthis and his graven images. It grew over his head; and that he
+could not get control of his own power is proved by the very failure of
+his inward energy, which, at length, does not allow anything sound,
+healthy, vigorous, to come to the light of day. On the whole, even if
+Cyprian is right in thinking that the old king had the best possible
+dispositions for turning out a splendid and powerful Satan, I do not
+see how he could have got into due relation with humanity again. The
+Satan would have had to be, at the same time, a grand, powerful kingly
+hero."
+
+"And that is exactly what he was," answered Cyprian. "But to prove this
+to you, I should require to know whole scenes by heart, which the
+author communicated to us. I remember one in particular, very vividly,
+which seemed to me magnificent. King Waidewuthis knew that none of his
+sons would succeed him in the crown, so he selected a boy--I think he
+appeared about twelve years old--as his successor. In the night they
+two--Waidewuthis and the boy--are lying by the fire, and Waidewuthis.
+occupies himself in kindling the boy's courage towards the idea of the
+godly-might of the Euler of a People. This address of Waidewuthis
+seemed to me quite masterly, quite perfect. The boy, who has a young
+tame wolf, his faithful playmate, in his arms, listens attentively to
+the old man's words; and when the latter at last asks him if, for the
+sake of power he would be capable of sacrificing even his wolf, the boy
+looks him gravely in the face, and without a word, throws the wolf into
+the flames."
+
+"I know," cried Theodore, as Vincent smiled strangely, and Lothair
+seemed on the point of breaking out from inward impatience, "I know
+what you are going to say--I hear the severe sentence of condemnation
+with which you dismiss the author; and I will admit that I should have
+perfectly agreed with you only a day or two ago, and been of the same
+opinion, not so much from conviction, as from anger that the author
+should have entered upon paths which must for ever carry him away from
+me, Bo that a re-encounter between us must have appeared scarcely
+conceivable, and moreover, almost not to be desired. It would have been
+quite justifiable for the world, considering the manner in which the
+author had commenced his career, to think that there was evidence of an
+untruthful inconstancy--a weathercockiness--of mind, disposed to cast
+over others the veil which self-deception had woven around him;
+although, all this time, the truth had torn this veil asunder, with
+rude vigour, so that the world could discern, in his heart, a wicked
+spirit of self-seeking, endeavouring to gain the glitter of false fame
+for purposes of self-beatification. But I am obliged to confess that
+his preface to his sacred drama, 'The Mother of the Macabees,' has
+completely disarmed me. And this preface can only be perfectly
+understood by the few friends of his who were closely associated with
+him in his most beautiful blossoming-time. It contains the most
+affecting admissions of culpable weaknesses; the most pathetic
+lamentations over powers for ever lost. Those things may have escaped
+the writer involuntarily, and it is very likely that he did not,
+himself, perceive that deeper significance which the friends whom he
+had abandoned must have seen in those words. As I read this preface, I
+seemed to see, through a dim, colourless ocean of cloud, rays feebly
+piercing of a lofty, noble spirit, rising beyond the crack-brained
+follies of immature perversity, and, if not fully conscious of its own
+value, yet possessing a considerable inkling of its worth. The writer
+seemed to me much like one of those who are victims of that form of
+insanity of which the predominant symptom is 'fixed idea.' Those
+unhappy people are, in their lucid intervals, aware of their delusions;
+but, to soothe the comfortless horror of that consciousness, they
+strive to convince themselves that in those very delusions their
+highest and truest existence lives and moves. And this they do by the
+most ingenious sophisms; striving also to induce themselves to believe
+that their consciousness of their delusion is nothing but the sick
+doubting of Humanity immeshed and enslaved in the Earthly. And in the
+preface which I am speaking of, the writer touches upon the second part
+of the 'Kreuz an der Ostsee,' admitting this."
+
+"Please don't make such horrible faces, Lothair! Sit still on your
+chair, Ottmar; don't drum the Russian Grenadiers' March on the elbow of
+your seat, Vincenz. I really think that the author of the 'Soehne des
+Thales' deserves to be discussed rationally and quietly by us, and I
+must confess that my heart is very full of this subject, and I cannot
+help letting the froth which is seething there boil thoroughly over."
+
+"Ha!" cried Vincenz, very loudly and pathetically, "how the froth
+seethes!--now that is a quotation from the 'Kreuz an der Ostsee,' where
+the heathen priests sing it in fearful and horrible strains. My dear
+Serapion-Brother Theodore, you may rage, revile, curse and blaspheme
+as much as you please, but I must just introduce into this many-sided
+discussion one little anecdote, which will throw, at all events,
+a momentary glimpse of sunshine over all those corpse-watchers'
+countenances. The author of whom we are speaking had got together a few
+friends that he might read to them the 'Kreuz an der Ostsee' from the
+manuscript. They had heard some passages from it before, which had
+raised their expectations to the highest pitch. The author had, as
+usual, seated himself in the centre of the circle, at a small table
+where two candles were burning in tall candlesticks. He had taken his
+manuscript out of his breast-pocket, and laid down before him his big
+snuff-box, and his blue-and-white checked pocket-handkerchief. Profound
+silence reigned. Not a breath was audible. The author, making one of
+his extraordinary faces, which defy all description, began as
+follows:--
+
+"'Bankputtis!--Bankputtis!--Bankputtis!'
+
+"Of course you remember that, in the opening scene, at the rising of
+the curtain, the Prussians are discovered, assembled by the seashore,
+collecting amber; and they invoke the deities who preside over this.
+Very well. The author, as I have said, began with the words--
+
+"'Bankputtis! Bankputtis!"
+
+"Then there was a short pause; after which there came forth out of a
+corner the soft voice of a member of the audience, saying: 'My dearest
+and most beloved friend! Most glorious of all authors; if you have
+written the whole of this most admirable poem of yours in that infernal
+language, not one soul of us understands a single syllable of it. For
+God's sake, be so kind as to start with a translation of it.'"
+
+The friends laughed; but Cyprian and Theodore remained silent and
+grave. Before the latter could begin to speak, Ottmar said: "It is
+impossible, in this connection, that I should forget the extraordinary,
+nay, almost preposterously absurd, meeting of two men who were--at all
+events as concerned their opinions upon Art and their views about
+it--absolutely heterogeneous in their natures. Indisputable as it may
+be that Werner carried the idea of the 'Kreuz an der Ostsee' about with
+him for a long time, to the best of my knowledge the first impulse to
+his writing it came to him from Iffland, who was anxious that he should
+write a tragedy for the Berlin stage. The 'Soehne des Thales' was then
+attracting much attention, and perhaps that dramatic writer may have
+been interested in this newly-developed talent, or he may have thought
+he saw that this young _debutant_ was capable of being trained to the
+performance of the systematic round of theatre tricks, and would
+acquire a skilled 'stage-hand.' However this may be, think of Iffland
+with the manuscript of the 'Kreuz an der Ostsee' in his hands.
+Iffland--to whom the tragedies of Schiller (which then, in spite of all
+opposition, had made their way, chiefly through the great Fleck) were
+really disgustful, in the depths of his soul; Iffland, who although he
+did not dare, for dread of that sharp lash which he had felt already,
+to speak out his real opinion, had put _this_ in print: 'Tragedies
+which contain grand historical incidents, and a crowd of characters,
+are the ruin of the stage;' adding, 'on account of the tremendous
+expenses,' but thinking, in his heart, '_dixi et salvavi_.'--Iffland,
+who would have been too pleased to put upon his privy-councillors,
+secretaries, and so forth, tragic _cothurni_ made after his own
+pattern--read the 'Kreuz an der Ostsee' in the light of its being a
+tragedy expressly written for the Berlin stage, which he himself should
+set out into scenes, and in which he should play nothing less than the
+Ghost of Bishop Adalbert, murdered by the Pagan Prussians, very
+frequently appearing on the stage as a terror-inspiring character not
+sparing of partly edifying, partly mystic speeches, while at every
+mention of the name of Christ a flame breaks out of his forehead, to
+instantaneously disappear again. It was impossible to throw this piece
+overboard (as would have been done in a moment in the case of the _dii
+minores_), notwithstanding that it was one which was full of
+improbabilities, and bristling with difficulties (much more real
+difficulties from the stage-manager's point of view, than many
+Shakesperian plays, in which those difficulties are more apparent than
+real). What had to be done was to express great admiration of it; to
+laud it up to the skies, and then to declare, with deep regret, that
+the capabilities of the stage were not practically sufficient for the
+production of a thing so great. It was this which had to be done; and
+the letter in which Iffland stated all this to the author (the
+construction of which was on the lines of the well-known form of
+refusal of the Italians, '_ben parlato-ma_'), was, of course, a
+classical master-piece of theatrical diplomacy. It was not from the
+nature of the piece itself that the manager deduced the impossibility
+of representing it on the stage; he merely, in a courteous manner,
+complained of the stage-manager, the property-men, and the carpenters,
+to whose magic there were such narrow limits that they were not even
+capable of making a Saint's glory shine in the air. But, no more on the
+subject. It is for Theodore to make such excuses as he can for the
+errors of his friend."
+
+"To defend and excuse this friend of mine," said Theodore, "I fear
+would be a very unsatisfactory thing to try to do. I should much prefer
+to set you a psychical problem to solve, which ought, really, to lead
+you to consider how peculiar influences may work upon the psychical
+organism; or, indeed (to return to Cyprian's simile, the worm
+engendered along with the most beautiful flower), on the worm which is
+to poison and kill. We are told Hysterism in the mother is not
+transmitted, by heredity, to the son, but that it does produce in him a
+peculiarly lively imagination, even to the extent of eccentricity; and
+I believe that there is one of ourselves in whose case the correctness
+of this theory is confirmed. Now, how might it be with the effect of
+actual _insanity_ of the mother upon the son, although he does not, as
+a rule, inherit that either? I am not speaking of that weak, childish
+sort of mental aberration in women, which is often the result of an
+enfeebled nervous system; what I have in view is that abnormal mental
+state in which the psychic principle, volatilized into a sublimate by
+the operation of the furnace of imagination, has been converted into a
+poison, which has attacked the vital spirits, so that they have become
+sick unto death, and the human creature, in the delirium of this
+malady, believes the dream of another life-condition to be actual
+waking reality. Now, a woman highly gifted mentally, and largely
+endowed with imagination and fancy, may in those circumstances be much
+more like to a heavenly prophet than to an insane creature, and in the
+excitement of her paroxysms may say things, which to many persons would
+appear much more like the direct inspiration of higher intelligences
+than the mere utterances of insanity. Suppose that the fixed idea of
+such a woman consisted in her believing herself to be the Virgin Mary,
+and her son Christ, and let this be repeated daily to the boy, who is
+not taken away from her, whilst his powers of comprehension gradually
+develop themselves. He is over-bountifully endowed with talent and
+intelligence, and specially with a glowing imagination. Friends and
+teachers whom he respects and believes all tell him that his poor
+mother is out of her mind, and he himself sees the craziness of the
+idea, which is not so much as new to him, since it exists in nearly
+every lunatic asylum. But his mother's words sink deeply into his
+heart; he thinks he is hearing announcements from another world, and
+feels vividly the belief taking root within him upon which he bases his
+system of thinking. Above all, he is very much struck and imbued with
+what the maternal prophetess tells him regarding the trials of this
+world; the scoffing and despite which the consecrated one must endure.
+He finds this all realized, and in his boyish melancholy looks upon
+himself as a Divine victim, when his schoolfellows make fun of him for
+his quaint-looking clothes and his timid awkward manners. What follows?
+Must there not arise in the breast of such a youth the belief that the
+so-called insanity of his mother, which seems to _him_ lofty and
+sublime beyond the comprehension of the common herd, is really neither
+more nor less than a prophetic announcement, in metaphorical language,
+of the high destiny in store for him, chosen by the powers of heaven!
+Saint--prophet!--could there be stronger impulses to mysticism for a
+youth fired with a glowing power of imagination? Let it be further
+supposed that he is physically and psychically excitable to the most
+destructive extent, and apt to fall a prey to and be carried away by
+the most irresistible tendency to vice, and the wicked lusts of the
+world.... I desire to pass in haste, and with averted face, by the
+fearful abysses of human nature whence the germs of those tendencies
+spring, which might take root and flourish in the heart of the
+unfortunate youth without his being further to blame than in that
+he had a hot blood, only too congenial a soil for the luxuriant
+poison-plant.... I dare not go further; you feel the terrible nature of
+the strife which tears the heart of the unhappy youth. Heaven and hell
+are drawn up in battle array; and it is this mortal combat imprisoned
+within him which gives rise to phenomena on the surface in utter
+discord with everything else conditioned by mortal nature, and capable
+of no interpretation whatever. How, then, if the glowing power of
+imagination of this man (who in youth imbibed the germ of those
+eccentricities from his mother's mental state) should subsequently, at
+a time when Sin, bereft of all her adornments, accuses herself, in all
+her repulsive nakedness, for the hellish deceptions of the past, lead
+him, driven by the pain and remorse of his repentance, to take refuge
+in the mysticism of some religious _cultus_, coming to meet him with
+hymns of victory and perfume of incense? How when then, out of the most
+hidden depths, the voice of some dark spirit within should become
+audible, saying: 'It was but mortal blindness which led you to believe
+that there was dissension in your heart. The veil has fallen, and you
+perceive that sin is the stigma of your heavenly nature, of your
+supernatural calling, wherewith the Eternal has marked the chosen one.
+It was only when you set yourself to offer resistance to sinful
+impulse, to contend with the Eternal Power, that you were abandoned in
+your blindness and degeneracy. The purified fires of hell shine in the
+glories of the Saints.' And thus does this terrible hypermysticism
+impart to the lost one a consolation which completes the ruin of the
+rotten walls of the edifice of his existence; just as it is when the
+madman derives comfort and enjoyment from his madness, that his
+recovery is known to be hopeless."
+
+"Oh, please go no further," cried Sylvester. "You hurried, with averted
+face, past an abyss which you avoided looking into; but to me it seems
+as if you were leading us along upon narrow, slippery paths, where
+terrible and threatening gulfs yawn at us on either side. What you last
+said reminded me of the horrible mysticism of Pater Molinos, the
+dreadful doctrine of Quietism. I shuddered when I read the leading
+theorem of that doctrine. 'Il ne faut avoir nul egard aux tentations,
+ni leur opposer aucune resistance. Si la nature se meut, il faut la
+laisser agir; ce n'est que la nature!'[1] This, of course, would
+carry----"
+
+
+[Footnote 1: "Toute operation active est absolument interdite par
+Molinos. C'est meme offenser Dieu, que de ne pas tellement s'abandonner
+a lui, que l'on soit comme un corps inanime. De-la vient, suivant cette
+heresiarque, que le v[oe]u de faire quelque bonne [oe]uvre est un
+obstacle a la perfection, parce que l'activite naturelle est ennemie de
+la grace; c'est un obstacle aux operations de Dieu et a la vraie
+perfection, parce que Dieu veut agir en nous sans nous. Il ne faut
+connoitre ni lumiere, ni amour, ni resignation. Pour etre parfait, il
+ne faut pas meme connoitre Dieu; il ne faut penser, ni au paradis, ni a
+l'enfer, ni a la mort, ni a l'eternite. On ne doit point desirer de
+scavoir si on marche dans la volonte de Dieu, si on est assez resigne
+ou non. En un mot, il ne faut point que l'ame connoisse ni son etat ni
+son neant; il faut qu'elle soit comme un corps inanime. Toute reflexion
+est nuisible, meme celles qu'on fait sur ses propres actions, et sur
+ses defauts. Ainsi on ne doit point s'embarrasser du scandale que l'on
+peut causer, pourvu que l'on n'ait pas intention de scandaliser. Quand
+une fois on a donne son libre arbitre a Dieu, on ne doit plus avoir
+aucun desir de sa propre perfection, ni des vertus, ni de sa
+sanctification, ni de son salut; il faut meme se defaire de
+l'esperance, parce qu'il faut abandonner a Dieu tout le soin de ce que
+nous regarde, meme celui de faire en nous et sans nous sa divine
+volonte. Ainsi c'est une imperfection que de demander; c'est avoir une
+volonte et vouloir que celle de Dieu s'y conforme. Par la meme raison
+il ne faut lui rendre grace d'aucune chose; c'est le remercier d'avoir
+fait notre volonte; et nous n'en devons point avoir." ('Causes
+celebres,' par Richer. Tom. ii.: 'Histoire du Proces de la Cadiere.')]
+
+
+"It would carry us a good deal too far," interrupted Lothair, "into the
+realm of the most horrible dreams, and--to speak generally--of that
+amount of crack-brainedness of which there can never be any question
+amongst us Serapion Brethren. So let us abandon the subject of all that
+sublimity of mental unhingedness which is the foster-mother of
+religious mania."
+
+Ottmar and Vincenz agreed in this, and added that Theodore had
+committed a breach of Serapiontic rule by speaking so fully on a
+subject to some extent strange to the other brethren, in this manner
+giving himself up to impulses of the moment, and damming up the flow of
+other communications.
+
+Cyprian, however, look Theodore's part, maintaining that the subject on
+which, for the most part, he had been speaking, might be thought to
+possess such an amount of interest (though, as far as he himself was
+concerned, he must say it was of an uncanny character) that even those
+to whom the person to whom it had referred had never been known, could
+not but feel themselves very much attracted and affected by it.
+
+Ottmar thought that he could have felt a certain amount of interest
+about it if it had been written in a book. Cyprian said that the
+_sapienti sat_, was enough as regarded it.
+
+In the meantime, Theodore had gone into the next room, and now came
+back with a veiled picture, which he placed on a table against the
+wall, setting two candles in front of it. All eyes were bent upon it,
+and when Theodore quickly removed the cloth from before it an "Ah!"
+came from all their lips.
+
+It was the author of the 'Soehne des Thales,' a life-size half-length,
+a most speaking likeness, as if it had been stolen out of a
+looking-glass.
+
+"Is it possible!" cried Ottmar, enthusiastically. "Yes, from under
+those bushy eyebrows there gleams from the dark eyes the strange fire
+of that unlucky mysticism which dragged the poet to his destruction.
+But the goodness, the kindliness, the lovableness and the talents which
+beam out of the rest of his features, and this charmingly 'roguish'
+smile of real humour which plays about the lips, and seems to try
+unsuccessfully to hide itself in the long, projecting chin, which the
+hand is stroking so quietly. Of a truth I feel myself more and more
+drawn to this mystic, who grows the more human the longer one looks at
+him."
+
+"We all feel the same," cried Lothair and Vincenz.
+
+"Yes, yes," cried the latter, "those sorrowful, gloomy eyes get
+brighter. You are right, Ottmar, he grows human--_homo factus est_.
+See, he looks with his eyes--he smiles; presently he will say something
+that will delight us; some heavenly jest; some fulminating sally of wit
+is playing about his lips. Out with it, out with it, good Zacharias!
+Stand on no ceremony! We are your friends, master of reserved irony!
+Ha! Serapion Brethren! let us elect him, glasses in hand, an honorary
+member of our Society; we will drink to our brotherhood, and I will
+pour a libation before his picture, and bedew with a few glittering
+drops my own varnished Parisian boots into the bargain."
+
+The friends took their filled glasses in hand to carry out Vincenz's
+suggestion.
+
+"Stop!" cried Theodore. "Let me say a word or two first. To begin with,
+I hope you will by no means apply that psychical problem of mine (which
+I perhaps stated somewhat too forcibly) directly to our author here.
+Rather take it that my object was to show you very vividly and
+convincingly how dangerous it is to form conclusions about phenomena in
+a man of which we know nothing as to their deep psychic origin; nay,
+how heartless, as well as senseless, it is to persecute, with silly
+scorn and childish derision, one who has been the victim of a
+depressing influence, such as we ourselves would probably have resisted
+less successfully. Who shall cast the first stone at one who has grown
+defenceless because his strength has ebbed away with the heart's-blood
+flowing from wounds inflicted by his own self-deception? My end is
+gained now. Even you--Lothair, Ottmar, Vincenz, severe inflexible
+critics and judges, have quite altered your opinions now that you have
+seen my poet face to face. His face speaks truth. I must testify that,
+in the happy days when he and I were friends, he was the most
+delightful and charming of men in every relation of life. All the
+oddities, and strange eccentricities of his exterior, and of his whole
+being (which he himself, with delicate irony, tried to bring to light,
+rather than to conceal) only produced the effect of rendering him, in
+the most various surroundings and most diverse circumstances, always in
+the most attractive manner, utterly delightful. Moreover, he was full
+of a subtle humour which rendered him the worthy _confrere_ of Hamann,
+Heppel, and Scheffner. It is impossible that all that blossom of
+promise can be withered and dead, blighted by the poison breath of a
+miserable infatuation. No! If that picture could come to life--if the
+poet were to walk in and sit down actually amongst us here, life and
+genius would coruscate out of his discourse as of yore. I fain would
+hope that I see the dawn of a new and brilliant day! May the rays of
+true wisdom break out more and more brightly; may recovered strength
+and renewed power of labour produce work which shall show us the poet
+in the pure glory of the verily inspired singer, even if it does not
+happen before the late autumn of his days! And to this, ye Serapion
+Brethren, let us drink in happy expectation."
+
+The friends, forming a semicircle round the picture, clinked their
+glasses together. "And then," said Vincenz, "it won't matter whether he
+is Private Secretary, Abbe, or Privy Councillor, Cardinal, or the very
+Pope; or even a Bishop _in partibus infidelium_, that's to say, of
+Paphos!"
+
+As was usually the case with Vincenz, he had without intending it, or
+even being aware of it, stuck a comic tail on to a serious subject. But
+the friends felt too strangely moved to pay particular attention to
+this. They sat down again in silence at the table, while Theodore
+carried the poet's picture back into the next room.
+
+"I had meant," said Sylvester, "to read you this evening a story, for
+the idea of which I am indebted to a strange chance, or rather, to a
+strange remembrance. But it is so late that Serapiontic hours would be
+long over before I had finished it."
+
+"That is very much my case too," said Vincenz, "with my long-promised
+tale, which I have got pressed against my heart here in the
+breast-pocket of my coat (that usual _boudoir_ of literary productions)
+like a pet child. It has sucked itself fat and lusty at the mother's
+milk of my imagination, and has thereby got so forward and so talkative
+that if I were to let it begin, it would go on till daybreak. So that
+it must wait till the next meeting. To talk, I mean to converse,
+appears dangerous to-night; for, before one knows where one is, some
+heathen king, or Pater Molinos (or some _mauvais sujet_ or another of
+the sort), suddenly sits in the midst of us, talking all kinds of
+unintelligible nonsense. So that if either of us can out with a
+manuscript with something amusing in it, I hope he will let us hear
+it."
+
+"If anything which any one of us may be able to produce to-night," said
+Cyprian, "must seem to be nothing more than a stop-gap, or an
+intermezzo between other melodies, I may pluck up courage to read
+to you a trifle which I wrote down many years ago, when I had been
+passing through a period of much mystery and some danger. I had
+completely forgotten the existence of the pages in question, until they
+accidentally came into my hands a short time ago, vividly recalling
+the times to which they relate. My belief is that what led to the
+production of this rather chimerical story is much more interesting
+than the thing itself; and I shall have more to say on that subject
+when I have finished it."
+
+Cyprian read:
+
+
+
+                               PHENOMENA.
+
+When any allusion was made to the last siege of Dresden, Anselmus
+turned even paler than he ordinarily was. He would fold his hands in
+his lap--he would gaze before him, lost in melancholy memories--he
+would murmur to himself,
+
+"God of Heaven, were I to put my legs into my new riding-boots at the
+proper time, and run across the bridge towards Neustadt, paying no
+attention to burning straw, and the bursting shells, I have no doubt
+that this great personage and the other would, put his head out of his
+carriage window and say, with a polite bow, 'Come along, my good sir,
+without any ceremony. I have room for you.' But there was I shut up and
+hemmed in in the middle of the accursed Marmot's-burrow, all ramparts,
+embankments, trenches, star-batteries, covered ways, &c., suffering
+hunger and misery as much as the best of them. Didn't it come to this,
+that if one happened to turn over the pages of a Roux's dictionary by
+way of passing the time, and came upon the word 'Eat,' one's exhausted
+stomach cried out in utter amazement, 'Eat? Now what does that mean?'
+People who had once on a time been fat buttoned their skin over them,
+like a double-breasted coat, a natural Spencer! Oh, heavens, if only
+that Master of the Rolls--that Lindhorst--hadn't been there! Popowicz
+of course wanted to kill me, but the Dolphin sprinkled marvellous
+life-balsam out of its silver-blue nostrils. And Agafia!" When he spoke
+this name, Anselmus was wont to get up from his seat, jump just a little,
+once, twice, three times; and then sit down again. It was always quite
+useless to ask him what he really meant, on the whole, by those
+extraordinary sayings and grimaces. He merely answered, "Can I possibly
+describe what happened with Popowicz and Agafia without being supposed
+to be out of my mind?" And every one would laugh gently, as much as to
+say, "Well, my good fellow, we suppose that whether or not."
+
+One drear, cloudy October evening, Anselmus, who was understood to be
+somewhere a long way off--came in at the door of a friend of his. He
+seemed to be moved to the depths of his being, he was kindlier and
+tenderer than at other times--almost pathetic. His humour (often
+perhaps too wildly discursive, too universally antagonistic) was bowing
+itself, tamed and bridled, before the mighty Spirit which had
+possession of his inner soul. It had grown quite dark, the friend
+wanted to send for lights. But Anselmus, taking hold of both his arms,
+said: "If you would, for once, do me a real favour, don't have lights
+brought. Let's be content with the dim shining of that Astral lamp
+which is sending its glimmer from the closet there. You can do what you
+please--drink tea, smoke tobacco, but don't smash any cups, or throw
+lighted matches on to my new trousers. Either of those things would not
+only pain me, but would make an unnecessary noise and disturbance in
+the enchanted garden into which I have at last managed to get to-day,
+and in which I am enjoying myself to my soul's content. I shall go and
+lie on that sofa."
+
+He did so. After a considerable pause, he began:
+
+"To-morrow morning at eight o'clock it will be exactly two years since
+Count von der Lobau marched out from Dresden with twelve thousand men
+and four-and-twenty guns, to fight his way to the Meissner Hills."
+
+"Well," said his friend, "I have been sitting here on the stretch of an
+expectation, almost of a devout description, thinking I was going to
+hear of some celestial manifestation, coming hovering out of your
+enchanted garden--and this is all? What interest do I take in Count von
+der Lobau and his expedition? And fancy you remembering that there were
+just twelve thousand men and four-and-twenty guns. When did military
+details of the sort begin to effect a lodgment in that head of yours?"
+
+"Are those days of mystery and fatality," said Anselmus, "which we
+passed through so short a time ago so completely forgotten by you that
+you no longer recollect the manner in which the armed monster grasped
+us and drove us? The _noli turbare_ no longer held in check our own
+exertions of force, and we would not _be_ held in check or protected,
+for in every heart the demon made deep wounds, and, driven by wild
+torture, every hand grasped the unfamiliar sword, not for defence,
+no--for attack, that the hateful ignominy might be atoned for, and
+revenged, by Death! Even at this hour there comes upon me, in bodily
+form of flesh and blood, that power which was active in those days
+of darkness, and drove me forth from art and science into that
+blood-stained tumult. Was it possible, do you think, for me to go on
+sitting at my desk? I hurried up and down the streets, I followed the
+troops when they marched out, as far as I dared, merely to see with my
+own eyes as much as I could, and from what I Baw to gather some hope,
+paying no heed to the miserable, deceptive, proclamations and news
+'from the seat of war.' Very good. When at length that battle of all
+battles was fought, when all round us every voice was shouting for joy
+at new-won freedom, whilst we were still lying in chains of slavery, I
+felt as if my heart would break. I felt as though I must gain air and
+freedom, for myself and all who were chained to the stake along with
+me, by means of some terrible deed. It may seem to you now, and with
+the knowledge of me which you think you possess, incredible and
+ludicrous; but I can assure you that I went about with the idea in my
+mind, the insane idea, that I would set a match to some fort which I
+knew the enemy had got well-stocked with powder, and blow it into the
+air."
+
+The friend could not help smiling a little at the wild heroism of the
+unwarlike Anselmus. The latter, however, could not see this, as it was
+dark; and after a few moments' silence he proceeded as follows. "You
+have all of you often said that a peculiar planet which presides over
+me has a manner of bringing marvellous matters about my path on
+occasions of importance, matters in which people do not believe and
+which often seem to myself as if they proceeded out of my own inner
+being, although there they are, outside of me also, taking form as
+mystic symbols of that element of the marvellous which we find all
+about us everywhere in life. It was so with me this day two years ago
+in Dresden. That long day had dragged itself out in dull, mysterious
+silence; everything was quiet outside the gate--not a shot to be heard.
+Late in the evening--it might have been about ten o'clock, I slunk into
+a coffee house in the old market, where, in an out-of-the-way back room
+into which none of the hated foreigners were allowed to penetrate,
+friends of like minds and opinions gave each other reassurance of
+comfort and hope. It was there where, notwithstanding all the lies
+which were current, the true news of the engagements at the Katzbach,
+Culm, &c., were first received, where our R. told us of the victory at
+Leipzig two days after it happened, though God knows how he obtained
+his knowledge of it. My way had led me past the Bruehl Palace, where the
+Field Marshal was quartered, and I had been struck by the unusual
+lighting-up of the salons, as well as the stir going on all over the
+house. I was just mentioning this to my friends, with the remark that
+the enemy must have something in hand, when R. came hurrying in,
+breathless, and in great excitement. 'Hear the latest thing,' he began
+at once. 'There has been a Council of War at the Field Marshal's.
+General Mouton (Count von der Lobau) is going to fight his way to
+Meissen with twelve thousand men and four-and-twenty guns. He marches
+out this morning.' After a good deal of discussion we at last adopted
+R.'s opinion that this attack, which, from the unceasing watchfulness
+of our friends outside, might very probably be disastrous to the enemy,
+would very likely force the Field Marshal to capitulate, and so put a
+period to our miseries. "How," thought I, as I was going home about
+midnight, "can R. have found out what the decision come to was almost
+at the very moment it was arrived at?" However, I was presently aware
+of a hollow, rumbling sound making itself audible through the deathly
+stillness of the night. Guns and ammunition waggons, well loaded up
+with forage, began passing slowly by me in the direction of the Elbe
+bridge. "R. was right then," I had to say to myself. I followed the
+line of their march and got as far as the centre of the bridge, where
+there was at that time a broken arch, temporarily repaired with wooden
+beams and scaffolding. At each side of this construction was a species
+of fortification, constructed of high palisading and earth-works. Here,
+close to this fortification, I took up my position, pressing myself
+close to the balustrade of the bridge so as not to be seen. It now
+seemed to me that the tall palisades began moving backwards and
+forwards, and bending over towards me, murmuring hollow, unintelligible
+words. The deep darkness of the cloudy night prevented my seeing
+anything clearly; but when the troops had crossed, and all was as still
+as death on the bridge, I could make out that there was a deep,
+oppressed breathing near me, and a faint, mysterious whimpering or
+whining--one of the dark, scarcely distinguishable baulks of the timber
+was rising into a higher position. An icy horror fell upon me, and,
+like a man tortured in a nightmare dream, firmly fettered by leaded
+clamps, I could not move a muscle. The night-breeze rose, wafting mists
+about the hills: the moon sent feeble rays through rents in the clouds.
+And I saw, not far from me, the figure of a tall old man with silvery
+hair and a long beard. The mantle which fell over his haunches he had
+cast across his breast in numerous heavy folds. With his long, white
+naked arm he was stretching a staff far out over the river. It was from
+him that the murmuring and whimpering proceeded. At that moment I heard
+the sound of marching coming from the town, and I saw the sheen of
+arms. The old man cowered down, and began to whimper and lament, in a
+pitiful voice, holding out a cap to those who were coming over the
+bridge, as if asking for alms. An officer, laughing, cried, "_Voila
+St. Pierre, qui veut pecher!_" The one who came next stopped, and said
+very gravely, "_Eh bien! Moi, pecheur, je lui aiderai a pecher._"
+Several officers and soldiers, quitting the ranks, threw the old man
+money, sometimes silently, sometimes with gentle sighs, like men in
+expectation of death; and he, then, always nodded from side to side
+with his head in a curious way, uttering a sort of hollow cry of a
+singular description. At length an officer (in whom I recognized
+General Mouton) came so very close to the old man that I thought his
+foaming charger would tramp upon him; and, turning quickly to his
+aide-de-camp, as he thrust his hat more firmly down on to his head, he
+asked him, in a loud excited voice, "_Qui est cet homme?_" "The escort
+which was in attendance on him stood motionless; but an old, bearded
+sapper, who was passing with his axe on his shoulder, said, calmly and
+gravely, "_C'est un pauvre maniaque bien connu ici. On l'appelle St.
+Pierre Pecheur._" On that the force passed on across the bridge, not as
+at other times, full of foolish jesting, but in dispirited ill-temper
+and gloom. As the last sound of them died away, and the last gleam of
+their arms disappeared, the old man slowly reared himself up, and stood
+with uplifted head and staff outstretched, like some miraculous saint
+ruling the stormy water. The waves of the river rose into mightier and
+mightier billows, as if stirred from their depths. And I seemed to hear
+a hollow voice, coming up from amidst those rushing waters, and saying
+in the Russian language.
+
+"Michael Popowicz! Michael Popowicz! Do you not see the fireman?"
+
+The old man murmured to himself. He seemed to be praying. But suddenly
+he cried out, "Agafia!" And at that moment his face glowed in blood-red
+fire which seemed to be shooting up at him out of the Elbe. On the
+Meissner Hills great fluttering flames blazed up into the sky; their
+reflection shone into the river, and upon the old man's face. And now,
+close beside me upon the bridge, there began to be audible a sort of
+plashing and splashing, and I saw a dim form climbing up arduously, and
+presently swing itself over the balustrade with marvellous dexterity.
+
+"Agafia?" the old man cried.
+
+"Girl! Dorothea! In the name of heaven," I was beginning, but in an
+instant I felt myself clasped hold of, and forcibly drawn away. "Oh,
+for Christ's sake keep silence, dearest Anselmus, or you are a dead
+man," whispered the creature who was standing close to me, trembling
+and shivering with cold. Her long black hair hung down dripping, her
+sodden garments were clinging to her slender body. She sank down
+exhausted, saying, in tones of gentle complaining, "Oh, it is so cold
+down there! Do not say another word, Anselmus dearest, or we must
+certainly die."
+
+The light of the flames was glowing upon her face, and I saw that she
+was Dorothea, the pretty country girl who had taken asylum with my
+landlord when her native village was plundered, and her father killed.
+He employed her as a servant, and used to say that her troubles had
+quite stupefied her, or otherwise she would have been a nice enough
+little thing. And he was right there. She scarcely spoke, except to
+utter a few words which sounded like incoherent nonsense, whilst her
+face, which would otherwise have been beautiful, was marred by a
+strange unmeaning smile. She used to bring my coffee into my room every
+morning, and I remarked that her figure, complexion, &c., were not at
+all those of a peasant girl. "Ah," my landlord used to say, "you see
+she's a farmer's daughter, and a Saxon."
+
+As this girl was thus lying, rather than kneeling before me, half dead,
+dripping, I quickly pulled off my cloak and wrapped her in it,
+whispering to her, "Warm yourself, dear, oh, warm yourself, darling
+Dorothea, or you will die! What were you doing in the cold river?"
+
+"Oh, keep silent!" she said, throwing back the hood of her mantle, and
+combing her dripping hair back with her fingers. "What I implore you to
+do is to keep silent. Come to that stone seat yonder. Father is
+speaking with Saint Andrew, and can't hear us."
+
+We crept cautiously to the stone seat. Utterly carried away by the most
+extraordinary sensations, overmastered by fear and rapture, I clasped
+the creature in my arms. She sat down in my lap without hesitation, and
+threw her arms about my neck. I felt the icy water from her hair
+running down my neck; but as drops sprinkled on fire only increase its
+flaming, love and longing only seethed up within me the more
+vehemently.
+
+"Anselmus," she whispered, "I believe you are good and true. When you
+sing it goes right through my heart, and you have charming ways. You
+won't betray me. Who would get you your coffee if you did? And, listen,
+when you are all starving (and you soon will be), I'll come to you at
+night, all alone, when nobody can know, and bake you nice cakes. I have
+flour, fine flour, hidden away in my little room. And we'll have
+bridecake, white and lovely!" At this she began to laugh, but
+immediately sobbed and wept. "Ah me! like those in Moskow. Oh! my
+Alexei! my Alexei! Beautiful dolphin, swim! Swim through the waves! Am
+I not waiting for you, your faithful love?" She drooped her little
+head, her sobs grew fainter, and she seemed to sink into a slumber, her
+bosom heaving and falling in sighs of longing. I looked at the old man.
+He was standing with outstretched arms, and saying, in hollow tones,
+"He gives the signal! See how he shakes his fiery locks of flame; how
+eagerly he treads into the ground those fiery pillars on which he
+traverses the land! Hear ye not his step of thunder? Feel ye not the
+vivifying breath which wreathes before him like a gleaming incense
+cloud? Hither! hither! mighty brethren!"
+
+The sound of the old man's words was like the hollow roar of the
+approaching whirlwind, and while he spoke, the fire upon the Meissner
+Hills blazed brighter and brighter. "Help, Saint Andrew!" the girl
+cried in her sleep. And suddenly she sprung up as if possessed by some
+terrible idea, and throwing her left arm more closely round me,
+whispered into my ear, "Anselmus! it would be better that I killed
+you," and I saw a knife gleaming in her right hand. I repulsed her in
+terror, with a loud cry of, "Mad creature! What would you do?" Then she
+screamed out, "Ah, I cannot do it! But all is over with you now!" At
+that moment the old man cried, "Agafia, with whom are you speaking?"
+And ere I could bethink me, he was close to me, aiming a stroke with
+his swung staff at me which would have cleft my skull in two had not
+Agafia seized me from behind and drawn me quickly away. The staff
+splintered into a thousand pieces on the stone bench. The old man fell
+on his knees. "Allons! allons!" resounded from all sides. I had to
+collect my thoughts, and spring quickly to one side to avoid being
+crushed by the guns and ammunition waggons which were again coming
+across.
+
+Next morning the Russians drove this expeditionary force down from the
+hills, and back into the fortifications, notwithstanding the
+superiority of its numbers. "'Tis a strange thing," people said, "that
+our friends outside were informed of the enemy's plans, for that signal
+fire on the Meissner Hills had the effect of assembling the troops, so
+that they might make a resistance in force, just at the very time and
+place where he intended to concentrate his attacking bodies."
+
+For several days Dorothea did not come in the morning with my coffee;
+and my landlord, pale with terror, told me had seen her, along with the
+mad beggar of the Elbe bridge, marched off from the marshal's quarters
+to Neustadt under a strong escort.
+
+"Oh, good heavens!" said Anselmus's friend, "they were discovered and
+executed."
+
+But Anselmus gave a strange smile and said, "Agafia got away; and,
+alter the Peace was signed, I received, from her own hands, a beautiful
+white wedding-cake of her own making."
+
+The reticence of Anselmus was proof against every effort to induce him
+to say anything more concerning this astonishing affair.
+
+
+When Cyprian had finished, Lothair said, "You told us that the events
+which suggested this sketch would be more interesting than it is
+itself; so that I consider those suggesting circumstances are an
+essential part of it, without which it is not complete. Therefore, I
+think you ought at once to give us your why and wherefore, as a sort of
+explanatory note."
+
+"Does it not seem to you to be as unusual as remarkable," said Cyprian,
+"that all that I have read to you is literally true, and that even the
+little 'wind up,' has its kernel of actuality?"
+
+"Let us hear!" the friends cried.
+
+"To begin with," said Cyprian, "I must tell you that the fate which
+befell Anselmus in my sketch was actually my own, as well. My being ten
+minutes late decided my destiny, so that I was shut up in Dresden just
+as it was surrounded on all sides. It is a fact that after the battle
+of Leipzig, when our condition became more painful and trying day by
+day, certain friends, or mere acquaintances, whom a similar lot and a
+like way of thinking had drawn together, used to assemble in the back
+room of a coffee-house, much as the disciples did at Emmaus. The
+landlord, one Eichelkraut, was a reliable, trustworthy man, who made no
+secret of his hostility to the French, and always obliged them to treat
+him with proper respect and keep their due distance from him when they
+came in as customers. No Frenchman was allowed to make his way into
+that backroom on any pretext, and if one did succeed in showing his
+nose there, he could never get a morsel to eat, or a drop to drink, let
+him implore, or swear, as much as he liked. Moreover, the room was
+always as silent as the grave, and we all blew such stifling clouds out
+of our pipes that the place soon became so full of the exhalation that
+a Frenchman would be very soon smoked out, like a wasp, and usually
+went growling and swearing out of the door like one. As soon as he did,
+the window would be opened to let the reek out, and we would be
+restored to our peace and comfort again. The life and soul of those
+meetings was a well-known talented and charming writer: and I remember
+with great pleasure how he and I used to get upstairs to the upper
+story of the house, look out of the little garret window into the
+night, and see the enemy's bivouac fires shining in the sky. We used to
+say to each other all sorts of wonderful things which the shimmer of
+those fires, combined with the moonlight, used to put into our heads,
+and then go down and tell our friends what we imagined we had seen. It
+is a fact that one night one of our number (an advocate) who was always
+the first to hear any news, and whose reports were always reliable
+(heaven knows whence he derived his information), came in and told us
+the decision which had just been come to by the council of war
+concerning the expedition of Count von der Lobau, exactly as I have
+repeated it to you. It is likewise true that as I was going home about
+midnight, while the French battalions were falling-in in profound
+silence (no _generale_ being beaten) and beginning their march over the
+bridge, I met ammunition waggons, so that I could have no doubt of the
+accuracy of his information. And lastly, it is the fact that, on the
+bridge, there was a grey old beggar lying, begging from the French
+troops as they crossed, whom I could not remember having seen in
+Dresden before. Last of all it is the fact, and the most wonderful of
+all, that when, much interested and excited, I reached my own quarters,
+on climbing up to the top story I _did_ see a fire on the Meissner
+Hills, which was neither a watch fire nor a burning building. The
+sequel showed that the Russians must have known that night all about
+the attack intended to be made on the following morning, inasmuch as
+they concentrated troops which had been at a considerable distance upon
+the Meissner Hills, and it was principally Russian Landwehr which drove
+the French back as a storm sweeps a field of stubble. When the remnant
+of them fell back into the fortifications, the Russians quietly marched
+off to their previous positions. So that at the very time when the
+council of war was held at Gouvion de St. Cyr's, the decision which it
+arrived at was communicated to, or, more probably, overheard by persons
+who were not supposed to have this in their power. Strangely enough,
+the advocate knew every detail of the deliberation; for instance, that
+Gouvion was opposed to the expedition, and only yielded lest he might
+be thought wanting in courage, in a case where rapidity of decision was
+a desideratum. Count von der Lobau was determined to march out and
+endeavour to cut his way to the emperor's army. But how did the
+surrounding force know so soon of what was projected? For they knew of
+it in the course of an hour. Not only was it apparently impossible to
+get across the strongly fortified bridge; and if not, the river would
+have had to be swum, and the various trenches and walls got over.
+Moreover, the whole of Dresden was palisaded, and carefully guarded by
+sentries, to a considerable distance round. Where was the possibility
+of any human being surmounting all those obstacles in such a short
+space of time! One might think of telegraphic signals, made by means of
+lights from some tall tower or loftily situated house. But consider the
+difficulty of carrying that out, and the risk of detection, for such
+signals would have been easily seen. At all events it remains an
+incomprehensible thing how what actually happened came to pass; and
+that is enough to suggest to a lively imagination all sorts of
+mysterious and sufficiently extraordinary hypotheses to account for
+it."
+
+"I bow my knee in deep reverence before Saint Serapion," said Lothair;
+"and before the most worthy of his disciples, and I am quite sure that
+a Serapiontic account of the important incidents of the war, as seen by
+him, if given in his characteristic style, would be exceedingly
+interesting, as well as very instructive, to imaginative members of the
+profession of arms. At the same time I have little doubt that the
+incidents in question came about quite naturally, and in the ordinary
+course of events. But you had to get your landlord's servant-girl, the
+pleasing Dorothea, into the water, as a sort of deluding Nixie; and
+she----"
+
+"Don't jest about that," Cyprian said, very solemnly. "Don't make jokes
+on that subject, Lothair. At this moment I see that beautiful creature
+before my eyes, that lovely terrible mystery (I do not know what other
+name to call her by). It was I who had that bridecake sent to me;
+glittering in diamonds, flashing like lightning, wrapped in priceless
+sables----"
+
+"Listen," cried Vincenz. "We are getting at it now. The Saxon
+maid-servant--the Russian Princess--Moskow--Dresden-- Has not Cyprian
+always spoken in the most mysterious language, and with the most
+recondite allusions, of a certain period of his life just after the
+first French war? It is coming out now! Speak! Let all your heart
+stream forth, my Cyprianic Serapion and Serpiontic Cyprian."
+
+"And how if I keep silence?" answered Cyprian, suddenly drawing in his
+horns, and growing grave and gloomy. "And how if I am obliged to keep
+silence? And I _shall_ keep silence!"
+
+He spoke those words in a strangely solemn and exalted tone, leaning
+back in his chair, and fixing his eyes on the ceiling, as was his wont
+when deeply moved.
+
+The friends looked at one another with questioning glances.
+
+"Well," said Lothair at last, "it seems that somehow our meeting of
+to-night has fallen into a strange groove of ill-fortune, and it appears
+to be hopeless to expect any comfort or enjoyment out of it. Suppose we
+have a little music, and sing some absurd stuff or other as vilely as
+we can."
+
+"Yes," said Theodore, "that is the thing." And he opened the piano. "If
+we don't manage a canon--which, according to Junker Tobias is a thing
+which can reel three souls out of a weaver's body--we will make it
+awful enough to be worthy of Signor Capuzzi and his friends. Suppose we
+sing an Italian _Terzetto buffo_ out of our own heads. I'll be the
+prima donna, and begin. Ottmar will be the lover, and Lothair had
+better be the comic old man, and come in, raging and swearing in rapid
+notes."
+
+"But the words, the words," said Ottmar.
+
+"Sing whatever you please," said Theodore; "Oh Dio! Addio! Lasciami mia
+Vita."
+
+"No, no," cried Vincenz. "If you won't let me take part in your
+singing--although I feel that I possess a wonderful talent for it,
+which only wants the voice of a Catalani to produce itself in the
+work-a-day world with drastic effect, allow me at least to be your
+librettist--your poet-laureate. And here I hand you your libretto at
+once."
+
+He had found on Theodore's writing-table the 'Indice de Teatrali
+Spettacoli' for 1791, and this he handed to Theodore. This indice, like
+all which appear yearly in Italy, merely contained a list of the titles
+of the operas performed, with the names of their composers, and of the
+singers, scene-painters, &c., concerned in their production. They
+opened the page which related to the opera in Milan, and it was decided
+that the prima donna should sing the names of the lover-tenors (with a
+due interspersing of Ah Dio's and Oh Cielo's), that the lover-tenor
+should sing the names of the prima donnas in like manner, and that the
+comic old man should come in, in his furious wrath, with the titles of
+the operas which had been given and an occasional burst of invective,
+appropriate to his character.
+
+Theodore played a _ritornello_ of the cut and pattern which occurs by
+the hundred in the opera buffas of the Italians, and then began to sing
+in sweet, tender strains "Lorenzo Coleoni! Gaspare Rossari! Oh Dio!
+Giuseppo Marelli! Francesco Sedini!" &c. Ottmar followed with "Giuditta
+Paracca! Teresa Ravini! Giovanna Velata--Oh Dio!" &c. And Lothair burst
+duly in with rapid, angry quavers: "Le Gare Generose, del Maestro
+Paesiello--Che vedo? La Donna di Spirito, del Maestro Mariella.
+Briconaccio! Piro, Re di Epiro! Maledetti!--del Maestro Zingarelli,"
+&c.
+
+This singing, which Lothair and Ottmar accompanied with appropriate
+gesticulations (Vincenz illustrating Theodore's impersonations with the
+most preposterous grimaces imaginable), warmed up the friends more and
+more. In a comic description of enthusiastic inspiration each seized
+the drift of the other's ideas. All the passages, imitations, &c. (to
+use musical expressions), usually employed in compositions of this
+description, were reproduced with the utmost accuracy--so that any one
+who had come in by accident would never have dreamt that this
+performance was improvised on the spur of the moment, even if the
+strange hotch-potch of names had struck him as curious.
+
+Louder and more unrestrainedly raged this outbreak of Italian _rabbia_,
+until (as may be supposed), it culminated in a wild, universal burst of
+laughter, in which even Cyprian joined.
+
+At their parting, on this evening, the friends were in a condition of
+wild enjoyment, rather than (as was the case on other occasions), lull
+of rational delight.
+
+
+
+
+                             SECTION EIGHT.
+
+The Serapion Brethren had assembled for another meeting.
+
+"I must be greatly mistaken," said Lothair, "and be anything but the
+possessor of a native genius (supplemented by assiduous practice) for
+physiognomy--such as I believe that I do possess, if I do not read very
+distinctly in the face of every one of us (not excepting my own, which
+I see magically gleaming at me in yonder mirror), that our minds are
+all fully charged with matter of importance, and only waiting for the
+word of command to fire it off. I am rather afraid that more than one
+of us may have got shut up in one or other of his productions one of
+those eccentric little firework devils which may come fizzling out,
+dart backwards and forwards about the room, banging and jumping, and
+not manage to pop out of the window until it has managed to give us all
+a good singeing. I even dread a continuation of our last conversation,
+and may Saint Serapion avert that from us! But lest we should fall
+immediately into those wild, seething waters, and that we may commence
+our meeting in a duly calm and rational frame of mind, I move that
+Sylvester begins by reading to us that story which we could not hear on
+the last occasion because there was no time left."
+
+This proposal was unanimously agreed to.
+
+"The woof which I have spun," said Sylvester, producing a manuscript,
+"is composed of many threads, of the most various shades, and the
+question in my mind is whether--on the whole--you will think it has
+proper colour and keeping. It was my idea that I should, perhaps, put
+some flesh and blood into what I must admit, is a rather feeble body,
+by contributing to it something out of a great, mysterious period--to
+which it really does but serve as a sort of framework."
+
+Sylvester read:--
+
+
+
+                 THE MUTUAL INTERDEPENDENCE OF THINGS.
+
+A tumble over a root as a portion of the system of the universe--Mignon
+      and the gypsy from Lorca, in connection with General Palafox--A
+      Paradise opened at Countess Walther Puck's.
+
+"No!" said Ludwig to his friend Euchar, "no! There is no such lubberly,
+uncouth attendant on the goddess of Fortune as Herr Tieck has been
+pleased to introduce in the prologue to his second part of 'Fortunat,'
+who, in the course of his gyrations, upsets tables, smashes ink-bottles,
+and goes blundering into the President's carriage, hurting his head and
+his arm. No! For there is no such thing as chance. I hold to the opinion
+that the entire universe, and all that it contains, and all that comes
+to pass in it--the complete macrocosm--is like some large, very ingeniously
+constructed piece of clockwork-mechanism, which would necessarily come
+to a stop in a moment if any hostile principle, operating wholly
+involuntarily, were permitted to come in contact--in an opposing
+sense--with the very smallest of its wheels."
+
+"I don't know, friend Ludwig," said Euchar, laughing, "how it
+is that you have come, all of a sudden, to adopt this wretched,
+mechanical theory--which is as old as the hills, and out of date long
+ago--disfiguring and distorting Goethe's beautiful notion of the red
+thread which runs all through our lives--in which, when we think about
+it in our more lucid moments, we recognize that higher Power which
+works above, and in us."
+
+"I have the greatest objection to that simile," said Ludwig. "It is
+taken from the British navy. All through the smallest rope in their
+ships (I know this, of course, from the Wahlverwandschaften), runs a
+small red thread, which shows that the rope is Government property. No,
+my dear friend! Whatever happens is pre-ordained, from the beginning,
+as an essential necessity, just because it does happen. And this is the
+Mutual Interdependence of Things, upon which rests the principle of all
+being, of all existence. Because, as soon as you----"
+
+However, it is necessary, at this point, to explain to the courteous
+reader that as Ludwig and Euchar were thus talking together, they were
+walking in an alley of the beautiful park at W----. It was a Sunday.
+Twilight was beginning to fall, the evening breeze was whispering in
+the branches which, reviving after the heat of the day, were exhaling
+gentle sighs. Among the woods were sounding the happy voices of
+townsfolk in their Sunday clothes, out for the afternoon, some of them
+lying in the sweet grass enjoying their simple supper, and others
+refreshing themselves in the various restaurants, in accordance with
+the winnings of their week.
+
+Just as Ludwig was going on to explain more fully the profound theory
+of the mutual interdependence of things, he stumbled over the thick
+root of a tree, which (as he always wore spectacles) he had not seen;
+and he measured his length on the ground.
+
+"_That_ was comprehended in the mutual interdependence of things," said
+Euchar gravely and quietly, lifting up his friend's hat and stick, and
+giving him his hand to help him on to his legs again. "If you had not
+pitched over in that absurd manner the world would have come to a stop
+at once."
+
+But Ludwig felt his right knee so stiff that he was obliged to limp,
+and his nose was bleeding freely. This induced him to take his
+friend's advice and go into the nearest restaurant, though he
+generally avoided these places, particularly on Sundays. For the
+jubilations of the Sunday townsfolk were exceptionally displeasing to
+him, giving him a sensation of being in places which were not by any
+means _convenable_--at all events for people of his position.
+
+In the front of this restaurant the people had formed a deep,
+many-tinted ring, from the interior of which there Bounded the tones
+of a guitar and a tambourine. Ludwig, assisted by his friend, went
+limping into the house, holding his handkerchief to his face. And he
+begged so pitifully for water, and a little drop of wine-vinegar,
+that the landlady, much alarmed, thought he must be at the point of
+death. Whilst he was being served with what he required, Euchar (on
+whom the sounds of the guitar and tambourine exercised an irresistible
+fascination) crept forth, and endeavoured to penetrate into the closed
+circle. He belonged to that restricted class of Nature's favourites
+whose exterior and whole being ensure a kindly reception everywhere,
+and in all circumstances. So that on this occasion some journeymen
+mechanics (people who are not usually much given to politeness of a
+Sunday) at once made room for him when he asked what was going forward,
+so that he as well as themselves might have a look at the strange
+little creature who was dancing and playing so prettily and cleverly.
+And a curious and delightful scene displayed itself to Euchar, which
+fettered all his mind and attention.
+
+In the middle of the ring a girl with her eyes blindfolded was dancing
+the fandango amongst nine eggs, arranged three by three behind each
+other on the ground, and playing a tambourine as she danced. At one
+side stood a little deformed man, with an ill-looking gypsy face,
+playing the guitar. The girl who was dancing seemed to be about
+fifteen. She was oddly dressed in a red bodice, gold-embroidered, and a
+short white skirt trimmed with ribbons of various colours. Her figure
+and all her motions were the very ideal of elegance and grace. She
+brought the most marvellous variety of sounds out of her tambourine.
+Sometimes she would raise it above her head, and then hold it out in
+front of her or behind her, with her arms stretched out, in the most
+picturesque attitudes. Now it would sound like a far-off drum; now like
+the melancholy cooing of the turtle-dove, and presently like the
+distant roar of the approaching storm. All this was accompanied in the
+most delightful manner by the tinkling of the clear, harmonious bells.
+And the little guitar-player by no means fell short of her in
+virtuosity; for he, too, had quite a style of his own of treating his
+instrument--making the dance melody (which was a most characteristic
+one, wholly out of the common run of such things) predominate at times,
+loud and clear, and hushing it down at other times into a mysterious
+piano, striking the strings with the palms of his hand (as the
+Spaniards do in producing that peculiar effect), and presently dashing
+out bright-sounding, full harmonies. The tambourine went on
+_crescendo_, as the guitar-strings clanged louder and louder, and the
+girl's boundings increased in their scope in a similar ratio. She would
+set down her foot within a hair's-breadth of the eggs with the most
+complete certainty and confidence, so that the spectators could not
+help crying out, thinking that one of those fragile things must
+infallibly be broken. Her black hair had fallen down, and it flew about
+her head, giving her much the effect of a Maenad. The little fellow
+cried out to her in Spanish, "Stop!" And on this, while still going on
+with her dance, she lightly touched each of the eggs, so that they
+rolled together into a heap; upon which, with a loud beat on her
+tambourine and a forcible chord on the guitar, she came to a sudden
+standstill, as if banned there by some spell. The dance was done.
+
+The little fellow went up to her and undid the cloth which bound her
+eyes. She rolled up her hair, took the tambourine, and went round
+amongst the spectators, with downcast looks, to collect their
+contributions. Not one had slunk off out of the way. Every one, with a
+face of pleasure, put a piece of money into that tambourine. When she
+came to Euchar, and as he was going to put something into it, she made
+a sign of refusal.
+
+"May not I give you anything?" he said.
+
+She looked up at him, and the glowing fire of her loveliest of eyes
+flashed through the night of her black silken lashes.
+
+"The old man," she said gravely--almost solemnly--in her deep voice,
+and with her foreign accent, "told me that you, sir, did not come till
+the best part of my dance was done; and so I ought not to take anything
+from you." Thus speaking she made Euchar a pretty courtesy, and went to
+the little man, taking the guitar from his hands, and going with him to
+a table at some distance.
+
+When Euchar looked round him, he perceived Ludwig sitting not far off,
+between two respectable townsfolk, with a great glass of beer before
+him, making the most earnest signs. Euchar went to him, saying, with a
+laugh, "Why, Ludwig, when did you take to drinking beer?" Ludwig,
+however, made signals to him, and said, in meaning accents, "What do
+you say? Beer is one of the most delicious of drinks, and I delight in
+it above all things--when it is so magnificent as it is here."
+
+The citizens rose, and Ludwig shook hands with them most politely,
+putting on a look which was half-pleased, half-annoyed, when they
+expressed at parting their regret for his mishap.
+
+"You are always getting me into hot water with your want of tact," he
+said. "If I hadn't allowed myself to be treated to a glass of beer, if
+I hadn't managed to gulp the abominable trash down--those sturdy
+counter-jumpers would probably have been offended, and would have
+looked upon me as one of the profane. Then you must needs come and
+bring me into discredit, when I had been playing my part so very
+nicely."
+
+"Well," said Euchar, "if you had been bowed out of their company, or
+even come in for a little touch of cudgelling, wouldn't it all have
+been a part of the mutual interdependence of things? But just listen as
+I tell you what a charming little drama your trip over the tree-root
+(predestined, according to the conditions of the Macrocosmus, to occur)
+gave me an opportunity of seeing."
+
+And he told him about the charming egg dance by the Spanish girl.
+"Mignon!" cried Ludwig enthusiastically. "Heavenly, divine Mignon!"
+
+The guitarist was sitting not far off, at a table, counting the
+receipts, and the girl was standing beside him, squeezing an orange
+into a glass of water. Presently the old man put the money together,
+and nodded to the girl with eyes sparkling with gladness, whilst she
+handed him the orange-water, and stroked his wrinkled cheeks. He gave a
+disagreeable, cackling laugh, and gulped down the liquid with every
+indication of thirst. The girl sat down and began tinkling on the
+guitar. "Oh Mignon!" cried Ludwig again. "Heavenly, divine Mignon! Ah,
+I shall rescue her, like another Wilhelm Meister, from the thraldom of
+this accursed miscreant who holds her in bondage!" "How do you know,"
+asked Euchar, "that this little hunchback is an accursed miscreant?"
+"Cold creature!" answered Ludwig. "Cold, passionless creature, you
+understand nothing, you have no sympathy with anything, no sense of the
+genial, the imaginative. Don't you see--don't you comprehend how every
+description of the most insulting contempt, envious feeling,
+wickedness, ill-temper, and avarice of the vilest kind gleam out of the
+green, cat's-eyes of that little gypsy abortion--are legible in every
+wrinkle of his diabolical-looking face? Yes! I am going to rescue that
+beautiful child out of the clutches--the Satanic clutches--of that
+brown monster! If I could only have a talk with her, the little
+charmer!" "Nothing is easier than that," said Euchar, and he signed to
+her to come near.
+
+The girl put the instrument down, came near, and made a reverence,
+casting her eyes modestly on the ground. "Mignon!" cried Ludwig.
+"Mignon! Sweet, beautiful creature!"
+
+"I am called Emanuela," she said.
+
+"And that horrible ruffian there," Ludwig went on, "where did he steal
+you from? How did you get into his clutches, poor thing?"
+
+The girl lifted her eyes, and sending a beaming, serious glance through
+and through Ludwig, replied. "I don't understand you, sir. I don't know
+what you mean--why you ask me this?"
+
+"You are a Spaniard, my child," Euchar began.
+
+"I am," she answered, her voice trembling. "I am, indeed. You see
+me--you hear me. Why should I deny it?"
+
+"Then, of course, you can play the guitar and sing a song?"
+
+She covered her eyes with her hand, and said, in a scarce audible
+whisper, "Ah! I should like to play and sing _you_ one. But my songs
+are burning hot; and here it is so cold--so cold!
+
+"Do you know," said Euchar, speaking in Spanish, and in a heightened
+tone, "the song _Laurel immortal_?"
+
+She clapped her hands, raised her glance to Heaven, tears filled her
+eyes; she flew to the table, seized the guitar, sprang, rather than
+walked back to the two friends, placed herself before Euchar, and began
+
+           "Laurel immortal al gran Palafox,
+            Gloria da Espana, de Francia terror!"
+
+The expression which she put into this song was indescribable.
+From the deepest pain of death there flamed forth the most fiery
+enthusiasm--each note seemed to be a lightning flash which must shiver
+every ice-covering of the chilled breast. As for Ludwig he was--to use
+a familiar expression--ready to jump out of his skin with sheer
+rapture. He interrupted her singing with boisterous "Bravas!"
+"Bravissimas!" and a hundred other such expressions of approbation.
+
+"Do be so kind, my dear fellow, as to make a little less noise!" Euchar
+said. "Oh, of course," he answered, "you unimpressionable people are
+never in the least affected by music!" However he did what Euchar had
+asked him to do.
+
+When she had finished, she went and leant on a tree, as if wearied. And
+as she let the chords go on sounding more and more softly till they
+died away in a _pianissimo_, great tears were falling upon the
+instrument.
+
+"You are in some need, my poor, pretty child," said Euchar, in the tone
+which comes only from a deeply moved heart. "Although I did not see the
+beginning of your dance, you have more than made up for that by your
+song, and you must not refuse to accept something from me."
+
+He had taken out a little purse in which bright ducats were shining,
+and was handing it to her as she came closer to him. She fixed her gaze
+upon his hand, seized it in both her own, and falling on her knees with
+a loud cry of "_Oh, Dios!_" covered it with the warmest kisses. "Ah!"
+cried Ludwig, "nothing but gold is worthy to touch that beautiful
+little hand." And he asked Euchar if he could give him change for a
+thaler, as he had no smaller money about him.
+
+Meanwhile the hunchback had come limping up, and he lifted the guitar,
+which Emanuela had dropped on the ground, making many smiling
+reverences to Euchar, supposing that he had been exceedingly generous
+to the girl, from the motion with which she had thanked him.
+
+"Scoundrel--miscreant!" growled Ludwig.
+
+The man started in alarm, and said, in a lamentable tone, "Ah, sir, why
+are you so angry? Don't condemn poor Biagio Cubas--a good, respectable,
+honest man. Don't judge me by the colour of my skin, or by the ugliness
+of my face. I know I _have_ an ugly face. I was born in Lorca, and am
+every bit as good a Christian as you are yourself."
+
+The girl jumped up hastily, crying out to the old man in Spanish, "Come
+away, little father, as quickly as you can." And they both hurried off,
+Cubas continuing to make various odd reverences, and Emanuela fixing
+upon Euchar the most soul-full gaze of which her beautiful eyes were
+capable.
+
+When the strange couple were lost among the trees, Euchar said, "You
+must see, do you not, that you were in much too great a hurry to
+condemn that little cobold in your own mind? He _has_ a touch or so of
+the gypsy about him. As he says himself, he comes from Lorca. And Lorca
+is an old Moorish town, and the Lorcanese (good enough folks, all the
+same) bear undeniable traces of their ancestry. So there is nothing
+which they take in worse part than to have this imputed to them, which
+is why they keep perpetually declaring that they are Christians of ever
+so old standing. This was the case with this little fellow, in whose
+face his Moorish origin is certainly reflected to the extent of
+positive caricature."
+
+"No matter!" cried Ludwig. "I stick to my opinion; the man is a
+tremendous scoundrel, and I will leave no stone unturned till I deliver
+my charming, beautiful Mignon from his clutches."
+
+"If you insist on thinking the little fellow a scoundrel," said Euchar,
+"I can't say that I have very much confidence, for my part, in the
+charming beautiful Mignon."
+
+"What!" cried Ludwig. "Not have confidence in that divine little
+creature, whose eyes beam with the purest, most innocent truth and
+tenderness? However, there we see the icy, prosaic nature wholly devoid
+of feeling for all such matters, distrustful of everything which
+doesn't fit all in a moment into the compartments, the grooves of his
+everyday business."
+
+"Well, don't get so excited about it, my dear, enthusiastic friend,"
+said Euchar quietly. "You will probably say that I have no tangible
+reason for distrusting the beautiful Mignon. But my reason is that I
+have this instant discovered that as she was kissing my hand she took
+away that little ring with the curious stone (which you know I always
+wear) from my finger. And I am greatly distressed to lose it, because
+it is a souvenir of a period of my life which was full of intense
+interest and importance."
+
+"In heaven's name," said Ludwig, in an awestruck whisper, "it is not
+possible, surely! No, no!" he cried, loudly and excitedly, "it cannot
+be possible! That lovely face could not deceive: that eye--that
+glance--You must have dropped the ring--let it fall."
+
+"Well--" said Euchar, "we shall see. But it is getting dark: let us get
+back to the town."
+
+All the way home, Ludwig did not cease talking of Emanuela, calling her
+by the sweetest names, and declaring that he was quite certain--from a
+peculiar glance which she had cast on him at parting--that he had made
+a deep impression on her--a sort of event which generally happened to
+him in similar cases--_i.e._ when the romantic element entered amongst
+the circumstances of everyday life. Euchar did not interrupt him by so
+much as a syllable; but he worked himself up more and more--till, just
+at the town gate (where the drummer of the guard was beginning to beat
+the tattoo), he screamed into his friend's ear (a process necessitated
+by the row made by the military virtuoso on his instrument), as he cast
+himself upon his bosom, that he was most deeply in love with the sweet
+Mignon, and that the sole object of his life from thenceforth was to
+find her again, and free her from the bondage of the atrocious old
+monster.
+
+There was a servant in a handsome livery standing at Ludwig's door,
+who handed him a card of invitation. As soon as he had read it, and
+sent the servant away, he embraced his friend as frantically as he
+had done at the town gate, and cried, "Oh, Euchar! call me the most
+fortunate--the most enviable--of mortals. Open your heart! Form some
+slight idea of my happiness! Mingle your tears of joy with mine!"
+
+"What can there be of such a marvellously fortunate description
+announced to you on a card?" inquired Euchar.
+
+"Don't be startled," murmured Ludwig, "when I open to you the gates of
+the magically brilliant Paradise of a thousand delights, which will
+unfold itself to me by the virtue of this card here."
+
+"Well," said Euchar, "I am sure I shall be very glad indeed, to hear
+what the piece of good fortune is which is coming to you."
+
+"Hear it," cried Ludwig; "learn it--understand it! Be amazed at
+it--doubt of it--cry out--shriek--shout! I have got an invitation to
+the supper and ball to-morrow evening at Countess Walther Puck's!
+Victorine! Victorine! Sweet, lovely Victorine!"
+
+"And how about sweet, lovely Mignon?" asked Euchar. But Ludwig groaned
+forth, in the most pathetic tones, "Victorine! My life!" and bolted
+into his quarters.
+
+
+THE FRIENDS, LUDWIG AND EUCHAR. EVIL DREAM OF THE LOSS, AT PIQUET, OF
+      A PAIR OF HANDSOME LEGS. WOES OF AN ENTHUSIASTIC DANCER. COMFORT,
+      HOPE, AND MONSIEUR COCHENILLE.
+
+It may be expedient to tell the courteous reader a little more
+concerning this pair of friends, so that he may form, at all events, to
+some extent, a well-grounded opinion as to each of them.
+
+Both had the title of Baron. Educated together, and having grown up in
+the most intimate friendship, they could not part even when the lapse
+of years brought to light most striking dissimilarities in their mental
+characteristics, which became more and more developed as time went on.
+In his childhood, Euchar belonged to the class of "good, well-behaved
+children," so-called, because in "society" they will sit for hours in
+the same spot, ask no questions, never want anything, and so forth, and
+then in due course, develop into wooden blockheads. With Euchar the
+case was different. If when, in his capacity of a "good, well-behaved"
+boy he chanced to be sitting with bent head and downcast eyes, some one
+spoke to him, he would start in alarm, stammer, and falter in his
+speech, often even shed tears, and seem to have been awakened from a
+deep dream. When alone, he appeared to be a totally different being. If
+watched without his being aware of it, he would be talking loudly and
+eagerly, as if with several people about him, and he would "act" whole
+stories--which he had heard or read--as if they were dramas, so that
+tables, cupboards, chairs, whatever happened to be in the room with
+him, had to represent towns, forests, villages, and dramatis personae.
+But when he had an opportunity of being alone in the open air, a
+special ecstasy seemed to inspire him. Then he would jump, dance, and
+shout through the woods, putting his arms about the trees, throwing
+himself down into the grass--and so forth. In any sort of game played
+by boys of his own standing, he was most unwilling to take part, and
+was consequently looked upon as being "funky," and a creature who had
+no "pluck," for he would never take his share in anything where there
+was any chance of risk--such as a big jump, or a difficult piece of
+climbing. But here, also, it was curious that, when at the end nobody
+had had the pluck to do the thing, Euchar would wait till they were all
+gone, and then, when he was by himself, would do with the utmost ease,
+what they had all only _wanted_ to do. For instance, if the idea was to
+get up a high, slender tree, and nobody had managed to do it, as soon
+as all their backs were turned, and Euchar was alone, he would be at
+the top of it in a few seconds. Seeming outwardly to be cold and
+apathetic, he really threw himself into everything with all his soul,
+and a persevering steadfastness such as only belongs to strong
+characters. And when--as was often the case--that which he felt keenly
+came to the surface, it did so with such irresistible force, that
+everyone who had any knowledge of such matters was amazed at the depth
+of feeling which lay hidden in the boy's nature. Many schoolmasters,
+and tutors, who had to do with him, could make neither head nor tail of
+him as a pupil, and there was only one of them--the last--who said the
+boy was a poet: at which his papa was very much distressed, thinking
+that the boy had inherited his mother's temperament, and she had always
+had the most terrible headaches whenever she went to a party or
+any social function. However, the papa's most intimate friend, a
+smooth-spoken young chamberlain, assured him that the schoolmaster in
+question was an ass to say what he did, and utterly mistaken, seeing
+that the blood in the veins of young Euchar was noble, so that, being
+by birth an aristocrat, he never could be in any danger of being
+capable of poetry. And this was very consoling to the old gentleman.
+How the lad developed with those dispositions may be readily inferred.
+Nature had imprinted on his face the unmistakable signet with which she
+stamps her prime favourites. But Mother Nature's favourites are those
+who have the power of completely realising the illimitable love of
+their kind mother, and of understanding the depths of her being: and
+they are only understood by those who are favourites themselves.
+Consequently Euchar was not understood by the general crowd--was
+considered unimpressionable, cold, incapable of the due degree of
+ecstasy on the subject of the newest tragedy at the theatre--and was
+stigmatized as a prosaic creature. Above all, a whole coterie of ladies
+of the most refined intellectual development and culture, who might
+well be credited with the power of insight on this particular subject,
+could by no means understand how it was possible that that Apollo's
+brow, those sharply curving, masterful eyebrows, those eyes which
+darted such a darksome fire, those softly pouting lips, should belong
+to a mere lifeless image. And yet all this seemed to be the case. For
+Euchar did not know in the least degree how to say nothing, about
+nothing, in words which meant nothing, to pretty ladies, and look,
+whilst so-doing, like a Rinaldo in bonds.
+
+Matters were quite different with Ludwig. He belonged to the race of
+those wild, uncontrollable boys of whom people are in the habit of
+predicting that the world will not be wide enough for them. It was he
+who always invented the maddest and most adventurous features of all
+games. It was naturally to be expected that he would be the one of all
+others to "come to grief" on those occasions: but he was always the one
+who came out of them safe and sound, because he had the knack of
+keeping himself in a safe spot during the carrying out of the
+adventure--if he did not manage to slip out of it altogether. He took
+up every subject rapidly, with the utmost enthusiasm--and dropped it
+again as quickly. So that he learned a great many things, but did not
+learn much. When he came to young man's estate, he wrote very pretty
+verses, played passably on several instruments, drew very nice
+pictures, spoke with a certain degree of correctness and fluency
+several languages, and was, consequently, a paragon of up-bringing. He
+could get into the most surprising ecstasies about everything, and give
+utterance to the same in the most magniloquent words. But it was with
+him as with the drum--which gives forth a sound which is loud in
+proportion to its emptiness. The impression made upon him by everything
+grand, beautiful, sublime, resembled the outside tickling which excites
+the skin without affecting the inner fibres. Ludwig belonged to that
+class of people who say, "I want to do" so-and-so; but who never get
+beyond this principle of "wanting to do" into action. But, as in this
+world, those who announce, with the proper amount of loudness and
+emphasis, what they "intend," or are "going" to do, are held in far
+greater consideration than those who quietly go and "do" the things in
+question, it of course happened that Ludwig was considered "capable" of
+performing the grandest deeds, and was admired accordingly, people not
+troubling themselves to ascertain whether he had "done" the deeds which
+he had talked about so loudly. There were, it must be said, people who
+"saw through" Ludwig, and, starting from what he said, took some pains
+to find out what he had done, or if he had done anything at all. And
+this grieved him all the more that, in solitary hours, he was sometimes
+obliged to admit to himself that this everlasting "meaning" and
+"intending" to do things, without ever doing them, was, in reality, a
+miserable sort of business. Then he came upon a book--forgotten and out
+of date--in which was set forth that mechanical theory of the mutual
+interdependence of things. He eagerly adopted this theory, which
+justified and accounted for his doings, or rather his "intentions"
+of doing, in his own eyes, and in those of others. According with
+this theory, if he did not carry out anything which he had intended
+to do--what he had said he was going to do--it was not he who
+was to blame: its not happening was simply a part of the mutual
+interdependence of things.
+
+The courteous reader will, at all events, see the great convenience of
+this theory.
+
+Moreover, as Ludwig was a very good-looking young fellow, with blooming
+red cheeks, he would, by virtue of his qualities, have been the idol of
+all elegant circles, had not his short-sight led to his committing
+numerous "quid-pro-quos," which had often most annoying consequences.
+However, he consoled himself with the thought of the "impression,"
+which was indescribable, which he believed himself to make upon all
+female hearts: and, besides, there was a good deal in the habit he had,
+just because he was so short-sighted, of placing himself in a closer
+proximity to ladies with whom he was conversing, than might have been
+considered altogether _convenable_, a species of innocent pushingness,
+belonging to the "genial" character, so as to be sure not to make any
+mistakes with reference to the person he was addressing; a matter which
+had more than once been productive of annoyance.
+
+The morning after the ball at Count Walther Puck's, Euchar received a
+note from Ludwig, running as follows:
+
+"Dearest and most beloved friend,--I am utterly miserable. I am
+stricken by destiny. It is all over with me! I am dashed down from
+the flowery summit of the fairest hope into the blackest and most
+fathomless abyss of the deepest despair. That which was to have been
+the source of my indescribable bliss constitutes my misery. Come to me
+as speedily as you can, and give me some comfort, if such a thing be
+possible."
+
+Euchar found him stretched on his sofa, with his head bound up, pale
+and worn from sleeplessness.
+
+"Is it you?" he cried, in a feeble voice, stretching an arm towards
+him: "is it you, my noble friend? Ah! _you_ have some sympathy for my
+sufferings. At all events, let me tell you what I have gone through,
+and then say whether you think all is over with me, or not."
+
+"Things did not turn out quite as you expected at the ball, I suppose,"
+said Euchar.
+
+Ludwig heaved a deep sigh.
+
+"Was the lovely Victorine a little unkind?" inquired Euchar. "Didn't
+she behave to you quite as you expected?"
+
+"I offended her," answered Ludwig, in the most funereal tones, "to an
+extent, and in a manner, which she can never forgive."
+
+"Good heavens!" cried Euchar; "this is very distressing. How did it
+happen? Please to let me hear."
+
+Ludwig, after heaving a profound sigh, and quoting some verses of
+appropriate poetry, went on, in a voice of profound melancholy:
+
+"Yes, Euchar. As the mysterious whirring of the wheels of a clock tells
+me that it is going to strike the hour, warnings go before coming
+misfortunes. On the very night before the ball I had an awful, a
+horrible dream. I thought I was at the ball, and when I was going to
+begin dancing, I suddenly found that I could not move my feet from the
+floor. And I saw in the mirror, to my horror, that instead of the
+well-looking nether extremities which nature has provided me with,
+I was dragging about under my body, the gouty old legs of the
+Consistorial President, with all their wrappings and bandages. And
+while I had to stick to the floor in this terrible manner, lo and
+behold! the Consistorial President, with Victorine in his arms,
+whirling along in a Laendler, lightly and gracefully as any bird. But
+the point of the thing was, that he sniggered at me, with the most
+insulting style of sneering laughter, and said he had won my legs from
+me at picquet.
+
+"I awoke, as you may imagine, bathed in a perspiration of anguish.
+Still sunk in thought over this horrible vision of the night, I must
+needs set the cup of almost boiling chocolate to my lips, and burn them
+to that extent, that you may see the mark still, although I have rubbed
+on as much pomade as I could. Now I know that you don't take much
+interest in other people's troubles, so I shall say nothing about the
+numerous fateful events which destiny dogged my steps with all day
+yesterday, and merely tell you that when it came to be time to dress in
+the evening, two stitches burst out of one of my silk stockings--two of
+my waistcoat buttons came off--as I was getting into the carriage to go
+to the ball, I let my Wellington get into the mud, and at last, in the
+carriage itself, when I wanted to tighten the patent buckles of my
+pumps, I found, to my intense annoyance, that my idiot of a servant had
+put on two which we're not a pair! I was obliged to go home again, and
+lost a good half hour. However, Victorine came to me in all the glory
+of her beauty and delightsomeness. I asked her for the next dance. It
+was a Laendler, we started off together. I was in heaven. But in a
+moment I felt the spite of adverse fortune."
+
+"The mutual interdependence of things," said Euchar, interrupting.
+
+"Call it whatever you please," said Ludwig, "it doesn't matter to me
+to-day. All I know is, that it was fate which made me fall over that
+tree-stump yesterday. As I was dancing I felt the pain come on again in
+my knee, and it grew more and more unendurable. Just at that moment
+Victorine said, loud enough to be heard by the other people who were
+dancing, "We seem all to be going to sleep." Signs were made to the
+band, people clapped their hands to them, and the pace grew faster
+and faster. With all my might I struggled with the diabolical pain,
+and conquered it. I danced along daintily, and put on a delighted
+expression of countenance; but for all I could do, Victorine kept
+saying: 'What is the matter, Herr Baron? You are not one bit the
+partner that you generally are.' Burning dagger thrusts into my heart!"
+
+"Poor, dear friend," said Euchar, laughing; "I see the full extent of
+your sufferings!"
+
+"And yet," continued Ludwig, "all this was only the prelude to the most
+terrible of all events. You know that I have been for a long time
+applying my mind to arranging the figures of a '_seize_:' and you know
+of your own experience, how little I have made of the very considerable
+amount of china, glass, and stoneware that I have knocked off the
+tables in my lodgings here, in my practice of the intricacies of those
+'tours, or figures,' that I might attain to the perfection of
+performance which was my dream. One of them is the most utterly
+glorious that the mind of man has ever hit upon, of its kind. Four
+couples stand, picturesquely grouped, the gentleman, balancing on his
+right tip-toe, places his right-arm about his partner, raising, at the
+same time, his left-arm in a graceful curve above his head--whilst the
+other couples make the 'ronde.' Such an idea never entered the heads of
+Vestris or Gardel. Very well. I had based my hopes of highest happiness
+upon this particular '_seize_.' I had been destining it for Count
+Walther Puck's birthday: I intended to whisper into Victorine's ear
+during this more than earthly 'tour'--'Most divine countess, I love you
+unutterably--I adore you! Be mine, angel of light!' that was the
+reason, dear Euchar, why I was so overwhelmed with joy when I got the
+invitation to the ball there, for I had had great doubts about it.
+Count Walther Puck had appeared to be a good deal annoyed with me a
+little while ago, one day when I was explaining to him the theory
+of the mutual interdependence of things--the mechanism of the
+macrocosm--when he took it into his head that I was making out that he
+was a pendulum. He said it was a piece of chaff in very bad taste; but
+that he would take no notice of it in consideration of my youth, and he
+turned his back. Very well! The unfortunate Laendler came to an end. I
+did not dance any more, I went into the ante-room, and who should
+follow me but the good Cochenille, who at once opened a bottle of
+champagne for me. The wine sent fresh life into my veins. I didn't feel
+the pain any longer. The '_seize_' was just going to begin--I flew back
+to the dancing-room, darted up to Victorine, kissed her hand fiercely,
+and took my position in the 'ronde.' The 'tour,' which I have told you
+of, came on; I outdid myself! I hovered--I balanced--the God of the
+dance in person; I threw my arm round my partner. I whispered, 'Divine,
+heavenly Countess,' just as I had arranged with myself that I should
+do. My declaration of love went forth from my lips, I gazed ardently
+into my partner's eyes. Ruler of heaven! It was not Victorine I had
+been dancing with! It was somebody else altogether, some lady whom I
+didn't know in the least, though she was the same sort of person as
+Victorine in style and feature, and dressed exactly as she was. You may
+imagine that I felt as if smitten by a flash of lightning. Everything
+about me was swimming in a chaos. I didn't hear the music any longer; I
+dashed wildly through amongst the rows of people, hearing cries of pain
+here and there, till I found myself arrested and held tight by a pair
+of powerful arms, whilst a voice of fury droned into my ear, 'Death and
+damnation, Herr Baron, are you out of your senses? Have you nine devils
+in you, or what?' 'Twas the very Consistorial President whom I had seen
+in my dream. He was holding me tight in a remote corner of the room,
+and he went on as follows: 'I was just getting up from the card-table,
+when you came bursting like a hurricane out of the middle of the
+dancing room, and jumped about like a creature possessed upon my
+unfortunate feet, till I could have roared like a bull with the pain of
+it, if I hadn't been a person of proper conduct. Don't you see what a
+disturbance you've been making here?' And, in fact, the whole of the
+'_seize_' was in confusion, the music had stopped, and I saw that some
+of the dancers were going about limping, ladies were being led to their
+seats, and people were holding smelling-bottles to their noses. I had
+been dancing the 'tour' of despair upon the poor people's feet, till
+the President, strong as a tree, had put a period to my fell career.
+Victorine approached me with eyes sparkling with scorn: 'Verily, Herr
+Baron, a charming performance!' she said. 'You ask me to dance with
+you--you dance with another lady, and throw the whole room into
+confusion.' You may picture to yourself my apologies and excuses.
+'These practical jokes are a speciality of yours, Herr Baron,'
+Victorine went on, scarcely containing her anger. 'I know you--but I
+beg that you will not select _me_ as the object of that cutting irony
+of yours in the future.' With that she left me standing. The lady I had
+been dancing with then came up amiability--nay, I may say, even
+affectionateness--personified. The poor child had taken fire. I cannot
+wonder at it; but is it any fault of mine? Oh, Victorine! Victorine!
+Oh, ill-starred '_seize_'--dance of the furies, which has consigned me
+to the depths of Orcus!"
+
+Ludwig closed his eyes, groaned and sighed. His friend had the grace
+not to break out into irrepressible laughter.
+
+When Ludwig had taken a cup or two of chocolate--without this time
+burning his lips--he seemed to recover himself to some extent, and bear
+his terrible fate with somewhat greater equanimity. Presently he said
+to Euchar, who had been interesting himself in a book which he had
+taken up. "You had an invitation to that accursed ball yourself, had
+you not?"
+
+"I had," said Euchar, scarcely looking up from the page.
+
+"And you never came--and you never told me that you had one, at all."
+
+"I had another engagement," said Euchar, "as it happened, which
+prevented me from going to the ball--an engagement of far greater
+importance to me than any ball in the world, even had the Emperor of
+Japan himself been the giver of it."
+
+"Countess Victorine," Ludwig continued, "made the most particular
+inquiries as to why you didn't come. She was all anxiety, and kept
+looking towards the door. I should have been really very jealous. I
+should quite have thought that, for the first time in your career, you
+had touched a lady's heart, if the matter had not been explained. The
+fact is, I scarcely dare to tell you in what an unsparing manner the
+lovely Victorine spoke of you. She even went the length of saying that
+you were a cold-hearted piece of eccentricity, whose presence often
+marred all enjoyment: so that she had been dreading that you would act
+as her kill-joy on that evening as you so often had done before, and
+was quite delighted when she found that you were not coming. To speak
+candidly, my dear Euchar, I can't make out how it is that you, gifted
+by the heavens with so many bodily and mental excellences, should
+always be so unlucky with the other sex--why I should always cut the
+ground from under your feet. Cold creature! I feel certain that you
+have no conception of the heavenly bliss of love, and that is why you
+are not beloved. Whereas I, on the other hand----Believe me when I tell
+you that Victorine's fiery indignation itself was engendered by the
+flames of love which blazed in her heart for me--the fortunate, the
+blessed one."
+
+The door opened, and there came into the room a quaint little fellow,
+in a red coat with big steel buttons, black silk breeches, heavily
+powdered _frisure_, and a little round pigtail.
+
+"Good Cochenille!" Ludwig called out to him. "Dearest Monsieur
+Cochenille, to what do I owe this pleasure?"
+
+Euchar, declaring that important engagements called him away, left his
+friend alone with the confidential servant of Count Walther Puck.
+
+Cochenille, sweetly smiling, with downcast eyes, stated that their
+Countly Excellencies were quite convinced that the most honoured Herr
+Baron had been attacked, during the '_seize_,' by a malady which bore a
+Latin name something like Raptus, and that he, Monsieur Cochenille, was
+come to make inquiries as to his present state of welfare.
+
+"Raptus! Raptus! Nothing of the kind." And he related, and detailed at
+length, how the whole matter had come about, ending by begging the
+talented Kammerdiener to put affairs in order as far as he possibly
+could.
+
+Ludwig learned that his partner was a cousin of Countess Victorine,
+just arrived from the country for the occasion of the Count's
+birthday--that she and the Countess Victorine were one heart and one
+soul, and--inasmuch as the sympathies of young ladies often display
+themselves in the form of silks and crapes--were often in the habit of
+dressing exactly alike. Cochenille was further of opinion that the
+vexation of Countess Victorine was not very genuine. He had handed her
+an ice at the end of the ball, when she was standing talking to her
+cousin, and had noticed that they were laughing tremendously, and had
+heard them several times mention the honoured Baron's name. The truth
+was, according to what he had been able to observe, that this cousin
+was of a temperament exceedingly disposed to the tender passion, and
+would only be too delighted if the Baron would carry further what he
+had begun, namely, at once set to work to pay assiduous attentions to
+her, and in due course put on _glace_ gloves, and lead her to the
+altar: but that he, for his part, would do everything he could to
+prevent such a course of events. The first thing in the morning, as he
+would be having the honour to _friser_ his Countly Highness, he would
+take an opportunity of laying the whole matter before him, and would
+also take the liberty of begging him, as an uncle regardful of his
+niece's best interests, to represent to her that the Herr Baron's
+declaration of love was merely a species of "flourish" belonging to the
+"tour" which he happened to be executing at the time--just as
+declarations of the kind generally were. That, he thought, would be of
+some service. Cochenille finally advised the Baron to go and see
+Countess Victorine as soon as possible, and told him there would be an
+opportunity of doing so that very day. Madame Bechs, the Consistorial
+President's lady, was giving an aesthetic tea that afternoon, with tea
+which (he had been told by the Russian Ambassador's valet) had come
+direct overland from China through the Russian Embassy, and had an
+extraordinarily delicious flavour and scent. There he would find
+Victorine, and be enabled to put everything straight again.
+
+Ludwig saw that it was nothing but unworthy doubt which had had the
+power of disturbing his love-happiness: and he resolved to make himself
+so marvellously charming at the "the" of Madame Bech, the Consistorial
+President's lady, that Victorine should never so much as dream of being
+at all "grumpy."
+
+
+THE AESTHETIC TEA. CHOKING COUGH OF A TRAGIC POET. THE STORY TAKES A
+      SERIOUS TURN, AND TELLS OF BLOODY BATTLE, SUICIDE, AND SIMILAR
+      MATTERS.
+
+The courteous reader must be good enough to accompany Ludwig and
+Euchar to this aesthetic tea, which is now going forward at Madame
+Bech's, the Consistorial President's lady. About a dozen of the fair
+sex, appropriately attired, are seated in a semi-circle. One is
+thoughtlessly laughing; another is immersed in a contemplation of the
+tips of her shoes, with which she is managing to practise the "pas" of
+a "Francaise," silently and unobserved; a third appears to be sweetly
+sleeping (and dreaming more sweetly still); a fourth darts the fiery
+beams from her eyes athwart the room in all directions, with the
+intention that they shall impinge upon not one but all the men who are
+present. A fifth lisps forth "Heavenly! Glorious! Sublime!" and those
+utterances are for the behoof of a young poet, who is reading out with
+all possible pathos a new tragedy of destiny, tedious and silly enough
+even to be read aloud on such an occasion. A delightful feature of the
+affair was, that one heard a species of _obbligato_ accompaniment going
+on in the next room, a species of growling, like the rumble of distant
+thunder. This was the voice of the Consistorial President, who was
+playing piquet with Count Walther Puck, and making himself audible in
+this manner.
+
+The poet read out, in the most dulcet accents at his command--
+
+           "Ah! but once more! once more only
+            Let me hear thee, voice of beauty,
+            Voice of rapture, voice of sweetness,
+            Voice from out the deep abysses,
+            Voice from out the heights of Heaven!
+            Hark! oh, listen----"
+
+Here the thunder which had been rumbling so long broke out into a peal:
+"Hell and damnation!" roared the Consistorial President's voice,
+re-echoing through the room, so that the people jumped up from their
+chairs, alarmed. But it was pretty that the poet, not suffering himself
+to be disturbed in the slightest, went on reading--
+
+           "Yea! it is the breath beloved,
+            Music of those lips of nectar."
+
+But a destiny higher than that which ruled in the poet's tragedy did
+not permit him to finish his reading. Just as he was going to raise his
+voice to the highest pitch of tragic power, to enunciate a terrible
+execration which his hero was going to utter, something, heaven knows
+what, got into his throat, so that he broke out into a frightful fit of
+coughing, by no means to be assuaged, and had to be assisted out of the
+room, more dead than alive.
+
+This sudden interruption appeared to be the reverse of disagreeable to
+the lady of the house, who had for some time been giving indications of
+weariness and annoyance. As soon as the tranquillity of the company was
+restored, she pointed out that it was time that a vivid narrative of
+something should take the place of reading, and thought Euchar ought
+really to make it his duty to undertake this, seeing that, in general,
+he was so obstinately silent, as to contribute little to the
+entertainment of the company.
+
+Euchar said, modestly, that he was anything but a good story-teller,
+and that the tale which he thought of telling was of a very serious,
+perhaps even terrible description, and might be anything but enjoyable
+by the company. But four very young ladies immediately cried out, with
+one voice "Oh! something terrible, please! I do so love to be
+terrified!"
+
+Euchar took his place in the chair of the narrator, and began as
+follows:--
+
+"We have been passing through a period in which events have swept
+athwart the stage of the world like a series of raging hurricanes.
+Humanity, shaken to its depths, has given birth to things portentous,
+even as the storm-tossed ocean casts up to the surface of its seething
+surges the terrible marvels of its abysses. Whatever could be
+accomplished by lion-like courage, unconquerable valour, hatred,
+revenge, fury, and despair, was achieved during the Spanish war of
+independence. I should like to tell you of the adventures of a friend
+of mine, whom I shall call Edgar, who served in that war, under the
+banners of Wellington. He had left his native place in deep, bitter
+irritation, at the shame of his Fatherland, and gone to Hamburg, where
+he lived in a little room which he had taken, in a retired quarter. He
+had a neighbour, who lived in the next room to him, with only a wall
+between them, but he knew nothing more of him than that he was an old
+man, in infirm health, who never went out. He often heard him groan,
+and break out into gentle pathetic lamentations; but he did not
+understand the words he spoke. After a time, this neighbour begun to
+walk assiduously up and down in his room, and it appeared to indicate
+returning health when he tuned a guitar one day, and began to sing in a
+soft voice, songs which Edgar recognized to be Spanish romances.
+
+On being closely questioned, the landlady confided to Edgar, that his
+neighbour was a French officer who had been invalided from the Romana
+corps, that he was under secret espionage, and very seldom ventured to
+go out.
+
+In the middle of the night Edgar heard this Spaniard play on his guitar
+more loudly than before, and begin, in powerful strangely changing
+melody, the 'Profecia del Pirineo of Don Juan Baptista de Arriaja.'
+There came the stanzas commencing--
+
+           "Y oye que el gran rugido,
+            En ya trueno en los campos de Castilla," &c.
+
+The glowing enthusiasm with which the old gentleman's singing was
+instinct, set Edgar's blood ablaze. A new world dawned on him. He knew,
+now, how to arouse himself from out his sickly mood, and under an
+impulse to deeds of valour, fight out the contest which was eating up
+his heart. He could not resist an eager desire to make the acquaintance
+of the man who had thus inspired him with new life. The door gave way
+at the pressure of his hand, but the moment he entered the room, the
+old man sprung from his bed with a cry of "Traeidor" (traitor), and made
+straight at Edgar with a drawn dagger. Edgar succeeded in evading the
+well-aimed thrust by a skilful movement, and in grasping the old man,
+and holding him down on his bed.
+
+While he thus held him, for he had but little strength at the time, he
+implored him in the most touching language, to forgive the stormy
+fashion of his entrance: he assured him that he was no traitor; but
+that on the contrary, what he had heard him sing had lighted up all the
+rage, the inconsolable pain, which had been tearing his breast asunder
+into an unslakeable desire for combat. He longed to hurry to Spain,
+there to fight for the freedom of the country. The old man gazed
+fixedly at him, and said, "Can it be possible?" and embraced Edgar,
+who, naturally, continued his assurances that nothing could induce him
+to forego his resolve, at the same time throwing his dagger down on the
+ground.
+
+Edgar now learned that the old gentleman's name was Baldassare de Luna,
+and that he belonged to one of the most noble families of Spain. He was
+helpless and friendless, and had the prospect, unalleviated, of
+dragging out a miserable existence, far from home, without a friend or
+pecuniary resource. It was some time ere Edgar could succeed in
+infusing any hope or comfort into his heart: but when, at length, he
+most solemnly undertook to arrange for their escape to England
+together, new life appeared to circulate in the Spaniard's veins. He
+was no longer the old invalid, but an enthusiastic youth, breathing out
+defiance to his oppressors. Edgar kept his word. He succeeded in
+evading the vigilance of the spies, and in escaping with Baldassare de
+Luna to England. But it was not the will of fate that this brave and
+luckless man should see his native land again. He was prostrated by
+another attack of illness, and died in London, in Edgar's arms. A
+spirit of prophecy gave him to see the coming glory of his rescued
+country. Amid the latest prayerful whisperings which issued with
+difficulty from his lips stiffening in death, Edgar distinguished the
+word "Vittoria," and an expression of heavenly beatitude glowed on de
+Luna's countenance.
+
+At the time when Souchet's victorious force was threatening to bear
+down all opposition and rivet the shameful foreign yoke more firmly
+than ever, to all eternity, Edgar arrived before Tarragona with Colonel
+Sterret's English brigade. It is matter of history that Colonel Sterret
+considered the position so insecure, that he would not disembark his
+troops. This our eager young soldier could not endure. He left the
+English force, and betook himself to the Spanish general Contreras, who
+was occupying the fortress with 8,000 Spanish soldiers. We are aware
+that Souchet's force took Tarragona by storm, notwithstanding the most
+heroic defence, and that Contreras himself, with a bayonet wound, fell
+into the hands of the enemy.
+
+The scenes which passed before Edgar's eyes, displayed all the
+terribleness of hell itself. Whether it was on account of shameful
+treachery, or from incomprehensible carelessness on the part of those
+whose duty it was to attend to the matter, the troops who had to defend
+the principal _enceinte_ of the fort, soon ran short of ammunition.
+They for a long time resisted with the bayonet the incoming of the
+enemy through the gateway which had been forced: but when, ultimately,
+they had to retire before the urgency of his fire, they rushed across
+to the further gateway in wild disarray, and in confused masses:
+and as this gate was too narrow to admit of their passage, they
+had, therefore, to submit to a terrific massacre. Yet some 4,000
+Spaniards--Almeira's regiment, with which Edgar happened to be at the
+time--managed to force their way through. With the courage of despair
+they broke their passage through the enemy's battalions which were
+there posted, and continued their flight towards Barcelona. They were
+fancying that they were in safety, when they were assailed by a
+terrible fire from some field-pieces, which the enemy had placed in
+position behind a trench cut across the road, bringing inevitable
+destruction into their ranks. Edgar was hit, and fell to the ground.
+
+A violent pain in the head was what he felt when he recovered
+consciousness. It was dark night, and all the terrors of death
+permeated him as he heard the hollow groans and the heart-piercing
+cries which surrounded him. He managed to get upon his legs and creep
+along. When at length the morning began to break he found himself close
+to a deep ravine; but as he was about to go down into it a troop of the
+enemy's cavalry came slowly up. It seemed an impossibility to avoid
+being taken prisoner; but suddenly shots came dropping out of the
+thickest part of the wood, emptying several saddles, and presently a
+party of Guerillas made an attack on the remainder of the troop. He
+shouted out to his deliverers in Spanish, and they welcomed him gladly.
+He had only been struck by a spent ball, and soon recovered, so as to
+be able to join Don Joachim Blake's force, and enter Valenzia with it,
+after several engagements.
+
+Who does not know that the plain watered by the Guadalquivir, where
+stands the beautiful Valenzia with her stately towers, is an earthly
+paradise? All the heavenly delightsomeness of a sky for ever fair
+penetrates and pervades the hearts and souls of the dwellers there, for
+whom life is an unbroken festa. And this Valenzia was now the theatre
+of a most bitter and bloody war. Instead of the dulcet tones of the
+lute, stealing like the cooing of doves up in the nights to the
+trellised windows, the place resounded with the hollow rolling of guns
+and ammunition waggons, the wild challenge of sentries, and the weird,
+mysterious murmur of soldiery marching through the streets. All joy was
+driven into dumbness. All the white faces, drawn by grief and horror,
+had written upon them the dread anticipation of terrible things
+imminent. The most furious execrations, offspring of inward fury, were
+showered upon the enemy. The Alameda--at other times the haunt of the
+gay world--was now a parade ground for the troops. Here Edgar one day,
+as he was standing alone, leaning against a tree, reflecting on the
+dark, adverse destiny which seemed to weigh upon Spain, observed that a
+man, far advanced in years, tall, and of haughty demeanour, who was
+walking up and down near him with long steps, stopped and scrutinized
+him keenly each time that he passed him. At last Edgar accosted him,
+enquiring courteously what in him had attracted such a share of his
+attention. "I see that I was not mistaken," he answered, whilst a
+gloomy fire flashed from beneath his black, bushy eyebrows. "You are
+not a Spaniard--and yet, if your coat does not belie you, I am bound to
+look upon you as one who fights on our side. And that strikes me as
+rather remarkable." Edgar, though nettled at the brusquerie of this
+gentleman's address, told him, temperately enough, what had brought him
+to Spain.
+
+But scarcely had he mentioned the name of Baldassare di Luna than the
+old man cried out in much excitement, "Baldassare di Luna do you say?
+My beloved cousin! the dearest and most intimate friend I have left in
+the world." Edgar repeated all that had happened, not failing to
+mention the heavenly hopes with which Baldassare had taken leave of
+life.
+
+The old man clasped his hands, raised his eyes to heaven--his lips
+moved--he seemed to be communing with his departed friend. "Forgive
+me," he said, "if a gloomy mistrust, which is foreign to my character,
+influenced me against you. Some time ago it was believed that the
+accursed knavery of the enemy had gone so far as to introduce foreign
+officers amongst our forces to act as spies. The incidents at Tarragona
+but too much encouraged suspicions of this kind, and the Junta has now
+determined to expel all foreigners. Don Joachim Blake, however, has
+insisted that foreign engineers, at all events, are indispensable to
+him, solemnly engaging, at the same time, to shoot down every foreigner
+at once who is subject to the slightest ground of suspicion. If you are
+a friend of my Baldassare you are undoubtedly a man of valour and
+honour. At all events, I have told you everything, and you can act
+accordingly." With this he took his departure.
+
+The fortune of arms appeared to have completely abandoned the
+Spaniards, and the very courage of despair itself could avail nothing
+against the rapidly-advancing foe. Valenzia was hemmed in more and more
+closely on all sides, so that Blake, pushed to extremity, determined to
+force his way out with twelve thousand chosen troops. It is known that
+few succeeded in getting through, that the remainder were in part
+killed, in part driven back into the town. It was here that Edgar, at
+the head of the brave Ovihuela Rifle Regiment, managed to give a
+momentary check to the enemy, thus rendering the wild confusion
+of the flight less disastrous. But, as at Tarragona, a musket bullet
+struck him down at the crisis of the engagement. He described his
+condition from that moment till he regained clear consciousness as one
+inexplicably strange. It often seemed to him that he was in the thick
+of fighting. He would seem to hear the thunder of the cannon, the wild
+cries of the combatants--the Spaniards would seem to be advancing
+victorious, but as he was seized on by the joy of battle and starting
+off to lead his battalion under fire, he would seem to become suddenly
+paralysed, and sink down in unconscious insensibility. Then he would
+become clearly aware that he was lying on some soft bed, that people
+were giving him cool drink--he heard gentle voices speaking softly, and
+yet could not arouse himself from his dreams. Once, when he thought he
+was back in the thick of the battle, it seemed to him that he was
+grasped firmly by the shoulder, whilst a rifleman of the enemy's
+fired at him, striking him on the breast, where the bullet in an
+incomprehensible manner went slowly boring its way into the flesh with
+the most unspeakable torments till all sense of feeling sunk away into
+a deep, deathlike sleep.
+
+Out of this death sleep Edgar awoke suddenly into full and clear
+consciousness, but in such strange surroundings that he could not form
+an idea as to where he might be. The soft luxurious bed with its silken
+curtains, was quite out of keeping with the small, low-roofed,
+dungeon-like vault of undressed stones in which it stood. A dim lamp
+shed a feeble light around--neither door nor window was discernible.
+Edgar raised himself with difficulty, and saw that there was a
+Franciscan friar sitting in a corner, seemingly asleep. "Where am I?"
+Edgar cried, with all the energy which he could concentrate.
+
+The monk started from his sleep, trimmed the lamp, took it up, looked
+at Edgar's face by the light, felt his pulse, and murmured something
+which Edgar could not understand. He was going to interrogate the monk
+as to what had happened to him, when the wall opened noislessly, and a
+man came in whom Edgar immediately recognized as the person who had
+spoken to him on the Alameda. The monk called out to this person that
+the crisis was over and all would now go well. "Praise be to God," said
+the old gentleman, and approached nearer to Edgar's bed.
+
+Edgar wished to speak, but the old gentleman prevented him, assuring
+him that the slightest exertion would be dangerous to him still. It was
+natural that he should be surprised at finding himself in such
+surroundings, but a few words would be sufficient, not only to put him
+at his ease, but to explain why it had been necessary to place him in
+this dreary prison.
+
+Edgar now learnt all. When he fell wounded in the breast the intrepid
+"battle-brethren," in spite of the hotness of the fire, had taken him
+up and transported him into the town. It happened that in the thick of
+the confusion Don Rafaele Marchez (this was the old man's name) saw the
+wounded Edgar, and instead of his being sent to the hospital he was
+carried to Don Rafaele's own house at once, so that the friend of his
+Baldassare might have every possible care. His wound was serious enough
+in itself, but the peculiar danger of his condition was the violent
+nervous fever, traces of which had previously displayed themselves,
+which now broke out in all its fury. It is matter of notoriety that a
+tremendous fire had been kept up on Valenzia for three days and nights
+with the most terrible effect, that all the terror and horror of this
+bombardment spread abroad in this city thronged to excess with
+people--that the self-same populace, excited to fury by the Junta,
+after insisting that Blake should keep up the defence to the very
+utmost, turned round and demanded an immediate surrender under the most
+violent threats--that Blake, with heroic self-command, drove the crowds
+asunder by Walloon Guards, and then made an honourable capitulation to
+Souchet. Don Rafaele Marchez would not allow Edgar, sick unto death, to
+fall into the enemy's hands. As soon as the capitulation was arranged
+and the enemy within the walls of Valenzia, Edgar was removed to the
+vault, where he was safe against discovery. "Friend of my sainted
+Baldassare," (thus he finished his narrative) "be _my_ friend too. Your
+blood has flowed for my country--every drop of it has fallen seething
+into my breast, and washed away every vestige of the mistrust which
+cannot but arise in this fateful time. The same fire which enflames the
+Spaniard to the most bitter hatred flashes up in his friendship too,
+making him capable of every deed, every sacrifice, for his ally. My
+house is occupied by the enemy, but you are in safety, for I swear to
+you that whatever happens I will rather let myself be buried under the
+ruins of Valenzia than betray you. Believe me in this."
+
+In the daytime a profound stillness as of the grave reigned around
+Edgar's room, but in the night he often thought he heard in the
+distance the echo of soft footfalls, the hollow murmur of many voices
+together, the opening and shutting of doors, the clatter of weapons.
+Some subterranean action seemed to be going on during the hours
+of sleep. Edgar questioned the Franciscan, who only--and that
+rarely--quitted him for an instant or two, tending him with the most
+unwearied care. But the Franciscan was of opinion that as soon as Edgar
+was well he would hear from Don Rafaele what it was that was going on.
+And this was so. For when Edgar was well enough to leave his bed, Don
+Rafaele came one night with a lighted torch and begged Edgar to dress
+and follow him with Father Eusebio, which was the name of the
+Franciscan, his doctor and nurse.
+
+Don Rafaele led him through a long and rather narrow passage till they
+came to a closed door, which was opened on Don Rafaele's knocking.
+
+How amazed was Edgar to find himself in a spacious vaulted chamber
+brilliantly lighted, in which there was a numerous assemblage of
+persons for the most part of wild, dirty, sullen appearance. In the
+middle stood a man who, though dressed like the commonest peasant, with
+wild hair and all the marks of a homeless, nomadic life, had in all his
+bearing something of the dauntless and the awe-aspiring. The features
+of his face were noble, and from his eyes flashed a warlike fire which
+bespoke the hero. To him Don Rafaele conducted his friend, announcing
+him as the brave young German whom he had rescued from the enemy, and
+who was prepared to take part in the grand contest for the freedom of
+Spain. Then Don Rafaele, turning to Edgar, said, "You are here in the
+heart of Valenzia, which is besieged by our enemies--the hearth on
+which burns for ever that fire whose unquenchable flame, ever blazing
+up with renewed vigour, is destined to destroy our accursed foe when
+the moment comes when, misled by his fallacious successes, he shall
+surpass himself in defiant arrogance. You are here in the subterranean
+vaults of the Franciscan Monastery. Along a hundred bye-paths unknown
+to betrayers the chiefs of the brave make their way to this spot, and
+hence, as from a focus, they dart in all directions rays which carry
+death and destruction to foreigners. Don Edgar, we look upon you as one
+of ourselves. Take your part in the glory of our undertakings."
+
+Empecinado (for the man dressed as a peasant was none other than the
+renowned Guerilla chieftain)--Empecinado, whose fearless daring formed
+the theme of many a popular tale amounting to the miraculous--who set
+at defiance all the efforts of the enemy, like some incarnation of the
+spirit of vengeance, who when he had vanished without a trace would
+suddenly burst forth with redoubled force--who at the very moment when
+the enemy announced the utter annihilation of his bands would suddenly
+appear at the very gates of Madrid, placing the Pretender's life in
+danger--this Empecinado took Edgar by the hand, addressing him in
+enthusiastic words.
+
+At this point in the proceedings a young man was brought in bound. His
+face, of deathly pallor, wore all the signs of hopeless despair; he was
+trembling, and appeared to find it difficult to stand upright when
+placed in the presence of Empecinado. The latter pierced him through
+and through with his glance of fire, and at length spoke to him, in a
+tone of the most appalling calmness. "Antonio," he said, "you are in
+league with the enemy. You have several times had interviews with
+Souchet, at unusual hours. You endeavoured to hand over, by treachery,
+our Place d'Armes at Cuenca."--"It is so," answered Antonio, with a
+terrible sigh, not raising his bowed-down head. "Is it possible," cried
+Empecinado, breaking out into the wildest anger, "is it possible that
+you are a Spaniard--that the blood of your ancestors runs in your
+veins? Was not your mother Virtue personified? Would not the slightest
+suspicion that she was capable of betraying the honour of her house be
+an atrocious outrage? But for this I should believe you to be a bastard
+sprung from the most despicable race on earth. You have merited death.
+Prepare yourself to die."
+
+Antonio threw himself at Empecinado's feet in anguish and despair,
+crying, "Uncle! uncle! do you not know that all the furies of hell are
+rending my breast. There are times--often--when the subtlety of Satan
+can bring anything to pass. Yes, uncle, I am a Spaniard. Let me prove
+it. Be merciful. Grant that I may blot out the disgrace which the most
+abominable arts of hell have brought upon me--that I may appear to you
+and to the Brethren purified from my offence. You understand me, uncle?
+You know the reason of my so imploring you!"
+
+Empecinado seemed somewhat moved by the young man's entreaties. He
+raised him, and said gently, "Your repentance is sincere. You are right
+in saying that the cunning of Satan is able to accomplish much. I know
+the reason of your entreaty. I pardon you. Son of my dear sister, come
+to my heart!" Empecinado with his own hands untied his bonds, embraced
+him, and at once handed to him the dagger from his own girdle. "My
+thanks," the young man cried. He kissed Empecinado's hands, bedewing
+them with his tears, then he raised his eyes to heaven in prayer, and
+drove the dagger deep into his heart, falling dead without a sound.
+
+This occurrence so shook the invalid Edgar that he nearly fainted.
+Father Eusebio took him back to his chamber.
+
+Some weeks afterwards Don Rafaele Marchez considered that it was safe
+for him to liberate his friend from the prison in which he could not
+recover his health. He took him, in the night, up to a room which had
+windows looking out upon an unfrequented street, and warned him not to
+cross the threshold--at all events in the daytime, by reason that the
+French were quartered in the house.
+
+Edgar could not explain to himself the irresistible desire which one
+day seized him to go out into the corridor. At the very instant that he
+did so the door of the room opposite opened, and a French officer came
+out meeting him.
+
+"Why how came _you_ here, friend Edgar!" cried the Frenchman. "Welcome
+a thousand times!" Edgar had at once recognized him as Colonel la Combe
+of the Imperial Guard. Chance had brought this Colonel, just at the
+time of Germany's terrible degradation, to his uncle's house, where he
+himself was living, having had to abandon his military career. La Combe
+came from the south of France. Through the tenderness (by no means a
+common characteristic of his nation) with which he dealt with those
+who were so bitterly tried, he succeeded in overcoming the deep
+dislike--nay, the irreconcilable hatred, which was so firmly rooted in
+Edgar's soul against the arrogant foe, and finally, by virtue of
+certain traits of character, which placed beyond all doubt the true
+nobility of la Combe's nature, in gaming his friendship.
+
+"Edgar," cried the Colonel, "what has brought _you_ to Valenzia?"
+
+It may be imagined how sorely the question embarrassed Edgar. He could
+make no reply. The Colonel gazed at him gravely, and said in a serious
+tone. "Ah, I understand. You have given the rein to your animosity--you
+have drawn your sword for the imagined freedom of a nation of madmen,
+and I cannot blame you for it. I should be forming a very poor opinion
+of your friendship if I could suppose you capable of imagining that I
+could betray you. No, my friend; now that I have found you, you are in
+absolute safety for the first time. From this moment you shall be
+nobody but the commercial traveller of a German house of business in
+Marseilles, an old acquaintance of mine. So no more about that." Much
+as it distressed Edgar, la Combe did not rest until he quitted his
+hermitage, and shared with him the better quarters provided for him by
+Don Rafaele.
+
+Edgar hastened to acquaint the suspicious Spaniard with all the
+circumstances of the case, and his previous relations with la Combe.
+Don Rafaele restricted himself to the answer, delivered in a grave and
+dry manner--
+
+"Really; that is a very curious chance indeed!"
+
+The Colonel sympathized keenly with Edgar's position. At the same time
+he could not divest himself of the characteristic temper of his nation,
+which sees in liveliness of movement, and the eager pursuit of
+pleasure, the best means of healing a wounded heart. Thus it happened
+that the Colonel walked arm in arm with the Marseilles commercial
+traveller in the Alameda, and drew him into the wild amusements of his
+light-hearted comrades.
+
+Edgar noticed, clearly enough, that many strange forms dogged him
+about, watching him with suspicious looks; and it went deeply to his
+heart when, one day on entering a Posada with the Colonel, he heard
+distinctly behind him a whisper of "Acqui esta el traidor!" ("That is
+the traitor.")
+
+Don Rafaele grew daily more cold and monosyllabic towards Edgar, and at
+last he saw him no more, and was given to understand by him that,
+instead of taking his meals with him, he should take them with Colonel
+la Combe.
+
+One day, when duty had called the Colonel elsewhere, and Edgar was
+alone, there came a gentle knock at his door, and Father Eusebio
+entered. He made enquiry after Edgar's welfare, and talked on all kinds
+of indifferent subjects, but presently came to a pause, and after
+looking fixedly into Edgar's eyes, cried with much emotion--
+
+"No, Don Edgar, _you_ are not a traitor. It is in human nature that, in
+that waking dream which constitutes the delirium of fever--when the
+forces of life are in bitter combat with man's earthly envelope, and
+the strong tension of the fibres cannot hem in the thoughts and fancies
+which strive for utterance--it is, I say, in human nature that a man
+can then no longer help revealing phases of his being which are secret
+at other times. How often have I, Don Edgar, watched by your pillow
+during long nights? How often have you, all unknowing, allowed me to
+read the very depths of your soul? No, Don Edgar, it is impossible that
+you can be a traitor. But have a care of yourself--have a care of
+yourself!"
+
+Edgar implored Eusebio to tell him clearly what he was suspected of,
+and what danger was threatening him.
+
+"I will not conceal from you," said Eusebio, "that your intimacy with
+Colonel la Combe and his companions has caused suspicion to rest upon
+you--that fears are entertained that you might, from no evil intention,
+but out of mere lightheartedness, on some occasion when you may have
+taken more of our strong Spanish wines than was advisable, perhaps
+divulge some of the secrets of this house, into which Don Rafaele has
+initiated you. There is no doubt that you are in a certain amount of
+danger."
+
+"But," continued Eusebio, after having maintained a thoughtful silence,
+with downcast eyes, for a time, "there _is_ one way of escaping all
+risk. You have only to throw yourself into the arms of the Frenchmen.
+They will get you out of Valenzia."
+
+"What are you talking about?" Edgar burst out. "Sooner death without
+reproach, than escape coupled with miserable disgrace."
+
+"Don Edgar," cried the monk with enthusiasm, "you _are_ no traitor!" He
+strained Edgar to his heart, and left the chamber with his eyes full of
+tears.
+
+That night Edgar, happening to be alone (the Colonel chancing to be
+from home), heard steps approaching, and Don Rafaele's voice calling,
+"Open your door, Don Edgar." On opening it he saw Don Rafaele with a
+torch in his hand, and Father Eusebio behind him. Don Rafaele begged
+Edgar to accompany him, he having to attend an important meeting in the
+vault of the Franciscan monastery.
+
+As they were passing along the subterranean passage, Don Rafaele being
+in advance with the lighted torch, Eusebio whispered softly in his ear,
+
+"Oh, God, Don Edgar! you are going to your death! There is no escape
+possible for you now."
+
+Edgar had ventured his life in many a fight with brave
+lightheartedness; but here all the anxiousness, the uncertainty of the
+manner of his assassination, could not but weigh heavily upon him, so
+that Eusebio had some difficulty in supporting him. And yet, as the way
+was still long, he managed to acquire a measure of self-control which
+enabled him not only to command himself, but to resolve upon the line
+of conduct which he should adopt in these circumstances. "When the door
+of the vault opened, Edgar saw the terrible Empecinado, with rage and
+fury flashing from his eyes. Behind him were standing several Guerillas
+and one or two Franciscan friars. Having now quite recovered his calm
+courage, Edgar walked firmly and fearlessly up to the Guerilla chief,
+and, addressing him gravely and quietly, said--
+
+"It happens very fortunately that I am brought face to face with you
+to-day, Don Empecinado. I have been anxious to make a request to Don
+Rafaele, and now I have the opportunity of laying it before yourself.
+As Father Eusebio, my doctor and faithful guardian, will testify, I
+have now quite recovered. I am well and strong, and find it impossible
+to bear the tedious idleness of life among enemies whom I detest. I
+therefore beseech you, Don Empecinado, let me be taken and placed upon
+those secret paths known to you, that I may join your bands, and be
+engaged in enterprises for which my soul yearns."
+
+"H'm!" said Empecinado, in a tone approaching mockery. "Do _you_ then
+hold with the crack-brained populace, who prefer death to doing homage
+to the Grand Nation? Have not your friends taught you better?"
+
+"Don Empecinado," said Edgar, "you do not understand the German mode of
+looking at matters. It is not known to you that German courage, which
+burns on for ever inextinguishably, like a pure naphtha flame, and
+German faithfulness, firm as the primeval rock, form the most
+impenetrable coat of mail, from which all the poisoned darts of
+treachery and wickedness fall back harmlessly. I beg you once more, Don
+Empecinado, to let me go out into the open country, that I may prove
+myself deserving of the good opinion which I believe myself to have
+already earned."
+
+Empecinado looked at Edgar in amazement, whilst a low murmur circulated
+amongst the assemblage. Don Rafaele moved forward to speak to
+Empecinado, but he motioned him back, and going to Edgar, took his hand
+and said with emotion--
+
+"Another fate was in store for you. You had another destiny reserved
+for you to-day. However, Don Edgar, think of your own country. The
+enemies who have covered it with shame are here to-day before you.
+Remember that your German peoples, too, will raise their eyes to the
+Phoenix which will soar, with shining plumage, from the flames which
+are kindling here, and their despair give place to warm longing, the
+parent of dauntless courage, of battle to the very death!"
+
+"I thought of all this," said Edgar, "before I left my own country, to
+shed my blood for your freedom. All my being dissolved itself into lust
+for vengeance, when Don Baldassare di Luna lay dying in my arms."
+
+"If you are serious in this," cried Empecinado, as one suddenly
+breaking into fury, "you must set forth this very night, this very
+moment. You must not enter Don Rafaele's house again." Edgar declared
+that this was precisely what he desired, and was immediately conducted
+away by a man named Isidor Mirr (who afterwards became a guerilla
+chief), and Father Eusebio.
+
+As they went the good Eusebio could not sufficiently express his
+delight at Edgar's escape.
+
+"Heaven!" he said, "seeing your goodness put courage into your heart--a
+divine miracle, in my belief."
+
+It was much closer to Valenzia than he expected, or than the enemy
+probably were aware, that Edgar met the first troop of Guerillas, and
+to it he attached himself.
+
+I pass over in silence Edgar's warlike adventures, which often might
+sound as if taken from some book of knightly fables, and I come to the
+time when he unexpectedly encountered Don Rafaele Marchez among the
+Guerillas.
+
+"You really had great injustice done to you, Don Edgar," said Don
+Rafaele. Edgar turned his back upon him.
+
+When morning broke, Don Rafaele got into a state of anxiety which grew
+every instant till it attained a pitch of the most intense anguish. He
+ran up and down, sighed, clasped his hands, raised them to heaven, and
+prayed.
+
+"What is the matter with the old fellow?" Edgar enquired.
+
+"He has managed," said Isidor Mirr, "to get safe out of Valenzia
+himself, and to save the best of his belongings, and get them loaded up
+upon mules. He has been expecting them all night, and has every reason
+to anticipate evil."
+
+Edgar marvelled at Don Rafaele's avarice, which seemed to render him
+oblivious of everything besides. It was midnight; the moon was shining
+brightly among the hills; when musketry fire was heard from the ravine
+beneath, and presently some rather seriously wounded Guerillas came
+limping up, reporting that the troop which was escorting Don Rafaele's
+mules had been unexpectedly attacked by some French Chasseurs, that
+nearly all their comrades had fallen, and the mules been captured by
+the enemy.
+
+"Great heavens, my child--my poor, unfortunate child," Don Rafaele
+cried, and sank to the ground.
+
+"What is the matter here?" cried Edgar loudly. "Come on, come on,
+brethren, down into the glen, to avenge our comrades, and snatch the
+booty from the teeth of these pigs."
+
+"The good German is right," cried Isidor Mirr. "The good German is
+right," re-echoed all around, and away they rushed down into the ravine
+like a bursting thunderstorm.
+
+There were only a few Guerillas left, and they were fighting with the
+courage of despair. With a cry of "Valenzia," Edgar rushed into the
+thickest mass of the enemy, and with the death-announcing roar of
+thirsting tigers the Guerillas dashed after him, planted their daggers
+in the breasts of the foemen, and felled them with the butts of their
+muskets. Well-directed bullets hit them in their headlong flight. These
+were the Valenzia men who had overtaken General Moncey's Cuirassiers in
+their march, dashed upon their flank, cut them down before they
+gathered how they were situated, and retired into their lurking-places
+masters of the arms and horses.
+
+All this was over and done when Edgar heard a piercing scream from the
+densest part of the thicket. He made haste to the spot, and found a
+little man struggling with a Frenchman, and holding the bridle of the
+mule he was in charge of in his teeth. Just as Edgar came on the scene
+the Frenchman struck down the little man with a dagger, which he seemed
+to have taken from him, and was trying to drive the mule further into
+the thicket. Edgar gave a loud shout; the Frenchman fired at him,
+missed him, and Edgar ran him through with his bayonet. The little
+fellow was whimpering. Edgar raised him up, undid with some difficulty
+the bridle, which he had been convulsively biting, and noticed for the
+first time as he was helping him on to the mule that there was a
+shrouded form upon it already clinging to the creature's neck with its
+arms, and softly lamenting. Behind this girl, for such, judging by her
+voice, was the shrouded form, Edgar deposited the little wounded man,
+took the mule by the bridle, and thus made his way back to the little
+Place d'Armes, where, as no more of the enemy was visible, Isidor Mirr
+and his men had again taken up their positions.
+
+The little man, who had fainted from loss of blood, though his wounds
+did not seem to be dangerous, and the girl, were lifted from the mule.
+At this moment Don Rafaele in a state of the most wild excitement
+darted forward with cries of "My child, my sweet child!" and was in the
+act to clasp the young creature, who did not seem to be more than about
+eight or ten in years, in his arms, when, suddenly seeing the bright
+torchlight shining on Edgar's face, he threw himself at his feet,
+crying, "Oh Don Edgar, Don Edgar! this knee has never bent to mortal
+man till now; but you are no mortal--you are an angel of light sent to
+save me from deadly anxiety and inconsolable despair! Oh, Don Edgar,
+fiendish mistrust was deeply rooted in my bosom, ever brooding upon
+evil. It was an undertaking deserving the bitterest execration to plan
+the destruction of one such as you with your true heart all honour
+and valour---to devote you to a shameful death. Strike me down, Don
+Edgar--execute a bloody vengeance upon me, vile wretch that I am! Never
+can you forgive what I have done."
+
+Edgar, fully conscious that he had done nothing more than his duty and
+honour demanded of him, was pained by Don Rafaele's behaviour, and
+tried by all means to calm and silence him, at length with difficulty
+succeeding.
+
+Don Rafaele said Colonel la Combe had been greatly distressed at
+Edgar's disappearance, and suspecting foul play, he had been on the
+point of ransacking the house and having him, Don Rafaele, arrested.
+This was why it had been necessary for him to escape, and it had been
+entirely owing to the Franciscan's help that he had been able to bring
+away his daughter, his servant, and many things which he required.
+Meanwhile the wounded servant and Don Rafaele's daughter had been taken
+on some distance in advance, whilst Don Rafaele, too old to share in
+the exploits of the Guerillas, was to follow them. At his sorrowful
+parting with Edgar he gave him a certain talisman, which brought him
+deliverance in many a serious danger.
+
+
+Here Euchar ended his story, which had been listened to by the company
+with the keenest interest.
+
+The Poet, who had got over his coughing fit and returned to the room,
+expressed the opinion that in Edgar's Spanish adventures there was fine
+material for a tragedy, all that he thought wanting being a due spice
+of love-making and an effective _finale_, such as a striking case of
+insanity, a good apoplexy, or something of the kind.
+
+"Oh, yes, love," said a young lady blushing at her own temerity. "The
+only thing your delightful story wanted was some charmingly interesting
+love affair!"
+
+"Dear Lady," said Euchar laughing, "I was not telling you the story of
+a novel, but the adventures of my friend Edgar. His life amongst the
+wild Spanish mountains was unfortunately poor in experiences of that
+kind."
+
+"I have a strong belief," said Victorine in a low tone, "that I know
+this same Edgar, who has remained in poverty, because he has despised
+the most precious of gifts."
+
+But no one's enthusiasm equalled that of Ludwig, who cried out most
+excitedly, "I know that mysterious Profecia del Pirineo by the glorious
+Don Juan Baptista de Arriaza. Oh, it fired my very veins! I wanted to
+be off to Spain to fight for that glorious cause--had it only been
+comprehended in the system of the mutual interdependence of things. I
+can quite put myself in Edgar's place. How I should have spoken to that
+terrible Empecinado in that awful situation in the Franciscan
+monastery!" And he began a harangue, which was so pathetic that
+everybody was astonished, and could not sufficiently marvel at his
+brave and heroic resolution.
+
+"But it was not a part of the mutual interdependence of things," said
+the lady of the house, "although, perhaps, it does form a part of that
+interdependence--or, at all events, fits into it--that, as it happens,
+I have provided an entertainment for my visitors which forms a suitable
+pendant to Euchar's story."
+
+The doors opened, and Emanuela came in followed by the stunted little
+Biagio Cubas with his guitar in his hands, making all manner of quaint
+obeisances and salutations. But Emanuela, with that indescribable charm
+of manner which had so fascinated Euchar and Ludwig in the Park, came
+into the circle curtseying, and said in a gentle voice that she was
+going to exhibit a little piece of skilfulness, which would not have
+much to recommend it except its being a little out of the common.
+
+During the short time which had elapsed since our two friends had seen
+the girl she seemed to have grown taller, more beautiful, and more
+developed in figure--moreover, she was admirably, almost expensively
+dressed. "Now," Ludwig whispered into his friend's ear, as Cubas
+with quaint and comical features was getting things ready for the
+egg-fandago, "now is your chance to get back your ring."
+
+"My dear goose," said Euchar, "don't you see it is on my finger? I
+found I had taken it off along with my glove; I discovered that on the
+same evening when I thought I had lost it."
+
+Emanuela's dancing took everybody by storm, no one having ever seen
+such a thing before. Euchar kept his gaze fixed upon her earnestly.
+Ludwig broke out into exclamations of the utmost rapture. Victorine,
+close to whom he was sitting, whispered to him, "Hypocrite! You dare to
+pretend to speak of love to me while you are devoted to this brazen
+little wretch of a Spanish egg-dancer! Don't dare to look at her again,
+sir!"
+
+Ludwig was considerably discomposed on the whole by Victorine's passion
+for him, with its tendency to flame out into jealousy without any
+rational cause. He said to himself, "I really am one of the luckiest
+fellows in the world; but all the same, this sort of thing rather bores
+a man."
+
+When she had ended her dance Emanuela took the guitar and began singing
+Spanish ballads of cheerful, happy character. Ludwig begged her to sing
+that splendid thing which had so greatly delighted Euchar. She at once
+began--
+
+           "Laurel immortal al gran Palafox," etc.
+
+Her enthusiastic delivery of these lines waxed in fervour as she went
+on, her voice swelled into greater power, the chords of the instrument
+clanged louder and louder. When she came to the Strophe, which speaks
+of the liberation of the Fatherland, she fixed her beaming eyes on
+Euchar, a river of tears rushed down her cheeks, and she fell on her
+knees. The hostess hurried to her, raised her up, and said, "No more,
+no more, sweet darling child," and, taking her to a sofa, kissed her on
+the brow and stroked her cheeks.
+
+"She's out of her mind," Victorine whispered excitedly to Ludwig. "You
+can't be in love with a mad creature! No, no. Tell me at once--on the
+spot--that you can't possibly be in love with a maniac!"
+
+"Good gracious, no! Of course not," Ludwig cried, considerably alarmed.
+He found the greatest possible difficulty in properly adapting himself
+to the excessively passionate manifestation which Victorine's affection
+had taken to displaying.
+
+While the hostess was refreshing Emanuela with sweet wine and biscuits
+the valiant little guitarist, Biagio Cubas, who had sunk down in a
+corner and was sobbing profusely, was served with a glass of genuine
+Xeres, which he drained to the last drop with a gladsome "Donna, viva
+hasta mil annos."
+
+It may readily be supposed that the ladies attacked Emanuela with a
+string of enquiries as to her country, circumstances, and so forth. The
+hostess felt the painfulness of her position too keenly not to so
+contrive that the firmly-closed circle should disperse itself into
+several subsidiary eddies, in which every one, the piquet players
+included, soon began to revolve. The consistorial president considered
+the little Spanish girl a delightful, natty little creature; the only
+thing was that somehow her dancing got into his own legs and made his
+head feel as giddy as if he were waltzing with the devil in person. The
+singing struck him as something quite out of the common; it delighted
+him immensely.
+
+Count Walther Puck was of quite a different opinion. Of her singing he
+thought nothing at all; there was no such thing as a trillo in it all.
+But he praised her dancing most warmly, and thought it quite delicious.
+He said that his opinion on the subject was of some value, seeing that
+at one time he had been as good a performer as the most celebrated
+Maitres de ballet.
+
+"Will you believe me, brother Consistorial-President," he said, "when I
+tell you that in my youthful days, when I was a perfect model specimen
+of nimbleness and vigour, I used to be able to spring the fiocco and
+knock down a tambourine hung up nine feet above the tip of my nose with
+my toe! And as for this egg-fandago, why I have often smashed more eggs
+in performing that dance than seven hens would lay in four-and-twenty
+hours."
+
+"Bless my soul," said the Consistorial-President, "that was doing the
+thing in a most stupendous style!"
+
+"Yes," said the Count. "And then I must tell you my good old Cochenille
+plays the flageolet really very nicely indeed. And now and then I get
+him to play for me in the dressing-room; and then I really give myself
+full swing in the dancing line--of course, only there quite in private.
+You see what I mean?"
+
+"Of course, of course," answered the Consistorial-President, "I quite
+understand."
+
+Meanwhile Emanuela and her companion had disappeared.
+
+As the company were about dispersing the hostess said, "Friend Euchar,
+I feel certain that you know a great deal more than you have told us
+about your friend Edgar, We should be deeply interested to hear a great
+deal more. "What you have told us was only a fragment of it, though it
+has so excited and interested us that none of us will sleep a wink to
+night. I can't accord you longer time than till to-morrow evening for
+satisfying our curiosity. "We must hear more of Don Rafaele, and
+Empecinado, and the Guerillas. And if it is possible that Edgar can get
+into a love affair, please don't deprive us of the satisfaction of
+that."
+
+"That would be delightful!" sounded from all sides; and Euchar had to
+promise that he would be present with the matter necessary for the
+completing of his story.
+
+As they were going home Ludwig could not say enough on the subject of
+Victorine's passion for him, bordering, as it seemed to do, on
+insanity. "All the same," he said, "that jealousy of hers has had the
+effect of enabling me to read my own heart clearly. And I have read
+there that my love for Emanuela is a thing unutterable. I am going to
+find her out, declare my passionate adoration for her--and clasp her to
+my heart."
+
+"Exactly, my dear child," said Euchar imperturbably. "That is, of
+course, the proper thing for you to do."
+
+On the next evening when the company were assembled again _chez Madame
+la Presidente_, she told them with much regret that Baron Euchar had
+written to say that he was unexpectedly obliged to start immediately on
+a journey, and must postpone the continuation of his story till he came
+back.
+
+
+EUCHAR'S RETURN. SCENES IN A TRULY HAPPY MENAGE. CONCLUSION OF THE
+      STORY.
+
+Two years had past away when one morning a handsome carriage well
+loaded with baggage drew up at the door of the Golden Angel (principal
+hotel in W----), and out of it got a young gentleman, a lady very
+closely shrouded in wraps, and an old man. Ludwig happened to be
+passing at the time, and naturally he had a look at the arrivals
+through his eye-glass. The young gentleman happened to turn round, and
+he immediately embraced Ludwig, crying out, "My dear old fellow!"
+
+The latter was not a little astonished to see his old friend Euchar,
+for it was he who had got out of the carriage. "My dear fellow," he
+said, "who is that terribly muffled-up lady?--and the old gentleman?
+And, bless my soul, here comes a fourgon with baggage, and sitting on
+the back of it--good gracious, do my eyes deceive me?"
+
+Euchar took Ludwig by the arm, led him a step or two across the street,
+and said, "You shall hear all about everything in good time, dear
+friend; but, to begin with, how have things been going with you? You
+are terribly pale--the fire of your eyes has gone out. To tell you the
+honest truth, you look about ten years older than when I saw you last.
+Have you been having a bad illness or some serious trouble?"
+
+"Oh, dear no!" answered Ludwig. "Quite the contrary. I believe I am the
+very happiest fellow under the sun, for I am living a life of utterly
+ideal, Utopian love and bliss. The heavenly Victorine gave me that
+exquisite, tender hand of hers--bestowed it, my dear fellow, upon
+unworthy me rather more than a year ago! That pretty house which you
+see there with its windows shining in the sun is my home, and you must
+come there with me this moment and see that earthly paradise of mine.
+How delighted my dear wife will be to see you again! Let us give her a
+surprise."
+
+Euchar begged for a few minutes time just to change his dress, and
+promised to come then at once and see with his own eyes how all things
+had worked together for Ludwig's happiness.
+
+Ludwig came to meet his friend at the bottom of the stair, and begged
+him to make as little noise as possible in coming up, explaining that
+Victorine often suffered terribly from nervous headaches, and had a bad
+one just then, which rendered her nervous system so sensitive that she
+could hear the very softest footfall in any part of the house, although
+her own rooms were in the most distant part of it. Consequently they
+two now crept as softly as they could up the stairs, which were thickly
+carpeted, into Ludwig's own room. After the heartiest outpourings of
+gladness at seeing his old companion again, Ludwig rang the bell, but
+immediately cried out, "Oh, Lord, what have I done, wretch that I am!"
+putting both his hands before his face. And it was not long before a
+snappish creature of a lady's maid came in screeching out to Ludwig in
+a horrible, vulgar tone of voice, "Herr Baron, for heaven's sake what
+are you doing? You'll kill my lady. She's in spasms now."
+
+"Good gracious! my good Nettie," said Ludwig in a lamentable voice, "I
+really forgot all about it. I was so happy. Here is the greatest friend
+I have in the world come to see me. We haven't met for years. He's an
+old intimate friend of your mistress, too. Go and beg her--implore
+her--to let me bring him to her." Ludwig put money into her hand, and
+she made her exit with a vixenish "I'll see what I can do."
+
+Euchar, finding himself in presence of a situation which is but too
+common in life, and is consequently served up to us _ad nauseam_ in
+comedies and novels, had his own particular ideas as to his friend's
+domestic happiness. He felt with Ludwig all the painfulness of the
+position, and began to talk about indifferent subjects. But Ludwig
+would not give in to this, saying that what had been happening to him
+since they had been apart had been too remarkable and interesting that
+he should delay for a moment to communicate it to Euchar.
+
+"Of course," he began, "you remember that evening when we were all at
+Madame Veh's and you told the Story of your friend Edgar's adventures.
+And, of course, you remember how Victorine flamed up into jealousy and
+showed her heart, which was blazing with passion, without disguise.
+Idiot that I was--I fully admit to you that I was an idiot--I fell
+desperately in love with that little Spanish dancing girl, and thought
+that I could read in her eyes that my love was not without some hope.
+Perhaps you noticed that at the finish of her fandango, whim she made
+the eggs into a pyramid the apex of that pyramid was directed towards
+me. I was sitting just in the centre of the circle behind Madame Veh's
+chair. Now could she have expressed more clearly how deep her interest
+in me was? I wanted to find the dear little creature out the next
+morning, but it was not a part of the mutual interdependence of things
+that I should succeed in that. I had almost forgotten all about her
+when chance----"
+
+"The mutual interdependence of things, you mean," interrupted Euchar.
+
+"Well, well," went on Ludwig. "But, at all events, a few days
+afterwards I was going through the Park, and in front of that Cafe
+where you and I saw that little Spanish girl for the first time, out
+came the landlady rushing--oh, you have no idea what an interest that
+good woman, who got the vinegar and water that day when I hurt my knee,
+takes in me still--but that is not to the present purpose--to ask if I
+knew what had become of the little Spanish girl and her companion, who
+used to come there so often, and of whom nothing had been seen for
+several weeks. Next day I took a great deal of trouble to find out
+whether she was in the town or not, but it did not lie in the mutual
+interdependence of things that I should succeed in this. And my heart
+repented of the foolishness it had been so near committing, and turned
+back again to the heavenly Victorine. But my crime of infidelity to her
+had made such a profound impression upon that super-sensitive
+organization of hers that she refused to see me or even to hear my name
+mentioned. Good old Cochenille assured me that she had fallen into a
+state of absolute melancholia; that she would often cry till the was
+almost breathless, and wail in the most pathetic manner, saying 'He is
+lost to me. I have lost him for ever.' You may imagine the effect which
+all this produced upon me--how I was dissolved in sorrow over this
+unfortunate misunderstanding. Cochenille proffered me his aid. He said
+he would diplomatically convince the Countess that I was quite an
+altered man, never dancing more than four times at the most at balls,
+sitting at the theatre staring at the stage in an oblivious manner, and
+paying not the smallest attention to my clothes. I sent a flowing
+stream of gold pieces into his hands, and in return he gave me fresh
+hopes every morning. At last Victorine allowed me to see her again. How
+lovely she was! Oh, Victorine, my darling--beautiful, sweetest of
+wives--amiability and kindness personified!"
+
+Here Nettchen came in and said that the Baroness was astonished at the
+Baron's extraordinary conduct. First he rang the bell as if the house
+were on fire, and then he asked her to receive a visitor in the
+exceedingly critical state of her health. She most certainly could not
+see anybody that day whoever it might be, and begged the strange
+gentleman to excuse her. Nettchen looked Euchar straight in the eyes,
+scanned him over carefully from head to foot, and left the room.
+
+Ludwig stared before him in silence, and then continued his tale in a
+low voice and with bated breath, saying, "You can't imagine the degree
+of almost contemptuous coldness with which Victorine received me. If it
+hadn't been that her previous outbursts of burning affection had
+convinced me that this coldness was merely put on to punish me, I
+should really have had my doubts, and should have hesitated. But at
+last this counterfeiting got too difficult for her, her behaviour grew
+kindlier and kindlier, till all in a moment she gave me her shawl to
+carry. And then my triumph was utterly brilliant. I rearranged that
+'_seize_' of mine, which had played such an important part in my
+destiny, danced it with her in the most heavenly manner, whispered in
+her ear--at the proper moment, whilst balancing myself on tiptoe and
+placing my arm about her--'Heavenly Countess, I love you unspeakably!
+Angel of light, I implore you to be mine.' Victorine smiled into my
+eyes; but that did not prevent me from paying the proper visit the next
+morning, with the good help of my friend Cochenille, at the fitting
+hour, about one o'clock, and making my formal proposal for her hand.
+She gazed at me in silence. I threw myself at her feet, seized that
+hand which was to be mine, and covered it with glowing kisses. She
+allowed me to do this; but I really felt it a good deal, and thought it
+was extremely queer, that all the time her eyes were fixed steadfastly
+upon nothing that I could discover, staring before her as if she had
+been a lifeless image. But at last a great tear or two came to her
+eyes. She pressed my hand so vehemently that, as I happened to have a
+sore finger, I could scarcely help crying out with the pain of it, rose
+from her chair, and left the room with her handkerchief over her face.
+I had no doubts as to my good fortune. I hastened to the Count and made
+my formal proposal for his daughter.
+
+"'Good. Very good, indeed, my dear Baron,' said the Count, smiling
+in the most affable manner. 'But have you given the Countess any
+intimation of this? Have you given her any opportunity of inferring it
+at all? Are you beloved? I admit that I am foolish enough to take the
+greatest possible interest in love matters.'
+
+"I told him what had happened during the 'seize.' His eyes sparkled
+with delight. 'That was delicious!' he cried over and over again. 'That
+was most delicious, indeed, Herr Baron! Tell me what your "tour"
+consisted of, dear Baronetto.' I danced this 'tour' for him, and
+remained pausing in the position which I described to you long since.
+'Charming; charming, indeed, my angelic friend!' he cried, and ringing
+the bell, he shouted, 'Cochenille, Cochenille!'
+
+"When Cochenille came in I had to sing him the music of my 'seize,'
+which was composed by myself. 'Get your flageolet, Cochenille,' said
+the Count, 'and play what the Baron has been singing.' Cochenille did
+so tolerably correctly. I had to dance with the Count, taking the
+lady's part, and I should not have believed it of the old gentleman,
+while poising himself on his right tiptoe he whispered into my ear,
+'Most incomparable of barons, my daughter Victorine is yours.'
+
+"The lovely Victorine behaved rather coyly, as young ladies are apt to
+do under such circumstances. She was reserved and silent, formal and
+stiff, said neither 'Yes' nor 'No,' and on the whole behaved to me in
+such a way that my hopes began to sink again. Besides, it so happened
+that I just then, for the first time, found out that on the celebrated
+occasion, when I put my arm round the cousin instead of Victorine in
+the 'seize,' those two girls had planned this practical joke on purpose
+just to make me the victim of a contemptible mystification. I really
+was terribly distressed and annoyed, and could almost have cried, to
+think that it had formed a part of the mutual interdependence of things
+that I should be led about by the nose in this sort of way. But those
+doubts were vain. Ere I knew where I was, wholly unexpectedly the
+heavenly 'Yes' came trembling from her beautiful lips just when I had
+fallen into the deepest dejection. It was only then that I found out
+what a constraint Victorine had been putting upon herself before, for
+she was now so wildly happy and in such amazing spirits that anything
+like this condition had never been seen in her before. No doubt it was
+only maidenly coyness that made her refuse to allow me to take her hand
+or to kiss it, or to indulge in any kind of innocent little endearment.
+Many of my friends did try to put a quantity of absurd nonsense into my
+head. But the day before our wedding was destined to drive the last
+shadow of doubt from my mind. Early on that morning I hastened to her.
+Some papers were lying on her work-table. I glanced at them; they were
+in her own handwriting. I began reading. It was a diary. Oh, heavens!
+Oh, all ye Gods! Each day's entries gave me fresh proof how dearly,
+with what unspeakable fondness Victorine had loved me all along. The
+most trifling incidents were recorded, and always there came, 'You do
+not comprehend this heart of mine. Cold and unfeeling, must I cast
+aside all maidenly reserve in the wildness of my despair, throw myself
+at your feet, and tell you that without your love life is only death to
+me?' And it went on in this strain. On the night when I fancied myself
+so wildly in love with the little Spanish girl she had written, 'All is
+lost and done. He loves her; nothing can be, more certain. Mad
+creature, don't you know that the eye of the woman who loves is
+all-seeing?' Just as I was reading this aloud in came Victorine. I
+threw myself at her feet with the diary in my hand, crying, 'No, no; I
+never was in love with that strange child. You, you alone, were always
+my idol!'
+
+"Victorine fixed a gaze on me, cried out in a screaming sort of tone,
+which rings in my ears still, 'Unfortunate fellow, it was not you I
+meant,' and rushed from the room. Now could you have imagined that
+maidenly coyness would have been capable of being carried so far?"
+
+Here Nettchen came in to enquire on the Baroness's part why the
+Baron did not bring the visitor to see her, inasmuch as she had been
+expecting him for the last half hour. "A splendid model wife," cried
+the Baron with much emotion, "always sacrificing herself to my wishes."
+It astonished Euchar not a little to find the Baroness very much
+dressed as if for company.
+
+"Here is our dear old Euchar!" the Baron cried. "We have got him back
+again." But when Euchar approached and took her hand she was seized
+with a violent trembling, and, with a faint cry of "Oh, God," fell back
+on her couch fainting.
+
+Euchar could not bear the pain of the situation, and he left the room
+as quickly as possible. "Unfortunate fellow," he cried, "it was,
+indeed, not you she meant." He understood now the fathomless depth of
+misery into which his friend's incredible vanity had plunged him--he
+knew now upon whom Victorine's love had been bestowed, and felt himself
+strangely moved and touched. He comprehended now, and only now, the
+significance of many things which his own simple straightforwardness
+had prevented him from seeing before. Now, and only now, he saw through
+and through the impassioned Victorine, and could scarcely explain to
+himself how he had failed to discover that it was with him she was in
+love. The occasions on which her fondness for him had led her to give
+expression to it, almost in defiance of all considerations, rose more
+clearly before his mental sight, and he distinctly remembered that just
+on those very occasions some strange unaccountable antipathy to her had
+caused a curious, inexplicable irritation of feeling towards her. This
+feeling of angry irritation he now brought to bear upon himself, filled
+as he was by the profoundest pity for the poor girl, whose destiny
+seemed to have been ruled by such an evil star.
+
+It so happened that on this very evening the self-same party to which
+Euchar had told the story of Edgar's adventures in Spain, two years
+previously, were assembled at Madame Veh's. He was greeted with the
+greatest warmth, but an electric thrill went through him when he saw
+Victorine, as he had not thought he would meet her there. There was no
+trace of illness about her. Her eyes shone as brilliantly as of old,
+and a carefully-chosen costume of great tastefulness enhanced her
+loveliness and charm. Euchar, distressed by her presence, was depressed
+and put out, contrary to his usual wont. Victorine so managed matters
+as to be able to approach him, and suddenly seizing his hand, drew him
+aside, saying gravely and calmly--
+
+"You know my husband's pet theory of the mutual interdependence of
+things? I believe what constitutes the real 'mutual interdependence of
+things' in our lives to be the follies which we commit, repent of, and
+commit again and again. So that our lives appear to consist of a
+process of being wildly hunted hither and thither by a species of
+enchantment beyond our control, which drives us on before it till it
+mocks and dashes us into death. I know all, Euchar; I know whom I am
+going to see this evening. It was not you who brought those bitter,
+hopeless sorrows upon me; not you, but an evil fate. The demon was laid
+and vanished at the moment when I saw you again. May peace and rest be
+upon us, Euchar."
+
+"Yes, Victorine," Euchar answered, "may rest and peace be upon us.
+However miscomprehended a life may be, the Eternal Power does not leave
+it without hope."
+
+"All is ended--and well," said Victorine; and, wiping a tear away, she
+turned to the company.
+
+Madame Veh had been observant of this pair, and now whispered to
+Euchar--
+
+"I told her everything. Was I right?"
+
+"I must go through with the whole business," Euchar answered.
+
+The company--as often happens in such circumstances--felt a fresh
+impulse to festivity and enjoyment in Euchar's unexpected return, and
+besieged him with enquiries as to where he had been and what had
+happened to him during his absence.
+
+"What has really brought me here," said Euchar, "is the obligation
+which I am under to keep my promise of two years ago that I would tell
+you a good deal more of my friend Edgar's history, and put a copestone
+upon it such as our friend the Poet thought it wanted. As I can now
+assure you that no dark clouds have come over his path, that there have
+been no deeds of violence, but that, on the contrary, as the ladies
+wished, my story will be concerned with a rather romantic love-affair,
+I feel sure that I may reckon upon a fair measure of approval."
+
+All applauded, and speedily formed into a narrower ring. Euchar at once
+commenced as follows--
+
+
+I pass over in silence the warlike adventures which Edgar met with
+while fighting in company with the Guerillas--although _they_ were
+sufficiently romantic--contenting myself with explaining that the
+talisman which Don Rafaele Marchez gave him when parting with him, was
+a little ring inscribed with mystic characters, which showed that he
+was an initiate in the most secret of the confederacies or societies;
+thus assuring him, wherever he might be, of the most absolute and
+unlimited confidence of those acquainted with those signs, and
+rendering all danger such as he had been exposed to in Valenzia
+impossible.
+
+Soon afterwards he joined the English forces, and served under
+Wellington. He was never touched by a hostile bullet again, and when
+the campaign was over he returned to his own country safe and sound.
+Don Rafaele Marchez he had never seen again, nor had he heard anything
+of his further fortunes.
+
+Edgar had been a long while back in his native town, when, one day, Don
+Rafaele's little ring (which he always wore on his finger) disappeared
+under peculiar circumstances. Early on the morning of the day following
+this, a queer little fellow came into his room, held the missing ring
+up to him, and asked him if it was his. When Edgar replied that it was,
+the little man cried out excitedly in Spanish--
+
+"Oh, _you are_ Don Edgar; there can be no doubt about it." And then
+Edgar clearly remembered the face and figure of the little fellow, who
+was Don Rafaele's faithful servant, the same who had displayed the lion
+courage of despair in trying to save his master's daughter.
+
+"In the name of all the saints!" Edgar cried, "you must be Don
+Rafaele's faithful servant! I recognise you. Where is _he_? My strange
+presentiment is going to come true."
+
+The little man implored Edgar to go with him at once.
+
+He took him to one of the most distant suburbs, climbed with him to the
+garret of a miserable house, and--what a spectacle! Sick, worn to a
+shadow, with all the traces of the most mortal suffering upon his
+deathlike face, Don Rafaele Marchez was lying upon a bed of straw, with
+a girl praying by his side. When Edgar came in, the girl rushed up to
+him, and drew him to the side of the old man, crying in a tone of the
+warmest delight--
+
+"Father, father! this is he, is it not?"
+
+"Yes," said the old man, his dim eyes brightening as he raised his
+folded hands to heaven, "it is he--our preserver. Ah, Don Edgar, who
+would have believed that the fire which burned within me for my country
+and freedom would have turned upon me for my destruction."
+
+After the first outpourings of mingled delight and regret, Edgar
+learned that Don Rafaele's enemies had managed, after the establishment
+of peace, to bring charges against him causing him to be regarded with
+suspicion by the government. He was sentenced to be banished, and his
+property was confiscated. He fell into the deepest poverty. His devoted
+daughter and his faithful servant supported him by dancing and playing.
+
+"Emanuela and Biagio Cubas, of course!" Ludwig cried out. And all the
+others repeated after him, "Of course, of course--Emanuela and Biagio
+Cubas!"
+
+The hostess enjoined silence on the ground that, although there might
+be many things which could be gradually explained, the narrator ought
+not to be interrupted until he had come to the end of his story.
+Moreover she felt no doubt that as soon as Edgar saw the lovely
+Emanuela he must, of course, have fallen desperately in love with her.
+
+"That, of course, is exactly what he did do," said Euchar, a slight
+redness overspreading his cheeks. Even before this particular meeting
+with her, on other occasions of his seeing that marvellously
+beautifully child, he had felt the most distinct presentiments of what
+would follow, and a sense of the deepest affection, like nothing which
+he had ever experienced before. He immediately set to remedy the
+condition of affairs. He took away Don Rafaele, Emanuela, and the
+trusty Cubas, to a country estate belonging to his uncle. And in
+arranging this I was of some assistance to him. It seemed as if Don
+Rafaele's lucky star was going to rise again; for soon after this there
+came a letter from good Father Eusebio to say that the brethren, well
+acquainted with the secret corners of his house, had hidden away the
+very considerable property (in the shape of gold and jewels) which he
+possessed (and which he had walled up before his flight) in their own
+convent; so that all that was necessary was to send some trustworthy
+person to fetch them. Edgar set out at once for Valenzia with the
+faithful Cubas. He saw his kind old nurse, Father Eusebio, again, and
+Don Rafaele's treasure was handed over to him. But he knew that Don
+Rafaele prized honour above everything, and he succeeded in Madrid in
+completely re-establishing his innocence. The decree of banishment was
+cancelled.
+
+The doors opened and there entered a beautifully dressed lady, followed
+by an old gentleman of lofty bearing and aristocratic looks. The
+hostess rose to receive them, and led the lady within the circle. The
+other guests had all risen, and the host presented "Donna Emanuela
+Marchez, our friend Euchar's bride. Ron Rafaele Marchez."
+
+"Yes," said Euchar, with the bliss of the happiness which he had
+achieved radiating from his eyes, and glowing in brilliant roses on his
+cheeks, "I have only now to tell you that he whom I spoke of to you as
+Edgar was none other than myself."
+
+Victorine clasped the beautiful Emanuela in her arms, and pressed her
+warmly to her heart. They seemed to know each other already. But
+Ludwig, casting a glance of sorrow upon the group, said--
+
+"All this was a part of the mutual interdependence of things."
+
+
+The friends were pleased with Sylvester's tale, and were unanimous in
+thinking that Edgar's adventures in Spain during the War of
+Independence, although they might perhaps be considered to be
+interwoven in merely an episodical form, really constituted the kernel
+of the story, and that their happy effect was accounted for by their
+being founded upon actual historical facts.
+
+"There is no doubt," said Lothair, "that matter which is absolutely
+historical possesses a certain peculiar quality which the inventive
+faculty, when it merely hovers about in empty space, with nothing to
+anchor upon, cannot attain to. In the same way the skilful introduction
+of truly historical customs, manners, habitudes and so forth, belonging
+to any race, or people, or to any particular class of people, gives to
+a work of fiction a life-like colouring which it is difficult otherwise
+to attain. But I insist upon their being introduced _skilfully_. For
+there is no doubt that it is not so easy to introduce historical
+facts--things which have actually happened--into a work of which the
+incidents belong to the domain of pure imagination, as many people
+think it is. And it requires a peculiar skilfulness, which everybody is
+not fortunate enough to possess. In the absence of it there appears
+merely a pale, distorted simulacrum of life, instead of the freshness
+of reality. I know works--particularly some by literary ladies--in
+which one feels, at every instant, how the writer has gone dipping the
+brush into the colour-box, bringing nothing out of it, after all, but a
+sort of jumble of strokes of different colours, just where what was
+wanted was a thoroughly life-like picture."
+
+"I quite agree with you," said Lothair. "And, having just chanced to
+remember a particular novel, written by an otherwise fairly clever
+woman (which, notwithstanding all the dippings of her brush into the
+aforesaid paint-box, does not possess a single atom of real semblance
+of life, or of poetic truth, from one end of it to the other, so that
+one cannot remember it for a single moment), I merely wish to say that
+this particular skill in producing an effect of reality and historical
+truth, brilliantly distinguishes the works of a writer who has only
+rather recently become known to us. I mean Walter Scott. I have only
+read his 'Guy Mannering.' But _ex ungue leonem_. The 'exposition' of
+this tale is based upon Scotch manners and customs, and matters
+belonging peculiarly to the place in which the scene of it is laid.
+But, without any acquaintance with them, one is carried away by the
+vivid reality of the characters and incidents in an extraordinary
+degree, and the 'exposition' is to be termed so utterly masterly just
+because we are landed _in medias res_ in a moment, as if by the wave of
+an enchanter's wand. Moreover, Scott has the power of drawing the
+figures of his pictures with a few touches, in such a way that they
+seem to come out of their frames, and move about before us in the most
+living fashion imaginable. Scott is a splendid phenomenon appearing in
+the literature of Great Britain. He is as vivid as Smollett, though far
+more classic and noble. But I think he is wanting in that brilliant
+lire of profound humour which coruscates in the writings of Sterne and
+Swift."
+
+"I am just in your position, Ottmar," said Vincenz. "'Guy Mannering' is
+the only work of Scott's which I have read. But I was much struck by
+the originality of it, and the manner in which, in its methodical
+progress, it gradually unwinds itself like a clue of thread, gently and
+quietly, never breaking its firm-spun strands. My chief objection to it
+is, that (no doubt in faithfulness to British manners) the female
+characters are so tame and colourless, except that grand gipsy
+woman--although she is scarcely so much to be called a woman as a kind
+of spectral apparition. Both of the young ladies in 'Guy Mannering'
+remind me of the English coloured engravings, which are all exactly
+alike--_id est_, as pretty as they are meaningless and expressionless,
+and as to which one sees distinctly that the originals of them would
+never allow anything further than 'Yea, yea; nay, nay!' to cross those
+pretty little delicate lips of theirs, as anything more might lead unto
+evil. Hogarth's milkmaid is a prototype of all these creatures. Both of
+the girls in 'Guy Mannering' lack reality--the god-like vivifying
+breath of life."
+
+"Might not one wish," said Theodore, "in the case of some of the female
+characters of one of our most talented writers (particularly in some of
+his earlier works) that they had a little more flesh and blood, since
+they are really all so very apt to melt into wreaths of mist when one
+looks at them closely? Nevertheless, let us love and honour both of
+those writers--the foreigner and our countryman, because of the true
+and glorious things which they have bestowed upon us."
+
+"It is remarkable," said Sylvester, "that--unless I mistake--another
+great writer appeared on the other side of the channel, about the same
+time as Walter Scott, and has produced works of equal greatness and
+splendour, but in a different direction. I mean Lord Byron, who appears
+to me to be much more solid and powerful than Thomas Moore. His 'Siege
+of Corinth' is a masterpiece, fall of genius. His predominant tendency
+seems to be towards the gloomy, the mysterious and the terrible; and
+his 'Vampire' I have avoided reading, for the bare idea of a vampire
+makes my blood run cold. So far as I understand the matter, a vampire
+is an animated corpse which sucks the blood of the living."
+
+"Ho! ho!" cried Lothair, laughing, "a writer such as you, my dear
+friend, Sylvester, must of course have found it necessary to dip more
+or less deeply into all kinds of accounts concerning magic, witches,
+sorcery, enchantment, and other such works of the devil, because they
+are necessary for your work, and part of your stock in trade. And I
+should suppose you have gone into those subjects yourself with the view
+of getting some personal experience of them as well. As regards
+vampirism--that you may see how well read I am in these matters--I will
+tell you the name of a delightful treatise in which you may study this
+dark subject. The complete title of this little book is 'M. Michael
+Ranft (Deacon of Nebra). Treatise on the Mastication and Sucking of the
+Dead in their Graves; wherein the true nature and description of the
+Hungarian vampires and bloodsuckers is clearly set forth, and all
+previous writings on this subject are passed in review and subjected to
+criticism.' This title in itself will convince you of the thoroughness
+of this treatise, and you will learn from it that a vampire is nothing
+other but an accursed creature who lets himself be buried as being
+dead, and then rises out of the grave and sucks people's blood in their
+sleep. And those people become vampires in their turn. So that,
+according to the accounts received from Hungary and quoted by this
+magister, the inhabitants of whole villages become vampires of the most
+abominable description. To render those vampires harmless they must be
+dug out of their graves, a stake driven through their hearts, and their
+bodies burnt to ashes. Those horrible beings very often do not appear
+in their own proper forms, but _en masque_. A certain officer, I happen
+to remember, writing from Belgrade to a celebrated doctor in Leipzig
+for information as to the true nature of vampires, expresses himself
+thus: 'In a village called Kinklina it chanced that two brothers were
+troubled by a vampire, so that one of them used to sit up by the other
+at night whilst he slept. The one who was watching used to see
+something like a dog opening the door, but this dog used to make off
+when he cried out at it. At last one night they both were asleep at the
+same time, and the vampire bit and sucked a place under the right ear
+of one of them, leaving a red mark. The man died of this in three days'
+time. In conclusion,' said the officer, 'as the people of this place
+make all this out to be miraculous, I venture to take the liberty of
+requesting you to tell me your private opinion as to whether it is
+caused by the intervention of sympathetic, diabolical, or astral
+spirits. And I remain, with much respect, &c.' Take example by this
+officer of enquiring mind. As it happens his name occurs to me at this
+moment. He was an ensign in the Prince Alexander regiment, Sigismund
+Alexander Friedrich von Kottwitz. The military mind seems to have been
+considerably exercised on the subject of vampirism about that time.
+Magister Ranft quotes in his book an official declaration made by an
+army surgeon before two of his brother officers concerning the
+detection and destruction of a vampire. This declaration contains,
+_inter alia_, the following passage: 'Inasmuch as they perceived, from
+the aforesaid circumstances, that this was unmistakably a vampire, they
+drove a stake through its heart, upon which it gave vent to a distinct
+gasp, emitting a considerable quantity of blood.' Is that not both
+interesting and instructive?"
+
+"All this of Magister Ranft's," said Sylvester, "may, no doubt, be
+sufficiently absurd and even rather crack-brained; but, at the same
+time, if we keep to the subject of vampirism itself, never minding in
+what particular fashion it may be treated, it certainly is one of the
+most horrible and terrible notions imaginable. I can conceive nothing
+more ghastlily repulsive to the mind."
+
+"Still," said Cyprian, "it is capable of providing a material, when
+dealt with by a writer of imagination possessed of some poetical tact,
+which has the power of stirring within us that profound sense of awe
+which is innate in our hearts, and when touched by the electric impulse
+from an unseen spirit world causes our soul to thrill, not altogether
+unpleasantly after a fashion. A due amount of poetic tact on the
+author's part will prevent the horror of the subject from going so far
+as to be loathsome; for it generally has such an element of the absurd
+about it that it does not impress us so deeply as if that were not the
+case. Why should not a writer be permitted to make use of the levers of
+fear, terror, and horror because some feeble soul here and there finds
+it more than it can bear? Shall there be no strong meat at table
+because there happen to be some guests there whose stomachs are weak,
+or who have spoiled their own digestions?"
+
+"My dear, fanciful Cyprian," Theodore said, "there was no occasion for
+your vindication of the horrible. We all know how wonderfully great
+writers have moved men's hearts to their very depths by means of that
+lever. We have only to think of Shakespeare. Moreover, who knew better
+how to use it than our own glorious Tieck in many of his tales? I need
+only instance the 'Love-Spell.' The leading idea of that story cannot
+but make everybody's blood run cold, and the end of it is full of the
+utmost fear and horror; but still the colours are blended so admirably
+that, in spite of all the terror and dismay, the mysterious magic charm
+so seizes upon us that we yield ourselves up to it without an effort to
+resist. How true is what Tieck puts in the mouth of his Manfred in
+answer to women's objections to the element of the awe-inspiring in
+fiction. Of course, what is the fact is that whatsoever of the terrible
+encounters us in our daily life is just what tortures and tears our
+hearts with irresistible pain. And, indeed, the cruelty of mankind, as
+exercised by tyrants, great and small, without pity or mercy, and with
+the diabolical malignity of hell itself, produces misery on a par with
+anything told of in fiction. And how finely the author says: 'In those
+imaginary legends the misery cannot reach the world with its rays until
+they have been broken up into prismatic colours,' and I should have
+supposed that in that condition they would have been endurable by eyes
+even not very strong."
+
+"We have often spoken already," said Lothair, "of this most genial
+writer; the full recognition of whom, in all his grand super-excellence
+and variety, is reserved for posterity, whilst Wills o' the Wisp
+rapidly scintillating into our ken and blinding the eye for a moment
+with borrowed light, go out into darkness just as speedily. On the
+whole, I believe that the imagination can be moved by very simple
+means, and that it is often more the _idea_ of the thing than the thing
+itself which causes our fear. Kleist's tale of the 'Beggar Woman of
+Lucarno' has in it, at least to me, the most frightening idea that I
+can think of, and yet how simple it is. A beggar woman is sent
+contemptuously, as if she were a dog, to lie behind the stove, and dies
+there. She is heard every night hobbling across the floor towards the
+stove, but nothing is seen. It is, no doubt, the wonderful colouring of
+the whole affair Which produces the effect. Not only could Kleist 'dip'
+into the aforesaid colour-box, but he could lay the colours on, with
+the power and the genius of the most finished master. He did not need
+to raise a vampire out of the grave, all he needed was an old woman."
+
+"This discussion about vampirism," said Cyprian, "reminds me of a
+ghastly story which I either heard or read a very long time ago. But I
+think I heard it, because I seem to remember that the person who told
+it said that the circumstances had actually happened, and mentioned the
+name of the family and of their country seat where it took place. But
+if this story is known to you as being in print, please to stop me and
+prevent my going on with it, because there's nothing more wearisome
+than to tell people things which they have known for ever so long."
+
+"I foresee," said Ottmar, "that you are going to give us something
+unusually awful and terrible. But remember Saint Serapion and be as
+concise as you can, so that Vincenz may have his turn; for I see that
+he is waiting impatiently to read us that long-promised story of his."
+
+"Hush! hush!" said Vincenz. "I could not wish anything better than that
+Cyprian should hang up a fine dark canvas by way of a background so as
+to throw out the figures of my tale, which I think are brightly and
+variedly coloured, and certainly excessively active. So begin, my
+Cyprianus, and be as gloomy, as frightful, as terrible as the vampirish
+Lord Byron himself, though I know nothing about him, as I have never
+read a word of his writings."
+
+
+Count Hyppolitus (began Cyprian) had just returned from a long time
+spent in travelling to take possession of the rich inheritance which
+his father, recently dead, had left to him. The ancestral home was
+situated in the most beautiful and charming country imaginable,
+and the income from the property was amply sufficient to defray
+the cost of most extensive improvements. Whatever in the way of
+architecture and landscape gardening had struck the Count during his
+travels--particularly in England--as specially delightful and apposite,
+he was going to reproduce in his own demesne. Architects, landscape
+gardeners, and labourers of all sorts arrived on the scene as they were
+wanted, and there commenced at once a complete reconstruction of the
+place, whilst an extensive park was laid out on the grandest scale,
+which involved the including within its boundaries of the church, the
+parsonage, and the burial ground. All those improvements the Count, who
+possessed the necessary knowledge, superintended himself, devoting
+himself to this occupation body and soul; so that a year slipped away
+without its ever having occurred to him to take an old uncle's advice
+and let the light of his countenance shine in the Residenz before the
+eyes of the young ladies, so that the most beautiful, the best,
+and the most nobly born amongst them might fall to his share as wife.
+One morning, as he was sitting at his drawing table sketching the
+ground-plan of a new building, a certain elderly Baroness--distantly
+related to his father--was announced as having come to call. When
+Hyppolitus heard her name he remembered that his father had always
+spoken of her with the greatest indignation--nay, with absolute
+abhorrence, and had often warned people who were going to approach her
+to keep aloof, without explaining what the danger connected with her
+was. If he was questioned more closely, he said there were certain
+matters as to which it was better to keep silence. Thus much was
+certain, that there were rumours current in the Residenz of some most
+remarkable and unprecedented criminal trial in which the Baroness had
+been involved, which had led to her separation from her husband, driven
+her from her home--which was at some considerable distance--and for the
+suppression of the consequences of which she was indebted to the
+prince's forbearance. Hyppolitus felt a very painful and disagreeable
+impression at the coming of a person whom his father had so detested,
+although the reasons for this detestation were not known to him. But
+the laws of hospitality, more binding in the country than in town,
+obliged him to receive this visit.
+
+Never had any one, without being at all ill-favoured in the usual
+acceptation of that term, made by her exterior such a disagreeable
+impression upon the Count as did this Baroness. When she came in she
+looked him through and through with a glance of fire, and then she cast
+her eyes down and apologized for her coming in terms which were almost
+over humble. She expressed her sorrow that his father, influenced by
+prejudices against her with which her enemies had impregnated his mind,
+had formed a mortal hatred to her, and though she was almost starving,
+in the depths of her poverty he had never given her the smallest help
+or support. As she had now, unexpectedly as she said, come into
+possession of a small sum of money she had found it possible to leave
+the Residenz and go to a small country town a short distance off.
+However, as she was engaged in this journey she had not found it
+possible to resist the desire to see the son of the man whom,
+notwithstanding his irreconcilable hatred, she had never ceased to
+regard with feelings of the highest esteem. The tone in which all this
+was spoken had the moving accents of sincerity, and the Count was all
+the more affected by it that, having turned his eyes away from her
+repulsive face, he had fixed them upon a marvellously charming and
+beautiful creature who was with her. The Baroness finished her speech.
+The Count did not seem to be aware that she had done so. He remained
+silent. She begged him to pardon--and attribute to her embarrassment at
+being where she was--her having neglected to explain that her companion
+was her daughter Aurelia. On this the Count found words, and blushing
+up to the eyes implored the Baroness, with the agitation of a young man
+overpowered by love, to let him atone in some degree for his lather's
+shortcomings--the result of misunderstandings--and to favour him by
+paying him a long visit. In warmly enforcing this request he took her
+hand. But the words and the breath died away on his lips and his blood
+ran cold. For he felt his hand grasped as if in a vice by fingers cold
+and stiff as death, and the tall bony form of the Baroness, who was
+staring at him with eyes evidently deprived of the faculty of sight,
+seemed to him in its gay many tinted attire like some bedizened corpse.
+
+"Oh, good heavens! how unfortunate just at this moment," Aurelia cried
+out, and went on to lament in a gentle heart-penetrating voice that her
+mother was now and then suddenly seized by a tetanic spasm, but that it
+generally passed off very quickly without its being necessary to take
+any measures with regard to it.
+
+Hyppolitus disengaged himself with some difficulty from the Baroness,
+and all the glowing life of sweetest love delight came back to him as
+he took Aurelia's hand and pressed it warmly to his lips. Although he
+had almost come to man's estate it was the first time that he felt the
+full force of passion, so that it was impossible for him to hide what
+he felt, and the manner in which Aurelia received his avowal in a
+noble, simple, child-like delight, kindled the fairest of hopes within
+him. The Baroness recovered in a few minutes, and, seemingly quite
+unaware of what had been happening, expressed her gratitude to the
+Count for his invitation to pay a visit of some duration at the Castle,
+saying she would be but too happy to forget the injustice with which
+his father had treated her.
+
+Thus the Count's household arrangements and domestic position were
+completely changed, and he could not but believe that some special
+favour of fortune had brought to him the only woman in all the world
+who, as a warmly beloved and deeply adored wife, was capable of
+bestowing upon him the highest conceivable happiness.
+
+The Baroness's manner of conduct underwent little alteration. She
+continued to be silent, grave, much wrapped up in herself, and when
+opportunity offered, evinced a gentle disposition, and a heart disposed
+towards any innocent enjoyment. The Count had become accustomed to the
+death-like whiteness of her face, to the very remarkable network of
+wrinkles which covered it, and to the generally spectral appearance
+which she displayed; but all this he set down to the invalid condition
+of her health, and also, in some measure, to a disposition which she
+evinced to gloomy romanticism. The servants told him that she often
+went out for walks in the night-time, through the park to the
+churchyard. He was much annoyed that his father's prejudices had
+influenced him to the extent that they had; and the most earnest
+recommendations of his uncle that he should conquer the feeling which
+had taken possession of him, and give up a relationship which must
+sooner or later drive him to his ruin, had no effect upon him.
+
+In complete certainty of Aurelia's sincere affection, he asked for her
+hand; and it may be imagined with what joy the Baroness received this
+proposal, which transferred her into the lap of luxury from a position
+of the deepest poverty. The pallor and the strange expression, which
+spoke of some invincible inward pain or trouble, had disappeared from
+Aurelia's face. The blissfulness of love beamed in her eyes, and
+shimmered in roses on her cheeks.
+
+On the morning of the wedding-day a terrible event shattered the
+Count's hopes. The Baroness was found lying on her face dead, not far
+from the churchyard: and when the Count was looking out of his window
+on getting up, full of the bliss of the happiness which he had
+attained, her body was being brought back to the Castle. He supposed
+she was only in one of her usual attacks; but all efforts to bring her
+back to life were ineffectual. She was dead. Aurelia, instead of giving
+way to violent grief, seemed rather to be struck dumb and tearless by
+this blow, which appeared to have a paralyzing effect on her.
+
+The Count was much distressed for her, and only ventured--most
+cautiously and most gently--to remind her that her orphaned condition
+rendered it necessary that conventionalities should be disregarded, and
+that the most essential matter in the circumstances was to hasten on
+the marriage as much as possible, notwithstanding the loss of her
+mother. At this Aurelia fell into the Count's arms, and, whilst a flood
+of tears ran down her cheeks, cried in a most eager manner, and in a
+voice which was shrill with urgency:
+
+"Yes, yes! For the love of all the saints. For the sake of my soul's
+salvation--yes!"
+
+The Count ascribed this burst of emotion to the bitter sense that, in
+her orphaned condition, she did not know whither to betake herself,
+seeing that she could not go on staying in the Castle. He took pains to
+procure a worthy matron as a companion for her, till in a few weeks,
+the wedding-day again came round. And this time no mischance interfered
+with it, and it crowned the bliss of Aurelia and Hyppolitus. But
+Aurelia had all this while been in a curiously strained and excited
+condition. It was not grief for her mother, but she seemed to be
+unceasingly, and without cessation, tortured by some inward anxiety. In
+the midst of the most delicious love-passage she would suddenly clasp
+the Count in her arms, pale as death, and like a person suddenly seized
+by some terror--just as if she were trying her very utmost to resist
+some extraneous power which was threatening to force her to
+destruction--and would cry, "Oh, no--no! Never, never!" Now that she
+was married, however, it seemed that this strange, overstrained,
+excited condition in which she had been, abated and left her, and the
+terrible inward anxiety and disturbance under which she had been
+labouring seemed to disappear.
+
+The Count could not but suspect the existence of some secret evil
+mystery by which Aurelia's inner being was tormented, but he very
+properly thought it would be unkind and unfeeling to ask her about it
+whilst her excitement lasted, and she herself avoided any explanation
+on the subject. However, a time came when he thought he might venture
+to hint gently, that perhaps it would lie well if she indicated to him
+the cause of the strange condition of her mind. She herself at once
+said it would be a satisfaction to her to open her mind to him, her
+beloved husband. And great was his amazement to learn that what was at
+the bottom of the mystery, was the atrociously wicked life which her
+mother had led, that was so perturbing her mind.
+
+"Can there be anything more terrible," she said, "than to have to hate,
+detest, and abhor one's own mother?"
+
+Thus the prejudices (as they were called) of his father and uncle had
+not been unfounded, and the Baroness had deceived him in the most
+deliberate manner. He was obliged to confess to himself--and he made no
+secret of it--that it was a fortunate circumstance that the Baroness
+had died on the morning of his wedding-day. But Aurelia declared that
+as soon as her mother was dead she had been seized by dark and terrible
+terrors, and could not help thinking that her mother would rise from
+her grave, and drag her from her husband's arms into perdition.
+
+She said she dimly remembered, one morning when she was a mere child,
+being awakened by a frightful commotion in the house. Doors opened and
+shut; strangers' voices cried out in confusion. At last, things
+becoming quieter, her nurse took her in her arms, and carried her into
+a large room where there were many people, and the man who had often
+played with her, and given her sweetmeats, lying stretched on a long
+table. This man she had always called "Papa," and she stretched her
+hands out to him, and wanted to kiss him. But his lips, always warm
+before, were cold as ice, and Aurelia broke into violent weeping,
+without knowing why. The nurse took her to a strange house, where she
+remained a long while, till at last a lady came and took her away in a
+carriage. This was her mother, who soon after took her to the Residenz.
+
+When Aurelia got to be about sixteen, a man came to the house whom her
+mother welcomed joyfully, and treated with much confidentiality,
+receiving him with much intimacy of friendship, as being a dear old
+friend. He came more and more frequently, and the Baroness's style of
+existence was soon greatly altered for the better. Instead of living in
+an attic, and subsisting on the poorest of fare, and wearing the most
+wretched old clothes, she took a fine lodging in the most fashionable
+quarter, wore fine dresses, ate and drank with this stranger of the
+best and most expensive food and drink daily (he was her daily guest),
+and took her part in all the public pleasurings which the Residenz had
+to offer.
+
+Aurelia was the person upon whom this bettering of her mother's
+circumstances (evidently attributable solely to the stranger) exercised
+no influence whatever. She remained shut up in her room when her mother
+went out to enjoy herself in the stranger's company, and was obliged to
+live just as miserably as before. This man, though about forty, had a
+very fresh and youthful appearance, a tall, handsome person, and a face
+by no means devoid of a certain amount of manly good looks.
+Notwithstanding this, he was repugnant to Aurelia on account of his
+style of behaviour. He seemed to try to constrain himself, to conduct
+himself like a gentleman and person of some cultivation, but there was
+constantly, and most evidently, piercing through this exterior veneer
+the unmistakable evidence of his really being a totally uncultured
+person, whose manners and habits were those of the very lowest ranks of
+the people. And the way in which he began to look at Aurelia filled her
+with terror--nay, with an abhorrence of which she could not explain the
+reason to herself.
+
+Up to this point the Baroness had never taken the trouble to say a
+single word to Aurelia about this stranger. But now she told her his
+name, adding that this Baron was a man of great wealth, and a distant
+relation. She lauded his good looks, and his various delightful
+qualities, and ended by asking Aurelia if she thought she could bring
+herself to take a liking to him. Aurelia made no secret of the inward
+detestation which she felt for him. The Baroness darted a glance of
+lightning at her, which terrified her excessively, and told her she was
+a foolish, ignorant creature. After this she was kinder to her than she
+had ever been before. She was provided with grand dresses in the height
+of the fashion, and taken to share in all the public pleasures. The man
+now strove to gain her favour in a manner which rendered him more and
+more abhorrent to her. But her delicate, maidenly instincts were
+wounded in the most mortal manner, when an unfortunate accident
+rendered her an unwilling, secret witness of an abominable atrocity
+between her abandoned and depraved mother and him. When, a few days
+after this, this man, after having taken a good deal of wine, clasped
+Aurelia in his arms in a way which left no doubt as to his intention,
+her desperation gave her strength, and she pushed him from her so that
+he fell down on his back. She rushed away and bolted herself in her own
+room. The Baroness told her, very calmly and deliberately, that,
+inasmuch as the Baron paid all the household expenses, and she had not
+the slightest intention of going back to the old poverty of their
+previous life, this was a case in which any absurd coyness would be
+both ludicrous and inconvenient, and that she would really have to make
+up her mind to comply with the Baron's wishes, because, if not, he had
+threatened to part company at once. Instead of being affected by
+Aurelia's bitter tears and agonized intreaties, the old woman, breaking
+into the most brazen and shameless laughter, talked in the most
+depraved manner of a state of matters which would cause Aurelia to bid,
+for ever, farewell to every feeling of enjoyment of life in such
+unrestrained and detestable depravity, defying and insulting all sense
+of ordinary propriety, so that her shame and terror were undescribable
+at what she was obliged to hear. In fact she gave herself up for lost,
+and her only means of salvation appeared to her to be immediate flight.
+
+She had managed to possess herself of the key of the hall door, had got
+together the few little necessaries which she absolutely required, and,
+just after midnight, was moving softly through the dimly-lighted front
+hall, at a time when she thought her mother was sure to be last asleep.
+She was on the point of stepping quietly out into the street, when the
+door opened with a clang, and heavy footsteps came noisily up the
+steps. The Baroness came staggering and stumbling into the hall, right
+up to Aurelia's feet, nothing upon her but a kind of miserable wrapper
+all covered with dirt, her breast and her arms naked, her grey hair all
+hanging down and dishevelled. And close after her came the stranger,
+who seized her by the hair, and dragged her into the middle of the
+hall, crying out in a yelling voice--
+
+"Wait, you old devil, you witch of hell! I'll serve you up a wedding
+breakfast!" And with a good thick cudgel which he had in his hand he
+set to and belaboured and maltreated her in the most shameful manner.
+She made a terrible screaming and outcry, whilst Aurelia, scarcely
+knowing what she was about, screamed aloud out of the window for help.
+
+It chanced that there was a patrol of armed police just passing. The
+men came at once into the house.
+
+"Seize him!" cried the Baroness, writhing in convulsions of rage and
+pain. "Seize him--hold him fast! Look at his bare back. He's----"
+
+When the police sergeant heard the Baroness speak the name he shouted
+out in the greatest delight--
+
+"Hoho! We've got you at last, Devil Alias, have we?" And in spite of
+his violent resistance, they marched him off.
+
+But notwithstanding all this which had been happening, the Baroness had
+understood well enough what Aurelia's idea had been. She contented
+herself with taking her somewhat roughly by the arm, pushing her into
+her room, and locking her up in it, without saying a word. She went out
+early the next morning, and did not come back till late in the evening.
+And during this time Aurelia remained a prisoner in her room, never
+seeing nor hearing a creature, and having nothing to eat or drink. This
+went on for several days. The Baroness often glared at her with eyes
+flashing with anger, and seemed to be wrestling with some decision,
+until, one evening, letters came which seemed to cause her
+satisfaction.
+
+"Silly creature! all this is your fault. However, it seems to be all
+coming right now, and all I hope is that the terrible punishment which
+the Evil Spirit was threatening you with may not come upon you." This
+was what the Baroness said to Aurelia, and then she became more kind
+and friendly, and Aurelia, no longer distressed by the presence of the
+horrible man, and having given up the idea of escaping, was allowed a
+little more freedom.
+
+Some time had elapsed, when one day, as Aurelia was sitting alone in
+her room, she heard a great clamour approaching in the street. The maid
+came running in, and said that they were taking the hangman's son
+of ---- to prison, that he had been branded on the back there for
+robbery and murder, and had escaped, and was now retaken.
+
+Aurelia, full of anxious presentiment, tottered to the window. Her
+presentiment was not fallacious. It _was_ the stranger (as we have
+styled him), and he was being brought along, firmly bound upon a
+tumbril, surrounded by a strong guard. He was being taken back to
+undergo his sentence. Aurelia, nearly fainting, sank back into her
+chair, as his frightfully wild look fell upon her, while he shook his
+clenched fist up at the window with the most threatening gestures.
+
+After this the Baroness was still a great deal away from the house; but
+she never took Aurelia with her, so that the latter led a sorrowful,
+miserable existence--occupied in thinking many thoughts as to destiny,
+and the threatening future which might unexpectedly come upon her.
+
+From the maidservant (who had only come into the house subsequently to
+the nocturnal adventure which has been described, and who had probably
+only quite recently heard about the intimacy of the terms in which the
+Baroness had been living with this criminal), Aurelia learned that the
+folks in the Residenz were very much grieved at the Baroness's having
+been so deceived and imposed upon by a scoundrel of this description.
+But Aurelia knew only too well how differently the matter had really
+stood; and it seemed to her impossible that, at all events, the men of
+the police, who had apprehended the fellow in the Baroness's very
+house, should not have known all about the intimacy of the relations
+between them, inasmuch as she herself had told them his name, and
+directed their attention to the brand-marks on his back, as proofs of
+his identity. Moreover, this loquacious maid sometimes talked in a very
+ambiguous way about that which people were, here and there, thinking
+and saying; and, for that matter, would like very much to know better
+about--as to the courts having been making careful investigations, and
+having gone so far as to threaten the Baroness with arrest, on account
+of strange disclosures which the hangman's son had made concerning her.
+
+Aurelia was obliged to admit, in her own mind, that it was another
+proof of her mother's depraved way of looking at things that, even
+after this terrible affair, she should have found it possible to
+go on living in the Residenz. But at last she felt herself constrained
+to leave the place where she knew she was the object of but too
+well-founded, shameful suspicion, and fly to a more distant spot. On
+this journey she came to the Count's Castle, and there ensued what has
+been related.
+
+Aurelia could not but consider herself marvellously fortunate to have
+got clear of all these troubles. But how profound was her horror when,
+speaking to her mother in this blessed sense of the merciful
+intervention of Heaven in her regard, the latter, with fires of hell in
+her eyes, cried out in a yelling voice--
+
+"You are my misfortune, horrible creature that you are! But in the
+midst of your imagined happiness vengeance will overtake you, if I
+should be carried away by a sudden death. In those tetanic spasms,
+which your birth cost me, the subtle craft of the devil----"
+
+Here Aurelia suddenly stopped. She threw herself upon her husband's
+breast, and implored him to spare her the complete recital of what the
+Baroness had said to her in the delirium of her insanity. She said she
+felt her inmost heart and soul crushed to pieces at the bare idea of
+the frightful threatenings--far beyond the wildest imagination's
+conception of the terrible--uttered to her by her mother, possessed, as
+she was at the time, by the most diabolical powers.
+
+The Count comforted his bride to the best of his ability, although he
+felt himself permeated by the coldest and most deathly shuddering
+horror. Even when he had regained some calmness, he could not but
+confess to himself that the profound horribleness of the Baroness, even
+now that she was dead, cast a deep shadow over his life, sun-bright as
+it otherwise seemed to be.
+
+In a very short time Aurelia began to alter very perceptibly. Whilst
+the deathly paleness of her face, and the fatigued appearance of
+her eyes, seemed to point to sortie bodily ailment, her mental
+state--confused, variable, restless, as if she were constantly
+frightened at something--led to the conclusion that there was some
+fresh mystery perturbing her system. She shunned her husband. She shut
+herself up in her rooms, sought the most solitary walks in the park.
+And when she then allowed herself to be seen, her eyes, red with
+weeping, her contorted features, gave unmistakable evidence of some
+terrible suffering which she had been undergoing. It was in vain that
+the Count took every possible pains to discover the cause of this
+condition of hers, and the only thing which had any effect in bringing
+him out of the hopeless state into which those remarkable symptoms of
+his wife's had plunged him, was the deliberate opinion of a celebrated
+doctor, that this strangely excited condition of the Countess was
+nothing other than the natural result of a bodily state which indicated
+the happy result of a fortunate marriage. This doctor, on one occasion
+when he was at table with the Count and Countess, permitted himself
+sundry allusions to this presumed state of what the German nation
+calls "good hope." The Countess seemed to listen to all this with
+indifference for some time. But suddenly her attention became vividly
+awakened when the doctor spoke of the wonderful longings which women in
+that condition become possessed by, and which they cannot resist
+without the most injurious effects supervening upon their own health,
+and even upon that of the child. The Countess overwhelmed the doctor
+with questions, and the latter did not weary of quoting the strangest
+and most entertaining cases of this description from his own practice
+and experience.
+
+"Moreover," he said, "there are cases on record in which women have
+been led, by these strange, abnormal longings, to commit most terrible
+crimes. There was a certain blacksmith's wife, who had such an
+irresistible longing for her husband's flesh that, one night, when he
+came home the worse for liquor, she set upon him with a large knife,
+and cut him about so frightfully that he died in a few hours' time."
+
+Scarcely had the doctor said these words, when the Countess fell back
+in her chair fainting, and was with much difficulty recovered from the
+succession of hysterical attacks which supervened. The doctor then saw
+that he had acted very thoughtlessly in alluding to such a frightful
+occurrence in the presence of a lady whose nervous system was in such a
+delicate condition.
+
+However, this crisis seemed to have a beneficial effect upon her, for
+she became calmer; although, soon afterwards there came upon her a very
+remarkable condition of rigidity, as of benumbedness. There was a
+darksome fire in her eyes, and her deathlike pallor increased to such
+an extent, that the Count was driven into new and most tormenting
+doubts as to her condition. The most inexplicable thing was that she
+never took the smallest morsel of anything to eat, evincing the utmost
+repugnance at the sight of all food, particularly meat. This repugnance
+was so invincible that she was constantly obliged to get up and leave
+the table, with the most marked indications of loathing. The doctor's
+skill was in vain, and the Count's most urgent and affectionate
+entreaties were powerless to induce her to take even a single drop of
+medicine of any kind. And, inasmuch as weeks, nay, months, had passed
+without her having taken so much as a morsel of food, and it had become
+an unfathomable mystery how she managed to keep alive, the doctor came
+to the conclusion that there was something in the case which lay beyond
+the domain of ordinary human science. He made some pretext for leaving
+the Castle, but the Count saw clearly enough that this doctor, whose
+skilfulness was well approved, and who had a high reputation to
+maintain, felt that the Countess's condition was too unintelligible,
+and, in fact, too strangely mysterious, for him to stay on there,
+witness of an illness impossible to be understood--as to which he felt
+he had no power to render assistance.
+
+It may be readily imagined into what a state of mind all this put the
+Count. But there was more to come. Just at this juncture an old,
+privileged servant took an opportunity, when he found the Count alone,
+of telling him that the Countess went out every night, and did not come
+home till daybreak.
+
+The Count's blood ran cold. It struck him, as a matter which he had not
+quite realized before, that, for a short time back, there had fallen
+upon him, regularly about midnight, a curiously unnatural sleepiness,
+which he now believed to be caused by some narcotic administered to him
+by the Countess, to enable her to get away unobserved. The darkest
+suspicions and forebodings came into his mind. He thought of the
+diabolical mother, and that, perhaps, her instincts had begun to awake
+in her daughter. He thought of some possibility of a conjugal
+infidelity. He remembered the terrible hangman's son.
+
+It was so ordained that the very next night was to explain this
+terrible mystery to him--that which alone could be the key to the
+Countess's strange condition.
+
+She herself used, every evening, to make the tea which the Count always
+took before going to bed. This evening he did not take a drop of it,
+and when he went to bed he had not the slightest symptom of the
+sleepiness which generally came upon him as it got towards midnight.
+However, he lay back on his pillows, and had all the appearance of
+being fast asleep as usual.
+
+And then the Countess rose up very quietly, with the utmost
+precautions, came up to his bedside, held a lamp to his eyes, and then,
+convinced that he was sound asleep, went softly out of the room.
+
+His heart throbbed fast. He got up, put on a cloak, and went after the
+Countess. It was a fine moonlight night, so that, though Aurelia had
+got a considerable start of him, he could see her distinctly going
+along in the distance in her white dress. She went through the park,
+right on to the burying-ground, and there she disappeared at the
+wall. The Count ran quickly after her in through the gate of the
+burying-ground, which he found open. There, in the bright moonlight, he
+saw a circle of frightful, spectral-looking creatures. Old women, half
+naked, were cowering down upon the ground, and in the midst of them lay
+the corpse of a man, which they were tearing at with wolfish appetite.
+
+Aurelia was amongst them.
+
+The Count took flight in the wildest horror, and ran, without any idea
+where he was going or what he was doing, impelled by the deadliest
+terror, all about the walks in the park, till he found himself at the
+door of his own Castle as the day was breaking, bathed in cold
+perspiration. Involuntarily, without the capability of taking hold of a
+thought, he dashed up the steps, and went bursting through the passages
+and into his own bedroom. There lay the Countess, to all appearance in
+the deepest and sweetest of sleeps. And the Count would fain have
+persuaded himself that some deceptive dream-image, or (inasmuch as his
+cloak, wet with dew, was a proof, if any had been needed, that he had
+really been to the burying-ground in the night) some soul-deceiving
+phantom had been the cause of his deathly horror. He did not wait for
+Aurelia's waking, but left the room, dressed, and got on to a horse.
+His ride, in the exquisite morning, amid sweet-scented trees and
+shrubs, whence the happy songs of the newly-awakened birds greeted him,
+drove from his memory for a time the terrible images of the night. He
+went back to the Castle comforted and gladdened in heart.
+
+But when he and the Countess sate down alone together at table, and,
+the dishes being brought and handed, she rose to hurry away, with
+loathing, at the sight of the food as usual, the terrible conviction
+that what he had seen was true, was reality, impressed itself
+irresistibly on his mind. In the wildest fury he rose from his seat,
+crying--
+
+"Accursed misbirth of hell! I understand your hatred of the food of
+mankind. You get your sustenance out of the burying-ground, damnable
+creature that you are!"
+
+As soon as those words had passed his lips, the Countess flew at him,
+uttering a sound between a snarl and a howl, and bit him on the breast
+with the fury of a hyena. He dashed her from him on to the ground,
+raving fiercely as she was, and she gave up the ghost in the most
+terrible convulsions.
+
+The Count became a maniac.
+
+
+"Well," said Lothair, after there had been a few minutes of silence
+amongst the friends, "you have certainly kept your word, my
+incomparable Cyprianus, most thoroughly and magnificently. In
+comparison with this story of yours, vampirism is the merest children's
+tale--a funny Christmas story, to be laughed at. Oh, truly, everything
+in it is fearfully interesting, and so highly seasoned with
+asaf[oe]tida that an unnaturally excited palate, which has lost its
+relish for healthy, natural food, might immensely enjoy it."
+
+"And yet," said Theodore, "our friend has discreetly thrown a veil
+over a great many things, and has passed so rapidly over others,
+that his story has merely caused us a passing feeling of the eery and
+shuddery--for which we are duly grateful to him. I remember very well
+having read this story in an old book, where everything was told with
+the most prolix enumeration of all the details; and the old woman's
+atrocities in particular were set forth in all their minutiae, truly
+_con amore_, so that the whole affair produced, and left behind it, a
+most repulsive impression, which it took a long while to get over. I
+was delighted when I had forgotten the horrible thing, and Cyprian
+ought not to have recalled it to my memory; although I must admit that
+he has acted in accordance with the principles of our patron saint
+Serapion, and caused us a sufficient thrill of horror, particularly
+towards the end. It made us all turn pale, particularly the narrator
+himself!"
+
+"We cannot hurry away too quickly from this gruesome picture," Ottmar
+said. "And it will not serve as a dark background (as Vincenz expected
+it would), because the figures of it are in too glaring colours. Allow
+me, by way of a grand change of subject--a sort of sideways spring away
+from the hell-broth which Cyprian has served up to us--to say a word or
+two (merely to give Vincenz time to clear his throat, as I hear him
+doing) concerning a certain aesthetic tea society, which was brought
+to my memory by a little paper which accidentally came into my hand
+to-day. Have I your permission, Vincenz?"
+
+"Strictly speaking," said Vincenz, "it is a breach of all Serapiontic
+rule to keep chattering in this sort of style; and not only that, but,
+moreover, without any especial motive or inducement, the most unseemly
+things about gruesome vampires, and other such matters, are brought
+forward, so that I am obliged to shut my mouth just as I have got it
+opened. But go on, my Ottmar. The hours are flying, and I shall have
+the last word, like a quarrelsome woman, in spite of you. So go on, my
+Ottmar, go on."
+
+"Chance," began Ottmar, "or rather, a kindly-intentioned introduction,
+brought me into the aesthetic tea society which I mentioned; and there
+were circumstances which induced me, or rendered it incumbent on me, to
+attend its meetings regularly for a time, although heaven knows they
+were tedious and wearisome enough. It greatly vexed me that, on an
+occasion when a really talented man read something which was full of
+true wit, and admirably appropriate to the occasion, all the people
+yawned, and grew impatient of it; whilst they were charmed and
+delighted by the marrowless, spiritless trash of a conceited young
+poetaster. This latter was all in the line of the gushing and the
+exuberant, but he also thought very highly of his epigrams. As what
+they were chiefly remarkable for was the absence of the sting in their
+tails, he always gave the signal for the laugh himself by beginning it
+at the proper time; and everybody then joined in it. One evening I
+asked, modestly, if I might be allowed to read out a few little verses
+which had occurred to me in moments of a certain amount of inspiration.
+And as people were good enough to credit me with the possession of a
+certain amount of brains, my request was received with a good deal of
+applause. I took out my manuscript and read, with great solemnity--
+
+                           "'ITALY'S MARVELS.
+
+     'When tow'rds the orient heav'n my gaze I bend,
+      The western sun shines warm upon my back;
+      Whilst, when I turn me to the beauteous west,
+      The golden glory strikes upon mine eyeballs.
+      Oh, sacred land! where nature thus displays
+      Such mighty marvels to the sight of men,
+      All adoration, quite compact of love.'
+
+"'Ah! glorious! heavenly! dear Ottmar, and so deeply felt, Bo
+sensitively expressed, right out of the fulness of your heart, so rich
+in emotions!' cried the lady of the house, whilst several white ladies
+and black gentlemen (I only mean black-dressed ones, with great hearts
+under their jabots) followed her by crying, 'Glorious! heavenly!' and
+one young lady sighed profoundly, weeping away a scalding tear. Being
+asked to read something more, I gave to my voice the expression of a
+deeply moved heart, and read--
+
+                             "'LIFE DEPTHS.
+           'A little lad at Yarrow
+            Had a pretty little sparrow.
+            The other day he let it fly,
+            And now 'tis gone, alas! we sigh,
+            Heigho! the little lad at Yarrow
+            He hath no more the pretty sparrow.'
+
+"There was a fresh tumult of applause. They begged for more; but I
+said, modestly, that I could not but feel that stanzas of this kind,
+grasping as they did comprehensively at the bases of all life, have, in
+the long run, a tendency to impress the hearts of delicate, impassioned
+women too strongly, so that I should prefer to quote a pair of
+epigrams, in which the distinctive feature of the epigram--the sudden
+flashing out of the species of squib which constitutes the tail--would
+not fail to be duly appreciated. I read--
+
+                                 "'WIT.
+           'The pudgy Master Schrein
+            Drank many a glass of wine,
+              But death cut short his thread.
+            Then quoth his neighbour Spry
+            (A gossip, deep and sly),
+            "Our pudgy Master Schrein
+            No longer drinks his wine,
+              And, why?--because he's dead."'
+
+"When the sparkling wit of this roguish epigram had been sufficiently
+admired, I treated them to the following one in addition--
+
+                        "'STINGING REPLY.
+           'Of Hans's book the folks make much ado;
+              "Say, neighbour Hamm, hast read the wonder yet?"
+            Thus Humm to Hamm: and Hamm (a joker he)
+            Said, "Faith, good Humm, I have not read it yet."'
+
+"Everybody laughed heartily, but the lady of the house shook a minatory
+forefinger at me, saying, 'Ah, wicked scoffer! Is nothing to escape
+that scathing wit of yours?'
+
+"The clever man shook hands with me as he passed me, saying--
+
+"'Admirably done. Much obliged to you.'
+
+"The young poet turned his back upon me with much contempt. But the
+young lady who had shed a few tears over 'Italia's Marvels,' came to
+me, and blushing, as she cast down her eyes, said the maidenly,
+virginal heart was more disposed to open to the sense of sweet sadness
+than to the comic; and she begged me to give her a copy of the first
+poem I had read. She said she had felt so curiously happy and creepy
+when she heard it. I promised to give it to her, and I kissed the
+charming young lady's sufficiently pretty hand with all the appropriate
+rapture of a bard duly appreciated by beauty, with the sole intention
+of angering the poet, who cast upon me glances as of an infuriated
+basilisk."
+
+"It is strange enough," said Vincenz, "that, without being in the
+smallest degree aware of it, you have spoken what may be called a
+Goldsmith's prologue to my story. Of course you notice my pretty
+allusion to Shakespeare's Hamlet, and his question, 'Is this a
+prologue, or the posy of a ring?' What I mean is, that your prologue
+consists of what you have said about the irritated poet; for I am
+greatly mistaken if a poet of that kind is not one of the principal
+characters in my story; which story I am now going to begin, and I
+don't intend to stop it until the last word of it is out. And that last
+word is just as hard to speak as the first."
+
+Vincenz read--
+
+
+
+                         THE KING'S BETROTHED.
+                     (A Story Sketched from Life.)
+
+
+                               CHAPTER I.
+
+WHICH GIVES AN ACCOUNT OF THE VARIOUS CHARACTERS, AND THEIR MUTUAL
+      RELATIONS TO EACH OTHER, AND PREPARES THE WAY, PLEASANTLY, FOR
+      THE MANY MARVELLOUS AND MOST ENTERTAINING MATTERS OF WHICH THE
+      SUCCEEDING CHAPTERS TREAT.
+
+It was a blessed year. In the fields the corn, the wheat, and the
+barley grew most gloriously. The boys waded in the grass, and the
+cattle in the clover. The trees hung so full of cherries that, with
+the best will in the world, the great army of the sparrows, though
+determined to peck everything bare, were forced to leave half the fruit
+for a future feast. Every creature filled itself full every day at the
+great guest-table of nature. Above all, however, the vegetables in Herr
+Dapsul von Zabelthau's kitchen-garden had turned out such a splendid
+and beautiful crop that it was no wonder Fraeulein Aennchen was unable
+to contain herself with joy on the subject.
+
+We may here explain who Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau and Aennchen were.
+
+Perhaps, dear reader, you may have at some time found yourself in that
+beautiful country which is watered by the pleasant, kindly river Main.
+Soft morning breezes, breathing their perfumed breath over the plain as
+it shimmered in the golden splendour of the new-risen sun, you found it
+impossible to sit cooped up in your stuffy carriage, and you alighted
+and wandered into the little grove, through the trees of which, as you
+descended towards the valley, you came in sight of a little village.
+And as you were gazing, there would suddenly come towards you, through
+the trees, a tall, lanky man, whose strange dress and appearance
+riveted your attention. He had on a small grey felt hat on the top of a
+black periwig: all his clothes were grey--coat, vest, and breeches,
+grey stockings--even his walking-stick coloured grey. He would come up
+to you with long strides, and staring at you with great sunken eyes,
+seemingly not aware of your existence, would cry out, almost running
+you down, "Good morning, sir!" And then, like one awaking from a dream,
+he would add in a hollow, mournful voice, "Good morning! Oh, sir,
+how thankful we ought to be that we have a good, fine morning. The
+poor people at Santa Cruz just had two earthquakes, and now--at this
+moment--rain falling in torrents." While you have been thinking what to
+say to this strange creature, he, with an "Allow me, sir," has gently
+passed his hand across your brow, and inspected the palm of your hand.
+And saying, in the same hollow, melancholy accents as before, "God
+bless you, sir! You have a good constellation," has gone striding on
+his way.
+
+This odd personage was none other than Herr Dapsul Von Zabelthau, whose
+sole--rather miserable--possession is the village, or hamlet, of
+Dapsulheim, which lies before you in this most pleasant and smiling
+country into which you now enter. You are looking forward to something
+in the shape of breakfast, but in the little inn things have rather a
+gloomy aspect. Its small store of provisions was cleared out at the
+fair, and as you can't be expected to be content with nothing besides
+milk, they tell you to go to the Manor House, where the gracious
+Fraeulein Anna will entertain you hospitably with whatever may be
+forthcoming there. Accordingly, thither you betake yourself without
+further ceremony.
+
+Concerning this Manor House, there is nothing further to say than that
+it has doors and windows, as of yore had that of Baron Tondertontonk in
+Westphalia. But above the hall-door the family coat-of-arms makes a
+fine show, carved there in wood with New Zealand skilfulness. And this
+Manor House derives a peculiar character of its own from the
+circumstance that its north side leans upon the enceinte, or outer line
+of defence belonging to an old ruined castle, so that the back entrance
+is what was formerly the castle gate, and through it one passes at once
+into the courtyard of that castle, in the middle of which the tall
+watch-tower still stands undamaged. From the hall door, which is
+surmounted by the coat-of-arms, there comes meeting you a red-cheeked
+young lady, who, with her clear blue eyes and fair hair, is to be
+called very pretty indeed, although her figure may be considered just
+the least bit too roundly substantial. A personification of friendly
+kindness, she begs you to go in, and as soon as she ascertains your
+wants, serves you up the most delicious milk, a liberal allowance of
+first-rate bread and butter, uncooked ham--as good as you would find in
+Bayonne--and a small glass of beetroot brandy. Meanwhile, this young
+lady (who is none other than Fraeulein Anna von Zabelthau) talks to you
+gaily and pleasantly of rural matters, displaying anything but a
+limited knowledge of such subjects. Suddenly, however, there resounds a
+loud and terrible voice, as if from the skies, crying "Anna, Anna,
+Anna!" This rather startles you; but Fraeulein Anna says, pleasantly,
+"There's papa back from his walk, calling for his breakfast from his
+study." "Calling from his study," you repeat, or enquire, astonished.
+"Yes," says Fraeulein Anna, or Fraeulein Aennchen, as the people call
+her. "Yes; papa's study is up in the tower there, and he calls down
+through the speaking trumpet." And you see Aennchen open the narrow
+door of the old lower, with a similar _dejeuner a la fourchette_ to
+that which you have had yourself, namely, a liberal helping of bread
+and ham, not forgetting the beetroot brandy, and go briskly in at it.
+But she is back directly, and taking you all over the charming
+kitchen-garden, has so much to say about feather-sage, rapuntika,
+English turnips, little greenheads, montrue, great yellow, and so
+forth, that you have no idea that all these fine names merely mean
+various descriptions of cabbages and salads.
+
+I think, dear reader, that this little glimpse which you have had of
+Dapsulheim is sufficient to enable you to understand all the outs and
+ins of the establishment, concerning which I have to narrate to you all
+manner of extraordinary, barely comprehensible, matters and
+occurrences. Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau had, during his youth, very
+rarely left his parents' country place. They had been people of
+considerable means. His tutor, after teaching him foreign languages,
+particularly those of the East, fostered a natural inclination which he
+possessed towards mysticism, or rather, occupying himself with the
+mysterious. This tutor died, leaving as a legacy to young Dapsul a
+whole library of occult science, into the very depths of which he
+proceeded to plunge. His parents dying, he betook himself to long
+journeyings, and (as his tutor had impressed him with the necessity of
+doing) to Egypt and India. When he got home again, after many years, a
+cousin had looked after his affairs with such zeal that there was
+nothing left to him but the little hamlet of Dapsulheim. Herr Dapsul
+was too eagerly occupied in the pursuit of the sun-born gold of a
+higher sphere to trouble himself about that which was earthly. He
+rather felt obliged to his cousin for preserving to him the pleasant,
+friendly Dapsulheim, with the fine, tall tower, which might have been
+built expressly on purpose for astrological operations, and in the
+upper storey and topmost height of which he at once established his
+study. And indeed he thanked his said cousin from the bottom of his
+heart.
+
+This careful cousin now pointed out that Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau was
+bound to marry. Dapsul immediately admitted the necessity, and, without
+more ado, married at once the lady whom his cousin had selected for
+him. This lady disappeared almost as quickly as she had appeared on the
+scene. She died, after bearing him a daughter. The cousin attended to
+the marriage, the baptism, and the funeral; so that Dapsul, up in his
+tower, paid very little attention to either. For there was a very
+remarkable comet visible during most of the time, and Dapsul, ever
+melancholy and anticipative of evil, considered that he was involved in
+its influence.
+
+The little daughter, under the careful up-bringing of an old
+grand-aunt, developed a remarkable aptitude for rural affairs. She had
+to begin at the very beginning, and, so to speak, rise from the ranks,
+serving successively as goose-girl, maid-of-all-work, upper farm-maid,
+housekeeper, and, finally, as mistress, so that Theory was all along
+illustrated and impressed upon her mind by a salutary share of
+Practice. She was exceedingly fond of ducks and geese, hens and
+pigeons, and even the tender broods of well-shaped piglings she was by
+no means indifferent to, though she did not put a ribbon and a bell
+round a little white sucking-pig's neck and make it into a sort of
+lap-dog, as a certain young lady, in another place, was once known to
+do. But more than anything--more than even to the fruit trees--she was
+devoted to the kitchen-garden. From her grand-aunt's attainments in
+this line she had derived very remarkable theoretical knowledge of
+vegetable culture (which the reader has seen for himself), as regarded
+digging of the ground, sowing the seed, and setting the plants.
+Fraeulein Aennchen not only superintended all these operations, but lent
+most valuable manual aid. She wielded a most vigorous spade--her
+bitterest enemy would have admitted this. So that while Herr Dapsul von
+Zabelthau was immersed in astrological observations and other important
+matters, Fraeulein Aennchen carried on the management of the place in
+the ablest possible manner, Dapsul looking after the celestial part of
+the business, and Aennchen managing the terrestrial side of things with
+unceasing vigilance and care.
+
+As above said, it was small wonder that Aennchen was almost beside
+herself with delight at the magnificence of the yield which this season
+had produced in the kitchen-garden. But the carrot-bed was what
+surpassed everything else in the garden in its promise.
+
+"Oh, my dear, beautiful carrots!" cried Anna over and over again, and
+she clapped her hands, danced, and jumped about, and conducted herself
+like a child who has been given a grand Christmas present.
+
+And indeed it seemed as though the carrot-children underground were
+taking part in Aennchen's gladness, for some extremely delicate
+laughter, which just made itself heard, was undoubtedly proceeding from
+the carrot-bed. Aennchen didn't, however, pay much heed to it, but ran
+to meet one of the farm-men who was coming, holding up a letter, and
+calling out to her, "For you, Fraeulein Aennchen. Gottlieb brought it
+from the town."
+
+Aennchen saw immediately, from the hand writing, that it was from none
+other than young Herr Amandus von Nebelstern, the son of a neighbouring
+proprietor, now at the university. During the time when he was living
+at home, and in the habit of running over to Dapsulheim every day,
+Amandus had arrived at the conviction that in all his life he never
+could love anybody except Aennchen. Similarly, Aennchen was perfectly
+certain that she could never really care the least bit about anybody
+else but this brown-locked Amandus. Thus both Aennchen and Amandus had
+come to the conclusion and arrangement that they were to be married as
+soon as ever they could--the sooner the better--and be the very
+happiest married couple in the wide world.
+
+Amandus had at one time been a bright, natural sort of lad enough, but
+at the university he had got into the hands of God knows who, and had
+been induced to fancy himself a marvellous poetical genius, as also to
+betake himself to an extreme amount of absurd extravagance in
+expression of ideas. He carried this so far that he soon soared far
+away beyond everything which prosaic idiots term Sense and Reason
+(maintaining at the same time, as they do, that both are perfectly
+co-existent with the utmost liveliness of imagination).
+
+It was from this young Amandus that the letter came which Aennchen
+opened and read, as follows:--
+
+"HEAVENLY MAIDEN,--
+
+"Dost thou see, dost thou feel, dost thou not image and figure to
+thyself, thy Amandus, how, circumambiated by the orange-flower-laden
+breath of the dewy evening, he is lying on his back in the grass,
+gazing heavenward with eyes filled with the holiest love and the
+most longing adoration? The thyme and the lavender, the rose
+and the gilliflower, as also the yellow-eyed narcissus and the
+shamefaced violet--he weaveth into garlands. And the flowers are
+love-thoughts--thoughts of thee, oh, Anna! But doth feeble prose beseem
+inspired lips? Listen! oh, listen how I can only love, and speak of my
+love, sonnetically!
+
+     "Love flames aloft in thousand eager sunspheres,
+        Joy wooeth joy within the heart so warmly:
+        Down from the darkling sky soft stars are shining.
+      Back-mirrored from the deep, still wells of love-tears.
+
+     "Delight, alas! doth die of joy too burning--
+        The sweetest fruit hath aye the bitt'rest kernel--
+        While longing beckons from the violet distance,
+      In pain of love my heart to dust is turning.
+
+     "In fiery billows rage the ocean surges,
+        Yet the bold swimmer dares the plunge full arduous,
+      And soon amid the waves his strong course urges.
+
+     "And on the shore, now near, the jacinth shoots:
+        The faithful heart holds firm: 'twill bleed to death;
+        But heart's blood is the sweetest of all roots.[1]
+
+"Oh, Anna! when thou readest this sonnet of all sonnets, may all the
+heavenly rapture permeate thee in which all my being was dissolved when
+I wrote it down, and then read it out, to kindred minds, conscious,
+like myself, of life's highest. Think, oh, think I sweet maiden of
+
+                             "Thy faithful, enraptured,
+                                   "AMANDUS VON NEBELSTERN.
+
+"P.S.--Don't forget, oh, sublime virgin! when answering this, to send a
+pound or two of that Virginia tobacco which you grow yourself. It burns
+splendidly, and has a far better flavour than the Porto Rico which the
+Buerschen smoke when they go to the Kneipe."
+
+
+[Footnote 1: The translator may point out that the original of this
+nonsense is, itself, intentionally nonsense, and that he has done his
+best to render it into English--not an easy task.--A. E.]
+
+
+Fraeulein Aennchen pressed the letter to her lips, and said, "Oh, how
+dear, how beautiful! And the darling verses, rhyming so beautifully.
+Oh, if I were only clever enough to understand it all; but I suppose
+nobody can do that but a student. I wonder what that about the 'roots'
+means? I suppose it must be the long red English carrots, or, who
+knows, it may be the rapuntica. Dear fellow!"
+
+That very day Fraeulein Aennchen made it her business to pack up the
+tobacco, and she took a dozen of her finest goose-quills to the
+schoolmaster, to get him to make them into pens. Her intention was to
+sit down at once and begin her answer to the precious letter. As she
+was going out of the kitchen-garden, she was again followed by a very
+faint, almost imperceptible, sound of delicate laughter; and if she had
+paid a little attention to what was going on, she would have been sure
+to hear a little delicate voice saying, "Pull me, pull me! I am
+ripe--ripe--ripe!" However, as we have said, she paid no attention, and
+did not hear this.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER II.
+
+WHICH CONTAINS AN ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST WONDERFUL EVENT, AND OTHER
+      MATTERS DESERVING OF PERUSAL, WITHOUT WHICH THIS TALE COULD HAVE
+      HAD NO EXISTENCE.
+
+Herr Dapsul Von Zabelthau generally came down from his astronomical
+tower about noon, to partake of a frugal repast with his daughter,
+which usually lasted a very short time, and during which there was
+generally a great predominance of silence, for Dapsul did not like to
+talk. And Aennchen did not trouble him by speaking much, and this all
+the more for the reason that if her papa did actually begin to talk, he
+would come out with all sorts of curious unintelligible nonsense, which
+made a body's head giddy. This day, however, her head was so full, and
+her mind so excited and taken up with the flourishing state of the
+kitchen-garden, and the letter from her beloved Amandus, that she
+talked of both subjects incessantly, mixed up, without leaving off.
+At last Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau laid down his knife and fork,
+stopped his ears with his hands, and cried out, "Oh, the dreary
+higgledy-piggledy of chatter and gabble!"
+
+Aennchen stopped, alarmed, and he went on to say, in the melancholy
+sustained tones which were characteristic of him, "With regard to the
+vegetables, my dear daughter, I have long been cognizant that the
+manner in which the stars have worked together this season has been
+eminently favourable to those growths, and the earthly man will be
+amply supplied with cabbage, radishes, and lettuce, so that the earthly
+matter may duly increase and withstand the fire of the world-spirit,
+like a properly kneaded pot. The gnomic principle will resist the
+attacks of the salamander, and I shall have the enjoyment of eating the
+parsnips which you cook so well. With regard to young Amandus von
+Nebelstern, I have not the slightest objection to your marrying him as
+soon as he comes back from the university. Simply send Gottlieb up to
+tell me when your marriage is going to take place, so that I may go
+with you to the church."
+
+Herr Dapsul kept silence for a few seconds, and then, without looking
+at Aennchen, whose face was glowing with delight, he went on, smiling
+and striking his glass with his fork (two things which he seldom did at
+all, though he always did them together) to say, "Your Amandus has got
+to be, and cannot help being, where and what he is. He is, in fact, a
+gerund; and I shall merely tell you, my dear Aennchen, that I drew up
+his horoscope a long while ago. His constellation is favourable enough
+on the whole, for the matter of that. He has Jupiter in the ascending
+node, Venus regarding in the sextile. The trouble is, that the path of
+Sirius cuts across, and, just at the point of intersection, there
+is a great danger from which Amandus delivers his betrothed. The
+danger--what it is--is indiscoverable, because some strange being,
+which appears to set at defiance all astrological science, seems to be
+concerned in it. At the same time, it is evident and certain that it is
+only the strange psychical condition which mankind terms craziness, or
+mental derangement, which will enable Amandus to accomplish this
+deliverance. Oh, my daughter!" (here Herr Dapsul fell again into his
+usual pathetic tone), "may no mysterious power, which keeps itself
+hidden from my seer-eyes, come suddenly across your path, so that young
+Amandus von Nebelstern may not have to rescue you from any other danger
+but that of being an old maid." He sighed several times consecutively,
+and then continued, "But the path of Sirius breaks off abruptly after
+this danger, and Venus and Jupiter, divided before, come together
+again, reconciled."
+
+Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau had not spoken so much for years as on this
+occasion. He arose exhausted, and went back up into his tower.
+
+Aennchen had her answer to Herr von Nebelstern ready in good time next
+morning. It was as follows:--
+
+"MY OWN DEAREST AMANDUS--
+
+"You cannot believe what joy your letter has given me. I have told papa
+about it, and he has promised to go to church with us when we're
+married. Be sure to come back from the university as soon as ever you
+can. Oh! if I only could _quite_ understand your darling verses, which
+rhyme so beautifully. When I read them to myself aloud they sound
+wonderful, and _then_ I think I _do_ understand them quite well. But
+soon everything grows confused, and seems to get away from me, and I
+feel as if I had been reading a lot of mere words that somehow don't
+belong to each other at all. The schoolmaster says this must be so, and
+that it's the new fashionable way of speaking. But, you see, I'm--oh,
+well!--I'm only a stupid, foolish creature. Please to write and tell me
+if I couldn't be a student for a little time, without neglecting my
+housework. I suppose that couldn't be, though, could it? Well, well:
+when once we're husband and wife, perhaps I may pick up a little of
+your learning, and learn a little of this new, fashionable way of
+speaking.
+
+"I send you the Virginian tobacco, my dearest Amandus. I've packed my
+bonnet-box full of it, as much as ever I could get into it; and, in the
+meantime, I've put my new straw hat on to Charles the Great's head--you
+know he stands in the spare bedroom, although he has no feet, being
+only a bust, as you remember.
+
+"Please don't laugh, Amandus dear; but I have made some poetry myself,
+and it rhymes quite nicely, some of it. Write and tell me how a person,
+without learning, can know so well what rhymes to what? Just listen,
+now--
+
+           "I love you, dearest, as my life.
+            And long at once to be your wife.
+            The bright blue sky is full of light,
+            When evening comes the stars shine bright.
+            So you must love me always truly,
+            And never cause me pain unduly,
+            I pack up the 'baccy you asked me to send,
+            And I hope it will yield you enjoyment no end.
+
+"There! you must take the will for the deed, and when I learn the
+fashionable way of speaking, I'll do some better poetry. The yellow
+lettuces are promising splendidly this year--never was such a crop; so
+are the French beans; but my little dachshund, Feldmann, gave the big
+gander a terrible bite in the leg yesterday. However, we can't have
+everything perfect in this world. A hundred kisses in imagination, my
+dearest Amandus, from
+
+                             "Your most faithful fiancee,
+                                         "ANNA VON ZABELTHAU.
+
+"P.S.--I've been writing in an awful hurry, and that's the reason the
+letters are rather crooked here and there.
+
+"P.S.--But you mustn't mind about that. Though I may write a little
+crookedly, my heart is all straight, and I am
+
+                             "Always your faithful
+                                         "ANNA.
+
+"P.S.--Oh, good gracious! I had almost forgot--thoughtless thing that I
+am. Papa sends you his kind regards, and says you have got to be, and
+cannot help being, where and what you are; and that you are to rescue
+me from a terrible danger some day. Now, I'm very glad of this, and
+remain, once more,
+
+                             "Your most true and loving
+                                         "ANNA VON ZABELTHAU."
+
+It was a good weight off Fraeulein Aennchen's mind when she had written
+this letter; it had cost her a considerable effort. So she felt
+light-hearted and happy when she had put it in its envelope, sealed
+it up without burning the paper or her own fingers, and given it,
+together with the bonnet-boxful of tobacco, to Gottlieb to take to the
+post-office in the town. When she had seen properly to the poultry in
+the yard, she ran as fast as she could to the place she loved best--the
+kitchen-garden. When she got to the carrot-bed she thought it was about
+time to be thinking of the sweet-toothed people in the town, and be
+palling the earliest of the carrots. The servant-girl was called in to
+help in this process. Fraeulein Aennchen walked, gravely and seriously,
+into the middle of the bed, and grasped a stately carrot-plant. But on
+her pulling at it a strange sound made itself heard. Do not, reader,
+think of the witches' mandrake-root, and the horrible whining and
+howling which pierces the heart of man when it is drawn from the earth.
+No; the tone which was heard on this occasion was like very delicate,
+joyous laughter. But Fraeulein Aennchen let the carrot-plant go, and
+cried out, rather frightened, "Eh! Who's that laughing at me?" But
+there being nothing more to be heard she took hold of the carrot-plant
+again--which seemed to be finer and better grown than any of the
+rest--and, notwithstanding the laughing, which began again, pulled up
+the very finest and most splendid carrot ever beheld by mortal eye.
+When she looked at it more closely she gave a cry of joyful surprise,
+so that the maid-servant came running up; and she also exclaimed aloud
+at the beautiful miracle which disclosed itself to her eyes. For there
+was a beautiful ring firmly attached to the carrot, with a shining
+topaz mounted in it.
+
+"Oh," cried the maid, "that's for you! It's your wedding-ring. Put it
+on directly."
+
+"Stupid nonsense!" said Fraeulein Aennchen. "I must get my
+wedding-ring from Herr Amandus von Nebelstern, not from a carrot."
+
+However, the longer she looked at the ring the better she was pleased
+with it; and, indeed, it was of such wonderfully fine workmanship that
+it seemed to surpass anything ever produced by human skill. On the ring
+part of it there were hundreds and hundreds of tiny little figures
+twined together in the most manifold groupings, hardly to be made out
+with the naked eye at first, so microscopically minute were they. But
+when one looked at them closely for a little while they appeared to
+grow bigger and more distinct, and to come to life, and dance in pretty
+combinations. And the fire of the gem was of such a remarkable water
+that the like of it could not have been found in the celebrated Dresden
+collection.
+
+"Who knows," said the maid, "how long this beautiful ring may have been
+underground? And it must have got shoved up somehow, and then the
+carrot has grown right through it."
+
+Fraeulein Aennchen took the ring off the carrot, and it was strange how
+the latter suddenly slipped through her fingers and disappeared in the
+ground. But neither she nor the maid paid much heed to this
+circumstance, being lost in admiration of the beautiful ring, which the
+young lady immediately put on the little finger of the right hand
+without more ado. As she did so, she felt a stinging pain all up her
+finger, from the root of it to the point; but this pain went away again
+as quickly as it had come.
+
+Of course she told her father, at mid-day, all about this strange
+adventure at the carrot-bed, and showed him the beautiful ring which
+had been sticking upon the carrot. She was going to take it off that he
+might examine it the better, but felt the same stinging kind of pain as
+when she put it on. And this pain lasted all the time she was trying to
+get it off, so that she had to give up trying. Herr Dapsul scanned the
+ring upon her finger with the most careful attention. He made her
+stretch her finger out, and describe with it all sorts of circles in
+all directions. After which he fell into a profound meditation, and
+went up into his tower without uttering a syllable. Aennchen heard him
+giving vent to a very considerable amount of groaning and sighing as he
+went.
+
+Next morning, when she was chasing the big cock about the yard (he was
+bent on all manner of mischief, and was skirmishing particularly with
+the pigeons), Herr Dapsul began lamenting so fearfully down from the
+tower through the speaking trumpet that she cried up to him through her
+closed hand, "Oh papa dear, what are you making such a terrible howling
+for? The fowls are all going out of their wits."
+
+Heir Dapsul hailed down to her through the speaking trumpet, saying,
+"Anna, my daughter Anna, come up here to me immediately."
+
+Fraeulein Aennchen was much astonished at this command, for her papa had
+never in all his life asked her to go into the tower, but rather had
+kept the door of it carefully shut. So that she was conscious of a
+certain sense of anxiety as she climbed the narrow winding stair, and
+opened the heavy door which led into its one room. Herr Dapsul von
+Zabelthau was seated upon a large armchair of singular form, surrounded
+by curious instruments and dusty books. Before him was a kind of stand,
+upon which there was a paper stretched in a frame, with a number of
+lines drawn upon it. He had on a tall pointed cap, a wide mantle of
+grey calimanco, and on his chin a long white beard, so that he had
+quite the appearance of a magician. On account of his false beard,
+Aennchen didn't know him a bit just at first, and looked curiously
+about to see if her father were hidden away in some corner; but when
+she saw that the man with the beard on was really papa, she laughed
+most heartily, and asked if it was Yule-time, and he was going to act
+Father Christmas.
+
+Paying no heed to this enquiry, Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau took a small
+tool of iron in his hand, touched Aennchen's forehead with it, and then
+stroked it along her right arm several times, from the armpit to the
+tip of the little finger. While this was going on she had to sit in the
+armchair, which he had quitted, and to lay the finger which had the
+ring upon it on the paper which was in the frame, in such a position
+that the topaz touched the central point where all the lines came
+together. Yellow rays immediately shot out from the topaz all round,
+colouring the paper all over with deep yellow light. Then the lines
+went flickering and crackling up and down, and the little figures which
+were on the ring seemed to be jumping merrily about all over the paper.
+Herr Dapsul, without taking his eyes from the paper, had taken hold of
+a thin plate of some metal, which he held up high over his head with
+both arms, and was proceeding to press it down upon the paper; but ere
+he could do so he slipped his foot on the smooth stone floor, and fell,
+anything but softly, upon the sitting portion of his body; whilst the
+metal plate, which he had dropped in an instinctive attempt to break
+his fall, and save damage to his _Os Coccygis_, went clattering down
+upon the stones. Fraeulein Aennchen awoke, with a gentle "Ah!" from a
+strange dreamy condition in which she had been. Herr Dapsul with some
+difficulty raised himself, put the grey sugar-loaf cap, which had
+fallen off, on again, arranged the false beard, and sate himself down
+opposite to Aennchen upon a pile of folio volumes.
+
+"My daughter," he said, "my daughter Anna; what were your sensations?
+Describe your thoughts, your feelings? What were the forms seen by the
+eye of the spirit within your inner being?"
+
+"Ah!" answered Anna, "I was so happy; I never was so happy in all my
+life. And I thought of Amandus von Nebelstern. And I saw him quite
+plainly before my eyes, but he was much better looking than he used to
+be, and he was smoking a pipe of the Virginian tobacco that I sent him,
+and seemed to be enjoying it tremendously. Then all at once I felt a
+great appetite for young carrots with sausages; and lo and behold!
+there the dishes were before me, and I was just going to help myself to
+some when I woke up from the dream in a moment, with a sort of painful
+start."
+
+"Amandus von Nebelstern, Virginia canaster, carrots, sausages," quoth
+Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau to his daughter very reflectively. And he
+signed to her to stay where she was, for she was preparing to go away.
+
+"Happy is it for you, innocent child," he began, in a tone much more
+lamentable than even his usual one, "that you are as yet not initiated
+into the profounder mysteries of the universe, and are unaware of the
+threatening perils which surround you. You know nothing of the
+supernatural science of the sacred cabbala. True, you will never
+partake the celestial joy of those wise ones who, having attained the
+highest step, need never eat or drink except for their pleasure, and
+are exempt from human necessities. But then, you have not to endure and
+suffer the pain of attainment to that step, like your unhappy father,
+who is still far more liable to attacks of mere human giddiness, to
+whom that which he laboriously discovers only causes terror and awe,
+and who is still, from purely earthly necessities, obliged to eat and
+drink and, in fact, submit to human requirements. Learn, my charming
+child, blessed as you are with absence of knowledge, that the depths of
+the earth, and the air, water, and fire, are filled with spiritual
+beings of higher and yet of more restricted nature than mankind. It
+seems unnecessary, my little unwise one, to explain to you the peculiar
+nature and characteristics of the gnomes, the salamanders, sylphides,
+and undines; you would not be able to understand them. To give you some
+slight idea of the danger which you may be undergoing, it is sufficient
+that I should tell you that these spirits are always striving eagerly
+to enter into unions with human beings; and as they are well aware that
+human beings are strongly adverse to those unions, they employ all
+manner of subtle and crafty artifices to delude such of the latter as
+they have fixed their affections upon. Often it is a twig, a flower, a
+glass of water, a fire-steel, or something else, in appearance of no
+importance, which they employ as a means of compassing their intent. It
+is true that unions of this sort often turn out exceedingly happily, as
+in the case of two priests, mentioned by Prince della Mirandola, who
+spent forty years of the happiest possible wedlock with a spirit of
+this description. It is true, moreover, that the most renowned sages
+have been the offspring of such unions between human beings and
+elementary spirits. Thus, the great Zoroaster was a son of the
+salamander Oromasis; the great Apollonius, the sage Merlin, the valiant
+Count of Cleve, and the great cabbalist, Ben-Syra, were the glorious
+fruits of marriages of this description, and according to Paracelsus
+the beautiful Melusina was no other than a sylphide. But yet,
+notwithstanding, the peril of such a union is much too great, for not
+only do the elementary spirits require of those on whom they confer
+their favours that the clearest light of the profoundest wisdom shall
+have arisen and shall shine upon them, but besides this they are
+extraordinarily touchy and sensitive, and revenge offences with extreme
+severity. Thus, it once happened that a sylphide, who was in union with
+a philosopher, on an occasion when he was talking with friends about a
+pretty woman--and perhaps rather too warmly--suddenly allowed her white
+beautifully-formed limb to become visible in the air, as if to convince
+the friends of her beauty, and then killed the poor philosopher
+on the spot. But ah! why should I refer to others? Why don't I
+speak of myself? I am aware that for the last twelve years I have
+been beloved by a sylphide, but she is timorous and coy, and I am
+tortured by the thought of the danger of fettering her to me more
+closely by cabbalistic processes, inasmuch as I am still much too
+dependent on earthly necessities, and consequently lack the necessary
+degree of wisdom. Every morning I make up my mind to fast, and I
+succeed in letting breakfast pass without touching any; but when
+mid-day comes, oh! Anna, my daughter Anna, you know well that I eat
+tremendously."
+
+These latter words Herr Dapsul uttered almost in a howl, while bitter
+tears rolled down his lean chop-fallen cheeks. He then went on more
+calmly--
+
+"But I take the greatest of pains to behave towards the elementary
+spirit who is thus favourably disposed towards me with the utmost
+refinement of manners, the most exquisite _galanterie_. I never venture
+to smoke a pipe of tobacco without employing the proper preliminary
+cabbalistic precautions, for I cannot tell whether or not my tender
+air-spirit may like the brand of the tobacco, and so be annoyed at the
+defilement of her element. And I take the same precautions when I cut a
+hazel twig, pluck a flower, eat a fruit, or strike fire, all my efforts
+being directed to avoid giving offence to any elementary spirit. And
+yet--there, you see that nutshell, which I slid upon, and, falling over
+backwards, completely nullified the whole important experiment, which
+would have revealed to me the whole mystery of the ring? I do not
+remember that I have ever eaten a nut in this chamber, completely
+devoted as it is to science (you know now why I have my breakfast on
+the stairs), and it is all the clearer that some little gnome must have
+been hidden away in that shell, very likely having come here to
+prosecute his studies, and watch some of my experiments. For the
+elementary spirits are fond of human science, particularly such kinds
+of it as the uninitiated vulgar consider to be, if not foolish and
+superstitious, at all events beyond the powers of the human mind to
+comprehend, and for that reason style 'dangerous.' Thus, when I
+accidentally trod upon this little student's head, I suppose he got in
+a rage, and threw me down. But it is probable that he had a deeper
+reason for preventing me from finding out the secret of the ring. Anna,
+my dear Anna, listen to this. I had ascertained that there is a gnome
+bestowing his favour upon you, and to judge by the ring he must be a
+gnome of rank and distinction, as well as of superior cultivation. But,
+my dear Anna, my most beloved little stupid girl, how do you suppose
+you are going to enter into any kind of union with an elementary spirit
+without running the most terrible risk? If you had read Cassiodorus
+Remus you might, of course, reply that, according to his veracious
+chronicle, the celebrated Magdalena de la Croix, abbess of a convent at
+Cordova, in Spain, lived for thirty years in the happiest wedlock
+imaginable with a little gnome, whilst a similar result followed in
+the case of a sylph and the young Gertrude, a nun in Kloster Nazareth,
+near Cologne. But, then, think of the learned pursuits of those
+ecclesiastical ladies and of your own; what a mighty difference.
+Instead of reading in learned books you are often employing your time
+in feeding hens, geese, ducks, and other creatures, which simply molest
+and annoy all cabbalists; instead of watching the course of the stars,
+the heavens, you dig in the earth; instead of deciphering the traces of
+the future in skilfully-constructed horoscopes you are churning milk
+into butter, and putting sauerkraut up to pickle for mean everyday
+winter use; although, really, I must say that for my own part I should
+be very sorry to be without such articles of food. Say, is all this
+likely, in the long run, to content a refined philosophic elementary
+spirit? And then, oh Anna! it must be through you that the Dapsulheim
+line must continue, which earthly demand upon your being you cannot
+refuse to obey in any possible case. Yet, in connection with this ring,
+you in your instinctive way felt a strange irreflective sense of
+physical enjoyment. By means of the operation in which I was engaged, I
+desired and intended to break the power of the ring, and free you
+entirely from the gnome which is pursuing you. That operation failed,
+in consequence of the trick played me by the little student in the
+nut-shell. And yet, notwithstanding, I feel inspired by a courage such
+as I never felt before to do battle with this elementary spirit. You
+are my child, whom I begot, not indeed with a sylphide, salamandress,
+or other elementary spirit, but of that poor country lady of a fine old
+family, to whom the God-forgotten neighbours gave the nickname of the
+'goat-girl' on account of her idyllic nature. For she used to go out
+with a flock of pretty little white goats, and pasture them on the
+green hillocks, I meanwhile blowing a reed-pipe on my tower, a
+love-stricken young fool, by way of accompaniment. Yes, you are my own
+child, my flesh and blood, and I mean to rescue you. Here, this mystic
+file shall befree you from the pernicious ring."
+
+With this, Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau took up a small file and began
+filing away with it at the ring. But scarcely had he passed it once or
+twice backwards and forwards when Fraeulein Aennchen cried aloud in
+pain, "Papa, papa, you're filing my finger off!" And actually there was
+dark thick blood coming oozing from under the ring. Seeing this, Herr
+Dapsul let the file fall upon the floor, sank half fainting into the
+armchair, and cried, in utter despair, "Oh--oh--oh--oh! It is all over
+with me! Perhaps the infuriated gnome may come this very hour and bite
+my head off unless the sylphide saves me. Oh, Anna, Anna,
+go--fly!"
+
+As her father's extraordinary talk had long made her wish herself far
+enough away, she ran downstairs like the wind.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER III.
+
+SOME ACCOUNT IS GIVEN OF THE ARRIVAL OF A REMARKABLE PERSONAGE IN
+      DAPSULHEIM, AND OF WHAT FOLLOWED FURTHER.
+
+Herr Dapsul Von Zabelthau had just embraced his daughter with many
+tears, and was moving off to ascend his tower, where he dreaded every
+moment the alarming visit of the incensed gnome, when the sound of a
+horn, loud and clear, made itself heard, and into the courtyard came
+bounding and curvetting a little cavalier of sufficiently strange and
+amusing appearance. His yellow horse was not at all large, and was of
+delicate build, so that the little rider, in spite of his large
+shapeless head, did not look so dwarfish as might otherwise have been
+the case, as he sate a considerable height above the horse's head. But
+this was attributable to the length of his body, for what of him hung
+over the saddle in the nature of legs and feet was hardly worth
+mentioning. For the rest, the little fellow had on a very rich habit of
+gold-yellow atlas, a fine high cap with a splendid grass-green plume,
+and riding-boots of beautifully polished mahogany. With a resounding
+"P-r-r-r-r-r-r!" he reined up before Herr von Zabelthau, and seemed to
+be going to dismount. But he suddenly slipped under the horse's belly
+as quick as lightning, and having got to the other side of him, threw
+himself three times in succession some twelve ells up in the air,
+turning six somersaults in every ell, and then alighted on his head in
+the saddle. Standing on his head there, he galloped backwards,
+forwards, and sideways in all sorts of extraordinary curves and ups and
+downs, his feet meanwhile playing trochees, dactyls, pyrrhics, &c., in
+the air. When this accomplished gymnast and trick-act rider at length
+stood still, and politely saluted, there were to be seen on the ground
+of the courtyard the words, "My most courteous greeting to you and your
+lady daughter, most highly respected Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau." These
+words he had ridden into the ground in handsome Roman uncial letters.
+Thereupon, he sprang from his horse, turned three Catherine wheels, and
+said that he was charged by his gracious master, the Herr Baron
+Porphyrio von Ockerodastes, called "Cordovanspitz," to present his
+compliments to Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau, and to say, that if the
+latter had no objection, the Herr Baron proposed to pay him a friendly
+visit of a day or two, as he was expecting presently to be his nearest
+neighbour.
+
+Herr Dapsul looked more dead than alive, so pale and motionless did he
+stand, leaning un his daughter. Scarcely had a half involuntary,
+"It--will--give--me--much--pleasure," escaped his trembling lips, when
+the little horseman departed with lightning speed, and similar
+ceremonies to those with which he had arrived.
+
+"Ah, my daughter!" cried Herr Dapsul, weeping and lamenting, "alas! it
+is but too certain that this is the gnome come to carry you off, and
+twist my unfortunate neck. But we will pluck up the very last scrap of
+courage which we can scrape together. Perhaps it may be still possible
+to pacify this irritated elementary spirit. We must be as careful in
+our conduct towards him as ever we can. I will at once read to you, my
+dear child, a chapter or two of Lactantius or Thomas Aquinas concerning
+the mode of dealing with elementary spirits, so that you mayn't make
+some tremendous mistake or other."
+
+But before he could go and get hold of Lactantius or Thomas Aquinas, a
+band was heard in the immediate proximity, sounding very much like the
+kind of performance which children who are musical enough get up about
+Christmas-time. And a fine long procession was coming up the street.
+At the head of it rode some sixty or seventy little cavaliers on
+little yellow horses, all dressed like the one who had arrived as
+avant-courier at first, in yellow habits, pointed caps, and boots of
+polished mahogany. They were followed by a couch of purest crystal,
+drawn by eight yellow horses, and behind this came well on to forty
+other less magnificent coaches, some with six horses, some with only
+four. And there were swarms of pages, running footmen, and other
+attendants, moving up and down amongst and around those coaches in
+brilliant costumes, so that the whole thing formed a sight as charming
+as uncommon. Herr Dapsul stood sunk in gloomy amazement. Aennchen, who
+had never dreamt that the world could contain such lovely delightful
+creatures as these little horses and people, was quite out of her
+senses with delight, and forgot everything, even to shut her mouth,
+which she had opened to emit a cry of joy.
+
+The coach and eight drew up before Herr Dapsul. Riders jumped from
+their horses, pages and attendants came hurrying forward, and the
+personage who was now lifted down the steps of the coach on their arms
+was none other than the Herr Baron Porphyrio von Ockerodastes,
+otherwise known as Cordovanspitz. Inasmuch as regarded his figure, the
+Herr Baron was far from comparable to the Apollo of Belvedere, or even
+the Dying Gladiator. For, besides the circumstances that he was
+scarcely three feet high, one-third of his small body consisted of his
+evidently too large and broad head, which was, moreover, adorned by a
+tremendously long Roman nose and a pair of great round projecting
+eyes. And as his body was disproportionately long for his height,
+there was nothing left for his legs and feet to occupy but some four
+inches or so. This small space was made the most of, however,
+for the little Baron's feet were the neatest and prettiest little
+things ever beheld. No doubt they seemed to be scarcely strong enough
+to support the large, important head. For the Baron's gait was somewhat
+tottery and uncertain, and he even toppled over altogether pretty
+frequently, but got up upon his feet immediately, after the manner of a
+jack-in-the-box. So that this toppling over had a considerable
+resemblance to some rather eccentric dancing step more than to anything
+else one could compare it to. He had on a close-fitting suit of some
+shining gold fabric, and a headdress, which was almost like a crown,
+with an enormous plume of green feathers in it.
+
+As soon as the Baron had alighted on the ground, he hastened up to Herr
+Dapsul von Zabelthau, took hold of both his hands, swung himself up to
+his neck, and cried out, in a voice wonderfully more powerful than his
+shortness of stature would have led one to expect, "Oh, my Dapsul von
+Zabelthau, my most beloved father!" He then lowered himself down from
+Herr Dapsul's neck with the same deftness of skill with which he
+had climbed up to it, sprang, or rather slung himself, to Fraeulein
+Aennchen, took that hand of hers which had the ring on it, covered
+it with loud resounding kisses, and cried out in the same almost
+thundering voice as before, "Oh, my loveliest Fraeulein Anna von
+Zabelthau, my most beloved bride-elect!"
+
+He then clapped his hands, and immediately that noisy clattering
+child-like band struck up, and over a hundred little fellows, who
+had got off their horses and out of the carriages, danced as the
+avant-courier had done, sometimes on their heads, sometimes on their
+feet, in the prettiest possible trochees, spondees, iambics, pyrrhics,
+anapaests, tribrachs, bacchi, antibacchi, choriambs, and dactyls, so
+that it was a joy to behold them. But as this was going on, Fraeulein
+Aennchen recovered from the terrible fright which the little Baron's
+speech to her had put her in, and entered into several important and
+necessary economic questions and considerations. "How is it possible,"
+she asked herself, "that these little beings can find room in this
+place of ours? Would it hold even their servants if they were to be put
+to sleep in the big barn? Then what could I do with the swell folk who
+came in the coaches, and of course expect to be put into fine bedrooms,
+with soft beds, as they're accustomed to be? And even if the two plough
+horses were to go out of the stable, and I were to be so hard hearted
+as to turn the old lame chestnut out into the grass field, would there
+be anything like room enough for all those little beasts of horses that
+this nasty ugly Baron has brought? And just the same with the one and
+forty coaches. But the worst of all comes after that. Oh, my gracious!
+is the whole year's provender anything like enough to keep all these
+little creatures going for even so much as a couple of days?" This last
+was the climax of all. She saw in her mind's eye everything eaten
+up--all the new vegetables, the sheep, the poultry, the salt meat--nay,
+the very beetroot brandy gone. And this brought the salt tears to her
+eyes. She thought she caught the Baron making a sort of wicked impudent
+face at her, and that gave her courage to say to him (while his people
+were keeping up their dancing with might and main), in the plainest
+language possible, that however flattering his visit might be to her
+father, it was impossible to think of such a thing as its lasting more
+than a couple of hours or so, as there was neither room nor anything
+else for the proper reception and entertainment of such a grand
+gentleman and such a numerous retinue. But little Cordovanspitz
+immediately looked as marvellously sweet and tender as any marsipan
+tart, pressing with closed eyes Fraeulein Aennchen's hand (which was
+rather rough, and not particularly white) to his lips, as he assured
+her that the last thing he should think of was causing the dear papa
+and his lovely daughter the slightest inconvenience. He said he had
+brought everything in the kitchen and cellar department with him, and
+as for the lodging, he needed nothing but a little bit of ground with
+the open air above it, where his people could put up his ordinary
+travelling palace, which would accommodate him, his whole retinue, and
+the animals pertaining to them.
+
+Fraeulein Aennchen was so delighted with these words of the Baron
+Porphyrio von Ockerodastes that, to show that she wasn't grudging a
+little bit of hospitality, she was going to offer him the little
+fritter cakes she had made for the last consecration day, and a small
+glass of the beetroot brandy, unless he would have preferred double
+bitters, which the maid had brought from the town and recommended as
+strengthening to the stomach. But at this moment Cordovanspitz
+announced that he had chosen the kitchen garden as the site of his
+palace, and Aennchen's happiness was gone. But whilst the Baron's
+retainers, in celebration of their lord's arrival at Dapsulheim,
+continued their Olympian games, sometimes butting with their big heads
+at each other's stomachs, knocking each other over backwards, sometimes
+springing up in the air again, playing at skittles, being themselves in
+turn skittles, balls, and players, and so forth, Baron Porphyrio von
+Ockerodastes got into a very deep and interesting conversation with
+Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau, which seemed to go on increasing in
+importance till they went away together hand in hand, and up into the
+astronomical tower.
+
+Full of alarm and anxiety, Fraeulein Aennchen now made haste to her
+kitchen garden, with the view of trying to save whatever it might still
+be possible to save. The maid-servant was there already, standing
+staring before her with open mouth, motionless as a person turned like
+Lot's wife into a pillar of salt. Aennchen at once fell into the same
+condition beside her. At last they both cried out, making the welkin
+ring, "Oh, Herr Gemini! What a terrible sort of thing!" For the whole
+beautiful vegetable garden was turned into a wilderness. Not the trace
+of a plant in it, it looked like a devastated country.
+
+"No," cried the maid, "there's no other way of accounting for it, these
+cursed little creatures have done it. Coming here in their coaches,
+forsooth! coaches, quotha! as if they were people of quality! Ha! ha! A
+lot of kobolds, that's what _they_ are, trust _me_ for that, Miss. And
+if I had a drop of holy water here I'd soon show you what all those
+fine things of theirs would turn to. But if they come here, the little
+brutes, I'll bash the heads of them with this spade here." And she
+flourished this threatening spade over her head, whilst Anna wept
+aloud.
+
+But at this point, four members of Cordovanspitz's suite came up with
+such very pleasant ingratiating speeches and such courteous reverences,
+being such wonderful creatures to behold, at the same time that the
+maid, instead of attacking them with the spade, let it slowly sink, and
+Fraeulein Aennchen ceased weeping.
+
+They announced themselves as being the four friends who were the most
+immediately attached to their lord's person, saying that they belonged
+to four different nationalities (as their dress indicated,
+symbolically, at all events), and that their names were, respectively,
+Pan Kapustowicz, from Poland; Herr von Schwartzrettig, from Pomerania;
+Signor di Broccoli, from Italy; and Monsieur de Rocambolle, from
+France. They said, moreover, that the builders would come directly, and
+afford the beautiful lady the gratification of seeing them erect a
+lovely palace, all of silk, in the shortest possible space of time.
+
+"What good will the silken palace be to me?" cried Fraeulein Aennchen,
+weeping aloud in her bitter sorrow. "And what do I care about your
+Baron Cordovanspitz, now that you have gone and destroyed my beautiful
+vegetables, wretched creatures that you are. All my happy days are
+over."
+
+But the polite interlocutors comforted her, and assured her that they
+had not by any means had the blame of desolating the kitchen-garden,
+and that, moreover, it would very soon be growing green and flourishing
+in such luxuriance as she had never seen, or anybody else in the world
+for that matter.
+
+The little building-people arrived, and then there began such a
+confused-looking, higgledy-piggledy, and helter-skeltering on the plot
+of ground that Fraeulein Anna and the maid ran away quite frightened,
+and took shelter behind some thickets, whence they could see what would
+be the end of it all.
+
+But though they couldn't explain to themselves how things perfectly
+canny _could_ come about as they did, there certainly arose and formed
+itself before their eyes, and in a few minutes' time, a lofty and
+magnificent marquee, made of a golden-yellow material and ornamented
+with many-coloured garlands and plumes, occupying the whole extent of
+the vegetable garden, so that the cords of it went right away over the
+village and into the wood beyond, where they were made fast to sturdy
+trees.
+
+As soon as this marquee was ready, Baron Porphyrio came down with Herr
+Dapsul from the astronomical tower, after profuse embraces resumed his
+seat in the coach and eight, and in the same order in which they had
+made their entry into Dapsulheim, he and his following went into the
+silken palace, which, when the last of the procession was within it,
+instantly closed itself up.
+
+Fraeulein Aennchen had never seen her papa as he was then. The very
+faintest trace of the melancholy which had hitherto always so
+distressed him had completely disappeared from his countenance. One
+would really almost have said he smiled. There was a sublimity about
+his facial expression such as sometimes indicates that some great and
+unexpected happiness has come upon a person. He led his daughter by the
+hand in silence into the house, embraced her three times consecutively,
+and then broke out--
+
+"Fortunate Anna! Thrice happy girl! Fortunate father! Oh, daughter, all
+sorrow and melancholy, all solicitude and misgiving are over for ever!
+Yours is a fate such as falls to the lot of few mortals. This Baron
+Porphyrio von Ockerodastes, otherwise known as Cordovanspitz, is by no
+means a hostile gnome, although he is descended from one of those
+elementary spirits who, however, was so fortunate as to purify his
+nature by the teaching of Oromasis the Salamander. The love of this
+being was bestowed upon a daughter of the human race, with whom he
+formed a union, and became founder of the most illustrious family whose
+name ever adorned a parchment. I have an impression that I told you
+before, beloved daughter Anna, that the pupil of the great Salamander
+Oromasis, the noble gnome Tsilmenech (a Chaldean name, which
+interpreted into our language has a somewhat similar significance to
+our word 'Thickhead'), bestowed his affection on the celebrated
+Magdalena de la Croix, abbess of a convent at Cordova in Spain, and
+lived in happy wedlock with her for nearly thirty years. And a
+descendant of the sublime family of higher intelligences which sprung
+from this union is our dear Baron Porphyrio von Ockerodastes, who has
+adopted the sobriquet of Cordovanspitz to indicate his ancestral
+connection with Cordova in Spain, and to distinguish himself by it from
+a more haughty but less worthy collateral line of the family, which
+bears the title of 'Saffian.' That a 'spitz' has been added to the
+'Cordovan' doubtless possesses its own elementary astrological causes;
+I have not as yet gone into that subject. Following the example of his
+illustrious ancestor the gnome Tsilmenech, this splendid Ockerodastes
+of ours fell in love with you when you were only twelve years of age
+(Tsilmenech had done precisely the same thing in the case of Magdalena
+de la Croix). He was fortunate enough at that time to get a small gold
+ring from you, and now you wear his, so that your betrothal is
+indissoluble."
+
+"What?" cried Fraeulein Aennchen, in fear and amazement. "What? I
+betrothed to _him_--I to marry that horrible little kobold? Haven't I
+been engaged for ever so long to Herr Amandus von Nebelstern? No, never
+will I have that hideous monster of a wizard for a husband. I don't
+care whether he comes from Cordova or from Saffian."
+
+"There," said Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau more gravely, "there I
+perceive, to my sorrow and distress, how impossible it is for celestial
+wisdom to penetrate into your hardened, obdurate, earthly sense. You
+stigmatize this noble, elementary, Porphyrio von Ockerodastes as
+'horrible' and 'ugly,' probably, I presume, because he is only three
+feet high, and, with the exception of his head, has very little worth
+speaking of on his body in the shape of arms, legs, and other
+appurtenances; and a foolish, earthly goose, such as you probably think
+of as to be admired, can't have legs long enough, on account of coat
+tails. Oh, my daughter, in what a terrible misapprehension you are
+involved! All beauty lies in wisdom, in the thought; and the physical
+symbol of thought is the head. The more head, the more beauty and
+wisdom. And if mankind could but cast away all the other members of the
+body as pernicious articles of luxury tending to evil, they would
+reach the condition of a perfect ideal of the highest type. Whence
+come all trouble and difficulty, vexation and annoyance, strife and
+contention--in short, all the depravities and miseries of humanity, but
+from the accursed luxury and voluptuousness of the members? Oh, what
+joy, what peace, what blessedness there would be on earth if the
+human race could exist without arms or legs, or the nether parts of
+the body--in short, if we were nothing but busts! Therefore it is a
+happy idea of the sculptors when they represent great statesmen,
+or celebrated men of science and learning as busts, symbolically
+indicating the higher nature within them. Wherefore, my daughter Anna,
+no more of such words as 'ugly and abominable' applied to the noblest
+of spirits, the grand Porphyrio von Ockerodastes, whose bride elect you
+most indubitably are. I must just tell you, at the same time, that by
+his important aid your father will soon attain that highest step of
+bliss towards which he has so long been striving. Porphyrio von
+Ockerodastes is in possession of authentic information that I am
+beloved by the sylphide Nehabilah (which in Syriac has very much the
+signification of our expression 'Peaky nose'), and he has promised to
+assist me to the utmost of his power to render myself worthy of a union
+with this higher spiritual nature. I have no doubt whatever, my dear
+child, that you will be well satisfied with your future stepmother. All
+I hope is, that a favourable destiny may so order matters that our
+marriages may both take place at one and the same fortunate hour."
+
+Having thus spoken, Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau, casting a significant
+glance at his daughter, very pathetically left the room.
+
+It was a great weight on Aennchen's heart that she remembered having, a
+great while ago, really in some unaccountable way lost a little gold
+ring, such as a child might wear, from her finger. So that it really
+seemed too certain that this abominable little wizard of a creature had
+indeed got her immeshed in his net, so that she couldn't see how she
+was ever to get out of it. And over this she fell into the utmost grief
+and bewilderment. She felt that her oppressed heart must obtain relief;
+and this took place through the medium of a goose-quill, which she
+seized, and at once wrote off to Herr Amandus von Nebelstern as
+follows:
+
+"MY DEAREST AMANDUS--
+
+"All is over with me completely. I am the most unfortunate creature in
+the whole world, and I'm sobbing and crying for sheer misery so
+terribly that the dear dumb animals themselves are sorry for me. And
+_you'll_ be still sorrier than they are, because it's just as great a
+misfortune for you as it is for me, and you can't help being quite as
+much distressed about it as I am myself. You know that we love one
+another as fondly as any two lovers possibly can, and that I am
+betrothed to you, and that papa was going with us to the church. Very
+well. All of a sudden a nasty little creature comes here in a coach and
+eight, with a lot of people and servants, and says I have changed rings
+with him, and that he and I are engaged. And--just fancy how awful!
+papa says as well, that I must marry this little wretch, because he
+belongs to a very grand family. I suppose be very likely does, judging
+by his following and the splendid dresses they have on. But the
+creature has such a horrible name that, for that alone if it were for
+nothing else, I never would marry him. I can't even pronounce the
+heathenish words of the name; but one of them is Cordovanspitz,
+and it seems that is the family name. Write and tell me if these
+Cordovanspitzes really _are_ so very great and aristocratic a
+family--people in the town will be sure to know if they are. And the
+things papa takes in his head at his time of life I really can't
+understand; but he wants to marry again, and this nasty Cordovanspitz
+is going to get him a wife that flies in the air. God protect us! Our
+servant girl is looking over my shoulder, and says she hasn't much of
+an opinion of ladies who can fly in the air and swim in the water, and
+that she'll have to be looking out for another situation, and hopes,
+for my sake, that my stepmother may break her neck the first time she
+goes riding through the air to St. Walpurgis. Nice state of things,
+isn't it? But all my hope is in _you_. For I know you are the person
+who ought to be, and has got to be, just where and what you are, and
+has to deliver me from a great danger. The danger has come, so be
+quick, and rescue
+
+       "Your grieved to death, but most true and loving _fiancee_,
+                                              "ANNA VON ZABELTHAU.
+
+"P.S.--Couldn't you call this yellow little Cordovanspitz out? I'm sure
+you could settle his hash. He's feeble on his legs.
+
+"What I implore you to do is to put on your things as fast as you can
+and hasten to
+
+                 "Your most unfortunate and miserable,
+                              "But always most faithful _fiancee_.
+                                              "ANNA VON ZABELTHAU."
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IV.
+
+IN WHICH THE HOUSEHOLD STATE OF A GREAT KING IS DESCRIBED; AND
+      AFTERWARDS A BLOODY DUEL AND OTHER REMARKABLE OCCURRENCES ARE
+      TREATED OF.
+
+Fraeulein Aennchen was so miserable and distressed that she felt
+paralyzed in all her members. She was sitting at the window with folded
+arms gazing straight before her, heedless of the cackling, crowing, and
+queaking of the fowls, which couldn't understand why on earth she
+didn't come and drive them into their roosts as usual, seeing that
+the twilight was coming on fast. Nay, she sat there with perfect
+indifference and allowed the maid to carry out this duty, and to hit
+the big cock (who opposed himself to the state of things and evinced
+decided resistance to her authority) a good sharp whang with her whip.
+For the love-pain which was rending her own heart was making her
+indifferent to the troubles of the dear pupils of her happier
+hours--those which she devoted to their up-bringing, although she had
+never studied Chesterfield or Knigge, or consulted Madame de Genlis, or
+any of those other authorities on the mental culture of the young, who
+know to a hair's-breadth exactly how they ought to be moulded. In this
+respect she really had laid herself open to censure on the score of
+lack of due seriousness.
+
+All that day Cordovanspitz had not shown himself, but had been shut up
+in the tower with Herr Dapsul, no doubt assisting in the carrying on of
+important operations. But now Fraeulein Aennchen caught sight of the
+little creature coming tottering across the courtyard in the glowing
+light of the setting sun. And it struck her that he looked more hideous
+in that yellow habit of his than he had ever done before. The
+ridiculous manner in which he went wavering about, jumping here and
+there, seeming to topple over every minute and then pick himself up
+again (at which anybody else would have died of laughing), only caused
+her the bitterer distress. Indeed, she at last held her hands in front
+of her eyes, that she mightn't so much as see the little horrid
+creature at all. Suddenly she felt something tugging at her dress, and
+cried "Down, Feldmann!" thinking it was the Dachshund. But it was not
+the dog; and what Fraeulein Aennchen saw when she took her hands from
+her eyes was the Herr Baron Porphyrio von Ockerodastes, who hoisted
+himself into her lap with extraordinary deftness, and clasped both his
+arms about her. She screamed aloud with fear and disgust, and started
+up from her chair. But Cordovanspitz kept clinging on to her neck, and
+instantly became so wonderfully heavy that he seemed to weigh a ton at
+least, and he dragged the unfortunate Aennchen back again into her
+chair. Having got her there, however, he slid down out of her lap, sank
+on one knee as gracefully as possible, and as prettily as his weakness
+in the direction of equilibrium permitted, and said, in a clear
+voice--rather peculiar, but by no means unpleasing: "Adored Anna von
+Zabelthau, most glorious of ladies, most choice of brides-elect; no
+anger, I implore, no anger, no anger. I know you think my people laid
+waste your beautiful vegetable garden to put up my palace. Oh, powers
+of the universe, if you could but look into this little body of mine
+which throbs with magnanimity and love; if you could but detect all the
+cardinal virtues which are collected in my breast, under this yellow
+Atlas habit. Oh, how guiltless am I of the shameful cruelty which you
+attribute to me! How could a beneficent prince treat in such a way his
+very own subjects. But hold--hold! What are words, phrases? You must
+see with your own eyes, my betrothed, the splendours which attend you.
+You must come with me at once. I will lead you to my palace, where a
+joyful people await the arrival of her who is beloved by their lord."
+
+It may be imagined how terrified Fraeulein Aennchen was at this
+proposition of Cordovanspitz's, and how hard she tried to avoid going
+so much as a single step with the little monster. But he continued to
+describe the extraordinary beauty and the marvellous richness of the
+vegetable garden which was his palace, in such eloquent and persuasive
+language, that at last she thought she would just have a peep into the
+marquee, as that couldn't do her much harm. The little creature, in his
+joy and delight, turned at least twelve Catherine wheels in succession,
+and then took her hand with much courtesy, and led her through the
+garden to the silken palace.
+
+With a loud "Ah!" Fraeulein Aennchen stood riveted to the ground with
+delight when the curtains of the entrance drew apart, displaying a
+vegetable garden stretching away further than the eye could reach, of
+such marvellous beauty and luxuriance as was never seen in the
+loveliest dreams. Here there was growing and flourishing every thing in
+the nature of colewort, rape, lettuce, pease and beans, in such a
+shimmer of light, and in such luxuriance that it is impossible to
+describe it. A band of pipes, drums and cymbals sounded louder, and the
+four gentlemen whose acquaintance she had previously made, viz. Herr
+von Schwartzrettig, Monsieur de Rocambolle, Signor di Broccoli and Pan
+Kapustowicz, approached with many ceremonious reverences.
+
+"My chamberlains," said Porphyrio von Ockerodastes, smiling; and,
+preceded by them, he conducted Fraeulein Aennchen through between the
+double ranks of the bodyguard of Red English Carrots to the centre of
+the plain, where stood a splendid throne. And around this throne were
+assembled the grandees of the realm; the Lettuce Princes with the Bean
+Princesses, the Dukes of Cucumber with the Prince of Melon at their
+head, the Cabbage Minister, the General Officer of Onions and Carrots,
+the Colewort ladies, etc., etc., all in the gala dresses of their rank
+and station. And amidst them moved up and down well on to a hundred of
+the prettiest and most delightful Lavender and Fennel pages, diffusing
+sweet perfume. When Ockerodastes had ascended the throne with Fraeulein
+Aennchen, Chief Court-Marshal Turnip waved his long wand of office, and
+immediately the band stopped playing, and the multitude listened in
+reverential silence as Ockerodastes raised his voice and said, in
+solemn accents, "My faithful and beloved subjects, you see by my side
+the noble Fraeulein Anna von Zabelthau, whom I have chosen to be my
+consort. Rich in beauty and virtues, she has long watched over you with
+the eye of maternal affection, preparing soft and succulent beds for
+you, caring for you and tending you with ceaseless ardour. She will
+ever be a true and befitting mother of this realm. Wherefore I call
+upon you to evince and give expression to the dutiful approval, and the
+duly regulated rejoicing at the favour and benefit which I am about to
+graciously confer upon you."
+
+At a signal given by Chief Court-Marshal Turnip there arose the shout
+of a thousand voices, the Bulb Artillery fired their pieces, and the
+band of the Carrot Guard played the celebrated National Anthem--
+
+               "Salad and lettuce, and parsley so green."
+
+It was a grand, a sublime moment, which drew tears from the eyes of the
+grandees, particularly from those of the Colewort ladies. Fraeulein
+Aennchen, too, nearly lost all her self-control when she noticed that
+little Ockerodastes had a crown on his head all sparkling with
+diamonds, and a golden sceptre in his hand.
+
+"Ah!" she cried clapping her hands. "Oh, Gemini! You seem to be
+something much grander than we thought, my dear Herr von
+Cordovanspitz."
+
+"My adored Anna," he replied, "the stars compelled me to appear before
+your father under an assumed name. You must be told, dearest girl, that
+I am one of the mightiest of kings, and rule over a realm whose
+boundaries are not discoverable, as it has been omitted to lay them
+down in the maps. Oh, sweetest Anna, he who offers you his hand and
+crown is Daucus Carota the First, King of the Vegetables. All the
+vegetable princes are my vassals, save that the King of the Beans
+reigns for one single day in every year, in conformity to an ancient
+usage."
+
+"Then I am to be a queen, am I?" cried Fraeulein Aennchen, overjoyed.
+"And all this great splendid vegetable garden is to be mine?"
+
+King Daucus assured her that of course it was to be so, and added that
+he and she would jointly rule over all the vegetables in the world. She
+had never dreamt of anything of the kind, and thought little
+Cordovanspitz wasn't anything like so nasty-looking as he used to be
+now that he was transformed into King Daucus Carota the First, and that
+the crown and sceptre were very becoming to him, and the kingly mantle
+as well. When she reckoned into the bargain his delightful manners, and
+the property this marriage would bring her, she felt certain that there
+wasn't a country lady in all the world who could have made a better
+match than she, who found herself betrothed to a king before she knew
+where she was. So she was delighted beyond measure, and asked her royal
+_fiance_ whether she could not take up her abode in the palace then and
+there, and be married next day. But King Daucus answered that eagerly
+as he longed for the time when he might call her his own, certain
+constellations compelled him to postpone that happiness a little
+longer. And that Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau, moreover, must be kept in
+ignorance of his son-in-law's royal station, because otherwise the
+operations necessary for bringing about the desired union with the
+sylphide Nehabilah might be unsuccessful. Besides, he said, he had
+promised that both the weddings should take place on the same day. So
+Fraeulein Aennchen had to take a solemn vow not to mention one syllable
+to Herr Dapsul of what had been happening to her. She therefore left
+the silken palace amid long and loud rejoicings of the people, who were
+in raptures with her beauty as well as with her affability and gracious
+condescension of manners and behaviour.
+
+In her dreams she once more beheld the realms of the charming King
+Daucus, and was lapped in Elysium.
+
+The letter which she had sent to Herr Amandus von Nebelstern made a
+frightful impression on him. Ere long, Fraeulein Aennchen received the
+following answer--
+
+'IDOL OF MY HEART, HEAVENLY ANNA,--
+
+"Daggers--sharp, glowing, poisoned, death-dealing daggers were to me
+the words of your letter, which pierced my breast through and through.
+Oh, Anna! _you_ to be torn from me. What a thought! I cannot, even now,
+understand how it was that I did not go mad on the spot and commit some
+terrible deed. But I fled the face of man, overpowered with rage at my
+deadly destiny, after dinner--without the game of billiards which I
+generally play--out into the woods, where I wrung my hands, and called
+on your name a thousand times. It came on a tremendously heavy rain,
+and I had on a new cap, red velvet, with a splendid gold tassel
+(everybody says I never had anything so becoming). The rain was
+spoiling it, and it was brand-new. But what are caps, what are velvet
+and gold, to a despairing lover? I strode up and down till I was wet to
+the skin and chilled to the bone, and had a terrible pain in my
+stomach. This drove me into a restaurant near, where I got them to make
+me some excellent mulled wine, and had a pipe of your heavenly Virginia
+tobacco. I soon felt myself elevated on the wings of a celestial
+inspiration, took out my pocket-book, and, oh!--wondrous gift of
+poetry--the love-despair and the stomach-ache both disappeared at once.
+I shall content myself with writing out for you only the last of these
+poems; it will inspire you with heavenly hope, as it did myself.
+
+                 "Wrapped in darkest sorrow--
+                  In my heart, extinguished,
+                  No love-tapers burning--
+                  Joy hath no to-morrow.
+
+                 "Ha! the Muse approaches,
+                  Words and rhymes inspiring,
+                  Little verse inscribing,
+                  Joy returns apace.
+
+                 "New love-tapers blazing,
+                  All the heart inspiring,
+                  Fare thee well, my sorrow,
+                  Joy thy place doth borrow.
+
+"Ay, my sweet Anna, soon shall I, thy champion, hasten to rescue you
+from the miscreant who would carry you off from me. So, once more take
+comfort, sweetest maid. Bear me ever in thy heart. He comes; he rescues
+you; he clasps you to his bosom, which heaves in tumultuous emotion.
+
+                             "Your ever faithful
+                                   "AMANDUS VON NEBELSTERN.
+
+"P.S.--It would be quite impossible for me to call Herr von
+Cordovanspitz out. For, oh Anna! every drop of blood drawn from your
+Amandus by the weapon of a presumptuous adversary were glorious poet's
+blood--ichor of the gods--which never ought to be shed. The world very
+properly claims that such a spirit as mine has it imposed upon it as
+public duty to take care of itself for the world's benefit, and
+preserve itself by every possible means. The sword of the poet is the
+word--the song. I will attack my rival with Tyrtaean battle-songs;
+strike him to earth with sharp-pointed epigrams; hew him down with
+dithyrambics full of lover's fury. Such are the weapons of a true,
+genuine poet, powerful to shield him from every danger. And it is so
+accoutred that I shall appear, and do battle--victorious battle--for
+your hand, oh, Anna!
+
+"Farewell. I press you once more to my heart. Hope all things from my
+love, and, especially, from my heroic courage, which will shun no
+danger to set you free from the shameful nets of captivity in which, to
+all appearance, you are entangled by a demoniacal monster."
+
+Fraeulein Aennchen received this letter at a time when she was playing a
+game at "Catch-me-if-you-can" with her royal bridegroom elect, King
+Daucus Carota the First, in the meadow at the back of the garden, and
+immensely enjoying it when, as was often the case, she suddenly ducked
+down in full career, and the little king would go shooting right away
+over her head. Instead of reading the letter immediately (which she had
+always done before), she put it in her pocket unopened, and we shall
+presently see that it came too late.
+
+Herr Dapsul could not make out at all how Fraeulein Aennchen had changed
+her mind so suddenly, and grown quite fond of Herr Porphyrio von
+Ockerodastes, whom she had so cordially detested before. He consulted
+the stars on the subject, but as they gave him no satisfactory
+information, he was obliged to come to the conclusion that human hearts
+are more mysterious and inscrutable than all the secrets of the
+universe, and not to be thrown light upon by any constellation. He
+could not think that what had produced love for the little creature in
+Anna's heart was merely the highness of his nature; and personal beauty
+he had none. If (as the reader knows) the canon of beauty, as laid down
+by Herr Dapsul, is very unlike the ideas which young ladies form upon
+that subject, he did, after all, possess sufficient knowledge of the
+world to know that, although the said young women hold that good sense,
+wit, cleverness and pleasant manners are very agreeable fellow-lodgers
+in a comfortable house, still, a man who can't call himself the
+possessor of a properly-made, fashionable coat--were he a Shakespeare,
+a Goethe, a Tieck, or a Jean Paul Richter--would run a decided risk of
+being beaten out of the field by any sufficiently well put-together
+lieutenant of hussars in uniform, if he took it in his head to pay his
+addresses to one of them. Now in Fraeulein Aennchen's case it was a
+different matter altogether. It was neither good looks nor cleverness
+that were in question; but it is not exactly every day that a poor
+country lady becomes a queen all in a moment, and accordingly it was
+not very likely that Herr Dapsul should hit upon the cause which had
+been operating, particularly as the very stars had left him in the
+lurch.
+
+As may be supposed, those three, Herr Porphyrio, Herr Dapsul and
+Fraeulein Aennchen, were one heart and one soul. This went so far that
+Herr Dapsul left his tower oftener than he had ever been known to do
+before, to chat with his much-prized son-in-law on all sorts of
+agreeable subjects; and not only this, but he now regularly took his
+breakfast in the house. About this hour, too, Herr Porphyrio was wont
+to come forth from his silken palace, and eat a good share of Fraeulein
+Aennchen's bread and butter.
+
+"Ah, ah!" she would often whisper softly in his ear, "if papa only knew
+that you are a real king, dearest Cordovanspitz!"
+
+"Be still, oh heart! Melt not away in rapture," Daucus Carota the First
+would say. "Near, near is the joyful day!"
+
+It chanced that the schoolmaster had sent Fraeulein Aennchen a present
+of some of the finest radishes from his garden. She was particularly
+pleased at this, as Herr Dapsul was very fond of radishes, and she
+could not get anything from the vegetable garden because it was covered
+by the silk marquee. Besides this, it now occurred to her for the first
+time that, among all the roots and vegetables she had seen in the
+palace, radishes were conspicuous by their absence.
+
+So she speedily cleaned them and served them up for her father's
+breakfast. He had ruthlessly shorn several of them of their leafy
+crowns, dipped them in salt, and eaten them with much relish, when
+Cordovanspitz came in.
+
+"Oh, my Ockerodastes," Herr Dapsul called to him, "are you fond of
+radishes?"
+
+There was still a particularly fine and beautiful radish on the dish.
+But the moment Cordovanspitz saw it his eves gleamed with fury, and he
+cried in a resonant voice--
+
+"What, unworthy duke, do you dare to appear in my presence again, and
+to force your way, with the coolest of audacity, into a house which is
+under my protection? Have I not pronounced sentence of perpetual
+banishment upon you as a pretender to the imperial throne? Away,
+treasonous vassal; begone from my sight for ever!"
+
+Two little legs had suddenly shot out beneath the radish's large head,
+and with them he made a spring out of the plate, placed himself close
+in front of Cordovanspitz, and addressed him as follows--
+
+"Fierce and tyrannical Daucus Carota the First, you have striven in
+vain to exterminate my race. Had ever any of your family a head as
+large as mine, or that of my king? We are all gifted with talent,
+common-sense, wisdom, sharpness, cultivated manners: and whilst _you_
+loaf about in kitchens and stables, and are of no use as soon as your
+early youth is gone (so that in very truth it is nothing but the
+_diable de la jeunesse_ that bestows upon you your brief, transitory,
+little bit of good fortune), _we_ enjoy the friendship of, and the
+intercourse with, people of position, and are greeted with acclamation
+as soon as ever we lift up our green heads. But I despise you, Daucus
+Carota. You're nothing but a low, uncultivated, ignorant Boor, like all
+the lot of you. Let's see which of us two is the better man."
+
+With this the Duke of Radish, flourishing a long whip about his head,
+proceeded, without more ado, to attack the person of King Daucus Carota
+the First. The latter quickly drew his little sword, and defended
+himself in the bravest manner. The two little creatures darted about in
+the room, fighting fiercely, and executing the most wonderful leaps and
+bounds, till Daucus Carota pressed the Duke of Radish so hard that the
+latter found himself obliged to make a tremendous jump out of the
+window and take to the open. But Daucus Carota--with whose remarkable
+agility and dexterity the reader is already acquainted--bounded out
+after him, and followed the Duke of Radish across country.
+
+Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau had looked on at this terrible encounter
+rigid and speechless, but he now broke forth into loud and bitter
+lamentation, crying, "Oh, daughter Anna! oh, my poor unfortunate
+daughter Anna! Lost--I--you--both of us. All is over with us." With
+which he left the room, and ascended the astronomical tower as fast as
+his legs would carry him.
+
+Fraeulein Aennchen couldn't understand a bit, or form the very slightest
+idea what in all the world had set her father into all this boundless
+misery all of a sudden. The whole thing had caused her the greatest
+pleasure; moreover, her heart was rejoiced that she had had an
+opportunity of seeing that her future husband was brave, as well as
+rich and great; for it would be difficult to find any woman in all the
+world capable of loving a poltroon. And now that she had proof of the
+bravery of King Daucus Carota the First, it struck her painfully, for
+the first time, that Herr Amandus von Nebelstern had cried off from
+fighting him. If she had for a moment hesitated about sacrificing Herr
+Amandus to King Daucus, she was quite decided on the point now that she
+had an opportunity of assuring herself of all the excellencies of her
+future lord. She sat down and wrote the following letter:--
+
+"MY DEAR AMANDUS,
+
+"Everything in this world is liable to change. Everything passes away,
+as the schoolmaster says, and he's quite right. I'm sure _you_, my dear
+Amandus, are such a learned and wise student that you will agree with
+the schoolmaster, and not be in the very least surprised that my heart
+and mind have undergone the least little bit of a change. You may quite
+believe me when I say that I still like you very well, and I can quite
+imagine how nice you look in your red velvet cap with the gold tassel.
+But, with regard to marriage, you know very well, Amandus dear, that,
+clever as you are, and beautiful as are your verses, you will never, in
+all your days, be a king, and (don't be frightened, dear) little Herr
+von Cordovanspitz isn't Herr von Cordovanspitz at all, but a great
+king, Daucus Carota the First, who reigns over the great vegetable
+kingdom, and has chosen me to be his queen. Since my dear king has
+thrown aside his incognito he has grown much nicer-looking, and I see
+now that papa was quite right when he said that the head was the beauty
+of the man, and therefore couldn't possibly be big enough. And then,
+Daucus Carota the First (you see how well I remember the beautiful name
+and how nicely I write it now that has got so familiar to me), I was
+going to say that my little royal husband, that is to be, has such
+charming and delightful manners that there's no describing them. And
+what courage, what bravery there is in him! Before my eyes he put to
+flight the Duke of Radish, (and a very disagreeable, unfriendly
+creature _he_ appears to be) and hey, how he did jump after him out of
+the window! You should just have seen him: I only wish you had! And I
+don't really think that my Daucus Carota would care about those weapons
+of yours that you speak about one bit. He seems pretty tough, and I
+don't believe verses would do him any harm at all, however fine and
+pointed they might be. So now, dear Amandus, you must just make up your
+mind to be contented with your lot, like a good fellow, and not be
+vexed with me that I am going to be a Queen instead of marrying you.
+Never mind, I shall always be your affectionate friend, and if ever you
+would like an appointment in the Carrot bodyguard, or (as you don't
+care so much about fighting as about learning) in the Parsley Academy
+or the Pumpkin Office, you have but to say the word and your fortune is
+made. Farewell, and don't be vexed with
+
+     "Your former _fiancee_, but now friend and well-wisher, as well
+         as future Queen,
+                                   "ANNA VON ZABELTHAU.
+   "(but soon to be no more Von Zabelthau, but simply
+                               ANNA.)
+
+"P.S.--You shall always be kept well supplied with the very finest
+Virginia tobacco, of that you need have no fear. As far as I can see
+there won't be any smoking at my court, but I shall take care to have a
+bed or two of Virginia tobacco planted not far from the throne, under
+my own special care. This will further culture and morality, and my
+little Daucus will no doubt have a statute specially enacted on the
+subject."
+
+
+                               CHAPTER V.
+
+IN WHICH AN ACCOUNT IS GIVEN OF A FRIGHTFUL CATASTROPHE, AND WE PROCEED
+      WITH THE FUTURE COURSE OF EVENTS.
+
+Fraeulein Aennchen had just finished her letter to Herr Amandus von
+Nebelstern, when in came Herr Dapsul von Zabelthau and began, in the
+bitterest grief and sorrow to say, "O, my daughter Anna, how shamefully
+we are both deceived and betrayed! This miscreant who made me believe
+he was Baron Porphyrio von Ockerodastes, known as Cordovanspitz, member
+of a most illustrious family descended from the mighty gnome Tsilmenech
+and the noble Abbess of Cordova--this miscreant, I say--learn it and
+fall down insensible--_is_ indeed a gnome, but of that lowest of all
+gnomish castes which has charge of the vegetables. The gnome Tsilmenech
+was of the highest caste of all, that, namely, to which the care
+of the diamonds is committed. Next comes the caste which has care
+of the metals in the realms of the metal-king, and then follow the
+flower-gnomes, who are lower in position, as depending on the sylphs.
+But the lowest and most ignoble are the vegetable gnomes, and not only
+is this deceiver Cordovanspitz a gnome of this caste, but he is actual
+king of it, and his name is Daucus Carota."
+
+Fraeulein Aennchen was far from fainting away, neither was she in the
+smallest degree frightened, but she smiled in the kindliest way at her
+lamenting papa, and the Courteous reader is aware of the reason. But as
+Herr Dapsul was very much surprised at this, and kept imploring her for
+Heaven's sake to realize the terrible position in which she was, and to
+feel the full horror of it, she thought herself at liberty to divulge
+the secret entrusted to her. She told Herr Dapsul how the so-called
+Baron von Cordovanspitz had told her his real position long ago, and
+that since then she had found him altogether so pleasant and delightful
+that she couldn't wish for a better husband. Moreover she described all
+the marvellous beauties of the vegetable kingdom into which King Daucus
+Carota the First had taken her, not forgetting to duly extol the
+remarkably delightful manners of the inhabitants of that realm.
+
+Herr Dapsul struck his hands together several times, and wept bitterly
+over the deceiving wickedness of the Gnome-king, who had been, and
+still was, employing means the most artful--most dangerous for himself
+as well--to lure the unfortunate Anna down into his dark, demoniac
+kingdom. "Glorious," he explained, "glorious and advantageous as may be
+the union of an elementary spirit with a human being, grand as is the
+example of this given by the wedlock of the gnome Tsilmenech with
+Magdalena de la Croix (which is of course the reason why this deceiver
+Daucus Carota has given himself out as being a descendant of that
+union), yet the kings and princes of those races are very different. If
+the Salamander kings are only irascible, the sylph kings proud and
+haughty, the Undine queens affectionate and jealous, the gnome kings
+are fierce, cruel, and deceitful. Merely to revenge themselves on the
+children of earth, who deprive them of their vassals, they are
+constantly trying their utmost to lure one of them away, who then
+wholly lays aside her human nature, and, becoming as shapeless as the
+gnomes themselves, has to go down into the earth, and is never more
+seen."
+
+Fraeulein Aennchen didn't seem disposed to believe what her father was
+telling her to her dear Daucus's discredit, but began talking again
+about the marvels of the beautiful vegetable country over which she was
+expecting so soon to reign as queen.
+
+"Foolish, blinded child," cried Herr Dapsul, "do you not give your
+father credit for possessing sufficient cabalistic science to be well
+aware that what the abominable Daucus Carota made you suppose you saw
+was all deception and falsehood? No, you don't believe me, and to save
+you, my only child, I must convince you, and this conviction must be
+arrived at by most desperate methods. Come with me."
+
+For the second time she had to go up into the astronomical tower with
+her papa. From a big band-box Herr Dapsul took a quantity of yellow,
+red, white, and green ribbon, and, with strange ceremonies, he wrapped
+Fraeulein Aennchen up in it from head to foot. He did the same to
+himself, and then they both went very carefully to the silken palace of
+Daucus Carota the First. It was close shut, and by her papa's
+directions, she had to rip a small opening in one of the seams of it
+with a large pair of scissors, and then peep in at the opening.
+
+Heaven be about us! what did she see? Instead of the beautiful
+vegetable garden, the carrot guards, the plumed ladies, lavender pages,
+lettuce princes, and so forth, she found herself looking down into a
+deep pool which seemed to be full of a colourless, disgusting-looking
+slime, in which all kinds of horrible creatures from the bowels of the
+earth were creeping and twining about. There were fat worms slowly
+writhing about amongst each other, and beetle-like creatures stretching
+out their short legs and creeping heavily out. On their backs they bore
+big onions; but these onions had ugly human faces, and kept fleering
+and leering at each other with bleared yellow eyes, and trying, with
+their little claws (which were close behind their ears), to catch hold
+of one another by their long roman noses, and drag each other down into
+the slime, while long, naked slugs were rolling about in crowds, with
+repulsive torpidity, stretching their long horns out of their depths.
+Fraeulein Aennchen was nearly fainting away at this horrid sight. She
+held both hands to her face, and ran away as hard as she could.
+
+"You see now, do you not," said Herr Dapsul, "how this atrocious Daucus
+Carota has been deceiving you in showing you splendours of brief
+duration? He dressed his vassals up in gala dresses to delude you with
+dazzling displays. But now you have seen the kingdom which you want to
+reign over in undress uniform; and when you become the consort of
+the frightful Daucus Carota you will have to live for ever in the
+subterranean realms, and never appear on the surface any more. And
+if--Oh, oh, what must I see, wretched, most miserable of fathers that I
+am?"
+
+He got into such a state all in a moment that she felt certain some
+fresh misfortune had just come to light, and asked him anxiously
+what he was lamenting about now. However, he could do nothing for
+sheer sobbing, but stammer out, "Oh--oh--dau-gh-ter. Wha-t ar--e
+y-ou--l--l--like?" She ran to her room, looked into the looking-glass,
+and started back, terrified almost to death.
+
+And she had reason; for the matter stood thus. As Herr Dapsul was
+trying to open the eyes of Daucus Carota's intended queen to the danger
+she was in of gradually losing her pretty figure and good looks, and
+growing more and more into the semblance of a gnome queen, he suddenly
+became aware of how far the process had proceeded already. Aennchen's
+head had got much broader and bigger, and her skin had turned yellow,
+so that she was quite ugly enough already. And though vanity was not
+one of her failings, she was woman enough to know that to grow ugly is
+the greatest and most frightful misfortune which can happen here below.
+How often had she thought how delightful it would be when she would
+drive, as queen, to church in the coach and eight, with the crown on
+her head, in satins and velvets, with diamonds, and gold chains, and
+rings, seated beside her royal husband, setting all the women, the
+schoolmaster's wife included, into amazement of admiration, and most
+likely, in fact, no doubt, instilling a proper sense of respect even
+into the minds of the pompous lord and lady of the manor themselves.
+Ay, indeed, how often had she been lapt in these and other such
+eccentric dreams, and visions of the future!--Fraeulein Aennchen burst
+into long and bitter weeping.
+
+"Anna, my daughter Anna," cried Herr Dapsul down through the speaking
+trumpet; "come up here to me immediately!"
+
+She found him dressed very much like a miner. He spoke in a tone of
+decision and resolution, saying, "When need is the sorest, help is
+often nearest. I have ascertained that Daucus Carota will not leave his
+palace to-day, and most probably not till noon of to-morrow. He has
+assembled the princes of his house, the ministers, and other people
+of consequence to hold a council on the subject of the next crop of
+winter cabbage. The sitting is important, and it may be prolonged so
+much that we may not have any cabbage at all next winter. I mean to
+take advantage of this opportunity, while he is so occupied with his
+official affairs that he won't be able to attend to my proceedings, to
+prepare a weapon with which I may perhaps attack this shameful gnome,
+and prevail over him, so that he will be compelled to withdraw, and set
+you at liberty. While I am at work, do you look uninterruptedly at the
+palace through this glass, and tell me instantly if anybody comes out,
+or even looks out of it." She did as she was directed, but the marquee
+remained closed, although she often heard (notwithstanding that Herr
+Dapsul was making a tremendous hammering on plates of metal a few paces
+behind her), a wild, confused crying and screaming, apparently coming
+from the marquee, and also distinct sounds of slapping, as if people's
+ears were being well boxed. She told Herr Dapsul this, and he was
+delighted, saying that the more they quarrelled in there the less they
+were likely to know what was being prepared for their destruction.
+
+Fraeulein Aennchen was much surprised when she found that Herr Dapsul
+had hammered out and made several most lovely kitchen-pots and
+stew-pans of copper. As an expert in such matters, she observed that
+the tinning of them was done in a most superior style, so that her papa
+must have paid careful heed to the duties legally enjoined on
+coppersmiths. She begged to be allowed to take these nice pots and pans
+down to the kitchen, and use them there. But Herr Dapsul smiled a
+mysterious smile, and merely said:
+
+"All in good time, my daughter Anna. Just you go downstairs, my beloved
+child, and wait quietly till you see what happens to-morrow."
+
+He gave a melancholy smile, and that infused a little hope and
+confidence into his luckless daughter.
+
+Next day, as dinner-time came on, Herr Dapsul brought down his pots and
+pans, and betook himself to the kitchen, telling his daughter and the
+maid to go away and leave him by himself, as he was going to cook the
+dinner. He particularly enjoined Fraeulein Aennchen to be as kind and
+pleasant with Cordovanspitz as ever she could, when he came in--as he
+was pretty sure to do.
+
+Cordovanspitz--or rather, King Daucus Carota the First--did come in
+very soon, and if he had borne himself like an ardent lover on previous
+occasions, he far outdid himself on this. Aennchen noticed, to her
+terror, that she had grown so small by this time, that Daucus had no
+difficulty in getting up into her lap to caress and kiss her; and the
+wretched girl had to submit to this, notwithstanding her disgust with
+the horrid little monster. Presently Herr Dapsul came in, and said--
+
+"Oh, my most egregious Porphyrio von Ockerodastes, won't you come into
+the kitchen with my daughter and me, and see what beautiful order your
+future bride has got everything in there?"
+
+Aennchen had never seen the wicked, malicious look upon her father's
+face before, which it wore when he took little Daucus by the arm, and
+almost forced him from the sitting-room to the kitchen. At a sign of
+her father's she went there after them.
+
+Her heart swelled within her when she saw the fire burning so merrily,
+the glowing coals, the beautiful copper pots and pans. As Herr Dapsul
+drew Cordovanspitz closer to the fire-place, the hissing and bubbling
+in the pots grew louder and louder, and at last changed into whimpering
+and groaning. And out of one of the pots came voices, crying, "Oh
+Daucus Carota! Oh King, rescue your faithful vassals! Rescue us poor
+carrots! Cut up, thrown into despicable water; rubbed over with salt
+and butter to our torture, we suffer indescribable woe, whereof a
+number of noble young parsleys are partakers with us!"
+
+And out of the pans came the plaint: "Oh Daucus Carota! Oh King! Rescue
+your faithful vassals--rescue us poor carrots. We are roasting in
+hell--and they put so little water with us, that our direful thirst
+forces us to drink our own heart's blood!"
+
+And from another of the pots came: "Oh Daucus Carota! Oh King! Rescue
+your faithful vassals--rescue us poor carrots. A horrible cook
+eviscerated us, and stuffed our insides full of egg, cream, and butter,
+so that all our ideas and other mental qualities are in utter
+confusion, and we don't know ourselves what we are thinking about!"
+
+And out of all the pots and pans came howling at once a general
+chorus of "Oh Daucus Carota! Mighty King! Rescue us, thy faithful
+vassals--rescue us poor carrots!"
+
+On this, Cordovanspitz gave a loud, croaking cry of--"Cursed, infernal,
+stupid humbug and nonsense!" sprang with his usual agility on to the
+kitchen range, looked into one of the pots, and suddenly popped down
+into it bodily. Herr Dapsul sprang in the act of putting on the cover,
+with a triumphant cry of "a Prisoner!" But with the speed of a spiral
+spring Cordovanspitz came bounding up out of the pot, and gave Herr
+Dapsul two or three ringing slaps on the face, crying "Meddling goose
+of an old Cabalist, you shall pay for this! Come out, my lads, one and
+all!"
+
+Then there came swarming out of all the pots and pans hundreds and
+hundreds of little creatures about the length of one's finger, and they
+attached themselves firmly all over Herr Dapsul's body, threw him down
+backwards into an enormous dish, and there dished him up, pouring the
+hot juice out of the pots and pans over him, and bestrewing him with
+chopped egg, mace, and grated breadcrumbs. Having done this, Daucus
+Carota darted out of the window, and his people after him.
+
+Fraeulein Aennchen sank down in terror beside the dish whereon her poor
+papa lay, served up in this manner as if for table. She supposed he was
+dead, as he gave not the faintest sign of life.
+
+She began to lament: "Ah, poor papa--you're dead now, and there's
+nobody to save me from this diabolical Daucus!" But Herr Dapsul opened
+his eyes, sprang up from the dish with renewed energy, and cried in a
+terrible voice, such as she had never heard him make use of before, "Ah
+accursed Daucus Carota, I am not at the end of my resources yet. You
+shall soon see what the meddling old goose of a Cabalist can do."
+
+Aennchen had to set to work and clean him with the kitchen besom from
+all the chopped egg, the mace, and the grated breadcrumbs; and then he
+seized a copper pot, crammed it on his head by way of a helmet, took a
+frying-pan in his left hand, and a long iron kitchen ladle in his
+right, and thus armed and accoutred, he darted out into the open.
+Fraeulein Aennchen saw him running as hard as he could towards
+Cordovanspitz's marquee, and yet never moving from the same spot. At
+this her senses left her.
+
+When she came to herself, Herr Dapsul had disappeared, and she got
+terribly anxious when evening came, and night, and even the next
+morning, without his making his appearance. She could not but dread the
+very worst.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VI.
+
+  WHICH IS THE LAST--AND, AT THE SAME TIME, THE MOST EDIFYING OF ALL.
+
+Fraeulein Aennchen was sitting in her room in the deepest sorrow,
+when the door opened, and who should come in but Herr Amandus von
+Nebelstern. All shame and contrition, she shed a flood of tears, and in
+the most weeping accents addressed him as follows: "Oh, my darling
+Amandus, pray forgive what I wrote to you in my blinded state! I was
+bewitched, and I am so still, no doubt. I am yellow, and I'm hideous,
+may God pity me! But my heart is true to you, and I am not going to
+marry any king at all."
+
+"My dear girl," said Amandus, "I really don't see what you have to
+complain of. I consider you one of the luckiest women in the world."
+
+"Oh, don't mock at me," she cried. "I am punished severely enough for
+my absurd vanity in wishing to be a Queen."
+
+"Really and truly, my dear girl," said Amandus, "I can't make you
+out one bit. To tell you the real truth, your last letter drove me
+stark, staring mad. I first thrashed my servant-boy, then my poodle,
+smashed several glasses--and you know a student who's breathing out
+threatenings and slaughter in that sort of way isn't to be trifled
+with. But when I got a little calmer I made up my mind to come on here
+as quickly as I could, and see with my own eyes how, why, and to whom I
+had lost my intended bride. Love makes no distinction of class or
+station, and I made up my mind that I would make this King Daucus
+Carota give a proper account of himself, and ask him if this tale about
+his marrying you was mere brag, or if he really meant it--but
+everything here is different to what I expected. As I was passing near
+the grand marquee that is put up yonder, King Daucus Carota came out of
+it, and I soon found that I had before me the most charming prince I
+ever saw--at the same time he happens to be the first I ever did see;
+but that's nothing. For, just fancy, my dear girl, he immediately
+detected the sublime poet in me, praised my poems (which he has never
+read) above measure, and offered to appoint me Poet Laureate in his
+service. Now a position of that sort has long been the fairest goal of
+my warmest wishes, so that I accepted his offer with a thousandfold
+delight. Oh, my dear girl, with what an enthusiasm of inspiration will
+I chant your praises! A poet can love queens and princesses: or rather,
+it is really a part of his simple duty to choose a person of that
+exalted station to be the lady of his heart. And if he _does_ get
+rather cracky in the head on the subject, that circumstance of itself
+gives rise to that celestial delirium without which no poetry is
+possible, and no one ought to feel any surprise at a poet's perhaps
+somewhat extravagant proceedings. Remember the great Tasso, who must
+have had a considerable bee in his bonnet when in love with the
+Princess Leonore d'Este. Yes, my dear girl, as you are going to be a
+queen so soon, you will always be the lady of my heart, and I will
+extol you to the stars in the sublimest and most celestial verses."
+
+"What, you have seen him, the wicked Cobold?" Fraeulein Aennchen broke
+out in the deepest amazement. "And he has----"
+
+But at that moment in came the little gnomish King himself, and said,
+in the tenderest accents, "Oh, my sweet, darling _fiancee_! Idol of my
+heart! Do not suppose for a moment that I am in the least degree
+annoyed with the little piece of rather unseemly conduct which Herr
+Dapsul von Zabelthau was guilty of. Oh, no--and indeed it has led to
+the more rapid fulfilment of my hopes; so that the solemn ceremony of
+our marriage will actually be celebrated to-morrow. You will be pleased
+to find that I have appointed Herr Amandus von Nebelstern our Poet
+Laureate, and I should wish him at once to favour us with a specimen of
+his talents, and recite one of his poems. But let us go out under the
+trees, for I love the open air: and I will lie in your lap, while you,
+my most beloved bride elect, may scratch my head a little while he is
+singing--for I am fond of having my head scratched in such
+circumstances."
+
+Fraeulein Aennschen, turned to stone with horror and alarm, made no
+resistance to this proposal. Daucus Carota, out under the trees,
+laid himself in her lap, she scratched his head, and Herr Amandus,
+accompanying himself on the guitar, began the first of twelve dozen
+songs which he had composed and written out in a thick book.
+
+It is matter of regret that in the Chronicle of Dapsulheim (from which
+all this history is taken), these songs have not been inserted, it
+being merely stated that the country folk who were passing, stopped on
+their way, and anxiously inquired who could be in such terrible pain in
+Herr Dapsul's wood, that he was crying and screaming out in such a
+style.
+
+Daucus Carota, in Aennschen's lap, twisted and writhed, and groaned and
+whined more and more lamentably, as if he had a violent pain in his
+stomach. Moreover, Fraeulein Aennchen fancied she observed, to her great
+amazement, that Cordovanspitz was growing smaller and smaller as the
+song went on. At last Herr Amandus sung the following sublime effusion
+(which is preserved in the Chronicle):--
+
+             "Gladly sings the Bard, enraptured,
+              Breath of blossoms, bright dream-visions,
+            Moving thro' roseate spaces in Heaven,
+            Blessed and beautiful, whither away?
+              'Whither away?' oh, question of questions--
+              Towards that 'Whither,' the Bard is borne onward,
+              Caring for nought but to love, to believe.
+            Moving through roseate heavenly spaces,
+            Towards this 'Whither,' where'er it may be,
+            Singeth the bard, in a tumult of rapture,
+            Ever becoming a radiant em----"
+
+At this point, Daucus Carota uttered a loud croaking cry, and, now
+dwindled into a little, little carrot, slipped down from Aennchen's
+lap, and into the ground, leaving no trace behind. Upon which, the
+great grey fungus which had grown in the night time beside the grassy
+bank, shot up and up; but this fungus was nothing less than Herr Dapsul
+von Zabelthau's grey felt hat, and he himself was under it, and fell
+stormily on Amandus's breast, crying out in the utmost ecstasy, "Oh, my
+dearest, best, most beloved Herr Amandus von Nebelstern, with that
+mighty song of conjuration you have beaten all my cabalistic science
+out of the held? What the profoundest magical art, the utmost daring of
+the philosopher fighting for his very existence, could not accomplish,
+your verses achieved, passing into the frame of the deceitful Daucus
+Carota like the deadliest poison, so that he must have perished of
+stomach-ache, in spite of his gnomish nature, if he had not made off
+into his kingdom. My daughter Anna is delivered--I am delivered from
+the horrible charm which held me spellbound here in the shape of a
+nasty fungus, at the risk of being hewn to pieces by my own daughter's
+hands; for the good soul hacks them all down with her spade, unless
+their edible character is unmistakable, as in the case of the
+mushrooms. Thanks, my most heartfelt thanks, and I have no doubt your
+intentions as regards my daughter have undergone no change. I am sorry
+to say she has lost her good looks, through the machinations of that
+inimical gnome; but you are too much of a philosopher to----"
+
+"Oh, dearest papa," cried Aennchen, overjoyed; "just look there! The
+silken palace is gone! The abominable monster is off and away with all
+his tribe of salad-princes, cucumber-ministers, and Lord knows what
+all!" And she ran away to the vegetable garden, delighted, Herr Dapsul
+following as fast as he could. Herr Amandus went behind them, muttering
+to himself, "I'm sure I don't know quite what to make of all this. But
+this I maintain, that that ugly little carrot creature is a vile,
+prosaic lubber, and none of your poetical kings, or my sublime lay
+wouldn't have given him the stomach-ache, and sent him scuttling into
+the ground."
+
+As Fraeulein Aennchen was standing in the vegetable garden, where there
+wasn't the trace of a green blade to be seen, she suddenly felt a sharp
+pain in the finger which had on the fateful ring. At the same time a
+cry of piercing sorrow sounded from the ground, and the tip of a carrot
+peeped out. Guided by her inspiration she quickly took the ring off (it
+came quite easily this time), stuck it on to the carrot, and the latter
+disappeared, while the cry of sorrow ceased. But, oh, wonder of
+wonders! all at once Fraeulein Aennchen was as pretty as ever,
+well-proportioned, and as fair and white as a country lady can be
+expected to be. She and her father rejoiced greatly, while Amandus
+stood puzzled, and not knowing what to make of it all.
+
+Fraeulein Aennchen took the spade from the maid, who had come running
+up, and flourished it in the air with a joyful shout of "Now let's set
+to work," in doing which she was unfortunate enough to deal Herr
+Amandus such a thwack on the head with it (just at the place where the
+Sensorium Commune is supposed to be situated) that he fell down as one
+dead.
+
+Aennchen threw the murderous weapon far from her, cast herself
+down beside her beloved, and broke out into the most despairing
+lamentations, whilst the maid poured the contents of a watering pot
+over him, and Herr Dapsul quickly ascended the astronomic tower to
+consult the stars with as little delay as possible as to whether Herr
+Amandus was dead or not. But it was not long before the latter opened
+his eyes again, jumped to his legs, clasped Fraeulein Aennchen in his
+arms, and cried, with all the rapture of affection, "Now, my best and
+dearest Anna, we are one another again."
+
+The very remarkable, scarcely credible effect of this occurrence on the
+two lovers very soon made itself perceptible. Fraeulein Aennchen took a
+dislike to touching a spade, and she did really reign like a queen over
+the vegetable world, inasmuch as, though taking care that her vassals
+were properly supervised and attended to, she set no hand to the work
+herself, but entrusted it to maids in whom she had confidence.
+
+Herr Amandus, for his part, saw now that everything he had ever written
+in the shape of verses was wretched, miserable trash, and, burying
+himself in the works of the real poets, both of ancient and modern
+times, his being was soon so filled with a beneficent enthusiasm that
+no room was left for any consideration of himself. He arrived at the
+conviction that a real poem has got to be something other than a
+confused jumble of words shaken together under the influence of a
+crude, jejeune delirium, and threw all his own (so-called) poetry, of
+which he had had such a tremendous opinion, into the fire, becoming
+once more quite the sensible young gentleman, clear and open in heart
+and mind, which he had been originally.
+
+And one morning Herr Dapsul did actually come down from his
+astronomical tower to go to church with Fraeulein Aennchen and Herr
+Amandus von Nebelstern on the occasion of their marriage.
+
+They led an exceedingly happy wedded life. But as to whether Herr
+Dapsul's union with the Sylphide Nehabilah ever actually came to
+anything the Chronicle of Dapsulheim is silent.
+
+
+During the reading of this the Friends had laughed a good deal, and
+they were unanimously of opinion that, though there was not a great
+deal in the plot, yet that the details were so humorous and droll that,
+as a whole, the tale was a success.
+
+"As to the plot," Vincenz said, "there is rather a curious circumstance
+connected with that. Not long since, happening to be dining at the
+table of a certain lady of princely rank, there was a lady present who
+had on a gold ring with a beautiful topaz, of which the remarkably
+antique-looking form and workmanship attracted universal attention. We
+thought it had been some precious heirloom, and were astonished to hear
+that it had been found sticking on a carrot dug up on her property a
+few years previously. Probably it had been lying pretty deep in the
+ground, and had been brought towards the surface when the land was
+trenched, so that the carrot had grown through it.
+
+"The Princess pointed out what a good idea for a story this suggested,
+and wished that I should set to work to write one at once on the
+subject. So, you see, I hadn't far to go for the idea of the 'Vegetable
+King and his People,' and I claim the invention of them for myself, for
+there isn't a trace of him to be found in Gabalis or any other book of
+the kind."
+
+"Now," said Lothair, "I think we may say that on none of our former
+Serapion evenings has our fare been of a more various character than
+to-night. And it is good that we have managed to emerge from that
+gruesome darkness into which we had wandered somehow--I am sure it is
+hard to tell why--into the clear, brightsome light of day, although, no
+doubt, a serious, careful person might, with some reason, say that all
+the fantastic matter which we have so long been going on spinning and
+accumulating might have a considerable tendency to induce confusion of
+head, if not headache and feverishness."
+
+"We should all do the best we can," said Theodore. "But let no one deem
+that his own particular qualities and powers constitute the norm of
+what the human understanding is to have laid before it. For there are
+people--good sensible folks enough in other respects--who are so easily
+made giddy in their heads that they think the rapid flight of an
+awakened imagination is the result of an unsound condition of mind. So
+that such people say, of this or the other writer, that he only writes
+when he is under the influence of intoxicating drinks, and attribute
+his imaginative writings to over-excited nerves, and a certain amount
+of deliriousness thence arising. But everybody knows that although a
+condition of mind raising from either of those causes can give rise to
+a happy thought, or fortunate idea, it is impossible that it can yield
+perfect and finished work, because that demands the very quietest study
+and consideration."
+
+On this evening Theodore had set before his friends some remarkably
+superior wine sent to him by a friend on the Rhine. He poured what
+remained of it into the glasses, and said:--
+
+"I cannot explain why it should be so; but a melancholy foreboding
+comes upon me that we are going to part for a long time, and may,
+perhaps, never meet again. But surely the remembrance of those Serapion
+evenings will long live in our minds. We have given free play to the
+capricious promptings of our fancy. Each of us has spoken out what he
+saw in his mind's eye, without supposing his ideas to be anything
+extraordinary, or giving them forth as being so, knowing well that the
+first essential of all effective composition is that kindly
+unpretendingness which is the thing that has the power to warm the
+heart and please the mind. If Fate is about to part us, then let us
+always faithfully follow the rule of Saint Serapion, and vowing this to
+each other, drink this last glass of our wine."
+
+What Theodore suggested was accordingly done.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, STANFORD STREET
+                           AND CHARING CROSS.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Serapion Brethren., by
+Ernst Theordor Wilhelm Hoffmann
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SERAPION BRETHREN. ***
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